Chapter XVI: The French Conquest

Up to the last moment England endeavoured to put her hand upon the commerce of Timbuctoo. Failing in her efforts from Tripoli and the Niger’s mouth, she attempted to secure a footing by way of Morocco, and was installed towards 1890 at Cape Juby. It was then too late. Our columns and posts had been slowly advancing by the Senegal route advocated by Colbert, and in 1893 Colonel Archinard took Jenne, the last halting-place but one. The following year we were at Timbuctoo, and Cape Juby was evacuated.

Whatever may have been said at the time, the occupation of Timbuctoo was not only necessary, but had to be effected with the least possible delay. No one can complain now that we have not made known the history of these people and their country. The prosperity of the Sudan is so closely connected with that of its principal market, that if the general anarchy had been prolonged in Timbuctoo all the sacrifices of human life and money we had made on her threshold would have remained sterile. The sooner an end was put to the ruinous dominion of the Touaregs the better would it be. What would have become of the town if the French occupation had been prevented? We can easily picture the scene: the Touaregs would assemble and unite with Kountas, Foulbes, and Moors, as they did thirty years ago against the Toucouleurs at the instigation of El Backay. The routes from Morocco, Tuat, and Tripoli would have left the Sudan (that enormous country which we occupy with such modest means) open to foreign intrigues, to the introduction of arms and ammunition, and to fanatics led by some inspired marabut, to a second El Hadj Omar returned from Mecca, or to some Mahdi come from Tuat. The result of long years of struggle and effort would be destroyed in a few months, our patient work of regeneration and pacification would be hopelessly compromised, and the flames of revolt which would break out in Timbuctoo would rapidly spread to Algeria. The seat of so many perils, the key to all the routes of the Sahara and Sudan, must be in our hands as soon as possible.

These dangers were dissipated by the promptitude of our march on Timbuctoo. All homage to Colonel Archinard, who knew so well the country and people with whom he had to deal. By his alacrity the colony was spared fresh convulsions and the capital great sacrifices. No sooner was Jenne taken, than, with remarkable intuition, he traced the plan of the succeeding campaign. A forced march was to be made on Timbuctoo to prevent any concentration of the nomads, one column traversing the countries on the left bank of the Niger, another advancing by means of the river as the gunboats cleared the passage. Such were the tactics pursued at the end of 1894. Colonel Bonnier conducted one of the columns, Colonel Jouffre the second, while Lieutenant Boiteux commanded the flotilla. Unfortunately Colonel Archinard was not there to conduct the campaign; had he been, the unfortunate episodes which marred its execution would probably have been averted.

I am now going to show the taking of Timbuctoo in a new light, as it appeared to the inhabitants. They related it to me as the old Sudanese chroniclers, whose art is unhappily lost, might have done.

* * * * *

From the beginning of November 1894 vague rumours were afloat in Timbuctoo, reports of a mustering of troops at Segu. The country being quiet on their side, the inhabitants conjectured it to be some expedition preparing for the north. Three weeks passed without any news, and then suddenly events took shape. A merchant, who arrived from the south, announced that the gunboats had reached Sarafara and were preparing to start for Kabara. They had taken on board, as pilots, two of the leading merchants of Timbuctoo, who were in exile at Sarafara, having been ruined by the Touaregs. The next day news came of the arrival of the flotilla at Koriouma.

A body of Tenguaragif Touaregs were in Timbuctoo, and they summoned Hamdia, the chief of the town, and ordered him to have the tabala (war drum) sounded, and to command the people to take up arms. The excitement was great, the population being divided between fear of the French and terror of the Touaregs; some of the notables remonstrated with Hamdia, and the Kountas alone showed any courage. However, all those who had not hidden themselves in time had to set out in company with the veiled men. This small army, of which the Touaregs formed the cavalry, was armed with lances and javelins, and a few rifles belonging chiefly to the Kountas.

As this army was marching to Kabara on the morning of December 5th, the flotilla had left Koriouma, and was ascending the Pool to Dai. There Commandant Boiteux and some Laptots (black sailors) disembarked in a lighter to reconnoitre the route to Kabara, and gather sufficient information to acquaint the two columns with the situation when they should arrive. But an incident occurred which upset their intended plans, and hastened the capture of Timbuctoo in an unforeseen manner.

The approach of the lighter having been signalled at Kabara, the Touaregs and Timbuctooans assembled on the banks, silent and immovable. When the lighter appeared in sight a cloud of lances and javelins greeted it, the Kountas discharged their guns, and a general uproar took place. Only one shot carried, wounding a laptot; the rest had time to escape the javelins by crouching at the bottom of the boat. They replied with a volley which wounded several, killed one, and put all to flight, the Touaregs to the desert, and the Timbuctooans back to their city.

A few hours later the gunboats and lighters anchored in the harbour of Kabara.

* * * * *

At Timbuctoo the authorities held council during the night. ‘What is to be done’? asked Hamdia, the chief.

‘Listen to my words and thought,’ replied the kadi. ‘You must write a letter to the commander, and say, “It is not we who are responsible for what has happened at Kabara but the Touaregs, whom we fear. We, the people of Timbuctoo, are not opposed to your arrival here, for you hold the countries from which we draw our commerce and alimentation. We place ourselves in your hands.” This is my advice.’

‘I am afraid to do that,’ replied Hamdia. ‘The Touaregs insulted me this morning by saying that we had written to the white men asking them to come. They know that some of our people are on their side.’

‘The Touaregs do us nothing but harm: why listen to them?’ replied the kadi. ‘We had better send a letter to Kabara.’

‘But the road is guarded. Our messengers would be taken and killed.’

‘You can get to Kabara by other than the main route.’

‘So be it,’ said Hamdia finally. ‘Let us do as you say.’

