expanse of country, from which several mountain groups started up,
entirely detached one from the other and without any connecting chain,
and I sketched three of them, which are here represented. Of the names
of the first two, my companions were not quite sure; but they all agreed
in calling the last Kilba-Gáya. In front of us a considerable mountain
mass called Fingting developed itself, and behind it another with the
summits Bá and Yaurogúdde. Keeping along the plain, sometimes over fine
pasture-grounds, at other times over cultivated fields, and crossing
several little streams, we at length came to a brook or rivulet of a
somewhat larger size, which is said to issue from mount Gúri, towards
the south-east, and receiving another brook coming from mount Dáwa, runs
westward.[105]
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
Having here considered whether we should go on or take up our quarters
in Múbi, which was close by, we decided upon the latter, and entered the
place. But we had to wait a long while in front of the governor’s house,
and were at length conducted into quarters so insufficient that we
preferred encamping outside the town, and pitched our tent near a tree,
which promised to afford us a shady place during the hot hours of the
day. But we had scarcely made ourselves comfortable when the governor’s
servants came and requested me most urgently to come into the town,
promising us good lodgings; I therefore gave way, and told them that I
would go to my promised quarters towards night. As long as the weather
was dry, the open air was much more agreeable; and I turned our open
encampment to account by taking accurate angles of all the summits
around; but a storm in my small and weak tent was a very uncomfortable
thing, and I gladly accepted the offer of good quarters for the night.
In the course of the afternoon almost the whole population of the town
came out to see me and my camels, and the governor himself came on
horseback, inviting me into his own house, when I showed him my
chronometer, compass, and telescope, which created immense excitement,
but still greater was the astonishment of those particularly who knew
how to read, at the very small print in my prayer-book. The amiable side
of the character of the Fúlbe is their intelligence and vivacity, but
they have a great natural disposition to malice, and are not by any
means so good-natured as the real Blacks; for they really are—certainly
more in their character than in their colour—a distinct race between the
Arab and Berber on the one side and the Negro stock on the other,
although I would not suppose that the ancients had taken their prototype
of Leucaethiopes from them. However striking may be the linguistic
indications of a connection of this tribe with the Kaffers of South
Africa, there can be no doubt that historically they have proceeded from
the west towards the east. But of this more on another occasion.
I staid out till the sun went down, and before leaving my open dwelling
sketched the long range of mountains to the east, together with the
Fingting.
[Illustration]
Between mount Meshíla and mount Kírya a road leads to the seats of the
Komá.
The whole plain affords excellent pasture, and the town itself is a
straggling place of great extent. That part of the governor’s house
which he assigned to me consisted of a courtyard with a very spacious
and cool hut, having two doors or openings, and the ground-floor was
strewn with pebbles instead of sand, which seems to be the custom here
throughout the rainy season. My host spent a great part of the evening
in our company. I made him a present of ten sheets of paper, which, as a
learned man in a retired spot who had never before seen so much writing
material together, caused him a great deal of delight, though he seemed
to be of a sullen temper. He informed me that the Fúlbe settled here
belonged to the tribe of the Híllega.
[Sidenote: Thursday, June 12th.]
Although the weather was very gloomy, we set out in the morning through
the rich grassy plain, which only round the settlements was laid out in
cultivated fields; we crossed and re-crossed the river of the day
before, which keeps meandering through the plain. When we reached the
village Bagma, which was cheerfully enlivened by a numerous herd of
cattle, I was struck with the size and shape of the huts, which
testified to the difference of the climate which we had entered, not
less than to the mode of living of the inhabitants. Some of these huts
were from forty to sixty feet long, about fifteen broad, and from ten to
twelve high, narrowing above to a ridge, and thatched all over, no
distinction being made between roof and wall; others had a very peculiar
shape, consisting of three semicircles.
