Part 42

15th. Another place in Ísemray, under the independent chieftain Búrso. In the whole country, water is obtained only from wells two or three fathoms deep. The food of the people is chiefly (red) sorghum. The soil is clayey. The fields are shaded by some large trees.

16th. Fáchang Góngawe, the territory of a powerful chief, which is densely inhabited, and intersected by numerous shallow watercourses (“sél” or “ngáljam”), which, however, only contain water during the rains, when the country becomes impassable.

17th. Gábberí, or rather a place (Jogtó?) of the territory of Gábberí, this name being that of the whole country; a large place, reached in the evening, after a halt at noon. The only weapon of the inhabitants is the hand-bill, called in their language “jígaji.” They breed numerous horses and cattle, but are said, nevertheless, like all the inhabitants of the country of Bang-Wónja to eat only dogs’ flesh. They kill dogs, sheep, and fowls around a large sycamore (“juméz”), in honour of their deity, accompanying their sacrifices with loud music on cowhides. They pillage and wage war upon each other.

18th. Koriñína, a large place of the sultan Koína (the son of Gósdegá) with a rampart flanked with a palisade, and surrounded on the outside by trees and a ditch. In the vicinity of the capital are situated several small hamlets. The inhabitants wear only a leather apron, and do not practice circumcision. They raise abundance of beans.

19th. A large open place (name not known), in the territory of Sará under the chief Gósdegá, the inhabitants of which cultivate plenty of millet, sorghum, and beans, and plant a tree with a date-like fruit, with a large crown, but small leaves, the marrow of which, as white as fat, constitutes their butter and oil. This same tree I afterwards found along the Niger.

20th. Sará-ngár Kúmra, another place wrongly stated to belong to Sultan Gósdegá, with a stagnant water.

21st. Sará-bé-Day, a place under the chief Sáriya, who possesses numerous horses (on the Upper Shárí). An entire day’s march, including halts.

22nd. Yáldang (or Nyéldang), a place inhabited by a tribe of the same name, belonging to the powerful nation of the Búwa, who in time of war retire to a high mountain in the southern part of their country.

23rd. Gamkúl, a place of another tribe of the Búwa, in a sandy tract with rocky ridges, rich in trees, and intersected by small watercourses. Giraffes, lions, elephants, and hogs, are numerous in this tract, and the latter constitute the principal food of the inhabitants.

24th. Dan Mádobó (or Míddobó), under Sultan Garé, beyond a mountain- chain which you cross. The country yields cotton, millet, and sorghum.

25th. Dan Bébe, a place of the chief (gár) Godá. The country, which during the rains is intersected by various streams, yields cotton and sorghum.

26th. Komé, in a mountainous district. The people dwell at the foot of the mountains, which they only ascend in order to harvest their crops, which grow on the mountains. They obtain water from wells only. A short day’s journey.

27th. Kómaré in a mountainous district, where cotton is produced. The inhabitants wear only a belt, and worship a rock as their god; but it is said that there exist some Mohammedans among them.

28th. Andí, a place of the tribe of the Sójigá, who are said to clothe their horses as well as themselves. Andí from Gógomi is two days, _viâ_ Jíli. Andí from Gamkúl, north about 30 miles. A mountainous tract. An entire day’s journey.

29th. Burdá, a large place of the (Gár) Mánga, with a deep lake abounding with fish. (Identical with the lake of Bisá, which is passed between Gógomi and Andí?)

30th. Tamkí, probably a place of the Sókoró, who are armed with spears and bows, the men wearing clothes. They are said to eat lizards, which they boil; they have, however, likewise sorghum. Their country is mountainous.

31st. Góberá, a Kérdi place in a mountainous and richly wooded tract.

32nd. Báng-Bay, a large town on the south bank of a considerable river abounding with fish and flowing eastwards, under the chief Sará Gulá.

All this is quite correct; but this Báng-Bay is altogether different from the territory called Bay, on the river of Logón. According to Ramadhán, the river of Báng-Bay is identical with the bahr Ráshid, which, as he states, flows from here to Tamkí, Andí, Nyéldang and Gamkúl, and falls into the Shárí at Nílem.

