Chapter XVIII (1)

Crossing the Dhioliba. — Abode at Jenné. — Description of the town. — Manners and customs of the inhabitants. — Trade. — English and French goods. — Buildings. — Population. — Schools. — Religion. — Food and clothing. — Geographical details. — Course of the river. — The Massina. — Residence of the sherif of Jenné. — A dinner. — Use of tea, sugar and porcelain. — Preparations for my departure for Timbuctoo.

On the morning of the 11th of March we prepared to leave Cougalia. We crossed the river in frail canoes, about thirty feet long and very narrow, made of a single trunk of the bombax. They were very inconvenient and every moment threatened to upset. However, we succeeded in getting the asses on board; for the river was too wide for them to swim across. I should imagine that its breadth in this part is five hundred feet, or two hundred and fifty ordinary paces. I thought it narrow in comparison with its width at Couroussa, in the country of Amana, which is much nearer to its source. At first, I supposed that what I saw at Cougalia was only an arm of the river, forming the island of Jenné. It is very deep, for in the middle our people were obliged to use oars, their poles not being long enough to reach the bottom. It was noon when we landed on the right bank, and several musket-shots were fired in token of rejoicing. The heat was intense. I walked a short distance along the bank of the river, where I saw many mimosas, of the same kind as that which grows in the water on the banks of the Senegal, and which is also very abundant in the interior. On inundated ground, however, it does not exceed the height of five feet. It is thorny, the branches are slender and the pod is hairy; it contracts its leaves on being touched.

On leaving the banks of the Dhioliba, we proceeded six miles W.N.W. We crossed a dry marsh, on which there was not a single tree to shade us. On this marsh rice is grown during the inundations. The ground consists of grey argillaceous earth, mixed with a good deal of sand and numerous veins of red clay, like that which I had seen on the banks of the Dhioliba. I observed several slaves who were engaged in agricultural labour. They used large hoes like those employed in the Wassoulo.

A little before we reached the island of Jenné, the soil changed to a hard sand, over which the inundation does not appear to extend. Some shrubs were growing upon it.

About half past two we arrived on the bank of a secondary branch of the Dhioliba, which comes from the north in this part, and forms the island on which is situated the town of Jenné. In fording it the water was up to our waists. Its current is very rapid, and its bed is wide and sandy. We saw a great number of traders crossing the water. They were coming from Jenné and returning to their respective countries with merchandise.

Having crossed this branch of the river, I thought myself on the island of Jenné, but, before we could reach the town, I found that we had to cross a second branch as deep as the other. After crossing the first branch we found ourselves at the extremity of a large island, separated by this marigot, and formed by an arm of the river, which branches off at Ségo and rejoins it at Isaca, a village situated at the distance of a day and a half’s journey from Cougalia. Within this large island is situated the island of Jenné, which is surrounded by a secondary arm of the river. I saw in the port, many large canoes: some afloat waiting for their cargoes and others ashore, to undergo repair. I was astonished at the size of these canoes, of which I shall say more hereafter.

When we landed, there were several negroes assembled at the water-side. My guide addressed himself to one of them, a good-looking Mandingo, and asked him whether he could give us a lodging. He conducted us to his habitation, the outside of which was well enough, but the inside did not correspond with its external appearance. From consideration to me in my assumed character of an Arab, I was lodged in an upper room, where I should not be so much exposed to damp as in the lower part of the house. The room was exceedingly wretched and dirty. It might be about twelve feet long, five wide, and of a proportionate height. The floor, which consisted of planks of rough wood, was better made than any I have seen among the Bambaras. It was, however, very uneven, and covered with rubbish, a heap of which lay in one corner of the room, as the floor was undergoing repair. The only furniture the apartment contained was a mat spread upon the floor. The steps, which led from this room to the yard were of earth, and so narrow and steep as to be very dangerous to descend. My old guide and his people were lodged in the store-room on the ground-floor.

When we were fairly settled in our new abode, Kai-mou called together the master of the house and two or three old men who lived in the neighbourhood, to whom he related the circumstances which had occasioned my journey to Jenné. They listened to his story with great attention, and seemed to be much interested about me. On my expressing a wish to become acquainted with the Arabs who were settled in the town, and to place myself under their protection, they agreed to conduct me in the evening to sherif Sidy-Oulad-Marmou, a Moor of Tafilet, who was reputed to be very rich. This interview being ended, my old guide asked me to go up to my chamber; he ascended before me and seated himself on the mat. He began by congratulating me, and then addressed me in a long speech, in which he assured me that I ought to consider myself very fortunate, in having reached Jenné without experiencing any serious disaster or being ill-treated by the infidels. He said it was very astonishing that, considering my white colour, which was so strange to the people, I should have travelled over so large a tract of country without being robbed. He added that I was in a great measure indebted to him for my safety, and that he trusted I would reward him for his important services. He then paused and looked me stedfastly in the face, as much as to ask me what I thought of his speech. I saw that he wished to be paid without further delay, and I immediately gave him a pair of scissors, two yards of coloured calico, three sheets of paper, and a string of thirty red glass beads for his wives. In France these trifles might have been worth about five francs, but at Jenné their value was at least three times as great.

