Chapter I: From Mourzuk to Kouka in Bornou (1)

On the evening of the 29th of November we left Mourzuk, accompanied by nearly all those of the town, who could muster a horse: the camels had moved early in the day, and at Zezow we found the tents pitched—there are here merely a few huts. From Zezow to Traghan there is a good high road, with frequent incrustations of salt, and we arrived there before noon. It is a clean walled town, one of the best of one hundred and nine, of which Fezzan is said to boast. Traghan was formerly as rich as Mourzuk, and was the capital and residence of a sultan, who governed the eastern part of Fezzan, whose castle, in ruins, may still be seen.

A maraboot, of great sanctity, is the principal person in Traghan, as his father was before him. During the reign of the present bashaw’s father, when the Arab troops appeared before the town, the then maraboot and chief went out to meet them; and, from his own stores, paid sixty thousand dollars to prevent the property of his townspeople from being plundered. They make carpets here equal to those of Constantinople. There are some springs of good water in the gardens near the town, the only ones in Fezzan, it is said, except the tepid one at Hammam, near Sockna.

After being crammed, as it were, by the hospitality of the maraboot, we left Traghan for Maefen, an assemblage of date huts, with but one house. The road to this place lies over a mixture of sand and salt, having a curious and uncommon appearance: the surface is full of cracks, and in many places it has the effect of a new ploughed field: the clods are so hard, that it is with great difficulty they can be broken. The path by which all the animals move for some miles is a narrow space, or stripe, worn smooth, bearing a resemblance, both in hardness and appearance, to ice: near Maefen, it assumes a new and more beautiful shape, the cracks are larger, and from the sides of cavities several feet deep hang beautiful crystals, from beds of frost of the purest white[9]. I broke off a large mass, but the interior was as brittle as the exterior was difficult to break; the frost work was fine salt, and fell away in flakes on being lightly shaken. It extends more than twenty miles, east and west. The water of Maefen, though strongly tinctured with soda, is not disagreeable to the taste, or unwholesome.

Quitting Maefen, we quickly entered on a desert plain; and, after a dreary fourteen hours march for camels, we arrived at Mestoola, a maten, or resting place, where the camels find some little grazing from a plant called Ahgul. Starting at sun-rise, we had another fatiguing day over the same kind of desert, without, I think, seeing one living thing that did not belong to our kafila—not a bird, or even an insect: the sand is beautifully fine, round, and red. We now arrived at Gatrone. The Arabs watch for a sight of the high date trees, which surround this town, as sailors look for land; and after discovering these landmarks, they shape their course accordingly.

I here joined my companions, whom I found in a state of health but ill calculated for undertaking a long and tedious journey. During my stay at Mourzuk, I had suffered from a severe attack of fever, which had kept me for ten days in my bed; and although considerably debilitated, yet was I strong in comparison with my associates. Doctor Oudney was suffering much from his cough, and still complaining of his chest. Mr. Clapperton’s ague had not left him, and Hillman had been twice attacked so violently as to be given over by the doctor. We all, however, looked forward anxiously to proceeding, and fancied that change of scene and warmer weather would bring us all round. Gatrone is not unpleasingly situated: it is surrounded by sandhills, and mounds of earth covered with a small tree, called athali. Huts are built all round the town for the Tibboos.

Though encamped on the south side of the town, we had cold north and north-east winds, and the thermometer in the tent was from 43 to 45 in the mornings. The person of the greatest importance at Gatrone is one Hagi-el-Raschid, a large proprietor and a maraboot. He is a man of very clear understanding and amiable manners, and as he uses the superstition of the people as the means of making them happy and turning them from vicious pursuits, one becomes almost reconciled to an impostor.

Much necessary arrangement had been made here by laying in a stock of dates, &c. for our long journey: and at eleven A.M. we left Gatrone. The maraboot accompanied Boo-Khaloom outside the town, and having drawn, not a magic circle, but a parallelogram, on the sand, with his wand he wrote in it certain words of great import from the Koran; the crowd looking on in silent astonishment, while he assumed a manner both graceful and imposing, so as to make it impossible for any one to feel at all inclined to ridicule his motions. When he had finished repeating the fatah aloud, he invited us singly to ride through the spot he had consecrated, and, having obeyed him, we silently proceeded on our journey, without even repeating an adieu.

We passed a small nest of huts on the road, prettily situated, called El-Bahhi, from whence the women of the place followed us with songs for several miles. Having halted at Medroosa, we moved on the next morning, and leaving an Arab castle to the south-east, and some table-top hills, bearing south and by east, we arrived at Kasrowa by three in the afternoon.

Kasrowa has tumuli of some height all round the town, covered with the plant athali, and there is a well of good water: a road from hence branches off to the south-east, which goes to Kanem and Waday. It is also said to be the shortest road to Bornou, but there is a great scarcity of water.

On the 9th, we were to arrive at Tegerhy; and the Arabs commenced skirmishing as soon as we came within sight of it, and kept it up in front of the town for half an hour after our arrival.

