rather affable man, a little beyond middle age, simply dressed in a
dark-blue tobe, which had lost a good deal of its former lustre. Having
saluted him, I explained to him how improper treatment and want of
sufficient food had induced me to retrace my steps, after having
convinced myself that I was not welcome in the country; for I assured
him that it was our utmost desire to be friends with all the princes of
the earth, and to make them acquainted with us, and that, although I had
known that the ruler of the country himself was absent, I had not
hesitated in paying them a visit, as I had been given to understand that
it would be possible to join him in the expedition. He excused his
countrymen on the ground that they, not being acquainted with our
character, had treated me as they would have done a person belonging to
their own tribe who had transgressed the rules of the country. He then
restored me my pistol before all the people, and desired me to await
patiently the arrival of the sultan.
The ruler of the country, together with the principal men, being absent,
the place presented at that time a more quiet or rather dull appearance
than it does in general; and when I took my first walk through the town,
I was struck with the aspect of solitude which presented itself to the
eye on all sides. Fortunately there was one man in the town whose
society and conversation were a relief to my mind.
I was reclining in the afternoon upon my simple couch, occupied in
reading, when I received a visit from three persons. One of them was a
man of apparently Negro origin, showing, by his wrinkled countenance, a
career of trouble and misfortune, but having otherwise nothing very
remarkable about him. It was Háj Áhmed, of Bámbara origin, and formerly
an inhabitant of Tawát, but who after a number of vicissitudes, having
first been employed in the gold diggings of Bambúk, and afterwards been
engaged on small trading expeditions from Tawát to Timbúktu (where he
had been twice robbed by the Tawárek), and from the same place to Ágades
and Kanó, had at last settled at Medína. From thence he had accompanied
the warlike expedition of Íbrahím Bashá, had fought in the battles of
ʿAkká and Deraije, and had been sent on several journeys as far as Basra
and Baghdád, and at present being employed as servant at the great
Mosque, had been dispatched to this country in order to obtain from its
sultan a present of eunuchs for the temple of Medína. The second was a
venerable-looking man, with a fine countenance, and a bushy half-silvery
beard. This man was the religious chief of Bídderí, a place of which I
shall speak hereafter.
The third visitor was Fáki Sámbo, a very tall and slender Púllo, with a
scanty beard, and an expressive countenance, except that it lacked the
most important feature which enlivens the human face, he being totally
blind. At that time, however, I did not know him, although, when I heard
him convey a considerable degree of knowledge in a lively and impressive
manner, I almost suspected he might be the man of whom I had heard so
much. I was puzzled, however, at his first question, which was, whether
the Christians did not belong to the Bení Ísrʿayíl; that is to say, to
the Jews.
This was the first conversation I had with this man, who alone
contributed to make my stay in the place endurable. I could scarcely
have expected to find in this out-of-the-way place a man not only versed
in all the branches of Arabic literature, but who had even read (nay,
possessed a manuscript of) those portions of Aristotle and Plato which
had been translated into, or rather Mohammedanized in Arabic, and who
possessed the most intimate knowledge of the countries which he had
visited. His forefathers, belonging to that tribe of the Fúlbe which is
called Fittobe, had emigrated into the southern parts of Wádáy, where
they settled in the village of Bárek-alla. When he was a young man, his
father, who himself possessed a good deal of learning, and who had
written a work on Háusa, had sent him to Egypt, where he had studied
many years in the mosque of El Ázhar. It had then been his intention to
go to the town of Zebíd in Yemen, which is famous amongst the Arabs on
account of the science of logarithms, or el hesáb; but when he had
reached Gunfúda, the war which was raging between the Turks and the
Wahábíye had thwarted his projects, and he had returned to Dár Fúr,
where he had settled down some time, and had accompanied a memorable
expedition to the south-west as far as the borders of a large river, of
which I shall have another occasion to speak. Having then returned to
Wádáy, he had played a considerable part as courtier in that country,
especially during the reign of ʿAbd el ʿAzíz, till the present king,
Mohammed e’ Sheríf, on account of his intimate relation with the prince
just mentioned, had driven him from his court and banished him from the
country.
