HÁUSA.—HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF KÁTSENA.—ENTRY INTO KANÓ.
In order to render intelligible the anterior history of Kátsena, it
will be necessary to enter into some preliminary explanation respecting
the whole country of Háusa. The name Háusa was unknown, as it seems, to
Leo Africanus; else instead of saying that the inhabitants of Zária,
Kátsena, and Kanó spoke the language of Góber, he would have said that
they spoke the Háusa language. But we have no right to conclude from
this circumstance that the practice of giving the name Háusa, not only
to the widely diffused language, but also to the countries collectively
in which it prevails, is later than Leo’s time; on the contrary, I must
acknowledge the improbability of such an assumption. It is true that,
with the faint light available, we are unable to discern quite distinctly
how the Háusa nation originated; but we may positively assert that it was
not an indigenous nation, or at least that it did not occupy its present
seat from very ancient times, but that it settled in the country at a
comparatively recent date. As to one of the associated states, and the
most prominent and noble amongst them (I mean Góber), we know positively
that in ancient times it occupied tracts situated much further north;[18]
and I have been assured that the name Háusa also proceeded from the
same quarter—an opinion which seems to be confirmed by the affinity of
that language with the Temáshight.[19] Whether the name was originally
identical with the word “Áusa,” which, as we shall see, is used by the
Western Tuarek and the people of Timbúktu to denote the country on this
the northern side of the Great River, in opposition to “Gúrma,” the
country on its southern side, I am unable to say.
Sultan Béllo’s statement that the Háusa people originated from a Bórnu
slave, deserves very little credit. It is to be considered as merely
expressive for his contempt for the effeminate manners of the Háusa
people in his time. But their language, though it has a few words in
common with the Kanúri, is evidently quite distinct from it, as well
in its vocabulary as in its grammar. What Béllo says may be correct in
a certain sense with regard to the population of Kanó, which indeed
seems to consist, for the greater part, of Bórnu elements, though in
course of time the people have adopted the Háusa language; and this may
be the case also with other provinces, the original population having
been more nearly related to the Manga-Bórnu stock. The name “Báwu,”
which occurs in the mythical genealogy of the Háusa people as that of
the ancestor of most of the Háusa states, can hardly be supposed to be
a mere personification representing the state of slavery in which the
nation formerly existed; the name for slave in the Háusa language is
báwa, not báwu. It is, however, remarkable that this personage is said
to be the son of Karbágarí, whose name evidently implies “the taking of
a town,” and might be derived from the capture of the town of Bíram,
which is universally represented as the oldest seat of the Háusa people,
a tradition which is attested by a peculiar usage even at the present
day. This town of Bíram is situated between Kanó and Khadéja, and is
often called “Bíram-ta-ghabbes,” in order to distinguish it from a more
westerly town of the same name. Bíram, the personification of this town,
is said to have been, by his grandson, Báwu (the son of Karbágarí), the
progenitor of the six other Háusa states (likewise personified): viz.
Kátsena and Zégzeg, who are represented as twins; Kanó and Ranó, another
pair of twins; Góber and Dáura. However, it seems almost universally
acknowledged that of all these children Dáura was the eldest.[20]
More important in a historical point of view, and confirming what has
been said above, appears to be the statement that the mother of these
children belonged to the Déggara or Díggera, a Berber tribe at present
established to the north of Múniyo, and once very powerful. Bíram, Dáura,
Góber, Kanó, Ranó, Kátsena, and Zégzeg, are the well-known original seven
Háusa states, the “Háusa bókoy” (the seven Háusa), while seven other
provinces or countries, in which the Háusa language has spread to a great
extent, although it is not the language of the aboriginal inhabitants,
are called jocosely “bánza bókoy” (the upstart, or illegitimate); these
are Zánfara, Kébbi, Núpe or Nýffi, Gwári, Yáuri, Yóruba or Yáriba, and
Korórofa.
