animated scene,—a dozen courageous natives occupying a small elevated
island, with steep banks, separated from the shore by a narrow but deep
channel, setting at defiance a countless host of enemies, many of whom
were armed with firearms. But African muskets are not exactly like Minié
rifles, and a musketeer very often misses his aim at a distance of
thirty or forty yards. It was astonishing to see that none of this small
band of heroes was wounded, notwithstanding the repeated firing of a
number of Kanúri people. Either the balls missed their aim entirely, or
else, striking upon the shields of these poor pagans, which consisted of
nothing but wickerwork, were unable to pierce this slight defence; for
not only was the powder of a bad quality, making a great deal of noise
without possessing any strength, but even the balls were of extremely
light weight, consisting of pewter, as is generally the case here.
However, it was not prudent for me to witness this scene (which was so
little flattering to my friends) for too long a time; for when they saw
that I had my gun with me, they called upon me urgently to fire at these
scoffers, and when I refused to do so, reproached me in terms which very
often fell to my lot—“ʿAbd el Kerím fáida nsé bágo,” meaning that I was
a useless sort of person.
It is a remarkable fact that in almost the whole of the Músgu country,
except near a few isolated granite mountains, there is not a single
stone, else it would have been almost more profitable to have thrown
stones at these people, than to fire at them with the pewter balls. With
regard to those peculiar shields of wickerwork with which these
courageous Músgu people managed to protect themselves so adroitly, I had
afterwards an opportunity of examining them, and found them to be about
sixteen inches broad at the top, twenty-two at the bottom, and about
forty in length, but hollow. The material consists of the same kind of
reed with which their huts are thatched.
About noon the army began its march homewards. Certainly it was not
overburdened with spoil; for scarcely fifteen slaves had been taken,
mostly decrepit old women, who either could not or would not leave their
comfortable cottages. The anger and disappointment of the army was
vented upon the habitations of these people; and all the cheerful
dwellings which we passed were destroyed by fire. This certainly was a
heavy loss to the inhabitants, not so much on account of the huts, which
they might easily rebuild, as on account of the granaries, the grain
having been harvested some time previously; and, as far as I became
aware, there being no subterranean magazines or catamores, as I had
observed with the Marghí, and the fugitives in the hurry of their escape
most probably having only been able to save a small portion of their
store. In estimating, therefore, the miseries of these slave-hunts, we
ought not only to take into account the prisoners led into slavery, and
the full-grown men who are slaughtered, but also the famine and distress
consequent upon these expeditions, although nature has provided this
peculiar tribe with innumerable shallow watercourses swarming with fish,
which must tend greatly to alleviate their sufferings under such
circumstances.
The forest intervening between these villages consisted almost
exclusively of “kindín” or talha-trees, which were just in flower,
diffusing a very pleasant fragrance, while here and there they were
overshadowed by isolated dúm-palms. As for deléb-palms, I did not
observe a single specimen in the whole of this district; but beyond the
river to the south-east, as I have mentioned above, I had seen several
in the distance.
After a march of four hours, we again reached the broad ngáljam of
Démmo, but at a different point from where we had crossed it in the
morning with so much delay. It seemed almost providential that we had
not taken this route in the morning, as the poor Músgu people would have
had less time to make their escape. Leaving the main body of the cavalry
behind me, I pursued my march towards my homely tent without delay; for
having been on horseback for more than twelve hours without anything to
eat, I was quite ready for some repose and refreshment. But it took me
full an hour and a half to cross this peculiar basin, which at present
was dry in most places, and overgrown with tall rank grass, but swampy
in some parts, and intersected by holes caused by the footprints of the
elephant. A mile further along the north-western border of this swamp
brought me to my tent, and to the several dishes which awaited me; and
this was one of those rare occasions, during my travels in Negroland, on
which I dined with a truly European appetite.
