Chapter XIV: Part 14

But not even here were we enabled to grant ourselves the slightest repose, only staying long enough to take in a sufficient supply of water, and to slaughter one of our camels, which was totally unfit to proceed. Having made this day about eighteen miles, we reached the following day, after a moderate march of from nineteen to twenty miles, the southernmost solitary date-grove of Fezzán. Here we were so fortunate as to meet a small caravan of Tebu, comprising a few very respectable men, who brought us the latest news from Murzuk, where I was glad to hear that Mr. Frederick Warrington, the gentleman who had so kindly escorted me out of Tripoli more than five years previously, was awaiting me, and that the very governor who had been appointed to the government of Fezzán during our first stay there, had a few days before again been reinstalled in that office.

[Sidenote: July 6th.]

This was an important day in my journey, as having performed the most dangerous part of this wearisome desert march, I reached Tegérri, or Tejérri, the first outlying inhabited place of Fezzán. The village, although very small in itself, with its towering walls, the view of which burst suddenly upon us through the date-grove, made a most pleasing impression, and I could not prevent my people from expressing their delight in having successfully accomplished the by no means contemptible feat, of traversing this desert tract with so small a band, by firing a good number of shots. In consequence of this demonstration, the whole population of the little town came out to salute and congratulate me on having traversed this infested desert tract without any accident. But that was the only advantage that we reaped from having reached a place of settled habitation; and having taken up our encampment on the north-western side of the kasr, among the date trees, we had the greatest difficulty in procuring even the slightest luxury, and I was glad when I was at length able to obtain a single fowl and a few measures of dates. There was therefore no possibility of our staying here and allowing the animals a little rest, but we were obliged to push on without delay to the village of Madrúsa. But I had the greatest difficulty in reaching that place in the evening of the 8th, having lost another camel and one of my horses; and of the animals which remained to me I was obliged to abandon in Madrúsa another, which I had to pay for the hire of a couple of camels to carry my luggage to Múrzuk.

This was the native place of my servant El Gatróni, who had served me for nearly five years, (with the exception of a year’s leave of absence, which I granted him in order to see his wife and children,) with the strictest fidelity, while his conduct had proved almost unexceptionable; and of course he was delighted to see his family again. Besides a good breakfast and a couple of fowls with which he treated me, he made me also a present of a bunch of grapes, which caused me no little delight as a most unusual treat. However, being anxious to get over this desert tract, I started a little after noon the same day, and met at the village of Bakhíl, about six miles beyond, a Tebu caravan, which was accompanied by a courier from Kúkawa, who had found an excuse in the state of the country to remain absent on his mission to Múrzuk nine months, instead of having retraced his steps directly to his own country. About four miles further on we reached Gatrón, consisting of narrow groups lying closely together, and by the fringe of its date grove contrasting very prettily with the sandy waste around.

Here also we were hospitably treated by the relatives of another servant, who was glad to have reached his home; and we encamped the following day at Dekír, where we had some trouble first in finding and then in digging out the well, which was entirely filled up with sand. In two very long days’ stretches from here, the first including a night’s march, we reached the well, two miles and a half on this side of the village Bedán, when we heard that Mr. Warrington was encamped five miles beyond, in the village of Yesé.

[Sidenote: Saturday, July 13th.]

Having got ready at an early hour, we proceeded cheerfully through the poor plantation, scattered thinly over a soil deeply impregnated with salt, and fired a few shots on approaching the comfortable tent of my friend. I could not but feel deeply affected when, after so long an absence, I again found myself in friendly hands, and within the reach of European comforts. Having moved on a little in the afternoon to a more pleasant spot, we entered Múrzuk the following morning, and were most honourably received by a great many of the inhabitants, including an officer of the Bashá, who had come out a great distance to meet us.

Thus I had again reached this place, where, under ordinary circumstances, all dangers and difficulties might be supposed to have ceased. But such was not the case at the present time; for, in consequence of the oppression of the Turkish government, a very serious revolution had broken out among the more independent tribes of the regency of Tripoli extending from the Jebel over the whole of Ghurián, and spreading farther and farther, cutting off all intercourse and making my retreat very difficult. The instigator of this revolution was a chief of the name of Ghóma, who, having been made prisoner by the Turks many years before, had, through the events of the Crimean war, contrived to make his escape from confinement in Trebizond. This unforeseen circumstance caused me a little longer delay in Múrzuk than I should otherwise have allowed myself, as I was most anxious to proceed on my journey; nevertheless I staid only six days.

Having some preparations to make for this last stage of my march, I had thus full opportunity of becoming aware of the immense difference in the prices of provisions between this outlying oasis of North Africa and Negroland, especially Kúkawa, and for the little supply which I wanted for my journey from here to Tripoli, I had to pay as much as 100 makhbúbs. Besides procuring here my necessary supplies for the road, my chief business was in discharging some of my servants, and more particularly Mohammed el Gatróni, whose fidelity I have mentioned before. I added to the small remainder of his salary which I still owed him, the stipulated present of fifty Spanish dollars, which I would willingly have doubled if I had had the means, as he well deserved it; for it is only with the most straightforward conduct and with a generous reward that a European traveller will be able to make his way in these regions.

As for encountering the dangers of the road, the arrangement of the Bashá, that a party of soldiers whom he had discharged, and who were returning home, should travel in my company, seemed rather of doubtful effect; as such a company, while it afforded a little more security in certain tracts, could not fail to turn against myself the disposition of the native population in those districts where the revolt against the Turkish government was a popular movement; I was obliged therefore to leave it to circumstances to decide how I should make my way out of these difficulties. The Bashá for some time thought that the only safe course for me to pursue would be to turn my steps towards Ben-Gházi, in order to avoid the revolted district altogether. But such a plan seemed very objectionable, as well on account of the greater distance and expense of this road, as with regard to the disposition of the Arabs of that region, who, if the revolution should prove successful, would certainly not lose a moment in following the example of their brethren.

[Sidenote: July 20th.]

