_Zoology._
The horses of West Barbary, though small, are renowned for fleetness
and activity; the breed, however, has been much neglected, except
in Abda, and about Marocco, at a place called Ain Toga; these horses
have stronger sinews than those of Europe, and after a little training
are peculiarly docile. The stallions only are rode, the mares being
kept for breeding, except among the Shelluhs, who use them for
riding. Geldings are unknown in Mohammedan countries; a Mooselmin
will neither castrate, nor sell the skin of the beast of the Prophet.
The Arab is particularly attached to the horse: he rises with the
sun, visits him, and laying his right hand on the horse’s face,
he ejaculates the words (Bissim illah) In the name of God; he then
kisses his hand, which is supposed to have received a benediction
from the touch of the favourite animal of their Prophet Mohammed;
he then has the place where the horse stands swept clean, some dry
sand spread, and an arm full of straw trodden small by oxen, placed
before him at such a distance, that he can by stretching out his
neck just reach it (for the horse being picqueted, and fastened by
ropes round the fetlock, cannot move from his place): this is done
to lengthen the neck, and to strengthen the fore-hand by exertion;
the length of neck is considered as a great perfection, so that when
the Arabian jockies purchase a horse, they measure from the top of
the shoulder to the tip of his nose; and then from the top of the
shoulder, to the end of the fleshy part of the tail; if the length
of the former exceed that of the latter, it is the criterion of a
good horse; but if the latter half exceed the front half in length,
the horse is considered of an inferior kind. Such a predilection have
Mohammedans for ablution, that the best horses are sprinkled with
water every morning on the chest, loins, and sexual parts; this, as
they pretend, improves the strength of the animal, and promotes his
health; at noon only he is watered; then he has a little more straw,
and remains afterwards fasting till sun-set, when they feed him with
a bag of barley, attached to his head like our hackney-coach horses:
they reprobate Christians for feeding their horses in a manger,
and observe, that when a horse is used to a manger, he will not eat
out of a bag, and as mangers are not to be found in this country
in travelling, the plausibility of preferring the bag is evident:
they do not suffer him to eat any straw after the feed of barley,
alleging, that it would destroy the good effect of the latter.
The Arabs are expert farriers; their horses are generally healthy,
but are subject to jaundice, which they cure by drawing the skin
from the flesh at certain places with a pair of pinchers, and then
piercing it with a hot iron like an awl. They turn them out to grass
every spring during forty days, after which they physic them thus:
they give them a pound of old butter, called budra,[70] which they
mix with two ounces of pepper; they give this to the horse in a fluid
state, that it may be the more easily swallowed; they then let him
remain the whole day fasting, giving him in the evening only half
of his accustomed quantity of barley; they next keep them without
riding seven days: this process is said to secure the horse against
disorders, and quickly takes off the prominent belly common after
grass, disposing the flesh to the flanks.
To the various colours of horses they attach various properties;
they assert, that a dark-coloured or black horse is in his fullest
vigour towards dark, or night; that the powers of a chesnut horse
come with the rising sun, and he is not so fleet in the evening; to a
white horse they attribute vigilance; and of a gray they signify the
soundness of their feet, by an Arabian adage,[71] which indicates
that if a cavalcade be passing through a stony country, the gray
horses will break the stones with their feet; this opinion appears
founded on experience, for in the Atlas mountains, in some parts
of Suse, and in all harsh stony districts, we find a much greater
proportion of gray horses than of any other colour; their feet are
so hardy, that I have known them to travel two days journey through
the stony defiles of Atlas without shoes, over roads full of loose
broken stones, and basaltic rocks.
Besides horses, mules and asses abound every where in Barbary,
also camels, and horned cattle. In the Atlas, and in the forests
near Mequinas, there are lions, panthers, wild hogs, hyænas, apes,
jackals, foxes, hares, serpents, lizards, camelions, &c.
The birds are, ostriches, pelicans, eagles, flamingoes, storks,
herons, bustards, wild geese, wood pigeons, pigeons, turtle-doves,
ring-doves, partridges, red ducks, wild ducks, plovers, tibibs,[72]
larks, nightingales, black birds, starlings, and various others.
The same varieties of fish that are found in the Mediterranean are
taken on the shores of West Barbary; mullet, red and gray, brim,
anchovies, sardines, herrings, mackarel, rock cod, skaite, soles,
plaice, turbot, turtles, besides fish peculiar to the coast, called
by the Shelluhs, Azalimzi, Tasargalt, and Irgal, which are very
abundant, particularly in the bay of Agadeer, and on the coast of
Wedinoon; they are prepared in the ovens of Aguram, a town at the
foot of the mountain whereon Agadeer stands, for the purpose of
being conveyed to the interior, to Bled el-jerrêde, and Sahara;
these fish form a considerable article of commerce, and are much
esteemed in Bled-el-jerrêde.
As there is no country in the world so little explored as Africa,
nor any that produces such a variety of animals, a few observations
on some of the most remarkable may not be uninteresting.
QUADRUPEDS.
_The Thaleb._—The animal called thaleb[73] is the red fox; it
emits the same strong scent as the fox of Europe, and is found in all
parts of the country; but is far from being so common as the deeb,
which some have compared to the jackal, others to the brown fox. It is
certain, that the deeb emits no offensive smell; it is a very cunning
animal, and its name is applied metaphorically to signify craft,
which it possesses in a greater degree than any other animal; this
circumstance alone seems to ally it to the fox species. It is very
fond of poultry; and at night, a little after dark, the still air of
the country is pierced with its cries, which alternately resemble
those of children, and that of the fox. They assemble in numbers,
and abound throughout the country, particularly in the environs of
plantations of melons and other vinous plants. Some of these deebs
have longer hair than others, and their skins are particularly soft
and handsome. The provinces of Shedma, Haha, and Suse abound with
this animal: the Arabs hunt it, and bring the skins for sale to the
Mogodor market.
_The (Dubbah) Hyæna._—The Dubbah, a term which designates the
hyæna among the Arabs, is an animal of a ferocious countenance;
but in its disposition, more stupid than fierce; it is found in all
the mountains of Barbary, and wherever rocks and caverns are seen;
this extraordinary animal has the opposite quality of the deeb,[74]
having a vague and stupid stare, insomuch that a heavy dull person is
designated by the term dubbah.[75] The flesh of this animal is not
eaten, except in cases of extreme hunger: those, however, who have
tasted it assert, that it causes stupefaction for a certain time;
hence, when a person displays extraordinary stupidity, the Arabs say
(_kulu ras Dubbah_), he has eaten the head of a hyæna.
The mode of hunting this animal is singular; a party of ten or twelve
persons, accompanied with as many dogs of various kinds, go to the
cavern which they have previously ascertained to be the haunt of the
hyæna; one of the party then strips himself, and taking the end of
a rope with a noose to it in one hand, he advances gradually into
the cave, speaking gently, and in an insinuating tone of voice,
pretending to fascinate the hyæna by words; when he reaches the
animal, he strokes him down the back, which appears to soothe him;
he then dexterously slips the noose round his neck, and instantly
pulling the rope to indicate to those on the outside of the cave,
who hold the other end, that it is fixed, he retires behind, throwing
a handkerchief or cloth over the eyes of the hyæna; the men then
pull the rope from without, whilst he who fixes the noose urges
the animal forward, when the dogs attack him. Some of the Shelluhs
are very expert at securing the hyæna in this manner, and although
there may be some danger in case the rope breaks, yet the man who
enters the cave always carries a dagger, or large knife with him,
with which he has considerably the advantage, for this animal is by
no means so ferocious as he appears to be: in the southern Atlas I
have seen them led about by the boys; a rope being fastened round the
animal’s neck, and a communicating rope attached to it on either
side, three or four yards long, the end of each being held by a boy,
keep him perfectly secure. It is confinement that is inimical to a
hyæna,[76] and which increases his ferocity. There are other modes
of hunting this stupid animal, either in the night with dogs, or by
shooting him; but he never comes out of his cave in the day-time,
but sits at the further end of it, staring with his eyes fixed. Their
general character is not to be afraid of man, nor indeed to attack
or avoid him; they will, however, attack and destroy sheep, goats,
poultry, asses, and mules, and are very fond of the intoxicating
herb called Hashisha.[77] The hyæna is said to live to a great age.
The dubbah and the deeb resemble each other in their propensity to
devour dead bodies; so that whilst the plague ravaged West Barbary
in 1799 and 1800, these animals were constant visitors of the
cemeteries. The drawing of the hyæna in the fifth volume of the
work just quoted is very correct.
_The Gazel_ (antelope).—The gazel is that pretty light and elegant
animal, swift as the wind, timid as a virgin, with a soft, beautiful,
large, and prominent black eye, which seems to interest you in its
favour. In its general appearance, the gazel resembles our deer; it is
however much smaller, and has straight black horns, curving a little
backwards. The eye and figure of the gazel, so well known to all
Arabian poets, are emblematical of beauty, and the greatest compliment
that can be paid to a beautiful women, is to compare her eyes to those
of the gazel.[78] Much art is employed by the Arabian females to make
their eyes appear like those of this delicate animal. Eyes originally
black and lively, are made to appear larger and more languishing by
tinging the outer corner with _El kahol Filelly_, a preparation of
lead ore procured from Tafilelt, which gives an apparent elongation
to the eye. The eye-lashes and eye-brows being also blackened with
this composition, they appear peculiarly soft and languishing;
it is said also to improve and strengthen the sight. Every one who
has accurately observed the eye of the African gazel will acquiesce
in the aptness of the simile before alluded to. The word _angel_,
so often employed by our poets to designate a beautiful female, is,
with the Arabs, transformed to gazel: thus the Arabian sonnet;
ڧل الغزالِ راكَ
خليتني نرجاكَ
كيڢ اَلما مُل معاك
اش حليتيِ و اش عماليِ
رڢڧي بالي يهواك
يا تاَج اَلريام غزالِ
Kul el _gazelli_ râk
Kulitini nerjak
Kif el m’ amul mak
Ash heliti wa ash amelli
Rafki billi ihuak
Ia taj miriamme _gazelli_,
Say, thou _Antelope_ in beauty,
Since permitted to return,
Say, what is a lover’s duty,
Who with ardent fire doth burn.
