TIMBUCTOO ACROSS THE CENTURIES
In order to understand Jenne, we referred to the history of the
countries east of the Niger, and found there a vein of Egyptian
civilisation; the origin of Timbuctoo, however, must be sought in
a different direction, for her past is connected with the Arabian
civilisation of northern Africa.
This same northern Africa was the world of the Berbers, and included
all those white people whom we have known under the names of Touaregs
in the Sahara, Kabyles in Algeria, Moors in Morocco and Senegal, and
Foulbes in their infiltrations into the Sudan. Misled by their previous
condition, we erroneously believed them to have been nomads from all
eternity; but, like the Jews, circumstances alone caused them to adopt
a wandering life, and in reality they represent the autochthonous
populations of Mediterranean Africa, of Morocco, Algeria, Tunis, and
Tripoli. Ibn Chaldoun, their great historian, observes: ‘All northern
Africa, as far as the country of the blacks, has been inhabited by
Berber races since an epoch of which we know neither its anterior
events nor its commencement.’ These races lived on the coasts of
Africa, and cultivated the beautiful valleys of Tell long before the
arrival of the Phœnician and Roman colonists. Carthage and Rome set
the Berbers in motion by crowding and pressing them back into the
interior, and they it was who transformed them into a nomadic people.
[Illustration: MOORS IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF TIMBUCTOO]
Originally the Berbers of Morocco, that is to say the Moors, were the
last to suffer. The ancient colonisation, most intense in Algeria
and Tunis, was less direct in its effects on Morocco, which was not
entirely divested of its inhabitants by the arrival of the colonists.
Half its population, following the coasts of the Atlantic, wandered
towards the country of the blacks, while the other half maintained
themselves side by side with the new-comers. This portion remained
fairly stationary and compact until the Arabian invasion. Moors and
Arabs then combined to conquer Spain, where for three centuries they
enjoyed the hospitality offered them by Europe. It is well known what
valuable services their polished manners and beautiful art, their
cultured literature and advanced industries, rendered to the cause of
Western renaissance.
[Illustration: MOORISH WOMEN]
What became of these brilliant people, we ask, when they were driven
out of Spain? Returning to Morocco to find their ancient patrimony in
the hands of the Arabs, and being forced to prolong their exodus into
the south, they followed the Atlantic coasts and the negro countries
and became nomads in their turn. These Spanish Moors, wandering about
the great lakes on the left bank of the Niger in the neighbourhood of
Oualata and Timbuctoo, carried with them a name which leaves us in no
doubt as to their origin. They are called Andalusians to this day.
As we shall see later, these Moors, at the epoch of their return,
became one of the prime factors in Timbuctoo’s greatness. The wonderful
architects and the sumptuous possessors of the palaces and mosques of
Seville, Granada, and Cordova dwell to-day in leathern tents, and the
sands of the Sahara are their only place of prayer. The vicissitudes of
nomadic life have sadly deteriorated them from the exalted civilisation
to which they had attained. Herds of goats and humped oxen, flocks
of sheep, and a few horses and books, form their sole wealth. The
delicate ornamentation of leather, their embroidered wallets, cushions,
and gun-cases, with some jewellery work, are all that recall the
characteristic manner of the art they introduced into Europe.
[Illustration: MOORISH ENCAMPMENT]
Let us now see what became of the Berbers of Algeria and Tunis,
countries in which the action of the Ancients was more brutal. A small
number, thrown back beyond the Atlas Mountains, found a land capable
of maintaining them in the mountains and valleys of Kabyle, and there
they have remained, stationary and impregnable, through all these
centuries.
[Illustration: SCHOOL IN A MOORISH ENCAMPMENT]
The greater part of them must have taken the roads of the Sahara, at
that time in the possession of the black races. Its vast sands were
more habitable and fertile then than they are now, for it was the
inexperience of these new-comers, their excessive clearings, and the
ravages of their herds, which diminished the already parsimonious gifts
of Nature to the desert.
This exile forced a new existence upon them which, little by little,
transformed the whole race; the place, and everything they found there,
obliging them to adopt a special life, manners, and even costume. We
have called this portion of the Berber people Touaregs, a name of
Arabian origin, which they completely ignore, only recognising the
titles of Aoulemidens, Tenguaragifs, Taddamakets, Hoggars, Azers, and
Airs, the patronymics of their principal tribes.
