failing, we were obliged to anchor and await the daylight, for it is not
possible to traverse the straits in the night, on account of their
extreme shallowness. Even in the light of the following day, when we at
length succeeded, our little bark, which drew only two or three feet,
struck twice, and we had some trouble to get afloat again. On the
conspicuous and elevated promontory the “Jurf,” or “Tarf el jurf,” stood
in ancient times a temple of Venus, the hospitable goddess of the
navigator. Here on my former journey I crossed with my horses over from
the main to the island of Jirbi, while from the water I had now a better
opportunity of observing the picturesque character of the rugged
promontory. After traversing the shallow basin or widening, we crossed
the second narrowing, where the castles which defended the bridge or
“kantara,” the “pons Zitha” of the Romans, now lie in ruins on the main
as well as on the island, and greatly obstruct the passage, the
difficulty of which has obtained celebrity from contests between Islam
and Christianity in comparatively modern times.
Having passed safely through this difficult channel, we kept steadily on
through the open sea; and doubling Rás Mʿamúra, near to which our
captain had a little date-grove and was cheerfully saluted by his family
and friends, we at length entered the harbour of Zarzís, late in the
afternoon of Sunday, and with some trouble got all our luggage carried
into the village, which is situated at some distance. For although we
had the worst part of the land journey now before us, the border-
district of the two regencies, with the unsafe state of which I was well
acquainted from my former journey, and although we were insufficiently
armed, we were disposed to endure anything rather than the imprisonment
to which we were doomed in such a vessel as our Mohammed’s gáreb. I
think, however, that this nine days’ sail between Sfákes and Zarzís, a
distance of less than a hundred and twenty miles, was on the whole a
very fair trial in the beginning of an undertaking the success of which
was mainly dependent upon patience and resolute endurance. We were
rather fortunate in not only soon obtaining tolerable quarters, but also
in arranging without delay our departure for the following day, by
hiring two horses and three camels.
Zarzís consists of five separate villages—Kasr Bú ʿAli, Kasr Mwanza,
Kasr Welád Mohammed, Kasr Welád Sʿaid, and Kasr Zawíya; the Bedowín in
the neighbourhood belong to the tribe of the Akára. The plantation also
is formed into separate date-groves. The houses are in tolerable repair
and neatly whitewashed; but the character of order and well-being is
neutralized by a good many houses in decay. Near the place there are
also some Roman ruins, especially a cistern of very great length; and at
some distance is the site of Medinet Ziyán, of which I have given a
description in the narrative of my former journey.
Besides the eight men attached to our five animals, we were joined here
by four pilgrims and three Tripolitan traders; we thus made up a
numerous body, armed with eight muskets, three blunderbusses, and
fourteen pistols, besides several straight swords, and could venture
upon the rather unsafe road to the south of the Lake of Bibán, though it
would have been far more agreeable to have a few trustworthy people to
rely on instead of these turbulent companions.
Entering soon, behind the plantation of Zarzís, a long narrow sebkha, we
were struck by the sterile and desolate character of the country, which
was only interrupted by a few small depressed localities, where a little
corn was cultivated. Keeping along this tract of country, we reached the
north-western corner of the Lake of Bibán, or Bahéret el Bibán, after a
little more than eight miles. This corner has even at the present day
the common name of Khashm el kelb (the Dog’s Nose), while the former
classical name of the whole lake, Sebákh el keláb, was only known to
Tayyef, the more learned of my guides, who, without being questioned by
me, observed that in former times towns and rich corn-fields had been
where the lake now is, but had been swallowed up by a sinking of the
ground.
The real basin has certainly nothing in common with a sebkha, which
means a shallow hollow, incrusted with salt, which at times is dry and
at others forms a pool; for it is a deep gulf or fiord of the sea, with
which it is connected only by a narrow channel called Wád mtʿa el Bibán.
The nature of a sebkha belongs at present only to its shores, chiefly to
the locality called Makháda, which, indenting the country to a great
distance, is sometimes very difficult to pass, and must be turned by a
wide circuitous path, which is greatly feared on account of the
neighbourhood of the Udérna, a tribe famous for its highway robberies.
Having traversed the Makháda (which at present was dry) without any
difficulty, we entered upon good arable soil, and encamped, after
sunset, at about half a mile distance from a Bedowín encampment.
[Sidenote: January 15th.]
