Part 37
Áderér, according to the different nature of its various parts, is divided into “Áderér e’ temar,” and “Aderér suttuf.” In Áderér Proper there are four ksúr, or towns, the most considerable of which, and the only one known in Europe, is Wadán, a town smaller than Tishít, but at least, till recently, when it has likewise suffered from intestine broils, better inhabited than the latter, and was evidently so, even in the first half of the sixteenth century, when the Portuguese established here a factory for a couple of years. Wadán, as well as Tishít, was originally a place of the Azér, and the Azeríye is still the language of its indigenous inhabitants. It has besides, a considerable Arab population belonging to the following tribes:—
El Arzázir.
Idáw el Háj, probably the founders of the empire of Ghánata, a tribe of great importance in the history of African civilization, and divided into the following sections, as far as they live in Áderér:—
Áhel Sídi Makhmúd, the Soltana tribe, to whom belongs the chief of Wadán, ʿAbd Allah W. Sídi Makhmúd.
Idé Yakób.
Síyám.
Áhel el Imám.
While two other sections of them live in Ergébe, viz.:—
El Útetád.
El Idó-Gejá.
As for the Rayán in Wadán, they are the khóddemán of the Idáw el Háj.
The Medrámberín, one of the tribes of the Kunta.
Wadán has a pretty plantation of date-trees of different sorts, of better quality than those of Tishít, and the names of which are as follow:—Sekáni, Tennasídi, El Hommor, Tigíbirt, Owetérdel, Bézal el Bagra.
The town, composed of houses built of stone and mud, lies on the east side of the valley, on stony and elevated ground. Its population does certainly not exceed 5000, who supply themselves with necessaries from Tishít, as they do not seem to frequent in person the market of Nyámina, or other places.
_Shinghít_, a small place built of stone, the same size as the town of Dál in Bághena, two days S.W. from Wadán[79], which has obtained a great name in the East, all the Arabs of the western desert being called after it. Shinghít, situated in the midst of small sandhills, where a little salt is found, has a handsome plantation of date-trees, where the tíggedirt and the sukkán are produced. It seems to have no Negro population, all the inhabitants being Arabs belonging to the following tribes:—
Welád Jáhé ben ʿOthmán, divided into the following sections:—
Welád ʿOthmán, to whom belongs the despotic chief of the town called Áhmed ben Sídi Áhmed ben ʿOthmán.
El Áwesiát, who speak the dialect of the Zenágha, and have a chief of their own.
E’ Redán.
Welád Bú Láhie.
Welád Égshar.
Idáw ʿAlí.
_Átar_, a well inhabited little town or ksar, said by some to be larger than Shinghít, situated two days nearly E. from the latter place, the track descending along the district called El Ós, where date trees and water are met with in several spots. Átar lies at the foot of a kódia, where the water collects, feeding a small plantation of date trees. No negroes.
_Ojúft_, a ksar not so well inhabited as the two foregoing ones, two days S.E. from Shinghít, and one from Átar S.S.W., likewise with a palm grove. Its principal inhabitants are E’ Smésid or Smásida, Zwaye. The inhabitants of Ojúft, with the exception of the Smásida, do not travel, but receive every thing by way of Kasr el Barka, where the people carry on some trade.
Besides the Arab tribes mentioned as living partially in the ksúr, there are still the following tribes to be mentioned as having their encampments principally or exclusively in Áderér.
The Tájakánt are regarded as belonging to the Himyáritic stock, and wear the gubba; they are a large tribe, and are of great importance in the whole commerce between the W. part of Morocco, or “E’ Sáhel,” and Timbúktu, which is entirely in their hands. At present, in consequence of their feud with the Érgebát, they are embroiled in a civil war among themselves, while with the Kunta they are at peace. I mention them here with regard to Áderér, though, as far as they are settled in this district, they have been greatly weakened, and part of them at least seem to have their principal abode in Gídi; they wander also in El Giblah. With Tagánet, with which place their name has been connected, they have nothing whatever to do. Tájakánt is the collective form, a single individual being called Jakáni, fem. Jakaníye. Their chief is the Merábet Mohammed el Mukhtár, an excellent man. They are divided into the following sections:—
E’ Rumadhín or El Armadhín, subdivided:—
ʿAín el Kohol.
