the true believers had been called together to prayer; and the bond
which united the Mohammedan members of the caravan with the Christian
travellers had been loosened in a very conspicuous manner. Then the
encampment broke up, and we set out—not, however, as we had been
accustomed to go latterly, every little party starting off as soon as
they were ready, but all waiting till the whole caravan had loaded their
camels, when we began our march in close order, first along the valley,
then entering upon higher ground, sometimes gravelly, at others rocky.
The range to our right, here a little more than a mile distant, bears
different names corresponding to the more prominent parts into which it
is separated by hollows or saddles, the last cone towards the south
being called Timázkaren, a name most probably connected with that of the
Azkár tribe, while another is named Tin-dúrdurang. The Tarki or Amóshagh
is very expressive in names; and whenever the meaning of all these
appellations shall be brought to light, I am sure we shall find many
interesting significations. Though I paid a good deal of attention to
their language, the Tarkíyeh or Temáshight, I had not leisure enough to
become master of the more difficult and obsolete terms; and, of course,
very few even among themselves can at present tell the exact meaning of
a name derived from ancient times.
At length we had left behind us that remarkable ridge, and entering
another shallow valley full of young herbage, followed its windings, the
whole presenting a very irregular structure, when suddenly four men were
seen ahead of us on an eminence, and instantly a troop of lightly-armed
people, amongst them three archers, were dispatched, as it seemed, in
order to reconnoitre, marching in regular order straight for the
eminence.
Being in the first line of our caravan, and not feeling so sure on the
camel as on foot, I dismounted, and marched forward, leading my méheri
by the nose-cord, and with my eyes fixed upon the scene before us. But
how much was I surprised when I saw two of the four unknown individuals
executing a wild sort of armed dance together with the Kél-owí, while
the others were sitting quietly on the ground. Much perplexed, I
continued to move slowly on, when two of the men who had danced suddenly
rushed upon me, and grasping the rope of my camel, asked for tribute.
Quite unprepared for such a scene under such circumstances, I grasped my
pistol, when, just at the right time, I learnt the reason and character
of this curious proceeding.
The little eminence on the top of which we had observed the people, and
at the foot of which the armed dance was performed, is an important
locality in the modern history of the country which we had reached. For
here it was that when the Kél-owí (at that time an unmixed and pure
Berber tribe, as it seems) took possession of the country of Old Góber
with its capital, Tin-shamán, a compromise or covenant was entered into
between the red conquerors and the black natives, that the latter should
not be destroyed, and that the principal chief of the Kél-owí should
only be allowed to marry a black woman. And as a memorial of this
transaction, the custom has been preserved, that when caravans pass the
spot where the covenant was entered into, near the little rock Máket-n-
ikelán[95], “the slaves” shall be merry and be authorized to levy upon
their masters a small tribute. The black man who stopped me was the
“serki-n-baï” (the principal or chief of the slaves).
These poor merry creatures, while the caravan was proceeding on its
march, executed another dance; and the whole would have been an incident
of the utmost interest, if our minds and those of all the well-disposed
members of the caravan had not been greatly oppressed and vexed with sad
forebodings of mishap. The fear was so great that the amiable and
sociable Slimán (one of the Tinýlkum, who at a later period manifested
his sympathy with us in our misfortunes) begged me most urgently to keep
more in the middle of the caravan, as he was afraid that one of those
ruffians might suddenly rush upon me, and pierce me with his spear.
The soil hereabouts consisted entirely of bare gravel; but further on it
became more uneven, and broken by granite rocks, in the cavities among
which our people found some rain-water. The tract on our right was
called Tisgáwade, while the heights on our left bore the name Tin-
ébbeke. I here rode awhile by the side of Émeli, a Tarki of the tribe of
the Azkár, a gentleman both in his dress and manners, who never
descended from the back of his camel. Although he appeared not to be
very hostile to the robbers on our track, and was certainly aware of
their intention, I liked him on account of his distinguished manners,
and, under more favourable circumstances, should have been able to
obtain a great deal of information from him. But there was with him a
rather disagreeable and malicious fellow named Mohammed (or, as the
Tawárek pronounce it, Mokhammed), from Yánet or Jánet, who, in the
course of the difficulties which befell us, did us a great deal of
mischief, and was fully disposed to do us much more.