As for the six children of Báwu, they are said to have had each his share
assigned to him by his father in the following way: Góber was appointed
the “serkí-n-yáki” (the war-chief), in order to defend his brethren,
Kanó and Ranó being made “sáraki-n-baba” (the ministers of the “máriná,”
that peculiar emblem of the industry of Háusa), and Kátséna and Dáura
“sáraki-n-káswa” (the ministers of intercourse and commerce), while
Zégzeg is said to have been obliged to provide his brethren with those
necessary instruments of social life in these regions, namely, slaves,
becoming the “serkí-n-baÿ.” Ranó, which at present has been greatly
reduced, though it is still a considerable place, situated south-west
from Kanó, was originally, like each of the other towns, the capital of
an independent territory, though not mentioned hitherto by any traveller
who has spoken of Háusa.
If we credit Leo’s description, we must conclude that when he visited
these regions, towards the end of the fifteenth century of our era,
there was no capital in the province of Kátsena, the whole country being
inhabited in “piccoli casali fatti a guisa di capanne.” For with respect
to later events, which happened after he had left the country, and while
he was writing his description, very imperfect information appears to
have reached him. Now, the list of the kings of Kátsena, from a remote
period, is still tolerably well preserved, together with the length of
their respective reigns; and there is no reason whatever to doubt their
general accuracy, as the history of the state has been in writing at
least since the middle of the sixteenth century of our era, and we have
something to control this list, and to connect it with facts gleaned from
other quarters. This regards the period of the reign of the king Ibrahím
Máji, who, as we know, lived in the time of the famous Tawáti Mohammed
ben ʿAbd el Kerím ben Maghíli, the friend and contemporary, as I have
said above,[21] of the great encyclopædist Abu ’l Fadhl Jelál eʾ dín
ʿAbd eʾ Rahmán el Khodairi eʾ Soyúti, commonly known under the name of
Eʾ Sheikh eʾ Soyúti; and his connection with the King of Kátsena we are
able to fix with tolerable certainty by his relation to the Sónghay king
Is-hák, who is said to have excited his severest indignation by refusing
to punish the people who had murdered his son in Gógó.[22] And although
we can scarcely believe that the ruin of the Sónghay empire, and the
rise of that of Kátsena, was the consequence of this holy man’s curse,
nevertheless we are justified in presuming that after he had received
offence from the king Is-hák, by being refused satisfaction, he began to
cultivate friendly relations with the King of Kátsena, a country then
rising into importance.
We are therefore justified in placing Ibrahím Máji (the King of Kátsena,
whom the fanatic Moslim converted to Islám) about the middle of the tenth
century of the Hejra. Now, if we count backwards from this period, adding
together the years attributed to each reign, to Komáyo, the man who is
universally stated to have founded Kátsena, we obtain at least three
hundred and fifty years, which would carry back the political existence
of the state of Kátsena to the beginning of the seventh century of the
Hejra. In this computation we reduce the reign of the first two kings,
or chiefs (of whom Komáyo is said to have reigned a hundred years, and
his successor ninety), to about twenty years each. Excepting this little
exaggeration, which is such as we find recurring in the early history of
almost every nation, I do not see any reason for rejecting the list of
the kings of this country, as it is preserved not only in the memory of
the people, but even in written documents, though, indeed, it is to be
lamented that the books containing a comprehensive history of this nation
have been destroyed intentionally by the Fúlbe, or Féllani, since the
conquest of the country, in order to annihilate, as far as possible, the
national records.