Sympathize with him who loves you,
Crown of all my hopes and joys,
’Tis your constant swain approves you,
His _Gazel_ all his soul employs.
Great numbers of gazels are found in all those extensive plains
situated at the foot of the Atlas mountains; in those of Fruga,
south of Marocco, after descending the Atlas, I have seen a hundred
together; they also abound in the plains of Sheshawa near Anek
Jimmel. Wild as the hare, and more fleet than the Barbary courser,
they are seen bounding over the plains in large numbers. The
antelope, however, soon fatigues, so that the horses of the Arabs
gain on it, and the dogs are enabled finally to come up with it;
it is hunted rather for the meat, which is similar to venison, than
for actual sport, the Arabs having little desire to hunt merely for
amusement. They kill and cut the throats of as many animals as they
can procure. They often hunt the gazel with the (slogie) African
greyhound, a peculiarly fine breed of which is produced in the
province of Suse. The Arabs and Moors whilst hunting the antelope,
often throw (zerwâta) thick sticks about two feet long at their
legs, to break them, and thereby incapacitate them from running:
a cruel device, at which the natural predilection for this delicate
and beautiful animal recoils.
_El Horreh._—This, as its name implies,[79] is reckoned among the
Arabs the prince of animals, and the emblem of cleanliness. It is
an inhabitant of Sahara and its confines, and is not found north of
the river Suse. It is somewhat similar to the gazel in its form and
size; the colour of its back and head is of a light red, inclining
to that of a fawn; the belly is of a beautiful and delicate white,
insomuch that its brilliancy affects the eyes in a similar manner to
the sensation produced in them by looking stedfastly at fine scarlet.
This animal, according to the tradition of the Arabs, never lies
down, lest it should deface the colour of its belly, of the beauty of
which it appears to be conscious. The stone called in Europe bizoar
stone,[80] is produced by the horreh, but whether it be a concretion
formed in its stomach, or an egg, or the testicle, is probably not
accurately ascertained. The Bide el horreh, or egg of the horreh,
signifies also the testicle of the animal, and I am inclined to think
it is either the testicle, or a peculiar concretion formed in its
stomach, all those which I have seen being nearly of the same size
and form, similar to a pigeon’s egg. This stone is scraped and
taken as an antidote against poison. Some whimsical people carry it
about with them, taking it frequently in tea.
From this rare and beautiful animal’s being an emblem of purity,
its skin (Jild el Horreh) is held in great estimation by the Bashaws,
and men of rank, who prefer it to every other substance, to prostrate
themselves upon at prayers. The Bashaws generally have an attendant
with them, who carries this skin, which is cured or prepared with
allum and tizra,[81] and assumes a white colour when it comes from
the tanners.
_The Aoudad._—This animal is to be found only in the very steep and
inaccessible cliffs, and in the woods and forests of the mountains of
Atlas, south of Marocco and in Lower Suse, except when it descends
to the rivers to drink. It throws itself from lofty precipices into
the plains below, alighting generally on its horns or shoulders.
None of them have ever been caught in a state to allow of their being
kept alive, being so very wild that it is not possible to approach
them without great danger. In size and colour the Aoudad is similar
to a calf; it has a beautiful long mane or beard, growing from the
lower part of the neck; its teeth are very strong, and indicative of
its longevity; the horns are about twelve inches in length, curved,
of a dark colour, and are used for various purposes.
The only two skins of this animal which ever came to Europe,
I had the honour of sending to the Right Honourable President of
the Royal Society;[82] the horns and teeth were with one of them,
which I had much difficulty in procuring from a Shelluh merchant, who
having inadvertently observed to some of his friends the interest
I took in procuring it, the jealousy of the Moors was raised,
and they conceiving it to be some rich treasure, the officers of
the Custom-house obliged me to pay an enormous duty for it. No
other skin of this hitherto undescribed animal has been brought
to Europe since; nor do I apprehend we shall know more respecting
the animal itself, whilst the present imperfect knowledge of Africa
continues. Emissaries, whether commercial or philosophical, to that
country, should furnish themselves with a general and practical
knowledge of the Arabic language, without which little progress can
be expected in its discovery.
_The Wild Boar._—This animal, the hunting of which affords so much
sport, is by the Arabs called El Kunjar, or El Helloof; they abound
in the Shelluh province of Haha, and in Suse, where they are called
Amuren; they are so plentiful about Agadeer, that it is not unusual
to catch two or three before mid-day; one day we saw seven. They will
sometimes run by a group of men without appearing at all alarmed;
an instance of which happened once, as I remember, near Agadeer,
where at a pic-nic party under some high trees, some Europeans who
were present were not a little alarmed at seeing two wild hogs pass
close by them; but they never attack a person unless wounded by
him. In hunting this animal, whose strength is proverbial, the dogs
should be good, and strong enough to keep him at bay; for if he be
fired at and wounded by a man on foot, he will immediately make up
to him, if he discovers from whence the wound was inflicted; but in
the mean time he is either attacked by the dogs, diverted from his
object by a stratagem, or brought down by some other shot. A boar
will sometimes rip open the dogs as well as the horses with their
tusks; but this rarely happens when the hunt is well appointed:
a strong dog of the greyhound breed is the best and most effectual
in securing this ferocious animal. The (slogies) greyhounds of Suse,
of the third breed, always attack the boar on the nape of the neck,
and never quit their hold.
_The Nïmmer._—The word Nimmer may be translated Leopard; it is
spotted rather than striped, and in size resembles the royal tiger
of Asia. The strength and agility of this animal is wonderful; I have
seen one receive nine balls, before he fell. When the Nimmer is known
to be in any particular district, deep holes are made in the ground,
and covered lightly over, on which if he happen to tread, the ground
sinks, and he falls in. The sides of the hole being formed like an
inverted cone, the animal cannot get out, though he will make many
efforts to regain his liberty; in the mean time the hunters come
up and shoot him. At other places where he is supposed likely to
pass, they build up a wall, and cover it over, making a hole or two
sufficiently large to admit a musket-barrel, and here the patient
Shelluh will wait whole days for his enemy, living all the time on
(Hassowa) barley-meal mixed with water. After building a few of
these walls enclosed like rooms, several Shelluhs will go in quest
of the Nimmer, each taking his station either in these buildings,
or in some lofty tree, and waiting a favourable opportunity to get a
shot at him. The Arabs say that this ferocious animal, after he has
seized his prey, if he be not impelled by hunger, will leave it for
a few days, and afterwards return to the spot and devour the carcase,
even if it be putrid.
_The Lion_ is too well known to need a particular description in this
place: he is hunted by the Africans in the same manner as the Nimmer;
but they do not consider the chase to be so dangerous: the lion is not
so active, nor does he climb as the Nimmer does. The Arabs say that
if a person unarmed meet the Nimmer, he is sure of being destroyed;
but that if, on the sight of a lion, he let his garments drop off,
and stand before him undaunted, seeming to defy him, the lion will
turn round and quietly walk off. Few people would be inclined to try
the experiment for the purpose of ascertaining the truth of this
assertion. In the forests near the city of Mequinas the lions are
very fierce, and have frequently been known so to infest the roads,
as to render it impracticable for the caravans to pass. They are seen
also at the foot of the Atlas, where the country is well wooded. The
flesh, when eaten, is said, by the Arabs, to inspire courage.
_The Bear._—Various conjectures have been formed respecting this
animal’s being a native of Africa: from the concurrent testimony
of the inhabitants, I am of opinion that it does not exist in West
Barbary; it may, however, have been seen (as I have heard it has)
in the upper regions of Atlas, which are covered with snow during the
whole year. The name given by the Arabs to this animal is _Dubb_.[83]
_The Sibsib._—This animal appears to be of an intermediate species
between the rat and the squirrel; it is somewhat similar to the
ichneumon in form, but not half its size; it inhabits the Atlas, and
lives in holes among the stones and caverns of the mountains; it has
brown hair, and a beautiful tail (resembling that of the squirrel)
about the length of its body. The Shelluhs and Arabs eat this animal,
and consider it a delicacy: and it is the only one the Mohammedans
torment before death; this is done by taking hold of its fore and
hind legs, and rubbing its back on a stone or flat surface for a
few minutes, which causes the animal to scream out; they then cut
its throat according to the Mohammedan custom. Seeing some Shelluhs
in South Atlas performing this operation, and asking their motives
for it, they informed me that the rubbing made the flesh eat tender;
that in taste it resembled a rabbit, but that without the friction
it was not palatable. Being a subterraneous animal, it is prohibited
food; but the eating of any forbidden thing becomes lawful to the
Mohammedan, by ascribing to it some medicinal property; it is then
denominated (Dûah) medicine, and not food: by this evasion, wine
is drank by many who are not rigorous Mooselmin.
I never saw the Sibsib north of the province of Suse, but it abounds
in the mountains of that district. Its motions are so excessively
quick, that it is extremely difficult to shoot it.
_Wild Cat._—El Cat el berranie is the Arabic name for this animal;
it is much larger than the domestic cat, but similar in form; the
back, neck, and forepart of the legs are of a dirty gray, inclining
to brown; the belly is of a dirty white, spotted with brown; and
the tail is long and handsome. The wild cat is so fierce, that when
pressed with hunger it will sometimes attack a man.
_The Ape._—This animal, which appears to form the intermediate
link between the human species and the brute, is found of a very
large size in North Atlas, and also about Ceuta.[84] There are
various species of the ape; some are called by the Arabs D’Zatute,
others El Kurd; the Berebbers, or Africans, call them Tongemon, or
Babuin, and affirm that the (Hel Shouel) tailed men of Sahara, are
a production from these animals with the human species. They live
upon fruits, grass, and corn, and are often seen in great numbers
in the fields, having a centinel to keep watch on some eminence;
and when any person appears he gives the alarm, and they all run off
together to the woods, climbing the trees. The females will jump
from one branch to another with their young on their shoulders;
they are very subtle and vindictive, though easily appeased.
