Note 212 — Chapter XIII

Muley Arsheede, about the year 1670, proceeding to Suse, laid siege to the sanctuary of Seedy Aly ben Aidar, near Ilirgh; Seedy Aly, making his escape in disguise, fled to Soudan, whither he was followed by Muley Arsheede, who, on his arrival on the confines of Soudan, between Timbuctoo and Jinnie, was met by a numerous host of blacks, of the king of the negroes; the prince demanded Aly ben Aidar, but the negro prince, who was king of Bambara, replied, that as he had claimed his protection, it would be an infringement on the laws of hospitality to deliver him up, adding, moreover, that he desired to know if the views of Arsheede were hostile or not; to which the latter replied, after endeavouring in vain to procure the person of Aly, that he was not come hostilely, but was about to return, which he forthwith did; and the Bambareen king having received from Aly two beautiful renegade virgins, was so much flattered with the present, that he promised him any thing that he should ask; whereupon he requested permission to go to Timbuctoo, and to settle there with his numerous followers, which being granted, he proceeded thither, and having established a Moorish garrison, resided there several months, and afterwards returned to Barbary, bringing with him many thousand Bambareen blacks; but on his reaching Suse, he heard of the death of Muley El Arsheede, and having then no further occasion for the blacks, he dismissed them; they went to different parts of the country, and served the inhabitants in order to procure subsistence; but the politic Muley Ismael, who had then recently been proclaimed, ordered them to be collected together, and incorporated in his black army, which was, however, before this, very numerous, consisting, for the most part, of blacks brought away from Soudan by Muley Arsheede the year preceding. Muley Ismael also seized this opportunity of establishing his power at Timbuctoo; and he met with no opposition in putting that place under contribution: having sent fresh troops to occupy the Moorish garrison there, the inhabitants were glad to make a contribution in exchange for the protection and power which it afforded them, for previous to this, they had been subject to continual depredations from the Arabs of the adjacent country, to whom they had been compelled to pay tribute as a security for their caravans, which were constantly passing the country of these Arabs, who are of the race of Brabeeshee.

In the year 1727, when Muley Ismael died, it is reported that he possessed an immense quantity of gold, of the purity of which, some of his gold coins to be seen at this day, at Timbuctoo, bear testimony; it is also said that the massive bolts in his different palaces were of pure gold, as well as the utensils of his kitchen. After his decease, however, the tribute was not regularly transmitted, and his successors having no means of exacting it, it was entirely discontinued: the Moorish garrison too intermarrying with the natives, and dispersing themselves about the vicinage, has given to the latter that tincture of Mooselmin manners which they are known to possess, their descendants forming at this period a considerable portion of the population of Timbuctoo.