previously traversed, and which proved infinitely more interesting,
although in the morning, after we had passed a small farm-village where
all the field-labourers were at work, we had to cross a very extensive
forest, and I became greatly exhausted. Having passed about noon several
villages, which proved to be all slave-villages with the exception of
one, which contained a lord’s mansion of neat appearance, suddenly the
character of the country changed entirely, and we came to a wide
depression or hollow, from one hundred to one hundred and twenty feet
deep, which, winding round on our left, formed a fine green vale,
bordered on the other side by a picturesque cone[140] rising abruptly,
and forming on the east side a wooded terrace, while on the west it
displayed a steep bare rocky flank of horizontal strata, and on this
side, after a small interruption, a low ridge attached to it encircling
the hollow on all sides.
[Illustration]
Having reached the south-eastern foot of the cone by a gradual ascent,
we obtained a view over the varied and rich scenery before us, a
luxuriant mass of vegetation broken at intervals by comfortable-looking
little hamlets, and bounded in the distance by a cone stretching out to
a great length. Having crossed a small watercourse, and wound along
between erratic blocks of granite, scattered about in wild disorder, and
interrupted, wherever the ground offered a small level, by rich crops of
grain, we reached the first hamlet of this most picturesque locality. It
is one of the chief seats of the Démsa, or rather comprises two distinct
villages, namely, Démsa-Póha and Démsa-Mésu.
It was indeed a most charming sight when we made our way along a broad
well-trodden path, surrounded on both sides by neatly-fenced clusters of
large huts, encompassed by waving corn and picturesque clusters of
trees. Thus we reached the “lamórde,” the residence of the governor,
which is situated at a short distance from the southern foot of the
large granitic cone; but he was absent, having gone on an expedition
against the Fúri, an independent pagan tribe in the neighbourhood, and
we had to wait some time before his servants undertook to assign us
quarters, when we had to retrace our steps to the southern part of the
village. It was half-past four in the afternoon when, feverish and
extremely weak as I was, I at length found rest; but while reclining at
full length in a cool shade, I listened with delight to Ibrahíma’s chat,
who, in order to cheer my spirits, gave me an account of that famous
expedition to the far south which the Fúlbe of Ádamáwa undertook a few
years ago, and to which I have already alluded.
This memorable campaign having proceeded from Búbanjídda, none of the
people of Ádamáwa, whose acquaintance I was able to make during my short
stay in the country, had participated in it, so that all the accounts
which I received of it were extremely vague. The expedition, after a
march of almost two months, is said to have reached an unbounded expanse
of unbroken plain, and, having kept along it for a day or two, to have
arrived at an immense tree, in the shade of which the whole host found
sufficient room. Here they found two natives of the southern regions,
who informed them that they were the subjects of a powerful queen that
resided in a vast town of two days’ march in circumference. These
people, they say, were of short stature, and wore long beards.
Frightened by these reports, and by the waterless tract before them, the
expedition retraced their steps. Similar reports with regard to a very
powerful female sovereign towards the south are also current in Bagírmi
and all the adjacent country; but I am not able to determine whether
they originate in faint rumours, spread so far north, of the powerful
kingdom of Muata-ya-Nvo, or—of Queen Victoria.
To my great satisfaction, we were obliged to stay here the next day, in
order to await the arrival of the lámido, when, feeling greatly
recruited by a good night’s and half a day’s rest, I crept out of my
well-polished round little clay hut in the afternoon, and, crossing the
neatly-fenced promenade of the straggling village, ascended a
neighbouring eminence formed by an irregular mass of granite blocks, to
the north of our quarters. Here I spent two delicious hours in the
tranquil contemplation of the picturesque scenery, which I thought the
most interesting I had yet seen in this quarter of the world. The
accompanying view presents but a very faint idea of its peculiar
features; but I hope it will give the reader some conception of the
nature of this country in general, which enables the pagan natives
between this district and Hamárruwa to defend their liberty and
independence against the Mohammedan intruders. These tribes are, after
the Démsa, who seem to form a tolerably numerous body, first, the Mbulá,
probably the same who have given their name to the place situated at
some distance from Mount Míndif, and mentioned above; then, further
west, or north-west, the Báchama, and still further west the Tángalé,
with both of whom Mr. Vogel, on his recent journey from Yákuba to
Hamárruwa, has come in contact.
