Chapter XII: Construction of the Map of Africa 211 (4)

An elective monarchy constitutes the _Government_ of Bornou,[28] and like the similar system of Cashna, endangers the happiness, while it acknowledges the power of the people. On the death of the Sovereign, the privilege of chusing among his sons, without regard to priority of birth, a successor to his throne, is conferred by the nation on three of the most distinguished men, whose age and character for wisdom, are denoted by their title of Elders; and whose conduct in the State has invested them with the public esteem. Bound by no other rule as to their judgment or restraint, as to their will, than that which the expressed or implied instruction of electing the most worthy may form, they retire to the appointed place of their secret deliberation, the avenues to which are carefully guarded by the people: and while the contending suggestions of private interest, or a sense of the real difficulty of chusing where judgment may easily err, and error may be fatal to the State, keeps them in suspence, the Princes are closely confined in separate chambers of the Palace. Their choice being made, they proceed to the apartment of the Sovereign elect, and conduct him, in silence, to the gloomy place in which the unburied corpse of his father, that cannot be interred till this awful ceremony is passed, awaits his arrival. There, the Elders point out to him the several virtues and the several defects which marked the character of his departed parent; and they also forcibly describe, with just panegyric, or severe condemnation, the several measures which raised or depressed the glory of his reign. “You see before you the end of your _mortal_ career; the _eternal_, which succeeds to it, will be miserable or happy in proportion as your reign shall have proved a curse or a blessing to your people.”

From this dread scene of terrible instruction, the new Sovereign, amidst the loud acclamations of the people, is conducted back to the Palace, and is there invested by the electors with all the slaves, and with two-thirds of all the lands and cattle of his father; the remaining third being always detained as a provision for the other children of the deceased Monarch. No sooner is the Sovereign invested with the ensigns of Royalty, than such of his brothers as have reached the age of manhood prostrate themselves at his feet, and in rising press his hands to their lips—the two ceremonies that constitute the declaration of allegiance.

If any doubt of their sincerity suggests itself to the King or to the Elders, death or perpetual imprisonment removes the fear; but if no suspicion arises, an establishment of lands and cattle from the possessions of their father, together with presents of slaves from the reigning monarch, are liberally bestowed upon them.

Often, however, the most popular, or the most ambitious of the rejected Princes, covering his designs with close dissimulation, and the zeal of seeming attachment, creates a powerful party; and assured of Foreign aid, prepares, in secret, the means of successful revolt. But, stained with such kindred blood, the sceptre of the victorious Rebel is not lastingly secure—one revolution invites and facilitates another; and till the slaughter of the field, the sword of the executioner, or the knife of the assassin has left him without a brother, the throne of the Sovereign is seldom firmly established.

Such, in the Mahometan empires of Bornou and of Cashna, is the rule of succession to the monarchy; but the Pagan kingdoms adjoining, with obviously less wisdom, permit the several sons of the late Sovereign, attended by their respective partizans, to offer themselves, in person, to the choice of the electors, and be actually present at the decision; an imprudence that often brings with it the interference of other States, and unites the different calamities of foreign and intestine war.

Those of the Royal Children of Bornou who are too young to take their share in the reserved part of their deceased father’s possessions, are educated in the Palace till the age of maturity arrives; at which time their respective portions of lands and cattle are assigned them.

To the four lawful wives of the late Sovereign, a separate house, with a suitable establishment, is granted by the reigning Monarch; and such of his numerous concubines as were not slaves, are at liberty to return to their several friends; and, together with leave to retain their cloaths, and all their ornaments, which are often valuable, have free permission to marry.

In the empire of Bornou, as in all the Mahometan States, the administration of the provinces is committed to Governors, appointed by the Crown; and the expences of the Sovereign are partly defrayed by his hereditary lands, and partly by taxes levied on the people.

The present Sultan, whose name is Alli, is a man of an unostentatious plain appearance; for he seldom wears any other dress than the common blue shirt of cotton or of silk, and the silk or muslin turban, which form the usual dress of the country. Such, however, is the magnificence of his seraglio, that the ladies who inhabit it are said to be five hundred in number; and he himself is described as the reputed father of three hundred and fifty children, of whom three hundred are males; a disproportion which naturally suggests the idea that the mother, preferring to the gratification of natural affection, the joy of seeing herself the supposed parent of a future candidate for the empire, sometimes exchanges her female child for the male offspring of a stranger.

Equally splendid in his stables, he is said to have 500 horses for his own use, and for that of the numerous servants of his household.

In many of the neighbouring kingdoms, the Monarch himself is the executioner of those criminals on whom his own voice has pronounced the sentence of death; but the Sultan of Bornou, too polished, or too humane, to pollute his hands with the blood of his subjects, commits the care of the execution to the Cadi, who directs his slaves to strike off the head of the prisoner.

The _Military_ Force of the Sultan of Bornou consists in the multitude of his horsemen; for his foot soldiers are few in number, and are scarcely considered as contributing to the strength of the battle.[29] The sabre, the lance, the pike, and the bow, constitute their weapons of offence; and a shield of hides composes their defensive armour. Fire-arms, though not entirely unknown to them, for those with which the Merchants of Fezzan occasionally travel, are sufficient to give them an idea of their importance and decisive effect, are neither used nor possessed by the people of Bornou.