The dynasty founded by Komáyo comprised four kings in succession, besides
its founder, namely, Rámba, Téryau, Jerinnáta, and Sanáwu. Sanáwu,
after a reign of thirty years, is said to have been killed by Koráwu,
who came from a place named Yendútu, and founded a new dynasty (if we
count backwards from the time of Ibrahím Máji) about the year 722 of
the Hejra; but, of course, I do not pretend to any exactness in these
dates. Whether Ibrahím Máji belonged to the same dynasty which Koráwu
had founded, I am not able to say. About thirty years before the time of
Ibrahím Máji, in the year 919 A.H., or 1513 A.D., occurred that eventful
expedition of the great Sónghay king Háj Mohammed Áskiá which threw all
these countries into the greatest confusion. According to Leo, at that
time Kátsena acknowledged the supremacy of Kanó, having been subjected
for only a short time to the sway of the King of Sónghay, and afterwards
most probably to that of the energetic and successful King of Kébbi, who
repulsed the great Áskiá. Kátsena must have fallen very soon under the
supremacy of the empire of Bórnu. About fifty years after the beginning
of the reign of the first Moslim king, a new dynasty commenced, that
of the Hábe,[23] which, as it is unanimously stated to have ruled for
a hundred and sixty-nine years, and as it was driven out by the Fúlbe
in the year of the Hejra 1222, must have commenced about the year 1053
(A.D. 1643). In this latter dynasty, however, there seem to have been
two factions (or families), which are noticed already in the preceding
dynasty, one of which was called Chagarána, and the other Káryaghíwá.[24]
But before speaking of the struggle between the Fúlbe and the Hábe, I
shall say a few words about the town of Kátsena.
The town, probably, did not receive the name of the province till it
had become large and predominant; which event, if Leo be correct, we
must conclude did not happen much before the middle of the sixteenth
century of our era, while in early times some separate villages probably
occupied the site where, at a later period, the immense town spread out.
The oldest of these villages is said to have been Ambutéy or Mbutéy,
where we must presume Komáyo and his successors to have resided. After
Gógó had been conquered by Muláy Hámed, the Emperor of Morocco, and,
from a large and industrious capital, had become a provincial town,
great part of the commerce which formerly centred there must have been
transferred to Kátsena, although this latter place seems never to have
had any considerable trade in gold, which formed the staple of the market
of Gógó. Thus the town went on increasing to that enormous size, the
vestiges of which still exist at the present time, although the quarter
actually inhabited, comprises but a small part of its extent.
The town, if only half of its immense area were ever tolerably well
inhabited, must certainly have had a population of at least a hundred
thousand souls; for its circuit is between thirteen and fourteen
English miles. At present, when the inhabited quarter is reduced to
the north-western part, and when even this is mostly deserted, there
are scarcely seven or eight thousand people living in it. In former
times it was the residence of a prince, who, though he seems never
to have attained to any remarkable degree of power, and was indeed
almost always in some degree dependent on, or a vassal of, the King of
Bórnu, nevertheless was one of the most wealthy and conspicuous rulers
of Negroland.[25] Every prince at his accession to the throne had to
forward a sort of tribute or present to Birni Ghasréggomo, the capital
of the Bórnu empire, consisting of one hundred slaves, as a token of his
obedience; but this being done, it does not appear that his sovereign
rights were in any way interfered with. In fact Kátsena, during the
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries of our era, seems to have been the
chief city of this part of Negroland, as well in commercial and political
importance as in other respects; for here that state of civilization
which had been called forth by contact with the Arabs seems to have
reached its highest degree, and as the Háusa language here attained the
greatest richness of form and the most refined pronunciation, so also the
manners of Kátsena were distinguished by superior politeness from those
of the other towns of Háusa.
But this state of things was wholly changed, when, in the very beginning
of the present century, in the year 1222 of the Hejra, or 1807 of our
era, the Fúlbe, called Féllani by the Háusa, and Felláta by the Bórnu
people, raised to the highest pitch of fanaticism by the preaching of
the Reformer or Jihádi ʿOthmán dan Fódiye, and formed into the religious
and political association of the Jemmáʿa, or, as they pronounce it,
Jemmára, succeeded in possessing themselves of this town. However, while
Kanó fell ingloriously, and almost without resistance, into the hands of
Slimán (the Háusa king el Wáli having escaped to Zária), the struggle for
Kátsena was protracted and sanguinary. Indeed Mʿallem Ghomáro had carried
on unrelenting war against the town for seven years, before he at length
reduced it by famine; and the distress in the town is said to have been
so great that a dead “ángulú” or vulture (impure food which nobody would
touch in time of peace) sold for five hundred kurdí, and a kadángeré or
lizard for fifty. But the struggle did not cease here; for the “Hábe”
succeeded once more in expelling the conquerors from the town, without,
however, being able to maintain their position, when Mʿallem Ghomáro
returned with a fresh army. Five princes of Kátsena, one after the other,
fell in this struggle for religious and national independence; and the
Púllo general was not quite secure of his conquest till after the total
destruction of the town of Dánkama, when Mágajin Háddedu was slain only
four months after his predecessor Mahamúdu had succumbed in Sabóngarí.
