Narrative of a Mission to Central Africa Performed in the Years 1850-51 Volume Ii Part 1

Narrative of a Mission to Central Africa Performed in the Years 1850-51.

Volume 2.

by James Richardson.

CHAPTER I.

Description of Tintalous and its Environs--Palace and Huts--Bedsteads--Kailouee Race--Unhandsome Conduct of Mr.

Gagliuffi--Proposed Journey to Aghadez--Dr. Barth starts--An obstinate Bullock--Present extraordinary--State of Zinder--Affability of the Sultan--Power of Charms--Scorpions--Dialogue with a Ghatee--Splendid Meteors--Visit from En-Noor--Intrigues of the Fellatahs--A Sultan loaded with Presents--Talk of departing for Zinder--State of the Bornou Road--Division of a Bullock--Bottle of Rum stolen--More Visits from the Sultan--A Musical Entertainment--Curious Etymological Discussions--A wonderful Prophetess--Secret Societies--Magicians--The Evil Eye--Morality of Soudan--Magnificent Meteor--Stories of the Sfaxee.

I begin at length to consider myself as it were at home in this singular country of Aheer--without, however, experiencing any desire to dally here longer than the force of circ.u.mstances absolutely requires. It must be confessed, as I have already hinted, that the town of Tintalous,[1]

in front of which we are encamped, does not at all answer the idea which our too active imagination had formed. Yet it is a singular place. It is situated on rocky ground, at the bend of a broad valley, which in the rainy season becomes often-times the bed of a temporary river. Here and there around it are scattered numerous trees, many of considerable size, giving the surface of the valley something of a park-like appearance.

The herbage is not rich, but it is ornamental, and refreshes the eye in contrast with the black, naked rocks, which rise on all hands to the height often of two or three thousand feet. To the east, it is true, the country is a little open; and between the mountains run in numerous white sandy wadys, sprinkled with fresh green plants, or shaded by various species of mimosa and other spreading trees, under which the shepherds and herdsmen find shelter from the sun.

[1] Tintalous is 40 short and 30 long days from Ghat, N.N.E.; 60 short and 50 long from Mourzuk, N.E.; 20 short, 15 long, from Zinder or Damerghou, S.S.W.; 7 long, 10 or 12 short, from Bilma, E.; 38 to 45 days from Tuat, N.W. (_via_ Taghajeet). Maharees, of course, trot and gallop in half the time. These are native statements.

The princ.i.p.al feature of Tintalous itself is what may be called the palace of En-Noor. It is, indeed, one, compared with the huts and stone hovels amidst which it is placed. The materials are stone plastered with mud, and also the wood of the mimosa tree. The form is an oblong square, one story high, with an interior courtyard, and various appendages and huts around on the outside. There is another house, and also a mosque built in the same style, but much smaller. Of the rest of the habitations, a few are stone sheds, but the greater part are huts made of the dry stalks of the fine herb called bou rekabah, in the form of a conical English haystack, and are very snug, impervious alike to rain and sun. There are not more than one hundred and fifty of these huts and sheds, scattered over a considerable s.p.a.ce, without any order; some are placed two or three together within a small enclosure, which serves as a court or yard, in which visitors are received and cooking is carried on.

There is another little village at a stone's-throw north. The inhabitants of these two villages consist entirely of the slaves and dependants of En-Noor.

All around Tintalous, within an hour or two hours' ride, there are villages or towns of precisely the same description, more or less numerously peopled. At Seloufeeat and Tintaghoda, however, we saw more houses built of stone and mud. This may be accounted for by the fact that the inhabitants are not nearly so migratory as those of Tintalous, who often follow in a body the motions of their master, so that he is ever surrounded by an imposing household.

I must not omit mentioning an important article of furniture which is to be observed in all the houses of Aheer--namely, the bedstead. Whilst most of the inhabitants of Fezzan lie upon skins or mats upon the ground, the Kailouees have a nice light palm-branch bedstead, which enables them to escape the damp of the rainy season, and the attack of dangerous insects and reptiles like the scorpion and the lefa.

