FAST OF THE RAMADAN.
The Women in possession of the Streets.--The Grand Factions of
Ghadames, the _Ben Weleed_ and the _Ben Wezeet_.--Interest of the
People in Algerian Affairs.--Names, from Bodily
Deformities.--Starving Slaves makes them Thieves.--Disease of the
_Arak-el-Abeed_.--Finances of Ghadames.--The Prophet Jonah, still
living.--Bad system of collecting Taxes by common
Soldiers.--Essnousee leaves for Ghat, alone.--The _Thob_.--Stroke
of the Moon.--Mission of Impostors always that of pretended Mercy
to Men.--How the Turk governs the Arabs.--Saharan
_Lady_-Gentlemen.--Classic and Vulgar Names of Things.--The
_Wadan_, or _Oudad_.--Nimrod, the Hercules of the Saharan
Moors.--Enoch, a Tailor.--Noah, a Carpenter.--Serpents and
Monsters in The Desert.--Teach Geography to the
People.--Indolence of the Inhabitants of Africa.
_19th._--MORNING spent in spelling the Malta Times. Saw a Ben-Wezeetee,
who protested that all the money of the country was in the hands of the
Ben-Weleed. I asked if he ever went to the Ben-Weleed. "For what," he
replied angrily, "should I go to see those devils?" In the afternoon
found all the streets deserted by the men-folks, and in possession of the
women, girls, and little children, who were playing all sorts of pranks,
and dancing and singing like so many people let loose from Bedlam. As
soon as they saw me there was a simultaneous rush at me, all crying out,
"Oh, Christian! Christian! where's your mother? where's your sister?
where's your wife?--don't you want a wife?" Then they began to pelt me
with date-stones. I got out of the way as quickly as possible. Wondered
what in the world had become of the men. At last found them and the boys
all congregated round a mosque, this being some important ceremony of
religion.
I had to-day some talk about the two great political factions, the
_Ben-Wezeet_ and the _Ben-Weleed_, the Whigs and Tories of Ghadames, but
pushed to such extremities of party spirit, as almost to be without the
limits of humanity. Notwithstanding the assumed sanctity of this holy and
_Marabout_ City of Ghadames, and its actually leaving its walls to
crumble away, and its gates open to every robber of the highways of The
Desert--trusting to its prayers for its defence and to its God for
vengeance--it has nourished for centuries upon centuries the most
unnatural and fratricidal feuds within its own bosom, dividing itself
into two powerful rival factions, and which factions, to this day, have
not any _bonâ fide_ social intercourse with one another. Occasionally one
or two of the rival factions privately visit each other, but these are
exceptions, and the Rais has the chiefs of the two parties together in
Divan on important business being brought before him. In the market-place
there is likewise ground of a common and neutral rendezvous. Abroad they
also travel together, and unite against the common enemy and the
foreigner. The native Governor, or _Nāther_, and the _Kady_, are besides
chosen from one or other party, and have authority over all the
inhabitants of Ghadames. But here closes their mutual transactions. It is
a long settled time-out-of-mind, nay, sacred rule, with them, as a whole,
"Not to intermarry, and not to visit each other's quarters, if it can
possibly be avoided." The Rais and myself, reside without the boundaries
of their respective quarters, so that we can be visited by both parties,
who often meet together accidentally in our houses. The Arab suburb is
also neutral ground. Most of the poor strangers take up their residence
here. The _Ben-Wezeet_ have four streets and the _Ben-Weleed_ three.
These streets have likewise their subdivisions and chiefs, but live
amicably with one another, so far as I could judge. The people generally
are very shy of conversing with strangers about their ancient immemorial
feuds. I could only learn from the young men that in times past the two
factions fought together with arms, and "some dreadful deeds were done."
My taleb only wrote the following when I asked him to give some
historical information respecting these factions:--"The Ben Weleed and
the Ben Wezeet are people of Ghadames, who have quarrelled from time
immemorial: it was the will of God they should be divided, and who shall
resist his will? Yâkob, be content to know this!"
But the Rais boasts of having done something to mitigate the mutual
antipathies of the factions. "The _Shamātah_, between them," he says,
"has had its neck broken." And really, if it be the case, there is in
this some compensation for the wrongs and miseries which the Turks are
inflicting upon an impoverished and over burthened people. In other parts
of Northern Sahara similar factions exist, often arising from chance
divisions of towns. There is a similar division of the town of Ghabs in
Tunis, but not carried to such extreme lengths as these factions of
Ghadames. It would seem that society could not exist without party and
divisions no more than a British Parliament. Even Scripture intimates
there must be strifes and divisions.
Many came to me to hear the news from Tripoli and Algeria. I found them
all interested in the fate and fortunes of the latter country. Some vague
rumours had reached them of serious and bloody skirmishes. I calmed them,
telling them "all people were on an equal footing in Algeria, Christians
as Mussulmans, even as Mussulmans were in our British India." Some
doubted my information. Late in the evening, when the visitors of the
Rais had retired, I had a tête-à-tête with his Excellency. Speaking of
the Ghadamseeah, his Excellency said, "They are ignorant and know not the
_tareek_ (_i. e._, system) of the Sultan; they magnify every trifle of
news they hear, and are now alive to every change, and in feverish
expectation of some new event." This is always the case with the
oppressed; they must love change, if but for the worse. His Excellency
then continued: "Since the forced contribution of fifty thousand dollars,
no money is to be found. The money due for the past four months is still
uncollected." Speaking of the bandits, his Excellency said, "The Pasha
has written to me that he cannot allow me, or the Commandant of The
Mountains, to march out against the _Sebâah_ or _Shânbah_, without an
order from the Sultan, but with such an order we could soon exterminate
them." Our Rais does not entirely neglect the intellectual edification of
his Desert subjects. This evening, early, he amused them with talking
about steamboats, or "boats of fire." I put in a word about railroads,
telling them with a railway we could come from Tripoli to Ghadames in two
days. "The Christians know all things but God," said a Marabout.
