Part 36
Shitíma Bósoma 20 0
Shitíma ʿAbdu 20 0
Shitíma ʿAbadémma 10 0
Courtiers and partisans of the Vizier:—
Gréma Milúd 200 33
Lamíno 150 21
Báshara (officer of Lamíno) 13 0
Dýnama Gajarémma 20 7
Sheikh ʿAbbás 20 7
Hamza weled el Góni 60 3
Karaberíma 8 0
Balál 18 0
Ádamu 8 0
ʿAbdelléhi Shíntiri 16 0
Mʿallem Malérama 6 0
Abrás 6 0
Kashélla Sʿaíd (officer of Mʿallem Mohammed) 30 0
Abba Masta (son of the old sheikh Mohammed el 60 10 Kánemí)
Abba Bagar 90 13
Refáy 90 16
Beshír 10 0
Asan (grandson of Mohammed el Kánemí by ʿAlí) 30 1
Kázelma 13 0
Yeríma 5 0
Érima 10 0
Únoma (Tebu chieftain) 200 0
Fagodóma (chief of Koyám) 100 0
Murjúma (Koyám) 80 0
Káúma[100] (Koyám) 60 0
Senwa Babudma (Koyám) 40 0
Senwa Kindagoma (Koyám) 100 0
Kótoko (Kánemma chief) 30 0
Fúgo ʿAlí (from Maduwári) 20 0
Zíntelma 10 0
Kanúri:—Light cavalry 4181, say 4500, as many small detachments are omitted; heavy cavalry 472, say 500.
Shúwa:—About 8000.
[Footnote 99: Each of these Shúwa chiefs had some hundred horsemen with him. Only two great chiefs did not join the expedition; namely Mohammed Kunéwu the chief of Shegáwu, and Lawán Gíbdo from Lerdó.]
[Footnote 100: An officer with this title, Káúma, is already mentioned in Imám Áhmed’s history; he was most probably called so originally from the place Káú, or Kow, in Shitáti in Kánem.]
APPENDIX IV.
TOWNS AND VILLAGES OF THE PROVINCE OF LÓGON OR LÓGONE
(_Large places, most of them walled; at present, indeed, generally in a state of decay_).
In the north-western part of the province: Kúndi, Gérle, Sína, Gódoní, Gemáng, Kókoñá, Kíddebá, Nguláwa, Mázerá, Delow, Kázeré, Unko-ʿalem, Thágulú, Kárse, Guwáfa, Díffil, another Thágulú, Múkhse, Gozenáke, Módeá (village of the mother of the ruling prince Ýsuf), Biwál, Mágwy, Wanánukí, Mátke, Finálle, Suwántegá, Tsí, Mosóggolí, Úlesémme, Ngáme, Dúggulá, Kutteláha, Ngázi, Sáude, Jilbé, Tildé, Kála, Húlluf or Hélib, Waká, Kásesá, and others here about.
In the south-eastern part: Golónderá, Dégemé, Sígge, Bágeám, Bílle, Hóya, Hánnené, Wáza, Lábané, Gurfáy on the river, Chidé, Njéggere, Sigé, Últseme, Sílim, Kábe ’lmadhé or the Western Kábe, Báge, a place rich in ivory; Jínna, the largest town of the little kingdom after the capital, and important on account of the quantity of ivory there brought to market, and of the fine mat-work there produced[101]; Kalásimó, one day west from Jínna; Kábe demá or ngólo, the “large Kábe” forming the frontier-town towards Búgomán,—the frontier itself being formed by a swamp called Kénkang,—Sú, Úmsa, Madeágo, Túmbalá, the largest place beyond the river, that is to say, the river of Logón or the Lagham; Mélé, to be distinguished from the place of the same name situated on the east side of the Shárí; Fuljí; Kuljí, with a governor who is almost independent; Fóngol and Mére, both on the river; Gófa, Diyá, Ngúltsemí, Wainálle, Jemádo, Wódeó, a large place; Ngóso, residence of a governor.
[Footnote 101: See Vol. II. p. 620.]
APPENDIX V.
COPY OF A DESPATCH FROM LORD PALMERSTON.