Welád Sídi el Háj.
El Msaid.
Welád Sʿaíd.
Welád Músánni in two divisions, whose names I did not learn.
El Újarát.
Áhel e’ sherk.
Drʿawa.
The three latter tribes form at present one faction of the Tájakánt, the two preceding, together with the Merábet, the other. Altogether they are certainly able to bring into the field 2000 muskets, but they do not appear to be strong in cavalry.
The Sídi Mohammed, another division of the Kunta.
In general the Kunta and the Welád e’ Násir form one group in opposition to the Tájakánt, Idáw el Háj, and the Zenágha.
V.—MOORISH TRIBES IN EL GIBLAH AND IN SHEMMÁMAH.
The whole tract of the desert between Áderér and the sea, in a wide sense, is called Tíris, but in a proper and restricted one, this name is applied only to the northern part of it, the middle tract of it being called “Magh-tér,” and the southern one “El Giblah;” but care must be taken not to confound this district with what the Arabs of Ázawád and Timbúktu call “El Giblah,” with which very vague name, signifying in their dialect “the west,” they indicate all that part of the desert W. of them from Waláta as far as the sea. El Giblah is bordered towards the N. by Magh-tér, towards the E. by Áderér, towards the S.E. by El Abiár, and towards the S. by the Senegal; this more favoured southern tract, however, bearing the particular name of Shemmámah, is covered with thick forests of the gum tree while another portion of it, consisting of ranges of sandhills, is called Igídi or E’ Swéhel. El Giblah, as well as all Tíris, has no permanent wells, being extremely dry and sterile, but in the rainy season water is found just under the surface. A few of the most remarkable expressions of the idiom of the Arabs of the Giblah are:—sengetti, dukno; (tefangurút/tajimákhet) } kohemmi; nísha: hasse; ʿaganát: busúsu; adelagán, dúnguri; tarer, hoy, a kind of vegetables; ghursh, hak; sofíf, cleverness; asúfaf, clever; likshásha, large calabash; bíshena, sába; mutteri, héni; tasáret, mat of reed; tarzay, pl. terziyaten, awéba; smángeli, I have forgotten, it has escaped me; selli, let this talk.
The Brákena, a large tribe, levying tribute on the harbours of Bot- hadíye, but at present greatly reduced, have partly become the khóddemán and lahme of the more successful Terárza (a name totally distinct from Tegháza). They are divided into several sections:—
Áhel Agréshi, the Soltana tribe.
Áhel Weled ʿAbd Allah, all the sections of the Brákena being derived from this ʿAbd Allah, son of Kerúm.
Welád Síd.
Welád Bakr.
Welád ʿAíd, formerly very powerful, at present “lahme.”
Welád Mansúr.
Welád Nurmásh.
Welád Áhmedu.
Áhel Mehémedát.
Welád Ágram, and perhaps others.
The Terárza, a powerful tribe, with Mohammed el Habíb Weled ʿOmár Weled el Mukhtár as chief, in two great sections:—
Welád Áhmed ben Damán.
Welád Damán.
The names of the several sub-divisions into which both these sections fall, I was unable to make out with certainty, with the exception of the name of that division of the former section to which belongs Mohammed el Habíb, they being called:—
Áhel ʿOmár Weled el Mukhtár.
The Elleb, a considerable tribe, who seem to have some sort of relation with the Terárza, while the Erháhela are in a state of dependence upon them.
The Welád Abéri or Abiyéri, a powerful tribe with a respected chief called “El Sheikh Sadíye,” who resides generally near the well Bú- Telimít, mentioned above as belonging to the district El Ábiár, and distant about seven days S.W. from Wadán and nine from Ojúft.
