space encircled with the green spreading bushes of the abísga, a little
beyond Tin-tagh-odé, the village of the Merábetín or Aníslimen[103],
which is spread in a long line over the low offshoots of the mountain-
range, and contains about a hundred light huts, almost all of them being
made of grass and the leaves of the dúm-palm, a few only being built of
stones.
Small as this village is, it is of very great importance for the
intercourse between Central Africa and the northern region beyond the
desert; for under the authority of these learned and devout men,
commerce is carried on with a security which is really surprising, if
regard be had to the wild and predatory habits of the people around. As
these Aníslimen belong to a tribe of the Kél-owí, we may infer that
their settlement here was contemporaneous with the conquest of the
country by the latter tribe,—a conclusion favoured by the narrative of
Ebn Batúta, who does not appear to have found any settlements in this
quarter.
The Aníslimen, however, though they style themselves “devout men,” have
not therefore relinquished all concern about the things of this world,
but, on the contrary, by their ambition, intrigues, and warlike
proceedings, exercise a great influence upon the whole affairs of the
country, and have placed themselves, as I have already mentioned, in a
sort of opposition to the powerful chief of Tintéllust. Recently,
however, a great calamity had befallen them, the Awelímmiden (the
“Surka” of Mungo Park, the dreaded enemies of the Kél-owí) having by a
sudden inroad carried away all their camels; and it may have been partly
the desire to make use of the opportunity afforded them by the arrival
of some unprotected infidels, to repair their losses in some measure,
which made them deal so hostilely with us.
As we encamped, the boys of the village hovered around us in great
numbers; and while we kept a good look out to prevent their pilfering,
we could not but admire their tall, well-formed figures and their light
colour,—the best proof that this little clan does not intermarry with
the black race. They wore nothing but a leathern apron; and their hair
was shorn on the sides, leaving a crest in the middle.
When we had made ourselves somewhat comfortable, we were desirous of
entering into some traffic with the people, in order to replace our
provisions, which were almost wholly exhausted; but we soon had reason
to be convinced how erroneous were the ideas which we had formed from
reports as to the cheapness of provisions in this country, and that we
should have very great difficulty in procuring even the little that was
absolutely necessary. Of butter and cheese we were unable to obtain the
smallest quantity, while only very small parcels of dukhn, or gero
(millet or _Pennisetum typhoïdeum_), were offered to us, and greatly to
our disadvantage, as the articles we had to barter with, such as
bleached and unbleached calico, razors, and other things, were estimated
at a very low rate. A common razor brought us here ten zekka of millet,
worth, according to the estimate of the country, one third of a mithkál,
equal to 333 kurdi, or about sixpence-halfpenny. I learnt from Émeli
that the Sakomáren, a tribe of Imóshagh possessing large flocks of sheep
and even much cattle, bring almost every year a considerable supply of
butter to this country, a statement which was soon confirmed by my own
experience.
The man just mentioned, who had something extremely noble and
prepossessing about him, was about to return to Ghát; and I confided to
him a letter for Europe. In all probability this is the letter which was
afterwards found in the desert, and was brought by Nakhnúkhen (the chief
of the Azkár) himself to Mr. Dickson, Her Majesty’s agent in Ghadámes,
who from its fate drew some sinister conclusions as to my own.
Several other people having left us, we remained in tolerable quiet and
repose the whole day; but it was reported that the next day, during
which we should be obliged to stay here in order to wait for the
restitution of our camels, there would be a great concourse of Mehára to
celebrate a marriage in the village: but fortunately the immense
quantity of rain which fell in the whole of the neighbourhood, and which
on the 1st of September changed our valley into the broad bed of a rapid
river, placing all our property in the utmost danger, prevented this
design from being executed, and, while it seemed to portend to us a new
misfortune, most probably saved us from a much greater mischief.
