[Illustration]
1
AN
ACCOUNT OF A JOURNEY
FROM
FAS TO TIMBUCTOO,
PERFORMED IN OR ABOUT THE YEAR 1787, A.C.
BY
_EL HAGE ABD SALAM SHABEENY_.
The Moors always prefer the spring and summer for travelling,
because they suffer very much from the severe cold of the mornings
in winter. They generally leave Fas in the beginning of April to
proceed to Timbuctoo, and they leave Timbuctoo to return to Fas in
the month of January.
The Mecca caravan takes its departure from Fas the beginning of
March.
In travelling, the Moors hire their camels from stage to stage.
Shabeeny's first stage was from Fas[1] to Tafilelt, which is
generally performed in about twenty days.
[Footnote 1: This is a journey of crooked and rugged roads
across the Atlas mountains, where they often sojourn in spots
which invite the traveller, so that it takes a longer time to
perform it than the distance would indicate.]
2
The hire of every camel was from ten to twelve ducats, at five
shillings sterling per ducat; as this route is through a very
mountainous country, and the travelling is very bad, the charges
were proportionally high; the weight which every camel carried was
between four and five quintals, the camels in this country being
strong and very large.[2]
Tafilelt is the place of general meeting of all the merchants who
go to Timbuctoo.[3]
The territory of Tafilelt contains no towns, but abounds in
fortresses with mud-walls[4], which the natives call El Kassar, and
which contain from three to four hundred families; in these
fortresses there is a public market (in Arabic, _soke_) every week,
where the inhabitants purchase provisions, &c.
The natives of Tafilelt are descendants of the shereefs[5] or
princes of Marocco, and are therefore of the Imperial family.
[Footnote 2: This charge of carriage by the camels from Fas to
Tafilelt, is equal to 55s., sterling per camel; to 1-1/2d. per
mile for each camel, and to one farthing and one third per
quintal of merchandise per mile.]
[Footnote 3: That is for all who go from the Emperor of
Marocco's dominions, north of the river Morbeya, which is
called El Garb, or the North Western Division.]
[Footnote 4: These mud walls are made in cases, and the mode of
erecting them is called _tabia_. See Jackson's Account of the
Empire of Marocco, &c. &c. 2d or 3d edition, page 298.]
[Footnote 5: Hence it is called _Bled Shereef_, i.e. the
Country of Princes.]
3
Shabeeny's next stage was to Draha[6], which he reached in six
days. The expense per camel was about six ducats, or thirty
shillings sterling. The district of Draha abounds in the small hard
date[7], which is very fine; from four to six drahems[8] (equal to
two to three shillings sterling) is the price of a camel load of
these dates.
The province of Draha is larger than that of Tafilelt, its
circumference being about four or five days' journey. The
natives[9] of Draha are very dark, approaching to black, in their
complexion: this province abounds in fortresses, like those of
Tafilelt.
[Footnote 6: A province at the foot of the mountains of Atlas,
south of Marocco, for which see the Map of West Barbary, in
Jackson's Account of the Empire of Marocco, &c. &c. p. 1.]
[Footnote 7: This date is called by the natives _bouskree:_ it
contains a larger quantity of saccharine juice than any other
date. This province also produces a date called _bûtube_, which
is the best that grows, and is called _sultan de timmar_, i.e.
the king of dates. It is not used as an article of commerce,
but is sent as presents to the great, and costs nearly double
the price of those of any other quality: the quality mostly
used for foreign commerce, is the Tafilelt date, called _timmar
adamoh_, which is sold by the grocers in London. This species
is, however, considered very unwholesome food, and accordingly
is never eaten by the Filellies, or inhabitants of Tafilelt,
but is food for the camels. The district of Tafilelt abounds in
dates of all kinds: there are not less than thirty different
kinds; and the plantations of dates belonging to the princes of
Tafilelt are very extensive, insomuch that the annual produce
of one plantation is often sold for a thousand dollars, or 220£
sterling. Half a dollar, or five drahems per camel load of
three quintals.]
[Footnote 8: A drahem is a silver coin, ten of which are equal
to a Mexico dollar.]
[Footnote 9: Their colour is darker than new copper, but not
black, It may be compared to the colour of _old_ mahogany, with
a black hue. The natives of Draha are proverbially stupid.]
