Part III
, pp. 232-5.
AL-BAKRI. Reprint of de Slane’s edition. Algiers, 1910.
ALEXANDER, BOYD. _From the Niger to the Nile._ London, 1907.
—— Article on Lake Chad in _African Society’s Journal_ for April 1908.
—— _Boyd Alexander’s Last Journey_, edited by Herbert Alexander. London, 1912.
ALEXANDER, DR. DAVID. Article on Bornu ‘dubbo-dubbo’ or Punch and Judy, in _Man_ for 1911.
_Annual Biography and Obituary._ Volume for 1829, contains short obituaries of Denham and Clapperton.
BALBI, ADR. _Atlas ethnographique._ Paris, 1826, Tab. xxxix, No. 310. Maiha.
BARRÈS, M. _Une Âme de Colonial. Lettres du Lieut.-Col. Moll avec une préface de M. Maurice Barrès._ Paris, 1912. Cf. Eschevannes. [Does not directly concern British Bornu, where, however, Col. Moll was both known and admired.]
BARTH, DR. HEINRICH. _Central African Vocabularies._ 3 vols. Gotha, 1862 (in English and German).
—— Die Ausfragen des überlebenden Dieners Dr. E. Vogel’s über den Tod seines Herrn, article in _Zeitschrift für allgemeine Erdkunde_, 1863, p. 248. [This includes the official report from Major Hermann, British Consul at Tripoli. Amongst other things we learn that Vogel usually wore a tobe and a turban, but that when he did don European dress it consisted of a gold-laced cap, dark braided coat and black overalls.]
—— vid. also under Beurmann, and under Schubert.
BENTON, P. A. _Kanuri Readings._ London, 1911.
—— _Notes on Some Languages of the Western Sudan._ London, 1912.
BERLIN, DOROTHEA. _Erinnerungen an Gustav Nachtigal._ Berlin, Gebrüder Paetel, 1887.
BEURMANN, MAURICE VON. Tod nebst Übersicht seiner Reisen (1861-3), sowie derjenigen von Overweg (1850-2) und Vogel (1853-6), article by Barth in _Petermann’s Mittheilungen_, 1864, p. 25. Map. [Beurmann visited Bauchi (Jacoba) and returned via Fika in November, 1862. He also accompanied a slave raid to Marghi and Chibuk in the same year.]
—— Briefliche Mittheilungen an Dr. H. Barth und Prof. Ehrenberg aus Kuka, 7. Sept. und 24. Dec. 1862, printed in _Zeitschrift für allgemeine Erdkunde_, 1863, p. 273.
*BRUEL, G. _L’Occupation du bassin du Tchad._ Moulins, 1902.
_Bulletin of the Imperial Institute_, 1908, vi. 47 and 175, and 1910, viii. 352 and 402.
BURDON, MAJOR J. A., C.M.G. _Historical Notes on Certain Emirates and Tribes_, selected and arranged by. Printed by Waterlow, 1909.
BURTON, SIR R. _Negro Wit and Wisdom._ London, 1865.
CARBOU, H. _Méthode pratique pour l’étude de l’arabe parlé au Ouadai et à l’est du Tchad._ Paris, in-8, 1911.
—— _La Région du Tchad et du Ouadai._ 2 vols, Paris, 1912. [Includes notes on the Tubu language.]
CASTELNAU, F. DE. _Renseignements sur l’Afrique Centrale et sur une nation d’hommes à queue qui s’y trouverait, d’après le rapport des nègres du Soudan, esclaves à Bahia._ Paris, 1851. [Contains information from various slaves from Bornu taken to South America, and plates of tribal marks. Also vocabularies of Hausa, Filani, Courami, and Java.]
CHEVALIER, A. _Mission Chari-Lac Tchad, 1902-4._ Paris, 1907.
CHUDEAU, R. _Missions au Sahara._ 2 vol. Paris, 1908-9. [Only the second volume concerns the Sudan. Not much about Bornu. General survey of geology, meteorology, &c.]
*—— _Les Bœufs du Nord du Tchad._ (As. Fr. Av. Sc. Clermont-Ferrand, L. xxxvii, pp. 1061-3, 1 fig.)
CLAPPERTON, H. _Journal of a Second Expedition into the Interior of Africa from the Bight of Benin to Soccatoo._ London, 1829.
—— vid. Denham.
CORDENOY, H. J. DE. _Gommes, Résines d’origine exotique et Végétaux qui les produisent._ Paris, Challamel, 1900.
CORNET, CAPITAINE. _Au Tchad._ Paris, 1910. Plon Nourrit. [Deals chiefly with the Shari and with the country north of Chad.]
CUHN, E. W. _Reisen in das Innere von Africa._ Leipzig, 1790, p. 256; cf. p. 242.
CUST, R. N. _Modern Languages of Africa._ 2 vols. London, 1883.
DECHAMBRE, P. Les Moutons de l’Afrique Occidentale, article in _Revue coloniale_ for August, 1905. [The same article is also printed in the _Bulletin de la Société languedocienne de Géographie_, vol. xxviii, Montpellier, 1905.]
—— Les Bovins du Soudan, article in _Revue coloniale_ for June, 1905. [Deals chiefly with Senegal Fulani cattle and their diseases.]
*DECHAMBRE ET HEIM. _Notes sur quelques races bovines de l’Afrique Occidentale._ Paris, 1908. A. Challamel.
DECORSE, DR. J. Le tatouage, les mutilations ethniques et la parure chez les populations du Soudan, article in _L’Anthropologie_, 1905, p. 129.
*—— Élevage de l’autruche en Afrique Occidentale française, in _Agric. prat. des pays chauds_, vii, 1907, 2e semaine, pp. 121-33.
—— _Mission Chari-Lac Tchad, 1902-4 : Du Congo au Lac Tchad._ Paris, 1906.
DECORSE ET DEMOMBYNES. Budduma and Kury Vocabularies, in _Actes du XIVe Congrès des Orientalistes_. Alger, 1905.
—— _Rabah et les Arabes du Chari._ Paris, N.D.
DELEVOYE, Enseigne de Vaisseau, Second de la Mission Lenfant (1903-4). _En Afrique Centrale (Niger-Benoué-Tchad)._ Paris, 1906. [On p. 127 he mentions meeting McCarthy Morrogh at Ngornu and giving him the first dish of fried potatoes ever seen on Lake Chad!]
*DESTENAVE. Le Lac Tchad, article in _Revue générale des Sciences_, 1912, pp. 649, 661, and 717.
*DUBOIS. Bas Chari, rive sud du Tchad et Bahr el Ghazal, article in _Annales de Géographie_, xii, July 1903.
DUJARRIC, GASTON. _Vie du Sultan Rabah._ Paris, 1902.
EDRISI. _Description de l’Afrique et de l’Espagne._ Texte arabe et traduction par R. Dozy et M. J. de Goeje. Leyden, 1866. E. J. Brill.
_Encyclopaedia of Islam_ (now in course of publication by Luzac & Co., London). [The article on Bornu is not up to date and contains various misprints.]
ESCHERICH, K. _Die Termiten oder weissen Ameisen_, Leipzig, 1909. [Many illustrations.]
ESCHEVANNES, C. D’. _Henry Moll, d’après sa correspondance._ Imprimerie de l’Union Typographique. Domois-Dijon. [1911?] [Col. Moll was killed in action at Dridjelé in Wadai on Nov. 9, 1910. He had previously been stationed in Zinder, 1901, was on the Anglo-French Niger-Chad Boundary Commission, 1903-4, and from 1909-10 was in charge of the Territoire Militaire du Tchad. Cf. Barrès.]
FALCONER, J. W. _Geology and Geography of Northern Nigeria._ London, 1910. [The author was head of the Government Mineral Survey Party, and is now Lecturer on Geography in Glasgow University.]
—— _On Horseback through Nigeria._ London, 1911.
*FRANCO, DE. _Étude sur l’élevage du cheval en Afrique Occidentale française._ Melun, imp. administrative, 1905.
*FREIMARK, H. _Das Sexualleben der Afrikaner._ Berlin, 1911.
GADEN. _Notice sur la résidence de Zinder._ In-8, Paris, Lavauzelle, 1903. 2 francs. [Zinder is the capital of Damagaram, formerly subject to Bornu. M. Gaden’s brochure describes the district historically, geographically, &c., and is illustrated.]
—— Les États musulmans de l’Afrique Centrale et leurs rapports avec la Mecque et Constantinople, article in _Questions diplomatiques et coloniales_ for October, 1907. [Deals chiefly with the manufacture and export of eunuchs.]
GARDE, G. _Description géologique des régions situées entre le Niger et le Tchad._ Paris, 1911. 8 francs 50 centimes. [The author was the geologist attached to the Anglo-French Boundary Commission in 1907.]
GUENTHER, KONRAD. _Gerhard Rohlfs. Lebensbild eines Afrikaforschers._ Freiburg i. Br., 1912. E. Fehsenfeld. [Includes numerous photos of Rohlfs, his wife, his house, family tomb, &c.]
GUILLEUX (SERGENT). _Journal de route d’un caporal de tirailleurs._ (Mission Foureau-Lamy.) Belfort, 1905. Schmidt. [The author took part in the defeat of Rabeh at Kusseri and the pursuit of Fadel Allah to Issege, but went on leave before the final defeat and death of Fadel Allah at Gujba. The author, or possibly a journalistic friend, writes in a very flamboyant style. The key-note of the book may perhaps be described as patriotism—with a touch of pornography; ‘Charge, Chester, charge,’ on one page, and ‘Woman in our hours of ease’ on the next.]
HELD, T. V. _Märchen und Sagen der afrikanischen Neger._ Jena, 1904, p. 171.
HERTSLET, SIR E. _The Map of Africa by Treaty._ London, 1910.
HOEFFER, F. _Afrique Centrale: Soudan, Bornou, &c._ In-8, 1848. F. Didot. [This forms vol. v of _L’Univers Pittoresque_, and is a mere _réchauffé_ of Denham and Clapperton.]
*JOALLAND. De Zinder au Tchad et à la conquête du Kanem, article in _B. S. Bretonne G. Lorient_, 1901, xix, 160-80.
JOUCLA, EDMOND. _Bibliographie de l’Afrique Occidentale française._ Paris, 1912.
KNOX, ALEXANDER. _The Climate of Africa._ London, 1912.
KOELLE, REV. S. W. _African Native Literature in Kanuri._ London, 1854.
—— _Kanuri Grammar._ London, 1854.
—— _Polyglotta Africana._ London, 1854. [Dr. Karl Kumm informs me that many of Koelle’s unpublished manuscripts are now in his possession.]
KOENIG, M. Vocabulaires appartenant à divers contrées ou tribus de l’Afrique, recueillis dans la Nubie supérieure, printed in _Rec. de Voyages et de Mémoires_ pub. by the Soc. de Géogr., T. 4, Paris, 1839 (Arthus-Bertrand), pp. 129-97. Idiomes de Dar-Four et de Barnou, pp. 181-9.
KUMM, DR. KARL. _From Hausaland to Egypt._ London, 1910. [The page of Kanuri sayings is composed of a few phrases from Koelle which were confirmed by the author’s informants. The list of Bornu tribes is very incorrect. The best thing about the book is the very fine series of plates of butterflies.]
*LACOIN. Région de l’Oubanghi, du Chari et du Tchad, article in the _Bulletin de la Société géologique de France_, 4th series, iii. 484.
LACROIX. Résultats minéralogiques et géologiques des récentes explorations dans l’Afrique Occidentale française et la région du Tchad, article in the _Revue coloniale_, nouvelle série, No. 25, pp. 207-13. Paris, 1900.
LAME, CAPT., ET LIEUT. J. FERRANDI. Fort Lamy, chef-lieu du territoire du Tchad, article in _Renseignements Col. Afrique française_ (1912), 101-11.
LANDEROIN. Vid. Tilho.
LOUVET. _Sur le mode de production de la gomme arabique dans les forêts de gommiers._ In-8. 1876.
LUGARD, SIR F. D. Annual Reports on Northern Nigeria. 1901-6.
LUGARD, LADY. _A Tropical Dependency._ London, 1905.
LYON, CAPT. G. F., R.N. _Travels in Northern Africa._ London, 1821. [Contains fine coloured plates. On p. 122 there is a short Kanuri vocabulary and account of Bornu, obtained from traders. The following fact I have not seen mentioned elsewhere: ‘Until a few years ago, when the country became much improved under the mild government of a very religious Moslem [i.e. Lamino], it was the custom to throw into the stream [i.e. the Wobe] at the time of its rise a virgin richly dressed, and of superior beauty. The greatest people of the country considered themselves honoured if the preference was given to one of their daughters, and the learned men augured a good or bad year from the ease or difficulty with which their victim was drowned.’ The book also contains Fulani, Hausa, and Tubu vocabularies.]
M‘DIARMID, JOHN. _Sketches from Nature._ Edinburgh, Oliver & Boyd; London, Simpkin & Marshall, 1830. [M‘Diarmid was editor of the _Dumfries Herald_. pp. 322-36 give a short account of Clapperton, quotations from which are included in Nelson, q.v.]
MACLEOD, OLIVE. _Chiefs and Cities of Central Africa._ London, 1912.
_Magazin der merkwürdigen neuen Reisebeschreibungen._ Berlin, 1790-1811. 8vo. Vol. v, p. 330. Bornu Vokabeln.
*MARQUARDSEN. _Oberflächengestaltung und Hydrographie des Sahara- Sudanischen abflusslosen Gebietes._ Inaug. Diss. Göttingen, 1909.
MASSARI, A. La traversée de l’Afrique de la mer Rouge au golfe de Guinée, article in _Bull. de la Soc. belge de géogr._, 1883, p. 845. [Massari was a naval officer and Matteucci a doctor. Their expedition was partly financed by Prince Borghese. They started from Suakin on the Red Sea, passed through Wadai, Kuka (where they remarked on the gaiety and looseness of morals of the inhabitants), Kano, Bida, and Egga, where they stayed at the English factory, and so down the Niger and home. They landed at Liverpool on August 5, 1881, seventeen months after disembarking at Suakin. Dr. Matteucci was attacked by fever in the train between Liverpool and London, and died the following day. I have not been able to discover the date of Massari’s death, but as he lectured to the Belgian Geographical Society two years after his return to Europe, he evidently did not die so soon as is implied in note [38] of the present work.]
MECKLENBURG, DUKE ADOLF FRIEDRICH ZU. _From the Congo to the Niger and the Nile._ London, 1913. 2 vols.
MERCIER, CAPT. ÉMILIEN. Le pays du Logone-Chari. La Voie de la Benoué, article in the _Bulletin de la Société de Géographie_. Marseille, 35 (1911). [Deals with the question of transport of supplies for French Chad territories via the Benue.]
MIGEOD, F. W. H. _The Languages of West Africa._ 2 vols. London, 1911.
MOLL. Vid. Eschevannes and Barrès.
MONTEIL, C. Vid. Pierre.
NACHTIGAL, DR. G. _Trauerfeier für Gustav Nachtigal, 17. Mai 1885._ Berlin, 1885. [Reprinted from _Verhandlungen der Gesellschaft für Erdkunde zu Berlin_, No. 7, 1885.]
*—— _Résultats d’un voyage dans le Soudan_, in-8, 1875. 1 fr. 25.
*—— Nachrichten von Dr. Nachtigal, in _Petermann’s Mitteilungen_, ann. 1871, pp. 326, 450, 67, 201; _Zeitschrift der Gesellschaft für Erdkunde zu Berlin_, ann. 1873, p. 61; ann. 1871, p. 130; ann. 1873, pp. 249 and 311; ann. 1874, p. 39; ann. 1874, x. 2, p. 109; _Globus_, ann. 1873, pp. 215 and 231; ann. 1873, pp. 119, 137, and 153; _Kölnische Zeitung_, July 20 and 28, 1873; _Mitteilungen der Geographischen Gesellschaft zu Hamburg_, ann. 1876, 1877, p. 305; _Tour du monde_, 2e semestre, 1880; _Geographical Magazine_, ann. 1875, p. 178.
NELSON, REV. THOMAS. _Biographical Memoir of the late Dr. Walter Oudney and Capt. Hugh Clapperton, both of the Royal Navy, and Major Alex. Gordon Laing, all of whom died amid their active and enterprising endeavours to explore the Interior of Africa._ By Rev. Thomas Nelson, M.W.S. [i.e. Member of the Wernerian Natural History Society]. Edinburgh, Waugh & Innes; Whittaker, Treacher & Co., London, 1830. [Nelson was a personal friend of both Oudney and Clapperton, and had letters from both put at his disposal by Dr. James Kay, R.N., Professor Jameson, and Oudney’s sister. He also had personal information from Clapperton’s sister and other friends.]
NORRIS, EDWIN. _Dialogues and a small portion of the New Testament in the English, Arabic, Hausa, and Bornu Languages._ [Translated by James Richardson, and edited by E. N.] London, 1853. Obl. 4to.
—— _Grammar of the Bornu or Kanuri Language, with Dialogues._ [Transcribed from Richardson’s MSS. Norris’s books are referred to in the preface to Koelle’s _Kanuri Grammar_.] London, 1853.
ORR, C. W. _The Making of Northern Nigeria._ London, 1911.
OUDNEY. Vid. Denham.
PAHDE, ADOLF. _Der Afrika-Forscher Eduard Vogel._ 1889, Hamburg. [A small pamphlet of 36 pages; it forms vol. lxxxii in Virchow and Holtzendorff’s _Sammlung gemeinverständlicher wissenschaftlicher Vorträge_, Neue Folge, Serie iv. The author mentions that a black marble tablet has been affixed to the wall of the house in Krefeld, No. 122 Königstrasse, where Vogel was born.]
PALMER, H. R. The Bornu Girgam, article in _Journal of the African Society_, October, 1912. [A transcription and translation of a Kanuri chronicle. Of first-rate interest. A good many misprints.]
PASSARGE, SIEGFRIED. _Die Völker des Centralen Sudan._ Berlin, 1895.
*PÉRIN, G. _Rapport sur la Mission Foureau-Lamy._
PETERMANN, AUGUSTUS. _Progress of the Expedition to Central Africa._ London, 1854. Folio.
PIERRE, C., and C. MONTEIL. _L’Élevage au Soudan._ Paris, 1905. [Deals with all kinds of cattle and stock raising, primarily as regards the Upper Niger, but applicable elsewhere. Admirable illustrations.]
POTT, A. F. Sprachen aus Afrika’s Innerem und Westen, article in _Z. D. M. G._, vol. viii (1854), pp. 413-41. [A critique of Norris’s books.]
PRICHARD, J. C. _Researches into the Physical History of Mankind._ 3rd ed. Vol. ii, pp. 127 and 113. 1837.
PRIETZE, RUDOLF. Die spezifischen Verstärkungsadverbien im Hausa und Kanuri, article in _Mitteilungen des Seminars für orientalische Sprachen zu Berlin_, 1908, 3rd fasc., p. 307-17.
PRINS, P. Vers le Tchad. Une année de résidence auprès de Mohammed Abd- er-Rhaman Gaourang, Sultan de Bagirmi, Avril 1898-Mai 1899, article in _La Géographie, bulletin de la Société de Géographie_, Paris, 1900, March number.
_Quarterly Review._ Vid. Index vol. xl under Clapperton and Denham. [Vol. xxxiii contains a review of Denham’s book; and vol. xxxix of Clapperton’s second book, also two letters of Sultan Bello of Sokoto to Clapperton not printed elsewhere. On p. 112 of vol. xxxviii the _Quarterly Review_, commenting on the death of Clapperton and other explorers, remarks: ‘We trust there will now be an end to the sacrifice of valuable lives in prosecuting discoveries on this wretched continent, of which we know enough to be satisfied that it contains little at all worthy of being known.’]
*REDHOUSE. _History of Events during Expeditions against the Tribes of Bulala._ London, 1862. In-8. [This is quoted by Carbou in _La Région du Tchad et du Ouadaï_, and is included in his Bibliography, but I have been unable to trace it in the British Museum or in the Bodleian. Possibly it is really an article in some periodical.]
*REGELSPERGER. Du Niger au Tchad. La Mission Tilho, ses travaux et ses résultats, article in _Le Mois col. et marit._, 7e année, 1909. 1er vol., pp. 97-109.
REIBELL (COM.). _Le Commandant Lamy d’après sa correspondance et ses souvenirs de campagne_ (1858-1900). Paris, Hachette, 1903. [Only a few pages at the end concern events in Bornu.]
ROHLFS, G. Sprachstudien: _Peterm. Mitt._, Ergänzungs-Heft No. 25, p. 67.
—— _Peterm. Mitt._, 1867, p. 333.
—— Vid. under Guenther.
_Royal Geographical Society’s Journal_, vols. xxiv, xxv, xxvi, xxvii, xxviii _passim_.
_Royal Geographical Society’s Proceedings_, vol. ii, p. 30 (_re_ Vogel).
ST. JOHN, BAYLE. _Travels of an Arab Merchant in the Soudan._ Abridged from the French. London, 1854. [Mostly about Darfur and Wadai. The original French edition is by Nicholas Perron, Paris, 1845. The merchant’s name was Sheikh Muhammad Ibn Umar, and he was in the vicinity of Chad about A.D. 1805.]
SCHUBERT, GUSTAV VON. _Heinrich Barth, der Bahnbrecher der deutschen Afrikaforschung._ Berlin, 1897. Dietrich Reimer. [Contains portraits of Abbega and Dorugu (the latter of whom died in November, 1912, and is buried at the Nassarawa Government Schools near Kano), and facsimiles of various letters, including one from Livingstone to Barth, sending him a copy of his book.]
_Scots Magazine._ 1824. Pt. ii, p. 637. [An obituary of Oudney, consisting of an extract from a letter of Clapperton’s to Consul Warrington at Tripoli.]
SEEFRIED, VON. Untersuchungen über die Natur der Harmattantrübe, in _M. Deutsch. Schutzgeb._ 26 (1913), 9-12.
SEIDEL, A. _Geschichten und Lieder der Afrikaner._ Berlin, 1896, p. 311.
STANLEY, H. M. _Through the Dark Continent_, 1878. Vol. ii, p. 494.
STRUCK, BERNHARD. Bibliography of Northern Nigeria, in _Journal of the African Society_, 1911-12. [Very valuable.]
STRUMPELL. Adamawa Vocabularies, in _Zeitschrift für Ethnologie_, iii- iv, 1910, edited by Bernhard Struck.
TALBOT, P. A. Article on Lake Chad in _Journal of the Royal Geographical Society_ for September 1911.
TILHO. Délimitation franco-anglaise entre Niger et Tchad (Mission Moll), article in _La Géographie_. Paris, 1906, 13. 332-6.
—— The French Mission to Lake Chad, article in the _Royal Geographical Society’s Journal_, September 1910.
—— _Documents scientifiques de la Mission Tilho_, 1910-11. Paris. [Of first-rate interest and value. Published by the French Ministry for the Colonies. Capt. Tilho’s colleague, M. Landeroin, is responsible for the historical and ethnographical sections.]
*TRUFFERT. Région du Tchad, le Bahr el Ghazal et l’archipel Kouri, article in _Revue de Géographie_, June-July 1903.
TULLY, RICHARD. _Letters from Tripoli._ London, 1819, vid. Appendix XXI.
*VAN GENNEP, CH. MONTEIL ET G. DEMOMBYNES. _Principes d’enquêtes dans l’Afrique Occidentale. Ethnographie et linguistique._ [In preparation.]
VOGEL. Nachrichten über Vogels Schicksal von Munzinger, in _Petermann’s Mitteilungen_, ann. 1862, p. 346.
—— Vid. under Pahde.
*WAUTERS, A. J. Les Voies d’accès au Lac Tchad, article in the _Mouvement géographique_, 29. (1912), 481-6.
MAPS
For the construction of the maps the following were used in addition to the authorities mentioned above:
Sketch-map in the _Deutsches Kolonialbl._, xvii. Jahrg., p. 594.
Map 2 in the _Treaty Series_, No. 14, London, 1906.
Map of Northern Nigeria in _Colonial Reports Annual_, No. 532.
_The Surveys of British Africa_, London, 1907, pp. 34 ff.
The sheet marked ‘Chad’ in the map of the Kameruns by Moisel, 1909.
LANGUAGES
Vid. Bernhard Struck, Bibliography of Northern Nigeria, in _African Society’s Journal_, 1911-12; and Benton, _Kanuri Readings_ and _Notes on Some Languages of the Central Sudan_.
