Chapter XXIV: Part 24

[Footnote 75: ما هو الحمل بَسّ بَل نا خذ عفشك كله و نفتّشه و ندبّر شغلك مع لفندينا حقاً و لا تخمّن انك تحيّل علينا يا معرّص و استكثر بخيرنا اذا ما رمينا رقبنك]

[Footnote 76: Dhourra is transported from Taka to Souakin in baskets two of which make a camel’s load, and in these it is shipped to Djidda.]

[Footnote 77: It was on one of these occasions that a small sack of mine in which were all the collections I had made at Shendy, fell overboard through the negligence of a sailor. A few specimens of rocks still remain in my possession.]

[Footnote 78: In the market of Souakin I often saw hares, and was told that the Bedouins in the neighbourhood follow their footsteps in the sands, and surprise and kill them during the noon tide heat, while they rest under the shade of the shrubs.]

[Footnote 79: This is an Arabic name; the names of the bays we had hitherto visited are Bisharye.]

[Footnote 80: The Syrian Bedouins have the same custom in bargaining for their horses. The purchaser states the price he is willing to give, and the owner, without explaining the sum he wants, replies to every bidding by the word Hot (حط, give or set down,) till the bidder has reached the price which he has fixed in his own mind.]

[Footnote 81: Thus they say, “We crossed over the sea on such a day” (نحن كورّنا البحر يوم الفلاني)—and again, “We started from Djebel to cross over to Djidda (نحن كورّنا من الجبل الي جدّه). In the northern parts of the Red Sea they use, instead of the second expression, the verb دفع, and say, “We started from Ras Mohammed to cross over to the western continent (نحن دفعنا من راس محمّد الي البَّر الغربي).]

[Footnote 82: These unfortunate Tekaýrne were two days and a half in reaching Djidda; one of their women and a boy, perished of thirst by the way, and the remainder of the party arrived in an exhausted state: they uttered bitter complaints against the sailors for their falsehood.]

* * * * *

APPENDIX.

* * * * *

APPENDIX. No. I.

* * * * *

_Itinerary from the Frontiers of Bornou, by Bahr el Ghazal,
and Darfour to Shendy._

From Bornou towards Bahr el Ghazal, lies Dar Katakou (دار كتاكو); its king is tributary to the king of Bornou, who resides at Birney (برني).[1] The principal districts of Katakou, which have all their own chiefs, are Dar Mandara (منضره); Dar Mekry (مكري); Dar Ankala (انكالا); Dar Afady (افَدي); Dar Kolfey (كلفي). The Bedouin tribes in Katakou, are Beni Hassan[2] (بني حسن); Oulad Abou Khedheyr (اولاد ابو خضير); El Nedjeymé (النجيمه); El Fellate (الفلّاته); Beni Seid (بني صيد); Essalamat (السلامت); El Kobbar (الكبّار); El Aouy Sye (العويسيه); Om Ibrahim (ام ابراهيم); El Adjayfe (العجايفه). All these tribes pay tribute to Bornou; and all pretend to draw their origin from Arabia. Some of them speak the Bornou language, while others, as the Beni Hassan, Essalamat, Om Ibrahim, speak only Arabic. The strongest among them are the Fellate. They are often at war with the king of Bornou, and have, in later times, it should seem, extended their influence over the northern limits of Soudan, quite across the continent, for they are also in great strength at Timbuctou; and about ten years ago conquered, and half ruined Kashna. Their chief force is cavalry, and their chiefs dress in robes of coloured cloth or silk.

Between Katakou and Bahr el Ghazal, flows the great river called Shary (شاري), in a direction, as far as I could learn, from N.E. to S.W.,[3] towards Bagerme, but its source was unknown. It is represented to be as large as the Nile, full of fish, and abounding with crocodiles, hippopotami, and an animal called Om Kergay (ام قرغي), said to be as large as the rhinoceros, with a very small head and mouth, but harmless. Its banks are inhabited by elephants, rhinoceroses, lions, and giraffas. The Bahr Djad (بحر جاد) a considerable stream, runs into the Shary, besides several smaller ones. The tribe Abou Khedheyr reside chiefly on its banks, which are also visited in the summer by the other Bedouins, for the purpose of pasturing their cattle. From the limits of Bornou to Bahr Shary is fifteen days slow march, in the direction of the Kebly.[4] The route from Bahr Shary to Bahr el Ghazal is in the same direction.

The Bahr el Ghazal (بحر الغزال) is a wide extent of low ground without any mountains: it is called Bahr (i. e. sea, or river), and also Wady, because tradition reports, that in ancient times a large river flowed through it. Rice grows wild; elephants are in great numbers, and all the other wild beasts above mentioned are found in it. It is inhabited only during the rainy season, and the months immediately following it, by Bedouins, who there pasture vast herds of cows, camels, and sheep (the latter without wool like those of Shendy), and who retire, in the dry season, towards the limits of Katakou, Bagerme, and Dar Saley. They purchase the Dhourra necessary for their consumption in Dar Saley and Bagerme; and in the latter place they also procure the blue and red striped cotton stuffs there manufactured, for which they give in exchange cows, the general currency of the country in all large bargains; a fine slave girl is there worth ten cows. All these Bedouins, as well as those of Katakou, are Mussulmans, and the greater part of them speak nothing but Arabic. They have a good breed of horses, which they mount in their wars; their weapons are lances, and a few two-edged swords of German manufacture, like those used in Nubia and Abyssinia; coats of mail, worth twenty cows each, are frequent among them; they ride mares only. They live in huts (Ishash عِشَش) made of rushes and brushwood, and intermarry with the people of Bornou, Bagerme, and Saley. There is no trade in their country, which is not visited by any caravans; and it is not unusual to see heaps of elephants tusks collected, which no body carries away. These Bedouins are sometimes visited by Sherifs from the Hedjaz, who come by the way of Sennaar and Darfour, in order to solicit alms of the chiefs of the tribes, who respect them as descendants of the family of the Prophet. The chiefs, every three or four years, pay tribute to Bornou, consisting of horses, camels, and slaves. A man who possesses fifty cows, two camels, and a mare, is considered to be poor. Spanish dollars are found amongst them, but not as a currency. The law of retaliation is in full force. Among the Beni Hassan the price of blood (Azzeye, الذيه) is two hundred cows, if a stranger kills one of them, or one hundred, if an Arab of the same tribe is the murderer, a distinction which is also made in Arabia. Few people among them read and write, or are Fakys; those who aspire to that name, study in the schools of Bagerme, Katakou, and Saley, and are held in great reverence by their countrymen. The place nearest to the Shary in the Bahr el Ghazal, is Kanem (كانم), four days distant; it is a large district inhabited by the tribes of Tendjear (تنجر) and Beni Wayl[5] (بني وايل); they have their own language, and speak no Arabic. Between Kanem and Shary is the Dar Karka (داركاركا), which forms no part of the Bahr el Ghazal; it is inhabited by the Bedouins Kory (كوري), who pasture their cattle on the banks of a large river, called Bahr el Feydh (بحر الفيض), i. e. the inundating river, from its periodical risings, and which empties itself into the Shary. The Kory have a breed of very large cows, with horns two feet long.