After having once made the acquaintance of this man, I used to visit him
daily; and he was always delighted to see, or rather to hear me, for he
had nobody with whom he could talk about the splendour and achievements
of the Khalifat, from Baghdád to Ándalos (Spain)—particularly of the
latter country, with the history of whose towns, kings, and literary men
he was intimately acquainted. He listened with delight when I once
mentioned the astrolabe or sextant; and he informed me with pride that
his father had been in possession of such an instrument, but that for
the last twenty years he had not met a single person who knew what sort
of thing an astrolabe was.
He was a very enlightened man, and in his inmost soul a Wahábi; and he
gave me the same name, on account of my principles. I shall never forget
the hours I passed in cheerful and instructive conversation with this
man; for the more unexpected the gratification was, the greater,
naturally, was the impression which it made upon me. Unluckily he died
about a year after I left the country. In general it was I who called
upon him, when he used to treat me with a very good cold rice pudding,
and with dates from Kánem, which were rather of an inferior description;
but when he came to me, I used to regale him with a cup of coffee, which
was a great treat to him, carrying him back to more civilized regions,
and he never omitted to press the cup to each of his temples. The only
drawback to my intercourse with this man was, that he was as anxious to
obtain information from me with regard to the countries of the
Christians, and those parts of the world with which he was less
acquainted, as I was to be instructed by him; besides that, he had a
great deal of business, being occupied with the Sheríyʿa or Mohammedan
law. He had a singular predilection for emetics; and he begged me so
urgently to favour him with this treat, that in the course of a few
weeks I gave him more than half a dozen for himself, besides those I was
obliged to supply to his family. He suffered from bilious affections,
and thought that emetics were the best remedies in the world.
Besides this man and Háj Áhmed, the man with whom I had most frequent
intercourse during my stay in this country was Slímán, a travelling Arab
sheríf, as he called himself, but in reality a Felláh, a native of
Egypt, at present settled in Mekka, who had roved about a great deal,
was very polite in his manners, and, although not a very learned man,
possessed a certain degree of general information, especially with
regard to the countries of Wádáy and Dár Fúr (where he had made a longer
stay), and, having been assisted on his journey to Constantinople by Mr.
Brand, Her Majesty’s consul at Smyrna, had a certain degree of
attachment to Europeans.
But the greatest amount of information which I obtained, principally
with regard to the country of Wádáy, proceeded from a young native of
that country of the name of Íbrahím (the fáki Íbrahím), of the tribe of
the Ábú-Shárib, with whom I passed several hours every day very
pleasantly and usefully, and who attached himself so much to my person
that I would freely have taken him with me to Sókoto, where he wanted to
go in order to improve his learning under the tuition of the Fúlbe.
My relations with the lieutenant-governor were rather cool; and after he
had given me a first treat, he left me for some days without any sign of
hospitality, except that he once sent me a quantity of the fruit of the
bíto tree or hájilíj, which I returned. He was a man without much
intelligence, and had no idea of the scientific researches of a
European.
Having but little exercise, I became very ill towards the end of this
month, so that I thought it prudent to abstain entirely from food for
five days, living exclusively upon an infusion of the fruit of the
tamarind-tree and onions seasoned with some honey and a strong dose of
black pepper,—a sort of drink which must appear abominable to the
European, but which is a delightful treat to the feverish traveller in
those hot regions. Convinced that my stay in this place, if I were not
allowed to travel about, would be too trying for my constitution, I
requested the lieutenant-governor to allow me to retrace my steps
westward; but he would not consent, upon any condition whatever, that I
should stir from the place.
This unfavourable disposition towards me assumed by degrees a more
serious character, as, being unable to understand my pursuits, he could
not but become suspicious of what I was doing. On the 21st of June when
I was quietly sitting in my house, one of his servants, Agíd Músa, who
was well disposed towards me, and who used to call occasionally,
suddenly made his appearance with a very serious countenance, and after
some hesitation, and a few introductory remarks, delivered a message
from the governor to the following effect. He wanted to know from me
whether it was true (as was rumoured in the town, and as the people had
told him) that, as soon as a thunderstorm was gathering, and when the
clouds appeared in the sky, I went out of my house and made the clouds
withdraw; for they had assured him that they had repeatedly noticed
that, as soon as I looked at the clouds with a certain air of command,
they passed by without bringing a single drop of rain.
