granite, in a state of great disintegration, intersected by crests of
gneiss, we obtained from a higher level an interesting view over the
whole region, and saw that beyond the hilly ground of broken granite a
large plain of firm gravelly soil spread out, surrounded by a circle of
higher mounts. Then followed a succession of flat shallow valleys
overgrown with sebót and talha-trees, till the ridges on the right and
left (the latter rising to about 800 feet) approached each other,
forming a sort of wider passage or defile. The spur of the range to the
left with its strongly marked and indented crest, formed quite an
interesting feature.
[Illustration]
Beyond this passage we entered a bare gravelly plain, from which rose a
few detached mounts, followed by more continuous ranges forming more or
less regular valleys. The most remarkable of these is the valley
Aséttere, which in its upper course, where it is called Ákafa, is
supplied by the famous well, Tajétterat[88]; but as we were sufficiently
supplied with water from Arókam, and as the well Aïsalen was near, we
left it on one side.
We encamped at length in a valley joined by several branch-vales, and
therefore affording a good supply of herbage, which the Kél-owí were
anxious to collect as a supply for the journey over the entirely bare
tract to Asïu. As for ourselves, one of our servants being utterly unfit
for work, we could not lay in a supply. We had been rather unfortunate
with this fellow; for having hired him in Múrzuk, he was laid up with
the guineaworm from the very day that we left Ghát, and was scarcely of
any use at all. This disease is extremely frequent among people
travelling along this route; Amankay also was suffering from it, and at
times became quite a burden. It attacked James Bruce even after his
return to Europe; and I always dreaded it more than any other disease,
during my travels in Central Africa; but fortunately, by getting a less
serious one, which I may call sore legs, I got rid of the causes which I
am sure, when acting in a stronger degree, produce the vena.
About sunset I ascended the eastern cliffs, which are very considerable,
and from the highest peak, which rose to an elevation of more than 1200
feet above the bottom of the valley, obtained an extensive view. The
whole formation consists of granite, and its kindred forms of mica,
quartz, and felspar. The bottom of the valley bore evident traces of a
small torrent which seems to refresh the soil occasionally; and the same
was the case with several small ravines which descend from the south-
eastern cliffs.
[Sidenote: Monday, August 12th.]
Our route followed the windings of the valley, which, further on,
exhibited more ethel- than talha-trees, besides detached specimens of
the _Asclepias_. After a march of four miles and a half, we came to two
wells about four feet deep, and took in a small supply of water. The
granite formation at the foot of the cliffs on our left was most
beautiful, looking very like syenite. While we were taking in the water,
flocks of wildfowl (_Pterocles_) were flying over our heads, and
expressed by repeated cries their dissatisfaction at our disturbing
their solitary retreat. The ethel, the talha, and the áddwa, or abórak,
enliven these secluded valleys.
Delighted by the report of Amankay, who came to meet us, that he had
succeeded in detaining the caravan of the Tinýlkum at Aïsala, where they
were waiting for us, we cheerfully continued our march; but before we
reached the place the whole character of the country changed, the cliffs
being craggy and split into huge blocks heaped upon each other in a
truly Cyclopean style, such as only Nature can execute, while the entire
hollow was covered with granite masses, scarcely allowing a passage.
Descending these, we got sight of the encampment of the caravan, in a
widening of the hollow; and after paying our compliments to all the
members of this motley band, we encamped a little beyond, in a recess of
the western cliffs.
The Tinýlkum[89] as well as Bóro Serki-n-turáwa were very scantily
provided. They had lost so much time on the road on our account, that it
was necessary, as well as just, to leave them part of the provisions
which they were carrying for us. All our luggage we found in the best
state. Very much against their will, our companions had been supplied on
the road with the flesh of nine camels, which had succumbed to the
fatigues of the march; and some of them, and especially our energetic
friend Háj ʿOmar, had obtained a tolerable supply by hunting: besides
wadáns they had killed also several gazelles, though we had scarcely
seen any.
