Part 29

Meanwhile I learnt that the sultan had at first entertained the fear that I might poison him or kill him by a charm, and that he had repeatedly consulted with his learned men and counsellors how he should protect himself against my witchcraft. However, on the second day after my first audience he gave me the satisfaction of sending the inspector of the river, or the khalífa bá, together with that servant of his (or kashélla) who had put me into chains at Mélé, in order to beg my pardon officially, which of course I granted them most cordially, as I was too well aware that a traveller in a new country cannot expect to be well treated. As for that Púllo or Felláta individual, resident in Bagírmi, who (by inspiring the ferry-men at the frontier with fear and suspicion concerning my entering the country) had been the chief cause of the injurious treatment which I had experienced, he had been introduced to me some time previous to the arrival of the sultan, by my cheerful and good-natured friend Bú-Bakr of Bákadá, when, against my wish, he persisted in clearing himself by an oath that he had done me no harm. This he managed rather cleverly, by swearing that he had never instigated the ferry-men to drown me in the river, a crime which I was very far from laying to his charge. However, it being my desire to be on good terms with all the people, I expressed my satisfaction, and dismissed him. On all these occasions I had full opportunity of discovering the sincere friendship which Bú-Bakr felt for me, who, being well aware of the impetuous character of Europeans, did not cease exhorting me to patience,—“sabr, sabr,” “kánadí, kánadí”—certainly the most momentous words for any traveller in these regions.

[Sidenote: July 19th.]

I had entertained the hope of being able to get off before the great feast, or ʿAíd el kebír, here called “Ngúmre ngólo;” but it approached without any preparation for my departure having been made. A general custom prevails in this country, that, in order to celebrate this holiday, all the people of the neighbouring places must come into the town; and for the chief men of each place this is even a duty, by neglecting which they would incur a severe penalty. But on the present occasion the holiday was changed into a day of mourning; for at the dawn of this very day, Máina Beládemí, who was generally esteemed as the most excellent man in the country, died, causing a severe loss to the sultan himself, whose confidence he enjoyed to the fullest extent, having saved the life of his father when persecuted by his fácha.

According to his own request, the deceased was not buried in or near the town, but was carried a distance of several miles, to a place called Bídderí, which, as I shall have another occasion to explain, was the first seat of Islám in this country, and is still the residence of some highly respected religious chiefs.

This sad event, though it was not unforeseen, cast a gloom over the whole festival; and it was not till about noon that the sultan left the town in order to offer up his prayers in the old ruined quarter towards the west—for, as I have already had repeated occasion to remark, it is a sacred custom all over Negroland, that the sovereign of the country on this day cannot say his prayers inside the town. Having remained in the old dilapidated quarter, in a tent which had been pitched for the occasion, till after “dhohor,” he returned into the town; but the day, which had begun unfavourably, ended also with a bad omen, for in the evening a storm broke out, of such violence that three apartments inside the palace came down with a frightful crash, and caused a great uproar in the whole quarter, as if the town had been taken by an enemy.

Fortunately, I myself had taken sufficient precaution to strengthen the roof of my house, so that although the floor was entirely swamped, the roof remained firm; for having observed, some days previously, that the principal beam which supported the terrace was broken, and having endeavoured in vain to persuade my host to have it repaired, I ordered my servants to take away a large pole from a neighbouring courtyard, and place it as a support for the roof.

Since the return of the sultan, the rainy season had set in with great violence, and it rained almost daily. The consequence was, that the open places and the wide uninhabited quarters of the town were again clad in the freshest verdure, the whole affording a very pleasant aspect, while the bedá, or bahr, was filling with water. There was now also much more intercourse in the town, since the people had returned from the expedition; but I did not stir about so much as before, not only on account of the wet, but also owing to the effrontery of some of the slaves: for these people, who are scarcely acquainted with any other kind of dress than a black shirt, and who altogether occupy a low stage in civilization, found constant fault with my dress, and, with a few exceptions, were not on good terms with me.

On account of my poverty, which did not allow me to make many presents except needles, I had certainly deserved the title of “Needle-prince” or “Maláríbra,” which they had given me; but besides this the natives had also given me another nickname, meaning “Father of the three,” which originated in my wearing generally, besides stockings, a pair of thin leather slippers, and thick overshoes; while these people usually go barefoot, and do not even wear sandals, except when they go to a great distance.

