An Account Of Timbuctoo And Housa Territories In The Interior O
Chapter 21
Emperor of Marocco, to the Governor of Mogodor, A.D. 1791, A.H. 1203. 405
_Doubts having been made, in the Daily Papers, concerning the Accuracy of the two following Translations of the Shereef Ibrahim's Account of Mungo Park's Death, the following Observations by the Author are laid before the Public, in Elucidation of those Translations._ 406
The Shereef Ibrahim's Account of Mungo Park's Death (The Author's Translation). 409
Observation. 410
Extract from the Times, May 3, 1819.--Mungo Park. 412
The Shereef Ibrahim's Account of Mungo Park's Death (Mr. Abraham Saleme's Translation). 413
Letter to the Editor of the British Statesman, on the Errors in Mr. Saleme's Translation of the Shereef Ibrahim's Account of the Death of Mungo Park. 415
_Letters respecting Africa, from J.G. Jackson and other._ 419
On the Plague. To James Willis, Esq. late Consul to Senegambia. 419
Death of Mungo Park. 424
Death of Mr. Rontgen, in an Attempt to explore the Interior of Africa. 425
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. 429
Offer to discover the African Remedy for Nyctalopia or Night-blindness, in a Letter addressed to the Editor of the Literary Panorama. 432
Letter to the same. 433
Critical Observations on Extracts from the Travels of Ali Bey and Robert Adams, in the Quarterly Journal of Literature, Science, and the Arts, edited at the Royal Institution of Great Britain. Vol. I. No. 2, p. 264. 435
On the Junction of the Nile of Egypt with the Nile of Timbuctoo, or of Sudan. 443
Strictures respecting the Interior of Africa, and Confirmation of Jackson's Account of Sudan, annexed to his Account of the Empire of Marocco, &c. 446
Animadversions on the Orthography of African Names (by Catherine Hutton). 455
Hints for the Civilization of Barbary, and Diffusion of Commerce, by Vasco de Gama. 457
Plan for the Conquest of Algiers, by Vasco de Gama. 461
Letter from El Hage Hamed El Wangary, respecting a Review of Ali Bey's Travels, in the "Portfolio," an American Periodical Work. 464
On the Negroes (by Vasco de Gama). 465
Cursory Observations on Lieutenant Colonel Fitzclarence's Journal of a Route across India, through Egypt, to England. 467
On the Arabic Language, as now spoken in Europe, Asia, and Africa. 471
Cursory Observations on the Geography of Africa, inserted in an Account of a Mission to Ashantee, by T. Edward Bowdich, Esq. showing the Errors that have been committed by European travellers on that Continent, from their Ignorance of the Arabic Language, the learned and the general travelling Language of that interesting Part of the World. 474
Commercial Intercourse with the Interior of Africa. 493
The Embassage of Mr. Edmund Hogan, one of the sworne Esquires of Queen Elizabeth, from Her Highness, to Muley Abdelmelech, Emperour of Marocco, and King of Fez and Sus, in the Yeare 1577. Written by Himselfe. 494
Letter from the Author to Macvey Napier, Esq. F.R.S.L., and E. 505
Observations on an Historical Account of Discoveries and Travels in Africa, by the late John Leyden, M.D. by Hugh Murray, Esq. F.R.S.E. 508
Cursory Observations on African Names. 509
Letter to the Author from Hugh Murray, Esq. F.R.S.E. 513
On the Two Niles of Africa, or the Niger and the Nile. 514
APPENDIX.
_Historical Fragments in Elucidation of the foregoing pages._ 519
First Expedition on Record to Timbuctoo--Timbuctoo and Guago captured by Muley Hamed (Son of Muley Abdelmelk, commonly called Muley Melk, or Muley Moluck) in the Sixteenth Century (about the Year 1580). 519
A Library of 3000 Arabic Manuscripts taken by the Spaniards.--Contests among Christians reprimanded. 520
Muley El Arsheed (a Second Expedition to Timbuctoo and Sudan). 521
Third Expedition to Timbuctoo and Sudan. 523
* * * * *
DIRECTIONS TO THE BINDER.
Map of the Tracks across the Sahara to Timbuctoo, _to face_. 1
Map of the Empire of Marocco. 55
1
AN ACCOUNT OF A JOURNEY FROM FAS TO TIMBUCTOO, PERFORMED IN OR ABOUT THE YEAR 1787, A.C. BY _EL HAGE ABD SALAM SHABEENY_.
The Moors always prefer the spring and summer for travelling, because they suffer very much from the severe cold of the mornings in winter. They generally leave Fas in the beginning of April to proceed to Timbuctoo, and they leave Timbuctoo to return to Fas in the month of January.
The Mecca caravan takes its departure from Fas the beginning of March.
In travelling, the Moors hire their camels from stage to stage. Shabeeny's first stage was from Fas[1] to Tafilelt, which is generally performed in about twenty days.
[Footnote 1: This is a journey of crooked and rugged roads across the Atlas mountains, where they often sojourn in spots which invite the traveller, so that it takes a longer time to perform it than the distance would indicate.] 2 The hire of every camel was from ten to twelve ducats, at five shillings sterling per ducat; as this route is through a very mountainous country, and the travelling is very bad, the charges were proportionally high; the weight which every camel carried was between four and five quintals, the camels in this country being strong and very large.[2]
Tafilelt is the place of general meeting of all the merchants who go to Timbuctoo.[3]
The territory of Tafilelt contains no towns, but abounds in fortresses with mud-walls[4], which the natives call El Kassar, and which contain from three to four hundred families; in these fortresses there is a public market (in Arabic, _soke_) every week, where the inhabitants purchase provisions, &c.
The natives of Tafilelt are descendants of the shereefs[5] or princes of Marocco, and are therefore of the Imperial family.
[Footnote 2: This charge of carriage by the camels from Fas to Tafilelt, is equal to 55s., sterling per camel; to 1-1/2d. per mile for each camel, and to one farthing and one third per quintal of merchandise per mile.]
[Footnote 3: That is for all who go from the Emperor of Marocco's dominions, north of the river Morbeya, which is called El Garb, or the North Western Division.]
[Footnote 4: These mud walls are made in cases, and the mode of erecting them is called _tabia_. See Jackson's Account of the Empire of Marocco, &c. &c. 2d or 3d edition, page 298.]
[Footnote 5: Hence it is called _Bled Shereef_, i.e. the Country of Princes.] 3 Shabeeny's next stage was to Draha[6], which he reached in six days. The expense per camel was about six ducats, or thirty shillings sterling. The district of Draha abounds in the small hard date[7], which is very fine; from four to six drahems[8] (equal to two to three shillings sterling) is the price of a camel load of these dates.
The province of Draha is larger than that of Tafilelt, its circumference being about four or five days' journey. The natives[9] of Draha are very dark, approaching to black, in their complexion: this province abounds in fortresses, like those of Tafilelt.
[Footnote 6: A province at the foot of the mountains of Atlas, south of Marocco, for which see the Map of West Barbary, in Jackson's Account of the Empire of Marocco, &c. &c. p. 1.]
[Footnote 7: This date is called by the natives _bouskree:_ it contains a larger quantity of saccharine juice than any other date. This province also produces a date called _butube_, which is the best that grows, and is called _sultan de timmar_, i.e. the king of dates. It is not used as an article of commerce, but is sent as presents to the great, and costs nearly double the price of those of any other quality: the quality mostly used for foreign commerce, is the Tafilelt date, called _timmar adamoh_, which is sold by the grocers in London. This species is, however, considered very unwholesome food, and accordingly is never eaten by the Filellies, or inhabitants of Tafilelt, but is food for the camels. The district of Tafilelt abounds in dates of all kinds: there are not less than thirty different kinds; and the plantations of dates belonging to the princes of Tafilelt are very extensive, insomuch that the annual produce of one plantation is often sold for a thousand dollars, or 220L sterling. Half a dollar, or five drahems per camel load of three quintals.]
[Footnote 8: A drahem is a silver coin, ten of which are equal to a Mexico dollar.]
[Footnote 9: Their colour is darker than new copper, but not black, It may be compared to the colour of _old_ mahogany, with a black hue. The natives of Draha are proverbially stupid.] 4 The caravans have not, as in the journey to Mecca, their sheiks[10] or commanders. From Fas to Tafilelt they had no chief, but as there are generally a few old, rich, and respectable men in the caravan, its direction and government are committed to their care.
[Footnote 10: The _sheik akkabar_, or chief of the accumulated caravan, is generally a _shereef_ or prince.]