They had been lingering in this place four days, and were most anxious
to go on. But we had a great deal to do; for all our luggage was to be
repacked, all the water-skins to be filled, and herbage and wood to be
collected for the road. Besides Ibrahim, who was lame and useless,
Overweg and myself had only two servants, one of whom (Mohammed, the
liberated Tunisian slave) was at times a most insolent rascal.
Besides we were pestered by the Kél-owí and by Utaeti, and I got into a
violent dispute with Fárreji, the shameless freed-slave of Lusu; still I
managed on the morning of the following day to rove about a little. Just
above the well rises a confused mass of large granite blocks, the lowest
range of which was covered with Tefínagh inscriptions, one of which I
copied. It was written with uncommon accuracy and neatness, and if found
near the coast would be generally taken for Punic.[90] I was obliged to
be cautious, as there was a great deal of excitement and irritation in
the caravan, and from what had previously taken place all the way from
Múrzuk, everybody regarded us as the general purveyors, and cherished
the ardent hope that at last it would be his good fortune, individually,
to get possession of our property.
[Illustration]
In the afternoon the Tinýlkum started in advance, and we followed them,
the hollow gradually widening and becoming clothed with large knots of
low ethel-bushes. At the point where this valley joins another, and
where a large quantity of herbage bedecked the ground, we found our
friends encamped, and chose our ground a little beyond them, near a low
cliff of granite rocks. All the people were busily employed cutting
herbage for the journey, while Mr. Richardson at length succeeded in
satisfying Utaeti, who was to return. He had been begging most
importunately from me; and by way of acknowledging my obligations to him
I presented him, on parting, with a piece of white muslin and a red
sásh, together with something for Hatíta.
These parties were scarcely quieted when others took their place, urging
their pretensions to our acknowledgments; and we had just started the
next day when Bóro Serki-n-turáwa despatched, underhand, my smart friend
the Tawáti ʿAbd el Káder, with full instructions to give me a lecture on
his boundless power and influence in the country which we were fast
approaching. I was aware of this before, and knew that, in our situation
as unprotected travellers in a new country, we ought to have secured his
friendly disposition from the beginning; but the means of the expedition
being rather limited, Mr. Richardson had made it a principle never to
give till compelled by the utmost necessity, when the friendly
obligation connected with the present was, if not destroyed, at least
greatly diminished.
The structure of the valley soon became irregular, and the character of
the country more desolate, a circumstance which seems to be expressed by
its name, Ikadémmelrang. All was granite in a state of the utmost
disintegration, and partly reduced to gravel, while detached cones were
rising in all directions. Marching along over this dreary and desolate
country, we reached, at half past two in the afternoon, after a gradual
and almost imperceptible ascent, the highest level of the desert plain,
from whence the isolated rocky cones and ridges look like so many
islands rising from the sea. A sketch which I made of one of these
mounts will give an idea of their character.
[Illustration]
After a march of twelve hours and a half, which I would have gladly
doubled, provided our steps had been directed in a straight line towards
the longed-for regions of Negroland, we encamped on hard ground, so that
we had great difficulty in fixing the pegs of our tents. The sky was
overcast with thick clouds; but our hopes of a refreshing rain were
disappointed.
[Sidenote: Thursday, August 15th.]
The character of the country continued the same, though the weather was
so foggy that the heights at some distance were quite enveloped, and
became entirely invisible. This was a sure indication of our approaching
tropical climes. After a march of three miles and a half, the ground
became more rugged for a short time, but was soon succeeded by a
gravelly plain. The sky had become thickly clouded; and in the afternoon
a high wind arose, succeeded, about two o’clock, by heavy rain, and by
distant thunder, while the atmosphere was exceedingly heavy, and made us
all feel drowsy.
