Part 16
The valley was here very richly overgrown with sebót; and to my great delight I saw at a distance some small huts attached to branches of the ethel-tree, covered on the top with sebót, and open in front. With joy in my heart I hastened on towards them, but found them empty; and not a living being was to be seen, nor was there a drop of water to be got.
My strength being now exhausted, I sat down on the naked plain, with a full view before me of the whole breadth of the wadi, and with some confidence expected the caravan. I even thought, for a moment, that I beheld a string of camels passing in the distance. But it was an illusion; and when the sun was about to set, not being able to muster strength enough to walk a few paces without sitting down, I had only to choose for my night’s quarters between the deserted huts and an ethel- tree which I saw at a little distance. I chose the latter, as being on a more elevated spot, and therefore scrambled to the tree, which was of a respectable old age, with thick tall branches, but almost leafless. It was my intention to light a fire, which promised almost certain deliverance; but I could not muster sufficient strength to gather a little wood. I was broken down and in a feverish state.
Having lain down for an hour or two, after it became quite dark I arose from the ground, and, looking around me, descried to my great joy a large fire S.W. down the valley, and, hoping that it might be that of my companions, I fired a pistol, as the only means of communicating with them, and listened as the sound rolled along, feeling sure that it would reach their ears; but no answer was returned. All remained silent. Still I saw the flame rising towards the sky, and telling where deliverance was to be found, without my being able to avail myself of the signal. Having waited long in vain, I fired a second time—yet no answer. I lay down in resignation, committing my life to the care of the Merciful One; but it was in vain that I tried to sleep, and, restless and in a high fever, I tossed about on the ground, looking with anxiety and fear for the dawn of the next day.
At length the long night wore away, and dawn was drawing nigh. All was repose and silence; and I was sure I could not choose a better time for trying to inform my friends, by signal, of my whereabouts. I therefore collected all my strength, loaded my pistol with a heavy charge, and fired—once—twice. I thought the sound ought to awaken the dead from their tombs, so powerfully did it reverberate from the opposite range and roll along the wadi; yet no answer. I was at a loss to account for the great distance apparently separating me from my companions, who seemed not to have heard my firing.
The sun that I had half longed for, half looked forward to with terror, at last rose. My condition, as the heat went on increasing, became more dreadful; and I crawled around, changing every moment my position, in order to enjoy the little shade afforded by the leafless branches of the tree. About noon there was of course scarcely a spot of shade left—only enough for my head,—and I suffered greatly from the pangs of thirst, although I sucked a little of my blood till I became senseless, and fell into a sort of delirium, from which I only recovered when the sun went down behind the mountains. I then regained some consciousness, and crawled out of the shade of the tree, throwing a melancholy glance over the plain, when suddenly I heard the cry of a camel. It was the most delightful music I ever heard in my life; and raising myself a little from the ground, I saw a mounted Tarki passing at some distance from me, and looking eagerly around. He had found my footsteps in the sandy ground, and losing them again on the pebbles, was anxiously seeking traces of the direction I had taken. I opened my parched mouth, and crying, as loud as my faint strength allowed, “áman, áman” (water, water), I was rejoiced to get for answer “íwah! íwah!” and in a few moments he sat at my side, washing and sprinkling my head, while I broke out involuntarily into an uninterrupted strain of “el hamdu lilláhi! el hamdu lilláhi!”
Having thus first refreshed me, and then allowed me a draught which, however, I was not able to enjoy, my throat being so dry, and my fever still continuing, my deliverer, whose name was Musa, placed me upon his camel, mounted himself in front of me, and brought me to the tents. They were a good way off. The joy of meeting again, after I had been already despaired of, was great; and I had to express my sincere thanks to my companions, who had given themselves so much trouble to find me. But I could speak but little at first, and could scarcely eat anything for the next three days, after which I gradually recovered my strength. It is, indeed, very remarkable how quickly the strength of a European is broken in these climes, if for a single day he be prevented from taking his usual food. Nevertheless I was able to proceed the next day (the 17th), when we kept more towards the slope of the Akakús, and here passed a broad lateral valley, rich in herbage, called Ádar-n-jelkum, after which we descended about a hundred feet from the pebbly ground into sandy soil forming a sort of valley called Ighelfannís, and full of ethel-trees and sebót. In such a locality we encamped two hours after noon, near splendid ethel-trees; but the strong north-easterly wind, enveloping ourselves and baggage in thick clouds of sand, banished all enjoyment.
[Sidenote: Thursday, July 18th.]