_The Rhinoceros._—Reem is the Arabic name of the Rhinoceros. Various
and contradictory have been the accounts both of the ancients and
moderns respecting the beast with one horn, called the Unicorn,
which is probably no other than the young Rhinoceros, which is said,
by the Arabs, to have but one horn, till of a certain age, when a
second appears, and some affirm that a third appears when the animal
grows old. The horn of the Reem is called Kirkadune by the Arabs,
and figuratively, gurn min gurn, i.e. horn of horns, being extremely
hard and fine-grained, and receiving a high polish; it is sold at a
most enormous price, and is used for the hilts of swords. With regard
to the animal called by our heralds the unicorn, and represented
in armorial bearings, I doubt if ever such an animal existed; the
Reem[85] is called also Huaddee, which signifies the beast of one
horn, Aouda signifies a mare, hence, perhaps, by an easy corruption
of names, the Aouda has been mistaken for Huaddee, and the figure
of a horse with a horn has been adopted as the figure of the _Reem_
in our heraldic supporters; for I have frequently conversed with men
who had been twenty years in the different countries of the interior
of Africa, but never could learn that a beast with one horn existed
in figure resembling a horse.[86] The Reem is also figuratively
denominated _boh gern el harsh_, i.e. the father of the hard horn.
_Jumars._—The reputed offspring of the ass and the bull, or cow,
is an animal whose existence is still doubted; I have never, in any of
my travels, seen such a one; but I was once informed by Sid Mohammed
E——m, that such a beast was sometimes seen in Bled-el-jerrêde;
he had not, however, seen it himself. Dr. Shaw has described one
that he saw in Barbary; notwithstanding which, the Count de Buffon
disputes its existence.
These observations on the more remarkable _wild_ animals may serve
as a clue to future travellers; their names in the language of the
country being accurately given, it will not be difficult to procure
some of the natives to direct where to find them, by which means their
respective species may be ascertained by those who may be desirous of
elucidating natural history. I shall now mention the most particular
_domestic_ quadrupeds, or such as are subservient to the use of man.
_El Heirie_, or _Erragual._—Nature, ever provident, and seeing the
difficulty of communication, from the immense tracts of desert country
in Sahara, has afforded the Saharawans a means, upon any emergency,
of crossing the great African desert in a few days; mounted upon the
(Heirie) desert camel (which is in figure similar to the camel of
burden, but more elegantly formed), the Arab, with his loins, breast,
and ears bound round, to prevent the percussion of air proceeding from
a quick motion rapidly traverses, upon the back of this abstemious
animal, the scorching desert, the fiery atmosphere of which parches,
and impedes respiration so as almost to produce suffocation. The
motion of the heirie is violent, and can be endured only by those
patient, abstemious, and hardy Arabs who are accustomed to it.[87]
The most inferior kind of heirie are called Talatayee, a term
expressive of their going the distance of three days journey in one:
the next kind is called Sebayee, a term appropriated to that which
goes seven days journey in one, and this is the general character;
there is also one called Tasayee, or the heirie of nine days; these
are extremely rare. The Arabs affirm that the Sebayee does not always
produce another Sebayee, but sometimes a Talatayee, and sometimes
a Tasayee; and that its class is ascertained by the period which
elapses before the young one takes the teat of the mother; thus,
if it be three days, it is considered to be a Talatayee, if seven
days, a Sebayee, and if nine days, it proves to be a Heirie of nine
days journey. If it prove a Tasayee, there are great rejoicings,
it being an accession of wealth to the proprietor, as a Tasayee
is bartered for two hundred camels; the Sebayee for one hundred,
and the Talatayee for thirty, or thereabout.
This valuable and useful animal has a ring put through its upper lip,
to which is fixed a leathern strap which answers the purposes of
a bridle; the saddle is similar to that used by the Moors, or what
the mountaineers of Andalusia use. With a goat skin or (a bakull)
a porous earthen pitcher filled with water, a few dates, and some
ground barley,[88] the Arab travels from Timbuctoo to Tafilelt,
feeding his heirie but once, at an oasis in the desert, for these
camels, on an emergency, will abstain from drinking and from food
seven days or more.
A journey of thirty-five days caravan travelling will be performed
by a Sebayee in five days; they go from Timbuctoo to Tafilelt in
seven days. One of these animals once came from Fort St. Joseph,
on the Senegal river, to the house of Messrs. Cabane and Depras,
French merchants at Mogodor, in seven days.
In the great desert of Africa, where cultivation is so rare that one
may travel several days on an ordinary camel with baggage, without
seeing any habitation, the use of the heirie must be evident, for
it is more abstemious, and bears a longer continuation of fatigue,
than the (Sh’rubah Er’reeh) desert horse, hereafter described.
The self-exiled Muley Abdrahaman, a prince of undaunted courage and
great penetration, son of the old Emperor, Seedy Mohammed bn Abdallah
bn Ismael, of the Tafilelt dynasty whilst residing among the Arab
clan of Howara in Suse, kept, night and day, at the door of his
(keyma) tent, two heiries, ready caparisoned, one having a load of
gold dust and jewels, and the other for riding, in case of a sudden
surprise, that he might pass into the desert out of the reach of his
father’s power. The Emperor’s soldiers, by their master’s order,
having treated his highness’s woman in a manner disgraceful to a
Mooselmin, he had retired to the confines of Sahara for more security.
The swiftness of the heirie is thus described by the Arabs in their
figurative style: “When thou shalt meet a heirie, and say to the
rider, Salem Alick, ere he shall have answered thee, Alick Salem,
he will be afar off, and nearly out of sight, for his swiftness is
like the wind.[89]”
Talking with an Arab of Suse, on the subject of these fleet camels,
and the desert horse, he assured me that he knew a young man who
was passionately fond of a lovely young girl, whom nothing would
satisfy but some oranges: these were not to be procured at Mogodor,
and as the lady wanted the best fruit, nothing less than Marocco
oranges would satisfy her; the Arab mounted his heirie at the dawn
of day, went to Marocco,[90] purchased the oranges, and returned
that night after the gates were shut, and sent the oranges to the
lady by a guard of one of the batteries. I am aware, in relating
this circumstance, that I shall incur the imputation of credulity;
but Mr. Bruce, who related many things very common in Africa, was
lampooned by Munchausen; much, however, of what was doubted, has been
confirmed by other travellers after him, and I am persuaded that in
a short time much more will be ascertained to be fact, which he has,
by the ignorant and presuming, been censured for relating.[91] If
transactions and facts well known by the African be incompatible with
the European’s ideas of probability, and, on that account rejected
as fables, it is not the fault of the former, but of the latter,
who has neglected to investigate a neighbouring quarter of the globe.
_The Sh’rubah Er’reeh_,[92] or Desert horse, is to the common
horse what the desert camel is to the camel of burden; this animal
does not, however, answer the purpose so well for crossing the
barren desert, as he requires a feed of camel’s milk once every
day, which is his only sustenance, so that there must necessarily
be two she camels wherever he goes to afford this supply: for he
will touch neither barley, wheat (oats are never given to horses in
Africa), hay, straw, nor indeed any other thing but camel’s milk:
they are employed chiefly to hunt the ostrich, at which sport they
are very expert.
When the desert horses are brought to Marocco, as they sometimes are,
they fall away; and if obliged ultimately from hunger to eat barley
and straw, the Moorish provender, they recover, gradually fill up,
and become handsome to the sight, but lose entirely their usual speed.
Alkaid Omar ben Daudy, an Arab of Rahammenah, when Governor
of Mogodor, had two Saharawan horses in his stables; finding it
inconvenient to feed them constantly on camel’s milk, he resolved to
try them on the usual food given to Barbary horses; he accordingly had
their food gradually changed, and in a short time fed them altogether
with barley,[93] and occasionally with wheat and straw: they grew fat,
and looked better than before (for those of Sahara of this particular
breed are by no means handsome; they have a small slender body, formed
like that of the greyhound, a powerful broad chest, and small legs),
but they lost their speed, and soon afterwards died, as if nature
had designed them to be appropriated solely to that district, whose
arid and extensive plains render their use essentially necessary.
A person unaccustomed to ride the Sh’rubah Er’reeh, finds its
motion uneasy at first; but the saddle forms a safe seat, and a man
who never rode before, acquires a facility in these saddles in a
few days; the pommel rises perpendicularly in front, and the back
part rises reclining a little from a perpendicular, and supports
the back as high as the loins; the stirrups are placed far back,
and give the rider a firm hold,[94] inducing him to grasp the
horse’s sides with the knees, as, from the form and disposition
of the stirrups and the seat, the legs and knees naturally incline
inwards, and press the horse, so that the rider can, by this means,
turn the animal whichever way he pleases, without using the reins;
the stirrup is broad at the bottom, and receives the whole length
of the foot; at the heel of the stirrup is hung loosely a spike, six
inches long, which is the Moorish spur, a barbarous looking weapon,
which a person, unacquainted with the dexterous manner of using it,
would expect to rip open the horse’s sides; but a good horseman
seldom uses it in a way to injure the horse; it is sufficient that
he shake it against the stirrups, to animate him. The whole art of
riding is confined to the dexterous management of the spurs, and a
good rider is distinguished from a novice by their position, as the
points should never be nearer to the flank than about four inches;
sometimes they are not within eight. I have seen one of the Arabs
of the warlike and powerful province of Shawiya, whilst mounted and
the horse curvetting, mark his name in Arabic characters, with the
spur, on the horse’s side: this is accounted the perfection of
horsemanship among the Shawiyans, who are acknowledged to be the
first horsemen in Marocco, and not inferior to the Bukarie cavalry
of the Emperor’s life guard, both of whom consider the Mamulukes
as very inferior to them, in every thing but their gaudy trappings:
their exercise of cavalry consists in what they call El Harka, which
is running full speed, about a quarter of a mile or less, till they
come to a wall, when the rider fires his musquet, and stops his horse
short, turning him at the same time; this amusement, of which they
are ridiculously fond, they continue several hours, wasting much
powder to little purpose, as they do not improve in the direction
of their piece, having no ball with the charge, nor mark to fire at;
their pieces have nothing in them but gunpowder rammed down, for if
they had wadding, many accidents would happen from their discharging
them close to one another’s faces. Ten or twenty horsemen suddenly
dart off at full speed, one half turning to the right, and the other
to the left, after firing, so as not to interfere with each other.
The men who ride these Sh’rubah Er’reeh, as well as the Arabs
who ride the Heiries, have their bowels relaxed at the termination
of their journey; for which, on leaving the Desert, they drink
a draught of camel’s milk,[95] called Hallib Niag, which being
rejected by the stomach, they drink again; this second draught,
after remaining a longer time, is sometimes also rejected; the third
draft, finding the tone of the stomach somewhat restored, remains,
and turns to nourishment.