When the Sovereign prepares for war, and levies an army for the purpose, he is said to have a custom, (the result of idle vanity or of politic ostentation) of directing a date tree to be placed as a threshold to one of the gates of his capital, and of commanding his horsemen to enter the town one by one, that the parting of the tree in the middle, when worn through by the trampling of the horses, may enable him to judge of the sufficiency of their numbers, and operate as a signal that his levy is compleat.

In their _Manners_, the people of Bornou are singularly courteous and humane. They will not pass a stranger on the road till they have stopped to salute him: the most violent of their quarrels are only contests of words; and though a part of the business of their husbandry is assigned to the women, yet, as their employment is confined to that of dropping the seed in the furrows, and of removing the weeds with a hoe, it has more of the amusement of occasional occupation, than of the harshness of continued labour.

Passionately attached to the tumultuous gratifications of play, yet unacquainted with any game but drafts, they often sit down on the ground, and forming holes to answer the purpose of squares, supply the place of men with dates, or the meaner substitute of stones, or of camel’s dung. On their skill in the management of these rude instruments of the game, they stake their gold dust, their brass money, and even their very cloaths; and as the bye-standers on these occasions constantly obtrude their advice, and sometimes make the moves for the person whose success they wish, their play is usually accompanied by that conflict of abuse, and vehemence of scolding, which mark and terminate the sharpest of their quarrels.

Such is the amusement of the lower classes of the people; those of a superior rank are devoted to the more difficult and more interesting game of chess, in which they are eminently skilled.

In countries that afford without cultivation, or that give in return for slight exertions of labour, the principal requisites of life, few articles of export are likely to be found. Those of the Bornou Empire consist of—

Gold Dust,[30] Ostrich Feathers,[30]

Slaves, Salt, and

Horses, Civet.

By what means the gold dust, that appears to be a principal article of trade, is procured by the inhabitants, whether from mines in the country, or by purchase from other nations, the Shereef has not explained. But of their mode of obtaining the Slaves, which constitute another extensive branch of their commerce, he gives the following account:

South East of Bornou, at the distance of about twenty days travelling, and separated from it by several small desarts, is situated an extensive kingdom of the name of Begarmee, the inhabitants of which are rigid Mahometans, and though perfectly black in their complexions, are not of the Negro cast. Beyond this kingdom to the East are several tribes of Negros, idolaters in their religion, savage in their manners, and accustomed, it is said, to feed on human flesh. They are called the Kardee, the Serrowah, the Showva, the Battah, and the Mulgui. These nations the Begarmeese, who fight on horseback, and are great warriors, annually invade; and when they have taken as many prisoners as the opportunity affords, or their purpose may require, they drive the captives, like cattle, to Begarmee. It is said that if any of them, weakened by age, or exhausted by fatigue, happen to linger in their pace, one of the horsemen seizes on the oldest, and cutting off his arm, uses it as a club to drive on the rest.

From Begarmee they are sent to Bornou,[31] where they are sold at a low price; and from thence many of them are conveyed to Fezzan, where they generally embrace the Musselman faith, and are afterwards exported by the way of Tripoli to different parts of the Levant.

Such is the mode of obtaining the greatest part of the slaves who are annually sold in Bornou; but as several of the provinces of the empire are inhabited by Negros, their insurrections, real or pretended, afford to the Sovereign an opportunity of increasing his income by their sale.

A more politic and more effectual mode of aiding his finances is fruitlessly offered by the salt lakes of the Province of Domboo: for, as the great Empire of Cashna is entirely destitute of salt, and none is found in the dominions of the Negros, the sole possession of this article might insure to the King of Bornou a constant and ample revenue of the best kind, a revenue collected from the subjects of Foreign States; but such is the prevalence of antient custom over the obvious suggestions of policy, that the people of Agadez, a Province of the Cashna Empire, are annually permitted to load their immense caravans with the salt of Bornou, and to engross the profits of this invaluable trade. The salt is collected on the shores of the several lakes which produce it, and the only acknowledgement that the Merchants of Agadez give in return for the article, is the trifling price which they pay in brass and copper (the currency of Bornou) to the neighbouring peasants.

The civet, which forms another article of the export trade of Bornou, and the greatest part of which is sent to the Negro States who inhabit far to the South, is obtained from a species of wild cat that is common in the woods of Bornou and of Cashna.

This animal is taken alive in a trap prepared for the purpose, is placed in a cage, and is strongly irritated till a copious perspiration is produced. Its sweat, and especially the moisture that appears upon the tail, is then scraped off, is preserved in a bladder, and constitutes the much valued perfume. After a short interval the operation is renewed, and is repeated, from time to time, till at the end of twelve or fourteen days the animal dies of the fatigue and continual torment. The quantity obtained from one cat is generally about half an ounce.

Of _Manufactures_, none for exportation are furnished by the people of Bornou; but the Shereef remarks that, for their own consumption, they fabricate from the iron ore of their country, though with little skill, such slight tools as their husbandry requires.[32]

In return for their exports, they receive the following goods:

Copper and Brass, which are brought to them from Tripoli, by the way of Fezzan, and which, as already mentioned, are used as the current species of Bornou;

Imperial Dollars, which are also brought to them from Tripoli by the Merchants of Fezzan, and are converted by their own artists into rings and bracelets for their women;

Red Woollen Caps, which are worn under the turban;

Check Linens,

Light coarse Woollen Cloths,

Baize,

Barakans,

Small Turkey Carpets,

Plain Mesurata Carpets.