Starting from here the following day, we soon became aware that the
country was not so thinly inhabited as we had thought; for numerous
herds covered the rich pasture-grounds, while droves of gazelles, now
and then, attested that the industry of man did not encroach here upon
the freedom of the various orders of creation. Leaving the path near the
ruins of a small building situated upon a hill, I went with Tayyef and
the Khalífa to visit the ruins of a Roman station on the border of the
Bahéra, which, under the name of el Medaina, has a great fame amongst
the neighbouring tribes, but which, with a single exception, are of
small extent and bad workmanship. This exception is the quay, which is
not only of interest in itself, formed as it is of regularly-hewn
stones, in good repair, but of importance as an evident proof that the
lake was much deeper in ancient times than it is now.
Traversing from this spot the sebkha, which our companions had gone
round, we soon overtook them, and kept over fine pasture-grounds called
el Fehén, and further on, Súllub, passing, a little after noon, a group
of ruins near the shore, called Kitfi el hamár. At two o’clock in the
afternoon, we had directly on our right a slight slope which, according
to the unanimous statement of our guides and companions, forms the
mágttʿa, مَقْطَعٌ, or frontier between the two regencies[8]; and keeping
along it we encamped an hour afterwards between the slope and the shore,
which a little further on forms the deep gulf called Mirsá Buréka.
[Sidenote: January 16th.]
Starting at an early hour, we reached after a march of ten miles the
ruins of a castle on the sea-shore, called Búrj el Melha, to which those
of a small village, likewise built of hewn stone, are joined, while a
long and imposing mole called el Míná juts out into the gulf. Four and a
half miles further on we reached the conspicuous hill on the top of
which is the chapel of the saint Sidi Sʿaid ben Salah, sometimes called
Sidi Gházi, and venerated by such of the natives as are not attached to
the Puritan sect of El Mádani, of which I shall speak hereafter. All our
companions went there to say a short prayer.
Here we left the shore, and, having watered our animals near a well and
passed the chapel of Sidi Sʿaid, close to which there are some ruins, we
passed with expedition over fine meadows till we approached the
plantation of Zowára, when, leaving Mr. Overweg and my people behind, I
rode on with the Khalífa, in order to procure quarters from my former
friend Sʿaid bu Semmín, who, as I had heard to my great satisfaction,
had been restored to the government of that place. He had just on that
very day returned from a visit of some length in the capital, and was
delighted to see me again; but he was rather astonished when he heard
that I was about to undertake a far more difficult and dangerous journey
than my former one along the coast, in which he well knew that I had had
a very narrow escape. However, he confided in my enterprising spirit and
in the mercy of the Almighty, and thought if anybody was likely to do
it, I was the man.[9]
[Sidenote: January 17th.]
We had now behind us the most dreary part of our route, having entered a
district which in ancient times numbered large and wealthy cities, among
which Sabratha stands foremost, and which even in the present miserable
state of the country is dotted with pleasant little date-groves,
interrupted by fine pasture-grounds. In the westernmost part of this
tract, however, with the exception of the plantation of Zowára, all the
date-groves, as those of Rikdalíye, Jemíl, el Meshíah, and Jenán ben
Síl, lie at a considerable distance from the coast, while the country
near the sea is full of sebkhas, and very monotonous, till the traveller
reaches a slight ridge of sand-hills about sixteen miles east from
Zowára, which is the border between the dreary province of that
government and a more favoured tract belonging to the government of
Bú-ʿAjíla, and which lies a little distance inland. Most charming was
the little plantation of Kasr ʿalaiga, which exhibited traces of
industry and improvement. Unfortunately our horses were too weak and too
much fatigued to allow us to visit the sites either of Sabratha or
Pontes. The ruins of Sabratha are properly called Kasr ʿalaiga, but the
name has been applied to the whole neighbourhood; to the ancient Pontes
seem to belong the ruins of Zowára e’ sherkíyeh, which are considerable.
Between them lies the pretty grove of Om el hallúf.
About four o’clock in the afternoon we traversed the charming little
valley called Wadi bú-harída, where we watered our horses; and then
following the camels, and passing Asermán with its little plantation,
which is bordered by a long and deep sebkha, we took up our quarters for
the night in an Arab encampment, which was situated in the midst of the
date-grove of ʿUkbah, and presented a most picturesque appearance, the
large fires throwing a magic light upon the date-trees. But there are no
roses without thorns: we were unfortunately persuaded to make ourselves
comfortable in an Arab tent, as we had no tent of our own; and the
enormous swarms of fleas not only disturbed our night’s rest, but
followed us to Tripoli.