The rearing of horses, oxen, and goats is their chief industry, the
milk and flesh of these animals furnishing, with the addition of dates,
their principal nourishment. Agriculture is scarcely possible under
a sky from which the rain does not fall for six or eight consecutive
years.
[Illustration: MOORISH FLOCKS IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF TIMBUCTOO]
Owing to their eyes not being accustomed to the terrible glare of this
desert, nor their lungs to its sand-storms, they adopted a head-dress
of two veils. One, the _nicab_, is rolled round the temples, hanging
down in front to protect their eyes; the other, the _litham_, reaches
from the nostrils to the edge of their clothing, completely covering
the lower part of the face. Hygiene was obviously the only motive of
this mysterious accoutrement, which set the savants seeking all manner
of far-fetched origins with which to endow these Touaregs. This is
proved not only by their own statements, but also by the sobriquet
‘mouths for flies,’ which they give to all who do not wear this
costume. The veils are never removed, even at meal-times, and the garb
has become so much a part of them that ‘any one being deprived of it
is unrecognisable to his friends and relatives. If one of their number
is killed in battle and divested of his veil, no one can identify him
until it has been restored to its place.’ And this in spite of the
fact that the bridge of the nose and the eyes alone are visible.
[Illustration: TOUAREG WITH ‘NICAB’ AND ‘LITHAM’]
The scarcity of water and their speedy exhaustion of the scanty
pasturage of the desert kept them perpetually on the march. With this
constant movement any aggregation of their life was impossible; every
social and political organisation disappeared, and they gradually lost
all notion of law and authority. Like the Jews, and all people thrown
out of their natural paths, their souls and brains became steeped in
vice, and it was not long before they had become the mere prey of
their instincts. Their nomadic life soon reduced them to the level of
vagabonds, thieves, and brigands, and the only law they recognised was
the right of the strongest.
Theft was their natural industry--a branch of education, in fact--and
they augmented the meagreness of their herds by extorting ransoms from
some of their neighbours and completely despoiling others. Travellers
and merchants were their principal victims, but when these failed they
robbed and killed each other; for, so far from their tribes being
united, they were divided by the most bitter and persistent hatreds.
They adopted a vague form of Islamism which they reduced to a belief in
talismans. Since no morality, Mohammedan or otherwise, found foothold
among them, they soon became characterised by the worst vices, only
retaining the one quality of physical endurance. Thieves and murderers
when in sufficient numbers, they are the most obsequious of beggars
when convinced of their weakness, and are, in either case, absolutely
faithless. A Sudanese proverb says, ‘The word of a Touareg, like water
fallen on the sand, is never to be found again.’ They have nobles,
serfs, and slaves among them, but nobility none; if you wish to find
any quality other than vanity and pride, you must look for it among
their negro slaves. Neither age nor womanhood inspires them with either
pity or respect. Bloodthirsty and cruel as they are, they do not even
possess that unlimited courage which forms the redeeming characteristic
of the _condottieri_. Their valour is displayed at night during the
sleep of their victims or adversaries. Ruse is their principal weapon,
even though they never show themselves without a spear in their hand,
a sword at their side, and a poignard attached to the left arm. The
Sudanese have bestowed upon them three epithets which epitomise their
psychology: ‘Thieves, Hyænas, and the Abandoned of God.’
Yet it is to these people, who have become the most useless and
nefarious on the face of the earth, that Timbuctoo owes its origin.
[Illustration: TOUAREGS AND THEIR FLOCKS]
* * * * *
Towards the fifth century of the Hegira (1100 of our era) a Touareg
tribe, the Maksara,[9] established its herds between the town of
Arawan in the Sahara and the little village of Amtagh,[10] situated on
the banks of the Niger.
During the summer and dry season they pastured their flocks on the
shores of the river, returning to the desert for the winter floods. In
one of their many wanderings they noticed an oasis in the midst of the
sands, formed by an overflow of the Niger. It was a narrow depression,
having somewhat the appearance of a river, and must have been fairly
deep, since the hippopotamus found his way there, and was a place in
which the Touaregs could always be sure of finding some vegetation, as
well as abundant and excellent water.