The country, which in the meantime had become more open, after a while
became bordered ahead by elevations in the form of a semi-circle, while
we began to ascend. The weather had been extremely sultry and close the
whole day; and at last, about three o’clock in the afternoon, the storm
broke out, but with less violence than on the day before our arrival at
Asïu.
We encamped at length on an open gravelly plain surrounded by ridges of
rocks, without pitching our tents; for our unwished-for guests had in
the face of the Tinýlkum openly declared that their design was to kill
us, but that they wanted first to get more assistance. Notwithstanding
this, Mr. Richardson even to-night was obliged to feed these ruffians;
such is the weakness of a caravan—although in our case the difference of
religion, and consequent want of unity, could not but greatly contribute
to paralyze its strength. I here heard that some of the party were
Imghád from Tádomat.
Under such circumstances, and in such a state of feeling, it was
impossible to enjoy the sport and frolics of the slaves (that is, of the
domestic slaves) of the Kél-owí, who with wild gestures and cries were
running about the encampment to exact from all the free individuals of
the caravan their little Máket-n-ikelán tribute, receiving from one a
small quantity of dates, from another a piece of muslin or a knife, from
another a shirt. Everybody was obliged to give something, however small.
Notwithstanding our long day’s march, Overweg and I found it necessary
to be on the watch the whole night.
[Sidenote: Wednesday, August 21st.]
Starting at an early hour, we ascended very rugged ground, the rocky
ridges on both sides often meeting together and forming irregular
defiles. After a march of five miles and a half, we reached the highest
elevation, and obtained a view over the whole district, which, being
sprinkled as it were with small granitic mounds, had a very desolate
appearance; but in the distance to our left an interesting mountain-
group was to be seen, of which the accompanying sketch will give some
idea.
[Illustration]
Having crossed several small valleys, we reached, a little before ten
o’clock, one of considerable breadth, richly overgrown with herbage, and
exhibiting evident traces of a violent torrent which had swept over it
the day before, while with us but little rain had fallen. It is called
Jínninau, and improved as we advanced, our path sometimes keeping along
it, sometimes receding to a little distance; in some places the growth
of the trees, principally the _Balanites_ or abórak, was indeed splendid
and luxuriant. Unfortunately we had not sufficient leisure and mental
ease to collect all the information which, under more favourable
circumstances, would have been within our reach. Thus, I learnt that
magnetic ironstone was found in the mountains to our left. After noon
the valley divided into three branches, the easternmost of which is the
finest and richest in vegetation, while the western one, called Tiyút,
has likewise a fine supply of trees and herbage; we took the middle one,
and a little further on, where it grew narrower, encamped.
It was a very pretty and picturesque camping-ground. At the foot of our
tents was a rocky bed of a deep and winding torrent bordered by most
luxuriant talha- and abórak-trees (_Balanites Ægyptiaca_), and forming a
small pond where the water, rushing down from the rocks behind, had
collected; the fresh green of the trees, enlivened by recent rains,
formed a beautiful contrast with the dark-yellowish colour of the rocks
behind. Notwithstanding our perilous situation, I could not help
straying about, and found, on the blocks over the tebki or pond, some
coarse rock-sculptures representing oxen, asses, and a very tall animal
which, according to the Kél-owí, was intended to represent the giraffe.
While I was enjoying the scenery of the place, Dídi stept suddenly
behind me, and tried to throw me down, but not succeeding, laid his
hands from behind upon the pistols which I wore in my belt, trying, by
way of experiment, whether I was able to use them notwithstanding his
grasp; but turning sharply round, I freed myself from his hold, and told
him that no effeminate person like himself should take me. He was a
cunning and insidious fellow; and I trusted him the least of our Kél-owí
friends. Ánnur warned us that the freebooters intended to carry off the
camels that we ourselves were riding, in the night; and it was fortunate
that we had provided for the emergency, and were able to fasten them to
strong iron rings.
While keeping the first watch during the night, I was enabled by the
splendid moonlight to address a few lines in pencil to my friends at
home.
[Sidenote: Thursday, August 22nd.]
The Kél-owí having had some difficulty in finding their camels, we did
not move at an early hour. To our great astonishment we crossed the
rocky bed of the torrent, and entered an irregular defile where a little
further on we passed another pond of rain-water. When at length we
emerged from the rocks, we reached a very high level, whence we had a
clear prospect over the country before us. Four considerable ranges of
mountains were clearly distinguishable in the distance, forming an
_ensemble_ of which the accompanying sketch will give an idea. We then
entered valleys clothed with a fine fresh verdure sprinkled with
flowers, and with a luxuriant vegetation such as we had not seen before.