The kadi drew up the letter, and wrote to the commander as follows:--

‘We would have you to know that what took place this morning was done without our sanction. We only took part under compulsion from the Touaregs, and we fled as soon as we could. Our united resolution was this. When, a month ago, we learnt of the arrival of your troops at Segu, some Arab merchants counselled us to write to our former master, the Sultan of Morocco, and ask him what we were to do if the white men came. The messengers set out for Fez with a caravan. The route is long, and they have not yet returned. We are women. We do not fight.’

Two messengers, who were bribed with a hundred yards of white linen to go to Kabara, immediately set out. Before sunrise they returned. One of the Timbuctooans, who accompanied the gunboats, had read and translated the kadi’s letter to the white man’s interpreter, and then written the following answer in the commandant’s name:--

‘I know that all the mounted men and those armed with lances were Touaregs, but those who had guns were natives of Timbuctoo. Why did you attack us before you knew what we wished? It is not thus you should receive people with whose intentions you are not acquainted. Ours were for your good. But what is past is past; to-morrow send some of your chiefs for a palaver.’

Early in the morning of the next day the Touaregs returned to Timbuctoo. They were questioned by one of the notables, Alpha Saidou, the chief of the Ghingaraber quarter.

‘We pay you taxes, therefore you ought to defend us. Here are the white men. What do you intend doing?’

‘Do as you like,’ they replied. ‘The Tenguaragifs are not the only masters here. Other tribes share the tax with us, and our people ought not to be the only ones to be slaughtered. Besides, we have just learned that a column is coming from the west, the Gundam quarter, where our flocks and wives are. We want to protect them, and we are going.’

The Touaregs having left the town, the chiefs and notables assembled in the mosque of Sidi Yaia after the sunset prayer. They decided to accede to the commandant’s wish, and two delegates were chosen. The letter which accredited them repeated that they were merchants and not combatants, and that if the commandant would wait for the sultan’s answer all would be well; but if not, he was at liberty to do just what he pleased; he would not be opposed by the people. However, the delegates came back; one, a Tripolitan chosen by the Arab merchants, would not do. The commandant, would not treat with a stranger, but only with the natives. He was replaced by an influential marabut, Mohaman Kouti, the other delegate being Alpha Saidou. From that time negotiations opened very amicably with Kabara, the delegates frankly explaining the situation and announcing the exodus of the Touaregs. The commandant received them courteously, told them that two armies were following him up, and demanded that a treaty of peace should be signed by the chief and authorities of the town placing the country under the protectorate of France. But no one in Timbuctoo dared give his signature. The town was dismayed, every one feared the return of the Touaregs, knowing that in that case his signature would cost him his head.

According to a local legend, the Niger has an exceptionally high and early rise in those years when some remarkable event, generally sinister, is to take place, such as war, epidemic, or famine. For thirty years no one remembered to have seen so much water in the pool that winds from Kabara to Timbuctoo. M. Boiteux decided to hasten the negotiations, and arrived at Timbuctoo, by means of the pool of Kabara, with two lighters armed with revolving guns, borrowed from the gunboats.

And thus it was that Timbuctoo, a town nearly eight hundred miles from the sea--a town of the Sahara, moreover,--was taken by sailors, thus equalling the feat of Jourdan’s Hussars, who took possession of the Dutch fleet among the ice of the Zuyder Zee.

* * * * *

It was December 15th. The evening before, the two delegates had been sent back to Timbuctoo to prepare it for the events which were to follow. During the night, the lighters, manned by eighteen men, had crossed the sands without hindrance, and were before Timbuctoo by the morning. On hearing this, some forty of the besieged, Foulbes and Kountas mostly, took up arms; but the authorities compelled them to put them down, threatening to stir up the mob against them if they did not. The chiefs then proceeded to the banks of the pool, taking with them gifts of welcome. ‘Are you bringing me the treaty of peace I demanded?’ asked Commandant Boiteux. ‘No,’ the chief replied, ‘for we only heard of your arrival last night.’ ‘Then I cannot accept your gifts,’ said M. Boiteux, ‘and I have nothing further to say to you. You know my wish; I made it known to your two envoys.’

As the deputation retired one of the guns was landed and planted on a neighbouring dune, which was rapidly transformed into a redoubt; the other was left on board the lighter, to cover any eventual retreat.

The presence of the little troop, and, above all, the two cannon (whose terrible power was known to them), reassured the authorities as to the return of the Touaregs, and gave them courage for a final resolution. They assembled their notables and marabuts at the mosque, and, the three o’clock prayer having been recited, Kouati, the most influential marabut, stood up and said, ‘What have you all to say?’

‘But what have you to say?’ the assembly replied.

‘I? Oh, I am not one of the authorities.’

‘Certainly. But you are a marabut, you have the word of God. Speak! speak!’

‘This is my thought,’ Kouati then said. ‘All those who will not make peace will be responsible in the Judgment Day for the souls of those who get killed.’

‘We will do as you counsel us.’

‘I am not the only marabut in Timbuctoo,’ Kouati objected.

‘Question my brethren.’

‘What Mohaman Kouati says is true,’ opined the brethren.

‘It is well,’ concluded Kouati. ‘I am going to make peace with the French.’

And then he went to the lighters with Alpha Saidou, who had accompanied him to Kabara, and said to the commandant, ‘We ask for peace. We will accept it, and do all you wish. Henceforth we are with you.’

‘Your decision gives me much pleasure,’ M. Boiteux assured them. ‘We do not like making war, we prefer peace. It was the Toucouleurs who first fired at Jenne; had it not been for that, we should not have fired a shot. In future, you have nothing to fear. Sign the treaty by which you recognise the French as masters of the town, and I, on my side, will sign one which will place you under our protection.’

The next morning, the two treaties having been exchanged in the presence of the chiefs and marabuts, they implored the commandant to enter and occupy the town, explaining their fear of reprisals from the Touaregs, and assuring him that henceforth he could in all things count upon them. They loyally informed him that the besieged had taken up arms, and they undertook to keep them under surveillance, and to acquaint him with all that went on inside and outside the city.