APPENDIX I
LIST OF LEPIDOPTERA
OBSERVED BY ARNOLD SCHULTZE DURING THE YOLA-CHAD BOUNDARY COMMISSION OF 1903-4 IN BORNU AND THE ADJACENT COUNTRIES.[487]
FAM. DANAIDIDAE
1. _Danaida chrysippus_, L., et var. _alcippus_, Cram. This species, which is widely distributed all over Africa and Western Asia, is to be found everywhere. Caterpillars are found on all the _Asclepiadae_, especially _Calotropis procera_.
2. _D. limniace_, var. _petiverana_, D. H. In South Bornu (on the ‘kopjes’) sporadic and rare.
FAM. SATYRIDAE
3. _Melanitis leda_, B. South Bornu. Flights about evening time.
4. _Ypthima simplicia_, Butl. On the southern boundary at Uba.
FAM. NYMPHALIDAE
5. _Acraea neobule_, var. _seis_ Feisth. In South Bornu (‘kopjes’).
6. _A. caecilia_, Fbr. Dile. (South Bornu.)
7. _A. pseudegina_, Westw. (South Bornu.)
8. _A. encedon_, L. On the southern boundary at Uba.
9. _Pyrameis cardui_, L. This cosmopolitan insect is found especially in the Marghi ‘bush’ at the end of the rains feeding on elephant dung.
10. _Precis orithya_, var. _madagascariensis_, Guen. Very sporadic.
11. _P. oenone_, var. _cebrene_, Trim. As above.
12. _P. octavia_, Cram. et f. _amestris_, Dr. In South Bornu (on the granite hills).
13. _P. antilope_, Feisth. with f. _simia_, Wallengr. As above, but somewhat commoner.
14. _P. chorimene_, Guen. As above.
15. _Catacropthera cloanthe_, var. _ligata_, Rotsch. & Jord. South Bornu. On the plains and on the granite hills.
16. _Hypolimnas misippus_, L. Sporadic in South Bornu. Granite hills.
17. _H. dubius_, Pal. Rare, on southern boundary at Uba.
18. _Byblia acheloia_, Wallengr., with f. _Crameri_, Auriv. Very sporadic.
19. _Neptis agata_, Stoll. Boundary of Southern Bornu.
20. _Hamanumida daedalus_, Fabr. Everywhere.
21. _Charaxes epijasius_, Reiche. South Bornu sporadic. Caterpillars on _Burkea africana_.
22. _Ch. achaemenes_, Fields. South Bornu (‘kopjes’).
23. _Ch. etheocles_, var. _viola_, Butl. Everywhere, especially on the tamarind trees. Caterpillars on various Leguminosae.
24. _Ch. candiope_, God. Rare, on southern boundary at Uba.
25. _Ch. varanes_, Cram. Everywhere that the _cardiospermum halicacabum_, on which the caterpillars feed, grows, but always sporadic.
FAM. LYCAENIDAE
26. _Dendorix caerulea_, H. Druce, at Dile, South Bornu.
27. _D. livia_, Shy. Everywhere that there are acacias in bloom.
28. _D. antalus_, Hopffer. Idem.
29. _Jolaus menas_, H. Druce. On the southern boundary at Uba. Like No. 30, especially on the _Vitex_ when in bloom.
30. _J. ismenias_, Shy. As above.
31. _J. bicaudatus_, Auriv. At Dile (South Bornu).
32. _J. umbrosus_, Butl. Found hovering round scattered trees on ‘firki’ soil. (The caterpillars of all the Jolaus species are fond of the Loranthus.)
33. _Spindasis mozambica_, Bertoloni. Boundary of South Bornu.
34. _Cupido plinius_, Fabr. Everywhere.
35. _C. baeticus_, L. This widely-distributed species is found hovering round the ‘ambach’ of the zone of marshy vegetation of Chad.
36. _C. eleusis_, Demaison. South Bornu.
37. _C. cissus_, God. Everywhere.
38. _C. lysimon_, Hubn. Idem.
FAM. PIERIDAE
39. _Herpaenia eriphia_, var. _lacteipennis_, Butl. South Bornu.
40. _Pieris gidica_, God. Everywhere; especially in the flooded districts of Chad.
41. _P. creona_, Cram. Idem. Caterpillars on the Capparis.
42. _P. mesentina_. As above.
43. _Teracolus amatus_, var. _Calais_, Cram. In Central Bornu, especially at Dikoa on the Capparis bushes, on which the caterpillars feed, as do those of all the Teracolus species.
44. _T. chrysonome_, Shy. As above. Very common.
45. _T. vesta_, var. _amelia_, Lucas. South Bornu.
46. _T. protomedia_, Shy. Everywhere, sporadic.
47. _T. eris_, Shy. As above.
48. _T. jone_, var. _phlegas_, Butl. Everywhere, and at all times of the year.
49. _T. eupompe_, Shy, with f. _dedecora_, Feld. As above.
50. _T. evippe_, L. and f. _ocale_, Boisd. Habitat as above, but rarer.
51. _T. antigone_, Boid., with f. _phlegetonia_, Boisd. As above.
52. _T. euarne_, Shy, with f. _citreus_, Butl. As above.
53. _Eronia cleodora_, Hübn, var. _erxia_, Hübn. Everywhere sporadic, especially on the cotton plant.
54. _Catopsilia florella_, Fabr. Everywhere. Caterpillars on the Cassia.
55. _Terias brigitta_, Cram., f. _Zoe_, Hopff. Everywhere, especially in the marshy zone of Chad, where the caterpillars are fond of the ‘ambach’.
FAM. PAPILIONIDAE
56. _Papilio Schultzei_, Auriv. Only on the boundary at Uba, and only at one small spot near inaccessible rocks.
57. _P. pylades_, Fabr. Everywhere on the damp sand-banks of rivers. Caterpillars on _Anona senegalensis_.
58. _P. leonidas_, Fabr. Boundary of Southern Bornu.
FAM. HESPERIDAE
59. _Hesperia Zaire_, Pl. South bank of Chad.
60. _Chapra mathias_, Fabr. Marshy zone of Chad. Caterpillars on Graminae.
61. _Cyclopides formosus_, Butl., var. _tsadicus_, Auriv. Dile. South Bornu.
62. _Tagiades flesus_, Fabr. As above.
FAM. ARCTIIDAE
63. _Utetheisa pulchella_, L. Everywhere. Common in places.
FAM. LYMANTRIIDAE
64. _Laelia euproctina_, Auriv. South bank of Chad.
FAM. SPHINGIDAE
65. _Hersi convolvuli_, L. Caterpillars common on the _Ipomoea_ on the banks of Chad.
66. _Acherontia atropos_, L. Sporadic. Caterpillars on the _Vitex_.
67. _Daphnis nerii_, L. In damp places. Caterpillars on the Sarcocephalus species.
68. _Macroglossum trochilus_, Hübn. South Bornu.
(_Hippotion celerio_, L., and _osiris_, Dalm., are both met with in the neighbouring country of Adamawa, the former in great numbers.)
FAM. SATURNIIDAE
69. _Epiphora bauhiniae_, Guér. Everywhere that the _Zizyphus_ grows, on which the caterpillars feed. (Silk-spinners.)
70. _E. Schultzei_, Auriv. As above, but more on Lake Chad.
71. _Gonimbrasia osiris_, Druce. South Bornu. Caterpillars swarm on the Terminalia trees, and are eaten by the pagans.
72. _Bunaea hersilia_, Westw. In South Bornu (Marghi ‘bush’), caterpillars common on the elephant grass.
73. _B. licharbas_, Maas. Dile. South Bornu. Caterpillars on vetches.
FAM. LASIOCAMPIDAE
74. _Taragama diluta_, Auriv. To be met with resting on the ‘retam’ or broom on the banks of Chad.
FAM. SESIIDAE
75. _Sesia spec._ Marshy zone of Chad.
FAM. PLUSIIDAE
76. _Plusia chalcytes_, Esp. Boundary of Southern Bornu.
FAM. HELIOTHIDAE
77. _Heliothis armiger_, Hl. South Bornu. Caterpillars on _Sesamum indicum_.
78. _Xanthodes Graëllsii_, Feisth. Everywhere.
FAM. OPHIUSIDAE
79. _Leucanitis stolida_, F. Everywhere in damp meadows.
80. _Grammodes bifasciata_, Petag. As above. Common in places.
81. _G. algira_, L. As above.
(The five last-named species are the commonest _Heterocerae_.)
82. _Pseudophia tirrhaea_, Cr. In Southern Bornu.
[Footnote 487: Cf. p. 128 ff. of article by Aurivillius in _Archiv för Zoologi_, vol. ii, No. 12, Stockholm, 1905. [For plates of butterflies vid. Karl Kumm, _From Hausaland to Egypt_.]]
APPENDIX II
LIST OF THE BORNU KINGS
Below will be found a list of the kings of Bornu given to me by one Mallam Kashim. This list was shown to the late Major McClintock, who ordered the mallam to keep it until I returned from leave.
It differs considerably from Mr. Vischer’s list[488]—printed opposite it—and it also differs from the list compiled by M. Landeroin and printed in the _Documents scientifiques de la Mission Tilho_, vol. ii, p. 348. Mallam Kashim asserts that the list he gave me was copied from an old manuscript, but I do not think it has any special authenticity or correctness.[489] It is interesting, however, for purposes of comparison. Mr. Vischer’s list was compiled when he was a political officer in Bornu in 1906, and is printed with his kind permission, and by that of the government of Northern Nigeria. It is printed in the _Notes on certain Emirates and Tribes_, edited by Major Burdon and published by the N.N. Government, where also appears a table of relationships of the Shehus, compiled by Mr. Vischer. Barth’s, Nachtigal’s, and Landeroin’s lists appear in parallel columns in vol. ii, p. 348 of _Documents scientifiques de la Mission Tilho_, and Mr. H. R. Palmer’s list in the _Journal of the African Society_ for October, 1912.
CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF THE RULERS OF BORNU
FROM SAEF BEN DHU YASAN, fourth century A.D. to SHEICH ABUBAKR GERBAI BEN IBRAHIM BEN OMAR, present day.
Source of information: Barth’s and Nachtigal’s tables of Bornu rulers; personal information. Compiled by Hanns Vischer, Geidam, December 12, 1907.
1. Saef Ben Dhu Yasan reigned 20 years
2. Ibrahim Ben Saef „ 16 „
3. Duku Ben Ibrahim „ 250 „
4. Fune Ben Duku „ 60 „
5. Aritso Ben Fune „ 50 „
6. Katori Ben Aritso „ 250 „
7. Adyoma Ben Katori „ 20 „
8. Bulu Ben Ayoma „ 16 „
9. Arki Ben Bulu „ 44 „
10. Shu Ben Arki „ 4 „
11. Abd El Djelil Ben Shu „ 4 „
12. Hume Ben Abd El Djelil „ from 1086-1097
13. Dunama Ben Hume „ „ 1098-1150
14. Biri Ben Dunama „ „ 1151-1176
15. Abd Allah Ben Bikoru „ „ 1177-1193
16. Abd el Djelil Ben Bikoru „ „ 1194-1220
17. Dunama Dibalami „ „ 1221-1259
18. Abd El Kedim Ben Dunama „ „ 1259-1288
19. Biri Ben Dunama „ „ 1288-1306
20. Nikale Ben Biri „ „ 1307-1326
21. Abd Allah Ben Kade „ „ 1326-1345
22. Selma Ben Abd Allah „ „ 1346-1349
23. Kure Gana Ben Abd Allah „ „ 1350
24. Kure Kura Ben Abd Allah „ „ 1351
25. Mohammed Ben Abd Allah „ „ 1352
26. Edris Ben Nikale „ „ 1353-1376
27. Daud Ben Nikale „ „ 1377-1386
28. Otman Ben Daud „ „ 1387-1390
29. Otman Ben Edris „ „ 1391-1392
30. Abubakr Liyatu Ben Daud „ „ 1392
31. Omar Ben Edris „ „ 1394-1398
32. Said „ „ 1399-1400
33. Kade Afno Ben Edris „ „ 1400-1432
35. Otman Kalnama Ben Daud „ „ 1432
36. Dunama ben Omar „ „ 1433-1434
37. Abd Allah Ben Omar „ „ 1435-1442
38. Ibrahim Ben Otman „ „ 1442-1450
39. Kade Ben Otman „ „ 1450-1451
40. Dunama Ben Biri „ „ 1451-1455
41. Mohammed „ „ 1455
42. Amer „ „ 1456
43. Mohammed Ben Kade „ „ ?
44. Rhadji „ „ 1456-1461
45. Otman Ben Kade „ „ 1461-1466
46. Omar Ben Abd Allah „ „ 1467-1471
47. Mohammed Ben Mohammed „ „ 1472-1504
49. Edris Ben Ali „ „ 1504-1526
50. Moh Ben Edris „ „ 1526-1545
51. Ali Ben Edris „ „ 1545
52. Dunama Ben Mohammed „ „ 1546-1563
53. Abd Allah Ben Dunama „ „ 1564-1570
54. Edris Ben Ali Aloma „ „ 1571-1603
55. Mohammed Ben Edris „ „ 1603-1618
56. Ibrahim Ben Edris „ „ 1618-1625
57. Hadj Omar Ben Edris „ „ 1625-1645
58. Ali Ben El Hadj Omar „ „ 1645-1685
59. Edris Ben Ali „ „ 1685-1704
60. Dunama Ben Ali „ „ 1704-1722
61. Hadj Hamdun Ben Dunama „ „ 1723-1736
62. Mohammed Ben El Hadj Hamdun „ „ 1737-1751
63. Dunama Gana Ben Mohammed „ „ 1752-1755
64. Ali Ben Hadj Dunama „ „ 1755-1793
65. Ahmed Ben Ali „ „ 1793-1810
66. Dunama Ben Ahmed „ „ 1810-1817
67. Ibrahim Ben Ahmed „ „ 1818-1846
68. Sheich Omar Ben El Kanemi „ „ 1846-1880
69. Abdurrahman Ben El Kanemi „ „ 1853-1854
70. Sheich Bukr Ben Omar „ „ 1880-1884
71. Sheich Ibrahim Ben Omar „ „ 1884-1885
72. Sheich Hashem Ben Omar „ „ 1885-1893
73. Sheich Kiari Ben Bukr „ „ 1893
74. Sheich Sanda Limanambe Ben Bukr „ „ 1893
75. Rhabe the Usurper „ „ 1893-1900
76. Sheich Sanda Kwori Ben Ibrahim „ „ 1900
77. Sheich Abubakr Gerbai Ben Ibrahim Ben Omar Ben El Kanemi
LIST OF BORNU KINGS
As given by Mallam Kashim (Maiduguri, October 12, 1912). _N.B._—V. = Vischer.
1. Sebu Aisami Yamanma V. 1
2. Ibrahim Sebumi V. 2
3. Mai Duku Brem V. 3
4. Mai Fune Dukumi V. 4
5. Mai Archo Funemi V. 5
6. Mai Kaduri Archomi V. 6
7. Mai Boiyoma Kadurimi
8. Mai Boiyo Bulumi
9. Mai Arigi Bulumi V. 9
10. Mai Jil Shomi V. 11
11. Mai Jil Rigimi
12. Mai Ume Jilumi V. 12
13. Mai Dunama Umemi V. 13
14. Mai Daudu Nigalemi
15. Mai Dalla Bikorumi V. 15
16. Mai Tselim Bikorumi
17. Mai Dalla Dunamami
18. Mai Kadde Aujami
19. Mai Dalla Aujami
20. Mai Arri Gaji Zainami
21. Mai Kadde Madallami
22. Mai Usuman Kaddemi
23. Mai Momadi Kaddemi
24. Mai Iderisa Ashami
25. Mai Deril Arilwa
26. Mai Ume Aisa Gana
27. Mai Biri Aminami
28. Mai Kore Afuno Dalla
29. Mai Kore Goguwa
30. Mai Kore Gawua
31. Mai Kore Kura Kesa Ngilleru
32. Mai Jil Kellemi
33. Mai Momadu Baranbatama
34. Mai Momadi Jumarama Umar Iderisami
35. Mai Dagumoma Dalla Umarmi
36. Mai Kagu Umarmi
37. Mai Momadu Godimi
38. Mai Momadu Palagema
39. Mai Momadu Maza Iderisimi
40. Mai Daudu Niyalemi V. 27
41. Mai Usumanu Daudumi V. 28
42. Mai Sebu Gana
43. Mai Yusufu Sebumi
44. Mai Tselim Auwami
45. Mai Daudu Nigalemi
46. Mai Tolomaramma Kashim Biri Dunamami
47. Mai Dalla Bikurumi Birimi
48. Mai Dunama Arrimi
49. Mai Momodu Dunamami
50. Mai Duna Aminami
51. Mai Panami Umar
52. Mai Arri
53. Mai Dalla Dunamami
54. Mai Arri Gaji
55. Mai Aisa Keri Ngumaramma (F) (regent for nephew No. 56)
56. Mai Iderisi Arrimi Aloma (buried in Lake Alo) V. 54
57. Mai Momadi Panami Baranbatama V. 55
58. Mai Brem Gumsumi V. 56
59. Mai Umar Pusami Dusumami V. 57
60. Mai Arri Umarmi V. 58
61. Mai Tolomaramma Kashim Biri Umarmi (ancestor of Mallam Kashim, compiler of this list)
62. Mai Kime Mele Arrimi
63. Mai Dunama V. 60
64. Mai Aji Dunamami V. 61
65. Mai Momodu Ajimi V. 62
66. Mai Dunama V. 63
67. Mai Arri Dunamami V. 64
68. Mai Arri Panami
69. Mai Amadu Arrimi V. 65
70. Mai Dunama Lefiami (ancestor of Maina Gumsumi, present representative of old dynasty and now Ajia of Bussugua) V. 66
71. Mai Momadi Ngilleruma Gumsumi or Ngueleroma
72. Mai Ibram V. 67
73. Mai Arri Dalatumi (killed at Minarge by Shehu Umar)
74. Shehu Lamino
75. Shehu Umar
76. Shehu Abdurrahman
77. Shehu Umar
78. Shehu Bukar
79. Shehu Ibrahim
80. Shehu Ashimi
81. Shehu Kiari
82. Shehu Sanda Limannambe
83. Rabeh
84. Shehu Sanda Kura
85. Shehu Garbai
[Footnote 488: Though sometimes only in giving a man’s matronymic, instead of his patronymic, e.g. No. 58 in Mallam Kashim’s list is described as ‘the son of Gumsu’ and corresponds to No. 56 in Mr. Vischer’s list ‘the son of Edris’.]
[Footnote 489: E.g. he introduces in No. 61 his own ancestor, who does not appear in any other list. On the other hand he includes No. 71, Nguéléroma, omitted in all other lists, except M. Landeroin’s, for reasons mentioned in _Documents scientifiques de la Mission Tilho_, vol. ii, p. 346; cf. Appendix IV of the present work.]
APPENDIX III
THE TUBBAS (OR SEFS) AND THE SOS
According to the _Documents scientifiques de la Mission Tilho_, ii. 352, the dynasty of the Sefs are more generally known under the name of Tubbas. ‘A young chief whose name has not been preserved but who was later known as Tubba Lowel (the first who repented) left Hindi (India) at the head of an army and went to the country of Cham (Syria), whose inhabitants paid him tribute in order to avoid war. He then directed his march to Bougdari or Goudeber (Baghdad?) then to Masr (Egypt) and Medina, exacting tribute everywhere. From Medina he went to Yemen, where he established himself without resistance. From there he went to besiege Mecca, which had refused to submit to him. He was accompanied by 4,000 mallams (priests).’ To this legend M. l’officier interprète principal, Hamet Ismael, appends a note that this legend appears to be a somewhat garbled account of the history of the Tobbas or Shepherd Kings of Egypt (Hyksos): cf. _L’Arabie_, par Noël des Vergers, p. 50 ff. ‘One day the king reproached the mallams that their assistance did not enable him to capture Mecca. The principal mallam replied that he ought to be content with the empire of Persia, Bougdari, Egypt, Medina, and Yemen, and should not attack the sacred city of the Kaaba, which was destined one day to give birth to a prophet. The king then repented, abandoned the siege, and declared that on the appearance of this prophet he would become his first disciple. This repentance caused him to be called Tubba Lowel (the first who repented), from the Arabic verb “itoub” = he repents. Tubba Lowel returned to Yemen, and forty years later, when Mohammed was preaching Islam, he embraced the new religion.
After the reign of Hussein, the sixth Caliph, the Mussulman Empire was divided. One of the descendants of Tubba Lowel had the north and afterwards Stambul (Constantinople); another, named Seibu Aïsami, crossed the Nile and travelled towards the Sudan. This Seibu is perhaps Barth’s Sef. Later the descendants of Seibu came to Kanem, then occupied by the Bulala, and drove back the latter to Lake Fittri. Whether the Tubbas came in from the north via Fezzan or from the east via Kordofan is not known. Barth says they came from Borku, which is north-east of Kanem, and that they were descended from the Libyan tribe of the Berdoa, who, according to Nachtigal, occupied the oases of Kufra and Tou. Having thus conquered Kanem, the Tubbas or Seibuas established their capital at Birni Njime, thirty miles east of Mao, north-east of Chad. Towards the end of the fifteenth century the Tubbas left Kanem in order to instal themselves in Bornu. According to Barth and Nachtigal the Tubbas were driven out of Kanem by the Bulala; according to our informants they left there in order to conquer Bornu, a more fertile country than Kanem.’
There is also another version of the installation of the Tubbas in Bornu (_Doc. sci._, ii. 356). After having abandoned Kanem, about four hundred and fifty years ago, they came to Bornu, then occupied by the Sos, whose chief Guma Kandira or Dala Gumami [cf. Benton, _Kanuri Readings_, p. 27] (‘Kandira’ means in Kanuri ‘hunter, archer’) was living in straw huts at Gambaru on the River Yo. Having obtained leave to sit down near him, the Tubbas bought land in order to build their houses there. Amongst this land was a garden planted with ‘kumo’, which means in Kanuri ‘the calabash-gourd’. When their town or ‘birni’ was built, it was called Birni Zerku Kumo, i.e. the town of the calabash-garden, ‘zerku’ meaning in Kanuri ‘a garden’. [Probably the word spelt ‘zerkou’ by Landeroin should be ‘ze̥rge̥’ = a dry watercourse, a natural place for a market- garden.—P. A. B.] By inversion of syllables ‘zerku’ became ‘kuzer’, hence Kuzer Kumo. Another derivation is suggested by Landeroin. Nachtigal speaks of a group of three villages to the north of Mao, whose chief bore the title of ‘Kumo’. Perhaps the Tubba chiefs, who bore in Bornu the title of ‘Mai’ (= ‘king’ in Kanuri), may have formerly borne that of Kumo, hence Kasr Kumo = the palace of the Kumo. [‘Kasr’ is an Arabic word for a castle or citadel, sometimes used in Hausa, vid. Robinson’s _Hausa Dictionary_, under the form ‘kasru’ to mean ‘a palace’.][490] The Tubbas constructed their first capital at Gambaru, but finding that it was apt to be flooded by the river during the rains and was unsuited for the operations of their cavalry, they removed a few miles south to Kasr Kumo. Gambaru became the residence of the Queen Mother and her court.
In the course of time the So king got into debt to the Tubbas and finally fled to escape his creditors. The following legend is told to explain how the Tubbas got rid of the remaining Sos. The Tubbas were accustomed to stain their hands and nails with a tincture of henna. The Sos had tried to imitate them, but they were ignorant both of henna and how to use it. The Tubbas had jealously guarded their secret, but at last they agreed to reveal it on condition that all the Sos in the country were present. Accordingly on the appointed day they killed an ox and made the credulous Sos dip their hands in its blood. Their hands were then enveloped in green leaves, as the Tubbas were accustomed to do themselves, and the leaves bound round with thongs of raw hide. These thongs were not to be removed for three days. At the end of this period the thongs had shrunk so much that it was impossible to remove them without cutting them. The Tubbas then fell upon the unfortunate Sos, only one of whom escaped. This happened in the year 1452 of our era.
