but according to Gháser, Afénkúk; at about four o’clock. Probably these
are different valleys at a short distance from each other.
5th. A valley, Tewuílu, or another called Bégem; at sunset.
6th. Akúku; at ʿaser (about four o’clock), after having passed a valley
called Zeríten, where you fill your water-skins. The whole road consists
of pebbles.
7th. Tígger-áderez, a valley; at four o’clock.
8th. Etíddul, high sand-hills, where you arrive about noon.
9th. Jénkeb, a valley; about two o’clock P.M.
10th. Yamímma, a valley with water; arrive at ʿaser.
11th. Zermenétta, a village; about ʿaser.
12th. Awelímmid, a considerable place called after a settlement of the
Awelímmiden; arrive about one o’clock P.M.
13th. Ladémmau, or Eladémmau, the northernmost village of the province
of Góber, and the residence of Ittegáma, the brother of ʿAbd el Káder,
the sultan of Ágades.
14th. Gudunnézna, a village; arrive about one o’clock P.M.
15th. Ákerúf, a village; at the ʿaser.
16th, and the two following days travel over the Hammáda, or sárari.
19th. Arrive at Marádi, Mariyádi, or, as the Emgédesi people frequently
call it (apparently adopting the Berber idiom), Amrádi. I shall have to
say more about this country in the course of my narrative, and therefore
omit a list of the places in Góber, which I collected in Ágades.
III.—ITINERARY FROM ÁGADES TO DAM-ERGHÚ, ACCORDING TO VARIOUS
INFORMANTS.
1st. Leave the town in the afternoon, and sleep in Tésak-n-tállemt.
2nd. Valley Ériyán, with water; about ʿaser.
3rd. Sofó-n-bírni, a place now deserted, with a well filled up, but
evidently once a seat of government, being called “the old capital;” the
whole country is flat; arrive about three o’clock in the afternoon.
4th. Faífaí, a place with plenty of herbage; no water on the roadside
except in holes in the rocks.
5th. Lágato, a basin or pool of water, “tébki,” of very remarkable
extent, and surrounded with abundant herbage.
6th. Riyán, or “Eriyán-embísge,” with plenty of herbage; about sunset.
Another road from Lágato to Téténi seems to touch at the village Takóko.
7th. Téténi, with much herbage, no water; between four and five o’clock
P.M.
8th. Gagáwa, a village belonging to the district of Dam-erghú, with a
basin of water which is said to be connected in the rainy season with
that of Lágato; arrive about ʿaser.
9th. Tágelel, the village belonging to the chief Ánnur; about noon.
IV.—ROUTE FROM ÁGADES TO BÍLMA, ACCORDING TO THE EMGÉDESI ÉDERI.
1st. Leaving Ágades in the evening, sleep the first night at about half
an hour’s distance from the town, in the depression called Efígi-n-
tághalamt.
2nd. Tin-tabórak, a valley with water, where you arrive at the ʿaser,
after having passed early in the morning the valley called Amelúli.
3rd. Binébbu, a valley ornamented with dúm-palms, where you arrive a
little before sunset. In the morning you keep for a while along the
valley of Tin-tabórak, after which your way lies over the rocks,
crossing three different valleys, viz. Eméller, Aráta, and the valley of
Amdégeru, before you arrive at that called Binébbu.
4th. Tín-dawén, a valley with water; arrive about one o’clock P.M.
5th. Atezérket, after the ʿaser; all rocky ground.
6th. Encamp on the Hammáda, or ténere, consisting of pebbles; about the
ʿaser.
7th. Tázel, a spot among the rocks; about the same hour.
8th. Efígagén, a locality of similar character; about sunset.[209]
9th. Débradu Ezákker, a hollow between the rocks; halt two hours after
sunset and rest awhile, then start again.
10th, and the four following days, you travel night and day over the
Hammáda, making only a short halt from ʿAshá to about midnight. On the
Hammáda there are neither trees nor stones, and scarcely any herbage.
15th. Fáshi, the westernmost oasis of the “Hénderi Tedá,” or, as it is
called by the Arabs, Wádi Kawár, with plenty of date-trees and two
castles, one of which is in ruins, while the other is in good condition.
16th. About two hours after sunset, encamp on the Hammáda, when, after
about three or four hours’ repose, you start again, and continue the
whole of the night.
17th. Encamp late in the evening and start again, as the day before.