The principal tribe in the Bahr el Ghazal is that of Beni Hassan, who pretend to be from the Hedjaz, and who assert that the Sherif Rashouan is their forefather. They are related to the Beni Hassan in Katakou. They speak no other language than Arabic, are of a deep brown colour, and have lips rather thick, but nothing else of the Negroe character; their hair is not woolly. They are subdivided into the tribes Daghana (دَغَنَه), which inhabits close to Kanem; Oulad Mehareb (اولاد محارب); Oulad Serar (اولاد سرار); Oulad Ghanem (اولاد غانم); Oulad Abou Aisa (اولاد ابو عيسي), and El Aszalé (الاصالع). In the district occupied by the Daghana, is a place called Mezrag (مزراق), in which is a fresh-water lake (بحر ما حلو, Bahr ma halou), two days journies in length, and half a day in breadth; it is called Wady Hadaba (وادي هدبا), and is always filled with water. The Bedouins of Bahr el Ghazal are continually moving about. Three or four days from them, on the northern side, live Negroe tribes of infidels, who have many languages; as El Kareyda (القريده); El Keshreda (الكشرده); El Nouarme (النوارمه); El Famallah (الفامالله); the Arabs of Bahr el Ghazal often make predatory incursions among them, and drive away their children as slaves. If we had fire-locks, said my informant, we should soon be able to subdue them entirely.

Four or five days from Bahr el Ghazal lies Bagerme (باكرمه), a country lately conquered by the king of Saley; its inhabitants have a language of their own, but are all Mussulmans; their manufactories of cotton stuff furnish the whole of the eastern part of Soudan, with the stuff of which the people make their shirts. Once in two or three years caravans of Fakys go from Bagerme to Afnou, a journey of twenty or twenty-five days, to sell their stuffs; but they are often obliged to fight their way through the idolatrous tribes on the road. In Bagerme are the Bedouins Essalamat (السلامات); Oulad Abou Dhou (اولاد ابو ضو); Fullatem (فلّاتم); Oulad Ahmad (اولاد احمد); not Oulad Ahmed; Oulad Aly[6] (اولاد علي), who speak Arabic.

From Kanem there is a road to Fittre (فتره) a journey of eight days. From Kanem to the Bedouins called Oulad Hameid (اولاد حميد) is three days; through the district of the Hameid two days; and from thence to Fittre three days. Another road leads from Fittre to Megrag, near the lake Hadaba, a journey of ten days. The Arabs of Fittre are Belale (بلاله), who inhabit nearest to the Bahr el Ghazal; Djaathene (جاعثنه);[7] El Heleylat(الحليلات); El Khozam (الخزام). The road between Fittre and Bahr el Ghazal is inhabited by Bedouins only in the rainy season. The only travellers who pass through these districts are a few Negroe pilgrims, who follow the wandering tribes in their slow and irregular movements, proceeding from tribe to tribe till they reach Saley, where they join the caravans of merchants.

From Fittre to Dar Saley (دار صليح), are three days journey. The Arabs Beni Hassan, in the Bahr el Ghazal, turn their faces towards Dar Saley when they pray. The King of Saley, Abd el Kerim, nick-named Saboun, _Soap_, (عبد الكريم صابون) is, next to those of Darfour and Bornou, the most potent prince in the eastern part of Soudan,[8] and has conquered several of the neighbouring states. Mekka is visited annually by pilgrims from his dominions. The Bedouin inhabitants in Dar Saley, are Mehameid (محاميد); Nowadiéh (نواديه); Beni Hellyé (بني حليه); El Masirieh (المسيريه); El Fawalé[9] (الفواله); Essalamat (السّلامات); Esshorafa (الشّرفه); El Aszalé (الاصالع); El Heymat (الحيمات); Oulad Rashed (اولاد راشد).[10]

The soil of Saley is well cultivated, and sown with grain after the rains; the country is full of villages, with houses built of mud, like those of Shendy; and many of the above mentioned Bedouins have become settlers and cultivators. One of the principal villages in Dar Saley is called Kauka (كَوكا). There are many schools in the country; the Fakys, as well of Saley as of the countries to the east of it, all write the eastern Arabic Nuskhy character (خط نسخي), though very much corrupted; while those to the west and north have uniformly adopted the Moggrebyn character (خط الغرب), which differs in several of its letters from the eastern Arabic; this I know from my own observation, and I think it worth noticing.