The Temékket:—
Idáw el Hassan.
Idejfága.
Ijéjebó.
Tenderár.
Teshímsha.
El Bárek-Allah.
Limtúna, who are likewise still numerous in Aftót, speaking Arabic. Other sections of the Limtúna, but who are now scattered over various portions of the desert, are, besides the Méshedúf: the Idé-lebó, belonging to the group of Shemman-Ámmas, the Idé-silli, the Udéshen, the Bedúkel or Ibedúkel, the Lédem, Twabér and the Welád Molúk.
VI.—MOORISH TRIBES IN MAGH-TÉR AND TÍRIS.
Tíris—a word meaning in Temáshight the shallow well—is separated from El Giblah, as I have stated above, by Magh-tér, a girdle of immense sandhills stretching almost from the sea shore as far east as five days beyond Wadán, and varying in breadth from three to five days. Tíris is very much of the same nature as El Giblah, being destitute of water in the dry season, but presenting sufficient herbage for the camel; however, the whole tract does not present one and the same character, the western part, or “Tíris el Khawára,” being much dryer than the eastern portion, which extends from the hasi “El Auj,” to near Íjil, and is called “Tíris el Firár.” In these two districts, there cannot be any permanent dwelling-places, but there are two localities worth mentioning, which occasionally become the scenes of much life and bustle. These are the harbour called Ágadír Dóme and the sebkha of Íjil. The former, being called by the Europeans “Arguin,” and seeming to be identical with the place called Welíli by the Arab writers, when visited by a European vessel attracts numbers of Arabs, principally of the tribe called Malzen, between whom and the strangers the Démesát act as brokers. As for the “sebkha” of Íjil, which was discovered it is said about sixty years ago, it seems to lie in an opening of the sandhills of Magh-tér, which have to be crossed in coming from Wadán as well as from Sákiet el Hamra, having, at some distance towards the south, a high mountain, on whose top some holy person, who was certainly an impostor, is said to have seen a grove of palm-trees. It lies about half-way between Wadán and Agadír, and has rich layers of salt of a good quality, but of black colour, probably of a similar kind to the fourth stratum in Taödénni, called “El Káhela;” but there being no fresh water nearer than a good day’s distance, at El Argíye, there is no permanent settlement here, and the Arabs belonging to different tribes, who come in considerable numbers for the salt, endeavour to get off as quickly as possible. The Sheikh Sídi Mohammed El Kuntawi, who generally has his residence near the well Sidáti, exercises a sort of supremacy over the sebkha, and levies a small tribute on those who carry away the salt. Besides the sebkha of Íjil there seems to be hereabout, perhaps nearer the sea, another sebkha, called Úm El Khashéb, and belonging to the Welád Haye Ben ʿOthmán, but its exact position I have not been able to make out. Among the Arab tribes wandering about in Tíris and Magh-tér, and the adjoining districts, first of all must be mentioned the Welád Delém, which tribe seems to be the most numerous of all the tribes of the desert.
Welád Delém being classed into two groups, at least by the Arabs of Ázawád, called Welád Máref and Delém el Áhmar. To the former group belong the following three tribes:—
Welád Molád, the most numerous section of the W. Delém, but ill-famed on account of their robberies, living also in Gídi. They are subdivided as follows:—
Welád Bú-Karsíye, to whom belongs the chief of the whole section, Hennún Welád Twéta.
El Hamáya, with a chief of their own, El Fádhel Welád Shwén.
E’ Sheháli, with a chief, the son of Allád.
Welád Sháker.
Welád Bú Hínde, who do not live in Tíris, but in Ázawád.
Sekárna, also in several divisions, the name of none of which became known to me, except that of the Áhel Déde, who are the Shiúkh.
Welád Sálem, with the chief, Mohammed Weled ʿOmár, living here or in Gídi.