We were here to halt for a day or two, for the purpose of taking in the remainder of our dates and provisions, and never was halt more acceptable. Hillman, our carpenter, and two of our servants, were really too ill to be moved; two of them had fevers, and one the ague. Hillman had been so weakened by previous attacks, as to be lifted on and off his mule: indeed we were all sickly. Doctor Oudney’s complaint in his chest, and his cough, had gradually become worse; and going only a few hundred yards to see a _dome_ date tree so fatigued him that, after lying down, he was obliged to return, supported by Mr. Clapperton. As our servants were all ill, one of the negro women made us a mess of kouscasou, with some preserved fat, which had been prepared in Mourzuk: it was a sorry meal, for the fat was rancid; and although tired, and not very strong, I could not refuse an invitation, about nine at night, after I had lain down to sleep, to eat camel’s heart with Boo-Khaloom: it was wofully hard and tough, and I suffered the next morning from indulging too much at the feast.

Engraved by E. Finden.

CASTLE AND SALT LAKE AT TEGERHY.

_Published by John Murray, London. Feb. 1826._]

The Tibboos and Arabs kept us awake half the night with their singing and dancing, in consequence of the bousafer, or feast, on entering the Tibboo country. Boo-Khaloom gave two camels, and we gave one. Our sick seemed to gain a little strength; and as we had succeeded in purchasing a sheep, a little soup seemed to revive them much; but we feared that Hillman and one of the servants must be left behind. However distressing would such an event have been, it was impossible for men who could not sit upright on a mule to commence a journey of fifteen days over a desert, during which travellers are obliged to march from sunrise until dark.

The 12th December was a beautifully mild morning, the thermometer at eight being at 56. After breakfast, all seemed revived; but it was with pain I observed the exceeding weakness of Doctor Oudney and Hillman. I managed to get a sketch of the castle of Tegerhy from the south side of a salt pool close to the town; the entrance to which is small, low, and arched, something resembling a sally-port: within a second wall and gateway, there are loop-holes which would render the entrance by the narrow passage before mentioned extremely difficult: above the second gateway, there is also an opening from whence missiles and firebrands, of which the Arabs formerly made great use, might be poured on the assailants. Wells of water are within the walls, and tolerably good; and with supplies, when in a state of repair, I have no doubt Tegerhy might make a very good defence.

The sultans of Fezzan probably think that the only means of keeping these people in order is by keeping them poor. Their only produce is dates, but those are of excellent quality. No vegetables are raised here, and we could not even procure an onion. Almost every town in Africa has its charm or wonder, and Tegerhy is not without one. There is a well just outside the castle gates, the water of which, we were told most gravely, “always rose when a kafila was coming near the town! that the inhabitants always prepared what they had to sell on seeing this water increase in bulk, for it never deceived them!”—In proof of this assertion, they pointed out to me how much higher the water had been previous to our arrival than it was at the moment we were standing on the brink. This I could have explained by the number of camels that had drank at it, but I saw it was better policy to believe what every body allowed to be true: even Boo-Khaloom exclaimed, “Allah! God is great, powerful, and wise! How wonderful! Oh!” Over the inner gate of the castle there is a large hole through to the gateway underneath, and they tell a story of a woman dropping from thence a stone on the head of some leader who had gained the outer wall, giving him, by that means, the death of Abimelech in sacred history.

The situation of Tegerhy is rather pleasing than otherwise: it is surrounded by date trees, and the water is excellent; a range of low hills extends to the eastward; and snipes, wild-ducks, and geese, frequent the salt-pools, which are near the town. The natives are quite black, but have not the negro face: the men are slim, very plain, with high cheek bones, the negro nose, large mouth, teeth much stained by the quantity of tobacco and _trona_ (or muriate of soda) which they eat; and even snuff, when given to them, goes directly into their mouths.

The young girls are most of them pretty, but less so than those of Gatrone. The men always carry two daggers, one about eighteen inches, and the other six inches, the latter of which is attached to a ring and worn on the arm or wrist. A Tibboo once told me, pointing to the long one, “this is my gun; and this,” showing the smaller of the two, “is my pistol.” The women make baskets and drinking-bowls of palm leaves with great neatness.

On the 13th, we left Tegerhy, and proceeded on the desert: it was scattered with mounds of earth and sand, covered with athila (a plant the camels eat with avidity), and other shrubs. After travelling six miles we arrived at a well called Omah, where our tents were pitched, and here we halted three days. On the 16th, after clearing the palm trees, by which Omah is surrounded, we proceeded on the desert. About nine we had a slight shower of rain. At three in the afternoon, we came to a halt at Ghad, after travelling ten miles. Near the wells of Omah, numbers of human skeletons, or parts of skeletons, lay scattered on the sands. Hillman, who had suffered dreadfully since leaving Tegerhy, was greatly shocked at these whitened skulls, and unhallowed remains; so much so, as to want all the encouragement I could administer to him.