There are two routes from Dar Saley to Darfour. The shorter one leads over a hilly country, and a barren desert; there are three long days journeys from the farthest limits of Saley to the Dar Beni Mohammed (دار بني محمّد), a district of Bedouins belonging to Darfour. But travellers seldom use this road, because it is infested by robbers of both countries; they prefer a longer, but safer journey through a country where they meet with many rivulets. From Saley they proceed along the banks of the river Oulad Rashed (بحر اولاد راشد), next along those of the river Abou Redjeyle (بحر ابو رجيله), and further on by those of the river Om Etteymam (بحر ام التّمام). The borders of all these rivers are populous, and cultivated, and the grain Dhoken is plentiful there. From the last mentioned river they reach, in three days, Dar Rouka (رُكا), and from thence cross an uninhabited district of fifteen days to Darfour. This is a safe road, but as there is no water whatever in this district, it is crossed only in the rainy season, or immediately after it; it is full of trees, among which is the Nebek, the Erdeyb (شجر العرديب) which bears the Tamarind; the ebony tree (بابانومو), which is very common; and also a tree called Djerdjak (جرجق), from which a kind of honey is extracted. As the Kings of Darfour and Saley are generally at war with each other, their respective officers are stationed at both extremities of the desert, who search the goods of the merchants and pilgrims, and confiscate every kind of fire arms, and all horses; the traveller suffers greatly from their rapacity. In travelling from Saley, the first district of Darfour which is entered, is that of Taayshe (تعايشه); from thence to Kobbe is five days, and from Kobbe to Dar Essoltáne, or the residence of the king, one day.

The Bedouin inhabitants of Darfour are the Mehameid (محاميد); Areykat (عريقات); Djeleydat (جليدات); Zeyadye (زياديه); Beni Djella (بني جلّه); Taayshe (تعايشه); and Djeheyne[11] (جهينه); they bring gum arabic, Tamarinds, ostrich feathers, and ivory, to the market of the slave-traders.

From the Dar Essoltáne to the village of Ako (اكو) is four days journey, through an inhabited country; between Ako and the frontiers of Kordofan extends a desert of eight days, over which there are two roads; by the one the traveller proceeds straight across the desert, but finds no water; by the other he proceeds two days from Ako to a place called Armen (ارمن), inhabited by Arabs, where water is found, and from thence he crosses the waterless track in seven days. But this is a dangerous route on account of the incursions of the Arabs Bedeyat (عرب بديات), the same who often way-lay the Darfour caravans to Egypt. Both roads terminate on the frontiers of Kordofan at one point, at a village called Om Zemeyma (زميما), from whence the caravans proceed through a cultivated and fertile country for three days to El Obeydh (الاُبيض), the capital of Kordofan.

Kordofan is at present under the jurisdiction of Darfour; its King, who is called Mosellim, was formerly a slave of the King of Darfour; he is praised for his justice, but it is said he would gladly act otherwise, were it not for fear of his master at Kobbe, in whose name he governs; he resides at Obeydha, and keeps about five hundred horsemen. There is also at Obeydha a king of the Tekaýrne (مك التكارنه), as he is styled; he is a native of Bornou, and a Tekroury himself; his jurisdiction extends over all the foreign traders, from whom he levies a tribute. Obeydha is a large place, but with few houses; the far greater part of the inhabitants live in huts made of bushes, to which is annexed a court yard enclosed by hedges. They are active traders, and also cultivators of the soil, their principal grain is Dokhen; and Bamyes and red pepper are common.

The Bedouins of Kordofan are called Bakara, from their rearing great numbers of cows, Bakar (بكر). The principal tribes are Moteyeye (متييه); Hamma (حمّاي); Djeleydat (جليدات); Djerar (جرار); Kobabeish (قبابيش); Feysarah (فيساره), who bring the best ostrich feathers to the market of Obeydha; Zyade (زياده); Beni Fadhel (بني فضل); Maaly (معالي), and on the south-east limits of Kordofan, and subject to it, lives a strong tribe called Ghyatene (غياتنه). They all speak Arabic exclusively, but intermarry with the free-born inhabitants of Obeydha and the surrounding villages, whose language is the idiom of Darfour. The Djerar, Kobabeish, and Feysara live to the north and north-east, and in winter time render the roads to Dóngola and Shendy dangerous. The Beni Fadhel and Maaly live on the route from Obeydha to Shilluk on the way to Sennaar; they supply the best Leban (لبان), or incense. During the summer all these tribes approach the cultivated ground in search of pasture for their cattle. They have all good breeds of horses, are warlike, and are dreaded by the chief of Kordofan. Many of them have become settlers and cultivators; many Djaalein also have done the same, but these live chiefly on the borders of the Nile. The manners of Kordofan appear to be similar to those of Darfour, and differ little from those of Shendy.

From Obeydha the traveller proceeds three days through an inhabited country, to the large village of Douma (الدومه) which is entirely inhabited by Djaalein Arabs; and from thence three days more to Om Ganater (ام قناطر) where duties are levied on the caravans which arrive there from Shendy, by an officer appointed by the Mek of Kordofan; they are levied in a very arbitrary manner; and amount to about five per cent.; the goods are all closely searched. On quitting Om Ganater the desert is entered, and on the second day the traveller arrives at a mountain called Abou Dhober (ابو ضبر), standing in the midst of sands; it is inhabited by Noubas and a few people from Dóngola, who are in possession of deep wells, the water of which they sell to the passing caravans. From thence to the Nile, opposite to Shendy, is a desert without water of five or six days, but with Wadys of trees, and inhabited in the rainy season by Bedouins.

Kordofan is a complete Oasis, being separated on all sides from the neighbouring countries by deserts of six days extent, except that of Shilluk, which is only four.

I have reason to believe that this Itinerary is very exact. I might have extended it, but not with the same certainty or accuracy; I could occupy many pages with the most plausible statements respecting countries in the interior of Africa; for a Tekroury, if asked, is never at a loss to answer; but very few of them are met with who can be brought to any thing like accurate details. The route from Dar Saley to Shendy was confirmed to me by great numbers of them.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 1: All reports agree that there is a great fresh-water lake in the interior of Bornou, on the west side of which the city of Birney is said to be built. The size of this lake cannot be so easily determined by hearsay, for the statements respecting its length vary from four to fifteen days. Several large torrents are reported to empty themselves into it, and it contains many islands. On its east side dwell idolatrous nations, the most numerous of which are the Voey. The name of the lake is Nou, and from it the country derives the name of Bornou (برنو), or the land of Nou.]

