BORNU.
POSITION OF THE KINGDOM OF BORNU -- APPEARANCE OF THE PEOPLE -- MODE
OF DRESSING THE HAIR -- A RECEPTION BY THE SULTAN -- COURT DRESS --
THE SHEIKH OF BORNU -- HIS PALACE AND ATTENDANTS -- HIS NOBLE AND
ENERGETIC CHARACTER -- RECEPTION BY THE GUARDS -- THEIR WEAPONS AND
DISCIPLINE -- THE KANEMBOO INFANTRY -- JUSTICE OF THE SHEIKH -- HIS
POLICY AND TACT -- REPUTED POWER OF CHARM WRITING -- HIS ZEAL FOR
RELIGION -- A TERRIBLE PUNISHMENT -- BORNU ARCHITECTURE -- CURIOUS
MODES OF FISHING AND HUNTING -- HABITS AND CUSTOMS OF THE KANEMBOOS.
On the western side of Lake Tchad, between 10° and 15° N. and 12°
and 18° E., is situated the large kingdom of Bornu, which embraces
a considerable number of tribes, and is of sufficient importance to
demand a notice. There are about twelve or thirteen great cities in
Bornu, and at least ten different dialects are spoken in the country,
some having been due to the presence of the Shooas, who themselves
speak nearly pure Arabic.
The pure Bornu people, or Kanowry, as they call themselves, are not
handsome, having large, flat, and rather unmeaning faces, with flattish
noses, and large mouths. The lips, however, are not those of the negro,
and the forehead is high, betokening a greater amount of intellect than
falls to the lot of the real negro.
As a rule, the Bornuese are not a wealthy people, and they are but
indifferently clad, wearing a kind of shirt stained of an indigo blue
by themselves, and, if they are tolerably well off, wearing two or even
three such garments, according to their means. The head is kept closely
shaven, and the better class wear a cap of dark blue, the scarlet caps
being appropriated to the sultan and his court. When they walk they
always carry a heavy stick with an enormous knob at the top, like a
drum-major’s bâton, and march much after the manner of that important
functionary.
The women are remarkable for the mode in which they dress their hair.
It is divided into three longitudinal rolls, thick in the middle and
diminishing toward the ends. One of these rolls passes over the top of
the head, and the others lie over the ears, the three points uniting
on the forehead, and being held firmly in their places by a thick
plastering of beeswax and indigo. The other ends of the rolls are
plaited very finely, and then turned up like the curled feathers of a
drake’s tail.
Sometimes a slight variation is made in the hair, five rolls being used
instead of three. The women are so fond of indigo that they dye their
eyebrows, hands, arms, feet, and legs with it, using the ruddy henna
for the palms of the hands and the nails of the toes and fingers, and
black antimony for the eyelashes. Beads, bracelets, and other ornaments
are profusely worn, mostly of horn or brass. Silver and ivory mark
the woman of rank. The dress is primarily composed of a sort of blue,
white, or striped sheet called _toorkadee_, which is wrapped round the
body under the arms, and falls as low as the knees. This is the usual
costume, but if a woman be well off, she adds a second toorkadee, which
she wears like a mantilla, over her head and shoulders.
Like other African tribes, though they belong to the Mahometan
religion, they use the tattoo profusely. Twenty cuts are made on each
side of the face, converging in the corners of the mouth, from the
angle of the lower jaw and the cheek-bones, while a single cut runs
down the centre of the forehead. Six cuts are made on each arm, six
more on the thighs, and the same number on the legs, while four are
on each breast, and nine on each side just above the hip-bone. These
are made while they are infants, and the poor little things undergo
frightful torments, not only from the pain of the wounds, but from the
countless flies which settle on the hundred and three cuts with which
their bodies are marked.
The Bornuese are governed, at least nominally, by a head chief or
sultan, who holds his court with most quaint ceremony. When the
travellers Denham and Clapperton went to pay their respects to
him, they were visited on the previous evening by one of the royal
chamberlains, who displayed the enormous staff, like a drum-major’s
bâton, wore eight or ten shirts in order to exhibit his wealth, and
had on his head a turban of huge dimensions. By his orders a tent was
pitched for the white visitors, and around it was drawn a linen screen,
which had the double effect of keeping out the sun and the people, and
of admitting the air. A royal banquet, consisting of seventy or eighty
dishes, was sent for their refection, each dish large enough to suffice
for six persons, and, lest the white men should not like the native
cookery, the sultan, with much thoughtfulness, sent also a number of
live fowls, which they might cook for themselves.