M. Boiteux requested them to show him the highest point of the city, and there he selected a large house. One of the guns was hoisted on to the terrace, and the surrounding walls were temporarily put into a state of defence. This improvised fortlet was at the north of the town, where a real fort, occupied by a squadron of Spahis, now stands. At the south of the town another house was transformed in the same manner, and the second gun was placed there, while the handful of Europeans and Laptots were stationed in between, and some fifty men, armed with guns furnished by the town, were posted as sentinels.

In the meantime the Touaregs had plotted with, and been joined by, some Kountas. On December 21st they attacked the flotilla reserve station at Kabara. It was on this occasion the sad episode occurred which cost Midshipman Aube his life. At the moment he was dying at Our’ Oumaira, the sentinels at Timbuctoo, having heard rifle-shots, had given the alarm. The only two horses in the town were brought out, Commandant Boiteux mounted one, another European the other, and, accompanied by the little garrison and the fifty natives, they set off in all haste to Kabara. They routed the Touaregs, who fled, leaving fifteen of their number dead.

The enemy mustered again in the night, and were seen in the day-time passing the town. Being greeted with shot, they dispersed, some to block the road to Kabara on the south, while others installed themselves to the north of the city. The next night they sent a letter to the kadi couched in the following terms: ‘People of Timbuctoo, are you for us, or for the white men?’ The messenger was sent back with no other answer than having seen the letter torn in pieces and spat upon. At the same time, an inhabitant of the city arrived who had been made prisoner by the Touaregs, and had escaped under cover of the darkness. He told the Timbuctooans that at a council of the Touaregs, N’-Gouna, chief of the Tenguaragifs, had proposed marching on Timbuctoo, but had been opposed by the chiefs of the Kalintassars.

The commandant was immediately warned, and the alarm given to the inhabitants, who feared an attack in the dark, according to the usual custom of the veiled men. Every one was armed; even the strangers of Mossi, who had been recently exploited by the Touaregs, seized their bows and arrows. They were posted east and west, while the two fortlets guarded north and south.

As day broke they could see bands passing from east to west, but not daring to approach when they saw the muster. The divisions among the Touaregs increased; the Kalintassars, who had not wished to attack Timbuctoo, returned to their homes, and only the Tenguaragifs remained, and they seized the road to Kabara with the intention of starving the town.

They calculated well. About January 6th the garrison found the provisions were running short. Whatever happened, they must revictual from Kabara. The commandant resolved to use the path by which he had come; so, in the night, the two lighters, armed afresh with the revolving guns and a few men, glided out unperceived. However, they could not get back before daylight, and the Touaregs, having discovered them, assembled in a mass on the shores where the banks of the pool narrowed. As they were preparing to fling their javelins, the guns were unmasked, and a charge of grape-shot saluted them. The Touaregs had not noticed the departure of the lighters, and thinking that reinforcements had arrived, they fled to the interior westward of the town, and the road to Timbuctoo was free.

Four days later, January 10th, the first column, under command of Colonel Bonnier, entered the town, and thus ended the extraordinary adventure of the marines in Timbuctoo.

I have transcribed, word for word, the naïve account given me by those ebony and bronze men who were either the chief actors or chief spectators in this action. My one care has been to simplify their narrative and avoid any embellishments, yet I doubt if, in modern times, there has been any event as improbable. The gravity of heroic drama is mingled with the fun of an operetta, buffoonery wrestles with the sublime. Not even the unhealthy imagination of Edgar Poe ever conceived anything more fantastic.

It is so preposterous on the face of it. Nineteen men, seven of whom are Europeans and the remainder Senegalese negroes, set out to bring to terms a town of 8000 inhabitants, and are asked to take possession of it. And this town is no African Lauderneau: it is Timbuctoo the Great, known as a mysterious, fanatical, inaccessible city. Events follow _in crescendo_. The population sides with its masters of to-day against those of yesterday. One day they are ‘women,’ the next they are heroes ready to die in defence of their conquerors, and, what is more, they prove it! These Touaregs, whom formerly they had not dared to look in the face, they now fight in the open country. And, more astonishing still, they beat them! This dishevelled epopee, this mingling of cavalry and artillery with naval combats and pictures of siege, does not last for one or several days, it is prolonged for a month. In fact, one is surprised not to see the green-eyed Pallas Athene, or the white-armed Venus, appearing in the plain of Timbuctoo to protect the combatants and inflame them with warlike ardour, while Apollo of the silver bow brings the others to confusion with his arrows. But no, this is no fable; it has all been lived in our notoriously prosaic nineteenth century. Why should such a glorious and amusing quip be followed by so sinister an epilogue?

The actors are the first column and those same Touaregs whom just now we left to the west of Timbuctoo. The story has been written by M. Raille, one of the garrison officers in Timbuctoo, who collected the facts from the survivors.

* * * * *

The morning after their entry into Timbuctoo, Colonel Bonnier, without further delay, ordered the fifth company and a platoon of the eleventh to set out and reconnoitre, that they might rid the neighbourhood of the nomads infesting it, and avenge, if possible, the massacre of Midshipman Aube.

At five o’clock in the morning, leaving the rest of the troops under the command of Captain Philippe, the colonel started with the little column. He was accompanied by Commander Hugueny, Captains Regad, Livrelli, Tassard, Sensaric, and Nigote, Lieutenants Garnier and Bouverst, Sub-lieutenant Sarda, Doctor Colonel Gallas, the veterinary Lenoir, and interpreter Acklouck.

It was the 14th of January 1894. At two o’clock in the afternoon Colonel Bonnier learnt that the Touaregs were distant only a mile or two in front of the column. They continued marching until eight in the evening, and then they saw some flocks and a few armed men. After giving chase to the stragglers, they encamped at a place called Taconbao, which had just been evacuated by the Touaregs. Every one was satisfied and cheerful.

They encamped, as nearly as possible, in the form of a square, the men of the fifth company occupying the north, and those of the eleventh company the south side. Every one slept rolled up in his blanket with his arms piled near. On the other two sides the captured flocks were picketed. The prisoners were installed in the middle of the camp, while the staff formed a group in the middle of the square towards the east side, where the colonel’s quarters were.