_20th._--Weather is now cool, and I can walk about the gardens at
mid-day without inconvenience. I enjoy this much, amusing myself
with throwing stones at the ripe dates, which fall in luscious
clusters into one's mouth. Eating fruit in the gardens or from the
trees is also a peculiar delight enjoyed by people of all countries
and climates. Several of the people are so ignorant of printing that
they call my newspapers letters, and this is natural enough, as
there are no other but manuscript books amongst them.--سمعان
الابرص, "Simon _the Leper_" (Matt. xxvi.). It is usual here to
distinguish people in this way: as "Mohammed, _the one-eyed_,"
"Ahmed, _the lame-with-one-leg_," and "Mustapha, _the red-beard_."
So the famous pirate of the Mediterranean was called "_Barbarossa_."
The people are not at all ashamed of being called by their natural
deformities, as we are in Europe. قمقم is one of the numerous
words in Arabic where the sound corresponds with the sense.
_Ghemghem_ is, "to murmur," and the English word itself is not a bad
example of the kind. The Mussulmans have very grotesque notions of
the Christian doctrine of Trinity. A person said: "Do not the
Christians say God has a Son?" "Yes," I replied. The rejoinder was,
"That is making God like a bullock (بقر)!" My friend the Touatee,
a native of Touat, tells me the Touaricks were originally from
Timbuctoo, and so say all Touat Touaricks. The ghafalah just arrived
from Tripoli has brought eighty camel-loads of barley. Observed the
head of the little son of the Touarick bandit. Fancied it was really
the infantile cast of such a parent's head. This is the danger of
the science, prejudicing you in such matters.
Apparently, what little thieving there is going on here is committed by
the Arabs and slaves. There are three or four of these latter most
determined date stealers. One of these slaves was brought up yesterday
and received two hundred bastinadoes; but it had not much effect upon
him. When these offenders become incurable, the Rais packs them off to
Tripoli. A very good plan, which keeps the country free of offences of
petty larceny. However, many of these slaves steal because they have not
enough to eat: thus we come to the old circle again, that poverty is the
mother of crime. So is it with the Arabs and slaves of Ghadames. The
slaves are mostly devout, if not fanatic Mussulmans. They have a right to
be fanatical, for their religion is a great protection to them. Their
masters, not like the _Christian_ slave-masters of the Southern States of
America, who close the Bible against the slave, are also proud of the
fanaticism of their slaves, and teach them verses of the Koran. The
slave's conception of the dogmas of his religion is slow and confused. My
Negro Said is a good Mussulman, and keeps his fast well, but I never yet
caught him at his prayers, nor does he go much to the mosque. Yesterday I
came suddenly upon two youngsters, the Rais's slaves, who at mid-day were
devouring roasted locusts and drinking water, in the style of sumptuous
feasting. I called out, "Holloa! how now? are you feasting or fasting?"
They began laughing and then handed me some roast locusts, to bribe me
not to blab. My taleb caught a slave in my house eating also roasted
locusts, and asked him if he should like to be roasted in hell-fire?
_21st._--The old blind man is the most regular patient. The novelty of
being doctored or quacked by a Christian is wearing away. Wrote to-day to
Mr. Gagliuffi, British Vice-Consul of Mourzuk. Said, in visiting his
friends, for he has now _his circle_, brought me a present of
_Danzagou_, in Arabic _Kashkash_. This is a seed of the size of a large
hip, and of a beautiful scarlet colour; it is used sometimes as medicine,
mostly for necklace beads, and is native of Soudan, where it abounds. He
also brought some _Morrashee_, in Arabic _Jidglan_. This is a species of
millet, a product of Soudan. The Blacks, Moors, and Arabs all eat it with
_gusto_. There are several varieties of edible seed brought over The
Desert from Soudan, chiefly as Saharan luxuries. Had a long conversation
with the people of the _Ben-Weleed_, and found them extremely sociable.
One of them had been to Leghorn, and described the houses as seven
stories high, and the port _free_. These were his strongest impressions.
It is worth observing here the universal freemasonry of the mercantile
spirit. As a merchant, he could understand and recollect a free-port in
any part of the world. The honour of this anecdote have the Leaguers.
A man showed me a sore place on his arm, which he called
_Arak_[30]_-El-Abeed_ (عرك العبيد). This was a large raised
pimple, in the centre of which was an opening, and from which
aperture there issued from time to time a very fine worm, like the
finest silk-thread, and sometimes not much thicker than a spider's
web, in small detached lengths. This worm is often of the enormous
length of twenty yards, gradually oozing out piecemeal. It is a
common disease of Soudan where the merchants catch the infection,
and bring it over The Desert. It is said to be acquired principally
by drinking the waters of that country.
By the wars before the occupation of the Turks, Tripoli had become
exhausted of its wealth, and its trade and agriculture were at the lowest
ebb. The country was divided into two armed factions of the ancient
family, money was borrowed at the most extravagant, and sometimes 500 per
cent. interest, and the jewels of the ancient family were bartered away
for arms and provisions, to carry on the war. A large collection of
splendid diamonds were sold for something like an old song. Most of these
got into the hands of Europeans. I saw some in the hands of an European
gentleman, who assured me that he had been fortunate enough to get them
for a fourth, and some of them for a seventh, of their value. When the
Turks usurped the Government, such was the condition of the country. But
they had also to put down a formidable rebellion of the Arabs, which
occupied several years of exterminating war. This gave the _coup de
grâce_ to the unfortunate Regency of Tripoli, and plunged it into
complete ruin. There was, however, one city, far in The Desert, which
appeared unaffected by these sanguinary and wasting revolutions--the
holy-merchant-marabout city of Ghadames! the pacific character of whose
inhabitants seemed to place it without the pale of such dire turmoils.