Occasionally, however, I visited the market, which although at present in many respects better stocked, was not so regularly kept, owing to the rains, and not so well attended on account of the labours which were going on in the fields. Even slaves were now brought into the market, sometimes as many as thirty, each being sold for from 25 to 30 khalágs, or kholgán (“lebú”, common white shirts), a price equal to from six to seven Spanish dollars. Cattle too were at present numerous, having not only been brought in from the pagan tribes, who seem to possess only a limited supply and of a small breed, but having been taken in far larger numbers from the Shúwa tribe of the Deghághera, under pretext of their disobedience. A good fat ox was sold for eight khalágs, or a little less than two dollars. During my stay in Mélé, I had observed that sheep were taken from Bagírmi to Bórnu, to be sold there.

In my expectation of being allowed to depart without further delay, I was sadly disappointed; and day after day passed by without any preparation for my departure. Besides, I had reason to complain of inhospitable treatment, for, although I occasionally received a dish from the sultan, far more frequently I remained without; but I was told, upon inquiry, that the slaves who were ordered to bring me my food used to keep it for themselves.

[Sidenote: August 1st.]

It was not till this day that I became convinced that my departure was close at hand, from the fact that the slaves of my host began to dig up the soil in my courtyard, in order to sow it with derába or bámiya (_Hibiscus esculentus_); for if I had been going to stay longer, my camel would soon have destroyed the seed. But nevertheless several days elapsed before affairs were finally settled.

[Sidenote: August 6th.]

At length in the afternoon, there came a long _cortége_ from the sultan, conducted by Zérma or Kadamánge, Sabún, and Kánadí, with a present of fifty shirts of every kind, and which altogether might be valued at about thirty dollars. Among the shirts were seven of a better sort, all of which I sent to England, with the exception of one, which was very light, consisting of silk and cotton, and which I kept for my own wear; there were besides, twenty-three white ones of a better kind, and twenty common market-tobes.

While presenting me with this royal gift, and explaining that the sultan was sorry that I would not accept from his hands anything more valuable, either slaves or ivory, Zérma announced to me officially that I might now start when I thought proper; that hitherto neither the people of Bagírmi had known me nor I them, but that if I were to return I might regard Bagírmi as my own country. While expressing my thanks to the sultan for his present, as well as for the permission to depart, I told the messenger that, if they wished that either I or my brother (companion) should ever visit their country again, the sultan ought to give me a paper, testifying his permission by a special writ, sealed with his own royal seal. This they promised, and moreover told me that a man from the sultan should accompany me to the river, in order to protect me against any further intrigues of the ferrymen, my great enemies.

The sultan’s munificence, although not great, enabled me to reward my friends and attendants. I had already divided the túrkedí which I had received from Kúkawa, among those nearest to me, except two or three, which I sold in the market in order to buy provisions. And of these tobes likewise I divided thirty among the people of Zérma, my own attendants, the fáki Sámbo, Bú-Bakr, and my other friends. The poor Háj Áhmed, who sustained himself here with great difficulty, was very grateful for my present, and offered up fervent prayers for my safe arrival at home, although he would have liked better if I had accompanied him on his journey eastward through Wádáy and Dár-Fúr.

But, although on my first arrival in this country I had entertained the hope that it might be possible to accomplish such an undertaking, I had convinced myself that, not taking into account my entire want of proper means, it would be imprudent, under the present circumstances, to attempt such a thing; for the state of affairs in the country of Wádáy was exceedingly unfavourable at the time, a destructive civil war having just raged, and matters not being yet settled. My own situation in this country, moreover, was too uncertain to allow me to have sufficient supplies sent after me, to embark in such a grand enterprise; and besides, although I had become fully aware of the great interest which attaches to the empire of Wádáy, as well owing to the considerable extent of its political power, as on account of the great variety of elements of which it is composed, and also on account of its lying on the water-parting between the basin of the Tsád and that of the Nile, I felt quite sure that the western part of Negroland, along the middle course of the so-called Niger, was a far nobler and more fruitful field for my exertions. However, there was one favourable circumstance for attempting at that time a journey into Wádáy, as the messengers of the sultan (or rather of Jérma or Zérma, one of the most powerful officers in that country, who has the inspection of this province), were at present here, in order to collect the tribute which Bagírmi, in its present reduced state, has to pay to its mightier neighbour.

As for my friend the sheríf Slímán, he behaved like a gentleman on this occasion, refusing my shirts, but begging for a little camphor and a pair of English scissors.

[Sidenote: August 8th.]