However serious the countenance of the messenger was, the purport of his
message was so absurdly ridiculous that I could not help breaking out
into a loud laugh, highly amused at the really pagan character of these
_soi-disant_ Mohammedans; but my friend begged me to regard the matter
in a more serious light, and to take care what sort of answer I sent to
his master. I then begged him to tell the governor that no man either by
charm or by prayer was able either to prevent or to cause rain, but that
God sent rain wherever and whenever it pleased him. I added, however,
that if he believed my presence in the country was causing mischief, he
might allow me to go, that I did not desire anything better than that,
and should then pray night and day for rain, but that at present I
myself could not wish for much rain, as I was afraid lest it should cut
off my retreat, by swelling the river to too great a height.
The messenger departed with my answer, and returned after a while with
the _ultimatum_ of the governor, to the effect that it was his own
opinion that no human being was able to prevent rain, but that all of us
were servants of the Almighty, and that as they were praying for rain, I
myself should add my prayer to theirs; I should then be allowed, at the
proper time, to depart from them in safety, but that if I was ill-
disposed towards them he likewise would do me evil, informing me at the
same time that, for a similar reason, they had once killed two great
religious chiefs from Bídderí.
Such was the character of the people with whom I had to deal, although
they regarded themselves as enlightened Mohammedans. In order to show
his good disposition, or most probably rather in order to see whether
his good treatment of me would have any effect upon the amount of rain
(as he seemed to take me for a “king of the high regions”), he sent me
in the evening a dish of an excellent pudding, with plenty of butter,
and a small pot of medíde, or gruel seasoned with the fruit of the dúm-
palm, and even promised me corn for my horse; but as I did not send him
rain in return, as he seemed to have expected, his hospitality did not
extend further.
It had been my custom, when a thunderstorm was gathering, to look out,
in order to see from what quarter it was proceeding, which is a question
of great interest in these regions; but the absurd superstition of these
people so alarmed me, that I scarcely dared to do so again. With regard
to the superstition of the natives I must here mention a case which
happened to my friend Sámbo. One day while I was engaged in earnest talk
with him respecting the many sects of Islám, our conversation was
suddenly interrupted by one of the daughters of the sultan entering
abruptly, and accusing my friend, in the most offensive terms, of having
abstracted from her, by his witchcraft, one of her slaves. But it was
rather astonishing that a man with so vast an amount of learning was
allowed to live at all, in the midst of such barbarians as these,
without being continually suspected of sorcery and witchcraft. I shall
not forget the day when I went to call on my friend, and found the
unfortunate blind old man, sitting in his courtyard, in the midst of a
heap of manuscripts which he could then only enjoy by touching them with
his hands. Involuntarily I was reminded of a saying of Jackson’s, that
the time would come when the texts of the classics would be emendated
from manuscripts brought from the interior of Negroland.[42] From the
very beginning, when I became aware of the character of these people, I
had taken the greatest precautions; and hearing that the privilege of
using a carpet was restricted to certain officers, I had stowed my old
carpet away, although my couch, being on the bare ground, was not very
soft.
The market, or “kaskú,”[43] occupied a great deal of my time and of my
thoughts during my monotonous stay in this place, not so much on account
of its importance as of my own poverty, as I was compelled to become a
retail dealer on the smallest scale; for, hardly possessing anything
except a small quantity of needles, I was obliged to send one of my
servants daily to the market, in order to endeavour, by means of that
very trifling article of European industry, to obtain the currency of
the country. The currency of Bagírmi consists in strips of cotton, or
fárda, like those which I have described on my journey to Ádamáwa—of
very irregular measures, longer or shorter, in general of two “drʿa”
length, and a hand in width—but of very different quality. Larger
articles are bought and sold with shirts, “khalag (_pl._ kholgán”), as
they are called by the Arabs, “bol,” as they are called by the natives,
the value of which, according to their size and quality, varies from 70
to 150 fárda. I obtained a fárda for one large English darning-needle,
or for four common German needles; but afterwards I doubled the price.