From Tafilelt, which, as before observed, is the country of the shereefs, they are guided by such of the trading shereefs as accompany the caravan, and who have always great respect paid them, till they arrive at Timbuctoo. The caravan increases as it proceeds in its journey: at Fas it consisted of about thirty or forty; at Draha, of from 300 to 400 camels. From Draha, at the distance of three days' travelling, they found water by digging, and on the next morning they entered the _Sahara_, which, for the first twenty days is a plain sandy desert resembling the sea. In this desert, when they pitch their tents at night, they are obliged frequently to shake the sand from their tops, as they would otherwise be overwhelmed before the morning.
Some part of this desert is hard, and the camels do not sink deep into it; in others the sand is very loose, which fatigues the 5 camels exceedingly. In travelling, the caravan is directed by the stars at night, and by the sun in the day, and occasionally by the smell of the earth, which they take up in their hands. For the first twenty days after they enter this wilderness they have no water; during this period, the caravan is obliged to carry water in goat-skins[11], as not a drop is to be found by digging. On this account, about a third part of the camels are employed in carrying water, and even with this quantity the camels are often left for three or four days without any. They never use mules in this part of the journey; they neither find the _sheh_[12], nor the thorny plant so common in the deserts of Africa.
The country on the borders of this desert, to the right and left, is inhabited by roving Arabs, at the distance of three or four days from the track which the caravan pursues; and is said to be partly plain, and in part hilly, with a little grass, and a few shrubs; when the cattle of these Arabs have consumed what grows in one spot, their owners remove to another. The caravan, though it generally consisted of about 400 men well armed, seeks its route through the most unfrequented part of the desert, from a dread of the attacks of the Arabs. The hottest wind is that from the east-south-east, and is called _Esshume_[13]; the coldest is that which blows from the west-north-west. To alleviate the great drought which travellers feel in the desert, they have recourse to melted butter.[14]
[Footnote 11: These goat-skins, when containing water, are called by the Arabs _kereb_, or _ghireb_, plur. _kerba_, or _ghirba_, sing.]
[Footnote 12: The _sheh_ is the wormseed plant, the thorny plant here alluded to is the wild myrtle.]
[Footnote 13: _Esshume_, or the hot wind. For a particular description of this extraordinary wind, see Jackson's Account of the Empire of Marocco, &c. &c. 2d or 3d edition, page 283 and 284.]
[Footnote 14: This is old butter kept several years in a _matamore_, or subterraneous cavern. It is called by the Arabs of the desert, _budra_; and much virtue is ascribed to it when it has attained a certain age: a small quantity swallowed, quickly diffuses itself through the system.]
6 After passing this desert of twenty days, they enter a country which varies in its appearance, particular spots being fertile[15] (called El Wah). Here they meet with _sederah_[16], a kind of wild myrtle, in great quantities. This plant is called by the natives, _gylan:_ its height is about that of a man; the camels feed upon it. Between these shrubs there is a very small quantity of grass in particular spots. In this part of the desert they meet with extensive strata of stones: though the surface is generally sand, yet at the depth of eight or ten inches, they meet with a yellow or reddish earth; and about four feet deeper, with another kind of earth of various colours, but most commonly of a brownish cast; 7 about five or six feet under this they find water, which springs up very slowly, and at the bottom of this water you meet with a light sand. Sometimes the water is sweetish, frequently brackish, and generally warm. This last desert is about twenty days' journey, and is a vast plain without any mountains. They meet with no Arabs in this part, but the country on the right and left of their route, at the distance of from three to eight days' journey, is inhabited by Arabs, who are governed by their own (_sheiks_) chiefs, and are perfectly independent.
[Footnote 15: El Wah. For a full explanation of this term, see Jackson's Account of the Empire of Marocco, 3d edition, p. 283.]
[Footnote 16: _Sederah_, thorny shrubs of all kinds are so called.]
From Akka to Timbuctoo, a journey of forty-three days, they meet with no trees, except the _sederah_, no rivers, towns, or huts. From Draha, which is a country abounding in camels, to Timbuctoo, the charge per camel is from sixteen to twenty-one ducats.[17] That so long a journey is performed at so small[18] an expense, is owing to the abundance of camels in Draha. The caravan generally contains from 300 to 400 men, of whom a great part prefer walking to the uneasy motion of the camels.
[Footnote 17: From Fas to Tafilelt, 20 days, for 11 ducats per camel.
Tafilelt to Draha, 6 do. 6 do. do.
Draha to Timbuctoo, 48 do. 18-1/2 do. do.
--- ----
69 days, for 35-1/2 ducats per camel load, which is about the rate of one farthing per quintal per mile. This does not include the expense of camels for the conveyance of merchants, servants, &c. or of provisions or water, but merely of those carrying goods. A full account of these caravans, and their mode of crossing the Sahara, will be found in Jackson's Marocco, ch. 13.]
[Footnote 18: The expense is now (A.C. 1818) smaller, as the ducat, by a coinage which is depreciated, has fallen to 3s. 6d. sterling.] 8 SITUATION OF THE CITY OF TIMBUCTOO.
On the east side of the city of Timbuctoo, there is a large forest, in which are a great many elephants. The timber here is very large. The trees on the outside of the forest are remarkable for having two different colours; that side which is exposed to the morning sun is black, and the opposite side is yellow. The body of the tree has neither branches nor leaves, but the leaves, which are remarkably large, grow upon the top only: so that one of these trees appears, at a distance, like the mast and round top of a ship. Shabeeny has seen trees in England much taller than these: within the forest the trees are smaller than on its skirts. There are no trees resembling these in the Emperor of Marocco's dominions. They are of such a size that the largest cannot be girded by two men. They bear a kind of berry about the size of a walnut, in clusters consisting of from ten to twenty berries. Shabeeny cannot say what is the extent of this forest, but it is very large. Close to the town of Timbuctoo, on the south, is a small rivulet in which the inhabitants wash their clothes, and which is about two feet deep. It runs in the great forest on the east, and does not communicate with the Nile, but is lost in the sands west of the town. Its water is brackish; that of the Nile is 9 good and pleasant. The town of Timbuctoo is surrounded by a mud-wall: the walls are built tabia-wise[19] as in Barbary, viz. they make large wooden cases, which they fill with mud, and when that dries they remove the cases higher up till they have finished the wall. They never use stone or brick; they do not know how to make bricks. The wall is about twelve feet high, and sufficiently strong to defend the town against the wild Arabs, who come frequently to demand money from them. It has three gates; one called Bab Sahara, or the gate of the desert, on the north: opposite to this, on the other side of the town, a second, called Bab Neel, or the gate of the Nile: the third gate leads to the forest on the east, and is called Beb El Kibla.[20] The gates are hung on very large hinges, and when shut at night, are locked, as in Barbary; and are farther secured by a large prop of wood placed in the inside slopingly against them. There is a dry ditch, or excavation, which circumscribes the town, (except at those places which are opposite the gates,) about twelve feet deep, and too wide 10 for any man to leap it. The three gates of the town are shut every evening soon after sun-set: they are made of folding doors, of which there is only one pair. The doors are lined on the outside with untanned hides of camels, and are so full of nails that no hatchet can penetrate them; the front appears like one piece of iron.
[Footnote 19: The tabia walls are thus built: They put boards on each side of the wall supported by stakes driven in the ground, or attached to other stakes laid transversely across the wall; the intermediate space is then filled with sand and mud, and beat down with large wooden mallets, (as they beat the terraces) till it becomes hard and compact; the cases are left on for a day or two; they then take them off, and move them higher up, repeating this operation till the wall is finished.]
[Footnote 20: El Kibla signifies the tomb of Muhamed: in most African towns there is a Kibla-gate, which faces Medina in Arabia.]
POPULATION.
The town is once and a half the size of Tetuan[21], and contains, besides natives, about 10,000[22] of the people of Fas and Marocco. The native inhabitants of the town of Timbuctoo may be computed at 40,000, exclusive of slaves and foreigners. Many of the merchants who visit Timbuctoo are so much attached to the place that they cannot leave it, but continue there for life. The natives are all blacks: almost every stranger marries a female of the town, who are so beautiful that travellers often fall in love with them at first sight.
[Footnote 21: That is about four miles in circumference. Tetuan contains 16,000 inhabitants; but, according to this account, Timbuctoo contains 50,000, besides slaves, a population above three times that of Tetuan: now, as the houses of Timbuctoo are more spacious than those of Tetuan, it is to be apprehended that Shabeeny has committed an error in describing the size of Timbuctoo.]
[Footnote 22: Who go there for the purposes of trade.]
INNS, OR CARAVANSERAS.