But the Turks (the war with the Arabs ended, and at leisure) began to
look about, and thought they saw an Eldorado looming beautifully in the
_mirage_ of The Desert, which would speedily replenish their exhausted
treasures, and put the Government of Tripoli in easy pecuniary
circumstances. A pretext was soon found to excavate in this newly
discovered Desert mine. "The people of Ghadames," said the Pashas of
Tripoli, "are rebels--they sympathized with the Arabs--they did not come
forward to help us to exterminate the Arabs--they must now pay for their
disaffection." A forced contribution was therefore immediately levied
upon them of 50,000 mahboubs and upwards, and the women and children were
stripped of their gold and silver ornaments, and houses ransacked, to
make up the amount at once. Ten thousand mahboubs were also demanded
annually. This new demand threw the city into consternation, and the men
brought out the women and the children into the streets, who fell upon
their faces before the officers of the Pasha, and implored them not to
deprive their wives and children of bread. It was at last settled they
should pay 6,250 mahboubs, as an annual contribution. Under the Caramanly
dynasty they paid only some 850 mahboubs per annum, besides being left to
the uncontrolled management of their own affairs. Now, whilst the people
are complaining of the large amount of taxation imposed upon them, and
pleading their impossibility to pay up arrears--in this irritable state
of things--an order comes from Ahmed Effendi in The Mountains, to collect
an additional contribution of 3,225 mahboubs, under the pretext of its
being wanted to maintain troops in Fezzan, and keep open the
communications of commerce. This intelligence has so completely astounded
the few remaining merchants who have any money, that they nearly lost
their senses, yesterday and to-day, being very ill, and unable to attend
to their ordinary business. The money for the last four months is not
yet collected, and the people say they cannot pay up. Our Rais has three
times represented to the Pasha the inability of the people, but the
answer always is, "_money must be had_." I expect to witness some cruel
scenes of extortion practised before I leave this place, like what I saw
in The Mountains. I observe now the Rais can't keep a respectable
collector. _No native of Ghadames will collect for him._ Sometimes he
sends the Arab soldiers, who abuse the defaulters. Once an Arab soldier
got hold of a poor man in the street, an acquaintance of mine, to drag
him off before the Rais. I told him to stop a moment, and then having
ascertained how much it was--about one shilling and eight-pence--paid the
money and got the poor fellow clear this time. Sheikh Makouran is a true
patriot. Whenever he sees anybody dragged off in this way through the
streets, in spite of the Governor, and his being a member of the Divan,
he takes upon himself to impede the course of justice (_extortion?_),
abuses with all his might the officer, and if he can't rescue the
defaulter, pays the money himself: so strives for public liberty this
Hampden of The Desert!
To-day, had a proof of the rancorous enmity of the ancient factions. A
merchant of the Ben Welleed, who wished to visit me, said, "I must come
round the city, for _I don't know_ the streets of the Ben Wezeet. Thank
God! I never went through them in my life." This he said with vehemence,
intimating that he never would enter the streets of the Ben Wezeet as
long as he lived. A ghafalah has arrived from the oases of Fezzan,
bringing corn and dates, productions abundant in those countries.
_22nd._--Weather continues cool. Few more patients. Present of dates from
one of them. Very little meat now killed in Ghadames, less and less every
day. What will become of this once flourishing city it is hard to tell.
The prejudices of the people against the residence of an European in this
city have apparently disappeared; people are increasingly civil; many
would willingly look upon me as their protector, were I made Consul, but
unfortunately for them, I am not ambitious of, nor have any inclination
for, the honour.
This morning heard a curious opinion about Younas, or Jonas (Jonah), for
the Arabs, like the Greeks[31], sometimes change the last letter of the
Hebrew ה into a Σ. Probably they got their traditions through the Greeks
or the Greek language. I was talking with a taleb about longevity, when
he observed, "There is but one person who is always alive." "Who is
that?" I inquired very anxiously. "It is our lord Jonas, who is living in
_distant_ and _unknown_ parts of the world," he said. "Is he alone?" I
further inquired. "No," he added, "he has with him a hundred thousand
people, who live to a great age, but who at last die, whilst he is always
living. Then as to Jesus, the son of Mary, he also never died, and went
up to heaven alive. The Jews (the curse of God upon them!) only killed
his _likeness_." I have always observed these mysterious events to
transpire in some _unknown_ and _distant_ part of the world, and took the
liberty of telling this taleb that the "smoke-ships" (steamers) could
soon make every place in the world near and known, and then we might find
out the residence of Jonah as well as the captivity of the ten tribes.
The story of the ten tribes is pretty well known. A Maroquine rabbi told
me they are somewhere about the regions of Gog and Magog, in Central
Asia, situate in a country where there is a river running perpetually six
days out of seven, very rapid and full of stones, so that they cannot
pass it and return to the Holy Land. On the seventh it stops, when it
might be passed, but on the Sabbath day the law does not permit them to
travel. This is the Barbary version. Central Asia is still the land of
mysteries for both Jews and Mohammedans. The Russians have done little to
dispel these mysteries, if they have not tried to envelop these lands in
profounder obscurity, for political purposes; but had we been established
in Affghanistan, we might have discovered _Jibel Kaf_, the retreat of Gog
and Magog, the strange stony river, the ten tribes, and all the other
objects of Jewish and Mohammedan superstition. But as with the famous
gardens of the Hesperides, the abode of perfectly happy mortals, which
were shifted farther and farther from actual observation by the progress
of ancient discovery, so the mysterious retreat of the ten tribes and the
ever-living Jonas will be transferred to other unknown lands when modern
discovery shall have exhausted Central Asia.
