Chapter XI: Timbuctoo Across the Centuries

In order to understand Jenne, we referred to the history of the countries east of the Niger, and found there a vein of Egyptian civilisation; the origin of Timbuctoo, however, must be sought in a different direction, for her past is connected with the Arabian civilisation of northern Africa.

This same northern Africa was the world of the Berbers, and included all those white people whom we have known under the names of Touaregs in the Sahara, Kabyles in Algeria, Moors in Morocco and Senegal, and Foulbes in their infiltrations into the Sudan. Misled by their previous condition, we erroneously believed them to have been nomads from all eternity; but, like the Jews, circumstances alone caused them to adopt a wandering life, and in reality they represent the autochthonous populations of Mediterranean Africa, of Morocco, Algeria, Tunis, and Tripoli. Ibn Chaldoun, their great historian, observes: ‘All northern Africa, as far as the country of the blacks, has been inhabited by Berber races since an epoch of which we know neither its anterior events nor its commencement.’ These races lived on the coasts of Africa, and cultivated the beautiful valleys of Tell long before the arrival of the Phœnician and Roman colonists. Carthage and Rome set the Berbers in motion by crowding and pressing them back into the interior, and they it was who transformed them into a nomadic people.

Originally the Berbers of Morocco, that is to say the Moors, were the last to suffer. The ancient colonisation, most intense in Algeria and Tunis, was less direct in its effects on Morocco, which was not entirely divested of its inhabitants by the arrival of the colonists. Half its population, following the coasts of the Atlantic, wandered towards the country of the blacks, while the other half maintained themselves side by side with the new-comers. This portion remained fairly stationary and compact until the Arabian invasion. Moors and Arabs then combined to conquer Spain, where for three centuries they enjoyed the hospitality offered them by Europe. It is well known what valuable services their polished manners and beautiful art, their cultured literature and advanced industries, rendered to the cause of Western renaissance.

What became of these brilliant people, we ask, when they were driven out of Spain? Returning to Morocco to find their ancient patrimony in the hands of the Arabs, and being forced to prolong their exodus into the south, they followed the Atlantic coasts and the negro countries and became nomads in their turn. These Spanish Moors, wandering about the great lakes on the left bank of the Niger in the neighbourhood of Oualata and Timbuctoo, carried with them a name which leaves us in no doubt as to their origin. They are called Andalusians to this day.

As we shall see later, these Moors, at the epoch of their return, became one of the prime factors in Timbuctoo’s greatness. The wonderful architects and the sumptuous possessors of the palaces and mosques of Seville, Granada, and Cordova dwell to-day in leathern tents, and the sands of the Sahara are their only place of prayer. The vicissitudes of nomadic life have sadly deteriorated them from the exalted civilisation to which they had attained. Herds of goats and humped oxen, flocks of sheep, and a few horses and books, form their sole wealth. The delicate ornamentation of leather, their embroidered wallets, cushions, and gun-cases, with some jewellery work, are all that recall the characteristic manner of the art they introduced into Europe.

Let us now see what became of the Berbers of Algeria and Tunis, countries in which the action of the Ancients was more brutal. A small number, thrown back beyond the Atlas Mountains, found a land capable of maintaining them in the mountains and valleys of Kabyle, and there they have remained, stationary and impregnable, through all these centuries.

The greater part of them must have taken the roads of the Sahara, at that time in the possession of the black races. Its vast sands were more habitable and fertile then than they are now, for it was the inexperience of these new-comers, their excessive clearings, and the ravages of their herds, which diminished the already parsimonious gifts of Nature to the desert.

This exile forced a new existence upon them which, little by little, transformed the whole race; the place, and everything they found there, obliging them to adopt a special life, manners, and even costume. We have called this portion of the Berber people Touaregs, a name of Arabian origin, which they completely ignore, only recognising the titles of Aoulemidens, Tenguaragifs, Taddamakets, Hoggars, Azers, and Airs, the patronymics of their principal tribes.