Even then the new Háusa prince Benóni, who still bore the title of
“serkí-n-Kátsena,” did not lay down his arms, but maintained the contest
till he likewise was conquered and slain in Túntuma.
[Illustration: 1, House where I was lodged during my first stay in
Kátsena in 1851; 2, House belonging to the quarter Dóka where I
was lodged in 1853; 3, The Zénsere; 4, Palace of the governor; 5,
Market-place; 6, Old mosque; 7, Kofa-n-Gúga; 8, Kofa-n-Yendúkki; 9,
Kofa-n-Koya; 10, Kofa-n-Gazúbi; 11, Kofa-n-Káura; 12, Kofa-n-Marúsa;
13, Kofa-n-Dúrdu; 14, Kofa-n-Samrí; 15, A brook formed by a spring; 16,
Former place of encampment of salt caravan.]
From this time the town declined rapidly, and all the principal foreign
merchants migrated to Kanó, where they were beyond the reach of this
constant struggle; and even the Ásbenáwa transferred their salt-market
to the latter place, which now became the emporium of this part of
Negroland, while Kátsena retained but secondary importance as the seat
of a governor. This is indeed to be lamented, as the situation of the
town is excellent, and, both on account of its position to the various
routes and of its greater salubrity, is far preferable to Kanó. However,
as matters stand, unless either the Fúlbe succeed in crushing entirely
the independent provinces to the north and north-west (which, in the
present weak state of the empire of Sókoto, is far from probable), or
till the Goberáwa and Mariadáwa, whose king still bears the title of
serkí-n-Kátsena, reconquer this town, it will continue to decline and
become more desolate every year. In fact Mohammed Béllo, the present
governor, had conceived the design of giving up this immense town
altogether, and of founding a new residence of smaller compass in its
neighbourhood; but his liege lord, Alíyu, the Emír el Múmenín, would not
allow him to do so.
The only inhabited part of the town at present is the north-west quarter,
although any one who should omit to take into account the population
scattered over the other parts, principally round about the residence of
the governor, and the people settled in the hamlets near the gates, would
make a great mistake. Here it may be added, that most of the importance
which Kátsena has still preserved, in a commercial aspect, is due to its
position with respect to Núpe, with which it keeps up a tolerably lively
intercourse, the route from it to that industrious but most unfortunate
country being practicable even for camels, while the road from Kanó can
only be travelled with horses and asses. Almost all the more considerable
native merchants in Kátsena are Wangaráwa (Eastern Mandingoes).
The province of Kátsena was formerly far more extensive than it is at
present, but it has been curtailed, in order not to leave its governor
too much inducement to make himself independent. Besides, many parts of
it, being much exposed to the continual incursions of the independent
Háusáwa, have greatly suffered, so that probably the population of the
whole province does not now exceed three hundred thousand souls, of whom
only about one-half seem to pay tribute. Every head of a family has to
pay here two thousand five hundred kurdí-n-kassa, or ground-rent, and
the whole of the kurdí-n-kassa of the province is estimated by those
best acquainted with the affairs of the country at from twenty to thirty
millions; a tax of five hundred kurdí is levied also on every slave. The
military force of the province consists of two thousand horsemen, and
about eight thousand men on foot, most of them archers. Altogether the
province of Kátsena is one of the finest parts of Negroland, and being
situated just at the water-parting between the basin of the Tsád and that
of the Kwára, at a general elevation of from twelve hundred to fifteen
hundred feet, it enjoys the advantage of being at once well watered and
well drained, the chains of hills which diversify its surface sending
down numerous rapid streams, so that it is less insalubrious than other
regions of this continent. Its productions are varied and rich, though
its elevated situation seems unfavourable to the growth of cotton. But,
on the other side, useful trees seem to be more numerous in this district
than in any other under the same latitude; and the áyaba or banana,
and the gónda or papaya, are found in many favoured spots, while the
dorówa or _Parkia_, the tsámia or tamarind, and the kadeña, or the Shea
butter-tree (_Bassia Parkii_), are the most common trees everywhere, and
very often form thick clusters.