The vizier was very gracious, and praised my courage in having
accompanied this distant expedition quite by myself; but the Kanúri, who
had taken part in it, detracted from my praise, using the very terms
which I have mentioned above—“fáida nsé bágo.” Indeed this became one of
my nicknames during my stay in Bórnu, and was the reason why I was less
popular with most of the people than my companion. It is very natural
that the motto “afí fáida nsé” (“of what use is he?”) should be the
guiding principle, not only of Europeans, but barbarians and semi-
barbarians.
The following day we remained on the same spot, probably for no other
purpose than to give some repose to the people who had accompanied the
expedition the preceding day; and the vizier, who was fully aware of my
ardent desire to push further southward, at least as far as the equator,
took occasion to make merry at my expense, and, to the great horror of
the effeminate courtiers, suddenly proclaimed that it was his firm
intention to lead the expedition into those unknown regions in the
interior. At times, indeed, he could be exceedingly amiable; and he was
clever enough to conceive how Europeans could be induced to undertake
such hazardous journeys, although he was scarcely able to appreciate the
amount of courage which such an undertaking is able to inspire. He had
often spoken with me concerning my project of pushing on towards the
east coast; and he thought that a troop of ten Europeans would be able
to accomplish it, although he anticipated great obstructions from the
quantity of watercourses in those equatorial regions, and there can be
no doubt that this would be one of the greatest obstacles to such an
undertaking.
In order to console me, and soothe my disappointment on finding that
this was to be the furthest point of the expedition, and that we should
retrace our steps from hence without even visiting the country of the
Túburi, he ordered Mʿallem Jýmma to be called, in order to inform me how
far the enterprising Púllo conqueror Búba had penetrated beyond
Búbanjídda; but he found that I was already fully acquainted with this
fact from other sources. The very interesting route of the mʿallem Jýmma
from Démmo, by the village of the Túburi to Láka and Láme, I have
already communicated on a former occasion.[20] It is to be hoped that
these regions will soon become better known, when English steamers shall
go annually up the river Bénuwé, and enable travellers to start afresh
from thence for those inland regions.
[Footnote 17: In the view of this scenery which the artist has made from
my sketch, it has been thought fit not to represent the moment of
destruction, but a preceding one of the quiet life of the natives; the
approaching misfortune being only indicated by the column of smoke in
the background. The man sitting on the sepulchre is meant to represent
the first glimmer of Islám brought to these people by some wandering
mʿallem.]
[Footnote 18: A chief dressed in this manner is represented in Plate No.
30.]
[Footnote 19: It was here that I made the sketch from which the artist
has taken the interesting view of this locality.]
[Footnote 20: I will here only observe with what exactitude I have laid
down, on my map which was published by Mr. Petermann, the district of
the Túburi, which exactly corresponds with the latitude ascertained by
Dr. Vogel. As to the longitude assigned by me to this place, it is
dependent on the meridian of Kúkawa.]
CHAP. XLV.
RETURN TO BÓRNU.
[Sidenote: January 7th, 1852.]
This was the day when we were to bid farewell to all projects of
penetrating further towards the south or south-east. It was rather
remarkable, that early in the morning, at the very moment when the
drum was beating, the moon was eclipsed; but our commander-in-chief
was too much enlightened to be frightened at such a phenomenon, like the
Athenian general before Syracuse. He requested Mr. Overweg to explain it
to him; but otherwise he was not much concerned about it.
We this time kept a little more towards the east than on our outward
march, approaching closer to the river of Logón. Only a short tract of
clear forest separated the cultivated grounds of Démmo from another
village, where, besides Negro corn, we found tobacco and cotton in
friendly community on the same piece of ground. We had already seen much
cultivation of tobacco in this country, and were impressed with the
opinion, however strange it may seem, that it was an indigenous plant,
and not introduced at a recent period; we had moreover been informed
that not only the men, but even the women in this country, are
passionately fond of smoking. But as for cotton, we had not yet seen any
in the whole tract of the Músgu country which we had travelled over; and
its appearance here seemed to be a step in advance towards civilization,
caused, probably, by the influence of the neighbouring town of Logón.
