Part 32

There was formerly, in Ázawád, another place with a permanent settlement, called “El Hilleh,” or “Hillet e’ Sheikh Sídi Mukhtár,” which I have mentioned in a former place (Vol. I. p. 560, and Vol. IV. p. 454), two days east of Mʿamún[62], and about the same distance from Mabrúk, but this place was deserted a few years ago, on account of the well Bú-Lanwár, which is stated to have had a depth of forty fathoms, having fallen to ruins. The hilleh was situated in the “batn,” or valley, at the northern foot of a black rocky chain of hills called “Ellib el Hejar.” To the north is another chain or ellib east of the hilleh; but, on this side, still in the batn, is a locality called “El Mádher,” with good pasturage for horses. Other well known localities thereabouts are, Shirshe el Kebíra, and Shirshe e’ Seghíra.

Of the wells of Ázawád, the following are the most notorious: first, in the southern part of the district, towards Tagánet, Mʿamún, different from the place of the same name; Énnefís, a copious well, two hours S.W. from Mʿamún, and situated in a hilly district, thickly clad with underwood, and containing quarries of a beautiful black limestone, from which the Tawárek manufacture their heavy arm-rings, or áshebe; Meréta, Makhmúd, Shíker, Gír, Kartál, a very copious well, ʿEn-filfil, and others. Further to the N. and N.W. are the wells, Halúl, El Hóde, Shébi, Temandórit, Tékarát, Aníshay, Áshorát, a well where the Sheikh Áhmed el Bakáy, in the early part of his life, resided for a long time, Ánnazau, to the north of Mabrúk; Alibáda (ʿAlí Bábá?), Bú el Meháne, or Bel Mehán, the well mentioned in the itinerary (Vol. IV. p. 454), as distant about ten miles from the hilleh, Belbót, south of Bel Mehán; Írakshíwen; Merzáhe, south of the latter; Megágelát, two days south of the hilleh, and others.

The most famous wells in the district called Tagánet, are—Wén-alshín, situated at the distance of four days from Timbúktu, and three from the hilleh, where Mohammed e’ Seghír, El Bakáy’s elder brother, usually encamps part of the year; Tin-tatís, half a day S.W. from the former; ʿEn-óshif, Ímmilásh, ʿEn-gíbe, ʿEn-séek, ʿEn-odéke, a well where Bábá, a younger brother of El Bakáy, has his encampment, three days south from Mʿamún, four days N.E. from Timbúktu; Ámenshór, Árrazaf, ʿArúk, El Makhmúd, different from the well of the same name mentioned above; Igárre, Mérizík, Twíl, Waruzíl.

Towards the north, the district of Ázawád is separated from the dreary and waterless desert known by the general Berber name of Tanezrúfet (meaning “arid hammáda”) by the two small districts called “_Afeléle_” (meaning the little desert, or “afélle”), and north of it Áherér. Afeléle is a highly favoured region for the breeding of camels, and contains some famous valleys, or “wádián,” such as Tekhatímit, or Teshatímit, Afúd-énakán or Afúd-n-akán, Tadulílit, ʿAbatól, Shánisín, Agár, and others. _Áherér_, likewise, is considered by the Arabs as a fine country diversified by hill and dale, with plenty of wells, and even temporary torrents. This is the district, in one of the valleys of which, “Wádí Áherér,” Major Laing was attacked and almost killed by the Tawárek.

Towards the east, the districts of Ázawád and Tagánet are limited by several smaller ones, where the Arab population is greatly mixed with the Berber or Tawárek element, especially the Ífoghas. At the same time, these districts separate Ázawád from Áderár, the fine hilly country of the Awelímmiden, which is excellent not only for the breed of camels, but also for that of cattle. These intermediate districts are—_Ím- eggelála_, a district of about two days’ extent in every direction, consisting of black soil, and furnished with shallow wells; E. and E.N.E. of Tagánet, is _Tilímsi_, a district rich in food for the camel; E.N.E. of the hillet e’ Sheikh el Mukhtár, is another district called _Timitrén_, with many wells and a few villages; and E.N.E. of the latter, the district called Tirésht, or _Tighésht_, bordering on Áderár.

Of Arab tribes in Ázawád and the adjoining districts, I have first to mention several sections of the great tribe of the _Kunta_, who are distinguished by their purer blood and by their learning above almost all the tribes of the desert.

The Kunta are divided into the following sections:—

The Ergágeda, who were formerly regarded as the Welaye, or the holy tribe.

