Whole book · 20 sections
Sketch
of the Northern Part of
Africa:
Exhibiting the
Geographical Information
Collected by
The African Association.
Compiled by J. Rennell.
1790.
Published according to Act of Parliament by James Rennell, March 27th. 1790.
PROCEEDINGS
OF THE
AFRICAN ASSOCIATION.
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LONDON:
PRINTED BY C. MACRAE, PRINTER TO
THE ASSOCIATION.
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1790.
| PAGE | |
| Introduction | 1 |
| Plan of the Association | 2 |
| CHAPTER I. | |
| Proceedings of the Association, from the Time of its Establishment, to that of the Departure of Mr. Ledyard | 13 |
| CHAPTER II. | |
| Mr. Ledyard’s Arrival at Cairo. — His Remarks on the Inhabitants, &c. — His Death and Character | 19 |
| CHAPTER III. | |
| Arrival of Mr. Lucas at Tripoli. — His Reception by the Bashaw. — His Journey to Mesurata with the Shereefs Fouwad and Imhammed. — His Mode of obtaining from the latter an Account of his Travels in the Interior Countries of Africa. — His Return to England | 43 |
| INTRODUCTION TO CHAPTER IV. | |
| The Shereef Imhammed’s Information confirmed by the Governor of Mesurata and Ben Alli the Moor | 75 |
| CHAPTER IV. | |
| Rout from Mesurata. — Enumeration of the principal Towns of Fezzan. — Account of its Climate and principal Productions. — Description of the Manners, Religion, and Government of its People — Their Revenue, Administration of Justice, and Military Force | 81 |
| CHAPTER V. | |
| Mode of Travelling in Africa | 87 |
| CHAPTER VI. | |
| General Remarks on the Empires of Bornou and Cashna. — Rout from Mourzouk to Bornou. — Climate of Bornou. — Complexion, Dress, and Food of the Inhabitants — Their Mode of Building — Their Language, Government, Military Force, Manners, and Trade | 125 |
| CHAPTER VII. | |
| Rout from Mourzouk to Cashna. — Boundaries of the Empire. — Its Language, Currency, and Trade | 161 |
| CHAPTER VIII. | |
| Countries South of the Niger | 173 |
| CHAPTER IX. | |
| General View of the Trade from Fezzan to Tripoli, Bornou, Cashna, and the Countries on the South of the Niger | 181 |
| CHAPTER X. | |
| Rout from Mourzouk to Grand Cairo, according to Hadgee Abdalah Benmileitan, the present Governor of Mesurata | 193 |
| CHAPTER XI. | |
| Conclusions suggested by the preceding Narrative | 199 |
| CHAPTER XII. | |
| Construction of the Map of Africa | 211 |
| Page | 81, | line | 1, | for whathe | read what he | |
| 84, | line | 10, | for vilge | read village | ||
| 91, | line | 8, | for loose | read close | ||
| 99, | line | 11, | for laying down | read lying down | ||
| 153, | line | 15, | for it has made more | read it has more | ||
| 157, | last line but one, | for preparation | read perspiration | |||
| 174, | last line but three, | for double | read combined. | |||
The Narrative of the Proceedings of the Society that was formed in the year 1788, for the purpose of Promoting the Discovery of the Inland Districts of Africa, was written, at the request of his Colleagues, by one of the Members of the Committee of that Association; and is now printed at the desire, and for the use of the Society: but as it may also be read by persons unacquainted with the Origin and Object of the Undertaking to which it relates, the following Paper, as descriptive of both, is republished for their information.
Of the objects of inquiry which engage our attention the most, there are none, perhaps, that so much excite continued curiosity, from childhood to age; none that the learned and unlearned so equally wish to investigate, as the nature and history of those parts of the world, which have not, to our knowledge, been hitherto explored. To this desire the Voyages of the late Captain Cook have so far afforded gratification, that nothing worthy of research by Sea, the Poles themselves excepted, remains to be examined; but by Land, the objects of Discovery are still so vast, as to include at least a third of the habitable surface of the earth: for much of Asia, a still larger proportion of America, and almost the whole of Africa, are unvisited and unknown.
In Asia there are few extensive districts of which we are wholly ignorant; but there are many of which we are imperfectly informed; and to our knowledge of several of these, the expected publication of the Travels of Mr. Forster, in the service of the East India Company, may bring material improvement. For, about three years since, in returning from Hindostan to Europe, he travelled by the way of Laldong, Jummoo, Cashmire, Cabul, Herat, and the Caspian Sea; and though the character of a Moorish Merchant, a disguise which the nature of the journey compelled him to assume, would not permit him to depart so far from the usage of Asia, as to make a draught of the country, or to write any other than short memorandums as he passed, yet, if we may judge from the opportunities he had of information, his Narrative must be important. It will probably shew the manners and customs, and military strength of the populous tribes that inhabit the mountains on the North of Lahore: it promises to gratify the eagerness which all men express to acquire a knowledge of the sequestered and unexplored, though celebrated Country of Cashmire: and there is reason to suppose, that it will also describe the rising Empire of the Seiks, the conquerors of Zabeta Cawn, and the rivals of Abdalla. Should this be the case, we shall learn the history of an Empire that already extends from the river Attok, the western branch of the Indus, to the banks of the Jumma; and possibly too we may also be told the particulars of a Religion, which, according to the accounts received, professes to bring back the Hindoos from the idolatrous veneration of images to the purity of their primitive faith, the worship of One God: a Religion, which is said to ascribe to its Founder, Nanock, who died about 200 years since, a sacred character, by supposing that he was Brimha, and that this was his last appearance upon earth: a Religion, which its Followers, in contradiction to the former uniform practice of the Believers in the Shaster, endeavour to make universal, and, with a zeal which resembles the Mahometan, constantly enforce by the sword.
To our knowledge of America, a large and valuable addition may soon be expected; for several of the inhabitants of Canada had the spirit, about two years since, to send, at their own expence, different persons to traverse that vast continent, from the river St. Lawrence westward to the opposite ocean.
While, in this manner, the circle of our knowledge with respect to Asia and America is gradually extending itself, and advancing towards perfection, some progress has been made in the discovery of particular parts of Africa: for Dr. Sparman’s Narrative has furnished important information, to which will soon be added that of Mr. Patterson, whose account of his Travels and Observations in the Southern Parts of Africa is already in the Press; and if a description of the still more extended Travels of Colonel Gordon, the present Commander of the Dutch Troops at the Cape of Good Hope, should be given to the Public, the southern extremity of the African peninsula may perhaps be justly considered as explored. Mr. Bruce also, it is said, is preparing for the Press an account of the knowledge which he has obtained on the eastern side of that quarter of the globe.
But notwithstanding the progress of discovery on the coasts and borders of that vast continent, the map of its Interior is still but a wide extended blank, on which the Geographer, on the authority of Leo Africanus, and of the Xeriff Edrissi the Nubian Author, has traced, with a hesitating hand, a few names of unexplored rivers and of uncertain nations.
The course of the Niger, the places of its rise and termination, and even its existence as a separate stream, are still undetermined. Nor has our knowledge of the Senegal and Gambia rivers improved upon that of De la Brue and Moore; for though since their time half a century has elapsed, the Falls of Felu on the first of these two rivers, and those of Baraconda on the last, are still the limits of discovery.
Neither have we profited by the information which we have long possessed, that even on the western coasts of Africa, the Mahometan faith is received in many extensive districts, from the Tropic of Cancer southward to the Line. That the Arabic, which the Mussulman Priests of all countries understand, furnishes an easy access to such knowledge as the western Africans are able to supply, is perfectly obvious; as it also is, that those Africans must, from the nature of their Religion, possess, what the Traders to the coast ascribe to them, an intercourse with Mecca. But although these circumstances apparently prove the practicability of exploring the Interior Parts of Africa, and would much facilitate the execution of the Plan, yet no such efforts have hitherto been made. Certain however it is, that, while we continue ignorant of so large a portion of the globe, that ignorance must be considered as a degree of reproach upon the present age.
Sensible of this stigma, and desirous of rescuing the age from a charge of ignorance, which, in other respects, belongs so little to its character, a few Individuals, strongly impressed with a conviction of the practicability and utility of thus enlarging the fund of human knowledge, have formed the Plan of an Association for Promoting the Discovery of the Interior Parts of Africa.
The nature of their Establishment will best appear from the following account of their proceedings.
At an Adjourned Meeting of the Saturday’s Club, at the St. Alban’s Tavern, on the 9th of June, 1788,
PRESENT,
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ABSENT MEMBERS,
RESOLVED,
That as no species of information is more ardently desired, or more generally useful, than that which improves the science of Geography; and as the vast Continent of Africa, notwithstanding the efforts of the Ancients, and the wishes of the Moderns, is still in a great measure unexplored, the Members of this Club do form themselves into an Association for Promoting the Discovery of the Inland Parts of that Quarter of the World:
That, for the said purpose, each Member do subscribe Five Guineas a year, for three years; and that at, or after that period, any Member, on giving a year’s notice, may withdraw himself from the Association:
That during the first twelve months from the present day, each of the Members of the Club be allowed to recommend, for the approbation of the Club, such of his Friends as he shall think proper to be admitted to the new Association; but that after that time all additional Members be elected by a Ballot of the Association at large:
That a Committee, consisting of a Secretary and Treasurer, and of three Assisting Members, be chosen by Ballot:
That the said Committee do prepare and submit to the consideration of the Members, at their next meeting, such Rules as they shall think requisite for the effectual attainment of the object of the new Institution, and for its good government:
That the Committee be entrusted with the choice of the persons who are to be sent on the Discovery of the Interior Parts of Africa, together with the Society’s Correspondence, and the Management of its Funds:
That the Committee shall not disclose, except to the Members of the Association at large, such intelligence as they shall, from time to time, receive from the persons who shall be sent out on the business of Discovery:
That on the receipt of any interesting intelligence from any of the said persons, the Members of the Association shall be convened by Letters from the Secretary; and that such parts of the said intelligence as, in the opinion of the Committee, may, without endangering the object of their Association, be made public, shall be communicated to the Meeting:
That an Account of all Monies paid and received shall, on the last Saturday in the month of May in each year, be submitted to the consideration of the Society at large, by the Treasurer:
That the Members of the Committee be chosen by Ballot, on the first Saturday in the month of May in each year.
The preceding Resolutions having been agreed to by all the Members present, they proceeded on the same day, the 9th of June, 1788, in pursuance of their Fourth Resolution, to chuse a Committee by Ballot, and the following persons were elected:
Proceedings of the Association from the Time of its Establishment, to that of the Departure of Mr. Ledyard.
The Association for Promoting the Discovery of the Interior Regions of Africa was formed on the 9th of June, in the year 1788; and on the same day a Committee of its Members was invested with the direction of its Funds, the management of its Correspondence, and the choice of the persons to whom the Geographical mission should be assigned.
Naturally anxious for the speedy attainment of the important object thus recommended to their care, an object made doubly interesting by the consideration of its having engaged the attention, and baffled the researches of the most inquisitive and the most powerful nations of antiquity, the Managers proceeded with the utmost ardour to the immediate execution of the Plan.
Two Gentlemen, whose qualifications appeared to be eminent, proposed to undertake the Adventure.
One of them, a Mr. Ledyard, was an American by birth, and seemed from his youth to have felt an invincible desire to make himself acquainted with the unknown, or imperfectly discovered regions of the globe. For several years he had lived with the Indians of America, had studied their manners, and had practised in their school the means of obtaining the protection, and of recommending himself to the favour of Savages. In the humble situation of a Corporal of Marines, to which he submitted rather than relinquish his pursuit, he had made, with Captain Cook, the Voyage of the World; and feeling on his return an anxious desire of penetrating from the North Western Coast of America, which Cook had partly explored, to the Eastern Coast, with which he himself was perfectly familiar, he determined to traverse the vast Continent from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean.
His first Plan for the purpose was that of embarking in a vessel which was then preparing to sail, on a Voyage of Commercial Adventure, to Nootka Sound, on the Western Coast of America; and with this view he expended in sea stores, the greatest part of the money which his chief benefactor Sir Joseph Banks (whose generous conduct the Writer of this Narrative has often heard him acknowledge) had liberally supplied. But the scheme being frustrated by the rapacity of a Custom-house Officer, who had seized and detained the vessel for reasons which on legal inquiry proved to be frivolous, he determined to travel over land to Kamschatka, from whence to the Western coast of America the passage is extremely short. With no more than ten guineas in his purse, which was all that he had left, he crossed the British Channel to Ostend, and by the way of Denmark and the Sound, proceeded to the capital of Sweden, from whence, as it was Winter, he attempted to traverse the Gulph of Bothnia on the ice, in order to reach Kamschatka by the shortest way; but finding, when he came to the middle of the sea, that the water was not frozen, he returned to Stockholm, and taking his course Northward, walked into the Arctic Circle; and passing round the head of the Gulph, descended on its Eastern side to Petersburgh.
There, he was soon noticed as an extraordinary man.—Without stockings, or shoes, and in too much poverty to provide himself with either, he received and accepted an invitation to dine with the Portugueze Ambassador. To this invitation it was probably owing that he was able to obtain the sum of twenty guineas for a bill on Sir Joseph Banks, which he confessed he had no authority to draw, but which, in consideration of the business that he had undertaken, and of the progress that he had made, Sir Joseph, he believed, would not be unwilling to pay. To the Ambassador’s interest it might also be owing that he obtained permission to accompany a detachment of Stores which the Empress had ordered to be sent to Yakutz, for the use of Mr. Billings, an Englishman, at that time in her service.
Thus accommodated, he travelled Eastward through Siberia, six thousand miles, to Yakutz, where he was kindly received by Mr. Billings, whom he remembered on board Captain Cook’s ship, in the situation of the Astronomer’s Servant, but to whom the Empress had now entrusted her schemes of Northern discovery.
From Yakutz he proceeded to Oczakow, on the coast of the Kamschatka sea, from whence he meant to have passed over to that peninsula, and to have embarked on the Eastern side in one of the Russian vessels that trade to the Western shores of America; but finding that the navigation was completely obstructed by the ice, he returned again to Yakutz, in order to wait for the conclusion of the Winter.
Such was his situation, when, in consequence of suspicions not hitherto explained, or resentments for which no reason is assigned, he was seized, in the Empress’s name, by two Russian soldiers, who placed him in a sledge, and conveying him, in the depth of Winter, through the Deserts of the Northern Tartary, left him at last on the Frontiers of the Polish Dominions. As they parted they told him, that if he returned to Russia, he would certainly be hanged, but that if he chose to go back to England, they wished him a pleasant journey.
In the midst of poverty, covered with rags, infested with the usual accompaniments of such cloathing, worn with continued hardship, exhausted by disease, without friends, without credit, unknown, and full of misery, he found his way to Koningsberg.—There, in the hour of his uttermost distress, he resolved once more to have recourse to his old Benefactor, and he luckily found a person who was willing to take his draft for five guineas on the President of the Royal Society.
With this assistance he arrived in England, and immediately waited on Sir Joseph Banks, who told him, knowing his temper, that he believed he could recommend him to an adventure almost as perilous as the one from which he had returned; and then communicated to him the wishes of the Association for Discovering the Inland Countries of Africa.
Ledyard replied, that he had always determined to traverse the Continent of Africa as soon as he had explored the Interior of North America; and as Sir Joseph had offered him a Letter of Introduction, he came directly to the Writer of these Memoirs. Before I had learnt from the note the name and business of my Visitor, I was struck with the manliness of his person, the breadth of his chest, the openness of his countenance, and the inquietude of his eye. I spread the map of Africa before him, and tracing a line from Cairo to Sennar, and from thence Westward in the latitude and supposed direction of the Niger, I told him that was the route, by which I was anxious that Africa might, if possible, be explored. He said, he should think himself singularly fortunate to be entrusted with the Adventure. I asked him when he would set out? “To-morrow morning,” was his answer. I told him I was afraid that we should not be able, in so short a time, to prepare his instructions, and to procure for him the letters that were requisite; but that if the Committee should approve of his proposal, all expedition should be used.
Such is the history, and such were the qualifications of one of the persons whom the Committee engaged in its service.
The other, Mr. Lucas, had been sent, when a boy, to Cadiz, in Spain, for education as a merchant, and having the misfortune on his return to be captured by a Sallee Rover, was brought as a slave to the Imperial Court of Morocco.
Three years of captivity preceded his restoration to freedom, and his consequent departure for Gibraltar; where, at the request of General Cornwallis, he accepted the offices of Vice-Consul and Chargé d’Affaires in the Empire of Morocco; and had the satisfaction to return, as the Delegate of his Sovereign, to the very kingdom in which, for so long a period, he had lived as a slave. At the end of sixteen years he once more revisited England, and was soon appointed Oriental Interpreter to the British Court, in which situation he was when he became known to the Committee, and expressed his willingness, with His Majesty’s permission, to undertake, in the Service of the Association, whatever Journey his knowlege of the Manners, Customs, and Language of the Arabs might enable him to perform. His Majesty, with that liberal attention to the Progress of Knowledge which at all times has distinguished his reign, signified his pleasure, that Mr. Lucas should proceed on the business of the Society; and that his salary as Oriental Interpreter should be continued to him during his absence.
Having thus obtained the assistance of two persons so eminently qualified to facilitate the attainment of its object, the Committee proceeded to prescribe to them their respective routs.
To Mr. Ledyard they assigned, at his own desire, as an enterprize of obvious peril and of difficult success, the task of traversing from East to West, in the latitude attributed to the Niger, the widest part of the Continent of Africa.
To Mr. Lucas, in consideration of the knowledge which he possessed of the Language and Manners of the Arabs, they allotted the passage of the Desert of Zahara, from Tripoli to Fezzan; for they had learned from various information, that with this kingdom, which in some measure is dependent on Tripoli, the traders of Agadez and Tombuctou, and of other towns in the Interior of Africa, had established a frequent and regular intercourse; and their instructions to him were, that he should proceed directly to Fezzan; that he should collect and transmit by the way of Tripoli, whatever intelligence, respecting the Inland Regions of the Continent, the people of Fezzan, or the traders who visited their country, might be able to afford; and that he should afterwards return by the way of the Gambia, or by that of the Coast of Guinea.
One obstacle to the departure of these Geographical Misionaries was still to be removed; and that was, the smallness of the Fund; for the Members of the Association, which had not yet passed the second month of its existence, were extremely few, and the Committee were too conscious of the importance and dignity of their undertaking, to canvass for subscriptions.
In this dilemma, the Committee resolved to advance the money that was requisite; and they accordingly raised among themselves the sum of 430l. which enabled them to provide for their travellers the means of immediate equipment, and the letters of necessary credit.
Mr. Lucas, detained by illness, did not leave England till the 6th of August.
Mr. Ledyard’s Arrival at Cairo. — His Remarks on the Inhabitants, &c. — His Death and Character.
Mr. Ledyard took his departure from London on the 30th of June, 1788; and after a journey of six and thirty days, seven of which were consumed at Paris, and two at Marseilles, arrived in the city of Alexandria.
His Letters of Recommendation to the British Consul secured him from the embarrassments that the want of inns would otherwise have occasioned; and procured for him the necessary instructions for assuming the dress, and adopting the manners that are requisite for an Egyptian Traveller.
Forcibly impressed by the objects which he saw, and naturally led to compare them with those which other Regions of the Globe had presented to his view, he describes with the energy of an original Observer, and exhibits in his Narrative the varied effect of similarity and contrast: but as the travellers who preceded him, have obtained and transmitted to Europe whatever knowledge, either ancient or modern, the Lower Egypt affords, and as the examination of that country was no part of the business which was given him in charge, his descriptions, generally speaking, would add but little to the instruction which other Narratives convey.
The following Extracts from different parts of his Journal are given in his own words.
“A traveller, who should, by just comparisons between things here and in Europe, tell his tale; who, by a mind unbewitched by antecedent descriptions, too strong, too bold, too determined, too honest, to be capable of lying, should speak just as he thought, would, no doubt, be esteemed an arrant fool, and a stupid coxcomb.—For example, an Englishman who had never seen Egypt, would ask me what sort of a woman an Egyptian woman was? If I meant to do the question as much justice by the answer, as I could in my way, I should ask him to take notice of the first company of Gypsies he saw behind a hedge in Essex; and I suppose he would be fool enough to think me a fool.
“August 14th. I left Alexandria at midnight, with a pleasant breeze North; and was, at sun-rise next morning, at the mouth of the Nile, which has a bar of sand across it, and soundings as irregular as the sea, which is raised upon it by the contentions of counter currents and winds.
“The view in sailing up the Nile is very confined, unless from the top of the mast, or some other eminence, and then it is an unbounded plain of excellent land, miserably cultivated, and yet interspersed with a great number of villages, both on its banks and as far along the meadows as one can see in any direction: the river is also filled with boats passing and repassing—boats all of one kind, and navigated in one manner; nearly also of one size, the largest carrying ten or fifteen tons. On board of these boats are seen onions, water-melons, dates, sometimes a horse, a camel, (which lies down in the boat) and sheep and goats, dogs, men and women.—Towards evening and morning they have music.
“Whenever we stopped at a village, I used to walk into it with my Conductor, who, being a Musselman, and a descendant from Mahommed, wore a green turban, and was therefore respected, and I was sure of safety:—but in truth, dressed as I was in a common Turkish habit, I believe I should have walked as safely without him. I saw no propensity among the inhabitants to incivility. The villages are most miserable assemblages of poor little mud huts, flung very close together without any kind of order, full of dust, lice, fleas, bed-bugs, flies, and all the curses of Moses: people poorly clad, the youths naked; in such respects, they rank infinitely below any Savages I ever saw.
“The common people wear nothing but a shirt and drawers, and they are always blue. Green is the royal or holy colour; none but the descendants of Mahommed, if I am rightly informed, being permitted to wear it.
“August 19th. From the little town where we landed, the distance to Cairo is about a mile and a half, which we rode on asses; for the ass in this country is the Christian’s horse, as he is allowed no other animal to ride upon. Indeed I find the situation of a Christian, or what they more commonly call here a Frank, to be very, very humiliating, ignominious, and distressing: no one, by a combination of any causes, can reason down to such effects as experience teaches us do exist here: it being impossible to conceive, that the enmity I have alluded to could exist between men;—or, in fact, that the same species of beings, from any causes whatever, should ever think and act so differently as the Egyptians and the English do.
“I arrived at Cairo early in the morning, on the 19th of August, and went to the house of the Venetian Consul, Mr. Rosetti, Chargé d’Affaires for the English Consul here.
“After dinner, not being able to find any other lodging, and receiving no very pressing invitation from Mr. Rosetti, to lodge with him, I went to a convent. This convent consists of Missionaries sent by the Pope to propagate the Christian Faith, or at least to give shelter to Christians. The Christians here are principally from Damascus: the convent is governed by the Order of Recollets: a number of English, as well as other European travellers, have lodged there.
“August 21st. It is now about the hottest season of the year here; but I think I have felt it warmer in the City of Philadelphia, in the same month.
“August 26th. This day I was introduced by Rosetti to the Aga Mahommed, the confidential Minister of Ismael, the most powerful of the four ruling Beys: he gave me his hand to kiss, and with it the promise of letters, protection, and support, through Turkish Nubia, and also to some Chiefs far inland. In a subsequent conversation, he told me I should see in my travels a people who had power to transmutate themselves into the forms of different animals. He asked me what I thought of the affair? I did not like to render the ignorance, simplicity, and credulity of the Turk apparent. I told him, that it formed a part of the character of all Savages to be great Necromancers; but that I had never before heard of any so great as those which he had done me the honour to describe; that it had rendered me more anxious to be on my voyage, and if I passed among them, I would, in the letter I promised to write to him, give him a more particular account of them than he had hitherto had.—He asked me how I could travel without the language of the people where I should pass? I told him, with vocabularies:—I might as well have read to him a page of Newton’s Principia. He returned to his fables again. Is it not curious, that the Egyptians (for I speak of the natives of the country as well as of him, when I make the observation) are still such dupes to the arts of sorcery? Was it the same people who built the Pyramids?
“I can’t understand that the Turks have a better opinion of our mental powers than we have of theirs; but they say of us, that we are “a people who carry our minds on our fingers ends:” meaning, that we put them in exercise constantly, and render them subservient to all manner of purposes, and with celerity, dispatch, and ease, do what we do.
“I suspect the Copts to have been the origin of the Negro race: the nose and lips correspond with those of the Negro. The hair, whenever I can see it among the people here, (the Copts) is curled;—not close like the Negros, but like the Mulattoes. I observe a greater variety of colour among the human species here than in any other country; and a greater variety of feature than in any other country not possessing a greater degree of civilization.
“I have seen an Abyssinian woman and a Bengal man—the colour is the same in both; so are their features and persons.
“I have seen a small mummy;—it has what I call wampum work on it. It appears as common here as among the Tartars. Tatowing is as prevalent among the Arabs of this place as among the South Sea Islanders. It is a little curious, that the women here are more generally than in any other part of the world tatowed on the chin, with perpendicular lines descending from the under lip to the chin, like the women on the North West Coast of America. It is also a custom here to stain the nails red, like the Cochin Chinese, and the Northern Tartars. The mask or veil that the women here wear, resembles exactly that worn by the Priests at Otaheite, and those seen at Sandwich Islands.