The Sos mentioned above were, according to the natives, the autochthonous inhabitants of Bornu. They lived chiefly by hunting and professed no religion. History has not preserved the names of their chiefs, but legend paints them as of gigantic stature and of such strength that when a So killed an elephant, he could carry it home on his shoulder [cf. Benton, _Kanuri Readings_, p. 9]; their bracelets would have been too big for our thighs and their axe-heads were as big as a man’s body of the present day. But nothing in the country recalls this extraordinary strength,—no weapon, utensil or dwelling which can justify their reputation. [Since these words were written by M. Landeroin some implements have been discovered bearing on this point. During the excavations for the wall of the Maiduguri leper-camp at the end of 1911 three implements were turned up, which the Shehu at once pronounced to be So arrow and spear-heads or hoes. They are shaped like a very blunt arrow-head, and the biggest measures 14 in. by 8 in. at its greatest length and breadth, and weighs 4 lb. 12 oz. They are perhaps So hoes, and are certainly infinitely heavier than those used at the present day. They have been deposited in the Zungeru museum. No other remains were found.—P. A. B.] Another argument against the Sos being giants is that their descendants the Beddes, Ngizims, Kotokos, &c., are no taller and no stronger than individuals of other races inhabiting the country. [But according to Miss Macleod, _Chiefs and Cities of Central Africa_, p. 196, few Kotokos are under 6 ft., and some are as tall as 6 ft. 7 in.]
[Footnote 490: Whichever derivation is accepted, it is perhaps not too fanciful to quote as parallels the Biblical phrase ‘a lodge in a garden of cucumbers’, or again the first words of the famous passage describing the accession of Queen Victoria—‘In a palace in a garden . . .’ If this sounds too poetical, the alliterative translation ‘Castle Calabash’ is easily remembered.]
APPENDIX IV
SHEHU LAMINO AND HIS SUCCESSORS
The following is a translation of pp. 358-76 of vol. ii of the _Documents scientifiques de la Mission Tilho_, published in 1911, which modify considerably Barth’s estimate of Shehu Lamino and his successors. The information was obtained orally by M. Landeroin, ‘officier interprète’ of the French Boundary Commission. He remarks on p. 346:
‘It is even probable that Barth, as well as Nachtigal, could not get impartial information regarding the period of the rise of Mohammed El Amin (more often called Sheikh Lamino), founder of the Kanemi dynasty. One may guess in fact that, owing to fear of the Sheikh, no one would have dared to say, even in a whisper, what they thought of their sovereign, for informers were held in much honour at the court of Bornu, and the gossips would soon have been denounced and executed. Barth and Nachtigal were generally escorted and guided by the spies of Shehu Umar, and they could hardly become intimate with anybody but his favourites and friends. All the information furnished to them was faithfully reported to the Shehu, who would not have failed to deal severely with those who dared to criticize his own acts or those of his father. This is doubtless why Barth was able to write, all in good faith, that Sheikh Mohammed El Amin was “a pious and God-fearing man”, whereas, on the contrary he was greedy and ambitious.
To-day the Kanemi dynasty exercise no more than the shadow of power; any one, therefore, can tell fearlessly what he knows and express an opinion on those who have held the reins of power. This is why the unpublished information which we have collected will show the reigns of the last Sultans of Bornu under a new light.’
The justice of M. Landeroin’s observations can hardly be disputed, and a knowledge of the present representatives of the Kanemi dynasty inclines one to accept his version of events rather than Barth’s. Nguéléroma does not appear in Barth’s and Nachtigal’s lists, or in that compiled by Mr. Vischer in 1906. The Bornu Provincial Office copy of the latter has a note inserted in pencil by M. Landeroin himself regarding Nguéléroma.
Translated from _Documents scientifiques de la Mission Tilho_ (1911), vol. ii, pp. 358-76.[491]
STRUGGLE AGAINST THE FULANI
Mai Ali was succeeded by his son Ahmed (Mai Amadu). During the latter’s reign, Othman dan Fodio, who had just founded a Fulani empire in the Hausa states, sent one of his lieutenants, Goni Mukhtar, to attack Bornu. Mai Amadu, having become blind, had handed over the reins of power to his son, Mai Dunama. The latter was unable to repulse Goni Mukhtar, who captured Gazerregomo (Kazer Koumo) and installed himself there. Dunama fled to Maguié, one day’s march to the east of Gazerregomo, where he met Sheikh Lamino (Mohammed El Lamin El Kanemi), a native of Kanem. Mai Dunama gave him handsome presents and said to him: ‘You are a learned and pious “mallam”, pray to God for me that He may restore me my kingdom.’ This Sheikh Lamino was the son of Sheikh Langa of the Kanembu tribe and of an Arab woman from Zouïla in the Tripolitaine. After studying, like his father, with the Koiyams of Gazerregomo, he accompanied his father on a pilgrimage to Mecca. His father died at Medina, and Sheikh Lamino returned to Kanem. In answer to Mai Dunama’s request, Lamino wrote three letters to Goni Mukhtar pointing out to him that he was waging an unjust war against Mussulmans, and suggesting that he should abandon Gazerregomo. At the same time he begged the Sultan of Bornu’s vassals, among others the chiefs of Nguru, Wacha, and Miria, to come and join him. No reply having been received to the three letters, Sheikh Lamino said to Mai Dunama: ‘Return to your capital, God will restore it to you.’ Full of confidence, the Tubba Sultan marched against Goni Mukhtar and was victorious; the Fulani chief was killed in the battle inside the town itself, which he had occupied for forty days.
Mai Dunama reinstalled himself at Gazerregomo, but a year later was attacked by the Fulani chief Mallam Ali, surnamed Zaki (the lion), and again routed. Putting his faith in the invocations of Sheikh Lamino, Dunama hastened to recall him from Kanem, gave him 100 camels, 100 oxen, 100 slaves, 100 horses, 1,000 dollars, 1,000 goats, 1,000 sheep, and 1,000 gowns, and begged him to pray to God anew that his empire might be a second time restored to him.
Sheikh Lamino and his disciples prayed continuously for seven days, at the end of which Dunama marched against his enemies. Mallam Zaki, vanquished in his turn, had to fly and took refuge at Katagum, after having been master of Gazerregomo for six months. These events happened about 1808 or 1809.
At the advice of Sheikh Lamino, Mai Dunama abandoned his capital, polluted by the Fulani, and founded Birnin Kabela, five days’ march to the south-east.[492] To Sheikh Lamino he said: ‘Your prayers are always efficacious; each time that you have invoked God in my favour, He has heard you; I wish you therefore to remain near me in case the Fulani come again to attack me.’
The Sheikh agreed, but only on condition of being allowed to settle amongst the Kanembus who lived near Ngornu, eight or nine miles to the east of Birnin Kabela. The Sultan accordingly gave him authority over all the Kanembus of the district.
INTRIGUES OF SHEIKH LAMINO
The Sheikh was intriguing and ambitious. Some time afterwards, in accord with the courtiers, he had Mai Dunama deposed and imprisoned at Dikoa, according to some, at Ngornu, according to others. He was replaced by his paternal uncle, Mohammed Nguéléroma, younger brother of the preceding Sultan, Mai Amadu the Blind.
_Mohammed Nguéléroma_ reigned for three or four years, but he soon fell out with Sheikh Lamino, who did not find him sufficiently generous towards himself. New intrigues were then started to restore Dunama, still a prisoner, to power. The Sheikh, having gained over by his presents a certain number of Nguéléroma’s courtiers, had the ex-Sultan brought before him by them, and asked him: ‘What would you give me if I had the kingdom restored to you?’ Dunama replied: ‘If you have the power restored to me, you shall have half the revenues of the kingdom.’ Satisfied with this answer, Sheikh Lamino kept Dunama in his house, and the next day asked Nguéléroma to send him the principal officers of his court.
The Sultan sent them to him at once, accompanied by his son and his son- in-law. When they arrived at the gate of Lamino’s house, the latter had them introduced one after the other, with the exception of the son and the son-in-law, into a room in which had previously been placed a divan to serve as a throne and some garments of royalty. Then Dunama entered, took his place on the divan, and repeated before the assembled functionaries the promise which he had made the evening before. ‘If Lamino has the power restored to me, he shall have the half of the revenues of the kingdom’.
Those of the courtiers who had not been made privy to the plot were violently angry, but as they were in a minority, they had to restrain themselves. Already they were afraid of the Sheikh, who, supported by the Kanembu, was powerful enough to overawe them. Lamino immediately invested Dunama with the garments of royalty, and then had the son and son-in-law of Nguéléroma introduced into the chamber. At the same time he bade the trumpets sound to announce the accession, and gave orders for the public to be admitted. All could then see Mai Dunama seated on the throne, and Sheikh Lamino presented him to them as the new sovereign of Bornu.
On hearing the trumpets sound to announce the accession of Mai Dunama, the horse-boy of Nguéléroma’s son leaped on his master’s horse and galloped with loose rein to apprise the Sultan. He found the latter occupied in reading the Koran. Nguéléroma, having learnt the news, showed no signs of disturbance, but asked the horse-boy if the weather seemed overcast. The latter replied that there were no clouds. Then the Sultan shut his book, put it in a bag which he hung round his neck, and left the town on foot by the north gate.
SECOND REIGN OF MAI DUNAMA
Meanwhile Sheikh Lamino and the courtiers were bringing Mai Dunama to Birnin Kabela, which they entered by the south gate. Nguéléroma, hearing the trumpets, stopped in the bush. Mai Dunama had search made for him, and he was found without difficulty. Brought before his nephew, the latter, without reproaching him for having formerly dethroned him, assigned as a residence a village called Yamia, situated to the south of Munio, and allowed him to take with him his four legitimate wives and forty concubines. Nguéléroma only accepted the four wives, and escorted by forty faithful horsemen, soon reached his new residence.
For three years Mai Dunama and Lamino governed jointly and divided the revenues of the state. But Lamino’s authority kept increasing, and the Sultan in alarm sought in secret to get rid of him. With this view he summoned to his aid the Sultan of Baghirmi, Burgu Manda, who had been formerly the vassal of Bornu, but had profited by the embarrassments occasioned by the Fulani invasion to make himself independent of his suzerain. Glad of an opportunity of proving his power to the Kanuri, he assembled an army, crossed the Shari, and marched on Birnin Kabela.
Sheikh Lamino, informed almost immediately of the Baghirmi invasion, decided to move against the enemy with all the forces of Bornu. Mai Dunama could not avoid putting himself at the head of the army without unmasking his designs, but he wrote to Burgu Manda to explain to him the reasons of his apparent hostility. The Sultan of Baghirmi immediately replied that he approved his conduct, but suggested that in future, to avoid any misunderstanding, he and his adherents should always establish their camp to the south of that of Sheikh Lamino. The Baghirmi could thus be sure of concentrating their efforts on the army of the Sheikh and of destroying it.
But the courier who carried this letter made a mistake. Instead of giving it to Mai Dunama, he took it to Sheikh Lamino, who read it without showing any disturbance, put it in his pocket and sent the man away with a present.
Then, as the Baghirmi approached, the Sheikh’s camp was struck and re- pitched some distance in advance, at Ngala; here Lamino and his Kanembu established themselves to the south of Mai Dunama’s camp and waited.
Burgu Manda soon arrived. After viewing the dispositions made by the opposing army, he thought that the Sultan of Bornu had safely received his letter and had followed his advice. Accordingly he attacked the north camp with all his forces, and after a desperate battle cut to pieces the army of his friend, Mai Dunama. Before the latter could recover from his astonishment and put a stop to the misunderstanding, he was captured and slain by the Baghirmi troops (1817).
Meanwhile, Sheikh Lamino fled to Ngornu, hastily collected his most valuable possessions and sent them off northwards, and after burning the remainder, he fled towards Yo, on the River Wobe.
When Burgu Manda perceived his terrible mistake he was furious, and hastened in pursuit of Lamino. The latter, however, had a good start and the Sultan of Baghirmi could not overtake him. Burgu Manda was soon afterwards compelled to return to his own country, and after sacking Kukawa, where the Sheikh had another house, and ravaging everything as he passed, he returned to his kingdom laden with booty.
SULTAN IBRAM AND SHEIKH LAMINO REIGN JOINTLY
At Birnin Kabela the nearest relatives of Mai Dunama and Nguéléroma disputed among themselves as to who should succeed the Sultan thus killed by mistake. The Sheikh, reassured by the departure of the Baghirmi army, returned to Ngornu and again became master of the situation. Ibram (Ibrahim ben Ahmed), younger brother of Mai Dunama, wishing to assure himself of his protection, said to him: ‘My brother gave you half the power and half the revenues of the kingdom; I will let you have them all, if I can obtain the title of Mai.’
Lamino immediately accepted this offer. He called for the long silver trumpets which were used to announce the accession of a Sultan, and summoned to Ngornu the chiefs of the various tribes. In front of them Ibram solemnly repeated the promise which he had just made to the Sheikh, who immediately had a seal manufactured, on which was engraved in Arabic—
Let God’s will be done.
God is sufficient for his servant.
Mohammed Al Amin.
Then addressing the assembled chiefs and notables from the various tribes, he advised them to turn a deaf ear to the artful designs of the courtiers and to obey him loyally. Then, at his order, the trumpets proclaimed the accession of the new Sultan. Ibram was clothed in the royal garments, and the procession set out for Birnin Kabela.
One of the first acts of sovereignty of the Sheikh was to permit the ex- sultan Nguéléroma, exiled to Yamia, to once more approach the capital. He installed him at Belangawa, north of Geidam on the River Wobe, where he died some time afterwards.
Lamino also busied himself in organizing his household, which hitherto had resembled the school of a famous ‘mallam’ rather than the dwelling of a chief. His disciples were always coming and going, and allowed any one who liked to penetrate into his presence. On his demand, forty officials of the court of the Sultans of Bornu were sent to him; they soon drove away the greater part of the students, and divided amongst themselves the dignities of the new court.
This court was soon more brilliant than that of the nominal sultan Ibram. The latter, in fact, only received annually from the Sheikh 1,000 dollars (about 5,000 francs), 1,000 gowns, 1,000 cloths, 100 camels, 100 horses, 100 oxen, 100 donkeys, 100 goats, and 100 sheep, whose total value was less than 50,000 francs, which was very little to cover the cost of maintaining his entourage. The courtiers therefore gradually deserted him and went to live at the court of the Sheikh.
It is said that the latter, in order to affirm his authority, went out one day from his apartments holding in each hand a gown, which he gave as insignia of office to two slaves who were watching at his gate. The one on the right was nominated Kachella of the Kubri Kanembu (the Sheikh’s own tribe), and the one on the left Kachella of the Sugurti, the best warriors of Bornu, who fought on foot, armed with the spear, the bow, and the shield of ‘ambach’ wood.
At the same time he rebuilt his palace at Kukawa, which had been pillaged and polluted by the Sultan of Baghirmi, and put himself in communication with the Fulani Sultan of Sokoto, Mohammed Bello, the Sarikin Mussulmi. To the latter he wrote as follows: ‘We profess the same religion, and it is not fitting that our subjects should make war on each other. Between our two kingdoms are the pagan Bedde tribes, on whom it is permissible to levy contributions; let us respect this limit; what lies to the west of their country shall be ours, what lies to the east shall be yours; as for Munio, Damagaram, and Daura, they will continue to be vassals of the Sultan of Bornu, who in return will surrender to you all his pretensions to Gober and Katsena.’
Mohammed Bello replied that he accepted Lamino’s propositions, but the two Mussulman chiefs would not, or could not, abide by their word, and the Fulani incursions into Bornu continued as before.
EXPEDITION AGAINST BAGHIRMI
Sheikh Lamino never forgot a grievance and, when he could, repaid twofold any evil that had been done him. As soon, therefore, as he had reorganized and reinforced his army, his first expedition was directed against the Baghirmi in order to avenge the intervention of Burgu Manda against him some years before. So as to deceive the enemy, instead of marching to the south of the Lake, where the Shari constitutes a formidable obstacle, he marched round Chad to the north, and thus arrived in Kanem without alarming his adversaries. A rapid march brought him to Massenya before the Sultan of Baghirmi could assemble his contingents, and it was then Burgu Manda’s turn to take to flight. He fled for refuge to the Sara country, whilst Sheikh Lamino razed the ramparts of his capital and destroyed his palace, the site of which was, according to our informants, systematically polluted for a week by the Bornu army. Then Lamino, having gained considerable booty and seen his enemy fly before him, satisfied with his vengeance, crossed the Shari and re-entered Bornu.
EXPEDITION AGAINST KANO
Every year in the autumn the Sheikh undertook some new expedition. Tempted by the hope of a rich booty, he directed his army against Kano, the wealthy commercial capital of the Central Sudan. Having arrived at Gorko, a little distance from the town, he learnt that a strong Fulani army, commanded by Yakubu, governor of Bauchi, was marching against him. Lamino immediately sounded the retreat, but was overtaken by Yakubu at Fake. Thanks to their fire-arms, the Kanuri repulsed the first attack of their adversaries, who were only armed with spears and bows; then in their turn they took the offensive, but without success. The two parties, having each gained a slight advantage, then returned each to their own country claiming for themselves a victory.
In the following autumn, Lamino renewed his attempt and was more fortunate, for, if he did not succeed in penetrating into Kano, he was able undisturbed to obtain possession of numerous villages, such as Kanawa, Rimi, &c. As booty and not glory was always his object, he returned to Bornu as soon as he considered his plunder sufficient.[493]
EXPEDITION AGAINST KATAGUM
The following year it was the turn of Katagum to be disturbed; but the town, well defended, could not be taken in spite of a two months’ siege. The Bornu army had to content itself with sacking all the surrounding hamlets, and before retreating, it destroyed, out of spite, all the growing crops. A great dearth resulted for this little country.
EXPEDITION AGAINST HADEIJA
A year later Sheikh Lamino laid siege to Hadeija. He pitched his camp on the banks of the river, and summoned his vassals to aid him in his enterprise, for the town resisted vigorously. Munio, Damagaram, Machena, and Nguru obeyed; Tumbi dan Hawa, Sarikin Gummel, alone refused to join them. An envoy from the Sheikh was sent to press him, but he replied: ‘If the Sheikh and his army can do without water for two days, let them come here.’
EXPEDITION AGAINST GUMMEL
Lamino accepted the challenge. He crossed the uninhabited and waterless zone, which for forty miles separated Hadeija from Malawa, to the east of Dungass, not without losing numerous men and horses from thirst. After resting three days, he sent a messenger to the Sultan of Gummel to announce his arrival. Dan Hawa, panic-stricken, tried to obtain pardon by sending him two ambassadors, Liman Bergoma[494] and Mallam Shetima Kinguimi, accompanied by twenty young virgins, twenty young boys, twenty camels loaded with presents, and 100 oxen. The Sheikh gave the embassy a very unfriendly reception. ‘You have given evil counsel to dan Hawa,’ said he; ‘you deserve to die, but I pardon you in memory of the father of Shetima Kinguimi, for as a young man I studied under his directions.’ Then, refusing the presents which they brought, he sent them back, saying: ‘Let your master come in person.’
Dan Hawa, little reassured by the reception accorded to his envoys, preferred to dispatch another ambassador to the Sheikh, one Shetima Allah Rhama, with much more valuable gifts.
Lamino then appeared to be softened, and accepted the presents on condition that the Sarikin Gummel came himself to ask his pardon. To give him confidence, he said in Hausa to the envoy: ‘En ka kawo shi, ka tashi da shi agaba nan,’ i.e. ‘if you bring him, you shall arise at the same time as he in my presence.’
Dan Hawa was then reassured, and accompanied by Shetima dan Allah, he repaired in person to the camp of the Sheikh. The latter made them sit down in front of him, and when the Sarikin Gummel had expressed his repentance, Lamino said to them: ‘Give each other your hands and get up.’ They obeyed. ‘Now sit down again.’ They did so. Then addressing Shetima, he said: ‘I promised you that if you brought me dan Hawa, you should arise with him in my presence; I have kept my promise.’
He then handed over the Sarikin Gummel to the Galadima of Nguru. Now the latter, who claimed hegemony over all the vassals of Bornu from the north to the west, had long hated dan Hawa, who had always defied him, so without delay he put him to death.
On learning of this summary execution, which had not been ordered by him, Lamino was, or pretended to be, violently angry, and inflicted on the Galadima a considerable fine.
He nominated as Sarikin Gummel, dan Tenoma, younger brother of dan Hawa, and at the request of the new chief, decided that he should not have to obey the Galadima of Nguru, but only Yerima Umar, his own son. He then returned to Bornu.
EXPEDITION AGAINST NGURU
The Galadima of Nguru had been profoundly humiliated, and had sworn to revenge himself. He soon assumed an independent attitude towards the Sheikh, at the same time advising the other vassal states to imitate him, but only Kosso, ex-sultan of Munio, joined him with a strong force of Mangas.
It was therefore against Wari—a place which no longer exists, but which was situated about thirty miles north-east of Kachellari—the capital of Nguru, that Lamino directed his autumn expedition of the following year. It is asserted that he camped opposite this town for a year and a half without being able to take it, or even to secure any marked success against the bands of horsemen that from time to time sallied out from the walls. He then appealed to all his vassals, and when his troops were sufficiently numerous, completely surrounded the fortifications. The Galadima Umar, feeling that all was lost, made a desperate sortie, succeeded in penetrating the besiegers’ lines and fled to Hadeija. On the following day Kosso also made good his escape.
The inhabitants, thus deprived of their leaders, asked for peace. Lamino demanded from them 100 slaves, 100 horses, 100 camels, and 100 oxen, which were immediately delivered to him. He then ordered the destruction of the ramparts. The inhabitants refused to consent, and hostilities recommenced. After some time they made new proposals for peace, which was offered on the same conditions as before. When these were fulfilled, the Sheikh demanded the demolition of the fortifications. The inhabitants again refused. There were fresh hostilities and fresh successes on the part of the Sheikh. At last the inhabitants again asked for peace, paid the tribute imposed on them, and then scattered.
Wari was delivered up to pillage, and then Lamino marched on Hadeija, where the Galadima Umar had taken refuge. Thereupon the latter fled to Sokoto and was replaced as Galadima of Nguru by his younger brother Dunama.[495] The victorious Bornu army returned home and the Sheikh allowed it two years’ repose.
A little later, Lamino, always excessively prone to suspicion, took umbrage at the popularity acquired by a ‘Sufi’ mallam, whose school was much frequented and who lived at Yale, to the north-east of Dikoa. He repaired in person to Yale, where he learnt that the mallam was a Koiyam of the Kullumfardo family, and quite devoid of ambition. At this juncture the mallam became blind and the Sheikh, almost at the same time, was attacked by a malady of the ear, from which he was destined never to recover.
Almost at the same time Bohari, the Sultan of Hadeija, attacked Nguru and raided the district of Selleri (Zagarari). Lamino was ill and unable to take the field in person, but his son, Yerima Umar (later Shehu Umar), took command of a strong expedition with which he advanced rapidly into the invaded territory. Bohari had no alternative between a difficult retreat and immediate submission, and having collected considerable presents he repaired in person to Umar, did homage to him, and was allowed to return to Hadeija.
Sheikh Lamino died soon afterwards, in 1835, leaving Bornu flourishing, his family aggrandized, and the nominal sultan, Ibram, without the slightest power. His son, Yerima Umar, then took the title of Sheikh (or Shehu) and succeeded him without opposition as _de facto_ sovereign of the kingdom.
FIRST REIGN OF SHEHU UMAR (1835-53)
One of the first acts of the new Shehu was to cut down by half the meagre subsidy which his father had paid to the sultan Ibram. The latter protested, but in vain, for the following year the subsidy was still further reduced, and the third year he received almost nothing. Mallam Amadu Gonimi, relying on the friendship shown him by the late Sheikh, thrice made friendly representations to Umar, reminding him that it is the part of a good son to act in all circumstances as his father had acted, and requesting in consequence that he should allow Sultan Ibram the same subsidies as he had been accustomed to receive from Sheikh Lamino. Shehu Umar remained silent, but on the third occasion he replied: ‘A son inherits his father’s property, not his character.’
Then Ibram, spurred by necessity, wrote to the Sultan of Wadai, Sherif by name, begging him to come to his aid and rid Bornu of the Shehu and his family. The army of Wadai was set in motion, but unfortunately Ibram had confided the secret to one of his daughters, who in her turn communicated it to her lover, a young relative of the Shehu. As soon as he received the warning, the Sultan and seven of his advisers were seized and thrown into prison. The Shehu then departed with his army to arrest the invasion. The encounter took place on the banks of the Shari at Kusseri (1846) and the Bornu army was completely routed. Umar, much chagrined, returned in haste to Kukawa and had the Sultan and his advisers, who had summoned the enemy into Bornu, immediately executed. He then fled towards the north-west, taking refuge in the marshy country of Bera, near Zigagué, on the banks of the River Wobe.
Meanwhile, the Sultan of Wadai continued his march on Kukawa, and learning of the execution of Sultan Ibram, whom he had come to deliver, proposed to replace him by Ali, son of the latter, a boy of seventeen.
