_Commercial Relations of the Empire of Marocco with Timbuctoo,
and other Districts of Soudan — Route of the Caravans to and from
Soudan — Of the City of Timbuctoo — The Productive Gold Mines
in its Vicinage — Of the navigable Intercourse between Jinnie and
Timbuctoo; and from the latter to Cairo in Egypt: the whole being
collected from the most authentic and corroborating testimonies of
the Guides of the Caravans, Itinerant Merchants of Soudan, and other
creditable sources of Intelligence._
Timbuctoo,[195] the great emporium of central Africa, has from time
immemorial carried on a very extensive and lucrative trade with the
various maritime States of North Africa, viz. Marocco, Tunis, Algier,
Tripoli, Egypt, &c. by means of (akkabaahs) accumulated caravans,
which cross the great Desert of Sahara, generally between the months
of September and April inclusive; these akkabaahs consist of several
hundred loaded camels, accompanied by the Arabs who let them to the
merchants, for the transport of their merchandize to Fas, Marocco,
&c. at a very low rate. During their route, they are often exposed
to the attacks of the roving Arabs of Sahara, who generally commit
their depredations as they approach the confines of the Desert.
[Illustration:_Pl. XIII._
Map _shewing the_ TRACT as followed by the CARAVANS _from_ _FAS to
TIMBUCTOO_ by _Jas. G. Jackson,_ 1811.
_London Published Augst. 30th. 1811. by G. & W. Nicoll Pall Mall._]
In this fatiguing journey, the akkabaahs do not proceed in a direct
line across the trackless Desert to the place of their destination,
but turn occasionally eastward or westward, according to the situation
of certain fertile, inhabited, and cultivated spots, interspersed in
various parts of Sahara, like islands in the ocean, called Oas,[196]
or Oases; these serve as watering-places to the men, as well as to
feed, refresh, and replenish the hardy and patient camel: at each
of these Oases, the akkabaah sojourns about seven days, and then
proceeds on its journey, until it reaches another spot of the same
description. In the intermediate journies, the hot and impetuous winds
denominated Shume,[197] convert the Desert into a moveable sea, aptly
denominated by the Arabs (El Bahar billa maa), a sea without water,
more dangerous than the perfidious waves of the ocean. In the midst
of the latter the pilot always entertains some hopes, but in these
parching Deserts, the traveller never expects safety, but from the
cessation of the wind. If it continues, the most numerous caravans
are often buried under mountains of sand, which, like the tempestuous
billows in a storm, advance in an undulating manner, stopping and
accumulating wherever they find the smallest substance to impede
their progress, insomuch that in a few hours a mountain of sand is
thus accumulated, where it was before an uninterrupted plain, then the
wind shifting, scatters in the air these newly constructed mountains,
forming amidst this chaos dreadful gulphs and yawning abysses;
the traveller continually deceived by the aspect of the place, can
discover his situation only by the position of the stars; moreover
the desiccating nature of these winds is such, that they exhale the
water carried in skins by the camels for the use of the passengers and
drivers; on these occasions, the Arabs and people of Soudan affirm,
that 500 dollars have been given for a draught of water, and that
10 or 20 are commonly given when a partial exhalation has occurred.
In 1805, a caravan proceeding from Timbuctoo to Tafilelt,
was disappointed, in not finding water at one of the usual
watering-places, when, horrible to relate, the whole of the persons
belonging to it, 2000 in number, besides 1800 camels, perished of
thirst! Accidents of this sort account for the vast quantities of
human and other bones which are found mingled together in various
parts of the Desert.
It is generally affirmed, that the guides, to whom the charge of
conducting these numerous and accumulated caravans is committed,
in their routes to and from Marocco, direct their course by the
scent of the sandy earth; but I could never discover any reasonable
foundation for such an opinion, and apprehend it to be an artful
invention of their own, to impose on the credulity of this
superstitious and ignorant people, and thus to enhance the value
of their knowledge. These guides possess some idea of astrology,
and the situation of certain stars, and being enabled by the two
pointers to ascertain the polar star, they can by that unvarying
guide steer their course with considerable precision, preferring
often travelling in the night, rather than under the suffocating
heat of the effulgent meridian sun.
When the akkabaah reaches Akka, the first station on this side of the
Desert, and situated on the confines thereof, in Lower Suse, which
is a part of Bled-el-jerrêde, the camels and guides are discharged,
and others there hired to proceed to Fas, Marocco, Terodant, Tafilelt,
and other places.
The akkabaahs perform the traverse of the Desert, including their
sojournments at El-wahaht, or Oases, in about 130 days. Proceeding
from the city of Fas, they go at the rate of 3½ miles an hour,
and travel seven hours a day; they reach Wedinoon, Tatta, or Akka in
eighteen days, where they remain a month, as the grand accumulated
akkabaah proceeds from the latter place.
In going from Akka to Tagassa[198] they employ sixteen days, here
sojourning fifteen days more to replenish their camels; they then
proceed to the Oasis and Well of Taudeny, which they reach in seven
days; here again they remain fifteen days; their next route is to
Arawan, another watering place, which they reach in seven days; here
they sojourn fifteen days; and then proceed and reach Timbuctoo the
sixth day, making a journey of fifty-four days actual travelling,
and of seventy-five days repose, being altogether, from Fas to
Timbuctoo, one hundred and twenty-nine days, or four lunar months
and nine days.[199]
There is another akkabaah which sets out from Wedinoon and Sok Assa,
and traversing the Desert between the black mountains of Cape Bojador
and Gualata, touches at Tagassa, El Garbie (both g’s guttural, being
the letter غ), or West Tagassa, and staying there to collect salt,
proceeds to Timbuctoo. The time occupied by this akkabaah is five
or six months, as it goes as far as Jibbel-el-biëd, or the White
Mountains, near Cape Blanco, through the desert of Mograffra and
Woled Abbusebah, to a place called Agadeen,[200] where it sojourns
twenty days.
The akkabaahs which cross the Desert may be compared to our fleets of
merchant vessels under convoy, the (stata) convoy of the Desert being
two or more Arabs, belonging to the tribe through whose territory the
caravan passes; thus, in passing the territory of Woled Abbusebah,
they are accompanied by two Sebayhées, or people of that country,
who on reaching the confines of the territory of Woled Delim, receive
a remuneration, and return, delivering them to the protection of two
chiefs of Woled Deleim; these again conducting them to the confines
of the territory of the Mograffra Arabs, to whose care they deliver
them, and so on, till they reach Timbuctoo: any assault made against
the akkabaah during this journey, is considered as an insult to the
whole clan to which the (stata) convoy belongs, and for which they
never fail to seek ample revenge.
Besides these grand accumulated caravans, there are others which cross
the Desert, on any emergency, without a stata or guard of soldiers:
but this is a perilous expedition, and they are too often plundered
near the northern confines of the Desert, by two notorious tribes,
called Dikna and Emjot.[201] These ferocious hordes are most cruel
and sanguinary, poor and miserable, ignorant of their situation, but
unsubdued and free; when they attack the akkabaahs they generally
succeed; sometimes they put all the persons to death, except those
whom they cannot pursue. In the year 1798, an akkabaah consisting
of two thousand camels loaded with Soudanic produce, together with
seven hundred slaves, was plundered and dispersed, and many were
killed. These desperate attacks are conducted in the following manner:
a whole clan picket their horses at the entrance of their tents, and
send out scouts to give notice when an akkabaah is likely to pass;
these being mounted on the Heirie, or Shrubba Er’reeh, quickly
communicate the intelligence, and the whole clan mount their horses,
taking with them a sufficient number of (niag) female camels, to
supply them with food (they living altogether on the milk of that
animal); they place themselves somewhere in ambush near an oasis, or
watering-place, from whence they issue on the arrival of the akkabaah,
which they plunder of every thing, leaving the unfortunate merchants,
if they spare their lives, entirely destitute.
Those who have philosophy enough to confine their wants solely to
what nature requires, would view the individual happiness of the
people who compose the caravans, with approbation. Their food, dress,
and accommodation, are simple and natural; proscribed from the use
of wine, and intoxicating liquors, by their religion, and exhorted
by its principles to temperance, they are commonly satisfied with a
few nourishing dates, and a draft of water; and they will travel for
weeks successively without any other food; at other times, a little
barley meal and cold water is the extent of their provision, when they
undertake a journey of a few weeks across the Desert; living in this
abstemious manner, they never complain, but solace themselves with a
hope of reaching their native country, singing occasionally during
the journey, whenever they approach any habitation, or whenever
the camels appear fatigued; these songs are usually sung in trio,
and in the chorus all the camel drivers, who have a musical voice,
join; it is worthy observation, how much these songs renovate the
camels, and the symphony and time they keep surpasses what any one
would imagine, who had not heard them. In traversing the Desert they
generally contrive to terminate the day’s journey at l’Asaw a
term which they appropriate to our four o’clock, P.M. so that
between that period and the setting sun, the tents are pitched,
prayers said, and the (Lashaw) supper got ready; after which they
sit round in a circle, and talk till sleep overcomes them, and next
morning, at break of day, they proceed again on their journey.
