THE CAPITAL OF BÓRNU.
I shall now give an account of my stay in Kúkawa before setting out on
my journey to Ádamáwa. Regarding Kúkawa only as the basis of my further
proceedings, and as a necessary station already sufficiently known to the
European public by the long stay of the former expedition, I endeavoured
to collect as much information as possible with regard to the surrounding
countries. Two of my friends were distinguished by a good deal of
Mohammedan learning, by the precision with which they recollected the
countries they had wandered through, and by dignified manners; but they
differed much in character, and were inclined to quarrel with each other
as often as they happened to meet in my house.
These two men, to whom I am indebted for a great deal of interesting and
precise information, were the Arab Ahmed bel Mejúb, of that division of
the tribe of the Welád bu-Sebʿa who generally live in the Wady Sákiyet el
Hamra, to the south of Morocco, and the Púllo Ibrahím son of the Sheikh
el Mukhtár, in Kaháide on the Senegal, and cousin of the late Mohammed el
Amín, the energetic prince of Fúta-Tóro. Ahmed had travelled over almost
the whole of Western Africa, from Arguín on the ocean as far as Bagírmi,
and had spent several years in Ádamáwa, of which country he first gave
me an exact description, especially with regard to the direction of
the rivers. He was a shrewd and very intelligent man; yet he was one of
those Arabs who go round all the courts of the princes of Negroland, to
whatever creed or tribe they may belong, and endeavour to obtain from
them all they can by begging and by the parade of learning. I esteemed
him on account of his erudition, but not in other respects.
Quite a different person was the Púllo Ibrahím—a very proud young
man, fully aware of the ascendency, and strongly marked with the
distinguishing character, of the nation to which he belonged. He had
performed the pilgrimage to Mekka, crossing the whole breadth of Africa
from west to east, from warm religious feeling mixed up with a little
ambition, as he knew that such an exploit would raise him highly in the
esteem of his countrymen, and secure to him a high position in life. He
had been two years a hostage in Ndér (St. Louis), and knew something
about the Europeans. It had struck him that the French were not so eager
in distributing bibles as the English, while he had truly remarked that
the former were very sensible of the charms of the softer sex, and very
frequently married the pretty daughters of the Dembaséga. He obtained
from me, first the Zabúr, or the Psalms of David, which even the Arabs
esteem very highly, and would esteem much more if they were translated
into a better sort of Arabic, and afterwards the whole Bible, which he
wished to take with him on his long land journey.
The Arabs and the Fúlbe, as is well known, are in almost continual
warfare all along the line from the Senegal as far as Timbúktu; and it
was most interesting for me to see him and Ahmed in violent altercation
about the advantages of their respective nations, while I was thereby
afforded an excellent means of appreciating their reports with regard
to the state of the tribes and countries along the Senegal. The way in
which they began to communicate to me their information was in itself
expressive of their respective characters, Ahmed protesting that, before
he dared to communicate with me, he was compelled to ask the permission
of the vizier, while Ibrahím laughed at him, declaring that he felt
himself fully authorized to give me any information about Negroland.
Ibrahím became an intimate friend of mine, and took a lively interest in
me, particularly commiserating my lonely situation in a foreign country,
far from home, without the consolations of female companionship.
As an example of the risks which European travellers may incur by giving
medicines to natives to administer to themselves at home, I will relate
the following incident. Ibrahím told me one day that he wanted some
cooling medicine; and I gave him two strong doses of Epsom salts, to use
occasionally. He then complained the following day that he was suffering
from worms; and when I told him that the Epsom salts would not have the
effect of curing this complaint, but that worm-powder would, he begged
me to give him some of the latter; and I gave him three doses to use on
three successive days. However, my poor friend, though an intelligent
man, thought that it might not be amiss to take all this medicine at
once, viz. four ounces of Epsom salts and six drachms of worm-powder;
and the reader may imagine the effect which this dose produced upon a
rather slender man. Unfortunately, I had just taken a ride out of the
town; and he remained for full two days in a most desperate state, while
his friends, who had sent in vain to my house to obtain my assistance,
were lamenting to all the people that the Christian had killed their
companion, the pious pilgrim.
Besides these two men, there were many interesting strangers at that time
in Kúkawa, from whom I learnt more or less. Some of them I shall here
mention, as their character and story will afford the reader a glance
at one side of life in Negroland. A man who had performed travels of
an immense extent, from Khórasán in the east as far as Sansándi in the
west, and from Tripoli and Morocco in the north as far as Asiantí and
Jenakhéra and Fertít towards the south, would have been of great service,
if he had preserved an exact recollection of all the routes which he had
followed in his devious wanderings; but as it was, I could only gather
from him some general information, the most interesting part of which
had reference to Mósi or rather Móre, a large and populous country known
by name already, from Sultan Béllo’s curious communications to Captain
Clapperton, but always misplaced in the maps, and its capital Wóghodoghó.
This enterprising man, who generally travelled as a dervish, had gone
from Sofára on the Máyo balléo or Niger, between Hamdalláhi and Ségo,
across a most unsettled country, to Wóghodoghó; but he was unable to
give me any precise details with regard to it, and I never met another
person who had travelled this dangerous route. He had also travelled all
along the pagan states to the south of Bagírmi and Wadáy, and advised me
strongly, if it were my plan to penetrate to the Upper Nile (as, indeed,
I then intended, notwithstanding my total want of means), to adopt the
character of a dervish, which he deemed essential for my success. But
while such a character might, indeed, insure general success, it would
preclude the possibility of making any accurate observations, and would
render necessary the most painful, if not insupportable, privations. And
on the whole this poor fellow was less fortunate than I; for in the year
1854 he was slain on that very route from Yóla to Kúkawa which I myself
had twice passed successfully. He was a native of Baghdád, and called
himself Sheríf Ahmed el Baghdádi.
