Chapter IV: relates, that in proceeding from Fezzan to Gharien,

on his way to Tripoli, he was met by several parties of Arabs, who were robbers by profession, and who rendered the rout so dangerous, that every individual in the caravan was obliged to carry a gun, a brace of pistols, and a yatagan or sabre. He describes the country as partially cultivated; and remarks, that it is furnished with few springs, and is wholly destitute of rivers.

By his account, the distance from Fezzan to Gharien is that of a journey of sixteen days.

He represents the rout from Gharien to Tripoli as a sandy desart, and its length as that of a seven days journey.]

[Footnote 3: The capital of Fezzan is situated on the banks of a small river, and is also supplied with water from a multitude of springs and wells.

Being formerly built with stone, it still retains the appellation of a Christian Town; and the medley which it presents to the eye, of the vast ruins of antient buildings, and of the humble cottages of earth and sand that form the dwellings of its present Arab inhabitants, is singularly grotesque and strange.

BEN ALLI.]

[Footnote 4: _In this estimate of distance, the rate of travelling is supposed to be twenty-two miles per day:—a conclusion that arises from the time that was employed by_ Mr. LUCAS _in travelling from Tripoli to Mesurata; for in that journey of 150 miles, seven days were consumed; and though the caravan was detained for a few hours on the sea coast, and was employed during four more in passing to and from the tents of the Arab, yet these losses were probably compensated by the extraordinary dispatch with which, in consequence of their fears, the greatest part of the journey was performed._]

[Footnote 5: The people are of a deep swarthy complexion.

BEN ALLI.]

[Footnote 6: _To these sentiments of constant regard and of deep veneration for their King, his acknowledged descent from the Prophet has undoubtedly contributed: for such, if united to the temporal power, is the effect of this claim to religious authority, that in Morrocco, when in the hour of his wrath the sword of the Emperor is drawn, the submissive victims whom chance or official attendance on the Court presents to his fury, stretch forth their necks with silent and humble acquiescence; perfectly convinced that the stroke of death, when given by so sacred a hand, is an instant admission to Paradise._]

[Footnote 7: When I was at Fezzan, about twenty years ago, the actual government was committed to an Alcaid, who received his annual appointment from the Bashaw of Tripoli.

BEN ALLI.]

[Footnote 8: _In Morrocco, as in Fezzan, the Founder of the reigning family was indebted for the diadem to the respect and reverence which the title of Shereef bestows._]

[Footnote 9: _From the appearance of the supposed berries, there is reason to suspect that they belong to the class of leguminous plants, and are in fact two species of pease._]

[Footnote 10: In the neighbourhood Tombuctou a gold mitgan is worth about 10s. 6d. sterling.

BEN ALLI.]

[Footnote 11: Mr. LUCAS _found by his medicine scales, that the pea called habbat ell goreth, which is used in Fezzan for a weight of four grains, is exactly equal to four grains English._

_In England one grain of gold is worth 2d.—one penny-weight is worth 4s.—and one ounce is worth 4l. sterling._

REES’s Edition of Chambers’s Dictionary, Article “GOLD.”]

[Footnote 12: Its depth is from ten to twelve peeks, each of which is twenty-seven inches.

The Shereef IMHAMMED.]

[Footnote 13: _The rout which_ BEN ALLI _pursued from Fezzan to Bornou is not distinctly described._

_His relation is, that on the 26th day from the time of his leaving Fezzan, he arrived at a place which in Arabic is called Wéddan, or the Rivers, for Wéddan is the plural of Wed which signifies a river._

_The first part of the country through which he passed is represented as a sandy Desart, in which the Shé (a plant that resembles the Wild Thyme of England) and a few bushes of shrubs and short trees are thinly scattered, and wells of water are extremely rare. Wandering Arabs, of the powerful but hospitable Tribes of Booaish and Duhassin, appear to be its only inhabitants; and Wéddan itself is said to contain but 130 houses, which are built of earth and sand; and to furnish no articles of trade but dates and salt; yet the country around it is called prolific: the rice grounds are described as numerous, and multitudes of sheep and goats, of camels and of horses, swell the list of its possessions._

_He represents the Duhassin Arabs, as Merchants journeying to Bornou, who carried with them for sale an assortment of goods; among which he enumerates wheat, barley, dates, salt, tobacco, and alhaiks: and he observes, that he purchased from the Chief the permission of accompanying the Tribe, and the consequent assurance of a safe passage to Bornou._