Having just escaped from the dangers arising from the fanaticism and the
rapacity of the people, it was a hard trial to have to contend again
against an element the power of which, in these border regions of the
desert, we had been far from appreciating and acknowledging. We had no
antecedents from which to conclude the possibility that in this region a
valley, more than half a mile wide, might be turned, in twenty-four
hours, into a stream violent enough to carry away the heaviest things,
not excepting even a strong, tall animal like the camel; and it was with
almost childish satisfaction that, in the afternoon of Saturday, we went
to look at the stream, which was just beginning to roll its floods
along. It was then a most pleasant and refreshing sight; the next day it
became a grand and awful picture of destruction, which gave us no faint
idea of a deluge. To the description of the flood itself, as it is given
by Mr. Richardson, I shall not add anything; but I have to mention the
following circumstances, which seem not to have been placed in their
true light.
Half an hour after midday, the waters began to subside, and ceased to
endanger our little island, which, attacked on all sides by the
destructive fury of an impetuous mountain-torrent swollen to the
dimensions of a considerable river, was fast crumbling to pieces, and
scarcely afforded any longer space enough to hold our party and our
things. Suddenly, on the western shore, a number of Mehára were seen,
while at the same time the whole population of Tin-tagh-odé, in full
battle-array, came from the other side, and formed themselves in regular
groups, partly round our hill, and partly opposite to the Tinýlkum.
While we looked with distrust upon these preparations, most of our
muskets having been wetted, the mischievous Mokhammed approached our
hill and, addressing me with a very significant and malevolent look,
cried out, “Lots of people!” The previous afternoon, when I had
requested him, while squatting himself insolently upon my carpet, to
leave this only piece of comfort for my own use, he threatened me in
plain terms, and in the coolest manner, that the following night I
should lie on the bottom of the wadi, and he upon my carpet. Not put out
by his malice, though I was myself rather doubtful as to the friendly
intentions of all these people, I told him that the Mehára were our
friends sent by the chief Ánnur as an escort to conduct us safely to
Tintéllust. With a threatening gesture he told me I should be sadly
disappointed, and went away. Fortunately, it turned out that the people
mounted on camels were really Ánnur’s escort; but at the same time a
large band of robbers had collected, in order to make a last effort to
take possession of our property before we should obtain the protection
of Ánnur, and only withdrew reluctantly when they saw that they should
meet with a strong opposition.
We were then justified in hoping that we had at length entered a harbour
affording us a certain degree of security; and with thankful and
gladdened hearts we looked forward to our further proceedings. Our
present situation, however, was far from being comfortable: almost all
our things were wet; our tents were lying in the mud at the bottom of
the stream; and our comfortable and strong, but heavy, Tripolitan tent
was so soaked with water and earth, that a camel could scarcely carry
it. Leaving at length our ill-chosen camping-ground, Overweg and I, were
passing the principal torrent (which was still very rapid), when the
camels we rode, weakened by the dreadful situation they had been in the
whole day, were unable to keep their feet, and, slipping on the muddy
bottom, set us down in the midst of the stream. Soaked and barefoot,
having lost my shoes, I was glad to reach in the dark the new encampment
which had been chosen on the elevated rocky ground a little beyond the
border of the valley. Our beds were in the most cheerless condition, and
in an unhealthy climate would certainly have been productive of bad
consequences. Aïr, however, in every respect may be called the
Switzerland of the desert.
Fortunately the weather on the following morning cleared up, and,
although the sun came forth only now and then, a fresh wind was very
favourable for drying; and it was pleasant to see one thing after
another resume a comfortable appearance. The whole encampment seemed to
be one large drying-ground.
Having recovered a little from the uncomfortable state in which we had
passed the night, we went to pay a visit to the principal men of our new
escort, who had seated themselves in a circle, spear in hand, with their
leader Hámma (a son-in-law of the chief Ánnur) in the midst of them.