Besides these I had very little left, with the exception of a few
looking-glasses of that round kind which are sold in Lyons for one _sou_
each, and which I sold here for the high price of one shirt or “khalag,”
while a better sort of looking-glass, bought in London for eightpence,
brought four khalag or kholgán, which are worth about a dollar. As for
shells, called here “kemé-kemé,” they have no currency in the market,
but form a merchandise by themselves, as an article of export into the
pagan countries—at least those of larger size, which are in great
request with the inhabitants of those countries as well as with the
Welád Ráshid, it being said that 2,000 will fetch a young slave of the
kind called “khomási,” and 3,000 a “sedási;” for those simple people not
only wear these shells as ornaments, especially the women, who are said
to cover their hinder parts with them, but they make also caps of them,
with which they adorn the heads of their deceased relations, while the
Welád Ráshid adorn principally the heads of their camels and horses with
the favourite kemé-kemé, or “kémti,” as they are called in Wádáy.
Formerly there had been a market held only every Thursday; but a short
time previous to my arrival the people had found it advantageous to have
a market every day, so that there was a daily market from eight in the
morning till eleven in the forenoon, and from three in the afternoon
till sunset. Of course it was not very well supplied, and was confined
to the mere necessaries of life, the greatest luxury it contained
consisting of onions, an article which is not to be procured in every
part of Central Africa. At first they were very cheap, eight being sold
for a fárda; but with the approach of the rainy season they increased in
price, and I thought it prudent to lay in a supply, as I found this
article extremely conducive to my health. And I would advise every
traveller in these regions to be always provided with this vegetable;
for they may be either used for seasoning food, or cut in slices and
mixed with tamarinds, making, as I have stated, a cool and refreshing
drink. But the black natives, as I have already mentioned on another
occasion, do not in general make use of onions for seasoning their food,
their cultivation having been introduced into the country by the Arabs
from the north, together with wheat. But the native Arabs, or Shíwa, and
the Arabs from the coast, or Wáselí, use this vegetable to a great
extent, as well for seasoning their food as for medicine, especially in
case of fever, small-pox, and obstruction of urine, from which latter
inconvenience they suffer very much, in consequence of their marching
during the heat of the day.
Besides the articles above-mentioned, the commodity most plentiful in
the market was grain, especially Guinea grain or _Pennisetum
typhoïdeum_, the dealers in which had a special place assigned to them
in the northern part of the market, under a fine tamarind-tree, or
“más,”—the oldest part of the town,—which is even said to have given
origin to the name Más-eñá, as I shall have occasion to describe further
on. Besides beans (“mónjo”), and ground-nuts, called here “wúli” or
“búli,” salt too (“kása”), owing to the presence of the Jelába from
Wádáy, some of whom I had met on my road, was very plentiful; but it was
only sold in very small portions. The same people also sold natron
(“ngíllu”), which is brought by the Tebu from the border of the desert.
Milk (“sí”) and butter (“búgu”) were dear, but sour milk (“sí chále”) in
abundance—it is principally brought into the town by the daughters of
the Bení Hassan. Honey (“téji”), which in many countries is so
plentiful, is scarcely to be got at all. There were always a few head of
sheep and cattle, and sometimes a few fowls were to be seen;
occasionally also a horse of indifferent description made its
appearance. Cotton (“ñyíre”) was rather scarce; and I did not see any
indigo, “alíni.” Red pepper (“shíta”) formed a peculiar article of
commerce, which was retailed in small parcels by the Bórnu traders.
The most important and almost only article of European produce (“ngásan
Zaila”) consisted of beads, called “múnjo,” especially the small red
ones, which are sold here in great quantities, and exported to the pagan
countries. I also sold a few of the large species, called “nejúm,” of
which the Shúwa are very fond. Calico, called here “shóter,” is a great
rarity, and rather sold privately to the great men of the country. Kanó
manufactures, called here “kálkobángri” or “ngásan degó,” form a
prominent feature in the statistics of this market, especially túrkedí
(“bolné”), while the Kanó and Nyffi tobes, called “bol godáni,” can only
with difficulty compete with the native manufacture, the Bórnu people,
or rather the Mákarí or Kótokó, having introduced into the country the
art of dyeing. No slaves (“béli”) were brought into the market, all
being sold in the houses, a circumstance which seemed to indicate a
certain feeling of decency; but at a later period this article was by no
means wanting in the market.