“Foreign Office, October 7th, 1851.
“SIR,
“I am directed by Viscount Palmerston to acknowledge and to thank you for your letter of the 19th of April last, from Kouka, in the Bornou country, in which you announce the lamentable event of the death of Mr. Richardson, on the night of the 2nd and 3rd of the preceding month of March, at Ungurutua, between Zinder and Kouka.
“The expedition being thus deprived of its head, just before the conclusion of that principal stage of its proceedings which was to terminate in the exploration of Lake Tchad, it appears to Her Majesty’s Government that the completion of that exploration is alone wanting to enable them to consider as accomplished the main objects of Mr. Richardson’s expedition.
“I am, therefore, directed by Lord Palmerston to state to you that, whenever you may have finished your survey of Lake Tchad and its shores, his Lordship wishes that you and Dr. Overweg should carry out the remainder of your projected proceedings in Africa exactly as you would have done if Mr. Richardson were still living, and you had separated from him as contemplated in the memorandum signed in triplicate in December, 1849, of which yourself and Dr. Overweg possess each a copy.
“At the period of your signature of that memorandum, you appear to have entertained the thought of pushing your further researches eastward towards the Nile, or south-eastward towards Mombaz.
“Whether you may still adhere to that project, or may now see reason to prefer a westerly course in the direction of Timbuctoo, I am directed by Viscount Palmerston to state to you that he will be perfectly satisfied to intrust to you the duty of carrying on to its final completion the expedition heretofore confided to the charge of Mr. Richardson.
“You will therefore consider yourself hereby authorised to take upon yourself the future charge of the expedition, and to pursue that course which, upon full consideration, may appear to you best fitted to effect the general objects which Her Majesty’s Government had in view when they set on foot the expedition into the interior of Africa.
“Those objects you will find stated in the original instructions furnished to Mr. Richardson, of which a copy is herewith inclosed for your use and guidance.
“I am, Sir,
“Your most obedient humble servant,
“H. WADDINGTON.
“Dr. Barth.”
APPENDIX VI.
HISTORICAL SKETCH OF WÁDÁY.
In the chapter wherein we have treated of the history of Bagírmi, we have seen that the tribe of the Týnjur founded a large empire, which, as it consisted of an agglomeration of heterogeneous elements loosely connected together, was overwhelmed and torn to pieces in less than one hundred years after its foundation. The first part which separated from the body, comprises the eastern regions; Kúru, the third predecessor of Slímán, who was the first Moslim king of Dár Fúr, vanquishing the Týnjur, and vindicating the dominion of those quarters to the tribe of the Furáwy.
As for the centre of the empire of the Týnjur, it was overthrown by the founder of the Mohammedan empire of Wádáy, namely, ʿAbd el Kerím, the son of Yáme, according to indigenous tradition, in the year 1020 of the Hejra.
Wóda, the son of Yáme, belonging to the tribe of the Gémir[102], who at that time were settled in Shendy, and had embraced Islamism, had emigrated with his countrymen into the regions which afterwards, in honour of him it is said, were comprised under the name of Wádáy; and here he is reported to have exercised considerable authority in the empire of the Týnjur. His grandson, ʿAbd el Kerím, is said to have been governor of certain provinces of the empire of Dáúd, who at that time ruled the empire of the Týnjur, though he had already felt the mighty hand of his eastern neighbour Slímán, the first Mohammedan king of Dár Fúr.
Instigated by a religious feeling, this man is said to have spent several years in Bídderi, a place about ten miles to the east of the capital of the kingdom of Bagírmi, which at that time, however, does not seem to have existed; for Bídderi was one of the places in that region where people belonging to the widely-spread nation of the Fúlbe had settled from early times, and among them a family which, by means of undisputed sanctity and learning, had begun to exercise a considerable influence in the introduction of Islamism, upon a wide circumference of the surrounding provinces; and the head of this family, whose name was Mohammed, is said to have inspired ʿAbd el Kerím, the grandson of Wóda, as well as his companions Amálek, chief of the Márfa, settled in Hóggené, Múmin the Masaláti, Dédebam the Ábú-Sharibáye, and Wúwel-Banán the Jellábi, with the idea of overthrowing the pagan dominion of the Týnjur, and of founding in its stead a new kingdom based on Islamism.
