Plain of Taeeta--Fezzan Boundary--Fossils--Tuarick Behaviour--Valley of
Tabea--Observations--Fasting--Tuarick Habits--Scorpions and
Locusts--Visitors--Heat--Roads--Hot Wind--Pass of Abulaghlagh--The
Palace of Demons--Wheat hid in the Desert--Land of Demons--Kasar
Janoon--A dear Camel--Visit to the Kasar--Perilous Adventure of Dr.
Barth.
On the 8th we pursued our course over the monotonous undulating plain of
Taeeta, to which we had descended. It was a little hotter, because lower
than yesterday; and the country is more parched, more arid, more
desolate, than ever. No herbage for camels is found in these parts, and
we had been compelled to carry some with us from Wady Haghaneen, and to
wake up with dates, of which the camels ate voraciously as a treat.
Beetles and lizards were the only living things we saw.
Next day, the 9th, we rose before sunrise and made a good day of nine
hours, still over the same plain of Taeeta. About three hours before we
reached the well of Tabea we crossed the real boundaries of the Fezzanee
territory, although the Tuaricks seem to claim the pass on the mountains
as their own. The weather was hot, there being no wind. On these
occasions the afternoons are very oppressive, and the sun causes his
power to be unpleasantly felt until an hour before sunset.
From the plain to-day we had a view of the Ghât mountains, which seem at
a distance to present different forms and characters from the high lands
on the edge of the plateau of Mourzuk. The bed of the undulating plain
of Taeeta is covered with pebbles and blocks, of both sand and
limestone. Yesterday I picked up some fossils of the star-fish--the
fixed star-fish, having branches by which it holds to the bottom of the
sea. Some fossils of vegetables were also found. Two or three hours
before reaching the well we descended rapidly into a broad, deep wady,
where were the recent marks of a waterflow. The camels all went well,
ours faster than the Targhee; but these latter, not being allowed to
stray, always make, as a rule, better and more regular journeys.
The Tuaricks themselves are getting more civil. Hateetah already enters
into the idea of a treaty of amity and commerce: he says he will fix the
amount the English merchants are to pay when they attend the mart of
Ghât. The son of Shafou is always represented as a very good fellow; he
is growing more and more civil and companionable. This evening I gave
him a small pair of good scissors, which much delighted him. As for the
other Tuaricks, Hateetah excepted, I make it a rule to refuse what they
ask, otherwise I should be annoyed every day with their importunities.
Hateetah says we must lodge at Ghât with Haj Ahmed, the governor,
outside of the town, to be out of the way of the begging Tuaricks. He
adds, "Always keep the door shut, and when any one calls out for
permission to enter say 'Babo,'--(No one at home!)"
The Germans, like myself, find the fatigue too great to enable them to
continue their observations and writings with regularity. We must not be
extravagant of our health and strength at this early period of our
expedition.
The valley of Tabea is a pleasant place, having herbage for the camels
in abundance, as is the case wherever the ethel-tree is found. There are
several wells with water near the surface, and others might no doubt be
dug all over the wady. Our encampment looked picturesque this evening.
It is the eve of Ramadhan, and our people fired shots here and there to
celebrate the occasion.
_10th._--A halt was arranged for this day. I took the opportunity to
wash and change all my clothes, which I do every three or four days, if
possible. Mr. Hateetah, however, would not allow me to carry on my
domestic arrangements in peace. He came grumbling as usual, wanting
scissors, razors, &c. I cannot fill this craving abyss to the brim. Our
people fast to-day; but to-morrow, probably, they will not, as the law
does not require them to do so when actually travelling.
I have left Doctors Barth and Overweg to take the compass-direction of
this route. To do this when with them would be useless for me, but when
I leave them I must then do all the work I can. Now, it would be only
accumulating on my shoulders useless labour. Besides, they will always
do this kind of thing much better than myself. The same observation
applies to the thermometer. It would be well, however, if I practised
taking observations with them. But we are all sufficiently worked, and
can assist one another but little in these matters.
The wind has been variable for the last three days,--in the evening,
generally N.E. In the afternoon it begins to move round, until it blows
from all the points of the compass. To-day we have hot wind or gusts of
wind. It has been very hot, 105° Fahrenheit under the tent.
Our people suffer much from their fasting. But the Tuaricks do not fast,
and seem to look with scorn upon the Moors and blacks for doing so.
Yusuf says _he_ shall not fast when he in _en route_. A camel has broken
down on the road, and it is found necessary to kill it, to prevent its
dying. Hateetah has given out his decree for its sale. The Tuaricks are
to purchase half and we half of the carcase, at ten reals, or fifty
Tunisian piastres. Of our five reals the Germans take one and a half,
and the Sfaxee a half. This will make it lighter for me. Our people made
a regular feast of the camel's flesh, some of them sitting up and
gorging till midnight. Their noise did not disturb me, for I had slept a
good deal in the day.
