Castle of Tegerry — Description of the Town — Some Accounts
of the Desert of Bilma — Salt Lake of Agram — Ride out on the
Desert — Leave Tegerry — Belford’s dangerous State — Return
to Gatrone — Arrival of the Grazzie, or Slave-hunters, with many
Captives and Camels — Account of their Excursion, and of Borgoo and
Wajunga — Manner of making Captives — Leave Gatrone in Company
with the Grazzie — Mestoota — Reception at Deesa — Feast at
Zaizow — Return to Morzouk — Go out to witness the Triumph of
the Slave-hunters — Sultan’s Reception of his Son — Remarks on
Grazzies — Accounts of Slave-markets — Arrival of Aboo Becker,
and Continuation of Mukni in Command — Further Accounts of the
Countries of the Tibboo — Arrangements in the Sale of Slaves,
so as to ensure the Sultan his Share.
January 3rd. Thermometer 10° on the house-top before the sun
rose. This was a striking difference from the temperature of the day
before. The Castle walls were about thirty feet thick at bottom,
and ten at top, and were composed, as usual, of mud, having small
loopholes for musquetry. It formerly had commanded the town, but was
at this time in a ruined state. There were wells in the Castle of
very salt water. The similarity of the Arab and French names for
an embrazure is striking, the former calling it embrāza. Close
to the Castle we observed several large stagnant pools of water,
which had been caused by taking the clay away to re-erect the
walls. I cannot conceive that these places contribute much to the
healthiness of the town. The date trees are in and close round
the houses. The inhabitants are very little superior to savages,
and the Arabic is scarcely understood. The language spoken is Bornou.
This being the resting-place of Kafflés from Bornou, Waday, and
sometimes Soudan, provisions are always very dear, the inhabitants
selling to the half-starved merchants, who arrive from those
places, at whatever price they please. Corn is not to be procured;
but gaphooly and barley, poor substitutes! are sold at the rate of
three quarts for a dollar. Dates are certainly very cheap, a camel
load selling at about three quarters of a dollar. The people of
Tegerry have not the custom of burying their dates as in Morzouk,
but put them in bins built for that purpose in their houses, and
cover or mix them with sand: others keep them on the flat roofs,
as there is no fear of their being injured by rain.
A few years ago this country was famed for the excesses committed
by the inhabitants, who robbed, and not unfrequently murdered,
travellers. Even large Kafflés were not secure from them, until
Mukni took several into slavery, and otherwise regulated them.
It must be confessed, that the Arabs and Fezzanners have not the
least compassion for the people on whom they may be quartered. A
Fezzanner, if obliged to feed one man and horse for a day, considers
himself cruelly treated, though he dares not complain; but should
he himself obtain an order from the Sultan to go to a distant place
with five or six horsemen, he will eat at every cluster of huts,
insisting on meat (which is extravagantly dear), for the whole party,
and taking besides a few live fowls, or a sheep, and a dozen or
two of loaves with him.
As I made a practice of paying in money, trinkets, or cutlery for
whatever we required, I was continually advised not to do so, but to
avail myself of my order from the Sultan, which warranted my taking
what I pleased. The people were indeed so accustomed to imposition,
that they were themselves astonished at receiving any remuneration
for the articles they supplied us with.
Some of the places at which we stopped, contained scarcely a dozen
huts. We were six in number, with four horses and two camels, yet a
feast was always ordered, until I discovered what shameful advantage
was taken of the poor inhabitants; I then instantly forbade the
Sheikh at his peril to deprive them in future of a fowl, or any
other article of food. The Fezzanners will drink pure fat, butter,
or oil, with the greatest avidity; this occasions their complaining
continually of bile.
Tegerry is the southernmost town in Fezzan, and here the cultivation
of the palm ceases. The dates are very fine, and generally in great
plenty. The Desert is close to the town, which lies to the southward
of its palms.
Sun’s meridian altitude, 85° 2′ 50″, which gives the latitude
24° 4′ north. In this place they do not cultivate Lifts لفت
(turnips), or radishes; a very few dwarf carrots, some onions and
pompions, are their chief garden productions. The corn here is not
in so forward a state as that of Morzouk.
Belford again complained of a bilious attack, and was, as in former
cases, so giddy as to be scarcely able to walk. I greatly feared
that this return of his complaint would finally prevent my going
as far as Tibesty, which I fully intended doing.
In the course of our cooking I observed that a date plastered
over a hole in a leaky pot renders it quite tight for one boiling,
and as dates are more easily procured than tinkers on a journey,
this hint may be worth noticing by those who may hereafter travel
in this country.
January 4th. Thermometer 2°, wind northerly.—I was again very
severely attacked with hemma, and, as usual, suffered much pain
in the spleen and liver. I imagined this attack to proceed from
the coarseness of our bazeen, which was made of bad gaphooly,
and resembled dough. The Sheikh brought me a dome date, which was
a curiosity rarely seen in Fezzan; it was the size of a large cob
walnut. The rind, which is hard and dry, is the only part eaten,
and is gnawed off; under it is a hard covering, which encloses the
stone; the outer shell is so strong as to resist a hammer, and even
to break knives. The taste of the rind is not much unlike that of
stale gingerbread, which it resembles both in smell and colour. There
were four trees of the dome date here, which I purposed seeing. I
was so fortunate as to purchase a dried and smoked fish from the
Niger near Kashna, which I intended taking to England.
This evening, while lying in my bed, I heard the mewing of a cat,
which our people imagined must be the devil. At first they attempted
to laugh; but the boy significantly remarking that “the Castle was
a very old place,” Besheer and the Kaid hastened to load their
guns, and to fire them off in the Skeefa; Iblis, or the devil,
being much averse to gunpowder, or any thing of which sulphur
forms a part; each then, taking a lighted palm branch, rushed out
to look for the cause of their alarm; the poor cat had, however,
in the meantime escaped. On their return, the camel man, whom they
considered a great scholar, roared out the Korsi, a most powerful
charm against every kind of spirit, from Iblis and the little
Shiateen, or young devils, down to gholes and afrites. After this
comforting stave, he hurried over several chapters of the Koran in
the same key; but owing to the Kaid’s musket not going off until
he had snapped it four or five times, their fears remained in full
force, and they continued talking and praying until a late hour,
convinced that Iblis was still in the house. They were not much
pleased with my ridiculing their fears, observing, that although
in my country there might be no devils, I ought not, therefore,
to doubt their existence in Fezzan, for there were plenty in every
old house. Even the discovery of the cat after this disturbance,
could not in any way remove their prejudices.