The reason for making the huts so spacious is the necessity of
sheltering the cattle, particularly young cattle, against the inclemency
of the weather. Some of them were nothing better than stables, while
others combined this distinction with that of a dwelling-house for the
owner. The village is separated into two quarters by the river, and is
inhabited entirely by Mohammedans. The news of a marvellous novelty soon
stirred up the whole village, and young and old, male and female, all
gathered round our motley troop, and thronged about us in innocent
mirth, and as we proceeded the people came running from the distant
fields to see the wonder; but the wonder was not myself, but the camel,
an animal which many of them had never seen, fifteen years having
elapsed since one had passed along this road. The chorus of shrill
voices, “gelóba, gelóba,” was led by two young wanton Púllo girls,
slender as antelopes, and wearing nothing but a light apron of striped
cotton round their loins, who, jumping about and laughing at the
stupidity of these enormous animals, accompanied us for about two miles
along the fertile plain. We passed a herd of about three hundred cattle.
Gradually the country became covered with forest, with the exception of
patches of cultivated ground, and we entered between those mountains
which had been during the whole morning in front of us; here also
granite prevailed, and all the mountains were covered with underwood.
About nine o’clock the path divided, and my companions for a long time
were at a loss to decide which of the two they should follow; Bíllama
having some objection to pass the night in Mbutúdi, which he thought was
only inhabited by pagans, and preferring Múglebú, where he had
acquaintances; but at length the people of Ádamáwa carried their point,
and we chose the westernmost road, which passes by Mbutúdi. The
wilderness now gave way to open pastures, and we passed some corn-fields
when we came to the farm of a wealthy Púllo named Alkáso, who in the
midst of a numerous family was leading here the life of a patriarch.
Hearing that a stranger from a far distant country was passing by, the
venerable old man came out of his village to salute me, accompanied by
his sons, and two of the latter, who had evidently no idea of the heresy
of the Christian religion, ran a long distance by the side of my horse,
and did not turn back till I had given them my blessing. Pleasant as was
their innocent behaviour, showing a spirit full of confidence, I was
rather glad when they were gone, as I wished to take some angles of the
mountains which appeared scattered through the wild and gloomy plain on
our right.
After a while the low chain of hills on our left was succeeded by a
range of higher mountains attached to the broad cone of the Fáka. A
little before we had obtained a view of the rocky mount of Mbutúdi, and
we now observed the first gigiña (“dugbi” in Fulfúlde), or deléb-palm,
the kind of _Hyphæna_ which I have already occasionally mentioned as
occurring in other localities, but which distinguishes this place in a
most characteristic way. The ground was covered with rich herbage, from
which numerous violets peeped forth.
[Illustration: Drawn by J. M. Bernatz, from a Sketch by Dr. Barth.
M. & N. Hanhart, lith. et impt.
MBUTÚDI.
June 12th. 1851.]
We had now reached Mbutúdi, a village situated round a granite mount of
about six hundred yards’ circumference, and rising to the height of
about three hundred feet. It had been a considerable place before the
rise of the Fúlbe, encompassing on all sides the mount, which had served
as a natural citadel; but it has been greatly reduced, scarcely more
than one hundred huts altogether now remaining; and were it not for the
picturesque landscape—the steep rocky mount overgrown with trees, and
the slender deléb-palms shooting up here and there, and forming some
denser groups on the south-east side,—it would be a most miserable
place.
My companions were greatly astonished to find that, since they went to
Kúkawa, some Fúlbe families had settled here: for formerly none but
native pagans lived in the village. It was, therefore, necessary that we
should address ourselves to this ruling class; and after we had waited
some time in the shade of some caoutchouc-trees, a tall, extremely
slender Púllo, of a very noble expression of countenance, and dressed in
a snow-white shirt, made his appearance, and after the usual exchange of
compliments, and due inquiry on the part of my companions after horse,
cattle, mother, slaves, and family[106], conducted us to a dwelling not
far from the eastern foot of the rock, consisting of several small huts,
with a tall gigiña in the middle of its courtyard, which was never
deserted by some large birds of the stork family,—most probably some
European wanderers. However, it had the great disadvantage of being
extremely wet, so that I preferred staying outside; and going to some
distance from the huts, I laid myself down in the shade of a tree, where
the ground was comparatively dry. The weather had been very cool and
cheerless in the morning, and I was glad when the sun at length came
forth, increasing the interest of the landscape, of which the
accompanying view may give a slight idea.[107]
I here tried, for the first time, the fruit of the deléb-palm, which was
just ripe; but I did not find it worth the trouble, as it really
requires a good deal of effort to suck out the pulp, which is nothing
but a very close and coarse fibrous tissue, not separating from the
large stone, and having a mawkish taste, which soon grows disagreeable.
