APPENDIX. (continued 3)

A.H. 1251. A.D. 1835.

This opportunity, when all the best troops were about to march to the distant west, was seized on by the numerous partisans of the old dynasty, to aim a mortal blow at the house of the sheikh by secretly inviting the King of Wádáy, Mohammed e’ Sheríf, to re-establish the Séfuwa on the throne of Bórnu. Mohammed listening to this invitation, collected his army, and in Mulúd or Rebí el awel, 1262, that is, in March 1846, reached Kúsuri. The sheikh never heard of his approach till he was very near. He at once summoned the sultan Ibrám from Birni, and, denouncing him as a traitor, placed him in irons; he then hastily collected what troops remained behind, having no one with him upon whom he could rely, except Tiráb his faithful minister (the intimate friend of his father), his brother the valorous ʿAlí, together with from five to six hundred Arabs and Tebu. With this little band, swelled by a crowd of faithless Shúwa, he encamped on the western bank of the river of Logón, not far from the town of Kúsuri, while Wádáy was encamped on the eastern bank of the Shárí. The inhabitants of Kúsuri locked the gates of their town against both armies, but secretly communicated with Wádáy; and when Mohammed e’ Sheríf was unable to force the passage of the river in the face of the enemy, who did great execution with two cannons, the Wádáy having none, they sent to him offering to lead part of his army round by a ford which was protected only by Shúwa. This was the ford of Síña Fácha, at the headland a little below Kúsuri, where the Shárí and the river of Logón unite to form one stream, which joins the Tsád. When the corps sent by the people of Wádáy tried to cross the river here, the Shúwa, who had been ordered to defend the ford, gave way, and, thinking this a favourable opportunity to pilfer, joined the enemy, killing many of the sheikh’s people in the flank, till Kashélla Belál brought their chief to the ground. In the slaughter which ensued, Tiráb fell, and a great many of the Bórnu people. The valorous ʿAlí penetrated into the town of Kúsuri, but was delivered by the townspeople into the hands of the king of Wádáy; the rest took to flight, except the Tebu and Arabs, who maintained their position, so that Sheikh ʿOmár was able to say his prayers of the dhohor and the ʿaser before he left the battle-field. But the encampment fell into the hands of the enemy, as well as the two cannons. However, in crossing the river, the Wádáy army sustained severe losses. All this happened on Tuesday the 11th of Rebí el awel, or March 8. 1846. On Thursday, Sheikh ʿOmár put to death Ibrahím the titular sultan of Bórnu, whom he had laid in chains before going to battle. He then hastily left Kúkawa, and retreated into the western provinces; the host of Wádáy followed him as far as Ngórnu, where they encamped and remained about forty days, while their skirmishers plundered all the neighbouring places, and particularly Kúkawa, from whence they carried away a considerable booty, and then set fire to the town. Indeed the capital for about two months remained a desert.

But this was not all. The King of Wádáy took ʿAlí, the son of the late Sultan Ibrám, and enthroned him in Birni as sultan of Bórnu, summoning all the partisans of the old dynasty to defend their new king. However, he soon found that he was not strong enough to carry his point, and hearing that ʿAbd e’ Rahmán, the sheikh’s brother, was approaching from the west with a numerous host, and being afraid lest, if he stayed longer, his retreat might be cut off by the river, he sent Ibrahím Wádáy as a messenger of peace to the sheikh, declaring that he had not undertaken this expedition from any desire of conquest, but at the instigation of a great many of the noblest kokanáwa or grandees of Bórnu, whose letters he forwarded to the sheikh. He then, in the last days of April, or the first days of May, 1846, left Ngórnu, commencing his retreat to his far-distant residence, and leaving the recently-elevated sultan to his fate.

