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Title: Travels in the Great Desert of Sahara, in the Years of 1845 and 1846

Author: James Richardson

Release Date: July 17, 2007 [EBook #22094]

Language: English

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[Illustration: JAMES RICHARDSON ESQ^R.
             _In the Ghadamsee Costume._
ENGRAVED BY GEORGE COOK FROM THE ORIGINAL DRAWING.
            London: Richard Bentley, 1848.]



TRAVELS

IN

THE GREAT DESERT
OF SAHARA,

IN THE YEARS OF 1845 AND 1846.

CONTAINING

A NARRATIVE OF PERSONAL ADVENTURES, DURING A TOUR OF NINE
MONTHS THROUGH THE DESERT, AMONGST THE TOUARICKS
AND OTHER TRIBES OF SAHARAN PEOPLE;

INCLUDING A DESCRIPTION OF

THE OASES AND CITIES OF GHAT, GHADAMES,
AND MOURZUK.

BY JAMES RICHARDSON.

Φωνὴ βοῶντος ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ.

IN TWO VOLUMES.

VOL. I.

LONDON:
RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET,
Publisher in Ordinary to Her Majesty.
M.D.CCC.XLVIII.

LONDON
HARRISON AND CO., PRINTERS,
ST. MARTIN'S LANE.

[Illustration: MAP _ILLUSTRATING_ THE TRAVELS AND RESEARCHES _OF
JAMES RICHARDSON IN_ THE GREAT DESERT OF SAHARA _BY_ JAMES WYLD
_GEOGRAPHER TO THE QUEEN London, Richard Bentley, New Burlington Street,
1848._ ENGRAVED BY J. WYLD, CHARING CROSS EAST]




INTRODUCTION.


THE sentiment of Antiquity--that "The life of no man is pleasing to the
gods which is not useful to his fellows,"--has been my guiding principle
of action during the last twelve years of my life. To live for my own
simple and sole gratification, to have no other object in view but my own
personal profit and renown, would be to me an intolerable existence. To
be useful, or to attempt to be useful, in my day and generation, was the
predominant motive which led me into The Desert, and sustained me there,
alone and unprotected, during a long and perilous journey.

But, in presenting this work to the British public, I have to state, that
it is only _supplementary_ and _fragmentary_. If, therefore, any one were
to judge of the results of my Saharan Tour merely by what is here given,
he would do me a great injustice. I had expected, by this time, that
certain Reports on the Commerce and Geography of The Great Desert, as
well as a large Map of the Routes of this part of Africa, would have been
given to the public. It is not my fault that their publication is still
delayed. I can only regret it, because what I am now publishing comes
_first_, instead of _last_, and consequently deranges my plan, the
following pages being, indeed, _supplementary_ to the Reports and Map. I
come, therefore, before the public with no small disadvantage.

With regard to these supplementary and fragmentary extracts from my
journal, I have also to state, they consist only of about two-thirds of
the journal. For the present, I deemed it prudent to suppress the rest.
But this likewise may disturb the harmony and mar the completeness of the
work. However, if these portions of the journal are favourably received,
other extracts may yet be published.

On entering The Desert, my principal object was to ascertain how and to
what extent the Saharan Slave-Trade was carried on; although but a
comparatively small portion of the following pages is devoted to this
subject. I have already reported fully on this traffic, and it was
unnecessary to go over the ground again, which might defeat, by
disagreeable repetitions and endless details, the object which I have in
view,--that of exciting an abhorrence of the Slave-Trade in the hearts of
my fellow countrymen and countrywomen.

In these published extracts from my journal, I have endeavoured to give a
truthful and faithful picture of the Saharan Tribes; their ideas,
thoughts, words, and actions; and, where convenient, I have allowed them
to speak and act for themselves. This is the main object which I have
undertaken to accomplish in this Narrative of my Personal Adventures in
The Sahara. The public must, and will, I doubt not, judge how far I have
succeeded, and award me praise or blame, as may be my desert. If I have
failed, I shall not abandon myself to despair, but shall console myself
with the thought that I have done the best I was able to do under actual
circumstances, and in my then state of health. It would, indeed, ill
become me to shrink from public criticism, after having braved the
terrors and hardships of The Desert. However, the publication of this
journal may induce others to penetrate The Desert,--persons better
qualified, and more ably and perfectly equipped than myself, and who may
so accomplish something more permanently advantageous than what I have
been able to compass. Acting, then, as pioneer to others, my Saharan
labours will not be fruitless.

But, if any persons obstinately object to the style and matters of my
Narrative of Desert Travel, I shall likewise as obstinately endeavour to
hold my ground. To all such I say,--"Go to now, ye objectors and
gainsayers, and do better." My mission was _motu proprio_, and I plunged
in The Desert without your permission. But I am but one of the two
hundred millions of Europe. You can surely get volunteers. You have the
money, the rank, the patronage, and the learned and philanthropic
Societies of Europe at your back. Send others; inspire them yourselves,
and they may produce something which you like better than what I have
given you. If I am not orthodox enough,--if I have not reviled the Deism
of The Desert sufficiently to your taste,--send those who will. A little
less zeal in Exeter Hall, and a little more in The Desert, would do
neither you nor the world any harm. A little less clamour about Church
orthodoxy, or any other doxy[1], and a little more anxiety for the
welfare of all mankind, would infinitely more become you, as Englishmen
and Christians, and be more in harmony with that divine injunction, which
sent out the first teachers of Christianity amongst the Greeks and
Barbarians, in The City and The Desert, to preach the Gospel to every
creature under heaven. If I be too much of an abolitionist, send one who
admires slavery, and who will write up the Slave-Trade of The Desert. I
have written in my way: you write in your way. If my pages disclose no
discoveries in science, this I can only lament. When a man has no science
in him, or no education in science, he can give you none. But what are
your European Societies of Science for? Are they play-things, or are they
serious affairs? Have you neither money nor zeal to equip a scientific
expedition to The Desert? If not, I cannot help you. By the way, I was
astonished to receive, since my return, a note from one of your eminent
geologists, repudiating and protesting against all knowledge of the
subject of "The Geology of The Desert." And The Desert is a fifth part of
the African Continent! Yet this gentleman dogmatizes and theorizes on
all geological formations, and can tell the whole history of the geology
of our planet, from the first moment when it was bowled by the hand of
The Omnipotent in the immensity of space, of suns and systems! If such
presumption and self-willed ignorance discover themselves in great men,
what are we to expect of little men?

In the following pages, I have encroached upon my Reports, to describe
several of the Oases of The Desert, besides giving as much of the routes
as was necessary to render the Narrative of my journey intelligible. But
this is all I could conscientiously do. For the rest of the geographical
information, the public must wait.

I return for a moment to the traffic in slaves. Born with an innate
hatred of oppression, whatever form, or shape, or name it may take, and
under what modes soever it may be developed, mentally or bodily, in
chaining men down under a political despotism, or in forging for them a
creed and forcing it on their consciences,--I have, since I could
exercise the power of reflection, always looked upon the traffic in human
flesh and blood as the most gigantic system of wickedness the world ever
saw; and which I most deplore, in this our late, more humane and
enlightened age, stands forth and raises its horrid head, impiously
defying Heaven! In very truth, it is a system of crime, which dares

    "Defy the Omnipotent to arms!"

The reader must, therefore, excuse the language with which I have
execrated this traffic in the pages of my Journal. There may be some men
who think it no crime to buy and sell their fellow-men; I have seen many
such amongst the Moslems. But he who thinks the traffic in slaves to be a
crime against the human race, has a right to denounce it accordingly. I
must therefore make a few preliminary observations, though painful to my
feelings.

It is notorious that the agitations of the Anti-Corn-Law League have
given very lately a powerful impulse to the Slave-Trade, and slaves have
risen in Cuba to 30 and 50 per cent. above their previous average value,
since _slave_ sugar has been admitted upon the same terms, or nearly so,
as _free-labour_ sugar, into England. This is entirely the work of The
League. Some of these gentlemen think we must have cheap sugar at any
risk, at any cost, even if wetted with the blood of the slaves. A
ridiculous incident occurs to me. I once saw a child frightened into a
dislike for white loaf sugar, by holding up a piece to the candle, and
pretending it dropped blood. But there is no delusion or metaphor here,
for the sugars of slave-plantations are really obtained by the
blood-whippings and scourgings of the victimized slaves!

As to Cobden, his Cobdenites, and Satellites, they would sell their own
souls, and the whole human race into bondage, to have a free trade in
slaves and sugar. This new generation of impostors--who teach that all
virtue and happiness consist in buying in the cheapest, and selling in
the dearest markets--are now dogging at the heels of Government, in
combination with the West India agents, to get them to re-establish a
species of mitigated Slave-Trade, because, forsooth, there should be
right and liberty to buy and sell a man, as there is right and liberty to
buy and sell a beast.

I am not an enemy to Free Trade. I have duly noticed and praised the
free-trade mart of Ghat, and shown how it prospers in comparison with the
restricted system of the Turks, prevalent at Mourzuk. But this I do say,
the case of Slavery was an exceptional case, as the Ten Hours' Factory
Bill was an exceptional case in the regulation and restriction of labour.
I fear, however, there are some of the Leaguers so outrageous in their
advocacy of abstract principles, that they would have a free-trade in
vice--a free-trade in consigning people to perdition! They are of the
calibre of the men who wielded that dread engine of the "Reign of
Terror," the "Committee of Public Safety," and made it death to speak a
word against the "One Indivisible Republic[2]." These Leaguers are bent
upon establishing an equal, although differently-formed, tyranny amongst
us, and we cannot too soon and too energetically resist their odious and
intolerable pretensions.

But I know not, whether these civil tyrants be so bad as the spiritual
tyrants who have just set up for themselves what they call a "Free Kirk."
These reverend gentlemen have received the fruits of the blood of the
slaves, employed on the laborious fields of the Southern States of
America, to build up their new Free Church, pretending they have a
Divine right to receive the value of the forced-labour of slaves, and
quoting Scripture like the Devil himself. When called upon to refund they
refuse, and make the contributions of the Presbyterian slave-dealers of
the United States a sort of corner-stone of their Free Kirk. Why these
priests of religion out-O'Connell-O'Connell, who point-blank refused, for
the support of his sham Repeal, and sent back contemptuously, the dollars
spotted and tainted with the blood of the slaves! . . . . . . . . It is
the old story, the old trick of our good friends, the Scottish divines,
and their old leaven of Scottish fanaticism. We know them of ancient
date. We have read a line of Milton, who in his time so admirably
resisted their bigotry. It is immortal like all that our divine bard
wrote. Here is the line--

    "New Presbyter is but old Priest writ large."

The Free Kirk has cut its connexion with the State, because it says the
State wishes to enslave its ministers. Yet it has no objection to receive
monies from the slave-holders in America. The Free Kirk will build up its
boasted freedom on the wasting blood and bones of the unhappy children of
Africa! Why, indeed, should these Scottish divines, headed by the
Presbyters Candlish and Cunningham, seek or advocate the freedom of the
slaves held by their fellow Presbyters of the United States? Is it not
enough that they seek and maintain their own freedom, and at whatsoever
cost? Have they not received the pro-slavery mantle of the late
venerated Dr. Chalmers, and can they, poor pigmies, possibly shake it
off? Would it not be impious to do so? No, they cannot,--dare not do
this. For, as it was said by Lord George Bentinck, of a quondam champion
of the people, in the last Session of Parliament, "Liberty is on their
tongues, but despotism is in their hearts."

What can be more humiliating to a generous and tolerant mind, than to see
a body of Christian ministers struggling to obtain by a Parliamentary
enactment, the cession of plots of land for building of churches for the
worship of God in liberty and truth, from the tyrannical holders of the
soil; and, at the same time, this very body of priests does not scruple
to receive the money of American slave-holders, to build and endow these
self-same churches? Such incredible inconsistency makes one sick at
heart, and inclined to question the existence of Christian feelings in
the professors and teachers of Christianity!

It is deeply to be deplored that our Anti-Slavery Society confines itself
so much to protests, and what it calls "the moral principle." No people
of the world has done more for the liberties of Africa than the Society
of Friends in England, and no people more admirably exemplify in their
conduct the humane and pacific morals of Christianity. But when the
Founder of our religion resisted his enemies by the remonstrance, "Why
strikest thou me?" something more was meant than a protest. We have had
lately a _triste_ example of the end of protests in a neighbouring
country. The annual protest of the French Chamber of Deputies against
the extinction of the nationality of Poland, not only ended in barren
results, and excited public ridicule, but actually terminated in the
triumph of the nefarious scheme against which it was made. Never was a
country so humiliated as France in this case!--Its Chief, the Sovereign
of its choice, consenting at the time, to the damning act of the
extinction of Polish nationality, for the sake of accomplishing a low and
scandalous family intrigue in Spain! This was something more than
ridiculous, and is one of the many infamies of our age, perpetrated on so
large a scale. Now, I do not assert, that the protests of the
Anti-Slavery Society will end in the re-enactment of the Slave-Trade by
the British Parliament. But the last and present Sessions of Imperial
Parliament, show symptoms of our country abandoning Africa, after the
labours of half a century, to all the horrors of the Slave-Trade. Mr. P.
Borthwick and Mr. Hume, more especially the latter, pleaded, in
conjunction with others, during last Session, for the withdrawal of the
British cruisers from off the Western Coast of Africa, and free trade in
emigration, if not in slaves. In this good work, of course, they have the
sympathies of the Anti-Slavery Free Trading League. Some of our journals
opine, in their late articles, that a change has come over the spirit of
our abolition dream, and suggest that the clerk, in charge of the
Anti-Slavery Papers at the Foreign Office, is an old antiquated,
superannuated being. In a word, these journals and Mr. Hume's pro-slavery
clique, see no reason why Great Britain should not exhibit to this and
succeeding ages, the most dreadful bad faith in the case of British
abolition. They would have us say to the world:--"All our Anti-Slavery
efforts, our Parliamentary enactments against Slavery, our huge blue
books of published Anti-Slavery papers, our protocols and treaties with
Foreign Powers, all, each, and singular, are one grand organized system
of selfishness and hypocrisy." I know very well that, in general,
foreigners give us no credit whatever for our anti-slavery feelings and
public acts for the suppression of the Slave-Trade. This they have
reiterated in my ears. And, how can they give us credit for sincerity in
abolition, when our public men and public writers call for something like
the re-enactment of the British Slave-Trade?--and, whilst our quondam
champions of Free Churches receive the blood-stained money of
slave-labour to build up their new ecclesiastical establishments? Mankind
reason from actions, and not from verbal or written declarations. Our Act
of Abolition, and the famous twenty millions, are not such wonderful
things after all, when we owed a hundred millions to the descendants of
our slaves. We were also nearly half a century in abolishing the traffic,
after it had been denounced as robbery and murder by our highest and
greatest statesmen, Pitt and Fox[3]. This slowness of our work has given
the cue to the suspicions of our national enemies; and, certainly, to
use a gross vulgarism, has "taken out the shine," or very much dimmed the
lustre of this great act of justice to the African race.

Here I cannot restrain myself from giving a word of caution to the
working-classes of our country, to those more especially who head the new
"National Society," and form other and similar leagues. You say the
politicians of the Anti-Corn Law League are your men; you adore your
Humes, and Duncombes, and Wakleys. You, English democrats, or reformers,
as you may call yourselves, admire the self-government and cheap
government of the Transatlantic Model Republic. You do well. But now read
some of their latest handiworks, without note or comment on my part. The
violent impulse given to the Slave-Trade in Cuba and the Brazils--the
advocacy of a free trade in Slaves by the Leaguers in and out the British
Parliament--the invasion and subjugation of Mexico, on the joint
principles of lust of conquest and the extension of Slavery. Deny these
facts if you can. Learn, then, to think, there may be democracy and
republicanism without liberty or freedom.

I pray God, that the protests and public appeals and remonstrances to
Government of the Anti-Slavery Society may not end in barren results. But
if the Leaguers and Democrats have their own way, its voice, though just
and righteous, will be at length reduced to a faint cry, a last shriek of
despair--overwhelmed by the loud laughs and jeers of the fiends, which
possess the dealers in human flesh and blood, and surround unhappy and
doomed Africa with a cordon of rapine and murder, of blood and flames!

    "Where the vultures and vampires of Mammon resort,
        Where Columbia exulting drains
        Her life-blood from Africa's veins,
    Where the image of God is accounted as base,
    And the image of Cæsar set up in its place."

If I were asked, "What can be done for Africa?" I should reply with no
new thing, no nostrums of my own concocting, but what has been reiterated
again and again. Teach her children to till the soil--to cultivate
available exports by which they may obtain in exchange, through the
medium of a legitimate commerce, the European products and manufactures
necessary for their use and enjoyment. Until this be done, nothing
effectual will be done. In vain you send missionaries of religion, or
agents of abolition; in vain you contract treaties with the Princes of
Africa. It is humiliating to think, equally a disgrace to our religion as
to our civilization, that our connexion with Africa has only served to
plunge her into deeper misery and profounder degradation. With truth we
here may apply the strong censure of a Chinese Emperor, "That the march
of Christians is whitened with human bones." Wherever we have touched her
western shores there our footsteps have been marked with blood and
devastation. We have fostered and encouraged within the heart of Africa
the most odious and unnatural passions. We have stimulated the prince to
sell his subjects, the father to sell his child, the brother to sell the
sister, the husband the wife, into thrice-accursed and again accursed
slavery! We have done all and more than this, whilst we have convulsed
every state and kingdom of Africa with war, for the supply of cargoes of
human beings. And for what? To cultivate our miserable cotton and sugar
plantations! These are the doctrines of mercy and charity which we have
taught the poor untutored children of Africa. Happy for poor forlorn,
dusky, naked Africa, had she never seen the pale visage or met the
Satanic brow of the European Christian! Does any man in his senses, who
believes in God and Providence, think that the wrongs of Africa will go
on for ever unavenged? Already, has not Providence avenged the wrongs of
Africa upon Spain and Portugal, by reducing their national character and
consideration to the lowest in the European family of nations? And as to
the United States of America, has not the boasted liberty of our
Republican countrymen, who colonized America, become a by-word, a
hissing, and a scorn, amongst the nations of the earth? Have not these
slave-holding Americans committed acts, nationally, within the last few
years, which the most absolute Governments of Europe would blush to be
guilty of? And what is one of their last acts, on a smaller scale, but
not less decisively indicative of their national morality? The New York
Bible Society has declared that it will not give the Bible to slaves,
even when they are able to read the Bible! Would the Czar of Russia
permit such an impious rule as this to be made by his nobles for their
slaves or serfs? Such an action would render the liberties of a thousand
republics a mockery, a snare, and a delusion, and their names infamous
throughout the world.

And the time of us Englishmen will come next--our day of infamy! unless
we show ourselves worthy that transcendant position in which Providence
has placed us, at the pinnacle of the empires of Earth, as the leaders
and champions of universal freedom.

In noticing the efforts made for raising Africa from her immemorial
degradation, we are bound to confess our obligations to the Mahometans
for what they have done. If they have extirpated Christianity from the
soil of North Africa, and planted, instead of this tree of fair and pure
fruit, the more glaring and showy plant of Islamism, they have, at the
same time, endeavoured to raise Africa to their own level of
demi-civilization. Whilst we condemn their slave-traffic as we condemn
our own, we must do justice to the efforts which they have made, by the
spread of their creed and the diffusion of their commerce, during a
series of ten or twelve centuries, for promoting the civilization of
Africa. They have succeeded, they have done infinitely more for Africa
than we ourselves. They have organized and established regular
governments through all Central Africa, and inculcated a taste for the
occupation and the principles of commerce. A great portion of this
internal trade is untainted by slavery. Bornou, Soudan, Timbuctoo, and
Jinnee, exhibit to us groups of immense and populous cities, all
regularly governed and trading with one another. They have abolished
human sacrifice, which lingers in our East India possessions to this day.
They have regulated marriage and restrained polygamy. They have made
honour and reverence to be paid to grey hairs, superseding the diabolical
custom of exposing or destroying the aged. They have introduced a
knowledge of reading and writing. The oases of Ghat and Ghadames furnish
more children, in proportion, who can read and write, than any of our
English towns. The Koran is transcribed in beautiful characters by Negro
Talebs on the banks of the Niger. The Moors have likewise introduced many
common useful trades into Central Africa. But above all, the Mohammedans
have introduced the knowledge of the one true God! and destroyed the
fetisch idols. Let us then take care how we arrogate to ourselves the
right and fact of civilizing the world. Nay, there cannot be a question,
if we would abandon Africa to the Mohammedans, and leave off our
man-stealing trade and practices on the Western Coast, the dusky children
of the torrid zones would gradually advance in civilization. But is not
the bare idea of such an alternative an indelible disgrace to
Christendom?

Mr. Cooley, in his learned work, entitled "The Negroland of the
Arabs[4]," seems to doubt if the Slave-Trade can be abolished or
civilization advanced, in Central Africa, because of the neighbourhood of
The Desert. This, however, is transferring the guilt of slavery and of
voluntary barbarism, if barbarism can be crime, from the volition of
responsible man to a great natural fact, or circumstance of creation--The
Desert; and is a style of observation perfectly indefensible, as well as
contrary to philosophy and facts. First, we cannot limit the stretch or
progress of the Negro mind any more than that of the European intellect.
Mr. Cooley himself admits that the Nigritian people have advanced in
civilization. And if they have advanced, why not continue to advance? But
so far contrary are facts to Mr. Cooley's theory, that The Desert,
instead of being an obstacle to civilization, is favourable to it, whilst
the Nigritian countries beyond the influence of The Desert are plunged
into deeper barbarism. The reader will only have to compare my account of
the Touaricks, with the recently published account of the social state of
the kingdom of Dahomy, to convince himself how completely fallacious in
application is Mr. Cooley's theory[5]. Slaves, too, abound in thickly
populated countries as well as desert countries: witness China and India.
The Sahara, also, has its paradisical spots, or oases of enjoyment, as
well as its wastes and hardships. It is likewise, not true, that the
Saharan tribes depend for their happiness on the possession of slaves, or
that life in The Desert is galling and insupportable. Many a happy oasis
is without a slave. However this may be, it is always an extremely
dangerous line of argument, to represent moral depravity as springing
necessarily from certain physical and unalterable circumstances of
creation. Finally, to represent The Great Desert as the buttress of the
Slave-Trade, is contrary to all our experience. In deserts and mountains
we find always the free-men: in soft and luxurious countries we find the
slaves. It is not the free-born Touarick who is the slave-dealer, or the
stimulator of the slave-traffic, but the Moorish merchant, and the
voluptuary on the coast who sends him. All that the Saharan tribes do, is
to escort the merchants over The Desert; and they would still escort them
over The Desert did they not deal in slaves, carrying on only legitimate
commerce.

I may conclude by a word on Discoveries in The Sahara. It is now twenty
years or more since The Sahara was explored, or before my present
hap-hazard tour. From what I have seen since my return, and the little
encouragement given to this sort of enterprise,--the public of Great
Britain being so much occupied with railways, free-trade, and currency
questions, educational schemes, and State endowed, or voluntary
ecclesiastical establishments,--it is difficult to foresee how and when
another tour may be undertaken, or how a tourist will have the heart to
make another experiment. Unhappily, the spirit of discovery, like
Virtue's self, is difficult to be satisfied with its own reward.
Something, however, may in time be expected from the French, who will get
restless in their Algerian limits, and make a bold effort to disenthral
themselves, by leaping the bounds of the mysterious Sahara. Evidently the
French Government have prohibited all isolated attempts. But should their
colony succeed, and they must make it succeed, then a grand stroke of
policy and action will be struck upon the lines of the Saharan routes,
for diverting The Desert trade, if possible, into Algerian channels. We
must wait patiently this time for further researches. Necessity propels
nations in the march of discovery. England has some considerable stake
likewise in the commerce of The Great Desert. But our governmental
affairs are so vast, and ramify over so large a space of the world, that
it is extremely difficult to get a Minister to strike out a new path,
unless he has the sympathies and hearty support of the public with him.
And certainly the last thing in the imagination of the British public is
the undertaking Discoveries in The Great Desert.

A remark may be made respecting the English spelling of Arabic words and
names. I have not adopted the new system, as very few people understand
it. I have endeavoured to represent the sounds of the original words in
the ordinary way, giving sometimes the Arabic letters for those who
prefer greater correctness. The spelling of Oriental and African names is
also occasionally varied for the sake of variety, and sometimes I have
written the words in various ways, according to the style of
pronunciation amongst different Saharan tribes. I have also omitted
accents and italics as much as possible, to avoid confusion and trouble
to the printer. With respect to the contents at the head of the chapters,
numberless little things and circumstances are besides unavoidably
omitted in the enumeration.

I have few acknowledgments to make to those who rendered me assistance in
the prosecution of my Saharan tour and researches. I have rather
complaints to prefer against professed friends. I was unable to get up in
The Desert a single thing, the most trifling, to aid me in my
observations, when I had determined to penetrate farther into the
interior; whilst, somehow or other, a Memorandum was obtained from the
Porte to recal me instead of a Firman to help me on my way. Fortunately I
was beyond its power when it arrived at Tripoli, from Constantinople. But
if I feel the bitterness of this want of sympathy, and these acts of
hostility, I have the pleasure of being triumphant over all the obstacles
thrown in my way. I felt freer in The Desert, unloaded by obligations.
Indeed, the fewer of these a traveller has, the better. He always
supports his trials and privations with lighter spirits and a more
cheerful heart. His success is his own, if his failure is his own also.
Nevertheless I have not forgotten, nor can I ever forget, to the latest
day of my life, the acts of kindness shown to me by the rude and
simple-minded people of The Desert, and I have duly and most scrupulously
chronicled them all.

                                           JAMES RICHARDSON.

        LONDON,
    _December, 1847._

POSTSCRIPT.--It is hoped, for the honour and humanity of our Government,
that they will resist the clamour to withdraw the Cruisers from the
Western Coast of Africa, and that they will NOT WITHDRAW the British
Cruisers. If a blow is to be struck, let it be struck at Cuba, or the
Brazils, and not on the defenceless Africans, because they are
defenceless. If a burglar prowls about, a whole neighbourhood is on the
alert to protect itself against his depredations. If a band of pirates
swarm in a sea or infest our coasts, a fleet is fitted out to capture
them. But it is attempted to let loose upon weak, defenceless Africa a
legion of pirates and murderers--for such will be the result if the
British Cruisers are withdrawn from the Western Coast.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] See the newspapers for the correspondence between some of the
    Bishops of our Church and the Premier. As the question is, Whether
    Dr. Hampden be a Heretic or a Christian? I may here observe that
    the term "Christian" is used in the following pages for
    "European." To the epithet "Christian," in the strict sense of the
    term, I have no other pretensions than that of being a
    conscientious reader of the New Testament.

[2] "Une et indivisible."

[3] Lord Brougham, in his Life of Pitt, very properly takes off
    some discount from the Anti-Slavery zeal of this great Statesman,
    for being so tardy in the work of Abolition, and allowing his
    Under Secretaries and subordinate Ministers to support the
    Slave-Trade against himself, and whilst he was advocating its
    extinction.

[4] "It is impossible to deny the advancement of civilization in
    that zone of the African continent which has formed the field of
    our inquiry. Yet barbarism is there supported by natural
    circumstances with which it is vain to think of coping. It may be
    doubted whether, if mankind had inhabited the earth only in
    populous and adjoining communities, slavery would have ever
    existed. The Desert, if it be not absolutely the root of the evil,
    has, at least, been from the earliest times the great nursery of
    slave hunters. The demoralization of the towns on the Southern
    borders of The Desert has been pointed out; and if the vast extent
    be considered of the region in which man has no riches but slaves,
    no enjoyment but slaves, no article of trade but slaves, and where
    the hearts of wandering thousands are closed against pity by the
    galling misery of life, it will be difficult to resist the
    conviction that the solid buttress on which slavery rests in
    Africa, is--The Desert." (p. 139.)

[5] See MR. DUNCAN'S _Travels in Western Africa_.




ILLUSTRATIONS.


VOLUME I.

PLATES.
Portrait of the Author
Map of the Desert
Slave Caravan

WOOD-CUTS.
Arab Tents
Facsimile Specimen of the Writing of a Young Taleb
Manner of drawing Water from Wells
Great Spring of Ghadames
Bas-Relief
Square of Fountains
City of Ghadames
Cistern of an Ancient Tower
Negro's Head
Ancient Ruins of Ghadames
Region of Sands
Rocking Rock

[Illustration: A SLAVE CARAVAN. _J. E. S. del. J. W. Cook. sc._]




TRAVELS

IN

THE GREAT DESERT.




CHAPTER I.

FROM TUNIS TO TRIPOLI.

     Project of Journey.--Opinions of People upon its
     practicability.--Moral character of Europeans in Barbary.--Leave
     the Isle of Jerbah for Tripoli in the coaster _Mesâoud_.--Return
     back.--Wind in Jerbah.--Start again for
     Tripoli.--Sâkeeah.--Zarzees.--Biban.--The _Salinæ_, or
     Salt-pits.--Rais-el-Makhbes.--Zouwarah.--Foul Wind, and put into
     the port of Tripoli Vecchia.--Quarrel of Captain with
     Passengers.--Description of this Port.--My fellow-travellers, and
     Said the runaway Slave.--Arrival at Tripoli, and
     Health-Office.--Colonel Warrington, British Consul-General.--The
     British Garden.--Interview with Mehemet Pasha.--Barbary
     Politics.--Aspect of Tripoli.--Old Castle of the Karamanly
     Bashaws.--Manœuvring of the Pasha's Troops.--The Pasha's opinion
     of my projected Tour.--Resistance of the Pasha to my Voyage, and
     overcome by the Consul.--Departure from Tripoli to Ghadames.


ACCIDENT often determines the course of a man's life. The greater part of
human actions, however humiliating to our moral and intellectual dignity,
is the result of sheer accident. That the accidents of life should
harmonize with the immutable decrees of Providence, is the great mystery
of an honest and thinking mind. The reading accidentally of a fugitive
_brochure_, thrown upon the table of the public library of Algiers, gave
me the germ of the idea, which, fructifying and expanding, ultimately led
me to the design of visiting and exploring the celebrated Oasis of
Ghadames, planted far-away amidst the most appalling desolations of the
Great Saharan Wilderness. This should teach us to lower our pretensions,
and take a large discount from our merits in originating our various
enterprises; but, alas! our over-weening self-love always manages to get
the better of us. The _brochure_ alluded to was a number of the _Revue de
L'Orient_, published at Paris, containing a notice of Ghadames by M.
Subtil, the notorious sulphur[6]-explorer and adventurer of Tripoli.

On leaving Algiers, in January, 1845, I carried the idea of Ghadames with
me to Tunis; and thence, after agitating an exploration to The Desert
amongst my friends, some of whom plainly told me, if I went I should
never return, I should be consumed with the sun and fever, or murdered by
the natives, and to attempt such a thing was altogether madness, I
journeyed on to Tripoli, where I entered with all my soul and might into
the undertaking. But as in Tunis so in Tripoli, I heard the birds of
evil-omen uttering the same mournful notes of discouragement:--"I should
never reach Ghadames, no one else had done so, or no one else had gone
and returned. I should perish by the hand of banditti, or sink under the
burning heat. I was not the man; it required a frame of iron. Enthusiasm
was very well in its way, but it required a man who was expert in arms,
and who could fight his way through The Desert." And such is the absurd
character of men, and some people pretending to be friends of African
discovery, that, on hearing of my safe return after nine months' absence,
they felt chagrined their sagacious vaticinations were not verified. Like
a man who writes a book, and ever so bad a book, he cannot afterwards
adopt a right sentiment, or course of action, because he has written his
book. It is true, the fate of Davidson, in Western Barbary, and the late
disastrous mishap of the young Tuscan on his return from Mourzuk,
favoured the pretensions of these Barbary-coast prophets, who cannot
comprehend a deviation from what had happened before, but it is equally
true that the violent deaths of these individuals, so far as we can
gather from the details, were brought about by the greatest possible
imprudence on their part. However, I may say without hesitation, no
people dread The Desert so much, and have in them so little of the spirit
of enterprise and African discovery, as the naturalized Europeans of
Tunis and Tripoli, and other parts of Barbary. To purchase the
co-operation of a volunteer in these countries would require more money
than defraying the expense of an expedition, and after all, from the love
of intrigue and double-dealing which Europeans long resident in Barbary
acquire, as well as other drawbacks, you would be very badly served.

I shall begin the narrative of my personal adventures in The Sahara with
my departure from the island of Jerbah to Tripoli.

_May 7th, 1845._--Left Jerbah in the evening for Tripoli in the coaster
_Mesâoud_ ("happy"). The captain and owner was a Maltese, but the colours
under which we sailed were Tunisian. Generally, a Moorish captain _di
bandeira_ commands these coasters, because it saves them dues at the
various ports. Indeed, most of the small coasting craft of Tunis and
Tripoli, though the property of Europeans, sail under the Turkish, rather
Mahometan (_red_) flag. Although May, our captain told me, it was the
worst month in the year for coasting in Barbary. The wind comes in sudden
puffs and gales, blowing with extreme violence everything before it,
prostrating and rooting up the stoutest and strongest palm-trees. So, in
fact, as soon as we got out, a _gregale_ ("north-easter") came on
terrifically, and occasioned us to return early next morning to Jerbah.
During the night, we were nearly swamped a few miles from the shore. The
_gregale_ continued the next two days, striking down several of the
date-trees with great fury. When these trees are so struck down, the
people do not make use of the wood for months, nay years, because it is
ill-luck. Jerbah is a grand focus of wind, and it sometimes blows from
every point of the compass in twelve hours. Æolus seems to patronize this
isle; and, as at Mogador on the Atlantic, wind here supplies the place of
rain. The inhabitants of Mogador have wind nine months out of twelve; but
seasons pass without a shower of rain.

_10th._--Evening. Left again for Tripoli. We passed the night about ten
miles off the island, amongst the fishing apparatus, which looks at a
distance like so many little islets. They consist of mere palm-tree
boughs, struck deep into the mud as piles are driven; and large spaces
are thus enclosed. When the tide[7] falls, the fish get entangled or
enclosed in these enclosures, and are caught. Very fine fish are taken,
and a fifth of the ordinary sustenance of the islanders is derived from
this fishing. Unhappily the poor fishermen are obliged to pay from
twenty-five to fifty per cent. of the fish caught to Government; so the
poor in all countries are the worse treated because they are poor.

_11th._--The wind becoming again foul, we put into a little place called
Sâkeeah, a port of the island in the S.E. Here is nothing in the shape of
a port town, only a small square ruinous hovel of mud and plaster, and a
rude hut put up temporarily by a Maltese, who is building a boat. I often
think the Maltese are the _Irish_ of the South. Maltese enterprise is
prevalent in all parts of the Mediterranean but in their own country. The
port, such as it is, is defended by a little round battery, four feet
high, with three rusty pieces of cannon. If these could be fired off, the
masonry would tumble to pieces. This is the _present_ state of all the
fortifications of Mahometan Barbary. It frequently happens that when a
vessel of war visits the smaller Barbary ports, and wishes to fire a
salute in honour of the governors, it is kindly requested this may not be
done, because it is necessary etiquette to return the salute, and, if
returned, the masonry of the fortifications may tumble down. The scene
was wild and bare; the colours of the landscape light and bright. There
were some Moors winnowing barley. An ox was treading out the corn, in
Scripture fashion. Crops of barley and other grain are grown all over
this fertile isle, under the date-palm and olive trees. Small boats were
waiting to carry off the grain to Tunis. As in Ireland, little remains to
feed the people. They must feed on dates, or fish, or vegetables and
roots.

_12th._--Left Sâkeeah with a strong breeze. On looking back on the island
it had the appearance of thousands of date-palms, boldly standing out of
the sea, the land being so low as not to be discernible a few miles'
distance. Jerbah, from this appearance, as from reality, deserves the
name of the "Isle of Palms." After crossing the channel, which runs
between the island and the continent, whose waters were deep and rough,
we got aground in the Shallows, off Zarzees. This place is a round tower
(_burge_) on the continent, with a few houses and plantations of olives
and dates. Here commences the shoal-water, or _bassa-fondo_, as our
semi-Italian boatmen called it, which continues east along the coast for
eighty miles, as far as Rais-el-Makhbes. When we got off again, at the
flow of the tide, we passed Biban ("two doors"), the frontier place of
the Tunisian dominions. Biban is a castle, with some fifty Arab houses,
built of palm-wood and leaves in the shape of hay-stacks, and is situate
on an islet, on each side of which the sea passes inland and forms a
large lagoon. There is at Biban a single European resident, an Italian,
who acts as a French agent and spy on the frontiers of Tunis and Tripoli.
He is paid about eighteen-pence a day, cheap enough for his high
political mission. The French are mighty fond of planting spies all over
Barbary; but espionage is their forte. In the evening we arrived at the
_Salinæ_[8], "salt pits," on the coast, where we found several small
coasters loading with salt for Tripoli. Salt is also exported from this
place to Europe. Here we brought up for the night, creeping and feeling
our way as in the days of ancient navigation. Our bringing up, however,
was fortunate, for the wind suddenly blew a gale from the N.W.,
continuing all night, and until next day, when it fell a dead calm again.
Strange weather for the fine month of May. But the Mediterranean, which
is called the "_home_ station," is one of the nastiest chafing seas in
the world, and in this fair season of the year is exposed to the most
tremendous squalls, nay, continuous gales of wind.

_13th._--We weighed again our little anchor, and in the afternoon cast it
before Rais-el-Makhbes, the last anchoring ground of the _bassa-fondo_.
The shore from Zarzees to Rais-el-Makhbes is extremely low. The
_bassa-fondo_ stretches off the coast in some places at least thirty or
forty miles, and is so shallow, that boats of the smallest burden often
ground. Here our Maltese captain observed to me, with great mystery,
"See, _Signore_, we must now be very cautious how we act, and watch the
wind, so as to take it on the very first breath of its being favourable,
for from here it is all deep water to Tripoli." In general, however, the
Maltese captains display more courage than the Italians in these
coasters.

_14th._--In the morning we cleared Cape Makhbes. The captain was to have
rounded it and entered the little port of Zouwarah, where there is a
quarantine agent, and landed me there according to agreement. I had
letters for this place, and was to have gone thence to Tripoli by land,
two or three days' journey. On remonstrating, he gravely asked, "Whether
I wished to do him an injury, compelling him to go to Zouwarah, from
which port he couldn't get out for the wind?" Perceiving the captain had
fully made up his mind to break a written agreement, signed before the
Consul, for the temporary advantage now offering, I left off
remonstrating, though extremely dissatisfied. We continued our course. It
soon fell calm, and, as usual, the calm was again succeeded with a
violent _gregale_, against which we could not make head. I now told our
Palinurus it was necessary to look out for the port of Tripoli Vecchia,
otherwise we should be obliged to go back or keep the open sea all night,
for we could not reach Tripoli to-day. Half an hour elapsed, and the wind
continuing to freshen, the captain took my advice. We turned direct
south, and sought the port. After experiencing some difficulty, during
which the captain, to my surprise, discovered the most serious alarm, we
found and entered the wished-for haven. It was a real miracle of good
luck, for the wind came on dreadfully, the angry spray was covering us
with water, and our sufferings would have been beyond description if we
had been obliged to keep the sea. Our bark was a mere cockle-shell, into
which were rammed and jammed and crammed twenty-two mortal and immortal
beings: _C'est à dire_, four sailors, fourteen Moorish passengers,
including a woman and a child, two Jews, myself, and a runaway slave. So
that our heartfelt thankfulness to a good Providence, pitying our folly
and imprudence, may be easily imagined. In the midst of our confusion
while searching for the port--having only three or four hours' daylight
before us--the most ludicrous scene was enacted, which might have ended
in the tragic. Some of the Moors professed to know the port of Tripoli
Vecchia. Hereupon each fellow gave a different description, a thing
perfectly natural, as each would have seen the port under different
circumstances of time and place. "It was surrounded with white
cliffs,--it was black,--rocky,--it was a sandy shore." All bawled and
clamoured together. The captain put his fingers in his ears with rage. He
had never been in before, or his men. At last, losing all patience, the
Maltese fire got up, blown to fury, and, seizing a knife, the captain
swore he would cut their throats if they didn't hold their tongues, or
give a more distinct account of the port. This menace cowed them down
like so many bullies, and they fell into a moody but vindictive silence,
their looks discovering the internal oaths of revenge. It was really
droll, if the words used allow the expression, to hear how the captain
blended Italian, Maltese, and Arabic oaths and abuse in his rage. Now
"_Santo Dio!_" now "_Scomunicat!_" _Sacrament!_ now "_Allah!_" "_Imshe_,"
"_Kelb_," "_Andat_," "_per Bacco!_" &c. At length, when a sailor from the
mast-head descried the port, and a tremendous surf was seen or said to be
seen rolling near the entrance, the Moors, who although mostly sulky
under the influence of their fatalism, and show very little courage in
the dangers of the sea, cried out with fear, "Allah, Allah!" "Ya,
Mohammed!" (O God! O God! O Mahomet!) The captain even felt disposed to
blubber at the sight of the furious surf, so nothing less could be
expected from the passengers. A bad example is this to the sailors and
people, but one which often occurs aboard Italian and Maltese vessels.

_15th._--The wind continued all night and the following day. It dropped
down on the afternoon of the 16th; on the 17th a pleasant breeze sprung
up, and continued until we got within a couple of miles off Tripoli. We
were followed for three hours by a shoal of porpoises, some nearly as big
as our bark, which enjoyed highly the run with us, "_perceiving_," as the
captain said, "_our motion_." The first night of our anchorage in the
Tripoli Vecchia, we had several alarms that the tiny bark had dragged its
anchor, and was about to take us out into the open sea: no one could
sleep. After the wind subsided, our _Christian_ sailors were alarmed that
we might have our throats cut by the _Ishmaelite_ Arabs from the shore
the next night. When it was quite calm we went on shore to search for
water; we found a well of good water on the N.E. landing of the port. A
palm beckoned us to the spring, but a single palm is often found where
there is no well or water; and it is not true, as vulgarly supposed, that
where there are date-palms there must be water. The country in this
vicinity is a perfect desert, yet on this arid waste shepherds drive
their flocks in the spring, and up to May and June. The captain
considered Tripoli Vecchia, which is a very ancient port, and the site of
a once famous city, more secure than that of Tripoli itself, though
certainly much smaller. Whilst we were here no bark visited it.
Good-sized ships occasionally anchor in it. Like Tripoli, it is defended
with a sunken reef of rocks, some peaks of which rise several feet out of
the water. Along this line is a strong surf always chafing and roaring.
There are two mouths of entrance; the deepest water within is about
twelve or fourteen feet. There is another but much smaller port, two
miles further east; the coast from this to Tripoli offers nothing to the
tourist. Twelve miles this way begin those forests of fine broad-waving
palms, which form so noble a feature in the suburban landscape of
Tripoli. When we got off Tripoli we had a dead calm, and myself looking
about for the wind, the Moors got angry, and said, "Be still; if you
restlessly stare about, and wish the wind to come, it will never come:
you cast the '_eye malign_' upon it." These superstitious ideas are not
peculiar to the Moors. An English captain once told me, if I continued to
stay below, the wind would never be fair. Tripoli looked here very bold,
massive, and imposing from the sea; its broad lime-washed towers, and the
graceful minarets beyond, all dazzling white in the sun, contrasting with
the dark blue waters of the Mediterranean. Such is the delusion of all
these sea-coast Barbary towns; at a distance and without, beauty and
brilliancy, but near and within, filth and wretchedness.

A word of my fellow passengers and crew. Our Maltese _Rais_, although he
broke his agreement with me, behaved well; I therefore paid him,
requesting the Chancellor of our Consulate only to scold him, and warn
him for the future. He is a good Maltese Christian; and when I told him
Malta had fifty years' possession of Tripoli, he replied, "Ah, how the
world changes! what a pity God has given this fine country into the hands
of rascally Turks." Sometimes he would kick the Moors about and through
the ship like cattle: at other times he would say, "Aye, come,
_bismillah_[9]," and help them to a part of his supper. The Moors
provided for only _four_ days' provisions, a day over the average time,
and they were all out of bread before arriving at Tripoli. The captain
consulted me as to what was to be done; we arranged to supply them with a
few biscuits every day, I taking the responsibility of payment, pitying
the poor devils. If a Moor has a good passage at sea, he says, "Thank
God!" if not, _Maktoub_, ("It is written,") and quietly submits to the
evils which he has brought on himself by sheer imprudence. Their
provisions, in this case, consisted of barley-meal, olive-oil, a few
loaves of wheaten bread, and a little dried paste for making soup. The
soup was made of a few onions, dried peppers, salt, oil, and the paste.
On first starting, some of the more respectable had a few hard-boiled
eggs, with which the Jews most frequently travel; and others had a little
pickled fish. When the paste was finished, the barley-meal was attacked,
and when this was gone, the greater part lived on biscuits sopped in
water. We tried to buy a sheep from a flock driven by the shore, for
which I furnished a dollar; but the current was so strong, that the man
could not reach the land. One poor old Moor lived actually on bread and
water all the time he was on board, and would have nothing else, telling
me, "What God gives is enough." Yet he was cheerful and talkative. One of
the two Jews was also a very old blind man, clothed in rags. He, too,
mostly fared on biscuits sopped in water; nevertheless, he also was quite
happy! "Where are you going, Abraham?" I said to him. "Where God wills I
go," he replied; "but I wish to lay my poor bones in the land of our
fathers. Many long years God has afflicted us for our sins, but it will
not be for ever." The old gentleman was going to get a passage from
Tripoli to the Holy Land. How little suffices some! How much does faith!
So mysterious are the ways of the Creator in distributing contentment.
For myself, I fared extremely well in the midst of this _happy_ melée of
misery and starvation, Mr. Pariente, of Jerbah, having filled for me a
large box of provisions, consisting of a leg of lamb, a fowl, pigeons,
fish and bread, besides wine and spirits. But this was as liberally
distributed amongst all as given to me, and not a crumb was left on
arriving at Tripoli. When we were getting safe into port, I gave the grog
to the crew; they had often cast wistful eyes at the _acquavite_, but
none was poured out whilst at sea. Two or three drunken sailors would
have sent our cockle-shell to the bottom; still, in spite of the
coffee-drinking vessels, a little spirits may occasionally be very
usefully distributed to men, fighting and wrestling with the wild waves
and the tempest. Our bark was from six to eight tons' burden, and the
cabin was just big enough for me and the captain to move in; the woman
and child slept in the forecastle, and all the rest on deck. Each Moorish
passenger paid half a dollar for the voyage. I have been thus particular
in describing our coaster and its _live_ freight, to show what misery is
endured in these coasting voyages. It was, however, a fit introduction to
my painful journeyings through the still more inhospitable _ocean_
desert.

I have now to mention my runaway servant, Said. This negro was the slave
of Sidi Mustapha, Consular Agent of France in Jerbah. Mustapha was
formerly Consular Agent of England, and being found to possess slaves, he
was dismissed. He got up however false documents, to show that he had
disposed of his slaves; but this being discovered, the cheat did not
avail, and he was not allowed to be any longer England's Consul. Then,
seeing his imposture had failed, he again resumed power over his slaves,
and Said was still his slave on my arrival at Jerbah. Hearing of this, I
told Said to go on board, and wait till the boat left. He did so. The
captain winked at it, and apparently every one else, for Said was
securely numbered on the vessel's _papers_ as a passenger. This, of
course, happened before the Bey of Tunis finally abolished slavery, which
important event took place in the beginning of the year 1846, to the
eternal honour of the reigning Mussulman prince. But, even if slavery had
continued in Tunis, Mustapha, the French Consular Agent in Jerbah, could
have had no legal right over Said, after having given a document to the
British Consul-General, certifying that he had liberated all his slaves.
The runaway Said was in reality a freed man. The reader, however, will be
pleased to understand that I am not justifying my conduct for enticing a
slave to run away. I despise such an attempted justification. On the
contrary, I consider that every man, who has the means of striking off
the chains from a slave, and does not embrace the opportunity of doing
so, is the rather the man who commits an offence against natural right.
As to the French Consular Agent, I asked some people why the French
Government did not dismiss him also for his premeditated forgery of
public documents? I was told that, on the contrary, this was a reason for
keeping him French Consul--that he could not be _disavowed_ in connexion
with _British_ affairs, or, if disavowed, he must be pensioned off. A
French Consul, whose acquaintance I made in North Africa, replied to me,
on rallying him on the various disavowals of French functionaries in
different parts of the world: "I assure you, the only way to get
distinction in our consular service is to get disavowed. When disavowed
about English differences, we must be decorated, or the mob of Paris and
its journals would not be satisfied."

Our captain gave me a hint that, on arriving at Tripoli, there would be
exhibited a good deal of _fantazia_, ("humbug[10]") by the health-office
department. Accordingly, after we had been an hour in port, the health
officer came alongside, and affected great surprise at our not having
_passports_, and asked me, with great pomposity, what was my "_reverito
nome?_" The Turks always adopt and caricature the worst parts of European
civilization, leaving its better forms wholly unimitated. This is,
perhaps, in the nature of the struggles which a semi-barbarous power may
make to attain the standard of its civilized neighbour.

On landing, I went off with Said to the British Consulate. Although I had
seen Colonel Warrington at Malta, I was now so sea-worn and browned with
sun and wind, with an _incipient_ desert beard, that he did not
immediately recollect me. I therefore presented my letter of
introduction, mentioning my name, when at once the Colonel recognized me.
"Ah!" observed the Colonel, "I don't believe our Government cares one
straw about the suppression of the slave-trade, but, Richardson, I
believe in you, so let's be off to my garden." I rode one of the
Colonel's horses, which had been so long in the stable without exercise,
that I found the Barbary barb no joke. A most violent _gregale_ swept the
bare beach of the harbour as we proceeded to the gardens and plantations
of the Masheeah, and the restive prancing of the horse was not unlike the
dancing about of the cockle-shell bark to which I had been condemned for
the last ten days. The _British Garden_ I found to be a splendid
horticultural developement, containing the choicest fruit-trees of North
Africa, with ornamental trees of every shape, and hue, and foliage--all
the growth of thirty years, and the greater part of them planted by the
hands of Colonel Warrington himself. The villa is on the site of an
ancient haunted house--for what country does not boast of its haunted
house? The spot which once was visited nightly by some Saracen's-head
ghost, in the midst of a waste, is now the fairest, loveliest garden of
Tripoli! Amongst its rich fruit-trees is an immense peach-tree--the
largest in all this part of Africa. It is a round, squatting,
wide-spreading tree, not nailed up to the walls, but the size of its
girth of boughs is enormous.

I must take the liberty of leaving off daily dates here. I detest daily
note-writing, although the reader may find for his peculiar infliction so
long a journal as these pages.

_19th._--A _ghiblee_ day. The wind from The Desert is coming with a
vengeance. Its breath is the pure flame of the furnace. I am obliged to
tie a handkerchief over my face in passing through the verandahs of the
garden. I had not the least idea it could be so hot here in the middle of
May. At 2 P.M. the thermometer in the sun was at 142° Fahrenheit.

Neither Tunis nor Tripoli has been sufficiently appreciated by the
politicians of Europe. Indian and American affairs are the two ideas
which occupy our merchants. And yet the best informed of the consuls in
Tripoli say, "The future battles of Europe will be fought in North
Africa." At this time there is considerable agitation and political
intrigue afoot here. Algerian politics, also, envenom these squabbles.

The aspect of the city of Tripoli is the most miserable of all the towns
I have seen in North Africa. And they say, "It grows worse and worse."
Yet the present Pasha, Mehemet, is esteemed as a good and sensible man.
Unfortunately, a Turkish Governor can have very little or no interest in
the permanent prosperity of this country. His tenure of office is very
insecure, and rarely extends beyond four or five years; so that whilst
here he only thinks of providing for himself. The country is therefore in
a continual state of impoverishment as governed by successive pashas.
Each successive high functionary works and fleeces the people to the
uttermost. Even in our own colonies the exception is, that the Governor
cares more for the welfare of the colony than for his own immediate
benefit. In Turkish colonies we must therefore expect the rule to be,
that the Pasha should govern only for his private benefit and personal
aggrandizement.

_21st._--This afternoon His Highness Mehemet Pasha had arranged to grant
me an interview. I was introduced, of course, by our Consul-General,
Colonel Warrington. Mr. Casolaina, the Chancellor of the Consulate, and
his son, were in attendance as interpreters. His Highness receives all
strangers and transacts all business in an apartment of the celebrated
old castle of the Karamanly Bashaws, whose legends of blood and intrigue
have been so vividly and terrifically transcribed in _Tully's Tripoline
Letters_. On entering this place I was astonished at its ruinous and
repulsive appearance. Nothing could better resemble a prison, and yet a
prison in the most dilapidated condition. Walking through the dark,
winding, damp, mildewy passages, shedding down upon us a pestiferous
dungeon influence, Colonel Warrington suddenly stopped, as if to breathe
and repel the deadly miasma, and turning to me, said: "Well, Richardson,
what do you think of this? Capital place this for young ladies to dance
in, so light and airy. Many a poor wretch has entered here, with promises
of fortune and royal favour, and has met his doom at the hand of the
assassin! In my long course of service, how many Kaëds and Sheikhs I have
known, who have come in here and have never gone out. I'm a great reader
of Shakspeare. It's the next book after the Bible. But a thousand
Shakspeares, with all their tragic genius, could never describe the
passions which have worked, and the horrors which have been perpetrated,
in this place." The Colonel's tragic harangue was not without its effect
in these dungeon passages, and the old gentleman seemed to enjoy the
shiver which he saw involuntarily agitate me. Indeed, the darksome
noisome atmosphere, without this tragic appeal, could not fail to make
itself felt, as Egyptian darkness was felt, after leaving the fiery heat
and bright dazzling sun-light without. Winding about from one ruinous
room to another, and ascending various flights of tumbling-down steps and
stairs, we got up at length to the eastern end, where there are two or
three new apartments constructed in the modern style. In one of them, not
unlike a city merchant's receiving-parlour, we found the Pasha and his
court. We were immediately introduced, and somewhat to my surprise, I
found His Highness an extremely plain _unmilitary_-looking Turkish
gentleman, of about fifty years of age, and dressed without the least
pretensions of any kind. How unlike the ancient gemmed and jewelled
Bashaws! flaming in "Barbaric pearl and gold." The present Ottoman
costume is most simple. His Highness had only the _Nisham_, or Turkish
decoration of brilliants upon his breast, to distinguish him from his own
domestics, coffee-bearers, or others. As soon as he saw us, he hurriedly
came up to us and seized hold of our hands and shook them cordially. The
troops were at the moment being reviewed, and we had a good sight of them
from our elevated position. They were manœuvring on the sea-beach between
the city and the Masheeah. "Tell the Bashaw," cried out the Colonel to
Casolaina, "I never saw such splendid manœuvring in all the course of my
life. They do His Highness and Ahmed Bashaw, the Commander-in-Chief,
infinite credit." This compliment was interpreted and graciously
received though its value was no doubt properly appreciated by the
politic Turk. The Colonel continued:--"Tell the Bashaw, that as long as
the Sultan has such troops as these, he will be invincible." This was
answered by, "_Enshallah_, _enshallah_, (If God pleases, if God
pleases)". The Colonel still laid it on:--"Casolaina, tell the Bashaw, I
myself should not like to command even English troops against these fine
fellows." To which the Bashaw and his Court replied, "_Ajeeb_,
(Wonderful!)" Ahmed Bashaw, the Commander-in-Chief, a most
ferocious-looking Turk, seized hold of my shoulders and pushed me to the
window to admire his brilliant men. I could just see that their
manœuvrings were in the style of the "awkward squad;" but their arms and
white pantaloons dazzled beautifully in the sun upon the margin of the
deep-blue sea.

After we had satisfied our curiosity or admiration in looking at the
troops, the windows were shut down, and all sat down to business. His
Highness began by asking my name, when I came, and what I was going to be
about? The Consul replied to these first and usual questions of Turkish
functionaries, and more particularly explained my projected visit to
Ghadames. The Pasha immediately consented, as a matter of course, with
Turkish politeness; but before the interview was concluded, various
objections were started and insisted upon, showing the _not_ suddenly
excited jealousy of these functionaries, who, previous to my interview,
knew all about my anti-slavery and literary projects. His Highness
observed:--"The heat is killing now, the distance is great, the road is
infested with robbers; I shall have to send an escort of five hundred
troops with your friend, (addressing the Consul); not long ago two
hundred banditti attacked a caravan. All Tunisian Arabs are robbers; the
Bey of that country cannot maintain order in his country; besides, an
Arab will kill ten men to get one pair of pistols; but I'll make further
inquiries." His Highness also related a feat of his own troops, who
captured seven camels from the banditti, which he said he distributed
amongst the captors. He also gave his own people, the Tripolines, a very
bad character. But, of course, the Tripolines and the Turks must mutually
hate one another. We were served with pipes, coffee, and sherbet. I
pretended to sip the pipe two or three times, as a matter of politeness,
for though I have been in Barbary some time, where smoking is universal,
I have not adopted the dirty vice. Near the Pasha sat the second in
command, or Commander-in-Chief of the forces, the Pasha himself devoting
his attention almost exclusively to civil affairs. As I have said, this
functionary was a most savage-looking fellow, and his acts in Tripoli and
his reputation accord with the character broadly stamped on his
countenance. He has risen from the lowest ranks--one of the _canaille_ of
the Levant--and is blood-thirsty and vindictive whenever he has the means
of showing these dreadful passions. How many tyrants have risen from the
ranks of those who are the victims and objects of tyranny!

The Consul hinted to me afterwards, that this military tyrant would
oppose my journey to the interior, and throw all sorts of obstacles in
the way, but thought the Pasha would not listen to his insinuations. On
asking the Consul what he thought of the objections of the Pasha? he
said: "Oh, they are only to increase the merit of his facilitating your
trip." Mehemet Pasha has the rank of three tails, and the Pasha of the
Troops two tails. There was present also Mohammed Aly, a Moor, who
interprets between the Moors and Arabs, and the Turks. He is said to be
entirely in the interest of the English. He frequently visits the
Vice-Consul, Mr. Herbert Warrington, who treats the interpreter with a
bottle of champaigne, and in this way things are greatly smoothed down
before His Highness. A glass of wine is often more potent than an
elaborate speech in these and other diplomatic transactions. It is but
justice to these functionaries to say, whatever money they may take away
from Tripoli, that they are very moderate in their style of living and
dress in this place. The apartment in which we were received was
exceedingly plain. All the furniture was of the most ordinary European
stuff; there was nothing oriental in it but a large square ottoman. A few
flowers were placed gracefully on the table, and there was a pretty
bronzed lamp. We visitors sat on cane-bottomed chairs. The costume of
these high functionaries was the usual large Turkish frock-coat, tightly
buttoned up, and white or other light-coloured pantaloons, for summer
wear, and these strapped over thick heavy black leather shoes, the straps
often inside the shoes as an Ottoman improvement on the European fashion.
The head was covered with the _shasheeah_, or fez, with a large blue silk
tassel hanging prettily from the crown. On the breast hung the _Nisham_
decoration, distinguishing the various grades and rank.

We left His Highness under the impression that he would do every thing in
his power to forward our views, and never dreamt of a future memorandum
of recall after having reached Ghadames with His Highness's permission.

It is not now my intention to give an account of Tripoli, so I pass on to
a second interview I had with the Bashaw. This was on the 7th of July. In
this long interval, I had been waiting for letters from England, and in
every way was learning lessons of most imperturbable patience.

I was visiting some sick officers in the castle with a Maltese doctor of
the name of _Gameo_, whose acquaintance I had made, and whom I found
useful in collecting information on Tripoli and the interior, when one of
the functionaries of the Castle came to tell me the Bashaw would like to
see me. I felt some delicacy in going, but thought it better to comply
with the wish of His Highness. There was immediately presented to me, as
usual to all visitors, a pipe, coffee, and sherbet. Our interview lasted
about half an hour, and the conversation was _to the point_, referring
solely to my journey to the interior. But, although I exerted all my
skill and tact, I could not remove the jealousies of His Highness, and I
believe for one, and only one reason. It had been given out in Tripoli
that I was to be appointed Consul at Ghadames. The Bashaw fearing that
such an appointment would interfere with his system of extorting money
from the inhabitants of that country (the treasury being empty in
Tripoli), set his face against my journey, and endeavoured to delay it
until he could get a _counter_ order from Constantinople. His Highness
was however very polite, and promised to furnish me with tents, if I had
need, and a large escort. The Turks are getting sensitive of the press.
The Bashaw said he had heard I was a great newspaper writer, and asked me
if I had any objection to writing an article in his praise.

At the end of the month of July (30th), Colonel Warrington suggested to
me the propriety of writing to him a letter, stating my wish and objects
in visiting the interior. I did so, and received an answer from the
Colonel the same day. Mr. Frederick Warrington, who had great influence
with several people about His Highness, and myself, went again to the
Bashaw, in order to conciliate His Highness and persuade him to give a
_bonâ fide_ protection to me through the interior of Tripoli, as also to
obtain a passport. It unfortunately happened, that about a week ago, a
Ghadames caravan had been captured by some hostile Arabs on the frontiers
of Tunis. His Highness immediately produced this case, and said it was
impossible for me to go whilst the routes were so insecure. He also
alleged, and with more reason:--"The season was now too late, the heat
was intolerable, and an European of my delicate constitution must
succumb." We therefore returned much depressed. Colonel Warrington then,
annoyed at the Bashaw's resistance, wrote the next day a letter to his
Chancellor, requesting him to wait upon the Bashaw, and demand formally a
passport for me, my servant, and camel-driver. I went with Mr. Casolaina,
but did not see His Highness, waiting only at the door of the hall of
audience, in case I should be wanted. His Highness apologized for his
opposition, stating his objections of the season and the insecurity of
the routes, but gave the order for the passports. I find the following
note in my journal:--"Left Tripoli for Ghadames on the 2nd August, 1845;
I had grown completely tired of Tripoli, and left it without a single
regret, having suffered much from several sources of annoyance, including
both the Consulate and the Bashaw."

FOOTNOTES:

[6] Many newspaper articles have been written, and companies
    formed, for the promotion of exploring for sulphur in Tripoli (the
    Syrtis); but somehow or other, all these schemes have failed. I
    have been told there is sulphur in the Syrtis, and the failure of
    obtaining it in remunerative quantity is to be attributed alone to
    the chicanery or want of skill in the agent.

[7] There is a far greater ebb and flow of tide here than at any
    other coast of the Mediterranean, the sea rising and falling no
    less than ten feet. This tidal phenomenon extends to the Lesser
    Syrtis and to Sfax.

[8] Like the fish-lakes of Biserta in Tunis, these salt-pits were
    worked by the ancients, and have been inexhaustible and
    unchangeable through two thousand years. Whatever may be the
    geological changes in other regions of the globe, those of North
    Africa are not very rapid, beyond filling up a few of the
    artificial harbours, or _cothons_, with mud. Barbary contains
    several Roman bridges which have spanned a stream remaining the
    same size, and running in the same bed, through a course of
    centuries. The salt of the _Salinæ_ is of good quality.

[9] _Bismillah_, "In the name of God," the formula used by Moslems
    when they partake of food. In the _Lingua Franca_ we have
    sometimes "_Avete_ bismillah?" or "bismillah_ato_?" that is,
    "taken your meal?"

[10] In the present application, for this _Lingua Franca_ word
    generally means "vain silly shewing off." The "playing at powder,"
    or "firing off matchlocks for amusement," is also called a
    _fantazia_ in Algeria and Morocco.




CHAPTER II.

FROM TRIPOLI TO THE MOUNTAINS.

     Leave Tripoli for the Interior.--Feelings on
     Starting.--Ghargash.--Gameo, the great quack of
     Tripoli.--Janzour.--Account of my Equipment.--Camels fond of the
     Cactus.--Arab Tents.--Jedaeen.--Zouweeah.--The
     Sahara.--Beer-el-Hamra.--Squabbling at the Wells.--The strength
     of Caravan, and character of Escort.--Shouwabeeah.--Difficulty of
     keeping the Caravan together.--Camels cropping herbage _en
     route_.--The _Kailah_ or _Siesta_.--Arab Troops seize the Water
     of the Merchants.--Wady Lethel.--Irregular March of the
     Caravan.--Aâeeat.--Descent into Wells.--Learn the value of
     Water.--The Atlas and its Tripoline divisions and
     subdivisions.--The ascent of Yefran, and its Castle.


NOTHING is more common than that, after long delay and various
negotiations, in waiting and preparing for a journey, everything at last
is hurried with a most reckless dispatch; this, at least, was the case
with me. I was to have been escorted out of Tripoli by the Consular
corps, with the British Consul at their head, in the wonted style of
Europeans setting out for the interior. But on the morning of the 2nd
August, before I could finish my letters for England, or get my luggage
together, came my camel-driver Mohammed, who, at the sight of my papers
all spread out, began whining and blubbering, protesting, "The
_ghafalah_[11] is gone; we can't overtake it--we shall be murdered, if we
delay behind." Without saying a word in reply, I amassed and bundled up
everything together, and gave him the baggage; then went off to the
_Souk_, or market-place, to buy some fresh bread,--and found myself on
the way to Ghadames, before I was conscious of having left Tripoli. Such
is the excitement and vagaries of human feeling! Not being accustomed to
mount the camel, I determined to hire some donkeys to ride to the first
station; Gameo and one of his brothers accompanied me. When I could
breathe freely, as I rode on my unknown way, with a boundless prospect
before me, I felt my heart rebound with joy, and commended myself humbly
to the care of a good God, not knowing what was to happen to me. I had
consumed three months of most suffering patience in Tripoli before I
could start on this journey, and was otherwise schooled for what was
about to take place. But I must not begin too early the record of my
complaints.

Our first day's ride was mostly through desert lands, for The Desert
reaches to the walls of the city of Tripoli. The little village of
Gargash was seen at our right, near the margin of the sea. Gameo
exclaimed, "There's the little mosque--there's the little cemetery--there
are the little gardens, little palms!"--and little this, and little the
other: indeed, it was a perfect miniature of congregated human existence.
Arrived at Janzour, Gameo and his brother prepared to return. But
previous to his leaving, Gameo, who was a tabeeb of great notoriety,
determined to display his healing art. He took out his lancet, and
forthwith bled everybody in the Kaëd's caravanseria. When his brother
begged of him not to bleed any more people unless they paid him
something--not to be such a _sciocco_ ("ninny,") he turned round upon
him, and indignantly exclaimed "Ancora voglio lasciare il mio nome qui"
(Here I will leave my name also!) It was the delight of Gameo to be the
grand tabeeb of Tripoli, and even to prescribe for the officers and
subordinate bashaws; and yet Gameo and his family many days were without
bread to eat, to my certain knowledge. I relieved them as much as I
could. The Moors and Arabs are very funny about bleeding, and the matters
of the tabeeb; they will ask you to bleed them when in perfect health.
All these persons who were bled at Janzour had no ailments; they will
also swallow physic, whether well or ill. One of them consulted Gameo
privately how he was to obtain children from his wife, who was barren.
Another wished to obtain the affections of a girl by administering to her
a dose of medicine. They consider a doctor in the light, in which our
fathers of the time of Friar Bacon did, of a magician, and a person who
holds some sort of illicit intercourse with the devil, or, at any rate,
with the genii. They never give the doctor credit for his skill, but
attribute his wit and success to the blessing or interposition of God.

After taking leave of Gameo, I waited for Mohammed and Said; we had gone
on quickly with the donkeys. They came up with the camels, but instead of
encamping within the village, the ghafalah had brought up outside. This
annoyed Mohammed, who kept exclaiming, as we went to the rendezvous of
the merchants, "Ah! Gameo, that's him, Gameo, Gameo! What trouble he has
brought upon us, Gameo! Gameo! he a tabeeb? Not fit to give physic to a
dog. Gameo! Gameo! always talking--always talking; the devil take him,
for he's his son." We reached the encampment as the shadows of night
fell fast; we did not take supper, or pitch tent. My spirits gave way,
and I felt fearful and saddened at the prospect of going into the
interior absolutely alone. I had not a single letter of recommendation to
any one, after waiting so long at Tripoli, and so much talk with all
sorts of people about the necessity of having letters for the chiefs of
The Desert. This was, indeed, bad management; yet I could not insist upon
the Pasha giving me a letter, nor could I importune the British Consul:
but it often happens, where there is less help from man, there is more
from God. Many of the Ghadamsee merchants, whose acquaintance I had made
in Tripoli, came now to me and welcomed me as a fellow-traveller. Janzour
is a small village, with gardens of olives and date plantations.

_August 3rd._--Before starting to-day, it is necessary to give some
account of my equipment. I had two camels on hire, for which I paid
twelve dollars. I was to ride one continually. We had panniers on it, in
which I stowed away about two months' provisions. A little fresh
provision we were to purchase _en route_. Upon these panniers a mattress
was placed, forming with them a comfortable platform. As a luxury, I had
a Moorish pillow for leaning on, given me by Mr. Frederick Warrington.
The camel was neither led nor reined, but followed the group. I myself
was dressed in light European clothes, and furnished with an umbrella for
keeping off the sun. This latter was all my arms of offence and defence.
The other camel carried a trunk and some small boxes, cooking utensils,
and matting, and a very light tent for keeping off sun and heat. We had
two gurbahs, or "skin-bags for water," and another we were to buy in the
mountains, so each having a skin of water to himself. Said was to ride
this camel, and now and then give a ride to Mohammed the camel-driver, to
whom the camels belonged. We were roused before daylight. I made coffee
with my spirit apparatus (_spiriterio_). In half an hour after the dawn,
we were all on the move, and soon started. The ghafalah presented an
interminable line of camels, as it wound its slow way through narrow
sandy lanes, hedged on each side with the cactus or prickly-pear. We
progressed very irregularly, and the camels kept throwing off their
burdens. The Moors and Arabs, who manage almost everything badly, even
hardly know how to manage their camels, after ages of experience. It is,
however, very difficult to drive the camels past a prickly-pear hedge,
they being voraciously fond of the huge succulent leaves of this plant,
and crop them with the most savage greediness, regardless of the
continual blows, accompanied with loud shouts, which they receive from
the vociferous drivers to get them forward. I wore my cloak for two hours
after dawn, and felt chilly, and yet at noonday the thermometer was at
least 130° Fah., in the sun. We emerged from the prickly-pear hedges upon
an open desert land. Here was an encampment of Arabs, with tents as
"black" and "comely" in this glare and fire of the full morning sun, as
"the tents of Kedar!" (See Solomon's Songs i. 5.) Nothing indeed is more
refreshing than the sight of these black camel's-hair tents, when
travelling over these arid thirsty plains. The whole households of the
tents were alive, but their various occupations will be seen better in
the following sketch than pictured to the mind by any elaborate
description.

[Illustration]

Encamped at Jedaeem about 10 o'clock, A.M. Remained here only two hours
and proceeded to Zouweeah, a large village, situate in the midst of most
pleasant gardens, or rather cultivated lands, overshadowed with date
groves. These gardens are considered superior to those of the Masheeah
around Tripoli. Passed through the whole district by 3 P.M., and then
entered what is usually called the Sahara, this side the Mountains. This
desert presents sand hills, loose stones scattered about, dwarf shrubs,
long coarse grass, and sometimes small undulations of rocky ground. It
is, however, overrun by a few nomade tribes, who feed their flocks on the
ungrateful and scant herbage which it affords. Tripoli, in general offers
a remarkable contrast to Tunis and other parts of Barbary, in having its
Arab tribes located in stone and mud houses or fixed douwars, whilst
nomade Arabs are found thickly scattered all over the West, as far as the
Atlantic. Zouweeah is the last _belad_, or _paesi_, (_i. e._,
"cultivated country,") before we reach The Mountains, which are two
days' journey distant. I therefore sent Mohammed to buy a small sheep,
but he could not succeed although there were many flocks about, the
people absurdly refusing to sell them, even when the full price was
offered. The Arabs themselves never eat meat as the rule, but the
exception, supporting themselves on the milk of their flocks and
farinaceous matter. Olive-oil and fat and fruit they devour. Of
vegetables they eat, but with little _gusto_. Their flocks are kept as a
sort of reserve wealth, and to pay their contributions. Our course to-day
and yesterday was west and south-west. At sunset we encamped at
Beer-el-Hamra ("red-well"), which is a well-spring of very good water,
ten feet deep, the water issuing from the sides of the rocky soil. Here
we found artificial pits or troughs for the sheep and cattle to drink
from, and trunks of the date-palms hollowed out for the camels. When a
ghafalah passes a well there is the greatest confusion to get all the
camels to drink, and the people quarrel and fight about this, as well as
for their turn to fill their water-skins. This quarrelling at the wells
forcibly reminds the Biblical reader of the contest of Moses in favour of
the daughters of Jethro against the ungallant shepherds. (Exodus i. 17.)
We take in no more water till we get to The Mountains.

Here mention must be made of the strength of our caravan, as all are to
rendezvous at this well for safety, to start together over The Desert to
The Mountains. It was half a day's advance of this where the Ghadamsee
ghafalah had been lately plundered of all its goods and camels. As soon
as the Sebâah banditti appeared, the merchants, who were without escort,
all ran away like frightened gazelles. One man alone had his arm
scratched. Our ghafalah, besides casual travellers going to The
Mountains, consisted of some two hundred camels, laden chiefly with
merchandize for the interior, Soudan, and Timbuctoo. Thirty or forty
merchants, nearly all of Ghadames, to whom the goods belong, accompany
these camels. To ascertain its value would be hopeless, for the
merchants, with the real jealousy of mercantile rivalry, conceal their
affairs from one another. Two of the principal Ghadamsee merchants are
with us, the Sheikh Makouran and Haj Mansour, besides a son of the great
house of Ettence. These merchants belong to the rival factions of the
city, and accordingly have separate encampments. The greater number of
the merchants of our ghafalah are only petty traders, some with only a
camel-load of merchandize. We are escorted by sixty Arab troops on foot,
with a commandant and some subordinate sheikhs on horseback. They are to
protect us to The Mountains, where it is said all danger ends. They are
poor, miserable devils to look at, hungry, lank, lean, and browned to
blackness, armed with matchlocks, which continually miss fire, and
covered with rags, or mostly having only a single blanket to cover their
dirty and emaciated bodies. Some are without shoes, and others have a
piece of camel's skin cut in the shape of a sole of the foot, and tied up
round the ankles: some have a scull-cap, white or red, and others are
bare-headed. I laughed when I surveyed with my inexperienced eye these
grisly, skeleton, phantom troops, and thought of the splendid invincible
guard which the Pasha promised me. And yet amongst these wretched beings
was riding sublime an Arab Falstaff.

_4th._--Morning. Find the greater part of the ghafalah has not yet come
up. We are to wait for them, being the advanced body. Expect them in the
afternoon. It is exceedingly difficult to keep these various groups of
merchants together; each group is its own sovereign master and will have
its own way. The commandant is constantly swearing at each party to get
all to march together; now and then he draws his sword and shakes it over
their heads. "You are dogs," he says to one; "you are worse than this
Christian Kafer amongst us," (myself,) he bawls to another.

Have, thank God, suffered little up to now, although intensely hot in the
day-time, and my eyes so bad that I cannot look at the sun, and scarcely
on daylight without a shade. They were bad on leaving Tripoli, having
caught a severe ophthalmia from the refraction of the hot rocks when
bathing. My left arm is also still very weak, from the accident of
falling into a dry well a little before I started. I can't mount the
camel without assistance, but begin to ride without that sickly
sensation, not unlike sea-sickness, which I felt the first day's riding.
Drink brandy frequently, but in small quantities and greatly diluted, and
find great benefit from it; drink also coffee and tea. Eat but little,
and scarcely any meat. The Arabs of the country brought a few sheep to
sell this morning, but asked double the Tripoli price; so nobody
purchased. Bought myself a fowl for eighty Turkish paras. The people of
the ghafalah civil, but all the lower classes will beg continually if you
are willing to give. Each one offers his advice and consolation on my
tour; but Mohammed keeps all the hungry Arabs at a respectable distance,
lest I should give to them what belongs to his share, like servants who
don't wish their masters to be generous to others if it interferes with
their own prerogatives.

We left in the afternoon and encamped in The Desert at Shouwabeeah. The
Desert here presents nothing but long coarse grass and undulating ground.
I observed a patch which had been cultivated, the stubble of barley
remaining, which the camels devoured most voraciously. Chopped
barley-straw is the favourite food of all animals of burden in North
Africa; horses will feed on it for six months together, and get fat. _En
route_ the chief of the escort had great trouble to keep the caravan
together; he made the advanced parties wait till the others came up, so
as all to be ready in case of attack. One would think the merchants, for
their own sakes, would keep together; but no, it's all _maktoub_ with
them; "If they are to be robbed and murdered they must be robbed and
murdered, and the Bashaw and all his troops can't prevent it." This they
reiterated to me whilst the commandant bullied them; and yet these same
men had each of them a matchlock and pistols besides. The Sheikh Makouran
had no less than four guns on his camel. I asked him what they were for.
He coolly replied, "I don't know. God knows." The camels browse or crop
herbage all the way along, daintily picking and choosing the herbage and
shrubs which they like best. My chief occupation in riding is watching
them browse, and observing the epicurean fancies of these reflective,
sober-thinking brutes of The Desert. I observe also as a happy trait in
the Arab, that nothing delights him more than watching his own faithful
camel graze. The ordinary drivers sometimes allow them to graze, and
wait till they have cropped their favourite herbage and shrubs, and at
other times push them forward according to their caprice. The camel, with
an intuitive perception, knows all the edible and delicate herbs and
shrubs of The Desert, and when he finds one of his choicest it is
difficult to get him on until he has cropped a good mouthful. But I shall
have much to write of this sentient "ship of The Desert." It is hard to
forget the ship which carries one safely over the ocean, whose plank
intervenes between our life and a bottomless grave of waters: so we
tourists of The Desert acquire a peculiar affection for the melancholy
animal, whose slow but faithful step carries us through the hideous
wastes of sand and stone, where all life is extinct, and where, if left a
moment behind the camel's track, certain death follows.

_5th._--Rose at daybreak, and pursued our way through the Desert. Saw the
mountains early, stretching far away east and west in undefined and shadowy
but glorious magnificence,--some of deep black hue, and others reddened
over with the morning sunbeams. It is a gladdening, elevating sight. The
presence of a vast range of mountains always raises the mind and
imagination of man. Encamped during the _Kailah_ ‮قايلة‬, or from
10 o'clock A.M., to 3 P.M. This is the siesta of the Spaniards, and it is
probable the Moors introduced it into Spain. It is also the mezzogiorno
of the Italians and the Frank population of Barbary. But the Italians
usually dine before they take their midday nap. Our object here is to
shelter ourselves from the greatest force of the heat of the day. None of
us dine. In the afternoon the Arab soldiers, being without water, began
to seize that of the merchants, after having demanded it from them in
vain. In one case they robbed a merchant under the pretext of getting
water. They also attempted to take water from my camels, but I resisted,
threatening to report them to the Bashaw. After a scuffle with my negro
servant and camel-driver, in which affair Said drew out manfully from the
scabbard the old rusty sword which I presented to him on leaving
Tripoli--to gird round him as a warrior badge--they desisted and
retreated. The sub-officer of the escort came up to me afterwards, and
begged that I would say nothing about the business. I gave him a suck of
brandy-and-water, and we were mighty good friends all the way. Our course
was south to-day, striking directly at The Mountains. We encamped about
midnight at the Wady Lethel, the name of which is derived from the tree
_Lethel_ ‮لذل‬, frequent in the Sahara.

With regard to the conduct of the poor Arab soldiers, justice requires it
to be said, that they are allowed nothing for the service of the escort,
whilst if they do not serve when they are called upon, they are fined.
The consequence is, they generally have nothing to eat, and no skins to
put their water in. Perhaps a camel with a couple of skins is allowed to
twenty men. As there was water for scarcely two days of our slow
marching, (we only march about twelve hours per day,) these miserable
victims of Turkish rule had no water left. It is hunger and misery in
this, as in most cases amongst the poor, and not the native unwillingness
of the heart to perform good actions, which excite them to deeds of
violence and plunder. This night the heavens presented an appearance of
unexampled serenity and soft splendour; all the constellations glowed
with a steady beauteous light; there were the "sweet influences of
Pleiades," the bright "bands of Orion," "Arcturus with his sons," and the
infinitude of sparkling jewels in "chambers of the South." All the stars
might be seen and counted, so distinctly visible were they to the naked
unassisted eye. In encamping our ghafalah carried on its delightful
system of confusion, and the night fires of the various groups glared
wildly in every direction. I had not yet become familiar with these
nocturnal lights of Saharan travelling, and my senses were confounded. I
felt tormented as with an enchanter's delusive fire-works in some
half-waking dream.

_6th._--Rose at day-break. Our route was now over a vast level plain, and
we were within four hours of The Mountains. They now discovered the true
Atlas features, a part of which chain they were. We marched in the most
glorious disorder. Some were before, some behind, straggling along,
others far to the right, and others as far to the left, a mile or two
apart. We had the appearance of an immense line moving on to invest The
Mountains _en masse_, for there seemed to be no common point to which we
were advancing in such tumultuous array. The Arabs pay little attention
to marching in order, and in a straight line, so that the camels traverse
double the quantity of ground that there would be any occasion for did
they attend to plain common sense. The Desert now showed more signs of
cultivation, and, indeed, a great portion of this so-called Desert is
only land uncultivated, but capable of the highest degree of
cultivation;--all which might be effected by supplying any scarcity of
rain by irrigation.

We passed the kailah, or in Scripture phrase, "the heat of the day," at a
place called Aâeeat, below The Mountains, where we found two wells
without water, or with very little bad, dirty, nay, black water.
Nevertheless, many descended these wells, about thirty feet deep, to
bring up the muddy filthy water, and swallowed it immediately. I myself
was so thirsty, that I drank it greedily. Said had very severe thirst,
and I believe he drank in one of the last two days nearly a bucket and a
half of water. I finished two bottles of brandy, having diluted it with
large quantities of water. I believe this was the only thing which kept
me alive, the heat was so intense and prostrating in the day-time. I am
astonished to see these people descend into the wells with such facility.
I expected, on the contrary, to see them break their necks. They descend
by the sides, only assisted by their hands and feet, clinging to naked
stones, the interstices of which in some places not even allowing space
on which to rest the foot. Here again is hubbub and vociferation of the
wildest form, all sorts of quarrelling over this sewer-like water. I now,
for the first time in my life, experienced the real value of water, and
in these climates more clearly understood the vivid and frequent
allusions in the Holy Scriptures to this essential element of existence.
Mohammed went several miles in The Mountains, and returned with a skin of
fresh water. In his absence the torment of thirst prostrated me, and I
lay senseless on the ground:

    "The water! the water!
      My heart yet burns to think,
    How cool thy fountain sparkled forth,
      For parched lips to drink."

After the Kailah, we ascended that portion of the Tripoline chain of the
Atlas called Yefran. This chain has various names, according to its
different links, or groups, more properly, for the usual phenomena of the
Atlas are groups, pile upon pile. The following are some of the principal
names of this part of the Atlas, beginning east and proceeding west:
Gharian, Kiklah, Yefran or _Jibel_, ("Mountain," par excellence,)
Nouwaheeha, Khalaeefah, Reeaneen, Zantan, Rujban, Douweerat. All these
larger districts are divided into smaller ones, descending to very minute
subdivisions. Every dell, and copse, and glade, and brook, and stream,
and drain, (to use English nomenclature,) of these mountains, is defined,
and owned, and cultivated, as the most cultivated, divided, and
subdivided estate in England. It is quite ridiculous to look upon the
Atlas chains as so many vast uninhabited wastes. The French, whose forte
in colonization is blundering, rushed into the plateaus and groups of the
Atlas as into lands unowned and undefined, and were quite astonished to
hear of claimants for their newly acquired lands and farms. They imagined
that the plains of the Metidjah and the adjacent Atlas chain had lain
desolate since the Creation, or were only wandered over by savage hordes
of barbarians.

We found the ascent of Yefran difficult. The Arabs call all places
difficult of traverse, Wâr--‮وعر‬--whether applied to stony rocky
ground, sandy regions, or mountains. The camels in the ascent are timid,
and besides the evident fatigue which they experience, show great caution,
picking slowly their way with the greatest circumspection. Only a portion
of the ghafalah got up to-day. Some camels were labouring up the mountain
sides, others threw off their burdens and stood still. As our party was
always the advanced, we managed to get up soon. Beneath a huge old black
olive-tree, which seemed to have begun with Creation, but still as
vigorous as ever, we found a comfortable shade in a snug retired place.
It was cooler on the top of The Mountains, and I took a walk in the
evening to the Castle (Kesar) of Yefran, a most formidable thing to look
at from a distance, but a wretched mud-built place in reality. To the
Arabs, however, it is a terrible bulwark of strength, and for them
impregnable. Everything in the shape of a fort or a blockhouse, be it
ever so untenable or miserable, terrifies the Arabs. It is repeatedly
asserted that the Arabs of Algeria never took a blockhouse. An authentic
anecdote was recently related to me of a French civilian keeping a whole
tribe in check for two days, by fortifying his house and firing from
loop-holes which he made in its walls. Not so the Kabyles. Their genius
is defending their little forts, often constructed of loose stones, in
their mountain homes. Behind these and other forts of nature they
maintain for days an obstinate resistance, and pour deadly mitraille. The
Turkish soldiers were here lounging about; they gaped and stared at me. I
am, perhaps, the first European who has been to Yefran in the memory of
the present generation, nay, the first European Christian who has visited
this spot. The sun now set fiery red, and night was fast veiling The
Mountains with her sable curtain. I retired to my olive-tree, and under
its shade slept most profoundly. This was repose--this, sleep! I shall
never sleep in more profound slumbers until I sleep my last.

FOOTNOTES:

[11] Ghafalah, ‮قفله‬, is the ordinary term for a caravan in North
     Africa.




CHAPTER III.

FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO GHADAMES.

     Interview with the Commandant of The Mountains.--Military
     Position occupied by the Turks.--Subjugation of the Arabs.--My
     different Appellations.--Departure for, and arrival at, Rujban,
     native place of my Camel-driver.--Aspect of The
     Mountains.--Miserable condition of the Inhabitants.--Cruelty of
     the Tribute Collectors.--Marabouts exempt.--Curiosity of the
     Women to see The Christian.--Social Habits of the
     People.--Politics in The Mountains.--Visit from The
     Sheikh.--Various Conversations and Visitors.--Heat of the
     Weather.--The Sheikh offers to sell me his Authority.--Want of
     Rain.--Population.--The playing with the Head.--Pervading
     principle of Religion.--The Sheikh in a bad humour, and misery of
     Life in The Mountains.--Departure from The
     Mountains.--Description of the four days' journey from The
     Mountains to the Oasis of Senawan.--Dreadful sufferings from Heat
     and want of Sleep.--Provisions of the Caravan.--Stratagem to
     preserve Water.--Second Christening in The Desert.--Senawan and
     its group of Oases.--Resume our Journey.--Emjessem.--Met by a
     party of Friends from Ghadames.--Quarrel about Said.--First sight
     of Ghadames.


_7th._--WAS awaked by a young man, who said he had brought for "the
Consul of Ghadames" (myself) a brace of partridges, some milk, and
grapes, from the secretary of the Commandant. Drank a large basin of milk
and coffee, and went to pay a visit to the Commandant. Found all the
principal Ghadamsee merchants at the Castle, closeted in a small
apartment with the Commandant, Ahmed Effendi, talking over the affairs of
the ghafalah. At first I imagined this officer had brought them up from
Yefran to make them pay black-mail in various presents. But it was only
his vanity which dragged up the poor camels this fatiguing route, an
ascent of four hours. Our direct route to Ghadames would have been half a
day farther west. He said he had merely sent for the merchants to ask
them how they were, and give them his blessing. When I entered, a stool
was brought me to sit upon. The Rais[12] was seated on a raised bench
covered with an ottoman, and the merchants were squatted on their hams
upon the matting and carpets of the floor. Coffee was brought me, as to
most visitors. The Rais asked me where I was going? and what I was doing?
as if he knew nothing about me. I then had my palaver, and represented to
the Rais the case of taking by force water from the merchants, which took
him quite aback, and astonished all present, the merchants secretly
admiring the boldness of the remonstrance. But it was one of those
unpleasant duties which are absolutely necessary to be performed. In our
case it was necessary for our own health and the order and security of
the caravan. The Rais surprised and displeased, nevertheless gave strict
orders that it should not happen again. The merchants afterwards
expressed their thanks to me; seeing plainly also the advantage of having
one amongst them who was not immediately subject to the Pasha and his
soldiers. Besides, I hinted to the Rais it would be better if the
ghafalah marched more in order, and had a chief. This the Rais discussed
with the merchants, and it was considered advisable to adopt these common
sense measures, they, however, laughing heartily at my European ideas of
order. I then begged the Rais to persuade the people to travel by night,
as this was the hottest season in the year, and being a new traveller in
The Desert, I could scarcely support the heat. He replied it would be
better for all as we were not now likely to be molested with hostile
Arabs. Before separating, a marabout made a short prayer (the _fatah_)
for the safety of the caravan. This prayer, the first chapter of the
Koran, is never omitted on these occasions. Ahmed Effendi is a very smart
Turk, in the vigour of age and health, and has the character of being
very stringent in his administration. People call him "_kus_," or hard
and determined in disposition; but he is not ferocious, like the
Commander-in-Chief. His countenance betrayed a very active intelligence.
He said to me aside: "Now these people you are travelling with are
barbarians; you must humour their whims and respect their religion. If
they were not now present, we would have a bottle of wine together."

The garrison of Yefran contains some two or three hundred Turkish
soldiers, as also that of Gharian, besides Arab troops. The Arabs of
these districts are entirely subdued, their native courage apparently
dried up and extinct. This has been done chiefly by forced emigration or
extermination. The French acquired their _razzia_ system from the Turks
whom they found in possession of the government of Algiers, on the
conquest of that country; but they have improved on it, for a superior
intelligence imitating a bad system, will always increase its cruelty and
wickedness. We passed many villages depopulated, their humble dwellings
razed to the ground--the work of the ferocious Ahmed Bashaw, who came in
person to these mountains. A great deal of fighting had taken place near
the Castle, and there were the ruins of a very large village on one of
the neighbouring peaks. Yefran is a very strong position, and was hotly
contested by both parties. In all these mountain districts very few
inhabitants are seen, and the present cultivation is therefore
insignificant. The people are without money or stock, and have scarcely
anything to eat. The single advantage of Turkish rule here is, a large
military road cut from the plain to the summit, on which the fort stands,
but, of course, as a military road, it was not made specifically for the
improvement of the people. Certainly the Turks must show more civilized
and polite manners to the mountaineers, but the Arabs will not imitate
them, or, if anything they do imitate, as in the case of all subjected
nations in relation to their conquerors, it is the vices of their
masters. It is unfortunately much the same when the Turks imitate us
Christians.

Bought some meat cheap at Yefran, but my camel-driver afterwards stole
the greater part. The secretary of the Rais, Bou Asher, who knew the
Vice-consul of Fezzan, showed me some kindness, and sent me again milk,
which he said was the right of "The Consul." I had also received a nice
delicious little present of a melon from the Sheikh Makouran _en route_.
These were the first proofs of a friendly disposition of the natives
towards me, and were most thankfully appreciated. The people called me
_Taleb_ ("learned man"), or _Tabeeb_ ("doctor"), or Consul, or the
Christian, just as their caprice or information led them[13]. Here all
the merchants determined to stop a week, some going to one part of The
Mountains, and some to the other, to purchase oil, barley and _gurbahs_
("water-skins"). Many travellers, who had availed themselves of our
escort to The Mountains, here left us.

I left in the afternoon for the native country of my camel-driver, and
encamped for the night in The Mountains. Our party consisted only of the
camel-driver, Said, and myself, with three camels. I must say I felt
rather queer knocking about in The Mountains, almost alone.

_8th._--Rose early, and pursued our way. The air of this elevated region
invigorated my mind and body; and so by a mishap I took no coffee before
starting. Passed the kailah under a group of olive trees, called "The
Sisters[14]," where also flocks of sheep and shepherds were dosing and
reposing under the shade. We exchanged biscuits for milk. The shepherds
were giving their dogs to drink, and made me wait until they had drunk
their fill, thinking no doubt that their dogs were as good as "a
Christian dog," (the ordinary epithet of abuse applied by Mussulmans to
Christians). I had my revenge, for when I had drank my milk, I took good
care to give them only a fair and exact return of biscuits, which made
them ask for more, but which I refused. Started again, and did not arrive
at Mohammed's village, in the district of Rujban, till after midnight. It
was a most wearisome ride. I kept asking Mohammed, "how far the village
was off?" He would say, "Now three hours;" in two hours after, it was
still "three hours;" in two hours after that, it was still "two hours and
a half;" it was "near" when it was six hours before we arrived; it was
"close by us," three hours before we arrived, &c. &c. But an Arab will
often tell you a place is just under your nose when it is at a day's
journey distant, pointing to it as if he saw it within a musket-shot. I
was highly exasperated at Mohammed, because we had delayed to eat
anything all day long, upon his representing to me that we should arrive
an hour after sunset. But the milk acted like a purgative, and was
perhaps advantageous. No people were seen in The Mountains, and very
little cultivation. There were a few modern antiquities, chiefly the
stones of Moorish forts and castles. Many villages in ruins, destroyed in
the late wars. And Mohammed, like a thoughtless idiot, ridiculed the rude
desolations of his brethren, exulting and calling out to me to see "the
cooking places." Many parts had the geological features of the Sahel, or
hilly country in the neighbourhood of the city of Algiers. The air was
pure and cool. But though it was calm this day and the evening, a sudden
tempest got up after midnight. I was lying on the bare ground rolled in a
blanket, when the wind tore it from off me, and I was obliged to retreat
to a hovel. I am told these tempests are frequent in The Mountains, no
doubt arising from the intense heat rarefying the air.

_9th._--Slept the greater part of this day to recover from the fatigue of
the preceding days. Do not suffer much, and am surprised I do not suffer
more. Asked Mohammed for the quarter of sheep purchased at Yefran, and
taxed him with stealing it: told him I would give him no backsheesh on
arriving at Ghadames. He had stolen the meat to make a feast for his
friends on his arrival, and afterwards brought me a piece of my own meat
cooked as his own, but which I refused. This is a fine illustration of
being generous at another person's expense. In the evening went to see
Rujban. There are seven villages forming the district of Rujban. These
consist of so many mud and stone buildings, but some of the houses are
excavations out of the solid rock, the principal object being protection
from the fiery summer heat, and the intense winter cold. Many of the
houses have a yard before them, which is walled round, and three or four
are mostly clustered together. Sometimes excavations are made in a pit or
hollow found on high ground, and then a subterraneous passage leading to
them is excavated from the mountain sides: these are reckoned very
secure. From the heights where I write, there is a boundless view of the
plain and undulating ground which lie between the Mediterranean and this
Atlas chain. The Arabs call it their sea, and it certainly looks like a
sea from these heights. A marabout sanctuary and garden at the base of
the mountains, is called their port. There is frequently a freshness
rising from the subjected plain like that of the sea. The camels, they
say, are their ships. There are besides some pretty views in and over the
Atlas valleys, where you overlook the small scattered oasisian spots of
cultivation, with here and there a palm and little groups of inclosed
fig-trees. Then again, there are heights crowned with olive-woods, as if
The Mountains had put on a black scull-cap. Some of the precipices are
so profound, as to deserve the epithet of "horrid." In different parts of
these heights are flights of natural steps, by which they are ascended,
and which seem to have received some finish from Arabian ingenuity.

In spite of the freshness and coolness of mountain air, it has been very
hot these last two days. On the plains, the people say the heat is now
overpowering.

There is scarcely any natural produce about. A few sheep and goats, a
camel or two, and a few asses, are all the animals I have seen. The
fig-trees produce something, but I have seen no prickly-pears, which
support many poor families on The Coast, during several months every
year. The olive plantations are the principal resource of these poor
mountaineers, which are also a sensible relief for the eye on these bare
heights. In the houses there is hardly anything to be got. No pepper, no
onions, no meat killed or sold. No bread can be obtained for love or
money. I laid in a stock of fresh bread in Tripoli for a fortnight, but
my gluttonous camel driver devoured all in three or four days! There were
no less than fifty twopenny loaves. He was accustomed to eat in the
night, when I was asleep, and used to threaten to beat Said if he
blabbed. I mentioned the circumstance after, to the Rais of Ghadames, who
observed: "If you had brought a thousand loaves, all would have been
devoured."

Notwithstanding this abject poverty, a bullying tax-gatherer, with half a
dozen louting soldiers, have been up here prowling about, and wresting
with violence the means of supporting life from these miserable beings.
The scenes which I witness are heart-rending, beyond all I have heard of
Irish misery and rent-distraining bullies. One man had his camel seized,
the only support of his family; another his bullock; another a few
bushels of barley: the houses were entered, searched, and ransacked;
people were dragged by the throat through the villages, and beaten with
sticks; and all because the poor wretches had no money to meet the
demands of these voracious bailiffs. Poverty is, indeed, here a crime.
One poor old woman had a few bad unripe figs seized, and came to me, and
a group of wretched villagers, crying out bitterly. One or two men, who
were imagined to have something, though they had nothing, were held by
the throat until they were nearly suffocated. I cursed over and over
again in my heart the Turks. I was not prepared for such scenes of
cruelty in these remote mountains. We shall find, that amongst the
so-called barbarians of The Desert there was nothing equal in atrocity to
this. What wonder that the Arab prefers, if he can, to pasture his flocks
on savage and remote wastes to being subjected to these regular
Governments--of extortion! And yet we, in our ignorance of what is here
going on, are surprised at their preference. If the people are not ready
with their money, the little barley, their winter's store, is seized, and
they must pay afterwards their usual quotas of money. Several bags of
barley are illegally gotten in this way. The amount of tax or tribute for
the whole district of Rujban is five or six hundred mahboubs, which is
paid in three instalments, three times a year; but, which though nothing
in amount, is more than all the people are worth together, for riches and
poverty are relative possessions, if the latter can be possessed. If they
can't pay in money they pay in kind. The Sheikh of the district, with
the elders, determine how much each man and family shall pay. This, of
course, gives rise to ten thousand disputes, heart-burnings, and eternal
wranglings amongst themselves. The Arabs, on these occasions, however
silent and sulky they may be on others, show that they have the gift of
speech, as well as Frenchmen and Italians. Then, indeed, God's thunder
can't be heard. Marabouts do not pay these taxes. This is a privilege of
religion, which successfully exerts itself against the oppressive arm of
the civil power. Such privilege has been enjoyed in all ages and
countries. My camel-driver is a Marabout, and is consequently exempt. I
rallied him upon his privilege, and he replied: "The villains are afraid
to come here; see my flag-staff and green flag, they dare not come over
my threshold--God would strike them down!" It is impossible to tell how
much of the five hundred mahboubs gets into the treasury of Government,
but, I am told, a good portion gets into the pockets of the officials.
The whole administration of The Mountains, and the Saharan oases of
Tripoli, is conducted on the same principles of finance and extortion.

I am lodged in the house of my camel-driver. The women show the greatest
curiosity to see me, and declare that I am more beautiful (_bahea_) than
they. They wonderingly admire everything I have. The greater part of
these women never left their mountain-homes--never saw a Christian or
European before--and this is the reason of their surprise at my
appearance. The children, of course, are equally astonished, but are too
frightened to reflect steadily on an European. Both the women and men say
it is _maktoub_, ("predestination") which has brought me amongst them,
and they are right. These poor people are very civil to me. In my quality
of tabeeb they consult me. The prevailing disease is sore eyes. Two
children were brought to me, a girl with a dropsy of a year's standing,
and a boy with only one testiculum, for neither of which did I prescribe.
The employment of the men is camel-driving between Tripoli and Ghadames.
Agriculture, there is scarcely any. The women weave barracans or holees
for their husbands, themselves, and children, and for sale. They are
mostly dirty, and ill-clothed. The men have but a single barracan to
cover them, one or two may have a shirt; the children are nearly naked;
and the women wear a woollen frock, charms round their necks, armlets,
and anclets, sometimes throwing a slight barracan or sefsar round their
heads and shoulders. I observed, however, that often women wear great
leather boots, made of red leather or camel's skin. None of them were
pretty, but some were fine-looking, with aquiline noses, and rolling
about their large, black, gazelle-like eyes.

_10th._--Spent the day in writing notes. Expect to remain three more
days. I am, however, comfortably sheltered from the heat, which has been
to-day excessive. Mohammed, my camel-driver, is useful to me as a writer
of Arabic, giving me the names of places in Arabic. But he knows nothing
of Arabic grammar, and writes very poorly, like most of these Marabouts,
although he passes for being a very learned man. He purchased some old
dirty leaves of an Arabic book, and exhibited them to the people as
sacred works. The Sheikhs of Rujban and all the great people of the
villages came to stare at them. They were shocked at my presumption in
wishing to handle these sacred leaves, which were a portion of a
commentary on the Koran. My Marabout is the Katab, or writer of the
village, there being only another who can write here besides himself, and
who writes very badly. Mohammed, though a saint and a writer, is an
enormous hog, and dishonest, when he can be so with safety. He has begun
badly, but may turn out better. Said is not of much use yet; he is very
stupid, but not malicious. I must make the best of both, and of every
body and everything in my present circumstances, conciliating always
wherever I can, and passing by all offences. If I can't do this, I may go
back. I cannot finish these trifling memoranda to-day, without expressing
my thankfulness to a good Providence, that I enjoy good health and
spirits up to this time, and there is every appearance of my arriving
safely in Ghadames. "All is from God!" (_Men ând Allah El-koul_, as the
people say.)

_11th._--Yesterday evening conversed with the Arab villagers, and asked
them if the soldiers of the Government were gone, _i. e._, the collectors
of the tribute. They replied, "Yes, thank God, and may they never return!
The curse of God upon them!" They then asked me, if the people were
treated so by our Government. I observed to them, "Not always. But that
sometimes the British Government sorely oppressed the people, as all the
Governments of Europe; and I was often tempted to think that there were
only two classes of people in the world, the oppressing and the
oppressed, (_i. e._, the eaters and the eaten)." To which latter remark
they all answered with a loud "Amen," and swore it was the truth. They
then asked me, "If the English were coming to Tripoli?" I told them,
"No," for the English had now more countries than they knew what to do
with. Surprised at this remark, they continued, "What are the French
vessels doing at Tripoli?" (There were then a French steamer and a brig
at this time.) I told them to keep away the Turks from attacking Tunis.
They were anxious to know if the French would come to Tripoli. I
answered, I thought not, as they had enough of Algeria. "We hope (_en
shallah_,)" said they, "the English are our friends." I replied they
were, but, being friends of the Sultan of Constantinople, they would not
take possession of Tripoli. The fact was, these poor people were just
smarting under the oppressive acts of the Turkish tax-gatherers, and they
would then have sold their country to the first comer for an old song,
were the buyer Christian, Jew, or Pagan. But I have always found the
Arabs fond of talking of politics; it seems instinctive in their
character; and it is astonishing how much policy is always going on
amongst their tribes, and how intricate are the various negotiations of
the Sheikhs. I asked them "If they had any arms?" To which they replied,
"No, none whatever; the Turks have taken them all away." And so these
once formidable mountaineers have not only lost all spirit and courage,
but have not even arms to defend themselves against the most petty
annoyances. Robberies of the small kind are frequent about the
neighbourhood, and the people are often obliged to gather their figs
before they are ripe, lest they should be stolen. At other times they
display great impatience of the seasons, and gather the fruit before
ripe. Those who steal provisions are poor famished devils, having
nothing to eat. There is no poor-law here. It is simply a question of
theft or starvation to death. This is the alternative of Arab life in
many parts of these mountains.

This morning received a visit from the Sheikh of Rujban, Bel Kasem by
name[15], and his head-servant, or factotum. I made them the best coffee
I could, putting into it plenty of sugar. The Arabs are curious people;
they like things either very bitter or very sweet. Their eyes sparkled
with satisfaction; they had never tasted coffee before like it, and were
rejoiced--"Tripoli always belongs to the English!" Speaking of the
Marabouts, and alluding to my Mohammed, the Sheikh said, "These fellows
pray God and rob men." "Mohammed," he added, "is a rogue, he pays
nothing, and I am obliged to eat up all the people to make up the amount
for the Bashaw." It is curious to observe everywhere this eternal contest
between the civil and spiritual power. To pacify him, I told him
Christian priests were many of them as bad as Marabouts (and which is
quite within the mark). The Sheikh and his men had very white teeth. I
observe nearly all the Arab men and women, as well as the negroes, to
have extremely white teeth. This has never been medically accounted for;
I believe it arises from the simplicity of the food they eat. Some
Tunisian Arabs have reported that large bodies of troops are being
concentrated at the Isle of Jerbah, in expectation of the Turks. The
trading Arabs are the gazettes of North Africa.

Said's feet are very sore, arising from Mohammed refusing to allow him to
ride. I was obliged to tell him, at last, that, unless he permitted him
to ride, Said should not help him to load the camels. This had some
effect, and he allowed Said to ride an hour or two before reaching here.
This Marabout is, indeed, a cruel, selfish fellow. He also pretends to be
very jealous, and will not allow any person, much less a Christian, to
see his wife. He won't allow me to present her a cup of coffee. But I
found out the reason; the rascal wished to carry it himself, and drink
half of it on the way. Afterwards his wife told me herself the reason. An
indiscreet conjugal disclosure this: but such is the character of the
man.

An old blind man is calling on me. He tells me his country is my country,
and his people my brothers and sisters. He prays God to bless me and
preserve me. How soft and gentle--how full of good-will and patience--are
the manners of the blind in all countries! Full fed flesh and the
prosperous are proud and cruel, those stricken with infirmity and misery
show the milk of human kindness. This poor old gentleman prays all the
day long. Prayer is his daily bread. The Arabs ask me if Said is my
slave. I tell them the English have no slaves, and that it is against
their religion, but that some other Christian nations have slaves. They
are greatly astonished that slavery is not permitted amongst us. The
women of the village continue to visit me as an object of curiosity. They
never saw a Christian before. They are always declaring me "bahea,"
handsome, of which compliment I am, indeed, very sensible.

This evening, however, the women of our two or three huts, and their
neighbours, played me an indecent trick, with, of course, a mercenary
object. Although the Barbary dance is rare amongst the Arab women, they
can have recourse to it at times to suit their objects. The men were gone
to bring the camels, and the women sent Said after them on some frivolous
message. Four of the women now came into my apartment, and taking hold of
hands, formed a circle round me. They then began dancing, or rather
making certain indecent motions of the body, known to travellers in North
Africa. At once nearly smothered and overpowered, I could scarcely get
out of the circle, and pushed them back with great difficulty. At this
they were astonished, and wondered all men, Christians and Mussulmans,
did not like such delicate condescension on their part. "Don't you like
it, infidel?" they cried, and retreated from my room. I now saw their
object. They began begging for money vehemently, saying, "Pay, pay, every
body pays for this." Nothing they got from me; and the wife of the
Marabout came afterwards, imploring me to say nothing to her husband. It
is thus these rude women will act for money, as many who are better
taught, in the streets of London. But acts of indelicacy are nevertheless
very rare amongst the mountain tribes. I have seen Arab women at other
occasions, on a cold day, standing athwart a smoking fire, with all the
smoke ascending under their clothes. This may be expected, and is
characteristic of the filthy habits of these wretched mountaineers. But
cases of adultery are unknown amongst these simple people.

_12th._--A beautiful Arab girl, a perfect mountain gazelle, came with her
mother to consult me about her eyes, being near-sighted. Recommended her
to apply to Dr. Dickson, if she ever went to Tripoli; and wrote her a
note to him. Many other people came for medicines. Went to see an old man
whose eyes were bad with ophthalmia. I gave him some solution to wash his
eyes, and he gave me in turn a jar of new milk. Something was said about
olive-oil, and I asked where we could get some. They said there was none
in Rujban. The lady of my host thinking me incredulous, pulled her gray
grisly hair, and exhibited its crispness and dryness, observing, "See,
where's the oil?" Of course such an argument was conclusive that they had
no oil in the house.

The villagers, in this season, do absolutely nothing, unless it be sleep
all day long. The fact is, it is awfully hot, from early morn to evening
late, and they have little to do. All that they have to do, many of them
do with apparent dispatch. At the dawn of day the wind is so strong, one
cannot enjoy an hour of the morning's freshness; and, in the evening, the
sultry ghiblee is equally disagreeable. I scarcely go out of my room the
whole day. Begin to recover my Arabic. Many times I have begun and
re-begun this difficult language. But there is no remedy. I must work,
and work brings some pleasure, at least destroys ennui and kills time.
However little time we have, we wish it less.

The Arabs ask me, "Why the Christian priests have no wives?" The
Mohammedans and Catholics go to extremes in their ideas of separating or
connecting women with religion and sanctity. The Mohammedans think a
saint or marabout cannot have too many women or wives, which, they say,
assist their devotion--a sentiment which they pretend to have received
from Mahomet himself by tradition. The fact is, the prophet was very fond
of women. The Catholics would seem to think a priest better with
absolutely no wife. This is a mere struggle between sensuality and
asceticism. There is no love or affection in it. I showed Mohammed an
empty bottle. He took a piece of paper and wrote: "The bottle is empty of
wine, God fill it again." Such is Arab marabout literature.

_13th._--Elhamdullah! The wind has changed, the furnace breath of the
ghiblee is gone out! We have now a pleasant breeze from N.W., the bahree,
as the Arabs call it. We can now go out any time; before we were
prisoners the live-long day. Mohammed, who pretends to all sciences,
says: "There are three modes of cure--"1st, Blood-letting; "2nd, Fire and
burning; "3rd, The word of God."

He made this observation in applying verses of the Koran to the eyes of
his wife's sister, which he said were more efficacious than all my
physic. Some of these bits of paper, with the name of God written on
them, were steeped in water and swallowed by the patient. This
superstition of swallowing bits of paper, with the name of God and verses
of the Koran written on them, as well as the water in which the paper is
steeped, is prevalent as an infallible remedy in all Mahometan Africa.
Marabouts are all powerful in The Mountains; and a woman, pointing to her
child, said to me:--"That boy is the child of a Marabout. I never allow
another man to sleep with me." Nevertheless, the women still display
intense curiosity in seeing "The Christian," and will declare, "By G--d,
you are beautiful, more handsome than our men." They admire the most
trifling thing I have, and add, "God alone brought you amongst us." Their
language, though indelicate to us, is not so to them. It is the
undisguised speech of a rude people.

Went this morning to see El-Beer, or "the well," the real fountain of
life in these countries. Was much pleased with the visit; and found it at
the bottom of a deep ravine, bubbling out from beneath the shade of palms
and olives, amidst wild scenery of rugged steeps and hanging rocks. There
are indeed, four springs, but all apparently from the same source. They
are not deep, and have near them troughs for watering sheep, goats,
cattle, and camels. These wells furnish water for two mountain districts.
The water is of the purest quality, clear as crystal, aye, clear as--

          "Siloa's brook that flow'd
    Fast by the oracle of God."

The road to them is very difficult, over rattling, rumbling stones, and
rocks, and precipices, and it is hard work for the poor women who fetch
the water, for the wells are distant nearly three miles from our village.

The Sheikh came to my Mohammed, asking him to write to Tripoli, to
collect the money due to the Bashaw from certain people of this country,
who are now working in that city. They look sharp after these poor
wretches. Amuse myself with washing my handkerchiefs and towels, and
mending my clothes. I also always cook and do as much for myself as I
possibly can. Besides doing things as I like, it amuses me. Bought
another skin-bag for water, and shall now distribute the three amongst
us, and each shall drink his own water during the four days of our route,
where no water is to be found. This will prevent wrangling on the way,
and make each person more careful of this grand element of life in The
Desert. Mohammed put a little oil in the skin before filling it, to
prevent it from cracking. This gives the water an oily taste for weeks
afterwards, but we get used to it, and are glad of water with any taste.

His Excellency the Sheikh got very facetious to-day. He offered to sell
me his authority, his Sheikhdom, and retire from affairs. I bid one
thousand dollars for the concern. "No, no," said he, "I'll take ten
thousand dollars, nothing less." Then, getting very familiar, he added,
"Now, you and I are equal, you're Consul and I'm Sheikh--you're the son
of your Sultan, and I'm a commander under the Sultan of Stamboul." The
report of my being a Consul of a remote oasis of The Sahara was just as
good to me on the present occasion as if I had Her Majesty's commission
for the Consular Affairs of all North Africa. Who will say, then, there
is nothing in a name? A tourist in Africa should always take advantage of
these little rumours, provided they are innocent. But the traveller more
frequently has to encounter rumours to his disadvantage. Many visitors,
men, women, and children--some brought milk, others figs and soap. Soap
is considered a luxury in all the interior cities, and people will beg
soap though never use it, but keep it as a sort of treasure. Fig and
olive trees abound in the mountains, but for want of rain have produced
nothing this year. So of most other vegetables products. Goats only are
in abundance, of animals. The ordinary food of the people is bazeen, a
sort of boiled flour pudding, with a little high-seasoned herbal sauce,
and sometimes a little oil or mutton fat poured on. It is generally made
of barley-meal, but sometimes flour. This is the supper and principal
meal of the day. As a breakfast, a little milk is drank, or a few dates
with a bit of bread is eaten. The rule of these mountaineers is, indeed,
not to eat meat, though some of them have flocks of sheep.

_14th._--His Excellency the Sheikh roused me from my bed this morning. He
said he could not sleep, and therefore I ought not to sleep. According to
his Excellency, Rujban contains 500 souls, all in misery and starvation.
"The country is _batel_ (good for nothing)," he says. It is certain the
greater part of the people have not enough to eat, or half the quantity
of what is considered ordinarily sufficient. In the neighbouring
districts, S.W., there are 1,500 souls. Ahmed Bashaw destroyed the
greater part of the inhabitants of these mountains, and disarmed the
rest, leaving not a single matchlock amongst them. Such are the Turkish
ideas of mountain rule--absolute submission or extermination!

This morning is cool and temperate. Every day continue to administer
solution for ophthalmia, and even those whose eyes are quite well, will
have a drop of it put on their eyes. They say it will prevent them, after
I am gone, from having the malady. Everybody begs a bit of sugar, a
little bread, a scrap of paper, a something from the Christian. Content
all as well as I can.

This evening saw, for the first time "the playing with the head," which
is performed by females. This was done by a young girl. After baring her
head and unbinding her hair, throwing her long dark tresses in
dishevelled confusion, she knelt down and began moving her chest and head
in various attitudes, her whole soul being apparently in the motion. Part
of her hair she held fast in her teeth, as if modestly to cover her face,
the rest flew wildly about with the agitation of her head and chest, and
all to the tune or time of two pieces of stick, one beating on the other,
by the woman upon whose knees she leaned with her hands. The motion was
really graceful, though wild and dervish-like, but there was nothing
lascivious in it, like the dancing of the Moors, nor could it well be,
the upper part of the body only was in agitation, being literally "the
playing with the head." I never saw this before or again in North Africa.
I gave the young lady twenty paras, the first time she had so large a sum
in her life. Received a present of leghma from the Sheikh, very acrid and
intoxicating. The women admire much my straw hat, made of fine Leghorn
plat, and wonder how it is done. None of the inhabitants but our Marabout
read and write. Portions of the Koran, however, are committed to memory;
and one day an old blind man repeated several chapters of the Koran for
my especial edification. He did it as a protest of zeal against my
infidelity before the people, but I took care not to show that I was
aware of the object. The men pray now and then, the women never, that I
could see, and never think of religion beyond ascribing all things, good
and bad, to God. Indeed, all classes in these mountains think the sum of
religion consists simply in ascribing all matters, how great or how
small, how evil how good soever, to the Divine Being. When they have done
this, they think they have performed an act of piety and mercy. At my
request, Mohammed made Said a pair of camel-driver's shoes, or sandals,
to save his best. The plan is primitive enough. They get a piece of dried
camel's hide, and cut it into the shape of the sole of the foot. Then
they cut two thongs from the same hide. Holes are now bored through the
soles, a knot is made at the end of the thongs, and they are pulled
through the holes. The whole is then rubbed over with oil; the hairy side
of the hide is fitted next to the foot, and the thongs are bound round
the ancles. These sandals serve admirably well their purpose; some are
made of double soles. But for the especial benefit of our cordwainers, I
may mention, the African shoe has no heel to the sole.

_15th._--His Excellency the Sheikh, and his factotum, or shadow, took
coffee again with me this morning. A cup of coffee is a rare treat in
Rujban. The Shadow of his Excellency brought me a few bad Fezzan dates,
from which oases The Mountains are mostly supplied. Dates are not
cultivated in The Mountains. The palm requires a low and flat sandy soil.
The climate is not of so much consequence as the soil. Jerbah, and the
Karkenahs, islands in the Mediterranean, produce as fine dates as the
most favoured oasis of The Sahara. The Sheikh tells me there are thirty
negro slaves in his district. One would wonder how the people could keep
slaves when they can scarcely keep themselves. His Excellency is very
sulky. He threatens to resign his Sheikhdom. The poor Sheikh is the
dirtiest, unhappiest mortal of all his people. He is without wife, family
or friend; he is without a rag to cover himself, except a filthy
blanket. He houses in a little dirty cabin. In looks he is a hard
strong-featured man, and large of limb. I asked his Excellency what he
got by his Sheikhdom, to plague him. He growled, "_Shayen_ (nothing)."
"Why don't you resign?" I continued. "I can't; all my ancestors, from the
time of Sidi Ibraim, and our lord Mahomet, were Sheikhs. We're one blood.
I shall dishonour them:" he returned. The principle of aristocracy is
irradicably bound up in the Arabian social economy. The levelling and
co-operative system has no place here. The Sheikh's factotum is a noisy,
roguish-looking Arab, with several bullet-marks about him received in the
late wars. As he does all his master's dirty work, he is universally
detested. Master and man swear the country is ruined. There certainly is
nothing in these villages to render life tolerable. No rustic plays; no
moon-lit dance to the sound of the rude calabash drum and squeaking pipe;
no cheerful family circle--all is poverty and loneliness! Such a life is
really not worth living. To make wretchedness still more wretched, for
three years there has been no rain in these mountains. God's power and
man's cruelty press sorely upon these miserable people.

The curiosity of the villagers begins to abate, or my Mohammed refuses
them admission into his house to see me. He pretends to be honest in his
opinion of his countrymen. He says: "The Arabs are all dogs (_kelab_)."
They certainly have most begging propensities. And Mohammed adds, that
when they have sufficient they will still beg, being born beggars. But,
alas! these poor people, I am sure, never know now what it is to have
enough. Yesterday some audacious thief stole the Sheikh's leghma. His
factotum is foaming with rage, but the Sheikh laughed heartily at the
impudence of the thief. His Excellency is accustomed to send me some
every morning. I shall here relate a case or trait of selfishness amongst
Arab women. I gave to the wife of the Marabout half a bottle of solution
for washing her eyes should she be attacked with ophthalmia. Her
sister-in-law, living next door, was laid up in a dark room with a
dreadful ophthalmia. She sent her husband to beg a little of the
solution. The Marabout's wife first denied that she had any, and then
that she could find it. When I came from my walk, I scolded her soundly
and gave the poor sufferer some solution.

The Marabout seeing my little stock of oil, burst forth with a violent
panegyric on olive oil, as he dipped his fingers into it and licked them,
not much to my satisfaction:--"Oil is my life! Without oil I droop, and
am out of life; with oil, I raise my head and am a man, and my family
(wife) feels I am a man. Oil is my rum--oil is better than meat." So
continued Mohammed, tossing up his head and smacking his lips. I have no
doubt there is great strength in olive oil. An Arab will live three
months on barley-meal paste dipped in olive oil. Arabs will drink oil as
we drink wine.

_16th._--This morning we leave for Ghadames. What is remarkable, nearly
all the Mountaineers offered me their services, and were willing to leave
their native homes, and go with me any where or everywhere. I hardly
observed a spark of fanaticism in them, so far as accompanying me was
concerned. They were all actuated with the common and universal feeling,
to obtain something to live withal in this poor world.

I have endeavoured to give some minutiæ of Arab mountain life. It will be
seen to be not very stirring or agreeable, and there is certainly no
romance in it, but, such as it is, I offer it to the reader, and he must
make the best of the information. Life is life under any and all forms.

From Tripoli to The Mountains our route was southwest, so that we were
not so far from the coast as at first might be imagined, from the number
of days' journey, and we were still within the influence of some cool sea
breezes, for any point almost between west and northeast, brought
reviving life to The Mountains, in this terrible season of heat.

My journey seemed now to begin again, I felt a sickening regret, even in
leaving my new Arab acquaintances. But the oppression which ground down
to the dust these poor people filled my mind with the horror of despotic
government. I was glad to get away from its victims, and from under the
sphere of its influence, and plunge into the wild wastes of The Sahara,
where I could breathe more freely. I must relate one other anecdote
illustrating this oppression. A poor man sold me a peck of barley. The
myrmidons of power, hearing of the sale, immediately went to him, and he
refusing to give them the money, they got hold of his throat and nearly
strangled him. To make them desist, I paid them also the value of the
barley. Several of the poor people ran out after me when I mounted the
camel, and amongst them many women and children, all crying out
"_Bes-slamah, bes-slamah_," (Good-bye, good-bye). We now entered upon the
most difficult, and the most critical part of our route in this season,
and I commended myself and the people again to Eternal Providence.

_20th._--Seenawan. I find it impossible to write daily in this part of
the route.

I have seen lately in the newspapers and geographical journals, that a
Frenchman is going to traverse Africa from west to east, and that he is
to make hourly observations with scientific instruments. I think the
parties who write such paragraphs must be either madmen, or grossly and
unpardonably ignorant of the nature of African travelling. If a traveller
is in his sober senses, half the time he is _en route_, he is a happy
man. But to proceed.

Our first object was to find the rendezvous of the ghafalah. I said to
Mohammed: "Are you sure the ghafalah is on the march to-day?" "The
ghafalah is like the sun," he replied, "every body knows it will move
to-day." About four hours after looking over the undulating ground, I
thought I saw at about six miles distant some black spots moving, and
turning to Mohammed, I said, "What's that?" He exclaimed, "The camels!
the camels! I told you I was right, and don't you see I have struck into
the right path?" I was glad to hear this, for I was not yet sufficiently
broken in to desert travelling to be wandering about as we were in search
of moving parties of the ghafalah. An hour after I took off the shade
from my eyes, for I had still a slight ophthalmia, and looking round, I
found we were in the midst of detached parties of the ghafalah, widely
apart, but all hurrying in one direction. We were not near enough (indeed
some miles off) to have any conversation with them. By noon we had all
rendezvoused upon a pleasant plateau of The Mountains. The merchants
welcomed my return, and asked me what I had been doing. I said, "We have
delayed too long." They smiled:--"Oh, you don't understand; you see we
have one day for buying oil, another day for barley, another for skins,
another for doing nothing," &c. It appeared to me a bungling way of doing
business. But some of them had been obliged to go a day's journey to
purchase a few things. The ghafalah had, in fact, been scattered all over
The Mountains. A few never left Yefran. This was my first taste of delay
in Saharan travel.

We began our four days' journey in the evening, and continued all night
up to two hours before sunrise. The camels then rested but were not
unpacked. All the people now got a few winks of sleep. At dawn we started
again, and halted for the day after two hours and a half of marching. In
the afternoon, about half-past four, we then resumed our march, and in
this manner we continued for the four days. Our pace was upon an average
three miles per hour, sometimes two and a half, and sometimes three and a
half. On looking at the camel you think it goes slow, but when you look
at the driver, you observe that he is often kept up to a very good
walking pace. Our camels were five days without drinking, for they drank
the morning before we left.

I was once going to write, "the Arabs pack their camels as badly as
possible; make their journeys as long as possible; travel as much in the
sun as possible[16];" but these last four days have convinced me that,
under the guidance of a good Arab chief, they know what they are about,
and can do things with order and dispatch.

I don't know how it was, but it came into my head that, on leaving The
Mountains, and proceeding south, we should soon descend again, as if we
were to cross some mighty ridge or series of ridges of the Atlas. Every
moment I expected to descend into valleys or plains, corresponding to the
country which lies between Tripoli and The Mountains. Getting impatient,
after nearly a day's march, I asked for the plains. The people turned
upon me with surprise, and said:--"_Lel Ghadames, koul hathe souwa,
souwa_, All like this to Gadmes." I found, indeed, that, after getting
fairly into The Mountains, and proceeding south, you first entered upon a
deep undulating country, with here and there a profound ravine, then a
pretty verdant inclosed plateau, and then a bare towering height, all
which _accidented_ country dissolved at last into an immeasurable plain.
Proceeding south, however, we found a new species of mountains began to
raise their long, lone, dull, dreary naked forms; and, asking Mohammed
what they were, he replied correctly enough:--"These are _Gibel Sahara_,
(Saharan Mountains)." The plateaus and undulating ground were in places
covered with loose stones, with sand and sand-hills scattered or heaped
about. Then these stones and sand were partly covered at this season with
sun-dried and sun-burnt herbage, mostly very coarse, with here and there
a few bushes and shrubs. Many also were the dried beds of rivers, and
there were still wider and profounder depressions of land than these
waterless wadys. But all is now burnt, scorched, dried up, and the
nakedness of the Saharan ridges is responded to with a hideous barrenness
from the intervening plains and valleys. Not a single living creature was
visible or moving; not a wild or tame animal, not a bird nor an insect,
if we except a tiny lizard, which seems to live as a salamander in heat
and flames, now and then crossing our path at the camel's foot, and a few
flies, which follow the ghafalah, but have no home or habitation in The
Dried-up Waste. Nor was there a sound, nor a voice, or a cry, or the
faintest murmur in The Desert, save the heavy dull tramp of our caravan:
all else was the silence of death! However, my Marabout tells me, in the
winter the whole scene is changed. "There is then," he says, "herbage,
rain, birds, gazelles, and all things." It is certain that within nine
hours' ride from Rujban we passed the stubble of two or three patches of
barley, which had been rescued from the dominion of The Desert.

As to myself, personally, in this part of the route, I have suffered most
from want of sleep. In the day-time it was too hot to sleep, and in the
night I was on the back of the camel, where, of course, for the present,
I could not be expected to sleep, though many of the Arabs, nay,
merchants slept. I should say all slept on the camel as soundly as in a
bed. So that what I saved of suffering from the heat of day-travelling, I
lost in want of sleep by night-travelling. Poor human brute! I thought of
the fable of the ass and his winter and summer advantages and
disadvantages. The hottest day was yesterday, last of the four, when we
encamped in a dry bed of a river. I shall never forget that day, forget
what I may else! I was first on the point of being suffocated, and seemed
at my last gasp. I began to think that the predictions of my _friends_ in
Tripoli were about to be verified. I was to succumb to make them
prophets! In addition to this my deep distress, I felt the wound of
pride. I got some tea made, I can't tell how, and poured some brandy
into it. This I drank, and from a fever of delirium found myself
conscious again, and swimming in a bath of perspiration. The crisis was
now passed, and I was to see Ghadames and Ghat, and return to my
fatherland. So fate--rather Providence--would have it. Every day, until I
reached Ghadames, there was a sort of point of halting between life and
suffocation or death in my poor frame, when the European nature struggled
boldly and successfully with the African sun, and all his accumulated
force darting down fires and flames upon my devoted head. After this
point or crisis was past, I always found myself much better. It is
strange that my head never ached, nor was in any way affected during the
whole route, except in the one day mentioned. Some and all have vainly
invoked sleep upon a bed, in the time of darkness and cold, but those who
call for the god in the African Desert, in midday of the hottest season
of the year--and to the last moment of starting with a long, long night
of travel before them--as they lay rolling on the burning sand, and he
disdains to shed his dull influence over the eyelid, know, indeed,
something of this kind of human suffering, and how dreadfully long and
dreary were those nights! What signified the sight of the ten thousand
orbs moving in silent mystic dance, and dressed out in soft bright fires,
over the poor traveller's head! Alas! it was a mockery of his woes. . . .
Four days and four nights were thus passed, without four hours of sleep.
I often wonder if I could go through this again. I had an additional
suffering of the eyes. I never took the veil from my face from sunrise to
sunset, for had I done so, I should have had the hot sand immediately
into them. We had ghiblee or simoon every day. But, thanks to Heaven, now
ends the greatest of my sufferings from heat.

