CHAP. LXI.

PROVINCE OF LIBTÁKO. — SOUTH-EASTERN LIMIT OF THE RANGE OF THE COMMERCE OF TIMBÚKTU.

Saturday, July 9th.We left Sebba the capital of the wilderness—bírni-n-dáji, as I called it,—passing through a district where forest and cultivated ground alternated. The slaves were busy in the fields rooting up the weeds from among the crops; but, after a march of about four miles, we had to cross a very considerable water, which is here called Yáli, and about whose course I am not able to give distinct information. It is said to come from Mósi, and to join the river Sirba not far from Bosebángo; but the latter statement is incredible. The water being not less than four feet and a half in depth, with a breadth of at least four hundred yards, most of our luggage became wetted.

The country then assumed a more rocky appearance—mica slate, granite, and gneiss alternating, the granite sometimes appearing in large boulders. The vegetation also assumed here a more varied aspect, besides tamarind trees, mádachi and kadé predominating; and altogether the forest exhibited a fresh and pleasant character, especially as the sun had at length broken through the clouds which had obscured its rays during the first part of the day. After a march altogether of about eleven miles, we reached the village of Namantúgu, which still belongs to the province of Yágha, the mayor of which we had met a short time before, on the road, as he was going to look after his cattle.

The village is of some importance, and consists of several groups which cover an extensive tract of ground, lying straggling about in the fields; but the huts themselves are very narrow, and the one which was assigned to myself was so small that there was scarcely room to breathe. Nothing is more unhealthy for a European than these abodes of stench and filth; but during the rainy season he is often obliged to seek shelter in these dirty dwellings, especially if he has valuable property in his possession.

Namantúgu, which seems to have been of considerable importance in the history of the Songhay empire[69], was a rather eventful place for my whole subsequent proceedings, as I here met an Arab from the west, in whose company I was safely to enter the town of Timbúktu. He called himself Sheikho, though this was not originally his proper name; and, in order not to cause any mistake, I will in future call him (from his father and the name of his birthplace) Weled Ámmer Waláti. He was certainly a very remarkable fellow; and I shall have frequent occasion, in the further course of my journey, to advert to his doings. Being originally a native of Waláta, he had emigrated to Timbúktu, whence he had roved about a great deal among the Tawárek as well as among the Fúlbe, and was at present on his way from Belánga, the residence of one of the principal chiefs of Gurma. He had a good quantity of the broad gábagá, or cotton strips, of Mósi with him, which form the staple currency in the whole tract of country from Libtáko to Timbúktu, ten drʿa being reckoned equal to one hundred shells. Besides Arabic, he spoke Fulfúlde, Songhay, Mósi, and Bámbara fluently, and Temáshight, or the language of the Tawárek, almost as well, and altogether was one of the cleverest men whom I met on my journey, in spite of the trouble he caused me and the tricks he played me. He was a handsome man, of middle size and of rather slender growth, and with very fine expressive features. His dress consisted of a long black gown, with a black shawl wound round his head; and his whole appearance, as he was moving along at a solemn thoughtful pace, frequently reminded me of the servants of the Inquisition. However, his real character at the time of our first meeting was, of course, unknown to me, and I was delighted at having found such a man, as he held out to me the fairest prospects of reaching Timbúktu. But although I convinced myself that this man would be of great service to me, yet I did not make a bargain with him immediately, but we agreed that I should arrange with him in Dóre, when he would be able to settle his own business.

The village of Namantúgu is almost exclusively inhabited by Fúlbe, all of whom were clad in the purest white, even the little children wearing round their heads a large turban of white cotton strips; but this was, perhaps, in consequence of their festival having been held the previous day. A great deal of rain had fallen hereabouts; and cotton appeared to be cultivated to a considerable extent.

Sunday, July 10th.Our road, on leaving Namantúgu, led through a deep clayey soil covered with rank vegetation, which was only now and then interrupted by a little cultivation. A wealthy family of Fúlbe, father, mother, son, and daughter, all mounted on horseback, and accompanied by servants and by a numerous herd of cattle, were pursuing the same path; and their company was rather agreeable to us, as, after a march of about five miles, we had to cross a large sheet of water in the midst of the forest, through which they showed us the way. It is delightful for a traveller to meet with these nomadic settlers, after the disgust he has felt at the degraded character of their countrymen in Wurno. We had here entered a region full of water, the soil presenting very little inclination to afford it the means of flowing off. Further on also, where we passed the site of a former dwelling-place, we had to cross several channels of running water, and encamped at length, after a march of about seventeen miles, in the midst of the forest, close beyond another watercourse; for we were not aware that about two miles further on there was a far more favourable place for encamping, viz. the site of the former town of Tumpénga.

