[Footnote 254: Vide Appendix, No. II. to Park's Second Journey
page 103.]
_Strictures respecting the Interior of Africa, and Confirmation of
Jackson's Account of Sudan, annexed to his Account of the Empire of
Marocco, &c._
London, 16th Jan, 1818.
It is a satisfaction to perceive (after a lapse of eight or nine
years since the publication of my account of Marocco and the
interior of Africa), that in proportion as we are becoming better
acquainted with the interior of that continent, my account becomes
more authenticated, notwithstanding the attempts that have been so
447 insidiously made to invalidate it.
The various hypotheses, for the most part founded in theory, that
have within the last seven years, been adopted respecting the
course of the _Nile el Abeed_ (Niger), are beginning now to fall to
the ground, and the learned and judicious editor of the Supplement
to the New Encyclopedia Britannica, founding his opinions, as it
should seem, upon the facts that have been corroborated respecting
the interior of Africa, has actually adopted my opinion;[255] viz.
That there is an union of waters between the Nile of Egypt, and
that of Sudan[256]; where the common receptacle is, I have not
ventured to declare, but it is probable that it may be in the Bahar
Kulla[257], in Wangara, or in the [258]Sea of Sudan; the opinion
that the junction is formed in the Sea of Sudan is supported by the
Shereef Imhammed, who saw the Nile at Cashna, and declared that it
was so rapid there from east to west, that vessels could not stem
it.
[Footnote 255: See my letter to the Editor of the Monthly
Magazine, vol. xliii. March, 1817, page 125.]
[Footnote 256: It is incorrect to say, that the word _Nile_ is
applied, in Africa, to any great river: the name, I can with
confidence declare, is never applied to any river in North
Africa, except the Nile of Egypt, and that of Sudan; whoever
has propagated this opinion has mistaken the matter altogether.
See Proceedings of the African Association, vol. i. page 540.]
[Footnote 257: See Major Rennell's Map of North Africa, lat.
north 6°, long, west 18°, &c.]
[Footnote 258: See Jackson's enlarged Account of Marocco,
Timbuctoo, &c. page 310.]
448 Again: Parke's intelligence, in his second journey, demonstrates an
union of waters in the (Baseafeena[259]) Sea of Sudan; for he says,
the current was said to be sometimes one way, and sometimes
another; which I will take the liberty to interpret thus:--
That the current from the Eastern Nile, was westward into the Sea
of Sudan, and the current of the Western Nile was eastward into the
same sea of Sudan: thus the current would be sometimes one way, and
sometimes another, making the Sea of Sudan the common receptacle
for the Eastern as well as for the Western Nile.
Ptolemy's Sea of Nigritia is undoubtedly the same with my Sea of
Sudan; _Lybia Palus_[260] being the Latin denomination, as _Bahar
Sudan_ is the Arabic for the interior lake called the Sea of Sudan;
but whether this sea of Sudan will ultimately prove to be
situated[261] as I have described it, fifteen journies[262] east of
Timbuctoo, or 450 English miles, or as Ptolemy has described it, or
in the intermediate distance between the two extremes, must be left
for future travellers to ascertain.
[Footnote 259: Another name for the Sea of Sudan, as will
hereafter appear.]
[Footnote 260: See Ptolemy's Map of North Africa.]
[Footnote 261: See Jackson's enlarged Account of Marocco, page
310.]
[Footnote 262: Fifteen journies horse travelling, which are the
journies here alluded to, at thirty miles a-day, is 450 British
miles.]
The enterprising and indefatigable, the patient and persevering
genius of Burkhardt, deriving incalculable advantages from a long
449 residence in the eastern regions of Africa, may probably decree him
to be the person to clear up this long-contested geographical
point, unless the fascination of Arabian manners, or some Utopia in
the interior regions of that continent, should wean him from the
desire to re-visit his native country.
