An Account Of Timbuctoo And Housa Territories In The Interior Of Africa Part 30

To return to Mr. Jackson's book. This work contains, besides the information that more directly concerns the statesman and the merchant, much interesting matter for the natural and moral philosopher, as well as for the general reader. The author makes no pretension to fine writing; his style is plain, unaffected, and perspicuous, and there is as much new, authentic, and important matter in the book, as in the hands of the French writers of African travels, (Golberry, Vaillant, and Savary, for instance,) would have been spread over three times the s.p.a.ce. Upon the whole, it is the most valuable work of the kind that has appeared for many years. I hope the author will reap the reward which his labours have so well deserved.

JAMES WILLIS.

_Of the Venomous Spider.--Charmers of Serpents.--Disease called Nyctalopia, or Night-blindness.--Remedy for Consumption in Africa.--Western Branch of the Nile, and Water Communication between Timbuctoo and Egypt_.

Sir,

The venomous spider (_Tendaraman_). This beautiful reptile is somewhat similar to a hornet in size and colour, but of a rounder 430 form; its legs are about an inch long, black, and very strong; it has two bright yellow lines, lat.i.tudinally crossing its back; it forms its web octagonally between bushes, the diameter being two or three yards; it places itself in the centre of its web, which is so fine, as to be almost invisible, and attaches to whatever may pa.s.s between those bushes. It is said to make always towards the head, before it inflicts its deadly wound. In the cork forests, the sportsman, eager in his pursuit of game, frequently carries away on his garments the _tenderaman_, whose bite is so poisonous, that the patient survives but a few hours.

Charmers of serpents (_Aisawie_).--These _Aisawie_ have a considerable sanctuary at Fas. They go to Suse in large bodies about the month of July to collect serpents, which they pretend to render harmless by a certain form of words, incantation, or invocation to _Seedy ben Aisah_, their tutelary saint. They have an annual feast, at which time they dance and shake their heads quickly, during a certain period, till they become giddy, when they run about the towns frantic, attacking any person that may have a black or dark dress on; they bite, scratch, and devour any thing that comes in their way. They will attack an _unjumma_, or portable fire, and tear the lighted charcoal to pieces with their hands and mouths. I have seen them take the serpents, which they carry about, and devour them alive, the blood streaming down their clothes. The 431 incredible accounts of their feats would fill a volume; the following observations may suffice to give the reader an idea of these extraordinary fanatics. The _buska_ and the [238]_el effah_ are enticed out of their holes by them; they handle them with impunity, though their bite is ascertained to be mortal; they put them into a cane basket, and throw it over their shoulders: these serpents they carry about the country, and exhibit them to the people. I have seen them play with them, and suffer them to twist round their bodies in all directions, without receiving any injury from them. I have often enquired how they managed to do this, but never could get any direct or satisfactory answer; they a.s.sure you, however, that faith in their saint, and the powerful influence of the name of the divinity, (_Isim Allah_,) enables them to work these miracles: they maintain themselves in a miserable way, by donations from the spectators before whom they exhibit. This art of fascinating serpents was known by the ancient Africans, as appears from the _Marii_ and _Psilii_, who were Africans, and showed proofs of it at Rome.

[Footnote 238: For a description of these deadly serpents, see Jackson's Account of Marocco, &c. chapter on Zoology.]

_Bu Telleese Nyctalopia_.--This ophthalmic disease is little known in the northern provinces; but in Suse and Sahara it prevails. A defect of vision comes on at dusk, but without pain; the patient is 432 deprived of sight, so that he cannot see distinctly, even with the a.s.sistance of candles. During my residence at Agadeer, a cousin of mine was dreadfully afflicted with this troublesome disease, losing his sight at evening, and continuing in that state till the rising sun. A Deleim Arab, a famous physician, communicated to me a sovereign remedy, which being extremely simple, I had not sufficient faith in his prescription to give it a trial, till reflecting that the simplicity of the remedy was such as to preclude the possibility of its being injurious, it was applied inwardly; and twelve hours afterwards, to my astonishment, the boy's eyes were perfectly well, and continued so during twenty-one days, when I again had recourse to the same remedy, and it effected a cure, on one administration, during thirty days, when it again attacked him; the remedy was again applied with the same beneficial effect as before.

