to 60,000, from January to April, by the influx of strangers. Its trade
principally consists of cotton stuffs sold under the form of tebi, a kind
of blouse; tenkédi, the long scarf or dark blue drapery worn by the
women; the zunie, a kind of plaid, very bright in colour; and the black
turban, worn by the Towaregs. At Kanó are concentrated also the products
of northern, eastern, and western Africa, flowing thither through the
channels of Mourzouk, Ghat, Tripoli, Timbúktu, and the whole of Bornú.
Early in March the intrepid traveller resumed his journey, across an open
and pleasant country. At Zurrikulo he entered Bornú proper. The
beautiful fan-palm was here the prevailing tree; but as Barth advanced,
he met with the kuka, or _Adansonia digitata_, and the landscape
brightened with leafiness, and soon he entered upon a pleasant tract of
dense green underwood. “The sky was clear,” he says, “and I was leaning
carelessly upon my little nag, musing on the original homes of all the
plants which now adorn different countries, when I saw advancing towards
us a strange-looking person, of very fair complexion, richly dressed and
armed, and accompanied by three men on horseback, likewise armed with
musket and pistols. Seeing that he was a person of consequence, I rode
quickly up to him and saluted him, when he, measuring me with his eyes,
halted and asked me whether I was the Christian who was expected to
arrive from Kanó; and on my answering him in the affirmative, he told me
distinctly that my fellow-traveller, Yakúb (Mr. Richardson), had died
before reaching Kúkáwa, and that all his property had been seized. This
sad intelligence deeply affected me; and, in the first moment of
excitement, I resolved to leave my two young men behind with the camels,
and to hurry on alone on horseback. But as I could not reach Kúkáwa in
less than four days, and as part of the road was greatly infested by the
Tawárek (or Towaregs), such an attempt might have exposed me to a great
deal of inconvenience. Therefore, we determined to go on as fast as the
camels would allow us.”
Four days later, and Dr. Barth saw before him the wall of white clay
which surrounds the capital of Bornú. He entered the gate, and of some
people assembled there inquired the way to the sheikh’s residence.
Passing the little market-place, and following the dendal, or promenade,
he rode straight up to the palace which flanks the palace on the east.
The sheikh received him cordially, and provided him with quarters closely
adjoining the vizier’s house; these consisted of two immense courtyards,
the more secluded of which enclosed, besides a half-finished clay
dwelling, a spacious and neatly built hut, which, he ascertained, had
been specially prepared for the reception and accommodation of the
English mission. It taxed all Dr. Barth’s energy and perseverance to
obtain the restoration of Mr. Richardson’s property; but he finally
succeeded. He also obtained a loan of money on the credit of the British
Government, which enabled him to satisfy his creditors, pay Mr.
Richardson’s servants, and provide for the prosecution of the labours
which had been so unhappily interrupted.
The capital of Bornú consists of two towns, each surrounded by a wall:
one, inhabited by the rich, is well built, and contains some very large
residences; the other is a labyrinth of narrow streets of small and
squalid houses. Between the two towns spreads an area of about eight
hundred yards each way, which, throughout its length, is traversed by a
great highway, serving as a channel of intercommunication. This area is
largely peopled; and a picturesque aspect it presents, with its spacious
mansions and thatched huts, its solid walls of mud and its fences of
reeds, varying in colour, according to their age, from the brightest
yellow to the deepest black.
In the surrounding district are numerous little villages, hamlets, and
isolated farms, all walled. Every Monday a fair is held between two of
these villages, lying beyond the western gate; to which the inhabitant of
the province brings, on the back of his camel or his ox, his store of
butter and corn, with his wife perched upon the top of the burden; and
the Yédiná, that pirate of Lake Tchad, who attracts our admiration by the
delicacy of his features and the suppleness of his figure, his dried
fish, flesh of hippopotamus, and whips made of the animal’s leathery
hide. Provisions are abundant; but to lay in at one time a week’s supply
is a wearisome and troublesome task, and a task all the more wearisome
and burdensome, because there is no standard money for buying and
selling. The ancient standard of the country, the pound of copper, has
fallen into disuse; and the currency partly consists of “gábagá,” or
cotton-strips, and “kungóna,” or cowries. A small farmer, who brings his
corn to the market, will refuse cowries, however, and will rarely accept
of a dollar. The would-be purchaser, therefore, must first exchange a
dollar for cowries; then, with the cowries, must buy a “kúlgu,” or shirt;
and in this way will be able at last to obtain the required quantity of
corn.