I left the town of Múrzuk in the afternoon and encamped in the plantation, and the next day moved on a short distance towards Sheggwa, where Mr. Warrington took leave of me. Halting then for the greater part of the following day near the village of Delém, and making a good stretch in the evening and the early part of the morning, we reached Ghodwa, with its pretty plantation and its many remains of former well- being. Starting again in the afternoon, and making a long stretch during the night, we encamped in the evening of the following day at the border of the plantation of Sebha, some twenty years ago the residence of the chief of the Welád Slímán. Here we staid the following day in order to obtain some rest. The heat all this time was very considerable, and the thermometer at two o’clock in the afternoon, on an average, indicated from 110° to 112°.

[Sidenote: July 26th.]

A march of from eighteen to nineteen miles brought us from Sebha to the small town of Temáhint, and we encamped a little beyond the well, where a numerous herd of camels, belonging to a camp of Arabs, was being watered. I was greatly pestered during my halt by a number of Welád Slímán, who were anxious for information with regard to their relations in Kánem, and greedy for some presents.

Making a short halt in the evening, and starting a little after midnight, we encamped the following day near Zíghen. Here I had to hire fresh camels in order to pursue my journey, and therefore did not set out again till the afternoon of the following day, when, through the barren desert tract by Óm el ʿabíd, and by a very rugged mountainous passage, we reached the important town of Sókna in the morning of the 2nd August.

Here the difficulties of my journey, in consequence of the revolutionary state of the province, increased, and, after a long consultation with some friends to whom I had been recommended, the only possible way of proceeding was found to be that of leaving the usual track by way of Bónjem altogether, and taking an entirely different road by a series of valleys lying further west, the road by Ben-Gházi also having been found impracticable. Sókna, even at the present time, is a very interesting place, as well on account of its mercantile activity and of its fine plantations of date and other fruit trees, as owing to the peculiar character of its inhabitants, who still retain a distinct idiom of the Berber language[57]; but at the present moment, on account of the total interruption of the communication with the coast, the price of provisions was very high, and the natives scarcely knew what political course to pursue. There was especially a merchant of the name of Beshála, who showed me an extraordinary degree of kindness and attention.

Having therefore waited until the arrival of the “rekás,” or courier, in order to obtain the most recent news, and having in consequence of their unfavourable tenor been induced to increase the wages of my camel drivers, whom I had hired previously, I at length got off on the 12th of August. Pursuing the track called Trík el Merhóma, which was never before traversed by a European, and, passing by the wells El Hammám, El Maráti, Ershidíye, and Gedafíye, and then by the narrow Wádí Ghirza (the place once the great object of African research for Lieutenant now Admiral Smyth), with its interesting ancient sepulchres in the form of obelisks, we reached Wádí Zemzem on the 19th. Here there was a considerable encampment of Arabs, and some of the ringleaders of the revolution residing here at the time, I found myself in a serious dilemma. But the English were too much respected by these tribes for them to oppose my passage, although they told me plainly, that if they suspected that the English were opposed to the revolution, they would cut my throat, as well as that of any European traveller who might fall into their hands. However, after some quiet explanations with them as to what was most conducive to their own interests, and about the probability of their succeeding in making themselves independent of the Turkish sway; and after having promised a handsome present to one of the more influential men among them, they allowed me to pass on. I had also great difficulty in hiring some fresh camels, the safety of which I guaranteed, to take me to Tripoli. I thus pursued my journey to Bení- Ulíd with its deep valley overtowered by the ruins of many a middle-age castle, and adorned by numbers of beautiful olive trees, besides being enlivened by many small villages consisting of stone dwellings half in decay. On approaching the place, I fell in with a messenger, sent very kindly to meet me by Mr. Reade, Her Majesty’s Vice-Consul in Tripoli, who, besides a few letters, brought me what was most gratifying to me in my exhausted state, a bottle of wine, a luxury of which I had been deprived for so many years.

I had some little trouble in this place, as there was residing here at the time a brother of Ghóma, the rebel chief himself, who had sent an express messenger on my account; and differences of interest between the various chiefs of the place, caused me at the same time some difficulties, though, in other respects, they facilitated my proceedings. Altogether I was very glad when I had left this turbulent little community behind me, which appeared to be the last difficulty that opposed itself to my return home.

In the evening of the fourth day after leaving Bení-Ulíd, I reached the little oasis of ʿAín Zára, the same place where I had stayed several days preparatory to my setting out on my long African wanderings, and was here most kindly received by Mr. Reade, who had come out of the town with his tent, and provided with sundry articles of European comfort, to receive me again at the threshold of civilization.

Having spent a cheerful evening in his company, I set out the following morning on my last march on the African soil, in order to enter the town of Tripoli, and although the impression made upon my mind by the rich vegetation of the gardens which surround the town, after the long journey through the desert waste, was very great, yet infinitely greater was the effect produced upon me by the wide expanse of the sea, which, in the bright sunshine of this intermediate zone, spread out with a tint of the darkest blue. I felt so grateful to Providence for having again reached in safety the border of this Mediterranean basin, the cradle of European civilization, which from an early period had formed the object of my earnest longings and most serious course of studies, that I would fain have alighted from my horse on the sea beach, to offer up a prayer of thanksgiving to the Almighty, who, with the most conspicuous mercy, had led me through the many dangers which surrounded my path, both from fanatical men and an unhealthy climate.

It was market day, and the open place intervening between the plantation of the Meshíah and the town was full of life and bustle. The soldiers who had recently arrived from Europe to quell the revolution, were drawn up on the beach in order to make an impression on the natives, and I observed a good many fine sturdy men among them. Amidst this busy scene, in the most dazzling sunshine, with the open sea and the ships on my right, I entered the snow-white walls of the town, and was most kindly received by all my former friends.

Having stayed four days in Tripoli, I embarked in a Turkish steamer which had brought the troops and was returning to Malta, and having made only a short stay in that island, I again embarked in a steamer for Marseilles, in order to reach England by the most direct route. Without making any stay in Paris, I arrived in London on the 6th September, and was most kindly received by Lord Palmerston as well as by Lord Clarendon, who took the greatest interest in the remarkable success which had accompanied my proceedings.