But it appears that ʿAlí the son of Ibrám was a courageous young prince; for he thought himself strong enough to march against the sheikh, whom he encountered at Minárem, but was quickly vanquished and slain. Thus the last of the Séfuwa died an honourable death on the battlefield. It was now evident that the family of Mohammed el Kánemí, who had liberated the country from a warlike and successful enemy, was well established in the place of the ancient rulers, who had degenerated into mere puppets, and were totally unable to defend themselves and their subjects. A great slaughter of all the partisans of the old dynasty followed, and principally of the Sugúrti, who had risen as their especial upholders; and a little later, in order to efface as far as possible all recollection of those times, the destruction of New Birni was decided on, and fell to the lot of Háj Beshír, the son of Tiráb, who had succeeded his father as the first minister and most confidential servant of the sheikh. From this time, people say, dated the great wealth of the vizier. Meanwhile Sheikh ʿOmár went in person to castigate Serkí Ibrám, the governor of Zínder, who had risen in open revolt, and took and plundered the town, though he pardoned and reinstated the governor, while ʿAbd e’ Rahmán quelled the rebellion of the Manga, who, ever restless and inclined to insurrection, had thought this an excellent opportunity of asserting their independence. ʿOmár himself brought the then large town of Surríkulo to obedience[228]; and the country soon became quieter than before. Scarcely any vestige of the old dynasty was left; even the records of it were purposely destroyed—a most unfortunate circumstance, which made it very difficult for me to obtain what little information I have been able to collect.

The Kúka, built by Mohammed el Kánemí, having been destroyed by the people of Wádáy, ʿOmár and his vizier built two towns in its place, one the eastern town, “bílla gedíbe,” as the especial residence of the court, the other, the western town, “bílla futébe.” Thus Kúka has become Kúkawa.[229]

Sheikh ʿOmár was now in a much more favourable position than his father, being sole and indisputable master of the country and really the king, though he disdained the title. He might have given it a new organization, ruling it with a strong and impartial hand; but while he is an upright and straightforward man, who certainly would like to see the country well administered, he lacks that far-sighted vigour which is necessary for ruling an extensive kingdom based on a loose state of things, with arbitrary power above and turbulent habits beneath. Indeed it is most deplorable that he has allowed the Tawárek, or rather Imóshagh, those inveterate enemies of well-governed communities, to persist in their desolating and predatory habits. In the time of his father there were Tebu settlements near all the wells on the Fezzán road as far as Beduwáram; all these have been deserted successively since the beginning of the reign of ʿOmár, the towns of Lárí and Wúdí have been ransacked by the Tawárek, and not a living soul left, and the whole of Kánem has become the desolate abode of a few unfortunate communities, and the wild hunting-ground of continual adventurous ghazzias from every quarter; indeed, not only the considerable town of Bárruwa, one day’s march north of the komádugu, on the road to Kánem, but even other places in the middle of Bórnu, as will be seen in the course of my narrative, have to buy their peace by a sort of tribute to be paid to the Tawárek freebooters.

But besides his own personal weakness, and inclination to ascetic piety, there was a dangerous cancer undermining the health of the new dynasty: this was the rivalry which soon arose between him and his brother ʿAbd e’ Rahmán, on account of the vizier el Háj Beshír, who enjoyed the whole confidence of the sheikh, and employed his authority too exclusively. The results of this unfortunate quarrel I will here report to their end, although they fall after the time of my arrival in Bórnu. I have already observed above, that on leaving Múrzuk we were informed that a quarrel was about to break out between ʿOmár and ʿAbd e’ Rahmán; but happily matters were then adjusted, and the rivalry did not proceed to a civil war before the winter of 1853, when ʿAbd e’ Rahmán, with his partisans, left Kúkawa and went to Gújebá. The sheikh and his vizier followed him, but being betrayed by many of the courtiers, who were badly disposed against the vizier, they were defeated in an irregular skirmish; and Háj Beshír, certainly with very little show of courage, was the first who turned his back, and collecting his most valuable treasures, started for Wádáy. Being detained by the Shúwa, who would not allow him to cross the Shárí, he was induced to return to Kúkawa, on safe-conduct being promised to him by ʿAbd e’ Rahmán, but having been found guilty of treason was strangled. ʿOmár meanwhile was allowed to reside as a private man in the house of his former vizier till, in the summer of 1854, ʿAbd e’ Rahmán ordered him to go to reside in Díkowa. He then collected the malcontents, and on the ʿAíd el kebír vanquished his brother in the open place between the two towns, and made him prisoner, and in the first days of December killed him. Thus he is once more sole ruler of the country; but having lost his vizier, upon whose advice he was formerly wont to rely entirely, he has nobody to supply his want of energy. Time will show whether Bórnu is again to flourish under this dynasty, or whether it has to undergo another revolution. From the sequel of my narrative it will sufficiently appear that it is not in such a state as it ought to be; but it has the advantage that all over Negroland there is no warlike and energetic king at the present time.