Entire strangers as both parties were to each other, and after the many
mishaps we had gone through, and the many false reports which must have
reached these men about our character, the meeting could not fail to be
somewhat cool. We expressed to the leader our sincere acknowledgment of
the service which the chief Ánnur had rendered us, and begged him to
name us to such of his companions as were related to the chief. On this
occasion Mohammed, the chief’s cousin, who afterwards became a great
friend of mine, made himself remarkable by his pretensions and
arrogance. They were all of them tolerably good-looking; but they were
not at all of the same make as the Azkár and the people living near the
border of Aïr. They were blacker, and not so tall, and, instead of the
austere and regular northern features, had a rounder and more cheerful,
though less handsome expression of countenance. Their dress also was
more gay, several of them wearing light-blue, instead of the melancholy-
looking dark-blue tobes.
At about ten o’clock we at length moved on, and chose the western of the
two roads, leading hence to Tin-téllust, by way of Fódet; the eastern
one passes through Tágo and Táni. Leaving the large green valley of Tin-
tagh-odé on our left, we kept on more uneven ground, passing some
smaller glens, till we reached the commencement of the fine broad valley
Fódet, and encamped near the cliffs bordering its eastern side. Here the
water, rushing down from the rocks in a sort of cascade, had formed a
pond, which, however, was not destined to remain long.
[Sidenote: Tuesday, September 3rd.]
We made a very interesting march through a country marked with bold
features, and showing itself in more than one respect capable of being
the abode of man. Turning away from the eastern border, we kept more
along the middle of the valley, till we reached the most picturesque
spot where it divided into two branches, the eastern of which, bordered
by several imposing mountain-spurs, presented a very interesting
perspective, of which the accompanying sketch, drawn as it was on the
back of my camel, will give only a faint idea.
[Illustration]
The whole bottom of the valley, where, the day before yesterday, a
mighty torrent had been foaming along, was now glittering with fragments
of minerals. We then passed the ruins of some houses carried away by the
floods, and met further on a little troop of asses laden with
éneli.[104] Our whole caravan was in good spirits; and our escort, in
order to give us a specimen of their horsemanship, if I may so call it,
got up a race, which, as may be readily imagined, proved a very awkward
affair. Two or three of the riders were thrown off; and the sport soon
came to an end. The swift camel is excellent for trotting; but it can
never excel in a gallop.
In our ascent we had reached very considerable mountain-masses on our
right, when some of our old companions, who had come with us from Ghát,
separated from us, in order to go to their village Túngadu. Among these
was Ákshi, a very modest and quiet man, who alone of all these people
had never begged from me even the merest trifle, though he gave me some
information, and I might have learnt much more from him if I had seen
him more frequently. But I had the good fortune to meet with him again
at a later period.
The country here became very mountainous, and the ascent steep, till we
reached a valley called by some of the Kél-owí the upper course of the
valley of Tin-téllust. Having reached the crest of the elevation, we
began to descend, first gradually along smaller valleys, afterwards more
steeply into a deep ravine, while in the distance towards the south-
west, above the lower hills, a ridge of considerable elevation became
visible. Gradually the ravine widened, and became clothed with fine
herbage. Here, to our great disappointment, the little Ánnur, Dídi,
Fárreji, and several of the Tinýlkum (among them the intelligent and
active Ibrahím) left us in order to reach their respective residences.
Of course Ánnur ought to have seen us safe to the chief’s residence; but
being without energy, he allowed our new companions, with whom we had
not yet been able to become acquainted, to extort from us what they
could, as the Fade-ang and the Aníslimen had done before. Keeping along
some smaller valleys, we reached, about noon, a considerable pond of
rain-water, where I watered my thirsty camel. Almost all the smaller
valleys through which we passed incline towards the west.
