Born about 1486.—Died about 1540.
The original name of this distinguished traveller was Al Hassan Ben
Mohammed Al Vazan, surnamed Fezzani, on account of his having studied and
passed the greater part of his youth at Fez. He was, however, a native of
the city of Granada in Spain, where he appears to have been born about
the year 1486 or 1487. When this city, the last stronghold of Islamism
in the Peninsula, was besieged by the Christians in 1491, the parents
of Leo, who were a branch of the noble family of Zaid, passed over into
Africa, taking their son, then a child, along with them, and established
themselves at Fez, the capital of the Mohammedan kingdom of the same
name. Fez, at this period the principal seat of Mohammedan learning
in Africa, was no less distinguished among the cities of Islamism for
the magnificence and splendour of its mosques, palaces, caravansaries,
and gardens; yet Leo, who already exhibited a vigorous and independent
character, preferred the tranquil and salubrious retreat of Habbed’s
Camp, a small place originally founded by a hermit, upon a mountain six
miles from the capital, and commanding a view both of the city and its
environs. Here he passed four delightful summers in study and retirement.
Having at the age of fourteen completed his studies, he became secretary
or registrar to a caravanserai, at a salary of three golden dinars per
month, and this office he filled during two years. At the expiration of
this period, about the year 1502, he accompanied his uncle on an embassy
from the King of Fez to the Sultan of Timbuctoo, and in that renowned
assemblage of hovels he remained four years. On his return from this
city, which he afterward visited at a more mature age, he made a short
stay at Tefza, the capital of a small independent territory in the empire
of Morocco. The city was large and flourishing; the people wealthy; but
divisions arising among them, several individuals of distinction were
driven into exile, who, repairing to the King of Fez, conjured him to
grant them a certain number of troops, in return for which they engaged
to reduce their native city, and place it in his hands. The troops
were granted—the city reduced—the chiefs of the popular party thrown
into prison. The business now being to extort from them the greatest
possible sum of money, they were informed, that unless they immediately
produced wherewith to defray the expenses of the expedition, they should
without delay be transported to Fez, where the king would not fail
to exact from them at least double the amount. Being aware into what
hands they were fallen, the chiefs consented, and desired their wives
and relatives to produce the money. The ladies of course obeyed; but in
order to make it appear that they had achieved the matter with the utmost
difficulty, and had in fact collected all they possessed in the world,
they included their rings, bracelets, and other ornaments and jewels,
the whole amounting to about twenty-eight thousand golden dinars. This
sum exceeding what had been demanded, there appeared to be no longer any
pretence for detaining the men in prison; but the general, imagining
that persons who possessed so much must infallibly possess more, could
not prevail upon himself to part with them so easily. Therefore, calling
together the prisoners, who were about forty-two in number, he informed
them in a tone of great commiseration that he had just received letters
from the king, peremptorily commanding him to put them all to death
without delay, and that of course he could not dare to disobey the orders
of his sovereign. At these words indescribable terror and consternation
seizing upon the prisoners, they wept bitterly, and in the poignancy of
their anguish conjured the chief to have mercy upon them. The worthy
soldier, who had apparently been educated at court, shed tears also, and
seemed to be overwhelmed with sorrow and perplexity. While they were in
this dilemma, a man who appeared to be totally new to the affair entered,
and upon hearing the whole state of the case, gave it as his opinion that
the severity of the king might be mitigated by a large sum of money.
The prisoners, who appeared to revive at these words, forgetting that,
according to their own account, the former mulct had exhausted all their
means, now offered immense sums in exchange for their lives, not only
to the king, but likewise to the general. This being the point aimed
at, their offer was of course accepted; and having paid eighty-four
thousand pieces of gold to the king, and rewarded the astute general with
a costly present of horses, slaves, and perfumes, the poor men were at
length liberated. Leo, who was present at this transaction, admires the
extraordinary ingenuity of mankind in extorting money; and observes that
some time after this his majesty of Fez extracted a still larger sum from
a single Jew.
The chronology of our traveller’s various expeditions it is difficult
if not impossible to determine; but he appears shortly after this
characteristic affair to have made an excursion into those vast plains,
or deserts, of Northern Africa, inhabited by the Bedouins, where he
amused himself with contemplating the rude character and manners of this
primitive people. His first attempt, however, to visit these wild tribes
was unsuccessful. Setting out from Fez, and traversing a mountainous
and woody country, abounding in fountains and rivulets, and extremely
fertile, he arrived at the foot of Mount Atlas, whose sides were covered
with vast forests, while its summits were capped with snow. The merchants
who cross this tremendous mountain with fruit from the date country
usually arrive about the end of October, but are often surprised in their
passage by snow-storms, which, in the course of a few hours, not only
bury both carriages and men, but even the trees, so that not a vestige of
them remains visible. When the sun melts the snow in the spring, then the
carriages and the bodies of the dead are found.
It was some time in the month of October that Leo arrived with a large
company of merchants at the ascent of Atlas, where they were overtaken
about sunset by a storm of blended snow and hail, accompanied by the
most piercing cold. As they were toiling upwards, they encountered a
small troop of Arab horsemen, who, inviting our traveller to descend
from his carriage and bear them company, promised to conduct him to an
agreeable and secure asylum. Though entertaining considerable doubts
of their intentions, he could not venture to refuse; but while he
accepted of their civility, he began to revolve in his mind the means
of concealing from them the wealth which he bore about his person. The
horsemen, however, were all mounted and impatient to be on the march;
he had, therefore, not a moment to lose, but pretending a pressing
necessity for stepping aside for an instant, he retreated behind a tree,
and deposited his money among a heap of stones at the foot of it. Then
carefully observing the spot, he returned to the Arabs, who immediately
began their journey. They travelled rapidly till about midnight without
uttering a word, battered by the storm and severely pinched by the cold;
when, having reached a spot proper for the purpose they had in view, they
stopped suddenly, and one of them, coming close up to our traveller,
demanded of him what wealth he had about him. He replied that he had
none, having intrusted one of his fellow-travellers with his money.
This the Arabs refused to believe, and, in order to satisfy themselves
upon the point, commanded him, without considering the bitterness of
the weather, to strip himself to the skin. When he had done so, and was
found to be as penniless as he was naked, they burst into a loud laugh,
pretending that what they had done was merely to ascertain whether he was
a hardy man or not, and could endure the biting of the cold and the fury
of the tempest. They now once more proceeded on their way, as swiftly as
the darkness of the night and the roughness of the weather would permit,
until they perceived by the bleating of sheep that they were approaching
the habitations of men. This sound serving them for a guide, they dashed
away through thick woods and over steep rocks, to the great hazard of
their necks; and at length arrived at an immense cavern, where they found
a number of shepherds, who, having driven in all their flocks, had
kindled a blazing fire, and were eagerly crowding round it on account of
the cold.
Observing that their visiters were Arabs, the shepherds were at first
greatly terrified; but being by degrees persuaded that they intended
them no harm, and merely demanded shelter from the inclemency of the
weather, they recovered their self-possession, and entertained them with
the most generous hospitality. After supper, the whole company stretched
themselves round the fire, and slept soundly until next morning. The
snow still continuing to fall, they remained two whole days in this wild
retreat; but on the third the weather clearing up, a passage was cut
through the snow, and merging into daylight they mounted their horses,
and descended towards the plains of Fez, the kindly shepherds acting as
their guides through the difficult passes of the mountains. They now
learned that the caravan with which Leo was travelling when encountered
by the Arabs, had been overwhelmed by the snow; so that no hope of
plunder being left, our traveller’s friendly preservers seized upon a Jew
with the design of extorting a large ransom from him; and borrowing Leo’s
horse in order to convey the Hebrew prize to their tents, they commended
its master to the mercy of fortune and the winds, and departed. Good
luck, or the charity of some benevolent hind, furnished our traveller
with a mule, upon which he made his way in three days to the capital.