[Footnote 2: I received this Itinerary at Mekka from one of the Beni Hassan, a remarkably shrewd young man, who knew the whole of the Koran by heart. He was of the darkest brown colour, somewhat approaching to a copper tinge; his features were decidedly Arab, having nothing of the Negroe in them.]

[Footnote 3: At Medina I met with another man from the Beni Hassan, who was well acquainted with the one above mentioned; he confirmed the accuracy of the Itinerary, but insisted that the Shary flowed from south to north.]

[Footnote 4: In questioning Mussulman Negroes about bearings, the only mode of obtaining a satisfactory answer, is to ask them what country or town they had before or behind them, or on either side of them, when they prayed at a certain place. The bearing of the Kebly, or Mekka, is tolerably well known all over Africa, and much attended to in praying, and it forms a much more certain point to reckon from than either the quarter of the rising or setting sun.]

[Footnote 5: The Aeneze, the most powerful Bedouin tribe of Arabia, deduce their origin from the Beni Wayl.]

[Footnote 6: In the Lybian desert between Cairo and Siwah, and extending as far as Derne, is a potent tribe of Moggrebyn Bedouins, called Oulad Aly, who draw their origin from the Would Aly, a branch of the Aeneze tribe in the Arabian desert.]

[Footnote 7: A tribe of Djaathene lives in the mountains of Yemen.]

[Footnote 8: It should seem that the Negroes themselves, (not the slave-traders, who call the whole of the Black country Soudan,) give this name to the countries west of Bagerme.]

[Footnote 9: On the east side of the Nile, between Esne and Edfou, is a small tribe of Arab peasants, called El Fawalé.]

[Footnote 10: All the Bedouins of Soudan, of whom I have seen many individuals, differ entirely in colour and features from the aborigines, approaching more to the Arab cast: the aborigines are of the deepest black; but they are divided into two distinct races; the free Mohammedan blacks, who, though evidently of Negroe origin, have features not entirely Negroe; and the Negroe slaves, from the idolatrous countries, who have never mixed with Arabs, and therefore retain the true African features. The former by continually intermarrying with the Bedouin Arabs, their conquerors, have now become intimately intermixed with them; but no man of Bedouin extraction in any part of Africa ever marries a girl whose parents were not free people.]

[Footnote 11: A tribe of Djeheyne still flourishes in the Hedjaz. At Cairo I met with a Djeheyne of Darfour, who told me that they were both Bedouins and husbandmen.]

APPENDIX. No. II.

* * * * *

_Some Notices on the Countries of Soudan west of Darfour, with
Vocabularies of the Borgo and Bornou Languages; collected at Cairo
from Negroe Pilgrims, in the winter of 1816-17._

In the preceding Itinerary, I have mentioned Dar Szaleyh, or Seleyh, or Saley. Dar Szeleyh (دار صليح) is the name used by the natives themselves. The people of Darfour and Kordofan give to it the name of Borgo (بُرقو). Their northern neighbours of Bornou and Fezzan, and the Moggrebyn merchants, call it Waday (واداي). Similar instances of different names applied to the same country are not unfrequent in Soudan. Horneman makes the same observation. Next to Bornou and Darfour, Dar Saley is the most important country in eastern Soudan. It is said to be a flat country, with few mountains. In the rainy season, which usually lasts two months, large inundations are formed in many places, and large and rapid rivers then flow through the country. After the waters have subsided, deep lakes remain in various places filled with water the whole year round, and sufficiently spacious to afford a place of retreat to the hippopotami and crocodiles, which abound in the country.

Mr. Browne has indicated in his map several rivers to the west of Darfour; but I was told that none of them are large, except during the rains. The principal of these streams is called Abou Teymam, or Om Teymam, (ابو تيمام). According to a very general custom in Soudan, of giving to the same river different names; it is also called Djyr (جير), which in the Egyptian pronunciation, sounds Gyr, and may perhaps be the _Gir_ of Ptolemy. The name of Misselad was unknown to my informants. Elephants, rhinoceroses, hippopotami, giraffas, and herds of wild buffaloes, are very common in this country; there is another animal also, of the size of a cow, with large horns, called Abou Orf (ابو عُرف). It is hunted by horsemen for its meat and skin. When attacked, it lowers its head to the ground, and then rushes furiously at the hunter, whom it often kills or severely wounds as it raises its head, and strikes with its horns. There is another species of horned animal, about the size of a calf, called _Djalad_. The mountain goat (تيتل) Taytal, (known by the same name in Upper Egypt) is also met with in the mountains of Borgo. The tree Hedjyly grows there, bearing a sweet fruit, much like a date. The wood, of which I have seen specimens, is hard and heavy. The pilgrims write their prayers and charms upon small boards made of it.

The kingdom of Borgo is divided into many provinces, the principal of which are—_Wara_, where the Sultan resides in a place of the same name; an open town consisting of houses built of mud, and huts constructed of brushwood: _Sila_, a large district, with a governor, who likewise styles himself king. _Runga_, (well known to Mr. Browne): _Dar Tama_; (these two have a peculiar language): _Modjo_, probably the same which Mr. Browne calls Moddago (p. 465, Ed. of 1797) and Mr. Seetzen, Metko.[1] What Mr. Seetzen relates of this district, is perhaps applicable to the whole country of Borgo; for the Negroes frequently apply to the whole country, the name of any one of its districts; thus, for instance, I have often heard them call Darfour by the name of Dar Gondjara, Gondjara being a town of Darfour, where the learned men reside, and have their schools, in the vicinity of Kobbe: it is the same place, I believe, which Mr. Browne calls Hellet el Fokara. The district of Metko was likewise known to Horneman. The practice of changing the names of countries, rivers, and districts, is, I fancy, one of the principal causes of the great confusion still prevailing in the geography of Soudan. Other provinces of Borgo are, _Abasa_: _Mankary_, a large province in a south-west direction: _Gimur_ (known to Mr. Browne by the name of _Gimer_); _Djyr_, from the name of which province the above mentioned river takes its appellation.