“I have not yet seen the Arabs make use of a tool like our axe or hatchet; but what they use for such purposes as we do our hatchet and axe, is in the form of an adze, and is a form we found most agreeable to the South Sea Islanders. I see no instance of a tool formed designedly for the use of the right or left hand particularly, as the cotogon is among the Yorkertic Tartars.
“There is certainly a very remarkable affinity between the Russian and Greek dress. The fillet round the temples of the Greek and Russian women, is a circumstance in dress that perhaps would strike nobody as it does me; and so of the wampum work too, which is also found among them both.
“They spin here with the distaff and spindle only, like the French peasantry and others in Europe; and the common Arab loom is upon our principle, though rude.
“I saw to-day (August 10th) an Arab woman white, like the White Indians in the South Sea Islands, Isthmus of Darien, &c. These kind of people all look alike.
“Among the Greek women here, I find the identical Archangel head-dress.
“Their music is instrumental, consisting of a drum and pipe, both which resemble those two instruments in the South Seas: the drum is exactly like the Otaheite drum; the pipe is made of cane, and consists of a long and short tube joined: the music resembles very much the bagpipe, and is pleasant.—All their music is concluded, if not accompanied, by the clapping of hands. I think it singular, that the women here make a noise with their mouths like frogs, and that this frog-music is always made at weddings; and I believe on all other occasions of merriment where there are women.
“It is remarkable, that the dogs here are of just the same species found among the Otaheiteans.
“It is also remarkable, that in one village I saw exactly the same machines used for diversion as in Russia.—I forget the Russian name for it. It is a large kind of wheel, on the extremities of which there are suspended seats, in which people are whirled round over and under each other.
“The women dress their hair behind exactly in the same manner in which the women of the Calmuc Tartars dress theirs.
“In the History of the Kingdom of Benin in Guinea, the Chiefs are called Aree Roee, or Street Kings. Among the Islands in the South Sea, Otaheite, &c. they call the Chiefs Arees, and the great Chiefs Aree le Hoi. I think this curious; and so I do that it is a custom of the Arabs to spread a blanket when they would invite any one to eat or rest with them.—American Indians spread the beaver skins on such occasions.
“The Arabs of the Deserts, like the Tartars, have an invincible attachment to Liberty: no arts will reconcile them to any other life, or form of government, however modified. This is a character given me here of the Arabs.
“It is singular that the Arab Language has no word for Liberty, although it has for Slaves.
“The Arabs, like the New Zealanders, engage with a long strong spear.
“I have made the best inquiries I have been able, since I have been here, of the nature of the country before me; of Sennar, Darfoor, Wangara, of Nubia, Abyssinia, of those named, or unknown by name. I should have been happy to have sent you better information of those places than I am yet able to do. It will appear very singular to you in England, that we in Egypt are so ignorant of countries which we annually visit: the Egyptians know as little of Geography as the generality of the French; and like them, sing, dance, and traffic without it.
“I have the best assurances of a certain and safe conduct by the return of the caravan that is arrived from Sennar; and Mr. Rosetti tells me that the letters I shall have from the Aga here, will insure me of being conveyed, from hand to hand, to my journey’s end.
“The Mahometans in Africa are what the Russians are in Siberia, a trading, enterprizing, superstitious, warlike set of vagabonds, and wherever they are set upon going, they will and do go; but they neither can nor do make voyages merely commercial, or merely religious, across Africa; and where we do not find them in commerce, we find them not at all. They cannot (however vehemently pushed on by religion) afford to cross the Continent without trading by the way.
“October 14th. I went to-day to the market-place, where they vend the Black slaves that come from towards the interior parts of Africa:—there were 200 of them together, dressed and ornamented as in their country. The appearance of a Savage in every region is almost the same!—There were very few men among them: this indicates that they are prisoners of war. They have a great many beads and other ornaments about them that are from the East. I was told by one of them that they came from the West of Sennar, fifty-five days journey, which may be about four or five hundred miles. A Negro Chief said, the Nile had its source in his country. In general they had their hair plaited in a great number of small detached plaits, none exceeding in length six or eight inches—the hair was filled with grease, and dirt purposely daubed on.
“October 16th. I have renewed my visit to-day, and passed it more agreeably than yesterday; for yesterday I was rudely treated. The Franks are prohibited to purchase slaves, and therefore the Turks do not like to see them in the market. Mr. Rosetti favoured me with one of his running Chargé d’Affaires to accompany me: but having observed yesterday among the ornaments of the Negros a variety of beads, and wanting to know from what country they came, I requested Mr. Rosetti, previously to my second visit, to shew me from his store samples of Venetian beads.—He shewed me samples of fifteen hundred different kinds: after this I set out.
“The name of the country these Savages come from is Darfoor, and is well known on account of the Slave Trade, as well as of that in Gum and Elephants teeth.
“The appearance of these Negros declares them to be a people in as savage a state as any people can; but not of so savage a temper, or of that species of countenance that indicates savage intelligence. They appear a harmless, wild people; but they are mostly young women.
“The beads they are ornamented with are Venetian; and they have some Venetian brass medals which the Venetians make for trade. The beads are worked wampum-wise. I know not where they got the marine shells they worked among their beads, nor how they could have seen white men. I asked them if they would use me well in their country, if I should visit it? They said, “Yes:”—and added, that they should make a King of me, and treat me with all the delicacies of their country. Like the Egyptian women, and like most other Savages, they stick on ornaments wherever they can, and wear, like them, a great ring in the nose, either from the cartilage, or from the side: they also rub on some black kind of paint round the eyes, like the Egyptian women. They are a sizeable well-formed people, quite black, with what, I believe, we call the true Guinea face, and with curled short hair; but not more curled or shorter than I have seen it among the Egyptians; but in general these Savages plait it in tassels plaistered with clay or paint. Among some of them the hair is a foot long, and curled, resembling exactly one of our mops. The prevailing colour, where it can be seen, is a black and red mixed. I think it would make any hair curl, even Uncle Toby’s wig, to be plaited and plaistered as this is. This caravan, which I call the Darfoor caravan, is not very rich.—The Sennar is the rich caravan.
“October 19th. I went yesterday to see if more of the Darfoor caravan had arrived; but they were not. I wonder why travellers to Cairo have not visited these slave markets, and conversed with the Jelabs or travelling Merchants of these caravans: both are certainly sources of great information.—The eighth part of the money expended on other accounts, might here answer some good solid purpose. For my part, I have not expended a crown, and I have a better idea of the people of Africa, of its trade, of the position of places, the nature of the country, manner of travelling, &c. than ever I had by any other means; and, I believe, better than any other means would afford me.
“October 25th. I have been again to the slave market; but neither the Jelabs (a name which in this country is given to all travelling Merchants) nor the slaves are yet arrived in town—they will be here to-morrow. I met two or three in the street, and one with a shield and spear.
“I have understood to-day, that the King of Sennar is himself a Merchant, and concerned in the Sennar caravans. The Merchant here who contracts to convey me to Sennar, is Procurer at Cairo to the King of Sennar: this is a good circumstance, and one I knew not of till to-day. Mr. Rosetti informed me of it. He informed me also, that this year the importation of Negro Slaves into Egypt will amount to 20,000.—The caravans from the interior countries of Africa do not arrive here uniformly every year—they are sometimes absent two or three years.
“Among a dozen of Sennar slaves, I saw three personable men, of a good bright olive colour, of vivacious and intelligent countenances; but they had all three (which fist attracted my notice) heads uncommonly formed: the forehead was the narrowest, the longest, and most protuberant I ever saw. Many of these slaves speak a few words of the Arab language; but whether they learned them before or since their captivity I cannot tell.
“A caravan goes from here (Cairo) to Fezzan, which they call a journey of fifty days; and from Fezzan to Tombuctou, which they call a journey of ninety days. The caravans travel about twenty miles a day, which makes the distance on the road from here to Fezzan, one thousand miles; and from Fezzan to Tombuctou, one thousand eight hundred miles. From here to Sennar is reckoned six hundred miles.
“I have been waiting several days to have an interview with the Jelabs who go from hence to Sennar. I am told that they carry, in general, trinkets; but among other things, soap, antimony, red linen, razors, scissars, mirrors, beads; and, as far as I can yet learn, they bring from Sennar elephants teeth, the gum called here gum Sennar, camels, ostrich feathers, and slaves.
“Wangara is talked of here as a place producing much gold, and as a kingdom: all accounts, and there are many, agree in this. The King of Wangara (whom I hope to see in about three months after leaving this) is said to dispose of just what quantity he pleases of his gold—sometimes a great deal, and sometimes little or none; and this, it is said, he does to prevent strangers knowing how rich he is, and that he may live in peace.”
Such are the most material of those remarks on the people of Africa, which Mr. Ledyard was enabled, by his residence at Cairo, to send to the Committee.—The views which they opened were interesting and instructive; but they derived their principal importance from the proofs which they afforded of the ardent spirit of inquiry, the unwearied attention, the persevering research, and the laborious, indefatigable, anxious zeal with which their Author pursued the object of his Mission.
Already informed that his next dispatch would be dated from Sennar; that letters of earnest recommendation had been given him by the Aga; that the terms of his passage had been settled; and that the day of his departure was appointed—the Committee expected with impatience the description of his journey. Great was therefore their concern, and severe their disappointment, when letters from Egypt announced to them the melancholy tidings of his death. A bilious complaint, the consequence of vexatious delays in the promised departure of the caravan, had induced him to try the effect of too powerful a dose of the acid of vitriol; and the sudden uneasiness and burning pain which followed the incautious draught, impelled him to seek relief from the violent action of the strongest Tartar emetic. A continued discharge of blood discovered the danger of his situation, and summoned to his aid the generous friendship of the Venetian Consul, and the ineffectual skill of the most approved physicians of Cairo.
He was decently interred in the neighbourhood of such of the English as had ended their days in the capital of Egypt.
The bilious complaint with which he was seized has been attributed to the frowardness of a childish impatience—Much more natural is the conjecture, that his unexpected detention, week after week, and month after month, at Cairo, (a detention which consumed his finances, which therefore exposed to additional hazard the success of his favourite enterprize, and which consequently tended to bring into question his honour to the Society) had troubled his spirits, had preyed upon his peace, and subjected him at last to the disease that proved in its consequences the means of dragging him to his grave.
Of his attachment to the Society, and of his zeal for their service, the following Extracts from his Letters are remarkably expressive:
“Money! it is a vile slave!—I have at present an œconomy of a more exalted kind to observe. I have the eyes of some of the first men of the first kingdom on earth turned upon me. I am engaged by those very men, in the most important object that any private individual can be engaged in: I have their approbation to acquire, or to lose; and their esteem also, which I prize beyond every thing, except the independent idea of serving mankind. Should rashness or desperation carry me through, whatever fame the vain and injudicious might bestow, I should not accept of it;—it is the good and great I look to: fame from them bestowed is altogether different, and is closely allied to a well-done from God: but rashness will not be likely to carry me through any more than timid caution. To find the necessary medium of conduct, to vary and apply it to contingencies, is the œconomy I allude to; and if I succeed by such means, men of sense in any succeeding epoch will not blush to follow me, and perfect those Discoveries I have only abilities to trace out roughly, or, a disposition to attempt.
“A Turkish sopha has no charms for me: if it had, I could soon obtain one here. I could to-morrow take the command of the best armament of Ishmael Bey.—I should be sure of success, and its consequential honours. Believe me, a single well-done from your Association has more worth in it to me, than all the trappings of the East; and what is still more precious, is, the pleasure I have in the justification of my own conduct at the tribunal of my own heart.”
To those who have never seen Mr. Ledyard, it may not, perhaps, be uninteresting to know, that his person, though scarcely exceeding the middle size, was remarkably expressive of activity and strength; and that his manners, though unpolished, were neither uncivil nor unpleasing. Little attentive to difference of rank, he seemed to consider all men as his equals, and as such he respected them. His genius, though uncultivated and irregular, was original and comprehensive. Ardent in his wishes, yet calm in his deliberations; daring in his purposes, but guarded in his measures; impatient of controul, yet capable of strong endurance; adventurous beyond the conception of ordinary men, yet wary and considerate, and attentive to all precautions, he appeared to be formed by Nature for atchievements of hardihood and peril.
They who compare the extent of his pilgrimage through the vast regions of Tartary with the scantiness of his funds, will naturally ask, by what means he obtained a subsistence on the road? All that I have ever learned from him on the subject, was, that his sufferings were excessive, and that more than once he owed his life to the compassionate temper of the women. This last remark is strongly confirmed by the following Extract from his account of his Siberian Tour:
“I have always remarked, that women, in all countries, are civil, obliging, tender, and humane; that they are ever inclined to be gay and chearful, timorous and modest; and that they do not hesitate, like men, to perform a generous action.—Not haughty, not arrogant, not supercilious, they are full of courtesy, and fond of society: more liable, in general, to err than man; but in general, also, more virtuous, and performing more good actions than he. To a woman, whether civilized or savage, I never addressed myself in the language of decency and friendship, without receiving a decent and friendly answer. With man it has often been otherwise.
“In wandering over the barren plains of inhospitable Denmark, through honest Sweden, and frozen Lapland, rude and churlish Finland, unprincipled Russia, and the wide spread regions of the wandering Tartar, if hungry, dry, cold, wet, or sick, the women have ever been friendly to me, and uniformly so; and to add to this virtue, (so worthy the appellation of benevolence) these actions have been performed in so free, and so kind a manner, that if I was dry, I drank the sweetest draught, and if hungry, I eat the coarse morsel with a double relish.”
But though the native benevolence, which even among Savages distinguishes and adorns the female character, might sometimes soften the severity of his sufferings, yet at others he seems to have endured the utmost pressure of distress.
“I am accustomed—(said he, in our last conversation—’twas on the morning of his departure for Africa)—I am accustomed to hardships. I have known both hunger and nakedness to the utmost extremity of human suffering. I have known what it is to have food given me as charity to a madman; and I have at times been obliged to shelter myself under the miseries of that character to avoid a heavier calamity. My distresses have been greater than I have ever owned, or ever will own to any man. Such evils are terrible to bear; but they never yet had power to turn me from my purpose. If I live, I will faithfully perform, in its utmost extent, my engagement to the Society; and if I perish in the attempt, my honour will still be safe, for death cancels all bonds.”
Arrival of Mr. Lucas at Tripoli. — His Reception by the Bashaw. — His Journey to Mesurata with the Shereefs Fouwad and Imhammed. — His Mode of obtaining from the latter an Account of his Travels in the Interior Countries of Africa. — His Return to England.
Mr. Lucas, having taken his passage at Marseilles, on board the St. Jean Baptiste, a small vessel belonging to that port, embarked on the 18th of October, 1788; and on the 25th of the same month arrived in the harbour of Tripoli.
The date trees, which spread themselves like a forest behind the town, and the hills beyond them, which bound the prospect on the South, are interesting objects; but the town itself is built in too low a situation to compose a part of the general scene: for it is scarcely visible at the distance of a mile.
The first appearance of Tripoli may disappoint, by its meanness, the expectations of the traveller; but if he reflects on the nature of a despotic government, ever incompatible with permanent prosperity, he will not be surprized when he finds, on a nearer view, that the city, though the capital of an empire, exhibits through all its extent, the marks of a rapid decay; that its scanty limits, though scarcely four miles in circumference, are too great for its present population; and that its antient castle, though once the pride, and still the residence, of the reigning family, is now a mouldering ruin.
The expected ceremonial of announcing to the Bashaw, which is the title of the Sovereign, and to the Consul of the State, to whom the vessel belongs, her arrival in the harbour, having been regularly observed, Mr. Lucas, accompanied by Mr. Tully, the British Resident, waited on Hadgee Abdrahaman, the Tripoline Minister for Foreign Affairs, who had formerly resided in England as Ambassador from the Bashaw; and having known Mr. Lucas there, received him now with the joy of an old acquaintance, and the cordiality of an intimate friend. Encouraged by this kindness, Mr. Lucas explained to him the object of his mission, and requested that he would present and recommend him to the Bashaw, and to the Prince, his eldest son, who is distinguished by the title of the Bey. The Minister consented; and the next morning was, accordingly, appointed by the Bashaw for the first of these audiences: the morning after was fixed on by the Bey for the latter.
The Bashaw, a short and robust old man, of a fair complexion, a pleasing countenance, and an affable, joyous disposition, received Mr. Lucas with great complacency, and accepted, with much satisfaction, his present of a pair of double-barrelled pistols, mounted with silver; but expressed his surprize, when leave was asked to visit his kingdom of Fezzan: for the journey, he said, had never been attempted by a Christian. Mr. Lucas replied, that he was led to undertake it by the report which he had heard of various Roman antiquities in different parts of the kingdom, and by the hope of collecting a variety of medicinal plants that are not to be found in Europe. The Bashaw appeared to be satisfied, and promised that, on the first opportunity of a safe conveyance, he would give him such aids for the journey as his countenance and protection could afford.
On the next morning Mr. Lucas was presented to the Bey, the Bashaw’s eldest son, a tall and well shaped, but dark complexioned man, in the middle period of life; and was received by him with the engaging politeness for which he is eminently distinguished. The present that was made to him, except that its value was inferior, was similar to that which had been given to his father; and the assurances of the protection and friendship, which he offered in return, were the same in effect with those which the Bashaw had expressed.
Soon after his presentation at Court, Mr. Lucas was informed that some of the principal Tribes of the tributary Arabs had lately revolted from the Government, and were then in actual rebellion; that all the frontiers of Tripoli, on the side of the Desert, were infested by their inroads; that a caravan from the inland country had lately been attacked, and that a Spanish Merchant had been plundered within a few miles of the Capital. Mr. Lucas was also informed, that the Bashaw, who has no regular forces, was preparing to raise, on this occasion, an army of 2,000 men; that as soon as the grass should be high enough to afford the necessary forage for the cattle, which it would be in the month of December, they would begin their march to the frontier, where they would be joined by the troops of such of the Arabs as continued faithful to the Government.
With this army, the collective numbers of which were expected to amount to five or six thousand men, it was hoped that the Bey, by the usual enforcements of predatory war, would be able to reduce the rebellious Tribes to their antient obedience, and to the payment of the customary tribute.
But while, from this expectation, Mr. Lucas waited with impatience for the departure of the army, he was informed that two Shereefs from Fezzan, who were both, as their title announces, descended from the Prophet, and one of whom had married the daughter of the King, were arrived in Tripoli. They came there as Merchants, and brought with them, for sale, a variety of articles, of which slaves and senna were the chief; and as the reverence in which the descendants of Mahomet are held secures their persons from violence, and their property from plunder, they did not think that the restoration of peace was requisite for the safety of their return. It was, therefore, with much satisfaction that the Minister, whose intimate acquaintance they were, received from them an assurance, that if Mr. Lucas could bear the fatigue of the journey, they would take him under their protection, and would be answerable for his safe arrival in Fezzan.
The next morning, in consequence of this conversation, the Shereefs waited upon Mr. Lucas. One of them, whose rank as son-in-law to the King, entitled him to the first consideration, was a tall, thin, copper complexioned man, of too slender a frame for his height, which was nearly six feet, but of an appearance that was expressive of dignity: to this appearance the sedateness of his manners, and the fewness, but solidity of his words were particularly suited. His age was seemingly about thirty-five years, and his name was Mohammed Bensein Hassen Fouwad. The other Shereef was a lively old man, short and thin, and dark coloured, almost to blackness; affable, free, and entertaining in his conversation, and much respected by his companion, to whom he was related. His name was Imhammed, and his age about fifty years.
After many compliments, for which their countrymen are famous, they expressed to Mr. Lucas the pleasure they should feel in presenting him to their King, who had never seen a Christian Traveller, and would be highly gratified by so new a visit. They assured him of every accommodation which their country could afford, and of every proof which they themselves could give of the kindest good will, and of the sincerest friendship. The conference was concluded by a present from Mr. Lucas of a pair of pistols to each, with a suitable quantity of powder and ball, and flints.
The Bashaw, being informed by the Minister of the proposal and promises of the Shereefs, expressed his approbation of the scheme, and sent, from his own stables, as a present to Mr. Lucas, a handsome mule for the journey. The Bey, too, was no sooner acquainted with the arrangements, than he gave directions to a Jew taylor, who had been employed in making, and had just finished his own tent, to wait upon Mr. Lucas, and take his orders for such a tent as would be requisite for his journey.
But while in this manner Mr. Lucas was preparing for his departure, and had bespoke a Turkish dress for himself, and a magnificent robe, as a present, for the King of Fezzan, an apprehension arose in the mind of the Bashaw, that if Mr. Lucas should be taken prisoner by the Rebels, he himself should be reduced to the distressing dilemma of either concluding a disadvantageous peace, or of abandoning the Interpreter of the King of Great Britain to all the insults, and to all the cruelties which those Barbarians might be disposed to inflict.
For this reason, the force of which will be much more apparent, if the respect in which the office of Interpreter in a Mahometan Government is usually held, be considered, he expressed his desire (and in this desire his eldest son, the Bey, entirely concurred) that Mr. Lucas would defer his intended journey till the revolted Arabs should be reduced to obedience, and the peace of the Desert be restored. A few days after this requisition, the Bey began his march with an army of 300 horse and 1500 foot.
The Shereefs were no sooner informed of the obstacle which had arisen to the journey of their intended fellow-traveller, than they expressed as much chagrin and disappointment as Mr. Lucas himself could feel; for they said, that they had already sent word to their Sovereign, that they should soon have the pleasure to present to him a Christian, who had travelled from his native land, (a journey of many moons) with no other view than to gratify his wish to visit him, and to see his kingdom of Fezzan:—that his anger would fall heavily on them, to whom he would attribute the disappointment; and would probably lead him to inflict on them the greatest indignity that Shereefs can endure, that of having dust heaped upon their heads.
Impressed with these apprehensions, the Shereefs waited upon the Bashaw, and offered to be responsible with their lives for the safety of the Christian.
In this unfavourable state of Mr. Lucas’s prospects, an old man of the class of Maraboots (a name which is given to persons of distinguished sanctity) informed the Minister, with whom he had been long acquainted, that he meant, in a few days, to take his departure for Fezzan; and that as the Rebels, in consequence of the march of the Bashaw’s forces, had removed from that part of the country through which he intended to pass, he would engage that, under his conduct, Mr. Lucas should travel in safety.
With this proposal Mr. Lucas, by the advice of the Minister, and with the consent of the Bashaw, had determined to comply, though against his own opinion, for the countenance and behaviour of the Maraboot had suggested suspicions of his sincerity; but while he was preparing for his departure, which was fixed for the Monday following, the Bashaw, on further reflection, concluded that the plan which the Shereefs had proposed would, on the whole, be attended with the smallest hazard.
The scheme of the journey being thus finally settled, the Bashaw, at the request of the Minister, presented Mr. Lucas with a letter of recommendation to the King of Fezzan, of which the following is a translation.
“Praise be unto the Almighty God, and unto our Lord his Prophet Mahommed, whose protection and mercy we crave, and resign ourselves to his holy will: to our Son Sydy Hamed Benmohamed, the great and just ruler over his beloved people; may his days be long and happy. Amen.
“Peace, and the protection and blessing of God, be with you, and preserve you from evil.
“We have to acquaint you, our son, that our friend, the English King, hath sent one of his Interpreters unto us, and desired we would procure him a safe conveyance to Fezzan, where he goes for his own amusement and pleasure; and as we have found a person whom we esteem, and who has promised us to take great care of him, we have consented to let the said Interpreter and his friends[1] go with him to Fezzan. We have to desire that you will shew him and his friends every kindness in your power, and comply with all his wishes; and should he be inclined to go to any other place, you will send proper people to conduct him, and to protect him in every thing; for he is a man of sense, and much esteemed by us; wherefore we recommend him to your care and protection. Peace and the blessing of God be with you: from the Slave of God, Ally Benkaramaly, whose greatness is under the protection of God. Dated in the Moon of Rabeah thénee 1203”—(which corresponds with the month of January, 1789.)
To this rout by Mesurata, though not so direct as the antient passage by the way of the Mountains of Guariano, the Merchants who trade to Fezzan have lately given the preference: for in the first place, they avoid the oppressive contributions, which, even in time of peace, the rapacious tribes of Hooled Bensoliman and Benioleed, who inhabit those hills, have often levied on travellers; and in the next place, they have not only the advantage of sending their heavy merchandize to Mesurata by sea, but have also an opportunity of hiring there, at a much lower rate than at Tripoli, the camels for which they have occasion.
On Sunday the first of February, 1789, at half an hour after eight in the morning, the Shereefs, accompanied by Mr. Lucas, took their departure from the suburbs of Tripoli, where, in a garden which is situated at the distance of three miles from the town, and which belonged to a Tripoline Merchant, who was travelling with them to Fezzan, they and their attendants had slept the evening before.