The Arabic language, as spoken by the camel-drivers, is peculiarly
sweet and soft; the guttural and harsh letters are softened, and
with all its energy and perspicuity, when pronounced by them, is as
soft, and more sonorous than the Italian; it approaches the ancient
Korannick language, and has suffered but little alteration these
twelve hundred years. The Arabs of Moraffra, and those of Woled
Abbusebah, frequently hold an extempore conversation in poetry, at
which the women are adepts, and never fail to shew attention to those
young Arabs who excel in this intellectual and refined amusement.[202]
The articles transported by the company of merchants trading from Fas
to Timbuctoo, are principally as follows: various kinds of German
linens, viz. plattilias, rouans, brettanias, muslins of different
qualities, particularly muls, Irish linens, cambricks, fine cloths
of particular colours, coral beads, amber beads, pearls, Bengal
raw silk, brass nails, coffee, fine Hyson teas, refined sugar, and
various manufactures of Fas and Tafilelt, viz. shawls and sashes of
silk and gold, hayks of silk, of cotton and silk mixed, of cotton
and of wool; also an immense quantity of (hayk filelly) Tafilelt
hayks, a particularly light and fine manufacture of that place,
and admirably adapted to the climate of Soudan; to these may be
added red woollen caps, the general covering of the head, turbans,
Italian silks, nutmegs, cloves, ginger, and pepper; Venetian beads,
cowries, and a considerable quantity of tobacco and salt, the produce
of Barbary and Bled-el-jerrêde.
The produce of Soudan, returned by the akkabaahs, for the above
articles, consists principally in gold dust, twisted gold rings
of Wangara,[203] gold rings made at Jinnie,[204] bars of gold,
elephants’ teeth, gum of Soudan, (guza Saharawie) grains of Sahara,
called by Europeans grains of paradise, odoriferous gums, called
el b’korr’h Soudan, much esteemed by the Arabs for fumigating,
to which they ascribe many virtues; a great number of slaves,
purchased at Timbuctoo, from the Wangareen, Houssonian, and other
slatees,[205] who bring them from those regions which border on
the Jibbel Kumra,[206] or Mountains of the Moon, a chain which,
with little or no intermission, runs through the continent of Africa
from west to east, viz. from Assentee in the west, to Abyssinia in
the east.
Ostrich feathers and ambergris are collected on the confines of the
Desert, and are added to the merchandize before mentioned. The gold
jewels of Jinnie[207] are denominated by the Arabs El Herrez, from
the supposed charm they contain; they are invariably of pure gold,
and some of them of exquisite workmanship, and of various forms,
but hollow in the middle for the purpose of containing the Herrez,
or amulet, which consists of passages from the Koran, arranged in
some geometrical figure, on paper, which being enclosed in the gold
jewel, is suspended from the neck, or tied round the arms, legs, or
elsewhere. These charms have various and particular powers attributed
to them, some insuring the wearer against the effects of an evil eye,
others from an evil mind; some are intended to secure a continuation
of prosperity and happiness, or to avert misfortune, whilst others
secure to the wearer health and strength. This superstition,
and predilection for charms, pervades the greater part of Africa:
thus, in the northern maritime states, in Suse, and other parts of
Bled-el-jerrêde, the fakeers, or saints, attach half a hundred Herrez
(without, however, the gold covering, for which they substitute
a leathern one) to different parts of their body, and even to the
horses: at Marocco I have seen eleven round one horse’s neck.[208]
The inhabitants of these countries imagine no disorder incident to
mankind can attack either man or beast without the aid of some (jin)
spirit, or departed soul, or (drubba del’ain) an evil eye.
The slaves brought by the akkabaahs are more or less valuable in
Barbary, according to their beauty and symmetry of person, and
also according to their age, and the country from whence they are
procured: thus a Wangareen slave is not worth so much as one from
Houssa; the former being a gross, stupid people, little superior
in understanding to the brute creation, whilst those of Houssa are
intelligent, industrious, acute, and possess a peculiarly open and
noble countenance, having prominent noses, and expressive black eyes:
those of Wangara, on the contrary, have large mouths, thick lips,
broad flat noses, and heavy eyes. A young girl of Houssa, of exquisite
beauty, was once sold at Marocco, whilst I was there, for four hundred
ducats,[209] whilst the average price of slaves is about one hundred,
so much depends on the fancy, or the imagination of the purchaser.
These slaves are treated very differently from the unhappy victims who
used to be transported from the coast of Guinea, and our settlements
on the Gambia, to the West India islands. After suffering those
privations, which all who traverse the African Desert must necessarily
and equally submit to, masters as well as servants and slaves, they
are conveyed to Fas and Marocco, and after being exhibited in the
sook, or public market place, they are sold to the highest bidder,
who carries them to his home, where, if found faithful, they are
considered as members of the family, and allowed an intercourse with
the (horraht) free-born women of the household. Being in the daily
habit of hearing the Arabic language spoken, they soon acquire a
partial knowledge of it, and the Mohammedan religion teaching the
unity of God, they readily reject paganism, and embrace Mohammedanism;
their Mooselmin masters then instil into their vacant minds, ready
to receive the first impression, the fundamental principles of the
Mooselmin doctrine; the more intelligent learn to read and write,
and afterwards acquire a partial knowledge of the Koran; and such
as can read and understand one chapter, from that time procure
their emancipation from slavery, and the master exults in having
converted an infidel, and in full faith, expects favour from heaven
for the action, and for having liberated a slave. When these people
do not turn their minds to reading, and learning the principles of
Mohammedanism, they generally obtain their freedom after eight or
ten years servitude; for the more conscientious Mooselmin consider
them as servants, and purchase them for about the same sum that
they would pay in wages to a servant during the above period,
at the expiration of which term, by giving them their liberty,
they, according to their religious opinions, acquire a blessing
from God, for having done an act, which a Mooselmin considers more
meritorious in the sight of Heaven, than the sacrifice of a goat,
or even of a camel. This liberation is entirely voluntary on the
part of the owner; and I have known some slaves so attached to their
masters from good treatment, that when they have been offered their
liberty, they have actually refused it, preferring to continue in
servitude. It should not, however, be supposed, that the Arabs and
Moors are always inclined thus to liberate these degraded people;
on the contrary, some of them, particularly the latter, are obdurate,
and make an infamous traffic of them, by purchasing, and afterwards
intermarrying them, for the purposes of propagation and of sale,
when they are placed in the public market-place, and there turned
about, and examined, in order to ascertain their value.
The eunuchs which the Emperor and princes keep to superintend their
respective Horems, are, for the most part, procured from the vicinage
of Senaar in Soudan; these creatures have shrill effeminate voices:
they are emasculated in a peculiar manner, and sometimes in such a
way, as not to be incapacitated from cohabiting with women;[210] they
are in general very fat and gross, and from the nature of the charge
committed to them, become very confidential servants: indeed their
fidelity is surpassed only by their unbounded insolence. I knew one
of these creatures, who was chief of the eunuchs superintending the
Horem of Muley Abd Salam,[211] at Agadeer, who was one hundred and
ten years old; he was then upright, and walked about without a stick.
Persons unaccustomed to, or unacquainted with, the mode of living in
Africa, may imagine the expense and trouble of conveying the slaves
across the Desert, would be more than the advantage derivable from
their sale; but it must be recollected that these people are very
abstemious, particularly whilst travelling; ten dollars expended
in rice in Wangara is sufficient for a year’s consumption for one
person; the wearing apparel is alike œconomical, a pair of drawers,
and sometimes a vest, forming all the clothing necessary in traversing
the Desert.
It is not ascertained when the communication between Barbary and
Soudan was first opened, yet it is certain, that the enterprising
expedition of Muley Arsheede to the latter country[212] tended
considerably to encrease and encourage the exchange of commodities,
and caused the establishment of the company of Fas merchants, at Fas,
as well as that of their factory at Timbuctoo, which has continued
to increase and flourish ever since.
The circulating medium at Timbuctoo is (tibber) gold dust, which is
exchanged for merchandize, thus a plattilia is worth 20 mizans[213]
of gold: a piece of Irish linen, of 25 yards, is worth 30 mizans:
and loaf sugar is worth 40 mizans of gold per quintal.
Having in some measure explained the nature of the trade with
Timbuctoo, we may now proceed to discuss the extent of its territory,
and although this does not appear to have been ascertained, yet it may
be said to extend northward to the confines of Sahara, or the Desert;
a tract of country about ninety miles in breadth; the western boundary
is one hundred and thirty miles west of the city, and the eastern
extends to the Bahar Soudan, or the Sea of Soudan, which is a lake
formed by the Nile El Abeede, whose opposite shore is not discernible;
this is the description given of it by the Soudanees, who have visited
it; on its opposite or eastern shore begins the territory of white
people hereafter mentioned, denominated by the Arabs (N’sarrath)
Christians, or followers of Jesus of Nazareth: south of the river is
another territory of immense extent, the boundary of which extends
to Lamlem, or Melli, which latter is reported to be inhabited by
one of the lost, or missing tribes of Israel.