There was another singular personage, a native of Sennár, who had been a
clerk in the Turkish army, but, as malicious tongues gave out, had been
too fond of the cash entrusted to his care, and absconded. He afterwards
resided some years in Wadáy, where he had drilled a handful of the
sultan’s slaves, had come to this kingdom to try his fortune, and was now
about to be sent to Wadáy by the sheikh of Bórnu, as a spy, to see if the
prince of that country had still any design of recommencing hostilities.
From all persons of this description the traveller may learn a great
deal; and, intriguing fellows as they generally are, and going from court
to court spreading reports everywhere, prudence requires that he should
keep on tolerably good terms with them.
Most interesting and instructive was a host of pilgrims from different
parts of Másena or Mélle, partly Fúlbe, partly Sónghay, who having heard
of the white man, and of his anxiety to collect information respecting
all parts of the continent, came repeatedly to me to contribute each
his share. I used to regale them with coffee, while they gave me ample
opportunities of comparing and testing their statements. The most
interesting and best informed amongst them, were Bu-Bakr, a native
of Hamdalláhi, the capital of the sheikh (sekho) Ahmedu ben Ahmedu,
who, having made a pilgrimage to Mekka, had long resided in Yeman, and
was now returning homeward with a good deal of knowledge; and another
cheerful and simple-hearted old man from Sá on the Ísa or Niger, between
Hamdalláhi and Timbúktu. Indeed, as the report of Ahmed bel Mejúb about
Ádamáwa had confirmed me in my determination to sacrifice everything
in order to visit that country as soon as possible, so the manifold
information of these people with respect to the countries on the middle
course of the so-called Niger excited in me a most ardent desire to
execute the design, previously but vaguely entertained, of accomplishing
also a journey westward to Timbúktu.
Among my Bórnu friends at this time, the most instructive were Shitíma
Makarémma and Ámsakay. The former, who had been a courtier under the
old dynasty, and who had saved his life by his intrigues, was a very
intelligent old man, but an acknowledged rascal to whom unnatural vices,
which seem in general entirely unknown in these regions, were imputed.
Nevertheless he was the only man who was master of all the history of
the old dynasty; and he spoke the Kanúri language with such exquisite
beauty as I have never heard from anybody else. He had two very handsome
daughters, whom he succeeded in marrying, one to the vizier and one to
his adversary, ʿAbd eʾ Rahmán; but in December 1853 he was executed,
together with the vizier, but on totally different grounds, as having
long forfeited his life. Quite a different sort of man was Ámsakay, a
simple Kánemma chief, who has been represented in one of my sketches.
He had formerly distinguished himself by his expeditions against the
Búdduma, till those enterprising islanders succeeded in conciliating him
by the gift of one of their handsome daughters for a wife, when he became
half settled amongst them.
I had also some interesting pagan instructors, among whom I will only
mention Agíd Búrku, a very handsome youth, but who had undergone the
horrible process of castration. The abolition of this practice in the
Mohammedan world ought to be the first object of Christian governments
and missionaries, not merely on account of the unnatural and desecrated
state to which it reduces a human being, but on account of the dreadful
character of the operation itself, which, in these countries at least,
is the reason why scarcely one in ten survives it. With extreme delight
Agíd Búrku dwelt upon the unconstrained nudity in which his countrymen
indulged, and with great _naïveté_ described a custom of the Pagans,
which is identical with a custom of the civilized Europeans, but is an
abomination in the eyes of every Mohammedan. He had wandered about a
good deal in the southern provinces of Bagírmi and Wadáy, and gave me the
first information about the interesting mountain-group near Kénga Matáya.
But I must principally dwell upon my relations to the vizier el Háj
Beshír ben Ahmed Tiráb, upon whose benevolent disposition the whole
success of the mission depended, as he ruled entirely the mind of the
sheikh, who was more sparing of words, and less intelligent. Mohammed
el Beshír, being the son of the most influential man in Bórnu after the
sheikh, enjoyed all the advantages which such a position could offer for
the cultivation of his mind, which was by nature of a superior cast. He
had gone on a pilgrimage to Mekka in the year 1843, by way of Ben-Gházi,
when he had an opportunity both of showing the Arabs near the coast that
the inhabitants of the interior of the continent are superior to the
beasts, and of getting a glimpse of a higher state of civilization than
he had been able to observe in his own country.
Having thus learned to survey the world collectively from a new point
of view, and with an increased eagerness after everything foreign
and marvellous, he returned to his native country, where he soon had
an opportunity of proving his talent, his father being slain in the
unfortunate battle at Kúsuri, and Sheikh ʿOmár, a fugitive in his native
country, having much need of a faithful counsellor in his embarrassed
situation. The sheikh was beset by a powerful and victorious host,
encamping in the largest of the towns of his kingdom, while the party
of the old dynasty was rising again, and not only withdrawing from him
the best forces wherewith to face the enemy, but threatening his very
existence, at the same time that a brother was standing in fierce rivalry
to him at the head of a numerous army. Sheikh ʿOmár was successful, the
host of Wadáy was obliged to withdraw, and, abandoning the purpose for
which they had come, namely, that of re-establishing the old dynasty,
commenced a difficult retreat of many hundred miles at the beginning
of the rainy season; the partisans of the old dynasty were entirely
crushed, the last prince of that family slain, the residence of the
sultans levelled to the ground, and even the remembrance of the old
times was almost effaced. There remained to be feared only his brother
ʿAbd eʾ Rahmán. ʿAbd eʾ Rahmán was a good soldier, but a man of a very
loose and violent character. When a youth he had committed all sorts of
violence and injustice, carrying off young brides by force, to indulge
his passions: he was besides a man of little intelligence. But being but
a few months younger than ʿOmár, he thought himself equally entitled to
the succession; and if once admitted into a high position in the empire,
he might be expected to abuse his influence on the very first opportunity.
