Chapter XXXIII: Introduction (3)

The Arabs or inhabitants of the Sahara, can support the most
extraordinary abstinence. Occasions occur, wherein they will travel
354 several days without food. After suffering a privation of a day or
two, they tie their (_hazam_) belt round their loins, every morning
tighter than the preceding day, thereby preventing, in some
measure, that action of the bowels which promotes appetite. A
Saharawan will thus go five or six days without food of any kind,
in which case, when he reaches a habitation, or a (_wah_)
cultivated spot in the Desert, he will drink about half-a-pint of
camel's milk; this remains on the stomach but a short time: he then
takes another draught, which, with some, remains and gives
nourishment, but with others _it_ is also rejected by the stomach;
_a third draught is then taken, which restores the exhausted
traveller!_ I have been assured, that instances have been known in
Sahara, wherein a man has been without food of any kind for seven
days, and has afterwards been restored by the foregoing regimen!

355

LANGUAGES OF AFRICA.

_Various Dialects of the Arabic Language.--Difference between the
Berebber and Shelluh Languages.--Specimen of the
Mandinga.--Comparison of the Shelluh Language with that of the
Canary Islands, and Similitude of Customs_.

Yareb, the son of Kohtan[204], is said to have been the first who
spoke Arabic, and the Muhamedans contend that it is the most
eloquent language spoken in any part of the globe, and that it is
the one which will be used at the day of judgment. To write a long
dissertation on this copious and energetic language, would be only
to repeat what many learned men have said before; a few
observations, however, may not be superfluous to the generality of
readers. The Arabic language is spoken by a greater proportion of
the inhabitants of the known world than any other: a person having
a practical knowledge of it, may travel from the shores of the
Mediterranean Sea to the Cape of Good Hope, and notwithstanding
that in such a journey he must pass through many kingdoms and
empires of blacks, speaking distinct languages, yet he would find
356 men in all those countries versed in Muhamedan learning, and
therefore acquainted with the Arabic; again, he might cross the
widest part of the African continent from west to east, and would
every where meet with persons acquainted with it, more particularly
if he should follow the course of the great river called the Neel
El Abeed, on the banks of which, from Jinnie and Timbuctoo, to the
confines of lower Egypt, are innumerable cities and towns of Arabs
and Moors, all speaking the Arabic. Again, were a traveller to
proceed from Marocco to the farthest shore of Asia, opposite the
islands of Japan, he would find the Arabic generally spoken or
understood wherever he came. In Turkey, in Syria, in Arabia, in
Persia, and in India, it is understood by all men of education; and
any one possessing a knowledge of the Korannick Arabic, might, in a
very short time, make himself master of all its various dialects.

[Footnote 204: This Kohtan is the Joktan, son of Eber, brother
to Phaleg, mentioned in Genesis. Chapter x, verse 25.]

The letters of this language[205] are formed in four distinct ways,
according to their situation at the beginning, middle, or end of
words, as well as when standing alone; the greatest difficulty,
however, to be overcome, is the acquiring a just pronunciation,
(without which no living language can be essentially useful;) and
to attain which, the learner should be able to express the
difference of power and sound between what may be denominated the
357 synonymous letters, such as [A] and [A] with [A] and [A] with [A]
and [A] with [A] and [A] and [A] with [A] and [A] with [A] and [A]
with [A] and [A] and [A] with [A].

[Footnote 205: The Oriental punctuation is here adopted.]

[Footnote A: Arabic character; cannot be displayed in this
file format.]