The rearing of horses, oxen, and goats is their chief industry, the milk and flesh of these animals furnishing, with the addition of dates, their principal nourishment. Agriculture is scarcely possible under a sky from which the rain does not fall for six or eight consecutive years.

Owing to their eyes not being accustomed to the terrible glare of this desert, nor their lungs to its sand-storms, they adopted a head-dress of two veils. One, the _nicab_, is rolled round the temples, hanging down in front to protect their eyes; the other, the _litham_, reaches from the nostrils to the edge of their clothing, completely covering the lower part of the face. Hygiene was obviously the only motive of this mysterious accoutrement, which set the savants seeking all manner of far-fetched origins with which to endow these Touaregs. This is proved not only by their own statements, but also by the sobriquet ‘mouths for flies,’ which they give to all who do not wear this costume. The veils are never removed, even at meal-times, and the garb has become so much a part of them that ‘any one being deprived of it is unrecognisable to his friends and relatives. If one of their number is killed in battle and divested of his veil, no one can identify him until it has been restored to its place.’ And this in spite of the fact that the bridge of the nose and the eyes alone are visible.

The scarcity of water and their speedy exhaustion of the scanty pasturage of the desert kept them perpetually on the march. With this constant movement any aggregation of their life was impossible; every social and political organisation disappeared, and they gradually lost all notion of law and authority. Like the Jews, and all people thrown out of their natural paths, their souls and brains became steeped in vice, and it was not long before they had become the mere prey of their instincts. Their nomadic life soon reduced them to the level of vagabonds, thieves, and brigands, and the only law they recognised was the right of the strongest.

Theft was their natural industry--a branch of education, in fact--and they augmented the meagreness of their herds by extorting ransoms from some of their neighbours and completely despoiling others. Travellers and merchants were their principal victims, but when these failed they robbed and killed each other; for, so far from their tribes being united, they were divided by the most bitter and persistent hatreds.

They adopted a vague form of Islamism which they reduced to a belief in talismans. Since no morality, Mohammedan or otherwise, found foothold among them, they soon became characterised by the worst vices, only retaining the one quality of physical endurance. Thieves and murderers when in sufficient numbers, they are the most obsequious of beggars when convinced of their weakness, and are, in either case, absolutely faithless. A Sudanese proverb says, ‘The word of a Touareg, like water fallen on the sand, is never to be found again.’ They have nobles, serfs, and slaves among them, but nobility none; if you wish to find any quality other than vanity and pride, you must look for it among their negro slaves. Neither age nor womanhood inspires them with either pity or respect. Bloodthirsty and cruel as they are, they do not even possess that unlimited courage which forms the redeeming characteristic of the _condottieri_. Their valour is displayed at night during the sleep of their victims or adversaries. Ruse is their principal weapon, even though they never show themselves without a spear in their hand, a sword at their side, and a poignard attached to the left arm. The Sudanese have bestowed upon them three epithets which epitomise their psychology: ‘Thieves, Hyænas, and the Abandoned of God.’

Yet it is to these people, who have become the most useless and nefarious on the face of the earth, that Timbuctoo owes its origin.

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Towards the fifth century of the Hegira (1100 of our era) a Touareg tribe, the Maksara,[9] established its herds between the town of Arawan in the Sahara and the little village of Amtagh,[10] situated on the banks of the Niger.

During the summer and dry season they pastured their flocks on the shores of the river, returning to the desert for the winter floods. In one of their many wanderings they noticed an oasis in the midst of the sands, formed by an overflow of the Niger. It was a narrow depression, having somewhat the appearance of a river, and must have been fairly deep, since the hippopotamus found his way there, and was a place in which the Touaregs could always be sure of finding some vegetation, as well as abundant and excellent water.