The inhabitants, who are in a very rude state of civilization, have only slings; and no cotton is cultivated. Báng-Bay is four days from Ábú Telfán, and two days and a half from Míddogó.

(_u._) _Más-eñá to Runga and Sillá, according to Agíd Búrku. Route not in a straight course, but veering westerly._

1st day. Gíñim, a considerable place, with a rampart, and a large clay- built mosque. A well-wooded tract.

2nd. Ám-jérri, a middling-sized place, surrounded by a stockade, inhabited by elephant and lion-hunters. You pass some wood.

3rd. Kírsuwa (Jibílki?), on a river which flows N.N.W., abounding with fish, and navigated during the rains by the people in bukhsa, those large calabashes described on a former occasion. A woody tract.

4th. Kírsuwa Hírla, a place under a powerful chief, to the south of which is a considerable well-wooded mountain. Of the inhabitants, one- half are pagans, and the other half Moslemín. A long march.

5th. Bedánga, a place surrounded by a palisade, to the west of which is a mountain, only inhabited by pagans, with abundance of fig-trees, which are considered holy. The soil to the north consists of sand, and in the southern part of clay. The wells are about five fathoms deep. The gár (chief) of Bedánga is dependent upon Bagírmi.

6th. Bámmená, a pagan place in a mountainous tract, where water is only obtained from wells. The huts are of reeds. Not distant.

7th. Óle Mántanjá, a large pagan place. The upper parts of the huts consist of reeds, the lower parts of clay. Halt at noon near a large mountain in the wilderness.

8th. Sómo, a place situated partly on the top and partly at the foot of a mountain possessing springs. The inhabitants are pagans; they breed horses, cows, and sheep, eat pork, and cultivate much cotton. Tétel (_Antilope oryx_) abounds here; also an animal called wáktotó, resembling a cat, but without a tail (the súmmolí?).

9th. Gellá, a place under an independent chief, on a rivulet flowing south, called Múggerú, abounding with fish, and navigated during the rains in bukhsa.

10th. Gár-Sará, or Ngár-Sará, a large pagan place, under a powerful chieftain of the name of Makét, on a stagnant water (sél), which, during the rains, becomes a running river, and is navigated with bukhsa, or crossed by means of a rope drawn from either side. On the way you halt at a group of four wells at the base of a mountain.

11th. Dámbar, a large pagan place, consisting merely of reed huts, under the chieftain Gár-Dogó, and the native place of my informant.

12th. Bánam, a large place, close to which is a high mountain, called “tot Shímme.” The country produces millet, sesamum, sorghum, and much cotton. The field-labour is not done by the women, as is general in Negroland, but by the men, the women having the upper hand.

13th. Górgor, a place nominally under Bagírmi, on a rivulet in a mountainous, rocky tract, the rock being partly of red, partly of blue colour. The mountains are steep. The inhabitants are armed with spear and sword (the latter very remarkable), rarely with bows.

14th. Leté, in a mountainous tract, short distance.

15th. Bubú, a middle-sized place.

16th. Chélemí, a large place.

17th. Kénga Matáya, a large place, under a powerful chief, on the western side of a watercourse running from north to south. Near Kénga a mountain rises as steep as a wall, presenting colours as richly chequered as those of a carpet, and densely inhabited by birds, whence it is called “the birds’ rock.” At the foot of this mountain the inhabitants celebrate, during summer, a great festival in a large hut, their temple, at the top of which an urn is suspended, which is said to be raised by supernatural powers on the approach of an enemy, and to descend again on his retreat. The people slaughter here fowls and sheep, and bring sorghum and beans, which they sow, the crop being said to start forth immediately, so that they reap, boil, and eat it the same day. Then they place a woman, in splendid attire, on a kárru or wooden mortar, on each side of the hut, who are said to be transformed into horses, and to beat the kárru, which itself rises up in the shape of a horse.