_(Jimmel)._—The Camel of burden. This most useful animal serves for
various purposes of domestic life: its flesh is good, and when young,
is preferred by the Arabs to beef; it is, however, rather insipid,
but very easy of digestion; the milk of the _(Naga)_ female camel, is
extremely nutritious, and if taken in the morning for breakfast is an
infallible remedy for _(murd irkek)_ consumption; on this account it
is in high estimation among all ranks of people: the Arabs of Sahara,
for the most part, live on nothing else; it is of a bluish hue, and
possesses a rather glutinous quality. In Soudan and Sahara the camel
carries a load not exceeding four hundred weight; those of Duquella
and the north of Marocco carry six, seven and eight hundred weight:
the difference of the burden varies with the abundance or paucity
of food; and the camel will never rise from the ground with a burden
which he cannot proceed with.
_Sheep._—This useful animal is found in all parts of west Barbary,
even to the confines of Sahara, where their flesh is of a peculiarly
fine flavour, which is occasioned by the aromatic herbs on which they
feed. About the mountains of Lower Suse and Wedinoon the mutton is
of such a superior flavour, that when the Emperor is at Marocco, it
is often sent to him in presents. As the aromatic herbs of Africa are
much stronger scented than those of Europe, the flesh of the Wedinoon
sheep has accordingly a stronger aromatic flavour than those of the
Sussex South Down; they are larger than the ordinary sheep; the ewes
are very prolific, yeaning twice a year, and having often two or more
lambs at a time. I sent a ram of this breed to England, where it did
not (with the change of climate) lose altogether its prolific nature,
for the ewes to which he was admitted produced two lambs each.
The wool of these sheep varies considerably, that of some being very
coarse, whilst that of others is extremely fine; no care is taken of
the quality, but nature is left, in this respect (as in all others
in this country), to take its course.
Tedla, a rich province bordering on Atlas, north of Marocco,
abounds in sheep, whose wool is so fine, that no silk is softer:
it is used in the manufacture of caps, worn by the opulent, and is
sold at Fas for a very high price: its exportation being prohibited,
it is consumed by the inhabitants. A breed of these sheep would be
an acquisition in Europe, and they might be procured. The average
price of a fleece of wool in Barbary is (wahud drahim) one ounce,
or five-pence English, that of a sheep is one Mexico dollar. Wool
was, till lately, exported to Europe; particularly to Marseilles, and
other ports in the Mediterranean, to Amsterdam, Hamburgh, and London,
but a very inferior quality being sent to the latter place, it got a
bad name; the demand, however, from other places was so great, that
the Emperor had representations made to him, that wearing apparel of
the Barbary manufacture was rising in value, in consequence of the
unlimited exportation of wool, and an order was accordingly issued,
prohibiting it, the Emperor, to gratify his people, assuring them
that for the future he would not suffer it to be carried out of
the country.
_Goats._—Every lady in England has contributed to the Emperor of
Marocco’s treasury, by consuming the leather which is made from
the skin of the goat; that denominated Spanish leather being prepared
from the Marocco goat skins.
The goats of Africa are very prolific, particularly those of Tafilelt,
which is one cause of such an immense number being exported: the
duty on this article of commerce forms a considerable part of the
custom-house revenue. They have young twice a year, and often one
goat is followed by six or seven kids of her own, the production of
nine months.
The goats of the Arab province of Shedma, and the Shelluh province
of Haha, are the finest in West Barbary, but the Tafilelt goats,
as before observed, surpass them in size and quality; their milk
is richer and more abundant; their meat more delicate, particularly
when young.
The (jild Filelly) Tafilelt leather, is the softest and the finest in
the world, and much superior to that of Marocco, or even to that of
Terodant: soft and pliable as silk, it is impervious to water. The
tanners of Tafilelt use the leaves of a shrub called tizra, which
grows in the Atlas mountains; this, it is pretended, gives their
leather that peculiar softness for which it is so much esteemed;
this however is doubtful, as the tanners, above all people, are
cautious of discovering to strangers their art of tanning. Some
quality in the air and water possibly may contribute to give the
leather that extraordinary pliability.
REPTILES, INSECTS, SERPENTS, &c.
_The Camelion._—Tatta is the Arabic, and Tayuh the Shelluh name
for this extraordinary and complicated animal; its head resembles
that of a fish, the body that of a beast, the tail that of a serpent,
and the legs and feet are somewhat similar to the arms and hands of
a human being; the tongue is pointed like that of a serpent, and is
so instantaneous in its motion, that the human sight can scarcely
perceive it when it darts it out to the length of its body, to catch
flies (its ordinary food); in doing this it never misses its mark, so
that I imagine there must be some glutinous substance which attaches
the fly to the tongue, or else it pierces the insect with its point,
which is very sharp. I have often admired the velocity with which
the camelion thus secures its food, but never could discover whether
it were to be attributed to the former, or the latter cause. It is
partly nourished by the sun and air; it delights to bask in the sun
with its mouth open, to receive the heat of its rays.
[Illustration:_Drawn by J. G. Jackson._
_Engraved J. C. Stadler._
_(Tûta) The Chamælion; Natural Size_
_London Published June 4. 1811. by W. G. Nicholl Pall Mall._]
The length of the camelion when full grown is ten or twelve inches,
including the tail. When suddenly discovered, and pursued, it runs
fast, forgetting its wonted caution, which is never to trust to the
tread of the foot, the toes of which grasp the object they tread on:
in its ordinary movements, its step is geometrically exact; it looks
carefully around to discover the state of the surrounding place,
and to ascertain if every thing be safe, one eye looking behind,
the other before, and in all transverse directions; for this organ
is a perfect hemisphere, projecting from the head, and moving in
various and independant directions. Having ascertained that its feet
are safe, and that the substance on which they are fixed is firm, the
camelion disengages its tail, and proceeds on, with the same caution,
again fastening the tail, by twisting it round some branch or twig,
till it has ascertained the safety of the next step.
Many doubts have arisen with regard to the camelion’s mode of
changing its colour; from the various and repeated observations
which I have from time to time made on this most extraordinary
animal, in a confined as well as in a free state, I have been
enabled to ascertain, that in gardens (its ordinary resort), it
gradually changes its colour, assuming that of the substance over
which it passes, and to do this it requires two or three minutes;
the change beginning by the body becoming covered with small spots of
the colour of the substance over which it actually passes, and which
gradually increase, till it is altogether of that particular colour;
green appears its favourite, or at least it assumes that hue more
distinctly than any other, for I have seen it on vines so perfectly
green, that it was scarcely distinguishable from the leaves; when it
assumes a white or black colour these are not clear, but of a dirty
hue, inclining to brown. When irritated, it will gradually assume
a dirty blackish colour, which it retains whilst the irritation
lasts, swelling its sides, and hissing like a serpent; when asleep,
or inclined to rest, it is of a whitish cast. In the course of
the various experiments which my curiosity and admiration of the
camelion induced me to make, I discovered that it never drinks,
and that it always avoids wet and rain. I kept three in a cage for
the period of four months, during which time I never gave them any
food: they appeared withered and thin. Others, which I kept in a
small confined garden, retained their original size and appearance;
consequently it is to be supposed that they feed on the leaves of
vegetables: those confined in the cage did not vary their colour
much, appearing generally that of the cage; but if any thing green,
such as vegetables, were placed near it, they would assume that hue;
those confined in the garden assumed so much the colour of the object
over which they progressively passed, as to render it difficult
to discover them. Various medicinal qualities are assigned to the
flesh of the camelion; and many whimsical effects are attributed
to fumigation with it when dried; debilitated persons have recourse
to it, and it is accordingly sold in all the drug shops at Marocco,
Fas, and other places, which shops are named Hanute El Attari: the
smell arising from the fumigation is by no means grateful; but what
scent will prevent an African from using that remedy which credulity
or superstition has persuaded him will give strength to the impotent?
The Arabs assert, that the camelion is the only animal which destroys
the serpent,[96] and it is said to do it in the following manner:
it proceeds cautiously on the bough of some tree, under which the
serpent sleeps, and placing itself perpendicularly over its head,
discharges a glutinous thread of saliva, having a white drop at the
end, which falling on the serpent’s head, soon kills him. This
assertion being general and uncontroverted, among the Arabs, I have
mentioned it, as a hint to future travellers, who may be desirous
of investigating its truth.
The camelion is, by some persons, said to be venemous: but I never
knew any harm done by them, though the boys sometimes carry them in
their bosoms.
_The Dub, or Saharawan Lizard._—This animal always avoids water; it
is about eighteen inches long, and three or four inches broad across
the back; it is not poisonous, being an inhabitant of Sahara, which,
like Ireland, is said to contain no venomous animals:[97] it lays
eggs like the tortoise; it is very swift, and if hunted, will hide
itself in the earth, which it perforates with its nose, and nothing
can extricate it, but digging up the ground. The similarity between
the name of this reptile, and the Arabic name of the bear (Dubb), has
probably led some persons to assert, that there are bears in Africa.
_Locusts (Jeraad)._—This destructive creature, which the French
call sauterelle, confounding it with the common grasshopper, differs
very much from that insect, in the direful effects and devastation it
causes in the countries it visits. Dr. Johnson, in his translation
of Lobo’s Abyssinia, has rendered it _grasshopper_, although it
evidently should have been translated _locust_.