Having returned to his country, and spread his ideas of independence, ʿAbd el Kerím, after some years, rose against his liege lord, Dáúd, and making Mádabá, a mountainous place situated about ten miles to the north of the later town of Wára, his residence, succeeded, after a desperate struggle, in laying the foundation of the kingdom of Wádáy, as he called the country, in honour of his grandfather. He is said to have died after a long reign, leaving as his successor his son Kharút, whom we may call Kharút the First. This is the king who founded Wára, and made this place, which is defended by natural ramparts (a circumstance which gave rise to its name, meaning “the town encircled by hills”) his residence. He, too, is said to have reigned several years, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Kharíf, who was not so fortunate as his father and grandfather, but, in the third year of his reign, was killed by the warlike tribe of the Táma, whom he endeavoured to subjugate.
The successor of Kharíf was Yakúb ʿArús, his younger brother, who felt himself strong enough to undertake an expedition into the interior of Dár Fúr, where, on account of the advanced age of its king, Músa, the son and successor of Slimán, the illustrious founder of that Mohammedan kingdom, he may have expected little resistance; but he was beaten, and obliged to make a speedy retreat. This prince was succeeded by his son Kharút II., who, during a reign of forty years, is said to have established greater tranquillity and happiness than were to be expected in a kingdom composed of such heterogeneous elements.
The son of this king was Jóda or Jáude, with the surname Kharíf e’ Tímán, but better known under his honorary title, Mohammed Suláy or Sulé (meaning the deliverer)—a title which was given to him by his subjects in consequence of the victory by which he saved his country from the yoke of the Furáwy, who under the command of Ábú ’l Kásem, the second son of Áhmed-Bókkor, and the sixth Mohammedan king of that country, had overrun Wádáy with a powerful army, in order to make it tributary. It is from this victorious king, who has made Wádáy honoured and respected by its neighbours, that the country has received its other name, viz. Dár Suláy. It is likewise this king, who at the close of his reign wrested Kánem from the hands of the sultan of Bórnu, or at least the better part of it, by conquering Mandó or Mondó, the town of the Týnjur, as well as Mʿawó, the residence of a khalífa, invested by the sultan of Bórnu; and this is the commencement of the hostilities which are carried on between Bórnu and Wádáy. Mohammed-Suláy is said to have reigned, like his father, forty years. To him succeeded his son Sáleh, with the surname Dérret, who has been almost unanimously represented to me as a bad sort of prince, although this seems to be owing to the circumstance of his having put to death a considerable number of ʿulama, a class of men who, in Wádáy, enjoy great authority. This king hastened his death by giving offence to the mother of his eldest son ʿAbd el Kerím, who belonged to the tribe of the Málánga; for, instigated by her, it is said, her son ʿAbd el Kerím took the field against his father, while the latter, in the eighth year of his reign, had marched with an army against the Mádalá, the inhabitants of a place close to Mádabá, and not far from the seats of the Málánga, and after a sanguinary battle the son succeeded in vanquishing his father, who was killed in the year 1805. These are well- known facts, which cannot be denied.
ʿAbd el Kerím, better known under his surname Sabún, which he received at a later time, mounted the throne of Wádáy, stained with the blood of his father, and began a reign which all agree in representing as one of the wisest ever known in this part of the world.
First, he enriched himself and his country by the spoil of Bagírmi, whose inhabitants were much further advanced in civilization than their eastern neighbours; and by their predatory expeditions to Dirki, had amassed a great deal of riches, consisting not only of fine clothes, and merján or coral, but even of silver, of which ʿAbd el Kerím is said by trustworthy persons to have carried away with him five camel-loads, being equal to about fifteen hundred pounds’ weight. It was also during his reign, as I have stated before, that Bagírmi became for ever a tributary province of Wádáy. Having then founded a powerful kingdom, it formed the chief object of his exertions to establish a direct communication with the ports on the coast of the Mediterranean, in order to supply himself with those manufactures which, before the spoil of Bagírmi, had been almost unknown to the people of Wádáy.