Dec. 17.—We continued our course over a stony plain, without the least appearance of vegetation. Coarse opal and sand-stone[10] strewed the path. We saw Alowere-Seghrir, a ridge of hills, bearing east by south; Alowere-El-Kebir, a still higher ridge, lies more to the east, but was not visible. These, by the accounts of the natives, are the highest mountains in the Tibboo country, with the exception of Ercherdat Erner. More to the south, the inhabitants are called _Tibboo-Irchad_ (the Tibboos of the rocks). Through passes in both these mountains, the road lies to Kanem. About sunset, we halted near a well, within a half mile of Meshroo. Round this spot were lying more than one hundred skeletons, some of them with the skin still remaining attached to the bones—not even a little sand thrown over them. The Arabs laughed heartily at my expression of horror, and said, “they were only blacks, _nam boo_!” (damn their fathers!) and began knocking about the limbs with the butt end of their firelocks, saying, “This was a woman! This was a youngster!” and such like unfeeling expressions. The greater part of the unhappy people, of whom these were the remains, had formed the spoils of the sultan of Fezzan the year before. I was assured that they had left Bornou with not above a quarter’s allowance for each; and that more died from want than fatigue: they were marched off with chains round their necks and legs: the most robust only arrived in Fezzan in a very debilitated state, and were there fattened for the Tripoli slave market.

Our camels did not come up until it was quite dark, and we bivouacked in the midst of these unearthed remains of the victims of persecution and avarice, after a long day’s journey of twenty-six miles, in the course of which, one of our party counted 107 of these skeletons.

Dec. 19[11].—Moved round a winding pass to the west, and after an ascent of three hundred feet descended a sandy steep to the east. This was rather a picturesque spot, looking back upon Thenea. Our road lay over a long plain with a slight ridge. A fine naga (she-camel) lay down on the road this day, as I thought from fatigue. The Arabs crowded round, and commenced unloading her, when, upon inquiry, I found that she was suddenly taken in labour: about five minutes completed the operation,—a very fine little animal was literally dragged into light. It was then thrown across another camel; and the mother, after being reloaded, followed quietly after her offspring. One of the skeletons we passed to-day had a very fresh appearance; the beard was still hanging to the skin of the face, and the features were still discernible. A merchant, travelling with the kafila, suddenly exclaimed, “That was my slave! I left him behind four months ago, near this spot.”—“Make haste! take him to the fsug” (market), said an Arab wag, “for fear any body else should claim him.” We had no water, and a most fatiguing day.

Dec. 20 was also a dreary day of most uninteresting country; and it was 5. 30. when we arrived at the Hormut-el-Wahr. These were the highest hills we had seen since leaving Fezzan: the highest peak might be five or six hundred feet. They had a bold black appearance, and were a relief to the eye, after the long level we had quitted. We entered the pass, which is nearly two miles in width, and wound round some high hills to the south: the path was rugged and irregular in the extreme, and bordered by bold conical and table-topped detached hills. We blundered and stumbled on until ten at night, when we found the resting-place, after a toilsome and most distressing day. We were several times foiled in our attempt to find a path into the wadey, under these hills, by which the camels might move, and where the water was. Hillman was exceedingly ill this night, and Dr. Oudney too fatigued to render him any assistance. El-Wahr is a wadey of loose gravel, and has a well of good water. This was the eighth day since our camels had tasted water: they were weak and sore-footed, from the stony nature of the passes in these hills of El-Wahr. At night it blew a hurricane.

It is three miles from where we halted to the end of the wadey; where, to the west, there is a high hill called El-Baab. These hills extend away to the east, and form part of the range which are found near Tibesty, where they become higher and bolder. We had now a stony plain, with low hills of sand and gravel, till we reached El-Garha, which is a detached conical hill to the west, close to our road; and here we halted for the night[12].

Dec. 22.—We moved before daylight, passing some rough sand hills, mixed with red stone, to the west, over a plain of fine gravel, and halted at the maten, called El-Hammar, close under a bluff head, which had been in view since quitting our encampment in the morning. Strict orders had been given this day for the camels to keep close up, and for the Arabs not to straggle—the Tibboo Arabs having been seen on the look out. During the last two days, we had passed on an average from sixty to eighty or ninety skeletons each day; but the numbers that lay about the wells at El-Hammar were countless: those of two women, whose perfect and regular teeth bespoke them young, were particularly shocking; their arms still remained clasped round each other as they had expired; although the flesh had long since perished by being exposed to the burning rays of the sun, and the blackened bones only left: the nails of the fingers, and some of the sinews of the hand, also remained; and part of the tongue of one of them still appeared through the teeth. We had now passed six days of desert without the slightest appearance of vegetation, and a little branch of the souak was brought me here as a comfort and curiosity. On the following day we had alternately plains of sand and loose gravel, and had a distant view of some hills to the west. While I was dozing on my horse about noon, overcome by the heat of the sun, which at that time of the day always shone with great power, I was suddenly awakened by a crashing under his feet, which startled me excessively. I found that my steed had, without any sensation of shame or alarm, stepped upon the perfect skeletons of two human beings, cracking their brittle bones under his feet, and, by one trip of his foot, separating a skull from the trunk, which rolled on like a ball before him. This event gave me a sensation which it took some time to remove. My horse was for many days not looked upon with the same regard as formerly.