We continued our march with the sure expectation of soon reaching Ghát[62], the second great station on our journey. The valley after some time became free from ethel-trees, and opened a view of the little town, situated at the north-western foot of a rocky eminence jutting out into the valley, and girt by sand-hills on the west. Its plantation extends in a long strip towards S.S.W., while another group, formed by the plantation and by the noble-looking mansion of Háj Ahmed, appears towards the west. Here we were joined by Mohammed Sheríf, a nephew of Háj Ahmed, in a showy dress, and well mounted on a horse; and we separated from Hatíta in order to take our way round the north side of the hill, so as to avoid exciting the curiosity and importunity of the townspeople. But a good many boys came out of the town, and exhibited quite an interesting scene as they recognized Yakúb (Mr. Richardson), who had visited this place on his former journey. Many people came out to see us, some offering us their welcome, others remaining indifferent spectators.
Thus we reached the new plantation of Háj Ahmed the governor, as he is called, of Ghát, and found, at the entrance of the out-building, which had been destined for our use, the principal men of the town, who received us with great kindness and politeness. The most interesting among them was Háj Ahmed himself, a man of grave and dignified manners, who, although a stranger to the place, and a native of Tawát, has succeeded, through his address and his mercantile prosperity, in obtaining for himself here an almost princely position, and has founded in reality a new town, with large and splendid improvements, by the side of the old city. His situation as governor of Ghát, in reference, and in some degree in opposition, to the Tawárek chiefs, is a very peculiar one, and requires, on his part, a good deal of address, patience, and forbearance. I am convinced that when we first arrived he did not view us with displeasure, but, on the contrary, was greatly pleased to receive under his roof a mission of Her Britannic Majesty’s Government, with whose immense influence and power, and the noble purpose of whose policy, he was not entirely unacquainted; but his extraordinary and precarious situation did not allow him to act freely, and besides I cannot say that he received from us so warm an acknowledgment as his conduct in the first instance seemed to deserve.
Besides him, the chief parties in our first conversation were his nephew Ahmed Mohammed Sheríf (the man who came to meet us), a clever but forward lad, of pleasant manners—whom in the course of my travels I met several times in Sudán,—and Mohammed Káfa, a cheerful good-humoured man.
[Illustration]
Our quarters, of which the accompanying woodcut gives the ground-plan, were certainly neither airy nor agreeable; but the hot sand-wind which blew without made them appear to us quite tolerable.
[Footnote 60: Augustin. Op. vol. xvi. p. 526. ed. Bassan.:—“Garamantum regibus tauri placuerunt.”]
[Footnote 61: See my Wanderings along the Shore of the Mediterranean, vol. i. p. 5. ff.
It is, however, to be remarked, that even now, when the quantity of water all over the ancient world has certainly decreased a great deal, oxen are sometimes used on this Sudán road by way of Ghát soon after the rains. I have been assured that in 1847 or 1848 the well-known Tébu Haj Abérma travelled with oxen from Kanó as far as Ghát, about the time of the ʿAïd el kebír,—that is to say, in the month of December,—the oxen being watered every second day.]
[Footnote 62: If I were to give the real native sound, I should write Rhát rather than Ghát; and it is only from fear lest I might offend the ear of the English reader, that I abstain from following this principle. The ghain of the Arabs has a double sound, sometimes as _gh_, at others as _rh_, and the latter prevails entirely in this part of Africa; and I do not see why we should not express this difference. For the same reason I should prefer writing Sonrhay, and not Songhay, or Sunghay.]
CHAP. X.
THE INDIGENOUS BERBER POPULATION.
There can be no doubt that even Fezzán, in ancient times, had a population entirely different from that dwelling near the coast; but the original black inhabitants of that country have been swept away, or mixed up entirely with the Arabs, who seem to have invaded this country not earlier than the 15th century of our era, for in Makrizi’s time Fezzán was still a Berber country.[63] But few names now remain which evidently bespeak a Central African origin, such as those terminating in _awa_, as Tasáwa or Tessáwa (a town already mentioned by Edrísi[64]), Portukawa, and others.
But in the country of Ghát, which we have now entered, the case is very different; for here the former state of things has not been so entirely altered as not to leave some unmistakable testimonies behind it.
All the original population of North Africa appear to have been a race of the Semitic stock, but who, by intermarriage with tribes which came from Egypt, or by way of it, had received a certain admixture. The consequence was, that several distinct tribes were produced, designated by the ancients as Libyans, Moors, Numidians, Libyphœnicians, Getulians, and others, and traced by the native historians to two different families, the Beránes and the Abtar, who, however, diverge from one common source, Mazigh or Madaghs. This native wide-spread African race, either from the name of their supposed ancestor, Ber, which we recognise in the name Afer, or in consequence of the Roman term _barbari_, has been generally called Berber, and in some regions Shawi and Shelluh. The general character and language of these people seem to have been the same, while the complexion alone was the distinguishing point of difference.
