over the town, and, together with a cistern, offers a few Berber and
Arabic inscriptions to the curious traveller, proved far less extensive
and picturesque than that from a sand-hill a little distance westward
from the house of Háj Ahmed. I ascended this little hill in the
afternoon of the 22nd, and, screened by an ethel-bush, made the
accompanying sketch of the whole oasis, which I hope will give a
tolerably good idea of this interesting locality—the separate strips of
palm-trees, the wide desolate valley, bordered by the steep slope of the
Akakús-range, with its regular strata of marly slate and its pinnacled
crest of sandstone; the little town on the left, at the foot of the
rocky hill, contrasting with the few and frail huts of palm-branches
scattered about here and there; the noble and spacious mansion of the
industrious Háj Ahmed in the foreground, on the northern side of which
lies the flat dwelling assigned to us. When descending from this hill
towards the south, I was greatly pleased with the new improvements added
by Háj Ahmed to his plantation. The example of this man shows how much
may be achieved by a little industry in these favoured spots, where
cultivation might be infinitely increased. In the southernmost and most
recent part of the plantation a large basin, about 100 ft. long and 60
ft. broad, had been formed, receiving a full supply of water from the
northern side of the sand-hills, and irrigating kitchen-gardens of
considerable extent. Thus the wealthy governor makes some advance every
year; but, unfortunately, he seems not to find many imitators.
[Illustration: Drawn by J. M. Bernatz, from a Sketch by Dr. Barth.
M. & N. Hanhart, lith. et impt.
GHÁT.
July 22nd. 1850.]
Our negotiation with the Tawárek chiefs might have been conducted with
more success, if a letter written by Her Majesty’s Government to the
chief Jabúr had not been produced at the very moment when all the chiefs
present were ready to subscribe the treaty. But their attention was
entirely distracted from the object in view. This letter made direct
mention of the abolition of the slave-trade; hence it became a very
difficult and delicate matter, especially as Mr. Richardson’s supplies
of merchandise and presents at that moment were entirely in the hands of
the merchant Háj Ibrahim, who, even if liberal enough to abstain from
intrigue against admitting the competition of English merchants, would
be sure to do all in his power to prevent the abolition of the slave-
trade.
It was a serious undertaking to enter into direct negotiation with these
Tawárek chiefs, the absolute masters of several of the most important
routes to Central Africa.[83] It required great skill, entire
confidence, and no inconsiderable amount of means, of which we were
extremely deficient. To this vexation let there be added the petulant
and indiscreet behaviour of our servants, who were exasperated by the
sufferings of the Rámadhán during the hottest season of the year, and
were too well aware of the insufficiency of our means to carry out the
objects of our mission; and the reader will easily understand that we
were extremely glad when, after repeated delays, we were at length able
to leave this place in the pursuance of our journey.
[Footnote 63: Makrizi, Hamaker Specim. Categ. p. 206. بلد فزان واهلها
بربر. El Bekri, p. 455., already mentions Benu-Khaldín, besides the
Fezzánah, as inhabitants of some places. On the same page this diligent
author says expressly that the town of Zawíla was on the border of
Negroland. We shall see, in the second volume, that all this country
constituted part of the Empire of Kánem; indeed, from what El Bekri
says, p. 457., it appears that even within twenty years after the great
and unfortunate immigration of the Arab tribes into Barbary, two tribes,
the Hadrámis and the Sehámis, had taken possession of Wadán. But we
shall see that the Negroes regained this place at a later period.]
[Footnote 64: Edrisi, ed. Jaubert, vol. i. p. 113. Edrísi deserves
attention when he says that the Negroes called Tessáwa “Little Jerma;”
that is to say, they attached to it a celebrated name, as if it were
another capital of the country.]
[Footnote 65: Procop. de Ædificiis, vi. 4.; Joann. Abb. Chronic. p. 13.
(respecting the Mauri pacati, but especially the important tribe of the
Lewátah); Abu’l Hassan, Annales Regg. Maur., ed. Tornberg, pp. 7. 15.
83. (respecting the Western Berbers); El Bekri, Notices et Extraits,
&c., vol. xii. p. 484.; Ebn Khaldún, tom. i. p. 209., le Baron de Slane,
and _passim_.]
