The revenue arises partly from land and partly from duties upon all
articles exposed to sale. The king has lands cultivated by farmers
14 who are obliged to supply his household and troops; the surplus
after the support of their own families is deposited in
matamores[28], these are stores to be used in time of scarcity: the
matamores are about six feet deep. The king often gives gold-dust,
slaves, &c. to his favorites, but the royal domains are never
given. Lands not very fruitful are common pastures. Moors pay no
duties; they say they will not bring goods if compelled to pay
duty, but the natives must pay; the duties are collected by the
king's officers, they are four per cent. upon each article _ad
valorem_. At the gate of the desert, goods brought by foreigners
pay nothing, but goods brought in by the gate of the Nile, (which
is the gate of the Negroes,) pay a tax: another part of the revenue
is two per cent, in kind on the produce of the land; but the people
of Barbary do not pay even this for what land they cultivate. The
property of those who die without heirs goes to the king, but when
a foreigner dies the king takes no part of his property; it is kept
for his relations. Timbuctoo being a frontier town remits no
revenue to Housa; the king of Housa sends money to Timbuctoo to pay
the garrison.
[Footnote 28: Subterraneous excavations, or rooms in the form
of a cone, which have a small opening like a trap-door; when
these matamores are full of grain, they are shut, and the air
being excluded, the grain deposited in them will keep sound
twenty or thirty years. I have been in matamores in West and in
South Barbary, that would contain 1000 saas of wheat, or nearly
2000 bushels Winchester measure. They are from six to sixteen
feet deep, and of various conical forms.]
15
ARMY.
The troops are paid by the king of Housa, and are armed with pikes,
swords, cutlasses, sabres, and muskets; the other natives use the
bow and arrow. At Timbuctoo, in time of war, there are about 12,000
or 15,000 troops, 5000 of which receive constant daily pay in time
of peace, and are clothed every year; they are all infantry except
a few of the king's household. Sometimes he subsidises the friendly
Arabs, and makes occasional presents to their chiefs[29]; these
Arabs can furnish him with from 80,000 to 40,000 men.
[Footnote 29: Of the Brabeesh clan; see the Map.]