January 5th. Thermometer 7°, wind north-east.—Belford and myself
better to-day; the water very brackish, which not a little increased
our weakness.
From a Zuela Arab, who had lately returned from Benghāzi and Derna,
I obtained the following account, which I have reason to suppose
correct, as he was a better informed man than the generality
of Arabs.
Zuela to Temissa, 2 days of eight hours each; the first east,
the second north.
Temissa to Fuggha, 2 long summer days, and three and a half in
winter, north-north-east. It is one day west of the Harutz el
Abiad, and is situated in a wadey between two mountains, which run
north-east and south-west.
They make very good jereeds and abas at Fuggha.
North-east.
Fuggha to Zella (Zala of the maps) 4 days. A well.
Zella to Marada 4 Well.
Marada to Zdābia 4 Well.
Zdābia to Benghāzi 4 Large town on the
sea-coast.
--
Fuggha to Benghāzi 16 days of 7 or 8 hours.
_Benghāzi to Derna._
Benghāzi to El Abiar f’il Naga 1 long day.
El Abiar to Saas ou el Khōf 1 day.
Saas to Marawa 1 day.
Marawa to El Homrie (so named
after a celebrated Marāboot
whose tomb is there) 1½
East.
El Homrie to Garinna 1
Garinna to Legbaiba 1
Legbaiba to Derna 1 Town.
--
7½ days.
All these are watering places. Derna is a considerable town on the
coast; it is walled, and has a large Mosque with sixty arches.
_From Tegerry to Bilma, according to the Account of some Travellers
recently arrived from thence._
South
Tegerry to El Haat 1 day. Resting place.
El Haat to Meshroo 1 Well.
Meshroo to Teneïa 1 Rocks.
Teneïa to El Wata 1 Resting place.
El Wata to El Warr 1 A well.
El Warr to El Hammer 2 A well.
El Hammer to Maffrus 2 A well.
Maffrus to Zhai 2 A well and domes.
Zhai to El Mara 1 Well and domes.
El Mara to Hatait el Dome 1 A well.
Hatait to Uguira 1 Large town of Tibboo Kawār.
Uguira to Kesbi ½ Town.
Kesbi to Shenumma ½ Large town.
Shenumma to Dirki 1 Large town.
Dirki to Bilma 2 Very large town.
--
Thus Tegerry to Bilma is 18 days of 8 or 9 hours.
I found no one who knew of the salt lakes of Domboo, laid down in all
the maps; but there is abundance of salt at Agram, (which is four
days from Bilma west-south-west,) and a large lake, on the borders
of which this article is collected. The Tuarick of Aghades go there,
and carry away great quantities to Soudan. This agrees with the
accounts of Domboo; and from the circumstance of the Tuarick going
to Agram, and the position of that place, I am led to imagine it
may be the same with Domboo, though under another appellation. The
Tibboo immediately to the northward of Bornou are Wandela, Gunda,
and Traita, which tribes are all mingled together. Tibesty is east
of the Bornou road, and on the road to Waday. I here saw a woman
who pretended to tell fortunes by examining the palm of the hand;
which is the first instance of the kind I have met with.
Belford considering himself quite unable to go to El Wiekh, whither
I was about to proceed, I resolved on leaving him with the Kaid and
Barca, to recruit his strength, proposing to return about the sixth
day. I went to the gardens to see the dome trees, and obtained a
few of the domes, but they were not quite ripe. The trees, which
I saw were considered by the natives as small ones, being about
twenty feet in height, and seven or eight in a cluster. I learnt
that the fruit ripens in the spring about the same time as the
corn. These trees have the trunk of the common palm, though covered
with branches; and the domes grow from the sides, as well as the
top of the tree. The leaves are all curved, and being very thick,
form a pretty head; they are of a light green; and along their
edges, and from their tops, a fibre resembling long black hair
hangs down. They all unite at about three inches from their common
stalk. This tree is the palm of Bornou, the Tibboo, and the Tuarick.
January 6th. Thermometer 4°; wind southerly.—It had been my wish
this morning to proceed to the well called El Wiekh, in hopes of
there meeting the Ghrazzie; but fearing to leave Belford for so
long a time, I determined on riding out to the southward as far as
the day would allow me: my object in so doing was to see the state
of that part of the desert, which I found the same as the one we
had passed. I returned at night, and learnt, that at Mogreb the
Kaid of the town had arrived from Morzouk, with two camels laden
with clothes, oil, butter, and other articles for Aleiwa and such
of the Sultan’s immediate household as were with him: as this
man brought news that the army would pass Tegerry on the morrow,
it made my proposed journey unnecessary.
January 7th. Fine morning; thermometer 4°.—Myself much better,
Belford very weak. At half past eight the camel started, and at
nine we followed; quite rejoiced at escaping from the salt water,
damaged barley, and miserable people of Tegerry. At six we arrived
at Medroosa, where, even for money, I could procure no food, and
where they totally disregarded the Sultan’s order. Unfortunately
my character had preceded me: “He is a fool who actually pays for
every thing, and yet has the power of taking it.” They carried
their resistance so far, that I was at last obliged to exercise the
power given me in the Teskera; but it was so late before I got the
better of them, that nothing could be cooked that night. My custom
of paying for every thing at the places we had passed would actually
have exposed me to the risk of being nearly starved all the way back,
had I not at last made them sensible of my power.