These fabulous statements, on whatever imposture they may rest, were repeated to me by several most credible informants, quite independently the one of the other. The vessel or urn suspended at the top of the hut is said to represent their deity. According to the experienced Ramadhán Degéji, the following places lie at short distances from each other, in the mountainous tract between Kénga and Belél-Kolé:—Gér (Gére, see lower down), a large and populous district, rather mountainous; Sára, under Sultan Mokhé; Bedánga, Bámmená, Bajáwu and Mére (another village situated on the top of a mount, and on the watercourse running to Andí, Jená, Kédil, Kótkol, Belél Kolé).

18th. Sár, a large place on and at the base of a high hill, on which stands the chief’s dwelling, surrounded with a rampart. The sultan feasts, at ʿAíd el kebír, the chiefs subjected to his dominion, on receiving their tribute, by slaughtering a great number of cattle.

19th. Doy, a large place under an independent chieftain; not distant.

20th. Dángal, a place on the top of a mountain in a mountainous tract.

21st. Bánal, a large place with a great body of horsemen, situated at the foot of a steep mountain. This mountain-range is said to extend a month’s journey, and to contain numerous villages. In its valleys, watercourses are formed during the rains, and it contains numerous small lakes, abounding with fish. The inhabitants wear clothes, and possess numerous herds. It is said that the cold on these mountains is sometimes very severe, and that snow and hail fall occasionally. The whole country is under the supremacy of Kénga.

22nd. Íyon, a large place at the foot of a mountain, under Kénga.

23rd. Tamkí (see above) a large place under the chief Bishára Milkéte. Tamkí, in a straight line from Kénga, is only one day S.W.

24th. Góberá, a place on a mountain, consisting of a rock of red colour, the inhabitants of which are armed with bows and arrows, and are very formidable. This tract contains several watercourses.

25th. Jayá, a group of several villages on the top of a mountain.

26th. Miñedogó.

27th. Míddogó, a place, or rather district, mountainous, and comprising about 40 hamlets lying around an isolated mountain, under the chieftain Ábú Khódr. The inhabitants, on the inroad of the Wádáy people in 1852, retired to the mountain, which they held for seven months, till the Wádáy army retired.

28th. Dróngoló, a village of the Áfanín, as they are called, a section of, or rather an indigenous tribe subjected to, the Kúka in the valley of the Bat-há, with stagnant pools.

29th. Kúnjur, a place of the Kúka.

30th. Ám-Kharúba, a district comprising numerous hamlets on the Bat-há, which is fringed with dúm-palms. A very short distance.

31st. Kórnay, a large place of the Kúka, consisting entirely of reed- huts. The principal produce is millet.

32nd. Birket Fátima, a large stagnant water on the north bank of the Bat-há. Informant now turns south.

33rd. A large place of the Másmajé, Arab cattle-breeders at the foot of a mountain, the summit of which is inhabited by pagans. The district abounds with large trees.

34th. A considerable village of the Dájó. In the Khalla a large number of Fullán, as the Fúlbe are there called, graze their herds.

35th. Kórbe (?) a large place, or rather district, of the Másalát, or Másalít (whom my informant erroneously takes to be Arabs) with numerous herds, of a very thievish disposition, on a watercourse called Bérekat. North of the Másalát, according to my informant, there is no watercourse properly speaking.

36th. A hamlet of the Salamát Arabs, mixed with pagans, and themselves pagans; on the bahr e’ Tíni, a stagnant water.

37th. A district of the Welád Ráshid, name not known.

38th. A large place of the Bándalá, in a district rich in honey.

39th. Dár Séli, an extensive district quite level and bare of trees.

40th. Sofálawén, a small village inhabited by Arabs, stated by my informant to be pagans, under ʿAbd e’ Rahmán Jóko.

41st. A large place under the sovereign of Runga, name not known. The country is traversed by various mountains.

42nd. Dár Shilá, a mountainous country with a river flowing eastwards, beyond which is Dár Dínga.