Provisions are not only abundant, but cheap, and the variety is
considerable. For corn,—wheat, rice, and millet; for
fruits,—ground-nuts, the bito, or fruit of the _Balanites Ægyptiaca_, a
kind of _physalis_, the African plum, the _Rhamnus lotus_, and the
dúm-palm; for vegetables—beans and onions, and the young leaves of the
monkey-bread tree.
* * * * *
Dr. Barth had spent three weeks at Kúkáwa, when, on the evening of the
14th of April, the Sheikh Omar and his vizier departed on a short visit
to Ngornu, and at their invitation he followed next morning. The road
thither was marked with the monotony which distinguishes the
neighbourhood of the capital. At first, nothing is seen but the
_Asclepias gigas_; then some low bushes of cucifera; and gradually trees
begin to enliven the landscape. The path is broad and well trodden, but
generally consists of a deep sandy soil. There are no villages along the
road, but several at a little distance. Two miles and a half from Ngornu
the trees cease, giving way to an immense fertile plain where cereals are
cultivated as well as beans.
At Ngornu, the town of “the blessing,” our traveller arrived about an
hour after noon. The heat being very great, the streets were almost
deserted; but the houses, or rather yards, were crowded, tents having
been pitched for the accommodation of the visitors. Except the sheikh’s
residence, scarcely a clay house was to be seen; yet the town gave a
general impression of comfort and prosperity, and every yard was fenced
with new “séggadé” mats, and well shaded by leafy koma-trees, while the
huts were large and spacious.
Early next morning the indefatigable traveller started forth on horseback
to refresh himself with a view of Lake Tchad, which he supposed to be at
no great distance, and of which he indulged the brightest visions. But
no shining expanse of fair waters greeted his eye; wherever he directed
his gaze, he saw only an endless grassy, treeless plain, stretching to
the farthest horizon. At length, riding through grass of constantly
increasing freshness and luxuriance, he reached a shallow swamp, the
irregular and deeply indented margin of which greatly impeded his
progress. After struggling for some time to get clear of it, and vainly
straining his eyes to discover a shimmer of water in the distance, he
retraced his steps. Mentioning on his return the ill success he had met
with, the vizier undertook to send some horsemen to conduct him along the
shore as far as Káwa, whence he could cross the country to Kúkáwa.
When the time came, however, the vizier’s promise was represented by two
horsemen only. With them Dr. Barth started on his excursion, taking a
north-east direction. The broad grassy plain seemed to roll away to an
immeasurable distance, unrelieved by tree or shrub; not a living creature
was visible, and the hot rays of the sun fell all around like burning
arrows. After about half an hour’s ride, he reached swampy ground,
through which he and his companions forced their horses, often up to the
saddle. Thus they arrived on the margin of a fine open sheet of water,
fringed thickly with papyrus and tall reed, from ten to fourteen feet
high, among which wound and interwound the garlands of a yellow-flowered
climbing plant, called “boibuje.” Turning to the north, and still
pushing onward through deep water and grass, he made a small creek called
Dímbebú, and caught sight of a couple of small flat boats, each about
twelve feet long, and manned by a couple of men, who, on descrying the
stranger, pulled off from the shore. They were Búdduma, or Yédiná, the
pirates of the Tchad, in search of human prey; and Dr. Barth hastened to
warn of their presence some villagers who had come to cut reeds for the
roofs of their huts, and evidently had not caught sight of their enemies.
He then continued his march. The sun’s heat was intense, but a fresh
cooling breeze blowing from the lagoon rendered it endurable. Large
herds of kelára, a peculiar kind of antelope, started up as he advanced,
bounding swiftly over the rushes, and sometimes swimming on the silent
waters. They are like the roe in shape and size, with their under parts
white as snow. At another creek, which the lake pirates sometimes use as
a harbour, river-horses abounded, and the air echoed with their snorting.