I now began to feel much alarm respecting Belford, whom we had
left some hours before, slowly following with the camel and
its driver, but who did not come up with us. After having made
frequent and anxious search for him, to our great relief he
arrived at 11.45. P.M.; though in a most deplorable condition,
having fallen from his horse in consequence of excessive weakness
and dizziness. The camel man saw the animal without its rider, and
was still more fortunate in observing Belford as he lay extended and
helpless on the desert; where, but for this providential discovery,
he must have remained all night, at the risk of his life; exposed
to severe cold, and in danger of being devoured by the immense
herds of jackals and hyænas which were prowling about the plain,
and whose howlings we heard all round the village. The poor fellow
was so deaf, that our voices could not have reached him, even at
the highest pitch; and the night being very dark, every attempt to
find him would have been fruitless. Much as he required food and
restoratives, we had, unhappily, none to give him, the people of
the village refusing to supply us. A little coffee was all we could
prepare for him, and that his stomach rejected. In this dilemma, all
that remained was to cover him up as comfortably as we could, and to
place him on the sandy floor, where we left him, in the hope that his
total exhaustion would at least produce quiet and undisturbed sleep.
January 8th. Thermometer 2° 40′; wind northerly.—Belford was
this day a little better. At eight the camel started. We observed
a Fakeer, or schoolmaster, sitting with his scholars on the sand;
one roaring, the others squeaking sentences of the Koran. This man
hearing me reproach the natives for their want of hospitality on
the previous evening, in refusing assistance to a sick stranger,
went into his house, and brought out five eggs, all the food he
possessed, which he hoped Belford would eat. This kind action
redeemed the character of the village; for had it not been on this
good man’s account, I should certainly have complained to the
Sultan, and he would, in consequence, have imposed on the offenders a
fine of a certain number of dollars, slaves, or cattle, a plan he is
very expert in. Indeed, he never loses sight of any opportunity of
exacting such penalties, as they not only enrich him, but make his
subjects stand in awe of him. At ten we proceeded: Belford still
better, but remaining very giddy. At four, having stopped at El
Bakkhi to drink the excellent water there, we arrived at Gatrone,
and put up at the house of our former hostess.
January 9th. Thermometer 1° 40′.—Belford was much recovered. The
Kaid this morning made me some excellent ink of the pods of the
Gurd tree, of which I have already spoken, and a bright yellow earth
resembling sulphur in colour, easily dissolvible in water, and acid
to the taste, called Shahaira, and brought from Bilma by the Tibboo.
The news of the return of the army had so frightened the people here,
that I could not find either a sheep or goat, and was obliged to
kill a beautiful Majiggri (which I had brought from Tegerry, and
intended taking to England) to make soup for poor Belford.—My
hostess informed me that she had lost three children in three
successive years by the sting of scorpions. Each child was, at the
time it died, two years of age: all were boys, and all had received
the sting in the room in which we were.
The fondness of these people for show is quite as great as at
Tripoli. This afternoon a Marāboot, brother to my friend El Hadge
el Raschid, and one of the chief men here, came in from the Ghrazzie,
which he had left at El Bakkhi. He arrived in the gardens early, but
could not enter the town until some gaudy clothes, and a fine horse,
had been sent out to him, that he might make his entrance as a great
personage. In the evening I heard the Tubbel sounded for the first
time. This is a large drum, which is generally kept at the house or
hut of the Sheikh. When sounded, it is to announce to the natives
that news, or some order from the Sultan has arrived, which is
loudly proclaimed by the Sheikh, or people who may be ordered to do
so. Those who are at a distance come and listen to the proclamation,
and carry it to their neighbours. This evening it was an order to
every family to supply a certain quantity of food on the morrow
for the Ghrazzie “of our Lord the Sultan,” and a proportionate
allowance of straw and dates for the horses; we took the hint, and
secured three days’ fodder for ours. I was informed that all the
towns south of Morzouk have these drums, but I had never seen one;
the poor people consider this kind of sound as not very agreeable,
for they never hear the music without paying the piper.
In the course of our journey Besheer often mentioned his having been
at the Bahr el Ghazal; and his account agrees with almost every one I
have heard. He says that there must once have been a great sea there,
as he himself has picked up handsome shells, (according to the Arabs,
Beit el Khoot, بيت الخوت, or fishes’ houses,) imbedded
in the earth, and as large as his double fist; also backbones of
fish the size of his arm, (no small one,) which were petrified;
and he added, that if the pieces were joined together, it would
appear that the fish, when alive, must have been ten or twelve
feet in length. The Kaid dressed and dried, with the hair on, the
skin of the sheep I had killed, by stretching it on the ground,
and rubbing it with Gurd pods pounded, and afterwards with salt;
he allowed it one day to dry, and then softened it by rubbing it
with butter, the hair remaining perfectly firm.
January 10th. Thermometer 2° 30′. Went out to meet Sidi Aleiwa
and the Ghrazzie, whom I joined at El Bakkhi. The horsemen were in
a body, and the foot and captives followed. After many compliments,
and shaking hands with all my old friends, I returned with them
to Gatrone. They had brought with them 800 lean cripples, clad in
skins and rags, between 2000 and 3000 Maherries, and about 500
asses: 180 of the mounted Arabs, and about 300 foot, were still
left behind in the negro country; 100 horses came with Aleiwa, and
400 Arabs; nearly 1000 camels, and many captives, had died on the
road, besides children: the death of the latter was not included,
as they were not considered of any importance. If a brutal Arab
found a child in a plundered village, so young as to require milk,
it was considered sufficient to try to keep the poor infant a day
or two on dates and water mixed, and if it sickened, to throw it
on the road side to die, or to be devoured by the jackals. A wretch
of the Boowadie Arabs, endeavoured to laugh at an acknowledgment of
his having followed this odious practice; and he was much astonished
at my driving him out of the house in consequence.