Besides these, there are other letters, whose power is extremely
difficult to be acquired by an European, because no language in
Europe possesses sounds similar to the Arabic letters [Arabic:], nor
has any language, except, perhaps, the English, a letter with the
power of the Arabian [A]. Those who travel into Asia or Africa
scarcely ever become sufficiently masters of the Arabic to speak it
fluently, which radical defect proceeds altogether from their not
learning, while studying it, the peculiar distinction of the
synonymous letters. _No European, perhaps, ever knew more of the
theory of this language than the late Sir William Jones, but still
he could not converse with an Arabian;_ a circumstance of which he
was not conscious until he went to India. This great man, however,
had he been told that his knowledge of this popular eastern
language was so far deficient, that he was ignorant of the separate
powers of its synonymous letters, and consequently inadequate to
converse intelligibly with a native Arab, he would certainly have
considered it an aspersion, and have disputed altogether that such
was the fact. Considering how much we are indebted to the Arabians
358 for the preservation of many of the works of the ancients, which
would otherwise have never, perhaps, been known to us, it is really
surprising, that their language should be so little known in
Europe. It is certainly very difficult and abstruse, (to learners
particularly,) but this difficulty is rendered insurmountable by
the European professors knowing it only as a dead language, and
_teaching it without due attention to the pronunciation of the
before mentioned synonymous letters, a defect which is not likely
to be remedied, and which will always subject the speaker to
incessant errors_.

To shew the Arabic student the difference between the Oriental and
Occidental order of the letters of the alphabet, I shall here give
them opposite each other.

Oriental. Occidental

1 Alif [A] -- 1 Alif [A]

2 ba. [A] -- 2 ba [A]

3 ta [A] -- 3 ta. [A]

4 thsa [A] -- 4 tha [A]

5 jim [A] -- 5 jim [A]

6 hha [A] -- 6 hha [A]

7 kha [A] -- 7 kha [A]

8 dal [A] -- 8 dal [A]

9 dsal [A] -- 9 dth'al [A]

10 ra [A] -- 10 ra [A]

11 za [A] -- 11 zain [A]
359
12 sin [A] -- 12 ta [A]

13 shin [A] -- 13 da [A]

14 sad [A] -- 14 kef [A]

15 dad [A] -- 15 lam [A]

16 ta [A] -- 16 mim [A]

17 da [A] -- 17 nune [A]

18 ain [A] -- 18 sad [A]

19 gain [A] -- 19 dad [A]

20 fa [A] -- 20 ain [A]

21 kaf [A] -- 21 g'rain [A]

22 kef [A] -- 22 fa [A]

23 lem [A] -- 23 kaf [A]

24 mim [A] -- 24 sin [A]

25 nun [A] -- 25 shin [A]

26 waw [A] -- 26 hha [A]

27 he [A] -- 27 wow [A]

28 ya [A] -- 28 ia [A]

29 lam-alif: ligature lam + alif = [A]

Besides this difference of the arrangement of the two alphabets,
the Arabic student will observe that there is also a difference in
the punctuation of two of the letters: thus--

Oriental. Occidental.

fa [A] fa [A]

kaf [A] kaf [A]

[Footnote A: Arabic characters; cannot be displayed in this
file format.]

360
Among the Western Arabs, the ancient Arabic figures are used, viz.
0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9: they often write 100 thus, 1..--200,
2..

To explain the force of the synonymous letters on paper would be
impossible; the reader, however, may form some idea of the
indispensable necessity of knowing the distinction by the few words
here selected, which to one unaccustomed to hear the Arabic
language spoken, would appear similar and undistinguishable.

ENGLISH. ARABIC, ARABIC.

Rendered as near to European pronunciation
as the English Alphabet
will admit.

A horse Aoud [Arabic:]

Wood Awad [Arabic:]

To repeat Aoud [Arabic:]

Fish Hout [Arabic:]

A gun Mokhalla [Arabic:]

A foolish woman Mokeela [Arabic:]

A frying pan Makeela [Arabic:]

A lion Seban [Arabic:]

Morning Seban [Arabic:]

Seventh Seban [Arabic:]
361
Hatred Hassed [Arabic:]

Harvest Hassed [Arabic:]

Learning (Alem, or El Alem) [Arabic:]

A flag El Alem [Arabic:]

Granulated paste Kuscasoe [Arabic:]

The dish it is made in Kuscas [Arabic:]

Heart Kul'b [Arabic:]

Dog Kil'b [Arabic:]

Mould Kal'b [Arabic:]

Captain Rice [Arabic:]

Feathers Rish [Arabic:]

Mud G'ris [Arabic:]

Smell Shim [Arabic:]