_Thursday, Jan. 30._—I was extremely glad when, after a long delay—for
we had been obliged to wait more than an hour for the poor nag presented
to me by the governor,—we reached the south-eastern gate of the town,
the “kófa-n-Káura.” It was as if I had just escaped from a prison, and
I drew my breath deeply as I inhaled the fresh air outside the wall. I
should have carried with me a very unfavourable impression of Kátsena,
if it had not been my destiny to visit this place again under more
favourable circumstances; and I should have obtained a very false idea of
the character of the Fúlbe, if, from the little experience which I had
acquired in this place, I had formed a definitive judgment of them.
On the southern side of the town there is at present no cultivated
ground; but the whole country is in a wild state, covered with brushwood.
What we saw also of the traffic on the path seemed to be not of a very
peaceable kind; for we met nothing but armed foot and horsemen hastening
to Kátsena on the news of the expedition in course of preparation by
the people of Marádi. But further on, the aspect of the country became
a little more peaceful; and after a march of three miles we passed a
well, where the women from a neighbouring village were offering for sale
the common vegetables of the country, such as gowáza or yams, dánkali
or sweet potatoes, kúka, the leaves of the monkey bread-tree, dodówa or
the vegetable cakes mentioned above, ground nuts, beans, and sour milk.
Nevertheless the whole country, with its few fortified villages, its
little cultivation, and the thick forests which separated the villages
one from another, left the impression of a very unsettled and precarious
existence. I observed that brushwood, where it is not interrupted by
larger trees, is always a proof of cultivation having been carried on
at no distant period. In the midst of a wild thicket, which deranged
all my things, we met a long warlike-train of several hundred horsemen,
who perhaps might have incommoded us on the narrow path, if the strange
appearance of my luggage had not so frightened the horses, that they
rather chose to carry their riders through the very thickest of the
covert than to fall in with us. Dúm-palms now began to appear; and beyond
the considerable village Bay, cultivation became more extensive. Besides
the fan-palm, the dumma and kaña, and the immense monkey bread-tree, with
its colossal (now leafless) branches, from which the long heavy “kauchi”
were hanging down on slender mouse-tail stalks, were the prevalent trees.
By degrees the country became more beautiful and cheerful, exhibiting a
character of repose and ease which is entirely wanting in the northern
parts of the province; separate comfortable dwellings of cattle-breeding
Féllani were spread about, and the cornfields were carefully fenced and
well kept. I was greatly astonished when Gajére with a certain feeling
of national pride, pointed out to me here the extensive property of Sídi
Ghálli el Háj Ánnur, the man whom I had occasion, in my description of
Agades, to mention amongst the most respectable people of that town. It
is astonishing how much property is held in these fertile regions by
the Tuarek of Asben; and to what consequences this may eventually lead,
everybody will easily conjecture.
A little before four o’clock in the afternoon we encamped close to a
village called Shibdáwa, the celebrated town of Dáura being distant two
days’ march.