The senna-plant (_Cassia senna_) appeared in tolerable quantity.
Mountains and peaks were seen all around in a great variety of forms;
and at twenty minutes past nine we had a larger mountain-mass on one
side, from which a dry watercourse, marked by a broad line of herbage,
issued and crossed our route.
[Illustration]
Having here allowed our camels a little feeding, we entered upon
gravelly soil with projecting blocks of granite, and then went on
ascending through a succession of small plains and valleys till we
reached Erazar-n-Gébi, among the splendid vegetation of which we first
observed the abísga, or _Capparis sodata_, called siwák or lirák by the
Arabs, an important bush, the currant-like fruit of which is not only
eaten fresh but also dried, and laid up in store, while the root affords
that excellent remedy for the teeth which the Mohammedans, in imitation
of their prophet, use to a great extent. The root moreover, at least on
the shores of the Tsád, by the process of burning, affords a substitute
for salt. It is the most characteristic bush or tree of the whole region
of transition between the desert and the fertile regions of Central
Africa, between the twentieth and the fifteenth degree of northern
latitude; and in the course of my travels I saw it nowhere of such size
as on the northern bank of the Isa or Niger, between Timbúktu and Gágho,
the whole ground which this once splendid and rich capital of the
Songhay Empire occupied being at present covered and marked out by this
celebrated bush. As for the camels, they like very well to feed for a
short time upon its fresh leaves, if they have some other herb to mix
with it; but eaten alone it soon becomes too bitter for them. In this
valley the little berries were not yet ripe; but further on they were
ripening, and afforded a slight but refreshing addition to our food.
Leaving the pleasant valley of Gébi by a small opening bordered with
large blocks of granite, while peaks of considerable elevation were seen
towering over the nearer cliffs, we entered another large valley called
Tághajít[96], but not quite so rich in vegetation, and encamped here on
an open space a little after noon. The valley is important as being the
first in the frontier-region of Aïr or Asben where there is a fixed
settlement—a small village of leathern tents, inhabited by people of the
tribe of Fade-ang, who preserve a certain independence of the Kél-owí,
while they acknowledge the supremacy of the sultan of Ágades, a state of
things of which I shall have occasion to say more in another place.
[Footnote 88: The two names Aséttere and Tajétterat are apparently
derived from the same root.]
[Footnote 89: I give here a list of the stations of their route, from
Eláwen:—
Em-eríwuang, with water, one day; Inar-ámas, one long day; Tibállaghén,
with water when there has been much rain, one day; Terhén, with water,
one day; Tin-afárfa, mountain-range with sand, one day; Takíset, a
valley between high mountains, three days, two of them over very sandy
ground; Arikím, with water at all times; Iséti, a valley, two days;
Tamiswát, valley with water, one day; Morér, high mountains, two days;
Falésselez, one day, over a gravelly Hammáda; Tamba- or Shamba-késa, a
shallow valley rich in herbage (see p. 262.), one day; Tirárien, one
day; Araer, hammáda with shallow valleys, one day; Táfak, one day;
Arókam, water, one day; Tádomat, valley, one day; Kátelet, one day;
Aísala, or Isala, one day.]
[Footnote 90: I read it “énfadmaschbel.”]
[Footnote 91: This is a Háusa word, from “rába” (to divide); and I shall
have to notice, in the course of my proceedings, several localities so
designated on various routes.]
[Footnote 92: This name is evidently identical with the name given to
the Berber alphabet, which is called tefínaghen; but the coincidence
will cease to surprise when I remark that both words mean nothing but
signs, tokens, a name which may be given as well to letters as to a
district remarkable for the position of some stones or ridges. The
Tawárek, as I shall have occasion to mention in another part of my
narrative, call all sorts of writing not written in signs, but with
letters, tefínaghen. The learned among the Tademékket and Awelímmiden
were greatly surprised, when going attentively over my English books, to
find that it was all tefínaghen—“tefínagh rurret.”]
[Footnote 93: The form Aisou, in Mr. Richardson’s Journal, is only a
clerical error.]
[Footnote 94: Mr. Richardson calls it Takeesat.]