I could not in any instance find that these cowardly ruffians ever
dared to attack an armed man, whilst they inflicted every species of
cruelty on invalids, old people, and children. Mohammed el Lizari,
a friend of ours and a principal Mamluke of Fezzan, was the actual
commander of this expedition, though Aleiwa was the nominal one. This
man was so disgusted at the scenes which he had witnessed, that he
determined never again to accompany the Ghrazzie; indeed his having
now done so was not with his own consent, but in consequence of an
order from Mukni, which precluded all possibility of refusal. The
Ghrazzie had been six months absent, during which time they had
overrun Bergoo (of the Tibboo), Wajunga, and the southern part
of the Bahr el Ghazal. In Bergoo their success was not great, as
the Tibboo were warned of their approach, and had nimbly betaken
themselves to their native fastnesses in the rocks. Afraid to follow
them, these wretches made themselves amends by firing at the poor
Negroes, well aware that they had no guns with which to defend or
revenge themselves. On the return of these people through Tibesty,
with which country Mukni is at peace, they endeavoured to take a
few of the Tibboo camels (in a friendly way,) and for that purpose
sent three of the Sultan’s household slaves to demand that they
should be given up; these the Tibboo seized and put to death,
considering them as nothing less than robbers. Aleiwa’s people,
however, succeeded in taking prisoners some of this tribe, cutting
the throats of fifteen men and women, and making captive 130 young
men and girls, with 200 camels. I was induced to ask who were the
aggressors in this case. “Oh! the Tibboo assuredly, for they are
Kaffirs and thieves: we only wanted 300 or 400 camels for the Sultan,
and were at peace with them, and did not intend making any slaves;
therefore they ought not to have resisted us.”
The Tibboo of Borgoo are all Kaffirs, but are quiet inoffensive
people, living in houses made of palm-leaf mats, called Booshi, which
are so closely woven, that the rain cannot penetrate them. I have
seen huts of this description at Gatrone and Tegerry, and consider
them superior to the Fezzan houses in general. Very little corn is
cultivated in Bergoo, the inhabitants subsisting chiefly on dates,
which grow there in immense quantities, of an inferior kind, and on
the flesh of their sheep, goats, and camels: they have also a small
breed of black cattle, but these are chiefly used for milking. The
arms of these people I have spoken of in a former page. Their
dress has very little variety; and except the skins of animals
they have only such coarse cloths as they sometimes obtain from
their trading neighbours, which they wear, having a piece before and
another behind, hanging down as low as the knees. Boys and girls are
entirely naked, and few of the men have any other covering than a
leather wrapper round the loins; all have the head bare. Marriage,
according to the accounts of the Arabs, who vilify them in order to
excuse their own cruelties, is unknown among them, and the women are
in common: brothers and sisters live together, and confess it when
asked. They have no knowledge of a God; they are, nevertheless,
peaceable and neighbourly towards each other. One or two whom I
questioned, admitted that there was a great Spirit who, made them;
but laughed when I asked where he was to be found? They imagine
thunder and lightning to be produced by their deceased friends,
and are therefore very fearful during a storm. They eat the blood of
camels when baked over a fire; and they also will eat animals which
die a natural death. Lizari came and lodged with us; we provided him
with clothes, and made him as comfortable as we could. Neither he,
nor any of the Ghrazzie, had for the last forty-two days tasted any
other food than dates; he was fat, however, and so were they all,
which is a strong proof of the nutritious quality of that fruit.
Mukni, who was very jealous of Lizari, and bore him great ill will,
sent orders to certain people to murder him, by firing ball at
him whilst at their evenings’ diversions; but his situation as
a great man in Fezzan, and his excellent private character, had
made him so respected, that those who had orders to kill him came
and informed him of his danger, promising to defend rather than
to injure him. He remained, however, in most unpleasant suspense,
lest a second order should be more effectual. Even in our house,
and in the same room with us, he slept with his pistols cocked
under his head, and his sabre by his side.
The people of Wajunga are much allied to the Tibboo in their habits,
arms, &c.; but the men have a way of plaiting their hair which is
very remarkable, and in some it resembles the curling of a ram’s
horn, in size and shape.
I saw this day a fine young Tibboo woman of Gatrone, who was
inquiring amongst the Arabs if any one of them had a child to
sell. She soon found one, whose mother had died on the road: it was
about three weeks old, and miserably thin. As she wanted to suckle
it, having lost her own infant, she bargained for it, and at last
purchased it with a wooden bowl of about the value of sixpence, and a
gallon of dates, worth about a penny more. She however soon returned
with the child, which she tossed back to the man who had sold it,
complaining that it would not take the breast, and demanding the
purchase money back. The dates had been eaten, but the bowl was
returned to her; and so ended the bargain, an Arab taking charge
of the poor infant, and promising to carry it home to his wife.
A sick child whom I took under my care, and to whom I administered
medicine, amused me much by his alarm at the sight of bread when
shewn to him for the first time. I offered him a little flat loaf,
and he was for a long while considering whether he should venture
to touch it, but at last mustered courage to take it up, apparently
in great trepidation, holding it between his fingers and thumbs,
and frequently turning it round. Having first smelt to it, he began
to nibble; and being very hungry and cold, and finding it not quite
so terrific as he imagined, the poor little fellow despatched it
very soon. I continued to feed him for the two or three days we
remained together, and his mode of expressing his gratitude, was
by coming close to me, and looking up in my face.
Many of the children were carried in leather bags, which the Tibboo
make use of to keep their corn in; and in one instance I saw a nest
of children on one side of a camel, and its young one in a bag,
hanging on the other. The Arabs brought many asses and sheep from
Borgoo: the former are very large and fine, and arrived in high
condition, whereas the horses and camels were skeletons. I here had
an opportunity of seeing the manner of chaining the prisoners. Five
Wajunga men, fierce, well made, handsome people, about 25 years
of age, were linked together. The right hand is fastened to the
neck, round which is an iron collar, having two rings in the back;
through this the heavy chain is passed and locked at each end on the
unhappy slaves. The owner sleeps with this chain tied to his wrist,
when in fear of their escaping. I was informed by their masters,
that these men had been so confined during three months, “because
they were fierce fellows, and had actually resisted their captors;
but above all, they had been guilty of endeavouring to make their
escape when taken.” Their cowardly owners dreaded them even
in Fezzan. These were the only strong young men in the Kafflé;
almost all the other males being little boys, or infirm old men.