Thus I closed my long and exhausting career as an African explorer, of which these volumes endeavour to incorporate the results. Having previously gained a good deal of experience of African travelling during an extensive journey through Barbary, I had embarked on this undertaking as a volunteer, under the most unfavourable circumstances for myself. The scale and the means of the mission seemed to be extremely limited; and it was only in consequence of the success which accompanied our proceedings, that a wider extent was given to the range and objects of the expedition[58]; and after its original leader had succumbed in his arduous task, instead of giving way to despair, I had continued in my career amid great embarrassment, carrying on the exploration of extensive regions almost without any means. And when the leadership of the mission, in consequence of the confidence of Her Majesty’s government, was intrusted to me, and I had been deprived of the only European companion who remained with me, I resolved upon undertaking, with a very limited supply of means, a journey to the far west, in order to endeavour to reach Timbúktu, and to explore that part of the Niger which, through the untimely fate of Mungo Park, had remained unknown to the scientific world. In this enterprise I succeeded to my utmost expectation, and not only made known the whole of that vast region, which even to the Arab merchants in general had remained more unknown than any other part of Africa[59], but I succeeded also in establishing friendly relations with all the most powerful chiefs along the river up to that mysterious city itself. The whole of this was achieved, including the payment of the debts left by the former expedition, and 200_l._, which I contributed myself, with the sum of about 1600_l._ No doubt, even in the track which I myself pursued I have left a good deal for my successors in this career to improve upon; but I have the satisfaction to feel that I have opened to the view of the scientific public of Europe a most extensive tract of the secluded African world, and not only made it tolerably known, but rendered the opening of a regular intercourse between Europeans and those regions possible.

[Footnote 54: See Vol. II. p. 654.]

[Footnote 55: Vol. I. p. 504.]

[Footnote 56: Denham and Clapperton’s Travels, p. 17.]

[Footnote 57: Also in El Fok-ha, distant three days from Sókna, on the road to Ben-Gházi, the same idiom is spoken.]

[Footnote 58: This greater success was especially due to the journey which I undertook to the Sultan of Ágades, thus restoring confidence in our little band which had been entirely shaken by great reverses.]

[Footnote 59: “It appears singular that the country immediately to the eastward of Timbuctoo, as far as Kashna, should be more imperfectly known to the Moorish traders, than the rest of Central Africa.”—_Quarterly Review_, May, 1820, p. 234. Compare what Clapperton says about the dangers of the road from Sókoto to Timbúktu. Sec. Exped., p. 235.]

APPENDIX.

MAP OF PART OF AFRICA (EASTERN SHEET) showing DR. BARTH’S ROUTES, 1850-1855 between and native itineraries collected by him.

Constructed and drawn by A. Petermann.

Engraved by E. Weller, _Duke Strt. Bloomsbury._

_London, Longman & Co._]

APPENDIX I.

COLLECTION OF ITINERARIES ILLUSTRATING THE WESTERN HALF OF THE DESERT, ITS DISTRICTS, AND ITS INHABITANTS, AND THE COURSE OF THE UPPER NIGER.

A.—_Eastern Route from Tawát to Mabrúk, and thence to Timbúktu._

N.B.—The route proceeds from Aúlef in Tidíkelt, which is situated one short day from Ákabli (this is the right accent), and three days from Ínsala or ʿAín Sálah, the distance between Ákabli and the latter place being about the same.

2nd day. Teríshumín, a well.

4th. Derím.

7th. Ínzíze, a well. As far as this point, the route follows a course a little E. of S. (evidently in the direction of Gógó), but from this point onwards S.W.—The syllable “ín,” or “ʿin,” seems to be the old Berber-Semitic form for “ʿaín.”

14th. Índenán, a well, having crossed the desert tract called Tanezrúfet.

17th. Ín-tabórak; the last stage is only half a day’s march.

19th. Moila.

22nd. Taunant; the last stage is half a day’s march.

24th. Mabrúk.

The ordinary and general road from Mabrúk to Timbúktu leads by Árawán:—

2 days. Mʿamún. } } 2. Bú-Jebéha. } I shall speak about these places in the general } account of Ázawád. 2. Árawán. }

4. Tenég el haye, or Tenég el háj.

1½. Timbúktu.

Between Tenég el háj and the town there are the following localities:—El Áriye, El Ghába, El Meréra, Áthelet el Megíl, Éllib el Ághebe, Tiyáre el Jefál, Tiyáret el Wása.

Route from the hillet e’ Sheikh el Mukhtár, generally called “el hilleh,” (see the itinerary from Timbúktu to the hilleh, Vol. IV. p. 454) to Tósaye, in long days’ marches; direction, as my informant supposes, exactly S.:—

1st day. Núr, a mountain without water.

2nd. A locality on this side of a place called Dergel.

3rd. Kazúft, a large pond of water in the rainy season.

5th. Tósaye, or Tósé, the great narrowing of the river, (see the journal).

From the hilleh to Gógó is reckoned a distance of eight days.

B.—_Route from Ínzíze to Gógó._

4th day. Tímmísau (hasi Músa? I think, it cannot be the well of that name on the direct road from Tawát to Mabrúk, which would give this whole route a far more westerly direction). Near the well is a rocky eminence like a castle, and famous on account of the tale of the footprint of Moses’ horse, a story also attaching to the other well which I mentioned. It appears, from this route, that the arid desert, the Tanezrúfet, becomes narrower and more contracted towards the east.

7th. Ín-azál; the last march but half a day.

9th. Súk, or “e’ Súk” (Essúk), the ancient dwelling-place of the Kél e’ Súk, now without settled inhabitants, situated between two “kódia,” or hilly eminences, one lying towards the E. and the other towards the W., just as the ancient city of Tademékka is described, with which it was evidently identical (see the journal). The town was destroyed by the Songhay conqueror, Sonni ʿAlí, in the latter half of the fifteenth century. The vale is said to be rich in trees.

