THE HORDE OF THE WELÁD SLIMÁN.
We had now joined our fate with that of this band of robbers, who, in
consequence of their restless habits, having been driven from their
original dwelling places in the Syrtis, after a great variety of events
have at length established themselves in this border region between
the desert and the fertile regions of Negroland, under the guidance of
Mohammed the son of ʿAbd el Jelíl, on the ruins of the old kingdom of
Kánem, very much in the same way as in the west the Welád Ammer (Ludamar)
have established themselves on the ruins of the empire of Mélle. At that
time they mustered a considerable force, and being joined by a great
many adventurers from all the Arab tribes from the Ríf as far as Fezzán,
were able to bring into the field from nine hundred to one thousand
horsemen. They then turned their attention towards our friends the
Kél-owí, and began to seize upon their camels, which came to Bilma for
the salt-trade; these, as the reader has seen from my previous account,
are always proceeding in large caravans; but it is almost impossible to
give implicit credit to the statement which was made to us by several
individuals, that the Welád Slimán had taken from the Tuarek more than
thirty thousand camels in the course of two or three years.
If they had continued in this way for a short time, they would have
brought about an immense revolution in the whole of Central Africa;
for the Kél-owí would of course not have been able to provide Háusa
with salt, after having lost their camels, and thus, having no salt for
bartering, would have remained without the most necessary articles of
subsistence: they would accordingly have been obliged either to starve
or to emigrate into, and take possession by force of, the more fertile
districts of Sudán. But before they were driven to this extreme, they
made one energetic effort against their enemies, and succeeded; for,
having summoned the contingents of all the different tribes inhabiting
Aír or Asben, they collected a host of at least seven thousand men,
chiefly mounted on camels, but comprising also a considerable number of
horsemen, and proceeded to attack the lion in his den, in the beginning
of the year 1850.
I am almost inclined to suspect that the people of Bórnu had a hand in
this affair; at least, the existence of such a warlike and restless horde
of men, and mustering considerable forces, as the Welád Slimán were then,
under the guidance of Mohammed, and in such a neighbourhood, could not
be wholly indifferent to any ruler of Bórnu possessed of prudence and
foresight. Of course, since its power had decreased to such a degree that
it could not of itself make the necessary resistance against the daily
encroachments of the Tuarek, it was of great service to Bórnu to have
such a strong and energetic auxiliary to keep them down. But, be this
as it may, the Arabs left their very strong entrenchments at Késkawa
(which, at the first news of the intended expedition, they had formed
on the border of the Tsád, and which the Tuarek themselves confessed
to me they would never have been able to conquer), and separated, not
thinking that their enemies were able to carry out their intention;
for all those tribes which had come to join them, as the Gedádefa, the
Ferján, the Urfílla, the Ftáim, Swási, Temáma, and Dhóhob, after having
enriched themselves with the spoils of the Tuarek, were anxious to carry
away their booty in safety, and proceeded on their home-journey by way
of Kúffara. They were just encamped in the Wady ʿAlála, where my readers
will soon have to accompany me, when a scout brought the news that a very
large host of the Tuarek was close at hand; but they say that his report
did not find credit, and that on this account the Arabs had no time to
make any preparations, but were all on a sudden surrounded on all sides
by the numerous host of their enemy. It is moreover to be understood that
the greater part of this band were merely armed with guns, which are very
useful in a skirmish of horsemen, who can retreat after having fired
them off, but of very little use in close combat; few of them were armed
with pistols, and still fewer with swords. But the Kél-owí, in addition
to their numbers, had also the advantage of superior arms, having spear,
sword, and dagger, even if we do not take into account their muskets,
which they rarely know how to use. The consequence was, that the Arabs,
after having killed a small number of their enemies in the foremost
lines, were soon overpowered and massacred, not half of them succeeding
in making their escape. Their chief Mohammed himself made his way through
the host very severely wounded, and was slain, according to report,
shortly after by a Tébu woman who recognized him. Sʿaid, the most valiant
of all the Welád Slimán, but also the most violent, was killed on the
spot, together with the bravest champions of the little horde; and a very
considerable booty was made by the Tuarek, not only in camels and slaves,
but also in silver, the chiefs having amassed a great deal of property.