After all the delay was overcome, I at length became aware what had been the cause of it; for in the afternoon of that day my noble companion Gréma ʿAbdú, who had left me so unceremoniously before I reached the capital, and who altogether had been of so little use to me, came to inform me that all was now ready for our departure, he having received the five slaves whom he was to take to Kúkawa, partly for his own benefit, and partly for the benefit of his master Mestréma, who, as I have stated before, held a situation something like a consul of Bagírmi in the capital of Bórnu. Indeed there were now unmistakable signs that I was at length to leave this place, for the following day I was treated with a large dish of rice and meat, swimming in a rich abundance of butter, from the sultan, and another dish from my niggardly host the zérma or kadamánge; and on the 10th of August I really left the capital of Bagírmi, where I had certainly stayed much longer than I had desired, as I was not allowed to move freely about in the country, but where, nevertheless, I was enabled to collect a great deal of valuable information, of which that part relating to the history and general condition of the country I shall detail in the following chapter, in order to inspire the reader with a greater degree of interest in these little-known regions, while other matter will be given in the Appendix.

[Footnote 44: There is another ruin of baked bricks outside the town, on the road to Ábú-Gher.]

[Footnote 45: See the Despatch in the Appendix, No. V.]

CHAP. LI.

HISTORICAL SURVEY OF BAGÍRMI. — GENERAL CONDITION OF THE COUNTRY AND ITS INHABITANTS.

With regard to the history of the eastern part of Negroland, we are still worse off than with regard to the western countries, however scanty the documents relating to the latter regions may be, although I may hope that, by my labours, a great deal more light has been shed upon the history of these quarters than was even suspected to exist before. But while for the kingdom of Songhay, with its celebrated towns Gógó and Timbúktu, we have now obtained an almost continuous historical account, by the taríkh of Áhmed Bábá, and while for Bórnu tolerably rich materials have likewise come to our hands, by means of the chronicles of that empire, and of the relation of Imám Áhmed, for this eastern part of Negroland (which comprises the countries of Bagírmi, Wádáy, or Dár Suláy and Dár-Fúr) no such documents have as yet been found, and, besides the information to be gathered from the natives, only a few detached and obscure statements have been handed down to us by the Arab writers of the middle ages.

Those of the latter which relate in general to Kánem, and its capital Njímí or Njímiye, I have already referred to in the historical sketch which I have given of the empire of Bórnu; and the only circumstances which these writers mention, with regard to the more eastern regions, are the general names of tribes, such as the Zogháwa and the Bájó[46], mentioned by Ébn Sʿaíd, and, on his authority, by Abú ’l Fedá, as related tribes.[47]

The only author who distinctly speaks of these eastern regions is the Spanish Moor generally known under the name of Leo Africanus; for it is he who describes in this eastern quarter a large and powerful kingdom which he calls Gaoga. This name, especially on account of its similarity to the name of the Songhay capital, as the latter was generally written by the Arabs, has caused a great deal of confusion, and has given rise to numerous gratuitous conjectures. But if we compare Leo’s statements, which are certainly very vague, and written down from memory after a lapse of several years, but especially what he says about the political relations of Gaoga with the empire of Bórnu, there cannot be the least doubt that his Gaoga is identical with what the Bórnu people call the empire of Bulála. And the reason why he called it Gaoga is obvious; for the Bulála, who originally formed a branch of the princely family of Kánem, guided by Jíl (surnamed Shíkomémi, from his mother Shíkoma), founded their empire in the territory of the tribe of the Kúka[48], who in former times were very powerful, occupying a great extent of country, from the eastern part of Bagírmi as far as the interior of Dár-Fúr, the place Shebína, on the shore of the Bat-há, being then the principal seat of their power, while their head quarters at present are in the province of Fittrí.[49] Here, owing to their introducing Islám, and a certain degree of civilization, together with the Arabic alphabet called “warash,” the Bulála soon appear to have obtained the sovereign power, while they founded Yʿawó[50] as their new residence. While viewing the relations of the countries on the east side of the Tsád in this light, we get rid of every difficulty which may seem to be implied in the statements relating to Gaoga; for, when Leo says that the language of that country was identical with the idiom of Bórnu, he evidently only speaks of the language then used by the dynasty and the ruling tribe of the country, with whom on his visit to that kingdom he came into contact, and who were of the same origin as the Bórnu people, while at present, having intermingled and intermarried with the indigenous population, the Bulála, who are still the ruling family in Fittrí, appear to have forgotten their own language, and have adopted that of the Kúka. At the time when Leo wrote his description of Africa, or rather at the period when he visited Negroland (for of the events which happened after he left the country he possessed only an imperfect knowledge), the Bulála were just in the zenith of their power, being masters of all Kánem, and (according to the information of Makrízí and Ábú ’l Fedá) having in the latter half of the fourteenth century even subjected to their dominion the large tribe of the Zogháwa, may well have entered into the most intimate political relations with the rulers of Egypt, as already, a century previous to the time of Leo, Makrízí found ample opportunity in Egypt to collect all the latest news with regard to the dynasty of Kánem.