The Tibboo of Borgoo are represented as a timid race, in such dread
of a gun or horse, that the bare sight of an Arab, and particularly
a mounted one, is sufficient to put a number of them to flight. They
run with great swiftness, and when endeavouring to escape, use many
successful and ingenious feints. For instance; if pursued on rocky
ground, they will kneel suddenly in such a manner, as to resemble a
rock or stone, the mountains in their own country being black like
themselves; if where wood is lying, they embrace the trunk of a tree:
if on sandy ground, they stand on an eminence, until their pursuer
is in the hollow near them, they then run to the next hollow, and
change their direction or even bury themselves before he gets to
the rising ground. They show equal skill in eluding the vigilance
of their keepers when caught. Mukni has often told me stories of
their cunning, with evident astonishment and anger, that these poor
wretches should dare to use their wits to such advantage. One of his
remarks was, “if you catch one, and do not immediately bind him,
when you turn away from him, he will run off.”
The country from whence these poor victims come produces sufficient
dates to furnish the whole army, and the conquerors brought away
enough to supply their slaves and animals. There are in this country
some singular insulated rocks, which are almost inaccessible, and
which stand on plains of sand. On these many of the Tibboo live, and
by means of large stones and arrows are able to keep off any people,
who, like themselves, are without muskets. The Sultan’s army, in a
former Ghrazzie, stormed some of these fastnesses; and though they
were superior in number and arms, and the Tibboo naturally timid,
they met with very severe loss.
The plan adopted by the Arabs in taking these people is described in
the following manner.—They rest for the night, two or three hours
ride from the village intended to be attacked; and after midnight,
leaving their tents and camels, with a small guard, they advance,
so as to arrive by daylight; they then surround the place, and,
closing in, generally succeed in taking all the inhabitants. As those
who elude the first range have also to pass several bodies placed on
the look-out, and armed with guns, their chance of escape is almost
impossible. On a rising ground, at a convenient distance, is placed
a standard, round which are stationed men prepared to receive and
bind the captives, as they are brought out by those who enter the
town: when bound, the pillagers return for fresh plunder. In the
course of one morning, a thousand or fifteen hundred slaves have
sometimes been procured in this manner, by two or three hundred men
only. When the inhabitants are all secured, the camels, flocks, and
provisions, come into requisition; and these dreaded Arabs march
on and conquer other defenceless hordes, in the same manner. The
Tibboo of Borgoo are of a lighter complexion than other Negroes,
and are handsome people. The females braid their hair, which is
not very woolly, in long plaits, which hang down round their head
in bobbins of sometimes eighteen inches in length.
The Arabs found many pigeons in Borgoo; these birds emigrate from
Fezzan in October and November, to Kawār, Bilma, Borgoo, and other
places to the southward.
January 12th. Therm. 3°. Left Gatrone, and preceded the Ghrazzie
to the wells of Wudakaire, from which place I have already noted
the bearings to Gatrone. We slept here, and took care that it
should be at least a mile distant from the Arabs. My Maherry was
now in tolerable condition, owing to the care taken of him by the
Marāboot, to whom I sent a six-bladed knife, as an acknowledgment
for his trouble; this he considered so splendid a present, that
his house had a constant succession of visitors, to see and admire
its wonderful blades, saws, &c. which were opened with great care,
and looked on with astonishment.
January 13th. Therm. 2°. 10′.—We left Wudakaire at 7.20. and
passed over a desert of sand, without a break in the horizon,
N. 10°. W. 35 miles, when at seven we arrived at Mestoota
مستوته, a small spot of about two miles in circumference,
covered with palm and Attila bushes; and having a low marsh,
abounding in rushes, and the favourite shrubs of the camels,
viz. Deesa ديسه, Agool عقول, and Dthamaran ظمرعن. There
are many wells here, and an old ruined Arab castle. We observed
the Ghrazzie to encamp about five miles short of this place. The
Jerboas were here in immense quantities, and ran over our heads
the whole night: they were even bold enough to attempt stealing a
piece of bread from under my head.
Friday 14th. Therm. 2°. 30′. below zero.—Water which we had
left in a bowl over night, became ice of the thickness of half an
inch; and the Gerbas (water skins) were so completely frozen up at
the necks, that we were obliged to melt them over a fire. What must
the poor naked Negroes, who know no winter, have suffered during
the whole of this night, lying out uncovered, on the sand! We had a
long chase after our horses, which had broken loose and gone away,
until 10.20. when, after much trouble in securing them, we set off,
passing as before over a flat plain of sand until 3.20. when we
arrived at some dangerously high sand hills; down which I every
moment expected the Maherry, which carried myself and two sacks
of dates, would tumble. At 7.30. we arrived safely past the hills
at Māfen معفن, a small village which I saw from Traghan,
when first I went there. We had travelled, when on the plain,
N. 35°. E. 15 miles, and over the sand hills, N. 10°. E. 12 miles.
Saturday 15th. Therm. 2°. Fine morning.—Started at nine from
Māfen, and passed over a most curious plain of salt and earth, so
broken by the sun, that it resembled the rough and irregular lava
of Vesuvius; large slabs of four or five feet in height, with sharp
points, were sticking up in every direction, and as hard as stone. I
think it next to an impossibility for a man to walk even a few yards
over this ground. A poor path, barely wide enough for a camel, has
been cut and worn through it; but many accidents still happen by
animals falling on their journey over it. This extraordinary bed
extends east and west above twenty miles, and is about three in
breadth at this part. I paid it a much longer visit than I could
have wished, being attacked so severely by hemma, as to be obliged
to dismount and lie in the road, until the afternoon, without water
to relieve me, or any thing at hand to assuage the pain in my liver.