Until midnight the officers of the staff were awake, and laughing and joking, having spent the evening gaily. At last every one slept. It was a magnificent night, and the brilliant light of the moon illuminated everything, until she set towards four o’clock in the morning. At half-past four only the sentinels, of whom there were six, were awake. The colonel himself gave the orders to have them placed at a short distance from the camp. Suddenly, in the midst of the silence and darkness, two reports of firearms resounded through the camp, and the cry ‘To arms!’ was repeated everywhere. Immediately every one was up, hurriedly seeking his arms. Alas! it was too late!

The Touaregs, some of whom had been seen straggling round the camp the evening before, had assembled during the night. Their cavalry, accompanied by running footmen and favoured by the darkness, flung themselves on to the French camp in a furious and irresistible charge. In the twinkling of an eye they had capsized the piled weapons and swarmed into the camp before any one had had time to defend himself.

It was night indeed, and the frightful scene which ensued cannot be depicted. It was a furious onslaught, an indescribable tumult. Above everything sounded the warcries of the enemy, who were striking and killing on all sides with lances, assegais, sabres, poignards, tomahawks, etc. A few rifle-shots mingled with the clamour of distress, and that was all.

Our tirailleurs succumbed to this human avalanche. In a few minutes it was all over.

Three Europeans, an officer and two non-commissioned officers (Captain Nigote, Sergeant-Major Baretti,and Sergeant Lalire) and a handful of men succeeded in forcing a passage and reaching some bushes near the encampment. Captain Nigote collected the fugitives in the midst of these unprecedented perils and difficulties, and conducted them to the convoy which had been left behind. There they were able to reform.

Eighty-two of our men and two guides were missing. Nine officers, including the colonel, three non-commissioned officers (of whom two were Europeans), eight corporals, and sixty native tirailleurs, had fallen before the enemy.

As far as the survivors could judge in the darkness and tumult, they had been attacked by about two hundred horsemen and between two and three hundred foot-soldiers.

* * * * *

Twenty-five days afterwards, the second column, commanded by Colonel Jouffre, arrived at Taconbao and collected the skeletons of the thirteen Europeans, bringing them back to Timbuctoo. They were buried behind an enclosure of dead thorns at the foot of the fort which was being built to the south of the town. The last solemn honours were rendered them before the whole garrison and the assembled population, and modest mounds of sun-dried bricks and simple black crosses were placed over the graves of these unfortunate heroes. Then Colonel Jouffre turned his thoughts to vengeance. He soon ascertained that the Tenguaragifs had settled between the Lakes Faguibine and Fati, not far from Gundam. They were surprised by night in their encampments, and our tirailleurs and Spahis slew a great number of them. According to a saying of their own country, they paid the ransom of blood.

Since we have avenged our dead, as the customs of the desert require, and since we possess the country and the markets from which the Touaregs draw their supplies, their different tribes have offered their submission. I will not affirm that this submission is complete and definite. It will still be necessary from time to time to show them that their nefarious dominion is at an end, and that they have found their master.

Timbuctoo remained unwaveringly faithful through all these vicissitudes, true to the word given on the first day, ‘We are for you henceforth,’ and it is easy to see that this allegiance will never be withdrawn.

After waiting for it a year, the town received the sultan’s reply. The sovereign of Fez wrote as follows:--

‘Praise be unto the one God.

‘May blessings and salutations be upon our Lord Mahomet, upon
his family, and upon his companions.

‘Greeting to the chief of the town and the notables. May God
accord you His favours, accompanied by His blessings and His
mercy.

‘I have paid great attention to the help and protection you
ask of me. I am greatly distressed. I should have responded to
your appeal and given you good support, but the great distance
between us compels me to be cautious. Your neighbours must come
to your assistance.

‘I will march upon the French and drive them away from you, but
you must first send me proofs of your dependency on my high
government and my kingdom. If you possess writings emanating
from your ancestors (those generous ones who are already in
the Land of the Blessed), manifest and serious documents, send
them to me. With their help I will deliver you from everything
by the power and grace of the Most High God, who suffices unto
the afflicted and who comforts those who suffer, for He is
All-powerful.

‘Salutation.

‘MOULAY EL HASSAN.’

And so faded their last and fondest illusions. As soon as received, his majesty’s letter was put into the hands of the commandant of Timbuctoo, who delicately placed it in the archives.

Two large forts have replaced the improvised fortifications, and their guns command every side of the town. Under their protection the inhabitants are reviving. The long nightmare of the Touaregs is being slowly dispelled, they are beginning to repair and rebuild their houses, to leave the doors ajar, and to resume their beautifully embroidered robes.

The town begins to show signs of European occupation. A great, herculean negro plays the part of policeman, and promenades the streets with a sabre at his side. An enterprising merchant, Gaston Mery, has recently established a counting-house, and he carries on an excellent business in the large and comfortable house he has built there. Cardinal Lavigerie’s White Fathers have arrived, led by Father Hacquard (a man well known in Algeria), and, thanks to them, the town is already endowed with a church (Our Lady of Timbuctoo) and a school.

Such are the first days of the new era upon which Timbuctoo has entered, and from which she will emerge more famous than ever; for she possesses one thing which can never be destroyed, and which ensures her perpetual greatness--her unique geographical position on the threshold of the Sudan between the eastern and western Niger, two arms which embrace the whole of western Africa.

I see Timbuctoo throwing aside her rags in the distant future, and raising the form bent by misfortunes. The sandy pool of Kabara will have been cleared and deepened, and the Niger will have brought its abundant waters to the gates of the town. It will be an easy task then to carry an arm to north and east, and the town will be embraced by a girdle of cultivation. Her gardens, her wealth of verdure, and her palm-trees will be restored to her, and, threaded by shady walks, she will become a pleasant and active cosmopolitan city, a point of union between the black and white worlds.

