Part 14
As if I was destined to spend my whole life in this region, we this day only moved on three miles, keeping close along the shore of the river, which here formed several islands, and gradually took a more southerly direction. The whole of this part of the river, the valley of which, including the islands, measures certainly more than three miles in breadth, is called Burrum, and was formerly one of the chief seats of the Songhay. There is a remarkable tradition that a Pharaoh once came from Egypt to this spot, and again returned. This story would at least imply an early intercourse with Egypt, and should not, I think, be viewed incredulously; for, if it had no foundation whatever, it would certainly attach to the capital of the nation itself, and not to a place which possesses no great historical importance. But on the other hand it is highly interesting to observe, that this is the spot where the great river, which here makes a bend from a west-easterly into a southerly direction, is nearest to Egypt. Let it be further taken into account, that the inhabitants of the oasis of Aújila, which lies on the great commercial road from Egypt to these regions, were the first who opened this western part of Negroland to the intercourse of the Arabs. The whole history of Songhay points to Egypt; the itinerary of the route of the Nasamones, if rightly constructed, inclines to this quarter; and it is easily to be understood how Herodotus[33], on receiving the news that so large a river was running eastward, in such a northerly latitude as nearly 18°, could conceive the opinion that this was the Upper Nile. Even in more modern times, we find Egyptian merchants established from the eleventh century in the town of Bíru, or Waláta, side by side with those of Ghadámes and Tafilélet; the principal commerce of Gágho and Kúkia was directed towards Egypt, and the large commercial entrepôt—Súk—of the tribe of the Tademékka, about one hundred miles from Burrum, on that great highroad, was evidently founded for that purpose.
Formerly there were three villages, containing a considerable population, till about eleven years ago[34] the Fúlbe, under the command of ʿAbd Alláhi, the uncle of the present ruler of Másina, who at that time was a very energetic and warlike chieftain, made an expedition to this place with about 6000 horse, and 20,000 foot, while the whole of the Tawárek, the Awelímmiden, Igwádaren, and Tademékket, collected together near Tóndibi, did not dare to offer them open battle. Destroying, then, those villages of Burrum, the Fúlbe transferred the whole population, consisting of nearly 4000 people, into the neighbourhood of Gúndam.
A good deal of rice is here cultivated; the cultivation of that article in this region being said to have proceeded from this very locality, a fact which is of the greatest interest as regards the ancient intercourse with Egypt. Even now, those among the rest of the inhabitants of Burrum who belong to the Tawárek tribe of the Tademékket, are distinguished for their wealth and their more refined manners; and I here made the acquaintance of two eminent men among them, named Énnas and Gedéma, the latter particularly remarkable for his corpulency.
At the place where we chose our encampment, the low grassy shore was greatly compressed, a steep bank of black sandstone rising to about thirty feet elevation close behind us, and forming at the top a flat level, strewn with black pebbles, which, if a person turned his back to the river, offered almost the same view as the most dreary part of the waste; but as soon as one directed one’s eyes southward, the picture was entirely reversed;—a magnificent stream, studded with rich grassy islands, and affording the most refreshing breeze, appeared in sight.
The Sheikh had so many dealings with the inhabitants of the islands opposite our encampment, that he was obliged to stay here several days; but in order to satisfy me, he made us move on a little. However, we only proceeded for about the distance of a mile, leaving this steep rocky bank behind us, the ground remaining stony, clad with nothing but small stunted trees. Here we encamped again near the border of the green shore, where alone the soil was soft enough to admit the pegs, opposite a long sandbank, which was the resort of numerous flocks of white waterfowl. Of course this sort of progress did not exactly suit my wishes, and in order to soothe my discontent, El Bakáy, soon after we had encamped, paid me a long visit, in order to cheer me up, telling me that he had heard that there really had been, as I conjectured myself, a letter from Háj Beshír, with my parcel, and enumerating those of his pupils, or télamíd, whom he wanted to send along with me.
There being no stated market-place all along this river, the buying of provisions is sometimes accompanied with a great deal of trouble; and although the only produce of this district is rice, that article is never to be obtained in a prepared state. Nothing but kókesh, that is to say, rice in the husk, is procurable; and this is a circumstance not to be overlooked by Europeans who attempt the navigation of this river, as they must always be prepared to lose some time in getting ready and cleaning their rice. I here bought the néffeka of this kind of rice for two drʿa of tári, equal to forty shells. Butter fetched twenty drʿa per néffeka.