[Illustration:_Plate 3._
_(Jeraada) a Locust, natural size._
_Drawn by J. G. Jackson._
_Engraved J. C. Stadler._
_London Published June 4. 1811. by G. & W. Nicholl Pall Mall._]
Locusts are produced from some unknown physical cause, and proceed
from the Desert, always coming from the south. When they visit a
country, it behoves every individual to lay in a provision against a
famine; for they are said to stay three, five, or seven years. During
my residence in West and South Barbary, those countries suffered
a visitation from them during seven years. They have a government
among themselves, similar to that of the bees and ants; and when the
(Sultan Jerraad) king of the locusts rises, the whole body follow
him, not one solitary straggler being left behind to witness the
devastation. When they have eaten all other vegetation, they attack
the trees, consuming first the leaves, and then the bark, so that the
country, in the midst of summer, from their general rapacity, bears
the face of winter. In my travels, I have seen them so thick on the
ground, as sometimes actually to have covered my horse’s hoofs, as
he went along; it is very annoying to travel through a host of them,
as they are continually flying in your face, and settling on your
hands and clothes. At a distance, they appear, in the air, like an
immense cloud, darkening the sun; and whilst employed in devouring the
produce of the land, it has been observed that they uniformly proceed
one way, as regularly as a disciplined army on its march; nor will
it be possible to discover a single one going a different way from
the rest. In travelling from Mogodor to Tangier, before the plague
in 1799, the country was covered with them: a singular incident then
occurred at El Araiche; the whole country from the confines of Sahara
to that place was ravaged by them, but after crossing the river El
Kos,[98] they were not to be seen, though there was nothing to prevent
them from flying across it; moreover, they were all moving that way,
that is to the north; but when they reached the banks of the river,
they proceeded eastward, so that the gardens and fields north of El
Araiche were full of vegetables, fruits, and grain. The Arabs of the
province of El Garb[99] considered this remarkable circumstance as
an evident interposition of Providence.
This curse of heaven can only be conceived by those who have seen
the dismal effects of their devastation: the poor people by living
on them, become meagre and indolent, for no labour will yield fruit,
whilst the locusts continue increasing in numbers. In the rainy
season they partially disappear, and at the opening of the spring
the ground is covered with their young; those crops of corn which
are first mature, and the grain which becomes hardened before the
locust attains its full growth, are likely to escape, provided there
be other crops less forward for them to feed upon.
In the year 1799, these destructive insects were carried away into
the Western Ocean by a violent hurricane; and the shores were
afterwards covered with their dead bodies, which in many places
emitted a pestilential smell; that is, wherever the land was low,
or where the salt water had not washed them:[100] to this event
succeeded a most abundant crop of corn, the lands which had lain
fallow for years, being now cultivated; but the produce of the
cultivation was accompanied with a most infectious and deadly
plague, a calamity of which the locusts have often been observed to
be the fore-runners.[101] The Saharawans, or Arabs of the Desert,
rejoice to see the clouds of locusts proceeding towards the north,
anticipating therefrom a general mortality, which they call (el-khere)
_the good_, or _the benediction_; for after depopulating the rich
plains of Barbary, it affords to them an opportunity of emanating
from their arid recesses in the Desert, to pitch their tents in the
desolated plains, or along the banks of some river; as was done
by one of the kabyles of Tuat, after the plague had depopulated
Barbary in the summer and autumn of 1799, and the spring of 1800,
when these wild Arabs poured into Draha from Sahara, and settled
along the banks of the river of that devastated country.
Locusts are esteemed a great delicacy, and during the above periods
dishes of them were generally served up at the principal repasts;
there are various ways of dressing them; that usually adopted, was
to boil them in water half an hour; then sprinkle them with salt and
pepper, and fry them, adding a little vinegar; the head, wings, and
legs are thrown away, the rest of the body is eaten, and resembles
the taste of prawns. As the criterion of goodness in all eatables
among the Moors is regulated by the stimulating qualities which they
possess, so these locusts are preferred to pigeons, because supposed
to be more invigorating.[102] A person may eat a platefull of them,
containing two or three hundred, without any ill effects.
When the locust is young, it is green; as it grows, it assumes a
yellow hue, and lastly becomes brown. I was informed by an Arab,
who had seen the (Sultan Jeraad) king of the locusts, that it was
larger and more beautifully coloured than the ordinary one; but I
never myself could procure a sight of it.
The mode of catching locusts is thus: several persons go out in
the evening, and where they find the bushes covered, they through
Haicks, or garments, over them, beating them with sticks or canes;
they then collect the insects together, and put them in a sack,
which they will fill, by this means, in half an hour.
A drawing of this devouring insect will be found in Plate 8th,
page 103.
_The Venomous Spider (Tendaraman)._—This beautiful reptile is
somewhat similar to a hornet in size and colour, but of a rounder
form; its legs are about an inch long, black, and very strong;
it has two bright yellow lines, latitudinally crossing its back;
it forms its web octagonally between bushes, the diameter being two
or three yards; it places itself in the centre of its web, which
is so fine, as to be almost invisible, and attaches to whatever
may pass between those bushes. It is said to make always towards
the head before it inflicts its deadly wound. In the cork forests,
the sportsman, eager in his pursuit of game, frequently carries
away on his garments the Tendaraman, whose bite is so poisonous,
that the patient survives but a few hours.
_The Scorpion (El Akarb)._—The scorpion is generally two inches
in length, and resembles so much the lobster in its form that the
latter is called by the Arabs (Akerb d’elbahar) the sea-scorpion:
it has several joints or divisions in its tail, which are supposed
to be indicative of its age; thus, if it have five, it is considered
to be five years old. The poison of this reptile is in its tail, at
the end of which is a small, curved, sharp-pointed sting; the curve
being downwards, it turns its tail upwards when it strikes a blow.
The scorpion delights in stony places, and in old ruins; in some stony
parts of the district of Haha they abound so much, that on turning
up the stones, three or four will be found under each. Some are of a
yellow colour, others brown, and some black; the yellow possess the
strongest poison, but the venom of each affects the part wounded with
frigidity, which takes place soon after the sting has been inflicted.
During the summer, the city of Marocco is so infested with this
venomous reptile, that it is not uncommon to find them in the beds;
all persons, therefore, who visit Marocco at this season of the year,
should have the feet of their bedsteads placed in tubs or pans of
water; this precaution will also prevent the attack of bugs, which
in summer are a perfect nuisance; but the inhabitants are accustomed
to all these sorts of inconveniences, and care little about them.
Most families in Marocco keep a bottle of scorpions infused in olive
oil, which is used whenever any person is stung by them; for although
the scorpion carries an antidote in itself, it is not always to be
caught, as it often stings a person whilst asleep, and disappears
before he awakes, or thinks of looking for it; in which event
the body of the live scorpion cannot of course be procured. It is
necessary to bind the part, if possible, above the place stung, then
to cauterize, and afterwards to scarify the puncture, to prevent the
venom from pervading the system; this method is sometimes effectual,
and sometimes not, according to the situation of the part wounded,
and the nature of the scorpion, some being more poisonous than others;
but where the flesh of the reptile can be obtained, the cure is said
to be infallible.
_Musquitos (Namuse)._—Musquitos, gnats, and various other kinds
of annoying insects, appear to have made the lakes of West Barbary
their general rendezvous. I was once compelled to encamp, during
the night, on the banks of the lake of Mamora (having travelled, on
horseback, a fatiguing day’s journey of fifty-six miles), where I
was intolerably tormented with the musquitos; it being suggested,
that they were attracted by the lights in the tents, these were
extinguished, but without affording any relief: fatigued as I was,
as well as every one else, I endeavoured in vain to sleep, and was at
length obliged to cause the tents to be struck, the camels loaded,
and to proceed on my way in the night, all which the servants and
Arabs cheerfully performed, though nearly exhausted with the heat
of the preceding day. In the morning, I found my face and hands in
a most deplorable condition, being similar to those of a person in
the worst stage of the small-pox.
The musquitos and other insects attack strangers with great keenness,
biting them, and sucking their blood in a most distressing manner. The
thick skins of the Arabs, exposed daily to the scorching heat of
the sun, are impenetrable to their bite, otherwise they would not
be able to exist; for although the country is productive, and the
soil good, yet nothing can compensate for the vexation arising from
the unremitted attacks of these irritating insects.
_Cricket._—This insect abounds in the Atlas mountains, piercing
the still air of night with its incessant noise. They are very large,
having beautiful gray wings, covered with several gold coloured spots;
the back is yellow, variegated with green.
_Serpents (Henushe)._—Of these there are various species in Barbary,
but two only are extremely venomous; the one is of a black colour,
about seven or eight feet long, with a small head, which it expands
frequently to four times its ordinary size, when about to attack
any object. This serpent is called _Bûska_, and is the only one
that will attack travellers; in doing which, it coils itself up,
and darts to a great distance, by the elasticity of its body and
tail. I have seen it coil itself, and erect its head about twelve or
eighteen inches above the ground, expanding it at the same time when
it darted forward. The wound inflicted by the bite is small, but the
surrounding part immediately turns black, which colour soon pervades
the whole body, and the sufferer expires in a very short time. This
serpent is carried about by the (Aisawie[103]) charmers of serpents.
[Illustration:_Plate 4._
_The Bûskah._
_Drawn by J. G. Jackson._
_Engraved J. C. Stadler._
_London Published June 4. 1811. by G. & W. Nicholl Pall Mall._]
_El Effah_ is the name of the other serpent remarkable for its quick
and penetrating poison; it is about two feet long, and as thick as a
man’s arm, beautifully spotted with yellow and brown, and sprinkled
over with blackish specks, similar to the horn-nosed snake. They
have a wide mouth, by which they inhale a great quantity of air,
and when inflated therewith, they eject it with such force as to be
heard at a considerable distance. These mortal enemies to mankind
are collected by the Aisawie before-mentioned, in a desert of Suse,
where their holes are so numerous, that it is difficult for a horse
to pass over it without stumbling.
[Illustration:_Plate 5._
_El Efah._
_Drawn by J. G. Jackson._
_Engraved J. C. Stadler._
_London Published June 4. 1811. by G. & W. Nicholl Pall Mall._]
_The Boah_, or desert snake, is an enormous monster, from twenty to
eighty feet long, as thick as a man’s body, and of a dingy colour:
this inhabitant of Sahara is not venomous, though it is not less
destructive: the Arabs (speaking of it figuratively)[104] affirm,
that as it passes along the desert it fires the ground with the
velocity of its motion. It is impossible to escape it; it will twist
itself round an ox, and after crushing its bones, will swallow it
gradually, after which it lies supinely on the ground two or three
days, unable to proceed till the animal be digested. Two of these
monsters stationed themselves near the road from Marocco to Terodant,
near to the latter city, a few years since; one of them was killed,
the other remained there several days, and prevented travellers from
passing the road: they were both young ones, being about twenty feet
long. Various stories are related by the Arabs of Sahara respecting
the Boahs; but they are mostly ingenious fables, originally intended
to inculcate some moral lesson. Without speaking of all the various
kinds of serpents which are either timid, harmless or not venomous,
I must observe, that
_The Domestic Serpents_ claim some attention. In the city of Marocco
these animals abound; there is scarcely a house without its domestic
serpent, which is sometimes seen moving along the roofs of the
apartments; they are never molested by the family, who would not
hurt them on any consideration, conceiving them a benediction on
the household; they have been known to suck the breasts of women
whilst asleep, and retire without offering any further injury. They
are so susceptible, as to be sensible of enmity towards them, and
it is thought imprudent to incur their displeasure; for this reason
the inhabitants of Marocco treat them kindly, and as members of the
family, not wishing to disturb an animal that claims the rights of
hospitality by settling in their house.
