Commence crossing the Hamadah--Last Pillar of the Romans--Travelling in
the Desert--Rapid March--Merry Blacks--Dawn--Temperature--Ali
returns--Day-travelling--Night-feelings--Animals--Graves of
Children--Mirage--Extent of the Plateau--It breaks up--Valley of
El-Hasee--Farewell to the Hamadah--Arduous Journey--The
Camel-drivers--New Country--Moral and religious Disquisitions--The
Chaouches--Reach Edree--Abd-el-Galeel--Description of Edree--Subterranean
Dwellings--Playing at Powder--The Kaïd--Arabic Literature--Desertion of
the Zintanah--Leave Edree--Sandy Desert--Bou Keta the Camel-driver--Wady
El-Makmak--The Lizard--Reach Wady Takadafah--Sand--Another _Embroglio_.
The sun was setting as our caravan, which we had collected in as compact
a body as possible, got under way, and rising out of the valley of
Tabooneeah, began to enter upon the plateau. It is difficult to convey
an idea of the solemn impressions with which one enters upon such a
journey. Everything ahead is unknown and invested with perhaps
exaggerated terrors by imagination and report. The name of Desert--the
waterless Desert--hangs over the horizon, and suggests the most gloomy
apprehensions. Behind, in the fading light, the trees of the valley
still show their dim groups; before, the lofty level, slightly broken by
undulations, stretches away. There was one cheering thought, however. My
companions had by this time set up their tent for the night; and
although, creeping along at the camel's slow pace, we could not expect
to come up to that temporary home until it was about to be deserted,
still the knowledge of its existence took away much of the mysterious
terror with which I entered upon this desolate region in the hour of
coming shadows. An additional solemnity was imparted to the commencement
of this arduous journey by the fact that we now passed the last pillar
erected by the Romans. Their mighty power seems to have recoiled, as
well it might, before the horrid aspect of the Hamadah.
We pushed on at a steady pace over the rough ground; and as I surveyed
the scene from my elevated position on the camel's back, I could not
help contrasting this primitive style of travelling with that with which
I had been conversant a few months before. Instead of whirling along the
summit of an embankment, or through a horizontal well miles deep, in a
machine that always reminded me of a disjointed dragon, at the rate of
some fifty miles an hour, here I was leisurely swaying to and fro on the
back of the slowest beast that man has ever tamed, in the midst of a
crowd loosely scattered over the country, some on foot, some in the
saddle--not seeking to keep any determinate track, but following a
general direction by the light of the stars, which shine with warm
beneficence overhead. There is no sound to attract the ear, save the
measured tread of the caravan, the occasional "_Isa! Isa!_" of the
drivers, the hasty wrench with which our camels snatch a mouthful of
some ligneous plant that clings to the stony soil, the creaking of the
baggage, or the whistling of the wind that comes moaning over the
desert. These are truly moments in a man's life to remember; and I shall
ever look back to that solemn night-march over the desert, which my pen
fails to describe, with sentiments of pleasurable awe.
This night we moved at comparatively a rapid pace--nearly three miles an
hour; for there was scarcely any temptation to the camels to linger for
browsing purposes, and the drivers seemed desperately anxious to get
over as much ground as possible at once. At first all went well enough;
and now and then even, the blacks, who were on foot, braved the Hamadah
with a lively ditty--celebrating some Lucy Long of Central Africa. But
by degrees these merry sounds ceased to be heard; and the hastily-moving
crowd of the caravan insensibly stretched out into a longer line. The
poor women were beginning to knock up, and several fell at times from
mere exhaustion. We proceeded, however, without stopping, for eleven
hours, and after a long, dreary night indeed, halted at five in the
morning, having reached the encampment of our German friends.
The dawn soon lighted up the waste, and enabled us to see that it was a
level plain of hard red earth, scattered over with pebbles and loose
pieces of limestone mixed with flint.
The Hamadah was very cold in the night, the wind being from the north.
Dr. Overweg does not think that the plateau is more than fifteen hundred
feet above the level of the sea; but it may be two thousand, and a
little more in some places. By day it is hot enough; and as there is
little to be observed on these vast, elevated stretches of stony desert,
I thought it best to continue my original plan for three whole nights.