To the Delém el Áhmar belong the following:—
El Ódekát, the Soltana tribe of the Welád Delém, whose famous chief, Áhmed Weled Mohammed el Fodél, died a few years ago at the age of 120, it is said. They are subdivided into the following divisions:—
Welád e’ Shíya.
Welád Mansúr.
Welád Alláb.
Welád Ermithíye.
Serákhna.
Welád Tagéddi.
Welád Shwékh.
Welád Bú ʿOmár, whose Shiúkh section are said to be the Áhel ʿOmár Weled e’ Sheikh Umbréhi.
Welád el Khaléga (?), with the Shiúkh section Áhel ʿOmár Weled Barka.
Welád Siddúm.
Lógora?
Welád Tédrarín in several (ten?) sections, all paying tribute to the Welád Delém.
Welád Yoʿaza (يعزَ), allied with the Medrámberín, most of whom live in Tíris. They are a powerful tribe, and fight, against the Welád Delém. They do not wander much, and are partly under the rule of Áhmed Sídi, Weled Sídi Mohammed, partly under that of Sidáti.
Tóbalt.
Lémmier.
Shébahín, the kinsfolk of those in El Hódh.
Welád ʿAbd el Wáhed.
El Arúsíyín, the allies of the tribe of the same name.
Imerágen, a very poor sort of people and of bad character, living near the sea-shore.
More exclusively, with regard to Magh-tér, are to be mentioned:—
Áhel Etfága.
El Khatát.
Welád el Háj Mukhtár.
VII.—MOORISH TRIBES IN EL GÁDA, AZEMMÚR, EL HÁHA, ERGSHÉSH, GÍDI, AND THE ADJOINING DISTRICTS.
These districts, which I treat in one chapter merely on account of the scanty and imperfect information which as yet I have been able to collect with regard to them, comprise a large tract of country in the N.W. quarter of the desert, and are of very different character. El Gáda lies between Tíris and Wádi Nún, being separated from the latter by the smaller district called Shebéka, and seems to bear almost the same character as Tíris. But it appears to be divided into two different portions, one of which is called “El Mirkh,” and the other “El Bédh.” Gáda in a certain respect forms part of the larger district called Azemmúr. The most celebrated localities of this district are: Meskór, Ázafay, Ágeshár, Míjik; from here N.E. Asumárik, Tasumárit, El Genáter, Zádenás, Bésharíf, Kedáye-Yetséllem, El Bellebúna, Stélet bel Girdán, Íshirgán, Agárzezís, with the sebkha Abána, Úm el Roesén, el Méhajíb.
The principal Arab tribes living in Gáda are—
The Érgebát, a large and powerful tribe in several sections, living, in “El Gáda,” as well as in Zíni, a district bordering on the E. side of El Gáda.
Welád Músa, } } these two the Soltana sections. Éthalát, }
El Gwásem.
El ʿAíd-ʿEsha or Áhel ʿEsh.
Welád Mohammed ben ʿAbd-Allah, and several others.
In Shebéka there are to be mentioned principally the Zergíyín belonging to the Tíkkena.
Yegút.
Wetúsa.
East from Shebéka, N.E. from Zíni, and N. from the Wádí Sákiet el Hamra, inhabited by the Welád Bú-Seba, there extends the large district called _El Háha_, principally inhabited by the powerful tribe of
El ʿAáríb, who are said to have as many as 1000 horse, and who are the enemies of the Duwémena and the Idáu Belál. They are divided into several sections, viz.—
Legerádeba, about two hundred.
El Bwadín, about the same number.
El Gwásem (the Shiúkh), about forty.
E’ Nwaiji, the Tolba.
Námena.
El Renáneba. } } Ziyút. } } Sídi ʿAlí. } (?) } Medíni. } } Mbáha. }
Besides the ʿAáríb, the district of El Háha is inhabited by the Limtúna, especially the Idáu-Ídderen, and, according to some informants, the Berber element seems to predominate entirely.