Not being discouraged by this adventure, which, when safely concluded,
appeared rather romantic than unfortunate, he again bent his steps
towards the desert, and at length succeeded in his attempt to become the
guest of the children of Ishmael. Here he found himself surrounded by
that fierce and untameable people, who, having to their natural wildness
and ferocity added those qualities of perfidiousness and treachery which
the venom of the African soil appears to engender inevitably, might
be regarded as the most dangerous of all those barbarians among whom
civilized man could expose himself. Hunting the lion, taming the most
fiery coursers, in short, all violent exercises, and bloodshed, and war,
were their daily recreations. Nevertheless some traces of the milder
manners of Arabia remained. Poetry, adapting itself to the tastes of
these rude men, celebrated in songs burning with energy and enthusiasm
the prowess and exploits of their warriors, the beauty of their women,
the savage but sublime features of their country, or the antiquity and
glory of their race. Making their sword the purveyor of their desires,
they enjoyed whatever iron thus fashioned could purchase,—ample tents,
costly and magnificent garments, vessels of copper or of brass, with
abundance of silver and gold. In summer moving northward before the sun,
they poured down upon the cultivated country lying along the shores of
the Mediterranean, through a thousand mountain defiles, and collecting
both fruit and grain as they were ripened by its rays, watched the
retreat of the great luminary towards the southern tropic, and pursued
its fiery track across the desert.
Returning from this expedition without undergoing any particular
hardships, he shortly afterward passed into Morocco, where he remained
during several years, visiting its most celebrated cities, mountains, and
deserts, and carefully studying the manners of its inhabitants under all
their aspects. The first place of any note which he examined was Mount
Magran. Here, amid wild Alpine scenes, and peaks covered with eternal
snow, he found a people whose simple manners carried back his imagination
to the first ages of the world. In winter they had no fixed habitations,
but dwelt in large baskets, the sides of which were formed of the bark
of trees, and the roof of wicker-work. These they removed from place
to place on the backs of mules, stopping and dismounting their houses
wherever they met with pasture for their flocks. During the warm months,
however, they erected huts of larger dimensions, roofing them with
green boughs, and provender for their cattle being plentiful, remained
stationary. To defend their flocks and herds from the cold, which is
there always severe during the night, they kindled immense fires close to
their doors, which, emitting too great a flame when fanned by tempestuous
winds, sometimes caught their combustible dwellings, and endangered the
lives both of themselves and their cattle. They were likewise exposed
to the daily hazard of being devoured by lions or wolves, animals which
abound in that savage region.
From hence he proceeded to Mount Dedas, a lofty chain eighty miles
in length, covered with vast forests, and fertilized by a prodigious
number of fountains and rivulets. On the summit of this ridge were then
found the ruins of a very ancient city, on the white walls and solitary
monuments of which there existed numerous inscriptions, but couched in
a language and characters totally unknown to the inhabitants, some of
whom supposed it to have been built by the Romans, though no mention
of the place occurs in any African historian. The wretched race then
inhabiting the mountain dwelt in caverns, or in huts of stones rudely
piled upon each other. Their whole riches consisted in large droves of
asses and flocks of goats; barley bread with a little salt and milk was
their only food; and scarcely the half of their bodies were covered by
their miserable garments. Yet the caverns in which they and their goats
lay down promiscuously abounded in nitre, which in any civilized country
would have sufficed to raise them to a state of opulence. The manners of
these troglodytes were execrable. Living without hope and without God in
the world, they fearlessly perpetrated all manner of crimes, treachery,
thieving, open robbery, and murder. The women were still more ragged and
wretched than the men, and the traveller found it, upon the whole, the
most disagreeable place in all Africa.
As Leo did not make any regular tour of the country, but repaired now to
one place, now to another, as business or accident impelled him, we find
him to-day at one end of Morocco, and when the next date is given he is
at the opposite extremity. Nothing, therefore, is left the biographer but
to follow as nearly as possible the order of time. Towards the conclusion
of the year in which he crossed Mount Dedas in his way to Segelmessa, he
proceeded with Sheriff, a Moorish chief, in whose service he happened
to be, towards the western provinces of Morocco, and travelling with
a powerful escort, or rather with an army, had little or nothing to
fear from the most sanguinary and perfidious of the barbarian tribes.
One of the most remarkable places visited during this excursion was El
Eusugaghen, the “City of Murderers.” The mere description of the manners
of its inhabitants makes the blood run cold. The city, erected on the
summit of a lofty mountain, was surrounded by no gardens, and shaded by
no fruit-trees. Barley and oil were the only produce of the soil. The
poorer portion of the inhabitants went barefoot throughout the year,
the richer wore a rude species of mocassin, fabricated from the hide
of the camel or the ox. All their thoughts, all their desires tended
towards bloodshed and war, and so fierce were their struggles with their
neighbours, so terrible the slaughter, so unmitigated and unrelenting
their animosity, that, according to the forcible expression of the
traveller himself, they deserved rather to be called dogs than men. Nor
was their disposition towards each other more gentle. No man ventured to
step over the threshold of his own door into the street without carrying
a dagger or a spear in his hand: and as they did not appear inclined to
bear their weapons in vain, were restrained by no principles of religion
or justice, and were utterly insensible to pity, cries of “murder!” in
the street were frequent and startling.
This atrocious stronghold of murderers was situated in the district
over which Sheriff claimed the sovereignty, and his visit to the place
was undertaken in the hope of introducing something like law and
justice. The number of accusations of theft, robbery, and murder was
incredible; and dire was the dissension, the commotion, the noise which
everywhere prevailed. As Sheriff had brought with him neither lawyers nor
magistrates who might undertake to compose their differences, Leo, as a
man learned in the Koran, was earnestly conjured to fulfil this terrible
office. No sooner had he consented than two men rushed in before him,
accusing each other of the most abominable crimes, the one averring that
the other had murdered eight of his relations; and the latter, who by no
means denied the fact, asserting in reply that the former had murdered
_ten_ members of his family, and that, therefore, as the balance was in
his favour, he should, according to the custom of the country, be paid
a certain sum of money for the additional loss he had sustained. The
murderer of ten, on the other hand, argued that it was to him that the
price of blood should be paid, for that the persons whom he had slain
had suffered justly, since they had violently seized upon a farm which
belonged to him, and that he could in no other way gain possession of
his right; while his own relations had fallen the victims of the mere
atrocity of the other murderer. Such were the mutual accusations in which
the first day was consumed. The evening coming on, Leo and the chieftain
retired to rest; but in the dead of the night they were suddenly
awakened by terrific shouts and yells, and springing hastily from their
couches, and running to the window, they saw an immense crowd rushing
into the market-place, and fighting with so much fury and bloodshed,
that to have beheld them the most iron nature must have been shocked; so
that, dreading lest some plot or conspiracy might be hatching against
himself, the chieftain made his escape as rapidly as possible, taking the
traveller along with him.
From this den they proceeded towards the city of Teijent, and on the way
began to imagine that, according to the vulgar proverb, they had fallen
out of the fryingpan into the fire; for night coming upon them in a
solitary place, where neither village nor caravansary was nigh, Leo and
his companion, who happened to be separated from the chieftain’s army,
were compelled to take refuge in a small wooden house which had fallen
to decay on the road-side. It being extremely hot weather, they fastened
their horses to a post in the lower room, stopping up the gaps in the
enclosure with thorns and bushes, and then retreated to the house-top,
to enjoy as far as possible the freshness of the air. The night was
already far advanced, when two enormous lions, attracted by the scent
of the horses, approached the ruin, and threw them into the greatest
consternation; for the least violence would have shaken down their frail
tenement, and thrown them out into the lions’ mouths, and their horses,
maddened by fear, and shuddering at the terrible voice of the lions,
began to neigh and snort in the most furious manner. To increase their
fears, they heard the ferocious animals striving to tear away the briery
fence with which they had closed up the doors and openings in the wall,
and which they every moment dreaded might at length give way. In this
situation they passed the night; but when the dawn appeared, and light
began to infuse life into the cool landscape, the lions, feeling that
their hour was gone by, retreated to their dens in the forests, and left
the travellers to pursue their journey.
