Presents from Officials--Mode of treating Camels--Prices--Cowrie
Money--Shereef Interpreter--Visits--Harem--Houses--Grand
Vizier--Picturesque Dances--Tuaricks at Zinder--Kohlans and
Fullans--Province of Zinder--Account of its Rebellions--Trees--Details
on the Slave-trade--Prices--Mode of obtaining Slaves--Abject
Respect of the Sultan--Visits--Interview with the Sarkee--The
Presence--Curious Mode of administering Justice--Barbarous
Punishments--Hyaenas--Gurasu--Fighis--Place of Execution--Tree of
Death--Hyaena Dens--Dancing.
_Jan. 17th._--The Sultan this morning sent me an ox. I made him my
personal friend by giving him the powder and shot, in spite of the
servant of Haj Beshir from Kuka. The Shereef is excessively generous;
whether at his own cost or that of Kuka I do not know. I suppose the
latter, as he had orders from head-quarters to supply us with
everything. He sends rice, honey, fowls, eggs, milk, tomatas, and all
things in abundance. I repeat, for the third time, that the world is
turned upside down, so far as the supply of provisions and hospitality
is concerned. It is true that the Tuaricks are desperately poor, and
their generosity must always be very limited.
Our maharees of the salt-caravan went very well, and ate little on the
road, so that much time was saved in this way. The Tuarick camels are
far better travellers than the Arab, which sometimes are allowed to eat
all day long. The females and the young ones are the most troublesome. I
was much amused to see one of the Kailouee camel-drivers overcome the
obstinacy of a young camel. The fellow actually bit the loose skin which
hung over the muzzle of the rebel, and in this manner dragged it to the
string, and there tied it to the rest. All the male camels are gelded,
whilst many breeding maharees carry no weights, but follow their
burdened kind with their foals.
To-day, for the first time, I received cowrie money, viz. four cases,
made of matting, each containing 30,000. This was the price of four of
my camels. The Gharian brute I sold to one of the servants for 8000. It
is quite a labour to count this money, but I perceive that some persons
are exceedingly expert at it, and count 5000 in a few minutes. There
would appear to be always some mistakes made; one case was found to have
ninety-eight short. This certainly is not much out of 30,000, and when a
dozen people were counting. The small and large shells are all alike,
and of the same value. But I shall be able to say more of this money
afterwards. Thirty thousand of these shells are many pounds in weight,
and not very conveniently carried about.
I visited some of the principal personages this afternoon, with the
interpreter of the Sultan. This interpreter is a Shereef, and has been a
sailor, in which capacity he has seen Malta, and many European
countries. He is now married to a daughter of the Sultan of Zinder, and
is established here in the confidence of his father-in-law. It appears,
then, that even common Moorish sailors make their way in these black
countries.
The first person we visited was one of the viziers, called Mayaha, a
native of Damagram, a place one day east, from whence the greater part
of the population of Zinder is drawn. This personage was sufficiently
polite. He gave me permission to see the interior of his house, and his
harem. The harem was full of fine, handsome Haussa slaves, attending on
his four wives; they were all polished, and apparently clean, lying
about on the floors of the huts, and in the court-yards, in the most
strenuous idleness--one cleaning, polishing, and decorating another. One
was bolder than the rest, and beckoned me to come to her.
This house of this vizier contained many huts of bee-hive shape; one or
two were built of sun-dried earth, but all were small. Few carpets, or
even mats, were seen: these people of Zinder are most dearly fond of
squatting on the naked dust.
Afterwards I visited the Grand Vizier, or Mustapha Gadalina (a title).
This personage, a man of great age, was polite, but did not permit me to
enter the interior of his house. We then went to see the
Commander-in-chief--a funny fellow. He was very civil to us, and to all,
joking with his soldiers, amidst whom he was squatting. These Zinder
troops have no arms in their undress, and only wear a loose tobe, with
bare heads. The General told us he would visit us in the morning.