The situation was an admirable one for man and beast, and, with the palm-trees which reared their elegant forms there, did not lack a certain charm of aspect. They established a fixed camp on this spot in order to prevent its occupation by others during their absence. They cut down bushes of thorny mimosa from the neighbouring thickets, and formed, according to their custom, a _sanié_ or enclosure, to keep out the wild animals of the desert--lions, panthers, and hyænas. Straw huts were built behind this shelter, in which the Touaregs placed their provisions and other cumbersome properties. They left some Bailas, or slaves, there, who kept guard under the superintendence of an old woman called ‘Tomboutou’ (The mother with the large navel).

The sobriquet became popular in the country, and contributed to the speedy renown of the advantages of their encampment. ‘Travellers paused there,’ says the _Tarik é Sudan_. ‘The populations increased by the power and will of God, and the people began to build themselves fixed dwellings. Caravans coming from the north and east (Algeria and Tripoli) on their way to the Mali kingdom delayed at the camp to renew their stores. A market was soon formed; a high enclosure of matting was substituted for the barrier of dead thorns, and it became a meeting-place for people travelling by canoe or camel.’

The place did not deserve the name of town, however, until the merchants of Jenne (which had been a city for some three hundred years) settled there. The tradition which I have just mentioned concerning the origin of the town was confirmed in Timbuctoo. ‘The Touaregs are the fathers of the town,’ my friends told me. ‘When thou wert little, what didst thou call her who nourished thee at her breast? Thou calledst her mother, didst thou not? Well, Jenne is the mother of Timbuctoo, for it was she who made it live and grow; and it was she who, by bringing hither her merchandise, caused it to become a great place of commerce.’

The merchants of Jenne taught Timbuctoo to build houses of baked brick, and to replace the _sanié_ of mats by a low earthen wall. They also built a mosque, afterwards the Cathedral Mosque of Ghingaraber; and a wealthy woman, a native of Sokolo, erected a second temple, which became later the University Mosque of Sankoré. Thus enlarged, Timbuctoo entered into competition with Oualata.[11] The latter town was the great cosmopolitan market of western Africa in the twelfth century. ‘It was with Oualata that the caravans traded, and it was there the most pious, learned, and wealthy men lived. They went thither from all countries and all tribes, from Egypt, Fezzara, Soussa, Tuat, Tafilalet, Ghadames, Ouargla, and Fez.’ This active and intelligent population, which was strongly imbued with the Arabian civilisation, could not fail to make acquaintance with Timbuctoo and the many advantages of its position. The numerous conquests of the Mali kings, however, which disturbed western Africa in the thirteenth century, diverted the caravans little by little from Oualata. Its merchants and scholars emigrated to the new city, and were supplemented there by a fraction of the great Moorish tribe of Senhadia. By the fourteenth century Oualata had become entirely eclipsed, and the splendours of Timbuctoo had grown from her ruins.

The Touaregs, who still pursued the wandering life of the desert, contented themselves with nominating a governor of the town who levied taxes in their name. They augmented their demand in proportion to the increasing prosperity of the town, until inhabitants and caravans alike were forced to pay veritable ransoms. Becoming, not unnaturally, weary of this, the people invited Kounkour-Moussa, whose kingdom of Mali was then at its height, to take possession of the town. He, being just returned from the conquest of the Songhois and a pilgrimage to Mecca, entered Timbuctoo in 1330. He presented the Cathedral Mosque with a minaret of pyramidal form, built himself a palace, and installed a governor there upon his departure. The dominion of the Malinkas did not open very happily, however. The cupidity of the people of Mossi had already been excited by the renown of Timbuctoo, and their sultan now appeared before its gates at the head of a large army. The new masters of the town took flight, while the enemy pillaged and burned. When the Sultan of Mossi and his army withdrew, laden with spoils, the people of Mali repossessed themselves of Timbuctoo, and remained its masters for a hundred years (1337-1434).