It cannot be at all compared with the banana, and still less with the
fruit of the gonda-tree. It is, when full-grown, from six to eight
inches long and four inches across, and of a yellowish brown colour; the
kernel is about two inches and a half long and one inch thick. However,
it is of importance to the natives, and, like the fruit of the dúm-palm,
it yields a good seasoning for some of their simple dishes. They make
use of the stone also, breaking and planting it in the ground, when, in
a few days, a blade shoots forth with a very tender root, which is eaten
just like the kelingoes; this is called “múrrechi” by the Háusa people,
“báchul” by the Fúlbe, both of whom use it very extensively. But it is
to be remarked that the gigiña, or deléb-palm, is extremely partial in
its local distribution, and seems not at all common in Ádamáwa, being,
as my companions observed, here confined to a few localities, such as
Láro and Song; while in the Músgu country it is, according to my own
observation, the predominant tree; and, from information, I conclude
this to be the case also in the southern provinces of Bagírmi,
particularly in Sómray and Day. However, the immense extension of this
palm, which, probably, is nearly related to the _Borassus
flabelliformis_[108], through the whole breadth of Central Africa, from
Kordofán to the Atlantic, is of the highest importance.
While resting here I received a deputation of the heads of families of
the Fúlbe, who behaved very decently, and were not a little excited by
the performances of my watch and compass. I then determined to ascend
the rock, which commands and characterises the village, although, being
fully aware of the debilitated state of my health, I was somewhat afraid
of any great bodily exertion. It was certainly not an easy task, as the
crags were extremely steep, but it was well worth the trouble, although
the view over an immense expanse of country was greatly interrupted by
the many small trees and bushes which are shooting out between the
granite blocks.
After I had finished taking angles I sat down on this magnificent rocky
throne, and several of the natives having followed me, I wrote from
their dictation a short vocabulary of their language, which they call
“Záni,” and which I soon found was intimately related to that of the
Marghí. These poor creatures, seeing, probably for the first time, that
a stranger took real interest in them, were extremely delighted in
hearing their words pronounced by one whom they thought almost as much
above them as their god “féte,” and frequently corrected each other when
there was a doubt about the meaning of the word. The rock became
continually more and more animated, and it was not long before two young
Fúlbe girls also, who from the first had cast a kindly eye upon me, came
jumping up to me, accompanied by an elder married sister. One of these
girls was about fifteen, the other about eight or nine years of age.
They were decently dressed as Mohammedans, in shirts covering the bosom,
while the pagans, although they had dressed for the occasion, wore
nothing but a narrow strip of leather passed between the legs, and
fastened round the loins, with a large leaf attached to it from behind;
the women were, besides, ornamented with the “kadáma,” which is the same
as the seghéum of the Marghí, and worn in the same way, stuck through
the under-lip, but a little larger. Their prevailing complexion was a
yellowish red, like that of the Marghí, with whom, a few centuries ago,
they evidently formed one nation. Their worship, also, is nearly the
same.
At length I left my elevated situation, and with a good deal of trouble
succeeded in getting down again; but the tranquillity which I had before
enjoyed was now gone, and not a moment was I left alone. All these poor
creatures wanted to have my blessing; and there was particularly an old
blacksmith, who, although he had become a proselyte to Islám, pestered
me extremely with his entreaties to benefit him by word and prayer. They
went so far as to do me the honour, which I of course declined, of
identifying me with their god “féte,” who, they thought, might have come
to spend a day with them, to make them forget their oppression and
misfortunes. The pagans, however, at length left me when night came on,
but the Fúlbe girls would not go, or if they left me for a moment,
immediately returned, and so staid till midnight. The eldest of the
unmarried girls made me a direct proposal of marriage, and I consoled
her by stating, that I should have been happy to accept her offer if it
were my intention to reside in the country. The manners of people who
live in these retired spots, shut out from the rest of the world, are
necessarily very simple and unaffected; and this poor girl had certainly
reason to look out for a husband, as at fifteen she was as far beyond
her first bloom as a lady of twenty-five in Europe.