El Háha appears to be limited towards the east by _Gídi_ or _Igídi_, a girdle of high sandhills, about one and a half to two days in breadth, and rich in palm-trees, yielding a good sort of date, called “jéhe.” Gídi, at the distance of twenty days east from the principal encampment in Sákiet El Hamra, stretches W.S.W. in the direction of Tishít, from which place its south western end is separated by a naked desert or “meraye” of about ten days. Gídi has no regular inhabitants, the Tájakánt, the Welád Molád, and especially the Kunta, visiting it annually and staying some time in order to gather the dates.[80]
To the S.E. of Igídi is the district _Érgshésh_, separated from it by the smaller districts called _Aftót_ and _El Kart_, the former one being a narrow girdle only half a day broad, and consisting of white and black soil, while El Kart, adjoining Aftót towards the west, is about one day’s journey in breadth, and exhibits an even surface covered with pebbles and much herbage. Érgshésh is a long and narrow girdle of sandhills, which stretches out in the direction from Tawát to Warán, and passing at no great distance to the west of Taödénni, joins Magh-tér, or rather Warán, at the S.W. end. This district, which is similar in its nature to Gídi, and not destitute of water between the high sandhills, although not adorned by nature with the equally graceful and useful palm-tree, is only from twenty to thirty miles broad, and is bordered towards the north by the smaller district called _El Hank_, consisting of black vegetable soil, rich in trees, and intersected by rocky hills or kódia. There is in this district a famous spot called Lemezarráb, with a large group of palm-trees, the fruit of which is gathered by the Kunta, who, however, leave these trees without any cultivation whatever.
On the S.E. side of Érgshésh lies the district called _El Júf_, to which belongs Taödénni, rich in salt, but almost destitute of herbage, with the exception of the more favoured spot called El Harésha, situated at half a day’s distance from Taödénni to the E.N.E., where trees are found. The miserable place called Taödénni, consisting of only a few houses (where, besides the Sheikh Zén, nobody will stay on account of the bad quality of the water), owes its existence to the desertion of Tegháza about the year 950 of the Hejra. I have spoken of the salt mines of Taödénni in the diary of my stay in Timbúktu: here I will only add that in Taödénni a black tobe purchases four camel-loads of salt or sixteen rús, worth each 3500 or 4000 shells in Timbúktu. Taödénni is distant ten days from Warán, going along Érgshésh; nine days from Bú- Jebéha; about the same distance from Mʿamún, W.N.W.; and ten to eleven days from Mabrúk, N.W., viz. (going from Mabrúk), two and a half days to the well Aníshay, five days to the old well called El Gátara, and three days more to Taödénni.[81] El Júf is bordered towards the north by the district called Sáfie, a sort of hammáda, with strips of herbage. In this district wander the Welád Delém, the ʿAáríb, the Áturshán, belonging to the tribe of the ʿAídde, and several tribes of the Kunta, principally the Ergágedá, and the Welád el Wáfi; the principal chief also in Érgshésh, Sídi Mohammed, is a Kuntí.
VIII.—DISTRICTS OF THE SAHARA BETWEEN ÁZAWÁD AND TIMBÚKTU ON THE ONE SIDE, AND EL HÓDH AND BÁGHENA ON THE OTHER.
Between Árawán and Waláta there stretches a waterless desert of ten days; consisting of isolated sandhills, between which very good food for the camel is found, and plenty of water-melons, sufficient to quench the thirst of man as well as of the camel. This district, which is nearly of the same character as Magh-tér, is called _Ákela_, and the Kóbetát mentioned above are principally wandering hereabout.
South of the Ákela the country is rendered more verdant and fertile by the Niger and its many backwaters, and there is one district especially noted for its pasturage, viz. the famous _Rás el má_, mentioned by me repeatedly, where Arabs, principally the Kunta and Berabísh, with the small remnant of the almost extinguished tribe of the Lansár, and the Welád Sʿaíd el Borádda, encamp occasionally, and where Zén el ʿAbidín, a younger brother of Sheikh Áhmed el Bakáy had for a long time his encampment. There is here also a small village of the Idélebó.