We had a long stretch the following day to reach the capital, which we
were most anxious to accomplish, as we expected Mr. Richardson would
have arrived before us in consequence of our own tedious journey; and
having sent the Khalífa in advance to keep the gate open for us, we
succeeded in reaching the town after an uninterrupted march of thirteen
hours and a half, and were most kindly received by Mr. Crowe, Her
Majesty’s consul-general, and the vice-consul Mr. Reade, with whom I was
already acquainted. We were surprised to find that Mr. Richardson had
not even yet been heard of, as we expected he would come direct by way
of Malta. But he did not arrive till twelve days after. With the
assistance of Mr. Reade, we had already finished a great deal of our
preparations, and would have gladly gone on at once; but neither the
boat, nor the instruments, nor the arms or tents had as yet arrived, and
a great deal of patience was required. However, being lodged in the neat
house of the former Austrian consul, close to the harbour, and which
commands a charming prospect, our time passed rapidly by.
On the 25th of January Mr. Reade presented Mr. Overweg and me to Yezíd
Bashá, the present governor, who received us with great kindness and
good feeling. On the 29th we had a pleasant meeting with Mr. Frederic
Warrington on his return from Ghadámes, whither he had accompanied Mr.
Charles Dickson, who on the 1st of January had made his entry into that
place as the first European agent and resident. Mr. F. Warrington is
perhaps the most amiable possible specimen of an Arabianized European.
To this gentleman, whose zeal in the objects of the expedition was
beyond all praise, I must be allowed to pay my tribute as a friend. On
setting out in 1850, he accompanied me as far as the Ghurián; and on my
joyful return in 1855 he received me in Murzuk. By the charm of
friendship he certainly contributed his share to my success.
[Footnote 6: I cannot leave Tunis without mentioning the great interest
taken in our undertaking, and the kindness shown to us, by M. le Baron
Théis, the French consul.]
[Footnote 7: The town presented quite the same desolate character which
I have described in my former journey, with the single exception that a
new gate had since been built. Several statues had been brought from
Medinet Ziyán.]
[Footnote 8: This point is not without importance, as a great deal of
dispute has taken place about the frontier. Having on my former journey
kept close along the seashore, I have laid it down erroneously in the
map accompanying the narrative of that journey.]
[Footnote 9: I will here correct the mistake which I made in my former
narrative, when I said that Zowára is not mentioned by Arabic authors.
It is certainly not adverted to by the more celebrated and older
writers; but it is mentioned by travellers of the 14th century,
especially by the Sheikh e’ Tijáni.]
[Illustration: DR. BARTH’S TRAVELS IN NORTH AND CENTRAL AFRICA Sheet No.
2.
MAP OF THE ROUTE through the YÉFREN, GHURIÁN, TARHÓNA & MESELLÁTA MTS. 4
to 26 February 1850.
Constructed and drawn by A. Petermann.
Engraved by E. Weller, _Duke Strt. Bloomsbury._
_London, Longman & Co._]
CHAP. II.
TRIPOLI. — THE PLAIN AND THE MOUNTAIN-SLOPE; THE ARAB AND THE BERBER.
In the Introduction I have given a rapid sketch of our journey from
Tunis, and pointed out the causes of our delay in Tripoli. As soon as it
became apparent that the preparations for our final departure for the
interior would require at least a month, Mr. Overweg and I resolved to
employ the interval in making a preliminary excursion through the
mountainous region that encompasses Tripoli in a radius of from sixty to
eighty miles.
With this view, we hired two camels, with a driver each, and four
donkeys, with a couple of men, for ourselves and our two servants,
Mohammed Belāl, the son of a liberated Háusa slave, and Ibrahim, a
liberated Bagirmi slave, whom we had been fortunate enough to engage
here; and through the Consul’s influence we procured a shoush, or
officer, to accompany us the whole way.
Neither the instruments provided by Her Majesty’s Government, nor the
tents and arms, had as yet arrived. But Mr. Overweg had a good sextant,
and I a good chronometer, and we were both of us provided with tolerably
good compasses, thermometers, and an aneroid barometer. Mr. Frederic
Warrington, too, was good enough to lend us a tent.