Dec. 24.—When the rains fall, which they do here in torrents in the season, a sort of grass quickly springs up many feet high. In passing the desert, a few remaining roots of this dried grass, which had been blown by the winds from Bodemam, were eagerly seized on by the Arabs, with cries of joy, for their hungry camels. The plain was this day covered with slight irregularities, and strewed with various coloured stones—thick beds of gypsum, stones resembling topazes, and pieces of calcareous spar, which, reflecting the rays of the setting-sun, displayed a most beautiful variety of tints. An incrustation of fine whiting lay in patches, at no great distance from the well: and soon after the sun had retired behind the hills to the west, we descended into a wadey, where about a dozen stunted bushes (not trees) of palm marked the spot where the water was to be found. Even these miserable bushes were a great relief to the eye, after the dreary sameness of the preceding days; and at day-break in the morning, I could not help smiling at seeing Hillman gazing at them with pleasure in his look, while he declared they reminded him of a valley near his own home in the West of England. The wells are situated under a ridge of low white hills of sandstone, called Mafrasben-Kasarettsa, where there are also beds and hills of limestone. The wells were so choked up with sand, that several cart-loads of it were removed previous to finding sufficient water; and even then the animals could not drink until near ten at night.

One of our nagas had this day her accouchement on the road; and we all looked forward to the milk which the Arabs assured us she had in abundance, and envied us not a little our morning draughts, which we were already quaffing in imagination. However, one of the “many slips between the cup and the lip” was to befall us. The poor thing suddenly fell, and as suddenly died: the exclamations of the Arabs were dreadful.—“The evil eye! the evil eye!” they all exclaimed—“She was sure to die, I knew it.”—“Well! if she had been mine, I would rather have lost a child, or three slaves!”—“God be praised! God is great, powerful, and wise! those looks of the people are always fatal.”

Dec. 25.—This was a beautiful mild morning: the thermometer 54. at 6. 30. Our skins were here filled with water which was not disagreeable, although strongly impregnated with sulphur. The camels moved at eight. The head of a range of high hills bore west-south-west, called Tiggerindumma: they resemble in shape and structure those we had passed nearer: they extend to the west, as far as the _Arooda_, five days hence, where there is a well; and ten days beyond which is Ghraat. At the distance of four miles from Mafras, we came to a small wadey, where we saw the first dome date trees: they were full of fruit, though green. We continued winding amongst a nest of hills,—crossed two water-courses, in which were tulloh and dry grass (_ashub_), until seven. These hills are bold and picturesque, composed of black and coloured sandstone. No water.

Dec. 26[13].—We emerged from the hills, and broke into a plain, extending to the east as far as the eye could reach; to the west, Tiggerindumma sweeps off, and forming nearly a semi-circle, appears again to the south, a very handsome range, though not exceeding six hundred feet at any part in height. After passing between two low ridges of dark hills, we opened on a plain bounded with flat-topped and conical hills, called La Gaba. We found pieces of iron ore this day, kidney-shaped, and of various other forms. We travelled till nine at night, when some of us were nearly falling from our horses with fatigue. After a narrow stony pass, we came to a halt in a wadey called Izhya.

Here we had a gale of wind from the north-east for three days. Our tents were nearly buried in sand, and we were obliged to roll ourselves up in blankets nearly the whole time.

Dec. 30.—Izhya is called by the Tibboos Yaat. There are here four wells, which resemble troughs cut in the sand, two or three feet deep; and it is said, that by thus digging, water may be found in any part of the wadey. We were encamped nearly west of the wells, about one hundred yards between them and a raas, or head, which had been in sight for some time. This head is a land-mark to kafilas, coming in all directions, who wish to make the wadey. We passed Ametradumma about four hours; from which, to the north-west, is a wadey of palms, called Seggedem, with sweet water: here is generally a tribe of plundering Tibboos, who are always on the look out for small kafilas. No water.

Dec. 31.—A cold shivering morning. At 7. 30. thermometer 49., and we had a long day’s march over a plain, varying but little from Izhya. The Arabs had no knowledge of the road; and the Tibboo guide was all we had to rely on. We kept on until late, when the Tibboo acknowledged he had lost the road, that the well was not far off, but where he knew not; we therefore halted under some low brown sandstone hills, and determined on waiting for the daylight. We lost a camel this day from fatigue.

1823.

On the 1st January, after six miles’ travelling, we came to the wadey Ikbar, and rested on the 2d. The Arabs here caught an hyæna (dhubba), and brought it to us: we, however, had no wish beyond looking at it. They then tied it to a tree, and shot at it until the poor animal was literally knocked to pieces. This was the most refreshing spot we had seen for many days; there were dome trees loaded with fruit, though not ripe, which lay in clusters, and grass in abundance; and I could have stayed here a week with pleasure, so reviving is the least appearance of cultivation, or rather a sprinkling of Nature’s beauty, after the parching wilds of the long dreary desert we had passed.

