Method of cultivating and using millet. — Character of the hassanes
or warriors. — The balanites ægyptiaca, its fruit, method of
extracting oil from it. — Quarrel excited by a woman. — Manner of
protecting oneself from cold in the tents. — Method of collecting
gum. — Marriages of the marabouts, and of the hassanes. —
Inheritance of property. — Method of tanning leather. — Dress of
the Moors.
The millet is reaped at the end of May; at that time the marabouts
receive it from their slaves and the hassanes from their zenagues,
or tributaries. This millet supports them till the month of July when
the rainy season commences; they then withdraw from the banks of the
river, and live entirely on milk. If any millet remains, it is laid
by till the next dry season.
In the month of November, when the waters begin to subside, the Moors
send their slaves to sow the ground which has been flooded by the
rains, or by the overflowing of the river. It is at this season also,
that the zenagues come down to the banks of the river to cultivate
millet. The slaves of the same camp lodge together, and cultivate the
same district; each field is marked out, and the produce carefully
kept in a separate place. Their method of cultivation is exceedingly
bad, but it gives them little trouble. With a thick stick they make
holes in the ground six inches deep, and into these holes they drop
three or four grains of millet, covering them with sand or light
mould. They never prepare the ground in any way, and only weed it
after the millet has come up. To save themselves trouble they select
a poor soil, because a richer would require more weeding, and they
are naturally lazy. When the seed is sown, they wait quietly till
the millet makes it appearance, then thin it a little, and weed round
the roots to give it air; many do no more than this, and suffer the
grass to grow up between the roots.
When the ear begins to show, they stay in the field to drive away
the birds, which would devour the grain before it is ripe; and this
occupation does not allow them a moment’s rest: they walk about
the field incessantly, shouting and throwing stones, and at night
they lie down among it to protect it from gazelles, porcupines,
and wild boars, which would make great havoc.
When the millet is ripe, they cut it, and thrash it with sticks. The
grain is put into sacks, and carried to the camp, and those who have
reaped more than they are likely to want carry the surplus to the
markets, and sell it to the dealers.
On the 4th of November, the son-in-law of Mohammed-Sidy-Moctar came
to the camp. As he did not lodge with his father-in-law, I conclude
that they were not on good terms. I went to pay him a visit; he was
very polite, and asked me many questions about the resolution which I
had taken, congratulating me upon it, and telling me that he was very
much afraid the christians would detain my goods, or, if I returned
to fetch them, would detain me by force. I endeavoured to correct a
mistake which proceeded from his religion, and assured him that the
christians would leave me at perfect liberty to do what I pleased;
and that as to my goods they would be as safe in their hands as in
my own. “The whites,” said I, “rob nobody; their laws punish
such crimes with severity, and they would do justice to the poorest
Musulman exactly as they would to a christian of the first importance;
both are equal in the eye of the law.” I seized this opportunity to
ask him, why the Musulmans pursued a conduct with regard to christians,
so contrary to religion; and why they ill-treated and made slaves of
those who ventured amongst them for commercial objects, without having
committed any offence. “I cannot believe,” added I, “that a good
and merciful God approves of such conduct. If you want to convert the
christians, it can only be effected by intercourse with them, and by
excelling them in justice and kindness—not by ill-treating them. For
my part, I am a Musulman, but I shall never approve of doing ill to
those who have done us no harm.” The marabout allowed the truth of
what I advanced; but he said it was unbearable, that when a Musulman
spoke to a christian about the prophet, the christian should laugh in
his face; that none but an infidel would do so; and that it would be
a good action to kill him, that they might both go to heaven. I wished
to enter into some particulars respecting christianity; but I durst not
let my zeal run away with me, and I contented myself with telling him
that the christians adored the same God as the Musulmans. “Yes,”
said he, “I know that; but they never pray; they drink wine and
spirituous liquors, which is displeasing to God; and the religion of
Mahomet, which alone is agreeable to him, condemns to everlasting fire
those who do not adopt it.” He asked me afterwards if I meant to make
a journey to Mecca; to which I replied that it was the duty of every
good Musulman, and that I hoped to discharge it. He took me by the
hand, and answered: “That is right, Abdallahi, you love God and the
prophet.” Boubou-Fanfale served as interpreter in this conversation.
The same day, a young Moor invited me to accompany him into the
woods, where I was to meet a number of other young men from the same
camp. When we came to a very thick part of the wood, he sat down,
and a moment after a slave brought a sheep; he then picked up wood,
and lighted a fire, after having made a hole in the ground, in the
form of an oven; a marabout then killed the sheep,[24] and the slave
skinned it. The marabouts took the intestines, which they emptied
by squeezing them between their fingers; and then, without washing,
they made puddings with them; these were put over the fire, and eaten
when they were half cooked. When there was a large quantity of embers,
they were removed from the hole, and the sheep put in their place;
embers and ashes were then spread over it, and fire kindled above. In
half an hour’s time, my companions considered that the sheep was
sufficiently dressed; they took it out of the hole, gave the head
and a scrap of the neck to the slave, and divided the rest into as
many portions as there were persons present; lots were cast after
this to determine to whom each share should belong. Feasts of this
kind are much in vogue with the Moors; five or six young men join,
and furnish each a sheep in their turn, which they eat in the woods,
that they may not be beset as they would be in the camp. When they have
had as much as they can eat, they carry the rest to their relations;
but there is never much left for this purpose, and sometimes none at
all. Of the skins of their sheep and goats they make leather bags,
and use them to keep and carry water in; for that purpose, they
slit the skin of the animal from the knee nearly to the shoulders,
loosen it with their hands and turn it back, and then take out the
flesh through the opening.
On the 6th of November, the camp broke up; we then marched three
miles W. ¼ N.W. along the bank of a stream, where pasturage was
abundant. Part of the camp remained behind, and rejoined us on the
8th. I was informed by a marabout that Mohammed-Sidy-Moctar was then
on the road to his camp.
The ground in the vicinity of el-Hadjar is rich, and covered with
fine vegetation. The periodical inundation of the river deposits a
slime which improves the soil, and it is also enriched by the numerous
flocks and herds which are attracted by the pasturage. This virgin soil
wants nothing but the hand of the husbandman to produce in abundance
all the plants which it might be desirable to cultivate; but it would
be in vain to suggest such a thing to the Moors, and the distance
from the coast will never admit of a European establishment. Half a
league from the banks of this stream, the nature of the soil changes,
and it becomes ferruginous; vegetation is to be found only on little
patches of very hard yellow sand, where the rain brings forth a few
species of grass.