Poison Sim[206] [Arabic:]
362
Absent G'raib [Arabic:]

Butter-milk Raib [Arabic:]

White Bead [Arabic:]

A black El Abd [Arabic:]

Eggs Baid [Arabic:]

Afar off Baid [Arabic:]

A pig Helloof [Arabic:]

An oath Hellef [Arabic:]

Feed for horses Alf [Arabic:]

A thousand Elf [Arabic:]

[Footnote 206: The African Jews find it very difficult in
speaking, to distinguish between _shim_ and _sim_, for they
cannot pronounce the _sh_, [Arabic] but sound it like _s_
[Arabic]; the very few who have studied the art of reading
the language, have, however, conquered this difficulty.]

It is difficult for any one who has not accurately studied the
Arabic language, to imagine the many errors which an European
commits in speaking it, when self taught, or when taught in Europe.
This deficiency originates in the inaccuracy of the application of
the guttural and synonymous letters.

The ain [Arabic] and the [Arabic] grain cannot be
363 accurately pronounced by Europeans, who have not studied the
language grammatically when young. The aspirated _h_, and the hard
_s_, in the word for _morning_ (sebah), are so much like their
synonymes, that few Europeans can discern the difference; the one
is consequently often mistaken for the other; and I have known a
beautiful sentence absolutely perverted through an inaccuracy of
this kind. In the words rendered _Hatred_ and _Harvest_, the two
synonymes of [Arabic:] and [Arabic:] or _s_ hard and _s_
soft, are indiscriminately used by Europeans in their Arabic
_conversations_, a circumstance sufficient to do away the force and
meaning of many a sentence.

The poetry as well as prose of the Arabians is well known, and has
been so often discussed by learned men, that it would be irrelevant
here to expatiate on the subject; but as the following description
of the noblest passion of the human breast cannot but be
interesting to the generality of readers, and, without any
exception, to the fair sex, I will transcribe it.

"Love [Arabic:] beginneth in contemplation, passeth to meditation;
hence proceeds desire; then the spark bursts forth into a flame,
the head swims, the body wastes, and the soul turns giddy. If we
look on the bright side of love, we must acknowledge that it has at
least one advantage; it annihilates pride and immoderate self-love;
364 true love, whose aim is the happiness and equality of the beloved
object, being incompatible with those feelings.

"Lust is so different from true love [Arabic], and so far from a
perfection, that it is always a species of punishment sent by God,
because man has abandoned the path of his pure love."

In their epistolary writing, the Arabs have generally a regular and
particular style, beginning and ending all their letters with the
name of God, symbolically, because God is the beginning and end of
all things. The following short specimen will illustrate this:

Translation of a letter written in the Korannick Arabic by Seedy
Soliman ben Muhammed ben Ismael, Sultan of Marocco, to his Bashaw
of Suse, &c. &c.

"Praise be to the only God! for there is neither power, nor
strength, without the great and eternal God."

L.S.

Containing the Emperor's name and
titles, as Soliman ben Muhamed
ben Abdallah, &c, &c.

"Our servant, Alkaid Abdelmelk ben Behie Mulud, God assist, and
peace be with thee, and the mercy and grace of God be upon thee!"

"We command thee forthwith to procure and send to our exalted
presence every Englishman that has been wrecked on the coast of
Wedinoon, and to forward them hither without delay, and diligently
365 to succour and attend to them, and may the eye of God be upon
thee!" [207]

[Footnote 207: When they write to any other but Muhamedans,
they never salute them with the words, "Peace be with thee,"
but substitute--"Peace be to those who follow the path of the
true God," _Salem ala min itaba el Uda_.]

"26th of the (lunar), month Saffer, year of the Hejra 1221. (May,
1806.)"

The accuracy of punctuation in the Arabic language is a matter that
ought to be strictly attended to.