The old man had partly supplied me with provisions on my journey, for which I made him some little compensation by presents, consisting of bits of cloth. At all events, it would have been difficult to travel cheaper in Africa. Poor Kai-mou was however perfectly satisfied; indeed, my generosity seemed to have exceeded his expectations, and he joyfully overwhelmed me with blessings. I wished to go immediately to the Arab sherif; but he insisted on my staying to dine with him, observing that next day we should have time enough to go and see the Moor, to whom he promised to speak in my behalf. He ordered one of his women to buy some fresh fish and rice, to make amends for our bad living the few preceding days. Our host, who was already prepossessed in my favour, came to accompany me to the mosque, to attend the six o’clock prayer. I saw there several Moors, all of whom were very well dressed. They took no notice of me.

On my return home my guide sent for me, and we sat down together with his people in the middle of the yard, to partake of a supper which we found exceedingly savoury, for it was seasoned with salt. I did not pass a very tranquil night, owing to my anxiety respecting the reception I might experience from my new countrymen.

On the 12th of March, about eight o’clock in the morning, my guide and I went to visit the Moors. Our host, by whom we were accompanied, went first to call on one of his friends. He entered the house and left us at the door, where we remained at least an hour. I was, at first, rather uneasy at this strange conduct, but was afterwards informed that the people of the house were at their breakfast. When the repast was ended, they came to invite us in, and gave to each of us half a colat-nut. After this they presented to us a calabash of couscous, which they had had the politeness to set aside for us. The want of lalo (the bruised leaf of the baobab which is put into the couscous) rendered it very unpalatable. They put on the top of the couscous some bones which they had themselves been gnawing. We afterwards went all together to the sherif. As I was passing through the market, which appeared to be abundantly supplied with all kinds of merchandise, I was accosted by a well-dressed negro. The man knew by my countenance and by my tattered dress that I was a stranger. He asked me whence I had come and who I was. He told me that he himself was a native of Adrar. As my companions were going on first, we had not time for further conversation, and I saw no more of the man. On reaching the sherif’s house, which was near the market-place, I saw four Moors sitting in the street upon a mat and some little round cushions, made of badly tanned sheep-skin with the wool still remaining on it. One of them, a man of about forty, was much whiter than myself.

My companions, without any ceremony, told them who I was and whence I had come, adding that my resources were exhausted and that I appealed to them for hospitality. Their astonishment was extreme. They gazed at me with curiosity and said one to another: _Aich kount hadé?_ (what means this?) I saluted them: they returned my salutation and gave me their hands. They then again asked me who I was. I told them as well as I could, for I spoke their language very imperfectly, that I was an Arab and a native of Alexandria. I added that my father, a zealous Musulman and a very rich merchant, had ships like those of the christians; that I had been made prisoner when very young by the French; but that I had escaped from them, with the determination of returning to my country and embracing the religion of my fathers; that I was almost destitute and had come to claim their protection to enable me to reach Timbuctoo, whence I should proceed to Alexandria, my native city. They paid great attention to all that I said; but they did not appear to be quite convinced of the truth of my story. They observed that Alexandria lay to the east, and that I had come from the west, and they asked me how I had effected my escape from among the christians. Fortunately, I was prepared with an answer: I related a long story in which I said that the christians, having captured me at Alexandria, conveyed me to their country, which is in the north; that they had educated me, and that when I grew up, the christian to whom I belonged took me with him on board a ship, which, after two months’ voyage, brought us to the coast of the negro country. “The whites,” continued I, “possess little villages on the coast, where they have commercial establishments, in one of which I remained a considerable time. I had the care of a store-house and my master who regarded me as his son, reposed entire confidence in me. Profiting by my continual intercourse with the Foulahs, I endeavoured to learn their language, and, after communicating to some of them the secret of my birth, I was induced by their reiterated entreaties to leave the christians and to retire to their country; but before I attempted to execute this plan I wished to earn money sufficient to defray the expenses of my long journey. This object I at length attained, and one night I made my escape with some Foulahs, who conducted me to the Fouta-Dhialon, where I was presented to the king of that country.”

I closed my narrative by a pompous eulogium on the sovereign of the Fouta, mentioning in high terms of praise his generosity and his zeal for the religion of Mahomet. My story appeared plausible enough, and its veracity was no longer doubted. Having left my country so young, there appeared nothing extraordinary in my being imperfectly acquainted with its language. I also mentioned that what little Arabic I knew had been picked up on my journey. The Moors asked me numerous questions about the christians and the way in which they had treated me. They all inquired whether I had been beaten and treated like a slave; whether I had been prevented from praying; and whether I had eaten pork and drunk brandy. I answered that the christians were a humane people; that they treated their prisoners kindly, but that they did not tolerate among them the exercise of the Mahometan religion,[61] “in which,” said I, “they place no more faith, than we do in christianity.” On hearing this they all exclaimed: _Allah akbar!_ (great God!) “What! did you not pray among the christians?” continued they. “No; I left my country so young that I had not learned our prayers, and the christians of course did not teach me them.”—“But did you not pray when you were in the Soudan with the Mahometan Foulahs!” “Yes; but I took care not to be observed.” “Did you sometimes pray to the prophet?”—“I did so internally.”