[Illustration: Drawn by J. M. Bernatz, from a Sketch by Dr. Barth.
M. & N. Hanhart, lith. et impt.
DEMSA-PÓHA.
July 1st. 1851.]
[Sidenote: Tuesday, July 1st.]
We made a short but highly interesting march to the place of our old
friend the mʿallem Delíl. The scenery was rich and beautiful, the crops
of Guinea corn standing from four to five feet high, alternating with
fields where góza, a kind of yams, were grown, and adorned with fine
spreading trees, amongst which the tármu and the kúka or monkey-bread
tree predominated; even the rocky eminences were all overgrown with
fresh vegetation. We then passed a sort of shallow river, or sél, which
is called by the Kanúri “ngáljam,” and forms a characteristic feature of
Démsa, while on our right it expanded to a conspicuous sheet of water,
bordered by blocks and masses of rocks full of vegetation. It was
overgrown with rank reed at the spot where we crossed it.
Only a few minutes beyond this almost stagnant water on green meadow-
land, we crossed the broad and clear torrent of the máyo Tíyel, rushing
ahead over a gravelly bottom, and at times rolling along a considerable
quantity of water. According to my guides, it is formed by three
branches, one issuing from Báses towards the N.E., the other coming from
the neighbourhood of Bélem, and the third from the N.W., from Bíngel.
Only a few hundred yards further on, we passed on our left another broad
sheet of water, apparently of great depth, which is said to preserve the
same level at all times of the year. It is full of crocodiles, and
bordered by the richest vegetation, and, being apparently quite
isolated, has a very curious appearance. Perhaps it is fed by
subterranean sources. It is surrounded by beautiful pasture-grounds.
We then traversed a fine open country, passing some villages, while the
road was enlivened by a troop of travellers (colonists from Bórnu),
among whom there were some remarkably handsome women mounted on
bullocks, who bore sufficient testimony to the fact that the more
elevated districts of Ádamáwa are salubrious and favourable for man. We
reached Bélem at about two o’clock; but before we arrived there a
circumstance happened which I must not omit to mention, as it is rather
characteristic: for suddenly two of Mohammed Lowel’s servants appeared
with the horse which Bíllama had sold to the governor for the price of
twenty slaves, returning it under some pretext, but in reality for no
other reason than because he was afraid lest it might operate by way of
charm, and injure him. Bíllama was to have received the slaves in the
towns still before us.
We stayed in Bélem this day and the following; and I was pestered a
little by the family of old Mʿallem Delíl, but particularly by his
daughter, rather a handsome person, who had been divorced from her
former husband (I think Mansúr, the younger brother of Mohammed Lowel),
and wanted me by all means to write her a charm to get her another
husband after her heart’s desire. She was a very passionate sort of
woman, and when smelling, against my wish, from my phial of hartshorn,
was seized with such violent convulsions, that she was carried senseless
out of my tent, and remained in this state for nearly an hour. The stay
here was the more disagreeable to me as it was caused partly by the
trading propensities of my servant Bú-Sʿad; and not only did he buy
ivory, which he had the insolence to add to the loads of my weak camels,
but even three slaves, so that I was obliged to dismiss him instantly
from my service, although I had nothing wherewith to pay him off. It is
extremely difficult for a single European to proceed in these countries
with hired servants, as he loses all control over them. This man, who
had been the late Mr. Richardson’s servant as well as mine, turned out
like Mukni, Mr. Richardson’s interpreter, a great slave-dealer, and in
1855, when I was leaving Central Africa, collected a numerous gang of
slaves in this very country, which he had before visited as my servant.
[Sidenote: Thursday, July 3rd.]
We at length resumed our journey, but only to reach Saráwu Beréberé,
where we took up our quarters in the comfortable courtyard which I have
described on our outward journey. I will only record the pleasing fact,
that as soon as the news spread in the town of my having returned, a man
whom I had cured of disease during my former stay brought me a handsome
gazelle-skin as an acknowledgment.