18th. Bílma, the well-known town in Kawár, with the salt-pits. The
Tawárek call all the Tedá or Tébu Beraúni, a name which in the following
volume I shall endeavour to explain, from the original connection
between this people and the Kanúri or Bórnu race.
V.—ROUTE FROM ÁGADES TO TAWÁT ACCORDING TO ʿABD-ALLA.
N.B. Although the first part of this route, as far as Neswa, coincides
in many places with my own route, I shall nevertheless not omit it, as
the coincidence in question proves the accuracy and intelligence of the
informant.
1st. Leaving the town in the afternoon, you encamp the first night near
the village called El Khasás, or El Hakhsás, in the fertile valley of
the same name, distant from Ágades about eight miles.
2nd. Télwa, a valley, where you arrive about the ʿaser, after having
passed on your road several valleys separated from each other by rocky
ground, more or less elevated. Early in the morning you cross the valley
called Ázal, then that called Tufátekín; after which, about noon, you
pass the celebrated valley of Ír-n-allem, with ruins of old houses, and
two fruit-bearing date-trees; after which, before you arrive at Télwa,
there is still another valley to be crossed, which is called Isérserén.
3rd. Úklef, a valley with water, like Télwa; arrive at the time of the
ʿaser, after having crossed the Wadi Ása, and afterwards gone over a
pebbly level called Tínin.
4th. Makám e’ Sheikh ben ʿAbd el Kerím, a sort of mosque known to some
under the name of Msíd Sídi Baghdádi, where you arrive about an hour
before sunset, after having rested, during the greatest heat, near
Aúderas. In the morning, your road passes for some time along the valley
Úklef.
5th. Tíggeda; about ʿaser.
6th. Encamp about sunset on rocky ground. Pass in the morning the valley
called Tefárrowet; then cross for some hours gravelly ground, with a few
large white projecting stones; after which you descend into the valley
called Ágaten, where, near a well, you pass the hours of the greatest
heat.
7th. Ténsif; arrive before the ʿaser.
8th. Iferwán, one of the finest valleys of Aïr, with a village of the
same name, and plenty of date-trees bearing excellent fruit. Arrive at
sunset, after having passed a number of small valleys called Aghítam.
9th. Tídik, a valley, with a village of the same name, where you arrive
before the ʿaser, after having passed the well called Néggaru.
10th. Súf méllel, “the white sand,” a place in the gravelly ground, over
which your route lies the whole day; arrive about ʿaser.
11th. Zelíl, an inhabited spot, where you arrive about one o’clock P.M.,
after having passed valleys called respectively Ageléndi, Fadé, and
Merátha. (N.B. The valley can be called by this last name only by the
Arabs.)
12th. Ifígi or Ifíne-makkéder, called by others Ifíne-bákka, where you
arrive at sunset, after having marched the whole day over a pebbly plain
called by the Arabs “Shʿabet el Ahír.” The reason why this plain
received such a remarkable name was evidently because it was here, in
the neighbourhood of the hill Máket-n-ikelán[210], that the ancient
Góber country of Asben was changed into the Berber country of Aïr, or,
as the Arabs call it, Ahír.
13th. You encamp on the Hammáda, where there is a little herbage, after
having crossed a rocky ground full of pebbles, and having passed a
valley called Tiyúten.
14th. You encamp at one o’clock P.M. on a spot with a little herbage of
the species called “el hád,” after having crossed a stony tract called
by the people Tim-ázgaren.
15th. Néswa, a well, not far west of the well Asïu, where you arrive
after the ʿaser, after having crossed a valley called Tafsástan.
16th. Teráf, a place on the Hammáda, where you encamp at the ʿaser.
17th. Tin-terámbe, a valley, with a famous cavern called Aʿagídet e’
Níb, where you arrive at the ʿaser, proceeding always on the Hammáda.
18th. Encamp at sunset between sand-hills called by the Arabs “el Ark,”
or “Irk” (the Hills).
19th. Tageréra, a valley, where you arrive about one o’clock P.M., after
having entered a mountainous tract called “Aghíl.”
20th. El Ághsul, a valley with water, where you arrive a little after
noon, after having passed over rugged ground called Esfaméllesa.
21st. Tékderen, a valley, where you arrive after the ʿaser.
22nd. Egháraghén, a valley, where you arrive at the time of the ʿaser,
after having crossed a flat plain covered with pebbles.
23rd. Zérzer, a valley with water; arrival at the ʿaser. The ground of
the same character.