The city of Timbuctoo is situated on a plain, surrounded by sandy
eminences, about twelve miles north of the Nile El Abeede,[214]
or Nile of the Blacks, and three (erhellat) days journey from the
confines of Sahara: the city is about twelve miles in circumference,
but without walls. A ditch or excavation, about four cubits in
depth, and the same in breadth, but without water, circumscribes the
city. The town of Kabra, situated on the banks of the river, is its
commercial depot, or port. By means of a water carriage east and
west of Kabra, great facility is given to the trade of Timbuctoo,
from whence the various articles of European, as well as Barbary
manufactures brought by the akkabaahs from the north of Africa, are
distributed to the different empires and states of Soudan, and the
south. This great mart is resorted to by all nations, whither they
bring the various products of their respective countries, to barter
for the European and Barbary manufactures.
The houses of Timbuctoo have, for the most part, no upper apartments:
they are spacious, and of a square form, with an opening in the
centre, surrounded by a gallery similar to the houses at Fas and
Marocco; they have no windows, as the doors, which are lofty and wide,
opening in the gallery before mentioned, admit sufficient light to
the rooms when thrown open. The walls of the houses are erected thus:
they put boards on each side of the wall, supported by stakes driven
in the ground, or attached to other stakes laid transversely across
the wall, the intermediate space is then filled with sand, mud, and
lime, and beat down with large wooden mallets till it becomes hard
and compact: the cases are left on for a day or two; they then take
them off, and move them higher up, until the wall be finished, which
is generally erected to the heighth of eight or nine cubits.[215]
Contiguous to the house door is a building consisting of two rooms,
called a Duaria, in which visitors are received and entertained, so
that they see nothing of the women, who are extremely handsome. The
men are so excessively jealous of their wives, that, when the latter
visit a relation, they are obliged to muffle themselves up in every
possible way to disguise their persons; their face also is covered
with their garment, through which they peep with one eye to discover
their way.
In various parts of the city are spacious (fondaque) caravanseras,
built on a plan similar to that of the houses, having a gallery
round the area, the access to which is by stairs: the rooms which
surround and open into the gallery are very numerous, and are hired by
merchants and strangers for themselves and their merchandize. These
are private property, and the rooms are let each for about twenty
okiat, or two dollars per month; the agent of the proprietor
of the fondaque usually resides in some apartment, in order to
accommodate the strangers with provisions and other necessaries,
having messengers, or porters, who perform the domestic offices of
the house until the strangers become settled, and have leisure to
provide themselves with domestics, or to purchase slaves from the
market to cook their victuals, clean their rooms, and attend their
persons, whilst they are employed in bartering and exchanging their
commodities till they have invested the whole in Soudanic produce,
which they endeavour to accomplish by autumn (September), in order
to be ready for the akkabaah, either to proceed to Marocco, Cairo,
Jidda,[216] or elsewhere.
The king, whose authority has been acknowledged at Timbuctoo ever
since the death of Muley Ismael, Emperor of Marocco, is the sovereign
of Bambarra; the name of this potentate in 1800 was Woolo; he is a
black, and a native of the country which he governs; his usual place
of residence is Jinnie, though he has three palaces in Timbuctoo,
which are said to contain an immense quantity of gold. Many of the
civil appointments at Timbuctoo, since the decease of Muley Ismael
before mentioned, and the consequent decline of the authority of the
Emperor of Marocco, have been filled by Moors of Maroquin origin;[217]
but the military appointments, since the above period, have been
entirely among negroes of Bambarra, appointed by the King Woolo;
the inhabitants are also for the most part Negroes, who possess much
of the Arab hospitality, and pride themselves in being attentive to
strangers. The various costumes exhibited in the market-places and
streets, indicate the variety and extent of the commercial intercourse
with the different nations of central Africa; the individuals being
each habited in the dress of his respective country, exhibit a variety
both pleasing and interesting to every stranger who goes there.
The toleration in a country like this is particularly deserving of
notice. The Diwan, or L’Alemma, never interfere with the tenets
of the various religions professed by the different people, who
resort to Timbuctoo for commercial or other purposes; every one is
allowed to worship the great Author of his being without restraint,
and according to the religion of his father, or in the way wherein
he may have been initiated.
The police of this extraordinary place is extolled, as surpassing
any thing of the kind on this side of the Desert; robberies and
house-breaking are scarcely known; the peaceable inhabitants of
the town each following their respective avocation, interfere
with nothing but what concerns them. The government of the city is
entrusted to a Diwan of twelve Alemma, or men learned in the Koran,
and an umpire, who retain their appointments, which they receive from
the king of Bambarra, three years. The power of the Alemma is great,
and their falling into the mass of citizens after the expiration of
the above period, obliges them to act uprightly, as their good or
bad administration of justice either acquits or condemns them after
the expiration of their temporary power. The civil jurisprudence is
directed by a Cadi, who decides all judicial proceedings according to
the spirit of the Koran; he has twelve talbs of the law, or attornies,
attending him, each of whom has a separate department of justice to
engage his daily attention.
Daggers and stillettos are generally worn: if any one disputes with
his comrade, and becomes irritated, the daggers are drawn, and one
stabs the other, without premeditation, whilst under the influence
of passion. Revenge, or retaliation for injuries, is so precise,
and so eagerly followed, as to become hereditary in a family. Thus
if a man be killed or stabbed, it devolves on the next of kin to
him to seek retaliation, and to obtain satisfaction, who accordingly
seeks every opportunity of destroying the man who killed his brother
or relation; when he dies the charge devolves on his next of kin. In
the mean time, if the officers of police discover that any sanguinary
assault has been committed, they pursue the aggressor, and oblige
him to attend the wounded man, at his own expense, till he recovers;
but if he dies, the aggressor is condemned, by law, to death, unless
the next of kin to the deceased chooses to grant him a pardon, in
consideration of some pecuniary compensation, regulated according
to the circumstances of the aggressor.
There is but one prison in this extensive city, where the prisoner
is not confined, but suffers the bastinado, or pays a fine, and
is liberated. Robberies attended with personal violence, stealing
cattle, or provisions, are capital crimes, and are thus punished
by decapitation:
The criminal sits down on the ground, and whilst a person engages his
attention, by pushing him on the back or shoulder, the executioner
seizes that opportunity of striking off his head with a sabre, at
which he is very adroit. Strangling is seldom practised. Bastinadoing,
when the crime is extremely aggravated, is sometimes practised till
the criminal expires under the chastisement.
A debtor may be arrested and sent to prison, but on proving his
insolvency, he is liberated, but still remains accountable to his
creditors; and, in the event of his becoming afterwards a man of
property, his creditors may claim and sue him to the extent of the
debt previously contracted.
The Diwan, when the King is in the town, sit in his presence round
the throne, and examine capital culprits. The king never decides
contrary to the opinion of the Diwan, or El Alemma.
Slaves may complain to the Alemma of illegal severity received
from their masters, of want of food or cloathing, either of which,
if substantiated, he is ordered to liberate him.
A native of Timbuctoo cannot be a slave; he must necessarily have
been born in another country, and these are generally captives taken
in battle. The children of slaves are inherited by the masters of
their parents. Slaves of different masters cannot marry without the
consent of the latter: the master of a negress endeavours to purchase
the negro to whom she is attached.
It is asserted that until lately no Jews were permitted to enter
the town, and various conjectures have been made as to the cause
of this interdiction. It is also reported that those Jews who do
now resort thither, are obliged to become Mohammedans, the forms
of which religion they probably relinquish on their return to their
native country; but whatever may be the ostensible, I am inclined to
think the true cause why the Jews are not admitted into Timbuctoo,
is the extreme jealousy of the individuals of the Moorish factory,
whose avarice induces them to exclude every person from sharing
their emoluments whenever a plausible pretext can be found.
The climate of Timbuctoo is much extolled as being salubrious and
extremely invigorating, insomuch that it is impossible for the sexes
to exist without intermarriage; accordingly it is said, there is no
man of the age of eighteen who has not his wives or concubines, all
which are allowed by the laws of the country, which are Mohammedan;
and it is even a disgrace for a man who has reached the age of puberty
to be unmarried. The natives, and those who have resided there any
considerable time, have an elegance and suavity of manners which is
not observed on this side of Sahara: they possess a great flow of
animal spirits, and are generally so much attached to the country,
that they invariably return, when insurmountable difficulties do
not prevent them.
With regard to the manufactures of different kinds of apparel at
Timbuctoo, and other places of the interior, they are made, for
the most part, by the women in their respective houses, whenever
they cannot procure European cloths and linens, or when there is
a great scarcity of Fas and Tafilelt manufactures of silk, cotton,
and woollen.