I shall hereafter make a few observations on the tribes inhabiting Aheer. Here I will note that they are all called Targhee, that is Tuarick, by the traders of the north; and that the predominant race is the Kailouee. To me the latter seems to be a mixture of the Berbers, or supposed aborigines of the northern coast, with all the tribes and varieties of tribes of the interior of Africa. This may account for their having less pride and stiffness than the Tuaricks of Ghat, who are purer Berbers; as well as for their disposition to thieving and petty larceny, of which I have recently been obliged to give some examples.

The pure Berbers, likewise, are much less sensual than their b.a.s.t.a.r.d descendants, who seem, indeed, to have no idea of pleasure but in its grossest shape.

The Kailouees are, for the most part, tall and active, little enc.u.mbered by bulky bodies; some having both complexion and features nearly European. At any rate there are many as fair-looking as the Arabs generally, whilst others are quite negro in colour. The women are smaller and stouter; some are fattened like the Mooresses of the coast, and attain to an enormous degree of _embon-point_. They are not ill-looking, but offer nothing remarkable in their forms.

I have already set down many particulars of manners, and shall proceed to do so in the same disjointed way. At a future time all these traits must be collected to form one picture.[2] For the present I am anxious about the future progress of the Mission, and impatient, at any rate, to hear some news of our advance. We cannot do all the things we would. Our position is almost that of prisoners. We must depend entirely on the caprice of En-Noor, who, however, may already have laid out his plans distinctly, though he does not choose to communicate them to us.

[2] Perhaps the note-books of Mr. Richardson, in which facts are set down fresh and distinct just as they presented themselves, will be found to be more interesting than an elaborate narrative. At any rate it has seemed better not to attempt to do what was left undone in this matter.--ED.

_Oct. 2d._--We have been lately discussing the practicability of going to Sakkatou, on a visit to the Sultan Bello; and this morning I looked over, for the first time, some "letters of credit" which Mr. Gagliuffi, our plausible consul at Mourzuk, had given me. I found that the amount offered for the use of the expedition in Kanou does not exceed a hundred and fifty reals of Fezzan, or about twenty pounds sterling, and that the agent is expressly requested not to advance any more! This extraordinary doc.u.ment induced me to look further, and it soon appeared that the doc.u.ments on which I relied so much were mere delusions. The wording of the Arabic letter to Bornou was ambiguous; but in as far as I and my interpreter could make it out, Haj Bashaw, to whom it is addressed, was requested, if he had any money of Mr. Gagliuffi's in hand, to give me _a little_! I really did not expect that a person in whom I had placed so much confidence would play me this trick. But it seems that Levantines are and will be Levantines to the end of time. I have written to Government, complaining of this unworthy conduct.

_3d._--Dr. Barth is about to take advantage of the delay necessarily incurred at Tintalous to visit Aghadez, the real capital of Aheer, to which the new Sultan has lately been led, and where his invest.i.ture will shortly be celebrated. This journey will extend our knowledge of this singular Saharan country, and may also be of advantage in procuring the signature of the Sultan to a treaty of commerce.

_4th._--Dr. Barth started this morning in company with Hamma, Waled Ocht En-Noor (son of the sister of En-Noor). The departure took place in presence of the Sultan himself, who had come to take tea with me. The caravan was at first composed of bullocks, the camels being a little in advance on the road. Our friend the Doctor started astride on one of these animals, which are a little difficult to manage, especially when they have been out at gra.s.s for some time. Indeed, in the first place, it is no easy matter to catch them from amongst the herds; then it is hard to load them; and then, though not often, they refuse to proceed.

On this occasion a powerful brute proved absolutely unmanageable.

En-Noor, seeing its obstinacy, exclaimed that he gave it to me to kill and eat. He afterwards, however, modified his gift, and said that the bullock was also to be distributed amongst the Arabs of the caravans now in Tintalous; and that we were to give a turban as a present to the herdsman. I was told that, in the meantime, representation had been made to him, to the effect that it was unfair to distinguish the Christians in this manner. Soon after the animal was given it ran away, and no one could catch it.