After a climb to the summit of one of the granite rocks of Zinder to
have a view of the town, I went to see and hear the drummers hammering
on their kangas. There were three of them, surrounded by a group of
Zinder maidens. One fellow had two long drums, very narrow, on which he
laboured with all his might. The maidens approached the musicians by
twos, dancing or stepping forward, and retreating with great apparent
modesty. Whilst I was looking at a couple, one of them ran up to me, and
struck me lightly with her hand. For this attention I was obliged to
give her a present of gour-nuts, which are equally current with the
cowries on such occasions. The drum is the national music of the people
of Zinder, and they hammer away at it from morning to night. They say
that in the palace it never ceases all day, beginning at dawn. Perhaps
it may be esteemed useful in supplying the place of silly conversation.
Very few Tuaricks are to be seen in the streets of this city. They
rarely show themselves, except on market-days, when they come from their
houses in the suburbs. Little cordiality exists between them and the
Binder people. They owe one another, like all neighbouring people, many
grudges. I jocularly told the commander-in-chief to kill all the
Tuaricks. He naively replied, "I would, but when I attack them they all
run away!" I am informed by the Moors here the Tuaricks have a wholesome
dread of the Sheikh, and are on bad terms with the Fullans. They are,
however, for the most part, friendly with the ancient Kohlans, the
people of Maradee and Gouber. This accounts for the fact that En-Noor
always spoke in the most amiable way of these remaining kingdoms of
Soudan paganism. The town of Zinder is inhabited chiefly by the blacks
of the Bornouese province of Damagram, who, though speaking the same
language, are not considered Bornouese. In fact, properly speaking, it
is situated in that province. The Zinder folks are easily distinguished
from the natives of Kuka, and those more eastern provinces, by a lighter
complexion and the smaller breadth of their nostrils.
Zinder has always enjoyed much liberty as a province, though it has
fallen successively under the influence of Bornou and Haussa princes.
Anciently it was ruled by the former; then it lapsed to the Haussa
princes and the Fullans, and finally it was again recovered by Bornou.
The present prince, Ibrahim, has been sultan twenty-five years. Under
his rule a rebellion took place against the Sheikh, who removed him,
made him prisoner, and promoted his brother to the governorship of the
province. But this new prince also rebelled; upon which the Sheikh came
with a large force a year ago, and restored the former governor,
placing, however, several persons here as a check on his authority. I
have already mentioned the influence of the Shereef of Morocco. But no
people in the world detest central government so much as the Africans,
and these rebellions occur yearly and monthly.
The facts which have been mentioned to me connected with the last
rebellion of Zinder, and its reduction by the Sheikh of Bornou, are
interesting, as illustrative of the present condition of these
out-of-the-way countries. The re-conquest proved to be no easy matter,
and required three months' siege, and sixty thousand men, commanded by
the Sheikh's best officers and the sultans of the neighbouring
provinces. When the revolted people had notice of the approach of this
force, they threw up a wall of earth round the city in the brief space
of three days only. Even Africans can be energetic when compelled by
necessity. The siege lasted three months, and many people were killed on
either side.
Before hostilities commenced the Sheikh sent for the brother of the
deposed prince, whom he had placed in power at Zinder; but the answer
was refusal. "If you want money," said the rebel chieftain, "here it is;
if you want slaves, here they are;--but I will not come to Kuka."
Ibrahim, the former and present sultan, had meanwhile gone to the
capital, and covered himself with dust in the presence of the Sheikh,
and obtained his pardon and the promise of his restoration to power. His
brother knew this well, and, of course, would not go to the capital. It
is surprising, however, that the rebellion could hold out so long
against so large a force; the people of Zinder must be framed for war.
The Tuaricks during the struggle stood by and looked on. The displaced
brother is now at Kuka, having there obtained the pardon of the Sheikh.
He fled to the Tuaricks after the capture of the town.
There are several pretty shady trees scattered through the town of
Zinder, planted mostly in the gardens of the grandees. The names of
three of these are, in Bornouese, rimi, jaja, and ilbug.
I have obtained some information on the slave-trade, which I here give
in its crude shape. Slaves are classed as follows:--
MALES.
1st. Garzab: those who have a beard.
2d. Morhag: those with beard beginning.
3d. Sabaai: those without beard.
4th. Sadasi: grown children.
5th. Hhamasi, or children.