Next morning, soon after daylight, they were summoned to attend the
sultan, who was sitting in a sort of cage, as if he had been a wild
beast. No one was allowed to come within a considerable distance, and
the etiquette of the court was, that each person rode on horseback past
the cage, and then dismounted and prostrated himself before the sultan.
The oddest part of the ceremony is, that as soon as the courtier has
made his obeisance, he seats himself on the ground with his _back_
toward his monarch. Nearly three hundred of the courtiers thus take
their places, and nothing could be more ludicrous than the appearance
which they presented, their bodies being puffed out by successive
robes, their heads swathed in turbans of the most preposterous size,
and their thin legs, appearing under the voluminous garments, showing
that the size of the head and body was merely artificial.
In fact, the whole business is a sham, the sultan being the chief
sham, and the others matching their sovereign. The sultan has no real
authority, the true power being lodged in the hands of the sheikh, who
commands the army. Those who serve the court of Bornu are, by ancient
etiquette, obliged to have very large heads and stomachs, and, as
such gifts of nature are not very common, an artificial enlargement
of both regions is held to be a sufficient compliance with custom.
Consequently, the courtiers pad themselves with wadding to such an
extent that as they sit on horseback their abdomens seem to protrude
over the pommel of the saddle, while the eight or ten shirts which they
wear, one over the other, aid in exaggerating the outline, and reducing
the human body to a shapeless lump.
Their heads are treated in a similar fashion, being enveloped in
great folds of linen or muslin of different colors, white, however,
predominating; and those who are most careful in their dress fold their
huge turbans so as to make their heads appear to be one-sided, and
as unlike their original shape as possible. Besides all these robes
and shirts and padding, they wear a vast number of charms, made up in
red leather parcels, and hung all over the body. The sultan is always
accompanied by his trumpeters, who blow hideous blasts on long wooden
trumpets called frum-frums, and also by his dwarfs, and other grotesque
favorites.
In war, as in peace, the sultan is nominally the commander, and in
reality a mere nonentity. He accompanies the sheikh, but never gives
orders, nor even carries arms, active fighting being supposed to be
below his dignity. One of the sultans lost his life in consequence of
this rule. According to custom he had accompanied the sheikh in a war
against the great enemy of Bornu, the Sultan of Begharmi, and, contrary
to the usual result of these battles, the engagement had gone against
him, and he was obliged to take refuge in flight. Unfortunately for
him, though he was qualified by nature for royalty, being large-bodied
and of enormous weight, yet his horse could not carry him fast enough.
He fled to Angala, one of his chief towns, and if he could have entered
it would have been safe. But his enormous weight had distressed his
horse so much that the animal suddenly stopped close to the gate, and
could not be induced to stir.
The sultan, true to the principle of _noblesse oblige_, accepted the
position at once. He dismounted from his horse, wrapped his face in the
shawl which covered his head, seated himself under a tree, and died
as became his rank. Twelve of his attendants refused to leave their
master, and nobly shared his death.
Around the sultan are his inevitable musicians, continually blowing
their frum-frums or trumpets, which are sometimes ten or twelve feet in
length, and in front goes his ensign, bearing his standard, which is
a long pole hung round at the top with strips of colored leather and
silk. At either side are two officers, carrying enormous spears, with
which they are supposed to defend their monarch. This, however, is as
much a sham as the rest of the proceedings; for, in the first place,
the spearmen are so fat and their weapons so unwieldy that they could
not do the least execution, and, as if to render the spears still more
harmless, they are covered with charms from the head to the butt.
It has been mentioned that the real power of Bornu rests, not with the
sultan, but with the sheikh. This potentate was found to be of simple
personal habits, yet surrounded with state equal to that of the sultan,
though differing in degree. Dressed in a plain blue robe and a shawl
turban, he preferred to sit quietly in a small and dark room, attended
by two of his favorite negroes armed with pistols, and having a brace
of pistols lying on a carpet in front of him.