When strangers arrive they deposit their merchandise in large warehouses called fondacs; and hire as many rooms as they choose, 11 having stables for their camels, &c. in the same place. These fondacs[23] are private property, and are called either by the owner's name, or by that of the person who built them. The fondac, in which Shabeeny and his father lived, had forty apartments for men, exclusive of stables; twenty below and twenty above, the place having two stories. The staircase was within the inclosure, and was composed of rough boards; while he staid, the rooms were constantly occupied by natives and strangers; they hired rooms for three months, for which they paid thirty okiat, or fifteen shillings sterling per month. These fondacs are called Woal[24] by the negroes. The money was paid to the owner's agent, who always lives in the fondac for this purpose, and to accommodate strangers with provisions, &c. At their arrival, porters assisted them and procured every thing they wanted; but when they were settled they hired a man and a woman slave to cook and to clean their rooms, and to do every menial office. Slaves are to be bought at all hours: the slave-merchants keep a great number ready for sale.
[Footnote 23: It is probable that Adams, the American sailor, (if he ever was at Timbuctoo,) saw one of these fondacs that belonged to the king, and mistook it for his palace.]
[Footnote 24: Ten okiat, or drahems, make a Mexico dollar. The name of the king of Timbuctoo, in 1800 A.C. was Woolo. Many of the fondacs are rented of him.]
HOUSES.
In the houses little furniture is seen; the principal articles 12 (those of the kitchen excepted) are beds, mats on the floor, and the carpets; which cover the whole room. The rooms are about fourteen feet by ten; the kitchen and wash-house are generally to the right and to the left of the passage; the necessary is next the wash-house.[25]
[Footnote 25: Being more convenient for the Muhamedan ablutions.]
GOVERNMENT.
Timbuctoo is governed by a native black, who has the title of sultan. He is tributary to the sultan of Housa, and is chosen by the inhabitants of Timbuctoo, who write to the king of Housa for his approbation. Upon the death of a sultan, his eldest son is most commonly chosen. The son of a concubine cannot inherit the throne; if the king has no lawful son (son of his wife) at his decease, the people choose his successor from among his relations. The sultan has only one lawful wife, but keeps many concubines: the wife has a separate house for herself, children, and slaves. He has no particular establishment for his concubines, but takes any girl he likes from among his slaves. His wife has the principal management of his house. The sultan's palace is built in a corner of the city, on the east; it occupies a large extent of ground within an inclosure, which has a gate. Within this square are many buildings; some for the officers of state. The king often sits in the gate to administer justice, and to converse with his friends. There is a 13 small garden within it, furnishing a few flowers and vegetables for his table; there is also a well, from which the water is drawn by a wheel.[26] Many female slaves are musicians. The king has several sons, who are appointed to administer justice to the natives. Except the king's relations, there are no nobles nor any privileged class of men as in Barbary[27]: those of the blood-royal are much respected. The officers of state are distinguished by titles like those of Marocco; one that answers to an Alkaid, _i. e._ a captain of 700, of 500, or of 100 men; another like that of Bashaw. The king, if he does not choose to marry one of his own relations, takes a wife from the family of the chiefs of his council; his daughters marry among the great men. The queen-dowager has generally an independent provision, but cannot marry. The concubines of a deceased king cannot marry, but are handsomely provided for by his successor.
[Footnote 26: A wheel similar to the Persian wheel, worked by a mule or an ass, having pots, which throw the water into a trough as they pass round, which trough discharges the water into the garden, and immerges the plants.]
[Footnote 27: The privileged class of men in Barbary, are the Fakeers; but no one in Barbary is noble but the King's relations, who are denominated shereefs.]
REVENUE.
The revenue arises partly from land and partly from duties upon all articles exposed to sale. The king has lands cultivated by farmers 14 who are obliged to supply his household and troops; the surplus after the support of their own families is deposited in matamores[28], these are stores to be used in time of scarcity: the matamores are about six feet deep. The king often gives gold-dust, slaves, &c. to his favorites, but the royal domains are never given. Lands not very fruitful are common pastures. Moors pay no duties; they say they will not bring goods if compelled to pay duty, but the natives must pay; the duties are collected by the king's officers, they are four per cent. upon each article _ad valorem_. At the gate of the desert, goods brought by foreigners pay nothing, but goods brought in by the gate of the Nile, (which is the gate of the Negroes,) pay a tax: another part of the revenue is two per cent, in kind on the produce of the land; but the people of Barbary do not pay even this for what land they cultivate. The property of those who die without heirs goes to the king, but when a foreigner dies the king takes no part of his property; it is kept for his relations. Timbuctoo being a frontier town remits no revenue to Housa; the king of Housa sends money to Timbuctoo to pay the garrison.
[Footnote 28: Subterraneous excavations, or rooms in the form of a cone, which have a small opening like a trap-door; when these matamores are full of grain, they are shut, and the air being excluded, the grain deposited in them will keep sound twenty or thirty years. I have been in matamores in West and in South Barbary, that would contain 1000 saas of wheat, or nearly 2000 bushels Winchester measure. They are from six to sixteen feet deep, and of various conical forms.] 15 ARMY.
The troops are paid by the king of Housa, and are armed with pikes, swords, cutlasses, sabres, and muskets; the other natives use the bow and arrow. At Timbuctoo, in time of war, there are about 12,000 or 15,000 troops, 5000 of which receive constant daily pay in time of peace, and are clothed every year; they are all infantry except a few of the king's household. Sometimes he subsidises the friendly Arabs, and makes occasional presents to their chiefs[29]; these Arabs can furnish him with from 80,000 to 40,000 men.
[Footnote 29: Of the Brabeesh clan; see the Map.]
ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE.
Punishments are the bastinado, imprisonment, and fine. He recollects but one prison. If a native stabs another, he is obliged to attend the wounded man until he recovers; if he dies, the offender is put to death. The offender must pay a daily allowance to the wounded man for his support; if the wound appears dangerous, the culprit is immediately imprisoned; if the wounded man recovers, the offender must pay a fine and suffer the bastinado. There are four capital punishments: beheading, hanging, strangling and bastinadoing to death. Beheading is preferred; it is thus performed: the criminal sits down, and a person behind gives him a blow or push on the back or shoulder, which makes him turn his head, and while his attention is thus employed, the executioner 16 strikes it off. Hanging and strangling are seldom used; and bastinadoing to death, is only inflicted when the crime is highly aggravated. Capital crimes are murder, robbery with violence, and stealing cattle. Small offences, as stealing slaves and other articles, are punished by the bastinado. The landed estates of criminals are never forfeited.[30] The police is so good, that merchants reside there in perfect safety. There are no exactions or extortions practised by government, as in Barbary, nor even any presents asked for the king. A debtor proving his inability, cannot be molested[31]; but to the extent of his means he is always liable; on refusing to pay, he may be imprisoned; but upon proving his insolvency before the judge, he is discharged, though always liable if he should have means at any future time. Watchmen patrole 17 in the night with their dogs; others are stationed in particular places, as the market-place and the _kasserea_, or square, where the merchants have their shops. Guards are placed at the king's palace. Capital crimes are tried by the king: smaller offences by inferior magistrates. The council sit with the king, every man according to his rank; it consists of the principal officers of his household; he asks _their_ opinion, but unless they are unanimous, decides according to his own. There are always five or six judges sitting in the king's court for the general administration of justice. The king is understood to have no power of altering the laws: if the council are unanimous, the king never decides against them.[32]
[Footnote 30: But go to the next heir.]
[Footnote 31: This is the written Muhamedan law: the insolvent is always liable, but cannot be arrested or imprisoned whilst he remains insolvent, but continues always liable for the debt if he afterwards becomes solvent. The present Emperor of Marocco has lately published an edict. Hearing that his Jew subjects in London frequently became bankrupts, or made compositions with their creditors, has enacted, that all, persons in his dominions who live by buying and selling, shall pay their just debts; but if unable, their brethren, or relations shall pay their creditors for them. If _they_ are unable, the insolvent is to receive a beating every morning at sunrise, to remind him of his defalcation. This law was enacted at Fas in 1817, and since then, I am informed, no bankruptcy has happened in that great commercial city.]
[Footnote 32: This is a custom derived from Muhamedan governments.]
A slave is entirely at his master's disposal, who may put him to death without trial; yet the slave may complain to the council of ill-usage, and if the complaint be well-founded, his master is ordered to sell him. The slaves are always foreign; a native cannot be made a slave. There are three reasons for which a slave may be entitled to freedom: _want of food, want of clothes, and want of shoes_: an old slave is frequently set at liberty, and returns to his own country. The children of slaves are the property of their master. Slaves cannot marry without the consent of their masters. The master of the female slave generally endeavours to buy the male to whom she is attached.[33]
[Footnote 33: Many conscientious Muhamedans, in purchasing slaves, calculate how many years' service their purchase money is equal to. Thus, if a man pays a servant twenty dollars a-year for wages, and he gives 100 dollars for a slave, he retains the slave five years, when, if his conduct has been approved, he often discharges him from servitude. The period for liberating slaves in this manner is however quite optional, and admits of great latitude; neither is there any compulsion in the master. I have known instances of a slave being liberated after a few years of servitude; and his master's confidence has been such that he has advanced him money to trade with, and has allowed him to cross the desert to Timbuctoo, waiting for the repayment of his money till his return. This is often the treatment of Muhamedans to slaves! how different from that practised by the Planters in the West India Islands!!!] 18 SUCCESSION TO PROPERTY.