The situation was an admirable one for man and beast, and, with the
palm-trees which reared their elegant forms there, did not lack a
certain charm of aspect. They established a fixed camp on this spot in
order to prevent its occupation by others during their absence. They
cut down bushes of thorny mimosa from the neighbouring thickets, and
formed, according to their custom, a _sanié_ or enclosure, to keep out
the wild animals of the desert--lions, panthers, and hyænas. Straw huts
were built behind this shelter, in which the Touaregs placed their
provisions and other cumbersome properties. They left some Bailas, or
slaves, there, who kept guard under the superintendence of an old woman
called ‘Tomboutou’ (The mother with the large navel).
The sobriquet became popular in the country, and contributed to the
speedy renown of the advantages of their encampment. ‘Travellers
paused there,’ says the _Tarik é Sudan_. ‘The populations increased by
the power and will of God, and the people began to build themselves
fixed dwellings. Caravans coming from the north and east (Algeria
and Tripoli) on their way to the Mali kingdom delayed at the camp
to renew their stores. A market was soon formed; a high enclosure of
matting was substituted for the barrier of dead thorns, and it became a
meeting-place for people travelling by canoe or camel.’
[Illustration: A POOL AT THE GATES OF TIMBUCTOO]
The place did not deserve the name of town, however, until the
merchants of Jenne (which had been a city for some three hundred years)
settled there. The tradition which I have just mentioned concerning the
origin of the town was confirmed in Timbuctoo. ‘The Touaregs are the
fathers of the town,’ my friends told me. ‘When thou wert little, what
didst thou call her who nourished thee at her breast? Thou calledst her
mother, didst thou not? Well, Jenne is the mother of Timbuctoo, for
it was she who made it live and grow; and it was she who, by bringing
hither her merchandise, caused it to become a great place of commerce.’
The merchants of Jenne taught Timbuctoo to build houses of baked brick,
and to replace the _sanié_ of mats by a low earthen wall. They also
built a mosque, afterwards the Cathedral Mosque of Ghingaraber; and
a wealthy woman, a native of Sokolo, erected a second temple, which
became later the University Mosque of Sankoré. Thus enlarged, Timbuctoo
entered into competition with Oualata.[11] The latter town was the
great cosmopolitan market of western Africa in the twelfth century.
‘It was with Oualata that the caravans traded, and it was there the
most pious, learned, and wealthy men lived. They went thither from all
countries and all tribes, from Egypt, Fezzara, Soussa, Tuat, Tafilalet,
Ghadames, Ouargla, and Fez.’ This active and intelligent population,
which was strongly imbued with the Arabian civilisation, could not
fail to make acquaintance with Timbuctoo and the many advantages
of its position. The numerous conquests of the Mali kings, however,
which disturbed western Africa in the thirteenth century, diverted the
caravans little by little from Oualata. Its merchants and scholars
emigrated to the new city, and were supplemented there by a fraction of
the great Moorish tribe of Senhadia. By the fourteenth century Oualata
had become entirely eclipsed, and the splendours of Timbuctoo had grown
from her ruins.
The Touaregs, who still pursued the wandering life of the desert,
contented themselves with nominating a governor of the town who levied
taxes in their name. They augmented their demand in proportion to the
increasing prosperity of the town, until inhabitants and caravans alike
were forced to pay veritable ransoms. Becoming, not unnaturally, weary
of this, the people invited Kounkour-Moussa, whose kingdom of Mali was
then at its height, to take possession of the town. He, being just
returned from the conquest of the Songhois and a pilgrimage to Mecca,
entered Timbuctoo in 1330. He presented the Cathedral Mosque with a
minaret of pyramidal form, built himself a palace, and installed a
governor there upon his departure. The dominion of the Malinkas did not
open very happily, however. The cupidity of the people of Mossi had
already been excited by the renown of Timbuctoo, and their sultan now
appeared before its gates at the head of a large army. The new masters
of the town took flight, while the enemy pillaged and burned. When the
Sultan of Mossi and his army withdrew, laden with spoils, the people of
Mali repossessed themselves of Timbuctoo, and remained its masters for
a hundred years (1337-1434).