But the approaches to this chamber were rigorously guarded. Sentinels
stood at the gate, and intercepted those who wished to enter, and
would not allow them to mount the staircase which led to the sheikh’s
apartment until they were satisfied. At the top of the staircase were
negro guards armed with spears, which they crossed in front of the
visitor, and again questioned him. Then the passages leading to the
sheikh’s chamber were lined with rows of squatting attendants, who
snatched off the slippers of the visitors, and continually impeded
their progress by seizing their ankles, lest they should infringe
etiquette by walking too fast. Indeed, had not the passages been
densely crowded, the guests would have been several times flung on
their faces by the zeal of these courtiers.
At last they gained admission, and found this dread potentate a
singularly quiet and unassuming man, well-disposed toward the
travellers, and very grateful to them for the double-barrelled gun and
pistols which they presented to him. In return, he fed them liberally,
sending them fish by the camel load, and other provisions in like
quantity.
According to his warlike disposition, his conversation chiefly turned
on military affairs, and especially on the best mode of attacking
walled towns. The account of breaching batteries had a great effect
upon him, and the exhibition of a couple of rockets confirmed him in
his respect for the wisdom of the English. Being a thoughtful man,
he asked to see some rockets fired, because there were in the town
a number of the hostile Shooas. The rockets were fired accordingly,
and had the desired effect, frightening not only the Shooas, but all
the inhabitants of the town, out of their senses, and even the steady
nerves of the sheikh himself were much shaken.
The sheikh was a great disciplinarian, and managed his wild cavalry
with singular skill, as is shown by the account of Major Denham. “Our
accounts had been so contradictory of the state of the country that
no opinion could be formed as to the real condition and the number of
its inhabitants. We had been told that the sheikh’s soldiers were a
few ragged negroes armed with spears, who lived upon the plunder of
the black Kaffir countries by which he was surrounded, and which he
was able to subdue by the assistance of a few Arabs who were in his
service; and, again, we had been assured that his forces were not only
numerous, but to a degree regularly trained. The degree of credit which
might be attached to these reports was nearly balanced in the scales
of probability, and we advanced toward the town of Kouka in a most
interesting state of uncertainty whether we should find its chief at
the head of thousands, or be received by him under a tree, surrounded
by a few naked slaves.
“These doubts, however, were quickly removed. I had ridden on a short
distance in front of Boo-Khaloom, with his train of Arabs all mounted
and dressed out in their best apparel, and, from the thickness of the
trees, now lost sight of them. Fancying that the road could not be
mistaken I rode still onward, and, approaching a spot less thickly
planted, was surprised to see in front of me a body of several thousand
cavalry drawn up in line, and extending right and left as far as I
could see. Checking my horse I awaited the arrival of my party under
the shade of a wide-spreading acacia. The Bornu troops remained quite
steady, without noise or confusion; and a few horsemen, who were moving
about in front, giving directions, were the only persons out of the
ranks.
“On the Arabs appearing in sight, a shout or yell was given by the
sheikh’s people, which rent the air; a blast was blown from their
rude instruments of music equally loud, and they moved on to meet
Boo-Khaloom and his Arabs. There was an appearance of tact and
management in their movements, which astonished me. Three separate
bodies from the centre of each flank kept charging rapidly toward us,
within a few feet of our horses’ heads, without checking the speed of
their own until the moment of their halt, while the whole body moved
onward.
“These parties were mounted on small but very perfect horses, who
stopped and wheeled from their utmost speed with the greatest precision
and expertness, shaking their spears over their heads, and exclaiming,
‘Blessing! blessing! Sons of your country! Sons of your country!’ and
returning quickly to the front of the body in order to repeat the
charge. While all this was going on, they closed in their right and
left flanks, and surrounded the little body of Arabs so completely as
to give the compliment of welcoming them very much the appearance of a
declaration of their contempt for their weakness.
“I was quite sure this was premeditated; we were all so closely pressed
as to be nearly smothered, and in some danger from the crowding of the
horses and clashing of the spears. Moving on was impossible, and we
therefore came to a full stop. Our chief was much enraged, but it was
all to no purpose: he was only answered by shrieks of ‘Welcome!’ and
spears most unpleasantly rattled over our heads expressive of the same
feeling.
“This annoyance was not, however, of long duration. Barca Gana, the
sheikh’s first general, a negro of noble aspect, clothed in a figured
silk robe, and mounted upon a beautiful Mandara horse, made his
appearance, and after a little delay the rear was cleared of those who
had pressed in upon us, and we moved forward, although but very slowly,
from the frequent impediments thrown in our way by these wild warriors.