But to the account of the exertions of ʿAbd-el-Kerím in this field, such as has been given by the late M. Fresnel, in his memoir on Wádáy, I have nothing to add, as it no doubt formed the chief subject of his inquiries; but the account given by that gentleman of the king’s death, and of the reign of his successor, is full of errors. ʿAbd el Kerím Sabún died in the tenth year of his reign, which falls in the year 1815, in a place close to Wára, called Júnne, where he had collected an army, in order, as I have been assured by well-informed persons, to make war upon the ruler of Bórnu, or rather on the sheikh Mohammed el Kánemí; who, endeavouring to restore his adopted country Kánem to its former splendour, was anxious to rescue it from the hands of Wádáy.
Sabún died so suddenly that he was unable to name his successor; but by all whom I have questioned on this point, I have been assured that the suspicion of poison is quite out of the question. Moreover, the circumstances as related by M. Fresnel are greatly misrepresented, Sabún having no son at all of the name of Seksán; for he left six sons, the eldest of whom, of the name of Ásed, was born of a mother from the tribe of the Kóndongó, while Yúsuf, the second son, and three more sons of ʿAbd el Kerím, were born of one and the same mother, who belonged to the tribe of the Mádabá. As for Jʿafar, who, on account of his long residence in Tripoli, and his numerous interesting adventures, has become well known to the English public[103], his mother belonged to another tribe.
When therefore Sabún had died, without naming his successor, the
## partisans of the tribe of the Mádabá arose against the Kóndongó, or the
faction of Ásed; and having succeeded in vanquishing their adversaries, and slaying Ásed, they placed on the throne Yúsuf, with the surname Kharífáyín, a name which, however, is not generally known in the country. This Yúsuf, partly under the guardianship of his uncle Ábú Rokkhíyé, and partly by himself, after he had slain his uncle, together with Dómmo, the agíd of the Máhamíd, ruled for sixteen years in the most tyrannical manner over Wádáy till, about the beginning of the year 1830, he was put to death at the instigation of his own mother, whose name was Símbil. There has never ruled over Wádáy a king of the name of ʿAbd el Káder; and Major Denham was quite right when, in 1823, he called the then king of that country the immediate successor of Sabún.
Yúsuf was succeeded by his infant son Rákeb, who after seventeen or eighteen months died from the small-pox, when a man belonging to a lateral branch of the royal family, namely, ʿAbd el ʿAzíz, son of Rádama, whose father Gándigin was a younger son of Jóda Mohammed Suláy, while his mother also belonged to the royal line, ascended the throne; and being supported by the warlike tribe of the Kódoyí (called by the Arabs Bú-senún, on account of their red teeth), among whom he had taken his residence, he succeeded in maintaining his position, in an almost continuous struggle with his adversaries. The first conflict which he had to sustain was against the Kélingen, who put forth, not Jʿafar, the rightful claimant to the succession, but another pretender, named Kéde; they were, however, totally beaten, near a place in the vicinity of Wára, called Fólkotó.
ʿAbd el ʿAzíz had hardly begun to enjoy some tranquillity, when the tribe of the Kóndongó, leaving their mountain seats, marched against him; but they likewise were beaten, and almost annihilated, in a battle fought near a place called Búrtay. ʿAbd el ʿAzíz, who has been represented to me by my informants as a man of excellent qualities, and of great intelligence, died likewise of the small-pox, after a reign of five years and a half, when his infant son Ádam was placed upon the throne, but, after a little more than a year, was dethroned, and carried into honourable captivity, into Dár Fúr.
The circumstances which led to this revolution were as follows. Mohammed Sáleh, not quite correctly named e’ Sheríf, who had stealthily entered Wádáy a long time previously, but had not been able to collect a party sufficiently strong to enable him to assert his claims openly as the brother of Sabún, had at length addressed himself to Mohammed Fádhl, the king of Dár Fúr, and, under promise of a considerable tribute to be paid yearly, had induced that prince to assist him in obtaining the kingdom of Wádáy; and in the misery in which that country was just then plunged by a severe famine, it only required the assistance of two captains or ágade, viz. ʿAbd e’ Síd, and ʿAbd el Fat-ha, to conquer Wádáy, while none but the Kámkolák of the tribe of the Kodoyí made a serious resistance, though without success.