Having remained a short time at Teijent, he proceeded towards the
north-west through Tesegdeltum to Tagtessa, a city built upon the apex
of a conical hill, where he saw the earth covered by so prodigious a
cloud of locusts that they seemed to outnumber the blades of grass. From
this city he travelled to Eitdevet, where he refreshed himself after
his various toils by conversing with learned Jews and Ulemas on knotty
points of law, and by gazing on the women, whose plump round forms and
rich complexions delighted him exceedingly. To keep up the interest
of his journey, and diversify the scene a little, he was a few days
afterward fired at by the subject of an heretical chief, who inhabited a
mountain fortress, and amused himself with laying true believers under
contribution; but escaped the danger, and succeeded in reaching Tefetne,
a small city on the seashore. Here sufferings of a new kind awaited him.
Not from the people, for they were humane and friendly towards strangers;
but from certain dependants of theirs, whose assiduous attentions made
the three days which Leo spent among these good-natured people appear
to be so many ages. In short, notwithstanding that he was lodged in a
magnificent caravansary, he was nearly stung to death by fleas! The
cause of the extraordinary abundance of these active little animals at
Tefetne, though it seems never to have occurred to our curious traveller,
is discoverable in a circumstance which he accidentally mentions—_the
Portuguese traded to this city_. This likewise may account for another
little peculiarity which distinguished this part from the neighbouring
towns, though not greatly to its advantage: the stench, he tells us,
which diffused itself on all sides, and assaulted the nostrils night and
day, was so powerful that his senses were at length compelled to succumb,
and he retreated before the victorious odour.
In order somewhat to sweeten his imagination, he now struck off from the
seacoast, where the towns are generally infested by unpleasant smells, in
order to visit those wild tribes that inhabit the western extremity of
Mount Atlas. Here the scenery, sparkling through a peculiarly transparent
atmosphere, was rich, picturesque, and beautiful. Innumerable fountains,
shaded by lofty spreading trees, among which the walnut was conspicuous,
sprung forth from the bosom of the hills, and leaping down over rocks
and precipices amid luxuriant foliage, united in the sunny valleys,
and formed many cool and shining streams. This fertile region was well
stocked with inhabitants—farms and villas everywhere peeping from between
the trees, and refreshing the eye of the traveller. The inhabitants,
however, though clothed superbly, and glittering with rings and other
ornaments of gold and silver, were immersed in the grossest ignorance,
and addicted beyond credibility to every odious and revolting vice. From
thence, after a short stay, he returned towards the coast, and arrived at
Messa, a city surrounded by groves of palm-trees and richly-cultivated
fields, and situated about a mile distant from the sea, close to which
there was a mosque, the beams and rafters of which were formed of the
bones of whales. Here, according to the traditions of the place, the
prophet Jonah was cast on shore by the whale, when he attempted to escape
from the necessity of preaching repentance to the Ninevites; and it is
the opinion of the people, that if any of this species of fish attempt to
swim past this temple along the shore, he is immediately stricken dead
by some miraculous influence of the edifice, and cast up by the waves
upon the beach; and it is certain that many carcasses of these enormous
animals are annually found upon that part of the coast of Morocco, as
also large quantities of amber.
Proceeding along the shore, and examining whatever appeared deserving
of attention, he once more betook himself to the mountains, where,
among the rude and lawless tribes which inhabited them, he found a more
extraordinary system of manners, and stood a better chance of gratifying
his love of enterprise and adventure. Traversing the savage defiles of
Mount Nififa, whose inhabitants wholly employ themselves in the care of
goats and bees, he arrived at Mount Surede, where he became engaged in
a very whimsical scene. Cut off by their solitary and remote position
from frequent intercourse with the rest of the world, these thick-headed
mountaineers had no conception of law or civilization, no idea of which
ever entered their minds, except when some stranger, distinguished for
his good sense and modest manners, made his appearance among them. Still
they were not, like many of the neighbouring tribes, altogether destitute
of religion; and when Leo arrived, he was received and entertained
by a priest, who set before him the usual food of the inhabitants, a
little barley-meal boiled in water, and goat’s flesh, which might be
conjectured from its toughness to have belonged to some venerable example
of longevity. These savoury viands, which they ate squatted on their
haunches like monkeys, appear to have been so little to the taste of
Leo, that, in order to avoid the impiety of devouring such patriarchal
animals, he resolved to depart next morning at the peep of dawn; but
as he was preparing to mount his beast, about fifty of the inhabitants
crowded about him, and enumerating their grievances and wrongs, requested
him to judge between them. He replied, that he was totally ignorant of
their customs and manners. This, he was told, signified nothing. It was
the custom of the place, that whenever any stranger paid them a visit, he
was constrained before his departure to try and determine all the causes
which, like suits in the Court of Chancery, might have been accumulating
for half a century; and to convince him that they were in earnest,
and would hear of no refusal they forthwith took away his horse, and
requested him to commence operations. Seeing there was no remedy, he
submitted with as good a grace as possible; and during nine days and
nights had his ears perpetually stunned by accusations, pleadings,
excuses, and, what was still worse, was obliged daily to devour the flesh
of animals older than Islamism itself. On the evening of the eighth
day the natives, being greatly satisfied with his mode of distributing
justice, and desirous of encouraging him to complete his Herculean
labours, promised that on the next day he should receive a magnificent
reward; and as he hoped they meant to recompense him with a large sum
of money, the night which separated him from so great a piece of good
fortune seemed an age. The dawn, therefore, had no sooner appeared than
he was stirring; and the people, who were equally in earnest, requesting
him to place himself in the porch of the mosque, made a short speech
after their manner, which being finished, the presents were brought up
with the utmost respect. To his great horror, instead of the gold which
his fancy had been feeding upon, he saw his various clients approach,
one with a cock, another with a quantity of nuts, a third with onions;
while such as meant to be more magnificent brought him a goat. There was,
in fact, no money in the place. Not being able to remove his riches, he
left the goats and onions to his worthy host; and departed with a guard
of fifty soldiers, which his grateful clients bestowed upon him to defend
his person in the dangerous passes through which he had to travel.
From hence, still proceeding along the lofty mountainous ridge, whose
pinnacles are covered with eternal snow, he repaired to Mount Seusava, a
district inhabited by warlike tribes, who, though engaged in perpetual
hostilities with their neighbours, understood the use of no offensive
arms except the sling, from which, however, they threw stones with
singular force and precision. The food of these gallant emulators of
the ancient Rhodians consisted of barley-meal and honey, to which was
occasionally added a little goat’s flesh. The arts of peace, which
the warriors, perhaps, were too proud or too lazy to cultivate with
any degree of assiduity, were here exercised chiefly by Jews, who
manufactured very good earthenware, reaping-hooks, and horse-shoes. Their
houses were constructed of rough stones, piled upon each other without
cement. Nevertheless, a great number of learned men, whose advice was
invariably taken and followed by the natives, was found here, among
whom Leo met with several who had formerly been his fellow-students at
Fez, and now not only received him with kindness and hospitality, but,
moreover, accompanied him on his departure to a considerable distance
from the mountain.