VI.

FRAGMENTS OF A METEOROLOGICAL REGISTER.

Date. Hour of Day. Degrees in scale of Fahrenheit. Remarks.

1851.

Jan.

11 sunrise 53·6

sunset 73·4

12 sunrise 48·2

13 sunset 71·6

14 sunrise 57·2

sunset 73·4

15 sunrise 57·2

sunset 71·6

17 sunset 73·4

18 sunrise 59

19 No observation.

20 sunrise 50

sunset 71·6

21 sunrise 44·6

22 to 26 No observation.

27 sunrise 66·2

sunset 77

28 sunrise 59 Cold wind in the afternoon.

29 sunrise 66

30 No observation.

31 sunset 69·8

Feb. No observation.

March

First half No observation.

2 Sky cloudy (Kanó).

3

18 sunrise 64·4

1.0 p.m. 109

19 No observation.

20 sunrise 70·3

21 No observation.

22 sunrise 68 Thick fog in the morning, the sun not coming forth till past noon.

noon 91·4

23 Morning foggy.

24 noon 95 Morning clear, northerly wind arose.

25 No observation.

26 noon 100·4

27 noon 98·6

28 No observation. Sky turbid and dull, easterly wind.

29 noon 98·6

April

1 noon 96·8 Same sky, overcast with thick clouds; wind, as in general, easterly.

10 sunrise 69·8 (Kúkawa.)

14 sunrise 78·8 Sky a little overcast.

noon 105·8

sunset 93·2

15 sunrise 77

1 p.m. 100

16 sunrise 69·8

noon 104·

17 sunrise 69·8

noon 98·6

sunset 91·4

18 sunrise 68

noon 100·4

sunset 87·8

19 sunrise 74

sunset 89·6

20 No observation.

21 sunrise 73·4

noon 95

sunset 87·8

22 sunrise 71·6

noon 96·8

sunset 98·6

23 sunrise 68

noon 96·8

24 to 28 No observation.

29 sunset 89·6

30 sunrise 69·8

noon 99

sunset 89·6

May

1 sunrise 70·3

noon 100·4

2 1 p.m. 104

3 sunrise 74

1 p.m. 104

sunset 91·4

4 sunrise 73·4

1 p.m. 105·8

sunset 95

5 sunrise 84·2 Sky dull and cloudy, gradually becoming more overcast.

1 p.m. 105·8 Three o’clock p.m. a few claps of thunder without lightning, and with only a little rain.

sunset 86

6 sunrise 80·6

noon 105·8

sunset 91·4

7 sunrise 76

8 sunrise 95

noon 106·2

9 noon 107·6

10 noon 106·7

sunset 86

11 sunrise 78

noon 106·7

12 sunrise 80·6 Very strong wind; in the afternoon a thunder-storm, with some rain at four o’clock p.m.

noon 105·8

sunset 77

13 sunrise 80·6

noon 100·4

sunset 90·5 In the evening thick clouds.

14 sunrise 80·6

noon 104

sunset 100·4

15 sunrise 77

noon 105

sunset 86

16 sunrise 79·7 Atmosphere very oppressive.

noon 104

sunset 95

17 sunrise 81·5 Heavy gale from N.W. in the forenoon.

noon 104

sunset 92·3

18 sunrise 82·4

noon 105·8

19 sunrise 78·8

noon 104

sunset 93·2

20 sunrise 78

noon 107·6

sunset 92·3

21 sunrise 77

noon 104

1.30 p.m. 107·6

sunset 96·8

22 sunrise 77

noon 104

sunset 95 Lightning in the evening.

23 sunrise 77

noon 104 At three o’clock p.m. a tornado and a little rain.

sunset 90·5

24 sunrise 77

noon 98·6

sunset 97·7

25 sunrise 79·7

noon 96·8

26 noon 97·7 Sky thickly overcast; a few drops of rain.

sunset 93·2

27 sunrise 78·8

noon 104

sunset 93·2 In the evening lightning.