Thus the flower of this troop was destroyed, and only the least brave and
youngest were left.
The vizier of Bórnu then took the young man, to whom very little power
and property were left, under his special protection, entering with him
and the remaining part of the tribe into a contract, to the effect
that he would furnish them with horses and muskets, as far as they
should stand in need of them, on condition of their delivering to him
a certain share of their booty in every expedition. Of course, such a
troop of swift horsemen armed with muskets, if kept in strict subjection
and subordination, might have proved exceedingly useful on the northern
borders of Bórnu, on the one side as a check upon the Tuarek, on the
other upon Wadáy. But the great difficulty, which the vizier appears not
to have overcome, was to subject the predatory excursions of such a set
of people to some sort of political rule.
With this view he sent the young chief, who was scarcely more than twenty
years of age, to Kánem with all that were left of the Welád Slimán,
keeping back in Kúkawa, as hostages for his proceedings, his mother and
the wives and little children of some of the principal men. But from the
beginning there was a strong party against the young chief, who had not
yet achieved any exploit, and whose sole merit consisted in his being the
nearest relation of ʿAbd el Jelíl. ʿOmár, his uncle, who from his youth
had given himself up to a life of devotion, and was called a Merábet,
had a considerable party; and there were, besides, several men who
thought themselves of as much importance as their chief. In the absence
of individual authority in a small band like this, which only numbered
two hundred and fifty horsemen, no great results could be produced.
All the tribes settled in Kánem and the adjacent districts were their
natural enemies: the Nóreá or Nuwárma, and the Shendákóra and Médema,
the Sákerda and Karda in the Bahar el Ghazál, the Búltu, the Woghda, the
Welád Ráshid, the Díggana or Dághana, the Welád Hamíd, the Hommer and
the Máhamíd in Khúrma, all were bent upon their destruction, while none
but the Lasálʿa or el Asálʿa beyond Kárká, and the Kánembú tribe of the
Fugábú, were attached to them. All the tribes around call them only by
the name Mínnemínne, or Menémené (“the Eaters”), which name, although
it seems to have arisen in the real gluttony of these Arabs, might be
referred appropriately to their predatory habits.
In the course of these broils and petty intrigues the most respectable
among them took to commerce, while others formed the design of returning;
and when I left Bórnu in May 1855, the rest of the little band had
separated into two distinct camps, and the dissolution or ruin of their
community was fast approaching. This was the horde with which, in order
to carry out the objects of our mission to the utmost of our power, Mr.
Overweg and I were obliged to associate our fate; but, unfortunately, we
were unprovided with that most essential article for exciting a more than
common interest in ourselves personally, or the objects of our mission,
namely, valuable presents.
While our people pitched our tents, Mr. Overweg and I went to pay our
compliments to Sheikh Ghét and ʿOmár, and to have a friendly talk with
them before we proceeded to more serious business. They seemed to
expect this compliment, having lain down in the shade of a tree at a
short distance from our place of encampment. Ghét, who was smoking a
long pipe, was a tolerably handsome young man; but his pronunciation
was, very defective, and he had nothing very commanding in his manner.
Having exchanged a few compliments, and asked some general questions,
we withdrew, and soon after received a present of dates and milk. A
great many of the Arabs paid us a visit; and a renegade Tripolitan
Jew, ʿAbdallah, with the surname “el Musulmáni,” who would not leave
us for a moment, kept telling us of his adventures and his importance,
and assuring us of his most disinterested affection for us. Though his
former religion differed from ours, and he had again exchanged this
for another from mere worldly motives, he nevertheless thought himself
entitled to the claim of brotherhood, and was gracious enough to call us
sometimes his cousins (welád ʿamí). There was another man who tried to
make himself as agreeable as possible to us, and endeavoured to obtain
our friendship; this was an Egyptian named Ibrahím, a fine tall man who
evidently belonged originally to a good family; but he had run away from
home, and was now leading, in company with this little horde, a restless,
remorseful, and wearisome life.