He now peacefully pursued his journey; and after witnessing the
various phenomena of these mountain regions, where the date-tree and
the avalanche, the fir and the orange-tree are near neighbours, again
descended into the plainer and more cultivated portion of Morocco,
and after numerous petty adventures, not altogether unworthy of being
recorded, but yet too numerous to find a place here, arrived at
Buluchuan, a small city upon the river Ommirabih. Here travellers were
usually received and entertained with distinguished hospitality, not
being allowed to spend any thing during their stay, while splendid
caravansaries were erected for their reception, and the citizens, whose
munificence was not inferior to their riches, vied with each other in
their attentions and civilities. At the period of Leo’s visit, however,
the city was in a state of the utmost disorder. The King of Fez had sent
his brother with orders to take possession of the whole province of
Duccala; but on his arrival at this city, news was brought him that the
Prince of Azemore was even then upon his march towards the place with
a numerous army, with the intention of demolishing the fortifications,
and carrying away the inhabitants into captivity. Upon receiving
this information, two thousand horse and eight hundred archers were
immediately thrown into Buluchuan; but at the same time arrived a number
of Portuguese soldiers, and two thousand Arabs; the latter of whom, first
attacking the Fezzians, easily routed them, and put the greater number
of the archers to the sword; then turning upon the Portuguese, they cut
off a considerable number of their cavalry, and quickly put them also to
the rout. Shortly after this, the brother of the King of Fez arrived,
and upon undertaking to protect the inhabitants from all enemies to the
latest day of his life, received the tribute which he demanded; but being
worsted in battle, quickly returned to Fez. The people now perceiving
that, notwithstanding the promised protection of the Fezzan king, they
were still exposed to all the calamities of war, and feeling themselves
unequal to contend unassisted with their numerous enemies, and more
particularly dreading the avarice of the Portuguese, deserted their city
and their homes, and took refuge upon the promontory of Tedla. Leo, who
was present during these transactions, and witnessed the slaughter of the
archers, mounted on a swift charger, and keeping at a short distance from
the scene of carnage upon the plain, had been delegated by the monarch of
Fez to announce the speedy arrival of his brother with his forces.
Some time after this, the King of Fez, once more resolving upon the
reduction of the province, arrived in Duccala with an army, bringing Leo,
who had now risen to considerable distinction at court, along with him.
Arriving at the foot of an eminence of considerable height, denominated
by our traveller the Green Mountain, and which divides Duccala from the
province of Tedla, the monarch, charmed by the beauties of the place,
commanded his tents to be pitched, resolving to spend a few days in
pleasure at that calm and delightful solitude. The mountain itself is
rugged, and well clothed with woods of oak and pine. Among these, remote
from all human intercourse, are the dwellings of numerous hermits, who
subsist upon such wild productions of the earth as the place supplies;
and here and there scattered among the rocks were great numbers of
Mohammedan altars, fountains of water, and ruins of ancient edifices.
Near the base of the mountain there was an extensive lake, resembling
that of Volsinia in Italy, swarming with prodigious numbers of eels,
pikes, and other species of fish, some of which are unknown in Europe.
Mohammed, the Fezzan king, now gave orders for a general attack upon the
fish of the lake. In a moment, turbans, vests, and nether garments, the
sleeves and legs being tied at one end, were transformed into nets, and
lowered into the water; and before their owners could look round them
pikes were struggling and eels winding about in their capacious breeches.
Meanwhile, nineteen thousand horses, and a vast number of camels, plunged
into the lake to drink, so that, says Leo, by a certain figure of speech
not at all uncommon among travellers, there was scarcely any water left;
and the fish were stranded, as it were, in their own dwellings. The sport
was continued for eight days; when, being tired of fishing, Mohammed gave
orders to explore the recesses of the mountain. The borders of the lake
were covered by extensive groves of a species of pine-tree, in which an
incredible number of turtle-doves had built their nests; and these, like
the fishes of the lake, became the prey of the army. Passing through
these groves, the prince and all his troops ascended the mountain. Leo
the while keeping close to his majesty among the doctors and courtiers;
and as often as they passed by any little chapel, Mohammed, keeping in
sight of the whole army, addressed his prayers to the Almighty, calling
Heaven to witness that his only motive in coming to Duccala was to
deliver it from the tyranny of the Christians and Arabs. Returning in the
evening to their tents, they next day proceeded with hounds and falcons,
of which the king possessed great numbers, to hunt the wild duck, the
wild goose, the turtle-dove, and various other species of birds. Their
next expedition was against higher game, such as the hare, the stag,
the fallow-deer, the porcupine, and the wolf, and in this kind of chase
eagles and falcons were employed as well as dogs; and as no person had
beaten up those fields for more than a hundred years, the quantity of
game was prodigious. After amusing himself for several days in this
manner, the prince, attended by his court and army, returned to Fez,
while Leo, with a small body of troops, was despatched upon an embassy to
the Emperor of Morocco.
On returning from Morocco, after being hospitably entertained at El
Medina, Tagodastum, Bzo, and other cities, he visited the dwelling of
a mountain prince, with whom he spent several days in conversations
on poetry and literature. Though immoderately greedy of praise, his
gentleness, politeness, and liberality rendered him every way worthy of
it; and if he did not understand Arabic, he at least delighted to have
its beauties explained to him, and highly honoured and valued those
who were learned in this copious and energetic language. Our traveller
had visited this generous chieftain several years before. Coming well
furnished with presents, among which was a volume of poetry containing
the praises of celebrated men, and of the prince himself among the rest,
he was magnificently received; the more particularly as he himself had
composed upon the way a small poem on the same agreeable subject, which
he recited to the prince after supper.
The date of our traveller’s various excursions through the kingdom of
Fez is unknown, but he apparently, like many other travellers, visited
foreign countries before he had examined his own, and I have therefore
placed his adventures in Morocco before those which occurred to him
at home. In an excursion to the seacoast he passed through Anfa, an
extensive city founded by the Romans, on the margin of the ocean, and
in a position so salubrious and agreeable that, taking into account the
generous character and polished manners of the inhabitants, it might
justly be considered the most delightful place in all Africa. From hence
he proceeded through Mansora and Nuchailu to Rabat, once a vast and
splendid city, abounding with palaces, caravansaries, baths, and gardens,
but now, by wars and civil dissensions, reduced to a heap of ruins,
rendered doubly melancholy by the figures of a few wretched inhabitants
who still clung to the spot, and flitted about like spectres among the
dilapidated edifices. The scene, compared with that which the city once
presented, was so generative of sad thought, that on beholding it our
traveller sank into a sombre revery which ended in tears. From this place
he proceeded northward, and passing through many cities, arrived at a
small town called Thajiah, in whose vicinity was the ancient tomb of a
saint, upon which, according to the traditions of the country, a long
catalogue of miracles had been performed, numerous individuals having
been preserved by this tomb, but in what manner is not specified, from
the jaws of lions and other ferocious beasts. The scene is rugged, the
ground steril, the climate severe; yet so high was the veneration in
which the sanctity of the tomb was held, that incredible numbers of
pilgrims resorted thither in consequence of vows made in situations of
imminent danger, and encamping round the holy spot, had the appearance
of an army bivouacking in the wood.
In the year 1513, having seen whatever he judged most worthy of notice
in Morocco and Fez, and still considering his travels as only begun,
he once more left home, and proceeded eastward along the shores of the
Mediterranean towards Telemsan and Algiers. Upon entering the former
kingdom he abandoned the seacoast, and striking off towards the right,
through mountainous ridges of moderate elevation, entered the wild and
desolate region called the Desert of Angad, where, amid scanty herds
of antelopes, wild goats, and ostriches, the lonely Bedouin wanders,
his hand being against every man, and every man’s hand against him.