FEMALES.
Ajouza, old women, not classified.
1st. Shamalia: those with the breasts hanging down.
2d. Dabukia: those with the breasts plump.
3d. Farkhah: those with little breasts.
4th. Sadasia: girls, smaller.
5th. Hhamasiah, or children.
The best of the slaves now go to Niffee, to be there shipped for
America; they are mostly males, of the class 2d, 3d, 4th, and are
minutely examined before departure. From all reports, there is an
immense traffic of slaves that way exchanged against American goods,
which are driving out of the markets all the merchandise of the north.
_Prices:_--I. MALES.
1st. From 10,000 to 15,000 wadas.
2d. 30,000 and under.
3d. 35,000 "
4th. 30,000 "
5th. 20,000 "
II. FEMALES.
1st. 10,000 and under. (Ajouza.)
2d. 80,000 "
3d. 100,000 "
4th. 40,000 "
5th. 30,000 "
6th. 20,000 "
The above are the prices of Kanou; there is sometimes a difference of
5,000 or 10,000 wadas. A remark suggested by this list of prices is,
that the value of human merchandise is determined by its present
adaptation for consumption. No allowance is made for capability of
development, intellectual or physical. Slave-drivers and slave-holders
believe as little in a future here as hereafter.
I give another account of the prices of slaves at the principal markets
in this part of Africa, and at Smyrna and Constantinople. A good male
slave is sold, at
Kanou, for 10 or 12 dollars.
Zinder, the price varies little.
Mourzuk, for 40 dollars.
Tripoli, from 60 to 65 dollars.
Smyrna, 90 to 100 dollars.
Constantinople, 90 to 100 dollars.
A good female slave is sold, at
Kanou, for 32 dollars.
Zinder, a little more, or the same.
Mourzuk, 85 dollars.
Tripoli, 100 dollars.
Smyrna, 130 dollars.
Constantinople, 130 dollars.
This is merely to show the difference of prices at these various places
of slave traffic, and so enable the reader to form some notion of the
profits of the commerce.
I am very sorry to hear of the iniquitous manner in which slaves are
captured for the supply of the north at this present time. It appears
that, now all these populations are Muslims, it is difficult to get up
the war-cry of _Kafers!_--"Infidels!" What is then done? The sultan of a
province foments a quarrel with a town or village belonging to himself,
and then goes out and carries off all the people into slavery. Thus acts
the present Sultan of Zinder, and so did his brother during his year of
administration. To appease the Sheikh of Bornou they send him a portion
of the spoil. Indeed, the Sheikh countenances the system, so detrimental
to his interests as a sovereign, and so immoral in its character. The
brother of the present sultan was accustomed to go out every month, and
bring in razzias of slaves, particularly to Dura, a country which
belongs half to the Sheikhs of the Fullans. The real Kerdi people are
now very distant, and you must go many days' journey if you will catch
genuine Kafer slaves.
On Friday, Yusuf paid his respects to the Sultan at noon, being the
Sunday of the Muslims, when visits are made by true believers to the
princes. He found his highness surrounded by his court, in a cloud of
dust, which the people raised by throwing it in handfuls upon their
heads, and thus doing homage to their prince. Yusuf and some other Moors
obstinately abstained from such a grovelling mode of "rendering to
Caesar the things which are Caesar's," and contented themselves with
saluting his highness in the Moorish fashion. Yusuf observed, "Our
religion does not teach this servility." The natives salute their Sultan
by the cry of "God give you victory!" (i.e. over your enemies.) In
Soudanee this phrase is "_Allah shabaka nasara_;" and in Bornouese,
"_Kabunam sherga!_"
_18th._--I sent letters for Government and my wife _via_ Kuka, as
caravans are expected to leave Bornou for Moursuk about this time. My
rooms were full of visitors to-day. First came the commander-in-chief,
Shroma. I showed him all my treasures, portable peepshow, kaleidoscope,
&c. &c. He was marvellously pleased. I treated him also with sugar, but
coffee he positively refused as too bitter. He brought with him some
twenty of his troops and a chosen aide-de-camp. He is just the man for a
negro commander, full of cunning and address, very active if necessary,
and on familiar terms with his men, pleasing them by low fun and
buffoonery. Afterwards came the sons of the Sultan, all of whom I
treated with sugar and coffee: that is, as many as would venture to
taste of it. Then followed a host of Fezzan merchants, with the son of
the Kadi of Kuka--a very nice, pleasant young fellow, who writes pretty
good Arabic. He is to make out for me the route from Zinder to Kuka.