The caravan was composed of the Shereef Fouwad, and of three other Merchants, on horseback, all of them well armed; of the little old Shereef, who rode upon an ass; of Mr. Lucas, who was mounted on the mule which the Bashaw had given him; of Mr. Lucas’s black servant, well armed, upon a camel; of twelve Fezzaners on foot, but armed; of three Negros and their wives, who had been slaves at Tripoli, but having obtained their freedom, were now travelling to Fezzan on their return to their native country; and of twenty-one camels, with fifteen drivers, each of whom was armed with a musket and a pistol.
That so few camels were requisite in this part of the journey, was owing to the expedient which the Shereefs, with great œconomy, had adopted, of sending their heavy merchandize by sea to Mesurata.
At twelve o’clock, the caravan, whose course was E.S.E. passed through the town of Tajarah, a miserable collection of clay-walled huts, of which some were covered with terrace, and the rest with roofs of thatch: but wretched as the buildings are, the country around them abounds with date trees, among which a few of the olive are intermixed.
At five the caravan encamped for the night upon a sandy eminence. No sooner were the camels unburthened of their loads, than their drivers turned them loose to feed on the stubble of the valleys, and on the brambles of the adjacent hills; but though their freedom is thus given them, they never stray to a greater distance than that of two or three hundred paces from the camp.
The loads in the mean time are piled in a circle, and, except at the narrow opening which forms the entrance, are stowed as close as possible to each other. Within this circle the Merchants and drivers and servants spread their mats and carpets. Here, also, they light their fires and dress their victuals; and without any other covering than their alhaiques or blankets (for very few are furnished with a tent) lie down amidst the heavy dews and occasional storms of rain that fall upon the coast, and sleep as soundly as in a bed: for the wetness of their cloaths, which is often the consequence of this exposure, is little regarded, and from the salubrity of the climate, is attended with little inconvenience.
Mr. Lucas’s tent being spread, the two Shereefs, with three of their friends, took up their quarters with him: and on the first appearance of supper, which was served in a large wooden dish, and consisted of dried meat, and of flour formed into balls, and dressed in steam, they all sat down with the familiarity of near relations, and dipping their right hands into the dish, without either spoons or forks or knives, devoured, with a voracious and disgusting haste, the whole that was set before them.
The conclusion of the meal was followed by the ceremony of washing, which consisted in each man’s dipping his right hand into the same water which his companions had used. Coffee being then brought in, they lighted their pipes, and each of them having drank three or four dishes as he smoaked, they laid themselves down in their cloaths, upon the bare sand, and conversed together till they talked themselves to sleep.
February 2d. The next morning, at day-break, the drivers began to re-load the camels: at eight o’clock the caravan was again in motion; from which time till half an hour after four, they travelled amidst dreary hills of loose and barren sand, where they saw neither man nor beast, neither wood nor water.
A small valley between the hills, from which, to their great annoyance, the shifting sand was continually blown down upon them, was the place of their encampment; a place entirely destitute of water, but from this circumstance they felt no sort of inconvenience, as they had brought with them, in goat skins, an ample store.
February 3d. At half an hour after seven in the morning, they proceeded on their journey, and having emerged from the sand hills about two in the afternoon, were charmed with the sight of olive and of date trees, of large quantities of white thorn, and of the Spanish broom; yet the soil is dry and stoney, and the few fields of grain which present themselves here and there to the eye, exhibit in their scanty and meagre appearance, the marks of an ungracious and sullen vegetation.
On the right or S.E. of their road, at the distance of about twenty miles, the mountains of Guariano and Misselata rise upon the view.—A sight that recals to the mind of the experienced Traveller, and leads him to relate to the stranger, the beauty of the vales, the richness of the lands, abounding in corn and oil, and the fierce inhospitable disposition of the inhabitants, that compels the caravan to turn from their dominions, its direct and antient road, and to take its course among the desolate hills, and dreary wastes of the sandy and barren coast.[2]
A request from the Shereef Fouwad was now made to Mr. Lucas for his consent to encamp that evening in the neighbourhood of an old Arab, his particular friend, with whom he had business to transact, but whose residence was two hours march to the South of their road. They accordingly turned to the South, and about five o’clock, after a tedious and difficult passage among rocky hills, they approached the tents of the Arab. The old gentleman, accompanied by his two sons and a few attendants, came forward to meet them; and after expressing great satisfaction at the sight of his friend, the Shereef, he ordered a tent to be cleared for their reception, and in the mean time conducted them to a mat and carpet, which his servants had spread for them under a hedge; for, notwithstanding the season of the year, the heat was already troublesome. They had not been seated long when their host invited them to their tent, in which a number of mats and carpets were neatly laid.—A sheep was killed, and sent to be dressed for their suppers; bowls of buttermilk were brought for their present refreshment, and barley in abundance was given to such of their cattle as were accustomed to that kind of food; while the camels, as usual, were sent to feed among the hills.
At eight o’clock the supper was brought to the tent, and was placed before them in two large wooden dishes. Of these the first contained the mutton, which was boiled, and cut into small pieces: the other was filled with a boiled paste of dried barley meal, made up in the form of an English pudding, and surrounded with a great quantity of oil. This dish, which was intended as an accompaniment to the mutton, and which is in much estimation at Tripoli, is called bazeen.
While Mr. Lucas tasted of the last, and eat with pleasure of the first of these dishes, and the Fezzaners, with their usual dispatch, were devouring the contents of both, the old man and his sons stood by to supply them with water and buttermilk; for the rules of the Arab hospitality require, that during their meals the master of the house should wait upon his guests.
Feb. 4th. The next morning, at seven o’clock, the entertainment was repeated, with the same marks of a kind and liberal welcome; for the old man is rich in corn and cattle, and having obtained the character of a Musselman Saint, or Maraboot, is, on that account, exempted from the payment of taxes.
After a march of three hours, during which the rout was perplexed, and the eye fatigued by a continued succession of rocky hills, the caravan arrived at the entrance of an extensive and beautiful plain, that every where exhibited a luxuriant growth of olive trees, intermixed with dates.
The next two hours brought them to the sea coast, and to all that now exists of the town of Lebida, where, in the ruins of a temple, and in the much more perfect remains of several triumphal arches, the Traveller contemplates the magnificence of an antient Roman colony; and discovers, in the beauty and fertile appearance of the adjoining plain, the reasons which led them to chuse, for a sea-port town, a situation that furnishes no natural harbour.
Eastward of the ruins, for about five and twenty miles, the soil, though entirely unaided by the poor Arabs who inhabit it, exhibits the same luxuriant vegetation; and the scene is rendered still more interesting by the remains of a stupendous aqueduct, which formerly conveyed to Lebida the water of a distant hill.
At half an hour after five, and in the neighbourhood of a miserable village, the caravan encamped for the night.
Feb. 5th. The next day’s journey, which was attended with nothing remarkable, and during which they followed the line of the coast, brought them to Zuleteen, an inconsiderable town, where they found that a boat, to which a part of their baggage was intrusted, had been compelled by a storm to deposit her cargo. From this circumstance, and the necessity which followed it, of hiring six additional camels for their goods, the departure of the caravan on the next day (February 6th) was retarded till two o’clock in the afternoon. At the end of the first hour’s march, they were informed by some friendly Arabs, who were moving their tents and cattle, for the sake of protection, to the suburbs of the town, that on the preceding afternoon a party of the rebel tribe of Hooled Bensoliman, from the neighbouring hills, had attacked a small caravan belonging to Mesurata, and after killing four of the people, had carried off the camels and baggage:—and they were also informed, that on that very morning two men, who were going from Mesurata to the market, which is held at some distance from the town, were robbed and killed by the same party. At this news a Council was summoned to determine on the prudence of attempting to proceed; for the Shereefs began to distrust the sufficiency of that title to an exemption from the violence of war, on which, when the danger was distant, they had so confidently relied. The opinion of Mr. Lucas being asked, he observed, that as the party which committed the depredations were described as not more than forty or fifty in number, and were consequently much too weak to resist the detachment that, they must be sure, would be sent from Mesurata to revenge the violences of which they had been guilty, he had not the smallest doubt of their being already returned to the refuge of their mountains; but that at any rate, their own numbers, considering how well they were armed, were amply sufficient to defend them from the attacks of such petty marauders. Pleased with an opinion which gave them the prospect of but little danger, they fresh primed their muskets and pistols, and singing as they went, drove merrily on.
At six o’clock they encamped upon a hill directly opposite to the enemy’s mountains, that were now within twelve or fifteen miles; and having lighted, by Mr. Lucas’s advice, about seventy fires, for which the dry brush-wood that was near them furnished the means, they had soon the satisfaction of observing, that the fires of the enemy, who probably mistook them for the troops of Mesurata, were all extinguished.
Feb. 7th. The next morning at day-break, in the midst of a storm from the S.W. of violent rain and wind, they left the hill; and after a tempestuous march of four hours, they discerned through the heavy atmosphere, which now began to clear, a party of fifty or sixty Arabs upon a rising ground, at a distance, to the left.—That more were concealed behind the hill, they had not the smallest doubt; but as escape was impossible, and consultation useless, they resolved unanimously to make rather than receive the attack. The Shereef Fouwad took the command, and having given the charge of the camels to the three Negros and their wives, with orders to drive them slowly, and keep them close together, led on the rest of the party. The horse, with the Shereef at their head, formed the van, while those on foot were mixed together in a croud, dancing, and shouting, and twirling their muskets over their heads, and running round each other like madmen, till they came within shot of their antagonists, when they suddenly dispersed, and each man squatted down behind a bush, to shelter himself and take a surer aim. The horse were now close upon the enemy, and were levelling their pieces at the foremost, when one of the latter laid down his musket, and called to them not to fire, for they were friends.
A moment’s pause was followed by a mutual recollection, and they exhibited, on both sides, the most extravagant marks of joy. They ran round each other like a flock of frighted sheep, and danced, and shouted, and twirled their guns over their heads, till they were tired, when they sat down and began a reciprocal congratulation on their safety. The strangers said that they were herdsmen belonging to Mesurata; that for want of pasturage near the town, they had brought their flocks to feed upon these hills; that they were 200 armed men, and that they did not fear the enemy.
After this information, and the exchange of civilities, the caravan continued its journey, and at six in the evening arrived at Mesurata.
The Governor, whose politeness and natural good sense had been improved by a long residence in Italy, received Mr. Lucas with marks of the greatest attention; but expressed his fear that, while the war continued, the Shereefs would not be able to obtain from the Rebel Arabs, who alone could furnish them, the 120 camels which were requisite for the conveyance of their goods: and that, as the prospect of peace was at present remote, and the sultry season would soon commence, he saw but little chance of their reaching Fezzan before the following Winter.
Feb. 9th. Information was now received at Mesurata, that the Bey’s army, which consisted of 1,500 horse and 6,000 foot, was encamped within five hours march of the Rebels, whose force was composed of 600 horse and 10,000 foot, and was commanded by a powerful Chief of the name of Séife Bennazar.
It was also said, that the Tribes of the friendly Arabs, who formed the principal part of the Tripoline army, were too closely connected, by intermarriages and the force of antient alliance, with many of the Rebel Clans, to bring with them to the battle that sort of zeal which Government could safely trust.
Feb. 10th. Such was the situation of affairs when the Shereef Fouwad requested from the Governor, to whom he was strongly recommended by the Minister, a public and formal declaration, that if the hostile Arabs would send to Mesurata 120 camels, with their drivers, for the conveyance of the merchandize of the Shereefs to Fezzan, both they and their cattle should be perfectly secure. The Governor replied, that by his own authority alone he could not, with either prudence or effect, announce to the Rebel Arabs such a stipulation; but that he would summon a Council of the Chiefs of the town, and would propose the business to them; though he himself was persuaded, that should they consent to the Shereef’s requisition, as he hoped they would, the Rebel Arabs were much too cautious to rely on the good faith of such an engagement.
Feb. 11th. The next morning, a Council of six of the principal inhabitants, with the Governor as President, assembled in Mr. Lucas’s tent, (for the Governor’s own house was near the sea, at the distance of six miles from Mesurata) and unanimously agreed that a letter should be written by the Governor, and signed by himself and by all the Members of the Council, to assure the hostile Arabs, that such of their camels and of their people, as they might send at the request of the Shereef, should neither be detained or molested within the jurisdiction of Mesurata. This letter, accompanied by one from the Shereef, in which he desired to be furnished with 120 camels for the carriage of his goods, was accordingly sent on that very day, by an express, to a rebel province, in which he had many friends, and which is called Gouady.
Feb. 14th. In three days from the time of his departure, the express returned, and brought with him a reply, in which the Arabs observed that, as the country was in arms, they could not with prudence trust their camels from under their own protection, much less could they spare their people.
Notwithstanding this answer, the Shereef Fouwad conceived that the refusal of the Arabs was solely dictated by a distrust of the sort of security which was offered by the Governor and Council of Mesurata; for independently of the doubts which the Arabs might entertain of their good faith, it was evident, that without the sanction of the Bey, who commanded the army, their engagement, at the utmost, could not extend beyond their own jurisdiction. But if the Bey himself would guaranty the safety of the camels and their drivers, by granting them a pass, the Shereef concluded that the real objections of the Arabs would be entirely removed. With this view, on the 27th of February, the Shereef and two of his countrymen set out for the camp, which they reached on the second day, as it was not far from Mesurata; but their trouble was fruitless, for the Bey could not be prevailed on to assent to their proposal.
All hopes of obtaining, before the conclusion of the war, a sufficient conveyance for the goods being thus at an end, the Council resolved that, until peace should be established, the Shereefs and the other Merchants of the caravan should be at liberty to warehouse their packages in the public store-rooms of the Governor.
Deprived, in this manner, of all prospect of arriving this year at Fezzan, and doubtful if the state of the country would encourage, or his own situation permit the attempt in the Winter, Mr. Lucas resolved to avail himself to the utmost of such means of information as the knowledge of his fellow-travellers enabled them to afford.
He had already discovered that the little old Shereef Imhammed had been often employed by the King of Fezzan as his Factor in the Slave Trade; and in that capacity had travelled to Bornou and different parts of Nigritia; and he now determined to cultivate his friendship with double solicitude, and by occasional presents and frequent conversation, to draw from him an account of the countries which he had seen. With this view he, one evening, took from his pocket his map of Africa, and after satisfying the Shereef’s curiosity as to its nature and use, told him that he once intended it as a present to the King of Fezzan; but, that having discovered in it several mistakes, he now proposed to draw another that should be more correct. The Shereef replied, that the King would be highly gratified with such a present. Mr. Lucas said, that if he would assist him with an account of the distances from place to place, in such parts of the country as he had visited, and with their names in Arabic, and would also satisfy him as to such questions as he should ask, he would prepare two corrected copies of the map, and would give one of them to the King and the other to himself. The Shereef was delighted with the proposal; and they immediately retired to a sand hill at some distance from the tent, that their conversation might be unreserved and uninterrupted. Many successive days were employed in the same manner; and as Mr. Lucas wrote down, at the time, the information which he obtained, he was soon possessed of such an account of Fezzan, Bornou, and Nigritia, especially of the two former, as much diminished the chagrin of his own disappointment.
One afternoon, as they sat together on the customary hill, they were suddenly disturbed by the loud screams and dismal howlings of all the women of Mesurata—a mode of alarming and collecting the men, which is always practised among the Arabs, on the approach of thieves, or of an invading enemy.
In a few minutes the townsmen were under arms, and together with the Shereef Fouwad, the other Fezzaners, and Mr. Lucas’s Black, went hastily on to the place where the Rebels were said to have appeared:—there they found that the women had been deceived. It seems an ass had strayed into a field of barley; and as the owner of the corn, who was armed, and happened to pass by at the time, went into the field to drive out the animal, the women mistook him for one of the Rebels, and conceiving that many more were concealed, (for they often come down from the mountains to steal the cattle) had given the usual alarm.
In a few minutes, Mr. Lucas and the old Shereef, who had both continued on the hill, observed the Fezzaners coming sulkily back, and cursing the women for so foolish a disturbance, whilst the townsmen, on the contrary, fired their pieces, and rejoiced in their disappointment as much as if they had conquered an army.
A few days afterwards, a second alarm was given, and with much more reason than the first; for a party of the Rebel Arabs, some on horseback, and others on foot, had suddenly appeared within two miles of the town, and after killing two herdsmen, and seizing three Black slaves, their assistants, had carried off sixty goats, fourteen cows, and three camels.
The attack was made at a time when most of the townsmen were at the market, which is held at the distance of three miles from Mesurata; and to add to their indignation, it was made in a place which hitherto had been deemed inviolable; for the land on which the cattle were feeding was considered as under the immediate protection of a departed Saint, whose remains were buried there, and whose sanctuary, it was thought, no Musselman, however accustomed to robbery and blood, could venture to profane.
March 13th. Letters by express from the camp were now received by the Governor, which announced, that in consequence of the Bey’s having entered the country of the Rebels, and turned his cattle to pasture in their corn, an engagement, which soon became general, had ensued; that after a loss of 150 men, the Rebels had retired to the mountains; and that the Bey, at the expence in killed and wounded, of not more than twenty-six horse and seventy or eighty foot, had obtained possession of ten or twelve thousand sheep, and of three hundred camels.
Mr. Lucas congratulated the Governor on the victory, who thanked him; but “I fear,” said he, shaking his head, “that the news requires confirmation. There was a time, indeed, when the people of Tripoli knew how to conquer, and the Arabs trembled at the sight of an encampment.”
March 15th. On the next day but one, accounts were brought by different persons who arrived from the camp, that there had indeed been a skirmish, in their relation of which they varied much from each other; but they all agreed that the Bey had lost a greater number of men, and that the only cattle which he had obtained, were a few camels and some sheep that the straggling parties from the camp had seized.
Wearied with fruitless expectations of a peace, disappointed in their expedients, and warned by the increasing heat, that the season for a journey to Fezzan was already past, the Shereefs now resolved to proceed to the intended places of their Summer residence.
The Shereef Fouwad retired to Wadan, his native town; and the Shereef Imhammed, with tears in his eyes, and an earnest prayer that he might see his friend Mr. Lucas again in November, retired to the mountains, where he had many acquaintance, and could live at a small expence.
March 20th. A few days afterwards, Mr. Lucas took leave of the Governor, to whose civilities he had been much indebted, and having accompanied a small caravan as far as Lebida, embarked in a coasting vessel at the neighbouring village of Legatah, and went by sea to Tripoli, where the Bashaw, upon whom he waited, and to whom with many acknowledgments he returned the mule, not only received him with great kindness, but expressed his hope that better fortune would attend him another year.
April 6th. From Tripoli he sailed for Malta, and after a tedious quarantine, which the suspicion of the plague at Mesurata had much prolonged, he took his departure for Marseilles, and on the 26th of July arrived in England.
An account has already been given of the opportunity which the length of his residence in Mesurata afforded to Mr. Lucas, of obtaining from the Shereef Imhammed a description of the Kingdom of Fezzan, and of such of the countries beyond it to the South as the Shereef himself had visited.
But though this intelligent stranger had no discoverable motive for deception, yet as the solitary evidence of any individual excites but a dubious belief, Mr. Lucas was anxious to learn from the Governor of Mesurata, who had formerly travelled to Fezzan, his idea of the truth of the Narrative. With this view he asked and received the Governor’s permission to read to him the memorandums that the repeated conversations of Imhammed had enabled him to make.
“The Shereef’s Account of Fezzan,” said the Governor, “my own knowledge confirms; and many of the particulars which he relates of Bornou and Cashna I have heard from the report of others. His countrymen say that he is better acquainted with both than any other individual among them; and such is the opinion which the King himself entertains of his probity, knowledge, and talents, that to his management is always entrusted whatever business in either of those empires his Sovereign has to transact.”
But while Mr. Lucas, with a prudent and laudable caution, was thus endeavouring to ascertain the truth of the Shereef’s account, another, and perhaps more decisive test of its value was fortunately obtained in England.—For, before the return of Mr. Lucas, or the arrival of his papers, the Committee of the Association, assisted by Mr. Dodsworth, (whose residence of fourteen years in Barbary had given him a competent knowledge of Arabic) had procured from Ben Alli, a native of Morocco, at that time in London, an account of all those countries to the South of the Desart of Zahara, which, in the course of his extensive Travels as a Merchant, he had formerly visited: and though his remarks appear to be those of a superficial Observer, who possesses activity of spirit rather than energy of mind, and whose remembrance of what he saw is impaired by the lapse of near twenty years; yet, (as will be seen in the following pages) the general conformity of his description of Bornou to that which the Shereef has given, has an obvious tendency to strengthen the credit of the latter.
This short account of the nature of the only external evidence that has yet been obtained in support of the following Narrative seemed to be due from the Committee; but in what degree that evidence is impressive of belief, or what internal marks of authenticity the Work itself may afford, the judgment of others must decide; for on these points, it is evident that each individual must determine for himself. In forming his opinion, however, it is requisite he should know, that while the most anxious attention has been given to the faithful preservation of the sense of the Original, an entire change has been made in its language and arrangement; a change which, the obvious advantage of methodizing conversations, as desultory as they were numerous, of separating the blended accounts of unconnected objects, and of uniting a variety of broken and detached descriptions of the same thing, has unavoidably occasioned.
Rout from Mesurata — Enumeration of the principal Towns of Fezzan — Account of its Climate and principal Productions — Description of the Manners, Religion, and Government of its People, their Revenue, Administration of Justice, and Military Force.
Fezzan, whose small and circular domain is placed in the vast Wilderness, as an island in the midst of the ocean, is situated to the South of Mesurata. A journey of eight days, through districts but little inhabited or improved, though naturally not unfertile, conducts the Traveller to the town of Wadan, where every requisite for the refreshment of the caravan is found.—From thence, in five hours, he arrives at the forlorn village of Houn, on the edge of the Desart of Soudah, on whose black and obdurate soil, the basis of which is a soft stone, no vegetable but the Talk is seen to grow. To this tree, which is of the size of the small Olive, and bears a sprig of yellow flowers, the husbandman of Fezzan is indebted for the hard and lemon-coloured wood of which he forms the handles of his tools, and the frames of his larger instruments. Having crossed the Desart, which furnishes no water, and for the passage of which four days are requisite, the Traveller accepts the refreshments of a miserable village that affords him nothing but dates of the worst quality, some brackish water, and a small supply of Indian corn, of the species called Gassób. From Zéghen, by which name the village is distinguished, a single day conducts him to the town of Sebbah, where the large remains of an antient castle, built upon a hill, and other venerable ruins, that in point of extent are compared to those of Lebida, impress on his mind the melancholy idea of departed greatness; while, on the other hand, the humble dwellings of the modern inhabitants, and the rich vegetation of their neighbouring fields, present to his eye an ample store of all that is requisite for the sustenance of man.—Dates, barley, Indian corn, pompions, cucumbers, fig trees, pomegranates, and apricots, and for meaner purposes, the white thorn and Spanish broom are described as but a part of the numerous vegetables that reward the industry of the people. The animals in which they most abound are said to be the common fowl, and the brown long-haired and broad-tailed sheep.
From Sebbah a journey of two days transports the Traveller to Goddoua, a small town of similar produce; and from thence, in two days more, he arrives at Mourzouk, the capital of the kingdom of Fezzan.
This city[3] is surrounded by a high wall, which not only furnishes the means of defence, but affords to the Government an opportunity of collecting, at its three gates, a tax on all goods (though provisions are exempted) that are brought for the supply of its people. Its distance from Mesurata, which borders on the coast, and with respect to which its situation is nearly South, is about[4] 390 miles.
Eastward of Mourzouk, and situated in a district of remarkable fertility, is the town of Zuéela, in which the remnants of antient buildings, the number and size of the cisterns, and the construction of the vaulted caves, intended perhaps as repositories for corn, exhibit such vestiges of antient splendour, as will probably attract, and may highly reward the attention of the future Traveller.
To the South of Zuéela, and nearly at the same distance from the capital, is the town of Jermah, which, like Zuéela, is distinguished by the numerous herds, especially of sheep and goats, that are seen around it; by the various and abundant produce of its adjacent fields; and by numerous and majestic ruins, that exhibit to the ignorant inhabitants of its clay-built cottages inscriptions of which they know not the meaning, and vestiges of greatness to which they are perfectly indifferent.
Tessouwa, a considerable town, is also situated to the Eastward of the capital; but seems to have no claim to particular attention. Near this town, a river which the Shereef describes as overwhelmed in the moving sands, but which he remembers a deep and rapid stream, had formerly its course.
More remote from Mourzouk, being distant from it in a N.E. direction, about 120 miles, is the large town of Temmissa. Here the caravan of Pilgrims from Bornou and Nigritia, which takes its departure from Mourzouk, and travels by the way of Cairo to Mecca, usually provides the stores of corn and dates, and dried meat, that are requisite for its dreary passage.
S.E. from the capital, and distant from it about sixty miles, is the small town of Kattrón, which seems to be remarkable for nothing but the quantity which it breeds of the common fowl, and for the abundant crops of Indian corn which the neighbouring lands afford.
Very differently distinguished is the town, or rather the province, of Mendrah, for though much of its land is a continued level of hard and barren soil, the quantity of Trona, a species of fossil alkali that floats on the surface, or settles on the banks of its numerous smoaking lakes, has given it a higher importance than that of the most fertile districts.