We were escorted by sixty Arab troops on foot, like those who
escorted us from Tripoli to The Mountains. The Pasha mostly chooses
them from districts through which we pass, and in this way secures a
guard well acquainted with the route. But how odd, before the Turks,
in the good old days of The Bashaws, these very Arabs were the
banditti of the route. A Ghadames merchant said to me one day,
"Yâkob[17], see these fellows; formerly all were villanous
_Sbandout_ (banditti)." The captain of this escort, Sheikh Omer, who
will conduct us to Ghadames, was charged by the Commandant of The
Mountains, that his men should not be allowed to take water, or
anything else by force, "bel kouwee," as the merchants said. The
Sheikh was a civil fellow, and found it his interest to cultivate my
acquaintance. Every morning I invited him to take coffee and tea in
my tent, and he never forgot to come. In acknowledgment, he sent me
some liquid butter, which was not excessively bad. The food of the
Arabs, and the poorer sort of the merchants, for this journey was,
as written by my Mohammed, ‮‮سُوِيقَ زُمِيته‬‬
("Souweekah-Zameetah," that is, two names); but commonly called
Zameetah, which is nothing more than barley or wheat burnt or
malted, then ground, and afterwards made into paste. On this is
sometimes poured a little oil or fat; but many cannot afford this
luxury, and must content themselves with a little water to make up
the meal into paste. I may safely affirm, there was not a bit of
meat eaten, or a drop of tea or coffee drunk, in the whole caravan
of merchants, with 200 camels, including, with the Arabs, some 150
persons, during the last four days, except what was eaten and drunk
in my tent. I myself had only a little bit of fowl. The Sheikh
_Shabanee_ (Makouran) as the Arabs call him, was the most civil to
me. His portion of the camels is about forty, and he seems a most
respectable old gentleman. He has two sons with him. He gave me last
night a guzzle of cool water, a large brass pan full, of the size of
a warming-pan, which I drank off in an instant, and found it more
like nectar, than our earthy animalculæ water; it was so deliciously
cool and sweet. Valuable, indeed, becomes a thing of commonest use,
from its scarcity. The old Sheikh has a donkey with him to carry his
drinking-water. The skins keep the water cool even in the hottest
part of the day, whilst some which I had in bottles became quite
hot. I shall here relate an ingenious stratagem, which I recommend
to all African travellers. On leaving The Mountains we had three
skins of water, one for each. But first, one of the skins cracked,
and we lost a good deal of water, before it could be mended. Then
Mohammed, the chief thief, was accustomed to drink large draughts
when neither myself nor Said was present. This we learnt from the
rest of the caravan. Said, himself, poor fellow, as soon as Mohammed
had turned his back, was either to beg me to give him extra water,
or help himself. Sometimes I chided him, at others I gave him water,
or was too much exhausted to see what he was about. Then Said would
help his friends amongst the Arabs now and then, and sometimes the
Arabs helped themselves, by going behind me, and sucking from the
neck of the skin whilst I was riding. To avoid this, Mr. Gagliuffi
told me he always put the neck of the skin-bag before and not
behind, so that it was impossible for a person to drink, and at the
same time to walk backwards with the camel going forwards, or at any
rate to do so without being seen. Then, finally, there was the
terrible action of the sun on the water, often reducing it by a
fifth, and sometimes a third, of our supply. But the consequence of
all this was, our three bags were empty before we arrived at
Seenawan, and the little water which had remained, the third day,
was so shaken in the skins, all being oiled, that for me it was not
drinkable. Now for the stratagem. Apprehending this waste of water,
I got twelve pint bottles filled with water at Tripoli, which were
packed away as wine and spirits, neither Mohammed or Said suspecting
the contrary. Accordingly I quietly despatched my couple of bottles
of _acqua pura_ per day, as the London lady drinkers are said to
take their sly drops from the far corner of the cupboard, without
the least suspicion of my fellow travellers. I overheard once,
Mohammed speaking of me to Said: "By G--d! these Christians, what
lots of rum they drink: that's the reason, Said, the sun does not
kill him--he'll never die. These Christians, Said, are the same as
the dæmons; they know everything, but God will punish them at
last--if not, there's no God, or Prophet of God." I took no notice,
but when we got to Ghadames, I took the remaining bottle, and asked
him to drink. He jumped up with alarm. I then called him a fool, and
proved to him I had been drinking water at the time he thought I
had been drinking rum. He laughed, and said, "Ajeeb, ente Yâkob
âkel: (Wonderful, you James are wise.)" I then took upon myself to
lecture Mohammed, abusing him for his carelessness in not preserving
the water, and asking him if he thought that I, on the first time of
traversing The Desert, could put up with dirty water like them, and
go without for days, or with a very small quantity?

The Sheikh Makouran continues very civil: to-day he gave me a supply of
onions for making soup, and promises to give me a house to live in, when
I get to Ghadames. I have, in turn, to give him some medicine, on my
arrival, for one of his two wives. I rode a little the Sheikh's donkey
last night, at his request. It is nothing like the camel, it stumbled a
great deal over the loose stones, and I am told the horses stumble as
much. I felt the immense superiority of the camel, with its slow regular
pace and sure foot, in these stony wastes. The Sheikh's ass is the only
animal of the beast-of-burden sort in the whole caravan, besides the
camels. I noticed, however, a few extra unladen camels, which take turn
with others for carrying, as also several foals following lightly and
friskily their dams. _En route_, during the nights, the Arab soldiers
amused themselves by firing off their matchlocks, the most advanced party
answering the farthest behind, and _vice versâ_. The noise of the gun
broke through the painful silence of The Desert, and came finely back
reverberating from the Saharan hills with double and treble discharges of
sound. When their powder began to be exhausted, and they have never more
than half-a-dozen charges, they sang their plaintive love ditties, or
chatted to the merchants. On the whole, they showed great good temper,
and, pennyless and naked, were happier than well-clothed and wealthy
merchants.

In the afternoon of yesterday a letter was brought to me, written by
Gameo, which had been in the ghafalah nearly all the length of the route,
but had been forgotten. This stated that Mr. Macauley, the American
Consul, had kindly prepared a small package of American rum for my
journey, and had forgotten to send it till too late--in fact, like
several persons in Tripoli, he really thought, what from the intrigues of
the Pasha, and the obstacles of the season, I should never get off. I may
observe, the nearer a person is to an object, it often happens he sees it
less:--

    "'Tis distance lends enchantment to the view."

There is infinitely less enthusiasm for African discovery,--nay, more
horror of African travelling in Tripoli than in London: in truth, the
greater part of the Europeans of Tripoli, and in all Barbary towns, are a
degraded unenthusiastic race, wholly occupied with their petty quarrels
and intrigues. Of course, a man of my stamp was considered by them either
"_un sciocco_" or "_un matto_."

It is the misfortune of Africa to be surrounded by a cordon of vitiated
races, half-caste and mongrel breeds, propagated from adventurers and
convicts from the other continents of the world. So that Africa learns
nothing but the vices of civilization from its contact with the rest of
the world. It is also certain, that the native tribes of Africa itself
are more immoral and barbarous on the coasts than in the interior.

We have had the full moon during our last four days. Our route is always
more or less south-west.

As I expected, Said is knocked up and lamed. The Marabout has cheated
Said all along out of his rides, under pretence of his having made him a
pair of shoes. This Marabout is the cunningest, cruellest rogue I ever
met with. But I must here relate a service which he rendered me of
considerable importance. Nobody could pronounce, at any rate _recollect_,
my name. Mohammed said to me one day, "_Ingleez_, we have many names,
have you no more than one? The ghafalah can't learn your name, it's too
difficult. Make a name like ours, if you haven't one." I then told him I
had another, _James_, and that it was in Arabic, _Yâkob_. Hereupon, his
eyes moved round wildly with joy, and he cried out,--"That's it! that's
it!" He immediately started off amongst all the people, calling out my
name was "_Yâkob_." This _second_ christening in The Sahara was an
immense advantage to me. There is now not an oasis in the wildest and
farthest region of the Great Desert but what has heard of _Yâkob_. When I
arrived at Ghat I was astonished to find even the Touaricks calling me
_Yâkob, as if I had been brought up with them_. Clapperton and the rest
of his party adopted Mahometan names, and were wise in doing so. When I
was in Fezzan, Clapperton's Arabic name of _Abdallah_ was mentioned more
than twenty years after his death in Soudan. Denham was called The
_Rais_, being an officer.

The road from The Mountains to Seenawan is very good. The greater part,
indeed, is beautiful broad carriage-road. It is generally well marked
with camel-paths, about a foot wide. These well-beaten, well-trodden
paths, are very sinuous, running one into another, and often are in great
numbers, running parallel in serpentine style, and containing a united
breadth of a hundred yards. There are a few places where no road-traces
are apparent to the European eye, but the well-practised eye of the
Bedouin camel-driver, like the eye of the Indian in the American
Wilderness, can see things, and shapes, and signs in The Desert which
entirely escape us. Along the line of route small heaps of stone are
placed, said by my Marabout "to point out the way." We did not meet a
single traveller all the four days, no small parties--no couriers--no
one. I shall not soon forget our reaching Seenawan. It was a few hours
after midnight. I looked forward to it as the haven of rest from all my
sufferings. A fellow-traveller came up to me, (for I had been asking all
night long to see it,) and said, "See, Yâkob, there is the _Nukhlah_
(palms) of Seenawan." Looking through the shadowy moon-light, I thought I
saw something very small and black, and made a start at it from my camel
as if I was going to leap into a downy bed of rest under the eternal
shade of grateful palms. When the object is grasped, how its value
vanishes! We threw down the mattress under the shade of a little ruined
round tower, and I fell asleep. But such a tempest got up that the people
waked me, covered with sand, and made me crawl into a hole, called the
door of the _burge_. Here, amongst heaps of stones and dirt, I fell
asleep again, and did not wake till called next day near noon.

Seenawan is but a handful of date-trees, thrown upon the wide waste of
The Sahara, with one or two pools of sluggish running water, sheltering
beneath its palms thirty or forty inhabitants. There are four or five
spots of vegetation, gems of emerald on the rugged brow of The Desert.
The houses, if such they are, consist of half a dozen or more of mud
hovels huddled together, here and there a little stone stuck in the
walls, and some dark passages running beneath them. One or two had a
couple of stories and a stone wall round them. Yet, within, they are
cool, and have dark rooms to protect the inhabitants from both heat and
cold. There are also two or three mud and stone _burges_, or round
towers, to protect the few dates and spots of green. Nevertheless, in
this pretence of existence, surrounded by the frightful sterility of The
Desert, glowed the warmth of true hospitality. The Arab merchant, Zaleeâ,
who lives here, and had been one of our caravan, made me come to dine
with him in his house, and introduced me to his family. He gave me for
dinner boiled mutton and sopped bread. When I started next day, he
presented me a supply of eggs and two fowls, a sumptuous feast in The
Desert! I found his wife and daughter suffering with ophthalmia, and made
them up a pint-bottle of solution for washing the eye. I had had to wash
the eyes of many poor Arabs during the last few days. I gave Zaleeâ's
aged father half a dozen ship's biscuits, a part of one of which he
sopped and ate. The old gentleman offered up a prayer for my safety, and
said he would save one to eat on my safe return.

The morning of the 20th was horribly hot, but I was housed and sheltered
in the old _burge_. I received a present of some fresh dates. This was
the small black date of Ghadames, which is peculiar to two or three
oases about here. They were delicious as fruits of the garden of the
Houris, and certainly now more esteemed by me. The Commandant, seeing me
write to-day, wished to have the honour of his name being written in my
journal. It is Omer Ben Aly Ben Kareem Bez-Zeen Laseeâ. The people showed
no jealousy at my writing notes. Indeed, they were quite aware this was
part of my business, and often assisted in telling me the names of
persons and places. Never went an European into the interior with less
suspicions flying about him amongst his fellow-travellers. I attribute
this, in a great measure, to the frankness with which I spoke about
Government and the Turkish authorities, as well as the Consular people of
Tripoli. Besides, I never affected to conceal my objects. Here a man
wrote in my journal the names of abuse applied to the lazy, lagging
camels, for his own especial amusement; viz., "_Ya kafer, Ya kelb, Ya
Yehoud_, 'Oh thou infidel!' 'Oh thou dog!' 'Oh thou Jew!'" In a quarrel,
the Arabs transfer them complacently to one another, with sundry
additions and oaths, too broad for ears polite. _Kafer_, ("infidel,") and
_Deen El-kelb_, ("religion of a dog,") are the most odious terms of abuse
which they can throw at one another.

_21st._--We left early this first sprinkle of Seenawan vegetation, and
passed the 22nd at the larger spot of the oases. This second spot is
called Shâour; but both oases are included in the first name, as Ghat and
Berkat are included in _Ghat_. It is necessary to make these distinctions
in order to guard against error in laying down the routes. Shâour
consists of a few stunted date-trees, a little _gusub_, a grain esteemed
almost as much as wheat, and one or two fig or other fruit-trees. The
united oasis, though but containing a population of sixty souls, and all
very poor people, pay 600 mahboubs per annum to the Pasha of Tripoli. The
oldest man of the place told me, that, from the first hour of his
observation and recollection, to the present time, the water had always
been the same in quantity. There is always a little more in the winter.
It is running water, and as it runs and bubbles up to the surface it is
distributed over the little garden plots and patches. I asked him why he
did not make the gardens larger? "God bless you," he replied, "we would
if we had more water." It is surprising to notice the regularity of even
this scanty supply of water through the years of an old man's life,
upwards of eighty, in the heart of The Desert, for such is the site of
the oasis of Seenawan. I looked about for birds, but saw none. My aged
informant said, "In the winter there are some doves." No wild beast haunt
the environs; they cannot get at the water. The people keep a few sheep,
goats, and fowls. There are also a dozen or so of camels. It is
remarkable that the soil of this speck of vegetable existence is entirely
sandy, and all the water comes out of the sand. But in places, indeed, on
the coast of Barbary, the finest and most vigorous vegetation often
bursts forth out of a purely sandy soil. By the time all the ghafalah had
taken their supply of water, and the camels had drunk, the pools were
dried up or exhausted, and the people of the village had to wait for the
running of the water. I put a last question to my aged Saharan
_Cicerone_,--"How do you live here, do you work?" "I am always sleeping,"
(or _kāéd_, "reposing.") "But, how do you get anything to eat?" "Oh, I
eat every other day, when I can get it, and sleep the rest of the time:
what can I do?" Such is vegetable and animal existence here!
Nevertheless, this show and sham of life looks fair, fresh, nay,
enchanting, after the five days' desert; and all, as well as myself,
welcomed Seenawan as a little Hesperides.

We were a tolerably harmonious caravan, but had now and then a good
quarrel. To-day a serious misunderstanding broke out between the
Commandant Omer and one of the merchants. I could not learn what it was
about, but Omer drew his sword twice to strike the merchant, and was only
prevented doing so by the bystanders rushing on him. The Sheikh Makouran
came to me apart and said: "Now, if they ask you who's to blame, say
both." We then advanced to the parties, and the Sheikh turned to me, and
said: "_Yâkob_, who's to blame?" I immediately said, though I knew
nothing of the business: "Everybody, all of you." This was the signal for
a burst of laughter, and the group separated. The quarrel, however, did
not finish, it was carried to Ghadames and settled there. The Arabs enjoy
a good quarrel, and, like good ale, they prefer it, not being too new,
but caulked up a bit. The greater part of their occupation and amusement
is supplied by quarrels.

Before leaving Seenawan the merchants dispatched a courier to Ghadames,
and Mohammed wrote a letter to the Governor, telling him very pompously:
"The English Consul of Ghadames was approaching the city under his
protection." Mohammed said he had submitted the letter to the Sheikh
Makouran, and it was approved. I approved of anything that had not my
name attached to it.

_22nd, 23rd._--Left in the afternoon, and continued all night, till two
hours before day-break. Rose at sun-rise and continued till nearly noon.
Halted for the Kailah, and afterwards resumed our journey, continuing all
night. The people of the ghafalah amused themselves in the night, by
"playing at powder." As they fired the matchlocks, they shouted the name
of the person whom they intended to honour, mostly firing off the gun
just under his nose. Mohammed was very active in the business, and kept
firing off my praises, and those of the Sheikh Makouran. This mode of
compliment is universal in North Sahara. The Marabout is a good
politician, and knows what he is about. He knew that Makouran and myself
could serve him. The style of firing off these praises was this: "Who's
this for?" cries the person that has the musket ready loaded. A number of
persons, the flatterers of the great man, answer, "The Sheikh Makouran!"
The majority has it if other names are mentioned. The man with his gun
then runs before the Sheikh, and fires it off in his face, or a very
short distance from him.

The camel-drivers showed a perverse disposition for continuing all night
the 22nd and 23rd, and would not halt, without difficulty, for the two or
three hours' rest before day-break. The Commandant called for more than an
hour: "_Ya oulād oŭăl kāéd_, (You first fellows stop!)" I never felt
so angry with any people, as I did with these oulad in advance, I myself
was calling out, "You first fellows stop!" But they were full a mile in
advance. The Arabs are very fond of this sort of disorder and annoyance
to others. Another party took it into their heads to halt at noon, the
23rd, several miles from the rest. The Commandant went after them, broke
up their encampment with violence, using his sword to hide them, and
brought them up to the main body. Very windy these two days, and got the
sand in everything, cooking utensils, cups, glasses, bowls. We found the
sand, however, occasionally useful, and used it instead of water for
cleaning our platters and cooking pots. Some of the people say, it is
better than water for cleaning pots and platters.

I have already said how my camel was harnessed, if harnessing it can be
called. First, two panniers were placed (nicely balanced), which formed a
sort of platform upon a level with the camel's back-ridge and hump; a
mattress and skins next were placed on this, which were tied down with
Arab herb-cords, and carried under the belly of the camel, securing the
panniers as well as the coverlets. A small ottoman was then put at the
top, on which I sat as on a chair-cushion, with my legs hanging down on
each side of the camel's neck. Sometimes I lay at my full length across
the mattress. But this the people disapproved of for fear I should fall
off. They, however, frequently slept this way whilst riding. I was
dressed as slightly as possible, and had on a gingham frock coat, with a
leghorn hat. During the time the sun was above the horizon, I held up an
umbrella and tied a dark-green silk handkerchief over my eyes and face. I
could have borne more clothing, but I think the Moors and Arabs had too
much. They don't change the quantity with the season, and wear as much in
summer as in winter. The consequence is, they are very cold in winter,
and very much oppressed in summer; but it is mostly the want of means
which does not allow them to change their clothing with the season. I
carried a little bottle of spirits and water to drink. In the night I was
to eat a little biscuit. None of the camels had bridles, unless used
solely to ride upon. The camel which I rode was a very good one, and very
knowing, and, like many knowing animals, very vicious. He was in the
habit of biting all the other camels which did not please him on their
hind quarters, but took care not to get bitten himself. He seldom
stumbled, and I was rarely in fear of falling. A camel will never plunge
down a deep descent, but always turn round when it comes to the edge of a
precipice. I often rode for several hours with comparative comfort. The
camel-drivers never ride when their camels are laden, sometimes suffering
as much as the camels themselves. I somewhat offended the self-love of
the people of Ghadames. I asked them whether Ghadames was bigger than
Seenawan. They said pettishly, "Ghadames _blad medina_, (Ghadames is a
city)."

_24th._--Emjessen. Arrived at these wells about 10 A.M. Earlier we had
passed a place where they were trying to get water. Emjessen is a vast
salt plain, which is covered over in different parts with a coating of
salt, hard enough and thick enough to furnish materials for building. And
here they were building a _burge_, "tower," or _kasbah_, "castle," or
_fonduk_, "caravanserai," (all which names people called it,) with a
large wall round the principal wells, the materials of which were red
earth and lumps of salt, some of which appeared as hard as the soft Malta
stone. The water is, of course, brackish, but nevertheless the camels
drank it with eagerness. I was staring at the eagerness with which the
camels were drinking, when the Commandant said, "_Enhār săkoun, Yâkob_,"
(a hot day, James,) "do the camels in your country drink water in that
way?" Hereat a merchant interposed, and instructed the Rais that the
English had no camels, but lived on boats in the water. This is a very
commonly spread opinion respecting the English in The Desert. But Caillié
says of the Foulahs near Kankan, and other tribes: "The prevailing idea
of the people in the interior of Soudan is, that we inhabit little
islands in the middle of the ocean, and that the Europeans wish to get
possession of their country, which is the most beautiful in the world."
Mohammed would not allow his camels to drink here, and said the water was
bad. Emjessen is situate about ten hours from Ghadames, say, a short
day's journey.

The Sahara all around now showed still more marked features of sterility,
of unconquerable barrenness. Here too, for the first time, I saw
boundless ridges and groups of sand stretching far away to the
south-west, but they were low squatting heaps. Some sand-hills we had
crossed for an hour or two. Mohammed called them _wâr_, and asked me to
descend to save his camel's legs, I thought my legs less practised in The
Desert than the camel's, and kept my place. Here were spread about,
between the sand-hills and low black stony ridges, plains of salt and
chalk. My first impression was, that the sea had once covered these
regions.

Our route was still south-west, and south, and the prevailing wind
_ghiblee_, or from about the same quarter.

On leaving _Emjessem_, we were met in the afternoon by several friends
and relatives of the merchants, who had come from Ghadames in answer or
invitation to our letters written at _Seenawan_. These strangers (to me)
were finely mounted upon camels of the Maharee species, both themselves
and their camels dressed out superbly, the camels being tightly reined
up like coursers. They had a novel and noble appearance, and I thought I
saw in them something of the genuine features of The Desert. They had
come eight or ten miles an hour, a long _galloping_ trot, for such is the
motion of the camel. As soon as the two parties met, there was a
simultaneous scamper off of our camels, and some of theirs got very
unmanageable. I was nearly thrown off, and it required Mohammed and Said
to hold my camel until the alarm had subsided. The Sheikh Makouran was
obliged to dismount and ride his donkey. I asked Mohammed what was the
matter, for I could not understand this strange confusion all at once
amongst the camels. He cried very angrily, "The camels are drunk, are
mad--God made them so." When things got more settled, the merchants
explained to me that it was the antipathies of the two races, the
_coast_-camel, and the Maharee or _desert_-camel. That each was alarmed,
but the most fierce and dominant was the Maharee, which always assumed
the mastery over the coast-camel, "like," added one, "the Touarick
assumes to be lord over the Arab."

To-night I was obliged to quarrel seriously with Mohammed. Said was now
quite lame and could not walk more. I told Mohammed plainly he should
have no present as first promised, since he had broken his agreement
about Said's riding. He then put Said on a camel. The merchants were much
amused at the quarrel, and thought me an ass to quarrel about _a slave_,
(for such they esteemed Said) having a ride[18]. Some few observed I was
right, and bullied Mohammed, who now made another lying excuse, that his
two camels were knocked up, which was the reason Said didn't ride. The
early part of the night he had been riding one of them himself, and
taxing him with this, he said, "Yes, but was I not ill, didn't you give
me some water and acid, and sugar?" I replied, "Yes, I recollect it too
well, I'm sorry I had so good an opinion of you." The Commandant now came
up, and some bawled, "Here's a _shamatah_[19] with Said," and explained
the business. The Commandant, without any more to do, takes the back of
his sword and belabours Mohammed till he cries for mercy. Then the people
beg the Rais to desist, and say, "Mohammed is a _marabout_ and must not
be beaten." Mohammed was very cunning, and always took care to repeat
aloud a prayer when we started afresh from any station, and so gained the
esteem of the more pious. Said rode the rest of the way to Ghadames.

During the greater part of the night of the 24th we reposed. At dawn of
day, on the 25th, we started fresh on the last march. Just when day had
broken over half the heavens, _I saw Ghadames_! which appeared like _a
thick streak of black_ on the pale circle of the horizon. This was its
date-woods. I now fancied I had discovered a new world, or had seen
Timbuctoo, or followed the whole course of the Niger, or had done
something very extraordinary. But the illusion soon vanished, as vanish
all the vain hopes and foolish aspirations of man. I found afterwards
that I had only made one step, or laid one stone, in raising for myself a
monument of fame in the annals of African discovery!

FOOTNOTES:

[12] The term Rais is applied by these people both to a naval and
    military commander, the literal meaning being "head."

[13] When an European arrives first in a remote Barbary town,
    although there may be many Europeans in the place, he is mostly
    called and mentioned in Moorish society as "The Christian," which
    happened to myself in Mogador.

[14] How strangely the genius of nations of such different habits
    have given the name of "sisters" to separate groups of trees. I
    have also passed twin peaks of mountains in Africa, called
    "brothers" by the Arabs. But _Bou_ or _Abou_, "father," is the
    ordinary appellation of things in North Africa. _Omm_, "mother,"
    is also very common. The two last are found in combination.

[15] Long names are not confined to European rank and royalty. The
    Sheikh's name in full is, "The Sheikh Bel Kasem Ben Ali
    Abd-el-Hafeeth, the Rujbanee." And this is only the quarter of the
    length of some of these names.

[16] So I found it written in the first portions of the journal.

[17] _Yâkob_, Arabic for James.

[18] There were certainly several slaves walking; but they were
    all long accustomed to it, whilst Said had only just come out of a
    weaver's establishment, where he had been many years.

[19] Turkish, "a row;" but mostly "war," "battles."




CHAPTER IV.

RESIDENCE IN GHADAMES TO BEGINNING OF THE RAMADAN.

     Arrival at Ghadames.--Welcome of the People.--Interview with the
     Governor, Rais Mustapha.--Distances of the route from Tripoli to
     Ghadames.--Geographical position of the Oasis.--First sight of
     the Touaricks.--Commence practising as Quack-Doctor.--Devotion of
     the Arabs.--Prejudices of the People, and overcome by the
     Rais.--Many Patients.--My House full of Touaricks.--The Sheikh of
     the Slaves.--Character of my Camel-Driver.--I make the tour of
     the Oasis.--Visit to the Souk.--Prejudices against me
     diminish.--First sight of Birds.--A young Taleb's specimen of
     Writing.--My Turjeman's House.--The Negro Dervish.--Touarick
     Camel Races.--A few Drops of Rain.--Various Visits,
     Conversations, &c., about Timbuctoo.--Prevalent Diseases, and my
     Medicine Chest.--Evening previous to the Ramadan.--Houses, Public
     Buildings, and Streets.


GRADUALLY we neared the city as the day got up. It was dusty and hot, and
disagreeable. My feelings were down at zero; and I certainly did not
proceed to enter the city in style of conqueror, one who had vanquished
the galling hardships of The Desert, in the most unfavourable season of
the year. We were now met with a great number of the people of the city,
come to welcome the safe arrival of their friends, for travelling in The
Desert is always considered insecure even by its very inhabitants.
Amongst the rest was the merchant Essnousee, whose acquaintance I had
made in Tripoli, who welcomed me much to my satisfaction when thus
entering into a strange place. Another person came up to me, who, to my
surprise, spoke a few words in Italian, which I could not expect to hear
in The Desert. He followed me into the town, and the Governor afterwards
ordered him to be my turjeman, ("interpreter"). Now, the curiosity of the
people became much excited, all ran to see _The Christian_! Every body in
the city knew I was coming two months before my arrival. As soon as I
arrived in Tripoli, the first caravan took the wonderful intelligence of
the appointment of an English Consul at Ghadames. A couple of score of
boys followed hard at the heels of my camel, and some running before, to
look at my face; the men gaped with wide open mouths; and the women
started up eagerly to the tops of the houses of the Arab suburb, clapping
their hands and _loolooing_. It is perhaps characteristic of the more
gentle and unsophisticated nature of womankind, that women of The Desert
give you a more lively reception than men. The men are gloomy and silent,
or merely curious without any demonstrations. I entered the city by the
southern gate. The entrance was by no means imposing. There was a
rough-hewn, worn, dilapidated gate-way, lined with stone-benches, on
which The Ancients were once accustomed to sit and dispense justice as in
old Israelitish times. Having passed this ancient gate, which wore the
age of a thousand years, we wound round and round in the suburbs within
the walls, through narrow and intricate lanes, with mud walls on each
side, which inclosed the gardens. The palms shot their branches over from
above, and relieved this otherwise repulsive sight to the stranger. But I
was too much fatigued and exhausted to notice any thing, and almost ready
to drop from off my camel. In fact, the distance which I had come since I
first saw the dark palms of the city at the dawn, seemed to exceed
(mostly the case when exhausted in completing the last mile of the
journey,) all the rest of the route. I now proceeded forthwith to the
Governor, the Rais Mustapha, being led by the people _en masse_, who, on
seeing me, said, "_Es-slamah! Es-slamah! Es-slamah!_" ordered me coffee,
and gave me a cordial welcome. It was about 10 A.M. His Excellency was
sitting out in the street on a stone-bench, under the shade. Some
visitors were sitting at a distance, and servants were lounging about.
The Governor's house is without the city, in the gardens. It was cleanly
white-washed, but small, only two stories high. Before the door it was
well watered, and there was a freshness springing up from the water just
sprinkled about. Several palms cast gracefully their dark shadows on the
street. The Governor was very sick, his face was tied up, and his eyes
covered. But he smoked incessantly. He said only a few words through his
interpreter. I was equally out of order, and begged him to allow me to go
to the house which was being prepared for me. He consented; and two hours
after his Excellency sent me a dinner of mutton, fowls, and rice.

If I were asked my opinion as to this journey, and its being undertaken
by an European, I would answer for myself, that I would risk it again,
because I know my constitution, and how to treat myself. But I could not
conscientiously recommend it to others in this season of the year. Were I
to perform it again, I would manage much better. I would be better
mounted, have a better tent, and a better assortment of provisions. Most
assuredly I have great reason to thank Providence that I am arrived in
perfect health.

The whole time from Tripoli to Ghadames had occupied twenty-three days,
but seven or eight had been consumed by delay in The Mountains. The
absolute distances of travelling given me by Mohammed, are:--

From  Tripoli to Janzour           3 hours.
 "    Janzour to Zouweeah          9   "
 "    Zouweeah to Beer-el-Hamra    2   "
 "    Beer-el-Hamra to Shouwabeeah 5   "
 "    Shouwabeeah to Wady Lethel  14   "
 "    Wady Lethel to Aâyat         3   "
 "    Aâyat to Yefran              3   "
 "    Yefran to Rujban            18   "
 "    Rujban to Seenawan           4 days.
                        (sometimes 5.) "
 "    Seenawan to Emjessen         2   "
 "    Emjessen to Ghadames         1   "

The quickest time, in more general terms, in which the journey can be
performed, excluding of course all stoppages, is:--

From  Tripoli to The Mountains     3 days.
 "    The Mountains to Seenawan    3  "
 "    Seenawan to Ghadames         3  "

The French geographers, for some reason, have made Ghadames situate upon
a salt plain, confounding its site with the salt plain of _Emjessen_.
There is no salt plain in the suburbs of Ghadames, or the country near.
According to the _official_ letter of the Porte, written by Ali Effendi,
Minister of Foreign Affairs, the oasis is situate in the _Caimakat de
Jibel Garbigi_. As I did not receive the Porte's memorandum of my recall
from Ghadames until my return, I made no inquiries of this mountain
_Garbigi_, but I imagine it exists, though I never heard its name.
Ghadames is situate in 30° 9′ north latitude, and in 9° 18′ east
longitude.

_25th._--I find my house, which had been prepared for me by the kindness
of the Sheikh Haj Mohammed Makouran, very commodious and tolerably clean,
and I make myself at home. It is situate in the suburbs, close by the
Governor's house. I now tried to get a nap, but could not. Then I went to
bathe in the Mysterious Spring, whence springs up this city as an emerald
amidst a waste of stone and sand! Intend bathing every day if I can. Saw
Essnousee again, and many of the merchants whom I had seen at Tripoli.
Found them all civil. But the people who most excited my attention were
the Touaricks, whom I now saw for the first time. Many of them were here
at this time for trading purposes. They expressed as much astonishment at
seeing me as I them, some exclaiming, "God! God! how could the Infidel
come here?" Late in the afternoon, after napping, went again into the
city: was much pleased with its appearance. Thought it better than
Tripoli, considering the position of the respective places, Tripoli on
the edge of the sea, and open to all the world, and Ghadames in the midst
of The Desert, far from the shores of the Mediterranean. No poor are seen
begging about the streets, and all the people look well dressed today.
They had put on their holiday clothes, which is usual on the arrival of a
large caravan. What a contrast was this to the squalor and filth of
Tripoli, with its miserable beggars choking up all the thoroughfares! No
women were seen about but the half-castes, mostly slaves, but plenty of
children playing here and there. I heard amongst them the whisper of
"The Kafer, the Kafer!" as I passed by.

Began to practise my quackery very early, and administered solution for
the eye in various parts of the streets _pro bono publico_. The Rais sent
for me likewise, and I poured a few drops of caustic into his eyes. In
fact, I was full of business, although but a few hours in the town, and
hardly had time to look about me. This business after such a journey! My
turjeman, Bel-Kasem, also took me into his garden, and gave me a supply
of onions, peppers, and dates. The gardens appeared quite equal to those
of Tripoli. The turjeman was soon useful, though he only spoke a few
words of Italian, but chiefly because he had less prejudices against the
Christians than his fellow-townsmen. He had worked in the house of a
French merchant in Tunis many years, and always retained a sort of
sneaking kindness for Frenchmen, which indeed was much to his credit. In
walking about the town, I was followed by groups of children and black
women, all running one over another to see me. My turjeman was obliged to
beat them to keep them off. I am the _second_ Christian who has visited
Ghadames; the first being the unfortunate Major Laing, who never returned
to record what he saw in this city! But his residence of a few days here
is forgotten by nearly all the present generation. The Rais is the only
Turk. All the troops are Arabs. The Ghadamsee people are never soldiers.
This evening the Rais sent me supper, much the same as the dinner.

The people of the ghafalah (the Arab strangers), went to pray this
evening in the mosque set apart for strangers. I must not omit the
mention of the strict and scrupulous exactitude with which all the
ghafalah prayed _en route_. Five times a day is prescribed by the Koran.
Most of them prayed the five times, but not altogether, some choosing
their own time, a liberty allowed to travellers. It was a refreshing,
though at the same time a saddening sight, to see the poor Arab
camel-drivers pray so devoutly, laying their naked foreheads upon the
sharp stones and sand of The Desert--people who had literally so few of
the bounties of Providence, many of them scarcely any thing to eat--and
yet these travel-worn, famished men supplicated the Eternal God with
great and earnest devotion! What a lesson for the fat, overfed Christian!
And shall we say, that because these men are Mohammedans, _therefore_ the
portals of heaven are hermetically sealed against the rising incense of
their Desert prayers? . . . It is hard to think so . . . though some
think so.

_26th._--Employed as yesterday in administering the medicines. My
turjeman did not come to-day, and I suspected, intuitively almost, the
people of Ghadames had persuaded him not to come. It turned out
afterwards that my suspicions were well-founded; nevertheless, I received
several small presents from the people. The merchants are civil, but some
little jealousy discovers itself on religious grounds. All Mohammedans
have got an idea that the Christians will one day take their countries
from them, but that, in the end, with the aid of God, they will revenge
themselves, and repossess all their cities and countries: "This," said my
Marabout, "is a prophecy contained in our sacred books." My presence is
therefore by some considered the preliminary for the overthrow of the
Mussulman power of Ghadames, I am the scout, the spy into "the nakedness
of the land;" others think I pollute the sacred city of Ghadames with my
infidel carcass. Yesterday I got also entangled in the labyrinth of dark
streets, some of which are often turned into mosques at certain hours of
the day. Of this the people complained to the Rais, who sent me word to
be careful. I replied, I was an utter stranger, and did not know what I
was about; in fact, the Rais excused me to the people saying, "A little
by little, The Christian will know to do all which is right. We must
teach him." Indeed, I found the conduct of Mustapha from the first very
kind, and he was determined no improper prejudices should get into the
heads of the people against me. The Rais continued to send me breakfast,
dinner, and supper. "This," said the servant, "would continue _three_
days, according to custom;" in fact, I found the same custom adopted by
the Governor of Ghat. Caillié mentions the custom as prevailing amongst
the Braknas. But it will soon be seen that the Rais did not stint his
hospitality to this conventional usage. His Excellency found his eyes
better to-day, and I gave him a dose of pills.

My camel-driver came up to me in his usual soft sneaking way, and began
his pious jargon:--"God be praised for Yâkob, because he has arrived safe
in Ghadames--now God is one, and above all things powerful. Besslamah."
This he was wont to repeat _en route_. He then said gravely, "Now, Yâkob,
you are my friend--you wish to go to Soudan, I will go with you, if you
like, but I will sell you my camel, on which you rode here. You know it's
good and very wise. It doesn't stumble. Buy it, I'll sell it because you
are my friend, you shall have it cheap, for twenty-five dollars." The
fact is, the camel had got a small hole in its back, and being afraid he
should not cure the camel, he wanted me to buy it. Twenty-five dollars is
the average price of a camel.

_27th._--Paid a visit this morning to the Rais; told him the turjeman was
afraid to come with me to show me the city and interpret, because the
people said to him, "Bel-Kasem, thou must not show The Christian the
sacred things of our holy city: never were they polluted by an infidel."
The Rais smiled and ridiculed the thing, and said he would send for the
man. I observed I would pay him so much per day. "No," he replied, "I am
his master, you are a stranger, I must pay." Whilst we were talking, a
letter came informing the Rais that some robbers had carried off six
camels from the village of Seenawan. The Rais was displeased and said to
me, "All this country is _batel_ (good-for-nothing)." I asked the Rais if
there were a prison in Ghadames.

_H. E._ "Yes."

_I._ "Is there any body in it?"

_H. E._ "No."

_I._ "How?"

_H. E._ "This is a city of dervishes and marabouts--people don't
steal--if they've nothing to eat they beg."

People are calling at my house all day long for medicines. Every morning
I send tea (made, of course,) to the Rais and the Sheikh Makouran.
Presented the Rais with my Moorish portfolio, all worked over with
various devices in leather and silk. He was quite delighted with it,
observing, "The Christians are good people, but the people here don't
know them. Yâkob, take courage, little by little," (a favourite
expression of the Rais). Next to my house is a garden whose date-trees
bear no fruit, and its beds are covered with dry dust, a sad picture of
neglect. On asking how this was, I was told the owner was in Soudan, and
in consequence no one looked after and watered his garden. The merchants
of this city often remain in Soudan five, ten, even fifteen and twenty
years, leaving their families here whilst they accumulate a fortune in
commercial speculations. Sometimes they marry other wives in Soudan, and
form another establishment.

Bathed again in the Spring, but found it surrounded with women, fetching
water. Contented myself with washing in one of the private washing
apartments attached to the Spring. The water was warm, but I felt
afterwards cool and refreshed. There are no public baths here as on the
coast towns. I observed the place formed of a high raised stone-bench,
just as you enter the city, (on our side) where all strangers pray. It
seems built on, the principle of some Romanist churches, which are
dedicated, like those of the ancient classic temples, to particular uses
and services. My Marabout prayed in it with devout fervour as we passed,
I being obliged to wait for him.

This evening dined with the Rais at his house for the first time. His
Excellency was extremely kind and spoke freely of the Ghadamsee people.
"These," said he, "are a people given up to prayer, and many of them
spend their time in nothing else."

I said, "Are there ten thousand people in Ghadames? So I have heard."

Astonished, he replied, "There are not five hundred men."

"Are there not several of the people travelling?"

"Only a few."

Then, talking of thieves and banditti, the Rais told me to bring my money
to his house in order that he might take care of it. On depositing it
with him he asked how much it was. There were only two hundred piastres
of Tunis, all the money I had. The Rais seemed surprised it was so little
(about _seven pounds sterling_!) I made the best of it by telling him if
I remained I must send for some more. He also recommended me not to sleep
on the top of the house, but in my room, and shut the door. However, it
is so hot that I should be suffocated if I were not to leave the door
open. In explanation, he said, "The Touaricks and other strangers are
thieves." The Rais is very sick, with bad eyes. Sent him some more
physic.

Whilst writing my journal, the house is filled with Touaricks, and I
cannot get rid of them. I am obliged therefore to enter into conversation
to amuse them.

"How large is Ghat? as large as Ghadames?"

"Bigger than Tripoli."

"Have you plenty of meat in Ghat?"

"Plenty of everything."

"I am afraid of you--you killed one of my countrymen near Timbuctoo?"

"No, no, (crying out lustily,) not the Touaricks of our country."

"Will you take me safe to Ghat?"

"Upon our lives!" (_Drawing their swords across their foreheads._)

"Have you a written language?"

"Yes."

"What's your name?" (The Touaricks to me.)

"Here, I will write it."

"Have you any medicine for the eye?"

"Yes."

I then applied some solution to the eyes of one of them. Another said:

"My son is always coughing. What shall I do for him?"

"Bring him here," I said, "in the morning, and I will give him
something."

_The Touarick._--"You won't poison him?"

_I._--"No, no."

They then entered upon a religious conversation.

"What do you think of _religion_? Do you pray?"

"Well, there is one God."

"And, Mohammed?"

"He is the prophet of the _Arabs_."

"Who is your prophet?"

"Jesus; he is Prophet of all the Christians, as Moses is the prophet of
the Jews."

(With impatience.) "But Mohammed?"

"We Christians have but one Prophet, who is Jesus."

Here an interruption took place, of which I was very glad. Afterwards
they resumed:

"Have you any powder?"

"No; I am an English Marabout, and carry no arms, and have nothing to
give away but medicines."

"Aye, an English Marabout, and not a merchant?"

"No; only a Marabout."

One of them. "We shall take your name as you have written it on this
paper, and show it to our people. It will be esteemed precious by them;
and if you ever wander that way through The Desert, they will ask you
your name, and, if you reply to it, they will not kill you, but give you
plenty of camel's milk. If they have not your name they may kill you, and
not their fault."

Had a visit from the Sheikh of the slaves. In most countries of North
Africa there is a chief appointed by Government for any particular race,
not the same as the ruling dynasty, domestic as well as foreign, which
may be resident in the towns and cities. So the Jews of Barbary have
their chiefs, and the slaves theirs. In Tunis a number of free coloured
people, called _Waraghleeah_, emigrants from the Algerian oasis of
Warklah, have also their chief or headsman. This chief has rather large
and even discretionary powers, and can order his subjects to be
imprisoned by the officers of the sovereign Government of the country.
But, of course, this imperium in imperio is subject to the supervision of
the supreme Government. The object is apparently to relieve the
Government, but whilst it relieves the higher authorities, it inflicts
irreparable injuries upon poor people, and is full of the most gigantic
abuses. It is often complained of by the Levant correspondents of
newspapers, under the character of the various spiritual tribunals of
Eastern Christians inflicting fines, torture, and imprisonment on
refractory or heretic members of those churches. The Jewish synods of
Africa and the East exercise the same arbitrary powers, under the
sanction of the supreme Mahometan authorities. Lately, however, the
European ambassadors have done something to check these abuses in the
dominions of the Porte.

After some conversation, I asked the Sheikh of the Ghadames slaves what
were his duties. Drawing himself up into a posture of authority, he
replied:--"Be it known, Oh Christian! I am the Sheikh of the slaves, my
name is Ahmed. I am from Timbuctoo. The people of Bambara are the finest
in the world. They are brave--they fear none. Now, hear me: I know all
the names of the slaves in Ghadames: I watch over all their conduct, to
punish them when they behave badly, to praise them when they do well.
They all fear me. For my trouble I receive nothing. I am a slave myself.
I rarely punish the slaves. We have always here more than two hundred. If
you wait, plenty of slaves will soon come from Soudan!"

Late to-night, Mohammed the Marabout of Rujban, left for his country and
Tripoli. I gave him some Ghadames dates to take to Tripoli as presents,
the small black dates, as a rarity, and to let the people know I had not
so much forgotten them as they had forgotten me. This clever, cunning,
selfish fellow, I completely overreached. He never believed that I had
the courage to punish his bad conduct. I had promised him, besides the
ten mahboubs (about forty shillings), the hire of the two camels from
Tripoli to Ghadames, a present, or backsheesh of two mahboubs, on his
behaving well. On paying him his ten mahboubs I told him there was no
backsheesh. At first he was astonished and looked pale, shaking in every
limb, for he expected to reap a great harvest by my affair--even a double
present to what was promised. But on reflecting that he had lamed Said,
who was still laid up, had pilfered our provisions all the way, and lived
on us by force, although the agreement was that he should keep himself,
he confessed I was right, or thought it better to make the confession.
However, he beat about the merchants, and got two or three of them to
come down to speak to me, who said, "If he has done bad, treat him bad,
that is, give him a little backsheesh." I then gave him half a dollar.
His ingenuity was never exhausted. He pretended I ought to feed the
camels two or three days after their arrival, which he said was the rule.
There is no herbage for miles in the neighbourhood of Ghadames. The
people are sometimes obliged to drive their camels to Seenawan, or Derge,
two or three days' distance, to feed. I gave way, and added a trifle. He
then begged something for his wife; he had bought her a pair of Ghadames
shoes, worked with silk, which shows an Arab can have an affectionate
remembrance for his wife, but which has been denied by some. I again
added something. He now had his supper. I gave him a feed of mutton, and
broth and bread. This was his feast before parting, for I did not like to
send him away as a blackguard, notwithstanding he had extremely annoyed
me. I never saw a person eat with such voracity. After his allowance, or
the supper I had cooked him, a large supper was sent in by the Rais for
three. He set to and ate his own and Said's share in the bargain. I have
often seen Arabs gorge in this way, but, what is most singular, when
obliged to be abstemious they scarcely eat the amount of two penny loaves
per day. Mohammed was a good type of this Arab abstemiousness and
voracity. When he kept himself, he only took a small and most frugal meal
once a day. Of his gluttony I may add, that I was obliged to separate his
mess from that of Said when he dined with me. If not, he would eat Said's
mess and his own before I could see what they were about. At last
Mohammed began to soften and to confess adroitly, for he was one of the
acutest Arabs I ever met with. He observed to me, in a whining tone, "Now
I am going, I wish to tell you something. You think me very bad, and a
great rogue, and so I am; but, I tell you, if you had had any other Arab
you would have found him a thousand times a bigger rogue than myself,
_for all the Arabs are dogs_. This is the truth: (_El-khok_.)" After this
confession, I gave him a certificate of my having arrived safe in
Ghadames under his guidance. This I could not object to do, in order that
he might show it to the Pasha and the English Consul. Some of his remarks
were full of _sel_, but mostly touched with selfishness. One evening,
looking at his camels feeding, he said, "Ah, Yâkob, see those camels eat.
It does my heart good to see them, for what am I without my camels, what
are the Arabs without the camels--are not the camels the pillars which
support the Arab's house?" At other times he would abuse his fellow
camel-drivers for coming into my tent, upbraiding them,--"What, do you
want to rob The Christian? Am not I encharged with his affairs?" Mohammed
was rather tall, and of lean habit of body, like all Arabs. His hearing
and sight were very quick, and he always seemed to sleep like a
watch-dog. His bravery I never tested. He was mostly lively and
facetious. He was good-looking, and about thirty years of age.

I saw him after my return to Tripoli. He wanted to go with me again. He
said to me, "Now you have seen all, The Mountains, The Sahara, and the
Touaricks. You know all our affairs, and everything we do." As a
literary curiosity, I shall here translate my camel-driver's account of
the route from Tripoli to Ghadames, written at my request, in which will
be seen the camel-driver's minute acquaintance with the route, and how
every wady, and well, and mountain, is particularized. This is the style
of the Saharan travellers and chroniclers.

"First Tripoli, and not far from it are palms of El-Hamabaj, and a mosque
El-Kajeej. You then proceed to Gargash, in which are palms, and along the
road the Kesar Jahaly. And you go on to Janzour, in which are palms and
two castles, one of them is called Kesar Areek, and the Kesar of the
Turkish soldiers (God curse them!) Upon the sea-shore is the mosque of
Sidi Abd-el-Jeleel. And you proceed to Seid, where are palms and the
Indian fig. And you go on to Ghafeeah, and here is cool refreshing water,
(oh! how delicious in the great heat!) and you pass the water to
El-Toubeem, where are palms, and mosques, and houses. You go on to
Zaweeah, where are palms, houses, and a Kesar for troops, and a Zaweeah
for the reading of The Sublime Koran, and mosques. You proceed thence to
Houshel, in which are palms and houses. You move on to Aabareeah, where
are palms. You now reach The Sahara, where there is a little sand; you
find in it the well of El-Hamra. Pursuing your way upon The Sahara, you
find the well of Esh-Shaibeeah. And travelling on The Sahara you find
another well called Lakhreej. You travel further on The Sahara, and find
Afoub Aaly, where there is sand, called El-Hal. And after it, you find
Wady Lethel, in which are lote-trees and the lethel, a large tree like an
olive-tree. And you travel to El-Jibel, where are houses and a Kesar for
troops. In the country called Yefran, are olive-trees and fig-trees; and
below the country (or in the plains), you find palms. And near El-Gibel,
in all the countries you find olive-trees and fig-trees, as far as the
other mountains westward. Now Rujban (my happy country, the blessing of
God on it!) has seven countries, viz.:--El-Barahem, and Tarkat, and
Sharn, and Zâferan, and Ghalat, and Zantan, and Tarbeeah.

"We mounted from Rujban and from El-Gibel, and went to Eth-Tha, where is
Koteet, between Ez-Zantan and Rujban. Thence we travelled to Wady
Souk-ej-Jeen. Thence to Haram and Et-Teen. And we travelled to
Wady-Azgheer, and afterwards Wady Walas. Thence we arrived again on The
Sahara, called El-Hamrad, which is _fertile_[20] land, and on it are
lote-trees, bearing berries (_nebek_). Now, oh Yâkob! this is not the
lote-tree in the seventh heaven, near the presence of Rubbee (God), and
which Gabriel, nor our lord Mahomet, dare not pass beyond. Alas! O Yâkob,
if you believe not in Mahomet, you cannot be near this lote-tree. It says
in the Koran, 'It covers the concealed[21].' And we ascended a hill,--a
high hill, that is to say, a little mountain. And we ascended
(descended?) to a wady, called Ahween, in which is a well on the west of
the route. And after this is Eshâab, small wadys, called Eshâab
Eth-Thoueeb, and after them is Wady Seelas, where there is a well of
water. You pass by it on the road, and come to Seenawan, in which is a
spring of water, called Spring Aly. In Seenawan are palms, and its
_ghotbah_ is like a tower (burge), built with small stones, and so of
the country (village) near it. And after this is the country Esh-Shâour,
where there is water from springs which run upon the face of the earth,
and palms and houses built with small stones. From The Mountains to
Seenawan are four days with heavily laden camels.

"Afterwards you travel and find Wady Babous Eth-Theeb. Thence there is
land, on which is sand, and in this the well of water El-Wateeah. After
there is Wady Ej-Jeefah. Then Saheer El-Maharee, and then a long stream,
in which are reeds. Afterwards you find Hinsheer El-Basasah. And after
El-Bab-Rumel ("gate of sand"), a difficult place. Thence you come to
Emjessem. All this route is Sahara; and the road from Seenawan to
Emjessen is two days' journey. After this you find the small mountains
Baârbeeah Aghour. Then you find Ghadames. There is a day's journey from
Emjessen to Ghadames."

_28th._--Early this morning made the tour of the city's walls and
gardens. Went with Said, and myself, alone. I am fond of being alone, and
would sometimes walk miles over The Desert--the caravans being not even
in sight. This _was_ solitude!

                  "I love all waste
    And solitary places; where we taste
    The pleasure of believing what we see
    Is boundless, as we wish our souls to be."

It occupied us, at a moderate rate of walking, about an hour and a half,
so that the oasis may be about five miles in circumference. What a scene
of hideous desolation did the environs present--nor tree, nor herb, nor
living creature! Talk of the Poles, there is less life here! On the
west, the groups of sand-hills, which stretch ten days' journey, were all
bright as the light, and sometimes not visible from brilliancy. Some
Touaricks saw us going, and called after us; we took no notice of them.
The Rais, on my return, asked many questions, about what I thought of the
city, and observed, "These poor fools think there's no city like theirs,
but what would they think if they saw Stamboul? Those who have not seen
Stamboul have not seen the world!" The walls of the city of Ghadames,
like the houses, are built mostly of sun-dried bricks, but parts of small
stones and earth. They are in a ruinous condition, and in many places
open to The Desert. But within these outer walls are garden-walls and
winding paths, so that the approaches to the city are difficult, except
by the southern gate. Formerly, four or five gates were open, but the
Rais has shut them all but this one for security, as well as facility in
collecting the octroi, or gate-dues.

The greater part of the camels of our ghafalah left today, but unladen,
there being no Soudan goods now in Ghadames. These camels belong to The
Mountains, and are hired by the merchants to convey their goods between
this and Tripoli. The ordinary price paid is two dollars per camel. The
weight the camel carries is from two to three cantars.

This afternoon had a visit from the Touarick women, and was astonished to
find some of them _almost fair_. They were pretty and plump, coquettish
and saucy, asking a thousand questions. It is evident the men are dark
simply from exposure to the sun. I regaled them with _medicine_ and tea.
This party belongs nearly all to Touat. They want to prevail upon me to
go with them. I am almost inclined. Two men, who came with the women,
assured me I should go safe and sound. I believe I could, provided I go
as poor as a beggar, distributing only medicines. This evening dined
again with the Rais. He is now a little better, and puts his charms over
his eyes, as if the charms cured them, and not the caustic of nitrate of
silver. His Excellency talked of the affairs of the city; he pretends the
antiquity of Ghadames goes back four thousand years, to the times of
Nimrod and Abraham. The people of the town, I suppose, have told him so;
but where is their authority? He says of _present_ matters,--"The people
pay 6,000 mahboubs per annum; it is too small a sum for a city of
merchants; there is little money in the country, it being mostly
deposited in the hands of merchants in Tripoli; he wishes Christians
established here, and a regular souk, or market, opened; the number of
Arab troops which he has here is 120; he is building barracks and a
fondouk at Emjessen, in order to station troops there to guard the wells,
for the banditti come there and drink water, and then lie in ambush to
plunder caravans." This building of forts at wells is a wise and
efficient measure; the same thing has been done at the oasis of Derge.
The Rais receives his pay _direct_ from the Sultan of Constantinople; his
appointment is quite uncertain; he is a native of Erzeroum; he took part
in the Turco-English campaign in Syria, served under General Jochmus, and
was acquainted with many English officers. He has been at Constantinople,
Smyrna, Malta, and many other parts of the Upper Mediterranean.

People complain that the gardens languish for want of money to cultivate
them; not more than half of the date-trees bear fruit this year, owing
entirely to the want of labour and irrigation. People have to purchase
water. I have seen no birds in the oasis up to this time.

The greater part of yesterday and to-day occupied in distributing
medicines. Afraid I shall soon finish my stock. The medicines were
furnished by the British Consul-General of Tripoli, at the expense of
Government; there were only five pounds-sterling worth. Ramadan begins in
a few days; then I shall not have so many customers. Then the Moors cast
physic to the dogs.

_29th._--Went this morning to see the Souk. At the time of my visit there
were only a few tomatas, peppers, a little olive-oil, and some grain,
wheat and barley, exposed for sale. Passed a butcher's, where a whole
camel was killed and cut up. Told in this way it fetches about thirty
shillings. Paid a visit to my runaway Turjeman, who said he would call
upon me this evening.

Observe the Rais employs, in his administration, all strangers, either
Arabs or Tripolines, or people from Derge and Seenawan. How true are the
principles of despotism! This is upon the same principle as the
employment of the Swiss at Naples; in both cases the despotic government
cannot trust the people. The Rais is very busy in collecting the
half-yearly tax: he works with surprising zeal from morning to night--a
zeal worthy of a better cause.

I am told the nearest route from here to Tunis is _viâ_ Douwarat (or
Duerat), a portion of the Atlas where is situate Shninnee. This village,
scattered over all the hills, is three days from Ghabs and seven from
Ghadames. The Souf Arabs tell me there is no water for seven days in
summer and twelve in winter, on the road they came from their country to
Ghadames, the difference being the length of days. The well is called
Beer-es-Saf, and sometimes Beer-ej-Jadeed. The route lies entirely
through sand, N.W. This region of sand is the celebrated hunting-place of
the Souf Arabs.

Dined again with the Rais this evening. His Excellency complained that
the Ghadamsee people show him scarcely any attention. He never receives
the smallest present, neither a few dates, nor a melon, nor a vegetable;
he buys and is obliged to buy everything[22]. I thought myself more
fortunate than the Rais, for I have received several little presents from
various individuals. His Excellency says he never punishes the people
except for _abusive language_ to one another, and than he only gives them
twenty or fifty strokes of the bastinado. In this respect he says,
"Ghadames may be compared to Paradise, there being no crime in it." His
Excellency repeated that the greater number of the resident inhabitants,
who do not travel abroad, spend their time in reading, writing, and
prayer--that, emphatically, this is _a Marabout city_.

_30th._--Occupied two or three hours this morning in administering
medicine and visiting the sick. My turjeman came back and apologized; he
said the people were fanatic. Received a visit from Haj-el-Beshir, eldest
son of the Sheikh Makouran. He said his father had been twice to
Timbuctoo, and resident there many years, and would give me some
information. The Rais says there's no Sheikh of the slaves, and adds,
"I'm the Sheikh of the slaves." This again is not correct, as the people
all told me, there must be a headman or Sheikh of the slaves in all
countries. Had a visit from two young men who were quite free from the
prejudices of their countrymen. They told me to take courage, "that God
was the Maker of Christians as well as Mohammedans, that in this city no
one could do me harm, but I was not to expose myself to the ignorant." I
seem, indeed, to get on better with the people, their prejudices
apparently are beginning to give way; I shall be able to open the way for
some other person. The father of one of my young friends has been now
twelve years in Kanou; when he returns he brings a fortune.

Speaking to the Rais of the Ghadamsee people, I asked him what they did
for soldiers before the Turks came? He replied, "These people are not
soldiers and never had soldiers; they are like women and children; if any
body came from The Desert to plunder, he stole what he pleased and was
allowed to go away unmolested. They depended upon God and prayer for
their protection. You see I told you these people were dervishes." Still
there is reason to believe that if they did not fight themselves, as, at
the present time, they got their quondam but powerful friends, the
Touaricks, to fight for them.

This afternoon saw some doves in the gardens; and also a small flight of
birds hovering over the city, perhaps there were twenty. These birds were
called _arnout_, and have very long bills and necks. When the men leave
off working at the wells, they dart down to drink. The palm-groves are
the favourite resort of the doves, as poetical as natural. Animals, and
especially birds, are so rare in those regions that every sight of them
is worthy of mention; indeed, these are the first birds I have seen since
I left Tripoli. No meat to be had to-day in Souk. People usually club
together and buy a whole sheep: they then kill it, and divide it into so
many portions according to the number of purchasers; so that meat is
rarely exposed publicly for sale, and it is necessary to join these
private purchasers. Purchase-money is always paid down at once and not on
delivery. The meat is never weighed but divided at guess. When any
disagreement takes place lots are drawn for the division.

During the four or five days of my residence here, the weather has been
comparatively temperate; at least, I have not felt the heat excessive.
To-day has been close and cloudy: no sun in the afternoon: wind hot,
_ghiblee_. I continue to be an object of curiosity amongst the people,
and am followed by troops of boys. A black from Timbuctoo was astonished
at the whiteness of my skin, and swore I was bewitched. The Ghadamsee
Moors eat sugar like children, and are as much pleased with a suck of it.
The young men carry it about in little bags to suck. The Rais is
sometimes called _Bey_ by the people and sometimes _Sultan_, but by the
low people, not the better classes. Here, as elsewhere, the lower classes
are the more servile.

_31st._--Went this morning to buy meat, but got some with great
difficulty. Passed some Touaricks, who showed an excessive arrogance in
their manners. They look upon the Ghadamsee people with great disdain,
considering them as so many sheep which they are to protect from the
wolves of The Sahara. Met several of the merchants I knew at Tripoli.
They asked me how I liked their city, and if better than Tripoli. I
always replied, _Haier_ (better). It is singular that though these
merchants are so enterprising themselves in the interior of Africa, they
cannot conceive of the possibility of a Christian coming so far from home
into The Desert, and when I tell them I wish to go to Soudan, or Bornou,
or Timbuctoo, they look at me with incredulity and say, "No, no, you
cannot go so far, you will die, or the people will kill you." They have
not the least idea of the courage and enterprise of European tourists,
nor can they understand their objects. But these their objections may be
founded in jealousy of us Christians.

The following is a nice neat facsimile specimen of the writing of a young
taleb and Ghadamsee Marabout, one of the best I have seen in The Desert.
It is a bill of sale, consisting of gold--slaves, male and
female--bullocks' skins--pillow-cases--elephant's teeth--senna--bekhour
(perfume)--camels--sacks--and (I think) household slaves.

[Illustration]

The young taleb showed great consequence and presented me with the
original. He observed that a metegal of gold is of the value of 33½
Tunisian piastres. I said, "Will you come to my house and I will show you
an Arabic book (the Bible) containing the religion of the Jews and
Christians?"

_The Taleb_: "I, I enter the house of an infidel! God preserve me!"

"Oh!" I observed, "you are afraid of me and my books--my books _will bite
you_." Hereupon all the people present burst into a loud laugh, and the
taleb looked quite crest-fallen.

Many people blind with one eye, and some with two eyes, come to me to be
cured, but I can do nothing for them. One poor old man comes every
morning. I wash his eyes with a solution of the Goulard powders. He,
though nearly seventy years of age, still lives in the hopes of
recovering his sight. How faithful a companion of the unfortunate is
hope! The Touaricks use mustard for bad fingers and hands. They also cut
and carve their backs for blood-letting, and the marks remain for years
upon years. I saw one of them whose back was scarred and scarified all
over.

This morning visited my turjeman at his house. The house is a
_mezzonina_, having no ground-floor apartments; the parlour, or grand
room, or hall, was surrounded, to my surprise, with small apartments, in
which three or four sheep were fattening, as people fatten pigs. The
sheep is with the Ghadamsee people what the pig is with the Irish, their
_dii penates_. There was also another story above this, the
sleeping-room; and then on the terrace, or flat roof, are other little
rooms. All the apartments were exceedingly small, but their situation
high. Stone stairs lead from one room to another. The turjeman told me
all the houses were built in the same manner, but some larger. Indeed
some houses are four stories high, besides the terrace. The lower rooms
are mostly used as magazines. As soon as I ascended the staircase, the
wife of the turjeman pretended to take fright, and hid herself in a
private apartment. At another time when I called, and her husband was
absent, she came out to see me, and collected all the women in two or
three neighbours' houses to see The Christian. It is the husband the
woman of Africa is frightened at, and not the stranger. The tyranny of
men over the sex of feebler bodily frame is co-extensive with the
population of the world. It is the same in Paris, in London, Calcutta,
and The Desert. But the principle of women-seeing in Ghadames and all
North Africa is simply this: "If the woman is poor, or the husband poor,
she may be seen; if rich, she cannot be seen." A pretty woman will,
however, always try to let you see her face if she can.

There is a very good-natured black dervish always about the streets, but
clean and well-dressed. Ordinarily amongst these saints filth and piety
go hand in hand. They abhor the proverb of cleanliness being next to
godliness. The poor fellow is very fond of me, is running in and out of
my house all day long. I always shake hands with him when I meet him. The
Moors approve my conduct and say: "Ah, Yâkob, he's a saint." Once the
cunning fellow, when he noticed a lot of half-caste women anxious to see
me, took hold of my head and turned me completely round to show my face
to them. He has some sense, good simpleton, and is without malice;
consequently a great favourite with the people. A pity all madmen were
not like this poor dervish. Yet how many would be as harmless and beloved
as he if they were not confined, and caged, and chained, in civilized and
Christian madhouses! The dog knows I'm a _kafer_, and said to my
camel-driver, the day of my arrival, "Why did you bring the Christian to
our holy city?" chiding him.

This afternoon we went to see the Touaricks "play with
camels"--‮يلعبوا مع الجمل‬--that is,
perform a sort of camel-race. Strange coincidence of civilized and
barbarian life! This was the Epsom and Ascot of The Desert. But I
was never more disappointed. All that the Touaricks did with their
camels was, they dressed them out most fantastically with various
coloured leather harness, that is to say, the withers, neck, and
head; they reined them up tightly like blood-horses; and then rode
them a full trot in couples. This was the whole of the grand play
with camels. Some, however, would not fall into this trot of
couples, and grumbled terrifically. The Touaricks who rode these
restive camels were saluted by the spectators with loud laughter,
the effect of which was painted sullenly in their faces. I never saw
men look so _couldn't help it_ like. One of them was a young
Touarick who had been saucy to me. I was not displeased to see him
in this _triste_ position. The camels were the genuine Maharee, of
course; the Touaricks have no other camels. The men were dressed out
also in their gayest barbaric finery. A tent was dressed up, around
which squatted a group of Desert jockies, with their fierce spears
bristling above in the sun before them, like the lords of creation.
Even a banner floated gaily in the bright sun from the tent top. A
great concourse of Ghadamsee spectators were present, one of whom
swore to me that a Maharee once passed from Ghadames to Tripoli IN
ONE DAY, but that the rider died instantly from exhaustion, on his
arrival. Another Maharee outstripped the wind, but as it was a
strong cold wind, the animal died when it got into hot atmosphere,
to which the tempest was driving.

Had a long conversation with a Touarick about a journey to Timbuctoo. I
offered him five hundred dollars to escort me; but, to deposit the money
in the hands of the Governor of Ghadames, or a respectable merchant, till
my and his safe return. Said I would take nothing with me but medicines,
and a little provision, and go in _formâ pauperis_, as a dervish or
doctor. All the Ghadamsee people present approved this way of going, and
admired its wisdom, as removing all temptation to attack me, or to steal
anything from me when I had nothing to steal. But the Touarick could not
come up to the scratch, and was frightened to take upon himself the
responsibility, observing, "You are a Christian; the people of Timbuctoo
will kill you unless you confess Mahomet to be the prophet of God."

Dined this evening with the Rais. His Excellency said: "Formerly, when
Ghadames was governed by the Moorish Bashaws, the people paid little or
nothing. There are but three or four rich persons now here, the rest are
poor, or have only a few mahboubs to carry on a petty trade." At night,
the streets are enveloped in pitch darkness, whether the moon be up or
not. I endeavoured to persuade the Rais to make the people light up the
town with a few lamps, having oil enough in them to last till midnight.
"Good," he observed, "but the people say it was always so, and it must be
so still. What can I do?" There are no coffee-houses in Ghadames; people
drink coffee inside their houses. I threatened the merchants to set up
Said as a _kahwagee_, (coffee-house keeper). They laughed, and said,
"None will buy." For conversation people collect in groups round shops,
in the _Souk_, or in little squares near the mosques, where there are
many stone benches for reclining on, or in some quiet dark nook and
corner, where, when you expect to find no one, you fall foul of a retired
circle of gossips, squatting down in utter darkness. These Saharan
streets are veritable catacombs.

_1st September._--This morning, wonderful! It broke with a few drops of
rain; to me most pleasant, and welcomed as falling pearls of nectar. At
noon the sky became as dry and inflamed as ever. Went to the Spring early
to bathe. Found it surrounded with women, nearly all half-castes and
female slaves. They pretended to be in a great fright, as all were
washing and dabbling in the water. I came away. A man said, "The
Christian must not go to the well in the morning, but only in the
evening." There seems to be a tacit understanding, that from day-break to
a couple of hours afterwards, the women shall have possession of the
well, for purification purposes, according to the rites of religion.

This morning took coffee with the Rais; as no one was present, he began
talking politics. "By a little and a little," he said, "we shall take
possession of Ghat. We can't do it by force, it would require some
thousand men to take it by arms. The Touaricks are all robbers and
devils." I asked him if he would not like to occupy Touat. He replied,
"No, there's another Sultan there, and another people. There are two
Sultans in the world, one in the East and one in the West
(_Muley-Abd-Errahman_). Ghat we might take. At Touat we are too near the
French, and might quarrel with them. All the freebooters come from Tunis.
The Bey has no power or authority over the Arabs there. His government is
bad; he's a madman. Our Pasha has often written to him about these
freebooters, but it's no use. The English and the Sultan are one, and
always friends, whatever may be the condition of the rest of the world."
Speaking of me:--"You are mad to think of going to Timbuctoo; you are
sure to have your throat cut."

I allow all persons, rich and poor, young and old, men and women, to come
and see me. At the same time I make a distinction between those who are
likely to be useful to me and mere idle intruders. All the Arab soldiers
come, and, in general, though poor and thievish, they have less of
prejudices, and like the English better than the Ghadamsee people. This
city has not yet felt the benefit of English influence, and interference
in Tripoli, and therefore the merchants have not the same reasons for
being friendly to the English as the Arabs of The Mountains and the
townspeople of Tripoli. All the Ghadamseeah agree with me, that the
camel-playing of the Touaricks was a failure. Five slaves are leaving for
Tripoli. The poor things complained of having nothing to eat; I sent Said
with some victuals for them. The people continue to be friendly, and the
merchants, whose acquaintance I made in Tripoli, very much so. The
steward of the Rais has arrived from Tripoli in fourteen days. His whole
party consisted of six camels and five persons. So much for the pretended
insecurity of the route! He is dressed in the Turco-European costume,
like indeed the Rais himself. To-day the mother of Essnousee, my friend,
was bitten by a scorpion. I administered Goulard solution to the part,
and gave her fever-powder, as she was very hot and her belly swollen. She
died the next day.

Dined again with the Rais. He says, scorpions are in great numbers in
this city, because it is ancient, and particularly they abound in the old
mosques where the people do not live or perform domestic matters. "No
person," he added, "is secure from them, and it is all destined whether
we are bitten, and die or not." The Touarick again assured me that he
spoke the truth, he did not flatter me, by telling me he could take me to
Timbuctoo, when he could not; but yet, if I could make friends with some
respectable merchant of Touat, they might succeed. A son of the Sheikh
Makouran is now in Timbuctoo. The Sheikh himself gave me a detailed
account of the city; he has been there twice. The old gentleman, when he
had finished his narrative, thought the time was come for me to assist
him. He begged me to intercede with the British Consul at Tripoli for
him, that he might not be taxed by the Bashaw so much. He now pays two
hundred dollars per annum, assessed taxes. He assured me that all the
money is leaving the country, and Ghadames will soon be without a para,
like the rest of Tripoli. He told me frankly that he had the idea of
making me a partner in his firm, to get my protection, but on hearing I
was opposed to slave-dealing, it could not be done, as he and all the
merchants were obliged to deal in slaves. Indeed, the obstacle of
English merchants joining the Tripoline is at present insuperable, on
account of the slave traffic; if they could unite in one firm, it would
be equally advantageous for both parties.

_2nd._--Not so many patients this morning. A respectable Ghadamsee came
to me to beg medicine to assist in conjugal pleasures. I told him to eat,
drink, and take a journey from home for two months.

Although, according to the Italian almanack, the new moon is on the 1st,
yet as the people have not seen it, there is no Ramadan, (properly
_Ramtham_.) The Rais says, after the first ten days' keeping the fast it
is not difficult, but, during this period, the adult Mussulmans suffer
exceedingly. Afraid I shall find them all ill-natured during the fast.
Besides, they can't stomach seeing Infidels eat, whilst they the Faithful
fast.

Supped with the Rais. His fowl flew away, and left him without meat for
supper. "_Maktoub_," he said, laughing. The Mussulmans are extravagantly
fond of rice, but they never prepare it in that nice delicious way in
which we do, with milk, or in rice pudding. It is always covered with
fat, and soon surfeits one. His Excellency and his servants played
practical jokes on the black dervish. First, they bastinadoed the
dervish, and then he bastinadoed the Rais's servants. But the dervish did
it in reality, and so effectually, that after two or three strokes, they
jumped up, for he laid it on under all the force of his witless revenge.
When in a passion, or excited, he speaks his native lingo of Soudan, but
when cool he speaks Arabic and Ghadamsee. He became mad, _en route_, by
grief in being ravished from his country. These practical jokes were
played off under the sanction of his Excellency, before all the people in
the streets.

The prevalent diseases at this season, are diarrhœa and ophthalmia, with
occasional cases of fever. The diarrhœa arises from the people's eating
unripe or bad fruit, particularly melons, the ophthalmia from frequent
exposure to the sun during the past hot months. The camel-drivers also
bring it into the city, and it is so propagated by infection. One of my
patients is dead, a little boy, afflicted with diarrhœa for three months.
His father, in relating his death to me, spoke with a resignation which
might be imitated, but could not be surpassed by a Christian. It is
amazing how the thought of all-powerful and resistless destiny calms the
mind, and tones it down to a speechless patience! My stock of drugs is
fast going. It consisted originally of worm-powders, emetics (of which
the Arabs and Moors are very fond), fever powders, purgative pills, Epsom
salts, compound opium pills, Goulard powders, eye powders, sulphate of
quinine pills, and solution of nitrate of silver. They were made up by
Dr. Dickson, of Tripoli. I was surprised to find nothing for pectoral
complaints. Many persons here are troubled with chronic diseases of this
sort. Although administering medicines these eight days to some fifty
persons or more, not one of them has offered me anything in turn. There
are no guinea or five-guinea fees here. On the contrary, some have asked
me for sugar and money before they could be persuaded to take the
medicine. Such is the consolation of doing good. Verily the philosopher
had it when he said, "Virtue must be loved for its own sake." Here I may
mention that the Commandant Omer of our caravan got into a great passion
because I would not buy him a pair of shoes, and left for The Mountains,
without coming to bid me good bye. He had had coffee and tea, and
provisions always with me, _en route_, and I thought this enough. Unless
the last favour or request is granted, all former favours are counted
nothing.

_3rd._--The morning opens cool and pleasant, and the heat begins
gradually to leave us. People expect rain in ten days.

Another Touarick has come forward to offer to conduct me to Timbuctoo. He
says now is the time to go, when it is hot the banditti do not infest the
routes, for they find no water to drink. He offers to take me for five
hundred dollars, which is to be deposited in the hands of the Sheikh
Makouran, and is not to be paid until our safe return. He will allow me
to stop a month or six weeks in the city of Timbuctoo. The distances of
routes which he gives me, are the same as those on M. Carette's map,
attached to his brochure on the commerce of The Desert. Of all the French
writers who have recently written on Africa, M. Carette is most correct.
Wrote down a vocabulary of Ghadamsee words from my turjeman's dictation.
Whilst I was lamenting the little gratitude, or rather none, which the
people showed for my medicines, an old man, to whose mother-in-law (he
having married a woman forty years younger than himself, frequently the
case here,) I gave some pills, brought me a melon, and said he should
bring also some dates. I was conversing with a group at the time, and I
took the opportunity of observing that doctors were paid amongst us. An
upstart man angrily replied:--"Yes, but we are the chosen people of God!
you Infidels are bound to serve us in every way, and ought to be thankful
that you are so honoured as to be the servants and slaves of The
Moumeneen. You think you are clever, but your talents are not your own;
your knowledge comes from God." These affronting words contain a common
fanatic sentiment of Barbary. I made no reply.

Went at noon to visit the Arab suburb, and was a great curiosity amongst
the women and children. Some of the little girls were frightened out of
their wits, but the boys took up stones to pelt me. The suburb contains
about five hundred souls; the houses are all miserable, and the people
poor. A genuine Ghadamsee would not live here without being degraded: it
is the St. Giles of the city. Went into a house, the walls of which were
completely concealed beneath the covers for dishes and meats, bowls and
calabashes, the greater part brought from Soudan. The people were dealers
in them. Talking with the Rais about Soudan, he displayed the usual
ignorance of Mussulmans, even in The Desert, of this country. It would
take a person five years to travel through that vast country, many parts
of which were populated by cannibals. We read of the Lemlems, Lamlams,
and the Yemyems, as cannibals, somewhere in the neighbourhood of Zegzeg
and Yakobah; but after conversing with several of the merchants who have
scoured Soudan and Bornou, I have not found one who has seen these
terrible cannibals. They have all _heard_ of them. It appears to me to be
an ancient tale of wonder to adorn the narratives of travellers.

This evening being that previous to the Ramadan, a great outcry was made
to see the moon. According to my Italian almanack it should be three
days' old, the geographical position of the two countries may make a
difference as to a sight of it. There is a little display of firing off
pistols, chiefly by boys. A vast number of persons question me, as to
whether I shall fast (_soum_) to-morrow; and a Touarick goes bolt up to
the Governor, and says, to his Excellency, pointing to where I am
sitting,--"Does this (man) fast?" His Excellency shakes his head and
laughs gravely. To questions put direct to me, I answer, "a little." A
boy says to me, "Why, how now, every body fasts, and you don't fast!" It
is, however, prudent to avoid all these questions. I told some more
liberal:--"The English eat and drink at all seasons that which is good;
but some Christian nations occasionally fast." According to the Moslemite
rite here observed, all under _thirteen_ may eat during the Ramadan; but,
other authorities tell me, all under _eight_. Those who travel are
excused for the time being. The fast endures thirty days. Another patient
brought me a few dates. In time I may alter my opinion of Ghadamsee
gratitude. Some new patients, nearly all ophthalmia and diarrhœa.

Visited to-day the two wells, which serve a portion of the population, in
addition to the great spring. It is surprising what an interest I take in
water. It is to me like precious gold, and the most fine gold. One of
these wells has better water than the central running spring. They are
large wells, but do not run like the great spring: they are also only a
little warm. In the winter they rise higher, showing some connexion with
the rainy season in the _rainy_ region. Two men were employed in drawing
water in a curious manner. The other buckets were not being worked. One
end of the shaft is made very heavy, so as to assist in bringing up the
water by over-balancing on a swivel; the other end, to which the cord and
bucket is attached, is correspondingly light.

[Illustration]

The houses of Ghadamsee are one, two, three, four, and even five stories
high; the greater part three or four stories. The architecture is
ordinarily Moorish, with some Saharan fantastic peculiarities. The public
buildings offer nothing remarkable; even the mosques, in a place so
devoted to religion, have no pretty minarets. There are four large
mosques, viz.: Jemâ Kebir,--Tinghaseen,--Yerasen,--Eloweenah; and many
smaller mosques and sanctuaries. The streets are all covered in and dark,
(a peculiarity prevailing in many Saharan cities,) with here and there
open spaces or little squares, of which there are several to let in the
light of heaven. They are small and narrow, and winding, not more than a
couple of camels can pass abreast, the ceiling however being high enough
to admit the entrance of the tall Maharee camel. A camel of this species
entered to-day: it amazed me by its stupendous height; a person of
average size might have walked under its belly. The principal streets and
squares are lined with stone-benches, on which the people loungingly
recline or stretch themselves. Both houses and streets are admirably
adapted for the climate, protecting the inhabitants alike from the fiery
glare of the summer's sun, and the keen blasts of the winter's cold.
Before the Rais Mustapha's appointment, the city had, besides smaller and
inner gates, four principal ones, viz., Bab-el-Manderah, Bab-esh-Shydah,
Bab-el-Mishrah, and Bab-el-Bur ("gate of the country"), all of which,
except the last on the south-west, are now closed, with respect to the
entrance of goods and camels. The city is situate on the south-east side
of the plantations of palms and gardens, not in the central part of the
oasis. I asked the talebs the meaning of some of the names of the gates,
but they could not tell. Many proper names of places and persons, amongst
them as with us, have now no assignable meaning or derivation.

FOOTNOTES:

[20] Here we find The Sahara called _fertile_ land; and, in fact,
    many parts of The Desert could be cultivated.

[21] See Surat Liii., entitled "The Star."

[22] This complaint is not well founded, for afterwards I saw the
    Rais often receive presents of fruit, tobacco, sugar, and even
    wearing apparel.




CHAPTER V.

THE FAST OF THE RAMADAN.

     Deathly stillness of the City on first morning of the
     Ramadan.--Rais weighing Gold.--The Gold Country.--Use of
     different Arabic terms in different Countries.--Insecurity of
     Merchants in The Desert.--Jews on the borders of The Sahara.--Sin
     not to Marry.--Wood in The Sahara.--Rais, a Marabout.--Sheikh of
     Slaves.--Complaints of the People to me.--Mr. Frederick
     Warrington.--M. Carette's _brochure_ on Saharan Commerce.--Trait
     of Tolerance.--Growing reputation of Said.--Preach anti-Slavery
     Doctrines in the Street of Slaves.--Ignorance of the People on
     Geography.--Talismans in Africa.--The Queen of England's
     Physic.--Rais's Desert Politics.--Increase of Patients.--Gradual
     method of obtaining Information.--Visit from a
     Touarick.--Tripoline Merchants have the Money of those in
     Ghadames.--Indifference of Mussulmans in reading The Bible.


_4th._--WALKED out this morning and found no one in the streets; every
body was still in bed, or shut up in their houses, being the first day of
the Ramadan. A paralysis of death seemed to have stricken the city. Had
no morning patients for the same reason. Afterwards, the servants of the
Rais came to visit me and found me taking coffee; they gaped with full
(empty?) open mouths, as if wondering I was not choked. I asked them if
the Rais would take his tea. "It's unlawful," they screamed, and ran away
as if Old Nick were after them. Usually make tea for the Governor every
morning, which I send him in a glass, and sometimes also for the Sheikh
Makouran. I could not help thanking God that I was born a Protestant, and
professed a religion not in violence to the physical requirements of
human nature, nor in contradiction to the plain sense of mankind. Man
has evils enough to contend with, and to war against, without inflicting
new and additional evils upon himself, like this most health-trying and
health-destroying Ramadan. My turjeman confessed every body was mad in
Ramadan. Whatever becomes of me in the deserts of Africa, I hope I shall
have force of mind enough to maintain my religion intact.

I amused myself with thinking how the Desert-travelling might be
considerably shortened. This could be effected by joining camels with
horses through the routes. Horses could come easily from Tripoli to The
Mountains in two days. The camels could undertake the journey from The
Mountains to Seenawan in three or four days. Horses then could again
accomplish the rest in two days. In all, _seven_ days. Were Europeans in
possession of this country, horses and mules would soon take the place of
camels, for all quick travelling. Putting aside horses, by the use of the
_maharee_, or fleet-camel, the journey for post could be reduced nearly
half. All the Moors and Arabs dissuade me against going to Timbuctoo,
assuring me that the Touaricks will cut my throat; but I begin to feel my
opinion changing as to the Touaricks. I am sure, if a friend can be made
of a brave man of this nation, there is no danger. Am glad, however,
people manifest some sympathy with my travelling projects; what I want to
do is, to effect some real discovery, or do something great in Africa.
Ghadames is not enough, nor even Bornou; it is, must be, Timbuctoo. Yet a
man must not put his head into the fire and then call upon God to quench
the flames. Met Sheikh Makouran in the street, and brought him home to my
house in order that he might give me a more detailed account of the
finances of Ghadames. Notwithstanding that the Turks overturn and ruin
commerce by restrictions, they poorly protect the merchants. The Sheikh
complained to me of several losses. During the last two years four
ghafalahs had been plundered on different routes, by which he lost
considerable sums. Other merchants lost property in proportion. He
considered Ghadames, from various causes, fast approaching its ruin. Our
conversation then turned to the New World, America. He was quite
astonished at my description of it, and asked if any Mohammedans were
there. We then came to the traffic in slaves. He did not see why men
should not be sold like camels and asses, if such was the law of God.
"All," he observed, "depended upon the will of the Creator of all
beings."

The Rais is a very religious man, and I'm cautious what I say. At noon,
paid him a visit, and said, "Why, all the people are dead to day." He
replied, "It's only for one day." I never saw a poor devil look so
comfortless. He is an inveterate, eternal smoker, like all who boast to
be of the same nation as the Imperial Osmanlis, the pipe is never out of
his mouth; he therefore suffers more than any person in Ghadames. He was
still busy, or affected to be, to kill time, weighing gold with his
servants. I said, "Is there much gold in the country?" "Less and less
every year," was the reply. Many caravans go by way of Mourzuk, not
coming this way. The servant held up the little bags, showing that the
gold, not more than two or three ounces, belonged to _four_ persons. When
gold is brought over The Desert, it is tied up in little dirty filthy
bits of rags, first twisted round where it opens, and then tied. These
are carried on the person, in the bosom or the turban.

When a caravan is attacked and the people rifled, all these little bags
of rags, whether containing gold, or salt, pepper, essences, or what not,
are scrupulously cut open by the brigands. The gold brought to Ghadames
consists chiefly of women's ear-rings, hoop and drop ear-rings. Some of
the drops are hollow and contain little matters which rattle, and
perfumed with small quantities of atar, or of zebed, (civet). The
workmanship is rude and clumsy, but the gold is of the finest quality,
though small and unpolished, something as the Malta gold is worked. The
Rais collects the gold from those who cannot pay in the current coin. The
gold country of the merchants is not very distinctly understood by them.
Some say it is _fouk_, "above," Timbuctoo, others beyond Jinnee and
Bambara, about three months from Timbuctoo, in a south-west direction.
The country is called Mellee, which includes many large districts and
provinces, but the particular district is _Furra_. This is a flat and
sandy place, "not a stone," say the merchants, "is to be seen." The mines
of Furra, if such they may be called, are sold by auction, and the lot of
land is a lot of fortune, some plots producing nothing, others gold in
abundance. When the gold arrives at Timbuctoo, it is converted into
women's ornaments, mostly ear-rings. I have seen very few bags of
gold-dust or bars. There are no camel-caravans from Timbuctoo to Mellee
and Furra; people go in small parties on horses and asses; some go alone
on foot. Foot-travelling is very common in Central Africa; and these
pedestrian merchants or pedlars will make journeys of three and four
months. A merchant is obliged to remain some time before he can buy up
any quantity of gold; it is brought in such small quantities, and the
trade in gold is declining, and has been so for twenty years past. It is
probable the merchants take more of it now to the western coast and its
European factories. Certainly that route is safer than bringing it north,
over several months' journey of Desert.

The Rais is a most diligent servant of Government. One cannot help
observing, however, that the whole scope and end of governing with the
Osmanlis is--_money_. Of the people, their protection and improvement,
they rarely ever think. As the Rais is now busy in making every body book
up, some people asked me if there was much money in Tripoli? I told them
I did not think there was any money left. "The Pasha has plenty," cried
one. I took the trouble of explaining the new system, that each
functionary had a salary, granted by the Sultan, from the highest to the
lowest, and the Deftadar, after paying each his salary, sent the rest of
the money to Constantinople, where (as the Rais himself said) it was
"poured away as water." Perhaps this was speaking too freely, but the
Moslemites at times speak uncommonly free and bold for despotic
governments. The Bey of Tunis has often been menaced with hell-fire by
the Arabs, when they pleaded before him in the hall of judgment,
swearing, that if he did not deal to them justice, God would deal to him
vengeance.

The use of different terms is very curious in travelling through
North Africa, and each country has its peculiar Arabic word, the
words being all more or less classical. Perhaps no word is
so much used in Ghadames and The Mountains as the epithet
_batel_--‮باطل‬--"vain, useless," &c., and really answers in its
use to something like our tremendous "Humbug." It especially denotes
everything bad, false, and wrong, in any matter and in any body. On
the contrary, for the opposite epithet, various terms are used,
"_maleah_," "tayeb," and "_zain_," which latter term always means
pretty, as well as good. The polite Ghadamseeah are very fond of _zain_;
but it should properly apply to pretty women. The people use the term
‮شهر‬ "month," for moon, instead of ‮قمر‬. The ‮ق‬ is
not distinguished in pronunciation from ‮غ‬, and I have not attempted
it in writing. Indeed, I shall avoid as much as possible distinctions
which the generality of readers cannot understand.

Only one of my patients came to-day, the little blind boy. The Rais sent
me in the evening a fine dish and soup, on occasion of the night of the
first day's fasting. The people kept to-night as an _âyed_ or feast. A
Touarick took Said, my servant, aside, and whispered mysteriously in his
ear,--"Has the Christian fasted to-day?" Speaking to a liberal Moor, I
told him the fast was _bătāl_, inasmuch as the Mussulmans ate all night
and slept the greater portion of the day, making things equal; that to
fast really, as some Christians did, was to eat nothing, night or day. At
the time I added, "I am not such a fool as to increase the miseries of
this life by fasting when I can get anything to eat." The fellow,
laughing, observed, "You English are right." I see the fast is nearly
universal, old and young, rich and poor, high and low, all fast. They mix
with it strong religious feelings, and I dare say fanaticism, a quality
rarely apart from the purest religious sentiment. Still continue our
conversations on Timbuctoo. Most of the old respectable merchants have
been to Timbuctoo. One of them, Haj Mansour, resided there fourteen
years, carrying on a prosperous trade. But so perverse and unstable are
human affairs, that, on returning home after so long an exile, with
thirty camels laden with the riches of the interior, and with much fine
gold, and whilst within a few days of Touat, the banditti of The Desert
fell upon him and carried off everything, not leaving a water-skin to
quench his thirst! Had he not been near Touat, he would have perished in
The Desert. The Haj is quite black, though his features are not Negro. He
is now an old gentleman of upwards of seventy, and yet very active. His
family is immense; what with women, and girls, and sons, and grandsons,
it musters some thirty souls. He told me with bitterness, as if it had
been the case with himself, the merchants were often their own enemies,
they were so parsimonious that they would not hire a sufficient escort of
Touaricks, and so left defenceless in The Desert many were plundered and
ruined irretrievably. The greatest misfortune in travelling through the
country of the Touaricks is, their chiefs have not sufficient power to
control the people, and for whose actions they will not always be
responsible. One day you may meet with the best of men amongst the
Touaricks, the next day with a band of robbers; such is the uncertainty
and insecurity of The Desert.

_5th._--It would be a good project at least, and might be attended with
incalculable benefit, in promoting Christianity and civilization in
Africa, were portions of The Scriptures translated into Touarick, with
the native Touarick characters. Their vanity would be so exceedingly
excited that it would be almost impossible for them to refuse reading a
book written in their own dear characters. All can read their own
characters, but very few the Arabic. It is not a little surprising, if I
am to believe what I hear, that the Touaricks, with all their savage
boldness--whose home is The Desert--will not venture on a journey to
Tripoli. Many, many times have they been persuaded and pressed by the
coast merchants, but they have always set their faces against the
journey. Perhaps they think (as some, indeed, hinted to me) the Pasha
would keep them prisoners, and not let them return until they had
delivered up some of their districts to his authority. Whatever the
motive, it is strange that men, who wander through all parts of Central
Africa, cannot be prevailed upon to visit Tripoli. I have heard but of
one exception.

It is pleasant to witness the least sign of improvement in a people who
are commonly condemned by their own habits, their religion, and the
opinions of Europeans, to a retrograde or eternally stationary existence.
I was much pleased to observe in one of the small squares of the city a
tree recently planted, (the _tout_[23], a species of small white
mulberry,) which promises to afford not only a grateful shade to repose
under in summer's burning heat, but is in itself a pretty ornament. The
great fault of the Africans is want of forethought, or impatience of the
future. Their maxim is, to enjoy the present, to take no thought for the
morrow, but let the morrow provide for itself. Like all rude and
unlettered people, the precepts of religion are interpreted in their
strictest literality. To-day, I find more people in the streets, and the
Ramadan is not so visible in their faces as I expected it would be. The
fact is, the generality of the Saharan inhabitants, and especially the
poor Arabs eat but once, or make but one meal a day, and this in the
evening; so, in reality, as far as eating is concerned, the Ramadan is no
Ramadan with them. Saw the Rais, he is better than yesterday. His
Excellency called me a simpleton for talking with the Touaricks about
going to Timbuctoo; nevertheless, I feel as if I should like to go the
whole-hog--Timbuctoo, or nothing. The future will tell! His Excellency,
however, observed, that the Touaricks of Touat had nearly destroyed all
the banditti on the route of Timbuctoo. It is the interest of the
Touaricks to keep the routes free that they may have the advantage of the
visits and escorting of caravans.

One of the peculiarities of Ghadames is that there is no Jew resident in
the city. It is strange that a people of such a commercial genius as the
Israelites should never have had courage to undertake an enterprize over
The Great Desert, whilst they have crept all around it. In Tunis they are
scattered throughout the Jereed; in Algeria they are established at the
oases of Souf and Mezab; in Morocco we find them at Sous and Wadnoun; and
in Tripoli they are located in nearly every town of the coast, whilst a
few visit The Mountains. But, to the credit of the Jews and their
mercantile genius, it is not their fault. The fanaticism of the Ghadamsee
people would be strongly opposed to their residence here, more so than
against Christians; it is enough to support the overbearing Christian
_kafer_, without the pollution of the weak miserable Jew in their holy
city, for the _force_ principle makes the Mohammedans respect the
Christians. The weak are despised, the strong respected. I might,
however, have made the experiment of bringing a Jewish servant here: one
sadly wanted to come with me. Still a traveller should not unnecessarily
increase his difficulties, and excite the prejudices of the people
amongst whom he resides, mostly by sufferance. It is probable also the
mercantile jealousy of the people would be excited against the Jews.
Afterwards I learnt that two _Barbary_ Jews went either to Bornou or
Soudan, in the year 1844, and returned safe. Unfortunately this species
of Jew can add nothing to our stock of geographical knowledge beyond what
we may get from the Arabs and Moors themselves; his ideas of nature and
science are all the same, with the exception of a few religious dogmas,
and a strong national bias. The visit of these two Jews to Bornou excited
no attention in Tripoli. Along the line of The Desert the Jews help
commerce. They are great ostrich-feather merchants in Southern Morocco.
Some have said they go to Timbuctoo, but this report is not
authenticated. In Souf they greatly assist the Arabs in the exchange of
their products. About twenty families are established amongst the
Souāfah, in the greatest security of life and property. The Jews here
dress like the Arabs, and are not easily distinguishable from them. In
most of the interior districts they have the privilege of dressing like
the rest of the people.

The Rais is an old bachelor, like myself. He seems to live very
wretchedly without a wife. The good Mussulmans, who think it a sin to
live unmarried, excuse him because his residence in different parts of
the regency is uncertain, and he tells them he cannot lead about a wife.
The only object of affection of this bachelor is a parrot, which speaks
pure Housa lingo, and is very angry at the gruff tones of the Touraghee
language, always scolding the Touaricks when they speak.

My Marabout camel-driver once had an interesting conversation with me
about a plurality of wives:--

"It is not right to have more wives than one, because men and women are
nearly equally in numbers, and if one man has two wives another man must
go without even one."

_The Marabout._--"Oh, if a man has money, he may have two, or three, or
four?"

"That is not a good religion which gives four wives to one man because he
has money, and leaves another man without any because he has no money, or
not so much money as his neighbour."

_The Marabout._--"So it is," (as if convinced of the reasonableness of
the thing).

"Why has such an old man as Sheikh Makouran two young wives? This is
against nature."

_The Marabout._--"He plays; his time of work is past."

I believe this unequal distribution of the women is a great check on
population. It prevails to a greater extent amongst the Negro tribes. I
am not of opinion that Central Africa is populous. I saw nowhere any
populous districts myself.

The wood used in the construction of buildings is that of the date-tree,
which, apparently, grows stronger and tougher with age. Of this all the
doors of the houses and the lighter works are made. Wood for fireing is
brought in from The Sahara, but from a great distance. It is sold for
three Tunisian piastres the camel-load. It is the common brush-wood,
underwood, or scrub of The Desert, and is excessively dry, for withered
and dead trees or shrubs are gathered. In seasons of rain The Sahara
creates this wood quickly, it then perishes for want of rain. Sometimes
wood for building is brought from Tripoli, _i. e._, deal-boards. Our
caravan brought some doors for a mosque, made of deal.

This evening was a grand celebration of divine worship in the house of
the Rais, and a Marabout chanted verses from the Koran. His Excellency
certainly gains the respect, if not the affections, of the pious. He is
often said by the people to be a man who "fears God." I sat near the door
listening. A fellow said to me, "You must sit farther off whilst the
people are praying, it is unlawful to sit where you are." I took no
notice of his impertinence. The Rais sent me yesterday, as the evening
before, a very good supper. Being Ramadan, I stopped up till midnight
talking politics with him. He is a native of a province, near Circassia,
fallen under the iron rule of Muskou (the Russians). Having been in the
Syrian campaign he was enabled to see the _feeding_ of the English
soldiers and sailors, which quite astonished him. He observed, "The
Emperor of Russia will never have good troops, he scarcely gives them
anything to eat. It is not surprising they desert to the Circassians."
The Rais has a great dread of the Russians absorbing the Ottoman empire:
it is not an unreasonable dread.

_6th._--My turjeman complains that neither he nor the people can pay
their excessive taxes; they must all be soon ruined. Yet a couple of
thousand pounds per annum is nothing for a commercial city like this. He
says, "If we were to cultivate our gardens, we should have more; but then
the Turks would demand more, so our spirits are broken, and we are eaten
up. We have no heart to work for our oppressors." Continue to read the
Arabic New Testament, which aids me in colloquial disquisitions with the
people. The Ghadamsee people persist in not taking medicines during the
fast. One told me, "Even if a man dies, and medicine could save him, he
must not take it." I have therefore fewer patients during the inexorable
Ramadan. But I _save_ my tea and coffee--"An ill wind blows, &c." The
Rais, however, gets his tea in the evening. It is remarkable with what
willingness, and without any sort of prejudice, several of the people
offer me information. Even when refused, I always find it arises from
indolence to narrate it. They are not afraid that I am collecting
information to supply the English Government with the means of invading
their country, like some Moors in Barbary. They look upon the thing just
as it is,--that I am writing a book about their country to amuse
Christians.

The Sheikh of the slaves came in, with several Ghadamsee youths:--

"The Governor says, you are not the Sheikh; _he_ is the Sheikh."

"So, does he say?"

(_The Youths._--"But the Sheikh _is_ the Sheikh.")

"I am," says the Sheikh, "from Timbuctoo; all the people are Mohammedans,
and fast. Do you fast?"

_I._--"I eat and drink what is good at all times, even wild-boar."

_The Sheikh and Youths._--"Oh, wonderful!"

_They._--"You write Arabic?"

I wrote that God was _one_.

_They._--"And write Mahomet was the Prophet of God?"

I wrote Mahomet was the Prophet of the Arabs and the Touaricks?

_The Sheikh._--"Ah, ah, I see, I see, you're very cunning."

_The Youths._--"Who is your Prophet?"

_I._--"Aysa (Jesus)."

_The Youths._--"Have you any books of your Prophet?"

_I._--"Yes, here is one:" (Giving them the New Testament.)

_They._--"Oh, see, let us read it, let us take it home."

_I._--"No; if you were men, yes. But if I allow you to read it, or read
it to you, your Bey and the people will be offended with me, and send me
out of the city. When you go to Tripoli, you can see and read the
Christian books."

I was surprised that a well-informed man like the Sheikh Makouran should
ask me whether the Emperor of Morocco was also Emperor of Fez, and
whether Morocco was a large country. "Ghat," says the Rais, "like all the
Touarick countries, is a republic. All the people govern." Walked out
this evening for the first time to-day. The people are vehement in their
complaints against the oppressions of the Turks: "All the wealth of the
country is dried up, and the merchants are all running away. We are
ruined unless the English save us."

It has been very hot and sultry to-day. Not a breath of air. The sky
overcast--a profound, deathlike tranquillity sleeping over the environs!
The Rais sent supper as usual. After visiting him, he had a fit of
writing, and wrote for the courier all night. Thank God, there are no
gnats in Ghadames. I have not seen nor felt any. It is probably owing to
the absence of no water, stagnating here, all being absorbed in the dry
earth of the gardens.

_7th._--Read eight chapters of the Arabic Testament. Some of the phrases
very strangely rendered into Arabic. The Moors cannot understand them. My
Testament wants some verses: it is the ordinary Arabic Bible circulated
by The Bible Society. There is no good translation of The Scriptures into
Arabic, from what I have been able to learn. Continue to think all day
long and dream of Timbuctoo. Had a conversation with the Touaricks about
a journey there. The difficulty is, the strongest Touarick escort
practicable cannot always pass through the Touarick districts, there
being such a great variety of tribes. It is the quarrels of the Touaricks
themselves, and not our not being able to trust them individually, which
renders the route so dangerous.

Slave-dealing is so completely engendered in the minds of the Ghadamsee
merchants, that they cannot conceive how it can be wrong. A young man
wrote me down the objects (very few) of exportation from Soudan, and in
the following order, viz., "Cottons, elephants' teeth, _bekhour_
(perfume), wax, slaves, bullocks' skins, red skins, feathers, (of the
ostrich)." Human beings are just summed up with the rest as an article of
commerce, as a matter of course, in the most mercantile style.

It will be next to impossible to propagate anti-slavery notions in
Central Africa, supported as slavery is by commerce and religion. We can
only say, "With God nothing is impossible."

All the people bring their griefs and malcontentments to me. It's not so
pleasant to be bored by them, let alone the policy of my listening to all
they have to say. But the ill humour of these poor fleeced people must
have a vent, or _sfogo_, as the Italians term it, and what can I do? An
intelligent merchant came to me. "Yâkob, _bisslamah_, (how do you fare?)
The Rais is always collecting money, don't you see? That's the business
of the Turks. This city is 4000 years of age. It flourished before
Pharaoh, in the time of Nimrod. Now the Turks come to destroy it; their
business is to destroy; such is the will of God." I might elaborate the
idea. The genius of the Turks is to destroy. The hand of the Turk blasts
as mildew everything it touches; it has destroyed the fairest portions of
the earth. Happily, however, it so destroys itself, for it is not
desirable for truth and civilization that the sway of the Osmanlis should
be restored to its pristine strength.

Among the most friendly people to me in Ghadames are the Arab soldiers.
Now, whilst I write, not less than twenty of these poor fellows are lying
around my door, and in the _skeefah_ (entrance-passage or room) of my
house. They tell me always, my house is their house, and their mountains
my mountains. They all speak in the highest terms of Mr. Frederick
Warrington, son of Colonel Warrington, whom they call _Fredreek_. They
consider him as one of themselves, and so he is as to habits, manners,
and language, and frequently dress. When they quarrel in Tripoli, the
ultima ratio, or dernier ressort, is not to go to the Pasha, but _Nimshee
lel Fredreek_, "Let us go to Frederick!" This is "the settler." It has
often been said amongst the Consular corps of Tripoli, that, in case
Great Britain thought it expedient to assume the Protectorate of Tripoli,
Frederick Warrington would be their man, the instrument of revolution.
There is not a single Arab in the Regency but what would flock to his
standard. He has been all his lifetime in Tripoli.

M. Carette, in his brochure of the _Commerce of Central Africa_, says,
"Timbaktou, Kânou, et Noufi sont les trois marchés principaux du pays des
Noirs. Les voyageurs du Nord ne parlent pas du Niger; c'est une limite
qu'ils ne franchissent pas; ils paraissent n'avoir aucunes relations avec
les populations Mandingues de la rive droite:" (p. 26). This is inexact.
The merchants do speak of the Niger frequently to me, calling it the
_Wady Neel_, thinking, and which is a very ancient opinion, that it is a
continuation of the Nile of Egypt. They also visit the opposite shores or
banks of the Mandingoes. Some of them go to Noufi, as M. Carette admits;
on my leaving for Ghat, a merchant going to Noufi was my fellow
traveller, and promised to accompany me there. Here Mr. Becroft has
recently, from the south-east, ascending the Niger, shaken hands with the
merchants of the north. An old slave, a native of _Sansandee_ (or
_Sinsindee_ ‮سنسندي‬) says of the Niger, "The river is like
the sea of Tripoli and all sweet" (water.)

The Sheikh Makouran does not approve of my Timbuctoo ideas. Says the city
is always in an uproar with the Touaricks, who are robbers and not like
the Touaricks of Touat. Walked through the town at noon, and met
Essnousee, had not seen him for some time, and wondered what had become
of him. He was very friendly, and wanted to bring me lemonade in the
street. But as there was a large concourse of people present, all
fasting, poor devils, at this time of the day; I thought common decency
required me to go with him to his house. I waited in a dark corner close
by his door, and here I quaffed the forbidden draught in the high-noon of
the Fast. He smiled at me when I finished, and said, "Well done, Yâkob."
He gave me also a fine melon to bring home with me. I considered this
feat of drinking lemonade, under the circumstance related, a remarkable
trait of tolerance. People usually put into their lemonade pieces of rag
steeped in lemon-juice and dried; in this way the juice is preserved from
evaporation. Essnousee had just lost his wife. "Have you any other
wives?" I said. "Oh yes," he replied, "one here and one in Ghat." Many of
the merchants, like the roving tar who has a sweetheart at every port,
have a wife at every city of The Desert and Soudan where they trade.
Several of the children now in Ghadames were born either in Timbuctoo or
Soudan.

_8th._--Few patients on account of the Ramadan. Weather extremely sultry.
People bear the fast remarkably well, and with good humour enough. The
Rais persists in sending me supper though I would rather he did not.
After mass and chanting prayers in the evening, his Excellency holds a
court. He abused the Sultan of Constantinople and called him an ass for
spending his money like a fool, and this license before all the people!
Smoking, drinking coffee, talking, and writing for the courier, all
together, so his Excellency passes his Ramadan evenings. Said, my negro
servant, is becoming as great a man as his master in Ghadames. He
receives visits from all the slaves of the city, as well as the free
negroes. Being slaves, I am very indulgent, and sometimes they stop all
day with him. The slaves of the Touaricks also come. Said manages to talk
with them all in all languages. I see there is a sort of free-masonry
amongst negroes, and they all (which is greatly to their credit) stick
close to one another, and take one another's part. Said is impatient
about his _âtka_, or freedom ticket. He said to me to-day--

"Oh, Sidi, where's my âtka? The people will steal me and sell me again."

"No, Said," I replied, "have patience, if they steal you, they must steal
me also."

Visited with Said to-day "the Street of Slaves." This is a little dark
street appropriated for the rendezvous of the slaves in my part of the
city, where they enjoy the cool of the evening and chat together. I
squatted down to chat amongst them, which awakened their curiosity.

"Who's that naked boy there?"

_They._--"The Touaricks brought him from Bornou."

"What are they going to do with him?"

_They._--"The Touaricks will send him to Tripoli, and sell him; will you
buy him?"

"No, no; if I buy him, my sultan will put me in prison."

(_They_, one to the other.--"Do you believe him?")

"The English had many slaves, but gave them all the _âtka_; and soon,
please God, they will destroy slavery in all the world."

_They._--"Ah, ah," (laughing), "that's right; we wish to have the
_âtka_."

I found some were from Soudan, others from Timbuctoo, the greater part
from Bornou. About a score of them were present; their greatest delight
was in exchanging their various lingos. When they heard I was going to
Kanou, one jumped up like a fury, saying, "Oh, I must send something to
my mother." This was a poor grey-headed wrinkled-faced old man! His poor
mother, alas! may have been long ago whipped to death upon the cotton
plantations of South Carolina, where the blood of the slave is poured out
to fertilize the fields of pampered republicans, and give tongue to the
braggadocio of the free sons of the Model-Republic!

To-day, saw three swallows in a garden for the first time at Ghadames.
They darted over the heads and through the foliage of the graceful palms,
performing sweet eccentric circles. To me, they were winged messengers
from the fair bowers and silvery brooks of Paradise.

To give an idea of the general ignorance of the Ghadamsee people on
European geography, I have only to record a part of a conversation with
them.

_They._--"Where's your country; is it near Rome?"

"No; further to the west and north."

_They._--"Did not the English spring from the Arabs?"

"No; the English are from the north, a colder country; the Arabs are from
a hot country."

_They._--"Are the Greeks like the English? and is their country near
yours?"

"No; they are farther from us than Rome itself."

_They._--"Do the English fast?"

"Sometimes; but when they fast they don't eat in the night time, like
you; they fast day and night."

_They._--"That's not good; that's not right. Do you fast?"

"Never, thank God."

The people bother my life out about fasting. Two young Touarick women
came to me--

"Thou Christian! dost thou fast?" (they having never seen a person before
who did not fast).

"No; the Christians don't fast."

_The girls._--"Don't the Christians know God?"

"Yes, they know God."

_The girls._--"No, they don't, for they don't say Mahomet is the prophet
of God."

The sum of religion amongst many of the wild tribes, is the formula of
Mahomet being the prophet of God--fasting and circumcision. Many of the
Touaricks, however, will not fast, or fast with difficulty, it involving
the cessation of smoking, of which they are passionately fond. A
Touarick, who was accustomed to visit Mr. Gagliuffi at Mourzuk, ridiculed
the Ramadan, and called those who fasted, fools. He would squat down in
Mr. Gagliuffi's house, and take out his pipe at midday, and say, "Come,
Consul, let's have a _drink_ of the pipe. These people who fast all day
are asses." Other Touaricks, more scrupulous, always set out on a journey
during Ramadan, in order to have the relaxation permitted by the law.

The Rais is deeply engaged in petty finance, some quite mites, to make up
the accounts for Tripoli. Whilst seated near his Excellency, a big lout
of a fellow was brought up, charged with beating a little urchin, who
was present to substantiate the charge. The Rais, after gravely hearing
the case, had the big clown turned round with his hands tied behind him,
and then told the little rogue aggrieved to lay it into him as hard as he
could with his fists clenched. The little imp, who looked as wicked as
imp could be, instantly gave the broad back of the great fellow half a
dozen strokes. Hereupon all the bystanders, and the officers of his
Excellency, burst into a fit of tremendous laughter, and the big coward
was allowed to escape, sneaking off like a dog with his tail between his
legs. The Rais came up to me smiling with great self-complacency, and
said--"Well, isn't that the way to administer justice?" I then astonished
the hangers-on of his Excellency's Court, by relating to them some
account of the expeditions to the North Pole. They asked me whether any
Mussulmans were there, and how they could fast when the sun did not set?
Several said I merely invented the account to amuse them. In this case,
and also in that of the precepts of the Mosaic Institute, we see the
inconvenience of making the precepts of religion depend on local and
physical circumstances.

I have seen little urchins in Italy, before the flaming wax-light altars,
drink in with their mother's milk the virus of Popery, but I never
witnessed a stronger case of infantile prejudice than to-day. A child of
less than three years old came running out of a by-street (apparently no
person being near it), and called after me, _Kafer, kafer_, "Infidel,
infidel"! and spat at me in the bargain like a little toad.

Noon.--I met with a fellow, a sort of swaggering cheap-jack
penny-a-liner, who swore that there was no man so learned as himself in
all Ghadames, and that he would teach me the history of Ghadames, and all
the world, _for money_. He then followed me home, asked me for my
journal, and wrote in it five lines of Arabic poetry. Meanwhile I poured
him out a cup of tea, putting a large lump of sugar in it. When he had
finished his five lines, which he did without being asked, he impudently
demanded a dollar for his trouble. I told some Arabs who were present to
turn him out of the house. He decamped, but not before giving us his
blessing--"The curse of God be upon you Arab dogs, and the Christian
dog."

Awfully hot to-day. The hottest day since my residence in Ghadames. Yet,
strange to say, when shut up in my room, I feel very little of it. My
house is only one story high; there is only a single roof between me and
this sun of fire--a strong proof of how little is necessary to protect
you from the heats of The Sahara. Late at night, when sitting with the
Rais, he amused me with pulling off his greegrees or talismans. As he
pulled off each he kissed it devoutly, and laid it by gently on his
papers. He wears one round his arm in the shape of an armlet, and three
round his neck, two suspended with separate ribbons, and one with a
silver chain. As he kissed each, he put it to his eyes, rubbing it over
the eyelid. I am sadly afraid his charms obtain all the credit of my
solution of nitrate of silver. Be it so; it is hard to cure men of this
sort of folly, at best a most unwished, unrequited labour[24]. I always
tell the Ghadamsee people the medicine I distribute neither belongs to
me, nor to the English Consul at Tripoli, but to the Queen of England,
and which, I have observed, heightens its value in their eyes. _Douwa
min, ând Sultana Ingleeza_, ("physic from the English Sultana",) is a
sort of royal talisman which helps the medicine down as a bit of sugar
taken with a child's draught.

_10th._--The women brought several little children, all ailing, but could
do very little for them. Occupied writing most of the day. Spent the
evening with the Rais. His Excellency is very fond of politics: "The
Touaricks number more than two hundred thousand souls. They are dispersed
over all The Desert. The Sahara is not so difficult to occupy as some
think; it can be more easily conquered than the mountainous districts.
The country is more open. The only difficulty is the wells. But in
winter, the time when military expeditions are undertaken, there is water
on the line of most of the grand routes, and camels can supply a large
body of compact troops, where there are no wells. At the different wells
small forts could be built, like that I am building at _Emjezzem_, which
forts the Touaricks would never dare approach. The wells once in
possession of the invading force, it would be impossible for any
considerable body of Arabs or Touaricks to follow up or after their
steps. Twenty thousand men could occupy, in detachments, the greater part
of The Sahara. The French will go to Touat one day, not yet!" But the
Rais never spoke much against the French. He often said, "I wish the
French would exterminate the _Shânbah_ banditti, the Sultan would applaud
them for it. I pray God the French will destroy these robbers."

Continue to agitate the question of a tour farther into the interior.
Have almost determined to pursue the route of Ghat, and accompany the
ghafalah of the Ghadamsee merchants. This route has two advantages for
me--I shall be safe with my old friends the merchants, and the route has
never before been trodden by an European traveller. The routes of Bornou
and Timbuctoo have been travelled by Europeans, though some of the
parties have never returned. One thing is certain--unless I go to the
first-hand traffickers in human flesh--to the heart of Africa itself, I
can never get the information which I require. Am told I can defray the
expense of the whole journey from here to Kanou and back, (exclusive of
presents), for about fifty pounds sterling, but it must be with economy.
Afterwards saw several merchants again on the question, felt discouraged,
and my faith shook in the Ghat route. They think the best route for me
Bornou, thence I may proceed to Kanou, and perhaps even to Timbuctoo. It
is astonishing how everybody's opinion varies; the majority,
nevertheless, are in favour of the Bornou route for me. Probably they are
afraid of the responsibility of escorting me through the Touarick
districts. Determined a day or two after to go to Kanou _viâ_ Ghat and
Aheer. Cannot see any danger if I stick close to the Ghadamsee merchants.
A young merchant said to me, "Yâcob, we are not jealous of you, for you
are not a merchant. You can draw your money, and get it ready. The
ghafalah will be cheap for you, for no escort will be required. You can
go without your Consul, or the Pasha, or the Rais."

The wind continues hot to-day; the _ghiblee_ is getting more suffocating
and intense. Everything is drooping and the poor emaciated fasters are
dying with thirst. The air is as the small still breath of the furnace
when its heat is at the greatest intensity, without flame or smoke.

_11th._--Every day, in spite of the Ramadan, brings an increase of
patients. In time there will not be a single inhabitant of Ghadames who
has not been physicked by my quackery. I notice my negro servant Said is
gradually expanding into a full-blown reputation, of which he is very
proud. The Mussulmans pay him almost more deference than myself, and I
ought to be jealous. It is the plan in these countries to influence the
masters through the servants; so whenever anything is to be obtained, the
masters are not spoken to, but the servants, which latter are feed and
bribed until the object is obtained. Preached anti-slavery and
anti-Ramadan doctrines to Berka, the liberated slave of Sheikh Makouran.
The poor fellow confessed it was better to eat and drink in the Ramadan,
and not steal men and sell them as slaves, than to fast in the Ramadan,
and steal men and sell them. The old lad has great influence amongst the
slaves of Ghadames, being their senior, and the liberated slave of one of
the most respectable men of the country. He went and preached in turn to
the slaves my anti-slavery and anti-fast principles.

It may be observed here, that information can only be obtained bit by
bit, here a little and there a little; and it is absolutely necessary to
note everything down immediately if you would not forget it, at least if
you would be correct. The Moors and Arabs have no patience, beyond a few
minutes, in giving information, unless it be something where their own
interests are deeply concerned. My scattered notes must then be compared
one with another to arrive at a proper idea of the objects respecting
which they treat. Some notes will necessarily correct others.

A Touarick came in whilst I was eating my dinner this evening, about half
an hour before sun-set. I was sitting in the patio, or open court of my
house. The Touarick, standing erect before me, with a long spear in his
right hand, and extending his left towards the sky, looked up, and then,
with an air of imposing solemnity, uttered these words in a measured,
solemn tone: "And--thou--Christian--thou fastest--thus! Thy
father--knoweth--not--God! Thou art a _Kafer_--he is a Kafer--and the
fire[25] at last will eat you both up!" Turning round, and looking up to
this prophet-like denunciator, I said, smiling: "Why, how now? you
Mussulmans fast, and think you are righteous; but whether is it better to
eat and drink on the Ramadan, for which God cares nothing, or fast in the
Ramadan, and go afterwards and steal or buy men and women and little
children, like your little son there, and take them to Tripoli, and sell
them like donkeys and camels? This is forbidden to us English--this is
our religion, not to steal and sell men, but to eat and drink in the
Ramadan is not forbidden to us." After this answer, which I had some
difficulty in making him comprehend, the fellow stood speechless,
completely staggered. I continued to eat my dinner with a good appetite,
notwithstanding his threatening position and silence. God knows what was
passing through his mind. After a long pause he receded back a few steps,
and then quietly squatted down. He then got up again, and said, "Have you
any medicines for my mother in Ghat?" I told him to come to-morrow, and I
would give him some.

Rais occupied as usual this morning with collecting money. He avows with
exasperation that the people have deposited all their money in the hands
of a few merchants of Tripoli, who are under the protection of the
Consuls. He was writing teskeras to obtain money from those Tripoli
merchants. "The Pasha," he added, "gets no benefit from these deposits,
nor the people. The Tripoli merchants are lying, bloodsucking Jews." Did
not go out again till the evening; occupied in copying a long letter for
_The Times_. My sugar and tea go very fast. Do not know what I should
have done unless the Ramadan had interposed to save these luxuries of The
Desert. It is surprising how rigid the fast is kept. Not a soul in the
city of the proper age who does not fast.

_12th._--Weather continues very sultry. The wind has scarcely changed for
a month, always south. To-day I ate camel's flesh for the first time, but
did not like it much; it depends, however, upon the part you eat, as also
upon the camel itself, whether young or old, or in a good condition. The
camel is usually killed when past work, and very lean and poor. The
people call camels' flesh their beef; it does serve as a substitute for
bullocks' flesh, no bullocks being killed here. The whole carcase was
immediately sold as soon as exposed in the Souk.

_13th._--Wrote this evening to the Governor of Ghat, to tell him I wished
to come to Ghat, and begged for his protection; and that I should be
obliged if he could send some trusty person to fetch me, whose expenses I
would pay. Wrote also letters to go by courier to Tripoli.

_14th._--Weather continues hot. My taleb calls the season _khareef_,
"autumn;" and says the fruits of heaven which are always ripe have
nevertheless a peculiar ripeness at this period. Staring at him, he
continued, "Yes, there is a greater correspondence between earth and
heaven than people think." I was recommended this taleb by the Rais. He
writes my Arabic letters for The Desert; he calls himself Mohammed Ben
Mousa Bel Kasem. The reader will hear now a great deal about him, and his
learning and character. He takes up my Arabic Bible now and then, and
reads a verse or two; but it is astonishing how little effect, even in
the way of curiosity, it produces on the mind of these Mussulmans. One
would think at least they would like to know something of its contents.
Notwithstanding, The Book, which contains the religion of the civilized
world, hardly excites curiosity enough in them to take it up and read a
single verse! I have often offered it to them to read, but they have
refused to open the book. A great disadvantage is the crabbed, miserable
language into which it is translated. After the bold, impudent, and
sublime language of the Koran, they cannot relish the tame and stunted
language of the Arabic New Testament. As for the simple and grand truths
of the New Testament, these they cannot or will not comprehend. Force,
or the Sword--as the Might of the Almighty--is the thing alone which
strikes the minds of Mussulmans, in spite of all their moral maxims and
philosophy. But I must confess I never expected that a religion like that
of the Koran, which contains so few fundamental truths, and so few
mysteries, would have produced such a race of superstitious pharisees.
To-day a fellow, whose eyes are dreadfully inflamed with ophthalmia,
refuses to have them _doctored_, because the solution administered to the
eye may enter the stomach, by which he would violate the sanctity of the
Ramadan. I can only beg him to come at night. Another jackanapes, who
suffers equally, refuses to have my solution at all applied. He said to
me, "I suffer, and I may be blind, but it will be the will of God." I
wonder the whole population is not blind. Another sufferer craved a
talisman to drink with water at night[26].

FOOTNOTES:

[23] _Tut_, "Morus alba," L. It is pleasant and sweet, but a
    little insipid eating.

[24] Whether the Rais brought his superstitious reverence for
    amulets from Turkey or not I cannot tell, or acquired the notion
    here. But the superstition seems merely to have changed place with
    the Fetisch amongst the Negro Mohammedan converts. Haj Ibrahim, a
    merchant of Tripoli, was the only Mussulman I found who despised
    the use of charms. He observed:--"The _grigri_ is only fit for
    slaves, or ignorant Mussulmans."

[25] Hell is ordinarily denominated _fire_ by people in The
    Desert.

[26] Caillié gives an affecting account of this superstition
    amongst the Mandingoes:--

    "On the 8th, I found myself very ill in consequence of the food,
    and I had an attack of fever. I took a few doses of sulphate of
    quinine, which had the effect of abating the fever for a few days.
    My host seemed much concerned at my indisposition. He searched
    through some old books which contained verses of the Koran, and
    brought me a scrap of paper well fumigated on which was written a
    charm in Arabic characters, assuring me that it was an excellent
    remedy for the disorder under which I was suffering. He directed
    me to copy it on a little piece of wood which he brought me; then,
    to wash off the writing with some water which I was to drink: he
    observed that this would to a certainty relieve me. To please him
    I copied the writing as he directed, and when he was gone washed
    the bit of board; but instead of drinking the water I threw it
    away, which had quite as good an effect, for next day I found
    myself tolerably well. My host, of course, attributed my amendment
    to the efficacy of his remedy."




CHAPTER VI.

THE FAST OF THE RAMADAN.

     The Sahara, and derivation of the Name.--Astonishment of the
     People at the Sovereign of England being a Woman.--Decision of
     the Kady on a diseased Camel.--The old Mendicant
     Bandit.--Phrenological examination of the Servants of the
     Rais.--The Scorpion and the Chamelion.--Starving state of the
     Arab Troops.--Contradictions in the Moorish
     Character.--Difficulty of acquiring notions of Quantities and
     Distances from the People.--The Princes to whom Presents are made
     in the Soudan Route.--How Butchers cut up their Meat.--Connexion
     between North Africa, The Sahara, and the East.--The Prophecy of
     The Dajal and Gog and Magog.--Origin of the Turks, Touaricks, and
     Russians.--How the Fast is broken in the Evening.--Phenomenon of
     Desert Sound.--The Great Spring of Ghadames.--The Malta
     Times.--The People their own Enslavers.--Quotation from
     Scripture.


A TALEB tells me that _The Sahara_ is so called from its consisting
mostly of rocky stony ground, and its name is a cognate term with
_Sakharah_, ‮صخرة‬, _i. e._ "rock." This derivation we can scarcely
admit, although as we advance into The Sahara we shall find at least
a third of its entire surface to consist of rocks and stones, and
mountains. _The Sahara_--‮الصحرا‬--being the theatre of my
adventures and researches, deserves a little consideration as to the
derivation of this appellation, for so vast a proportion of the
African Continent. A late French writer, M. Le Lieutenant-Colonel
Daumas, defines The Sahara as "une contrée plate et très-vaste, où
il n'y a que peu d'habitants, et dont la plus grande partie est
improductive et sablonneuse." This definition presents no proper
idea of The Sahara. We have already seen it intersected with long
low ridges of mountains, but we shall soon meet with groups of high
mountains, as well as find it bristled over and bounded by
interminable chains. We shall find also that but a certain portion
of its actual mass consists of sand. Unproductive the greater part
undoubtedly is, or rather uncultivated; and its population, compared
with its vast sterile surface, is extremely small, perhaps not one
inhabitant to many thousand square miles. The Mahometan talebs give
the following curious etymology of the term Sahara. "We call
_Sehaur_," they say, "that point scarcely distinguishable which
precedes the point of day, (_fidger_), and during which, in the time
of Ramadan, we can eat, drink, and smoke. The most rigorous
abstinence ought to commence from the time of morning, or when we
can distinguish a white thread from a black thread. The _Sehaur_ is
then a shade between night and the point of day, which is important
for us to seize upon and to determine, and which ought to occupy the
attention of our Marabouts. One of them, Ben-ej-Jiramy, starting on
the principle, that the _Sehaur_ is more easily and sooner
distinguished by the inhabitants of the plains, where nothing bounds
the horizon, than by the mountaineers, who are enveloped in masses
of earth, concludes that, from the name of the phenomenon there
formed, viz., on the plains, where it is more particularly
distinguished or observed, we have named the country _Sahara_, or
the country of the _Sehaur_." In this whimsical and ingenious
derivation there is a change of the ‮س‬ into ‮ص‬, but which is
sufficiently frequent in the Shemitic languages. The grand fallacy
of the above etymology is, that it assumes the Sahara to be a
perfectly flat country, or country of plains, which is not the fact.
The talebs also give various names to different portions of The
Sahara, according to the geological character of the country.
_Feeafee_ is The Oasis, where life is retired, and one spends one's
happy days amidst eternal springs of living water, reclining under
palms and fruit trees, securely sheltered from the burning simoon
(_shoub_). _Keefar_, is the sandy arid plain, which, occasionally
watered by the winter's revivifying refreshing and fructifying
rains, produces spring herbage, where the Nomade tribes pasture
their flocks in the neighbourhood of the oases. _Falat_, is the
region of sands in the immensity of steril wastes. But all these
distinctions are arbitrary, and can be predicated of tracts of
country lying on the North Coast of Africa, as well as the boundless
Sahara. On the coast of Tripoli we have the oasis, the arid plain,
and the groups of sand-hills of eternal sterility. Captain Lyon
enumerates in the same way as the talebs, the various names which
the Arabs apply to different regions of The Desert. _Sahara_ is sand
alone, forming a plane surface, which agrees with the hypothesis of
Ben-ej-Jiramy. _Ghoud_ is groups of sand-hills of indefinite height,
situate on the borders of stony plains, where the wind has formed
and collected them. _Sereer_, is generally plains, whence the
sand-hills have been swept, and where alone sand-hills are found.
_Wâr_, is a rough plain, covered with large detached stones, lying
in confusion, and very _difficult_ to pass over, which is the
meaning of the appellation. It is applied to all difficult traverse.
_Hateea_, is a spot possessing the power of fertility; indeed, those
patches of land which are the germs of the oases, now producing
small stinted shrubs scattered at intervals, from which camels
browse a scanty meal, or travellers make their Desert fire.
_Wishek_, is productive sand-hills and plains, where the wild palm
and lethel-tree grow. _Ghabah_, distinguishes cultivated Sahara,
sometimes a portion of the oases, but mostly where there are no
inhabitants. So near Touat, there is a cultivated place called
Ghabah, and without inhabitants. But the people of Ghadames call
also their gardens Ghabah. Sibhah, is the usual name for all salt
plains, sometimes called _Shot_ in Algeria, being mostly sandy salt
marshes. Like the Sibhah of Emjessen, and "The Lake of Marks," in
Tunis, the saline particles are often combined with earths or sand
so closely as to form a substance resembling stone, and equally hard
to break or cut through. With this _salt_ stone houses are built.
_Wady_, is the designation of all long deep depressions of the
surface, and is used indifferently for a valley, a bed of a river,
or torrent, or ravine. These wadys are almost always dry, except one
or two months in the winter. _Gibel_, is applied to all hills and
mountains. It is quite evident, from the above enumeration, that
these various terms can be equally applied to the coast and other
regions of land, not comprehended within the assigned limits of The
Sahara, and are therefore not peculiar to The Great Desert of
Sahara.

All the people are astonished when I tell them the British Sovereign is a
lady. They have enough to believe it; indeed, some of them do not, and
think I am trifling with their credulity. It goes against the grain, and
their grain especially, to be ruled over by a woman, (though many of
them, from my own personal knowledge, are entirely under the influence of
their wives _in private_, as all or most men are,) and is contrary to
all their notions of government and womankind. I was surrounded with a
group when the information was given, and I shall just mention the
questions which were put to me in rapid succession. "Does that woman
_govern well_?" "Has she a husband? What does her husband?" "Has she any
children?" "Is she a big woman?" "Is she beautiful?" "How much does she
pay you for coming to our country?" "Who has more power, she or the
Sultan (of Constantinople)?" "What's her name?" "Have the Christians any
other women who govern?" And so forth. I explained to them that Spain and
Portugal were ruled by two other Queens, but that, in France, a Queen
never reigns. At the mention of this latter fact, there was general
murmur of approbation, "El-Francees ândhom _âkel_ (the French have
wisdom)." To soften the matter down a little, and abate their prejudices,
I told them the father of the Queen of England had no sons, and in all
such cases, if there were daughters, these were allowed to govern the
people. "Batel (stupid)," said one fellow, and the conversation dropped.

Begin to like the place, as I find I can pick up information respecting
the interior. The merchants seem now more disposed to assume the
responsibility of taking me with them. Went through the market-place, and
witnessed a sitting of judgment upon a sick camel. This was an affair of
the Kady, a little, fat, chubby, cherub-looking fellow, but proud and
silent. The people said he was _sagheer_, "young," and excused his
uncanonical conduct. He sat, high placed on a stone-bench, amidst a
semicircle of people, squatting on the ground. He looked very grave, now
exchanging a word or half syllable with one, now with another, but
continually moving his lips as if in prayer. I met him afterwards in the
street, and always found him moving the lips, with his rosary of black
Mecca beads in his hands. He holds a separate and independent
jurisdiction from the Rais, and is the Archbishop or Pope of Ghadames.
His decision cannot be annulled by the authorities in Tripoli, but must
be referred to the Ulemas at Constantinople. He therefore thinks not a
little of himself, and with reason. Four questions were now before the
Kady, embracing physic, law, and divinity.

1st. To whom did the camel belong (for the Arabs disputed this)?

2nd. Could it recover from its sickness, or was it incurable?

3rd. Whether it should be killed, if it could not be cured?

4th. Whether it should be eaten after it was killed?

The diseased, emaciated camel lay groaning just without the semicircle.
There was a large abscess over the shoulders, produced by the loads it
had carried, besides other sores. A million of flies was then settled on
the abscess, which was a running sore. It was a most disgusting sight.
But not to the people who eyed the poor animal as connoisseurs. I learnt
afterwards the Kady's decision was: "The camel is incurable, but may be
killed and eaten." I asked the people whether they were not afraid to eat
an animal which was so much diseased. They replied, "No, it is the
judgment of the Kady. To-morrow we shall kill and eat it. To-day there's
camels' flesh enough." I was astonished at the Kady's decision, and told
the people diseased animals were not allowed to be killed for eating in
our country, for there was danger in their making people ill. Some
approved of this; but the population is much poorer than I, at first,
thought, and the indigent are glad to catch anything. The few rich bury
their money in foreign speculations, or hoard it up in their houses.
After the decision, the miserable camel was left alone in the Souk, a
prey to the flies, which were voraciously feeding on its running sores,
till the next day. Semi-civilized people cannot comprehend the mercy or
duty of alleviating the sufferings of the inferior creation.

To-day a new case of severe ophthalmia. This was that of a woman, who
also had a fever. To my agreeable surprise, a number of her friends
decided that she should take a fever-powder, in spite of the Ramadan. I
administered it myself, and she drank it greedily. I was glad of such a
marked exception to the rigid fasting. Her relatives said she was
permitted to drink it, first, because she was _a woman_, and, secondly,
because she was sick. This was the law of the Kady. Met a remarkable
Touarick in the streets. This is an old worn-out man, with one eye, and
that much damaged. In his day he has been a famous bandit, has plundered
many a caravan and murdered the hapless merchants. He is now, in his
dreadful old age, sheltered in the very city whose wayfaring merchants he
so often plundered and murdered. The judgment of heaven seems pressing
hard upon him; for he is poor and miserable, a beggar in the streets--all
his ill-gotten wealth is gone! He leads about a little lad, whom he calls
his son, and who seems to afford the wretched old villain his only repose
of mind, if repose he can have from so horrible a conscience. I gave the
child a small coin. The inhabitants feed the bandit, and tolerate him
with an admirable spirit of merciful forgiveness. And if _they_ do, who
cries for vengeance?