_Friday, Jan. 31._—It was a most beautiful morning; and I indulged in
the feeling of unbounded liberty, and in the tranquil enjoyment of the
beautiful aspect of God’s creation. The country through which we passed
on leaving Shibdáwa, formed one of the finest landscapes I ever saw in
my life. The ground was pleasantly undulating, covered with a profusion
of herbage not yet entirely dried up by the sun’s power; the trees,
belonging to a great variety of species, were not thrown together into
an impenetrable thicket of the forest, but formed into beautiful groups,
exhibiting all the advantage of light and shade. There was the kaña,
with its rich dark-tinged foliage; the kadeña, or butter-tree, which I
here saw for the first time, exhibiting the freshest and most beautiful
green; then the marké, more airy, and sending out its branches in more
irregular shape, with light groups of foliage; young tamarind-trees
rounding off their thick crown of foliage till it resembled an artificial
canopy spread out for the traveller to repose in its shade, besides
the gámji, the shéria, the sokútso, the turáwa, and many other species
of trees unknown to me; while above them all, tall and slender górebas
unfolded their fan-crowns, just as if to protect the eye of the delighted
wanderer from the rays of the morning sun, and to allow him to gaze
undisturbed on the enchanting scenery around. Near the village Káshi even
the gónda-tree, or _Carica Papaya_, which is so rarely seen in these
quarters, enlivened the scenery. The densely luxuriant groves seemed to
be the abode only of the feathered tribe, birds of numberless variety
playing and warbling about in the full enjoyment of their liberty, while
the “serdi,” a large bird with beautiful plumage of a light-blue colour,
especially attracted my attention. Now and then a herd of cattle was seen
dispersed over the rich pasturage grounds, all of white colour, and the
bulls provided with a large fat hump or “tózo” hanging down on one side.
But in this delightful spectacle objects of destruction also were not
wanting, the poisonous plant “túmnia” starting forth everywhere. Cotton
and karásia fields interrupted the parklike scenery; and near Kámri, a
small place surrounded with a low clay wall, we were delighted with the
view of a green patch of low ground laid out into beds, and with the help
of a number of drawbeams, “khattatír,” or “lámbuna,” producing wheat and
onions. This ground too is only worked with the gélma and the fertáña or
small hoe.
Granite rock was protruding in several places; and a little after midday
we had a detached range of hills on our right stretching east and west.
Soon afterwards, near the village Temma, we passed a small market-place
consisting of about eight sheds, and shaded by a number of wide-spreading
tamarind-trees, where I was astonished at the number of cattle and horses
assembled, but heard on inquiry that they were not intended for sale.
Further on, after we had passed the fields of Gógó, plenty of cattle
and goats were seen browsing everywhere about. All the cattle were of
a white, and all the goats of a coffee-brown colour. Having passed the
encampment of the Tin-néggaru or Kél-néggaru, and crossed a dale fringed
with small fresh patches of wheat, which were watered by way of the said
“lámbuna” from wells in the hollow, we encamped a quarter before four
o’clock close to the fence of the village Bógo; for the whole country
swarms with thieves, and great caution is necessary at night: the
Tin-néggaru last night killed a thief who was attempting to carry off a
loaf of salt.
_Saturday, Feb. 1._—After a march of about two miles and a half over
clayey ground greatly broken up by the rains, we reached the north-west
corner of the considerable town Kusáda, and continued along its western
wall, where a group of very tall and majestic rimis (_Bombax_ or
_Eriodendron Guineense_), though at present leafless, formed a most
conspicuous object. It is very singular and highly characteristic, that
this tree (the bentang-tree of Mungo Park) generally grows near the
principal gate of the large towns in Háusa, while otherwise it is not
frequent, at least not the large full-grown specimens; and it is not
improbable that the natives purposely planted them in those places as a
kind of waymark—or perhaps it may be a remnant of their pagan customs,
this tree being deemed holy by several pagan tribes. It is almost
incredible at what an immense distance these stupendous trees, the
tallest of the vegetable kingdom, may be seen.
Kusáda is a town of importance, and is very little less than Gazáwa,
though not so thickly inhabited; the wall of the town is in tolerably
good repair, and the interior is rich in trees, making it look very
cheerful and comfortable. Most of the huts consist of clay walls, with a
thatched roof, which is certainly the mode of architecture best adapted
to the climate and the whole nature of the country.
When leaving the south side of this town we were joined by a troop of
women very heavily laden, each carrying upon the head from six to ten
enormous calabashes filled with various articles: but they did not prove
to be agreeable company; for not being able to walk steadily for any
length of time with their loads, they stopped every few minutes, and then
went on at a running pace, till they were obliged again to halt, so that
they came frequently into collision either with my camel or with the
bullock. It is really incredible what loads the native women of Negroland
can carry on their heads, but I think no other tribe is equal in this
respect to the Tápua or Nyffáwa. The country through which we had to pass
along for the first two miles was overgrown with underwood, and much
broken up by the rains, till we reached the stubble-fields of Kaférda,
where my attention was attracted again by a few scattered specimens
of the gigiña, or deléb-palm, which, in these districts, seems to be
extremely rare. Descending then a little, the country assumed once more
that delightful parklike appearance which had so charmed me the previous
day; and the variety of the vegetation was extraordinary,—góreba, jéja,
gámji, rími, and dóka being the principal trees.