The next day we followed our ancient road by Badaníjo, and reached
Segéro; but on Saturday, after having passed Mbutúdi without any other
delay than that of buying with beads a little milk from our Fúlbe
friends, we took a more easterly path, which brought us to Múglebú, a
village which exhibited to us an interesting picture of the exuberance
that reigns in these regions at this time of the year. The huts were
scarcely visible, on account of the rich crops of grain which surrounded
them on all sides, while _Palma Christi_ formed thick clusters of
bushes, and a few specimens of a remarkable tree which I had never
observed before, besides isolated bananas, rose above the rich mass of
vegetation, and gave to the whole the charm of novelty; but the weather
was so wet that I could make but a very slight sketch, and was wholly
prevented from rambling about, the rain continuing the whole of the
afternoon. Besides, all my energy was required to assist my three
servants, who were all severely ill; and while I administered to two of
them emetics, I had to soothe ʿAbd-Allah with a dose of laudanum. It was
very fortunate indeed that I myself felt a little better. In short, our
stay here was anything but agreeable, and I was worried by several
people with demands which exceeded my power—such as, to drive out
devils, relieve impotency, and so on; but the mayor sent me a goat,
fowls, milk, and a little butter. The village, which consisted of about
two hundred huts, seemed to be in good circumstances.
[Illustration: Drawn by J. M. Bernatz, from a Sketch by Dr. Barth.
M. & N. Hanhart, lith. et impt.
MÚGLEBU.
July 7th. 1851.]
[Sidenote: Sunday, July 6th.]
When we started, at a tolerably early hour in the morning, the weather
was clear and favourable; but after we had crossed the little mountain-
chain which surrounds the village of Múglebú at some distance to the
east and north, and reached a small hamlet presenting signs of very
careful cultivation, and numerous herds of cattle, we were drenched by a
heavy shower. It is generally supposed that storms in the tropical
climes break forth in the afternoon, or in the course of the night—and
this certainly is the general rule; but if there has been a storm the
day before, or during the night, and the weather has not cleared up,
there can be no certainty that it will not come on again in the course
of the morning. It is rather a rare phenomenon in these regions for a
storm to gather in the morning on a clear sky; but nevertheless the
reader will find several examples even of this in my meteorological
tables.[141] The natives are not at all insensible to rain; and while
the Kánembú[142] who had attached themselves to our caravan in Badaníjo
were protecting their persons with their light wooden shields, the
natives of the country collected thick bushes, and formed a sort of
natural umbrella over their heads. To protect the head at least from wet
is most essential in these climes. On another occasion, when I come to
speak about the prevailing kinds of disease, I shall have to mention how
dreadfully the Fúlbe sometimes suffer from the maladies of the rainy
season, when employed on their warlike expeditions.
Early in the morning we reached Múfi or Múbi, but were received so
inhospitably that we had great difficulty in obtaining quarters, for
which we were obliged to keep fighting the whole day, as a quarrelsome
mʿallem wished to dislodge me from the hut of which I had taken
possession. Fortunately his better half bore the inconvenience with more
equanimity; and I put up cheerfully with the little trouble which she
gave me from time to time by calling at the door and begging me to hand
to her some little articles of her simple household furniture. My three
people were so sick that they lay like so many corpses on the ground;
and their condition prevented us from setting out even the following
day, notwithstanding the inhospitable manner in which we were treated
here, so that I had ample leisure to study minutely the architecture of
my residence, of which I here subjoin a ground-plan.