11th. Gúnhan, another site of an ancient dwelling-place, and once the residence of the Kel-gúnhan, with a hilly eminence.

13th. Takerénnat, another site.

14th. Tel-ákkevín (or Tin-ákkevín), a well.

16th. Tin-óker; the last stage half a day’s march.

18th. Gógó, or Gágho, the last day again a short one.

C.—_Western Road from Aúlef to Mabrúk._

1st day. Dháhar el hamár, a hilly chain called the ass’s backbone.

3rd. El Immerághen.

5th. Wallen, a well.

12th. Ám-rannán, a well, two days W. from Ín-denán, having crossed the arid desert Tanezrúfet. In summer you travel here by night. In winter, travelling night and day, with only short halts, you may accomplish this march in four days.

17th. Ín-asserér, perhaps “the well of the stony tract,” or hammáda, “serír,” being the proper term for such a region.

20th. Tin-hekíkan, a well, in former times the common settlement of the tribe, which thence has received the name Kel-hekíkan. It is W. or S.W. of the well, called Taunant (see p. 457).

22nd. Mabrúk; the last day’s march a short one.

D.—_A few particulars with regard to the region called Ázawád, and the
adjoining districts._

The name Ázawád is a corruption due to the Arabs of the Berber name Ázawágh (pronounced Ázawár), which is common to many desert tracts. But the district which has become known to the Europeans under the name Ázawád, comprises an extensive tract of country to the N. of Timbúktu, stretching north-westward as far as “El Júf,” the great sink or “belly” of the desert, full of rock-salt, and to the N.N.E., a little to the N. of Mabrúk, while its southern part, extending from the distance of one day’s march from Timbúktu, to about three days northward, is more properly called _Tagánet_. I will only add, that Caillié mistook the name Ázawád, which he writes Zawát, for that of a tribe. (Vol. II. p. 97, and elsewhere.)

The tract of Ázawád, although appearing to us a most sterile tract of country, and thus characterized already by Arab travellers from the N., as Ébn Batúta and Leo Africanus, is a sort of paradise to the wandering Moorish Arab born in these climes. For in the more favoured localities of this district he finds plenty of food for his camels, and even for a few heads of cattle, while the transport of the salt of Taödénni to Árawán and Timbúktu affords him the means of obtaining corn, and anything else he may be in want of. There are four small towns or villages in Ázawád, the most considerable of which is Árawán, a town small in extent, such as described by Caillié[60], the number of its inhabitants scarcely exceeding 1500, but a very important place for this part of the world, and where a great deal of business is transacted, principally in gold, as I have described on a former occasion (p. 22 et seq.). On account of this trade, several Ghadámsíye merchants are established here. It is a fact which was unknown before, but which is indisputable, that the original inhabitants of this place, as well as of the whole of Ázawád, belong to the Songhay nation, the Songhay-kiní, even at the present day, being the favoured idiom of which all the inhabitants, including the Arab residents, make use. The present chief or headman of the town is Sídi Mohammed, a younger son of the notorious chief El Habíb Weled Sídi Áhmed Agáde, who died the year previous to my arrival in Timbúktu. The younger son gained the precedence over his elder brother Óba, who has performed a pilgrimage to Mekka, solely on account of his mother being the sister of Hámed Weled ʿAbéda Weled Rehál, the chief of the Bérabísh, and the murderer of Major Laing. The family of El Habíb belongs to the Ígelád, forming at present a small section of the large group of the Áwelímmiden. They are now only distinguished by their learning, but formerly they were very powerful, and, together with the Imedídderen, were the most ancient inhabitants of the locality of Timbúktu. The inhabitants of Árawán pay an annual tribute of sixty mithkál of gold to the Hogár, in order not to be molested by their continual predatory incursions.

The three other small towns, or permanent dwelling-places in Ázawád, viz. Bú-Jebéha, Mʿamún and Mabrúk, all lying in a line N.N.E. from Árawán, almost at the equal distance from each other of two days’ easy travelling with camels, are much smaller and less considerable than Árawán. Of rather more importance at present than the two others is Bú- Jebéha, which is principally inhabited by Kél e’ Súk, and has a little commerce; but Mabrúk seems to have been of great importance in former times, when it was inhabited by Songhay people, had a Songhay name,—Mabrúk being a comparatively modern name given to it by the Arabs,—and was the market of Waláta. In some respects this place might seem to have a right to be identified with the ancient Aúdaghost; and there are certainly the sites of some former dwelling-places in the neighbourhood, especially Tel-Aröást, two days N.E. either from Mabrúk or from the hilleh, but in another place I have explained (Vol. IV. p. 581) why we have to seek the site of Aúdaghost in quite a different locality. There are some valleys clad with palm-trees to the east of Mabrúk (see Vol. I. Appendix, p. 570), especially the valley called Tesillíte, which produces two different kinds of dates, viz. the tíssagín and the tin-áser. The names of the respective chiefs of the three places are—Mohammed Weled Sídi ʿOmár, the chief of the tribe of the Ergágeda in Mʿamún; Najíb Weled el Mústapha el Kél e’ Súki (the same who signed the letter of Áwáb, the chief of the Tademékket, giving a complete imána to the English in the territory comprised between Gúndam, Bamba, Timbúktu, Árawán, and Bú-Jebéha), together with ʿAzízi in Bú- Jebéha, and Méni Weled Sídi ʿOmár in Mabrúk.[61]

There was formerly, in Ázawád, another place with a permanent settlement, called “El Hilleh,” or “Hillet e’ Sheikh Sídi Mukhtár,” which I have mentioned in a former place (Vol. I. p. 560, and Vol. IV. p. 454), two days east of Mʿamún[62], and about the same distance from Mabrúk, but this place was deserted a few years ago, on account of the well Bú-Lanwár, which is stated to have had a depth of forty fathoms, having fallen to ruins. The hilleh was situated in the “batn,” or valley, at the northern foot of a black rocky chain of hills called “Ellib el Hejar.” To the north is another chain or ellib east of the hilleh; but, on this side, still in the batn, is a locality called “El Mádher,” with good pasturage for horses. Other well known localities thereabouts are, Shirshe el Kebíra, and Shirshe e’ Seghíra.