The site of this place we passed early the next morning. Before the time of the rising of the Jihádi, the town had been inhabited by Fúlbe and pagans indiscriminately, when, owing to the religious ferment caused by that reformer, a bloody feud broke out between the Mohammedan and pagan inhabitants. The latter were vanquished, and fled to Nába, the powerful Gurma domain at some distance towards the south, while the former founded the town of Dóre. Two dyeing-places bore testimony to the fact that a certain degree of industry had formerly prevailed in this place, which, like so many other human abodes in Christian and Mohammedan countries, has been reduced to desolation in consequence of religious disputes.

Beyond this place granite protruded in large boulders, while monkey-bread trees were in great abundance; but gradually the country became more open, the trees being scanty and the soil hard and barren. This did not, however, last long, and further on we had to cross a considerable sheet of water surrounded by fine pasture-grounds; then followed another very barren and open tract, till, after a march of almost twenty miles, we reached the village of Kória, situated beyond a broad sandy watercourse at present dry. The scarcity of herbage was here so great that I was obliged to send two of my people back to a considerable distance in order to procure a little grass for the horses. The head man of the village received us very inhospitably, refusing us quarters in such a peremptory manner, that it was only by force I could procure an open yard where to pitch my tent. However, he soon changed his behaviour entirely. It so happened that a thunder-storm, with the blackest clouds, which in the opinion of every one portended a heavy fall of rain, twice passed over our heads without bringing these famished people a single drop; whereupon all of them assured the inhospitable mayor that it was a divine punishment for his niggardly and unrighteous conduct towards me. Frightened, therefore, by such signs, he carried his hospitality so far as even to make me a present of a young heifer. But the first advances towards a friendly intercourse were made by an old woman, the mistress of the piece of ground where we had encamped,—she bringing me, as a token of goodwill, a dish of well-cooked paste, which probably constituted her whole supper.

Considering the parched character of the whole neighbourhood, I was surprised to find a few dúm palms at the border of the channel, while the whole neighbourhood was almost destitute of trees.

Tuesday, July 12th.A short march of a little less than six miles, in company with the son of the old governor, brought us from here to Dóre. The country through which we passed bore at the time the character of extreme drought and barrenness; and numerous flocks of gazelles (quite an unusual aspect to me in the populous districts of Negroland through which I had passed) were roving about over this immense plain, which was scarcely broken by a single tree, with the exception of a few stunted monkey-bread trees. In the distance, towards the south, two small eminences bounded the horizon.

The remnant of a large herd of cattle, in a most emaciated condition, was scattered in the barren fields, licking the soil, which is here full of natron. The seed had already been sown, but the crops had scarcely started forth from the ground, and were languishing for want of rain. Huts were occasionally seen for the first mile or two, but being exposed to the full force of the sun, without affording the least shade, they presented rather a dismal aspect. But this immense plain, which at the present season was only very slightly broken, about halfway, by a shallow strip of green bordered by projecting granite boulders, supplies abundant food for a fine breed of horses, for which Libtáko is remarkable.

Dóre is the chief place of the province of Libtáko; but its appearance caused us the utmost disappointment, presenting, as it did, unmistakable signs of misery and decay, the wall by which it had been formerly surrounded being nothing but a disgusting heap of rubbish, while the whole place exhibited the utmost neglect. But, through the kind interference of a messenger of Galaijo, who was most opportunely here at the time, I was lodged in an excellent and spacious hut, measuring probably not less than thirty-five feet in diameter, and presenting a remarkable contrast to the little dirty nook which formed my quarters in Namantúgu. The place is said to abound in thieves, which is not astonishing, as it is not only the rendezvous for all the natives from the different tribes which dwell in the immediate neighbourhood, but even several Bórnu people have settled here since the inroad of Wádáy.

Dóre is principally a great place of resort for the Arabs of Ázawád, the district to the north of Timbúktu, who bring to this market the salt of Taödénni in great quantities, and occasionally even reside here for a long time; but they generally come direct from Ázawád without touching at Timbúktu, proceeding by way of Gágho (the ancient capital of the Songhay empire, and once the great gold-market of the western part of Negroland), or, still more direct, by Tósaye, the point where the river greatly contracts, before it changes from an easterly to a south-easterly course. Some of them are very wealthy people,—one individual having as many as forty camels with him. Among other important information, I received from them the news that Hámed Weled Habíb, the sheikh of Árawán, who, from the account of Caillié[70], is generally regarded in Europe as the chief murderer of Major Laing, had died a short time before, after a reign of nearly forty years; and I regarded this piece of news as a very auspicious omen for the success of my undertaking.