But a Wadai man, called Ibrahim, settled at Kukawa, pleaded the cause of Shehu Umar so well that the Sultan of Wadai dispatched the following message:
‘If you consent to pay me $1,000, I will return to Wadai with my whole army; otherwise I shall leave a strong guard with the young sultan to protect him.’
‘Where can I get $1,000?’ replied the Shehu, for at this period silver was rare in the country, and $1,000 constituted a very important sum.
But an Arab trader who happened to be in the country saw his opportunity to make a big profit. He brought $600 to the Shehu, on condition that he was repaid this sum in young girls, at the rate of $7 a head.[496] Then Umar, having collected all the ornaments of his harem, was able to make up the balance of $400, and sent the whole sum demanded. Sherif then returned to Wadai, leaving the young sultan, Ali, under the sole guard of the Kanembu and Sugurti.
Meanwhile, Durman (Abdurrahman, younger brother of the Shehu) happened to be with an army in the north-west of Bornu, marching towards Zinder. Ibrahim, sultan of this country, came to meet him with conciliatory intentions and peace was concluded. Durman, recalled by his brother with the idea of attacking the young sultan and regaining the reins of power, then returned towards the River Wobe. On his arrival, however, Umar, who was a bit of a poltroon, had changed his mind and suggested that they should fly to Fezzan, their mother’s country.[497]
The younger brother replied: ‘As you seem but a womanish creature, go to Fezzan if you like. I intend remaining in Bornu.’
Umar was thus shamed into fighting. The encounter took place at Minargué, on the banks of the River Wobe. Barth calls the place Minarem. Umar undertook to hold in check the cavalry of Ali, who were reputed to be not very brave and only moderate horsemen, whilst the more valiant Durman joined battle with the Kanembu and Sugurti infantry and put them to rout. The young sultan was killed and Shehu Umar was able to re-enter Kukawa as sole master henceforward of Bornu.
Two years later, desirous of strengthening his authority over his western vassals, he proceeded to Zinder, whose sultan, Ibrahim, had disregarded his orders. Ibrahim took to flight, but his brother Tenimu repaired to the Shehu and got himself enthroned by him as Sultan of Zinder. A mosque was built to commemorate this event and the Shehu returned to Kukawa.
Five years later grave dissensions arose between him and his brother Durman. The latter reproached him warmly with the affection which he showed for one of his counsellors, Haj Beshir, whom he consulted on every occasion and whose advice he followed in preference to that of his brother. Old men, who were living at the time and whose memories are still very clear, have informed us that the mutual affection of the Shehu and his counsellor was greater than that of two brothers and recalled that of husband and wife. Durman was much annoyed and told his brother one day in the course of a violent quarrel that he had ‘the spirit of a sheep’. He then fled.
Umar and his favourite, Haj Beshir, set off in pursuit, but when they had nearly overtaken him, some of the Shehu’s other brothers, who had followed the army, wrote to Durman in secret that they would not fight against him. Durman immediately faced about and by a bold stroke penetrated the camp and reached the very outskirts of the Shehu’s own tents, in front of which he himself discharged several shots.
Umar and his favourite, stricken with panic, leaped on their horses and, almost unaccompanied, fled to Kukawa without stopping. Haj Beshir immediately collected all the wealth that he could carry away and hastened to take refuge at Gulfei on the banks of the Shari, leaving the Shehu at Kukawa to await events.
Meanwhile, Durman had been proclaimed Shehu by the army of Umar and re- entered Kukawa at its head. Umar, relegated to the position of a simple prince of the blood, had to leave the palace and was installed in his brother’s private house.
REIGN OF DURMAN (ABDURRAHMAN), 1853-4
Durman had hardly been installed, when he charged his brother, Abba Bukar Kura, to inform Haj Beshir, of whom he was a friend, that if he would return at once to Kukawa he would grant him a pardon. At the instance of his friend and after a long hesitation, Haj Beshir consented to return. But as soon as he arrived Durman had him imprisoned, and shortly afterwards, in spite of the prayers of his brother, incensed at his ill faith, had him impaled.[498] This did not prevent him swearing the same evening in the presence of all the courtiers that he had never given the order for the execution of the unhappy man, but only that he should be put in bonds.
Durman reigned a bare two years: his harsh character rendered him unpopular with the courtiers, whilst he alienated the army by an unsuccessful expedition against the Musgu, a people in the south of the empire who refused to pay tribute. The malcontents resolved to replace him as soon as he returned to Kukawa by Shehu Umar, whose accommodating temper appeared all the more attractive since the autocratic character of Durman kept constantly increasing.
But Durman was warned of the plot by one of his slaves, Mustapha Mutube. He immediately assembled the courtiers and said to them: ‘I know that you are plotting against me. If you want to replace me, do it at once; don’t wait till I have returned to my palace.’
The courtiers exclaimed: ‘It is false! you have been deceived!’
Durman called the slave: ‘Who told you that a plot was being hatched against me?’
‘It was Arri Fugumani, the chief of the slaves.’
Arri Fugumani, when questioned, said: ‘I was joking with Mustapha Mutube; the whole thing is nothing but a jest, for which I ask pardon.’
Durman pardoned him, saying: ‘From henceforward let no one else come and tell me lies.’
Two months passed, the army had returned to Kukawa, and the courtiers began to conspire afresh.
Arri Fugumani said to Mustapha Mutube: ‘Yesterday’s lie may become to- morrow’s truth. You would do well to inform the sultan.’ But Mustapha, fearing to be again contradicted, dared not say anything.
The next morning all the courtiers assembled in the western town (Bela Potebe) in front of Umar’s house, and the latter’s son, Yerima Bukar, brought him the sultan’s drum and standard, the emblems of power. Then forming in procession they advanced towards the eastern town (Bela Gedibe), where the palace of Durman was situated. The latter, hearing the sound of the trumpets and the cries of the mob, emerged in haste, and with a few faithful followers engaged his adversaries in unequal combat on the open space, called Gumsigine, between the eastern and the western towns. Durman had his horse killed under him. He was immediately brought the horse of one of his slaves, but he refused it, saying: ‘I cannot mount a slave’s horse.’
His brother, Abba Bashir, then gave him his own horse to enable him to fly; but he was unable to get far, and was soon afterwards captured and brought back to Kukawa. Shehu Umar solemnly declared that he would not harm him, and installed him in the house that he had himself just quitted.
SECOND REIGN OF SHEHU UMAR (1854-81)
Three months later, fearing doubtless lest Durman should dethrone him a second time, the Shehu assembled the principal mallams and asked them: ‘Is it better to kill one man than to allow ten to be killed? If one man may cause the death of several others, may one get rid of that one? Consult your own consciences and the Book and let me know your answer.’
All guessed that the Shehu alluded to a new civil war rendered possible by a new rebellion on the part of Durman, and they replied: ‘Certainly it is better to execute one man than to allow ten to be killed, especially if it is the one man who may cause the death of the others.’
Thereupon Shehu Umar gave orders to his head-slave to go and put his brother to death,[499] but to act discreetly so that his death should remain uncertain for some time. His orders were obeyed, and henceforward Shehu Umar enjoyed a peaceful tenure of power. But if the Shehu himself was of a pacific temper, the same was not true of his son, Yerima Bukar, a brave, bold and energetic prince, fond of war and booty.
EXPEDITION AGAINST THE NGIZIMS, 1855 (?)
Yerima Bukar’s first expedition was directed against the Ngizims, a pagan tribe, said to be descended from the Sos, and living to the south of the Bedde country. Having paid tribute to the Sultan of Sokoto, they naturally refused to pay a second time to the Sultan of Bornu. Moreover, they defended themselves courageously when Bukar entered their country. The campaign, which lasted five months, was a very arduous one for the Kanuri, but, on the other hand, they gained much booty, principally in slaves.
EXPEDITION AGAINST THE MUSGU
The Shehu succeeded in restraining for five years the bellicose temper of his son; but the Musgu, against whom Durman had already had to take severe measures during his short reign, having again refused to pay tribute, Yerima Bukar had to direct four successive expeditions against them in order to obtain their submission (1861-5).
EXPEDITION AGAINST ADAMAWA
It was next the turn of Adamawa, a very hilly country to the south of the Benue, to suffer invasion. The rich town of Balbaya was captured, but all the camels and the greater part of the horses of the army perished. The troops were soon in such a state of destitution that the Shehu had to send in haste both horses and clothes to enable his son to make an honourable entry into Kukawa (1866).
AGAINST THE BEDDES
Two years of peace followed, and then Yerima Bukar had to subdue the Beddes, who had refused to pay tribute, and had driven away the Shehu’s envoys, 1869.
AGAINST FIKA AND BAUCHI
The following year he had to subdue Fika, an important group of towns, situated to the east of Gujba, whose inhabitants had driven away the Shehu’s representative, Kachella Abdullahi, son of Kachella Arri Marghi, who had been appointed to this district on the death of his father. Bukar destroyed the fortifications of the town,[500] imposed a heavy tribute on the inhabitants, and continued his march westwards on his way to attack the town of Misau, situated to the north of Bauchi and a tributary of the Fulani. But he was at once recalled by his father, who did not wish to involve himself in difficulties with the Sultan of Sokoto (1870).
AGAINST THE BEDDES
Bukar was not at all anxious to return. He therefore ceased to attack the Fulani, but remained on the western frontier of Bornu raiding and plundering far and wide, and gradually approaching the Beddes, whose submission had been far from satisfactory. But the rainy season was approaching, and his lieutenants feared its effects on their cavalry. They therefore advised Al Haji, the Bedde chief, to pay a certain amount of tribute to Bukar, and at the same time begged Shehu Umar to give his son formal orders to return to Kukawa (1872).
AGAINST KUSSERI
Bukar had never forgotten the help which the inhabitants of Kusseri had given to the Sultan of Wadai, when, summoned by Ibram, he invaded Bornu and obliged his father to take to flight. It was they who had assisted the passage of the Wadai army by showing them a ford, and a number of them had joined the invaders of Bornu. Always on the look-out for somewhere to attack, Bukar obtained leave from his father to march against this town. The battle was just about to begin when an order arrived from Shehu Umar instructing him to make peace, as the inhabitants of Kusseri had hastily sent to Kukawa a tribute of 300 slaves. The army had to return to Bornu without fighting, but not without having partly ravaged the banks of the Logone and sacked the town of Ngurkum (1879).
Two years later Bukar asked leave from his father to go on an expedition, but this time without telling him whither. The Shehu, now an old man and not daring any longer to refuse him anything, allowed him to set out, and Bukar took advantage of this to renew his designs against Kusseri.
He had arrived in front of the town, when he received a message from his mother telling him that the Shehu was at his last gasp, and that, unless he returned within five days, the courtiers would nominate some one else as Shehu.
Bukar set out at once and arrived in Kukawa on the fourth day. The Shehu was still alive, but the principal eunuchs prevented Bukar from seeing him, fearing that before he died Umar would designate Bukar as his successor. Those eunuchs wished Bukar to owe the throne to themselves in order that they might make large profits. Three days afterwards, about two o’clock in the afternoon, the Shehu breathed his last without having seen his son (1881).
The chief eunuchs, Malla Kerim, Yiroma, and Mestrema, deliberated over the choice of a successor. They dreaded the accession of Bukar, whose firm and haughty character had, in his father’s lifetime, more than once disappointed their schemes. Malla Kerim, who of the three commanded the most warriors, made up his mind the first. Taking the ring, rosary, and cap of Shehu Umar, and leaving Mestrema to watch the corpse, he repaired in company with Yiroma to Bukar. Giving him the ring, &c., he said: ‘Your father is dead, here are the emblems of power.’
Bukar refused to accept them except in the presence of numerous witnesses, and summoned his son, Kiari, and his friends, Kassim, Bunu, Abana, Lamino, and his principal slaves. Having informed them of the death of his father he ordered them to assemble his troops. A procession of horse and foot was then formed, and they proceeded to the palace, whose four gates were guarded by the troops of Malla Kerim and could not be opened except in his presence. When they reached the corpse, the chief eunuch raised the shroud and said: ‘Behold, he is dead, we resign him to you for burial.’
He then put the dead man’s ring on Bukar’s finger, his rosary round his neck, and his cap on his head. Outside the drums beat and announced to the people by their slow and measured roll the death of the old Shehu and the proclamation of the new. The Liman, the Legari, and the Talba came to wash the dead, and having assembled all the mallams, celebrated the obsequies that same night.
REIGN OF SHEHU BUKAR (1881-4)
The next morning very early the crowd of courtiers and notables assembled at the palace. Shetima, descendant of the ancient Tubba sultans of Bornu, gave the investiture to Bukar by clothing him in the royal gown and turban, and according to custom asked him: ‘What province will you give me?’
‘I grant you the Kagaburi country,’ replied the new Shehu.
The Shehu’s relatives then came to swear fidelity to him, and the ceremony of investiture ended with a great noise of drums, trumpets, and other instruments of music.
For seven days Bukar only resided in the palace during the daytime, passing the night in his own house. On the seventh day he distributed alms in memory of his father, and installed himself definitely in the palace, leaving his own house and all that was in it, except his women, to his son Kiari.
His first thought was to restore order in the country. ‘Hitherto’, said he, ‘you have been plunderers of whom I was the chief. Henceforward, I shall tolerate no more plundering, and I shall punish without fail any one who disobeys me.’
During the second year of his reign he made an expedition against the Beddes, and captured the towns of Kadera, Aburraga, and Tagari.
The following year he had to repress a revolt of the people of Mulgue in the south of Bornu; but for this expedition he could only gather a few troops, for his subjects, tired of the constant wars in which he involved them, made but a poor response to his summons; some only sent a slave, others a son, others again no one at all.
The Shehu was much annoyed, and as soon as he returned to Kukawa he summoned a great meeting, where he announced that in order to punish his subjects for their half-hearted obedience he should inflict on all a fine equal to half their property. Soon afterwards long caravans of slaves and animals loaded with produce of all sorts might be seen entering the capital every day. Never before had such wealth been accumulated in the palace of the Shehu.
But the common people and the notables murmured loudly. Everywhere in all the villages was to be heard the same malediction: ‘May God cut him off and rid us of him.’
As it chanced the Shehu did die soon afterwards, long before he had seen paid in full the formidable fine which he had inflicted on his subjects, and every one agreed that God had heard the unanimous prayer of an oppressed nation (1884).
REIGN OF IBRAHIM (1884-5)
On the death of Shehu Bukar the courtiers chose as his successor his uncle, Abba Mustapha, younger brother of Shehu Umar. But, as a result of intrigues, there was a sudden change, and the next morning the high dignitaries of the Court proclaimed Ibrahim, younger brother of Shehu Bukar.
Abba Mustapha, chagrined at thus being deceived, at first refused to take the oath of allegiance and sought refuge in flight. But he soon returned on a promise from his nephew that his life would be spared. Ibrahim, however, did not keep his promise, and Mustapha was soon afterwards assassinated.[501] He himself died after reigning one year without having been able to undertake any expedition.
REIGN OF ASHIMI (1885-93)
His younger brother, Ashimi, third son of Shehu Umar, was chosen to succeed him. After a pacific reign of eight years he was obliged to take up arms to defend his kingdom against the invasion of Rabeh, advancing from Baghirmi.
To repulse the invader he sent to meet him an army of 30,000 men, under the orders of Mohammed Tar, son of Amadu Guimi. The encounter took place a little to the south of Ngala, at Ngamagué, in April 1893.
Rabeh, who could only muster 3,000 men, took care to camp on the border of a marsh, which served to protect him against a surprise by the enemy’s cavalry, who were much superior in number. Mohammed Tar, presumptuous and imprudent, got entangled in the marsh, the horses were mired, and those of their riders who could not succeed in disengaging themselves were massacred in great numbers by the enemy’s gun-men.
On hearing the news of the disaster Ashimi organized a second army more numerous than the first, put himself at their head and marched against Rabeh. In spite of the support of several heavy cannon, sent him by the Sultan of Zinder, his troops lacked confidence. The Bornu army fled at the first charge and the flight was soon changed into a rout. Ashimi returned in hot haste to Kukawa in order to dispatch his most precious possessions north-westwards, and to fly himself as soon as possible.
It is said that he left Kukawa one Saturday evening and that the conqueror entered the town on Sunday morning. Rabeh immediately launched a column commanded by Abba Bukar in pursuit of the fugitive Shehu. Ashimi was overtaken at Lumburem, on the River Wobe, east of Duchi, and had barely time to escape, leaving in the hands of the enemy all his baggage, his animals, his slaves, and even his women.
The scattered Kanuri then nominated as Shehu his nephew Kiari. The latter declared his intention of marching without delay against the invader, but his partisans, alarmed at such audacity, immediately abandoned him and rallied once more round Ashimi, whose defeats had made him prudent. Kiari then accused his uncle of compromising with the enemy and had him assassinated.
REIGN OF KIARI (1893)
Three months later Rabeh advanced in person against those of the Kanuri who still maintained their independence on the banks of the River Wobe. Kiari assembled his forces and marched against him. The encounter took place at Gashagar. The Bornu army fought valiantly, but when their chief was wounded they gave ground.[502] Kiari, who refused to fly, was captured and taken to Rabeh, who had him executed. Thus perished the last independent Sultan of Bornu.
[Footnote 491: By kind permission of Commandant Tilho.]
[Footnote 492: There is no trace of this site to-day, but it was just north-west of Ngornu and in sight of that town.]
[Footnote 493: For another account of Lamino’s Kano campaign, vid. Appendix VI.]
[Footnote 494: Bergoma was the father of Shetima, Alkali of Zinder in 1907, who confirmed this information.]
[Footnote 495: Umar afterwards returned, Dunama fled, and Umar was recognized by the Shehu as Galadima.]
[Footnote 496: Young girls then averaged $40 a head in Bornu and $200 on the Mediterranean coast.]
[Footnote 497: According to some authorities, Shehu Umar was the son of a slave given to Lamino by Mai Dunama and already enceinte when she entered the Sheikh’s harem.]
[Footnote 498: Vogel says ‘bowstrung’, vid. p. 272, Benton, _Notes on Some Languages_, &c.]
[Footnote 499: According to Vogel he was ‘strangled’, vid. p. 277, Benton, _Notes on Some Languages_, &c.]
[Footnote 500: If this means Fika town itself the statement is incorrect, it was never captured either by Kanuri or Fulani.]
[Footnote 501: For another account of Abba Masta’s rebellion, vid. Appendix VII.]
[Footnote 502: [According to Gaston Dujarric, _Vie du Sultan Rabah_, the Kanuri were at first victorious but scattered to plunder the enemy’s camp. Rabeh, who as usual, had kept a strong body of gun-men as a reserve, rallied his troops, gave all his generals—including his son, Fadel Allah, whose arm had been broken by a musket-ball—100 lashes apiece, and sent them forward to victory.—P. A. B.]]
APPENDIX V
ACCOUNT OF RABEH
The following translation of a German account of Rabeh, written in 1899, is not without interest, though of course it is in several instances inaccurate. Herr Lippert’s chief informant appears to have been a man from Ghat. His Hausa is not always unexceptionable, and there is nothing to show that he was ever in Bornu or was actually an eyewitness of the events he describes. His account of Rabeh’s campaigns should be compared with that given in Decorse et Demombyne’s _Rabah et les Arabes du Shari_, and in Dujarric’s _Vie de Rabah_. Rabeh did not die of poison in 1897 but was killed in battle by the French in 1900.
_Mittheilungen des Seminars für Orientalische Sprachen_ (Berlin) for 1899.
RABAH[503] by JULIUS LIPPERT
‘History is made by personalities.’ This maxim only holds good in a very limited sense for western states, but as regards the historical changes in the ‘Dark Continent’, and especially in the Sudan, it is absolutely true. The negro is entirely deficient in public spirit and other political virtues. In the same degree as the idea of the state is foreign to him,[504] he lacks also the sense of patriotism and loyalty to a dynasty. It remains a matter of indifference to him whom he serves, so long as he can do so with tolerable security for life and liberty. It is only by such considerations that the success is explicable of bold adventurers, who, relying on nothing but intelligence and energy above the average and the support of a handful of devoted adherents, were able to carve out mighty empires for themselves and overthrow ancient kingdoms, who owed their hundreds of years of existence solely to a political _vis inertiae_ similar to their own on the part of the neighbouring states. Thus we see, to quote only two examples, how at the beginning of the nineteenth century Othman dan Fodio[505] with his numerically infinitely weaker Fulani conquered the various Hausa states and welded them into the kingdom of Sokoto. The Mahdi likewise in the ’eighties subdued the Egyptian Sudan for a time in spite of European administration. Now it may indeed be urged that both these men appeared also as religious reformers; and religious fanaticism is certainly always a mighty factor in favour of success. But in the case of Samory, whose capture the newspapers announced a few weeks ago, it was solely the power of personality, which enabled him after being expelled from one territory to conquer in a very short time a new dominion about as large as Germany, and since 1885 to oppose unaided with more or less success the superior military skill of the French.[506] It was personal ability also which enabled Rabeh, the brickmaker’s son, to raise himself to the position of king of the powerful state of Bornu, and would have let him accomplish even greater things, had not the assassin’s poison put a premature end to his career of conquest. Just in the last few weeks all kinds of accounts of this man have been current in the newspapers. These accounts, derived from a letter of the French traveller, Bonnel de Mezières,[507] specially concern us Germans, inasmuch as the scene of the events therein described is situated in the hinterland of our colony of the Kameruns; but it may also be of universal interest to find briefly described here the life and death of this personality.
My sources of information are chiefly the two documents printed with a translation in the appendix to this article.
1. A biography of Rabeh in Hausa, written down for me by Mohammed Beshir-al-Ghati, Reader in the Berlin School of Oriental Languages.
2. An Arabic letter to Mohammed Beshir from Abd-el-Kader ibn Al-Haji Isa Muzi from Ghadames, concerning the death of Rabeh.
In so far as I have made use of other sources of information, I have noted them in the proper places.