On the 9th of November, some Moors came and asked me to shew them the
proper way of taking sweet basil; Mohammed’s eldest son advised
me not to tell them till they had given me a new coussabe; but I
replied that if I was fortunate enough to have it in my power to
render any service to the Moors, I would do it for the love of God,
and not to gain a reward. I mention the fact to shew how little
idea those people have of generosity. I have already said that the
sons of my marabout gave me very few lessons; I did not, however,
neglect any opportunity of gaining instruction; I applied to the other
marabouts, who taught me some verses of the Koran, and I also learnt
from them the Arabic letters. The news of their father’s speedy
arrival rendered my hosts more attentive; they now furnished me with
a regular scholar’s board, and I was set morning and night to sing
the praises of God and his prophet, by the light of a small fire.
On the 10th, as I was boiling a little milk for my breakfast, two
hassanes, who had lately arrived at the camp, came to me; one of them
threw a dirty rag into my milk, and then began scolding his companion,
as if _he_ had done it, and pretending to take my part. This anecdote
will give a correct idea of this class. Both these men were still with
the camp on the 12th, when we were preparing to remove. They had found
a poor wretch, a _haddad_, or blacksmith, and wanted to force him to
give them a coussabe: the poor fellow had not one for himself, for he
was naked; they struck him, threatened him, and at last put a cord
round his neck, and tied him to a camel to take him off with them;
but, at this moment, a marabout interfered, and obtained his release
after many entreaties. When I inquired the cause of this cruelty, I
was told that the hassanes always treat the zenagues, or tributaries,
in this way when they want to extort something from them; they make
them run to keep up with their camels, beating them unmercifully,
and do not let them go till they get what they want.
The artizans are always zenagues; they are generally despised by
the other classes, and perpetually exposed to the rapacity of the
hassanes. When they have earned any thing by their labour, they
give it to a marabout to keep, for it would not be safe in their
own hands. They are either shoemakers or smiths; the shoemakers do
all kinds of work in leather, make shoes, portfolios, saddles, etc.;
the smiths make locks, fetters, poniards, and other iron articles;
they are also goldsmiths, and are extremely ingenious; though they
have few tools, they produce astonishing pieces of workmanship. Those
who employ them commonly supply them with metal, and pay them with
millet, milk, or stuff for clothing.
It was eight o’clock when the camp broke up. We travelled six miles
N.N.W., on a soil covered with iron-stone, and three miles over
yellow sand. The tree named _balanitis ægyptiaca_, grows here in
great abundance; the Senegal negroes call it soump. The Moors collect
the fruit of this tree, from the kernel of which they make a kind
of sangleh, which they relish much, because it is very greasy. This
kernel contains much oil, and the inhabitants of Senegal extract it for
their use when they are short of olive oil. I tasted it at St. Louis,
and found it tolerably good, but I think it might be better if more
care were taken in gathering the fruit, and expressing the oil. If
government were to afford encouragement to this culture, this fruit
might become an important article of commerce. The tree grows every
where near the Senegal. To extract the oil, the inhabitants pound
the kernels in a mortar; when reduced to a paste, they make a hole
in the middle, into which the oil flows speedily and abundantly;
they lade it out by degrees, until no more runs; they then squeeze
the paste in their hands, and it yields a little more oil, but not
so clear as the first. A quart of kernels produces about a bottle
of oil; hence it might be inferred, how much might be obtained by a
better process. The negroes eat the pulp of the fruit, either raw or
baked in the ashes. The trunk of the balanite furnishes yellow wood,
easily worked, and firm; the Laobés[25] make mortars, pestles,
baganes (large wooden bowls) and many other things of it.
On the 24th of November I was witness to a scene which diverted
me extremely. I saw a number of women outside the camp, who were
uttering shrill cries, and some children who were throwing stones;
I approached to see what was the matter, and found a woman in tears,
muffled up in her garments, and supported by her friends. While I was
inquiring the cause of her affliction, I espied some men and a crowd
of women at a distance, quarrelling about the loads of two oxen;
three slaves with leather straps attacked the women when they came
near the oxen, and the women in their turn laid on with sticks, and
pitched off the loads. While the men were engaged in replacing them
the women snatched what they could reach, and carried it off towards
the camp in triumph, singing as they went. This contest lasted more
than two hours, and the baggage was perceptibly diminished, when
the wife and daughter of the great marabout interfered; they seated
themselves on the remainder of the baggage, and the two parties began
to listen to one another. The distressed female was born in this
camp, and had married a marabout of a distant camp. Wishing to see
her relations again, she had persuaded her husband to accompany her;
some days after their arrival the husband was desirous of returning,
he put off his journey however, at the request of his wife. At last,
his business required it, and he was determined to return; but his
wife who was bent upon keeping him, got up a quarrel, struck him,
and collected all the women of the camp round him. The women flew
at the husband like furies; the husband was supported by some of his
friends; they tried to load the oxen again with the goods which the
women had thrown on the ground; the women pushed and pulled, and sent
them rolling with the bales; and the oxen were four times loaded and
unloaded in my presence. In vain did three strong negroes, slaves of
the husband, lash the women by the order of their master; they could
not keep off the crowd, but were beaten themselves; and the boys, who
are always fond of mischief, threw showers of stones upon them and the
marabouts. At last, the wife and daughter of the grand marabout having
taken possession of the baggage, a capitulation ensued; the women were
desired to disperse; and the marabouts promised to take the goods back
to the camp till the morrow. When every body was gone, they loaded
the oxen again and set off, taking with them about a fourth of their
goods; and in the evening the lady departed to rejoin her husband.
The Moorish women have great influence over their husbands, which
they frequently make a bad use of. Polygamy is not practised by the
inhabitants of this part of Africa, and their wives would not permit
them even to have concubines. The king himself has, like his subjects,
only one wife.