These Arabs left on the 17th,—a circumstance not quite indifferent to me, as I was led to expect that they might carry the news of my arrival, not only into the heart of the desert, but also to Timbúktu, and thus augment the difficulties of my journey. There were, however, also a good many individuals who wanted to pass themselves off for Arabs without having any claim to such a descent. Besides the Arabs, the Wángaráwa, or Eastern Mandingoes, especially from Miniána and Wássulo, the inhabitants of Mósi, and the people of Gʿaó, Gágho, or Gógó, frequent this market-place in considerable numbers; and it is principally the Wángaráwa who impart to this town its importance, supplying it with a small quantity of white Kóla nuts, for which the consumption here seems not to be very great, besides wodʿa (shells), or “chéde,” as the Fúlbe call them, which are evidently imported from the coast of Sierra Leone, or, more probably, from the river Nuñez[71], but they were entirely wanting at the time. The people of Mósi bring chiefly their fine donkeys, which are greatly sought after; and a numerous body of people of the sheikh Áhmedu, of Hamda-Alláhi, had left a few days before with a number of asses which they had bought here. Besides asses, the people of Mósi supply this market with gábagá, or “tári,” as the Arabs near Timbúktu call them, cotton being extremely cheap in their country, so that in the great market-places of that country, especially in Kulféla, an indigo-coloured shirt is not worth more than from 700 to 800 shells.

The inhabitants of the ancient capital of the Songhay empire, and the people thereabouts, on the banks of the Niger, bring chiefly butter and corn to market; and it was highly interesting to me to be here brought into direct communication with that place, which, although once the most celebrated and renowned in all Negroland, yet has become so completely obliterated, that its geographical position has given rise to the most contrary opinions among the learned geographers of our age.

Shells formed the currency of the market, and these it was very difficult to obtain. In order to supply my wants I was obliged to sell my túrkedís for 2500 to 3000 shells each, while in the town of Say they had realised 4000, and, as I afterwards found, fetched the same price in Timbúktu. Sometimes I was not able to dispose either of my túrkedís or my tobes, even at the lowest price; while others, that I had at length succeeded in selling, were returned to me as defective. I was at considerable expense for my large household, my three horses alone (ʿAlí providing for the other two) costing me every day 400 shells for the corn with which I was forced to feed them exclusively.

Almost all the corn which is brought into the market consists of Negro millet, or Pennisetum typhoïdeum, while Indian millet, or sorghum, is found only in very small quantities; and I was repeatedly prevented from buying, because I was not possessed of what the people wanted. Thus when, on the 13th, a caravan of Tawárek serfs, with oxen, arrived bringing corn from Gógó, they refused to accept anything I could offer them, viz. shirts, zenne, and gábagá; and the day before I started there was no corn at all to be got, as no Tárki had arrived. Not the smallest particle of rice was to be obtained; and I could not but deem myself fortunate in being able to procure a small supply of vegetable paste of dodówa, which made my food of millet a little more endurable. This formed my usual supper. In the morning I usually breakfasted on tíggera, or cold paste, with sour milk; the latter being excellent and very cheap, and almost the only article which was to be found in abundance.

But, besides the great difficulty I had in supplying my wants during my residence in the place, I had still more trouble in obtaining the currency of the country through which I had to pass on my journey to Timbúktu; this is the “faráwel,” or “feruwál,” as it is called by the Arabs, a long narrow strip of cotton cloth sewn together from a number of pieces, and supposed to measure thirty-two drʿa, though in reality the measure does not exceed thirty. The price of each feruwál is generally three hundred shells; but during my stay it rose to four hundred.

The market is held on the border of the village, on the bleak open ground which extends to the south; but there were very rarely more than 500 people, and in general scarcely as many as two hundred, assembled. But it is not to be denied that, taking into account the manner of living in these regions, a good deal of business is transacted in this place; and, on account of the many strangers who visit it, ready-cooked pudding, tíggera, and sour milk are offered for sale throughout the whole day. Besides salt, cotton strips, dyed cloth, Kóla nuts, corn, and asses, some copper manufactured chiefly into large drinking-vessels is also brought into the market by the people of Mósi. However, I do not think they manufacture the copper vessels themselves, but bring them from Asanti. Copper is worn by the inhabitants, by way of ornament, to a large extent; and I was greatly amused on observing that some of the young girls wore in the long plaits of their hair a very remarkable ornament made of that metal, representing a warrior on horseback with a drawn sword in his hand and a pipe in his mouth; for, with the Songhay people, smoking, although forbidden by the present ruler of the western part of the former territory of their empire, the fanatical prince of Hamda-Alláhi, is, next to dancing, the chief enjoyment of their existence. Whether these small horsemen worn in the hair of the young damsels form an ornament without meaning, or are intended as auspicious omens as to their future husbands, I cannot say; and I must apologise to the reader for not being able, in this part of my journey, which was more beset by dangers, to enter fully into the private life of the people.