The chiefs of the provinces of Borgo hold their office from the Sultan of Wara, and pay to him a yearly tribute, which they withhold, and declare themselves rebels, whenever they have a good opportunity. The present Sultan of Borgo is Yousef, the son of Abd el Kerim Saboun, who died last year. The power of Borgo is principally owing to this Saboun, who was a just, but very severe ruler, showing no mercy to any of the governors who had swerved from the duties of obedience; and who had condemned many of his subjects to suffer death during his long reign. It was this prince who conquered Bagerme, the chief of which country had been dependent upon Bornou, but had declared himself independent. The King of Bornou applied to Saboun to assist him in reducing the rebel, representing to him that the war was a religious duty, because the chief of Bagerme had, contrary to the laws of the Islam, married his own sister, and thus proved himself to be a pagan. Saboun marched with his army to Bagerme, and conquered the whole country, but kept it for himself. It is said that he there found a large treasure in silver, which he carried off upon two hundred camels; for that in Bornou and Bagerme there are many silver mines. Upon this occasion great numbers of the inhabitants of Bagerme, with their wives and children, were driven off as slaves; but on their arrival at Borgo, the learned men of that country, who form a corps as powerful, it seems, as the Ulemas at Constantinople, represented to Saboun, that as they were Mahommedans, it was unjust to reduce them to slavery. They were then restored to liberty, and many of them returned: others remained voluntarily at Borgo, where they continue to earn a good livelihood by their art of giving the blue dye to cottons; this dye is produced from an indigenous plant, resembling indigo, and which is said to be preferable to the indigo of Egypt. Both are known by the same name of Nili.

The Sultan of _Wara_, or of _Fasher_, as he is likewise called (Fasher being a term applied to the open place where he gives audience) has among his troops many Negroes, some of whom are still pagans: other pagans are likewise settled in almost every town of Borgo. The Sultan leaves his residence every Friday after prayers,[2] and it is an established custom, that if any one has to complain of oppression from the Sultan’s officers, he runs about on the plain like a mad man; until the Sultan seeing him, sends for him, and listens to his story.

Among the Sultan’s troops are a few armed with fire-locks, and he has several small guns, that have lately been given to him by the Bey of Tripoli. His principal strength consists in horsemen, many of whom are clad in coats of mail, and are well mounted, the horses of that country being reported to be of the best breed.

The country of Bornou is inhabited by many Arab tribes, who speak only Arabic, and are much fairer than the natives. Among them are the Djeheyne (جهينه) and Khozem (خزام), both of whom are from Arabia, and famed in Arabian history. Many of the Khozems are said to be Sherifs. To these Arab tribes, other indigenous Negroe Bedouin tribes are united; who, after the rainy season is over, when the ponds in the desert are dried up, pitch their tents and pasture their flocks in the cultivated country among the villages, permission being granted them by the Sultan, who levies heavy duties upon them, paid in cows, camels, and sheep. Among the Negroe tribes, is the great tribe of Fellata, of whom those who dwell in the neighbourhood of Bornou are Musselmans; while others of the same tribe, who live farther west, are still pagan. This nation of Fellata appears to be in great strength throughout Soudan: they have spread across the whole continent, and I saw one of them at Mekka, who told me that his encampment, when he left it, was in the neighbourhood of Timbuctou. The Fellata have attacked and pillaged both Bornou and Kashna, and the latter town is said to be at present half ruined. They are mostly horsemen. They fight with poisoned arrows, as do in general all the pagan tribes of this part of Soudan; the arrow is short, and of iron; the smallest scratch with it causes the body to swell, and is infallibly mortal, unless counteracted by an antidote, known amongst the natives. This antidote is prepared from a small worm, called at Borgo and Bagerme, Kodongo, which is dried and reduced to powder. The wound is rubbed with the powder, and some of it is eaten. Whenever the soldiers of Borgo go to war, they are furnished with a small box of this powder. The Borgo soldiers, who are pagan Negroes, are armed with the same poisoned arrows.

The pagan Negroe nations are from ten to fifteen days journey distant from Borgo: and the people of the latter country are continually making inroads upon them to carry off slaves. The most noted of these pagan countries[3] are Dargulla, Benda, Djenke, Yemyem, and Ola, which is the farthest off. Some of the pagan nations are tributary to the King of Borgo, who keeps an officer stationed in their territory to receive the tribute; which is paid in copper and slaves. In return for this tribute, they are exempted from all open attacks from the Moslims, although they are constantly suffering from the secret inroads of Borgo robbers. Merchants who wish to purchase slaves, repair into these pagan countries, and address themselves to the Borgo officers stationed there. The officer sends to the chiefs of the country, and native merchants, who carry to him for sale either their own slaves acquired in war, (for the Borgo officers constantly stir up war amongst them) or such as are adjudged to them by the law (for the smallest trespasses are punished by captivity). The people themselves also often steal the children of their neighbours, or if they have a large family, sell their own.

The slaves are bought from the native traders in presence of the officer, in exchange for Dhourra, Dokhen, and cows. The pagan natives cultivate few fields, but are extremely fond of Dhourra. They have great abundance of sheep and goats, but very few cows: one sack of Dhourra, making a quarter of a camel’s load, or about one cwt. is equal in value to a slave; a cow is valued at four slaves. The Borgo merchants in returning to their country, tie the slaves they have purchased to a long iron chain, passed round the neck of every one of them, from twenty to thirty being thus tied one behind the other; nor is the chain taken off until they reach Borgo. The provinces of this kingdom are full of slaves: some are to be met with in every house; and they are said to be very industrious, which is ascribed to their change of religion, most of them being converted to Islamism soon after their arrival. They manufacture copper, and make earthern-ware and pipe-heads. They work also in leather. My informants, who had never been in the pagan countries, told me from hear-say, that they are throughout mountainous, and that several very large rivers flow through them, which are never dry. The butter-tree grows there; and there is abundance of copper.