Sheikh ʿOmár, therefore, could not but choose to confide rather in the
intelligent son of his old minister, the faithful companion in the
field and counsellor of his father, than in his own fierce and jealous
brother; and all depended upon the behaviour of Háj Beshír, and upon the
discretion with which he should occupy and maintain his place as first,
or rather only minister of the kingdom. Assuredly his policy should have
been to conciliate, as much as possible, all the greater “kokanáwa” or
courtiers, in order to undermine the influence of ʿAbd eʾ Rahmán, whom
it might be wise to keep at a respectful distance. But in this respect
the vizier seems to have made great mistakes, his covetousness blinding
him to his principal advantages; for covetous he certainly was—first,
from the love of possessing, and also in order to indulge his luxurious
disposition, for he was certainly rather “kamúma,” that is to say,
extremely fond of the fair sex, and had a harím of from three to four
hundred female slaves.
In assembling this immense number of female companions for the
entertainment of his leisure hours, he adopted a scientific principle;
in fact, a credulous person might suppose that he regarded his harím
only from a scientific point of view;—as a sort of ethnological
museum—doubtless of a peculiarly interesting kind—which he had brought
together in order to impress upon his memory the distinguishing features
of each tribe. I have often observed that, in speaking with him of the
different tribes of Negroland, he was at times struck with the novelty of
a name, lamenting that he had not yet had a specimen of that tribe in his
harím, and giving orders at once to his servants to endeavour to procure
a perfect sample of the missing kind. I remember, also, that on showing
to him one day an illustrated ethnological work in which he took a lively
interest, and coming to a beautiful picture of a Circassian female, he
told me, with an expression of undisguised satisfaction, that he had a
living specimen of that kind; and when, forgetting the laws of Mohammedan
etiquette, I was so indiscreet as to ask him whether she was as handsome
as the picture, he answered only with a smile, at once punishing and
pardoning my indiscreet question. I must also say that, notwithstanding
the great number and variety of the women who shared his attention, he
seemed to take a hearty interest in each of them: at least I remember
that he grieved most sincerely for the loss of one who died in the winter
of 1851. Poor Háj Beshír! He was put to death in the last month of 1853,
leaving seventy-three sons alive, not counting the daughters, and the
numbers of children which may be supposed to die in such an establishment
without reaching maturity.
But to return to his political character. I said that he neglected
to attach to himself the more powerful of the courtiers, with whose
assistance he might have hoped to keep the rival brother of Sheikh
ʿOmár at some distance; indeed, he even alienated them by occasional,
and sometimes injudicious use of his almost unlimited power, obliging
them, for instance, to resign to him a handsome female slave or a fine
horse. If he had possessed great personal courage and active powers, he
might have mastered circumstances and kept his post, notwithstanding
the ill-will of all around him; but he wanted those qualities, as the
result shows: and yet, well aware of the danger which threatened him,
he was always on his guard, having sundry loaded pistols and carbines
always around him, upon and under his carpet. Shortly before I arrived,
an arrow had been shot at him in the evening, while he was sitting in his
courtyard.
I have peculiar reason to thank Providence for having averted the
storm which was gathering over his head during my stay in Bórnu, for
my intimacy with him might very easily have involved me also in the
calamities which befell him. However, I repeat that altogether he was a
most excellent, kind, liberal, and just man, and might have done much
good to the country, if he had been less selfish and more active. He was
incapable, indeed, of executing by himself any act of severity, such
as in the unsettled state of a semi-barbarous kingdom may at times be
necessary; and, being conscious of his own mildness, he left all those
matters to a man named Lamíno, to whom I gave the title of “the shameless
left hand of the vizier,” and whom I shall have frequent occasion to
mention.
I pressed upon the vizier the necessity of defending the northern
frontier of Bórnu against the Tuarek by more effectual measures than had
been then adopted, and thus retrieving, for cultivation and the peaceable
abode of his fellow-subjects, the fine borders of the komádugu, and
restoring security to the road to Fezzán. Just about this time the Tuarek
had made another expedition into the border-districts on a large scale,
so that Kashélla Belál, the first of the war chiefs, was obliged to march
against them; and the road to Kanó, which I, with my usual good luck,
had passed unmolested, had become so unsafe that a numerous caravan was
plundered, and a well-known Arab merchant, the Sheríf el Gháli, killed.
I remonstrated with him on the shamefully neglected state of the shores
of the lake, which contained the finest pasture-grounds, and might yield
an immense quantity of rice and cotton. He entered with spirit into all
my proposals; but in a short time all was forgotten. He listened with
delight to what little historical knowledge I had of these countries,
and inquired particularly whether Kánem had really been in former times
a mighty kingdom, or whether it would be worth retaking. It was in
consequence of these conversations that he began to take an interest
in the former history of the country, and that the historical records
of Edrís Alawóma came to light; but he would not allow me to take them
into my hands, and I could only read over his shoulders. He was a very
religious man; and though he admired Europeans very much on account of
their greater accomplishments, he was shocked to think that they drank
intoxicating liquors. However, I tried to console him by telling him
that, although the Europeans were also very partial to the fair sex, yet
they did not indulge in this luxury on so large a scale as he did, and
that therefore he ought to allow them some other little pleasure.