Jan. 3.—Looking back with regret at leaving the few green branches in Ikbar, with nothing before us but the dark hills and sandy desert, we ascended slightly from the wadey, and leaving the hills of Ikbar, proceeded towards a prominent head in a low range to the east of our course, called Tummeraskumma, meaning “you’ll soon drink water;” and about two miles in advance, we halted just under a ridge of the same hills, after making twenty-four miles. Four camels knocked up during this day’s march: on such occasions the Arabs wait, in savage impatience, in the rear, with their knives in their hands, ready, on the signal of the owner, to plunge them into the poor animal, and tear off a portion of the flesh for their evening meal. We were obliged to kill two of them on the spot; the other two, it was hoped, would come up in the night. I attended the slaughter of one; and despatch being the order of the day, a knife is struck in the camel’s heart while his head is turned to the east, and he dies almost in an instant; but before that instant expires, a dozen knives are thrust into different parts of the carcass, in order to carry off the choicest part of the flesh. The heart, considered as the greatest delicacy, is torn out, the skin stripped from the breast and haunches, part of the meat cut, or rather torn, from the bones, and thrust into bags, which they carry for the purpose; and the remainder of the carcass is left for the crows, vultures, and hyænas, while the Arabs quickly follow the kafila.

Engraved by E. Finden.

ANAY.

TIBBOO COUNTRY.

_Published Feb. 1826, by John Murray, London._]

Jan. 4.—We crossed the ridge before us by eight this morning, and proceeded between a conical hill to the east and one to the west, called Gummaganumma. We had a fine open space of a mile in width between these hills, and about noon we came to a large mass of dark, soft sandstone, one hundred feet in height; about twenty yards from this stone is a rising well of water, only a few inches deep, and a sprinkling of coarse grass. Arabs call the spot “Irchat,” Tibboos, “Anay.” The sultan’s army halted here two days, on its return from Begharmi.

The town of Anay consists of a few huts built on the top of a similar mass of stone to the one we had just left; round the base of the rock are also habitations, but their riches are always kept aloft. The Tuaricks annually, and sometimes oftener, pay them a most destructive visit, carrying off cattle and every thing they can lay their hands on. The people on these occasions take refuge at the top of the rock; they ascend by a rude ladder, which is drawn up after them; and as the sides of their citadel are always precipitous, they defend themselves with their missiles, and by rolling down stones on the assailants. The people who came out to meet us had each four short spears and one long one.

Jan. 5.—The Sultan Tibboo, whose territory extends from this place to Bilma, was visiting a town to the south-west of Anay, called Kisbee, and he requested Boo-Khaloom to halt there one day, promising to proceed with him to Bilma; we accordingly made Kisbee this day, distant five miles. Our animals got some pickings of dry grass.

Kisbee is a great place of rendezvous for all kafilas and merchants; and it is here that the sultan always takes his tribute for permission to pass through his country. It is eight days distant from Aghadis, twenty-four from Kashna, and, by good travelling by the nearest road, twenty-seven from Bornou[14]. The sultan had neither much majesty nor cleanliness of appearance: he came to Boo-Khaloom’s tent accompanied by six or seven Tibboos, some of them really hideous. They take a quantity of snuff both in their mouths and noses; their teeth were of a deep yellow; the nose resembles nothing so much as a round lump of flesh stuck on the face; and the nostrils are so large, that their fingers go up as far as they will reach, in order to ensure the snuff an admission into the head. My watch, compass, and musical snuff-box, created but little astonishment; they looked at their own faces in the bright covers, and were most stupidly inattentive to what would have excited the wonder of almost any imagination, however savage: here was the “os sublime,” but the “spiritus intus,” the “mens divinior,” was scarcely discoverable. Boo-Khaloom gave the sultan a fine scarlet bornouse, which seemed a little to animate his stupid features. We had a dance by Tibboo-men performed in front of our tents, in the evening: it is graceful and slow, but not so well adapted to the male as the female; it was succeeded by one performed by some free slaves from Soudan, who were living with the Tibboos, enjoying their liberty, as they said. It appears most violent exertion: one man is placed in the middle of a circle, which he endeavours to break, and each one whom he approaches throws him off, while he adds to the impetus by a leap, and ascends several feet from the ground:—when one has completed the round, another takes his place.

An Arab returned this evening, whom I had sent the night before for the purpose of finding a poodle dog which had accompanied me from Malta, and had remained behind from fatigue, the day we left Ikbar: he was unsuccessful, and said that some of the wandering Tibboos must have eaten him; he had found marks in the sand of the footsteps of these people, and the remains of the two camels we had left on the road were carried off: he traced their steps to the east, but was afraid to follow them. It is from these wanderers that small kafilas, or single merchants, have to dread attack. Generally speaking, the regular sheikhs are satisfied by levying a tax, while these are contented with nothing short of the whole.

Jan. 6.—At seven the thermometer was 42° in the tent.—About five miles from Kisbee we left a wadey called Kilboo, by the Tibboos Trona to our left, and coming close under the ridge of hills at a point called Ametrigamma, we proceeded to Ashenumma, which is about four miles beyond, with the high hills to the east, and a very pleasing wadey to the west, producing palm and other trees. A violent disturbance arose this morning on the road among our Arabs; one of them having shot a ball through the shirt of another of the Magarha tribe: the sheikh of the Magarha took up the quarrel, and the man saved himself from being punished, by hanging to the stirrup leather of my saddle. The Arab sheikh made use of some expressions in defending his man, which displeased Boo-Khaloom, who instantly knocked him off his horse, and his slaves soundly bastinadoed him.