The Welád el Wáfi, at present the Welaye, with the Sheikh Áhmed el Bakáy as Welí, while his elder brother, Sídi Mohammed, exercises great authority over the whole of Ázawád. The Welád el Wáfi cultivate the friendship of the Hogár, while the Welád Sídi Mukhtár are the deadly enemies of the latter. They are subdivided into three divisions, called—

El Mesádhefa, Welád ben Haiballa, and Welád ben ʿAbd e’ Rahmán.

The Welád Sídi Mukhtár.

El Hemmál.

The Togát also are said to belong to the Kunta.

The _Berabísh_ (singl. Berbúshi), a tribe less numerous than the Kunta, mustering about 260 men armed with muskets, and 180 horsemen, and not spread over so wide a tract, being concentrated in the district between Árawán and Bú-Jebéha. They pay a tribute of 40 mithkál of gold to the Hogár, and are molested by continual incursions of the Welád ʿAlúsh. The Berabísh, who probably are identical with the _Perorsi_ of the ancient geographers, have migrated southwards since that time, and are of very mixed blood. They lived formerly in El Hódh, and are mentioned by Marmol Carvajal, who wrote in the seventeenth century, as visiting the market of Ségo; in the beginning of the sixteenth century, they lived still further to the W., and visited especially the market of Jinni.[63] The Berabísh are divided into two groups, the principal of which is ruled by the chief Hámed Weled ʿAbéda Weled Rehál, and consists of the following sections:

The Welád Slímán, the Shiúkh, that is to say, the tribe to whom the Sheikh belongs, and who have based their power and wealth upon the ruin and spoil of the Welád Ghánem.

The Welád ʿEsh.

The Welád Bú-Hinde.

El Gwanín el kohol.

El Gwanín el bédh.

Welád Áhmed.

These are the free tribes of this group; the following are the degraded and servile tribes, the “lahme” or “khoddemán”:—the Yadás, the Ládim, or rather only a small portion of that tribe, the Árakán, the Áhel ʿAísa Tajáwa, El Ússera.

The second group of the Berabísh as a whole, bears the remarkable name of “Botn el jemel,” on account of its being composed of heterogeneous elements, brought together by chance, just as is the case with various kinds of food in the “stomach of the camel.” It is ruled by a chief of the name of Hamma, and consists of the following tribes:—Welád Relán; Welád Derís, originating from Tafilélet; Welád Bú-Khasíb; Welád Ghánem, and the Turmus, the latter being the tribe of which I have spoken on a former occasion.

E.—_Route from Bóne or from Hómbori, by way of Konna, to Hamda-Alláhi._

Dalla the chief place of the province of the same name, is of considerable size, and the residence of a governor. Módi Bóle, who was a man of some note, died a short time before the period of my journey. The place is mostly inhabited by Tombo, only a small portion of the inhabitants being Songhay. The mountains are inhabited by the Sána, probably a section of the Tombo who have still preserved their independence. The town of Dalla is two good days’ journey from Hómbori, and one from Bóne.

1 day. Dwentsa, a considerable place, said to be as large as Kúkawa, and important as a market-place. The road traverses a mountainous region, described as being supplied with running streams (in the rainy season?), and to be richly clad with trees.

1 day. Dúmbará, large place, seat of a governor, but destitute of any handicraft. Country mountainous.

1 day. Nyimi-nyába, a middle-sized place. Country a little mountainous.

1 day. Boré, a large town, seat of a governor. Country mountainous, intersected by channels for irrigating the kitchen gardens. Cotton, rice, and corn is cultivated. All these appear to be very long days’ marches.

2 days. Timme, a large town, seat of a governor. On the road you see the Dhiúliba, or rather its floods, on your right, at least during part of the year. Cultivation of rice exclusively.

2 days. Karí or Konna (as the Songhay call it), seat of a governor, and important as a market-place. All the black inhabitants of the town speak the Songhay language. The town is also called Benne-n-dúgu or Bana-n- dugu, the tribe of that name, the Benni, having probably extended much farther to the N. in former times. See Caillié ii. p. 16.

2 days. Niakóngo, seat of a governor of the name of Háj Módi, brother of Háj ʿOmár. After the rainy season, the floods of the river closely approach the town.

1 day. Hamda-Alláhi.