He was very well aware of the misery connected with the slave-trade; for
on his pilgrimage to Mekka, in the mountainous region between Fezzán
and Ben-Gházi he had lost, in one night, forty of his slaves by the
extreme cold, and he swore that he would never take slaves for sale, if
he were to travel again. But it was more difficult to make him sensible
of the horrors of slave-hunting, although, when accompanying him on the
expedition to Músgu, I and Mr. Overweg urged this subject with more
success, as the further progress of my narrative will show. He was very
desirous to open a commerce with the English, although he looked with
extreme suspicion upon the form of articles in which the treaty was
proposed to be drawn up; but he wished to forbid to Christians the sale
of two things, viz. spirituous liquors and bibles. He did not object to
bibles being brought into the country, and even given as presents; but he
would not allow of their being sold. But the difficulties which I had to
contend with in getting the treaty signed will be made more conspicuous
as my narrative proceeds.
The most pressing matter which I had with the vizier in the first
instance, after my arrival, was to obtain some money, in order to settle,
at least partly, the just claims of the late Mr. Richardson’s servants,
and to clear off debts which reflected little credit on the Government
which had sent us. I could scarcely expect that he would lend me the
money without any profit, and was therefore glad to obtain it at the rate
of 1000 cowries, or kúngona as they are called in Bórnu, for a dollar,
to be paid in Fezzán; and I lost very little by the bargain, as the
creditors, well aware of the great difficulty I was in, and acknowledging
my desire to pay them off, agreed to receive for every dollar of the
sum which they claimed, only 1,280 cowries, while in the market the
dollar fetched a much higher price. Indeed it was most grateful to my
feelings to be enabled, on the 13th of April, to distribute among the
eight creditors 70,000 shells; and it was the more agreeable, as the
more arrogant among them, seeing my extreme poverty, had assumed a tone
of great insolence towards me, which I found it difficult to support in
silence. Being now relieved a little in circumstances, I immediately rid
myself of the carpenter, the grandiloquent Son of Jerusalem, and sent him
away. He died on the road before reaching Múrzuk—a fact which the natives
attributed to the curse which I had given him for having stolen something
from my house.
My household now became more comfortable. Already, on the 10th of April,
late in the evening, I had removed my quarters from the large empty
courtyard in the eastern town, or bílla gedíbe, to a small clay house in
the western, or bílla futébe. This dwelling consisted of several small
but neatly made rooms, and a yard. Afterwards we succeeded in obtaining
in addition an adjoining yard, which was very spacious, and included
several thatched huts; and all this together formed “the English house,”
which the sheikh was kind enough to concede to the English mission as
long as anybody should be left there to take care of it. Its situation
was very favourable, as will be seen from the plan on page 380, being
situated almost in the middle of the town, and nevertheless out of the
way of the great thoroughfares; the internal arrangement is shown in the
woodcut on next page.
[Illustration: 1. Segífa, or “sóro chínnabe,” into which a person coming
from the small yard before the house first enters through the principal
gate. In the corner there is a spacious clay bench, “dágali,” raised
three feet from the ground. 2. Small open courtyard, with a very fine
chédia or caoutchouc-tree (3), in which we had generally a troop of
monkeys, while at the bottom a couple of squirrels (_Sciurus_) were
living in a hole. 4. A second courtyard with a henhouse (5). 6. Inner
segífa, where, in the beginning, the servants loitered, and which
was afterwards changed into a simple dining-room. Here generally the
water-jars were kept. 7. Small courtyard, with water-jar. 8. Inner
room, where I used to live, and afterwards, Mr. Vogel. 9. Inner large
courtyard, where, in the corner, the kitchen was established. 10. Room
with a large claybank, where Mr. Overweg used to recline in the daytime.
11. Bedroom of Mr. Overweg, and afterwards of the Sappers, Corporal
Church and Macguire. 12. Small back courtyard. 13. Storeroom. 14. Outer
enclosure of great courtyard in the beginning of our residence in Kúkawa.
This wall we afterwards pulled down, when we obtained a very large
yard for our horses and cattle. We, at times, had six horses and five
or six cows. 15. Very large well-built conical hut, with clay wall and
thatched roof. In the interior there were two spacious raised claybanks
of the kind called “dagáli” and “zinzin,” and in the background a raised
recess, separated by a wall two feet high, for luggage or corn. This hut
I occupied during my last stay in Kúkawa after my return from Timbúktu,
when I built in front of it a large shed with that sort of coarse mats
called síggedí. 16. Hut occupied by Maʿadi, a liberated slave, first in
the service of Mr. Richardson, afterwards in that of Mr. Overweg, and
lastly, Mr. Vogel’s head servant. Having been wounded in the service of
the expedition, a small pension has been granted to him. 17. Hut occupied
by another servant. 18. Place for our cattle. 19. A well. The sandy soil,
as I have said, obliged us to change the place of our well very often,
and we had great trouble in this respect. 20. A clayhouse which, during
the latter part of our stay, fell to ruins.]