Tiggema, near which we halted, is one of the highest points in the range, and hangs over the mud houses of the town: this point stands at the south extremity of the recess, which the hills here form, and is about four hundred feet high; the sides are nearly perpendicular, and it is detached from the other hills by a chasm. On the approach of the Tuaricks the whole population flock to the top of these heights, with all their property, and make the best defence they can. The insides of some of the houses are neat and tidy; the men are generally travelling merchants, or rather pedlers, and probably do not pass more than four months in the year with their families, for the Tibboos rarely go beyond Bornou to the south, or Mourzuk to the north; they appeared light-hearted, and happy as people constantly in dread of such visitors as the Tuaricks can be, who spare neither age nor sex. A wadey, comparatively fertile, extends several miles parallel to the heights under which the village stands, producing dates and grass in abundance, and a salt water or trona lake is within two miles of them, in which are wild fowl. Mr. Clapperton shot two of the plover species, with spurs on their wings. A general caution was given for no person to go out of the circle after sunset.

Jan. 8[15].—Our course was still under the range of hills, and at five miles distance we came to another town called Alighi, and two miles beyond that another called Tukumani: these towns were built to the south of, and sheltered by slight projections from, the hills under which they were placed. The people always came out to meet us, and when within about fifty paces of the horses, fell on their knees singing and beating a sort of drum, which always accompanies their rejoicing. To the west of both these towns is a salt lake resembling the one near Ashenumma, but rather smaller. We proceeded from hence nearly south-west, leaving the hills, and while resting under the shade of some gourd trees, which are here abundant, we had the agreeable, and to us very novel, sight of a drove of oxen: the bare idea of once more being in a country that afforded beef and pasture was consoling in the extreme, and the luxurious thought of fresh milk, wholesome food, and plenty, was most exhilarating to us all. At two we came to a halt at Dirkee. A good deal of powder was here expended in honour of the sultan, who again met us on our approach: his new scarlet bornouse was thrown over a filthy checked shirt, and his turban and cap, though once white, were rapidly approaching to the colour of the head they covered; when, however, the next morning his majesty condescended to ask me for a small piece of soap, these little negligences in his outward appearance were more easily accounted for.

We had rather a numerous assembly of females, who danced for some hours before the tents: some of their movements were not inelegant, and not unlike the Greek dances as they are represented. The sultan regaled us with cheese, and ground nuts from Soudan, the former of a pleasant flavour, but so hard that we were obliged to moisten it with water previous to eating. Dirkee is of a different description from the Tibboo towns we had seen: it stands in a wadey, is a mile in circumference, and it has two trona lakes, one to the east, and the other to the west. Of this saline substance an account will be found in the Appendix.—It is generally supposed that these lakes were originally caused by taking from the spot they now occupy the earth which was required for building the town, and its surrounding walls. Water, as we have before observed, is found in many parts of this country, at the depth of from six inches to six feet, and the soil near the surface, particularly in the neighbourhood of these Tibboo towns, is very powerfully impregnated by saline substances; so much so, that incrustations of pure, or nearly pure, trona are found sometimes extending several miles. The borders of these lakes have the same appearance: they are composed of a black mud, which almost as soon as exposed to the sun and air becomes crisp like fresh dug earth in a frosty morning. In the centre of each of these lakes is a solid body or island of trona, which the inhabitants say increases in size annually: the one in the lake to the east is probably fourteen or fifteen feet in height, and one hundred in circumference: the edges quite close to the water are solid, nor is there any appearance of mud or slime; it breaks off in firm pieces, but is easily reduced to powder[16]. There are several wells in the town of tolerably good water very slightly impregnated with the trona taste.

Dirkee, from its situation in the wadey, is more exposed to the attacks of the Tuaricks than the towns nearer the hills, and on this account, they say, it is so thinly peopled. The houses have literally nothing within them, not even a mat; and a few women and old men are the only inhabitants: the men, they said, were all on journeys, or at Kisbee, Ashenumma, or Bilma, where they go themselves after the date season. During the time we halted here, the women brought us dates fancifully strung on rushes in the shape of hearts with much ingenuity, and a few pots of honey and fat.

We halted two days. So many of Boo-Khaloom’s camels had fallen on the road, that notwithstanding all their peaceable professions, a marauding party was sent out to plunder some maherhies, and bring them in; an excursion that was sanctioned by the sultan, who gave them instructions as to the route they were to take. The former deeds of the Arabs are, however, still in the memory of the Tibboos, and they had increased the distance between their huts and the high road by a timely striking of their tents. But nine camels of the maherhy species were brought in, yet not without a skirmish: a fresh party was despatched, and did not return at night. We were all ordered to remain loaded, and no one was allowed to quit the circle in which the tents were pitched.