Of this valuable produce great quantities are annually brought by the Merchants of Fezzan to Tripoli, from whence it is shipped for Turkey and Tunis, and the dominions of the Emperor of Morocco. The people of the latter employ it as an ingredient in the red dye of the leather, for which they are famous, and in that of the woollen caps that are worn by the Arabs and the Moors as the basis of their turbans.
The situation of Mendrah is nearly South from the capital, and is distant from it about sixty miles.
To the account which has been given of the principal towns of Fezzan, that of Tegérhy alone remains to be added. It is but a small town, is situated S.W. of the capital, about eighty miles, and collects from its lands but little other produce than dates and Indian corn. The territory of Fezzan, to the Westward of the capital, appears to extend but a little way; for on that side, the sullen barrenness of the Desart, more effectually than the strongest human power, prescribes a limit to the pursuits of Avarice and to the efforts of Ambition.
Of the smaller towns of Fezzan, and of its scattered villages, the number of which, including that of the towns, is said to be little less than one hundred, the Shereef has given no particular description.
The towns themselves appear to be chiefly inhabited by husbandmen and shepherds; for, though they also contain the Merchants, the Artificers, the Ministers of Religion, and the Officers of the Executive Government; yet, the business of agriculture and pasturage seems to be the principal occupation of the natives of Fezzan.
In every town a market for butcher’s meat, and corn, and fruit, and garden vegetables, is regularly held. Mutton and goats flesh are sold by the quarter, without being weighed; the usual price of a quarter of a goat or sheep is from thirty-two to forty grains of gold dust, or from four to five shillings of English money. The flesh of the camel, which is much more highly valued, is commonly sold at a dearer rate, and is divided into smaller lots.
The houses, like those of the little villages in the neighbourhood of Tripoli, are built of clay, and are covered with a flat roof, that is composed of the boughs and branches of trees, on which a quantity of earth is laid. Inartificial and defective as this covering appears, it is suited to the climate: for as rain is never known in Fezzan, the principal requisites of a roof are shelter from the dews, and protection from the sun.
The heats of the Summer, which begins in April and continues till November, are so intense, that, from nine in the morning till sun-set, the streets are frequented only by the labouring people, and even in the houses respiration would be difficult, if the expedient of wetting the apartments did not furnish its salutary aid. Of this torrid clime the fierceness is chiefly felt from the month of May to the latter end of August; during which period, the course of the wind is usually from the E. the S.E. the S. or the S.W. and though from the two latter points it blows with violence, the heat is often such as to threaten instant suffocation; but if it happens to change, as, for a few days, it sometimes does, to the W. or N.W. a reviving freshness immediately succeeds.
The dress of the inhabitants of Fezzan is similar to that of the Moors of Barbary. The immediate covering of the body consists of a pair of large trowsers, of linen or cloth, which descends to the small of the leg, and of a shirt, which is wide in the sleeves, but close at the breast, and the skirts of which hang over and conceal the upper part of the trowsers. Next to the shirt is worn a kind of waistcoat, which in shape resembles the shirt, except that it has no sleeves, and that it reaches no lower than the waist; and to the waistcoat is superadded a jacket, with tight sleeves which extend to the wrist, but which are left unbuttoned and open from the wrist almost to the elbow. Thus far their dress may be said to be similar to that of a British seaman, its colour excepted, and except too, that the shirt is not open at the breast, that the waistcoat is not fastened with buttons, but is put on like the shirt, and that the bottom of the shirt hangs down on the outside of the trowsers.
Over the jacket is worn a loose robe, which reaches below the knee, and the sleeves of which, though wider than those of the jacket, are made in the same form, and, like them, are left open at the wrist.
A girdle of crimson silk binds the robe to the waist; and a long cloth (called a barakan or alhaique) of the shape of a Highlander’s plaid, and worn in the same way, is thrown over the whole. The legs, as far as the calves, to which the trowsers descend, are covered with a kind of short stockings, which are made of leather, and are laced like the half boot of an Englishman. The feet are accommodated with slippers; and the head is protected by a red woollen cap, which is incircled by the folds of a silk or muslin turban.
Ample as this cloathing may appear, the further provision of a long cloak with a large hood is often considered as requisite. It is called a burnoose, and in fine weather is usually carried on the shoulder.
Such, when complete, is the dress of the inhabitants of Fezzan. But in the Summer months the common people have no other covering than the drawers, which decency requires; and the caps, which protect their heads from the immediate action of the sun, for in other respects their bodies are compleatly naked.
Nature and custom have formed their constitutions to such high degrees of heat, that any approach to the common temperament of Europe entirely destroys their comfort; for Mr. Lucas often observed, in his journey to Mesurata, that when the scorching heat of the noon-day beams had compelled him to seek the shade, his fellow-travellers, especially if the wind was in the North, laid themselves down, upon the sand in the open sun, in order to receive a double portion of his warmth; and when, as their custom was, they enquired after his health, they, almost always, concluded with the expression, “Heack m’andick berd,” we hope you are not cold.
The Diseases that are most frequent in Fezzan are those of the inflammatory, and those of the putrid kind.
The small-pox is common among the inhabitants; violent head-achs attack them in the Summer; and they are often afflicted with rheumatic pains.
Their old women are their principal physicians. For pains in the head they prescribe cupping and bleeding; for pains in the limbs they send their patients to bathe in the hot lakes, which produce the trona; and for obstinate achs and strains, and long continued stiffness in the muscles, they have recourse, like the horse-doctors of Europe and the physicians of Barbary, to the application of a burning iron.
The use of the strongest oils, and of the most powerful herbs, is also frequent among them.
To the nature of their climate the greatest part of their diseases is probably owing; and to this cause they are certainly indebted for the extraordinary multitude of noxious and of loathsome animals that infest their country. Adders, snakes, scorpions, and toads, are the constant inhabitants of their fields, their gardens, and their houses. The air is crowded with mosquitos; and persons of every rank are over-run with all the different kinds of vermin that attack the beggars of Europe; and though in the Summer the fleas entirely disappear, the inhabitants are scarcely sensible of relief.
In their persons, the natives of Fezzan incline to the Negro much more than to the Arab cast. Those who travelled with Mr. Lucas from Tripoli to Mesurata, and who were fourteen in number, had short curly black hair, thick lips, flat broad noses, and a dark[5] skin, which, either from their habitual nastiness, the vermin with which they are covered, or the natural rankness of their perspiration, emits the most nauseous and fetid effluvia. They are tall, but not strong; well shaped, yet indolent, inactive, and weak; and though the Shereef Fouwad is described as majestic in his appearance, yet his countrymen, in general, are considered at Tripoli as a people of remarkable ugliness.
In their common intercourse with each other all distinctions of rank appear to be forgotten; for the Shereef and the lowest plebeian, the rich and the poor, the master and the man, converse familiarly, and eat and drink together. Generous and eminently hospitable, the Fezzanner, let his fare be scanty or abundant, is ever desirous that others should partake of his meal; and if twenty people should unexpectedly visit his dwelling, they must all participate as far as it will go.
When they settle their money transactions, they squat down upon the ground, and having levelled a spot with their hands, make dots as they reckon; and if they find themselves wrong, they smooth the spot again, and repeat the calculation. All this time the by-standers, though they have nothing to do with the business, are as eager to put in their word, and to correct mistakes, as if the affair was their own. Even in common conversation, if they sit without doors, they level the sand in order to go on with their discourse, and at every sentence mark it with their fingers.
An extensive plain, encompassed by mountains, the irregular circle of which is interrupted on the West, where it seems to communicate with the Desart, composes the Kingdom of Fezzan. To the influence of the neighbouring heights it may possibly be owing, that in Fezzan, as in the Upper Egypt, the situation of which is extremely similar, no rain is ever known to fall.
A light sand constitutes the general soil; and sand hills of various forms are seen in particular districts; but though the character of the surface and the dryness of the Heavens may seem to announce an eternal sterility, yet the springs are so abundant, and so ample a store of subterraneous water is supplied by the adjacent heights, that few regions in the North of Africa exhibit a richer vegetation. From wells of eight or ten feet deep, with several of which every garden and every field are furnished, the husbandman waters, at sun-rise, the natural or artificial productions of his land. Of these the principal are,
The Talk, a tree that in size resembles the small Olive. It flowers in yellow sprigs, and supplies the hard and lemon-coloured wood, from which the handles and frames of the Fezzanner’s instruments of husbandry are made:
The White Thorn:
A kind of brushwood that resembles the Spanish broom:
The Date tree, which is common:
The Olive and the Lime, which are described as scarce; the Apricot, the Pomegranate, and the Fig:
Indian corn and barley, the two favourite objects of the Fezzanner’s cultivation:
Wheat, of which but little is raised:
Pompions or calabash, carrots, cucumbers, onions, and garlick.
Of the tame animals that are raised in Fezzan, the Shereef enumerates,
The Sheep, which is described as of a light brown colour; as having a broad tail, and as cloathed with a species of hair rather than of wool:
The Cow, which does not seem to be common, except in a few districts in which the pasture is excellent:
The Goat, and the Camel:
A species of the domestic fowl of Europe.
The wild animals of the country are,
The Ostrich:
Antelopes of various kinds, one of which is called the Huaddee, and is celebrated for the singular address with which, when chased by the hunter amidst its craggy heights, it plunges from the precipice, and lighting on its hams without danger of pursuit, continues till evening in the vale below:
A species of deer of a smaller size than the common park deer of England. Its head, neck, and back, are of a brownish red; and a pale streak of the same colour, running on a white ground, is continued on each side from the haunch to the hoof: the rest of the body is of a clear and delicate white. Such, if the Fezanners are to be credited, is the cleanliness of its temper, or such, more probably, is its dislike to the chill of a watery soil, that during the autumnal rains, which fall in the Desarts of Zahara, where it chiefly inhabits, no traces of its lying down have ever yet been seen. In the stillness of the night it often ventures to the corn fields of Fezzan, where, in traps prepared for the purpose, it is sometimes taken.
The food of the lower classes of the people consists of the flour of Indian corn, seasoned with oil; of dates, apricots, and pomegranates, and of calabashes, cucumbers, and garden roots.
Persons of a superior rank are also supplied with wheat bread, which is baked in their own houses; with mutton, goats flesh, the flesh of the camel, and that of the antelope; and with a great variety of fruits, and of garden vegetables.
Fezzan produces a sufficiency of salt for the consumption of its own inhabitants.
The water in general has a mineral taste; yet some of the springs are pure; but the favourite beverage consists of a liquor which the date tree, like the palm, affords. At first it possesses the mild flavour and cooling quality of orgeat; but acquires, when fermented, an acescent taste and intoxicating strength that are still more highly valued.
To the palm the loss of so large a proportion of its sap is generally fatal; but the hardier date tree recovers from its wound, and in the course of two or three years regains its former health.
In their Religion the people of Fezzan are rigid Mahometans; not intolerant to the opinions of others, but strict and superstitious in the observance of their own.
The Government of Fezzan is purely monarchical; but its powers, which seem to be restricted by the influence of opinion, are administered with such paternal regard to the happiness of the people, the rights of property are so much revered, the taxes are so moderate, and the course of justice is directed by so firm, and yet so temperate a hand, that the inhabitants of Fezzan (as far as a judgment can be formed from the feelings of those who travelled with Mr. Lucas) are affectionately and ardently attached to their Sovereign.[6]
The present King, Mohammed Ben Mohammed, is descended from one of the Shereefs of Tafilet, in the kingdom of Morrocco, who was related to the Regal Family of that empire, and who, about 400 years since, obtained possession of the Crown of Fezzan.
From that period to the middle of the present century, the kingdom maintained its Independence; but at the latter æra, the Bashaw of Tripoli invaded it with a powerful force, laid siege to the capital, defeated, and took captive the King, and carried him a prisoner to Tripoli. For two years the unfortunate Monarch was detained in bondage, but at the end of that period, on the condition of an annual tribute of fifty slaves and ten pounds of gold dust, the Bashaw restored him to his Crown.
Till the accession of the present King of Fezzan, this tribute was faithfully transmitted; but the reigning Sovereign, conscious of the declining power of Tripoli, and of the internal strength which the affection and confidence of his people had given to his Kingdom, has gradually diminished the amount, and altered the nature of the acknowledgement; for it now consists in an occasional present of a few slaves, and of a pound or two of gold dust, and is rather the compliment of a trading State to the Kingdom in which its principal commodities are sold, than a proof of political dependence. Still, however, the expression of my Kingdom of Fezzan is in frequent use with the reigning Bashaw of Tripoli, who is the grandson of the Conqueror; nor has the dependence of the former State on the latter been ever directly renounced.[7]
In Fezzan, as in all the Countries in which the Mahometan Faith is established, the descendants of the Prophet are considered as a distinct and highly privileged order. Their property is sacred; their persons are inviolable; and while the colour of their turbans, and the revered title of Shereef, announce to the people the august dignity which they bear, they derive from the hereditary nature of their privileges a high degree of permanent influence, and sometimes of dangerous power.[8]
Among the privileges of their rank may be numbered an exemption from certain punishments, and that sort of general indulgence which the prevalent dread of shedding the blood of the Prophet unavoidably creates.
To these circumstances of distinction it is owing that, like the Nobility of other States, they are sometimes subjected to, and feel a particular apprehension of the penalty of dishonour, especially of that of having dust thrown upon their heads.
But great as the privileges of this high order unquestionably are, the individuals who compose it have no union or general concert with each other; for neither in contests for power, nor in resistance to oppression, do they ever act as a body.
Some of the class are devoted to the indolence of a religious life; but a larger proportion is engaged in the active concerns and progressive pursuits of commerce: for, in general, the descendants of Mahomet, following the example of their great ancestor, are either Princes or Merchants.
The Revenue of Fezzan is composed of a variety of branches, the principal of which are,
1st, A tax on towns and villages, at the rate of from 100 to 500 mitkals each. The number of towns and villages is estimated at 100; and the value of a mitkal at about ten shillings English: consequently, the tax on each town and village is from 50l. to 250l. sterling.
2d, A tax on every camel’s load of goods (provisions for the market excepted) which enters the capital. The rate of this impost is one mitkal, or ten shillings English, per load.
3d, The fines that are inflicted as a punishment for offences.
4th, The produce of such lands as on the death of the possessors, without heirs, escheat to the Crown.
5th, A small tax on all gardens and date trees.
To these several branches of revenue may be added, as another source of considerable income, the commerce in which the King is engaged; for he seems, especially in the articles of trona and senna, to be the principal Merchant in his kingdom.
Gold dust constitutes among the people of Fezzan the chief medium of payment; and value in that medium is always expressed by weight.
Their common measures of weight, and consequently of value, are,
The xarobe (or harrobe) the weight of which is four grains, and which expresses the value of thirty-three piastres of Tripoli, or 6d. sterling.
The mitkal, the weight of which is eighty-one grains, and which expresses the value of 668¼ Tripoli piastres, or 10s. 1½d.
A single grain therefore is equal in value to 1½d.
In the choice of the first of these measures, the xarobe, they seem to have been influenced by the discovery, 1st, That four grains is the usual weight of a hard and durable berry,[9] which is called habbat ell goreth; and 2dly, That half that weight, two grains, is the weight of another and very beautiful berry, which is brought from Nigritia, and to which, from its scarlet colour, and the black stroke that ornaments one of its ends, they have given the name of eyne-deeka, or the cock’s eye. These berries are therefore employed as the common weights for gold dust in Fezzan; for the xarobe and the mitkal have only an ideal existence.
But for the greater convenience of exchange, the Merchants of Fezzan are generally furnished with small papers of gold dust, of different values, from that of two xarobes, or one shilling, to such an amount as their business is likely to require.
If the value of the article to be purchased is less than two xarobes, the payment is generally made in corn or flour. Thus the smaller articles of provisions, as eggs, onions, &c. are generally purchased by a proportionable value in corn.
TABLE.
| One grain (in weight) of gold is equal to | ⎰ ⎱ |
8¼ piastres of Tripoli, | ||
| 1½d. sterling. | ||||
| Four grains ditto are equal to | ⎧ ⎨ ⎩ |
1 xarobe of Fezzan, | ||
| 33 piastres of Tripoli, | ||||
| 6d. sterling. | ||||
| Eight grains ditto are equal to | ⎧ ⎨ ⎩ |
2 xarobes of Fezzan, | ||
| 66 piastres of Tripoli, | ||||
| 1s. sterling. | ||||
| Twenty xarobes, | ⎫ ⎬ ⎭ |
are equal to | ⎧ ⎨ ⎩ |
[10]1 mitkal (an imaginary coin of Fezzan) |
| or | 660 piastres of Tripoli, | |||
| Eighty grains, | 10s. sterling. | |||
In this view of the currency of Fezzan, the small fractions that would be requisite to render it perfectly accurate are omitted.
A mitkal is 675 piastres of Tripoli, or a fraction more than 10s. 1½d. sterling, and consequently it exceeds, by a fraction, the amount of 20 xarobes.
The grains of Fezzan are of the same[11] weight as in England, but the okea, or ounce of Fezzan, is very different, for it contains 640 grains; whereas the English ounce contains but 480, which is a fourth less.
A Fezzan ounce of gold therefore, or 640 grains, at 1½d. per grain, must be worth in Fezzan 4l.
And an English ounce of gold, or 480 grains, at 1½d. per grain, must be worth in Fezzan 3l.
Among the circumstances for which the natives of Fezzan, who travelled with Mr. Lucas, considered their Sovereign as eminently distinguished, they often mentioned his just and impartial, but severe and determined administration of justice; and as a proof of the ascendancy which, in this respect, he has acquired over the minds of his subjects, they described the following custom:—If any man has injured another, and refuses to go with him to the Judge, the complainant, drawing a circle round the oppressor, solemnly charges him, in the King’s name, not to leave the place till the Officers of Justice, in search of whom he is going, shall arrive: and such (if they are to be credited) is, on the one hand, his fear of the punishment which is inflicted on those who disobey the injunction, and so great, on the other, is his dread of the perpetual banishment which, if he seeks his safety by withdrawing from the kingdom, must be his inevitable lot, that this imaginary prison operates as a real confinement, and the offender submissively waits the arrival of the Officers of the Judge.
Small offences are punished by the bastinado: but those of a greater magnitude subject the convict, according to the different degrees of guilt, to the penalty of a fine, of imprisonment, or of death.—Shereefs, like the Nobility of other States, are sometimes punished, as was mentioned before, by the pain of dishonour; in which class of punishments, the most dreaded, because the most reproachful, is the indignity of having dust heaped upon their heads.
To their insulated and remote situation, and to their natural barrier of desolate mountains and dreary wastes of sand, much more than to military strength, the people of Fezzan are indebted for their security.
Trusting to this natural defence, their towns are without guards, and, their capital excepted, are also without walls; nor have they any regular standing force: yet the Shereef conceives that 15 or 20,000 troops might, upon an emergency, be raised. The only expedition of a military nature that has happened within his remembrance, was undertaken on the following account:—
South-East of the capital, at the distance of 150 miles, is a wide and sandy desart, entirely barren, and oppressed with a suffocating heat. Immediately beyond this desart, the width of which is about 200 miles, the mountains of Tibesti, inhabited by a wild and savage people of that name, begin to take their rise. Ferocious in their manners, free-booters in their principles, and secure, as they thought, in the natural defences of their situation, these independent mountaineers became the terror of the caravans which traded from Fezzan to Bornou, and which are obliged to pass the Western extremity of the Desart. But at length, having plundered a caravan which belonged to the King himself, and having killed about twenty of his people, their conduct provoked his resentment, and determined him to revenge the insult. With this view he immediately raised a small army of from 3 to 4,000 men, the command of which he gave to an able and active Magistrate, announcing, by that appointment, that he sent them, not to subdue a respectable enemy, but to punish an assemblage of plunderers and assassins. Having compleated the difficult passage of the desart, and having gained the first ascent of the mountains, they proceeded without opposition, till at length the natives, who waited in ambush, rushed upon them, and with the bows and arrows, and lances, with which they were armed, began a furious assault: but the instant that the foremost of the soldiers had given their fire, the mountaineers, more alarmed at the dreadful sounds which they heard, and at the imagined lightning which they saw, than terrified with the slaughter that was made, threw down their arms, and flying with great precipitation, abandoned, to the mercy of the victors, their houses and their helpless inhabitants. The next morning, a deputation, from the natives, of their principal people arrived at the camp, with humble intreaties that their wives and children might be spared, and an offer, on that condition, to submit to any terms which the Alcaid should desire to impose. The Alcaid accordingly demanded, and received, as hostages for their future conduct, twenty of their principal people, with whom, and with all the plunder which the country afforded, he returned in triumph to Fezzan. There the King entertained them with kindness, and under a promise that their nation should acknowledge him as their Sovereign, and should annually pay to him a tribute of twenty camel loads of senna, made them valuable presents; and with strong impressions on their minds, of the generous treatment which they had received, sent them back to Tibesti.
From that period no attempt to molest his caravans has been made by the mountaineers; and though they neither acknowledge the King of Fezzan for their Sovereign, nor pay him any tribute, yet they bring the whole of their senna to Mourzouk for sale, where it is purchased to great advantage by the King, and is afterwards sold, on his account, at the market of Tripoli.
An occasional visit to the Court of Fezzan is paid by their Chief, who is always received with great hospitality, and after a residence of a few weeks, is dismissed, with a present of a long robe.
The vales of Tibesti are fertile in corn, and pasturage for cattle, of which they have numerous herds, and are particularly celebrated for their breed of camels, which are esteemed the best in Africa. For this fertility they are indebted to the water of the innumerable springs that amply compensate for the want of rain, which seldom, if ever, falls within the limits of Tibesti.
Huts of the simplest construction (for they are formed of stakes driven into the ground in a circular arrangement, and covered with the branches of trees and brushwood intermixed) compose the dwellings of the people.
In return for the senna and the camels which they sell in Fezzan, they bring back coral, alhaiks, or barakans, Imperial dollars, and brass, from the two last of which articles they manufacture the rings and bracelets which are worn by their women.
Among the natives of Tibesti different religions are professed; for some of them are Mahometans, and others continue attached to their antient system of Idolatry.
Mode of Travelling in Africa.
The mode of travelling in Africa is so connected with the commerce, and therefore with the manners of its principal nations, that without some knowledge of the former, a description of the two latter cannot be clearly understood.
The shereef Imhammed.In that division of Africa which lies to the North of the Niger, the season for travelling begins with the month of October, and terminates with the month of March. During this period, the temperature of the air, though strongly affected by the degree of latitude, the elevation of the land, the distance of the sea, and the direction of the wind, is comparatively cool; Ben Alli.and in some places, as in the neighbourhood of Mount Atlas, and on the Coasts of the Mediterranean, occasionally exhibits the phenomena of an European Winter. At Tripoli, the Thermometer is sometimes seen at the 40th degree of Farenheit’s scale, and on the 31st of December, in the year 1788, was Lucas.observed, at nine in the morning, to have fallen within four degrees of the freezing point; a coldness that was followed by a light shower of snow.
In all countries, the animals which Nature and the attention of man have provided for the conveyance of the Traveller, and for the transit of his merchandize, are suited to the character of Imhammed and Ben Alli.the soil, and to the smoothness or inequality of its surface. Of the soil of Africa, to the North of the Niger, the prevailing character is sand; and though in the neighbourhood of rivers, and in all those districts which receive from the adjacent mountains, the advantage of numerous springs, the sand is blended with a vegetable mould, yet the ground, in general, is remarkably soft and dry. In general, too, the surface of the land, though in some places broken by naked rocks, and swelling, in others, to mountains of considerable magnitude, may be regarded as comparatively level.
To such a country the camel is peculiarly suited; for his broad and tender foot, which slides on a wet surface, and is injured by the resistance of stones, is observed to tread with perfect security and ease on the dry and yielding sand: and while, from the same circumstances in its structure, his hoof is incapable of fastening, with any strength, on the ground of a steep ascent, and furnishes, in a shelving declivity, no solid or sufficient support, his movement on a smooth and level surface is singularly firm and safe.
So remarkably exemplified in Africa is that rule in the œconomy of Nature which suits the beast of burthen to the land Imhammed.which it inhabits, that in the country which lies to the South-West of the Niger, where the surface is mountainous, and the ground is as stony in some places, as it is wet and muddy in others, no camels are found. Their place is supplied by small horses, asses, and mules.
The proper burthen for a camel varies with its strength, which is very different in different species of the animal. In the dominions of Tripoli, a common load is from three to four Lucas.hundred weight; and the medium expence of the conveyance for each hundred appears to be one farthing per mile.
The usual rate of travelling is three miles in the hour, and Lucas.the number of hours that are actually employed on the rout, exclusive of those which are allotted to refreshment, is seldom more than seven or eight in a day. Of the number of days which are consumed on a long journey, many are devoted to the Imhammed.purpose of occasional trade, to that of recruiting the strength of the camels, and to that of procuring additional stores of provisions and of water; for in all such places as are able to furnish a supply of provisions (which are generally places of considerable population, and therefore of some traffic) the stay of the caravan is seldom less than two days, and is often prolonged to more.