I immediately took possession of the room No. 8, which, although very
small, was altogether the best, and was very cool during the hot hours
of the day. Mr. Vogel too, when he afterwards arrived, immediately fixed
upon this room. There was a most splendid kórna-tree in the neighbouring
courtyard, which spread its shade over the terrace of this room, and over
part of the small courtyard in front of it. In our own yard we had only
a very fine specimen of a chédia or caoutchouc-tree (in the first yard,
No. 3), which was afterwards a little damaged by Mr. Overweg’s monkeys,
besides two very small kórna-trees in the great yard around the huts
Nos. 16 and 17. Having thus made myself as comfortable as possible, I
began without delay to dig a well in the small court before the house,
as we had to fetch the water from another well at some distance, which
was much used by the people. My attempt caused some amusement to the
vizier, who soon heard of it, and recognized in it a feature of the
European character; for digging a well is no small undertaking in Kúkawa,
although water is to be found at only nine fathoms depth; for the ground,
consisting of loose sand under an upper thin layer of clay, is very apt
to fall in, while the slender boughs with which the shaft is upheld,
offer but little resistance. We had a great deal of trouble with our
well, not only in constantly repairing it, but in the course of our stay
we were thrice obliged to change the spot and dig a new well altogether.
We should have been glad to set an example to the natives by building up
our shaft with bricks; but with our scanty means, or rather our entire
want of means, we could scarcely think of undertaking such a costly work.
At a later period Mr. Overweg found a layer of shell lime in a spot of
our courtyard, and got our house neatly whitewashed. The great point in
this place is to protect oneself against the countless swarms of fleas
which cover the ground, the best preservative being considered a frequent
besmearing of the walls and the floor with cowdung. The large white ant
too is most troublesome; and sugar particularly is kept with difficulty
from its voracious attacks. Our rooms swarmed also with bugs, “bermáde,”
but I am almost afraid that we ourselves imported them with our books.
The bug, however, in Bórnu is not regarded as that nasty insect which
creates so much loathing in civilized countries; on the contrary, the
native thinks its smell aromatic.
My poor Kátsena nag, the present of the extraordinary governor of that
place, almost against my expectation, had successfully carried me as far
as Kúkawa, but at that point it was quite exhausted, wanting at least
some months’ repose. I was, therefore, without a horse, and was obliged
at first to walk on foot, which was very trying in the deep sand and
hot weather. I had once entreated the vizier to lend me a horse, but
Lamíno had in consequence sent me such a miserable animal that I declined
mounting it. The sheikh being informed afterwards that I was bargaining
for a horse, sent me one as a present; it was tall and well-formed, but
of a colour which I did not like, and very lean, having just come from
the country where it had got no corn, so that it was unfit for me, as
I wanted a strong animal, ready to undergo a great deal of fatigue. I
was already preparing for my journey to Ádamáwa, and having made the
acquaintance of Mʿallem Katúri, a native of Yákoba, or rather, as the
town is generally called, Garún Báuchi, and an excellent man, who had
accompanied several great ghazzias in that country, and particularly
that most remarkable one of Amba-Sambo, the governor of Chámba, as far
as the Igbo country, at the delta of the Niger, I hired him and bought
for his use a strong good travelling horse. I bought also a tolerable
pony for my servant, Mohammed ben Sʿad, so that, having now three horses
at my command, I entered with spirit upon my career as an explorer of
Negroland. All this of course was done by contracting a few little debts.
The vizier, who was well aware of the difficulties and dangers attending
my proposed excursion to Ádamáwa, was rather inclined to send me to the
Músgu country, whither it was intended to dispatch an expedition, under
the command of Kashélla Belál; but fortunately for me, and perhaps,
also, for our knowledge of this part of the continent, the design was
frustrated by an inroad of the Tuarek, which demanded the presence of
this officer, the most warlike of the empire. This incursion of the
plundering Kindín was made by a considerable body of men; who, having in
vain tried to surprise some town on the frontier of Bórnu, turned their
march towards Kánem, and went as far as Báteli, where, however, they met
with but little success.
Having now a horse whereon to mount, I rode every day, either into the
eastern town to pay a visit to the sheikh, or to the vizier, or roving
around the whole circuit of the capital, and peeping into the varied
scenes which the life of the people exhibited. The precincts of the town
with its suburbs are just as interesting as its neighbourhood (especially
during the months that precede the rainy season) is monotonous and
tiresome in the extreme. Certainly, the arrangement of the capital
contributes a great deal to the variety of the picture which it forms,
laid out as it is in two distinct towns each surrounded with its wall,
the one, occupied chiefly by the rich and wealthy, containing very large
establishments, while the other, with the exception of the principal
thoroughfare, which traverses the town from west to east, consists of
rather crowded dwellings, with narrow winding lanes. These two distinct
towns are separated by a space about half a mile broad, itself thickly
inhabited on both sides of a wide open road which forms the connection
between them, but laid out less regularly, and presenting to the eye a
most interesting medley of large clay buildings and small thatched huts,
of massive clay walls surrounding immense yards, and light fences of
reeds in a more or less advanced state of decay, and with a variety of
colour, according to their age, from the brightest yellow down to the
deepest black. All around these two towns there are small villages or
clusters of huts, and large detached farms surrounded with clay walls,
low enough to allow a glimpse from horseback over the thatched huts which
they enclose.
In this labyrinth of dwellings a man, interested in the many forms which
human life presents, may rove about at any time of the day with the
certainty of finding never-failing amusement, although the life of the
Kanúri people passes rather monotonously along, with the exception of
some occasional feasting. During the hot hours, indeed, the town and its
precincts become torpid, except on market-days, when the market-place
itself, at least, and the road leading to it from the western gate, are
most animated just at that time. For, singular as it is, in Kúkawa, as
well as almost all over this part of Negroland, the great markets do not
begin to be well attended till the heat of the day grows intense; and it
is curious to observe what a difference prevails in this as well as in
other respects between these countries and Yóruba, where almost all the
markets are held in the cool of the evening.