Rabeh (i.e. the victor) belonged, like Zobehr Pasha, to the Arab family of the Ja’alin, who have their domicile on the upper Nile round about Khartum, but who are distributed all over the Eastern Sudan, and even as far as Bornu,[508] as Jellaba (i.e. importers, petty traders). His father was a poor brickmaker, who gained an honest livelihood by the work of his hands. That Rabeh has sometimes been falsely described as a slave of Zobehr’s is to be attributed to the fact that he attached himself in early youth to that extraordinary man, who, prior to his appearance as a public official, carried on the business of slave- raiding. Rabeh early became a loyal friend and useful assistant in Zobehr’s undertakings. It is certain that he took an active part both in the subjugation of the Bahr-el-Ghazal Province and in the conquest of Darfur. After Zobehr had gone on a mission of complaint to the Khedive in Cairo and had been detained in custody there, his son Suleiman, whom he had left behind as his representative, was driven by intrigues into rebellion, and Rabeh became one of the most prominent sub-commanders in the rebel army. The fortune of war was not favourable to the insurgents. After being totally defeated on repeated occasions, they were summoned by Gessi, the commander of the Government troops, to cease further resistance as useless and to surrender to him under promise of amnesty. In the rebel council of war which met to discuss these propositions, Suleiman and the majority of his lieutenants showed themselves inclined to capitulate on these terms, but Rabeh spoke energetically against the proposal. His advice was, either, at the price of abandoning the territories hitherto connected with their rule, to push westward with their forces, still by no means inconsiderable, where it would be easy to conquer a new dominion; or, if they were quite tired of fighting, to surrender not to Gessi, but direct to the Government authorities in Khartum. If neither of these two proposals should find acceptance, he would find himself compelled to separate from his former comrades and act on his own account. Neither alternative of Rabeh’s extremely judicious counsel was attended to; Suleiman and the majority of his sub- commanders gave themselves up to Gessi,[509] but Rabeh, after an affecting leave-taking from his old comrades-in-arms, marched away with his own troops, and those who had joined him from other detachments, to his camp in the uncertain future, accompanied by the notes of the far- sounding war-horn.[510]
At this point it may be fitting to insert a few words as to the resources which, at the outset, Rabeh was able to dispose of. I do not think that his army was ever at any one time much over 3,000 strong. Moreover, it was certainly only the minority of these troops that consisted of Ja’alin and Arabs of other tribes, though they formed the cavalry of the army, while the greater part must have been supplied according to requirements from the ‘Basingers’, i.e. negro soldiers disciplined on European lines, selected from captured slaves. One may quite fittingly compare them with the Mamelukes of Egypt or the Turkish Janissaries. From what I have heard from eyewitnesses of Rabeh’s battles in Bornu, he must also have had artillery at his disposal. It is not only obvious but confirmed by the course of events, that these well- armed and well-disciplined troops, in spite of their numerical weakness, represented a formidable force when opposed to barbarous negro empires, to whom fire-arms were certainly no longer entirely unknown, but amongst whom they had not long been in exclusive use.[511]
II
With regard to the first decade (1880-90) of Rabeh’s adventurous career, only vague and scanty accounts are forthcoming to enable us to attain an assured knowledge of events. According to Mohammed’s information, he first of all invaded the country of the Dinkas (at the confluence of the Bahr-el-Ghazal and the Nile) and waged war with this tribe for three years. It is evident that this statement is based on a confusion with the before-mentioned conquest of the Bahr-el-Ghazal province by Zobehr. Ferryman states in his recently published work,[512] that Rabeh and his troops turned northwards, and after twice defeating the Sultan of Borku, received permission from him to establish themselves in the southern border districts of his empire. It must have been here that Rabeh, as well as the above-mentioned Sultan, received an invitation from the Mahdi, who had meanwhile seized possession of the whole Egyptian Sudan, to ally themselves with the new state, a course which they both declined with scorn. In the lengthy struggle that followed between the Mahdists and the border tribes belonging to the Sennusiya between Darfur and Wadai, Rabeh must have taken a vigorous part. So Ferryman says. I am able to refute this statement, which is offered without the slightest authority being quoted, as I consider it improbable from an impartial point of view. Borku is a small group of oases south-east of Tibesti, whose population Nachtigal asserts to be from 10,000 to 12,000.[513] To reach Borku from Gerra (in Southern Darfur), where Suleiman’s camp was situated at the time of his surrender, Rabeh would have to traverse either Darfur, occupied throughout its extent by the Egyptian troops, or else Northern Wadai, inhabited by wild hill-tribes, and make moreover a not inconsiderable desert march. Under these circumstances I cannot conceive what could have caused him to be attracted to this small and remote group of oases, where certainly much fighting but little booty was to be expected. Slatin Pasha states briefly that he was removed to ‘the remote districts of the south-west’.[514] This statement has very great probability on its side. Even Ferryman admits that he lived in the country of the Banda and Fertit before his attack on Bagirmi.[515] In the midst of these and other pagan Nyamnyam tribes south of Darfur and north of Upper Uele he found what he needed, viz. a suitable field for the capture of slaves, of whom he was in constant want as a medium of exchange for weapons and munitions. A full decade seems to have elapsed before the burning of towns and villages, necessarily consequent on his slave-raids, changed into a wilderness this formerly populous and flourishing district. It then became necessary to find a new field for this form of activity, which in Moslem eyes is by no means disgraceful, provided it is exercised at the expense of idolaters. He was prevented from penetrating farther south, where booty was easiest to be obtained, by considerations regarding the supply of munitions, which he procured from the north through the medium of his fellow-tribesmen, the Jellaba. For this reason he turned north-west and attempted to overrun the kingdom of Wadai. But here he must have met with energetic resistance, as was only to be expected from the close political organization of this coveted empire.[516] So after a short time he desisted from his attempts on Wadai, and made an incursion with his troops into Bagirmi, which lies to the south-west of the latter. Ferryman is aware[517] that during his stay in Dar-Banda and Dar-Fertit, Rabeh addressed a request to the Sultan of Bagirmi that he would promise a free passage from Kukawa, the capital of Bornu, through Bagirmi to his traders for the purpose of supplying him with munitions. Rabeh swore revenge against the Sultan for not complying with this request; he was at present, however, denied the opportunity of satisfying this feeling. The Sultan of Bagirmi sought in vain for assistance from the Courts of Wadai and Bornu. Refusing to acquiesce, yet not in a position to make head against his dreaded opponent in open battle, he threw himself into his fortified capital of Masseña, and surrendered the open country to the enemy. Rabeh quartered himself on the country in his usual fashion, collected a rich booty in slaves, and possessed himself of several of the larger towns, such as Gulfei and Logone. But he had no intention of establishing himself permanently in the country. He was inclined to this course by misleading reports that had reached him of the natural riches of Bornu and of its internal rottenness. He seems to have prepared long beforehand for an attack on this empire, whose prestige among the neighbouring peoples was still very great in spite of its rotten internal condition. He first sent secret emissaries charged to stir up the political differences, which, thanks to the weakness of the royal authority, consisted chiefly in the mutual rivalries of the court dignitaries, and at the same time to create a disposition favourable to himself. He then allied himself with the Fulani chieftain, Mallam[518] Hayatu, of Jamare, for the purpose of a joint invasion of Bornu. This prince, who, in contrast to the feeble successors on the throne of Sokoto of the great Othman dan Fodio, showed once more something of the warlike and statesmanlike ability of his ancestor, was at once ready for the undertaking against the hereditary enemy of the Fulani. Their united troops advanced into Bornu and pushed their way unopposed right up to the walls of Kukawa. The Sultan,[519] Abba Ashimi, here faced them for the first time, and thanks to superior forces succeeded in repulsing the assailants. Rabeh now spent several months in Bornu territory in a difficult position, during which the provisioning of his troops especially caused him great anxiety. It was just while he was at the height of his distress that the seed sown by his envoys reached maturity. Rabeh received an invitation from one of the chief Bornu court dignitaries to return to Kukawa, where he would assist him to obtain the mastery. He naturally did not wait to be asked twice, but immediately advanced again on the capital. Another battle was fought in front of the gates of the palace, and this time Rabeh was victorious, chiefly owing to his artillery, to which the enemy could oppose nothing similar. Abba Ashimi himself remained on the field.[520] In the campaign which followed and which led to the capture of the capital, his two nephews and successors, Abba Kiari and Abba Sanda[521] were slain. The conqueror entered Kukawa as the new Sultan.[522]
III
This event forms a turning-point in the history of Rabeh. Whilst he had hitherto been more or less a mere adventurer, he had now become at one blow the ruler of one of the most powerful Sultanates of the Sudan. Remembering the practical bent of his mind with its grasp of actualities, one might expect that he would at once be conscious of the problems and duties of his new position and that he would proceed energetically towards their accomplishment. Nor did he disappoint such expectations. He sought to revive the caravan-trade with Tripoli, which had been brought to a standstill owing to the unrest of recent years, by giving the traders assurance of the most perfect security, and by other concessions. His endeavours in this respect met with success.[523] He also entered into trade relations with the British ‘Niger Company’.[524] He removed his head-quarters from Kukawa, which is extremely unhealthy,[525] particularly in the rainy season, to the charmingly situated town of Dikoa,[526] on the Alo river south-east of Lake Chad. For the better protection of the frontier of his newly-won territory, he left strong garrisons in Gulfei on the Shari, and in Kusseri and Logone on the River Logone. In order to found a dynasty, whose legitimacy should be acknowledged even by the rulers of the neighbouring kingdoms, he married a daughter of his ally, Mallam Hayatu, who, on his side, took to wife a daughter of Rabeh’s.
His energetic never-resting nature caused this internal political activity to be accompanied by efforts to enlarge his territory. He first attempted to chastise the hill tribes of Mandara, dwelling to the south of Bornu, who had made themselves troublesome by occasional plundering expeditions into the southerly districts of the empire. The aged king of Mandara himself fell into the hands of a punitive expedition. But, while Rabeh resolved humanely enough to dismiss the old man unharmed to his home, the latter’s son and successor allowed a son of Rabeh’s, who had fallen into captivity, to be executed. Another expedition—to Bedde—was certainly not designed for the occupation of this country, but for the capture of numerous slaves, who were carried off as welcome booty to Bornu. A raid into Miga[527] country had the same successful result. On the other hand, an expedition against Katagum miscarried; the valiant stand made by the king of this country forced Rabeh to retreat hurriedly on Bornu. The King of Misau got wind beforehand of an undertaking that had been planned against his country, and hastened to conclude an offensive and defensive alliance with the neighbouring rulers of Shira and Gombe in order to meet the threatened danger. When united they felt themselves strong enough to advance and attack Rabeh. The opposing armies came into collision on the march. A battle resulted, and after a desperate struggle Rabeh’s superior military skill secured him the victory. The losses of the allies were extraordinarily heavy; the King of Gombe himself was among the fallen. But even for the victor the day must have been very costly; for he returned to Bornu without further results.
So long as Rabeh confined his attacks to the small tribes living between Bornu and Sokoto—buffer-states one would call them in modern parlance—everything went very smoothly. But it is obvious that the moment he attacked the territory of a large neighbouring kingdom, complications of immeasurable import were bound to ensue. Such complications took place when he invaded Adamawa,[528] the great south- eastern vassal state of Sokoto, whence he brought home vast booty, especially in slaves. The governors of the neighbouring Hausa states then recovered from the indolence, with which they had hitherto viewed the success of Rabeh, and entered on an energetic course of action. They had to be prepared for the fact that it might be themselves on whom he would next lay hands. Fright effected what political insight had been unable to accomplish; they formed themselves into a league for the purpose of common defence in case of an attack on one of the confederates. Especially serious for Rabeh was the fact that his father- in-law and former ally, Hayatu, joined the league. Although he had founded his kingdom of Jamare in political rivalry with the Court of Wurno,[529] he was Fulani enough at heart to feel that the interests of his fellow tribesmen were not different from his own, in so far as the to be or not to be depended on himself. At first he attempted to intervene diplomatically. But when Rabeh, fully conscious of his power, haughtily repulsed these attempts, Hayatu came forward as leader at the head of the league. It may be that Rabeh feared the military force of the league, or the power of England that stood behind it, or something else; at any rate it is certain that for a time he abstained from further attempts against Sokoto—though an expedition against Kano may have been contemplated—and turned his attention to a problem which awaited solution within the compass of his own empire, viz. the reconquest of the recalcitrant Governor of Zinder. Zinder was the most north-westerly province of Bornu, but its governor had frequently shown himself refractory even in Shehu Umar’s time,[530] and had taken advantage of the confusion of recent years to free himself of even nominal dependence, and had also annexed the province of Munio which lay to the east of his own territory. After careful preparation Rabeh set out about the beginning of 1897; he was destined never to return to his capital alive. Mallam Hayatu, who, following in the lines of Oriental despots, thought cunning the better part of valour, got poison administered to him on the way to Zinder by means of his daughter, who, as mentioned above, had been married to Rabeh. Thus perished, in the midst of his activity, the still vigorous warrior at the age of fifty- eight.[531]
In criticizing Rabeh we must be careful not to adopt the standpoint of Christian humanity; the character of his people and of his religion must be taken into consideration, which declare as permissible many things that are held by us to be abominably cruel. Thousands of unfortunates were enslaved by him and sold either in the Sudan itself or sent to North Africa. I have myself seen in Tunis and Tripoli quite a number of individuals who were recognizable as Rabeh’s slaves by the three oblique scars on each cheek. Any one who is acquainted with the conditions knows that for each of the slaves who reached their journey’s end, one must add at least five other individuals who perished either in the slave raids of the foregoing campaigns, on the journey, or through sickness following on a change of climate. This sum total of misery and destruction of family happiness constitutes a terrible indictment against their originator, but we must also again recollect that these slave raids were not for Rabeh an end in themselves, but only a means to an end, and that he not only understood how to destroy, but also how to build up. When we consider that, after becoming Sultan of Bornu, he endeavoured energetically to raise the condition of the country by a whole succession of peaceful measures, we can reconcile ourselves in some degree to his misdeeds; in fact, we may summarize our judgement of him by saying that he was—in the Shakespearian sense—a man. If one looks at the matter properly he may be described as the leaven of the Sudan; for Bornu, in particular, his mission was as much an historical necessity as the migration of nations was for the Roman Empire. As to whether his dynasty will have any permanence, who can tell? If it perishes with him, the fault lies not on him but adverse circumstances.
All that I have been able to discover as to the course of events after his death, is that one of his freedmen has undertaken the regency in the name of his son, who is still a minor, and that he has known how to guard up to the present the integrity of the empire. When M. Bonnel de Mezières,[532] and after him the newspapers, announce that Rabeh has banished Gaurang, King of Bagirmi, and occupied his capital, Masseña, it can only refer to this regent, even assuming that the news in this form proves right at all. At the same time it is not impossible that the conqueror is the King of Wadai, who certainly stands in the position of suzerain of Bagirmi.[533] Certainly once before, when the vassal chief, Abu Sikkin, showed himself recalcitrant, Masseña was occupied by King Ali of Wadai after a siege lasting several months.[534] In any case it is an exquisite irony of fate to see how the actors of the drama produced here are intermingled with one another, and behave themselves as if there was no world outside their own, whilst all the time the die has long been cast against them, and they have been divided up among the European Powers.
HISTORY OF RABEH ACCORDING TO MOHAMMED BESHIR
usili rabeh. ubansa mutum jalaba shi da basha alzubair mutane jalaba. uban rabeh shina yi gini kasa, talaka ne. babu shina da komi. rabeh ya tafi wurin basha alzubair ya zama galadimansa. suna tafiya darfur suna yi yaki dasu shekaru biyar. su ji labarin mutane masr su da ingliz suka tafi achikin darfur. su yi masa hila wayo suka che ka tafo. ya zo basha alzubair, su kama shi. galadimansa rabeh ya gudu ya tafi agarin janke (dinka) ya tafi shi da dakaransa shina yi yaki achikin janke shekaransa oku. ya tashi ya tafi agarin wadai shina yi yaki kwanansa goma sha bokkoi achikin kauye. ya tafi agarin bagirmi shina yi yaki da sarikin bagirmi shekaransa biyu. achikin bagirmi shina aikewa achikin barnuh[535] da samo shina yi magani dakeau domi bakinsu shi banban suna yi fada. ya rubutu ga malam hayatu laya ya che masa ina sonka da abuta. mallam hayatu ya che kua, nima ina sonka amma ka zo mu yi shawara zamu chi barnuh. rabeh ya che to mu gamu achikin hanya. ya tashi su gamu suka che mu je achikin barnuh mu chi barnuh. sarikin barnuh ya ji labari suna taruwa dayawa ya che ku yi shiri dakeau. rabeh ya zo barnuh achikin kofan gari, sarikin barnuh ya fita suna yi fada, sarikin barnuh ya kore rabeh. ya tafi akauye ya zamna, shina yi yungwa watansa tara achikin ankalaiwa suna zamne wuri daya. da su samau chimaka su komo achikin barnuh sun yi yaki. sarikin barnuh dakaransa su gudu suna barshi shina yi fada su kasheshi; aba hashim dafari aba kiari da aba sanda dan uwan aba kiari, su mutu. ya shiga barnuh ya zamna shekaransa oku da shashi. ya tafi agarin sarikin mandara ya kai yaki achikin mandara. ya kama sarikin mandara zofo ne ya kawoshi achikin barnuh. yaro sarikin mandara ya kama yaron rabeh. rabeh ya che da mutaninsa kada ku kasheshi wanan zofo ne. ya che masa yaron sarikin mandara aiko mani da ubana. ya che masa zan kasheshi zofo ya che, kadan na mutu da. safi kai kua ka mutu da azafari.[536] ya sakeshi ya tafi agarinsa mandara.
saura maganan rabeh. basha malla karim na chikin barnuh ya aike[537] wurin rabeh ya che, ka zo ka shiga achikin garin barnuh. ya che ina da yungwa babu abinchi. sun tafo su shiga achikin gari ya zama sarikinsu. ya zauna watansa fudu ya tashi ya tafi achikin garin bade shina yi yaki da su, allah ya bashi nasara. ya kama mutane bade ya damresu achikin sasari ya kawosu achikin barnuh. ya koma ya tafi agarin mika suna yi yaki da sarikin mika. allah ya bashi nasara ya kashesu. ya tafi agarin katagum suna yi fada dakeau. sarikin katagum ya koreshi ya gudu ya komo achikin garinsa barnuh. ya zamna watansa biyar ya tashi ya tafi agarin miso. sarikin miso ya fita suna yi yaki shi da rabeh. sarikin miso ya aike wurin sarikin shira da wurin sarikin gombe su taru achikin garin miso. su tashi su tareshi achikkin hanya. suna yi yaki dakeau ya kashe masu mutane dayawa rabeh ya yi nasara dakeau. sarikin gombe ya mutu achikin yaki. rabeh ya komo achikin barnuh, ya zamna watansa tara. ya che ga mutaninsa ku yi shiri ku tafi achikin adamawa da yaki. su tafi su yi yaki achikin adamawa su kama mutane dayawa su damresu achikin sasari su kawosu daga barnuh. malam hayatu sarikin jamare ya ji labari ya che masa domi ka tafi achikin kasan kakanina? rabeh ya amsa masa na tafi. malam hayatu ya che, dakeau. ya aike masa da magani wurin matatasa yariniya malam hayatu shika aureta. ama rabeh shekaransa tokwos da hamsin ya mutu.
TRANSLATION
Rabeh’s origin. His father was a Jellaba man as also was Zobehr Pasha. Rabeh’s father was a poor man and a clay digger (for making bricks); he had no property. Rabeh went to Zobehr Pasha and became his lieutenant. They went to Darfur and made war there for five years. They heard news that the Egyptians and the English had come to Darfur. They (the English) laid a cunning trap for him (Zobehr) and said, ‘Come to us.’ They caught Zobehr Pasha. His lieutenant Rabeh fled and came to the Dinka country. He and his soldiers went and made war in the Dinka country for three years. He got up and went to Wadai and made war in the surrounding country for seventeen days. He went to Bagirmi and made war with the King of Bagirmi for two years. Whilst he was in Bagirmi he sent poison to Bornu and made powerful medicine because they were at strife. They made war. He wrote a letter to Mallam Hayatu and said to him: ‘I want to be your friend.’ Mallam Hayatu likewise said: ‘I like you, but come and let us consult how we shall conquer Bornu.’ Rabeh said: ‘Very well, let us meet on the road.’ He got up. They met and said: ‘Let us enter Bornu and conquer it.’ The King of Bornu heard news that they were assembling in large numbers and said (to his people): ‘Make careful preparations.’ Rabeh came to Bornu and reached the gate of the town [_i.e._ Kuka]. The King of Bornu came out and they fought. The King of Bornu repulsed Rabeh, who went into the surrounding villages where he sat down. He suffered from hunger for nine months in Ngellewa where they remained concentrated. When they got provisions they re-entered Bornu and made war. The King of Bornu’s soldiers fled and left him on the battlefield and he was killed, first of all Abba Ashimi died, then Abba Kiari and Abba Sanda, brother of Abba Kiari. He (Rabeh) entered Bornu and sat down there for three years and a half. He went to the King of Mandara and brought an army to Mandara. He caught the King of Mandara, who was an old man, and brought him to Bornu. The son of the King of Mandara caught a son of Rabeh’s. Rabeh said to his people, ‘Do not kill him, he is an old man.’ The son of the King of Mandara said to him, ‘Send me my father.’ He said to him, ‘I am going to kill him.’ The old man said: ‘If I die in the morning, you will die in the afternoon.’ He let him go and he went to his country of Mandara.
The story of Rabeh continued. Pasha Malla Karim of Bornu sent to Rabeh and said, ‘Come, enter the town of Bornu.’ He said: ‘I am hungry, I have no food.’ They met, they entered the town, he became their king. He sat down for four months. He got up and went to Bedde country. He made war with them. God gave him the victory. He caught the Bedde people and bound them in chains and brought them to Bornu. He came back, he went to Mika[538] country. They made war with the King of Mika. God gave him the victory. He killed them. He went to Katagum. There was a stiff fight. The King of Katagum repulsed him. He fled and came back to his own country of Bornu, where he sat down for five months. He got up and went to Misau. The King of Misau came out and he and Rabeh fought. The King of Misau sent to the King of Shira and to the King of Gombe (telling them) to assemble inside the town of Misau. They got up and met on the road. There was a stiff fight, but Rabeh killed many of their men and gained a brilliant victory. The King of Gombe died in the battle. Rabeh returned to Bornu, where he sat down nine months. He said to his people: ‘Prepare yourselves and go with an army to Adamawa.’ They went and made war in Adamawa. They caught many men and bound them in chains and brought them to Bornu. Mallam Hayatu, the King of Jamare, heard the news and said to him: ‘Why have you entered the country of my fathers?’ Rabeh answered him: ‘I have entered it. (What about it?)’ Mallam Hayatu said: ‘Good!’ He sent him poison through his wife. Rabeh had married Mallam Hayatu’s daughter. Now Rabeh was fifty-eight years old when he died.
II
FROM A LETTER OF ABD-EL-KADIR IBN AL-HAJI ISA MUZI OF GHADAMES TO MOHAMMED BESHIR, dated 17 Rejeb, 1315 (_i.e._ 12 December, 1897).[539]
. . . And if you inquire as to the state of affairs in the Sudan, know that everything is in order. Only a letter has reached Ghadames from the Sudan, in which they have informed us that Rabeh has of a truth been killed by poison. The Sultan of Jamare said: ‘Assemble yourselves, ye Sultans of the Sudan.’ They said: ‘Let us prepare ourselves and fight against Rabeh.’ And the Sultan of Mandara and the Sultan of Bagirmi and the Sultan of Kano and the Sultan of Katsena and the Sultan of Daura and the Sultan of Kazaure and the Sultan of Zaria and the Sultan of Bauchi and the Sultan of Bedde and the Sultan of Damerghu and the Sultan of Tanamari and the Sultan of Gagiduna and the Sultan of Asben they all assembled themselves (and said): ‘Let us march against Rabeh and kill him.’ His father-in-law, Mallam Hayatu, was he who killed him by poison. He sent the poison to his daughter with the message: ‘Give it thy husband.’ After that[540] he said to his son-in-law: ‘Why have you taken the land of my fathers?’ Rabeh answered and said unto him: ‘I have taken it.’ Then he went away, prepared the poison and said to her: ‘Give it to thy husband.’ And now Rabeh is dead. It is six months ago since I read it in the letter from the Sudan.
[p. 263] FROM A LETTER OF HERR HANS RESENER, Editor of the _Aegyptischer Kurier_, to the Editor of the _Mittheilungen_.
. . . Herr Julius Lippert in his article on Rabeh, the notorious ruler of the Kingdoms of the Central Sudan, which is shortly to appear in your valuable periodical, states: ‘his father was a poor brickmaker, who gained an honest livelihood by the work of his hands. That Rabeh has sometimes been falsely described as a slave of Zobehr’s is to be attributed to the fact that he attached himself in early youth to that extraordinary man, who prior to his appearance as a public official carried on the business of slave-raiding. Rabeh early became a loyal friend and useful assistant in Zobehr’s undertakings.’
I may be permitted to observe on the contrary that Zobehr Pasha has more than once represented to me that his relationship to Rabeh was as follows—Rabeh’s father was a slave of Zobehr’s father. The lot of a slave in Africa who happens to be in good hands is by no means hard, he eats out of the same dish as his master, &c., &c. Rabeh was brought up in familiar intercourse with Zobehr without any distinction or preference being made; the fact that Rabeh was a slave of Zobehr’s father did not prevent this. At the same time Rabeh was Zobehr’s foster- brother; Zobehr always had a great affection for him and when his (Zobehr’s) father died, he gave Rabeh his freedom.
[Footnote 503: [Translation published by kind permission of Dr. Sachau, Director of the Seminary. The name is spelt Rabah by the French and Germans, Rabeh by the English. The latter form gives the Bornu pronunciation, but perhaps the former is the correct Arabic form. The town of Calatrava in Spain, the head-quarters of a famous order of religious knights, is properly Kalat Rabah = Rabah’s citadel, vid. article on Calatrava in _Encyclopaedia of Islam_.]]
[Footnote 504: This certainly holds good in general for Mohammedan nations, in so much as with them the conception of the state is identified with that of the ruler. Any one who requires proof of this, let him read any twenty pages whatever of Aug. Müller’s _Islam_, vol. ii; he will then be convinced.]
[Footnote 505: ‘dan’ in Hausa is the Arabic ‘ibn’ (son).]
[Footnote 506: Cf. G. A. Krause’s ‘Samori’, in No. 483 of the _Vossische Zeitung_ for October 15, 1898.]
[Footnote 507: Vid. _Le Mouvement géographique_, 1898, No. 47 (Nov. 20).]
[Footnote 508: Cf. Nachtigal, _Sahara und Sudan_, ii. 234.]
[Footnote 509: They had to repent of not having followed Rabeh’s advice; for in spite of the assurances made to them they were massacred in an altogether assassin-like fashion on July 15, 1879, owing to calumny and intrigue (cf. Slatin Pasha, _Fire and Sword in the Sudan_, p. 28, German edition). [‘I caused Suleiman and nine of the principal rebel chiefs to be shot, for Suleiman, after a futile attempt to make my troop revolt, had tried to escape,’ vid. Romolo Gessi, _Seven Years in the Sudan_, p. 329.]]