On the 25th of November, an hassane stole some oxen belonging to a
marabout of our camp, which caused a great bustle; every body was
on foot all the evening, and two friends of the injured man went to
the hassane’s camp to demand the oxen. I was told that if the king
had been there the thief would have been severely punished. The same
evening Mohammed-Sidy-Moctar arrived; I expected to see his family
very joyful upon the occasion, and was surprised that nobody went out
to meet him. He entered his tent, and saluted them all; his greeting
was very coldly returned; his daughter alone rose, and laid her hands
respectfully upon his head, without any demonstration of affection. I
have never seen the Moors embrace each other; even a lover does not
kiss his mistress; he lays his hand on her lips, and then puts it to
his own, no doubt to convey to it the kiss which she has impressed on
it. The next day the marabouts who went to demand the oxen returned;
but without success.
On the 28th, the grand marabout went himself to claim them, and they
were given up; he had much difficulty in prevailing, and did not
return till the 6th of December; the oxen arrived shortly after him.
The Moorish laws are very severe against theft, but they are hardly
ever enforced. If the thief is taken in the king’s presence,
the king may order him fifty or sixty stripes on the back, or have
his ears cut off, without any form of trial. Capital punishment is
sometimes inflicted upon the tributaries, but never upon hassanes or
marabouts. By the law of Mahomet, a thief is to have his hand cut
off; but every body has an interest in mitigating this clause, for
the Moors would all be one-handed if it were rigorously enforced. The
law does not apply to those who pillage christians; on the contrary,
that is considered a meritorious action, and they lose no opportunity
of plundering them.
On the 10th of December, the camp moved twelve miles W. ¼ N.W. to
a spot three miles east of lake Aleg, whither a party went to fetch
water for the use of the camp. The women are charged with this labour;
they fill the skins and load them upon asses; at nine they left the
camp, and they were back again in an hour.
It was now beginning to be cold; the north wind blew violently, and
rendered the nights very unpleasant. At this season the Moors set
up the _varroi_, a large covering made of tanned sheep-skins sewed
firmly together; they stretch it over stakes in their tents, with the
sides hanging down, so as to keep off the wind during the night. They
have also woollen counterpanes, or cloaks, which they buy from the
Koont traders, who bring them from Wâlet, or other great towns in
the interior. They wrap themselves up in these counterpanes at night,
and also in the day, when the cold is severe. The slaves sleep also
under the varroi, upon the ground, with no other covering than the
sheep-skin which serves for their clothing.
On the 11th, I saw an ox killed: the four feet were first tied by
slaves, who knocked the beast down, and thrust a stake through the
skin of his throat to prevent him from moving his head; a marabout
stuck him, and the slaves took off the skin. The flesh was cut into
thin slices and hung upon cross-bars, fastened to poles, to dry. A
fence of briars was formed round it to keep off the dogs, and it was
covered with mats to preserve it from being spoiled by the sun. A
slave slept by it till it was dry, and kept up a small fire at night
to counteract the effect of damp. The meat thus dried was put in
leather sacks to preserve it. When it is well dried, it will keep a
long time, and has no disagreeable taste. The Moors generally eat it
without further preparation or cooking. The slaves who flay the ox
receive the neck and some bones; the head is given to the haddads,
and the other bones are distributed as presents.
The Moors never invite their friends, not even their relations, to eat
meat; what they have they keep for themselves. Sometimes a number of
them join together, each furnishing his ox, which they kill in turn,
and eat the flesh in common, as I have before said respecting the
young men and the sheep. This is a sort of carnival amongst them,
and they give it a name which signifies “a party to eat flesh.”
On the 12th of December I went to lake Aleg, it was surrounded by
camps of marabouts, for it is the rendezvous of all those who travel
on the banks of the river. The environs are broken by little hillocks
covered with iron-stone. The _voscia integrifolia_ grows abundantly
in the plain; the Moors collect the fruit, which they call _iré_,
and eat it cooked with meat. The banks of the lake are covered with
_mimosa_, _zizyphus lotus_, and _nauclea africana_. Its breadth
does not exceed three miles; it stretches from south to north, and
terminates in a north-westerly direction; the circumference may be
about twelve leagues. It overflows periodically, like the river,
and inundates the contiguous lands for a mile round. These lands are
particularly productive, and are cultivated by the Moors when the
waters have subsided. The lake is fed by the el-Hadjar, and by an
immense number of ravines, which collect water during the rainy season.
The season for collecting gum had now arrived, and every body was
employed in making preparations; I intimated a wish to accompany those
who were going out for that purpose, but I could not get leave. I
attribute this refusal to distrust; for the Moors conceive that the
Europeans wish to take possession of their country as being the finest
in the world. Not being allowed to gratify my wish of observing these
operations, I tried at all events to obtain accurate information on
the subject.
On the 13th the slaves destined to this labour set off under the
direction of several marabouts; it was not till some days afterwards
that I learnt from my host’s wife the particulars which I am now
about to relate. It has been believed, but without foundation, that
there were forests of gum-bearing trees in the desert; travellers have
fallen into this error from the inaccurate accounts of the Moors,
who, to do honour to their country, always profess that every thing
is to be found there in the greatest abundance. The acacia which
furnishes gum grows singly in all the elevated parts of the desert,
never on argillaceous or alluvial soil, but on dry sandy ground; it
is very rare on the banks of the Senegal. The tree is not the same
with the _mimosa gummifera_ of the botanists, which I had seen in
our settlements; its leaves are regularly pinnated; the folioles are
broader, thicker, and of a darker green; in its shape and appearance
it more nearly resembles the acacia cultivated in France.
The wells which have been dug in the interior, where the operation
of collecting the gum is carried on, have given their name to
the neighbourhood, and such has been the origin of the names that
have been given to the fictitious gum forests. Near these wells the
marabouts take up their abode, and the slaves cut straw to make huts;
a single marabout superintends the slaves of his whole family, or of
several of his friends; and he assembles them all, sometimes to the
number of forty or fifty under the same hut. Every marabout sends as
many slaves as he can spare, and they are sometimes joined by a few
wretched zenagues. The superintending marabout takes with him two cows,
and carries a bag of millet for his food.