We had determined to start in the afternoon of the 4th of February,
1850, so as to pass the first night in Ghargásh; but meeting with
delays, we did not leave the town till after sunset. We preferred
encamping, therefore, in the Meshíah, a little beyond the mosque, under
the palm-trees, little knowing at the time what an opportunity we had
lost of spending a very cheerful evening.
[Sidenote: February 5th.]
Soon after starting, we emerged from the palm-groves which constitute
the charm of Tripoli, and continued our march over the rocky ground.
Being a little in advance with the shoush, I halted to wait for the
rest, when a very peculiar cry, that issued from the old Roman building
on the road-side, called “Kasr el Jahalíyeh,” perplexed us for a moment.
But we soon learnt, to our great surprise, not unmixed with regret, that
it was our kind friend Frederic Warrington, who had been waiting for us
here the whole night. From the top of the ruin, which stands on an
isolated rock left purposely in the midst of a quarry, there is a widely
extensive view. It appears that, before the Arabs built the castle, this
site was occupied by Roman sepulchres. A little further on we passed the
stone of Sidi ʿArífa. This stone had fallen upon the head of a workman
who was digging a well. The workman, so runs the legend, escaped unhurt;
and at Sidi ʿArífa’s word the stone once more sprung to the surface.
Further on, near the sea-shore, we passed the chapel of Sidi Salah, who
is said to have drawn by magic to his feet, from the bottom of the sea,
a quantity of fish ready dressed.
From this point our kind friend Mr. Frederic Warrington returned with
his followers to the town, and we were left to ourselves. We then turned
off from the road, and entered the fine date-plantation of Zenzúr,
celebrated in the fourteenth century, as one of the finest districts of
Barbary, by the Sheikh e’ Tijáni, passing by a great magazine of corn,
and a mouldering clay-built castle, in which were quartered a body of
horsemen of the Urshefāna. Fine olive-trees pleasingly alternated with
the palm-grove, while the borders of the broad sandy paths were neatly
fenced with the _Cactus opuntia_. Having passed our former place of
encampment in Sayáda, we were agreeably surprised to see at the western
end of the plantation a few new gardens in course of formation; for
there is a tax, levied not on the produce of the tree, but on the tree
itself, which naturally stands in the way of new plantations.
Having halted for a short time at noon near the little oasis of Sidi
Ghár, where the ground was beautifully adorned with a profusion of
lilies; and having passed Jedaim, we encamped towards evening in the
wide courtyard of the Kasr Gamúda, where we were kindly received by the
Kaimakám Mustapha Bey, whom I was providentially destined to meet twice
again, viz. on my outset from, and on my final return to, Fezzan. The
whole plantation of Zawíya, of which Gamúda forms a part, is said to
contain a hundred and thirty thousand palm-trees.
Ibrahim gave me an interesting account to-day of Negroland. Though a
native of Bagirmi, he had rambled much about Mandara, and spoke
enthusiastically of the large and strong mountain-town Karawa, his
report of which I afterwards found quite true; of the town of Mendif,
situated at the foot of the great mountain of the same name; and of
Mora, which he represented as very unsafe on account of bands of
robbers,—a report which has been entirely confirmed by Mr. Vogel. Our
chief interest at that time was concentrated upon Mandara, which was
then supposed to be the beginning of the mountainous zone of Central
Africa.
[Sidenote: Wednesday, February 6th.]
While the camels were pursuing the direct track, we ourselves, leaving
our former road, which was parallel to the sea-coast, and turning
gradually towards the south, made a circuit through the plantation, in
order to procure a supply of dates and corn, as we were about to enter
on the zone of nomadic existence. The morning was very fine, and the
ride pleasant. But we had hardly left the plantation, when we exchanged
the firm turf for deep sand-hills which were broken further on by a more
favoured soil, where melons were cultivated in great plenty; and again,
about four miles beyond the plantation, the country once more assumed a
genial aspect. I heard that many of the inhabitants of Zawiya habitually
exchange every summer their more solid town residences for lighter
dwellings here in the open air. A little before noon we obtained a fine
view over the diversified outlines of the mountains before us.