Wrote to-day a letter to the Pasha of Tripoli, thanking His Highness for
the kind attentions I had received from the Governor of Ghadames. I never
did anything with such good will. It was, besides, an absolute duty.

This afternoon examined phrenologically, _bump_ologically, the heads of
many children. There was a considerable variety in the _bumps_, as well
as the configuration, of the cranium. Some of the heads were well
flattened on either side, others rounded, and mostly low, depressed
foreheads, with "self-esteem" and "love of approbation" ascending
appallingly far up at the back of the head. Very few men or children have
the frontal regions well developed. Examined a man esteemed a great
dervish, who is always reading and writing the Koran. It's strange that
the saint had the organ of veneration well developed. The Rais hearing of
my cunning in this occult science, which some of the people called a new
_deen_, ("religion,") wished to see me perform; so, on visiting him in
the evening, he ordered forth all his understrappers and hangers-on, and
made them submit to the fearful ordeal of head _pummelling_, first
begging me to speak out everything, and then calling for fire to light
his pipe, that he might muse over the exhibition _à la Turque_. The first
officer examined was collector of the revenue, a native of Derge, a
regular task-master in his way, and very malicious; I was frightened
what to say. All was attention, the Rais particularly wishing to know if
he was a thief, and had secreted Government money in his house. This his
Excellency told me afterwards, when we were alone. The collector
happened, by good luck, to have a large "acquisitiveness," and
"benevolence" at the same time. This I explained to the Rais, and said
the one balanced or neutralized the other. Tayeb, ("good"), said his
Excellency, much chagrined, his Excellency evidently wishing to have had
the fellow made out a thief. I must not continue through all the
examinations. Suffice it to say, by this display of my new craft, I was
raised very much in the estimation of everybody. But the most surprising
thing was, a Touarick affirmed to the Rais, with great vehemence, that
one of his neighbours was a phrenologist, and acquired his knowledge from
the _jenoun_ ("demons"). The major-domo of his Excellency, (who had had a
good character given to him in the examination,) was very angry at this
attempt to lower my credit of being the first to teach phrenology in the
The Desert, and pushed the Touarick out of the Rais's house, and we only
just escaped a disturbance, or losing all our fun, the Touarick drawing
his sword to defend himself. In general I was disappointed, and did not
observe the African and Moorish forms of cranium so much marked as I
expected. They were all, thank goodness, pretty cleanly shaved. It is
well known Mussulmans generally shave their heads, and leave their beards
unshaven. This is, then, a splendid field for accurate phrenological
observation. I observed that the negroes have all of them "self-esteem"
most surprisingly developed. From this, (if the science were true, which
I very much question[27],) we could easily deduce their habitual gaiety,
for a man who has always a good opinion of himself is rarely miserable.

Just after the examination finished, whilst we were all very gay,
smoking, drinking coffee, talking, and laughing, one of the Moors started
up suddenly, and in an instant, taking his shoe, lying beside him, struck
something down with a great smack on the floor; it turned out to be an
immense scorpion! I felt a chill start through all my blood. The smashed
reptile looked hideous in the dim light of the Ramadan lamp. This is the
third scorpion within a fortnight the Rais has killed in his own house;
one of enormous size he killed a few days ago. The Rais called for more
coffee, and said coolly and laconically, "It's all _maktoub_ between you
and the scorpions; if they are to bite you, they will." His Excellency
thought the sting often deadly. My taleb joins the rest in their notions
of fatality. In coming home with me afterwards, I said to him, "I am
alarmed at these scorpions, as there's no security from them; for you say
they get upon the beds, on the tops of the houses, and in every hole and
corner." The taleb--"I am not afraid; I am always killing them in my
house, and yet I fear them not, for it's all from God. If they are
destined by _Rubbee_ to sting me to death, they will, so I do not disturb
myself. You Christians are foolish." It does not appear that this reptile
strikes a person unless it be attacked, or trodden upon. The people say
they feed on _trāb_, "dust" or "dirt." Yesterday the chameleon was seen
in the gardens: there is a few in Ghadames, and in most parts of North
Africa. The one I saw was a most unsightly creature. The construction of
the eyes is remarkable; they turn on a swivel, or seem to do so, and are
directed every way in a moment of time. It is a trite observation, that
the lower brute animal has many advantages over the more perfect and
rational animal. I often, _en route_, admired the beautiful facility with
which the camel turned its head and neck completely round, and looked
upon objects in every direction, without even moving its body, or if in
motion, without stopping. I watched the chameleon a long time, to see it
"change its colour;" it did so continually, but scarcely any of the
colours were agreeable or beautiful; they were mostly dunnish red and
yellow, and sometimes black brown; often-times it was covered with spots,
now with stripes, now with neither one nor the other. Once it was an ugly
black, and then of a light pale-green yellow. The fewness of animals in
this oasis occasions me to record its appearance. The people mention two
or three varieties of the species. They are fond of the chameleons, at
least, give them the full liberty of the gardens, without attempting to
destroy them.

The Sebâah, a freebooting tribe of Tunisian Arabs on the frontier, who
some two months ago plundered a Ghadames caravan near Gharian, have been
made to render up an account of the spoil. The Pasha of Tripoli wrote to
the Bey of Tunis, and the Bey has undertaken to make them surrender their
booty. The value is only about 1000 dollars, and forty camels. People are
very inquisitive about my personal affairs. They ask me repeatedly, why I
don't marry, or where are my wife and children? and add, "for you are
getting old, and have plenty of money." I usually reply, "I can't carry a
wife about with me all over the world." In the Desert and all over North
Africa, it is looked upon as a species of disgrace for a man not to be
married. It perhaps ought to be so everywhere; but our social system of
Europe is become now so bad, that nearly half of the people cannot afford
to marry. And so degraded in their feelings have become the lower classes
of the British Isles, that many of those who do marry, marry with the
clear understood determination of throwing their offspring upon the
public bounty. The Puseyite and Church alms-giving clergy, to their
shame, encourage our miserable population in these most despicable
sentiments, and tell the people it is their right as granted to them by
the founder and apostles of the Christian Church. Tyrants must have
slaves, and priestly tyrants as well as other sorts of tyrants; it is
therefore necessary there should be propagated a race of slaves.

This morning the poor old blind man demands the strong medicine for his
eye. He says, "I feel less pain in my eyes though I see no better." O
Dio! what a precious gift is sight--how persevering is this old man to
see again those sights of desert, palm, and oasis, which he saw in his
youthful days! Perhaps there is a tenth of the population of Ghadames
nearly blind, or quite blind. The Sheikh Makouran has calculated the
expense from Ghadames to Kanou, and back, for me, at two hundred dollars.
The Moors are essentially children in some things. Young men, full grown,
carry about with them in their pockets a little bit of white sugar to
suck, stowed away in needlecases. To-day, a ghafalah of Touaricks,
twenty persons, left for Ghat. They took my letter for the Governor. The
Touaricks are getting used to the sight of a Christian. My opinion is
also undergoing a favourable change towards them. Certainly, the best
informed of the Ghadamsee people give them a good character.

_15th._--The Rais killed two more scorpions after I left him last night.
A child was bitten a few days ago by a scorpion, and died to-day. His
Excellency hopes they will disappear after the Ramadan. The scorpion,
like many other venemous and deadly animals, is a creature of _heat_, and
in the winter is never seen. The scorpion usually comes out of his
hiding-places, or the crevices of the walls, during night time, and is
rarely seen in the day. Various remedies for its bite or sting, or
stroke, are in vogue here. People usually employ garlic: they both eat it
and rub it into the bitten or stricken part. Others cut round the stung
part, and then rub over the whole with snuff. People persist that the
scorpion eats dust, but that he is very fond of _striking Ben-Adam_ ("the
human race.") Two nights after the scorpion affair with the Rais, to our
dread and horror, Said killed a large one close by our beds. We always
sleep upon the ground-floor on matting. He was dozing in the night, after
his Ramadan midnight meal, when the monster scrambled past by his head
like an enormous crab. In the morning he showed me his sting as a trophy
of victory. We then examined all the walls in our sleeping apartment, and
stopped up cracks and crevices. After a short time the scorpions were
forgotten, or we got used to them; and the next one that Said had a chase
after, excited in me little attention. So I found, like the Moors,
myself a fatalist, or at least became reconciled to the presence of these
death-stinging reptiles. I found eventually, in fact, the people killed
them with as much unconcern as we do spiders. The scorpion is the only
creature armed with the fatal power of destroying life, which, for the
present I hear of in the oases of The Sahara. The Arabs, in their hatred
of the Touaricks, say, "The scorpion and the Touarick are the only
enemies you meet with in The Sahara."

_16th._--The old worn-out bandit met me, and asked me to cure his
rheumatic pains. "Show me your tongue," I said. He flatly refused, as
several persons were present. Then when I went away he came running after
me, and tried to put out his tongue, but did not succeed. I told him to
drink plenty of hot broth, and go to bed. He seemed satisfied. An Arab
soldier afflicted with diarrhœa, came for medicine. He waited till the
last rays of the sun were seen to depart from the minaret's top, before
he would take his pills. Meanwhile, he gave me a catalogue of grievances,
the sum and substance of which was, "he had nothing to eat." I questioned
him over and over again, and then, coming to the same stern conclusion, I
gave him some supper. Some weeks ago the Rais gave each soldier 3
Tunisian piastres, about 1_s._ 10_d._ Since then they had had nothing.
Substantially, I believe, he spoke the truth, for these poor fellows are
kept just above the starvation-to-death point. It is not surprising they
wish to return to their homes, or Tripoli, and that they pilfer about the
town. Asking him why the Rais did not give them a few karoobs, he replied
naively, "The Rais has none for us, but plenty to buy gold for his
horse's saddle." To-day, nor yesterday, could I buy any eatable meat. I
mean mutton, for this is the ordinary meat of the place, and upon which I
live, with now and then a fowl. But in the Souk another camel was killed,
and a great display was made of its meat. The camel was ill before
killed, but not so bad as the one already mentioned. Some fifty persons
were enjoying the sight of the camel being cut up, for the Moorish
butchers always cut up their meat into very small portions, sometimes not
bigger than a couple of mouthsful. Before killed, the camel sold for one
hundred and eight Tunisian piastres; the one on which the Kady gave
judgment, only produced thirty-three. (Tunisian piastres vary from 7_d._
to 9_d._)

Yesterday the weather sultry, and a few drops of rain fell on the parched
oasis--drops of ambrosia from the gods. To-day it is cloudy and cool, for
the first time since my residence here; a cool elastic sensation braces
up my poor drooping frame.

The Moor picks up every bit, or little dirty scrap of paper he finds in
the streets, and places it in a hole of the wall, or upon a ledge, lest
there should be written on it, "the name of God," and the sacred name be
trodden upon and profaned. It is probable they derived the superstition
from the Jews, who have many mysterious notions about certain letters which
form the name of The Almighty. I have often seen ‮שדי‬ affixed on
the door-posts of Jewish houses in Barbary. But no people in the world
use the name of God more vainly than Mussulmans, nor swear more than
they, the greater part of the words used being different epithets of the
Divine Nature. This inconsistency runs through all the actions of these
semi-civilized people. No people pretend to more delicacy in the mode of
dress, more respect for women, not even mentioning the names or existence
of their wives. My late Marabout camel-driver, when speaking of his wife
and family, merely said _saghar_ ("little children"). And,
notwithstanding all this, no people are more sensual and impure, and
esteem women less, than the Moors of towns. In swearing and oaths, the
epithets "With God!" "By God!" "God!" "The Lord!" or "My Lord
(_Rubbee_)!" "God, the Most High!" and, "The Most Sacred Majesty of God
(_Subkhanah Allah_)!" are the common forms of using the Divine Name. A
Tibboo stranger went into a house to buy a pair of pistols, and the
seller was not at home. My taleb, who was a neighbour, and was anxious
his friend should sell his pistols, run about exclaiming, _Subkhanah
Allah!_ I confess I was greatly shocked on hearing these most awful words
used in such a way. I taxed the taleb afterwards with it, and compared
his conduct with what I had seen in his picking up bits of paper in my
house, for fear the names of The Deity should be upon them. He merely
answered pettishly, "What do you wish? all people say so." A less serious
note may be added here, that of the loose and curious way in which the
Arabs express their ideas of quantities and distances. "Great" and
"small" means with them any quantities, as "near" and "afar," any
distances. I asked an Arab of Tunis when he expected his caravan? He
replied, _Ghareeb_ ("near"). "What do you mean, a week, a fortnight, or
how long?" "_Twenty days!_" was the reply. In endeavouring to obtain
information from these people on distances and quantities, the only way
is to make them compare the thing unknown with what you know. They will
tell you at such a place is an exceedingly high mountain. If there is a
hill or a mountain near you at the time, you must ask them if it as large
or larger than that? In this way you will frequently find their great
mountain to be no bigger than a hillock.

The merchants say it is necessary to give presents to the following
princes of authority, in the route of Soudan:--

TOUARICKS.

    Governor of the town of Ghat;
    The Sultan of the Touaricks of Ghat, and the surrounding districts;
    The Sultan of Aheer; and
    The Sultan of Aghadez:

and these princes demand presents as a matter of right.

FULLANNEE AND NEGROES.

    The Governor of Damerghou;
    The Sultan of Tesouwah;
    The Deputy-Sultan of Kashna; and
    The Deputy-Sultan of Kanou:

but these latter princes do not demand presents as a matter of right,
leaving it to the good pleasure of the stranger. There are also a few
other smaller places where a trifling present will help a merchant on his
way. The presents are collected according to the means and wealth of each
individual merchant, each subscribing his share, one giving a burnouse,
others a piece of cloth, or silk, or beads, and what not. The whole is
then collected together, and a deputation of two or three merchants is
formed out of the caravan, who convey their presents to the prince, and
the prince, when he finds the merchants have treated him liberally,
sometimes returns a present of a slave or two, but generally a quantity
of fresh provisions.

A small ghafalah of Touaricks having left to-day for Touat, Sheik
Makouran, whose merchandise they were escorting on its way to Timbuctoo,
begged me to write a letter to the Sheikh of Ain-Salah, one of the oases,
which is in direct commercial relations with Ghadames. The plain English
of the letter was, that Sheikh Haj Mohammed Welled Abajoudah, of
Ain-Salah, would receive me friendly if I came to him, would protect all
Englishmen travelling through his country, and would not let them be
attacked and murdered as Major Laing was. When I gave my friend Makouran
the letter, he asked me what I had written. I related the substance.
"Allah, Allah!" exclaimed old Makouran; "Why, the Sheikh of Ain-Salah is
my friend, he'll treat you as kindly as I do; he's one of us." Then he
added, "Never mind, the letter may go." This evening the Rais was very
unwell. Gave his Excellency some purgative pills. Afraid he will be
obliged to return to Tripoli for his health; poor fellow, he suffers
greatly.

_17th._--The weather has opened this morning, dull, cloudy, and cool,
threatening rain. A dingy veil is drawn over the face of things.

Have not yet seen any pretty plays amongst the children. All is dullest
monotony. The youth, however, ultimately recover their wits by
travelling. My turjeman says, "The natives of Ghadames are the greatest
travellers in the world, and are to be found in every country." The
_Souk_ offers nothing for sale but olive-oil, liquid butter, a little
bread, camels' flesh, and now and then a few vegetables. All the
Touarick traders have now left, some for Ghat and others for Touat. My
Ghadamsee friends cease talking of the dangers of my Soudan trip, and it
is a settled thing that I go. Some of them wish me to try a fasting day;
"one day, to see how I like it," they tell me.

It is very amusing to see butchers in this place cut up their meat. Four,
eight, or twelve persons, join to buy a sheep. The sheep is killed, and
the butcher has to divide it into as many equal parts as
joint-purchasers. He begins by dividing it into four equal parts, but not
in the way we should imagine, by cutting the carcase into four. No, quite
different. He first divides the intestines into four portions, cutting
the heart, liver, and lights into four equal portions, and so of the
rest. Sometimes the heart is made a present to some favoured individual.
Of two sheep cut up to-day, the heart of one was given to a young friend
of mine, and that of the other to the Governor. The intestines divided,
the butcher proceeds to divide the legs and shoulders into four equal
portions, dividing one leg and one shoulder into two, and so of the
other. The ribs and rest of the meat is then also equally divided. When
the carcase is thus far divided, a few persons only take one whole
quarter, the rest the butcher proceeds leisurely and scientifically to
divide, several persons taking a whole quarter divided and subdivided
amongst them, not being able to purchase a large quantity. The quarter is
divided into half-quarters, the half-quarters into quarter-quarters, and
the quarter-quarter is often again divided and subdivided before it gets
into the pot. In this division, you would imagine the Desert dissector
would cut the meat all away;--no such thing; and so great is the
precision with which he divides and subdivides, that he has no need of
scales and weights, equally dividing every bit of muscle, cartilage, fat,
and bone; indeed, every person goes away perfectly satisfied with the
justice of the division. I never saw scales and weights used on these
occasions. Should, perchance, a difficulty or dispute arise as to the
comparative size of the portions or equal divisions, a child is then sent
for, and each party having chosen his token--a piece of wood, a straw, or
what not, the whole are put into the hands of the child, who is requested
to place the sticks or straws upon the portions of meat it chooses, or to
which its caprice may guide. This decision of the umpire Chance is
without or beyond all appeal. Mussulmans of The Sahara have no idea of
_separate joints_ or choice parts, the heart, perhaps, excepted, which is
highly prized; or, if you will, they like a bit of every part of the
carcase, and cut it up into these infinitesimal divisions in order that
they may obtain this aggregate of delicate minutiæ. But as this is all
cooked together, there can never be that separate taste of separate parts
which distinguishes the meat as killed and cooked by Europeans. All
Mussulmans are instinctively butchers, and are familiar with the knife,
and expert at killing animals; it is a sort of religious rite with them.
What I have observed particularly is, there is none of that shrinking
back and chilled-blood shudder at seeing a poor animal killed, which
characterizes Europeans, and especially the children of Europeans. Here
children may be seen holding the animal whilst its throat is most
barbarously cut! and not flinching a step, or blinking the eye. Apropos
of killing and eating meat, I had a long polemical discussion with my
taleb upon the respective rites and ceremonies of Christians and
Mussulmans. I told him what distinguished the religion of the New
Testament was, that it prescribed no rules for eating and drinking, or
dress; that the whole Christian religion was based upon two great
commandments: "Thou shalt love God with all thy heart, and thy neighbour
as thyself." This, however, only drew from him the observation, "Before
the time of Sidi Mahomet, this was the religion of the world." I
rejoined, "This was the religion--still is the religion--of all the
English, who eat and drink everything that is good, and dress any way
they please; and such is the will of God." The taleb observed, "You wear
braces, which is unlawful." I could not find out the why and the
wherefore, unless it were that it tightened men-folks up too much for
modesty. I told him the Rais and all Turks had braces to their
pantaloons. He simply replied, "Braces are not permitted by our
marabouts."

North Africa, or this region of The Sahara, more particularly, is
essentially the East, (the Syrian, Arabian East,) and the religion
of Mahomet has indissolubly bound in ideas, manners, and customs,
the inhabitants of these countries with those of the East. It is,
therefore, very satisfactory to read the _Arabic_ New Testament in
these countries; for, besides presenting all the ideas and
metaphorical adornments, such reading often gives you the very words
and idiomatical expressions of the people. This correspondence is
certainly a strong proof, both that the latter Biblical writers were
natives of the East, and that the inhabitants of North Africa and
The Sahara were originally emigrants, or colonies from Syria and
Arabia. This is the opinion of my taleb, and all the literati of the
oasis. My taleb also treated me to-day with writing the famous
Mohammedan prophecy, respecting the destinies of the East, and the
world in general, and everybody in particular. It runneth according to
this mighty import: "_The Dajal_, (‮الدجال‬,) whose name is the
Messiah, and who is the son of Said, and who is a monstrous fellow,
with one eye, shall come upon the earth, or rather, go abroad upon
the earth, and all the Jews shall flock around him, and enrol
themselves under his standard, for he is their expected Messiah; and
then, armed with their prowess and gold, he shall slay all
Christians and Mohammedans, and shall reign upon the earth, after
their destruction, forty years. This time outran, there shall then
appear Jesus, the son of Mary, (the Messiah of the New Testament,)
in the clouds, who shall descend upon the earth with flaming
vengeance, and destroy _The Dajal_. This done, then shall come the
end of the world." My taleb assures me, upon his _parole d'honneur_,
that _The Dajal_ will come in forty years from the present time, or
in the year 1885! Khoristan, the country where he is now bound in chains,
is, besides, the country of Gog and Magog (‮جوج و مجوج‬).
One of these gentlemen is very small, indeed a dwarf, about the size
of General Tom Thumb, perhaps one and a half inches shorter; and the
other is tall enough to reach the moon when it is high over your
head. It is strange the Mussulmans of Ghadames make also the Turks
(_Truk_, as they call them,) to come from the country of Gog and
Magog. See the following table of the genealogy of all the people of
the earth, especially the Turks, the Touaricks, and the Russians:--

                                 Noah.
                                   |
            +----------------------+----------------+
            |                                       |
          Shem.                   Ham.           Japheth.
            |                      |                |
+------------------------+     +--------+     +------------+
|                        |     |        |     |            |
Christians.  Arabs.  Jews.      Negroes.      Gog and Magog.
                                               |         |
                                             +----+  +---------+
                                             |    |  |         |
                                             Turks.   Touaricks.
                                               |
                                           +--------+
                                           |        |
                                            Russians.

Such is the leaf of holy tradition in The Desert. It is astonishing
how all nations love to indulge their gloomy musings with monsters.
The extraction of the Russians from Gog and Magog is a curiosity; but
the Russians, (_Moskou_, such is their name here,) are looked upon as
a species of monster, whose jaw is capacious enough to swallow up all
the Turks, and the Sultan of the East. The Rais has the greatest dread
of them, whose native soil they have already gorged, "These Russians,"
he said to me one day, "are always, always, always advancing,
advancing, advancing upon the Sultan." Who will say the patriotic
Turk's apprehensions are groundless? With regard to the extraction of
the Touaricks, I asked one of these people where his countrymen sprang
from. He answered me, that formerly they were demons, (‮جنون‬) and
came from a country near Kanou, on the banks of The Great River.
Another told me, in true Hellenic style, "The Touaricks sprang out
from the ground." An opinion has been advanced by some acquainted with
ancient Eastern and African geography, that the Touaricks are from
Palestine, and are a portion of the tribes of the Philistines expelled
by Joshua; that the first rendezvous of the wanderers was the oasis of
_Oujlah_, which is a few days' journey from _Siwah_, the site of the
celebrated _Ammonium_; and thence they proceeded, wandering at will,
to the west and south, peopling all the arid regions of the Sahara.
The Sheikh of the slaves visiting me to-day, and describing Timbuctoo,
said, "It is several times larger than Tunis; it is as large as
_Moskou_ (or Russia)."

_I._--"Who told you _Moskou_ was large?"

_He._--"The people."

So the Emperor of all the Russians may rejoice in the consciousness, that
he and his people constitute as large a kingdom as Timbuctoo, and are
celebrated in the gossip of Saharan cities.

The first thing with which people break their fast in the evening is
_dates_. My taleb, when visiting me, takes a few dates in his hands, and
goes to a corner of the court-yard, or upon the house-top, about the
softening, musing time, when the last solar rays are lingering
playfully--and to the emaciated faster, teasingly, on this Saharan world,
and there he listens in silence for the first accents of the shrill voice
of the _Muethan_, calling to prayers, from the minaret of a neighbouring
mosque. This heard, he commences putting the dates, one by one, slowly
into his parched mouth, repeating a short prayer with each as he swallows
it with a sort of choking difficulty. After he has eaten a dozen or so,
he drinks, and then goes off to mosque prayers. Sometimes he prays in my
house, and then comes down to dine with me. Many people, of course, in
Ghadames, never saw a Christian before me; but they are quite as much
astonished to see a Christian eat and drink in the Ramadan, as to see the
Christian himself. This afternoon I was very thirsty, and went to drink a
little water from one of the water-skins suspended in a square. A woman,
of half-caste, going by at the time, cried out, "Why, why?" I went up to
her and said, "Because you are a Mussulman and I'm a Christian." Her
astonishment was no way abated; she kept exclaiming, "Why, why?" as if
she would raise the whole city. One of my merchant friends seeing there
was some prospect of a disturbance, came up to me and said, "Yâkob, that
woman is mad; make haste, go home." However, I rarely ever eat and drink
before the people, avoiding as much as I can shocking their prejudices;
and if asked about fasting, usually evade the question, or say I fast or
wait for my dinner till Said can eat his dinner also.

_18th._--Weather has now set in cool. This morning a little cold and raw.
Now's the time for catching coughs and cold;--people are coughing
already. Just before day-break, a thunderbolt was said to be discharged
over the city, accompanied with a long, low growling muttering sound,
which reverberated from the Saharan hills. The circumstance remarkable,
in the falling of this dread bolt of heaven's artillery, at the time the
sky was perfectly clear and bright, and there was nothing in the shape of
storm. These discharges of sound are rare in the Saharan regions. People
asked me to explain to them what it was, and what it prognosticated? I
told them, thunderbolts were frequent in Christian countries during
storms, and nothing of consequence follow from them. I have reason to
believe since, after conversing with several French officers in Algeria
on the subject, that this phenomenon of a tremendous discharge of sound
was a discharge of electricity _from the earth_, which sometimes occurs
in North Africa.

Went to examine the Great Spring of Ghadames this morning, which is
situate on the west side of the city, but conveniently between the two
grand divisions of the population, the Ben Wezeet and the Ben Weleed. It
was to me a _delicium_. What a revolution has my opinions undergone
respecting water since I have travelled in The Thirsty Desert! Never was
such an enthusiastic conversion! But were all conversions so harmless,
how happy for mankind! Some thirty swallows are skimming its
gaseous-bubble surface, playing off their wing-darting delights. The
Spring or Well is perennial, as old as the foundation of the city, and
may have ran for ages before the palms were planted around it by the hand
of man, or sprung up from a few date-stones left by some chance fugitives
who had stopped to taste its waters, and then held their way on in The
Desert. Without the Spring the city could have no existence. It runs into
a basin made and banked up for it, an oblong square of some twenty yards
by fifteen. In its deepest part it is not more than six feet. The water
is hot, averaging a temperature of 120 degrees, and upwards, it being too
hot to bathe in near the orifices, whence the water gushes with gaseous
globules, which continually rise from the bottom. But the orifices are
not visible, and hence an air of mystery is thrown over this spring of
"Living Water." The people say it was created by God on the same day when
the sea near Tripoli was made. The gaseous particles are larger and more
numerous in the centre, where is the great force of the Spring. The water
is tolerably good, but a little purgative. It is usually allowed twelve,
but some give it twenty-four hours to cool before drunk. The form of the
basin may be thus rudely represented:--

[Illustration]

A. Small bathing-places.

B. Steps where the women descend to fill their jugs with water.

C. Corners where the water runs away to the fountains in the squares and
streets, and to the gardens, in and without the city. Around are the
ruins and backs of houses, walls, and gardens, the palms alone being
visible, looking very fresh and gracefully picturesque, near this source
of life. After this went to see the _Water-Watch_[28], which is placed in
one corner of the Souk. This is constructed upon the same principle as
the hour-glass, but it is small, and requires to be emptied twenty-four
times to complete the hour. In fact, it is only a small earthen pot or
jar with a hole in the bottom of certain dimensions, and when filled with
water, and the water has emptied itself, running out twenty-four times,
the hour is completed. Some gardens require the stream, which the
_Water-Watch_ measures the time of the running of, an hour, others only
half an hour, and others two or more hours, according to their size and
distance from the source. The inhabitants pay Government so much per hour
for the running of the stream into their gardens; but some have an
hereditary possession in a certain quantity of the time of the stream's
running. Of this they are naturally very proud. For ordinary household
purposes the water is given without cost. There are two or three places
in the town where a small water-watch is kept, but that in the Souk is
the principal one. I have thus entered into particulars, for the obvious
reason that, "water is the liquid gold in these thirsty regions." In
Southern Algeria, the oasis of El-Agouat, each landed proprietor has the
prescriptive right of an hour or two hours of the running of the water,
according to the title deeds of the estate. The time is measured with an
hour-glass (of sand) held by the officer who distributes the water, and
who opens and shuts the conduit of irrigation at the time fixed. Many
other oases have the same system.

Some Touaricks remained, who called on me to-day. One, who had shown
himself very friendly, began to enlarge on the dangers of the Soudan
route. I immediately observed, "God is greater than all the Touaricks."
This stopped his gab, and was applauded by the rest. A Ghadamsee bawled
out, "Oh! it requires a great deal--much, much, much money to go to
Soudan." "How much?" I asked,--"Oh! much, much, much!" was rejoined.
"What is _much_?" "Five hundred dollars!" was shouted out by half a
dozen. I coolly observed, "It is not much for an Englishman." Another of
the Touaricks said, about twenty years ago he saw some Englishmen come to
his country from Fezzan. What struck the Touarick was, the English
tourists gave a dollar for a fowl, for a drink of milk, and even, he
added with an oath, for an _Es-Slamah âleikom_? ("How do you do?") This
story was told to impress me with the necessity of taking plenty of money
with me, and I was to keep up the liberal character of my predecessors
in Saharan travel. So we see these English tourists, who undoubtedly were
Messrs. Denham, Clapperton, and Oudney, have spoiled the roads of
travelling between Ghat and Fezzan, as Englishmen have spoiled the routes
of the Continent of Europe. This is the propensity of John Bull, to buy
up everything and everybody abroad[29]. The Touarick added, "A deal of
money is required, because there are many banditti." He meant not exactly
robbers, but beggars, who, whilst begging, give you to understand that
their appeal to your eleemosynary feelings must not be in vain. All who
beg _impudently_ on the routes, or who levy black-mail, are called
_Sbandout_ ("banditti.") But I'm more convinced than ever, that the
greatest shield of safety for the Desert traveller is his poverty.

Saw an aged Moorish lady, who greatly interested me. She told me she was
an hundred years old, fasted all day long, and expected soon to go to
Paradise. It is undoubtedly a vulgar error to say the Mahometan doctrine
teaches that women have no souls. During her hundred years, she had never
seen a Christian before. Her faculties were too weak for sectarian spite,
and she looked upon me as if I had been a simple Mussulman stranger.

Sunset, this evening, a man proclaimed from the housetops the arrival of
the ghafalah, long expected from Tripoli: only a courier arrived. By him
I received the first letter from Tripoli, and the first newspaper, the
_Malta Times_! That mark of admiration means, gentle reader, my poor old
paper, the paper I established at so much cost and waste of time, money,
health, and labour, for the good pleasure and caprice of The Island of
Malta and its dependencies. It's yet pleasing to see the old paper
following me; it will, perhaps, follow at my heels to Central Africa.
Ramadan began a day earlier in Tripoli. The courier, also, brings the
news, banditti are prowling about the The Mountains attacking isolated
travellers and small caravans. I am sorry to see, by my papers, the
people advocates of their own slavery, and that the Texans have carried
through their Congress "the Annexation with the United States," the
republican patrons and upholders of slavery and the slave-trade! In this
case, at any rate, 'it is not kings and despots enslaving mankind,' but
the people wilfully forging their own chains. There is also a humble case
before my eyes. Here sits by my side, the slave of Haj Abd-Errahman, who
is sent every year by his master to buy and sell goods, as if a regular
free merchant. It is wonderful fidelity on the part of this slave that he
does not run away. Unquestionably the negro has some fine qualities. This
slave, however, in palliation of the wrong, tells me he brings few
slaves, and mostly goods. I don't fail to tell him, slaves are _haram_,
("prohibited,") to the English. My taleb comes in, and after asking me
the news, takes up the Arabic Bible, and reads the following beautiful
prophetic sentiment:

    ‮ولكثرة الاثم تبرد المحبة من كثير‬

and then asks what it means? "_And because iniquity shall abound, the
love of many shall wax cold_," I reply, "may be illustrated in this way:
Suppose the Rais buys up or bribes the people, so that nearly all the
people applaud whatever he does, whether right or wrong, then the love of
your country, amongst you few faithful remaining, will wax cold?"

_Ben Mousa._--"Yes, I understand, _Seedna Aysa_, ('our Lord Jesus,') was
a prophet."

FOOTNOTES:

[27] I always thought phrenology too good to be true. Such a
    study, however, may be of some service in classifying mental
    phenomena, and induce a taste for metaphysical research.

[28] _Mungalah_ or _Saah-el-ma_. Watches are very uncommon: only
    the Governor, and a few of the richest people, have a watch.

[29] Once passing through Lyons, I heard of an English tourist who
    hired a steam-boat to himself to pass down the Rhone in, hired an
    hotel to himself, and one evening took the upper part of a theatre
    to himself, including the boxes, and all to enjoy himself
    _tranquillement_, said my French informant.




CHAPTER VII.

FAST OF THE RAMADAN.

     The Women in possession of the Streets.--The Grand Factions of
     Ghadames, the _Ben Weleed_ and the _Ben Wezeet_.--Interest of the
     People in Algerian Affairs.--Names, from Bodily
     Deformities.--Starving Slaves makes them Thieves.--Disease of the
     _Arak-el-Abeed_.--Finances of Ghadames.--The Prophet Jonah, still
     living.--Bad system of collecting Taxes by common
     Soldiers.--Essnousee leaves for Ghat, alone.--The _Thob_.--Stroke
     of the Moon.--Mission of Impostors always that of pretended Mercy
     to Men.--How the Turk governs the Arabs.--Saharan
     _Lady_-Gentlemen.--Classic and Vulgar Names of Things.--The
     _Wadan_, or _Oudad_.--Nimrod, the Hercules of the Saharan
     Moors.--Enoch, a Tailor.--Noah, a Carpenter.--Serpents and
     Monsters in The Desert.--Teach Geography to the
     People.--Indolence of the Inhabitants of Africa.


_19th._--MORNING spent in spelling the Malta Times. Saw a Ben-Wezeetee,
who protested that all the money of the country was in the hands of the
Ben-Weleed. I asked if he ever went to the Ben-Weleed. "For what," he
replied angrily, "should I go to see those devils?" In the afternoon
found all the streets deserted by the men-folks, and in possession of the
women, girls, and little children, who were playing all sorts of pranks,
and dancing and singing like so many people let loose from Bedlam. As
soon as they saw me there was a simultaneous rush at me, all crying out,
"Oh, Christian! Christian! where's your mother? where's your sister?
where's your wife?--don't you want a wife?" Then they began to pelt me
with date-stones. I got out of the way as quickly as possible. Wondered
what in the world had become of the men. At last found them and the boys
all congregated round a mosque, this being some important ceremony of
religion.

I had to-day some talk about the two great political factions, the
_Ben-Wezeet_ and the _Ben-Weleed_, the Whigs and Tories of Ghadames, but
pushed to such extremities of party spirit, as almost to be without the
limits of humanity. Notwithstanding the assumed sanctity of this holy and
_Marabout_ City of Ghadames, and its actually leaving its walls to
crumble away, and its gates open to every robber of the highways of The
Desert--trusting to its prayers for its defence and to its God for
vengeance--it has nourished for centuries upon centuries the most
unnatural and fratricidal feuds within its own bosom, dividing itself
into two powerful rival factions, and which factions, to this day, have
not any _bonâ fide_ social intercourse with one another. Occasionally one
or two of the rival factions privately visit each other, but these are
exceptions, and the Rais has the chiefs of the two parties together in
Divan on important business being brought before him. In the market-place
there is likewise ground of a common and neutral rendezvous. Abroad they
also travel together, and unite against the common enemy and the
foreigner. The native Governor, or _Nāther_, and the _Kady_, are besides
chosen from one or other party, and have authority over all the
inhabitants of Ghadames. But here closes their mutual transactions. It is
a long settled time-out-of-mind, nay, sacred rule, with them, as a whole,
"Not to intermarry, and not to visit each other's quarters, if it can
possibly be avoided." The Rais and myself, reside without the boundaries
of their respective quarters, so that we can be visited by both parties,
who often meet together accidentally in our houses. The Arab suburb is
also neutral ground. Most of the poor strangers take up their residence
here. The _Ben-Wezeet_ have four streets and the _Ben-Weleed_ three.
These streets have likewise their subdivisions and chiefs, but live
amicably with one another, so far as I could judge. The people generally
are very shy of conversing with strangers about their ancient immemorial
feuds. I could only learn from the young men that in times past the two
factions fought together with arms, and "some dreadful deeds were done."
My taleb only wrote the following when I asked him to give some
historical information respecting these factions:--"The Ben Weleed and
the Ben Wezeet are people of Ghadames, who have quarrelled from time
immemorial: it was the will of God they should be divided, and who shall
resist his will? Yâkob, be content to know this!"

But the Rais boasts of having done something to mitigate the mutual
antipathies of the factions. "The _Shamātah_, between them," he says,
"has had its neck broken." And really, if it be the case, there is in
this some compensation for the wrongs and miseries which the Turks are
inflicting upon an impoverished and over burthened people. In other parts
of Northern Sahara similar factions exist, often arising from chance
divisions of towns. There is a similar division of the town of Ghabs in
Tunis, but not carried to such extreme lengths as these factions of
Ghadames. It would seem that society could not exist without party and
divisions no more than a British Parliament. Even Scripture intimates
there must be strifes and divisions.

Many came to me to hear the news from Tripoli and Algeria. I found them
all interested in the fate and fortunes of the latter country. Some vague
rumours had reached them of serious and bloody skirmishes. I calmed them,
telling them "all people were on an equal footing in Algeria, Christians
as Mussulmans, even as Mussulmans were in our British India." Some
doubted my information. Late in the evening, when the visitors of the
Rais had retired, I had a tête-à-tête with his Excellency. Speaking of
the Ghadamseeah, his Excellency said, "They are ignorant and know not the
_tareek_ (_i. e._, system) of the Sultan; they magnify every trifle of
news they hear, and are now alive to every change, and in feverish
expectation of some new event." This is always the case with the
oppressed; they must love change, if but for the worse. His Excellency
then continued: "Since the forced contribution of fifty thousand dollars,
no money is to be found. The money due for the past four months is still
uncollected." Speaking of the bandits, his Excellency said, "The Pasha
has written to me that he cannot allow me, or the Commandant of The
Mountains, to march out against the _Sebâah_ or _Shânbah_, without an
order from the Sultan, but with such an order we could soon exterminate
them." Our Rais does not entirely neglect the intellectual edification of
his Desert subjects. This evening, early, he amused them with talking
about steamboats, or "boats of fire." I put in a word about railroads,
telling them with a railway we could come from Tripoli to Ghadames in two
days. "The Christians know all things but God," said a Marabout.

_20th._--Weather is now cool, and I can walk about the gardens at
mid-day without inconvenience. I enjoy this much, amusing myself
with throwing stones at the ripe dates, which fall in luscious
clusters into one's mouth. Eating fruit in the gardens or from the
trees is also a peculiar delight enjoyed by people of all countries
and climates. Several of the people are so ignorant of printing that
they call my newspapers letters, and this is natural enough, as
there are no other but manuscript books amongst them.--‮سمعان
الابرص‬, "Simon _the Leper_" (Matt. xxvi.). It is usual here to
distinguish people in this way: as "Mohammed, _the one-eyed_,"
"Ahmed, _the lame-with-one-leg_," and "Mustapha, _the red-beard_."
So the famous pirate of the Mediterranean was called "_Barbarossa_."
The people are not at all ashamed of being called by their natural
deformities, as we are in Europe. ‮قمقم‬ is one of the numerous
words in Arabic where the sound corresponds with the sense.
_Ghemghem_ is, "to murmur," and the English word itself is not a bad
example of the kind. The Mussulmans have very grotesque notions of
the Christian doctrine of Trinity. A person said: "Do not the
Christians say God has a Son?" "Yes," I replied. The rejoinder was,
"That is making God like a bullock (‮بقر‬)!" My friend the Touatee,
a native of Touat, tells me the Touaricks were originally from
Timbuctoo, and so say all Touat Touaricks. The ghafalah just arrived
from Tripoli has brought eighty camel-loads of barley. Observed the
head of the little son of the Touarick bandit. Fancied it was really
the infantile cast of such a parent's head. This is the danger of
the science, prejudicing you in such matters.

Apparently, what little thieving there is going on here is committed by
the Arabs and slaves. There are three or four of these latter most
determined date stealers. One of these slaves was brought up yesterday
and received two hundred bastinadoes; but it had not much effect upon
him. When these offenders become incurable, the Rais packs them off to
Tripoli. A very good plan, which keeps the country free of offences of
petty larceny. However, many of these slaves steal because they have not
enough to eat: thus we come to the old circle again, that poverty is the
mother of crime. So is it with the Arabs and slaves of Ghadames. The
slaves are mostly devout, if not fanatic Mussulmans. They have a right to
be fanatical, for their religion is a great protection to them. Their
masters, not like the _Christian_ slave-masters of the Southern States of
America, who close the Bible against the slave, are also proud of the
fanaticism of their slaves, and teach them verses of the Koran. The
slave's conception of the dogmas of his religion is slow and confused. My
Negro Said is a good Mussulman, and keeps his fast well, but I never yet
caught him at his prayers, nor does he go much to the mosque. Yesterday I
came suddenly upon two youngsters, the Rais's slaves, who at mid-day were
devouring roasted locusts and drinking water, in the style of sumptuous
feasting. I called out, "Holloa! how now? are you feasting or fasting?"
They began laughing and then handed me some roast locusts, to bribe me
not to blab. My taleb caught a slave in my house eating also roasted
locusts, and asked him if he should like to be roasted in hell-fire?

_21st._--The old blind man is the most regular patient. The novelty of
being doctored or quacked by a Christian is wearing away. Wrote to-day to
Mr. Gagliuffi, British Vice-Consul of Mourzuk. Said, in visiting his
friends, for he has now _his circle_, brought me a present of
_Danzagou_, in Arabic _Kashkash_. This is a seed of the size of a large
hip, and of a beautiful scarlet colour; it is used sometimes as medicine,
mostly for necklace beads, and is native of Soudan, where it abounds. He
also brought some _Morrashee_, in Arabic _Jidglan_. This is a species of
millet, a product of Soudan. The Blacks, Moors, and Arabs all eat it with
_gusto_. There are several varieties of edible seed brought over The
Desert from Soudan, chiefly as Saharan luxuries. Had a long conversation
with the people of the _Ben-Weleed_, and found them extremely sociable.
One of them had been to Leghorn, and described the houses as seven
stories high, and the port _free_. These were his strongest impressions.
It is worth observing here the universal freemasonry of the mercantile
spirit. As a merchant, he could understand and recollect a free-port in
any part of the world. The honour of this anecdote have the Leaguers.

A man showed me a sore place on his arm, which he called
_Arak_[30]_-El-Abeed_ (‮عرك العبيد‬). This was a large raised
pimple, in the centre of which was an opening, and from which
aperture there issued from time to time a very fine worm, like the
finest silk-thread, and sometimes not much thicker than a spider's
web, in small detached lengths. This worm is often of the enormous
length of twenty yards, gradually oozing out piecemeal. It is a
common disease of Soudan where the merchants catch the infection,
and bring it over The Desert. It is said to be acquired principally
by drinking the waters of that country.

By the wars before the occupation of the Turks, Tripoli had become
exhausted of its wealth, and its trade and agriculture were at the lowest
ebb. The country was divided into two armed factions of the ancient
family, money was borrowed at the most extravagant, and sometimes 500 per
cent. interest, and the jewels of the ancient family were bartered away
for arms and provisions, to carry on the war. A large collection of
splendid diamonds were sold for something like an old song. Most of these
got into the hands of Europeans. I saw some in the hands of an European
gentleman, who assured me that he had been fortunate enough to get them
for a fourth, and some of them for a seventh, of their value. When the
Turks usurped the Government, such was the condition of the country. But
they had also to put down a formidable rebellion of the Arabs, which
occupied several years of exterminating war. This gave the _coup de
grâce_ to the unfortunate Regency of Tripoli, and plunged it into
complete ruin. There was, however, one city, far in The Desert, which
appeared unaffected by these sanguinary and wasting revolutions--the
holy-merchant-marabout city of Ghadames! the pacific character of whose
inhabitants seemed to place it without the pale of such dire turmoils.
But the Turks (the war with the Arabs ended, and at leisure) began to
look about, and thought they saw an Eldorado looming beautifully in the
_mirage_ of The Desert, which would speedily replenish their exhausted
treasures, and put the Government of Tripoli in easy pecuniary
circumstances. A pretext was soon found to excavate in this newly
discovered Desert mine. "The people of Ghadames," said the Pashas of
Tripoli, "are rebels--they sympathized with the Arabs--they did not come
forward to help us to exterminate the Arabs--they must now pay for their
disaffection." A forced contribution was therefore immediately levied
upon them of 50,000 mahboubs and upwards, and the women and children were
stripped of their gold and silver ornaments, and houses ransacked, to
make up the amount at once. Ten thousand mahboubs were also demanded
annually. This new demand threw the city into consternation, and the men
brought out the women and the children into the streets, who fell upon
their faces before the officers of the Pasha, and implored them not to
deprive their wives and children of bread. It was at last settled they
should pay 6,250 mahboubs, as an annual contribution. Under the Caramanly
dynasty they paid only some 850 mahboubs per annum, besides being left to
the uncontrolled management of their own affairs. Now, whilst the people
are complaining of the large amount of taxation imposed upon them, and
pleading their impossibility to pay up arrears--in this irritable state
of things--an order comes from Ahmed Effendi in The Mountains, to collect
an additional contribution of 3,225 mahboubs, under the pretext of its
being wanted to maintain troops in Fezzan, and keep open the
communications of commerce. This intelligence has so completely astounded
the few remaining merchants who have any money, that they nearly lost
their senses, yesterday and to-day, being very ill, and unable to attend
to their ordinary business. The money for the last four months is not
yet collected, and the people say they cannot pay up. Our Rais has three
times represented to the Pasha the inability of the people, but the
answer always is, "_money must be had_." I expect to witness some cruel
scenes of extortion practised before I leave this place, like what I saw
in The Mountains. I observe now the Rais can't keep a respectable
collector. _No native of Ghadames will collect for him._ Sometimes he
sends the Arab soldiers, who abuse the defaulters. Once an Arab soldier
got hold of a poor man in the street, an acquaintance of mine, to drag
him off before the Rais. I told him to stop a moment, and then having
ascertained how much it was--about one shilling and eight-pence--paid the
money and got the poor fellow clear this time. Sheikh Makouran is a true
patriot. Whenever he sees anybody dragged off in this way through the
streets, in spite of the Governor, and his being a member of the Divan,
he takes upon himself to impede the course of justice (_extortion?_),
abuses with all his might the officer, and if he can't rescue the
defaulter, pays the money himself: so strives for public liberty this
Hampden of The Desert!

To-day, had a proof of the rancorous enmity of the ancient factions. A
merchant of the Ben Welleed, who wished to visit me, said, "I must come
round the city, for _I don't know_ the streets of the Ben Wezeet. Thank
God! I never went through them in my life." This he said with vehemence,
intimating that he never would enter the streets of the Ben Wezeet as
long as he lived. A ghafalah has arrived from the oases of Fezzan,
bringing corn and dates, productions abundant in those countries.

_22nd._--Weather continues cool. Few more patients. Present of dates from
one of them. Very little meat now killed in Ghadames, less and less every
day. What will become of this once flourishing city it is hard to tell.
The prejudices of the people against the residence of an European in this
city have apparently disappeared; people are increasingly civil; many
would willingly look upon me as their protector, were I made Consul, but
unfortunately for them, I am not ambitious of, nor have any inclination
for, the honour.

This morning heard a curious opinion about Younas, or Jonas (Jonah), for
the Arabs, like the Greeks[31], sometimes change the last letter of the
Hebrew ה into a Σ. Probably they got their traditions through the Greeks
or the Greek language. I was talking with a taleb about longevity, when
he observed, "There is but one person who is always alive." "Who is
that?" I inquired very anxiously. "It is our lord Jonas, who is living in
_distant_ and _unknown_ parts of the world," he said. "Is he alone?" I
further inquired. "No," he added, "he has with him a hundred thousand
people, who live to a great age, but who at last die, whilst he is always
living. Then as to Jesus, the son of Mary, he also never died, and went
up to heaven alive. The Jews (the curse of God upon them!) only killed
his _likeness_." I have always observed these mysterious events to
transpire in some _unknown_ and _distant_ part of the world, and took the
liberty of telling this taleb that the "smoke-ships" (steamers) could
soon make every place in the world near and known, and then we might find
out the residence of Jonah as well as the captivity of the ten tribes.
The story of the ten tribes is pretty well known. A Maroquine rabbi told
me they are somewhere about the regions of Gog and Magog, in Central
Asia, situate in a country where there is a river running perpetually six
days out of seven, very rapid and full of stones, so that they cannot
pass it and return to the Holy Land. On the seventh it stops, when it
might be passed, but on the Sabbath day the law does not permit them to
travel. This is the Barbary version. Central Asia is still the land of
mysteries for both Jews and Mohammedans. The Russians have done little to
dispel these mysteries, if they have not tried to envelop these lands in
profounder obscurity, for political purposes; but had we been established
in Affghanistan, we might have discovered _Jibel Kaf_, the retreat of Gog
and Magog, the strange stony river, the ten tribes, and all the other
objects of Jewish and Mohammedan superstition. But as with the famous
gardens of the Hesperides, the abode of perfectly happy mortals, which
were shifted farther and farther from actual observation by the progress
of ancient discovery, so the mysterious retreat of the ten tribes and the
ever-living Jonas will be transferred to other unknown lands when modern
discovery shall have exhausted Central Asia.

Met Sheikh Makouran: asked him what was to be done to meet the
extraordinary contribution. He said he couldn't tell, people had no
money: Rais had so written to Tripoli, but was reprimanded by the Pasha.
Advised him to send a deputation to the Pasha, or the British
Consul-General. Had another example of the bad system of collecting
monies, as often in Mahometan States, by means of common soldiers. These
fellows do all the dirty jobs, everything necessary in the way of
extortion; the more respectable officials shun these disagreeable
transactions, especially if they be natives of the place where the taxes
are collected. A great disturbance was in the streets, the people almost
fighting with these extortioner ruffians. Going farther on, something
absolutely ludicrous happened. The soldiers could not read, no person
would read their papers for them, and they could not find out the person
on whom they were to make their demands, although the parties were
actually present. They then came to me to read their papers. I asked
them, "Whether they thought it showed any of the friendship which they
professed towards me to embroil me with the people of the country, whose
hospitality I was receiving?" They were so convinced of the justice of my
appeal, that they went off without replying. A Ghadamsee peasant called
to me, "Yâcob, you must be our Consul!"

Afternoon, Essnousee left for Ghat. Being extremely attached to this
merchant, I went to see him off. About thirty of the Ben Weleed (for he
is of this faction) accompanied him, the most respectable of this
division of the the city; I was glad to see a person, in whom hereafter I
might have to place implicit confidence, so much esteemed. His friends
set to and loaded his camel before starting, as many as could find any
thing, each taking an article of harness or equipment. This I observed
often afterwards. It is reckoned friendly. By such conduct they show they
are willing to render all the assistance in their power to their friend.
I continued on the route of Ghat with Essnousee half an hour or more,
bade him farewell and returned. His brothers and a slave left him with
me. The merchant then proceeded on his desert journey of some fifteen or
twenty days _absolutely alone_, for he had only a Touarick camel-driver.
This demonstrates the security of the route. I said to the people
afterwards, "Is he not afraid to go alone?" "No," was the answer, "they
will only meet Touaricks, and these are our friends. You have only to pay
a small trifle of toll in different parts of the route and you are quite
safe. Sometimes you don't pay this." Essnousee will reach Ghat in twelve,
whilst a quick caravan requires from eighteen to twenty days. With
first-rate camels the journey could be performed in _eight_ or ten days.
Strange infatuation! I felt an almost irrepressible desire to accompany
Essnousee _as I was_, and to plunge anew into all the hardships and
dangers of The Desert. But such is man, a creature of daring or absurd
impulses! and the more he moves, and roams, and rambles, the more (in
modern phrase) _locomotive_ he is--the less he likes repose, and seeks
unceasingly such perilous stimulants. Observed, on returning, amongst the
loose stones scattered upon the surface of The Desert, a great quantity
of rubbish, like brick-bats thrown out from a brick-kiln, giving the face
of the ground a burnt and volcanic appearance. Picked some up and could
hardly believe but what they were burnt bricks. The Ben Weleed, who
accompanied Essnousee, instead of the short and direct road through the
streets of the Ben Wezeet, took a circuitous route round the inner walls
of the city to arrive at the gate of departure, showing me how great was
still the force of these factions. Essnousee himself told me he never
went through the streets of the Ben Wezeet, nor did he expect he ever
should in this world.

_24th._--Yesterday and to-day employed in writing for the _Shantah_
(Turkish, for mail). Rais in a good humour this evening. Two camels came
in from The Sahara, one day's journey, laden with wood for the Rais. His
Excellency offered some to me. The fact is, I purchased a camel-load a
few days ago, and his Excellency's servants had nearly begged it all
away. People generally burn dried and dead branches of the palm, which,
in this season, is abundant. It is not good fire-wood; there is plenty of
flame and smoke, but little heat. Said, on my return from the Rais,
assures me he has heard from his visitors, the Touarick slaves, that now
the Touaricks do not beat their slaves, but esteem all men _souwa,
souwa_, ("equal"); it was not so in former times. Free and enlightened
America may have yet to learn lessons of freedom and humanity from the
savages of The Sahara!

Purchased a _Thob_[32], a species of large lizard. It is common in The
Sahara. The Touaricks eat them, and say they are _medicine_ for a pain or
weakness in the back. This may have been surmised from the ideal
resemblance between the strength of their backs, which is scaly and bony,
and strongly bound together, and the strength it is likely to communicate
unto persons having a weak or crippled spine. They are pretty good
eating, and taste something like the kid of the goat; the tail is
esteemed the greatest delicacy. I tasted of this which I bought, and
liked it. There is no lizard of this species in Soudan. A Touarick told
me that, having found one in The Desert, he carried it to Soudan, where
a Negro prince fell in love with it, and gave him for it the present of a
young female slave. The Arabs tame the Thob, and he grows very fond. Some
of them are very large. This I purchased is only twenty inches in length,
and about ten round the thickest part of the body. The head is large and
tortoise-shaped, with a small mouth. It is covered with scales, or "scaly
mail," and its tail is about four inches long, composed of a series of
broad thick and sharp bones. It has four feet, or rather _hands_, for, as
the Arabs say, "It has hands like _Ben-Adam_ (mankind)." All the body,
back and flanks, are covered by shining scales, of the colour of a
darked-spotted grey, with spots white and light under the belly. It runs
very awkwardly on account of its bulky tail, and to look at is a
miniature aligator or crocodile. It is almost harmless, fighting a little
now and then; its appearance, however, is rather forbidding. It hides in
the dry sandy holes of The Sahara. A drop of water, say the Arabs, would
hurt it. The traditions of the Mohammedans mention that Mahomet did not
himself eat the Thob, at the same time he did not prohibit it to his
followers. The Saharan merchants, in traversing The Desert, frequently
make a good meal of the Thob. Whilst talking of the Thob, the people said
the flesh of parrots was _poison_ for Ben-Adam.

_25th._--Another of my patients dead, of a raging fever caught, it is
said, "by sleeping on the top of the house in the open air." The moon
struck him, they say. According to the Psalms, "The sun shall not smite
thee by day, nor _the moon by night_."

They let him remain seven days without sending for me, when it was too
late to administer my fever powders. I fetched an old gentleman who could
bleed to have him bled, but they refused, saying it was now late. The old
blood-letter vexed at their refusal, said, "Well, if I mustn't bleed him,
let me pray for him;" and, immediately offered up a short prayer, in
which they all joined willingly. On telling a Ghadamsee I ate some Thob,
he said, "Ah, that's forbidden; the Thob was formerly a human being,
before it had its present shape. Don't you see its hands are still
_human_?" The notion of the transmigration of souls lingers in these
parts, but it is a doctrine not generally received. I observed this man
afterwards fattening his sheep with date-stones, broken into small
pieces. Almost every family, however small, have their sheep to fatten.
Pounded date-stones are also given to camels for fattening. Writing for
amusement with my taleb, I recollected a verse in the Koran, which I
wrote:--

    ‮ارسلناك الّا رحمة للعلمين‬

This filled him with surprise and horror, and he immediately scratched it
out, as too pure and holy a thing to be in the possession of an Infidel.
The translation is:--"We (God) have sent thee (Mahomet) only for mercy to
mankind;" or, "Thy mission to man, O Mahomet! is only mercy." Such credit
all impostors and pretenders to revelation claim for themselves, and such
an object they declare to be the end of their mission, although at the
same time, and in the same breath, they don't forget to doom all those
who reject their authority to perdition. This, it would seem, is a
necessary evil in propagating new religions and new sects. But enough of
this--may the world grow more kindly--let us hope it will. This morning
arrived a single Arab from Fezzan. It would appear extreme hardihood when
we reflect, that for nine days, there is not a house, and scarcely a
resting-place. The Arab was mounted on a camel. This arrival, as
Essnousee's departure, shows the security of the routes in some
directions. The Arab told me he made his journey in nine days, and
stopped occasionally on the road to sleep and refresh himself. In the
night he tied his camel's leg to his own leg, so that if it attempted to
stray, it would awake him.

Nothing new with Rais. Speaking of the Arabs, he says, "You know Arabs to
be very devils. There are two ways to consider Arabs, but whichever way
they are robbers and assassins. When they are famished, they plunder in
order to eat; when their bellies are full, they plunder because they kick
and are insolent. Now, we (Turks) keep them upon low diet in The
Mountains; they have little, and always a little food. This is the
Sultan's _tareek_ (government) to manage them. Their spirits are kept
down and broken, and they are submissive." He then told me he had held a
Divan to obtain the extra contribution of 3,200 mahboubs, for the Pasha;
but the people protested they could not pay such an amount. I wrote a
letter to Colonel Warrington, stating this circumstance, and asked him if
he could assist the people in any way. I thought it a bare possibility
that the hand of foreign diplomacy might be stretched out to save this
city, which had flourished in the pursuits of its own peaceful commerce
for more than a thousand years. . . . To mitigate the apparent harshness
of his demand, the Rais observed, that before the Sultan occupied
Ghadames, the country between this and Tripoli was full of banditti. "The
Arabs of The Mountains," he added, "were all banditti, those amongst whom
you resided eight days. The Touaricks were not so bad, they generally
protected Ghadamsee merchants. Now since the Sultan, there are only the
Shânbah and the Sebâah, therefore the Ghadamseeah must pay." So, _Audi
alteram partem_.

_26th._--To-day, resident thirty days in Ghadames which time I have
certainly not lost. Written a good deal of MS., such as it is, and
several letters; besides, applied myself to reading and writing Arabic.
Likewise distributed medicines to a considerable number of invalids. Wish
to pass the next month as profitably as the month gone. My expenses of
living, including a guard to sleep in the house at night, and Said, are
only at the rate of eighteen-pence per day; this, however, excludes tea,
coffee, and sugar. Besides, Sheikh Makouran refuses to take anything for
house-rent, saying, "It would be against the will of God to receive money
from you, who are our sure friend, and our guest of hospitality." Few
patients, in comparison with the past. As the winter approaches, the
cases of ophthalmia are less. In the precipitation of leaving Tripoli,
brought little ink with me, and most of that I gave away; so am obliged
to go about the town to beg a little. The custom is, when one person
wants ink, he begs it of another. Went to Ben Weleed, who procured me a
supply.

My intercourse has been mostly with Ben Wezeet, but to day I visited _Ben
Weleed_ at the _Bab-Es-Sagheer_, ("the little gate,") or the
_Bab-Es-Saneeah_, ("the gate of the garden,") where there were about
forty of the most respectable of this faction assembled in a sort of
gossiping divan amongst themselves. They told me they met here every
morning, and chatted over the news of the previous day. Usually they meet
just after sunrise, and certainly in this way they pass a cool and
fragrant hour, full of the odoriferous breathings of the gardens as the
day is awakening. I asked one, who were the richer, the Weleed or the
Wezeet? He replied, with an honourable frankness, "The _Wezeet_."
Observed many of the men had their eyelids blackened, like the women,
with _Kohel_[33], and also their finger-nails and toe-nails dyed dark-red
with henna[34]. I confessed I was surprised at this monstrous effeminacy.
One of these _lady_-gentlemen was the son of the powerful Ettanee family;
he was brought up to the Church, and of great promise, bidding fair to be
future Kady or Archbishop. He put a curious question to me, "How much is
the expense of a journey from Malta to Constantinople?" When I satisfied
him, he said, "I shall go and buy some slaves at Ghat, and then convey
them to Constantinople. Don't you think I shall make money by it?" I told
him he would not find anybody at Malta to convey slaves to
Constantinople; and if he took them there, they would be set at liberty,
for a slave once touching British territory became free. To this he
replied only, "I know--I knew before." I was extremely glad he did know
it. It is strange to see a young man of this description so avariciously
turn himself into a slave-dealer, but Mohammedan priests frequently
trade.

Marabouts in The Mountains are mostly camel-drivers; and the greater part
of priests, marabouts, and kadys perform sacred duties gratis. An order of
priesthood exists, though it is not kept up very distinctly from laymen,
but it is an honour to them, "to work in the service of God for nothing,"
and is worthy of the imitation of Christians. My new clerical friend gave
me a dissertation upon things having two names, a classical one and a
vulgar one. The Kohel is also called _Athmed_, ‮اثمد‬, which is
its classical name. Senna is called _hasheeshah_, ‮حشيشه‬,
literally "herbs," its vulgar name, and ‮سنا حرم‬,
"senna of _Mecca_," (literally, of the inviolable,) which is its
classical name. A little senna is found casually in the gardens of
Ghadames; but the country of Senna, in The Sahara, is Aheer, where
it is cultivated by the Touaricks. He pointed out to me the _Tout_,
(‮توت‬,) the small white mulberry, which is planted in little
squares of the city. Speaking of the Touaricks, he said: "These
people are getting dissatisfied with us. Formerly we paid them
better; but being robbed of our money by the Turks, we can't give
them much. They smell also a disagreeable odour now. Formerly they
came in and went out our city as a garden." "What odour is that?" I
asked. "_It's that Rais_," he whispered in my ear. The fact is, the
Touaricks felt themselves more at home before the Turks came here,
which everybody can imagine.

[Illustration]

This afternoon, whilst talking with the people about their antiquities,
one of them said, "There are some figures remaining." I immediately asked
him to show them to me. The youngster volunteered; and, to my great joy,
I was taken off to a garden, where I saw the _bas-relief_ drawn above. I
then thought about getting it in a quiet way to my house; so I went up to
the owner of the garden in which it lay, and said to him in a very
careless, indifferent manner, "What's the good of the stone to you--you
may give it me; perhaps it will be of some use." The man replied at once,
"Aye, Christian, take it." The youngster, who was a stout fellow, brought
it off forthwith upon his head. I followed him in secret triumph,
thinking myself very fortunate; for if any noise had been made, I should
have had to pay several dollars for it, whatever might have been its real
value, and, perhaps, not have got it at all. Indeed, some of the people
were very jealous; and when I returned, they called out _flous! flous!_
("money! money!") They thought I had got a rich prize, and I hope I have.
I told them, if anybody had any _flous_, it would be the owner of the
garden, who gave me the slab. The sketch represents, apparently, a
soldier holding or feeding a horse, but of what age and country I shall
not pretend to say, leaving that to antiquarians. It is broken off half,
and otherwise pecked and mutilated by the people. It is a pious act of
religion to deface stones representing figures of any sort, to decapitate
heads of statues, and destroy every shape and symbol of the human
likeness, not excepting likenesses of animals. An old Ghadamsee doctor,
very fond of me, was, however, extremely glad when he saw me in
possession of the slab. He kept saying, "Ah, Yâkob, that's your
grandfathers (ancestors). See! isn't it wonderful? Ah, that's your
grandfathers of the time of _Sidi Nimrod_. Take it home with you. Ah,
that's your grandfathers!"

This evening, heard that the heads of the people of Ghadames had adopted
my suggestion of sending a deputation to Tripoli, to state their
inability to meet the new and extraordinary demand of 3,200 mahboubs, the
Governor consenting to their determination.

_27th._--Weather still cool and pleasant, but the flies are in great
numbers, and very disagreeable. Am obliged always to have my room
darkened when I write, to keep them from tormenting me. They
increase as the dates ripen, and soon after the dates are gathered
in, they disappear, and not one is to be found during the winter. Haj
Mansour gave me to-day a _meneshsha_ (‮منشّا‬) or fly-flap, made
of the long flowing beard of the Wadan. It is a most effective
whipper-away of the flies. It instantly disperses them, the fine
strong hair of the Wadan's beard hitting them like pins and needles.
This species of fly-flap is greatly valued in Soudan, where it sells
at a high price. The hairs which are of a dull grey or red brown,
are usually dyed with henna when made up into fly-flaps. I expressed
myself extremely obliged to the Haj. _Wadan_ (Ar. ‮ودان‬), _Oudad_
(Berber ‮اوداد‬), and English _Mouflon_, is the name of a species
of animals between the goat and the bullock[35]. It is common in the
Southern Atlas of Morocco, and is hunted in the neighbouring sands
of Ghadames during winter by the Souf Arabs, and brought in and sold
for butcher's meat. Wadan is said to be _medicine_ by the people,
and tastes like high flavoured coarse venison. Three or four only
have been sent to England[36]. Dr. Russell, in his _Barbary States_,
makes it to resemble a calf, but it rather resembles a large goat or
a horned sheep. Besides the _Wadan_ and the _Thob_, Saharan people
eat many animals which hungry Europeans might eat, amongst the rest
rats and mice, when in good condition. But the mouse is the large
mouse of The Sahara. The Rais had a live Wadan which died just
before my arrival. He regretted much as he would have given it to
me. His Excellency promises to get me one.

_Nimrod_ is always in the mouths of the Ghadamseeah as the founder of
their city. They are especially fond of calling him a _Christian_. He is
often called my grandfather, although I have not yet been able to trace
my descent in a direct line from so august a progenitor. The European
reader recollects where he is mentioned in the Jewish early records,--

 ‮הוּא הָיָה נִבּר֗־צַיִד לִפְנֵי־יְהוָה‬

"He was a mighty hunter before the Lord." Gen. x. 9. In the Arabic
translation the word employed for "mighty" is the same as that of the
Hebrew, _i. e._ ‮جبّار‬ the ‮ج‬ representing the ‮ג‬,
omitting any word to correspond with ‮ציד‬; but the Moors
understand generally by the term ‮جبّار‬, "a tyrant" and "a
conqueror." So Hammoudah Bashaw, the great Bey of Tunis, is called
by a faithful Tunisian historian of that country, a ‮جبّار‬.
But, perhaps, in those remote times, the hunter and the tyrant, as in the
Roman Commodus, were joined in one and the same person. Certainly this
is the natural sense of the combination of the terms ‮גבר־ציד‬.
To this might easily be added man-hunter and slave-maker, a worthy
attribute of Nimrod. The gentlemen of the turf, of the Bentinck
school, ought, however to protest against this supposition. Properly
Nimrod is the Hercules of the Moors of North Africa. According to
them he emerged from the East, overran and founded several cities in
The Sahara, conquered all before him, put his feet upon the neck of
all nations, and then passed the Straits of the Roman and Grecian
Hercules, and built the far-famed Andalous (Spain), as also Paris
and London, and no doubt planted the germ of the future courses of
Epsom and Ascot, of which he is in our day made the mighty patron
and the ruling god[37].

After Nimrod the people are very fond of talking about _Enoch_, who is
called in the Koran _Edrees_ (‮ادريس‬). My taleb says that he did
not undergo the penalty of nature, but was translated, as, indeed,
it is recorded of him in our sacred books. My taleb adds, "Enoch was
a tailor, and one day the devil came to him and offered to sell him
some eggs, declaring that in the eggs the whole world was included.
Enoch rejoined, '_Also in the eye of my needle is the whole world
comprehended_.' Immediately the eggs began to expand, and although
really empty, swelled out as wide as the arms when outstretched.
Enoch seeing this was all imposition, to punish the impostor, sewed
up one of the devil's eyes, who went off in a great rage. The needle
of Enoch was nevertheless all powerful, and the devil has gone about
with _one eye_ ever since." My taleb asked me whether I ever heard
of Noah. I opened the Arabic Bible and read some passages about the
Flood. "Yes," he said, "Seedna (_our lord_) Noah was a carpenter
(‮نجّار‬) because he built the ship (‮الفلك‬). I am also
a carpenter. I will show you my collection of tools. But I don't work
now at this trade, except for my amusement." The people know many of
the common trades which they exercise occasionally as amateurs.

Nothing puzzles the Touaricks and Negroes so much as my _gloves_. Am
obliged to put them on and off frequently a dozen times a day, for their
especial gratification. My Leghorn hat, on the contrary, here, as in The
Mountains, is an object of admiration, on account of the fineness of the
platting. It astonishes them how it could be done. The large straw hats,
with huge broad brims, worn in The Desert, are all of the coarsest
texture.

This morning made inquiries of the Touaricks respecting serpents in
The Desert. Could obtain but little information, the notions of the
Saharan tribes in general being very confused about serpents. All
serpents go under the name of _lefâah_ (‮لفعة‬). But other names
are in use here, as ‮حنش‬, ‮حية‬ &c., which apparently are
the generic names. The _boah_ mentioned by Dr. Russell I have not
heard of. One of the Touaricks, however, described to me a serpent
as being nearly as thick round as a man's body, but not more than
three feet in its greatest length. This serpent has also large
horns. It is not at all dangerous. There is a much longer serpent or
snake, but not more than four inches round in thickness, which is
dangerous. If we are to believe Mr. Jackson, the southern part of
Morocco abounds with monstrous serpents, but in all my route through
The Sahara, I met with none, nor heard of any. It is a very old
trick of the poets and retailers of the marvellous to people The
Desert with dragons, and serpents, and monsters of every kind. We
know that on the banks of the _Majerdah_ an enormous serpent stopped
the progress of the army of Regulus. Batouta, also, who flourished
in the fourteenth century, pretends that "The Desert is full of
serpents." Even Caillié, who saw neither lions nor elephants, or
very few animals of any sort, says, when at the wells of
_Amoul-Gragim_, "My rest was disturbed by the appearance of a
serpent, five feet and a-half long and as thick as the thigh of a
boy twelve years old. My travelling companions also experienced
similar visits." If this report be correct, it evidently refers to
the harmless _lefâah_ mentioned by the Touarick. At the ruins of
Lebida, on the coast of Tripoli, an unusual number of large snakes
were seen this year (1845), mounting upon and twining round the
broken shafts of pillars still standing, as if at the command of
some invisible _jinn_; but they were all perfectly harmless. The
jugglers were catching them, to exhibit their forky tongues and
snaky folds, as venomous and deadly, to the marvel-loving crowd. The
lion of The Desert is a myth. The king of beasts never leaves his
rich domain, the thick forest and pouring cascade, where water and
animals of prey abound, for the naked, arid, sandy, and rocky wastes
of The Sahara. The ancients and moderns, however, have persisted in
representing Africa, not only as a country full of monsters, but
"_always producing some new monster_,--"

    Semper aliquid novi Africam afferre[38],

all which is either entirely incorrect or a monstrous exaggeration. It
would have been very _nice_ to fight one's way through The Desert in the
midst of every kind of beast and monster which the gloomy imagination of
men may have conjured up from the beginning of the annals of adventure
and travel; this would have made these pages undoubtedly very "stirring
and exciting." Happily Providence has not filled up those vast spaces
which separate Northern and Central Africa with such hideous tenants!
Sufficient are the evils of The Desert to the wayfarer who sojourns
therein.

In the evening, had a long conversation with a group of people. The
subjects, in which they all felt more than ordinary curiosity, were, the
new world of America, Australia, the Pacific, and the whales in it, and
the gold and silver mines of South America, &c. The number of sheep,
also, in Australia, amazed them, in comparison with the few wandering
scattered flocks in The Desert. I am become a walking gazette amongst
the people, and ought to be dubbed "Geographer of The Desert." They also
question me on the relative forces of the Christian Powers, and have a
great idea of the military strength of France. The capture of Algiers has
produced a vivid and lasting impression of the French power throughout
all North Africa. They consider England the great power on the sea, and
France on the land. I have, besides, to tell them of the population of
all the world, and to answer a thousand other questions. Sometimes their
conversation, after being exceedingly animated, falls into unbroken and
moody silence, and they recline for hours, without moving a muscle of the
face or uttering a syllable. Indolence is the besetting sin of the
Saharan tribes. It is also the same in Tripoli. Col. Warrington, in
reporting upon the Tripolines, says:--"Whether the extraordinary
indolence of the people proceeds from the climate, or want of occupation,
I know not, but they are in an horizontal position twenty hours out of
the twenty-four, sleeping in the open air." In this temperate season of
the year, the Ghadamsees might find useful and healthful occupation in
the gardens, but they are so confoundedly lazy that they won't stir, and
what work really is done is performed by slaves. Such people deserve to
starve. Caillié says:--"The Mandingoes would rather go without food part
of the day than work in the fields; they pretend that labour would take
off their attention to the Koran, which is a very specious excuse for
laziness." Like most people in Central Africa, all their hard work is
done by the poor slaves. The Ghadamsee people have, however, the excuse
that, being a city of merchants, their object is repose when they return
from long journeys.

Paid a visit to Rais; presented to his Excellency one of my best razors,
with which he was highly delighted. Saw plenty of my acquaintances, all
pleased with the Ramadan being about to terminate. Few patients.

FOOTNOTES:

[30] The Arabic ‮عرك‬ seems to be used for a pustule or small
    tumour. The term is applied to the tumour of a camel. There is
    also the term ‮عرق‬, "decayed flesh or bone."

[31] ‮يونس‬, Ἰωνας. _Esaias_ is changed in the same way.

[32] ‮الضب‬, _Thob_--monitor: probably, _monitor pulchra_.

[33] ‮كحل‬, _Kohel_, "powder of lead," name derived from the
    epithet "_black_."

[34] ‮حنّا‬, _Henna_, "Lawsonia alba," Law. The Henna shrub is
    cultivated in irrigated fields at Ghabs (Tunis), and is a source
    of wealth.

[35] It is the _Ovis Tragelaphus_ of Zoologists.

[36] I was fellow-passenger from Mogador with the male oudad, now
    at the Royal Zoological Gardens. He is a very fine animal, but has
    but one eye.

[37] The foundation of Nimrod's reputation was laid in the East,
    many curious facts of which have been preserved in Armenian
    tradition. The Armenian Bishop, Dr. Nerses Lazar, says, for the
    benefit of all England, (See his _Scriptural and Analogical
    Conversations on the Physical and Moral World with reference to an
    Universal Commercial Harmony_, published by Bentley, London,
    1846):--"In the second age of the world, just on entering the
    second century, _Nimrod began to be a mighty one in the earth_; he
    was the first great warrior, conqueror, or most severe governor.
    _He was a mighty hunter before the Lord: wherefore it is said,
    Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord_, by which means
    he became a mighty monarch. For he inured himself to labour by
    this toilsome exercise, and got together a great company of young
    robust men to attend him in this sport; _who were hereby also
    fitted to pursue men as they had done wild beasts_. (Here the Free
    Kirk will find the beginning of the system which they are
    patronizing in Yankee Land.) Besides, in the age of Nimrod, the
    exercise of hunting might win him the hearts of men, whom he thus
    delivered from wild beasts, to which they were much exposed in
    their rude and unprotected way of living; so that many at last
    joined him in the great designs he formed of subduing men, and
    making himself master of the neighbouring people in Babylon,
    Susiana, and Assyria. The memory of this hunting of his was
    preserved by the Assyrians, who made Nimrod the same as Orion, for
    they joined the dog and the hare, the first creature perhaps that
    he hunted, with his constellation. He first erected Babylon, and
    Assyria is called the land of Nimrod, &c., &c. He began to exalt
    himself, and he is called _Bel_ from his dominions, and _Nimrod_
    from his rebellion (against God)." The worthy prelate goes on
    giving a very long affair about the father of huntsmen and
    jockies. Nimrod has come up again in this our year of 1847. The
    French and English antiquarians and excavators have dug him up,
    and all his splendid posterity from the banks of the Euphrates at
    the _Bir-el-Nimroud_. The _Royal Asiatic Society_ no doubt will
    soon find his mark, or cross, His Turfy Highness not being
    expected to be a _letterato_, in Cuneiform, wedge-shaped or
    arrow-headed characters upon the unbaked or sun-dried bricks
    thrown out of the famous Nineveh mound, so that at last Nimroud
    will have full justice done him by a grateful posterity.

[38] Pliny. This vulgar error of antiquity is cited
     from the Greek of Aristotle.
     Λεγεται δε τις παροιμα ὁτι αει τι Λιβυη καινον.




CHAPTER VIII.

FAST OF THE RAMADAN.

     The Shâanbah and Banditti of The Desert.--Native Plays and Dances
     of Ghadamsee Slaves.--Aâween, or Square of Springs.--The Women of
     Ghadames, their Habits and Education.--The Ghadamsee and Berber,
     or Numidian Languages.--Varieties of People and Population of
     Ghadames.--Charge of corrupting the Scriptures.--Ben Mousa
     Ettanee.--The Bishop of Gibraltar.--Continue teaching
     Geography.--Ruin of the Country.--Approaching end of the
     World.--Seeing the New Moon.--My Taleb disputes about
     Religion.--Movements of Banditti.--The small Force by which the
     Turks hold Tripoli.


_28th._--HEARD the _Shâanbah_--‮شعانبة‬--and Touaricks are about
to have a set-to. Last year they had a skirmish, and the Touaricks
killed about eighty of the Shâanbah. These latter are going to
avenge their defeat; they will attack the open districts, and then
proceed to Ghat. The Shâanbah inhabit a desert of sand in the
neighbourhood of Warklah--‮وارقلة‬--about fifteen days from
Ghadames, and four from Souf. They are independent tribes, but small
in number, not more than from five to six hundred. Nominally,
however, they are located in French Algerian territory. They have
been celebrated from time immemorial as the robbers and assassins of
The Desert--_to be a brigand_ is, with them, an hereditary
honour--and they are equally the dread of the people of Warklah,
whose neighbours they are, as of stranger merchants and caravans.
They have a well of water scooped out in the sandy regions where
their tents are pitched, and here they live in a horrid security,
defying all law and authority, human and divine, and all the
neighbouring Powers. Around them is an immensity of sandy wastes,
and none dare pursue them to their abhorred dens. Horses, indeed,
would be useless; and camels might wander for months without water,
and perish before coming upon their hiding places in these dreadful
regions. "Two hundred men would require four hundred camels, eight
hundred water-skins, and provisions for two months," says the Rais,
"and therefore we must leave them to be exterminated by time."
Unfortunately, they are recruited from the bad characters of the
Souafah, a kindred tribe of Arabs, and other outlaws. The Shâanbah
are the great professional bandits of the North, but there are some
other fragmentary tribes, located on the confines of The Sahara, and
the valleys of the Atlas. Particularly I may mention the horde of
brigands of Wady-es-Sour, which infest the routes between Touat and
Tafilelt. But this horde is more placable, and mostly, after levying
black-mail, will allow a caravan to pass uninterruptedly on its way.
The expedition of the Shâanbah will take place after Ramadan, for,
like the story of the Spanish assassins, who, being too early to
enter the house of an unfortunate victim, went in the meanwhile to
the matins which were being celebrated in a neighbouring church, so
these pious assassins of The Desert highways will not proceed to
their work of blood and slaughter until the fast of Ramadan is
concluded. The Shâanbah and Touaricks are, besides, national enemies
as to blood, the former being pure Arab, and the latter of the
Berber, or aboriginal stock of North Africa. The Shâanbah have for
arms common matchlocks, and a few horses in addition to their
camels. The Touaricks have the spear, dagger, the straight broad
sword, and a few matchlocks and pistols, it is said, and all are
mounted on camels, so the contest is somewhat differently balanced
with regard to the mode of equipment. People speculate as to the
success of the parties, but their sympathies are entirely with the
Touaricks.

Said comes in blubbering, sympathizing with his countrymen, saying,
Rais has been bastinadoing his household slaves, natives of Bornou
like himself. Rais certainly ought not to do this, for he does not
bastinade his Moors or Arab servants. In the evening I went with
Said to see the slaves of Ghadames indulge in their native dances and
other plays. These are called ‮لعب العبيل‬ "_playing of the
slaves_." The festival of the evening was "_the night of power_"
(‮ليلة القدر‬), on which the Koran[39] descended from heaven,
and the slaves were allowed a holiday in consideration of this
solemnity. The slaves danced in a circle around a leader of the
dance in the centre. At first, it is a simple walking round, face to
back, the legs raised, and a little swinging, and the steps keeping
time to the iron castanets fastened on the hands of each. Meanwhile,
they sing, and the chorus comes at intervals between the noise of
castanets, or finger-clappers. They now turn round and face their
leader, some prostrating before him, and others twirling themselves
round, but always moving in their circular motion and singing. The
tones of their voice are melodious and deep, not the plaintive
wearying monotony of the Arabs. Now the sounds increase, the chorus
rises higher and higher, the steps fall heavy, like the tread of
military, on the ground; and now, sounds, steps, and every noise and
movement quickens, until it becomes a frantic rush around their
terrified leader, who is at last, as the finish of the dance,
overthrown in the wild tumult. . . . . . . Besides the castanets,
they have a rude drum, consisting of a piece of skin stretched over
the mouth of a large calabash, brought from Soudan, which makes a
low hollow sound: to these is added occasionally a rude squeaking
hautboy. This circular dance was performed by about thirty male
slaves, gaily dressed in their best clothes, and evidently all very
happy, in truth, the free blood of their native homes danced through
their veins. Aye, the poor slave danced and sung! happier far than
his proud and wealthy master, who looked on in moody silence. So God
has ordained it to alleviate and balance human miseries. This dance
of freedom lasted a full hour, and was very laborious. There were
several Negresses near, who answered in shrill voices to the deep
choruses of the Negroes, but did not themselves dance. After the
circular dance, came off reels of couples. These were danced with
great spirit, nay, violence: there was no dancing of a person
singly. None of the dancing was indecent, like the Moorish; the
lower part of the body and legs now and then assumed steps and
positions like the well known Spanish _fandango_ with castanets.

_29th._--Weather is now tolerably cool all day long in the city, but
not cool enough for agreeable travelling. Sketched to-day the
_Aâween_, ‮اعوين‬, or square of "fountains," which belongs to the
faction of the Ben Weleed. A group of fifty persons surrounded me,
all clamoring to see what I was doing, and making the funniest
observations. They call drawing, _writing_ a thing. One said, "Ah,
it is well written, the Christians know everything but God."
Another, "Yâkob, shall you give that writing to your Sultan?" From
the fountains in this square, which merely run into stone troughs,
the camels drink.

[Illustration]

The white women, or the respectable women of Ghadames, white or coloured,
never descend to the streets, nor even go into the gardens around their
houses. Their flat-roofed house is their eternal promenade, and their
whole world is comprehended within two or three miserable rooms. The
date-palms they see, and a few glimpses of The Desert beyond--and this is
all. Truly it is necessary to establish an Anti-Slavery Society for the
women of this oasis. I have visited a few of them in their private
apartments with their husbands, in my capacity of quack-doctor. None of
them were fair or beautiful, but some pleasing in their manners, and of
elegant shape; they are brunettes, one and all, with occasionally large
rolling, if not fiery, black eyes. They are gentle in their manners, and
were very friendly to The Christian. Many of them, in spite of their
seclusion, shewed extreme intelligence; they are also very industrious.
My taleb assured me the little money he got from keeping the register of
the distribution of water, and other minor matters, could not keep his
family, and his chief support was from the industry of his wife in
weaving, whom he highly praised, adding, "God has given me the best wife
in Ghadames." Most of the women weave woollens enough for the consumption
of their family, and some for sale abroad. The education of women
consists in learning by heart certain prayers, portions of the Koran, and
legendary traditions of the famous _Sunnat_. The women are proud of their
learning, and the men pride themselves in saying, "Only in this country
are women so well instructed!" Besides this, they have the privilege of
going to the mosques very early in the morning, and late in the evening,
where they say their prayers like men, at least, so I understood from my
taleb; but a Christian must not ask questions about women in these
countries. The same authority assured me, the women, mostly negresses and
half-castes, seen in the streets in the day-time, are slaves, or esteemed
as such, the Touarick women excepted. I have no doubt the manners of the
women of this city are generally very correct, and as chaste as any women
in North Africa. But the Touarick women, especially of the elder sort,
are not always exceedingly refined. One morning, going out from my
house, I found some seven or eight Touarick women sitting on the
stone-bench at the door. They began to laugh and joke with me; at last
one of the elder present said, "Now, Christian, give me some money, and
then I'll come into your house." At this delicate sally, all expressed
their approbation in loud laughter: the half-caste women are much the
same. A Moor said something to me, which I did not understand, and then
laughed and said, "It is a Negro word," and, lest I should want an
interpreter, an half-caste lady present, putting her hand deliberately to
something, said, "That's the meaning," repeating the action two or three
times. On the whole, however, I have not seen so many cases of indelicacy
in this part of the world, as are to be seen almost every day in Paris
and London. No, the morals of The Desert are mostly pure and continent as
compared to those of our great European cities.

My taleb to-day made a vocabulary of the Touarghee, Ghadamsee, and Arabic
languages. He finished also the translation of the third chapter of
Matthew into the Ghadamsee language, which I sent afterwards to the
British and Foreign Bible Society. I did not expect that he would have
done it so easily, thinking his religious scruples would have interfered.
He would have done all the Gospels had I paid him. According to Ben
Mousa, the Ghadamsee language contains a few Arabic words, and is a most
ancient dialect. It is spoken only at Siwah and Ougelah, two Tripoline
oases near the coast, ten days apart, on the route to Egypt, and there is
a dialect something like it in one of the Tunisian mountains. Many of the
Touarghee words, he says also, are very much like, if not the same, as
those of Ghadamsee. I showed him the Gospel of St. Luke, translated into
the Berber language of Algeria, through Mr. Hodgson, and published by the
Bible Society. He was only able to recognize a few Ghadamsee words in
this translation. The Berber dialects, which comprehend the Ghadamsee,
the Touarghee, the Kabylee, the Shouweeah (of Dr. Shaw), and the Shelouk
of Morocco, although more or less intimately related, are very dissimilar
in many words and expressions. But they are sister branches of one
original mother, which require to be reduced to consistency and harmony
by some mastermind, and then a very copious and powerful language might
be formed. Such is said to have been the state of the German language
when Luther made his translation of the Scriptures, by which he laid the
foundation of the present mighty language of the Germans. Their common
enemy is the Arabic, which is daily making inroads upon them; and the
probability is, instead of being moulded into one mighty whole, they will
in the course of a few centuries be destroyed by the language of their
religion, for which the Berber tribes have a superstitious reverence.
There is a singularity about the language of Ghadames: it has differences
as spoken by the two factions of the Weleed and the Wezeet, the
provincialisms of the country. It is highly probable that the various
Berber dialects are the fragments of the language of those formidable,
but doubtful, auxiliaries, which so often balanced and changed the
fortune of Roman and Carthaginian arms. Of all these Numidian dialects,
only one people has amongst them a native alphabet, the rest using Arabic
characters: this people are the Touaricks. It is besides worthy of
remark, that amongst all the African tribes of Central Africa, nay, every
part of Africa, excepting the Coptic and Abyssinian Christians, only one
alphabet has been found, none of the other tribes having any characters
wherewith to write. Specimens of the Touarghee and Ghadamsee language, as
well as this alphabet, have been recently published, under the auspices
of the Foreign Office.

The language of Ghadames is spoken by an extremely mixed and various
population. Some are from Arabs of the plains, others from Arabs of the
mountains, others from Berber tribes, others from Moors of the Coast, and
not a few from Negress mothers, of every description of Negro race found
in the interior. Sometimes the men make a boast of being descended from
ancestors of pure Arab blood, from immigrants of the princes of Mecca and
countries thereabouts in Arabia, but in practice they contemn the
principle of uncontaminated blood, cohabiting with their favourite female
slaves, and from these rearing up a large family of mixed blood and
colour. In the Arab suburb a considerable number of free Negroes, the
offspring of liberated slaves, are settled. This class of population has
been mistaken for emigration from the interior, by some writers; but
Negroes never emigrate from the south to the north over The Desert,
however, some may wander, like the Mandingoes, in the countries of
Western Africa, as itinerant traders, tinkers, and pedlars. The city of
Ghadames presents therefore a most mixed and coloured population, there
being but very few of pure Arab blood, and fewer still of fair
complexions. I have seen, nevertheless, some families of sandy hair and
fair skins; but, certainly, the _barbarossa_ ("red beard,") or flaxen
locks, are not esteemed. These children of the sun prefer the raven-black
beard, the tanned skin, and the gazelle eye. The united population
amounts to about 3,000, but there are many Ghadamsee families established
in Soudan and Timbuctoo. I may add, six languages are spoken daily in
Ghadames, viz., Ghadamsee, Arabic, Touarghee, Housa, Bornouse, and
Timbuctoo. The Rais has not a Turkish soldier or servant with him, or
Turkish would make seven. Mourzuk being a garrison town, there Turkish,
Greek, Italian, and Tibbo may be added to these six languages. The Negro
languages are spoken by the slaves and free Negroes, and the merchants in
conversing with them.

As a specimen of flying reports, I heard yesterday Bona was not in the
hands of the French, but the Mussulmans. With respect to _shamatah_
("fighting"), the reports added, the French had lost 100,000 men in
battle! The eyes of all genuine Moslems are turned anxiously westwards,
and force and conquest, is everything with them.

_30th._--The mornings are now very cool and delicious. Walked on my
terrace, and enjoyed the fresh air of this autumnal spring. The palms are
beautiful to look upon, and the Desert city has the aspect of an
Hesperides. Are these the "fortunate isles" of the ancients? A few birds
twittering and chirping about, pecking the ripe dates.

My taleb, backed with two or three Mussulman doctors, charged me in
the public streets with corrupting and falsifying the text of the
word of God. "This," he said, "I have found by looking over your
‮الانجيل‬ Elengeel (Gospel)." It is precisely the charge which
we make against the Mohammedans. But our charge is not so much
corrupting one particular revelation as falsifying the entire books
of the Jews and the Christians, of giving them new forms, and adding
to them a great number of old Arabian fables. A taleb opened the
Testament at the Gospel of St. Mark, and read, _that Jesus was the
Son of God_. Confounded and vexed at this, he said, "_God neither
begets nor is begotten_," (a verse of the Koran). An Arab from the
Tripoline mountains turned upon me and said, "What! do you know
God?" I answered sharply, "Yes; do you think the knowledge of God is
confined to you alone?" The bystanders applauded the answer.

In general, the ignorant of the population of this part of North Africa,
as well as Southern Morocco and Wadnoun, think the Christians are not
acquainted with God, something in the same way as I heard when at Madrid,
that Spaniards occasionally asked, if there were Christians and churches
in England: "Hay los Cristianios, hay las iglesias in Inglaterra?" But in
other parts of Barbary, I have found, on the contrary, an opinion very
prevalent, that the religion of the English is very much like the
religion of the Moors, arising, I have no doubt, from the absence of
images and pictures in Protestant churches.

This evening, when visiting the Ben Weleed, conversation turned upon the
Bas-Relief. The people showed some jealousy at my possessing it, and
would have prefered that it remained in the oasis, and were not sent to
Tripoli. They added:--"Because it proves that God has given us the land
of the Christians." This is the grand argument in proof of the
Mussulman's religion, that God has given him the countries of the
Infidels. Indeed, the sooner the Bas-Relief is off the better. On my
observing that the slab belonged to a date prior to the Christians, they
were astonished, and asked, "_Who were before the Christians?_" They have
no idea of people before the Christians. The conversation was suddenly
stopped by the appearance of a remarkable personage, the _quasi_-Sultan
of the Ben Weleed. This was the famous rich and powerful Haj Ben Mousa
Ettanee. He is a man of a great age, and nearly blind, and the chief of
the most numerous and influential family of Ghadames. He always exhibits
a most difficult and obstinate temper in public affairs, and, I
understand, from the first, has shown an hostility to my residence in
Ghadames, unlike the Sheikh Makouran, who is the recognized Chief of the
Ben Wezeet, and who has shown himself as favourable as the other Chief
hostile. There may be a little of the spirit of faction in this; for we
see often a person unsupported by the one party, because he is supported
by the other party. But the whole family of Ettanee is considered _wâr_
("difficult"). The Rais speaking to me of this family, said: "Wâr, wâr--I
can do nothing with the Ettanee." Ettanee was attended by two or three
servants, one carrying a skin, and another a cushion to recline on
(_mokhaddah_). These arranged, the old gentleman mounted upon the
stone-bench and took his seat, everybody making way for him with the
greatest alacrity. Having heard I was present, after a short silence, he
addressed me: "Christian, do you know Scinde[40]?" I replied, "I know
it." "Are not the English there?" he continued. "Yes," I said. He then
turned and said something to the people in the Ghadamsee language[41]. My
conversation with them was always in Arabic. He abruptly turned to me,
"Why do the English go there, and eat up all the Mussulmans? Afterwards
you will come here." I replied, "The Ameers were foolish, and engaged in
a conspiracy against the English of India; but the Mussulmans in Scinde
enjoyed the same rights and privileges as the English themselves."
"That's what you say," he rejoined, and then continued: "Why do you go so
far from home, to take other people's countries from them?" I replied,
"The Turks do the same; they came here in The Desert." "Ah! you wish to
be such oppressors as the Turks," he continued very bitterly, and then
told me not to talk any more. No one present dared to put in a word. This
painful silence continued for some time. I was anxious to get off,
feeling very disagreeable; and beginning to move, he said to somebody,
"_Who's_ that?" for he couldn't see much, being nearly blind. They told
him it was the Christian going. He cried out, "Stop!" and then added,
"You have books with you, but you English are not Christians. You deceive
us. Nor are the Danish, or the Swedes, or the Russians Christians. _They
have no books._" He meant _religious_ books. The same opinion, I found
afterwards, was entertained by Haj Ibrahim, a very respectable and
intelligent Moorish merchant of Tripoli. Haj Ibrahim said to me, "How is
it that you have books on religion, when the English have none?"
Formerly Ettanee resided at Tripoli; and I have not the least doubt both
these Moors derived this false information from the intolerant and
Protestant-hating Romanist priests resident in Tripoli, backed as the
falsehoods were by the absence of any English church or worship, although
the English Consul very regularly celebrated worship in his family every
Sunday,--a circumstance which ought to have been known amongst the town
population of all religions. I am sorry the intentions of the British
Government have been so feebly carried out by the Bishop of Gibraltar.
Her Majesty's Government was anxious that Dr. Tomlinson should visit all
the coasts of the Mediterranean, both to strengthen the few Protestants
scattered on these inhospitable shores, and to show the various
authorities and people of this famed inland sea, that the English had a
religion, and cared for its prosperity. Up to the time I left the Barbary
coast, Dr. Tomlinson had neither visited Tunis nor Tripoli, though he had
been resident at Malta some three years. This is too bad; and it is quite
clear the Bishop does not understand the object of his mission in the
Mediterranean. He ought to have shown himself at once in all Barbary; he
then might have annihilated this monstrous error, propagated by Romish
priests, that the English had no religious books, and were not
Christians. It is but justice to add, the Bishop went to Tangiers. Mr.
Hay expected a very unctuous episcopal visit, and was shocked to hear the
good Bishop talk so much about fortifications and "horrid war." There is
consistency in everything; and common sense dictated that the Bishop
should have, on such a visit, assumed his character of "Overseer of the
scattered Protestant flock." Unfortunately, when he went first to Malta,
Dr. Tomlinson acted more like an episcopalian tight-rope dancer, always
balancing himself between Puseyism and Evangelicalism, and so distracted
the few Protestants at Malta. He is eminently a man of no decision of
character; and whenever he does manage to get up his reluctant will to a
decision, it is invariably on the wrong side of the question. Here in The
Desert I found myself pestered with both political and religious
questions; and to have shirked either, would have been to offend the
people. There was no alternative but to preach to them that all the
English and all Protestants had the same Bible as the Romanists, and were
equally Christians with them. I may add, of the Bishop of Gibraltar:
Since my return, I have heard that his Lordship found all his efforts
useless to conciliate the Malta papistical authorities; that he was much
shocked at their treachery; and that he was determined, on his return
again to Malta, _to become once more a good Protestant_. The truth is, he
had nothing to do with the Roman Catholics. He was to mind and care for
the Protestants in Malta, and on the shores of the Mediterranean. I
believe, however, he did do something in the way of unpleasant
interference with Colonel Warrington. It is well known the Colonel was
high-priest of Protestantism through his long Consular service of
thirty-three years, as well as Her Britannic Majesty's Consul. The
Colonel baptized, married, and buried, whenever applied to. He baptized,
married, and buried the members of his own family, and was surprised Sir
Thomas Reade had not the courage to do the same. Of this the Colonel was
very proud, citing the authority of some peer in the British Parliament,
who said, "If the King's subjects wished to _procreate_ in a foreign
land, where there was no parson, why should not the British Consul help
them?" This the Bishop demurred at; but the Colonel supported himself on
the authority of Dr. Lushington. The Colonel was undoubtedly right.
Still, politically and ecclesiastically, it would be much better if
English clergymen of some denomination or other were established along
the line of the whole coast of North Africa, which would show the native
Mussulmans we had a religion, and that we could afford to support and
protect our co-religionists. The French reap a good harvest by _their
protection of Christians_, which, characteristically enough, they use as
a political engine of aggrandizement.

On returning home, my Moorish friends pestered me still with more
questions, as to what people were _before_ the Christians. I endeavoured
to impress upon them, that the Christian era was comparatively _new_, and
that _before_ Christ, there were many nations, and great events occurred.
I found them grossly ignorant. But I had the good fortune to procure an
Arabic map in the possession of one of the merchants, who had laid it up
for many years amongst dusty papers. This had been published by the
printers and agents of the Church Missionary Society of Malta, very much
to their credit. By the aid of this, I made more progress in teaching
geography to the people. Seeing several dots on the map where _Sahara_ is
written, the people asked me what it meant. I told them sand. However, I
must protest against this device. We shall see that the greater part of
The Desert is stone and hard earth. The term "_sandy border_" of The
Desert is equally incorrect. Such a distinction does not exist in the
Tripoline provinces. The Desert comes up to the gates of Tripoli, it then
gives way to cultivation and The Mountains; it beyond them appears again
here and there and everywhere, within and without the regions of rain.
There is nothing like a border of The Desert. The "Grand Desert" and
"Petite Desert" of the French, are equally incorrect and absurd. All is
Sahara, or waste, uncultivated lands, and oases scattered thick within
them, as spots on the back of the leopard[42].

Saw the Rais late, who had heard all about my conversation with Ettanee,
and jokingly said, "_Wâr, wâr_, that old fellow, aye?" His Excellency
turned, to other matters: "The Shânbah are not going to attack the
Touaricks, they are coming hereabouts to plunder our caravans." Asked
him, if the city was secure enough to prevent them entering and pillaging
it? His Excellency replied, "Yes," but adding, "_koul sheyan maktoub_
(all is predestinated)." This doctrine is not only a comfort in every
misfortune, but also an apology for every fault, crime, or mismanagement
a person may be guilty of. Nay, if a man be starved to death, because he
will not work, which is sometimes the case in this part of the world, as
well as Ireland, it is destiny and the will of God! . . . . . . So of all
other things. If Ghadames should be stormed and plundered by the Shânbah
in its present defenceless condition, it will be, as a matter of course,
the will of God. But I must add, which unhappily cannot be said of
Ireland, the security of human life is very great in Ghadames and the
neighbouring desert. I have heard of no murder since I have been here,
and a murder is the last thing thought of. This does not arise from any
preventitive police, but from the simple dispositions of the
people--their horror and unwillingness to shed human blood! If a
messenger from a distant planet were to come to prove the divinity of a
religion, from the absence of the crime of murder, and were to take these
Saharan oases, and our Ireland, and put them in the balances of Eternal
Justice, we should soon see Ireland and its popular religion kick the the
beam, as--

         "The fiend look'd up, and knew
    His mounted scale aloft."

The "signs of the times" in this country are, when I first came here
bread was found in the Souk occasionally, as a luxury for the poor who
could not buy wheat and make bread; now, and it is only a little more
than a month, no bread is to be found. To-day not a single sheep was
killed anywhere, and I am obliged to go without meat. So the country
progresses in poverty and misery, so rapidly is its money being filched
from the people! Or, is it because every body has conspired together
against the Rais, and determined to wear an air of abject poverty? And
thus to evade the new contributions? This cannot be. To-morrow is the
last day of Ramadan; provided the new moon can be seen. I hope they'll
see it, for I am heartily sick of the Ramadan: the most amiable and
kind-hearted get out of humour in Ramadan; as to the Rais, I never go to
see him, except in the evening, unless to get a little money from him,
his Excellency being my banker. A Turk, who smokes all day long for
eleven months out of twelve, must suffer greatly in these thirty days.
Should like to have tried a day's fasting, as I have been so strongly
recommended by the people, but I expect to have enough of fasting in The
Desert, and it is of no use adding to our miseries for the sake of
curiosity or vanity. From recent conversations, it appears there is no
great danger in attempting Timbuctoo, but I have resolved on the route of
Kanou, because my object is not so much a journey of discovery, as to
collect a statistical account of the slave-trade, and see whether there
are any practicable legitimate means for extinguishing the odious
traffic. For this latter object, the Kanou route is decidedly more
advantageous. A wild adventure to Timbuctoo, ever so successful, can
never serve me in such stead in the end, when I have to read my own heart
and its motives, as a humane mission on the behalf of unhappy weak
Africans, doomed, by men calling themselves Christians, to the curse of
slavery.

_1st October._--Sheikh Makouran paid me a visit this morning. Our
conversation turned chiefly on the discoveries of lands and countries
since the times of Christ and Mahomet. The Sheikh was a little surprised
when I told him: "We ought to consider the world as just beginning, for
the ancients knew but little, and the greater part of the now inhabited
world was unknown to them." Moors, like some Christians, think the time
is near when Deity shall appear to destroy all unbelievers in their
respective religions. For myself, I cannot but believe that the world has
only _yet_ begun. It is impossible that the Creator should destroy the
world in its present imperfect state. No--the world will go on yet
thousands of years on years in the path of improvement unto (_shall I
say?_) perfection. At any rate, I belong to those whose aspirations are
for the future and not for the past. I am not enamoured with Hebrew
patriarchal innocence, or Grecian classic polish and freedom, or
Christian mediæval chivalry of the past. I am of the _New_ Englanders,
but not for the resurrection of the past. Rather than subscribe to
divinely-anointed kings and pious monks, church charities and May-day
holidays and May-poles for the people, I would sooner affix my signature
to railways, electric telegraphs, and the wild, bold, and raving
aspirations of a Shelley--in fact, to plunge anywhere head _foremost_,
than back again into the past.

A Moor to-day, in wishing to give a grand idea of the Touaricks (some of
whom were present), said, "Muley Abd Errahman (Emperor of Morocco) and
the Sultan of Stamboul, pay tribute to the Touaricks; but they pay
tribute to no one." This is ingeniously made out by the merchants of
Tripoli and Morocco, the subjects of the two Sultans, being obliged to
pay black-mail in passing through the Saharan districts of the Touaricks.
Some of the ill-natured are continually magnifying the dangers of the
route of Kanou, and one present said, "You can't go, there are thousands
of Touaricks to block up your way." Annoyed with this man and others, I
replied, "Do Touaricks eat the flesh of Christians after they have killed
them?" This made him very angry, and he began to apologize for the
Touaricks, one class of Mohammedans being always anxious to defend
another from unwonted or odious suspicions. They have, nevertheless, not
the least difficulty in confessing that the Touaricks will kill
Christians, as such, thus tacitly acknowledging it to be right to kill
Christians. The more respectable Ghadamseeah argue that in no case, if I
pay the Touaricks a certain sum as tribute, or what not, have the
Touaricks a right by the law of the Prophet to do me the least harm.
Heard all the Arab soldiers have run away from Emjessen, being without
anything to eat. These wise Turkish commanders gave the poor fellows a
bag of barley and a little oil, and left it, like the widow's cruse in
Holy Writ, to replenish itself. The Shânbah may now go and drink the
water of the well, and plunder the caravans as they please. The wonder is
that more open-desert robberies are not committed.

The Rais told me this evening that _one_ person saw the moon, but it is
necessary _two_ should have seen the dim, pale, half-invisible crescent
streak. Then the _âyed_ after the fast would have been to-morrow. At
sun-set, all the people were on the _qui-vive_, the Marabouts mounting
the minaret tops, but none saw it but this solitary moongazer, who, said
the Rais, "might have _imagined_ he saw the moon." The telescope was not
lawful, he added, "The people must see it with the naked, unassisted
eye."

_2nd._--No patients; only a little girl with severe ophthalmia, and the
old blind man, who fancies his eyes are better with the application of
the caustic. Generally the Moors think there is a different sort of
medicine for women. Yesterday I was asked for a medicine for women. I
gave a man a fever powder for his wife. This morning being the last
before the Ramadan, the Rais sent me a _backsheesh_ of meat (not cooked)
and a quantity of rice, enough to make a sumptuous festa. Certainly the
Rais is very gracious, and continues, if not increases, in his friendly
feelings towards me. People are killing and preparing for the festival.
There's a report, the merchants in Tripoli are afraid to leave for this
city on account of rumoured depredations of the Sebâah and Shânbah.
To-morrow, my taleb says he marries his two daughters. He prepares the
wedding-feast, and gives his daughters a stock of _semen_ (liquid
butter), and barley and wheat, to begin the world with. The sons-in-law
make presents to their brides of clothes, besides a little money; and
this is all the matter. My taleb seems very glad to get rid of his
daughters so easily; they are extremely young--thirteen and fifteen.
Besides these daughters he has a pet son. People usually choose a
religious festival, for the day of the celebration of their nuptials, as
in some parts of England. The taleb then, who is excessively fond of
religious discussion, began, "The essence of all religion is,--

     ‮وهو لا يولد ولا مولد‬
    _He_ (God) _neither begets nor is begotten_: and

     ‮وما عند الله شركاً‬
    _God has no associate_":--

both referring to the unity of God. Speaking of the duration of the
world, I said:--"The world must now begin, for, up to this time, men have
been generally very ignorant; and until lately the whole of the earth has
not been discovered." Very angry at this, he replied:--"Now the world
will finish; God is coming to destroy all you Christians, and all the
black _kafers_ (infidels), as well as the white." He then gave me an
account of the creation. "The world," he said, "was created seven times,"
&c., &c., adding many curious things.

_I._--"What is to become of the world; are nearly all its inhabitants,
from its beginning until now, to be d----d?"

_He._--"Yes."

_I._--"Is this the decree of God?"

_He._--"Yes, all is _maktoub_."

_I._--"But you say, God, is ‮الرحمان الرحيم‬,
      (_Most merciful_.)"

_He._--"Yes; but men won't obey his religion and Mahomet."

_I._--"What is to become of those who never saw, nor never could see or
read the Koran?"

_The Taleb._--"I don't know; God is great; God must have mercy upon
them."

_I._--"Undoubtedly God created the world; but according to you, the world
is now all corrupt (_fesad_), and nearly all men must soon be destroyed.
Is this honourable to God?"

_The Taleb._--"All is decreed."

_I._--"But many of the unbelieving Infidels are better than the Touaricks
and Arabs. Is not the British Consul in Tripoli better than a Shânbah
bandit?--better than an assassin who cuts the throats of the Faithful? Do
not all the people speak well of our Consul?"

_The Taleb._--"I know it; he's very good."

_I._--"But you can't change the religion of some people though you kill
them. When the Mohammedans conquered India, they got tired of putting
Hindoos to death for not changing their religion, and becoming
Mussulmans."

_The Taleb._--"God knows all, but you don't know," (a frequent phrase in
the Koran).

_I._--"Now, I don't think it's of much use to talk about religion, for
you won't change yours nor I mine. Here's the end of the matter. We must
all die, that's a thing no one disputes; but as to who is saved, or who
perishes, we cannot tell."

_The Taleb._--"The truth, by G--d! If God please, we shall see all soon."

A small caravan of Arabs, bringing sheep for the _Ayed_, arrived this
morning from Tunis. The route is _viâ_ Jibel Douerat, and only seven
days. If the roads were safe, travelling indeed about North Africa could
soon be rendered expeditious. The Arabs report:--"That great military
preparations are making at Jerbah, where the Bey of Tunis is expected
after the _Ayed_, and whence he will invade Tripoli, all his Arabs being
ready to march with him." After this, a caravan of forty slaves arrived
from the south, under the conduct of Touaricks. The _ghafalah_ is
originally from Bornou, but half left for Fezzan on arriving at Ghat. Was
much surprised when Rais told me this evening, after five or six days, he
would send a soldier to sleep as a guard in my house. He explained he had
received authentic intelligence from Souf, of the Shânbah banditti being
on the march, five hundred strong, proceeding in the direction of Ghat
and Ghadames, and he expected them near this in the course of ten days.
Their intention is to avenge themselves on the Touaricks for the defeat
last year. They are the immemorial enemies of the Touaricks, who have a
stake in the commerce of the Desert, but they as professional robbers
have none. Besides this, we hear the Sebâah continue their depredations,
and have carried off 2,000 sheep from The Mountains: they also threaten
an attack on Derge. The whole country, indeed, will soon be full of
banditti, unless some energetic measures are adopted, and we shall have
no communication between this and Tripoli. All the routes are now
considered unsafe. Rais assured me, he has applied to the Pasha for a few
Turkish troops, but His Highness refused, on the plea of expense. The
whole force of the Rais is not a hundred Arabs, and poor miserable
fellows they are, with two or three horses placed at their disposal. With
such inconsiderable means the Pacha presumes to hold in the heart of The
Desert this important commercial city, and its dependencies of Seenawan
and Derge! The French manage matters very differently in Algeira. Indeed,
the united force occupying all Tripoli, with its wide-spread provinces of
many hundred miles apart, does not exceed _five_ thousand men of all
arms! Compare this to the hundred and thirty thousand men (including
native troops) in Algeira, and be astonished at the different effects of
the French and Turkish systems. . . . . To add to the Rais's
embarrassments, the people are in ill-humour, whilst some hear the news
with pleasure, and fancy they see in our present troubles the beginning
of the end of Turkish rule in Ghadames.

FOOTNOTES:

[39] This book is said to be eternal as God himself, even
    UNCREATED. This is argued metaphysically from all the thoughts and
    volitions of Deity being eternal and immutable, and therefore the
    laws of the Koran have no relation to time or creation.

[40] Most of the people here have heard of Scinde; but their
    knowledge of it is very imperfect.

[41] I afterwards learnt it was--"You see these Christians are
    eating up all the Mussulman countries."

[42] Strabo mentions the oasis:--"To the south of Atlas lies a
    vast desert of sand and stones, which, like the spotted skin of a
    panther, is here and there diversified by oases, or fertile
    grounds, like isles in the midst of the ocean."




CHAPTER IX.

CONTINUED RESIDENCE IN GHADAMES.

     The Ayed (little Festival of Moslems).--Ghadames a City of
     Marabouts.--Every Accident of Life ascribed to Deity.--Second
     Day's Feast, Swinging and Amusements of the People.--Death of the
     Sultan of Timbuctoo.--Various Terms employed for denoting
     Garden.--French Woman in The Desert.--Price of Slaves.--Time
     required to go round the World.--Stature of the Touaricks.--Oases
     of Derge.--Reconquest of the World by the Mahometans.--Tibboo
     Slave-dealer.--Touatee Silversmith and Blacksmith.--Assassination
     of Major Laing.--Tibboos compared to Bornouese.--The Touarick
     Bandit again.--First Encounter with the Giant Touarick.--Water of
     Ghadames unhealthy.--Manacles for Slaves.--Second Meeting with
     the Giant.--The Souafah, and Tuggurt.--Visit from the
     Giant.--Chapter in the Domestic History of Ghadames.--Serpents
     and Scorpions, the Banditti of The Desert.--Toys Prohibited.--The
     Wahabites.--How Moslems despise Jews.


_3rd._--THE Ayed ‮عيد‬, succeeding Ramadan, is ushered in with a
cold morning, the first cold morning I have felt in The Desert.
Might venture to put on my cloth pantaloons. Happy to feel this
invigorating cold. This is the little âyed; the âyed kebir, or âyed
Seedna Ibrahim, takes place two months hence, when every family, in
imitation of Abraham offering up his son Isaac, kills or sacrifices
a lamb. The caravan from Bornou reports the road to be good. It is
added, rain has fallen in Ghat as well as in The Sahara, near Tunis
and Tripoli, so that the oasis of Ghadames is the only dry spot, for
no rain has yet fallen.

Had several visits from persons all dressed out in festival finery,
amongst the rest the black dervish. He looked like a dusky Nigritian
Sultan. Twenty paras he condescended to take from me, which added to his
holiday happiness; sometimes he won't accept of money. Now comes Ben
Mousa, my taleb, to pay his respects. Not, as amongst the great unwashed
of London, do they shave for a penny and give a glass of ---- (I shall
not say what), in the bargain, here in Ghadames they shave for nothing.
"How is this," I said to my turjeman who had now come in. "This is the
custom of the country," he replied, "we always shave one another for
friendship." There are several other little things done _gratuitously_ in
Ghadames, but shaving the head is the principal one[43]. He who has the
sharpest razor is expected to do the most work. They cut and hack one
another about most barbarously, some using no soap, only rubbing a little
water over their heads. I have seen a score in a row, all sitting on the
ground, waiting patiently their turn. Some shave the head every month,
others allow several months to elapse. By way of diverting conversation,
my taleb had the extreme kindness to tell me that the Touaricks of Aheer
and Aghadez (not those of Ghat) killed Christians and Jews on the
principle of religion, and would refuse to compound matters, even if I
gave them a thousand dollars. He, however, condescended to add, "They are
_mahboul_ (foolish)." He then went on to boast of the sanctity of this
city, and said, "Our people are not afraid of the Sebâah and Shânbah,
because they are a city of marabouts." The taleb had just come from a
full divan of the people, where the Rais, on this festival morning, had
been haranguing them and flattering their prejudices. "Be assured," said
the Governor, "if the Bashaw knew that you were a holy city, _a city of
dervishes_, a zaweea (or sanctuary), he would write to the Sultan at
Constantinople, and the Sultan, hearing of this, would immediately give
orders that no 6,000 mahboubs were to be exacted from you, but that, on
the contrary, money from the Sultan would be sent to you, holy people." I
wondered that a man of the Rais's sense could so commit himself. What
would he have done if after the âyed, the people had brought a petition
to him, addressed to the Sultan, setting forth that they were "_a city of
marabouts_," and praying to have their tribute remitted? But the poor
people are incapable of taking such an advantage. They were excited by
their religious feelings, and believed all the Rais told them. It was
certainly a fine compliment for the feast, to men in the situation of the
people of Ghadames. And my informant added: "Ahmed Effendi in The
Mountains is the rascal and the infidel, and does not tell the Pasha we
are a nation of dervishes." Said told me a slave was brought up to day to
be bastinadoed, but reprieved till to-morrow on account of the feast.
Said's sympathy is always excited on these occasions, he remembers
ancient days. On asking what he had done, he said, "The slave stole some
dates because he had nothing to eat." My taleb, occasionally rather free
in tongue, took upon himself to call all Negroes _thieves_. I admonished
him: "The poor slaves got little from this city of dervishes, now and
then a little barley-meal, or lived almost altogether on a few dates. It
was not surprising they stole to satisfy the cravings of hunger." Berka
the liberated slave of Makouran, and Said's intimate friend, now came in,
dressed up in his holiday clothes. He asked for Said. "He is gone to The
Desert, run away, for he has broken our cooking-pot; see here are the
pieces, here's the meat spoilt; what am I to do for dinner?" I added, "He
ought to have a good beating." The poor old negro stared and looked
really grieved. At last he muttered, "Why, Christian, that _breaking_
comes from God, and not Said." "The truth," said the taleb laughing. Said
now came in, having borrowed another pot, and Berka was comforted at the
return of his friend. In The Desert, every accident of life is ascribed
to an ever-present and all-superintending Divinity!

All people enjoy their festival or carnival, to-day. They follow the
reckoning of Tripoli, but as the people saw the moon a day sooner there,
a day of fasting is here saved. It is so fortunate not to see the moon
too soon. The appointed Ramadan is twenty-nine or thirty days; ours is
twenty-nine. However, rigid Moslems did not begin to eat to-day till
noon, after the morning prayers, so delicately scrupulous are they. My
taleb agrees with me, that the Arabs, who usually only eat in the
evening, and don't smoke, experience but little inconvenience from the
fast. Nothing particular took place to-day's âyed, except every one being
dressed in his best clothes, and most of the youth having on something
_new_. It is the same with the Jews of Mogador on the feast of Passover.
The Sanctuaries hoist the holy colours of their religion, beautiful
vermilion, and yellow, and green; these are their holiest and most-loved
colours. The slaves danced and sang all day long. I was present during
the closing scene at night, which was curious. After their continuous and
laborious dancing, they all suddenly stopped as if struck with paralysis,
offered a prayer to Allah, and dispersed. Did not go out till evening,
for if I had gone out at all in the day-time I must have dressed up, and
I did not wish to appear a Guy Fawkes amongst the people, or excite their
curiosity or prejudices on the day of a solemn festival. The Rais asked
why I did not come in the morning, for this was a grand receiving-day,
when all his particular friends and the heads of the people paid him
visits. On telling him, he approved my reason, and said, "You, Yâcob,
have _compass yaiser_ (plenty of wit)."

_4th._--To-day is half a feast, and full-grown men and aged men are
amusing themselves with swinging, like so many boys. A dead aoudad was
brought in from The Sahara, which the Touaricks had killed. These
Touaricks are also bearers of a letter, written at Timbuctoo, which has
come the round-about way of Soudan, announcing that the Sultan of
Timbuctoo is dead. Sidi Mokhtar, a marabout, is appointed Governor of
Timbuctoo by the new Sultan. The Sultan himself, after visiting Timbuctoo
and making this appointment, retired to Jinnee, his royal residence.
Sheikh El-Mokhtar has a good reputation; he is now occupied reorganizing
his government. No other news. Met in the streets one of the Touaricks
who came yesterday with fifteen camel-loads of senna. Asked him if
Touaricks killed Christians. Surprised at this abrupt question, he asked,
"_Why?_" I added, "If you are a good fellow I will go with you to Ghat."
Pleased at this confidence, he came home with me and took some coffee. A
camel-load of senna now sells for seventeen mahboubs. He asked me what
the Christians did with the senna, and would not believe it was all used
for physic. Said Christians were not numerous enough to drink all they
bought. There is a wady near Ghat covered with senna, during rain, but
the greater portion of senna is brought from Aheer.

An instance of the way in which the Arabic language is used, and
which makes some people think there are different dialects in this
language, may be given in the terms denoting _Garden_. For garden,
the Touaricks and people of Touat use ‮جنّة‬, a word which
frequently occurs in the Koran, conveying the highest and purest
idea of garden, and which we usually translate "_paradise_." In
Ghadamsee and Touarghee a corruption of this pure Arabic word is used for
heaven, ‮اجّن‬. The Tripoline and Tunisian Moors use the term
‮سانية‬, and the people here ‮قابة‬, for garden, but
which is, rather, kitchen-garden. Now, all these words are good Arabic, and
may be used indifferently, at least the two latter. In the New
Testament translation, the Persian ‮بستان‬ is used, which I
imagine is the Eastern term for garden generally, in opposition to the
western ‮سانية‬. _The Garden_ in North Africa is very different
from our ideas of a garden. Corn-fields, overshadowed with the palm, the
olive, and a few other fruit-trees, is the species of plantation to
which the term is usually applied. Certainly a few flowers are
sometimes cultivated in these gardens of Africa, but this is the
exception to the usage.

The Rais, who is a grave Turk, nevertheless unbended himself to-day,
amusing himself in seeing the boys swing. The Moors sadly wanted me to
join their swinging, but I politely declined. They said, it was
"_medicine_," meaning good for the health, everything conducive to health
being called "_medicine_" by people in The Desert. Was gratified to see
some sports amongst the people, for the men are always gloomy and
reclining about the streets, brooding over their ruinous affairs, and the
boys are little encouraged to healthful and innocent games. Up to this
time, the only persons I have seen happy are the slaves, who dance and
sing, and forget everything but the present moment. The swings are tied
high up to the tallest date-palms, two or three persons swing together,
and the sport is a little dangerous. Saw no other amusements during the
âyed, except here and there drafts, played in the primitive way of making
small holes in the sand for the squares.

During the expedition of the Duke d'Aumale to the south of Algeria, the
Bey of Biskera, Mohammed-es-Sagheer ("little") murdered the small
garrison of soldiers left behind, emptied the chest of what francs were
in it, and went off to The Desert. He is now living tranquilly in the
Jereed. The French made a demand to the Bey of Tunis to have him given
up, but it seems His Highness had courage enough to resist it, alleging
that he was a political refugee. Mohammed-es-Sagheer had married a French
woman, and she ran away, or was taken by force, with him. She had borne
him two children. The most extraordinary stories are current of this
French woman. Though a low woman of one of the towns, she gives herself
out as "the daughter of the Sultan of France!" She rides like a man,
dresses like a man, smokes, and follows the Arabs in all their
expeditions _against_ the French. She has adopted the Mahometan religion,
and is become a sort of priestess, or Maraboutah. She promises the
credulous Arabs that she will not only put her husband on the throne of
Algeria, but even of France itself, and then all the world will become
Mussulmans! The Moors say she can never leave The Desert because she has
brought her husband two children.

Saw Rais in the evening, and had a sort of confidential conversation with
him, and told him for the _first_ time of my intention to proceed further
in the interior. Of course, he had heard of it before from his servants.
Nevertheless, he affected great surprise and sorrow. But, when I told him
I might return in six months hence, he became more calm. He then
persuaded me by all means to avoid the routes of the Touaricks, and
proceed to Fezzan, thence to Bornou. Speaking of the Ghadamsee merchants
and their friends and correspondents, Messrs. Silva, Labe, Shaloum, and
Francovich, in Tripoli, he said, "Your merchants exchange products with
the Ghadamseeah in the way of barter, and make a great deal of money,
whilst the Ghadamseeah have no money left, none at all." He wondered,
like the Touaricks, what the Christians do with all the senna. He
expected the Shânbah, on the route of Ghat, in a few days' time. I
observed, "People are all superbly dressed, and there was not much
appearance of poverty." He smiled, and said, "The people are _sheytan_
(very cunning), they lay up their new clothes, and only wear them on
festivals." Speaking of slaves, his Excellency said, "There is now no
profit on slaves. Government takes ten mahboubs duty on each. A good
slave fetches 40,000 wadâ (cowries) in Soudan, usual price 30,000, and
some as low as 15,000. A good slave sells in Ghadames for forty
mahboubs." The Rais told me to take care of the vermin, and abused the
filthiness of the people. If I escape the Touaricks and the fevers as
well as I escape the vermin, which abound on the clothes of all the
people without exception, I shall consider myself fortunate. The
inhabitants of Ghadames make no scruple in attacking the enemy in the
public streets, which stick to them closer than their dearest friends. I
attribute my escape to my being an infidel, for their orthodox l-i-c-e
won't have anything to do with Kafers.

People look worse than during the Ramadan. Poor creatures, they have
little to eat; they say they have nothing but barley-meal and dates to
eat, for the Turks have taken away all their money. Some, however, as a
luxury, which their relations and friends send them from Soudan,
masticate _ghour_[44]-nuts, and which I believe is the _kolat_, or
colat-nut of Caillié. The Arabs called these nuts the "_Coffee of
Soudan_." Konja is a great place for the growth of the ghour, two or
three months west of Kanou.

_5th._--Weather gets colder every day. I was reflecting on the best
situation for a Consul in Northern Sahara. The point would be Touat, the
nucleus of many routes, the great highways of commerce in The Desert.
From this point a British Consul could keep a sharp look-out on the
French, moving southward.

A Mussulman doctor told me with great solemnity this morning, that five
hundred years were necessary to go round the world. Two hundred years
desert (‮ك٘لع‬), or nothing, or containing--

    "(God's) _dark materials to create more worlds_."

Two hundred years of seas. Eighty years of Gog and Magog. Eighteen years
of Soudan. And two years of white people, including Christians and
Mohammedans. There were countries full of Mussulmans which had not been
visited by the Mussulmans of Turkey or Africa. They had been visited by
one man only, Alexander the Great. Certainly the Moors read history
_backwards_. On asking where this information was to be obtained, he
said, "From the _Tăfseer_ (Commentaries) of the Koran."

The Touaricks who have just arrived are men of very large stature, and as
"straight as a dart." Several of them are full six feet high. Such men
are alone produced in the Sahara! All the weak and the diseased soon die
off, leaving behind only the robust. They walk about the streets with an
air of consummate pride, with their huge broad swords swung at the back,
and their lances in their hands, like "a tall pine."

An Arab, just arrived from Derge, brings intelligence that the Ghadamsee
people who were in Tunis are returning home _viâ_ Tripoli. These are
mostly poor labourers, who go a few months to Tunis to amass a little
capital, with which to trade afterwards. The Ghadamsee is constantly
going on these journeys of profit and enterprize, either as merchant or
labourer. His Desert home is the pulse of all his distant enterprises,
whither he retires to end his days, dedicating the last hours of his
existence to God. The Arab came from Derge, mounted on a good horse, in
the short time of _thirteen hours_,--by camels it occupies two and
two-and-a-half days! The Arab told me he killed, a few days ago, six
ostriches near Derge. The oases of _Derge_ consist of four little oases,
or districts, viz., Derge (proper), Terghuddah, Madress, and Fiffelt,
containing an Arab population of 400 souls, a hardy and brave people.
Water is plentiful, but there are no hot springs. A native told me, that
invariably any stranger drinking this water, was attacked with fever.
Generally these little oases are very unhealthy. Some assert that all who
visit the oases are taken ill. Probably, like Mourzuk, they lay low, in a
wady or hollowed plain. Date-trees are numerous, and bear good fruit. A
fair quantity of wheat and ghusub is grown. Besides sheep, and goats, and
fowls, there is a few camels. The people are occupied in the gardens, but
too numerous for the oases; they are very poor, and obliged to emigrate.
Derge is in the more eastern route of Zantan and Rujban; and when that of
Seenawan, the western, is not safe, this, the longer route, is taken.

_6th._--Slept badly during the night; restless about my journey.
Determined now to take the Fezzan route. Weather very soft, with murky
clouds.

Relating to my taleb, that, formerly, Mussulmans conquered Christians, but
now, all the countries of the Mediterranean were fast falling back again
into the hands of the Christians--such being the will of God, he consoled
himself by replying: "That, in less than forty years will rise up one
Abou Abdullah Mohammed El-Arbee El-Korashee El-Fatamee,
(‮ابو عبد الله محمّد القرشي الفاطمي‬,) who
will kill all the Christians, both of the new[45] and the old
world; that this will be the golden age; all people will be
Mussulmans, and all will be rich and powerful, enjoying the
abundance of this world's good things; and the very dust of the
earth, and the sand of the Sahara, will be turned into gold and
silver: But, (the awful but!) that this will only last one
generation, or _forty_ years; for then will arise The Dajal! who,
mounting upon an ass, will scour the earth in three days, and kill
and destroy all the Mussulmans, this Dajal being the Messiah of the
Jews, who will all flock to his standard; and that then will appear
Jesus, _the Son of Mary_[46], from the top of the mountains of the
moon, after Dajal has reigned forty years, and slay this monster
Messiah of the Jews. Now there will appear Gog and Magog, let loose
from Jibel Kaf, in Khoristan, and the country of the Turks and
Russians. And last of all will come the end, when the Wahabites will
carry all the Jews into hell-fire on their backs." Such are the
secret consolations of a good and orthodox Mussulman of The Sahara.
A part of this monstrous fable has been related before, with some
variations. The gist of the prophecy is, _the destruction of the
Christians by another Arab Conqueror_. Here the now humbled follower
of the Prophet finds his sweet revenge. The same revenge the more
ignorant and fanatic of the Jews seek and cherish in the advent of
their long-expected Messiah, who is to enable them to put their feet
upon the necks of all people--all the nations of the earth. But the
better class of Israelites are willing to believe that the Gentile
nations may enjoy a portion of the blessings of Messiah's reign, and
will not be effaced from the earth. Some pious Christians, who,
failing to convert men to their peculiar views of revelation,
anticipate the appearance quickly of a sort of _Buonaparte_ Messiah,
armed with similar attributes, who is to involve all infidel nations
in seas of blood, and make the world a heap of Saharan desolation.
Such views of Christianity have always been abhorrent to my
feelings; and I have kept close to the fair and pacific pictures of
Messiah's reign, so beautifully set forth by Pope:--

    All crimes shall cease, and ancient frauds shall fail;
    Returning Justice lift aloft her scale;
    Peace o'er the world her olive wand extend,
    And white rob'd Innocence from Heaven descend.

    The dumb shall sing--the lame his crutch forego,
    And leap exulting like the bounding roe.
    No sigh, no murmur, the wide world shall hear,
    From every face He wipes off every tear.

    No more shall nation against nation rise,
    _Nor ardent warriors meet with hateful eyes_,
    But useless lances into scythes shall bend,
    And the broad falchion in a ploughshare end.

    The swain in barren deserts with surprise,
    Sees lilies spring and sudden verdure rise;
    And starts, amidst the thirsty wilds, to hear,
    New falls of water murmuring in his ear.

    The steer and lion at one crib shall meet,
    And harmless serpents lick the pilgrim's feet.
    The smiling infant in his hand shall take,
    The crested basilisk and speckled snake.

