Part 14

This business being concluded, I was in great haste to return to Tasáwa; and starting immediately afterwards, at one o’clock in the afternoon, arrived at our tent a little before midnight. Our tent, indeed, was still there; but all the Tinýlkum (Músa alone excepted), and all our things, were gone on, and Overweg and I were obliged to follow the next day without waiting for Mr. Richardson.

Accordingly, on the 25th of June we left Tasáwa, and after having crossed some sand-hills, entered upon harder soil, with ethel-bushes crowning the little hills,—the whole scene making the impression that a considerable current of water had at one period flowed along here and carried away the soil, which had once extended to the top of the hills. The whole district, which is a narrow and very long strip of land, affording a little herbage for cattle and sheep, bears the name of Wadi Aberjúsh, or Berjúsh, and soon exhibits a more pleasant character; the encircling borders increase a little in height, while the sand ceases and a great deal of herbage begins to cover the soil. But after about another hour’s march, we entered upon pebbly ground like that of the Hammáda, and continued descending through a bare country till we reached the well Sháraba, where we encamped a little to the north, near a talha- bush. It is an open well, only three feet below the surface of the ground, which here forms a very remarkable hollow, almost six hundred feet below the level of Murzuk, but nevertheless contains water only for two or three months in the year. It is, however, evident that in case of heavy rains a large pond or lake must be temporarily formed here by the torrent, which, sweeping along Wadi Berjúsh, finds no outlet.

Towards evening the locality was enlivened for a short time by a small slave-caravan, led by Mohammed Trumba or ʿAkerút, an active, energetic man, whom I met several times in the course of my travels, and incurred some obligation towards him, as it was he who, on my setting out from Zinder to Timbúktu in the beginning of 1853, brought me a supply of one thousand dollars, without which I could scarcely have succeeded in my undertaking. He had come in only sixty-five days from Zinder, and thirty-three from Asben, having been obliged to pursue his journey as fast as possible, because, owing to the expedition of the Kél-owí against the Welád Slimán, provisions were very scarce in Asben. He estimated the number of fighting men who had gone on that expedition at seven thousand, and stated that the Tawárek were acting in concert with the Dáza, a tribe of Tébu, whose real name is Búlgudá. He stated that E’ Núr (or Annur, as the name is pronounced), the chief of the Kél-owí, was at present in Tasáwa (that is to say, the town of that name on the borders of Negroland), but would soon return to Asben. He confirmed the report of plenty of rain having fallen in the desert, in consequence of which the wells were full; but he begged me to beware of the cold during the nights, which he represented as very intense. He had twenty-three female slaves with him and only five camels, and hastened on to Tasáwa, in order to obtain dates for his famished people.

[Sidenote: Wednesday, June 26th.]

Owing to the camels having strayed, it was very late when we left our encampment, and entered a sort of flat valley, from which we ascended to a higher level. From this we obtained a distant glance, towards the W.S.W., of the ruins of a fortress called Kasr Sháraba, the history of which, as it is connected with the struggles of yore between the Tébu and the inhabitants of Fezzán, would be full of interest, if it could be made out distinctly. Towards noon the country wore a more genial aspect, being adorned with several groups of palm-trees. We had to go round a rather steep hill, about 350 feet high, from the summit of which I obtained an interesting view over the desert. The whole country presented a very irregular structure, and scarcely allowed the continuous line of the Wadi Berjúsh to be traced by the eye, hills of considerable height and black pebbly tracts succeeding each other. Over such a desert we continued our march until, late in the afternoon, we reached a spot where the sight of a true wadi, full of herbage and bordered by a strip of talha-trees, gladdened our hearts, and we encamped. It was a pleasant open ground; and the night being cool and refreshing, we felt very much invigorated when we rose the next morning to continue our march.

The talha-trees continued; but the herbage was principally limited to resú, an herb which has a very strong taste, and is not relished by camels for any length of time. The green strip took an irregular, winding course, sometimes approaching the sand-hills which we had always on our left at a certain distance, sometimes keeping more to our right; and Músa, our grave but cheerful camel-driver, dwelt in terms of the highest praise on the great superiority of this wadi, which he said is joined by as many as a hundred smaller branches. It evidently forms the natural highroad between Fezzán and the western desert, and about a month ago must have exhibited a more varied aspect, enlivened as it then was by a considerable torrent sweeping along it. In the afternoon we saw several spots where the eddying stream had formed itself a bed about five feet deep, and had turned up the ground all around; the crust of mire which covered the bed of the torrent had not yet dried. We encamped on a pleasant spot called Hamáwa, without pitching our tent, so delighted were we to enjoy the fresh air of the desert. Here we were joined by a man from Tasáwa, who wanted to seize a debtor, who had attached himself to Bóro’s party in order to make his escape into Sudán—a practice very common with the people of Fezzán.