Met Sheikh Makouran: asked him what was to be done to meet the
extraordinary contribution. He said he couldn't tell, people had no
money: Rais had so written to Tripoli, but was reprimanded by the Pasha.
Advised him to send a deputation to the Pasha, or the British
Consul-General. Had another example of the bad system of collecting
monies, as often in Mahometan States, by means of common soldiers. These
fellows do all the dirty jobs, everything necessary in the way of
extortion; the more respectable officials shun these disagreeable
transactions, especially if they be natives of the place where the taxes
are collected. A great disturbance was in the streets, the people almost
fighting with these extortioner ruffians. Going farther on, something
absolutely ludicrous happened. The soldiers could not read, no person
would read their papers for them, and they could not find out the person
on whom they were to make their demands, although the parties were
actually present. They then came to me to read their papers. I asked
them, "Whether they thought it showed any of the friendship which they
professed towards me to embroil me with the people of the country, whose
hospitality I was receiving?" They were so convinced of the justice of my
appeal, that they went off without replying. A Ghadamsee peasant called
to me, "Yâcob, you must be our Consul!"
Afternoon, Essnousee left for Ghat. Being extremely attached to this
merchant, I went to see him off. About thirty of the Ben Weleed (for he
is of this faction) accompanied him, the most respectable of this
division of the the city; I was glad to see a person, in whom hereafter I
might have to place implicit confidence, so much esteemed. His friends
set to and loaded his camel before starting, as many as could find any
thing, each taking an article of harness or equipment. This I observed
often afterwards. It is reckoned friendly. By such conduct they show they
are willing to render all the assistance in their power to their friend.
I continued on the route of Ghat with Essnousee half an hour or more,
bade him farewell and returned. His brothers and a slave left him with
me. The merchant then proceeded on his desert journey of some fifteen or
twenty days _absolutely alone_, for he had only a Touarick camel-driver.
This demonstrates the security of the route. I said to the people
afterwards, "Is he not afraid to go alone?" "No," was the answer, "they
will only meet Touaricks, and these are our friends. You have only to pay
a small trifle of toll in different parts of the route and you are quite
safe. Sometimes you don't pay this." Essnousee will reach Ghat in twelve,
whilst a quick caravan requires from eighteen to twenty days. With
first-rate camels the journey could be performed in _eight_ or ten days.
Strange infatuation! I felt an almost irrepressible desire to accompany
Essnousee _as I was_, and to plunge anew into all the hardships and
dangers of The Desert. But such is man, a creature of daring or absurd
impulses! and the more he moves, and roams, and rambles, the more (in
modern phrase) _locomotive_ he is--the less he likes repose, and seeks
unceasingly such perilous stimulants. Observed, on returning, amongst the
loose stones scattered upon the surface of The Desert, a great quantity
of rubbish, like brick-bats thrown out from a brick-kiln, giving the face
of the ground a burnt and volcanic appearance. Picked some up and could
hardly believe but what they were burnt bricks. The Ben Weleed, who
accompanied Essnousee, instead of the short and direct road through the
streets of the Ben Wezeet, took a circuitous route round the inner walls
of the city to arrive at the gate of departure, showing me how great was
still the force of these factions. Essnousee himself told me he never
went through the streets of the Ben Wezeet, nor did he expect he ever
should in this world.
_24th._--Yesterday and to-day employed in writing for the _Shantah_
(Turkish, for mail). Rais in a good humour this evening. Two camels came
in from The Sahara, one day's journey, laden with wood for the Rais. His
Excellency offered some to me. The fact is, I purchased a camel-load a
few days ago, and his Excellency's servants had nearly begged it all
away. People generally burn dried and dead branches of the palm, which,
in this season, is abundant. It is not good fire-wood; there is plenty of
flame and smoke, but little heat. Said, on my return from the Rais,
assures me he has heard from his visitors, the Touarick slaves, that now
the Touaricks do not beat their slaves, but esteem all men _souwa,
souwa_, ("equal"); it was not so in former times. Free and enlightened
America may have yet to learn lessons of freedom and humanity from the
savages of The Sahara!
Purchased a _Thob_[32], a species of large lizard. It is common in The
Sahara. The Touaricks eat them, and say they are _medicine_ for a pain or
weakness in the back. This may have been surmised from the ideal
resemblance between the strength of their backs, which is scaly and bony,
and strongly bound together, and the strength it is likely to communicate
unto persons having a weak or crippled spine. They are pretty good
eating, and taste something like the kid of the goat; the tail is
esteemed the greatest delicacy. I tasted of this which I bought, and
liked it. There is no lizard of this species in Soudan. A Touarick told
me that, having found one in The Desert, he carried it to Soudan, where
a Negro prince fell in love with it, and gave him for it the present of a
young female slave. The Arabs tame the Thob, and he grows very fond. Some
of them are very large. This I purchased is only twenty inches in length,
and about ten round the thickest part of the body. The head is large and
tortoise-shaped, with a small mouth. It is covered with scales, or "scaly
mail," and its tail is about four inches long, composed of a series of
broad thick and sharp bones. It has four feet, or rather _hands_, for, as
the Arabs say, "It has hands like _Ben-Adam_ (mankind)." All the body,
back and flanks, are covered by shining scales, of the colour of a
darked-spotted grey, with spots white and light under the belly. It runs
very awkwardly on account of its bulky tail, and to look at is a
miniature aligator or crocodile. It is almost harmless, fighting a little
now and then; its appearance, however, is rather forbidding. It hides in
the dry sandy holes of The Sahara. A drop of water, say the Arabs, would
hurt it. The traditions of the Mohammedans mention that Mahomet did not
himself eat the Thob, at the same time he did not prohibit it to his
followers. The Saharan merchants, in traversing The Desert, frequently
make a good meal of the Thob. Whilst talking of the Thob, the people said
the flesh of parrots was _poison_ for Ben-Adam.