~CHAPTER VII.~

_Rout from Mourzouk to Cashna — Boundaries of the Empire — Its
Language, Currency, and Trade._

* * * * *

Equally connected by their commerce with Cashna and Bornou, the Fezzanners dispatch to the former as well as to the latter, and always at the same season, an annual caravan. From Mourzouk, their capital, which they leave at the close of October, they take their course to the South South West, and proceed to the Province of Hiatts, the most barren, and the worst inhabited district of their country.

Five of the fourteen days which are requisite for this part of their rout, are consumed in the passage of a sandy desart, in which their usual expedient of covering their goat skins, both within and without, with a resinous substance, prevents but imperfectly the dreaded evaporation of their water.

From the Province of Hiatts they cross the low mountains of Eyré, which separate the Kingdom of Fezzan from the vast Empire of Cashna; and leaving to their right the small river which flows from these hills, and is lost in the deep sands of a neighbouring desart, they enter a wide heath, uninhabited, but not destitute of water. The sixth day conducts them from this extended solitude to the long desired refreshments of the Town of Ganatt, where the two next days are devoted to repose.

From thence, by a march of nineteen days, during six of which they are immersed in the heats of a thirsty desart, they pass on to the Town of Assouda, which offers them equal refreshments with Ganatt, and equally suspends their journey.

On leaving Assouda, they traverse a delightful country, as fertile as it is numerously peopled; and while the exhilarating sight of Indian corn and of frequent herds of cattle accompanies and chears their passage, the eighth day introduces them to the large and populous City of Agadez, the capital of an extensive province.

Distinguished as the most commercial of all the towns of Cashna, and, like Assouda and Ganatt, inhabited by Mahometans alone, Agadez naturally attracts the peculiar attention of the Merchants of Fezzan. Many of them proceed no further; but the greatest part, committing to their Agents the care of the slaves, cotton, and senna, which they purchase in the course of a ten days residence, continue their journey to the South.

In this manner, if the camels are compleatly loaded, seven and forty days, exclusive of those which are allotted to refreshment and necessary rest, are employed in travelling from Mourzouk to Agadez.

At the end of three days more, amidst fields that are enriched with the luxuriant growth of Indian corn, and pastures that are covered with multitudes of cows, and with flocks of sheep and goats, the Traveller reaches the small Town of Begzam; from which, through a country of herdsmen, whose dwellings are in tents of hides, the second day conducts him to the Town of Tegomáh. There, as he surveys the stoney, uninhabited, desolate hills that form the chearless prospect before him, he casts a regretful eye on those verdant scenes that surrounded him the day before. Employed for two days in the passage of these dreary heights, he descends on the third to a deep and scorching sand, from which he emerges at the approach of the fifth evening, and entering a beautiful country, as pleasingly diversified with the natural beauties of hills and vales and woods, as with the rich rewards of the husbandman’s and the shepherd’s toil, he arrives in seven days more at the City of Cashna, the capital of the empire of which it bears the name, and the usual residence of its powerful Sultan.

The country to which the Geographers of Europe have given the name of Nigritia, is called by the Arabs Soudán, and by the natives Aafnou, two words of similar import, that, like the European appellation, express the land of the Blacks, and like that too, are applied to a part only of the region to which their meaning so obviously belongs.—Yet, even in this limited sense, the word Soudán is often variously employed; for while some of the Africans restrict it to the Empire of Cashna, which is situated to the North of the Niger, others extend it, with indefinite comprehension, to the Negro States on the South of the river, and applying it as a means of expressing the extended rule and transcendant power of the Emperor of Cashna, call him, with extravagant compliment, the Sultan of all Soudán.

His real sovereignty is bounded, on the North, by the mountains of Eyré, and by one of those districts of the great Zahara, that furnish no means of useful property or available dominion; on the South, by the Niger; and on the East, by the Kingdom of Zamphara and the Empire of Bornou. Its western limit is not described by the Shereef; nor is any thing said of the Capital, except that it is situated to the North of the Niger, at the distance of five days journey, and that its buildings resemble those of Bornou.

The observations which introduced the account of Bornou, have already announced the remarkable similarity, as well with respect to climate, soil, and natural productions, as with regard to the colour, genius, religion, and political institutions of the people, that prevails between that powerful State and its sister Kingdom of Cashna.

The _rains_, indeed, are less violent than those of Bornou. It exclusively furnishes the Bishnah, a species of Indian corn that differs from the gamphúly, in the blended colours of red and white which distinguish its grain. Its monkeys and parrots (animals but seldom seen in Bornou) are numerous, and of various species. The meridian of its capital is considered as a western limit, in that parallel of latitude, to the vegetation of grapes and the breed of camels; for between Cashna and the Atlantic few camels are bred, and no grapes will grow. The manners of the common people are less courteous in Cashna than in Bornou, and their games are less expressive of reflection; for their favourite play consists in tossing up four small sticks, and counting those that cross each other, as so many points of the number that constitutes the game. But the circumstances of chief discrimination between the empires are, those of language, currency, and certain articles of commerce.

Of the difference between the _Languages_ of Bornou and of Cashna, the following specimen is given by the Shereef.