This intelligence of Park may be considered some corroboration of
what I have maintained respecting the union of waters between the
Eastern and Western Niles.[263]
The following testimonies are some confirmation of my report
respecting decked vessels, &c. in the interior of Africa.[264]
Dr. Stetzen, a German physician residing at Alexandria[265], says,
that he has received intelligence from a pilgrim, on his way to
Mecca, a native of _Ber Noh,_ or _Bernou_[266], that the river
within a mile of the city is as large as the Egyptian Nile, and
overflows its banks; _it is navigated by vessels of considerable
dimensions, carrying sails and oars._
[Footnote 263: See Monthly Magazine, March, 1817, page 125.]
[Footnote 264: See Jackson's enlarged Account of Marocco, &c.
page 309.]
[Footnote 265: For full particulars, see New Supp. to Ency.
Brit. article "Africa."]
[Footnote 266: This Bernou, or according to the Arabic
orthography, _Ber Noh_, is asserted by the Arabs to be the
birth-place of the Patriarch Noah.]
Mr. Barnes states, that the Niger discharges itself into a large
lake; that he has heard from the Black traders that there are white
450 inhabitants upon the borders of this lake; and has been told, by
people who have seen them, that they dress in the style of Barbary
Moors, and wear turbans, but do not speak Arabic. See Report of
Committee of Council.[267]
[Footnote 267: See Jackson's enlarged Account of Marocco, &c.
p, 309.]
Park, in his second journey, was informed, that "one month's travel
south of Baedo, through the kingdom of Grotto, will bring the
traveller to the country of the Christians, who have their houses
on the banks of the _Ba Seafeena_[268], which they describe as
incomparably larger than the lake Dehebby (Dibbie)."--This is
another corroboration of the accuracy of my account of the interior
of Africa; but before I dismiss this subject, I should observe,
that from the general ignorance of the African Arabic, an important
circumstance respecting this _Ba Seafeena_, is not yet (it appears)
discovered. It is this:--the words _Ba Seafeena_, or, according to
the correct Arabic orthography, _Bahar Sefeena_, literally
translated into English, signifies the Sea of Ships, and is
evidently only another name for the Sea of Sudan, declaring it to
be a sea wherein ships are found!
[Footnote 268: See New Supp. to Ency. Brit. article "Africa."]
Here then are two topographical facts first asserted by me, among
the moderns, to exist in the heart of Africa, and since confirmed
by Ali Bey, Park, and Dr. Sietzen, or, as the enlightened editor of
the Supplement to the New Encyclopedia Britt. observes,
451 "We have thus three independent testimonies[269] from opposite
quarters, meeting exactly in the same point; nor does there, as far
as we know, exist any evidence _at all respectable_ to the
contrary."
[Footnote 269: The testimonies here alluded to are Hornman,
Park, and Jackson.]
It now remains for me to declare (that as opinions have been
industriously propagated tending to discredit my account of
Marocco, and the interior of Africa,) that nothing has been set
down therein, until I had previously investigated the
qualifications of the narrators, their means of knowledge, and
whether the respective vocations of the several narrators made it
their interest to disguise or misrepresent the truth of their
communications; and, after ascertaining these important points, I
have generally had recourse to other testimonies, and have seldom
recorded any thing until confirmed by three or four _concurrent_
evidences: on this _pyramidical basis_ is founded the intelligence
in my account of Marocco, and of the interior of Africa, annexed to
that account.
This assertion is to be understood in respect to intelligence that
I could not ascertain by ocular demonstration.
Finally, my description of the black heartheaded serpent, called
452 Bouska[270], has been doubted; but a late traveller[271] has
confirmed the accuracy of my account; even of this extraordinary
animal.--In Riley's Narrative of his Shipwreck on the
453 Coast of Sahara is given an account of an exhibition by two
_Isawie_[272], who do not appear to have been adepts in the art of
454 fascinating these serpents; for I have frequently seen them manage
455 and charm the _Bouska_ much more adroitly than those who exhibited
at Rabat before Riley, although its bite is more deadly, and its
strength considerably greater, than that of the _El Effah!_
[Footnote 270: See Jackson's enlarged Account of Marocco, &c.
p. 109.]
[Footnote 271: "I paid two dollars for a station, and I looked
into the room without interruption. It was about twenty feet
long, and fifteen broad, paved with tiles and plastered within.