After a short interruption, there followed another village, which was
succeeded by forest, and then another swamp, at present dry, and
overgrown with tall rank grass, but difficult to pass on account of
innumerable holes. Shortly afterwards the country on our right assumed
an open and very pleasant appearance, a river with a clear sheet of
water, but apparently without a current, winding through it in tortuous
meanderings, and closely approaching the higher ground along which the
numerous host was pursuing its march. The slope was adorned with wild
fig-trees and acacias, which were overshadowed by two fine deléb-palms.
This open country was succeeded by the well-cultivated and shaded
fields, which lay stretched out between the scattered courtyards of
another village; and here we encamped, my companion and I pitching our
tents near a beautiful sort of fig-tree, of the species called “báure”
by the Háusa, and “kágo” by the Kanúri, or at least the Mánga.
The whole village was deserted; only a few neglected members of the
poultry tribe were running about, endeavouring to escape from the hands
of their greedy pursuers.
It was a very hot day, the hottest we had on this expedition, the
thermometer at half-past one in the afternoon indicating 100° in the
cool shade of our fine fig-tree.
The encampment was cheerful and pleasant; but in the evening a frightful
alarm arose—the rumour being spread that the pagans were attacking the
“ngáufate,”—the great drum of the commander-in-chief keeping up a
tremendous din, and all the people hurrying along in every direction.
The alarm was so great that my companion gave up his tent, and retreated
with his people to that of the vizier; and I found myself obliged to
allow my two servants to follow him also. As for myself, I remained
where I was, for I felt little inclination to have my tent once more
plundered, as had been the case on our expedition to Kánem. It soon
proved to be nothing but a false alarm.
In these predatory incursions, the rapacious Shúwa suffer the greatest
loss, as it is they who always push on furthest, and run the greatest
risk; but, on the other hand, they also succeed in carrying off secretly
a great deal of spoil to their native villages without its becoming
subject to the general partition. None of them have firelocks, being
only armed with missiles usually consisting of one large spear, or
kasákka, and four small javelins, or bállem; very few of them have
shields.
[Sidenote: Thursday, January 8th.]
The country through which we passed was extremely fertile and beautiful,
the scenery during the first part of our march preserving in general the
same features which it exhibited on the preceding day. We ourselves kept
along the high ground, at the foot of which a clear open sheet of water
was meandering along, while beyond, towards the east, an unbounded
grassy plain stretched out, with a scanty growth of trees in the back-
ground, and only broken towards the south-east by a low chain of hills,
as represented in the plate opposite. At the distance of a mile we
reached some hamlets where dúm- and deléb-palms were grouped together in
a remarkable manner, starting forth from, and illuminated by the sea of
flames which was devouring the village, the whole forming a very
picturesque spectacle.
[Illustration: Drawn by J. M. Bernatz, from a Sketch by Dr. Barth.
M. & N. Hanhart, lith. et impt.
WÚLIA.
Jany. 8th. 1852.]
Further on we made a halt on the slope of the rising ground, the various
troops, distinguished by the diversity of colours of their dresses,
grouping themselves around some buildings which were almost consumed by
the flames, while I found leisure to sketch the fertile country before
us. The people themselves were struck with its beauty; and when we
continued our march, I took an opportunity to enter into a conversation
with our friend the vizier, with regard to the policy which they pursued
with these people, and the way in which they desolated these regions;
and I asked him whether they would not act more prudently in allowing
the natives to cultivate their fertile country in tranquillity, only
levying a considerable tribute upon them. But the vizier answered me,
that it was only by the most violent means that they were able to crush
these pagans, who cherished their independence and liberty above
everything, and that this was the reason why he burnt all the granaries,
in order to subdue them by famine; and he added that even of famine they
were less sensible than he could wish, as the water in this region
afforded them an unlimited supply of fish.