“The sheikh’s negroes, as they were called, meaning the black chiefs
and generals, all raised to that rank by some deed of bravery, were
habited in coats of mail composed of iron chain, which covered them
from the throat to the knees, dividing behind, and coming on each side
of the horse. Some of them had helmets, or rather skull-caps, of the
same metal, with chin-pieces, all sufficiently strong to ward off the
shock of a spear. Their horses’ heads were also defended by plates of
iron, brass, and silver, just leaving sufficient room for the eyes of
the animal.”
In my collection there is one of the remarkable spears carried by
these horsemen. In total length it is nearly six feet long, of which
the long, slender, leaf-like blade occupies twenty inches. The shaft
is five-eighths of an inch in diameter at the thickest part, but
diminishes toward the head and butt. The material of the shaft is some
hard, dark wood, which takes a high polish, and is of a rich brown
color. The head is secured to the shaft by means of a rather long
socket, and at the butt there is a sort of iron spud, also furnished
with a socket, so that the length of the wooden portion of the spear is
only thirty-two inches. It is a light, well-balanced, and apparently
serviceable weapon.
Besides these weapons, there are several others, offensive and
defensive. The chiefs wear a really well-formed cuirass made of iron
plates, and having an ingenious addition of a kind of steel upright
collar attached to the back piece of the cuirass, and protecting the
nape of the neck. The cuirass is made of five plates of steel, laid
horizontally and riveted to each other, and of as many similar plates
attached to them perpendicularly, and forming the back piece and
shoulder straps. It is made to open at one side to admit of being put
on and off, and the two halves are kept together by loops and links,
which take the place of straps and buckles.
The chief’s horses are also distinguished by the quantity of armor with
which they are protected, an iron chamfron covering the whole of the
forehead, and extending as far as the nostrils.
By the saddle-bow hangs a battle-axe, shaped exactly like those axes
with which we have been so familiar in Southern and Central Africa,
but being distinguished from them by the fact that an iron chain is
passed through a hole in that part of the head which passes through
the knob at the end of the handle, the other end of the chain being
attached to a ring that slides freely up and down the handle. This
arrangement enables the warrior to secure and replace the head of the
axe if it should be struck out of the handle in the heat of battle. A
long double-edged dagger, shaped almost exactly like the spear head,
is fastened to the left arm by a strap, and is carried with the hilt
downward.
The infantry carry, together with other weapons, an iron axe, shaped
like a sickle, and closely resembling the weapon which has been
mentioned as used by the Neam-Nam and Fan tribes. This is called the
“hunga-munga,” and is used for throwing at a retreating enemy. The
infantry are mostly Kanemboo negroes. They are a tall, muscular race,
and, being also courageous, have well deserved the estimation in which
they are held by their master. Unlike the horsemen, they are almost
completely naked, their only clothing being a rather fantastical belt,
or “sporran” of goat-skin, with the hair still remaining on the skin,
and a few strips of cloth, called “gubkas,” tied round their heads, and
brought under the nose. These gubkas are the currency of the country,
so that a soldier carries his wealth on his head.
Their principal weapons are the spear and shield. The former is a very
horrible weapon, seven feet or so in length, and armed with a number of
hook-shaped barbs. The shield is made from the wood of the fogo, a tree
which grows in the shallow waters of Lake Tchad, and which is so light
that, although the shield is large enough to protect the whole body and
upper part of the legs, it only weighs a few pounds. The pieces of wood
of which it is made are bound together by strips of raw bullock’s hide,
on which the hair is suffered to remain as an ornament, and which,
after doing their duty, are carried along the outer edge of the shield
in a vandyked pattern. The shield is slightly convex. Besides the
spear and shield, the Kanemboo soldier mostly carries on his left arm
a dagger like that which has already been described, but not so neatly
made. The Kanemboos will be presently described.
At least nine thousand of these black soldiers are under the command of
the sheikh, and are divided into regiments of a thousand or so strong.