Of the wells of Ázawád, the following are the most notorious: first, in the southern part of the district, towards Tagánet, Mʿamún, different from the place of the same name; Énnefís, a copious well, two hours S.W. from Mʿamún, and situated in a hilly district, thickly clad with underwood, and containing quarries of a beautiful black limestone, from which the Tawárek manufacture their heavy arm-rings, or áshebe; Meréta, Makhmúd, Shíker, Gír, Kartál, a very copious well, ʿEn-filfil, and others. Further to the N. and N.W. are the wells, Halúl, El Hóde, Shébi, Temandórit, Tékarát, Aníshay, Áshorát, a well where the Sheikh Áhmed el Bakáy, in the early part of his life, resided for a long time, Ánnazau, to the north of Mabrúk; Alibáda (ʿAlí Bábá?), Bú el Meháne, or Bel Mehán, the well mentioned in the itinerary (Vol. IV. p. 454), as distant about ten miles from the hilleh, Belbót, south of Bel Mehán; Írakshíwen; Merzáhe, south of the latter; Megágelát, two days south of the hilleh, and others.

The most famous wells in the district called Tagánet, are—Wén-alshín, situated at the distance of four days from Timbúktu, and three from the hilleh, where Mohammed e’ Seghír, El Bakáy’s elder brother, usually encamps part of the year; Tin-tatís, half a day S.W. from the former; ʿEn-óshif, Ímmilásh, ʿEn-gíbe, ʿEn-séek, ʿEn-odéke, a well where Bábá, a younger brother of El Bakáy, has his encampment, three days south from Mʿamún, four days N.E. from Timbúktu; Ámenshór, Árrazaf, ʿArúk, El Makhmúd, different from the well of the same name mentioned above; Igárre, Mérizík, Twíl, Waruzíl.

Towards the north, the district of Ázawád is separated from the dreary and waterless desert known by the general Berber name of Tanezrúfet (meaning “arid hammáda”) by the two small districts called “_Afeléle_” (meaning the little desert, or “afélle”), and north of it Áherér. Afeléle is a highly favoured region for the breeding of camels, and contains some famous valleys, or “wádián,” such as Tekhatímit, or Teshatímit, Afúd-énakán or Afúd-n-akán, Tadulílit, ʿAbatól, Shánisín, Agár, and others. _Áherér_, likewise, is considered by the Arabs as a fine country diversified by hill and dale, with plenty of wells, and even temporary torrents. This is the district, in one of the valleys of which, “Wádí Áherér,” Major Laing was attacked and almost killed by the Tawárek.

Towards the east, the districts of Ázawád and Tagánet are limited by several smaller ones, where the Arab population is greatly mixed with the Berber or Tawárek element, especially the Ífoghas. At the same time, these districts separate Ázawád from Áderár, the fine hilly country of the Awelímmiden, which is excellent not only for the breed of camels, but also for that of cattle. These intermediate districts are—_Ím- eggelála_, a district of about two days’ extent in every direction, consisting of black soil, and furnished with shallow wells; E. and E.N.E. of Tagánet, is _Tilímsi_, a district rich in food for the camel; E.N.E. of the hillet e’ Sheikh el Mukhtár, is another district called _Timitrén_, with many wells and a few villages; and E.N.E. of the latter, the district called Tirésht, or _Tighésht_, bordering on Áderár.

Of Arab tribes in Ázawád and the adjoining districts, I have first to mention several sections of the great tribe of the _Kunta_, who are distinguished by their purer blood and by their learning above almost all the tribes of the desert.

The Kunta are divided into the following sections:—

The Ergágeda, who were formerly regarded as the Welaye, or the holy
tribe.

The Welád el Wáfi, at present the Welaye, with the Sheikh Áhmed el
Bakáy as Welí, while his elder brother, Sídi Mohammed, exercises great
authority over the whole of Ázawád. The Welád el Wáfi cultivate the
friendship of the Hogár, while the Welád Sídi Mukhtár are the deadly
enemies of the latter. They are subdivided into three divisions,
called—

El Mesádhefa, Welád ben Haiballa, and Welád ben ʿAbd e’ Rahmán.

The Welád Sídi Mukhtár.

El Hemmál.

The Togát also are said to belong to the Kunta.

The _Berabísh_ (singl. Berbúshi), a tribe less numerous than the Kunta, mustering about 260 men armed with muskets, and 180 horsemen, and not spread over so wide a tract, being concentrated in the district between Árawán and Bú-Jebéha. They pay a tribute of 40 mithkál of gold to the Hogár, and are molested by continual incursions of the Welád ʿAlúsh. The Berabísh, who probably are identical with the _Perorsi_ of the ancient geographers, have migrated southwards since that time, and are of very mixed blood. They lived formerly in El Hódh, and are mentioned by Marmol Carvajal, who wrote in the seventeenth century, as visiting the market of Ségo; in the beginning of the sixteenth century, they lived still further to the W., and visited especially the market of Jinni.[63] The Berabísh are divided into two groups, the principal of which is ruled by the chief Hámed Weled ʿAbéda Weled Rehál, and consists of the following sections:

The Welád Slímán, the Shiúkh, that is to say, the tribe to whom the
Sheikh belongs, and who have based their power and wealth upon the
ruin and spoil of the Welád Ghánem.

The Welád ʿEsh.

The Welád Bú-Hinde.

El Gwanín el kohol.

El Gwanín el bédh.

Welád Áhmed.

These are the free tribes of this group; the following are the degraded and servile tribes, the “lahme” or “khoddemán”:—the Yadás, the Ládim, or rather only a small portion of that tribe, the Árakán, the Áhel ʿAísa Tajáwa, El Ússera.