I had done very little indeed but sleep and lie down. We felt the heat
severely at noon. A gust of hot wind nearly carried away our tent.
The Tuaricks use spoons, and do not eat with their hands like the Arabs
and Turks; but the latter pretend that the Tuaricks never wash their
hands at all, whilst they, before and after eating, always take this
precaution. In saluting, the Tuaricks do not spread out the fingers much
when they raise their hand, but present the palm and fingers
outstretched to you. One of these gentlemen, whom I call the noisy one,
has got a poor little slave-boy, about seven years of age, who works
like a man, and goes quite naked.
To-day I found a young scorpion in the canvass-case of my writing-desk;
he cocked his tail in a hostile attitude, as if daring any one to touch
him. In his tail seems to be all his power, and so of all the scorpion
host. Yesterday was taken a locust: this destructive insect is not bred
in the desert. In this bare and thirsty region there is nothing for the
young ones to eat, and the old ones likewise would soon perish in the
Sahara. They are bred in the cultivated fields near the desert, or in
the fertile lands of the coast, as in the neighbourhood of Mogador,
where millions of the young have been seen, like so many small green
buds of trees.
Dr. Overweg made an excursion to the Ghât mountains, or rather the
smaller hills or offshoots from the range. He found them sandstone, but
very singularly formed or broken into huge blocks--some like the masses
which I saw on the route from Ghadamez to Ghât, with a very narrow base,
on which they might turn as on a pivot.
_11th._--We stopped here another day. We were to have started in the
afternoon, but the Tuaricks had some visitors come to see them, and
detained us for their own comfort and amusement. I am not sorry for it,
as we have had a tremendous gheblee. All the day I felt it extremely
hot, and so have all the people. I was obliged to lie down on the floor
of my tent nearly all day; but I have so arranged my table that I put my
head under it, which gives additional and most important protection from
the sun. All these little expedients must be resorted to in travelling
over the desert, and may sometimes save a man's life. It is surprising
what protection a piece of cloth or linen, or a piece of board, in
addition to the tent, will give against the intensity of the sun's
fierce rays. The Moors and blacks of the coast seem to suffer as much as
the Europeans.
There are two ways from this wady to Ghât--a difficult, and an easy but
longer one. I and the Germans go, with Hateetah and Shafou, the
difficult one; and we leave the heavy luggage and the caravan to go the
easy route. This, at least, is the arrangement talked of this evening.
The morrow may bring something new.
The Tuaricks who arrived to-day expected a supper: Hateetah sent to the
Germans to find them one; the Germans referred them to Moknee; and we
provided.
We must take care we do not have too many customers of this sort, or we
shall never get up to Aheer with the present stock of provisions.
To call the wind under which we are suffering _gheblee_, is a perfect
misnomer; for the hot wind of to-day and yesterday came directly from
the _north_, "Bahree!" As Yusuf said, however, when I told him where the
wind was from: "Where now is the sea? It is a long way from the sea."
The thermometer was 106° Fahrenheit in the shade of the ethel to-day. We
shall rarely have it much hotter than this. In Bornou there is rarely
more than 104° in the shade.
_13th._--Saturday.[5] The morning is advancing and the Tuaricks are not
yet moving. These Azgher are sad lazy dogs. It appears they have changed
their minds, and we are all to go the long and easy way. The sun is
rising in haze with a little wind. The heavens now are frequently
concealed by vapour. Yesterday we had clouds in abundance, often
shrouding the sun--a wonder for the desert in this season!
[5] The 12th is missed, and Dr. Richardson notes in his journal
that the date is to be rectified backwards; but he does not
say where the rectification is to begin--ED.
We started rather late, about seven A.M., but made a long day,
continuing till sunset, or twelve hours. Our course was north-north-west
for three or four hours, on the plain towards Serdalous, and then
entered the pass of Abulaghlagh; which, though represented as plain and
smooth as the hand by Hateetah, was sufficiently difficult and rocky for
the boat-laden camels. The beginning of the pass was remarkable for a
number of curiously-formed sandstone rocks, several of them swinging or
resting on a small base like a pivot, and others cleft asunder, as
straightly and clearly as if cut by a knife. Our course along the pass
was west, but when well through it we turned round southwards towards
Ghât.
Immediately on clearing the pass we saw the celebrated Kasar Janoon, or
Palace of the Demons; of and concerning which the people had been
talking all day: we had then the range of hills or mountains to our
left, and some sand-hills on our right. Dr. Overweg at once discovered
we were in a new region, or zone. The mountains on the left are composed
of slate-marl, and not sandstone, as before stated by myself and Dr.