The general food of the camels is such only as their nightly Ben Alli.pasture affords; and is often confined to the hard and thorny shrubs of the Desart, where a sullen vegetation is created by the rains of the Winter, and upheld by the dews that descend in copious abundance through all the remainder of the year.
Of the drivers and servants of the caravan, the customary food Imhammed.consists of the milk of the camel, with a few dates, together with the meal of barley or of Indian corn, which is sometimes seasoned with oil, while the Merchant superadds, for his own use, the dried flesh of the camel, or of sheep, and concludes his repast with coffee.
Imhammed and Ben Alli.Water is drawn from the wells in leather buckets, that form a part of the travelling equipage of the caravan, and is carried in the skins of goats, through which, however, though tarred both within and without, it is often exhaled by the heat of the noon-day sun.
Ben Alli.A particular mode of easy conveyance is provided for the women and children, and for persons oppressed with infirmity or illness: six or eight camels are yoked together in a row, and a number of tent poles are placed in parallel lines upon their backs: these are covered with carpets, and bags of corn are superadded to bring the floor to a level, as well as to soften the harshness of the camel’s movement; other carpets are then spread, and the traveller sits or lies down, with as much convenience as if he rested on a couch.
The Desart (a term of the same meaning with its Arabic name of Zahara) may be said, like the ocean, to connect the very nations which it seems to separate; for, in comparison with the woods and morasses of America, it furnishes the Merchant with an easy and convenient road.
A sandy heath of various levels, in some places naked and Ben Alli.bare, but much more frequently covered with an odoriferous plant, which the Arabs call the Shé, and which, though far superior in fragrance, has at least a remote resemblance to the wild thyme of Europe, constitutes the general appearance of the Desart. The exceptions, however, are interesting and important: for besides the diversity that arises from the different shrubs, which are often scantily intermixed with the Shé, and of which the thorny plant that forms the harsh food of the camel appears to be the most common, an essential variation is furnished by the comparative fertility of some particular districts, and by the total barrenness of others.
Imhammed and Ben Alli.In some portions of the general wilderness, thousands of sheep, and goats, and cows, are seen to pasture; while in others nothing is presented to the eye but desolate hills of shifting sand.
To the last of these the name of Desarts without Water is Imhammed.emphatically given; a name that conveys to an Arab ear the fearful idea of an intense and suffocating heat, of the total absence of vegetable life, and of the hazard of a dreadful death. For though the movement of the shifting sands is not so rapid as to endanger the safety of the caravan, yet as the scorching heat of the sun-beams, confined and reflected by the hills of sand, hourly diminishes the store of water, and as the breadth of several of those desarts is that of a ten days journey, the hazard of perishing with thirst is sometimes fatally experienced.
Imhammed.All means of ascertaining the rout by land-marks, the usual guides in other parts of the wilderness, are here destroyed by the varying forms and shifting position of the hills; but from anxious observation and continued practice, the camel-drivers acquire a sufficient knowledge of the bearings of the sun and stars to direct them in their way.
Such are the expedients by which the difficulties of the Desart are in general overcome: those which are presented by the broad current of the impetuous Niger, though much more easily, are not so frequently surmounted.
Imhammed.Of this river, which in Arabic is sometimes called Neel il Kibeer, or the Great Nile, and at others, Neel il Abeed, or the Imhammed and Ben Alli.Nile of the Negros, the rise and termination are unknown, but the course is from East to West. So great is the rapidity with which it traverses the Empire of Cashna, that no vessel can ascend its stream; and such is the want of skill, or such the absence of Imhammed.commercial inducements among the inhabitants of its borders, that even with the current, neither vessels nor boats are seen to navigate. In one place, indeed, the Traveller finds accommodations for the passage of himself and of his goods; but even there, Imhammed.though the ferrymen, by the indulgence of the Sultan of Cashna, are exempted from all taxes, the boat which conveys the merchandize is nothing more than an ill-constructed raft; for the planks are fastened to the timbers with ropes, and the seams are closed both within and without, by a plaister of tough clay, of which a large provision is always carried on the raft for the purpose of excluding the stream wherever its entrance is observed.
Imhammed.The depth of the river at the place of passage, which is more than a hundred miles to the South of the City of Cashna, the capital of the empire of that name, is estimated at twenty-three or twenty-four feet English.[12]
Its width is such that even at the Island of Gongoo, where the Imhammed.ferrymen reside, the sound of the loudest voice from the Ben Alli.northern shore is scarcely heard; and at Tombuctou, where the name of Gnewa, or black, is given to the stream, the width is described as being that of the Thames at Westminster. In the rainy season it swells above its banks, and not only floods the adjacent lands, but often sweeps before it the cattle and cottages of the short-sighted or too confident inhabitants.
That the people who live in the neighbourhood of the Niger should refuse to profit by its navigation, may justly surprise the Imhammed and Ben Alli.Traveller; but much greater is his astonishment, when he finds that even the food which the bounty of the stream would give, is uselessly offered to their acceptance; for such is the want of skill, or such the settled dislike of the people to this sort of provision, that the fish with which the river abounds are left in undisturbed possession of its waters.
Imhammed.Having passed the stream, the face of the country, and with it the mode of travelling, are changed. High mountains and narrow valleys, extensive woods and miry roads, succeed to the vast plains and sandy soil of the Zahara and its neighbouring kingdoms. Water is no longer refused or scantily given to the parched lips of the Traveller; but while the abundance of this refreshment, and of the vast variety both of vegetable and animal Imhammed.food that is offered in profusion for his support, diminish the hardships and remove the principal hazards of his journey, the raging heat of the Torrid Clime increases as he proceeds. Wet cloths applied to the mouth are sometimes requisite, and especially in the woods, to allay, for the purpose of respiration, the violence of the burning air; and the journey, which the fierceness of the sun suspends, is often renewed amidst the dews and comparative darkness of the night.
Imhammed.From the want of camels, which are seldom seen to the South of Cashna, nor even to the West, except in higher latitudes, the conveyance of the Merchant and his goods is committed to the mules, and small horses and asses of the country. Of the first, the usual burthen is 200lbs. of the second, 150lbs. and of the last, 100lbs.
Travelling through all this part of Africa is considered as so secure, that the Shereef Imhammed, with the utmost chearfulness and confidence of safety, proposed to accompany and conduct Mr. Lucas, by the way of Fezzan and Cashna, across the Niger, to Assenté, which borders on the Coast of the Christians.
General Remarks on the Empires of Bornou and Cashna. — Rout from Mourzouk to Bornou — Climate of Bornou — Complexion, Dress, and Food of the Inhabitants — Their Mode of Building — Their Language — Government — Military Force — Manners — and Trade.
To the South of the kingdom of Fezzan, in that vast region which spreads itself from the river of the Antelopes westward for 1200 miles, and includes a considerable part of the Niger’s course, two great empires, those of Bornou and those of Cashna, are established.
The circumstances of soil and climate, and those also which constitute political character, are nearly the same in both: for their prevailing winds are the same; their rains, which are periodical in each, though much more profuse in Bornou, begin at the same season; the same grains are cultivated; the same fruits (generally speaking) are produced; and except that no camels are bred to the westward of the City of Cashna, the capital of the empire, the same animals are reared. In both, the complexion of the inhabitants is black; their mode of building too is similar, and their manners, though in some respects more civilized in Bornou, have a general resemblance.
Each of the two empires is formed by the subjection of different tribes or nations to the dominion of one ruling people. The nature of the Government, and the laws which regulate its succession, are the same in both. In both, the ruling people are Mahometans; in both, the dependent nations are composed of converts to the Musselman faith, and of adherents to the antient worship; and though at present their languages are different, the conquerors in both had probably the same original.
Of these empires, Cashna, till of late, was esteemed the first in power; but though a thousand villages and towns are still included in her vast domains, she is now considered as much inferior to Bornou.
![[Decoration]](https://openoldbooks.sgp1.digitaloceanspaces.com/books/proceedings-of-the-association-for-promoting-the-discovery-of-the-interior-parts/images/decor4.png)
FROM Mourzouk in Fezzan to Bornou, the capital of the empire from which it takes its name, the Fezzanners, whose commercial spirit no distance can discourage, are conducted by a rout of more than a thousand miles. Temmissa, the first town at which they arrive, and the last which they see in Fezzan, they reach on the seventh day; and in three days more they enter the territories of Bornou. Several villages, inhabited by Blacks, whose persons, their waists excepted, are entirely naked, whose meagre limbs and famished looks announce their extreme of misery, and whose idolatrous religion neither excites the resentment nor restrains the charity of the benevolent Fezzanners, mark the northern frontier of the empire.
On the day following their departure from these melancholy hamlets, they begin the ascent of a hilly uninhabited desart of sand, where a few bushes of penurious vegetation point out the successive wells that are found in these barren heights, and diminish the fatigues of a three days passage. At the close of the fourth day they enter a plain that is inhabited by Mahometans, where, in addition to a plentiful supply of excellent water, they are cheared with the sight of date trees, and of Indian corn.
From this plain, which lies to the West of the Desart of Tibesti, and the end of which they reach on the second day, a part of the Tibesti mountains take their rise. These vast hills, the range of which is very extensive, are variously peopled; but such of them as are crossed on the rout from Fezzan to the City of Bornou, are inhabited by a mixture of Musselmen and Idolaters, who employ themselves in breeding camels and asses, and other cattle, particularly horses of a small size.
Exclusively of the two days that are requisite for the passage of the mountains, an allowance of twice that time is generally given to refreshment and repose; soon after which a fertile and beautiful country, as richly diversified as numerously peopled, opens to their view. Its inhabitants are herdsmen, and with the exception of a few Pagans who are intermixed among them, are Musselmen in their faith. Their dwellings are in tents which are composed of hides, and their wealth consists in the multitude of their cows and sheep.
Four days are employed in crossing these fortunate districts: the sixth conducts the caravan to the entrance of the vast and burning Desart of Bilma. Surrounded by this dreary solitude, the Traveller sees with a dejected eye the dead bodies of the birds that the violence of the wind has brought from happier regions; and as he ruminates on the fearful length of his remaining passage, listens with horror to the voice of the driving blast, the only sound that interrupts the awful repose of the Desart.
On the eleventh day from their entrance on these scorching sands, the caravan arrives in the fertile plains that encompass the Town of Domboo, the approach to which is enlivened by the frequent appearance of the majestic Ostrich, and of the gay but fearful Antelope.
From thence, in about five days, they reach the City of Kánem, the capital of an extensive and fertile province, of which it bears the name, and in which the inhabitants, who are composed of Musselmen and Pagans, breed multitudes of cattle, and raise innumerable horses for the service of the King.
A journey of ten days more concludes their labour, and brings them to the imperial City of Bornou.[13]
Bornou, the name which the natives give to the country, is distinguished in Arabic by the appellation of Bernou or Bernoa, a word that signifies the land of Noah, for the Arabs conceive that, on the first retiring of the deluge, its mountains received the Ark.
The Climate, as may naturally be expected in a kingdom which seems to be bounded by the 16th and the 26th parallels of latitude, is characterized by excessive, though not by uniform heat. Two seasons, the one commencing soon after the middle of April, the other at the same period of October, may be said to divide the year. The first is introduced by violent winds that bring with them, from the South East and South, an intense heat, with a deluge of sultry rain, and such tempests of thunder and lightning as destroy multitudes of the cattle, and many of the people. During the rainy period (the continuance of which is from three to nine successive days, with short intervals from the occasional changes of the wind to the North or West) the inhabitants confine themselves closely to their dwellings; but the rest of the first season, however sultry and however occasionally wet, is not incompatible with the necessary labours of the husbandman and the shepherd.
At the commencement of the second season in the latter part of October, the ardent heat subsides; the air becomes soft and mild; the weather continues perfectly serene; and as the year declines, an unwelcome coolness precedes the rising of the sun.
The inhabitants, though consisting of such a multitude of nations that thirty languages are said to be spoken in the empire, are alike in their Complexion, which is entirely black, but are not of the Negro cast.
In a climate so warm, the chief recommendations of Dress are decency and ornament: among the poorest, therefore, by whom the first only is regarded, a kind of girdle for the waist is sometimes the only covering; but in general a turban, consisting, as in Barbary, of a red woollen cap, surrounded by folds of cotton, together with a loose robe of coloured cotton of a coarser kind, are also worn.[14]
The Grain that constitutes the principal object of culture in Bornou is Indian corn, of two different kinds, which are distinguished in the country by the names of the gassób, and the gamphúly.
The gassób, which in its general shape resembles the common reed, is of two species; the first grows with a long stalk that bears an ear, which in length is from eight to twelve inches, and contains, in little husks or cavities, from three to five hundred grains, of the size of small pease. The second species, which is common in Tripoli, differs no otherwise from the first than in the shorter size of the ear.
The gamphúly is distinguished from the gassób, by the bulk of the stalk, for that of the gamphúly is much thicker, by the number of its ears, for it has several on the same reed, and by the size of the grain, which is considerably larger. This kind of corn is frequently seen in Spain, and is there called Maize.
Wheat and barley are not raised in Bornou; but the horse-bean of Europe and the common kidney-bean are cultivated with great assiduity, as they are used for food, both by the slaves and by the cattle.[15]
In the culture of these different grains, the hoe alone is employed, as the use of the plough is still unknown to the people. The women divide with the men the labours of their husbandry; for while the latter, with their hoes, open the ground, and form the trenches in straight lines parallel to each other, the women follow and throw in the seed: nor is this the only part which they take in the business of the field; for to them, as soon as the weeds begin to rise on the ridges of the lines in which the grain is sowed, the hoe is constantly transferred.
The sowing season commences at the end of the periodical rains of April; and such in that climate is the rapid vegetation, that on the 9th of July the gassób is reaped; but the gamphúly, a grain of slower growth, is seldom cut till the month of August or September.
Such are the several species of corn that, among the people of Bornou, supply the place of the wheat, the barley, and the oats of Europe. Two species of roots are also used as wholesome and substantial food: the one, which is called the Dondoo, produces a low plant, with branches that spread four or five feet upon the ground, and leaves that resemble those of the garden-bean. At the end of five months, from the time of its being planted, the leaves fall off, and the root is taken from the ground, and being cut into small pieces, is dried in the sun, in which state it may be kept for two years. Its further preparation consists in reducing it to a fine powder, and mixing it with palm oil till it assumes the consistency of paste.
The other root is that of a tree, of which the name had escaped the Shereef’s recollection: boiling is the only process that is requisite in preparing it for use.
The same character of sufficiency which marks the catalogue of the different kinds of grain in Bornou, belongs also to the list of its various Fruits; for though neither olives nor oranges are seen in the empire, and even figs are rare, and though the apples and plumbs of its growth deserve no commendation, and the dates are as indifferent as they are scarce, yet grapes, and apricots, and pomegranates, together with lemons and limes, and the two species of melons, the water and the musk, are produced in large abundance.[16] But one of the most valuable of its vegetable stores, is a tree which is called Kedéynah, that in form and height resembles the olive, is like the lemon in its leaf, and bears a nut, of which the kernel and the shell are both in great estimation, the first as a fruit, the last on account of the oil which it furnishes when bruised, and which supplies the lamps of the people of Bornou with a substitute for the oil of olives.
To this competent provision of such vegetables as are requisite to the support, or grateful to the appetite of man, must be added a much more ample and more varied supply, of Animal Food. Innumerable flocks of sheep, and herds of goats and cows, (for there are no oxen) together with multitudes of horses, buffaloes, and camels, (the flesh of which is in high estimation) cover the vales or pasture on the mountains of Bornou.[17]
The common, though not the Guinea fowl is also reared by the inhabitants; and their hives of bees are so extremely numerous, that the wax is often thrown away as an article of no value in the market.
Their game consists of the Huaddee, and other species of antelopes, of the partridge, the wild duck, and the ostrich, the flesh of which they prize above every other.
Their other wild animals are the lion, the leopard, the civet cat, the small wolf, the fox, the wild dog, that hunts the antelope; the elephant, which is not common, and of which they make no use; the crocodile, the hippopotamus, which is often killed on the banks of the river that runs from the Neel Shem, (the Nile of Egypt) to the Desart of Bilma; and a large and singular animal, which is distinguished by the name of Zarapah, and which is described as resembling the camel in its head and body, as having a long and slender neck like the ostrich, as being much taller at the shoulders than the haunches, and as defended by so tough a skin, as to furnish the natives with shields that no arrow or javelin can pierce.[18]
Bornou, like other countries that approach the Equinoctial, is much infested with different kinds of dangerous or disgusting reptiles, especially snakes and scorpions, centipedes and toads.
Of its beasts of burthen the variety is as ample as the numbers are abundant; for the camel, the horse, the ass, and the mule, are common in the empire.
The dog, with which the inhabitants pursue their game, appears to be their only domestic animal.
In the mountains of Tibesti, and perhaps in other parts of the empire, the herdsmen, probably for the sake of a more easy change of pasture, prefer a residence in tents to stationary dwellings; and those, it seems, are not manufactured, like the tents of the Zahara, from the camel’s hair; but are composed of the hides of cows, a more durable and impervious covering.
Through all the empire of Bornou the same mode of building, and with the difference of a greater or a smaller scale, the same form in the plan of the houses universally prevails.—Four walls, inclosing a square, are erected; within those walls, and parallel to them, four other walls are also built: the ground between the walls is then divided into different apartments, and is covered with a roof. Thus the space within the interior walls determines the size of the court; the space between the walls determines the width of the apartments; and the height of the walls determines the height of the rooms. In a large house the rooms are each about twenty feet in length, eleven feet in height, and as many in width.
On the outside of the house, a second square or large yard, surrounded by a wall, is usually provided for the inclosure and protection of the cattle.[19]
Such is the general plan of a Bornou house. For the construction of the walls the following method is constantly pursued: a trench for the foundation being made, is filled with dry and solid materials rammed in with force, and levelled; on these a layer of tempered mud or clay is placed; and in this substitute for mortar a suitable number of stones are regularly fixed. Thus with alternate layers of clay and stones the wall proceeds; but as soon as it has reached the height of six or seven feet, the workmen suspend its progress for a week, that it may have time to settle, and become compact; for which purpose they water it every day.
When the walls are finished they are neatly plaistered, both within and without, with clay or mud, tempered with sand; for the country furnishes no lime.
The roofs are formed of branches of the palm tree, intermixed with brushwood; and are so constructed as at first to be waterproof; but such is the violence of the wind and rain, that the end of the second year is the utmost period of their brief duration.[20]
Much less attention is given to the furniture than is bestowed on the structure of the houses; for the catalogue of the utensils is extremely short. Among the lower classes of the inhabitants it consists of the mats covered with a sheep-skin, upon which they sleep; of an earthen pot; of a pan of the same materials; of two or three wooden dishes, a couple of wooden bowls, an old carpet, a lamp for oil, and perhaps a copper kettle.
Persons of a superior rank are also possessed of leathern cushions, that are stuffed with wool; of several brass and copper utensils, of a handsome carpet, and of a sort of candlesticks; for instead of the vegetable oil which is used by the common people, they employ the light of candles manufactured from their bees wax and the tallow of their sheep.
Bornou is situated at the distance of a day’s journey from a river which is called Wed-el-Gazel, from the multitude of antelopes that feed upon its banks, and which is lost in the deep and sandy wastes of the vast Desart of Bilma.[21]
From the symmetry of the houses, and the general resemblance which they bear to each other, a regular arrangement of streets might, with the utmost ease, have been given to their towns. In Bornou, however, a different system has prevailed; for even in the capital, the houses, straggling wide of each other, are placed without method or rule; and the obvious propriety of giving to the principal mosque, a central situation, exhibits the only proof of attention to general convenience.[22]
The King’s palace, surrounded by high walls, and forming a kind of citadel, is built, perhaps with a view to security, in a corner of the town.[23]
Markets for the sale of provisions are opened within the city; but for other articles, a weekly market, as in Barbary, is held without the walls.
| £. | s. | d. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| The common price in Bornou of a cow or a bull is a mahaboob of Tripoli, or | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| A sheep, | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| An ostrich, | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| An antelope, | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| A camel from 6l. to 7l. 10s. or at a medium, | 6 | 15 | 0 |
| A horse from 3l. to 7l. 10s. or at a medium, | 5 | 5 | 0 |
In general, the towns have no other defence than that which the courage of the inhabitants affords: but the capital is surrounded by a wall of fourteen feet in height, the foundations of which are from eight to ten feet deep, and which seems to be built with considerable strength. To this defence is given the additional security of a ditch, which encompasses the whole; and care is taken, that at sun-set the seven gates which form the communication with the country shall be shut.[24]
The great population of Bornou is described by the indefinite and metaphorical expression of a countless multitude.
In Fezzan the price of all things is measured by grains of gold; and where the value is too small to be easily paid in so costly a metal, the inhabitants have recourse to corn, as a common medium of exchange. But in Bornou, as in Europe, the aid of inferior metals is employed, and copper and brass (which seem to be melted together, and to be mixed with other materials) are formed into pieces of different weights, from an ounce to a pound, and constitute the current species of the empire.[25]
Dominions so extensive as those of Bornou have seldom the advantage of one uniform language; but an instance of so many different tongues, within the limits of one empire, as are spoken in that kingdom, and its dependencies, has still less frequently occurred, for they are said to be more than thirty in number.
Of the language, however, which is current in the capital, and which seems to be considered as the proper language[26] of Bornou, the following specimen is given by the Shereef.
| One is expressed by | Lakka | Eight is expressed by | Tallóre |
| Two | Endee | Nine | L’ilkar |
| Three | Nieskoo | Ten | Meiko |
| Four | Dekoo | Eleven | Meiko Lakka |
| Five | Okoo | Twelve | Meiko Endee |
| Six | Araskoo | Thirteen | Meiko Nieskoo |
| Seven | Huskoo | Fourteen | Meiko Dekoo. |
Two different Religions divide the sentiments, without disturbing the peace of the kingdom.
The ruling people profess the Mahometan faith;[27] and though the antient Paganism of the dependent nations does not appear to subject them to any inconvenience, a considerable part are converts to the doctrines of the Prophet.
An elective monarchy constitutes the Government of Bornou,[28] and like the similar system of Cashna, endangers the happiness, while it acknowledges the power of the people. On the death of the Sovereign, the privilege of chusing among his sons, without regard to priority of birth, a successor to his throne, is conferred by the nation on three of the most distinguished men, whose age and character for wisdom, are denoted by their title of Elders; and whose conduct in the State has invested them with the public esteem. Bound by no other rule as to their judgment or restraint, as to their will, than that which the expressed or implied instruction of electing the most worthy may form, they retire to the appointed place of their secret deliberation, the avenues to which are carefully guarded by the people: and while the contending suggestions of private interest, or a sense of the real difficulty of chusing where judgment may easily err, and error may be fatal to the State, keeps them in suspence, the Princes are closely confined in separate chambers of the Palace. Their choice being made, they proceed to the apartment of the Sovereign elect, and conduct him, in silence, to the gloomy place in which the unburied corpse of his father, that cannot be interred till this awful ceremony is passed, awaits his arrival. There, the Elders point out to him the several virtues and the several defects which marked the character of his departed parent; and they also forcibly describe, with just panegyric, or severe condemnation, the several measures which raised or depressed the glory of his reign. “You see before you the end of your mortal career; the eternal, which succeeds to it, will be miserable or happy in proportion as your reign shall have proved a curse or a blessing to your people.”
From this dread scene of terrible instruction, the new Sovereign, amidst the loud acclamations of the people, is conducted back to the Palace, and is there invested by the electors with all the slaves, and with two-thirds of all the lands and cattle of his father; the remaining third being always detained as a provision for the other children of the deceased Monarch. No sooner is the Sovereign invested with the ensigns of Royalty, than such of his brothers as have reached the age of manhood prostrate themselves at his feet, and in rising press his hands to their lips—the two ceremonies that constitute the declaration of allegiance.
If any doubt of their sincerity suggests itself to the King or to the Elders, death or perpetual imprisonment removes the fear; but if no suspicion arises, an establishment of lands and cattle from the possessions of their father, together with presents of slaves from the reigning monarch, are liberally bestowed upon them.
Often, however, the most popular, or the most ambitious of the rejected Princes, covering his designs with close dissimulation, and the zeal of seeming attachment, creates a powerful party; and assured of Foreign aid, prepares, in secret, the means of successful revolt. But, stained with such kindred blood, the sceptre of the victorious Rebel is not lastingly secure—one revolution invites and facilitates another; and till the slaughter of the field, the sword of the executioner, or the knife of the assassin has left him without a brother, the throne of the Sovereign is seldom firmly established.
Such, in the Mahometan empires of Bornou and of Cashna, is the rule of succession to the monarchy; but the Pagan kingdoms adjoining, with obviously less wisdom, permit the several sons of the late Sovereign, attended by their respective partizans, to offer themselves, in person, to the choice of the electors, and be actually present at the decision; an imprudence that often brings with it the interference of other States, and unites the different calamities of foreign and intestine war.
Those of the Royal Children of Bornou who are too young to take their share in the reserved part of their deceased father’s possessions, are educated in the Palace till the age of maturity arrives; at which time their respective portions of lands and cattle are assigned them.
