Here we remained the following day, when I was roused at a very early
hour by the crowing of the cocks in Bamba, which could not but recall to
my mind the fate of the enterprising but unfortunate Mungo Park, who is
said by the natives to have stayed here a couple of hours in order to
provide himself with fowls, and thus to have given leisure to the
Tawárek, lower down the river, to collect together and impede his
passage; a story which is also related with regard to Gógó and some
other places along the river; though it is more probable that his chief
reason for making a halt near the principal places along the river, was
to open communication with the natives, and more particularly in order
to make astronomical observations.
Rising at an early hour, while the sky was beautifully clear, I enjoyed
an hour’s pleasing reverie on my favourite rock of the previous day,
overhanging the river. Although in full agitation the day before, this
morning its surface was unruffled, and several boats were crossing over
towards the island.
I afterwards called upon my protector. One of his younger brothers, Sídi
Ílemín, had the preceding day come to pay him a visit as he was passing
through this country, and when I was ascending the sandy hill, on the
slope of which their matting dwelling had been erected, he came out to
meet me, and complimented me in a very cheerful manner. He was a
respectable man, with a very pleasing countenance, and had with him his
son, a most beautiful boy of seven years.
I could not help thinking what a noble family this was. They were all
sons of Sídi Mohammed el Kunti, the chief who received Major Laing in
Ázawád. First, Mukhtár, Bakáy’s elder brother, who succeeded to his
father when that chief had succumbed to an epidemic fever which raged in
Ázawád, just at the time of Major Laing’s arrival, and who died in 1847;
then Sídi Mohammed, a man with a truly princely demeanour; then El Bakáy
himself; next, ʿAbidín, likewise well deserving the distinguished
position of a chief, although he differed in politics from El Bakáy;
then Hámma, a man with whom I did not become personally acquainted, but
who was represented by all as a noble man; Sídi Ílemín; Bábá Áhmed; and
Sídi Ámmer. This latter is the youngest, but certainly not the least
noble of the family. While on a visit to Sókoto, together with his
brother El Bakáy, he made a deeper impression upon the people, and
obtained their favour more generally, than his elder brother. Álawáte is
the only member of this family, who, with the exception of his learning,
does not seem to contribute much to its honour; but, even in his case,
we must take into account the customs of the country, and not judge of
him according to our views of nobility.
[Illustration]
The light dwelling which had been erected for my protector, simple as it
was, was spacious and elegant, affording a very cool resting-place
during the heat of the day. It was of an oblong shape, measuring about
20 feet by 9, with two doors opposite each other, a large angáreb
forming a comfortable resting-place. The mats of which these huts are
constructed are very large and excellently woven, the huts being
supported by a framework of slender bushes. But the hut, although very
pleasant, was too crowded, and, during the hot hours of noon, I retired
to a group of magnificent gerredh trees, which overshaded the cemetery,
lying at the southern side of the village, and, interwoven by a dense
growth of creepers, afforded a most agreeable shade, such as I had never
before observed in the case of this tree.
Together with the adjoining tobacco fields, which were just exhibiting
their freshest green, this cemetery formed a striking contrast to the
barren country further north, which, although broken by a dhaye, or
pond, of considerable size, and excellently adapted for the cultivation
of rice, has neither trees nor bushes, with the exception of two or
three isolated date-palms surrounding the border of the pond.
We had considerable difficulty in obtaining from the inhabitants a small
supply of rice and butter, as they asserted that their means were so
reduced that they were sustaining themselves entirely on býrgu, or
native grass; but I had reason to suspect that they made this statement
through fear of the Tawárek. At all events, tobacco was the only article
they offered for sale, the tobacco of Bamba, called “sherikíye,” being
far-famed along the Niger, and much sought after, although it is not so
good as the “tábowé,” the tobacco of Égedesh. Of býrgu, they have an
unlimited supply; and I tasted here the honey water which they prepare
from it, but found it insipid, besides being slightly purgative, not
unlike the maddi, or góreba water, in Háusa.
[Footnote 28: Áhmed Bábá, in Journal of Leipsic Oriental Society, vol.
ix. p. 547.]
[Footnote 29: See the highly interesting account of this place, the
great commercial _entrepôt_ between Ghána in the west and Tademékka in
the east, in El Bekrí, “Déscription de l’Afrique,” p. 180. The express
mention of the ants which he here makes is very important, as, in coming
from Timbúktu, the first ants were observed by us near Hendi-kíri.]