During our two days’ stay in this place, I received some valuable information from some Arabs of the tribe of the Welád Molúk, who were settled in Áribínda, that is to say, on the southern bank of the river, and kept up a small trade with Libtáko, which is distant from here about ten days’ march. The river being here so broad, it did not at all surprise me to hear from these people that in average years, during the lowest state of the river, it is fordable in several places.
Far more interesting than the visit of these mixed Berbers was that of a man called Mohammed, who, with eight companions was on his way from Gógó, his native place, to Bamba by water, in a middle-sized boat; thus proving that the water communication between those places was still kept up, notwithstanding the total political ruin of the country, and that, too, at the present season of the year, when the water was at its very lowest. He was a wealthy man, belonging to the mulatto stock of the Rumá, and spoke only Songhay. He also brought me the latest news from the districts farther eastward, and I was glad to hear that, owing to the rebel army of Zabérma having been beaten by the governor of Támkala, the road by Say was open.
[Sidenote: Tuesday, June 13th.]
Having had a thunder-storm during the latter part of the night, with a heavy squall of wind, but without rain, we started at a rather late hour along the grassy shore, which gradually becomes lower and is filled with numerous small ponds; till, after proceeding a little more than a mile, rocky ground began to rise to the surface on our left. It soon assumed the form of steep cliffs, rising to the height of about 120 feet; but although during the inundation it is closely approached by the river, at present a narrow passage was left along the green shore. A heavy gale raised the waves of the river to a considerable height; but the sky was so overcast and enveloped in fog that nothing of the opposite shore was to be discovered.
Numerous small torrents had intersected the cliffs, while a thick bush of an unknown species lined the foot of them. A little further on, while slightly decreasing in height, the rocks became more regularly stratified, presenting numerous crevices and caverns.
Having then passed a place where the cliffs formed a deep recess, the low grassy shore extending far into the river, we were obliged to ascend the higher level for a while, an open branch coming close up to the foot of the rocks. We however descended again after a little more than half a mile, near two magnificent sycamores, and encamped at 11 o’clock in the midst of a dense growth of dúm-bushes, while the Sheikh himself pitched his tent on the top of the downs, near an encampment of Kél-tenákse, a division of the Kél e’ Súk, to whom belonged also another encampment upon an island in the river.
The sandy shore, thickly covered with dúm-bush, was represented to us as the retreat of numerous lions, and we were warned not to encamp here; but we preferred exposing ourselves to this slight danger, as the strong wind did not allow us to pitch our tents on the top of the downs. We had scarcely made ourselves comfortable, when a great multitude of people belonging to the different tribes settled in the neighbourhood,—Tawárek, Kél e’ Súk, Rumá, and Songhay gathered round us. Many of them had fine features, while others bore distinctly the African character. The Kél e’ Súk, who seemed to presume upon their learning, scanty as it was, brought forward their religious prejudices, and I had a sharp disputation with them.
The whole of this district still belongs to Burrum. The Rumá seemed to have also a hamlet of their own in this tract on an island in the river, and appeared to be tolerably well off. A great deal of rice is cultivated hereabouts. I bought some, and had it pounded by two females, one of whom, during her work laughed and made merry almost without interruption, while her companion, who was of a more sullen temper, rendered herself guilty of theft, but was caught in the fact.
Almost all the slaves of these Tawárek wear nothing but a leathern dress, that of the females consisting only of a long apron, while the males very often provide themselves with a tight shirt or kilt of the same material.
From all that I observed, I must conclude that the state of the morals of these Tawárek slaves is very low, particularly those of the Kél e’ Súk. The latter were formerly the inhabitants of fixed settlements on the borders of the desert, where a great deal of foreign commerce centred, and have thence contracted manners which were strange to their origin. But we must remember that from the most ancient times prostitution, as a proof of hospitality, has been in practice among various Berber tribes of North Africa.
[Sidenote: Wednesday, June 14th.]
Having staid here during the forenoon, we started late in the day. My protector remained behind in order to settle some business, while I proceeded in advance with the most trustworthy of his pupils, first keeping close along the river, which here seemed to be of considerable depth quite near the shore, but further on turning away to some distance from it, through the plain, which was here well clad with small talha trees. Thus, after a march of about four miles from our former encampment, we ascended sandy downs, behind which a broad belt of swampy meadow ground stretched along at a distance of more than two miles from the river itself. The higher level soon became more rocky, being strewn with black pebbles, between which numerous footprints of the giraffe were visible. It was pleasantly undulating, a ledge of sandstone and calcareous rock intersecting it like a wall. Having here heard from a shepherd who was watering his flock at a small pond formed by the recent fall of rain, that there was an encampment at some distance, we gave to our course a more southerly direction, and soon reached a village lying at the very brink of the steep bank of the river, consisting of huts, and inhabited conjointly by some Arabs of the tribe of the Bú-ʿAlí, and some poorer members of the tribe of the Kél e’ Súk. The huts consisted of matting, and were very clean and well ventilated, each of them having two doors, one on the north and another on the south side, both of moderate dimensions.