The young city arose once more from its ruins, and Timbuctoo expanded
as the kingdom of Mali declined. ‘The original masters of the town
did not fail to take advantage of the deterioration of their rivals.
The Maksara Touaregs pillaged the outskirts of the town, and the
Malinkas were afraid to offer any resistance. Akil, the chief of the
Touaregs, sent a message to them at last, saying, ‘If you cannot defend
Timbuctoo, cease to occupy it.’ Whereupon the people of Mali retired.’
The nomads now reigned for forty years, committing the grossest
excesses. They proved themselves tyrants and oppressors, accumulating
exactions, hunting people from their dwellings, and violating the
women; and for the second time the town was forced to seek a new master.
Oumar, its governor, having been wronged by his own people (the
Touaregs), secretly resolved upon revenge. With this intention he sent
a messenger to Sunni Ali, giving information concerning Akil and the
Touaregs, exposing their weakness, and promising to deliver up the
town. The messenger took Oumar’s sandals with him as a guarantee of
good faith. Sunni Ali, who was at that time (middle of the fifteenth
century) laying the foundations of the Songhoi empire, accepted the
invitation. At the appearance of his cavalry on the river-bank opposite
the dune of Amtagh, Akil resolved on flight. He departed, followed by
his people and a great number of the learned men of Sankoré, to seek
refuge in Oualata. Sunni Ali was furious at the exodus of marabuts, and
suspecting the remainder of being the friends and accomplices of the
Touaregs, he heaped every imaginable ill-treatment upon them. Did he
show himself equally cruel towards the remainder of the inhabitants? In
spite of the old chronicles, I do not believe he did, for the reasons I
have given in the history of the Songhois.
* * * * *
The year 1496, the year of the capture of Timbuctoo by Sunni Ali, is an
important one in the history of that city. For the future she forms
part of the Songhoi empire, steadily keeping pace with the progress
of the latter, until she becomes Timbuctoo the Great, the city of
universal renown, the fabled Queen of the Sudan.
More than a century of tranquillity now lies before her, the century
of Askia the Great. Owing to his wise creation of a standing army,
his great era of war had no disturbing influence upon the Sudan. The
well-regulated and powerful organisation which, with their viceroys and
governors, he bestowed upon the conquered territories, soon brought
them under control.
The immense kingdom of the Songhois now extended over the desert
from Thegazza to Agades, and the conquered Touaregs renounced their
brigandage to become docile auxiliaries in the hands of Askia. The
routes of the desert were perfectly secure, and the caravans came and
went with an activity hitherto unknown.
This security, spreading north and south of Timbuctoo, was not the only
element of her prosperity, but was seconded by the organisation and
inspection of her markets, the unification of weights and measures,
and the stern suppression of all falsifications. Timbuctoo, more than
any other town in the Sudan, profited by the measures and victories of
Askia the Great.
The city had now doubled its extent. Its houses were well built, and
arranged in orderly streets. The ancient mosques had been restored
and new ones built. A great emigration of Songhois reinforced the
Jennereans, counterbalancing the Arabian and Berber elements, which
had hitherto predominated. The dialects of Jenne and Gao became its
current speech, Arabic remaining the medium of communication with
strangers and the language of science. The university of Sankoré was at
the height of its prosperity, the fame of its professors being known
not only in the black countries but throughout Arabian Africa itself.
Learned strangers flocked hither from Morocco, Tunis, and Egypt. The
civilisation of Arabia clasped hands with the civilisation of Egypt,
and from their union resulted the apogee of Timbuctoo (1494-1591).
Such was her splendour that our imaginations are still dazzled by its
reflections, three centuries after the setting of her star. So great
was her glory that, in spite of all the vicissitudes she has suffered,
her vitality is not yet extinguished.
* * * * *
The decadence of Timbuctoo began with the Moorish conquest in 1591.