I afterwards went to the Sultan himself, to show him my treasures, viz.
peepshows and kaleidoscope. These barbarians are nothing but great
wilful children. I also took the compass. We entered the interior of the
building, where we found a number of officers, courtiers and slaves,
squatted together on the sand, chatting most familiarly on all subjects.
The building is all made of mud, mixed with large grains of granite.
They say all the buildings of Bornou are built in the same manner, and
very few of stone, on account of the rain; for the stone, not being well
cemented together, falls during the great rains of the tropics.
After we had been kept waiting about half an hour his highness made his
appearance, the courtiers and slaves throwing dust on their heads,
prostrating themselves on the ground before him, crying, "God give you
victory over your enemies!" Whilst the Sultan took his seat upon the
raised mud-bench, the slaves held up two wrappers or barracans, to
shield his highness from public view whilst he took his seat. All the
floor of the apartment was covered with a dense mass of people, and
amongst the number several Tuaricks, including the Sheikh Lousou, and
Haj Abdoua, another distinguished Tuarick. Lousou is a tall thin man, of
light complexion, with European features--a perfect Targhee. His manners
were very mild, and indeed all this tribe are gentle enough here in a
foreign country. The Sheikh shook me cordially by the hands. I then
commenced business as showman to the prince and this mass of people. At
first his highness was timid, and would not look through the glasses of
the peepshows, but when the people began he followed, and acquired the
knack of looking through in a very short time. My compass and watch and
keys were then all examined, and produced great amusement. What pleased
him much was the screw by which the compass was stopped. I was
dreadfully frightened lest the watch should be broken as well as the
compass, and indeed the former has received some damage: such machines
should not be handled by these negro grandees.
Whilst this examination was going on, his highness, as if he had little
time to lose, continued to administer justice. Several cases were
settled whilst the worthy Sultan was looking through the peepshow and
kaleidoscope. Among others, a man came forward in great agitation, and
cried, "O Sultan! my wife will not live with me, and has run away to her
father. I will give you three bullocks if you will fetch her back and
make her live with me!" The Sultan smiled, and observed only, "Hem, your
wife won't live with you! Well, what can I do?" Another man came forward
and cried, "O Sultan! I am a thief, but you must pardon me. I stole this
mat because I was a poor man" (holding up the mat). "I restore the mat."
His highness observed, "Leave it; I will see what can be done." A
collection of stolen articles was restored also by another person. Then
came a man more bold, and brought a present from a neighbouring village,
consisting of two large bowls of ghaseb and a bundle of wood. The man
made a great clamour, holding up the present. His highness looked at
him, and said, "Good, good; put them down."
I am told his highness is much feared by all the people of the
provinces. He has the character of being impartial. But the way in which
he carries out capital punishment is truly terrible, and beyond
conception barbarous. He neither hangs nor beheads. This mode of
punishment is too mild for him. No; he actually cuts open the chest, and
rips out the heart! or else hangs up people by the heels, and so
inflicts upon them a lingering death. I am astonished that the Sheikh of
Bornou permits such barbarity, but imagine that the Sheikh is still
afraid of his vassal, and shrinks from endeavouring to deprive him of
this awful power. Here, then, we have a specimen of the negro character,
with all its contradictions; soft and effeminate in its ordinary moods;
cheerful, and pleasant, and simple, to appearance; but capable of
acting, as it were without transition, the most terrible deeds of
atrocity. Say what you will of the barbarism of the Tuaricks, such a
mode of inflicting capital punishment is unknown amongst them. I took
leave of his highness, promising to come again another day and bring
other things.