Fezzan traders sometimes repair in caravans to Borgo, which they call _Waday_. Though the result of my inquiries among the Negroe pilgrims was, that the caravans were not regular, there can be no doubt as to the existence of the route: as I have seen a Borgo pilgrim who came by way of Fezzan and Tripoli to Cairo. But although the Fezzan traders do sometimes cross this desert, their trade between Fezzan and Borgo is principally in the hands of the Tibbou Bedouins, who occupy the intervening waste. Hornemann makes no mention of the caravans, though he speaks of the country of Wadey, p. 134; and he says that he met a man from Siout, who had come by Darfour, Borgo, and Bagerme to Fezzan.

My informer gave me the following route from Borgo to Fezzan, which seems to be of some importance, as shewing that the position of Bornou, as laid down in the last maps, is much too far to the east. From Borgo this caravan proceeded five days journey, over a flat desert of sand, to the well Marmar (مرمر), thence

Three days journey over the same sandy plain to the well Abou Doum (ابو دوم), where a few date trees grow: thence

Two days journey across low hills to the well Bir Hadjara (بير حجارة), with good water; thence

Four days journey over a flat desert to the place called Bahr (بحر), a low ground, where the travellers dig pits in the sand, and find water in great plenty. It is called Bahr, because in the rainy season the ground is overflowed: thence

Three days journey to the well of Dirky (دركي), at the entrance into the mountains of Dirky. Dirky is the name of a strong tribe of Tibbou, who inhabit these mountains, but whose principal abode is at several days journey west of the road. Thence to Fezzan the country is almost without interruption mountainous. In the vallies of these mountains grow a few date trees and Doums; the Tarfa, or tamarisk, is also very common, and affords food to the camels of the caravan. From Dirky they proceed two days journey to the well in the mountain, called Byr Akheybesh (بير اخيبش): thence

Five days journey, mostly of mountainous road, to the well Woyk (ويق).

Three days to the well Sarfaya (صرفاية).

Four days journey to the mountains called Hedjar es Soud, (حجار السود) or the black rocks, so called from their colour, and which are a part of the above mentioned chain. At the entrance of them lies the well called Byr el Asoad (بر الاسود), where the caravans usually stop a few days. From thence in crossing the mountains, the traveller comes, after

Five days journey to a well, the name of which my informant had forgotten. Some date trees grow there: from thence

Seven days journey to El Boeyra (بويره) a small well, which is likewise called _Abo_. I suspect that several of these wells have different names, and that the northern Arab traders apply to them Arabic names, in addition to those they receive from the native Tibbous. At this well the mountains terminate, and the road descends again into a level plain. The well of _Boeyra_ or _Abo_, is situated within the country of Tibertz, a large district of that name, where the strongest tribe of the Tibbou reside. From hence the road leads over the plain

Six days journey to Katroun (قطرون), the first village within the territory of Fezzan, which is likewise called _Heleit el Morabetein_ (حلة المُرابطين), or the village of the learned men. Cultivated districts are passed from thence to Morzouk (مرزوق), which is at the distance of two or three days journey. In all, fifty-two days journey from Borgo to Morzouk: but as the rate of march is slow, and the caravans make considerable halts at several of the wells, they usually occupy sixty or seventy days in the journey.

During this march, Bagerme, Bahr el Ghazal, and Bornou, are to the west of the road. I have been constantly assured that Bornou is more to the westward than due north of Bagerme, which agrees likewise with what Hornemann heard at Fezzan; namely, that Bornou lies south of Fezzan. On the road just described, no river or lake is to be met with except during the rainy season.[4] The water found in the wells is every where sweet: and many of them are very deep, and cased with stone, the labour, it is said, of Djân or demons. In the winter time rain water is met with in the torrents and ponds. The wells are the property of different tribes of the Tibbou nation, who are idolaters, and do not speak Arabic. Their encampments are met with in the neighbourhood of the wells, and the caravans in passing pay to them some trifling passage duties. The road is safe from any open attacks, as the Fezzan traders are well armed with firelocks, a weapon unknown to the Tibbou, but they are obliged to be upon constant guard against nightly robbers. In the most barren parts of the sandy desert, the camels find shrubs or herbs to feed upon, and the travellers some brushwood to light their evening fires.

It seems that the current prices of articles used in the slave trade at Fezzan, bear the same proportion to those at Waday or Borgo, as do those of Sennaar, when compared with those of Upper Egypt. A camel at Waday is worth seven or eight dollars, which at Fezzan costs from twenty-five to thirty-five dollars. A slave boy at Fezzan is worth from forty to fifty dollars, and at Waday from ten to twelve dollars.

The Bey of Tripoly, as chief of Fezzan, sends presents to the Sultan of Borgo, and receives others in return. From Dar Saley to Bagerme are 15 days journey, and as many from Bagerme to Bornou, but there is a shorter road from Dar Saley to Bornou, which leads in 20 days to that place.

I should observe here, that the statement of distances in Soudan is subject to great uncertainties, because the Negroes often reckon the distance only to the confines of the country, and not to the principal town; thus for instance, they will state the distance of Bornou from Dar Saley, without specifying whether it is Birney, the capital of Bornou, or only as far as the frontier.

The native of Bornou who gave me the annexed vocabulary, was a man upon whose general information no great reliance could be placed. However, he absolutely denied the existence of any lake in his country—such as is mentioned in the preceding itinerary. He stated that the large river Tsad (the same mentioned by Hornemann under the name of Zad: though I strongly question his information as to its identity with the Joliba) flows through Bornou at a short distance from the capital of Birney. Its source was unknown to him. But at the time of the inundation, which is as regular there as in Egypt, it flows with great impetuosity. A female slave, richly dressed, is on this solemn occasion thrown into the stream by order of the king.

The river Shary was well known to this man, although he had never seen it; he called it the river of Bagerme.