To the four lawful wives of the late Sovereign, a separate house, with a suitable establishment, is granted by the reigning Monarch; and such of his numerous concubines as were not slaves, are at liberty to return to their several friends; and, together with leave to retain their cloaths, and all their ornaments, which are often valuable, have free permission to marry.
In the empire of Bornou, as in all the Mahometan States, the administration of the provinces is committed to Governors, appointed by the Crown; and the expences of the Sovereign are partly defrayed by his hereditary lands, and partly by taxes levied on the people.
The present Sultan, whose name is Alli, is a man of an unostentatious plain appearance; for he seldom wears any other dress than the common blue shirt of cotton or of silk, and the silk or muslin turban, which form the usual dress of the country. Such, however, is the magnificence of his seraglio, that the ladies who inhabit it are said to be five hundred in number; and he himself is described as the reputed father of three hundred and fifty children, of whom three hundred are males; a disproportion which naturally suggests the idea that the mother, preferring to the gratification of natural affection, the joy of seeing herself the supposed parent of a future candidate for the empire, sometimes exchanges her female child for the male offspring of a stranger.
Equally splendid in his stables, he is said to have 500 horses for his own use, and for that of the numerous servants of his household.
In many of the neighbouring kingdoms, the Monarch himself is the executioner of those criminals on whom his own voice has pronounced the sentence of death; but the Sultan of Bornou, too polished, or too humane, to pollute his hands with the blood of his subjects, commits the care of the execution to the Cadi, who directs his slaves to strike off the head of the prisoner.
The Military Force of the Sultan of Bornou consists in the multitude of his horsemen; for his foot soldiers are few in number, and are scarcely considered as contributing to the strength of the battle.[29] The sabre, the lance, the pike, and the bow, constitute their weapons of offence; and a shield of hides composes their defensive armour. Fire-arms, though not entirely unknown to them, for those with which the Merchants of Fezzan occasionally travel, are sufficient to give them an idea of their importance and decisive effect, are neither used nor possessed by the people of Bornou.
When the Sovereign prepares for war, and levies an army for the purpose, he is said to have a custom, (the result of idle vanity or of politic ostentation) of directing a date tree to be placed as a threshold to one of the gates of his capital, and of commanding his horsemen to enter the town one by one, that the parting of the tree in the middle, when worn through by the trampling of the horses, may enable him to judge of the sufficiency of their numbers, and operate as a signal that his levy is compleat.
In their Manners, the people of Bornou are singularly courteous and humane. They will not pass a stranger on the road till they have stopped to salute him: the most violent of their quarrels are only contests of words; and though a part of the business of their husbandry is assigned to the women, yet, as their employment is confined to that of dropping the seed in the furrows, and of removing the weeds with a hoe, it has more of the amusement of occasional occupation, than of the harshness of continued labour.
Passionately attached to the tumultuous gratifications of play, yet unacquainted with any game but drafts, they often sit down on the ground, and forming holes to answer the purpose of squares, supply the place of men with dates, or the meaner substitute of stones, or of camel’s dung. On their skill in the management of these rude instruments of the game, they stake their gold dust, their brass money, and even their very cloaths; and as the bye-standers on these occasions constantly obtrude their advice, and sometimes make the moves for the person whose success they wish, their play is usually accompanied by that conflict of abuse, and vehemence of scolding, which mark and terminate the sharpest of their quarrels.
Such is the amusement of the lower classes of the people; those of a superior rank are devoted to the more difficult and more interesting game of chess, in which they are eminently skilled.
In countries that afford without cultivation, or that give in return for slight exertions of labour, the principal requisites of life, few articles of export are likely to be found. Those of the Bornou Empire consist of—
| Gold Dust,[30] | Ostrich Feathers,[30] |
| Slaves, | Salt, and |
| Horses, | Civet. |
By what means the gold dust, that appears to be a principal article of trade, is procured by the inhabitants, whether from mines in the country, or by purchase from other nations, the Shereef has not explained. But of their mode of obtaining the Slaves, which constitute another extensive branch of their commerce, he gives the following account:
South East of Bornou, at the distance of about twenty days travelling, and separated from it by several small desarts, is situated an extensive kingdom of the name of Begarmee, the inhabitants of which are rigid Mahometans, and though perfectly black in their complexions, are not of the Negro cast. Beyond this kingdom to the East are several tribes of Negros, idolaters in their religion, savage in their manners, and accustomed, it is said, to feed on human flesh. They are called the Kardee, the Serrowah, the Showva, the Battah, and the Mulgui. These nations the Begarmeese, who fight on horseback, and are great warriors, annually invade; and when they have taken as many prisoners as the opportunity affords, or their purpose may require, they drive the captives, like cattle, to Begarmee. It is said that if any of them, weakened by age, or exhausted by fatigue, happen to linger in their pace, one of the horsemen seizes on the oldest, and cutting off his arm, uses it as a club to drive on the rest.
From Begarmee they are sent to Bornou,[31] where they are sold at a low price; and from thence many of them are conveyed to Fezzan, where they generally embrace the Musselman faith, and are afterwards exported by the way of Tripoli to different parts of the Levant.
Such is the mode of obtaining the greatest part of the slaves who are annually sold in Bornou; but as several of the provinces of the empire are inhabited by Negros, their insurrections, real or pretended, afford to the Sovereign an opportunity of increasing his income by their sale.
A more politic and more effectual mode of aiding his finances is fruitlessly offered by the salt lakes of the Province of Domboo: for, as the great Empire of Cashna is entirely destitute of salt, and none is found in the dominions of the Negros, the sole possession of this article might insure to the King of Bornou a constant and ample revenue of the best kind, a revenue collected from the subjects of Foreign States; but such is the prevalence of antient custom over the obvious suggestions of policy, that the people of Agadez, a Province of the Cashna Empire, are annually permitted to load their immense caravans with the salt of Bornou, and to engross the profits of this invaluable trade. The salt is collected on the shores of the several lakes which produce it, and the only acknowledgement that the Merchants of Agadez give in return for the article, is the trifling price which they pay in brass and copper (the currency of Bornou) to the neighbouring peasants.
The civet, which forms another article of the export trade of Bornou, and the greatest part of which is sent to the Negro States who inhabit far to the South, is obtained from a species of wild cat that is common in the woods of Bornou and of Cashna.
This animal is taken alive in a trap prepared for the purpose, is placed in a cage, and is strongly irritated till a copious perspiration is produced. Its sweat, and especially the moisture that appears upon the tail, is then scraped off, is preserved in a bladder, and constitutes the much valued perfume. After a short interval the operation is renewed, and is repeated, from time to time, till at the end of twelve or fourteen days the animal dies of the fatigue and continual torment. The quantity obtained from one cat is generally about half an ounce.
Of Manufactures, none for exportation are furnished by the people of Bornou; but the Shereef remarks that, for their own consumption, they fabricate from the iron ore of their country, though with little skill, such slight tools as their husbandry requires.[32]
In return for their exports, they receive the following goods:
Copper and Brass, which are brought to them from Tripoli, by the way of Fezzan, and which, as already mentioned, are used as the current species of Bornou;
Imperial Dollars, which are also brought to them from Tripoli by the Merchants of Fezzan, and are converted by their own artists into rings and bracelets for their women;
Red Woollen Caps, which are worn under the turban;
Rout from Mourzouk to Cashna — Boundaries of the Empire — Its Language, Currency, and Trade.
Equally connected by their commerce with Cashna and Bornou, the Fezzanners dispatch to the former as well as to the latter, and always at the same season, an annual caravan. From Mourzouk, their capital, which they leave at the close of October, they take their course to the South South West, and proceed to the Province of Hiatts, the most barren, and the worst inhabited district of their country.
Five of the fourteen days which are requisite for this part of their rout, are consumed in the passage of a sandy desart, in which their usual expedient of covering their goat skins, both within and without, with a resinous substance, prevents but imperfectly the dreaded evaporation of their water.
From the Province of Hiatts they cross the low mountains of Eyré, which separate the Kingdom of Fezzan from the vast Empire of Cashna; and leaving to their right the small river which flows from these hills, and is lost in the deep sands of a neighbouring desart, they enter a wide heath, uninhabited, but not destitute of water. The sixth day conducts them from this extended solitude to the long desired refreshments of the Town of Ganatt, where the two next days are devoted to repose.
From thence, by a march of nineteen days, during six of which they are immersed in the heats of a thirsty desart, they pass on to the Town of Assouda, which offers them equal refreshments with Ganatt, and equally suspends their journey.
On leaving Assouda, they traverse a delightful country, as fertile as it is numerously peopled; and while the exhilarating sight of Indian corn and of frequent herds of cattle accompanies and chears their passage, the eighth day introduces them to the large and populous City of Agadez, the capital of an extensive province.
Distinguished as the most commercial of all the towns of Cashna, and, like Assouda and Ganatt, inhabited by Mahometans alone, Agadez naturally attracts the peculiar attention of the Merchants of Fezzan. Many of them proceed no further; but the greatest part, committing to their Agents the care of the slaves, cotton, and senna, which they purchase in the course of a ten days residence, continue their journey to the South.
In this manner, if the camels are compleatly loaded, seven and forty days, exclusive of those which are allotted to refreshment and necessary rest, are employed in travelling from Mourzouk to Agadez.
At the end of three days more, amidst fields that are enriched with the luxuriant growth of Indian corn, and pastures that are covered with multitudes of cows, and with flocks of sheep and goats, the Traveller reaches the small Town of Begzam; from which, through a country of herdsmen, whose dwellings are in tents of hides, the second day conducts him to the Town of Tegomáh. There, as he surveys the stoney, uninhabited, desolate hills that form the chearless prospect before him, he casts a regretful eye on those verdant scenes that surrounded him the day before. Employed for two days in the passage of these dreary heights, he descends on the third to a deep and scorching sand, from which he emerges at the approach of the fifth evening, and entering a beautiful country, as pleasingly diversified with the natural beauties of hills and vales and woods, as with the rich rewards of the husbandman’s and the shepherd’s toil, he arrives in seven days more at the City of Cashna, the capital of the empire of which it bears the name, and the usual residence of its powerful Sultan.
The country to which the Geographers of Europe have given the name of Nigritia, is called by the Arabs Soudán, and by the natives Aafnou, two words of similar import, that, like the European appellation, express the land of the Blacks, and like that too, are applied to a part only of the region to which their meaning so obviously belongs.—Yet, even in this limited sense, the word Soudán is often variously employed; for while some of the Africans restrict it to the Empire of Cashna, which is situated to the North of the Niger, others extend it, with indefinite comprehension, to the Negro States on the South of the river, and applying it as a means of expressing the extended rule and transcendant power of the Emperor of Cashna, call him, with extravagant compliment, the Sultan of all Soudán.
His real sovereignty is bounded, on the North, by the mountains of Eyré, and by one of those districts of the great Zahara, that furnish no means of useful property or available dominion; on the South, by the Niger; and on the East, by the Kingdom of Zamphara and the Empire of Bornou. Its western limit is not described by the Shereef; nor is any thing said of the Capital, except that it is situated to the North of the Niger, at the distance of five days journey, and that its buildings resemble those of Bornou.
The observations which introduced the account of Bornou, have already announced the remarkable similarity, as well with respect to climate, soil, and natural productions, as with regard to the colour, genius, religion, and political institutions of the people, that prevails between that powerful State and its sister Kingdom of Cashna.
The rains, indeed, are less violent than those of Bornou. It exclusively furnishes the Bishnah, a species of Indian corn that differs from the gamphúly, in the blended colours of red and white which distinguish its grain. Its monkeys and parrots (animals but seldom seen in Bornou) are numerous, and of various species. The meridian of its capital is considered as a western limit, in that parallel of latitude, to the vegetation of grapes and the breed of camels; for between Cashna and the Atlantic few camels are bred, and no grapes will grow. The manners of the common people are less courteous in Cashna than in Bornou, and their games are less expressive of reflection; for their favourite play consists in tossing up four small sticks, and counting those that cross each other, as so many points of the number that constitutes the game. But the circumstances of chief discrimination between the empires are, those of language, currency, and certain articles of commerce.
Of the difference between the Languages of Bornou and of Cashna, the following specimen is given by the Shereef.
| In the Language of Bornou | In the Language of Cashna | ||||
| 1 | is expressed by | Lakkah | 1 | is expressed by | Deiyah |
| 2 | Endee | 2 | Beeyou | ||
| 3 | Nieskoo | 3 | Okoo | ||
| 4 | Dekoo | 4 | Foodoo | ||
| 5 | Okoo | 5 | Beát | ||
| 6 | Araskoo | 6 | Sheedah | ||
| 7 | Huskoo | 7 | Bookai | ||
| 8 | Tallóre | 8 | Tàkoos | ||
| 9 | L’ilkar | 9 | Tarráh | ||
| 10 | Meikoo | 10 | Goumah | ||
| 11 | Meiko Lakkah | 11 | Goumah sha Deiyah | ||
| 12 | Meiko Endee | 12 | Goumah sha Beeyou | ||
| 13 | Meiko Nieskoo | 13 | Goumah sha Okoo | ||
| 14 | Meikoo Dekoo | 14 | Goumah sha Foodoo | ||
The Currency of Cashna, like that of the Negro States to the South of the Niger, is composed of those small shells that are known to Europeans and to the Blacks themselves by the name of Cowries, and to the Arabs by the appellation of Hueddah.—Cardie, which is another term for this species of Negro money, and the specific meaning of which the Shereef has neglected to explain, is said to be given to it by the idolatrous tribes alone; a circumstance that seems to indicate superstitious attachment.—Of these shells, 2,500 are estimated in Cashna as equal in value to a mitkal of Fezzan, which is worth about 675 piastres of Tripoli, or ten shillings and three half-pence sterling.
Among the few circumstances which characterize the Trade of Cashna, as distinguished from that of Bornou, the most remarkable is, that the Merchants of the former kingdom are the sole carriers, to other nations, of a scarce and most valuable commodity, which is only to be obtained from the inhabitants of the latter. For though the salt of Bornou supplies the consumption of Cashna, and of the Negro Kingdoms to the South, yet its owners have abandoned to the commercial activity of the Merchants of Agadez, the whole of that profitable trade.
The lakes, on the dreary shores of which this scarce article of African luxury is found, are separated from Agadez by a march of five and forty days, and are encompassed on all sides by the sands of the vast Desart of Bilma, where the ardent heat of a flaming sky is returned with double fierceness by the surface of the burning soil. A thousand camels, bred and maintained for the purpose, are said to compose the caravan which annually explores, in the savage wilderness, the long line of this adventurous journey. Perilous, however, and full of hardships as their labour is, the Merchants find an ample recompence in the profits of their commerce; for while the wretched villagers who inhabit the neighbourhood of the lakes, and collect the salt that congeals upon the shores, are contented to receive, or obliged to accept a scanty price, the value that the Merchants obtain in the various markets of Cashna, of Tombuctou, and of the countries to the South of the Niger, is suited to the high estimation in which the article is held.
Attentive in this manner to the means of profiting by the produce of a neighbouring country, the people of Agadez are equally anxious to avail themselves of the commodities that are furnished by their own; for knowing the superior quality of the senna which grows upon their mountains, they demand and receive from the Merchants of Fezzan a proportionable price.
The senna of Agadez is valued in Tripoli at fourteen or fifteen mahaboobs, or from 4l. 4s. to 4l. 10s. per hundred weight, while that of Tibesti is worth no more than from nine to ten mahaboobs, or from 2l. 14s. to 3l. sterling. From Tripoli the senna is exported to Turkey, Leghorn, and Marseilles.
Of the other articles of sale which the extensive Empire of Cashna affords, the principal are—
Gold Dust—the value of which appears to be estimated at a higher rate in Cashna than in Fezzan; for in the former the worth of an ounce of 640 grains (which is the weight of an ounce in Fezzan, Cashna, and probably in all the States between that kingdom and the Niger) is said to be nine mitkals, or 4l. 10s. sterling; whereas an ounce of the same weight is worth in Fezzan but 4l. In Cashna the value of an English ounce of 480 grains is consequently 3l. 7s. 6d. whereas in Fezzan it is only 3l.
Slaves—In what manner these are obtained, does not distinctly appear; but the value of a male slave is said to be from 15 to 20,000 cowries, or from 3l. to 4l. sterling:
That of a female slave is described as being two-thirds of the former, or from 10,000 to 13,334 cowries, which in English money would be from 2l. to 2l. 13s. 4d.
Cotton Cloths—which are the general manufacture of Cashna, of Bornou, and of the Negro States to the South of the Niger:
Goat-skins—of the red and of the yellow dyes:
Ox and Buffalo Hides:
Civet—the mode of obtaining which, as well as the principal markets for its sale, were described in the account which has been given of the trade of Bornou.
In return for these articles the inhabitants of Cashna receive—
Cowries—a sea shell which is brought from the coast, and constitutes the common specie of the empire:
Horses and Mares—which are purchased from the Merchants of Fezzan; but whether bred in that country, or procured from the Arabs, or from the people of Bornou, is not mentioned by the Shereef:
Countries South of the Niger.
The account which the Shereef has given of such of the kingdoms to the South of the Niger as he himself has visited, is too deficient in geographical information to furnish a clear and determinate idea of this part of his travels: and though the names of the principal States in whose capitals he traded, or through whose dominions he passed, may be used with advantage as the means of future enquiry, and are therefore inserted in the map which accompanies this Narrative; yet the places assigned them must be considered as in some degree conjectural. That the line of his journey was towards the Gold Coast, there is, however, the strongest reason to believe; and the following brief account of his remarks may lead to conclusions which are neither uninteresting nor unimportant.
From that part of the Niger which forms the southern limit of the great Empire of Cashna, to the Kingdom of Tonouwah, which borders on the coast of the Christians, and of which the Town of Assenté is said to be the capital, a succession of hills, among which are mountains of a stupendous height, diversifies or constitutes the general face of the country. Most of the lands are described as already cleared, but some particular districts are still incumbered with woods of a vast extent; and though for the most part the highlands are pastured by innumerable stocks of sheep, and by herds of cows and goats, and the vales exhibit the captivating view of successive villages, encompassed with corn and rice, and fruits of various kinds, yet there are places of native sterility and eternal barrenness.
The combined occupations of the shepherd and of the husbandman compose the general employment of the people; while the cotton cloth, and the goat-skins of the red and of the yellow dyes, that are offered in several of the towns for sale, announce the rudiments of future manufactures, and perhaps of an extensive commerce.
Exempted by the nature of their climate from many of those hardships from which, in other countries, dress is the principal protection, a large proportion of the inhabitants wear only the covering that decency requires. But most of the Mahometans, as the mark of a religion which they are proud to profess, adorn their heads with the folds of the turban, and also adopt, at least in some of the States, the cotton shirt, which is so much worn in the empires of Cashna and Bornou.
Tents, which are formed of the hides of cows or of buffaloes, and which are peculiarly suited to the shepherd life, are the only dwellings of multitudes of the Negros; while the huts, which others erect with the branches of trees, are of a construction almost equally simple.
Several of the towns are described as surrounded by walls; and bows and arrows are mentioned as the common instruments of war.
In the description of their Governments, a few instances of small Republics are given; but most of their States are monarchical; and of these, the inhabitants of the Mahometan Kingdom of Degombah are distinguished by the custom of taming the Elephant, and by that of selling for slaves the prisoners they take from such of the bordering nations as motives of religion or of avarice prompt them to invade.
Such, however, is the mildness of the Negro character, that even the asperities of religious disagreement appear to have no effect on their general conduct; for there is reason to believe, from the Shereef’s account, that the Musselman and the Pagan are indiscriminately mixed, that their cattle feed upon the same mountain, and that the approach of evening sends them in peace to the same village: and though the nations who are attacked by the people of Degombah punish with death, as guilty of atrocious injustice, such of the invaders as the chance of war throws into their hands, yet those of the Mahometans who visit them for the purposes of trade, are received with protection and respect.
To the Merchants of Fezzan, who travel to the southern States of the Negros, the purchase of gold, which the dominions of several, and especially of those of Degombah, abundantly afford, is always the first object of commercial acquisition. The other articles which they obtain, consist of
No commercial value appears to be annexed to the fleeces which the numerous flocks of the Negro kingdoms afford; for the cotton manufacture, which, the Shereef says, is established among the tribes to the South of the Niger, seems to be the only species of weaving that is known among them. Perhaps the dark colour of the fleece, as disqualifying it for the dye, may be one reason, and its coarse and hairy nature may be another, of the little esteem in which it appears to be held.
In return for the articles which they sell to their foreign visitors, the Negros receive—
Fire Arms are unknown to such of the nations on the South of the Niger as the Shereef has visited; and the reason which he assigns for it is, that the Kings in the neighbourhood of the coast, persuaded that if these powerful instruments of war should reach the possession of the populous inland States, their own independence would be lost, have strictly prohibited, and by the wisdom of their measures, have effectually prevented this dangerous merchandize from passing beyond the limit of their dominions.
General View of the Trade from Fezzan to Tripoli, Bornou, Cashna, and the Countries on the South of the Niger.
In the general description of Fezzan, an account was given of the various articles of native produce which supply the wants, or contribute to the trade of its people; but of their Foreign Commerce, for which, like the Dutch in Europe, they are eminently distinguished, the detail was purposely deferred: for till a previous account of the countries to which that commerce is established had been exhibited, no adequate conception of its nature or extent could be easily conveyed.
At the latter end of October, when the ardent heat of the Summer months is succeeded by the pleasant mildness and settled serenity of Autumn, the several caravans that are respectively destined for Tripoli and Bornou and Cashna, and the Negro Nations beyond the Niger, take their departure from Mourzouk, the capital of Fezzan. The parties which compose them are generally small; for unless information has been received that the road is infested with robbers, ten or a dozen Merchants, attended by twice as many camels, and by the necessary servants, constitute the usual strength of the caravan; but if an attack is apprehended, an association of forty or fifty men, with muskets for their defence, is formed; and as none of the Africans to the South of Fezzan (the people of Agadez and the nations on the coast excepted) have yet possessed themselves of fire-arms, the collective force of such a number is sufficient to insure their safety.
Their store of provisions usually consists of dates; of meal prepared from barley, or from Indian corn, and previously deprived of all its moisture in an oven temperately heated; and of mutton, which is cured for the purpose, by the treble process of being salted and dried in the sun, and afterwards boiled in oil or fat; a process which gives it, even in that climate, a lasting preservation.
In all the principal towns to which they trade, the Merchants of Fezzan have Factors, or confidential Friends, to whose care, till their return, or till their instructions as to the market shall arrive, they consign such Negros as they purchase, perfectly assured that the slaves will be forwarded by the Agents according to the orders they receive; but their gold dust, as being more easily conveyed, and less dependent for its value on the choice of the market, is seldom entrusted to the Factor.
The caravans which proceed to Tripoli are freighted partly with trona, the produce of their native land, and partly with senna and gold dust and slaves, the produce of the southern countries with which they trade; and in return they bring back the cutlery and woollens (particularly red woollen caps) and silks, wrought and unwrought, together with the Imperial dollars, the copper and the brass, which are requisite for the consumption of those countries or for their own.
The caravans which travel to Bornou are loaded with the following goods:
Brass and Copper—for the currency of Bornou. The caravan which Mr. Lucas accompanied from Tripoli to Mesurata, had brought ten camel loads or forty hundred weight of these metals for the Bornou market: their value in Bornou is about four shillings sterling for each pound weight.
Imperial Dollars—which are called in Arabic Real Abotacia, and the value of which, in comparison with the dollars of Spain, is, at Tripoli, as 365 piastres to 340, or nearly as 16 to 15:
Of the native produce of Fezzan the only article which is brought as merchandize to Bornou is a preparation of pounded dates, and of the meal of Indian corn, highly dried in an oven. It is called Tickera, and is valued, especially by Travellers, as a portable and highly salubrious food.
In return for the goods which they bring to Bornou the Merchants take back with them,
The exports from Fezzan to Cashna and its dependent States, consist of the following articles:
Cowries—a sea shell (in Arabic, called Hueddah) which constitutes the circulating specie of this empire, and of the Negro kingdoms, and which the Merchants procure from the Southern nations who border on the coast; 17,062 are considered in Cashna as equivalent to an English ounce (480 grains) of gold:
Brass—from which the Smiths of the country manufacture rings and bracelets for their women:
Gooroo Nuts—which are brought from the Negro Countries on the South of the Niger.
The articles received in return, are—
Gold Dust:—of which an English ounce (or 480 grains) appears to be valued at 3l. 8s. 3d. though in Fezzan it seems to be worth no more than 3l. The Fezzanners, in all probability, make themselves amends by the price which they charge upon their goods.
Slaves—a male slave is worth in Cashna, from 3l. 10s. to 5l.—a female slave is worth two-thirds of the amount, or from 2l. 6s. 8d. to 3l. 6s. 8d.
Cotton Cloths—of various colours, principally blue and white, of which in the Empire of Cashna, and in the Negro States to the South of the Niger, great quantities are made:
Senna from Agadez—a province of the Cashna Empire; the Agadez senna is worth at Tripoli, from fourteen to fifteen mahaboobs (4l. 4s. to 4l. 10s. sterling) per hundred weight; that which the Fezzanners obtain at Tibesti is only worth per hundred weight, from nine to ten mahaboobs, or from 2l. 14s. to 3l. sterling.