The Sahara will be conquered; an iron chain will be put about its sands, the links of which will be railways; freights will circulate between Algiers and Timbuctoo with the speed of lightning; and the fleets of the Mediterranean will unite with those of the Niger. Touaregs, Kountas, and all unproductive nomads will be thrown back upon the desert, their first home, where they will form an efficient police force, which will protect the routes of the Sahara.

I picture the city become a centre of European civilisation and science, as it was formerly of Mussulman culture. The reputation of her scholars will again spread from Lake Chad to the mountains of Kong and the shores of the Atlantic, and Timbuctoo will once more be the wealthy and cultured Queen of the Sudan which her distant view now so deceitfully promises her to be.

FOOTNOTES

[1] This is how our conquest has been organised:--The Sudan is divided into regions, the regions into circles, and these again into posts. The first are five in number. The government resides provisionally in the first region, that of Kayes (though logically the centre of the colony should be at Bammaku). Its circles are those of Nioro, Kita, Bafoulaba, and its posts, Selibaba and Gumbu. Other European centres are: Medina, Dinguirai, Dioubaba, and Badoumba. Second, the southern region. Centre: Bissandugu (ancient capital of Samory). Circles: Siguiri, Farannah, Erimakono, Kissidugu. Posts: Kankan, Beyla, Kerwana, Kuroussa. Third, the eastern region on the left bank of the river and to the right across the valley of the Niger. Centre: Bammaku. Circle: Bougouni. Posts: Koulikoro and Toulimandio. Fourth, the north-east region on both sides of the river. Centre: Segu. Circles: Jenne, Sokolo, Bandiagara. Posts: Mopti and Gourao on Lake Debo, headquarters of the flotilla. Fifth, the northern region comprising the lakes of the north valley. Centre: Timbuctoo. Circles: Gundam and Sarafara. Post: El Oual Hadj. A superior officer is at the head of each region; captains administer the circles; and officers of different grades command the posts.

[2] It would probably be necessary, in order to identify Kokia with a town of the Nile valley, to find one built upon an island like the two principal Songhois towns, Jenne and Gao. The _Tarik_ mentions a town of the same name existing in the sixteenth century south of Gao, but it can have no connection with the Kokia at present under discussion. The name was probably given to it by the Songhois in memory of their first home; if indeed the town really had this name, and it is not an error of the copyists.

[3] Gao is also called Kou-Kou, Gogo, Garo, and Gago.

[4] A record of their names is immaterial, but I append it, thinking to please the orientalists, who will thus be enabled to read them for the first time as they are pronounced by the Songhois.

Dialliaman’s successors were: Dia Arkaï, Dia Atkaï, Dia Akkaï, Dia Akkou, Dia Alfaï, Dia Biagoumaï, Dia Bi, Dia Kira, Dia Aum Karawaï, Dia Aum Sumaïam, Dia Aum Danka, Dia Kiobogo, Dia Koukouraï, Dia Kenken; these were idolaters. The sixteenth king, reigning towards the year 1000 of our era, was converted to Islamism in 1010, and since then all the Songhoi princes have been Mussulmans. The list of names continues without incident up to Dia Soboï: Dia Koussaï Daria, Dia Hin Koronou Goudam, Dia Bia Koni Kimi, Dia Binta Say, Dia Bia Kaïna Kamba, Dia Kaïna Siniobo, Dia Tip, Dialliaman Diago, Dia Ali Korr, Dia Berr Faloco, _Dia Siboi_, Dia Dourou, Dia Kabaro, Dia Bissi Baro, Dia Bada.

[5] Sunni Alikolon, Sunni Suliman Naré, Sunni Ibrahim Kobia, Sunni Osman Kanava, Sunni Barkaïna Ankabi, Sunni Moussa, Sunni Boukari Dianka, Sunni Boukar Dalla Bougoumba, Sunni Marikin, Sunni Mohammed Daon, Sunni Mohammed Kokia, Sunni Mohammed Barro, Sunni Maré Kollighimon, Sunni Maré Arcouna, Sunni Maré Ardhan, Sunni Suliman Dami, _Sunni Ali_, and Sunni Barro (or Boukari Dao).

[6] The windows form squares of nineteen inches at a three-foot interval. The first row is sixteen feet from the ground, and the second twenty-four feet or thereabouts.

[7] Each triforium formed a gallery of little less than six feet six inches wide by thirty-two feet high. The walls of this part were rather more than two feet thick, while the walls of the gallery were about four feet thick.

[8] The native pronunciation is more nearly represented by the orthography Tomboutou.

[9] The Markassighi of to-day, settled to the east of Timbuctoo, and forming part of the Tenguaragif family.

[10] The Hamtagal of to-day, to the south-west of Timbuctoo.

[11] Called Ganata and Gana by the Arabs in the ancient texts, and Birou by the Songhois.

[12] The hire of a camel plying between Morocco and Timbuctoo costs from forty to fifty francs, and merchants usually employ from thirty to forty of these animals.

[13] The King of Mali erected a palace at Timbuctoo in the fourteenth century. But palaces have a precarious existence in the Sudan, and by the sixteenth century it had disappeared. Its ruins, forming a compact hillock in the west of the town, are now used as a slaughter-house.

[14] This tribe of Senhadja spread very freely over the south-west of Africa, and it is from them that Senegal takes its name.

[15] He was buried beside his father, Sidi Ahmed, whose tomb is still to be seen to the north of Timbuctoo.

[16] A copy of this book is to be found among the manuscripts of the Bibliothèque Nationale, Fonds Orscela, No. 4628. It was found in Algeria by M. Cherbonneau, who has published some very interesting extracts.

[17] M. Houdas, the eminent Professor of the Oriental School of Languages, is preparing a complete translation.