To spare one's self is the great secret of Saharan travelling; and there
is, after all, not much to observe in this desolate region.
I should mention, that the second night Ali came up in a penitent state
along with a khafilah from Ghareeah, and so our poor black women had an
opportunity of getting a lift on the spare camels. We could, therefore,
go on until morning without fear of losing any of our party in the
night. The position of a person who falls behind a caravan in the desert
very much resembles that of a man overboard. This khafilah preceded us
to Shaty.
After the third night I found the weather so cool and temperate, that I
continued on the whole of the day; and the Germans joining me in the
evening, we did not again separate. It was towards the close of the
third night that we were assailed by an awful tempest of wind, rain, and
lightning, which flashed upon us occasionally through the thick
darkness. The Germans, who were encamped, had their tents carried away,
whilst we who were in motion found ourselves compelled to stop and
crouch under the bellies of our camels until the morning broke, and the
hurricane had spent its force. The cold was intense, and our people
complained bitterly. More than once, indeed, the thermometer was down to
freezing-point whilst we were traversing the plateau; and one morning
the desert was covered with a shining frost.
Although we became accustomed to the desolate appearance of this
district by degrees, we counted eagerly the days and hours that brought
us nearer the confines of Fezzan. Every night's incidents were the same.
On we went, nodding drowsily on our camels, sometimes dropping off into
a sound sleep, variegated by a snatch of pleasant dreams. But these
indulgences are dangerous. I was more than once on the point of falling
off. By day, few objects of interest presented themselves: linnets and
finches fluttered here and there upon the rare bushes, whilst swallows
joined the caravan, and skimmed round and round for hours among the
camels, almost brushing the faces of the drivers. Lizards glanced and
snakes writhed across the path. We started three wadan or mouflon,
churlish animals, fond of such solitudes. As to the birds, our people
say they do not drink in winter, and in summer leave the Hamadah
altogether. Four-fifths of the surface were utterly barren. Little
mounds marked the graves of children, slaves who had perished on the way
from inner Africa. The mirage was common, but rarely pretty. Sometimes
ridges of low mountains seemed raised on the level plain, probably
reflected from the cliffs that edge the plateau. The scattered herbage
also assumed regular forms--squares, ovals, circles. Now and then it
seemed as if vast ruins were ahead, but as we drew nigh these dwindled
into little desert-mosques, formed of half-circles of stones, now turned
to the east, now to the west. Here the faithful who may be obliged to
traverse these dreary regions stop to offer up their simple prayer to
the Almighty Allah, to whom, they say, the dreadful Hamadah belongs.
The extent of this plateau from north to south, varying in our route
from S.E. to S.W., is about 156 miles, or six long and seven short days'
journey. Sometimes our camels went at the pace of three miles, but
nearly always of two and a-half miles in the hour. It is almost
impossible to make the traverse in less than fifty-six or sixty hours.
The camels may continue on night and day, but it will always require so
much time to make the weary journey, which is considered the greatest
exploit of Saharan travelling in this portion of Northern Africa.
On the road to Tuat from Algeria, or to Ghadamez from Tunis and Tripoli,
or to Fezzan from Bonjem or Benioleed, there is no traverse of six days
comparable in difficulty to that which we have just accomplished. There
is said to be none other like it on the road to Soudan, except a
tremendous desert between Ghât and Aheer. However, we must not trouble
ourselves about this as yet.
As for the Hamadah, we know that near Sokna the plateau breaks up and
forms what are called the Jebel-es-Soudy, or Black Mountains, a most
picturesque group of cliffs; and again on the route to Egypt from
Mourzuk, six days' journey south-east from Sokna, it also breaks into
huge cliffs, and bears the name of El-Harouj. These mountain buttresses
are either the bounds of the Hamadah, or masses of rock where it breaks
into hills, forming ravines or valleys. But, in fact, how far the
Hamadah extends between Ghadamez on the west and Augila on the east is
not yet properly ascertained. It seems to be like a broad belt
intercepting the progress of commerce, civilisation, and conquest, from
the shores of the Mediterranean to Central Africa. The kingdom of
Fezzan, however, advances like a promontory beyond it; and then on every
side stretches the desert ocean with its innumerable oases or islands,
which, from being once mere fluctuating names, as it were, on a guess
map, are now by degrees dropping one by one into their right places.