When the heat of the day had a little abated, we prepared the small
present we had to give to Sheikh Ghét, and which consisted of a red
cloth bernús of good workmanship, a pound of cloves, a pound of jáwi or
benzoin, and a razor. We were well aware that it was rather a trifling
gift, considering the assistance we required from these people to carry
out our object; but we knew also that it was rather a favour bestowed
upon us by the vizier of Bórnu, who regarded these people as in his
service. Referring therefore to the friendship which existed of old
between their tribe, when still in their old settlements in the Syrtis,
and the English consul in Tripoli, and delivering a letter from Mr.
Frederick Warrington, who was personally well known to the chief men, we
openly professed that the object of our coming was to try, with their
assistance, to visit the eastern shore of the lake, and especially the
Bahar el Ghazál, which had formed a remarkable object of curiosity in our
country for some time. But Sheikh Ghét without hesitation declared it was
impossible for them to take us to that place, the most dangerous locality
in all these quarters, on account of the many predatory expeditions which
were made to that spot from different quarters, and by tribes hostile to
them. After some commonplace talk about the English, we left him, and
went to his uncle with a present of precisely the same kind, and began
here to urge the distinct object of our coming in a more positive way.
I expressed the opinion that, as they would render acceptable service
to the British Government, if they were to enable us to investigate the
connection between the Bahar el Ghazál and the lake, so, on the other
hand, a great portion of the blame, if we should not be able to carry out
our design, would certainly fall upon them, inasmuch as they had always
professed to be under great obligations towards the English. ʿOmár ben
Ghét ben Séf eʾ Nasr acknowledged all this; but he doubted very much if
the band, in its present reduced state, would be able to carry us to
those quarters, which were entirely under the sway of Wadáy. The Bahar
el Ghazál having given an opportunity of speaking about the river-system
between the Tsád and the Nile, our friend came forward with a most
confused statement, which it would not be worth while to explain. But
with regard to that large wady itself we found that he, as well as the
experienced men among these Arabs, asserted that it took its course not
towards, but from the lake.
We then took our leave of ʿOmár, and returned to our tents. The place of
the encampment was a fine, open, sandy, undulating level, commanding the
vale, where are the wells Yongo or Bú-Halíma, covered with verdure, and
richly adorned with scattered mimosas. The tents and sheds of the Arabs
were spread over a great space; and no precaution was taken to obtain
some degree of security by means of fences and stockades. The sun having
set, I lay down outside my tent to enjoy the coolness and tranquillity
of the evening after a hot and troublesome day. All seemed calm and
tranquil, when suddenly a terrible screaming and crying arose from
the women in the west part of the encampment. We hurried to our arms,
thinking that an enemy had entered the place. The cry “ʿAlá eʾ dhahar!
ʿalá eʾ dhahar” (“Mount! mount!”)—properly speaking, “In the saddle! in
the saddle!”—sounded from all sides, and the horsemen hurried past us;
but it was only a small party of freebooters, who, in the twilight of
the evening, had made an attack upon the camels, and after having put
to flight two or three men and killed a horseman, had driven off a part
of the herd. Our friends pursued the robbers at full speed, and soon
overtook them, when they retreated into the thicket, and gave up their
booty. In this way we had a specimen of the character of our present
expedition the very first day we had joined this little horde; and the
lamentations of the females, on account of the man who had been slain,
sounded wofully through the night, and brought before our minds the fate
which, in a very short time, might befall ourselves. Late in the night,
when the alarm had subsided, Sheikh Ghét sent us a heifer as a present.