[Footnote 95: I regret that I neglected to inquire what was the original
Góber name of this place; for, while there cannot be any doubt that it
received its present name, Máket-n-ikelán, from this transaction, it is
very probable that it was a place of ancient pagan worship, and as such
had a name of its own. It is very significant that the neighbouring
plain is emphatically called “the plain of Aïr,”—in the Arabic form,
“shʿabet el Ahír.”]
[Footnote 96: This name too is pronounced Ta_r_hajít.]
[Illustration: DR. BARTH’S TRAVELS IN NORTH AND CENTRAL AFRICA Sheet No.
6. MAP OF THE ROUTE from TÍDIK TO TÁGELEL 27. August 1850 to 10.
Jany. 1851
Constructed and drawn by A. Petermann.
Engraved by E. Weller, _Duke Strt. Bloomsbury._
_London, Longman & Co._]
CHAP. XIII.
INHABITED BUT DANGEROUS FRONTIER-REGION.
The sensations of our guides and camel-drivers had been uneasy from the
very moment of our encamping; and Mr. Richardson, at the suggestion of
Ánnur, had on the preceding day sent Émeli and Mokhammed in advance, in
order to bring to us the chief of Fade-ang. This person was represented
to us as a man of great authority in this lawless country, and able to
protect us against freebooting parties, which our guests of the other
day, who had gone on in advance, were sure to collect against us. But
Mokhammed, as I have observed above, was a great rascal himself, who
would do all in his power to increase our difficulties, in order to
profit by the confusion. The chief was accordingly reported as being
absent; and a man who was said to be his brother was to take his place.
This person made his appearance, accompanied by some people from the
village; but it became immediately apparent that he had no authority
whatever, and one of the Imghád of Tádomat, who had stuck to us for the
last two days, in order to show us what respect he had for this man,
struck him repeatedly with his spear upon the shoulder. Among the
companions of our new protector was a Taleb of the name of Buhéda,
distinguished by his talkativeness and a certain degree of arrogance,
who made himself ridiculous by trying to convince us of his immense
learning. What an enormous difference there was between these mean-
looking and degraded half-castes and our martial pursuers, who stood
close by! Though I knew the latter could and would do us much more harm
than the former, I liked them much better.
Overweg and I had sat down in the shade of a talha-tree at a little
distance from our tent, and had soon a whole circle of visitors around
us, who in the beginning behaved with some modesty and discretion, but
gradually became rather troublesome. I gave them some small presents,
such as scissors, knives, mirrors, and needles, with which they
expressed themselves well pleased. Presently came also several women,
one with the characteristic features called in Temáshight “tebúllodén,”
which may be translated by the words of Leo, “le parti di dietro
pienissime e grasse,” and another younger one mounted upon a donkey.
The whole character of these people appeared very degraded. They were
totally devoid of the noble and manly appearance which the most careless
observer cannot fail to admire even in a common Tarki freebooter; and
the relation between the sexes appeared in a worse light than one would
expect in such a situation as this. However, we have ample testimony in
ancient Arabian writers that licentious manners have always prevailed
among the Berber tribes on the frontier of the desert; and we found the
same habits existing among the tribe of the Tagáma, while not only
Ágades but even the little village of Tintéllust was not without its
courtesans. This is a very disheartening phenomenon to observe in so
small a community, and in a locality where nature would seem peculiarly
favourable to purity and simplicity of manners. The names of some of
these Tághajít beauties—Telíttifók, Tatináta, and Temétilé—are
interesting for the character of the language.
We were anxious to buy some of the famous Aïr cheese, for which we had
been longing the whole way over the dreary desert, and had kept up our
spirits with the prospect of soon indulging in this luxury; but we were
not able to procure a single one, and our endeavours to buy a sheep or a
goat were equally fruitless. Instead of the plenty which we had been led
to expect in this country, we found nothing but misery. But I was rather
surprised to find here a very fine and strong race of asses.
We were tolerably composed, and reclining at our ease (though our
weapons were always at hand), when we were a little alarmed by a demand
of six riyals for the use of the pond in Jínninau. Our amiable but
unenergetic friend Ánnur seconded the demand, by way of satisfying in
some way the intruders upon our caravan. These claims were scarcely
settled when a dreadful alarm was raised, by the report that a body of
from fifty to sixty Mehára were about to attack us.