Ivory is not brought into the market, but the little which is sold is
disposed of in the houses; but sometimes the Arabs who visit this
country do a very profitable business in this article. The price of
horses in general is estimated by slaves; and the value of the latter is
very low in this country, as may be inferred from what I have said above
respecting the small sum paid for them in the countries towards the
south: but slaves exported from here are not esteemed, as they are said
to be more subject to disease than those from other countries, and
generally die in a very short time. Female slaves certainly, natives of
the country of Bagírmi, are highly esteemed; but as almost all the
inhabitants of the country, at least outwardly, profess Islám, very few
are at present sold into slavery, while formerly they were scattered all
over the north of Africa, in consequence of the great slave-hunting
expeditions of the Bashá of Fezzán. The Shúwa or Shíwa generally effect
their purchases with cows.
Although my means when I undertook this journey were extremely small,
nevertheless I had not thought it impossible that I might succeed in
penetrating into Wádáy, or even in reaching the lands of the Nile; and I
often indulged in the pleasure of counting over my small stock of goods,
and conceived the idea how, by giving away everything I possessed, I
might accomplish such an enterprise; but I soon found that I was
compelled to give up all such plans, and although I think that a
traveller with sufficient means, and a great deal of patience and
endurance, might succeed in entering Wádáy from this side, I am sure
that the ruler of that country would certainly keep him back for a whole
year. I therefore only aspired at visiting some places in the
neighbourhood; and I was particularly anxious to obtain a sight of that
small branch of the river which, having separated from the principal
trunk near the town of Miltú, approaches to within about nine miles of
the capital. But the lieutenant-governor would not allow me to leave the
place, neither would he suffer me to visit Ábú-Gher, which is situated
at about the same distance in a N.N.W. direction, and where a
considerable market is held every Saturday, although I told him that it
was essential for me to go, in order to procure there my necessary
supplies; and I was therefore obliged to content myself with sending my
servants.
They found the market of Ábú-Gher of about the same importance as the
little market or durríya in Kúkawa, with this exception, that cattle
were more numerous in Ábú-Gher; and they counted about a hundred head of
large beasts, and about the same number of sheep. There was a great deal
of sorghum and cotton, but little Guinea corn or millet. Besides tobes,
hoes for field-labour, cowries, and natron from the Bahr el Ghazál form
the principal commodities. As a sort of curiosity, my servants mentioned
a kind of bread or tiggra made of the fruit of the hájilíj or _Balanites
Ægyptiaca_ (the “bíto” of the Kanúri), and called “sírne.” As a specimen
of the great diversity of individual manners which prevails in these
regions, I will here mention that the fárda in Ábú-Gher, which is the
standard currency of the market, is different from that used in Más-eñá,
measuring three drʿa in length and one hand in width. The village of
Ábú-Gher consists of two separate groups divided by a vale or
depression, where the market is held, and containing a considerable
proportion of Fúlbe or Felláta inhabitants, who were the founders of the
village.
Finding that I was not allowed to stir from the place where I was, I
resigned myself in patience, and tried to take occasionally a little
exercise round the town, when roving about, sometimes on foot, sometimes
on horseback, I made by degrees a general survey of the town, which I
have incorporated into the accompanying ground-plan, which, though very
imperfect, and not pretending in any way to absolute accuracy, will
nevertheless serve to give the reader a fair idea of the place.
[Footnote 41: I will here remark that I think this form, Felláta, which
is usual in Bórnu and the neighbouring countries, is in its origin a
plural, though it is continually employed also for the singular.]
[Footnote 42: Jackson’s Account of Morocco, p. 100.]
[Footnote 43: We have here an evident proof that a certain degree of
civilization spread from Bórnu over the countries to the east. Kaskú is
a slight variation of the Kanúri word “kásukú.”]
CHAP. L.
DESCRIPTION OF THE TOWN. — ARRIVAL OF THE SULTAN. — FINAL DEPARTURE.