When I confessed that I had eaten pork and drunk brandy they were all horror-struck and exclaimed in Arabic: “Ah! great God, why did you do that!”—“Because,” replied I, “my master obliged me.” I observed that, had I been willing to continue such a life, I should have remained among the christians; but that it was to avoid the commission of such heinous sins, that I had undertaken my long and perilous journey. “He is right; he speaks truly,” they then repeated, looking at each other. Among other questions, I was asked whether it was true that the christians eat their slaves. This absurd question was not asked by the Moors of Tafilet, who appeared tolerably well informed, but by some roving Moors, who happened to be passing by and stopped, out of curiosity, to hear our conversation. The Moors of Tafilet looked at them with an air of contempt and superiority, and told them that the whites were not cannibals. Those who had asked the question laughed too, and I suppose they had been merely joking. I informed them that the Europeans had no slaves now. They asked me why? “Because,” replied I, “they say that men are all equal in the eye of God, and that there ought to be no slavery.” They admitted that this was very true, and that it was very fine for the christians to think so. “But why,” continued they, “were you detained as a slave?” I replied that I was not detained, and that if I had remained in France until the end of the war, I might, like others of my countrymen, have returned home, but, being in the Soudan with the christian, my master, the latter, who had no child, regarded me as his son and would not part with me. “His fortune,” added I, “could not tempt me. I despised it when I thought of a future life and the paradise of Mahomet.” They congratulated me on these praiseworthy feelings. They questioned me about the food of the christians, in what direction they turn the heads of the bullocks and sheep which they slaughter, whether they knock the animal down or cut its throat, whether the christians eat with their fingers, and sit on the ground. I should fill whole pages were I to repeat all the questions that were put to me.

When the examination was ended, the sherif desired the negro, my host, to conduct me to the chief of Jenné. Thither we went, still accompanied by my guide. We entered the little corridor of a mean-looking house, and were desired to wait in the first room we entered, where many other persons were likewise waiting for an audience. A bullock’s hide was brought for us to sit upon. At the extremity of the corridor, there was a door, which opened upon an inner staircase, leading to the first story. On my being announced, the chief came down stairs and seated himself at the foot of the staircase, the door still remaining closed. The chief did not speak Arabic, and he desired that I should be asked whether I understood the Mandingo language.

The man who stood guard at the door repeated the answer in a loud voice, to enable the chief (who I suppose was somewhat deaf) to hear. He then requested to know whether I spoke the Bambara language. One of the Moors, whom I had seen with the sherif, now joined me. On his being announced, the door of the staircase was immediately opened, and all present had the gratification of seeing this mysterious chief. He was advanced in years, very fat, almost blind, and very simply dressed. The Moor eagerly advanced, and giving him his hand by way of salutation, told me to do the same; I immediately did so. It was a distinction of which I was not a little proud, for it is not granted to every one. The Moor again informed the chief what my intentions were; he added that, being very poor, I threw myself on his hospitality. The chief, after listening attentively, said that until an opportunity should occur for my going to Timbuctoo, on my way to my native country, I should remain with the sherif who, as a rich man and a descendant of the Prophet, would take care that I should be well treated. Before I left him, this negro chief requested that I would myself repeat the story I had related in the morning, which I briefly did, the Moor who had joined me acting as interpreter. Of all the Moors whom I had seen during the morning, the sherif had given me the coolest reception. The chief sent one of his people to conduct me to the residence of my new host, and I returned among my new countrymen, whose presence had at first somewhat alarmed me. I fancied that they could all read in my countenance the deception which I was practising upon them; but fortunately this was not the case. The man who accompanied me communicated the commands of the chief to the sherif, who replied that he was very ready to obey them. He made me sit down on the ground beside him, and he and the Moors who were with him repeated all the questions which they had put to me before. The sherif appeared to be a man of greater consequence than the rest. He spoke but little, and retired into his house apparently not very well pleased at being burthened with me. He said nothing to me, but put a few questions to the Moors, who repeated them to me.