[18] The following encounter took place between the chief of chiefs Omar and a Jew who brought him a document in which the Prophet commanded the exemption from taxation of the people of Khaibar (a Jewish town in Arabia). This document was accompanied by the testimony of the companions of the Prophet, Ali Ibn Abm Thaleb among others. These documents were brought to the chief of chiefs, and caused great astonishment to all people. They were shown to Aben Bekr, a prudent man and endowed with a wonderful memory. He reflected a moment, then said, ‘All this is a lie.’ ‘How so?’ they asked him. ‘I find the evidence of Mo’awai in this document,’ he replied, ‘and Mo’awai did not embrace Islamism until the year of the capture of Khaibar. I also see the testimony of Sá’ad ben Mo’adh, and he died on the day of Bani-Karaide before the capture of Khaibar.’ This incident greatly amused the people.

The above anecdote is related by Ahmed Baba in the beginning of his _Ibtihadj_.

[19] I procured from its destroyers a little wooden Moorish window belonging to the upper story, in which the traveller lived during his stay. I brought away the poor relic, which is in every way worthy of a place in the Greenwich Hospital by the side of the mementoes of the Franklin Polar expedition.

[20] _Barth_, vol. iv. p. 38, French edition.

[21] _Ibid._, p. 442, German edition.

INDEX

Abderrahman Sadi el Timbucti, author of _Tarik é Sudan_, life of,
312-313;
the plan of his work, 313-315, 316.

Abou Abdallah, 280-281.

Abu Abdallah ben Abderrahim, 287.

Ahmadou Abdoulay, 139.

---- Ahmadou, last King of the Foulbes, 138, 139, 140, 340.

---- Baba Boubakar, 310.

Ahmed Baba, life of, 306-310;
his books, 309, 312, 318.

Akil, takes refuge in Oualata, 236.

Alpha Moussa, 148.

Amru, the Arabian conqueror, on Egypt, 41-42.

Arabian language, spread of, in the Sudan, 276-277.

---- traders of Timbuctoo, 264-266.

Archinard, Colonel, 71, 72, 140, 148, 172, 321, 352;
his march on Timbuctoo, 353.

Askia Bankouri, 118-119.

---- Daoud, 120.

---- El Hadj II., 120, 124.

---- Ishak I., 120, 123, 124.

---- Ishak II., 120, 124, 126, 127;
death of, 128.

---- Ismael, 119-120.

---- Kaghou, 128.

---- Mohammed, 109-117;
his devotion to Islamism, 109;
pilgrimage to Mecca and Cairo, 110;
conquests of, 111-113;
extent of his empire, 113;
wise administration of, 114-116;
deposed by his son, 117;
death of, 120, 121.

---- Mohamman Ban, 120.

---- Moussa, 117-118, 304.

Aube Expedition, graves of the, 199.

Badoumba, 14.

Bafing river, 2.

Bafoulaba, 2, 4.

_Baga_, or _bamanbi_, or cheese-tree, 60-61.

Bakoy, 2, 9.

Bambaras, 129.

Bammaku, Fort, 2, 9, 50, 56, _et seq._;
its principal articles of commerce, 61, 68, 322.

Bani river, 33, 50, 51, 143-145.

Bankouri, 289.

Barth, 36, 89, 95, 98, 139, 143, 215, 312, 324, 329, 337-344;
as English Ambassador, 344-349, 350, 351.

Berbers, the, 113;
origin and history, 223-227.

Birds of the Niger, the, 28-29.

Boiteux, Lieutenant, 321.

Bonci-Ba (‘the great beard’), name given to Mungo Park, 36, 322.

Bonnier disaster, the, 199.

Borgnis-Desbordes, Colonel, 57, 72, 140, 321.

Bosos or Somnos, the sailors of the Niger, 18;
their origin, 19;
their physical qualities, 22-23, 38, 39, 80, 81, 82.

Bourgoo, Pool of, 51.

Bossissa, on the results of the French conquest, 76-78.

Brick-making in the Sudan, 148-150.

Bruc, André, 321.

Caillié, René, 8, 36, 329;
his career, 330-334;
his host and his house at Timbuctoo, 334-337, 342.

Camel, cost of hire of, from Morocco to Timbuctoo, 251 _n._ 12.

‘Captain Nigote’s servant,’ 5.

Chad, Lake, 195.

Cheikou Ahmadou, 37, 68, 134-137, 138, 139, 156;
his reasons for destroying the great mosque at Jenne, 158-160, 240;
trickery of, 304.

Clarendon, Lord, letter from, to the Sheik el Backay, 345-346.

Colbert, 321, 352.

Commissariat in the French Nigerian possessions, 12-14.

Convoy from Kabara to Timbuctoo, 203-207.

Cotton district of the Niger, 65.

Crocodile worship at Jenne, 181-182.

Dai, 201.

---- Pool of, 195, 196.

Dakar, the port of Senegal, 1, 70.

Debo, Lake, 27, 30, 33, 51, 145.

Deltas of the Niger, 51-53.

Diafaraba, 50, 51.

Dialliaman, 90 _et seq._;
his successors, 99.

Dia Soboï, 100.

_Diatigui_, or landlord, his duties, 260.

Difficulty of procuring books in Timbuctoo, my, 289.

Dioubaba, 2, 5;
journey from, to Bammaku, 9-16.

_Dioulas_, 10-11.

_Dissas_, 246.

Djonder, Pasha, 126, 127, 128.

Doves, respect paid to, at Jenne, 182.

Egypt, the ‘present of the Nile,’ 41.

---- influence of Ancient, on the Sudan, 87-88, 95-97, 111, 188.

Egyptian art, characteristics of, in the houses at Jenne, 150-153.

---- Customs, disappearance of, among the Songhois, 180.

El Backay, 139;
his house, 215, 343; 337, 340, 341;
letters from Lord Clarendon and English Consul to, 345-348, 349,
350.

---- Bekri, quoted, on funeral customs, 194.

---- Djouf, 252.

---- Hadj, 281.

---- ---- Omar, 59, 67, 68, 76, 138, 140, 141, 172, 240, 349, 350.

---- _Ibtihadj_, 309.

---- Mansour, Sultan, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 130, 307.

---- Moucheïli, on Sunni Ali, 104-107, 295;
his persecution of the Jews, 298-299;
influence with the King, 299, 301.