[Illustration]
The hut, measuring about twelve feet in diameter, was built in the
manner most usual in these regions—namely, of clay walls, with a
thatched roof. The door, a little elevated above the floor, was three
feet high, and fifteen inches wide, and not at all adapted for very
stout persons. From the wall at the right of the door (_a_) ran another
wall, “gáruwel súdo,” of the same height, but unconnected with the roof,
right across the hut in an oblique line, to the length of about six
feet, separating one part of the dwelling, and securing to it more
privacy. In this compartment was the bed (_c_), consisting of a frame
made of branches, and spread over pilasters of clay about three feet
high. In the most sequestered part of the hut, in the corner formed by
the round inclosing wall and the oblique one, at the top of the
bed—“kéla kagá,” as the Kanúri say—stood the corn-urn (_d_), about six
feet high, and in its largest part two feet wide, destined to keep a
certain provision of corn always at hand; besides this, there was a
smaller one (_f e_) at the foot of the bed—“shí kagá.” At the side of
this smaller urn were two small pedestals of clay (_g_), serving the
purpose of a sideboard, in order to place upon them pots or other
articles. Then followed the kitchen, “defforíde” (_h_), still under
cover of the oblique wall, but exactly on a line with it, so that the
smoke might more easily find its way through the door, and consisting of
a narrow place inclosed on each side by a low wall, to protect the fire,
between which three stones, or rather small clay mounds like fire-
bricks, supported the cooking-pot, while a small wooden footstool (_i_)
accommodated the industrious landlady when busy with her most important
culinary employment. While to all this part of the hut a certain degree
of privacy was secured by the oblique wall, a considerable space to the
left of the door remained unprotected; and here stood the large water-
urn (_f_), which, always remaining in its place, is filled by means of
smaller portable urns or pitchers.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
[Sidenote: Tuesday, July 8th.]
It seemed almost as if we were destined to stay another day in this
place; for just when we were about to start, a most violent shower came
down, and lasted full two hours. When at length we were able to set out
on our road to Úba, it was excessively wet, the streams greatly swollen,
and the weather still anything but bright and clear. At Úba, again, we
remained much longer than I wished. In the evening, after our arrival,
the governor went on an expedition against the Kílba-Gáya. Falling
suddenly upon the poor pagans at early dawn, he captured a good many
slaves; but the persecuted natives rallied, and, taking advantage of a
defile through which he had to pass on his return to his residence,
suddenly attacked him, and succeeded in rescuing all their countrymen
from the hands of their relentless enemies.
During my absence the corn had almost ripened; and the fields afforded a
spectacle of the utmost exuberance. Almost all the grain here is
sorghum, and mostly of the white kind; the average height of the stalks
was from nine to ten feet. The whole area of the town was clothed in the
richest vegetation, of great variety, where a botanist might have made a
numerous collection.
[Sidenote: Thursday, July 10th.]
Ibrahíma, the principal of the two men whom Mohammed Lowel had appointed
to escort me to the frontier of his province, accompanied me a short
distance when we left Úba. This man, who, perhaps because he was not
well treated in Kúkawa, behaved rather sullenly on our journey to
Ádamáwa, had become infinitely more amiable after the governor of that
country had sent me back. He not only manifested on every occasion his
heart-felt sorrow on account of my having been disappointed in the
expectation of travelling over that interesting country in every
direction, but he still more lamented that his countrymen had been
deprived, by the imprudence of their ruler, of the advantage of my
presence in the country. I have had occasion to observe repeatedly, that
there is a great deal of republican spirit in the Fúlbe, and that they
have in general the air and manners of freeborn men, though I shall have
to dwell upon the deterioration of this original character in the case
of the inhabitants of Sókoto.
The commencement of our march through the unsafe and infested boundary-
district from Úba northward was not very auspicious; and I was almost
afraid lest, after having been allowed to reach the frontier unmolested,
we were doomed to some insidious treachery in these lawless lands. The
original arrangement was, that some other people should succeed to
Ibrahíma, in order to see me safe to Íssege; but they never made their
appearance, and we had scarcely parted from Ibrahíma when all sorts of
alarms frightened and disturbed our little band. First a dreadful noise
was heard from above the rocks at the foot of which lay our road; but it
was found to proceed only from a countless multitude of birds of prey
enjoying their liberty in noisy mirth. Then, when we reached the fields
of corn within this rocky passage, which on our outward journey we had
seen under cultivation, we were prevented by armed men from passing
through them, and were obliged to make a long circuit. A little further
on, people came running after us, and attempted to take away by force
two of the slaves whom some of our companions were leading along; and
when resisted, they raised a dismal cry for help, which was heard
resounding to a great distance through the wild country. Serious
quarrels seemed imminent; but fortunately no one came to their
assistance.