Afternoon, went to see the slaves lately brought from Bornou. They were
as much like merchandize as they could be, or human beings could be made
to resemble it. They were entirely naked, with the exception of a strip
of tanned skin tied round the loins. All were nearly alike, as so many
goods packed up of the same quality. They were very thin, and almost
skeletons, about the age of from ten to fifteen years, with the round
Bornouse features strongly marked upon their countenances. These slaves
are the property of a Tibboo. I invited the Tibboo home to my house, to
glean some information from him. The Tibboo bought the slaves on
speculation in Bornou; he could now sell them at from forty to fifty
dollars each. He had only six; the Touaricks had thirty-four. He came
from Bornou to Ghat, thence to Ghadames. He had also some elephants'
teeth. The Tibboo pressed me to buy his slaves; he had not yet found
purchasers, though he had been here some days. The merchants have no
money, or none to buy slaves. The Tibboo drank some tea with me, which he
observed was better than _bouzah_, fermented grain liquor. The Tibboo was
a young black, tall and slender, and of mild and not disagreeable
features. There was nothing in him to denote that he was a common
trafficker in human flesh and blood. He was not so much stamped with the
negro features as his slaves; he was, indeed, as much of a gentleman as a
Presbyterian slave-holder of the United States, patronized by Doctors
Cunningham and Candlish, and admitted to the fellowship of Free Kirk
Saints. The Tibboo was excessively curious about me, the Christian. He
handled and turned over everything I had. Seeing my naked (white) arm, he
exclaimed, "Whiter than the moon!" Said did not approve of my new
acquaintance, and declared all the Tibboos rascals; and thinks he
recollects that he was made a slave by the Tibboos. Said was very angry
with me for giving the Tibboo tea--wouldn't make any more for him--I
might make it myself. The Tibboo showed his sense of my attention, by
giving me some trona, which he says abounds in Bornou, and is called
_konwa_. He champs it in its hard crystalline state, like children
champing sugar-candy. He mixes it with his tobacco, and says it is
pulverized and drank in solution for medicine at Bornou, like Epsom
salts, producing the same effects.

Two people left to-day for Ghat, and two for Timbuctoo. The latter were
the headmen of the large mercantile firm of Ettanee. It is the custom of
Saharan merchants to send their headmen, and even slaves, to these
distant countries, when circumstances prevent them going themselves.

My friend the Touatee, who unites in himself a blacksmith and a
silversmith, was this evening employed in making ladies' ornaments for
arms and legs. He was in the course of finishing a pair of anclets,
weighing together about thirty-eight ounces. Each anclet would cost 20
dollars. They are for an Arab lady; but, of course, the husband invests
his money in this way until he can find profitable employment for it, or
becomes distressed. "Meanwhile," says the Touatee, "he has the kisses of
his wife for the investment, and is happier than if he obtained a hundred
per cent. for his outlay of silver." The old Touatee distinctly
recollects Major Laing passing through Ghadames to Timbuctoo. The account
he gives of him is:--"When in Ghadames the Rais (or Major) purchased
something of every thing he could find in our city, as well as specimens
of Soudan manufacture. He had with him _thirty-six bottles of wine_!
which I counted. He was attacked by the Touaricks near Touat, and wounded
in twenty places; but he cured his wounds, and then proceeded on and
arrived safe at Timbuctoo, where he stopped some time. Afterwards he went
to Sansandy, where he was murdered." The unfortunate Major had no money
in his possession when murdered, which greatly surprised the assassins,
who murdered him merely for his money. People add, he wrote every thing
in Timbuctoo, but did not stop long there. He was enticed to go away with
a stranger, against the advice of the parties who conducted him to
Timbuctoo. The stranger was a Saharan Arab. One of them is still living,
Haj Kader, and left lately for Touat, who has the reputation of being a
quiet and upright man. I did not hear of him until he was gone, otherwise
I should have had some conversation with him about the Major. The other
party died at Timbuctoo; he was called the _Marabout_, and seems to have
been another Mohammed (my marabout.) In a letter of the Major, read to me
by Colonel Warrington, his father-in-law, the Major charges his Marabout
with having stolen his double-barrelled gun, and sent it on to Timbuctoo
for sale before they arrived there. For this theft, and other bad
conduct, old Yousef Bashaw made a formal complaint against the people of
Ghadames, and mulcted them several thousand mahboubs. Mr. Gagliuffi heard
a strange story about the Major; according to which, he was murdered near
Touat, on his return, by the same Touarick who stopped him, and wounded
him in twenty-six places, on his way thither, the Touarick alleging, that
the Major was not a man but a devil, so he (the Touarick) was obliged to
kill him. No authentic account now will ever be collected of Major
Laing's death. That he was stopped a couple of days beyond Aghobly, in
the oases of Touat, and there wounded, is certain; we have the Major's
own account for it. He seems also to have remained a month at Timbuctoo,
and wrote a full account of that mysterious city. He then, not being able
to ascend or trace the Niger _viâ_ Jinnee, on account of the objections
of the people, made a _détour_ through The Desert, wishing to go to
Senegambia, when, after four days' journey, he was stopped by a party of
Arabs, and murdered. Some persist in saying, that Caillié found Major
Laing's papers, and gave them as his _own_ account of Timbuctoo. I should
be sorry to attempt either to prove or contradict the charge. All the
documents are in possession of the family of the late Colonel Warrington.
We must suspend our opinion until they are published, which I trust will
not be long.

Afterwards visited the Rais, who is, like myself, very fond of the
Touatee. His Excellency had a bad headache, and his _major-domo_ was hard
at work rubbing his head with his hands. I laughed, but said nothing. The
people are fond of manipulation, and shampooning (_Temras_). Whenever any
one hurts himself by bruises or falls, the limb affected is rubbed and
stretched, and stretched and rubbed, until the poor sufferer's limb is
nearly severed from his body. Manipulation ought to have made the fourth
mode of cure laid down by my marabout, after burning, blood-letting, and
talismanic writing. However, I believe manipulation, aided by the bath,
frequently effects important cures. Some Moors indeed, consider this the
sovereign remedy for every hurt and disease. Found the Touatee again with
the Rais. He amused us both by giving his opinion about the
_inexhaustible_ supply of slaves furnished by Nigritia. "All other
countries," said he, "die and become depopulated. It is now ten thousand
years we go to buy slaves in Soudan. The oftener we go there the more we
find. In that country the men are all night long begetting children, and
the women all the morning bringing them forth. This is the reason the
supply of slaves never becomes exhausted."

_7th._--Said has just come in and told me I must not eat many of the
dates of this country, for they have killed some of the soldiers, and
will kill me. Dates may, indeed, injure the poor soldiers, who have
nothing else to eat. One died yesterday. I asked his comrades what he
died of, who replied, "_Hunger_." It is a disgrace to the Government of
Tripoli to keep these wretched Arabs without any thing to eat. Why not
let them go to their native mountain homes; for there, though they may
pine away and die in the caverns of the Atlas, they will nevertheless
give up the ghost in the arms of friends and relations--joining misery to
misery, where the miserable may comfort the miserable. But, here, amidst
the rude buffs of strangers, it is cruel to let them die like dogs.

The Tibboo called this morning. Merchants have offered him only 35
mahboubs each for his slaves; he asks from 40 to 50. He says, the
Americans, or people nearly as white as I am, ascend the Niger as far as
Noufee, for the purchase of slaves. Bornou and the surrounding countries
are now in peace, and make no slaves by war. The Tibboo bought his
slaves of persons who kidnapped them during the night. To observe, that
although the Tibboos, if this merchant be a fair representation of them,
have not such extended nostrils as the Bornouse, and such thick
projecting lips, yet they are much darker than the Bornouse. Indeed, the
Bornouse are of a lighter, _fairer_ complexion than any of the Negroes I
have yet seen, those of Soudan and Timbuctoo being of a much darker
shade, and some quite black. The Bornouse has a round, chubby, smiling
face; the Tibboo, a long, grave, intellectual face. The old Touarick
bandit called to-day, with other Touaricks, and asked how much I would
give for a _live aoudad_. Told him from 6 to 8 mahboubs. He said they're
going to hunt them next month. This retired cut-throat gave himself a
good character, and the Touaricks generally. "Trust us, don't be afraid
of the Touaricks, upon our heads (_raising his sword to his head_,) we'll
protect you!" Then stepped in an old friend and lover of the mysteries of
geography. These are some of his questions:--"Where is the sea by which
the Christians go to Soudan? Where is Mount Kaf, that girdles the earth
with brass and iron? Where are Gog and Magog, which is Muskou (_Russia_),
the monster which eats up the _Moumeneen_ (_faithful Mohammedans_)?" &c.
Went out and saw for the first time the Giant Touarick. The huge fellow
must be 6 feet 9 inches. His limbs were like the trunks of the palm, and
he walked with a step as firm as a rock; whilst his voice was a gruff
growl like distant thunder. Compare this noble, though monstrous,
specimen of a man, the product of the wild uncongenial Sahara, to the
little ricketty, squeaking, vivacious wretch of the kindly clime of
Italy, "the garden of Europe," and be amazed at the ways in which works
Providence! As soon as the giant saw me, he bellowed out, "Salam
aleikom!" which far resounded through the dark winding streets. He now
strode by without stopping to speak or to look at me, his head and turban
nearly reaching the roof of the streets, and his big sword, swinging from
his back, extended crosswise, scraping the mortar from both sides of the
walls. His iron spear, as large as an ordinary iron gas-light post, was
carried in his firm fist horizontally, to prevent its catching the roof
of the covered streets. The giant is one of the chiefs of a powerful
tribe of Ghat Touaricks, of whom the aged Berka is the reigning Sheikh.
The giant is quite at home here and possesses some forty or fifty camels,
with which he conveys the goods of the merchants between this city and
that of Ghat.

After several trials of changing food, find I am greatly relaxed, and am
convinced it must be the water. This, however, is the opinion of every
stranger who visits Ghadames. Last evening the Rais said, "The water here
is bad. Look at the people of Ghadames, they have no colour in their
cheeks. What a miserable wretch am I! When I first came, I had the colour
of the rose; now I am become like these yellow men: as for my poor horse,
he eats quantities of barley every day, and is still very thin. It's the
bad water. We have a proverb in Turkey, 'Good water makes good horses,
and bad water bad horses.'" I observed, the dates and water together made
the soldiers ill. He replied, "I have written several times to the Pasha
to return, it is impossible for me to enjoy good health here. His
Highness still refuses to allow me, saying, he can get no one to fill my
post so well, but I hope to return in a few months." I am inclined to
think now that Ghadames is not salubrious, although, thank God, I enjoy
pretty good health. Strangers, however, require to be acclimated. A great
controversy is now being carried on amongst the medical men of Algeria,
respecting _acclimating_; some alleging that a man can bear the climate
of a country when he is quite new or fresh in it, much better than after
a long residence. According to the anti-acclimaters, the longer residence
in a country only weakens the force necessary to support a person against
the fever and bad influences of a foreign climate.

Accosted one of my merchant acquaintances, playing with some iron
manacles and fetters for the legs. It did not strike me at first
what they were: at last, he says to me, "These are for slaves, each
has a pair of them, to prevent them from escaping when travelling
through The Desert." A painful shuddering came over me to see a man
playing with these dreadful instruments of the slavery and torture
of his fellow men. Yet he played with them as his rosary of beads,
or some simple toy! . . . . . Another merchant came up to him, and
observed, "The irons for the neck are better, as these may break."
After a pause, I asked my acquaintance where these irons for the
legs were made? He replied, "In Soudan; the people there have iron
mountains, and they make these irons for slaves in that country." I
asked him then how much they cost, and whether he would sell them.
They were not for sale. So Africa enslaves herself! forges the very
chains of her own slavery. Cruel, heartless Europe! Thou that
knowest better, encouragest the wretched African to create his own
misery; to dig from his dark purple mountains the very iron fetters
of his own slavery! Take care that slavery does not surprise thee in
an hour when thou thinkest not, though thou art never so wise, never
so free! Another Corsican tyrant may come and bind thee down anew in
the chains of slavery. . . . . . . Making inquiries of the Moors
about these fetters, they said, (wishing to smooth down the matter,
seeing it was disagreeable to me), "Only those who seek to escape
are chained." This, indeed, afterwards I found was the case. "Some,"
they added, "have irons on their necks, and others irons on their
legs." Alas! poor people, what have they done to be thus ironed? or
what right have others to iron them? Has God said "_Thou shalt iron
thy brother and make him a slave_?" "Yes!" say the free republicans
of America, who, for being taxed for half an ounce of tea,
proclaimed their _freedom_ and independence of the _tyranny_ of the
parent country, in words which, continuing as they are,
slave-holders, must condemn them to everlasting infamy[47]. But, as
God lives, he will have a day of reckoning; he will avenge the
wrongs of Africa! . . . . . Be sure, beware America! . . . . .
Whilst walking through the streets to-day, in a bad humour on this
subject, there were three Bornou youths, nearly naked, offered for
sale, I think they belonged to the Tibboo. Some Arabs sitting near,
asked me to buy. I replied, indignantly, "If I buy, my Sultan will
hang me up, and you too." They stared at one another, and muttered
something like a curse upon me.

I here find several reasons in the journal for my not proceeding by the
route of Fezzan and Bornou, but it is unnecessary to give them. It is
easy to write out a long list of _pro_ and _con_ reasons. Whilst writing
these, the Tibboo comes in and brings a sick slave. He complains the
merchants will not buy his slaves. Give the dropsical slave medicine. Ask
him whether he ironed his slaves _en route_ over The Desert. He answers,
"No." I am bound to believe him, for though a slave-dealer, he appears an
honest man.

[Illustration]

_8th._--O God of the morning! what a fine sight are these lofty
umbrageous palms, with the soft serene morning sky, and the sun just
rising above the clear illumined horizon, colouring and setting off the
heavens around. How still, how voiceless is The Desert! The early morn
now begins to be pleasant as the autumnal morn of old England. It is
indeed, the--

    "Sweet hour of prime."

After breakfast visited the quarter of Ben Weleed. Saw the giant Touarick
stretching his unwieldy length upon a stone-bench. At sight of me, he
aroused himself, and raising his head upon his huge arm, growled out to
the people near him, to show them his zeal for their common religion,
"Tell the Christian to say, '_There is only one God, and Mahomet is the
Prophet of God_.'" No one took any notice of the stern command. After a
moment, the conversation was continued on other subjects, and the giant
fell back again to sleep. I asked an acquaintance of mine, how long he
would sleep? He told me that whenever the Sheikh comes here, he usually
sleeps three days before he goes round to see his friends, or begins to
transact business, during which time he occasionally opens his eyes,--and
his mouth, for his slaves to feed him.

Heard some Souafah, Arabs of Souf, had purchased the slaves lately come
from Bornou, to sell them in Algeria, there being no market in Tunis on
account of the abolition of slavery. Rais sent for me and asked me if I
had any money left. I thought his Excellency wanted to lend me some, by
putting the question. His Excellency then said he was in want of money. I
lent him a hundred Tunisian piastres--all the money I had in the world,
with the exception of seventeen in my pocket. Afterwards I dined with the
Rais, and he persuaded me to return to The Mountains, _en route_ for
Fezzan. It is reported, the Touaricks have gone out to meet the Shânbah.
I tell the Governor, as well as the people, whenever they begin to
exaggerate or declaim upon the dangers of travelling in The Desert
"_Rubbee, mout wahad_ (God! death is but once)." This has usually the
effect of stopping their mouths. Were I not to adopt this Moslemite style
of address and reply, I should be worried out of my life with the
exaggerations of the dangers of The Desert.

A small caravan has arrived from Souf, bringing the news of the departure
of the Shânbah from Warklah for Ghat. The Souafah also bring news of
interest from their own country. They are threatened with an invasion of
the people of Tugurt. Twelve hundred men of Souf have returned from Tunis
to their own country, in expectation of a combined attack of the Tugurt
people and the French, for the Tugurt people have given out that the
French, their new allies, will help them. They boast that they must now
go and destroy all the Souafah. The object is to revenge an old grudge,
for formerly the people of Souf and Tugurt fought a pitch battle, and the
latter were worsted. There is no French governor in Tugurt, but the
tribute is regularly paid to the authorities of Constantina. One of the
Souafah came to me much excited. I told him that it was not likely the
French would encourage this war of revenge, and I understood the
principle of the French to be, "to occupy only the countries which before
paid tribute to the Dey of Algiers." He observed he understood that to be
the rule. But if the Souafah attack Tugurt, the French will probably
defend it as a part of their territory.

_9th._--The morning is cool and cloudy; a few drops of rain fell
soon after sunrise, still it holds up. Amused in finding the
Ghadamsee word for _father_ was the same as _dad_ or _dady_, which
is written ‮دادا‬ _dada_. This morning the giant Touarick honoured
me with a visit; he had enough to do to get through the doors of my
house with his pine-tree spear. He behaved extremely well. I gave
him sixty paras to buy tobacco. He begged for a whole piastre, but
thinking he would be a customer of this sort again, I thought it
prudent to begin with a little. His giantship swore by all the
powers terrestrial and celestial, that he would escort me from
Ghadames to Kanou in perfect safety. I evaded the question by
observing, (what the Rais had often told me) "The Rais says the
Touaricks will cut my throat." The giant roared, "_Kitheb_, kitheb,
kitheb, (a lie! a lie! a lie!)"--and went off furiously threatening
wrath against the Turks. Afterwards I heard of a complaint which the
giant made against me, saying I had given him this morning a karoob
short of the half piastre. I was greatly amused at the giant's keen
observance of this defalcation of my generosity.

The Ghadamseeah literally carry out the injunction, "Take no thought for
the morrow," which will be illustrated in the following conversation.

"What do you do for the poor in your country?"

"In England, the poor are not allowed to beg in the streets, but are
provided with food and clothing in a house built on purpose for them when
they can no longer work."

"We have no houses for the poor in Ghadames."

"How then do the poor live?"

"By begging."

"And if the people give them nothing?"

"It is destined _they must die_."

However, in one part of the oasis there are some large gardens which
belong to the poor, who are allowed to eat the dates and cultivate
patches of the gardens. I think also the Sanctuaries sometimes give alms
in the way of the ancient monasteries. These are miserable and precarious
resources. Nevertheless, before the Turks so fleeced the inhabitants, I
question if there were any poor person ever likely to die of starvation,
for the rich members of families provide for the poor, and rich friends
for poor friends, and each faction for the poor of the faction, although
no poor-rates are levied. Indeed, like the Society of Friends, all took
care of their own poor relations and connections.

I shall now give the reader a chapter of the domestic history of
Ghadames, referring to one of the principal families. Most of the rich
merchants of this city have two and some of them three wives. My
venerable friend, the Sheikh Makouran, came in possession of one of his
present young wives in the following romantic way. (His wives by whom he
had his children are long ago dead.) A friend of the Sheikh's died and
left a young and beautiful widow, whose wit and grace was the theme of
all the city, for such things are esteemed also here. The eldest son of
the Sheikh immediately set his heart upon the possession of this beauty,
but unfortunately he did not communicate his intentions to the
disconsolate lady, who remained in ignorance of his attachment.
Meanwhile, El-Besheer, as a party in the firm of his father, purchased
the house over the widow's head and made everything ready for the future
wedding, and then took a journey of business to Touat, intending on his
return to send some old lady, which is mostly the practice, with his
message of love and marriage to the widowed solitary. Perhaps he thought
the widow could not fail to discover his intentions in what he had
already done, mostly preliminary to marriage. But we often imagine others
are thinking about us when we are never in their thoughts. So he left for
twenty days' journey through The Desert, with all these hopes and fears
crowding about him. On his return, to his consternation, he found his old
father, of some seventy years of age, had got possession of the young
blooming widow, the object he had so fondly cherished on his weary way
over the solitudes of The Sahara! But like the doomed Pasha, who receives
the imperial order of his decapitation from the hand of the executioner,
and kisses it and then bows his head to the stroke, so the young
merchant, full of filial veneration for his aged sire, submitted silently
and without a murmur to this cruel decree of heaven. It is said of the
lady that she pines and mourns out her life for the son. She was kept in
profound ignorance of his love until she found herself in the withered,
cold, and shrunken arms of the father. She accepted the father to keep a
house over her head. Alas! poor woman, whether sold at Paris or London in
a marriage of _convenance_, or in The Desert, she is always the victim of
man's galling tyranny.

The Ghadamseeah are a strictly religious people. One of my best friends
would not allow me to touch a religious book of his, concerning the
future world, alleging it was _haram_ ("prohibited"). A young rogue of a
Touarick now came in and asked me impudently, whether I knew God and
prayed? He added, "Say Mahomet is the prophet of God." As several aged
men were present I made no answer. These people believe that there can be
no more question of believing in Mahomet than in the sun when shining in
its full strength, and are astonished that I who read and write Arabic
don't know better. One said, "You are afraid of scorpions, believe in
Mahomet and they will do you no harm." I could not help thinking of the
parallel, for all Oriental phraseology is so much alike:--

  ‮هاهوذا اعطيتكم سلطا نا لتدوسا الحيات والعقارب‬
    Luke x. 21.

"Serpents and scorpions" have a peculiar application to The Desert. There
are still more dangerous animals in The Desert, and I have heard the
epithet of "a race of vipers," applied to the Shânbah banditti. This
morning the people showed me a wooden figure of a fiddler, placed on a
box, in which was inserted a handle, turning round and making a squeaking
noise. None of them could understand what it was. A boy was playing with
it as a toy. They told me, as news, "This came from the country of the
Christians; it ought not to have been made, it is _haram_." All toys of
men and animals are considered by these rigid Moslems as so many
violations of the commandment "Thou shalt not make unto thyself any
graven image."

According to my turjeman there are many _Wahabites_ in this
neighbourhood. Besides Jerbah and its mountains, many Wahabites are found
in the Tripoline districts of Nalout, Kabou, Fessatou, Temzeen and
Keklah. The Ghadamsee people detest them and say; "The Wahabites will be
the carriers of the Jews to hell-fire in the next world." The Wahabites
assert, there are five orthodox sects, of which they form the fifth, and
hate cordially the other four. Wahabites have great difficulty in eating
with other Mussulmans, and some refuse absolutely to eat with other than
their own sect. Wahabites are very numerous in the oasis of Mezab,
belonging to Algeria, which is confirmed by the Morocco marabout _El
Aïachi_, who made his pilgrimage to Mecca in 1661. The Wahabites of
Jerbah are subdivided in the _Abadeeah_, or _The Whites_, who wear a
_white_ scull-cap, in contradistinction from those who wear _red_ caps,
like most Mussulmans of the coast. Generally the Wahabites differ from
other Mohammedans as to the observance of the _five_ daily prayers. They
also require that, in the observance of the Ramadan, a person should
purify and wash himself at the hour of the day in which the fast may
begin. The sub-sect of Abadites will neither eat nor drink from the same
vessel with any other sects. Wahabites in general will not weigh or touch
weights, for fear of doing wrong. Other persons do weighing for them,
they looking on, like the Jews who will not touch the candle on their
Sabbath, and get Mussulman or Christian servants to snuff a candle or
trim a lamp for them. It seems what is a sin in them, may or may not be a
sin in others.

My turjeman is surprised we Christians receive the books of the Jews as
sacred and inspired, and so are many other people. They are quite
astonished when I tell them that Christians esteem the Scriptures of the
Jews equally divine with their own. They have a confused notion that the
whole of the Jewish Scriptures consist of the five books of Moses, which
they call the _Torat_, and the Psalms of David. Some of them say Abraham
was not a Jew. I explain to them, that the Christians give a different
interpretation to the Jewish Scriptures from the Jews themselves, and
believe "the Son of Mary" to be the Messiah of the Jews and all the
world. They hardly believe me; and say, "The Jews are corrupt and their
books corrupt." When I told them one day before the Rais that we had had
Jews in India, they flatly replied it was a lie, for said they, "It is
impossible for such a miserable being as a Jew to be a soldier."

FOOTNOTES:

[43] Shaving off the hair from different parts of the body is a
    species of religious rite. The barber in North Africa is highly
    esteemed. One of the antiquities in Kairwan (Tunis) is the tomb of
    Mahomet's barber. This city is also the _third_ holy city of the
    Moslemite world, on account of this important personage being
    buried there.

[44] Ghour, ‮قور‬, _Sterculia acuminata_, Pal. de Beauv.

[45] He did not know there was a _new_ world before I told him.

[46] The Moors always add to ‮عيسي‬, (Jesus,) _the son of Mary_,
    to distinguish The Saviour from others of the same name, one of
    whom is Jesus, a marabout, the founder of the Brotherhood of
    Snakecharmers.

[47] In their "Declaration of Independence," the Anglo-Americans
    say--"_All men are created equal_," and "_endowed by their Creator
    with certain unalienable rights_;" and "_amongst these, life,
    liberty, and the pursuit of happiness_." I once met a Naval
    Officer of the United States of America at Gibraltar, who
    graciously told me, "_Slavery is the support of the country_,"
    (_his_ country).




CHAPTER X.

CONTINUED RESIDENCE IN GHADAMES.

     Celebration of Marriage.--Native Feast of the Slaves.--Study of
     the Negro Languages.--Visit to the Ancient Watch-Tower.--Arrival
     of an Algerian Spy.--Visit to Sidi Mâbed.--Continued Oppression
     of the Ghadamsee People by the Turks.--The Ancient Sheikh
     Ali.--Finances of Algeria.--Bastinading a truant
     School-Boy.--Ceuta sold by the Mahommedans to the Spaniards for a
     Loaf of Bread.--The _Parakleit_ of the New Testament the promised
     Prophet Mahomet.--Tricks of the Algerian Dervish-Spy.--Learn to
     crack Jokes in Arabic.--The sustaining force of Camels' Milk as
     Food.--Depreciation of Women by the Moors.


_10th._--A BEAUTIFUL morning, and cool. I saw with some surprise a very
fine red butterfly, also a small flight of good-sized birds passing over
the gardens.

This morning there was a grand gormandizing of bazeen[48], in celebration
of the nuptials of the two daughters of my taleb. The feast was given by
the fathers of the young men. Nearly the whole of the male population of
the _Ben Wezeet_, besides strangers and the Arab soldiers, went to dig,
and dip, and dive into the huge bowl of bazeen, some three or four
hundred adults, besides boys. The house was small, and parties entering
together were limited to twenty. However, as the object is merely to
compliment the new married people and their parents, after they had
swallowed half a dozen mouthsful, they immediately retired and left the
coast clear for the rest, and thus the ceremony was soon got through.
There was an exception in the case of the soldiers, whose hungry stomachs
found the bazeen so good that they stuck fast to the bowl, and were
obliged to receive the Irish hint of being pulled away by main force
before they would relinquish their tenacious grasp. My taleb, as a matter
of course, called upon me to go to the festa. I found the festive hall to
be a smallish oblong room, the walls of which were garnished with a
number of little looking-glasses, polished brass basons, and various
other small matters, including little baskets made of palm-branches. The
floor was covered with matting and a few showy carpets, and one or two
ottomans were arranged for seats. In the centre of the room was placed an
enormous wooden dish, full of bazeen, or thick boiled pudding, made of
barley-meal, with olive-oil, and sauce of pounded dates poured upon it.
Every person ate with his hands, rolling the pudding into balls, and
dipping the balls into oil and date-sauce. A great piece of carpetting
was laid round the bowl, to be used as a napkin to wipe the hands and
mouth. The wooden dish or bowl might have been three feet in diameter,
and was replenished as fast as emptied with masses of boiled dough, oil,
and date-sauce. There was suspended over it, two or three feet above, a
wicker roof, to prevent the dirt from falling into it when the people
stood up all around and wiped their hands. The visitors squatted down
together, encircling the bowl, in numbers of about eight or ten. An Arab,
who had a lump given him in a corner, like a dog, found fault with it and
returned it, saying, "It is not enough." This, of course, was delicate,
but another lump was given him, for which also he growled
dissatisfaction. This _feeding_ of bazeen was the fullest extent of the
good things of the feast. Some of the more respectable merchants went in
and out without tasting the bazeen, merely paying the compliment to their
friends. I asked an acquaintance how much he thought a feast of this sort
cost. He replied, "About twenty dollars, but it is not the value of the
materials of the feast, but the custom, which is esteemed." Not one of
the Ben Weleed were present, but all the Wezeet deemed it their duty to
attend the feast. The marriage feast is some eight days after the
marriage. Last night there was a little firing of matchlocks. After
marriage, the bridegroom cannot mix with his acquaintances for two or
three weeks. It is a sort of decamping after marriage, as if the parties
had done something of which they were ashamed, like in travelling
honey-moons amongst ourselves. But at certain hours of the day the
bridegroom may be seen gliding about like a spectre in the dark streets,
alone and with noiseless tread. He usually is dressed in gayest colours
of blue and scarlet, with a fine long stave of brass, or a bright iron
spear in his hand. When he is met by any one he instantly vanishes: he
does not utter a syllable, and no person attempts to speak to him.

This afternoon and evening was also a _native_ feast of the slaves. They
first danced and sung in the market-place. Afterwards they visited the
_tombs_, and prayed to their dead relatives, propitiating their manes,
and "to be restored to them and liberty at their death." The women
carried chafing-dishes in their hands, on which burnt fragrantly the
incense of _bekhour_. The pride of men perpetuate their distinctions
beyond life to the land of the dead, where one would think the ashes of
the human body should be allowed freely to return to the essential
elements of our common mother, Earth. So slaves have their place of
burial, and must not commingle their bones with those of freemen. From
the grave-yard and its sadness, the slaves proceeded to a garden, alotted
to them, where they danced, and sung, and forgot their slavery. Besides
dancing and singing, the slaves occasionally fired off matchlocks, which
they had borrowed from their masters or friends, and of which they are
most immoderately fond. The high military chivalry of Europe, and France,
who calls herself _mère de l'épée_, are well matched by the savage tribes
and slaves of enslaved Africa, who all delight in the slash and cut of
the sword, and the banging noise of the gun. The negresses sat apart, as
usual, occasionally raising their shrill _loo-looings_, which they have
well learnt from their Moorish mistresses. They were very gaily attired,
some with their arms covered with bracelets and armlets, six or seven
pairs of very broad tin or silver hoops being fitted on or encircling one
single arm; so that the arms of some of these sable beauties were an
entire mass of metal. The party mustered about a hundred, and the Tibboo
stranger was here, attracted by the colour of skin and native
associations. Several people went from the city to see the slaves'
festival--I amongst the rest. It would be great injustice if I were not
to add, that the Moorish inhabitants of Ghadames ordinarily treat their
slaves well; they have a good deal of leisure, if not liberty; and their
lot, as compared with the slaves of the cotton and sugar plantations of
Christians, _is liberty itself_,--so differently do religions affect, or
not affect at all, the morality of the people who profess them. To judge
from this obvious case of comparison, which is so notorious through all
The East and North Africa, as contrasted with the Christian States of
America, the religion of the impostor of Mecca should be the religion of
the divine morals of the New Testament, and the religion of The Saviour
be the corrupt morals of the Koran. But if we were to judge of a religion
and its morals from those who profess it, our ideas would soon get into
confusion, and we should fall into the most deplorable errors.

Began to-day to acquire a few words of the Nigritian languages. People
are such geese, that when I learnt half-a-dozen words of what some call
the "_black_" language, they thought me a prodigy. The Housa is the best
and most frequently spoken language here of the Nigritian tongues. A New
Testament, translated into this language, would or could be read by a
third of the tribes of Central Africa. Asking my negro master what _I_
was, he replied, "_Kerdee_," which means _kafer_ ("infidel") in Bornou,
the negro mistaking my individual self for the pronoun _I_, which is
_oomah_. I laughed heartily at the fellow's impudence.

This afternoon, visited the ancient tower, about half a mile distant,
westwards, from the walls of Ghadames. My turjeman, who was _cicerone_,
informed me that the tower was built by the Christians, and was a
watch-tower to give alarm to the city in case of an attack from banditti
or other enemies. There is another like it in the mountains to the
north-west, where are also scattered some old masonry of other buildings.
We mounted the top of the tower, and found a hollowed space at the top,
of this shape--

[Illustration]

twenty feet long, eight broad, and about five deep. It was evidently a
cistern or tank for the troops, for we saw a hole at the broad end, from
which the water ran out. The tower itself was about forty feet in
diameter. How high it had been, we could not now tell; but the cistern is
placed nearly at the top of what remains of the tower. Probably the water
ran down into the lower rooms. From the tops of the ruins there was a
commanding view of the oasis, and the surrounding Desert. On our way we
passed a very deep, dry well, and the wall-remains of several ancient
gardens. The turjeman says the water of Ghadames diminishes, and was
formerly much more abundant.

_11th._--This morning cooler than any yet. My eyes are now nearly
restored from the attack of ophthalmia which I had in Tripoli; they open
always with a little pain in the morning. It is frightful to observe how
many people here have their eyes injured. A poor camel-driver said to me,
"Alas! since I went that road to Ghat, I have been nearly blind. The sand
and rock were too bright for them."

An Algerine Arab arrived with those of Souf, a species of vagrant
marabout, bringing with him all the lax liberal ideas of French
Mussulmans. I thought at first he had been sent as a spy, to see what I
myself was doing at Ghadames. The pious Ghadamseeah were confounded at
his discourses, as he held forth in the streets. He was very clever and
facetious, now and then affecting the saint--now the reformer. When he
was gone, I asked the people what they thought of him. They replied,
"He's spoilt--he's a _French_ Mussulman--he'll soon be an infidel."
Others said, "He's mad." This stranger brings the news that all is peace
in Algeria. One of the people asked him, "Whether it was really true that
the French had got so far into the interior as Constantine?" The Algerine
says also, Abdel-Kader is escaped to The Desert. The Emir had been at war
with the French during the summer. My taleb, speaking of the French,
observed, "Buonaparte had no father." I endeavoured in vain to persuade
him to the contrary; and pressing him to tell me under whose influence he
was begotten, he at last said, "You think I'm a fool, but his father was
one of the Jenoun ("demons")." This is rather a good ancestry, for the
Jenoun are, on the whole, a harmless, pleasant sort of people, a
disposition which the war-loving tyrant Corsican rarely showed.

_12th._--Rose earlier than usual, before sunrise, in order to go to the
marabet[49] of Sidi-Mâbed--‮سيدي مَع٘بد‬. My turjeman had
married his wife from this place, and therefore accompanied me. He
said, "I married one of the daughters of the Saint, and his blood
runs in the veins of my children." In all The Desert we find this
aristocracy of the gentle blood of the Saints. Sidi-Mâbed is two
miles and a half from Ghadames due west. It is situate upon the
slope of a small valley, which might formerly have been the bed of a
river. To look at this speck of an oasis, its appearance is not
unlike that of Seenawan. Around, and near the little village, which
may consist of some fifteen very lowly dwellings, is a cluster of
palms, and further on are two or three single ones, scattered over
the sloping valley. At the furthest distance are some patches of
cultivation, the water running gurgling down to them. The gardens
are of the same character as those of Ghadames. The inhabitants
consist of some seventy souls, all the descendants of one man, the
famous saint who has given his name to the village. But according to
the account of his sons, his offspring has not increased very fast,
for it is several hundred years,--even 900 say they--since His
Maraboutship flourished. Some place him as far back as the Flood. It
is said that Nimroud did not place his iron hoof on this sacred
spot. The daughters of the Saint marry away, only the sons remain in
the oasis, and some of these emigrate, which accounts for the
smallness of the Saint's offspring.

The children of this Saint, like many a saint himself, are very ignorant,
and only one of them pretends to read and write, and to-day he was
unfortunately not in the oasis. Those with whom I conversed were simple
rude peasants, but polite in their manners, with countenances speaking a
serenity of soul and happiness of disposition, not common to the
inhabitants of the Saharan regions. They told me their village was
_Zaweea_ ("a sanctuary"), and was recorded in the sacred archives of
Constantinople as one of the most renowned places in the countries of the
Prophet. It is, at any rate, one of the most venerated sanctuaries in the
Sahara, and receives pious offerings from all. Amidst wars and tumults,
and the depredations of banditti without and around, it remains secure
and inviolate and inviolable. This has been its happy destiny through
ages, and the villagers, poor and ignorant as they are, may be proud of
their sacred unpolluted home. We have here a remarkable instance of the
triumph of religious principle over brute force. The people of Ghadames
make continual pilgrimages to the shrine of the Saint. The villagers
brought our party dates, and all the women and children came out to look
at me; the same jealous feelings do not exist amongst these unsuspecting
untutored people as in Ghadames and other Desert cities. A happy thought
occurred to me before I came away in the morning, of bringing them some
wedding-cakes and sweets which had been sent to me: these I brought, with
several loaves of bread. They received them very gratefully, dividing
them among the whole population of seventy people, a morsel for each.
They have no wheaten bread here; they live not on the "fat of the land,"
as the Christian poverty-vowing monks of our own and past times. These
Desert saints are content with a scanty supply of barley-meal, a little
olive-oil, and a few dates. I had been told they did not approve of
holding _Ben-Adam_ as slaves, and was greatly disappointed to hear a
reply from one of them, "If we had money we would have slaves; we have no
slaves, because we have no money." By the way, the poverty of North
Africa and The Sahara is one of the principal causes of the few domestic
slaves now kept, in comparison with former times.

When we had been in the village a few minutes, an Arab soldier came
hastily after us. He was sent by the Rais, who was frightened out of his
wits, his Excellency giving out, that I should be attacked by banditti.
His Excellency said, on my return, "_Why, why?_ (apparently displeased,
many people being with him,) whenever you go out, come to me, and I will
give you an armed Arab soldier." He added; "You and I will go and see the
Zaweea on horseback." The fact is, some of the people were jealous of a
Christian going to their sacred village, and considered it a pollution,
and the Rais was obliged to make a show of opposition and displeasure.
The children of the Saint manifested none of these exclusive jealous
feelings, and were happy to see me. In the course of an hour, though my
turjeman and myself came off early and secretly, it was known all over
the city the Christian had gone to the sanctuary, and the more bigoted
were not a little excited. In the village, although everything has the
appearance of the most abject poverty, all is bright and clean. The tomb
of the Saint remains, but is concealed from the world, enveloped in
profound mystery, suitable to the exciting of superstitious feelings. In
the gardens were many pretty butterflies. I noticed a single cotton-tree,
and gathered two or three ripe pods; the tree looked unhealthy and was
very dwarfish. The Sahara is not the place for cotton growing; formerly,
however, cotton was grown at Carthage, the Jereed, and other parts of
North Africa. Sir Thomas Reade has lately tried cotton-growing on the
lands of Carthage, but not succeeded very well. We went to see the
date-trees, and seeing one a mere bush, without a trunk, I said; "How
long has that been so, will it ever bear dates?" A son of the Saint said;
"That tree has been there as long as I can remember. It was always so.
Date-trees are like mankind, some are tall, some are dwarfish, some fat,
some lean, some bear fruit and others are barren. The root descends into
the earth as low as the length of a man. God created this place and gave
us this garden. We and our children shall keep it until the Judgment-day!
From this garden we shall ascend to that of paradise, where we shall have
dates always ripe and ready for eating, for every tree is large and
fruitful there. And no man dare touch these trees without our permission,
not even the Rais or the Bashaw. We pay nothing to any man; all cast
before us their offerings. But we have little because we want little.
Such is the will of God." Here then is the abode of inviolate sanctity!
here sits the protecting genius of Ghadames, like a pelican in the
wilderness! I observed again to-day the burnt volcanic stones scattered
over The Desert. They were of all colours, yellow, black, brown, and red,
like so many brick-bats. These stones scattered for miles around,
together with the hot-spring of the city, and many of the low dull
Saharan hills, like so many heaps of scoriæ and lava, give apparently a
volcanic origin to all these regions, or render such a supposition
probable.

In full Divan it was decided this morning to clear out a little the
hot-spring and its ducts running to the gardens, in order to give the
flow of water more room. Some old people say their fathers cleaned it
out, and the water ran more abundantly; the deeper their fathers dug the
well, the more the water gushed out. Others are opposed to the
innovation, opposed to all change, being the good old Tories of the
Saharan city. All the people are to go in a few days and set to work at
this cleaning, that means their slaves. Went to see this evening a sick
Touarick, out of town in his tent, and gave him some medicine; but shall
be obliged to leave off distributing soon, for the most useful medicines
are nearly all finished.

_13th._--Weather becomes daily cooler. Get tired of writing, and wish to
be off in The Desert. A courier from The Mountains has arrived, bringing
a note from Ahmed Effendi, who says, "The people of Ghadames have no
occasion to send a deputation to Tripoli. They must pay the extraordinary
demand of 3,000 mahboubs at once, without farther dispute or delay."
People are in consternation; they all say they've no more money. My taleb
assures me he was obliged to sell two of his shirts to make up the last
amount of the regular tax. What is to be done for extraordinary demands?
The fortifications of _Emjessem_ are to be immediately rebuilt. The mud
and salt walls are to be destroyed, and new ones of stone and lime are to
replace them. Rais showed me the plan of the fonduk, which was nearly
executed. This looks like perseverance on the part of the Turks, and
shows their determination to keep open the communication between this and
Tripoli. The fonduk, or caravanseria, will be eighty feet long and thirty
wide. It is to be built by the people of Ghadames, who, whilst working,
will be protected by sixty Arab troops. The expense to be also paid by
Ghadames. Rais is going to see the works begin. Besides the new fonduk,
Rais has taken the precaution of stopping up a well, a day's journey
north-east from the city, by rolling into it a huge stone. This is for
the same object, to prevent brigands coming near the city and lying in
wait for small caravans and isolated travellers. Fifty sheep were brought
into Souk to-day; they were immediately sold. People fatten them for the
_Ayd-Kebir_, each family endeavouring to procure one as a religious
obligation.

_14th._--Went early this morning to _Ben Weleed_ to find my aged friend,
Sheikh Ali. He has the largest species of dates, and invited me to go to
his garden to see the palms.

Sheikh Ali is a man of ancient days, and ancient honour and resources,
and fallen into a very low estate. He has not only outlived his age and
reputation, but outlived his wealth and riches and has become "poor
indeed." A long flowing white beard now covers his receding breast, and
the wrinkles of ninety years furrow his pale brow and sunken cheeks.
Nevertheless, dignity, though ruined, is stamped on his countenance, and
an almost youthful activity and hale health keep up the great burden of
his years. On arriving at the old man's garden, he told me to follow him,
and coming to a very fine lofty palm, with over-hanging wide-spreading
boughs, he sat down under its ample shade, and bade me sit by his side.
"Christian," he said, "I have sat under the shade of this palm all the
days of my life, and shall recline here till God summons me hence."

"How old are the longest-lived palms?" I returned.

"More than the ages of three old men's lives," observed the Sheikh.

An old slave, as ancient-looking as his master, now brought a basket of
dates, they were every one of them larger than our largest walnuts. I am
vexed I have forgotten the name of this splendid variety of the date.
"Eat," said Sheikh Ali, and reclined back in silence for at least half an
hour. Now and then he opened his eyes to look on the autumnal beams of
the rising sun, then breathed a sigh and a prayer, but did not address me
a word. His ancient slave sat at a distance with his eyes fixed on his
beloved master, watching the movement of his lips, as he breathed his
morning prayer. At length, seeing the old man's lips cease to move, I
said gently:--

"Sheikh Ali, they say you have broken down very much, but I am glad to
see you confide your sorrows in the bosom of God."

_Sheikh Ali._--(Awakening up suddenly, and looking at me anxiously) "Ah,
Christian, have they told you so? The detractors, the wretches!"

"I trust I have not offended you."

_Sheikh Ali._--"No, stranger, no. But I hate them. I hate the world. I
curse the world."

"The unfortunate and disappointed are always bitter upon the world. But
you, Sheikh Ali, I know are above spite and malignity: you would not
stoop even to hate the miserable follies of the world."

_Sheikh Ali._--"Christian, thou talkest well, and in my way. I tell thee
I hate no one, I have lived and I shall soon be done with the world. May
those who come after me fare better."

"What is this hatred of the Ben Weleed and the Ben Wezeet?"

_Sheikh Ali._--(Smiling faintly.) "Christian, thou wilt know everything.
My father told me when I came out of the belly of my mother, that I was a
_Ben Wezeelee_, and I have remained so to this day. But why or wherefore,
I know not? Dost thou not see that people do this and that, and know not
why they do it? Well, Christian, we do not hate the Ben Wezeet; but we
will not associate with them, because we are proud, and because our
fathers did not associate with them. It is pride, not hatred, which
divides this our nation into two."

"Why so proud? It says in the Koran the Devil would not admire Adam for
pride[50], and God cursed him for his pride."

_Sheikh Ali._--"Ah, Christian, how knowest thou the Koran? Canst thou
read the Great and Mighty Koran?"

"In England we read the Koran in order to obtain a correct knowledge of
classic Arabic. Others read it to understand the religion of Moslems."

_Sheikh Ali._--"Right, right. The Christians are a wise people. Oh, these
religions!"

I thought I heard a regret of scepticism, or a kindly view of heretics
and infidels, in the latter exclamation, "_Oh, these religions!_" So I
observed to the Sheikh, "A pity it is we are not all of one religion, as
we are all the children of one Creator."

_Sheikh Ali._--"By G----! Christian, thou art right. I have always prayed
God to lead me in the right way, and to have mercy upon others. But do
you know, Christian, I think there were amongst those prophets of ancient
times many impostors. What do you think?"

"I am sure of it. It is also the opinion of all our wise men in England."

_Sheikh Ali._--"Christian, I hate Marabouts. In the long years of my life
I have seen all their tricks, lies, and impositions. I am sorry for the
poor people, on whom they practise their impostures, and also for the
women. I have one daughter; I never permitted her to consult a marabout.
I told her what the wretches were. Have you marabouts in England?"

"Yes, of all descriptions. We have also many who get the women to confess
the secrets of families, and create an odious war in the bosom of
society."

_Sheikh Ali._--"Ah, ah (chuckling), all the world's alike. God curse
those marabouts. Do you give them money?"

"Money! In our country, nothing is done without money."

_Sheikh Ali._--(Becoming fresh excited.) "What! are the English like us?
is a man esteemed for his money?"

"You have heard of London?"

_Sheikh Ali._--"_Londra?_"

"Yes, that's it. Well, in Londra, nor virtue, nor honour, nor wisdom, is
worth anything without money."

_Sheikh Ali._--"The Devil take the world, it's all alike. So here, so
there. When I was rich, everybody bowed down to me; now that I am poor,
they pass me by without saying _bis-slamah_ (saluting). Why did God make
money? How wretched is the world." So this philosopher of The Desert
continued. Returning, I bade the ancient Sheikh an affectionate adieu.

In the streets, people appeared to be fasting, as in the most rigid
Ramadan. I never saw such gloomy, emaciated faces. Really people look as
if they were all going to give up the ghost. What is to become of these
poor devils of dervishes! Government is grinding them down to the dust!
Returned home heart-sick at the sight. I am growing daily more impatient
of remaining so long in Ghadames. Impatience comes on like attacks of
fever. Have determined again to pursue the Kanou route.

The forty slaves brought by the Touaricks and the Tibboo have been all
sold to the Souafah. The Tibboo sold his for twenty dollars per head. The
ten dollars per head tax on them put the Rais in possession of a little
ready money, and his Excellency paid me back the hundred Tunisian
piastres. The Arabs of Souf always bring money here, and, besides
dollars, a quantity of five-franc pieces, since the French have occupied
Algeria. The millions spent or wasted by the French in Algeria are
variously disposed of:--

1st.--The Arabs get a _fifth_, who bury their money, or send it into the
neighbouring deserts of Tunis and Morocco.

2nd. The Maltese ship off a _ninth_ of the money to Malta. The Spaniards
and other foreigners also get a share.

3rd. A great quantity, a fifth, perhaps, is embezzled by the _employés_
of the civil administration, and their creatures, the contractors.

4th. A tenth is spent on the public works.

5th. The rest is paid to the military. A _fraction_ only is spent on the
culture of the soil, and for the purposes of emigration, or the real
colonization of the country.

_15th._--This morning is really cold, and the coldest morning we have had
yet. Rais assures me I shall with difficulty be able to bear the cold, so
intense is it in Ghadames during the winter, or January and February.
Greatly agitated about my journey in the past night, and could not sleep.
There will soon be an end of this uncertainty. I pray God to give me
patience and wisdom. Observe people are beginning to feel the effects of
the cold, and cover up their mouths like the Italians and Spaniards. But
all are living up to the starvation-point.

At noon was held a full Divan, to decide upon the "extraordinary demand."
The chiefs of the people said:--"We have no money, and cannot pay." The
Rais replied:--"Such discourse will not do; you have money, and must
pay." Then the Divan broke up without farther palavering. The alleged
object of the money to be raised, is for the expenses of the troops who
went in pursuit of the Arabs of the son of Abd-el-Geleel in the past
summer.

The old bandit calls and says:--"Your friend, the _long_ man, has
finished to-day all his tobacco." The long man is the Giant Touarick. I
took no notice of this polite hint to furnish a new supply. I might
furnish with tobacco all the Touaricks who came here, if I were to
attend to these Irish hints. The old bandit, who is cramped up like a
wizened apple, is said by people still to carry on his nefarious trade.
The proof of this they give to be, his always _going alone_ when he
travels. The old villain then catches what he can. Myself, I hardly
believe he continues his brigandage. He appears wholly worn out. I gave
his little son 20 paras to buy camel's flesh. The old freebooter grinned
a ghastly smile. Walking in _Ben Weleed_ quarters, I heard a great to-do,
and went to see what it was, when I saw the old chief, Haj Ben Mousa
Ettanee, standing over his young truant son, whilst with a thick stick
the servant of the schoolmaster was belabouring the feet of the child.
Never was a more complete bastinadoing. The urchin cried to his father
for mercy. It was perfectly in character with the old man, and the
austere manners of his family. I do not wonder that all the people read
and write in Ghadames, when such severity is practised by the very
aristocrats of the city. Whilst standing by, another Moor went up to the
old man, and said, "Stop, stop, here's the Christian looking on." They
stopped, but it appeared a mere pretence for leaving off, for already
they had unmercifully belaboured the truant.

No mutton to be had to-day, and was obliged to buy camel's flesh for
dinner: found it pretty good. My turjeman and taleb both joined me.
After dinner, the taleb began in his usual controversial spirit. He
insisted, that "Any person who should make himself well acquainted
with the Koran must become a Mussulman." "If the French teach their
children to read the Koran, in order to learn the Arabic," said he,
"they must conquer the Russians and the English." Not "εν τουτω
νιχα[51]," but in or with _This Book_, say the Mussulmans, the
world must be conquered. The Russians and the French, having
recently made conquests in Mohammedan countries near them, (for the
wars in Circassia are heard of here,) impress these people with
fear, and fear is their ruling principle of government. Asking my
taleb why the Mussulmans who had possession of _This Book_ did not
conquer the world, he answered sharply, "The Mussulmans conquered
the world once with the Koran, but now they have lost their faith,
and are weak, and such is the will of God." The taleb then related a
curious story about Ceuta. A certain marabout, who had seen the _Elouh
Elmahfouth_ (‮الوح المحفوظ‬,) or "Book of Fate," which
was let down to him to look at and read in, from heaven, went into the
city, and offered Ceuta for sale at the low price of "_a loaf of
bread_." The people said:--"Oh, the man is mad, let him go." But he
continued the more to cry out, "Who will give me a loaf of bread for
Ceuta?" At last he met a Christian, a Spaniard, who gave the
Marabout a loaf of bread, and took possession of the city. This
seems really an excuse for the loss of that strong fortress. But it
is added:--"The Marabout having seen and read the future destiny of
Ceuta in the _Book of Fate_, was determined to hasten the crisis,
and placed it at once in the hands of the Christians." My taleb
assures me that Mahomet was foretold and promised in our gospels,
under the name of _Parakleit_, (_i. e._ ὁ Παράκλητος,), "The
Comforter." He cited also the Koran, but would not write the
passage; I had no Koran with me. But this is an advantage, for if I
had had a Koran in my possession, I should only have excited the
prejudices of the people against me, and should not have been able
to have kept it from them. A traveller might take a translation
advantageously, one without Arabic notes, or _Arabic_ words
explained, which would soon excite their curiosity to know what it
was. Speaking of the "_Ben Welleed_" and "_Wezeet_," my turjeman
said:--"These are the French and the English; we are always at war
with one another."

It is the opinion of people here, that the French and English are always
at war, and they are continually on the _qui-vive_ for a war breaking out
between France and England, for they think then the English will drive
out the French from Algeria, unmindful of what miseries such a war would
entail upon themselves, crushed as they would be between the two great
hostile Powers.

The Algerine dervish is playing off some fine tricks. This afternoon he
got together a dozen low fellows of the Ben Weleed, and went to say the
_fatah_ before the Governor. This saying _fatah_ was chiefly forming a
circle with his troop, himself in the middle, and then at the top of his
voice singing out, whilst his troop cried out, "_hhahh_," jumping up, and
bending forward their heads and bodies towards him. This they continued
for an hour or more, until they sank upon the floor with exhaustion.
Afterwards they played off some other genteel tricks. His Excellency the
Rais is as great a dervish as any mad fellow here, and though suffering
greatly from headache and bad eyes, he endured this tomfoolery for nearly
a couple of hours. My taleb, a shrewd man, said to me, "Don't you see, I
told you this Algerian was an impostor?" I believe really he is a French
spy on the movements of the Turks, and perhaps myself. The Tibboo calls.
He is preparing to depart, and presses me to go with him. Speaking to a
Touarick, he said, "See the money of the Christians (taking hold of my
black buttons)." Many people have half a mind to believe my black buttons
are money. The Tibboo says, there are no watches in Soudan. People are
content to measure time by the sun's rising and setting. Some merchants,
lately come from Tunis, have heard of the projected aërial machine. They
have no difficulty in believing that Christians travel in the air. They
think the Devil, being very clever, teaches Christians all these things.
The _Touatee_ calls, and says, "You must write something." "What?" I
answer. "Oh," he replies, "My wife has a head full of fantazia (or
nonsense); this you must write." It appears the Touatee has got a
scolding wife. Told the Rais about this funny incident, who said, "Tell
the _Touatee_ to go home and pretend he's going to take another wife, and
then she'll soon leave off pouting."

_16th_ and _17th._--Continues cold. People say I improve in Arabic. I
ought, for I have enough of it. What is odd, I begin to joke with the
people. It will be seen I have represented the Saharan people as mostly
gloomy, and suffering from the oppression of their Government. Still
there are times when they can force a smile, or crack a joke. They carry
the joke so far that they have sometimes joked me about my fasting in
Ramadan, a very sacred subject for a Mussulman. Every time I go into the
streets, I meet with one or other with whom I try to get up a joke, for
it grieves me to see the people suffer so much from bad government. After
we come to satire, and with the help of the word _batel_,
"good-for-nothing," we manage to hit off somebody. An Arab Sheikh came to
us, one day, when we were joking. I said, "Oh! here's the lion-heart, who
ran away from Emjessem for fear of the _Shânbah-Bātel_." The Arab,
astounded, "Ya rajel (Oh man), I had nothing to eat!" "Nor have we here,"
replied a merchant, "you better go and hunt with the greyhounds of the
Touaricks. The Rais has taken away all our victuals." The poor Arab went
his way very queer and crestfallen.

Speaking to a Moor of The Sahara, I said, "The Sahara is always healthy:
look at these Touaricks, they are the children of The Desert." He
replied, "The Sahara is the sea _on land_, and, like sea, is always more
healthy than cultivated spots of the earth. These Touaricks are chiefly
strong and powerful from drinking camels' milk[52]. They drink it for
months together, often for four or five months, not eating or drinking
anything else. After they have drank it some time, they have no
evacuations for four or five days, and these are as white as my bornouse.
It is the camels' milk which makes the Touaricks like lions. A boy shoots
up to manhood in few years; and there's nothing in the world so
nourishing as camel's milk." Caillié mentions that the chief of the
Braknas lived for several months on nothing but milk; but it was cow's
milk. Many of the Saharan tribes are supported for six months out of
twelve on milk.

The Moors seem to have a secret dislike for women, as well as a most
obstinate desire to tyrannize over them. There is a lurking desire of
this sort in the men-sex of all countries. Are we not the Lords of
Creation? I actually get afraid of avowing to them that the supreme ruler
of England is _a woman_, they are so confoundedly annoyed at the
circumstance. The first questions of their surprise are, "How? Why?" &c.
My taleb is very fond of supporting the doctrine of a woman having only a
_fifth_ of her father's property. I annoy him by telling him it's a bad
law, and that the daughter should have an equal share with the son. Lady
Morgan is sadly wanted here; she would find ample additional materials
for a second edition of "Woman and her Master."

FOOTNOTES:

[48] _Bazeen_, ‮بزين‬, called also _Aseedah_, ‮عصيدة‬.

[49] Some have endeavoured to distinguish in English the mausoleum
    in which a dead saint is laid by the term Mara_bet_, though in
    Arabic both the dead and living saint, and the cupola house in
    which the dead saint is laid, are all called Mara_bout_. When a
    village or town, is built round the mausoleum of a saint, it is
    also called after the saint, as in the instance now related.

[50] "We (God) created you, and afterwards formed you (mankind);
    and then said unto the angels, _Worship_ Adam; and they worshipped
    him, except Eblis (The Devil), who was not one of those who
    worshipped. God said unto him, What hindered thee from worshipping
    Adam, since I had commanded thee? He answered, I am more excellent
    than he: thou hast created me of fire, and has created him of
    clay. God said, Get thee down therefore from Paradise; for it is
    not fit that thou behave thyself _proudly_ therein: get thee
    hence; thou shalt be one of the contemptible."--_Surat_ vii.
    _Intitled Al-Araf._

[51] The words in the _Cross_, which Constantine is reported to
    have seen in the heavens.

[52] When the milk is fresh it is called by the Arabs ‮حليب‬, when
    sour, ‮لبن‬.




CHAPTER XI.

CONTINUED RESIDENCE IN GHADAMES.

     Gaiety of the Black Dervish.--Walking Dance of the Slaves.--The
     Fullans or Fellatahs.--_Shoushoua_, or scarifying the face of
     Negroes.--Terms used in connexion with Slaves.--The _Razzia_.--A
     Souafee Politician.--Parallel Customs between The East and The
     Sahara.--The mercenary Blood-letter.--Indifference to the
     sufferings of the Arab Troops.--Colour of the people in
     Paradise.--Excellent Government of the Fullanee Nations.--Moors
     do not fondle their Children.--Administering Physic to
     Camels.--Simplicity of Touarick manners.--Knocked down by a Pinch
     of Snuff.--Departure of the Tibboo alone to Ghat.--Blood in White
     Sugar, and Anecdote of Colonel Warrington and Yousef Bashaw about
     collecting old Bones.--Colonel Warrington compared to the late
     Mr. Hay.--Said, a subject of Anti-Slavery discussion.--Specimen
     of Desert Arab freedom.


_18th._--WITH the full moon the cold has regularly set in. Good-bye flies
and good-bye scorpions. Can now write with my door open, without being
covered with flies. Can also sleep without waking up at midnight to kill
scorpions running over the mattresses. The mad black dervish is always in
motion, and full of gaiety. People are so fond of him that they think he
is inspired. When all the Moors are in solemn vacant thought, or brooding
over their griefs, or dreaming in broad day of their being marabouts or
sultans, the poor witless thing runs in amongst them, shaking hands with
the first he meets with, and bursts out a-laughing. He usually succeeds
in infusing a little of his cheerfulness into these equally _mad_ people,
but more sober in their method of madness. Yesterday the slaves had
another feast _for the dead_. The Moors allow their slaves the liberty of
blending the two religions, as Rome has allowed the blending of
Christianity and paganism. And when questioned about it they say; "Oh,
the slaves know only a little of Allah, and are not much better than
donkeys in their understandings." The slaves assembled to the number of
some fifty in the Souk. Here they performed a species of walking dance,
in two right lines, very slow and very stiff and measured, having
attached to it some mysterious meaning. They were gaily dressed, attended
with a drum and iron castanets, making melodious noises. Each had a
matchlock slung at his back. The women carried a chafing-dish of incense,
as if about to raise some spirit or ghost. A crowd was around them; but
they performed nothing but this slow-marching dance, and then retired to
the tombs. The dervish, poor fellow, mingled in the gay throng,
shouldering a stick for a gun.

Received many little presents from people lately. Sheikh Makouran brought
me himself a small basket of very fine dates. My taleb afterwards brought
me some _gharghoush_, or small cakes, made of flour, honey, sugar, and
milk. They are extremely pleasant eating and a little _acid_, which adds
greatly to their flavour. There are but few things acid in this country;
of sour things there is an abundance.

Heard a great deal about the Foullans, Foulahs, and Fellatahs, the
predominant race in Soudan. _Foullan_ (‮فلّان فلّانين
فلّاني‬) is the Soudanic term, _Fellatah_ the Bornouese, and
_Foulah_ what is used to denominate them among the Mandingoes. According to
information here, they were once the most miserable race of _Arab_
wanderers in The Desert. But at last they settled down as neighbours
to the Negroes, some 700 years since. They continued to increase in
numbers and importance, abandoning tents and building villages and
towns, and intermixing with the Negroes, till about forty-five (and
others thirty-five) years ago, when they expanded their ideas to
conquest and renown. About this time they made the conquest of
Kanou, Succatou, and the other large cities of Housa. Never a people
rose to greater fame and power. They were assisted, like the
Saracens before them, by religious fanaticism, and so far
corresponded with them, in extending the boundaries of Islamism.
They went on conquering and to conquer till within the present year,
when their power received some check by the daring exploits of the
Tibboo prince of Zinder, a vassal of Bornou. This prince has taken
from them a few towns. The complexion of the ordinary Fullanee is a
deep olive, with pleasing features, not much Negro, and long hair.

[Illustration]

Negroes in Nigritia are known by the _Shoushoua_ (‮شوشوا‬), or
scarifying. Generally in Negro countries, which profess the Mohammedan
religion, the _Shoushoua_ is abandoned as _haram_ or prohibited. It is
mostly the sign of paganism. The operation is performed by a sharp cutting
instrument, and is never _effaced_ from the face during life. The annexed
drawing presents the _Shoushoua_ of the Negroes of Tombo, near Jinnee,
who are pagans. Whenever the slaves see these marks they know the country
of the other slaves who bear them. Formerly it could be ascertained whether
a slave was born on the coast, or brought from the interior, by the
presence or absence of the _Shoushoua_. Now it cannot, because the
practice is discontinued in countries subject to Moslem rule, whence
slaves are sometimes brought. In Ghadames a freed slave is called
_mâtouk_ (‮معتوق‬) or _horr_ (‮حرّ‬). The terms _waseef_
(‮وسيف‬) and sometimes _mamlouk_ (‮مملوك‬) are employed
for a single slave, and _âbeed_ (‮عبيد‬) for many. The Arabic
terms ‮قايد الوصفان‬ "the chief of slaves," are used to
denote the person who is responsible for the conduct of slaves, or the
"Sheikh of the slaves." The word RAZZIA, which the French are said
to have invented, and which has acquired such a _triste_ celebrity
by their butcheries of the Arabs in Algeria, is derived from the
same word as designates a Slave-hunt (_ghazah_)[53] amongst our
Saharan people. The verb is ‮غَزَا‬ _ghaza_, "petivit," which in
the second conjugation means, "expeditione bellica petivit hostem," and
the noun in use is ‮غَزَاة‬ _ghazah_, "expeditione bellica." The
Bornouese word to denote a slave-hunt, as carried on by the
Touaricks, is DIN, applied to private kidnapping expeditions, and
means, I think, simply "theft," showing that not by war, as
captives, but by "theft," "stealing," the "man-stealing" of the
Apostle Paul, are slaves generally procured in Central Africa. It is
only just that _razzia_ and _ghazah_, the same words, should be so
closely allied in application to their different actions. The
French, to do the thing properly, and in their usual style, should
erect a monument upon the "Place" of the city of Algiers, to the new
invention RAZZIA, with its derivations from _ghazah_, "a
slave-hunt." A prize essay might also be proposed to the Oriental
Chair of Paris, and its various students, now looking for
distinction as interpreters in the land of RAZZIAS or "butcheries,"
for the best derivation and historical progress of the term RAZZIA,
as used by Christian and civilized nations, in relation to infidel
and Mohammedan barbarians. At the bottom of the monument erected by
the French to the DEMON RAZZIA, may be appended the following
veracious words, copied from the late proclamation of the Duc
d'Aumale, on his assumption of the high post of Governor-General of
Algeria (_Moniteur Algérien_, October 20, 1847):--"You have learned
by experience, O Mussulmans! how just and clement is the Government
of France." The Duke unpardonably forgets to cite one of the last
proofs of this just and clement Government, the roasting of a tribe
of Arabs, men, women and children in the caverns of the Atlas! . . . . Will
not the Lying Bulletin (native of France) be proclaimed till
doomsday?

This morning the merchants asked me why the English did not drive
out the French from Algeria. They had often badgered me with this
subject. I thought it better to speak plainly at once, and for all.
I began by asking, why should the English drive out the French? and
continued, "France and England are now at peace. They don't wish to
make war at all, and England does not consider Algeria of such
importance as to go to war about it. England did not derive much
benefit from Algeria when Mussulmans ruled there; besides the
Algerines were always sea-robbers. The English were obliged to go
and chastise them several times before the French captured their
country. And do not think, that if war did take place between
England and France, and the English should drive the French out of
Algeria, the country would therefore be given up to the Sultan and
the Mussulmans. The English might wish to rule there themselves.
Upon no account wish for war in Algeria, for the miseries of the war
would chiefly fall upon you, Mussulmans." This completely settled
them, and exasperated them, as well it might; they said no more. The
Mussulmans always have in their memories the conduct of the English
when they drove out the French from Egypt, and discussing this kind
of politics, it is quite natural.

Afterwards I heard a Souafee holding forth to another group. His
theme was, the Shânbah, Warklah, Touaricks, Tugurt, Souf, and
Ghadames, and it was evident to him that besides the people now
enumerated there were no others in the world. A respectable Moor
observed at the time, "That Souafee is a rascal. He's as great a
robber as a Shânbah bandit. Mussulmans are not like Christians. The
Christians have but one word, and are brothers. The Mussulmans have
a thousand and ten thousand words, they don't speak the truth, and
they are enemies to one another." The ingenuous Moor knew little of
the history of Europe and America. I did not disabuse him of his
good opinion of us. He was a Ben Wezeet, and complained that now the
_Nāther_ (‮ناظر‬), or native overseer of the city, and the Kady or
judge, and some of the richest merchants belonged to the Ben Weleed,
and added mournfully, with a sigh, "It was not so in my father's
time. But the world has changed, and this is the new world."

In reading the Arabic Testament, I have noticed several parallel customs
or habits between The East and North Africa. Take this:

"But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote upon the ground."
(John viii. 6.)

People of Ghadames are writing daily with their fingers on the ground.
They are also wont, with fancy ornamental sticks, which they usually
carry, to illustrate their ideas on the sand or dust of the streets, by
drawing figures. In speaking with them on geography, they sketch shapes
of countries. They cast up all their ordinary accounts by writing figures
on the sand. They have also certain games which they play by the use of
sand. Sand is their paper, their ledger, their boards of account, their
pavement, and their auxiliary in a thousand things. It is said in the
Gospels, that The Saviour escaped to the mountains[54], either from the
pressure of the people, or from the persecutions of his enemies. Persons
are accustomed to escape to the mountains in Barbary, more particularly
in Morocco and Algeria; but also in this country. Our Saviour, besides,
gives the same advice to his disciples: "Let them which are in Judea
_flee to the mountains_." (Luke xxi. 21.) It has always been difficult to
apprehend fugitives in the mountains, especially in ancient times, when a
good police did not exist. The conqueror has always had great difficulty,
and exposed his conquests to imminent risk, by pursuing the conquered in
mountainous districts. Such are the instincts and habits of men in all
ages. The Desert has, besides, afforded an asylum to the fugitive and
unfortunate, as well as the persecuted. Our Saviour was wont to retire to
desert places. In this country, the discomfited defenders of their
country's liberties have invariably escaped to The Sahara. How many times
has Abd-el-Kader escaped to the mountains of Rif, or the solitudes of The
Sahara? But it is unnecessary to pursue this obvious idea farther,
otherwise it also will escape to The Mountains or The Desert.

The "five _barley_ loaves," (John vi. 9,) reminds me of the _barley_
bread of these countries, more frequent than any other sort of bread.
Wheaten bread is rarely eaten by the lower classes.

It is needless to cite all the passages of Scripture where the people in
the towns and villages are represented as bringing out their sick of
every kind and description. (Matt. xiv. 14, 35, 36.) So it is in North
Africa. Whenever an European visits these countries with any pretensions
to medical skill, all the sick of the place are brought out to him. When
I see the sick daily brought to me--as also when I was in The
Mountains--I cannot help thinking of those affecting pictures of disease
and misery which were providentially exhibited to demonstrate the divine
skill of the Great Physician of mind and body.

Salt is procured in a few hours' journey beyond _Sidi Mâbed_, and is
considered superior to that procured at the _Salinæ_ of the coast. This
Saharan salt is only obtained after there has been some rain, the earth
being impregnated with it, and the water washing away the earthy
particles. It is gathered in the dry season.

_19th._--Amuse myself with Arabic reading and philological studies. The
mornings continue cool. Administer now little medicine, for I have but
little left. Ordered an Arab to be bled by the old Moor, who possesses a
good lancet. The big hulking Arab proved a greater coward than a child.
How sickness unnerves a man, the hardiest and strongest of men! I once
took a passage from Algeria to Marseilles in a French transport of
convalescents. There I saw the brave and brilliant French troops cry and
whine like children under the influence of fever. When the old Moor had
bled the soldier, he said to me, "Where's the money?" This shows that,
though they rarely think of remunerating the services of the Christian
Tabeeb, they have a perfectly clear conception of what is due to the
labour and skill of a doctor when the case refers to themselves. Some
time after, I went to the old Moor again, and asked him to bleed another
soldier attacked with fever. He refused to bleed him, alleging that he
must be paid. "He will die," I said. "Let him die," returned the
unfeeling old blood-letter; "why do they bring soldiers here, we don't
want them?" This afternoon I visited the barrack, where several Arab
soldiers were laid up with the fever, which they had caught at Emjessem.
One was very bad. The Arabs said to me, "You must give him money to buy
some bread, and a little meat to make some broth." I told them they must
go the Rais; it was his business to look after his troops. It is
distressing to witness the condition of these wretched Arabs. At
different times I have given them a little meat, and bread, and oil; but
now my stock of provisions is getting down, and the communication between
Tripoli and Ghadames is very precarious. In the evening I saw the
_Nāther_, and said to him--expecting he would mention it to the Rais,
"See that soldier lying on the stone-bench; he is sick, and has nothing
to eat."

_The Nāther._--"Yes, he is ill."

_I._--"But he has nothing to eat; can't you get him something to eat?"

_The Nāther,_--"Pooh, he must die."

The other Moors present laughed at my simplicity in begging something to
eat for a fever-worn, emaciated wretch of a soldier. The matter of fact
is, these poor fellows are detested by the inhabitants, and starved to
death by the Government. The soldier had caught the fever of Derge,
whilst sent there on business, which is a bad tertian fever, prevalent in
some oases of The Sahara.

Lately, as my turjeman and Said, with several negroes, were
chatting, and saying people would have husbands and wives in the
next world, I asked, in the manner of the Sadducees, "If a woman had
three husbands in this world, whose wife would she be in the next?"
They all answered, "_The wife of the last_." As some of the group of
these theologians and diviners of the future state were negroes, I
asked, "What _colour_ will people be in the next world?" They
replied, "_All white_, and alike; and not only will their skins be
white, but all their clothing will be _white_." White, indeed, is
the favourite colour of Mussulmans; and a sooty-black Mohammedan
negro will set off his face with a white turban, as our Christian
niggers do their _japan_ with a lily-white neckcloth. But _white_ is
the colour of purity, of religion in North Africa and The
East, as in _Biblical_ times.--περιβεβλημένους ἐν
ἱματίοις λευχοῖς. (Rev. iv. 4.)

_20th._--Weather continues fine and cool. Less meat to be had; nothing
decided about the new levy of money, except that the people will not or
cannot pay. The Sheikh Makouran tells me he is greatly in debt to Messrs.
Silva and Laby, and so are all Ghadamsee merchants. The money now
employed in commerce is chiefly that of European and other merchants of
Tripoli and Tunis. "We have no money," says Makouran, "we cannot pay any
new levies. If Rais persists, he must collect our money at the edge of
the sword; and this can't last, for we shall all soon die of hunger."
These continual complaints make me melancholy, and added to my impatience
"to be up and doing," make me very peevish. O Dio! but such is the lot of
man, to suffer always, either in mind or body. Much annoyed at my taleb
for eating Said's dinner, even before my face. These Moors, at least some
of them, have neither honour nor conscience. I suppose the taleb is
pinching his belly to pay his portion of the new contribution. To punish
the taleb, I give Said coffee before him, without asking him to take any.
I may observe, the Moors don't like to see me treat the poor blacks and
slaves as their equals. I frequently give the negroes tea and coffee
before I serve them, to show I despise such distinctions, although,
perhaps, against propriety.

The taleb began boasting about Soudan, and he has much reason to
boast of it, if we compare what Mohammedans have there done with
what Christians have done on the Western Coast of Africa. He said,
"There's no _gomerick_ (Custom-house), no oppression, for the people
are Mussulmans." Such were the reasons for their not being
oppressive. It is a great question how far a country may be
civilized, and in how short a time, without actual conquest?
Civilization has progressed in Central Africa with the spread of
Islamism. When it reaches the point of Mahometan civilization it
will stop. The question with us is, "Whether we shall civilize the
Mohammedans, and so work on Central Africa, or reconquer their
conquests?" There appears very little chance of civilizing Africa
without arms and conquest. Bornou, Soudan, and its numerous
cities, Timbuctoo and Jinnee, formerly all governed by the
_Kohlan_--‮كحلان‬, or "blacks," are now governed by strangers,
either Arabs (pure) or Touaricks or Fullans. These are the present
most important kingdoms of the ancient Nigritia, and include a
population of some millions. I continue to pursue my inquiries
respecting the Fullans. All agree in representing them as originally
_Arab_, but now greatly mixed, of very dark colour, some being
nearly black, others, and most of them, a dark brown and yellow red,
and some nearly white. The fortunes of the Fullans, emerging
filthily from the dregs and offscouring of The Sahara, have become
as great as the old Romans formerly in Europe, but they will always
have powerful and vindictive rivals in the Touarghee and pure Arab
and Berber races. The Revd. Mr. Schön has given a too unfavourable
report of the Fullans, in his Notes and Journal of the Niger
Expedition, biassed against them in his Missionary zeal, simply
because they are Mahometans. It is true that the Fullans are great
slave-dealers, but so are nearly all the princes of Africa. The mild
and equitable administration of the kingdoms of Kanou, Succatou,
Kashna, and other immense centres of population, as carried on by
the Fullans, is notorious throughout The Great Desert. No people of
Nigritian Africa has so profoundly excited my best sympathies as the
Fullanee races[55].

The Moors do not fondle and dandle their children on their knees, as
parents are accustomed in Europe; and when grown up, the children appear
as distant from their parents as strangers. This arises from the absolute
authority assumed by parents over children during their minority. I have
often been angry to see some of the lower people here teaching the
children to call me _Kafer_ ("infidel") as a sort of religious duty,
lest, I imagine, the children should see at last that there is no very
great difference between a _Kafer_ and a Moslemite.

Was much amused this afternoon in seeing physic administered to camels.
The camel is made to lie down, and its knee joints are tied round so that
it cannot get up. One person then seizes hold of the skin and cartilage
of the nose, and that of the under jaw, and wrests with all his force the
mouth wide open, whilst another seizes hold of the tongue and pulls it
over one side of the mouth; this done, another pours the medicine down
the throat of the animal, and, when the mouth is too full, they shut the
jaws and rub and work the medicine down its throat. The disease was the
falling off of the hair; and the medicine consisted of the stones of
dates split into pieces and mixed with dried herbs, simple hay or grass
herbs, powdered as small as snuff, the mixture being made with water.
People told me it would fatten the camel as well as restore its hair.
Camels frequently have the mange, and then they are tarred over. For
unknown incomprehensible diseases, the Moors burn the camel on the head
with hot irons, and call this physic. Men are treated in the same way,
and the Moors are very fond of these analogies between men and brutes.
What is good for a camel is good for a man, and what is good for man is
good for a camel. Whilst the camel was being drugged, a Touarick came up
and said, "_Salām âleikom_" to me. They always use this primitive mode of
salutation. When they swear oaths they also say, "_Allah Akbar_," (God is
Greatest!) the famous war-cry of the Saracennic conquerors of olden
times. They are primitive in all their ideas and words; their manners are
equally stiff, and slow or courtly, "stately and dignified;" they fully
understand the doctrine that, "Great bodies move slow."

A man is said sometimes not to be worth "a pinch of snuff;" and yet
a pinch of snuff will knock a man down, as it knocked me down this
evening. My value then does not quite reach to a pinch of snuff
standard. To come to explanation: a merchant offered me a pinch of
snuff, and to please him, I took a large pinch, pushing a portion of
it up my nostrils. Immediately I fell dizzy and sick, and in a short
time, vomited violently. The people stared at me with astonishment,
and were terrified out of their wits, and thought I was about to
give up the ghost. They never saw snuff before produce such terrible
effects. After some time, I got a little better and returned home.
This snuff was that from Souf, and what people call _wâr_
("difficult"). I had been warned of it, and therefore richly paid
for my folly. Moreover, it was a violation of my usual abstinence
from this not very elegant habit. The Souf snuff is extremely
powerful; it is constantly imported here, and for the satisfaction
of snuff-takers and snuff-taking tourists, I am bound to inform them
that they will find snuff much cheaper in Ghadames than in Tripoli.
People call snuff hot and cold, according to its stimulating,
irritating, and tickling power. It is prohibited to drink wine and
spirits amongst Moslemites, but, nevertheless, many of them do not
fail to intoxicate themselves with everything besides which comes in
their way: they snuff most horribly all the live-long day. In the
season the Arabs drink their _leghma_, and the Mahometan Negroes
their _bouza_, the Soudanic merchants chew their _ghour_, nuts, and
_kouda_, as our jolly tars their tobacco, and others munch the
_trona_. My taleb came to me to see if I were dead. He had heard
such a horrible report in the town. I embraced the opportunity of
lecturing him upon the absurdity of the prohibition from drinking
wine, when he and others intoxicated themselves with snuff. But man
will have _his_ stimulant, and the tee-totaller, who protests
against all stimulants, seeks his in his tea and coffee. There is no
harm in this, and the question only remains to seek as harmless a
stimulant, as consistent with health as possible. In justice to the
Marabout city of Ghadames, I must mention that some of the more
strict Mohammedans consider snuffing, as well as smoking, prohibited by
their religion, and opium (‮ععيون‬), and _keef_, an intoxicating
herb, sometimes called _takrounee_, ‮تكروني‬, are not smoked
in this place. In general, few of the Moors of this place smoke at all.

_21st._--Weather fine, no rain. The merchants begin to bake biscuits for
their journey to Ghat, which looks like preparation. My friend Abu Beker
called and gave me two letters written to him from Timbuctoo by his
brother, who is established there. Since my return, I have given one of
these letters to the Royal Asiatic Society, and the other to the British
Museum, considering them a great curiosity, so long as this city shall
remain separated from us Europeans by such impassable barriers.

The following is the translation of the letter presented to the Royal
Asiatic Society:--

LETTER FROM A BROTHER IN TIMBUCTOO TO A BROTHER IN GHADAMES.

"From the poor servant of his Lord, Muhammad ben Ali ben Talib, to our
respected brethren, Abu Bekr and Muhammad, and Abdallah, and Fatimah, and
Ayshah, and our Aunt Aminah; God prosper their conditions, Amen!

"After a thousand salutations and respects to you, and the mercy of
God, and his blessings on you, should you indeed inquire concerning
us, we are well, and you, please God, are so likewise; and we desire
no further favour from God than the sight of your precious
countenance; may God unite us with you before long, for He is the
Hearer (of petitions)! As to this country there is in it neither
buying nor selling. By G--d, O my brother! this day we are six
months in Timbuctoo, and truly in the whole time I have received but
15 mithcals. There is not a single farthing (or kirat) in this town,
nor commerce at all, except in salt, &c., (_some other commodities,
whose names I cannot discover_.) And our minds are in continual fear
here from the scarcity of the times. I am desirous of going to
Arawan, if we can find something to sell there, when the people of
Kiblah (_the South_) come; but they are not yet arrived, up to the
present moment, and we do not think they will come. And thou, O my
brother, beware of sending us any thing! as in this country there is
no commerce, (neither buying nor selling); and whatever has been
sent us, we have received for it neither far nor near. And truly,
from the day in which we entered Timbuctoo, we have given 600 louats
(some measure) to the Touaricks and the Fullans. But do you pray
with us that we may be delivered from this land; and we have no more
news after the letter which we have written to you. Convey our
salutation to our aunt and to our brothers, many thousand
salutations; and to Muhammad ben al Tayil, and his brother and his
sons, many thousand salutations; and to Muhammad Ibn Ibrahim
Taraki, many thousand salutations. Salute also the Hajj al Beshir,
and his brother the Hajj Yusuff, if he is arrived; and salute also
Hajj Abdallah. The people (caravan) of Touat have not yet come to
us. Our salutation to Al Mustafa and his brother Abdal Cadir, and
tell the Hajj al Behir, for God's sake not to send us any thing. Of
a truth, we sincerely hope to fulfil your commissions, but in this
land there is neither buying nor selling. By G--d, neither in Arawan
nor in Timbuctoo, have we seen any one who will buy of you for a
mithcal, nor for a kirat. Tell the Hajj al Beshir, the Sheikh has
not yet arrived. And of all the (----?) I brought to Timbuctoo, I
have not sold a single thing, and I sent them back to Arawan. Know,
that there is no dealing here except by cowries, and the cowrie is
3,500 to a mithcal. Convey my salutation to the Hajj Abdal Kerim Ben
Aun Allah, and his brother Abdarrahman, and to their sons; many
thousand salutations, and say to them, For God's sake take care how
you send us any thing, for this land is a vexation to us. May God
not visit you with vexation, and may he open to us a way of
deliverance! And our salutation to the Hajj Muhammad Sahh, if he is
arrived, and tell him not to forget us in the Fátihah (1st. chap. of
the Koran, used in prayer,) and in the prayer called Salihah (the
Beneficial.) And also to his son and to his mother, many thousand
salutations. And our salutation to the Hajj Muhammad ben Ali, and
his brother, and their father, many thousand salutations. And
salutation to our cousin (the daughter of our uncle) Miriam, many
thousand salutations, and to our aunt Sultánah, and to her brothers,
and to (some other female name) and her sons, many thousand
salutations. And our salutation to our cousins (the children of our
uncle) and say to them, For God's sake do not forget us in the
Fátihah and the prayer Salihah, that God may deliver us from this
land; and the people ("or caravan") of Touat are not yet come to us.
O my brethren! we anxiously and most earnestly do desire news of
you; the Lord give us news of your welfare before long. And do thou,
O my brother! send us some cinnamon and some black pepper, and some
grains of ‮جلاو‬. And when thou writest, give us all the news, and
take care not to leave your letter unclosed, for the people here
read it, and be sure to seal it. Salute the inhabitants of our
street, all of them, without exception, each one by name.

"And so farewell: at the date of Rajab the 25th, in the year 1246; and
again farewell, from this poor (servant of God,) and many thousand
salutations, as also from Ibrahim and from the Hajj al Mansur and the
Hajj al Mansur's son, who is still with him. Farewell.

"(Postscript below.)--Convey our salutation to Hajj Hamad, and tell him
Muhammad ben Canab is doing well, and he is in Arawan; and in like manner
salute from us his brother Ali.

"(2nd Postscript at the side.)--Salutation also to our uncle, and
say to him, that among the people of the Sheikh (‮اهل الشيخ‬)
we obtain nothing, except what the Lord has brought us (a proverbial
expression of the Moors, signifying nothing at all.) So farewell!

ADDRESS.

"To the hand of our esteemed brethren Abu Bekr, and Muhammad and
Abdullah ben Ali Ibn Talib; may God amend their condition, amen!

"(With Solomon's seal, and a rude commencement of another; the name
of Ben Talib, and the mystical words ‮طه‬ and ‮بسم‬ the first
of which is prefixed to the xxth chapter of the Koran, and the other
probably intended for ‮طسم‬, heading the xxvith, and xxviiith; or
for ‮يس‬ xxxvi.)"

Obs.--This letter is written within and without, and on every fold of it.
The advice to seal the letter to prevent it from being "Grahamized" is
curious. I have seen a hundred letters in The Desert _un_sealed, and it
is only in case of suspicion, that the Saharan merchants seal their
letters. Such is their confidence in each other's honour and good faith,
that it is an insult to seal a letter when put into the hands of a
friend. It would appear, from this letter, that some twenty years ago the
commerce of Timbuctoo was in the most languishing deplorable state; but
as far as I can judge, from the present operations of the merchants in
Ghadames, the trade of Timbuctoo has in a measure revived. The letter
itself is a most admirable specimen of the epistolary style of the
Saharan Moors, and in this respect alone is of considerable value.

When walking out this morning, an impudent young dog came running after
me and shouted, "There is no God but God, and Mahomet is the Prophet of
God;" whilst another cried out, "You Kafer!" Judging it necessary to put
a stop to this, I gave each little imp for his pains a hard rap of the
head with my fly-flapper, which greatly surprised them, and sent them off
yelping. Some of the boys, however, are very friendly, and come running
after me and take hold of my hand. A day or two afterwards these young
rascals came running after me again in the same way; but they were chased
by an adult Moor, who gave them a good thrashing.

_22nd._--Weather fine. Nothing new. Bought Said a new pair of Morocco
shoes, and made him happy for a day or two. He begins to sulk about going
amongst the Touaricks. To my great joy, the _Shantah_ from Tripoli has
arrived, bringing letters from Colonel Warrington, and Mr. Francovich,
which latter has remitted to me 125 mahboubs. Two Touaricks have also
arrived from Touat. The road is open. Rain has fallen in many places of
The Desert in copious showers, which has buoyed up the hopes of the
camel-graziers. Rumours of fighting between the Shânbah and Touaricks are
prevalent.

The Tibboo left during the night for Ghat--ALONE! riding on a single
camel. His conduct has astonished everybody. Some say "he's mad," and
some say "he's a bandit." He had with him a small quantity of light
goods, and about 300 dollars in cash. I asked the Rais about him. He
observed, "That Tibboo has no wit. Many people die on the routes, the
camels running away whilst they sleep. What can he do alone!" I asked the
people, all of whom replied, "The Tibboo is a wonderful fellow!" One
said, "Ah, that's a man, Yâkob. No Christian like the Tibboo." But
another said, "Without doubt he's a cut-throat, that is the reason he
goes alone. Even the Touaricks are afraid of him; and when they brought
him here he quarrelled with them several times. Besides, a few days ago
he was going to knock down the toll-taker at the gate." After this
display of personal daring, I shall never have a contemptible idea of a
Negro. The free, independent, and enlightened gentleman slave-driver of
Yankee Land, armed with that symbol of order and good government, the
bowie-knife! would find his match in this his brother Tibboo
slave-driver. The Tibboo has done what no man of this city would have
dared to do, in undertaking a journey of some twenty days over The Desert
alone. What is very extraordinary, he never travelled the route but once
before, that is, when he came here. They say he will arrive at Ghat in
twelve days. He took the precaution of purchasing a good pair of
horse-pistols before he left. I may add, he arrived safe and sound at
Ghat.

_23rd._--This morning exceedingly cold. In going out, a man said to
me, "Where are you going this cold morning?" People were all
shivering, or wrapped up in their burnouses. Said is attacked with
ophthalmia. Received a visit from an old Arab doctor. He says cattle
are attacked with the plague, as well as men. He wrote me a receipt
for the cure of _night_-blindness, which would cure it in one night.
He says, in the neighbouring desert, towards the west, there is a
small oasis of Arabs, who are called _El-Hawamad_--‮الحومد‬--who
are always afflicted by night-blindness, which singular affection is
called by them _Juhur_ (‮جُهُر‬). Mr. Jackson, in his Morocco,
calls this strange disease _butelleese_. The Arabs of _El-Hawamad_ see
perfectly well in the day-time. But I must mention, that I received
an application for medicine from a person who is affected with the
same strange kind of malady. The European physicians call this
disease _Nyctalopia_ (Νυκταλωπια). I recently myself met with a
case in London. But what is equally extraordinary, Captain Lyon (I
think) mentions a case which he met with in The Desert, of a person
who could see in the night-time but not in the day-time--a human
owl. We conversed about other diseases in Ghadames. The principal,
as before-mentioned, are ophthalmia and diarrhœa. There are two
lepers; a few dropsical people; and, occasionally, small-pox and
syphilitic diseases. There are, besides, various cutaneous
affections. Dogs are known to go mad amongst the Arabs, but not very
often. When mad, they are called _makloub_. The remedy is, when they
bite people, the hair of the mad dog himself, rubbing it over the
part bitten. Mussulmans are fond of this antagonistic idea, of the
bane and the antidote being one and the same thing, for they
preserve the dead scorpions to be applied to the sting of the living
ones, and they aver it to be a certain cure. Quackery is the native
growth of the ingenious as well as the whimsical and hypochondriacal
ideas of men. In dropsy the native doctors cut the body to let out
the water, as we do.

       *       *       *       *       *

Wrote letters to Mr. Alsager, Colonel Warrington, and others. People
grumbling about their letters being too high charged. Formerly letters
went free to Tripoli. The Turkish post-office and policy never fail to
make things worse. Treating some Moors with coffee and loaf-sugar, one
asked me if there were blood in sugar, for so he had heard from some
Europeans in Tripoli. I told him in loaf sugar. "What, the blood of
pigs?" one cried. "How do I know?" I rejoined; "if the refiner has no
bullock's blood, why not use that of pigs?" This frightened them all out
of their senses. They will not eat loaf-sugar again in a hurry. A most
ludicrous anecdote of the old Bashaw of Tripoli here occurs to me. Old
Yousef one day sent for Colonel Warrington, with a message that the
Consul's presence was very particularly required. The Consul, putting on
his best Consular uniform, and taking with him his Vice-Consul, his
Chancellor, and his Dragoman, immediately waited upon His Highness. The
Consul found His Highness sitting in full Divan, surrounded with all his
high functionaries. Approaching the Bashaw, the Consul was begged to take
a seat. His Highness then opened business, and, drawing a very long and
solemn face, requested to know, "If the Christians were carrying away all
the bones from the country?" assuring the Consul that such he heard was
the case from his people, adding, that even the graveyards were ransacked
for bones. The Consul, nothing blinking, or disquieted, congratulated His
Highness upon bringing such an important subject before his notice, and
observed, "It is very improper for the Christians to be ransacking the
tombs for old bones to ship off for Europe." "Improper!" exclaimed the
Bashaw, "why the man who does so ought to be beheaded!" "Yes, yes,"
replied the Consul, coaxingly, "he ought, your Highness; I quite agree
with you." The Bashaw then got a little more calm, and begged of the
Consul, as a favour, to tell him what the Christians did with all these
old bones. The Consul, now assuming a magnificent air, deigned to reply,
"Now, your Highness, you must be cool. You drink coffee?" "Yes." "You put
sugar in it?" "Yes" (impatiently). "You use white sugar?" "Yes, yes,"
said the Bashaw, half amazed, half trembling, wondering what would come
next. "Then," cried the Consul triumphantly, "I beg most submissively to
inform your Highness, hoping that your Highness will not be angry, but
thank me for the information, that the old bones are used to make white
sugar with." Hereupon was an awful explosion of _Allahs!_--beginning with
His Highness the Bashaw, and going round the whole assembled Divan, in
such serious and perplexed conclave now met. Then followed _harams!_--in
the midst of which Colonel Warrington graciously and elegantly backed
himself out of the Divan, smiling and bowing, bowing and smiling, to the
utter horror of all present. Next day His Highness made a proclamation
forbidding any of his subjects from exporting old bones on pain of death.
On his part, the Consul issued a notice calling upon all British subjects
not to be such barbarians as to violate the tombs of pious Mussulmans, at
the same time threatening them with the full weight of the Consular
displeasure. I am assured that Yousef Bashaw never ate white sugar
afterwards.

       *       *       *       *       *

The liberties which Colonel Warrington was wont to take with old Yousef
Bashaw, of the Caramanly dynasty, could not now be, in these days of
Ottoman politeness, at all tolerated. For a long series of years, and
especially during the French war, the Colonel was the virtual Bashaw of
Tripoli. I shall only give another of a thousand incidents in which the
British Consul showed himself the master, and the Bashaw the slave,
instead of the Sovereign of his own country. One day the Bashaw had done
something to offend the Consul. Colonel Warrington, hearing of it whilst
riding out, immediately rides off to the Castle, and rushes, whip in
hand, into the presence of the Bashaw, producing consternation through
the whole Court. An Italian, having at the time an audience with His
Highness, demanded, "_Che cosa vuole Signore Consule?_" seeing the Consul
frustrated in his rage for want of an interpreter. "_Tell him_ (the
Bashaw) _he's a rascal!_" roared the Consul, almost shaking his whip over
the head of His Highness. But the Italian was just as far off, not
knowing English, and fortunately could not interpret this elegant
compliment. The very next day, the Consul and the Bashaw dined together
at the British Garden, the Colonel slapping the old gentleman over his
shoulder, and drinking wine with him, like two jolly chums. In this way,
Colonel Warrington managed to be, what he was called in Malta, "_Bashaw
of Tripoli_." Now that Colonel Warrington, during the time these pages
have been going through the press, has left us for another and a better
world, we may for a moment compare his Consular system with that which
was pursued by the late Mr. Hay, Consul-General of Morocco. The
difference is striking, if not remarkable. Colonel Warrington boasted of
being able to do anything and everything in Tripoli; Mr. Hay boasted of
being able to do nothing in Morocco. The former had the Bashaw under his
thumb, or hooked by the nose; the latter stood at an awful distance from
the Shereefian Presence. Colonel Warrington underrated the difficulties
and dangers of travelling in Tripoli and Central Africa, making the route
from Tripoli to Bornou as safe as the road from London to Paris; Mr. Hay,
exaggerating every obstacle, represented it as unsafe to walk in the
environs of Tangier, under its very walls, and even boasted of himself
being shot at in the interior of Morocco, on a Government mission, and
whilst attended by an escort of the Emperor's troops. With Colonel
Warrington, a mission of science or philanthropy had a real chance of
success; with Mr. Hay, no mission could possibly succeed--failure was
certain. And so I might continue the opposite parallels. But in justice
to these late functionaries and their friends, I must observe, that both
were zealous servants of Government and their country. They exerted
themselves diligently and conscientiously to protect and advance the
interests of their countrymen, who had relations with Tripoli or Morocco,
according to their peculiar temperaments and circumstances. No doubt they
gave Government at home an immense deal of unnecessary trouble, and
sometimes even annoyance; but so long as each public functionary abroad
thinks the affairs of his own particular post of more importance than
those of anybody else, this inconvenience will always happen, in a lesser
or greater degree.

Said furnishes me with a continual anti-slavery text against the
slave-trade. Everybody asks me if Said is a slave. I reply, "Slavery is a
great sin amongst the English. We cannot have slaves, or make slaves of
our fellow-creatures." Then follow discussions, in which I damnify the
traffick in human beings as much as possible.

Today witnessed a good specimen of Arab Desert freedom. I was conversing
quietly with the Governor, seated beside him on his ottoman, a privilege
granted only to me, the Nather (_native_ governor) and the Kady, when
rushed into the apartment a Souafee Arab, exclaiming to the Rais, "How
are you?" and seizing hold of his hands, knocked his fly-flap down on the
floor. His Excellency was shocked at this rudeness, and I myself was a
little startled. The conversation which followed, if such it may be
called, is characteristic of the bold Arab, and the haughty Turk.

_The Souafee._--"The Shânbah are coming to Ghadames."

_The Governor._--"I don't know; God knows."

_The Souafee._--"My brothers write to me and tell me so."

_The Governor._--"I don't know."

_The Souafee._--"Give me money, and I'll go and look after them."

_The Governor._--"I have no money."

_The Souafee._--"Make haste, give me money."

_The Governor._--"Have none."

_The Souafee._--"Where's the money?"

_The Governor._--"Go to the Ghadamseeah."

_The Souafee._--"They tell me you have all their money."

_The Governor._--"Go to them."

_The Souafee._--"I'm going, _Bislamah_ (good bye.)"

_The Governor._--"Bislamah."

As the Souafee left the threshold of the apartment, his Excellency turned
to me, and raising his right hand underneath his chin, drew its back
jerkingly forwards, making the sign of the well-known expression of
contempt in North Africa. He then said to me:--"See what a life I lead,
what insults I am obliged to put up with! what beasts are these Arabs!"
The Souafah are, indeed, the type of the genuine Desert Arab. They have
no foreign master, and manage all their affairs by their own Sheikhs and
Kadys. The immense waste of sand lying between Ghadames and Southern
Tunis and Algeria, is their absolute domain, in the arid and thirsty
bosom of which are planted, as marvels of nature, their oases of palms.
The Shânbah bandits, who plunder every body, and brave heaven and earth,
nevertheless dare not lay a finger on them. I cannot better represent the
feelings of the Souf Arab, nor the "wild and burning range" of his
country, than by quoting the lines of Eliza Cook:

  "Through the desert, through the desert, where the Arab takes his course,
  With none to bear him company, except his gallant horse;
  Where none can question will or right, where landmarks ne'er impede,
  But all is wide and limitless to rider and to steed.

  No purling streamlet murmurs there, no chequer'd shadows fall;
  'Tis torrid, waste and desolate, but free to each and all.
  Through the desert, through the desert! Oh, the Arab would no change,
  For purple robes or olive-trees, his wild and burning range."

FOOTNOTES:

[53] It is now the fashion in French writers to represent the
    Arabic ‮غ‬ by the Roman R, as _R_'dames for _Gh_adames.

[54] ‮هرب الي الجبل‬

[55] _Fullans._--Mungo Park says: "The Foulahs are chiefly of a
    tawny complexion, with silky hair, and pleasing features."--M.
    D'Avezac says: "In the midst of the Negro races, there stands out
    a _métive_ (_mezzo-termino_?) population, of tawny or copper
    colour, prominent nose, small mouth, and oval face, which ranks
    itself amongst the white races, and asserts itself to be descended
    from Arab fathers, and Tawrode(?) mothers. Their crisped hair, and
    even woolly though long, justifies their classification among the
    _oulotric_ (woolly-haired) populations; but neither the traits of
    their features, nor the colour of their skin, allow them to be
    confounded with Negroes, however great the fusion of the two types
    may be." Major Rennell calls them the "Leucœthiopes of Ptolemy and
    Pliny." Mr. D'Eichthal thinks them to be of _Malay_ origin, on
    account of their language; but Dr. Pritchard considers them to be
    a genuine African race.




CHAPTER XII.

PREPARATIONS FOR GOING TO SOUDAN.

     His Excellency the Rais questions me on my rumoured Journey to
     Soudan.--The Devil has in safe keeping all who are not
     Mahometans.--I am wearing to a Skeleton.--A Caravan of
     Women.--Predestination.--The Shânbah begin their Foray.--The
     Gardens and their Products.--Varieties of the
     Date-Palm.--Locusts.--Brigands spare the Property of the Marabout
     Merchants of Ghadames.--Agricultural Implements in The
     Desert.--Violent capture of a Souf Caravan by the Governor.--Uses
     of the Date-Palm.--The Touarghee Bandit's opinion as to Killing
     Christians.--Combat between an Ant and a Fly.--Loose Phraseology
     in The Mediterranean.--Harsh Hospitality of the Souafah, and
     Usurpation over their Oases by the French.--Money disappearing
     from Ghadames.--The Affair of Messrs. Silva and Levi, and their
     connexion with Ghadamsee Slave-Dealers.--Visit, with his
     Excellency the Governor, the Ruins of _Kesar-el-Ensara_ "the
     Castle of the Christians."--Antiquity of Ghadames, and Account of
     it by Leo Africanus.


THE 23rd, 24th, and 25th, employed in writing letters. On one of these
days the Rais called me to him and asked, "Whether I really intended to
go to Soudan, as the people had reported to him?" I told him Yes, and
that I was already making preparations. His Excellency affected great
amazement, and looked exceedingly mysterious, but did not know what to
reply. At last he observed, "I must write to Ahmed Effendi of The
Mountains, and if he says you may go, all well, if not, you must not go."
I then asked the Rais, what I was to do in Ghadames? His Excellency said
anxiously, "Stay with me to keep me company. I am surrounded with
barbarians. I am weary of my life here." As the Rais spoke what I knew to
be the truth, I pitied him and said nothing, although I could not
understand this asking of permission from Ahmed Effendi, whom I knew to
be a queer customer to deal with. However, I interpreted the sense of
Colonel Warrington's letter to Rais, viz., "If I had friends I might
venture further into the interior, if not, stay where I was until I made
friends." I believe the sympathy of the Rais _sincere_, which is a great
deal for a Turk, or even any body else in this insincere and lying world.
He is a timid man, and is afraid the Touaricks will make an end of me.
What the Rais says is reasonable enough: "Bring me a Ghadamsee, or a
respectable Arab merchant whom I know, and who will take you with him,
and be answerable for your head (safety), and will protect you equally
with himself, then I have no fears for your safety." I took my friend
Zaleâ to the Rais, who is a native of Seenawan, and much respected by
all. The camels of the giant left to-day for Ghat, his giantship himself
waits to be conducteur of our caravan.

In replying to an observation about another increase of taxes of which
the people bitterly complained, I said, "The Mahometan princes are now
the greatest oppressors of the people, whilst the Christian kings are
more tolerant, and people enjoyed more security under our Governments."
My taleb replied, "Yes, it is the truth, Yâkob, and this is the reason.
The Devil knows that all the Christians, and Jews, and black _kafers_,
belong to him. So he troubles them not, they are his safe property and
sure possession. But he is always stirring up amongst us Mussulmans evil
passions, and leading our sovereigns to oppress the people, and one
Mussulman to oppress another." Such is the reasoning of a bigoted
Moslemite, and with him and others it has considerable force. Indeed, a
Christian stands a very poor chance with these subtle orthodox doctors.

_26th._--The mornings grow colder and colder. I feel the change
sensitively, more so than the natives; am exceedingly chilly. I perceive
the hot weather has dried up or torn off the flesh from my bones, and my
feet are very skinny. Attribute this a good deal to the water. Rais is
almost worn to a skeleton. This morning he called his servants to attest,
how stout he was when he first came here. But as the heat is gone, I
shall not now drink so much water. The more malicious, in revenge for
Turkish oppression here, hope and pray the Rais will die of the climate,
and every Turk who succeeds him.

To-day the Touarick _women_ leave for Ghat. No men go with them, only
some of their little sons. About ten women form this caravan. They have
camels to carry their water, and ride on occasionally when they are
fatigued. I asked a Ghadamsee whether these women were not afraid to go
by themselves, particularly now as banditti are reported to be in the
routes. He replied, "These Touarick women are a host of witches and
she-devils. No men will dare to touch them." This ghafalah of women is a
perfectly new idea to me. Some of the women are quite young and pretty,
and delicate, and don't appear as if they could bear twenty days'
desert-travelling. One said to me, "If you will go with us women, we will
take better care of you than the men can do."

_27th._--Occupied in writing. Rais paid me a visit in the afternoon. Gave
one of the slaves who came with him a pill-box, which highly delighted
the boy. I found when I visited Rais again, that his Excellency himself
had become so enamoured with the pill-box, as to purchase it from his
slave. Said continues bad with ophthalmia. The disease seems to attack
mostly people of this country, and not strangers. At any rate it would
seem that we require to be acclimated to catch these diseases, as well as
acclimated to resist them. Rais took it into his head to preach to me
about the decrees of Heaven. "You and I," said his Excellency, "were
great fools to come to this country; I to leave Constantinople, you to
leave London. But it was the decree of God that we should come to this
horrible country." The decrees of Heaven, or the acknowledgment of such,
are the _bonâ fide_ religion of Ghadames. "What do the people eat?" I
said to a man. He replied, "What is decreed!" Another interposed, "Don't
be afraid of the Touaricks; you will not die before the time which is
decreed by Heaven for you to die." Such is consolation in man's misery.
Are we to believe this? or why not believe it?

_28th_, _29th_, and _30th._--Employed in preparing routes of The Desert.
This evening the Governor received a letter from his spies in Souf, which
reports that the Shânbah had left their country four days before they
wrote, which is now fifteen days. It is not known whether the banditti
have taken the route to Ghat or Ghadames. His Excellency has taken
precautionary measures, and sent soldiers to look out in the routes near
our city. He has also sent to bring back a merchant who started yesterday
to Touat, and another to Derge. The freebooters are 100 horse, and 400
camels strong. The Giant Touarick taking the alarm, and mounting his
strongest and fleetest Maharee, has gone off to protect his family and
country. He was one of the expedition last year, and slew a dozen Shânbah
with his own hand. In the meanwhile _caravaning_ to all quarters is to be
stopped.

_31st._--Purchased an outfit for Said. Afterwards he would put them on,
and walked all over the town, and left me to cook the dinner myself. I
said nothing to him, humouring his vanity. No people are so fond of new
and fine clothes as Negroes.

_1st November._--A strong wind blowing from the south-east, or nearly
east. Not very cold, clouds thick and dark, and no sun. The music of the
wind in the date-palms is very agreeable, and tunes my soul to a quiet
sadness. The Ghadamsee merchant who was overtaken on his road to Tourat,
refuses to come back, and says he trusts in God against the Shânbah. Some
Souf Arabs have come in to-day, giving out that the French wish to assume
the sovereignty over their country. The able-bodied men of the united
oases are calculated at 2,000.

Visited the gardens with my taleb as _cicerone_. Was much gratified
with the rural ramble, although there is nothing remarkable to be
seen. The three principal productions are dates, of which there is a
great variety, some thirty or forty different sorts[56]; barley and
_ghusub_[57]. The ghusub is grown in the Autumn and the barley in
the Spring; in this way two crops of corn are reaped in the year. A
little wheat is now and then grown, but does not thrive. The native
date is the _madghou_ (‮مدغو‬) which is also common in Seenawan
and Derge. It is small and filbert-shaped, of a black colour, very
pleasant when fresh, but when dry very indifferent. I saw no black
dates in any other parts of The Sahara. The gardens furnish besides
a few vegetables and fruits, such as pomegranates, apricots,
peaches, almonds, olives, melons, pumpkins, tomatas, onions, and
peppers, a few grape-trees and fig-trees in the choicest gardens,
but all in small quantities. There is scarcely a flower or fancy
tree but the _tout_. No person of my acquaintance, except my
turjeman, showed much fancy for botany. He had brought an aloe from
Tripoli, and planted it in his garden. It is the only one. He has
another tree or two besides, which nobody else has. The merchants
have brought the varieties of the date-palm from the different oases
of The Sahara. Nearly every householder has a garden, and some
several. Sometimes a date plantation is divided between two or three
families, each cultivating and gathering the fruits of his pet
choice palm. Herbage is grown in the gardens for fattening the
sheep. Pounded date-stones both fatten sheep and camels. In summer
the gardens are intolerable, but in winter deliriously pleasant.
Sheikh Makouran is the largest landed-proprietor. He has seventeen
gardens; "nearly half the country," as a person observed. So Europe
is not the only place in the world where there is such an unequal
division of the land. The gardens are small, and the whole number is
some two hundred and odd, only the half of which are regularly
watered from the Great Spring. As the people can never depend upon
rain, the whole culture is conducted on irrigation. The Ghadamsee
garden-gate, of all the absurdities of inconvenience is the greatest
I ever met with. It is scarcely large enough for a small sheep to
enter. Every person entering a garden must not only stoop but crawl
through the gate. It is fortunate there are no lusty people here,
all being bony and wiry like the Arabs. Not being dependant on rain,
the gardens only suffer from the locusts, and now and then a
blighting wind. In the Spring of this year these insect marauders
passed over the oasis and made a pillage of the date blossoms for
thirty days, besides doing much damage to the barley. I encountered
a flight of the same horde, which emerged from The Desert and then
took to sea, and were scattered over to Malta and Sicily by the
wind, when I was travelling from Tunis to the isle of Jerbah late in
the Spring. From Ghadames they proceeded _en masse_ to Tripoli and
Ghabs, inflicting great damage. When they passed near the gardens of
Ghabs, the people climbed up the fruit-trees and made a great noise,
screaming and shouting, which kept them from settling in masses on
the fruit-trees and vegetables. They also kindled a fire and tried
to smoke them away. Many of those which did settle were gathered,
cooked, and eaten with great _gusto_ by the people. I met them
myself on the immense plains of Solyman; they were the first flight
of locusts I ever saw. I had seen locusts on the hills near Mogador,
where they are bred in great numbers. Millions of small green things
were just starting into being. The locust is a somewhat
disproportioned insect, the wings are too fine for the bulk and
weight of the body, which explains why they are unable to struggle
against the wind; as it is said in the Scriptures, "and when it was
morning the east wind brought the locusts." (Exod. x. 13.) They do
not fly high, and when they settle on the ground they roll over very
clumsily. A flight at a distance looks like falling flakes of snow
in a snow-storm. They are mostly of a reddish colour, with
lead-coloured bodies, and some of a glaring yellow. The yellow ones
are said to be the males, and are not so good eating as the others.
The locust tastes very much like a dry shrimp when roasted. They are
from an inch and a half to two and a half long. The head is large
and square, and very formidable. Hence the Scripture allusion: "and
on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces
were as the faces of men." (Rev. ix. 7.) But the prophecy gives them
a superadded power which they do not possess, "and unto them was
given power as the scorpions of the earth have power;" (v. 3.) for
when you catch the locust it makes little resistance and does not
bite. Few of these were eating, and most of them were either flying
or lay motionless basking in the sun, grouped in hundreds round
tufts of long coarse grass. My Moorish fellow-travellers didn't like
their appearance. They said the locusts are bad things, and came
from the hot country to devour their harvest. It was indeed, an
unpleasant sight, this horde of insect marauders, and soon lost the
charm of novelty. But the world is made up of the elements of
destruction and reproduction. Such is the eternal order of
Providence, and we must bear the evil and the good. I do not think
that they come far south or from the inner Desert, for they could
not be bred in regions of desolation, where there is no green thing.
Yet these flights were from the south of Ghadames, and at any rate
they are bred in the Saharan districts, from the banks of the Nile
to the shores of the Atlantic. The world is full of impostors. One
of these went once upon a time to Morocco, and endeavoured to
persuade the people he could destroy all the locusts by some
chemical process. I believe he was a French adventurer.

_2nd._--Occupied in taking notes of routes. The whole day overcast but no
rain. Rais alternately laughs and admires the Ghadamsee people. He was
endeavouring to prove to me what profound respect the bandits of The
Desert entertain for these Marabout people, and said, "If a camel of the
Ghadamseeah falls down in The Desert and dies, and no person present has
a camel to lend them, they leave the goods or the load of the camel on
the high road until they fetch one. Should a bandit pass by in the
meanwhile and see the goods, and recognize them to belong to an
inhabitant of Ghadames, he does not even touch them, but passes by and
calls for the blessing of Heaven upon the Holy City of The Desert." This,
one would say, is too good to be true, at the same time, I have no doubt
the banditti of The Desert have a species of religious respect for these
pacific-minded, unresisting merchants. I took an opportunity of asking
Rais about the use and value of his charms. His Excellency replied, "They
are to protect me when exposed to robbers like the Shânbah, or to other
evils. These charms will then render me great assistance." I I have
already said Rais is as big a ninny in these superstitious matters as any
of his Maraboutish subjects.

_3rd._--Am still in great doubt as to the route I shall take for the
interior. Every route has its separate advantages, and separate dangers.
In this perplexity what can I do but wait the turn of events? . . . . .
Another overcast morning, as dull and foggy as Old England's November. A
perfect Thames-London fog. I was accustomed to think that in the bright
sky of an African desert such a mass of cloud and haziness was
impossible. Still, though gloomy and drear, there is more boldness and
definiteness of outline than in England. After a person has been living
long under the bright skies of the Mediterranean, he may mistake a clear
winter's day on Blackheath, as I have done, for a moonlight, owing to the
want of those sharp angles by which nature draws her landscapes in
Southern Europe. To-day the face of the heavens has cast its shadows upon
the countenance of the population, for all is dull in business. Every one
is awaiting the result of the skirmishes between the Touaricks and the
Shânbah.

_4th._--A fine morning, and not very cold. No patients, everybody
apparently in health. My old friend Berka, the liberated slave, is now
occupied in turning or digging, or hoeing up a whole garden of good size,
about two days and a half's labour, for which he will receive one
Tunisian piastre! (Seven pence English money.) This is free labour. I am
sure the slave labour, the principal here, cannot be cheaper. The
implements of agriculture are few and simple in The Desert. Friend Berka
had but a small hoe, which is well described by Caillié, who saw it used
near Jinnee, and indeed it seems to be used throughout Central Africa.
This hoe is about a foot long, and eight inches broad; the handle, which
is some sixteen inches in length, slants very much. With this hoe they
turn up the earth instead of the plough, and prepare and open and shut
the squares of irrigated fields. For reaping they make use of a small
sickle without teeth. The caravans usually have a supply of these sickles
for cutting up Desert provender for the camels. The use of the hoe
requires constant stooping to the ground and is consequently laborious,
but the Saharan fields are very limited, and are soon hoed up. The
smallness of space is compensated by a redundant fertility, and double
and even treble crops in the course of the year. Passing by a group of
gossipping slaves to-day, one came running up to me and said, "Buy me,
buy me, and I will go with you to Ghat. I shall only cost you 100
mahboubs." This is humiliating enough, but those who offer their services
for sale, like hundreds in the metropolis of London, to write up a bad
cause and write down a good one, or to--

        "Make the worse appear
      The better reason--"

    "With words cloth'd in reason's garb--"

certainly perform a greater act of degradation than these poor debased
bondsmen.

A few evenings ago intelligence arrived that a Souf caravan of eight
camels and five persons were seen about a day and a half from this city,
proceeding in the route of Ghat. This gave rise to suspicions that the
news about the Shânbah and Touaricks was a hoax of the Souafah, in order
to frighten the people of Ghadames, and allow them (the Souafah) to get
first to the market of Ghat, and buy slaves cheaper. So reason the
merchants with the usual jealousy of such people. Rais, on receipt of
the above, summoned his Divan, and it was debated, "Whether the Souafah
should not be brought in here by force?" The question was decided in the
affirmative, and late at night, fourteen Arab soldiers, two Arabs of
Seenawan, intimately acquainted with the routes, and an official of the
Rais, went off to seize the caravan. This bold measure may bring us
unpleasant consequences. First of all, the Governor has no right to seize
a caravan in a district where the Sultan, his master, has no authority,
decidedly neutral ground, especially a caravan of strangers. Then the
Souafah, in revenge, may attack the caravans of Ghadames. Again, it is a
question whether the caravan will come in without fighting, for the
Souafah are tough men to deal with. It will be a poor excuse for the
Governor to plead before the Pasha, that the caravan was guilty of this
hoax, supposing it so, and giving this as the reason for seizing the
peaceable caravan of an independent state. Indeed, who shall decide that
they gave false intelligence of the Shânbah? And if they did, should this
be the punishment for spreading a false report? Many other disagreeable
thoughts occur. It is clear there is a violent infraction of
international law committed on our neighbour's (the Touarick's)
territory.

Talking with a gossip about the character of Moors, and he saying they
were "_friends of flous_ (money,)" _i. e._ mercenary, and adding that the
Touattee was the best fellow amongst them. Said, who was present, said to
me, "Yes, it is so, and because he is a black man." Said often repeats to
me, "In Soudan it will cost you nothing to live; being a stranger,
everybody will feed you in our country." Another free black took upon
himself to ridicule the constitution of the white man. "Ah," he cried,
"what is a white man! a poor weak creature; he can't bear Soudan heat; he
gets the fever, and dies. No, it is the black man that is strong, strong
always. He never droops or sinks! Look at the strength of my limbs." Such
are the traits of character of coloured men in this Saharan world. I add
another anecdote. Speaking to Berka one day, I said, "I shall have that
Tibboo himself sold as a slave; what right has he to bring people here as
slaves and sell them?" Berka mistook my meaning, thinking that, because
the Tibboo was black, I wished to have him sold and punished, and not for
being a slave-dealer, and the old gentleman got into a great passion,
sharply reprimanding me in this style: "Yes, Christian! drop that
language; when you get to Soudan you will find everybody black. Drop that
language; don't fancy, because the Tibboo is black, you can sell him.
Drop that language, for all are black there."

_7th._--This morning, after a pursuit of three days, our soldiers brought
in the Souf Arabs, which has made a great clamour in the town, as it
always happens in disputed cases, the people arranging themselves on
different sides as partisans, some for the Rais and others for the
Souafah. Called upon the Governor and told him I hoped he would not take
the _gomerick_ ("duties") for the goods of the caravan, as the people
were brought here against their will. His Excellency said he would not,
but merely reprimand them for spreading false news. It appears there is
some slight evidence of a hoax, but nothing to justify such a violent
measure. The Governor wants to make it out that they might have been
Shânbah, when it was well known before their capture they were Souafah.

Every part of the date-palm is turned to account. The fibrous net-work,
which surrounds the ends of the branches where they attach themselves to
the trunk, is woven into very strong and tough ropes, with which the legs
of camels are tied, and horses picketed. The very stones are split and
pounded, to fatten all animals here. The branches make baskets of every
kind; the dried leaves are burned, and the trunk builds the houses,
supplying all the beams and rafters. One day, on looking up to some palm
wood-work, the old men present said, "How old do you think that wood is,
Yâkob?" "I can't tell," I replied. They observed, "That wood is upwards
of three hundred years old. Indeed, we can't tell how long it has been
there. Our grandfathers found it there, and it looked just the same then
as now." It was large beams of the trunk of the tree, with platted thin
pieces of the boughs across them, forming a fantastic zig-zag joice of
wood ceiling. The fruit of the date-palm supports man, in many oases,
nine months out of twelve. In Fezzan, all the domestic animals, including
dogs, and horses, and fowls, eat dates. Such are some of the various and
important uses to which this noble tree is turned. The Saharan tribes,
likewise, are wont to live for several months of the year upon two other
products, viz., milk and gum. Milk I have mentioned as supporting the
Touaricks exclusively six or more months in the year. Gum, also, in the
Western Sahara, furnishes tribes with an exclusive sustenance for many
months. Even the prickly-pear, or fruit of the cactus, will support a
Barbary village for three months. It is, therefore, not surprising the
Irish peasant may live on potatoes and milk the greater part of the year.
The bead on the date-stone is the part (vital) whence commences
germination, and sprouts the new shoots of the palm. New shoots spring up
all over the oases, but particularly in those places where water is
abundant, and within and about the ducts of irrigation. These shoots are
collected for the new plantations, and the female plants carefully
separated from the males, and these latter destroyed. Only a few male
plants are kept for impregnation.

_8th._--Warm this morning, the cold weather gone apparently for a short
time. No patients. The long-expected ghafalah from Tripoli has arrived by
the way of Derge, avoiding the more dangerous route of Seenawan, by which
latter I came here. No mail. All the people now in a hurry to be off to
Ghat, as their goods have arrived. I begin to feel extremely irritable
and irresolute at the prospect of the new unknown Desert journey. The old
bandit called, and asked, "Well, are you going?" I answered, "Yes, very
soon, but I must first have a letter of permission from the Pasha of
Tripoli, so the Rais says, for the Pasha is greatly afraid you Touaricks
will cut my throat." "God! God! God!" exclaimed the bandit; "I'll risk my
head that you'll go on safe to Ghat and Aheer. But, as for those
villains, the Touaricks of Timbuctoo, those, I'll grant you, are
cut-throats." As I was about to take leave of the old brigand, I gave him
a piastre, and said, "Now tell me fairly, and as an honest man, what is
the reason that the Touaricks kill Christians, and why did they kill the
English officer who went to Timbuctoo?" "Stop, stop," the brigand
replied, very pleased with the piastre, "I'll tell you. There are three
reasons. First (scratching with his spear on the ground), the Christians
will not say that Mahomet is the prophet of God. Second (again scratching
with his spear on the ground), the Christians are the brothers of
Pharaoh, and have plenty of money; we are poor, we kill you for your
money. Third (again scratching), you wish to take our country. You have
nearly all the world; you have robbed us of Algeria, and Andalous. Why
don't you stop in the sea, where you are? We shall not come to you. We
don't like the sea." Seeing I could make nothing of the old sinner, so
cunning was he, I gave him a piece of sugar for his little son, and he
went away. I thought often of the words which I had recently read in the
Arabic, "The time will come when those who kill you will think that they
render service to God," (John xvi. 2,) when discussing so repeatedly this
question of the killing of Christians by the Touaricks with the Rais,
with the people of Ghadames, and with the Touaricks themselves. But has
this principle alone reference to the wild tribes of The Sahara? Has it
not had a pointed application in all the authenticated annals of the
world? Take our own era. The Jew thought he did service to God by killing
those who confessed Christ. Then the Imperial Roman, he immolated the
Christian who worshipped not the image of Cæsar. Then the Roman Christian
killed the heretic Donatist, lighting up the flames of persecution in
this Africa. Then the Catholic killed the Protestant, and deluged Europe
with a sea of blood. Thus in England we enacted our penal laws against
Catholics and Protestant Dissenters, some of which, to our shame, still
exist on the statute book. What a horrid heritage of murder for
conscience' sake has been transmitted to us in this nineteenth century?
And is the present fratricidal war in Switzerland unconnected with this
principle of blood and persecution! No; and again, no! How, then, can we
find fault with the barbarians of the Great Desert? Nay, contrarily,
those who follow me through The Desert, will find the Saharan Barbarians
infinitely more tolerant than the mild, and the gentle, and the polished,
and the educated, and the civilized, and the Christianized professors of
religion in our own great Europe!

This afternoon the first portion of the Ghadamsee Soudanic caravan left
for Ghat, consisting of about twenty-five camels, and some ten merchants
and traders. This is merely a detachment. The larger portion of the
population went to see them off, and several families were dressed in
their best clothes, as on festas. It is the usual custom on the departure
and return of caravans. Two or three mounted on saddled Maharees
accompanied the caravan a day's journey. I have many offers of the
people, as in The Mountains, to accompany me to Ghat: a strange
infatuation for such rigid Moslems as the Ghadamseeah!

To-day I witnessed in my court-yard or _patio_ a tremendous struggle
between an ant and a fly: both species of insects are very numerous in
Ghadames, and there is a great number of various coloured ants. The ant
got hold of the muzzle of the fly, or its neck, and there grasped it with
as firm a grasp as it is possible to conceive of one animal grasping
another. In vain the fly struggled and flapped its wings; over and over
again the combatants rolled as these weak defences beat the air: and yet
they must have had great force in them, for they flung over the ant, of a
good size, some hundred times. The struggle continued a full half hour. I
once or twice took them up on a piece of straw, but the ant never let go
its hold on the fly, and paid no attention to me. At last, the fly was
exhausted, and ceased to flap its tiny wings. The sanguinary ant
strangled the poor silly fly, as some sharper strangles or ruins his poor
dupe. After death, the ant seemed busy at sucking its blood. Satiated
with this, the ant attempted to convey the fly away, dead as it was, but
thinking better of the matter, the carcase was abandoned. I observed that
the combat went on in the midst of a thousand flies, but alas! these
rendered their fellow, in this his death-struggle, against a common foe,
no assistance. Such is the way the tyrants of the earth succeed! They
strike down the friends of freedom one by one, and the people, as silly
as the flies, leave their champions to struggle alone against the common
oppressor of mankind, only thinking of what they shall eat and drink, in
which fashion adorn themselves, and how they shall fill up sufficiently
the measure of their idle days of folly.

The whole phraseology of the Mediterranean is very loose in the
designation of persons and objects. The Italians call every
Mussulman _un Turco_, "a Turk." The French of Algeria call every
Mohammedan resident amongst them "_un Arab_." So the Moors and Arabs
here call all people who are not Mussulmans _Ensara_, ‮الانصرا‬,
"Christians," whether Pagans, Idolaters, or what not. I was writing
some information from the mouth of a Moor, and got into a scrape. He
told me there were plenty of _Ensara_ in Soudan, and I thought
these might be Abyssinian Christians, until I reflected that it was
merely the ordinary denomination of those who are not Moslemites.

_9th._--Slept very little during the past night; always dreaming of
Timbuctoo. The further an object is from you the nearer it is to your
thoughts. The morning broke with a violent wind from the south-east,
which is exceedingly disagreeable. Rais continues very gracious, and
sends me constantly cakes, being a portion of what he receives as
presents from the people.

I omit a great deal about Souf politics, not being anxious to worry the
reader with French and Tuniseen Saharan diplomacy. But a Souafee's notion
of hospitality is rather, I should think, rigid. I said to a Souafee,
whose acquaintance I have made, "I shall come to your country, and write
all about it."

"If you dare," he replied, "by G--d, the people will immediately cut your
throat."

_I._--"I will get an _amer_ ('order') from the Bey of Tunis, which will
protect me."

"No, no," rejoined the Souafee, "the people will tear the amer to pieces,
and set the Bey, the French, and all Christians, at defiance."

No doubt the Souafah, the most interesting Arabs of all this region, are
very fierce of their independence, which explains their jealousy of the
French, and their determinedly withholding any mark of sovereignty, in
the way of tribute, from the Bey of Tunis. It appears, however, two or
three of the small districts have really consented to pay a tribute to
the French, an act of decided usurpation on the part of France, as the
Souf oases "formerly did acknowledge" the sovereignty of Tunis. It is,
nevertheless, a pleasing trait in the character of the Souafah, that they
have permitted some thirty families of Jews to settle amongst them, a
concession not yet made by the Marabouts of Ghadames.

Within my couple of months' residence here, how rapid has been the
impoverishment of the country! Everything gets worse and worse. Now, it
is almost impossible to get change for a Tunisian piastre. I've been two
days trying to get change, and have not yet succeeded. The money in
circulation is principally Tunisian piastres; but since the Turks have
come, Turkish money also passes. There are, besides, a quantity of
Spanish dollars and five-franc pieces. Apparently, all the money has left
the country, or is hidden by the people. A good deal, I have no doubt,
has been hidden within a few weeks. The Governor himself laments that he
changed a dollar yesterday for two karoubs (two pence) less than its
current value in Tripoli. His Excellency is very low-spirited, and very
sick. His Excellency prays that the Pasha will allow him to return to
Tripoli a few months. Being a good man, the system of extortion which he
is obliged to put in practice to meet the demands of the Pasha, makes his
heart sick. His Excellency assured me, that if the Souf Arabs had not
lately brought some money, with which they purchased slaves for the
markets of Algeria, there would have been no money left in the country.
The merchants say their affairs must now be transacted in the way of
barter, as in Soudan. I am particular in noticing these things, and the
cause of the impoverishment of these unhappy people, as showing the curse
of the Turkish system on the transactions of commerce.

My taleb wrote in my journal this splendid Arabic proverb:

الرجال سناديق مغلقة ومفاتحها التجريب صدور الرجال
    سنادق الاسرار

"Men are locked-up boxes--experience opens them; the bosom of man is a
box of secrets."

_10th._--To-day I ran about town to tire myself, in order to sleep at
nights. This morning, one of the two expected ghafalahs of Tripoli,
consisting of 117 camels and twenty traders of Ghadames, arrived; the
other ghafalah will arrive in a few days. The ghafalah has brought goods
only for the interior. The merchants just come report in town, "That
Yâkob (myself) has written to the English Consul of Tripoli, informing
him how _Aaron_ (_Signor Silva_) lends money and goods to the merchants
of Ghadames, with which goods and money to go into the interior, and
traffick in slaves." This is substantially correct; but it was written in
confidence to Colonel Warrington, and to no other person in Tripoli. I
expressly begged Colonel Warrington not to divulge the fact, or my
mention of such a matter, until I was out of the lion's mouth of the
slave-dealing interests of this part of North Africa. The Consul,
however, deemed it his duty to disregard my request, and to divulge or
violate this confidence, and posted up a placard on the door of the
Tripoline Consulate, stating, "That certain merchants, under British
protection, were accused of slave-dealing with the merchants of Ghadames,
and calling upon them to clear themselves from such an imputation." Of
course, as there was nobody else likely to make such an accusation but
myself, being well known as an anti-slavery man in Tripoli, the public
attention was at once directed to me as the accuser. The other merchant
alluded to is Mr. Laby (Levi), a Barbary Jew, and the head of a house in
Tripoli. Mr. Silva is also a Jew, but from Europe. This report,
circulating from mouth to mouth, has created a tremendous sensation in
Ghadames; and the people fancy they see in it not only a blow aimed at
them and the slave-trade, but the final ruin of their commerce, already
sufficiently crippled by the oppression of the Turks. I am, therefore,
obliged to Colonel Warrington, not so much for facilitating my progress
in the interior, as for increasing my difficulties a hundred-fold. I was
astonished that a high functionary, of thirty-three years' experience in
these countries, should have committed such an act of egregious
indiscretion, exposing the life of a fellow countryman to such increased
danger, who was already without any kind of guaranteed protection. If I
had been murdered in The Desert tract from Ghadames to Ghat, it would
have most justly been attributed to the placard placed on the doors of
the Consulate at Tripoli. Justice requires from me, however, that I
should state an indiscretion also on my part. I wrote to the Consul that
I had communicated the charge against Messrs. Silva and Levi to the
Secretary of the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, and did not
add, as I ought perhaps to have done, that I had likewise begged of Mr.
Scoble not to make the charge public for the present. Colonel Warrington
was afraid the charge would be known in London before he had reported
upon it, and in this way his Consulate might suffer in the eyes of
Government. Now I shall not trouble the reader with the proof of the
charge. It must already have been seen, that as the merchants of Ghadames
are drained of all their capital by the Turkish Government, they, the
merchants of Ghadames, are obliged to fall back upon the merchants of
Tripoli, who will give them credit, some of which latter are under
British protection. So Sheikh Makouran complained to me he could not now
trade without the credit of Silva, so the people told me the house of
Ettanee, the other great mercantile firm of this country, had received
several thousand dollars' worth of goods on credit from the Messrs. Laby,
and so the Rais frequently has told me, the money of the merchants of
Ghadames is in the holding of those of Tripoli, who are mostly under
European protection. The question is, whether such a state of things can
be brought under the provision of Lord Brougham's Act, for preventing
British merchants from trading in slaves, or aiding others to trade in
slaves, in foreign countries. It is a very delicate subject, because the
modes of evading the Act, by private and secret contracts, are
innumerable. British juries are also unwilling to convict parties under
this Act, and the case of Zulueta failed not so much from the want of
evidence as from the unwillingness of the jury to come to an impartial
decision on the evidence.