The powerful links forged by Askia the Great being once snapped, the
whole of western Africa was shaken. While the last of the Askias was
fighting for national independence on the eastern shores of the Niger,
Jenne revolted in the west, her example being followed by the Touaregs,
Foulbes, and Malinkas. The north and south were thrown into confusion,
and Timbuctoo, their intermediary, seeing her commerce mutilated,
rebelled in her turn. She was brutally repressed by the conquerors, and
the flower of her scholars exiled to Morocco (1594). A terrible dearth,
provoked by the lack of rain, visited the town, and her inhabitants
were reduced to ‘eating the corpses of animals, and even of men.’ This
was followed by the pestilence in 1618.
When the Sudan had once more regained tranquillity, Timbuctoo, by
reason of her proximity to the Moorish frontier, had become the capital
of her conquerors. The rivalries of the Roumas reigned within her
walls, their pashas disputing the supreme power, and their troops
settling their differences in the streets, The town was the constant
scene of some panic, and from the moment the disorganisation of the
Moorish colony became evident, her decline was rapid.
Without, the Touaregs and other nomadic tribes rose again in revolt.
The Roumas were still strong enough to repress them, but one can
imagine the disastrous effect these riots had upon the trade of the
town. Within, the rivalries of the Moorish chiefs grew more and more
bitter. The competitors for the title of Pasha pillaged and otherwise
ill-treated the inhabitants of the town. The population divided, and
took sides with this, that, or the other aspirant. Barricades were
raised, fighting went on in the streets, and the poor pillaged the
wealthy. In 1716 one of these revolutions lasted four months. No one
went to market during all that time, ‘and the grass began to grow
there.’ At another time (1735) one of the rivals seized Kabara, and
prevented the vessels unloading their merchandise and despatching it to
Timbuctoo.
It is not surprising, therefore, that the town was depopulated, and
that the caravans grew fewer and further between. Touaregs, Berbers,
and Foulbes added to the general confusion. They began by disturbing
the outskirts of the town, and it became necessary to place patrols
on the road to Kabara in order to protect the merchants trading with
Timbuctoo. The resistance of the Roumas grew slowly weaker, and in 1770
the veiled men had become strong enough to invest the town for three
months. The Roumas, incapable of enforcing peace, bought it. ‘They paid
the Touaregs a tribute of eighteen of the best horses of the town,
twelve hundred garments, and seven thousand mitkals of gold.’
The nomads spread freely over the banks and valley of the Niger,
pillaging the vessels making for Kabara, and thus injuring, even at a
distance, the trade of Timbuctoo.
[Illustration: PANORAMA OF TIMBUCTOO]
In the beginning of the nineteenth century the city had relapsed into
the same state as that preceding its conquest by Sunni Ali. The Roumas
had become the mere representatives of the Touaregs, governing and
imposing taxes in their name. Straw huts increased in numbers, and the
new quarters at the north of the city, which had been built in the time
of Askia, were completely deserted, the houses falling into ruins. As
its decline became more accentuated the town diminished in extent until
it had shrunk to its dimensions of the sixteenth century.
Timbuctoo was re-delivered from the hands of the Touaregs in 1827.
Cheikou Ahmadou, the Foulbean leader, made successful war against
the nomads, and took possession of the town. But the Touaregs, grown
aggressive, wearied out his successor, who agreed, for the sake of
peace, to pay them a third of the taxes levied upon the city. This
understanding lasted until El Hadj Omar destroyed the power of the
Foulbes in 1861.
The most critical period of her history now opened for Timbuctoo. The
roads of the Sudan and desert alike had never been less safe, nor had
her commerce ever encountered such difficulties, all security having
disappeared in the town itself.
If Timbuctoo was now without a master, she was in the possession of a
thousand tyrants. Touaregs, Tenguaragifs and Irregenaten divided her
among themselves and adorned her with the tragic and sordid attire
which now clothes the Queen of the Sudan.
[Illustration]
That time has been described to me in the following words: ‘Thou hast
seen those veiled men in sombre garments, with chest and back covered
with red and yellow talismans as though by cuirasses. When they come
to us now they are modest, but before the French arrived they walked
insolently through the streets, carrying iron spears. Every year we
paid them tribute in gold or kind, corn, salt, garments, and turbans,
etc. Their chiefs with their retinues were well lodged when they came
here. The caravans bound for this town paid them toll in the desert,
and they exacted toll upon the river also, from the fleets going to
Kabara. This did not suffice them; these were the least of our evils.