The second group of the Berabísh as a whole, bears the remarkable name of “Botn el jemel,” on account of its being composed of heterogeneous elements, brought together by chance, just as is the case with various kinds of food in the “stomach of the camel.” It is ruled by a chief of the name of Hamma, and consists of the following tribes:—Welád Relán; Welád Derís, originating from Tafilélet; Welád Bú-Khasíb; Welád Ghánem, and the Turmus, the latter being the tribe of which I have spoken on a former occasion.

E.—_Route from Bóne or from Hómbori, by way of Konna, to Hamda-Alláhi._

Dalla the chief place of the province of the same name, is of considerable size, and the residence of a governor. Módi Bóle, who was a man of some note, died a short time before the period of my journey. The place is mostly inhabited by Tombo, only a small portion of the inhabitants being Songhay. The mountains are inhabited by the Sána, probably a section of the Tombo who have still preserved their independence. The town of Dalla is two good days’ journey from Hómbori, and one from Bóne.

1 day. Dwentsa, a considerable place, said to be as large as Kúkawa, and important as a market-place. The road traverses a mountainous region, described as being supplied with running streams (in the rainy season?), and to be richly clad with trees.

1 day. Dúmbará, large place, seat of a governor, but destitute of any handicraft. Country mountainous.

1 day. Nyimi-nyába, a middle-sized place. Country a little mountainous.

1 day. Boré, a large town, seat of a governor. Country mountainous, intersected by channels for irrigating the kitchen gardens. Cotton, rice, and corn is cultivated. All these appear to be very long days’ marches.

2 days. Timme, a large town, seat of a governor. On the road you see the Dhiúliba, or rather its floods, on your right, at least during part of the year. Cultivation of rice exclusively.

2 days. Karí or Konna (as the Songhay call it), seat of a governor, and important as a market-place. All the black inhabitants of the town speak the Songhay language. The town is also called Benne-n-dúgu or Bana-n- dugu, the tribe of that name, the Benni, having probably extended much farther to the N. in former times. See Caillié ii. p. 16.

2 days. Niakóngo, seat of a governor of the name of Háj Módi, brother of Háj ʿOmár. After the rainy season, the floods of the river closely approach the town.

1 day. Hamda-Alláhi.

F.—_From Timbúktu by Gúndam to Yówaru, and from Yówaru to Hamda-Alláhi._

3rd day. Gúndam. There are no settled halting places between Timbúktu and Gúndam. People generally perform the distance in two days and a half. The following is a list of the names of localities between these two places:—Téshak, Finderíye, El Hándema, Aristoremék, Egéti, Tin- getán, Tin-réro, Timbarágeri, two villages of the name El Meshra, Takémbaut, Tenkeríye, Naudis, Gámmatór.—Gúndam is a walled town (ksar or koira), the chief place of the district Aússa, and of considerable size, its population consisting of Songhay, Rumá, and Fúlbe or Fullán. The town has a suburb on its W. side, where live the Tóki, a tribe of the Fullán, and another suburb on the water-side, where live the Erbébi. On the N. side there is a black hill, full of fernán. Also to the S. an eminence is seen presenting the same appearance. The town is situated on the N. side of a large khálij or rijl (branch of the river) coming from Dire and turning towards Rás el má, the celebrated “head of the waters,” distant from here two days, either by land or by water, W. a little N. Another creek runs from Gúndam to Kábara; but during the highest level of the inundation the whole country presents almost one uninterrupted sheet of water. On the east side of Gúndam is a dry creek called Aráshaf, one day long, and half an hour wide. At its eastern border, E.S.E. from Gúndam, is the place called Waye e’ semen, with a creek adorned with the tree called táderes.

4th. A walled village (koira) of Imóshagh and Songhay on the trunk of the river, having passed in the morning the branch on which Gúndam is situated.

5th. Arabébe, a village inhabited by Fúlbe.

6th. Nyafúnke, a large village, inhabited in former times by Imóshagh, but at present peopled by Fúlbe.

7th. Íketáwen. Having passed in the morning close behind Nyafúnke, a large branch of the river, halt at noon in a village called Sherífikoira.

8th. Átará, a large village of Fúlbe, on the east side of a considerable branch of the river going to Gasí Gúmo.

9th. Fadhl-Alláhi a Fúlbe village.

10th. Yówaru. Yówaru is one of the two chief places of Fermágha, and although consisting entirely of reed huts, is said to be little inferior in the number of its inhabitants to the town of Timbúktu. The importance of the place is clear enough from the annual amount of tribute which it pays, amounting altogether (zekʿa and modhár taken together) to 4000 head of cattle. During the inundation Yówaru lies at the border of lake Débu, which, at that season, extends from Sʿa to Yówaru, but during the dry season, it is about one mile distant from the small branch. Close to the latter lies a suburb where the Surk or Kórongoy, a degraded section of the Songhay, dwell.[64] In Yówaru and the neighbourhood live a great number of Fúlbe or Fullán belonging to the following tribes:—the Sonnábe, Yalálbe, Feroibe, Yówarunkóbe and Jawámbe, or Zoghorán or Zoromáwa.

G.—_From Yówaru to Tenéngu._

1st day. Urungíye, an important place.

2nd. Máyo, a village so called from a small creek, the Máyo Sórroba, on which it lies. Between Urungíye and Máyo seem to lie the villages Séri and Nyamihára, the former inhabited by Songhay, the latter by Fúlbe.

3rd. Ganga.

4th. Kógi or Jógi, having passed several hamlets, one of them called Gínnewó, a hamlet of cattle breeders with a ksar, then Dokó, Ngúdderi, Jóñeri, Sabáre, and Burlul.

5th. Kora.

6th. Konna.

7th. Tenéngu. The distance between Urungíye and Tenéngu can, however, be performed in two days good travelling.

Between Urungíye and Móbti lie the following places:—Úro-Módi, Káram, a Songhay village; Rogónte, a hamlet of Fúlbe, Yerére, a hamlet inhabited by slaves of the Fúlbe, Wálo on the Máyo Fenga; Kaya, a village inhabited by Aswánek, and finally, Sáre-méle and Sáre-béle, the river probably forming a great bend near Wónyaka, so that these latter towns are touched at in coming from both sides, either the N. or the S.