A numerous concourse collected around us; but it gradually dispersed, and at length I was left alone with the two Moors, who were very sociable. One of them, who was named Al-Haggi-Mohammed, called one of his slaves, gave her some cowries, and sent her to purchase four small loaves or cakes of rice, together with some butter and honey. She mixed the butter and honey well together, and then brought it to us in a neat pewter dish of European manufacture. The Haggi-Mohammed ordered her to carry it into a corridor on the first floor, and then requested me to go up to breakfast. I ate but little, and, when I went down to thank him for his attention, he begged that I would lie down and rest, saying that I must be much fatigued after my long journey. He conducted me into a house, which served the two-fold purpose of a lodging for his slaves and a magazine for his merchandise. He cleared out a little corridor, and, having ordered a mat to be spread upon the floor, told me that this was to be my chamber. He had a better house, in which he himself resided with his children. My umbrella attracted his attention; he asked me to let him see it: he opened and shut it several times and showed it to those about him. He called the sherif and shewed it to him. The sherif appeared to be a connoisseur in curiosities of this kind, and he admired it exceedingly; many negroes stopped to look at it, and seemed utterly lost in amazement. I told the Moor that I had brought with me some other luggage. He desired me to go and fetch it, and sent a person to conduct me. I went to the residence of my old guide to get my baggage, which I had left in my chamber; as there was no door to it, I might have had reason to repent this imprudence; but, fortunately, I found every thing as I had left it. Kai-mou asked me if I was pleased with my new hosts, for I had two. I replied in the affirmative. On my return to my lodging, the Haggi-Mohammed asked me what there was in my bag; he advised me if I had merchandise to sell it before my departure, as I should not dispose of it so advantageously at Timbuctoo, all the goods that are sold at Jenné being brought from that city.

I took my bag to my new lodging and opened it in order to prepare for the visit which I expected to receive from the Moors; I laid aside the money which I had in my girdle, and mixed my notes in pencil with some leaves of the Koran, so that, in case my portfolio should be opened, the papers might be taken for a book of prayers. In the event of the notes being discovered, I had determined to say that they contained a narrative of the events which had occurred to me during my abode among the christians, which I wished to communicate to my family. But, in spite of all these precautions, I was not without anxiety.

I took a view of the house in which I was to reside for some days. The first story consisted of several galleries, similar to those in which I was lodged, two small closets containing earthen vessels filled with water, a dirty water-closet, and a little court level with this floor, which received light only on this side. The ground-floor, which was distributed in the same way, consisted of store-rooms for rice and millet, and a stable for a horse. These store-rooms received light partly from a second court behind the house, and partly from a grated opening in the court of the first story. The gallery which I occupied was the most convenient and the cleanest apartment of the whole. Two staircases led up to it. They were made of earth, but were much better and more solid than that of the chamber which I occupied on my first arrival at Jenné. One of these staircases led to the entrance door, and the other to the lower court. Some of the Haggi-Mohammed’s store-rooms which were filled with sacks of merchandise, were fastened with padlocks of European manufacture.

The court on the first story was partly roofed at the four corners. Pieces of wood, resting on the walls at little intervals from each other and covered with earth, formed a sort of terrace with a parapet running round it. On this terrace, to which there was an ascent of about ten steps, the Moors and even the negroes were accustomed to take their supper.

About noon a female slave brought me a large dish of very good rice, seasoned with meat and small onions. The latter thrive well every where in the neighbourhood of Jenné. The Haggi-Mohammed came to inquire after my health. As I had eaten only a small portion of what he sent to me, he supposed that I was ill. He desired me to make myself easy; for now that I was among the Moors I should want nothing, and with the grace of God I should soon return to my country. Then sitting down beside me, he asked me what I should do when I went home, as I did not know my parents. I told him that at first I should be somewhat at a loss. “But,” said I, “if you had a son among strangers, should you forget him?”—“Certainly not,” replied he.—“Neither will my father forget me. When I get to Alexandria I shall find him out; and, even if both my parents are dead, I have a brother who will surely know me again.” As I was very ill with severe cold, he procured, at my request, some dry gombo and had it boiled with honey. This, I found to relieve me very much. The cold affected my chest and I was quite hoarse, which was very inconvenient to me, having to answer so many questions.

I mentioned to the Haggi-Mohammed my wish to repay the cowries which he had expended on my account. He refused to accept payment, and desired me to purchase nothing, observing that I had only to ask for whatever I might want, and he would supply it. He sent for a barber to shave my head. This man was an expert operator; he did not hurt me in the least, though I certainly expected to suffer under his hands. The handle of his razor was made according to the fashion of the country, but the blade which was of European manufacture, was good. The barbers carry their razors in a small copper sheath. They do not use soap; a forbearance for which I was grateful, for the smell of all the soap that I met with in the country was extremely offensive: they merely wash the head with cold water. After resuming my turban, I paid a visit to the market; I was surprised at the number of the people I saw there. It is well supplied with all the necessaries of life, and is constantly crowded by a multitude of strangers and the inhabitants of the neighbouring villages, who attend it to sell their produce, and to purchase salt and other commodities.

There are several rows of dealers both male and female. Some erect little palisades of straw, to protect themselves from the excessive heat of the sun; over these they throw a pagne and thus form a small hut. Their goods are laid out in little baskets, placed on large round panniers.