4
The caravans have not, as in the journey to Mecca, their sheiks[10]
or commanders. From Fas to Tafilelt they had no chief, but as there
are generally a few old, rich, and respectable men in the caravan,
its direction and government are committed to their care.
[Footnote 10: The _sheik akkabar_, or chief of the accumulated
caravan, is generally a _shereef_ or prince.]
From Tafilelt, which, as before observed, is the country of the
shereefs, they are guided by such of the trading shereefs as
accompany the caravan, and who have always great respect paid them,
till they arrive at Timbuctoo. The caravan increases as it proceeds
in its journey: at Fas it consisted of about thirty or forty; at
Draha, of from 300 to 400 camels. From Draha, at the distance of
three days' travelling, they found water by digging, and on the
next morning they entered the _Sahara_, which, for the first twenty
days is a plain sandy desert resembling the sea. In this desert,
when they pitch their tents at night, they are obliged frequently
to shake the sand from their tops, as they would otherwise be
overwhelmed before the morning.
Some part of this desert is hard, and the camels do not sink deep
into it; in others the sand is very loose, which fatigues the
5 camels exceedingly. In travelling, the caravan is directed by the
stars at night, and by the sun in the day, and occasionally by the
smell of the earth, which they take up in their hands. For the
first twenty days after they enter this wilderness they have no
water; during this period, the caravan is obliged to carry water in
goat-skins[11], as not a drop is to be found by digging. On this
account, about a third part of the camels are employed in carrying
water, and even with this quantity the camels are often left for
three or four days without any. They never use mules in this part
of the journey; they neither find the _sheh_[12], nor the thorny
plant so common in the deserts of Africa.
The country on the borders of this desert, to the right and left,
is inhabited by roving Arabs, at the distance of three or four days
from the track which the caravan pursues; and is said to be partly
plain, and in part hilly, with a little grass, and a few shrubs;
when the cattle of these Arabs have consumed what grows in one
spot, their owners remove to another. The caravan, though it
generally consisted of about 400 men well armed, seeks its route
through the most unfrequented part of the desert, from a dread of
the attacks of the Arabs. The hottest wind is that from the
east-south-east, and is called _Esshume_[13]; the coldest is that
which blows from the west-north-west. To alleviate the great
drought which travellers feel in the desert, they have recourse to
melted butter.[14]
[Footnote 11: These goat-skins, when containing water, are
called by the Arabs _kereb_, or _ghireb_, plur. _kerba_, or
_ghirba_, sing.]
[Footnote 12: The _sheh_ is the wormseed plant, the thorny
plant here alluded to is the wild myrtle.]
[Footnote 13: _Esshume_, or the hot wind. For a particular
description of this extraordinary wind, see Jackson's Account
of the Empire of Marocco, &c. &c. 2d or 3d edition, page 283
and 284.]
[Footnote 14: This is old butter kept several years in a
_matamore_, or subterraneous cavern. It is called by the Arabs
of the desert, _bûdra_; and much virtue is ascribed to it when
it has attained a certain age: a small quantity swallowed,
quickly diffuses itself through the system.]
6 After passing this desert of twenty days, they enter a country
which varies in its appearance, particular spots being fertile[15]
(called El Wah). Here they meet with _sederah_[16], a kind of wild
myrtle, in great quantities. This plant is called by the natives,
_gylan:_ its height is about that of a man; the camels feed upon
it. Between these shrubs there is a very small quantity of grass in
particular spots. In this part of the desert they meet with
extensive strata of stones: though the surface is generally sand,
yet at the depth of eight or ten inches, they meet with a yellow or
reddish earth; and about four feet deeper, with another kind of
earth of various colours, but most commonly of a brownish cast;
7 about five or six feet under this they find water, which springs
up very slowly, and at the bottom of this water you meet with a
light sand. Sometimes the water is sweetish, frequently brackish,
and generally warm. This last desert is about twenty days' journey,
and is a vast plain without any mountains. They meet with no Arabs
in this part, but the country on the right and left of their route,
at the distance of from three to eight days' journey, is inhabited
by Arabs, who are governed by their own (_sheiks_) chiefs, and are
perfectly independent.
[Footnote 15: El Wah. For a full explanation of this term, see
Jackson's Account of the Empire of Marocco, 3d edition, p.