F.—_From Timbúktu by Gúndam to Yówaru, and from Yówaru to Hamda-Alláhi._

3rd day. Gúndam. There are no settled halting places between Timbúktu and Gúndam. People generally perform the distance in two days and a half. The following is a list of the names of localities between these two places:—Téshak, Finderíye, El Hándema, Aristoremék, Egéti, Tin- getán, Tin-réro, Timbarágeri, two villages of the name El Meshra, Takémbaut, Tenkeríye, Naudis, Gámmatór.—Gúndam is a walled town (ksar or koira), the chief place of the district Aússa, and of considerable size, its population consisting of Songhay, Rumá, and Fúlbe or Fullán. The town has a suburb on its W. side, where live the Tóki, a tribe of the Fullán, and another suburb on the water-side, where live the Erbébi. On the N. side there is a black hill, full of fernán. Also to the S. an eminence is seen presenting the same appearance. The town is situated on the N. side of a large khálij or rijl (branch of the river) coming from Dire and turning towards Rás el má, the celebrated “head of the waters,” distant from here two days, either by land or by water, W. a little N. Another creek runs from Gúndam to Kábara; but during the highest level of the inundation the whole country presents almost one uninterrupted sheet of water. On the east side of Gúndam is a dry creek called Aráshaf, one day long, and half an hour wide. At its eastern border, E.S.E. from Gúndam, is the place called Waye e’ semen, with a creek adorned with the tree called táderes.

4th. A walled village (koira) of Imóshagh and Songhay on the trunk of the river, having passed in the morning the branch on which Gúndam is situated.

5th. Arabébe, a village inhabited by Fúlbe.

6th. Nyafúnke, a large village, inhabited in former times by Imóshagh, but at present peopled by Fúlbe.

7th. Íketáwen. Having passed in the morning close behind Nyafúnke, a large branch of the river, halt at noon in a village called Sherífikoira.

8th. Átará, a large village of Fúlbe, on the east side of a considerable branch of the river going to Gasí Gúmo.

9th. Fadhl-Alláhi a Fúlbe village.

10th. Yówaru. Yówaru is one of the two chief places of Fermágha, and although consisting entirely of reed huts, is said to be little inferior in the number of its inhabitants to the town of Timbúktu. The importance of the place is clear enough from the annual amount of tribute which it pays, amounting altogether (zekʿa and modhár taken together) to 4000 head of cattle. During the inundation Yówaru lies at the border of lake Débu, which, at that season, extends from Sʿa to Yówaru, but during the dry season, it is about one mile distant from the small branch. Close to the latter lies a suburb where the Surk or Kórongoy, a degraded section of the Songhay, dwell.[64] In Yówaru and the neighbourhood live a great number of Fúlbe or Fullán belonging to the following tribes:—the Sonnábe, Yalálbe, Feroibe, Yówarunkóbe and Jawámbe, or Zoghorán or Zoromáwa.

G.—_From Yówaru to Tenéngu._

1st day. Urungíye, an important place.

2nd. Máyo, a village so called from a small creek, the Máyo Sórroba, on which it lies. Between Urungíye and Máyo seem to lie the villages Séri and Nyamihára, the former inhabited by Songhay, the latter by Fúlbe.

3rd. Ganga.

4th. Kógi or Jógi, having passed several hamlets, one of them called Gínnewó, a hamlet of cattle breeders with a ksar, then Dokó, Ngúdderi, Jóñeri, Sabáre, and Burlul.

5th. Kora.

6th. Konna.

7th. Tenéngu. The distance between Urungíye and Tenéngu can, however, be performed in two days good travelling.

Between Urungíye and Móbti lie the following places:—Úro-Módi, Káram, a Songhay village; Rogónte, a hamlet of Fúlbe, Yerére, a hamlet inhabited by slaves of the Fúlbe, Wálo on the Máyo Fenga; Kaya, a village inhabited by Aswánek, and finally, Sáre-méle and Sáre-béle, the river probably forming a great bend near Wónyaka, so that these latter towns are touched at in coming from both sides, either the N. or the S.

H.—_From Yówaru to Hamda-Alláhi._

1st day. Dógo, on a small creek.

2nd. Shay, probably meaning the place of embarkation, on the N.W. side of the river, which is very wide in this spot. Pass on the road one or two branches of stagnant water, which you must cross in a boat. Perhaps one of these branches is the same on which the village Máyo lies.

3rd. Encamp on the bank of a smaller creek (Máyo dhannéo?)

4th. Niakóngo.

5th. Berber, a very short march.

6th. Síye, in the morning.

7th. Hamda-Alláhi, the capital of the kingdom of Másina.