[Footnote 66: A few authors make this momentous event, which plunged
North Africa into a series of misfortunes, happen a few years later,
under El Yezúri.—Leo Africanus, ed. Venezia, 1837, l. i. c. 21.: “Ma
quando la loro (degli Arabi) generazione entrò nell’ Africa, allora con
guerra scacciò di là i Numidi; e ella si rimase ad abitar ne’ diserti
vicini ai paesi de’ datteri, e i Numidi andarono a far le loro
abitazioni ne’ diserti che sono propinqui alla Terranegra.”]
[Footnote 67: Ebn Khaldún, vol. i. p. 235. Arab. text, vol. ii. p. 64.
transl. De Slane; vol. i. p. 260. Arab. text, vol. ii. p. 105. transl.
In both passages the name is written تاركا and it is to be noted that
this name was borne by a clan which dwelt nearest to the Arab tribe of
the Beni Solaim. The great General Tárek Ebn Zíyad, who was a Berber
from the tribe of the Ulhassa, seems to have received his name Tárek
from the same source as the Berber clan Táriká received theirs.]
[Footnote 68: El Bekri certainly mentions (Notices et Extraits, vol.
xii. p. 623.) وادي ترقا; but this has nothing to do with the tribe.]
[Footnote 69: Hodgson, Notes on Northern Africa, p. 23. The word which
means tribe is written طَارقَةٌ; and this is an Arabic, and not a Berber
word.]
[Footnote 70: The ز and ش (sh) in Berber names are often confounded.
Thus they say Ikázkezan, Ikáshkeshan; Ágadez, Égedesh.]
[Footnote 71: The name is written by the Arabs promiscuously with the ك
and with the ق, but oftener with the ك; and the name is so pointedly
Arabic that besides the plural form توارك another form is used,
التاركيون. Sultan Bello says properly, وكان هذه التوارك من بقايا البربر
الذي انتثروا ايام افريقية.]
[Footnote 72: Ebn Khaldún, vol. i. p. 275. transl. De Slane.]
[Footnote 73: Journal Asiatique, série iv. tom. i., 1843, p. 238. هكّار.
This is the usual form, Hogár, although Hágara, with the second vowel
short, seems to have no less pretension to correctness.]
[Footnote 74: Edrisi, trad. Jaubert, i. pp. 113. 116. It is very
probable, indeed, that this tribe is already mentioned as early as the
4th century, under the form of Ἀυξωριανοί, and in connection with the
Μάζικες, which is nothing else but the general name of the whole tribe,
Imóshagh, by Philostorgius (Hist. Eccles. xi. viii.), who represents
them as making incursions into Egypt. Under the form Ausuriani
(Ἀυσουριανοί), the same tribe is several times mentioned by Synesius,
the bishop of Cyrene, who expressly represents them as mounted upon
camels. Whether they are identical with the Austoriani of Ammianus
Marcellinus is less certain. For this hint I am indebted to Mr. Cooley.]
[Footnote 75: Ebn Sʿaid, mentioned by Abu’l Fedá, ed. Reinaud, tom. i.
(texte Arabe), p. 125., in the corrupted reading ازكان; trad. vol. ii.
p. 177.]
[Footnote 76: The Aurághen are evidently identical with the Aurígha, one
of the seven principal clans of the Beránes.]
[Footnote 77: In order to point out clearly the situation of these
valleys, I here subjoin a short itinerary of the road from Ghát to
Zerzúwa, and thence to Égeri.
In going from Ghát westwards to Tawát, you reach, after four or five
hours, the place Fiyút; on the second day you sleep in Idú; on the
third, in Átser-n-táshelt; on the fourth, in Azákkan temanókalt (“the
royal plain”); on the fifth, in Ihór-hayen; after which, on the sixth
day, you arrive in Zerzúwa. (This part of the itinerary varies a little
from the itinerary from Ghát to Tawát, given by Mr. Richardson in his
first journey.) Going thence to Égeri, in a direction east from south,
you encamp on the first night in Téni; on the second, in Tin-túzist; on
the third, in Adómar; on the fourth, in Aderár; on the fifth, in Díder;
and on the sixth arrive in Égeri.]
[Footnote 78: امغي pl. امغاد The change of the غ into the ر in the
Arabic form of the name shows to what extent the sound of the _r_
prevails in the African pronunciation of this letter. The final _d_ has
replaced _n_.]
[Footnote 79: Hatíta told us expressly that, if any of the Imghád should
trouble us we should say, “bábo.” Now “bábo” is neither Arabic nor
Temáshight, but the Háusa word for “there is none.”]