On the breaking-up of the plateau we observed its geological structure
to consist of three principal strata: first, a covering or upper crust,
limestone with flints and red earth; then masses of marl; and then
sandstone, lumps and masses of which were blackened by the contact of
the air with the iron they contain. Under the sandstone was likewise a
bed of yellow clay, with a mixture of gypsum.
The face of the cliffs of the plateau was blackened as with the smoke of
a huge furnace, which gave a majestic and yet gloomy appearance to the
scene as we descended the pass towards the valley of El-Hasee. We found
the plain strewed with great masses of dark sandstone, seeming to have
been detached by some convulsion from the rocky walls, which now rose in
apparently interminable grandeur behind us. We glanced back in awe, and
yet in some triumph, towards the iron-bound desert we had thus safely
traversed; but our eyes soon turned from so bleak a prospect, when we
beheld, dotting the sandy wady, clumps of the wild palm, green copses,
and the majestic ethel-tree.
It was about two in the afternoon when we reached the camping-ground,
all our people shouting, "_Be-Selameh el Hamadah!_" Farewell to the
Hamadah! I cried out the same words in a joyful voice; for, although now
that the dangers of the plateau were overcome they seemed diminished in
my eyes, yet I felt that we had escaped from a most trying march with
wonderful good fortune. It is difficult to convey an idea of the horror
and desolation of so vast a tract of waterless and uninhabited country.
They alone who have breathed the sharp air of its blank nakedness can
appreciate it, or understand how any accidental delay, sickness, the
bursting of the water-skins, the straying of the camels, might produce
incalculable sufferings, and even death. "_Be-Selameh el Hamadah!_"
then, with all my heart. "_Be-Selameh! be-Selameh!_" again rings through
the caravan, as we reach at length our camping-ground, and throw
ourselves at full-length under the pleasing shade. Even the
camel-drivers were so fatigued, that they stretched out as soon as the
command to halt was given, and let their animals stray at will, without
taking the trouble to unload them. I had observed the same supineness
during our halts all through this trying district, which seems to
oppress their imaginations as well as prostrate their bodies. Several
times I had been obliged myself to collect wood and make a fire to rally
our lagging servants. Indeed, on more than one occasion I was compelled
to exert my personal authority. On the third night, particularly, I
wished all the people to rest one hour. The camel-drivers resisted this
reasonable request, and were backed by Yusuf. When it became a question
between myself and my interpreter, I jumped off my camel and stopped the
caravan. The chaouch supported me, and in this case at least behaved
very well. If we had continued all night, we should have made a march of
sixteen hours,--too much for the blacks, and indeed for any man on his
feet.
On the whole, however, I have to observe, that as we approach Fezzan our
camel-drivers are getting more civil and obliging. Is this the genial
effect of native air, or expectation of a present? They have not
mentioned the latter subject yet, but, on the contrary, promise me some
dates.
The broad valley of El-Hasee is sandy, like all those of Fezzan. It is
bounded on the north by the perpendicular buttresses of the Hamadah, and
on the south by sandy swells. The well is not copious, but affords a
regular supply of slightly brackish water. The people descend to the
bottom, thirty or forty feet, and fill their gerbahs. The blacks are
very troublesome, and require a good deal of patience. This morning they
would not fetch water from this well, although quite close by the tent.
I was obliged to threaten to leave them before I could get them to move.
They are, probably, a little broken down by the fatigue of the Hamadah.
We passed through Wady El-Hasee on the 24th, and after mid-day began to
ascend, and continued to do so until we pitched tent at half-past four,
at a place called Esfar. This is also a species of plateau, but consists
of sand-hills, sandstone rocks, and shallow valleys filled with herbage
and shrubs. I was glad to get rid of the eternal limestone and have a
change of the sandstone.