Through this desolate tract the merchant bound from Telemsan to Fez
winds his perilous way, dreading the sand-storm, the simoom, the lion,
and other physical ministers of death, less than the fierce passions of
its gloomy possessors, stung to madness by hunger and suffering. Leo,
however, traversed this long waste without accident or adventure, and his
curiosity being satisfied, returned to the inhabited part of the country,
where, if there was less call for romantic and chivalrous daring, there
was at all events more pleasure to be enjoyed, and more knowledge to
be acquired. Passing through various small places little noticed by
modern geographers, he at length arrived at Hunain, an inconsiderable
but handsome city, on the Mediterranean, surrounded by a well-built
wall, flanked with towers. Hither the Venetians, excluded from Oran by
the Spaniards, who were then masters of that port, brought all the rich
merchandise which they annually poured into Telemsan, in consequence
of which chiefly the merchants of Hunain had grown rich; and taste and
more elegant manners following, as usual, in the train of Plutus, the
city was embellished, and the comfort of the inhabitants increased. The
houses, constructed in an airy and tasteful style, with verandahs shaded
by clustering vines, fountains, and floors exquisitely ornamented with
mosaics, were, perhaps, the most agreeable dwellings in Northern Africa;
but the inconstant tide of commerce having found other channels, the
prosperity of Hunain had already begun to decline.
From hence he proceeded through the ancient Haresgol to the capital, an
extensive city, which, though inferior in size and magnificence to Fez,
was nevertheless adorned with numerous baths, fountains, caravansaries,
and mosques. The prince’s palace, situated in the southern quarter of
the city, and opening on one side into the plain, was surrounded by
delightful gardens, in which a great number of fountains kept up a
perpetual coolness in the air. Issuing forth from the city he observed
on all sides numerous villas, to which the wealthier citizens retired
during the heats of summer; and in the midst of meadows, sprinkled thick
with flowers, whole groves of fruit-trees, such as the orange, the peach,
and the date, and at their feet a profusion of melons and other similar
fruit, the whole forming a landscape of surpassing beauty. The literary
men, the ulemas, the notaries, and the Jews of Telemsan inhabited an
elegant suburb, situated on a hill at a short distance from the city;
and these, as well as all other ranks of men, lead a tranquil and secure
life, under the government of a just and beneficent prince. Here Leo
remained several months as the king’s guest, living sumptuously in the
palace, and otherwise experiencing the liberality of his host.
On his departure from Telemsan he entered the country of the Beni Rasid,
a tribe of Arabs living under the protection of the King of Telemsan,
and paying him tribute, yet caring little for his authority, and robbing
his guests and servants without compunction, as Leo, on this occasion,
learned to his cost. These rude people were divided into two classes,
the mountaineers and the dwellers on the plain, the latter of whom were
shepherds, living in tents, and feeding immense droves of camels and
cattle, according to the primitive custom of the Bedouins; while the
former, who had erected themselves houses and villages, were addicted to
agriculture, and other useful arts.
Still proceeding towards the east, he arrived at the large and opulent
town of Batha, which had been but recently erected, in a plain of great
extent and fertility; and as, like Jonah’s gourd, it had sprung up, as
it were, in a night, it soon felt the hot rays of war, and perished
as rapidly. The whole plain had been destitute of inhabitants until a
certain man, whom Leo denominates a hermit, but who in ancient Greece
would have been justly dignified with the name of sage, settled there
with his family. The fame of his piety quickly spread. His flocks and
herds increased rapidly. He paid no tribute to any one; but, on the
contrary, as the circle of his reputation enlarged, gradually embracing
the whole of the surrounding districts, and extending over the whole
Mohammedan world, both in Africa and Asia, presents, which might be
regarded as a tribute paid to virtue, flowed in upon him from all sides,
and rendered him the wealthiest man in the country. His conduct quickly
showed that he deserved his prosperity. Five hundred young men, desirous
of being instructed by him in the ways of religion and morality, flocked
to his camp, as it were became his disciples, and were entertained and
taught by him gratis. When they considered themselves sufficiently
informed, they returned to their homes, carrying with them a high idea
of his wisdom and disinterestedness. Our traveller found on his arrival
about one hundred tents clustered together upon the plain, of which some
were destined for the reception of strangers, others for the shepherds,
and others for the family of the chieftain, which, including his own
wives and female slaves, all of whom were superbly dressed, amounted
to at least five hundred persons. This man was held in the highest
estimation, as well by the Arab tribes in the neighbourhood, as by the
King of Telemsan; and it was the reports which were everywhere spread
concerning his virtues and his piety that induced Leo to pay him a visit.
The behaviour of the chieftain towards his guest, who remained with him
three days, and in all probability might have staid as many months had
he thought proper, was not such as to detract from the idea which the
voice of fame had everywhere circulated of him. However, his learning was
deeply tinctured with the superstitions of the times, consisting for the
most part of an acquaintance with that crabbed and abstruse jargon in
which the mysteries of magic and alchymy were wrapped up from the vulgar,
whose chief merit lying in its extreme difficulty, deluded men into the
pursuit of it, as the meteors of a marsh lead the night-wanderer over
fens and morasses.
Leaving the camp of the alchymist, our traveller proceeded to Algiers,
where the famous Barbarossa then exercised sovereign power. This city,
originally built by the native Africans, was at first called Mesgana,
from the name of its founder; but afterward, for some reason not now
discoverable, it obtained the appellation of _Geseir_, or the “island,”
which European nations have corrupted into Algiers. Its population in
the time of Leo was four thousand families, which, considering how
families are composed in Mohammedan countries, would at least amount
to sixty thousand souls. The public edifices were large and sumptuous,
particularly the baths, khans, and mosques, which were built in the
most tasteful and striking manner. The northern wall of the city was
washed by the sea, and along the top of it ran a fine terrace or public
promenade, whence the inhabitants might enjoy the prospect of the blue
waves, skimmed by milk-white water-fowl, or studded by innumerable ships
and galleys, perpetually entering or issuing from the port. The houses,
rising one behind another, in rows, upon the side of a lofty hill, all
enjoyed the cool breeze blowing from the Mediterranean, as well as the
pleasing view of its waters. A small river which ran at the eastern
extremity of the city turned numerous mills, and furnished the city with
abundance of pure limpid water; and the vicinity, for several miles
round, was covered with delightful gardens, and corn-fields of prodigious
fertility. Here our traveller remained some time, and it being an
interesting period, the struggles between the Turks and Spaniards having
now approached their close, and the star of Barbarossa rising rapidly,
he no doubt enjoyed the triumph of Islamism, and the humiliation of the
power by which, while an infant, he had been driven from his home. His
host during his stay was a learned and curious person, who had previously
been sent on an embassy into Spain, from whence, with patriotic zeal, he
had brought three thousand Arabian manuscripts.
From Algiers Leo proceeded to Bugia, where he found Barbarossa, whose
active genius would admit of no relaxation or repose, laying siege to the
fortress; before he had advanced many leagues towards the east, however,
he heard the news of the death of this redoubted chief, who, being cut
off at Telemsan, was succeeded in the sovereignty of Algiers by his
brother Kairaddin. It was at this time that the Emperor Charles V. turned
his victorious arms against Algiers, where, meeting with a severe check
from Barbarossa, part of his chivalry falling on the plain and part being
taken, his pride was humbled and his glory tarnished by the intrepid
valour of a troop of banditti. Proceeding eastward from Bugia through
many towns of inferior note, yet in many instances bearing marks of a
Roman origin, he arrived in a few days at Kosantina, a city undoubtedly
founded by the Romans, and at that period surrounded by strong walls
of black hewn stone, erected by the founders. It was situated upon the
southern slope of a lofty mountain, hemmed round by tremendous rocks,
between which, through a deep and narrow channel, the river Sufegmare
wound round a great portion of the city, forming, as far as it went, a
natural ditch. Two gates only, the one opening towards the rising, the
other towards the setting sun, lead into the place; on the other sides
enormous bastions or inaccessible precipices prohibit all approach to
the city, which at that period was extremely populous, and adorned with
magnificent public buildings, such as monasteries, colleges, and mosques.