From one end of the year to the other they treated us as captives of
war, as slaves. They were constantly arriving in groups and dispersing
through the town. All doors were closed as soon as they appeared, but
they beat upon the doors, and thou canst see the traces of the heavy
blows from their lances everywhere. We were forced to open to them,
and without paying the least attention to the master of the house or
his family, they would install themselves in the best rooms, taking
all the cushions and couches, insolently demanding food and drink, and
insisting upon having sugar, honey, and meat. On departing to rejoin
their camp the only acknowledgment they made was to steal something
from the house and spit upon their host.
‘If they alighted upon some man too poor to satisfy their exactions,
they vented their ill-humour by destroying his belongings, and any
attempt at resistance was met by their raised spear. If they arrived at
midnight, accommodation must be found and a repast prepared for them.
‘They took possession of anything that pleased them in the markets. All
the shops and sellers of stuffs and garments had people posted about
the town to give notice of their appearance, and every one barricaded
their doors. They robbed the passers-by in the streets. If they met a
man wearing a beautifully embroidered robe or a new garment, or even
only a clean one, they instantly despoiled him of it. They snatched the
golden ornaments, coral necklaces, and adornments of glass beads from
the women, and plundered children and slaves in the same manner.
‘The schools were formerly held in front of the houses of the masters,
and our children played in the streets as in other parts of the Sudan.
But the Touaregs used to seize them and carry them off, and only
restored them to us upon the payment of heavy ransoms. If a man whom
they suspected of being rich had hidden all his valuables, they would
leave some small thing behind on quitting his house, and then would
return in numbers, crying out that they had been robbed, and the man
would be forced to pay an indemnity.’
These narratives would be interrupted by sundry resigned ‘_Imsh
Allah!_’ (May God’s will be done). ‘But why did you not unite against
your enemies?’ I asked them. ‘Oh, if we resisted them it was still
worse. One day some Touaregs met a young man returning from the market
with some meat he had bought. They took his purchase from him, and when
the young man resisted, the Abandoned of God killed him with their
spears. All for a piece of meat! At another time a woman who was alone
in a house was ill-treated by one of them. Her cries attracted her
brother, who mortally wounded the Touareg in his wrath. The avenger
immediately fled and sought refuge in Sarafara, but he was forced to
return, and the veiled men cut his throat as they would a sheep’s.
‘We could not prevail against them, because we are merchants and not
fighters. And if we had subdued them in the town they would still
have remained our masters, because they controlled the routes of the
caravans and the road to Kabara. They could have ruined us and left us
to die of hunger whenever they liked.
‘Strangers sometimes gave these hyænas a lesson. Four or five years
ago a caravan from the south, composed of three hundred of the men of
Mossi, was staying in the town. One of them, wearing a beautiful new
turban, encountered a Touareg, who snatched it from his head and ran
away. But the people of Mossi are active and brave, and this man gave
chase to the thief and overpowered him. Other Touaregs, however, came
up and rescued their companion.
‘The man of Mossi ran to the chief of the caravan, who said, “Beat the
alarum of the people of Mossi upon the tom-toms.” His people, armed
with spears and bows and arrows, came running to answer the summons.
Their chief distributed honey-dolo, and they set out to find the
Touaregs. The principal personages of Timbuctoo sought to prevent the
conflict. “No!” replied the chief, “we are strangers here and your
sacred guests. We have been injured, and we will avenge ourselves or
die.” The kaid of the town offered to give them a similar turban. “No,”
said the chief of the Mossi, “it is the Touaregs who have stolen it,
and it is they who must make amends.” They were only to be appeased on
hearing that the Touaregs had prudently quitted the town.’
* * * * *
[Illustration: A THOROUGHFARE IN TIMBUCTOO]
Such was the existence of Timbuctoo during the last thirty-five years.
One can imagine the disastrous results such a state of affairs was
bound to produce in the long-run. Finding themselves thus molested,
the strangers who ventured there gradually lessened in numbers. Weary
of living in a constant state of alarm, and of submitting to exactions
to which they saw no end, the people began to emigrate. The strangers
who had settled in the city returned to their native country. Natives
who had relations in the neighbouring countries joined them there.