In the plain there are many favoured spots bearing corn, particularly
the country at the foot of Mount Mʿamúra, which forms a very conspicuous
object from every side. As we advanced further, the country became well
inhabited, and everywhere, at some distance from the path, were seen
encampments of the tribe of the Belása who occupy all the grounds
between the Urshefána and the Bu-ʿAjíla, while the Urjímma, a tribe
quite distinct from the Urghámma, have their settlements S.W., between
the Nuwayíl and the Bu-ʿAjíla. All these Arabs hereabouts provide
themselves with water from the well Núr e’ dín, which we left at some
distance on our left.
The encampment near which we pitched our tent in the evening belonged to
the chief of the Belása, and consisted of seven tents, close to the
slope of a small hilly chain. We had scarcely pitched our tent when rain
set in, accompanied by a chilly current of air which made the encampment
rather uncomfortable. The chief, Mohammed Chélebi, brought us, in the
evening, some bazín; the common dish of the Arab of Tripoli. We wanted
to regale him with coffee, but, being afraid of touching the hot drink,
and perhaps suspicious of poison, he ran away.
[Sidenote: Thursday February 7th.]
Continuing our march southward through the fine and slightly undulating
district of El Habl, where water is found in several wells, at the depth
of from fifteen to sixteen fathoms, we gradually approached the
mountain-chain. The strong wind, which filled the whole air with sand,
prevented us from obtaining a very interesting view from a considerable
eminence called el Ghunna, the terminating and culminating point of a
small chain of hills, which we ascended. For the same reason, when I and
Ibrahim, after lingering some time on this interesting spot, started
after our camels, we lost our way entirely, the tracks of our little
caravan being totally effaced, and no path traceable over the undulating
sandy ground. At length we reached firmer grassy soil, and, falling in
with the path, overtook our people at the “Bir el Ghánem.”
Hence we went straight towards the slope of the mountains, and after
little more than an hour’s march reached the first advanced hill of the
chain, and began to enter on it by going up one of the wadis which open
from its flanks. It takes its name from the ethel (_Tamarix
orientalis_), which here and there breaks the monotony of the scene, and
gradually widens to a considerable plain bounded by majestic ridges.
From this plain we descended into the deep and rugged ravine of the
large Wadi Sheikh, the abrupt cliffs of which presented to view
beautiful layers of red and white sandstone, with a lower horizontal
layer of limestone, and we looked out for a well-sheltered place, as the
cold wind was very disagreeable. The wadi has its name from its vicinity
to the chapel, or zawiya, of the Merábet Bu-Máti, to which is attached a
large school.
[Sidenote: Friday, February 8th.]
On setting out from this hollow we ascended the other side, and soon
obtained an interesting view of the varied outlines of the mountains
before us, with several half-deserted castles of the Arab middle ages on
the summits of the hills. The castle of the Welád Merabetín, used by the
neighbouring tribes chiefly as a granary, has been twice destroyed by
the Turks; but on the occasion of nuptial festivities, the Arabs, in
conformity with ancient usage, still fire their muskets from above the
castle. The inhabitants of these mountains, who have a strong feeling of
liberty, cling to their ancient customs with great fondness.
We descended again into Wadi Sheikh, which, winding round, crossed our
path once more. The regular layers of limestone, which present a good
many fossils, with here and there a layer of marl, form here, during
heavy rains, a pretty little cascade at the foot of the cliffs. We lost
much time by getting entangled in a branch of the wadi, which had no
outlet, but exhibited the wild scenery of a glen, worn by the torrents
which occasionally rush down the abrupt rocky cliffs. Having regained
the direct road, we had to cross a third time the Wadi Sheikh at the
point where it is joined by Wadi Ginna, or Gilla, which also we crossed
a little further on. In the fertile zone along the coast, the monotony
of the palm-groves becomes almost fatiguing; but here we were much
gratified at the sight of the first group of date-trees, which was
succeeded by others, and even by a small orchard of fig-trees. Here, as
we began to ascend the elevated and abrupt eastern cliffs of the valley,
which at first offer only a few patches of cultivated plateau, succeeded
further on by olive-trees, a fine view opened before us, extending to
the S.E. as far as the famous Roman monument called Enshéd e’ Sufét,
which is very conspicuous. Having waited here for our camels, we reached
the first village, whose name, “Ta-smeraye,” bears, like that of many
others, indubitable proof that the inhabitants of these mountainous
districts belong originally to the Berber race, though at present only a
few of them speak their native tongue. These people had formerly a
pleasant and comfortable abode in this quarter, but having frequently
revolted against the Turks, they have been greatly reduced, and their
villages at present look like so many heaps of ruins.