_From Wéddan, by forced marches, they arrived in twenty days at Bornou. A desart of sand, in some places interrupted by woods, and occasionally watered with rivulets of a strong mineral taste, constitutes the general description of the country. But as he entered the kingdom of the Bornoos, the limit of which he represents as seven days distant from the capital, he passed through several poor villages of Blacks, who live upon the charity of Travellers; for though there be no regular marked road, yet the caravans always take the same rout, and pass by those villages both in going and returning._

BEN ALLI _seems to have travelled from Mourzouk to Bornou by a different rout from that which is usually taken by the Merchants of Fezzan: nor can it be supposed, that the independent and powerful Arabs with whom he journeyed, would either obtain, or solicit the permission of the Sovereign of Fezzan to pass in so large a body through his small and unguarded dominions. And though the corresponding accounts that are given in the narratives of the Shereef and of_ BEN ALLI, _of some villages of miserable Blacks, may suggest an idea that the two roads intersected each other on the frontier of Bornou, yet as on that supposition, the different times within which the several parts of the two journeys were respectively performed cannot be easily reconciled, there is reason to believe that the villages described by_ BEN ALLI, _though peopled by similar inhabitants, may not be the same with those which attracted the compassionate notice of the Shereef._]

[Footnote 14: The dress of the greatest part of the people is composed of shirts of blue cotton, which is manufactured in the country; of a red cap, which is imported from Tripoli; and of a white muslin turban, which is brought from Cairo by the pilgrims who return through that City from Mecca. Nose-rings of gold are worn by the principal people as a mark of distinction.

BEN ALLI.]

[Footnote 15: The country in the neighbourhood of the City of Bornou is fertile in Indian corn and rice. Of barley and wheat the quantity raised is small. A species of bean, which resembles the horse-bean of Europe, though larger, and of a darker hue, is a much more common produce. Gum-trees are thinly scattered. Cotton, hemp, and indigo, are also among the various produce of its soil.

BEN ALLI.]

[Footnote 16: The country abounds in different species of fruit trees, but that which produces the date is not of the number.

BEN ALLI.]

[Footnote 17: Horses and horned cattle, goats and sheep, and camels, are the common animals of the country.

BEN ALLI.]

[Footnote 18: _Giraffa is the name by which the camelopardalis is called in the old zoological books.—The description here inserted, seems to have arisen from a blended recollection of that animal, and of the hippopotamus, whose hide is extremely tough._]

[Footnote 19: In form, the houses are similar to those of Tripoli.

BEN ALLI.]

[Footnote 20: The walls of the greatest part of the houses are built of a composition of earth and sand, and are often washed down by the heavy rains; but others are formed of the more durable materials of stones and bricks.

The roofs are composed of the branches of trees, which are covered with layers of earth, and the whole building is white-washed with a species of chalk.

BEN ALLI.]

[Footnote 21: Bornoo is situated in a flat country, on the banks of a small river.

BEN ALLI.]

[Footnote 22: Bornoo, though a town of greater extent than Tripoli, consists of a multitude of houses, so irregularly placed that the spaces between them cannot be called streets. It is furnished with mosques, which are constructed of brick and of earth; and with schools, in which the Koran is taught, as in the principal towns of Barbary.

BEN ALLI.]

[Footnote 23: In time of peace the Sultan always resides in the capital.

BEN ALLI.]

[Footnote 24: Bornoo is surrounded by a wall, on which, however, there are no guards.

BEN ALLI.]

[Footnote 25: A small quantity of gold dust is produced in Bornoo; but the principal medium of exchange consists of pieces of a metal which has some resemblance to tin.

BEN ALLI.]

[Footnote 26: The language of the common people of Bornoo, though different from, has a strong resemblance to that of the neighbouring Negros, and is very unlike the Arabic, in which, however, the Nobles and principal families converse.

The art of writing is known among them, and they are taught to express the Bornoo tongue in the characters of the Arabic.

BEN ALLI.]

[Footnote 27: The Sultan and his subjects are Musselmen.

BEN ALLI.]

[Footnote 28: Bornoo is governed by a King, who takes the title of Sultan.

BEN ALLI.]

[Footnote 29: The Sultan of Bornoo commands a vast army of horsemen, and is a much more powerful Monarch than the Emperor of Morrocco.

BEN ALLI.]

[Footnote 30: At Bornoo I exchanged for gold dust and ostrich feathers the merchandize which I had brought from Tripoli.