It has been said that there is an extensive library at Timbuctoo,
consisting of manuscripts in a character differing from the
Arabic; this, I am inclined to think, has originated in the fertile
imagination of some poet; or, perhaps, some Arab or Moor, willing to
indulge at the expense of European curiosity, has fabricated such a
story. In all my enquiries, during many years, I never heard of any
such library at Timbuctoo. The state library, which is composed for
the most part of manuscripts in the Arabic, contains a few Hebrew,
and perhaps Chaldaic books; amongst the Arabic, it is probable there
are many translations from Greek and Latin authors at present unknown
to Europeans.
The Nile El Abeede, or Nile of the Negroes, overflows in the same
manner as the Nile Massar, or Nile of Egypt,[218] when the sun
enters Cancer; this is the rainy season in the countries south of
the Great Desert, and in Jibbel Kumra, or the Mountains of the Moon,
from whence the waters descend which cause the river to overflow its
banks. At Kabra, near Timbuctoo, it becomes a very large stream. River
horses are found in the Nile El Abeede, as well as crocodiles,
and the country contiguous to its southern banks is covered with
forests of primeval growth, in which are many trees of great size
and beauty. These forests abound with elephants of an enormous size.
The river, according to the concurrent testimony of the Arabs and
the Moors, and all travellers who have been on the spot, flows from
west to east, and is about the width of the Thames at London; the
stream is so very rapid in the middle, as to oblige the boats which
navigate to Jinnie to keep close to the shore: and the boatmen,
instead of oars, push the boat on with long poles.[219]
The soil about Timbuctoo is generally fertile, and near the river
produces rice, millet, Indian corn, and other grain; wheat and
barley grow in the plains, and are cultivated principally by the
Arabs of the tribe of Brabeesh.[220] Coffee[221] grows wild here, as
does also indigo; the latter, however, is cultivated in some parts,
and produces a very fine blue dye, which they use in their various
cotton manufactures; a specimen of this colour may be seen in the
British Museum, in a piece of cloth of cotton and silk, which I had
the honour to present to that national depository of curiosities some
years since: it is of a checquered pattern, similar to a draft board,
the squares are alternate blue and white; these pieces of cotton are
manufactured at Jinnie and Timbuctoo, and used as covers to beds;
they are valuable from the strength and durability of the texture,
and are therefore sold at a high price in Barbary, according to the
quantity of silk that is in them, and the quality of the cotton;
those however which have no silk interwoven, but are simply cotton,
of blue and white patterns, are not so costly: the width varies
from two to twelve inches; the pieces are sewed together so closely
afterwards with silk or thread, that one can scarcely perceive the
seams, the whole appearing as one piece.
The husbandmen (whom they call fulah) are very expert in the œconomy
of bees; honey and wax are abundant, but neither is transported
across the Desert; first, because the articles abound in Barbary,
and secondly, because they are used by the natives of Timbuctoo,
the former as an article of food, and the latter for candles.[222]
The fish called shebbel, similar to our salmon in the formation of its
bones, and not unlike it in taste, abounds in the Neele El Abeede,
near Kabra: it is much esteemed by the natives; eels also abound
in the river. There are various other kinds of fish, the names of
which I do not recollect.
The mines of gold which lie south of the bed of the river belong
to the Sultan Woolo, who resides at Jinnie; he has three palaces,
or spacious houses at Timbuctoo, where his gold is deposited, of
which he is said to possess an enormous quantity. The persons who
are daily employed in working the mines are Bambareen negroes, who
are extremely rich in gold, for all pieces of ore which they take
from the mines not weighing twelve mizans, or about two ounces,
become a perquisite to themselves, as a remuneration for their
labour, and all pieces of a greater weight belong to the Sultan,
and are deposited in his before mentioned palaces.
It is asserted that the mines are so pure, that lumps of virgin
gold are constantly found of several ounces in weight; this being
admitted, it will not be surprising that the value of this precious
metal, here so abundant, should be inconsiderable, and that some
articles of small value with us in Europe, such as tobacco, salt,
and manufactured brass, should often sell at Timbuctoo for their
weight in gold. But here I would wish to be understood as speaking
with some latitude, as the precise value of the circulating medium of
Soudan is subject to great fluctuation, originating from a company of
enterprising speculators of great capital at Fas, who are extremely
jealous of the trade, and particularly cautious in communicating any
information respecting it. In my various enquiries on this subject, I
have constantly been guarded from receiving any information respecting
Soudan from men who have had commercial establishments there; but
have been rather induced to prefer the testimony of those, whom I have
frequently met from time to time in my various journies through West
and South Barbary, who were strangers to the motives of my enquiries,
considering them merely as the natural suggestions of curiosity; some
of these, however, I have by chance met with afterwards at Mogodor
and Agadeer, where my commercial establishments were, when finding
I was engaged in foreign commerce, they became very circumspect and
cautious, and apparently regretted having communicated intelligence
to me concerning their country.
I cannot attempt to give the exact geographical bearing and distance
of places from Timbuctoo, in a country like this, as the Africans
are ignorant of geography as well as other sciences; but from the
several accounts which I have at different times received during
my residence in Africa, and which were from respectable people who
have resided years at Timbuctoo, and had travelled across Africa,
it appears to be situated fifteen hundred miles SSE of Fas, eleven
hundred and fifty miles about SSE of Akka, Tatta, and Wedinoon;
thirteen hundred miles in nearly the same direction from Marocco;
one thousand three hundred and twenty miles from Tafilelt: it is also
about two hundred and thirty miles eastward of the city of Jinnie;
one thousand miles west of Houssa.
The country north of Timbuctoo is inhabited by the powerful tribe of
Arabs called Brabeesh, whose original stock emigrated in the eighth
century, and took possession of a tract of country bordering on
Egypt westward; there are several duars of that kabyle, inhabitants
of the western confines of Egypt, who long since emigrated from the
original stock, on account of family disputes; they are a turbulent,
restless, and warlike tribe, but extremely afraid of fire arms,
having no means of defence against such, being armed only with
(zeraga) the lance, and occasionally with knives, or daggers: hence
the inhabitants of the towns, when they go far into the country,
carry guns and pistols with them.
There is another nation situated many (erhellat) journies south-east
of Timbuctoo, who worship the sun, and abstain from animal food,
living on milk and vegetables. One of these people was at Mogodor
about ten years since, and continued his national custom, nor could
all the flattering invitations to Mohammedanism induce him to renounce
his doctrine.
In some part of the country between Timbuctoo and Casina, or Cashna,
which is called (Beb Houssa) the Entrance of Houssa, is discovered
a race of people, whom the Arabs compare to the English, alleging,
that they speak a distinct language of their own, different from all
the others known in Africa, and that it resembles the whistling of
birds, to which they compare the English language. The people ride
on saddles, similar to those of England, and wear rowelled spurs,
the only nation in Africa that does, without shoes. Their faces are
covered to the eyes, by their turbans folding round their necks and
faces. Their weapons are swords, bows, arrows, and lances. When they
engage in battle, each man selects an antagonist, they therefore never
risk an engagement unless they think themselves superior in number,
or at least equal to their enemy, resembling, in this respect, the
Chinese. They are represented as a grossly superstitious people;
their bodies as well as their horses being covered with (herrez)
charms, or amulets.
About fifteen (erhellat) journies east of Timbuctoo, is an immense
lake, called (El Bahar Soudan) the Sea of Soudan; on which are decked
vessels, and the borders of it are inhabited by the above people;
they brought, in or about the year 1793, some of their decked vessels
to Timbuctoo, and transported thence goods to Jinnie; but as they
were ascertained to be neither Arabs, Moors, Negroes, Shelluhs, nor
Berebbers, the boatmen of Timbuctoo complained to the Cadi, that if
these people were permitted to go to and from Jinnie, they would lose
their business, as their boats performed the passage at less expense,
and in half the time. On this suggestion the Cadi ordered them out
of the country: some report that they were all poisoned, and their
boats broken to pieces, and that since then none of their vessels
have been used westward of this lake: the boats are described to
be about forty cubits[223] in length, and eight in breadth, having
the planks fastened together by shreet, or bass rope, and carry
one hundred and fifty or two hundred men, and forty tons of goods;
they have no sails, but when the wind is favourable, two oars are set
up perpendicularly on each side of the boat, to which is fastened a
large hayk, or spreading garment, which serves as a substitute for
a sail: these boats are rowed by sixteen oars: at night they come to
anchor by throwing a large stone overboard tied to a rope or cable,
as before mentioned, which serves as an anchor.