The windows had also been secured by an additional grating made
of wire, in such a manner as to render it impossible for the
serpents to escape from the room: it had but one door, and that
had a hole cut through it six or eight inches square: this hole
was also secured by a grating. In the room stood two men, who
appeared to be Arabs, with long bushy hair and beards; and I
was told they were a particular race of men, that could charm
serpents.
"A wooden box, about four feet long and two wide, was placed
near the door, with a string fastened to a slide at one end of
it; this string went through a hole in the door. The two
serpent-eaters were dressed in haiks only, and those very small
ones. After they had gone through their religious ceremonies
most devoutly, they appeared to take an eternal farewell of
each other: this done, one of them retired from the room, and
shut the door tight after him. The Arab within seemed to be in
dreadful distress. I could observe his heart throb, and his
bosom heave most violently: and he cried out very loudly,
"_Allah houakiber_", three times; which is, as I understood it,
_God have mercy on me_.[273]
"The Arab was at the farthest end of the room: at that instant
the cage was opened, and a serpent crept out slowly; he was:
about four feet long, and eight inches in circumference; his
colours were the most beautiful in nature, being bright, and
variegated with a deep yellow, a purple, a cream colour, black
and brown, spotted, &c. As soon as he saw the Arab in the room,
his eyes, which were small and green, kindled as with fire; he
erected himself in a second, his head two feet high; and
darting on the defenseless Arab, seized him between the folds
of his haik, just above his right hipbone, hissing most
horribly; the Arab gave a horrid shriek, when another serpent
came out of the cage. This last was black, very shining, and
appeared to be seven or eight feet long, but not more than two
inches in diameter: as soon as he had cleared the cage, he cast
his _red fiery eyes_ on his intended victim, thrust out his
forked tongue, _threw himself into a coil, erected his head,
which was in the centre of the coil_, three feet from the
floor, and flattening out the skin above his head and eyes, in
the form, and nearly of the size of a human heart, and
springing like lightning on the Arab, struck its fangs into his
neck near the jugular vein, while his tail and body flew round
his neck and arms in two or three folds. The Arab set up the
most hideous and piteous yelling, foamed and frothed at the
mouth, grasping the folds of the serpent, which were round his
arms with his right hand, and seemed to be in the greatest
agony, striving to tear the reptile from around his neck, while
with his left he seized hold of it near its head, but could not
break its hold: by this time the other had turned itself around
his legs, and kept biting all around the other parts of his
body, making apparently deep incisions: the blood, issuing from
every wound (both in his neck and body,) streamed all over his
haik and skin. My blood was chilled in my veins with horror at
this sight, and it was with difficulty my legs would support my
frame.
"Notwithstanding the Arab's greatest exertions to tear away the
serpents with his hands, they turned themselves still tighter,
stopped his breath, and he fell to the floor, where he
continued for a moment, as if in the most inconceivable agony,
rolling over, and covering every part of his body with his own
blood and froth, until he ceased to move, and appeared to have
expired. In his last struggle, he had wounded the black serpent
with his teeth, as it was striving, as it were, to force its
head into his mouth, which wound Footnote: seemed to increase
its rage. At this instant I heard the shrill sound of a
whistle, and looking towards the door saw the other Arab
applying a call to his mouth: the serpents listened to the
music, their fury seemed to forsake them by degrees, they
disengaged themselves leisurely from the apparently lifeless
carcase, and creeping towards the cage, they soon entered it,
and were immediately fastened in.