Much against our wish, we encamped a little after three o’clock P.M., in
a widening of the valley Afís, near the southern cliffs (which had a
remarkably shattered appearance), there being a well at some little
distance. We had scarcely encamped when a troublesome scene was enacted,
in the attempt to satisfy our escort, the men not being yet acquainted
with us, and making importunate demands. But there was more turmoil and
disturbance than real harm in it; and though half of the contents of a
bale of mine were successfully carried off by the turbulent Mohammed,
and a piece of scarlet cloth was cut into numberless small shreds in the
most wanton manner, yet there was not much to complain of, and it was
satisfactory to see Hámma (Ánnur’s son-in-law, and the chief of the
escort) display the greatest energy in his endeavours to restore what
was forcibly taken.
[Sidenote: Wednesday, September 4th.]
We were glad when day dawned; but with it came very heavy rain, which
had been portended last night by thickly accumulated clouds and by
lightning. Rain early in the morning seems to be rather a rare
phenomenon, as well in this country as all over Central Africa[105], if
it be not in continuation of the previous night’s rain; and it was
probably so on this occasion, rain having fallen during the whole night
in the country around us.
Having waited till the rain seemed to have a little abated, we started
at seven o’clock, in order to reach the residence of the powerful chief
Ánnur, in whose hands now lay the whole success of the expedition.
Though all that we had heard about him was calculated to inspire us with
confidence in his personal character, yet we could not but feel a
considerable degree of anxiety.
Soon emerging from the valley of Afís, we ascended rocky ground, over
which we plodded, while the rain poured down upon us with renewed
violence, till we reached the commencement of another valley, and a
little further, on its northern side, the small village Sárara, or
Asárara, divided into two groups, between which we passed. We then
crossed low rocky ground intersected by many small beds of torrents
descending from the mountains on our left, which rise to a considerable
elevation. All these channels incline towards the south, and are thickly
clothed with bushes.
It was half-past nine o’clock, the weather having now cleared up, when
we entered the valley of Tintéllust[106], forming a broad sandy channel,
bare of herbage, and only lined with bushes along its border. On the low
rocky projections on its eastern side lay a little village, scarcely
discernible from the rocks around; it was the long and anxiously looked-
for residence of the chief E’ Núr or Ánnur. Our servants saluted it with
a few rounds. Leaving the village on the eastern border of the sandy
bed, we went a little further to the south, keeping close to the low
rocky projection on our right, at the foot of which was the little tebki
or water-pond, and encamped on a sand-hill rising in a recess of the
rocky offshoots, and adorned at its foot with the beautiful green and
widely-spreading bushes of the _Capparis sodata_, while behind was a
charming little hollow with luxuriant talha-trees. Over the lower rocky
ground rose Mount Tunán, while towards the south the majestic mountain-
group of Búnday closed the view. As for the prospect over the valley
towards the village, and the beautiful mountain-mass[107] beyond, it is
represented in the annexed sketch, made at a later period, and for the
accuracy of which I can answer.
Altogether it was a most beautiful camping-ground, where in ease and
quiet we could establish our little residence, not troubled every moment
by the intrusion of the townspeople; but it was rather too retired a
spot, and too far from our protector, being at least eight hundred yards
from the village, in a country of lawless people not yet accustomed to
see among them men of another creed, of another complexion, and of
totally different usages and manners.
This spot being once selected, the tents were soon pitched; and in a
short time, on the summit of the sand-hill, there rose the little
encampment of the English expedition, consisting of four tents forming a
sort of semi-circle, opening towards the south, the point to which all
our arduous efforts were directed,—Mr. Richardson’s tent towards the
west, Overweg’s and mine adjoining it towards the east, and each flanked
by a smaller tent for the servants. Doubtless this sand-hill will ever
be memorable in the annals of the Asbenáwa as the “English Hill,” or the
“Hill of the Christians.” But before I proceed to relate the incidents
of our daily life while we stayed here, it will be well to introduce the
reader to the country and the people with whom we have come in contact.
[Illustration: Drawn by J. M. Bernatz, from a Sketch by Dr. Barth.
M. & N. Hanhart, lith. et impt.
TIN-TÉLLUST.
Sepr. 1850.]