Whilst reflecting upon my very critical position, my poor Said came in
from the streets very much cast down, and very sulky.

"What's the matter?" I asked.

"Oh!" blubbered Said, "the people are all talking about your telling the
Consul that the Jews lend them goods to trade in slaves. They hate you
now."

"Never mind," I returned, "it will pass away soon."

Said had already become a staunch abolitionist, both from principle and
circumstances, and often asked me, "When the English would put down the
slave-trade in Tripoli?" Said is by no means so stupid as I first took
him to be. I immediately determined not to go out for two or three days
until the excitement had somewhat abated. In the evening I had many
visitors, who all spoke of my accusation against Levi and Silva. I met
the accusations by a deprecatory proposal of this kind: "Would the
Ghadamsee merchants consent to abandon the traffic in slaves, on the
conditions that some English merchants would furnish them with goods on
credit at a lower rate than that which they obtained them from Levi and
Silva: if so, I would write about it to the Consul? And, likewise, I
would ask the Consul to get their Soudan goods charged only five per
cent. importation, which was the sum paid for European goods coming into
Tripoli; thereby equalizing the per centage of the imports and exports."
My merchant friends received this proposal very favourably, and swore
there was no profit in slaves, and declared themselves ready to give up
the traffic. Some proposed that they should try the gold trade of
Timbuctoo, and leave the Soudan trade altogether. The traffic to Soudan
is two-thirds in slaves or more. I knew, however, that to expect such a
thing from the Turks, was all but hopeless,--their grand maxim of
Government being to depress and to destroy, not to help and build
up,--and I made to them the proposition chiefly with the object of
diverting the odium of the accusation from myself. But yet, who does not
see that the proposal is well worthy the attention of any Government
that wishes to establish in Africa a legitimate commerce, a system of
trade which a good man and a good Government may approve of and support?

Sixty Arab soldiers came yesterday from The Mountains to protect the
people whilst they are building the caravansary of Emjessem. A merchant
made a present to-day of some slave neck-irons and leg-irons to the Rais.
His Excellency said to me, "I had none before, it was necessary to have
some of these things, in case they should be wanted for the banditti who
might be captured." A person justly observed, "Before the _Truk_ (Turks)
we had no need of these things, except for runaway slaves, and we seldom
used them." The Irishman who discovered himself to be in a civilized
country from the erection of a gallows, might have equally proved the
advance of civilization in The Sahara from this fact.

_11th._--Feel greatly discomposed on account of the news which has
transpired respecting the joint dealings of Silva and Levi with our
Ghadamsee merchants. One trouble succeeds another, as the angry waves
beating on the rocky shore. First the pain of delay, then sickness, now
other matters, then the prospect of a dangerous journey through The
Desert, with a people who may look upon me with dislike, distrust, and
every kind of suspicion. . . . . . In the past night, blew a gale from
the north-west. Slept very little. Also troubled with a large boil.
Received a visit from some of my old Arab friends of the Rujban
Mountains, who regaled themselves with bread and dates. Called on the
Rais, who was as friendly as ever. If his Excellency have heard the
report, he has the delicacy to say nothing about it. His Excellency told
me he had dispatched ninety-two _shatahs_, or mails, during the fifteen
months which he has been in Ghadames. It is reported in town, that Signor
Silva is in a great fright, and fears being arrested by the British
Consul at the order of the Queen. A notary visited me to-day, laughed at
the news of Silva, and was very friendly; he protested the people got
nothing by slave-dealing. Begin to feel relieved, but I see clearly some
discouraging circumstances. My taleb comes in as usual, but the turjeman
is frightened and keeps away. Several of the merchants positively affirm,
that now, since the market of Tunis is shut, and the Pasha takes ten
dollars duty on each slave, there is no profit in slave-dealing. However,
news has arrived from Ghat that a great many slaves are coming with the
next caravan from Soudan.

This evening was glad to go with the Rais to see the ruins of
_Kesar-El-Ensara_, ‮قصر الانصرا‬, "The Castle of the
Christians," although I had seen them often before. It was a great
relief to me. The Rais put his head down to the vaults under the
ruins to listen to the conversation of the _Jenoun_, or "Demons."
His Excellency said he thought he heard the Demons talking. The
ruins are situate about half a mile from the walls of the city S.SW.
All the piles have a small vault under them, apparently for water,
but it might have been an excavated tomb. The people pretend that
these ruins are four thousand years of age. A son of the late Yousef
Bashaw, on a visit to Ghadames, about thirty years ago, to amuse
himself and frighten the demons, blew up a large portion of the
ruins with gunpowder. Previously the ruins were much more perfect
and imposing. I have made a sketch of what remains of these ancient
buildings. The style of the buildings can be easily distinguished
from the modern by its being composed of a very white cement and
small stones, half the size of ordinary paving stones, the cement
being in a large proportion. My turjeman once pointed out to me a
piece of the ancient walls of the city, still remaining, exactly
corresponding to these ruins. I have seen frequent ruins of ancient
Roman walls, representing the same kind of building in North Africa.
This Kesar-El-Ensara, together with the bas-relief, and the Latin
inscription, copied by a Moor from a tomb-stone, beginning with the
words "_Diis Manibus_," are more than sufficient evidence to prove
that Ghadames was "colonized," as it was called, by the Romans, and
probably earlier by the Greeks and Carthaginians. The same Moorish
prince who blew up the ruins, carried away also to Tripoli the
tomb-stone, from which a Moor copied the inscription, and which
transcript I brought with me from Ghadames. The copyist of this
inscription says, he affixed the Arabic letters in order that the
Mussulman might compare them with the Christian letters and find out
their sense, but he himself did not know what were their meaning. On
returning from Kesar-El-Ensara, we looked around and were painfully
impressed with the appalling barrenness of The Sahara. The Rais
said, "Ah, these people, little know they what a garden is my
country compared to this!" The Rais then stumbled over a small
solitary herb and exclaimed instinctively, _Hamdullah_, "Praise to
God," picking it up. What attracted our attention was the almost
infinite number of small serpentine camel-tracks, wriggling
endlessly through the wastes of The Sahara. The Rais said, "Those
Touaricks are incarnate Genii! they know all these paths:" pointing
south towards Ghat.

[Illustration]

Ghadames, ‮غدامس‬, is the ancient _Cydamus_, the name being
precisely the same. In the year 19 before our era, it was subjugated
by Cornelius Balbus, being at that period in the possession of a
people called Garamtes. The Romans are said to have embellished it,
and probably built the fortifications whose ruins have been just
described. In an ancient itinerary, from Tunis to Ghadames, we find
the following names of stations, viz., Berezeos, Ausilincli, Agma,
Augemmi, Tabalata, Thebelami and Tillibari. Leo Africanus, gives the
subjoined account of Ghadames:

GADEMES, ABITAZIONE.--Gademes è una grande abitazione, dove sono molti
castelli e popolosi casali, discosti dal mare Mediterraneo, verso
mezzogiorno, circa a trecento miglia. Gli abitatori sono ricchi di
possessioni di datteri, e di danari, perciocchè sogliono mercatantare nel
paese de' Negri: e si reggono da lor medesimi, e pagano tributo agli
Arabi; ma prima erano sotto il re di Tunis, cioè il luogotenente di
Tripoli. E vero che quivi il grano e la carne sono molto cari.--(Part
vi., chap. Lii.)

FOOTNOTES:

[56] In the Tunisian Jereed there are more than two hundred
    different varieties. Some thrive in one kind of soil, and some in
    another. At first it is difficult for a stranger to distinguish
    these varieties, but when his eye becomes practised, he can easily
    do so at a great distance.

[57] _Ghusub_, ‮قسب‬, a species of millet. _Pennisetum Tyhoideum._
    Rich. It is called _drâ_ in Tunis and _bishma_ in Tripoli.




CHAPTER XIII.

PREPARATIONS FOR GOING TO SOUDAN.

     Weariness and Exhaustion in Preparating and Waiting to
     Depart.--Cold intensely set in.--Excitement of the Messrs. Silva
     and Levi affair subsiding.--Suffer from Bad Health.--Pet
     Ostrich.--Longevity in The Desert.--Mahometan Doctrine of
     Judicial Blindness.--Custom of Dipping and Sopping in
     Meats.--Mahometan Propositional Form of Doctrine.--The Wild-Ox,
     or _Bughar Wahoush_.--Salting and Drying Meat for
     Preservation.--My Friend, the Arab Doctor.--Ravages of Shânbah
     Brigandage.--The Immemorial Character of the Arab.--Excess of
     Transit Duties.--Person and Character of Rais
     Mustapha.--Character of Sheikh Makouran.--Testimonial of the
     People of Ghadames in my Favour.--Personal Character of my Taleb
     and Turjeman.--Quarrel with a Wahabite.--Said gets Saucy and
     Unruly, and development of his Character.--Purchase my _Nagah_ or
     she-Camel.--Departure from Ghadames, and False Report of the
     appearance of the Shânbah.


_12th._--SLEPT little during the night. Sorry I can't read during the
nights on account of my eyes. But somewhat improved in health. Saw
several merchants who say nothing of the Levi and Silva business. I'm in
hopes this subject will not be agitated during the few days I have to
remain in Ghadames. The second ghafalah has arrived but brings me
nothing, not even the medicines ordered from Tripoli. Patience! What can
be done? The Governor affected this evening to be very indignant against
the son of Yousef Bashaw for destroying the ruins of Kesar-El-Ensarah.
The Turks are becoming antiquaries, and, perhaps, begin to see the
uselessness and folly of destroying ancient buildings for the sake of
destroying them, even though they belong to an infidel age. To their
credit, the Moors themselves are fond of antiquity in churches, and will
patch up a marabet or mosque as long as they can. The Rais, still
frightened, suggests that I should return to Tripoli. But I cannot now, I
will not. I ought not, for I have acted over all the pains and perils of
the journey to Soudan many days and nights, and exhausted myself with
expectations, casualties, probabilities and conceivabilities, &c., &c. I
am now, in truth, suffering all sorts of maladies, mental and bodily.
Such is the wretched existence we are doomed to sustain! And yet is not
this our mortal existence a still greater curse to the man, who lives
without an object and without an aim?

_13th._--Talk of heat and the burning desert, I had last night an attack
of cold, which I shall not forget to the latest day of my life! My limbs
all shrunk together, my teeth chattered, and I did not know what pains or
disease was about to come upon me. This happened whilst undressing. I
immediately dressed myself in all my thickest heaviest clothes, lay down,
and in twenty minutes happily recovered from the attack. But scarcely
slept all night, got a few winks of sleep this morning. I attribute all
this to the nervous agitation of advancing into The Desert without a
guide or friend, on whom I can rely, combined with the severity of the
season fast setting in. Glad to see the sensation of the Silva business
dying away. People begin to laugh at me about it, and call the Consul
_Sheytan_ for disclosing the purport of a letter written confidentially
to him. However, I cannot conceive that Colonel Warrington was influenced
by any other feelings than those which resulted from a strict sense of
duty. Apparently zealous in the performance of his public avocations, he
was determined to discharge them at any cost, even at the sacrifice of
the life of a fellow-countryman. This is all I can now say about the
matter. Fortunately I was well known here, and the people could not
believe that it was from any ill-will to them that I denounced the
parties, which I hope the reader will give me credit for; nor, indeed,
could I have any hostile feelings against the Tripoline merchants. What I
wish, and I imagine every friend of Africa does the same, is to see a
legitimate commerce established in The Desert. It is curious to hear the
Touatee. He says he is sure I never wrote the letter at all, although I
tell him I did, and believes it an invention of people in Tripoli. He
won't believe his friend Yâkob would breathe a syllable against the
people of Ghadames.

_14th._--Slept very little during the night and cannot. Am really reduced
to very low disagreeable feelings. Have an immense boil on my back, and
another on my arm, which I attribute to the effect of the climate on my
constitution, or to drinking Ghadames water.

News have come of the Shânbah having left their sandy wilds on a
free-booting expedition, leaving only the old men, women, and children
behind, for these banditti propagate through all time a race of Saharan
robbers, the scourge of The Desert. Five weeks ago they took their
departure towards Ghat, and it is thought they wish to intercept our
caravan now leaving. Also a skirmish has taken place between some Souafah
banditti and Arabs of Algeria. These banditti were routed, leaving
eighteen dead on the field and many camels.

An ostrich, caught at Seenawan, has been brought in here and presented
to the Rais. His Excellency promised to give him to me if I will return
from Soudan _viâ_ Ghadames. He is a young bird and amuses us much,
running about the streets, picking up things in character of scavenger.
People are trying to make him lie down at the word of command. "Kaed,
(lie down)," cries one, "Kaed," another; at length the stunned and
stupefied bird lies down.

_16th._--Occupied 13th, 14th, and 15th in writing letters. Received a
letter from Dr. Dickson, of Tripoli, expressing friendly feelings. He has
prepared some more medicines, packed them up, and charged them to me.
Received a very friendly letter also from Colli, Sardinian Consul at
Tripoli. Mr. Colli is a fine classical scholar, and the only consul I
have met with in North Africa who pays any attention to classical
literature. The late Mr. Hay of Tangier, had the reputation amongst some
people of being a classical scholar.

Continue unwell and in low spirits, or as the Negroes say, am possessed
by the _Boree_ ("blue devils.") Days are short, and nights tedious and
painful to me, as I cannot use my eyes by lamp-light, on account of a
slight continued ophthalmia. Nothing remarkable to-day. If you want to
feel alone in the world, which at times has its advantages, go into The
Desert.

_17th._--To my great satisfaction the mail arrived this morning, bringing
letters and newspapers. The Governor is very friendly and is in better
health. Quarrelled with Ben Mousa, my taleb, for eating Said's dinner
when I was out of the way; to-day Said got him reconciled to me. Haj
Mansour's family consists of thirty-two persons, all living in one house.
This is the great _quasi_ negro-merchant before mentioned. His father
died a Saharan veteran of the age of one hundred and one. He had been
more than a hundred times over The Desert trading. Yesterday died a man
at the age of ninety-six. There are several women now living more than
eighty. How long these poor creatures survive their feminine charms! A
woman in The Desert gets old after thirty. I think, from what I have
heard, people live to a great age in this and other oases--if not to a
good and happy old age. Some remarkable cases of longevity in The Desert
have been narrated by Captain Riley. Said says the people rob us
desperately when they make our bread. We usually buy the wheat and have
it ground and made into bread at the same time. I tell Said we must
expect this sort of pilfering where there are so many hungry people.

My taleb began his interminable discussions on religion. He said he had
hoped that I should have recognized Mahomet as the prophet of God, being
acquainted as I was with Arabic, the language of truth and unmatched by
any language in the world[58]. I replied language was not enough, other
things were necessary; besides, indeed, some of the Mussulman doctors had
said the Koran could be imitated and even excelled. The taleb replied, "A
lie! the doctors were heretics and infidels, it is impossible to imitate
the Koran's beautiful language," citing the well-known words of
Mahomet:--

"_Answer._--Bring therefore a chapter like unto it; and call whom you
may to your assistance, besides God, if ye speak the truth."--(Surat ii.,
entitled "Jonas.")

The taleb then turned to my turjeman, who was present, and cited another
passage, thinking I did not understand what it was. The passage quoted
was the famous anathema of judicial blindness denounced against
infidels:--

"As to the unbelievers, it will be equal to them whether thou admonish
them, or do not admonish them; they will not believe. God hath sealed up
their hearts and their hearing; a dimness covereth their sight, and they
shall suffer a grievous punishment."--(Surat ii., entitled "the Cow.")

This is evidently an imitation[59] of our Scriptural passages, of which
there are several:

"Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our fathers,
saying, Go unto this people and say, Hearing ye shall hear and shall not
understand, and seeing ye shall see and not perceive. For the heart of
this people has waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and
their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and
hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be
converted, and I should heal them."--(Acts xxviii. 25, 26, 27.) So we
have in John x. 26:--"But you believe not because you are not of my
sheep."

Besides these imitations, Mahomet has made differences for the sake of
differences. So the Sabbath of the Moslemites is on the Friday, because
that of the Christians and Jews is on the Saturday and Sunday. I taxed my
taleb with his quotation. He did not flinch or blink a hair of the
eyelid, but said, "You Christians cannot believe if you would, because
God has blinded your eyes and hardened your hearts." "Why do you complain
of us?" I remonstrated. "I do not complain," he rejoined, "it is all
destined." I then related a story of predestination which I had heard, of
one man asking another, "If all things were predestined?" and he
replying, "Yes;" the questioner immediately threw him out of the window,
saying, "Well, that is also predestined." An old Moor sitting by, very
attentively listening, exclaimed immediately, "Well, even that throwing
out of the window, Yâkob, was also predestined." Said then brought in
some stewed meat. I gave my theological disputants, reasoning--

    "Of Providence, foreknowledge, will and fate,
     Fix'd fate, free will, foreknowledge absolute,
     And found no end, in wandering mazes lost,"

some bread, and they began breaking it and dipping it in the gravy of the
meat, the invariable custom here. Spoons they abominate, it is either
their fingers, or sopping. The Biblical reader will easily recognize the
custom. I took the Testament and read to the taleb this passage:--"And,"
said Jesus, "He it is to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it;
and he took a sop and gave it to Judas Simon Iscariot."--(John xiii. 26.)

The taleb was greatly delighted, and said, "Yes, so it was in all times
before the infidels introduced knives and forks and spoons to eat with."
I observed it was much more cleanly to eat with knives and forks than
with one's fingers, but it was useless. He only replied, "There's water
always to wash your hands." The sop mentioned in the passage cited might
consist of a piece of bread dipped into a dish of fat or broth. So all
Ghadames people eat, dipping pieces of bread, as they break them from a
loaf, into fat or broth, or other dishes of this sort. We shall find, for
what cause I cannot tell, the Touaricks using spoons, and spoons which
are made in Central Africa, and distributed throughout The Sahara amongst
the Touarghee tribes. This little circumstance would seem to be an
argument against the Oriental origin of the Touaricks, for, eternally
dipping and sopping, and sopping and dipping with the fingers, is
coextensive with the migrations of the Arabs and other tribes from the
East. Jews were the first to introduce knives and forks into Mogador,
because they have not the same religious scruples on this head as
Mohammedans. Barbary Jews do it in imitation of their European brethren.
I shall trouble the reader with another display of the sectarian zeal of
my taleb.

To make a proposition, or a double proposition, of a form of the orthodox
Christian faith, I had constructed the following, in imitation of the
double proposition of the Mahometans, (that is--

     ‮لا لله الّا الله ومحمّد رسول الله‬
    "There is one God, and Mahomet is the prophet of God,")

     ‮لا لله الّا الله ويسوع ابن الله‬
    "There is one God, and Jesus is the son of God."

The first proposition is seen to be the same; whilst the divine
nature of the Saviour, which is the distinguishing feature of the
Christian religion as looked upon by Mussulmans, is added in the words
‮ابن الله‬. The number of syllables is precisely the same, the
‮و‬ being merely considered as the connecting link of the two
propositions. But the term ‮عيسي‬ would be much preferable to
‮يسوع‬, being the classic Arabic term. In teaching Christian
doctrine to Mussulmans, and, indeed, to all people, it is necessary
to adapt our style and language to their style and language and mode
of conception. The Catholics, however, carried the adaptation too
far when they turned the statues of Jupiter and the Emperors into
those of the Apostles and Saints. For the Jews, the proposition
could be made thus:--

     ‮لا لله الّا الله ويسوع هو المسيح‬
    "There is one God, and Jesus is the Messiah;"

or as we find the proposition in the first verse of the first chapter of
St. Mark,

     ‮[لا لله الّا الله]  ويسوع المسيح ابن الله‬
    "There is one God, and Jesus, the Messiah, is the Son of God."

This, being more full of doctrine, including both the divinity
and Messiahship of The Saviour, would, perhaps, be the preferable
form of the latter proposition. I showed the taleb these
propositions, and he was greatly exasperated, adding it was
blasphemy to connect Christian and Jewish ideas with "the Word of God"
(‮كلام الله‬). He added, oddly enough, "Such impious things
had never been before done in this holy place, this sacred Ghadames."

_18th._--The Rais makes a last effort to persuade me to return to The
Mountains, and take the route of Fezzan, adding as a reason, which
tourists would very properly consider an objection, "that I knew now the
route to The Mountains." I rejoined, "From what I have seen of the people
of Ghadames, and even the Touaricks, I think I may trust them as well as
the people of Tripoli." _The Rais_: "Well, you are your own master; the
Pasha says you may go if you like. The Ghadamseeah and Touaricks are one
people; make friends with them. But I'm sorry, after you have seen all my
kindness to you, my advice is nevertheless rejected." The Rais now saw I
was inexorable, and left off advising.

To-day some wild-ox, _bughar wahoush_[60],--‮بقر وحوش‬ was
brought in from The Desert. This is the hunting time, which lasts three
months, and the flesh of this animal supplies a very good substitute
for beef. Indeed, the animal is a species of buffalo, but very
small, sometimes not much larger than a good-sized English sheep.
They are hunted in the sands to the north-west by Souf Arabs, who
are excellent hunters, and pursue the chase twenty days together
through the sandy regions. People pretend the bughar wahoush does
not drink; perhaps they don't drink much. But both the wild ox and
the aoudad are occasionally caught near the wells, a sufficient
proof they sometimes drink water. I cooked some, and found it of
excellent flavour. People call this animal also medicine. I
purchased half of one to salt for my journey to Ghat, but spoilt it
by too much salting. The salt ate away all the flesh from the bones.
I neglected the advice of Said, who assured me people salt meat very
little in Soudan. Indeed, they frequently cut the meat into strips
and dry it in the sun without salting. In this way caravans are
provisioned over The Desert. I ate some, and found it very good. My
Arab friend, the old doctor, brought me a small prickly shrub, which
he calls _El-Had_, ‮الحد‬, and says it has powerful purgative
qualities, purging even the camels. It abounds in The Sahara.

We, The Desert Quack and English Quack, bandy compliments together.

_Desert Quack._--"Whilst you are here, you are the Sublime Doctor
(Ettabeeb Elâttheem)." [As much as to say, "When you are not here, I am
The Sublime Doctor."]

_English Quack._--"How? No, you are always The Sublime Doctor. I am at
your disposal. I am your slave."

_Desert Quack._--"Impossible! Haram, it is prohibited. You are the wise
doctor, you know all things."

_English Quack._--"How many people have you killed by your physic?"

_Desert Quack_ [surprised at this abrupt and impertinent question].--"God
forefend that I should kill any one! But sometimes _Rubbee_ (God) takes
away my patients, and sometimes they get better. But whether they die or
live, people always say, 'It is written (predestined).'"

I then related the story of Gil Blas, who bled to death the rich lady,
under the precepts of Dr. San Grado, and was challenged in mortal combat
by the suitor of the fair dame. On which he observed, "Gil Blas was a
dog. I trust the other man killed him. Here we bleed, but we always know
when blood enough is left in a man to keep him alive."

"How do you know that?" I replied.

_The Taleb._--"1st. I see if he sinks down. 2nd. I ask Rubbee. 3rd.
Sometimes the Jenoun (demons) tell me. 4th. If he dies, what matter? Is
it not the will of God?"

_19th._--Great preparations are now going on for the departure of the
ghafalah to Ghat and Soudan. An order has come from the Pasha, that the
Rais may take 2,500 instead of 3,250, less 750. This the people must pay.
And I hear the poor wretches have at last consented to swallow the bitter
pill. Every man, having a small property, or a householder, will pay each
five mahboubs; the merchants considerably more. A little by little, till
the vitals of this once flourishing oasis are torn out, and it becomes as
dead as The Desert around it.

_20th._--This morning a slave ghafalah arrives from Ghat with forty
slaves. Two escaped _en route_. What could the poor creatures do in
The Desert? They must have perished very soon. The ghafalah brings
important news. The Shânbah, 700 strong, had been ravaging the
country of the Ghat Touaricks, and had murdered thirty-seven people.
The Touaricks were arming, and in pursuit of the Shânbah assassins.
Besides this, the Shânbah have captured a Ghadamsee ghafalah,
escorted by Touaricks, not respecting a jot the Maraboutish
character of this city. It consisted of thirty camels, laden mostly
with the property of our merchants. Sheikh Makouran himself lost
2,000 mahboubs. Total loss for the merchants here is about 15,000
dollars. It is the caravan which left these two months ago, and took
a letter for me to the Governor of Ain Salah. Both letters have been
unlucky; the one sent to Ghat could not be delivered because the
Governor was changed; and this one, I imagine, has fallen into the
hands of the Shânbah. Two slaves escaped with a water-skin. They
then fell in with some Touaricks, who gave them a little bread, and
in this dreadful plight they got to Ghat. One died after his
arrival. What became of the Touaricks is not yet known. They are
probably massacred. I made the acquaintance of these luckless
Touaricks, and gave them some medicine to take to Touat. In this
foray the Shânbah killed a little child of three years old. When
they struck down a man, they ripped open his belly and left him.
These Shânbah banditti (who, to my surprise, are lauded in the
French works published by the Minister of War, as the most
enterprising camel-drivers and merchants in The Sahara,) are,
without doubt, what the people say here, the vilest and most
bloodthirsty miscreants in The Desert. How strange it is they are
Arabs! It is always the Arab, who is the most thorough-going,
hereditary, eternal robber of The Desert! Is it because we read,
"And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and
every man's hand against him?" The disposition for brigandage in
the soul of the Arab was a proverb of Jewish antiquity. So we have,
‮כַּעֳרָבִי בַּמִּדְבַּר‬, "As the Arabian in the Wilderness." My
Arabic translation, which was done by the Missionaries of the Roman
Church, follows some of the ancient versions, and renders it ‮مثل
اللّص‬ "like the thief in the Desert" (See Jeremiah iii. 2.) Still,
Mr. D'Israeli thinks there's nothing like Arab blood, if we read
aright his "Tancred," and would have us regenerate the old effete
race of Europe by this fiery and bloodthirsty Oriental barbarian, as
the Arabian stallion improves our dull race of horses. It is
reported, in town, "When the Shânbah cut to pieces the thirty-seven
Touaricks, one man was left untouched amidst the slaughter, owing
his safety to his _Ajab_, ‮عجب‬ (amulets), which he wore in great
profusion." This lucky charm-clad fellow saw the whole business from
first to last, unmoved amidst the commingled cries of the victims
and their slaughterers, and made a full report to the Touarghee
chiefs. Talking to Rais about this slaughter, his Excellency
observed, in the spirit of true Turkish policy, "So much the better.
Let the Touaricks and Shânbah slaughter one another, as long as we
are left unharmed. The less of them the better for us." So the Turks
have always dealt with the quarrels of the Arab tribes in Barbary,
rather blowing up the flames of their discord than pacifying them.
The Shânbah drove away a thousand camels, besides sheep and oxen,
from the Touarick districts. The merchants are all frightened
enough, and our departure is deferred, notwithstanding that the
slave caravan met with no accident. The Shânbah have now got their
booty and revenge, and will probably decamp and leave the route
clear for us. Common misfortunes often make friends of enemies. I
saw Sheikh Makouran and Mohammed Ben Mousa Ettanee, the two
principal merchants representing the factions of Weleed and Wezeet,
very busy in conversation upon the neutral ground of the
market-place, talking over their mutual losses. Both have lost
property to a great amount by this Shânbah irruption.

_21st._--The departure of the ghafalah is deferred to the 24th. Rais is
busy in comparing the papers of the merchants with the goods arrived from
Tripoli. These ill-used merchants pay 13 per cent. for exporting their
goods from Tripoli to the interior. The same goods have already paid 5
per cent. when imported into Tripoli by the European merchants. There is
then the profit of our Ghadamsee merchants, and the profit of native
merchants, and the merchants and the manufacturers in Europe. At what
price, then, above their intrinsic value, are those goods sold to the
merchants of Central Africa? A hideous thing is this system of transit
duties!

_22nd._--Weather is cold, everybody wraps up. People sit two or three
hours together out of doors in the morning before they'll stir. I ask
them, "Why don't you move about,--you would be then warm?" They answer,
"_Măzāl shemtz_" (no sun yet). Rais is excessively gracious: he gave me a
small loaf of white sugar. I had none left, and the gift came in the nick
of time when required. I have said so much about Rais Mustapha, that I
must now give a personal description of his Excellency, before I take
leave of him and of Ghadames. First of all, Rais is not a military man;
he is a civil servant of the Porte, and receives his pay direct from the
Sultan. The Turks often employ a civil servant where we should expect to
see a military man, as in this distant Saharan post, and find it to their
advantage. The Governor for military advice usually writes to the
Commandant of The Mountains. His Excellency rarely reads, but writes
constantly, and is very expert in accounts, his principal occupation
being the collecting of small monies. His Excellency is also fond of
collecting coins of different Mussulman States. The reader has seen that
he is very attentive to his religious duties, and is quite, if not
superior "marabout odour." His Excellency scarcely ever punishes anybody,
beats his slaves seldom, but can be very despotic when he pleases. Like
most Turks, he has a smack of bad faith in him, and made the Souf Arabs
pay the duty on the goods in their possession, though he promised people
he would not. We may suppose he is very badly off for money; perhaps his
own salary is not very regularly paid. His Excellency always behaved very
well when I purchased any corn of him. He is generally esteemed by the
people. In person the Rais is exceeding tall, above a convenient height;
he is about forty years of age, with strongly-marked Turkish features,
and a large aquiline nose. His limbs are heavy and large, but since his
residence here he has lost all his flesh. He dresses in the common dress
of Ottoman functionaries. I often found him chatty and facetious, but
sometimes he was sulky and morose, and would not speak for hours
together. He had a fine horse, but rarely could be prevailed upon to go
out and ride for his health. Every great man has his shadow, his echo,
the expression of himself more or less in his fellow men. The Rais's
shadow is one Abd Errahman, a small merchant. His sons call their father
_souwa-souwa_ ("like-like") with the Rais. Abd Errahman knew the Rais's
most secret thoughts, and he was the only Ghadamsee in whom the Rais
could entirely confide. Abd Errahman swore by the Governor's head, and
was his most obedient humble servant.

Sheikh Makouran is occupied in purchasing me an outfit of Moorish costume
for the The Desert. He is very slow, but he gets them cheaper than if I
bought them myself. He purchases one thing one day, and another thing the
next day, and all from different persons. This is the way here. Attempted
myself to purchase two turbans, one for myself and one for Said, but I
found it no easy matter. The owner asked three dollars each, alleging
that the turbans had been "blessed at Mecca[61]." I refused to give this
price, and it was agreed to wait till the Sheikh came. This was decided
by a council of the people, against the wish of the owner, who objected
to waiting. At length the Sheikh made his appearance. Nothing was said
about the price, for every one knew they must abide by the Sheikh's
decision. The Sheikh after examining the turbans, said to the seller,
"Let them be sold for one dollar each." The owner began to exclaim
against this decision, but the Sheikh stopped his mouth!--"This is our
friend (_habeebna_). Do you wish to rob him? Is this your kindness to a
stranger, who has lived with us so long, and whom we all love?" These
words were uttered with the greatest energy, and silenced every
objection. I paid the money, and a quarter of a dollar more for mine.
Without exception, the Sheikh was the most just and kindest man I met
with in Ghadames, and yet he had the reputation of being close-fisted in
money matters. He refused to receive any rent for his house in which I
lived, and when I left he ordered a quantity of cakes to be made for me,
which he brought me himself. They were very nice, made of butter, and
honey, and dates, and lasted me all the way to Ghat. Makouran pressed the
Rais to write for me to the Touarick authorities of Ghat; but his
Excellency could not without an order from Tripoli. I am under very great
obligations to the Sheikh, who behaved like a father to me in a land of
strangers. His brother was kindness itself, but had not the spirit of the
Sheikh. His eldest son, Haj Besheer, was also a very kind and upright
young man. Haj Besheer has immense influence with the Touaricks, and if
he had gone with me to Ghat, nothing would have happened. His principal
connexions are in Touat, and I really think that an European, going with
letters from him to one of his Touarghee friends, might make the journey
to Timbuctoo in safety. Sheikh Makouran took me to-day before the Rais
and Kady, and in their presence a long "Testimonial" of the people of
Ghadames was drawn out in Arabic, stating that during the time I had
resided in Ghadames I had conducted myself well, and given no offence to
any one. This was signed by the Kady, on behalf of all the people, in
presence of the Rais and the Nather and several other officers. I was
requested to countersign it, which I did with these words: "I have
remained three months in Ghadames, and now leave it with great personal
satisfaction to myself, and in peace with all the inhabitants." A copy of
this I made for the Kady to keep in Ghadames. The "Testimonial" itself
was sent to Colonel Warrington, through the Pasha, who either did not
forward it to the Colonel, or it has been mislaid or lost, for it cannot
now be found in the Consulate Archives. The people of Ghadames were
determined to give me this testimonial in order that the Turkish
authorities should not hereafter bring any accusation against me. It was
dated the 24th, or the day fixed for departure.

The Rais astonished me to-day, by telling me, he had bastinadoed twice my
taleb, Ben Mousa, for dishonesty. I absolutely thought the Rais was
joking, for the Rais and the taleb seemed always pretty good friends. I
knew Ben Mousa was not extremely delicate, and would sometimes sit down
with Said and eat his dinner away from him. I inquired of the turjeman
about it, who assured me it was no joke, and that Ben Mousa had been
twice bastinadoed for borrowing things and not returning them. I was
extremely sorry to hear this, for I had been greatly assisted by the
taleb in obtaining information, and we had passed many long hours
together. The taleb is a man of about fifty, extremely clever, and a
pretty good scholar, and had formerly kept a school. Now he did nothing
but calculate the water distribution or irrigation of the gardens. He
wished to come with me to England, to work at translations and get a
little fortune for his family. But whenever I told him that there were
very learned Arabic scholars in England and France, he always answered,
"They are concealed Moslems;" that is to say, afraid to confess Mahomet
before the Christians, or seeking to convert Christians. From time to
time I gave the taleb a few presents and a little money, as also the
turjeman. This latter was a very different character. He mended skin bags
for water, made shoes, white-washed houses, worked in the gardens, and
made himself generally useful. He had some property, and his garden, the
heritage of his ancestors, was one of the finest in the country. He was
honest, but his defect was want of moral courage. The turjeman had lived
a good while in Tunis, with some French, where he learned his Italian,
and a few French words. He always said, "When I lived with the
Christians, I drank wine like them." Some of the people, in a joke, would
call him a Christian. He was a bad scholar, and very bitter against the
Wahabites, whom he delighted to picture to himself in the pleasing
predicament of carrying the Jews to hellfire on their backs. I myself one
day had a quarrel with a Wahabite. The Wahabite called me a kafer. I
retorted, "Why, what are you? You are nothing but a Wahabite." He was so
angry that he was about to draw his knife at me, when the people seized
hold of him, and one of my friends knocked him down.

Rais heard of the affair, and said as he was a foreign Arab he should
leave the oasis. He came afterwards to me to beg my pardon, and I gave
him some coffee to make him merry. He then told me all about the
Wahabites, not forgetting to abuse all the other sects. He said the Arabs
of his mountain had no objection to the Turks if they would become
Wahabites. He was also of the Abadeeah, "white-caps," and declaimed
against the "red"-capped Wahabites. The controversy is as nearly as
possible the same as that of our white and black-gowned clergy of the
Established Church, introduced by the Puseyites.

Begin now to have some trouble with Said. He gets sulky and saucy, and
sometimes says he will stop in Ghadames and eat dates. I am obliged to
box his ears. Then he gets very frightened at the Touaricks, and begins
to blubber, "I shall be made a slave again, and you yourself will be
killed." Then he would complain that the Rais's servants and slaves had
better clothes than himself. I always found it was the better way to let
him have a _sfogo_, or "vent," for his temper, and afterwards he was
himself again. He never could keep a _para_ in his pocket, but would give
his money to the first person who would ask him for it. I am obliged to
buy him snuff every week, and a stock for the journey. With this he is
accustomed to treat everybody, and is therefore very popular. Even the
Governor thinks him the best Negro he ever knew. As is natural enough, he
is a great favourite amongst the Negresses, and even amongst the Touarick
ladies. I found him crying one day, and asked,--

"Said, what's the matter?"

"I now recollect my wife whom I left in Jerba," he sighed out.

Before this, I didn't know he was married; he was about thirty years of
age. My turjeman and Said were two great cronies, and they discussed all
the town's affairs in general, and everybody's affairs in particular. At
first, I had not the remotest idea Said had so much wit, and was pleased
to hear his remarks and criticisms. One of these was capital, and had a
particular reference to his own case. He stared at me, observing, "We
can't put the slave-trade down whilst the Jews in Tripoli lend the
merchants here goods to carry it on." He was so fond of the turjeman
that, on leaving Ghadames, he gave him all the money he had, and said to
me when I scolded him, "We don't want any money in The Desert," adding,
"Where are the shops?"

_23rd._--Bought a camel this morning, a _nagah_, ‮ناقه‬, or
"she-camel," for 25 dollars. Rais would have the honour of choosing
the camel, but it was scarcely worth the money. I hired another
camel to carry a portion of the baggage. Rais told me the Pasha had
offered to the Touaricks to equip an expedition, in conjunction with
them, against the Shânbah, but the Touaricks would not accept of the
aid, being determined to fight their own battles in their own way.
They might have thought that after the Pasha had destroyed the
Shânbah, he would have turned his arms against them.

_24th._--We are all confusion in getting off. It is late in the
afternoon. I have loaded the nagah, and disposed of my baggage; I have
bid a hundred people farewell, shaking them by the hands. We are
surrounded with the whole male population of the city, and half-caste
women. Rais is galloping about to see the people off. But a group of
people is now seen forming rapidly round a man and a boy, and a camel
just come in from The Desert with a load of wood, "What's the matter?"
"The Shânbah! the Shânbah!" people shout from detachment to detachment of
the ghafalah. The confusion of parting is succeeded by the terror and
rushing back of the people. The advanced party abruptly returns upon the
party immediately behind it, and all rush back to the gates of the city,
one running over the other. Rais appears amongst them to calm the
consternation. "What's the matter?" His Excellency is too much agitated
to answer the question. I find Sheik Makouran. "What's the matter?" "The
man and the boy just come in saw twenty-five Shânbah mounted on camels,
and the ghafalah cannot go. Rais is going to send out a scout, a
_Senawanee_, to see if it be the Shânbah, and then all the people are to
arm and go out against the robbers." A pretty kettle of fish, thought I.
The Governor then sent a man down to me, to come and sleep for the night
in his house. All the merchants return, but the camels and a few men
remain outside, close by the gate. A number of soldiers are sent round
the city, and the _Senawanee_ mounted on a maharee, goes off in the
direction where the Shânbah had been seen, the Rais accompanying him a
short distance. On his return, the Rais bitterly complained of the
merchants not furnishing him immediately with camels. It was some time
before he could get the scout off. I went up a mound outside of the city
to see the scout "out of sight." As the white form of the maharee was
disappearing in the glare of the sand, I admired the bravery of the
Senawanee, who thus defied single-handed a troop of robbers, bearding
them in their very ambush.

We waited with intense anxiety the return of the scout. Many people got
upon the walls to look out. At length, at noon the 25th, a single camel
was descried on the dull red glare of the Saharan horizon. This was the
Senawanee. A number of people ran to him. "Where are the Shânbah?"
"Where?" "Shânbah?" The messenger said nothing--he was dumb. A crowd
gets round him--he's still dumb. He enters the Rais's hall of conference,
and squats down in the presence of his Excellency. He speaks now, and
calls for coffee. The Rais gets furiously agitated at the moment of
breaking silence. The scout very calmly sips off his coffee, and strokes
down his beard, and then deigned to satisfy Governor, Kady, officers, and
the men, women, and children, who were now pressing upon him with
dreadful agitation. "Oh, Bey! (raising himself from the floor, fixing his
eyes now on the Bey, and now on the people, and putting his fore-finger
of the right hand on the thumb of the left)--I went to the sand. I got
there when the sun was gone down. The camel lay down, and so did I lay
down on the sand. We watched all night. I fear no one but God!--(Here was
a general hum of approbation.)--Two hours before the _fidger_, (break of
day) I looked up and saw pass by me, at a distance of from here to The
Spring, nine _Bughar_ (wild-bullocks). They came and went, and went and
came, snuffing up the sand and bellowing. The man and the boy, who cut
the wood yesterday, saw the _Bughar_. But the wild oxen are not the
Shânbah!" As soon as he mentioned the _Bughar_, the people rushing out of
the Bey's apartment, ran away, and before I could get my dinner, a
portion of the ghafalah was on the move. The Rais said to me, "Get off,
make haste--make haste." I then went down to load the nagah again, but
found it very difficult; seeing the other camels passing on, she would
not stop to be laden. At length my turjeman came and arranged all. Said
observed that the obstinacy of the nagah was a bad omen. His Excellency
the Governor came to see me off, and gave me an affectionate shake of the
hands. I then met his confidential man Abd-Errahman, who said to me,
"Rais has given you in charge of all the people of the ghafalah, (about
sixty persons"). This was kind of the Governor, and better, perhaps, than
being in the charge of one individual. But still I couldn't help
thinking, that what is many persons' business is nobody's business. The
turjeman accompanied us some distance, chatting with Said. He carried
with him a quantity of date-tree fibrous netting, and was twisting bands
as he followed us. We soon parted. I then passed my old friend the
good-natured Arab doctor. His parting blessing spoke the native goodness
of his heart: "Day cool, route wide, route Fezzan, ghafalah large,
Shânbah there are none--God bless you, farewell!"

I began to breathe at once the free air of the open Desert. As is my
wont, I now committed my spirit to the care of God Almighty, leaving my
body to the care of the wild tribes of these inhospitable wastes. And why
not? Why distrust them? Have not the people hitherto treated me with
great and unexpected kindness? And is it not the first step to make
strangers your enemies, to distrust them?

FOOTNOTES:

[58] They call all other languages in the world _Ajem_--‮عجم‬--a
    distinction like that of Jew and Gentile, only applied to language
    instead of persons.

[59] Sale says:--"Mahomet here and elsewhere frequently imitates
    the truly inspired writers, in making God to operate on the minds
    of reprobates, to prevent their conversion." Impostors in all ages
    have charged the inefficacy of their novel mysteries upon the will
    of God. But these passages have had their use and humanity effects
    in the strife of contending religions. A Mahometan bigot, with
    sword in one hand and victim in the other, has often spared his
    life and his conversion by recollecting, "_God had sealed up his
    heart and his hearing_," so that he could not believe. The pride
    of the Moslem has also thus been content to leave matters in the
    hands of a predestinating deity.

[60] "Wild bullock:" The _Bos Brachyceras_, Gray.

[61] Turbans are sent to Mecca to be blest there, and by this
    blessing of course their value is greatly enhanced amongst the
    Moumeneen. Shrouds are also blessed at Mecca; and a rich Mahometan
    endeavours to procure one to wrap up his mortal remains. A
    considerable trade is carried on in blessed garments.




CHAPTER XIV.

FROM GHADAMES TO GHAT.

     Character of the People of Ghadames.--Strength of our
     Caravan.--First features of the new Route.--Well of Maseen.--Rate
     of Travelling.--Our Ghafalah divides in two on account of the
     difficulty of obtaining Water for so large a
     Caravan.--_Es-Sărāb_, or _The Mirage_.--_Gobemouche_
     Politicians.--Camels, fond of dry Bones.--Geological Features of
     Plateau.--Desert Tombs and _Tumuli_ Directors.--Intense cold of
     The Desert.--Well of Nather.--Savage Disposition of Camels.--Mr.
     Fletcher's advice to Desert Tourists.--No scientific instruments
     with me.--False alarm of Banditti, and meet a Caravan of
     Slaves.--Sight of the first tree after seven days' Desert.--Wells
     of Mislah in a region of Sand.--Vulgar error of Sand-storms
     overwhelming Caravans with billows of Sand.


MOUNTED on my camel, pressing on through The Desert, my thoughts still
lag behind, and as I turn often to look back upon The City of Merchants
and Marabouts, its palms being only now visible in the dingy red of the
setting sun, I endeavour to form a correct opinion of its singular
inhabitants. I see in them the mixture of the religious and commercial
character, blended in a most extraordinary manner and degree, for here
the possession of wealth scarcely interferes with the highest state of
ascetic devotion. To a religious scrupulousness, which is alarmed at a
drop of medicine that is prohibited falling upon their clothes, they add
the most enterprising and determined spirit of commercial enterprise,
plunging into The Desert, often in companies of only two or three, when
infested with bandits and cut-throats, their journies the meanwhile
extending from the shores of the Mediterranean to the banks of the Niger,
as low down to the Western Coast as Noufee and Rabbah. But their
resignation to the will of heaven is without a parallel. No murmur
escapes them under the severest domestic affliction; whilst prayer is
their daily bread. Besides five times a day, they never omit the
extraordinary occasions. The aspirations of the older and retired men
continue all the live-long day; this incense of the soul, rising before
the altar of the Eternal, is a fire which is never extinguished in
Ghadames! Their commercial habits naturally beget caution, if not fear.
In The Desert, though armed, they have no courage to fight. Their arms
are their mysterious playthings. Their genius is pacific and to make
peace--they are the peacemakers of The Desert--and they always travel
under the intrepid escort of their warlike Touarick friends and
neighbours. Intelligent, instructed and industrious, they are the
greatest friends of civilization in North Africa and the Great Desert.
But upon such a people, falls as a blast of lightning, rending and
shivering the fairest palm of the oasis, the curse of Turkish rule.

The force of our caravan consists of about eighty people, including
strangers, and two hundred laden camels. Nearly all the people are armed,
and some single individuals have two or three matchlocks, besides pistols
and daggers. The character of the people are petty traders, commission
agents, camel-drivers, and slaves. There are several Arabs, natives of
Ghadames, Seenawan, and Derge, and five strangers from Souf. We have with
us also three Touaricks. There may be half-a-dozen low women and female
slaves distributed amongst the ghafalah. Respectable females scarcely
ever travel in The Desert. I have only with me my negro servant Said. My
large trunk and tent are conveyed by another camel; the nagah carries me,
the provisions, and the rest of the baggage, going extremely well. Said
walks with the servants, slaves, and camel-drivers. Two-thirds of the
people are on foot. Started in tolerably good health and spirits, and
increase my appetite every mile I ride. Feel no fatigue, of course,
to-day, and trust I shall soon forget I'm travelling in The Sahara. There
are many routes from Ghadames to Ghat, no less than four or five
well-travelled desert tracts. Our present one is the more easterly, being
skirted by the oasisian districts of Fezzan. None of these routes have
been travelled before by an European. Our course to-day is directly east.
We are now encamping at sun-set, and we have just lost sight of the palms
of Ghadames. Alas! this will, I fear, be an everlasting farewell to the
beautiful oasis, and the holy city of merchants.

_26th._--Rose before sunrise. Morning cool and refreshing. We are to
continue ten days in the route of Fezzan, then turn into that of Ghat,
thus describing a sort of semicircle to get out of the forays of the
Shânbah.

Course south-east. On the right ranges of low dull hills, with the same
on the left, but at a greater distance. The road very good, fit for
carriages, through the broad bed of a valley. Two great blocks of rock
stand out on the surface which we traverse, one an oblong square, the
other sugar-loaf, but flattened at the top.

_Camel-drivers._--"Look at these brothers" (the two rocks.)

_Myself._--"How! Are these brothers? They are not much like."

_Camel-drivers._--"Yâkob, don't you know that one brother is born like
the father, and the other like the mother?"

These huge blocks we had long in view, and approached and passed them
just as a ship passes rocks on the sea-coast. So steady is our progress,
so level our route. Ground strewn over with small flints and other sharp
chips of stone. Saw nothing alive in The Desert but one solitary bird,
which seemed lost in the illimitable waste. Passed the grave of one who
had died in open desert, a small tumulus of stones marked the sad spot;
passed also a few white-bleached camel's bones. Very cold, wind from
north-east. Feel it more than the keenest winter's blast of Old England.
Feel glad I took the advice of the Governor of Ghadames, and purchased a
quantity of warm woollen clothing, heik, bornouse, and jibbah. "That
route (Ghat) kills people with the cold," his Excellency observed.

_27th._--Arrived at the well of Maseen, at 4 P.M. Much the same scenery
as yesterday. The road good, not quite so stony as yesterday, and
scattered over with pieces of very fine quartz and shining felspar. No
sand in quantity, and a little herbage for camels. Wind as yesterday, but
more of it. Maseen is a tolerably deep well, but the water is not very
sweet. About it there are three or four stunted date-palms, and several
shrubby sprouts, pointing the Saharan wayfarer to the well's site. One
of the trees bore fruit this year, but the palm rarely bears fruit in
open desert. No bird or animal of any sort seen to-day. The camels crop
herbage _en route_ as usual. On the whole, however, we proceed pretty
quickly. I imagine about three miles the hour, for a man must walk a
sharp pace to keep up well with the camels. Our people eat nothing in the
morning; two or three, perhaps, may eat a cake and a few dates. They
literally fast all day long and take their _one_ meal at about seven in
the evening. I can't support this, and take tea in the morning, besides
munching dates at intervals through the day. Nay, I feel ravenous, under
the influence of the bleak air of The Desert. About an hour before
sunrise all the people get up and make large fires, warming their feet
and legs, for these are mostly bare and are very sensible to the cold.
I'm sorry I've been obliged to scold Said twice, once for running away
from my camel after other people's, and once for rough and saucy
language. But I must make the best of him; might easily get a worse
servant. Glad the eldest son of the Sheikh Makouran has joined the
caravan; he came riding after us this evening, attended with a Touarick,
both mounted on maharees, well equipped and capable of scouring The
Desert.

_28th._--Some time before we got off this morning, on account of the
difficulty of watering the camels. My nagah started off on the route
of Fezzan about a mile and a half, and Said went another way in
search of her. I was, therefore, obliged to fetch her myself, which
was a considerable run through a hilly region. I found her alone
wandering about. The she-camel strays more than the male-camel, and
is more restless. As soon as I called to her she stopped, stood
stock-still, and looked at me. Before the camels were all watered,
the well of Mazeen was nearly dry and the water muddy. This is the
reason large caravans have such difficulty in traversing The Desert,
it often requiring several days to water a thousand camels. Here I
recollected the justness of Napoleon's observation cited by French
writers,--"That if Africa is to be invaded and conquered _viâ_ The
Great Desert, it must be done by small detached parties." For it is
not that the wells do not afford a sufficiency of water for large
caravans, but that they do not yield an immediate supply for
numerous bodies, so as to enable their people to march in one
compact whole. Here we were obliged to leave half the caravan,
waiting for the running of the water, thus miserably dividing our
strength in case of attack. Noticed one of the camels laden with a
bale of goods, on which were European writing, viz., I. A. N. 6. The
great merchants usually write the name of their firm under the
designation of _Oulad_ (‮اولاد‬) "sons," for example, _Oulad
Makouran_, "Sons of Makouran."

The advanced party, of which I was, unexpectedly left the route of
Fezzan to the east, and turned sharp round to the south, through the
gorge of a low mountain range, which we had had all along to the
right. In this defile we proceeded an hour, but it had no natural
opening at the end. We came at last to a very abrupt ascent of some
hundred feet high, and mounted an elevated plateau. Once on the
plateau, all was plain as far as the eye could see. The defile was
tertiary formation, mere dull crumbling limestone; nothing in the
shape and consistence of granite. We are now on the highway for
Ghat, and it is said we shall arrive in fifteen days from the
plateau. Saw on the plateau, for the first time of my life, the
celebrated mirage, which our people call _Watta_, but the classic
Arabic is _Es-Sarab_ (‮السّرب‬). At first sight, I thought it was
salt, for it flamed in the sun white, like a salt-pit, or lagoon.
There appeared some low hills in the midst of the white lake. As we
proceeded, I saw what appeared like white foam running from east to
west, as the sea-surf chafing the shore. It then occurred to me that
this might be the mirage; and so it turned out, for as we approached
the phenomenon, it retired and disappeared. The character of the
mirage was evidently affected by the wind, for the foam appeared to
run from east to west with the wind. In some of the white flaming
lakes, shrubs and reeds stood out, as we find in shallow pools. Some
high hills appeared suspended in the air, veritable "castles in the
air." The weather was dull, the sun sometimes hidden, and it was
noon when the phenomena were most observable. At Mazeen a few small
birds were hopping and chirping, and two large crows followed us
upon the plateau; also a butterfly and a few flies. These are the
living creatures noticed to-day.

The plateau, where I now write, is either covered with very small stones,
some quite black, and others calcined or burnt, like brick-bats thrown
from a kiln, or is altogether hardened and black earthy soil. The latter
assists the mirage, for the phenomenon appears mostly on the earthy
tracts of ground. In some parts is herbage for the camels. On the plateau
we saw several small mounds of soft brown stone, crumbling to earth,
which looked like Arab hovels at a distance. I went up to undeceive
myself. These curious mounds have yet to crumble away before the plateau
is a perfect plane. Course to-day mostly south, with a leaning to the
west. Wind cold S.E. and E. The day as dull and dreary as in England. Our
people occasionally mount the maharees, which look very haughty and
imposing. A maharee would be a noble present for the Sultan of the
Touaricks to send to the Queen.

Was surprised this morning at a question, as "To whom Tripoli belonged?"
to the English or the Sultan (of Constantinople). I find there is a vague
notion amongst our ghafalah that Tripoli is either really the property of
the English, or under the immediate protection of England. "Just the
same," say the people. They prefer the late tyrant Bashaw, Asker Ali, to
the present Mehemet, because Asker Ali, they say, did not fleece them so
much or so plunder them of their money. 'Tis natural enough. One of the
lower fellows had the impudence to say, "The English Consul receives
bribes from Mehemet Pasha to let him remain in Tripoli." These people are
great gobemouches; they always report the most incredible things. A
trader said to me, "When you get to Soudan you must marry two wives; this
is our custom." I replied, "I never do anything out of my country, and
apart from my countrymen, which I should be ashamed to do at home in
their presence." Some of these Desert louts are very familiar and
insolent, and require sharp answers to keep them at a distance. I must
not forget to mention, the Rais put my passport _en règle_ for Soudan. A
more monstrous piece of absurdity could not be attempted against the
virtue of the free and simple-minded children of The Desert. Such
documents are only fit for our elevated Christian civilization, for
countries like Naples, France, and Austria, the hot-beds of spies and
police. When I showed my passport to the Touaricks, and explained to them
what it was for, they very indignantly (and properly so) spat on it.

_29th._--Not a living creature was met with to-day. Our camels found the
"dry bones" of camels perished in The Desert; they munched them with
gusto, a piece of cannibalism on the part of these melancholy creatures
which I was not prepared for. Dr. Oudney remarks, "The latter (camels)
are very fond of chewing dried bones." In some parts of the routes,
mostly where the water-stations are distant, and where they drop from
exhaustion before reaching the wells, camels' bones lie in such heaps as
to suggest, the Vision of the Dry Bones of Ezekiel.

We started with the rising sun and continued till four o'clock P.M.
A strong S. and S.E. wind blew all day, and very cold, parching my
lips and mouth. This wind would have a veritable burning simoon in
the summer! We traversed all day the plateau, now become an
immeasurable plain. It slightly undulates in parts, but I think we
continued to ascend. Some of the surface is wholly naked, having
neither herbage or stones scattered about, being of a softish clayey
soil, and printed in little diamond squares, like the dry bottom of
a small lake on the sea-shore. This, I doubt not, is the action of
the rain, which falls at long intervals. Other parts presented the
usual black calcined stones, and sometimes pieces of the common
limestone and pebbles, but not very round. The track was in some
places well-defined, in others the earth so hard as not to admit of
the impression of the camel's foot. Passed by several tumuli of
stones, said by the people to mark the route, and called
_âlam_--‮علم‬--directors. Passed also a conspicuous tomb of some
distinguished individual, who had died in the open Desert. There was
no writing or ornament, only a higher heap of stones, and piled in
the shape of an oblong square. As soon as a traveller dies he is
buried, if he have companions; the body is never brought to the
neighbouring oases. My friend Haj-el-Besheer, to my regret, has
disappeared with the Touarick.

Nothing possibly could be more horrible and dreary, exhibiting the very
"palpable obscure," than our course of to-day. As far as the eye can
stretch on every side is one vast, solitary, lifeless, treeless expanse
of desert earth! It is a--

        "Dreary [plain] forlorn and wild,
    The seat of desolation."

A Derge Arab said to me this evening, "The English will never come to
Derge, wherever else they may go. The climate will kill them; in three
days you will die of fever." The love of discussion, as well as their
complaints against the Turkish Government, follow our people through The
Desert. They are trying to make me turn Mohammedan, as far as disputing
goes, and I have enough to do to get rid of their importunities.
Sometimes I get the conversation turned by telling them, if I turn
Mussulman I shall offend my Sultan. They reply, "Oh! you can confess with
your lips, that you are a Christian, whilst you remain a Mussulman in
your heart." One fellow got saucy, and said, turning up the fire with a
stick, "The Jews and Christians will have this (fire) for ever."
Threatening to report him to the Rais of Ghadames, he exclaimed, "The dog
Rais has no rule in The Sahara." The other people made him hold his
tongue. Felt the cold last night but especially this morning. It nips me
up severely. Sleep in the clothes I wear during the day, and have
additional covering of a thick rug and a cloak. We pitch no tents. Very
little water is now drunk. Our people seem to shun it as mad dogs. As to
the morning, no one drinks water this time of the day. How different to
the summer! when a drink of water is sometimes reckoned a great favour,
an immense boon, a heaven's best gift.

_30th._--A fine morning; the dawn almost cloudless. Not so
yesterday, volumes of cloud on cloud inflamed with purple stretched
over all the east, not unlike an English summer's dawn, but the
colours more vivid. But this was succeeded by the dreariest of days.
In summer, the Saharan dawn is usually cloudless, and offers no
beautiful variety of colours. The cloud of yesterday was surcharged
with wind, which we soon felt to our annoyance. In The Desert the
wind generally rises in the morning and falls in the evening. We
continued our course over the vast plain all the morning, but at
midday it broke into wide shallow valleys, and in the evening it was cut
across by a large broad valley, or wady, as the Moors called it, stretching
east and west. In this wady lies the well of _Năthār_ or _Năjār_,
some spelling the name with the ‮ز‬--‮النزار‬. Here we
encamp. We had come a very long weary day. Begin to feel very
sensibly the hardships of Desert travelling. The length of a day's
journey depends upon whether water is near or far off, and also upon
there being fodder for camels. Our Arabs are obliged to look out
lest they encamp upon an arid spot where the poor camel cannot crop
a single herb. Mostly in the beds--dry beds of these wadys--there is
some herbage and brushwood. The well of Nathar is very deep, and cut
through rock as well as earth, but its water is extremely sweet and
delicious. We usually find the best water running through rocky
soil. _En route_, I observed no living creature, save a grasshopper,
which had managed to get into existence amidst these herbless wilds.
Think I also saw an ant near the foot of the camel. A few flies
still follow our caravan, which we brought from Ghadames. These
witless things have wisdom enough not to remain behind and perish in
The Desert. Passed by two dead camels, fast decomposing into bones.
Road all small stones sprinkled over an earthy soil, or altogether
earth. Mirage again seen, with similar phenomena. Small islets in
the midst of lakes, and white foam running on the ground as on the
sea-shore. Our course S. and S.E.

_1st December._--A fine mild morning, but intensely cold during the past
night. Here we took fresh water enough for four days, the time required
to arrive at the next well. Started about 11 A.M., and continued only
three hours and a half, when we came to another wady, where we stopped in
order to let the camels have their fill of the rich fodder with which the
wady is covered. The plateau is now apparently disappearing, for it is
broken into deep and broad valleys, from the sides of which rise in
groups, and at various distances, low ranges of Saharan hills, and on one
side, is a range very high, having very wild mountainous features. We
have now travelled nearly six days, and have not yet met with fifty yards
of sandy route. So much for the sandy Desert! All is either earth,
sometimes as hard-baked as stone, or large blocks of stone, but chiefly
very small chips of stone covering the entire surface. Our Arabs ask me,
"Whether I prefer travelling by land or sea?" They imagine Christians,
when they travel, necessarily travel by sea. They are also greatly
astonished when I tell them we have no Sahara in England, and cannot
credit the idea of a country being full of cultivated fields and gardens.
The rest of our ghafalah, consisting of more than a third, is not yet
come up, but Haj-el-Besheer and the Touarick Ali have joined us again and
report them to be at the well of Nather.

Two or three birds were seen this morning about the wells. They were
excessively familiar, and knew instinctively how to estimate the sight of
a caravan for the crumbs and grains it might leave behind. They seemed
also quite at home at the well. Still one would think they were birds of
passage, like ourselves, for there are no trees or bushes for them to
build in, and little to eat. Saw also a single lizard. I believe lizards
abound in every part of The Sahara, but the cold now keeps them in their
holes.

Three or four of our party have left us, mounted on maharees, for Ghat.
They say they shall arrive in six or seven days. They will soon see if
banditti are before us, and will return to let us know. Thought I should
escape the orthodox _body_-guard. But it seems not. Where every person is
obliged to accept of this guard, _bon gré, malgré_, it seems I must
submit. However, I shall do without their services if possible. I
offended a Moor by telling him that Christians do not require it, and
have not this guard: it is only "peculiar to Mussulmans." A necessary
part of the occupation of a ghafalah when it reaches a well is collecting
and cracking the vermin. The camels are terrible things for straying. If
they are surrounded with immense patches of the most choice herbage, even
which is their delicium, they still keep on straying the more over it
miles and miles. As to our nagah, we are obliged to tie her fore-feet,
which prevents the camel from getting at a very great distance from the
encampment. The camels are sly, unimpassioned, and deliberately savage,
one to another, more especially the males. At times they go steadily, and
even slowly, behind one another, and turning the neck and head sideways,
deliberately bite one another's haunches most ferociously. The drivers
immediately separate them, for the bite is dangerous to their health, and
often attended with serious mischief to the animal bitten. But I have
never yet seen a camel kick or attack a man. They invariably grumble and
growl, sometimes most piteously, when they are being loaded, as if
deprecating the heavy burden about to be placed upon them, and appealing
to the mercy of their masters. The merchants pay 13½ Tunisian piastres
per cantar for goods now conveyed from Ghadames to Ghat. The Touaricks
carry goods cheaper, but they are now gone after the Shânbah. The Arabs
asked 25, but the Rais of Ghadames fixed it at 13½. A camel carries from
2 to 3½ cantars[62]. I confess I was sorry to see these apparently so
quiet and melancholy creatures ferocious to one another; but I
recollected that all animals, even doves, quarrel and fight, and
particularly males, where females are concerned.

To-day took out of my trunk Mr. Fletcher's note to me, to read over,
which I had received from Malta during the time of my being in The
Desert. The advice to travellers which it contains in a very few words,
is so good, so excellent, that I shall take the liberty of transcribing
it here, for the benefit of all future tourists in The Desert.

1st. "Keep a sharp look out about you, and pick up information."

2nd. "Keep with Sheiks, Religionists, (he means I suppose, Marabouts,)
and Chieftains, for these are the only people who can give you
protection."

3rd. "Expose yourself to no unnecessary risks and dangers."

4th. "Conciliate!"

Mr. Fletcher adds, "The white man is at the mercy of every tenant of The
Desert, and though we would, one cannot be all things to all men."
Nevertheless, I do think, _poverty_ is my great protection in travelling
in these countries. My fellow-travellers, up to the present time, are
civil and assist me. It is necessary to mention here, I have neither
compass nor thermometer, nor measure of any kind, nor maps, nor watch, so
that I'm afraid my journal will sound ill to scientific ears. This was
very bad management. Still we shall see what a man can do without the
ordinary and most common scientific instruments of travelling. I have,
however, an hour-glass, which embraces four hours in the time of
emptying, and which I found useful in Ghadames, but make no use of it _en
route_. I consider the objects of my tour _moral_, a random effort to
maim, or kill, or cripple the Monster Slavery, a small rough stone picked
up casually from the burnt and arid face of The Desert, but with
dauntless hand thrown at this Titanian fabric of crime and wickedness.
However, as my friend Mr. Fletcher advises, it does not prevent me from
"picking up information," any how and everywhere, which I trust the
reader will have already perceived. As a person who loses one sense
acquires more intensity in others, so I, having no artificial means for
procuring information with me, must do all by the ordinary senses of
observation, common to the civilized man and the savage.

The mirage was very abundant to-day, producing a variety of splendid
phenomena, "_Castelli in Spagna_," running streams, and silvery lakes,
and a thousand things of water, and air, and landscape, just types of
those pleasures and delights which we seek, and when grasping them, they
slip from between our fingers.

Whilst we were encamped, two hours before sun-set, we were suddenly
alarmed by the cries of banditti and Shânbah, and all were called upon to
arm. At the same time people were sent off to bring up the camels which
were grazing and straying at a distance. I was amusing myself with
cooking the supper, and started up, not knowing what to make of it; I
couldn't however help laughing at the queer predicament in which the
supper looked, and thought I had been making it for the Shânbah. Running
forward to see the cause of the alarm, I saw in the south, dimly at a
distance, a small caravan approaching us. There were three or four
camels, and several persons on foot. I then thought I must look about
for a weapon of some sort. A man gave me a huge horse-pistol, and with
this I sallied forth to take part in the common defence. Seeing an Arab
far in advance, and alone, I went after him, who turned out to be one of
the Souafah, whose acquaintance I had already made. This Arab certainly
showed considerable bravery, and took up a reconnoitring position on a
rising ground, looking with a steady and determined eye upon the
approaching caravan. He turned to me and said bluffly, "It must be a
Touarick ghafalah." Meanwhile, about forty people all armed, assembled
_pêle-mêle_ on the opposite side of the route, on a hill behind, uttering
wild cries, and throwing up their matchlocks into the air. The cries now
ceased, and was succeeded by a most anxious silence, all waiting a closer
observation. At length, the experienced eye of our people discovered what
was considered a troop of bandits on foot, to be a caravan of slaves. And
immediately a number of the people ran off violently to meet the
slave-caravan, which was escorted by our own Touaricks, the slaves being
the property of our people. Our surprise was the greater when we found
Haj-el-Besheer, and his companion the Touarick, returning with the
caravan, which had brought letters for all the people. So the bandits
turned out to be our friends and neighbours; and so burst this bubble of
alarm. I observed two persons with long staffs lagging behind, and
imagined them old men labouring along the route. What was my astonishment
to find, as they approached, these old men gradually transformed into
poor little children--child-slaves--crawling over the ground, scarcely
able to move. Oh, what a curse is slavery! how full of hard-heartedness
and cruelty! As soon as the poor slaves arrived, they set to work and
made a fire. Some of them were laden with wood when they came up. The
fire was their only protection from the cold, the raw bitter cold of the
night, for they were nearly naked. I require as much as three ordinary
great coats, besides the usual clothing of the day, to keep me warm in
the night; these poor things, the chilly children of the tropics, have
only a rag to cover them, and a bit of fire to warm them. I shall never
forget the sparkling eyes of delight of one of the poor little boys, as
he sat down and looked into the crackling glaring fire of desert scrub.
In the evening I noticed the amount of the food which was given as the
one daily meal to these famished creatures, ten in number. Said usually
eats more than the whole of it for his supper. The food was barley-meal
mixed with water. The slaves were children and youths, all males. They
had been already fourteen days _en route_ from Ghat, and would be eight
more before they could reach Ghadames. By that time, like the last slaves
which arrived whilst I was there, they would be simply "living
skeletons." The misery is, these slaves are conducted not by their
masters, but slave-drivers, at so much per head, and consequently the
conductors feed the slaves on as little as possible, to make the most of
their bargain with the owners. The slave-caravan, however, brought us
good news.

The Shânbah, after ravaging the Touarick districts, had fled their own
country, and taken refuge in the Algerian territory--so escaping the
vengeance of the Touaricks. We have, therefore, no enemy _en route_,
thank God, except ourselves, and our own quarrels, which occur but
seldom. The annual winter Soudan caravan had not yet arrived in Ghat, but
was expected every day. It is worth mentioning here, as a remarkable
trait of good faith amongst the Moors and Arabs, that they do not often
seal their letters, but fold them up as we do notes of trifling import.
All the letters brought to-day were unsealed, and did not require
_Grahamizing_. Haj-el-Besheer told me it was _haram_ ("prohibited,") for
strangers to read these unsealed letters. My readers will see that we are
again obliged to go to the barbarians of The Desert to learn the ordinary
practices of good faith and morality. How exceedingly rejoiced would be
the "_Haute Police_" of _civilized_ Europe to have all letters sent
_un_-sealed through the Post Office! What a pity these Mahometan
barbarians are so trusting and simple-minded! What a pity our boasted
religion does not teach us Christians the honesty of barbarians! We wrote
letters to Ghadames and Tripoli over the fire-light. Afterwards my friend
Haj-el-Besheer commenced a sing-song repetition of a Marabout legend,
which he continued all the evening, speaking to no one; even whilst he
was eating he continued his rigmarole story to himself, the people taking
no notice of him. I was greatly amused at this odd singing to one's self.

_2nd._--A very fine morning, and, as I anticipated, it turned out very
hot. Yet whilst the sun scorched my face on one side, the cold wind from
the east blanched my cheek on the other. No living creature seen but a
few insects. Our people fell in with the skeleton of a Touarick ass, and
amused themselves with setting it up upon its legs, as if in the pillory.
I rallied them afterwards as they were in a good humour, on their terror
of banditti yesterday. They replied, "It was the number of people on
foot which alarmed us, banditti generally go on foot with a few camels to
carry provisions and water." We started at sun-rise and encamped an hour
before sun-set, to have light enough to collect firewood, and forage for
the camels. The ground of our course to-day was broken into broad and
long valleys. In the wady where we encamp is herbage for camels. I notice
as a thing most extraordinary, after seven days from Ghadames, two small
trees! the common Desert acacia. Another phenomenon, I see two or three
pretty blue flowers! as I picked one up, I could not help exclaiming,
_Elhamdullah_, ("Praise to God!") for Arabic was growing second-born to
my tongue, and I began to think in it. An Arab said to me, "Yâkob, if we
had a reed and were to make a melodious sound, those flowers, the colour
of heaven, would open and shut their mouths (petals)." This fiction is
extremely poetical. Felt unwell this morning from eating or munching too
many dates; better this evening. All our people well, and no accidents.

_3rd._--Rose at sun-rise and pursued our weary way over broken ground,
now broad valleys, now low hills. Whilst exclaiming that the sandy desert
was all "a report," "a talk," "a fabrication of travellers who wished to
increase and vary the catalogue of Saharan hardships," at noon we came
upon a range of sand-hills. These increased on every side, and at length
we cut right across a group of them. Having left the plateau the mirage
has also disappeared, apparently the only species of desert where it can
be fairly developed. With the sand has appeared a new kind of stone, of a
light-blue slate colour, some of it of as firm a consistence as granite.
Its colour also sometimes varies to a beautiful light green. The Desert
itself only increases and varies in hideousness. And yet in some places
where sand is sprinkled over the hardened earth, a little coarse herbage
springs up. Encamped at night. Cold all day. Felt unwell. To-day and
yesterday course mostly south.

_4th._--Sand-hills increase in number, and find ourselves in the heart of
a region of sand. At noon descended the deepest wady we have yet
encountered. On the big blocks of rock below Arabic and Touarghee letters
were carved. The barbarians, as their civilized brethren, seek in this
way also a bastard immortality for their names. Down in the valley we
passed some human bones; the skull was perfect. Who shall write the
history of these bones? Are they those of one who was murdered, or who
dropped from exhaustion in The Desert? These bones scattered at the
camel's feet made the march of to-day still more melancholy. No herbage
for camels or wood for fire. Gave our nagah barley and dates. It
frequently happens, there is no wood _en route_ (I mean underwood or
scrub), or at the place where we are obliged to stop. This obliges us to
carry it from places where it abounds, as also a little herbage for the
camels. Pitched our camp amidst the sandy waste late at night. Our route
varied between S.W., S., and S.E., but around some huge groups of
sand-hills we were obliged to make a painful circuit. Warmer to-day, and
a little wind, always from the east. No living creature met with! No
sound or voice heard! Felt better to-day.

_5th._--Rose with the sun, as it enflamed the sand-hills, and made them
like burnished heaps of metal. Marched three hours amidst the
sand-hills. Very difficult route for the camels, which frequently upset
their loads in mounting or descending the groups of hills. The Arabs
smooth the abrupt ascents, forming an inclined plane of sand, and then,
in the descents, pull back the camels, swinging with all their might on
the tails of the animals. No herbage--no stone--no earthy ground--all,
everything one wide waste of sand, shining under the fervid sun as bright
as the light, dazzling and blinding the eyes. But Milton's poetic eye,
turning, or in "a fine frenzy rolling" to the ends of the earth,
subjecting all the images and wonders of nature, of all climates and
countries, to the supporting of his majestic verse, glanced also at these
sands of the Lybian Desert--

        "Unnumbered as the sands
    Of Barca or Cyrene's torrid soil."

El-Aïshi, describing the sandy Sahara, says, "There is neither tree, nor
bush, nor herb. The eye sees only clouds of sand, raised by continual
winds, which by their violence efface the marks of the caravan as fast as
men and animals imprint them with their feet. The aspect of this
immensity of sand reminds me of the words, 'Bless our Lord Mahomet as
much as the sand is extended,' and I understood now their full import."

But here in the centre of this wilderness of sand we had an abundant
proof of the goodness of a good God. Whilst mourning over this horrible
scene of monotonous desolation, and wondering why such regions were
created in vain, we came upon _The Wells of Mislah_, where we encamped
for the day. These are not properly wells, for the sand being removed in
various places, about four or five feet below the surface, the water
runs out. Indeed, we were obliged to make our own wells. Each party of
the ghafalah dug a well for itself. Ghafalahs are divided into so many
parties, varying in size from five men and twenty camels, to ten men and
forty camels. Three or four wells were dug out in this way. Some of the
places had been scooped out before. Water may be found through all the
valley of Mislah. A few dwarfish palms are in the valley, but which don't
bear fruit. The camels, finding nothing else to eat, attacked voraciously
their branches. It is surprising the sand is not more scattered over the
wells and trees, for on the south-west is a lofty sand-hill, deserving
the name of a mountain, almost overhanging the pits. Here is a sufficient
proof, at once, that The Desert has no sandy waves like the Desert Ocean
of waters, as poets and credulous or exaggerating writers have been
pleased to inform us. Were this the case, the wells of Mislah would have
been long ago heaped up and over with pile upon pile of sand-hills, and
caravans would have abandoned for ever this line of route. For we can
hardly suppose that one sand-storm would cover the pits of Mislah with a
mountain pile of sand, and the next sand-storm uncover them and lay them
bare to the amazed Saharan traveller. On the contrary, the pits of Mislah
and the stunted palms have every appearance of having remained as they
now are for centuries. The hills are huge groups, some single ones,
glaring in sun above the rest, and others pyramidical. The sand at times
is also very firm to the camel's tread. Shall I say a _terra firma_ in
loose shifting sands? But for the water of Mislah it is extremely
brackish, nay salt. I had observed between the sand-hills small valleys,
or bottoms, covered with, a whitish substance which I now find salt. Both
men and camels are alike condemned to drink this water. I try it with
boiling and tea and find it worse, and cannot drink it, so I'm obliged to
beg of our people the remaining sweet water of Nather, left in the skins.
Our people confess themselves, in summer when this water gets hot they
can scarcely drink it, being veritable brine. An European travelling this
route should always provide himself with water enough at the well of
Nather to last him from six to eight days. My skin-bags have got out of
order, and I did not make inquiries of the people about this well. At one
well a traveller should always make inquiry about the water of the next
well. This is indispensable if an European tourist would have water fit
to drink. The Mislah water is full of saline particles, and is purging
every body. The valley of Mislah, over which we are encamped, is not more
than twenty minutes' walking in length, and half this in breadth. In many
parts the sand is encrusted with a beautiful white salt. One of the Arabs
of Souf said to me, "See, Yâkob, this is our country, all Souf is like
this." So it appears an oasis may exist in a region of _shifting_ (?)
sands. Are these the shifting sands which bury whole caravans beneath
their sandy billows, when lashed up by the Desert tempest[63]?

[Illustration]

This reminds me of what Colonel Warrington told me of some tourist, who
describes himself as killing a camel to procure the water from its
stomach, when within a couple days from Tripoli, and on a spot where
there was a splendid spring of never-failing water. I often asked the
Arabs, if they ever killed the camel to get the water from its stomach?
They replied, "They had often heard of such things." A merchant of
Ghadames made, however, an apposite observation: "This is our sea, here
we travel as you in your sea, bringing our provisions and water with us."

These pits are considered the half-way house or station to Ghat. I'm told
the route from Ghat to Aheer is much more easy and agreeable than this.
Trust I shall find it so if I go. Begin to feel this irksome, and am in
low spirits. People try to amuse me, and I have received many little
presents of date-cakes and bazeen from them. Begin to relish this sort of
food, and The Desert air sharpens the appetite. Yesterday, a slave of the
ghafalah amused us with playing his rude bagpipe through these weary
wastes. We are not very merry. There is very little conversation; we move
on for hours in the most unbroken silence, nothing being said or
whispered, no sound but the dull slow tread of the camel. Sometimes an
Arab strikes up one of his plaintive ditties, and thinks of his green
olive-clad mountain home in the Atlas. Happily there is little or no
quarrelling. I am sure sixty people of all ages and tempers, were they
Europeans, travelling in this region of blank monotony, oppressed with
sombre reflections and without anything to relieve the senses, would not
manage things so smoothly, or without quarrelling, and at times most
desperately. For we are a _bonâ fide_ moving city, and at each well every
body prepares to start afresh. Some mend their torn clothes, others the
broken gear of the camels, others take out the raw materials from their
bags and work up a new supply of provisions. Others wash and shave. Our
Saharan travellers rarely wash themselves except at the wells. Their
religion requires of them to wash their hands at their meals, but this
they evade by rubbing their hands with a little sand, a privilege,
however, Mahomet has only granted them when they can find no water. We
followed the tracks of the few of our party who had preceded us. Here
also the footstep is rigidly observed as in the American wilderness, and
the people pretend to distinguish the foot-print of the bandit on the
sand from that of an honest man. But one night of strong wind usually
covers up the track, and though the sand does not move in billows, it
flies about, first from one side and then the other, and fills up the
foot-prints of men and animals. There is no doubt but it requires the
most practised eye of the camel-driver to find his way through these
regions, and yet, for my life, I could not see that the people
experienced any difficulty. They seemed as much at home in this intricate
waste of creation as in their own dark zigzag streets of Ghadames.

As the sun goes down and night comes on, the sand-hills, from shining
white, look as dark and drear as earth-hills. But how smooth is all! If
they were hills of blown glass they could not be more smooth. In the
sketch of Mislah will be seen a date-tree with part of its branches
depending, forming with the up-rising a curious shape. The under foliage
is dead and dried up, a fit object in the desolate scene. Not a single
living creature about the wells. No bird is here. At Maseen and Nather we
had seen two or three small birds, hopping about the wells, picking up
the crumbs and scattered grain of the passing caravan. Except the little
vegetable life, all else here is "a universe of death!"

FOOTNOTES:

[62] A _cantar_ is about an English hundred-weight.

[63] Oudney says:--"The presence of nothing but deep sand-valleys
    and high sand-hills strikes the mind forcibly. There is something
    of the sublime mixed with the melancholy. Who cannot contemplate
    without admiration masses of loose sand fully four hundred feet
    high, ready to be tossed about by every breeze, and not shudder
    with horror at the idea of the unfortunate traveller being
    entombed in a moment by one of these fatal blasts, _which
    sometimes occur_?" I agree with the Doctor about the sublime and
    melancholy mixed in contemplating these regions of sand. But they
    are by no means dangerous. No people that I heard of had been
    entombed under these fatal blasts. I am almost sorry now that I
    did not pass through the region of Mislah in a Saharan hurricane,
    and then I should have known all.




CHAPTER XV.

FROM GHADAMES TO GHAT.

     End of the Sandy Region.--No Birds of Prey in The
     Sahara.--Progress of the French in the Algerian Oases.--Slave
     Trade of The Desert supported by European Merchants.--Desolations
     of Sahara.--System of Living of our People.--Various Tours
     through Central Africa.--The Desert tenanted by harmless and
     Domesticated Animals.--Horribly dreary Day's March.--A Fall from
     my Camel.--Well of Nijberten, and its delicious Water.--Moral
     Character of the People of our Caravan.--Well of
     Tăbăbothteen.--Camel knocked up and killed.--Mode of Killing
     Camels.--Pretty Aspect of The Sahara.--Some of the Ghafalah go on
     before the rest.--The Plain and Well of Tadoghseen.--Encounter
     and Adventure with the _quasi_ Bandit Sheik, Ouweek.--Enter the
     region of the _Jenoun_ or Genii.--Mountain Range of Wareerat.


_6th._--ROSE at day-break but did not start until after sun-rise.
Continued through the sand. Scenery as yesterday, hills heaped upon
heap, group around group, and sometimes a plain of sand, furrowed in
pretty tesselated squares like the sands of the sea-shore. I walked
about three hours to ease the nagah. The camels continued to
flounder in the sand, throwing over their necks their heavy burdens.
The ascents extremely difficult: people employed in scooping an
inclined path for the animals. But, in the afternoon, about three,
we saw through an opening of the shining heaps, a blue and black
waste of contiguous desert. I could not help crying out for joy,
like a man at the prow who descries the port, after having been
buffeted about many a stormy day by contrary winds and currents.
Much fatigued with the walking over the sands, and sick with
drinking the brackish water of Mislah. Nothing _en route_ to-day
except four crows, and a skeleton of a camel. This is the small crow of
The Sahara (‮غراب الصحرا‬). People pretend it does not drink
water. It may live on the flesh of the few camels which drop down
and die from exhaustion, and on lizards. There are, however, no
vultures and ravenous birds of huge dimensions in this region of
Sahara. So that,

    ‮حيثما يكون الجسد ايضا تجتمع النسور‬

"Where the body is, there also collect the eagles," is not applicable to
this part of The Desert, although the vulture, pouncing voraciously upon
the dead man and dying camel, is an appropriate feature in Saharan
landscapes. The large birds of prey do not find, as the lion, water to
drink in these regions. When we got fairly upon the firm ground of Stony
Sahara, I was refreshed with the sight of seven small acacia trees. This
seems to be the only tree which will not surrender to the iron sceptre of
Saharan desolation, for it strikes its roots into the sterility itself. A
white butterfly also, to my amazement, passed my camel's head! Where does
the little fluttering thing get its food in this region of desolation?

Another of the Souf Arabs said to me this morning, "This sand is the
country of the Souafah and the Shânbah." If so, indeed, it would be a
troublesome country for a military expedition. "However," said a
merchant, "the maharee can pursue the Shânbah to the last heap of their
sands." Speaking of the Shânbah last evening when we were in the midst of
the sands, the Souafah said:--"When the enemy will come, we shall cover
ourselves in the sand, and fire off our matchlocks. They will feel our
bullets, and hear our report, and look about and see no person. We shall
be covered up in the sand." This, the Souf Arab repeated several times,
and the Ghadamsee traders thought it astonishingly clever and courageous.
It is reported five hundred Touaricks are soon to pursue the Shânbah into
the Algerian territory. It is said also, French Arabs will support the
Shânbah bandits against both Touaricks and Souafah. Such is the silly
talk of our caravan. Still the French have got far south, and my Souafah
companions acknowledge that some of their districts pay tribute to the
Algerian authorities. This is something like _progress_, and we ought not
to deceive ourselves about their movements southwards. Nothing is worse
than self-deception. The Romans struggled long before they made any
sensible progress in Africa, nay, several centuries. In fifteen years the
French have induced a whole line of Saharan oases, more or less, to
acknowledge their authority. And the thing is done cleverly enough; they
do not appoint a local governor, or dispatch a single soldier, and yet
they manage to get some money from these distant Saharan oases. However,
this tribute must be very trifling; and were all this line of Algerian
oases to pay their tribute regularly, it would be as a drop in the bucket
compared with the thousands of millions of francs which have been spent,
and will be spent in Algeria. Such a colony as Algeria will not only not
pay, but will ruin the finances of a score of kingdoms as large as
France. The politics of our moving Saharan city are mostly confined to
the Pasha of Tripoli and the French in Algeria. "When will the Pasha go,
soon or late? Will another come after him? Will he be better? Will he
fleece us as this despot, of all our money? Have the French many troops
in Algeria? Have they more than Muley Abd-Errahman? Could they conquer
Morocco? Why don't the English drive out the French from Algeria? The
Mussulmans of Algeria are now corrupted by the money of the Christians.
The Bey of Tunis is the friend of the French. The Sultan of
Constantinople, Mehemet Ali, and the English are against the Bey of Tunis
and the French. Now, the Christians have great power in the world, but
they will soon be cut off, when shall appear the new warrior of the
faithful. Is the Sultan of Stamboul strong? Has he more soldiers than
Moskou (Russia)? Have the French more soldiers than the English? Is
Mehemet Ali to have Tripoli given him, and is he to march on to Tunis and
against the French?" &c. All these, and a thousand other questions and
opinions similar, agitate the sage politicians of our ghafalah: so true
it is, that when we change the heavens above, we do not change our
thoughts on the things below, which are left behind us.

My friend, Zaleâ, of Seenawan, did not come with us, he having contracted
for the building of the caravansary of Emjessem, but his brother, a rough
bold Arab, accompanied us, who assured me to-day,--"That all the goods of
the ghafalah were the property of Christians and Jews in Tripoli, and the
Ghadamseeah merchants were only their commission agents. These goods were
to be exchanged for Soudan merchandise, including slaves, which latter,
after being sold in Tripoli, the money of their sale would be given up to
the merchants under European protection." This is a strong confirmation
of the opinion which I have expressed in my reports, "_That the
slave-traffic of Tripoli is supported by the money and goods of
Europeans_." My informant wished to know and put the question:--"If I
take you (the writer) to Soudan, and bring you back safe, will you get me
free from paying taxes to the Pasha?" Another observed on this,--"That's
ridiculous, Yâkob; if you say that Mahomet is the prophet of God, you can
go safe to Soudan without the protection of any body." I made answer to
this impertinence, that such language was not proper, and if they
continued to pester me with their religion, I should report them to Rais
Mustapha. This at once silenced them.

Felt very sick this evening with drinking the water of Mislah. It is
purging all the people like genuine Epsom.

_7th._--Started a little before sun-rise, when a clear mist was spread
like a mantle of gauze over old Sahara, and lost the sight of the
sand-hills in the course of the morning. I joyfully bid them adieu,
though it may be very fine and Desert-like to talk and write of regions
of sand and sandy billows, furrowing the bosom of Sahara. Winding about,
but always making south. Wind now from the west; the sky mostly overcast,
but no signs of rain. No living things _en route_, but a solitary crow,
and another solitary butterfly. The mirage again visible. Very little
herbage for the camels, and no wood for the fire. On our right long
ranges of low hills, dull and drear outlines of The Desert. In some
masses, the stone and earth and chalk are thrown together in confusion,
as so many materials for creating a new world. Those who traverse these
Saharan desolations, cannot but receive the impression, that old mother
earth, slung on her balance, and revolving on her axis, has performed
eternal cycles of decay and reproduction. Time was, when these heaps of
desolation were fruitful fields of waving corn and smiling meadows, and
fair branching woods, meandered about with running rills of silvery
streams, where cattle pastured lowing, and birds sang on the trees. Now,
heap upon heap, and pile upon pile of the ruins of nature deform the
dreadful landscape, one feature being more hideous to look upon than the
other: and the whole is a mass of blank existence, having no apparent
object but to daunt and terrify the hapless wayfarer, who with his
faithful camel, slowly and mournfully winds his weary way through the
scene of wasteful destruction. . . . . In the sand, the pebbles are as
bright and smooth as those washed by the sea-spray, or chafed by a
running brook.

I have observed minutely the system of living amongst our people, and
really believe they have not enough to eat. When they invite me to
supper, and give me a share of _bazeen_, I always require another supper
on my return, before going to bed. Besides, I always make a slight repast
in the morning, which they do not. Then I eat dates and a piece of cake
during the day's riding, for we never stop during the day's march. They
also munch a few dates themselves. But, altogether, though I'm a moderate
eater, I believe I eat every day twice, and sometimes thrice, as much as
they eat. With respect to clothing, I wear double the quantity they do,
and, nevertheless, feel cold at night. I may say with truth, they are
poorly fed and badly clothed. It is this miserable system of living which
makes them such lanky bare-boned objects. I observe, also, they feel the
fatigue very much, as much as I myself, though unwell with drinking the
water and serving a hard apprenticeship to Desert-travelling.

I believe Europeans, in this season of the year, would travel these
Saharan wilds with less fatigue, and in far superior style. I now walk
two hours first thing every morning. Most of the merchants do the same.
Zaleâ said to me, "Yâkob, we (pointing to three or four of his people)
are the only true men here, and understand affairs; the rest are all
good-for-nothing." Indeed, the Seenawanee Arabs are generally very
excellent camel-drivers, and know the routes perfectly. We have with us a
young Touarick, who never covers his head winter or summer. His hair
grows long, unlike other Mohammedans, who shave the head. This Targhee
tells me he is never unwell. We're encamped in a valley. As the sun sets,
the sky is encharged with clouds. But usually the wind goes down a little
after dark, and rises an hour or two after day-break. Fortunately, this
is not a month of winds, so say the people.

As the camel moves slowly, but surely[64], on to Ghat, I still revolve in
mind the various routes of the interior. I'm still as much at a loss as
ever to determine which route I shall take, and have only Providence for
my guide. There are various routes before me:--

1st.--To go to Soudan, _viâ_ Aheer, and return with the ghafalah of
Ghadames, with which I proceed. This is easy and simple, but does not
offer much variety.

2nd.--To proceed to Soudan, _viâ_ Aheer, as in the first, and return
_viâ_ Bornou and Fezzan. This offers both variety and security.

3rd.--To proceed as before to Soudan, then Bornou, then Darfour,
Kordofan, Nubia, and Egypt. This is various, new, and attended with
danger, but I don't know what extent of danger.

4th.--To proceed to Soudan, Kanou, and Noufee, and then descend the Niger
to the Bight of Benin. This would be a fine journey, and perhaps not
attended with any very great difficulties.

5th.--To proceed to Soudan, as above, thence along the upper banks of the
Niger to Timbuctoo, and return _viâ_ Mogador in Morocco. This I believe
the most perilous of all the routes.

Any of these routes, however, could not fail to be useful to commerce,
geography, and discovery. Those who take the route of descending the
Niger to the ocean, will avoid a three or four months' journey over The
Desert. Noufee, on the Niger, is only fifteen days from Kanou, and seven
to the Atlantic.

To-day passed several tumuli of stones, more than eight feet high,
evidently placed to direct the caravans over the trackless portions of
Sahara. I wonder what the people of Europe will say when I tell them,
that The Desert--pictured in such frightful colours by the ancients, as
teeming with monsters and wild beasts, and every unearthly and uncouth
thing and being, not forgetting the dragons, salamanders, vampyres,
cockatrices, and fiery-flying serpents, and as such believed in these our
enlightened days--is a very harmless place, its menagerie being reduced
to a few small crows, and now and then a stray butterfly, and a few
common house and cheese-and-bacon and fruit flies! these poor little
domestic everyday creatures! Nay, there is not found here the wild ox,
or the oudad, or the antelope, or ostrich, or the wild boar, or any other
animal which inhabit and mark the Saharan regions near the north coast of
Africa. It is, indeed, impossible to conceive of a country so devoid of
living creatures as the route which we have traversed these last twelve
days. To this must be added, that now is the favourable season for
animals, and we should certainly see them if there were any to be seen.

Of the four routes to Ghat, the next to us on the west, is the shortest.
People say the route which we are now travelling is only frequented in
this season, and mostly by large caravans, or scarcely ever in the
summer.

_8th._--Rose at day-break and started at sunrise: as usual, the sky
overcast and in an hour the wind got up and blew a strong gale awhile
from the south-east. To-day Sahara looked unusually dark and drear; night
as a dread pall seemed to hang on the day and all visible things--all
life and animation was extinct but our lone, solitary, melancholy
caravan! We moved on in deep and weary silence, not a noise, a cry, a
murmur, the grumbling of the camels was even hushed. Nothing broke the
horrid silence of The Desert. We wound round long-long winding valleys--

        "Through many a dark and dreary vale
    [We] pass'd, and many a region dolorous--"
            "Where all life dies."

Most of the stone scattered _en route_ was black shingle, and all
the region had a volcanic look. In one wady through which we passed
were found several stones rounded into (shall I call them?)
cannon-balls, scattered about, and some were of prodigious size.
They were as round as if artificially made. There were also a great
many halves, or half balls. Our people to divert their minds from
the gloom hanging around them dismounted and amused themselves with
these cannon-balls of nature. Some would say that nature furnishes a
type of every thing in art. Our Touaricks assured us, "These balls
were made by the Jenoun, who on occasion of quarrels, pelted one
another with them. A traveller was once killed with some of these
balls during the night, although a friend of the Jenoun." In a
former period, I imagine the action of water produced these
specimens of stony rotundity, for they were embedded in a deep wady.
On leaving this valley, I had also something else to relieve me from
the gloom of this day's march. On mounting a small ridge of rock,
abrupt, and full of sharp stones, I was pitched off in a summerset
style from the back of the camel, and if I had not been caught in my
fall by a slave of the caravan, I should have fallen once and for
ever in this world; as it was, I felt stunned and considerably hurt.
This was my first and last fall from the camel. I learnt caution at
a great risk. The people all crowded round to assist me, terribly
frightened. My thick woollen clothes saved my bones. I could not
help remarking the coincidence of being saved by a slave, for the
benefit of whom I had chiefly undertaken this perilous journey. In
general, the camel goes extremely steady, it is only in mounting and
descending that they become unsteady, unwieldy, and dangerous. At
other times, you may sleep, eat and drink, read and write, on the
back of a camel. But as our days are short and nights long, we require
no sleep, and my eyes are too bad for reading. Our people call camels
by the Arabic term _bâeer_ (‮بعير‬), the male camel is called
_jemel_ (‮جمل‬), and the female _nagah_ (‮ناقه‬). As the
she-camel is most valuable for the sustenance of the tribes, the
Touaricks sometimes call the whole race of camels nagah. "We," say
they, "have nothing but the _nagah_ (she-camel)," thereby meaning,
our property alone consists in camels. But the nagah is a great
favourite with the Mussulmans of all nations. Mahomet mounted a
milk-white nagah, when he ascended to paradise. The camels have all
public and private marks, the former for their country, and the
latter for their owner, and, strange enough, the public mark of the
Ghadames camels is the English broad R. So when a camel is stolen, a
man claims his camel by his mark. The marking is done by branding
with a hot iron.

I can't help observing the habits of the camels, for our continued
marching affords us ample leisure. When these melancholy creatures can
find no other occupation _en route_, or when there is nothing _en route_,
or after a full belly, they set to work, like men, and bite one another.
Often one of the camels falls, or throws its load, in a regular
encounter. The Moors and Arabs are bad loaders of the camels, and there
is always some camel with its load falling off. In fact, the people do
nothing neat and well. Even the little gear required for these animals is
continually breaking and getting out of order. People look to the
immediate hour before them: not excepting even the necessary articles of
fodder and water, and food for themselves, of which they often neglect to
take a sufficient supply. And yet if anything could teach a man to be
provident it is The Desert. If this Saharan travelling were placed under
the management of Europeans, it would be infinitely more secure. Our
camels are nearly all coast-camels, we shall soon have to speak of the
maharee. The Touarghee uses quite a different style of address when he
coaxes along the camels; it is bolder and quicker in its intonations,
suited to the language of the Touaricks. A frequent address of
encouragement is, "_Bok, bok bok, bokka bokka_." The Arabs usually
command the movement of the camels by "Tzâ;" and when they are to stop,
by "Ush;" and, to kneel down, it is a prolonged pronunciation of the
guttural ‮خ‬ or Kh-h-h. We may well suppose, however, that the camels
which travel this route are expert linguists in the Touarghee and Arabic.

We continued all day till the last dull departing solar ray of the west
had left us. A long dark, dismal, dreary day it has been. We encamped
amidst two long ranges of Saharan mountains as a shelter from the wind.
Our people detest the wind, they prefer burning heat to wind. The
mountains only deserve the name from their frightfully gloomy aspect, not
from their consistence or magnitude, for in reality they are so much
stony and earthy rubbish shovelled up into long ridges. There is nothing
in shape or consistence of granite. I picked up several pieces of
petrified wood, but none of them pretty or remarkable. So far as I can
judge, there are no minerals or rare stones to repay the researches of
the geologist in these regions of desolation. Noticed a quantity of soft
grey stone, as also of slate stone: observed some lime-stone gradually
acquiring the consistence and colour of fine streaky marble.

_9th._--Rose as the day broke, and started with the first rays of the
sun. Continued through the same kind of country, with an addition of a
little sand here and there, for five hours, until we arrived at the well
of Nijberten, to our great joy, for it is a well of deliciously sweet
water. Around the well, I was pleased with the sight of several dark
bushes scattered upon the small sand-hills. Anything in the shape of a
tree now gladdens the heart. I observe again, that vegetation often
springs out of the sand in preference to the hard or even softer earth in
The Sahara. A little sand, scattered over the hard earth, and oftener
solid rock, enables vegetation to spring up, when the mould of Sahara
produces nothing. But there is little or no herbage for camels. Give my
nagah the barley which I provided for my own use. People ridicule the
choice of Rais Mustapha in the purchase of the camel, and say she will
never carry me to Soudan.

I'm now writing the journal of yesterday. I can't write every day.
Sometimes several days elapse. Often wonder how Denham could write his
journal every day, as he asserts. The wind is high and is scattering sand
in every direction. Certainly I require no supply of sand when turning
over my sheet wet with the ink.

Before we get to the water, we are obliged to scoop out the sand as at
Mislah. Many pits in Sahara are in this predicament. But we are
infinitely more repaid for our pains, for we find most refreshing
nectar-like water, as good as the last was bad. I imagine I drank off a
full gallon at once. I was praying night and day for this water, and was
obliged to go from tent to tent, begging a drop of the water which was
left of Nather well, until all the skins were empty of that water. Some
of the merchants kept a little in a small skin as a luxury. But I must do
our people justice, for seeing I could not drink the Mislah water, they
gave me often their sweet water and themselves drank the brackish. I must
add, I see no striking moral difference between the people of this Desert
caravan, and the people who fill an English mail-coach or a French
diligence. Mankind are morally much the same everywhere. The last sixteen
centuries have added little or nothing to discovery and amendment in
morals, however orthodox we may all have become. Our Christendom has been
chiefly occupied in resisting the worst features of the Mosaic economy as
engrafted by the corruptions of the Church on the Christian system. The
commission to Moses, "to extirpate the Canaanitish tribes," has been the
universal war-cry of the dominant party in the Church to burn and empale
heretics. There are still many divinity professors who think it right to
kill heretics and infidels. The society of the nineteenth century is
still eaten up by the most rancorous bigotry, and morality is
proportionably at a low ebb. Nevertheless, with all our present Desert
hardships, we are an easy journeying caravan; the patience of no one is
particularly tried, and there is no event to draw out the real passions
of the soul. We are now five days from Ghat; to-morrow being the Ayed
Kebir, we shall make but a short day. Had a little private conversation
with a Souf Arab. There are some fifty families of Jews in Souf, occupied
in commerce. Speaking of the eternal quarrel of the Shânbah and Souafah,
I found him a strong partisan of the Shânbah. "Fine fellows are the
Shânbah, like us the Souafah; one Shânbah would kill five Touaricks," he
exclaimed. Souf is a rich country. This Souf Arab has thirty fine dughla
date-trees, one of finest species. Riches are estimated by the number of
date-trees. He has two brothers now returning from Soudan, bringing
slaves and elephants' teeth for the markets of Algeria.

The notorious Mohammed Sagheer, who slaughtered thirty Frenchmen in cold
blood at Biscara, is now at Tozer, in Tunis. This flight of fugitives
will continue as long as France is in North Africa. It is inevitable.
When a political refugee is quiet his person should be held sacred; and
it was very dastardly on the part of the French to demand to have this
Arab Sheikh given up. But the French mind is incapable of comprehending
what is a political asylum, or even what is constitutional freedom. Local
politics still stick close to our ghafalah, and the people have such
faith in my power and influence, that they really believe I could, if I
would, get Ghadames freed from paying tribute to the Porte. An Arab of
Derge said, "If you return from Soudan, and speak to the English Consul
and English Sultan, you will then serve us in Derge and Ghadames, but if
you don't come back we are all lost." The British Consul of Tripoli
might, indeed, do something for these oppressed people, and save the
Saharan commerce from impending ruin. I quiet the people by telling them,
(and which is the fact,) I have repeatedly written to the English Consul
of Tripoli about their affairs, and to obtain some mitigation of the
oppression of their Government.

The bushes springing out of the sand are but a couple of feet high, and
their dark foliage is covered with crystallized salt. They are a stinted
species of acacia. Nijberten is the first Touarghee name _en route_, and
now we are fairly in the Ghat territory. On our right, a day's journey
over some ranges of hills, are tents and flocks and inhabited districts.
Passed several tumuli of stones raised in the shape of graves. To-day the
stone had a better appearance, a good deal of grey and red marble, and
some isolated blocks of granite. No birds, insects, or animals. Course
south.

_10th._--Strong wind all day, and cold. The Ayed Kebir. But our
travellers only prayed a little longer in the morning. Travellers are
exempt from the ordinary religious ceremonies and festivals. This feast
is usually kept up three days. A camel knocked up to-day, and unloaded
this morning. After two hours and half, passed on the right the well of
_Tăbăbothteen_. People say its water is still sweeter than that of
Nijberten. Indeed, we shall find the Ghat water to be usually sweet and
delicious. Scenery as usual, broken in valleys, hills, and high ground.
Some of the hills, covered partly with sand, looked very pretty at a
distance, shrouded as if in a sheet of snow, and dazzling in the
sun-beams. Encamped early in the afternoon. The knocked-up camel
difficult to be got on. A Divan of camel-drivers was held, and the
question discussed, "Whether the camel should be killed?" It was decided
that it should be doctored and left to graze until a Targhee was sent
from Ghat for it. A most piteous sight it was to look upon the poor
camel, prostrate and moaning, as if pleading the excuse of its malady for
not moving on. I could not stop to look at the wretched animal.
Nevertheless, I returned again, and found the camel tied down, with its
mouth pulled open, and its jaws lashed back with cords, to prevent the
poor creature from groaning too loud. The hot iron was being applied to
the shoulder, where there were some festering or dislocation; meanwhile,
the creature groaned in dreadful but silent agonies. At length, this
doctoring finished, it was left to graze; but being actually nearly burnt
to death, it could not get up, and was killed during the night, _to
prevent it from dying_, in order that our orthodox people might eat the
flesh like good Mussulmans.

Rais Mustapha amused me by telling how that the Arabs watched the signs
of immediate death, and just stuck the camel in the last agony of
dissolution, in order that they might eat the flesh with an orthodox
conscience. Camels are killed differently from other animals. Sheep and
bullocks and fowls have their throats cut from side to side, with
"hideous gash," for they are the most slashing throat-cutters; camels, on
the contrary, are stuck in the throat at the bottom of the neck, and the
top of the chest-bones. Next morning (_11th_), was held a Divan of the
whole ghafalah to decide upon the value of the slaughtered camel, for the
owner was in Ghadames. Its worth was estimated at four dollars. I
purchased a quarter of a dollar's worth. The camel was young, but the
meat not very good. Our people soon devoured the meat.

_11th._--Rose early, but did not start till near noon, to give the camels
more rest. Old Sahara looks absolutely pretty with the dark shrubs
bespotting and besprinkling his white shining sand-hills. The heavens are
strewn with soft flaky light clouds; the blue above is clear and
profound, and what other colours there are, look fresh and fair. Our
people catch the lighter and more exhilarating influence, and are more
talkative to-day. Descending to grosser matters, they are joking about
how much of the camel's meat they are to swallow for supper. A part of
the ghafalah left us, as the main body would not start early, thinking
to arrive a couple of days before us in Ghat. I loaded and wished to go
on with them, despising my friend Fletcher's advice. They insisted I
should not accompany them, but come on with the larger body of people. I
was obliged to return, and it happened for the best. This was a short
day's march, but wrote no journal. The advanced party excused themselves
for not letting me go with them, by saying, "We are going amongst the
Touaricks our friends for a few days, and you will arrive first." I
mentioned this to our party, who say, "_They're liars._ Are you so
foolish, Yâkob, as to believe every thing a _Mussulman_ tells you?"

_12th._--Rose and started with the earliest rays of the Saharan sun.
Scenery as usual; but the ranges of Saharan hills assuming a more
battlemental shape, and darker, blacker colour. Fast approaching the
inhabited districts; saw the traces of a route to Fezzan, on which the
foot-prints of sheep were visible. Saw some inhabited mountains at a
considerable distance, but no peculiar feelings started in the mind, and
I grow weary of the journey. A dull drear and long day. Overtook the
advanced portion of our ghafalah, and had the laugh at them. We asked
them, whether they had seen their good friends the Touaricks? whether
they had brought us fresh eggs, milk, and a whole sheep? We, of course,
begging our portion of the rich spoil. The people now told me to place my
tent within the circle of the encampment, as we were getting near the
inhabited districts. I usually encamped at a short distance from the
centre of confusion in the ghafalah, and found it more quiet. As to
fear, I had none, and slept more soundly in the open Desert than in any
part of the world where I had travelled before.

_13th._--Rose at day-break, and, after a few hours' riding, came in full
view of the Touarick camel-grazing country. We descended into a beautiful
plain. After such Desert, how lovely it was! the plain of the Paradise of
Sahara! This plain afforded many a taste of freshest herbage for the
camels, almost approaching to English grass. They cropped it with
rapacious greediness. Every person's eyes sparkled with delight at seeing
the famished camels devour the herbage. We stopped half an hour to let
them graze. Here were butterflies in quantities fluttering about, in
dress of silver white, and gorgeous hues of rubies, and labouring beetles
and industrious ants covering the small turf-hills, all which were to us
"signs of life," and living in the world. We had already seen, before
entering the fair plain, a small flight of larks, and now we feasted our
eyes on a few swallows skimming this "flowery mead," for here and there
were pretty blue and red and yellow wild flowers. A moment I forgot being
in The Desert. The abundance of the herbage arises from there having
recently fallen copious showers of rain--quite unusual in this thirsty
country. But our route is the worst and most desolate of all the routes
from Ghadames to Ghat. The other parallel routes always afford more
herbage, besides having some inhabited tracts, with flocks of sheep and
herds of camels feeding. Indeed, with the exception of a few people at
the well of _Tadoghseen_, which we shall soon mention, we found no
inhabitants in this the most easterly route. Whilst passing through the
plain I espied a little black something moving about. In getting up to
it, to my astonishment it was a little child stark naked! Our people were
as much amazed as myself. I thought within myself, if this be the way in
which the Touaricks bring up their children, exposed to cold and heat,
rain and wind, in such terrible plight in open desert! no wonder then
they can bear all the hardship of The Sahara, as we a spring-day in
Europe. It is impossible for an European to contend with a nature like
that of the Touarick; we can never expect to adopt their habits of
Saharan travelling. The little wretched urchin had been left by some of
the shepherds, for camels, goats, and donkeys were feeding about. The
child was very merry, but not old enough to speak much. Our people gave
the boy a piece of bread, which he put at once to his mouth, and grinned
"a thank you." From the plain rises a huge block of rock in the shape of
a sugar-loaf, a frequent form of blocks of rock in this desert. As we
neared the well, I was greatly rejoiced at the arrival of two slaves, one
of which had been dispatched by the Sheikh Jabour from Ghat, to tell me,
"I was to come with all confidence to Ghat, to fear nothing; no Touarghee
should say an untoward word to me." I augured well of all things on the
receipt of such news. Our people were as pleased as myself on the arrival
of Jabour's slave. They called out to me to take the handkerchief from
off my face, to let the messenger see "the face of a Christian."

After riding further, three or four Touaricks showed themselves. I
saluted them. They asked our people what I said, and did not seem very
friendly. I began to have suspicions[65]. The advanced portion of the
ghafalah had disposed of their camels and baggage before I got up to the
well. Said and myself went up amongst the people encamping, but, looking
on my left about fifty yards' distant, I saw a group of people and a
quarrel going on between our people, four or five Touaricks, and two
slaves. Our people were violently pulling a slave one way, and Ouweek, a
Touarghee chief, tearing him as savagely the other way. At length the
slave, struggling stoutly, got free, and went further off to a horse.
Ouweek thought the slave intended to mount the horse and ride off to
Ghat; so the chief followed the slave and again seized hold of him, and
unsheathing his sword, began beating him with its sides. The Ghadamsee
people and Arabs again interfered and rescued the slave. In the meanwhile
Haj Mafoul Zuleâ passed me, and said, "Go up, go up." I replied, "Why? I
shall stop here, where I am." He answered something; but, being hard of
hearing, I could not catch what he said. I determined not to move.
Afterwards, thinking that Zuleâ wished me not to be mixed up with the
quarrel, I went further on towards Ghat. I imagined the slave had been
overriding his master's horse, and was being beaten for that. After
staying some time up the road, I returned to my camel, tired of waiting,
and sat down, telling Said to unpack. But it seems Said had heard
something which I had not, and said, "Not yet, not yet." I insisted upon
his unloading the camel, and took out some dates and biscuits, and lay
myself down to eat them. The scuffle and uproar was now going on about a
hundred yards from me, and I saw the sword of Ouweek flourishing and
flashing about. This was succeeded by a calm, and a whole circle of
people squatted down around Ouweek. Meanwhile, the three followers of the
Sheikh went a short distance off, spread their heiks upon the ground with
great and solemn parade, and performed the afternoon prayer, as if about
to sanctify some impending act of their Sheikh. I watched them anxiously.
When I had waited half an hour or so, several of our people, with Zuleâ,
returned, and not a little surprised me by making to me the following
announcement:--"Ouweek, the Touarghee Sheikh of this district, wants to
kill you, because you are a Christian and an infidel. He has just been
beating one of the slaves for going to meet you, accompanying the
messenger of Ghat. He wished you to come up to him, that he might
dispatch you at once." To say the truth, I had such confidence in the
Touaricks of Ghat, and had been so confirmed in my confidence by the
arrival of the messenger from Ghat, that I could not believe this speech
of our people, and was disposed to think it a joke. I was perfectly cool,
and myself. But as they most seriously reiterated this story, and let out
a hint, or I gave the hint, I'm sure I now forget in the confusion, that
perhaps the business could be compromised for money, I said to the
spokesman, Zuleâ, "Oh! for God's sake, go, go; yes, yes, make a bargain."
I noticed poor Said at the time, who was staring at me full in the face,
to see, it would appear, how I was affected by this most unexpected
incident. After a great deal of squabbling and bargaining, in a true
mercantile style, it was finally arranged. Ouweek first fiercely
demanded one thousand dollars! Hereupon all the people cried out that I
had no money. The _quasi_-bandit, nothing receding, "Why, the Christian's
mattress is full of money," pointing to it still on the camel, for he was
very near me, although I could not distinguish his features. The
Touaricks who had come to see me before I arrived at the well, observed,
"He has money on his coat, it is covered with money," alluding to the
buttons. All our people, again, swore solemnly I had no money but paper,
which I should change on my arrival at Ghat. The bandit, drawing in his
horns, "Well, the Christian has a nagah." "No," said the people, "the
camel belongs to us; he hires it." The bandit, giving way, "Well, the
Christian has a slave, there he is," pointing to Said, "I shall have the
slave." "No, no," cried the people, "the English have no slaves. Said is
a free slave." The bandit, now fairly worsted, full of rage, exclaimed,
"What are you going to do with me, am I not to kill this infidel, who has
dared to come to my country without my permission[66]?" Hereat, the
messenger from Ghat, Jabour's slave, of whom the bandit was afraid, and
dared not lay a hand upon, interposed, and, assuming an air of defiance,
said, "I am come from my Sultan, Jabour; if you kill the Christian, you
must kill me first. The order of my Sultan is, No man is to say a word to
the Christian." Our people now took courage from this noble conduct of
the slave, declaring, "If Yâkob is beaten, we will all be beat first; if
Yâkob is to be killed, we will be killed likewise." Ouweek now saw he
must come down in his pretensions. The bargain was struck, after infinite
wrangling, for a houlee and a jibbah, of the value of four dollars[67]! I
did not, therefore, "sell for much," and Christians at four dollars per
head in The Desert must be considered very cheap. It is said, every man
has his price; I had not the honour of fixing my price. This was done for
me, and I ratified the bargain. I made a present of a turban to the brave
messenger, whom the people assured me acted a most noble part. It is
strange that this is the second time I have been preserved from something
like a catastrophe by the interposition of a slave. Did Providence intend
this as any sign of approbation of my anti-slavery labours? We were all
uneasy. Everybody had to supply something; and it was hinted, that I
ought to send them supper. Our people did this, and would not allow me,
saying, that I lived with them and had no provisions of my own. I was
indignant at the conduct of the Souf Arabs, who cowered down before the
Touaricks, and belied all their previous pretensions to courage and
intrepidity. Even a Seenawan Arab was frightened at my coming near his
tent, in dread of another quarrel or attack during the night. All our
people more or less were alarmed and agitated, although we numbered sixty
in the presence of five Touaricks! I thought in myself, What arrant
cowards you are! To cover their cowardice they pretended the Sheikh had
hundreds of people not far off. Zaleâ, and his Arabs, certainly behaved
the best. Zaleâ, in fact, was now the only man of the caravan. He told me
afterwards, the Ghadamsee people had proposed to him, that I should run
away on to Ghat, but he would not sanction such pusillanimity. I confess,
however, when the people described to me the character of Ouweek, I
myself felt considerable alarm. During the succeeding night, I slept
scarcely a wink. I made the messenger of Jabour sleep close by my
mattress, and unsheathing Said's old rusty sword, laid it beside me,
determining "to die game," or put a good face upon the matter. At any
rate, I thought an Englishman could not, however he might trust the good
faith of these people, die like an unresisting coward. Ouweek, like a
true politician, feasted the messenger dispatched from Ghat to me nearly
all night, and told him to report on his return to Ghat:--"The Christian
wished to give Ouweek a handsome present, but the Ghadamsee people, who
are sorry dogs, would not let the Christian act from the impulse of his
heart. So Ouweek quarrelled with the people of the caravan." The Sheikh
and his followers kept up a roasting fire all night, a stone's throw from
my encampment. The bandit was merry at the expense of the alarms of me
and our people, telling my messenger, "These Ghadamseeah are all dogs,
but the Christian is no dog, for when I threatened to cut his throat, he
sat down quietly and ate dates and biscuits." The bandit gave me more
credit than I can take to myself, for, at the time of munching the
biscuits, I was not aware of his violent attempt at levying black mail.
There can, however, be no question of the bad character of this Sheikh.
He has murdered several people, and, not long ago, killed a rich
Marabout, going on a pilgrimage to Mecca, plundering him of a great deal
of property. He is therefore no pleasant customer for a Christian to meet
with on the highways of The Sahara, whom he would decapitate with less
scruple of conscience than a Leadenhall poulterer would cut off a goose's
head. He has many people, though a second-rate chief, and is allied by
blood to the reigning family of Shafou. Though a little insignificant
man, he possesses undaunted courage, and has signalized himself in the
wars against the Shânbah. He walks lame with a wound he has received in
battle. He is generally dreaded in the open country, except by the
merchants, who are personally acquainted with him, to whom he behaves as
a very jolly fellow.

_14th._--All our people rose early, and got off as quickly as possible.
We could not breathe freely until we were out of the clutches of Ouweek.
Some of them, however, paid a farewell visit to the Sheikh, who received
them very graciously, as politely as any Spanish bandit, and sent this
message to me:--"Yâkob, go in _amen_ (peace or security) to Ghat, fear
nothing from any one, for you are under my protection." Our people
encouraged me along. The Souf Arab, who was so cowardly, said:--"Why
didn't you say, 'Mahomet is the prophet of God,' then you would have had
to pay no money." I called him a fool, and asked him, if all the people
didn't pay something as well as myself? This stopped his mouth. Zaleâ
fully agreed with me, as did all our people, that if Ouweek had simply
asked for a present, he would have got more from me. I certainly should
have given him at once half a dozen dollars if he had shown himself
friendly, and welcomed me to his district as a friendly stranger. It
appears he refused money, and even the camel, which the people in the
_imbroglio_ said he might, if he choose, take; he took the woollens,
because he knew they would not be made a question of restitution by the
Sheikhs and Sultan. He was clearly entitled to receive something from me,
by the usage of ages, commonly called "safety-money," but not to demand
it at the point of his broad-sword. This was his great offence in the
eyes of all his friends and the authorities of Ghat.

I did not see the well, but the water of Tadoghseen is extremely sweet
and palatable. I should have paid my homage to this well, as I had done
to all the sources of water in The Desert, had not Ouweek taken up his
quarters near it, and I was not anxious to disturb or excite the
curiosity of the bandit by a personal interview. One of his followers
came to see me off in the morning, a tall attenuated black shape of a
man.

We are now fairly in "the region of the Genii," the land of mystery and
disembodied spirits; and the whole country is intersected and bounded on
every side with the battlemental ranges of black, gloomy, and
fantastically-shaped mountains, distinguishing the country of the Ghat
Touaricks, where their friends and confederates, the Jenoun or Genii,
dwell with them in the most harmonious friendship. Here our people say,

    "Millions of spiritual creatures walk the earth
     Unseen, both when we wake and when we sleep."

[Illustration]

There exists a compact between the Genii and Touaricks to this
effect, a species of _Magna Charta_, and not selling themselves to
the Saharan devils:--"The Touarick fathers solemnly vowed, alone of
mortals, eternal friendship to the Genii, they would never molest
them in the various palaces which they (the Genii) had built in
their (the Touarick) country, nor use any means either through
Mahomet, or the Holy Koran, to injure them or dislodge them from the
black turret-shaped hills: and for this devotion on their part, the
Genii promised to afford them (the Touaricks) protection at all
times against their enemies, more particularly during the night,
giving them vision and tact to surprise their enemy during the dread
hour of darkness." So the Touaricks are reckoned very devils at
night, and usually attack their enemy at this time, and hack him to
pieces with their broadswords. Poor Major Laing was surprised by a
Touarghee chief in this way, two of his servants were killed, and
himself wounded, or cut and hacked in some thirty places. The air of
the region of Genii and Touaricks we now breathed, but found it as
free as that of any part of The Sahara. Our people did not think so,
and they pointed out to me with a shuddering awe all the mysterious
objects. First and foremost, standing out from the lower and more
modest abodes of the Genii, like a huge castle, such as the Titans
might have built when they scaled the walls of heaven, was the _Kesar
Genoun_, (‮قصر جنون‬) "Palace of demons," _par excellence_.
This was the hall of council where the Genii meet from thousands of
miles round, and debate upon their affairs of State. It is also the
Jemâ or Mosque, where they meet on a Friday to pray to Allah, for
they also worship Allah, though not properly. These lower and less
destructive grades of Demonii "believe and tremble." This is also
the mint where the Genii keep their bullion. The entire caverns of
this monstrous block of rock are full of gold and silver, and
diamonds, and all precious jewels[68]. A more _mortal_ and sublunary
mystery was now pointed out to me. This was a small block of rock
about fifty feet high, of the shape of the accompanying drawing; the
lower or under part where it comes in contact with the ground, being
so exceedingly small as not to be visible. Here was the dreadful
spot on which several people were murdered, and amongst the rest a
wealthy Marabout, but a saint of great sanctity. The murderer (of
what country it is not said), was so ashamed and horrified at his
own deed of blood, that when he had committed it he begged the Genii
to cover up their bodies from his sight, for he had not courage to
bury them. The Genii listened to his request, detached this piece of
rock from their great palace, where it has rested, occasionally
_rocking_[69], say the people, to this day--a memento against murder
and crime! For this service the murderer begged the Genii to accept
of some of the spoil, but they refused to accept of gold tainted
with blood; and, on the contrary, the avenging spirits of justice
pelted him with pieces of rock till he died. He was fairly stoned to
death, and his bruised and broken carcase was left unburied, a
horror to all passers-by! We see the Genii are a moral people, and
in general the Mussulmans of The Sahara speak of them as a good sort
of folks, not unlike Puck and his merry crew, only playing
occasionally mischievous pranks upon silly inconsiderate mortals.

Beyond the Kesar Jenoun stretches away north and south the long range of
black basaltic mountains, called by our people Wareerat, but I am not
sure if this be the Touarick name. This ridge forms the boundaries of the
Tibboo and Touarick country, for it stretches as far or farther south
than the Tibboos, some fifteen or twenty days' journey. From the town of
Ghat to the base of this range is half a day, eastward, although the
range looks, by the ordinary delusion of Desert optics, to be close upon
the town.

FOOTNOTES:

[64] "Slow and sure," has in no case whatever so good an
    application as to the progress of the camel's march.

[65] These were evidently Ouweek's spies. They certainly did not
    accost me in that frank manner as the Touaricks had been wont in
    Ghadames.

[66] "Without my permission," or literally "tearing the _Litham_ from my
    face." _El-Lithām_--‮اللثام‬--is the bandage which all
    the Touaricks wear around the face, covering every part of it
    except the top of the cheek-bones and the eyes.

[67] The houlee, ‮حولي‬, is the same as the heik, and the
    _jibbah_, ‮جبّه‬, is a huge frock or tobe, with short sleeves,
    and coming up close round the neck.

[68] On these words of Shakespear, "_Kept by a Devil_," (King
    Henry VI., Part II., Act 4, and Scene 3,) Steevens makes the
    following annotation:--"It was anciently supposed, and is still a
    vulgar superstition of the East, that mines, containing precious
    metals, were guarded by evil spirits." So in _Certaine Secrete
    Wonders of Nature_, by Edward Fenton, 1569, "There appeare at this
    day many strange visions and wicked spirites in the metal mines of
    the Greate Turke. In the mine at Anneburg was a metal sprite which
    killed twelve workmen; the same causing the rest to forsake the
    myne, albeit it was very riche."

[69] There is an extraordinary co-resemblance between this Saharan
    _rocking_, or _logging_, stone, and that of our own in Cornwall,
    much noted and visited by all classes of travellers. Among the
    truly romantic coast-scenery of Cornwall, at the south-west angle
    of the county, are the celebrated Logan, or _rocking-stone_, and
    the lofty granite rocks called _Tiergh Castle_. Here is a reef of
    rocks jutting into the sea, on the summit of one of which is a
    large single mass of stone, weighing about sixty tons, resting on
    a sort of pivot, so near the centre that the whole block may be
    easily made to oscillate or _log_, to and fro. This _logging_
    stone has created astonishment amongst the illiterate, and given
    rise to many fabulous stories: whilst others have imagined it was
    placed here by the Druids, to overawe and terrify the vulgar.

    Geologists, however, says Dr. Paris, readily discover, that the
    only chisel ever employed has been the tooth of time--the only
    artists engaged, the elements. Some years ago, the upper, or
    logging-stone, was thrown from its equilibrium by the bodily
    exertions of some sailors; but a general cry of indignation having
    been raised against this wanton act, it was shortly afterwards
    reinstated in nearly its original position by the perpetrators of
    the mischief, who, while thus making honourable amends for their
    former folly, evinced great ingenuity and skilfulness.--_Fisher's
    Views in Devonshire and Cornwall._


END OF VOL. I.

LONDON: HARRISON AND SONS, PRINTERS, 45, ST. MARTIN'S LANE.

[Illustration: A SAND STORM. _J.E.S. del. J. W. Cook. sc._]




TRAVELS

IN

THE GREAT DESERT
OF SAHARA,

THE YEARS OF 1845 AND 1846.

CONTAINING

A NARRATIVE OF PERSONAL ADVENTURES, DURING A TOUR OF NINE
MONTHS THROUGH THE DESERT, AMONGST THE TOUARICKS
AND OTHER TRIBES OF SAHARAN PEOPLE;

INCLUDING A DESCRIPTION OF

THE OASES AND CITIES OF GHAT, GHADAMES,
AND MOURZUK.


BY JAMES RICHARDSON

Φωνὴ βοῶντος ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ.

IN TWO VOLUMES.

VOL. II.

LONDON:
RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET,
Publisher in Ordinary to Her Majesty.

M.D.CCC.XLVIII.




LONDON:
HARRISON AND CO., PRINTERS,
45, ST. MARTIN'S LANE.




TRAVELS
IN
THE GREAT DESERT.




CHAPTER XVI.

RESIDENCE IN GHAT.

     Arrival at Ghat, and reception by its Inhabitants.--The Cold of
     The Sahara.--Haj Ahmed, the Governor, and Sheikh
     Jabour.--Distribute Presents to the Governor and Jabour.--Visit
     the Sheikh Hateetah, styled the British Consul of Ghat.--Make the
     acquaintance of the Tripoline Merchant Haj Ibrahim.--The Ghat
     Rabble.--Ouweek arrives in Ghat.--A Visit from Touarick
     Women.--Arabs begging from me by force.--Arrival of Kandarka from
     Aheer.--Bel Kasem's account of the Slave Trade.--Visit to Haj
     Ahmed, the Governor; his Character and Establishment
     described.--Bel Kasem's Sick Slave.--All classes of People
     attempt to convert me to Mohammedanism.--Bad effect of an
     European Tourist assuming the Character of a
     Mahometan.--Touarghee mode of Saluting.--Miserable condition of
     Slaves on arriving from Soudan.--Soudanese Merchants friendly to
     me.--Visit from the Governor.--Report in The Desert of Christians
     Worshipping Idols.--Make the Acquaintance of a young
     Touarghee.--Slave Trading and Kidnapping Slaves up The
     Niger.--Economical Bill of Expenses of Journey from Ghat to
     Soudan.


_15th._--ROSE two hours before daybreak in order to arrive early at Ghat
in the morning. About ten A.M., the palms of Ghat were visible through
the scattered blocks of rock in the valley, for the plain became now
contracted and assumed the shape of a deep broad valley, on the one side
a low range of sand-hills, and on the other the high rocky chain of
Wareerat. But the first sight of the oasis, after nineteen weary days of
Desert, affected me with only disagreeable sensations. The affair of
Ouweek, though pretty well got over, had shaken my confidence in the
Touaricks. Indeed, the painful forebodings of the last forty hours had
seriously deranged my plans, and made me think of returning, availing
myself the most of my unsuccessful tour. This suffering of thought day
after day is intense and worries me, and will soon make me an old man, if
not in years. It was the sudden shock of the affair just after receiving
the messenger of peace from Ghat. I saw at once that there was a great
deal of insubordination in the lesser chieftains, which made travelling
in this country very insecure. I remembered the remark of my taleb, "All
the Touaricks are the Divan, and each has his own opinion, and carries it
out in spite of the Sultan."

We were now met by the friends of the Ghadamsee merchants, but with the
exception of Essnousee and two or three others, I received few salutes of
welcome; and when we got up to the gates of the city (at noon), not a
single person of our caravan offered me the least assistance, either in
interpreting or otherwise. I felt myself in a most deplorable
predicament, but I reflected that all men must each one look after his
own business, so our people were now each one occupied with his own
affairs. I felt much the want of a good Moorish or Arab servant. Said was
of no use whatever in this case. Strangers and loungers crowded and
clamoured round me, anxious to look at the face of "The Christian." It
was covered with my travelling handkerchief, and when I untied my face to
gratify their curiosity, they burst out with the rude and wild expression
of surprise, "_Whooh! Whooh! Whey!_" Amongst this mob I at once
distinguished a number of the Aheer and Soudan merchants. These showed
the greatest curiosity, but my outer dress being entirely Moorish, there
was little novelty in my appearance, nay, scarcely any to point me out
from the rest of the caravan. Several of the Ghat people then asked me
what I wanted. I told them, the Governor of Ghat. I was not understood.
At last came up to me a young Tripoline Moor of the name of Mustapha, who
volunteered his services as Touarghee and Arabic interpreter, but, of
course, our conversation was always in Arabic. Amidst a cluster of
Touaricks and Ghat townsmen, the Governor was pointed out. Several
Sheikhs were present, but it appears they gave precedence to the
Governor's son from a feeling of shamefacedness. Haj Ahmed's son is a
very nice polite young gentleman, as smart as a Parisian dandy. After a
little delay he conducted us to a house, in which some of his father's
slaves were living. It was a dark dreadful dilapidated hovel. The young
gentleman most earnestly apologized, protesting, "The town is full of
people, merchants, and strangers. We have nothing better left in the
town. Perhaps you will come and live in our house out of the town." We
looked out our baggage, which had been conveyed for us by Arabs of our
caravan, and were astonished to find it scattered about outside the city
gates, the caravan people having thrown it down there. However, nothing
was lost, and this at once impressed me with the remarkable honesty of
the Ghatee people. I took up my quarters in a small room built on the
terrace, without window or door, but very airy. A roof of mud and straw
was now a luxurious and splendid mansion to me. At least a dozen slaves
were occupied in carrying my baggage from outside the gates to my
domicile, each carrying some trifle. No camels or beast of burden are
allowed to enter the city gates, all goods and merchandize are carried by
slaves in and out. Like the porters at the different traveller-stations
in Europe, each of these slaves seized hold of the merest trifle of
baggage, a stick or a bit of cord, in order to make an exorbitant demand
of the value of a shilling. The Desert furnishes a parallel for every
circumstance of civilized life.