I.—_List of towns and villages situated along the bank of the chief trunk of the river Ísa-bére or Máyo-mangho, from Dire upwards to Sansándi. This branch is the north-westerly one; the other, which Caillié navigated, is the south-easterly, and is called Bara-Ísa._

_Dire_, a very important place, one of the eldest settlements of the Songhay in this quarter, situated at the point of junction of two branches which have separated from each other in the lake Débu.[65]

Tindírma, one of the original seats of the Songhay, by some regarded as the original seat of the whole tribe. That portion of them called Sáhena were especially settled here. It is now principally the residence of the Chóki, who formerly were settled in Gúndam. With regard to its importance in former times as the capital of the province of Kúrmina, see Vol. IV. p. 420. A little distance from the bank of the river lies Gitigátta, and on the island in the river the locality called “Al Mohalla,” probably from having been once the spot where part of the Mohalla, or the army of the Moroccains, remained encamped. At Tindírma, the branch of Gúndam separates from the main trunk of the river.

Hamma-koira.

Nyafúnke.

Síbo. This is evidently the town Seebi where Mungo Park is said to have made some stay on his voyage from Jenni to Timbúktu. (Clapperton’s Second Journey, Appendix, p. 334.)

Dháhabi-koira, called after a sheríf belonging to the family of Muláy el Dhéhebi.

Gúmmo.

Átara.

Tongomáre.

Úro.

Yówaru. In crossing from Yówaru the next branch, and leaving Gúram on one side, you reach Zinzo or Jinjo, or Gíjo, as it is called, in four or five hours. This is another of the eldest seats of the Songhay, and probably the place from whence Islám spread in this quarter, there being here the sepulchre of a venerated saint called Mohammed el Káberi, belonging to the Idaw el Háj. It is not impossible that this is the place of pilgrimage to which Scott the sailor went as a captive by way of the Giblah, crossing the lake.[66] In the neighbouring hamlet, Togga, also, is the tomb of a holy man called Morimána Báka. There is another tradition current in Zinzo, of a saint of the name of Elfa Zakkaríyá, who is said to have visited this place at a time when no village existed, nothing but a cavern being then inhabited.

S.E. of Zinzo, at some little distance from lake Débu lies Áwi. The Débu is so shallow during the dry season, that the native boats can only proceed with great difficulty along the main channel, and often stick fast entirely. In the dry season the natives ford it by wading through the water. Where the main branch, called by the Fúlbe Máyo balléo, reaches the lake, at least during the rainy season, it divides into a net of smaller branches, thus increasing the difficulty of the navigation. On the contrary, the advantage of the smaller branch, the Bara-Ísa, or river of Bara, called by the Fúlbe Máyo dhannéo, consists in preserving one unbroken volume of water. This was the reason probably why the party with whom Caillié went down the Niger from Jinni followed this branch. Besides the Máyo balléo and dhannéo, the chief creeks which join the Débu are the Máyo Píru and the Máyo Jóga, not inconsiderable during the rainy season, but very small during the dry one.

The lake, besides fish, contains numbers of that curious animal called ayú (_manatus_).

From the lake upwards, there lie along the principal branch of the river the following places:—

Búri.

Bánghida.

Waládu.

Ingárruwe.

Mányata.

Kossanánna.

Tánnare.

Bówa.

Kirrínkiri.

Gánde-Táma.

Sarbére.

Kára, an important place, after which the river is sometimes called “the river of Kára.”

Ingánshi.

Dággada.

Kumáy, a place of some importance, distant two days from Yá-saláme[67], which is about three days from the considerable market-place Tenéngu (p. 469), both W. from the river.

Júgi.

Nyásu.

Kóliñango.

Sabáre.

Búrruwé.

Fenga, a middle-sized place, after which this whole branch of the river is also called “Máyo Fenga,” about two hours E. from Tenéngu, and one good day’s march from Fáfarák.

We now proceed along the south-eastern shore of the Débu and along the Máyo dhannéo.

Gúram, a considerable place, situated round a large rocky eminence, kódia, as the Arabs call it, or “haire,” as it is called by the Fúlbe, who celebrate it highly as the “haire maunde Gúram.” The mount is so conspicuous in the flat alluvial level, that it is visible from Yówaru. Caillié saw it at the distance of three or four miles (ii. p. 18); and again, further on, where he calls it St. Charles’ Island (ii. p. 20). The village is separated into three distinct groups, one of which is called Gúram Fúlbe, lying at the northern foot of the kódia; the other, Gúram Hábe, inhabited by Songhay; further on and finally, Gúram Súrgube, inhabited by (degraded?) Tawárek or Surgu.

Méro } } Both inhabited by Kórongoy. Bang }

Sóba.

Sórroba, situated at the foot of another smaller rocky eminence called “haire Sórroba,” lying opposite to Gúram on the S. side of the river, which seems to make here a great bend. It is mentioned by Mohammed el Másini (Appendix to Clapperton’s Second Journey, p. 331). Caillié gave it the ridiculous name of “Henry Island.”

Jantaye, a considerable place.

