Part 5

A messenger from the emír having arrived, the Sheikh himself made a long speech, telling him under what circumstances I had reached this place, and that now I had once placed myself under his protection, there was nothing but honourable peace, both for himself and his guest, or war. Upon this the messenger observed in an ironical manner, that, El Férreji (who had been sent to compromise with the Sheikh) being a learned man like himself, everything would end well; meaning, that they would know, if not able to succeed by force, how to vanquish him with arguments taken from their creed. Another protest having been sent to Táleb Mohammed, who, as I stated before, although nothing but a merchant, exercised a great political influence in this anarchical place, I went home to refresh myself with a cup of tea, and then made preparations for the eventual defence of my house, and for hiding the more valuable of my effects: after which I returned to the residence of El Bakáy, about midnight, and found the holy man himself, armed with a double-barreled gun, about to enter the great segífa, or parlour, which he had allotted to his faithful and discreet storekeeper, Táleb el Wáfi. Here we sat down; and soon about forty men gathered round us, armed partly with spears and partly with muskets, when, after a great deal of useless talk as to what was to be done, it was agreed upon to send one messenger to the Tawárek chiefs, Rummán and Mushtába, whose acquaintance I had made on a former occasion, and who at present were encamped in Mushérrek, a locality rich in pasture-grounds and well protected by three branches of the river, to the south-west of the town,—and another messenger to our friends the Kel-úlli, in order to summon these people to our assistance.

Meanwhile the Sheikh, seated on the raised platform of clay which occupied the left corner of the parlour, entertained the sleepy assembly with stories of the prophets, especially Músa and Mohammed, and the victories achieved by the latter, in the beginning of his career, over his numerous adversaries. The quiet of the listless assembly was only disturbed for a time by a shriek issuing from the northern part of the town, and everybody snatched his gun and ran out; but it was soon found that the alarm was caused by our own messengers, who, on leaving the place, had disturbed the repose of the inhabitants of the suburb, or “Áberaz,” the latter supposing them to belong to a foray of the predatory and enterprising Welád ʿAlúsh, who were then infesting Ázawád.

Having thus sat up the whole night, full of curious reflections on these tragi-comic scenes, I returned to my quarters about five o’clock in the morning, and endeavoured to raise my exhausted spirits by means of some coffee. However, our precautions, insufficient as they might seem to a European, had had their full effect, and the Púllo messenger did not dare to enter the town before noon, and even then, although joined by about sixty horsemen from the townspeople, was afraid to traverse our warlike quarter.

Meanwhile Sídi Mohammed and Álawáte had left the town with a troop of armed men, under the pretext of observing the movements of the enemy, but perhaps in order to show them that they themselves did not coincide with all the views of the Sheikh. Going then to the residence, I found nearly two hundred people assembled there, most of them armed, and including among their number even the Púllo, Mohammed ben ʿAbd-Alláhi, who did not conceal the greater friendship he felt for the Sheikh than for his own countrymen, the Fúlbe of Hamda-Alláhi. While I was there, Mohammed Sʿaíd, the officer who had been sent to capture me on a previous occasion, was despatched as a messenger by Férreji, the new officer; and, under the present circumstances, disguising all hostile intentions, he was desirous to know what was the reason of this show of arms; such not being in accordance with the Sheikh’s former character, and it being rather his duty to bestow hospitable treatment upon his old friend, El Férreji.

Although this was rather a curious distortion of facts, I was still more astonished at the answer of the Sheikh, who replied, that he had only followed the example of his two brothers. But the business was not settled in this manner. Late in the evening there was another serious consultation in the terrace-room of the Sheikh, and Sídi Álawáte was despatched to Férreji to elicit from him an indication of his real intentions. Sídi Mohammed, meanwhile, in order to pass away the time, opened a cheerful and jocose conversation, by questioning me respecting the social position and the various relations of the other sex in my own country,—a subject which always possesses a great deal of attraction, even amongst the most serious of the Mohammedans.

Having then been obliged to withdraw, as Álawáte had pretended that he could only communicate his message from the officer sent from Hamda- Alláhi to El Bakáy himself, I returned home; but, long after midnight, I received a visit from the latter, who came to inform me that Férreji had brought nothing but favourable letters from Hamda-Alláhi, having written, as he said, the threatening letter from Kábara merely at the instigation of the Sahelíye, or merchants from Morocco; and that he himself, on his part, had assured Férreji that, if Sheikho Áhmedu left me alone, I should be forwarded on my home journey after a short delay; but adding, that the Fúlbe ought to assist him from the public revenue, in order to hasten my departure.