[Sidenote: Friday, June 13th.]
Taking leave of these good people, the girl looking rather sorrowful, as
I mounted my horse, we resumed our march the following morning, first
through cornfields,—the grain here cultivated being exclusively géro, or
pennisetum,—then over rich and thinly wooded pastures, having the
mountain-chain of the “Fálibé” constantly at some distance. The
atmosphere was extremely humid, and rain-clouds hung upon the mountains.
Further on the ground consisted entirely of red loam, and was so torn up
by the rain, that we had great difficulty and delay in leading the
camels round the gaps and ravines. Dense underwood now at times
prevailed, and a bush called “baubaw,” producing an edible fruit, here
first fell under my observation; there was also another bulbous plant,
which I had not observed before. The karáge here, again, was very
common. Gradually the whole country became one continuous wilderness,
with the surface greatly undulating, and almost hilly; and here we
passed a slave village, or “rúmde,” in ruins, the clay-walls being all
that remained.
The country wore a more cheerful appearance after nine o’clock, when we
entered on a wide extent of cultivated ground, the crops standing
beautifully in the fields, and the village or villages of Segéro
appearing higher up on the slope of the heights, in a commanding
situation. Segéro consists of two villages separated by a ravine, or
hollow with a watercourse, the northernmost of them, to which we came
first, being inhabited jointly by the conquering tribe of the Fúlbe and
the conquered one of the Holma, while the southern village is
exclusively occupied by the ruling race. To this group we directed our
steps, passing close by the former, where I made a hasty sketch of the
outlines of mount Holma.
[Illustration]
The lámido, or mayor, being absent at the time, we dismounted under the
public shade in front of his house, till a comfortable spacious shed in
the inner courtyard of his dwelling was placed at my disposal; and here
I began immediately to employ my leisure hours in the study of the
Fulfúlde, as I became fully aware that the knowledge of this language
was essential to my plans, if I wished to draw all possible advantage
from my proceedings. For these simple people, who do not travel, but
reside all their life long in their secluded homes, with the exception
of a few predatory expeditions against the pagans, know no other
language than their own; several of them, however, understand the
written Arabic tolerably well, but are unable to speak it. Meanwhile, a
large basket full of groundnuts, in the double shell, just as they came
from the ground, was placed before us; and after a while, three immense
calabashes of a thick soup, or porridge, made of the same material, were
brought in for the refreshment of our whole troop.
Groundnuts form here a very large proportion of the food of the people,
just in the same proportion as potatoes do in Europe, and the crops of
corn having failed the last year, the people had very little besides.
Groundnuts, that is to say, the species of them which is called “kolche”
in Kanúri, and “biríji” in Fulfúlde, which was the one grown here, as it
seems, exclusively, I like very much, especially if roasted, for
nibbling after supper, or even as a substitute for breakfast on the
road, but I should not like to subsist upon them. In fact, I was
scarcely able to swallow a few spoonfuls of this sort of porridge, which
was not seasoned with honey: but I must confess that the spoons, which
the people here use for such purposes, are rather large, being something
like a scoop, and made likewise of a kind of gourd; the half of the
_Cucurbita lagenaria_ split in two, so that the handle at the same time
forms a small channel, and may be used as a spout. Nature in these
countries has provided everything; dishes, bottles, and drinking-vessels
are growing on the trees, rice in the forest, and the soil without any
labour produces grain. The porridge can certainly be made more palatable
by seasoning; and, if boiled with milk, is by no means disagreeable. The
other kind of ground-nut, the “gángala,” or “yerkúrga,” which is far
more oily, and which I did not see at all in Ádamáwa, I do not like;
though the people used to say that it is much more wholesome than the
other kind. For making oil it is evidently the more valuable of the two.