The last night or two I had found it very cold, and the wind too high for
tents. I may observe here, conveniently, the cold was so great in this
portion of Sahara, that I never could undress myself for dread of the
cold. After loosening my neckcloth and shoes, I lay down in the dress
which I wore during the day. My bed was a simple mattress laid over a
piece of matting, which latter was spread on the hard earth or sands of
The Desert, as it might be, with a small sofa cushion for a pillow. After
I had laid down the mattress, I then covered myself up with a large
woollen barracan or blanket, very thick and heavy, and over this was also
drawn a dark-blue European cloak. The cloth distinguished my bed from
those of the merchants, and the nagah always knew the encampment by the
sight of this Christian garment. When I wore it in the day she was
immediately sensible of the presence of her master. I did not pitch a
tent, for we could not, but formed a sort of head-place of the two
panniers of the camel, over which we arranged camel's gear, forming a
small top. Under this I placed or poked my head, so that, at night, if
turning over my face, I found a little shelter from the naked cold
heavens. In this way I lay enveloped in a mass of clothing. I usually
waked a couple of hours before daybreak with the intensity of the cold.
Said slept closely by me on a lion's skin, and rolled himself up in the
slight canvass of the tent. Like myself he never undressed himself at
night. When he wished to confer a favour upon any of his negro
countrymen, or the poor slaves, he would take them and roll them up with
him in this canvass. He would have sometimes half a dozen at once with
him, the confined air of their united breathings keeping them mutually
warm. The poor Arab camel-drivers had nothing but their barracans which
they wore in the day to cover themselves up at night, whilst the bare
earth was their couch of down, and a heap of stones their luxurious
pillow. All these Arabs were wandering wayfaring Jacobs of The Desert.
El-Aïshi says, speaking of the bleak wind of The Desert, "The north wind
blows in these places with an intensity equalling the cold of hell;
language fails me to express this rigorous temperature." The Mohammedans
believe that the extremes of heat and cold meet in hell. Some have
thought there is an allusion to this in the words, "Weeping and wailing
and gnashing of teeth," (the teeth chattering from cold.) Milton has also
enumerated cold as one of the torments of the lost. The tormented spirits
passed--

    "O'er many a frozen, many a fiery, Alp."

I had not been many minutes in my new apartment before the Governor
himself came in. I had been addressing the young Ghatee as the Governor
himself, like Goldsmith harangued a duke's footman for the duke himself.
Haj Ahmed, his father, welcomed me with every demonstration of
hospitality. He sat chatting with me until the arrival of the Sheikh
Jabour, who also welcomed me in the most friendly manner. This was the
Sheikh who had dispatched his slave to the well of Tadoghseen to meet me.
Two or three other Touaricks of distinction came in with my friend
Essnousee. They then questioned me upon the conduct of Ouweek, the news
of which had now spread over all the town, and thanking Jabour for
sending his slave, he replied, smiling, "Ouweek was joking with you." And
then all joined in a laugh about Ouweek's affair. Jabour, ashamed of the
business, took this method of easing my mind. The Governor now began to
ask me about news and politics, and how Muley Abd Errahman was getting on
with the French. The burning of the French steamer on the coast of
Morocco after she grounded, had been transformed by The Desert reports
into a victory over the French, in which the French had lost 70,000 men
and several ships. The Governor had also heard the Maroquine war had
recommenced. I excused my ignorance by saying, I had been a long time in
Ghadames, and had heard nothing. Odd enough, the Governor asked me,
"Which was the oldest dynasty in Europe?" I told him the Bourbons of
France. The Sheikh Jabour here interposed that his family was more than
three thousand years old! The pride of an hereditary _noblesse_ is
deeply rooted in these Touarghee chiefs. The lore of ancestral
distinction is co-extensive with the human race. I have given but the
substance of our conversations. I give some of it in detail:--


Interrogation, _by the Governor_.

_His Excellency._--"What did Ouweek to you?"

"He was saucy to me."

_His Excellency._--"Have you seen lately Muley Abd Errahman (Emperor of
Morocco)?"

"No."

_His Excellency._--"He has conquered the French, destroyed their ships.
They have lost 70,000 men. If you had told Muley Abd Errahman you had
been coming here, he would have sent me a letter by you."

"I have no doubt of it."

_His Excellency._--"How is your Sultan?"

"Very well, thank you?"

_His Excellency._--"When did you last see Sidi Abd-el-Kader?"

"Not very lately."

_His Excellency._--"He is a prophet." (To which I said, Amen.)


Interrogatory, _by Sheikh Jabour_.

_The Sheikh._--"What did Ouweek to you?"

"He was very rude."

_The Sheikh._--"Ouweek was playing with you, trying to frighten you
because you are a stranger. He's a fool himself."

"Oh, it's no matter now."

_The Sheikh._--"How's your Sultan? Does he doubt we shall utterly destroy
the Shânbah."

"Oh, not the least."

_The Sheikh_ (in reply to the Governor).--"My fathers were princes before
all the Christian kings, thousands of years ago."

"I dare say they were."

My visitors now took leave of me, Jabour shaking hands with me, and
saying, _Mā-tăhāfsh_, "don't fear." Afterwards had a great many curious
visitors of the lower classes, all raving mad to see the _Roumee_
("Christian"). And amongst the rest, the son of Ouweek! who is a young
harmless fellow, and said his father would never hurt a great Christian
like me. He begged hard for a piece of sugar, which I gave him. He asked
me if his father was coming to Ghat. For supper I received a splendid
dish of meat and sopped bread, but very highly seasoned with pepper and
cloves. It is the Soudan pepper, a small quantity of which possesses the
most violent, nay virulent strength.

_16th._--After taking a walk in the morning, I returned the visit of
the Governor. He received me very politely, and presented me with a
lion's skin, brought from Soudan. His Excellency shewed me his
certificate of character and rank, certified by a huge seal of the
Emperor of Morocco. He pointed out with conscious pride the name of
Marabout, with which sacred title the Emperor had dubbed him. Muley
Abd Errahman is an immense favourite here amongst the Moorish
townsmen. They call him their Sultan. The Turks they fear and
detest. They expect them one day at Ghat. In the afternoon I sent
the Governor, according to the advice of Mustapha, two loaves of
sugar (French), a pound of cloves, and a pound of sunbul[70].
Cloves--_grunfel_, ‮قرنفل‬--are greatly esteemed, especially by
the women, who season their cakes, cuskasous, and made-dishes with them.
The sunbul (leaves) is made into a decoction, or wash, and is used
by fashionable ladies in Sahara as eau de Cologne in Europe.

Afterwards I paid a visit to Sheikh Jabour. The Sheikh has a house within
the town, which very few of the Sheikhs have. Jabour received me
friendly. I could not see the features of the Sheikh very well, on
account of his litham. Jabour, however, is a perfect aristocrat in his
way, with a very delicate hand. He is tall and well-made, and his simple
and elegant manners denote at once "The Marabout Sheikh of the
Touaricks," of the most ancient and renowned of Touarghee families. I
took the Sheikh a present of a loaf of sugar, three pounds of cloves and
sunbul, and a shasheeah, or fez. Jabour received them very graciously,
and repeated his _ma-tahafsh_, "don't fear," several times, promising me,
at the same time, to use his influence with his friends to get me safely
escorted to Aheer and Soudan. The Sheikh's followers and other
distinguished Touaricks repeat the same, but the Governor I find more
cautious in his speech. On my return home, the Sheikh sent to know if the
handkerchief, in which the present was wrapped, were also a present, and
whether the bearer of the present had purloined it, for he had taken it
away with him. I immediately sent the Sheikh back the handkerchief,
informing the Sheikh the bearer was not told to leave it. All Saharan
people are immoderately fond of a handkerchief. I recommend travellers in
Sahara to supply themselves with a good stock of very cheap coloured
cotton handkerchiefs. My house is thronged all day long with visitors. I
am obliged to exhibit myself to the people like the Fat Boy, or the
American Giant. It is Richardson's Show at Ghat instead of Greenwich. The
rest of the ghafalah, which we left behind, arrived to-day. My friend,
El-Besher, to my regret, had turned suddenly back and gone to Touat,
where his brother had arrived from Timbuctoo. It is reported that a
quarrel had taken place about his brother amongst the Timbuctoo caravan,
in which affair ten people had been killed. So all Saharan caravans do
not travel in such harmony as we did. The Ghadamsee caravans are
certainly the most pacific. But the Timbuctoo people have everywhere a
bad character.

_17th._--In the morning went to see the Consul of the Europeans, as the
Moors call him. This is the Sheikh Hateetah, of whom very honourable
mention is made by the Denham and Clapperton party. Hateetah himself
assumes the distinction of "Friend," or Consul of the English. I found
him stretched on a pallet upon the ground floor, extremely unwell with
fever, and surrounded by his friends. He has just come from the country
districts. He asked me, "Is the Consul well? Are his daughters well? Is
the King of England well?" Hateetah had some years ago visited the Consul
and his family at Tripoli, under British protection, for Touaricks dare
not approach Tripoli. He has in his possession, after a dozen years, a
fine scarlet burnouse and coat, braided with gold lace, and also a gun,
which were presented to him by Colonel Warrington, on the part of our
Government, for his services to our Bornou expedition. The Sheikh told me
he had besides a written certificate from the Consul, but it was in the
country. I am the first person whom he has had an opportunity of serving
since his return from Tripoli, where he formally engaged, on the part of
the Touaricks, to give British subjects all necessary protection in the
Ghat districts. For this reason he is styled, "The friend of the
English." All strangers here are placed under the care of one Sheikh or
another, to whom they make presents, but not to the rest. Hateetah
resides in the suburbs.

During the past night was taken dreadfully ill, in the stomach, by eating
the high-seasoned dishes of the Governor. After drinking olive-oil and
vomiting, found myself much better. People say oil is the best remedy in
such cases. The Governor was troubled at my illness, and sent to ask
whether he should send me some senna tea. Wrote to-day to Mr. Alsager and
Colonel Warrington. The letters were to have been dispatched direct to
Tripoli, but the Touaricks would neither allow one of their own people
nor an Arab courier to go, giving as the reason that Shafou, the Sultan,
was not arrived. Touaricks have a horror of Turks, and cannot bear to
have communication with them, and do everything in their power to prevent
others from communicating with Tripoli. Not acquainted with Mediterranean
politics, they imagine that, because the Turks have retaken possession of
Ghadames and Fezzan, so long quasi-independent of Tripoli, they must
necessarily invade the Touarick territory, and seize upon their wee town
of Ghat, but to them the metropolis of The Sahara. This evening Jabour
hinted, in Hibernian style, to one of the slaves waiting upon me, that
his present of sugar was rather small. I forthwith sent him two loaves
more, which rejoiced him so much that he exclaimed, "Thank the Christian
by G--d. Tell him he has nothing to fear in Ghat, and he shall go safe to
Soudan." Felt better to-night. The Governor sent his last dish this
evening. A stranger of distinction is supplied with food for three days.
I have had my share of honour and hospitality, and am glad of it. I shall
now be cautious what I eat. But I find everything is exceedingly dear,
the number of strangers, foreign merchants, and slaves, is so unusually
great as quickly to devour all the food brought here.

Yesterday I made the acquaintance of Haj Ibrahim, a Moorish merchant
resident in Tripoli, but a native of Jerbah. When in Tripoli he acts as
Consul for the Ghadamsee merchants; his brother is now in charge.
Mustapha came with him direct from Tripoli, not passing through Mourzuk,
but _viâ_ the oases of Fezzan to the west. So an European agent
established at Mourzuk, cannot well collect a statistical account of
trade, on account of few Ghat caravans travelling the Mourzuk route. Haj
Ibrahim promises to be useful to me, and has already sent a letter for me
to Ghadames. This merchant has brought the largest amount of goods to the
Souk, about forty camels. The whole of the Soudan ghafalah has not yet
arrived from Aheer. It comes in by small detached parties. As there is
nothing to fear on the road, people prefer travelling in small
companies, which facilitates their march, not being detained at the
wells waiting for the running of the water.

I have _cut_ in a certain way my old friends of the Ghadamsee ghafalah.
This has done them good, for they now begin to return to me, and are
polite. Before they were all so frightened at the Touaricks, that I knew
if I did not cut them, they would cut me. Now, when seeing the Touaricks
are friendly, they are also friendly;--such is the world of Sahara, as
well as the world of Paris or London. When a man has few friends he gets
less, when many he gets more. On the principle, I suppose, that money
gets money, and friendship friendship. The Moors of the coast, of whom
there are a few here, exhibit more courage, and a bolder front to the
Touaricks. The worst of this place is, _The Rabble_. It is the veritable
Caboul, or Canton _Rabble_. Here's my "great difficulty." They run after
me, and even hoot me in the streets. Were it not for this rabble, I could
walk about with the greatest freedom and safety, and alone.

_18th._--Went to see Haj Ibrahim. Sent the letter to Mr. Alsager _viâ_
Ghadames, the only letter I wrote from Ghat during the fifty days of my
residence here. In my absence a loaf of sugar was stolen out of my
apartment. Suspicion falls upon a Fezzanee, whom I have employed, and to
whom I gave this very morning a quarter of a dollar. These small loaves
of French beet-root sugar sell for two-thirds of a dollar in Ghat. Ouweek
arrived to-day from his district, after stopping for the rest of the
caravan to get what he could in the way of begging by force. This is the
cunning of the old fox bandit. He knows he can beg more effectually from
the merchant and trader in the open desert, than at Ghat, where people
may refuse, and do refuse to satisfy his importunities. I have done so
with the rest. He now pretends he was only playing with me, and that he
would have let me pass through his district though I had given him
nothing. Can we believe him? Jabour says in turn:--"I will make Ouweek
restore the goods which he has extorted by violence from the Christian."
There is no doubt Shafou will reprimand the bandit when he arrives. But I
do not ask or expect the restoration of such a few trifling things. In
this country, as the Governor says, "full of Sheiks," where authority is
so divided, and the Sultan's power is so feeble, we must expect this sort
of freebooting extortion. Such were the good and fine old days of
chivalry in France and England, so much regretted by certain morbid
romancers, Sir Walter Scott to boot, when a baron made a foray upon a
neighbouring baron's people, and shut himself up with the booty in his
castle, defying equally his plundered neighbour and his sovereign. But if
in the comparison there is any declination of the balance, it is in
favour of the Touaricks, for these Sheikhs, governing their respective
districts with a _quasi_-independent authority, are now living in
profound peace and harmony with one another.

Had a visit from some score of Touarick women, of all complexions,
tempers, and ages. After staring at me for some time with amazed
curiosity and silence, they became restless. Not knowing what to do with
them, I took out a loaf of white sugar, cut it into pieces, and then
distributed it amongst them. The scene now suddenly changed, joy beamed
in every eye, and every one let her tongue run most volubly. They asked
me, "Whether I was married--whether the Christian women were
pretty--whether prettier than they--and whether, if not married, I should
have any objection to marry one of them?" To all which questions I
answered in due categorical form:--"I was not married--the Christian
women were pretty, but they, the Touarick women, were prettier than
Christian women--and, lastly, I should see whether I would marry one of
them when I came from Soudan." These answers were perfectly satisfactory.
But then came a puzzler. They asked me, "Which was the prettiest amongst
them?" I looked at one, and then at another, with great seriousness,
assuming very ungallant airs, (the women the meanwhile giggling and
coquetting, and some throwing back their barracans, shawls I may call
them, farther from their shoulders, baring their bosoms in true ball-room
style,) and, at last, falling back, and shutting my eyes, placing my left
hand to my forehead, as if in profound reflection, I exclaimed languidly,
and with a forced sigh, "Ah, I can't tell, you are all so pretty!" This
created an explosion of mirth, some of the more knowing ones intimating
by their looks, "It's lucky for you that you have got out of the scrape."
But an old lady, close by me, was very angry with me;--"You fool,
Christian, take one of the young ones; here's my daughter." It is
necessary to explain, that the woman of the Touaricks is not the woman of
the Moors and Mussulmans generally. She has here great liberty, walks
about unveiled, and takes an active part in all affairs and transactions
of life. Dr. Oudney justly remarks, "The liveliness of the women, their
freeness with the men, and the marked attention the latter paid them,
formed a striking contrast with other Mohammedan States." Batouta
mentions a Berber tribe of Western Sahara, as having similar manners. He
says:--"This people has very singular manners. So the men are not at all
jealous of their women. The women are not at all embarrassed in the
presence of the men; and though they, the women, are very assiduous at
their prayers, they appear always uncovered." He adds, that certain
women, of free manners, are shared amongst the people without exciting
the feelings of jealousy amongst the men. It is the same with the
Touaricks, but it is the absence of this Mussulman, or _oriental_
jealousy, of husbands of their wives, which distinguishes the Touaricks
from other Mahometans of North Africa, and connects the social condition
of the Touaricks more with European society. On departing, I gave the
Touarick ladies some pins, and they, not knowing how to use them, (for
pins are never imported into The Desert, though needles in thousands,) I
taught them a good practical lesson by pinning two of them together by
their petticoats, which liberty, on my part, I need not tell the reader,
increased the mirth of this merry meeting of Touarghee ladies
prodigiously. I certainly felt glad that we could travel in a country and
laugh and chat with, and _look at_ the women without exciting the
intolerable jealousy of the men. I think there is not a more dastardly
being than a jealous husband. Amongst the Moors a traveller does not know
whether he can venture to speak to a man's wife or not, or whether he can
make her the most trifling present in return for the supper which she may
cook.

Afterwards had a very different visit of four Arabs, who came with the
evident intention of getting something out of me by main force. I
resisted to the last, and to their astonishment. I told them, all my
presents were now for the Touaricks, and if they did not leave the house
I would get them bastinadoed on their return to The Mountains. The worst
class of people which I have met with, since I left Tripoli, are _some_
of these Arabs, who are the most dogged brazen-faced beggars and
spongers, banditti in the open day. Yesterday arrived the powerful Aheer
camel-driver and conducteur Kandarka Bou Ahmed, the _Kylouwee_, whose
arrival produced a sensation. Some call him a Sheikh. He usually conducts
the Ghadamsee merchants between this and Aheer, and as far as Kanou. It
is an established custom or law, in The Desert, that the people of each
district or country shall enjoy the privilege of conducting the caravans.
The Touaricks of Ghat conduct the merchants from Ghadames to Ghat, and
the Touaricks of Aheer the merchants from Ghat to Aheer, and so of the
rest of the route, as far as Kanou, the final destination of the Soudan
caravan.

My Ghadamsee friend Bel Kasem came up to me today, and whispered in my
ear the question, "If slaves would be allowed to be sold now in the
market of Tripoli?" I answered frankly in the affirmative, but added, "I
did not think it would last much longer." All the merchants now look upon
me as an anti-slavery agent. The affair of Silva and Levi, if it
prejudice the people against me on one side, gives me some consequence on
the other, on account of the steps which the British Consul took against
those merchants, or caused them to take. I went to see Bel Kasem in the
evening, who is but a mere trader. He gave me this account of his
slave-dealing:--"I have purchased five slaves at forty mahboubs each. At
Tripoli I shall sell them at sixty. The Pasha takes ten duty, and I have
only ten for profit and the expenses, of conveying the slaves from Ghat
to Tripoli, feeding them as well here as there. What, where is my
profit?" I echoed, "Where?" This is a fair specimen of the market. He
complains of the dearness of the slaves, although an unusual number, more
than a thousand, have been brought to the Souk or Mart. Haj Ibrahim and
some other large purchasers have greatly and unexpectedly increased the
demand. He says Haj Ibrahim purchases large quantities of goods on
credit, or for bills of six and nine months from European merchants in
Tripoli. These he exchanges against slaves in Ghat, and then returns and
sells his slaves, and pays the bills as they come due. In this way, it
will be seen, the Desert slave-traffic is carried on upon the shoulders
of European merchants. Haj Ibrahim considers his profits at twenty per
cent. The people say he gets more. My friend, the Arab of Derge, called
late, to borrow five dollars of me. He said, "I have purchased a slave
for twenty-five dollars; at present I have only twenty. You and I, Yâkob,
have been always friends. Lend me five dollars and I will pay you in a
few days. The slave is a little old but cheap, he is to work in the
gardens at Ghadames." I then explained to him the law of England on
slavery, which greatly surprised him. The next day this Derge Arab
brought in another fellow to ask me to lend him money to buy a slave,
just to see whether I should make the same reply to him also.

_19th._--Rose early, and better in health. I begin to feel at home in
Ghat, amidst the redoubtable Touaricks. I find them neither monsters nor
men-eaters[71]. Nevertheless, all the swaggering Arabs and Arab
camel-drivers are here very quiet and civil amongst their masters, the
Touaricks. I frequently bully them now about their past boasting and
present cowardice. Two of the Arabs who had attempted to extort a present
from me I met at Haj Ibrahim's house. I lectured them roundly, telling
them I would report them to the Pasha, for they were greater banditti
than the Touaricks. This had a salutary effect. I was not troubled
afterwards with these brazen-faced begging Arabs.

This morning paid another visit to Haj Ahmed, the Governor. Found him
very friendly. He talked politics. I explained to him the circumstances
of the war between France and Morocco, suppressing the most disagreeable
parts for a Mahometan. In the course of conversation I was surprised to
hear from Haj Ahmed, "Now, since these twelve years, Tripoli belongs to
the English." I used vainly all my eloquence in Arabic to convince him of
this error, which has been propagated since the removal of Asker Ali from
the Pashalic of Tripoli at the instance of the British Consul. I then
spoke to his Excellency of the necessity of sending some trifling
presents to the Queen of England, as a sign of friendship, begging him to
speak to Shafou. He replied, "The Touaricks have nothing but camels."
The Governor has a tremendous family. First of all, he has seven wives
and concubines, then nine sons and six daughters. One of his female
slaves repeated to me all their names, a complete muster-roll. When I
visited the Governor again, I congratulated him upon having so large a
family. He observed smiling, with great self-complacency, "Why, Yâkob, do
you call this a large family? What is a large family with you?" I told
him eight and even six children was a large family. At this he affected
great surprise, for he had heard that generally European females have
three or four children at a birth. Haj Ahmed is a man of about fifty,
rather good-looking, stout and hard-working, but inclining to corpulency,
very unusual in The Desert. He is not very dark, and is of Arab
extraction, and boasts that his family came from Mecca or Medina. He
pretends that his ancestors were amongst the warriors who besieged
Constantinople, previous to its capture by the Turks. He is a native of
Touat, but has been settled here twenty years, where he has built himself
a palace and planted large gardens. He is a shrewd and politic man, and
has, in a certain degree, those jealous feelings of Christians which are
peculiar to the Moor. He dresses partly in the Moorish and partly in the
Touarick style, indeed, like all the Moors of Ghat, who are called
Ghateen. He is, perhaps, not very learned, but is assisted by his nephew,
a young Shereef of great learning and amiable manners. I asked some of
the Ghatee people, who was their Sultan? They replied, "Haj Ahmed; Shafou
is not our Sultan." The Touaricks, however, have absolute control over
all affairs, and Haj Ahmed stands in the same relation to Shafou, being
governor of the town, as the Sheikh El-Mokhtar, who is governor of
Timbuctoo, under the Sultan of Jinnee. But, Haj Ahmed, himself, disclaims
all temporal authority, he repeatedly says in our conversation, "I am not
Sheikh, or Kaëd, I'm only Marabout. All the people here are equal. When
you write to the Consul, tell him I'm only Marabout." The fact is, there
are so many Sheikhs here that it is no honour to be a Sheikh. The honour
is too cheap to be valued, and is as much repudiated as a French Cross of
the Legion of Honour. Haj Ahmed repudiates being a Sheikh most stoutly.
Notwithstanding this repudiation, the Marabout is obliged to decide upon
the affairs of the city, even when Shafou is in town. The Marabout
pretends he does not receive presents like the Sheikhs, but he always
received what I offered him, and which was more than what I gave to some
of the Sheikhs. His palace stands west, two-thirds of a mile from the
city walls. Here he reigns supreme, priest and king, as Melchisedech of
patriarchal times, surrounded with his numerous family of wives and
concubines, and about fifty male and female slaves. Some of the slaves
live in huts near his palace, or in the gardens. The Marabout is the
largest landed proprietor of Ghat, but he also trades a good deal, and is
now sending some of his children to Soudan to trade in slaves.

Yesterday evening Mohammed Kāfah sent me a bowl of sopped bread, fat, and
gravy, garnished with two or three little pieces of meat. This is the
first act and specimen of hospitality on the part of the townsmen. Kafah
is a considerable merchant, and one of the three or four grandees of the
place. Bel Kasem called out to me to-day, for he lives next door, "Yâkob!
Yâkob! Aye! for God's sake, one of my slaves is ill, bring me some
medicine to purge him, quick, quick, he'll die." I had nothing to give
the poor creature but a worm-powder, ordering half the quantity, all my
medicines being distributed, except those for the eyes. Undoubtedly many
of the slaves must die before they arrive in Tripoli. They are mostly fed
on dates, the profit of the commerce is so small as not to allow
wholesome food being given them. The slaves are brought from countries
teeming with plenty of meat, grain, and vegetables, whilst they are fed
with herbage and dates _en route_ from Aheer to Ghat. What wonder then
they die?

Every body, as was the case at Ghadames, high and low, rich and poor,
young and old, wishes to convert me into a good Mussulman, being
mortified that so quiet a Christian should be an infidel. An old Sheikh
paid me a visit to-day, and began, "Now, Christian, that you have come
into this country, I hope you will find everything better than in your
own country, and become a Mussulman, one loved of God. Come to my house,
leave your infidel father and mother. I have two daughters. I will give
you both for wives, and seven camels besides. This will make you a Sheikh
amongst us. You can also be a Marabout, and spend your life in prayer." I
excused myself, by saying, "I had engagements in my country. My Sultan
would brand me with disgrace, and I should be fetched out of this country
by the Turks, who were always the friends of the English." The Sheikh
sighed, raised up his aged body, and departed, mumbling something, a
blessing or a curse, upon my head. A younger son of Haj Ahmed came in and
addressed me, "Why not say, 'There is one God', and 'Mahomet is the
prophet of God?'" I told him a Christian was prohibited from making such
a confession. On paying a visit to Mohammed Kafah, who sent me the
supper, I found his house full of slaves and Soudan goods, and he himself
very busy in the midst of them. He received me very friendly, and, after
a little, said, "It would be better for you if you turned Mussulman. Do
you not wish to go to Paradise? A slave of ours is better than you, and
your estate." To turn the conversation, I observed (which I knew would
excite his mercantile lust, despite his orthodox zeal), "I hear you are
vastly rich, the richest merchant in Ghat." "Ah!" he replied, distending
into consequence, "but the Christians have all the money." I rejoined,
"If there were a better Government in Tripoli, the Mussulmans would have
more money." Asking about the arrival of Shafou, he observed, "Haj Ahmed
is our Sultan. I'm not a Touarick. God help if I were a Touarick." He
then took me by the hands, and led me to the women's apartments to show
me to his wife and daughters. The good wife, after handling my hands,
which were a little whiter and cleaner than what are generally seen in
The Desert, for to have hands with a layer of dirt upon them of several
months' collecting, is an ordinary circumstance,--exclaimed, "Dear-a-me,
dear-a-me, how wonderful, and this Christian doesn't know God!" Her
husband shook his head negatively. The court-yard of his house was soon
filled and crammed with people, who rushed in from the streets, and the
friendly Ghatee was obliged to send me home quick, lest I should be
smothered by a mob of people. The affair of Silva and Levi had reached
him, and the report will soon get to Soudan and Timbuctoo, for the
merchants carry everything with them which interests their commerce,
making additions as they go along. Here, as at Mogador, it was reported
that I was commissioned by the Sultan of England to buy up and liberate
all the slaves. On returning home, I had another posse of visitors, and
some of Haj Ahmed's sons, who came with the fixed determination to
convert me. One said, on my admiring his Soudan coloured frock, "If you
will become a Mussulman, I will give you one." I now felt myself obliged
to rebut some of this impertinence, and answered, "If you would give me
all the frocks of Soudan I would not change my religion." I then
addressed them sharply against wishing to alter the decrees of God,
turning the dogmas of their religion upon themselves, and quoted the
Koran,--

"Thou wilt not find out any means of enlightening him whom God delivers
over to error."

Immediately, this unexpected style of argument struck them dumb. After
recovering their senses they became restless to leave me, and began to
beg a few things. I gave them some sugar and cake, and we parted apparent
friends. On going out, they could not forbear asking Said if he was a
Mussulman. Like many other Moslemites of Sahara, they said, "The Turks
are not good Mussulmans." I replied, "Mustapha, the Bey of Ghadames, is a
better Mussulman than any of the Ghadamsee people."

The reader may disapprove of my conduct in these my frequent evasions of
the question of religion; but when they reflect that it required, during
my residence in Ghat and other parts of Sahara, the whole strength of my
mind, and the utmost tact, to maintain a simple and consistent
confession of myself as a Christian, and that to have said a word, or
even to have breathed a syllable of disrespect for Mahomet and his
religion, would have exposed me to be torn to pieces by the rabble, and
perhaps murdered in my bed, they will probably feel less disposed to
censure my conduct. If there be any doubt of this critical situation of
an European who travels openly and avows himself a Christian in The
Sahara, all I can do is to beg of the doubter to make the experiment
himself. The reader will also be pleased to recollect, that the Denham
and Clapperton party, though they travelled the safest routes of Sahara,
were protected by the Bashaw of Tripoli, and their safety was guaranteed
solemnly to our Government, as being the immediate agents and
representatives of the British nation; and, finally, they had a large
escort of Arab cavalry from Fezzan to Bornou. Yet these tourists,
surrounded with such protection, were actually circumcised at Tripoli by
Dr. Dickson[72], and were accustomed to attend the mosques and perform
prayer as Mussulmans. Colonel Warrington certainly told me the people saw
through all the mummery, and laughed, or were angry. As to the Frenchman,
Caillié, his eternal tale of fabrication, repeated every day, and every
hour of the day, to every Sheikh, and every merchant, camel-driver, and
slave of The Desert, produces a very painful impression on the mind of
the reader. Caillié's falsehood, as lie begets lie, begat many others. He
was obliged to tell the people, that Mahometans were not tolerated in
Christian countries. He told the Africans, also, that slavery was
abolished in Europe, at the time even when England had her thousands of
West Indian slaves. In this way, whatever service Caillié has rendered to
geography, he has damaged the moral interests of the world. The African
Mussulmans might say to future tourists, "If Christians tolerate not us,
why should we Mussulmans tolerate you," and assassinate the luckless
European tourist. Whatever, then, were my evasions on the question of
religion (and I sincerely confess I do not approve of them), I never
stooped to such folly, and so far disgraced my character as an Englishman
and a Christian, as to adopt the creed and character of a Mahometan. I
moreover, on reflecting upon the tremendous question, which I often
revolved in my painful journeying over The Desert--determined at all
events, at all costs, come what might, I would never profess myself a
Mussulman, if it were even to save my head. I thought the least I could
do was to imitate the noble example, which The Desert reports of Major
Laing--Sooner than forswear my religion, be it good or bad, it was better
to die! "Mental reservation" may be good for the Jesuits and papists[73],
who misquote the conduct of Jacob to Esau, but it is neither fit for a
Christian, or a patriot, or, at any rate, for an honest man, who was, is,
and ever will be,

    "The noblest work of God."

Spent the evening with Haj Ibrahim. A Ghadamsee came in who attempted to
frighten me from going to Soudan. Haj Ibrahim has the same prejudices as
the rest of the people of Tripoli respecting the supposed wealth of the
Ghadamsee people. "They have plenty of money but conceal it. Sheikh
Makouran has abundance of gold, but he cunningly professes himself a poor
man." I have lately read in a work published by the French Government,
that once upon a time, a son of old Yousef Bashaw sacked Ghadames and
carried off "several camel-loads of gold."

The Touarick mode of saluting is very simple and elegant, but cold,
colder than that of the English. A Touarghee elevates deliberately the
right hand to a level with his face, turning the outspread palm to the
individual, and slowly but with a fine intonation says, "_Sălām
Aleikoum._" This is all. When using his own language, a few words are
added. How strikingly contrasted are the habits of different people.
Amongst the Moors and Arabs this mode of saluting is their way of
cursing. With the outspread hand menacingly raised, a man or woman puts
their enemy under the ban and curse of God. A vulgar interpretation is,
that it means "five in your eye;" but this custom of cursing is so remote
as not now to be explained. The door-posts and rooms of houses are
imprinted with the outspread hand to prevent or withstand "the
eye-malign" from glancing on them and the inhabitants its fatal
influence.

_20th._--Rose early, felt better in health to-day. Am, however, annoyed,
but from what cause I cannot tell. Entertain many misgivings about the
climate of Soudan, and having no medicine dispirits me. It is now too
late to retreat. "Onward" is the only destiny which guides men, to good
or evil. Had a visit from the eldest son of the Governor. Gave him two
cups of tea, a little sugar, and two biscuits, which made him my friend
for ever; a cheap purchase of eternal friendship. Shafou, he says, will
not come before the whole of the Soudan ghafalahs arrive, of which there
are still some portions lagging behind. A Soudan caravan, as all Desert
caravans, is an _omnibus_; it collects parties of merchants all along the
line of route, and distributes them in the same way, but having a
starting-post and a goal. Haj Ahmed's son wished to introduce the
question of religion. "The world is nothing and Paradise is every thing."
"Amen," I replied. "What do you think of Mahomet?" "The Mahometans have
Mahomet, the Jews Moses, and the Christians Jesus, each for their
prophet," I said, after which not very satisfactory answer to him, the
conversation dropped. He now inquired if I had written to Tripoli to
bring plenty of sugar and tea, with a latent desire for a portion of the
spoil. I told him "No," very emphatically.

Called at my neighbour's, Bel Kasem, and found him doctoring a poor
negress girl. She could neither eat nor drink, she vomited and purged,
her bones were nearly through her skin, her stomach empty and dried up as
a sun-dried water-skin. Bel Kasem was rubbing her all over with oil. He
asked me for medicine. I said, "Give her something good to eat." He
replied, "I have nothing." "What do you eat yourself?" I asked. "Bread
and bazeen," he replied. "Give her that," I rejoined. He hesitated to
reply, did not reply; I saw he considered such food too good for a slave,
even to save its life. Such is but one dark sad picture of a thousand now
being exhibited here! One would think God had made one part of the human
race to torment the other.

Spent the evening with Haj Ibrahim. A merchant in his house related that
Noufee was now convulsed with a civil war. This country is now in the
hands of the Fullans. He had often visited that country, and had seen
English people there. A large caravan has this winter left Mourzuk for
Kanou _viâ_ Aheer. Haj Ibrahim pretends that the Touaricks of Aheer are
better than those of Ghat, but the former are people of the country (or
peasants), not towns. The Haj has not begun to dispose of his goods, but
he will exchange them against slaves. He, however, as a subject of Tunis,
is virtually prohibited by the Bey's ordinances.

My most friendly visitors are the merchants and traders from Soudan,
Kanou, and Sukatou. I cannot help looking upon these people with profound
pity. They bring their sable brethren, of the same flesh and blood, and
barter them away for trumpery beads, coarse paper, and cloth, &c. They
little think, that for such trifles, what miseries they inflict upon
their helpless brethren! A Kanou merchant, in a friendly manner,
recommended me not to go to Soudan, adding, "The Touaricks of Aheer would
butcher me because I was a Christian." A similar recommendation is being
given me by the Arabs, Ghadames people, and others. Still there is a
great variety of opinions, _pros_ and _cons_, on this subject.

_21st._--Rose early, improved in health. A small bird, not much bigger
than a wren, flits about the houses as our sparrows. This is probably the
Jereed sparrow of Shaw, _Bou Habeeba_, or _Capsa_-sparrow, but I saw it
at no other oasis except Ghat. It is of a lark colour, with a light
reddish breast, flitting about continually, twittering a short and abrupt
note, but very sweet and gentle. Yesterday Haj Ahmed sent me a few dates
and a little milk. To-day the Governor paid me a formal visit. He was
polite and friendly. However, he observed, "If you, Yâkob, had brought a
few presents for the Touarghee chiefs they would all have known[74] you,
but you have come without any thing, with empty hands." I replied that I
did not expect to come to Ghat when I left Tripoli. Nevertheless, if the
Touarick chiefs were friendly, and would protect Englishmen in The
Desert, both the people and Government of England would, I was quite
sure, acknowledge the protection with suitable presents. He was satisfied
with the explanation. Some of our caravan had told him I had come with
nothing, and had overrated my poverty as some tourists have their riches
overrated. But this report of abject poverty was a great advantage to me.
He was greatly surprised when I told him the Sultan of the English was a
woman. I explained, as I had done at Ghadames, when the kings of our
country had no sons, but had daughters, the daughters became sovereigns.
My vanity was somewhat piqued at the Governor's direct allusion to
presents, and I determined, that he himself, at any rate, should have as
large a present from me as he got from any of the foreign merchants. He
then asked me if I was an English Marabout. I replied, "Yes;" for a
Marabout, as in the Governor's own case, means sometimes a person who can
tolerably read and write. In this sense I may claim the sacred title. I
also dub myself occasionally _tabeeb_ (doctor), but mostly _taleb_, a
mere literary man or pretender to literature. I believe that coming
without arms, and as poor as possible, has had a good effect upon the
Touaricks. They see, if they were so disposed, they cannot maltreat a man
in my circumstances with a very good grace. I have still left, very
fortunately, a supply of eye-water, and am making presents of it daily.
This solution keeps my medical diploma clean and fair in Ghat.

Had another visit from the family of the Governor. All aspire to
religious discussion. Addressing me, "Which way do you pray, east or
west?" said another of his sons. "I pray in all directions, for God is
everywhere." "You ought to pray in the east." "No, for The Koran says,
'The east and the west belong to God, wherever you turn you find the face
of God[75].'" He continued, "You are idolaters, why do you pray to
images?" "The English people do not pray to images," I rejoined. As he
doubted my word, I was obliged to enter into explanations of the customs
of Romanists and Protestants. It is amusing or lamentable to think, as we
may sneer at or regret the matter, that these rude children of The
Desert should have ground for charging upon the high-bred and
_transcendantally_-polished nations of Europe, idolatry. But, if any one,
determined to be an impartial judge, were to visit the Madelaine of
Paris, and then pass rapidly over to Algeria, (a journey of a few days),
and there enter the simple mosque, and compare its prostrate worshippers,
in the plain unadorned temple of Islamism, with the bowing and crossing,
going on before the pretty saints and images of the Catholic temple of
the Parisians, he could not fail to be struck with the immeasurable space
which separates the two _cultes_, whilst the contrast, so far as the
eternal records of nature, impressed upon and read in the page of
creation, are involved, would be all in favour of the Moslemite deist,
and pity and folly would be mingled with his ideas when appreciating the
papistical _quasi_-idolator.

A young Touarghee came in with the party, whose eyes were very bad. After
a good deal of persuasion, for he was at first quite frightened at me, he
consented to allow me to apply the caustic. He is a follower of Sheikh
Jabour, and employed near the person of the Sheikh. To show how smoothly
things go after the first difficulty is vanquished, I may mention, that
he visited me ever after whilst I remained in Ghat, sometimes coming
every day, and always begging his eyes might be washed with the solution.
I had another visit from the Soudan traders. They say people just like me
come up to Noufee to where they are now returning. They speak Arabic very
imperfectly, and are obliged to converse with signs. They describe
thousands of slaves being carried away by men with white cheeks and hands
like myself, putting their hands round their wrists and their necks to
show how the slaves were ironed. These slaves are carried down the Niger
to the salt water (Atlantic). I asked them how the slaves were obtained.
One of them sprung up in an instant, seizing an Arab's gun. He then
performed a squatting posture, skulking down, and creeping upon the floor
of my room, and waiting or watching in silence. He then made a sudden
spring, as a tiger on its prey, with a wild shout. These wily antics
evidently denoted a private kidnapping expedition. Many slaves are,
however, captives of war, for the negro princes are as fond of war as the
military nations of France and Prussia, and can play at soldiers as well
as the King of Naples. Evening, as usual, paid a visit to Haj Ibrahim.
Nothing new, except an economical bill of expenses, from Ghat to Soudan,
chalked out for me by a Ghadamsee, in prospect of my journey, viz:--

Presents, _en route_, to various chiefs   13 dollars.
Wheat and bread                                 5    "
Olive-oil and _semen_ (liquid butter)      1    "
Extras and unforseen expenses                   3    "
                                              ----
Total                                          22
                                              ----

This, I imagine, is about what it would cost him himself, though he
pretended to allow a little more for me. These 22 dollars are to carry a
person two months over Sahara and one over Negroland to Kanou. It will be
seen there is nothing down for meat, or sugar, and tea and coffee, in
which luxuries Saharan merchants rarely indulge.

FOOTNOTES:

[70] _Sunbul_--‮سنبل‬--(literally "stalks"). According to French
    Oriental botanists, it is "_Nard, spina celtica_." An immense
    quantity of this fashionable plant is brought into The Desert. No
    present is made to a man of family without sunbul.

[71] Nor are they _Anthropoklephts_, as a late Yankee Consul, in
    his "Notes on North Africa," &c., calls them. Before Mr. Hodgson
    stigmatizes the Touaricks as men-stealers, he should see that his
    own States are pure. The reader will agree with me, after hearing
    further of the Touaricks, that these free sons of The Sahara have
    every right to say to Mr. Hodgson, and all American
    Consuls--"Physician, heal thyself: do not charge us with
    men-stealing when you buy and sell and rob human beings of their
    liberty."

[72] I speak on the authority of Mr. Gagliuffi, our Vice-Consul at
    Mourzuk.

[73] And even those who take an oath of _et ceteras_ at the
    National Universities! And others who subscribe to creeds which
    they do not read, or if read them, do not comprehend them.

[74] That is, being on friendly terms with you.

[75] See Surat ii., intitled "The Cow."




CHAPTER XVII.

RESIDENCE IN GHAT.

     Gloves an enigma of Wonder.--Visit Sheikh Hateetah.--All Men
     equal at Ghat.--Crowds of People surrounding my House to see
     me.--Violent Act committed on a Man at Prayer in the
     Mosque.--Extent of European Literature known at Ghat.--Continue
     unwell.--Ouweek's public Apology.--Dances of the Slaves.--A
     Saharan _Emeute_.--Arrival of Caravans.--Return the Visit of the
     Governor.--Europe, a cluster of innumerable Islets.--Who has most
     Money, Christians or Mahometans?--People more used to my presence
     in Ghat.--The Prophet of the Touaricks.--Visit from Aheer
     Touaricks.--The Governor's petty dealing.--The Shereef of
     Moorzuk.--Visit from Jabour.--Beginning Soudanic Cottons.--Visits
     from Kandarka and Zoleâ.--Route from Ghat to Alexandria, and its
     distance.--The Shereef of Medina.--Character and influence of
     Khanouhen, heir-apparent of the Touarghee Throne of the Azgher
     Touaricks, and his arrival in Ghat.


_22nd._--HAVE considerable pain in my stomach with change of diet. Did
not go out yesterday and the day before in the day-time, on account of
the rabble who follow so close at my heels, that my guides and protectors
can't keep them off. Sent a _shumlah_ ("sash") to Haj Ahmed, the
Governor, this morning. He expressed himself highly gratified. This makes
the Governor's present about five dollars more than he gets from any of
the merchants. The richest and most powerful merchants don't give more,
and some of them not half this amount. I have already given away 20
dollars out of my extremely modest resources.

Nothing surprises the natives of Ghat and the Touaricks so much as my
gloves. I am obliged to put them off and on a hundred times a day to
please people. They then try them on, look at them inside and outside, in
every shape and way, expressing their utter astonishment by the most
sacred names of Deity. Some, also, have not seen stockings before, and
examine them with much wonderment. But the gloves carry the palm in
exciting the emotion of the terrible. One said, after he had put the
glove on his hand, "Ah! ah! Whey! whoo! that's the hand of the Devil
himself!"

The _Souk_ or mart has now fairly begun. Merchants are desperately busy
buying and selling, chiefly exchanging goods against slaves. All complain
of the dearness of slaves.

Afternoon visited Sheikh Hateetah, "Friend" or "Consul" of the English.
Found him still unwell; he complains of pain in his bowels. This is the
case with most people in Ghat, myself amongst the rest. It cannot be the
water, for it is the purest and sweetest of The Desert. Prescribed a
little medicine for the Sheikh, who promises to introduce me to Sultan
Shafou when he arrives. Returned by another route, and in this manner
made the tour of the town. Half an hour is fully enough to walk round the
mere walls of the city, but then there are considerable suburbs,
consisting of huts and stone and mud houses. At the Sheikh's I met a
merchant just returned from Kanou; I put some questions to him, who,
thinking I wished to have every one answered in the affirmative, gave me
his terrible "yahs" and "aywahs" to all and everything demanded.

"Are there many people ill in Kanou?"

"Yes, many."

"Is the route to Kanou unsafe?"

"Yes."

"Are there banditti in route?"

"Yes."

"Is it hot in Kanou?"

"Very hot, very hot."

"Is there fever in Kanou?"

"Yes, always."

This I thought was good news. I fear we often get incorrect intelligence
from these people, through their anxiety to answer all our questions in
the affirmative, they not understanding that we put the questions to them
simply to gain information.

All men are indeed equal here, as saith the Governor. There seems to be
no ruling authority, and every one does what is right in his own eyes.
Yesterday, although the Governor knew that some of his slaves or other
people had stolen my sugar, he never condescended to mention the
circumstance, by speaking to his eldest son about the theft; he said
absurdly enough, "Oh, if we knew the thief, we would put him to death."
On protesting against such punishment for the offence, he rejoined, "Oh,
but we would cut off his hand." This is all stuff, and a proof of the
weakness of the Governor's authority. Happily, however, there's no crime
worth naming in the oasis.

Am obliged to keep the door shut to prevent people from rushing into the
house by twenties and fifties at once. The Governor has sent strict
orders to his slaves to keep the door shut, first, to prevent me from
being pestered to death all day long, and, secondly, because some of the
people have got the habit here, as in Europe, of picking up little
things. A young slave is crying out, "Bago! bago!" every five minutes, in
answer to knocking at the door to see The Christian, which we interpret
in European phrase more politely, "Not at home," but which signifieth in
the original Housa, "No, no." However, a troop of the lower class of
Touaricks managed to squeeze in as some of our people went out, but I got
rid of them without angry words.

A Ghadamsee resident here, came in to-day, with a severe gash on his
hands, and one of his fingers, to ask my advice and beg medicine. The
gash was inflicted upon him whilst at prayer, by a vagabond Touarghee.
The assailant alleged as the reason of his violent act, that the
Ghadamsee had called him a thief amongst the people, adding, that he (the
Touarghee) had stolen two skin-bags out of a house. For such violence,
such a daring act perpetrated on a man whilst in the solemn performance
of prayer, our Marabout Governor was obliged to give satisfaction to the
injured party. His Excellency stripped the house of the Touraghee of all
his little property, turned him out into the street, and ordered him
immediately to leave Ghat. To the honour, and humanity, and morality of
the inhabitants of this part of The Sahara, such acts of violence are
extremely rare. The Ghadamsee had poulticed his hand with wet clay and
camel's dung. I recommended a bread poultice, but he kept to his day and
camel's dung. The Saharans mostly prefer their own remedies, though they
may condescend to ask you your advice. Bought some olive oil from the
Arabs of Gharian. Before pouring it out they wished me to put sugar in
the measure. I suspected some trick, and refused. As soon as the measure
was out of my servant's hand, they seized it, some licking it, others
rubbing their hands in it, and then oiling their bread. They wanted to
have a lick at the sugar, which would have settled down at the bottom;
and were very angry with me because I did not take their advice of
improving the oil with my sugar. These Arabs are really more greedy and
rapacious than the Touaricks. The difference is, the Arabs are near
Tripoli, see Europeans, and learn to be more polite to us than the
Touaricks can well be.

A son of the Governor recited to me the following famous distich, begging
me to tell him what it meant:--

    "Tummora, tummora, tera,
    Buon giorno, buona sera."

On inquiring how he learned it, he told me a Moor of Tripoli taught it
him. This seems to be the extent of European literature acquired by the
Ghateen.

_23rd._--Continue to have pains in my stomach, and feel very weak. Am
undecided whether I shall go or not to Soudan. However, Haj Ibrahim has
kindly offered to let me have twenty-five dollars' worth of goods on
credit, which, in the case of my going, will relieve me from every
embarrassment as to money for the present, until I can get a remittance
from Tripoli, for these twenty-five dollars will furnish the presents and
expenses of the route, and allow me to retain some twenty or thirty
dollars in my pocket. The reader will and must smile at this mighty
statement of my financial affairs, worthy of a Desert Budget!

Essnousee called. Ouweek is a personal friend of his; Essnousee
says:--"Ouweek has told us, he feared from you (myself), for the English
had never before been in his district. For the rest, he was only playing
with you. He wished to see whether an Englishman was a man of courage.
This you proved to be, for you sat down and ate dates and biscuit whilst
he was threatening to kill you. It also proved that you knew that he
(Ouweek) was playing with you, for how could you eat dates if you thought
he was going to kill you." This is Ouweek's defence about town. I heard
also a curious version about the slave who ran to the horse. Zaleâ says,
the slave ran there to get Ouweek farther from me, giving me an
opportunity, if I chose, of escaping to Ghat. This affair still occupies
public attention, but Ouweek keeps his present, and evidently will not
restore it despite the threats of Jabour. Essnousee tells me not to be
afraid of Ouweek, for he has influence with the Sheikh.

A Souk of _little things_ has just been opened, and provisions, with all
sorts of small articles, the manufacture of Soudan and Aheer, are exposed
for sale in the public square. Formerly, these matters were purchased at
private houses. This is a step in the march of Saharan commerce.

Yesterday evening, the poor slaves danced and sung till midnight in the
public squares. Ever-pitying Providence, so permits an hour of gaiety to
suffering humanity, under circumstances the most adverse to happiness!
The slaves of the caravan are, a few of them, permitted to join those of
the town, and the exiled slaves sometimes obtain intelligence in this way
of their country. Generally the slaves imported are from such a variety
of districts in Negroland, and so widely apart, that the slaves of The
Sahara can hear little of their native homes. I asked Bel Kasem, if the
slaves of the Ghafalah were prisoners of war. "No," he replied, "there is
no war now in Soudan; these are captured with matchlocks at night by
robbers (sbandout); the negro is frightened out of his wits at the sound
of fire-arms."

Afternoon there was a tremendous hubbub in the public square or
market-place, the Negresses flying in all directions from the scene of
tumult. One of Haj Ahmed's negresses comes running to me: "Shut the door,
shut the door, the world is upset, the world is upset! Haj Ahmed, my
master, is no Sheikh, no Sultan. He can't keep the people quiet. I'm
going, I'm going." "Where are you going?" "I'm going to another and
quieter country, to Haj Ahmed, my master, to tell him the news." This is
a very lively negress, her tongue never stops; she retails all the news
of the country to me, and is a great politician in her way. Some of these
Ghat negresses are actually witty, and crack jokes with the grave
Touaricks. The Touaricks are too gallant to be offended with the freedom
of even female slaves. I felt somewhat alarmed, thinking the discomfitted
party might come and avenge their defeat upon the unlucky Christian
stranger. We barricaded the door, and kept quiet, anxiously waiting the
result, as people do in Paris, when an _emeute_ is being enacted for the
especial benefit of the Parisians. Afterwards I learnt the particulars of
this strange tumult. There is an old half-cracked Sheikh, who goes every
day into the public square, and strikes his spear into the ground, and
retiring at a distance, exclaims aloud to all present, "Whoever dares to
touch that spear I'll kill him!" To-day a young Touarick passed by, and
seeing the spear sticking up very formidably, as if challenging
all-passers by, went near it, and said, "What's this?" and took hold of
it. The crazy Sheikh was watching at some distance, and now was his
opportunity to show the people his determined will and resolution. He
rushes at the lad with his dagger in hand. In an instant the whole place
is in wild tumult, cries and shouts rend the air, with a forest of spears
brandishing over the heads of Touaricks, Arabs, Moors, slaves, men,
women, and children, mingling together, and running over one another in a
frightful _melée_. The boy is rescued, the people resume their lounging
seats, the storm drops to a dead calm, and nobody is hurt, not even
scratched. Such is a row amongst these untutored children of The Desert.
How different to the Thuggee rows now being enacted in Ireland!

Afterwards paid a visit to Bel Kasem. He complained bitterly of slaves
being dear. A slave is sold at from 40 to 100 dollars. The mediate price
is 60 to 70. Two months ago good slaves were sold at 30 and 40 dollars
each. The reason given is the great quantity of merchandize arrived
direct from Tripoli, besides from the lateral routes of Ghadames and
Mourzuk. The English Vice-Consul of the latter city has sent quantities
of goods to this mart, but these are exchanged only for senna and ivory.
This evening arrived another Tripoline merchant with twenty camels of
merchandize. He came _viâ_ Mizdah and Shaty, and was forty-five days _en
route_. The Touat caravan (very small) has arrived, bringing Touat
woollen barracans and Timbuctoo gold. The affair of the Timbuctoo caravan
is differently reported. It is now said the people killed were the
inhabitants of Ain Salah. The Desert is a great exaggerator and
misinterpreter. It is very difficult to get correct news.

_24th._--Better in health this morning, after taking medicine yesterday.
First thing, returned the visit of the Governor. When I go out early,
find few persons about the streets. People are up as late in winter as
they are early in summer. The Touaricks of the suburban huts do not come
to town till very late in the morning, when the Souk begins. His
Excellency treated me with three cups of coffee. He said, "You must take
three, because it is the destined number of hospitality, and as many more
as you choose." It was wretched stuff--hot water and sugar, blackened or
diluted with a little badly-ground coffee. But his Excellency thought he
was conferring upon me a vast favour. Few people drink coffee in this
country, and it is considered a great luxury. A man from Bengazi, a
visitor, was also treated with his three cups of coffee. These Saharans
have strange notions in their heads respecting the geography of England,
and the capabilities of its inhabitants in travelling. The Governor asked
me, "If the English could travel by land?" I was astonished at the
question, but I saw he imagined our country, and European countries
generally, to be so many little islets in the ocean[76]. It is curious,
likewise, how old this notion is. The Hebrew prophets, who were bad
geographers, depicted all western Europe as "the isles of the sea." The
Governor continued, "But can you travel on land, when water is wanted, as
in this country?" Before the French occupied Algiers, the Saharans
thought it impossible for Christians to invade, or even to travel in,
their country. This gave the French invading army such a vast prestige
when they once got upon _terrâ firma_. The event was as unexpected and
marvelled at as the immediate results were decisive and brilliant. I
answered, "In travelling through Christian countries, water is met with
every day. If it be necessary to carry water however, water is carried.
The French carry it in Algeria, and the English in India, when the
country is dry and desert, on the backs of camels." His Excellency,
greatly surprised, "What! impossible! Have the Christians camels? God
gave the camels only to the Faithful." I returned, "We have troops of
camels." "And where do you get camels?" asked the Governor, with great
seriousness. "The French buy camels from Mussulmans in Algeria, and the
English keep camels in India." "Ah!" observed the Governor, "those French
Mussulmans sell camels to infidels. They themselves are infidels." His
Excellency now inquired about religion, and whether all Christians had
books (_i. e._ books of religion). As before noticed, there is a
prevailing opinion here that Protestants have no Scriptures, whilst,
indeed, as we know, they are the Christians who only, _bonâ fide_, have
the free use of the Scriptures. I saw that Haj Ahmed, though a Marabout,
was sufficiently ignorant on the religion of Christians. His Excellency
then asked about money.

"Who have the most money, Mussulmans or the English?"

_I._--"The English, The Sultan of Constantinople has no money, or spends
it faster than he gets it. Mehemet Ali has but little money. However,
Muley Abd Errahman has some saved up in the vaults of Mekinas."

_The Governor._--"Muley Abd Errahman belongs to us; we are his subjects.
We have nothing to do with the Turks or the Touaricks. As the English
have much money, why have not you much?"

This question--this home-thrust--was made in a peculiarly arch way.

"If I had brought much money," I replied, as pointedly, "I'm sure I
should have been murdered before I got to Ghat. All my friends, and the
Rais of Ghadames told me not to carry any money with me."

This clear and positive statement made the visitors, who were numerous,
burst out laughing. His Excellency, taken by surprise, asked abruptly,
"How? Why?" I added, "Two Englishmen have been murdered in The Desert,
the one near Wadnoun (Davidson), and the other near Timbuctoo (Major
Laing), and both upon the supposition of their having possessed much
money." The Governor at once dropped the subject, thinking I was going to
bring upon the tapis Ouweek. His Excellency often quizzes me about having
no money, evidently not believing a word of my alleged poverty. I then
asked the Governor what he thought of the great camel-driver, Kandarka,
who conducts the caravans, and nearly all the Ghadamseeah between Ghat
and Aheer. He answered, to my surprise, _Ma nâraf_, "I don't know," for
Kandarka has an excellent reputation. This was the jesuitism of the Moor.

I took leave, and was escorted to Hateetah by my young Touarghee friend,
whose eyes I'm doctoring. On our way we met his master, Sheikh Jabour,
who stopped to salute us. Afterwards, somebody hailed us from a hut. My
Touarghee friend turned and said, "They want to see you." We went, and I
found several of my Ghadamsee acquaintance and some Touarghee people of
consequence, all squatting down on the sand in a gossiping circle. They
soon began on the troublesome subject of religion, after they had
gratified their curiosity in staring at me and through me. One said to
the Ghadamsee people, "Tell the Christian to repeat, 'There's one God,'"
&c. I was determined to risk an abrupt answer. I said, "This saying is
prohibited to Christians." At this stop-mouth answer they burst out into
a fit of hilarity. But one fellow, who wished to show some zeal, growled
out, "Be off, be off." My good-natured young Touarghee quickly got up
from the circle, where he had taken his seat, and smiling, took me by the
arm, whispering in my ear, "Come along, Yâkob, these are brutish people."
We found Hateetah better. I asked him seriously if there was danger in my
going to Aheer. He observed, "Without a letter from Shafou you can't go,
the merchants can't and won't protect you. Some of them are big rascals,
worse than us Touaricks, and will sell you as a slave for a dollar." Many
concur in this opinion. I found the Ghatee people more peaceable in the
streets, now the novelty of my appearance is diminishing. When I pay a
visit to a person of consequence I always put on my European clothes,
which compliment is perfectly understood, for I offended an old Sheikh
with going to him with my burnouse on instead of my French cloak. He said
to my uncouth cicerone, "This Christian doesn't pay me respect, why
doesn't he dress himself in Christian clothes?" Hateetah always makes me
promise to return by the eastern side of the city, where we meet with
very few persons. Saw Haj Ibrahim on my return. He complains of the
market:--"Slaves are very dear. What can we do? We are obliged to buy
them; there is nothing else in the market. Only a small quantity of
elephants' teeth and a little senna. Besides these, nothing else sells in
Tripoli."

Returning from the merchants, "Whey! whey! whoo! whoo! whoo!" saluted my
ears. This noise came from a group of people surrounding _En-Nibbee
Targhee_, "The Prophet of the Touaricks." The salute was followed by a
number of persons who rushed upon me, carried me by force into the
presence of The Prophet. The Seer, seeing me discomposed, said in a kind
tone, "_Gheem_," (sit down). Now there was profoundest silence, not a
murmur was heard amongst a hundred people crowded together. The Seer
stood up before me, and, assuming an imposing attitude, spoke in
monosyllabic style, the usual address adopted by North African and
Saharan prophets,--

"Christian, Ghat, good, you?"

_Myself._--"Yes, the people are good to me."

_The Prophet._--"Three! one!" (putting out one finger of the right hand,
and three of the left hand.)

_Myself._--"There is one God!" (knowing the prophet meant this, for it is
the usual way of badgering Christians about the Trinity in North
Africa.)

_The Prophet._--"Good:" (then making the sign of the cross by putting his
two forefingers into the shape of a cross.) "But you Christians worship
this (the cross) of wood, stone, iron, brass. This is not good, not
good."

_Myself._--"No, we English do not worship wood, stone, iron, or brass."

_The Prophet._--"You lie, you lie." (At this emphatic negative, up
stepped one of my Ghadamsee friends to the Prophet, and told him that the
English did not worship the cross or images like some other Christians.)

_The Prophet._--"Good, right, sublime. What's your name?"

_Myself._-"Yâkob."

_The Prophet._--"You, dog, Jew."

_Myself._--"No. This is the Arabic of my English name."

_The Prophet._-"Good, good; Yâkob, do you steal?"

_Myself._--"Please God, I hope not."

_The Prophet._--"Yâkob, do you lie?"

_Myself._--"Please God, I hope not."

_The Prophet._--"Yâkob, do you strike?" (_i. e._ kill.)

_Myself._--"Please God, I hope not."

_The Prophet._--"Good, good, good. Have you seen the Kafers in Algiers?"
(_i. e._ the French.)

_Myself._--"I have."

_The Prophet._--"Have they houses where women are kept, and twenty men go
in and sleep with one woman in an hour?" (At this question, the multitude
showed intense anxiety to hear the result.)

_Myself._--"I don't know."

I had scarcely made answer when two women rushed upon the Prophet and
dragged him away crying, "_Yamout, Mat:_ he is dying! he is dead!" As the
Prophet was pulled away he turned to me mildly and said, "_Yâkob, inker_,
Arise, James." I inquired where he was being dragged to, and was told
that the husband of the two women was just dead, and the Prophet was
going to see whether he could raise him from the dead. The Prophet had
already raised several people from death to life. It is a pity this
barbarian prophet could not be transported from the sands of The Sahara
to the marble pavement of the Vatican, where he might harangue Pope Pius
IX. and his Cardinals in the style of an Iconoclast, and induce the
Sacred College to abolish their scandal of image-worship. The Prophet
wears a leathern dress, or dried skins, from head to foot. His repute of
sanctity fills the surrounding deserts with its holy odours. The number
of miracles he performs is prodigious. His leathern burnouse, like the
Holy Tunic of Treves, is frequently carried about to cure the sick and
work miracles.

Coming home, I had a visit from some Touaricks of Aheer. They were
uncommonly civil, addressing me: "If you go with us, you have nothing to
fear. In Aheer, people will not call out to you in the streets as in
Ghat. We have a Sultan. Here there is no Sultan." They were amazed at my
little keys. I promised one of them, that, in case of my arriving safe in
Aheer, I would give him a little lock and key. This delighted him; and
two pieces of sugar, one each, made these Aheer Touaricks excellent
friends. Have visits from the Ghateen. Several of these people are going
to Soudan with the return caravan.

In better spirits to-day. Have been suffering from "The Boree." Such a
variety of discouraging influences press upon the mind, that it is very
difficult to keep it buoyant. Poor Said, he gives way in tears. He is
become terrified at the prospect of Soudan; he repeats, "The Touaricks
will kill you, and make me a slave again."

Had another visit from the uncle of Sheikh Jabour, a poor old gentleman.
I got rid of him by a bit of white sugar, which he munched as a little
child. He says, "One thousand Touarghee warriors are going against the
Shânbah after the mart is held." Was to-day astonished to hear, that a
few dates, a little gusub, a few onions, and a few stones of dates, which
a female slave offers for sale in the streets, belong to Haj Ahmed the
Governor! His Excellency sends the poor woman every morning to sell this
miserable merchandize, and she regularly pays into his hands the price
and profits every evening. This is one of the wrinkles of the Great
Governor Marabout, who lives in a palace, and reigns as king and priest
of Ghat and the Ghateen[77]! What shall I hear next? I am not surprised,
some of the Ghadamsee merchants sneer at the idea of Haj Ahmed being "a
Marabout of odour." Essnousee sent me a little present of vermicelli and
cuscasou, or _hamsa_. He certainly behaves better than the other
Ghadamsee merchants resident here. I'm told, there will not be many
Touarick visitors this year at Ghat. They have unexpected occupation to
defend themselves against the sanguinary forays of the Shânbah. And then,
the late rains having produced abundant herbage, they are also occupied
in grazing the camels. The merchants congratulate me on these
circumstances, and say I shall have less presents to distribute.

Met at Haj Ibrahim's a Shereef of Mourzuk, who pretends he is going to
Soudan. This is a little thin fellow, who glides into people's houses
through the keyhole, importunately begging on the strength of his being
of the family of the Prophet, and lives by the same pretensions. He has a
smiling face, with his head reclined always on one side from his habit of
incessant importunities; of course, he has not a para in his pocket. But,
nevertheless, he managed a few months ago to ally himself with the family
of a rich merchant, marrying the sister of my friend Mohammed Kafah, one
of the Ghatee millionnaires. Kafah is thoroughly disgusted with his
sister's marriage, and gives them nothing to eat, or only enough to keep
his sister from dying of starvation. One of the Shereef's items of
importunity, is his incessant abuse of his brother-in-law, because he
won't keep him in idleness. This little sorry shrimpy _quasi_-impostor
can neither read nor write. He tells me it is quite unnecessary. The
blood of the Prophet makes him noble, and fit for heaven at any time
Rubbee may decree his death. He is professionally and continually begging
from me, and says with a whining pomposity, "Put yourself under my
protection, I will escort you safe to Soudan. No one dare lift a finger
against a Christian under the protection of a Shereef!" But it's odd,
these and such offers of protection come from many quarters. The
camel-drivers and conducteurs look upon me as a good speculation. The
Shereef pretends that there are no less than two hundred of his family
in Soudan, and some nearly black, on account of their intermarriages with
negroes. One thing I like in the little wretch, he seems devoid of a
spark of bigotry against Christians. It may be that his mind is too
impotent for the malicious feeling. "Gagliuffi," he says, "is my friend.
I'm the protector of the English at Mourzuk." Mustapha of Tripoli has cut
me because I would not allow him to charge me double for the sugar,
cloves, and sunbul, which I purchased of him. A pretty rogue is this; but
I forgive him, for his voluntary and opportune services in interpreting
for me on my arrival in Ghat.

_25th._--Christmas Day! Not a merry Christmas for me--in truth, a sad, an
unhappy one. And yet I ought to be content, having food and raiment, and
enjoying the protection of God amidst strangers, in The Inhospitable
Desert! It is better for a man to pray for a happy mind than for riches
and celebrity. Weather has been mostly fine during the ten days I have
resided here. But this morning broke angrily, followed with a tremendous
gale, blowing from the east, prostrating all the palms, and filling the
air with sand, as a thrice condensed London November fog. It is besides
very cold, and is so far Christmas weather. I may add, the weather
continued unusually cold this Souk. People had not had such cold for many
a year. Received a visit from the Sheikh Jabour, who expressed himself
uncommonly friendly, and said, "If anything unpleasant occurs, call for
me." I showed him some cuts of a book, in which were drawings of Moors.
He was wonder-stricken. The sight of a date-palm pleased him exceedingly,
tickling the fancy of his followers who accompanied him. The Sheikh
promised me a letter for the Sultan of Aheer, and to send a slave of his
own with me as far as Aheer. Jabour did not positively assert that
Tripoli belonged to the English, and contented himself with asking, "If
Tripoli were English?" I explained fully to the Sheikh, as he is a man of
a fine ingenuous mind, that Asker Ali was recalled by the Sultan of
Stamboul on the representations of the British Consul of Tripoli, the
Pasha being a blood-thirsty tyrant, the enemy of the Christians as well
as the Mussulmans; and that the Consul has influence in Tripoli, but
Tripoli belongs to the Sultan. The Ghadamsee interpreter observed, "The
English and the Mussulmans are the same." "Certainly," I replied,
"without the English the French would soon eat up the Sultan of the West
(Morocco), and the Russians the Sultan of the East (Turkey)." "That's
good," observed Jabour; "Still, we in The Desert, fear neither Christians
nor Sultan. And if the English require our assistance they can have it.
Tell this on your return to your Sultan." This amiable prince then took
leave. If there be a desert aristocrat of gentle blood, it is
unquestionably Jabour. A shoal of low Touaricks came to me afterwards, in
the Sheikh's name, to beg. I saw through the _ruse_, and they were savage
in being obliged to go off empty-handed. Some Touarick ladies now tried
to squeeze in as the door was opened, and, in spite of the "bago, bago,"
got up stairs to the terrace. They had all the tips of their noses, the
round of the chins, and the bones of their cheeks, blackened. At first I
could not make out how it was. It was explained that the dye of the
Soudan cottons, which they wore, produced this blacky tipping. These
cottons begrime their wearers sadly, the colour is not fast, the indigo
being ill prepared. Some of the blue cottons are highly glazed. Men and
women wear them, being cheap and light clothing for the summer.

_26th._--Relieved from pain, but getting very thin, although my habits
are now what are called sedentary. I rarely sit up when at home, mostly
reclining. So far I am become a _bonâ fide_ Saharan habitant. Kandarka
called again to-day at my request. He professed to be very uncivil or
very serious, and asked a large sum for conducting me to Soudan, like a
real man of business, quite inconsistent with the present state of my
finances. He asks no less than 150 dollars in goods, including camels for
riding, and other attentions. This is more than he gets from all the
merchants put together, in fact, nearly twice as much. But if it be
necessary to strike the bargain, I'm sure he will come down to fifty. My
health is breaking down very fast, and I have great hesitation on the
subject of a farther advance into the interior. I have been thinking of
continuing my tour to Egypt and Syria, and Constantinople, visiting all
the slave-marts of the Mediterranean. Had a visit from Zaleâ, and found
him the same man as _en route_. But he is always a little wild and
playful. He is against my proceeding farther, and tells me to get off on
my return before Shafou comes, that the Touaricks may not get all the
money I have. I am at present, however, so satisfied with the Touaricks,
that I would give them a camel-load of dollars if I had them. Shafou is
still occupied in the neighbouring districts, enrolling troops for the
Shânbah expedition. The Bengazi merchant persuades me to accompany him.
From Ghat to the first oasis of Fezzan, there are 10 days; from thence
to Sockna, 10; from Sockna to Augelah, 10; thence to Seewah, 14 days
more; and thence to Alexandria, 14 more days.

Weather is dull to-day, but not very cold. All the Arabs and people of
Ghadames abuse Ghat: it is assuredly a sufficiently wretched place.
However, the scenery around is much more lively and picturesque than that
of Ghadames. A great quantity of elephants' teeth arrived yesterday (not
to be sold here), on their way to Ghadames. Also some Soudanic sheep for
this market, selling as low as three dollars each. Had a visit from the
eldest son of the Governor, and his nephew the Medina Shereef. This
Shereef must be carefully distinguished from the little mad-cap impostor
of Mourzuk mentioned before. I have not found so gentlemanly a person in
all Ghat and Ghadames. He was born in Medina, but brought up here; he is
the son of the Governor's sister, who is married a second time to the
Sheikh Khanouhen, heir-apparent to the throne. The Shereef's mother is
not a Touarick woman, and the Sheikh has another wife of Touarick
extraction in the districts. Of course Khanouhen is strongly recommended
to me by his son-in-law. "Khanouhen," he says, "has all the wisdom and
eloquence of the country in his head and heart. Shafou is an old man, and
talks little. Whatever Khanouhen plans, Shafou approves; whatever
Khanouhen says in words, Shafou orders to be done." Had a visit from a
Touatee, just arrived. He recommended me to go to Timbuctoo, and fear
nothing. "What have the Touaricks of Ghat done to you that you are afraid
to visit the Touaricks of my country and Timbuctoo?" he added. Now came
in two Soudanese merchants. One of them said, "Say 'There is but one
God,' &c." I answered "This is prohibited to us," which made them laugh
out. They have not that fierce bigotry of the north-coast merchants.
Visited Haj Ibrahim. He says, "Wait for me till next year, and we'll both
go together to Soudan. I'll protect you." Certainly this Moor has
hitherto shown himself extremely friendly to me. Khanouhen came in this
evening from the country.

FOOTNOTES:

[76] 1s xLi. 1, 5; xLix, i. Whilst in Jer. ii. 10, Europe entire
    is presented to the prophetic vision by the designation of "the
    Isles of Chittim." Sometimes the whole idea of Gentiles and
    Gentile nations is represented by the isles of the sea. The Hebrew
    bards, standing on the heights of Lebanon, and looking westwards,
    saw nothing but innumerable clusters of islets in the dim and
    undefined distance of the waters of the Mediterranean.

[77] A Moor of Ghat now and then goes to Tripoli. The Italian
    merchants call them the _Gatti_, "cats."




CHAPTER XVIII.

RESIDENCE IN GHAT.

     Arrival of the Sultan Shafou.--Visit to his Highness.--Visit to
     Hateetah; his jealousy of the Sultan and other Sheikhs.--Visit
     from the People of the Oasis of Berkat.--Said sobbing and
     sulking.--A Night-School in The Desert.--Use of Sand instead of
     Paper, Pens, and Ink.--Mode of Touarghee succession to the
     Throne.--Women hereditary possessors of Household
     Property.--Negresses are Dramatic Performers.--Description of the
     Oasis of Ghat; Houses, Architecture, Gardens, and Surrounding
     Country.--Visit from the Heir-Apparent, Khanouhen.--Genial
     softness of the Weather.--Specimen of Retail Trade.--Case of
     administering Justice by the Sultan.--Early habit of Touarghee
     begging.--The _Bou-Habeeba_, or Saharan Singing Sparrows.--Alarm
     of Female Hucksters at The Christian.


_27th._--A FINE morning. Feel better in health. The Touarghee Sultan,
Mohammed Shafou Ben Seed, came in this morning from the country
districts. His Highness is Sultan of all the Ghat Touaricks, or those of
_Azgher_.

Arrived to-day another portion of the Soudan ghafalah. There was a false
report this morning of the appearance of the Shânbah. Musket firing was
heard in various directions, and the people ran together, some mounting
the tops of the houses to see the fighting which was supposed to be going
on between the Shânbah and Touaricks. The Arabs, with their matchlocks in
their hands, ran after their camels to prevent them from being carried
off. The hubbub was most singular and bewildering. I expected to have to
report skirmish after skirmish, in the capture of Ghat, for the benefit
of The Leading London Journal. The true cause at length appeared in the
arrival of the Sultan, the firing of matchlocks heard at a distance being
done in honour of His Highness, and his coming to his town residence. So
it is, in a little place like this a false report may work wonders in a
few minutes. People are charmed with these rumours: they are their oral
newspaper excitement. In the streets were now heard "Shafou! Shafou!" "It
is Shafou! It is Shafou! It is Shafou!" "Shafou has come!"

As soon as the Sultan arrived, without waiting more than three or four
hours, I determined to visit His Highness, and carry him a small present.
I could not yet tell how the Sultan would look upon my projected journey
to Soudan. Fortunately I found Essnousee in the streets, who volunteered
his services as interpreter. Haj Ibrahim was also so good as to embrace
the opportunity of going with us. This had a good effect, and served to
give my visit consequence, Haj Ibrahim being the most respectable
foreigner now in Ghat. He was also a stranger to His Highness as well as
myself.

We found His Highness, at about a quarter of a mile's distance out of the
town, sitting down by himself alone upon the sand, aside of a large
_hasheesh_ house, or hut of date-palm branches. The attendants of His
Highness, who were not very numerous, sat at a considerable distance off.
In this primitive way and Desert style he had been receiving various
personages ever since his arrival this morning. As soon as His Highness
saw us approaching him, he bade us welcome by signs and salutations in
the style of the Touaricks, slowly raising his right arm, as high as his
shoulders, and turning the palm of the outspread hand to us. Haj Ibrahim
was first introduced, but the Sultan could not keep off his eyes from me.
At last the Sultan made a sign to Essnousee to speak on my behalf.
Essnousee explained very deliberately and minutely everything respecting
me--where and when he saw me at Tripoli, how I went to Ghadames, came
here from that place, and what were my intentions in proposing to go to
Soudan. The Sultan then turned to me, and said, "Go, Christian, wherever
you please; in my country fear nothing--go where everybody else goes."
After this I presented my little backsheesh to His Highness, consisting
of a small carpet-rug to sit or recline upon, a zamailah or turban, and a
shumlah or sash, large and full, and scarlet, like the Spaniards wear. On
giving the servant of His Highness the present, (which was covered, and
not exposed before His Highness, as a matter of delicacy,) I said,
through Essnousee, "This present is from me, and not from my Sultan, nor
the Consul at Tripoli, nor any persons in my country; it is extremely
small, and scarcely worth accepting. But, probably, if your Highness
should protect Englishmen through your country, and allow English
merchants to come and traffic in Ghat, a greater and richer present will
be sent to you hereafter." His Highness replied, "Thank you; I'm an old
man now, and want but little: we have a little bread, and milk of the
nagah (she-camel), and for which we praise God. Don't fear our people--no
one shall hurt you." Indeed, I saw the old gentleman was thankful for any
trifle. My little backsheesh was, perhaps, of the value of ten dollars,
and was the largest present I had yet made. I then asked His Highness
whether he would write a letter for me to the Sultan of Aheer, and one to
the Queen of England, stating that he would give protection to all
British subjects passing through The Touarghee Desert? The Sultan
replied, "All that you want I will do for you, please God." I determined
to risk a word on Desert politics. I said, "Your Highness must
exterminate the Shânbah, for they are a band of robbers." The Sultan
replied, "Please God we will; we are now preparing the camels to go out
against them." Essnousee and Haj Ibrahim considered the words of the
Sultan delivered in the most friendly spirit. Shafou was dressed very
plainly and very dirtily; and yet there sat upon his aged countenance
(for he was full seventy years of age) a most venerable expression of
dignity. His Highness wore a dark-blue cotton frock of Soudanic
manufacture, and black-blue trowsers of the same kind of cotton. On his
head was a red cap, around which was folded in very large folds a white
turban. He had, like all Touaricks, a dagger suspended under the left
arm, but no other weapon near him, or on his person. By his side, on the
sand, lay a huge stick with which he walks, instead of the lance. His
mouth and chin were covered with a thin blue cotton wrapper, a portion of
the _litham_. Around his neck were suspended a few amulets, sewn up in
red leathern bags. His Highness was without shoes, and his legs were
quite bare; his feet lay half-buried in the sand. He spoke very slow and
under tone, scarcely audible, and at times the conversation was
interrupted by the silence of the dead. All his deportment was like that
of a Sultan of these wilds; and the ancient Sheikh felt all the
consciousness of his power. The Desert Genii hedge him in around. The
Sultan is profoundly respected by all; and Louis-Philippe is a
gingerbread Sovereign compared with Shafou of The Great Desert.

But the reader would not be prepared to find His Highness smoking his
pipe during our interview, and striking a light himself, the materials
for which he carried in a large leathern bag, or pouch, slung on his left
arm, like all the Touaricks. On taking leave, we called the servant of
the Sultan after us, and Haj Ibrahim gave into his hands a small present
for the Sultan of the value of a couple of dollars, so that I maintain my
position of also giving the best presents, in the case of the Sultan. To
me it was a most pleasant and refreshing interview, after the serio-comic
affair of Ouweek. I asked Haj Ibrahim what Shafou said to him. The Sultan
simply told the merchant, "You may go to every part of the country now in
safety: to Touat, to Aheer, wherever you will--don't be afraid of the
Touaricks." I went home with the Haj, and spent the evening with him. The
merchant determines to send eight camels of goods to Soudan. He has not
sold a fourth of what he brought to this mart. A great part of the
slaves, elephants' teeth, and senna which daily arrive here, are not for
sale in Ghat, but are sent direct from Soudan to Tripoli by the
correspondents of the Ghadamsee merchants at Kanou. The Ghat Souk is
nearly closed, all the slaves are sold, and some of the people are
thinking about returning.

_28th._--Rose early and better in health. Pleased with the prospect of
still seeing my journey to Soudan completed. Weather this morning very
dull, sky overcast, a few drops of rain falling. Early Sheikh Hateetah
sent for me. Went and found the Consul of the English better in health.
He shewed me his scarlet burnouse and gold-braided coat, given him by our
Government. But as his object in calling me was only to express his
jealousy of the other Sheikhs, and of the Sultan himself, and to beg
another present, I was by no means pleased with my visit. He evidently
wished me to give him all the presents as the "Friend" of the English.
But this would have been both unjust and suicidal policy on my part. I
could not have considered myself safe, at any rate, respected or
esteemed, unless I had given a present to all the principal personages in
Ghat and the surrounding districts. Hateetah besides annoyed me by saying
the route of Aheer was full of bandits, against the concurrent testimony
of all the merchants. He wishes me to take the route of Bornou, which
would, entirely defeat the object I have in view, of visiting new
countries. However, by being firm with him, I got him to promise to
procure for me a letter and servant from Shafou to go on to Aheer. I am
to call again in a few days, and he is to show me his seal of office,
done by the Consul-General of Tripoli. Hateetah is a man of more than
sixty years, very tall, thin and attenuated, of extremely feeble frame.
He is still labouring under fever, and does not leave his pallet. To-day,
however, he got quite energetic on the subject of the presents, having
heard what a fine present the Sultan had received from me. He begged me
not to give a present to the _Oulad_ ("people" or "followers") of Shafou,
meaning thereby Khanouhen.

On my return, I found my door thronged with visitors from Berkat,
the village three miles distant, _en route_ of Soudan. They had been
waiting an hour or two for my return. At first I repulsed them, but
hearing afterwards they had brought a young lad unwell, I let them
in. The lad was covered with hard lumps, which had grown or festered
under his skin, about the size of a nut. He had been so for a year.
I prescribed a bath and opening medicine (senna, which they can get
easily), but I question if they try either. I recommended them to
send him to Tripoli, to the English doctor there, but they heard of
the proposal with horror. None of these Berkat people have ever
visited Tripoli. The Turks are their bugbear. They were not
extremely friendly; rude and ignorant villagers as they were, they
could not understand why I wanted to go to Soudan. I observed they
were all well clothed and seemed to live in Saharan affluence. The
term Berkat, ‮بركت‬, signifies "a lake" or "lagoon," and probably
the site of the oasis is the dry bottom of what was formerly a
lagoon. The Berkat oasis is larger in gardens, and more fertile than
Ghat, but possesses the same essential features. It has no Souk, and
excites no attention from strangers visiting Ghat. The inhabitants
are Saharan Moors, and some five or six hundred in number. Had a
very friendly visit from Salah, eldest son of Haj Mansour, of
Ghadames. He says justly, Kandarka and other camel-drivers
exaggerate the dangers of the routes for their own private ends, to
get more money out of me. Of the Touaricks and Ouweek, he says,
"They have no knowledge, they are bullocks." He also added, "I have
been reprimanding Ouweek for his bad conduct to you; I told him I
would not give him my usual backsheesh on account of his
ill-treating you."

I am much bothered with Said. Like his master he is continually wavering,
whether he shall return to Ghadames with the return caravan, or proceed
with me. I leave him to his own choice and reflections, telling him I
will secure his freedom by writing to Sheikh Makouran. I can't but pity
him. I find him frequently in tears, or sobbing aloud, afraid the
Touaricks will again make him a slave.

In the streets, I pass nearly every evening a Night-School, where there
is a crowd of children all cooped up together in a small room, humming,
spouting, and screaming simultaneously their lessons of the Koran, in the
manner of some of our infant schools. This mode of simultaneously
repeating a lesson has prevailed from time immemorial in the schools of
North Africa, and I imagine, in The East likewise, and though it may be
new in England or Europe, it is old in Asia and Africa. But I never saw
before a Night-School in Barbary, and look upon this Saharan specimen of
scholastic discipline as a novelty. It is probable, in this way, every
male child of Ghat, as in Ghadames, is taught to read and write. The
pride of the Ghadamseeah is, that all their children read and write. The
whole population can read and write the Koran. This Saharan fact of the
barbarians of The Desert suggests painful reflections to honest-minded
Englishmen. We may boast of our liberties, our Magna Charta, our
independence of character, our commerce, our wealth, the extent of the
world which Providence (too good to us) has committed to our care. But
after all we cannot boast of what the barbarians of The Desert boast. We
cannot, dare not, assert, that every male child of our population can
read the Book which we call the Revelation of God! This deplorable, but
undeniable fact, ought to throw suspicion upon our religious motives, as
well as our pretensions to the love and maintenance of liberty,--unless
it be argued, that our liberty is founded on our want of education, and
we are free men because the half of our population cannot sign their own
name! A Minister of the Crown (Earl Grey), in a late, and the last
discussion of the House of Lords (of the old Parliament), had the
hardihood, the intrepidity, to assert, that, "We (Englishmen) were the
least educated people of Europe, nay, that we were behind the savages of
New Zealand!" But this astounding declaration of the Minister produced no
explosion of indignation, not a single expression of regret, not a hum or
murmur of disapprobation from the Spiritual or Temporal Lords, to whom
the words of shame and censure were addressed. And, as the Lords, so the
Commons, so all classes of our society. The enunciation, the reiteration
of this most extraordinary, most damning stigma, on our national
character, does not even tinge with the most imperceptible hue of shame
the national countenance. What is the cause of all this? It is the
profound, incurable, and inextirpable bigotry of the English people, to
which they will not hesitate to sacrifice the national honour, the public
happiness, their own liberties, and their own consciences. . . . . . . If
measures for education are proposed by Imperial Government, our people
one and all will neither allow them to be adopted, nor will they
themselves adopt measures for education. With the diverse sections of our
society, no education is education unless it be based upon their own
peculiar views and principles. In this way, the curse and opprobrium of
ignorance are maintained in our own country.

I observe that the little urchins of this Saharan School use sand in
their first efforts to write. As sand abounds everywhere in the populated
oases of Sahara, and the people are poor and cannot afford to buy much
paper, it is constantly employed instead of paper, pens, and ink, in
casting up accounts. I see all the Soudanese merchants casting up their
accounts of barter and bargains in this way. Mostly the fore-finger is
employed, and in careless conversation a long stick or spear is used to
scratch the sand. But if the subject is serious, the speaker very
distinctly marks the stops of his discourse, or illustrates it with
flourishes, squares, and circles on the sand, or dust of the streets,
smoothing over the sand when he has finished. There is a little bit of
superstition attached to this smoothing over the sand. The Moors always
tell me when I write in this way to smooth all over and never forget it.
They invariably do so themselves, and never leave a mark, or stroke, or
dot of the finger on the sand after they have done speaking or writing.

I was surprised to hear of the peculiar mode of the Touarghee
succession for Sultans or reigning royal Sheikhs. It is the son of
the _Sister_ of the Sultan who succeeds to the throne amongst all
the Touaricks. I have learnt since that the same custom prevails
amongst the Moorish tribes of the banks of the Senegal. Batouta also
mentions this singular custom as prevailing amongst the Berber
people of _Twalaten_, ‮ايوالاتن‬, in Western Sahara, in these
words--"The people call themselves after the name of their
maternal[78] uncles; it is not the sons of the fathers who inherit,
but the nephews, sons of the sister of the father." He adds:--"I
have never met with this usage before, except amongst the infidels
of Malabar (in India)." It would appear, these rude children of The
Desert have not sufficient confidence in the succession of father
and son, and think women should not be put to so severe a test in
the propagation of a race of pure blood. Speaking to a Touarghee
about it, he said:--"How do we know, if the son of the Sultan be his
son? May he not be the son of a slave? Who can tell? But when our
young Sultan is born from the sister of the Sultan, then we know he
is of the same blood as the Sultan." There is besides another
anomaly of the social system in the town of Ghat. Women here are the
hereditary possessors and not men. The law of primogeniture is on
the female side. The greater part of the houses of the town of Ghat,
although the population is chiefly Moorish, belong to women,
bequeathed to them or given them on the day of their marriage by
friends or relatives. These two cases of anomaly are more favourable
to womankind than what we mostly find in Mahometan countries. I may
not now scruple to tell the Touaricks, that the Sovereign of England
is a female, for fear of giving them offence. It is a curious fact,
and may here be added, that the son rarely goes, or travels, with
the father, but always is pinned to his mother's knee, or trudges
along at her side; at last, he loses all affection for his father,
and concentrates his filial love on his mother. This alienation of
the son from the father, is increased by the custom of the son
inheriting nothing from his father, but all through his mother.

_29th._--A fine morning; the sun high in the heavens scatters light and
colour over all the Desert scene. In tolerably good spirits, but utterly
at a loss which route I shall take. Visited Hateetah; he did not beg or
annoy me to-day, but told me to resolve upon my route. Prescribed him
some medicine, as also for another person, who had the ill manners to
say, "God has made the infidels to be doctors for the Faithful."
Yesterday evening, the slaves of Haj Ibrahim (about fifty) danced and
sang and forgot their slavery. One young woman acted various grotesque
characters, and, amongst the rest, _Boree_, "The Devil." When a Negro
sulks, or is moody, he is said to be possessed, or to have got in him
_Boree_, which agrees pretty well with our "_Blue-devils_." In these
evening pastimes they fancy themselves in the wild woods of their native
homes, and dance and sing to the rude notes of their ruder instruments of
music, and feel as if free and like other mortals.

Went out this morning to have a commanding view of the oasis. Was
accompanied by the uncle of Jabour, who took hold of my hand, and
pulled me on, when we mounted the neighbouring piece of rock which
commands the oasis and scenery around. From this block of mountain,
north of the city, we had a beautiful view of the town, the oasis,
and adjoining palms, and all the Desert of the Valley of Ghat. To
the south we saw the date-palms of Berkat. To the east, is the black
range of mountains, throwing sombre shadows upon the scattered
sand-hills, which lie like shining heaps of silver at their base.
This range is higher than the average height of Saharan mountains.
The Touaricks say the Genii built these mountains, to protect them
(the Touaricks) and their posterity from the inroads of the Turks,
and Gog and Magog, from the east. "These are," say they, "our
eastern doors (barriers)." Scarcely any breaks or gorges are found
in this chain. Beyond the suburb, begirt with sand groups, stands
the palace of the Governor, which from hence looks like a line of
fortifications, with a tower or two rising above its battlements.
There reigns, king and priest, Haj Ahmed, the lord of all he
surveys. Sahara around has a varied aspect of trees and plain, sand
and mountains. The contrasts are striking, and spite the gloom of
Wareerat range, it is a bright desert scene. The town is small, and
the gardens are also extremely limited; the oasis is comprehended
within a circle of not more than three or four miles. The palms are
dwarfish, and half of them do not bear fruit, and their dates are of
the most ordinary kind. A sufficient proof that the date-palm is not
dependent on the quality of its water, otherwise the palm of Ghat
should be the finest and its fruit the most delicious of The Sahara.
On the contrary, in some of the oases of Fezzan, where the water is
literally salt, the palm is a noble towering tree, catching the
breathings of highest heaven, and casting down most luscious fruit.
Houses in Ghat have but a wretched appearance, and are as wretched
within as without. They are not white-washed, or clean and bright
and shining as Moorish houses of the coast, and though the city is
surrounded with stones, and lime is procurable, they are nearly all
constructed of sun-dried bricks and mud. A few days of incessant
rain would wash many of them down. The wood of construction is, of
course, that of the palm. The Desert furnishes no other available
building wood. Only one mosque tower deserves the name of minaret.
Besides, there is a huge building higher than the rest, but which is
inhabited as other houses. The town is walled in with walls not more
than ten feet high, but its six gates are miserably weak, and never
so closed as to prevent their being opened in the night. The whole
town is built on a hill, a portion of the blocks of rock from which
we view it. This little place has one large square, called
_Esh-Shelly_--‮الشلّي‬--the general rendezvous of business and
gossip, and where Shafou and all the subordinate Sheikhs administer
justice. Here is held the Souk, where everything important is done.
But the town-councils and state-councils of the Sheikhs are
generally held in the open air. Two or three palms within the town
cast a grateful shadow, and make an angle of the streets
picturesque, but no other trees are seen. On the south, without the
walls, is a suburb of some fifty mud and stone houses. There are
also scattered over the sand, on the west, a hundred or more of
hasheesh huts, made of straw and palm-branches. In the gardens,
besides the palms, a little wheat, barley, and ghusub is
cultivated. There are some fruit-trees, but no vines. Of water there
are several large pits, and some warm springs, but nothing
approaching to the hot boiling spring of Ghadames. There is,
however, one large reservoir, partly surrounded with palm-trees, and
the banks covered with rushes, except where the people go to draw.
The whole of this is enclosed within walls. Water apparently oozes
from a great extent of surface. The water itself is of the first
quality, and is said not to produce bile or fever. The irrigation is
the same in principle as that of Ghadames, but slaves are employed
to draw up the water, whilst animals are used in Fezzan, and in
Ghadames the water runs itself into the gardens. The places for
burying the dead around the Saharan towns occupy more space than the
abodes of the living. This is not surprising, when we reflect that
every new grave occupies a new piece of ground, and many years
elapse before the old grave is opened to place in it a fresh body. I
saw but one grave whitewashed; it was that of a Marabout, the only
"whitewashed sepulchre," and, strange enough, it is to denote
superior priestly sanctity as in New Testament times amongst the
Jews. The rest were small stones heaped up in the shape of a grave,
a large piece of stone being placed at the head.

The style of architecture, both here and in Ghadames, is the same, except
that of Ghadames is neater and more fantastically elaborated. Most of the
walls are surmounted with a mud-plaster work, and the tops and terraces
of the houses are surmounted with the same style of material, and
generally very irregularly done, as seen in the annexed diagram. The
cupboards cut out or excavated in the walls are of the shape of squares
or triangles, and the windows sometimes of the same shape, but
occasionally varying as seen in the diagram. All the doors and beams of
the houses, as before mentioned, are of the date-palm wood. The doors are
the usual long squares, but some of them so low that you are obliged to
stoop to enter through them. This is very troublesome to the Touaricks,
who always carry their long spears with them, as we our walking-sticks. I
have noticed here in The Sahara, as well as on the coast of Barbary, very
ingenious wooden lock-and-keys. The key is a piece of wood six or eight
inches long, and two broad, covered at one end with little pegs. The lock
is fitted to these pegs by little holes. On the arrangement and fitting
of these pegs and holes depend the secrecy and security of the lock. It
is no easy matter at times to unlock these locks, and requires a very
practised hand. The floors are covered with a thick layer of sand, even
many of the sleeping rooms, which sand is clean or dirty according to the
quality and cleanliness of the occupant.

[Illustration]

According to my friend Mr. Colli, the original meaning of the term
Ghat is _Sun_ or _God_, in the Lybio-Egyptian language. The Arabic
is ‮غات‬, _Ghat_, but as people fancy, like the French, they hear in
the pronunciation of the ‮غ‬ in _Ghat_ the R, so our former tourists
have sometimes written the name of the town Gh_r_at, and others
Ghr_aa_t. The oasis of Ghat is situated in 24° 58′ north lat., and
11° 15′ east longitude.

This afternoon received a visit from Khanouhen and his brother,
accompanied by Essnousee. This visit was perhaps the most friendly
of all which I have received from the Touaricks. For evil or for
good, it was, at the time, the preponderating motive for attempting
the tour to Soudan. I felt more confidence in the Touaricks.
Khanouhen is a man advanced in life, full fifty years of age. He has
hard but intelligent features. Like all the Sheikhs, he is tall and
of powerful muscular frame. His conversation consisted of a few
words, but full of pride and courage, and also to the point. He
said:--"I do not expect presents from a stranger who has come so far
to claim my hospitality. I can give you assistance without presents.
Cannot the man, who is to succeed Shafou, be generous without
bribes? It is not generosity to render you assistance if you load me
with presents. The heir of the Touarick Sultan receives no presents:
he asks for none. We wish not to terrify strangers--even those who
do not believe in Mahomet--by acts of extortion and plunder. I will
write you a letter to the Sultan of Aheer, so shall Shafou, so shall
Hateetah. The Sultan of Aheer must respect our letters. When he does
not, we make reprisals on his people. I am now busy. I am going to
exterminate the Shânbah. Our maharees will soon overtake the
robbers; not one of them shall escape. We scorn the assistance of
the Turks. We are strong enough by ourselves. We want no letters, no
advice, no arms, no horses, no guns, from the Pasha of Tripoli. All
The Desert is ours; wherever you go you find traces of our power. Be
happy here, fear nothing; for if you fear us, you lose our
confidence, and become our enemy." I have picked out the sense and
many of the exact expressions of this harangue, and the reader will
see that the Shereef, his son-in-law, did not exaggerate his sense
and fierce eloquence. Khanouhen, indeed, is called "The man of speech,"
‮رجل الكلام‬--by the merchants. The Sheikh was superbly
dressed in the first style of the Touaricks, unlike his venerable
uncle the Sultan. He wore a scarlet gold-braided coat, an immense
red turban, and a huge black litham, covering the upper and lower
part of his face, and nearly all his features. His arms were a
dagger, a broadsword, and a ponderous bright iron spear, which on
entering my apartment the Sheikh was obliged to leave outside.

Weather to-day is as soft and genial as Italy. The sky is overcast this
evening, and rain threatens. Yesterday I saw it lighten for the first
time in The Sahara. Flies live throughout winter here, and there is now
enough of them to give annoyance. An article which I purchased to-day
will give some idea of the retail trade in Ghat. This was a barracan, of
light and fine quality, which cost me three Spanish dollars. In Tripoli,
about forty days' journey from this, it cost two mahboubs, about a dollar
and three-quarters. But I purchased it for money; had it been exchanged
for goods or slaves, it would have been charged four dollars. This is
nearly cent. per cent. profit. Spent the evening with Haj Ibrahim.
Shafou had returned the merchant's visit, and dined with him. The
venerable Sheikh does not stand upon etiquette. An affair came off
to-day, which admirably and most characteristically illustrates the mode
of administering justice in Ghat. Mustapha, the young merchant of
Tripoli, quarrelled with one of his Arabs, and came to blows. Shafou
chanced to pass by at the time. His Highness immediately dispatched a
servant to bring the pugilists before him. Shafou then harangued them and
the bystanders, in this spirited manner:--"You see these men come here to
disturb our country. What ungrateful wretches they are! Shall I suffer
this? Don't I protect them? Don't I allow them to gain money at our Souk?
They return with goods and innumerable slaves to Tripoli. But they laugh
at me and insult me to my face, and trample upon our hospitality,
(_addressing a Sheikh_). Do you think, (_turning to the combatants_,)
there is no authority or justice in this place? I'll let you know to the
contrary. What do you think the Christian will say, if he comes and sees
this? Now, you rascals, pay me each of you ten dollars." This was
followed by a violent intercession on their behalf by the foreign
merchants, some blaming one and some the other. His Highness was obliged
to compromise the matter, accepting of a dollar from each. It is probable
His Highness was more anxious to inflict the penalty than quell the
tumult; but I was quite unprepared for such an eloquent address from the
ancient patriarch of the country. Considering the great number of
strangers, there are very few quarrels. "Ghat," as was said before I
came, "is a country of peace." Were a bazaar of this sort held in Europe
(for example an English fair), there would be a row every day, and every
hour of the day. Nevertheless, this does not prevent us from calling
these Saharan people barbarians.

_30th._--Very mild weather this morning, but overcast as if rain would
soon fall. I have not been long enough in The Desert to read the weather
signs, or become weather-wise. Keep the door shut, to prevent an influx
of visitors. Now and then a few people get in. Whilst eating my supper
this evening, I was surprised at the appearance of two little ragged
boys. I asked what they wanted, they returned, "Eat, eat, we want to
eat." I went out to see them, for they stood on the terrace in the dark.
Here I found one of the audacious urchins flourishing a spear ten times
as big as himself, menacing me with it. I pushed the little scoundrels
down stairs into the street. I could not however help remarking upon
their audacity, and the early infant habits of Touarghee "begging by
force." The Ghadamsee people have always been the fair game of the
Touaricks. Asking one day a Ghadamsee, "What occupation the Touaricks
followed?" he replied indignantly, "Beg, beg, beg, this is their trade!
When they get money, they bury it, and beg, beg, beg!" This perhaps, is
overstated, still it is curious to witness this first lesson of "we want
to eat," repeated by children of very tender age, with a tone of command
and insolence. Khanouhen does not send for his present, and I hear, he
will not receive presents. I shall have the more to give away at Aheer.

_31st._--Fine morning. I am surprised at my simplicity; but, apparently,
the only thing which I enjoy with pure feelings, is the song of the
little birds, the _boohabeeba_, which frequent my terrace and the
house-top, as sparrows familiarly in England. With these I feel I can
hold free converse and interchange an unadulterated sympathy. The
innocent little creatures remind me of my days of childhood, when I
revelled in the woods and corn-fields of Lincolnshire, listening to the
song of birds in early fresh spring morn, or bright summer day. Here was
the tender chord of childhood associations touched, and no wonder that
memory should come in to the aid of sympathy in these unsympathizing
deserts. How little at times contents the heart, and fills the aching
vacuum of the mind! In this we cannot fail to see an arrangement of
infinite wisdom. If only great things could satisfy the mind of man, how
prodigiously our miseries would be increased, for how few are the things
deserving to be called great! Called this morning on Hateetah. Put him in
a better humour, by telling him I would give him an extra present. On
returning, stopped at a stall, where were exposed for sale, onions,
trona, dates, and other things. The women immediately caught alarm,
afraid I was going to throw a glance of "the evil eye" on their little
property. They cried out, "There is one God, and Mahomet is the prophet
of God!" I made off quick enough from this unseemly uproar. Saw
afterwards the Governor. Called to ask him to allow his servants to make
me some cuscasou, which request his Excellency granted immediately. He
said:--"In travelling to Soudan adopt the dress of the Ghadamsee
merchants, and let your beard grow." The Governor refuses to say anything
of Kandarka. Probably they have quarrelled. Our merchants give the
Tibboos a bad character, and the caravans are afraid of them.

FOOTNOTES:

[78] Amongst the Servians the mother's brother was "a very
    important personage." Ranke says:--"Amongst the early Germans,
    families were held together by a peculiar preference on the
    mother's side; the mother's brother being, according to ancient
    custom, a very important personage. In the Sclavonic-Servian
    tribe, there prevails, to a greater extent, a strong and lively
    feeling of brotherly and sisterly affection; the brother is proud
    of having a sister; the sister swears by the name of her
    brother."--(_See_ Mrs. Alexander Kerr's admirable translation of
    Ranke's _Servian History, &c._, chap. iv., p. 56.)




CHAPTER XIX.

ABANDON THE TOUR TO SOUDAN.

     Violent Act of a Touarick on Slaves.--Visit to the Princess Lilla
     Fatima.--Mode of grinding Corn.--Dilatoriness of Commercial
     Transactions.--Grandees of Ghat Town.--Khanouhen refuses his
     Present.--Rumours of the Conquest of Algeria spread throughout
     Africa.--Small Breed of Animals in Sahara.--Queer circumstance of
     unearthly Voices.--The Cold becomes intense.--Arrival of Sheikh
     Berka.--Hateetah in good Humour.--My Targhee friend, Sidi
     Omer.--Visit from Kandarka; his Character.--Visit to the aged
     Berka, and find the Giant.--Hateetah's Political Gossips.--At a
     loss which Route to take, and how to proceed.--Superstitions
     connected with the Butcher.--Zeal of an old Hag against The
     Christian.--Out of Humour.--Reported departure of
     Caravans.--Jabour calls with a Patient.--Visit Bel Kasem, and
     find Khanouhen.--Political Factions of Azgher Touaricks.--Giants
     in The Desert.--Fanciful analogies of origin of
     Peoples.--Hierarchy of the Sheikhs.--Population, Arms, and
     Military Forces of the Ghat Touaricks.--The Mahry or
     Maharee.--Camels named from their Fleetness.--Touarghee Court of
     Justice.--Amphitheatrical style of Touaricks lounging.--Amount of
     Customs-Dues paid by Ghat Traders.--Free Trade in Sahara.


_1st January, 1846._--YESTERDAY I saw two slaves, both of whom had gashes
on their arms and legs, the blood flowing from one poor fellow profusely.
I asked,

"Who has done this?"

_The Slaves._--"A Touarghee."

"What for?" I continued.

_The Slaves._--"Nothing."

I found afterwards the slaves were doing some work in the gardens which
the Touarghee thought should have been given to him. Touaricks seldom get
into passion, but when the blood boils the dagger is immediately had
recourse to for the arrangement of their quarrels. The Touaricks have
many slaves, but male slaves, for they rarely mix their blood with the
negro race. Called upon Hateetah with his extra present of four dollars'
value. He then began in an excited humour, "To-morrow come to me, Shafou
will be here. We must arrange to send a maharee to the English Sultan." I
suggested his brother should take it to Tripoli. He sprung up from his
bed with joy, "Yes, good, Shafou and I will arrange everything. Nobody
else must come here but you. It must be all done in secret." Hateetah is
frightened of Khanouhen, and knows the Sultan has no will of his own
unless kept apart from that powerful prince. Touaricks, when something is
to be had, soon gets excited, like the rest of us.

Afterwards, Said and I carried the present for Khanouhen to the prince's
house. I spoke to the Governor, who recommended me, by all means,
notwithstanding the Sheikh's protestations, to send him a handsome
present. I submitted to the Governor's opinion. Khanouhen resides in some
apartments of the Governor's palace; this is the prince's town residence.
We were conducted to the apartment of his lady, Lilla Fatima, (the prince
being out,) by her nephews. Her Royal Highness received us courteously,
and the interview was extremely amusing. I began by apologizing for the
top of "the head of sugar[79]" being broken off. This made the lady
almost faint. "What!" she protestingly exclaimed, "Khanouhen is The Great
Sultan! Shafou is compared to him like the sand! (taking up a little
sand from the floor and scattering it about with her hands.) My husband
is lord and master of all the Touaricks. He has the word ready; from his
lips, all the Touaricks, all the merchants, all the strangers, all the
Christians who come here, receive their commands and instantly obey them.
And you bring him a loaf of sugar with the head knocked off! Oh, this is
not pretty! This is not right, and I am afraid for your sake." I pleaded
inability to find another loaf this morning, but promised to bring one
to-morrow. Her Royal Highness then begged for more things. "You see the
_grunfel_ (cloves) is not for me; it is for Khanouhen's other wife in the
country. Khanouhen will take it all away to her, and leave me none. Now
you must, indeed, bring me some _grunfel_." I then recommended her to get
it divided, at which she laughed heartily, adding, "Ah, Khanouhen likes
her in the country better than me." I then put Her Royal Highness in a
good humour by telling her I would send her some beads, and if I should
return to Tripoli, and come back to Ghat, I would bring her several
presents. She added, "My husband Khanouhen related to me all the things
which you intended to give him, which you showed him in your room. Also,
you said you would give him a little lock and key, where is it?"

This I had not brought with me, thinking the Sheikh would not accept of
such a trifling thing, but I was mistaken. The Touaricks will take
everything you offer them, and not hurt your self-complacency of
conferring a favour by refusal. I must finish with this lady, whose
tongue ran along at a tremendous rate, by adding, that to show her regard
for me, (and for herself likewise, wishing me to return to Tripoli to
fetch her some nice presents,) her Royal Highness gave me this advice:
"For God's sake don't go to Soudan. You'll die there soon. How can you, a
Christian, live there with such a white skin? The people who go there are
all black, and have large swollen faces, (imitating them by blowing out
her cheeks,) they are puffed out and nasty, they become as ugly as the
devil himself." The town wife and lady of the Sheikh, who is
heir-apparent to the Touarghee throne of Ghat, is herself a comely
bustling body, rather stout, of middle size, about thirty-five years of
age; and were she dressed in European style, she might, with her fine
black eyes, look as well as some of our courtly dames. Her Royal Highness
had nothing on but a plain Soudan black cotton gown, with short sleeves,
and a light woollen barracan, as a sort of shawl, wrapped round her
shoulders, partly covering her head. She had a few charms and some
coloured beads adorning the neck; two gold bracelets on her wrist, and
two thick hoops of silver round her ancles. A pair of coloured-leather
sandals, made in Soudan, were bound on her feet. She had no colour, save
the usual sallow of Moorish ladies, on her cheek, but she had no
disfigurement of tattooing or other marks upon her, so common in Saharan
beauties.

After the delivery of the present I called to see the Governor, the
lady's brother. Told him of my sudden resolution of abandoning the
journey to Soudan the present year. He highly approved of my resolution,
and seemed relieved of a great embarrassment, for, although very cautious
in what he said, he always considered himself responsible more or less
for my safety. I found his Excellency, but not to my surprise,
purchasing half a dozen slaves, young lads. The Marabout merchant does
not scruple to deal in human beings. The fact is, his Excellency scruples
at no kind of trade, by which he may "turn a penny," or "save a penny."
Returned home and wrote to Tripoli; but when the letter was finished the
courier was gone. As often happens, was glad afterwards the letter did
not go.

The mode of grinding corn here, if I may use the term grinding, is of the
most primitive character possible. It is nothing more or less than
rubbing the corn between two stones, the lower stone being large and
smoothed off on its surface, with an inclined plane, and the upper stone
very small compared to the lower. Thus--

[Illustration]

A small basket catches the meal as it falls off, or is pushed off by the
person, who holds the upper stone in his hands, and works it up and down
over the surface of the lower stone. Slaves and women so grind wheat,
barley, ghusub, &c. The meal is scarcely ever winnowed. In Aheer, a large
wooden pestle and mortar are used for grinding, rather pounding, the
corn. The slaves living with me have a huge wooden pestle and mortar, and
we frequently use it. It requires great tact in the pounding, otherwise
the grain will be continually flying out. I pounded dates with it, which
with a little olive oil, and roasted grain pounded with them, adding a
few grains of Soudan pepper and a little dry cheese, make very nice
cake, or it is esteemed nice cake in Ghat. Corn and ghusub are given to
day-labourers instead of money. A slave will have about a quarter of a
peck of barley, or other grain, given him for a day's work; occasionally
is added to it, a few dates or a little liquid butter: on this he must
live.

The Souk of Ghat, thank heaven, is nearly closed. The business, which has
been transacted here during the last month, would have been done in
England in one or two days at most. But our Saharan merchants are
determined to do everything, _be-shwaiah, be-shwaiah_, "by little and by
little." The greatest trial of patience for an European merchant
frequenting this Souk would be the dilatoriness with which commercial
transactions are carried on. A month usually passes before the Souk
opens, and six weeks more are consumed before a merchant can or will get
off, although, as his merchandize consists chiefly of slaves, his delay
is all against himself, eating him up and his profits. The details of the
traffic are really curious. A slave is heard of one day, talked about the
next, searched out the day after, seen the next, reflections next day,
price fixed next, goods offered next, squabblings next, bargain upset
next, new disputes next, goods assorted next, final arrangement next,
goods delivered and exchanged next, &c., &c., and the whole of this
melancholy exhibition of a wrangling cupidity over the sale of human
beings is wound up by the present of a few parched peas, a few Barbary
almonds, and a little tobacco being given to the Soudanese merchants, the
parties separating with as much self-complacency, as if they had arranged
the mercantile affairs of all Africa.

_2nd._--Visited this evening Hateetah. He says, the Sultan and himself
will call upon me to-morrow, and arrange the present which is to be sent
to Her Majesty. Afterwards called upon the Governor, to ask him where Haj
Abdullah of Bengazi resided. He leaves for Fezzan in eight or ten days,
and has offered to take me with him. Called afterwards on Mohammed Kafah.
Found him friendly, but he, assisted by his brother, began again to annoy
me about Mahomet, Paradise, and hell-fire. I told them, "All good people,
whatever their creed, must be blessed with the favour of God. Such was
the native sentiment in all our hearts." Kafah said, "Many English have
turned Mussulmans." I told him very few, and those mostly
good-for-nothing runaways. He asked why we did not repeat their formula?
I told him we all did the first part, "There is but one God;" but the
second was prohibited by Christians. I left them very angry. It is next
to impossible to induce Saharan Mahometans to think favourably of
Christianity. If Christianity ever be propagated here, it must be through
the means of youth and children. The merchants Kafah and Tunkana, the
Kady Tahar, and Haj Ahmed the Governor, are the knot of personages and
grandees in this little Saharan town. All the rest are sorry traders,
camel-drivers, and slaves. The Touaricks are only town visitors, and
always retire to their country districts at the close of the periodic
marts.

Weather to-day is excessively cold, the wind blowing from the north-east.
Everybody is frightened at the wind, and there is no Souk, or market,
till very late. I myself feel the cold extremely, so I am not surprised
to see the Soudanese people all shut up in their houses crowding over a
smoking fire, with the rooms full of smoke, and nearly suffocating the
inmates.

To my great surprise, and contrary to every expectation, Prince Khanouhen
has sent his present back in a great rage, not directly, indeed, to me,
but to my neighbour Bel-Kasem, saying, with a thousand different remarks,
embellished with oaths, "I will not accept of such a miserable present."
Bel Kasem calls upon me in a prodigious fright, prostrate under the ire
of the incensed Chieftain, and thus pleads in his favour: "Khanouhen
considers himself a greater Sheikh even than Shafou the Sultan. He is
greatly dissatisfied with so small a present; increase it a little for
God's sake--if you are going to Soudan, you must add something
considerable: if not, just a little to pacify him. Khanouhen has got a
large belly; pray satisfy him, for he can do more for you than any other
Sheikh in Ghat. Indeed, Khanouhen is very angry with you for sending him
such a trifle, and for taking it to his wife. Why did you take the
present to his wife? Now, take my advice: the Sheikh just dropped out, if
you will give him ten dollars in money, he will send you the present of
goods back. Send him only the value of the goods in money, and then he
will be satisfied. Khanouhen has got a stomach bigger than that of all
the Sheikhs. He rages against you like fire: satisfy him for Heaven's
sake."

I immediately sent back Bel Kasem to find the Sheikh, and to propose to
him to take back the goods, and give him money instead, or add a little
money to the goods. So then this is the great bravado of Khanouhen, that
he could not soil his fingers by taking presents! I expect I shall soon
be stripped. There are, unfortunately, so many Sheikhs, that to give
handsome presents to them all, would amount to a large sum. A burning
jealousy rankles in their breasts about these Souk presents. Each wishes
to be the greater man, in order to have more presents, though all
acknowledge Shafou on the principle of "right divine," or "the right of
the Genii." There is a controversy going on about Haj Ibrahim, as to
which of the Sheikhs is his friend, or protector, to whom he is to send
his little present of tribute. Of course I feel extremely annoyed and
disheartened to have a quarrel of this sort with the man who has the
greatest influence in the country. But I must hold out, since my
situation is not yet desperate. As something agreeable, in counterpoise,
I may mention that Haj Ibrahim, on visiting the Sultan, found His
Highness reclining on the carpet-rug which I gave him. His Highness said
to the merchant, smiling with satisfaction, "See, this is what The
Christian gave me." It is the present given to the Sultan which has
excited the jealous indignation of his nephew. But the Sheikhs have
broken through the rule, or I have myself, for Hateetah only has the
right of a present from me.

_3rd._--A fine morning, and warmer, but the wind is still high. Over the
open desert is a sort of a dirty-red mist, which people tell me is the
sand.

Since Shafou and Hateetah did not come this morning as promised, I called
on Hateetah to know the reason. Hateetah had a cold in his eyes, and
could not go out. He added, "Shafou is busy in enrolling troops for the
Shânbah expedition." Hateetah had many visitors whilst I was there. A
Ghatee, to my surprise, asked me, "How long slaves would be allowed to be
sold in Tripoli?" I answered, "Some time yet." He had heard of my being
connected with abolition. Another, just returned from Soudan, said:--"The
people of Soudan say the Emperor of Morocco has taken possession of
Algeria." I was unprepared for such a rumour in the heart of Africa, and
coming from The South, instead of going to The South. Of this
irregularity the Saharan newsmongers never think. But the fact is, the
conquest of Algeria by a powerful Christian nation is felt in every part
of The Desert, and reaches the farthest peregrinations of the merchants.
These wars and rumours of wars, however, are turned whenever possible in
favour of the Mussulmans. It is probable the attempted invasion of Oran
by the son of the Emperor, was immediately transformed into the conquest
of that province by desert reports. Another person asked me, "Whether the
Government of Constantinople was that of the Sultan himself, or the
Christians?" I observed:--"The Sultan's Government is very much
influenced by Christian Powers." It has long been the opinion of Barbary
Moors, that the late Sultan Mahmoud was a Greek in the disguise of a
Mussulman; and the same stigma sticks to his son. This opinion has
acquired strength and obtained general currency by the European reforms
which the Ottomans have lately introduced into their administration. Many
questions of this kind were asked, and, in the presence of Hateetah when
no insolence would be tolerated, the people seemed less bigoted. This is
the advantage of having an English agent, if possible, in these remote
districts, like Hateetah. Passing through the gardens, I saw some horses
and bullocks, and was surprised at their dwarfish dimensions. In Central
Africa, horses are frequently found of a very dwarfish breed. The horses
were unwhisped and sorry-looking ponies, with their bellies pinched in.
The bullocks cut an equally queer figure. I have noticed that fowls here
are very small, but very lively, catching the fire of a long Saharan
summer. The cocks, which are so many bantams, are indeed all fire,
attacking you with fierceness. Two of the Governor's sons called at noon.
One flourished a spear, which he said was "to beat Christians with." I
pushed him out of my apartment down stairs. With such customers it is the
only plan. Another son called a short time afterwards, and asked me to
lend him three dollars, which, of course, I refused. His Excellency knows
nothing of the tricks of these young gentlemen, or they would soon be put
to rights. Two Arabs, just returned from Soudan, called and said:--"Go to
Soudan, there's not much sickness, go _viâ_ Aheer. The road _viâ_ Bornou
is not safe now." This is what I conjectured, after hearing of the
skirmishes and the retreat of the son of Abd-el-Geleel before the Turks
up to Bornou.

Late this evening, on descending to the lower rooms of the house, which
were nearly dark, very little light indeed penetrating the lower part of
the house at any time of the day, I found the street-door open, and two
long huge figures scarcely visible in the gloom, standing up against the
wall on opposite sides of the large room. I retreated back a few paces in
alarm. The slaves were all out, as also Said. Presently I heard two gruff
voices begin from the different parts of the room, in long and measured
and doleful accents. One repeated, "There is no God but God, and Mahomet
is the prophet of God." The words were repeated very slowly and
solemnly, and at considerable intervals, "La - - lillah - -
ella - - ellaha - - wa - - Mo-ham-med - - ra-soul - - ellaha!" The other
voice uttered in equally grave and solemn accents, "Bor-nou-se! Bor-nou-se!
Bor-nou-se!" The first voice appalled me, for I did not know but what I
was going to receive the stroke of a dagger through the deep gloom, in
case of my refusing to comply with repeating the Mahometan formula, or
confession of faith; but the second voice reassured me, I felt the
parties were begging in the style of Ouweek, "Your money or your life." I
besides recognized at once the parties to be some low fellows of the
Touaricks. The street-door was wide open, though no one was passing by.
As soon as I could distinguish the import of these strange unearthly
voices, which seemed to rise from the ground like the mutterings of the
wizard, I saw the only course before me was, as all the servants were
absent, to rush out into the street. I made a spring right by one of the
Touaricks, leaving a portion of my slight woollen bornouse caught by the
hilt of his dagger. I went off to Haj Ibrahim, but said nothing about it,
not knowing correctly what might have been the intentions of the
Touaricks. I always found the Touaricks displeased, even the Sheikhs,
when any complaints were made against them. Shafou, himself, always told
me, "My people will be as kind to you as I am," and would not hear of
complaints. I comprehended the course before me, and complained of no
one. On my return home I heard nothing, and said nothing. I took the
precaution, however, of not allowing Said to leave the house when the
Governor's slaves were out. I may mention now, that Ouweek's affair was
entirely smuggled up, and never even alluded to by the Sultan or
Khanouhen. The policy of Khanouhen is not to allow a suspicion of this
sort to be whispered abroad. In his own words:--"We are hospitable, we
are men of honour, of one word, and we cannot commit a dastardly action."
The reader will hereafter see the result, so far as my visit amongst the
Touaricks was concerned.

_4th._--Awfully cold this morning, and can scarcely bear my miserable
apartment, which affords very little shelter from the wind and cold,
having neither door nor window-holes closed up. No one to be seen in the
streets; all "struck upon a heap" with the cold, and shut up in the
houses. At noon, when the sun began to be felt, went out to see Bel
Kasem, and was pleased to hear that Khanouhen would compound with me, and
receive five or six dollars in cash, instead of the present. The sugar
and cloves, beads and looking-glasses were not to be returned, but to be
left for the Sheikh's ladies. I felt much relieved; it was not very
pleasant to be in a contest with the actual Sultan of the country.

Berka, the most aged and venerable Sheikh of the great families, arrived
yesterday from his district, bringing with him numerous followers.

Called upon Hateetah, and gave him an additional present, the whole now
amounting to eight dollars. He is, of course, in a very good humour, and
considers I have treated him like the English Consul. He proposed to me
that I should get him officially appointed British Consul by the Queen.
His pretensions are not exorbitant; he would be contented with fifty
dollars a year. He might be useful. The difficulty would be official
correspondence. The Touarghee Consul would be obliged to employ an Arabic
Secretary.

My young and kind Touarghee friend Sidi Omer, called this afternoon. He
is more like an English acquaintance of years' standing than a Desert
Touarghee whom I saw but yesterday. I asked him to take cuscasou with me.
He observed, "No, that must not be; a little sugar I'll take, a little
perfume for my wife I'll take, but I must not eat your cuscasou, for you
are a stranger. You ought to eat my cuscasou. The Touaricks must not eat
the cuscasou of strangers, and so friendly like you." I offered to take
him with me to Tripoli. He answered, "No, not now, I must first go and
fight the Shânbah. Then I'll return and come to you in Tripoli, God
willing; nay, I'll visit you in your country, and you shall show me your
Sheikh." In fact, this young man is free from those fanatical prejudices
disfiguring so many of his countrymen. He is most amiable and gentle, too
gentle for these Saharan wilds. Occasionally he escorts me about the
town, and always keeps off the rabble. After my friend, Kandarka called
on me. I did not know the fellow, he having twisted a white turban round
his head. Strange, this Aheer camel-driver visited me before I called
upon him and sent for him, and when he came I did not recognize him
again, on account of his assuming such Protean shapes. To-day I was much
pleased with his intelligence and the frankness of his conversation. I
opened my journal, and showed him his name written in it, that he might
see, if I did not recognize him, yet he occupied my attention, for his
name was already inscribed with Christian letters in my book. He was so
delighted, at the sight of his name in the book, that he sprung up, made
a summerset on the terrace, took up his sword and flourished it in the
air, and then sat down again, staring and grinning in my face as if he
had been imbibing laughing gas. There is more negro blood and negro
antics in him than the ordinary Touaricks of Aheer. He represents Noufee
as a great country of trade, and inhabited by Pagans and Mohammedans.
Kandarka introduced religion, but finding the English prayed and
acknowledged a God, he was satisfied and dropped the subject.

_Kandarka._--"English, pray?" (bending his forehead to the ground.)

"Yes, yes."

_Kandarka._--"Sultan English, cut off plenty heads," (making a stroke
with a sword).

"Yes, yes."

_Kandarka._--"Sultan English, plenty wives has he," (making an indecent
sign).

"Yes, yes."

_Kandarka._--"English women, plenty fat--big all round," (describing a
lady's bustle).

"Yes, yes."

_Kandarka._--"English, slaves, slaves!"

(I shake my head.)

_Kandarka._--"How? How?"

(I shake my head.)

_Kandarka._--"Where are you going?"

"I don't know."

_Kandarka._--"Come to Aheer with me, I fear no one. You fear no one when
you come with me."

"I don't fear any one but God."

_Kandarka._--"G-- it's the truth!" (seizing hold of my hands to embrace
me.)

I cannot but lament my feeble powers, to depict the character of my
various visitors, and to represent their ideas in English. I am obliged
to be content with a bald outline of their characters, and a miserable
translation of their thoughts into English dress. This Kandarka is in
himself a complete character, and a study for the tourist.

This evening paid a visit to Berka, the most aged Sheikh. It was dark
when I arrived at his date-branch hut. I entered; it was a large
enclosure. I found the aged Sheikh with several of his brothers, and they
and their children sitting round a flickering fire. One of them was
dressed in white. I asked the reason. The Sheikh told me he was a
Marabout. The French Government writers of Algeria have distinguished
Touaricks into white and black Touaricks, from the white and black
clothes which they are said to wear. I never heard of this distinction.
Now and then I have seen a Touarick dressed in white cottons, or
woollens; it seemed to be a matter of caprice. All dress in black and
blue-black cottons of Soudan; it is the national colour. And here we have
a new case of contrarieties in Mussulman nations living near neighbours,
for the Moors and Arabs detest black as much as the Touaricks admire
black. The Touaricks seem to have caught the infection from the colour of
their country, which is intersected with ranges of black mountains. In
one of the early skirmishes of the French in Algeria, an officer
describes the appearance of the enemy, as covering the mountain's side,
whence they sallied, with a white mantle, the Arabs were so thick and
their burnouses so white. Berka was very gentle and affable, like every
man of a good old age. "You are welcome in this country," he addressed
me; "this is a country of peace." Whilst conversing with the old Sheikh,
I heard a gruff heavy whisper from the farther end of the hut,
_Hash-Hālik_, "How do you do?" I turned round, and to my no small
astonishment, I saw the Giant Touarick, stretched along the full length
of the very large hut, sweltering in the fulness of his might. The reader
will remember the honourable mention made of The Giant in Ghadames. He
then raised up his massy head and Atlantean chest, and put out his brawny
sinewy arm, and clenched my hand: "Yâkob, the Shânbah have murdered my
little son, _they_ are the enemies of man and God, not _you_ Christians.
I am going to cut them all to pieces. Last year I killed eight with my
own good sword. When you come back from Soudan, you will not hear any
more even the name of the Shânbah." The Giant groaned out this in bad
Arabic. He was greatly afflicted for the loss of his son. The Shânbah
brigands fell upon a troop of Touaricks, in whose care he had left his
little son, a child of very tender age, I presented Berka with a fine
large white turban, and we parted good friends. The Giant is the nephew
of Berka.

_5th._--Called upon Hateetah. He had, as usual, many visitors.
Conversation turned upon politics. They were anxious to know the relative
amount of the military forces of the nations of Europe, and of the
Stamboul Sultan. I always tell them France has plenty of money and
troops. This keeps down their boasting, for the French are near, and they
are alarmed, and they think, as an Englishman, I must tell the truth when
I praise the French. If I abused the French they might suspect me, but I
have no inclination to do so. At the same time, I'll defy any traveller
to write fairly and justly upon the late history of North Africa, without
filling his pages with _bonâ fide_ and well-founded abuse of the French
and their works in this part of the world. They emphatically stink
throughout Africa. Hateetah vexed me by begging a _backsheesh_ for his
brothers. I positively refused; there's no end to making presents. All
the Sheikhs, as Bel Kasem Said of Khanouhen, have "a large belly." On
returning home, I determined to keep the door shut to prevent people
coming to annoy me. Now that I have no sugar or dates left, I have
nothing wherewith to get rid of them. Every visitor who leaves me,
without a small present, however trifling it may be, considers himself
insulted by me, or that I don't like him.

Still at a loss to know what to do, whether to proceed to Soudan, or
return and finish my tour of the Mediterranean. Sometimes I fancy I'll
toss up, and then, checking my folly, I'll try the _sortes sanctorum_; a
feather would turn the scale. On such miserable indecision hangs the fate
of man!

Bought half a sheep for a Spanish dollar. It's not much of a bargain, for
it is one of the Soudan species, and very thin and bony. Touarick flocks
are nearly all this kind of sheep. When the Arab, who was "halves with
me," divided the carcase, he took two pieces of wood, and then sent Said
down stairs. One of the pieces he gave me, and the other he kept. He now,
taking back my piece, called Said to return, and told him to put each
piece of wood on each half of the sheep. My piece determined my half, and
his piece his half. This is the Arab _sortes sanctorum_. The butcher had
sprinkled his hayk with the blood, a drop or two were on it, and he was
distressed to wash them out lest they should prevent him saying his
prayers. A portion of the entrails, the spleen, he applied to his eyes as
a talisman for their preservation.

There is an old woman very fond of annoying me; let us suppose she must
be a witch; she always calls out after me when I pass her stall, "There
is but one God and Mahomet is the prophet of God." To-day, words would
not suffice; the old hag ran after me and thumped me over the back, to
show her zeal for Mahomet, who, begging pardon of his Holiness, has not,
after all, been so very kind to the ladies in his religion, unless it be
the compliment which he has paid them, by placing all the imaginable
felicity of Paradise in their embraces. I took no notice of the virago. I
find it's no use. I was glad, however, to hear she was not Touarick, and
only a Billingsgate Mooress of the place. I am also happy to tell my fair
readers, she was not fair but very ugly. A large party of people followed
me home, hooting me, to give them something to eat. This rabble fancies
they have the right to insult a Christian, unless he gives them something
to eat or to wear. To bear all this, and ten thousand little delicate
attentions of the rabble of Ghat, requires, as Mr. Fletcher hints,
"Conciliation," with an occasional dose, I should think, of that most
necessary of all Saharan equipments, in travelling through The Desert.
PATIENCE.

_6th._--Sulky with the insolence of the rabble, and determined not to go
out till the evening. A brother or cousin of Hateetah called to beg, and
being in a bad humour, I told him I was just going round the town to ask
for a few presents myself, in return for those I had given to the people.
He was not abashed, but answered, "Good, good." He waited half an hour in
silence, for I got to my writing, and went off much pleased, I should
imagine, with his visit. One of the slaves of the Governor came in, and
said sharply, "What's that fellow _douwar_ (_i. e._ go about seeking)?"
"He wants you to give him some of your _gusub_ (grain.)" "_Kelb_" (dog),
he replied. This slave himself was a brazen-faced beggar, and a bit of a
thief, but withal a droll fellow. I asked him how he was captured? He
answered, naïvely, "You know Fezzan, you know Ghat;--well, these two
countries make the war, and catch me a boy." "How do you like Haj Ahmed,
your master?" "He has plenty wives, plenty children: we slaves must
plenty work for all these. Now, I like to eat. Haj Ahmed, he Governor,
but he gives me nothing to eat. I work for him six hours--I work for
others six hours. The people give me to eat, not Haj Ahmed."

This is the character of slave-labour in Ghat. The masters have half of
their labour for nothing, or because they are their slaves: with the rest
of their labour they support themselves. The _meum et tuum_ is not, and
indeed cannot be very strictly observed by the poor people who have to
support such a precarious existence; and when Said went down to bring up
the meat to cook for supper, he found this young gentleman had carried it
nearly all off to cook for his own supper, leaving what remained for us
to make the best of.

It is now reported that every stranger will leave Ghat in five or six
days, one ghafalah going to the south, another to the north, one to the
east, and another to the west. To these five or six days ten or twenty
may be added. This is ordinary calculation of Desert time.