On the other hand, we can easily imagine how Leo could call the prince of Gaoga a Mohammedan, while the learned men of the country positively affirm that the Islám in these regions dates no further back than the eleventh century of the Hejra, the beginning of which exactly coincides with that of the seventeenth century of our era, and consequently about a century after Leo’s visit to Africa; for Leo speaks only of the rulers themselves, whose religious creed, probably, had no influence upon the people of the country in general. Leo’s statement entirely harmonizes with the information gleaned from Makrízí; for the princes of Kánem in the time of the latter historian were identical with the rulers of that very kingdom which Leo calls Gaoga, although in Makrízí’s time they seem to have established the capital of their empire in Njímiye, which they had conquered from the Bórnu dynasty.[51]

Moreover this apparent discrepancy receives further explanation from the fact, that soon after Leo visited these regions the pagan nation of the Týnjur extended their empire from Dár-Fúr to the very borders of Bagírmi, opposing a strong barrier to the propagation of Islám. Respecting the name ʿOmár, by which Leo designates the king of the Bulála in his time, I have already given an opinion on a former occasion. The Týnjur, of whose original language I have not been able to collect any specimens, and which seems to be almost extinct, are said to have come from Dóngola, where they had separated from the Batálesa, the well-known Egyptian tribe originally settled in Bénesé. Advancing from Dóngola, the Týnjur are said to have vanquished first the Dájó, who, as has been stated before, were at that period masters of Dár-Fúr, and in course of time spread over the whole of Wádáy, and over part of Bagírmi, making Kádama, a place situated about three days’ march to the S.W. of Wára, and halfway between Malám and Kashémeré, the capital of their extensive empire. They maintained their dominion, as far as regards Wádáy, according to native tradition, ninety-nine lunar years, while the eastern portion of this loosely-connected group of different nationalities, which had been conquered at an earlier period, was wrested from their hands much sooner, by Kúro vanquishing the Týnjur, and founding the pagan kingdom of Dár-Fúr, some time before the general introduction of Islám into these countries. This Kúro himself was the third predecessor of Slímán, the first Moslim prince of Dár-Fúr. But as for the centre of the empire of the Týnjur, it was overthrown by the founder of the Mohammedan empire of Wádáy, viz. ʿAbd el Kerím the son of Yáme,—according to tradition, in the year 1020 of the Hejra.

However, of the kings of Wádáy I shall not speak here, as their history has not exactly reference to the country we are now describing.[52] Here I will only introduce a few remarks concerning the kings of Bagírmi.

Bagírmi[53] is said to have emerged from the gloom of paganism prevailing in the eastern regions of Sudán, a considerable time after Western Sudán had been formed into mighty kingdoms—some years subsequent to the introduction of Islám into Wádáy. But in the same manner as the ruling dynasty which gave rise to this new kingdom had come from abroad, so likewise the founders of Bagírmi seem to have immigrated into the country; and from whence they immigrated can scarcely be doubtful, though they themselves, like all the dominating tribes of Sudán, would much rather connect their origin with the inhabitants of Yemen. But, that the native inhabitants of Kénga, Kírsuwa, and Hírla are intimately related to them, they are well aware, and acknowledge it without hesitation; but they would try to make people believe that, in coming from Yemen, their chief Dokkénge left at those places brethren of his as governors. As for Hírla, they do not acknowledge its claims to entire equality of birth, but derive the name of that place, as well as the family of the kings of that district, from a slave of Dokkénge of the name of Khérallah. But, on a close scrutiny, the people of Bagírmi themselves confess that their origin is not to be sought for at a greater distance than Kénga, or Kénga Matáya[54], and that this place, distant five days east from Más-eñá and three long days S.S.E. from Yʿawó, and distinguished by the strange form of its paganism[55], was the original seat of their kings; for not only do the Bagírmaye regard those of Kénga with solemn veneration, as being their ancestors, whom it would be wrong to attack or to endeavour to subdue, but there are also certain emblems which they exhibit on particular occasions, brought, as they say, from Kénga. These consist of a rather long spear, borne on certain occasions before the king of Bagírmi, a small sort of tympanum, and the horn or bugle. The language Kénga is intimately connected with that of Bagírmi, while it contains also some elements of a different character; and these two dialects, together with the language of the Kúka, constitute one idiom.

But, to proceed with our principal inquiry, the emigrants, led on by their chief Dokkénge, penetrated, it would seem, towards the west by the road marked by the sites of Hírla, Kírsuwa, and Naíromá—a place situated near Más-eñá, on the Báchikám.