_Offer to discover the African Remedy for Nyctalopia, or Night Blindness_.

(TO THE EDITOR OF THE LITERARY PANORAMA.)

Sir,

Having read your animadversions on the additional matter introduced in my second edition of an "Account of Marocco, Timbuctoo," &c.

(see Literary Panorama for April last, p. 713.) wherein you 433 conceive that I am reprehensible for not having discovered publicly the remedy alluded to as an infallible cure to the _Butellise_ or _Nyctalopia_, I should observe that I was not apprised, (till I read those animadversions,) that this was a disorder incident to the inhabitants in Europe, or that it affected our seamen on the Mediterranean station. But, if that be the case, and it should be found expedient and beneficial to the interests of Great Britain, that this remedy should be divulged for the alleviation of our meritorious seamen in His Majesty's service, I am willing to make the discovery to any respectable medical man who may be appointed by Government as physician or surgeon on the Mediterranean station.

JAMES G. JACKSON.

May 18. 1812.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE LITERARY PANORAMA.

Circus, Minories, June 21. 1815.

Sir,

I request you will contradict in your next publication the a.s.sertion of my _decease_, which is calculated to injure considerably my interests abroad as a merchant. (Vide your Review of Parke's Travels, page 377.) In answer to this unfounded information, which has been propagated in your review of last month, I have to acquaint you that I am not only in the land of the living, but in excellent health, and waiting to hear the testimony 434 of some stranger or European traveller (since the Africans are not to be relied on), who shall establish the fact of _the junction of the Nile of Sudan with that of Egypt; or at least, the approximation of these two mighty streams_. And notwithstanding _the_ insidious reflections and censures pa.s.sed on the native Africans, from whom I gathered much of the information communicated to the public in my account of Marocco, it must be allowed by all liberal-minded men, that a native is more likely to give an accurate account of his country than a foreigner; and a residence of sixteen years in a country may be allowed to give a man of common observation experience enough to select judiciously such intelligence as might be relied on; and I have no hesitation in declaring it to be my unalterable opinion, that _so soon as a traveller shall have returned from the interior of Africa, many of my a.s.sertions respecting those regions will be confirmed_, and that information founded on the testimony of unprejudiced and disinterested Africans, will be found not so contemptible as some learned persons have imagined.

JAMES G. JACKSON.

435

_Critical Observations on Abstracts from the Travels of Ali Bey, and Robert Adams, in the Quarterly Journal of Literature, Science, and the Arts, edited at the Royal Inst.i.tution of Great Britain, Vol. I. No. II. page 264_.

London, Dec. 19. 1817.

In the discussion on Aly Bey's Travels, in the Journal of Science and the Arts, above mentioned, p. 270. are the following words:--

"Aly Bey has added, in a separate chapter, all the information he received, respecting a mediterranean sea, from a merchant of Marocco, of the name of Sidi Matte Buhlal, who had resided many years at Timbuctoo, and in other countries of Sudan or Nigritia, the most material of which was, that Tombut is a large town, very trading, and inhabited by Moors and Negroes, and was at the same distance from the Nile Abid, (or Nile of the Negroes, or Niger,) as Fez is from Wed Sebu, that is to say, _about three hundred English miles_."

As this pa.s.sage is quoted from Aly Bey, by the first literary society of Great Britain, and is, therefore, calculated to create a doubt of the accuracy of what I have said, respecting the distance of the Nile El Abeed from Timbuctoo, in the enlarged editions of my account of Marocco, &c. page 297. I consider it a duty which I owe 436 to my country and to myself, not to let this sentence pa.s.s through the press without submitting to the public my observations on the subject.