It may be imagined that they are really formidable troops, especially
under the command of such a leader, who, as will be seen by Major
Denham’s description of a review, had introduced strict discipline
and a rough-and-ready sort of tactics. The sheikh had ordered out the
Kanemboo soldiers, and galloped toward them on his favorite horse,
accompanied by four sultans who were under his command. His staff were
gaily adorned with scarlet bernouses decorated with gold lace, while he
himself preserved his usual simplicity of dress, his robes being white,
and a Cashmere shawl forming his turban. As soon as he gave the signal,
the Kanemboos raised a deafening shout, and began their manœuvres,
their officers being distinguished by wearing a dark blue robe and
turban.
“On nearing the spot where the sheikh had placed himself, they
quickened their pace, and after striking their spears against their
shields for some minutes, which had an extremely grand and stunning
effect, they filed off to the outside of the circle, where they again
formed and awaited their companions, who succeeded them in the same
order. There appeared to be a great deal of affection between these
troops and the sheikh. He spurred his horse onward into the midst of
some of the tribes as they came up, and spoke to them, while the men
crowded round him, kissing his feet and the stirrups of his saddle.
It was a most pleasing sight. He seemed to feel how much his present
elevation was owing to their exertions, while they displayed a devotion
and attachment deserving and denoting the greatest confidence.
“I confess I was considerably disappointed at not seeing these troops
engage, although more than compensated by the reflection of the
slaughter that had been prevented by that disappointment.”
It seems rather curious that this leader, so military in all his
thoughts, should take women with him into the field, especially when he
had to fight against the terrible Munga archers, whose poisoned arrows
are certain death to all who are wounded by them. Yet, whenever he
takes the field, he is accompanied by three of his favorite wives, who
are mounted on trained horses, each being led by a boy, and their whole
figures and faces so wrapped in their wide robes that the human form
is scarcely distinguishable. The sultan, as becomes his superior rank,
takes with him an unlimited number of wives, accompanied by a small
court of palace officers. Nine, however, is the usual number allotted
to the sultan, and there are nearly a hundred non-combatants to wait
upon them.
The army, well ordered as it is, shows little signs of its discipline
until it is near the enemy, the troops marching much as they like, and
beguiling the journey with songs and tales. As soon, however, as they
come within dangerous ground, the sheikh gives the word, and they all
fall into their places, and become steady and well-disciplined troops.
The sheikh’s place is one of no ordinary peril, for, besides having
the responsibility of command, and the practical care of the sultan’s
unwieldy person, he is the object at which the enemy all aim, knowing
well that, if they can only kill the sheikh, their victory is assured.
This particular sheikh entirely disregarded all notion of personal
danger, and was the most conspicuous personage in the army. He marches
in front of his soldiers, and before him are borne five flags--two
green, two striped, and one red--upon which are written in letters of
gold extracts from the Koran. Behind him rides his favorite attendant,
bearing his master’s shield, mail coat, and helmet, and beside him is
the bearer of his drum which is considered as almost equivalent to
himself in value. The Begharmis say of this sheikh, that it is useless
to attack him, because he has the power of rendering himself invisible;
and that on one occasion, when they routed his army, and pursued the
sheikh himself, they could not see either him or his drum, though the
instrument was continually sounding.
Before passing to another branch of this subject, we will finish our
account of this sheikh. His name was Alameen Ben Mohammed el Kanemy,
and, according to Major Denham’s portrait, he was a man of mark, his
boldly-cut features expressing his energetic character even under the
folds of the turban and tobe in which he habitually enveloped himself.
Being the virtual ruler of the kingdom, he administered justice as well
as waged war, and did so with stern impartiality.
On one occasion, when a slave had offended against the law, and was
condemned to death, his master petitioned the sheikh against the
capital punishment, saying that, as the slave was his property, the
real punishment fell upon him, who was not even cognizant of his
slave’s offence. The sheikh admitted the validity of the plea, but
said that public justice could not be expected to yield to private
interests. So he ordered the delinquent for execution, but paid his
price to the owner out of his own purse.
He was equally judicious in enforcing his own authority. His favorite
officer was Barca Gana, who has already been mentioned. El Kanemy had
an especial liking for this man, and had committed to his care the
government of six districts, besides enriching him with numbers of
slaves, horses, and other valuable property. It happened that on one
occasion El Kanemy had sent him a horse which he had inadvertently
promised to another person, and which, accordingly, Barca Gana had to
give up. Being enraged by this proceeding, he sent back to the sheikh
all the animals he had presented, saying that in future he would ride
his own animals.