I will only add, that on this occasion I learned that the Fúlbe in this
part of the country make also a similar porridge of sesamum, which they
call “marasíri,” and even of the habb el ʿazíz, or the gojíya of the
Háusa—the nebú of the Bórnu people. Sesamum I have frequently eaten in
Negroland as a paste, or hasty pudding, but never in the form of a
porridge.
The reason why the corn had failed was, that most of the men had gone to
the war last year; the turbulent state of the country thus operating as
a great drawback upon the cultivation of the ground. I must also observe
how peculiarly the different qualities of the soil in neighbouring
districts are adapted for different species of grain; while in Mbutúdi,
as I said, millet, géro, or _Pennisetum typhoideum_, was cultivated
almost exclusively, here it was the dáwa, “báiri” in Fulfúlde, or
sorghum, and principally the red sort, or “báiri bodéri.”
Having restored our vital strength with this famous pap of ground-nuts,
and having filled our pockets, and the nose-bags of the horses too, with
the remains of the great basket, we set out again on our journey in the
afternoon, for it appeared to me evident that none of my companions was
fond of a strict ground-nut diet, and hence would rather risk a storm
than a supper of this same dish. It had become our general rule to
finish our day’s journey in the forenoon, as the tempest generally set
in in the afternoon.
The fields were well cultivated; but the corn on the more elevated spots
stood not more than a foot high. The ground-nuts are cultivated between
the corn, the regular spaces which are left between each stalk being
sufficient for growing a cluster of nuts under ground; just in the same
way as beans are cultivated in many parts of Negroland. The fields were
beautifully shaded and adorned by the butter-tree, “tóso,” or, as the
Fúlbe call it, “kárehi,” in the plural form “karéji,” which was here the
exclusively predominant tree, and of course is greatly valued by the
natives. Everywhere the people were busy in the fields; and altogether
the country, inclosed by several beautifully shaped mountain ranges and
by detached mountains, presented a most cheerful sight, all the patches
of grass being diversified and embellished with a kind of violet-
coloured lily.
We now gradually approached the foot of Mount Holma, behind which
another mountain began to rise into view; while on our left we passed a
small “rúmde,” or slave-village, and then entered a sort of defile. We
were greatly afraid lest we should be punished for the gastronomic
transgression of our travelling rule, as a storm threatened us from
behind; but we had time to reach Badaníjo in safety. Punished, however,
we were, like the man who despised his peas; for, instead of finding
here full bowls of pudding, we could not even procure the poor ground-
nuts; and happy was he who had not neglected to fill his pockets from
the full basket in Segéro.
We had the utmost difficulty in buying a very small quantity of grain
for the horses; so that they also came in for a share in the remains of
the ground-nuts of Segéro; and my host especially was such a shabby,
inhospitable fellow, that it was painful to speak a word to him.
However, it seemed that he had reason to complain, having been treated
very harshly by oppressive officers, and having lost all his cattle by
disease. Not a drop of milk was to be got in the village, all the cattle
having died. The cattle, at least those of the large breed, which
apparently has been introduced into the country by the Fúlbe, seem not
yet quite acclimatized, and are occasionally decimated by disease.
Badaníjo is very picturesquely situated in a beautiful irregularly-
shaped valley, surrounded on all sides by mountains, which are seen from
the interior of the village. The scarcity of provisions was entirely due
to the great expedition of last year, which had taken away all hands
from the labours of the field; for the land around here is extremely
fertile, and at present, besides sorghum or holcus, produced dánkali, or
sweet potatoes, góza, or yams, manioc, and a great quantity of gunna, a
large variety of calabash (_Fueillea trilobata_, _Cucurbita maxima?_).
Badaníjo is also interesting and important to the ethnologist, as being
the northernmost seat of the extensive tribe of the Falí, or Farí,
which, according to the specimens of its language which I was able to
collect, is entirely distinct from the tribe of the Bátta and their
kinsmen the Záni and Marghí, and seems to have only a remote affinity
with the Wándalá and Gámerghú languages. At present the village is
principally, but not exclusively, inhabited by the ruling race, and I
estimated the population at about three thousand.
[Sidenote: Saturday, June 14th.]