Upon the decease of a native, the first claim is that of his creditors; the next is that of his widow, who is entitled to the dower[34] promised by her husband to her father, if, not already paid, and to one-eighth of the remainder; the rest is divided among the children. A son's share is double that of a daughter. If they agree, the land may be sold, if not, it must be divided as above. Of lands and houses, nothing is sold till the children arrive at the age of discretion; when each is entitled to his share, the rest being unsold till the others are of age in turn. This age is not 19 fixed at so many years, but the period of discretion is determined by the relations, upon oath, before a magistrate: there is hardly any man that knows his own age. The father may dispose of his property by will, as far as regards the property of his children, but he cannot divest his wife of her rights; if a wife dies without a will, her children succeed. Wills are not written; the guardian appointed by the father takes care of the property of the deceased, and employs in trade, and lends out the money for the benefit of his children. Relations succeed if there are no children; and if there are no relations, the king takes all but the wife's share. The wife's relations are not considered as the husband's relations. Children of concubines inherit equally with those of the wife. If a man have two children by a concubine, she becomes free at his death, otherwise she remains a slave. She is entitled, having children, to an eighth of the property.
[Footnote 34: The husband always stipulates to pay the father of his wife a certain sum: this is the Muhamedan dower.]
MARRIAGE.
A man agrees to pay a certain price to the father of his wife, and witnesses are called to support the proof of the contract: the girl is sent home, and at night a feast is made by the husband for his male friends; by the wife for her female friends.
Rape is punished by death. Adultery is not punishable by the law, nor is it a ground for divorce. A husband may always put away his 20 wife, but if without sufficient legal ground, he must pay her stipulated dower. Abusive language is a sufficient ground of divorce, but adultery is not. The dower is the price originally agreed upon with the father; and if it has been already paid (which it seldom is), she has no further claim upon the husband, though put away without sufficient ground. Her clothes, jewels, &c. given to her by her relations are her own property. A father generally gives the daughter in jewels, &c. a present double the value of that given him by the husband. A man can have but one wife, but may keep concubines. Seduction and adultery are not cognisable by law. The law says, "a woman's flesh is her own, she may do with it what she pleases." Prostitutes are common. A man may marry his niece, but not his daughter.
The people of Timbuctoo are not circumcised.
TRADE.
Timbuctoo is the great emporium for all the country of the blacks, and even for Marocco and Alexandria.
The principal articles of merchandise are tobacco, kameemas[35], beads of all colours for necklaces, and cowries, which are bought 21 at Fas by the pound.[36] Small Dutch looking glasses, some of which are convex, set in gilt paper frames. They carry neither swords, muskets, nor knives, except such as are wanted in the caravan. At the entrance of the desert they buy rock-salt[37] of the Arabs, who bring it to them in loads ready packed, which they carry as an article of trade. In their caravan there were about 500 camels, of which about 150 or 200 were laden with salt. The camels carry less of salt than of any other article, because (being rock-salt) it wears their sides. They pay these Arabs from twenty to fifteen ounces[38] of Barbary money per load. An ounce of Barbary is worth about _6d._, and a ducat is worth about _5s._ sterling. They sell this salt at Timbuctoo upon an average at 50 per cent. profit; it is more profitable than linen. They take no oil from Barbary to Timbuctoo as they are supplied from other places with fish-oil used for lamps but not for food; they make soap with the oil. The returns are made in gold-dust, slaves, ivory, and pepper; gold-dust is preferred and is brought to Timbuctoo from Housa in small leather bags. He bought one of these bags of gold-dust and pieces of rings for 90 Mexican dollars, and sold it at Fas for 150. The merchants bring their gold from Timbuctoo in the saddle-bags, in 22 small purses of different sizes one within the other. The bag which Shabeeny purchased was bought at Housa, where it sells for seven or eight ducats cheaper than at Timbuctoo. On articles from Marocco they make from thirty to fifty per cent. clear profit. Cowries and gold-dust are the medium of traffic. The shereefs and other merchants generally sell their goods to some of the principal native merchants, and immediately send off the slaves, taking their gold-dust with them into other countries. The merchants residing at Timbuctoo have agents or correspondents in other countries; and are themselves agents in return. Timbuctoo is visited by merchants from all the neighbouring black countries. Some of its inhabitants are amazingly rich. The dress of common women has been often worth 1000 dollars. A principal source of their wealth is lending gold-dust and slaves at high interest to foreign merchants, which is repaid by goods from Marocco and other countries, to which the gold-dust and slaves are carried. They commonly trade in the public market, but often send to the merchant or go to his house. Cowries in the least damaged are bad coin, and go for less than those that are perfect. There are no particular market days; the public market for provisions is an open place fifty feet square, and is surrounded by shops.[39] The Arabs sit down on their goods in the middle, till 23 they have sold them. The pound weight of Timbuctoo is about two ounces heavier than the small pound of Barbary, which weighs twenty Spanish dollars; they have also half and quarter pounds; by these weights is sold milk, rice, butter, &c. as well as by the measure. The weights are of wood or iron under the inspection of a magistrate called in Barbary _m'tasseb, i.e._ inspector of weights and measures, and if the weights are found deficient, he punishes the offender immediately; they have also a quintal or cwt. They have a wooden measure called a _m'hoad_[40], equal to the small _m'hoad_ of Barbary, where a _m'hoad_ of wheat weighs about 24 lb. Both the weights and measures are divided into 1/2, 1/4, 1/8 and 1/16.
[Footnote 35: _Kameema_ is the Arabic word for the linen called _plattilias_. They are worth 50 Mexico dollars each, at Timbuctoo.]
[Footnote 36: Called, in Amsterdam, _Velt Spiegels_, and in Timbuctoo, _Murraih de juah_.]
[Footnote 37: This salt is bought at Tishet, at Shangareen, and at Arawan, in the south part of Sahara; for which see the Map of Northern and Central Africa, in the new Supplement to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, Article _Africa_.]
[Footnote 38: _Okia_ is the Arabic name for this piece of money.]
[Footnote 39: Similar to the corn-market at Mogodor.]
[Footnote 40: The _m'hoad_ is no longer used in Barbary. There is a _krube_, of which sixteen are equal to a _saa_, which, when filled with good wheat, weighs 100 lbs. equal to 119 lbs. English weight.]
MANUFACTURES.
The black natives are smiths, carpenters, shoemakers, tailors, and masons, but not weavers. The Arabs in the neighbourhood are weavers, and make carpets resembling those of Fas and of Mesurata, where they are called telisse[41]; they are of wool, from their own sheep, and camels' hair. The bags for goods, and the tents, are of goats' and camels' hair; there are no palmetto trees in that country. Their thread[42], needles, scissors, &c. come from Fas: 24 most of their ploughs they buy of the Arabs near the town, who are subject to it. Some are made in the town. These Arabs manufacture iron from ore found in the country, and are good smiths. They make iron bars of an excellent quality. They tan leather for soles of shoes very well, but know nothing of dressing leather in oil: the upper leather comes from Fas[43]; their wooden combs[44] and spoons come from Barbary; they have none of ivory or horn. No lead is brought from Barbary; he thinks they have lead of their own. The best shoes are brought from Fas.
[Footnote 41: _Telissa_, sing.; _Telisse_, plur.]
[Footnote 42: To Fas they are brought from England through Gibraltar and Mogodor.]
[Footnote 43: Leather is also imported from Marocco, and from Terodant in South Barbary.]
[Footnote 44: Wooden combs are imported from Marseilles to Mogodor.]
HUSBANDRY.
The country is well cultivated, except on the side of the desert. They have rice, _el bishna_[45], and a corn which _they_ call _allila_[46], but in Barbary it is called _drah_: this requires very rich ground. They make bread of _el bishna_: they have no wheat or barley. Property is fenced by a bank and a ditch. Dews are very heavy. Lands are watered by canals cut from the Nile; high lands by wells, the water of which is raised by wheels[47] worked 25 by cattle, as in Egypt. They have violent thunder-storms in summer, but no rains: the mornings and evenings, during winter, are cold; the coldest wind is from the west, when it is as cold as at Fas. The winter lasts about two months, though the weather is cool from September to April. They begin to sow rice in August and September, but they can sow it at any time, having water at hand: he saw some sowing rice while others were reaping it. _El bishna_ and other corn is sown before December. _El bishna_ is ripe in June and July; as are beans. _Allila_ may be sown at all seasons; it requires water only every eight or ten days. Their beans are like the small Mazagan beans, and are sown in March; the stalk is short, but full of pods. The _allila_ produces a small, white, flattish grain.