The daily little markets, or durríya, even in Kúkawa, are held in the
afternoon, and are most frequented between the ʿaser (lásari) and the
mughreb (almágribu) or sunset. The most important of these durríyas is
that held inside the west gate of the bílla futébe; and here even camels,
horses, and oxen are sold in considerable numbers; but they are much
inferior to the large fair, or great market, which is held every Monday
on the open ground beyond the two villages which lie at a short distance
from the western gate. Formerly it was held on the road to Ngórnu, before
the southern gate; but it has been removed from thence on account of the
large pond of water formed during the rainy season in the hollow close to
this gate.
[Illustration: 1. English house, of which a special plan is given on
page 377. 2. Palace, “fáto maibe,” of the sheikh, in the western town
or bílla futébe, with the mosque, “máshidí,” at the corner. 3. Minaret
of mosque. 4. Square at the back of the palace, with a most beautiful
caoutchouc-tree, the finest in Kúkawa. 5. Déndal, or principal street.
6. Area before the southern gate, where all the offal and dead bodies
of camels and cattle, and sometimes even of slaves, are thrown, and
which, during the rainy season, is changed into a large and deep pond.
7. Palace of the sheikh in the eastern town, or bílla-gedíbe. 8. Palace
of the vizier el Háj Beshír. 9. House where I was first lodged on my
arrival, afterwards occupied by Lamíno the vizier’s head man. 10.
(The house west from this) Palace belonging to Ábú-Bakr, the sheikh’s
eldest and favourite son, with a very large caoutchouc-tree in front.
11. House belonging to Abba Yusuf, second brother of the sheikh. 12.
House occupied, during my later stay, by Lamíno. 13. Hollows from
whence the clay has been taken for building material, and which,
during the rainy season, are changed into deep pools of stagnant
water. 14. Cemetery.]
I visited the great fair, “kásukú letenínbe,” every Monday immediately
after my arrival, and found it very interesting, as it calls together
the inhabitants of all the eastern parts of Bórnu, the Shúwa and the
Koyám, with their corn and butter; the former, though of Arab origin
and still preserving in purity his ancient character, always carrying
his merchandise on the back of oxen, the women mounted upon the top
of it, while the African Koyám employs the camel, if not exclusively,
at least with a decided preference;[46] the Kánembú with their butter
and dried fish, the inhabitants of Mákari with their tobes (the kóre
berné): even Búdduma, or rather Yédiná are very often seen in the market,
selling whips made from the skin of the hippopotamus, or sometimes
even hippopotamus meat, or dried fish, and attract the attention of
the spectator by their slender figures, their small handsome features
unimpaired by any incisions, the men generally wearing a short black
shirt and a small straw hat, “súni ngáwa,” their neck adorned with
several strings of kúngona, or shells, while the women are profusely
ornamented with strings of glass beads, and wear their hair in a very
remarkable way, though not in so awkward a fashion as Mr. Overweg
afterwards observed in the island Belárigo.
On reaching the market-place from the town, the visitor first comes
to that part where the various materials for constructing the light
dwellings of the country are sold, such as mats, of three different
kinds, the thickest, which I have mentioned above as lágará, then
síggedí, or the common coarse mat made of the reed called kalkálti, and
the búshi, made of dúm-leaves, or “ngílle,” for lying upon; poles and
stakes; the framework, “léggerá,” for the thatched roofs of huts, and
the ridge-beam or “késkan súmo”; then oxen for slaughter “fé debáterám,”
or for carrying burdens, “knému lápterám”; further on, long rows of
leathern bags filled with corn, ranging far along on the south side of
the market-place, with either “kéwa,” the large bags for the camel, a
pair of which form a regular camel’s load, or the large “jerábu,” which
is thrown across the back of the pack-oxen, or the smaller “fállim,” a
pair of which constitute an ox-load, “kátkun knémube.” These long rows
are animated not only by the groups of the sellers and buyers, with their
weatherworn figures and torn dresses, but also by the beasts of burden,
mostly oxen, which have brought the loads and which are to carry back
their masters to their distant dwelling-places; then follow the camels
for sale, often as many as a hundred or more, and numbers of horses, but
generally not first-rate ones, which are mostly sold in private. All this
sale of horses, camels, etc., with the exception of the oxen, passes
through the hands of the dilélma or broker, who, according to the mode of
announcement, takes his percentage from the buyer or the seller.
The middle of the market is occupied by the dealers in other merchandise
of native and of foreign manufacture, the “amagdí” or tob from Ujé,
and the kóre, or rébshi; the farásh, or “fetkéma,” and the “selláma,”
the people dealing in cloths, shirts, túrkedí, beads of all sizes and
colours, leatherwork, coloured boxes of very different shape and size,
very neatly and elegantly made of ox-hide. There are also very neat
little boxes made of the kernel, or “náge,” of the fruit of the dúm-tree.
Then comes the place where the kómbuli disposes of his slaves.