It was late in the evening when we arrived here, and there being an entire want of trees, we had great difficulty in obtaining a little firewood; nor was there any good býrgu for the horses, the river, which here divided into two branches, being too deep to allow this rank grass, which prefers the swampy lowlands, to grow to any extent. The poverty of the inhabitants, also, could not at all satisfy the wants of my companions, who were very fond of a good supper; hence El Bakáy himself, who was well aware of this circumstance, had passed this locality, and, notwithstanding the lateness of the hour, directed his steps to another encampment further on. This was also the reason of our following day’s march being limited to a few hundred yards. We thus exchanged our encampment at Isábegen for that of El Bakáy’s at Asákan Imbégge; but the change was by no means advantageous to us, as the high level presented here a most dreary aspect, being almost totally destitute of trees or shrubs. The border of the river, however, bore a very different character, and the swampy lowland extended to a great distance, intersected by a dead water which at present had no connection with the river. The profusion of herbage which grew in this locality enabled me to buy here a good supply of butter, although the country in general appeared to be very bleak. A large island, also, is formed in the river, which is inhabited by Songhay, and called Éha. The previous afternoon, we had observed ahead of us, to the east, a mountain chain called Áseghárbu, and we now saw it more distinctly, stretching from east to west 15° south.
We had scarcely pitched our tents, when we were visited by a great number of Tawárek of the tribe of the Tin-ger-égedesh, who were encamped at a short distance with their chiefs Amáre and Sadáktu. They were distinguished by their noble countenance and superior style of dress, and in both respects resembled the Tarabanása, whose enemies they are. Most of them wore black tobes, the black alternately interchanging with a white band; and I counted not less than fifty of them, all decent- looking men. After a while I became very good friends with them, although the commencement of our intercourse was rather awkward. They had had some dealings with Mungo Park, whose policy it was to fire at any one who approached him in a threatening attitude[35]; and having lost some of their tribe by his well-directed balls, they kept at first at some distance from me, viewing me with a rather suspicious and malevolent eye. But when they observed that I had entered into cheerful conversation with some of their party, they convinced themselves that I did not belong to the class of wild beasts, or “táwakast;” for such, from the reception they had met with from Park, they had supposed all Europeans to be. I even, to my great astonishment, found here, with one of the Kél e’ Súk, the life of Bruce, published by Murray in 1835, and which most probably had been the property of Davidson, the Kél e’ Súk having brought it from Ázawád, where it had been taken by Hámma, a younger brother of El Bakáy, who, about the time of Davidson’s journey, had paid a visit to Tawát and the country of the ʿAríb. It was almost complete, only ten leaves being wanting, and I bought it for three benáíg, or strips of indigo-died cotton. It had been used as a talisman, an Arabic charm having been added to it.
Here, as in general, I allayed the suspicions of the people and made them more familiar by showing them some pictures of men of various tribes. Notwithstanding the great distance which separated my tent from the encampment, none of the women remained behind, all being anxious to have a look at this curious and novel exhibition; and having been sent about their business when they came in the daytime, they again returned towards night in such numbers that my people, being anxious for the safety of my small tent, which became endangered by these unwieldy creatures, endeavoured to frighten them away with powder. But all was in vain; they would not stir till they had seen the pictures, which, in accordance with the disposition of each, excited their great delight or amazement. My custom, which I have mentioned before, of honouring the handsomest woman in every encampment with a looking-glass, created here a great struggle for the honour; but I was so unfortunate as to hurt the feelings of a mother by giving the prize of beauty to her daughter, who was rather a handsome person.
We remained here the following day, when we had, in the morning, a considerable fall of rain, which lasted several hours, and drenched the Sheikh and his followers in their leathern tent, while my old and worn white bell tent, pitched in this open hammáda, withstood the rain beautifully, to the great astonishment of the Tawárek, who all came, soon after the rain was over, to see if I had not been swamped in my frail dwelling, which, before, they had looked upon with contempt.