"The door of the apartment was now opened, and he without ran
to assist his companion: he had a phial of blackish liquor in
one hand, and an iron chissel in the other: finding the teeth
of his companion set, he thrust in the chissel, forced them
open, and then poured a little of the liquor into his mouth;
and holding the lips together, applied his mouth to the dead
man's nose, and filled his lungs with air: he next anointed his
numerous wounds with a little of the same liquid, and yet no
sign of life, appeared. I thought he was dead in earnest; his
neck and veins were exceedingly swollen; when his comrade
taking up the lifeless trunk in his arms, brought it out into
the open air, and continued the operation of blowing for
several minutes before a sign of life appeared; at length he
gasped, and after a time recovered so far as to be able to
speak. The swellings in his neck, body, and legs gradually
subsided, as they continued washing the wounds with clear cold
water and a sponge, and applying the black liquor occasionally;
a clean haik was wrapped about him, but his strength seemed so
far exhausted that he could not support himself standing, so
his comrade laid him on the ground by a wall, where he sunk
into a sleep. This exhibition lasted for about a quarter of an
hour from the time the serpents were let loose until they were
called off, and it was more than an hour from that time before
he could speak. I thought I could discover that the poisonous
fangs had been pulled out of these formidable serpents' jaws,
and mentioned that circumstance to the showman, who said, that
they had indeed been extracted; and when I wished to know how
swellings on his neck and other parts could be assumed, he
assured me, that though their deadly fangs were out, yet that
the poisonous quality of their breath and spittle would cause
the death of those they attack; that after a bite from either
of these serpents, no man could exist longer than fifteen
minutes: and that there was no remedy for any but those _who
were endowed by the Almighty with power to charm, and to manage
them_; and that he and his associates were of that favoured
number! The Moors and Arabs call the thick and beautiful
serpent _El Effah_, and the long black and heartheaded one _El
Bouskah_.
"I afterwards saw engravings of these two serpents in
_Jackson's Marocco_; which are very correct resemblances. They
are said to be very numerous on and about the south foot of the
Atlas mountains and border of the Desert, where these were
caught when young, and where they often attack both men and
beasts."--Vide _Riley's Shipwreck and Captivity in the Great
Desert_, p. 550.]
[Footnote 272: Disciples of Seedy ben Isa, whose sanctuary is
at Fas, and who possess the art of fascinating serpents.]
[Footnote 273: N.B. This is a misinterpretation of the Arabic
words here used, which, literally translated, signify, _God
alone, is great!_--J.G.J.]
_Animadversions on the Orthography of African Names_.
(TO THE EDITOR OF THE MONTHLY MAGAZINE, INSERTED MAY, 1818.)
Sir,
Bennet's-hill, Feb. 1818.
I should be much surprised to find that Jackson's account of what
he has heard is doubted, if I did not remember that Bruce's account
456 of what he had seen was disbelieved. Nothing human can appear to me
more deserving of implicit credit than the intelligence the former
of these writers gives respecting Timbuctoo. He has not seen it, it
is true. I have not seen Lisbon; but, if I had, and were to sit
down to write an account of it, some things would be necessary to
be described, with regard to which I should feel a degree of
uncertainty; and, having given an account of Lisbon, if I were to
visit it again, I should find others on which I had been mistaken.
But let me arrange in my own mind the information I want respecting
Lisbon; let me make enquiries of twenty intelligent persons who
have resided there; let me carefully compare their different
accounts, and who shall doubt the accuracy of the result?
Mr. Jackson has had an opportunity of acquiring information
respecting Timbuctoo that no other European ever had, by having the
direction of commerce in a city frequented by Timbuctan merchants;
a city, the port of which is called, in Arabic, _Bab Sudan_, the
Gate of Sudan. Mr. Jackson was qualified to make use of this
advantage to an extent that no other European ever was, by a
practical, and even critical knowledge of the general language of
the country,--the African Arabic. To these Mr. Jackson added an
ardent spirit of research, an industry which neglected no
opportunity, a caution to compare, a judgment to discriminate, and
457 a firmness to decide. Who, that weighs these things, can doubt the
accuracy of his intelligence respecting Sudan? I even regard his
orthography as the standard of correctness, and am surprised that
any person should continue to write Timbuctoo instead of Timbuctoo,
or Fez instead of Fas.
I am inclined to believe that Adams has been at Timbuctoo, though I
do not consider it as proved; but, supposing that he has, and that
I wished to become acquainted with that city, would I apply for
information to an illiterate slave, who was confined within narrow
precincts? Or would I rely upon the united testimony of twenty
persons of education, who had each a wider field of observation?
I have read "Jackson's Account of Marocco" twice through, at
different periods, with great attention; and I do most heartily
join in the confidence expressed by the enlightened and judicious
author, that, in proportion as the interior of Africa shall be more
known, the truth of his account of it will be made evident.