The same day I witnessed an interesting episode in the private life of these people. The Sheikh’s mother-in-law having died, he went to pray for her soul at the “ródha,” or sepulchre, of Sídi Mukhtár, a sacred locality a few hundred yards on the east side of the town, which in my career in this place was to become of greater importance to me. Such is the reverence which these Arabs have for the female portion of their tribe. There are, moreover, several women famed for the holiness of their life, and even authoresses of well-digested religious tracts, among the tribe of the Kunta.

Political circumstances were not quite so favourable as my host wanted to represent them to me; as, like many other people, he was not very particular, when endeavouring to obtain a good object, about saying things that were not quite true: and the following day, when Férreji paid a visit to the Sheikh, he designated me as a war-chief and a “mehárebi,” or freebooter, who ought not to be allowed to remain any longer in the town. Altogether it was fortunate that El Bakáy had provided for the worst by sending for the Kel-úlli, who arrived in the course of the afternoon, about sixty strong, with great military demonstrations and beating of shields. It was on this occasion that I first made the acquaintance of this warlike tribe, who, notwithstanding their degraded position as Imghád, have made themselves conspicuous by totally annihilating the formerly powerful tribe of the Ígelád and Ímedídderen, who in former times ruled over Timbúktu and were hostile to the Kunta. The Kél-úlli are distinguished among all the tribes of the neighbourhood by three qualities which, to the European, would scarcely seem possible to be united in the same person, but which are not unfrequently found combined in the Arab tribes, viz. “réjela,” or valour; “sírge,” or thievishness; and “dhiyáfa,” or generous hospitality.

CHAP. LXXII.

GREAT CRISIS. — OBLIGED TO LEAVE THE TOWN. — MILITARY DEMONSTRATION.

There was now a fair opportunity offered me of leaving the town in an honourable way, under the protection of the friendly Kél-úlli, who for this very purpose had brought with them from the encampment my four camels; but the Sheikh missed this favourable occasion, by relying too much upon the promised arrival of the great Tawárek chief Alkúttabu. As for our friends the Tademékket, to whom Áhmed Wádáwi, the learned follower of the Sheikh, had been sent as a messenger, they did not come along with him, but sent word that they would follow him as soon as their presence was required; their chief Áwáb having gone to raise tribute from the degraded tribe of the Idélebó.

Uncertain as my situation was under these circumstances, I felt cheered by the not very improbable chance of my departure; for at length the last cause which had delayed me so long seemed to be removed, by El Bakáy’s wife giving birth to a child on the 4th of March. All political as well as domestic circumstances therefore seemed to conspire in rendering it possible for him to accompany me for the distance of some days; and he had really assured me the night before, when I was engaged in a consultation with him till near morning, that I should leave on the following Tuesday; but, having had too much insight into his dilatory character, I told him very plainly that I did not believe a word of it, as he had disappointed me so often. And I had reason to be satisfied with my scepticism, as the phantom of the “tábu,” or the great army of the Tawárek, with whose assistance he hoped to triumph over his enemies, did not allow him to adhere to any fixed plan. Now the “tábu” was really approaching; and it was merely some unforeseen circumstance, probably owing in part to the machinations of the party publicly or secretly opposed to the authority of the Sheikh, which prevented the great chief of all those westerly Tawárek from reaching Timbúktu, and crowning all the hopes and wishes of my protector.

It was in the afternoon of the 5th that we received undoubted news of the approach of the tábu, the shepherds seeking to secure their flocks by flight, and all those who had reason to fear the wrath or anger of their mighty liege lord endeavouring to reach the islands and creeks of the river as a place of safety. A messenger who arrived from Bamba, stated that the tábu had really reached the town of Égedesh, a few miles beyond Bamba; nay, even the state of the atmosphere seemed to confirm the news of the approach of a numerous host, as it was entirely enveloped in thick clouds of dust. But the Sheikh was a little too rash in sending, on the 6th, a message to El Férreji, giving him official information of the arrival of Alkúttabu. That officer answered, in a manly way, that he must not think of frightening him, and that he himself, if necessary, was fully able to summon an army from Fermágha and from Dár e’ Salám, the capital of the province of Jimbálla on the other side of the river; that he had come to drive me out of the town, and that he would at any cost achieve his purpose; and although the Sheikh’s rival, Hammádi, seemed to be frightened, and came to sue for peace, yet Sídi Mohammed was wearied with his brother’s continual procrastination, and from that day forward did all in his power to make me leave the town under any condition, and banish me to the tents.