The industry of the natives was also well represented; for soon after
we had met a troop of men carrying home loads of indigo-plants, in
order to prepare them in their simple way, we passed over extensive
tobacco-fields, which had very nearly reached maturity. Rich aromatic
bushes were growing everywhere in the fields, affording most nourishing
food for bees, for which purpose hives, formed of thick hollow logs,
were fastened to the branches of the colossal kúka-trees. We here
passed a most curious specimen of vegetable intercourse in the thorough
intermixture of a gigiña with another tree. In the course of my travels
my attention was drawn to the interesting attraction which exists
between the tamarind-tree and the kúka, both of which trees I very
often found linked together in the closest embraces. This district was
greatly enlivened also by a rich variety of the feathered tribe, but the
beautiful serdi was not seen; the káló and the tsírna now taking its
place.
A quarter of an hour after noon we passed the considerable place
Dan-Sábua, defended only by a stockade, and, with the exception of a
small market-place, giving very little proof of any kind of industry
existing among its inhabitants. When I passed the place three years
later, it even seemed almost deserted. About two miles further on we
passed a small round hill covered with underwood up to its very summit,
and remarkable enough for being taken as a boundary mark between the
provinces of Kátsena and Kanó; in 1854, however, the frontier was carried
further north-west, near Kaférda. We encamped early in the afternoon
near the village Gúrzo, separated from it only by a dell laid out in
small garden-fields with wheat and onions, and obtained a good supply of
the latter, but nothing else. In the night a thief almost succeeded in
carrying off some of our luggage, but had to run very hard for his life.
Early the next morning we started with an enthusiastic impulse, in order
to reach before night the celebrated emporium of Central Negroland. Kanó,
indeed, is a name which excites enthusiasm in every traveller in these
regions, from whatever quarter he may come, but principally if he arrives
from the north. We thus started in the twilight, passing in the bush some
herds of cattle remaining out in the pasture-grounds, and meeting several
troops of travellers, which made us fancy the capital to be nearer than
it really was. We listened to the tales of our comely and cheerful
companion, the “babá-n-báwa” of Tágelel, who detailed to us the wonders
of this African London, Birmingham, and Manchester—the vastness of the
town, the palace and retinue of the governor, the immense multitudes
assembled every day in its marketplace, the splendour and richness of the
merchandise exposed there for sale, the various delicacies of the table,
the beauty and gracefulness of its ladies. At times my fiery Tunisian
mulatto shouted out from mere anticipation of the pleasures which awaited
him.
Keeping steadily along, we reached, after about five miles, the very
considerable town of Béchi, the well-kept high clay walls of which
started forth suddenly from a most luxuriant mass of vegetation, where we
saw again the beautifully feathered serdi fluttering about from branch to
branch.
The town is very remarkable, as exhibiting the peculiar circumstances of
the social state in this country; for it belongs partly to the Tuarek
tribe of the Itísan, whose búgaje or serfs—properly half-castes, born of
free mothers, but slaves from the father’s side—live here, cultivating
for their lords the fields around the town. Thus we see Tuarek
everywhere, not only as occasional merchants, but even as settlers and
proprietors. The town has but one gate; and a great many of the houses
are of the kind described above. Beyond the town the country becomes less
cultivated, and is mostly covered with the wild gónda-bush, which bears
a most delicious fruit, richly deserving to be called the cream-apple. I
suspected it for some time to be identical with the custard-apple; but I
afterwards assured myself that it is not. I call the attention of every
African traveller to this fruit, which affords the greatest relief after
a long day’s journey; but it does not grow on the flat clayey plains of
Bórnu proper.