_25th._--Another of my patients dead, of a raging fever caught, it is
said, "by sleeping on the top of the house in the open air." The moon
struck him, they say. According to the Psalms, "The sun shall not smite
thee by day, nor _the moon by night_."
They let him remain seven days without sending for me, when it was too
late to administer my fever powders. I fetched an old gentleman who could
bleed to have him bled, but they refused, saying it was now late. The old
blood-letter vexed at their refusal, said, "Well, if I mustn't bleed him,
let me pray for him;" and, immediately offered up a short prayer, in
which they all joined willingly. On telling a Ghadamsee I ate some Thob,
he said, "Ah, that's forbidden; the Thob was formerly a human being,
before it had its present shape. Don't you see its hands are still
_human_?" The notion of the transmigration of souls lingers in these
parts, but it is a doctrine not generally received. I observed this man
afterwards fattening his sheep with date-stones, broken into small
pieces. Almost every family, however small, have their sheep to fatten.
Pounded date-stones are also given to camels for fattening. Writing for
amusement with my taleb, I recollected a verse in the Koran, which I
wrote:--
ارسلناك الّا رحمة للعلمين
This filled him with surprise and horror, and he immediately scratched it
out, as too pure and holy a thing to be in the possession of an Infidel.
The translation is:--"We (God) have sent thee (Mahomet) only for mercy to
mankind;" or, "Thy mission to man, O Mahomet! is only mercy." Such credit
all impostors and pretenders to revelation claim for themselves, and such
an object they declare to be the end of their mission, although at the
same time, and in the same breath, they don't forget to doom all those
who reject their authority to perdition. This, it would seem, is a
necessary evil in propagating new religions and new sects. But enough of
this--may the world grow more kindly--let us hope it will. This morning
arrived a single Arab from Fezzan. It would appear extreme hardihood when
we reflect, that for nine days, there is not a house, and scarcely a
resting-place. The Arab was mounted on a camel. This arrival, as
Essnousee's departure, shows the security of the routes in some
directions. The Arab told me he made his journey in nine days, and
stopped occasionally on the road to sleep and refresh himself. In the
night he tied his camel's leg to his own leg, so that if it attempted to
stray, it would awake him.
Nothing new with Rais. Speaking of the Arabs, he says, "You know Arabs to
be very devils. There are two ways to consider Arabs, but whichever way
they are robbers and assassins. When they are famished, they plunder in
order to eat; when their bellies are full, they plunder because they kick
and are insolent. Now, we (Turks) keep them upon low diet in The
Mountains; they have little, and always a little food. This is the
Sultan's _tareek_ (government) to manage them. Their spirits are kept
down and broken, and they are submissive." He then told me he had held a
Divan to obtain the extra contribution of 3,200 mahboubs, for the Pasha;
but the people protested they could not pay such an amount. I wrote a
letter to Colonel Warrington, stating this circumstance, and asked him if
he could assist the people in any way. I thought it a bare possibility
that the hand of foreign diplomacy might be stretched out to save this
city, which had flourished in the pursuits of its own peaceful commerce
for more than a thousand years. . . . To mitigate the apparent harshness
of his demand, the Rais observed, that before the Sultan occupied
Ghadames, the country between this and Tripoli was full of banditti. "The
Arabs of The Mountains," he added, "were all banditti, those amongst whom
you resided eight days. The Touaricks were not so bad, they generally
protected Ghadamsee merchants. Now since the Sultan, there are only the
Shânbah and the Sebâah, therefore the Ghadamseeah must pay." So, _Audi
alteram partem_.
_26th._--To-day, resident thirty days in Ghadames which time I have
certainly not lost. Written a good deal of MS., such as it is, and
several letters; besides, applied myself to reading and writing Arabic.
Likewise distributed medicines to a considerable number of invalids. Wish
to pass the next month as profitably as the month gone. My expenses of
living, including a guard to sleep in the house at night, and Said, are
only at the rate of eighteen-pence per day; this, however, excludes tea,
coffee, and sugar. Besides, Sheikh Makouran refuses to take anything for
house-rent, saying, "It would be against the will of God to receive money
from you, who are our sure friend, and our guest of hospitality." Few
patients, in comparison with the past. As the winter approaches, the
cases of ophthalmia are less. In the precipitation of leaving Tripoli,
brought little ink with me, and most of that I gave away; so am obliged
to go about the town to beg a little. The custom is, when one person
wants ink, he begs it of another. Went to Ben Weleed, who procured me a
supply.
My intercourse has been mostly with Ben Wezeet, but to day I visited _Ben
Weleed_ at the _Bab-Es-Sagheer_, ("the little gate,") or the
_Bab-Es-Saneeah_, ("the gate of the garden,") where there were about
forty of the most respectable of this faction assembled in a sort of
gossiping divan amongst themselves. They told me they met here every
morning, and chatted over the news of the previous day. Usually they meet
just after sunrise, and certainly in this way they pass a cool and
fragrant hour, full of the odoriferous breathings of the gardens as the
day is awakening. I asked one, who were the richer, the Weleed or the
Wezeet? He replied, with an honourable frankness, "The _Wezeet_."