The young city arose once more from its ruins, and Timbuctoo expanded as the kingdom of Mali declined. ‘The original masters of the town did not fail to take advantage of the deterioration of their rivals. The Maksara Touaregs pillaged the outskirts of the town, and the Malinkas were afraid to offer any resistance. Akil, the chief of the Touaregs, sent a message to them at last, saying, ‘If you cannot defend Timbuctoo, cease to occupy it.’ Whereupon the people of Mali retired.’

The nomads now reigned for forty years, committing the grossest excesses. They proved themselves tyrants and oppressors, accumulating exactions, hunting people from their dwellings, and violating the women; and for the second time the town was forced to seek a new master.

Oumar, its governor, having been wronged by his own people (the Touaregs), secretly resolved upon revenge. With this intention he sent a messenger to Sunni Ali, giving information concerning Akil and the Touaregs, exposing their weakness, and promising to deliver up the town. The messenger took Oumar’s sandals with him as a guarantee of good faith. Sunni Ali, who was at that time (middle of the fifteenth century) laying the foundations of the Songhoi empire, accepted the invitation. At the appearance of his cavalry on the river-bank opposite the dune of Amtagh, Akil resolved on flight. He departed, followed by his people and a great number of the learned men of Sankoré, to seek refuge in Oualata. Sunni Ali was furious at the exodus of marabuts, and suspecting the remainder of being the friends and accomplices of the Touaregs, he heaped every imaginable ill-treatment upon them. Did he show himself equally cruel towards the remainder of the inhabitants? In spite of the old chronicles, I do not believe he did, for the reasons I have given in the history of the Songhois.

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The year 1496, the year of the capture of Timbuctoo by Sunni Ali, is an important one in the history of that city. For the future she forms part of the Songhoi empire, steadily keeping pace with the progress of the latter, until she becomes Timbuctoo the Great, the city of universal renown, the fabled Queen of the Sudan.

More than a century of tranquillity now lies before her, the century of Askia the Great. Owing to his wise creation of a standing army, his great era of war had no disturbing influence upon the Sudan. The well-regulated and powerful organisation which, with their viceroys and governors, he bestowed upon the conquered territories, soon brought them under control.

The immense kingdom of the Songhois now extended over the desert from Thegazza to Agades, and the conquered Touaregs renounced their brigandage to become docile auxiliaries in the hands of Askia. The routes of the desert were perfectly secure, and the caravans came and went with an activity hitherto unknown.

This security, spreading north and south of Timbuctoo, was not the only element of her prosperity, but was seconded by the organisation and inspection of her markets, the unification of weights and measures, and the stern suppression of all falsifications. Timbuctoo, more than any other town in the Sudan, profited by the measures and victories of Askia the Great.

The city had now doubled its extent. Its houses were well built, and arranged in orderly streets. The ancient mosques had been restored and new ones built. A great emigration of Songhois reinforced the Jennereans, counterbalancing the Arabian and Berber elements, which had hitherto predominated. The dialects of Jenne and Gao became its current speech, Arabic remaining the medium of communication with strangers and the language of science. The university of Sankoré was at the height of its prosperity, the fame of its professors being known not only in the black countries but throughout Arabian Africa itself. Learned strangers flocked hither from Morocco, Tunis, and Egypt. The civilisation of Arabia clasped hands with the civilisation of Egypt, and from their union resulted the apogee of Timbuctoo (1494-1591).

Such was her splendour that our imaginations are still dazzled by its reflections, three centuries after the setting of her star. So great was her glory that, in spite of all the vicissitudes she has suffered, her vitality is not yet extinguished.