(_v._) _From Kúkawa, by way of Logón Bírni and Busó to (the Western) Bang-Bay, according to Slave-traders._

1st day. Ngórnu.

2nd. Ngála.

3rd. Áfadé.

4th. Kála Kabé.

5th. Hállebú.

6th. Kála Gurú.

7th. Kárnak Lógone, or Logón Bírni.

8th. Kúbu ngólo, a large town surrounded by a rampart.

9th. Búgomán, a large town under Sultan Másseri, on the west bank of the Shárí.

10th. Mayemba, or Mankhfa, on the east bank of the large river.

11th. Músgu, a tract comprising a number of hamlets, with some isolated eminences. You always keep along the watercourse.

12th. Baleñére.

13th. Mondó.

14th. Muró.

15th. Gurumbánga.

16th. Gadó.

17th. Kókochó.

18th. Máfelé, constantly along the river.

19th. Láffaná.

20th. Busó, a large place under a powerful chief.

21st. Mirtí, a village on an island in the Shárí.

22nd. Birrí, still on the river.

23rd. Móngolá, under the chieftain Biñígo.

24th. Mútu, a place on the same river, with abundance of boats, ngurútu, and crocodiles, and surrounded by a dense wood.

25th. Bargná, a considerable village.

26th. Yó, another pagan place.

27th. Bíllay, the last place on the Shárí.

28th. Nígi, a village situated in a tract intersected by small watercourses, which join the river.

29th. Tógilá, on the Báchikám.

30th. Kérbe, a large place in a woody tract.

31st. Górewó.

32nd. Búkkabé, a place situated on a river.

33rd. Limmírkay, on the large river, one day from Attar.

34th. Békang. The inhabitants of all these places go naked, are only armed with the hand-bill, and eat dogs’ flesh.

35th. Kórbol, another village on the same river.

36th. Búwa Dasár, so called from the chief Dasár. The people eat beef and horseflesh, and gird their loins with horsetails. The “délu”-tree is said to be their deity.

37th. Kóna.

38th. Nyégel.

39th. Nílem, a place on a headland between the Shárí, towards the west, and a tributary of the latter, the river of Andí, on the east side.

40th. Kunnó.

41st Jénge, a large place at the foot of a mountain which here starts up from the plain.

42nd. Gasháffar, a village in a mountainous district.

43rd. Téngi, a place in a mountainous tract on the west bank of a river (the Shárí?).

44th. Fátum, in a woody plain on the river.

45th. Kóm.

46th. Kúmra (Sará-ngár-Kúmra) in a mountainous tract.

47th. Báng-Bay, in a hilly tract, with four chiefs, one of whom is Jímdil.

48th. Kúdumúr, a place near a mountain.

49th. Géjjemir, a village with a mountain and a river to the south.

50th. Báng-Derír, a mountainous tract with a river, abounding in the tree called kó, which bears a large fruit.

51st. Day, in a mountainous tract, with a river.

52nd. Gurál, a place situated in a level tract, inhabited by a fierce race of people of a red colour.

53rd. Cholól, residence of the chief Kíki.

54th. Jogtó, a large place. All short marches.

55th. Mugmó, in a woody plain with small watercourses without a current, producing millet, and abounding with elephants and beasts of prey,

## particularly hyænas.

56th. Gam, a place in a level tract, the inhabitants of which go naked, are only armed with the hand-bill, and eat dog-flesh.

57th. Somray, in a plain, with small watercourses.

58th. Yálma, in a plain. You here change your course.

59th. Dólemá, in a level tract, subject to Somray, with large trees, producing only millet. The people breed dogs, cattle, and pigs.

60th. Chíre, a large place.

61st. Gábberí, in a plain, devoid of running water, and having only wells.

62nd. Kímre.

(_x._) _From Más-eñá, by way of Gáwi to Mʿawó, according to Agíd Músa,_

Who, nine years ago was sent by ʿOthmán Búgomán to Kánem, to pay his respects to Mohammed, the son of ʿAbd el Jelíl, and to deliver to him a number of slaves as a present, by way of opening negotiations. Músa, however, barely escaped being killed by the khalífa ʿAlí, the governor of Mʿawó and a partisan of Wádáy; and the negotiations were soon broken off in consequence of the insecurity of the road.