In the Language of Bornou

1 _is expressed by_ Lakkah

2 Endee

3 Nieskoo

4 Dekoo

5 Okoo

6 Araskoo

7 Huskoo

8 Tallóre

9 L’ilkar

10 Meikoo

11 Meiko Lakkah

12 Meiko Endee

13 Meiko Nieskoo

14 Meikoo Dekoo

In the Language of Cashna

1 _is expressed by_ Deiyah

2 Beeyou

3 Okoo

4 Foodoo

5 Beát

6 Sheedah

7 Bookai

8 Tàkoos

9 Tarráh

10 Goumah

11 Goumah sha Deiyah

12 Goumah sha Beeyou

13 Goumah sha Okoo

14 Goumah sha Foodoo

The _Currency_ of Cashna, like that of the Negro States to the South of the Niger, is composed of those small shells that are known to Europeans and to the Blacks themselves by the name of Cowries, and to the Arabs by the appellation of Hueddah.—Cardie, which is another term for this species of Negro money, and the specific meaning of which the Shereef has neglected to explain, is said to be given to it by the idolatrous tribes alone; a circumstance that seems to indicate superstitious attachment.—Of these shells, 2,500 are estimated in Cashna as equal in value to a mitkal of Fezzan, which is worth about 675 piastres of Tripoli, or ten shillings and three half-pence sterling.

Among the few circumstances which characterize the _Trade_ of Cashna, as distinguished from that of Bornou, the most remarkable is, that the Merchants of the _former_ kingdom are the sole carriers, to other nations, of a scarce and most valuable commodity, which is only to be obtained from the inhabitants of the _latter_. For though the salt of Bornou supplies the consumption of Cashna, and of the Negro Kingdoms to the South, yet its owners have abandoned to the commercial activity of the Merchants of Agadez, the whole of that profitable trade.

The lakes, on the dreary shores of which this scarce article of African luxury is found, are separated from Agadez by a march of five and forty days, and are encompassed on all sides by the sands of the vast Desart of Bilma, where the ardent heat of a flaming sky is returned with double fierceness by the surface of the burning soil. A thousand camels, bred and maintained for the purpose, are said to compose the caravan which annually explores, in the savage wilderness, the long line of this adventurous journey. Perilous, however, and full of hardships as their labour is, the Merchants find an ample recompence in the profits of their commerce; for while the wretched villagers who inhabit the neighbourhood of the lakes, and collect the salt that congeals upon the shores, are contented to receive, or obliged to accept a scanty price, the value that the Merchants obtain in the various markets of Cashna, of Tombuctou, and of the countries to the South of the Niger, is suited to the high estimation in which the article is held.

Attentive in this manner to the means of profiting by the produce of a neighbouring country, the people of Agadez are equally anxious to avail themselves of the commodities that are furnished by their own; for knowing the superior quality of the senna which grows upon their mountains, they demand and receive from the Merchants of Fezzan a proportionable price.

The senna of Agadez is valued in Tripoli at fourteen or fifteen mahaboobs, or from 4l. 4s. to 4l. 10s. per hundred weight, while that of Tibesti is worth no more than from nine to ten mahaboobs, or from 2l. 14s. to 3l. sterling. From Tripoli the senna is exported to Turkey, Leghorn, and Marseilles.

Of the other articles of sale which the extensive Empire of Cashna affords, the principal are—

Gold Dust—the value of which appears to be estimated at a higher rate in Cashna than in Fezzan; for in the former the worth of an ounce of 640 grains (which is the weight of an ounce in Fezzan, Cashna, and probably in all the States between that kingdom and the Niger) is said to be nine mitkals, or 4l. 10s. sterling; whereas an ounce of the same weight is worth in Fezzan but 4l. In Cashna the value of an English ounce of 480 grains is consequently 3l. 7s. 6d. whereas in Fezzan it is only 3l.

Slaves—In what manner these are obtained, does not distinctly appear; but the value of a male slave is said to be from 15 to 20,000 cowries, or from 3l. to 4l. sterling:

That of a female slave is described as being two-thirds of the former, or from 10,000 to 13,334 cowries, which in English money would be from 2l. to 2l. 13s. 4d.

Cotton Cloths—which are the general manufacture of Cashna, of Bornou, and of the Negro States to the South of the Niger:

Goat-skins—of the red and of the yellow dyes:

Ox and Buffalo Hides:

Civet—the mode of obtaining which, as well as the principal markets for its sale, were described in the account which has been given of the trade of Bornou.

In return for these articles the inhabitants of Cashna receive—

Cowries—a sea shell which is brought from the coast, and constitutes the common specie of the empire:

Horses and Mares—which are purchased from the Merchants of Fezzan; but whether bred in that country, or procured from the Arabs, or from the people of Bornou, is not mentioned by the Shereef:

Red Woollen Caps,

Check Linens,[33]

Light coarse Woollen Cloths,

Baize,

Barakans or Alhaiks,

Small Turkey Carpets,

Plain Mesurata Carpets,

Silk, wrought and unwrought,

Tissues and Brocades,

Sabre Blades,

Dutch Knives,

Scizzars,

Coral,

Beads,

Small Looking-Glasses,

Tickera—a paste which is prepared in Fezzan from dates and the meal of Indian corn, and which, whenever they travel, is in great request among the people of Fezzan:

Gooroo Nuts—which are brought from the Negro States on the South of the Niger, and which are principally valued for the pleasant bitter that they communicate to any liquid in which they are infused.