In going round the market, I observed some shops pretty well stocked with European commodities, which sell at a very high price. There was a great variety of cotton goods, printed muslins, calicoes, scarlet cloth, hardware, flints, &c. Nearly the whole of these articles appeared to be of English manufacture. I saw however some French muskets, which are much esteemed. Among the other articles on sale, were glass trinkets, false amber, false coral, sulphur in sticks, and gunpowder which, I was informed, is manufactured in the country. I am not acquainted with the materials of which their powder is made, but it appears that they are pounded together in a mortar moistened with water. They form this powder into lumps of the size of a man’s fist, which they dry in the sun. The purchasers allow it to remain in the same state until they are going to use it, when they crush it and put it in a powder-horn. When they load their muskets with home-made powder, they use a much greater quantity than they would think necessary of the European kind, which they value far more highly. Their powder produces but a weak explosion; it sometimes issues from the musket like a fusee, without any report.

While descending the Dhioliba to Tercy, I saw at a village a large calabash full of saltpetre which appeared very fine, but I cannot tell how the people procured it. I questioned a Moor, who merely replied: “It is powder,” and I could learn nothing more about it. The dealers in colat-nuts occupy one end of the market. They are ranged in two rows, with each a small pannier of colats before him, which they sell retail at the rate of eight or ten cowries a-piece. The low price proves the great abundance of this fruit in the country; but the usual price is from fifteen to twenty cowries.

There are also butchers in the market, who lay out their meat much in the same way as their brethren in Europe. They also thrust skewers through little pieces of meat, which they smoke-dry and sell retail. Great quantities of fish, fresh as well as dried, are brought to this market, in which are also to be had earthen pots, calabashes, mats, and salt; but the salt in the market is only sold retail; that which is sold wholesale is kept in the warehouses.

There are great numbers of hawkers in the streets, who cry the goods which they carry about with them, as in Europe. They sell stuffs made in the country, cured provisions, colat-nuts, honey, vegetable and animal butter, milk and fire-wood. The last article, which is scarce, is brought by women from the distance of twelve or fifteen miles round. Millet straw is sold in the market; and during my residence in this town, I saw, every evening, negresses purchasing each a certain quantity for ten cowries to cook their suppers: the ordinary faggots cost one hundred and twenty cowries, which are equal to twelve sous. Fortunately, this is not a cold country.

The Moors of Jenné do not keep shops. They employ confidential agents, or even slaves, to sell goods on their account. It is their custom to sit on mats before their doors, with some cakes of salt placed beside them, and in this way they wait for customers to buy their goods, or others who may wish to sell. Thus they accumulate, without giving themselves much trouble, great quantities of ivory, gold, rice, millet, honey, raw wax, cured provisions, and heaps of small onions. These articles they deposit in their store-houses, whence they forward them to Timbuctoo, where they have correspondents, who send them in exchange salt, tobacco, and European merchandise.

There are also marabouts among the negroes of Jenné, but the trade they carry on is not so considerable. The articles they deal in are seldom of great value, but consist chiefly of the zambalas, tamarinds, pimento, long pepper, leaves and fruit of the baobab, gombos, leaves and fruit of Guinea sorrel, pistachios, beans, and a number of small articles which are brought at Jenné by the people of the caravans. They also send to Timbuctoo calabashes and earthen pots for culinary purposes. The wax purchased at Jenné is used for candles, which are made without moulds and generally consumed through the country. Quantities are sent to Timbuctoo, where there is a great demand for them.

The Moorish merchants resident in Jenné, about thirty or forty in number, occupy the best houses, which have besides the advantage of being situated near the market. The principal trade of the place is in their hands. They form companies of several partners, and are owners of large barges, which carry cargoes of native produce to Timbuctoo.

Jenné was called by the early travellers _the Land of Gold_. However, that metal is not produced in the environs, but it is frequently brought to Jenné by the Mandingoes of the Kong country and the merchants of Bouré. It forms a principal branch of commerce for these rich traders. They also deal in slaves, whom they send to Tafilet, and to other quarters, as Mogador, Tunis, and Tripoli. I have seen men leading these unfortunate beings about the streets, and crying them for sale at the rate of twenty-five, thirty, or forty thousand cowries, according to their age. I was grieved to see such an insult offered to human nature. Such of these poor creatures as I observed at Jenné in the families of Moors, who all keep a considerable number of them, are not the most to be pitied; they are well fed, well clothed, and not hard worked. Their lot would be preferable to that of the peasantry of some countries of Europe, if any thing could compensate for the loss of liberty. In general they become confidential servants, who take care of the house in the absence of the master, or pack the merchandise and ship it. I remarked that these masters often gave them cowries to purchase what they liked. It was pleasing to witness conduct so well calculated to promote fidelity adopted towards them. They are indeed entrusted with whole sacks of cowries to count, without any apprehension of their stealing them.