* * * * *

The decadence of Timbuctoo began with the Moorish conquest in 1591. The powerful links forged by Askia the Great being once snapped, the whole of western Africa was shaken. While the last of the Askias was fighting for national independence on the eastern shores of the Niger, Jenne revolted in the west, her example being followed by the Touaregs, Foulbes, and Malinkas. The north and south were thrown into confusion, and Timbuctoo, their intermediary, seeing her commerce mutilated, rebelled in her turn. She was brutally repressed by the conquerors, and the flower of her scholars exiled to Morocco (1594). A terrible dearth, provoked by the lack of rain, visited the town, and her inhabitants were reduced to ‘eating the corpses of animals, and even of men.’ This was followed by the pestilence in 1618.

When the Sudan had once more regained tranquillity, Timbuctoo, by reason of her proximity to the Moorish frontier, had become the capital of her conquerors. The rivalries of the Roumas reigned within her walls, their pashas disputing the supreme power, and their troops settling their differences in the streets, The town was the constant scene of some panic, and from the moment the disorganisation of the Moorish colony became evident, her decline was rapid.

Without, the Touaregs and other nomadic tribes rose again in revolt. The Roumas were still strong enough to repress them, but one can imagine the disastrous effect these riots had upon the trade of the town. Within, the rivalries of the Moorish chiefs grew more and more bitter. The competitors for the title of Pasha pillaged and otherwise ill-treated the inhabitants of the town. The population divided, and took sides with this, that, or the other aspirant. Barricades were raised, fighting went on in the streets, and the poor pillaged the wealthy. In 1716 one of these revolutions lasted four months. No one went to market during all that time, ‘and the grass began to grow there.’ At another time (1735) one of the rivals seized Kabara, and prevented the vessels unloading their merchandise and despatching it to Timbuctoo.

It is not surprising, therefore, that the town was depopulated, and that the caravans grew fewer and further between. Touaregs, Berbers, and Foulbes added to the general confusion. They began by disturbing the outskirts of the town, and it became necessary to place patrols on the road to Kabara in order to protect the merchants trading with Timbuctoo. The resistance of the Roumas grew slowly weaker, and in 1770 the veiled men had become strong enough to invest the town for three months. The Roumas, incapable of enforcing peace, bought it. ‘They paid the Touaregs a tribute of eighteen of the best horses of the town, twelve hundred garments, and seven thousand mitkals of gold.’

The nomads spread freely over the banks and valley of the Niger, pillaging the vessels making for Kabara, and thus injuring, even at a distance, the trade of Timbuctoo.

In the beginning of the nineteenth century the city had relapsed into the same state as that preceding its conquest by Sunni Ali. The Roumas had become the mere representatives of the Touaregs, governing and imposing taxes in their name. Straw huts increased in numbers, and the new quarters at the north of the city, which had been built in the time of Askia, were completely deserted, the houses falling into ruins. As its decline became more accentuated the town diminished in extent until it had shrunk to its dimensions of the sixteenth century.

Timbuctoo was re-delivered from the hands of the Touaregs in 1827. Cheikou Ahmadou, the Foulbean leader, made successful war against the nomads, and took possession of the town. But the Touaregs, grown aggressive, wearied out his successor, who agreed, for the sake of peace, to pay them a third of the taxes levied upon the city. This understanding lasted until El Hadj Omar destroyed the power of the Foulbes in 1861.

The most critical period of her history now opened for Timbuctoo. The roads of the Sudan and desert alike had never been less safe, nor had her commerce ever encountered such difficulties, all security having disappeared in the town itself.

If Timbuctoo was now without a master, she was in the possession of a thousand tyrants. Touaregs, Tenguaragifs and Irregenaten divided her among themselves and adorned her with the tragic and sordid attire which now clothes the Queen of the Sudan.