[Footnote 510: Cf. Slatin Pasha, _idem_, pp. 7-28.]
[Footnote 511: [The Bornu troops had included gun-men since the sixteenth century (vid. p. 17). The Kanuri word for gun is ‘be̥nde̥ge̥’, which has usually been derived from Venediga = Venice, the original source of supply. Huart, however, in the _Encyclopaedia of Islam_ under ‘bundukiya’ derives it from Latin ‘(nux) pontica’ = a hazel-nut, hence a bullet. He gives ‘bunduki’ = a Venetian sequin, as coming from ‘Bundukiya, the Arabic name of Venice’.]]
[Footnote 512: Ferryman, _Imperial Africa_, London, 1898, p. 354.]
[Footnote 513: _Sahara und Sudan_, ii. 141.]
[Footnote 514: _Fire and Sword in the Sudan_, p. 25.]
[Footnote 515: _Imperial Africa_, p. 355.]
[Footnote 516: Cf. Nachtigal, _Sahara und Sudan_, iii. 51 ff.]
[Footnote 517: _Imperial Africa_, p. 356.]
[Footnote 518: The Hausa word Mallam (or Mallami) is, of course, the Arabic ‘mumalim’ = teacher. It is employed like the Arabic ‘Imam’ (in Moroccan Arabic ‘Faki’) for the ‘scribes’.]
[Footnote 519: Sultan is here used in the broader sense; the rulers of the latest (or Kanem) dynasty in Bornu made use of the official title of Sheikh. Their names in succession are: Mohammed Amin Al-Kanemi, Umar, Abba Bubakr, Abba Ibrahim, Abba Ashimi, Abba Kiari, and Abba Sanda. Their relationships are shown in the following table:
Mohammed Amin Al-Kanemi | | Umar | +-------------------+---+----------------------+ | | | Abba Bubakr Abba Ibrahim Abba Ashimi | +----+--------+ | | Abba Kiari Abba Sanda
‘Abba’ corresponds in this connexion to the Arabic ‘Saïd’. Cf. Nachtigal, _Sahara und Sudan_, i. 582. [Abba is a Bornu title meaning ‘Prince’.]]
[Footnote 520: According to Ferryman, _Imperial Africa_, p. 356, Abba Ashimi was not killed, but after the loss of the battle fled to Zinder. [As a matter of fact he was murdered by his nephew, Abba Kiari.—P. A. B.]]
[Footnote 521: ‘Sanda’ is the Arabic ‘Umar’.]
[Footnote 522: According to my calculation the conquest of Bornu took place in the year 1894.]
[Footnote 523: Cf. Grothe, _Tripoli and the Caravan-trade with the Sudan_, Leipzig, 1898, p. 22.]
[Footnote 524: Ferryman, _Imperial Africa_, p. 356. [A Niger Company mission under McIntosh (‘Sarikin Charlie’) visited Shehu Ashimi in 1890, starting from Yola, but were unable to conclude the commercial arrangements which formed their object.—P. A. B.]]
[Footnote 525: Cf. Nachtigal, _Sahara und Sudan_, i. 732 ff.]
[Footnote 526: Dikoa, which in earlier days was once a place of residence of the Bornu kings, lies in the German sphere of influence. With regard to the favourable situation of the town cf. Barth, _Travels and Discoveries_, iii. 122 ff. German edition. The natives in their superstitious fashion give as a ground for the change of residence that the ghosts of the Sultans murdered there appeared to Rabeh by night in the royal palace at Kukawa. This motive is not new; thus Mohammed Sherif, Sultan of Wadai, removed his residence from Wara to Abesher, because, as popular report had it, ‘bad ghosts had made the old royal town uninhabitable’ (Nachtigal, _Sahara und Sudan_, iii. 77). Of course this is not to be taken seriously. New ruling families are frequently accustomed to select new places of residence in order to wipe out as far as possible remembrances of the old dynasty, just as Kukawa itself was first founded by the Kanem dynasty at the beginning of the nineteenth century (Nachtigal, i. 586).]
[Footnote 527: [Fika?]]
[Footnote 528: Belonging for the greater part to the German sphere of influence.]
[Footnote 529: Hayatu was the son of Saïdu, grandson of Sultan Mohammed Bello, and consequently great-grandson of Othman dan Fodio, the founder of the empire. (Wurno, formerly the residence of the Sultan of Sokoto, is a town a few miles north of Sokoto.)]
[Footnote 530: Cf. Nachtigal, _Sahara und Sudan_, i. 730.]
[Footnote 531: [This is incorrect.—P. A. B.]]
[Footnote 532: Vid. Introduction to this article.]
[Footnote 533: Cf. Nachtigal, _Sahara und Sudan_, ii. 712 ff., iii. 281.]
[Footnote 534: _Idem_, ii. 726.]
[Footnote 535: This spelling is common and refers to the etymology of Bornu = the land of Noah.]
[Footnote 536: Corruption of ‘azuhur’.]
[Footnote 537: Misprint in the original of t for i.]
[Footnote 538: [Fika?]]
[Footnote 539: This letter, written in the Tripolitan dialect, is printed with all its errors. My conception of the meaning is set out in the accompanying translation. [As I know no Arabic, I can only give a translation of the German translation.—P. A. B.]]
[Footnote 540: The sequence is confused here.]
APPENDIX VI
THE BAUCHI ACCOUNT OF SHEHU LAMINO’S KANO CAMPAIGN[541]
Extract from a _History of the Bauchi Emirs_, translated from the manuscript of Mallam Mustapha, tutor and adviser to the sons of Yakubu, first Emir of Bauchi, by A. Holdsworth Groom, Assistant Resident, Central (Bauchi) Province, Northern Nigeria.
After this he (Yakubu) made a war and went to Dass. He remained there five years, and fought with them and conquered half of them. He was fighting with the other half when the news of Kanumbu (Shehu Lamino of Bornu) reached him, and he started and went to Fake. They met Kanumbu, whose horsemen numbered 44,444. He had driven away the village chiefs of Kano, the chiefs of Kano city, and the Emir of Kano, Dabo. All had fled. Yakubu came and found him encamped. When Kanumbu saw him he said: ‘This slave of the Fulani is a liar, what does he think he will take from off me?’ Yakubu said to his mallams: ‘What is your advice? Ye behold the multitude of his horses. Ye behold also the number of my horses, 2,500. What say ye?’ They replied, ‘The king’s word is ours.’ Yakubu said, ‘I know not how to defeat him, neither do I know how he may be killed, but one thing I do know, I know that he has no power to raise the dead, that he has no power, if rain be lacking, to cause it to fall, that he has no power, if the grass does not spring up, to cause it to do so.’ The followers of Yakubu said, ‘As for these things Allah alone is able to do them.’ Yakubu replied, ‘Since ye know this, that no one is able to do anything save Allah, let us take courage and fight with him, for we shall defeat him and kill him, because no one is powerful save Allah.’ Then they joined battle and slaughtered them, and scattered them.[542] Kanumbu fled, leaving behind him his flag, his tents and drums, and went away to Bornu. Yakubu started and went to Sokoto’and brought to the Sarikin Mussulmin, Bello, son of Shefu dan Fodio, Kanumbu’s flag, his tents, and his drums. Bello rejoiced greatly and made a prayer for Ibraihim, son of Yakubu, that Allah would give him the kingdom of his father, that Allah would give the children of Ibraihim the kingdom of Ibraihim;[543] that Allah would establish the seed of Ibraihim in the house of Yakubu. Yakubu returned and came home.
[Footnote 541: Cf. _Documents scientifiques de la Mission Tilho_, vol. ii, p. 363.]
[Footnote 542: The Habe Archers that followed Yakubu, famous for their shooting and their poisoned arrows, are said to have contributed largely to the victory.]
[Footnote 543: The present Emir of Bauchi is the grandson of Ibraihim.]
APPENDIX VII
REBELLION OF ABBA MASTA
Extract from ‘Travels of Haji Mahomet, a Fulani of Kano’, translated from _Hausa Stories and Riddles_, by H. G. Harris, p. 33.[544]
We reached the King of Bornu. There was a civil war going on. One of the Bornu princes was fighting with the King of Bornu, and trying to take the kingdom from him. This prince, whose name was Abba Masta, had 100,000 men and 40,000 horses. The King of Bornu’s name was Shehu Ibrahim, he had 100,000 soldiers and 100,000 slaves called ‘Kachellas’. Abba Masta refused to obey him. The Shehu said: ‘Why do you refuse, you are my younger brother? Is it a question of politics? If you want a title, I will give it you.’ But his courtiers said: ‘No, don’t give it him, consider your own interests. Is Abba Masta your elder brother, will you obey him?’ But the Shehu would not listen to them, he was angry, he rose up, shook out his clothes, went to his house, and beat his drum, proclaiming, ‘He that is my friend, let him follow me’. . . . 40,000 horsemen left the town and the Shehu was preparing to follow them, when his official sister, the Magira, came and caught hold of his gown, saying: ‘Do not go out now, wait a while, let them go. Do you wish to injure your own interests? When they have gone, we will follow on behind.’ So the army went on, and the Shehu stayed two days at home. Then he beat his drum, and said: ‘Let all my friends rally round me’. They assembled, and followed him. He met Abba Masta, and sent four ‘mallams’ with a message to him saying, ‘Let us not quarrel over politics, which are but transitory things, let us not fall out over them.’ Abba Masta replied that he intended to fight, so the ‘mallams’ returned to the Shehu and said: ‘Abba Masta is evilly disposed; he intends fighting.’ The Shehu sent back the ‘mallams’ with another message, saying, ‘Let us not fight, let not Mussulman blood be shed.’ But Abba Masta continued to advance, and was close on their heels. The alarm was given in the Shehu’s camp, and they opened fire. Thereupon, a certain young man came to the Shehu and said: ‘I will kill him.’ The young man took his spear and pierced Abba Masta through the ribs. Abba Masta fell from his horse; he said to his followers, ‘Fly, the battle is lost.’ Thirty thousand of his followers were slain, some fled to Mandara, some were captured and brought to the Shehu, and the rest scattered. People said, ‘Abba Masta has failed to seize the kingdom.’ The Shehu said, ‘Kill the prisoners.’ They were killed. There was a pursuit. The defeated army fled screaming. The Shehu had the victory. He returned home, assembled his people, and said, ‘Give judgement between me and Abba Masta, which of us was in the wrong.’ They said, ‘He was in the wrong. He refused to obey you, you tried to make peace, but he refused. He behaved like a heathen.’ Then the Shehu beat his drum, and ordered Abba Masta’s men to be brought before him. A court of justice was held, and some were killed and some spared, in accordance with the Shehu’s orders. Five thousand were executed, and the people said, ‘They have met with their deserts.’
The following genealogical table explains the relationships of Abba Masta:
Shehu Lamino | +----------------------+-----------------------------+ | | | Shehu Umar Abba Masta Abba Senussi | | | | | | Shehu Ibrahim Abba Bukar Abba Othman (late | Ajia of Karaguaro) | Abba Wada (now Ajia of Karaguaro)
[Footnote 544: Translation published by kind permission of Hermann G. Harris, Esq.]
APPENDIX VIII
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS IN BRITISH BORNU
Thermometrical and barometrical observations have been taken in Bornu for some years past by the Government Medical Officers; at Maiduguri in Southern Bornu from 1905, and at Geidam in Northern Bornu from 1907. The observations in all cases are taken at 9 a.m. in the shade of an open grass-roofed shed, with maximum and minimum thermometers.
_Average monthly temperature, ascertained by taking the monthly averages for the years recorded._
_Month._ _Geidam._ _Maiduguri._
° °
January 70·65 74·28
February 75·6 76·9
March 84·13 84·78
April 89·41 91·77
May 90·58 90·62
June 89·81 86·42
July 84·6 82·31
August 80·29 78·76
September 83·77 81·46
October 84·48 83·51
November 77·66 79·17
December 71·16 73·88
_Average yearly temperature._
_Year._ _Maiduguri._ _Geidam._
° °
1905 80·9 —
1906 82·14 —
1907 82·68 81·01
1908 83·02 81·35
1909 82·83 81·57
1910 78·56 82·23
The record maximum temperature of 120° was obtained at Maiduguri on April 6, 1907; the record minimum temperature of 41° at Maiduguri on March 30, 1910; the record fluctuation of 61° at Maiduguri on March 10, 1910.
The record maximum temperature at Geidam was 119° F. on March 28, 1911, and the record minimum 44° F. on January 8, 1912; the record fluctuation at Geidam was 51° F. on May 1, 1911, and January 24, 1912.
RAINFALL
_Year._ _Rainfall at _Rainfall Maiduguri._ at Geidam._
_Inches._ _Inches._
1905 26·04 —
1906 31·65 20·80
1907 23·63 18·15
1908 23·30 22·39
1909 31·99 21·22
1910 19·53 16·78
1911 30·00 10·46
The record rainfall for 24 hours was 3·87″ at Maiduguri on August 27, 1911.
[I am indebted for these figures to the kindness of Drs. Ellis, McLeay, Moiser, and Cobb of the West African Medical staff.—P. A. B.]
DIRECTION OF PREVAILING WIND
According to the observations taken at Maiduguri, which is just below 12° North latitude, the prevailing winds are as follows:
January, ENE.
February, NE.
March, E.
April, SW.
May, SW.
June, SW.
July, SW.
August, SW.
September, SW.
October, NE.
November, NE.
December, E.
APPENDIX IX
LAKE CHAD AND THE BAHR EL GHAZAL
The French Mission under Captain Tilho devoted a good deal of attention to the problem of the Bahr el Ghazal. Their conclusions are summed up on p. 61, vol. ii of the _Documents scientifiques_: ‘The Bahr el Ghazal, as far as we examined it (i.e. to Fantrassou), is neither an affluent nor an effluent but simply a prolongation of Chad. . . . This conclusion does not solve the problem of the mythical river, which, according to old maps, formerly connected Chad with the Nile.’[545] Twelve varieties of shells are common to Chad and the Nile, and indicate that there must at one time have been a connexion by water between the lake and the river (_Doc. sc._, ii. 170); cf. also note [343] of the present work.
Again, on p. 601 ff., vol. ii: ‘Topography and hypsometry on the one hand, chemistry, geology, and malacology on the other, agree in declaring that Lake Chad is not the remains of an ancient sea, that it is hardly a lake, in spite of its appearance of being an alluvial lake, and that it should be regarded as the expansion of a powerful sheet of fluvial water flowing north-eastwards, rather than a true lake. . . .
It appears legitimate, _a priori_, to suppose that this sheet of fluvial water, after having expanded to form Chad, may continue its course subterraneously, protected by a mantle of sand against the intense evaporation occasioned by the burning sun of the tropics and the parching winds of the desert. Besides, have we not in the Sahara many other examples of water-courses prolonged subterraneously very far from the place where they seem to lose themselves in the sands? . . .
Moreover, if topography and hypsometry can only show us the possibility of the waters of Chad being prolonged subterraneously, chemistry demonstrates the necessity. The amount of chloride in the waters of Chad is in fact so small, that one is bound to admit that there is an outlet somewhere. . . . Chemical analysis has shown that the water of Chad almost everywhere contains less chloride than the drinking water of Copenhagen for example. Consequently, it is absolutely impossible that it can be a self-contained lake. . . .
It is impossible to definitely trace the course of the connecting link between the Chad and the Nile, assuming that it existed, . . . until French Borku and English Darfur are really brought under control.’
[Footnote 545: Cf. the article on the connexion between Lake Chad and the Nile in the _Journal of the Royal Geographical Society_, vol. xxxviii, p. 463. [Commandant Tilho is now in charge of the Mao district to the north of Lake Chad and is making a special study of the problem of the Bahr el Ghazal. Chudeau, _Missions au Sahara_, vol. ii, p. 232, discusses the problem of the Bahr el Ghazal.]]
APPENDIX X
SOME KANURI DERIVATIONS (MOSTLY PROPER NAMES)
About half of these derivations were given me by the late Major A. McClintock, D.S.O., Acting Resident, Bornu, with a request that I would revise them. I have added a few notes in square brackets [ ] and some derivations of other proper names, also in square brackets. Some of the derivations are obviously ‘aetiological’, but others are, I think, correct. Major McClintock heads his collection—‘Lies and Otherwise’.
P. A. B.
[=Afuno= (the Kanuri name for the Hausas). King Iderisa Aloma of Bornu went to war with Kano and found all the people there wearing nothing but arse-cloths (‘funo’). He therefore called them ‘am-funo’ = arse-cloth people. Cf. Benton, _Kanuri Readings_, p. 19. For other derivations vid. Merrick, _Hausa Proverbs_, p. 92.]
[=Allanjurori= = the place of Lowan Allanjuro.]
=Alo.= Mai Iderisa, a Bornu king, was at war in Bagirmi; during a fight he was standing under a tree; up in the tree hidden by the branches was one of the enemy, who threw his knife at the king and wounded him very badly. The Bornu army returned by easy stages with their sick king via Dikoa to the lake now known as Alo. Here the king died from his wounds and was buried. After his death there was much lamentation, until the king’s son said, ‘It is the work of Allah’ [‘Allah kido’ = God did it]. All the people then chanted the word Allah and the lake has since been called Alo.
[Another explanation suggests that the word is derived from the Tubu ‘alo’, meaning a water-melon. When Mai Iderisa died, the melons with which the place was covered burst asunder from grief and formed a lake.]
[=Ardimini.= A town in Margawa District. This word means in the Koiyam language the same as the Kanuri ‘arditsani’ (3rd pers. plur. negative indefinite from ‘ardingin’) = they do not agree. The Koiyams are a pastoral people who do not care to settle down.]
=Argum= = millet. Birds were responsible for carrying this seed and dropping it in Kanem, at Birnin N’gebe, where the Bornu kings lived prior to their coming to Gashergomo. The seed these birds brought was taken to the king, who ordered horsemen to follow their flight and find out where it grew. It was found in the Gongola valley, and they brought some back to the king, who had it prepared and ate it. He then said, ‘Hold this safe and plant it.’
The word ‘argum’ or ‘arkum’ is a corruption of the Kanuri ‘arre ke̥mne’ = come, hold it fast. [‘Arre’ is imperative from ‘iseskin’, and ‘ke̥mne’ or ‘kumne’ is imperative from ‘ke̥mgin’ = I close the fist.]
[=Arriaskuri.= Name of a village opposite the Government station at Maiduguri, said to have been founded by one Arri Yasku-ma, i.e. Arri from Yasku, a town near Lake Alo now abandoned.]
[=Bonigaral.= This was a slave village exempted from tax: its inhabitants could therefore take their ease. ‘Bone’ is 2nd pers. sing. imperative from ‘bongin’ = I lie down; ‘ngaral’ is an emphatic adverbial suffix, cf. Koelle, _Kanuri Grammar_, p. 283.]
[=Bornu.= Or, as the natives write and pronounce it, Barnu. The usual etymology given by the natives is that it is a corruption of the Arabic ‘Bahr Nuh’ = the water of Noah, because the ark was supposed to have rested on the rocks of Hadjer Hamis on the south bank of Chad.[546] Another is that it is derived from Kanuri ‘burum nui’ = the lake is dead, has disappeared, pointing to a shrinkage of Lake Chad; cf. Appendix XIV A.]
[=Borsari= = the place of Kachella Mbursa, grandfather of Kachella Mahmut, ex-Ajia of this district.]
=Bussugua= = the fig-trees [parasitic _ficus_]. There is one in Ngubala rest-camp. [This is where the Major died, June 24, 1912:
Νιγηρία γὰρ οὔποτ’ οὐδέν’ ἄνδῥ ἑκὼν
αἱρεῖ πονηρόν, ἀλλὰ τοὺς χρηστοὺς ἀεί.
P. A. B. and H. B. H.-H. with apologies to Sophocles’ _Philoctetes_, line 436.]
[=Damasak.= Short for ‘mbarena damasak’ = we are tired, worn out. ‘Mbarena’ is 1st pers. plur. present participle of ‘mbareskin’; ‘damasak’ is an intensive adverbial suffix, said to be only used with the verb ‘mbareskin’ and only with the 1st pers. plur. of that verb. The town of Damasak was founded by pilgrims returning from Mecca.]
[=Debira.= For ‘dabbi-ri’ = the place of the long-handled hoe. It is a blacksmith’s village.]
=Dikoa= (vid. =Alo=). When Mai Iderisa was returning to Birnin Gashermo via Dikwa he left some of his people there. The ruling potentate, an ally of Bornu, said, ‘Yes, you can stay here, but I mark a boundary for you.’ He then marked out the site of the present town of Dikwa, which in the Magari [or Mackeri] language means ‘a marked out place, a boundary’. [Another suggested explanation connects it with the Kanuri word ‘digo- wa’ = grandsons.]
=Galadima=, from ‘galti’, meaning to finish his job properly, i.e. if in war a man was told to capture a village and did so properly the verb ‘galti’ applies.
Hence Galadima, the man who does things properly, who can be trusted to carry out affairs.
[For another derivation vid. Benton, _Kanuri Readings_, p. 25.]
[=Gazerregomo= (Kasr Kumo). Vid. note in Appendix III, p. 248.]
[=Geidam.= A certain man came and sat down by the river. People asked him, ‘Why do you sit down here all alone?’ He replied, ‘Ngai-dam namgin,’ literally, ‘thus exactly I am going to sit down.’ ‘Dam’ appears to be a semi-enclitic specific adverb of the kind described by Koelle, _Kanuri Grammar_, p. 283. An American might translate it ‘right here’.]
=Grema.= From Kanuri [root ‘gere’] = to eat. The story is that one of the old kings of Bornu insisted when riding about the country on tasting all wild fruits and everything that could be eaten. He had one ‘boy’, who was particularly good at bringing him these things. This boy died, the king felt his loss, he therefore appointed a man who was to do this work. Hence the name ‘Grema’.
[=Gujiba.= A certain king’s son went and sat down on this site. The king summoned him but he refused to come. The king said, ‘Nguji-ba?’ = has he rebelled?
‘Guji’ or ‘nguji’ is an impersonal verb meaning he rebels, he is obstinate; ‘-ba’ is the interrogative particle.]
[=Gusamalla.= At the time of the capture of Gazerregomo by the Fulani, a ‘mairam’ (princess) came and sat down where Gusamalla now is. Fugitives (‘nguzama’ from ‘nguzaniskin’) joined her and formed a town. The ‘-la’ is for the postpositive ‘-lan’, which is here to be translated as a genitive, cf. Koelle, _Kanuri Grammar_, p. 300. The name therefore means ‘(the town) of the fugitives’.]
=Hausa=, from the Hausa word ‘haushi’: change the _h_ to _f_ you get ‘fushi’, which means to be angry; vid. Robinson’s _Dictionary_, p. 88, ‘He feels angry’ = ‘yana yin haushi’.
The story is that on the first invasion of this country by the Hausas they met with opposition they did not expect, and were naturally angry about it. They said, ‘These people (original inhabitants) make me angry’ = ‘Ba-Fushi’. _F_ comes roughly off the tongue, _H_ is the accepted difference. ‘Haushi,’ between the _f_ and the _u_ a vowel must come or no black man could say the word.
I now say further that the much disputed derivation of this word Hausa is now solved for any one who knows anything about the matter. [!]
[The Major was always very hot on this being the correct derivation. For other explanations of Hausa vid. Merrick, _Hausa Proverbs_, pp. 91-3, and Robinson’s _Hausa Dictionary_, second edition, p. 88 a, and Tremearne, _Niger and West Sudan_, pp. 51-64.]
[=Kaba.= A Marghi town, said to have been founded by a brother of the Marghi king, Mai Ibrahim, who broke away from him and founded a town of his own. ‘Ka-ba’ = no stick, i.e. without proper authority.]
=Kachella=, from Katsaga = a spear [and ‘-la’ or ‘-lan’ = on. ‘Kachella’ is a military title, they are those who sleep on their spears.]
=Kagaburi=, the name of the country between Mobber and Geidam, i.e. between Dutchi and Geidam. ‘The country of the fools’. ‘Kagabu’ in Kanuri meaning a fool.
[=Kaiuri=, the place of the ‘Kayo’ (Hausa, ‘tumfafia’ = _Asclepias gigantea_).]
[=Kanembu=, the people of Kanem, ‘-bu’ being the plural form of the adjective in Kanuri; cf. Koelle, _Kanuri Grammar_, p. 34.[547]]
[=Kano.= The Sau who marked out Kano said to the people, ‘Is it enough for you?’ They said, ‘Yes.’ ‘Well then,’ said he, ‘pass along (“Konogo”) and enter in.’ Cf. Benton, _Kanuri Readings_, p. 26.]