The inhabitants, who were a warlike and polished people, carried on an
extensive trade in oil and silk with the Moors of the interior, receiving
in return slaves and dates, the latter of which Leo here found cheaper
and more plentiful than in any other part of Barbary.
The plain of Kosantina was intersected by a river, and of immense
fertility. Upon this plain numerous structures in an ancient style of
architecture were scattered about, and excellent gardens were planted
on both sides of the stream, to which you descended by steps cut in the
solid rock. Between the city and the river is a Roman triumphal arch,
supposed by the inhabitants to have been an ancient castle, which, as
they affirm, afforded a retreat to innumerable demons, previous to
the Mussulman conquest of the city, when, from respect to the true
believers, they took their departure. In the midst of the stream a very
extraordinary edifice was seen. Pillars, walls, and roof were hewn out
of the rock; but, notwithstanding the singularity of its construction,
it was put to no better use than to shelter the washerwomen of the city.
A very remarkable warm bath, likewise, was found in the vicinity of
Kosantina, around which, attracted by some peculiarity in the soil,
innumerable tortoises were seen, which the women of the place believed to
be demons in disguise, and accused of causing all the fevers and other
diseases by which they might be attacked. A little farther towards the
east, close to a fountain of singular coldness, was a marble structure
adorned with hieroglyphics and enriched with statues, which in the eyes
of the natives were so close a resemblance to life that, to account for
the phenomenon, they invented a legend, according to which this building
was formerly a school, both masters and pupils of which were turned into
marble for their wickedness.
In his way from Kosantina to Tunis, he passed by two cities, or rather
names of cities, the one immortalized by the prowess and enterprise of
its children, the other by the casual mention of the loftiest of modern
poets; I mean Carthage and Biserta. The former fills all ancient history
with its glory; but the reader would probably never have heard of the
latter but that its name is found in Paradise Lost:—
And all who since, baptized or infidel,
Jousted in Aspramont or Montalban,
Damasco, or Marocco, or Trebisond,
Or whom _Biserta_ sent from Africk shore,
When Charlemagne with all his peerage fell
By Fontarabia.
Carthage, though fallen to the lowest depths of misery, still contained
a small number of inhabitants, who concealed their wretchedness amid the
ruins of triumphal arches, aqueducts, and fortifications. Proceeding
westward from Tunis as far as the desert of Barca, and visiting all the
principal towns, whether in the mountains or the plains, without meeting
with any personal adventures which he thought worthy of describing, he
returned to Fez, and prepared for his second journey to Timbuctoo and the
other interior states of Africa.
Crossing Mount Atlas, and proceeding directly towards the south, he
entered the province of Segelmessa, extending from the town of Garselvin
to the river Ziz, a length of about one hundred and twenty miles. Here
commences that scarcity of water which is the curse of this part of
Africa. Few or no inequalities in the surface of the ground, scanty
traces of cultivation, human habitations occurring at wide intervals,
and, in short, nothing to break the dreary uniformity of the scene but
a few scattered date-palms waving their fanlike leaves over the brown
desert, where at every step the foot was in danger of alighting upon a
scorpion resting in the warm sand. The few streams which creep in winter
over this miserable waste shrink away and disappear before the scorching
rays of the summer sun, which penetrate the soil to a great depth, and
pump up every particle of moisture as far as they reach. Nothing then
remains to the inhabitants but a brackish kind of water, which they
obtain from wells sunk extremely deep in the earth. Near the capital of
this province, which is surrounded by strong walls, and said to have been
founded by the Romans, Leo spent seven months; and except that the air
was somewhat too humid in winter, found the place both salubrious and
agreeable.
As he advanced farther into the desert, he daily became more and more
of Pindar’s opinion, that of all the elements water is the best,—the
wells becoming fewer, and their produce more scanty. Many of these
pits are lined round with the skins and bones of camels, in order to
prevent the water from being absorbed by the sand, or choked up when the
winds arise, and drive the finer particles in burning clouds over the
desert. When this happens, however, nothing but certain death awaits the
traveller, who is continually reminded of the fate which awaits him by
observing scattered around upon the sand the bones of his predecessors,
or their more recent bodies withered up and blackening in the sun. The
well-known resource of killing a camel for the water contained in his
stomach is frequently resorted to, and sometimes preserves the lives
of the merchants. In crossing this tremendous scene of desolation, Leo
discovered two marble monuments, when or by whom erected he could not
learn, upon which was an epitaph recording the manner in which those who
slept beneath had met their doom. The one was an exceedingly opulent
merchant, the other a person whose business it was to furnish caravans
with water and provisions. On their arriving at this spot, scorched by
the sun, and their entrails tortured by the most excruciating thirst,
there remained but a very small quantity of water between them. The
rich man, whose thirst now made him regard his gold as dirt, purchased
a single cup of this celestial nectar for ten thousand ducats; but that
which might possibly have saved the life of one of them being divided
between both, only served to prolong their sufferings for a moment, as
they here sunk into that sleep from which there is no waking upon earth.
Yet, strange as it may appear, this inhospitable desert is overrun by
numerous animals, which, therefore, must either be endued by nature with
the power of resisting thirst, or with the instinct to discover springs
of water where man fails. Our traveller was very near participating the
fate of the merchant above commemorated. Day after day they toiled along
the sands without being able to discover one drop of water on their way;
so that the small quantity they had brought with them, which was barely
sufficient for five days, was compelled to serve them for ten. Twelve
miles south of Segelmessa they reached a small castle built in the desert
by the Arabs, but found there nothing but heaps of sand and black stones.
A few orange or lemon-trees blooming in the waste were the only signs
of vegetation which met their eyes until they arrived at Tebelbelt,
or Tebelbert, one hundred miles south of Segelmessa, a city thickly
inhabited, abounding in water and dates. Here the inhabitants employ
themselves greatly in hunting the ostrich, the flesh of which is among
them an important article of food.
They now proceeded through a country utterly desolate, where a house or a
well of water was not met with above once in a hundred miles, reckoning
from the well of Asanad to that of Arsan, about one hundred and fifty
miles north of Timbuctoo. In the first part of this journey, through what
is called the desert of Zuensiga, numerous bodies of men who had died of
thirst on their way were found lying along the sand, and not a single
well of water was met with during nine days. It were to be wished that
Leo had entered a little more minutely into the description of this part
of his travels, but he dismisses it with the remark that it would have
taken up a whole year to give a full account of what he saw. However,
after a toilsome and dangerous journey, the attempt to achieve which has
cost so many European lives, he reached Timbuctoo for the second time,
the name of the reigning chief or prince being Abubellr Izchia.