Altogether, Dóre, or as it is generally called, by the name of the whole province, Libtáko, appeared to me an extremely dry and uncomfortable place. However, this seemed to be rather exceptional, owing to the extraordinary drought prevailing that year; and it was not until the evening of the 17th of this month (July), that we had a moderate fall of rain, when nature as well as man appeared a little refreshed. The name which the Tawárek, as well as the Arabs of Ázawád, give to this place, namely Wéndu, or Wínde, seems to imply quite another character, as the word means pond or lake; but, in reality, a very extensive sheet of water is annually formed close to the western side of the town, although during my stay the extensive depression was dry; and I even have ground to suppose that this sheet of water is very often, through a very considerable backwater, directly connected with the Niger.

The political state of the country, however, was at the present moment worse than its material condition. The disorder and anarchy were such as to make it appear as if there were no government at all. There were so many different factions that one paralysed the other, and there is no doubt that the present misery was the immediate consequence of such a state of anarchy. There was a titular governor of the place called Íbrahíma; but his mild disposition and his advanced age had left him scarcely any power at all, and I had to make my peace with all parties as well as I could. The most energetic and influential amongst the aspirants to power seemed to be a relative of the governor, of the name of Hámed ʿAísa. Then there was an elder but weaker brother of his, of the name of Bélko, and, further, a man of the name of El Jeládi, who troubled me greatly, begging me to write him a charm, by the secret influence of which I might procure him the government of the place.

Libtáko is situated between many different tribes, with the seats of the Tawárek close to the north, from whence these restless people are continually pushing on; and this situation necessarily imbues the inhabitants with a warlike spirit. In former times, especially, they were renowned for their valour, and distinguished, moreover, by the breed of their horses, but at the present moment, owing to the severe drought which had prevailed for so long a time, all the horses had been sent to a great distance, where they were likely to find better pastures. At present, there being so many factions and no strong government whatever, and the supremacy exercised by their liege lord in Gando being a perfect nullity, no certain line of policy can be pursued, and they are one day on good terms with the Tawárek, while the next day some serious fighting takes place; and thus it happened that on the 16th a party of these people, who supplied the market with the article which all the people were in want of, were plundered of the whole of their property. Even with the inhabitants of the province of Yágha, so nearly related to themselves by origin and interest, there were serious dissensions; and during my stay in the place, the latter drove away all the cattle belonging to the village of Kória. The province comprises a considerable number of villages[72], and, if well governed, would be of great importance, especially as forming the western province of the empire of Gando where it borders upon that of Másina, or Hamda-Alláhi.

I was peculiarly situated with regard to my new companion El Waláti, who was the sole reason of my making so long a stay in this place, while my exhausted camels, instead of having, as it was asserted, a fair opportunity of recruiting their strength for the remainder of the journey, were growing weaker every day from want of good feeding. The clever Arab, who represented himself as a very important person in Timbúktu, and as an intimate friend of the sheikh El Bakáy, under whose especial protection I intended to place myself, at times had the power of raising my spirits by the interesting information which he was able to give me. Now and then, for instance, he described the great mercantile importance of Sansándi, or dwelt upon the great authority enjoyed by the chief, whose fame had inspired me with so much confidence in my undertaking this journey to the west, and through whose influence the former mercantile importance of Timbúktu had not only been entirely restored, but a new interest had accrued to it as being the seat of a religious chief of high authority, who exercised an influence, not very unlike that of the pope of Rome, over a very large tract of country, and extending even over the pagan tribes around, into the very heart of Mósi, that country which, as we shall see more distinctly further on, from a remote age has been the champion of paganism against Islám. But on other occasions the conduct of my companion was so little straightforward, as to fill me with serious fears. Nevertheless, I here entered into an agreement with him, giving him a fine black tobe and a black shawl, and stipulating to reward him, on my safe arrival in Timbúktu, with a present of twenty dollars and a white heláli bernús, besides buying him here a horse for the price of another tobe, three túrkedí, and a black shawl. On the whole, at that time, I was too much imposed upon by his fascinating manners to become fully aware of his intriguing character; and perhaps it was well that it was so, or I might not have trusted myself into his hands. However, by degrees, I became heartily tired of the long delay which he, together with ʿAlí el Ágeren, forced upon me. I had long prepared everything for my outset, and on the 20th I finished a letter, which I addressed to Her Majesty’s consul at Tripoli, and inclosed it under cover to my friend ʿAbd el Káder dan Taffa, in Sókoto, and decided on intrusting it to the care of Dahóme, the man who had accompanied me from Gando, and who was to return home from this place, beyond which he enjoyed no authority; but unfortunately he took so little care of the parcel on his journey, when he had to cross a great many swollen rivers, that the outer envelope was destroyed entirely, so that the learned Púllo, not knowing what to make of a letter in a writing which he did not understand, left it with the bearer, with whom I found it on my return to Gando, in the middle of the following year. He had worn it as a sort of charm in his cap, while I expected that it had long reached Europe and informed my friends of my latest proceedings.