_Thursday, Oct. 2._—We remained quietly in our encampment, and obtained
a great deal of valuable information respecting the south-eastern part
of the lake and the districts adjacent. Thus the day passed by most
pleasantly. Nothing remarkable happened to us on the following day,
except the arrival of the important news that the Agíd of Wadáy, who had
resided in Mʿawó, on the report of an attack intended to be made by the
Arabs upon that town, had fled. This news, if it proved true, held out,
of course, a feeble ray of hope that we might be able to penetrate to
the eastern shore of the lake; and the Arabs formed schemes accordingly.
As Háj ʿAbbás, who had come with us in order to raise from the Arabs Háj
Beshír’s share in the spoil of their last predatory excursions, was to
return to Kúkawa in a few days, I wrote a letter to the vizier concerning
the prospect we had of probably not being able to accomplish the whole of
our design. The rest of the day I enjoyed in comfort, stretched quietly
in the shade of a tree; but my tranquillity was a little disturbed by
disputes that arose amongst my men.
_Saturday, Oct. 4._—Very early in the morning, when all was quiet, I
was aroused from my sleep by the mournful song of an Arab, who, between
the different stanzas of his dirge, seemed to give vent to his tears.
The impression made by this song, which was full of deep feeling, among
such a horde of lawless people, where generally only the meanest side of
man was exhibited, was charming; but as the singer was at some distance
from my tent, I could not distinctly make out what was the cause of
his grief, neither was I able to learn it afterwards: the thoughts of
the Arabs were taken up by another affair. The most handsome among the
female slaves who composed part of the spoil that was to be taken to the
vizier by his officer Háj ʿAbbás, had made her escape during the night;
they were eagerly searching from dawn of day, but could not find her. At
length they discovered her necklace and clothes, and the remains of her
bones,—evident proofs that she had fallen a prey to the wild beasts. She
belonged to the Yédiná or Búdduma, and was represented as having been
possessed of considerable charms; and it was supposed that her loss would
affect the vizier greatly, who, as I have before observed, was rather
fond of an ethnological variety of female beauty. There was a great deal
of unpleasant conversation about this affair, the girl not yet having
been delivered up to Háj ʿAbbás when she made her escape.
But there were many other causes of discord among this little horde,
and when the vizier’s officer set out, a great many more of the Arabs
made use of this opportunity to go to Kúkawa than had been agreed upon.
The most serious loss to us was certainly the departure of Sheikh
ʿOmár, Ghét’s uncle, who, on account of his experience and knowledge
of the English, which much exceeded that of his youthful nephew, might
have been of considerable service to us. At any rate he ought to have
informed us of his intention to leave, as by his accepting our present,
it was understood that he undertook the obligation of assisting us in
carrying out our project; and having nothing to spare, we felt rather
disappointed. But although our prospects were not too flattering, at
least we had hopes of moving a little onwards, as our departure from this
place was fixed for the following day.
_Sunday, Oct. 5._—When the camels, guarded by the men on foot, had left
in the morning, we went first with the other horsemen to the well, in
order to water our horses. We had not visited it before, as it was at
some distance from our tents. The vale was of that general wild and
luxuriant character which distinguishes the valleys of Kánem; but it
was even more wild and picturesque than usual, and a chill draught of
air met us proceeding from the richly wooded dale, where the sun’s rays
never penetrated. There were several wells, which exhibited a busy and
interesting scene, the horsemen in their picturesque attire (a mixed
dress of their native abode and their present adopted home) thronging
around these sources and centres of life, in order to water their
poor-looking but persevering nags. When we returned to the place of
our former encampment all was desolate, and loneliness and silence had
succeeded to the animated dwelling-place of a quarrelsome multitude of
people. We hurried on over undulating sandy ground, richly overgrown
with trees, and soon overtook our camels: the place of our destination
was not far off; and at noon we were already encamped on a fine sandy
level, rising over another luxuriant hollow or vale especially rich in
kúrna-trees, whence the well “Bír el Kúrna” has received its name. It was
a spacious encampment, with Arabs and Tébu intermixed, and could not but
be very salubrious, although we found afterwards, just in this elevated
position, the difference between the cold of the night and the heat of
the day extraordinary. Our appetite being rather keen, we indulged in the
luxury of some turtle-soup: for turtles are by no means a rarity in these
districts, although in general they seem to be of a rather small size.