=Kanuri=, made from the old Sau, now Beri-Beri [Kanuri] words, ‘Kam’ = a man, ‘nur’ = light-coloured, ‘-ri’ = place of or possession of. This was the name given by the Saus to the first arrivals from the North, meaning literally, ‘the light-coloured men.’ These men, the first Mohammedans in Bornu, were called Beri-Beri owing to their long sojourn in Berber before crossing the desert to the fertile Chad and its neighbouring rivers. The language of these people was the language of Berber and Arabia. On obtaining possession and settling down to Islamize the country, they adopted the language of the Saus, the now more or less Kanuri language.
[Another derivation connects Kanuri with Kanem, the country via which the Kanuri entered Bornu. Neither derivation explains why a tribal name has the place termination ‘-ri’ in it. I do not know what authority the Major had for saying that ‘-ri’[547] could imply ‘possession of’.[547]]
[=Karaguaro.= This district is ‘bush’. ‘Karaga’ = bush, ‘Karaga-wa’ = belonging to bush, ‘Karaga-wa-ro’ = to the bush (place).]
=Karda=, people living in small hamlets outside proper Kanuri villages, so called from the Kanuri word ‘Karta’ [‘Karngin’] = to separate. They were originally goat and sheep-herds, and therefore of necessity lived in the ‘bush’.
=Konduga.= There is close to Konduga a village named Salalari. In this village lived a hunter and his son. The son, knowing that the marsh close to our present Konduga was a good place for game, told his father that he wanted to go and live there and hunt. At this the father was angry and told the boy, ‘If you do, you don’t come back.’ That is the meaning of the name. ‘Kondi’ or ‘Qwondi’ in Kanuri meaning ‘to sit apart’ or ‘sit down by yourself or on your own’.
[Konduga or Kondega is short for ‘ke̥la-ne̥m kong dega’, literally, ‘by yourself abide.’ ‘Kong’ is an emphatic suffix or specific adverb; cf. Koelle, _Kanuri Grammar_, p. 283; ‘dega’ is imperative from ‘degaskin’ = to enter in, to abide.]
[=Kwalme Shuwas.= Vid. Appendix XIV.]
[=Lagarete.= Lagari are a Koiyam tribe, ‘-te’ is the demonstrative pronoun used as a definite article; vid. Koelle, _Kanuri Grammar_, p. 185.]
[=Luskuri.= ‘Lasku’ or ‘lusku’ means in Kanuri the hole made by a ‘bush- cat’ or fox; ‘-ri’ = the place of.]
=Magumeri.= ‘Magume’ is the old tribal Kanuri mark, that is, the two long marks down the arm and leg supposed to be made by a sword; two is for princes, &c., three marks any Kanuri. ‘-ri’ = place of. Therefore, Magumeri means the place of the Kanuri princes or chiefs—or a properly bred old stock Kanuri.
[Magumi is the name of one of the chief Kanuri clans.]
=Maiduguri.= ‘Mai’ = a king, ‘dugu’ a corruption of ‘dugo’, which means ‘presently’. Maidugu means the son of a [‘maina’] prince or the grandson of a king (really ‘presently a king’). ‘-ri’ = the place of. Hence Maiduguri means ‘the dwelling place of a king’s grandson’.
[Cf. ‘madugu’ in Hausa = headman of a caravan. The place is frequently misspelt Maidugari, because people think it has something to do with the Hausa word ‘gari’ = a town.]
=Maifoni.= ‘Mai’ = a king, ‘foni’ [or ‘funi’] = a turban. A slave of a Bornu king introduced this place to his master’s notice on account of its running water and pleasant site. The king rewarded the slave by giving him a turban, which is a sign of office; hence the name.
[There is an ancient connexion between Maifoni and the kings of Marghi. According to one account the Marghi town of Kaba (_q.v._) was originally also called Maifoni, a corruption of Mafundi, which means ‘a tall, stout man, a man in his prime’, because it was founded by a powerful man, who broke away from the authority of the Marghi king, Mai Ibrahim. A later Marghi king, Mai Jalo, complained to Shehu Lamino, that in paying his annual visit of homage to Kukawa, he found the journey a fatiguing one, as it was all ‘bush’ between Kaba and the centre of Uje. Lamino therefore gave him permission to select a site as a ‘rest-camp’, and he chose Maifoni (now Maiduguri station) as his half-way house. The following is a list of the Marghi kings of Maifoni.
_Connexion between Maifoni and Marghi._
The founder of Maifoni was a man called Mele Gumsumi, and his title was Kaloma. He left Birni and sat down at Kasachiya (near Kaba) to farm. He was succeeded by Kaloma Umar Kumaisimi, he by Mai Isa Mairemmi. Mai Isa reigned for forty years.
He was succeeded by Mai Momodu Mairemmi.
„ „ Mai Duguribe Gumsumi (he belonged to the ruling family of Birni).
„ „ Zuri Gumsumi.
„ „ Mai Nassar.
„ „ Mele Nassarmi.
„ „ Usuman Kumaisimi.
„ „ Usuman Gumtimi (he went and made war with the Sau town of Almis).
„ „ Mai Mele Hawami.
„ „ Mai Momodu Panami.
„ „ Mai Jalo Bawomi.
„ „ Mai Tahir.
„ „ Mai Jalo Aisami.
„ „ Mai Momodu Maungusuma.
„ „ Mai Dalla.
„ „ Mai Momodu Kowas.
„ „ Mai Mallam Gorumba.
„ „ Mai Zogoma.
„ „ Mai Mele Balumi.
„ „ Mai Sunoma.
„ „ Mai Momodu Kabumi (son of Sunoma).
„ „ Mai Budum.
„ „ Mai Ibram (contemporary of Shehu Lamino).
„ „ Mai Jalo.
„ „ Mai Momodu Gajimi.
„ „ Mai Arri.
„ „ Mai Mele.
„ „ Mai Momodu Biyemi.
„ „ Mai Dogum.
„ „ Mai Yagudima.
„ „ Mai Mele.
„ „ Mai Arri (now Lowan of Kaba in West Marghi, Kaba and Maifoni having been separated under the British administration).]
[=Margawa=, the ‘marga’ trees. The pounded wood of this tree is boiled and used to sweeten certain native dishes.]
[=Marte=, said to be a Sau word meaning a blanket or thick cloth.]
=Masagua= or =Masakwa=, the dry-season corn. The first of this grain was found in elephants’ droppings. The King of Kasa (now in German territory) was the first man who noticed this grain in elephant- droppings. He picked it out and planted it. When he watered it, it grew freely and was the beginning of the seed afterwards sown widely in waterlogged ground, and bearing a grain similar to guinea-corn. The idea is that the elephant ate guinea-corn at some distant place and brought it as described to Chad shore. ‘Musu’ in Kanuri is anything rotten [from ‘me̥se̥ngin’]. ‘Musukwa’ = something that comes from a rotten thing.
[=Masu.= A certain man came and sat down here and said, ‘If they want me, let them seek me’ (‘matsa’, 3rd pers. plural, 2nd indefinite, from ‘mangin’).]
=Mbarma= or =Mbaruma=, the man in a village who collects from the villagers any money due by them. ‘Mbaro’ meaning in Kanuri ‘to pay rent, to pay on behalf of ——’.
[‘Barungin’ = to redeem from slavery, to pay ‘pansa’, so ‘mbaru-ma’ is the man who is responsible for some one else. ‘Mbarma’ is a small village or hamlet headman, as opposed to ‘bullama’ or ‘be̥la-ma’, headman of a large village.]
[=Mongonu.= The King of Bornu, at that time settled at Kabela, sent his brother to sit down on this site. When the people saw that the country was fertile, they said, ‘Mai (shiga) ngurno gono’ = the king has shown him kindness. This became corrupted into Mongonu or Maungono.]
[=Ngomati.= Nguma is the name of a Kanuri tribe, ‘-ti’ is the demonstrative pronoun used as a definite article; vid. Koelle, _Kanuri Grammar_, p. 185.]
=Ngunse= [Nganzei], which in Kanuri means ‘to milk’. This used to be a rich district and a source of wealth to the fiefholders, who made the most of it and milked it of its wealth.
[‘Ngangin’ = to milk; ‘nganzei’, 3rd pers. plural, 1st indefinite or perfect. The district is very rich in cattle.]
[=Nguru.= Some hunters killed an hippopotamus (‘ngurutu’) and made bracelets out of the skin. Such bracelets are called ‘nguru’.]
=Shetima=, from the word ‘sheida’ = a witness. ‘Shetima’ means ‘the tried man, the proved man’.
=Shuwa.= The word ‘ashe’ in Kanembu and Kanuri means ‘the strong-headed man, wilful or disobedient man’ [‘ashi’ = obstinacy], ‘-wa’ = the people of. Hence the word ‘ashiwa’, now ‘Shuwa’.
They are originally supposed to have been so perverse that they would not follow the Prophet, thence they became a wandering tribe. [Cf. p. 328.]
[=Uje=, said to be a corruption of the Shuwa-Arabic word ‘waje̥hu’ = a face. Koelle, in the _Polyglotta Africana_, gives the form ‘wush’ = face, in the Arabic dialect of Beran. The district known as Uje occupies a central position in Bornu, and was therefore called the ‘face’ of the country.]
[=Yajua.= A Fulani ‘ardo’ called Yaji settled at this spot. The Kanuri, therefore, called it ‘be̥la Yaji-wa’ = Yaji’s town, ‘-wa’ being the adjectival termination.]
=Yarima=, from ‘ya’ = mother, ‘yari’ = the mother’s place, ‘yarima’ = he who is in the mother’s house. Hence in a king’s family the son who takes charge of the mother’s compound is called the Yarima. This title seems to go from father to son, not through sons of the ruling house. Thus now in Bornu, Yarima Kassim [ex-Ajia of Mufio] has the appointment, Bukar Yarimami [now Ajia of Gusamalla-Ngunse] refusing it on his father’s death; both these men are descendants of old Bornu ‘Yarimas’.
[=Yedseram=, or =Yadseram.= The river forming the Anglo-German boundary. A small girl called Yachua was bathing in it and was drowned. The people said, ‘Komadugu Yachua tshetshina’ = the river has killed Yachua, so the river was named ‘Yachua tshetshina-ram’ = the river which killed Yachua (‘-ram’ is an adjectival suffix); this became corrupted into Yadseram. Another suggested derivation connects it with the village of Yadza near Issege.]
[Footnote 546: Said to mean in Arabic, ‘the rock without a rival, the solitary rock.’ There is a photo in Macleod, _Chiefs and Cities_, p. 206. _Doc. sc. de la Mission Tilho_, vol. ii, p. 355, quoting Nachtigal, speaks of a rock known as Hadjer Teous on the left bank of Chad, and a rock of this name is shown in Nachtigal’s map (reproduced on p. 14, vol. i of Tilho) on the south of Chad. Possibly Hadjer Hamis is sometimes called Hadjer Teous, but according to my information Hadjer Teous means ‘the he-goat rock’, and is situated north of Chad between Kanem and Wara. I am inclined to think, however, that they are the same. In the first edition of Denham there is a plate facing p. 261 of ‘Hager Teous called by the Natives the Foot Stool of Noah’. It is not shown on the map, but from the letterpress must have been on the south or south-east of the Lake; cf. also Chevalier, _Mission Chari-Lac Tchad_, p. 410, and p. 45 of the present work.]
[Footnote 547: Cf. Appendix XIV A, p. 335.]
APPENDIX XI
FESTIVALS IN BORNU
---------------+---------------+---------------+---------------------- _Date._ | _Kanuri Name._| _Arabic Name._| _Notes._ ---------------+---------------+---------------+---------------------- 10th Moharrem | Ngumori Tsuro-| Ashura |Day of creation of | mbulo-be | |Adam and Eve, and of | | |the first fall of | | |rain. Every one in | | |Bornu kills a fowl. | | |‘The feast of the | | |belly-filling.’ In | | |Kanuri ‘tsuro’ = | | |belly, and | | |‘yimbuluskin’ = I | | |fill. The day is | | |sacred to Shiah | | |Moslems as the | | |anniversary of the | | |death of the martyr | | |Hussein. According to | | |Michell, _An Egyptian | | |Calendar_, p. 74, a | | |particular dish called | | |‘ashura’ is made on | | |this day.[548] | | | Last Wednesday|Moddua Laraban-| Arbaa Mayidur |Said to be the day of in Safar | ganí-be | |the last bath of the | | |prophet. He died | | |fourteen days after | | |it. On this day prayer | | |is offered for | | |averting trouble | | |during the year. | | | | | |The Kanuri name means | | |literally ‘The telling | | |of beads of Wednesday- | | |not’, i.e. no more | | |Wednesdays, the last | | |Wednesday of the | | |month. | | | 12th Rabi-el- | Ngumori Lebbi | Mulid en-Nebi |Birthday of Mohamet. owwal | Lowal-be | |This is the chief | | |festival in Bornu. | | | 15th Shaaban |Ngumori Nussufu| Leylet en-Nusf|On this night Allah | Shaaban-be | min Shaaban |registers the good and | | (called in |evil deeds of mankind. | | India ‘Shab i |The Kanuri name means | | Barat’) |literally ‘the | | |festival of half | | |Shaaban’, i.e. the | | |Mid-Shaaban festival. | | | 1st Showwal | Ngumori Asham-| Id el-Fitr, |First day after the | be | Turkish |Ramadan fast. This is | | ‘Ramazan |the chief festival | | Bairam’ |among the Hausas. In | | |Kanuri ‘asham’ = fast. | | | 10th Zu’l |Ngumori Laya-be| Id el-Kebir, |Ram festival. Heggeh | |Turkish ‘Kurban|Commemorates Abraham’s | | Bairam’ |attempted sacrifice of | | |Ishmael (not of Isaac | | |as according to the | | |Old Testament). ---------------+---------------+---------------+----------------------
[Footnote 548: It consists of wheat boiled and sweetened with dates, nuts, and other dried fruits. Presents of this dish, sometimes with small gold coins sprinkled upon it, are sent to friends and relatives from the harems of the wealthy. The common name for it is ‘hobub’. This dish, or one similar to it, was prepared at the Persian New Year. It probably celebrated the coming in of the harvest. All the old fruits, &c., that had been kept during the winter were made use of for the dish, and the season of fresh fruits was thus inaugurated.]
APPENDIX XII
THE CALENDAR
The names of the Arabic months, as given in Michell’s _An Egyptian Calendar_, and as transliterated from Kanuri mallams, differ somewhat.
_Michell._ _Kanuri._
1. Moharrem. Muharam.
2. Safar. Shafur.
3. Rabia el-owwal. Rabi-il-lawal.
4. Rabia et-tani. Rabi-il-lahir or Rabi-it-tsani.
5. Gumad el-owwal. Jimad-al-lawal.
6. Gumad et-tani. Jimad-al-lahir or Jimad-at-tsani.
7. Regeb. Rajab.
8. Shaaban. Shaaban.
9. Ramadan. Ramadan.
10. Showwal. Shawal.
11. Zu’l-kaadeh. Zulgada.
12. Zu’l-heggeh. Zulhaji.
With regard to the year, the Liman says that A.D. 1912 is A.H. 1329 with a few days of 1330. Other mallams say that it is A.H. 1330 with a few days of 1331, and this reckoning agrees with Michell and with the _Sudan Almanac_ published by the Egyptian Government. This discrepancy is explained by the following extract from Major Burdon’s notes on Sokoto in _Historical Notes on Certain Emirates and Tribes_, p. 61:
‘An extraordinary point in the reckoning of these Nigerian Mohammedans is that, while right in the day of the week, they are almost invariably wrong by a year and a day in the remaining part of any date. . . . The explanation given is that neither the year nor the day is counted until each is completed. It is a perfectly intelligible system, but the logical sequence to it would appear to be its application also to the days of the week.’
The names of the English months are transliterated as follows:
Yunair.
Fabrair.
Maris.
Ibril.
Mayu.
Yunihi.
Yulihi.
Awgustus.
Sabtumbir.
Aktumbir.
Nufambir.
Duyusambir.
To convert approximately a date of the Hejira to that of the Christian era, add to the former 622 and subtract from the sum three years for every century of the Mohammedan date; e.g. to convert A.H. 1318 to A.D., 1318 + 622 = 1940: − (13 × 3) = 1901 (and part of 1900). And inversely, A.D. 1900 = 1900 − 622 = 1278: + 39 = 1317 A.H. (and part of 1318).
MEANING OF THE NAMES OF THE ARABIC MONTHS (from Michell).
1. _Moharrem_ = the Forbidden, called Moharrem el-haram (the sacred). One of the four months of truce, in which all acts of hostility were strictly forbidden among the Arab tribes. It is considered unlucky to make a marriage contract in Moharrem.
In Bornu ‘Moharrem’ villages were those which were forbidden to be taxed, i.e. excused from the general tax. They were squeezed by a Court favourite instead.
2. _Safar_, derivation, according to Fresnel quoted by Lane, from _Sifar_ = empty, either because their granaries being empty, the Arabs used to travel to procure grain; or because they went on predatory expeditions, leaving their homes empty; or because they left Mecca empty. The fairs in Yemen used to be called Safarieh (vid. Masudi and Lane’s _Arabic Dictionary_). This month is called Safar el-Muzaffer (the auspicious); and also sometimes Nezlet el-Hagg (the descent or alighting of the pilgrims), because the Mecca pilgrims begin to return to Egypt towards the end of Safar.
(Mallam Zakaria of Maiduguri derives it from an Arabic word ‘safar’, I travel, because it is the travelling month; cf. Swahili ‘safari’ = a hunting expedition?)
3. _Rabia el-owwal_ = the first Rabia. ‘Rabi’ expresses verdure and spring rains.
4. _Rabia et-tani_ or _el-akher_ = the second or last Rabia.
5. _Gumad el-owwal_ = the first Gumad. Generally derived from ‘Gamada’, dryness or hardness, as applied to the earth after the cessation of the rains of the preceding spring months (cf. Kanuri ‘ngamdu’ = dry, lean).
6. _Gumad et-tani_ or _el-akher_ = the second or last Gumad.
7. _Regeb_, one of the four months of truce. The Prophet commended prayer and fasting in this month.
8. _Shaaban_, probably so called because the Arabs were wont, after the peace of Rejeb, to separate (‘Shaab’) on marauding expeditions, and also to seek water, this month originally falling in the great heat of June and July (vid. Lane’s _Dictionary_).
9. _Ramadan_ = intense heat. The fasting month. The eve of Ramadan is called ‘Leylet er-Ruyeh’, the night of observation, because men are appointed to watch for the new moon, and then give evidence at the Court of the Kadi.
10. _Showwal_, so called, not as Lane tells us (_Arab. Dict._), because it is the breeding season of camels (from ‘showwal’, to raise the tail), but the season when the she-camels, being seven or eight months gone with young, raise their tails (camels generally couple in the winter). Or, possibly, the word refers to a deficiency of the camel’s milk in the season of great heat.
11. _Zu’l-kaadeh_ = the possessor or holder of truce or abstention. One of the four months of truce. Lane explains it as the month in which the Arabs broke in their young camels (‘el-kaadat’) for riding.
12. _Zu’l-heggeh._ The month of pilgrimage. One of the four months of truce.
APPENDIX XIII
LIST OF BORNU TRIBES
(1) Babur, (2) Bedde, (3) Burra, (4) Chibuk, practically Marghi, (5) Fika, including Bolawa (M.) and Gamawa (P.), (6) Filani, (7) Gamergu (P.), (8) Kanembu, (9) Kanuri, (10) Kerikeri, (11) Kwoyam, (12) Manga, (13) Marghi, (14) Mobber, (15) Ngizim, (16) Ngussur, semi-pagan (Gujba), (17) Shuwa, (18) Tera, (19) Kanawa, spread over all three divisions (practically none—but Filani), (20) Shira, sub. to Fika (semi-pagan).
Clans or tribes comprised in Kanuri: Kanembu, Mobber, Manga, Koyam, Karda, Kagama, Ngussur, Magumi (the original Kanuri), and several minor clans, the Lere, &c.
Filani clans: Kitije (P.), Jafun (Kanawa?). Abore: Sankara, Girije, Daiyi, Daneji, Warumonde, Bikerke, Bagaji, Mamaji, Bijingel, Uda.
In Tera: Hinna, Maga, some Tangali, and Nimaltu (south of Wuyo and Bima).
APPENDIX XIV
ETHNOLOGICAL NOTES ON BORNU PROPER
There are eight chief races in Bornu Proper:
(_a_) Kanuri, (_b_) Kanembu, (_c_) Shuwa, (_d_) Fulani, (_e_) Koyam, (_f_) Manga, (_g_) Gamerghu, (_h_) Mobber.
(_a_) The Kanuri or Beriberi are supposed to be a mixed race of Arab tribes and Hamitic Kanembu and Tubu, which, gradually losing more and more the physical and mental peculiarities of the dwellers in the desert, became merged in the negro population of the conquered country, the half-mythical ‘So’, a giant race, whose descendants are supposed to be represented at the present day by the Beddes, Buddumas, Kotokos, &c. One of the chief Kanuri clans is the Magumi, to whom belongs Maina Gumsumi, now Ajia of Kaiuri district, the representative of the old ‘Mais’ of Bornu.
(_b_) The Kanembu, i.e. the inhabitants of Kanem, are an Hamitic race, whose relationship to the Kanuri may be roughly described as similar to that between the Lowland Scots and the English. Their chief clans are the Sugurti and the Kubri (the Shehu’s clan).
(_c_) According to Schultze, quoting Barth, ii. 355, the Shuwa Arabs immigrated into Bornu at various times, firstly, with the conquerors of the country from the north, and secondly, at a much later epoch, about 300 years ago, from Nubia or Kordofan.[549] They are broken up into a great number of tribes, of which the Beni Hassan has remained the purest, but they have lost many of the bodily and mental peculiarities of the Semitic race, doubtless as a result of their long wanderings, and also of the intermixture which has taken place with other peoples. Their language, however, they have retained in wonderful purity.
There is a vocabulary of Shuwa Arabic in Koelle’s _Polyglotta Africana_, and some notes on the language appeared in Decorse and Demombyne’s _Rabah et les Arabes du Chari_. A book on Arabic spoken in Wadai and to the east of Chad by H. Carbou has recently been published, vid. List of Authorities.
From the best information available in British Bornu the Shuwas may be divided into two classes, (A) those who entered Bornu before Lamino’s time, (B) those who entered with or shortly after Lamino.
To (A) belong (1) the Joama, originally settled north of Mongonu, but migrated to Karaguaro and Magumeri after the Fulani invasion; (2) the Maiyin or Meyin, originally settled at Marguba; (3) the Saraje, originally settled in Uje district. All these three tribes entered Bornu about 300 years ago, ten or twenty years before Birni Gazerregomo was built. They came from Darfur. There were no Shuwas in Bornu prior to this. This statement differs slightly from Schultze. None of these tribes are now numerically important.
To (B) belong (1) the large and wealthy tribe of the Kwalme Shuwas, (2) the Kurata, (3) the Beni Hassan, mostly in Mandara and Musgu, of very pure descent.
The Kwalme are divided into many clans, of which the following may be enumerated:[550]
(1) Wulad Sarar.
(2) Wulad Salim.
(3) Wulad Himet.
(4) Wulad Kanem.
(5) Beni Badder.
(6) Dagana.
(7) Beni Muharab.
(8) Asali (to whom belonged Lowan Adam, murdered in 1906).
(9) Salamat (murderers of Lowan Adam).
(10) Wulad Amir.
(11) Beni Wail.
(12) Ajeni.
(13) Wulad Hodir.
(14) Wulad Abu Isa.
N.B.—‘Wulad’ in Shuwa means sons, ‘beni’, daughters. The derivation of ‘Kwalme’ is variously given, but its real origin is probably unknown. Some connect it with ‘kworram’ = amber (Kanuri) and ‘mi’ = son of, from the fondness of the Shuwa women for amber ornaments. Others derive it from a Shuwa word ‘galib’ = it is too difficult, they are too difficult for me (Kanuri ‘tegeri’, Hausa ‘gargare’); ‘galib’ became corrupted into ‘galim’, and by transposition to ‘galmi’. This term is said to have been applied to the Shuwas on account of their obstinate character by the Arabic-speaking peoples east of Chad. Some support is lent to this derivation by that given for the word ‘Shuwa’. The word ‘ashe’ in Kanembu and Kanuri means ‘the strong-headed man, wilful or disobedient man’ [‘ashi’ = obstinacy, ‘-wa’ = the people of]. Hence the word ‘Ashiwa’ now ‘Shuwa’. They are originally supposed to have been so perverse that they would not follow the Prophet, thence they became a wandering tribe [cf. p. 318].