---- Oual Hadj, 31, 51, 191, 193;
mounds at, 193-195.

---- Zidan Sultan, 310.

England, efforts of, to gain a footing in Western Africa, 325, 331,
352.

English methods in the Sudan, 345.

Essoyouti, 110, 136.

Faidherbe, Captain, his attempts to reach the Niger, 15, 71.

---- General, Governor of the Niger, 350.

Farannah, 14.

_Fatassi_, the, 137, 302, 304;
anecdote of, 303-304.

Fires the black man’s method of manuring, 39.

Flatters Mission, the, 15.

Foota Jallon range, 9, 29, 42, 50.

Fording the stream to Timbuctoo, 205.

Foulbe dynasty, their detestation of Europeans, 139.

Foulbes, the, 129, 133-134, 135, 137, 140, 141, 147.

French arms, disaster to, near Timbuctoo, 365-366.

---- influence in Jenne, beneficial results of, an old chief on,
172-173.

Gao, capital of the Songhoi Empire, 94, 95, 98, 99, 108, 113, 124,
126, 127, 133, 143, 147.

Ghingaraber, cathedral mosque of, 234, 325, 326.

Grey, Major, his expedition, 331.

Guinea, the coin, named from ‘Jenne,’ 172.

Habais, the, 98.

Hacquard, Father, 369.

Hamdallai (El-Lamdou-Lillahi), 159.

Houdas, M., 315 _n._ 17.

Ibn Batouta, 96;
quoted, 268-270.

---- Chaldoun, quoted, 223.

---- Ferhoun, 309.

Imbert, Paul, sold as a slave, 321-322.

Inundations of the Niger and Bani rivers, 143-145.

Islamism, appearance of, in the Sudan, 96.

Irregenaten, 241.

Jenne, 39, 67, 80 _et seq._, 100, 102, 113, 140, 146;
its situation, 146-147;
description of the houses at, 150-153;
the grand mosque at, 154-156;
commerce at, 165-167;
boat-building at, 167-168;
cost of travel at, 168;
influence of, on the Western Sudan, 169-170;
the founder of Timbuctoo, 170;
contrasted with Timbuctoo, 170-172;
under the Toucouleurs, 172;
results of French occupation, 172-173;
the market at, 178-180;
crocodile worship at, 181-182;
my last day at, 185-188;
the mother of Timbuctoo, 234.

Jenneri, 51.

Josse, M., 329.

Jouffre, Colonel, 353, 366.

Kabara, Port of Timbuctoo, 197;
population of, 200, 239, 242, 328.

---- Pool of, 200, 205.

Kadi el Akib, 297.

Kaid-Ali, 38.

_Karita_, or butter-tree, 59-60.

Kati Mountains, 14.

Kissi country, 44, 48.

Khalif Abassid, 110, 116.

Kayes, the port of the Sudan, 2, 4, 70, 203.

Kingdom of the Sands, the, 196.

Koli-Koli river, 33, 34.

Kong chain, 48.

Koran, the, 276-277.

Korienza, port of, 191.

Koriouma-Djitafa, 201.

Kouakoru, village of, 80.

Kouakouru, 143, 144, 145.

Kounkour-Moussa, 235.

Koulikoro, 18, 50, 65.

Koumbourou, 153, 154.

Kounta-Mamadi, 323.

Kountas, Berber tribe, 137, 140, 141.

Kouroussa, 48.

Kunari, 51.

Laing, Major, 139, 325;
his house at Timbuctoo, 326-327;
his mission, 327;
his death, 328-329;
his papers, 329-330, 333.

Lakes of the Niger, 53, 54.

Lavigerie, Cardinal, 369.

Léon the African, 89, 268, 288.

Life in the bush, its charms, 7-9.

_Litham_, 228.

Louis XVI., 321.

Mademba, Fama, 72, 75-76.

Mahmoud, Pasha, 128;
conquest of Sudan by, 129, 305.

Mahommed Neddo, 282-283.

Moorish conquest of the Sudan, 122-130;
disintegration sets in, 130;
Songhois revolt, 131, 133.

Maksara, Touareg tribe, 231.

Marabuts, the, 278-280;
lives of, 280-283;
graves of, 283-284;
their erudition, 285;
their libraries, 287-288;
their students, 289-295;
in politics and literature, 282-320;
exile of, 305-306.

Markets opened since French occupation at Timbuctoo, 267.

Mali, the, 100, 101;
conquest of, by Askia, 112-113, 147.

Malinkas, 147, 235, 236.

Marie, Adrien, 15.

Marrakesh, 124, 127, 306.

Massina, 51.

Mopti, 33, 50.

Morocco the principal client of Timbuctoo, 252.

Mohammed ben Abou Bakr, 107;
quoted, 285, 286.

Mosque at Jenne, the grand, 154-156;
the story of its destruction, 158-160;
its ruins, 160;
its tombs, 160-163.

Mossi, the, pillage Timbuctoo, 100;
conquered by Askia, 111-112.

Mouley Abdallah, 123.

---- Mahommed el Kebir, 123.

---- Rhassoun, 317, 318.

_Nata_, or flour-tree, 60.

Negraic Africa, first railroad in, 1.

_Nicab_, 228.

Niger, the, 1, 2, 9, 14;
my first view of, 15-16, 18 _et seq._;
rise and fall of, 32-34;
nights upon, 35-36;
the ‘Nile of the Sudan’ 42;
its source, 42-44;
course of, 50-55, 115, 143-145 _et seq._

Nigerian countries, number of Europeans in, 58;
size and population of, 57.

Nyamina, 29, 50, 65.

Ospreys, white, on the Niger, 28.

Ouad Teli, wells of, 253.

Oualata, 96, 234, 235.

_Oualiou_, 283.

‘Our’ Oumaira,’ 206-207.

Our Lady of Timbuctoo, 369.

Paliko river, 44.

Park, Mungo, 8, 36, 322-325;
death of, 324.