24th. Ifék, a valley; arrival at the ʿaser. Country the same.
25th. _El Imkám_[211], a valley, where you arrive at one o’clock P.M.,
pebbly ground.
26th. Ágnar, a plain inclosed by ridges; arrive at the ʿaser, after
having kept first along the valley which is called by the Arabs el
Imkám, and leads into another valley called Temághaset, from which you
enter upon the plain.
27th. Turaghén, a valley, where you encamp about the ʿaser, after having
crossed another valley called Utúl, into which you descend from the
gravelly level.
28th. Tílak, a valley; where you arrive after the ʿaser, having crossed
another valley called Éheri.
29th. Tema-sanéggeti, a valley; arrive at the ʿaser, having crossed
another valley called Tín-agh-ákeli.
30th. Én-émmegel, a valley rich in trees, where you encamp at sunset.
To-day you have to pass two other valleys called Erésnughén and Tin-
táheli, all these valleys being separated from each other by a hammáda
of an even surface, without stones.
31st. Tehárraket, a valley commanded by a mountain called Turéret, where
you arrive about the ʿaser; pebbles and stones.
N.B. Tehárraket is a very important point on this route, as, having now
turned the high mountainous region of the desert of the Hogár or Hágara,
which you leave on your right, you change your direction, and turn
northwards.
32nd. Hágara, a valley with a well called Tehelehóhet, where you arrive
after the ʿaser.
33rd. Súf méllel, another locality of the same name as that above
mentioned, where you arrive about the ʿaser, after having passed two
valleys, the first of which is called Akdhau, and the other Ém-ujáj.
34th. Sheikh Sálah with the surname Melá el ákhsen, “the best of
men,”[212] near to whose chapel, situate in the mountainous tract
Tésennu, there is water; you arrive a little before sunset, having
passed over a pebbly level.
35th. Terazart, “the little valley” or “glen;” shortly before sunset;
hammáda.
36th. Emmesír, a valley, where you arrive after the ʿaser. In the
morning you keep along a valley called Méniyet, with a well, beyond
which you cross another valley called Afísfes, while the last part of
your road leads over the hammáda, consisting of gravel.
37th. Etgúlgulet, where you arrive at the time of the ʿaser. In the
morning you keep for a while along the valley Emmesír, till you reach
the valley called Arák; and following it up, you pass two watering-
places, one of which is called (by the Arabs) Sekíyah, and the other “el
Hájar.”
38th. Tajemút, a valley, where you encamp before the ʿaser.
39th. Koikewát, a cluster of small valleys, where you encamp at one
o’clock, P.M.
40th. Gurdí, a valley, where you arrive a little before sunset, after
having crossed another valley called Teráttimín, with water.
41st. The well in the long valley Ághmemár.
42nd. Encamp about the same hour, still in the same valley Ághmemár.
43rd. Én-semméd, where you arrive after the ʿaser. In the morning you
still keep along the broad valley of Ághmemár until you ascend a
mountain, from which you descend into another valley called by the Arabs
“el Botta,” probably on account of its hollow shape; here is a well
called “Tin-Slimán.” Proceeding along the valley, you reach the place of
your encampment for the night.
44th. El Ghábah (the Forest), of great extent and full of brushwood;
arrive at the ʿaser, after having crossed on your road a depression or
hollow called e’ Shaʿab, from which you enter upon rising ground and
come to the forest.
45th. Ín-sálah, the great market-place of the southernmost district of
Tawát, where you arrive about the ʿaser, first keeping in the forest,
then ascending a little.
N.B.—Along this route, as I learned on a later occasion, there are
several places where _salt_ is found, which, as the fact is one of the
greatest interest, I shall here name together, although I am
unfortunately not able to connect the first places which I have to
mention with the corresponding points of the itinerary. These are Ém-
éddarór, said to be six days’ march from Asïu; further on, Ahóren, and,
one day S. from the well Tin-slimán, Én-méllel.
I here also add what information I could collect about the tribes
dwelling on or near this road. As far as Néswa, we know them from what I
have said above; but the first part also of the road from this place is
inhabited by sections of the Imghád, as the Kél-áhenet, while the Ijrán
have their settlements even as far west as the valley Tájemút.