There is no doubt that, in the event of the “tábu” not arriving, the Sheikh’s situation became more dangerous in consequence of the arrival of his brother ʿAbidín, who entered the town amidst a demonstration of firing and music on the afternoon of the 7th. All the three brothers went out on horseback to meet him; but this man, who was bent upon following a policy entirely opposed to that of El Bakáy, took up his quarters with Hammádi, the adversary of the latter. Even the eldest brother was so little satisfied with the Sheikh’s present policy, that, when I called upon him about midnight of that same day, a very serious conversation arose between the two brothers, Sídi Mohammed asking El Bakáy whether they were to fight the Fullán on account of a single individual, and one too of a foreign religion; and reproaching him at the same time with the fact, that his preparations did not advance, while on his part he did not think any preparations were necessary at all, as he was sure that not even the tribe of the Igwádaren, who are settled near Bamba, would do me any harm. But the Sheikh endeavoured to gain time, by telling his brother that he would send the following day for the horses from Kábara, and that he would write a letter to some chiefs on the road through whose territory I had to pass.

Having been a quiet spectator of this dispute I returned to my quarters, and in order to provide against any accident I packed up the remainder of my luggage, and made everything ready for starting. Meanwhile, Sídi Mohammed and Álawáte, in order to further their plans, had the same afternoon an appointment with ʿAbidín and Hammádi, where they probably determined as to the course to be pursued with regard to me: and El Bakáy, who went the same evening to pay a visit to ʿAbidín, seemed to have given a kind of half promise that I should leave in the afternoon of the 10th. But having obtained a short respite, in the course of the following day, he delayed my departure from day to day, expecting all the time the arrival of Alkúttabu.

Meanwhile, Sídi Mohammed had made a serious attack upon my religion, and called me always a káfir. But I told him that I was a real Moslim, the pure Islám, the true worship of the one God, dating from the time of Adam, and not from the time of Mohammed; and that thus, while adhering to the principle of the unity, and the most spiritual and sublime nature, of the Divine Being, I was a Moslim, professing the real Islám, although not adopting the worldly statutes of Mohammed, who, in everything that contained a general truth, only followed the principles established long before his time. I likewise added, that even they themselves regarded Plato and Aristotle as Moslemín, and that thus I myself was to be regarded as a Moslim, in a much stricter sense than these two pagan philosophers. I concluded by stating that the greater part of those who called themselves Moslemín did not deserve that name at all, but ought rather to be called Mohammedán, such as we named them, because they had raised their prophet above the Deity itself.

Being rather irritated and exasperated by the frequent attacks of Sídi Mohammed and Álawáte, I delivered my speech with great fervour and animation; and when I had concluded, Sídi Mohammed, who could not deny that the Kurán itself states that Islám dates from the creation of mankind, was not able to say a word in his defence. As for El Bakáy, he was greatly delighted at this clear exposition of my religious principles, but his younger brother, who certainly possessed a considerable degree of knowledge in religious matters, stated, in opposition to my argument, that the Caliphs, El Harún and Mʿamún, who had the books of Plato and Aristotle translated into Arabic, were Metʿazíla, that is to say, heretics, and not true Moslemín; but this assertion of course I did not admit, although much might be said in favour of my opponent. At all events, I had obtained some respite from the attacks of my friends; and having thus the support of them all, in the afternoon of the following day, the 10th of March, we went quietly to the tents in order to celebrate the “Sebúwa” (corresponding to the baptism of the Christians) of the new-born child. On this occasion I noticed that the water in the outlying creeks which we passed had only fallen about three feet since the 17th of February, which is less than two inches per day; but it is probable that the water of the principal branch decreases more rapidly than that of these winding backwaters.

The camp was full of animation, the Gwanín el Kohol, a section of the Bérabísh, having taken refuge in the encampment of the Sheikh from fear of the Kél-hekíkan, with whom they were on hostile terms. It was highly interesting for me to be thus brought into close contact with these people, who owe allegiance to the chief that had murdered Major Laing; and well aware that I could not fail to entertain a strong prejudice against them, they all thronged round me on my arrival, and hastened to assure me of their friendly disposition. They were armed with double- barreled guns, a weapon which, owing to the trade with the French, is now common through the whole of this part of the desert, the long single-barreled gun, the only favourite weapon with the Arabs to the north, being here regarded with contempt as befitting only the slave. In general, the people were of middle stature, although some of them were fine tall men and of a warlike and energetic appearance, having their shirts, mostly of a light blue colour, tied up over their shoulder and girt round the waist with a belt, the powderhorn hanging over the shoulder, quite in the same style as is the custom of their brethren nearer the shores of the Atlantic. Their head was uncovered, with the exception of their own rich black hair, or guffa, which, I am sorry to add, was full of vermin.