Beyond the little market-place of Budúmme we met the first strings of
empty camels belonging to the aïri with which we had been travelling.
They were returning from Kanó, where they had carried the salt, in order
to retrace their steps to good pasture-grounds, while their masters
remained in the capital to sell their merchandise. The drivers confirmed
the information we had already received, that our protector Elaíji
had not as yet arrived in the town. For he likewise possesses a large
property near Kazáure, whither he had gone after parting from me at
Kátsena. The country again assumed a more cheerful character; we passed
several villages, and even a máriná, or dyeing-place, and the path was
well frequented. Almost all the people who met us saluted us most kindly
and cheerfully; and I was particularly amused by the following form of
salutation: “Bárka, sanú sanú; hm! hm!” “God bless you, gently, gently;
how strange!” Only a few proud Féllani, very unlike their brethren in
the west, passed us without a salute. The villages are here scattered
about in the most agreeable and convenient way, as farming villages ought
always to be, but which is practicable only in a country in a state of
considerable security and tranquillity. All their names, therefore,
are in the plural form, as Tarauráwa, Jimbedáwa, Bagadáwa. The idea of
a great degree of industry was inspired by the sight of a máriná near
Jimbedáwa, comprising as many as twenty dyeing-pots; and here also a
little market was held by the women of the district. About half-past one
in the afternoon we entered the rich district of Dáwano, which almost
exclusively belongs to the wealthy Dan Mália, and is chiefly inhabited
by Féllani. There was here a large market-place, consisting of several
rows of well-built sheds, and frequented by numbers of people. A few
market-women attached themselves to our little troop, giving us assurance
that we should be able to reach the “bírni” to-day, but then added that
we ought to arrive at the outer gate before sunset, as it is shut at that
time.
We accordingly pressed on with our varied little caravan, consisting
of a very lean black horse, covered with coarse wool-like hair, worth
four dollars, or perhaps less; a mare, scarcely worth more in its
present condition; a camel, my faithful Bú-Séfi, evidently the most
respectable four-footed member of the troop, carrying a very awkward
load, representing my whole travelling household, with writing-table and
bedding-boards; a sumpter-ox, heavily laden; then the four human bipeds
to match, viz. one half-barbarized European, one half-civilized Góberáwi
Tunisian mulatto, a young lean Tébu lad, and my stout, sturdy, and grave
overseer from Tágelel. As we then entered some fields of sesamum, or
“nóme” (quite a new sight for me in this country, but which was soon
to become of very common occurrence), Gajére descried in the distance
between the trees the top of the hill Dála, and we all strained our eyes
to get a first glimpse of this hill, which is the real landmark of Kanó.
The country hereabouts exhibited a new feature, some of the fields being
enclosed with a bush which I had not seen before, and which was called
by my intelligent guide “fidde serewukka.” In Múniyo, where I afterwards
saw it used for the same purpose, it is called “mágara.” It is a kind
of broom, growing to the height of ten or twelve feet, and has a milky
juice, which is slightly poisonous, but by some people is employed as
a cure for wounds caused by thorns. A little while afterwards we saw
the first single date-palm, a tree also most characteristic of Kanó;
and now, the country becoming clear, we obtained a full sight of both
the hills, Dalá and Kógo-n-dútsi, which rise from the flat level of
the plain; but nothing was as yet visible of the town, and we had but
faint hopes of reaching it before sunset. However, we went on, though a
little disheartened, as we had some foreboding that we should incur the
displeasure of the governor; and passing through the gate, in front of
which part of the aïri were encamped, without stopping, as if we were
natives of the country, went on across open fields. It took us forty
minutes to reach the house of Báwu from the gate, though this lies near
the very outskirts of Dalá, the northernmost quarter of the town. It was
quite dark, and we had some trouble in taking possession of the quarters
assigned to us by our host.
Kanó had been sounding in my ears now for more than a year; it had been
one of the great objects of our journey as the central point of commerce,
as a great storehouse of information, and as the point whence more
distant regions might be most successfully attempted. At length, after
nearly a year’s exertions, I had reached it.