THE TORTOISE. _(Fackrone.)_ Land-tortoises of a very large size
abound in Barbary and in Suse, where, in the afternoon of a hot day,
one may collect a dozen in the course of an hour. They are esteemed
good eating by the French, and the inhabitants of the shores of the
Mediterranean.[105] The wonderful geometrical construction of this
animal is such, that it will bear a ton weight on its back.
In Sahara the turpins, or land tortoises, are reported to be very
large, weighing four, five, or six hundred weight; but I never heard
of any like those found at the time Leo Africanus wrote, who mentions
a man who had seen one as big as a tun, and he himself says he saw
one the size of a barrel.
BIRDS.
_The Ostrich._—_Ennaam_ is the name given by the Western Arabs to
the ostrich; it is found on the confines of Sahara, in every part
from Wedinoon on the western ocean as far as Senaar: those which are
taken about Wedinoon and Cape Bojador are the largest in the world,
and have the finest plumage; the feathers of the male bird are the
best, being thicker and more tufted than those of the female: the
black feathers are taken from the tail; the fine long white plumes
used by our females of fashion are from the fore part of the wings:
the smaller feathers of the wing are also sometimes black. I have
seen ostriches from Cape Bojador eight feet high from the foot to
the beak, when the neck was erect, which is the natural position. The
ostrich appears to be a stupid bird, and indifferent to every thing;
taking no notice of persons, except they have metal buttons on their
clothes, at which they will eagerly snap; it is not however to be
credited that they digest iron or any other metal, although pieces
of such are often found in their stomachs, when cut up by the hunters.
The ostrich forms the intermediate gradation between the bird and the
beast, for it neither simply flies nor runs, but rather does both,
never rising however from the ground, but is assisted considerably
by its wings, in its progress through the desert, running over many
hundred miles of ground in a short time. They are sometimes seen in
Sahara by the Akkabahs of Soudan, in great numbers, appearing at a
distance, at twilight, like a host of plundering Arabs.
The ostrich lays several eggs, of the size of an African citron, or a
six-and-thirty pound shot, white, and of an oval form, weighing from
eight to ten pounds; after laying these eggs, the bird goes away,
forgetting or forsaking them, and if some other ostrich discover
them, she hatches them, as if they were her own, forgetting probably
whether they are or are not; so deficient is the recollection of this
bird. In addition to their usual food, they swallow stones, gravel,
sand, and metals; it is not ascertained whether they drink or not.
Among the various animals which the Arabs hunt for sport or profit,
that which most fully rewards their exertions, is the ostrich: a
party of about twenty Arabs, mounted on the desert horses already
described,[106] set out together, riding gently against the wind,
one after the other, at the distance of about half a mile asunder;
they walk on, tracing the foot-marks, till they discover those of
the ostrich, which they then follow; when they come in sight of their
game, they rush towards it at full speed, always keeping nearly the
same distance as at first; the bird finding her wings an impediment to
her progress against the wind, turns towards the horsemen, and after
escaping the first and second, is perhaps shot, or brought down by
the third or fourth, or some of those that follow; they are, however,
often a whole day in the chase before they secure their bird. Were
it not for this stratagem, aided by the stupidity of the ostrich,
it would be impossible to take it. The Saharawans carry muskets,
but in hunting the ostrich they rarely use them, trusting rather
to their Zerwata, which is a stick about two feet long, and three
inches in circumference, taken from the Alk Soudan tree, or the tree
that produces the Senegal gum, being a hard close-grained heavy wood;
this Zerwata they throw with extraordinary dexterity at the legs of
the birds, and by breaking or maiming them, impede their progress,
and by that means secure them. Having cut the throat according to the
Mohammedan practice, they pluck off the feathers and divide them, as
well as the carcase, into different portions: on these occasions,
as on all others, whether in hunting, pillaging, or attacking
(Akkabahs) the accumulated caravans from Soudan, they divide the
booty into as many shares as there are persons to partake, caring but
little about the equality of them; then each person taking something
that he has about him (such as a key, a knife, or a piece of money),
they put it into the corner of a hayk or garment, and covers it over,
waiting till some stranger or uninterested person appears, whom they
engage to take out of the garment before mentioned, the different
articles deposited therein, and to place one on each of the parcels
or lots of feathers and meat, when each person takes up that portion
on which the article belonging to him is placed; they then separate,
and retire to their respective douars, where they regale themselves
and their families with the produce of their sport. The flesh of
the ostrich is by no means palatable to an European; it is a dark
coloured and strong meat; the fat is much esteemed in medicine for
all kinds of bruises and sprains, and is sold at a very high price:
but money will not always procure it, friendship or hospitality being
more powerful in these regions than even money itself! this medicine,
therefore, is often procurable only through the former. The feathers
are sold by the hunters to the agents of the merchants of Mogodor
established at Wedinoon, for the purpose of transportation finally
to Europe, to adorn the heads of our fashionable females.
Writing as I am for the information of merchants as well as others,
it may not be unacceptable to my readers, some of whom may perhaps be
induced to form establishments in those unknown regions, to learn the
method of purchasing ostrich feathers in West and South Barbary. It
is as follows:
A quintal, or 100 lbs. weight, is thus distributed according
to custom from time immemorial:
75 lb. small black feathers.
{ Zumar. }
{ }
25 lb { Lobar. } of each one-third.
{ }
{ Long black. }
N.B. The feathers denominated Zumar, are preferable to Long Black,
and these are preferable to Lobar. To this quintal of assorted
feathers are added 6 lb. 4 oz. of passable or fine feathers, which
are delivered in the following proportions:
No. 1. Surplus face feathers, called Uguh, No. 1. 2 lb.
2. Fine face feathers, of which three count
for two of No. 1. so that 3 lb. of No. 2
being delivered count for 2
3. Face feathers valued 2 for one surplus
face, so that 4 lb count for 2
4. Basto face 3 lb. count for one 1
----------
lb. 7 0
to each quintal 6 4
----------
Surplus 0 12 oz.
These 12 oz. over the quintal are brought into imaginary pieces,
or single feathers; thus 4½ surplus face feathers are equivalent
to one ounce, so that 12 oz. will make fifty-four feathers; the
contract will therefore stand thus:
100 lb. at 90 drahims per lb. is 9000 drahims, or 900 Mexico dollars.
54 feathers or pieces, at 9 drahims
per piece, is 486 drahims.
----
9486 drahims,
which sum is equivalent to 948⁶⁄₁₀ Mexico dollars.
4½ surplus face feathers are calculated at 1 oz.
100 ditto ditto ditto 22⅕ oz.
But custom makes 100 feathers count for 22 oz. without the fraction
before mentioned.
This explanation may give some idea of the mode of purchasing this
article of commerce, which requires much practice and experience,
before the purchaser will be free from imposition. There are but
two or three persons at Mogodor who perfectly understand it, and
the method of passing them at the custom-house.
The price here affixed is the average. The competition among the Jews,
and the almost entire monopolization of the Marocco trade by these
people, has latterly enhanced the price; for, by contriving to exclude
the English, and the Christians in general, as much as possible
from commerce, they are too often induced to trade beyond their
capital, and by frequently overstocking the market, cause a forced
trade, thereby throwing the profits, which before were reaped by the
European, into the hands of the natives; the consequence of this is,
that the Emperor, displeased at his subjects becoming too suddenly
rich, exacts an additional duty on the exportion of the article,
whereupon its price in the country immediately falls, and the surplus
of profit is, by this policy, thrown into the imperial exchequer.
_The Vulture (Nesser)._— Excepting the ostrich, this is the
largest bird in Africa; it is common in all places where the gum
ammoniac plant grows, and it is said to feed on the horned beetle,
which lives upon that plant. In the plains east of El Araiche,
where the plant abounds, I have seen at least twenty of these birds
in the air at once, darting down on the insects with astonishing
rapidity. They build their nests on lofty precipices, high rocks,
and in dreary parts of the mountains. Mr. Bruce calls this bird
the Nessir, or golden eagle, but I apprehend he has committed an
error in denominating it an eagle, the generical name of which,
in the Arabic language, is El Bezz.
_The Eagle._—Bezz el Horreh designates the largest species of eagle,
with undescribably clear and beautiful eyes of an orange colour. I
shot one of these birds in crossing the Atlas mountains between
Marocco and Terodant, and attempted to preserve it for the purpose
of sending it to Europe, but it died on the third day. This is the
bird which is reported by the Africans to engender the dragon on the
female hyæna; a chimera originating undoubtedly in some Arabian fable
or allegorical tradition, though generally credited by the inhabitants
of Atlas, who affirm the dragon thus engendered to have the wings and
beak of an eagle, a serpent’s tail, and short feet like a hyæna,
the eye-lids never closed, and that it lives in caves like the hyæna.
_Hawks and Falcons._—The Shereefs and Bashaws, and higher orders
of society, are much attached to falconry. Muley Teib, brother to
the present Emperor, was passionately fond of this kind of sport,
and had the best falcons in the country. They teach these young hawks
dexterously to fly at and catch ducks, wild-geese, partridges, hares,
bustards, and antelopes; the latter, however, is too strong to be
held by the falcon, which hovers about its head, and impedes its
progress, till the greyhounds come up with it and secure it. I have
hunted with the prince Muley Teib and his falconers several times,
accompanied by Dr. Bell, an English surgeon who attended him.