How far southward the settlements of this North African race originally extended, it is difficult to say; but it may be gathered, even from ancient writers, that they did not extend to the very border of the naked desert, and that they were bounded on the south by a region occupied by Æthiopian races,—an observation which is confirmed by the present state of things. Wárgela evidently belonged originally to the dominion of the Blacks, as well as Tawát. The Berbers seem in general to have kept within their borders till driven from their native seats by the Arabs: for they had been mildly treated by the former conquerors of the country (the Phœnicians, the Romans, Vandals, and Byzantines), and they appear even to have partly embraced Christianity[65]; but this, of course, was just another principle of opposition between them and their Mohammedan conquerors, and a great proportion of them were evidently obliged to retire into the more desolate regions in their rear. The exact time when this happened we are not able to determine.
In the western part of the desert this transmigration commenced before the time of Islam; but in the central part of Barbary the flight of the Berbers seems to have been connected with that numerous immigration of Arab families into North Africa, which took place in the first half of the 11th century, in the time and at the instigation of Ahmed ben ʿAli el Jerjeráni, who died in A.H. 436, or 1044-5 of our era.[66] The fugitives pushed forward in several great divisions, which it is not essential here to enumerate, as, with a few exceptions, they have become extinct. It seems only necessary to advert here to the fact, that of all the reports handed down to us by the ancient Arab historians and geographers respecting the different Berber nations existing in the desert, the name of Tarki, or Tawárek, by which they are at present generally designated, occurs only in Ebn Khaldún[67], under the form Tarká or Táriká; and after him Leo Africanus is the first who, in mentioning the five great tribes, names one of them Terga.[68] This name, which has been given to the Berber inhabitants of the desert, and which Hodgson[69] erroneously supposed to mean “tribe,” is quite foreign to them. The truly indigenous name by which these people call themselves, is the same by which they were already known to the Greeks and Romans, and which was given to their ancestors by Ebn Khaldún and other Arabic writers, viz. Amázigh, Mázigh, Mazix, Masix, Mazys, Mazax, and even Maxitanus in the singular form. The general form now used in these regions is Amóshagh[70] in the singular, Imóshagh in the plural, and Temáshight in the neutral form. This is the native name by which the so-called Tawárek[71] designate their whole nation, which is divided into several great families. And if the reader inquires who gave them the other name, I answer, with full confidence, the Arabs; and the reason why they called them so was probably from their having left or abandoned their religion, from the verb ترك, “tereku dínihum;” for, from evidence which I have collected elsewhere, it seems clear that a great part of the Berbers of the desert were once Christians (they are still called by some Arabs “the Christians of the desert”), and that they afterwards changed their religion and adopted Islám; notwithstanding which they still call God “Mesí,” and an angel “anyelús,” and have preserved many curious customs which bear testimony to their ancient creed.
I said that the regions into which the Berbers had thus been obliged to withdraw, had been formerly occupied by Ethiopian or, as we may rather call them, sub-Libyan tribes. But who were these tribes? We have here to do only with the region about Ghát, reserving the other districts of the desert for future discussion as we advance in our journey. This region, as well as the whole country southward, including Aïr, or rather Asben, was anciently inhabited, I think, by the Góber race. But the Hogár, or Azkár, who now occupy this country, do not seem to have been its first conquerors, but to have found another race, nearly related to themselves, in possession of it.
The tribe which now possesses the country, the Imóshagh or Tawárek of Ghát, are generally called Azkár or Azgar; but they are named also Hogár, or Hágara, though the latter name is very often employed to denote another tribe. Upon this point, also, we have received full and credible information from Ebn Khaldún, who tells us[72] that the name Hogár was formed from that of Hauwára, and served to designate that section of the great Berber tribe which had retired into the desert about Gógó; and it is very remarkable that the Hogár were described just about the same time, in those same regions, by the traveller Ebn Batúta.[73] Hogár therefore seems to be the more general name, while Azkár serves to designate a section of this tribe. However, this name also appears to be an ancient one, being mentioned already by Edrísi (A.H. 453)[74] as the name of a tribe evidently identical with that of which we are speaking, the settlements of which he indicates as being distant twelve days’ journey from Tasáwa, and eighteen from Ghadámes. It is mentioned about a century later by Ebn Sʿaid[75] as dwelling in the same place. The Tinýlkum Ibrahim was of opinion that Azkár means that section of the Hogár who had remained (at some period unknown to us) “faithful to the established authority.” But this interpretation of the name, if we consider the early period at which it occurs, does not seem quite probable; and I suspect that those may be right who give to the name a more general meaning.