Slaves are the only articles which the conquerors want from the
subjected tribes; by carrying into slavery great numbers of them they
force them into subjection, and even the tribute which they levy, after
having subdued them, consists of slaves. All this will be changed as
soon as a regular and legitimate intercourse has been opened along the
river Bénuwé into the heart of these regions, when the natural produce
of the soil will be in constant request—such as cotton, indigo,
vegetable butter, ground-nuts, ivory, rhinoceros’ horns, wax, hides, and
many other articles. The vizier himself, although a strict Moslim, was
too enlightened to lay much stress upon the spreading of Islám; but
nevertheless the idea that these unfortunate creatures fully deserve
such treatment, in their character as pagans (kofár or “kérdi”), blunted
his feelings to their sufferings.
Further on we crossed the water where it was shallower, and, a little
beyond, another meadow-water of greater breadth but not so deep, and
then entered a fine undulating country, while an arm of the water
remained on our left. The whole country was extremely well cultivated,
and densely inhabited, village succeeding village, while large trees,
mostly of the ngábbore and karáge kind, enveloped the whole in the
finest vegetation. Some of the huts were distinguished by a natural
ornamental net-work or covering, formed by that kind of _Cucurbitacea_
which I have mentioned before as named “ságade” by the natives, and
which is probably identical with the species called _Melopepo_. The
aspect of the country was the more pleasing, and left the impression of
a certain degree of industry, owing to the tobacco-plants just standing
in flower.
Amidst such scenery, we took up our encampment at an early hour in the
morning, a beautifully-winding watercourse, which was bordered by a fine
grassy slope about twenty feet high, closely approaching on our right.
The watercourse was about sixty yards broad, but of considerable depth,
at least in this place, and full of clear fresh water, which was gently
gliding along, and disappeared further down in the plain. Here I lay
down for an hour in the cool shade of a large karáge-tree, and allowed
myself to be carried away by the recollections caused by the ever-
varying impressions of such a wandering life, which repays the traveller
fully for all the hardships and privations which he has to endure, and
endows him with renewed energy to encounter fresh dangers.
I have before observed what trouble the hard alluvial soil caused us in
pitching our tents; but here the argillaceous soil was succeeded by
loose sand, which forms the border of the river. The light troops, soon
after our arrival to-day, had dispersed in all directions, and brought a
considerable quantity of cattle from the neighbouring villages; the
cattle, however, hereabouts are only of middle size, and the cows yield
little milk, and that of very poor quality.
It seems remarkable that the Músgu, as well as the Marghí, and several
divisions of the kindred Kótokó, call the cattle by a name which closely
approaches that given to it by the Háusa people, while the Bátta call it
by a name which is certainly derived from the Fulfúlde, or the language
of the Fúlbe. Such linguistic relations are not without interest, as
they afford some little insight into the history of the civilization of
these regions.
A little variety was given to the monotonous proceedings of our rather
inglorious expedition, by the fact of one of the Shúwa, who was supposed
to have been killed a few days previously, being found under a tree in
the forest, severely wounded but still alive after having undergone
great hardships and privations.
[Sidenote: January 9th.]
The whole district in which we had been roving about since the 30th
December belongs to Wúliya, which is decidedly one of the most fertile
and best-irrigated regions in the world.
A desolate border-district, consisting at times of green swampy ground
uprooted by the footprints of the elephant, and on this account
affording a very difficult passage for cavalry, at others of dense
forest, the one following the other in rapid succession, separated
Wúliya from another principality of the name of Bárea, and inhabited by
a tribe of the Músgu of the name of Ábare. It was characteristic of the
little peaceful intercourse which exists among these various petty
tribes, that the Ábare did not seem to have had the slightest
information of the approach of the expedition, till we suddenly came
upon them through the dense forest, so that they had scarcely time to
escape with their families from the village, and endeavour to hide
themselves in the dense covert of the forest towards the east. They were
pursued and overpowered, after a short resistance, by the continually
increasing numbers of the enemy; and the booty of that day, chiefly in
cattle, was rather considerable. Slaves were also brought in in
considerable numbers, principally young boys and girls. The distance of
the field of battle spared us the sight of the slaughter of the full-
grown men.