With regard to the water communication between Timbuctoo and Cairo,
there is no doubt but such a communication exists; it does not,
however, facilitate the purposes of transport, the expense of land
carriage by means of camels being more moderate than that by water,
besides the advantages to a traveller of a continued succession
of rich and fertile country, make the journey rather an excursion
of pleasure when compared to the toils of a desert, where heat and
thirst are so much dreaded by the weary traveller. In the interior
of Africa; and among the rich traders who engage in this traffic
across the Continent, _there is but one opinion with regard to the
Nile of Egypt and the Nile of Timbuctoo, and that opinion is, that
they are one and the same river, or rather that the latter is the
western branch of the former_. It may be further observed, that the
source of the Nile of Timbuctoo is at the foot of the western branch
of the chain of mountains called Jibbel Kumra, or Mountains of the
Moon, where it forms (merja) a swamp; and on the western side of
the same mountain is another lake or swamp, which is the source of
the Senegal river; hence the established African opinion, that the
Senegal and Nile have the same source, although these two merjas
are separated by the mountain: the copious springs, which throw
the water up with great force, are very numerous, and are found on
both sides of the mountain, that is on the eastern as well as on the
western side. The western stream takes a northerly direction, as does
also the eastern stream, which is increased in its course by various
others issuing from the Jibbel Kumri, more to the east of the source,
before described; but where the two streams unite (i.e. the Nile
of Egypt, and that of Soudan) is not accurately ascertained.[224]
It is proper, also, to observe, that the Africans express their
astonishment whenever the Europeans dispute the connection of these
two rivers, justly observing, that it is a folly to dispute a thing
which the experience of a succession of ages has proved to be true;
indeed it is remarkable how many empty hypotheses and idle reasonings
the course of this river, or the Egyptian Nile, has given rise to;
but there are people so bigotted to the opinions which are founded
on these empty hypotheses as to disregard the relation of travellers
who have actually been upon the spot, and who have, by the evidence
of their eyes, confuted all that has been written on the subject.
In confirmation of the opinion that there is a navigable communication
between Timbuctoo in Soudan, and Cairo in Egypt, the following
circumstance was related to me by a very intelligent man, who has,
at this time, an establishment in the former city:
In the year 1780, a party of seventeen Jinnie Negroes proceeded in
a canoe, to Timbuctoo, on a commercial speculation; they understood
the Arabic language, and could read the Koran: they bartered their
merchandize several times during the passage, and reached Cairo,
after a voyage of fourteen months, during which they lived upon rice
and other produce, which they procured at the different towns they
visited; they reported that there are twelve hundred cities and towns,
with mosques or towers in them, between Timbuctoo and Cairo, built
on or near the banks of (the Nile el Abeede, and the Nile Massar)
the Nile of Soudan, and the Nile of Egypt.
During this voyage they remained in many towns several days,
when trade, curiosity, or inclination induced them to sojourn:
in three places they found the Nile so shallow, by reason of the
numerous channels which are cut from the mainstream, for the purpose
of irrigating the lands of the adjacent country, that they could
not proceed in the boat, which they transported over land, till
they found the water flowing again in sufficient body to float it;
they also met with three considerable cataracts, the principal of
which was at the entrance from the west of Wangara; here also they
transported the boat by land until passing the fall of water, they
floated it again in an immense (merja) lake, whose opposite shore
was not visible; at night they threw a large stone overboard as a
substitute for an anchor, and watch was regularly kept to guard
against the attacks of crocodiles, elephants, and river horses,
which abound in various parts. When they arrived at Cairo they joined
the great accumulated caravan of the west, called Akkabah el Garbie,
and proceeded therewith through Barca, Tripoli, Tunis, Algiers, and
Angad, to Fas and Marocco, where they joined the Akka caravan, and
again reached Jinnie, after an absence of three years and two months.
Finally it appears from the corroborating testimony of all who have
performed the journey from Timbuctoo to Egypt, that the country
contiguous to the Nile El Abeede is rich and productive, that the
banks of the river are adorned with an incredible number of cities
and towns of incalculable population, that the Mohammedan religion
prevails; that the Arabic is the general language spoken throughout
these countries. The cities and towns are crowded with mosques,
having square towers attached to them: fondaques or caravanseras
for the accommodation of travellers are spacious and convenient,
so that we may conclude that the banks of the Nile El Abeede from
Timbuctoo to the confines of Egypt may be as populous as the banks
of any river in China.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 195: See the author’s letter to Sir Joseph Banks in
Proceedings of the Association for Promoting the Discovery of the
Interior Parts of Africa, in 2 vols. 8vo. vol. ii. page 364.]
[Footnote 196: الواح _Elwah_; this is the Arabic name; modern
Europeans have, by adding an s made it wahs, the Romans not having the
letter w have made it oas, and by the propensity to use this letter,
it has been again added to make it plural; hence the word oasis,
or wahsis. The plural in Arabic is _El Wahaht_.]
[Footnote 197: اّلشُومْ Asshume, or Shume; this wind has
been already mentioned; during its continuance, it is impossible to
live in the upper rooms of the houses, the inhabitants, therefore,
retire to subterraneous apartments, cellars, or warehouses on the
ground floor, eating nothing but fruits, as the water melon, and the
prickly pear, for animal food at this period is loathsome whilst
hot, and has scarcely time to cool before it becomes tainted. The
walls of the bed chambers being of stone, buckets of water are
thrown against them to render the rooms habitable towards night;
and so great is their heat, that in doing this, the effect is
similar to what is produced by casting water on hot iron. I have
felt the Shume 20 leagues out at sea; when in lat. north 30°,
longitude west 11° 30′, I astonished the captain of the ship,
by directing his attention to particles of sand which fell on the
deck; and although the mariners actually collected about a wine
glass full of this sand by sweeping the deck, yet he would scarcely
credit the cause to which I ascribed it, until we reached Agadeer,
when he met with many daily proofs of the extraordinary effects of
this tremendous wind. I never found any extreme inconvenience from
the Shume north of the province of Suse, although at Mogodor it is
sometimes felt, but seldom or ever continues more than three days.
The Akkabaahs are sometimes obliged suddenly to strike their tents,
and proceed on their journey, from the Shume arising, and drifting the
loose sand along the plains, which attaches to every fixed object in
its course, and soon buries it. Savary, who often sacrifices truth
to the pomp of language, has committed a gross error in describing
the Desert; he says—“Woe to him, whom a whirlwind from the
south surprises in the midst of the solitude, if he have not a
tent to shelter him; he is assailed by clouds of burning dust which
fills his eyes, ears, and mouth, and deprives him of the faculty of
sight and breathing.” (See Letters on Egypt.) Now, so far from
tents being any permanent protection during these winds, they are
rather an annoyance, for it is impossible to keep them upright;
and if they are not immediately struck, they, and all within them,
are soon buried in the overwhelming torrent of sand.]
[Footnote 198: A person pronouncing this word in Africa, unless he
knows the power and force of the letter غ and how to pronounce _that
difficult guttural_, would be unable to make himself intelligible.]
[Footnote 199: Some akkabaahs perform the journey in less, I myself
having, when I had a commercial establishment at Agadeer, received
a caravan of gum Soudan from Timbuctoo in eighty-two days.]
[Footnote 200: Arguin in the maps.]
[Footnote 201: There is an emigration from this tribe of one hundred
families, now residing in several encampments near the city of
Marocco.]
[Footnote 202: During my visit to the Viceroy of Suse, Mohammed ben
Delemy, he introduced me to four Arabs of the Woled Abbusebah tribe,
who conversed in our presence on various subjects, in this poetic
manner, and it is astonishing what accuracy in measure and expression
is acquired by a long habit in this mode of entertainment. The old
Emperor, Seedy Mohammed, encouraged this poetic conversation, and
when any one excelled, he never failed to reward him munificently; for
although no scholar himself, he encouraged every one who contributed
to diffuse a knowledge of the Arabic language.]
[Footnote 203: I presented one of these rings, some years since,
to Mr. James Willis, ci-devant consul for Seni-Gambia; they are of
pure gold, twisted, and open at the extremity, for the purpose of
inserting them in the middle cartilage of the nose; and such is the
fashion, that it is esteemed more genteel to appear in rags with
a nose-ring, than in fine garments without one. I saw a party of
these Wangareens whilst I was on a visit to the Viceroy of Suse,
the Khalif Mohammed ben Delemy, who, when eating, threw the ring
upwards, to prevent it from coming in contact with their mouth.]
[Footnote 204: The Arabs acknowledge the superiority of Europeans in
mechanical arts, and allow that they excel the Africans in general,
with the exception, however, of the working in gold, in which the
natives of Jinnie do most eminently excel. I have seen trinkets,
particularly a figure of an eagle, of such workmanship as would have
been difficult to imitate either in England or France.]
[Footnote 205: Slatee is a slave merchant, or seller of men.]
[Footnote 206: Sometimes called Jibbel Kumrie, or the White or Lunar
coloured Mountains (see map the 2d); so a white horse is called by
the Arabs a moon-coloured horse (aoud kumri).]
[Footnote 207: It may not be irrelevant here to observe, that the air
of Jinnie is inimical to all but those of Soudanic origin, that is
negroes, on which account the Arabs, Moors, and others, denominated El
Horreh, carefully avoid entering the town, but transact any business
in the adjacent plains. The inhabitants, who are universally black,
are adepts in the occult sciences, and hither men of all descriptions,
who are infected with the worm of superstition, resort to gratify
the phantasms of their heated imagination, by purchasing the charms,
or incantations mentioned in the text.]
[Footnote 208: In purchasing horses I have cut off these incantations,
for which they have looked upon me as a desperate infidel.]