~CHAPTER VIII.~

_Countries South of the Niger._

* * * * *

The account which the Shereef has given of such of the kingdoms to the South of the Niger as he himself has visited, is too deficient in geographical information to furnish a clear and determinate idea of this part of his travels: and though the names of the principal States in whose capitals he traded, or through whose dominions he passed, may be used with advantage as the means of future enquiry, and are therefore inserted in the map which accompanies this Narrative; yet the places assigned them must be considered as in some degree conjectural. That the line of his journey was towards the Gold Coast, there is, however, the strongest reason to believe; and the following brief account of his remarks may lead to conclusions which are neither uninteresting nor unimportant.

From that part of the Niger which forms the southern limit of the great Empire of Cashna, to the Kingdom of Tonouwah, which borders on the coast of the Christians, and of which the Town of Assenté is said to be the capital, a succession of hills, among which are mountains of a stupendous height, diversifies or constitutes the general face of the country. Most of the lands are described as already cleared, but some particular districts are still incumbered with woods of a vast extent; and though for the most part the highlands are pastured by innumerable stocks of sheep, and by herds of cows and goats, and the vales exhibit the captivating view of successive villages, encompassed with corn and rice, and fruits of various kinds, yet there _are_ places of native sterility and eternal barrenness.

The combined occupations of the shepherd and of the husbandman compose the general employment of the people; while the cotton cloth, and the goat-skins of the red and of the yellow dyes, that are offered in several of the towns for sale, announce the rudiments of future manufactures, and perhaps of an extensive commerce.

Exempted by the nature of their climate from many of those hardships from which, in other countries, dress is the principal protection, a large proportion of the inhabitants wear only the covering that decency requires. But most of the Mahometans, as the mark of a religion which they are proud to profess, adorn their heads with the folds of the turban, and also adopt, at least in some of the States, the cotton shirt, which is so much worn in the empires of Cashna and Bornou.

Tents, which are formed of the hides of cows or of buffaloes, and which are peculiarly suited to the shepherd life, are the only dwellings of multitudes of the Negros; while the huts, which others erect with the branches of trees, are of a construction almost equally simple.

Several of the towns are described as surrounded by walls; and bows and arrows are mentioned as the common instruments of war.

In the description of their Governments, a few instances of small Republics are given; but most of their States are monarchical; and of these, the inhabitants of the Mahometan Kingdom of Degombah are distinguished by the custom of taming the Elephant, and by that of selling for slaves the prisoners they take from such of the bordering nations as motives of religion or of avarice prompt them to invade.

Such, however, is the mildness of the Negro character, that even the asperities of religious disagreement appear to have no effect on their general conduct; for there is reason to believe, from the Shereef’s account, that the Musselman and the Pagan are indiscriminately mixed, that their cattle feed upon the same mountain, and that the approach of evening sends them in peace to the same village: and though the nations who are attacked by the people of Degombah punish with death, as guilty of atrocious injustice, such of the invaders as the chance of war throws into their hands, yet those of the Mahometans who visit them for the purposes of trade, are received with protection and respect.

To the Merchants of Fezzan, who travel to the southern States of the Negros, the purchase of gold, which the dominions of several, and especially of those of Degombah, abundantly afford, is always the first object of commercial acquisition. The other articles which they obtain, consist of

Slaves,

Cotton Cloth,

Goat-Skins, of a beautiful dye,

Hides of Buffaloes and Cows, and

A species of Nut—which is much valued in the kingdoms to the North of the Niger, and which is called Gooroo. It grows on a large and broad leafed tree that bears a pod of about eighteen inches in length, in which are inclosed a number of nuts that varies from seven to nine. Their colour is a yellowish green; their size is that of a chesnut, which they also resemble in being covered by a husk of a similar thickness; and their taste, which is described as a pleasant bitter, is so grateful to those who are accustomed to its use, and so important as a corrective to the unpalatable or unwholesome waters of Fezzan, and of the other kingdoms that border on the vast Zahara, as to be deemed of importance to the happiness of life.

No commercial value appears to be annexed to the fleeces which the numerous flocks of the Negro kingdoms afford; for the cotton manufacture, which, the Shereef says, is established among the tribes to the South of the Niger, seems to be the only species of weaving that is known among them. Perhaps the dark colour of the fleece, as disqualifying it for the dye, may be one reason, and its coarse and hairy nature may be another, of the little esteem in which it appears to be held.

In _return_ for the articles which they sell to their foreign visitors, the Negros receive—

Salt, from the Merchants of Agadez,

Dutch Knives,

Sabre Blades,

Carpets,

Coral,

Beads,

Looking-Glasses,

Civet,

Imperial Dollars and Brass—from both of which the Negro artists manufacture rings and bracelets for their women.

Fire Arms are unknown to such of the nations on the South of the Niger as the Shereef has visited; and the reason which he assigns for it is, that the Kings in the neighbourhood of the coast, persuaded that if these powerful instruments of war should reach the possession of the populous inland States, their own independence would be lost, have strictly prohibited, and by the wisdom of their measures, have effectually prevented this dangerous merchandize from passing beyond the limit of their dominions.

~CHAPTER IX.~

_General View of the Trade from Fezzan to Tripoli, Bornou, Cashna,
and the Countries on the South of the Niger._

* * * * *

In the general description of Fezzan, an account was given of the various articles of native produce which supply the wants, or contribute to the trade of its people; but of their _Foreign_ Commerce, for which, like the Dutch in Europe, they are eminently distinguished, the detail was purposely deferred: for till a previous account of the countries to which that commerce is established had been exhibited, no adequate conception of its nature or extent could be easily conveyed.