* * * * *

Whilst British philanthropy is directed towards the abolition of the slave trade in the west of Africa, the eager pursuit of gain has opened in the eastern parts of that continent a new channel, by which the captive Negroes are carried into foreign countries, never to see their homes again. In the summer of 1816, a caravan arrived at Cairo from Augila, with above three hundred slaves procured from Waday or Borgo. The Arabs of Augila seeing that the Fezzan traders attempted sometimes a direct communication with Borgo, were of opinion that a road thither might be found likewise from Augila, southwards across the desert; and in 1811, they for the first time tried that journey. They reached Borgo, but upon their return, having no guides, they lost the road, and a great number of them, as well as the greater part of the slaves they had with them, died of thirst. In 1813 they made a fresh attempt, as unsuccessful as the former. Many of them died in the desert before they reached Waday; those who arrived there might have gone back by Fezzan, but they were afraid of the jealousy of the Fezzan traders, and trusting their fortunes to the same fatal road, very few found their way back to Augila. Such however is the determined spirit of the slave-trader, and the energy and enterprize of these people, that they were not discouraged by these failures. In 1814 a party of Augila Arabs set out again on the same road; reached Waday, and traced back their way to their own town, when the great profits which they had derived from the sale of their slaves made them forget all the dangers they had experienced, and the trade no doubt will be continued.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 1: Vide Supplement to the Encyclopædia Britannica, voce Africa.]

[Footnote 2: The Sultan of Bornou is never seen but on feast days.]

[Footnote 3: The name of Wangara, and the existence of any great inland sea, were unknown to my informers.]

[Footnote 4: The Bornou river probably takes its rise in the mountains described in the foregoing route.]

VOCABULARIES OF THE BORGO AND BORNOU LANGUAGES.

_Obs._ The words marked with A. are Arabic, or of Arabic origin.

* * * * *

_Language of Waday,
_English._ Borgo, or Dar _Bornou._
Saley._

Head Kidjy Kela

Hair Soufa (Souf, in Kondoly
Arabic, means wool)

Eye Kapak Shim

Forehead — Angoum

Nose Kharsouma, A. Kensa

Cheek Ghambilanak Fyly

Beard Gamur on the cheek, Gyga
under the chin,
Andjedy

Mustachios They have no word for these, as they
are close shaved.

Lips — Kadjéba

Mouth Kana Djy

Teeth Saateni Tim̄y

Tongue Dalmek Telam̄

Ears Kozah Somou

Neck Bitik Dabbou

Breasts Kosso Gandjy

Teats Angoun —

Shoulder Korkoro Kabana

Arm Galma Bȳbe

Hand Kara Mousko

Fingers Nyngar Missy Kolnado, A?

Nails Dodjay Gyrgane

Belly Tabok Soro

Loins Gondini —

Heart Goly Kāgergy

Entrails Konny Kālem

Bones Gandjig Sila

Liver — Kemāren

Pudenda hom. Gomlou Kemkarem

— fem. Ganyak Kissi Kanarem

Bottom Dober, A. Ourarem

Leg Djah Sakal

Foot Djastongoly Pelli Shybeh

Flesh Nȳo Da

Skin Dou Katyge

Blood Ary Bou

Father Tonouny Abāk, A.

Mother Tinyng Yany

Son Kalak Tata

Daughter or girl Kakalak Pyro

Brother Mirr Kerāmy

Sister Mokk —

Uncle, by the father Manmāk Babany

Ditto by the mother Mannak Rabbany

Grand-father Mongola Kagany

First Cousin Myrāk Kagansytilo

Slave, sing. Borik Kalȳa

Slave, plur. Bourto —

Female Slave, sin. Madjek Kyr

Ditto, plur. Mayto —

The world Donya, A. Donya, A.

Heaven Sema, A. Pery

God Kalak Kamande

likewise Allah, A. likewise Allah, A

Prophet Naby, A. Naby, A.

Angels Melāyke, A. Melayke, A.

Devil Sheytaan, A. Sheytaan, A.

Demon Djan, A. Djen, A.

Sun Anyk Konkal

Moon Aȳk Kōmbal

Stars Meniet Shilluga

Day Dealka Kaōō

Night Kosonga Boune

Dawn Fedjer, A. Sebeh, A.

Evening Moghreb, A. —

Noon Dhoher, A. —

Shade Andjelo Kābya

Rain Andjy Dolāya

Lightning Māltery Tsolty

Thunder Dortery Gyrdjy

Fire Wossyk Kanou

Clouds Abouya Pagāou

Wind Awlek Kerāwa

Calm Kebȳa —

The Earth Berr, A. Tsedy

The Ground Dordjeh Kolgoun

Sand Alāle Kary

Water Andjy (like rain) Angy

Stone Koduk Ko

Mountain Koduk Ko

Free Songou Kesgā

Wood Songou —

Grass or plants Lowa Kadjem

Date tree Sondo —

Sea No word for it No word for it

River Bettak Kamadogo

Wady (torrent or Bettak —
valley)

A Cow Daȳg Faȳeh

Cows Daa-y —

Bull Mar Ganymou

Bulls Marsha —

Calf Dongolak Kona

Camel Torbok Kalgamou

Camels Tormbosy —

Buffaloe Shem Gerān

Sheep Mindago Timy

plural, Mundji

Goat Djow, Katy

plural, Djosy

Jack-ass Adyk Koro

Horse Barak Mar By

Mare Barak Madjek Ferr

Mule Baghal, A. No mule in the
country.