Máyo Tína, a place close to the former, inhabited by Tawárek.

Kóbi. (Compare Caillié’s account, ii. p. 16.)

Nye.

Batamáne.

Sáyo, distant half a day’s journey from the Batamáne, towns close to the bank of the river becoming here more rare.

Wáñaka, where the two branches unite, being joined besides by a small westerly creek, called by some Máyo Fenga.

Hombólbe, the principal seat of the Kórongoy or Surk, who also constitute the chief inhabitants of the places Ngárruwe and Toy.

Karashíru.

Kara-úra.

Neménte, and not far from it inland, the village called “rúgga Bóde.”

Náta.

Kammi.

Móbti or Isáka, situated at the point of junction of the two branches of the river, which have divided at Jafarábe, a low point of land, as it seems, separated by the river into a group of six islands, where all the boats coming from Hamda-Alláhi and the lower river, and proceeding to Sansándi, are obliged to disembark their merchandise, which, henceforward has to be transported on the back of donkeys to the place of its destination. Of these two branches the north-western[68] one bears also the name of Máyo Jágha, from a very important place, the celebrated Zágha of the Arab geographers, which on account of its situation out of the great commercial track is at present not very generally known in those quarters. The original form of the name both with Songhay and Fúlbe, seems to be Jáka or Jágha; but the letters Z and J are continually interchanged. The town is said to lie at the distance of one and a half day S.W. from Sáre-dína, “the city of the (Mohammedan) religion,” and only half a day N.E. from Jafarábe[69], and is still celebrated on account of its excellent “tári” or “leppi.”

I here add a short list of the towns and villages between Kúna, the place where the river is ordinarily crossed in proceeding from Sofára to the island of Másina Proper, and Móbti:—From Kúna, about six miles E., is Néma, situated on the E. side of the river; from Néma, Tikkétiá, on the W. side of the river; Sáre-béle, on the E., Sáre-méle, on the W. of the river, N. of Tikkétiá; Gómi, a large town on the bank of the river; Móbti, on the E. side, with large fortifications, if I have understood right, of an ancient date, where the two branches join; Nymitógo, on the E. side of the river.

The distance from Tenéngu, is also a day and a half, and between them lie the following places, beginning with Tenéngu:—Takanéne, Chúbe, a hamlet inhabited by slaves, Kumbel, Ingelléye, Taíkiri, Kóllima, and Warángha.

From Jafarábe upwards along the river, are situated the places:—

Kongunkoro, “old Kongu.”

Kóno.

Jóru.

Síbila.

Maddína.

Sansándi (this is the Songhay form), or Sansánne (the Mandingo form), the well-known starting point of Mungo Park’s voyage down the river. Mr. Cooley supposes that “di” is a contraction of ding, meaning “little.”

K.—_From Hamda-Alláhi to Kábara by land by way of Sʿa._

1 day. Niyakóngo, a large town at a considerable distance from the river; much cultivation.

1 day. Denéngu (?), a place inhabited by Fúlbe and Songhay, the latter being more numerous than the former; near the bank of the river.

1 day. Úro-Búlo, a place inhabited by Fúlbe on the E. side of the Débu.

1 day. Sʿa, a large place, inhabited chiefly by Bámbara, the seat of a governor, as was also the case in former times, on the E. side of the Máyo dhannéo or Bara-Ísa. Many dúm-palms, or rather deléb-palms, grow in this neighbourhood, from whence Timbúktu is supplied with rafters. The floods of the lake and the various branches or creeks are so considerable during the rainy season, that at that period of the year, a person cannot reach Hamda-Alláhi in less than six days.

1 day. Kóma, a small town of Bámbara, at a considerable distance E. from the river.

1 day. Chiay, close to the bank of the Máyo dhannéo.

1 day. Sáre-feréng, a Bámbara place. The road leads all the way along the S.E. bank of the river.

1 day. Jangináre, a Bámbara place.

1 day. Árkoja, a town partly inhabited by Bámbara, partly by Songhay, the former prevailing.

1 day. Dári, a large place of Fúlbe, who call it Dár e’ Salám. No Bámbara inhabitants.

1 day. Bongesémba, a village inhabited by Fúlbe Sudúbe, close to the point of junction, called Ísofay, of the two branches of the Dhiúliba, the white (dhannéo) and the black (balléo), the quality of their waters being totally different, one being full of crocodiles, hippopotami, and fish, and the other containing nothing of the kind, just as is the case with the Tsád. The water of the black river overwhelms the white water of the dhannéo. Cross the river.

1 day. Tindírma, a large Songhay place. A long day.

1 day. Dire, one of the eldest places of the Songhay.