That time has been described to me in the following words: ‘Thou hast seen those veiled men in sombre garments, with chest and back covered with red and yellow talismans as though by cuirasses. When they come to us now they are modest, but before the French arrived they walked insolently through the streets, carrying iron spears. Every year we paid them tribute in gold or kind, corn, salt, garments, and turbans, etc. Their chiefs with their retinues were well lodged when they came here. The caravans bound for this town paid them toll in the desert, and they exacted toll upon the river also, from the fleets going to Kabara. This did not suffice them; these were the least of our evils. From one end of the year to the other they treated us as captives of war, as slaves. They were constantly arriving in groups and dispersing through the town. All doors were closed as soon as they appeared, but they beat upon the doors, and thou canst see the traces of the heavy blows from their lances everywhere. We were forced to open to them, and without paying the least attention to the master of the house or his family, they would install themselves in the best rooms, taking all the cushions and couches, insolently demanding food and drink, and insisting upon having sugar, honey, and meat. On departing to rejoin their camp the only acknowledgment they made was to steal something from the house and spit upon their host.

‘If they alighted upon some man too poor to satisfy their exactions, they vented their ill-humour by destroying his belongings, and any attempt at resistance was met by their raised spear. If they arrived at midnight, accommodation must be found and a repast prepared for them.

‘They took possession of anything that pleased them in the markets. All the shops and sellers of stuffs and garments had people posted about the town to give notice of their appearance, and every one barricaded their doors. They robbed the passers-by in the streets. If they met a man wearing a beautifully embroidered robe or a new garment, or even only a clean one, they instantly despoiled him of it. They snatched the golden ornaments, coral necklaces, and adornments of glass beads from the women, and plundered children and slaves in the same manner.

‘The schools were formerly held in front of the houses of the masters, and our children played in the streets as in other parts of the Sudan. But the Touaregs used to seize them and carry them off, and only restored them to us upon the payment of heavy ransoms. If a man whom they suspected of being rich had hidden all his valuables, they would leave some small thing behind on quitting his house, and then would return in numbers, crying out that they had been robbed, and the man would be forced to pay an indemnity.’

These narratives would be interrupted by sundry resigned ‘_Imsh Allah!_’ (May God’s will be done). ‘But why did you not unite against your enemies?’ I asked them. ‘Oh, if we resisted them it was still worse. One day some Touaregs met a young man returning from the market with some meat he had bought. They took his purchase from him, and when the young man resisted, the Abandoned of God killed him with their spears. All for a piece of meat! At another time a woman who was alone in a house was ill-treated by one of them. Her cries attracted her brother, who mortally wounded the Touareg in his wrath. The avenger immediately fled and sought refuge in Sarafara, but he was forced to return, and the veiled men cut his throat as they would a sheep’s.

‘We could not prevail against them, because we are merchants and not fighters. And if we had subdued them in the town they would still have remained our masters, because they controlled the routes of the caravans and the road to Kabara. They could have ruined us and left us to die of hunger whenever they liked.

‘Strangers sometimes gave these hyænas a lesson. Four or five years ago a caravan from the south, composed of three hundred of the men of Mossi, was staying in the town. One of them, wearing a beautiful new turban, encountered a Touareg, who snatched it from his head and ran away. But the people of Mossi are active and brave, and this man gave chase to the thief and overpowered him. Other Touaregs, however, came up and rescued their companion.

‘The man of Mossi ran to the chief of the caravan, who said, “Beat the alarum of the people of Mossi upon the tom-toms.” His people, armed with spears and bows and arrows, came running to answer the summons. Their chief distributed honey-dolo, and they set out to find the Touaregs. The principal personages of Timbuctoo sought to prevent the conflict. “No!” replied the chief, “we are strangers here and your sacred guests. We have been injured, and we will avenge ourselves or die.” The kaid of the town offered to give them a similar turban. “No,” said the chief of the Mossi, “it is the Touaregs who have stolen it, and it is they who must make amends.” They were only to be appeased on hearing that the Touaregs had prudently quitted the town.’

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Such was the existence of Timbuctoo during the last thirty-five years. One can imagine the disastrous results such a state of affairs was bound to produce in the long-run. Finding themselves thus molested, the strangers who ventured there gradually lessened in numbers. Weary of living in a constant state of alarm, and of submitting to exactions to which they saw no end, the people began to emigrate. The strangers who had settled in the city returned to their native country. Natives who had relations in the neighbouring countries joined them there. The deserted houses cracked, their walls crumbled and fell to pieces, forming the unexpected and inexplicable heaps of ruins which greeted me on my arrival.