[Footnote 209: The mitkal, called by Europeans ducat, is worth eight
tenths of a Mexico dollar, or 3s. 8d. sterling.]
[Footnote 210: An eunuch of the horem of Muley Abd El Melk, whilst
at Agadeer, had the audacity to cohabit with one of the concubines
of the horem; the prince hearing of it, was so exasperated, that he
ordered a punishment to be inflicted upon him which soon terminated
his existence.]
[Footnote 211: Elder brother to the reigning sultan Soliman.]
[Footnote 212: Muley Arsheede, about the year 1670, proceeding
to Suse, laid siege to the sanctuary of Seedy Aly ben Aidar, near
Ilirgh; Seedy Aly, making his escape in disguise, fled to Soudan,
whither he was followed by Muley Arsheede, who, on his arrival on
the confines of Soudan, between Timbuctoo and Jinnie, was met by
a numerous host of blacks, of the king of the negroes; the prince
demanded Aly ben Aidar, but the negro prince, who was king of
Bambara, replied, that as he had claimed his protection, it would
be an infringement on the laws of hospitality to deliver him up,
adding, moreover, that he desired to know if the views of Arsheede
were hostile or not; to which the latter replied, after endeavouring
in vain to procure the person of Aly, that he was not come hostilely,
but was about to return, which he forthwith did; and the Bambareen
king having received from Aly two beautiful renegade virgins, was so
much flattered with the present, that he promised him any thing that
he should ask; whereupon he requested permission to go to Timbuctoo,
and to settle there with his numerous followers, which being granted,
he proceeded thither, and having established a Moorish garrison,
resided there several months, and afterwards returned to Barbary,
bringing with him many thousand Bambareen blacks; but on his reaching
Suse, he heard of the death of Muley El Arsheede, and having then
no further occasion for the blacks, he dismissed them; they went to
different parts of the country, and served the inhabitants in order
to procure subsistence; but the politic Muley Ismael, who had then
recently been proclaimed, ordered them to be collected together,
and incorporated in his black army, which was, however, before this,
very numerous, consisting, for the most part, of blacks brought away
from Soudan by Muley Arsheede the year preceding. Muley Ismael also
seized this opportunity of establishing his power at Timbuctoo; and
he met with no opposition in putting that place under contribution:
having sent fresh troops to occupy the Moorish garrison there, the
inhabitants were glad to make a contribution in exchange for the
protection and power which it afforded them, for previous to this,
they had been subject to continual depredations from the Arabs of
the adjacent country, to whom they had been compelled to pay tribute
as a security for their caravans, which were constantly passing the
country of these Arabs, who are of the race of Brabeeshee.
In the year 1727, when Muley Ismael died, it is reported that he
possessed an immense quantity of gold, of the purity of which, some of
his gold coins to be seen at this day, at Timbuctoo, bear testimony;
it is also said that the massive bolts in his different palaces
were of pure gold, as well as the utensils of his kitchen. After
his decease, however, the tribute was not regularly transmitted,
and his successors having no means of exacting it, it was entirely
discontinued: the Moorish garrison too intermarrying with the natives,
and dispersing themselves about the vicinage, has given to the latter
that tincture of Mooselmin manners which they are known to possess,
their descendants forming at this period a considerable portion of
the population of Timbuctoo.]
[Footnote 213: Twenty-four nuaih’t make 1 mizan; 5⁹⁄₁₀ mizan is equal
to 1 Spanish ounce, or the weight of a gold dollar, or doubloon.
The value of a mizan of gold is about eleven shillings sterling.]
[Footnote 214: The river Niger.]
[Footnote 215: One cubit and three quarters make one yard.]
[Footnote 216: Timbuctoo, but more particularly Jinnie, carries on a
considerable trade to Darbeyta, a port in the Red Sea, in the country
of Senaar, from whence they are transported to Jidda, and other parts
of (Yemin) Arabia Felix; among other articles is an immense quantity
of the gold trinkets of the manufacture of Jinnie already mentioned.]
[Footnote 217: Seed Abd Allah ben Amgar, the person who was Cadi
in 1800, was a principal trader at Mogodor, and son-in-law to the
Governor of that place, who being unsuccessful in his commercial
affairs, crossed the Desert, and soon obtained the appointment
of Cadi; he was a shrewd clever man, about thirty-five years old:
he is lately dead.]
[Footnote 218: Some writers have thought that the word Nile is
applied to all great rivers; what foundation they may have for this
supposition I am not learned enough to ascertain; but I know that
among the African Arabs, there are but two streams, which are called
Nile, and these have been made two separate rivers by Europeans only,
for in Africa there is decidedly but one opinion respecting them,
viz. that they are streams which communicate with each other, the
Nile El Abeede being the greater, and running through a larger tract
of territory than the Nile Cham, or Nile Massar, hence it is called
Nile el Kabeer, the greater Nile; the Nile of Egypt, however, is not
called the smaller Nile, but always the Nile Cham, or Nile Massar,
i.e. the Nile of Egypt, Cham being also an Arabic name for Egypt
when united to Syria and other countries.]
[Footnote 219: These boats are thirty days in reaching Jinnie;
during the passage the Nile takes a considerable turn to the south,
and returns again, forming a semi-circle; this curve is denominated
(El Kos Nile) the curve, or bow of the Nile. A large stone is a
substitute in these boats for an anchor, which would not hold in
the muddy bottom of the river; these are attached to a cable, and
thrown overboard at night, during which, watch is kept to prevent the
Negroes from approaching, who often swim to, and plunder the boats,
when not kept off by fire-arms.]
[Footnote 220: Some tribute is paid by the town of Timbuctoo to
this tribe, by way of securing their forbearance from plundering
the caravans from the north, which pass through their territory.]
[Footnote 221: I sent a quantity of this coffee to Mr. James Willis,
who had formerly the appointment of Consul for Senegambia; but this
gentleman informed me, on my arrival in England, that it was of a
very inferior quality.]
[Footnote 222: Persons acquainted with the respective value of African
produce, will perhaps ask how it happens that the akkabaahs transport
Gum Soudan from Timbuctoo to Barbary, which is not so valuable as
wax? The reason is evident, the wax is useful, and being consumed by
the natives, always commands a price; the gum is not of any use or
value to the Africans, but is collected and transported to Barbary
only to be sold to the European factors on the coast.]
[Footnote 223: Seven cubits make four yards.]
[Footnote 224: An African manuscript, written by Seedi Mohammed
ben Amran Soudanie, who, however, I do not quote as an author of
the first respectability, has the following passage, which I have
translated for the curious reader. “Respecting the Neele it has
been ascertained by various travellers, that it hath (besides many
inferior) two principal sources, one of which latter is the larger
source, and rises at the foot of the Jibbel Kumri, (i.e. a chain
of mountains which extend from east to west across Africa, passing
through lat. N. 10°) north of Genowa (Guinea), where it forms a
lake or swamp, out of which proceeds another river, which, passing
N.W. through Soudan discharges itself near Asenagha (Senegal), in the
El Bahar Kabeer (id est, the Western or Atlantic ocean); the larger
source proceeds northward, and entering the country of Bambara,
takes an eastern direction, and passing through the city of Segoo,
Jinnée, and Kabra near Timbuctoo, it continues its course through
Wangara; between the two latter cities, it receives from the south
two auxiliary streams of considerable magnitude, which increase it
so that the whole flat country of Wangara is one immense morass,
formed by the overflowing of the waters: one of these auxiliary
streams falls into the Neele 10 erhellat (i.e. 10 days journey)
east of Timbuctoo; the other at Wangara, and the whole body of
accumulated water hence, aptly denominated the Neele El Kabeer
(the Great Nile), proceeds eastward till it communicates with the
Neele Masser (the Nile of Egypt); the distance between the source
of the greater Nile and its junction with the Nile of Egypt, is 99
erhellat of continual travelling.”]
APPENDIX.
* * * * *
The following Specimens of _African_ Arabic are given for the
animadversion of the Arabian Scholar, as their translations are to
shew the reader the style of writing generally used by the Arabs of
Africa. The Asiatic punctuation is adopted to facilitate the perusal
by the Students of Asiatic Arabic; the difference, in this respect,
may be seen by referring to pp. 212 and 213, ante.
_Letter from Muley Ismael, Emperor of Marocco, to Captain or Colonel
Kirke, at Tangier, Ambassador from King Charles the Second, dated
7th Du El Kadah, in the 1093d year of the Hejra [corresponding to
the 27th October, 1682, Christian æra.]_
الحمد الله تعالي و حده * و صلي الله علي من لانبيُه بعده * من عبيد الله
المتو كل علي الله امير المومنين المجاسر في سبيل ربِ العالمين الشريف *
(L. S.)