This was the easternmost period of Dr. Barth’s ride; turning then a
little west from north, he and his escort marched over drier
pasture-grounds, and, in about three miles, struck a deeply indented and
well-sheltered creek, called Ngómaíen. Here the curiosity of the
traveller was rewarded by the sight of eleven boats of the Yédiná. Each
was about twenty feet long, tolerably broad, with a low waist, and a high
pointed prow. They are made of the narrow planks of the fógo-tree,
fastened together with ropes from the dúm-palm, the holes being stopped
with bast.
Another ride, and Dr. Barth turned westward—a course which brought him to
Maduwári, a pleasant village, lying in the shade of trees, where he
resolved on halting for the night. From its inhabitants, who belong to
the tribe of the Sagárti, he obtained much information respecting the
numerous islands that stud the surface of the lake. They also told him
that the open water begun one day’s voyage from Káya, the small harbour
of Maduwári, and is from one to two fathoms deep. It stretches from the
mouth of the Sháry towards the western shore; all the rest of the lake
consisting of swampy meadow-lands, occasionally inundated. Next morning,
on resuming his journey, he was charmed by the bright and gracious
picture before him. Clear and unbroken were the lines of the horizon,
the swampy plain extending on the right towards the lake, and blending
with it, so as to allow the mind that delights in wandering over distant
regions a boundless expanse to rove in—an enjoyment not to be found in
mountainous regions, be the mountains ever so distant. Thus they
travelled slowly northwards, while the sun rose over the patches of water
which brightened the grassy plain; and on their left the village
displayed its snug yards and huts, neatly fenced and shaded by spreading
trees. At Dógoji he came upon a hamlet or station of cattle-breeders,
where a thousand head were collected; the herdsmen being stationed on
guard around them, armed with long spears and light shields. Equidistant
poles were fixed in the ground, on which the butter was hung up in skins
or in vessels made of grass.
Turning to the eastward, Dr. Barth reached the creek “Kógorani,”
surrounded by a belt of dense reeds, and was there joined by a Kánemma
chief, named Zaitchua, with five horsemen. The party rode on towards
Bolè, passing through very deep water, and obtained a view of the widest
part of the lake they had yet seen. A fine open sheet of water, agitated
by a light easterly wind, rippled in sparkling waves upon the shore. A
reedy forest spread all around, while the surface was bright with aquatic
plants, chiefly the beautiful water-lily, or _Nymphoea lotus_. Flocks of
waterfowl of every description played about. At length they reached
Káwa, a large straggling village, lying among magnificent trees, where
Dr. Barth’s’ excursion terminated; thence he returned to Kúkáwa.
On the 7th of May he was joined there by Mr. Overweg, and the two
travellers immediately made their preparations for resuming the work of
exploration with which they had been charged by the British Government.
These were completed by the 29th of May (1851), and the two travellers
then set out for the southward, accompanied by an officer of the sheikh,
and attended by a small company of servants and warriors. A singular
variety of country greeted them as they moved forward: at first it was
low and swampy; then came a bare and arid soil, planted with scattered
tamarisks; next, a dense forest, partly inundated in the rainy season,
and, afterwards, a broad and fertile plain, sprinkled with villages, and
white with thriving crops of cotton. This was the district of Uji, which
comprises several places of a considerable size. Thence they entered
upon a fine open country, a continuous corn-field, interrupted only by
pleasant villages, and shaded here and there by single monkey-bread
trees, or Adansonias, and various kinds of fig-trees, with their
succulent dark-green foliage, or large fleshy leaves of emerald green. A
fiumara, or water-course, which rises near Aláwó, traverses the plain
with numerous curves and bends, and passing Dekùa, falls into the Tchad.