1st day. Ábú-Gher (see above).

2nd. Chekká.

3rd. Dérja.

4th. Méddebá, on the Shárí, a little above Klésem.

5th. Gáwi, a town formerly of importance, but containing at present, after having been destroyed by the sheikh Mohammed el Kánemí, who, assisted by Mústafa el Áhmar and Mukní, took it, after a long resistance, in A.H. 1234—only a small population. Gáwi from Klésem about 20 miles.

6th. A place of the Yamanúk Arabs, or the Dághana, on a sheet of water.

7th. Kídik.

8th. Babáliyá, formerly the capital of an independent territory, with a peculiar dialect like that of Búgomán; at present nearly deserted, since its destruction together with Gáwi in 1234 A.H., and possessing but a very small remnant of population. Bábaliyá is about twelve miles from the Shárí, and thirty miles, or a long day’s journey, from Gáwi.

9th. Ziyán, a place belonging to Kárká or Kargha.

10th. A hamlet belonging to Kárká, not far from the lake.

11th. } } 12th. } } Híllelát (small hamlets) of Kárká. 13th. } } 14th. }

15th. A village of the Nefása.

16th. A village of the Kánem Arabs. A long night’s march, from ʿaser (four o’clock, P.M.) till the next morning.

17th. Mʿawó.

_From Babáliyá to Moító, according to Ramadhán Degéji._

1st day. Augúra, a place of the Kúka.

2nd. Dimdim, a wádí whence the inhabitants of Moító fetch natron, and much frequented by the Shúwa, who like to graze their herds therein.

3rd. Kargha.

4th. Babáliyá.

_From Más-eñá to Méddebá._

1st. Bákadá, } } 2nd. Kóllekólle, } Separated by short distances. Very easy to } be performed in two days. 3rd. Márga, }

4th. Jógodé, a large place inhabited by Kanúri, with a khalífa.

5th. Méddebá.

(_y._) _Places on the Shárí, descending the river from Búgomán._

Below Búgomán are situated on the river:—Yaúya; Bála Mása, with a rampart; Kuljí; Ásu or Aisu, with a rampart in the utmost state of decay; Ndára; Mai Dalá; Gédiyé, and Mélé.

Below Mélé are situated on the river:—Méddebá; Klésem, a considerable place, with a peculiar dialect, twenty miles from Mélé; Tibálo; Shégguwa or Kinjí Búrgu, with the ford of Siña-Fácha, where the river of Logón, or the lághame Lógone (the Arre of the Músgu), falls into the Shárí; Gulfé; Mafáng; Sháwi, a place well-known from Denham’s description; Makari, a very important place, which, it is much to be regretted, we were prevented from visiting.

For the very important itinerary of an expedition undertaken from Ám- majúra in Dár Fúr, in a south-westerly direction, through Bánda (called Dár Bánda) to the borders of a large river running westward, which must be one of the great objects of discovery to future expeditions, see Journal of the Royal Geog. Soc., 1853, vol. xxiii. p. 120.

[Footnote 111: Kínji is two days E.S.E. from Moíto, a large place, east of which is a mountain, the only one in Bagírmi. See further on.]

[Footnote 112: This is a very important circumstance, which explains all the errors of M. Fresnel in constructing his incomplete itineraries.]

[Footnote 113: This place has been repeatedly mistaken for the capital of Bagírmi, even by M. Fresnel.]

[Footnote 114: This place Aúni is evidently identical with the homonymous place mentioned above in the itinerary of the king Edrís Alawóma.]

[Footnote 115: It is most probable that this is Wogga’s Kimkul.—Journal of the R. Geogr. Soc., vol. xv. p. 374. “Koome,” p. 375., is Belél Komé.]

X.

FRAGMENTS OF A METEOROLOGICAL REGISTER.

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[Deg. F.: Degrees in scale of Fahrenheit.]