28 sunrise 84·2 Sky not clear.

29 No observation.

30 noon 99·5

sunset 87·8

31 sunrise 75·2

noon 99·5 In the afternoon the sky became thickly overcast, and a little rain fell.

sunset 90·5

June

1 sunrise 78·8 In the evening a thunder-storm, towards the south and the north, came down upon us, accompanied with heavy rain.

noon 98·6

sunset 99·5

2 sunrise 79·7

noon 98·6 Tornado near us.

3 sunrise 74·3

noon 104·9

4 sunrise 74·3

noon 98·6

5 sunrise 75·2 Weather extremely sultry; at 2 p.m. a heavy thunder-storm, with much rain.

2 p.m. 111·2

sunset 101·3

6 sunrise 73·4

noon 93·2 At 10 p.m. frightful tempest, with much rain.

7 No observation. In the evening thunder-storm in the distance.

8 sunrise 73·4

9 sunrise 75·2 At four o’clock in the afternoon a tornado, with a short but heavy shower. In the night another storm, but no rain near us.

sunset 82·4

10 sunrise 71·6 In the afternoon a storm, with but little rain.

11 Sky cloudy.

12 2 p.m. 82·4 Atmosphere humid and rainy, felt quite chilly, sun did not come forth till after noon.

13 sunrise 69·5

noon 89·6 In the afternoon thunder-storm towards the south.

sunset 75·1

14 sunrise 79·7

noon 91·4 About 2 p.m. a tornado, with a little rain later in the afternoon.

sunset 77·0

15 noon 95·1 8 p.m. a tornado, but not much rain.

sunset 77

16 sunrise 77

noon 90·5

sunset 80·6 During the night tornado with rain.

17 sunrise 75·2 Fine clear morning.

noon 91·4 7 p.m. heavy thunder-storm.

18 sunset 86

19 sunrise 78·8

noon 87·8

20 In the evening a tornado with heavy rain.

21 sunrise 70·7 (Yóla.)

2 p.m. 65·3 1 o’clock p.m. a storm broke forth with great violence, in consequence of which it became quite cool.

sunset 67

22 No observation. In the morning, sun lurid and atmosphere moist, afterwards very hot.

23 sunrise 71·6

24 No observation.

25

26 sunrise 76 In the evening a heavy tornado, accompanied with rain, lasting from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. 27th.

June 27 to July 7 No observation.

8 noon 77 Rain in the evening and during the night.

9 1 p.m. 80·6 Sky thickly overcast.

10 5.30 a.m. Heavy rain lasting till 7½ a.m.

11 1.30 p.m. 82·4

sunrise 79·7

12 In the afternoon heavy thunder-storm with rain.

13 No observation.

14 sunrise 77 Sky cloudy; 7 p.m. storm accompanied by very heavy rain, lasting till midnight.

15 Sky cloudy in the morning; sun came forth at 8 a.m.; a little rain the following night.

16 Sky thickly overcast; storm in the night.

17 A little before sunset a storm, accompanied by heavy rain.

18 Weather clear.

19 Soon after sunrise a storm broke forth accompanied by rain, lasting till noon.

20 to No observation.

23 93·2

24 noon (Kúkawa.)

END OF THE SECOND VOLUME.

London: Printed by Spottiswoode & Co. New-street Square.

VOL. 1 VOL. 2 VOL. 3 VOL. 4 VOL. 5

ToC ToC ToC ToC ToC

Illus. Illus. Illus. Illus. Illus.

CHAP. 1 22 38 53 70

2 23 39 54 71

3 24 40 55 72

4 25 41 56 73

5 26 42 57 74

6 27 43 58 75

7 28 44 59 76

8 29 45 60 77

9 30 46 61 78

10 31 47 62 79

11 32 48 63 80

12 33 49 64 81

13 34 50 65 82

14 35 51 66 83

15 36 52 67 84

16 37 68 85

17 69

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19

20

21

APP. 1 1 1 1 1

2 2 2 2 2

3 3 3 3 3

4 4 4 4 4

5 5 5 5 5

6 6 6 6 6

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8 8 8

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IND.