By repeated measuring with our chain, we had found that, on tolerably even ground, our ordinary rate as the Tawárek travel was half an English geographical mile in thirteen minutes. It is the general custom of these people, who do not allow their camels to feed on the march, to leave them the whole night on the pasture, and not to fetch them till morning, for which reason they never start very early, and often at a rather late hour.

[Sidenote: Friday, June 28th.]

About an hour after we had begun our march along the line of green herbage, we came to a temporary well called Ahitsa[59], containing very fine rain-water, but only for a period of about two months in the year. Having filled two of our water-skins, we continued our march, and soon, to our great joy, got sight of two white tents belonging the one to Mohammed Bóro, the other to Mohammed e’ Sfaksi, and pointing out to us the encampment of the caravan. It had been pitched on open ground, in the midst of the strip of green herbage, and surrounded with a rich border of talha-trees. The place offered good pasture for the camels; and a small encampment of other Tinýlkum not belonging to our caravan, but merely pasturing their camels and goats here, had been formed near the trees. The whole presented an animated picture. Our camel-drivers are said to possess, in the sand-hills bordering this valley on the south side, considerable stores of dates and corn, and to have taken from thence their supplies for the road. The whole character of this landscape appeared to me so peculiar that, the following morning before we started, I made a sketch of it from the elevated stony ground to the north of the channel, which here exhibited evident traces of a small waterfall formed by the heavy rains. Stones had been laid here in the form of a circle, as a place of prayer. The whole valley was about four miles broad; the locality is called Tesémmak.

[Illustration]

When we started next morning, we formed a tolerably large party, with sixty-two camels, which were arranged in four strings, one of which consisted of thirty-three animals, each fastened to the tail of the preceding one. The valley was enlivened by a small herd of gazelles, which Overweg and I tried for a moment to pursue. Having passed a well called Tafiyúk, at a place where the sand-hills jut out into the valley, we encamped about half an hour beyond, near another well containing rain-water for a short time of the year, and called Em-éneza. Two branches of the wadi unite here; and distinct traces of the great force of the last torrent remained in the broken condition of the ground.

Here we remained encamped for the two following days, in order to allow Mr. Richardson and the Azkár chiefs to come up. I spent the time sometimes writing and studying, at others roving about or musing while seated on some elevated rocks at the border of the rising ground. Musa was our constant visitor, and gave us all the information required, though he was not very intelligent. There had been some small differences between us and our camel-drivers, who, though in other respects not uncouth or uncivil, had, from religious principles, sometimes assumed a rather hostile position towards us. We now effected a general reconciliation; and there was every reason to believe that we should go on well with them.

[Sidenote: Tuesday, July 2nd.]

Being informed that our companions were near, we moved on a little, and at length got out of the eternal Wadi Aberjúsh, with all its little side-branches, which are divided from the main wadi by a gently-rising ground covered with black pebbles. Then after a little we reached the Wadi Eláwen, forming a broad depression running from the north, where it is joined by several branch channels descending from the plateau towards the sand-hills on the south, and encamped on its western side, between tall sebót shooting up from the sandy ground, and near some fine talha- trees. We soon discovered, to our great delight, that only two hundred paces above our encampment the floods, descending from the higher ground in two large branches, and carrying down with them bushes and brushwood in abundance, had formed a pond at present about 100 feet long and 50 feet broad, which contributed greatly to enliven the district. All the world was bathing and playing about the water; and flights of thirsty birds, of the kinds _Numida_ and _Pterocles_, were hovering about, watching a favourable moment to come in for their share. Everywhere in the bottom of the valley there was water at a little depth; and we obtained excellent potations from a well dug by our people close below our tents.

About five o’clock in the afternoon we were at length joined by Mr. Richardson and the chiefs of the Azkár; but the unsatisfactory way in which the business had been concluded with these chiefs in Murzuk, led to a break up sooner even than I had suspected. The next evening Hatíta summoned us to a divan, and declared distinctly that he required a month’s time to make the necessary preparations for the journey to Aïr. Hence it would be necessary for us to separate from the caravan, and, taking our luggage with us to Ghát, to hire or buy other camels there. In reply to this unjust and absurd demand, we declared that we had no other choice but to follow the direct Sudán road in the company of the caravan, and that it was our firm intention at any rate not to lose more than seven days in Ghát. Hatíta having left us rather dissatisfied at our decision, our servants, who would gladly have idled away one or two months in Ghát as they had done in Murzuk, insolently told us that we were very much mistaken in thinking that the road to Aïr was in any degree open to us, for it would first be necessary to send a courier to ask the permission of the chiefs of that country to enter it, and we must wait for the answer.