Afternoon, Jabour called with a young man, who had a bullet lodged in his
arm, which he had received in a skirmish with the Shânbah. I could only
recommend a surgical operation, and his going to Tripoli. At this Jabour
was alarmed, and asked "What would the Turks do to the young man?"
begging of me medicine. I offered to take him under my protection, but it
was of no avail. The amiable Sheikh was as friendly as ever. I asked him
to write a letter to England. Jabour replied justly, "You are my letter;
I have written on you. You can tell your Sultan and people the news of us
all." "Don't be afraid to return, there are no banditti in that route.
The Shânbah are in the west," he added. I promised, if ever returning to
Ghat, I would bring him a sword with his name engraven upon it. He said,
"I know you will, Yâkob." I am tempted to think Jabour is the only
gentleman amongst the Touaricks. Another of Hateetah's cousins came to
beg, but went away empty-handed. This evening visited Bel-Kasem in the
expectation of seeing Khanouhen. The prince saluted me very friendly, and
asked, in a sarcastic tone, "How is the English Consul (Hateetah)?" My
appearance then suggested thoughts about Christians. "What is the name of
the terrible warrior who has killed so many Christians in Algeira?" he
demanded.

_I._--"Abd-el-Kader."

"Yâkob," he continued, "come, let you and me fight, for it seems
Mussulmans and Christians must fight. Here, I'll lend you a spear,--take
that" (giving me a huge iron lance.) I took it, and turning to
Bel-Kasem, said, "What's this cost?" so evading the challenge. "The price
of a camel," shouted Bel-Kasem at the top of his voice. "Ah!" cried
Khanouhen, "right, now sit down again; men are fools to fight--why cut
one another's throats?" "Yâkob," he went on, "your Sultan's a woman, does
she fight?" There was now a tremendous knocking at the door. This was two
or three cousins of Hateetah. "D----n that Hateetah," cried Khanouhen,
"Bel-Kasem, turn them away." Hereupon, Bel-Kasem started up in the most
abject style of obedience, and pushed one of his slaves out of the
room-door into the open court, crying "Bago, bago" (not at home). There
are certain foreign words which get currency, and supplant all native
ones. This "bago" is neither Touarghee, nor Ghadamsee, nor Arabic,
although used by persons speaking almost exclusively these languages.
Bago is Housa, as before mentioned. Then the slave called "Bago, bago,
bago;" then half-a-dozen slaves, close to the street-door, called "Bago,
bago, bago." The knocking continued; the "bagos" continued, the uproar
was hideous. Then Bel-Kasem gave his slave a slap, crying, "Bago, you
_kelb_ (dog)." Now the slave was off again to the other slaves, shouting
and yelling "Bagos," till the "bagos" drowned the knocking and the
clamour without, and the disappointed supper-hunters retired growling
like hungry wolves of the evening. Bel-Kasem now gave me a hint to fetch
the money for Khanouhen. I was off and back in an instant, very glad to
give the Sheikh the money according to our new compact. I put it into the
hands of Bel-Kasem. "Go out," said Bel-Kasem, "and see the fine parrots I
have bought." I went out, and in the meanwhile the politic merchant
slipped the money into the hands of the Prince. When I came back, they
both began to ridicule Hateetah. The Prince said, "Yâkob, place yourself
under the sword of Hateetah, and go out with him and fight a hundred
Shânbah." "Oh, he's an ass," replied Bel-Kasem. Such was their style of
ridicule. Bel-Kasem is a well-meaning little fellow, but a sort of fool
or jester of the Sheikh's. Khanouhen allows him to say anything and do
anything, but laughs at him all the time. Bel-Kasem always brings the
Sheikh some pretty present, and Khanouhen throws around him his powerful
arm of protection. The slavish merchant and faithful sycophant always
calls him Sultan, swears by the Sheikh's beard in his quarrels with the
other merchants, and threatens all his rivals in trade with Khanouhen's
wrath.

The Sahara has its factions in every group of its society. It would
appear that without faction neither Saharan nor any other sort of society
could exist. Ghadames gives us its _Ben Weleed_ and _Ben Wezeet_. Ghat
gives us three great factions in its Republic of Sheikhs. We may thus
classify their politics:--

MONARCHICAL FACTION.

Mohammed Shafou Ben Seed, _the Sultan_ of the Ghat, or Azgher Touaricks.
El-Haj Mohammed Khanouhen Ben Othman, the heir-apparent of the throne.
Marabout El-Haj Ahmed Ben El-Haj, Es-Sadeek, Governor of the town of Ghat.
Ouweek (second-rate Sheikh).

ARISTOCRATIC FACTION.

Mohammed Ben Jabour, Marabout Sheikh.

DEMOCRATIC FACTION.

Berka Ben Entăshāf, the most aged of the Sheikhs.
The Sheikh of gigantic stature[80].
Hateetah Ben Khouden, the "_friend_" of the English.

I found the strongest demonstrations of rivalry, and the bitterest
feelings of faction, in the conduct of these several princes of The
Desert, who are the personages of influence and authority amongst the
Ghat Touaricks. In the monarchical class the Governor of the town is
allied to the Sultan by marriage, though Khanouhen has no family by the
Governor's sister. Shafou, the venerable Sultan, is of such gentle
unassuming manners that he exercises no political influence over the wild
sons of The Desert. Khanouhen embodies the Sultan, and is the man of
eloquence, of action, and intrepidity in the national councils. He is
feared by all (Jabour, perhaps, excepted), but, nevertheless, is not
tyrannical in his administration of affairs. Jabour, the Marabout, is a
wise, upright, and amiable prince. His influence extends beyond the Ghat
Touaricks. Jabour told me himself, he had several people subject to his
authority, extending as far as Timbuctoo. To these, the Prince promised
to commit me in case I determined to make a journey to Timbuctoo. Like
Khanouhen, Jabour has two wives; one resides in Ghat, where the Sheikh
has a _town-house_, and the other in the country districts. He has,
besides, four or five sons. I saw one of them, who was as much of an
aristocrat as his father. The merchants assured me that Jabour's
influence, more especially as he is a marabout, although he is no
demagogue priest of the _Higgins' calibre_, is unbounded. "With a slave
of Jabour," they declared, "you may go to Timbuctoo, and all parts of
Sahara." The Sheikh himself does not visit the neighbouring countries.
This is not the custom of the Touaricks, the people being opposed to the
Sheikhs leaving their districts; but they send their slaves or relations
continually about. Berka, the head of the democratic faction, is too old
to exercise power, he has only strength enough to get about. The aged
Prince paid me two visits, and was as gentle as gentleness could be. His
family contains some powerful and intrepid chiefs, amongst the rest the
Giant, the Goliath of the Ghat Touaricks. But, speaking of giants,
_Bassa_, Sultan of the _Haghar_ Touaricks, is the real Giant of The
Desert. Some of the people report this Giant Desert Prince to have six
fingers on each hand, and to be several heads taller than he of Ghat. His
spear, they describe, in the true spirit of the marvellous, to be,
"higher than the tallest palm." I may help their imagination, "And the
staff of his spear is like a weaver's beam, and his spear's head weighs
six hundred shekels of iron," or is like--

          "The mast
    Of some great admiral."

Were I to adopt our present fanciful theories of accounting for the
origin and migration of nations, I should here have a fine field before
me, and the Touarghee giants of The Sahara would become, by the
transmuting fancy of our antiquarian theologians, the veritable
Philistines of Gath and Ekron. For many of the Berber tribes, amongst
whom the Touaricks are classed, especially the _Shelouh_ of Morocco,
relate traditionally that their fathers came from the land of the
Philistines, and that they themselves are Philistines. What then is
easier than to find in the name of _Ghat_ the _Gath_ of the Philistines?
But unfortunately, _Azgher_ is the Touarick name of themselves and their
country. Still the name of _Ghat_ must have its origin. As before
noticed, the original signification of the term _Ghat_ has been traced to
mean "_Sun_" or "God," in the ancient Libyo-Egyptian language. I am not
competent to give an opinion on the subject. One of the Latin writers
makes the aboriginal people of North Africa to have been Medes. The
probability is they were Syrians of some class. From the coast they would
naturally pass or migrate to The Sahara.

Hateetah is an extremely pacific man in his conduct, and greatly liked
for his peace-making disposition; but he is only a second-rate Sheikh,
and has no political influence over Touarick affairs, beyond what the
chief of his family enjoys. He has several brothers and cousins, all
esteemed Sheikhs, but with little or no power.

The government of the Touaricks is an assemblage of Chieftains, the
people supporting their respective leaders, the heads of their clans in
the feudal style, and all these controlled by a Sultan or Sheikh-Kebir.
The number of Sheikhs, when the lesser, or second and third-rate, Sheikhs
are included, is very considerable, and makes the country, as the
Governor says, "a country of Sheikhs." In their various districts, each
greater Sheikh exercises a sovereign, if not independent authority. In
any national emergency, they all willingly unite for the common defence
and protection, as now, when they are collecting their forces, in a
common effort to extirpate the Shanbâh banditti. The people, however,
enjoy complete liberty. The Touaricks, though a nation of chiefs and
princes, are in every sense and view a nation of freemen, and have none
of those odious and effeminate vices which so darkly stain the Mahometans
of the North Coast, or the Negro countries of Negroland. Every man is a
tower of strength for himself, and his desert hut or tent, situate in
vast solitudes, is his own inviolable home of freedom!

According to Haj Ahmed, the Touaricks of Ghat muster fifteen thousand
warriors. Let them be ten thousand, this would give an entire population,
including women, old men, and children, and slaves of both sexes, of
about sixty thousand souls. These Touaricks possess a good number of
slaves, but of the male sex to look after their camels. Every able-bodied
Touarick is a warrior, and is equipped with a dagger, suspended under the
left arm by a broad leather ring attached to the scabbard, and going
round the wrist, and a Touarick of adult age is never seen without this
dangerous weapon; a straight broad-sword is slung on his back, and he
carries a spear or lance in his right hand. Most of the spears have
wooden shafts, but others are all metal, and mostly iron. Some are of
fine and elegant workmanship, inlaid with brass, and of the value of a
good maharee, or thirty dollars. They have staves also, which they use
as walking-sticks, or weapons of war, as it may be[81]. These are their
weapons of warfare. The matchlock they despise. "What can the enemy do
with the gun against the sword?" the Targhee warriors ask contemptuously.
They, indeed, use the sword, their grand weapon, as the English soldier
the bayonet. Their superior tactic is to surprise the enemy, especially
in the night, when the Genii help them, and hack him to pieces. The spear
is used mostly to wound and disable the camel. Their manner of disposing
of the booty, is characteristic. "What are we to do with these women and
children?" they asked me, "when we have exterminated the Shânbah men."
Without waiting for a reply they said:--"Oh, we'll send them to the Turks
and sell them." They have the example of the Turks themselves, who, on
the destruction of the Arab men in the mountains, collected the women and
children together, and sent the best of them to Constantinople to be
sold, in defiance of the express law of the Koran.

The maharee cannot be overlooked; this remarkable camel, which is
like the greyhound amongst dogs for swiftness and agility, and even
shape, they train for war and riding like the horse. They do not
rear the ordinary variety of camel found in North Africa and on the Coast.
‮مَه٘رِي‬ or ‮مَه٘رِ‬, are the two manners in which I
have seen the Moorish talebs write this word in Arabic. An Arab
philologist says, the term Maharee is derived from the name of the
Arabian province of Mahra, on the south-east coast, adjoining Oman,
whence this fine species of camel is supposed originally to have
been brought into The Desert. The Touaricks, of course, have very
curious legends about their peculiar camel. We have, however, the
Arabic ‮مهر‬, "to be diligent," "acute-minded," and the term
‮مهاراة‬, "flying away," from which ‮مهري‬ may probably
be derived. At least there is no apparent objection to such derivation. The
Hebrew cognate dialect has the word also. ‮מהר‬ signifies "to
hasten," "to be quick;" but I cannot assert positively it has any
relation with this derivation. In the books written on Western
Barbary, we find the terms _heirée_ and _erragnol_ to denote the
"fleet" or "swift-footed camel," the former of which is apparently a
corruption of mahry or maharee. It is said that camels are called by names
derived from the Arabic numerals, as _tesaee_, "ten," (‮تسعي‬),
and _sebaee_, "seven," (‮سبعي‬) according as they perform
a journey of _ten_ days, or _seven_ days, in _one_; but I never
heard of this distinction in any part of The Desert. It is pretended
that the mahry cannot live on the Coast of Africa on account of the
cold. This has not been sufficiently tried, for Haj Ibrahim kept one
at Tripoli, which thrived very well, and was in good condition. It
is, however, a very chilly animal, and seems to feel the cold as
much as the Touarghee himself. In its healthy state it is full of
fire and energy, and always assumes the mastery over the camels of
the Coast, biting them, and trying to prevent them from eating with
it in circle like other camels. Mounted on his mahry, dressed out
fantastically in various and many-coloured harness, (the small
saddle being fixed on the withers, and the rider's legs on the neck
of the animal,) with his sword slung on his back, dagger under the
left arm, and lance in the right hand, the Touarghee warrior sallies
forth to war, daring everything, and fearing nothing but God and the
Demons. In the year '44 they made an inroad upon the sandy wastes of
the Shânbah bandits; days and months they pursued the brigand tribe
over the trackless regions of sand; and during this expedition they
neither tasted food, nor drank a drop of water, for seven
days!--still keeping up a running fight, pursuing and butchering the
Shânbah, who all disappeared at last, concealed under heaps
of sand. This statement, which shows the extraordinary power of
endurance--the moral and physical temperance in the Touaricks, I had
from the Governor of Ghat himself, and which coming from him
deserves credit. But the Touaricks do not eat every day though they
may have food in the house. They eat generally every other day. And
this amply suffices them when merely reclining in their tents, or
lounging in the Souk. Habit is everything; we might all live on one
meal a day if we could accustom ourselves to it. The people pretend
that, though the Shânbah can count the grains of their desert region
of sand, and know every form of the sand-mountains as well by night
as by day, the Touaricks had nevertheless the advantage over them,
pursuing them better by night than by day, because the Genii were
their guides; and many Shânbah, who had hid themselves under the
sand, were unburied by the Genii, and slain by the Touaricks.

I have given a case of Touarghee justice. During the Ghat Souk, all the
Sheikhs assemble in the great square, the Shelly, for the arrangement of
disputes; but it is mere form, and is more for gossiping and quizzing one
another, the Touarick being fond of a good joke. The principal Sheikh
present mounts a stone-bench, and sits down in a reclining posture,
striking his spear into the ground, which stands erect before him, as if
awaiting his orders. The very first thing a Touarghee does when he stops
and sits down, is to strike his spear into the ground or sand. When my
_friend_ Ouweek was napping near me at the well of Tadoghseen, his spear
was struck into the sand close by his head. So it is said, "And, behold,
Saul lay sleeping within the trench, and his spear stuck in the ground at
his bolster." (1 Samuel, chap. xxvi. ver 7.) The Sheikh of highest rank
now seated, the Sheikhs next in dignity take their seats around him, at a
short distance off, in the form of a semicircle, these generally
squatting on the ground. Sometimes the principal Sheikh himself squats on
the ground. The cases of dispute are then brought forward, if any. The
infliction of punishment is by fines. There is nothing in the shape of a
prison,--this delectable institution being the work and discovery of
civilization. Our Irishman might indeed, without a bull, with his back to
The Desert, and his face to the civilized communities of the Coast,
exclaim, on sight of the first prison and gibbet, "Thank God, I am out of
the land of Barbarians, and have reached the land of Civilization!" Of
fines, I heard of no other case than that of the Sultan fining two
strangers a couple of dollars, whilst resident in Ghat.

[Illustration]

In some parts of the Shelly there are ranges of benches of two and three
flights. It is an imposing sight, to pass through the square late in the
afternoon, just before they leave, and see all the Touaricks mounted on
these benches. Row upon row, range upon range, they sit, closely jammed
together, as thick as Milton's spirits in Pandemonium, and not unlike
them, with their dark and concealed countenances, so mysteriously muffled
up with the dread litham, having before them ranges of spears, parallel
to themselves, a bright forest hedge of pines, awaiting their orders for
war or warlike pomp. I have frequently passed this forest range of
lances, and looked up fearfully to the dark enigmatical figures or shapes
of human beings, reclining in the most profound death-like silence, not
exchanging a word with one another. A most trivial call of attention, a
rustling or breath of an accident of novelty, nevertheless, is enough to
put instant action and fire into these ranged masses of ice-congealed or
stone statue-like warriors, who will then rush down upon the attractive
object headlong, one falling over the other, until their childish
curiosity being satisfied, the wild tumult subsides, and they themselves
sink into their wonted blank inanity. But it is a fact, they will sit
motionless thus for hours and hours, and not condescend to speak to their
best friend amongst the merchants. This is their idea of dignity and
superior rank over their fellows. It would appear, from the account of
the Sultan of Bornou, that he, also, never condescends to speak when he
receives a foreign envoy. "Slowness of motion," in Barbary, and I imagine
in The East, is also considered a mark of dignity. A full-blown
fashionable Moor always walks extremely slow. The Touarick usually rises
up slowly, and deliberately walks out of the house in the same way, but
otherwise he continues a fair pace. What is curious, a Touarick never
speaks and salutes when he leaves you; his compliments and inquiries of
health, are all on his entrance into your house.

It now seems pretty well agreed upon by all parties who converse about my
affairs, that I should return and make greater preparations, and bring
with me two or three others, fellow-travellers, so as to render an
expedition of this sort more useful and respectable. But the disadvantage
always is, if it get abroad that such a mission is coming, laden with
presents, money and provisions, the danger is tenfold augmented, whilst
an indigent person like myself is in comparative security. A single
person has also his own advantages over a mission of two or three, or
more. He is his own master he is responsible alone for himself. Who
knows, but what something disastrous had happened if I had had with me
some hot-headed companion? A man will lose his life any time in The
Desert in five minutes if he cannot keep his temper. He may occasionally
assume airs of being angry for policy's sake, and check the insolence of
some low fellow, and with other advantages. But the point is, to be cool
in danger and embarrassments, which, if a man cannot be, let him go into
The Great Desert at his peril. It was for the same reason I would not
bring with me an European servant from Tripoli, whose fluency in Arabic
might have been attended with the greatest danger to us both instead of
assistance. Said is pestered with questions about me or my affairs; but
at times Said is stupid enough, and people get tired of asking him
questions. I must mention, however, one thing to his credit and to his
cunning sagacity; although a thousand times questioned, whether he
himself were a slave, and how he came with me, he never let out that he
was a runaway slave from Tunis, not even to his dearest companions of
travel. Generally when asked a question of our affairs, he says,
_Ma-Nârafsh_, "I don't know," and this he does as much from his indolence
in not wishing to talk as from policy. Here I shall take the liberty of
stating the several objections to my proceeding this year to Soudan:--

1st. My health is beginning to sink under pressure of the climate, as
well as under various vexations and annoyances. Amongst the latter, I
have received nothing which I wrote for to Tripoli, to persons whom I
considered friends of the mission, one thing excepted, and certainly not
the least thing, the money. (And I embrace the opportunity of thanking
gratefully Signor Francovich, Austrian merchant of Tripoli, for letting
me have money whenever I asked him, promptly and immediately, and to any
amount which I drew for).

2nd. Amongst the things written for to Tripoli, and which did not arrive,
were medicine, and some common instruments of observation. The medicine
was packed up by Dr. Dickson, but neglected to be sent until the caravan
had left Ghadames. The instruments, which could easily have been procured
in Tripoli, were of the greatest consequence, in making a more extended
tour intelligible.

3rd. Kanou, being reported by all the merchants as "a country of fever,"
it would have been exceedingly imprudent for me to have gone further
without a good stock of medicines. We have no right to plunge ourselves
into the flood of the Niger, and then accuse the hand of Providence for
not saving us from a watery grave. One might have escaped the fever, as
one might have been picked up by the swimming of a black man; but such a
"might" belongs to accident, not the planning and arranging of legitimate
expectation.

I shall not trouble the reader with ten or more reasons, all having more
or less of weight, which I have recorded in my journal, but which are
more curious than sensible. I mention, that, on my departure from Ghat, I
wrote to the Sultan of Aheer, by the advice of my best friends, informing
him of my intention to visit him at some future period. It is a mistake
that, the taking of these Saharan princes unawares; they consider it
infinitely more friendly to be written to beforehand. A stranger, and
especially a Christian, coming down upon them unexpectedly, excites
suspicion which may never be afterwards removed. The Touarick Princes of
Aheer are considered the only difficulty, so far as governments are
concerned, in the rest of the route. The Fullan Princes of Soudan are
represented as eminently friendly to every body, every stranger of
whatever clime or religion. However, I do not pretend to know what effect
the Niger expedition may have produced on the Fullans, with respect to
Englishmen.

       *       *       *       *       *

_7th._--Stayed at home all the day. The _fœx populi_ is a great
worry to me. They have no encouragement from the Sheikhs, but are
not less the cause of my shutting myself up at home. Evening, when
the streets were clear, visited Haj Ibrahim. He has purchased the
feathers of a splendid Soudan ostrich for five dollars, which in
Tripoli he will sell for ten. The bird is skinned and the feathers
remain unplucked. The _quæstio vexata_, as to who is Haj Ibrahim's
"friend," _sahab_ (‮صاحب‬), to whom he should pay his
tribute-present, for visiting the Souk, is at length decided in
favour of Berka. The old gentleman produced witnesses that all
Jerbini belonged to him, or are under his protection, and as Haj
Ibrahim is a native of Jerbah, he claimed the rich merchant. The
several Sheikhs have the several merchants under their protection.
Shafou has those of Tunis, Jabour those of Tripoli, under their
respective protection, and so of the rest. The merchants pay for
their protection from ten to twenty dollars, according to their
means. Frequently a group of traders do not pay more than a single
individual; some get off with paying only a dollar. These demands on
the merchants are certainly very moderate, and the Touaricks
scarcely deserve the epithets of _exigeant_ and extortionate which
are so freely applied to them by the merchants. Haj Ibrahim, who
brings some thousand dollars' worth of goods to this part, pays only
the paltry sum of some twenty or thirty dollars at the most. In
fact, here is free-trade with a vengeance, existing long before it
has been attempted to carry it out, with such tremendous
consequences, as in Great Britain. France and the Zollverein must
send agents to the Souk of Ghat, say half a dozen University
students each, to study free-trade principles from the barbarians of
The Desert. Indeed Touaricks carry out their system beautifully and
like gentlemen, and the Aheer merchants pay nothing in Ghat, and the
Ghat merchants pay nothing in Aheer, for the privileges of commerce,
in the way of customs' dues. The merchants and Arabs of Derge pay
nothing whatever, a privilege of ancient date granted to this class
of Tripoline merchants. But the Souk flourishes with its free-trade
mart, and excites the jealousies of the merchants of Mourzuk, and
their masters the Turks, because some of the merchants pass from
here direct to Algeria and Tunis, not touching the Tripoline
territory, and in this way the Turks lose their much-coveted
_gomerick_, or customs' duty. I am happy to record the present
instance of these extortioners being overreached, or rather,
vanquished by an honourable system of trade. Certainly, were it not
for the high duties levied on merchandize at Mourzuk and Ghadames,
many of the merchants of this Souk would visit those cities, and the
Turks could not fail to benefit by this extra rendezvous of
merchants. Haj Ibrahim does not think the whole of what all the
Sheikhs together collect as presents, at the annual Ghat Souk, to be
more than 250 or 300 dollars. In case Great Britain should think it
worth while to bribe or buy the services of the Touaricks of The
Desert, to intercept the slave-caravans, and so discourage the
traffic, it certainly could be done for some 500 dollars per annum,
or for very little more, if it were a question of money only.

FOOTNOTES:

[79] The merchants call these loaves of French beet-root sugar,
    _Ras_, _i. e._, "head."

[80] Having always called him the _Giant_ in my notes, I neglected
    to get his name.

[81] The spear is called _âlagh_, ‮علق‬, the dagger _tayloukh_,
    ‮تيلوخ‬, the sword _takoubah_, ‮تيكوبة‬, and the
    stave, with a spear point, âzallah, ‮عزلّة‬. The old men,
    like indeed Shafou, frequently make use of a large stick, instead
    of a spear, when they walk about. Usually the Touaricks carry their
    lances with them, and all their arms, even in paying the most
    friendly visits. To strangers they look infinitely more formidable
    than they are, or they themselves pretend to be.




CHAPTER XX.

CONTINUED RESIDENCE IN GHAT.

     Commerce of Winter Mart at Ghat.--Visit to Hateetah, and meet the
     Sultan.--Means of suppressing Saharan Slave Trade by the
     Touaricks.--Hateetah refuses my returning with a Bengazi
     Caravan.--Bad Character of Arabs.--Receive a Visit from His
     Highness the Sultan; and interesting Conversation with him.--Ghat
     Townsmen great Bigots.--Unexpected Meeting with the Sultan.--My
     Targhee Friend's opinion of War.--Mode of Baking Bread.--Country
     of Touat.--The British Consul is perplexed at his _Master_ being
     a Lady.--Vulgar error of Christians ill-treating Mussulmans in
     Europe.--People teach the Slaves to call me Infidel.--Visit to
     Bel Kasem, and find Khanouhen.--The free-thinking of this
     Prince.--Said's apprehensions of Touaricks.--Hateetah's opinion
     of stopping Saharan Slave-Dealing.--Shafou leaves
     Ghat.--Discussion of Politics with an assemblage of
     Chiefs.--Description of the Touarick Tribes and Nations of The
     Great Desert.--Description of Aheer and Aghadez.--Leo's Account
     of the Targhee Desert.--Daughters of the Governor
     Educated.--Touaricks refuse aid from the Turks against the
     Shânbah.--A private Slave-Mart.--Ghat comparatively free from
     Crime.--Visit from Berka.


IT is not my intention to enter into the statistics of trade, but I
mention a few facts. Caravans from Soudan, including all the large
cities, but especially from Kanou, from Bornou, from the Tibboo country,
from Touat, from Fezzan, from Souf, from Ghadames, and from Tripoli,
Tunis, and the North coast, visited the Ghat Souk of this winter. The
number of merchants, traders, and camel-drivers was about 500, the slaves
imported from Soudan to Bornou about 1000, and the camels employed in the
caravans about 1050. Provision caravans from Fezzan also were constantly
coming to Ghat during the Souk. The main commerce of these caravans
consisted of the staple exports, of slaves, elephants' teeth, and senna,
the united value of which, at the market this year, was estimated at
about 60,000_l._, which value would be doubled, on arriving at the
European markets.

Next to these grand objects of commerce were ostrich feathers, skins, and
hides in considerable quantities. Then followed various articles of minor
character, but of Soudanic manufacture, which are brought to the Souk,
viz., wooden spoons, bowls, and other utensils for cooking; also sandals,
wooden combs, leather pillow-cases, bags, purses, pouches, bottles and
skin-bags for water, &c.; arms, consisting of spears, lances, staves,
daggers, straight broad-swords, leather and dried skin shields. Some of
these weapons are made all of metal; the blades of the swords are
manufactured in Europe and America. These arms are mostly for the
equipment of the Ghat and Touat Touaricks, and are nearly all
manufactured in Aheer. Provisions are also exported from Soudan and Aheer
to this mart, consisting of semen or liquid butter; ghusub or drâ;
ghafouly[82], sometimes called Guinea corn; hard cheese from Aheer, which
is pounded before eaten; beef, cut into shreds, and without salt, dried
in the sun and wind; peppers of the most pungent character, an extremely
small quantity sufficing to season a large dish; a species of shell
fruit, called by the Moors Soudan almonds[83]; bakhour, or frankincense;
and ghour nuts and koudah, which are masticated as tobacco. There is
then, finally, the great cotton manufacture, which clothes half the
people of The Desert. Whole caravans of these cottons arrive together,
and they are even conveyed from Ghat to Timbuctoo, this extremely
roundabout way from Soudan. The colour is mostly a blue-black, sometimes
a lighter blue, and glazed and shining. But the indigo is ill-prepared,
and the dyeing as badly done, and the consequence is, the cottons are
very begriming in the wearing. The indigo plant is simply cut, and thrown
into a pond of water to ferment with the articles to be dyed, and after a
short time the cottons are taken out, dried, pressed, and glazed with
gum. It is these dark cottons which the Touaricks are so passionately
fond of. The only live animals brought over The Desert from Soudan and
Aheer are sheep and parrots.

The articles of import to the Souk from Europe are sufficiently well
known; they are chiefly silks and cloth, but of the most ordinary sort,
and, of showy colours, red, yellow, light green. Raw silk and brocades;
beads, glass and composition; small, looking-glasses; wooden bracelets,
fantastically painted; sword-blades; needles[84]; paper[85]; razors; some
spices, cloves, &c.; attar of roses; carpet-rugs; "Indians," or coarse
white cottons; bornouses and barracans, &c., &c. But it may be observed,
all the European articles introduced into Central Africa are of the most
ordinary description possible. Barracans or blankets are brought from
various places for sale at Ghat, but mostly from the Souf and Touat
oases, where the women weave them in great quantities. They are very warm
and serviceable in the winter months, and are even carried to Soudan,
where during the rainy and damp season these woollens are highly prized
for their usefulness, and found greatly conducive to health. No
fire-arms, which I could observe, are brought for sale here. There is
scarcely any gold trade; a very small quantity is brought here _viâ_
Touat from Timbuctoo. The money in circulation at the Souk is nearly all
Spanish. The exceptions are two small Turkish coins, called karoobs, one
of the value of about an English penny, and the other double this. A few
Tunisian piastres pass amongst merchants of the north. It is not the
large pillared-dollar (mudfah) which is in circulation, but the
quarter-dollars of Spain. Five of these quarter-dollars make up the value
of a whole Spanish dollar, and four are the value of the current or ideal
dollar, called the small dollar. The Soudanese merchants, who are
accustomed to see this money brought from the western coast, flatly
refuse all other monies but the Spanish. There is not a great quantity
of it here; merchants keep up the supply of this currency by exporting it
from Touat and Morocco. No gold coins are in circulation, nor any copper.
The Turkish money, excepting the karoobs mentioned, will not pass here;
people detest it as much as they do the Turks themselves. I once asked an
orthodox merchant how it was, that Mussulmans preferred the money of
infidel Christians to that of the Sultan of the Faithful? He naïvely
replied, "God has taught Christians to make money, because although used
in this world, it is accursed. Mussulmans touch the abominable thing, but
don't pollute themselves by making it. In the next world Mussulmans will
have all good things and enjoyments without money; but Christians will
have molten money, like hot running lead, continually pouring down their
throats as their torment for ever."

There is a very ancient story in circulation (in books) respecting the
peculiar manner of carrying on trade somewhere in the neighbourhood of
Timbuctoo. It is copied by Shaw from former writers on Africa. "At a
certain time of the year," the honest Doctor says, "they (Western Moors)
make this journey in a numerous caravan, carrying along with them coral
and glass beads, bracelets of horn, knives, scissors, and such like
trinkets. When they arrive at the places appointed, which is on such a
day of the moon, they find in the evening several different heaps of gold
dust lying at a small distance from each other, against which the Moors
place so many of their trinkets as they judge will be taken in exchange
for them. If the Nigritians, the next morning, approve of the bargain,
they take up the trinkets and leave the gold-dust, or else make some
deductions from the latter. In this manner they transact their exchange
without seeing one another, or without the least instance of dishonesty
or perfidiousness on their part." This curious instance of Nigritian
commerce has certainly been copied from the following passage in
Herodotus, proving the high antiquity of the ingenious fable:--"It is
their (the Carthaginian's) custom," says the father of history, "on
arriving among them (the people beyond the columns of Hercules) to unload
their vessels, and dispose their goods along the shore; this done, they
again embark, and make a great smoke from on board. The natives seeing
this, come down immediately to the shore, and placing a quantity of gold,
by way of exchange, retire. The Carthaginians then land a second time,
and if they think the gold equivalent, they take it and depart--if not,
they again go on board their vessels. The inhabitants return, and add
more gold till the crews are satisfied. The whole is conducted with the
strictest integrity, for neither will one touch the gold till they have
left an adequate value in merchandize, nor will the other remove the
goods, till the Carthaginians have taken away the gold." This story,
unhappily for the guileless simplicity of our merchants here, is too good
to be true, like most artless stories of this sort. I made inquiries of
merchants who had lived nearly all their lifetimes in Timbuctoo, and not
far from the gold country, but they had never heard of this pretty
primitive mode of barter. And yet the story has a real African or Negro
look in it. One cannot positively assert that something like this might
not have existed amongst the Nigritians and their foreign exchangers of
produce and merchandize. Let us hope, for the honesty of mankind, that
the fable had a genuine origin.

_8th._--Called on Hateetah this morning. Still the Sheikh bothers me
about presents for his brothers; he had also the conscience to ask for
another barracan for himself. I stood out, determined to give nothing to
him or his brothers and cousins. Spent the evening with Haj Ibrahim. His
friend, the Ghadamsee merchant, Ahmed Ben Kaka, who makes the journey
from Tripoli to Noufee, says he saw the English steamers of the late
Niger expedition, so he must have descended lower than Noufee. He says
they came up to _Yetferrej_, "amuse themselves," and look about. He had
not heard of their anti-slavery objects. According to him, "Fever and
sickness prevail more at Kanou than Noufee."

_9th._--A fine morning, but cold. Slept little; these fits of not
sleeping come on repeatedly. The Touarghee who has charge of my camel has
brought her from the grazing districts. On arriving at Ghat, all the
merchants send their camels to graze in these places. The Touarghee asks
for barley or straw whilst the nagah is here. The incident reminds me
of--"Barley also and straw for the horses and dromedaries brought they
unto the place where the officers were, every man according to his
charge." (1st Book of Kings, chap. iii. 28.) This is the food of horses
and camels to the present day in North Africa; the barley is principally
for the horses, and the straw, when it is chopped into little pieces, is
given to both horses and camels. The Touaricks show the greatest
antipathy to the Arabs, more especially since the late murderous attack
of the Shânbah on their defenceless countrymen. Some of the Touaricks go
so far as to say, "Mahomet was not an Arab." My Touarghee friend Omer
quarrelled violently with two Souf Arabs, who were also visiting me. I
told them it was indecent to quarrel in the house of a stranger whom they
were together visiting, and they made it up, shaking hands.

_10th._--Visited a patient, but had some difficulty in persuading him to
take my nostrums. Afterwards called on Hateetah, and, to my agreeable
surprise, found there the Sultan. I did not at first recognize His
Highness, the _litham_ being entirely removed from his face[86]. I was
vexed at my awkwardness, but the good-natured Sheikhs, several of whom
were present, readily excused me. His Highness and another Sheikh were
eating a sort of _bazeen_ or pudding, with curd milk, out of a large
wooden bowl. Each had a spoon with which they scooped up the pudding one
after another. I have sometimes seen two persons eating from a dish and
having but one spoon, which they used alternately, one fellow watching
anxiously the other with greediness, and measuring with a hungry eye the
size of his friend's spoonfuls. It is an advance on the Arabs, this use
of spoons, and I always took care to praise the Touaricks for their use
of spoons. In the open country, when a Touarghee has finished his meal he
drives the handle into the sand to keep the lower part dry. These spoons
are all made in Soudan, and are extremely neat, the shaft of the spoon
being very much bent, and the bottom very large and deepened in. His
Highness now told me he should send a present to the Queen, and asked me
if I would take a maharee. This I declined, on account of the expenses of
bringing such an animal to England on my own responsibility. Hateetah
said, "Why how foolish, when you get to Mourzuk the Consul will give you
plenty of money." I told him I did not know the Consul there, and must
not trust to any Consuls for such matters. None of the Sheikhs could
understand this objection. On getting up to take leave of His Highness he
asked: "How do you like our country? What do you think of our merchants?
Are the people civil to you? Shall you again return? How old are you? Why
do you travel so far? Will it not shorten your life? Will not your Sultan
give you a great deal of money for coming so far?" &c. Hateetah now told
me to sit down again. All were reclining on mats, and no particular
attention was paid to the Sultan. A merchant present said, "Why don't you
buy and sell, the Souk is open? We wish to see the English come here to
buy senna and elephants' teeth. But the English don't purchase slaves." I
then, half-doubting the propriety of, and greatly puzzled how to
introduce the subject, tried to make an effort. "How much," asked I, "do
the Touaricks get from the merchants who deal in slaves? I don't think
more than three hundred dollars a year?" (Several of the Sheikhs nodded
assent.) "Well, now, if the Sultan and the Touaricks would stop the
traffic in slaves here, perhaps the English would give them three
thousand dollars per annum." They all laughed at this, and the merchant
of Ghat took upon himself to say, for the Sultan and the Sheikhs, "Bring
the money." To this I rejoined, "But see now, I can't interfere, I'm not
the English Consul; Hateetah (turning to him) is the English Consul, let
him write for Shafou, to our Queen and arrange everything. I'll take
Shafou's present and bring back his from our Sultan. This is all I can
do." Hateetah raised himself up at this sally, and looked very
consequentially upon all around, even upon Shafou, as much as to say,
"Don't you hear, The Christian makes me the English Consul, and am I not
the English Consul?" Was glad to escape from the subject in this way,
determined not to pursue it further, knowing the bitter hatred it would
create in the minds of the merchants against me, if the conversation got
abroad. Still felt happy in having broached the subject, and attacked
their selfish feelings on the point. Government might spend a few pounds
out of the million per annum, (the cost of the suppression on the Western
Coast,) in buying the co-operative influence of these Sheikhs, who hold
the _keys_ of The Desert. There is no moral reason for leaving one part
of Africa a prey to this scourge, and concentrating all our efforts in
another region of this unhappy continent. I left the Sultan and Hateetah
in a good humour, after promising them some tobacco. Hateetah showed me
the leather pillow-case which Shafou intended to send Her Majesty.
Hateetah this morning seemed to have got the Sultan's ear, but as soon as
the old gentleman returns to Khanouhen, all the English Consul's
influence will evaporate in smoke.

_11th._--Called upon the Governor and met there Haj Abdullah of Bengazi.
Persuaded him to wait till to-morrow and take me with him to Mourzuk.
Then called on Hateetah, who would not consent to this. He says, "I must
not go this way with a couple of people through The Desert. I must go
either with him or his brother in the course of a few days, carrying the
presents of Shafou and a letter for the Queen." Agreed to this, it being
a matter of indifference whether I stopped a few days longer or not,
after waiting so long and to such little purpose. Was annoyed at my
Soudan journey being cut off in the middle, and sometimes thought I would
still risk it, or "go the whole hog." Perseverance overcomes obstacles
deemed by men impossibilities. Hateetah evidently feels his importance,
and besides thinks he shall get a little more by my delay. He is right,
for Her Majesty's subjects don't ask for his protection every day. The
Governor pretends the Shânbah muster 10,000! This ignorance must be
voluntary, or the assertion is made to render the approaching victory of
the Touaricks more terrible to my conception. An Arab of Tripoli came
here a few days ago and personified himself as Abdullah, who was going to
Bengazi, asking me for an advance of money. Met him this morning and
accused him of his impudent imposture, threatening to get him bastinadoed
by the Pasha. The Arabs are without question the worst class of people
who visit this mart of commerce. What they don't do as brigands they
attempt by fraud. Shaw tells us that, in his time, they lay in ambush in
the morning to attack the strangers whom they had hospitably entertained
the previous evening. Some of them still most richly deserve this
character. The Touaricks are so alarmed at the cold that there is no
prospect of their marching out against the Shânbah for weeks yet. Several
Touarghee camel-drivers will wait for the summer caravan before they
undertake the journey to Aheer, on which route the cold is often severe
at this season.

_12th._--Occupied in reading Hebrew. Learnt a few Touarghee words.
Several Touaricks called to beg dates; "_Bago_," or "Not at home." Did
not go out to-day.

_13th._--Called upon Hateetah, who vexed me exceedingly again by begging.
Her Majesty's Consul must have a regular salary, or Her Majesty's
subjects visiting here will have no peace of their lives. Told him to get
up his camels and prepare for our departure, and then I would give him
another backsheesh.

Afternoon, a messenger came from His Highness with the Sultan's dagger in
his hand, as guarantee that he came from His Highness. This is usual in
Ghat. Mr. Duncan has mentioned in his Travels through Dahomy, how he
often received the King's stick as guarantee that the messenger came from
His Majesty. I inquired,

"What is the matter?"

He answered, "Shafou wishes a dollar or a holee (barracan)."

Not understanding this, I said, "To-morrow I will see."

_The Messenger._--"Should I bring Shafou here to your house?"

"Yes, yes," I answered, very glad to have a visit from the Sultan.

"Now?"

"Yes, bring the Sultan at once," I continued.

In a few minutes, before I could guess or imagine what was this strange
business, I heard His Highness knocking at the door, who, with the
messenger, immediately ascended the terrace. The old gentleman, on
entering my room, refused my most pressing invitation to sit down on the
ottoman, preferring from sheer modesty to sit upon a skin stretched on
the floor. His Highness sat silent a few minutes, looking very
good-natured. As we were quite alone, I embraced the opportunity of
speaking very plainly to the Sultan. "You see," I observed, "our people
are afraid to come here, not knowing whether the Touaricks will kill them
or not. Have you not power to prevent the lesser Sheikhs from stopping
Christians in The Desert, and threatening them with bad language." "No,"
replied the Sultan, "I cannot be everywhere. Some of my children think
themselves better than their father. They will talk and have their own
way[87]. But now, Yâkob, we have all agreed to protect you, why do you
fear?" "I don't fear," I added, "but cannot something be done for the
protection of Christians through The Desert." "Here," said His Highness,
"is the question. You return home, you go to your Sovereign, for I have a
secret to tell you." "What is that?" I demanded anxiously. "Up to now,"
said Shafou, mildly and deliberately, "all the world has paid us tribute.
The merchants who come from the east or west, north or south, all pay us
tribute. But the English do not pay us tribute. How's this? You must tell
your Sultana to pay us tribute, and speak to her yourself." I promised I
would if I had an opportunity, not attempting to dispute a moment such
pretensions. I simply recollected the Khan of Tartary, who, after dining
himself, went out and ordered his servant to proclaim to all the monarchs
of earth his permission for them to dine, now that he had finished his
own dinner. I told His Highness, I thought I should return next year; on
which he said, "Well do, I'll conduct you myself to Aheer." I then
introduced the delicate subject of slavery. I observed, "The Sheikhs of
the Touaricks get very little from the merchants who deal in slaves. If
Your Highness should put an end to this traffic, you would get more from
us English." "Yes, yes, that's what you said before," interposed the
Sultan. "Try us, then, bring the money; at present, the English give us
nothing." I mentioned to the Sultan that the Bey of Tunis had abolished
the traffic in slaves. "Yes," said the messenger to the Sultan, "it's
true." The conversation now dropped, and I did not understand what was to
be done further. The messenger made a sign about the dollar. I had
already folded up mechanically a dollar in a piece of paper before the
Sultan came in, so I put this into the messenger's hand. I certainly
should have given the Sultan a dozen dollars if he had asked me, but the
old gentleman's wishes and wants were few, and his modesty greater than
these. His Highness now got up, and shaking hands departed as pleased as
Punch with his dollar. I question whether His Highness ever has any
money; Khanouhen is treasurer and everything else. So I finished with the
good-natured gentle creature Shafou, having humbly presented The Sultan
of all the Touaricks of Ghat with one dollar!

Just after Shafou left, the messenger wished to play me a trick. He came
running back, and said:--"See this dagger, this belongs to Khanouhen; he
says you must give him half a dollar." I simply replied to the fellow, "I
know nothing about it." I was convinced Khanouhen would never send such
a message. I laughed however at this fashion of sending about daggers. It
had something in it of the style of presenting a pistol to a man's breast
with the agreeable demand, "Your money or your life."

Passing through the gardens, I fell accidentally into conversation with a
gardener. On mentioning, that if God spared my life, I should go to
Soudan next year, he exclaimed:--

"What! do you know God?"

_I._--"Yes, and all Christians know God."

_The Gardener._--"Why, then, are you an infidel?"

I repeated, "All Christians pray and know God;" and left him puzzled out
of his wits. Ghat townsmen are beastly ignorant zealots, and confound
Christians with the Pagan Negroes of Central Africa, whom also they call
"Ensara." Since Negroes worship the "fetish," they think also we don't
know God. The Governor asked the other day, if the children of Christians
learnt to read and write like his children, the noisy hum of their
reading coming into the room whilst we sat talking. I might have
answered, "Some do," but used more general phraseology, "Both boys and
girls with us learn to read and write." "My girls learn also," replied
the Governor, with an air of triumph. I was glad to see female education
encouraged in Ghat by the Marabout, as it is also in Ghadames.

Touaricks are afraid, and distrust Arabs; and Arabs are afraid, and
distrust Touaricks; and both these are afraid of, and distrust Turks.
There is no mutual confidence in these various Mahometan people.
Nevertheless, except the Shânbah incursions, everything goes on pretty
quietly, and I hear of no murders, or acts of violence, in this region of
The Sahara. There is certainly no Irish or Indian Thuggism amongst
Saharan barbarians.

_14th._--The weather during these three days has been fine, no wind (the
horror of our people), and very warm. Our departure is protracted from
day to day. Time may be money in England, here it is as valueless as the
sand of these deserts. Got up very early, as I sometimes do, and went to
see the Governor. I was alone. In the distance (it was scarcely
daylight), I saw a tall figure looming, embodying forth. I continued, and
it neared me. This shadowy figure at length became visibly formed, and
expanded itself into the full stature of Shafou, who was like myself all
alone. His Highness was as surprised to meet me as I was surprised to
meet him at this time of morning. Shafou stopped suddenly, and then
putting his hand to his tobacco pouch, which he carried on his left arm,
and without speaking, gave me to understand that I had not sent the
tobacco which I had promised him. Indeed, I could not get it from Haj
Ibrahim. I addressed this silent admonition of my forgetfulness or
short-coming, by saying, "Yes, I understand, I'll send the tobacco." His
Highness then slowly passed on, just raising his hand to salute me at
parting, but without uttering a word. Afterwards, called on Hateetah, who
had heard from the messenger about my wonderful liberality in giving a
dollar to the Sultan, and was very angry. "Who is Shafou?" he
peremptorily asked. "He is nothing. You have given him a large present,
and me very little. Now, if any body hurts you, I shall be silent." I
took no notice whatever of this ungracious speech. A son of the Governor
paid me a visit on my return, and was very saucy, calling me a Kafer. I
instantly turned him out of the house. Then came in my young Touarghee
friend, which was a positive relief to me. I said:--"Are you not afraid
to go warring with the Shânbah?" He answered me pathetically,
prospectively submitting himself to the Divine Decrees:--"If it be the
will of God that I go warring against the Shânbah, and fall and die
there, what then? for go it is inscribed in the Book of Heaven." As to
the justice of the war, like our young soldiers, it never occupied his
thoughts. He merely goes to war because his master and prince goes to
war. What would the Peace Society say to him?

People in Ghat have a very primitive way of making bread. They place a
large earthen cylinder, with one of the ends knocked out, upon the
ground, and make it fast with clay or mud mortar, like "setting a
copper." This always remains as much a fixture as a copper. When they
want to make bread, they fill it full of lighted date-palm branches, or
other fuel. After the flame is extinguished, and the wood ashes have
fallen to the bottom, the sides of the cylinder are heated red-hot. These
sides are now rubbed round with a green palm-branch, and made clean. This
done, the paste or dough is pulled and made into small loaves like
pancakes, and clapped on the hot sides, until all the surface is covered,
the little cakes sticking on with great tenacity. The top of the cylinder
is now covered over to retain the heat. In a few minutes the covering is
removed, and the new-baked bread is pulled or peeled off the sides of the
fast-cooling cylinder. But sometimes there is heat for baking two batches
of bread. Bread is frequently piled up, layer upon layer, like pancakes,
in a bowl, and a strong highly-seasoned sauce with oil or liquid butter
is poured upon it; from which bowl it is eaten, and called _âesh_, or
"the evening meal." Sometimes a number of very small pieces of meat is
placed on the pile of sopped bread; but this is a delicacy or luxury.

_15th._--Went to call upon Hateetah, and met in the way a son of Abd
Errahman of Ghadames, who has just returned from the oases of Touat. He
describes Ain Salah (or Ensalah), to be like the country where the
Governor of Ghat resides, that is to say, sandy and surrounded with sand
heaps, but abundantly supplied with water, as well as thickly populated.
The oases of Touat have unwalled towns, or scattered hamlets, but the
country is perfectly secure. He gives the inhabitants a good character;
they are a mixture of Moors, Arabs, Touaricks, Berbers, and Negroes, like
nearly all the oases in Central Sahara, or that portion of The Great
Desert, extending from the oases of Fezzan to the Saharan towns of Arwan
and Mabrouk, on the western-route line of Timbuctoo. He thinks I might
travel in safety from Touat to Timbuctoo in summer, for during the dry
season the banditti cannot keep the open Desert. Saw Hateetah, and gave
him a dollar, which put him into a better humour. Although the
_soi-disant_ Consul of the English, and all the Christians who per hazard
visit Ghat, he displayed to-day the greatest ignorance of the maxims and
polity of Christian nations. I thought it as well, since he assumed to be
the Representative of Her Majesty here in Ghat, just to remind him, (for
I thought I had told him before,) there was a Queen in England, and that
Her Majesty was his master. This greatly shocked Her Majesty's Touarghee
Consul, and he asked, "Whether the Queen cut off heads?" I told Her
Majesty's Consul, the servants of Government hanged murderers. The
Touaricks have acquired these sanguinary notions of cutting off heads,
from the reports of the Turkish and Moorish administration of justice.
Such barbarous practices do not exist amongst these barbarians. He then
demanded, "Should I go to England, would the English seize me and beat
me?" This question from the English Consul really surprised me, whatever
I might have expected from others, the vulgar error of Christians
ill-using Moslems, being spread in Sahara. People think, if they were to
visit Europe, we should capture them, beat them, and make them slaves.
This unfavourable opinion of us has descended from the times of the
Crusaders, when European Christians displayed their zeal for
Christianity--notwithstanding its holy doctrines teach the forgiveness of
injuries--by butchering or enslaving Jews, Mahometans, and heretics.
Thank God, the chivalry of those days is gone, though worse may yet come.
To-day, a mob of slaves, who idle about in the road to Hateetah, hooted
after me, and one of the biggest came upon me and pulled hold of my coat.
I could not let this pass, the hooting I don't care about. So I fetched
some people to have the biggest fellow taken to Jabour. This we did to
frighten them, for after one of my friends gave him a crack over the
head, he was let off, promising to do so no more. The lower Moors and
Touaricks, both here and at Ghadames, teach the slaves to call Christians
kafer, "infidel." The blacksmiths, near Hateetah's house, mostly salute
me as I pass by them, with "There's no God," &c. Sometimes they are
extremely insolent. Any resistance to this zeal for The Prophet, would be
putting your head into the fire. It would not be quite so bad if I did
not go out so much alone. I ought always to have a good strong fellow, an
Arab or Touarghee, with me, a sort of physical-force argument against
this moral hooting, which is intelligible everywhere, and more especially
in The Desert. But as I soon leave, I do not wish to adopt any new
measure, which would show want of confidence in the people.

Evening visited my little queer friend Bel Kasem. Found with him as usual
his mighty lord, Khanouhen. The Prince began to ridicule Hateetah and his
brothers, and scold me on the subject of presents:--"Yâkob, if you give
those rascally brothers of Hateetah presents, I shall have to spear you,"
clenching hold of his spear. "_Kelāb_" (dogs), said his jester, "they'll
strip you of everything, leaving you no bread, nor even a water-skin, to
return to Tripoli." I assured Khanouhen I had not given Hateetah's
brothers anything but a bit of sugar for some of their children. "Good,"
said the Prince. Khanouhen now began in the style of _un esprit fort_:
"Yâkob, you're a Marabout. Our Marabouts are all rogues, and are always
exciting the people against us and our authority (as Sultan). Are you
such a rogue?" Here was a glimpse of another contest between the civil
and spiritual power in The Desert. I told the Sheikh I was no priest, but
a taleb. "Ah! good," said the Prince, giving me his hand. "But when you
die, where are you going to? Are you and I going together on the same
camel, or do you take one route of The Desert and I another, with
different camels?" I replied, "What is the use of such conjectures?"
"Right," said the Prince, "don't you remember (turning to Bel Kasem) that
Wahabite the people had here, and how they buffeted him, about? Yâkob,
(turning to me) I saved a poor devil, a Wahabite, from being killed by
the mob in Ghat, and I'm ready to save you. What's the good of killing a
man for his religion?" I thanked the Prince for his noble feelings of
tolerance, and left him and his clown to their _tête-à-tête_. Khanouhen
is one of the few of those strong-minded and right-thinking men, who see
the utter folly and direful mischief of forging a creed for the
consciences of his fellows. Had he been a Christian prince of the times
of Charles V., he would not, like that celebrated monarch, have passed
all his life in binding the religious opinions of men in fetters, and
then at the end of his days, disgusted with his work, repented of his
folly. No, from the beginning of his career, Khanouhen would have
proclaimed and defended with his sword the liberty of the human
conscience in matters of religion.

_16th._--A warm morning and hazy, but the much-dreaded wind got up at
noon. The departure of all the ghafalahs is now fixed for the 25th, and
ours for 23rd. The Rais of Ghadames has sent word for all his subjects to
return together; this I'm sure they will not do. It is extremely
difficult to make up a large caravan. The Soudan caravan is now departing
in small detachments of half a dozen people. Found Said crying to-day.
"What's the matter, Said?" "You are going to Soudan, the Touaricks will
kill you and cut you into bits, and I shall be again made a slave. I wish
to return to Ghadames with the Ghadamsee ghafalah." I had often caught
Said crying, and I imagine his grief came from the same source. I now
told him positively I was about to return to Fezzan, and never observed
him crying afterwards. As at Ghadames, Said is here a great man amongst
the lady negresses, and spends all his money in buying them needles and
beads. Hateetah called and scolded Said for crying, who had not yet dried
his tears. The Sheikh told him the Touaricks were better than the Turks
or Arabs; and I supported Hateetah by reminding Said of what our friend
Essnousee observed, "_Targhee elkoul zain_, (all the Touaricks are good
fellows)." I now spoke to Hateetah seriously about devising some means
for stopping the progress of slave-caravans through the country. He
pretended that the profit derived from the slave-caravans was infinitely
greater than it is, making it some one thousand dollars per annum; he did
not think the Sheikhs would suppress it. "They had carried it on always,
and would for ever," he observed. "But," he continued, and very justly,
"stop it at Constantinople, or at Tripoli, and then it will be stopped
here." Hateetah is right. This is and must be our plan, and I am happy to
see that Lord Palmerston has made, during the present year, a most
decisive effort near the Sublime Porte, to get the demand for slaves cut
off at Tripoli and Constantinople, by the closing up of the
slave-markets. Spent the evening with Haj Ibrahim. The Haj was occupied
in making under-garments for the slaves he has purchased. Moors do
strange things. It is curious to see the richest and most extensively
occupied merchant of the Souk sewing up shirts and chemises for his
slaves.

_17th._--Shafou left this morning for the country districts. The quiet
old gentleman has had enough of the bustle of the Souk, which still
continues. His Highness, before his departure, arranged for the Queen's
letter and the presents. Called early upon the Governor, and found him in
the house of Khanouhen, where there was a full assembly of Sheikhs. I was
obliged to talk politics with them, which were translated as the
conversation proceeded, by the Governor himself, to the Sheikhs. I
surprised them by telling them of the great number of Mussulman troops
employed by the French in Algeira, and how the French Government paid all
the priests of religion, even Mussulmans. They questioned me about, and I
explained to them the existence of deism in France and Europe. Now and
then a solitary Mussulman deist may be found in North Africa. But how few
have courage enough to resist the divine mission of The Prophet! Still
fewer question the probability of a Revelation. In general conversation,
I have always despised the system of running down the Algerian French,
whilst travelling in these wilds. It serves no earthly purpose, but to
increase the arrogance of the Moors and Arabs against Christians of all
nations. Whatever the conduct of the Algerian French, the conquest may
have a salutary influence upon Saharan fanatics, though it increases the
danger of the European traveller. The Moorish Governments of the coast
deserve much censure. They often foster and fan the flame of fanaticism
against European tourists. Besides, the conduct of the Maroquines towards
the Jews ought not now to be permitted by the Governments of France and
England. A missionary to the Jews, (himself a converted Jew,) who visited
Tangier with me, could not help exclaiming, on seeing how badly the
native Jews were treated, "God give the French success in Algeria!" It
is difficult for a philanthropic mind to suppress such feelings, whatever
our national prejudices, and how much soever we may brand the Razzias as
an indelible stigma on European civilization. It would be better, and
certainly more just, to civilize North Africa by civilizing the
established Moorish Governments of The Coast. But if The Coast is to fall
under European domination, it is to be hoped England will secure the Bay
of Tunis for shipping, and the Regency of Tripoli, as being the natural
route of Saharan commerce. The rest may be safely left to France,
excepting our old military post of Tangier, in order to maintain our
influence through the Straits of Gibraltar. The conversation of the
Sheikhs at length turned upon the Turks, and the country of Gog and
Magog--whence they came, whom we all agreed to abuse as much as possible,
since our antipathies were pretty equal. The Sheikhs then began very
naturally to vaunt of their power in The Sahara, and I may embrace this
opportunity of giving some outline of the Touarick nations of The Great
Desert.

The Arab and Moorish writers of the middle ages, as well as the latest
Saharan pilgrims, who have travelled The Desert from the shores of
the Atlantic to the banks of the Nile, have all given us brief
notices of the Touarick nations; but they have sometimes confounded
Touaricks with strictly Berber tribes, and indeed, not without
reason, for apparently the Touarick and Berber tribes are descended
from one original family, or stock of people. The fairest conclusion
is, that they are the descendants of the ancient Numidian tribes.
The Arabic terms employed here to name the Touaricks are ‮توارق‬
plural and ‮توارقي‬ singular. Vulgarly a Touarick is called
_Targhee_ (‮ترقي‬), by the Touaricks themselves, as well as by the
Moors and Arabs. Indeed, Targhee is the more correct name, and
Touarghee is an enlarged Arabic form. So Leo Africanus speaks of
these tribes of The Desert as "Targa Popolo."

The extent of Sahara occupied by the Touaricks is exceedingly great,
embracing many thousands of miles. The northern line begins at Ghadames,
an hour's journey south of that city. This line extends along the north,
south-west as far as Touat, and south-east as far as the oases of Fezzan
and Ghat. On the western side, proceeding directly south, we find
Touaricks on the whole line of route as far as Timbuctoo; on the eastern
side, leaving Ghat, and journeying southward, they abound in the populous
districts of Aheer and Asbenouwa, as far as Damerghou, the first purely
Negro kingdom of Negroland. On the south, they are scattered in villages
and towns, or wandering in tribes, along the north banks of The Niger. I
have not heard of their being located on the southern banks of the great
river of Soudan, nor do they descend the Niger to the Atlantic, for we
hear nothing of them in Noufee or Rabbah. But they are scattered higher
up through the extensive provinces of Housa, subjected to the Fullans.

In The Sahara, comprehended by these immense lines, they have some large
cities and agricultural districts. The principal of them are Ghat, Aheer,
and Aghadez, in the east, Touat and Timbuctoo, in the west. We have the
three principal cities of Ghat, Aheer, and Aghadez, besides numerous
villages, in Western Sahara, entirely under the authority of the
Touaricks. Everywhere they inhabit the agricultural districts of the
open desert. I have not heard of Touaricks on the western line of the
Atlantic Ocean. Captain Riley speaks only of wandering Arabs, almost in a
wild state. On the eastern line of The Desert, they do not extend beyond
the western limits of the oases of Fezzan, and the southern Tibboo
countries. The names of the great sections of the Touaricks, as far as I
have been able to learn, are,--

1st. The _Azghar_--‮ازقار‬--of Ghat.
2nd. The _Haghar_--‮هقار‬--of Touat.
3rd. The _Kylouy_[88]--‮كيلوي‬--of Aheer.
4th. The _Sorghou_--‮سرقو‬--of Timbuctoo.

The Sorghou is the Timbuctoo name which is given to them by Caillié, and
probably this is not a distinct section from that of the Haghar[89].
There are some lofty ranges of mountains between Ghat and Touat called
also Haghar, the nucleus of these tribes, and whose Sultan is the
Gigantic Bassa. Besides, we have the Touaricks of Fezzan, a very small
section and distinct from those of Ghat, and who may be considered the
pastoral people, the veritable Arcadians of the oases. All these sections
have their respective Sultans, and the Sultans their respective
subordinate Sheikhs, governing the respective subdivision of territory
and tribes of people. The subdivisions of Ghat tribes are the
following:--Tinilleum, Aiaum, Dugarab, Sacana, Dugabakar, Auragan,
Muasatan, Ghiseban, Elararan, Filelen, Francanan, Botanetum, Skinimen,
Deradrinan, Mucarahsen, Keltrubran, Keltunii, Chelgenet, Ilemtein[90].
These various sections of Touaricks, who wander through the vast
wilderness of Sahara, or are located in its oases, may be distinguished
by some general characteristics, agreeing with and arising from their
peculiar location, or habits of trade and life. The Touaricks of
Timbuctoo are the more faithless and sanguinary in their disposition, and
less addicted to commerce or a regular mode of life. Those of Ghat
represent the Touarghee character in its most original type, these tribes
being a brave and hardy people, reserved and using few words in speech,
of a noble chivalric disposition, and carrying on some commerce. Those of
Touat, I imagine, are the same style of people, from what few of them I
saw at Ghadames; but those of Aheer are more effeminate and milder in
their manners, and are a good deal mixed with the Negro nations of
Soudan. The Touaricks of Aheer bear an excellent character as traders,
and companions of travel, always assisting the stranger first at the
well, before their own camels are watered. They seem, besides, mostly
addicted to the peaceful pursuits of commerce, if we except their
occasionally joining in the Razzias for slaves. A full third of the
traffic of the South-eastern Sahara is in their hands, or under their
control. I may add a few words upon their country and chief places, Aheer
and Aghadez.

_Aheer_, or _Ahir_, ‮اهير‬ and which is often incorrectly spelt on
the maps Aïr, is the name of a town and very populous district,
including within its territory or jurisdiction the city of
Aghadez. Aheer is also called Azben, and its district Azbenouwa
‮ازبنوة‬--‮ازبن‬ which appear to have been the more
ancient names. The town of Aheer is also called _Asouty_,
‮اسوطي‬ on the maps Asouda, the dentals ‮ط‬ and ‮د‬
being convertible. These districts are bounded on the north by Ghat and
its tribes; on the east by the Tibboo country and Bornou, on the
west by the Negro, Touarick and Fullan countries of the north banks
of the Niger; and on the south, by the Housa districts, vulgarly
called by merchants, Soudan. Aheer is forty short days from Ghat,
the Soudanese merchants who visit the Ghat mart always travelling
much more _doucement_ and in jog-trot style than the Moorish and
Arab merchants of the north. The line of the Aheer stations measures
about thirteen days, from Tidik in the north to Toktouft in the
south[91]. In this portion of the route, and that previous to
arriving at Tidik, there are twenty days of mountains. The Aheer
route also abounds with springs and fine streams, which gush out
from the base of rock-lands of great height, and some of which form
considerable rivers for several months in the year, on whose banks
corn and the senna-plant are cultivated. Aheer is the Saharan region
of senna, where there are large wadys covered with its crops. The
exportation, especially after a season of rain, is very great and
profitable. Asouty is the principal town of the Aheer districts, and
was formerly the capital of all the Kylouy Touaricks. No less than a
thousand houses are now seen abandoned and in ruins. Here in former
times all the Soudan trade was carried on and concentrated; its
population is still considerable. The houses are nearly all
constructed of hasheesh, or straw huts, and the city is without
walls. Nevertheless, the people still honour it with the title of
_Blad es-Sultan_, "City," or "Country of the Sultan," that is, where
the Sultan occasionally resides, answering to our _Royal_ city.

Aheer is the rendezvous of the salt caravan of Bilma, in the Tibboo
country, situate, almost in a straight line, about ten days east, the
route to which is over barren stony ground. A curious story is told of
the manner in which the camel drivers supply themselves with forage over
this treeless, herbless, naked waste. On their way to Bilma, they leave
at certain places or stations a quantity of forage to supply them on
their return; and it is said, the deposit is sacred, no one daring to
touch it. It is probable, however, that the forage is concealed in hiding
places, as wells are often hidden along some desert routes. Even in the
Tunisian Jereed, the sources of water are frequently concealed, a skin
being placed over the water with palm branches laid thereupon, and the
top of the well's mouth covered with sand. So that a hapless traveller
may perish of thirst with water under his feet! Through the hunting
districts of South Africa, amongst the Namaquas, the sources of water are
concealed in a similar manner. However, a short time ago, the people of
Bornou, who were then at war with the Touaricks of Aheer, discovered the
hiding places of the Touaricks' forage, carried off or destroyed the
supplies, and reduced a large salt-caravan to the greatest extremities;
hundreds of camels perished from hunger. These salt-caravans are
sometimes a thousand and two thousand strong. The greater part of Housa
and the neighbouring provinces is supplied with salt from Bilma.

Aghadez, ‮اقدز‬ is the capital of the Aheer districts. This is the
residence of the Sultan of the Touaricks of South-eastern Sahara.
The present Sultan is called _Mazouwaja_, ‮مزواجى‬ who is
represented as a friendly prince. But it was _En-Nour_ ‮النور‬,
deputy Sultan of Aheer, to whom I wrote before leaving Ghat, begging
his protection in the event of my return, to complete the tour to
Soudan. Aghadez is now as large as Tripoli, or containing from eight
to ten thousand inhabitants. In a past period it was four times as
large. A great number of the people have emigrated to Soudan, where
less labour is required to till the soil, and nature is more lavish
in her productions. Aghadez is a walled city, but without any
particular strength; the houses are but one story high, built of mud
and stone and sun-dried bricks. Aghadez abounds in provisions of the
most substantial kind, that is, sheep, oxen and grain. The
government is despotic, but the lesser chiefs have great power in
their respective districts, like those of Ghat. The religion of the
people is Mahometan; not a Pagan, Jew, or Christian, is found within
these districts. Trade is carried on to a great extent, and Moorish
merchants visit Aghadez, proceeding no further towards Soudan. The
most interesting district near Aghadez is that of _Bagzem_ ‮بقزم‬,
(or _Magzem_, the labials ‮ب‬ and ‮م‬ being convertible,)
consisting of an exceedingly lofty mountain, requiring a full day's
journey for its ascent. This mountain figures on the map under the
ancient name of Usugala Mons, but for what reason God knows. The
town is placed a good way towards its loftiest heights, the most of
which heights are both cultivated and inhabited, and there is
abundance of trees, grain, and fruits. Bagzem is three days' journey
from Asouty.

I shall take the liberty of appending the account given of Aheer and
Aghadez by Leo Africanus:--


DISERTO DOVE ABITA TARGA POPOLO.

     Il terzo diserto incomincia da'confini di Air dal lato di
     ponente, e s'estende fino al diserto d'Ighidi verso Levante; e di
     verso tramontana confina con li diserti di Tuat e di Tegorarin e
     di Mezab; da mezzogiorno, con li diserti vicini al regno di
     Agadez. Questo diserto non è cosi aspro e crudele, como sono i
     due primieri: e truovavisi acqua buona, e pozzi profondissimi;
     massimamente vicino ad Air, nel quale è un temperato diserto e di
     buono aere, dove nascono molte erbe: e più oltre, vicino di
     Agadez, si truova assai manna, che è cosa mirable; e gli
     abitatori vanno la mattina pertempto a raccorlo, e ve n'empiono
     certe zucche; e vendonla cosi fresca nella città di Agadez; e un
     fiasco che tien un boccale val due bajocchi; beesi mescolata con
     acqua; ed è cosa perfettissima: la mescolano ancora nelle
     minestre, e rinfresca molto: penso che per tale cagione li
     forestieri rade volte s'ammalano in Agadez, come in Tombutto,
     ancorchè vi sia aere pestifero. Questo diserto s'estende da
     tramontana verso mezzogiorno trecento miglia.--_Sixth Part_, lvi.
     _chap._

It will be observed, that under the name of _Targa Popolo_, no mention is
made of the Touaricks of Ghat. Indeed, all the notices of the Renegade
Tourist on this part of Africa, are extremely meagre and unsatisfactory.
As to his divisions of The Sahara into so many deserts, 1st, 2nd, 3rd,
&c., this is all arbitrary and most unnatural. The story about the
abundance of manna gathered in the districts of Aheer, seems to have been
invented to please the Christian doctors of Rome; at any rate, nothing of
the kind is now seen or known at Aghadez. But with respect to foreigners
who visit Aheer and Aghadez enjoying good health, I have no doubt the
Renegade is correct, for I have not heard of either of these places being
unhealthy, their salubrity arising, we may imagine, from the elevation at
which they are placed. The Aheer Saharan region is emphatically
mountainous.

Afternoon, visited Hateetah, who has made up his mind to accompany me to
Fezzan, of which I'm glad, not wishing to meet with any more Ouweeks in
this neighbourhood. Was pleased this morning to observe amongst the
children of Haj Ahmed, who were busy reading passages from the Koran,
several girls. This circumstance raises my opinion of the Governor. No
doubt it is because he is a Marabout that he grants this privilege to his
daughters. The Marabout has no less than a dozen small children, of all
complexions, features, and hues, from lily white to sooty black. My
sweetest enjoyment in Ghat is to listen to the song of the tiny singing
sparrows hopping about my terrace. My days of childhood return with their
song, when, if I were not innocent, a little matter made me happy. Sing
on you pretty little things, tune your wild Saharan notes, for you
gladden my sad heart!

_18th._--A fine warm sunny day. The departure of the ghafalah is now
fixed for the 27th. According to some accounts, 8000 Touaricks are being
mustered, to march against the Shânbah. The Touaricks evidently expect
the robber tribe to be reinforced from Souf and the Warklah districts, or
the robbers must number 5000 instead of 500. Haj Ibrahim tells me, he has
just read a letter addressed by the Pasha of Tripoli to the united
Sheikhs of Ghat, offering them assistance against the robber tribe. The
Touaricks have politely declined the proffered aid, feeling strong (and
wise) enough to manage their own battles. Not much troubled with visitors
lately, one now and then. The Touaricks are leaving Ghat to reinforce the
new levies of troops. Soon the town will be emptied of Touaricks. The
Ghadamsee ghafalah is returning, and a small one to Tripoli _viâ_ Shaty
and Misdah.

Haj Ibrahim continues to repeat his story about the people of Ghadames
having a great deal of money hoarded up. I visited him this morning, and
found him surrounded with a group of Soudanese merchants. The large
court-yard of his house was full of bales of unsold goods, here and there
scattered about, and some unpacked, all in the most business-like
disorder. In one quarter was a cluster of a dozen slaves, waiting to be
bartered for, the poor wretches being huddled up together in this private
mart of human flesh. The Moor was calm and collected amidst the dirt and
noise of Kanou and Succatou merchants, who with violent gestures were
disputing the progress of the bargain inch by inch. Here was a great
assortment of rubbish, for I can't call very coarse paper, green baize
cloth, glass and earthen composition beads, bad razors, and a few common
woollens, and some very inferior raw silk, merchandize. And such rubbish
was offered in exchange for a group of God's creatures, with his divine
image stamped upon them! At length the progress of the bargain came to
what might be called a crisis. The Soudanese merchants jumped up
suddenly, with shouts and curses, as if they had discovered a perfidious
fraud, and rushed to the door, pulling their miserable slaves after them.
I felt shocked at the sight, and my horror must have been depicted in my
countenance. For Haj Ibrahim, who well knew I disapproved of this
traffic, said to me angrily, "Why do you come here now?" I got out of his
way as quick as I could, but did not leave the house. The people of the
Moor followed hard after the runaway merchants, seizing first hold of
their slaves, dragging them back by main force into the court-yard. Then
their owners raised a hideous cry, calling Haj Ibrahim and his people
"thieves," and "robbers," and "cheats," and "accursed," and many other
similar compliments in the way of slave-dealing. This would make a nice
counter-picture to a sketch of one of those Congressional squabbles which
so frequently take place on the presentation of Anti-Slavery petitions to
the American Congress, when there is an occasional flourish of the
bowie-knife, and a good deal of expectoration to damp the ardour of the
combatants, fighting over the victims of Republican Tyranny. After this
came a cessation of every kind of noise, for Haj Ibrahim, disgusted with
the business, (he was a fair-dealing man though a slave-dealer,) said to
Omer, his Arab servant:--"Tell them to be off, and take their slaves with
them." Now interposed a merchant of Ghat, and a friend of the Soudanese,
who thus upbraided them:--"Fools that you are! Do you think Haj Ibrahim
is a cheat? Haj Ibrahim gets nothing by you; Haj Ibrahim buys your
slaves, because Haj Ibrahim will not be at the expense of carrying his
goods back again to Tripoli." The merchants replied, and I dare say with
truth:--"You told us 300, now there are only 200; 20 of this, and only
10; 50 of that, and only 20," &c. This Ghatee was a broker, and a species
of sharper; he had been impudently imposing on the Housa merchants. But,
to cut a long story short, the bargain was finally arranged. Haj Ibrahim
made these quondam merchants a present of some almonds and parched peas,
"to _wet_ the bargain." The poor slaves had been dressed up for the sale,
and, with other ornaments, large bright iron hoops had been hammered
round their ancles. It was a tough job to get them off, and a blacksmith
only could do it. Haj Ibrahim called each new slave to him, and looked at
their features, in order to know them. This he told me he was obliged to
do, to be sure of his own slaves, and prevent quarrels with other
merchants, for the slaves often get mixed together.

During Souk there is going on some petty thieving, mostly done by the
Negro slaves and Arab camel-drivers. They have stolen many little things
from me. It is useless to complain. One must take care of one's things.
But I am informed the Touaricks never steal. At any rate, large bundles
of senna are left out in the suburbs, night after night, and in the open
fields amongst the sand, and no one touches a leaf of it. This could
neither be done in Tunis, nor in Tripoli. The Touaricks are beggars, but
not thieves; they will also beg hard and with authority. Rarely,
however, will a Touarghee take anything away from you without your
knowledge. So, if Touaricks are poor, they are honest, which is so seldom
the case, poverty exciting as much or more to crime than exuberant
wealth. On the whole, this country must be considered free from crime.
Hungry slaves pilfering about, can hardly be designated crime. I saw a
little slave to-day, who had just been brought from Aheer; he was rolling
naked on the sand, with some fresh green blades of wheat before him.
These he was devouring, and this was his food. How can human beings fed
this way be expected to refrain from stealing food when they have an
opportunity? The Touaricks of Aheer, though not cruel masters, feed their
slaves mostly on herbage, which is picked up _en route_. At least, so the
people tell me.

Afternoon, the aged Berka paid me a visit. I gave him his tobacco, or
that which I had promised him. Whenever you promise a person anything in
this country, in reminding you of it, if you forget your promise, he
calls the article his own, and demands it as a right. Berka can hardly
move about, he is so very old a man; I should say the Sheikh is upwards
of a hundred. The Saharan veteran made no observation in particular. He
replied to my questions about Saharan travelling:--"Don't fear, the
Touaricks will do you no harm. You can go to Timbuctoo in safety." I was
making ghusub water, and asked him to drink of it. "No," he said, smiling
with benignity, "you must drink ghusub water with me, not I with you.
This is the fashion of us Touaricks." Ghusub water, is water poured on
ghusub grain after the grain has been par-boiled or otherwise prepared. A
milky substance oozes from the grain, and makes a very cooling pleasant
beverage. Saharan merchants prize the ghusub water chiefly for its
cooling quality in summer. A few dates are pounded with the ghusub to
give the drink a sweeter and more unctuous taste. The aged Sheikh, on
taking leave, begged a little bit of white sugar. "I wish to give it to
my little grandson," he added. I question which was the more childish, he
or his little grandson, so true it is the intellect decays as it grows,
spite of our theories of the immortality of mind. I have now had visits
from all the great chieftains of the Ghat Touaricks, Shafou, Jabour,
Berka, and Khanouhen. The three former are the heads of the great
divisions of confederated tribes. These centres of the large tribes and
families separately constitute an oligarchical nobility, by which the
destinies of this Saharan world are governed.

FOOTNOTES:

[82] _Ghafouly_--‮قفولي‬--_Holcus sorghum_, (Linn). Ghafouly
    grows higher than a man; the stalk is as thick round as
    sugar-cane; the grain is of white colour, and half the size of a
    dry pea, of a round flattened shape. It is much coarser eating
    than maize.

[83] _Arachis hypogæa_, (Linn). This shell fruit has two names in
    Housa, _goújĕeă_, and _gaýda_. Many of the shells are double; they
    are smallish, very soft, and easily broken. The taste of the fruit
    is not disagreeable, a good deal like the almond, but more viscid,
    and a little insipid.

[84] Mostly with the mark "_porco_" on the packets.

[85] Mostly with the mark "_tre lune_" on it. I complained to a
    merchant that the paper was very coarse, and asked him why he did
    not purchase finer paper. He replied, "_It's all the same in
    Soudan, fine or coarse._" The same answer would be given to every
    complaint about the coarseness and bad quality of these imports
    into Africa. Fine or coarse cloth, and fine or coarse silk, sell
    much the same in Negroland.

[86] This is frequently the case. When a Touarghee wears his
    _litham_, and when he pulls it off, he undergoes a complete
    metamorphosis, so that strangers cannot recognize the parties in
    their change of dress.

[87] ‮איש בץניו הישר יעשה‬ Judges xxi. 25. The conduct
    of the Sheikhs and their tribes is much like that of the
    Israelites under the Judges.

[88] Sometimes called, Killiwah.

[89] Different Negro tribes call Touaricks by different names.

[90] These names are but imperfectly given, and they must be
    pronounced in Italian style, being written from the dictation of a
    Targhee chief by Mr. Gagliuffi, according to that language. To
    these may be added _Haioun_, a tribe of Marabouts.

[91] For the rest of the Stations see the Map.




CHAPTER XXI.

CONTINUED RESIDENCE IN GHAT.

     Parallels between The Desert and The East.--The Divine Warranty
     for carrying on the Slave Trade discussed.--Visit from Aheer and
     Soudanese Merchants, and present state of Soudan.--Form of the
     Cross on Touarick Arms.--Boy taught to curse The
     Christian.--Medina Shereef's opinion on my giving Presents.--A
     Negress begs in the name of Ouweek.--Visit to the Governor and
     Hateetah.--Streams of Water and Corn-Fields in the Fabled Region
     of Saharan Desolation.--Kandarka will recommend me to his
     Sultan.--Parallel things between Africa and Asia.--Atkee turns
     out a Scamp.--Visit from Berka.--Arabic is the Language of
     Heaven.--Khanouhen ridicules Hateetah to his face.--Hospitality
     of the Governor towards me, and interesting Conversations with
     him.--Moorish reckoning of Time clashes with mine.--Medina
     Shereef turns Beggar like the rest.--Meet The Giant begging at
     Haj Ibrahim's.--Affecting Case of the cruelty of one Slave to
     another, and compared to the Jews of Morocco.--Chorus Singing of
     the Slaves.--Mode in which Ostriches are Hunted.--Arrival of
     Senna and Ivory from Aheer.--Christians are not Liars.--Farewell
     Visit from Jabour.--Quick Route to Timbuctoo from Ghat.--Kandarka
     turns Comedian, and satirizes the Touaricks of Ghat.--Mercantile
     Transactions of the Governor.--Want of a strong Government in The
     Desert.--Assemblage of the Sheikhs, and preparations for War.


_19th._--DID not go out to-day, but amused myself with noting down in the
journal several parallel things between The Desert and The East, which
are mentioned in The Scriptures.

"And she said, As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an
handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I
am gathering two sticks, that I may go and dress it for me and my son,
that we may eat it, and die." (1 Kings xvii. 12.) We have in Sahara
parallel ideas to all and every part of this simple and affecting
discourse. The widow speaks with an oath. When anything particular and
extraordinary is to be said or done, the people of Sahara must use an
oath. The meal is the barley-meal of our people; the oil is used to cook
it as we cook our bazeen. The sticks are gathered from The Desert every
day to dress our food. The blank and absolute resignation of the woman is
the same with every one here, not excepting those of immoral lives.

"And lo in her mouth, was an olive-leaf plucked off," (Gen. viii. 11.)
"And Noah began to be a husbandman, and he planted a vineyard," (Gen. ix.
20.) The olive and the vine are still the choice fruit-trees in North
Africa, and were the Mussulmans a wine-drinking people, the country would
be covered with vineyards. In the beautiful parable of Jotham, (Judges
ix. 8-15,) the third, and the three choicest trees of North Africa are
separately mentioned, the olive, the fig-tree, and the vine. These are
the only fruits valued or cultivated by Tripoline Arabs in their
mountains. The jennah or "paradise" of the Koran is also planted with
"palm trees and vines."

"And Asahel was as light of foot as a wild roe." (2 Sam. ii. 18.) In this
way Arabs speak of one another. Every person who is conversant with
Eastern pictures and scenes in Arabic has met with a scrap of poetry of
some sort or other, in which the Arab woos his mistress, by comparing her
loved eyes to the fine dark full eye of the gazelle. An Arab also, like
us Europeans, calls a cunning fellow "an old fox," and stupid fellow "a
donkey."

"And it came to pass, in an evening tide, that David arose from off his
bed, and walked upon the roof of the king's house; and from the roof he
saw a woman washing herself, and the woman was very beautiful to look
upon." (2 Sam. xi. 2.) Everybody now knows, or ought to know, that the
roofs of Barbary and Saharan houses are flat, where the people walk and
enjoy "the cool of the evening," or "the evening tide" after getting up
from their naps or siestas. Here the women gossip and the men pray, but
the latter are often disturbed in their devotions by the intruding
glimpses of some Desert beauty. Love-matches and intrigues are equally
concerted here on house-tops. The flat-roofed house-top, as before
observed, is the Ghadamsee woman's entire world; here she lives, and
moves, and has her being.

"Woe to thee, O land," &c., "And thy princes eat in the morning."
(Eccles. xi. 16.) The principal meal is in the evening, and no people of
these countries think of eating a hearty meal "in the morning" like what
Europeans are accustomed to eat in the morning. To eat a hearty meal in
the morning would be an act of downright gluttony. Here, then, is
strikingly brought out the sense of this passage of the Preacher's
wisdom.

"We will not drink of the waters of the well." (Numbers xxi. 22.) The
Israelites being a numerous host, were obliged to make this promise, for
if all had drank, they would soon have emptied the wells, and left the
people of the country without water, and their flocks and cattle to die
of thirst. The caravans now returning to Ghadames are obliged to go in
very small numbers, that they may not exhaust the wells. Having many
slaves with them more water is required, which they cannot in any way
dispense with. The Israelites renewed their promises about the drinking
of the water to other people, through whose country they had to pass.

"He saith among the trumpets, Ha, ha!" (Job xxxix. 25.) It is very odd
that the horsemen of Morocco, when they gallop to the charge, always cry
"Ha, ha!" So the Arabian poet of The Book of Job puts the wild cry of the
rider into the mouth of the horse whom he rides. This I frequently
witnessed on the parade of Mogador. The wild cavalry of Morocco is the
boldest idea transmitted to us of the ancient Numidian horse. In Morocco
the horse is both the sacred animal and the bulwark of the empire; for
this reason it is the Emperor prohibits the exportation of horses. Even
the barley, on which the horses are generally fed, is not allowed to be
exported for the same reasons.

    ‮ויאמר ארור כנען עבד עבדים לאחיו‬

"And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be to his
brethren," (Gen. ix. 25.) This portion of Scripture will occur naturally
enough to the mind of a biblical reader, who takes up his residence for
some weeks at a slave-mart, and is seeing slaves bought and sold every
day. It is the famous and much abused text of the slave dealers of the
last three centuries, and is now continually quoted in the pulpits of the
United States parsons, who, like the devil himself, quote Scripture to
support the wickedness of themselves and their slave-holding and
man-selling countrymen. The most approved commentators properly apply the
text to the Canaanites, whom Providence afterwards dispossessed of their
territories in Palestine, and gave them to the children of Shem, and so
the Canaanites became the slaves of the Shemites for a limited period.
But to prove that it does not refer to the Negroes of North and Central
Africa, I may be allowed to produce the following reasons:--

1st. Of all the children of Ham, Canaan only is mentioned.

2nd. The prophecy was fulfilled in the descendants of Canaan, and there
is no occasion to extend it beyond the early history of the Jews, when
they took possession of the land of Canaan, and reduced its people to
servitude.

3rd. The descendants of Canaan were all white people, and the Negroes I
need not say are black. But if it be a question of colour, there are red
Indians and black Indians, who have been from unknown ages the sons of
freedom, and who, when discovered, would not and could not be reduced to
slavery. I guess the Yankees have not reduced the Indians to slavery,
(although, after robbing them of their hunting-grounds, they have in the
most Christian spirit exterminated many,) on the contrary, they are
equally free men with the Yankees, and have the same privilege of
reducing free men to slavery with their Republican neighbours. The Black
Indians, following the precept and example of the White Republicans, have
now an immense number of slaves; and in this case, it is not the more
civilized who holds his fellow man in bondage, but the less civilized,
indeed, savages. So the world is improving and progressing in the
Western Hemisphere! The Southern Ocean is peopled with many tribes as
black as Negroes. But to return to the Canaanites, they at length mixed
with the Israelites and became one people, and the relations of master
and slave were lost in equality.

4th. Many of the descendants also of Cush were white people, for he was
the father of Nimrod, who founded Babylon, and became the father of all
the Babylonians. Were the Babylonians Negroes?

5th. None of the children of Ham, but Canaan, became servants or rather
slaves to the rest of the human race in any remarkable degree, during the
early period of the Mosaic world. For,

Cush was the alleged father of the Babylonians and the Ethiopians, (the
people of Upper Egypt,) but neither of these nations were slaves to
conquerors more than any other people of that period of the world;
whilst, on the other hand, the Babylonians were great conquerors in their
day, and the Ethiopians had princes of their own even down to the days of
Solomon. If now the Abyssinians are to be considered the descendants of
the Ethiopians, we all know they are not slaves, but like the Yankee
States themselves, slave-dealers and slave-holders. The Abyssinians,
moreover, enjoyed advantages of civilization when a great portion of
Europe was overwhelmed with barbarism. So much for the Cushites and
Ethiopians, the lineal descendants of the accursed Ham!

Mizraim was the father of the Egyptians. These ancient and celebrated
people, whose country was the cradle of civilization, cannot surely be
branded as the slaves of the human race! This was also the lineal
descendant of the accursed Ham!

6th. But even the Canaanites, so far from remaining slaves, after the
alleged curse was fulfilled in them, recovered from their degradation and
rose into consequence, filling the world with their fame. The children of
Canaan were undoubtedly the founders of Tyre, whose bold navigators,
braving the ocean and the tempest, scoured and ploughed up the waters of
the Mediterranean, planting colonies everywhere, and founded Carthage!
The Carthaginians, their more renowned sons, passed the Straits of the
columns of Hercules, doubled Cape Spartel, and, some say, coasted the
entire continent of Africa, returning by the Red Sea. It is monstrous to
call such people slaves, branded by the hereditary curse of the
inebriated patriarch of mankind. In truth, of all the people of
antiquity, the accursed and enslaved race of Ham were the most free-born,
enlightened, and enterprising! Never was such a perversion of Scripture
interpretation to palliate and bolster up the systems of wickedness of
this and former days! Shall we compare the Model Republic and the
miserable and degraded nations of Brazils, Spain, and Portugal, the
present enslavers of the alleged posterity of Ham, with the once mighty
Egyptians and Carthaginians?

7th. But it may be said that Central Africa was peopled from Cush or
Ethiopia, and that this Cush, who peopled that portion of the Continent,
was the son of Ham. To this I have already replied, that the curse was
pronounced not on Cush, but on Canaan his brother, and it is arguing in a
circle to extend the subject. After all, we are not sure that Central
Africa, and the western coast, the theatre of the principal trade, was
peopled from Ethiopia. Where is the proof? And besides, Central Africa,
the _bonâ fide_ Negroland, possesses states and powerful confederacies,
whom no power in Europe or America has yet been able to subjugate to
slavery.

8th. The Africo-European slave-trade is only of extremely modern date. It
is too late to look for the fulfilment of this prophecy amongst the
European transactions of the last three or four centuries, in this and
any particular reference to Africa. But finally, up to a late period,
slavery was co-extensive with the human race, in all times, ages, and
countries. All classes and races of men were made slaves alike, without
any relation to Africa and Africans. The Greeks and Romans, if they made
slaves of Africans, did not so enslave them because they were Africans,
for these ancient people made slaves of all, and even of their own
countrymen, it being a constituent element of their society.

I have omitted purposely to question the Divine commission of the Yankee
parsons to uphold slavery as the basis of their Republic. But it is
difficult not to question the right of an incensed father, awakening from
a drunken debauch, to condemn an innocent grandson (for what we know) to
everlasting slavery and degradation.

With regard to the word Δοῦλος, _Doulos_, used in the Greek
Testament to denote either a slave or a servant, there can be no
doubt of the application of the term to both these relations of
ancient society. The word corresponds to ‮עבד‬ in the Hebrew, and
‮عبد‬ in the Arabic, both being the same consonants, which terms are
used, according to their application, to denote both slaves and
servants. Slavery existed amongst the Jews as amongst the Greeks
and Romans, in the beginning of the Christian era; so we have
allusions to "the bond and the free," as well as "the Greeks and the
Barbarians," the former phrase distinguishing slaves and free men,
the latter, nations of arts and science from those of uncivilized or
semi-civilized people. The question is not, then, the meaning of the
term _Doulos_, or its application to slavery at the period of the
promulgation of the Christian religion; but, whether, because
slavery was not then reprobated by the teachers of Christianity, it
was not therefore a very great evil. First of all, there are many
things of ancient society not reproved or reprobated by the founders
of Christianity, which are inconvenient to, and inconsistent with,
our moral sense, and which would violate the laws of modern society.
Such are the laws and customs of usury and polygamy. No man in his
senses would attempt to establish polygamy in modern society,
because it is not prohibited and condemned by the writers of the New
Testament. To argue, therefore, that slavery is congenial with the
spirit of the Christian religion because it is not condemned by its
apostles and evangelists, is an utterly fallacious system of
reasoning. But even supposing the apostles themselves practised
slavery, and received into their communion slave-holders,
men-dealers and men-stealers, it does not therefore follow that we
should imitate them, and become men-stealers likewise. What, was
good or right for them and their state of society, may not be good
or right for us and our society. The liberties of mankind require to
be guarded in these our days by the most intense hatred, and the
broadest and clearest denunciations of slavery, in every shape and
mode of its developement. But let any people imbibe the spirit of
Christianity, and slavery cannot exist amongst them; let all nations
imbibe the spirit of Christianity, and slavery would become
immediately extinguished throughout the world.

_20th._--A fine morning; the Desert around is fair and bright, save where
the Black Mountains are casting their mysterious shades. Visited by some
Succatou merchants, amongst whom were several Touaricks of Aheer. The
Housa people and Aheer Touaricks both speak the Housa language, these
Touaricks having abandoned their Berber dialect so far as I can learn. It
is also difficult to distinguish the one people from the other when they
wear the litham. One is nearly as dark as the other, but the features of
the Touaricks are much more, and often quite in the style of Europeans. A
few of the Aheer merchants are also, I have observed, tolerably fair. How
different are the airs and consequence of these merchants, and some of
them pure Housa Negroes, from the slaves which they lead into captivity;
they talk, and laugh, and feel themselves on a level with us, whilst
their slaves are moody and silent, without confidence, and slink away
from observation. Such is the impress of slavery on men in whose veins
runs the same blood as our own. The Soudanese merchants gave me some
account of the reigning Sultans. Ali is the Sultan of Succatou, and
succeeded the famous Bello, to whom Clapperton was dispatched in his last
mission. Daboo is the Sultan of Kanou, and Ghareema, Sultan of Kashna,
but both subjected to the Succatou Sultan. Besides these cities, the
districts of Beetschee, Kaferda, Kasada, Sabongharee, Ghouber, Dell,
Yakoba and Noufee, besides other provinces, including a vast extent of
territory, are subjected to the Fullan dynasty of Succatou. But it is
extremely difficult to get correct information from these Soudanese
merchants, though dealing and travelling through all the Housa and
neighbouring countries; as to the names of the princes, they could not
recollect them. There are also frequent dethronements of the petty
princes.

_21st._--I do not go out much now, except in the evening; I grow weary of
the place. A young Aheer Touarick called. I never refuse admittance to
Aheer merchants because they are so well behaved, and apparently not
fanatical. He offered me a straight broad sword for five small dollars;
it is quite new, having the handle made in the form of a cross and of
hard wood, with a leathern scabbard. The blade was made in Europe. The
Touarick dagger hilts are also made in the shape of a cross. There is
besides a Malta cross usually cut on the bullocks-hide shields. The cross
appears to be an usual ornament of Soudan and Aheer arms. It has been
thought there is in this device of arms some vestige of the now extinct
Christianity of North Africa. The subject is curious, but we have no
means to arrive at its solution. My Aheer friend pretended his sword was
worth two slaves in Soudan; this is an exaggeration. Abdullah, the Souf
Arab, called. His brothers have brought thirty slaves from Soudan, which
are destined for the market of Constantina. One of the Governor's sons
goes to Soudan with the return of the caravan, a lad not more than ten
years of age; he is to bring back merchandize as a regular trader. A
little urchin of a Touarick, not more than nine years, came up to-day
with his mother and asked me, "Why I did not know Mahomet?" but without
waiting for a reply, set on cursing me. It is amazing how well these
youngsters have learnt this lesson, and how soon! for they never before
saw, or perhaps heard of, a Christian. The zealous mother had probably
put up her son to this pious cursing of The Christian.

[Illustration]

_22nd._--Made the tour of the oasis, and sketched a view of the town,
which is annexed. Weather extremely warm to-day--nay, hot, and in the
midst of January. What must it be in August! But the weather is far more
changeable and uncertain in Sahara than it is commonly thought to be.
Several visits from the Touaricks of Aheer. Gave one a small lock and
key, which is esteemed a great curiosity in this country. It gladdened
his heart so much, that I believe he would now go through fire and water
for me. He wanted to take me to Soudan by main force. He went away, and
returned with some hard cheese made at Aheer, little squares somewhat
smaller than Dutch tiles, which he presented in acknowledgment. I have
had but few returns for the great variety of things I have given away in
Ghat. The Medina Shereef, Khanouhen's son-in-law, scolded me:--"Ah,
Yâkob, you have done wrong to give away so much. You'll get nothing back.
This is a country of extortioners and extortion from strangers. You ought
to have come here, said a few words, and left us." This is fine talk for
the Shereef. He knows as well as I know, that this wouldn't do. A courier
arrived from Ghadames, by which I received two kind letters from Malta.
It seems a thousand years since I received a letter from a friend.

A Negress had the hardihood to call on me, begging, in the name of
Ouweek, thinking thereby to intimidate me. The bandit, however, sent a
person two or three days ago to beg of me a little tobacco. I should
certainly have sent some, had I had any left. Hateetah called, wondering
what had become of me, as I had not called on him for a few days. Gave
him another dollar, but it is the last. The Consul says there is a great
deal of fever about amongst the merchants and people, but I don't see it.
I was somewhat surprised, for I thought the town enjoyed good health. I
have reason to be thankful that it does not attack me. Apparently I'm
fever proof. In all my life I never recollect to have caught an epidemic
fever.

_23rd._--Called upon the Governor. His Excellency displayed his
hospitality by giving me zumeeta made with dates and sour milk. Took the
opportunity of asking him about the origin of the Touaricks. He pretends
they are of Arab extraction. On inquiring how they lost their language,
whilst all the Arabian tribes retained theirs, his Excellency replied,
"They have learnt Touarghee as you have learnt Arabic." This is extremely
unsatisfactory, for he could not explain from whom they learnt Touarghee.
About the history of Ghat his Excellency knows nothing. He says only, "It
is a more ancient place than Ghadames," which, however, I do not believe.
His Excellency said the news had arrived from Algeria, that the Emperor
of Morocco had united with Abdel Kader against the French, and four
districts had elected the Emir for their chief. Called on Hateetah.
Whilst there, an old lady of eighty years of age came in and got up to
dance before me in the indecorous Barbary style, and then begged money.
Seeing she had outlived her wits and took a great fancy for one of my
buttons, I cut it off and gave it her to the annoyance of Hateetah, the
Consul scolding me for my condescension.

The Governor tells me there is a mountain of considerable altitude about
two days from Ghat, in the route of Touat, from the base of which gush
out some twelve large streams. The rain this year has fallen plentifully
on these heights, and wheat and barley have been sown on the banks of the
streams. This is fact of importance in Saharan geography, more especially
as the mountain is situate in that central part of the Great Desert which
is represented on the maps as an ocean of sand, the scene of eternal
desolation! . . . . . .

Evening, whilst visiting Haj Ibrahim, who continues unusually kind to me,
came in our funny friend, the famous Aheer camel-driver, Kandarka. This
Kylouy is a great favourite with all, the Governor excepted. People
praise his undaunted courage and say, "If a troop of fifty robbers were
to attack Kandarka alone, he would still resist them." He has shown
himself very friendly to me, and says, "Write a letter to Aheer, my
Sultan, and I will take it. When you return bring me one thing--a sword,
and I will take you safely over all Soudan." He has great influence with
En-Nour, Sultan of Aheer, and any one travelling under Kandarka's
protection is sure of a good reception from En-Nour.

_24th._--A fine day, but hot. Our departure is now delayed till next
month. What a dreadful loss of time is this! I'm weary to death. I wish I
had arranged to continue to Soudan. Grown disgusted with Ghat, I am
reading what few books I have with me. Noticed more parallel customs
between Africa and the East.

"And Isaac digged again the wells of water, which they had digged in the
days of Abraham his father; for the Philistines had stopped them after
the death of Abraham: and he called their names after the names by which
his father had called them." (Gen. xxvi. 18.) The object of stopping up
the wells was to prevent the children of Abraham making use of them and
so occupying the country. The same thing is done in Sahara. When an enemy
is to be exterminated, or robbers repulsed from a particular district,
the wells are stopped up. Wells are also named by the digger of them. A
man who goes to the expense of digging out a well, if peradventure he
finds water, has the privilege of giving to it his own name. There is one
on the route from Mourzuk to Tripoli called _Mukni_ or _Beer-Mukni_, from
the great merchant who dug the well. So the name of the city of Timbuctoo
is said by some to be derived from the Berber Word _teen_, "well", and
_Buktu_, the name of the person who on its present site dug a well for
the rendezvous or casual supply of passing caravans. But this derivation
is merely conjectural.

"Take heed that thou _speak_ not to Jacob, good or bad." (Gen. xxi.
24.) The verb _speak_ (‮תְּדַבֵּר‬) is used for the verb to
_do_. The same idiom prevails amongst the Touaricks. The friendly
Touaricks always address me, "Don't be afraid, no person will _say_
(or speak) either good or bad to you." So Jabour's slave brought me
word from the Sheikh; "No person is to say anything (_do_ anything)
to you."

Dr. Wolff says, in his travels of Central Asia, the people of a strange
place always apply to his servant for information about himself. So the
Saharans apply to my Negro servant for news or information about me.

"And David sat between the two gates . . . . . and the king said, If he
be _alone_ then is tidings in his mouth . . . . . . tidings." (2 Sam.
xviii. 24, 25, 26.) All couriers in this country are sent _alone_. When
they travel through Sahara they have a camel to ride, but if there be
abundant water on the road they go on foot. Merchants pay each so much to
the courier according to their means. A courier sent from this to
Tripoli, who also returns and brings answers to the letters, will receive
altogether fifteen dollars. Touarghee couriers between this and Ghadames
go for half the sum.--"And the watchman went up to the roof over the gate
unto the wall and lifted up his eyes," &c. (part of the verses above
cited). When a spy was sent from Ghadames to watch the Shânbah and their
approaches round the country, on the eve of my departure from that
place, people went up a ruined tower, situated on a high ground, and
apparently built specially for the purpose, _to watch_ the return of the
spy. I have seen several of these watch towers in the oases of Sahara.

"And they took Absalom and cast him into a great pit in the wood, and
laid a very great heap of stones upon him." (2 Sam. xviii. 17.) When one
dies in open desert, the people lay a heap of stones over the grave, the
heap being smaller or larger according to the rank and consequence of the
individual. The mention of "a very great heap," in the words cited,
evidently denotes the royal rank of the deceased.

_25th._--My young Targhee called today as usual. Asked him abruptly,
"What he did? What was his occupation? And how the Touaricks employed
themselves?" With great simplicity, "When the _nagah_ (she-camel) is with
young and gives no milk, we come to Ghat, and eat dates and ghusub and
bread, if we can get them. When the nagah gives milk we return and drink
milk and lie down on the road side. This is all which Touaricks do." The
Touaricks are determined to feel as little of the primeval curse,--"In
the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread,"--as any people. The Targhee
then gave me spontaneously a bit of knowledge which I had not before
heard. He proceeded, "When I return to my house _on the road_ (or by the
caravan route), and to my wife, I don't uncover my face and go up to her
and stare boldly at my wife. No, I cover my face all over, and sit down
gently by her side, waiting till she speaks with all patience. When she
speaks, I speak, because I know then that she is willing to speak. It is
very indecent to go to your wife with your face uncovered." In fact,
generally amongst the Touaricks, the men have their faces covered and the
women their faces uncovered. The reverse of what we find in other
Mahometan countries. But also the reverse of what the native modesty of
the human mind dictates.

Atkee, the Ghadamsee Arab, who was to have been my companion to Soudan,
went off, returning to Ghadames, without paying the money which I
committed to his care for the owner of the camel's flesh, which we ate on
the route of Ghat. Atkee besides neglected to bring the money for the
half of the skin of the sheep which I purchased with him, according to
promise. These things are merest trifles, but merest trifles develop the
character of men. It is such actions of dishonesty which make one afraid
of travelling in Africa, lest we are sacrificed to the designing villany
of those who pretend most and exhibit the most officious marks of
friendship. In such a way poor Laing was entrapped and murdered. This
very Atkee, I considered the first man of the ghafalah. Zaleâ now tells
me that Atkee wished to lay on two more dollars for the things given to
Ouweek. But the Arabs, like the Cretans of old, are "all liars," and I
don't wish to make Atkee worse than he was. I am sufficiently
disappointed with him.

The Medina Shereef called, who is the most learned person in Ghat. I
showed him the Arabic Bible, which amazed and confounded him, as he
turned over its well-printed pages. He sighed, nay, literally
groaned, at the profanity of having our infidel religion translated
into the holy Arabic language. The Shereef told me Arabic would be
the language of heaven. The Jews tell us it will be _Hebrew_, (or
‮לשן הקדש‬). The Latin Church has its holy Latin, and a
_trilingual_ bible of "_Hebrew, Latin, Greek_," was said by pious
fathers of that Church, to represent "Christ crucified between two
thieves." The Hindoos have their sacred Sanscrit, and so of the
rest. The benumbed and frozen mind of the Esquimaux, amidst the fat
seals, blubber, and seas of oil in which it revels and swims, when
anticipating the joys of the polar heaven, makes the tongue
involuntarily speak in genuine Esquimauxan gibberish. It is,
however, not surprising that the language in which a people first
receives the rudiments of its religion should be greatly venerated
and acquire a peculiar sacredness. The Shereef asked me to show him
the passage where Mahomet was spoken of under the title of
Parakleit; but he kept off religious discussion, having more
delicacy than his neighbours of Ghat. Ignorance is bliss to a
Shereef of these countries. Were the Shereef to see the wonders of
Christian civilization, he would be stung to death with envy. A
gentleman once told me as the result of his experience in Barbary,
that a Mussulman who had not seen Europe was more friendly to
Christians than one who had, accounting for it on the principle of a
despicable envy.

_26th._--The weather continues warm and fine; little wind. Objects at
fifty miles' distance seem close upon you, so clear and rarefied is the
air. Berka came this morning ostensibly for eye-powders, but really for a
bit more sugar for his little grandson, the well-beloved son of his old
age.

_Sheikh Berka._--"Sala-a-a-m!"

_The writer._--"Good morning, Berka."

_Sheikh Berka._--"Medicine for my eyes."

_The writer._--"Here is some powder, you must mix it with a bowl of
water; but take care, it's poisonous."

_Sheikh Berka._--"Good God, Christian! take it back, my little son will
eat it for sugar. He gets everything and eats."

_The writer._--"Here's some sugar for him."

_Sheikh Berka._--"God Almighty bless you."

_The writer._--"How old are you, Berka?"

_Sheikh Berka._--"My mother knows, but she's gone. She's gone to God!"

Essnousee came in for eye-powders to make a solution, and fever-powders
to take with him to Soudan. Have only two or three of the latter which I
keep for myself. Gave him the last I had. He said, "You don't see the
fever, you don't visit enough, there's plenty of it in the houses."
Apparently it is common intermittent fever with some climatic variety; I
think Tertian ague.

People are more civil in the streets to-day, and the rabble has lost its
curiosity or fancy for running after us. Negroes and slaves are still
impudent, not recognizing in the Kafer their secret friend. Saw Khanouhen
in the Esh-Shelly, who called after me to come to him. Hateetah was with
him. The Prince began his satires on the Consul:--"Yâkob, who is the best
man, I or Hateetah? Have you written[92] this fellow Hateetah? All about
him? Is this the English Consul? Does your Sultan own him?" Khanouhen
pressed him so hard, that I ran off to save Hateetah's feelings, all the
people roaring with laughter, and calling me back.

Afternoon saw the Governor. His Excellency lavished his hospitality on
me. He gave me coffee, dried Soudan beef cut up into shreds, and some of
the Soudan almonds. These almonds are not fine flavoured like those of
the north, but are viscid, rancid, and bitter. Nor are they of the same
beautiful filbert-form, but of clumsy oval and double-oval shapes. The
shell is soft, and can be broken easily with the fingers. The kernel is
mostly double, and when slightly rubbed splits into halves or rather two
kernels. The dried beef is very pleasant eating, but rather too dry, the
fat and moisture being all consumed. We have heard of beef cooked in the
sun on the bastions of Malta, but this is really beef cooked in the sun.
It is an excellent provision for long journeys over The Desert. People
chew it as tobacco is chewed. Our Governor-Marabout got very familiar
this morning, and talked about his family. He called a little boy and
said to me, "Look at my little son, he's as white as you are white." The
child was indeed very fair for a young Saharan. He asked me as tabeeb, if
Christian women had more children than one, and if they went longer than
a year, which he had heard. He pretended his was a small family, and he
should like to have fifty children, which, he added, "all Sultans ought
to have;" but, for money he did not care, he wished all his children were
poor but pious marabouts. His preaching is quite contrary to his
practice. A more money-getting ambitious fellow I have not found in The
Desert. The report which I heard of the Governor of Ghat being changed
whilst at Ghadames, was a sham abdication on his part. From domestic
matters he proceeded to talk of politics. His Excellency is always
anxious to give an immense idea of the fighting qualities and numbers of
the Touaricks. He wishes me to make a favourable report of them, and his
position at Ghat, and country. He declares the warriors to muster 15,000
strong, which would give too numerous a population for the Azgher section
of Touaricks. The Haghar, and especially the Kylouy Touaricks, have an
infinitely larger population than those of Ghat. The Marabout pretends
there are some Touaricks who never saw corn or tasted bread, and others
who dress only in skins. Indeed, I saw a Touarghee from the country, as
well as The Touarick Prophet, dressed entirely in skins and tanned
leather.

His Excellency then introduced his favourite subject of the battles
between Moslems and Nazarenes for the possession of Constantinople, in
which his ancestors so valiantly fought. He said, the sword of one of his
grandfathers was laid up in the armoury of Stamboul, and submitted to me
if I thought the Turks would give it to him if he were to make the
demand. I told him to apply to the British Ambassador at the Porte,
making the thing of the consequence suited to the Marabout's taste. "No,"
he replied, "I shall go myself one day and fetch it." His Excellency then
began to extol the military forces and powers of the princes of
Africa:--"The Sultan of Timbuctoo has 100,000 fighting men! Wadai has
100,000 warriors! The Sultans of Soudan have innumerable hosts, as the
sand-grains of The Desert are innumerable!" He then asked silly questions
as to whether the Turks could beat the Christians in fighting. I told him
plainly, the Turks now learnt the art of war from the Christians, and the
latter were not only superior to them, but to all Mohammedans whatever,
Arabs or Touaricks, Kabyles, or what not, recommending his Excellency not
to credit the absurd reports propagated by foolish dervishes of The
Desert, as to how the Emperor of Morocco was conquering all the French
and other Christians. Indeed, I'm obliged to be school-master, and
geographer, and admonisher, to Sheikhs, marabouts, merchants, to all and
every body. The subject of religion was now introduced, and I found the
Governor, though a Marabout, of the first water, did not know that the
Christians read and studied the sacred books of the Jews. I told his
Excellency, Christian Marabouts must read and study the sacred books of
all religions, and Christian talebs frequently read the Koran to acquire
a knowledge of classic Arabic. This information greatly amazed the
Governor. I cannot, however, report more of his conversation, which would
be endless. I sent him on my return the Arabic Bible, which the Shereef
had told him I had with me.

Spent the evening with Haj Ibrahim. The Haj surprised me by saying, "All
my slaves, even the youngest of not more than four or five years' old,
must walk to Tripoli as they have walked from Kanou to Ghat." I found
Kandarka with him. The camel-driver is a right-jolly fellow, quite a new
species of being from the Touaricks of Ghat. A great deal of merry
laughing and grinning Negro feeling is in his composition. But, with all
his fun, he is a most determined man. He is about to convey some of the
Haj's merchandize to Kanou, as being the bravest and most trust-worthy of
all the Aheer camel-drivers.

_27th._--I'm out of my reckonings with the Moors by some mistake or
other, of them or me, for I'm Monday, and they're Tuesday. Their month
and our month, like our respective religions, is also in continual
collision, their month being lunar, not solar. The weather is very warm.
Am exceedingly tired of remaining in Ghat; always regretting I did not
determine to go to Soudan. Merchants are daily leaving in small caravans,
not large caravans, which is a proof of the security of the routes, and
the word of the Touarghee Sheikh is "one" word; "The routes are all in
peace," they say. Walked out with a very large stick, which frightened
the Ghatee boys, who all thought it was for them, on account of their
former sauciness. Was surprised at the Medina Shereef asking me to lend
(give) him fifteen dollars to go to Tripoli. I promised very foolishly to
give him his provisions to Tripoli, in the event of his proceeding with
our caravan. What people for begging are these! The Shereef had just been
scolding me for giving so much to these importunates. Although their
houses are full of stores and money, they will still beg, and beg, and
beg . . . . beg . . . beg. . . But this evening, at Haj Ibrahim's, we had
a transcendant specimen of begging. The beggar was no less a personage
than The Giant. I may remind the reader, The Giant is the son of Berka's
sister, and is head of the tribe at Berka's death. The Giant therefore
came to demand backsheesh, as being the lineal successor of Berka, who
was Haj Ibrahim's protector. Haj Ibrahim observed:--"I have given Berka
twenty dollars, and some other presents, and I cannot give any thing to
his oulad ('sons.')" The Giant would hear none of this, insisted upon a
present for himself, and swore by all the sacred names of the Deity,
frequently using his favourite oath, "Allah Akbar!" After an hour's
debating, it was agreed that, for the future, Berka, if he lived till
another year, (for the aged chieftain is "tottering o'er the grave,")
should have a smaller present, and the portion subtracted should be given
to The Giant. But this is cutting the blanket at one end, to sew the
piece on the other, for the sons and nephews of Berka now share the
presents amongst them. His Giantship was very condescending to me, though
savage enough with the merchant. He laughed and joked, and "grinned a
ghastly smile," and asked me, why I did not go into the public square and
see all the people, thinking my not going out more showed a want of
confidence in the Touaricks. Want of confidence in a Touarick is the most
serious insult you can offer to him. So Dr. Oudney properly records of
Hateetah, and says, "he was indignant at the feelings which the people of
Mourzuk had against the Touaricks--the Touaricks who pride themselves in
having one word, and performing what they promise." But Hateetah has
since become an old man, and, with the usual prudence of age, recommends
me not to go much about amongst the people. "Something unpleasant might
happen," he says, "for which all the Sheikhs would be sorry." The Giant
said to me, "Come, you Christian, I shall sell you a wife of the Shânbah
women. Stop here till I come back."

A most affecting incident was related to me by Mustapha. Two of his
slaves quarrelled, and last night, whilst one was fast asleep, the other
went stealthily and fetched a shovelful of burning wood ashes, and poured
them over the sleeping slave's face, tongue, and neck! He is suffering
sadly, and Mustapha has called for medicine. So act these poor
creatures, the victims of a common misfortune. How cruel is man to his
brother! In all situations, man is his own enemy! This incident reminds
me of what Colonel Keatinge relates of the unfortunate Jews in Morocco.
Although the Jews are very badly treated in that empire, and all suffer
great indignities, yet, to increase their own misfortunes, and by their
own hands, one Jew has actually been known to purchase from the Sultan
the right, the privilege of torturing another Jew. The speculation, adds
the Colonel, was considered "a good one," because, if no pecuniary
advantage followed, the pleasure of inflicting the torture was certain.
The privilege of bidding for himself, or buying himself from the torture,
was the only one allowed the victim on such horrible occasions! Some
people have pretended that there is a limit to human degradation; but
there is always a lower depth--and a still lower depth. Not death itself
limits this sort of degradation--the tomb of the unfortunate Morocco Jew
is defiled--and his name and faith furnishes, unendingly, the "by-words"
of the curse of the Moor! On the late massacre of the Jews at Mogador,
neither the Earl of Aberdeen nor Monsieur Guizot, condescended to
remonstrate to the Moorish Emperor; nor did their co-religionists of
France and England attempt (that I have heard of) to excite their
Governments on behalf of the plundered and houseless Maroquine Jews . . .
How long are these things to last? . . . Till doomsday? . . . But did not
Jupiter give Pandora the box with hope at the bottom? . . . To be
serious, would not a million or two of the Rothschilds be well spent in
buying the freedom of the Morocco Jews? Could a patriotic Jew do any
thing which, in the last moment of his life, would produce more and such
satisfactory reflections? It is to be hoped that the patriotic Jews of
Europe are not like some foolish Christians who wish to continue the
oppression of the Jews in order to fulfil the prophecies, as if God could
not take care of his own veracity! But these sottish Christians had
better mind what they are about, in contributing to the continued
oppression of the Jews, and preventing their emancipation, because,
whatever may be the duration of the prophetic curse upon the Jews, God
will not, cannot hold the contributors to their oppression guiltless, no
more than he did the Babylonian princes who first carried away the Jews
into captivity.

_28th._--Distributed to the Soudanese merchants solution for the eyes.
This evening Haj Ibrahim's slaves sung and played together in the
court-yard. They consist of girls and boys, and young women. They sung in
choruses, one first repeating a line or a verse in the style of the
ancient Greeks. Their voices are not very melodious, and they remind me
of the responses of a charity school at church. Still it is grateful to
one's feelings to witness how pitying is God to these poor things, in
giving them such happy hearts in the early days of their bondage!
Kandarka was here, the same merry-hearted fellow as before. Providence
has compensated Africa for the wrongs inflicted by her enemies, in giving
her children a happy and contented disposition.

_29th._--A fine morning; weather warm, cold seems to have left us
altogether. I have discussed the "vexed question," with the Soudanese and
Saharan merchants, as to how the ostrich is hunted and caught. In Soudan
the ostrich is snared by small cords, the bird getting its legs into the
nooses. The trap is a quantity of herbage laid over the cordage. Here the
Negro waits for his rich feathery booty, and draws the cordage as soon as
their feet are in the noose. Others throw stones, sticks, and lances, at
the ostrich; others shoot them. But in Sahara, and in what is called the
edge of The Desert, the ostrich is simply ridden down by the mounted Arab
during the great heats of summer. The ostrich, though a tenant of the
burning Sahara, cannot run well for any length of time during the summer,
and so becomes the prey of the Arab, whose horse bears heat better. In
and about Wadnoun, ostriches are hunted with what is called the Desert
horse, which is a horse living chiefly on milk, and which has a power of
endurance the most extraordinary. This agrees with Porret, who says, "the
ostriches can only be taken by tiring them down." But he does not mention
the summer. Riley says the ostrich is driven before the wind, and Jackson
against the wind, in being hunted. Captain Lyon says, "it is during the
breeding season the greatest number of ostriches are caught, the Arabs
shooting the old ones on their nests." The Sahara is a world of itself,
peopled with a variety of hunters, who will each hunt in the manner he
likes best. I may add, as I have often alluded to Biblical matters, the
story of the ostrich forsaking her eggs, and leaving them to be hatched
in the sun, is not correct. Merchants often questioned me as to what we
did with ostrich feathers, people making no particular use of them in
Sahara. When I told them our ladies adorned their heads with ostrich
feathers, they laughed heartily, adding, "How ridiculous!" We laugh at
their sable beauties adorning their necks and bosoms with trumpery
glass-beads, and they laugh at our red and white beauties adorning their
heads with ostrich feathers. The Chinese have their peacock's feather as
a set-off against our button-hole ribbon; "Ainsi va le monde." One of the
Aheer Touaricks, who, unlike my Ghat friends, return presents, brought me
to-day a damaged ostrich skin and feathers. Being quite out of pens, and
not able to persuade the Tripolines to send me up a few quills, I cut out
several ostrich quills, and had the pleasure, for the first time in my
life, of writing with an ostrich pen. I cut several, and amused and
satirized myself by writing in my journal with one quill, "James
Richardson has much to learn;" with another quill, "Richardson, James,
must take care of his health," &c., "Yâkob Richardson was an egregious
ass to come into The Desert," &c., &c. These quills are very firm, if not
fine and flexible, and it is a good substitute in The Desert for "the
grey goose quill." I was so delighted with this unexpected supply of
pens, that I offered the Touarghee of Aheer another present, but he
resolutely refused it, adding, "I wish to show you that a Touarick of
Aheer can be grateful, and do a kindness to a stranger, without eating
him up." This was a tall man, of fair complexion, but pitted with the
small-pox, of middle age, and called Mohammed. He was one of the best
specimens of Aheer Touaricks, and always said to me, "Come to our
country. You will walk about the streets without being molested by any
one. We never saw a Christian in our country, and we wish to see one."

Evening, a ghafalah from Aheer has arrived, bringing sixty camel-loads of
senna, and ten of elephants' teeth. A courier is also come from Touat,
with the intelligence that the Shânbah, instead of fleeing away from the
threatened attack of the Touaricks, had boldly appeared on the Touarick
territory, in the route of Touat and Ghadames, having a force of 1200
mounted men. The Touaricks are at last alarmed, and dispatching
messengers through all their districts, to give intelligence of the
arrival of the enemy. I'm afraid the Touaricks have been making too sure
of their approaching success. A messenger has been sent after the last
Ghadamsee ghafalah which left here. Great excitement prevails in the
town, and Jabour and Khanouhen are preparing to leave for their
districts, where the levies of troops are collecting. A portion of the
Tripoline ghafalah is stopped a few hours from this, on account of three
of the camels running away during the night. The camel is by no means so
stupid as it looks, and knows exactly when it is about to commence a long
journey over The Desert. The three camels could not withstand the
temptation of the herbage in the wady, and started off, and will not be
found for days. Fulness of food as well as hunger makes animals savage.
One of our camels whilst grazing bit a slave, and has nearly killed him.
This, however, rarely happens; the camel is generally docile, if not
harmless.

The Touaricks belonging to Berka have just paid Christians a very high
compliment, but at my expense. I promised some more sugar to Berka if I
could get any from Haj Ibrahim. The Sheikh sent twice for the sugar, and
yesterday, when some of his people visited the merchant, they said to
him, "Where is the sugar of The Christian? It is not right for Yâkob to
treat us thus. Christians never lie." A Christian tourist must never
follow the example of a Mahometan in this country, that is, of always
promising and never refusing, because it is disagreeable to refuse. In
the above case, however, my promise was quite conditional, on Haj
Ibrahim's having sugar. Nevertheless, there is happily an opinion
prevalent in North Africa, that Christians, and especially English
Christians, have but "one word." Let all of us British tourists try to
keep up this high character.

_30th._--A little colder this morning, and foggy. The senna ghafalah
will detain us three days more. Our camels are come up from the
grazing districts; my nagah looks much better. Jabour called this
morning to bid me farewell, before departing to his country house.
The Sheikh leaves this evening. Ashamed of the small present I made
him on my arrival, I apologized, and begged him to accept of the
only razor I had, which being quite new, and very large and
fine-looking, exceedingly pleased the Sheikh. We had together a good
deal of the most friendly conversation. Jabour promises, on my
return, to conduct me _en route_ for Timbuctoo, and confide me to
the care of some of his trustworthy followers. He will conduct me by
the south-western route, which is stated to be forty-five days'
journey on M. Carette's map. But the Sheikh tells me it is only
thirty days, or less. This route is intersected by many mountains,
the height of which is so great, that the valleys are, for Sahara,
perceptibly cold. These heights attract the clouds and condense them
into rain, and the rocky region is full of beautiful springs and
foaming cascades, of eternal freshness. There is, however, the
dreaded plain of _Tenezrouft_ (‮تنزروفت‬) to be traversed, eight
days without water for man, or herbage for camels. This is the
grand difficulty in getting to Timbuctoo from the north. The Sheikh
went so far as to insure my safety to Timbuctoo and back. He then
observed, "All the people from Tripoli are under my protection, all
Christians who come that way. Tell your countrymen they have nothing
to fear in that route; tell them to come in peace." He continued,
"Why, I observe you writing Arabic, why don't you believe in our
books?" I answered, "We have our prophet, who is Jesus; but all
Christians believe that 'God is one,' that 'God is the most
merciful,' (‮ربّ واحد‬--‮الله الرحمان الرحيم‬)" citing this Arabic.
He then shook hands most cordially with me, and we parted (for
ever?). I always looked upon this good and just man as the _bonâ
fide_ friend, not only of me and Christians, but of all strangers,
visiting Ghat, whatsoever. A little while after he sent me, by one
of his people, a small present of a Touarghee travelling bag, made
of coarse-dressed leather. This is my first present from a Touarghee
Sheikh, and I shall keep it as long as I can.

As soon as Jabour left, Hateetah came in, but in a very different mood.
Somebody had told him I had given the razor to Jabour, and he was also
annoyed at seeing the present from Jabour, of whom he is, as of all the
other Sheikhs, very jealous. Hateetah now vented his rage against Haj
Ibrahim, for only giving him a turban-band. He swore solemnly he would
cut the merchant's throat on the road if he did not give him five or ten
dollars. I laughed at this petulant sally, and said, "Yes, cut his
throat; you will do better than Ouweek." This was too much for Hateetah,
who was trying, but apparently unable, to work himself up into a
passion, and he couldn't help breaking down; so taking me by the hand, he
said, "Do you believe me?" He was in hopes I would go and report this
mock-furious speech to Haj Ibrahim, but I was determined I would not
interfere. He then abused the route of Fezzan, and said it was full of
banditti. Of this also I took no notice.

One of my most curious acquaintances is an old Touatee, established in
Ghat as a trader many years. He comes frequently to barter with me,
bringing bits of cheese and dried meat. He will never let go his wares
until he gets the equivalent fast in his hands. But he has no prejudice
against Christians. He often recommends to me the sable beauties of Ghat,
but I always reply, "This is prohibited to Christians." He is very much
puzzled to know what I write about, and says, "Don't write anything
against me."

Spent the evening with Haj Ibrahim. The senna, which was formerly only
four and a half dollars the cantar, is now six, at which price the
merchant bought twenty camel-loads to-day. Kandarka came in, and this
funny fellow, on seeing me, immediately cried out, "Saif zain," "wahad,"
which, being interpreted literally, means, "A fine sword!" "one!" but
with a more enlarged interpretation and paraphrase, means, "Bring me a
fine sword when you come back, a sword which will kill a man with one
stroke." After repeating this twenty times and suiting the action to the
word, the Aheer camel-driver set to and caricatured the Touaricks of Ghat
in general, and the Sultan Shafou in particular. His topic was the
Shânbah war, the everlasting theme now in Ghat. The camel-driver mimicked
and satirized the aged Sultan by taking up a walking-stick and walking
in a stooping posture, leaning on the staff, begging from door to door,
knocking at the door of the room in which we were sitting, slipping down
the wrapper from his mouth, which the Touaricks do when they attempt to
speak in earnest, and was to show the importunity of the begging Sultan.
This drama was performed to denote the general poverty of the Ghat
Touaricks, as compared with the rich Touaricks of Aheer. The Aheer
comedian then caricatured all the Touaricks together, by shaking his
hands and body as if a tremor was passing through his limbs; he then fell
at full length on the floor, as if dead. In this way the comic
camel-driver ridiculed the poverty and pusillanimity of Ghat Touaricks.
He convulsed all the Moors and Arabs with laughter. In fact, he hit off
the objects of his satire as well as some of our best comedians. And from
what I can learn in town, it would appear the pride of Khanouhen is
humbled before the threatening aspect of the war. Made Kandarka a present
of a razor which I purchased of Haj Ibrahim. He took it up and exclaimed,
"Saif zain, wahad, I'll unman all the Touaricks with this. Who's
Khanouhen? (raising himself up in a boasting position.) Who's
Jabour?--only a Marabout. Who's Hateetah?--a whimpering slave-girl! What
is Berka?--soon to be coffined? Shafou! Come, I'll give thee, poor
Sultan, a little bit of bread. As to that tall fellow (the Giant),
there's no camel big enough to carry him. He'll fall down on the road and
rot like a dog." This is amply sufficient to show that satire is not an
European monopoly, but grows indigenous to The Desert. I asked the
Governor what he should do if the Shânbah should come up against Ghat,
recommending him to secure his doors well and prepare for defence. He
replied, "I'm a Marabout." But this character would not screen him from
the shot of the Shânbah matchlocks. Of course, there's not a bit of
ordnance in The Sahara. I don't recollect seeing a single piece of cannon
at the Turkish fortified places of Mourzuk, or Sockna, or Bonjem.

_31st._--Took a walk to see the Governor. He was very civil, and I
begin to think more of his talent. His Excellency was very busy in
weighing gold. He divided it into halves, into thirds, into
quarters, and weighed it all ways, and separately, with much skill.
This gold was brought yesterday from Touat by some Touateen,
originally brought from Timbuctoo, there being no gold or precious
metals in this part of Sahara. People pretend, however, there is
coal in the route between Ghat and Touat. But were it found there
ever so plentifully, it would not pay the carriage to the coast. The
Marabout merchant next unpacked two camels, laden with heiks or
barracans, with presents of tobacco and shoes (Morocco), for himself
and his family. These were sent from his relatives in Ain Salah. On
one of the packages was written in Arabic, "To our brother, the
Marabout, God bless him." In this unpacking, all his family were
employed for a couple of hours as busy as bees. The Governor
afterwards gave us coffee, and asked me to examine the head of one
of his children. He had heard from the merchants of Ghadames how I
had examined the heads of the servants of Rais Mustapha. This child
could not walk, having no strength in his limbs. The brain was
pushed backwards and forwards, very flat on the sides, and sharp at
the top of the head, leaving a very miserable portion in the
central regions. The entire nervous system was evidently deranged.
The Governor had no difficulty in crediting my power of divination
through phrenology, believing, like other Moors, that we Christians
have familiar conversation with the Devil, by which we acquire our
superiority of knowledge over them, the Faithful. His Excellency, on
taking leave, gave me some Touat dates, which are hard but extremely
sweet. This species is called _Tenakor_. The dates of Warklah and
Souf are also very sweet. One of the Touatee asked me, if I would go
to Timbuctoo. I replied, "I'm afraid." "You are right," he said,
"for there's no Sultan there, everybody does as he likes, all men
are equal." Certainly a powerful Sultan would be of advantage in The
Sahara, for a traveller would then have but one master to
conciliate, now he has ten thousand masters to propitiate. People in
quarrelling say, "You must not do this (or that), for you are in a
_Blad Sheikh_" (a country where there is a constituted authority).
Liberty is a good thing, nothing is better; but there must be with
it morality. Without morality, liberty is only liberty to do
mischief. On my return home, Hateetah called. The first word he
uttered was, "I'm at war with Haj Ibrahim." "Ah," I replied, "you
must cut his throat, he's a great rascal." Hateetah dropped his
complaint at once, and observed, "Patience; all the Touaricks leave
here to-morrow to go against the Shânbah, I only shall remain to go
with you." He informed me the place of rendezvous is Dēdā, or Dēdē,
three or four days westward from Ghat. Shafou and Khanouhen are
there, and an immense congregation of all the tribes is sitting in
council and debate. Shafou has sent a message to allow Hateetah to
go with me to Fezzan. All the mahrys are in urgent request for the
war, and Khanouhen has prohibited the Touaricks from engaging their
camels for the carriage of merchandize. After all it appears there
is a strong government in The Desert. One of the questions debated
is, "Whether they shall attack the Haghar tribes, subjected to the
Sultan Bassa, if they (the Haghar) give an asylum to the Shânbah."
The Touat people wish the Azgher and Haghar tribes to unite for the
extermination of the robbers, who injure the commerce of all this
part of Sahara. In the evening saw Haj Ibrahim. Kandarka came in:
"Saif zain, wahad," he bawled out as usual. He entered into a minute
description of the kind of sword he wished, one that would bend and
was as elastic as a cane.

FOOTNOTES:

[92] When you make a drawing, they say "Write" a drawing, or
    "Write" a man, instead of draw a man.




CHAPTER XXII.

PREPARATIONS FOR DEPARTURE TO FEZZAN.