The travellers crossed it twice before they reached Mabani, a large and
prosperous town, with a population of nine or ten thousand souls, which
covers the sides and summit of a hill of sand. From this point their
road lay through fertile fields, where they were greeted by the sight of
the first corn-crop of the season, its fresh and vivid green sparkling
daintily in the sunshine. Having crossed and recrossed the fiumara, they
ascended its steep left bank, which in some places exhibited regular
strata of sandstone. Here they passed a little dyeing-yard of two or
three pots, while several patches of indigo flourished at the foot of the
bank, and a bustling group of men and cattle were gathered round the
well. Villages were seen lying about in every direction; and single
cottages, scattered about here and there, gave evidence of a sense of
security. The corn-fields were most agreeably broken by tracts covered
with bushes of the wild gónda, which has a most delicious fruit, of a
fine creamy flavour, and of the size of a peach, but with a much larger
stone.
Mount Délabida marked the border line of a mountainous region. After
entering upon the district of Shamo, Barth observed that millet became
rare, and that the sorghum was generally cultivated. Here he and his
party were joined by some native traders; for robbers haunted the
neighbourhood, and safety was to be found in numbers. At every step they
came upon evidences of the misfortunes which had swept and scathed the
country: traces of ancient cultivation and ruined huts; and thick
interwoven jungles, where the grass grew so high as to hide both horse
and rider. After three hours’ march through this land of desolation,
they arrived at what had once been a considerable village, but was then
inhabited only by a few natives, recently converted to the religion of
the Crescent. As but a single hut could be found for the accommodation
of the whole company, Dr. Barth preferred to encamp in the open air. But
he had scarcely laid down to rest, when a terrible storm arose, sweeping
his tent to the ground, and flooding his baggage with torrents of rain.
To such adventures is the daring traveller exposed!
Though they had embraced Islam, the natives wore no other clothing than a
strip of leather passed between the legs, and even this seemed by some of
them to be considered a superfluity. The observer could not fail to
remark their harmonious proportions, their regular features, undisfigured
by tattooing, and, in not a few cases, presenting no resemblance to the
negro type. The difference of complexion noticeable in individuals
presumably of the same race, was remarkable. With some it was a
brilliant black; with others a rhubarb colour, and there was no example
of an intermediate tint; the black, however, predominated. A young woman
and her son, aged eight years, formed a group “quite antique,” and worthy
of the chisel of a great artist. The child, especially, in no respect
yielded to the ancient Discophorus; his hair was short and curled, but
not woolly; his complexion, like that of his mother and the whole family,
was of a pale or yellowish red.
Re-entering the forest, Dr. Barth observed that the clearings bore the
imprints of the feet of elephants of all ages. A wealth of flowers
loaded the atmosphere with fragrant incense. But the soil soon
deteriorated; the trees were nearly all mimosas, and nearly all of
indifferent growth, with here and there a large leafless Adansonia
flinging abroad, as if in despair, its gaunt gigantic arms; while the
herbage consisted only of single tufts of coarse grass, four or five feet
high. When things are at their worst they begin to mend; and for the
traveller there is no motto more applicable than the old proverb, that it
is a long lane which has no turning. With intense delight Dr. Barth and
his companions saw the monotonously gloomy forest giving way to scattered
clusters of large and graceful trees, such as generally indicate the
neighbourhood of human labour. And they soon emerged upon bright green
meadow-lands extending to the base of the Wandala mountain-range, which
rose like a barrier of cloud upon the horizon, from north to south. The
highest elevation of this range is about 3000 feet; its average elevation
does not exceed 2500 feet. Behind it, to a point of 5000 feet above the
sea, rises the conical mass of Mount Mendefi, first seen by gallant Major
Denham. The country now gradually assumed a wilder aspect; rocks of
sandstone and granite projected on all sides, while, in front, a little
rocky ridge, densely crowded with bush and tree, seemed to form a _ne
plus ultra_. Suddenly, however, a deep recess opened in it, and a
village was seen, lying most picturesquely in the heart of the rocks and
woods. This was Laháula, where the travellers rested for the night.
Next day they reached Uba, on the border of A’damáwa; A’damáwa, described
by Dr. Barth as “a Mohammedan kingdom engrafted upon a mixed stock of
pagan tribes—the conquest of the valorous and fanatic Pállo chieftain,
A’dáma, over the great pagan kingdom of Fúmbiná.”