At the latter end of October, when the ardent heat of the Summer months is succeeded by the pleasant mildness and settled serenity of Autumn, the several caravans that are respectively destined for Tripoli and Bornou and Cashna, and the Negro Nations beyond the Niger, take their departure from Mourzouk, the capital of Fezzan. The parties which compose them are generally small; for unless information has been received that the road is infested with robbers, ten or a dozen Merchants, attended by twice as many camels, and by the necessary servants, constitute the usual strength of the caravan; but if an attack is apprehended, an association of forty or fifty men, with muskets for their defence, is formed; and as none of the Africans to the South of Fezzan (the people of Agadez and the nations on the coast excepted) have yet possessed themselves of fire-arms, the collective force of such a number is sufficient to insure their safety.

Their store of provisions usually consists of dates; of meal prepared from barley, or from Indian corn, and previously deprived of all its moisture in an oven temperately heated; and of mutton, which is cured for the purpose, by the treble process of being salted and dried in the sun, and afterwards boiled in oil or fat; a process which gives it, even in that climate, a lasting preservation.

In all the principal towns to which they trade, the Merchants of Fezzan have Factors, or confidential Friends, to whose care, till their return, or till their instructions as to the market shall arrive, they consign such Negros as they purchase, perfectly assured that the slaves will be forwarded by the Agents according to the orders they receive; but their gold dust, as being more easily conveyed, and less dependent for its value on the choice of the market, is seldom entrusted to the Factor.

The caravans which proceed to _Tripoli_ are freighted partly with trona, the produce of their native land, and partly with senna and gold dust and slaves, the produce of the southern countries with which they trade; and in return they bring back the cutlery and woollens (particularly red woollen caps) and silks, wrought and unwrought, together with the Imperial dollars, the copper and the brass, which are requisite for the consumption of those countries or for their own.

The caravans which travel to _Bornou_ are loaded with the following goods:

Brass and Copper—for the currency of Bornou. The caravan which Mr. LUCAS accompanied from Tripoli to Mesurata, had brought ten camel loads or forty hundred weight of these metals for the Bornou market: their value in Bornou is about four shillings sterling for each pound weight.

Imperial Dollars—which are called in Arabic Real Abotacia, and the value of which, in comparison with the dollars of Spain, is, at Tripoli, as 365 piastres to 340, or nearly as 16 to 15:

Red Woollen Caps,

Check Linens,

Light coarse Cloth,

Baize,

Barakans or Alhaiks,

Small Carpets of Turkey,

Small plain Carpets of Mesurata,

Silk, wrought and unwrought,

Tissues and Brocades—for the Royal Family and other persons of rank,

Sabre Blades,

Dutch Knives,

Scissars,

Coral,

Beads,

Small Looking-Glasses,

Gooroo Nuts—that grow on the South of the Niger, and are much valued in Bornou for the pleasant taste which they communicate to water.

Of the native produce of Fezzan the only article which is brought as merchandize to Bornou is a preparation of pounded dates, and of the meal of Indian corn, highly dried in an oven. It is called Tickera, and is valued, especially by Travellers, as a portable and highly salubrious food.

In _return_ for the goods which they bring to _Bornou_ the Merchants _take back_ with them,

Slaves,

Gold Dust,

Civet—for the markets on the South of the Niger.

* * * * *

The _exports_ from Fezzan to _Cashna_ and its dependent States, consist of the following articles:

Cowries—a sea shell (in Arabic, called Hueddah) which constitutes the circulating specie of this empire, and of the Negro kingdoms, and which the Merchants procure from the Southern nations who border on the coast; 17,062 are considered in Cashna as equivalent to an English ounce (480 grains) of gold:

Brass—from which the Smiths of the country manufacture rings and bracelets for their women:

Horses,

Red Woollen Caps,

Check Linens,

Light coarse Cloth,

Baize,

Barakans, or Alhaiks,

Small Turkey Carpets,

Plain Mesurata Carpets,

Silk, wrought and unwrought,

Tissues and Brocades,

Sabre Blades,

Dutch Knives,

Scissars,

Coral,

Beads,

Small Looking-Glasses,

Tickera—a preparation of pounded dates, and the meal of Indian corn, which is manufactured in Fezzan:

Gooroo Nuts—which are brought from the Negro Countries on the South of the Niger.

The articles received in _return_, are—

Gold Dust:—of which an English ounce (or 480 grains) appears to be valued at 3l. 8s. 3d. though in Fezzan it seems to be worth no more than 3l. The Fezzanners, in all probability, make themselves amends by the price which they charge upon their goods.

Slaves—a male slave is worth in Cashna, from 3l. 10s. to 5l.—a female slave is worth two-thirds of the amount, or from 2l. 6s. 8d. to 3l. 6s. 8d.

Cotton Cloths—of various colours, principally blue and white, of which in the Empire of Cashna, and in the Negro States to the South of the Niger, great quantities are made:

Goat Skins—dyed red or yellow,

Ox and Buffalo Hides—for tents,

Senna from Agadez—a province of the Cashna Empire; the Agadez senna is worth at Tripoli, from fourteen to fifteen mahaboobs (4l. 4s. to 4l. 10s. sterling) per hundred weight; that which the Fezzanners obtain at Tibesti is only worth per hundred weight, from nine to ten mahaboobs, or from 2l. 14s. to 3l. sterling.