[Footnote 45: _El Bishna_. This is the Arabic name for Indian corn.]
[Footnote 46: _Allila_, a species of millet.]
[Footnote 47: A wheel similar to the Persian wheel, as before described in the note, page 13.]
PROVISIONS.
Rice is their principal food, but the rich have wheaten flour from Fas[48], and make very fine bread, which is considered a luxury. Bread is also made from the _allila_. They roast, boil, bake, and stew, but make no _cuscasoe_. Their meals are breakfast, dinner, and supper. They commonly breakfast about eight, dine about three, and sup soon after sunset. They drink only water or milk with their meals, have no palm wine or any fermented liquor; when they wish to 26 be exhilarated after dinner, they provide a plant of an intoxicating quality called _el hashisha_[49], of which they take a handful before a draught of water.
[Footnote 48: And also from Marocco.]
[Footnote 49: _El Hashisha_. This is the African hemp plant: it is esteemed for the extraordinary and pleasing voluptuous vacuity of mind which it produces on those who smoke it: unlike the intoxication from wine, a fascinating stupor pervades the mind, and the dreams are agreeable. The _kief_ is the flower and seeds of the plant: it is a strong narcotic, so that those who use it cannot do without it. For a further description of this plant, see Jackson's Marocco, 2d or 3d edit. p. 131 & 132.]
ANIMALS.
Goats are very large, as big as the calves in England, and very plentiful; sheep are also very large. Cattle are small; many are oxen. Milk of camels and goats is preferred to that of cows. Horses are small, and are principally fed upon camels' milk; they are of the greyhound[50] shape, and will travel three days without rest. They have dromedaries[51] which travel from Timbuctoo[52] to Tafilelt in the short period of five or six days.
[Footnote 50: These horses are the desert horse, or the _shrubat er'reeh_. See Jackson's Marocco, 2d or 3d edition, p. 94. to 96.]
[Footnote 51: These are _El Heirie_, (or _Erragual_), for a particular description of which see Jackson's Marocco, p. 91. to 93.]
[Footnote 52: A distance of upwards of 1200 British miles.] 27 BIRDS.
They have common fowls, ostriches, and a bird larger than our blackbird[53]; also storks, which latter are birds of passage, and arrive in the spring and disappear at the approach of winter; swallows, &c.
[Footnote 53: The starling.]
FISH.
They have many extremely good in the Nile; one of the shape and size of our salmon[54]; the largest of these are about four feet long. They use lines and hooks brought from Barbary, and nets, like our casting nets, made by themselves. They strike large fish with spears and fish-gigs.
[Footnote 54: The _shebbel_, a species of salmon, a very delicate fish, but so rich that it is best roasted, which the Arabs do in a superior manner.]
PRICES OF DIFFERENT ARTICLES.
Sheep from ten to sixteen cowries. Cowries[55] are much valued, and form an ornament of head-dress even for the richest women; they are highly valued as ornaments. Goats are cheaper than sheep; the best from eight to twelve cowries. Fowls from four to six cowries each. Antelopes are very scarce and dear. Camels from thirty to sixty cowries, according to their size and condition. Ostriches, of which vast numbers are brought to market, are very cheap; the fore-feathers[56] are often carried to Tafilelt and Marocco, the 28 inferiors are thrown away. A good slave is worth ten, fifteen, or twenty ducats of five shillings each; at Fas, they are worth from sixty to a hundred ducats: females are the dearest. Slaves are most valuable about twelve years old. They have fish-oil for lamps, but use neither wax nor tallow for candles. The fish-oil is a great article of trade, and is brought from the neighbourhood[57] of the sea by Genawa[58] to Housa, and thence to Timbuctoo; dearer at Timbuctoo than at Housa, and dearer at Housa than at Genawa.
[Footnote 55: Cowries are called _El Uda_, and are sold in Santa Cruz and in South Barbary, at twenty Mexico dollars per quintal.]
[Footnote 56: Called _Ujuh_.]
[Footnote 57: Probably from the coast of Guinea, with which Housa carries on an extensive trade.]
[Footnote 58: _i.e._ Guinea; Genawa being the Arabic name for the coast of Guinea.]
DRESS.
The sultan wears a white turban of very fine muslin, the ends of which are embroidered with gold, and brought to the front; this 29 turban comes from Bengala.[59] He wears a loose white cotton shirt, with sleeves long and wide, open at the breast; unlike that of the Arabs, it reaches to the small of the leg; over this a _caftan_[60] of red woollen cloth, of the same length; red is generally esteemed. The shirt (_kumja_) is made at Timbuctoo, but the caftan comes from Fas, ready made; over the caftan is worn a short cotton waistcoat, striped white, red, and blue; this comes from Bengala, and is called _juliba_.[61] The sleeves of the caftan are as wide as those of the shirt; the breast of it is fastened with buttons, in the Moorish style, but larger. The _juliba_ has sleeves as wide as the caftan. When he is seated, all the sleeves are turned up over the shoulder[62], so that his arms are bare, and the air is admitted to his body.
[Footnote 59: _i.e._ Bengal.]
[Footnote 60: A _caftan_, or coat, with wide sleeves, no collar, but that buttons all down before.]
[Footnote 61: It is not the cotton cloth which comes from Bengal that is named _Juliba_, but the fashion or the cut of it.]
[Footnote 62: The Moorish fashion.]
Upon his turban, on the forehead, is a ball of silk, like a pear; one of the distinctions of royalty. He wears, also, a close red skull-cap, like the Moors of Tetuan, and two sashes, one over each shoulder, such as the Moors wear round the waist; they are rather cords than sashes, and are very large; half a pound of silk is used in one of them. The subjects wear but one; they are either red, yellow, or blue, made at Fas. He wears, like his subjects, a sash round the waist, also made at Fas; of these there are two kinds,--one of leather, with a gold buckle in front, like those of the soldiers in Barbary; the other of silk, like those of the Moorish merchants. He wears (as do the subjects) breeches made in the Moorish fashion, of cotton in summer, made at Timbuctoo, and of woollen in winter, brought ready made from Fas. His shoes are distinguished by a piece of red leather, in front of the leg, about three inches wide, and eight long, embroidered with silk and gold. 30 When he sits in his apartment, he wears a dagger with a gold hilt, which hangs on his right side: when he goes out, his attendants carry his musket, bow, arrows, and lance.
His subjects dress in the same manner, excepting the distinctions of royalty; viz. the pear, the sashes on the shoulders, and the embroidered leather on the shoes.
The sultana wears a caftan, open in front from top to bottom, under this a slip of cotton like the kings, an Indian shawl over the shoulders, which ties behind, and a silk handkerchief about her head. Other women dress in the same manner. They wear no drawers. The poorest women are always clothed. They never show their bosom. The men and women wear ear-rings. The general expense of a woman's dress is from two ducats to thirty.[63] Their shoes are red, and are brought from Marocco.[64] Their arms and ankles are adorned with bracelets. The poor have them of brass; the rich, of gold. The rich ornament their heads with cowries. The poor have but one bracelet on the leg, and one on the arm; the rich, two. They also wear gold rings upon their fingers. They have no pearls or precious stones. The women do not wear veils.
[Footnote 63: Equal to from two to thirty Mexico dollars.]
[Footnote 64: They are manufactured at Marocco.] 31 DIVERSIONS.
The king has 500 or 600 horses; his stables are in the inclosure; the saddles have a peak before, but none behind. He frequently hunts the antelope, wild ass, ostrich, and an animal, which, from Shabeeny's description, appears to be the wild cow[65] of Africa. The wild ass is very fleet, and when closely pursued kicks back the earth and sand in the eyes of his pursuers. They have the finest greyhounds in the world, with which they hunt only the antelope[66]; for the dogs are not able to overtake the ostrich. Shabeeny has often hunted with the king; any person may accompany him. Sometimes he does not return for three or four days: he sets out always after sunrise. Whatever is killed in the chace is divided among the strangers and other company present; but those animals which are taken alive are sent to the king's palace. He goes to hunt towards the desert, and does not begin till distant ten miles from the town. The antelopes are found in herds of from thirty to sixty. He never saw an antelope, wild ass, or ostrich alone, but generally in large droves. The ostriches, like the storks, place centinels upon the watch: thirty yards are reckoned a distance for a secure shot with the bow. The king always shoots on 32 horseback, as do many of his courtiers, sometimes with muskets, but oftener with bows. The king takes a great many tents with him. There are no lions, tigers, or wild boars near Timbuctoo. They play at chess and draughts, and are very expert at those games: they have no cards; but they have tumblers, jugglers, and ventriloquists, whose voice appears to come from under the armpits. He was much pleased with their music, of which they have twenty-four different sorts. They have dances of different kinds, some of which are very indecent.