The town of Jenné is about two miles and half in circumference; it is surrounded by a very ill constructed earth wall, about ten feet high, and fourteen inches thick. There are several gates, but they are small. The houses are built of bricks dried in the sun. The sand of the isle of Jenné is mixed with a little clay, and it is employed to make bricks of a round form which are sufficiently solid. The houses are as large as those of European villages. The greater part have only one story, like Haggi-Mohammed’s, which I have already described. They are all terraced, have no windows externally, and the apartments receive no air except from an inner court. The only entrance, which is of ordinary size, is closed by a door made of wooden planks, pretty thick, and apparently sawed. The door is fastened on the inside by a double iron chain, and on the outside by a wooden lock made in the country. Some however have iron locks. The apartments are all long and narrow. The wails, especially the outer, are well plastered with sand, for they have no lime. In each house there is a staircase leading to the terrace; but there are no chimneys, and consequently the slaves cook in the open air. The streets are not straight, but they are broad enough for a country in which no carriages are used; eight or nine persons may walk in them abreast; they are kept in good order, being swept almost daily. The environs of Jenné are marshy and entirely destitute of trees. Some clumps of ronniers are however seen on slight elevations at very remote distances. Before the rains set in, the plains receive some tillage, and are all sown with rice, which grows with the increase of the water of the river; the slaves are the cultivators of this grain. There was also on the banks of the river some gombo, tobacco, and giraumons. I was told that in the rainy season they grow cabbage, carrots, and European turnips, the seed of which is brought from Tafilet. In the marshes is found a kind of forage, which is cut and dried for the cattle. In places not exposed to the inundation they cultivate only millet and maize.

The town of Jenné is full of bustle and animation; every day numerous caravans of merchants are arriving and departing with all kinds of useful productions. In Jenné there is a mosque built of earth, surmounted by two massive but not high towers; it is rudely constructed, though very large. It is abandoned to thousands of swallows, which build their nests in it. This occasions a very disagreeable smell, to avoid which, the custom of saying prayers in a small outer court has become common. In the environs of the mosque, to which I often went, I always observed a number of beggars, reduced to mendicity by old age, blindness, or other infirmities.

The town is shaded by some baobabs, mimosas, date-trees, and ronniers. I remarked another kind of tree, the name of which I do not know.

The population of Jenné includes a number of resident strangers, as Mandingoes, Foulahs, Bambaras, and Moors. They speak the languages peculiar to their respective countries, besides a general dialect called _Kissour_, which is the language currently adopted as far as Timbuctoo. The number of the inhabitants may be computed at eight or ten thousand. This town was formerly independent, but it now belongs to a small kingdom, of which Ségo-Ahmadou is the sovereign. He is a Foulah, and a fanatical Musulman, but a great conqueror. With a very small number of followers, he has subdued several districts in the south of Bambara, where he has introduced his religion and enforces obedience. Jenné was his capital; but this zealous disciple of the prophet, finding that the great trade of that town interfered with his religious duties, and drew aside the true believers from their devotions, founded another town on the right bank of the river. He named it _el-Lamdou-Lillahi_ (to the praise of God), the first words of a prayer in the Koran. At this place there are public schools in which children are taught gratuitously. There are also schools for adults, according to the degrees of their information. This devout chief is brother to the king of Massina, a country situated on the left bank of the Dhioliba.

Ségo-Ahmadou does not levy contributions on the merchants who resort to Jenné for the purpose of trade. Foreign merchants settled in the country are not subject to taxes any more than natives; but they send presents to the king, as well as to his brother, the chief of Jenné. I had often heard Ségo-Ahmadou extolled for his generosity; but the Moors told me that he was generous only to his own subjects. The inhabitants of Jenné are exceedingly active and industrious, and very much like the savage negroes I had seen in the south. In short, they are intelligent men, who speculate on the labour of their slaves; while, among the freemen, the rich devote themselves to commerce, and the poor to various trades and professions. At Jenné, there are tailors who make clothes which are sent to Timbuctoo; smiths, founders, masons, shoe-makers, porters, packers and fishermen: every one renders himself useful in some way or other. Mats, made of the leaves of the ronnier, are used for packing up goods; they are manufactured by the inhabitants of the neighbouring villages, who sell them in the market. This matting is covered with a second envelope, consisting of a bullock’s hide, that is to say, if the goods are worth it. The smiths are no better provided with tools than those I saw on the road: they execute the same work with the same scanty means. It is the business of the packers to sack the grain, and, in order to force as much as possible into the bag, they press it down with a piece of wood. When their bag is full, they put a handful of straw above the millet, and sew the bag. This is much more secure than simple packing.

All the inhabitants of Jenné are Mahometans. They do not permit infidels to enter their town, and when the Bambara people come to Jenné, they are obliged to repeat the Mahometan prayers, otherwise they would be unmercifully beaten by the Foulahs, who form the majority of the population. I found the inhabitants very civil to strangers, at least to those of their own religion; and they put traders in the way of disposing of their goods.