[Footnote 80: Hippolytus, Lib. Generat. (p. 101. in the second volume of
the Chronicon Paschale, ed. Bonn.), enumerates among the African tribes
“Afri qui et Barbares;” and in Itinerar. Antonini, p. 2., the Macenites
Barbari are mentioned. Varvar is a Sanscrit word of very general
meaning.]
[Footnote 81: This clan is evidently related to the Mateghílelen
mentioned above, p. 233., as settled at present in the Wadi el Ghárbi.]
[Footnote 82: L. i. c. 20.: “Ma le carovane che passano per li diserti
loro, sono tenute di pagare ai lor principi certa _gabella_.”]
[Footnote 83: Jackson was the first who pointed out the importance of
entering into direct negotiation with the Tawárek.]
[Illustration: DR. BARTH’S TRAVELS IN NORTH AND CENTRAL AFRICA Sheet No.
5. MAP OF THE ROUTE from FALÉSSELEZ TO TÍDIK 6. to 27. August 1850.
Constructed and drawn by A. Petermann.
Engraved by E. Weller, _Duke Strt. Bloomsbury._
_London, Longman & Co._]
CHAP. XI.
CROSSING A LARGE MOUNTAIN-RIDGE, AND ENTERING ON THE OPEN GRAVELLY
DESERT.
On the morning of the 26th of July I once more found myself on the back
of my camel, and from my elevated seat threw a last glance over the
pleasant picture of the oasis of Ghát. There is an advanced spur of the
plantation about two miles south from the town, called Timéggawé, with a
few scattered cottages at its southern end. Having left this behind us,
we came to the considerable plantation of Íberké, separated into two
groups, one on the west, and the other on the east side, and kept along
the border of the western group, which forms dense clusters, while that
to the east is rather thin and loosely scattered. The town of Bárakat,
lying at the foot of a sandy eminence stretching north and south, became
now and then visible on our right, glittering through the thinner parts
of the plantation.
Being prepared for a good day’s march, as not only the Tinýlkum were
reported to have left Arikím several days ago, but as even the little
caravan of Kél-owí, with whom we had made arrangements for protection
and company on the road, was a considerable way in advance, we were
greatly astonished when ordered to encamp near the scattered palm-trees
at the extreme eastern end of the plantation. Utaeti, who had
accompanied us all the way from Ghát on foot, chose the camping-ground.
Mr. Richardson, who had been behind, was not less astonished when he
found us encamped at so early an hour. But our camels, which seemed to
have been worked during our stay at Ghát, instead of being allowed to
recover their strength by rest and pasture, were in great want of some
good feeding; and there was much aghúl (_Hedysarum Alhajji_) about our
encampment. Towards noon we were visited by several Hogár, or rather
Azkár, who proved a little troublesome, but not so much so as the
townspeople, who caused us a great deal of annoyance, both during the
evening and on the following morning, and gave us some idea of what
might await us further on.
Being annoyed at our delay here, I accompanied two of Mr. Richardson’s
people and the young son of Yusuf Mukni, who wished to go into the town
to buy a fowl. We were followed by two men from among the townspeople,
who wanted to extort a present from me, and one of whom, by bawling out
the characteristic phrase of his creed, made me fear lest he might
succeed in exciting all the people against me. The town was distant from
our encampment a mile and a quarter; and having once reached its wall, I
determined to enter it. The town, or ágherim, forms a tolerably-regular
quadrangle, on an open piece of ground at the eastern foot of the sandy
eminence, and is enclosed by a wall (agadór), built of clay, about five-
and-twenty feet high, and provided with quadrangular towers. We entered
it by the eastern gate, which, being defended by a tower, has its
entrance from the side, and leads first to a small court with a well,
from which another arched passage leads into the streets. Here several
women, of good figure and decently dressed, were seated tranquilly, as
it seemed, enjoying the cool air of the afternoon, for they had no
occupation, nor were they selling anything. Although I was dressed in a
common blue Sudán shirt, and tolerably sunburnt, my fairer complexion
seemed to alarm them; and some of them withdrew into the interior of the
houses crying “lá ilah.” Still I was not molested nor insulted by the
people passing by; and I was pleased that several of them courteously
answered my salute. They were apparently not of pure Berber blood. It
appeared that a good many of the inhabitants had gone to their date-
groves to look after the harvest, as the fruit was just about to ripen;
hence the place, though in good repair, and very clean, had a rather
solitary appearance. There is no commerce in this place as in Ghát, the
whole wealth of the inhabitants consisting in their plantations. Yet
they are said to be better off than the population of Ghát, who are
exposed to great and continual extortions from the Tawárek on account of
their origin, while the people of Bárakat enjoy certain privileges. The
houses were all two or three stories high, and well built, the clay
being nicely polished. A few palm-trees decorate the interior of the
town. It is of still more diminutive size than Ghát, containing about
two hundred houses; but it is built with great regularity.