It was three o’clock when we arrived at the Marárraba[91], the “half-
way” between Ghát and Aïr, a place regarded with a kind of religious awe
by the natives, who in passing place each a stone upon the mighty
granite blocks which mark the spot. To our left we had irregular rocky
ground, with a few elevations rising to greater height, and ahead a very
remarkable granite crest, sometimes rising, at others descending, with
its slopes enveloped in sand up to the very top. This ridge, which is
called Giféngwetáng, and which looks very much like an artificial wall
erected between the dry desert and the more favoured region of the
tropics, we crossed further on through an opening like a saddle, and
among sand-hills where the slaves of our companions ran about to pick up
and collect the few tufts of herbage that were scattered over the
surface, in order to furnish a fresh mouthful to the poor wearied
animals. At four o’clock the sand-hills ceased, and were succeeded by a
wide pebbly plain, on which, after six miles travelling, we encamped.
Our encampment was by no means a quiet one; and to any one who paid due
attention to the character and disposition of the people, serious
indications of a storm, which was gathering over us, became visible.
Mohammed Bóro, who had so often given vent to his feelings of revenge
for the neglect with which he had been treated, was all fire and fury;
and stirring up the whole encampment, he summoned all the people to a
council, having, as he said, received intelligence that a large party of
Hogár was coming to Asïu. Not having paid much attention to the report
about Sídi Jáfel’s expedition, I became anxious when made aware of the
man’s fury; for I knew the motives which actuated him.
[Sidenote: Friday, August 16th.]
We started early. Gravelly and pebbly grounds succeeded each other, the
principal formation being granite; but when, after a march of about
thirteen miles, we passed the narrow sandy spur of a considerable ridge
approaching our left, a fine species of white marble became visible. We
then passed a rugged district, of peculiar and desolate appearance,
called Ibéllakang, and crossed a ridge of gneiss covered with gravel.
Here, while a thunder-storm was rising in the east, our caravan, to our
great regret, divided, the Tinýlkum turning off towards the east, in
order, as we were told, to look for a little herbage among the sand-
hills. Meanwhile thick, heavy clouds, which had been discharging a great
quantity of rain towards the east, broke over us at a quarter past four
o’clock in the afternoon, when we were just in the act of crossing
another rocky crest covered with gravel. A violent sand-storm, followed
by heavy rain, which was driven along by a furious gale, soon threw the
caravan into the utmost confusion, and made all observation impossible;
but fortunately it did not last long.
It was on descending from this crest, while the weather cleared up, that
the Háusa slaves, with a feeling of pride and joy, pointed out in the
far distance “dútsi-n-Absen” (Mount Absen). Here the granite formation
had been gradually succeeded by sandstone and slate. This district,
indeed, seems to be the line of demarcation between two different zones.
At twenty minutes past six o’clock we at length encamped, but were again
in the saddle at eleven o’clock at night, and in pale moonlight, sleepy
and worn out as we were, began a dreadful night’s march. But altogether
it proved to be a wise measure taken by the Kél-owí, who had reason to
be afraid lest the Hogár, of whom they appeared to have trustworthy
news, might overtake us before we reached the wells of Asïu, and then
treat us as they pleased. Our companions, who were of course themselves
not quite insensible to fatigue, as night advanced became very uncertain
in their direction, and kept much too far to the south. When day dawned,
our road lay over a flat, rocky, sand-stone surface, while we passed on
our left a locality remarkable for nothing but its name, Efínagha.[92]
We then descended from the rocky ground into the extremely shallow
valley of Asïu, overgrown with scanty herbage of a kind not much liked
by the camels. Here we encamped, near a group of four wells, which still
belong to the Azkár, while a little further on there are others which
the Kélowí regard as their own property. How it was that we did not
encamp near the latter I cannot say. But the people were glad to have
got so far. The wells, or at least two of them, afforded an abundant
supply of water; but it was not of a good quality, and had a peculiar
taste, I think on account of the iron ore with which it was impregnated.