On my recovery, we passed Traghan, without entering the town; and
having refreshed ourselves at a well of tolerably good water, went
on with Besheer to his house at Deesa, where he killed the fatted
calf, and gave us the most cordial welcome. His mother and young
wife came out to receive us, and with his sisters, wept for joy at
his return. I gave the old woman some eye medicine, for which she
wanted me to accept a fine fat-tailed sheep; and his sister furnished
us with eggs, fowls, and sour milk in abundance. Kaid Saad would
not stop here; but after taking Lackbi enough to make him merry,
set off for Zaizow, to prepare a welcome for us on the morrow.
January 16th. Therm. 4°. We set out at ten for Morzouk. I suffered
Belford and the camel to go on, and remained amongst the surrounding
little hamlets, with Besheer, who introduced me to his friends
and neighbours, many compliments passing on both sides. He also
presented me to a very pretty girl whom he had fixed on as his new
wife, making two his complement. About noon, we heard the firing of
the Ghrazzie’s people on entering Beedan بيدان a village near
Zaizow, and soon after, arriving at the latter place, we alighted
at the residence of Kaid Saad. We found him lying on the ground,
most amusingly drunk and communicative, and surrounded by fowls
and bread, eggs, cakes, soup, sweet and sour lackbi, and dates.
He was all generosity, and would have given us his whole house,
and into the bargain, even his old wife, who waited on us during
the meal, and was highly oiled for the occasion. We soon discovered,
as he was not in condition to keep a secret, why he had recourse to
such large draughts of lackbi. He had boasted, all the time he was
with me, of his second wife, and had promised I should be treated
with a sight of her, if he could prevail on so beautiful and bashful
a creature to show her face to any other man than her husband: no
sooner, however, had he left Zaizow to accompany me a month before,
than this charming person decamped. She first collected as much
corn as she could find, and a dollar or two which were hoarded
up; and after abusing her house-mate, the elder wife, set out for
Morzouk. Report spoke unfavourably of her conduct there, and the
old man was endeavouring, in consequence, to drown his sorrows in
his favourite liquor. The lady of the house presented me with a
bowl of Soudan manufacture.
This afternoon, a man came to me for medicine, for a pain in the
chest, and opening his shirt, displayed the most sickening sight
I ever beheld: he had been so burnt over the whole of his breast,
that it had festered, and become a sore of above a foot in diameter,
and had so eaten into his skin, that I imagined he could not
survive many days. I had nothing with me which would relieve him,
but advised that his sore should be kept clean, a precaution which
had never entered his head. His friend, who brought him to me, said,
that for all the world he would not suffer him to be washed, as he
had read in a book, that using water to a burn occasioned certain
death. Thus, owing to their ignorance and prejudice, this poor man
probably lost his life. After being nearly killed with kindness,
we set out. The Kaid, though almost incapable of sitting his own
poor lean horse, amused himself by riding at full speed before and
across mine, screeching and discharging his gun out of compliment
to me; but happily for his own neck, and I may add for mine also,
in about half an hour his powder failed him.
In the evening we arrived at Morzouk, and found that my kind friends,
Yussuf and the old Hadje, had prepared a feast for me. I went to
visit Mukni, who received me very graciously, and thanked me for
going to meet his son, whom he pretended to be ashamed of, for not
having presented me with a couple of Maherrys; one to eat, and the
other to ride on. Yussuf and the old man spent the greater part
of the night with us, relating all the city news; and I promised
them, that on the morrow, I would set out with the Sultan’s two
youngest sons, to Hadge Hajeel, to meet and return with the Ghrazzie
to Morzouk.
January 17th. Therm. 6°.—I set out as I had proposed, with the
Mamlukes and a large body of Fezzanners, to meet their friends;
for which, on joining Aleiwa’s people, I received many thanks
and compliments: having only slept one night at my own house,
I was not expected to leave it again so quickly. I here found
my little patient, whom I mentioned before, quite recovered, and
able, by his master’s instruction, to thank me in a few words
of Arabic. This little fellow’s patience, during illness, had so
won on his master, a shoemaker of Morzouk, that he had adopted him;
and intended, instead of selling, to bring him up to his own trade,
in which, if the boy succeeds, he is to make me a pair of boots on
my return. We spent this afternoon in singing and eating, and every
one assumed a new appearance: instead of the dirty ragged wretches
whom I had last seen, they were transformed into a gay multitude,
dressed in silks, scarlet, and embroidery; their friends collecting
for them such finery as would enable them to enter the capital with
becoming dignity. Many of the Arabs smelt most odoriferously of
attar of roses, and affected to look as if they had been accustomed
to it all their lives.
The whole procession would have been very amusing, on the morning of
the 18th, but for the multitude of poor dejected captives;—their
swelled and sore feet, and emaciated bodies, formed such a sad
contrast to the finery and ostentation of the conquerors, that it not
only completely checked all inclination to laugh, but gave rise to
the most painful feelings. Six flags preceded the army with a large
band of musicians, who formed a melodious concert, each disdaining
time or tune, and playing such airs as their own taste dictated. On
approaching Morzouk, the dancing women and bagpipers came out, and
added to the din; and the Arabs, dividing as usual into two bodies,
skirmished with very good effect. At noon we entered the town, and
I rode ahead of the Sultan’s son, to observe what would be his
father’s reception of him. I found Mukni sitting in the greatest
agitation, pale, and alone in the Mezlis, or Court of his Castle,
and scarcely able to welcome me. The crowd assembling, a lane was
formed from the place where Aleiwa was to alight, to the great
chair in which the Sultan sat. The boy dismounted, and, supported
by his younger brother, ran and threw himself on his knees to kiss
his father’s hand. A general silence prevailed, when the father,
overcome by his feelings, reclined on the son’s neck, and wept
aloud. At that moment I felt that I could have forgiven him all his
unkindness to Mr. Ritchie and myself, and the numerous murders he
had committed; had I not recollected that this favourite boy was
returning with many poor children, whose existence was not less dear
to their own parents than his was to Mukni. When the Sultan had
become a little composed, and had re-assumed his look of dignity,
a splendid Bornouse of cloth of gold was brought, and Aleiwa being
stripped of that which he then wore, by some of the principal people,
the new one was thrown over him, for which he knelt and kissed his
father’s hand. This, I find, is the customary present in all the
Barbary states to generals returning victorious. The ceremony over,
all the Arabs commenced kissing hands, and the Sultan then, having
vouchsafed a smile on the crowd, entered the Castle, leaning on
the shoulders of his two sons.