The city of Timbuctoo, the name of which was first given to the kingdom
of which it was the capital only about Leo’s time, is said to have been
founded in the 610th year of the Hejira, by a certain Meusa Suleyman,
about twelve miles from a small arm or branch of the Niger. The houses
originally erected here had now dwindled into small huts built with
chalk and thatched with straw; but there yet remained a mosque built
with stone in an elegant style of architecture, and a palace for which
the sovereigns of Central Africa were indebted to the skill of a native
of Granada. However, the number of artificers, merchants, and cloth
and cotton weavers, who had all their shops in the city, was very
considerable. Large quantities of cloth were likewise conveyed thither
by the merchants of Barbary. The upper class of women wore veils, but
servants, market-women, and others of that description exposed their
faces. The citizens were generally very rich, and merchants were so
highly esteemed, that the king thought it no derogation to his dignity
to give his two daughters in marriage to two men of this rank. Wells
were here numerous, the water of which was extremely sweet; and during
the inundation, the water of the Niger was introduced into the city by
a great number of aqueducts. The country was rich in corn, cattle, and
butter; but salt, which was brought from the distance of five hundred
miles, was so scarce, that Leo saw one camel-load sold while he was
there for eighty pieces of gold. The king was exceedingly rich for those
times, and kept up a splendid court. Whenever he went abroad, whether
for pleasure or to war, he always rode upon a camel, which some of the
principal nobles of his court led by the bridle. His guard consisted
entirely of cavalry. When any of his subjects had occasion to address
him, he approached the royal presence in the most abject manner, then,
falling prostrate on the ground, and sprinkling dust upon his head and
shoulders, explained his business; and in this manner even strangers
and the ambassadors of foreign princes were compelled to appear before
him. His wars were conducted in the most atrocious manner; poisoned
arrows being used, and such as escaped those deadly weapons and were
made prisoners were sold for slaves in the capital; even such of his
own subjects as failed to pay their tribute being treated in the same
manner. Horses were extremely rare. The merchants and courtiers made
use of little ponies when travelling, the noble animals brought thither
from Barbary being chiefly purchased by the king, who generally paid a
great price for them. Leo seems to have been astonished at finding no
Jews at Timbuctoo; but his majesty was so fierce an enemy to the Hebrew
race, that he not only banished them his dominions, but made it a crime
punishable with confiscation of property to have any commerce with them.
Timbuctoo at this period contained a great number of judges, doctors,
priests, and learned men, all of whom were liberally provided for by the
prince; and an immense number of manuscripts were annually imported from
Barbary, the trade in books being, in fact, the most lucrative branch
of commerce. Their gold money, the only kind coined in the country, was
without image or superscription; but those small shells, still current
on the Coromandel and Malabar coasts, and in the islands of the Indian
Ocean, under the name of _cowries_, were used in small transactions,
four hundred of them being equivalent to a piece of gold. Of these gold
pieces, six and two-thirds weighed an ounce. The inhabitants, a mild and
gentle race, spent a large portion of their time in singing, dancing,
and festivities, which they were enabled to do by the great number of
slaves of both sexes which they maintained. The city was extremely liable
to conflagrations, almost one-half of the houses having been burnt down
between the first and second visits of our traveller,—a space of not more
than eleven or twelve years. Neither gardens nor fruit-trees adorned the
environs.
This account of the state of Timbuctoo in the beginning of the sixteenth
century I have introduced, that the reader might be able to compare it
with the modern descriptions of Major Laing and Caillé, and thus discover
the amount of the progress which the Mohammedans of Central Africa have
made towards civilization. I suspect, however, that whatever may now be
the price of salt, the book trade has not increased; and that whether the
natives dance more or less than formerly, they are neither so gentle in
their manners nor so wealthy in their possessions.
From Timbuctoo Leo proceeded to the town of Cabra on the Niger, which
was then supposed to discharge its waters into the Atlantic; for the
merchants going to the coast of Guinea embarked upon the river at this
place, whence they dropped down the stream to the seashore. Still
travelling southward, he arrived at a large city without walls, which he
calls Gajo, four hundred miles from Timbuctoo. Excepting the dwellings of
the prince and his courtiers, the houses were mere huts, though many of
the merchants are said to have been wealthy, while an immense concourse
of Moors and other strangers flocked thither to purchase the cloths and
other merchandise of Barbary and Europe. The inhabitants of the villages
and the shepherds, by far the greater portion of the population, lived in
extreme misery, and, poverty extinguishing all sense of decorum, went so
nearly naked, that even the distinctions of sex were scarcely concealed.
In winter they wrapped themselves in the skins of animals, and wore a
rude kind of sandal manufactured from camel’s hide.
This was the term of Leo’s travels towards the south. He now turned his
face towards the rising sun, and proceeding three hundred miles in that
direction, amid the dusky and barbarous tribes who crouch beneath the
weight of tyranny and ignorance in that part of Africa, arrived in the
kingdom of Guber, having on the way crossed a desert of considerable
extent, which commences about forty miles beyond the Niger. The whole
country was a plain, inundated in the rainy season by the Niger, and
surrounded by lofty mountains. Agriculture and the useful arts were here
cultivated with activity. Flocks and cattle abounded, but their size
was extremely diminutive. The sandal worn by the inhabitants exactly
resembled that of the ancient Romans. From hence he proceeded to Agad,
a city and country tributary to Timbuctoo, inhabited by the fairest
negroes of all Africa. The inhabitants of the towns possessed excellent
houses, constructed after the manner of those of Barbary; but the
peasants and shepherds of the south were nomadic hordes, living, like
the Carir of the Deccan, in large baskets, or portable wicker huts. He
next arrived at Kanoo, five hundred miles east of the Niger, a country
inhabited by tribes of farmers and herdsmen, and abounding in corn,
rice, and cotton. Among the cultivated fields many deserts, however,
and wood-covered mountains were interspersed. In these woods the orange
and the lemon were found in great plenty. The houses of the town of
Kanoo, like those of Timbuctoo, were built of chalk. Proceeding eastward
through a country infested by gipsies, occasionally turning aside to
visit more obscure regions, he at length arrived at Bornou, a kingdom of
great extent, bounded on the north and south by deserts, on the west by
Gnagera, and on the east by an immense country, denominated Gaoga by Leo,
but known at present by the various names of Kanem, Begharmi, Dar Saley,
Darfur, and Kordofan.
The scenery and produce of Bornou were exceedingly various. Mountains,
valleys, plains, and deserts alternating with each other composed a
prospect of striking aspect; and the population, consisting of wild
soldiers, merchants, artisans, farmers, herdsmen, and shepherds, some
glittering with arms, or wrapped in ample drapery, others nearly as naked
as when they left the womb, appeared no less picturesque or strange.
Leo’s stay in this country was short, and the persons from whom he
acquired his information must have been either ignorant or credulous;
for, according to them, no vestige of religion existed among the people
(which is not true of any nation on earth), while the women and children
were possessed by all men in common. Proper names were not in use.
When persons spoke of their neighbours, they designated them from some
corporeal or mental quality, as tallness, fatness, acuteness, bravery,
or stupidity. The chief’s revenue consisted of the tenth of the produce
of the soil, and of such captives and spoil as he could take in war.
Slaves were here so plentiful, and horses so scarce, that twenty men were
sometimes given in exchange for one of those animals. The prince then
reigning, a narrow-minded and avaricious man, had contrived by various
means to amass immense riches; his bits, his spurs, his cups, and vases
were all of gold; but whenever he purchased any article from a foreign
merchant, he preferred paying with slaves rather than with money.
From Bornou he proceeded through Gaoga towards Nubia, and approached
those regions of the Nile where, amid poverty and barbarism, the
civilization of the old world has left so many indestructible traces of
the gigantic ideas which throw their shadows over the human imagination
in the dawn of time. Coming up to the banks of the mysterious river,
around the sources of which curiosity has so long flitted in vain, he
found the stream so shallow in many places that it could be easily
forded; but whether on account of its immense spread in those parts,
or the paucity of water, he does not inform us. Dongola, or Dangala,
the capital, though consisting of mere chalk huts thatched with straw,
contained at that period no less than one hundred and fifty thousand
inhabitants. The people, who were rich and enterprising, held knowledge
in the highest esteem. No other city, however, existed in the country;
the remainder of the population, chiefly or wholly occupied in the
culture of the soil, living in scattered villages or hamlets. Grain
was extremely plentiful, as was also the sugarcane, though its use and
value were unknown; and immense quantities of ivory and sandal-wood
were exported. However, at this period, the most remarkable produce of
Nubia was a species of violent poison, the effect of which was little
less rapid than that of prussic acid, since the tenth part of a grain
would prove mortal to a man in a few minutes, while a grain would cause
instantaneous death. The price of an ounce of this deleterious drug,
the nature of which is totally unknown, was one hundred pieces of gold;
but it was sold to foreigners only, who, when they purchased it, were
compelled to make oath that no use should be made of it in Nubia. A sum
equal to the price of the article was paid to the sovereign, and to
dispose of the smallest quantity without his knowledge was death, if
discovered; but whether the motive to this severity was fiscal or moral
is not stated. The Nubians were engaged in perpetual hostilities with
their neighbours, their principal enemy being a certain Ethiopian nation,
whose sovereign, according to Leo, was that Prester John so famous in
that and the succeeding ages; a despicable and wretched race, speaking
an unknown jargon, and subsisting upon the milk and flesh of camels, and
such wild animals as their deserts produced. Leo, however, evidently saw
but little of Nubia; for though by no means likely to have passed such
things over without notice had they been known to him, he never once
alludes to the ruins of Meloë, the temples and pyramids of Mount Barkal,
or those enormous statues, obelisks, and other monuments which mark the
track of ancient civilization down the course of the Nile, and present to
the eye of the traveller one of the earliest cradles of our race.