When a zenague joins the slaves, he applies to the marabout, who gives
him a cow and what else is needful, and at the end of the gum-harvest
he receives half of what he has collected. The zenagues are only
permitted to gather upon this condition; if they were to attempt it
on their own account they would be plundered by the hassanes. Every
detachment is provided with a pulley and cord to be used at the wells,
and a leather bag which is to serve as a bucket for drawing up water. I
have been assured that those wells are very deep, and the ropes which
I saw were thirty or forty fathoms long. The pulley is fixed to two
stakes driven into the ground on each side of the well, and meeting at
their extremities; the end of the rope passed through it, is tied round
the neck of an ass, which, driven by a marabout, draws up the bucket;
another marabout receives it, and pours the water into a wooden trough
for the use of the cattle. The superintending marabouts are charged
with this duty. The slaves fill their leather bags with water every
morning, and, furnished with a great forked stick, they traverse the
fields in search of gum; as the gum-bearing trees are all thorny, this
stick is used to knock off from the higher branches the lumps of gum
which could not be reached by the hand. As they pick it up they put it
in their leather bags; and thus they spend the day, without any thing
but a little water to refresh them. At sun-set they return to the hut;
a woman prepares sangleh for the marabout’s supper; another milks
the cows; and each drinks the milk of that which is allotted for his
subsistance. When the gum is plentiful each person employed collects
about six pounds a day, which proves that the trees are detached;
for if they grew in forests, as some say, and no time were lost in
running from one to another, the quantity of gum collected must be
much greater.
The superintending marabout receives a proportion of the gum;
the slaves work five days for their master, and the sixth for
the superintendent, who thus comes in for the greater part of the
produce. The Moors have neither vessels nor bags to carry home their
gum; when they have collected a certain quantity, the slaves make
holes in the ground and there deposit what they have collected. When
these holes are full they are covered with ox-hides, straw, and earth;
care is also taken to give the surface of the soil above the same
appearance as it has round about; for, if discovered, the treasure
would be carried off by other Moors; when they remove from the spot,
they make a mark on some tree or stone near the hole, and the gum
is left there till it is taken to the markets to be sold: it is then
put into large leather bags; and carried by oxen and camels.
There is no private property in gum-trees; every marabout has a right
to send as many slaves as he likes, without asking leave, or paying
any additional contribution. It would assuredly be a great source of
wealth to them, if they consulted their own interest better, but they
are so indolent that they not only do not try to augment the number
of their slaves, but do not even send as many of those they possess
as they might do. Their wants however are limited; a single garment
suffices them.
On the 14th a young man belonging to a neighbouring tent, having a
mistress in the camp of the Oulad Biery tribe, invited me to accompany
him, with some other friends, to pay her a visit; this camp was a mile
to the north of ours. I accepted the invitation, for I sought every
opportunity of obtaining an insight into the character and customs
of these people. I was politely received; all the women collected
around me, talked to me a great deal, and asked me many questions;
our conversation was pretty lively; for they asked me amongst other
things if I intended to marry, and on my replying in the affirmative,
they desired me to chuse one of them, and pressed me to say which
I liked best. I told them that the choice was too embarrassing, and
that I would rather marry them all, for I thought them all equally
beautiful and agreeable. This joke amused them; they were very much
pleased with it and even thanked me. Perceiving that the marabout
lover was absent, I inquired what had become of him, but could get no
information except that he would come again towards night. Several
of the women were employed in adorning the betrothed lady, and they
had just put on the _henna_ to render her more lovely in the eyes of
her admirer. This henna, _lawsonia inermis_, is found in great plenty
in the interior; the Moorish women bruise the leaves, and obtain from
them a pale red tincture which they use to brighten their charms. The
leaves being bruised and reduced to pulp, this pulp is applied to
the various parts of the body which they are desirous of staining;
it is kept covered, to preserve it from the action of the air,
and moistened at intervals with water in which camel dung has been
steeped. The colour is five or six hours in fixing; after that time the
pulp is removed and the flesh to which it has been applied is stained a
beautiful red. Henna is applied to the nails, the feet, and the hands;
upon which last they make all sorts of patterns; I have never seen
it applied to the face. The colour remains a month without changing,
and does not disappear entirely in less than twelve months. It is not
only an ornament with the Moors, but a religious ceremony for women
who are about to be married. When a woman has used henna she takes
care to show it, and to attract attention to her hands and feet,
that she may be complimented; women are coquettes all the world over!
The toilet of the Moorish ladies is not confined to the use of henna;
the lady in question had her hair dressed; her tresses, which hung
on her shoulders, were smeared with a sort of ointment, made of
butter, pounded cloves, and water; and adorned with amber, coral,
and bits of glass of different colours. I had never seen a Mooress
so bedizened before.
In the evening I went to look for the lover; a young Moor accompanied
me. We met him close to the camp, and I concluded that he was going to
his intended; but he told me, on the contrary, that he did not chuse to
pass by her tent, and that he was on the way to one of his friends. I
expressed my surprise, and he told me that he wished to avoid the
lady’s relations; on this subject we had a long conversation,
the substance of which is as follows.
When a young man becomes attached to a girl, and wishes to marry her,
he seeks her in secret, and obtains her consent. That point secured,
he commissions a marabout to treat with the girl’s relations, as to
the presents which he is to make, the number of oxen he is to give to
the bride’s mother &c. This being arranged, the marabout who has
undertaken the negotiation informs the other marabouts, when they
are assembled to prayer, the lover himself being present. From this
moment the lover is not to see the father and mother of his future
bride; he takes the greatest care to avoid them, and if by chance they
perceive him they cover their faces, as if all the ties of friendship
were broken. I tried in vain to discover the origin of this whimsical
custom; the only answer I could obtain was, “It is our way.”
I did not like to suppose that a connexion of this kind could destroy
the esteem and affection which had previously subsisted between the
two families, and I took some pains to ascertain whether it was so or
not; I often talked to a father of his son-in-law and _vice versâ_;
and I found that the indifference was only feigned, that they felt
the same affection as before, and in conversation extolled one
another’s merit.
The custom extends beyond the relations; if the lover is of a different
camp, he avoids all the inhabitants of the lady’s camp, except a
few intimate friends whom he is permitted to visit. A little tent is
generally set up for him, under which he remains all day, and if he
is obliged to come out, or to cross the camp, he covers his face. He
is not allowed to see his intended during the day, but, when every
body is at rest, he creeps into her tent and remains with her till
day-break. This indiscreet method of courtship lasts for a month or
two; after which the marriage is solemnized by a marabout. The mother
of the bride gives a feast, and kills an ox if she can afford it;
providing abundance of couscous and sangleh for the guests, who are
sure to be numerous. The women collect round the bride, singing her
praises and amusing themselves the whole of the day; I have seen some
of them dance.