Mohammed Sáleh, who thus ascended the throne with the assistance of a foreign power, in the month Tóm el awel, in the year 1250 H., may certainly be said to have exerted himself for the benefit of his country, though the last years of his reign have been rather unfortunate, as well for himself for his subjects.
The first enterprise which he undertook in order to enrich his subjects, or perhaps himself, and with the purpose of extending his dominion, was an expedition against Kárká or Kargha, the district composed of islands and half-submerged meadow-lands and pasture-grounds in the south-east corner of the Tsád, which I have described in my account of Kánem, and from whence he carried away a great number of cattle. Perhaps, also, one reason why he undertook this expedition was the circumstance that another member of the royal family, namely, Núr e’ Dín, who by Yúsuf and Fúrba was descended directly from Sáleh Derret, had retired into that swampy and almost inaccessible district, and, owing to the influence which he obtained over the neighbouring tribes, might have risen as a pretender at a future time. The next year Mohammed Sáleh marched against the Táma, that very intractable and predatory tribe settled in a mountainous district four days N.E. from Wára, and, having conquered them and slain their chief, invested another man with his authority; but the Táma having driven this person away after the king had retraced his steps, Mohammed Sáleh was obliged to make another expedition against them the following year, when he subdued them once more, and made them acknowledge as their chief a person called Íbrahím.
After this, in the year 1846, he undertook that expedition against Bórnu, of which I have given a short account in the chronological table of the history of that empire, and which had been greatly misrepresented by M. Fresnel; for although he penetrated to the very heart of that country, he did not attain his object of reinstating the family of the sultan of Bórnu in its ancient right; and although he certainly carried away a great amount of spoil, yet he lost a considerable portion of his army, as well in the battle of Kúsuri as on his return home,—principally while crossing the Shárí.
However, on his return, the king turned his arms against the Tebu tribes settled on the Bahr el Ghazál; and, conquering them, subjected them to an annual tribute. Having returned from this memorable campaign, Mohammed Sáleh did not undertake a second expedition, but, having kept quietly at home for three or four years, was obliged to waste the strength of one part of his empire in a bloody struggle against the other.
The origin and reason of this civil war, which up to the time of my leaving Negroland kept Wádáy in rather a weakened state, is to be sought for in the real or presumed blindness of the king, which gave to his adversaries the Kodoyí, who regard Ádam as their legitimate prince, some pretext for not acknowledging him any longer as their master, besides the general unpopularity, produced by his avarice. It was on this account, in order to escape from his public and private enemies, that in the year 1850 he abandoned the old residence of all the former kings of Wádáy, down from Kharút the First, and transferred the seat of government from Wára to Abéshr, a very inconsiderable place or village, about twenty miles to the south of Wára, where, on account of its being almost entirely destitute of water, and situated in the very territory of his partisans the Kélingen, he felt himself tolerably secure.
The contest, fomented for a long time, did not break out until 1851, when in the month of Shʿabán he was obliged to march against the Kodoyí, who, assisted by part of the Ábyí or Ábú Shárib, awaited him in their mountains, from whence they rushed down upon him when he had closely approached them, on Friday the 9th of Shʿabán, with great impetuosity, and breaking through all his lines, and killing a great many persons of high rank, amongst whom was Ábú Horra, the blind aged brother of the king, and his own daughter Fátima, penetrated to his very person, and were on the point of slaying him, when his people succeeded in saving his life. But having become emboldened by this success, the enemy the next day ventured to leave their mountain fastnesses, and descended into the plain, and were in consequence overpowered by the greater numbers and the superior cavalry of the king’s host, and, after a severe loss, which however cleared rather the ranks of their companions the Ábú Shárib than their own, sought refuge in the mountains. But notwithstanding this shock, received by them in the above-mentioned battle, which by the natives is called the battle of Tórbigen or Jálkam, being a warlike race, they have by no means given up their point, and were stated during my stay in Bagírmi to persist in the intention of renewing the struggle after the labours of the harvest should be over.