Sidi Matte Buhlal is a native of Fas: the name is properly Sidi El Mattie Bu h.e.l.lal. This gentleman is one out of twenty authorities from whom I derived the information recorded in my account of Marocco, respecting Timbuctoo and the interior of Africa; his whole family, which is respectable and numerous, are among the first Timbuctoo merchants that have their establishments at Fas. I should, however, add, that among the many authorities from whom I derived my information relative to Timbuctoo, there were two muselmen in particular,--merchants of respectability and intelligence, who came from Timbuctoo to Santa Cruz, soon after _I opened that port to Dutch commerce, in the capacity of agent of Holland, by order of the then Emperor of Marocco, Muley Yezzid_, brother and predecessor of the present Emperor Soliman. These two gentlemen had resided at Timbuctoo, and in other parts of Sudan, fifteen years, trading during the whole of that period with Darbeyta, on the coast of the Red Sea, with Jinnie, Housa, w.a.n.gara, Cashna, and other countries of the interior, from whom, and from others, equally intelligent and credible, I procured my information respecting the _mediterranean sea in the interior of Africa, called El Bahar a.s.sudan, i.e. the Sea of Sudan_, situated fifteen days'

437 journey east of Timbuctoo. These two muselmen merchants had ama.s.sed considerable fortunes at Timbuctoo, and were on their journey to Fas, their native place; but in consequence of a civil war at that time raging throughout West Barbary, particularly in the province of Haha, through which it was indispensable that they should pa.s.s, on their way to Fas, they sojourned with me two months; after which they departed for Fas with a caravan.

These intelligent Moors gave me much information respecting Timbuctoo, and the interior countries where they had resided; they sold me many articles of Sudanic manufacture, among which were three pieces of fine cotton cloth, manufactured at Timbuctoo, and some ornaments of pure gold _in or molu_, of exquisite workmans.h.i.+p, of the manufacture of Jinnie; one of these pieces of Timbuctoo manufacture, of cotton interwoven with silk, of a square blue-and-white pattern, dyed with _indigo of Timbuctoo_, I had the honour to present to the British Museum, in April, 1796[239], where it is now deposited.

[Footnote 239: This piece of cloth, about two yards wide and five long, I had the honour of offering to Sir Joseph Banks, who declined receiving it; but at the same time suggested that it was a manufacture deserving public notice, and would be considered an acceptable present by the British Museum.]

I have been led into this digression from certain insinuations that have been[240] insidiously propagated, reflecting on the accuracy 438 of my statements respecting the interior of Africa; and I must add, that I always have felt, and still feel confident, that in proportion as we shall become more acquainted with the interior of this unexplored continent, my account will be so much the more authenticated: my confidence in this opinion, (however dogmatical it may appear,) is founded on the original and intelligent sources of my information; on a long residence and general acquaintance with all the princ.i.p.al inhabitants of West Barbary, whose connections lay in Sudan, and at Timbuctoo; in a competent knowledge and practical acquaintance with the languages of North Africa, and a consequent ability to discriminate the accuracy of the sources of my intelligence.

[Footnote 240: See my letter to the editor of the Monthly Magazine, for March, 1817; page 125.]

This being premised, I now proceed to offer to the public my animadversions on the above quotation from the Journal of Science and the Arts.

I have actually crossed the Wed Sebu, or the River Sebu, alluded to in the above quotation, which pa.s.ses through the Berebber Kabyl of Zimure Sh.e.l.leh; I have crossed the same river several times at the city of Mequinez, and also at Meheduma, where it enters the Atlantic Ocean, in lat. 34 15' north, and from this experimental knowledge of the course of that river, I can affirm, with confidence, that it is not inaccurately laid down in my map of West Barbary[241], and that it is not three hundred English miles from 439 Fas, but only six English miles from that city. I can also a.s.sert, from incontestable testimony, that Tombut, or Timbuctoo, is[242]

not three hundred miles from the Nile El Abeed, but only about twelve English miles from that stream, the latter being south of the town.

[Footnote 241: For which see page 55.]

[Footnote 242: Vide Jackson's enlarged Account of Marocco, &c.

p. 297.]

Respecting the following pa.s.sage in the above quoted Journal of Science and the Arts, p. 272, "This river contains the fierce animals called _Tzemsah_, which devour men," I shall only observe, that _Tzemsah_ is the word in Arabic which denominates the _crocodile_. Farther on, in the same page, we have the words,--"We must suppose that the Joliba makes at this spot a strange winding, which gives to the inhabitants of Marocco the opinion they express." This supposed winding is actually a.s.serted to exist, and is denominated by the Arabs[243] _El Kose Nile_, i.e. the arch or curve of the Nile, and is situated between the cities of Timbuctoo and Jinnie.

[Footnote 243: Idem, note, p. 305.]