This evening we were disturbed by the cries of the hyaena; a large one
had come down upon the calves belonging to a drove of bullocks, and
carried off one as big as itself. The brute seizes its prey by the
throat, and so prevents the animal from giving intelligence to its
pursuers. The place of execution is near my house, and when the Sultan
executes any criminal the body is left unburied. At such times, troops
of hyaenas, old and young, come down in the night, from the rocks and
open country, and devour the body in a few minutes. The jackal does not
visit this place, but is found in the open country. There are also many
lions on the road between this and Kuka.
A very simple mode of salutation is prevalent here in Zinder, said to be
the custom of Wadai--that of merely clapping the palms of the hand
together; the hand being held forward flat, not edge-ways.
Gurasu is an interesting Tuarick territory, three days' journey
north-east from Zinder, and two days from Minyo. This country consists
of a number of small villages, scattered upon the rocks, or mountains.
The inhabitants are especially those banditti who, from time to time,
plunder the caravans on the route from Bornou to Mourzuk. Gurasu is
seven days from Kanem, and Kanem is three days from the Bornou route.
Kanem is mostly a desert country, and has now only a few inhabitants.
Gurasu and Damerghou are the only Tuarick countries adjoining the
provinces of the Sheikh of Bornou, and Gurasu is the last country east
in this part of Africa. There is but very slight communication between
it and Zinder; and little is known of the people, except that they are
Tuaricks.
_19th._--I again entertained visitors, who are still numerous, of all
classes; and also paid a visit to the Shereef, and took with me the
kaleidoscope, as he expressed a wish to see its revolving glowing
beauties.
Zinder is full of half-crazy fighis, who can just write the Arabic
alphabet. They go about the streets begging piteously, with a calabash
inkstand and reed-pen in their hands. I have been pestered with two or
three every day since I came here. They also wander through the country
parts of Damerghou. Bornou is the nursery of these silly pedagogues, in
whom learning and madness are most cordially united; but, as I have
already mentioned, it sends out a few instructed ones to redeem the
reputation of these ignoramuses.
In the afternoon I went to see the place of execution, and found it
covered with human bones, the leavings of the hyaenas, whose dens are
close by. Proceeding a little further I came to the Tree of Death! a
lonely tree springing out of the rocks, some forty or fifty feet in
height, and of the species called here _kanisa_. My guide would not
approach it very near, for he assured me that if any person went under
its boughs, there must instantly come an order from the Sultan to put
him to death, or hang him heels upwards upon its branches. "Don't you
see the place is swept clean underneath its boughs? This is done every
day, and by the executioner alone: no other person dare go there, for if
he do he must die!" I certainly began to feel sick myself at the recital
of various horrors perpetrated at this place by the executioner, and
don't know whether, if any one had offered me some great reward, I would
have ventured to place my feet upon this accursed spot of mother earth.
Never in my life did I feel so sick at heart--so revolted at man's
crimes and cruelties. The tree itself was a true picture of death--a
tree of dark, impenetrable foliage, with a great head, or upper part
larger than the lower one, and this head crowned with fifty filthy
vultures, the ministers of the executioner, which eat the bodies of the
criminals! The number of executions here performed is very great--some
two or three hundred in a year. Since we have been here a man has been
butchered in the night, scarcely a hundred yards from my house; so that
I am in a pleasant neighbourhood, what with the executions and what with
the hyaenas. The people pretend that for a small offence the Sultan
inflicts capital punishments: for example, merely speaking bad language.
Turning from these disagreeable scenes, we went to see the dens of the
hyaenas, which are beneath the rocks, extending far under ground. Here
we saw bones and dung enough. The scavengers of Zinder are, therefore,
the vultures and hyaenas: the former wing the air and dart on their prey
by day, and the latter prowl the streets by night.
In the evening we refreshed our fancies by witnessing the kanga, or
drums beating to the dances of the maidens of Zinder. It is always the
same thing, two or three fellows thumping upon their drums, dancing
round them occasionally themselves, and the maidens approaching these
drummers with timid steps. To-night they had a sort of hopping-dance, on
one leg, keeping time to the beating of the drums. These coy maidens
soon approached, or rather ran at me, and touched me with the hand; this
done, they claim the right of a present. It is considered a favour to be
so distinguished.