On the 25th we started early, and had a cool temperature all day. Our
chaouch went out, and by the assistance of the greyhound bitch brought
in a young gazelle. For about three hours the camels had herbage; but
afterwards came a desert more horrible even than the Hamadah. It
consists of sandstone rocks, and valleys covered with pebbles and loose
blocks. Some of the rocks are perfectly black, and would be considered
by an European geologist, on a distant view, as basalt. Until half-past
four in the afternoon we did not see a blade of grass, a sprig of
vegetation, or living thing of any description; but at the
camping-ground was a thin scattering of herbage, near the foot of the
black mountain called Solaou Mârrafa.
We have sometimes moral disquisitions among our people. This day we had
a dispute on religion. The Zintanah, a real orthodox Musulman,
maintained a strict distinction between the believers and unbelievers,
giving heaven to the former and hell to the latter. Yusuf and several
more tolerant gentlemen held out hope of mercy to us all, as God was
"the Compassionate and the Merciful." The chaouch also lectured the
people on courage, and publicly maintained that the Fezzanees were all
cowards. This fellow is a second Sir John Falstaff, without the
corpulence. The tone of all members of the caravan, as I have mentioned,
is now much humanised. Every one is more civil to us, and, by habit, to
one another. However, the chaouches must, of course, get up a quarrel
now and then: they do it between themselves; but, as a sign that they
likewise are a little civilised, have only had two regular explosions
to-day. Probably these worthies, who remind me of a bull-dog and a
terrier, find particular pleasure in this form of social intercourse;
for I always observe, that they are on more friendly terms than ever
after they have almost come to beard-pulling.
I interfere as little as possible in all these quarrels, but now and
then it is difficult to hold aloof. This morning, for example, the black
who has two wives, took it into his head to beat one of them in public.
I called upon him to desist, upon which he went to work harder than
ever; so that I was compelled to break a stick over his shoulders to
reduce him to quietness. These little caravan incidents were often the
only ones that diversified our day.
On the 26th, after a march of ten hours, with cool weather at first, but
suffocating heat afterwards, we reached Edree, a town of El-Shaty, in a
state of great exhaustion. During the latter part of the march, however,
we had been cheered by the sight of the town, which stands on a small
mound of yellow clay and rock. The whitewashed marabout of Bou Darbalah
gleamed a little distance in front of the place, which in itself is now
a heap of ruins, having been destroyed by Abd-el-Galeel, on account of
the resistance of the inhabitants to his usurped authority. He also,
with a cruelty rarely practised in Saharan warfare, cut down above a
thousand palms; thus rendering it impossible for the place to recover
rapidly from its disasters. Previously there had been a hundred and
twenty heads of families; now there are only twenty-five, and these are
still diminishing it is said. However, many little children are now in
the streets, naked, and covered with filth.
These few inhabitants are a mixed race, some being as fair as those on
the coast, whilst others are as black as the darkest negroes of Central
Africa. The Sheikh and two or three patriarchs of the village were
polite and hospitable, and showed every disposition to comply with the
orders sent by the Pasha of Mourzuk to supply us with fresh provisions
without payment. I accepted a sheep and two fowls; but the dates for our
blacks I paid for, and added a few presents.
The valley of Edree is very shallow, and this portion of it is mostly
covered with bushes of wild palm and with coarse herbage; it looks green
and grateful amidst the surrounding aridity. There are still remaining
many fruit-bearing date-trees--about seven thousand, scattered at great
distances. The water is good, although the surface of the valley is in
parts covered with a whitish crust of salt. Some large springs are
continually overflowing with bubbles of gas, like the great well of
Ghadamez.
In the garden-fields of Edree are cultivated wheat and barley, the
former white and of the finest quality. A good deal of grain has already
been got in this year. With industry, and a few more animals to draw the
water for irrigation, a great quantity of wheat might be grown in this
oasis. The gardens contain also a few figs and grapes. Doves were
fluttering in the branches of the palms, and swallows darting through
their waving foliage. There were thousands of native flies here, besides
those that had come with us. When we complained, we were answered, "This
is a country of dates!"