The poorest and wealthiest alone remained faithful to the city. The first, living in straw huts, possessed nothing, and consequently had nothing to lose. The second, the opulent merchants, could, owing to their great fortunes, manage to endure these annoyances, and the emigration of the smaller traders, moreover, permitted them to augment their business, and therefore their profits.

No one ever gets accustomed to pillage and ill-treatment however, whatever the compensations may be; and to avoid being robbed in the open street, and seeing their houses turned upside down, the inhabitants adopted a new manner of living. They transformed their garments and dwellings, and ceasing to be Timbuctoo the Great, they became Timbuctoo the Mysterious.

Instead of the imposing white turbans of the natives and the beautiful dark ones (made of shining tissues) of the Moors, the people cover their heads with unappetising rags, or cheap caps. Shabby old shoes are substituted for the yellow Turkish slippers of the women and the silk embroidered, soft, red leather boots of the men. The caftans and the ample garments of dazzling whiteness, the beautifully embroidered vestments, the fringed and ornamented _Dissas_ (thrown over the shoulder as the toreador wears his cloak), have all disappeared. They wear instead old scanty clothes, whose dirtiness, being their sole adornment, offers no temptation to the Touaregs. In place of the long cane, ornamented with leather or chased iron, on which the Sudanese loves to support his fine form, they use a plain stick of a cheap white wood. Their one idea being to avoid any sign of affluence which might attract the attention of their oppressors.

On the few occasions of their going out, the women attire themselves in the coarsest stuffs, and take off all their gold and amber ornaments, and the slaves, before going to fetch water at the town gates, hide their modest jewellery. The children are kept inside the courts, and the schoolmaster holds his classes within his house.

The houses are disguised like their owners, and, to escape the visits of the veiled men, all appearance of wealth and prosperity is avoided. I will not assert that they are voluntarily defaced, but time and weather are allowed to work their will upon them unhindered. The tornadoes of winter have been permitted to wash away the rough-casting and expose the baked bricks of the façades; the walls of their terraces have crumbled, and the little Moorish windows fallen away. In front of the houses, the banks of earth (tim-tims) on which the well-to-do were wont to pass their hours of leisure have entirely disappeared.

By these means the town very soon acquired a tumble-down and battered appearance. Everything seems to be falling into the streets, except the doors--those obstinately closed doors that had so astonished me on my arrival. They are the objects of the most studied care, and are set up regardless of cost. Heavy planks of a very hard wood are brought from a distance for this purpose, and are adorned with armour like any gentleman of Agincourt. Thus barricaded, the inhabitants, under cover of a simulated misery, live the silent life of the cloisters. They have given up grinding their kuss-kuss in the great wooden mortars common to the Sudan, and now crush the grain between two stones and pound it without noise, for the sound of the heavy pestle would inevitably attract some marauding Touareg in search of a meal. If a knocking on the door is heard, the whole household, hastily concealing its valuables, assumes the silence of death. The unfamiliar visitor has to loudly recite his names, his recommendations, and the purpose of his visit. If his discourse is judged satisfactory, and it is decided to show some sign of life, there are still questions to be asked and answered before the door is finally opened.

The same mystery naturally attends all business transactions; a moment must be snatched when all Touaregs are known to be at some distance, otherwise it is necessary to wait until nightfall.

I was initiated into the secret of Timbuctoo, and her disastrous appearance was explained to me. With my narrators for guides I explored the same streets and houses that I had seen on my arrival. The armoured doors were opened for me, and there lay revealed all that these tumble-down old places concealed. I was seized with admiration both for the splendour of Timbuctoo’s past and her ingenuity and tenacity of to-day.