H.—_From Yówaru to Hamda-Alláhi._

1st day. Dógo, on a small creek.

2nd. Shay, probably meaning the place of embarkation, on the N.W. side of the river, which is very wide in this spot. Pass on the road one or two branches of stagnant water, which you must cross in a boat. Perhaps one of these branches is the same on which the village Máyo lies.

3rd. Encamp on the bank of a smaller creek (Máyo dhannéo?)

4th. Niakóngo.

5th. Berber, a very short march.

6th. Síye, in the morning.

7th. Hamda-Alláhi, the capital of the kingdom of Másina.

I.—_List of towns and villages situated along the bank of the chief trunk of the river Ísa-bére or Máyo-mangho, from Dire upwards to Sansándi. This branch is the north-westerly one; the other, which Caillié navigated, is the south-easterly, and is called Bara-Ísa._

_Dire_, a very important place, one of the eldest settlements of the Songhay in this quarter, situated at the point of junction of two branches which have separated from each other in the lake Débu.[65]

Tindírma, one of the original seats of the Songhay, by some regarded as the original seat of the whole tribe. That portion of them called Sáhena were especially settled here. It is now principally the residence of the Chóki, who formerly were settled in Gúndam. With regard to its importance in former times as the capital of the province of Kúrmina, see Vol. IV. p. 420. A little distance from the bank of the river lies Gitigátta, and on the island in the river the locality called “Al Mohalla,” probably from having been once the spot where part of the Mohalla, or the army of the Moroccains, remained encamped. At Tindírma, the branch of Gúndam separates from the main trunk of the river.

Hamma-koira.

Nyafúnke.

Síbo. This is evidently the town Seebi where Mungo Park is said to have made some stay on his voyage from Jenni to Timbúktu. (Clapperton’s Second Journey, Appendix, p. 334.)

Dháhabi-koira, called after a sheríf belonging to the family of Muláy el Dhéhebi.

Gúmmo.

Átara.

Tongomáre.

Úro.

Yówaru. In crossing from Yówaru the next branch, and leaving Gúram on one side, you reach Zinzo or Jinjo, or Gíjo, as it is called, in four or five hours. This is another of the eldest seats of the Songhay, and probably the place from whence Islám spread in this quarter, there being here the sepulchre of a venerated saint called Mohammed el Káberi, belonging to the Idaw el Háj. It is not impossible that this is the place of pilgrimage to which Scott the sailor went as a captive by way of the Giblah, crossing the lake.[66] In the neighbouring hamlet, Togga, also, is the tomb of a holy man called Morimána Báka. There is another tradition current in Zinzo, of a saint of the name of Elfa Zakkaríyá, who is said to have visited this place at a time when no village existed, nothing but a cavern being then inhabited.

S.E. of Zinzo, at some little distance from lake Débu lies Áwi. The Débu is so shallow during the dry season, that the native boats can only proceed with great difficulty along the main channel, and often stick fast entirely. In the dry season the natives ford it by wading through the water. Where the main branch, called by the Fúlbe Máyo balléo, reaches the lake, at least during the rainy season, it divides into a net of smaller branches, thus increasing the difficulty of the navigation. On the contrary, the advantage of the smaller branch, the Bara-Ísa, or river of Bara, called by the Fúlbe Máyo dhannéo, consists in preserving one unbroken volume of water. This was the reason probably why the party with whom Caillié went down the Niger from Jinni followed this branch. Besides the Máyo balléo and dhannéo, the chief creeks which join the Débu are the Máyo Píru and the Máyo Jóga, not inconsiderable during the rainy season, but very small during the dry one.

The lake, besides fish, contains numbers of that curious animal called ayú (_manatus_).

From the lake upwards, there lie along the principal branch of the river the following places:—

Búri.

Bánghida.

Waládu.

Ingárruwe.

Mányata.

Kossanánna.

Tánnare.

Bówa.

Kirrínkiri.

Gánde-Táma.

Sarbére.

Kára, an important place, after which the river is sometimes called “the river of Kára.”

Ingánshi.

Dággada.

Kumáy, a place of some importance, distant two days from Yá-saláme[67], which is about three days from the considerable market-place Tenéngu (p. 469), both W. from the river.

Júgi.

Nyásu.

Kóliñango.

Sabáre.

Búrruwé.

Fenga, a middle-sized place, after which this whole branch of the river is also called “Máyo Fenga,” about two hours E. from Tenéngu, and one good day’s march from Fáfarák.

We now proceed along the south-eastern shore of the Débu and along the Máyo dhannéo.

Gúram, a considerable place, situated round a large rocky eminence, kódia, as the Arabs call it, or “haire,” as it is called by the Fúlbe, who celebrate it highly as the “haire maunde Gúram.” The mount is so conspicuous in the flat alluvial level, that it is visible from Yówaru. Caillié saw it at the distance of three or four miles (ii. p. 18); and again, further on, where he calls it St. Charles’ Island (ii. p. 20). The village is separated into three distinct groups, one of which is called Gúram Fúlbe, lying at the northern foot of the kódia; the other, Gúram Hábe, inhabited by Songhay; further on and finally, Gúram Súrgube, inhabited by (degraded?) Tawárek or Surgu.

Méro } } Both inhabited by Kórongoy. Bang }

Sóba.

Sórroba, situated at the foot of another smaller rocky eminence called “haire Sórroba,” lying opposite to Gúram on the S. side of the river, which seems to make here a great bend. It is mentioned by Mohammed el Másini (Appendix to Clapperton’s Second Journey, p. 331). Caillié gave it the ridiculous name of “Henry Island.”

Jantaye, a considerable place.

Máyo Tína, a place close to the former, inhabited by Tawárek.

Kóbi. (Compare Caillié’s account, ii. p. 16.)

Nye.

Batamáne.