The foregoing observations will serve to prove the insufficiency of
a knowledge of this language, as professed or studied in Great
Britain when unaccompanied with a practical knowledge. These
observations may apply equally to the Persian language.[208]

[Footnote 208: "One of the objects I had in view in coming to
Europe, was to instruct young Englishmen in the Persian
language. I however met with so little encouragement from
persons in authority, that I entirely relinquished the plan. I
instructed, however, (as I could not refuse the recommendations
that were brought to me,) an amiable young man, Mr. S------n,
and thanks be to God, my efforts were crowned with success! and
that he, having escaped the instructions of _self-taught_
masters, has acquired such a knowledge of the principles of
that language, and so correct an idea of its idiom and
pronunciation, that I have no doubt, after a few years'
residence in India, he will attain to such a degree of
excellence, as has not yet been acquired by any other
Englishman." Vide Travels of Mirza Abu Taleb Khan, vol. i. p.
200.]

If the present ardour for discovery in Africa be persevered in, the
learned world may expect, in the course of a few years, to receive
366 histories and other works of Greek and Roman authors, which were
translated into the Arabic language, when Arabian literature was in
its zenith, and have ever since been confined to some private
libraries in the cities of the interior of Africa, and in Arabia.

Having said thus much with regard to the Arabic of the western
Arabs, which, with little variation, is spoken throughout all the
finest districts of North Africa, I shall proceed to say a few
words respecting the other languages spoken north of Sahara: these
are the Berebber and its dialects, viz. the Zayan and Girwan, and
Ait Amor; the Shelluh of Suse and South Atlas, all which, though
latterly supposed by some learned men to be the same, differ in
many respects; any one possessing a knowledge of the Berebber
language might, with little difficulty, make himself understood by
the Zayan of Atlas, the Girwan, or the Ait Amor; but the Shelluh is
a different language, and each so different from the Arabic, that
there is not the smallest resemblance, as the following specimen
will demonstrate:

BEREBBER. SHELLUH. ARABIC. ENGLISH.
Tumtoot Tayelt Ishira A girl
Ajurode Ayel Ishire A boy
Askan Tarousa Hajar A thing
Aram Algrom Jimmel Camel
Tamtute Tamraut Murrah A woman
Ishiar Issemg'h L'Abd A slave
Aouli Izimer Kibsh A sheep
Taddert Tikimie Dar House
367 Ikshuden Asroen Lawad Wood
Eekeel Akfai Hellib Milk
Tifihie Uksume El Ham Meat
Buelkiel Amuran Helloof A hog
Abreede Agares Trek A road
Bishee Fikihie Ara Give me
Adude Asht Agi Come
Alkam Aftooh Cire Go
Kaym Gäuze Jils Sit down
Imile Imeek Serire Little

_Specimen of the Difference between the Arabic and Shelluh
Languages._

SHELLUH. ARABIC. ENGLISH.
Is sin Tamazirkt Wash katarf Do you understand
Shelluh Shelluh?
Uree sin Man arf huh I do not understand it.
Matshrult Kif enta How are you?
Is tekeete Wash gite min Are you come from
Marokshe Marockshe Marocco?
Egan ras Miliah Good
Maigan Ala'sh Wherefore?
Misimmink As'mek What is your name?
Mensh kat dirk Shall andik How much have you got?
Tasardunt Borella A mule
Romi Romi An European
Takannarit Nasarani A Christian
368 Romi Kaffer An infidel
Misem Bebans Ashkune mula Who is the owner?
Is'tkit Tegriwelt Washjite min Are you come from
Tegriwelt Cape Ossem?
Auweete Imkelli Jib Liftor Bring the dinner
Efoulkie Meziana Handsome
Ayeese El aoud A horse
Tikelline El Baid Eggs
Amuran Helloof Hog
Tayuh Tatta Camelion
Tasamumiat Adda Green lizard
Tenawine Sfune Ships.