BEN ALLI.]

[Footnote 31: The Sultan of Bornou is continually at war with the various idolatrous tribes of Blacks who border on his dominions. Those who are taken prisoners are sold to the Arabs, and this traffic constitutes the principal commerce of the country.

Slaves are every day brought to him, for the acquisition of this sort of plunder is his constant occupation.

BEN ALLI.]

[Footnote 32: From the hemp of the country, a coarse linen is manufactured by the people of Bornoo. Their cotton, which is also a native produce, is spun to a thread of remarkable fineness, and is then converted to callicoes and muslins of about nine inches in breadth, and of a length which varies from fifteen to twenty yards. Such of these cotton manufactures as are enriched with the blue dye of the country, which, from the superiority of the indigo, is preferable to that of the East Indies, are valued more highly than silk; yet their only supply of the latter is that which the Merchants of Barbary convey.

They also fabricate a species of carpet, as a covering for their horses. Tents, from wool and the hair of goats and of camels, are made for the use of the army.

The little silver they have is converted by their own artists into rings.

BEN ALLI.]

[Footnote 33: The dress of the people of Fullan (a country to the West of Cashna) resembles the cloth of which the plaids of the Scotch Highlanders are made.

BEN ALLI.]

[Footnote 34: The goods _imported_ by the Merchants of Fezzan, consist of

Slaves—in which they have a great trade,

Gold Dust,

Ivory,

Ostrich Feathers,

Senna—which is brought from the neighbouring countries,

European goods of various species, from Tripoli.

The goods _exported_ from Fezzan, consist of the following European articles:

Woollen Cloths,

Linens of different Sorts,

Gun Barrels,

Gun and Pistol Locks,

Small Shot,

Ball,

Iron Bars,

Tin,

Copper,

Brass,

Brass Dishes,

Nails,

Spices,

Musk,

Benzoin,

Dying Wood,

Allum,

Tartar for Dying,

Green Vitriol,

Verdigrease,

Brimstone,

Looking-Glasses.

BEN ALLI.]

[Footnote 35: Leo’s History of Africa, book 7th, pages 293 and 294. English edition.

“OF THE KINGDOM OF BORNO.”

“The inhabitants in Summer go all naked, except at their waists, which they cover with a piece of leather: but all Winter they are clad in skins, and have beds of skins also. They embrace no religion at all, being neither Christians, Mahometans, nor Jews, nor of any other profession, but living after a brutish manner, and having wives and children in common: and (as I understood of a certain Merchant that abode a long time among them) they have no proper names at all, but every one is nick-named according to his length, his fatness, or some other qualitie. They have a most puissant Prince, being lineally descended from the Lybian people called Bardoa: horsemen he hath in a continual readiness, to the number of 3000, and an huge number of footmen, for all his subjects are so serviceable and obedient unto him, that whensoever he commandeth them, they will arme themselves and follow him whither he pleaseth to conduct them. They paye unto him none other tribute but the tithes of all their corne: neither hath this King any revenues to maintain his Estate, but only such spoils as he getteth from his next enimes by often invasions and assaults.”

—“Yet the King seemeth to be marveilous rich; for his spurs, his bridles, platters, dishes, pots, and other vessels wherein his meat and drink are brought to the table, are all of pure gold: yea, and the chains of his dogs and hounds are of gold also. Howbeit this King is extremely covetous, for he had much rather pay his debts in slaves than in gold. In this kingdome are great multitudes of Negros and of other people, the names of whom (bicause I tarried here but one month) I could not well note.”]

[Footnote 36: _Teuchira_ was situated near the present _Tolemata_; antiently _Ptolemais_.]

Transcriber's note:

Changes in the _Errata_ have been made.

pg vii Changed: C. A. Pelham to: Charles A. Pelham
(in accordance to catchword in previous page)

pg 75 Changed: had carrried off sixty to: carried

pg 85 (footnote 3) Changed: singulary grotesque to: singularly

pg 130 (footnote 13) Changed: not distincty described to: distinctly

pg 152 Changed: of those crimimals to: criminals

pg 166 Changed: 7 -- Nuskoo to: Huskoo

pg 222 Changed: _Gonjah_, is, from circumstamces to: circumstances

pg 231 Changed: the plain of _Gebabib_ to: _Gegabib_

Minor changes in punctuation have been done silently.

Other spelling inconsistencies have been left unchanged.

Underlined text is indicated with '~'.