There are only a few very light sheds or stalls (“kaudi”), erected
here and there. In general, besides a few of the retail dealers, only
the dilélma, or broker, has a stall, which, on this account, is called
diléllam; and, no shady trees being found, both buyers and sellers are
exposed to the whole force of the sun during the very hottest hours of
the day, between eleven and three o’clock, when the market is most full
and busy, and the crowd is often so dense that it is difficult to make
one’s way through it: for the place not being regularly laid out, nor the
thoroughfares limited by rows of stalls, each dealer squats down with
his merchandise where he likes. There are often from twelve to fifteen
thousand people crowded together in the market; but the noise is not very
great, the Kanúri people being more sedate and less vivacious than the
Háusáwa, and not vending their wares with loud cries. However, the wanzám
or barber, going about, affords amusement by his constant whistling,
“kangádi.” In general, even amusements have rather a sullen character in
Bórnu; and of course, in a place of business like the market, very little
is done for amusement, although sometimes a serpent-tamer (“kadíma”), or
a story-teller (“kosgolíma”), is met with. Also the luxuries offered to
the people are very few in comparison with the varieties of cakes and
sweetmeats in the market-places of Háusa; and “kólché” (the common sweet
ground-nut), “gángala” (the bitter ground-nut), boiled beans or “ngálo,”
and a few dry dates from the Tébu country, are almost the only things,
besides water and a little nasty sour milk, offered as refreshment to the
exhausted customer.
The fatigue which people have to undergo in purchasing their week’s
necessaries in the market is all the more harassing, as there is not
at present any standard money for buying and selling; for the ancient
standard of the country, viz., the pound of copper, has long since
fallen into disuse, though the name, “rotl,” still remains. The
“gábagá,” or cotton-strips, which then became usual, have lately began to
be supplanted by the cowries or “kúngona,” which have been introduced, as
it seems, rather by a speculation of the ruling people, than by a natural
want of the inhabitants, though nobody can deny that they are very useful
for buying small articles, and infinitely more convenient than cotton
strips. Eight cowries or kúngona are reckoned equal to one gábagá, and
four gábagá, or two-and-thirty kúngona, to one rotl. Then, for buying
larger objects, there are shirts of all kinds and sizes, from the “dóra,”
the coarsest and smallest one, quite unfit for use, and worth six rotls,
up to the larger ones, worth fifty or sixty rotls. But while this is a
standard value, the relation of the rotl and the Austrian dollar, which
is pretty well current in Bórnu, is subject to extreme fluctuation,
due, I must confess, at least partly, to the speculations of the ruling
men, and principally to that of my friend the Háj Beshír. Indeed, I
cannot defend him against the reproach of having speculated to the great
detriment of the public; so that when he had collected a great amount of
kúngona, and wished to give it currency, the dollar would suddenly fall
as low as to five-and-forty or fifty rotls, while at other times it would
fetch as much as one hundred rotls, or three thousand two hundred shells;
that is, seven hundred shells more than in Kanó. The great advantage
of the market in Kanó is, that there is one standard coin, which, if a
too large amount of dollars be not on a sudden set in circulation, will
always preserve the same value.
But to return to the market. A small farmer who brings his corn to the
Monday market, or the “kásukú létenínbe,” in Kúkawa, will on no account
take his payment in shells, and will rarely accept of a dollar: the
person, therefore, who wishes to buy corn, if he has only dollars, must
first exchange a dollar for shells, or rather buy shells; then with
the shells he must buy a “kúlgu,” or shirt; and after a good deal of
bartering he may thus succeed in buying the corn, be it some kind of
argúm, wheat, or rice. However, these two latter articles are not always
to be got, while more frequently they are only in small quantities. The
rice sold in Kúkawa is wild rice, the refuse of the elephants, and of a
very inferior description.
The fatigue to be undergone in the market is such that I have very often
seen my servants return in a state of the utmost exhaustion. Most of the
articles which are sold at the great Monday fair may also be found in the
small afternoon markets or durríya, but only in small quantity, and at
a higher price, and some articles will be sought for there in vain. But
while there is certainly a great deal of trouble in the market of Kúkawa,
it must be acknowledged that the necessaries of life are cheaper there
than in any other place which I have visited in Central Africa, almost
half as cheap again as in Kátsena and Sókoto, a third cheaper than in
Kanó, and about a fourth cheaper than in Timbúktu. About the cheapness
of meat and corn in the latter place, which is indeed a very remarkable
fact, and struck me with the utmost surprise when I first reached that
celebrated town, I shall speak in the proper place. But I must remark
that dukhn, argúm móro, or millet (_Pennisetum typhoïdeum_), is in
greater quantity, and therefore cheaper, in Kúkawa than the durra or
sorghum, “ngáberi,” just as it is in Timbúktu and Kanó, while in Bagírmi
durra is much cheaper. The ngáberi of Bórnu, however, particularly that
kind of it which is called matíya, and which is distinguished by its
whiteness, is most excellent; and the “senásin,” a kind of thin pancake
prepared from this grain, is the lightest and best food for a European in
this country.
Of course the price of corn varies greatly according to the season, the
lowest rates ruling about a month or two after the harvest, when all the
corn in the country has been thrashed, and the highest rates just about
the harvest time. In general, a dollar will purchase in Kúkawa three
ox-loads, “kátkun knémube,” of argúm; a dollar and a half will buy a very
good ox of about six hundred pounds’ weight; two dollars fetch a pack-ox
(“knému”), or a milch cow (“fé mádarabé”); one dollar, two good sheep;
from seventeen to twenty rotls, a “téndu” of butter, containing about
four pounds’ weight. For wheat and rice the general rule in Negroland
is, that they fetch double the price of the native corn. Rice might seem
to be indigenous in Central Africa, growing wild everywhere, as well
in Bághena, in Western Africa, as in Kótoko or Bagírmi. Wheat, on the
contrary, was evidently introduced some hundred years ago, together with
onions, the favourite food of the Arab, to the merits of which the native
African is insensible, although it is a most wholesome article of diet in
this climate, as I shall have repeatedly occasion to state.