Marmol says, the Shelluhs and Berebbers write and speak one
language, called Killem Abimalick[209]; but the foregoing specimen,
the accuracy of which may be depended on, clearly proves this
assertion to be erroneous, as well as that of many moderns who have
formed their opinion, in all probability, on the above authority.
Now, although the Shelluh and Berebber languages are so totally
dissimilar, that there is not one word in the foregoing vocabulary
which resembles its corresponding word in the other language, yet,
369 from the prejudice which Marmol's authority has established, it
will still be difficult, perhaps, to persuade the learned that such
an author could be mistaken on such a subject. My account therefore
must remain for a future age to determine upon, when the languages
of Africa shall be better known than they are at present; for it is
not a few travellers occasionally sent out on a limited plan, that
can ascertain facts, the attainment of which requires a long
residence, and familiar intercourse with the natives. Marmol had
also misled the world, in saying that they write a different
language; the fact is, that when they write any thing of
consequence, it is in the Arabic; but any trifling subject is
written in the Berebber words, though in the Arabic character. If
they had any peculiar character in the time of Marmol, they have
none now; for I have conversed with hundreds of them, as well as
with the Shelluhs, and have had them staying at my house for a
considerable time together, but never could learn from any, that a
character different from the Arabic had ever been in use among
them.

[Footnote 209: Killem Abimalick signifies the Language of
Abimalick; this is evidently an error of Marmol, the Shelluh
language is denominated _Amazirk_; the Berebber Language is
denominated _Killem Brebber_.]

In addition to these languages, there is another spoken at the
Oasis of Ammon, or Siwah, called in Arabic [Arabic:] El Wah El
Grarbie, which appears to be a mixture of Berebber and Shelluh, as
will appear from the list of Siwahan words given by Mr.
370 Horneman[210], in his Journal, page 19, part of which I have here
transcribed, to show the similitude between those two languages,
whereby it will appear that the language of Siwah and that of the
Shelluhs of South Atlas, are one and the same language.

ENGLISH. SIWAHAN. SHELLUH.
Sun Itfuckt Atfuct.
Head Achfé Akfie
Camel Lgum Arume
Sheep Jelibb Jelibb
Cow Tfunest Tafunest
Mountain Iddrarn Iddra[211]
Have you a horse? Goreck Ackmar Is derk Achmar?[212]
Milk Achi Akfie
Bread Tagor Tagora[213]
Dates Tena Tenia (sing.)Tena (plural.)

South of the Desert we find other languages spoken by the blacks;
and are told by Arabs, who have frequently performed the journey
from Jinnie to Cairo, and the Red Sea, that thirty-three different
371 Negro languages are met with in the course of that route, but that
the Arabic is spoken by the intelligent part of the people, and the
Muhamedan religion is known and followed by many; their writings
are uniformly in Arabic.

[Footnote 210: In reading Mr. William Marsden's observations on
the language of Siwah, at the end of Horneman's Journal, in
page 190, I perceive that the short vocabulary inserted
corresponds with a vocabulary of the Shelluh language, which I
presented to that gentleman some years past.] [Footnote 211:
Plural Iddrarn.]

[Footnote 212: Or, Is derk ayeese?]

[Footnote 213: This is applied to bread when baked in a pan, or
over the embers of charcoal, or other fire; but when baked in
an oven it is called Agarom (g guttural.)]

It may not be improper in this place, seeing the many errors and
mutilated translations which appear from time to time, of Arabic,
Turkish and Persian papers, to give a list of the Muhamedan moons
or lunar months, used by all those nations, which begin with the
first appearance of the new moon, that is, the day following, or
sometimes two days after the change, and continue till they see the
next new moon; these have been mutilated to such a degree in all
our English translations, that I shall give them, in the original
Arabic character, and as they ought to be spelt and pronounced in
the English character, as a clue whereby to calculate the
correspondence between our year and theirs. They divide the year
into 12 months, which contain 29 or 30 days, according as they see
the new moon; the first day of the month Muharam is termed [arabic]
Ras Elame, i.e. the beginning of the year.

As we are more used to the Asiatic mode of punctuation, that will
be observed in these words.

Muharam [Arabic]
Asaffer [Arabic]
372 Arabia Elule [Arabic]
Arabea Atthenie [Arabic]
Jumad Elule [Arabic]
Jumad Athenie [Arabic]
Rajeb [Arabic]
Shaban [Arabic]
Ramadan [Arabic]
Shual [Arabic]
Du'elkada [Arabic]
Du Elhajah [Arabic]

The first of Muharram, year of the Hejra 1221, answers to the 19th
March of the Christian æra, 1806.