Though no good authority could be named for this intelligence, the whole
caravan was carried away by excitement, and all called out for powder
and shot. Bóro Serki-n-turáwa once more delivered eloquent speeches, and
exhorted the people to be courageous; but many of the Tinýlkum, very
naturally, had a great objection to come to open hostilities with the
Tawárek, which might end in their being unable to travel any longer
along this route.
In this moment of extreme excitement Khweldi arrived, the chief merchant
of Múrzuk, whom we had not expected to see, though we knew that he was
on his way from Sudán to the north. We were in a situation wherein he
was able to render us the most material service, both by his influence
upon the individuals of whom our caravan was composed, and by his
knowledge of the country whose frontier-territories we had just entered.
But unfortunately, though a very experienced merchant, he was not a
practical, sharp-sighted man; and instead of giving us clear information
as to the probable amount of truth in the reports, and what sort of
difficulties we might really have to encounter, and how by paying a sort
of passage-money to the chiefs we might get over them, he denied in
private the existence of any danger at all, while openly he went round
the whole caravan extolling our importance as a mission sent by a
powerful government, and encouraging the people to defend us if we
should be in danger. In consequence of his exhortations the Tinýlkum
took courage, but had the imprudence and absurdity to supply also the
three intruders with powder and shot, who, though protesting to be now
our most sincere friends, of course made no other use of the present
than to supply their band with this material, which alone gave us a
degree of superiority, and constituted our security.
Any one accustomed to look closely at things could not be at all
satisfied with the spirit of our caravan, notwithstanding its noise and
waste of powder, and with its entire want of union; but the scene which
followed in the bright moonlight evening, and lasted throughout the
night, was animating and interesting in the extreme. The whole caravan
was drawn up in a line of battle, the left wing being formed by
ourselves and the detachment of the Kél-owí who had left their own
camping-ground and posted themselves in front of our tent, while the
Tinýlkum and the Sfaksi formed the centre, and the rest of the Kél-owí,
with Bóro, the right wing, leaning upon the cliffs, our exposed left
being defended by the four pieces of the boat. About ten o’clock a small
troop of Mehára[97] appeared, when a heavy fusillade was kept up over
their heads, and firing and shouting were continued the whole night.
Our situation remained the same the whole of the following day; and it
became very tedious, as it prevented us from making excursions, and
becoming acquainted with the features of the new country which we had
entered. Another alarm having been raised in vain, the leaders of the
expedition which was collecting against us came out, with the promise
that they would not further molest the caravan if the Christians were
given up to them. This demand having been at once rejected, we were left
in tolerable tranquillity for a while, as the freebooters now saw that
in order to obtain their object, which was plunder, they should be
obliged to bring really into the field the whole force they had so long
boasted of.
Khweldi paid us another visit in the afternoon; and as he wanted to make
us believe that there was really no danger in this country, so he did
not fail to represent the state of things in Sudán as the most
favourable we could have wished for. He also sought to sweeten over any
remnant of anxiety which we might have, by a dish of very delicious
dates which he had received from his friend Háj Beshír in Iferwán, and
which gave us a favourable idea of what the country before us was able
to produce. Altogether Khweldi endeavoured to be agreeable to everybody;
and on a later occasion, in 1854, when I was for some time without
means, he behaved towards me in a very gentleman-like manner. In his
company was a brother of our quiet and faithful servant Mohammed from
Gatrón, who was now returning home with his earnings.
Not being able to refrain wholly from excursions, I undertook in the
afternoon to visit the watering-place situated up a little lateral nook
of the valley, adorned with very luxuriant talha-trees, and winding in a
half circle by S.E. to N.E. First, at the distance of about a mile, I
came to a hole where some of the Tinýlkum were scooping water; and
ascending the rocky bed of the occasional torrent, I found a small pond
where the camels were drinking; but our faithful friend Músa, who was
not at all pleased with my having ventured so far, told me that the
water obtained here did not keep long, but that higher up good water was
to be found in the principal valley.
I had from the beginning attentively observed the character and
proceedings of Bóro Serki-n-turáwa, and feared nothing so much as his
intrigues; and at my urgent request, Mr. Richardson to-night made him a
satisfactory present as an acknowledgment of the courage which he had
lately shown in defending our cause. Of course the present came rather
late; but it was better to give it now, in order to avert the
consequences of his intrigues as much as possible, than not at all. Had
it been given two months ago, it might have saved us an immense deal of
difficulty, danger, and heavy loss.