[Footnote 65: The _Aoudad_; for a particular description of which, see Jackson's Marocco, Chapter V., Zoology, p. 84.]
[Footnote 66: The Gazel, or Antelope, outruns at first the greyhound; but after running about an hour the greyhound gains on him.]
TIME.
They measure time[67] by days, weeks, lunar months, and lunar years; yet few can ascertain their age.
[Footnote 67: The hour is an indefinite term, and assimilates to our expression of a good while; it is from half an hour by the dial to six hours, and the difference is expressed by the word _wahad saa kabeer_, a long hour; and _wahad saa sereer_, a little hour; also by the elongation of the last syllable of the last word.]
RELIGION.
They have no temples, churches, or mosques, no regular worship or sabbath; but once in three months they have a great festival, which lasts two or three days, sometimes a week, and is spent in eating and drinking. He does not know the cause; but thinks it, perhaps, a commemoration of the king's birth-day; no work is done. They 33 believe in a Supreme Being and another state of existence, and have saints and men whom they revere as holy. Some of them are sorcerers, and some ideots, as in Barbary and Turkey; and though physicians are numerous, they expect more effectual aid in sickness from the prayers of the saints, especially in the rheumatism. Music is employed to excite ecstasy in the saint, who, when in a state of inspiration, tells (on the authority of some departed saint, generally of Seedy Muhamed Seef,) what animal must be sacrificed for the recovery of the patient: a white cock, a red cock, a hen, an ostrich, an antelope, or a goat. The animal is then killed in the presence of the sick, and dressed; the blood, feathers, and bones are preserved in a shell and carried to some retired spot, where they are covered and marked as a sacrifice. No salt or seasoning is used in the meat, but incense is used previous to its preparation. The sick man eats as much as he can of the meat, and all present partake; the rice, or what else is dressed with it, must be the produce of charitable contributions from others, not of the house or family; and every contributor prays for the patient.
DISEASES.
The winds of the desert produce complaints in the stomach, cured by 34 medicine. They have professed surgeons and physicians. The bite of a snake is cured by sucking the wound. They have the jlob[68] violently, for which sulphur from Terodant in Suse is taken internally and externally. This disorder is sometimes fatal. They are afflicted also with fevers and agues. Bleeding is often successful; the physicians prescribe also purgatives and emetics. Ruptures are frequent and dangerous; seldom cured, and often fatal. They tap for the dropsy. He never heard of the venereal disease there. Head-aches and consumptions also prevail. The physicians[69] collect herbs and use them in medicine.
[Footnote 68: Probably the itch, called El Hack in Barbary.]
[Footnote 69: The physicians have a very superior and general knowledge of the virtues of herbs and plants.]
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS.
The nails and palms of the hands are stained red with henna[70], cultivated there: the Arabs tatoo their hands and arms, but not the people of Timbuctoo. These people are real negroes; they have a slight mark on the face, sloping from the eye; the Foulans have a horizontal mark; the Bambarrahees a wide gash from the forehead to the chin. Tombs are raised over the dead; they are buried in a winding-sheet and a coffin: the relations mourn over their graves, and pronounce a panegyric on the dead. The men and women mix in 35 society, and visit together with the same freedom as in Europe. They sleep on mattresses, with cotton sheets and a counterpane; the married, in separate beds in the same room. They frequently bathe the whole body, their smell would otherwise be offensive; they use towels brought from India. At dinner they spread their mats and sit as in Barbary. They smoke a great deal, but tobacco is dear; it is the best article of trade. Poisoning is common; they get the poison from the fangs of snakes, but, he says, most commonly from a part of the body near the tail, by a kind of distillation. Physic, taken immediately after the poison, may cure, but not always; if deferred two or three days, the man must die: the poison is slow, wastes the flesh, and produces a sallow, morbid appearance. It causes great pain in the stomach, destroys the appetite, produces a consumption, and kills in a longer or shorter time, according to the strength of constitution. Some who have taken remedies, soon after the poison, live 8 or 10 years; otherwise the poison kills in 4 or 5 days. Physicians prescribe an emetic, the composition of which he does not know.
[Footnote 70: A decoction of the herb henna produces a deep orange die. It is used generally by the females on their hands and feet: it allays the violence of perspiration in the part to which it is applied, and imparts a coolness.]
NEIGHBOURING NATIONS.
There are no Arabs between Timbuctoo and the Nile; they live on the 36 other side[71], and would not with impunity invade the lands of these people, who are very populous, and could easily destroy any army that should attempt to molest them. The lands are chiefly private property. The Foulans are very beautiful. The Bambarrahs have thick lips and wide nostrils. The king of Foulan is much respected at Timbuctoo; his subjects are Muhamedans, but not circumcised.[72] They cannot be made slaves at Timbuctoo; but the Arabs steal their girls and sell them; not for slavery, but for marriage.
Girls are marriageable very young; sometimes they have children at ten years old.
[Footnote 71: North of the town.]
[Footnote 72: All true Muhamedans are circumcised, so that they must partake of Paganism if uncircumcised.]
37
JOURNEY FROM TIMBUCTOO TO HOUSA.
Shabeeny, after staying three years at Timbuctoo, departed for Housa: and crossing the small river close to the walls, reached the Nile in three days, travelling through a fine, populous, cultivated country, abounding in trees, some of which are a kind of oak, bearing a large acorn[73], much finer than those of Barbary, which are sent as presents to Spain. Travelling is perfectly safe. They embarked on the Nile in a large boat with one mast, a sail, and oars; the current was not rapid: having a favourable wind, on his return, he came back in as short a time as he went. The water was 38 very red and sweet.[74] The place where they embarked is called Mushgreelia; here is a ferry, and opposite is a village. As the current is slow, and they moored every night, they were eight or ten days sailing down the stream to Housa. They had ten or twelve men on board, and when it was calm, or the wind contrary, they rowed; they steered with an oar, the boat having no rudder. He saw a great many boats passing up and down the river; _there are more boats_[75] _on this river between Mushgreelia and Housa than between Rosetta and Cairo on the Nile of Egypt_. A great many villages are on the banks. There are boats of the same form as those of Tetuan and Tangiers, but much larger, built of planks, and have ribs like those of Barbary; instead of pitch or tar, they are caulked with a sort of red clay, or bole. The sail is of canvas of flax (not cotton) brought from Barbary, originally from Holland; it is square. They row like the Moors, going down the stream.
[Footnote 73: Called El Belute. These acorns are much prized by the Muhamedans, and are considered a very wholesome fruit.]
[Footnote 74: The word hellue, in Arabic, which signifies literally, sweet, here implies that the water was pure and good.]
[Footnote 75: See Jackson's Marocco, page 314, 2d or 3d edition.]
There is a road by land from Timbuctoo to Housa, but on account of the expense it is not used by merchants: Shabeeny believes it is about 5 days' journey. If you go this way, you must cross the river before you reach Housa. They landed at the port of Housa, distant a day and a half from the town; their merchandise was carried from this port on horses, asses, and horned cattle; the blacks dislike camels; they say, "_These are the beasts that carry us into slavery_." 39 The country was rich and well cultivated; they have a plant bearing a pod called mellochia, from which they make a thick vegetable jelly.[76] There is no artificial road from Timbuctoo to the Nile; near the river the soil is miry. Shabeeny travelled from Timbuctoo to Housa in the hot weather when the Nile was nearly full; it seldom falls much below the level of its banks; he travelled on horseback from Timbuctoo to the river, and slept two nights upon the road in the huts of the natives. One of the principal men in the village leaves his hut to the travellers and gives them a supper; in the mean time he goes to the hut of some friend, and in the morning receives a small present for his hospitality.[77]
[Footnote 76: The pod of the mellochia, which grows near Sallee and Rabat, is of an elongated conical form, about two inches long.]
[Footnote 77: This is a common custom in West and South Barbary; they always clear a tent for the travellers.]
THE RIVER NEEL OR NILE.