I do not remember to have seen or heard in this quarter of such large
specimens as seem to be common in the country round Aír.
_Monday, Oct. 6._—The day of the ʿAíd el kebír. I went in the morning, as
soon as the sun began to shine forth, to a place in a cool shade a little
south from our encampment, without knowing that this was the very spot
which the Arabs had chosen for their holiday prayers. In general only a
few of them were praying; but to-day the leading persons among them, who
came here with Sheikh Ghét, offered up their prayer with solemnity and
apparent fervour. This proved an unlucky day to us, and very unfavourable
to our design to penetrate into those dangerous districts on the east
side of the lake; for a considerable portion of the tribe (one hundred
and fifty men with about seventy horses) left that day for Kúkawa, to
our great surprise and mortification, and, as it would seem, also to
the mortification of the young chief, a circumstance of which we became
fully aware when we paid him a visit about noon. Of course, with our very
small means, and the poor and insignificant character of our mission,
we could not expect that this unsettled horde should have a scrupulous
regard to our wishes and designs in arranging their affairs. It was
quite evident that their proceeding was the mere effect of a stubborn
sense of independence and jealousy; and it seemed to be done in open
opposition to the wish of their young chief. About one o’clock in the
afternoon they left; and we forwarded a short note with them expressive
of our dissatisfaction at this state of things, which filled us with the
saddest forebodings as to the success of our mission. But while thus
disappointed in more important matters, we felt tolerably well off in
material comforts; for in the morning a party of Fugábú arrived with a
number of sheep for sale, selling two for a dollar, and thus enabled us
to gratify the religious longing of our servants for an extra dish on
this their holiday. In the course of the evening, a numerous caravan of
oxen laden with grain, or rather Negro millet, arrived from Bórnu, which
made provisions a little cheaper. The grain grown in the country, in its
present wild and desolate state, is not sufficient for the population,
though so greatly reduced; and the last season had been rather an
unfavourable one. In consequence of the arrival of this caravan, we not
only had the opportunity of buying corn at a cheaper rate, but we also
got some from the chief as a present.
Everything in Kánem is bought with the common white Bórnu shirts, which
form the general dress of the people, black tobes being worn only by
richer persons. Even the general dress of the Arabs settled here in Kánem
consists of these white tobes and a háík made of the same stuff, only
the wealthier individuals being able to buy a woollen plaid. The dress
of the females, too, is made of these very tobes, which are cut into the
regular oblong pieces of which they consist, and sewn together lengthwise.
_Tuesday, Oct. 7._—Being obliged to remain here without the certain
prospect of doing anything worth while, we at least thought we had some
right to the hospitality of our hosts; and we expressed our desire to
obtain a little more milk, as we ourselves possessed neither cows nor
she-camels. Our request was complied with. Thus we accustomed ourselves
entirely to camel’s milk, and found it by degrees more palatable and
wholesome than the milk of cows. I attribute the recovery of my strength
principally to this sort of diet. There was always some milk brought
into the encampment by the daughters of the Bení Hassan; but this was
generally milk in an unpleasant intermediate state between sweet and
sour, and the vessels (the kórió, made of the leaves of the palm-tree)
in which it was carried had usually a bad smell, which they communicated
to the milk. As the renegade Jew ʿAbdallah (el Musulmáni) was the medium
through which all our business with the chief was transacted, I made him
to-day a present of a red sash, and continued to keep him in good humour
by occasional small presents. This man was a curious specimen of a Jewish
adventurer. He was by birth a Tripolitan, but had been obliged to leave
his native home on account of a murder which he had committed. He then
betook himself to the tribe of the Welád Slimán, exchanging his Jewish
creed for that of Mohammed, and obtained protection. When he had gained
a good deal of property as a silversmith, his new companions stripped
him of his treasures: he then for a time separated from them, and in
company with two other renegade Jews, Músa and Ibrahím, made a journey
to Negroland—a memorable event, as they were the first of their nation
who trod this road. On his receiving news of the prosperity of the Welád
Slimán in Kánem, he once more joined them, and became a freebooter. He
was a very good horseman; but that was all, his horsemanship but badly
supplying his want of courage. However he was useful to us in many
respects, although we had to take care that the people did not confound
us with these Jewish adventurers.