Shaty has eighteen districts, some very limited, but having date-palms,
and paying contributions to Mourzuk. Edree, itself, is drained of four
hundred mahboubs per annum.
_27th._--I rose at sunrise and went to see the ancient dwellings of
Edree, where the people lived underground: they are excavations out of
the rock, some fifty yards from the surface beneath the modern town. The
entrances are choked with sand, and they are not entered by the people,
who say "They are the abodes of serpents." At present, there is nothing
remarkable about them. Probably they were originally natural caves,
which were enlarged and arranged as dwellings.
On returning to the encampment, I found that the Kaïd, or commander of
the troops of the Shaty district, had arrived with some Arab cavaliers:
he has in all thirty horsemen. Our visitors offered to "play powder" in
order to do us honour; but were compelled to beg us to supply the
ammunition. It was a very animating scene, after the dreary journey over
the Fezzanee deserts. A dozen mounted cavaliers dashed to and fro,
shaking the earth, scouting and firing from time to time. Everybody
enjoyed it; even the half-naked, dirty, brown-black ladies of the town,
stopped with their water-jugs, and looked on with satisfaction. The Kaïd
was the best man of his men; but Yusuf afterwards dressed and beat the
victor, riding with great dexterity, and attracting the spontaneous
applause of all the spectators. The Kaïd trembled whilst contending with
Yusuf, who was set down as a marabout in consequence by our chaouch.
I gave the Kaïd, who was a mild and respectful man, a handkerchief, a
little bit of writing-paper, and some soap, and sent him off to his
station, whence he had come on purpose to visit us. Three handkerchiefs
formed also an appropriate present to the Sheikhs of Edree.
Yusuf has been reading an Arabic book, which I at first thought was some
commentary on the Koran; but to-day I was undeceived. He related what he
read; it reminded me of Gulliver's Travels. A tall man walks through the
sea, cooks fish in the sun, and destroys a whole town, whose inhabitants
had insulted him, by the same means that our comparative giant saved the
palace of Lilliput from conflagration.
This evening it was announced as an event that the Zintanah, a servant
of the Germans, was going to Tripoli, having resolved to return home.
Some said one thing about him, some another; but most, "He's afraid of
the fever of Mourzuk." The fellow came afterwards to me, asking for
letters to Tripoli. I told him to go about his business; that he was a
man of words and had no heart, otherwise he would continue with us to
Mourzuk. I wished to discourage such acts of desertion, for they produce
always a bad effect. My German companions seemed glad to get rid of him.
We started again on Sunday morning (the 28th). This was our first day of
sand. We had almost forgotten that there was such a thing as sand in the
desert; but we shall have two days more of the same kind of travelling,
to keep us in mind of this unpleasant truth. However, we were glad
enough to leave Edree. Our marabout, comparing this place with El-Wady,
for which we are now journeying, says, "Edree is like a jackass; El-Wady
is like a camel!" Yusuf calls Edree "the city of camel-bugs." These
vermin are the leeches of the camels. During the morning we passed two
or three forests of palms, and afterwards traversed a flat valley, where
was a little herbage. The people said; "There is no tareek (track): the
tareek is in our heads." Bou Keta noted the route in many parts by the
presence of camels' dung; but the shape of the sand-hills in these parts
seems to be perfectly familiar to these men. We saw one or two lizards,
but no birds or other signs of life, except two brown-black Fezzanees,
trudging over the desert.
At four in the afternoon, after a day of hot wind, we encamped in Wady
Guber, where there is water two or three feet below the surface; and a
small forest of palms belonging to our camel-drivers, having descended
to them in small groups from their grandfathers.
Next day (29th) we again went on over the sand, which extends beyond
Ghadamez and Souf, to the west, and even to Egypt on the east. It is met
at different points by the khafilahs, and crossed in different numbers
of days. We found it very hard work to cross it, and understood why, in
these parts, the words _raml_, sand, and _war_, difficult, have become
convertible terms. Bou Keta had considerable trouble in keeping to the
route, being reduced to depend chiefly on the camels' dung, which rolls
about the surface of the sand. Here and there was a patch of coarse
herbage, scattered like black spots on the bright, white surface. Every
object was very much magnified at a little distance; I saw what seemed
to me to be a horse on the top of one of the hills, but on drawing near
it proved to be our own greyhound bitch smelling the hot air.