The deserted houses cracked, their walls crumbled and fell to pieces,
forming the unexpected and inexplicable heaps of ruins which greeted
me on my arrival.
The poorest and wealthiest alone remained faithful to the city. The
first, living in straw huts, possessed nothing, and consequently had
nothing to lose. The second, the opulent merchants, could, owing to
their great fortunes, manage to endure these annoyances, and the
emigration of the smaller traders, moreover, permitted them to augment
their business, and therefore their profits.
No one ever gets accustomed to pillage and ill-treatment however,
whatever the compensations may be; and to avoid being robbed in
the open street, and seeing their houses turned upside down, the
inhabitants adopted a new manner of living. They transformed their
garments and dwellings, and ceasing to be Timbuctoo the Great, they
became Timbuctoo the Mysterious.
Instead of the imposing white turbans of the natives and the beautiful
dark ones (made of shining tissues) of the Moors, the people cover
their heads with unappetising rags, or cheap caps. Shabby old shoes
are substituted for the yellow Turkish slippers of the women and the
silk embroidered, soft, red leather boots of the men. The caftans and
the ample garments of dazzling whiteness, the beautifully embroidered
vestments, the fringed and ornamented _Dissas_ (thrown over the
shoulder as the toreador wears his cloak), have all disappeared. They
wear instead old scanty clothes, whose dirtiness, being their sole
adornment, offers no temptation to the Touaregs. In place of the long
cane, ornamented with leather or chased iron, on which the Sudanese
loves to support his fine form, they use a plain stick of a cheap white
wood. Their one idea being to avoid any sign of affluence which might
attract the attention of their oppressors.
On the few occasions of their going out, the women attire themselves in
the coarsest stuffs, and take off all their gold and amber ornaments,
and the slaves, before going to fetch water at the town gates, hide
their modest jewellery. The children are kept inside the courts, and
the schoolmaster holds his classes within his house.
[Illustration: SUDANESE WEARING THE ‘DISSA’]
The houses are disguised like their owners, and, to escape the visits
of the veiled men, all appearance of wealth and prosperity is avoided.
I will not assert that they are voluntarily defaced, but time and
weather are allowed to work their will upon them unhindered. The
tornadoes of winter have been permitted to wash away the rough-casting
and expose the baked bricks of the façades; the walls of their terraces
have crumbled, and the little Moorish windows fallen away. In front of
the houses, the banks of earth (tim-tims) on which the well-to-do were
wont to pass their hours of leisure have entirely disappeared.
By these means the town very soon acquired a tumble-down and battered
appearance. Everything seems to be falling into the streets, except
the doors--those obstinately closed doors that had so astonished me on
my arrival. They are the objects of the most studied care, and are set
up regardless of cost. Heavy planks of a very hard wood are brought
from a distance for this purpose, and are adorned with armour like any
gentleman of Agincourt. Thus barricaded, the inhabitants, under cover
of a simulated misery, live the silent life of the cloisters. They have
given up grinding their kuss-kuss in the great wooden mortars common
to the Sudan, and now crush the grain between two stones and pound
it without noise, for the sound of the heavy pestle would inevitably
attract some marauding Touareg in search of a meal. If a knocking
on the door is heard, the whole household, hastily concealing its
valuables, assumes the silence of death. The unfamiliar visitor has
to loudly recite his names, his recommendations, and the purpose of
his visit. If his discourse is judged satisfactory, and it is decided
to show some sign of life, there are still questions to be asked and
answered before the door is finally opened.
[Illustration: TIMBUCTOO: A CORNER OF THE TOWN]
The same mystery naturally attends all business transactions; a moment
must be snatched when all Touaregs are known to be at some distance,
otherwise it is necessary to wait until nightfall.
I was initiated into the secret of Timbuctoo, and her disastrous
appearance was explained to me. With my narrators for guides I explored
the same streets and houses that I had seen on my arrival. The armoured
doors were opened for me, and there lay revealed all that these
tumble-down old places concealed. I was seized with admiration both for
the splendour of Timbuctoo’s past and her ingenuity and tenacity of
to-day.
[Illustration: A CARAVAN]