The Neel El Kebeer[78], (that is, the Great Nile,) like the Neel 40 Masser or Nile of Egypt, is fullest in the month of August, when it overflows in some places where the banks are low; the water which overflows is seldom above midleg; the banks are covered with reeds, with which they make mats. Camels, sheep, goats, and horses, feed upon the banks, but during the inundation are removed to the uplands. The walls of the huts both within and without are cased with wood to the height of about three feet, to preserve them from the water; the wells have the best water after the swelling of the river. The flood continues about ten days; the abundance of rice depends on the quantity of land flooded. He always understood that the Nile empties itself in the sea, the salt sea or the great ocean. There is a village at the port of Housa where he landed, the river here is much wider than where he embarked, and still wider at Jinnie. He saw no river enter the Nile in the course of his voyage. It much resembles the Nile of Egypt, gardens and lands are irrigated from it. Its breadth is various; in some places he thinks it narrower than the Thames at London, in others much wider; at the landing place they slept in the hut of a native, and next morning at sunrise set off for Housa, where they arrived in twelve hours through a fine plain without hills; the country is much more populous than between Timbuctoo and the Nile. Ferry boats are to be had at several villages.
[Footnote 78: Properly Enneel. El is the article; but when it precedes a word beginning with a letter called a labial, it takes the sound of that letter. This error is committed throughout a book, lately published, entitled Specimens of Arabic Poetry, by J.D. Carlyle, Professor of Arabic in the University of Cambridge, 2d edition p. 53, Abdalsalam, instead of Abdassalum; p. 59, Ebn Alrumi, instead of Ebn Arrumi; and p. 65, Alnarhurwany, for Annarhurwany, &c. &c.] 41 HOUSA.
They did not see the town till they came within an hour from it, or an hour and a half; it stands in a plain. Housa is south-east[79] of Timbuctoo, a much larger city and nearly as large as London. He lived there two years, but never saw the whole of it. It has no walls; the houses are like those of Timbuctoo, and form irregular lanes or streets like those of Fas or Marocco, wide enough for camels to pass with their loads. The palace is much larger than that of Timbuctoo; it is seven or eight miles in circumference and surrounded by a wall; he remembers but four gates, but there may be more; he thinks the number of guards at each gate is about 50; it is in that part of the town most distant from the Nile. The houses are dark coloured and flat roofed. He thinks Cairo is about one-third larger than Housa; the streets are much wider than those of Timbuctoo; the houses are covered with a kind of clay of different colours but never white. They have no chalk or lime in the country.
[Footnote 79: Rather south-east by east.]
GOVERNMENT.
If the king has children, the eldest, if a man of sense and good character, succeeds; otherwise, one of the others is elected. The 42 grandees of the court are the electors. If the eldest son be not approved, they are not bound to elect him; he has, however, the preference, and after him the other sons; but the choice of the council must be unanimous, and if no person of the royal line be the object of their choice, they may elect one of their own body. The members of the council are appointed by the king; he chooses them for their wisdom and integrity, without being limited to rank: the person appointed cannot refuse obedience to the royal mandate. The council consists of many hundreds. The governor who controls the police lives in the centre of the town.
THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE
Is very similar to that of Timbuctoo, except that the king is perfectly despotic; and though he consults his council, he decides as he thinks proper. The governor administers justice in small affairs; but, in important cases, he refers the parties to the king and council, of which he is himself a member. No torture, is ever inflicted. The governor employs a great number of officers of police at a distance from the town. If robberies are committed, the person robbed must apply to the chief of the district, who must find or take into custody the offender, or becomes himself liable to make compensation for the injury sustained.[80]
[Footnote 80: This is also the law in West Barbary. When a robbery is committed, the district where it has been committed is made liable for double the amount; the half goes to the person robbed, and the other half to the treasury. The good effects of this law is admirable, insomuch that it has almost annihilated robbery: but when one has actually been committed, the energy and exertion of every individual is directed to discover the depredator, and they seldom fail to discover him. The fear of the penalty also makes them very cautious who they admit among them; and very inquisitive respecting the character and vocation of all, strangers in particular, who sojourn in their country!!] 43 LANDED PROPERTY.
They have a class of men whose peculiar business it is to adjust all disputes concerning land; the office is hereditary; _the offender_ pays the compensation, and also the fees of these officers; _the innocent_ pays nothing. When lands are bought, these officers measure them. There is a plant resembling a large onion, which serves as a land-mark; if these are removed, (which cannot be easily done without discovery) reference is had to the records of the sale, of which every owner is in possession; they express the sum received; the quantity, situation, and limits of the land. These are given by the seller, and are written in the language and character of the country, very different from the Arabic. The same letters are used at Timbuctoo. They write from right to left. The character[81] was perfectly unintelligible to Shabeeny. Children, 44 whose father is dead, succeed to the same portion of their grandfather's property as their father would, had _he_ out outlived _his_ father, though there are other issue of the grandfather. The rules of succession are the same as at Timbuctoo.
[Footnote 81: Possibly the ancient Carthaginian character.]
Persons of great landed property, of which there are many, employ agents or stewards; they let the lands, and the rents are paid sometimes in kind, and sometimes in gold-dust and cowries. Houses are let by the month. He paid four Mexico dollars per month; but a native would not have paid above two for the same house. A man who has five Mexico dollars[82] a month, is esteemed in easy circumstances; those, however, who have 30 or 40 per month, are common.
[Footnote 82: Ten dollars worth of rice is sufficient for the daily food of a man a twelve-month.]
REVENUES.
The king has 2 per cent. on the produce of the land. The revenues arise from the same sources as at Timbuctoo, but are much larger. Foreign merchants pay nothing, as the Housaeens think they ought to be encouraged. The revenue is supposed to be immense.
ARMY.
He cannot precisely tell the number of troops, but believes the king can raise 70,000 to 80,000 horse, and 100,000 foot. The horses 45 are poor and small, except a few kept for the king's own use. He has no well-bred mares. Their arms are the same as at Timbuctoo; the muskets, which are matchlocks, are made in the country. They are very dexterous in throwing the lance. Gunpowder is also manufactured there; the brimstone is brought from Fas; the charcoal they make; and he believes they prepare the nitre.[83] Their arrows are feathered and barbed; the bows are all cross-bows, with triggers; the arrows, 20 to 40 in a quiver, are made of hides, and hang on the left side. The king never goes to war in person. The soldiers have a peculiar dress; their heads are bare; but the officers have a kind of turban; the soldiers have a shirt of coarse white cotton, and yellow slippers; those of the officers are red. Some have turbans adorned with gold. They carry their powder in a leather purse; the match, made of cotton, is wound round the gun; they have flint and steel in a pouch, and also spare matches.
[Footnote 83: The saltpetre and brimstone are probably derived from Terodant in Suse, where both abound.]
THE TRADE
Is similar to that of Timbuctoo; in both places foreign merchants always employ agents, or brokers, to trade to advantage; a man should reside sometime before he begins. Ivory is sold by the tooth; he bought one, weighing 200 lb. for five ducats (1_L. 5s._); he sold it in Marocco for 25 ducats, per 100 lb.; it is now[84] worth 60.
[Footnote 84: A.D. 1795.] 46 The king cannot make any of his subjects slaves. They get their cotton from Bengala.[85] They have no salt, it comes from a great distance, and is very dear. Goods find a much better market at Housa than at Timbuctoo. There are merchants at Housa from Timboo, Bornoo, Moshu, and India; the travelling merchants do not regard distance. From Timboo and other great towns he has heard, and from his own knowledge can venture to assert, that they bring East India goods. Gold-dust, ivory, and slaves are the principal returns from Housa. The people of Housa have slaves from Bornoo, Bambarra, Jinnie, Beni Killeb[86] (sons of dogs), and Beni Aree (sons of the naked); they are, generally, prisoners of war, though many are stolen when young, by people who make a trade of this practice. The laws are very severe against this crime; it requires, therefore, great cunning and duplicity; no men of any property are ever guilty of it. The slave stealers take the children by night out of the town, and sell them to some peasant, who sells them to a third, and so from hand to hand, till they are carried out of the country; if this practice did not exist, there would be few slaves for the Barbary market. Beyond the age of fourteen or fifteen, a slave is 47 hardly saleable in Barbary. Few merchants bring to Housa above two or three slaves at a time; but there are great numbers of merchants continually bringing them. His own slave was a native of Bambarra, and was brought very young to Timbuctoo. Slaves are generally stupid; but his, on the contrary, was very sensible; he understood several languages, particularly Arabic; he bought him as an interpreter; he would not have sold publicly for above twenty ducats; but he gave 50 for him; his master parting with him very reluctantly. He bought two female slaves at Housa, at 15 ducats each.[87] The value of slaves has since then doubled in Barbary; he does not know the present[88] price at Timbuctoo. At Timbuctoo not ten slaves in the hundred bought there, are females; when bought, the merchant shuts them up in a private room, but not in chains, and places a centinel at the door: when the confidence of any of them is supposed to be gained, they are employed as centinels. Housa having a great trade, is much frequented by people from Bambarra, Foulan, Jinnie, and the interior countries.