Among the various languages spoken south of the Sahara, we have
already observed that there are thirty-three different ones between
the Western Ocean and the Red Sea, following the shores of the Nile
El Abeed, or Niger: among all these nations and empires, a man
practically acquainted with the Arabic, may always make himself
understood, and indeed, it is the language most requisite to be
known for every traveller in these extensive regions.

The Mandinga is spoken from the banks of the Senegal, where that
river takes a northerly course from the Jibel Kuthera to the
373 kingdom of Bambarra; the Wangareen tongue is a different one; and
the Housonians speak a language differing again from that.

_Specimen of the difference between the Arabic and Mandinga
language; the words of the latter extracted from the vocabularies
of Seedi Muhamed ben Amer Sudani._

ENGLISH. MANDINGA. ARABIC.

One Kalen Wahud
Two Fula Thanine
Three Seba Thalata
Four Nani Arba
Five Lulu Kumsa
Six Uruh Setta
Seven Urn'klu Sebba
Eight Säae Timinia
Nine Kanuntée Taseud
Ten Dan Ashra
Eleven Dan kalen Ahud ash
Twelve Dan fula Atenashe
Thirteen Dan seba Teltashe
Nineteen Dankanartée Tasatasli
Twenty Mulu Ashreen
Thirty Mulu nintau Thalateen
Forty Mulu fula Arbä'in
Fifty Mulu fula neentan Kumseen
Sixty Mulu sebaa Setteen
Seventy Mulu sebaa nintan Sebä'in.
374 Eighty Mulu nani T'aramana'een
Ninety Mulu nani neentaan Tasa'een
One hundred Kemi Mia
One thousand Uli Elf

This Neen Hadda
That Waleem Hadduk
Great Bawa Kabeer
Little Nadeen Sereer
Handsome Nimawa Zin
Ugly Nuta Uksheen (k guttur.)
White Kie Bead
Black Feen Khal
Red Williamma Hummer
How do you do? Nimbana mcuntania Kif-enta
Well Kantée Ala-khere
Not well Moon kanti Murrede
What do you want Ala feta matume Ash-bright
Sit down Siduma Jils
Get up Ounilee Node
Sour Akkumula Hamd
Sweet Timiata Helluh
True Aituliala Hack
False Funiala Kadube
Good Abatee Miliah
Bad Minbatee Kubiah
A witch Bua Sahar
A lion Jatta Sebaâ
375 An elephant Samma El fel
A hyæna Salua Dubbah
A wild boar Siwa El kunjer
A water horse Mali Aoud d'Elma
A horse Suhuwa Aoud
A camel Kumaniun Jimmel
A dog Wallee Killeb
Hel el Killeb Hel Wallee Hel El Killeb
or the dog-faced
race.

A gazel Tankeen Gazel (g guttural)
A cat Niankune El mish
A goat Baâ El mâize
A sheep Kurenale Kibsh
A bull Nisakia Toôr
A serpent Saâ Hensh
A camelion Mineer Tatta
An ape Ku'nee Dzatute
A fowl or chicken Susee Djez
A duck Beruee El Weese
A fish Hihu El hout
Butter Tulu Zibda
Milk Nunn El hellib
Bread Mengu El khubs (k guttur.)
Corn Nieu Zra
Wine Tangee Kummer (k guttur.)
Honey Alee Asel
Sugar Tobabualee Sukar
Salt Kuee Mil'h
Ambergris Anber Anber
376 Brass Tass Tass
Silver Kudee Nukra
Gold-dust Teber Tiber
Pewter Tass ki Kusdeer
A bow Kula El kos
An arrow Binia Zerag
A knife Muru Jenui
A spoon Kulia Mogerfa
A bed El arun El ferrashe
A lamp El kundeel El kundeel
A house Su Ed dar
A room Bune El beet
A light-hole Jinnee Reehâha
or window
A door Daa Beb
A town Kinda Midina
Smoke Sezee Tkan (k guttural)
Heat Kandia Skanna (k guttural)
Cold Nini Berd
Sea Bedu baha Bahar
River Bedu Wed
A rock Berri Jerf
Sand Kinnikanni Rummel
The earth Binku Dunia
Mountain Kuanku Jibbel
Island Juchüi Dzeera
Rain Sanjukalaeen Shta
God Allah Allah
Father Fa Ba
Mother Ba Ma
Hell Jahennum Jehennume
377 A man Kia Rajil
A woman Musa Murrah
A sister Bum musa Kat (k guttural)
A brother Bum kia Ka
The devil Buhau Iblis
A white man Tebabu Rajil biad
A singer Jalikea Runai (r guttural)
A singing woman Jalimusa Runaiah (r guttural)
A slave June Abeed
A servant Bettela Mutalem