ايد الله اوامره وظفّر جنوده و عساكوه امين * الي قيتان طنجه كرك السلام
علي من اتّبع اِلهدي هذا وقد اتصل بعلمي مقامنا كتابك و فهمنا ما احتوي
عليه خطابك فاما مسألة المهادنه في البحر فاعلم انها لم تصرف منالكم الي
الان وما جعلنا معكم الا المهادنة في طنجة فقد حيُت جيت انت المي عارنا
الشريفة و تكلمنا معك علي ذلك لاربع سنين ولو بقيت انت براسك في طنجه
ما دخل عليك فيها مسلم ابدا الا تاجراً واما المهادنة في البحر فماصرفت
مناولا تكلمنا فيها واذا اردتمونا فيها نحن كتبنا السيدكم با لانكطرة و
قلنا له اذا اراد مهادنة البحر وغيره واراد ان ياخذ السلام الصحيح منا
فليبعت لنا رجلين عاقلين من اعيان ديوان الانكطرة الذي يثق بهم سلام جنمن
النصرانيه هنلك وبعد مايقدمان الي علي مقامنا ويجلسان امامناكل مايسمعانه
منا من عقدة او عهد او غير ذلك يكون عليه المعول وقد جعلنا لكم الامان في
البحر اربعة اشهر من يوم دخول الكتاب الذي ارسلنا اليكم
TRANSLATION.
Praise be to God the most high alone! and God’s blessing be upon
those who are for his prophet.
From [the servant of God, who putteth his trust in God, the Commander
of the Faithful, who is courageous in the way of the omniscient God]
the Sherriff
(L. Ismael son of a Sherrif, S.)
God illumine and preserve him.
God assist his commanders, and give victory to his forces and
armies! Amen. To the Captain of Tangier, Kirk; peace be to those who
follow the right way! this by way of preface. Your letter came to the
lofty place of our residence, and we understand what your discourse
contained. As for the asking a cessation of arms by sea, know that
it was not treated of between us till this present time. Neither
did we make truce with you concerning any thing but Tangier alone:
when you came to our illustrious house we treated with you about
that matter for four years; and if you had sojourned there yourself,
no Mooselmin would ever have gone into that town hostilely against
you, but merely as a (peaceable) merchant.
As to a cessation of arms by sea, it was not negociated by us, neither
did we discourse about it; but when you desired it of us, we wrote
to your master, in England, saying, “If you desire a cessation
of arms by sea, and are willing to receive a firm peace from us,
send us two understanding men of the chief of the Diwan of England,
by whom the peace of all the Christians here may be confirmed; and
when they shall arrive at the lofty place of our residence, and sit
before us, whatsoever they shall hear from us, by way of agreement,
shall be acceded to.” And we have given you security at sea for
four months, viz. from the time
بطنجه الي يوم ورود الجواب منه وقدوم الرجلين المذكورين علي الوصف المدكور
واما هولا الذي دكرت في كتابك وانهم قبضوا في البحر فلم يكن عندي بهم علم
ولاخبر لان كلامكم في ذلك كان مع علي بن عبد الله وقد انصفكم من المسلمين
الذين اخذوا من اشتكيتم لنا بسببه وردّاكم النصارة وسجن البحريين علي
ذلك ولم عرفت انا انّهم ظلموكم و وقعت بيني و بينكم مهادنة في البحر كما
وقعت لاربع سنين في البر بواسطتك وسبب محبك اكنت انا علقتم و محوت اثارهم
و انتقمت منهم اشد الانتقام وقد دكر لنا خدعينا محمد بن حدُ اعطار الذي
جامن عندكم ان السباع ببلاد كم قليل وانكم تحبون ر ويته فحين جاء خدعيكم
الينا وجد عندنا فرخين صغيرين من السباع فوجهناها لكم معه واعلم اناجاء
لنا من عند سيدكم ثلاثة من الخيل المعدّين بحّر الكرثن مع خدامنا الذين
كانوا هنالك و الكرثين يحتاج الي اربعة من الخيل يجرونه فلابد ان تبعث لنا
حصاناءَ اخر من دلك الوصف ومن دلك ابحعر و من ذلك القدّ والقدر يجرّوه
باربعة واغرموا لنا به ولابدّ ولابدّ والسّلام و به لبّتٌ * في السابع من
ذي القعده الحرام عام ثلاثة وتسعين و الف
we sent to you our letter to Tangier, till the day that there comes
an answer from him, and until the arrival of the two ambassadors
aforementioned, after the aforesaid manner. As for those men, who in
thy letter thou didst say were taken at sea, I neither know nor have
heard any thing of them; your discourse about that matter having
been with Ali ben Abd Allah, and he administered justice [to you]
upon the Mooselmin who had taken these men prisoners, for the sake
of him for whom you made your complaint to us, and he returned
the Christians to you, and imprisoned the sailors for capturing
them. Now if there shall happen to be a peace between me and you
at sea, as there is for four years by land, through your mediation,
and by reason of your coming to us, I will hang them, and blot out
their footsteps, and be revenged on them with the most severe revenge.
Our Servant, Mohammed ben Hadu Aater, who came from your presence,
told us that lions are scarce in your country, and that they are in
high estimation with you. When your servant came to us, he found we
had two small young lions; wherefore by him we send them to you. And
know, that we have received, by our servants, from your master, three
coach-horses; now a coach requires four horses to draw it, wherefore
you must needs send us another good one of the same kind and size,
that they may draw the coach with four horses. Oblige us in this,
by all means. Farewell! We depend upon it. Written on the seventh of
the sacred month Du El Kadah, in the year ninety-three and a thousand.
_Letter from Seedi Muley Soliman, Emperor of Marocco, &c. &c. to
His Majesty George the Third._
بسم الَّله الَّرحمن الَّرحيم
وهَو حسبنا و نعم الوكيل * ولا حول ولاقوة اِلا بالله العلي العظيم
من عبد الله اِمير المومنين المتوكل علي بن العالمين سُليمان بن محمد بن
عبد الله بن اِسماعيل الشريف الحسَني العلوي اعلا الله امرا سلطان فاس و
مراكش و سوس و درعه و تافيلالت و أتوات و جميع الا قاليم المغريبه
(L. سليمن ابن محمد S.)
بن عبد الله
غفدْ الله له زولاد
الي محب جانبنا العلي بالله السلطان جرج الثالث سلطان الاِ قاليم الملاقيه
من اكرن ابرطانيه وارلنظه نزوك انبرك ابرنسبي من سلطنة دي روم و المقدس و
غيره
اما بعد فانا نسال عنكم كثيرا و نريدكم تكونون علي خير دايما ازياد تكم في
محبتنا اكثر ماكنت لابابكم مع اسلا فنا
TRANSLATION.
In the name of God! the all merciful and commiserating God! on whom
is our account, and we acknowledge his support; for there is neither
beginning nor power, but that which proceeds from God, the High,
Eternal God.
From the Servant of God, the Commander of the Faithful [in
Mohammed],[225] upheld and supported by the grace of God.
Soliman, the son of Mohammed, the son of Abd Allah, the son of
Isma’ael, Prince of [the House or Dynasty of] Hassan, who was ever
upheld by the power of God, Sultan of Fas and Marocksh, and Suse,
and Draha, and Tafilelt, and Tuwat, together with all the territories
of the West.
Soliman,
(L. son of Mohammed, [who was the] S.)
son of Abd Allah,
God illumine
and support
him.
To our dearly beloved and cherished, exalted by the power of God,
the Sultan[226] George the Third, Sultan of the territories of
the United Kingdom of Great Britain, Ireland, Duke of Mecklenburg
Strelitz, Prince, descended from the dynasty of the Sultans of Rome
and Palestine, &c.
This premised, we inform you that we continually make friendly and
diligent enquiry about you, desiring heartily that you may be at
all times surrounded by wealth and prosperity. We wish you to
الكرام رظوان الله عليهم والدي اوجبه اليكم هوا علامكم ان خديمكم دَكْثر
بُفَ ورد علي حظرتنا العالية بالله واعجبنا علاجه و معرفته فاردناكم ان
تعطوه امركم يبقي مقيما بقربنا بجبل طراف و مهمي وجهنا عليه ياتي الحضرتنا
الشريفه سريعا من غير امهال ولاتماطل و تعطوته جميع مايحتاجه الينا من
الادوية الجيدة المنتخبة اليكم و تزيدونه اكراما و تعظيما لاتيانه الينا و
اغننابه بامرنا وانا نحبكم ان تكو نوا دايما بخير و عافية و السلام في 4
جُمادي الاولي عام 1221.
encrease in friendship with us, that our alliance may be more strongly
cemented than heretofore, even stronger than it was in the days of
our ancestors, whom God guard and protect.
Now, therefore, we make known to you, that your physician and servant,
Doctor Buffé, has been in our royal presence (which is) exalted by
the bounty of God, and we have been well pleased with his medical
knowledge and diligent attention, and moreover with the relief he
hath given to us.
We have, therefore, to entreat of you, to give him your royal order
to return to Gibraltar, in our neighbourhood, well provided with
all good and necessary medicines; that he, residing at Gibraltar,
may be ready to attend quickly our royal presence whenever we may
be in need of his (medical) assistance. We trust you will return
him without procrastination to our throne, seeing that he has been
of essential service to us.