Observed many of the men had their eyelids blackened, like the women,
with _Kohel_[33], and also their finger-nails and toe-nails dyed dark-red
with henna[34]. I confessed I was surprised at this monstrous effeminacy.
One of these _lady_-gentlemen was the son of the powerful Ettanee family;
he was brought up to the Church, and of great promise, bidding fair to be
future Kady or Archbishop. He put a curious question to me, "How much is
the expense of a journey from Malta to Constantinople?" When I satisfied
him, he said, "I shall go and buy some slaves at Ghat, and then convey
them to Constantinople. Don't you think I shall make money by it?" I told
him he would not find anybody at Malta to convey slaves to
Constantinople; and if he took them there, they would be set at liberty,
for a slave once touching British territory became free. To this he
replied only, "I know--I knew before." I was extremely glad he did know
it. It is strange to see a young man of this description so avariciously
turn himself into a slave-dealer, but Mohammedan priests frequently
trade.
Marabouts in The Mountains are mostly camel-drivers; and the greater part
of priests, marabouts, and kadys perform sacred duties gratis. An order of
priesthood exists, though it is not kept up very distinctly from laymen,
but it is an honour to them, "to work in the service of God for nothing,"
and is worthy of the imitation of Christians. My new clerical friend gave
me a dissertation upon things having two names, a classical one and a
vulgar one. The Kohel is also called _Athmed_, اثمد, which is
its classical name. Senna is called _hasheeshah_, حشيشه,
literally "herbs," its vulgar name, and سنا حرم,
"senna of _Mecca_," (literally, of the inviolable,) which is its
classical name. A little senna is found casually in the gardens of
Ghadames; but the country of Senna, in The Sahara, is Aheer, where
it is cultivated by the Touaricks. He pointed out to me the _Tout_,
(توت,) the small white mulberry, which is planted in little
squares of the city. Speaking of the Touaricks, he said: "These
people are getting dissatisfied with us. Formerly we paid them
better; but being robbed of our money by the Turks, we can't give
them much. They smell also a disagreeable odour now. Formerly they
came in and went out our city as a garden." "What odour is that?" I
asked. "_It's that Rais_," he whispered in my ear. The fact is, the
Touaricks felt themselves more at home before the Turks came here,
which everybody can imagine.
[Illustration]
This afternoon, whilst talking with the people about their antiquities,
one of them said, "There are some figures remaining." I immediately asked
him to show them to me. The youngster volunteered; and, to my great joy,
I was taken off to a garden, where I saw the _bas-relief_ drawn above. I
then thought about getting it in a quiet way to my house; so I went up to
the owner of the garden in which it lay, and said to him in a very
careless, indifferent manner, "What's the good of the stone to you--you
may give it me; perhaps it will be of some use." The man replied at once,
"Aye, Christian, take it." The youngster, who was a stout fellow, brought
it off forthwith upon his head. I followed him in secret triumph,
thinking myself very fortunate; for if any noise had been made, I should
have had to pay several dollars for it, whatever might have been its real
value, and, perhaps, not have got it at all. Indeed, some of the people
were very jealous; and when I returned, they called out _flous! flous!_
("money! money!") They thought I had got a rich prize, and I hope I have.
I told them, if anybody had any _flous_, it would be the owner of the
garden, who gave me the slab. The sketch represents, apparently, a
soldier holding or feeding a horse, but of what age and country I shall
not pretend to say, leaving that to antiquarians. It is broken off half,
and otherwise pecked and mutilated by the people. It is a pious act of
religion to deface stones representing figures of any sort, to decapitate
heads of statues, and destroy every shape and symbol of the human
likeness, not excepting likenesses of animals. An old Ghadamsee doctor,
very fond of me, was, however, extremely glad when he saw me in
possession of the slab. He kept saying, "Ah, Yâkob, that's your
grandfathers (ancestors). See! isn't it wonderful? Ah, that's your
grandfathers of the time of _Sidi Nimrod_. Take it home with you. Ah,
that's your grandfathers!"
This evening, heard that the heads of the people of Ghadames had adopted
my suggestion of sending a deputation to Tripoli, to state their
inability to meet the new and extraordinary demand of 3,200 mahboubs, the
Governor consenting to their determination.
_27th._--Weather still cool and pleasant, but the flies are in great
numbers, and very disagreeable. Am obliged always to have my room
darkened when I write, to keep them from tormenting me. They
increase as the dates ripen, and soon after the dates are gathered
in, they disappear, and not one is to be found during the winter. Haj
Mansour gave me to-day a _meneshsha_ (منشّا) or fly-flap, made
of the long flowing beard of the Wadan. It is a most effective
whipper-away of the flies. It instantly disperses them, the fine
strong hair of the Wadan's beard hitting them like pins and needles.
This species of fly-flap is greatly valued in Soudan, where it sells
at a high price. The hairs which are of a dull grey or red brown,
are usually dyed with henna when made up into fly-flaps. I expressed
myself extremely obliged to the Haj. _Wadan_ (Ar. ودان), _Oudad_
(Berber اوداد), and English _Mouflon_, is the name of a species
of animals between the goat and the bullock[35]. It is common in the
Southern Atlas of Morocco, and is hunted in the neighbouring sands
of Ghadames during winter by the Souf Arabs, and brought in and sold
for butcher's meat. Wadan is said to be _medicine_ by the people,
and tastes like high flavoured coarse venison. Three or four only
have been sent to England[36]. Dr. Russell, in his _Barbary States_,
makes it to resemble a calf, but it rather resembles a large goat or
a horned sheep. Besides the _Wadan_ and the _Thob_, Saharan people
eat many animals which hungry Europeans might eat, amongst the rest
rats and mice, when in good condition. But the mouse is the large
mouse of The Sahara. The Rais had a live Wadan which died just
before my arrival. He regretted much as he would have given it to
me. His Excellency promises to get me one.