At present the Azkár form but a small part of the population of the country which they rule, namely, the region inclosed between the desert bordered by Wadi Talíya in the east, the valleys Zerzúwa and Áfara in the west, the well of Asïu towards the south, and Nijbertín towards the north, and are not able to furnish more than about five hundred armed men. In fact, they form a warlike aristocracy of five families, divided into thirty divisions or fayas, each of which has an independent chief. The names of the five families are Urághen, Ímanang, Ífogas, Hadánarang, and Manghássatang. The Urághen or Aurághen, meaning the “Yellows,” or “golden” (in colour), who seem to have once formed a very powerful family[76], and have given their name to one of the principal dialects of the Tarkíye or Temáshight, are at present much dispersed, many of them living among the Awelímmiden on the northern shore of the Isa or Niger, where I shall have more to say about them. Even among the Azkár they still form the most important division, and count at least a hundred and fifty full-grown men. A large body of them is settled in and about the valley of Arikím, on the direct road from Murzuk to Sudán, and about fifty miles to the south of Ghát. Their original abode is said to have been at a place called Asáwa, to the south of Irálghawen. But the tribe that formerly possessed the greatest authority, and which on this account is still called Amanókalen, or the sultan tribe, is that of the Ímanang, who are at present reduced to extreme poverty, and to a very small number, said not even to reach ten families. But they have still a very large number of Imghád under their command. Their women are celebrated for their beauty. They are most of them settled in the valley of Díder. The third division of the Azkár, to which Hatíta, the friend of the English, belongs, are the Manghássatang, or Imaghássaten, whose leather tents are generally pitched in the Valley of Zerzúwa, on the road from Ghát to Tawát, about six days’ journey from the former.[77]
The three clans, or “tiyúsi,” which I have mentioned, constitute at present, strictly speaking, the family of the Azkár; the other two divisions, viz. the Ífogas and the Hadánarang, having separated from the rest, and broken in some way the national bond which formerly united them with the others. One of them, the Ífogas, are scattered over the whole desert, some having settled among the Kél-owí at a place called Tórit, on the road to Damerghú; another section dwells in the more favoured valleys to the east of Mabrúk; while a small portion of this tribe remains in the territory of the Azkár, where they have their abode in the valley of Áfara, about halfway between Ghát and Tawát. The second of these tribes, viz. the Hadánarang, is settled in a place called Ádemar, not far from the southern frontier of the territory of the Azkár, in the midst of the Imghád. They are, to some extent at least, migratory freebooters; and to them belonged those robbers who, soon after we had fortunately got out of their clutches, murdered two Tébu merchants on the road from Aïr to Ghát, carrying away their whole caravan, with no less than thirty-three slaves.
I was assured by Hatíta that there were not less than thirty subdivisions of the larger clans, called “faya,” in Temáshight; but I could only ascertain the names of four of them: viz. the Izóban and the Okéren, living in the Wadi Irárarén, and probably belonging to one and the same family (I believe the Ímanang); the Degárrab, probably a section of the Hadánarang, living in a place called Tárat together with some Imghád; and finally the Ihiyáwen or Ihéwan, a portion of whom dwell in Titarsén, while another section has settled near Tasáwa in Fezzán, forming the last link of the chain which connects the Imghád and the Azkár. Another link is formed by the Makéresang, who, like the former, submit to the authority of the chief Nakhnúkhen; then follow the Ifélelen, who are settled in Tasíl with the Imghád. The least degenerate of these half-caste tribes, who hold a middle place between the Imóshagh and the Imghád, or between the free and the servile, is said to be the section of the Mateghílelen, now settled in the Wadi el Gharbi, in Fezzán, while their kindred certainly belong to the Imghád. This is the best proof that the name Ámghi does not express national descent, but social condition. Another section or tribe loosely connected with the Azkár, but not regarded as noble, although as strict ascetics they are much respected, and are enabled to carry on almost undisturbed the commerce between Fezzán and Negroland, are the Tin-ýlkum, of whom I have already had occasion to speak repeatedly. At present they are settled partly in the valley Tigger-odé, where their chief the Háj ʿAli resides, partly in Wadi el Gharbi and around Tasáwa; but their ancient seats were to the south of Ghát, and even in the town of Ghát itself, they having been called in to decide the quarrel between the former inhabitants of that place, the Kél-tellek and the Makamúmmasen.