[Footnote 97: In conformity with the usage of travellers, I call Mehára
people mounted upon mehára, or swift camels (in the singular form
méheri). This expression has nothing whatever to do with Mehárebín, a
name of which I shall speak hereafter.]
[Footnote 98: The name has probably some connection with that of the
tribe Ímanang.]
[Footnote 99: Absen and Asben are used indiscriminately, though a ba-
Háushe, or Háusa man, will always say Asben, ba-Asbenchi, Asbenáwa,
while the native half-castes will prefer the other form—Absen,
Absenáwa.]
[Footnote 100: Mr. Richardson calls the pond Anamghur; correctly
perhaps, though I did not hear it so called. The name of the valley,
however, is Tároï; and, if I am not mistaken, Anamaghúr, or Anemághera,
means, in the Southern Berber dialect, in general, “a watering place;”
for our halting-place near Tághajít was also called by this name.]
[Footnote 101: I think, however, that the more learned among them call
it tágait. The palm-tree is called táshdait.]
[Footnote 102: “Érazar,” properly “éghazar,” means “the valley,” in
general; but nevertheless here it seems to be a proper name.]
[Footnote 103: “Aníslim” is the term in the Temáshight language
equivalent to the Arabic Merábet; and though it evidently has the most
intimate relation to the word “selem” (Islám), meaning properly a man
professing Islám, this signification has been entirely lost sight of. I
was generally deemed and called by the Western Tawárek an Aníslim,
because I wrote and read.]
[Footnote 104: Éneli, انلي—dukhn—is a word several times mentioned by
the learned traveller Ebn Batúta in his Travels, where it has not been
understood by the translators. See Journal Asiatique, 1843, série iv.
tom. i. pp. 188. 191. 200. At p. 194. he describes the favourite
beverage dakno, made of this corn.]
[Footnote 105: In many parts of India, just the contrary seems to
occur.]
[Footnote 106: It will be well to say a few words about this name, as
the way in which I write it has been made the subject of criticism. Tin-
téllust means “(the valley) with or of the téllust;” “tin” is the
pronoun expressing possession, and exactly corresponds with the Western
Arabic متاع. It is of very frequent occurrence, as well in names of
localities as of tribes, and even of men, such as Tin-Yerátan, son of
Wasembú, the celebrated King of Aúdaghost. “Téllust” is the feminine
form of “ellus,” the feminine Berber nouns having the peculiarity of not
only beginning with _t_, but often ending with it likewise. (Newman, in
Zeitschrift für Kunde des Morgenlandes, 1845, vol. vi. p. 275.)]
[Footnote 107: These mountains, which from this side seem to form a
well-defined group, have, as far as I know, no general name.]
CHAP. XIV.
ETHNOGRAPHICAL RELATIONS OF AÏR.
The name Aïr, exactly as it is written and pronounced by the natives at
the present day, first occurs in the description of Leo, which was
written in 1526.[108] The country Káher, mentioned by the traveller Ebn
Batúta[109] on his home-journey from Tekádda by way of the wells of
Asïu, is evidently somewhere hereabouts, but seems rather to denote the
region a few days’ journey west from Tintéllust, and to be identical
with the “Ghir” of Leo[110], though this extended more to the S.W. The
name being written by the Arabs with an _h_ (Ahír), most historical
geographers have erroneously concluded that this is the true indigenous
form of the name.[111]
Aïr, however, does not appear to be the original name of the country,
but seems to have been introduced by the Berber conquerors, the former
name being Asben or Absen, as it is still called by the black and the
mixed population. Asben was formerly the country of the Góberáwa, the
most considerable and noble portion of the Háusa nation, which does not
seem to belong to the pure Negro races, but to have originally had some
relationship with North Africa; and from this point of view the
statement of Sultan Bello cannot be regarded as absurd, when in the
introduction to his historical work on the conquests of the Fulbe,
“Infák él misúri fi fat hah el Tekrúri,” he calls the people of Góber
Copts[112], though only one family is generally considered by the
learned men of the country as of foreign origin.