Between the Ákela to the N.E., the Dháhar Waláta towards the N.W., and Fermágha towards the S.E., there is the district called _Eríggi_, with a ksar, or small town, called Basikúnnu, mentioned in the preceding volume. Eríggi is the chief district of the Welád ʿAlúsh, a not very numerous but warlike tribe, which extends its forays over the whole of Ázawád, and is divided into two sections:—
El Khatterát.
El Elléb.
The Welád ʿAlúsh are at present the principal tribe of a large group called _Dáúd_, whose elements I shall enumerate here together, though only a portion of the tribes are living hereabout, and most of them have been mentioned by me before, in connection with their respective districts.
_El Dáúd, with Sheikh Swédi._
DÁÚD MOHAMMED.
Welád Bílle.
Welád Bú-Faida.
Welád Talha.
Welád Múmmu, with Mohammed Weled ʿAlí Enhóri.
Welád Nahla.
Welád Ghánem.
DÁÚD ʿARÚK.
Welád Zéd, with Nefʿa Weled Kedádo.
The Erhámena.
Welád ʿAlúsh.
Welád Yúnes.
Welád Rahmún.
Welád Mazúk.
Welád Zayem.
Gésharát.
Welád Ber-hén.
Sákeré Daye.
Welád Yillwi, and several others at present almost extinguished.
I shall here also enumerate the tribes composing the group called Ládem, with the Sheikh ——, son of E’ Shén:—
Áhel Tíki.
Áhel Táleb Mustuf.
Dermússa.
Légeráf.
El Áragíb.
Before concluding this list of the Arab tribes, which would be enlivened if historical knowledge were not a thing almost unknown in this part of the world, I shall mention a few tribes who have founded something like an empire in the south part of the so-called desert:—
El ʿArúsíyín, about 600 A.H.
El Erhámena, who wrested the empire from Shenán el ʿArúsi.
Welád Bílle, who having succeeded to the Erhámena, became very rich and powerful, till, as the Arabs say, they destroyed their empire themselves, by provoking the wrath of the Sheikh El Mukhtár el Kebír, about sixty years ago, when their power was crushed by the Meshedúf and the Zenágha.
A smaller empire was founded by the Welád Bú-Faida, who had their principal seats round Kasári in El Hódh, N.W. from Bághena, till they were overpowered by the Áhel e’ Zenághi.
The Imóshagh have peculiar names for the Arab localities, calling:—
Gundám Sasáweli.
Árawán Eshíggaren.
Berabísh Kél-jaberíye.
Kunta, or Kuntarár Kél-borásse.
The ʿArab el Giblah Udayen (sing. Uday).
I shall here add an itinerary of the route from Wadán to Ághadír Dóme, or, as it is called by the Arabs, e’ Dákhela, which I omitted in the right place.
1st day, Selaurísh.
2nd. Shúf.
3rd. El Mórwesín, a kódia.
4th. Dómus, a good well or hasi.
5th. Tenwáke, an úggada, with good water in the rainy season, but brackish during the dry season.
6th. Encamp between Egjir and Rek el Mhón.
7th. Swéta, a locality encompassed by hilly chains or kódia.
8th. Tagazímet, a hasi, 7 fathoms in depth.
9th. Takeshtint, a hasi, 2 fathoms deep.
10th. E’ Dákhela. The two last days are short marches. The village Ághadír is said to contain from 50 to 60 huts of reed, inhabited by the Imrághen, the chiefs of whom are Weled Áhmed Budde Ébn ʿOmár and Mohammed Weled el Mréma.
[Footnote 79: The position of these places, as laid down in my original map, had to be changed a little from my own data given in the itineraries, and from the data of M. Panet’s route to Shinghít, published in the “Revue Coloniale,” 1851.]
[Footnote 80: At the time when I finished my original map which I sent home from Timbúktu, I had not collected these materials.]