El Kanemy was not a man to suffer such an insolent message to be given
with impunity. He sent for Barca Gana, stripped him on the spot of all
his gorgeous clothing, substituted the slave’s leathern girdle for his
robes, and ordered him to be sold as a slave to the Tibboos. Humbled
to the dust, the disgraced general acknowledged the justice of the
sentence, and only begged that his master’s displeasure might not fall
on his wives and children. Next day, as Barca Gana was about to be led
away to the Tibboos, the negro body guards, who seem to have respected
their general for his courage in spite of his haughty and somewhat
overbearing manner, came before the sheikh, and begged him to pardon
their commander. Just at that moment the disgraced chief came before
his offended master, to take leave before going off with the Tibboos to
whom he had been sold.
El Kanemy was quite overcome by the sight, flung himself back on his
carpet, wept like a child, allowed Barca Gana to embrace his knees,
and gave his free pardon. “In the evening there was great and general
rejoicing. The timbrels beat, the Kanemboos yelled and struck their
shields; everything bespoke joy, and Barca Gana, in new robes and a
rich bernouse, rode round the camp, followed by all the chiefs of the
army.”
Even in war, El Kanemy permitted policy and tact to overcome the
national feeling of revenge. For example, the formidable Munga tribe,
of whom we shall presently treat, had proved themselves exceedingly
troublesome, and the sheikh threatened to exterminate them--a threat
which he could certainly have carried out, though with much loss of
life. He did not, however, intend to fulfil the threat, but tried,
by working on their fears and their interests, to conciliate them,
and to make them his allies rather than his foes. He did not only
frighten them by his splendidly-appointed troops, but awed them by
his accomplishments as a writer, copying out a vast number of charmed
sentences for three successive nights. The illiterate Mungas thought
that such a proceeding was a proof of supernatural power, and yielded
to his wisdom what they would not have yielded to his veritable power.
They said it was useless to fight against a man who had such terrible
powers. Night after night, as he wrote the potent words, their arrows
were blunted in their quivers. Their spears snapped asunder, and
their weapons were removed out of their huts, so that some of the
chiefs absolutely became ill with terror, and all agreed that they
had better conclude peace at once. The performance of Major Denham’s
rockets had also reached their ears, and had added much to the general
consternation.
He carried his zeal for religion to the extreme of fanaticism,
constituting himself the guardian of public morals, and visiting
offences with the severest penalties. He was especially hard on the
women, over whom he kept a vigilant watch by means of his spies. On one
occasion, two young girls of seventeen were found guilty, and condemned
to be hanged. Great remonstrances were made. The lover of one of the
girls, who had previously offered to marry her, threatened to kill any
one who placed a rope round her neck, and a general excitement pervaded
the place. For a long time the sheikh remained inexorable, but at last
compounded the affair by having their heads shaved publicly in the
market-place--a disgrace scarcely less endurable than death.
On another occasion the delinquents had exaggerated their offence by
committing it during the fast of the Rhamadan. The man was sentenced to
four hundred stripes, and the woman to half that number. The punishment
was immediate. The woman was stripped of her ornaments and all her
garments, except a cloth round the middle, and her head shaved. She was
then suspended by the cloth, and the punishment inflicted.
Her partner was treated far worse. The whip was a terrible weapon, made
of the skin of the hippopotamus, and having a metal knob on the end.
Each blow was struck on the back, so that the lash curled round the
body, and the heavy knob came with terrible violence on the breast and
stomach. Before half the lashes were inflicted, blood flowed profusely
from his mouth, and, a short time after the culprit was taken down, he
was dead. Strange to say, he acknowledged the justice of the sentence,
kissed the weapon, joined in the profession of faith which was said
before the punishment began, and never uttered a cry.
Fierce in war, and, as we have seen, a savage fanatic in religion, the
sheikh was no stranger to the softer emotions. Major Denham showed him
a curious musical snuff-box, the sweetness of which entranced him. He
sat with his head in his hands, as if in a dream; and when one of his
courtiers spoke, he struck the man a violent blow for interrupting the
sweet sounds.