I should here adduce some further testimony respecting the course of the Nile El Abeed; but as the quotation from Aly Bey in the above Journal of Sciences and the Arts, page 271. a.s.serts it to be towards the east, and again, in page 272. declares it to be towards the west, such incoherence, I presume, requires no confutation. I consider that it originates from Moorish inaccuracy.

440 The _La Mar Zarak_ of Adams, if any such river exists, may be a corruption of _Sagea el Humra_, i.e. the Red Stream, a river in the southern confines of Sahara, nearly in the same longitude with Timbuctoo. This river the late Emperor of Marocco, Muley Yezzid, announced as the southern boundary of his dominions; but from the accounts which I have had of it, it was not of that magnitude which Adams ascribes to the Mar Zarak, nor was it precisely in the neighbourhood of Timbuctoo, when I was a resident in South Barbary: rivers, however, _which pa.s.s through sandy or desert districts_, often change their courses in the s.p.a.ce of twenty-four hours, by the drifting of the moving sands impelled by the wind; instances of which I have myself often witnessed.

If this river proceeded from the Desert, it might have had the name of _El Bahar Sahara_, i.e. the River of Sahara; the word _La Mar_ is a lingua franca, or corrupt Spanish word, signifying the sea, and might have been used to this poor sailor by a native to make it the more intelligible to him. Many Spanish words having crept into the Arabic vocabulary, and are occasionally used by those Africans who have had intercourse with Europeans.

441 The next pa.s.sage for animadversion is as follows:--

"The state in which he represented Timbuctoo, and its being the residence of a Negro sovereign, instead of a muselman."

The state in which he has represented Timbuctoo, is, I think, extremely inaccurate; and being a slave, it is more than probable, that he was placed in a Fondaque[244], or Caravansera, belonging to the King, which he _mistook_ for his palace; but that his narrative should be deemed inaccurate, because he has described the town of Timbuctoo to be under the sovereignty of a Negro prince, is to me incomprehensible.

[Footnote 244: Vide Jackson's enlarged Account of Marocoo, &c.

p. 298.]

The various sources of information that I have investigated, uniformly declare that sovereign to be a Negro, and that his name in the year 1800, was Woolo. This account, it appears, is confirmed by Adams, who says,[245] Woolo was King of Timbuctoo in 1810, and that he was then old and grey-headed. Some years after the above period, Riley's Narrative, epitomised in Leyden's Discoveries and Travels in Africa, vol. i., _speaking of the King of Timbuctoo, says, this sovereign is a very large, old, grey-headed black man_, called _Shegar_, which means Sultan. This, however, I must observe is a misinterpretation of the word _Shegar_, which is an African-Arabic word, and signifies _red or carrotty_, and is a word applicable to his physiognomy; but certainly not to his rank:--_Abd 442 Shegar_, a carrotty or red Negro. If these two testimonies, since 1800, be correct, then the _anachronism_ of which I am accused in the New Supplement to the Encyclopedia Britannica, (t.i.tle Africa,) is misapplied.

[Footnote 245: Since publis.h.i.+ng this letter, Mr. Bowdich, in his Account of Ashantee, pages 194, 195, says, Woolo was King of Timbuctoo in 1807, or ten years before Mr. Bowdich was at Ashantee.]

Many of this king's civil officers, however, in 1800, were muselmen; but the military were altogether Negroes.

However fervent the zeal of Muhamedanism may be at Timbuctoo, it is not, I imagine, sufficient to convert the Negroes, who have not the best opinion of the Muhamedan tenets. The Negroes, however, are disposed to abjure idolatry for any other form of religion that they can be persuaded to think preferable, or that holds out a better prospect; a convincing proof of which has been seen by the readiness of the Africans of Congo and Angola, to renounce their idolatry for the Christian faith, by the conversion of thousands to that faith by the indefatigable zeal of the catholic missionaries, when the Portuguese first discovered those countries, and which, if the Sovereign of Portugal had persevered with that laudable zeal with which he began to promote the conversion of the Africans, the inhabitants of those extensive and populous countries might, at this day, have been altogether members of the Christian church!!

443 _On the Junction of the Nile of Egypt with the Nile of Timbuctoo, or of Sudan_.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE MONTHLY MAGAZINE.[246]