While remaining firm in our resolution, we of course consented to go to Ghát, and tried at the same time to come to some final arrangement with our camel-drivers, promising them a small allowance for every day they should wait for us. They at length promised to spend ten days on the way to Arikím, a well three days’ march south from Ghát, where they would wait six days, and then go on directly to Aïr. Attacking the old chief, therefore, on his weakest side, we sent him word the next morning, that, as we had but little money with us, he would not succeed in getting anything of value from us, if he should try to keep us in Ghát for any length of time; and I insisted, with Yusuf Mukni, upon the dishonesty of the chief’s conduct, in trying to make an entirely new bargain after he had got all he demanded. His answer was satisfactory; and with the fervent hope that we should not be baffled in our attempt to discover new regions and new tribes of men, we left the further development of the affair to time.

While these disputes were going on, I employed my leisure hours in roving about our encampment, in different directions, up and down the valley. The eastern of the two branches, which by their junction form the valley, was peculiarly rich in herbage, and commanded by a hill starting up from the plateau, which afforded a very interesting view around, though this was almost surpassed by the prospect from a mound a little to the W.S.W. of our tent. The lower part of the valley was more diversified by numerous branches, which joined it on the S.E. side. One of these, which was bordered by high ridges of sandstone, was evidently a favourite play-ground of the gazelles, the fresh footmarks of which chequered its sandy bottom like a net. Pursuing this direction, I approached the sand-hills which form the southern border of this whole district.

Fatigued by my long walk, I was the more able in the evening to do full justice to our supper, which was diversified by a variety of birds that had been shot in the course of the day near the pond.

[Footnote 57: This is evidently a Central African name, and appears to belong to the original black population of Fezzán. But it seems to stand in some sort of relationship to Asáwa, the name of one of the original seats of the Aurághen.]

[Footnote 58: From what Major Burton says in his “Pilgrimage,” vol. ii. p. 290., it would appear that Mohammed Ibn ʿAbdallah e’ Snúsi, which is his full name, is still living.]

[Footnote 59: The commencing vowel-sound “a” is generally inaudible, at least by a strange ear, if the word be not very distinctly spoken; but nevertheless it is characteristic of these Tawárek names.]

CHAP. IX.

SINGULAR SCULPTURES IN THE DESERT. — THE MOUNTAIN-PASS.

[Sidenote: June 5th.]

We had to separate from the Tinýlkum, and from our luggage, without having any certainty as to where and when we might overtake them. The chiefs of Ghát, too, had started in advance. The country had been rising all the way from Wadi Sháraba, which seems to form the lowest point in this whole region; and we ascended to-day very considerably. Pushing on in advance of our little troop, and passing a small caravan, which was laden with provisions and merchandise belonging to the pilgrim-caravan of the Tawáti, I soon came up with Hatíta and his companions. They were civil and kind; but the old friend of the English, who had an eye to a new marriage with some pretty Amóshagh girl some forty or fifty years younger than himself, gave me sundry expressive hints that I should spare him something of my outfit,—either a pair of pistols, or a carpet, or a bernús, or any other little article. My refusal in nowise rendered him uncivil. While he was riding by my side, I took the opportunity of making a slight sketch of him,—his English gun, the gift of some previous traveller, forming a striking contrast to his large shield of antelope-hide, ornamented with a cross. Having crossed another valley of some extent, we descended into Wadi Elghom-udé (the Valley of the Camel), which, richly clothed with herbage, forms an inlet in the stony plateau from north to south, and has a very cheerful aspect. The encampment, spread over a great extent of ground, formed quite an ethnographical museum, comprising as it did six distinct small caravan-troops from different parts of Africa, and even of Europe.

[Illustration]

[Sidenote: Saturday, June 6th.]