Oudney. Overweg considers them of a very peculiar character and is
delighted with their castle-like and battlemented shapes. But we shall
have much to say of these marl-slate mountains, coloured so beautifully,
and looking nobly to the eye.
Before entering the pass of Abulaghlagh, Hateetah hid some of his wheat
under the rocks to lighten his camels. I joked him, and told him I knew
his hiding-place, and would return and fetch the wheat. All over these
hills things are hidden, and often money, which is sometimes lost for
ever, the owner dying without pointing out his hiding-place. There was
no herbage for camels to-night, but we had brought a little hasheesh
with us. A strong wind set in towards evening and continued nearly all
night, preventing us from sleeping. We were much exhausted by our day's
march, and so were all our animals; they suffer much from these long
stretches. We gave them dates, as we give horses corn.
_14th._--We rose before daylight, and got off by sunrise, continuing
till about two hours after noon. The wind was so exceedingly strong,
blowing from the south-east, that we did not feel the heat of the sun.
But now and then we had strong gusts of hot wind, like the breath of a
furnace. I tied a thin dark cotton handkerchief over my eyes, and found
great relief.
Our course is now south, over a high sandy plain. We are at length
fairly in the Land of Demons, as the country of the Ghât Tuaricks is
called by themselves. All around, the mountains take castellated forms,
and high over all rises the Kasar Janoon, Palace or Citadel of the Ginn:
a huge square mass of rock, said to be a day in circuit, and bristling
with turret-pinnacles, some of which must be seven hundred feet in
height. Nothing but its magnitude can convince the eye at a distance
that it is not a work raised by human hands, and shattered by time or
warfare. Its vast disrupted walls tower gigantically over the plain.
Here, as in another Pandemonium, the spirits of the desert collect from
places distant thousands of miles, for the purpose of debate or prayer.
It is a mosque as well as a hall of council, and a thesaurus to boot,
for unimaginable treasures are buried in its caverns. Poor people love
to forge wealthy neighbours for themselves. No Tuarick will venture to
explore these Titanic dwellings, for, according to old compact, the
tribes of all these parts have agreed to abstain from impertinent
curiosity, on condition of receiving advice and assistance from the
spirit-inhabitants of their country. In my former visit I nearly lost my
life in an attempt to explore it and was supposed to have been misled by
mocking-spirits: little did I think that this superstition was about to
receive another confirmation.
The Kasar Janoon, and all the mountains around, were wrapped this day in
haze, but loomed gigantically through. We proceeded, still in sight of
this enchanted castle, over the plain, which was perfectly bare and
arid, until we arrived at Wady Atoulah, where we found the beneficent
ethel and some good pickings for the camels. Not pausing long here, we
proceeded another hour, and encamped in Wady Tahala, just in front of
the imposing Kasar, and full in view of the mountains of Wareerat to the
east.
The camels suffered much during the day's march. The Tuaricks had
another knocked up, and we two,--that of the blacks and one which I had
purchased of Mr. Gagliuffi. The latter could not bring his load, and we
were obliged to relieve him of all his burden; a great disappointment to
me, for I bought the animal as a strong one, to go up to Soudan. It was
a dear bargain, in comparison with the other camels which I purchased in
Mourzuk,--costing thirty-eight mahboubs and a half. I must recover the
money, and cannot allow Government to lose it. All our other camels came
on well, even those which cost me much less. The other is still behind
whilst I write: it is an old, worn-out, black Egyptian camel, and cost
only eighteen dollars.
I did not feel so much exhausted to-day as usual. I always take tea and
coffee on encamping, which restores my senses at least, and does me much
good generally. I dissolve mastic with the water during the hot hours,
and to-day drank at least three pints, but ate little.
The well is east from our encampment two hours, and under the mountains.
There is encamped the Sfaxee, who went by the more difficult route, to
arrive at Ghât before us; but it seems he will be disappointed. He
came by the pass by which I returned formerly from Ghât to
Mourzuk,--certainly too difficult and narrow for the transport of the
boat.
_15th._--I rose early, and marched about three hours and a half to the
well, under the Kasar Janoon; that is to say, four or five miles along
the base of the eastern wall of the Kasar. But this day's adventures
deserve more particular chronicle.
The Germans had determined to go and examine the Kasar, and were about
to start just as I came out of my tent. They had had some altercation
with Hateetah, because, partly for superstitious reasons, he would not
give them a guide, and they had made up their minds to undertake the
exploration alone. I saw Dr. Barth going off somewhat stiffly by
himself; Dr. Overweg came to where I was standing, and asked Amankee, my
Soudan servant, about the well near the Kasar, and then also went off.