Civet.
To such of the various nations inhabiting the Country on the South of the Niger as they are accustomed to visit, the Merchants of Fezzan convey the following articles:
In return the Merchants receive—
Such are the principal branches of the extensive commerce of the Merchants of Fezzan; from a view of which it appears, that, vast as their concerns are, they have little communication with any of the States that are situated to the West of the Empire of Cashna; a circumstance which the Shereef ascribes to the want of a proper conveyance for their goods; for the country on the West of Cashna furnishes but few camels, and even horses and mules are singularly scarce and dear.
Rout from Mourzouk to Grand Cairo, according to Hadgee Abdalah Benmileitan, the present Governor of Mesurata.
Placed in a situation which affords an easy intercourse with the Mediterranean, and therefore with the States of Europe, on the one hand, and on the other with the extensive Empires of Bornou and Cashna, the dominions of Tombuctou, and the various nations of Negros to the South of the Niger, the Merchants of Fezzan are happily possessed of the farther advantage of communicating by a safe and comparatively commodious passage with the Cities of Grand Cairo and of Mecca. A pilgrimage to the latter, the object, from time immemorial, of veneration in Arabia, is prescribed to every Musselman; and though the greatest part of the believers in Mahomet, deterred by distance, or restrained by the avocations of business and the feelings of domestic attachment, content themselves with imperfect resolutions of performing at some future period this arduous journey, yet there are persons, even from the innermost recesses of Africa, who think, that a positive injunction of their faith is too solemn for excuses, and too momentous for delay. Prompted by this urgent consideration, or allured by the honourable distinction which attends upon the title of Hadgee, the envied appellation of those who have visited the sacred Temple, a number of the faithful from the Empires of Bornou and Cashna, from the extensive kingdom of Caffaba, and from several of the Negro States, resort to Fezzan, and proceed from thence, with the caravan, which in the Autumn of every second or third year takes its departure for Mecca. The caravan, which seldom consists of less than one hundred, or of more than three hundred Travellers, assembles at Mourzouk, and begins its journey in the last week of October, or in the first of the succeeding month.
Temissa, a town in the dominions of Fezzan, and situated to the East North East of Mourzouk, receives them at the close of the seventh day; and in two days more, of easy travelling, they arrive at a lofty mountain, rocky, uninhabited, and barren, of the name of Xanibba. Having recruited their goat-skin bags from the only well which these sullen heights afford, they descend to a vast and dreary desart, whose hilly surface, for four successive days, presents nothing to the eye but one continued extent of black and naked rock; to which, for three days more, the equally barren view of a soft and sandy stone succeeds. Through all this wide expanse of varied nakedness no trace of animal or vegetable life, not even the desart thorn, is seen. On the eighth day, the vast mountain of Ziltan, the rugged sides of which are marked with scanty spots of brushwood, and are enriched with stores of water, increases the labour of the journey. Four days are devoted to the toils of this stupendous passage; four others are employed in crossing the sultry plain that stretches its barren sands from the foot of the mountain to the verdant heights of Sibbeel, where the wells of water and the chearing view of multitudes of antelopes suspend their fatigues, and anticipate the refreshments that await them on the next evening; for the close of the following day conducts them to the town of Augéla.
From that place, which is subject to Tripoli, and is famed for the abundance and excellent flavour of its dates, they proceed in one day to the little village of Gui Xarrah; another brings them to the long ascent of the broad mountain of Gerdóbah, from whose inflexible barrenness the Traveller, in the course of a five days passage, can only collect a scanty supply of unpalatable water. Descending from these mournful highlands, he enters the narrow plain of Gegabib, sandy and uninhabited, yet fertile in dates, which the people of Duna (a town dependant on Tripoli, and situated on the Coast at the distance of eight days journey from Gegabib) annually gather.
From this scene of gladsome contrast to the inveterate rocks of Gerdóbah, a three days march conducts the caravan to another desolate mountain of the name of Buselema, that furnishes only water; and in three days more they enter the dominions of the independent Republic of See-wah.
Governed by a Council of six or eight Elders, whose lasting dissentions divide the opinions and distract the allegiance of the people, this unfortunate State is constantly involved in the miseries of intestine war. Its chief produce is the date tree; for the lands, though not destitute of water, furnish but little corn.
From See-wah, the capital, the caravan proceeds in a single day to the miserable village of Umseguér, which is one of the dependencies of the State, and is situated at the foot of the mountainous Desart of Le Mágra, where, in the long course of a seven days passage, the Traveller is scarcely sensible that a few spots of thin and meagre brushwood slightly interrupt the vast expanse of sterility, and diminish the amplitude of desolation. The eighth day terminates with his arrival at the hill of Huaddy L’Ottrón, which is distinguished by a small convent, of three Christian Monks, who reside there under the protection of Cairo, and to whose hospitable entertainment the Traveller is largely indebted. Buildings, surrounded with high walls, and erected in the neighbourhood of the convent, are opened for his reception; and for three successive days, if he chuses to be their guest so long, his wants, as far as their means extend, are chearfully and liberally supplied.
Their garden, in which is a well of excellent and never-failing water, affords an ample store of vegetables of various kinds; the maintenance of a few sheep is furnished by an adjoining pasture; and they raise, without difficulty, a numerous breed of fowls. All other articles, except their bread, which they manufacture themselves, they receive from Cairo.
Respected by the Arabs, who revere their hospitality more than they hate their religion, these venerable men are apparently secure.—Yet as too much confidence might invite the meanest plunderers to invade their peaceful dwelling, they have cautiously guarded their convent by a separate and lofty inclosure from an opening in which a ladder of ropes furnishes the means of descent.
Leaving this hospitable hill with such refreshments as the generous Fathers could supply, the caravan continues its course, and on the fifth day arrives at the City of Cairo, from whence, at the usual season, it proceeds by the customary rout to Mecca.
Conclusions suggested by the preceding Narrative.
From the perusal of the preceding account, the Society are enabled to judge of the credit which it deserves, and of the value of the information which it offers. If the evidence of its truth should be thought insufficient, they will keep their minds in suspence till Narratives of more confirmed authenticity shall disprove or establish the relation. But if they should think that the Shereef’s account of Bornou and of the Niger is too strongly supported by the corresponding description of Ben Alli, to leave a suspicion of its falsehood; and that the fidelity of this part of his Narrative warrants the belief of whatever else is equally described on the authority of his personal knowledge, then they will feel that conclusions of an important and interesting nature result from the various, though imperfect intelligence which he has furnished.
The present state of the Empire of Bornou, compared with its condition when Leo Africanus, who wrote his account in the year 1526, was its visitor, exhibits an interesting proof of the advancement of the Mahometan Faith, and of the progress of imperfect civilization.[35] A savage nakedness, or the rude covering which the skins of beasts afford, are now relinquished, for the decency and convenience of a dress of cotton manufacture. Tempered by the courtesy of commerce, and the conciliating interchange of important benefits, the antient barbarism of the people is softened to habits of kindness; and, in the minds of the greatest part, the absurd superstitions of Paganism have given place to the natural and sublime idea of the Unity of God.
From the account of the nations to the South of the Niger, it appears, that, among the Mahometan Blacks, the sternness of the Musselman is softened by the mildness of the Negro; and that if the zeal of the invader be not inflamed by the value of the captive, the propagation of the faith is seldom considered as a reason or pretext for war.
Perhaps the attention of the Philosopher may be engaged by the use to which the small shells of the Maldive Islands are equally applied by the inhabitants of Cashna, and by the natives of Bengal. Sameness of opinion, or resemblance of conduct, when founded in natural feeling, or a similar state of society, are seen without wonder in nations unconnected and remote; but that a custom so arbitrary and artificial as that of employing Cowries as a substitute for coin, a custom which instinct could not have produced, and chance could scarcely have occasioned, should equally prevail among the Negros of Africa and the natives of Bengal, may justly be deemed a curious and interesting phenomenon.
To the British Traveller, a desire of exchanging the usual excursion from Calais to Naples, for a Tour more extended and important, and of passing from scenes with which all are acquainted, to researches in which every object is new, and each step is discovery, may recommend the Kingdom of Fezzan. If Antiquities be his favourite pursuit, the ruins which shadow the cottages of Jermah and of Temissa, promise an ample gratification: or if the study of Nature be his wish, the expansive scenes and numerous productions of that uninvestigated soil may equally promote his entertainment and his knowledge. But if a spirit of more adventurous research should induce him to travel with the Merchants of Fezzan, discoveries of superior value may distinguish and reward his toil. The powerful Empires of Bornou and Cashna will be open to his investigation; the luxurious City of Tombuctou, whose opulence and severe police attract the Merchants of the most distant States of Africa, will unfold to him the causes of her vast prosperity; the mysterious Niger will disclose her unknown original and doubtful termination; and countries unveiled to antient or modern research will become familiar to his view. Or should he be willing to join the Cairo Caravan, the discovery of the antient scite, and of whatever else may remain of the Temple of Jupiter Ammon, may perhaps be attempted with success: for the same causes which gave birth to the springs, and, by their means, to the luxuriant vegetation of the antient domains of the Temple, must still continue to distinguish the fortunate soil; and there seems no reason to doubt that the hospitable convent of Huaddy L’Ottrón, or the neighbouring Republic of See-wah, will not only furnish a place of convenient departure and of easy retreat, but will also supply the requisite information, and the necessary aid. At this time, an Interpreter, who is equally acquainted with Arabic and English, may be found in London; and, at all times, the Cities of Tripoli, of Tunis, and of Ceuta, afford a number of Mahometans who are almost as conversant with the Italian or the Spanish, as with the Arabic, their native language.
But of all the advantages to which a better acquaintance with the Inland Regions of Africa may lead, the first in importance is, the extension of the Commerce, and the encouragement of the Manufactures of Britain. That fire-arms are in request with all nations, civilized and savage, who have the means of obtaining them, experience uniformly proves; and we now learn, that to the jealousy which the Princes on the Southern Coast entertain of the powerful Interior States, and to the total neglect of all opportunities of opening, from more favourable quarters, an immediate communication with the inland country, it is owing that the sale of one of the most profitable manufactures of Great Britain is still in a great measure confined to the scanty Tribes which inhabit the shores of the Atlantic. From the same information we are also led to conclude, that the anxious policy which prohibits the conveyance of fire-arms to the Inland Tribes, dictates, as a necessary caution, the severest restraints on the transit of other merchandize. But if, on the system of the Moors, the effect of which has been tried too long for its wisdom to be disputed, associations of Englishmen should form caravans, and take their departure from the highest navigable reaches of the Gambia, or from the settlement which is lately established at Sierra Leona, there is reason to believe, that countries new to the fabrics of England, and probably inhabited by more than a hundred millions of people, may be gradually opened to her trade. On this system, much greater would be their profits than those which the Merchants of Fezzan receive; for they would reach, by a journey of 700 miles from their vessels, the same markets to which a land-carriage of 3000 conveys from the Mediterranean the goods of the Fezzanners; and they would also possess the farther advantage of obtaining at prime cost, the same articles for which the Merchants of Fezzan are subjected to the complicated disadvantages of a high price, of an inferior quality, and of the varying exactions that the despotic Governments of Barbary impose. Now if it be considered, that notwithstanding the vast expence of land-carriage, and of an exorbitant price on the purchase of the articles which they sell, the Traders of Fezzan are still enabled to collect a profit that upholds and encourages their commerce, it must be evident, that the gain which the Merchants of England would derive from a similar traffic, conducted as is here proposed, would be such as few commercial adventures have ever been found to yield. That no difficulties will attend the execution of the Plan, the general history of new undertakings forbids us to believe; but as far as the climate and religion of the Negros are in question, there seems to be little discouragement; for the long descent of the rivers is a proof that the elevation of the inland country is raised above the level of the coast and consequently that the climate is much more temperate, and probably more salubrious: and while the Narrative of the Shereef announces that the Merchant is considered by the Negro as the general friend of Mankind, common experience convincingly shews that, in the judgement of the Pagan, the Crescent and the Cross are objects of equal indifference; and that the comparative welcome of the Musselman and of the Christian depends on their Merchandize rather than their Creed.
As little discouragement is suggested by a view of the purchasable goods of which the natives are possessed; for, independently of their cotton, which in all the interior nations is described as of common manufacture, and therefore as of general growth, their mines of gold (the improveable possession of many of the Inland States) will furnish, to an unknown, and probably boundless extent, an article that commands, in all the markets of the civilized world, a constant and unlimited sale.
Such are the important objects of mercantile pursuit, which the various intelligence obtained by the first efforts of the Association, enables them to point out and recommend to their Country: and while the contemplation of national interests, and of the still more extended interests of philosophy, directs their efforts and animates their hopes, they cannot be indifferent to the reflection, that in the pursuit of these advantages, and by means as peaceable as the purposes are just, the conveniencies of civil life, the benefits of the mechanic and manufacturing arts, the attainments of science, the energies of the cultivated mind, and the elevation of the human character, may in some degree be imparted to nations hitherto consigned to hopeless barbarism and uniform contempt.
For the following Memoir, and for the Map which it describes, the Society are indebted to the eminent talents and ardent zeal in the Promotion of Geographical Improvement that distinguish the character of Major Rennell.
Construction of the Map of Africa.
That the Geography of Africa has made a slower progress towards improvement than that of every other part of the world, during the last, and the present century, is to be attributed more to natural causes, than to any absolute want of attention on the part of Geographers. Formed by the Creator, with a contour and surface totally unlike the other Continents, its interior parts elude all nautic research; whilst the wars and commerce in which Europeans have taken part, have been confined to very circumscribed parts of its borders. These most productive means of geographical information failing, the next resource is to collect materials from the best informed amongst the travelled natives: I say natives, because the generality of European Travellers reckon upon some degree of solace, as well as the gratification of curiosity, during their peregrinations: not to mention, that it is more the practice to see what has been already seen, than to strike into a new path, and dare to contemplate an unfashionable subject. To the lovers of adventure and novelty, Africa displays a most ample field: but the qualification of local manners, and, in some degree, of habits, must in this case, be superadded to that of language: and this, unquestionably, renders the undertaking more arduous than that of an ordinary Tour. But the Adventurer in quest of fame, will readily appreciate the degrees of glory attendant on each pursuit.
The 18th century has smiled propitiously on the Science of Geography throughout the globe; and an Englishman may be allowed to pride himself that his countrymen have had their full share of the glory attending this, and other kinds of researches tending to increase the general stock of knowledge. It is to this spirit that we are to attribute the acquisition of the materials which form the subject of the present Work. It is no less to this spirit that we are indebted for the progressive improvements in the North-American and Asiatic Geography: our systems embracing objects far superior to the limited views with which Geographical Surveys are ordinarily undertaken: not the topography of townships, districts, counties; but the Geography of Empires, Regions, and Continents!
As both Europe, and its adjacent Continent, Asia, are spread over with inland seas, lakes, or rivers of the most extended navigations, so as collectively to aid the transport of bulky articles of merchandize from one extreme of them to the other; and to form (like stepping-stones over a brook) a more commodious communication: so likewise the northern part of the new Continent appears to have an almost continuous Inland Navigation, which must prove of infinite advantage to the inhabitants, when fully peopled; and contribute to their speedier civilization, in the mean time. But Africa stands alone in a geographical view! Penetrated by no inland seas, like the Mediterranean, Baltic, or Hudson’s Bay; nor overspread with extensive lakes, like those of North America; nor having in common with the other Continents, rivers running from the center to the extremities: but, on the contrary, its regions separated from each other by the least practicable of all boundaries, arid Desarts of such formidable extent, as to threaten those who traverse them, with the most horrible of all deaths, that arising from thirst! Placed in such circumstances, can we be surprised either at our ignorance of its Interior Parts, or of the tardy progress of civilization in it? Possibly, the difficulty of conveying merchandize to the coasts, under the above circumstances, may have given rise to the traffic in men, a commodity that can transport itself! But laying this out of the question, as an abstract speculation, there can be little doubt but that the progress of civilization amongst the Africans has been as slow as can be conceived, in any situation: and it has also happened, of course, that the destined Instruments of their civilization have remained in a proportional degree of ignorance concerning the nature of the country.
Nothing can evince the low state of the African Geography, more than M. D’Anville’s having had recourse to the Works of Ptolomy and Edrisi, to compose the Interior Part of his Map of Africa (1749.) It is well known, that those Authors wrote in the second and in the twelfth centuries of our æra. Most of the positions in the Inland Part of the great body of Africa are derived from Edrisi; and it is wonderful how nearly some of the positions agree with those furnished by the present materials. Such was the transcendant judgement of D’Anville in combining the scanty notices that are furnished by the Nubian Geographer!
But the Public are not to expect, even under an improved system of African Geography, that the Interior Part of that Continent will exhibit an aspect similar to the others; rich in variety; each region assuming a distinct character. On the contrary, it will be meagre and vacant in the extreme. The dreary expanses of desart which often surround the habitable spots, forbid the appearance of the usual proportion of towns; and the paucity of rivers, added to their being either absorbed or evaporated, instead of being conducted in flowing lines to the ocean, will give a singular cast to its hydrography; the direction of their courses being, moreover, equivocal, through the want of that information, which a communication with the sea usually affords at a glance. Little as the Antients knew of the Interior Part of Africa, they appear to have understood the character of its surface; one of them comparing it to a leopard’s skin. Swift also, who loses no opportunity of being witty at the expence of mathematicians, diverts himself and his readers both with the nakedness of the land, and the absurdity of the map-makers.
The Society for Promoting the Discovery of the Interior Parts of Africa has been fortunate in collecting much geographical information, in so early a stage of the African researches; and there is little doubt but that in a few years all the great features of this Continent (within the reach of their enquiries) may be known and described. But to accomplish this, it will be necessary that intelligent Europeans should trace some of the principal routes; as well to apportion the distances, as to establish some kind of criterion for the parole information derived from the natives. As yet, in the wide extent of near thirty degrees on a meridian, between Benin and Tripoli, not one celestial observation has been taken, to determine the latitude.
But as far as materials composed by a scale founded on estimated distances (that is, days journeys of caravans) may go towards the establishment of geographical positions, the itineraries made use of for constructing the new matter in the accompanying map, are less discordant than might be expected in so wide an expanse, and on the foundation of rules so vague as those which necessity has compelled me to apply. On this, however, the Reader must exercise his own judgement, after the following exposition of the data, and the rules by which I have determined the scale.
It will easily be conceived by the Reader, that all roads, except such as are made through a country, in which the public works are in the highest state of improvement, and where also the face of it is perfectly level (the curvature of the earth excepted) must have some degree of inflexion, both horizontally and vertically; and either of these will occasion a Traveller to trace a line of greater length by the road, than can be measured on a straight line, drawn from the point of commencement, to that of the termination of his journey. The quantity of the difference must vary with the nature of the country; but in ordinary cases, still more with the extent of the line of distance: for a different ratio between the road distance and horizontal distance must obtain, as the line of distance is increased. Let it be admitted, that in stages of ten or twelve miles, the winding of the road occasions a loss of only one-tenth part, which may be termed the simple winding: yet as the different stages in an extent of 100 or 150 miles, do not lie in a straight line, drawn through the whole extent, but often very far to the right and left of it, a compound winding arises: and I have found by long experience, that one mile in eight must be deducted, to reduce the road measure, on such a length, to horizontal measure. When a line of distance is extended to 500 miles and upwards, the rule becomes much more vague than when applied to moderate distances; because it often happens (and more particularly in unimproved countries) that obstacles present themselves, and give an entire new direction to the course of the road; although the two parts of it, considered separately, may have only an ordinary degree of crookedness. However, as some of the lines of distance applied to the present subject, are from thirty to forty days journey, it becomes necessary that some general rules should be adopted. It happens that examples are furnished, in two cases, on very long journies, where the real distances between the terminating points of the routes are nearly known: such is that of fifty-three days journey, between the Capital of Fezzan and Cairo; and the mean horizontal distance for each day, is fourteen and a half geographic miles, or those of sixty to a degree. I confess I should have expected much less. The other example is between Arguin and Gallam: there forty days produce thirteen miles for each day; and this is conformable to my expectations. In the examples of small distances, such as six days journey, sixteen miles per day is the result, and is consistent. For a caravan journey, taken at twenty-two British miles of road distance, will produce, when the allowance for winding is deducted, and the remainder reduced to geographic miles, about sixteen and a half such miles for a single day.
The following are the proportions which I have established, for the application of a scale, to the different degrees of distance.
For one day, sixteen miles and a half; for seventeen to twenty-five days, fifteen miles; for forty to fifty days, thirteen miles. These numbers are particularly selected, because they occurred in the course of the Work. The Reader will be pleased to observe, that the miles spoken of in the construction, are always those of sixty to a degree of a great circle. However tedious this investigation may appear to the generality of readers, it is absolutely necessary; as it is the hinge upon which the whole turns: and a neglect of attention to this particular subject, would warrant the Reader’s taking the whole for granted, without further examination.
Mr. Beaufoy having given, from the materials in his possession, so full an account of each road and country, nothing remains for me to do, but simply to describe, from the same materials, the mode of fixing the principal positions, in the Map. As the object of it is to exhibit the new matter only, care has been taken to exclude all that has already appeared, except what was absolutely necessary towards explaining the other: and as the borrowed particulars are distinguished from the rest, the Reader cannot be mistaken. The outline of the great body of Africa, together with the courses of the Nile, Gambia, Senegal, and Wad-drah, are copied from Mr. D’Anville.
Fezzan (or rather its capital, Mourzouk) is given in the Itineraries at the distance of seventeen days and half from Mesurata. These, taken at fifteen miles per day, produce two hundred and sixty-two miles. The bearing is said to be South from Mourzouk; and this latter is placed according to D’Anville. Mourzouk, then, falls in latitude 27° 20′.
Agadez, the next principal station, is, at a medium forty-one days from Mourzouk, on a South West course, or thereabouts: and these, at thirteen miles per day, produce four hundred and fifty-five miles; and place Agadez in latitude 20° 20′; and nearly in the meridian of Tripoli. Agadez is the Agadost of Edrisi.
From Agadez to Cashna is seventeen days; which, at fifteen miles per day, give a distance of two hundred and fifty-five miles. The bearing is said to be South South West. Cashna, then, will stand in or about the latitude of 16° 20′ North, and about a degree and half West from Tripoli.
D’Anville’s Casseenah (undoubtedly meant for Cashna) is placed about thirty-seven miles to the North West of the position assumed in the accompanying Map; whence I consider mine as a near approximation, especially as the distance from Mesurata is upwards of nine hundred and seventy miles.
Cashna may be regarded as the central kingdom of the great body of Africa; and as a part of the region named Soudan, of which at present but few particulars are known.
Ghanah, or Ghinnah, is placed, in respect of Cashna, according to M. D’Anville’s Map. It does not appear whether he had any authority for placing it ninety miles to the North East of Cashna: but its position, in respect of the City of Nuabia, (antiently Meroé, on the Nile) is on the authority of Edrisi. This Author also allows twelve days between Agadez and Ghanah: and by my construction, they are two hundred and eight miles asunder. See Geog. Nubiensis, p. 39. Ghanah was in the twelfth century a city of the first consequence. Wangara and Kanem, were also known to Edrisi.
The river known to Europeans by the name of Niger, runs on the South of the kingdom of Cashna, in its course towards Tombuctou; and if the report which Ben Alli heard in that town, may be credited, it is afterwards lost in the sands on the South of the country of Tombuctou. In the Map, only the known part of its course is marked by a line; and the suppositious part by dots. It may be proper to observe, that the Africans have two names for this river; that is, Neel il Abeed, or River of the Negros; and Neel il Kibeer, or the Great River. They also term the Nile, (that is, the Egyptian River) Neel Shem: so that the term Neel, from whence our Nile, is nothing more than the appellative of River; like Ganges, or Sinde.
From Cashna the road leads Westward to the Kingdom of Gonjah, ninety-seven days journey from the former. Gonjah, is, from circumstances, the Conche of M. D’Anville, and the Gonge of M. Delisle; and the similitude of names, however great, is the least proof it: for the Itinerary of the Shereef Imhammed says, that eighteen or twenty days from Gonjah, towards the North West (or between the West and North) lies the Country of Yarba: and eight days farther West, that of Affow. Now the countries of Yarra and Yaffon, will be found in Delisle’s Map of Senegal (1726), nearly in the position that Yarba and Affow take in respect of Gonjah; supposing D’Anville’s Conche to be meant for it. It is extremely difficult to assign a ratio for the decrease of the horizontal distance, on so extended a line as ninety-seven days journey; and therefore it would be losing time to attempt it. Gonjah, by circumstances, is about eight hundred and seventy miles from Cashna, which allows only nine miles for each day. I therefore conclude that the road is very circuitous.