Sáyo, distant half a day’s journey from the Batamáne, towns close to the bank of the river becoming here more rare.

Wáñaka, where the two branches unite, being joined besides by a small westerly creek, called by some Máyo Fenga.

Hombólbe, the principal seat of the Kórongoy or Surk, who also constitute the chief inhabitants of the places Ngárruwe and Toy.

Karashíru.

Kara-úra.

Neménte, and not far from it inland, the village called “rúgga Bóde.”

Náta.

Kammi.

Móbti or Isáka, situated at the point of junction of the two branches of the river, which have divided at Jafarábe, a low point of land, as it seems, separated by the river into a group of six islands, where all the boats coming from Hamda-Alláhi and the lower river, and proceeding to Sansándi, are obliged to disembark their merchandise, which, henceforward has to be transported on the back of donkeys to the place of its destination. Of these two branches the north-western[68] one bears also the name of Máyo Jágha, from a very important place, the celebrated Zágha of the Arab geographers, which on account of its situation out of the great commercial track is at present not very generally known in those quarters. The original form of the name both with Songhay and Fúlbe, seems to be Jáka or Jágha; but the letters Z and J are continually interchanged. The town is said to lie at the distance of one and a half day S.W. from Sáre-dína, “the city of the (Mohammedan) religion,” and only half a day N.E. from Jafarábe[69], and is still celebrated on account of its excellent “tári” or “leppi.”

I here add a short list of the towns and villages between Kúna, the place where the river is ordinarily crossed in proceeding from Sofára to the island of Másina Proper, and Móbti:—From Kúna, about six miles E., is Néma, situated on the E. side of the river; from Néma, Tikkétiá, on the W. side of the river; Sáre-béle, on the E., Sáre-méle, on the W. of the river, N. of Tikkétiá; Gómi, a large town on the bank of the river; Móbti, on the E. side, with large fortifications, if I have understood right, of an ancient date, where the two branches join; Nymitógo, on the E. side of the river.

The distance from Tenéngu, is also a day and a half, and between them lie the following places, beginning with Tenéngu:—Takanéne, Chúbe, a hamlet inhabited by slaves, Kumbel, Ingelléye, Taíkiri, Kóllima, and Warángha.

From Jafarábe upwards along the river, are situated the places:—

Kongunkoro, “old Kongu.”

Kóno.

Jóru.

Síbila.

Maddína.

Sansándi (this is the Songhay form), or Sansánne (the Mandingo form), the well-known starting point of Mungo Park’s voyage down the river. Mr. Cooley supposes that “di” is a contraction of ding, meaning “little.”

K.—_From Hamda-Alláhi to Kábara by land by way of Sʿa._

1 day. Niyakóngo, a large town at a considerable distance from the river; much cultivation.

1 day. Denéngu (?), a place inhabited by Fúlbe and Songhay, the latter being more numerous than the former; near the bank of the river.

1 day. Úro-Búlo, a place inhabited by Fúlbe on the E. side of the Débu.

1 day. Sʿa, a large place, inhabited chiefly by Bámbara, the seat of a governor, as was also the case in former times, on the E. side of the Máyo dhannéo or Bara-Ísa. Many dúm-palms, or rather deléb-palms, grow in this neighbourhood, from whence Timbúktu is supplied with rafters. The floods of the lake and the various branches or creeks are so considerable during the rainy season, that at that period of the year, a person cannot reach Hamda-Alláhi in less than six days.

1 day. Kóma, a small town of Bámbara, at a considerable distance E. from the river.

1 day. Chiay, close to the bank of the Máyo dhannéo.

1 day. Sáre-feréng, a Bámbara place. The road leads all the way along the S.E. bank of the river.

1 day. Jangináre, a Bámbara place.

1 day. Árkoja, a town partly inhabited by Bámbara, partly by Songhay, the former prevailing.

1 day. Dári, a large place of Fúlbe, who call it Dár e’ Salám. No Bámbara inhabitants.

1 day. Bongesémba, a village inhabited by Fúlbe Sudúbe, close to the point of junction, called Ísofay, of the two branches of the Dhiúliba, the white (dhannéo) and the black (balléo), the quality of their waters being totally different, one being full of crocodiles, hippopotami, and fish, and the other containing nothing of the kind, just as is the case with the Tsád. The water of the black river overwhelms the white water of the dhannéo. Cross the river.

1 day. Tindírma, a large Songhay place. A long day.

1 day. Dire, one of the eldest places of the Songhay.

1 day. Dongoy, inhabited by Songhay, no Fúlbe; on the E. side of the river.

1 day. Tóyai, a Songhay village; the Tademékket rove in this neighbourhood. Country level and without trees, being temporarily flooded.

2 days. Kábara, keeping close along the river, and crossing a small rivulet or creek.

L 1.—_From Hamda-Alláhi to Káñima._

1st day. Síye.

2nd. Niyakóngo, having passed the heat in the hamlet called Berber.

3rd. Benne-ndúgu or Konna, having passed the heat in Nʿamet-Alláhi (a long day’s, if not two days’, journey).

4th. Toy. Arrive before noon.

5th. A Songhay village or ksar.

6th. Konsa, a Fúlbe village.

7th. A village inhabited by Fúlbe, Songhay, and Bámbara.

8th. Takóti.

9th. Sambejeráhit.

10th. Ungúma.

11th. Káñima, on a branch of the river coming from Bámbara (see Vol. IV. p. 361), and at a day’s march from the latter place.

L 2.—_Another short Itinerary from Káñima to Hamda-Alláhi._

1st day. Lábo.

2nd. Dóra, a rúmde, or slave hamlet.

3rd. Takóti, or Jengináre, both on the Bara-Ísa, Jengináre lying a little to the S.W. of the former.

4th. Another town on the Niger, the name of which informant has forgotten, probably Sáre-feréng.

5th. Gulúmbu, on the widening of the creek Débu or Dóbu. (Another road leads from Káñima by Lábo, Langóma, Konse, and another place to Gulúmbu).