Having now given some account of the languages of Africa, we shall
proceed to animadvert on the similitude of language and customs
between the Shelluhs of Atlas and the original inhabitants of the
Canary Islands. The words between inverted commas, are quotations
from Glasse's History of the Discovery and Conquest of the Canary
Islands.

"The inhabitants of Lancerotta and Fuertaventura are social and
cheerful;" like the Shelluhs of Atlas; "they are fond of singing
and dancing; their music is vocal, accompanied with a clapping of
hands, and beating with their feet;" the Shelluhs resemble them in
all these respects; "Their houses are built of stone, without
cement; the entrance is narrow, so that but one person can enter at
a time."

378 The houses of the Shelluhs are sometimes built without cement, but
always with stone; the doors and entrances are low and small, so
that one person only can enter.

"In their temples they offered to their God milk and butter."

Among the Shelluhs milk and butter are given as presents to princes
and great men; the milk being an emblem of good will and candour.

"When they were sick (which seldom happened) they cured themselves
with the herbs which grew in the country; and when they had acute
pains, they scarified the part affected with sharp stones, and
burned it with fire, and then anointed it with goat's butter.
Earthen vessels of this goat's butter were found interred in the
ground, having been put there by the women, who were the makers,
and took that method of preparing it for medicine."

The custom of the Shelluhs on such occasions is exactly similar;
the butter which they use is old, and is buried under ground many
years in (_bukul_) earthen pots, and is called _budra_: it is a
general medicine, and is said to possess a remarkably penetrating
quality.

"They grind their barley in a hand-mill, made of two stones, being
similar to those used in some remote parts of Europe".

In Suse, among the Shelluhs, they grind their corn in the same way,
and barley is the principal food.

"Their breeches are short, leaving the knees bare;" so are those
worn by the Shelluhs.
379
"Their common food was barley meal roasted and mixed with goat's
milk and butter, and this dish they call Asamotan."

This is the common food of the Shelluhs of Atlas, and they call it
by a similar name, Azamitta.

The opinion of the author of the History and Conquest of the Canary
Islands, is, that the inhabitants came originally from Mauritania,
and this he founds on the resemblance of names of places in Africa
and in the islands: "for," says he, "Telde[214], which is the name
of the oldest habitation in Canaria, Orotaba, and Tegesta, are all
names which we find given to places in Mauritania and in Mount
Atlas. It is to be supposed that Canaria, Fuertaventura, and
Lancerotta, were peopled by the Alarbes[215], who are the nation
most esteemed in Barbary; for the natives of those islands named
milk _Aho_, and barley _Temecin_, which are the names that are
given to those things in the language of the Alarbes of Barbary."
He adds, that--

"Among the books of a library that was in the cathedral of St. Anna
in Canaria, there was found one so disfigured, that it wanted both
the beginning and the end: it treated of the Romans, and gave an
380 account, that when Africa was a Roman province, the natives of
Mauritania rebelled and killed their presidents and governors, upon
which the senate, resolving to punish and make a severe example of
the rebels, sent a powerful army into Mauritania, which vanquished
and reduced them again to obedience. Soon after the ringleaders of
the rebellion were put to death, and the tongues of the common
people, together with those of their wives and children, were cut
out, and then they were all put aboard vessels with some grain and
cattle, and transported to the Canary islands." [216]

[Footnote 214: Telde or Tildie is a place in the Atlas
mountains, three miles east of Agadeer; the castle is in
ruins.]