About thirty travellers, all of them armed either with spears or with
bows and arrows, had attached themselves to our troop. I got ready all
my cartridges; and we were well on our guard. We had advanced about five
miles from Úba, and were in the middle of the forest, when a more
serious alarm arose, several people being seen lurking among the
trees,—an unmistakable proof that they meditated an attack, if we should
exhibit any signs of weakness. We therefore rallied a moment, and formed
in front, the most sturdy of our spearmen gathering round me, and
begging me to take steady aim when they should point out to me the chief
men. But the natives, belonging most probably to the tribe of the Báza,
who always infest this road, seeing that we were prepared to receive
them, did not dare to quit their ambush; and having continued awhile
along the path, we thought it wiser to leave it, and struck off to the
west into the thickest covert of the wood, where the camels with their
luggage had some difficulty in passing through, especially as the soil
was cracked and rent in all directions. Having trudged on in this way
for about two hours, and feeling sure that we were not pursued, we
returned to the path, but left it again about noon, and, pursuing
another track, reached Laháula, a village of unlucky memory, on the
western side. But this time we were well received, not only by ʿAisha,
but also by his wild and passionate son, who became a great friend of
mine, and, having received from me a present of a knife, brought me
three fowls in return, while his father sent túwo for all my people. I
sketched the danísko, or hand-bill, of my friend, which was of a
peculiarly regular shape.
[Illustration]
[Sidenote: Friday, July 11th.]
On leaving Laháula in the morning, we again preferred the covert to the
beaten path; but after we had gone round Kófa, which Bíllama thought it
better to avoid, we returned to our well-known road parallel to the
river and the mountain-chain beyond, and reached Íssege without any
accident, early in the afternoon. There, too, my reception was very
different from that which I had experienced on my going; and I was
received with the utmost kindness and hospitality into the house of a
wealthy family at the northern end of the village, and quartered in a
neat little hut, the walls of which consisted of thatch, like the roof,
but were plastered over with clay. The little hut, which scarcely
measured seven feet in diameter, contained two couches, one raised above
the ground to the right, and the other on the level of the ground on the
left of the entrance. Three spears, a common shield, and a large shield
called “chággo” by the Marghí, “kutufáni” by the Kanúri, consisting of a
thick texture of reed, and big enough to protect two or three persons, a
basket and a net, “úturu,” hanging from the roof, formed the furniture
of this little dwelling, which was the apartment of the youngest son of
the family, a fine, tall, and slender young man, with a very pleasant
expression of countenance. Except that he wore the “funó,” a small
leather apron, round his waist, he was quite naked, but loaded with
coquettish ornaments. Round his neck he wore a double string of red
beads, a little lower another set of three strings of corals, and still
lower again a set of two strings of iron beads; on his left shoulder he
wore four broad iron rings, or “kégelá;” on his elbow two other narrow
iron rings (barachággo) very neatly worked like beads; on his wrist six
narrow and one broad iron ring, or “únzo,” and above them an ivory ring,
or “yécho.” The right arm was not so richly endowed with ornaments,
having only four iron rings at the upper part, and two on the wrist.
Below his knee he wore a chain of cotton very neatly twisted—this is
called “shishídderi,”[143]—and on his foot-joint a narrow iron ring
called “míltedo.” However, I observed afterwards that this young man did
not wear all the national ornaments of his tribe; for I saw others who
wore in addition an iron chain round their loins, which is called
“shushú.” All these iron articles are very neatly made by the people of
Wándalá, Morá being only two days’ march from this; and I only regret
that I was not able to bring some of these articles home as specimens of
the industry of the natives, as well as of the excellent quality of iron
which they possess. This young man did not wear the “sér,” as they call
it, a small reed or feather in the left ear.
I delighted my youthful host by the present of a mirror; and I gave a
knife to his father, when he returned from the labour of the field. My
little hut was not without a crowd of visitors the whole of the
afternoon, all the friends of my host coming to see me. They were
admitted in a regular way, five at a time, and behaved very decently,
while they admired the few curious things which I had to show them. I
was greatly amused by the simplicity of my young host and one of his
brothers, who, when I presented them with small bits of sugar, gradually
nibbled them away, and at the same time compared their size continually,
till they were reduced to very diminutive morsels, when they agreed
between them to give the remnants to a sister.
The language of these people, which, as I have stated, is intimately
related to that of the Bátta, seems to show that they belong rather to
the family of South African tribes, than to the group of neighbouring
tribes of Central Negroland.