_Nimrod_ is always in the mouths of the Ghadamseeah as the founder of
their city. They are especially fond of calling him a _Christian_. He is
often called my grandfather, although I have not yet been able to trace
my descent in a direct line from so august a progenitor. The European
reader recollects where he is mentioned in the Jewish early records,--
הוּא הָיָה נִבּר֗־צַיִד לִפְנֵי־יְהוָה
"He was a mighty hunter before the Lord." Gen. x. 9. In the Arabic
translation the word employed for "mighty" is the same as that of the
Hebrew, _i. e._ جبّار the ج representing the ג,
omitting any word to correspond with ציד; but the Moors
understand generally by the term جبّار, "a tyrant" and "a
conqueror." So Hammoudah Bashaw, the great Bey of Tunis, is called
by a faithful Tunisian historian of that country, a جبّار.
But, perhaps, in those remote times, the hunter and the tyrant, as in the
Roman Commodus, were joined in one and the same person. Certainly this
is the natural sense of the combination of the terms גבר־ציד.
To this might easily be added man-hunter and slave-maker, a worthy
attribute of Nimrod. The gentlemen of the turf, of the Bentinck
school, ought, however to protest against this supposition. Properly
Nimrod is the Hercules of the Moors of North Africa. According to
them he emerged from the East, overran and founded several cities in
The Sahara, conquered all before him, put his feet upon the neck of
all nations, and then passed the Straits of the Roman and Grecian
Hercules, and built the far-famed Andalous (Spain), as also Paris
and London, and no doubt planted the germ of the future courses of
Epsom and Ascot, of which he is in our day made the mighty patron
and the ruling god[37].
After Nimrod the people are very fond of talking about _Enoch_, who is
called in the Koran _Edrees_ (ادريس). My taleb says that he did
not undergo the penalty of nature, but was translated, as, indeed,
it is recorded of him in our sacred books. My taleb adds, "Enoch was
a tailor, and one day the devil came to him and offered to sell him
some eggs, declaring that in the eggs the whole world was included.
Enoch rejoined, '_Also in the eye of my needle is the whole world
comprehended_.' Immediately the eggs began to expand, and although
really empty, swelled out as wide as the arms when outstretched.
Enoch seeing this was all imposition, to punish the impostor, sewed
up one of the devil's eyes, who went off in a great rage. The needle
of Enoch was nevertheless all powerful, and the devil has gone about
with _one eye_ ever since." My taleb asked me whether I ever heard
of Noah. I opened the Arabic Bible and read some passages about the
Flood. "Yes," he said, "Seedna (_our lord_) Noah was a carpenter
(نجّار) because he built the ship (الفلك). I am also
a carpenter. I will show you my collection of tools. But I don't work
now at this trade, except for my amusement." The people know many of
the common trades which they exercise occasionally as amateurs.
Nothing puzzles the Touaricks and Negroes so much as my _gloves_. Am
obliged to put them on and off frequently a dozen times a day, for their
especial gratification. My Leghorn hat, on the contrary, here, as in The
Mountains, is an object of admiration, on account of the fineness of the
platting. It astonishes them how it could be done. The large straw hats,
with huge broad brims, worn in The Desert, are all of the coarsest
texture.
This morning made inquiries of the Touaricks respecting serpents in
The Desert. Could obtain but little information, the notions of the
Saharan tribes in general being very confused about serpents. All
serpents go under the name of _lefâah_ (لفعة). But other names
are in use here, as حنش, حية &c., which apparently are
the generic names. The _boah_ mentioned by Dr. Russell I have not
heard of. One of the Touaricks, however, described to me a serpent
as being nearly as thick round as a man's body, but not more than
three feet in its greatest length. This serpent has also large
horns. It is not at all dangerous. There is a much longer serpent or
snake, but not more than four inches round in thickness, which is
dangerous. If we are to believe Mr. Jackson, the southern part of
Morocco abounds with monstrous serpents, but in all my route through
The Sahara, I met with none, nor heard of any. It is a very old
trick of the poets and retailers of the marvellous to people The
Desert with dragons, and serpents, and monsters of every kind. We
know that on the banks of the _Majerdah_ an enormous serpent stopped
the progress of the army of Regulus. Batouta, also, who flourished
in the fourteenth century, pretends that "The Desert is full of
serpents." Even Caillié, who saw neither lions nor elephants, or
very few animals of any sort, says, when at the wells of
_Amoul-Gragim_, "My rest was disturbed by the appearance of a
serpent, five feet and a-half long and as thick as the thigh of a
boy twelve years old. My travelling companions also experienced
similar visits." If this report be correct, it evidently refers to
the harmless _lefâah_ mentioned by the Touarick. At the ruins of
Lebida, on the coast of Tripoli, an unusual number of large snakes
were seen this year (1845), mounting upon and twining round the
broken shafts of pillars still standing, as if at the command of
some invisible _jinn_; but they were all perfectly harmless. The
jugglers were catching them, to exhibit their forky tongues and
snaky folds, as venomous and deadly, to the marvel-loving crowd. The
lion of The Desert is a myth. The king of beasts never leaves his
rich domain, the thick forest and pouring cascade, where water and
animals of prey abound, for the naked, arid, sandy, and rocky wastes
of The Sahara. The ancients and moderns, however, have persisted in
representing Africa, not only as a country full of monsters, but
"_always producing some new monster_,--"
Semper aliquid novi Africam afferre[38],
all which is either entirely incorrect or a monstrous exaggeration. It
would have been very _nice_ to fight one's way through The Desert in the
midst of every kind of beast and monster which the gloomy imagination of
men may have conjured up from the beginning of the annals of adventure
and travel; this would have made these pages undoubtedly very "stirring
and exciting." Happily Providence has not filled up those vast spaces
which separate Northern and Central Africa with such hideous tenants!