_a. The Sakomáren._
Next to the Imghád, on the north side of the road, are the Sakomáren, a
tribe who in the middle age of the Arabs lived N.E. from the middle
course of the so-called Niger, and of whom some remains are still to be
found in the neighbourhood of that river, near Timbúktu; for there can
be no doubt about the identity of these tribes.[213] By what revolution
this tribe was driven from their ancient seats we are not yet able to
say; however it may be, Ebn Batúta found the Berdáma where the Sakomáren
had formerly resided.
Their present settlements seem not to be so very dreary, and are said to
be rich in pasture-grounds, so that they are enabled to breed plenty of
cattle, and make a good deal of butter, with which they supply the less
favoured districts of Ásben. They appear to possess, however, little
strength, and are greatly influenced apparently by their intimate
friendship with the Tawátíye; part of them live even in the territory of
the latter oasis, principally belonging to the section called Welád-
wúen-Tawát, a name manifesting a curious mixture of Arabic and
Temáshight, though the main body of them is said to dwell in the
district of Amgíd. Besides the name of this tribe, I learnt the names of
the following: viz.,
The Kél-tegéttuft, who inhabit the district called Ahóhoghén;
The Kél-úhet, whose tents are generally pitched in Ahéllegen;
The Welád Témenít, living in Fazólet;
The tribe of the Háj ʿAli, living in a valley called Gháris: and,
The Ihiyáwen-háda, a tribe living in Imáhir, and probably related to the
tribe called simply Ihiyáwen.
_b. The Hogár_ or _Hágara._
Formerly I thought that the Hogár were more numerous than their eastern
kinsmen the Azkár, and that they were able to bring into the field as
many as three thousand men; but I have discovered in the course of my
proceedings, that the free men, the real “hharár” or Imóshagh among them
scarcely exceed five hundred, while of course their Imghád and slaves
muster a greater number. But notwithstanding their small number, the
Hogár are much feared by the other tribes, on account of their great
bodily size and strength, and because they are armed with a variety of
weapons, and are thickly clothed. They live entirely upon meat and milk,
and have few resources but their herds, as they do not levy tribute on
the caravans, but receive only small sums from the Kúnta, the Berabísh,
and even a light tax from Arawán. They are not capable of turning to
account the salt-mines of Taodénni, which are rather distant from their
seats, though they levy a small tribute from the chief of that place.
But their relations to the western part of the desert will be more
clearly understood from what I shall say in another place.
The Hogár are divided into six branches:—
The Kél-ghálla, inhabiting the valley of Erárar (a general appellation
for a large valley plain);
The Bu-ghelán, living in the valley of Téfedist;
The Tai-túk, inhabiting the fine valley Arák;
The Tégehin-usídi, who have their abode in the valley of Téghazart;
The Inémba, who pitch their tents in the valley Tífi-n-ákeli;
The Íkdeyén, who inhabit Anímmegel.
I will now add a few remarks on the centre of the district occupied by
this tribe, which seems to present traits of peculiar interest. It is
generally called by the Arabs “jébel Hagár,” but this is not the
original appellation, its true or indigenous name being “_Atakór_.” This
mountain-mass (which evidently lies in the angle formed by the route
from Asïu to Tawát) stretches from three to four days’ march in length,
and one in breadth, from S. to N., at the distance of seven days’ march
S.E. from Tawát. My intelligent friend the sheikh Sídi Ahmed el Bakáy,
in Timbúktu, who had lived some time among the Hogár, as well as among
the tribes of Aïr, especially the Kél-fadaye, assured me, in the most
positive way, that this mountain-group, and one long range of it in
particular, is far higher than the mountains of Aïr; the rocks being
very steep and of red colour. He represented to me, as very remarkable
and probably the highest of the group, the isolated, detached, and steep
peak Ílimán or Élimán. Very fine valleys and glens are formed between
these mountains, some of them watered by lively perennial streams, and
producing figs and grapes.
In this place may be fitly mentioned those Tawárek tribes that live
within the boundaries of Tawát. These are the Kél-eméllel or Welád
Fákki, as they are called by the people of Tawát, and their kinsmen the
Tígge-n-sákkel, and also the Tígge-n-gáli. These tribes are regarded as
belonging to the Tawárek, while the Gurára are considered as Zenáta; and
it is very erroneous to regard Tawát as almost a Tawárek country.
VI.—ROUTE FROM ÁGADES TO THE HILLET E’ SHEIKH SÍDI EL MUKHTÁR IN AZAWÁD,
ACCORDING TO THE KÉL-FERWÁN BAINA.