_White Herons (Bufullel)._—The white heron differs from the
garde bœufs[107]) ox-keepers; it is called bufula in the singular
number; the garde bœuf is called by the Arabs Teer el bukkera,
which signifies _the cow bird_, as the large red-spotted lizard is
called Erdar el bukkera, because it sucks the cows’ milk. A person
might, however, easily mistake the garde bœuf for the white heron,
as I did once myself; having killed about a hundred at different
times, I have often shot the former for the latter; the Arabs always
persuaded me they were not the same; and in fact so I found, for
I never saw a heron killed near a cow; they are found on the banks
of rivers, where they feed on worms; at a distance of fifty yards,
they are exactly the same in appearance; the heron, however, when
examined, appears to differ in the colour of the legs, which are
black, whereas those of the garde bœuf are yellowish, or brown:
the heron has two long narrow feathers on the crown of the head,
hanging over the neck; the garde bœuf has none: the heron has from
twenty to a hundred aigrette feathers on its back; the garde bœuf
has none. With regard to what is said in the note below,[108] it may
be observed that the transposition or omission of one point or dot,
in the Arabic language, is sufficient to make bufula, bukula; nay
more, what is bukula in the west, is written the same in the east,
and pronounced bufula, for the _k_ of the western Arabs is the _s_
of the eastern. But the curlew is called bukula, and the white heron,
or egret, bufula in the east, as well as in the west.
_The Bustard_ abounds in the provinces of Temsena, Benihassen, and
Duquella; some are also found in Abda and Suse: being a shy bird, the
Arabs approach it gradually, and in a circular line: when they reach
within a hundred yards, they fall down, and creep along the ground
gently till they come within shot. The flesh of this bird is much
esteemed, and is considered an acceptable present by men of high rank.
_The Stork (B’elharge.)_—The general colour of the stork’s
plumage is white, the extremities of the wings being tipped with
black; they are from two to three feet in height from the feet
to the bill. During the summer, the old towns of West Barbary are
frequented by these birds, which go generally in pairs: they are
migratory, and when they do not return to their usual haunts at the
accustomed season, it is considered ominous of evil. Any person that
should presume to shoot this sacred bird, would incur the resentment
of the whole city, and be accounted a sacrilegious infidel; for,
besides being of the greatest utility in destroying serpents and other
noxious reptiles, they are also emblematical of faith and conjugal
affection, and on that account held in the highest estimation by all
true Mooselmin. They build their nests, which are curious, on the top
of some old tower or castle, or on the terraces of uninhabited houses,
where they constantly watch their young, exposed to the scorching
rays of the sun. They will not suffer any one to approach their nests.
The cities and towns of Mequinas, Fas, Marocco, Muley Driss Zerone,
Rabat, Salée, El Araiche, Azamore, and Saffy, are annually visited
by the stork; there are none at Mogodor, it being not only a new
town, but situated on a peninsula, at the extremity of vast heaps
of moving sand, which separate it from the cultivated country,
and prevent serpents and other noxious animals from harbouring there.
_The Partridge._—This beautiful bird abounds in every part of
West Barbary; it is larger, and finer feathered than that of Europe;
the legs are red. The Moors have a peculiar manner of _hunting_ the
partridge: in the plains of Akkermute and Jibbel Hedded, in Shedma,
they take various kinds of dogs with them, from the greyhound
to the shepherd’s dog, and following the birds, on horseback,
and allowing them no time to rest, they soon fatigue them, when
they are taken by the dogs: but as the Mooselmin eats nothing but
what has had its throat cut, he takes out his knife, and exclaiming
(Bismillah), “In the name of God,” cuts the throat of the game,
and by letting it bleed destroys the flavour; for this reason game
is not esteemed at the repasts of the Arabs, where mutton and beef
are preferred; lamb and veal are unlawful, it being an injunction
of the Mohammedan law to eat nothing till it is full grown, which
is one cause of the great quantity of cattle which feed in the plains.
_El Rogr._—This bird is similar to the English partridge, having
however darker plumage; it is found only in arid stony places,
where the shrubs are stunted, and in all (harushe) plains or places
covered with basaltic rocks; but I believe no where else, except when
on the wing to drink at some river, which they do regularly at noon
and at sun-set; basking in the sun all the day, and pecking at the
harsh stunted shrubs found in the above mentioned situations. The
Rogr is unknown in Europe, according to Dr. Broussonet, an eminent
botanist, for whom I shot several during his residence at Mogodor,
in the quality of French Chargé des Affaires.
_Pigeons._—Pigeons, denominated El Hammem by the Arabs, are in
prodigious numbers all over West Barbary, tame as well as wild: the
turtle dove (called El Imam) also abounds in the woods and gardens,
adding considerably, by their plaintive notes, to the soothing
pleasures of the country. There are immense quantities of wild pigeons
in the island of Mogodor, which build their nests in the holes,
and excavated rocks of the island; and as it is unlawful to shoot
there, it being the state prison of the empire, they are harmless
and domesticated. Early in the morning, they fly in immense flocks,
to the adjacent province of Haha, where they feed on the corn and
vegetables during the day, and return about an hour before sun set.
The beautiful cream-coloured dove, with a black ring round its neck,
is a native of Marocco and Terodant.
_Curlews (Bukullel[109])._—These birds abound in various parts
of West Barbary, and are so numerous at El Waladia, that one would
imagine it was the roosting place for all the curlews on the earth;
the peninsula which encompasses the large bay of water at this
place, being rocky and uninhabited, is full of all kinds of them;
it is a very delicious bird when the blood is not lost by the throat
being cut.
_Tibib._—The sparrow, denominated Zuzuh, is rare in most parts
of Barbary; but the Tibib, which resembles it, is very common: this
little bird visits the houses every morning, coming into the rooms
undismayed. It is originally an inhabitant of Atlas, from whence it
was brought by an English merchant[110] about twenty years since,
to Mogodor, where the breed has continued to multiply ever since.
_The Crested Lark_ is common also in this country.
_The Cuckoo, Deekuke_, as it is called by the Arabs, is a gray bird,
with large black spots, having much feather, and long wings, with a
small and short body. They are esteemed a delicacy by the Arabs. I
shot some one day for the purpose of tasting them, and found them
extremely delicate, and not inferior to a partridge.
_El Hage._ This is a small cinereous coloured bird, and scarcely
so large as the common blackbird; it lives upon beetles and other
insects of a similar kind, which it never eats till they begin to
putrify; it frequents thorny bushes, on the upper thorns of which
it sticks the beetles, where remaining till they begin to decay,
the Hage, in passing through the air is attracted by their scent,
and feeds upon them. The argan tree is the favourite resort of this
bird; on the top, or some conspicuous part of which, it is generally
seen, and often alone, without its female. It is called El Hage,
because it accompanies the caravans to Mecca;[111] it is therefore
held to be a sacred bird; on this account it would be imprudent to
shoot it in presence of any Mooselmin. As they destroy beetles and
vermin, they are certainly entitled to the deference paid to them;
and are canonized, perhaps, from having visited the tomb of Mohammed.
_The Owl._—The owl of Africa (called Muka) is similar to that of
Europe, having the eye of a bright yellow. The screech owl (called
Saher) is an ominous bird, and is superstitiously thought to be the
forerunner of evil.
FISH.
The same variety of fish that is found in the Mediterranean is caught
on the shores of West and South Barbary. Of the fresh water fish,
_Shebbel_—is in most request; it is similar to our salmon, but
neither so large nor so red in the flesh, though extremely rich and
delicate. Immense quantities are caught in the rivers of Barbary,
particularly in those of El Kos, Mamora, Tensift, and Suse: they are
salted, or baked and preserved for the supply of Bled-el-jerrêde,
and other places of the interior, even as far as Soudan; but the
greatest consumption of the dried shebbel is in Bled-el-jerrêde,
where the inhabitants live for the most part on dates, as these fish
are accounted a corrective of any ill effects produced from eating
immoderately of that fruit.
The people who catch the shebbel give to the Emperor a per centage
by way of duty.
There is a very considerable fishery on this coast, managed by the
Spaniards from the Canary Islands, which extends from lat. N 20°
30′ to lat. N. 29°, being nearly 600 miles, and abounds in all
kinds of excellent fish; as there is at present no town, village, or
fixed habitation on the coast, within the district above mentioned,
the Spaniards fish unmolested; neither do cruizers ever approach
these parts, except by accident, so that the fishermen are secure from
capture. In the spring and summer the fish are said to abound on the
northern part of this extent of coast; and as the autumn approaches,
they go gradually southward. Whilst I was established at Agadeer,
I saw many kinds of curious fish which I have never seen in any
other part of Africa or Europe.
_Whales._—About the coast of Africa, from Agadeer to Arguin,
whales are frequently cast on shore,[112] deluded, perhaps, like
the unfortunate mariners, who being led away imperceptibly by the
impetuosity of a deceitful current, are ashore before they are aware
of being even near the land. Whenever the whale is cast ashore,
ambergris is found on the shore, and is brought to Agadeer for
sale. The Moors being very partial to this perfume, consume all
that comes to market; so that none is sent to Europe. It is called
in Arabic El Amber, and is supposed to possess highly stimulating
qualities, for which purpose it is often infused in tea by the
African Arabs, Moors, and others.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 70: This budra is preserved in earthen pots under ground,
many, sometimes 20 or 30 years, as it is said, to improve by age;
it is of so subtile and penetrating a nature, that it quickly passes
to the capillary vessels of the body, and being rubbed on the inside
of the hand, is quickly absorbed through the pores into the blood.]
[Footnote 71: Ida dez el Herka fee el bled wa kan trek harushe el
Zirg ce herse el hager eladi fee’h.]
[Footnote 72: A small bird unknown in Europe, similar to a sparrow.]
[Footnote 73: Buffon informs us, that Bruce told him this animal was
common in Barbary, where it was called Taleb; but Pennant observes,
that Bruce should have given it a more characteristic appellation, for
taleb, or thaleb, is no more than the Arabic name for the common fox,
which is also frequent in that country. See Eng. Encyclopedia, 1802.]
[Footnote 74: The dubbah and the deeb are so totally different, that
I cannot account for the error of Bruce in saying they are the same
animal; for, besides various other differences, the dubbah is more
than twice as large as the deeb. It is surprising that Mr. Bruce, who
appears to have been a great sportsman, did not perceive this. Vide
Select Passages of Natural History collected in Travels to discover
the Source of the Nile. Title Hyæna, Vol V. p. 110.]