Having stuck fast awhile in a lane which had no thoroughfare, we at
length got safely out of the little town of Bárakat by the south gate.
It has, I believe, four gates, like Ghát. On this side of the town,
inside of the walls, stands the mosque, a building of considerable size
for so small a place, neatly whitewashed, and provided with a lofty
minaret.
Leaving the town, we took a more southern and circuitous road than that
by which we had come, so that I saw a good deal of the plantation. The
soil is for the most part impregnated with salt; and the wells have
generally brackish water. There was much industry to be seen, and most
of the gardens were well kept; but the wells might easily be more
numerous, and only a small quantity of corn is cultivated. The great
extent to which dukhn, or Guinea corn (“éneli” in Temá-shight[84]), or
_Pennisetum typhoïdeum_, is cultivated here, as well as near Ghát, in
proportion to wheat or barley, seems to indicate the closer and more
intimate connection of this region with Negroland. Some culinary
vegetables also were cultivated; and some, but not many, of the gardens
were carefully fenced with the leaves of the palm-tree. The grove was
animated by numbers of wild pigeons and turtle-doves, bending the
branches of the palm-trees with their wanton play; and a good many asses
were to be seen. Cattle I did not observe.
But far more interesting were the scenes of human life that met my eyes.
Happiness seemed to reign, with every necessary comfort, in this
delightful little grove. There was a great number of cottages, or
tekábber, built of palm-branches and palm-leaves, most of them of
considerable size, and containing several apartments; all of them had
flat roofs. They are inhabited by the Imghád, or Merátha. A great many
of the men seemed at present to be busy elsewhere; but these lightly-
built straggling suburbs were full of children, and almost every woman
carried an infant at her back. They were all black, but well formed, and
infinitely superior to the mixed race of Fezzán. The men wore in general
blue shirts, and a black shawl round the face; the women were only
dressed in the túrkedi, or Sudán-cloth, wound round their body, and
leaving the upper part, including the breasts, uncovered. They
understood generally nothing but Temáshight; and only a few of them
spoke the Háusa language. The men were nearly all smoking.
Having returned to our tent from this pleasant ramble, I did not stay
long in it, but stealing off as secretly as possible, I walked to the
eastern side of the valley, which is here locked up by the steep slope
of the Akakús range. The plain on this side, being much interrupted by
hills crowned with ethel-trees, does not afford a distant prospect. In
this quarter, too, there are a few scattered gardens, with melons and
vegetables, but no palm-trees.
In the evening we were greatly annoyed by some Imghád; and between one
of them and our fiery and inconsiderate Tunisian shushán a violent
dispute arose, which threatened to assume a very serious character. We
were on the watch the whole night.
[Sidenote: Friday, July 26th.]
Having waited a long time for Utaeti, we at length started without him,
passing on our right a beautiful palm-grove, with as many as ten
thousand trees, while our left was bordered by scattered gardens, where
the people were busy in the cool of the morning irrigating the corn and
vegetables, with the assistance of Sudán oxen. They came out to see us
pass by, but without expressing any feeling, hostile or otherwise. After
a mile and a half the plantation ceased, at the bed of a torrent which
contained a pond of rain-water collected from the higher rocky ground,
which here terminates. Further on we passed another small channel,
overgrown with bushes, and remarkable for nothing but its name, which
seems plainly to indicate that this country originally belonged to the
Góber or Háusa nation, for it is still called Korámma, a word which in
the Háusa language denotes the bed of a torrent. To this watercourse
particularly, the general designation was most probably assigned because
in its further progress it widens very considerably, and in some degree
appears as the head of the green bottom of the Valley of Ghát.
But a more luxuriant valley, from three to four miles broad, begins
further on, rich in herbage, and full of ethel-trees, all crowning the
tops of small mounds. Here we encamped near a pond of dirty rain-water,
frequented by great flocks of doves and water-fowl, and a well called
Ízayen, in order to wait for Utaeti. The well was only about three feet
deep, but the water brackish and disagreeable. Our friend came at
length, and it was then decided to march during the night, in order to
reach the Kél-owí; we therefore left our pleasant camping-ground about
half-past nine in the evening, favoured by splendid moonlight. So
interesting was the scene, that, absorbed in my thoughts, I got
considerably in advance of the caravan, and, not observing a small path
which turned off on the right, I followed the larger one till I became
conscious of my solitary situation, and, dismounting, lay down in order
to await my companions. Our caravan, however, had taken the other path,
and my fellow-travellers grew rather anxious about me; but my camel,
which was evidently aware of the caravan ahead of us, would not give up
this direction, which proved to be the right one, and after I had joined
the caravan we were obliged to return to my former path.