(_d_) The Fulani or Fellata of Bornu belong chiefly to three clans, the Abore Fellata (Hausa, ‘Borroro’), the Mare Fellata (the term ‘Mare’ is said to be a Fulani word for a tree resembling the ‘dorowa’ or locust- tree, whose pods are used in making the floors of native huts), and the Kitiji Fulani (only found in Gujba and among the pagan Babur and Burra tribes; they are themselves pagan). The origin of the Fulani has been, and still is, hotly disputed.[551] They have not coalesced to any extent with the bulk of the Bornu population and remain aliens and, to a certain extent, pariahs. The Kanuri have many proverbs and sayings embodying their contempt of them as ‘bushmen’.
(_e_)[552] The Koyams seem to have had the same origin as the Tubba or Sef dynasty of Bornu. They are said to have reached Kanem from Yemen, travelling slowly and living on the alms offered them as wandering students. With the consent of Mai Arri ben Haj Umar (1645-84), Sheikh Abdullahi and thirty-nine companions established themselves at Belbelec, sometimes called ‘the town of the Kullumfardos’, where they founded a mosque and a school. The origin of the term ‘Kullumfardo’ is said to be as follows. When Abdullahi and his companions, all Koyams but not of the same family, presented themselves to Mai Arri, the latter asked them who they were. They replied, ‘Koyam’, adding ‘Kullum fardun’, Arabic words meaning ‘all, separately’, wishing to explain that they were all of the Koyam tribe, but of different families. At the present day it is only the descendants of Sheikh Abdullahi, their first ‘Mokaddem’ or religious chief, that call themselves ‘Kullumfardo’; the descendants of the thirty-nine others are called Koyams. Sheikh Abdullahi was succeeded by his son, Sheikh Umar. Owing to Tuareg raids and to famine Belbelec was abandoned and the Koyams scattered. Some went south and, abandoning their rôle of students, became herdsmen and acquired wealth. They took the name of Kel Etti, a term whose meaning and origin are unknown, and became subdivided into seven fractions, each with its chief.
A small number of disciples followed Sheikh Umar to Nupe, where he remained some time, but he afterwards returned to Bornu and re- established himself at Gaskeru, situated, like Belbelec, north of the River Yo.
Umar was succeeded by his brother, Mustapha, who was the first to join political functions to the religious ones, to which his family had hitherto confined themselves. He appointed his nephew, Mahmut, as chief of the warriors and said to him: ‘You shall be the Sheikh’s auxiliary or lieutenant’ (El Auan, Lowan). Lowan was thus originally a military title, and later became applied to the head of a district or a town.
At the end of the eighteenth century Gaskeru was destroyed by the Tuaregs and the Koyam ‘Mokaddem’ established himself at the pool called Sandaram, inside the walls of the Bornu capital of Gazerregomo (Kasr Kumo).
When the Fulani captured Gazerregomo the Koyam ‘Mokaddem’ followed the varying fortunes of the exiled king. When Shehu Lamino became head of the state, the Koyams applied to him to be dispensed from payment of tax as they had always been hitherto. Lamino, who had studied among the Koyams in his youth, consented and established the Koyam ‘Mokaddem’ at Zigaba on the north bank of the Yo.
In the last year of Lamino’s reign, however, a great famine occurred and the Koyams again dispersed. The incursions of Rabeh scattered them still further, and the present representatives of the Koyam ‘mokaddems’ now live at the village of Kullumfardo in Munio.
The Koyams in British Bornu are semi-nomadic cattle-owning people living chiefly in the districts of Bussugua, Ngunse, and Gusumalla.
(_f_)[553] The Mangas are mostly bilingual, speaking both their own dialect (said to be related to Bedde) and Kanuri. M. Landeroin inclines to the opinion that they are an indigenous tribe conquered by the Kanuri. Manga is said not to be their original tribal name, but to have been given them by the Kanuri.
It is said to be a corruption of ‘Madinga’ which signifies according to some ‘gens difficiles’, according to others ‘the cunning people’.
The Mangas inhabit the country both north and south of the River Yo.
(_g_) The Gamerghu are a branch of the Masa family, but are now almost extinct. Their villages are scattered along the course of the River Yedseram. Their chief industry is horse and cattle stealing. Barth gives a detailed study of Masa in his _Central African Vocabularies_, and there is a vocabulary of the Gamerghu dialect, collected by Barth, in _Notes on Some Languages, &c._ (Benton). They are semi-pagan.
(_h_)[554] The Mobbers, like all the other tribes, assert that they originated from Yemen. Serfs of the Magumis, who were themselves the subjects of the Tubbas or Sef dynasty, they were installed by the latter along the course of the River Yo, from which they never strayed far, as they had no knowledge of well-digging.
Their chief towns at the present day are Bosso, on the northern bank of the Yo where it debouches into Chad, and Yo on the opposite south bank. Nachtigal says of the Mobbers: ‘This tribe is according to some a remnant of the Beddes, according to others a mixed race of Kanembus and Beddes or of Sos and Kanembus.’ Like the Mangas, they are bilingual, speaking their own dialect as well as Kanuri.
Little reliable information is yet available regarding the pagan and semi-pagan tribes in the British Province of Bornu. A certain amount about the Bolewa of Fika, including a short sketch of the language, is printed in Benton, _Notes on Some Languages of the Western Sudan_.[555] There is a short account of the Beddes in Koelle, _African Native Literature in Kanuri_, p. 210, and a vocabulary in Koelle, _Polyglotta Africana_. Overweg visited Babur in 1852, cf. Benton, _Notes on Some Languages_, p. 222; for Barth’s notes and vocabulary of Marghi cf. _idem_, pp. 78, 134, and 144. For list of Marghi kings cf. Appendix X under Maifoni. There is a vocabulary of Kerrikerri in Koelle, _Polyglotta Africana_.
[Footnote 549: Cf. Appendix XIV A.]
[Footnote 550: Cf. Appendix XIV A, p. 334.]
[Footnote 551: The latest account of the Fulani is contained in Mr. H. R. Palmer’s articles now in course of publication in the _African Mail_. The first article appeared in the issue of December 29, 1911. Cf. also ‘Notes on the Origin of the Filani’, by Capt. A. J. N. Tremearne, in the _Journal of the Royal Society of Arts_ for June 17, 1910. Cf. also article by T. von Stephani in _Der Islam_, iii, 1912, 352-7.]
[Footnote 552: Account mostly taken from _Documents scientifiques de la Mission Tilho_, ii. 396 ff.]
[Footnote 553: Account mostly taken from _Documents scientifiques de la Mission Tilho_, ii. 421.]
[Footnote 554: Account mostly taken from _Documents scientifiques de la Mission Tilho_, ii. 391.]
[Footnote 555: In addition to authorities there quoted, there are also articles by the late Major George Merrick in the _Journal of the African Society_ for July 1905 and October 1905. I was not hitherto aware of these.]
APPENDIX XIV A
DERIVATION OF SHUWA AND KANURI
ACCORDING TO M. CARBOU
Some writers, especially d’Escayrac de Lauture and Vivien de Saint- Martin, assumed that the Shuwas were descended from the Koreishites, pagan Arabs driven from Arabia by Mahomet. M. René Basset, however, declares that the Koreishites were not driven out but became converted, and pertinently asks, if they were driven out as pagans, at what period were they converted? There is no record or tradition of the Shuwa Arabs ever having been anything but Mussulmans. Cf. Carbou, _La Région du Tchad et du Ouadaï_, vol. ii, p. 11.
M. René Basset and MM. Hartmann and Becker incline to derive ‘Shuwa’ from the Arab word _shaua_ = sheep, and to make it signify nomad shepherds as opposed to a sedentary people. Vid. Carbou, _La Région du Tchad et du Ouadaï_ vol. ii, p. 20.
‘The Arabs of Bornu and of the “Territoire Militaire du Tchad” belong to the religious order of the Tojani. This brotherhood, which preaches toleration, is the one which counts most adherents throughout this region: the Senussi are not found, except in Wadai and the northern countries (Borku, &c.). A very simple way of recognizing the Senussi is that they pray with the arms crossed, instead of keeping them parallel with the body, as all the other Maliki sects do.’ Carbou, _La Région du Tchad et du Ouadaï_, vol. ii, p. 18. Cf. note [458] of the present work.
H. Carbou, vol. ii, p. 36 ff., enumerates the tribes of the Kwalme Shuwas as follows (cf. p. 328 _supra_):
(1) Oulad Mehareb [my No. 7].
(2) Oulad Serrar [my No. 1].
(3) Oulad Salem, Oulad ’Amer [my Nos. 2 and 10].
(4) Assalé [my No. 8]. They are the descendants of Ali el Esselé (Ali the Bald).
(5) Dagana [my No. 6], said to be descended from Othman Abou Diguen (i.e. the long-bearded). They are mentioned both by Nachtigal and Matteucci.
(6) Oulad el ’Aouan [not mentioned in my list, but apparently a subdivision of the Dagana].
(7) Oulad Mansour [not in my list].
(8) Oulad Amiré, Oulad Ghanem, El Haouarti, Oulad Saïl, Oulad Mehoï [not in my list].
(9) Beni Ouaïl [my No. 11].
(10) Oulad Abou Issé [my No. 14].
(11) Oulad abou Ghader [not in my list].
Carbou classifies the Wulad Himet [my No. 3], Salamat [No. 9], Badder [No. 5], and Beni Hassan under the Djoheïna Arabs, not the Kwalme.
Two derivations are given of Salamat. One, that their ancestor was named Salam. Another, that they are descended from a pagan slave, who, when reproached for not fulfilling his religious duties, replied ‘nadem salla mat’ (praying is killing work); hence he was nicknamed Sallamat. As M. Carbou remarks, p. 56, this explanation is a little far fetched.
M. Carbou, vol. i, p. 4, says:
‘Kanem is a corruption of Keunoum or Konoum. This latter word has been explained by means of the Tubu term “eunoum” or “onoum” which means south, and of the letter “K” which serves to form the substantive. But the Kanembu use the same word to signify the south, and it is especially in their language that “K” serves to form the substantive.’
For all practical purposes the Kanuri and Kanembu dialects are the same. ‘Anum’ or ‘Ane̥m’ is the Kanuri for south, but I know of no use of ‘K’ for forming the substantive, unless one assumes it is an abbreviation of the Kanuri ‘Kam’ meaning a man. Kanem-bu would then mean ‘the southerners’. Cf. p. 314 of the present work.
M. Carbou, vol. i, p. 20:
‘This name, Kanuri, is explained in different ways. Some say that it is composed of the Arab word “nur” (light) and the letter “K” which serves to form the substantive. Kanuri would then mean “the people of the light”, and this name would have been given to the inhabitants of Bornu because they were the propagators of Islam in the country. Others say that Kanuri is from the Kanuri “kannu” = (fire), and means “the people of the fire”, a nickname given them by the Fulani, who as fanatical Mussulmans considered the inhabitants of Bornu as destined to the flames of hell as a reward for their sins.’
M. Carbou himself says that the Arab derivation has little value. The Fulani one has less still: if the Fulani or any other foreigners wished to nickname the Kanuri, would they not use their own language to do so? Cf. p. 314 of the present work.
M. Carbou, vol. i, p. 21, has an elaborate argument to prove that the word Bornu is derived from ‘birni’ meaning in Kanuri ‘a capital town’. The Sef dynasty were driven out of their capital Njime by the rival dynasty of the Bulala and went and founded another capital at Gazerregomo. M. Carbou states that M. René Basset considers this etymology of Bornu from ‘birni’ as very probable. In spite of this high authority, the etymology is not convincing. ‘Birni’ or ‘Be̥rni’ might be corrupted in Arabic writing into ‘Bornu’, or ‘Burnu’, but it is important to remember that the natives never write ‘Bornu’ always ‘Barnu’. The Arabic vowel signs which we represent by i, e̥, and o or u, are often interchangeable in Kanuri writing, e.g. I have seen the word for ‘horse’ spelt ‘fir’, ‘fe̥r’, and less commonly ‘fur’, it could not conceivably be spelt ‘far’. Cf. p. 311 of the present work.
APPENDIX XV
SELECTIONS FROM UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE
REGARDING OUDNEY, DENHAM, AND CLAPPERTON’S MISSION TO BORNU IN 1821-4
The following extracts are taken from the Tripoli Consular Correspondence, now in the Record Office, and from papers in the archives of the Royal Geographical Society. The latter are distinguished by the letters [R. G. S.].
The following ‘précis’ from the accounts given of the travellers in the _Dictionary of National Biography_ and in Nelson (vid. List of Authorities) will help to elucidate the extracts.[556]
=Walter Oudney= (1790-1824), born of humble parents in Edinburgh, where he picked up sufficient knowledge of medicine to become a surgeon’s mate on board a man-of-war. 1814 promoted surgeon. At the Peace he returned to Edinburgh, graduated M.D., when his inaugural dissertation was ‘de Dysenteria Orientali’, and set up in private practice. Studied Chemistry and Natural History, and had hopes of being appointed University lecturer on Botany. He contributed a paper to the _Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal_ for July, 1820, entitled ‘Cases of “Ileus” from a twist of the Colon’. Appointed to the African Mission 1821, died at Murmur near Katagum on January 12, 1824. Mrs. Larymore, in _A Resident’s Wife in Nigeria_, p. 97, states that his grave is still pointed out by the natives. Nelson says that Oudney asked Clapperton to hand his papers to Barrow, i.e. Sir John Barrow, Secretary to the Admiralty, who edited the account of Clapperton’s Second Expedition. In the Introduction to the account of the First Expedition, however, Denham states that Oudney practically left no papers. Nelson fears they may have been lost, but remembering Oudney’s constant ill health, I think it is quite possible that there were none beyond the few rough notes, half illegible and of little interest, which are now among the Denham papers in the R. G. S. Oudney is described as of middle stature and slight build, with a pale, grave face, pleasing manners, and possessed of much enterprise and perseverance. He was never married. In a letter to a friend from Mourzouk, quoted by Nelson, Clapperton says that ‘Oudney is much admired by the local ladies for the blackness of his beard, and myself for the strength of my moustachoes’. Oudney, in a postscript on the same sheet, says, ‘Clapperton is a strange-looking figure with his long sandy- coloured beard and moustachoes’.
=Dixon Denham= (1786-1828), educated at Merchant Taylors School. Articled to a solicitor, but in 1811 joined the army in the Peninsula as a volunteer with the 23rd Royal Welsh Fusiliers. In May, 1812, was appointed a Second Lieutenant in that corps; promoted to First Lieutenant in 1813. Distinguished himself at the battle of Toulouse by carrying Sir James Douglas, commanding a Portuguese brigade, out of fire when that officer had lost his leg. The following copy of a letter from General Douglas to Col. Arbuthnot is among the Denham papers in the R. G. S.:
MY DEAR ARBUTHNOT,
I am very sensible of the Marshal’s[557] kindness in desiring me to recommend any officers of my Brigade to him who may have distinguished themselves in the late affair. I avail myself of his permission to mention for the third time Brigade-Major Maher and Lieutenant Denham of the 8th Regt., my aide-de-camp. If His Excellency can in any way be useful to Lt. Denham it will be a circumstance peculiarly grateful to me. He is an officer I have lived in habits of the strictest intimacy with—and whose conduct and attentions on the 10th[558] I am totally at a loss how to repay.
Signed J. DOUGLAS,
Commg. 7th Brigade.[559]
Toulouse, 13 April, 1814.
To
Col. Arbuthnot,
Mily. Secretary,
&c., &c., &c.
Transferred to the 54th Foot,[560] who were in reserve at Huy during the battle of Waterloo. In 1819 he entered the senior department of the Royal Military College. In Oct. 1821 he purchased a company in the 3rd Buffs. In Nov. 1821 he was put on half-pay, given the local rank of Major in Africa, and sent to join the African Mission. Amongst other things, he explored part of the shores of Lake Chad, which he named Lake Waterloo. He returned to England in June, 1825, and was promoted to a majority in the 17th Foot.[561] In Nov. 1826 he was given an unattached lieutenant-colonelcy, and sent to Sierra Leone as superintendent of liberated Africans[562] on the West Coast. In 1828 he was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of the colony of Sierra Leone, but died there of fever in May of the same year.
It is perhaps of some interest to note that Denham appears to have been very modern in his ideas of the proper way of keeping in health in the tropics. In letters to his brother [R. G. S.], written before they left Mourzouk, he mentions that he always rises before sunrise, takes horse- exercise, is very careful about where he gets his drinking and even his bathing water from, and also says that he has a daily shower-bath, made by pouring water through a wooden box with holes bored in it.
=Hugh Clapperton= (1788-1827), born at Annan in Dumfriesshire, son of George Clapperton, surgeon.[563] At thirteen he was apprenticed as a cabin-boy in a ship trading between Liverpool and America. He showed his spirit by refusing to black the captain’s shoes. He was charged with a petty act of smuggling at Liverpool, and sent on board the naval tender, which carried him to Plymouth, where he was made cook’s mate. Eventually, through the interest of his uncle in the Marines,[564] he was made a midshipman, and served off the coast of Spain and in the East Indies. On his way out to the East Indies he was ordered to take charge of a boat which was sent to the relief of a ship in distress. The boat was capsized and all the occupants drowned, except Clapperton and one other. As he was being hoisted on board again, ‘he had his feelings strongly excited, on hearing the wives of the Scottish soldiers on board exclaiming, “Thank Heaven, it is na our ain kintryman, the bonny muckle midshipman that’s drownded after a’!—”’
In the East Indies he joined the _Clorinde_, one of whose officers was Mr. Mackenzie, youngest son of Lord Seaforth. Clapperton formed a great friendship with this young man and nursed him through a dangerous illness. Mackenzie eventually went home and died, but particularly asked his mother, Lady Seaforth, to treat Clapperton as her own son. She did all in her power to help Clapperton when he returned to England, but, according to Nelson, Clapperton was too proud and touchy to accept much. He had been deeply wounded by an insinuation of his messmates that he was a tuft-hunter.
At the storming of Port Louis, Isle of France, in Nov. 1810, he was the first in the breach and hauled down the French colours. He was next sent to Canada and was cast away off the coast of Labrador, and lost the use of the first joint of his left thumb from frost-bite; the thumb became crooked and Clapperton got the nickname of ‘Hooky’. This is Nelson’s account, but in the memoir by Clapperton’s uncle prefixed to the account of his second expedition, it is stated that he lost his thumb when trying to carry a boy during a retreat across the Canadian Lakes over the ice.
At one time Clapperton thought of marrying an Indian princess and settling in Canada. He used to give great feasts to the Indians, and indeed this led to a deficiency in his accounts to the victualling department. This deficiency was afterwards deducted from his half-pay and involved him in financial difficulties, from which he was not altogether relieved until his return from his first African expedition.
Whilst serving on the Canadian Lakes he used to have a hole broken in the ice for him to bathe every morning, but could not persuade any of his companions to join him.
He used to decorate his log-book with sketches of the sails carried by his ship day by day, together with sketches of the coast, harbours, &c. The officers who examined him for his promotion to lieutenant were so struck with this log-book that they sent it to the Admiralty, where it still remains.[565] He was promoted lieutenant in 1816.
In 1817 he returned to England on half-pay and became acquainted with Dr. Oudney. Nelson tells an amusing story of how Clapperton was taken in by a swindler. This gentleman, who represented himself to be a minister of religion anxious to pay his tailor’s bill, borrowed £10 from Clapperton, and in return asked him to dinner at Barclay’s Hotel in Edinburgh.
‘An excellent dinner was set upon the table and discussed. Madeira, champaign and other expensive wines were called for, and the two got cheerful, joyous, happy, glorious. At length the swindler made a pretence for going out a little, and Clapperton found he had to pay £2 or £3 for the dinner as well as the original loan, which he never saw again.
He was appointed to the African Mission in 1821, returned to England in June, 1825, and was promoted Commander. In the same year he was sent out on a second expedition, whose object was to reach Sokoto from the West Coast. Clapperton reached Sokoto, but died at Chungary or Jungavie, near Sokoto, in April, 1827.[566] The account of his expedition was published by his servant, Richard Lander. Clapperton had a noble figure; he was six feet high and broad-chested.[567] He never married.
It will probably have been fairly obvious to any one who reads between the lines of Denham and Clapperton’s account of their travels, that their relations were not altogether harmonious. That they were not so is abundantly clear from the Tripoli Consular Correspondence and the Denham papers in the R. G. S., in fact, for a great part of the time they seem hardly to have been on speaking terms. Doubtless there were faults on both sides, though on the whole the correspondence leads one to side with Denham. Clapperton himself admits in his journal on the road to Sokoto during his second expedition that he was not a mild-tempered man.[568] Oudney, his bosom friend, calls him ‘a rough diamond’, and he appears to have been clearly in the wrong in refusing to obey Denham’s orders, though the latter was very likely not tactful. It was not unnatural, though it may sound snobbish, that the ex-A.D.C. to one of Wellington’s brigadiers should find himself little in sympathy with the ex-cabin-boy[569] and the self-taught surgeon’s mate, both of them Scotchmen, a fact little likely to prejudice an Englishman of those days in their favour. In a private letter to his brother Charles, now in the R. G. S., Denham remarks of Oudney: ‘Neither had his professional or pleasurable pursuits ever placed him in any other situations than the gun-room of a man-of-war and his rooms in Edinburgh, twice on a horse in his life, and except by water I think he had never travelled 30 miles from Edinburgh.’
In another private letter to his brother Charles he calls him ‘Dominie Sampson with more cunning’. In another, apropos of Clapperton, he laments that a ‘gentleman’ had not been chosen as his assistant.
On Feb. 1, 1822, before they left Tripoli, Denham proposed to his companions in writing that Europeans—except Dr. Oudney, who would be busy with scientific work—should take it in turn to be ‘on guard’, or, as we might say, ‘officer of the day’, for twenty-four hours. Duties—to see sentries posted, stores issued, &c., &c. Dr. Oudney objected and the scheme was not adopted. Oudney and Clapperton considered the proposal of too ‘martial a nature’, and seem to have thought Denham was trying to ‘boss’ them.
Denham was, indeed, far from conciliatory, and there is a most offensive letter from him to Clapperton, written some time after their arrival at Kuka, in which he plainly states that he considers Clapperton’s conduct throughout to have been unworthy of an officer and a gentleman, and suggests that he shall mend his ways. The breach was very much widened when Clapperton discovered that Denham had not informed him of a charge of the grossest immorality that had been made against him by some of the Arabs of the caravan. This is the charge referred to in the Sheikh’s[570] letter to Clapperton printed on p. 430 of vol. ii of the _Travels_. Denham afterwards wrote a formal statement disclaiming any belief whatever in the charge, and explaining that the strained relations existing between them had made him unwilling to mention the subject.
The real fault of the matter lay with the Home Government, who had not made the powers and position of the various members of the expedition sufficiently clear; hence the jealousy and distrust, without which the materials brought back by the Mission would probably have been more ample than was actually the case. Denham and Clapperton were both fine specimens of their respective Services, and deserve equal honour and credit. The extracts from correspondence will now be intelligible.
The travelling names of the various members of the Mission were as follows:
Major Denham. Rais Khaleel.
Dr. Oudney. Tibeeb.
Clapperton. Abdulla.
Toole. Rais Ali.
Tyrwhitt. Taïr.
Hillman. Ali.
(_a_) =Disagreements=
Extract from official letter of Colonel Hanmer Warrington, British Consul-General at Tripoli, to Robert Wilmot, Esq., M.P., Under Secretary of State for the Colonies, dated Tripoli, July 4, 1822.
. . . . . . . . . .
PS.—Much difficulty has already arisen and much undoubtedly will arise unless one Gentleman is appointed as the Head of the Expedition, as opinions, Interest, and private Feeling will always clash and prove detrimental to the Public Service. Pray excuse the observation.
H. W.
Extract from letter of Capt. Clapperton to Consul Warrington, dated Morzuk, September 10, 1822.
. . . A word for the Major, he has gone[571] without ever having communicated to us his intentions directly or indirectly, and left me without any instructions. I shall be silent upon his Conduct any further than his loss will be a gain to his country. . . .
Extract from letter of Major Denham to Consul Warrington, dated Sockna, October 11, 1822.
. . . Dr. Oudney’s natural disposition leads him prematurely to suspect a want of good Faith in those around him; the feeling may be pardonable while it continues to be an unexpressed one, and the Slight disagreements that have existed between us, I say slight because on my