January 19th.—All this day the Sultan was sitting outside the
Castle gate, surrounded by Sheikh Barood and the Arabs, and buying
of them, slaves and camels.
The square near the Castle presented quite a novel appearance,
being filled with above 1000 Maherries. The town was all alive,
and formed a very amusing spectacle. Merchants from neighbouring
countries, Tibboo, Tuarick, Arabs, and camels, were all in motion at
once, while the poor Negroes, who occasioned the assemblage of so
many strangers, sat naked and shivering in the sun, and were oiled
all over to better their appearance. Some were paraded for sale,
whilst others went about with broken pots to collect the blood of
the numerous camels, which people were slaughtering, and which,
on being baked over a fire, they eagerly swallowed. Such skeletons
as were seen amongst them might really have moved the pity even of
their owners. Slaves were selling as low as ever, and the market
was full: a fine girl of thirteen years of age was worth about
thirty-five dollars; a boy of the same age about fifteen or twenty;
occasionally the price was greater for the females, if particularly
handsome; but boys seldom rose higher than the sum I have mentioned.
None but the Bedouins appear to approve of these Ghrazzies; their
wandering manner of life, and total want of every social feeling,
their having no lands to cultivate, or houses to take care of,
may account for it. Those who have possessions are aware that these
predatory excursions are the ruin of the country and of trade; but
their fear of Mukni is even greater than their love of home, and they
therefore must engage, however unwillingly, in this service. Every
man who attends the Ghrazzies is obliged to furnish himself with
arms and provisions, and he is at liberty to make what plunder or
captives he can, which, with the exception of one-fourth, is his
own private property. A general attack, in which all are engaged,
allows of no man appropriating to himself the slaves he takes,
as all are carried to the standard, and thus divided; the Sultan
has one-fourth, every footman is entitled to one slave, and every
horseman to two. Should the number of captives exceed that of
the captors, a second sharing is made after each man has received
his first portion; but should the number of slaves not amount to
that of the captors, they are divided, one between two or three,
in proportion. Two little children are considered as equal to a
young boy, and two boys of about nine or ten years of age, or one
girl of the same age, make a share.
About this time I frequently visited the slave-markets, which are
conducted with the same degree of indifference to the feelings of
the captives as at Tripoli. There are many auctioneers, as well
for slaves, as for other articles of trade; each runs from side to
side of the street, crying in a shrill voice the price last bidden,
and standing on tiptoes: should he be selling a slave, the poor
creature follows him at a trot, like a dog, to the different groups
of merchants who are sitting on the sand.
Aboo Becker Boukhalloum ابوبكربوخلّوم, the Sultan’s
head man, arrived from Tripoli, bringing with him the Bashaw’s
Teskera, continuing Mukni in the command of Fezzan for three years,
on condition of his paying to the Bashaw 80,000 dollars. In order
to treat this person with great respect, and to show he was “the
man the King delighted to honour,” the Sultan’s three sons,
and all the horsemen to be found, were sent to meet him at Dgleim,
and accompany him to the town; drums and colours preceding him,
and the inhabitants, who cared not if he were alive or dead, roaring
for joy. This man had been an Augela Arab five or six years before;
but now, covered with gold and scarlet, was as great as fine clothes
(the African standard of dignity) could make him. On his arrival at
the Mezlis, the Sultan received him sitting in his chair of state;
and having read the Bashaw’s letter (or affected to do so, for
his Majesty is no scholar), he thrice kissed and put it to his
forehead. The Fighi then read it in a loud voice to the people,
who all exclaimed, “Thank God!”
A fine yellow Bornouse, ornamented with lace, having been sent as a
present, Mukni descended from his throne, and after being stripped
by his slaves of the one he then wore, he put on the new one,
first kissing, and thrice putting it to his head.
I received a large packet of letters by Bookhalloum, who said he
had often seen the Consul and Dr. Dickson; he also brought me money
from a kind friend, who was aware of our distressed situation.
From a number of persons, who had been on the recent expedition,
I obtained the following account of the routes they had taken,
which, as the narrators pretty generally agreed in them, I have
reason to believe correct.
_Tegerry to Borgoo._
South.
Tegerry to Meshroo 2 days. South, a well.
Meshroo to El Warr 2½ Well amongst rocks.
El Warr to El Fezzn 2 A well.
South-east.
El Fezzn to Aboo 4 {This is a town of Tibesty,
{Febaboo of maps.
South-south-east.
Aboo to Wadey Khareet 1 A well.
Wadey to Tow 1 Well in a wadey.
Tow to Zooar 1 {Rain water in the rocks.
Zooar to Marmar 1 {
Marmar to Subka 2½ Well, and dome dates.
Subka to Turké 1 Well.
East.
Turké to Borgoo 4
--
22 days.
The chief town is called Yen.—The above are not towns, but
resting-places.
_Yen to_
Kermedi ½ day.
Wann 2
Gorr ½
El Bummel ½
Tikki 2
Beddou 2
Werda 2
Yen is more properly a large nest of mud huts than a town. Its
inhabitants are, in time of peace, very numerous, and are all
Kaffirs. It is to this place that the natives of Waday come in
Kafflés to trade for slaves. Several of the King of Waday’s men
were taken captive by Mukni’s people near this place.
_Tegerry to Bilma._
South.
Tegerry to Meshroo 2 days. A well.
Meshroo to El Warr 2½ Well on a rock.
El Warr to El Hammer 2
El Hammer to Maffrus 2½ A well.