His punishment for theft was usually a severe flogging and a heavy
fine. But, in cases of a first offence of a young delinquent, the
offender was buried in the ground up to his shoulders, and his head
and neck smeared with honey. The swarms of flies that settled on the
poor wretch’s head made his existence miserable during the time that
he was thus buried, and no one who had undergone such a punishment
once would be likely to run the risk of suffering it again, even
though it did no permanent injury, like the whip. Beheading is also a
punishment reserved for Mahometans, while “Kaffirs” are either impaled
or crucified, sometimes living for several days in torments.
The slaves of the Bornuese are treated with great kindness, and
are almost considered as belonging to their master’s family, their
condition being very like that of the slaves or servants, as they are
called, of the patriarchal ages. Much of the marketing is done by
female slaves, who take to market whole strings of oxen laden with
goods or cowries, and conduct the transaction with perfect honesty.
The market, by the way, in which these women buy and sell, is really
a remarkable place. It is regulated in the strictest manner, and is
divided into districts, in each of which different articles are sold.
It is governed by a sheikh, who regulates all the prices, and gets
his living by a small commission of about a half per cent. on every
purchase that exceeds four dollars. He is aided by dylalas, or brokers,
who write their private mark inside every parcel.
The whole place is filled with rows of stalls, in which are to be found
everything that a Bornuese can want, and one great convenience of the
place is, that a parcel need never be examined in order to discover
whether any fraud has been perpetrated. Should a parcel, when opened at
home, be defective, the buyer sends it back to the dylala, who is bound
to find out the seller, and to force him to take back the parcel and
refund the money. As an example of the strange things which are sold
in this market, Major Denham mentions that a young lion was offered to
him. It was perfectly tame, and was led about by a cord round his neck,
walking among the people without displaying any ferocity. Tame lions
seem to be fashionable in Bornu, as the sheikh afterward sent Major
Denham another lion equally tame.
The architecture of the Bornuese is superior to that of Dahome. “The
towns,” writes Major Denham, “are generally large, and well built: they
have walls thirty-five and forty feet in height, and nearly twenty
feet in thickness. They have four entrances, with three gates to each,
made of solid planks eight or ten inches thick, and fastened together
with heavy clamps of iron. The houses consist of several courtyards
between four walls, with apartments leading out of them for slaves,
then a passage and an inner court leading into habitations of the
different wives, which have each a square space to themselves, enclosed
by walls, and a handsome thatched hut. From thence also you ascend a
wide staircase of five or six steps, leading to the apartments of the
owner, which consist of two buildings like towers or turrets, with a
terrace of communication between them, looking into the street, with a
castellated window. The walls are made of reddish clay, as smooth as
stones, and the roofs are most tastefully arched on the inside with
branches, and thatched on the outside with a grass known in Bombay by
the name of _lidther_.
“The horns of the gazelle and antelope serve as a substitute for
nails or pegs. These are fixed in different parts of the walls, and
on them hang the quivers, bows, spears, and shields of the chief. A
man of consequence will sometimes have four of these terraces and
eight turrets, forming the faces of his mansion or domain, with all
the apartments of his women within the space below. Horses and other
animals are usually allowed an enclosure near one of the courtyards
forming the entrance,”
Such houses as these belong only to the wealthy, and those of the poor
are of a much simpler description, being built of straw, reeds, or
mats, the latter being the favorite material.
As is mostly the case in polygamous Africa, each wife has her own
special house, or rather hut, which is usually of the kind called
“coosie,” _i. e._ one that is built entirely of sticks and straw. The
wives are obliged to be very humble in presence of their husbands, whom
they always approach on their knees, and they are not allowed to speak
to any of the male sex except kneeling, and with their heads and faces
covered. Marriage is later in Bornu than in many parts of Africa, the
girls scarcely ever marrying until they are full fifteen, and mostly
being a year or two older.
Weddings are conducted in a ceremonious and noisy manner. The bride
is perched on the back of an ox, and rides to the bridegroom’s house
attended by her mother and friends, and followed by other oxen carrying
her dowry, which mostly consists of toorkadees and other raiment.
All her male friends are mounted, and dash up to her at full gallop,
this being the recognized salute on such occasions. The bridegroom is
in the mean time parading the streets with a shouting mob after him,
or sitting in his house with the same shouting mob in front of him,
yelling out vociferous congratulations, blowing horns, beating drums,
and, in fact, letting their African nature have its full sway.