Bou Keta gave some account of himself to-day. It seems that "Fezzanee"
is not a very respectable epithet in those countries.
"I am not a Fezzanee," said Bou Keta, abruptly.
"Then what are you?"
"My mother was a Tuarick woman, and my father one of the Walad
Suleiman."
"Then the Walad Suleiman are gentlemen, whilst the Fezzanees are Turks
and dogs?"
"That's the truth," quoth he.
To-day I found the veil of my sister-in-law of essential service.
Doubled, it shielded my eyes perfectly from the hot wind and sand. It
serves also as an excellent protection for the eyes against the flies
whilst I am writing. This is the second day of the hot wind. In the
evening we heard crickets singing in the scorching sand. At mid-day the
thermometer, when buried, rose to 122°° Fahr. We encamped in Wady
El-Makmak, where we had good water, far superior to that at Guber. As in
nearly all sandy places, a hole is scooped in the sand and then covered
over, or left to be filled by the action of the wind after the khafilah
is supplied. Two pretty palms point, as with two fingers, to the buried
wells of El-Makmak.
Some of our people noticed the lizard to-day. This seems to be the
omnipresent animal of the Sahara, inhabiting its most desolate regions
when no other living creature is seen. It changes in species with the
nature of the country. To-day, those seen are large; very soon they will
become small, meagre, and will change colour. In the valleys I have
observed them nearly the same colour as the sandy soil. Perhaps the
beetle is nearly as common as the lizard in the desert, being found in
its most arid and naked wastes. It is generally a big, round,
black-bottle beetle, which produces a trail in the sand that may be
mistaken for that of the serpent.
Still the following day we had to cross the same kind of desert, under
the enervating influence of the gheblee, or hot wind; the thermometer in
the sand reached 130°. Although the camels were eight hours on foot,
little progress was made. I stopped an hour to rest in Wady El-Jumar,
where were two or three palm-groves. One of the Fezzanees ferreted out a
lot of dates, hidden in the sand, and taking some distributed them
amongst us.
Thus refreshed we pushed on to encamp in Wady El-Takadafah, where there
is a well of water, good to drink, but disagreeable in smell, like that
of Bonjem. The odour resembles that of a sewer, and is produced by
hydrogen of sulphur. We have had good water every day in this sandy
tract, and I have no doubt that some may be found in every wady, a
little below the surface. Birds begin now to reappear: a few swallows, a
dove, and some small twitterers, were seen to give life to the otherwise
melancholy wadys.
Dr. Overweg examined the sand, which rolled in great heaps on every
side, and found it to consist of grains of four kinds,--white, yellow,
red, and black; the latter colour caused by the presence of iron. These
variegated sands form the basis of sandstone, and may be a decomposition
of sandstone. The sand near Tripoli is of a finer sort, consisting
mostly of a decomposition of limestone. There is a blue-black earth in
the wadys, arising from the wood, a species of crumbling coal.
This evening we had a famous _embroglio_ between our chaouch and the
marabout. The latter had caught a waran, or large species of lizard, and
skinned it to dispose of the skin. The chaouch impudently swore he had
been eating the flesh of the reptile--a direful accusation. A tremendous
war of words ensued; and not of words only, for presently the holy man
came in for a gratification of ropes' end. All the Fezzanees rushed
forward to save the honour of the marabout; and the chaouch retreated to
my tent in search of arms. A stupid joke was on the point of leading to
murder. I interfered, and succeeded in appeasing the storm in some
degree. I then rated the chaouch soundly for beating a man invested with
a sacred character in the eyes of all Musulmans. This produced a good
effect, and the culprit, hanging his head, seemed ashamed of the part he
had played. Subsequently he kissed the hand of the holy man, and they
were reconciled.