Sufficient are the evils of The Desert to the wayfarer who sojourns
therein.
In the evening, had a long conversation with a group of people. The
subjects, in which they all felt more than ordinary curiosity, were, the
new world of America, Australia, the Pacific, and the whales in it, and
the gold and silver mines of South America, &c. The number of sheep,
also, in Australia, amazed them, in comparison with the few wandering
scattered flocks in The Desert. I am become a walking gazette amongst
the people, and ought to be dubbed "Geographer of The Desert." They also
question me on the relative forces of the Christian Powers, and have a
great idea of the military strength of France. The capture of Algiers has
produced a vivid and lasting impression of the French power throughout
all North Africa. They consider England the great power on the sea, and
France on the land. I have, besides, to tell them of the population of
all the world, and to answer a thousand other questions. Sometimes their
conversation, after being exceedingly animated, falls into unbroken and
moody silence, and they recline for hours, without moving a muscle of the
face or uttering a syllable. Indolence is the besetting sin of the
Saharan tribes. It is also the same in Tripoli. Col. Warrington, in
reporting upon the Tripolines, says:--"Whether the extraordinary
indolence of the people proceeds from the climate, or want of occupation,
I know not, but they are in an horizontal position twenty hours out of
the twenty-four, sleeping in the open air." In this temperate season of
the year, the Ghadamsees might find useful and healthful occupation in
the gardens, but they are so confoundedly lazy that they won't stir, and
what work really is done is performed by slaves. Such people deserve to
starve. Caillié says:--"The Mandingoes would rather go without food part
of the day than work in the fields; they pretend that labour would take
off their attention to the Koran, which is a very specious excuse for
laziness." Like most people in Central Africa, all their hard work is
done by the poor slaves. The Ghadamsee people have, however, the excuse
that, being a city of merchants, their object is repose when they return
from long journeys.
Paid a visit to Rais; presented to his Excellency one of my best razors,
with which he was highly delighted. Saw plenty of my acquaintances, all
pleased with the Ramadan being about to terminate. Few patients.
FOOTNOTES:
[30] The Arabic عرك seems to be used for a pustule or small
tumour. The term is applied to the tumour of a camel. There is
also the term عرق, "decayed flesh or bone."
[31] يونس, Ἰωνας. _Esaias_ is changed in the same way.
[32] الضب, _Thob_--monitor: probably, _monitor pulchra_.
[33] كحل, _Kohel_, "powder of lead," name derived from the
epithet "_black_."
[34] حنّا, _Henna_, "Lawsonia alba," Law. The Henna shrub is
cultivated in irrigated fields at Ghabs (Tunis), and is a source
of wealth.
[35] It is the _Ovis Tragelaphus_ of Zoologists.
[36] I was fellow-passenger from Mogador with the male oudad, now
at the Royal Zoological Gardens. He is a very fine animal, but has
but one eye.
[37] The foundation of Nimrod's reputation was laid in the East,
many curious facts of which have been preserved in Armenian
tradition. The Armenian Bishop, Dr. Nerses Lazar, says, for the
benefit of all England, (See his _Scriptural and Analogical
Conversations on the Physical and Moral World with reference to an
Universal Commercial Harmony_, published by Bentley, London,
1846):--"In the second age of the world, just on entering the
second century, _Nimrod began to be a mighty one in the earth_; he
was the first great warrior, conqueror, or most severe governor.
_He was a mighty hunter before the Lord: wherefore it is said,
Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord_, by which means
he became a mighty monarch. For he inured himself to labour by
this toilsome exercise, and got together a great company of young
robust men to attend him in this sport; _who were hereby also
fitted to pursue men as they had done wild beasts_. (Here the Free
Kirk will find the beginning of the system which they are
patronizing in Yankee Land.) Besides, in the age of Nimrod, the
exercise of hunting might win him the hearts of men, whom he thus
delivered from wild beasts, to which they were much exposed in
their rude and unprotected way of living; so that many at last
joined him in the great designs he formed of subduing men, and
making himself master of the neighbouring people in Babylon,
Susiana, and Assyria. The memory of this hunting of his was
preserved by the Assyrians, who made Nimrod the same as Orion, for
they joined the dog and the hare, the first creature perhaps that
he hunted, with his constellation. He first erected Babylon, and
Assyria is called the land of Nimrod, &c., &c. He began to exalt
himself, and he is called _Bel_ from his dominions, and _Nimrod_
from his rebellion (against God)." The worthy prelate goes on
giving a very long affair about the father of huntsmen and
jockies. Nimrod has come up again in this our year of 1847. The
French and English antiquarians and excavators have dug him up,
and all his splendid posterity from the banks of the Euphrates at
the _Bir-el-Nimroud_. The _Royal Asiatic Society_ no doubt will
soon find his mark, or cross, His Turfy Highness not being
expected to be a _letterato_, in Cuneiform, wedge-shaped or
arrow-headed characters upon the unbaked or sun-dried bricks
thrown out of the famous Nineveh mound, so that at last Nimroud
will have full justice done him by a grateful posterity.
[38] Pliny. This vulgar error of antiquity is cited
from the Greek of Aristotle.
Λεγεται δε τις παροιμα ὁτι αει τι Λιβυη καινον.