Here the camels greatly excited the curiosity of the population; for they
are rarely seen in A’damáwa, the climate of which these animals are
unable to endure for any length of time. Still more vivid was the
curiosity of the governor and his courtiers, when they saw Dr. Barth’s
compass, chronometer, telescope, and the small print of his Prayer-Book.
The Fulbi, he says, are intelligent and civilized, but prone to malice;
they lack the good nature of the real blacks, from whom they differ more
in their character than their colour.
At Bagma our travellers were struck by the size and shape of the huts,
some of them being from forty to sixty feet long, about fifteen broad,
and from ten to twelve feet high. They narrowed above to a ridge, and
were thatched all over, no distinction being made between roof and wall.
They are so spaciously constructed, in order to provide a shelter for the
cattle against the inclemency of the weather. The river separates the
village, which is inhabited entirely by Mohammedans, into two quarters.
“The news of a marvellous novelty soon stirred up the whole place, and
young and old, male and female, all gathered round our motley troop, and
thronged about us in innocent mirth, and as we proceeded the people came
running from the distant fields to see the wonder; but the wonder was not
myself, but the camel, an animal which many of them had never seen,
fifteen years having elapsed since one had passed along this road. The
chorus of shrill voices, ‘Gelóba, gelóba!’ was led by two young wanton
Púllo girls, slender as antelopes, and wearing nothing but a light apron
of striped cotton round their loins, who, jumping about and laughing at
the stupidity of these enormous animals, accompanied us for about two
miles along the fertile plain. We passed a herd of about three hundred
cattle. Gradually the country became covered with forest, with the
exception of patches of cultivated ground.” Through scenery of this
interesting character, the travellers pushed on to Mbtudi.
Next day their route laid through well-wooded and well-watered pastures,
and immense fields of millet and ground-nuts, which here form as large a
proportion of the food of the people as potatoes do in Europe. Dr. Barth
liked them very much, especially if roasted, for nibbling after supper,
or even as a substitute for breakfast on the road. From Segero the
travellers proceeded to Sara’wu, and thence to Béhur. Forest and
cultivated land alternated with one another to the margin of a little
lake, lying in a belt of tall thick grass, where the unwieldy river-horse
snorted loud. The sky was dark with clouds, and a storm was gathering,
when the caravan entered the narrow streets of Salléri. That night it
obtained but scanty accommodation, and everybody was glad to find the
next morning bright and cheerful, so that the march could be resumed.
Their course was directed towards the river Bénuwé. The neighbourhood of
the water was first indicated by numerous high ant-hills, which, arranged
in almost parallel lines, presented a sufficiently curious spectacle. To
the north-west towered the insulated colossal mass of Mount Atlantika,
forming a conspicuous and majestic object in the landscape. The savannas
were now overgrown with tall rank grass, and broken by many considerable
pools, lying in deep hollows; every year, in the rainy season, they are
under water. Crossing these low levels with some difficulty, Dr. Barth
arrived on the banks of the Bénuwé. A broad and noble stream, it flowed
from east to west through an entirely open country. The banks were
twenty to thirty feet high; while, immediately opposite to the
traveller’s station, behind a pointed headland of sand, the river Fáro,
which has its source on the eastern side of Mount Atlantika, came in with
a bold sweep from the south-east, and poured its tributary waters into
the Bénuwé. The Bénuwé, below the point of junction, bends slightly to
the north, runs along the northern foot of Mount Bágelé, thence traverses
the mountainous region of the Báchama and Zina to Hamárruwa and the
industrious country of Korórofa, until it joins the great western river
of the Kwára, or Niger.
The passage of the Bénuwé, which is here about eight hundred yards wide,
was safely accomplished in the native canoes, nor did any mishap occur in
the transit of the Fáro, which measures about six hundred yards. The
current of the Fáro has a velocity of about five miles an hour; that of
the Bénuwé does not exceed three miles and a half. By way of Mount
Bágelé, and through the rich low lands of Ribágo, the travellers repaired
to Yola, the capital of A’damáwa.
II.