He said to me, "I shall boil the water on the highest point, and then go
along the top to the other end." He was taking some points of the Kasar
with the compass, and I observed to him, "Take the eastern point." Then
he started. Yusuf called out after him, "Take a camel with you, it is
very distant." Distressed at seeing them go alone, I told Amankee that
if he would follow I would give him a present. He agreed, upon the
condition that he should not be expected to ascent the Kasar; for he
feared the Janoon. We then gave him dates, biscuits, and a skin of
water, and he started after Dr. Overweg. I confess I had my fears about
them. On arriving near the well, we pitched tent near an immense
spreading old ethel, which afforded us some shade. I watched the
changing aspect of the Kasar nearly all the time of our three hours'
ride; and could not help thinking that the more it was examined the more
marvellous did it appear. I then looked out to recognise the place where
I was lost four years ago, and at last I thought I could distinguish the
locality. The day wore on. It blew gales of hot wind. No Germans
appeared, although it had been told them that we should only stop during
the hot hours of the day. However, I anticipated that they would not
arrive before sunset. Hateetah sent word, that as there was little water
he should not move on till to-morrow. This was good news for the
Germans.
At last, about five o'clock P.M., Dr. Overweg appeared. He had
experienced great thirst and fatigue; but, having the assistance of
Amankee, he got back safe. He at once confessed his fears for Dr. Barth.
I began to think this gentleman must either have gone to Ghât, or that
some accident had befallen him. Soon, indeed, we began to have gloomy
apprehensions, and to talk seriously of a search. The Tuaricks were not
very civil, and Hateetah threw all the responsibility of the safety of
my fellow-travellers on me. Dr. Overweg and several people went out in
search of Dr. Barth just before sunset.
Night closed in; no appearance of our friend. I hoisted a lamp on the
top of the ethel, and made large fires as the sun went down, in hopes
that their glare might be seen at a distance from the Kasar. Our
servants returned without Dr. Overweg. He had promised to be back by
sunset, and I began to fear some accident had befallen him likewise.
The evening grew late, and Hateetah came to me, in a very nervous state,
to inquire after the Germans. I endeavoured to compose him by telling
him the responsibility was on us, and not on him. Dr. Overweg returned
at midnight. He had thrown into the desert various pieces of paper, on
which was written the direction of our encampment from the Kasar. We
were very uneasy, and slept little, as may be imagined; but before we
retired for the night Hateetah arranged a general search for the
morning.
Next morning, accordingly, at daybreak (16th), the search was commenced,
by two camels scouring the environs of the desert. Dr. Overweg went with
one of the parties, but returned at noon, bringing no news of Dr. Barth.
Amankee with his party had, however, seen his footsteps towards the
north. This was most important, as it directed our attention that way,
and we thought no more of his having gone to Ghât. We now calculated
that our companion had been twenty-four hours without a drop of water, a
gale of hot wind blowing all the time! Dr. Overweg proposed to me that
we should offer a considerable reward, as the last effort. He mentioned
twenty, but I increased the sum to fifty dollars. This set them all to
work, and a Tuarick with a maharee volunteered to search. I found it
necessary, however, to give him two dollars for going, besides the
proffered reward; he left at two P.M., and all the people were sent off
by Hateetah a couple of hours after him.
This was a dreadfully exciting day. I confess, that as the afternoon
wore on I had given up nearly all hope, and continued the search merely
as a matter of duty. Few will be able to imagine the anguish of losing a
friend under such circumstances in the wide desert, where you may for
ever remain uncertain how he came by his death, whether by the spear of
a bandit, the claws of a wild beast, or by that still more deadly enemy,
thirst. Just before sunset I was preparing fresh fires as a last resort,
when I saw one of our blacks, the little Mahadee, running eagerly
towards the encampment. Good news was in his very step. I hastened to
meet him. He brought the joyful intelligence that Dr. Barth had been
found, still alive, and even able to speak! The Tuarick whom I had
despatched, in scouring the country with his maharee, had found him
about eight miles from the camp, lying on the ground, unable to move.
For twenty-four hours he had remained in the same position, perfectly
exhausted with heat and fatigue. Our fires had not been unmarked by him,
but they only served to show that we were doing our best to find him. He
could not move a step towards them. On seeing his deliverers, he could
just muster strength to say, "Water, water!" He had finished the small
supply he had taken with him the day before at noon, and had from that
time suffered the most horrible tortures from thirst. He had even drunk
his own blood! Twenty-eight hours, without water in the Sahara! Our
people could scarcely at first credit that he was alive; for their
saying is, that no one can live more than twelve hours when lost in the
desert during the heats of summer.
Dr. Barth was now brought back to the camp. He had still a supply of
biscuit and dates with him; but eating only aggravates the torture of
thirst. Moist food is fitter to carry on such occasions. We found rum
very useful in restoring his health.
_17th._--The Doctor, being of robust constitution, was well enough this
day to mount his camel, and proceed with the caravan. We advanced about
seven hours, and then encamped. To-morrow, a ride of a couple of hours
will take us into Ghât.