Maffrus to Zhaia 2 Rain water and dates.
Zhaia to Siggidum 1½ An old castle and well.
Siggidum to Annai 1 Well and domes.
Annai to Kisbi 1 Town. Tibboo of the
Kisbi to Dirki ½ Town. tribes Kawār,
Dirki to Shenumma 1 Town. Wandela, Gunda,
Shenumma to Bilma 1 Town. and Traita.
--
Total 17 days.
All these are resting-places.
Kawār and Bilma are not distinct countries, but are names of two
parts of the same, having little villages, and scattered families
all over the desert; the people are Mohammedans and Kaffirs, though
the latter are the most numerous.
Wajunga, a country also pillaged during the last excursion, is
eight days east of Borgoo. It is a considerable tract, and has two
large towns or districts one day east and west of each other. The
eastern one has a very large river running north and south through
it, five or six hundred yards in breadth, and of great depth. The
water is brackish, and in it are abundance of very fine fish. The
Ghrazzie passed this river on rafts, and the horses, having been
previously slung with inflated gerbas, or water-skins, were towed
across. The whole of this country is very mountainous, having large
rocky tracts of perfectly black stone, which they say not a little
favoured the escape of the greater part of the inhabitants, who
were not easily distinguished from them. Some of the rocks here,
as well as in Borgoo, are so perpendicular and high, that, to use
an Arab expression, “You could not see their tops without losing
your tagaia, or red cap.”
The western Wajunga has three rivers running through it, two of
which are sweet “as honey,” and one salt; the largest, which
the Arabs say is the Nil, is of great breadth, and very deep,
and runs from west to east. Dates are in great plenty here, and
the cattle very numerous; there are also elephants in this country,
and multitudes of ostriches. The people of both sexes are clothed in
skins; some, however, wear a curious leather gown. They are a fine
race of people, and are swift runners; but the Arabs consider them
in the light of Kaffirs, asserting that they were not made by God,
but that they came by chance.
Wajunga to Waday is ten days south. On the road Terraweiya is three
days from Wajunga.
_Borgoo to_
Bahr el Ghazal 5 days, south.
Kanem 12 south-west.
Waday 14 south-south-east.
From the well of El Wiakh, which is two days to the southward of
Tegerry, is another road to Tibesty, shorter, yet at the same time
more difficult than the other, being seven long days from thence to
Braï, at which place rain water is found. These seven days are over
a black range of mountains, which are destitute of water, grass,
shrubs, or living animals; and in many places so very difficult of
ascent, that camels and horses often meet their death by falls in
passing them. The plain round the well of El Wiakh is said to be
quite covered with human and other bones. In the Kafflés coming
from Waday, many of the slaves and animals are often so exhausted
by fatigue in passing this dreary road, that on being allowed a
day’s rest, they become too stiff and sore to be able to proceed,
and are thus left to perish. Many poor sinking wretches are deserted
by their masters while yet alive, and it not unfrequently happens,
that in order to get the healthy slaves to a resting-place, the
sick ones are left to their fate.
Arna and Braï are three days apart. Berdai (which I take to be
the Berdoa of the maps) is two days east of Tibesty. From Braï to
Marmar is nine days south-east.
A tribe of Tibboo, called by some Febaboo, is not known. I suspect
Aboo, in Tibesty, is the name from which it has been taken by
mistake. It is a small town, and not, as has been supposed, a tribe.
January 24th.—This morning I sat in the Mezlis, and saw the Arabs
and Sultan’s people buying and selling the recently captured
slaves. The manner of conducting the sale was quite new to me,
and let me into the secret of the method taken by the great
man to ascertain how much was due to him out of every private
capture. Bookhalloom, old Sheikh Barood, and some more of the
Sultan’s people, amongst whom are one or two of his scribes,
summon the slaves of every person concerned in the Ghrazzie before
them, the masters attending also. Each slave is then put up to
auction at a certain price; the Sultan’s brokers only bidding
high for the finest, the other people, who sit round in crowds,
also bidding vociferously. The owner bids against them until he
has what he considers the value of the slave offered him, when, if
he chooses to sell, he has three fourths of the money paid to him,
while one-fourth is paid by the purchaser to the Sultan. Should he
not wish to part with his slaves, he buys them in, and the sum which
he last names is considered as the price, from which he has to pay
the Sultan’s share. The scribes write down each slave-owner’s
name, and the sum due from him to the Sultan, and thus the account
is easily kept between them.
Last night an entertainment was provided for me by Mohammed el
Lizari, to celebrate my birthday. Lilla Fātma honoured his house
with her presence, and was covered with silks, gold, and red paint,
which she took care occasionally to show as she accidentally, or
rather purposely, dropped her Aba from her face. About a hundred
noisy, greasy Morzouk women amused the company, and nearly stunned
me by playing on erbabs, drums, tin-pots, and gourds; there was also
much dancing, with Lackbi and pipes in abundance. I was sensible of
this kindness on the part of Lizari, but I certainly never wished
again to pass so noisy and tiresome a birthday. These compliments
were followed up by a present of a young camel, on which I was
to feast.
As it was Lizari’s wish to accompany me to Tripoli, he held daily
consultations with his friends on the subject; and this plan was
at length arranged, as a security against the acts of Mukni, who,
we greatly feared, would cause him to be privately murdered before
I left Morzouk. In the meantime it was considered necessary that he
and his household should be always armed; and as I did not quite
understand Mukni’s behaviour to myself, I also determined to be
on my guard, constantly concealing a pair of pistols in my dress. We
found great difficulty in procuring camels, the Arabs, who let them,
being busily occupied in the slave-markets. Some Kafflés at this
time came in from Soudan and Bornou, bringing about 1000 slaves,
chiefly female.
As I am now about to leave Morzouk, and have been enabled from
actual observation in my journey to the extremity of Fezzan to form
an opinion of that kingdom, I shall subjoin all the information
I have been able to collect on its general state, as well as the
habits and customs of the natives.