From this country he proceeded to Egypt, and paused a moment on his
journey to contemplate the ruins of Thebes, a city, the founding of
which some of his countrymen attributed to the Greeks, others to the
Romans. Some fourteen or fifteen hundred peasants were found creeping
like pismires at the foot of the gigantic monuments of antiquity. They
ate good dates, grapes, and rice, however, and the women, who were lovely
and well-formed, rejoiced the streets with their gayety. At Cairo,
where he seems to have made a considerable stay, he saw many strange
things, all of which he describes with that conciseness and _naïveté_ for
which most of our older travellers are distinguished. Walking one day
by the door of a public bath, in the market-place of Bain Elcasraim, he
observed a lady of distinction, and remarkable for her beauty, walking
out into the streets, which she had no sooner done than she was seized
and violated before the whole market by one of those naked saints who
are so numerous in Egypt and the other parts of Africa. The magistrates
of the city, who felt that their own wives might next be insulted, were
desirous of inflicting condign punishment upon the wretch, but were
deterred by fear of the populace, who held such audacious impostors in
veneration. On her way home after this scene, the woman was followed by
an immense multitude, who contended with each other for the honour of
touching her clothes, as if some peculiar virtue had been communicated to
them by the touch of the saint; and even her husband, when informed of
what had happened, expressed the greatest joy, and thanking God as if an
extraordinary blessing had been conferred upon his family, made a great
entertainment and distributed alms to the poor, who were thus taught to
look upon such events as highly fortunate.
Upon another occasion Leo, returning from a celebrated mosque in one
of the suburbs, beheld another curious scene no less characteristic
of the manners of the times. In the area before a palace erected by a
Mameluke sultan, an immense populace was assembled, in the midst of whom
a troop of strolling players, with dancing camels, asses, and dogs, were
exhibiting their tricks, to the great entertainment of the mob, and even
of our traveller himself, who thought it a very pleasant spectacle.
Having first exhibited his own skill, the principal actor turned round
to the ass, and muttering certain words, the animal fell to the ground,
turning up his feet, swelling and closing his eyes as if at the last
gasp. When he appeared to be completely dead, his master, turning round
to the multitude, lamented the loss of his beast, and hoped they would
have pity upon his misfortune. When he had collected what money he
could,—“You suppose,” says he, “that my ass is dead. Not at all. The poor
fellow, well knowing the poverty of his master, has merely been feigning
all this while, that I might acquire wherewith to provide provender
for him.” Then approaching the ass, he ordered him to rise, but not
being obeyed, he seized a stick, and belaboured the poor creature most
unmercifully. Still no signs of life appeared. “Well,” said the man, once
more addressing the people, “you must know, that the sultan has issued an
order that to-morrow by break of day the whole population of Cairo are to
march out of the city to behold a grand triumph, the most beautiful women
being mounted upon asses, for whom the best oats and Nile water will be
provided.” At these words the ass sprang upon his feet with a bound, and
exhibiting tokens of extreme joy. “Ah, ha!” continued the mountebank; “I
have succeeded, have I? Well, I was about to say that I had hired this
delicate animal of mine to the principal magistrate of the city for his
little ugly old wife.” The ass, as if possessed of human feelings, now
hung his ears, and began to limp about as if lame of one foot. Then the
man said, “You imagine, I suppose, that the young women will laugh at
you.” The ass bent down his head, as if nodding assent. “Come, cheer up,”
exclaimed his master, “and tell me which of all the pretty women now
present you like best!” The animal, casting his eyes round the circle,
and selecting one of the prettiest, walked up to her, and touched her
with his head; at which the delighted multitude with roars of laughter
exclaimed, “Behold the ass’s wife!” At these words, the man sprang upon
his beast and rode away.
The ladies of Cairo, when they went abroad, affected the most superb
dresses, adorning their necks and foreheads with clusters of brilliant
gems, and wearing upon their heads lofty hurlets or coifs shaped like
a tube, and of the most costly materials. Their cloaks or mantles,
exquisitely embroidered, they covered with a piece of beautiful Indian
muslin, while a thick black veil, thrown over all, enabled them to
see without being seen. These elegant creatures, however, were very
bad wives; for, disdaining to pay the slightest attention to domestic
affairs, their husbands, like the citizens of modern Paris, were obliged
to purchase their dinners ready dressed from restaurateurs. They enjoyed
the greatest possible liberty, riding about wherever they pleased upon
asses, which they preferred to horses for the easiness of their motions.
Here and there among the crowd you heard the strange cry of those old
female practitioners who performed the rite which introduced those of
their own sex into the Mohammedan church, though their words, as the
traveller observes, were not extremely intelligible.
From Egypt Leo travelled into Arabia, Persia, Tartary, and Turkey, but
of his adventures in these countries no account remains. On returning
from Constantinople, however, by sea, he was taken by Christian corsairs
off the island of Zerbi, on the coast of Tripoli, and being carried
captive into Italy, was presented to Pope Leo X. at Rome, in 1517. The
pope, who, as is well known, entertained the highest respect for every
thing which bore the name of learning, no sooner discovered that the
Moorish slave was a person of merit and erudition, than he treated him
in the most honourable manner, settled upon him a handsome pension, and
having caused him to be instructed in the principles of the Christian
religion, had him baptized, and bestowed upon him his own name, Leo.
Our traveller now resided principally at Rome, occasionally quitting
it, however, for Bologna; and having at length acquired a competent
knowledge of the Italian language, became professor of Arabic. Here he
wrote his famous “Description of Africa,” originally in Arabic, but he
afterward either rewrote or translated it into Italian. What became of
him or where he resided after the death of his munificient patron is not
certainly known.—One of the editions of Ramusio asserts that he died
at Rome; but according to Widmanstadt, a learned German orientalist of
the sixteenth century, he retired to Tunis, where, as is usual in such
cases, he returned to his original faith, which he never seems inwardly
to have abandoned. Widmanstadt adds, that had he not been prevented by
circumstances which he could not control, he should have undertaken a
voyage to Africa expressly for the purpose of conversing with our learned
traveller, so great was his admiration of his genius and acquirements.
With respect to the work by which he will be known to posterity, and
which has furnished the principal materials for the present life,—his
“Description of Africa,”—its extraordinary merit has been generally
acknowledged. Eyriès, Hartmann, and Bruns, whose testimony is of
considerable weight, speak of it in high terms; and Ramusio, a competent
judge, observes, that up to his time no writer had described Africa with
so much truth and exactness. In fact, no person can fail, in the perusal
of this deeply interesting and curious work, to perceive the intimate
knowledge of his subject possessed by the author, or his capacity to
describe what he had seen with perspicuity and ease. The best edition
of the Latin version, the one I myself have used, and that which is
generally quoted or referred to, is the one printed by the Elzevirs, at
Leyden, in 1632. It has been translated into English, French, and German,
but with what success I am ignorant.