In this country, the people have a very ingenious method of
counteracting the effects of the rain storms, which come on suddenly,
discharge the water as if it were poured from buckets, and then pass
on. On account of the high temperature, the rain soon evaporates, so
that even after one of these showers, though the surface of the ground
is for the time converted into a marsh intersected with rivulets of
running water, the sandy ground is quite dry at the depth of two feet
or so.
As soon as the Bornuese perceive one of these storms approaching,
they take off all their clothes, dig holes in the ground, bury the
clothes, and cover them up carefully. The rain falls, and is simply
a shower-bath over their naked bodies, and, as soon as the storm has
passed over, they reopen the hole, and put on their dry clothes.
When they are preparing a resting-place at night, they take a similar
precaution, digging deep holes until they come to the dry sand, on
which they make their beds.
THE KANEMBOOS.
If the reader will refer to the illustration on page 612, he will see
that by the side of the Kanemboo warrior is his wife. The women are,
like their husbands, dark and well-shaped. They are lively and brisk
in their manners, and seem always ready for a laugh. Their clothing is
nearly as limited as that of their husbands, but they take great pains
in plaiting their hair into numerous little strings, which reach as
far as the neck. The head is generally ornamented with a flat piece
of tin or silver hanging from the hair. This custom is prevalent
throughout the kingdom, and, indeed, the principal mode of detecting
the particular tribe to which a woman belongs is to note the color and
pattern of her scanty dress. Most of the Kanemboo women have a string
of brass beads or of silver rings hanging upon each side of the face.
In the latter case they mostly have also a flat circular piece of
silver on their foreheads.
The architecture of the Kanemboos is very similar to that of the
Kaffirs of Southern Africa, the huts more resembling those of the
Bechuanas than the Zulu, Kosa, or Ponda tribes. They are compared to
haystacks in appearance, and are made of reeds. Each house is situated
in a neat enclosure made of the same reed, within which a goat or two,
a cow, and some fowls are usually kept. The hut is divided into two
portions, one being for the master and the other for the women. His bed
is supported on a wooden framework and covered with the skins of wild
animals. There is no window, and the place of a door is taken by a mat.
In this country, they subsist generally on fish, which they obtain from
the great Lake Tchad in a very ingenious manner. The fisherman takes
two large gourds, and connects them with a stout bamboo, just long
enough to allow his body to pass easily between them. He then takes
his nets, to the upper part of which are fastened floats made of cane,
and to the lower edge are attached simple weights of sand tied up in
leathern bags.
He launches the gourds, and, as he does so, sits astride the bamboo, so
that one gourd is in front of him and the other behind. Having shot his
nets, he makes a circuit round them, splashing the water so as to drive
the fish against the meshes. When he thinks that a sufficiency of fish
has got into his net, he draws it up gently with one hand, while the
other hand holds a short club, with which he kills each fish as its
head is lifted above the water. The dead fish is then disengaged from
the net, and flung into one of the gourds; and when they are so full
that they can hold no more without running the risk of admitting water,
the fisherman paddles to shore, lands his cargo, and goes off for
another haul. He has no paddles but his hands, but they are efficient
instruments, and propel him quite as fast as he cares to go.
The women have a very ingenious mode of catching fish, constituting
themselves into a sort of net. Thirty or forty at a time go into the
water, and wade up to their breasts. They then form in single file, and
move gradually toward the muddy shore, which slopes very gradually,
stamping and beating the water so as to make as much disturbance as
possible. The terrified fishes retire before this formidable line, and
at last are forced into water so shallow, that they can be scooped out
by the hands and flung ashore.
The fish are cooked in a very simple manner. A fire is lighted; and
when it has burnt up properly, each fish has a stick thrust down its
throat. The other end of the stick is fixed into the ground close to
the fire, and in a short time the fire is surrounded with a circle of
fish, all with their heads downward and their tails in the air as if
they were diving. They can be easily turned on the sticks, the tail
affording all excellent leverage, and in a very short time they are
thoroughly roasted.
The Kanemboos catch the large animals in pitfalls called “blaquas.”
These blaquas are laboriously and ingeniously made, and are often used
to protect towns against the Tuaricks and other invaders, as well as to
catch wild animals. The pits are very deep, and at the bottom are fixed
six or seven perpendicular stakes, with sharpened points, and hardened
by being partially charred. So formidable are they, that a Tuarick
horse and his rider have been known to fall into one of them, and both
to have been found dead, pierced through the body with the stakes.