This, then, was Asïu[93], a place important for the caravan-trade at all
times, on account of the routes from Ghadámes and from Tawát joining
here, and which did so even as far back as the time when the famous
traveller Ebn Batúta returned from his enterprising journey to Sudán
homewards by way of Tawát (in the year 1353-4). Desolate and melancholy
as it appeared, it was also an important station to us, as we thought
that we had now left the most difficult part of the journey behind us.
For though I myself had some forebodings of a danger threatening us, we
had no idea that the difficulties which we should have to encounter were
incomparably greater than those which we had passed through. Mr.
Richardson supposed that because we had reached the imaginary frontier
of the territories of the Azkár and Kél-owí, we were beyond the reach of
any attack from the north. With the utmost obstinacy he reprobated as
absurd any supposition that such a frontier might be easily crossed by
nomadic roving tribes, asserting that these frontiers in the desert were
respected much more scrupulously than any frontier of Austria,
notwithstanding the innumerable host of its landwaiters. But he was soon
to be undeceived on all the points of his desert-diplomacy, at his own
expense and that of us all.
There was very little attraction for roving about in this broad gravelly
plain. Now and then a group of granite blocks interrupted the monotonous
level, bordered on the north by a gradually-ascending rocky ground,
while the southern border rose to a somewhat higher elevation.
Desolate as the spot was, and gloomy as were our prospects, the arrival
of the Tinýlkum in the course of the afternoon afforded a very cheerful
sight, and inspired some confidence, as we felt that our little party
had once more resumed its strength. All the people, however, displayed
an outward show of tranquillity and security, with the exception of
Serki-n-turáwa, who was bustling about in a state of the utmost
excitement. Watering the camels and filling the waterskins employed the
whole day.
[Sidenote: Sunday, August 18th.]
After a two hours’ march we began to ascend, first gradually, then more
steeply, all the rocks hereabouts consisting of slate, greatly split and
rent, and covered with sand. In twenty-five minutes we reached the
higher level, which consisted of pebbly ground with a ridge running, at
the distance of about four miles, to the west.
While we were quietly pursuing our road, with the Kél-owí in the van,
the Tinýlkum marching in the rear, suddenly Mohammed the Sfaksi came
running behind us, swinging his musket over his head, and crying
lustily, “He awelád, awelád bú, ʿadúna já” (“Lads, lads, our enemy has
come”), and spreading the utmost alarm through the whole of the caravan.
Everybody seized his arms, whether musket, spear, sword, or bow; and
whosoever was riding jumped down from his camel. Some time elapsed
before it was possible, amid the noise and uproar, to learn the cause of
the alarm. At length it transpired. A man named Mohammed, belonging to
the caravan, having remained a little behind at the well, had observed
three Tawárek mounted on mehára approaching at a rapid rate; and while
he himself followed the caravan, he left his slave behind to see whether
others were in the rear. The slave, after a while, overtook him with the
news that several more camels had become visible in the distance; and
then Mohammed and his slave hurried on to bring us the intelligence.
Even Mr. Richardson, who, being rather hard of hearing, judged of our
situation only from the alarm, descended from his slender little she-
camel and cocked his pistols. A warlike spirit seemed to have taken
possession of the whole caravan; and I am persuaded, that had we been
attacked at this moment, all would have fought valiantly. But such is
not the custom of freebooting parties: they will cling artfully to a
caravan, and first introduce themselves in a tranquil and peaceable way,
till they have succeeded in disturbing the little unity which exists in
such a troop, composed as it is of the most different elements; they
then gradually throw off the mask, and in general attain their object.