They have several wives, whom, however they do not ill-treat, like the negroes further to the south. The women never go out unveiled, and are not allowed to eat their meals with their husbands, or even with their male children. The girls, when they attain a suitable age, assist their mothers in cooking, washing and other household business. They occupy their leisure moments in spinning cotton, which they buy in the market, for in the marshy environs of the city it is not cultivated; however, on the west side, I saw a little field of cotton surrounded by a thorn hedge. It appeared to be of very inferior quality, and does not thrive well.

The people of Jenné know no other writing than that of the Arabs: almost all can read, though few understand it. There are schools for youth, like those which I have already described. After the children have learned every thing that is taught in these schools, they are sent to El-Lamdou-Lillahi; and when they know the Koran by heart, they are looked upon as learned men: they then return to their native places, and enter into trade.

The inhabitants of Jenné live very well: they eat rice boiled with fresh meat, which is to be procured every day in the market. With the fine millet they make couscous; this is eaten with fresh or dried fish, of which they have great abundance. Their dishes are highly seasoned; they use a good deal of allspice, and salt is common enough to enable every one to get it. The expense of maintenance for a single individual is about twenty-five or thirty cowries per day. Meat is not dear in this place: a piece which costs forty cowries (twenty centimes) is enough to furnish a dinner for four persons. They generally make two meals a day; all sitting round one dish, and each taking out a portion with his hand, like all the inhabitants of the interior.

Their houses are not furnished. They have leather bags in which they put their things; these bags are sometimes hung to a line put up across the apartment. The people always sleep on bullocks’ hides, or mats, spread upon the ground. Hence they are very subject to rheumatic complaints, owing to the extreme dampness of the soil, for they cannot keep fires during the night on account of the scarcity of wood. The children, as well as grown persons, are very neatly dressed. They wear a coussabe made of cloth of the Soudan, generally white, which is the favourite colour; their trowsers reach to the ancle, and are not so full as those worn by the Mandingoes in the south; they have a hem at the waist in which is run a cotton string that ties above the hips. The Mandingo traders buy these trowsers and carry them to their country: I saw them at Sambatikila, Timé, and Tangrera. The people of Jenné never go barefoot, not even the children of the slaves. Their shoes, which are very neatly made, ressemble our European slippers; they have them of various colours. Their shoe-makers use no lasts they get thin leather from Timbuctoo, whither it is brought by the Moors from Morocco. I saw no tanners in Jenné.

The most elegant head-dress worn in this place is a red cap, round which a large piece of muslin is rolled in the form of a turban. Men of inferior rank, like the saracolets, wear caps made in the country. The dress of the women consists of a coussabe with a pagne under it. I saw several females with sandals. They plat their hair and wear necklaces of glass, amber, coral, and gold ear-rings. Some also wear about the neck plates of that metal which are made in the country. I saw some with nose-rings; they all have their noses pierced, and those who are not rich enough to buy a ring have a piece of pink silk in its stead. They wear silver bracelets of a round form, and their ancles are encircled by flat rings of plated iron, four inches broad, which cover them completely.

The price of an ordinary coussabe of cloth of native manufacture is two thousand cowries; a pair of trowsers costs one thousand, and a pair of slippers three hundred. They are to be had either cheaper or dearer, according to the variety of form or colour. The Moors have magazines well supplied with European merchandise; such as white Guinea cloth, (for they have but little blue) calico, scarlet cloth, paper, muskets, powder, hardware, needles, silk, and sulphur. They sell all these things wholesale. They have also white sugar and tea; but it is only the very rich who can afford such luxuries. I was pleased to find at Jenné that one might use a pocket-handkerchief without being ridiculed; for the inhabitants themselves use it, whereas, in the countries through which I had previously passed, it would have been dangerous to suffer such a thing to be seen. A cake of salt, of the dimensions which I have described in a former part of this volume, costs ten, fifteen, or even twenty thousand cowries, according to the scarcity or abundance of the article; there are smaller cakes, which cost seven or eight thousand cowries.

The Moorish merchants derive considerable profit from their trade in salt. They have great influence over the negroes, who give them credit for being richer than they really are. The poor Mandingo traders, after travelling for two months with loads of colat-nuts on their heads, are obliged to go through the streets of Jenné to sell them; for, being merely articles of luxury, they are not easily disposed of. It is true that a great many are consumed in the neighbourhood of Jenné and on the banks of the river as far as Timbuctoo; but the quantity which is brought from the south is immense, and they are consequently sold at eight or ten cowries each. Certainly at that price the poor Mandingoes can gain nothing; for the expenses incurred on their journey and during the time they stay at Jenné, the fares across the rivers, the passage-duties in the villages, and the requisite presents, absorb all their profits. The cowries obtained by the sale of their colats are appropriated to the purchase of salt, which cannot be bought with their merchandise.