I had afterwards a very important controversy with the Sheikh’s people, in which I had to make use of all my energy in order to carry out my intention of following up the shores of the river; for the Kél e’ Súk wanted to persuade the Sheikh to enter here the open desert, and to make straight for the encampment of their chief, Khozématen, who, they said, would provide me with everything necessary for my further journey. They were seconded in their endeavour by all the eloquence of Áhmed Wadáwi, El Bakáy’s favourite pupil, who asserted that, after the heavy rains that had fallen, the desert afforded plenty of herbage for the horses. But I opposed these arguments in the most determined manner, assuring the Sheikh that, even if he should go, I would not, but that I should pursue my route straight along the river; and, in order to make an impression on his mind, I reminded him of the distinct promise which he had given me of conducting me to Gógó. The Sheikh, then seeing that I was firm, adhered to his word, and it was therefore decided that a message should be sent to the chiefs of the Kél e’ Súk, to the effect that they were to meet us in Gógó, while we continued our march along the river.
Thus we left this cheerless camping-ground in the afternoon, and soon descended by a gradual inclination from the higher desert tract, which, however, after the heavy rain that had fallen in the morning, was full of pools of stagnant water. We then passed several encampments, till we reached the low grassy shore of the river, when the high ground on our left was intersected by several dry watercourses, and obliged us, although only for a short time, to exchange the green bottom for the rocky slope at a place where a branch of the river, which approached closely, was full of crocodiles.
Entering then an open grassy plain intersected by several channels, and making our way with difficulty through this swampy ground, called Erárar, we reached about dark an encampment of Kél e’ Súk, at the border of an open branch of the river, which was here about 400 yards broad. The locality was called Tabórak, though not a single tree was to be seen hereabouts; the whole district is here still called Éha. The open river afforded a very pleasant sight, as, during the last few days, I had seen nothing but swampy creeks. Towards the south-east, the watery plain was bounded by Mount Tóndibi, which juts out into the river in the shape of a promontory of considerable elevation. The locality, however, was so very unhealthy, that I could not long enjoy the fresh air outside, but was obliged to retire into my tent at an early hour.
[Sidenote: Saturday, June 17th.]
On leaving our camping-ground in the morning, we had to cross two small creeks, and then keeping along the swampy plain, soon got entangled in a larger sheet of water, which stretched along the foot of Mount Tóndibi, and appeared to intercept our passage. We therefore thought it better to get out of the swampy ground, which here was full of water covered with water lilies, and to ascend the sandy downs, where we passed another ámazagh of the Tin-ger-égedesh. There is no doubt that this swampy plain, for several months of the year, presents one uninterrupted sheet of water. Thus we ascended the northerly offshoots of Mount Tóndibi, which formed undulating sandy downs, stretching forth from the foot of the rocky mount, and richly clad with dúm-bush; but we soon passed them, and descended again on the other side into the grassy swampy plain, at present dry, but intersected by a creek every now and then. The river was at a considerable distance.
A mile beyond, we reached an encampment of the Kél e’ Súk, consisting of reed huts, and at the instigation of the Wadáwi, in the absence of the Sheikh, made a halt and unloaded our camels, when we suddenly received counter-orders, and reloading our camels with great alacrity, proceeded on our march. The plain was here intersected by several winding channels, where we observed numerous herds of cattle and flocks of sheep belonging to the slaves of Khozématen, who, like all the Tawárek, were about to leave the river, and to enter the region of the desert, and the mountainous tract of Áderár, where, in consequence of the rains, fresh herbage was springing up.[36]
Here we ascended the sandy downs, keeping close along the green border of the bot-há, and passing two small encampments, till we descended again from the rising ground into the green bed of the valley, which was here about three miles broad, and richly overgrown with daman-kádda interspersed between the dúm-bush, with which the small isolated sandy downs were adorned, besides a little “ʿashur,” tursha, or _Asclepias_. But we soon received another serious warning not to trust to this low swampy ground, for we suddenly observed a considerable sheet of water, which seemed to be connected with the principal river extending in front of us, so that we were obliged to regain the higher ground.
While riding a while by myself, I was much amused in observing our motley troop, consisting of about thirty individuals, some mounted on horses, riding singly or in pairs, others on camels, others again toiling along on foot, some armed with guns, and some with spears, and all in different attire, moving along this low swampy ground, where it rose a few feet above the deepest bottom, and was well lined with bush. It being then noon, the sun was very powerful, and when we reached the drier ground, the heat became very troublesome. My companions therefore were well pleased when we reached a village of the Songhay, or rather of that division of them which is called Ibawájiten or Ibáujiten, hoping that they should be able to get some refreshment; but the Songhay, now that they have lost almost all their national independence, and are constantly exposed to all sorts of contributions, are inhospitable in the extreme; and they pointed out to us the encampment of their chief at a considerable distance along the river, where we were to look for quarters. The whole district is called Abúba.