Dog Nyouk Kiry

Antelope Lar Ingary

Hyæna Morfan or Dabak Bolso

Lion Amarak Gorgoly

Tiger Tomory Zarerma

Monkey Gorr Dagyl

Elephant Koukoty Kemāgen

Hippopotamus Seleen Engōrodo

Rhinoceros Omkorn, A. —

Crocodile Temsah, A. Karam

Fish Hout, A. Bony

Serpent Todjoun Kady

Giraffa Efar Kenzar

Bird Kosh Kashy Ongoda

Birds Alyl —

Ostrich Adak Kergyga

Locusts Adak Gaby

Grain in general Asch —

Corn Kamh, A. Elgamé

Dhourra, mais Koshmo Kabely

— Egyptian — Misreky

Dokhen Kelawa Argym

Barley Shayr, A. None in the country

Rice Ror, A. Gargamy

Tobacco Tāba —

Snuff — Tabah

Onions Basal, A. Lebassar

Garlick (Hibiscus) Toum, A. —

Bamye, raw Goroun Kabalesou

— dish of it Soo —

Melookhye — Gam

Cucumbers Saboro —

Gourds Anka Komou

Water Melons Andadjy Faly

Cotton Moryo Kalokosem

Wool Sool, A. Kondoly

Butter Tesra Kendafy

Milk Sila Ky-am

Salt Odja Mareda (which is
extracted from
certain herbs.)

Bread — Tabesca

APPENDIX. No. III.

* * * * *

_Translation of the Notices on Nubia contained in Makrizi’s[1] History and Description of Egypt, called El Khetat, &c. with Notes, written at Cairo, Dec. 1816, and Jan. 1817._

The following extracts are made from the first volume of this excellent work, which is already too well known in Europe, to be farther described here. They form about one hundredth part of the whole work. In my opinion the information here given is more detailed, accurate, and satisfactory, with regard to Nubia, than that of any other Arabian geographer or historian. The translation is made from a good MS. copy in my possession, which I compared with two other copies belonging to different libraries of Cairo. The book itself is become scarce in Egypt, and five copies of it only exist at present at Cairo.

In the notes I have subjoined extracts from other Arabic authors in my possession.

_Description of the Cataracts, and Notices concerning the Noubas,
extracted by Macrizi from Selym el Assouany._

Macrizi gives the explanation of the term Djandal (cataract), which word has given rise to the erroneous name of the cataract of Djanadel, applied to the cataract of Wady Halfa in Nubia.[2] He then continues:

Ibn Selym el Assouany, in his book entitled “Notices on Nouba, Mokra, Aloa, El Bedja, and the Nile,” relates as follows: The first city of Nouba is called El Kaszer (Philæ), five miles distant from Assouan; the last fortified place of the Moslims is the island of Belak, one mile distant from this city of the Nouba. From Assouan to Belak are several cataracts, in passing which ships require the guidance of persons who know the passage; these are generally fishermen. The cataracts are abrupt, with rocks advancing into the river; and the fall of the water produces a deep and hoarse murmur, which is heard from a great distance. At the city of El Kaszer is a garrisoned post, which forms a gate into the country of the Nouba. From this post to the first cataracts of Nouba is a ten days journey.[3]

The Moslims freely frequent this district. In the hither part of it they are possessed of landed property, and trade into the higher country, where some of them are domiciliated. None of them speak Arabic fluently. The district is narrow and mountainous. The Nile is confined by the rocks of the desert, and the villages are at considerable distances from one another on both banks. The trees are the date and the Mokel.[4] The higher parts are broader than those which are lower down, and the vine is there cultivated. There is no natural irrigation of the soil, from its being too elevated. The inhabitants sow by the _fedan_, or two and three _fedans_,[5] and cows are employed to raise the water from the river by means of water-wheels. Wheat is scarce among them; barley and _selt_ are more abundant.[6] As their soil is so confined, they cultivate it a second time.[7] In the summer (after having renewed the soil with dung and earth) they then sow Dokhen, Dhourra, Djawars,[8] Sesamum and Loubya. In this district lies Bedjrash, the town of the chief of Merys,[9] and the castle of Ibrim, and another smaller castle, with a harbour called Addoa, which is said to have been the native place of Lokmat and Jonas.[10]

A wonderful ruin (_Birbe_) is seen here. In this district resides a governor named by the great chief of the Noubas, who has the title of Lord of the Mountain, and is one of their principal governors, because he is so near the territory of the Moslims. Whenever any Moslim travels to this country, and has a stock of merchandize either for sale, or as a present to the king or governor, the latter receives it all, and returns the value in slaves; for no one, whether Moslim or not, is ever permitted to present himself in person to the king.

On the first cataract of Nouba lies the city called _Takoa_,[11] on a level ground, where the boats of the Nouba ascending from the Kaszer usually stop. The boats dare not pass this village, and no Moslim, nor any other person, dare ascend the river further up, without permission from the Lord of the Mountain. From hence to the upper _Maks_ are six days journey.[12] Cataracts continue the whole way up. These are the worst parts of Nouba which I have seen, owing to the difficulty and narrowness of the ground, and the fatiguing road. The river is constantly interrupted by rapid falls and projecting mountains, so that it is precipitated down the rocks, and is in some places not above fifty peeks (cubits) wide from one bank to the other.

The country abounds in high mountains, narrow passes, and roads along which you cannot proceed mounted, and if weak, you will in vain attempt to walk.[13] These mountains are the strong holds of the Noubas, and among them the inhabitants of the districts bordering on the Moslim country take refuge. A few date trees, and some poor fields are found on the islands. The principal food of the inhabitants is fish, with the fat of which they anoint their bodies. The district belongs to the territory of Merys; and is governed by the Lord of the Mountain. The garrison in the Upper Maks is so rigorously governed by an officer named by the great chief of Nouba, that when the great chief himself passes that way, the governor stands by his side, and prevents the people from applying to him, until they have recourse to his son, or his vizier, or inferior officers.[14]

No money or dinars are here current: these are only used in traffic with the Moslims below the cataracts; above them they are unacquainted with buying or selling. Their trade is limited to mutual exchanges of cattle, slaves, camels, iron and grain. No one passes onward without the king’s permission; disobedience to this order is punished with death. On account of this system of prohibition, no intelligence is ever communicated of their movements, and the soldiers attack the Bedouins of the country and others without any previous alarm. In this part of the Nile is found the Sembad,[15] which is used in cutting precious stones. The natives dive for it, and easily distinguish it from other stones; but in case of doubt they blow upon it, and the genuine Sembad is immediately covered with moisture.