283.]
[Footnote 16: _Sederah_, thorny shrubs of all kinds are so
called.]
From Akka to Timbuctoo, a journey of forty-three days, they meet
with no trees, except the _sederah_, no rivers, towns, or huts.
From Draha, which is a country abounding in camels, to Timbuctoo,
the charge per camel is from sixteen to twenty-one ducats.[17] That
so long a journey is performed at so small[18] an expense, is owing
to the abundance of camels in Draha. The caravan generally contains
from 300 to 400 men, of whom a great part prefer walking to the
uneasy motion of the camels.
[Footnote 17: From Fas to Tafilelt, 20 days, for 11 ducats per
camel.
Tafilelt to Draha, 6 do. 6 do. do.
Draha to Timbuctoo, 48 do. 18-1/2 do. do.
--- ----
69 days, for 35-1/2 ducats per camel
load, which is about the rate of one farthing per quintal per
mile. This does not include the expense of camels for the
conveyance of merchants, servants, &c. or of provisions or
water, but merely of those carrying goods. A full account of
these caravans, and their mode of crossing the Sahara, will be
found in Jackson's Marocco, ch. 13.]
[Footnote 18: The expense is now (A.C. 1818) smaller, as the
ducat, by a coinage which is depreciated, has fallen to 3s. 6d.
sterling.]
8
SITUATION OF THE CITY OF TIMBUCTOO.
On the east side of the city of Timbuctoo, there is a large forest,
in which are a great many elephants. The timber here is very large.
The trees on the outside of the forest are remarkable for having
two different colours; that side which is exposed to the morning
sun is black, and the opposite side is yellow. The body of the tree
has neither branches nor leaves, but the leaves, which are
remarkably large, grow upon the top only: so that one of these
trees appears, at a distance, like the mast and round top of a
ship. Shabeeny has seen trees in England much taller than these:
within the forest the trees are smaller than on its skirts. There
are no trees resembling these in the Emperor of Marocco's
dominions. They are of such a size that the largest cannot be
girded by two men. They bear a kind of berry about the size of a
walnut, in clusters consisting of from ten to twenty berries.
Shabeeny cannot say what is the extent of this forest, but it is
very large. Close to the town of Timbuctoo, on the south, is a
small rivulet in which the inhabitants wash their clothes, and
which is about two feet deep. It runs in the great forest on the
east, and does not communicate with the Nile, but is lost in the
sands west of the town. Its water is brackish; that of the Nile is
9 good and pleasant. The town of Timbuctoo is surrounded by a
mud-wall: the walls are built tabia-wise[19] as in Barbary,
viz. they make large wooden cases, which they fill with mud, and
when that dries they remove the cases higher up till they have
finished the wall. They never use stone or brick; they do not know
how to make bricks. The wall is about twelve feet high, and
sufficiently strong to defend the town against the wild Arabs, who
come frequently to demand money from them. It has three gates; one
called Bab Sahara, or the gate of the desert, on the north:
opposite to this, on the other side of the town, a second, called
Bab Neel, or the gate of the Nile: the third gate leads to the
forest on the east, and is called Beb El Kibla.[20] The gates are
hung on very large hinges, and when shut at night, are locked, as
in Barbary; and are farther secured by a large prop of wood placed
in the inside slopingly against them. There is a dry ditch, or
excavation, which circumscribes the town, (except at those places
which are opposite the gates,) about twelve feet deep, and too wide
10 for any man to leap it. The three gates of the town are shut
every evening soon after sun-set: they are made of folding doors,
of which there is only one pair. The doors are lined on the outside
with untanned hides of camels, and are so full of nails that no
hatchet can penetrate them; the front appears like one piece of
iron.
[Footnote 19: The tabia walls are thus built: They put boards
on each side of the wall supported by stakes driven in the
ground, or attached to other stakes laid transversely across
the wall; the intermediate space is then filled with sand and
mud, and beat down with large wooden mallets, (as they beat the
terraces) till it becomes hard and compact; the cases are left
on for a day or two; they then take them off, and move them
higher up, repeating this operation till the wall is finished.]
[Footnote 20: El Kibla signifies the tomb of Muhamed: in most
African towns there is a Kibla-gate, which faces Medina in
Arabia.]