Manufactures and husbandry are similar to those at Timbuctoo.
[Footnote 85: Bengal, or the East Indies.]
[Footnote 86: Properly Ben Ekkilleb, or Hel Ekkileb, i.e. the canine-race. These are described to be swift of foot and low of stature, having a language peculiar to themselves.]
[Footnote 87: About the 1790th year of the Christian era.]
[Footnote 88: In the year 1795.]
CLIMATE.
The hot winds blow from the east; the summer is hotter than in 48 Marocco, and hotter at Timbuctoo than at Housa. The cold winds are from the west: the morning fog is great. He never saw it rain at Housa, in the course of two years; he says it never rains there. Scarcity is never known. A considerable part of their provisions is brought from the banks of the Nile; the river, when overflowing, never reaches above half way from its common channel towards Housa. They have excellent wells in their houses, but no river near the town.
ZOOLOGY.
He saw no camels at Housa, but heard, they use them to fetch gold, and cover their legs with leather, to guard them from snakes. They have dogs and cats, but no scorpions or snakes in their houses. Lice, bugs, and fleas abound. He saw no wild animals or fowl in the neighbourhood of Housa.
DISEASES.
Physicians agree with the patient for his cure. No cure no pay. The prevailing diseases are colds and coughs.
RELIGION.
The same as at Timbuctoo; the poorer classes, as in most countries, have many superstitious notions of spirits, good and bad, and are alarmed by dreams, particularly, the slaves, some of whom cannot retain their urine in the night, as he thinks, from fear of 49 spirits, they take them often upon trial when they buy them, and if they have this defect, a considerable deduction is made in the price. A man possessed by a good spirit is supposed to be safe amidst 10,000 shot. A man guilty of a crime, who in the opinion of the judge is possessed by an evil spirit, is not punished! He never heard of a rich man being possessed.
PERSONS.
They are of various sizes, but the tallest man he ever saw was at Housa. The city being very large, he seldom had an opportunity of seeing the king, as at Timbuctoo. He saw him but twice in two years, and only in the courts of justice; he was remarkable for the width of his nostrils, the redness of his eyes, the smoothness of his skin, and the fine tint of his perfectly black complexion.
DRESS.
Like that of Timbuctoo, their turbans are of the finest muslin. The sleeves of the soldiers are small, those of the merchants wide. The former have short breeches, the latter long. The officers dress like the merchants, each according to his circumstances. The caftan is of silk, in summer, brought from India; instead of the silk cords worn by the king of Timbuctoo, the king of Housa wears two silk sashes, three fingers broad, one on each shoulder; they are 50 richly adorned with gold; in one hangs his dagger, and when he rides out, his sword in the other; he wears not the silk pear in his turban, as does the king of Timbuctoo. The front of his turban is embroidered with gold.
BUILDINGS.
The houses are like those at Timbuctoo, but many much larger. They have no wind or water-mills, but they have stone mills, turned by horses.
MANNERS.
They never bow. An inferior kisses the hand of a superior; to an equal he nods the head, gives him his hand and asks him how he does. The women do the same.
The general body are honest and benevolent, the lower class is addicted to thieving. They are very careful of children, to prevent their being stolen. Snakes do not frequent cultivated lands, so that animals are not there in danger from them. The people of Timbuctoo and Housa resemble each other in their persons and in their manners. They castrate bulls, sheep, and goats, but never horses. Supper is the principal meal. They do not use vessels of brass or copper in cookery; they are all of earthenware. At sunset the watchmen are stationed in all parts of the town, and take into custody all suspected or unknown persons. They have lamps made of wood and paper; the latter comes from Fas. Women of respectability 51 are attended by a slave when they walk out or visit, which they do with the same freedom as in Europe. The women ride either horses or asses, they have no mules; the men commonly prefer walking, they are strong and seldom sensible of fatigue, which he attributes to their having a rib more than white men. Some bake their own bread, others buy it, as in England. They make leavened bread of allila[89] and bishna; the cattle-market is within the city, in a square, appropriated to this purpose. There are a great many rich men, some by inheritance, others by trade. Every morning the doors of the rich are crowded with poor, the master sends them food, rice, milk, &c. They have names for every day. They make their own pipes for smoking, the tubes are of wood. They have songs, some with chorus, and some sung by two persons in alternate stanzas. They have the same feasts once a quarter as at Timbuctoo. The king has but one wife, but many concubines. The favourite slaves of the queen of Housa are considered as superior to the queen of Timbuctoo.
[Footnote 89: Millet and Indian corn.]
GOLD.
The ground where it is found is about sixteen miles from Housa. They go in the night with camels whose legs and feet are covered to protect them against snakes, they take a bag of sand, and mark with 52 it the places that glitter with gold; in the morning they collect where marked, and carry it to refiners, who, for a small sum, separate the gold. There are no mountains or rivers near the spot, it is a plain without sand, of a dark brown earth. Any person may go to seek gold; they sell it to the merchants, who pay a small duty to the king. The produce is uncertain; he has heard that a bushel of earth has produced the value of twelve ducats, three pounds sterling, of pure gold. They set out from Housa about two o'clock in the afternoon, arrive about sun-set, and return the next day seeking for gold during the whole night.
LIMITS OF THE EMPIRE
Beyond Timboo, on the north side of the Nile, are very extensive. Afnoo is subject to the king of Housa, no slaves can be made from thence. Darfneel is near Afnoo; the latter is on the north side of the river, nearer to its source, and a great way from Timbuctoo. No Arabs are found on the banks of the Nile. He supposes the circumference of the empire to be about twenty-five days' journey; has heard that many other large towns are dependent upon it, but does not remember their names.
The neighbouring countries are Bambarra, Timboo, Mooshee, and Jinnie; all negroes. He has heard of Bernoo[90] as a great empire. 53 On the 31st of March, 1790, Shabeenee gave further information, in the presence of Lord Rawdon[91], Mr. Stuart, and Mr. Wedgewood. Mr. Wedgewood proposed the questions, and Mr. Dodsworth interpreted. The following is some of the information, omitting what has been noticed already.
Between Timbuctoo and Housa, there is a very good trade. Timbuctoo is tributary to the king of Housa. The imports into Timbuctoo[92] are spices, corn, and woollens from Barbary, and linens from the sea-coast.
[Footnote 90: Ber Noh, or Bernoh, _i.e._ the country of Noah, is said by the Africans, to be the birth-place of the patriarch Noah.]
[Footnote 91: Now the Marquis of Hastings.]
[Footnote 92: For a more detailed account of the imports to Timbuctoo, see Jackson's Account of Marocco, &c.]
The written character is very large, perhaps half an inch long. The empire is divided into provinces; the provinces into districts. The king appoints the governors of both; but the son of the deceased governor is understood to have the preference.
They make their pottery by a wheel, but do not glaze it. The wheel turns upon a pivot placed in a hole in the ground: at top and bottom are two pieces of wood like a tea-table; the lower, which is largest, is turned by the foot, and the upper forms the vessel. When they make a large pot, they put on the top a larger piece: the pots are dried in the sun or burnt in the fire. The iron mines are in the desert; the iron is brought in small pieces by the Arabs, 54 who melt and purify it. They cannot cast iron. They use charcoal fire, and form guns and swords with the hammer and anvil. The points of their arrows are barbed with iron; the crossbows have a groove for the arrow. No man can draw the bow by his arm alone, they have a kind of lever; the bow part is of steel brought from Barbary, and is manufactured at Timbuctoo. They do not make steel themselves.
They inoculate for the small-pox; the pus is put into a dried raisin and eaten. "_Rooka Dindooka_" is a kind of oath, and means, by God. They believe only one God. After dinner they use the Arabic expression, El Hamd Ulillah; praise to be to God.[93]
They believe the immortality of the soul, and that both men and women go to paradise; that there is no future punishment; the wicked are punished in this world. Happiness, after death, consists in being in the presence of God. They are not circumcised. A divorce may take place while a woman is pregnant, but she cannot marry again till delivered. As soon as a woman is divorced, midwives, women brought up to that profession, examine her to see whether she is pregnant.
[Footnote 93: This is the Arabic, or Muhamedan grace after meat; the grace before meat is equally sententious, viz. Bismillah, i.e. in the name of God.]
55
LETTERS CONTAINING AN ACCOUNT OF JOURNIES THROUGH VARIOUS PARTS OF WEST AND SOUTH BARBARY, AT DIFFERENT PERIODS, PERFORMED PERSONALLY BY J.G.J.