[Illustration]
We chose our camping-ground on the stubble-fields between the straggling
groups of the village, which were beautifully adorned by some fine
specimens of the deléb-palm; and I took the opportunity of making a
sketch of this scene of natural fertility and wanton destruction of
human happiness. The huts in general were of the same construction and
arrangement as those described above; but in one of them I found a kind
of three-pointed harpoon or spear very similar to a hay-fork, with this
difference, that the middle point was rather longer. The handle also was
rather long, measuring about eight feet. It probably was used for
catching fish rather than as a weapon, otherwise it would scarcely have
been left behind; but it may easily have served both purposes.
[Illustration: Drawn by J. M. Bernatz, from a Sketch by Dr. Barth.
M. & N. Hanhart, lith. et impt.
BÁRËA.
Jany. 9th. 1852.]
Thus by very short marches we again approached Bórnu, keeping mostly at
a short distance eastward from our former route, and encamped the
following day in the midst of another straggling village, the fields of
which were especially shaded by fine bíto-trees (_Balanites Ægyptiaca_),
the soil being as hard as iron. I had scarcely pitched my tent when
Hámed, the son of Ibrahím Wadáy, one of the courtiers with whom I was on
friendly terms, sent to me, begging I would pay him a visit; and upon
complying with his wish, he introduced into my presence a female slave
who had been taken the day before, telling me that I might make a
drawing of her: for he knew that I was making strict inquiries after the
origin and customs of these tribes, and that I was making occasional
sketches. This female slave was certainly worthy of a sketch, as she was
one of the most stately women I saw here. But I entertained some
suspicion that she was not of Músgu origin, but belonged to the Marghí;
for in the whole of the Músgu country I had not observed a single
individual of red colour, but all were of the same dirty black,
approaching to what the French call _café au lait_, while this woman was
of a red complexion. She certainly wore in her under lip the large bone,
the national emblem of the Músgu females; but this custom she might have
adopted. As for herself, she would neither give me any information with
respect to her origin, nor sit still in order to allow me to finish my
sketch. She was tall and well-grown, with the exception of the legs,
which were rather crooked; and being still a young woman, her breasts
had not yet attained that bag-like shape which is so disgusting in the
elder females of this country. Her features were only a little
disfigured by the bone in the under lip. Her neck was richly ornamented
with strings of beads; but these were as little peculiar to her as the
cotton cloth round her loins, having been given her by the new master
into whose hands she had fallen. The national dress of the Músgu females
consists of nothing but a narrow bandage, formed of bast, twisted like a
rope, which is fastened between the legs and round the waist like a T
bandage.
A circumstance happened here which caused a great sensation,
particularly among the courtiers. The last messengers who had been sent
from Kúkawa with despatches for the commander-in-chief, as I have
observed, had been destroyed by the pagans; and it was on this day, and
in this place, that, while all the cottages were being pillaged and
ransacked, three of the letters of which those messengers had been the
bearers, were found in the pocket of a shirt which had been hid in a
clay jar. This was evidently the shirt of the messenger himself; and the
blood with which it had been stained had been washed out without taking
the letters out of the pocket. Devoid as the expedition was of feats of
valour and interest, the greatest importance was attached to this little
incident.
[Sidenote: Sunday, January 11th.]
When we left this place our friends just barely escaped punishment for
their barbarous proceeding of burning the villages in which we had
encamped as soon as we left them; for the conflagration spread before we
had gained the open country, and a most horrible crushing took place
among the burning huts. Had there been any wind, great part of the army
might have been severely scorched.
The country which we passed to-day was intersected by numerous
watercourses; and we had to cross and recross them several times. Here
we passed a place where the poor natives, in the consciousness of their
weakness, seemed to have been aroused to new and unwonted energy for
building a large fortification, but had been obliged to leave it half
finished. Our march was extremely short, and scarcely extended to three
miles, when we encamped in a village which seemed to have been ransacked
at a former period. It lay straggling over a wide extent of ground, in
separate groups of cottages, which were surrounded by stubble-fields
shaded by karáge-trees of a richness and exuberance which I had not seen
before, and surpassing even those fine trees of the same species which I
have described near the village Kadé.