On the 11th we proceeded along the wadey. The thickly scattered mimosa trees afforded some very delightful varieties of shade. Our course was nearly two miles distant from the hills[17], which are all here called Tiggema. After our march, while waiting for the coming up of the camels, the Tibboos tried their skill with the spear, and were far more expert than I expected to see them; the arm is bent, and the hand not higher than the right shoulder, when they discharge the spear: as it leaves the hand, they give it a strong twist with the fingers, and as it flies it spins in the air. An old man of sixty struck a tree twice at twenty yards; and another, a powerful young man, threw the spear full eighty yards: when it strikes the ground, it sometimes bends nearly double: all who travel on foot carry two. Another weapon, which a Tibboo carries, is a sword of a very peculiar form, called hungamunga; of these they sometimes carry three or four. The Arabs, who had been out foraging, returned with thirteen camels, which they had much difficulty in bringing: the Tibboos had followed them several miles. We had patroles the whole night, who, to awaken us for the purpose of assuring us they were awake themselves, were constantly exclaiming Balek-ho, the watchword of the Arabs. We had near us a well of very good water amidst high grass and agoul. On the surface was a saline incrustation of several inches in thickness; below, a sandstone rock, and at a depth of two feet, water clear and good. We had also this day a dish of venison, one of the Arabs having succeeded in shooting two gazelles; many of which had crossed our path for the last three days. On finding a young one, only a few days old, the tawny, wily rogue instantly lay down in the grass, imitated the cry of the young one, and as the mother came bounding towards the spot, he shot her in the throat.

On the 12th we reached Bilma[18], the capital of the Tibboos, and the residence of their sultan, who, having always managed to get before and receive us, advanced a mile from the town attended by some fifty of his men at arms, and double the number of the sex we call fair. The men had most of them bows and arrows, and all carried spears: they approached Boo Khaloom, shaking them in the air over their heads; and after this salutation we all moved on towards the town, the females dancing, and throwing themselves about with screams and songs in a manner to us quite original. They were of a superior class to those of the minor towns; some having extremely pleasing features, while the pearly white of their regular teeth was beautifully contrasted with the glossy black of their skin, and the triangular flaps of plaited hair, which hung down on each side of their faces, streaming with oil, with the addition of the coral in the nose, and large amber necklaces, gave them a very seducing appearance. Some of them carried a sheish, a fan made of soft grass, or hair, for the purpose of keeping off the flies; others a branch of a tree, and some fans of ostrich feathers, or a bunch of keys: all had something in their hands, which they wave over their heads as they advance. One wrapper of Soudan tied on the top of the left shoulder, leaving the right breast bare, formed their covering, while a smaller one was thrown over the head, which hung down to their shoulders, or was thrown back at pleasure: notwithstanding the apparent scantiness of their habiliments, nothing could be farther from indelicate than was their appearance or deportment.

On arriving at Bilma, we halted under the shade of a large tulloh tree while the tents were pitching; and the women danced with great taste, and, as I was assured by the sultan’s nephew, with skill also. As they approach each other, accompanied by the slow beat of an instrument formed out of a gourd, covered with goat’s skin, for a long time their movements are confined to the head, hands, and body, which they throw from one side to the other, flourish in the air, and bend without moving the feet; suddenly, however, the music becomes quicker and louder, when they start into the most violent gestures, rolling their heads round, gnashing their teeth, and shaking their hands at each other, leaping up, and on each side, until one or both are so exhausted that they fall to the ground: another pair then take their place.

I now, for the first time, produced Captain Lyon’s book in Boo Khaloom’s tent, and on turning over the prints of the natives he swore, and exclaimed, and insisted upon it, that he knew every face:—“This was such a one’s slave—that was his own—he was right—he knew it. Praised be God for the talents he gave the English! they were shater, clever; wolla shater, very clever!” Of a landscape, however, I found that he had not the least idea; nor could I make him at all understand the intention of the print of the sand-wind in the desert, which is really so well described by Captain Lyon’s drawing; he would look at it upside down; and when I twice reversed it for him, he exclaimed, “Why! why! it is all the same.” A camel or a human figure was all I could make him understand, and at these he was all agitation and delight—“Gieb! gieb! Wonderful! wonderful!” The eyes first took his attention, then the other features: at the sight of the sword, he exclaimed, “Allah! Allah!” and on discovering the guns instantly exclaimed, “Where is the powder?” This want of perception, as I imagined, in so intelligent a man, excited at first my surprise; but perhaps just the same would an European have felt under similar circumstances. Were an European to attain manhood without ever casting his eye upon the representation of a landscape on paper, would he immediately feel the particular beauties of the picture, the perspective and the distant objects? Certainly not: it is from our opportunities of contemplating works of art, even in the common walks of life, as well as to cultivation of mind, and associations of the finer feelings by an intercourse with the enlightened and accomplished, that we owe our quick perception in matters of this kind, rather than from nature.