The hassanes are not obliged to conceal themselves from their new
relations; they meet as usual both before and after the marriage: their
feasts are also more gay and brilliant, and they admit the guéhués to
them. Whatever may be the difference between the ceremonial however,
the woman and her husband are in all cases subjected to the parents
of the latter.
When the marriage is celebrated, the husband may take away his wife
forthwith if he has a camel; in that case the mother-in-law supplies
the equipage for the beast, the cradle, and the carpet which lines it;
she adorns the daughter with her finest ornaments, gives her a mat
to lie upon, and a sheep-skin for a coverlid; the husband leads the
camel, and keeps his face covered till he is out of the camp. If he
has no camel, he leaves his wife in the camp till he can procure one,
for it would be a terrible disgrace if the woman were brought home to
her husband’s camp on a bullock. Sometimes he settles in his wife’s
camp, sends for his flocks and herds, and ceases to hide himself.
It often happens that the husband and wife cannot agree, or are
desirous of a separation; one of them then quarrels with the other,
and they part without having recourse to the marabouts who brought
them together. The one who wishes for a divorce makes a present to
the other. If there are children, the boys go with the father, and
the girls remain with their mother; if she is pregnant at the time,
and brings forth a boy, it is sent to the father who has it nursed
by a zenague.
When the husband dies, his wife goes into mourning and wears it four
months and ten days; during this time, she puts on her worst apparel,
receiving nobody into her tent but her nearest relations, and covering
her face when she goes out. The husband, on the other hand, does not
wear mourning for his wife, and may marry again the next day.
The law of inheritance is as follows: when a man dies his wife receives
one fourth of his goods; the mother of the deceased has a tenth of
the three other fourths, and the father a fourth of the remainder; the
children’s share, which is thus reduced to one half, is so divided,
that each boy shall have twice as much as each girl. When the husband
inherits, he takes half the property of his wife, and the other half
is divided among the grand-parents, and the grand-children, in the
same proportions. At the death of husband and wife without offspring,
the property goes back in the ascending line; for collateral branches
never inherit.
At the death of husband or wife, the uncle of the deceased becomes
guardian to the children, until they are eighteen, which is the age
of majority; the oxen which they are to inherit are confided to the
grandfather until that time. Children who are still at the breast are
sent to the zenagues, till they are two years old, and then return
to their uncle.
The Moors never grieve for any body’s death, and would think it
very improper to shed tears over the deceased, being persuaded that
his soul has ascended straightway to heaven! They shave the whole
body with the exception of the beard, and wrap it in a white shroud,
after having washed it with care; it is then left exposed in the tent
for four days, during which time the marabouts assemble round it and
sing verses of the Koran.
If the relations of the deceased are rich, they kill an ox to regale
the singers; if they are poor they only give a little sangleh every
evening. On the fifth day, they dig a grave about two feet and a
half deep, and the body is laid in it on one side, with the face
towards Mecca. Briars are placed upon the grave to protect it from
wild beasts. If the deceased was a person of consequence, the grave
is lined with mats; when it is filled up, an inscription is placed
upon it; the marabouts perform the salam and return to the camp.
The hassanes and zenagues do not bury their own dead, but have
recourse to the marabouts, who undertake the business for a small
remuneration. The women are not present at the interment of a man,
nor the men at that of a woman.
When a child is born its body is rubbed all over with fresh butter,
which is also given to its mother to take; her face is likewise rubbed
with it; she eats nothing but meat till her complete recovery. The
husband takes care to be absent himself when his wife is in labour,
for no sooner does a woman feel her pains coming on, than she screams
in the most frightful manner, and assails her husband in the most
abusive and indecent language. This is another of their customs! When
the child has acquired a little strength, it is slung in a pagne,
tied at the four corners to serve as a hammock. The mother usually
suckles the child herself.
The country of the Braknas is situated about sixty leagues E.N.E. of
St. Louis; it is bounded on the south by the Senegal; on the east by
the country of the Douiches;[26] on the N.E. by that of the Koonts;[27]
and on the north, by the tribe of Oulad-Lame,[28] which is united with
another neighbouring tribe; these two compose a nation formidable
on account of the depredations which they commit; they are not
Mahometans. The tribe of Labohs[29] is on the N.E., and to the west of
the Trarzas. This nation is composed of several tribes, some hassanes,
and others marabouts. The principal tribes of hassanes are: Oulad-Sihi,
Oulad-Aly, Oulad-Hamet, Oulad-Makhso, Oulad-Abdallah, Oulad-Baicar,
Oulad-Pis-nem-Nematema; of the marabouts, Dhiedhiebe-Touaryk,
Oulad-Tandora, and Oulad-Biery-Togat. Each of these tribes has its
separate and independent chief. Hamet-Dou is recognised as king by
the French government, and the duty on the trade in gum is paid into
his hands; he receives also the tax which is levied on merchant ships;
but the goods derived from these sources are divided amongst all the
chiefs and princes. The marabouts receive nothing from the princes.
These tribes are often engaged in war with one another, which they
undertake without the king’s consent. The crown is hereditary only
when the king leaves a son who is of age; if he leaves no children,
or minors only, it devolves to his brother, who enjoys it during life;
after his death, if the sons of the preceding king are of age to
inherit, the eldest succeeds to his father’s rights. The population
of the Braknas is not very numerous; it is divided into five classes,
which have been already mentioned: _hassanes_, _marabouts_, _zenagues_,
_laratines_, and _slaves_.
The hassanes may be considered as the aristocracy of the country and
its warriors; their armies consist of themselves and their slaves;
the zenagues join also, in the hope of pillage; the common people,
that is, the poorer hassanes, are attracted by the same hope, but
they serve only as volunteers, and the princes have no power to compel
free men to enlist in their armies.
When the chief of a tribe is cruel or unjust towards his subjects,
or even deficient in liberality, it is at every man’s option to
remove with his flocks, and to join any other tribe which he pleases;
hence nothing is more uncertain than the population of a tribe, which
increases or diminishes according to the reputation of its chief;
even the king’s own tribe is not exempt from desertion.