I began this day my little vocabulary of the Tébu language, or rather the
“módi Tedá,” and provisionally that dialect of this language which is
spoken by the inhabitants of Búrgu, and which varies considerably from
the language as it is spoken by the inhabitants of Bilma, and in the
south of Fezzán. Already at that early period I became aware that this
language is nearly related to the Kanúri, while it has scarcely any link
whatever which externally connects it with the Berber language.
_Wednesday, Oct. 8._—The only thing which happened this day worth
mentioning was the arrival of Hallúf, a warlike Tébu chieftain, with
seventeen horsemen of the Fugábú Tébu, who rode up in a very spirited
manner to the tent of Sheikh Ghét. Hallúf, a man of great bodily size
and strength, and renowned in these quarters on account of his valour,
had formerly been the enemy of Bórnu, but had now been won over to its
interest. However, he was still too much afraid of the Bórnu people to
join the Welád Slimán, as long as Háj ʿAbbás the vizier’s messenger was
present; but he came as soon as he heard that he was gone. He was not a
very scrupulous man, as I soon convinced myself, when he with the Fugábú
called upon us, and as soon as he had introduced himself began begging
for poison. We of course cut his demand short. He then sat quietly down
with his companions, and took great delight in the performances of my
musical box, which I really found, together with the watch, the most
useful instrument for demonstrating to the people the great superiority
of European genius and handicraft. These people were not without
sympathy for those lively airs which the little instrument was capable
of performing, and would sit down quietly for a great length of time
enjoying this mysterious music. The rumour soon spread, and Sheikh Ghét
likewise desired to be made acquainted with the mysterious little box.
But the day did not end so harmlessly; for bad tidings arrived. Háj
ʿAbbás, on his way to Bórnu, had seen a troop of Kindín near Ngégimi,
and warned the Arabs to beware of a sudden attack. Thus uneasiness and
anxiety spread through the encampment, and scouts were sent out to scour
the country in every direction.
_Friday, Oct. 10._—News having been brought in the morning that three
Tuarek on horseback, and five on camels, had been seen at a neighbouring
well, an alarm was raised immediately. All the Arabs mounted; and we
followed their example, though I felt extremely weak, while my horse,
having had rest and good food for several days, and seeing so many
companions galloping and capering about, was almost unmanageable. The
whole encampment presented a very warlike appearance; but it turned out
to be a false alarm. We therefore returned into the encampment, and began
to arrange our luggage, as we were to leave here the heaviest part of
our things, and take only as little as possible with us in our progress
further eastward; for the Arabs had conceived the hope of plunder, the
news having been brought that the Khalífa of Wadáy had left his residence
Mʿawó, and that nobody was there to defend that quarter against their
inroads. At the same time, our friends cast a longing look towards
Báteli, the celebrated pasture-grounds in the northern course of the
Bahar el Ghazál, two days’ march beyond Egé, where numbers of camels were
reported to be collected at the time. Of course they did not want it to
become known where they intended to direct their foray, and therefore
spoke now of this, then of that quarter, as likely to be the object of
their expedition.