To the south of Bilma are marshes with pools of stagnant water, which our horses could scarcely drink. The town stands in a hollow, and is surrounded by low mud walls, which, with the houses within, are mean and miserable. About two miles north of the town are a few huts, and near them several lakes, in which are great quantities of very pure crystallized salt: some was brought to us for sale in baskets, beautifully white, and of an excellent flavour. On visiting the two most productive lakes, which lay between low sand hills, I expressed my surprise at the difference between that which the Tibboos were carrying away from the heaps by the side of the water, and that which I had seen the day before: I however found that their time for gathering the salt was at the end of the dry season, when it was taken, in large masses, from the borders of the lake. This transparent kind they put into bags, and send to Bornou and Soudan; a coarser sort is also formed into hard pillars, and for which a ready market is found. In Soudan, a single pillar weighing eleven pounds brings four or five dollars. The Tuaricks supply themselves with salt entirely from the wadeys of the Tibboos. Twenty thousand bags of salt were said to have been carried off during the last year by the Tuaricks alone. The Tibboos say, “It is hard to rob us, not only for their own consumption, but for the purposes of commerce too; and in consequence of paying nothing for the commodity, undersell us likewise in the Soudan market.” But the Tibboos must be another people before they can keep the Tuaricks from plundering their country: a people who neither plant nor sow; whose education consists in managing a maherhy, and the use of the spear; and who live by plundering those around them, as well as those whom necessity or chance may lead to pass through their own country.

About a mile from Bilma is a spring of beautiful clear water, which rises to the surface of the earth, and waters a space of two or three hundred yards in circumference, which is covered with fresh grass: but passing this, the traveller must bid adieu to every appearance of vegetable production, and enter on a desert which requires thirteen days to cross. Near the first hill of sand I succeeded, with the assistance of two Arabs, in catching a small beautiful animal, nearly white, much resembling a fox in make and shape, although not larger than a moderate-sized cat. It was of the species called fitchet: the belly was white, and the back and rest of the body of a light brown colour; the tail was bushy like that of the fox, nearly white, and the end of the hair tipped with black.

Jan. 16.—Our road lay over loose hills of fine sand, in which the camels sank nearly knee-deep. In passing these desert wilds, where hills disappear in a single night by the drifting of the sand, and where all traces of the passage, even of a large kafila, sometimes vanish in a few hours, the Tibboos have certain points in the dark sandstone ridges, which from time to time raise their heads in the midst of this dry ocean of sand, and form the only variety, and by them they steer their course. From one of these landmarks we waded through sand formed into hills from twenty to sixty feet in height, with nearly perpendicular sides, the camels blundering and falling with their heavy loads. The greatest care is taken by the drivers in descending these banks: the Arabs hang with all their weight on the animal’s tail, by which means they steady him in his descent. Without this precaution the camel generally falls forward, and, of course, all he carries goes over his head. We halted at Kaflorum (where the kafila stops), which is a nest of hills of coarse, dark sandstone: an irregular peak to the east is called Gusser, or the castle. At the end of these hills, about two miles from the road, lies a wadey called Zow Seghrir, in which grows the suag tree, and also grass. Our course was south; but we were obliged to wind round the different sand hills in order to avoid the rapid descents, which were so distressing to the camels. We bivouacked under a head called Zow (the Difficult), to the east, where we found several wells.

Jan. 18.—The sand hills were less high to-day, but the animals sank so deep, that it was a tedious day for all. Four camels of Boo Khaloom’s gave in; two were killed by the Arabs, and two were left to the chance of coming up before morning. Tremendously dreary are these marches: as far as the eye can reach, billows of sand bound the prospect. On seeing the solitary foot passenger of the kafila, with his water-flask in his hand, and bag of zumeeta on his head, sink at a distance beneath the slope of one of these, as he plods his way alone, hoping to gain a few paces in his long day’s work, by not following the track of the camels, one trembles for his safety:—the obstacle passed which concealed him from the view, the eye is strained towards the spot in order to be assured that he has not been buried quick in the treacherous overwhelming sand.

An unfortunate merchant of Tripoli, Mohamed N’diff, who had suffered much on the road from an enlarged spleen, was here advised to undergo the operation of burning with a red-hot iron, the sovereign Arab remedy for almost every disorder: he consented; and, previous to our move this morning, he was laid down on his back, and, while five or six Arabs held him on the sand, the rude operators burnt him on the left side, under the ribs, in three places, nearly the size of a sixpence each. The iron was again placed in the fire, and while heating, the thumbs of about a dozen Arabs were thrust in different parts of the poor man’s side, to know if the pressure pained him, until his flesh was so bruised, that he declared all gave him pain: four more marks with the iron were now made near the former ones, upon which he was turned on his face, and three larger made within two inches of the back bone. One would have thought the operation was now at an end; but an old Arab, who had been feeling his throat for some time, declared a hot iron, and a large burn, absolutely necessary just above the collarbone, on the same side. The poor man submitted with wonderful patience to all this mangling, and after drinking a draught of water, moved on with the camels. We made this day twenty-one miles, and halted at Chukœma, which means half way. We lost more than twenty of our camels this day, by their straying out of the path.

Jan. 20.—We were promised to find water early; and as the animals had not drank the night before, we pushed on with our horses: we were told the wells were near; but it was a long twenty miles, over loose rolling sand hills. At less than half way, we passed two hills of dark sandstone, called Geisgae (_Dhubba_—the hyena), which had been in sight great part of yesterday; and at 1. 30. arrived at a wadey called Dibla (_Inchat tegeel_—heavy stone). In the wadey near is a little sprinkling of rusty grass, which the animals devoured with an avidity that would have done credit to better fare. The water was extremely brackish, and strongly impregnated with trona; but it was fresh and cool, and therefore a delightful beverage to us.