[Footnote 215: The Alarbes, this is the name that the
inhabitants of Lower Suse and Sahara have, _El Arab_ or Arabs.]

[Footnote 216: One Thomas Nicols, who lived seven years in the
Canary Islands, and wrote a history of them, says, that the
best account he could get of the origin of the natives, was,
that they were exiles from Africa, banished thence by the
Romans, who cut out their tongues for blaspheming their gods.]

The following vocabulary will show the similarity of language
between the natives of Canaria and the Shelluhs (inhabitants of the
Atlas mountains south of Marocco).

LANCEROTTA AND SHELLUH OR ENGLISH.
FUERTAVENTURA DIALECT. LYBIAN TONGUE.

Temasin Tumzeen Barley
Tezzezes Tezezreat Sticks
Taginaste Taginast A palm-tree
Tahuyan Tahuyat A blanket,
covering, or petticoat.
Ahemon Amen Water
381 Faycag Faquair Priest or lawyer
Acoran M'koorn God
Almogaren Talmogaren Temples
Tamoyanteen Tigameen Houses
Tawacen Tamouren Hogs
Archormase Akermuse Green figs
Azamotan Azamittan Barley meal fried in oil
Tigot Tigot Heaven
Tigotan Tigotan The Heavens
Thener Athraar A mountain
Adeyhaman Douwaman A hollow valley
Ahico Tahayk A hayk, or coarse garment
Kabeheira Kabeera A head man or a powerful
Ahoren ---- Barley meal roasted
Ara ---- A goat
Ana ---- A sheep
Tagarer ---- A place of justice

Benehoare, the name of the natives of Palma.

Beni Hoarie, a tribe of Arabs in Suse between Agadeer and
Terodant.[217]

[Footnote 217: For further particulars, see Glasse's History of
the Canary Islands, 4to. page 174.]

382

TITLES
OF
THE EMPEROR OF MAROCCO,
STYLE OF ADDRESSING HIM,
AND
SPECIMENS OF EPISTOLARY CORRESPONDENCE.

* * * * *

_THE TITLES OF THE EMPEROR_
ARE

Servant of God.

Commander, Captain, or Leader of the (Mumeneen) _Faithful_ [i.e. in
Muhamed], _upheld by the Grace of God_.

_Prince of Hassenee_. Ever supported by God.

_Sultan of Fas, of Maroksh_ [Marocco], _of Suse, and of Draha, and
of Tafilelt and Tuat, together with all the kabyles_ [tribes] _of
the West, and of the Berebbers of Atlas, &c._

The Sultan calls his soldiers (_ketteffee_) "my shoulders or
support, or strength;" his subjects he calls his sons (_woledee_),
and himself the father of his people.

N.B. The Hejra, or Muhamedan æra began A.D. 622. The Muhamedan
years are lunar, 33 of which are about 32 solar years.

383

THE STYLE
USED BY MUSELMEN,
_IN ADDRESSING THE EMPEROR,_
IS AS FOLLOWS:

"Sultan of exalted dignity, whom God preserve. May the Almighty
protect that royal purity, and bestow happiness, increase of
wealth, and prosperity on the nation of believers [i.e. in
Muhamed], whose welfare and power is attributed entirely to the
favour and benevolence of the Exalted God."

The Sultan is head of the ecclesiastical, military, and civil law,
and is universally considered by his subjects God's Vicegerent, or
Lieutenant on Earth. All letters written to his Imperial Majesty,
are begun with the praise of God, and with the acknowledgment, (in
opposition to idolatry,) that there is neither beginning nor power
but what proceeds from God, the eternal God, (_La hule û la kûa ela
billa, Allah el adeem_.)

384

SPECIMENS
OF
_MUHAMEDAN EPISTOLARY CORRESPONDENCE._

* * * * *

_The following Letters are literal translations from the original
Arabic, and, although not of great importance, yet it is some
satisfaction to the enquiring mind, to observe the various modes of
address, and to note the style of Epistolary Correspondence
practised by the Muhamedans, which is so different from that which
is used among European and other nations._

* * * * *