When the Moors make war upon one another, they take no prisoners; if
any of their enemies fall into their hands, they kill them immediately,
and the spoils of the slain belong to the conqueror. They fight from
a distance, and only attack by surprise. The chiefs fight like their
subjects; I have been told, however, that when Hamet-Dou goes to war,
he is always accompanied by one of his ministers, whose business it
is to hold him by his coussabe and to keep him at a safe distance:
report says the coussabe has never been torn; but this may be a
calumny. It is the hassanes who always make excursions against the
negroes to pillage them, and carry off slaves; and on these occasions
they are seldom accompanied by the zenagues. The hassanes are idle,
mendacious, thievish, envious, superstitious, and gluttonous; they
combine in short, all possible vices. An hassane who possesses a horse,
a gun, and coussabe, thinks himself the happiest of mortals. Filthiness
they seem to consider as a virtue. The men swarm with vermin, of which
they take no pains to rid themselves. The women are disgusting; lying
always upon their couches, with their heads besmeared with butter,
which, being melted by the heat, runs down their faces and their whole
bodies: they exhale in consequence a perfume which to Europeans is
any thing but agreeable. In idleness they surpass the men, for they
will not even rise to take their food, but rest on their elbows while
a slave gives them their milk.
The commerce of the Braknas is carried on by the marabouts. It is they
who collect all the gum, for which they pay no tribute; and when they
have disposed of it to Europeans, they travel into a distant part of
the country, to sell the guns and Guinea cloth which they receive in
exchange. They often stop at Adrar, seven days’ journey north of lake
Aleg; this town gives its name to a small kingdom, and is inhabited
by a number of marabouts who are wholly engaged in agriculture,
and keep numerous herds of cattle. Dates are plentiful in this part;
the fields are surrounded by date-trees. These marabouts do not live
in tents, like the Braknas; they have mud houses one story high, and
flat at the top. They barter their dates and millet, for the guns and
Guinea cloth of the Braknas; of the Guinea cloth they make garments,
for they grow no cotton. They have many slaves, who are employed
in the cultivation of rice and millet, and in the tending of the
cattle. Pasturage is not abundant in the neighbourhood of the town,
so that they are obliged to send their flocks to a distance to graze:
it is said that the slaves who take care of them are sometimes absent
for one or two months. This nation is peaceful, and only takes up
arms to defend itself against the depredations of its neighbours. It
is during the rainy season that the Braknas undertake their trips to
Adrar, in which they are compelled to cross a desert of four days’
journey. These particulars I received from some marabouts who have
visited that country several times. I intended to accompany those
who were going the following spring, if I had remained among them.
The Brakna marabouts are as idle as the hassanes; they take no other
exercise than walking to the mosque; and their only diversion is
reading the Koran. They sometimes converse together as they lie on
the sand, and go to sleep while talking over religion and politics.
Of all the classes of Moors the marabouts give the least and require
the most; their quality of priests causing them to be considered
as the dispensers of favours, they are never refused any thing,
especially as the Moors are persuaded that they shall gain heaven
by liberality. It is not to the hassanes alone that they apply;
they harass one another also, and they torment the poor zenagues
more especially. This class, despised by the others, is oppressed
by them all. If the marabouts do not maltreat them as the hassanes
do they threaten them with everlasting fire; and the poor zenague,
in the hope of a happier life hereafter, strips himself to comply
with the demands of his insatiable masters in this. Those marabouts
who have no slaves to collect gum, being far too lazy to work for
themselves, would be without clothes if the zenagues did not supply
them with the means of procuring them. In the same way they obtain
bags of butter to sell at the markets for Guinea cloth. It may be
thought, perhaps, that the marabouts are grateful, and know how to
appreciate the sacrifices which the zenague makes to please them; but
ingratitude is one of their vices, and scarcely have they obtained
what they want before they slander their benefactors, curse them,
and devote them to eternal fire.
Some of these wretches, who have no other means of subsistence, settle
amongst the zenagues to instruct their children: besides their food,
they receive in payment sheep, butter, tanned hides, and stuff for
tent-covering.
The marabouts are not more susceptible of friendship than of
gratitude. I told Mohammed-Sidy-Moctar one day, that I should like to
go and see his son-in-law; he tried immediately to dissuade me. “He
is a good-for-nothing fellow,” said he; “he ought to have given
you an ox the first time you went to his tent, and he only gave you
a coussabe; he never gives _me_ any thing; he does not like me.”
I asked him if he liked Hamet-Dou, who had made him presents before
my eyes: “Oh,” said he, “Hamet-Dou is rich.”
I recollect, that when I was leaving the camp, I gave a pagne to a
slave who had taken care to supply me with sangleh; my marabout, who
was near, took the pagne from her, and gave her a severe scolding. I
insisted that the pagne should be returned, but he would not hear of
it, and he scolded me in my turn, and told me that a marabout ought
never to give, but always to receive. At last he handed the pagne to
my guide, and bade him put it with the rest of my goods. This trait
conveys a good idea of their character.
If they are ungrateful, they are also inhuman. They treat their
slaves with barbarity; calling them by insulting names, beating them,
and requiring a great deal of service in return for very little food,
and having no other garment than a sheep-skin. I sometimes protested
against the cruelty with which these wretches were treated. “They
are slaves, they are infidels,” was the reply; “you see that
they never pray; they know neither God nor the prophet.” I have
seen slaves however who prayed with the utmost regularity, and were
no better treated for it; neither did it save them from the degrading
appellation of slaves.
The office of the marabouts renders them more dissembling than the
hassanes; they are less cruel, and more hospitable; but I have found
repeatedly that they receive strangers unwillingly, rather from the
fear of insult or pillage than from humanity.
A European traveller who should not make up his mind to dissemble,
as I did, if he were to escape the fanatic fury of the hassanes,
would probably not be murdered by the marabouts; but they would forbid
him to enter their tents; and they would afford him no sustenance;
or if they gave him a little milk to save him from dying of hunger,
it would be in the hope of being well paid. If a christian were to
fall into the hands of the hassanes or zenagues, there is no kind of
torture to which he would not be exposed.
The marabouts wander less from the banks of the river, than the
hassanes; they remove their camps less frequently, and never change
their place except to seek pasturage.