Gonjah is reported by the Shereef to be forty-six days journey from the Coast of Guinea, to which the Christians trade. It is probable that the Gold Coast is the part meant, and that may be taken at five hundred and thirty miles from D’Anville’s Conché. The ratio, at thirteen per day, would give near six hundred. Here again, it would be losing of time, to reason on such a point of uncertainty, since neither of the extreme points of the line of distance are correctly known. The Reader must therefore determine for himself. Of this space of forty-six days travelling, from Gonjah towards the Coast, the Shereef had travelled only the first ten days, to the City of Kalanshee, a dependency of the Kingdom of Tounouwah; the capital of which, according to his report, is Assentai (the Assianté of D’Anville) situated midway between Kalanshee and the sea coast: that is, eighteen days journey from each. The Shereef also reports, that there is no communication between this coast (which we may suppose to be the Gold Coast) and the country of Gonjah: for that the King of Assentai, who possesses the space between, prohibits his Inland Neighbours from passing through his country.
But Mr. Norris, a gentleman who resided many years in Whydah, &c. reports differently: for he says, that there are other States, (that is, the Fantees, and their confederates) lying between Assentai and the sea; and that the Assentais have often attempted, but without success, to open a communication with the Coast.
To return to the route from Cashna to Gonjah. There are between them some extensive kingdoms or states, most of which appear to preserve their antient religion. I have generally marked the progress of the Mahomedan Religion, by a crescent; and the Caffre States by an arbitrary mark of a different kind.
It will appear by a slight inspection of the Map, that the Mahomedan Religion, as far as respects the Interior Part of the Country, has spread southward, to about the parallel of twelve degrees of North latitude. Probably though, in some of those countries where the Court religion is Mahomedan, the bulk of the people may profess the antient religion.
Tombuctou, is placed on the following authorities: First, Mr. Matra, the British Consul in the dominions of Morocco, says, on the authority of the natives, that Tombuctou is fifty days caravan travelling from Tattah, a place situated on the common frontiers of Morocco, Drah, and Zenhaga; and in the route from Morocco, and Suz, to Tombuctou. Tattah is ascertained in position, by a route of Ben Alli’s. He found it to be nine days and half from Morocco, and one day short of a station on the Wad-drah (or Drah River) which station was four days, or sixty-six miles lower down than Tinjuleen, a place in D’Anville’s and Delisle’s Maps of Africa. It was also twelve days journey from the City of Nun or Non, which city by Ben Alli’s account, is two days from the sea coast; and well known to be opposite to the Cape of the same name. These authorities enable us to place Tattah one hundred and seventy miles South South East from Morocco. Then, fifty days from Tattah to Tombuctou, at thirteen each day, produces six hundred and fifty miles. By Ben Alli’s report, Tombuctou is forty-eight days from the capital of Sultan Fullan, lying within the district of Gallam, on the River Senegal. The position of this place is not known to me; but by circumstances it must be near the river: and in using materials of so coarse a kind, trifles must not be regarded. Forty-eight days at thirteen each day, produce six hundred and twenty miles; and this line of distance meets that from Tattah, in latitude 19°. 40′. and nearly midway between Gallam and Cashna. In this position, it falls only twenty-eight miles to the North West of D’Anville’s Tombuctou.
It appears that most of the road from Tattah to Tombuctou, lies across the vast Desart, commonly known by the name of Zahara, or properly, The Desart. Geography is at present, very bare of particulars, in this quarter. Ben Alli went from Tombuctou, direct to Fezzan, skirting the South East border of this great Desart. He reckoned only sixty-four days between Tombuctou and Fezzan, which at twelve miles and half per day, produce only eight hundred miles. The interval on the Map is nine hundred and seventy. Reason, however, points out, that the distance from the nearest place, Gallam, ought to be preferred. And as it is understood, that Agadez and Tombuctou are about fifty-five days asunder, it appears yet more probable that the interval between Fezzan and Tombuctou, ought not to be reduced. It must be recollected, that Ben Alli’s Communications were given from memory, after an interval of twenty years.
The point of the next importance, is Bornou, the capital of an extensive kingdom situated on the South East of Fezzan, and between the two Neels or Niles; that of Egypt, and that of the Negros.
Bornou, is given by the Shereef, at about fifty days from Mourzouk (or Fezzan) which may be taken at six hundred and fifty miles. He also reports that it is twenty-five days journey from the course of the Nile, where it passes the country of Sennar; or in distance about three hundred and sixty miles. This would place Bornou in a direction of South East, somewhat southwardly, from Mourzouk; and about the parallel of 19° 40′. It is not probable that Bornou has a more westerly position. Edrisi’s account would place it more easterly; for he says, that Matthan, a city of Kanem, lies thirty-one days from Nuabia (on the Nile) through Tegua. Geog. Nub. p. 15. Edrisi’s day’s journey is equal to eighteen Arabic miles, or nearly nineteen geographic ones: consequently the thirty-one days give five hundred and eighty-seven miles. Matthan is not reported in the Itinerary; but Kanem is, both as Province and a capital City: and the position of the latter according to my construction, is seven hundred miles from Nuabia. Whether the error lies on the side of Edrisi, or the Shereef; or arises from the faulty position of Nuabia in D’Anville, cannot easily be discovered.
Ben Alli travelled the road between Bornou and Alexandria; but was too much indisposed to make any observations, otherwise than that the Kingdom of Bornou extends fifteen days journey, or about two hundred and thirty miles, in that direction. This was particularly unfortunate; for whichsoever route he went, he must have crossed some one or more of the Oases; and of course some important matter would have been added to the Map.
The only route of importance that remains to be discussed, is that from Fezzan or Mourzouk, to Cairo, leading to Mecca; for, at Mourzouk the Mahomedans from the southern and western parts of Africa, who intend to make a pilgrimage to Mecca, assemble at the proper season, as at a common point of departure. The route to Cairo, which requires fifty-three days to atchieve, appears on the Map to be seven hundred and seventy miles; being equal to fourteen and half for each day: and is on the whole, seventy more than I should have expected that number of days to produce. To what degree of accuracy the difference of longitude between Mesurata and Cairo, is ascertained, I am ignorant: as also whether the bearing of Mourzouk from Mesurata, be right. Fourteen miles and half of horizontal distance for each day, on so long a line of distance, and on so rugged a way as the Itinerary describes, is too great a proportion; and we may suspect an error somewhere.
A circumstance occurs in the Itinerary, which would determine how near this route approaches to the Coast of the Mediterranean Sea; if we might depend on the accuracy of the Itinerist. The dates produced in the Plain of Gegabib, are gathered by the people of Duna, who inhabit the sea coast, eight days journey off; or about one hundred and thirty miles. No such place as Duna appears in the modern maps; but Derna (antiently Darnis) does: and it is situated within the confines of Tripoli, as Duna is said to be. But the distance must be faulty; because Augela is the nearest point in this route, to Derna, though ten days from it: and Gegabib, is seven days from Augela, in a direction that still increases the distance.
Augela is found in Herodotus, Book IV. under the name of Ægila; and in Ptolemy and Pliny it is written Augila. In Ptolemy, Africa Tab. III. it is placed about 197 miles from the sea coast, and about a degree of longitude to the eastward of Darnis. Its longitudinal position from Mourzouk and Cairo, agrees very well: and considering the extent of Ptolemy’s local knowledge in this quarter, we may suppose him well acquainted with its distance from the coast. Allowance must be made for an excess of distance given by Ptolemy’s scale, in this Map; and it being in the proportion of twenty-seven to twenty-three, the one hundred and ninety-seven miles should be reduced to one hundred and sixty-eight: and according to this, Augela ought to stand in latitude 29° 20′; and nearly midway between Mourzouk and Cairo.
Gegabib, as has been said before, is seven days journey from Augela, towards Cairo; and as I have a particular pleasure in producing any authority that serves to prove the veracity of such an Author as Herodotus, I shall just mention, that (in B. IV.) he says, that the Nasamones in the Summer season, leave their cattle on the coast, and go to the plains of Ægila, to gather the fruit of the Palm trees, which abound in that place. The portion of this coast, is marked by its lying on the West of Teuchira,[36] a sea-port that lay within the district of Cyrene, now better known by the names of Curin and Barca.
Ptolemy’s Nasamones, occupy, in respect of Augila, the very spot where the dates are now gathered in the plain of Gegabib: and therefore we may conclude that the Nasamones’ Territories extended at least from that plain, to the Eastern Coast of the Great Syrtis. It may, perhaps, in future, be known where the Port or Coast of Duna is; whether it be Derna, the antient Darnis, or some place on the Syrtis.
Between Augela and See-wah, the next town towards Cairo (and probably the Siropum of Ptolemy) the road passes over a chain of very high mountains, named in these times Gerdobah: and this is unquestionably the same ridge that terminates on the Mediterranean, a few days journey farther on; and which by the suddenness of its descent towards the sea, was antiently named Catabathmus. This chain or ridge divided Cyrene from Marmarica.
The scite of the antient Temple of Jupiter Ammon, was a few days journey (perhaps four or five) inland from the plain of Gegabib, so often mentioned. I think I may venture to say this on the authority of Herodotus, Strabo, Pliny, and Arrian; from each of whom, some particulars may be collected respecting its situation. First, Herodotus says, (Book IV.) that the Temple is situated ten days from Ægila; (frequented by the Nasamones on account of the dates) and on the road from Thebes to Ægila. Next, Arrian says, on the authority of Aristobulus, that Alexander went to it, from the scite of his new city of Alexandria, along the sea coasts of Egypt and Marmarica, to Paraetonium: which latter was situated, according to the same authority, sixteen hundred stadia from Alexandria. Pliny gives it at two hundred Roman miles (Book V.) These accounts are perfectly conclusive; and the position of Paraetonium, is also very clear in Ptolemy; and is moreover known to the Moderns under the name of Al Bareton: so that no difficulty can arise here. Arrian says farther, that Alexander struck inland from Paraetonium, and entered the Desart: but he does not say how far the Temple lay from the sea coast. This is supplied by Strabo, (Book XXVII.) who gives the distance at thirteen hundred stadia. Allowing these to produce one hundred and thirty, or one hundred and forty miles; and taking Herodotus’s ten days from Augela at one hundred and seventy (we must not consider them as caravan journies, but as ordinary ones) the meeting of these lines of distance, place the Temple in latitude twenty-nine degrees, and a small fraction; and in a South Westerly direction from Parætonium. Pliny says, (Book V.) that the Temple is four hundred [Roman] miles from Cyrene; that is, twice as far as Parætonium is from Alexandria: and this agrees with the former position. Lastly, Ptolemy places it one hundred and ninety-five geographic miles from Paraetonium; and from Cyrene three hundred and forty.—But Ptolemy’s scale, in Africa Tab. III. gives too much distance (as I have said before), and corrected, it should be one hundred and sixty-six from Parætonium. As these authorities do not vary amongst themselves more than thirty miles, I consider them as conclusive.
M. D’Anville’s position of this Temple is about thirty miles farther to the Southward; that is, from the Mediterranean; but he does not quote his authorities. In his Geographie Ancienne Abregee, vol. iii. p. 42. he has the following passage: “Selon la Géographie actuelle, ce qu’on trouve sous le nom de Sant-rieh, paroit en tenir la place; & par la Nature du pays, qui ne laisse point distinguer d’autre objet, on n’est point embarrassé sur le choix.” Edrisi (Geo. Nub. p. 41.) places Sant-rie ten days Eastward from Augela, and nine days from the Mediterranean; which carries Sant-rie farther from the sea-coast, than Strabo allows to the Temple; but accords with Ptolemy. Savary, vol. ii. Lett. VIII.) quotes Abulfeda, to shew that the Oases were only three days journey West of the Nile; and Ptolemy places the largest of them, named El Wah by the Arabs, under the parallel of 27°. I suspect Abulfeda is wrong; and that Ptolemy is nearer the truth, when he allows one hundred and twenty-three miles, (or one hundred and five corrected) for the distance of the Great Oasis from Ptolemais on the Nile, in the direction of West, something Southwardly. Then Edrisi allows only nine days between Sant-rie and El Wah; whereas the scite of the Temple of Jupiter Ammon, by the above authorities, should be, according to my apprehension, at least twelve days from El Wah. But we are young in African Geography: and as I have said before, the data furnished by Arrian, Strabo, and Pliny, may satisfy us.
The description of the Oasis (or Island in the midst of the sandy Desart) which contained the Temple, is pretty generally known: but for the sake of those who may not recollect the particulars, I have extracted the following account.
Arrian says, that it is not more than forty stadia in extent; Diodorus fifty; say, six or seven miles. All accounts agree, that it has one or more fountains of water; and that it was planted with divers kinds of fruit trees: Arrian particularly notices the Palm and Olive. What appeared to be a very great natural curiosity, was, a fountain, which according to Arrian, (whose account is the least extravagant) varied in its temperature, in a greater degree than any other that has been heard of: that is, it was very warm, or hot, at midnight; very cold in the heat of the day. I presume these phenomena will not appear very extraordinary to those, who consider, that a deep-seated spring will preserve a mean degree of temperature at all seasons: so that, in effect, it was the atmosphere that underwent the change; and with it, the bodies of those who made the observations.
The Temple was surrounded by a triple wall, forming three distinct quarters or divisions; one of which was appropriated to the use of the Monarch. In the time of Herodotus, when probably the Temple was in its glory, the dominions of the Ammonites reached within ten days journey of the City of Thebes: the people were a colony of Egyptians and Ethiopians, and spoke a mixed language, (Herod. Book III.) Ammon, or Hammon, was the Egyptian name of Jupiter; and the image of the god, similar to that at Thebes; that is, it had the head of a Ram. (Book IV.)
In the time of Strabo, about four hundred and fifty years after Herodotus, the Temple was almost deserted; as the Oracle was grown out of fashion.
It is probable that some remains either of the triple wall, or of the Temple, may be found at this day; although the materials may have undergone a different kind of arrangement. The transport of the materials across the Desart could only have been accomplished by the strong impulse of superstition: and being once collected, nothing but a like cause could remove them. See-wah appears to be the nearest town to this Oasis; and is probably not more than six days journey on the North East of it: the spring, together with the ruins of the Temple, and the triple wall, might ascertain the spot, if the curiosity of the present age demanded it.
![[Decoration]](https://openoldbooks.sgp1.digitaloceanspaces.com/books/proceedings-of-the-association-for-promoting-the-discovery-of-the-interior-parts/images/decor5.png)
March, 1790.
[1]In the Arabic, the word Friend is often employed, as in this passage, to express the same meaning as the English term servant.
[2]Ben Alli, a native of Morocco, who was lately in England, and of whom an account is given in the Introduction to Chapter IV. relates, that in proceeding from Fezzan to Gharien, on his way to Tripoli, he was met by several parties of Arabs, who were robbers by profession, and who rendered the rout so dangerous, that every individual in the caravan was obliged to carry a gun, a brace of pistols, and a yatagan or sabre. He describes the country as partially cultivated; and remarks, that it is furnished with few springs, and is wholly destitute of rivers.
By his account, the distance from Fezzan to Gharien is that of a journey of sixteen days.
He represents the rout from Gharien to Tripoli as a sandy desart, and its length as that of a seven days journey.
[3]The capital of Fezzan is situated on the banks of a small river, and is also supplied with water from a multitude of springs and wells.
Being formerly built with stone, it still retains the appellation of a Christian Town; and the medley which it presents to the eye, of the vast ruins of antient buildings, and of the humble cottages of earth and sand that form the dwellings of its present Arab inhabitants, is singularly grotesque and strange.
Ben Alli.
[4]In this estimate of distance, the rate of travelling is supposed to be twenty-two miles per day:—a conclusion that arises from the time that was employed by Mr. Lucas in travelling from Tripoli to Mesurata; for in that journey of 150 miles, seven days were consumed; and though the caravan was detained for a few hours on the sea coast, and was employed during four more in passing to and from the tents of the Arab, yet these losses were probably compensated by the extraordinary dispatch with which, in consequence of their fears, the greatest part of the journey was performed.
[5]The people are of a deep swarthy complexion.
Ben Alli.
[6]To these sentiments of constant regard and of deep veneration for their King, his acknowledged descent from the Prophet has undoubtedly contributed: for such, if united to the temporal power, is the effect of this claim to religious authority, that in Morrocco, when in the hour of his wrath the sword of the Emperor is drawn, the submissive victims whom chance or official attendance on the Court presents to his fury, stretch forth their necks with silent and humble acquiescence; perfectly convinced that the stroke of death, when given by so sacred a hand, is an instant admission to Paradise.
[7]When I was at Fezzan, about twenty years ago, the actual government was committed to an Alcaid, who received his annual appointment from the Bashaw of Tripoli.
Ben Alli.
[8]In Morrocco, as in Fezzan, the Founder of the reigning family was indebted for the diadem to the respect and reverence which the title of Shereef bestows.
[9]From the appearance of the supposed berries, there is reason to suspect that they belong to the class of leguminous plants, and are in fact two species of pease.
[10]In the neighbourhood Tombuctou a gold mitgan is worth about 10s. 6d. sterling.
Ben Alli.
[11]Mr. Lucas found by his medicine scales, that the pea called habbat ell goreth, which is used in Fezzan for a weight of four grains, is exactly equal to four grains English.
In England one grain of gold is worth 2d.—one penny-weight is worth 4s.—and one ounce is worth 4l. sterling.
Rees’s Edition of Chambers’s Dictionary, Article “Gold.”
[12]Its depth is from ten to twelve peeks, each of which is twenty-seven inches.
The Shereef Imhammed.
[13]The rout which Ben Alli pursued from Fezzan to Bornou is not distinctly described.
His relation is, that on the 26th day from the time of his leaving Fezzan, he arrived at a place which in Arabic is called Wéddan, or the Rivers, for Wéddan is the plural of Wed which signifies a river.
The first part of the country through which he passed is represented as a sandy Desart, in which the Shé (a plant that resembles the Wild Thyme of England) and a few bushes of shrubs and short trees are thinly scattered, and wells of water are extremely rare. Wandering Arabs, of the powerful but hospitable Tribes of Booaish and Duhassin, appear to be its only inhabitants; and Wéddan itself is said to contain but 130 houses, which are built of earth and sand; and to furnish no articles of trade but dates and salt; yet the country around it is called prolific: the rice grounds are described as numerous, and multitudes of sheep and goats, of camels and of horses, swell the list of its possessions.
He represents the Duhassin Arabs, as Merchants journeying to Bornou, who carried with them for sale an assortment of goods; among which he enumerates wheat, barley, dates, salt, tobacco, and alhaiks: and he observes, that he purchased from the Chief the permission of accompanying the Tribe, and the consequent assurance of a safe passage to Bornou.
From Wéddan, by forced marches, they arrived in twenty days at Bornou. A desart of sand, in some places interrupted by woods, and occasionally watered with rivulets of a strong mineral taste, constitutes the general description of the country. But as he entered the kingdom of the Bornoos, the limit of which he represents as seven days distant from the capital, he passed through several poor villages of Blacks, who live upon the charity of Travellers; for though there be no regular marked road, yet the caravans always take the same rout, and pass by those villages both in going and returning.
Ben Alli seems to have travelled from Mourzouk to Bornou by a different rout from that which is usually taken by the Merchants of Fezzan: nor can it be supposed, that the independent and powerful Arabs with whom he journeyed, would either obtain, or solicit the permission of the Sovereign of Fezzan to pass in so large a body through his small and unguarded dominions. And though the corresponding accounts that are given in the narratives of the Shereef and of Ben Alli, of some villages of miserable Blacks, may suggest an idea that the two roads intersected each other on the frontier of Bornou, yet as on that supposition, the different times within which the several parts of the two journeys were respectively performed cannot be easily reconciled, there is reason to believe that the villages described by Ben Alli, though peopled by similar inhabitants, may not be the same with those which attracted the compassionate notice of the Shereef.
[14]The dress of the greatest part of the people is composed of shirts of blue cotton, which is manufactured in the country; of a red cap, which is imported from Tripoli; and of a white muslin turban, which is brought from Cairo by the pilgrims who return through that City from Mecca. Nose-rings of gold are worn by the principal people as a mark of distinction.
Ben Alli.
[15]The country in the neighbourhood of the City of Bornou is fertile in Indian corn and rice. Of barley and wheat the quantity raised is small. A species of bean, which resembles the horse-bean of Europe, though larger, and of a darker hue, is a much more common produce. Gum-trees are thinly scattered. Cotton, hemp, and indigo, are also among the various produce of its soil.
Ben Alli.
[16]The country abounds in different species of fruit trees, but that which produces the date is not of the number.
Ben Alli.
[17]Horses and horned cattle, goats and sheep, and camels, are the common animals of the country.
Ben Alli.
[18]Giraffa is the name by which the camelopardalis is called in the old zoological books.—The description here inserted, seems to have arisen from a blended recollection of that animal, and of the hippopotamus, whose hide is extremely tough.
[19]In form, the houses are similar to those of Tripoli.
Ben Alli.
[20]The walls of the greatest part of the houses are built of a composition of earth and sand, and are often washed down by the heavy rains; but others are formed of the more durable materials of stones and bricks.
The roofs are composed of the branches of trees, which are covered with layers of earth, and the whole building is white-washed with a species of chalk.
Ben Alli.
[21]Bornoo is situated in a flat country, on the banks of a small river.
Ben Alli.
[22]Bornoo, though a town of greater extent than Tripoli, consists of a multitude of houses, so irregularly placed that the spaces between them cannot be called streets. It is furnished with mosques, which are constructed of brick and of earth; and with schools, in which the Koran is taught, as in the principal towns of Barbary.
Ben Alli.
[23]In time of peace the Sultan always resides in the capital.
Ben Alli.
[24]Bornoo is surrounded by a wall, on which, however, there are no guards.
Ben Alli.
[25]A small quantity of gold dust is produced in Bornoo; but the principal medium of exchange consists of pieces of a metal which has some resemblance to tin.
Ben Alli.
[26]The language of the common people of Bornoo, though different from, has a strong resemblance to that of the neighbouring Negros, and is very unlike the Arabic, in which, however, the Nobles and principal families converse.
The art of writing is known among them, and they are taught to express the Bornoo tongue in the characters of the Arabic.
Ben Alli.
[27]The Sultan and his subjects are Musselmen.
Ben Alli.
[28]Bornoo is governed by a King, who takes the title of Sultan.
Ben Alli.
[29]The Sultan of Bornoo commands a vast army of horsemen, and is a much more powerful Monarch than the Emperor of Morrocco.
Ben Alli.
[30]At Bornoo I exchanged for gold dust and ostrich feathers the merchandize which I had brought from Tripoli.
Ben Alli.
[31]The Sultan of Bornou is continually at war with the various idolatrous tribes of Blacks who border on his dominions. Those who are taken prisoners are sold to the Arabs, and this traffic constitutes the principal commerce of the country.
Slaves are every day brought to him, for the acquisition of this sort of plunder is his constant occupation.
Ben Alli.
[32]From the hemp of the country, a coarse linen is manufactured by the people of Bornoo. Their cotton, which is also a native produce, is spun to a thread of remarkable fineness, and is then converted to callicoes and muslins of about nine inches in breadth, and of a length which varies from fifteen to twenty yards. Such of these cotton manufactures as are enriched with the blue dye of the country, which, from the superiority of the indigo, is preferable to that of the East Indies, are valued more highly than silk; yet their only supply of the latter is that which the Merchants of Barbary convey.
They also fabricate a species of carpet, as a covering for their horses. Tents, from wool and the hair of goats and of camels, are made for the use of the army.
The little silver they have is converted by their own artists into rings.
Ben Alli.
[33]The dress of the people of Fullan (a country to the West of Cashna) resembles the cloth of which the plaids of the Scotch Highlanders are made.
Ben Alli.
[34]The goods imported by the Merchants of Fezzan, consist of
The goods exported from Fezzan, consist of the following European articles:
Ben Alli.
[35]Leo’s History of Africa, book 7th, pages 293 and 294. English edition.
“Of the Kingdom of Borno.”
“The inhabitants in Summer go all naked, except at their waists, which they cover with a piece of leather: but all Winter they are clad in skins, and have beds of skins also. They embrace no religion at all, being neither Christians, Mahometans, nor Jews, nor of any other profession, but living after a brutish manner, and having wives and children in common: and (as I understood of a certain Merchant that abode a long time among them) they have no proper names at all, but every one is nick-named according to his length, his fatness, or some other qualitie. They have a most puissant Prince, being lineally descended from the Lybian people called Bardoa: horsemen he hath in a continual readiness, to the number of 3000, and an huge number of footmen, for all his subjects are so serviceable and obedient unto him, that whensoever he commandeth them, they will arme themselves and follow him whither he pleaseth to conduct them. They paye unto him none other tribute but the tithes of all their corne: neither hath this King any revenues to maintain his Estate, but only such spoils as he getteth from his next enimes by often invasions and assaults.”
—“Yet the King seemeth to be marveilous rich; for his spurs, his bridles, platters, dishes, pots, and other vessels wherein his meat and drink are brought to the table, are all of pure gold: yea, and the chains of his dogs and hounds are of gold also. Howbeit this King is extremely covetous, for he had much rather pay his debts in slaves than in gold. In this kingdome are great multitudes of Negros and of other people, the names of whom (bicause I tarried here but one month) I could not well note.”
[36]Teuchira was situated near the present Tolemata; antiently Ptolemais.