As there are no inns in this country, the strangers are obliged to lodge in the houses of private persons, whom they pay in merchandise. They buy wood in the market for their cooking, and as provisions are dear in the town, they send their slaves to the neighbouring villages, where it is procured somewhat cheaper. The fishermen catch many small carp in the surrounding villages. They dry them by laying them on straw and then setting fire to it. This fish is bought by the poor people.

Ségo-Ahmadou, the chief of Jenné, maintains an active war against the Bambaras of Ségo, whom he wishes to subject to the standard of the prophet; but the Bambaras who are a warlike race, resist him. This war is very injurious to the trade of Jenné, because it interrupts all communications with Yamina, Sansanding, Bamako, and Bouré, whence the gold is brought which is circulated in the interior. The town of Jenné can no longer be considered as the central point of commerce. Yamina, Sansanding, and Bamako are, in reality, the entrepôts: those places are visited by trading Moors from all parts of the desert, and by the negroes of the Soudan, from Kong to Galam, Bondou, and the Fouta-Dhialon. Jenné cannot enjoy the same advantage on account of its distance from Bouré. Previously to the war, small canoes used to go from Jenné to Bouré, and return laden with gold. The merchants of Jenné suffer considerably by this war; but they are afraid to complain openly: indeed, they would not better themselves if they did. Several negroes informed me that since the war the Moors are forsaking this town, and taking up their abode at Sansanding.

I often went up to the terrace of the house in which I lodged. As far as the eye could reach, the country was open and marshy; there were to be seen a few clumps of ronniers at a great distance and some tamarind-trees on the most elevated parts of the banks of the river. To the west I could distinctly see a branch of the Dhioliba, which appeared tolerably large. I was told that it came from the neighbourhood of Ségo, and that that town was five days’ journey west, or rather S.S.W. of Jenné. This branch, as I have already said, rejoins the river at Isaca. The island on which the town of Jenné is situated is formed by an arm of this branch, which comes from W.N.W. The island is about twelve or fifteen miles in circumference. I did not go round it, but that appeared to be its extent from my point of view. This secondary arm, or branch, is wide but rather shallow. On the north of the town it cannot be crossed but in canoes; in other places it may be forded; when the water is low it is navigable for small canoes only, for its bed is full of sand-banks; and the inhabitants are obliged to push their large empty canoes down nearly to the river, where the branch is navigable at all times. Thither the merchandise is conveyed in small canoes: this is a long and toilsome process, but the traders are not obliged to hire hands, having their own slaves to do the work. During inundations the branch is easily navigable for large canoes. Round the town I saw a great many canoes undergoing repair.

Jenné is situated in the eastern part of the island, on an elevation of seven or eight feet, which preserves it from the periodical inundations of the river. Its soil is composed of red argillaceous earth, mixed with a great deal of grey sand, among which I saw not a single stone.

Old Kai-mou, my guide, came to pay me a visit; he had been purchasing a fine cotton wrapper of the manufacture of the country. It consisted of narrow breadths sewed together like the pagnes. These wrappers are much esteemed by the negroes, who are very chilly; the Moors do not wear them: they have better which come from Morocco. My guide told me that he had not yet found purchasers for his colats. I asked him to go with me to Timbuctoo, where he could dispose of them more advantageously. He laughed at this, and said he should spend all he possessed before he got thither: I gave him some glass beads and he left me in good humour.

I conversed every day with the Moors, who, as I perceived, regarded the negroes as a race very inferior to themselves. They often used to say to me: “The negroes are ignorant brutes; when they see a Moor they think he is entirely covered with gold, however poor he may be. They imagine that we have gold between our skin and flesh.”

At the distance of three days’ journey N.W. of Jenné is situated the kingdom of Massina, inhabited by Mahometan Foulahs; almost all of them wear their hair in small tresses. They often come to Jenné for the purposes of trade, and sell oxen and sheep for the daily consumption of the town. Their sheep are the finest that I have seen in the interior; they are large and have wool like those of Europe. The fleece is used for making wrappers, which sell at very good prices. These Foulahs also bring milk and butter to Jenné. Massina is very productive in rice, millet, pistachios, water-melons, giraumons, and onions. The inhabitants rear a good deal of poultry, and have a fine breed of horses. Every Moor on the island has his own horse. Massina is governed by a king, who is the brother and ally of Ségo-Ahmadou. The dress of the people is the same as that worn by the inhabitants of Jenné, with the exception of the piece of muslin in the form of a turban. The men of Massina whom I saw had round straw hats with broad brims, and were armed with bows and arrows, and three or four javelins which they always carry in their hands. They sometimes go out without their bows and arrows; but never without their lances.

As I was one day sitting before my door with some Moors, several Foulahs stopped to look at me. They seemed very gentle, and were apparently much interested about me. One of them, perceiving a friend at a little distance, called him, and told him he would give him ten cowries. I was much astonished to see a man call to his comrade in the street, for the purpose of offering him so trifling a present. The man to whom the money was offered did not seem to be in want of it, yet he received it very gratefully. Ten cowries are of about the value of a French sou.