The zenagues, or tributaries, are the most wretched of the Moors;
they are the serfs of the hassanes, and every hassane has more or
fewer under his command. They exact from them annual contributions,
consisting in general of a mator (about a quarter of a barrel) of
millet, a calabash of butter, a few sheep-skins, and a _laize_ of
stuff for a tent; or a cow and a calabash of butter from each. The
tributaries pay with the utmost exactness; but their unjust and
grasping lords always claim more than is due, and inflict the most
horrible tortures to extort what they want. I have already mentioned
how they drag them at the camel’s tail; but their cruelty goes
still farther; if nothing can be got by torturing a poor zenague,
his barbarous master not unfrequently stabs him. They are never safe
from these tyrants, who pursue them even into their camps; where
they sometimes take up their abode for days, and call for whatever
they like.
The zenagues possess few oxen, but large flocks of sheep and goats,
of whose milk they make butter, which they can exchange at the
markets for Guinea cloth. They are allowed to keep a few slaves,
who are employed in taking care of their flocks; but they must not
send their slaves to collect gum, or the hassanes would take it all
for them. They seldom go far from the river, and usually encamp in a
thick wood, to avoid as much as possible the troublesome visitations
of the hassanes and other travellers. They prefer marshy land, because
it affords most food for their cattle. They have a great deal of milk,
but its flavour is unpleasant, owing to the many rank herbs which the
ewes and goats feed upon; it is so bad indeed, that the hassanes and
marabouts who come amongst them will hardly drink it, and never if
they can procure any other.
Immediately after the waters retire, the zenagues come down to the
banks of the river to sow millet; they work in the fields themselves
with their slaves. The women, laborious through necessity, spin and
weave the hair of the sheep and camels, to form coverings for their
tents; they also sew them together; tan leather, make the varrois
and every thing else except iron-work. Their method of tanning
is as follows: if it is an ox-hide, they cut it down the middle;
they then make a pit in the ground and plaster it with cow-dung;
after having moistened the hide, and rubbed it with ashes, they put
it into the pit, and cover it carefully with ashes. Having thrown
water upon the ashes so as to wet them thoroughly, they close up the
pit with a layer of cow-dung. The hide is left in this state for six
or eight days, at the end of which time they scrape it with a knife
to take off the hair, and then wash it well to cleanse it from the
ashes. When cleaned it is put into a large calabash with the bark
of the boscia and the seed of the mimosa, (the same that is known
in commerce by the name of babela, and on the Senegal by that of
nem-nem,) taking care to rub and mix them well. Water is poured upon
it to soak it thoroughly; in this state it is left for four days or
more, then taken out again and scraped, to remove any hair that may
have remained after the first operation. When thoroughly cleaned, it
is again put into the calabash with an increased quantity of seed,
reduced to powder and sufficiently moistened. Four days suffice
to tan it completely. At the end of this time, it is well washed,
and scraped with sharp-edged shells, which the Moors bring from the
sea-shore. Sheep and goat skins are tanned in the same manner, only
more quickly, from being thinner. The leather which is tanned by this
process, is exactly of the same colour as ours, and very good. For
common purposes it is used without further preparation, and a little
butter is applied to grease it, when it is required to be particularly
supple. The women also make soap of beef-tallow and ley; but the soap
is very bad, washes ill and gives an unpleasant smell to the linen.
When a tributary is unusually oppressed by his master, he can choose
another. He takes his flocks and all he possesses to him to whom he
wishes to subject himself, and tries to cut off his ear, if he finds
him asleep, or to kill his horse; from that moment he is tributary
to this new master, who has immense power over him, while the former
loses all his authority. If the fugitive should be taken again before
he has cut off the ear or killed the horse, he is beaten, stripped of
all he possesses, and driven away without mercy. He is then extremely
wretched; few people will grant him hospitality; his life is only
protracted suffering, and he frequently sinks under the weight of his
misery, while none of his fellows deigns to bestow on him a look of
pity. I saw one in the camp where I was, who came stark naked to beg
alms and shelter; instead of awakening the least symptom of compassion,
he was driven away with blows, and they even set the dogs at him. What
would become of this unhappy creature? And what cause could there be
for such cruelty? Had he lost the attributes of humanity because he
wished to change his oppressor? With what pleasure would I have gone
without my supper, to give it to him! but his relentless countrymen
would not allow me this satisfaction.
I have been told that in times of scarcity the zenagues eat
grasshoppers, drying them first in the sun; this, however, I suspect
to be only a fiction to degrade the zenagues in my estimation; for,
as they cultivate millet, and possess flocks, they are usually better
provided with food than the other classes, and must suffer less in
a scarcity than the less industrious orders. In the whole course
of my peregrinations, though I have been among very needy tribes,
I have never seen the Moors eat grasshoppers.
The haddads (or blacksmiths) belong to the class of tributaries,
and are, perhaps, still worse off than those who are employed in
agriculture and the care of flocks. They cannot inhabit a separate
camp, if they did, the hassanes would plunder them; they are obliged,
in order to avoid their rapacity, to dwell in the same camps as the
marabouts, and make them the guardians of all they possess.
Notwithstanding the pains I took, I never could learn the origin of
this race, nor how it had been reduced to pay tribute to the other
Moors; when I made inquiries on the subject, I was always told that
it pleased God it should be so, and that they were infidels who seldom
performed the salam. Can they be remains of conquered tribes? And, if
so, why is there no tradition left about them? This can hardly be; for
the Moors, proud of their ancestors, never forget the names of those
who have been a credit to their race; and the zenagues, forming the
majority of the population, and being, moreover, accustomed to war,
would have revolted under the conduct of some descendant of their
former chiefs, and recovered their liberty, by exterminating their
oppressors. It is in their power to do so, for they are very numerous.
The fourth class of the Moorish population is composed of the offspring
of a Moor and a black slave; they are called laratines. Though slaves
by birth, they are never sold, but have land of their own, and are
treated almost like the zenagues. The laratines, whose fathers are
hassanes, are warriors; those, whose fathers are marabouts, receive
instruction and embrace the profession of their fathers. Proud of
their birth, they are not very obedient to their masters, and it is
only by force that the latter can compel them to pay the tribute which
is due to them. They possess few cattle, for they are not allowed to
increase their herds, lest they should enfranchise themselves if they
were to become wealthy. The laratines and the zenagues have the care
of the herds which the hassanes possess out of their camps.