Civet.

* * * * *

To such of the various nations inhabiting _the Country on the South of the Niger_ as they are accustomed to visit, the Merchants of Fezzan convey the following articles:

Sabre Blades,

Dutch Knives,

Carpets,

Coral,

Beads,

Looking-Glasses,

Brass,

Imperial Dollars,

Civet.

In _return_ the Merchants receive—

Gold Dust,

Slaves,

Cotton Cloths—of various colours.

Goat Skins—red and yellow.

Ox and Buffalo Hides,

Gooroo Nuts—for sale in Cashna, Bornou, and Fezzan, where they are purchased at the rate of 12s. for one hundred pods:

Cowries—for sale in Cashna.

Ivory, though very common in the country to the South of the Niger, is not considered by the Merchants of Fezzan, as an article of profitable transport, the demand for it on the Coast being such as induces them to sell to the Negros who traffic there, the teeth which in the course of their journey, they often find in the woods.[34]

Such are the principal branches of the extensive commerce of the Merchants of Fezzan; from a view of which it appears, that, vast as their concerns are, they have little communication with any of the States that are situated to the West of the Empire of Cashna; a circumstance which the Shereef ascribes to the want of a proper conveyance for their goods; for the country on the West of Cashna furnishes but few camels, and even horses and mules are singularly scarce and dear.

~CHAPTER X.~

_Rout from Mourzouk to Grand Cairo, according to Hadgee Abdalah
Benmileitan, the present Governor of Mesurata._

* * * * *

Placed in a situation which affords an easy intercourse with the Mediterranean, and therefore with the States of Europe, on the one hand, and on the other with the extensive Empires of Bornou and Cashna, the dominions of Tombuctou, and the various nations of Negros to the South of the Niger, the Merchants of Fezzan are happily possessed of the farther advantage of communicating by a safe and comparatively commodious passage with the Cities of Grand Cairo and of Mecca. A pilgrimage to the latter, the object, from time immemorial, of veneration in Arabia, is prescribed to every Musselman; and though the greatest part of the believers in Mahomet, deterred by distance, or restrained by the avocations of business and the feelings of domestic attachment, content themselves with imperfect resolutions of performing at some future period this arduous journey, yet there are persons, even from the innermost recesses of Africa, who think, that a positive injunction of their faith is too solemn for excuses, and too momentous for delay. Prompted by this urgent consideration, or allured by the honourable distinction which attends upon the title of Hadgee, the envied appellation of those who have visited the sacred Temple, a number of the faithful from the Empires of Bornou and Cashna, from the extensive kingdom of Caffaba, and from several of the Negro States, resort to Fezzan, and proceed from thence, with the caravan, which in the Autumn of every second or third year takes its departure for Mecca. The caravan, which seldom consists of less than one hundred, or of more than three hundred Travellers, assembles at Mourzouk, and begins its journey in the last week of October, or in the first of the succeeding month.

Temissa, a town in the dominions of Fezzan, and situated to the East North East of Mourzouk, receives them at the close of the seventh day; and in two days more, of easy travelling, they arrive at a lofty mountain, rocky, uninhabited, and barren, of the name of Xanibba. Having recruited their goat-skin bags from the only well which these sullen heights afford, they descend to a vast and dreary desart, whose hilly surface, for four successive days, presents nothing to the eye but one continued extent of black and naked rock; to which, for three days more, the equally barren view of a soft and sandy stone succeeds. Through all this wide expanse of varied nakedness no trace of animal or vegetable life, not even the desart thorn, is seen. On the eighth day, the vast mountain of Ziltan, the rugged sides of which are marked with scanty spots of brushwood, and are enriched with stores of water, increases the labour of the journey. Four days are devoted to the toils of this stupendous passage; four others are employed in crossing the sultry plain that stretches its barren sands from the foot of the mountain to the verdant heights of Sibbeel, where the wells of water and the chearing view of multitudes of antelopes suspend their fatigues, and anticipate the refreshments that await them on the next evening; for the close of the following day conducts them to the town of Augéla.

From that place, which is subject to Tripoli, and is famed for the abundance and excellent flavour of its dates, they proceed in one day to the little village of Gui Xarrah; another brings them to the long ascent of the broad mountain of Gerdóbah, from whose inflexible barrenness the Traveller, in the course of a five days passage, can only collect a scanty supply of unpalatable water. Descending from these mournful highlands, he enters the narrow plain of Gegabib, sandy and uninhabited, yet fertile in dates, which the people of Duna (a town dependant on Tripoli, and situated on the Coast at the distance of eight days journey from Gegabib) annually gather.

From this scene of gladsome contrast to the inveterate rocks of Gerdóbah, a three days march conducts the caravan to another desolate mountain of the name of Buselema, that furnishes only water; and in three days more they enter the dominions of the independent Republic of See-wah.

Governed by a Council of six or eight Elders, whose lasting dissentions divide the opinions and distract the allegiance of the people, this unfortunate State is constantly involved in the miseries of intestine war. Its chief produce is the date tree; for the lands, though not destitute of water, furnish but little corn.