We recommend you to exalt Doctor Buffé in your favour and esteem
on our account, and we will always be your allies and friends. May
you ever be well and in prosperity! Peace be with you! the 4th day
of the month Jumad El Lule, in the year (of the Hejra) 1221.[227]
* * * * *
_Laws of Bankrupts._
The following letter is given, to explain to the commercial reader the
method adopted in order to enable an European merchant to quit the
kingdom of Marocco; and it should be observed, that the Mohammedan
law of bankrupts is such, that an insolvent man continues liable to
his creditors all his life, till his debts be discharged: but he
can claim, by law, his liberation from prison, on making oath and
bringing proof of his insolvency; but then, if he succeed afterwards,
and become possessed of property, he is compelled to pay the debts
he before contracted; so that an European should be careful how he
contracts debts with the Moors, lest the misfortunes incident to
commerce oblige him to remain for ever in the country.
* * * * *
الحمد لله و حده
سُليمان
L. ابن محمد بن S.
عبد الله بن اِسمعايل
&c.
خديمنا الحاج احمد ابن براهيم و السيد محمد بن الكاهيه سلام عليكم ورحمت
الله و بعد فنامركما ان تتركان النصْراني جَاكصن يركب لبلاده اذا لصرتكن
عليه لا حد من الناس تباعة شرعية كما كتبنا لكَم بدلك في الكتب الاخر وَان
كان لا يسْالة احد حقًا فلَا تتعرضا ولهُ وَالله يعينكم وَ السلام في صفر
الخير عام 1220
TRANSLATION.
Praise be to God alone!
Suliman
ben Mohammed
(L. ben Abd Allah S.)
ben Ismaael,
&c.
Our servants, El Hage Mohammed O Bryhim, and Seid Mohammed ben El
Kahia, peace, and the mercy of God be with you! This premised, I
command you to suffer the Christian merchant Jackson, to embark for
his own country, _if it appears to you that no one pursues him in law_
(for debt), as I wrote to you on this subject in my last letter;
_if no one claims of him any right by law, allow him to go, and do
not impede him_.[228] God protect you, and peace be with you. 3 day
of Saffer, the good year 1220. [A.C. 1805.]
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 225: The words between brackets are not in the original,
but implied.]
[Footnote 226: This, perhaps, is the only letter extant wherein a
Mooselmin prince gives the title of Sultan to a Christian king.]
[Footnote 227: The above date corresponds with the 5th July, 1806,
Christian æra.]
[Footnote 228: This repetition of the principal subject of a letter is
a mode of impressing on the mind more forcibly the subject intended,
and is commonly practised by the best writers in Africa.]
GLOSSARY.
_Abd_, A slave.
_Abeede Seedi Bukaree_, The Bukarree blacks of the Emperor’s army.
_Adul_, An accountant.
_Agem_, A European, or Barbarian.
_Akad El Beah_, Declaration of sale.
_Akkabaah_, Several caravans accumulated together for the purpose
of crossing the Desert of Africa.
_Alem_, A white flag suspended at the top of a mosque at noon,
to announce prayers.
_Bedowin_, Wandering Arabs of the Desert.
_Bu’dra_, Old butter melted, and put into earthen jars, and
preserved in the matamores ten, twenty, or thirty years: supposed
to contain extraordinary medicinal properties.
_Bussorah_, A city in Arabia; derived from the Arabic words Bu and
Surah, i.e. father of walls.
_Cuscasoe_, Granulated wheat, or barley-meal, mixed with water,
and rolled into small particles about the size of partridge-shot,
and prepared for food, by steam, with meat, fowls, and vegetables.
_Deeb_, A brown fox.
_Delel_, An itinerant auctioneer.
_Diwan_, Generally called Divan; but the letter v is not in the
Arabic language: the word is derived from Diwee, to converse.
_Douar_, An encampment of Arabs tents.
_El Wah_, An oasis.
_Erhella_, A day’s journey of about eight hours continual
travelling.
_Ezzulia_, Small glazed tiles of various colours, with which the
Moors ornament their rooms, &c.
_Fondaque_, A caravansera, or inn.
_Hashisha_, A species of hemp, the seeds and leaves of which
intoxicate, and are said to produce an agreeable vacuity of mind.
_Harushe_, A stony district.
_Hassoua_, Barley-gruel.
_Hayk_, A piece of woollen, or cotton cloth, or silk, made light,
and of the natural colour of the article of which it is manufactured,
being about two yards wide and five long, thrown over the dress,
and resembling the Roman Toga.
_Hejra_, The Mohammedan æra, which began 16th July, A.D. 622. The
year is lunar, consisting of 357 days; so that in the calculation of
chronological events, 103½ lunar years are equal to 100 solar years.
_Horreh_, A free born, or noble born person.
_Jimmel_, A camel.
_Kasseria_, An enclosed building consisting of many shops.
_Keyma_, An Arab’s tent.
_Kief_, The seed of the Hashisha, an intoxicating herb.
_Liali_, The period of the forty longest nights.
_Luksebba_, A citadel.
_Matamore_, Subterraneous caverns or excavations, wherein is
deposited corn, which by being closed so as to preclude the air,
will keep the corn sound and good thirty years or more.
_Millah_, A department of a town inhabited by Jews.
_Murristan_, A mad-house.
_Mutassib_, An officer who regulates the weights and price of
meat, &c.
_M’shoar_, Place of audience.
_Naga_, A female camel.
_Niag_, Female camels.
_Semaimi_, The period of the forty longest days.
_Sfinge_, Spongy bread.
_Shebbel_, A fish similar to salmon.
_Sheik_, An Arabian chief.
_Smin_, Butter melted and preserved with salt.
_Soudanee_, A native of Nigritia.
_Stata_, A convoy through the Desert, or other unsafe country, being a
Sheick, or his friend, who accompanies and protects a caravan through
his territory, and delivers it to the protection of a Sheick of the
next adjoining district or clan, for which he generally receives a
pecuniary remuneration.
_Talb_, A man versed in the Mohammedan laws.
_Thaleb_, The red fox.
_Tibber_, Gold dust.
_Ukill_, An attorney, or agent.
_Zawiat_, Sanctuaries.
_Zemeeta_, Meal mixed with cold water; a food used by the inhabitants
of Mount Atlas.
_Zibda_, Fresh butter.
_Zite_, Oil.
_Zitune_, Olives.
* * * * *
ERRATA.
Page 20, line 1, _for_ River Suse, _read_ Province of Suse.
80, note _for_ Appendix, p. 1808, _read_ Appendix, page 108.
107, line 6, _for_ plate 2nd, _read_ plate 8th, page 103.
196, — 19, _for_ Eastern part of Chinese Tartary, _read_
Eastern part of Bengal.
— 20, _for_ to the Cape of Good Hope, _read_ to
Zanguebar and Mosambique.
283, — 14, _for_ Latter, _read_ Letter.
298, — 29, _for_ three quarters of a cubit, _read_ one cubit
and three quarters.
299, — 4, _for_ Skiat, _read_ Okiat.
* * * * *
London: Printed by W. Bulmer and Co.
Cleveland row, St. James’s.
Transcriber's note:
Instances of long s-shaped kāf ڪ have been transcribed as kāf ك.
The changes listed in the ERRATA have been done.
pg 1 (footnote 7) Marruccos to: Marruecos
pg 11 sarcely ever to: scarcely
pg 16 the mose select to: most
pg 18 pefectly understand to: perfectly
pg 21 near the imperial place to: palace
pg 21 (footnote 34) Sultaun Soliman to: Sultan
pg 23 to gives a softness to: give
pg 31 No reference symbol can be found throughout this page or
the adjacent ones for footnote 40, in any of the editions that
include this passage. It has been assumed to refer to Tetuan and
a reference has been placed at the end of one of the paragraphs
that allude to this town.
pg 38 were aparments for to: apartments
pg 42 It was beseiged to: besieged
pg 64 affected with opthalmia to: ophthalmia
pg 80-81 (footnote 78) ar irresistible to: are
pg 83 or the teticle to: testicle
pg 92 he ad retired to: he had retired
pg 108 thi precaution to: this precaution
pg 152 scarcely ssuceptible to: susceptible
pg 185 this was intened to: intended
pg 209 that it i the most to: is
pg 212 Two variants of "lam-alif" were originally shown in this
table: "[lam-alif var. 1] [lam-alif var. 2]" under the "Oriental
Order" column and "[lam-alif var. 2], or [lam-alif var. 1]" under
the "Occidental Order" column. These have been changed into لا
pg 213 Mokhalla امْـَكْحلَ to: امُكْحلَ
pg 215 Eggs - Baid البَيصْ to: البَيضْ
pg 224 Shaban ﻌبان to: شعبان
pg 230 in the gronnd to: ground
pg 234-235 (footnote 183) custom is observad to: observed
pg 265 we do dot understand to: we do not
pg 275 The reference to a footnote in this page, seemingly to
footnote 192 in the First edition, has been left in (The footnote
and its reference are in pg 274 in this edition).
pg 299 (footnote 216) the manufcture of to: manufacture
Other spelling inconsistencies have been left unchanged.