Of fruits the most common are—the two sorts of ground-nut, “kólché” and
“gángala,” the former of which is a very important article of food,
though by no means on so large a scale as in the eastern parts of
Ádamáwa; the “bíto,” the fruit of the hajilíj or _Balanites Ægyptiaca_
(which is so much valued by the Kanúri that, according to a common
proverb, a bíto-tree and a milch-cow are just the same,—“Késka bítowa
féwa mádarabé kal”); a kind of _Physalis_, the native name of which I
have forgotten; the bírgim, or the African plum, of which I shall speak
further on; the kórna, or the fruit of the _Rhamnus lotus_; and the fruit
of the dúm-palm, “kírzim” or _Cucifera Thebaïca_.
Of vegetables, the most common in the market are—beans of various
descriptions, which likewise form a very important article of food in
many districts, certainly as much as the third of the whole consumption;
onions, consumed in great quantity by the Arabs, but not by the
natives, who prefer to season their food with the young leaves of the
monkey-bread-tree, “kálu kúka,” or the “karás,” or with a sauce made
from dried fish. There are no sweet potatoes and no yams in this part of
Bórnu, the consequence of which is that the food of the natives is less
varied than in Háusa, Kébbi, or Yóruba. Yams are brought to this country
as rarities, and are given as presents to influential persons.
Camels sell at from eight to twenty dollars. When there is no caravan
in preparation, a very tolerable beast may be about for the former
price; but when a caravan is about to start, the best will fetch as
much as twenty dollars—very rarely more; and a good camel may always
be had for about fifteen dollars. Some camels may be bought for four
or five dollars each, but cannot be relied on. Very strong travelling
horses for servants were during my first visit purchasable for from six
to eight dollars, while an excellent horse would not fetch more than
thirty dollars; but in the year 1854 the price had risen considerably,
in consequence of the exportation of horses, which had formerly been
forbidden, having been permitted, and great numbers having been exported
to the west—chiefly to Múniyo, Kátsena, and Márádi. A first-rate horse of
foreign race, however, is much dearer, and will sometimes fetch as much
as three hundred dollars. I shall have another opportunity of speaking
of the horses of Bórnu, which is rather an interesting and important
subject, as the breed is excellent, and, besides being very handsome and
of good height, they bear fatigue marvellously—a fact of which one of
my own horses gave the best proof, having carried me during three years
of almost incessant fatigue on my expedition to Kánem, to the Músgu
country, to Bagírmi, to Timbúktu, and back to Kanó, where my poor dear
companion died in December 1854: and let it be taken into consideration
that, though I myself am not very heavy, I constantly carried with me
a double-barrelled gun, one or two pairs of pistols, a quantity of
powder and shot, several instruments, my journals, and generally even my
coffee-pot and some little provision.
But to return to the picture of life which the town of Kúkawa presents.
With the exception of Mondays, when just during the hottest hours of the
day there is much crowd and bustle in the marketplace, it is very dull
from about noon till three o’clock in the afternoon; and even during the
rest of the day, those scenes of industry, which in the varied panorama
of Kanó meet the eye, are here sought for in vain. Instead of those
numerous dyeing-yards or máriná full of life and bustle, though certainly
also productive of much filth and foul odours, which spread over the town
of Kanó, there is only a single, and a very poor máriná in Kúkawa; no
beating of tobes is heard, nor the sound of any other handicraft.
There is a great difference of character between these two towns; and,
as I have said above, the Bórnu people are by temperament far more
phlegmatic than those of Kanó. The women in general are much more ugly,
with square short figures, large heads, and broad noses, with immense
nostrils, disfigured still more by the enormity of a red bead or coral
worn in the nostril. Nevertheless they are certainly quite as coquettish,
and, as far as I had occasion to observe, at least as wanton also, as
the more cheerful and sprightly Háusa women. I have never seen a Háusa
woman strolling about the streets with her gown trailing after her on the
ground, the fashion of the women of Kúkawa, and wearing on her shoulders
some Manchester print of a showy pattern, keeping the ends of it in her
hands, while she throws her arms about in a coquettish manner. In a
word, their dress, as well as their demeanour, is far more decent and
agreeable. The best part in the dress or ornaments of the Bórnu women is
the silver ornament (the “fállafálle kélabé”) which they wear on the back
of the head, and which in taller figures, when the hair is plaited in the
form of a helmet, is very becoming; but it is not every woman who can
afford such an ornament, and many a one sacrifices her better interests
for this decoration.
The most animated quarter of the two towns is the great thoroughfare
which, proceeding by the southern side of the palace in the western
town, traverses it from west to east, and leads straight to the sheikh’s
residence in the eastern town. This is the “déndal” or promenade,
a locality which has its imitation, on a less or greater scale, in
every town of the country. This road, during the whole day, is crowded
by numbers of people on horseback and on foot; free men and slaves,
foreigners as well as natives, every one in his best attire, to pay his
respects to the sheikh or his vizier, to deliver an errand, or to sue for
justice or employment, or a present. I myself very often went along this
well-trodden path—this highroad of ambition; but I generally went at an
unusual hour, either at sunrise in the morning, or while the heat of the
mid-day, not yet abated, detained the people in their cool haunts, or
late at night, when the people were already retiring to rest or, sitting
before their houses, beguiling their leisure hours with amusing tales or
with petty scandal. At such hours I was sure to find the vizier or the
sheikh alone; but sometimes they wished me also to visit and sit with
them, when they were accessible to all the people; and on these occasions
the vizier took pride and delight in conversing with me about matters of
science, such as the motion of the earth, or the planetary system, or
subjects of that kind.