Here we found the small Kél-owí caravan encamped in the midst of a
valley well-covered with herbage, near the well Karáda. Our new
companions were perfect specimens of the mixed Berber and Sudán blood,
and, notwithstanding all their faults, most useful as guides. It was two
hours after midnight when we arrived; and after a short repose we
started again tolerably early the next morning.
For the first hour we kept along the valley, when we began to ascend a
narrow path winding round the slope of a steep promontory of the
plateau. The ruins of a castle at the bottom of the valley formed an
object of attraction.
The ascent took us almost an hour, when the defile opened to a sort of
plateau with higher ground and cones to the left. After another ascent
four miles further on, over a rocky slope about 180 ft. high and covered
with sand, we encamped at an early hour, as the heat was beginning to be
felt, in a valley with sidr-trees and grass, called Erázar-n-Ákeru.
A large basin of water, formed by the rains in a small rocky lateral
glen joining the large valley on the west side, afforded a delightful
resting-place to the weary traveller. The basin, in which the negro
slaves of our Kél-owí swam about with immense delight, was about 200 ft.
long and 120 ft. broad, and very deep, having been hollowed out in the
rocks by the violent floods descending occasionally from the heights
above. But on a terrace about 200 ft. higher up the cliffs, I discovered
another basin of not more than about half the diameter of the former,
but likewise of great depth. All along the rocky slope between these two
basins, cascades are formed during heavy rains, which must render this a
delightfully refreshing spot.
[Sidenote: Sunday, July 28th.]
We soon emerged from the valley, and entered a district of very
irregular character, but affording herbage enough for temporary
settlements or encampments of the Imghád, whose asses and goats
testified that the country was not quite uninhabited. Some people of our
caravan saw the guardians of these animals,—negroes, clad in leather
aprons. Against the lower part of the cliffs, which rise abruptly on all
sides, large masses of sand have accumulated, which, as in the case of
the upper valley of the Nile, might induce the observer to believe that
all the higher level was covered with sand, which from thence had been
driven down; but this is not by any means the case.
I had a long conversation this morning with the Tawáti ʿAbd el Káder,
who had come with the pilgrim-caravan as far as Ghát, and, together with
another companion, had attached himself to the Kél-owí, in order to go
to Ágades. He was a smart fellow, of light complexion and handsome
countenance, but had lost one eye in a quarrel. He was armed with a long
gun with a good English lock, of which he was very proud. He had, when
young, seen the Raïs (Major Laing) at Tawát, and knew something about
Europeans, and chiefly Englishmen. Smart and active as this fellow was,
he was so ungallant as to oblige his young female slave, who was at once
his mistress, cook, and servant, to walk the whole day on foot, while he
generally rode.
A little after noon we encamped in the corner of a valley rich in sebót,
and adorned with some talha-trees, at the foot of cliffs of considerable
height, which were to be ascended the following day.
[Sidenote: Monday, July 29th.]
We began our task early in the morning. The path, winding along through
loose blocks on a precipitous ascent, proved very difficult. Several
loads were thrown off the camels; and the boat several times came into
collision with the rocks, which, but for its excellent material, might
have damaged it considerably. The whole of the cliffs consisted of red
sandstone, which was now and then interrupted by clay slate, of a
greenish colour. The ascent took us almost two hours; and from the level
of the plateau we obtained a view of the ridge stretching towards
Arikím, the passage of which was said to be still more difficult. Having
successively ascended and descended a little, we then entered a
tolerably-regular valley, and followed its windings till about noon,
when we once more emerged upon the rugged rocky level, where Amankay,
the well-travelled búzu or mulatto of Tasáwa, brought us a draught of
deliciously cool water, which he had found in a hollow in the rocks.
Here our route meandered in a very remarkable way, so that I could not
lay aside my compass for a moment; and the path was sometimes reduced to
a narrow crevice between curiously-terraced buttresses of rocks.
The ground having at length become more open, we encamped about a
quarter past three o’clock in a small ravine with a little sprinkling of
herbage.
[Illustration]