From See-wah, the capital, the caravan proceeds in a single day to the miserable village of Umseguér, which is one of the dependencies of the State, and is situated at the foot of the mountainous Desart of Le Mágra, where, in the long course of a seven days passage, the Traveller is scarcely sensible that a few spots of thin and meagre brushwood slightly interrupt the vast expanse of sterility, and diminish the amplitude of desolation. The eighth day terminates with his arrival at the hill of Huaddy L’Ottrón, which is distinguished by a small convent, of three Christian Monks, who reside there under the protection of Cairo, and to whose hospitable entertainment the Traveller is largely indebted. Buildings, surrounded with high walls, and erected in the neighbourhood of the convent, are opened for his reception; and for three successive days, if he chuses to be their guest so long, his wants, as far as their means extend, are chearfully and liberally supplied.

Their garden, in which is a well of excellent and never-failing water, affords an ample store of vegetables of various kinds; the maintenance of a few sheep is furnished by an adjoining pasture; and they raise, without difficulty, a numerous breed of fowls. All other articles, except their bread, which they manufacture themselves, they receive from Cairo.

Respected by the Arabs, who revere their hospitality more than they hate their religion, these venerable men are apparently secure.—Yet as too much confidence might invite the meanest plunderers to invade their peaceful dwelling, they have cautiously guarded their convent by a separate and lofty inclosure from an opening in which a ladder of ropes furnishes the means of descent.

Leaving this hospitable hill with such refreshments as the generous Fathers could supply, the caravan continues its course, and on the fifth day arrives at the City of Cairo, from whence, at the usual season, it proceeds by the customary rout to Mecca.

~CHAPTER XI.~

_Conclusions suggested by the preceding Narrative._

* * * * *

From the perusal of the preceding account, the Society are enabled to judge of the credit which it deserves, and of the value of the information which it offers. If the evidence of its truth should be thought insufficient, they will keep their minds in suspence till Narratives of more confirmed authenticity shall disprove or establish the relation. But if they should think that the Shereef’s account of Bornou and of the Niger is too strongly supported by the corresponding description of Ben Alli, to leave a suspicion of its falsehood; and that the fidelity of this part of his Narrative warrants the belief of whatever else is equally described on the authority of his personal knowledge, then they will feel that conclusions of an important and interesting nature result from the various, though imperfect intelligence which he has furnished.

The present state of the Empire of Bornou, compared with its condition when Leo Africanus, who wrote his account in the year 1526, was its visitor, exhibits an interesting proof of the advancement of the Mahometan Faith, and of the progress of imperfect civilization.[35] A savage nakedness, or the rude covering which the skins of beasts afford, are now relinquished, for the decency and convenience of a dress of cotton manufacture. Tempered by the courtesy of commerce, and the conciliating interchange of important benefits, the antient barbarism of the people is softened to habits of kindness; and, in the minds of the greatest part, the absurd superstitions of Paganism have given place to the natural and sublime idea of the Unity of God.

From the account of the nations to the _South of the Niger_, it appears, that, among the Mahometan Blacks, the sternness of the Musselman is softened by the mildness of the Negro; and that if the zeal of the invader be not inflamed by the value of the captive, the propagation of the faith is seldom considered as a reason or pretext for war.

Perhaps the attention of the _Philosopher_ may be engaged by the use to which the small shells of the Maldive Islands are equally applied by the inhabitants of Cashna, and by the natives of Bengal. Sameness of opinion, or resemblance of conduct, when founded in natural feeling, or a similar state of society, are seen without wonder in nations unconnected and remote; but that a custom so arbitrary and artificial as that of employing Cowries as a substitute for coin, a custom which instinct could not have produced, and chance could scarcely have occasioned, should equally prevail among the Negros of Africa and the natives of Bengal, may justly be deemed a curious and interesting phenomenon.

To the British _Traveller_, a desire of exchanging the usual excursion from Calais to Naples, for a Tour more extended and important, and of passing from scenes with which all are acquainted, to researches in which every object is new, and each step is discovery, may recommend the Kingdom of Fezzan. If Antiquities be his favourite pursuit, the ruins which shadow the cottages of Jermah and of Temissa, promise an ample gratification: or if the study of Nature be his wish, the expansive scenes and numerous productions of that uninvestigated soil may equally promote his entertainment and his knowledge. But if a spirit of more adventurous research should induce him to travel with the Merchants of Fezzan, discoveries of superior value may distinguish and reward his toil. The powerful Empires of Bornou and Cashna will be open to his investigation; the luxurious City of Tombuctou, whose opulence and severe police attract the Merchants of the most distant States of Africa, will unfold to him the causes of her vast prosperity; the mysterious Niger will disclose her unknown original and doubtful termination; and countries unveiled to antient or modern research will become familiar to his view. Or should he be willing to join the Cairo Caravan, the discovery of the antient scite, and of whatever else may remain of the Temple of Jupiter Ammon, may perhaps be attempted with success: for the same causes which gave birth to the springs, and, by their means, to the luxuriant vegetation of the antient domains of the Temple, must still continue to distinguish the fortunate soil; and there seems no reason to doubt that the hospitable convent of Huaddy L’Ottrón, or the neighbouring Republic of See-wah, will not only furnish a place of convenient departure and of easy retreat, but will also supply the requisite information, and the necessary aid. At this time, an Interpreter, who is equally acquainted with Arabic and English, may be found in London; and, at all times, the Cities of Tripoli, of Tunis, and of Ceuta, afford a number of Mahometans who are almost as conversant with the Italian or the Spanish, as with the Arabic, their native language.