The same evening, although it was late, my host, who was certainly not wanting in hospitality, slaughtered five oxen, and in consequence we partook of supper about an hour after midnight. But that was not at all unusual here; and nothing during my stay in Timbúktu was more annoying to me, and more injurious to my health, than this unnatural mode of living, which surpasses in absurdity the late hours of London and Paris.

Early the next morning two more head of cattle were slaughtered, and enormous quantities of rice and meat were cooked for the great numbers of guests, who had flocked here together from the town and from all parts of the neighbouring district. Amidst such feasting the name of Mohammed was given to the new-born infant. The way in which the guests dealt with the enormous dishes, some of which were from four to five feet in diameter, and could only be carried by six persons, bore testimony to the voracity of their appetites; one of these immense dishes was upset, and the whole of the contents spilt in the sand.

But the people were not long left to enjoy their festivity, for just while they were glutting themselves a troop of Kél-hekíkan, the tribe who waged the bloody feud with the Gwanín, passed by, throwing the whole encampment into the utmost confusion. When at length it had again settled down, the festivities proceeded, and Mohammed el ʿAísh, with some of his countrymen from Tawát, rode a race up the slope of the downs towards the tents, firing their guns at the same time; but altogether the exhibition was rather shabby, and some of the men were very poor riders, having probably never been on horseback before, as they were natives of the desert where the camel prevails. The inhabitants of Timbúktu, who possess horses, are continually pestered with the request to lend them to strangers; and, with regard to these animals, a sort of communism prevails in the town; but they are of a very poor description, only the Sheikh himself possessing some good horses, brought from the Gibleh, or Western quarter of the desert.

The Kél-hekíkan formed also a subject of anxiety to us in the evening, and, after a long and tedious consultation, it was decided to send some people to watch the movements of those freebooters. Having been met with, they declared they should feel satisfied if the Sheikh would consent to deliver up to them the person who had first slain one of their companions, for this had been the beginning of the feud with the Gwanín, although the murderer belonged to the Túrmus, and not to that other tribe which had taken up the quarrel. In consequence of these feudal relations I had an interesting conversation with the Sheikh, and Fandaghúmme, one of the chiefs of the Tademékket who had likewise come to join this festival, about the “fedʿa,” or the price of blood, many of the Tawárek tribes refusing to accept any fedʿa, but peremptorily requiring bloodshed. I have already mentioned these freebooters, the Kél-hekíkan, on a former occasion; and it is remarkable, that this very tribe, which at present is most distinguished by its lawless and sanguinary habits, and which in consequence of the almost uninterrupted state of warfare in which they are engaged, was at the time reduced to about forty full-grown men, exhibits the finest specimens of manly vigour and stately appearance which are to be found in this whole region.

Notwithstanding the importance which the day possessed for my protector, the stay in the camp, deprived as I was of books or any other source of amusement, and of even the smallest European comfort, became more and more tedious to me. My material privations also were not few, especially as I had not even taken coffee with me this time, so that I had nothing to refresh myself with in the early part of the morning. However, I tried to pass my time as cheerfully as possible, and took some interest in the appearance of a man who had likewise come out to enjoy the hospitality of the Sheikh. This was the sheríf Múláy Isay, who, on account of his white skin, was almost suspected by the natives to be of European origin. In the course of the day the Sheikh showed me some rich gold trinkets belonging to his wife, manufactured in Waláta; and this was almost the only time that I had an opportunity of inspecting these gold ornaments. They formed a sort of diadem: and I understood my host to say that he wanted to have a similar one made for Queen Victoria, which, however poor in itself, I assured him would be valued by the English as a specimen of their native industry.

The stay in this place became the more disagreeable, as a high wind raised thick clouds of dust, and the leathern tent, in which Fandaghúmme was staying, was blown down, and I was therefore rather glad when, in the evening of the 13th, we returned into the town. Here, again, the news of the arrival of the “tábu” was a second time reported, and everybody again thrown into a state of excitement; the Ergágeda, a tribe of Arabs or Moors, moving to and fro, while all the poor degraded tribes in the neighbourhood, together with their herds of cattle and their flocks of sheep, fled again for refuge to the encampment of the Sheikh, such as the Kél e’ Sheríʿa, the Kél-antsár, the Ídenán, and the Kél- úlli. My protector himself was again to return to the tents on the morning of the 15th, when a serious business arose, the Fullán insisting with great pertinacity that I should leave the town this day, or else they would certainly kill me; for they would rather, they said, that the “tábu” should annihilate them all, than that I should remain a day longer in the town.