A splendid morning, cool and fresh. We were happy to meet a small caravan coming from Sudán, which brought us some important pieces of news: first, that they had come to Ghát in the company of five men belonging to the family of Ánnur (the chief of the Kél-owí), who, after a short stay, would return to their country; and secondly, that the expedition of the Kél-owí had returned from Kánem, after having totally annihilated the Welád Slimán. They brought with them seventeen slaves, among whom were fifteen females, one with a very engaging countenance. After less than three miles’ march, our companions looked about in the Wadi Telísaghé for a camping-ground. The valley proved of more than ordinary interest. It was hemmed in by steep cliffs of rock, and adorned with some fine talha-trees. With no great reluctance we followed the Tawárek chiefs, who kept along its steep western border, and at length chose the camping-ground at a spot where a western branch joins the principal wadi. Scarcely had we pitched our tents, when we became aware that the valley contained some remarkable sculptures deserving our particular attention.

The spot where we had pitched our tents afforded a very favourable locality for commemorating any interesting events; and the sandstone blocks which studded it were covered with drawings representing various subjects, more or less in a state of preservation. With no pretensions to be regarded as finished sculptures, they are made with a firm and steady hand, well accustomed to such work, and, being cut to a great depth, bore a totally different character from what is generally met with in these tracts.

The most interesting sculpture represented the following subject, the description of which I am unfortunately able at present to accompany with only an imperfect woodcut, as the drawing which I made of it on the spot was forwarded by me to England to Mr. Birch, the celebrated Egyptian archæologist, and seems to have been mislaid.

[Illustration: Drawn by J. M. Bernatz, from a Sketch by Dr. Barth.

M. & N. Hanhart, lith. et impt.

TELISAGHE.

July 7th. 1850.]

The sculpture represents a group of three individuals of the following character and arrangement:—

[Illustration]

To the left is seen a tall human figure, with the head of a peculiar kind of bull, with long horns turned forward and broken at the point; instead of the right arm he has a peculiar organ terminating like an oar, while in the left hand he carries an arrow and a bow—at least such is the appearance, though it might be mistaken for a shield: between his legs a long tail is seen hanging down from his slender body. The posture of this figure is bent forward, and all its movements are well represented. Opposite to this curious individual is another one of not less remarkable character, but of smaller proportions, entirely human as far up as the shoulders, while the head is that of an animal which reminds us of the Egyptian ibis, without being identical with it. The small pointed head is furnished with three ears, or with a pair of ears and some other excrescence, and beyond with a sort of hood (which, more than any other particular, recalls the idea of Egyptian art), but it is not furrowed; over the fore part of the head is a round line representing some ornament, or perhaps the basilisc. This figure likewise has a bow in its right hand, but, as it would seem, no arrow, while the left hand is turned away from the body.

Between these two half-human figures, which are in a hostile attitude, is a bullock, small in proportion to the adjacent lineaments of the human figure, but chiselled with the same care and the same skilful hand, with the only exception that the feet are omitted, the legs terminating in points, a defect which I shall have occasion to notice also in another sculpture. There is another peculiarity about this figure, the upper part of the bull, by some accident, having been hollowed out, while in general all the inner part between the deeply- chiselled outlines of these sculptures is left in high relief. The animal is turned with its back towards the figure on the right, whose bow it seems about to break. The block on which it was sculptured was about four feet in breadth and three in height. It was lying loose on the top of the cliff.

No barbarian could have graven the lines with such astonishing firmness, and given to all the figures the light, natural shape which they exhibit. The Romans, who had firmly established their dominion as far as Garama, or Jerma, might easily have sent emissaries to this point and even further; but the sculptures have nothing in them of a Roman character. Some few particulars call to mind the Egyptian sculptures. But on the whole it seems to be a representation of a subject taken from the native mythology, executed by some one who had been in intimate relation with the more advanced people on the coast, perhaps with the Carthaginians. Be this as it may, it is scarcely doubtful that the subject represents two divinities disputing over a sacrifice, and that the figure at the left is intended for the victor.

On the cliff itself there is another sculpture on a large block which, now that the western end is broken off, is about twelve feet long and five feet high. The surface of the block is quite smooth, protected as it has been, in some degree, by the block above, which projects considerably; nevertheless the sculpture has suffered a good deal. It bears testimony to a state of life very different from that which we are accustomed to see now in these regions, and illustrates and confirms Saint Augustine’s[60] statement, that the ancient kings of this country made use of bulls for their conveyance. It represents a dense group of oxen in a great variety of positions, but all moving towards the right, where probably, on the end of the stone which is now broken off, the pond or well was represented from which the beasts were to be watered. Some of these bulls are admirably executed, and with a fidelity which can scarcely be accounted for, unless we suppose that the artist had before his eyes the animals which he chiselled. My sketch gives only a faint idea of the design, which is really beautiful. The only defect, as I have already remarked above, is in the feet, which, from some reason or other, have been negligently treated.

[Illustration]