Pasture on the Niger, 27.

Peddie and Campbell, Majors, their Expedition, 331.

Philippe, Captain, 193, 364.

Pirates of the Niger, 38.

Post-offices of the Sudan, 70.

Queen of the Sudan, the, 208, 241, 275, 371.

Raille, M., his narrative of events in Timbuctoo, 364-366.

Region of the three deltas of the Niger, 53.

Rice the staple food of the Songhois, 184.

Richardson’s Expedition to the Sudan, 337.

Roger, Baron, 332.

Roumas, the, 133, 238, 239, 240, 338.

Rufisk, town of, 1.

Sahara, the, and Niger, struggle between, 195.

St. Louis, 1;
School of Hostages at, 71.

Salt, the true gold of the Sudan, 123, 170.

Samba-Marcalla, 322, 323.

Samory, 57, 59, 140.

Sana, 51.

Sankoré, University of, 237-238, 275 _et seq._

Sansanding, 29, 50, 65, 67, 71, 72, 165.

Sarafara, 27, 31, 165, 191, 195.

Segu, 14, 26, 29, 33, 50, 65, 67-70, 165, 322.

Senegal, the temperature of, 1.

---- river, 2, 9, 14.

Sidi Abdallah Chabir, 334.

---- Moktar el Kabir, 338, 339;
his successors, 339-340.

---- Yaia, life of, 281-282;
described, 286-287.

Siguiri, 14.

Sofara, battle at, between the forces of El Hadj Omar and Ahmadou
Ahmadou, 138.

Songhois, the, their origin, 89-90;
first king of, 90;
their exodus, 93-95;
their language, 97;
their physical type, 97;
capital of, 98;
their race of kings, 99, 121;
their empire invaded by Moors, 121, 148, 150;
writings of, 181;
sweetness of disposition of, 183;
customs and habits of, 184-185;
kingdom, extent of, in 1496, 237;
character of, 300.

Sotouba, barrier of, 50, 61, 63.

Spitzer, M., 139.

Sudan, the, 5, 6, 41;
French conquest of, how organised, 58 _n._ 1;
story of French conquest, 140, 141, 352-371.

Sudanese, the, character of, 300;
Mohammedans and fetichists, 300;
outbursts of fanaticism among, 301.

Sunni Ali, 100, 101;
his conquests, 102;
his oppressions, 103-104;
‘liberties with the Faith,’ 104;
traits in his character, 107, 109, 147, 180, 236, 237, 304, 306,
316.

Sunni Barro, 108.

_Taifa_, the official brokers, 262-263.

_Taliba_, or student, 289-290;
his school routine, 290-294;
openings for the, 294-295.

Taoudenni, salt-blocks of, 253-255;
their value, 255;
salt caravans of, 256.

_Taraïfa Koubra_, 338.

_Tarik é Sudan_, quoted or referred to, 87, 90, 91, 93, 100, 120,
128, 134, 147, 153, 160, 185, 232, 280, 304, 310-315;
its style, 315;
the Hozier of the Sudan, 316, 320, 343.

Telegraph, the, in the Sudan, 70-71.

Tembi-Kuntu, 50.

Tembi river, 44, 45;
superstitions associated with, 45-47.

Tenguaragifs, 241, 357, 366.

Thegazza, salt-mines of, 123, 124, 252.

Tidiana, 140.

Timbuctoo, 14, 26, 32, 37, 39, 40 _et seq._, 100, 113, 124, 133, 140;
contrasted with Jenne, 170-172, 195, 200-211;
market of, 211-212;
buildings in, 213-216;
life among the ruins of, 216;
impressions of, 216-218;
my life in, 218-222;
decadence of, 240;
in possession of tyrants, 241-245;
disastrous results, 245-249;
commerce and life of, 250-274;
articles of commerce, 252;
the caravans and fleets of, 257;
hospitality of inhabitants to strangers, 259-260;
the shops and shopkeepers, 261-262;
the traders, 262-266;
statistics, 266-267;
the city of pleasure for Western Africa, 269;
manners and customs of the people, 270-274;
fashionable life in, 272-274;
a religious, scientific, and literary centre, 273-276;
in its days of greatness, 319-320;
the necessity for French occupation, 352-353;
the capture of, 353-355;
attitude of the population, 355-360;
the future of, 369-371.

Tomboutou (‘The mother with the large navel’), 232.

Touaregs, the, 5, 31, 115, 123, 129, 133, 134, 141, 143, 198, 199,
203, 206;
their industries, 227-228;
head-dress of, 228;
their nomadic habits, 229;
theft their natural industry, 229;
religious beliefs of, 231;
proverb concerning, 231, 231 _et seq._, 256, 284, 338, 341, 350,
351, 360, 362, 364, 365, 367.

Toucouleurs, the, 77, 78, 138, 140, 172, 173;
invasion by, 349.

Toulimandio, 29, 63.

Toundibi, battle between Moors and Songhois at, 126, 128.

Tribes of Western Africa, 89.

Turner, General Charles, 333.

‘Unique Pearl of his Time,’ the, 306.

Venus Anadiomenes, the, of the Niger, 25, 26.

Voyage from Jenne to Timbuctoo, my, 189-207.

White Fathers at Timbuctoo, the, 369.

Printed by T. and A. CONSTABLE, Printers to Her Majesty
at the Edinburgh University Press

Transcriber’s Notes.

Italic text is indicated with _underscores_, bold text with =equals=. Small/mixed capitals have been replaced with ALL CAPITALS.

Evident typographical and punctuation errors have been corrected silently. Inconsistent spelling/hyphenation has been normalised.

The usage of "iman" (imam) is the author’s.

An unresolved anomaly in the index (punctuation and page number sequence) has been left as printed. See El Backay, his house.

A Half-title page has been discarded.

End of page footnotes have been sequentially numbered and relocated to the end of the text.

To improve text flow, illustrations have been relocated between paragraphs.

Cover art created for this eBook is granted to the public domain.