The slaves form the fifth class, and are all negroes. They are charged
with all the labours of the camp—the care of flocks, the providing of
water and wood, and the culture of the land. The women pound millet,
prepare food, wait upon their mistresses, water the calves, fetch
water, and if they belong to marabouts, collect haze and gum. On
a journey, the slaves carry on their heads whatever cannot be laid
upon oxen. They are, as I have already mentioned, ill treated, ill
fed, and beaten at the caprice of their masters, whether they have
committed any fault or not. They are seldom addressed by any name
but that of _slave_. In short, there is no species of vexation,
which they are not obliged to endure.
The Moors leave the banks of the river, when the rainy season
commences, that is at the beginning of August; for not only would
they be greatly incommoded by the inundations, but they would also
be exposed to many diseases which they occasion, and their cattle
would be devoured by the mosquitoes. They remove to the N.E., to the
confines of the great desert, where they find plentiful pasturage,
and a salubrious climate, and are free from the inconveniences which
they would suffer in the vicinity of marshes. They return towards the
river when the waters retire, and reside there from March till August.
The dress of the wealthy Moors consists, in a _drah_, or tunic of
Guinea cloth, which reaches nearly to the knees; the sleeves are as
wide as the body and hang down to the ground. Loose drawers containing
six or eight yards of Guinea cloth come down to their knees; a pagne
completes the dress; this is put on over the tunic, and sometimes
on their heads also, like a turban. Those who cannot afford a tunic,
wear only a coussabe[30] made of two or three yards of Guinea cloth.
The Moors shave all the hairy parts of the body except the beard,
which they suffer to grow and hold in great veneration. A fine beard
is the greatest ornament of a Musulman.
The dress of the woman is half a piece (about seven yards) of Guinea
cloth, which they wrap three times round them. With one end, consisting
of about one third of the stuff, they make a kind of coussabe, doubling
the stuff down and sewing it so as to leave three holes, one for the
head, and two for the arms. The openings are not at the side, as they
are in the men’s dresses, and the stuff falls in drapery so as not
to obstruct the motion of the body; where it is sewed together at
each shoulder, there is a silver clasp, which serves to support the
second round of the stuff; the third passes over the head, and forms
a head-dress.
In mourning, or in the presence of strangers, of christians especially,
they put it on so as to show nothing but their eyes. This dress is
called _malafé_; they have no change of apparel, but wear it for
two or three months without washing, and are often two years without
being able to procure a new one.
They have fine hair which they lay in tresses round the head in an oval
form, two smaller tresses which unite under the ear, are ornamented
with pieces of glass, and hang down on each side of the head. Some of
them have, on the sides, two other longer tresses, from which they
suspend strings of amber, coral, and glass beads, hanging down upon
the breast; others again have an immense number of tresses, but always
loaded with ornaments. Those who do not suspend their string of beads
from the hair, attach it to the clasps of their dress; they are not
in the habit of wearing it round the neck. A strip of Guinea cloth,
five feet in length, and five or six inches wide, completes their
head-dress; they wrap it several times round the head. They grease
their hair daily with butter; this custom preserves the hair extremely
well, but communicates an insupportably rank smell. The young girls
have a large gold ear-ring in the lower part of each ear, and four
others in the upper part, which is bent down by their weight. Women
of twenty-four wear only one small ring in the upper part of the ear.
Children go quite naked till the age of twelve or fourteen; their
heads are shaved and figures drawn upon them, or tufts of hair left;
but sometimes only half the head is shaved. At twelve the hair of
the girls is suffered to grow, and the boys are completely shaved
at eighteen. The opinion of some travellers, accredited in Senegal
from popular stories respecting the manner of cutting the hair of the
young people and leaving tufts to be cut off by degrees as they may
distinguish themselves by brilliant actions, is absolutely false,
at least in regard to the Braknas. I have had many occasions to
know that these tufts of hair are a mere matter of fancy and that
the number depends upon the will of the shaver or of the young man
himself. It is a fashion which varies with individual taste; it is
rare to see two heads trimmed in the same manner, excepting amongst
the men above eighteen years of age, who closely crop the whole head.
I have already observed that the Moorish women have great influence
over their husbands; I repeat it here, to correct an error into
which M. Durand has fallen, and which he may have communicated to his
readers. The husband has no authority over his wife but what a superior
understanding gives him; I should even say that the Mooresses possess
more influence over their husbands than our French women. They rarely
wait upon them; and only for want of slaves; even then I have always
seen that in this case a neighbour would lend a woman to pound the
millet and make the sangleh. I except the zenague women; but if these
perform menial offices for their husbands, it is because the slaves
are occupied; and besides they are in the habit of working. M. Durand
says also that wives are never admitted to the meals of their husbands:
I have witnessed the contrary; I have seen them eat with their sons
and husbands, not often, indeed, but I have remarked that it was
owing to the custom which the women have of taking nothing but milk,
which is set before them in small calabashes.
It is likewise incorrect to assert that the mother pays any deference
to her son; or that the father and mother affect indifference to their
daughters; the son is always submissive to his mother and pays her the
utmost respect; and if the parents shew some preference for the boys,
they do not love their daughters with less tenderness. Besides, I
have never witnessed rejoicings at the birth either of a boy or a girl.
The greater part of the Moors believe that we live upon the sea,
and that we have only a few little islands like St. Louis: under
this impression they imagine that we wish to possess ourselves of
their country, which they consider as the finest in the world. The
marabouts are better informed, and know that we inhabit a country
far superior to theirs. They often expressed their regret that they
had nothing good to offer me; observing that God would recompense
me for my voluntary privations, in relinquishing the happy land of
the christians to live amongst them. They have however no idea of
our arts or manufactures. They often inquired what use we made of
gum and were always persuaded that I was deceiving them; they would
not believe any other than that we transform it into amber, which
it somewhat resembles in colour, and into other merchandise of great
value, and that we could not dispense with gum nor even exist without
it. I could not undeceive them on this point; and in like manner when
discussions arise at the settlements or at the markets, or if they
are refused what they ask, they threaten to bring no more gum.