Well, the bullock caravan went off in good style; and Sultan En-Noor remained taking his tea and eating English pickles and marmalade with me. He drank the tea and ate the other delicacies with evident pleasure, not being afraid, like the greater part of his subjects, to eat the food of Christians. Possession of power seems to have one good effect--the destruction of prejudice; pity that it sometimes goes further and destroys belief. En-Noor told us that the Sultan of Asoudee had gone out on a razzia to the west. We are obliged to hope that it will be successful, as otherwise our affairs will most materially suffer. We talked also of the state of Zinder, which is represented to be a walled town, with seven gates built amidst and around some huge rocks. The governor, Ibrahim, keeps fifty drummers at work every night, but whether with a purpose superst.i.tious or political I do not know.

En-Noor admired much the portraits of the personages who figure in the accounts of the former expedition to this part of the world, particularly that of Clapperton. He had also a wonderful story to tell of this traveller's magic. He said that Abdallah (Clapperton's travelling name) had learned from his books the site of his (En-Noor's) father's house, that near it was a gold mine, and that he had intended to come and give intelligence of this treasure. "See!" exclaimed the Sultan, "what wonderful things are written in the books of the Christians!"

My young fighi (or writer of charms) tells me, as a secret, that he cannot write a talisman for himself, but must ask another of the brotherhood to do this for him. Neither in this place can physicians heal themselves. This civil youth made me a present of a piece of his workmans.h.i.+p to-day, observing, "There is great profit in its power; it will preserve you from the cut of the sword and the firing of the gun."

I pray not to have occasion to test its efficacy, but hope it may also serve as a protection from the bite of scorpions, which are so plentiful about here, and are said, at this season, to jump like gra.s.shoppers.

According to the people of Tintalous there are three species of them, each distinguished by a different colour--black, red, and yellow.

Despite the talk of these disgusting reptiles I went in the evening to see the wells which supply Tintalous with water. They are nothing more than holes scooped out of the sand in the bed of the wady, and supplied by _ma-el-matr_, "rain-water," which collects only a few feet under the sand, and pa.s.ses through no minerals.

I afterwards proceeded to the encampment of the slave caravan, which is going in a few days to Ghat. A native of that place--the chief, indeed--was exceedingly rude at our first rencounter, and the following dialogue took place:--

_The Ghatee._ Where are you going?

_Myself._ I am going to Sakkatou.

_The Ghatee._ What for?

_Myself._ To see the Sultan, who is my friend.

_The Ghatee._ How do you know him?

_Myself._ The English have known him for years past.

_The Ghatee._ Ah!

_Myself._ Yes.

_The Ghatee._ Have you any dollars--large dollars? (making a large circle with his thumb and forefinger.)

_Myself._ No: I don't carry money to Soudan, which is of no use to me.

There I shall have wada.

_Ghatee._ Eh! Eh! But cannot you give me a turban?

_Myself._ No, I am not a merchant, I don't bring such things; go to the Arab merchants and buy.

_Ghatee._ Um! Um!

_Myself._ Do you know Mohammed Kafa in Ghat?

_Ghatee._ Oh, yes!

_Myself._ He is my friend.

_Ghatee._ Allah!

_Myself._ Yes; he sent me a fine dinner twice whilst I was in Ghat.

_Ghatee._ Allah! Allah!

_Myself._ Do you know Haj Ibrahim? He is my great friend.

_Ghatee._ Allah! Allah! (greatly surprised).

_Myself._ Why, how is it that you do not know me, Yakob, as I have been in Ghat many years before?

At this some of the other people of the caravan cried out, "Yes, yes, we all know Yakob;" so that I left the rude slave-merchant quite crest-fallen. He evidently, at first, wished to a.s.sume the airs of a Haghar, and bully me out of a present.