[Footnote 75: M’dubbah, stupified or hyænaized, from the word
dubbah.]
[Footnote 76: Bruce, in speaking of this animal, observes that most
of the animals confounded with him, are about six times smaller
than he is. The want of a critical knowledge of the Arabic language,
and of natural history at the same time, has, in some measure, been
the occasion of these errors among the moderns. Bochart discusses
the several errors of the ancients with great judgment, and the
Count de Buffon, in a very elegant and pleasant manner, hath nearly
exhausted the whole. See Select Specimens of Nat. Hist. collected
in Travels to discover the Source of the Nile, Vol. V. Appendix,
p. 108. Title Hyæna.]
[Footnote 77: A description of this herb will be given in its
proper place.]
[Footnote 78: Andik aineen el Gazel ia Lella. Beek zin el Gazel ia
Lella. You possess the eyes of an antelope, O Lady—You possess the
beauty of a gazel, O Lady, are irresistible compliments with the
Arabs. Again, Zin el mikkumule, and Zin el Gazel, perfect beauty,
and gazel beauty, are synonymous terms.]
[Footnote 79: _Horreh_ signifies any thing pure and free; thus
a free-born man, (having a handsome person and virtuous mind,)
is called Rajel _Horreh_; a horse of high breed is called Aoud el
_Horreh_; it is also opposed to _Abd_, which signifies a slave.]
[Footnote 80: Possibly _bizoar_ may be a corruption of _Bide el
Horreh_.]
[Footnote 81: A shrub of Atlas used in tanning.]
[Footnote 82: Sir Joseph Banks.]
[Footnote 83: The Saharawan lizard is also called Dubb by the Arabs
(See under Reptiles), and from the similitude of name, the conjecture
that bears are found in Africa may have originated.]
[Footnote 84: The mountain at Ceuta is called Jibbel D’Zatute,
the Mountain of Apes.]
[Footnote 85: Job, ch. 39, v. 9, 10.]
[Footnote 86: I met with a very intelligent Shelluh in Shtuka, whilst
I was staying at the castle of the Khalif Mohammed ben Delemy,
who had been thirty years travelling through various countries
of the interior; he had frequently seen the Aoudad, the Horreh,
the hippopotamus, the rhinoceros, the elephant, the hyæna, and
various other animals, but he declared he had never seen an animal
resembling a horse or mare, having one horn, nor had he ever heard,
in the different Kaffer countries (as he called them) he had visited,
that such an animal existed.]
[Footnote 87: These heirie riders will travel three days without food;
or a few pipes of tobacco, or a handful of dates, will furnish their
meal; so that a regiment of Arabs would subsist on less than would
be sufficient to maintain a company of English soldiers.]
[Footnote 88: On the journey, a man who had been travelling with the
caravan asked me for bread. “How long have you been without it?”
said I. Two days was the reply. “And how long without water?”
“I drank water last night.” This was at sun-set, after we had
been marching all day in the heat of the sun. See Brown’s Travels
in Africa, &c. Vol. II. p. 288.]
[Footnote 89: Incredible stories are told of them, as that they
will hold out for twenty-four hours together, travelling constantly
at the rate of ten miles an hour. See Brown’s Travels in Africa,
&c. Vol. II. p. 259.]
[Footnote 90: Marocco is about one hundred miles from Mogodor.]
[Footnote 91: On this subject M. de Florial aptly observes, that
“le plus part des hommes mesurant leur foi par leur connoissance
acquise, croyent à fort peu de choses.”]
[Footnote 92: This term literally signifies Wind-sucker; the animal
is so called from his hanging out his tongue at one side of his mouth,
when in speed, and as it were sucking in the air.]
[Footnote 93: The straw being trodden out by cattle to separate it
from the corn, is similar to chopped straw, and is the only substitute
for hay.]
[Footnote 94: It is to the fashion of the saddle, stirrups, and
bridle, that the Arabs are considerably indebted for their agility
in horsemanship, and for their dexterous management of the horse.]
[Footnote 95: A food of extraordinary and incredible nourishment,
and a sovereign remedy for consumption.]
[Footnote 96: It is called (Adû el hensh) the serpent’s enemy.]
[Footnote 97: Even the Bo’ah, or desert serpent (described in a
subsequent page), is not venomous.]
[Footnote 98: The river called Luccos should be El Kos, so named
from its winding through the country in semi-circular forms; El Kos
in Arabic signifies a bow or arch.]
[Footnote 99: El Garb (the g guttural) signifies in Arabic the west;
this is the western province.]
[Footnote 100: See the Author’s observations on the Plague in
Barbary, in the Gentleman’s Magazine, February 1805, page 123.]
[Footnote 101: In the consulship of Marcus Plautius Hypsæus,
and Marcus Fulvius Flaccus, Africa scarce breathing from bloody
wars, a terrible and extraordinary destruction ensued; for now
throughout Africa an infinite multitude of locusts were collected,
and having devoured the growing corn, and consumed the vegetables,
and leaves of the trees, their tender boughs, and their bark, they
were finally driven, by a sudden and tempestuous wind, into the air,
and being driven by the wind through the air, at length were drowned
in the sea; their carcases, loathsome and putrified, being cast up
by the waves of the sea in immense heaps, in all parts of the shore,
bred an incredible and infectious smell, after which followed so
general a pestilence of all living creatures, that the dead bodies of
cattle, wild beasts, and fowls, corrupted by dissolution, filled the
atmosphere with a contagious miasma, and augmented the fury of the
plague; but how great and extraordinary a death of men there was,
I cannot but tremble to report; in Numidia, where Micipsa was the
king, died eighty thousand persons: on the sea-coast, near Carthage
and Utica, about two hundred thousand are reported to have perished;
from the city of Utica itself were, by this means, swept from the face
of the earth thirty thousand soldiers, who were appointed to be the
garrison of Africa, and the destruction was so violent, according
to report, that from one gate of Utica were carried to be buried,
in one and the same day, the bodies of above fifteen hundred of the
aforesaid soldiers; so that by the grace of God (through whose mercy,
and in confidence of whom I speak of these events), I boldly affirm
that sometimes, even in our days, the locusts do much mischief, yet
never before happened, in the time of the Christians, a calamity so
insupportable, as this scourge of locusts, which, when alive, were
insufferable, and after their death, produced much more pernicious
consequences, which, if they had lived, would have destroyed every
vegetable thing; but being dead, destroyed, through the plague which
they produced, all earthly creatures. Vide Paulus Orosius contra
Paganos, Lib. V. Cap. ii.]
[Footnote 102: This invigorating quality is expressed by the term
Skoon, the k guttural.]
[Footnote 103: These Aisawie have a considerable sanctuary at
Fas. They go to Suse in large bodies about the month of July to
collect serpents, which they pretend to render harmless by a certain
form of words, incantation, or invocation to (Seedy ben Aisah[a])
their tutelary saint. They have an annual feast, at which time they
dance and shake their heads quickly, during a certain period, till
they become giddy, when they run about the towns frantic, attacking
any person that may have a black or dark dress on; they bite, scratch,
and devour any thing that comes in their way. They will attack an
Unjumma, or portable fire, and tear the lighted charcoal to pieces
with their hands and mouths. I have seen them take the serpents,
which they carry about, and devour them alive, the blood streaming
down their clothes. The incredible accounts of their feats would fill
a volume; the following observations may suffice to give the reader
an idea of these extraordinary fanatics. The Bûska and the El Effah
here described, are enticed out of their holes by them; they handle
them with impunity, though their bite is ascertained to be mortal;
they put them into a cane basket, and throw it over their shoulders:
these serpents they carry about the country, and exhibit them to the
people. I have seen them play with them, and suffer them to twist
round their bodies in all directions, without receiving any injury
from them. I have often enquired how they managed to do this, but
never could get any direct or satisfactory answer; they assure you,
however, that faith in their saint, and the powerful influence of
the name of the Divinity, _Isim Allah_, enables them to work these
miracles: they maintain themselves in a miserable way, by donations
from the spectators before whom they exhibit. This art of fascinating
serpents was known by the ancient Africans, as appears from the
Marii and Psylli, who were Africans, and shewed proofs of it at Rome.]
[Footnote a: Aisah signifies Jesus: thus Jesus Christ is
denominated by the Mohammedans, Seedna Aisah, i.e. Our Lord Jesus.]
[Footnote 104: Ky herk el bled beshuelhu.]
[Footnote 105: The turtle called the Hawk’s bill is excellent on
this coast. I never eat any superior in Europe; they are plentiful
at Agadeer, but as the natives do not eat them, they care not about
catching them, except when employed so to do by some European.]
[Footnote 106: See the description, page 94.]
[Footnote 107: Vide Sonini’s Travels in Egypt, page 217.]
[Footnote 108: I cannot suppress a smile when I recollect a trifling
adventure to which the egrets gave occasion in my journey from Rosetta
to Alexandria with M. Tott; he took with him a surgeon, puffed up
with folly and conceit, and combining their knowledge of natural
history, they had decided that the numerous egrets, whose dazzling
whiteness (so interesting an emblem of candour and virginity),
constituted the most beautiful ornament of the banks of the Nile,
were the Ibis or Curlews of the ancients; birds on which antiquity
conferred the highest honours. Whatever I could say, they would not
relinquish their opinion. Vide Sonini’s Travels.]
[Footnote 109: This is the plural; the singular is Bukula.]
[Footnote 110: Mr. Wynne.]
[Footnote 111: Those who go to Mecca, receive on their return,
the title of El Hage, to which (whatever their rank in life may be)
is prefixed the appellation of Seedy, or Monsieur.]
[Footnote 112: During my stay at Messa, I saw two enormous jaw-bones
of a whale erected in the form of an arch, and on enquiring how they
came there, was informed that they had been there (min zeman) from
time immemorial, and that the fish was thrown on the shore, having a
man in his belly, whose name was recorded to be Jonah. Having laughed
heartily at this whimsical story, I was surprized to find my informant
not only very serious, but desirous to impress my mind with a belief,
that there was no doubt of the fact. It has been handed down, said he,
by tradition, and nobody but a Christian would doubt the fact! See
Brookes’s Gazetteer, title Messa.]