When at length a little tranquillity had been restored, and plenty of
powder and shot had been distributed among those armed with firelocks,
the opinion began to prevail, that, even if the whole of the report
should be true, it was not probable that we should be attacked by
daylight. We therefore continued our march with a greater feeling of
security, while a body of archers was despatched to learn the news of a
small caravan which was coming from Sudán, and marching at some distance
from us, behind a low ridge of rocks. They were a few Tébu, with ten
camels and between thirty and forty slaves, unconsciously going to meet
a terrible fate; for we afterwards learned that the Imghád of the Hogár,
or rather the Hadánara, disappointed at our having passed through their
country without their getting anything from us, had attacked this little
troop, murdering the Tébu, and carrying off their camels and slaves.
While the caravan was going slowly on, I was enabled to allow my méheri
a little feeding on the nesí (_Panicum grossularium_, much liked by
camels) in a spot called Tahasása. At noon we began to ascend on rocky
ground, and, after a very gradual ascent of three miles, reached the
higher level, strewn with pebbles, but exhibiting further on a rugged
slaty soil, till we reached the valley Fénorang.[94] This valley, which
is a little less than a mile in breadth and two in length, is famous for
its rich supply of herbage, principally of the kind called bú-rékkeba,
and the far-famed el hád (the camel’s dainty), and is on this account an
important halting-place for the caravans coming from the north, after
having traversed that naked part of the desert, which produces scarcely
any food for the camel. Notwithstanding, therefore, the danger which
threatened us, it was determined to remain here not only this, but also
the following day.
As soon as the loads were taken off their backs, the half-starved camels
fell to devouring eagerly the fine herbage offered them. Meanwhile we
encamped as close together as possible, preparing ourselves for the
worst, and looking anxiously around in every direction. But nobody was
to be seen till the evening, when the three men on their mehára made
their appearance, and, being allowed to approach the caravan, made no
secret of the fact that a greater number was behind them.
Aware of what might happen, our small troop had all their arms ready, in
order to repulse any attack; but the Kél-owí and the few Azkár who were
in our caravan kept us back, and, after a little talk, allowed the
visitors to lie down for the night near our encampment, and even
solicited our hospitality in their behalf. Nevertheless all of them well
knew that the strangers were freebooters, who could not but have bad
designs against us; and the experienced old Awed el Khér, the sheikh of
the Káfila, came expressly to us, warning and begging us to be on our
guard, while Bóro Serki-n-turáwa began to play a conspicuous part,
addressing the Kél-owí and Tinýlkum in a formal speech, and exhorting
them to stand by us. Everybody was crying for powder; and nobody could
get enough. Our clever but occasionally very troublesome servant
Mohammed conceived a strategical plan, placing on the north side of the
two tents the four pieces of the boat, behind each of which one of us
had to take his station in case of an attack.
Having had some experience of freebooters’ practices in my former
wanderings, I knew that all this was mere farce and mockery, and that
the only way of ensuring our safety would have been to prevent these
scouts from approaching us at all. We kept watch the whole night; and of
course the strangers, seeing us well on our guard, and the whole caravan
still in high spirits and in unity, ventured upon nothing.
In the morning our three guests (who, as I made out, did not belong to
the Azkár, but were Kél-fadé from the northern districts of Aïr) went
slowly away, but only to join their companions, who had kept at some
distance beyond the rocky ridge which bordered or, rather, interrupted
the valley to the westward. There some individuals of the caravan, who
went to cut herbage, found the fresh traces of nine camels. In spite of
outward tranquillity, there was much matter for anxiety and much
restlessness in the caravan, and suddenly an alarm was given that the
camels had been stolen; but fortunately it proved to be unfounded.
ʿAbd el Káder, the Tawáti of whom I have spoken above, trying to take
advantage of this state of things, came to Mr. Overweg, and urgently
pressed him to deposit everything of value with Awed el Khér, the Kél-
owí, and something, “of course,” with him also. This was truly very
disinterested advice; for if anything had happened to us, they would of
course have become our heirs. In the evening we had again three guests,
not, however, the same as before, but some of their companions, who
belonged to the Hadánara, one of the divisions of the Azkár.
[Sidenote: Tuesday, August 20th.]