N.B. This route is a path taken at present every year by the Kél-ferwán
when they sally forth to plunder the caravans on the road from Tawát to
Timbúktu; it is not altogether a direct road, as I learnt afterwards.
But unfortunately none of the people of Azawád (who, as I mentioned
above, when they do not go by way of Timbúktu, generally take the road
to Mekka by way of Ágades) was able to give me the exact details of the
direct road. This road passes through the seats of the Awelímmiden.
Day.
1st. Énwágged, a valley, where you arrive at the ʿaser, having started
from Ágades in the morning.
2nd. Imintédent (perhaps Ém-n-tédent), where you arrive about the same
hour, having crossed many depressions or hollows in the rocky ground.
3rd. Sakéret, a valley; arrive at sunset.
4th. Etmet Tadérret, a valley; arrive two hours after sunset.
5th. Agrédem; about ʿaser. The whole day’s journey lies over a hammáda
of red soil (recalling to mind the sameness of all these elevated levels
in Central Africa), the red colour being produced by the iron oxide.
6th. Etsá-n-élimán; at ʿaser. Hammáda.
7th. Tímmia; at ʿaser. Hammáda.
8th. Ebelághlaghén; about the same hour. Hammáda.
9th. Isakeríyen; about the same hour. The hammáda is here covered with a
little herbage. The road thus far seems to be about N.N.W.; hence it
turns north-westward.
10th. Etsá-n-Hébbi; about the ʿaser.
11th. Igédian; about one o’clock P.M.
12th. Akár; about the ʿaser.
13th. Kélijít; a little after noon.
14th. Ákalú, a considerable valley with water, which you reach at one
o’clock.
15th. Ákerír, an inhabited valley, where you arrive about the ʿaser,
having travelled the morning till after mid-day along the valley Ákalú.
16th. Kídal; after the ʿaser.
This name, as I learnt afterwards, is not applied to a single locality,
but comprises a district with fertile valleys, inhabited by the Debákal,
who breed an excellent race of horses.
17th. Tim-áklali; about ʿaser.
18th. Asalágh; at sunset, after having crossed several hollows in the
rocky ground. Here you find inhabitants, partly Arabs, of the tribe of
the Kúnta, partly Tawárek, of the widely dispersed tribe of the Ífógas.
19th. Aghasher (Eghazar), a fine valley with date-trees, corn, and
tobacco. At some distance from it is another fertile valley called
Tesillíte, likewise abounding in dates.
20th. Tigháughawen; about the ʿaser.
21st. Hillet e’ Sheikh Sídi el Mukhtár, a celebrated place of worship,
where you arrive about one o’clock P.M. This place ought to have
considerable interest for all those who take an interest in the
circumstances attending the frequent sacrifice of life made in the
arduous endeavour to open the African continent to European science and
intercourse; for this is the very spot where the unfortunate Major
Laing, under the protection of Sídi Mohammed, the father of my noble
friend the sheikh el Bakáy, recovered from those fearful wounds which he
had received in the nocturnal attack by the Tawárek in Wadi Ahénnet.
Hence, in the few letters which he sent home, so full of resignation and
heroic courage, he called the place “belád Sídi Mohammed.” In the
further course of our narrative this spot will be connected with
Timbúktu.
[Footnote 208: I shall say more about Ádar in the fourth volume of my
journal.]
[Footnote 209: About the name Efígagén, which is probably only a
dialectic variety of Efínagen, I have spoken in a former passage.]
[Footnote 210: See my narrative, p. 289.]
[Footnote 211: The name Imkám is remarkable. It seems to denote a
religious “station;” and it is interesting, as it exactly corresponds
with the station Dekhár, mentioned by the famous traveller Ebn Batúta as
ten days distant from the well where the road to Tawát separated from
that to Egypt, which, there cannot be the least doubt, is identical with
Asïu or with Néswa.]
[Footnote 212: Whether this Sheikh Sálah be the same as the famous
sheikh of the same name, who has given his name to the celebrated Wadi
el Sheikh, in the peninsula of Sinai, I cannot tell.]
[Footnote 213: The Arab authors always write صغماره; but with regard to
African names there is the greatest uncertainty in the use of the غ, the
ق, and the ك. Thus some write غرمه others قرمه; Gober is written كوبر,
by others غوبر; Tagant تكانت and تغانت.]
VII.
FRAGMENTS OF METEOROLOGICAL REGISTER.
* * * * *
[Deg. F.: Degrees in scale of Fahrenheit.]