     Account of Timbuctoo.--Streets of Ghat deserted by departure of
     Caravans.--Packing of Senna.--Return of the Soudan Caravan.--The
     Giant and his Gang sally out in search of a Supper.--System of
     Irrigation.--The Saharan Hades.--Continued departure of People to
     Soudan.--Hateetah serves himself from Haj Ibrahim's Goods.--Scold
     Ghadamsee Merchants for introducing Religious Discussion.--Mode
     of Fashionable Dressing of the Hair, and Female
     Adornment.--Saharan Beauties.--Costume of Touaricks.--Gardens of
     the Governor.--Attempt a Journey to Wareerat Range.--Hateetah and
     Haj Ibrahim become reconciled.--Departure of Kandarka for
     Aheer.--Day of my departure from Ghat.--Moral and Social
     Condition of the Saharan People compared to European
     Society.--Force of our Slave Caravan.--First Night's Bivouack.


I HAVE not obtained any additional information at Ghat respecting the
still mysterious city of Timbuctoo. In comparing Caillié's description
with that given by the American sailor, Robert Adams, I find Caillié's
information agrees the better with what I have collected myself from the
mouths of those who have been long resident at Timbuctoo. Indeed, Adams's
description apparently refers to some Negro city in Bambara or
thereabouts, between Jinnee and Timbuctoo. But I shall not attempt to
impugn the veracity of the one or the other. Caillié says, "The little
information which I have obtained of Timbuctoo was furnished me by my
host Sidi Abdullah-Chebir, and the Kissour Negroes." In another place he
says that he wished to return _viâ_ Morocco, and not by the Senegal, for
fear he should not be believed, his countrymen being envious of his
success. Both of these statements deserve consideration in determining
the authenticity of his voyage.

A great variety of spelling exists in the writing of the name of
Timbuctoo. M. Jomard, Member of the French Institute, gives
‮تِيم٘بُك٘تُ‬ but says he does not think that this word when
properly written contains the ‮ي‬. He thinks, however, we may be
satisfied with the orthography of ‮تِم٘بُك٘تُ‬. And he
adds, "I know that Batouta writes Te_n_boctou, _n_ being used for _m_." I
have found two ways of spelling Timbuctoo in The Desert, viz.,
‮تِن٘بُك٘تُوا‬, and ‮تِن٘بُك٘تُا‬, and they both agree with Batouta.
We may, therefore, consider Batouta's style of spelling the more
correct orthography. Now, ‮تين‬, _Teen_, in Touarghee, is "well" or
"pit." The term occurs in combination with many names of stations in
Targhee Sahara, as will be seen in the map; for example,
_Teenyeghen_, a well of water, seven days' journey on the route from
Ghadames to Ghat; and _Nijberteen_, a well in my route from Ghadames
to Ghat, already mentioned. In the first instance _Teen_ occurs at
the beginning of the word, and the second at the end; but, in both
cases, the meaning is "the well of Nijber," and "the well of
Yeghen." _Teenbuktu_ follows the same rule of Berber or Touarghee
combination, and means "the Well of Buktu," probably Buktu being the
digger of the pits of Timbuctoo.

With regard to information collected by myself of this city, I can only
add a few particulars. Timbuctoo is situated upon the northern flats of
the Niger, or at about half a day's distance from it during the summer,
and three hours only in winter, the difference arising from the increase
of the water of the river during the latter season. But our merchants do
not mention whether this river be a branch of the Niger (which they call
Neel or Nile), or the Niger itself. This they are evidently unacquainted
with. They never mention the port of Cabra, which is so distinctly
noticed by Caillié. The climate is hot, and always hot, but extremely
healthy--as healthy as any part of Central Africa. The city is about four
times larger than Tripoli as to area, but in proportion not so densely
inhabited, the population being about 23,000 souls. It has no walls now;
though it formerly had, and is open to the inroads of the tribes of The
Desert. The population is very mixed, and consists of Fullans, who are
the dominant caste, Touaricks, Negroes, and Moors and Arabs from
different oases of Sahara, as also from the Northern Coast of Africa. The
majority of the Moors are Maroquines. The Government is absolute, and now
in the delegated possession of a Marabout named Mokhtar, and the national
religion Mahometan. There do not appear to be any Pagans or idolatrous
Africans now resident in Timbuctoo, but some half century ago most of the
Kissour Negroes, the native Negroes of Timbuctoo, were Pagans. The
present Sultan is called Ahmed Ben Ahmed Lebbu Fullan, whose authority is
established over the two great cities of Jinnee and Timbuctoo, and all
the intervening and neighbouring districts, including several cities of
inferior note. He is the son of the famous warrior Ahmed Lebbu, who
dethroned the native princes of the Ramee, or those who "bend the bow."
The usual residence of the Sultan is now at Jinnee. The city is a place
of great sanctity, and no person has the privilege of smoking in it--that
is to say, defiling it, but the Touaricks, who are there so overbearing
and unmanageable, as to be above the local laws. They are the cause of
continual disturbances at Timbuctoo; nevertheless, so powerful are the
Fullans, that they manage to keep the Touaricks in subjection, as well as
the native Negro tribes. There are seven mosques, the minarets of some of
which are as large as those of Tripoli.

There are several schools and a few learned doctors amongst the priests.
The houses are only one story high, but some few have a room over a
magazine; they are built of stones and mortar, and some of wood or straw.
The streets are narrow, few of them admit of the passage of two camels
abreast. Several covered bazaars are built for merchandize. There are no
native manufactures of consequence. Timbuctoo is properly a commercial
depôt or emporium. The principal medium of exchange is salt, which is
very inconvenient. The grand desideratum of merchants is the acquisition
and accumulation of gold, but this is obtained only by a long and
wearying residence in Timbuctoo, and is very uncertain in supply. The
gold is brought from a considerable distance south-west. Jinnee is a
greater place of trade than Timbuctoo. The neighbouring country is flat
and sandy, stretching in plains over the alluvial deposits of the Niger.
There are no fruit-trees or gardens, beyond the growing of a few melons
and vegetables; but trees abound on the vast plains of Timbuctoo, and
there is a great number of the Tholh, or gum-bearing acacia. The
communication between Jinnee and Timbuctoo is principally by water, and
with light boats the journey can be accomplished in seven days, but the
distance is a month by land. The navigation of the Niger is extremely
difficult, and in the dry season the boats are continually grounding,
whilst in the wet season people are in constant dread of being
precipitated on the rocks. The boats have no sails, and are pushed along
by poles with great labour. There is no water in the city: it is brought
from pits east and west, a quarter of a mile distant,--that from the east
being brackish, and that from the west sweet. Water is sold in the
streets of Timbuctoo, as in many African cities. The Maroquine merchants
live in style and luxury at Timbuctoo, and tea, coffee, and sugar may be
obtained from them at a reasonable price. The residence of an European at
Timbuctoo may, perhaps, be considered secure for a short time; but the
grand difficulty is to get there, and when you get there, to get safe
back again. These details are not very interesting, and I should not have
mentioned them, but for the general anxiety there still exists to obtain
correct and recent information of this celebrated Nigritian city.

_1st February._--The streets of Ghat begin to be deserted. Touaricks are
going, and gone, as well as the various merchants from neighbouring
countries. So I walk with much freedom in the streets. Have not been
molested about religion for some time; but a man said to me to day,
"Unless you believe in Mahomet, you will burn in the fire for ever!"
Strange anomaly this in the conduct of men! They deliver over their
fellow-men to everlasting torments, as if it was some slight corporal
castigation! . . . . Saw Hateetah. The Consul is still at war with Haj
Ibrahim; but he is cutting his own throat, and not the merchant's, by his
foolish conduct. A low Ghat fellow came in, and finding me writing,
begins crying out:--"Oh, you are writing our country! You are coming
afterwards to destroy it! Never was our country written before, and it
shall not be now!" I turned him out of doors. He then fetched a mob of
"lewd fellows of the baser sort," and began wheying, whooing. Hateetah
luckily came by at the time, and belaboured them with his spear, and off
they ran, wheying whooing. Went to see them pack up senna, or rather
change the sacks, those in which it had been packed in Aheer being worn
out. The sacks are made of palm-leaves. Here were lying some hundred
large bundles. I am not surprised these simple people wonder what we do
with senna, and are the more surprised when I tell them it is for
medicine. Medicine they take little of; and then they have no conception
of the millions of Christians in Europe, thinking we are so many
islanders squatting upon the oases of the watery ocean. The senna leaves,
on account of the late rains, are finer and broader than usual: they are
very large, and, except the edges, of a dark purple hue. There is a good
deal of small wood (stalks of the plant), and here and there a few yellow
flowers, besides a quantity of dust and dirt mixed up with the leaves.

Several detachments of the return Soudan caravan left to-day. Went to see
them off. It was amusing to be present at the preparations for departing.
Some just starting, some packing up, others loading, others weighing the
camels' burdens, others saluting their friends, all in busy and
distracting confusion. Strings of camels were in advance, with their
heads towards Berkat. I sighed with regret. I wished to follow . . . .
The camels are tied one after another, held together by strings in their
nose, and they are not allowed to graze during the march, like the camels
of Arabs. This is an advantage to the traveller, for much time is lost by
the camels cropping herbage on the way. The files of camels are twenty
and thirty in number, and sometimes these files are double. I imagine in
mountainous districts they are untied, otherwise one camel slipping or
falling, would draw another after it, and, so the whole line would be
thrown in confusion. In the palms noticed two small birds, white bodies,
head and wings black. With the exception of the diminutive singing
sparrow, and a few crows, these are all the birds I have seen in the
oasis. Saw several Aheer Touaricks just arrived, and found them tall,
well-made, comparatively fair, and fine-featured; nothing of the Negro
character about them. All extremely civil to me; and I certainly like
them as well, if not better, than the ordinary run of Ghat Touaricks.
These Aheer Touaricks must be one of the finest races of men in Central
Africa.

Went as usual to spend the evening with Haj Ibrahim. Had not sat down
many minutes before a thundering knocking was heard at the outer door. An
Arab youth called out, "Who's there?" and "Don't open," to the slave that
had the charge of the court-yard door. The knocking increased in fury,
the tumult of voices without being terrific; and Haj Ibrahim, at last,
recognizing the party, and yielding to their violence, said "Open." As
soon as the door was thrown back, in poured a host of Touaricks, like
the opening of a deluging sluice, all belonging to Berka, headed by their
acting chief, the redoubtable Giant! Their first object was to abuse
roundly the Arab youth who had called out, "Don't open." The merchants of
Ghadames and Tripoli try to shut out the Touaricks as much as possible
all times of the day, and especially just at supper-time, for this is the
hour when the Touaricks prowl about for their evening meal, like famished
evening wolves, seeking whom and what they can devour. Prowling for food
is an absolute necessity with them, for generally they have no food; they
bring only a very small quantity from their native districts, when they
leave to spend some weeks at the Souk. This foraging party therefore came
in for supper. Haj Ibrahim tried to work up his courage into rage; but it
was useless, for his struggling ire was at once choked and quelled by the
accents of thunder which The Giant belched out like old Ætna. The Giant
opened fire upon the trembling merchant, by asserting the safety and
tranquillity of the country: "There are no robbers or free-booters here;
you buy and sell, fill your bags with money, and are in peace. Why, then,
cannot we eat as the price of our protection?" Resistance being very
madness, the supper which Haj Ibrahim had prepared for himself, was
brought out to them, the servant crying out, not "Il pranzo è servito!"
but, "This is all the supper we have for ourselves!" And like a wise
steward, he kept a little back for his lord and master. After unbroken
silence, which lasted full ten minutes, when every person seemed to be
gasping for breath to speak, and struggling with some terrible inward
commotion of the spirit, the supper-hunting Touaricks made a
simultaneous move towards the supper-bowl. About nine big brawny fellows
attacked the savoury cuscusou, for Haj Ibrahim had the best kind of
provisions brought from Tripoli. The dainty merchant told me he could not
eat what was made in Ghat. Now, The Giant did not join the onslaught on
the merchant's supper, that did not beseem his dignity as heir of the
Sheikhdom of the venerable Berka! The chief of the gang, on the principle
of delicacy and generosity, left the spoil to his men. The Giant, like
Neptune rising to quell the fury of the tempest, sat reclining in dignity
and authority, with a serene brow, calmly looking on, and smoking his
pipe. Not a word was uttered, not a sound was heard, but the licking up
the food, and the smacking of the lips of these uncouth, unbidden,
uninvited guests. As soon as the supper was swallowed up, (only a few
minutes,) they all arose, The Giant first rising, with unabashed
effrontery, and led the way out. In another moment they were gone! and
the door was shut. It was like some broken and distempered slumber, and
the lamps having nearly burnt out, and all being dim and dark, rendered
the illusion complete. The quondam _protégé_ of these chiefs was too ill,
too much upset, to speak. I bade him good night, and returned home,
half-admiring The Giant and his troop, and abusing the foolish parsimony
of the merchant, who ought to have thrown a few lumps of flesh to these
hungry and wolfish sons of The Desert, and satisfied them at once. One of
the party was Hateetah's brother; and Hateetah told me next day that he
himself sent them.

_2nd._--Our departure is now finally fixed for to-morrow. The weather is
cool, but not so cold as on my arrival. Within the last three weeks it
has gradually become warmer, and the spring enlivening warmth will soon
be succeeded by summer's burning reign. Took a very pleasant walk round
the Governor's palace, and made a sketch of it, which is subjoined.

[Illustration]

Irrigation is the grand means of agricultural production in Sahara.
Without irrigation the oases would be mere halting-places for caravans,
and would afford but a scanty supply for centres of human existence. But
irrigation has not only sustained and sustains the towns and cities of
the African Desert, but in Asia it has always been the grand means of
maintaining vast populations. The Assyrians of ancient days became great
by irrigation. In the prophets we read, "The waters made him (the
Assyrian) great, the deep set him up on high with her rivers running
round about his plants, and sent out her little rivers unto all the trees
of the field. Therefore his height was exalted above all the trees of
the field, and his boughs were multiplied, and his branches became long
because of the multitude of waters, when he shot forth. All the fowls of
heaven made their nests in his boughs, and under his branches did all the
beasts of the field bring forth their young, and under his shadow dwelt
all great nations. Thus was he fair in his greatness, in the length of
his branches: for his root was by great waters." (Ezek. xxxi. 4-7.) The
metaphors are extremely explicit and beautiful, making water the source
of the Assyrian greatness. Nothing can show more the power of water in
the hot and dry climate of Syria. But the prophet particularly alludes to
the system of irrigation, as practised on the banks of the Euphrates,
from which river the waters were conveyed in small streamlets and
conduits, "running round about the plants" in the gardens, and sent out
to a considerable distance in little rills to all the trees of the field.
The immense parterres of Babylon, artificial gardens supported by
irrigation, have been celebrated by the historians of antiquity. In Ghat,
Ghadames, and other oases of the Sahara, as well as the greater part of
the Tripoline coast, this system of irrigation is now practised to its
full extent, and water here shows a power of production with which we are
unacquainted in more humid and temperate climes. At this time, the barley
and wheat are shooting up simply under the power of water, which is
conveyed to them by small ducts of earth, as drawn up from the wells,
every four or five days. A bullock, or slave, draws up the water from the
wells, which are of very rude construction, but answer the purpose. The
water is then poured into a receiver of earth or stone, from which it
runs into the small conduits of earth. Sometimes the main conduits are
made of lime-mortar, as in the island of Jerbah. The field to be
irrigated is divided into small squares or compartments, sometimes oblong
of about seven by five feet in size; each is edged up with a small
embankment of earth; between each line of squares run parallel ducts or
gutters of earth, communicating with one large and common conduit, which
is usually placed, to run better, on the highest part of the field, and
as nearly as possible cutting it into halves. Whilst the water is being
drawn up, a lad opens each compartment of the field with a hoe or
shovel-hoe, and lets the water into each square, shutting it up again
when the surface of the ground is merely covered with water. I have seen
them tread upon the springing blades of grass when so irrigating them, to
give their roots more force and tenacity in the ground. In Ghat this
irrigation is repeated every five days, or less, until the grain is in
the ear and nearly ripe.

The Medina Shereef, who expresses sincere sympathy for my state of
"judicial blindness," told me to-day that I should not go down to
the real _bonâ fide_ pit or abode of perdition, but to a dull
shadowy place, "the region of nothings," and I might get out again
and ascend to _Jennah_, (‮جنّة‬) "paradise;" and this, because I
was near to them (the Mussulmans), and read and wrote Arabic, and was
not afraid to write or repeat a verse of the Koran. In our prophets
we have, "Thus saith the Lord, In the day when he went down to the
grave I caused a mourning." (Ezek. xxxi. 15.) "I made the nations to
shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to hell with
them that descend into the pit." (Id. 16.) "They also went down to
hell with him." (Id. 17.) In the first verse cited ‮שאלה‬ is
translated "grave," in the two latter verses "hell." But there is no
reason for the alteration of the term from "grave" to "hell." The
prophets I imagine, like most of us, had extremely indistinct
notions of the future world, and the place of disembodied spirits,
and were accustomed to use the word ‮שאלה‬ (which ought invariably
to be translated grave, or hades, and not hell,) something in the
same manner as my friend the Shereef, for a dreary shadowy region of
imperfect beings or non-entities, a nether limbo of nothings and
vanities.

Took a walk to see the merchants leaving for Soudan; many of them were
accompanied a short distance by their friends. It is an affecting thing
to part with people who are about to enter upon forty days of Desert,
without a human habitation, (the route from this to Aheer.) Saw Hateetah
in my walk. He took a shumlah, or girdle, by force from Haj Ibrahim. The
Consul found the auctioneer going round with it for sale, and inquiring
to whom it belonged, and hearing it was Haj Ibrahim's, he took the sash
from the auctioneer and told him to go and acquaint the merchant with
what he had done, and which sash he had taken instead of the turban,
offered to Hateetah by Haj Ibrahim, but refused on account of its little
value. This is a nasty trick to say the least, but as the Moorish
auctioneer observed, "Such is the way with the Touaricks." However, I am
persuaded neither Jabour, nor Khanouhen, would have stooped to such a
shabby dirty manœuvre. It seems besides, Haj Ibrahim is giving great
provocation to the chiefs who are appointed his protectors at the Souk.
They complain that, whilst he brings as many goods as twenty ordinary
merchants, he gives less than any one. So we must hear both sides of the
question. Saw to-day the Moorish Kady of Ghat for the first time: I had
not made his acquaintance. His son I knew, who was very impertinent,
insisting that I should give him some tea because he was the son of the
Kady. This I refused to do, and Khanouhen praised my conduct and said, I
behaved "like a Touarghee!" The Kady is an old gentleman, but dresses
superbly in a fine red turban and long flowing bright-green coat, in full
sacerdotal character, as the triple-crowned Pope of Ghat. This morning I
took upon myself to scold severely some Ghadamsee merchants for
introducing the subject of religion before the ignorant people of Ghat
and Soudan. I found a group of them in the streets when they wanted to
speak of religion. I asked them "If they would do so in Tripoli, and if
not, why here?" They understood the point of censure and immediately left
off. Some Arabs present, said, "You are right, Yâkob." Vexed at my
reproof, they attacked me on the subject of slaves, asking me why the
English disapproved of slaves? I replied sharply, "It is not our religion
to buy and sell men, though it may be your religion."

At the Governor's I observed the style of cutting and braiding
fashionable young ladies' hair, in the example of his daughters. The
forehead is shaved high up, leaving, however, one long curl or _with_ of
hair depending. This curl is braided and hangs down gracefully over the
forehead. On each side of the head, over the ears, depend three other
separate curls or locks of hair, each double-braided. Behind the head
hang also two other longer curls, and each double-braided. Between these
curls, as they detach themselves from the head, the cranium is clean
shaven, and the hair or tuft on the crown of the head, whence the several
curls depend, covers a very small space. At the end of the braided curls
is tied a piece of coloured string or narrow ribbon, the same as is done
amongst our little dressy nymphs. The hair is dressed with olive-oil or
daubed over with semen, or liquid butter. My old negress landlady is a
hair-dresser of the first style, and the fashionable negresses come to
have their woolly crispy locks dressed by her _secundum artem_ nearly
every day. This hair-dressing takes place on my terrace, and affords me a
splendid field for observation. I ought to have brought with me into The
Desert the book, "How to observe," in order to have given a complete and
satisfactory description of the fashionable Libyo-Saharan hair-dressing.
The old lady sits down, spreading out her knees, and the young sable
belle throws herself flat at full length sprawling on the terrace floor,
putting her head into the lap of the arbitress of The Desert toilette,
her heels meanwhile kicking up, and sometimes not very decently. The
operation then commences. The woolly locks, not more than three inches in
length, are gradually drawn up tight to the crown of the head, and
plaited in tiers in the shape of a high ridge, whilst they are being
rubbed over with liquid butter. The lower circle of the cranium is left
all bare, not a curl depending, and is shaven quite clean. But this is
done previously, for my old negress does not undertake the profession of
shaver, with her other important services. The hair, when fully dressed
in this style, assumes the shape of an oval crown, or the head part of
the helmet. Some negresses use false tails as well as false locks, as our
belles do, the long flowing curls being preferred by the sooty Nigritian
beauties, in spite of such an ornament being unnatural to them. These
ladies, however, neither paint nor tattoo their faces, and in general,
painting with red and white is not used by the Libyan and Oriental
beauties. In Algeria, however, some of the Mooresses have learnt to paint
from their new mistresses, as an acquirement of French civilization in
Africa. Dr. Shaw is quite right in his new rendering of the passage
referring to Jezebel, "And she adjusted (or set off) her eyes with the
powder of lead-ore," (2 Kings ix. 30,) which in the common version is,
"And she painted her face," (or, in the margin, "put her eyes in
painting"). This painting of the eyelids is a custom of great antiquity.
It has the effect of of giving the eye a peculiar prominency, enlarging
its apparent size, and adding to it a greater bewitching force. The
Touarick women, however, disdain the unnatural adornment, and shame the
unmanly conduct of certain of the Saharan men who actually paint thus
their eyelids. It is a trite saying, that women are coquettes all the
world over. But if mothers will educate their daughters so, it must be
so. Besides cheerful young ladies are frequently confounded with
coquettes, which is very unfair. Here, of course, there is coquetry as
elsewhere. Why not? I have two neighbours, Negresses, and sisters, who
get upon the house-top every morning, wash their faces, and oil them to
make them shine, as it is said, "Man had given him oil to make his face
to shine." They then dress one another's hair, which usually occupies
them all the morning. The toilette here, as with us, is a very serious
affair. These sable beauties sometimes play the coquette with me, which
is innocent enough. I asked my old negress about these and other coloured
residents, and found there were many families of free negroes in Ghat. My
friendly coquetting neighbours have a brother who is a free Negro and
trades between Ghat and Soudan. A few of the free Negroes are perhaps
_bonâ fide_ immigrants, but these are really very limited. The dress of
the women in this place is extremely simple; it consists solely of a
chemise and a short-sleeved frock, with a barracan used as a shawl, and
thrown over the head and shoulders, when there is wind or cold. The
ladies have sandals, and some of them shoes. Beads are esteemed only by
Negresses. Those particular beads made of a composition of clay at Venice
and Trieste, are now the fashion. The Touarick ladies prefer pieces of
coral and charms strung round their neck in necklaces. The arms, wrists,
and ancles are hooped with wood-painted, and generally, metal armlets,
bracelets, and anclets. Some ladies hang a small looking-glass about
their necks, which is, of course in frequent use. The Touarick women
industriously weave the woollen tobes, jibbahs, or frocks; they are very
cheap, warm, and comfortable in the water. But the Soudan cottons are the
great Saharan consumption. There are also now introduced from Europe
quantities of, I think, what are called "Indians" in mercantile slang, or
coarse white cottons. The merchants call them "new". These cottons are
much liked in Morocco because they are cheap and pleasant clothing in
summer. Men and women are clothed with them, and they are made up into
every kind of dress. These European cottons are supplanting those of
Soudan, which furnish work for thousands in Central Africa. So the
legitimate commerce, already so limited, is diminishing instead of
increasing. Poor Africa! thrice-poor, and every way poor, gets nothing at
present by her intercourse with Europe, saving the enslavement of her
unhappy children, and the impoverishment of her native manufactures. The
Niger and other _philanthropic_ and commercial expeditions have only laid
bare her nakedness--they have not advanced her one step in the scale of
improvement. Connected with Saharan female dress is naturally that of
female beauty. The _beau ideal_ of an Arab beauty, according to the
Arabian poets Havivi and Montannibi, is, that "Her person should be
slender like the bending rush, or taper lance of Yemen." This is also the
_beau ideal_ of female beauty amongst Touaricks. I have seen no fat
fed-up women amongst Touaricks, like those in such esteem and the
_bon-ton_ of the Moors. The _enbonpoint_ of Mooresses is well known, and
beauty amongst them is literally by the weight. Recent discoveries in
Malta have made us acquainted with this _enbonpoint_, as an essential
feature of female or other beauty in the most early times, say as far
back as the Carthaginian and other ancient settlers in Malta. The rude
statues lately dug up in that island are all remarkable for obese
processes from the waist downwards.

The taste of the Arabs has been greatly vitiated, and the slight, spare,
"bending rush" is often rejected for the bridal beauty who requires a
camel to carry her to the house of her husband. The Moors resident in
Ghat have imported the vicious Moorish ideas, and the Negress slaves are
fattened for the market, and fetch higher prices.

[Illustration]

The dress of Touarick men is more elaborate than that of their
women. The principal garment is the Soudanic cotton frock,
smock-frock, or blouse, sometimes called tobe, with short and wide
open sleeves, and wide body reaching below the knee. Under this is
at times worn a small shirt. The pantaloons are also of the same
cotton, not very wide in the leggings, and scarcely reaching to the
ancles, and something in the Cossack style. The frock is confined
low round the waist with the "leather girdle," and often by a sash
in the style of the Spaniards. There is generally attached to it a
good-sized red leather bag, not unlike an European lady's work-bag,
and this is made into various compartments, one for tobacco, one for
snuff, one for trona or ghour nuts, another for striking-light
matters, another for needles and thread, another containing a little
looking-glass, &c., &c.; and I have seen a Touarghee fop
adjust his toilette with as much coquetry as the most brilliant
flirt,--indeed, the vanity of some of these Targhee dandies
surpasses all our notions of vanity in European dress. Over the
frock, on one of the shoulders, is carried the barracan or hayk,
which is sometimes cotton, and white and blue-striped, or figured in
checks, of Timbuctoo manufacture, but generally a plain woollen
wrapper. The hayk is wound several times round the body, and is the
only real protection the Touarick, or his wife, (for the women
likewise wear them,) has, from the cutting cold winds of The Sahara.
A red or white cap sometimes covers the naked shaved head, but many
do not wear a cap, as besides many do not shave the head. But the
grand distinguishing object in the dress of Touarick men is the
_Lithām_ (‮اللثام‬), from which article of dress the Touaricks
have been called ages ago by historian and tourists of The Desert "The
people of the Litham" (‮اهل اللثام‬). The litham is nothing
more than a thin wrapper, which is first wound round the head, and then
made to cover the whole of the forehead and partially the eyes, and
the lower part of the face, especially the mouth. The mouth and the
eyes are the two grand objects to protect in The Desert, and in
Saharan travelling, equally against heat and cold, and wind. A
Saharan traveller, having his mouth well covered with the litham,
will go at least twenty-four hours longer, fasting in abstinence,
whilst his lips will not be parched with thirst. The litham shelters
the eyes effectually from the hot sand grains, borne on the deadly
wing of the Simoom. A turban is mostly folded round the head as a
mark of orthodox Islamism. The young beaux prefer the great red sash
wound round the head in shape of the turban.

The Touarick, from his habit of wearing the litham, does not like a
beard, which, indeed, could rarely be seen. As it grows, they pull it
out, and so in time it often disappears altogether. In the matter of
beard, the almost sacred ornament of the Moor and the Arab, the Touarick
is placed again in strong contrast with his Mahometan neighbour. All wear
a profusion of talismans suspended round the neck, or sewn or stuck about
the head, like so many liberty or election cockades. This is the usual
style of the dress of Touaricks; and, with dagger under the left arm,
sword swung from the back, and spear in the right hand, it looks
sufficiently novel and imposing, befitting the wild scenery and wild sons
of The Desert. Many, however, of the Touaricks go almost naked, whilst
the younger Sheikhs occasionally indulge in the foreign fashions of the
Moors of the north, dressing very fantastically and elaborately.

[Illustration]

_3rd._--Our departure from Ghat to Mourzuk, capital of Fezzan, is now
again finally fixed for the 5th of the month, at least three weeks
delayed beyond the time first spoken of. European travellers in Sahara
must always reckon upon these wearying delays. A ghafalah is just arrived
from Fezzan, bringing dates, ghusub, and wheat. This is a most seasonable
relief, for absolutely there is no food left for the poorer inhabitants
of Ghat, the provisions being carried away by various caravans which have
left us within a few days. I was myself obliged to borrow from the
Governor. Fortunately, Fezzan is near, or the Souk of Ghat, with its
thousand slaves, would be often reduced to great extremities, there being
no capital invested in keeping up a supply of provisions. Haj Ibrahim
complains of Hateetah, and considers him the worst of the Touarghee
Sheikhs. The merchant "has reason."

Called to see Haj Ahmed. Met the Governor near his gardens, and he
invited me to go and look at them. Was agreeably surprised to find a
really splendid plantation of date-palms, underneath and amidst which
were some of the choicest fruits, the fig, pomegranate, and apricot. He
has also planted some hedges of Indian fig. The plantation might cover a
dozen acres. It is the work of eighteen years of the industrious
Marabout, but the palms are still in their youth, some even in their
childhood. It is important to mention, this beautiful plantation was a
waste of sand before the Governor took it in hand, but the whole of it,
by the assistance of water and irrigation, his persevering industry has
made to bud and "blossom as the rose." Were the rest of the wealthy
residents to imitate the Marabout, they would in a few years make Ghat a
large and most lovely oasis of Desert. Water is complained of as to
supply, but there is water enough to irrigate an oasis of five times the
present extent. So in Ghadames, so almost in every Saharan oasis. The
Governor encourages his sons to industry, by giving each a plot of ground
to cultivate for himself. I saw a fine field belonging to one of his
sons, which has been under culture only three years. It is sown with
barley and wheat, and planted with rows of sprig-palms, in the very
childhood of growth; but, by the time the sons of the Marabout are
married, and have young families, these green-shooting palm-sprigs will
be branching trees high up, bearing mature and delicious fruit. Nature
furnishes pretty and striking lessons of industry, more affecting to the
observant mind than the lessons of the most eloquent moralist. There are
also shoots of the fig-tree and the pomegranate set around a pool of
crystal water, the embryo paradise of the future. The son, whose garden
this was, said to me, in reply about the supply of water, "See, the water
comes from a spring near that hill of sand. I dug the well, and God gave
me the water. God does not give water to all when they dig." I went
forward, and saw a refreshing spring bubbling out from beneath the sandy
bosom of The Desert.

It is quite a pleasure now to walk about Ghat, the noisy rabble is
hushed, and the Touaricks, excepting some chiefs of Berka, are all gone.
The remaining Ghadamsee merchants are as pleased as myself that the
Touaricks are gone. A strange hallucination got possession of my brain
to-day. "I determined I would stop five years in Africa. I would visit
all the great kingdoms of Nigritia. I would write the history and
legends of the ten thousand tribes of Africa from their own mouths. Then
I would return with these spoils and treasures of Africa to my
fatherland." Vain phantoms of ambition, only to fever my poor brain! The
first untoward event would lay me prostrate on the burning plains,
leaving my bones scattered and bleaching, a monument to deter and dismay
the succeeding wanderer of The Desert. . . . . . . One of the occupations
of the poor in this country, by which they get a bit of bread, is
breaking date-stones, something analogous to our stone-breakers on the
high roads. The date-stones are taken one by one, and put on a big round
stone within a circle of a roll of rags, and another stone is used to
crush or pound them. The pounded stones are sold to fatten sheep and
camels upon. The poor earn two karoobs (twopence) a day in this manner,
on which many are obliged to live. Hard is the lot of the poor in every
clime!

Afternoon late, I went to the range of Wareerat mountains, to collect a
few geological specimens, accompanied by a slave. All our senses deceive
us. The world is a world of delusions and deceptions, and we are dupers
and dupes, as it happens. After continuing a couple of hours, the base of
the range, which seemed always close upon us, still receded and was
receding. On the plains of Africa bounded by mountain ranges, one is as
much at a loss to measure distances as the landsman at sea, when
measuring the distance from his ship to the rocks bounding the shore. My
negro Cicerone advised to beat a retreat, assuring me I should not reach
the chain by daylight. We looked round on the city and found it fast
diminishing and disappearing in the distance, in the fleeting twilight of
the evening. We returned an hour after dark. On the north we espied a few
camels, a Fezzan provision caravan, winding their slow length along like
a line of little black dots in the sand. My companion told me he was
captured in war. The people are always fighting; some to get slaves,
others from "a bad heart." He was afraid to go back to his country for
fear of being recaptured, resold, and made again to recross the Desert.
The domestic and political history of Africa is an eternal cycle of
miseries and misfortunes; better that the African world had not been
created. My negro companion is called Berka Ben-Omer, to distinguish him
from another slave of his master called Berka. Frequently both slaves and
free men have but one name, or one name is employed in speaking of them.
When there are many of the same name in their circle of acquaintance or
town, then the names of the fathers are used. Joshua, in The Scriptures,
is usually distinguished in this way when his name is mentioned, "To
Joshua, son of Nun." (Joshua ii. 23.) The _Ben_-Omer above, is the "son"
of Omer.

Spent the evening with Haj Ibrahim. Found Hateetah with the merchant.
They had made it up, and Hateetah told me, in the morning, there was now
peace between him and Haj Ibrahim, since he, Hateetah, had got the large
red sash. The Sheikh related news from Fezzan, respecting the ravages of
the son of Abd El-Geleel in Bornou, who was attacking the Bornouese
caravans. Hateetah then made a long speech, in which he recommended me to
the care of the merchant, calling upon Haj Ibrahim "To swear by his head
that he would take as much care of me as of himself." This was
unnecessary, for Haj Ibrahim had shown himself more substantially
friendly to me than any other merchant at Ghat. The Consul excused
himself for not accompanying me to Fezzan, by stating that his camels had
not come up from the country districts: this was a mere excuse. But the
road was perfectly safe, and we did not require the protection of the
Sheikh. To-day Hateetah did not beg.

_4th._--A fine morning, weather very warm and sultry. The town is well
nigh empty. When all the caravans are gone, Ghat will sink into the
stillness of death. This is the case with all the Saharan towns, which
are _blad-es-souk_, "a mart of trade," taking place periodically. The
Governor finds the trade in slaves so thriving, slaves having fetched a
good price this year, that he is sending this morning two of his sons to
Soudan to purchase slaves. Kandarka left also this morning. I went to see
him off. _Saif zain, wahad_, "A good sword, one!" he exclaimed as usual.
He then made me a long speech. "Put yourself under my sword, no man can
resist the sword of Kandarka! (drawing his sword from the scabbard, and
making a cut with it.) Be my witnesses, ye merchants of Ghadames! (some
of whom were present.) I will give you, Yâkob, a good camel, a mahry.
Water you will have first, sweet water. Wood there will be always ready
for you to make a fire and cook the cuscasou. I am the right hand of
En-Nour (Sultan of Aheer). You will be my friend, Yâkob, before the
Sultan. In our towns, we have cheese, butter, wheat, sheep, bullocks. You
Christians have none like them. Make haste back, make haste, and come to
Aheer."

Hateetah seldom spoke to me of religion, but to-day the Consul said,
"What sort of Christian are you? I hear there are as many Christians as
there are sands" (taking up a handful of sand).

_The Author._--"And what sort of Islamites are you Touaricks? for you are
many, as many as we."

_The Consul._--"We are of Sidi Malek:" (_i. e._, Malekites like Arabs).

I asked then the Consul what was the meaning of Targhee, who replied
En-nas, or "people." Indeed, the word Targhee seems to have the same
signification as Kabyle, that is, "tribe," or "nation," both words
denoting people of the same original stock.

_5th._--The morning of our departure! . . . . . At length comes the
end--the end of all things, joys or sorrows--even in The Desert, where
delay and procrastination are the dull and wearying gods of ceaseless
worship. Rose early to pack up, and pay take-leave visits. Weather is
mild; the caravan will move slowly on account of the slaves; the journey
is short; the route is safe; all things promise a favourable end of my
Saharan tour. The mind looks with regret upon leaving places become
familiar, but rises buoyant at the thought of seeing new sights and
scenes. Called upon the Governor to bid him adieu. His Excellency said,
he should see me at the moment of departing. Found him with some people
of Touat, who said:--"The English are very devils; they have two eyes
behind their heads, as well as two before." I did not quite understand
their allusion. Called on Haj Ibrahim, who had been packing up for three
days past, and yet things were still in great confusion. To my
astonishment, I found the merchant surrounded with a group of people in
the greatest excitement, the master-figure of the group being The Giant
Sheikh, foaming with rage, and threatening to cut Haj Ibrahim's throat on
the road, unless he made him some sufficient present, in acknowledgment
of his authority as heir-apparent of the Sheikhdom of Berka. The Ghatee
merchants, all the most respectable of whom were in this _mêlée_, kept
screaming, and some of them pulling hold of Haj Ibrahim, to give a
trifle, (a couple of dollars,) to The Giant, and get rid of him. Hateetah
and other Touaricks were also present. Meantime, The Giant bullied,
menaced, swore, and thundered things horrible and unutterable . . . . .
Amidst this bedlam din, Haj Ibrahim at length got a hearing, and mustered
up courage enough to defend himself:--"You call your's a peaceful
country,--How? Is not this the conduct of bandits? I know (recognize) no
person but Berka. Him I have given a present. What was demanded I have
given Berka. I will not now give more presents, and not indeed by main
force. It is robbery! Go and take my camels." The Giant, who listened to
these few words, spoken distinctly and energetically, with a brow
overcast, like a storm-cloud charged with the electric fire, and a bosom
heaving and boiling with wrath, got up from where he lay sprawling,
("many a rood,") and very deliberately took hold of his broadsword (I
began to be alarmed), and with it fetched Hateetah such a stroke on the
back with its flat side, as made him cry out with pain. Then addressing
his subordinate sternly and laconically, _Enker, heek_[93], "Get up
quick." he strode off a few paces. Hateetah instantly followed, and the
other Touaricks. Now turned round The Giant, and said in Arabic:--"Allah
Akbar, the camels! Allah Akbar, the camels! Good, good! Allah Akbar, the
camels!" They went off (or rather pretended to go) to seize the
merchant's camels. These gone, the merchants of Ghat set all upon Haj
Ibrahim, "What a fool you are! Why not give the long fellow a couple of
dollars? If you won't, we shall give the Sheikh the money ourselves." One
of them turned to me, "Why, Christian, what is a couple of dollars to Haj
Ibrahim? That's the value?" (putting his hand to his nose.) The reader
may easily guess how this stupid obstinacy of the merchant ended. The Haj
forked out, with a bad grace, and the money was carried after The Giant,
one of the Ghat merchants adding two more dollars. I was pleased with
this trait of the Ghateen, who were determined we should not go off in
this uncomfortable plight. The Giant I did not see again; I regretted to
part with him in this manner. Under his huge and unwieldy exterior he
concealed the most tender and generous disposition. His Giantship never
begged of me; and when I gave him a little tobacco, he thanked me a
thousand times. He was always cheerful with, and had some joke for his
friends. After all, my plan is best: to make the necessary presents at
once, and voluntarily; to give all the Sheikhs a trifle, and then you are
at peace with all.

About 2 o'clock in the afternoon, to our great satisfaction, we got clear
and clean off. Hateetah came out to see me start, and walked half a mile
with me on the road. He was extremely kind. It is probable, he begged of
me so much, because his brothers and cousins incited him, amongst whom I
know he shared the presents which he received. I now put my hand in my
pocket, and gave him all the money I had left, half a dollar and a
karoob! He affectionately shook me with both hands. I then passed the
Governor, who was waiting for us. His Excellency shook hands very
friendly, and said, "And Ellah, Yâkob" (God be with you, James!)

During my fifty days' residence in Ghat, although I received numberless
petty insults, I kept out of all squabbles, and made as few complaints as
possible to the authorities. In fact, I may safely say, and without
presumption on my part, if I could not live in peace with these people a
few weeks, no other European coming after me could.

It is now time to make a few observations upon the general character of
these Saharan inhabitants, and compare their social state with that of
ours in Europe.

Crime against society, consists mainly in lying or duplicity, and
imposture, in thieving, in sensuality, and in murder. Veracity, honesty,
continence, and respect for human life, distinguish a moral people. We
have to try the Saharan populations of Ghat and Ghadames by these four
cardinal points or principles, and compare them with the nations of
Europe. Whilst resident in Ghadames, not one single case of cutting or
maiming, or manslaughter, occurred, nor did I hear of any in neighbouring
countries. Of course, I exclude altogether the depredations of a nation
or tribe of robbers, as well as all the skirmishes between the Touaricks
and the Shânbah, which have nothing to do with the question of the
social condition of the Saharan towns that I visited. In Ghat, three
cases of cutting and wounding occurred, the gashes on the arms received
by two slaves from a Touarghee, and the attack on the Ghadamsee trader
whilst at prayers, also by a Touarghee. These are the only cases which
occurred during my residence here, although a mart or fair, and the
rendezvous of tribes of people from all parts of Central Africa and the
Great Desert! . . . . . So much for the sacredness of human life among
the barbarians of The Desert! . . . . . . With respect to theft and
thieving, I have already noticed that thieving is only practised by the
hungry and starved slaves of these towns, that amongst the people of
Ghadames, as likewise amongst the Touaricks, theft is unknown as a crime.
The exceptional cases of theft which are brought to notice can be easily
traced to strangers. The Touaricks certainly at times levy black-mail in
open Desert, but do not rob in the towns; and the black-mail is not
considered by themselves as theft, nor, indeed, is it strictly such,
being exacted by the Touaricks as transit duties, or as presents for
protection through their districts, or as tribute, and under a variety of
such reasons and pretensions. What is legally fixed on the Continent of
Europe, is here left to the caprice and greediness of the Sheikhs, and
the liberality or stinginess of the trader. As to incontinence, this is
more a secret crime. But the sexual habits of the Touaricks, and their
domestic amours, are purity itself, compared to the sensuality which
disfigures and saps the vitals of society in all the southern nations of
Europe. The hardships of The Desert are the greatest safeguards against
indulgence in, or the pleasures of, an emasculating sensuality amongst
the Touaricks, whilst the ascetic habits of the Maraboutish city of
Ghadames sufficiently protect that people from the general indulgence of
libertinism, and unnatural crimes. Intoxication, or habitual drunkenness,
is, of course, unknown in these Saharan regions. An inebriated woman
would be such a wonder as is described in the Book of the Revelations. As
to veracity, I have told the reader, the Touarghee nation is a "one-word"
people. We cannot expect the same thing from the commercial and
make-money habits of the Moors of Ghadames, but they rank much higher for
veracity than the Moors of The Coast, which latter have the _superior_
advantages of direct European contact. In my estimate of Saharan
populations, I have confined myself to Ghat and Ghadames; the oases of
Fezzan, and the city of Mourzuk, have become too much vitiated by contact
with The Coast and the Turks for affording fair specimens of Saharan
tribes. Let us then compare what has been said to those hideous scenes of
crime, of immodesty, and drunkenness, which abound in the great cities of
Europe--the ever-present, ever-during stigma on our boasted
civilization!--and ask the paradoxical question, What do we gain by
European and Christian civilization? We have Chambers of Legislature,
infallible and omnipotent Parliaments, princes full of the enlightenment
of the age, and reigning by divine right, or the sovereignty of the
people, or what not;--we have hierarchies of priests and ministers of
religion, we have a Divine revelation;--we have philosophers, poets, and
rhetoricians, all enforcing the sublime morals of the age, with reason or
fancy and the attractions of the most cultivated intellect;--we have
science exhausting nature by its discoveries;--we have our fine arts,
and the arts to humanize and exalt the characters of men;--we have our
benevolent, philanthropic, and scientific societies;--we profess to
govern the destinies of the world, to direct the intellect of all
nations, and to advance the being of man to the enjoyment of immortal,
imperishable life! ........ And what else profess we not to do? Now then,
what are the results? We have the governing authorities of a neighbouring
people a mass of corruption[94];--we have the States of the North, so
little acquainted with the arts and justice of Government that planned
conspiracies and consequent massacres of whole classes are now and then
had recourse to, and found requisite to preserve the apparent order of
society. Amongst ourselves, we Englishmen, have in all our great cities,
the frightful excrescences of crime, too frightful for the pure and
simple-minded Saharan tribes to look upon. Our common habits of
intoxication and intemperance, and the intoxication of our women, would
make the Desert man or woman shrink away from us with horror. Our country
is filled with prisons, all well tenanted, whilst the Desert cities have
no one thing in the shape or form of a prison. Then look at the Thuggism
and open-day assassinations of Ireland! In truth, these Saharan
malefactors are the veriest minutest fry of offenders, the minnows and
gudgeons of guilt compared to the Irish Thuggee of Tipperary[95].
Poverty is the giant of our United Kingdom, and the incarnate demon of
unhappy Ireland; and, with us, people die of starvation....... The
Desert, on the contrary, offers the strongest parallel of contrast
possible. Poverty there is, but it is wealth compared to ours, and our
wants, and no person that I heard of, whilst resident in The Desert, died
of starvation. Of course, I omit the traffic in slaves, which has nothing
to do with the social state of the Saharan towns I am describing. I omit
likewise the condition of the Arabs of the Tripoline mountains, and the
terrible exactions of the Turks upon them and other provinces in Tripoli,
which indeed are a part of the European system I am now animadverting
upon. But I shall stop this tone and style of animadversion. I am sick at
heart with the parallel of contrasts between our barbarian and civilized
social systems: it is so unsatisfactory, it is so disheartening, and
takes away all hope, all faith in the progress and perfectibility of the
human race. One thing, however, is certain, that unless we can bring our
minds to form a just appreciation of ourselves, unless we can learn to
know ourselves, there is no hope, no chance of advancing in our social
and moral condition.

Our slave caravan stretched across the plain or bed of the Wady of Ghat
eastwards, to the black range of Wareerat, and turning round abruptly
north by some sand hills, we encamped after three hours. It is from this
place the Ghat townspeople fetch their wood. The fire-wood is gathered
from the lethel tree. Our caravan consists of eleven camels, five
merchants or proprietors, some half dozen servants and about fifty or
sixty slaves. I have my nagah and Said, as before. Nearly all the slaves
are the property of Haj Ibrahim. They are mostly young women and girls.
There are a few boys and three children. The poor things on leaving Ghat,
as is their wont on encountering The Desert, got up a song in choruses,
to give an impetus to their feelings in starting. For myself, The Desert
has become my most familiar friend. I felt happy in again spreading my
pallet upon its naked bosom, by a shady bush of the Lethel.

FOOTNOTES:

[93] ‮انكر هيك‬, the Touarghee language.

[94] As to what has taken place, and is happening by the
    introduction of what is called _French_ civilization into Africa
    (Algeria), and how the morals of the people, natives and
    foreigners, are affected, the things are too horrible to be here
    related. The annals of Norfolk Island, and the Bagnes of Toulon,
    would be outraged by their recital.

[95] I should be sorry to apply to a minister of any religion the
    opprobrious epithet of a "Surpliced Ruffian." It would seem,
    however, that Archdeacon Laffan aspires to the "bad eminence" of
    the apologist of assassins. What would my readers say, were I to
    report the Ministers of Islamism in The Desert to be the abettors
    of assassination? Or what would they have said, if a priest had
    been found to be the secret or open instigator of the
    _quasi_-bandit Ouweek, in his violent threat to murder me, because
    I chanced to be a Christian, or rather, a non-believer in Mahomet.
    We should not have found words sufficiently strong to express our
    reprobation of such priestly intolerance and wickedness. And yet
    Ouweek would have only acted out his religious principles in their
    stern literality,--‮قتلواهم‬--"_kill them_" (the infidels),
    as frequently written in the inexorable Koran; whilst Archdeacon
    Laffan's preaching is diametrically opposed to his religion, whose
    holy and clement command contrariwise is,--"to forgive our
    enemies, and bless those who curse us."




CHAPTER XXIII.

FROM GHAT TO MOURZUK.

     Slaves very sensible to the Cold.--Well of Tasellam.--Saharan
     Huntsman.--Atmospheric Phenomenon.--My Adventure at the Palace of
     Demons.--Denham and Oudney's Account of the Kesar Jenoun.--The
     Genii of Mussulmans.--Desert Pandemonium compared with that of
     Milton.--Coasting the Range of Wareerat or Taseely.--Soudan
     Species of Sheep.--Soudan Parrot.--The Lethel Tree.--The Tholh,
     or Gum-Arabic Tree.--Falling of Rain in The Desert.--Oasis of
     Serdalas.--My Companions of Travel.--Weather Hot and Sultry.--The
     Slaves bear up well.--The Ship of The Desert.--Extremes of Cold
     and Heat.--Mausoleum of Sidi Bou Salah.--Serdalas, a neglected
     Oasis.--The Sybil of The Sahara.--Death and Burial of two Female
     Slaves.--Dirge on the Death of one of them, whipped at the point
     of Death.--Power of the Sun in Sahara.--Desert Mosques.


_6th._--ROSE early, but did not start until the sun was well up, on
account of the slaves. These Nigritian people cannot bear the cold. Our
northern cold affects them more than their southern heat does us. Heat
can be borne better than cold in Saharan travelling. Am glad to see that
Haj Ibrahim has a large tent pitched for the greater part of the
miserable shivering things. It is made of rough tanned bullock skins, and
holds the heat like a shut-up furnace. These tents are brought from
Soudan, and after being used for slaves journeying over Sahara, are sold
for so much leather. Touaricks also use them in their districts. In
truth, Haj Ibrahim treats his slaves as much like a gentlemanly Moor as
he well can or could do, all their wants being attended to, and no
freedoms being taken with the young women. Their greatest hardship is to
walk, but after a night's rest, they partially recover. I may add, this
is the best equipped caravan I could travel with, and, perhaps, hardly a
fair specimen to judge of for ordinary slave-caravans. We continued our
route along the chain of mountains to the east, having, on our left, a
corresponding ridge of low sand hills. During the day, we traversed a
broad deep valley or wady, and, indeed, water had covered a good part of
it in the early winter of this year. Here was abundant herbage, and
camels feeding belonging to the people of Ghat. There is also a well of
water out of the line of route on the left, about one and a half days'
from Ghat, but having a good supply, it was not necessary to seek it. It
is called _Tăsellam_. Here we met a hunter,--

                            "An African
    That traverses our vast Numidian deserts
    In quest of prey, and lives upon his bow
    Coarse are his meals, the fortune of his chase;
    He toils all day, and at th' approach of night,
    On the first friendly bank he throws him down,
    Or rests his head upon a rock till morn;
    Then rises fresh, pursues his wonted game,
    And if the following day he chance to find
    A new repast, or an untasted spring,
    Blesses his stars and thinks it a luxury."

The Targhee huntsman was clothed in skins, and was a genuine type of the
hardships of open Desert life. The objects of his chase were gazelles and
ostriches, and the aoudad. His weapons were small spears and a matchlock.
A most sorry-looking greyhound slunk along at his heels, the very
personification of ravening hunger.

_Writer._--"Targhee, where are you going?"

_Huntsman._--"I don't know."

_Writer._--"Where have you been?"

_Huntsman._--"Over the sand." (Pointing west.)

_Writer._--"Have you caught anything?"

_Huntsman._--"Nothing."

_Writer._--"When do you drink?"

_Huntsman._--"Now and then."

_Writer._--"Have you anything to eat?"

_Huntsman._--"Nothing."

_Writer._--"When did you eat anything last?"

_Huntsman._--"I forget."

I threw him down from my camel some barley-bread and dates. He picked
them up, but said nothing, and went his way. Turning round to look after
him, I saw him cut across to the mountains on the east.

Observed to-day some curious atmospheric phenomena. A light vapour, the
lightest, airiest of the airiest, swept gently along the surface of the
ground, but as if unimpelled by any secret influence. It was also dead
calm. The vapour continued to sweep before us, till at length it suddenly
rose up to the sky in the form of a spiral column of air, and then
disappeared. In this valley, which widened as we advanced, we once or
twice saw the mirage running along the ground like prostrate columns of
foam, striking out sparklings of light.

Towards noon we had a full view of the celebrated Kesar Jenoun--"Palace
of Demons," to the west; in coming to Ghat we had it on the east. As we
neared it, Haj Ibrahim said to me, "Well, Yâkob, we must go and see the
great Palace of Demons. We must see what it is, and you must write all
about it."

At 4 o'clock P.M., we encamped right opposite its eastern side. On
encamping, I looked about for Haj Ibrahim, and found him busy unpacking.
I then very carelessly determined to start myself alone. I thought it,
however, a good opportunity to show the people of the caravan that I was
not influenced by superstitious fears, and that, as an Englishman and a
Christian, I cared little about their dreaded Palace of Demons. Haj Omer,
the merchant's servant, called out after me on starting, "Be off, make
haste, you'll be back by sunset." I equipped myself with the spear and
dagger of Shafou, and started off at a good pace, making a straight and
direct cut to The Palace. I scarcely noticed anything on the road going
along, staring with full face at the Huge Block of Mountain. But, on
getting out of sight of the encampment, and, under the shadow of this
"great rock in a weary land," I unaccountably felt the influence of those
very superstitious fears and terrors which I was so anxious to combat in
my fellow-travellers. I then soliloquized to myself, "What a poor
creature is man, how weak, how miserable! how exposed to every whim and
folly which a credulous mind can invent!" Thus soliloquizing, I got
within the mysterious precincts of the Great Mountain Rock, in the course
of three-quarters of an hour. I had, however, still more fear of the
living than the dead, and said to myself mechanically aloud, "Man has
more to fear from the living than the dead;" and I looked around
anxiously this way, and that way, and every way, if perchance there might
lurk, as the demon of the mountain, some stray bandit. Reassuring myself,
my thoughts turned on science. I wished to astonish the boobies of the
British Museum by geological specimens from the far-famed palace of
mortal and immortal spirits, built in the heart of The Great Desert. I
picked up various pieces of stone which lay scattered at its rocky base.
But I found nothing but calcareous marl, or basaltic chippings and
crumblings, some of cream colour, some lavender, some purple, some
red-brown, some nearly black. This done, as connoisseur of geology, I
stood stock still and gaped open-mouthed like an idiot, at the huge
pyramidal ribs of The Rock. Then I bethought me I would ascend some of
these offshoots of the mountain, and take a quiet seat of observation
from off one of the battlemental turrets which capped its many-towered
heights, over all the subjected desert and lesser hills and rocks below.
But I soon changed my mind; not recognizing any decided advantage in
scrambling up--God knows where--over heaps upon heaps of crumbling
falling rock. I now turned my back to the Demons' Cavern, without having
had the honour or pleasure of making a single acquaintance amongst these
demi-immortals, much to my regret, and my face was towards the
encampment. At least I thought so. I saw at once that the king of day was
fast going down to sup on the other side of The Palace, or perhaps with
the Demons, and I must hasten back to my supper. I started on my return
as carelessly as I came, with this foolish difference, that, although not
remarking a single part of my way hither, I fancied I would take a
shorter cut back to supper, beginning to feel hungry, having eaten
nothing since morning. In fact, I soon got into another track upon this
absurd idea of shortening the route. I recommend my successors in Saharan
travel, never to try short-cuts in unknown places. In ten minutes I made
sure of my encampment, and ran right up to some mounds of sand topped
with bushes, where I expected to find Said with the supper already
cooked, and the nagah lying snugly by, eating her dates and barley. But
that was not the encampment. The sun was now gone, and following hard
upon his heels were lurid fleecy clouds of red, the last attendants of
his daily march through the desert heavens. I now looked a little
farther, and said to myself, "There they are!" I went to "There they
are," and found no encampment. I continued still farther, and said, "Ah,
there they are!" and went to "Ah, there they are!" and found no
encampment. I now made a turn to the south, and saw them quietly encamped
under "various mounds," and went to "various mounds," but the encampment
sunk under the earth, for they "were not." All was right, and "never
mind," I should soon see their fires, and was extremely glad to notice
all the light of day quenched in the paling light of a rising crescent,
some five or six days old. I thus continued cheerfully my search another
quarter of an hour, when all at once, as if struck by an electric shock,
it flashed across my mind, "Peradventure, I might be lost for the night!"
and be obliged to make my bed in Open Desert. I have seen in my life-time
people strike a dead wall, as a convenient butt against which to vent
their ill-disguised rage. I now must have a victim for my vexation. It
was not wanting. I felt something heavy and dragging in my pocket. The
half hour's running about had reminded me of some until now unnoticed
heavy weight, and this was the stones, and these were my grand specimens
of geology. I quietly took out all the stones from my pocket, and threw
them deliberately but savagely away, certainly a very proper punishment
for leading me such "a wild-goose chase," such "a dance," over The
Desert. In my wrath I was not disheartened. Now, as it was dark, I began
to ascend the highest mounds of Desert, from, whose top I might descry
the fires of our encampment. I wandered round and round, and on, now
over, sand and sand-hills, now climbed up trees, now upon eminences of
sand or earth-banks, seeking the highest mounds of the vast plain, to see
if any lights were visible, looking earnestly every way. No light showed
itself as a beacon to the lost Desert traveller--no sound saluted his ear
with the welcome cry, "Here we are!" Felt so weary that I was now obliged
to lie down to rest a little. But soon refreshed, I determined to return
to The Palace, and find the place which I had visited. The fear and
thought of being lost in The Desert now mastered every other
consideration, and I started unappalled to the Black Rock, without ever
thinking of the myriads of spirits which at the time were keeping their
midnight revels within its mysterious caverns. Got near The Rock, but I
saw no place which I had seen before. The mountain had now at night
assumed other shapes, other forms, other colours. Probably the demons
were dancing all over it, or fluttering round it like clouds of bats and
crows, preventing me from seeing its real shape and proportions. Be it as
it may, I could not recognize the place which I had so recently visited.
I now climbed up some detached pieces of rock to look for lights. I
sprang up with the elastic step of the roe, over huge broken fragments of
rock, aided by a sort of supernatural strength, the stones rolling down
and smashing with strange noises as I was springing over them. From these
crumbling heights I looked eastward, and every way, but no friendly
light, watch-fire, or supper-fire, was visible. I descended, much heated,
in a flowing perspiration, feeling also the cold chill of the higher
atmosphere. I began to have thirst, the worst enemy of the Saharan
traveller, and fatigue was violently attacking me. I considered (which
afterwards I found quite correct) I had got too far north. I could not
recognize at all the processes of detached rock over which I had been
scrambling. I must be several miles too high up. I went down along the
sides of the Immense Rock, looking at every new shape it assumed to find
the place where so quietly I picked up the stones and geologized a few
hours before. All was vain. Fatigue was overpowering me, and my senses
began to reel like a drunken man. Now was the time to see the visions and
mysteries of this dread abode, and unconsciously to utter sounds of
unknown tongues. Now, indeed, I fancied I heard people call me; now I saw
lights; now I saw a camel with a person mounted in search of me, to whom
I called. And, what is strange, these sights and sounds were all about
the natural and not the supernatural. For instance, I did not see the
visage of a grinning goblin just within a little chink of The Rock, as I
ought to have seen. I did not see "faëry elves" dancing in the moonlit
beams, as I ought to have seen. Then boldly I took a direct course from
the mountain over the plain, believing I should intercept our encampment.
I continued this line for two hours, or not quite so much, but I found
myself a long way east over the plain, where was neither camel, nor
encampment, nor object, nor light, nor any moving thing. I then proceeded
north, thinking I had got too far south again. Here I found a group of
sand-hills, a new region, in which I painfully wandered and wandered up
and down. I knew the encampment could not be here. To get clear of this
horrible predicament, I made another set at the Palace Rock, as if to
implore the mercy and forgiveness of the Genii. In an hour I found myself
again under its dark shadows. I walked up and down by its doleful dismal
sides, thinking if any people were sent in pursuit of me I might find
them. All was the silence of the dead--no form flitted by except those
which filled my disturbed imagination. I once more returned eastward to
the plain, but my head was now swimming, my legs shrank from under me,
and I fell exhausted upon the sand. There I lay some time to rest. My
brain, hot and bewildered, was crowded with all sorts of fancies, but my
courage did not sink. I was seeing every moment people in pursuit of me.
I heard them repeatedly call "Yâkob." Somewhat composed, I determined
upon giving up the search of the encampment till day-light, and went
about to find a tree under which to sleep, if I could. I went to one, but
did not like it, being low and straggling on the ground, exposed to the
first chance intruder. I sought another, which I had before observed, for
in this state I was forced to pick out the objects of the plain. I found
my tree, which in passing before by it I thought would make me a good
bed. I could not find the encampment, but the tree observed before, I
could find. It was placed on a very high mound of earth, which was
covered with a large bushy lethel-tree. Happy tree! I have always loved
thy name since. Under this I crept, but finding the top of the mound of a
sugar-loaf form, I scooped out on its sides, digging away with my hands
earth and dried leaves, a long narrow cell, literally a grave,
determining, if I should perish hereabouts, this should be my grave. I
found it very snug, for the wind now got up east, and moaned in the
lethel-tree above my head. I drove the spear in the earth, near "the
bolster," and took off the dagger from my arm. Had on my cloak, which I
rolled fast round me, and got warm.

The midnight wind increased its doleful notes and heavy moans. Now a
gruff piping of a cracked barrelled organ, and now, a wild shriek of one
crying in distress.

    "Mournfully! Oh! mournfully,
      This midnight wind doth sigh,
    Like some sweet plaintive melody,
      Of ages long gone by.

    "It speaks a tale of other years--
      Of hopes that bloomed to die--
    Of sunny smiles that set in tears,
      And loves that mouldering lie!

    "Mournfully! Oh! mournfully,
      This midnight wind doth moan;
    It stirs some chord of memory,
      In each dull heavy tone.

    "The voices of the much-loved dead,
      Seen floating thereupon--
    All, all my fond heart cherished
      Ere death had made it lone."

My first object was to lie and rest my senses, so that I should recover a
little of my bodily strength, as well as have my thoughts about me. Of
wild beasts I could not be afraid; I knew there were none. Of the wilder
animals still, the Desert bandits, I also had every reason to believe
there were none. But, from my elevated position, I could see their
approach, or that of friends, nearly all around me. My only fear was to
perish of thirst, for it attacked me now severely. Thus I lay for an hour
or so, and then got up to watch the objects of Desert. All things were
deformed in the shadowy moonlight, and most things looked double with the
reeling of my poor senses. Several times I imagined I saw a camel coming,
actually passing by a few paces from the base of the mound. Frightened at
these illusions of the brain, I determined to try to sleep; my thirst
still increased and prevented me. As fatigue left me, my head became
clearer, and more serious thoughts occupied the mind. The moon, however,
I watched, wheeling her "pale course," for I knew she finished now her
shadowy reign a few hours before morning. It is impossible to give any
outline of the thoughts which now rapidly and in wild succession passed
my mind: suffice to say, I committed my spirit to the Creator who gave
it. I repeated mechanically to myself aloud, "Weeping may endure for the
night, but joy cometh in the morning." I now took the bold resolution to
return to Ghat, not wasting my strength in the morning, after having made
a short search in The Desert. It was the only chance of saving my life,
if I could not at once find the encampment. This resolution kept up the
strength of my mind, and prevented me from sinking into despair. I had
nothing to eat, nor drink, but I might reach Ghat in the evening of the
second day, or if strong enough, I might get back in one long day. I knew
the route along the line of Wareerat, and could not possibly lose myself
when I was only to pursue the camel-track at the base of this mountain
range. The only difficulty was, lest I should turn to the right and get
entangled amongst the sand-hills and dwarf wood, before I reached the
turning of the road which would conduct me direct to Ghat. Things which
have made an impression in childhood, the soonest recur to the mind in
these distressing cases. I thought of poor Hagar with her Ishmael,
exposed to perish with thirst in The Desert: it was exactly my case,
whilst dim vistas of childhood now filled up the chasms of opening
memory. Byron's dying gladiator, in the last struggles of death, saw the
green banks of the Rhine, the flowery scenes of his childhood's days,
and, amid the horrid din of the Roman amphitheatre, heard the innocent
shouts of his little playmates. I was now suffering a dreadful thirst,
and might perish unless the same Providence directed me to the well, or
the encampment, as guided the wretched handmaiden of Sarah.

Within seven or eight miles from the place where I now lay, I recollected
there was the well Tasellam, under the shadow of The Rock. But how to
find it, when I could not find the encampment lying still nearer me! Then
came lesser thoughts and vexations. What was I to do in Ghat? How get
back even if I escaped with my life in my teeth to the oasis? And would
not the first thing, on my escape, be an attack of fever? Then recurred
to me the words of my friend Fletcher, "Expose yourself to no unnecessary
risks." The strongest self-condemnation stung me, I was vexed at my
extreme folly. Shall I add, that my thoughts wandered far over The
Desert, skimmed over the surge of the Mediterranean, and ascended on the
wing of the east wind, now cooling my burning forehead, and sought some
sad solace in dear objects of my fatherland. Oh! the heart shrinks from
revealing to the world its secret thoughts, its sorrowful regrets, its
bitter self-reproaches! I must be silent of the rest. I now got up, sleep
I could not. I was rejoiced to see a blacker shade thrown upon all
night-visible things. The moon had performed her nocturnal duty,
submissive and obedient to the law imposed upon her by universal nature,
and had also sunk back, like the sun, below the Giant Demon Rock. I then
lay down again, and just before day, after a few moments of broken sleep,
for I even slept and forgot my perilous plight, another time I came out
of my living grave to make observations. I looked at the eastern and
western horizons, and thought the eastern was the lighter of the two, and
there was the false dawn, or the dawn itself. I had often watched these
dawns in the route from Tripoli to Ghadames, and grew wise in
interpreting nocturnal sights and signs by dire experience. I lay down
once more. Half an hour past, I came again and the last time forth, for
all the east was now inflamed with the breaking out of day. The wheels of
the sun's chariot were of radiant light vermilion, the horses, of darting
orient flame, were being yoked on, and I stood silent and sad to see "the
great king of day" mount, and commence his diurnal course. The Rock of
Demons repelled the light, and shrouded itself in deeper gloom, as Desert
morn advanced,

    "And sow'd the earth with orient pearl;"

for even in the dry Desert the morning sheds some moisture, if not
dew-drops. But on that Rock my thoughts now concentrated--there I must
soon return, and revisit all its dark and rugged precincts. This was my
only chance to meet with any persons sent in pursuit of me, if such there
were. Began to see I had wandered at least eight miles from the Huge
Rock. I threw my mantle over my shoulders, put the dagger under my left
arm, and took the lance in my right hand, which felt heavy, for I had
become weak and weary with the past night's traverse of The Desert, and
the painful vigils afterwards. Descending from the mound to the level of
the plain, I looked back upon my bed and grave, as if loth to leave it.
As soon as there was light enough to see objects somewhat distinctly, I
prayed to God for deliverance, and sallied forth with an unshrinking
mind. I was amazed at the illusions of The Desert, for it was now day;
the night might have its deceptions and phantasmagoria. Every tuft of
grass, every bush, every little mound of earth, shaped itself into a
camel, a man, a sheep, a something living and moving. Before the day was
hardly begun, I sprang over again to the base of the Rocky Palace, and
saw now the detached pieces which during the night I had ascended; but,
for the life of me, I could not find the place I visited first, and made
geological discoveries, never, never to be divulged. I continued to pace
up and down, north and south, for an hour, until weariness began anew to
attack me. I sighed and said to myself aloud, "So soon tired!" I now
returned to the plain and made another straight cut. Although the day was
pretty well developed I was staggered at the deceptions and phantasms of
The Desert. Every moment a camel loomed in sight, which was no camel.
There was also a hideous sameness! the reason, indeed, I was lost. For
there were no distinguishing marks, the mounds followed shrubs, the
shrubs mounds, then a little plain, then sand, then again the mounds and
shrubs, plain and sand, and always the same--an eternal sameness! Now
falling into the track of a caravan, I was determined to pursue it, but
it was with great difficulty I could follow out the traces. For at long
intervals the hard ground received no impressions of men or camels' feet,
and I repeatedly lost the track, going a hundred or more yards before I
could get into it again, I continued north, I saw the camels' feet, the
sheep's feet, and the prints of the camel-drivers, and sometimes I
thought I saw my own foot-marks. But the slaves! Where were the
impressions of the naked feet of some fifty slaves? Now I groaned with
the anguish of disappointment. I must abandon the track in despair. I had
already pursued it painfully over sand and rock, and pebbles, and shrubs,
and every sort of Desert ground.

All this was fast wasting away my little remaining strength. I now
mounted two very high mounds. Nothing lived or moved but myself in the
unbroken silence, the undisturbed solitude! I observed my being too far
north, I must return south. Another camel appeared. Yes, it was a small
black bush, on the top of a little hillock, shaping itself into a camel.
Now a marvel--life I was sure I saw. Two beautiful antelopes, light as
air, bounded by me with amazing agility, and were lost in a moment
amongst the shrubs and mounds of the desert plain. I fell to musing on
natural history, and accounted for these gazelles by the presence of the
well. I then recollected the Targhee hunter. For an instant I forgot my
situation. But where was I? What was I doing? Was I to return to Ghat,
or perish in The Desert? My strength was failing me fast. I could not
pursue for ever this wild chase at the base of the rock of the Jenoun.
Under their baleful influence, I shall wander and wander till I drop and
perish! I must make up my mind. The sun was not yet high up. I could walk
till noon on the journey back, and then sleep a few hours and rest. The
chill of the morning had taken away my thirst. I wrapped a handkerchief
over my month, and took all the precaution I could against the
approaching thirst at noon-day. The lance was heavy. Shall I throw it
away? Could it not afford me a moment's protection in meeting a single
bandit, which class of men mostly go alone? I keep my lance, but
determine to sit down to rest, previous to departing for Ghat. I had
often noticed the Arabs make a straight cut of route by raising up the
right arm, and putting under it the left hand to support it, and then
waving up and down the right and left arms together. After my short rest,
I mimicked them. Mimickry is instinctive in us. I singled out for myself
a distant hill on the plain, lying south in the route by which we had
come here. Now then, I took the first step towards Ghat. I continued an
hour, but oh! how weary I had become. Nature seemed ready to sink, and I
dropped suddenly on the side of a small sand-mound....... What shall I
do?..... Shall I shed tears to relieve me?..... No, I have long given up
shedding tears. And, now! I must keep up at the peril of my life. My
heart renews its courage. I again get up and begin to walk, limping
along. The small hill was before me--but should I ever reach even
that?..... My strength of body was now gone, though the mind would not
yield...... In the last moment of human extremity ...... death
itself ..... comes deliverance! I continue my route to Ghat. I have just
strength to raise my lance from the sand it pierces. I turn an instant
round to the right hand, and a white figure passes by...... What is that?
A friend or an enemy? I continue on. Is this one of our people, or of
strangers? Shall I take him for a guide? Before I can think of it, I espy
something in advance. But I fear an illusion, another deception. No! it
is the head of a camel! I spring on with my little remaining staggering
strength. To my joy unspeakable, I find myself upon my own camel--my own
little encampment! But what a strange, a ludicrous scene! Here is poor
Said skulking by the supper of the previous night, still placed on the
fire, but which is gone out, his hands covering his face, and his head
hanging down, his eyes swollen with tears but staring on the sand. The
camel looks restless about, and moans. I cry out--"Said!" He starts up as
if from a death-trance. He bellows out--"Aye wah," and begins to sob
aloud. The slaves, close by, hear the noise and rush upon us. Where are
the people? I see only slaves. They are all gone towards The Rock in
pursuit of me. I now lie down and they bring me something to drink[96]. I
begin with a little cold tea, and then eat a few dates. Afterwards, we
got the supper cooked the previous night heated. About a quarter of an
hour elapsed, when some of the party returned, and then the rest from the
pursuit. They had gone as soon as it was light this morning. Last night
some of them had been after me, and traced my steps, wandering over the
sand, round and round, till they were nearly lost themselves, and got
back to the encampment with difficulty. As soon as I recovered a little
rest, our people came up to me and began to joke and laugh. "Ten
dollars," said one, "you must give us for the trouble we have had in
seeking for you." Another said, "Lay down, Yâkob, sleep, we will wait
till noon before we start, to enable you to rest." It was now 9, A.M. But
the greater number of our party seemed confused, not knowing what to
think or say. In my absence, the general impression was that I had been
killed by the demons. Some, more sober, thought I might have fallen into
the hands of the Touaricks. Now they said: "You were very foolish, you
ought not, as a Christian, to have presumed to go to the Palace of the
Demons, without a Mussulman, who could have the meanwhile prayed to God
to preserve you, and likewise himself. The demons it is who have made you
wander all night through The Desert." The Medina Shereef, who was of our
party, boldly asserted, "The palace is full of gold and diamonds. The
Genii guard it. No wonder then they were offended with your going, and
struck you as a madman so that you could not return." Others asked me
what I saw, but would not believe me when I told them I saw nothing. So
it came to pass, that I nearly lost my life for the sake of confirming
them more strongly than ever in their superstitions. I, who was to have
taught them the folly of their fears by practical and demonstrable
defiance of the Genii confirmed and sealed the power of the Genii over
this Desert. But I must observe, my companions of travel did not adopt
the right method of rescuing me from the malignant influence of the
Genii. If they had sent a man in each direction from the camp, I should
soon have been found. All going in one direction to The Mountain, the
other routes were entirely unexplored. If ever I travel The Desert again,
I shall provide myself with a pocket-compass, and something still better,
a small tin or other box, of sufficient size to hold about a quarter of a
pound of crushed dates, or other concentrated food, and a small bottle of
spirits and water. The compass to be always in my pocket, and the box
always tied round my neck night and day. In the case now narrated, with
this little stock of provisions I could have got safe back to Ghat, and
waited and rested on the road. As it happened, there was every
probability I should have perished, if I had not found the encampment. I
continued for a full hour to drink ghusub-water and tea, with a few
dates. Then I ate more solid food, and took coffee. My mind now
rebounded, and the joy of deliverance seemed as if it would
counterbalance the dreadful anxieties of the past night. What a pure
pleasure I now tasted a few moments! In a freak, I sat down and sketched
The Demons' Palace, laughing defiance upon it all the while, with the
wayward self-will and harmless spite of a child, I took this vengeance on
the unlucky Black Rock.

Now all was passed, I fancied I had merely experienced a distempered
dream and ugly vision of The Desert. But when I rose to mount my camel, I
found it had been no vision--I was obliged to be lifted upon my camel.
Little did I think during the last (to me ever memorable) night, while
chasing wearily about the dreary Desert, my own countrymen had before
visited the same identical Demons' Rock. I had heard, indeed, some of the
people say it had been "written by Christians."

[Illustration]

Let us turn now to Dr. Oudney, and hear what he says about The Rock. On
an excursion westward, from Mourzuk to Ghat, they arrived near Ludinat,
in the valley of Serdalas or Sardalis. At a small conical hill called
Boukra, or "father of the foot," the people of the caravans amused
themselves by hopping over it; he who does it best is considered least
exhausted by the journey. Near this are a few hills, among which a
serpent, as large as a camel, is said to reside. "The Targhee is
superstitious and credulous in the extreme: every hill and cave has
something fabulous connected with it."

Of the nature of the mountains hereabouts, the Doctor says, "We entered
(after leaving Serdalas) a narrow pass, with lofty rugged hills on each
side; some were peaked. The black colour of almost all, with white
streaks, gave them a sombre appearance. The external surface of this
sandstone soon acquires a shining black, like basalt; so much so, that I
have several times been deceived, till I took up the specimen. The white
part is from a shining white aluminous schistus, that separates into
minute flakes like snow. The ground had in many places the appearance of
being covered with snow."

They now got on the plain of the Kesar Jenoun. The hills of Tradart or
Wareerat (apparently the same word, but sometimes called Taseely) now
appeared on the east, and the high sands on the west. "The Tradart (or
Taseely) range," says Oudney, "has a most singular appearance; there is
more of the picturesque in this than in any hills we have ever seen. Let
any one imagine ruinous cathedrals and castles; these we had in every
position, and of every form. (I myself often thought of Windsor Castle,
and the many hoary-headed old castles of England.) It will not be
astonishing that an ignorant and superstitious people should associate
these with something supernatural. That is the fact; some particular
demon inhabits each. The cause of the appearance is the geological
structure. In the distance there is a hill more picturesque and higher
than the others, called Gassur Janoun, or Devil's Castle. Between it and
the range there is a pass[97] through which our course lies. Hateetah
dreads this hill, and has told me many strange stories of wonderful
sights having been seen; these he firmly believes, and is struck with
horror, when we tell him we will visit it."

Our countrymen kept the range of Wareerat the whole day, and were amazed
with the great variety of forms. And when Clapperton thought he perceived
the smell of smoke the previous night, Hateetah immediately said it was
from the Devil's House. Another smaller rock is called the Chest, under
which a large sum of money is said to have been deposited by an ancient
people who were giants of extraordinary stature. The present race of
Touaricks are, indeed, giants compared to some of our pigmy European
nations. Oudney made an excursion to Janoun, the Kesar Jenoun. He says,
"Our servant Abdullah accompanied me. He kept at a respectable distance
behind. When near the hill, he said, in a pitiful tone, 'There is no road
up.' I told him we would endeavour to find one. The ascent was
exceedingly difficult, and so strewed with stones, that we were only able
to ascend one of the eminences; there we halted, and found it would be
impossible to go higher, as beyond where we were was a precipice." It
would appear the Doctor ascended one of the detached blocks, which I
ascended last night to observe the fires of the encampment. Hateetah got
alarmed at the departure of Oudney, and Clapperton was not able to allay
his fears: he was only soothed when the Doctor returned. The Sheikh was
astonished, as much as our people, when the Doctor said he had "seen
nothing." How like things happen! Even at the distance of twenty long
years, between my visit and the Doctor's, it seems as if I was narrating
one story. The Doctor was also mainly incited by the same feeling as
myself, to observe the geological structure. He observes, "The
geological structure is the same as the range (Wareerat) that is near."
To-day, after twenty years, and without knowing what the Doctor had
written, when I made the same observation to our people, and tried to
persuade Haj Ibrahim, the most intelligent of my companions, that there
was nothing in this huge block different from the mountain range near it,
being of the same stone and consistence, he replied drily, looking at
both formations, "Yâkob, it's not true. You see on the Kesar Jenoun the
very stones which the Demons have built up like the Castle at Tripoli.
When you will be blind, how can you see? Why not believe in our Genii?"

This leads me to notice the Mahometan belief in Demons or Genii.
According to the best commentators, the term ‮جنّ‬ "_Jinn_"
signifies a rational and invisible being, whether angel or devil, or
the intermediate species called "genius" or "demon." As the word
Genii is used in the passage of the Koran, "Yet they have set up the
Genii as partners with God, although he created them," (Surat VI.)
some believe it refers to "the angels whom the Pagan Arabs
worshipped, and others the devils, either because they became their
servants, by adoring idols at their instigation, or else because,
according to the Magian system, they looked upon the devil as a sort
of creator, making him the author and principal of all evil, and God
the author of good only." We all know what a share the Genii have in
working the wonderful machinery of the Arabian Nights Tales. The
Touaricks give them still greater powers, and make them a sort of
delegated or deputy creators, according to the Magian system, but
do not attribute to them the malevolent passions of an evil being.
They are probably influenced by the Koran in this, which in the
Surat, entitled "The Genii" (lxxii.) makes a portion of them to have
been converted by hearing the reading of the Koran: "Say, it hath
been revealed unto me, that a company of Genii heard me reading the
Koran, and said, Verily we have heard an admirable discourse, which
directeth into the right institution; wherefore we believe therein,
and we will by no means associate any other with our Lord." The
ancient Pagan Arabians also believed that the Genii haunted desert
places, and they frequently retired, under cover of the evening's
shade, to commune with these familiars of The Desert.

It is, perhaps, worth while to compare this Desert Pandemonium, which the
imagination of the Touaricks has built up amongst their native hills,
aided by the light of the Koran, with what the creative mind of Milton
has constructed by the aid of the learning of his times, and our own
Scriptures. The difference is as striking as contrast can present. But
yet there are some wonderful affinities, showing that mind is one and the
same amongst barbarian or civilized nations. Blackness and darkness enter
into the situation of both pandemoniums. The Desert Pandemonium has its
pillars and turrets, its frieze, bas-reliefs, and cornices of ornamental
architecture, though all done by the hand of "geological structure,"--its
dark colours shining with "a glossy scurf." The Desert Pandemonium is
also alive with myriads of spirits, peopling its subterranean vaults. The
Desert Pandemonium has finally its riches, its jewels, and its
treasures, such as Mammon, "the least-erected spirit," discovered and
"led them on" to, in the deeps of hell. We may now transcribe the
description of Milton's Pandemonium, the great ingredient of contrast
being light and splendour amidst the "darkness visible" of the regions of
perdition.

    "Anon, out of the earth a fabric huge
    Rose like an exhalation, with the sound
    Of dulcet symphonies, and voices sweet,
    Built like a temple, where pilasters round
    Were set, and Doric pillars overlaid
    With golden architrave; nor did there want
    Cornice or frieze, with bossy sculptures graven;
    The roof was fretted gold."

           *       *       *       *       *

                        "The ascending pile
    Stood fix'd her stately height; and straight the doors
    Opening their brazen folds, discover, wide
    Within, her ample spaces, o'er the smooth
    And level pavement; from the arched roof
    Pendant by subtle magic, many a row
    Of starry lamps and blazing crezzets, fed
    With naphtha and asphaltus, yielded light
    As from a sky."

_7th._--From the Kesar Jenoun, and indeed before arriving there, the
valley assumed the form of a boundless plain, widening during the whole
of our march to-day. We had still on our right, the chain of Wareerat,
and, on our left, but scarcely visible, the low ridge of sand hills. We
frequently find this sort of Desert geological phenomena; a range of
rocky hills or mountains has a parallel range of sand hills, and the
intermediate space is a broad valley or vast plain. In traversing this
valley-plain, covered now with coarse herbage, now sand, now mounds of
earth, now pebbles, now quite bare, our progress was precisely like that
of a ship sailing near the shore, with bluff rocks and headlands jutting
and stretching into the sea. So were we on our Desert ships (the camels)
coasting slowly but surely along; whilst the mountains and their varied
magic shapes continually mocked our weary efforts, and our strained
vision; now appearing near, then distant, again near, again distant, and
ever changing their wild, fantastic forms. I thought we passed the tree
under which I made my grave-bed of the past night, but here were many
mounds and many dark lethel-trees crowning the many mounds. The detached
rocks I did see, and recognized fully my error, but which I had
conjectured, in wandering so far northwards. Our people observed justly,
"Yâkob, we all went to find you, for we wished all equally to bear the
responsibility. If you had been lost, who knows but what we should have
been all blamed for having put you away, or left you behind?" This is,
perhaps, but too true a conjecture. These poor people would have,
perhaps, not only been blamed for my death, but accused of it. I was glad
for their sakes, as well as my own, that I escaped from a Desert death.
The story of the visiting the Palace of Demons would have been told, of
course, variously by so many different people. How could they tell the
story in the same way! These varieties of evidence would have been
considered unsatisfactory, if not conclusive against them, whilst some
people, suspicious of the Moors, would have believed the whole was a
"cunningly-devised" trumped-up invention. The deaths of Park and Laing
may have been unjustly charged upon the Africans in this way. How, and
for what they died, is now altogether beyond our investigation. Even the
more recent death or assassination of Davidson is a mystery of The
Desert. We encamped close by a little stunted herbage, on which the
camels scantily fed. Weary with the previous night's adventure,
immediately on being lifted off the camel, I fell down fast asleep upon
the ground. Our course to-day due north.

_8th._--Did not rise until the sun was wheeling his daily course high up
the heavens. Felt better, and walked a little in the morning. No symptoms
of fever from the former night's exposure. In general the open Desert is
perfectly salubrious. It is in the oases, mostly situated in the valleys,
where the fever is generated. The Demon Temple still in view, with all
its mysterious hideousness, crowned with its grisly towers. It now stands
out in all its defiant isolation; the sand hills which broke upon its
view, running north and south, are now seen far beyond. It is its
detached condition from the neighbouring chain of Wareerat, with which
its geological structure is indissolubly connected, that has given this
huge pile its supernatural reputation. The Demons' Rock is apparently a
huge square, having four faces, and requiring a day to make the tour of
its rugged and jutting basements. Its highest turret-peaks may be some
six or seven hundred feet. The wady now has disappeared,--all is an
immeasurable expanse of plain, and bare as barrenness and barren wastes
can be. I observed a peculiar mirage to-day--lakes of still black shining
water.

A part of our caravan, and not the least interesting, are six Soudan
sheep, which belong to Haj Ibrahim. Their species is well known, but I
must mention what an agile and strong animal is the Aheer and Housa
sheep, being brought from both countries. This Soudan sheep is the best
walker in the whole caravan, and the last which feels fatigue or drops
from exhaustion. He browses herbage as the camel on the way, nibbling all
the choicest herbs, and sometimes strays at a great distance from the
caravan. He has had forty days' training from Aheer, and, as a slave
said, "He's a better pedestrian than the mahry." He is an attacking
animal, not scrupling even to attack the hand which feeds him with a
little barley. He is so formidable to the sheep of the Barbary Coast,
that I have seen a whole flock scamper away at the simple sight of him.
He is tall, his legs long, and his limbs generally better proportioned
than the common sheep. As he requires no wool to shelter him from cold in
the sultry regions of Central Africa, Providence has only given him a
coat of hair; and his tail is like that of the common dog. The head
offers nothing remarkable, but his look is bold, and his heart
courageous. He butts fiercely at all strangers, and he is the only lord
of freedom whilst marching over The Desert. In the companionship of these
sheep over The Desert, they acquire a strong affection for one another,
and I saw at Ghat two separated from a flock with great difficulty, the
whole flock pursuing savagely the man who had taken away from them two of
their _compagnons de voyage_. In going over Desert they require little
attention, and will go without water for half a dozen days together.
When, however, we come to a well, they are the first that will be served,
neither sticks nor blows will keep them off. We have also, as travelling
companions, ten or twelve parrots of the common blue-grey Soudan breed.
This parrot has a white broad rim round the eye; its body is a light
greyish-blue, legs, beak, and claws black, under-tail feathers white and
upper scarlet. Each two or three of the parrots have a little round house
to themselves, about eight inches in diameter, made of skins, and pierced
with holes to let in the air and light, besides a door. Their quarrels
are frequent, for quarrelling seems an essential part of the nature of
all animals, the rational and irrational, and they often fight
desperately, and are obliged to be separated. They are carried on the
heads of the slaves, being, as these poor people, the purchased luxuries
of the rich. The parrots are allowed to have an airing and a walk morning
and evening. They all talk in good grammatical Negro language, and can
occasionally aid our researches in Nigritian tongues. Parrots are brought
from as far as Noufee.

The wood in the valley we just left, is the Lethel. Its leaves are
powdered over with a white saline substance, indeed, why not salt itself?
Some of these trees are very large, having very thick trunks and boughs,
perhaps forty feet high, and ten feet round the thickest trunks, which
wood, when palm-wood is scarce, is used instead for building. On the
plain, however, the Tholh[98] began to appear. This tree is found, as
noticed before, in the most desolate places of The Desolate Sahara. It is
sometimes very large for trees here, perhaps thirty feet high, and six or
seven of width round its broadest trunks. The camels browse on it
always, and when hungry crop with avidity a great quantity of the
prickles and thorns, and thorny leaves. It is a mystery to me how the
camel can chew such thorns in its delicate mouth. The Koran mentions the
tholh (Surat lvi.), as one of the trees of Paradise, which Sale has
translated Mauz, "the trees of mauz loaded regularly with their produce
from top to bottom." But tholh here seems to refer to a very tall and
thorny tree, which bears an abundance of beautiful flowers of an
agreeable odour, one of the many species of acacia, and not the ordinary
gum-arabic tree.

Near sun-set we left the plain, and I took an everlasting farewell of the
Temple of Genii. Poor inanimate Rock! which should so much bewilder man's
crazy brain, and fill the desert travellers with such strange fancies. We
turned to the north-west into a gorge of the chain of Wareerat. In this
gorge, besides the usual black sandstone, with glossy basaltic forms,
were large deposits of chalk, one of which our route intersected, on the
top of the ridge, where also the action of water was extremely well
marked. The action of water remains a long time visible in The Great
Desert, perhaps twelve, twenty, nay, fifty years, during which several
periods, even in the driest regions of The Sahara, there is sure to be a
heavy drenching rain,--an overflowing, overwhelming mass of water falls
on the desert lands. The districts of Ghat remained some eight or ten
years without an abundant rain, till this last winter, when it came in
most overpowering showers[99]. The action of rain on the earthy bosom of
The Desert is very much like that of the action of the sea on its shores,
which has led to the remark, that The Sahara looks as if it been "washed
over" by the ocean. The mounds of earth so frequently met with in The
Desert are formed by water in the time of great rains. In this gorge were
big blocks of stone, on which were carved Touarghee characters. It was
fortunate I knew the characters, for the people wished to persuade me
they were those of very ancient people, and of Christians, whilst none of
the party could read them. They are probably the names of shepherd and
Touarghee camel-drivers, wandering through Desert. Some of the letters
have a very broad square Hebrew or Ethiopic look about them. The gorge
was steep, narrow, and intricate in the first part of its ascent. We then
descended and encamped between the links of the chains, which form so
many valleys, some broad and deep. It was a good while after sun-set,
when we brought up for the night, and we had come a very long day. All
were greatly fatigued, especially the poor slave girls.

_9th._--Rose early, and started early. The feet-marks of the aoudad wore
observed on the sand. Course through the gorge north-east. After a couple
of hours we cleared the gorge, entering upon a broad open plain or
valley. Here I observed the chain of Wareerat was rounded off on the
eastern side, and of considerably less altitude, whilst the peaks of the
opposite or western side were steep and escarpé, owing apparently to the
action of the water in the wady.

Continuing our course on the plain for an hour or two, we arrived at
the oasis of Serdalas, a handful of cultivation, but very fair and
of vigorous growth. The valley or plain of Serdalas, which is also
called Ludinat, and the site of a Marabet, is an extensive
undulating plain, bounded east and west by two ranges of mountains,
stretching north and south. Near the spot of our encampment are
wells of excellent water, seven or eight of them, and the largest is
a thermal spring, which is about the centre of the oasis. It is
banked up, or rather issues from a rocky eminence, where large lumps
of bog iron may be picked up. Formerly this spring was fortified,
the high walls built around its mouth still remaining, and there are
besides the brick ruins of a castle close by. Tradition relates that
the oasis was formerly colonized by Christians, and others say, by
Jews. It may, indeed, have been colonized previously to the arrival
of the Arabs in Africa by the ancient Berbers, or Numidians, but the
castle itself is of Moorish modern construction. The present
miserable population does not exceed ten persons, Fezzaneers and one
or two Touaricks, who cultivate a little wheat and ghusub. The
houses are huts of sticks, date-leaves, and dried grass. Near the
great spring is a large tree, with prickly thorny leaves, not unlike
the tholh. It is called _Ahatas_, ‮اهتس‬, and was brought from
Soudan, where its species grows to an enormous magnitude. Its wood
makes excellent bowls, spoons, and several useful domestic
utensils. This tree measures at least twelve feet round its trunk;
its principal branch is prostrate, bent beneath the burden of many a
Saharan summer's heat and winter's cold. From the old paralyzed arm,
however, shoot up young green branches, offering a pleasant shade to
the weary and thirsty wayfarer in these wilds. Under this tree money
is buried to a great amount, but the writings, pointing out the
particular spot, were destroyed by a son of the Marabout, whose tomb
consecrates this desert spot. Several small birds are hopping about,
like those seen in Ghat, with white heads and white under tails, the
rest black. This seems a _bonâ fide_ feathered tenant of Sahara.

We remain here to-day and to-morrow. It is, perhaps, for the better, for
we are all knocked up. By preserving the body we preserve the mind. Our
party consists of four merchants, the rest being servants and slaves. My
friend Haj Ibrahim is the principal one. We have the Medina Shereef, who
is in charge of a male and two female slaves, the property of the
Governor of Ghat. He continues his route from Tripoli to Mecca, and
expects to be absent two years on his pilgrimage. The Shereef makes great
pretensions to learning and sanctity, and I believe he is clever, if not
learned; he says to me, "My business is study and prayer." He asked me
about Khanouhen, his father-in-law, and the presents which I made the
prince, and said, "Khanouhen sent back his presents to you, and would not
accept them." I told him I commuted the goods into silver; at which he
laughed and remarked, "Ah! Khanouhen is deeper than the devil himself."
He considers Jabour's protection omnipotent in the route of Timbuctoo,
but says the Touaricks only, and not caravans, can protect European
travellers: I think the Shereef is right. Another of our merchants is a
very civil Ghadamsee, and acts as a sort of broker for Haj Ibrahim. He is
very civil and good-natured, but, nevertheless, keeps mostly in his hand
a little nasty whip, with which he lays it into the unlucky slaves. The
last of the four is a queer dwarfish Touatee, from Aïn Salah, who is
carrying a few little bags of gold to Tripoli, perhaps a dozen ounces. At
the instigation of the Shereef, who likes a laugh, I keep roasting him on
the way, telling him, "You have got so much gold about you that we are
sure to be attacked by banditti before we arrive safely at Tripoli." This
makes him very savage, and sometimes he calls me a kafer. Haj Omer is the
great factotum of Haj Ibrahim, an Arab of Tripoli, and a most hardy
hard-working fellow. Omer has two camels which are hired by his master.
One of these foaled a little before we left Ghat, and he carried the
young camel the half of a day's journey on his back. Omer never rides,
walks all day long, pitches the tents, looks after the camels, looks
after the slaves, and from morning to night is on his legs. So these
people can work when it is necessary; indeed, I am sure, with a good
government, and an equitable system of trade, the Moors and Arabs of
North Africa would be as industrious and persevering as any other people.

It is now afternoon, and very hot. The weather has been sultry the four
days of our route. But our faces are nearly always north, and a slight
fresh breeze blows from either N., N.E., or N.W. every day, a most
grateful relief. It is, however, cold at nights, and very cold in the
morning after the heat has been absorbed during the night. The negresses
are busy either pounding ghusub, or washing themselves, or making the
toilet and arranging their sable persons in showy trinkets. Certainly
woman in the negro races is a remarkable creature. She bears her bondage
and its hardships with consummate fortitude, and the greatest good humour
and gaiety, never quarrelling or sulking with her master, and only now
and then having a little bickering of jealousy or rivalry with her fellow
slave. Two or three slaves only, for the present, are unable to keep up,
and placed on the backs of camels. I am astonished to see how well they
keep up, what fatigue they are capable of bearing; I should myself die of
exhaustion were I placed in their situation. There is a little boy only
four or five years of age, who walks as well as any of them. He refused
my offer to give him a ride, and answered, "I don't wish to ride. I
walked all the way from my native country to Ghat." Should this little
creature continue to walk his way to Tripoli, by the time he arrives in
that city he will have walked over eighty-five days of Desert, besides
the distance he may have walked before reaching Aheer, perhaps some
additional thirty days.

Another of Haj Ibrahim's camels foaled to-day. The foal is stretched upon
the ground as if lifeless, the mother standing over and staring at it.
But the foal will not remain so long, for to-morrow or next day it will
be up on its legs, and after four, five, or six days, it will be able to
run after its dam. In fact, the foal, now five days' old, runs after its
mother part of the day's march, and after two or three more days it will
be able to continue a whole day's journey. Here is an instance of the
immense superiority of the lower animal over the higher animal man. It is
curious that the cry of the foal is very much like a child, and I once
turned round to see a negress child crying, and found it was a
camel-foal. In marching the foal is tied upon the back of its mother, and
so borne along, the dam grumbling regular choruses to the cry of the
foal. (_Later an hour._) The foal is actually upon its legs, about four
hours after its birth, and it has sucked its mother twice. The mother
does not quarrel so much about her child as the first she-camel. Such is
the varying dispositions of brutes. A foal is worth ten dollars when a
year old. Most she-camels have a foal every other year, but some few
every year. The foal remains a whole year with its mother. None of these
camels give milk, because there is not sufficient herbage in our way. In
cases of extremity, when the herbage is scarce and the camels give little
milk, the Touaricks of Ghat will drive their camels to graze as far as
Aheer, or even to Soudan. Milk is an essential portion of their means of
existence. The reader must not be surprised to find so frequent a mention
of the Camel-Ship of The Desert. In the Koran the camel is thus
introduced, "Do not they consider the camels, how they are created?"
(Surat Lxxxviii.) and very properly, as a wonderful instance of the
creative might of Deity. These animals are of such use, or rather
necessity, in The East and in The Desert, that the creation of a species
so wonderfully adapted to these countries, is a very apposite and proper
instance to an Arabian and African, or even an European (travelling
here), of the power and wisdom of the Creator. Like the reindeer, and the
lichen, or moss, on which it feeds in the polar regions, the camel and
the date-palms in the Great Desert furnish striking and remarkable
examples of the inseparable connexion of certain animals and plants with
human society and the propagation of our common species. Providence, or
nature, for it is the same, has so formed the faithful, patient and
enduring camel, as to create in this animal a link of social and
commercial intercourse amongst widely-scattered and otherwise apparently
unapproachable nations. The she-camel which I am riding through these
solitary wastes never fails me, except from sheer exhaustion, the
enduring creature never giving in whilst nature sustains her! In the most
arid, herbless, plantless, treeless, thirsty wastes, she finds her
loved-home, for The Desert is the natural sphere of life and action for
the camel. The Desert was made for the Camel, and the Camel was made for
The Desert.

_10th._--Did not sleep very well, and felt very cold during the night.
But as soon as the sun is up it is hot. Such is The Desert. It is also
cold in the shade, and hot in the sun. When riding, a hot wind burns the
one cheek, and a cold wind blanches the other cheek[100]. You wander
through these extremes like the spirits of the nethermost regions,--

    "And feel by turns the bitter change
    Of fierce extremes, extremes by change more fierce:
    From beds of raging fire, to starve in ice--
    Thence hurried back to fire."

I usually am obliged to wear my cloak out of the sun, besides a woollen
burnouse.

Visited the marabet, or mausoleum, of Sidi Bou Salah, about two hundred
paces from the large spring. My Fezzanee guide told me the daughter of
the buried Marabout was still living in the oasis, but his sons were
residing in Fezzan. When the corn was reaped, late in the spring, he
himself should return to Fezzan. One or two persons would remain here.
The tomb of the Marabout is enclosed within the usual square little
house, having a dome or cupola roof, but it is not clean whitewashed, as
these sanctuaries generally are on the Coast. On the tomb is a coverlet
of particoloured and showy silks. The room of the mausoleum is snug and
clean. A little lamp is kept burning at the head during the night. This
is a sort of perpetual fire. There are two or three outhouses, or rooms,
adjoining, in which, if anything be deposited, it is quite safe, it is
sacred, no robbers in these wild countries being bold enough to commit
such a sacrilege against the God of the Islamites. The entire oasis is
peculiarly protected by the halo of the awful Marabout here buried. It is
a place of perfect security for all travellers. In this way the sentiment
of religion confers its advantages, whatever may be the creed of its
professors. No doubt the sentiment of religion, as connected with
superstition, inflicts upon mankind intolerable evils; but here, at any
rate, is some compensation.

I surveyed again the great thermal spring. The water issues from a rocky
ferruginous soil of iron ore, giving the water a mineral taste. Yet it is
of the best quality. Apparently the water descends from the neighbouring
mountain chains, and collects here, but its flow or stream is perennial.
From this little eminence I had a panoramic view of the country, and was
gratefully affected with the beautiful situation of the oasis. In the
hands of Europeans, a city would be created here, one of the largest of
The Great Desert, for water abounds on every side. This oasis would
become the centre of a dense population, fed from the products of the
soil. A mart of commerce would concentrate a great Saharan traffic,
ramifying through every part of Africa. But what can be expected from
people whose one predominant and _quasi_-religious idea teaches them that
everything should remain as it is; as it was before so shall it be
hereafter. People nevertheless pretend that political causes keep the
oasis in its present miserable condition. Serdalas belongs to the
Touaricks, who let it out to the Fezzaneers, but will not permit them to
plant date-palms, lest the oasis should flourish and rival Ghat, and so
injure that mart of commerce. Be it as it may, man always fails of his
work, and if he does so in the more genial climes of Europe, what can
come of his idleness and his improvidence in The Vast African Desert?
Desolate as The Sahara may be in its essential character, it is rendered
still more so by the neglect of its heedless and dreamy tenants. Many are
the oases in this neglected, abandoned state. And the saddening,
sickening thought often recurs to me, that, however desolate The Sahara
may have been in past ages, it is now getting worse instead of better.
Ghadames, and many oases of Fezzan, are dwindling away to nothing, the
population lessening, and dispersing under the curse of the Turkish
system!

Fezzan is only reckoned five days from Serdalas, good travelling, but,
with a caravan of slaves, it will occupy us six or seven days. How fond
of lying are the Moors, or, shall we say, boasting? The Shereef, I hear
from my other companions, is not going on a pilgrimage to Mecca, as he
boasted to me. He merely goes to Tripoli on a trip to sell his three
slaves for the Governor, his uncle, and purchase a little merchandise in
return.

Had a visit from the daughter of the Marabout, the wild Sybil of The
Desert. She is an Arab lady of some seventy or more years of age, but,
like most ladies, does not know how old she is. At first sight of her, I

    "Gaz'd on her sun-burnt face with silent awe,
    Her tatter'd mantle,
    Her moving lips,--

    "Whose dark eyes flash'd, through locks
    of blackest shade."

The Pythoness asked me how I liked her country, a hundred times, and then
begged for something in the name of Allah. She kept saying, "What have
you got for the daughter of the great Marabout?" "What have you got for
her who dedicates her life to God?" She was very proud of the
distinction, _Bent-El-Marabout_ ("daughter of the Marabout"). And why
should she not be proud? When all comes to all, the Saharan lady is as
good as a Roman Nepote of the Pope. She continued, "What have you got for
the daughter of the great Marabout?" And, indeed, I had got very little.
I then gave her a little looking-glass, the only one I had. But this is
no privation in The Desert, however necessary elsewhere. The
looking-glass exceedingly delighted the sybil, for in it she saw the
stern features of her face, with her dauntless eye. She then got
familiar. She wondered why I was not married, and how I could go to
sleep without a wife. She prayed me to take one from Fezzan, or buy a
negress of the caravan, telling the people, "The Christian is very good,
but very foolish. The Christian has plenty of money, and does not buy a
wife." I told her it was prohibited to buy slaves. And as to a wife, I
could not carry her about in The Desert. To which she at length, after
much persuasion, consented to agree. The daughter of the Marabout showed
no hostility against me as a Christian, although of such pure blood, and
in which the antagonism of the eastern to the western spirit is supposed
to be stronger. She gave me her blessing, and we parted friends. The only
piece of dress of any kind which the Maraboutess wore was a thick, dark,
woollen frock, with short sleeves. She had no ornaments; her hair was
black, mixed with grey, long, and dishevelled about her neck and
shoulders. An air of the Pythoness overshadows the countenance and
carriage of this Desert priestess. Amongst the people she is a holy
being. She lives alone. She has the power of foretelling future events.
She receives small presents from all the ghafalahs which visit the oasis,
as tithes of the Marabout shrine. She never leaves this Desert spot. Her
person was ever inviolable. It is related that, many years ago, an Arab
once attempted to surprise her in the night, and share a part of her bed,
but was immediately struck dead before he could stretch out his hand to
open the door of her grass-built hut. So The Desert has its incorruptible
vestals. But the conversation which her ladyship had with me was all
pro-matrimonial, and would not have suggested to the stranger that she
was an ancient maiden of inviolate chastity. Perhaps she might have
thought this sort of conversation would please me best. The Maraboutess,
as well as the few Fezzaneers in Serdalas, are of short stature, of a
very dark-brown complexion, approaching nearly to black, and some have
the broad distended nostrils of the negro. The Shereef said to me this
afternoon, "I'm going to pray at the Marabout shrine; I go happily, I
return happily." Our Shereef is a little self-righteous.

Evening, died a young female slave. She had been ill a month. She was of
the most delicate frame, and cost seventy dollars as a great beauty. She
was buried in the grave-yard of the Marabet without any ceremonies. Happy
creature to have so died. They first tried to dig a grave in open desert,
but not succeeding, they carried her to the burial-ground of the Marabet.

_11th._--To-day is the fourteenth day of the month, and Wednesday instead
of Monday, by the reckoning of my fellow travellers. A fine morning, but
we all felt severe cold during the past night, and which nipped up the
poor slaves.

This morning visited Haj Ibrahim early, and seeing a young female very
ill I remarked: "You had better leave her with the daughter of the
Marabout." He replied, much agitated, "Oh, no, it's a she-devil."
Thinking she might be sulky, as Negroes often sulk, I made no other
observation. A few minutes after I heard the noise of whipping, and
turning round, to my great surprise, I saw the Haj beating her not very
mercifully. He had a whip of bull's hide with which he gave her several
lashes. This displeased me much, for I thought if the girl had sulked a
little she might have been cured without recourse to the whip, in her
debilitated state. About a quarter of an hour afterwards, or not so much,
I saw Haj Omer, servant of the Haj, going towards the graveyard, with a
small ax in his hand, and suspecting something had happened, I followed
to see what it was. On arriving at the Marabet, I asked,

"What are you going to do?"

"Dig a grave, only," was the reply.

"What," I continued, "are you going to dig the grave of the Negress whom
Haj Ibrahim was just now beating?"

"Yes," Omer returned, greatly ashamed.

I was not surprised at the answer, but a disagreeable chill came over me.
Omer then added apologetically, "They bring these poor creatures by
force, they steal them. They give them nothing to eat but hasheesh
(herbs). Her stomach is swollen. We couldn't cure her; Haj Ibrahim beat
her to cure her. She had diarrhœa." This requires no comment. I add only,
if Haj Ibrahim, who is a good master, can treat his slaves thus, what may
we not expect from others less humane? There is no doubt but that the
whipping of this poor creature hastened her death. She was, indeed,
whipped at the point of death. I stopped to see the lacerated slave
buried. She was some eleven years of age, and of frailest form. A grave
was dug for her about fifteen inches deep and ten wide. It is fortunate
there are no hyenas or chacalls to scratch up these bodies. They do "rest
in peace." Into this narrow crib of earth she was thrust down, resting on
her right side, with her head towards the south, and her face towards the
east, or towards Mecca. She had on a small chemise, and her head and
feet and loins were wrapped round with a frock of tattered black Soudan
cotton. Omer, before he put her in, felt her breast to see if she were
really dead. At first he seemed to doubt it, and fancied he felt her
heart beating, but at last he made up his mind that she was really dead.
I felt her hands. They were deathly cold. At times Moors bury people
warm, and not unfrequently alive. They are always in a desperate hurry to
get corpses under ground, thinking the soul cannot have any peace whilst
the body lies unburied. As the last service to the body, Omer took some
earth and stopped up her nostrils. This was done to prevent her reviving
should she be not really dead, and attempt to move. Unquestionably if
buried in the open desert, it is a service, for the wretch only revives
to die a more horrible death. Some small flag-stones were then laid over
the narrow cell, and these were covered with earth, in the form of a
common grave, being only a little narrower than our graves, as the body
is turned up on its side. The two poor young things lay side by side, the
one who died yesterday, and the one to-day, giving their liberated
spirits opportunity to return to the loved land of freedom, the wild
woods of the Niger. Happy beings were they;--better to die so in The
Desert, in the morning of their bondage, than live to minister to the
corrupt appetites of the unfeeling sensualist! Seeing others, free
people, with pieces of stone raised up at their heads, and wishing the
slave and the free to have equal rights in the grave, I fetched two
pieces of stone and placed them at their heads likewise. If it be
permitted to pray for the dead, God save, in mercy, these two youthful,
frail, but almost sinless souls!

DIRGE[101].

    "O'er her toil-wither'd limbs sickly languors were shed,
    And the dark mists of death on her eyelids were spread;
    Before her last sufferings how glad did she bend,
    For the strong arm of death was the arm of a friend.

    "Against the hot breezes hard struggled her breast,
    Slow, slow beat her heart, as she hastened to rest;
    No more shall sharp anguish her faint bosom rend,
    For the strong arm of death was the arm of a friend.

    "No more shall she sink in the deep scorching air,
    No more shall keen hunger her weak body tear;
    No more on her limbs shall swift lashes descend,
    For the strong arm of death was the arm of a friend.

    "Ye ruffians! who tore her from all she held dear,
    Who mock'd at her wailings and smil'd at her tear;
    Now, now she'll escape, every suffering shall end,
    For the strong arm of death was the arm of a friend."

I returned to the encampment and found the caravan in motion.
Burning hot to-day. I felt the heat as oppressive as in my journey
of August to Ghadames. Fortunately our faces were north-east, away
from the sun in its greatest power. No one can understand this
passage, καὶ ἡ ὄψις αὐτοῦ ὡς ὁ ἥλιος φαίνει ἐν τῇ δυνάμει αὐτοῦ,
(Rev. i. 16,) who has not travelled under the influence of the
Saharan sun. The rays dart down with a peculiar fierceness upon your
devoted head, depriving you of all your life-springs. As to its
splendour, the eye of the eagle turns away daunted from its
all-effulgent beams. Since leaving Ghat we have passed many graves
of the "bond and the free," who have died in open desert. Passed one
to-day, with Arabic characters carved on the stone raised at its
head. Passed by also several desert mosques, which are simply the
outline in small stones, of the ground-plan of Mahometan temples.

We have, in many instances, only the floor of the mosque marked out, or
rather the walls which inclose the floor. Within the outlines the stones
are nicely cleared away. Here the devout passers-by occasionally stop and
pray. The desert mosques are some of them of these shapes--

[Illustration]

The places projecting in squares or recesses are the kiblah, upon which
the Faithful prostrate themselves towards the east, or Mecca[102].

Our course is through an undulating country of hills and valleys. We made
a short day, for we began to fear we might lose many of the slaves. A
Touarghee caravan, going to Fezzan, overtook us _en route_, but soon
turned off to the north-west.

FOOTNOTES:

[96] I hope I offered up a heartfelt prayer of thankfulness to the
    Almighty for my deliverance from perishing in The Desert.

[97] It is a very wide valley, nay an extensive plain. But the
    Doctor writes about it before he arrives there.

[98] Tholh--‮الظلح‬--_Acacia gummifera_, (Willd.) It bears what
    the Moors and Arabs call _Smug Elârab_ (‮صمغ العرب‬),
    or "Gum Arabic." This is the most hardy tree of The Desert, and,
    like the karub-trees of Malta, strikes its roots into the very stones.

[99] Dr. Oudney says, who was a man of science:--"Rain sometimes
    falls in the valley (of Sherkee, Fezzan,) sufficient to overflow
    the surface and form mountain torrents. But it has no regular
    periods, five, eight, and nine years frequently intervening
    between each time. Thus, no trust can be placed in the occurrence
    of rain, and no application made in agricultural concerns." In
    truth, the rain which falls in these uncertain intervals, seems to
    answer no available purpose, unless to feed the wells and
    under-currents of water.

[100] The blowing hot and cold with the same breath is here a
    reality, or thereabouts.

[101] Adapted from an anonymous piece, called "_The Dying Negro_."

[102] "But we will cause thee to turn towards a _Kiblah_ that will
    please thee. Turn, therefore, thy face towards the holy temple of
    Mecca; and wherever ye be, turn your faces towards that
    place."--_Surat_ ii.




CHAPTER XXIV.

FROM GHAT TO MOURZUK.

     Another Range of Black Mountains.--Habits of She-Camels when
     having Foals.--Our Mahrys.--Intelligence of my Nagah.--Geology of
     Route.--Arrive at the Boundaries of Ghat and Fezzan.--The
     Moon-Stroke.--Sudden Tempest.--Theological Controversy of The
     Shereef.--Wars and Razzias between the Tibboos and
     Touaricks.--Forests of Tholh Trees.--The Shereef's opinion of the
     Touaricks.--Dine with The Shereef.--Saharan Travellers badly
     clothed and fed.--Style of making Bazeen.--Mode of
     Encamping.--Cold Day, felt by all the Caravan.--Well of
     Teenabunda.--Arrival in The Wady of Fezzan.--Meeting of the two
     Slave Caravans.--Tombs of Ancient Christians.--Routes between
     Ghat and Fezzan.--Weariness of Saharan Travel.--Oases and Palms
     of The Wady.--We meet a rude Sheikh, demanding Custom-Dues.--Haj
     Ibrahim's opinion of the Virgin Mary.--Black Jews in Central
     Africa.--My Affray with the Egyptian.--Route to Tripoli, _viâ_
     Shaty and Mizdah.--Features and Colour of Fezzaneers.--My Journey
     from The Wady to Mourzuk, on leaving the Slave-Caravans.--Tombs
     of former Inhabitants, and Legends about them.--Bleak and Black
     Plateau.--The Targhee Scout.--Have a Bilious Attack.--Desert
     Arcadians, and lone Shepherdesses.--Oasis of Agath, and its want
     of Hospitality.


_12th._--A LONG, long, weary day, and tormentingly hot in the middle of
the day. Course north-east, over plains scattered with small stones.
Traversed a few small ridges of hills. A new species of stone to-day, the
hard slate-coloured, and some of it with a granite-like look. Afternoon,
came in sight of the other chain of black, or, as sometimes designated,
Soudan mountains, stretching boundlessly north and south, like those
near Ghat. This chain likewise extends to the Tibboo country. It is an
error of some of the late French writers, to make the Saharan ranges
always run east and west. This direction of development only applies to
the Atlas ranges of the Coast. No trees, and no herbage for the camels.
The hasheesh which the camels ate this evening was brought us from the
encampment of yesterday. The poor slaves knocked up to-day; rested many
times on the road, and another very ill. In all probability she will
follow her companions lately dead. Others, however, sang and danced, and
tried to forget their slavery and hardships. But the death of the two
girls is a damper for the rest, and they have not been so merry since
that mournful occurrence. The she-camels, which have foals, give no milk
for want of herbage. The two mothers bite one another's children. This,
perhaps, they do to teach the young ones their true mothers. One of them
makes a great noise over her young one, and disturbs all the caravan.
Evening, whilst all the people were at prayers, and prostrating in their
usual parallel lines, I went up to her, and began teazing her. The angry
brute slowly and deliberately got up, but, once on her legs, she made a
dead set at me, running after me. Meanwhile, receding backwards as fast
as I could, I fell over some of the people praying and prostrating, and
the camel attacked them as well as me, spoiling their devotions. The
camel now returned to her foal; and, prayers over, Haj Ibrahim said to
me, laughing, "Yâkob, the camel knows you are a kafer, and don't pray
with us. So she attacks you. Camels never attack good Moslems at their
prayers." The foal of seven days' old walked the whole of our long march
to-day! and nearly as fast as a man. So the poor camel begins to learn
by times its lessons of patience and long-suffering. The mahry of the Haj
is very vicious and greedy, and bites all the other camels which eat with
it. Camels are made to eat in a circle, all kneeling down, head to head,
and eye to eye. Within this circle of heads is thrown the fodder. Each
camel claims its place and portion, eating that directly opposite to its
head. The people eat in the same manner in circles, each claiming the
portion before them, but squatting on their hams instead of kneeling. The
mahry of the Haj is quite white, and is a very fine animal; but its eye
is small and sleepy-looking, so that it does not appear to have the
amount of intelligence of the Coast camels. We have another smaller
mahry, and some of the mahrys are as diminutive as others are gigantic in
size. My nagah feeds by herself. The males never bite the females as they
bite one another,--a piece of admirable gallantry, so far, on their part,
but they rob the females of their fodder, and I am obliged constantly to
keep driving them away from my nagah. The nagah knows she receives her
dates from our panniers. Stooping down on one of them this evening to
find something, putting my head right in, and raising myself up, I found
the nagah's head right over my shoulder, attentively watching me, to see
if I was bringing out her dates. She distinguishes me well from the Moors
and Arabs, by my black cloak, and is usually very gentle and civil to me,
and familiar, more especially about the time of bringing out the dates.

_13th._--Our course north-east, over an undulating plain of sand and
gravel, and at intervals the desert surface was a plain pavement of
stone, of a dark slate-colour. Greater part of the route strewn with
pieces of petrified wood, but no pretty fossil remains. Wood, apparently
chumps of the tholh. We had all day the new range of black mountains on
our right, which extend southwards far beyond the Fezzanee country to the
Tibboos. Intensely cold all day, the air misty, and the wind from
north-west. But I prefer this cold to the heat of yesterday. Haj Ibrahim
complained of the cold, and was alarmed for his slaves. One of the
females he chased on his mahry, the girl running away on foot, and gave
her two or three cuts with the whip. She had been accused of too great
familiarity with a male slave. Crime and slavery go hand in hand:
Miserable humanity!

About noon, we reached the territory of Fezzan. Good bye, Touaricks!
farewell to the land of the brave and the free! Farewell, ye Barbarians!
where prisons, gibbets, murders, and assassinations are unheard of. We
now tread the soil of despotism, decapitations, slavery and civilization,
under the benign Ottoman rule, in conjunction with the Christianized
Powers of Europe! The boundaries of Ghat and Fezzan are determined by two
conspicuous objects, first, by a chain of mountains running north-east
and south-west, joining the oases of Fezzan on the north, and extending
to the Tibboo towns on the south, the eastern side of all which chain is
claimed by the masters of Fezzan, the western by the Touaricks of Ghat;
and secondly the forests of tholh trees, which are now appearing in our
north, affording abundant wood to the people of the caravan, and browsing
for the camels. I am now, then, once more under the power of the Porte,
and within the region of Turkish civilization. Passed other desert
mosques, with some Arabic characters written in the sand, near the
Keblah.

To-night the moon shone with a sun's splendour; all our people seemed
startled at this prodigious effulgence of light. Several of the slaves
ran out amongst the tholh trees, and began to dance and kick up their
heels as if possessed. It might remind them of the clear moonlit banks
and woods of Niger. Haj Ibrahim at last got out his umbrella and put it
up, "What's that for?" I asked. "The moon is corrupt (fesed), its light
will give me fever. You must put up your broken umbrella." So said all
our people, and related many stories of persons struck by the moon and
dying instantaneously[103]. This is another illustration of the passage,
"The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night." (Ps. cxxi.
6.) In the Scriptures are several allusions to a stroke of the sun, (see
Is. xLix. 10, Rev. vii. 16,) but few to the moon-stroke. Saharan opinion
is that the moon-stroke is fatal. I am not aware that the moon-stroke is
well authenticated by our eminent physicians. The writer of the psalm
spoke the current language of his epoch of science. It is probable that
"moon-struck madness," and strokes of the moon, are the effects of
noisome or infectious vapours which crowd about the night, and obscure
with a still paler light that pale luminary. The sun-stroke seems to be
well-authenticated; many cases of Europeans going hunting and sporting in
the open country of Barbary, then and there receiving a stroke of the
sun, and dying with fever, are on record.

_14th._--Course as usual, north-east. Cold to-day. Skirt the
mountain-chain on our right, and traverse a vast plain, scattered with
pebbles and other small stones. As yet, we have not passed over sands or
through any sandy region, although sand-ranges bounded the west in the
early part of the route; here and there a little sand, loose and flying
about. Our road is a splendid carriage-road. Oh, were there but water!
But water is the all and everything in The Desert. Encamped on the
limitless plain. How variable is Saharan weather: now, at sunset, a
tempest rises, and sweeps the bosom of The Desert with "the besom of
destruction!" A high wind continued all night. I fancied myself at sea,
but preferred the Ocean Desert, its groaning hurricane, its hideous
barrenness, to the heaving and roaring of the Ocean of Waters. We passed
another desert mosque; it was only a simple line, slightly curved for the
Keblah. There were also some letters written on the earth, in Arabic,
passages from the Koran. Other writing on the ground is always smoothed
over, and not allowed to remain. Part of the road was covered with heaps
of stone, as if done to clear it, as well as to direct travellers _en
route_.

The Shereef introduced the subject of religion to-night in conversation.
He observed:--

"The torments of the damned are like all the fires in the world put
together."

_I._--"Are these torments eternal?"

_The Shereef._--"Yes, as everlasting as Paradise."

_I._--"But do you not continually say, 'God is The Most Merciful.' How
can this be?"

_The Shereef._--"I don't know, so it is decreed." The Shereef boldly
continued, "In this world[104] God has given all the infidels plenty of
good things, (this being a sly allusion to the Christians and their
possession of great wealth); but, in the next world, the believers only
will enjoy good, and the kafer will be miserable." "You, Yâkob," he
proceeded, "are near the truth, very near, and near Paradise, because you
can read and write Arabic, and understand our holy books."

And so he went on preaching me a very orthodox sermon. I asked him how
God would dispose of those who never read or heard of Mahomet or the
Koran. He couldn't tell. The same queries and objections are,
nevertheless, applicable to our own and to nearly all religions, which
make the condition of believing one thing, and one class of doctrines,
absolute for salvation. The Touatee gold-merchant, who was close by at
the time, interposed, "You are near jinnah (Paradise), Yâkob, one word
only, 'There is no God but God, and Mahomet is the prophet of God.'" I
returned, "If this be not uttered from the heart it is useless and
mockery." "By G--d! you are right, Yâkob," exclaimed the Shereef. Like
most Mahometans, the Shereef says, "The coming of Jesus is near, when he
will destroy all the enemies of God, Jews and Christians, and give the
world and its treasures into the hands of the Moslemites." I asked him
why he represented all mankind but the Moslemites to be the enemies of
God? My mind always recoils from the thought of arranging mankind, and
marshalling them forward, so many enemies of God, as if the Eternal and
Almighty Being who planned, formed, and sustains the universal frame of
nature, could have enemies! Man may be the enemy of his fellow man, but
cannot be the enemy of God. The Shereef here did not know what to say,
and I think replied very properly, _Allah Errahman Errahem_, "God is most
merciful!" a sentiment which all of us admit in spite of our peculiar
dogmas of theology. But this conversation offers nothing new or different
from those which I had with my taleb Ben Mousa, at Ghadames.

The Shereef then spoke about slavery, and asked me, why the English
forced the Bey of Tunis to abolish the traffic in slaves. I explained the
circumstances, adding, the Bey was not forced, but only recommended, by
the English Government to abolish the slave traffic. He then began a long
story in palliation of the traffic, stating that the slaves knew not God,
and that in being enslaved by the Mohammedans they were taught to know
God. I soon stopped his mouth, first, by telling him, the Turks not long
ago had enslaved the Arabs and sold them for slaves at Constantinople,
and then, adding, "Nearly all the princes, whence the Soudanese and
Bornouese slaves were brought, are professedly Mahometans, as well as
their people." He acknowledged, however, slaves were mostly procured by
banditti hunting them, not captured in war. He finished, "The Touaricks
of Ghat formerly hunted for slaves in the Tibboo country, twice or thrice
in the year, and in these razzia expeditions some would get a booty of
three, or five, six, ten, and twenty, according as they were fortunate.
Now they have other business on hand, the war with the Shânbah. The
Touaricks of Aheer, those who bring the senna, are now the great
slave-hunters." The Shereef showed me a Tibboo youth seized by the Aheer
people. The Shereef's account of the Touarghee razzias in the Tibboo
country is confirmed by the reports of our Bornou expedition, or rather
the Shereef confirms the reports of our countrymen. Dr. Oudney says, "It
is along these hills (the ranges which go as far as the Tibboo country)
the Touaricks make their grassies (razzias) into the Tibboo country.
These two nations are almost always at war, and reciprocally annoy each
other by predatory warfare, stealing camels, slaves, &c., killing only
when resistance is made, and never making prisoners." But, it must be
observed, Touaricks are never made slaves; they may be murdered by the
Tibboos. Not six months ago the Aheer Touaricks captured a Tibboo
village. The few who escaped fled to the Arabs, under the son of
Abd-el-Geleel, imploring aid for the restoration of their countrymen and
property. These Arabs, who themselves mostly live on freebooting, were
glad of the opportunity for a razzia. They recaptured everything, and
restored the poor Tibboos to their village, making also a capture of a
thousand camels from these Kylouy Touaricks.

Enjoy better health in this journey, than on that from Ghadames to Ghat.
Felt myself stronger, and hope yet to undertake the journey to Bornou
before the summer heats.

_15th._--Course to-day nearly east. Encamped just as the sun dipped down
in the ruddy flame of the west. Strong wind, blanching the sooty cheeks
of the poor slaves, who were borne down with exhaustion. They were
literally whipped along. And the little fellow who refused a ride from
me, got a whipping for sitting on the sand to rest himself. I now made
him mount my camel, which his master, not a bad-natured man, thanked me
for. All day we continued to traverse the vast plain, having on our right
the same chain of hills, and, on the left, the sand groups, as far as the
eye could see. These broad, now boundless plains, or valleys, are
unquestionably the dry beds of former currents. Even now our people
called them wadys or rivers. The chain of mountains and the chain of
sand-hills are their natural banks. The tholh-tree was most abundant
to-day. I never saw it so thickly scattered before. It was spread over
all the plain, now in single trees, and now in forest groups, which were
also magnified in the distance, and had a grateful and refreshing effect
upon the vision, wearied with looking on stones or gravel, or bare
desert, or black rocks and glaring sand-hills. Unquestionably these trees
of the African are as old as those of the American wilderness. The
tholh-trees of the dry thirsty African plain are however but dwarfs
compared with the giant trees of the American forest, watered by ocean
rivers. The tholh would seem to live without moisture: it is fed by no
annual or periodic rain, no springs. And yet it buds, opens its pretty
yellow flowers, sheds its fine large drops of translucent gum,
flourishes all the year round, and tempts with its prickly leaves as with
richest herbage, the hungry camel. Indeed, about this part of the route
the camels get nothing else to feed on. We have seen no living creatures
these last five days. On one part of our route our people pretended to
trace the sand-prints of the wadan, and others affirmed them to be the
foot-marks of the wild-ox. I must except the sight of a few small birds,
black all over but the tails. Some one or two had white heads, as well as
white tails. People say these birds drink no water, as they say many
animals of The Sahara drink no water. The little creatures certainly do
not drink much water. Two or three dead camels thrown across the route of
this day's march. The live camels usually turn off the way from them.
Several Saharan mosques, the form of a cross being made in the Keblah on
one of them, as seen in the diagrams.

The Shereef's ideas of the Touaricks are not so favourable as those of
his uncle, the Governor of Ghat, and in some respects they are more
correct. The Shereef says:--"The Touaricks are not of the Arabian race.
They are the original inhabitants of Africa (Numidians). Their language
is a Berber dialect. They are a race generally of bandits, and, when
their food fails them, like famished wolves, they make irruptions into
their neighbour's territory, and plunder what is before them. This they
do in small bodies, when camel's milk fails them at home. The Aheer
Touaricks are of the same race as those of Ghat. Many of those of Aheer
have no fear of God, and never pray like the rest of professed
Mohammedans. Those of Ghat are perhaps the best of the Touaricks, and the
most religious. The Touaricks of Touat encircle those of Ghat, lying
across the route of Timbuctoo. Their Sultan's name is Bassa, a giant of
The Desert. He eats as much as ten men. He is the terror of all. But
Jabour knows him, and enjoys his friendship and confidence. The road from
Ghat to Timbuctoo, through Bassa's territory, is extremely short. It is
stony, through high mountains, and intensely cold. Springs of water
abound there." Such are the ideas and opinions of the Shereef on the
Touaricks. The mountains of the route alluded to, are the grand nucleus
of the Hagar, which intersect and ramify through all Central Sahara. The
Shereef, and some others travelling with us, delight in paradoxes, and
maintain, in spite of Haj Ibrahim, who has been to Constantinople and
seen the Sultan of the Turks, that there is no Sultan now, the
administration at the Turkish capital being in the hands of Christians.

The Shereef now invited me to dine with him from bazeen, and when I sat
down, kept addressing me:--"Eat plenty!" But only think of three grown
men sitting down to a small paste dumpling, with a little melted butter
poured over it, and the host crying out lustily to me:--"Eat plenty!"
Such, indeed, was our repast! Of course, returning to my encampment, I
ate my supper as if nothing had happened to me. And this little dumpling
supper is the only meal in the day which our people eat. Well may they
cry out about the cold, and pray for the heat. In a hot day a man is
supposed to eat half the quantity which he does in a cold day. I am,
therefore, still of the same opinion as before expressed, that the
sufferings of these people, who travel in Sahara, are enormously
increased from their want of sufficient food and clothing. As to
clothing, many of them, in this trying season, go half-naked.

Some of our Arabs, who make bazeen for a large party, have a scientific
way for its cooking and preparation. On the Ghat route a young Arab was
accustomed to fill up three parts of a large iron pot with water. This
water he would boil, throwing into it the meanwhile peppers, sliced
onions, and occasionally, as a luxury, very small pieces of dried meat,
or scraps from which fat had been strained. The pot having boiled until
the onions and peppers were soft, he now brings the meal, mostly
barley-meal, but sometimes coarse wheaten flour. This he pours into the
pot, forming a sort of pyramid in the boiling water. He then gets a
stick, mostly a walking-stick, pretending first to scrape off the dirt,
or rubbing it in the sand; with the stick so polished, he makes a hole in
the centre of the pyramid of meal, through which the water bubbles up and
circulates through the mealy mass, now fast cooking. He now gets two
small pieces of stick, and puts them into the ears of the iron pot, which
generally are burning hot. He removes with the pieces of stick the pot
from off the fire, and places it on the sand. He now squats down over it,
putting his two feet, or rather the great toes of the feet, one on each
ear of the pot, which gives him a poise, or sort of fulcrum. And then,
again, taking the long stick, he stirs it up with all his might, round
and round and round again, until all the water is absorbed in the
pudding-like meal, and the meal is thus well mixed into a sort of dough.
However this dough is not unbaked paste, but a _bonâ-fide_ dumpling,
cooked and ready for the sauce. Now comes the wash wherewith to wash it
down. My young Arab friend takes the dumpling, or pudding, in a great
round mass, and places it within a huge wooden bowl. He then goes off for
the oil, or liquid butter, which is usually kept in a large leather
bottle, or goat's-skin, with a long neck. He does not pour the oil out,
but thrusts one of his hands into the oil, and, taking it out, with his
other hand rubs or squeezes off the oil over the mass of dumpling. When
he has got enough, he sets to and sucks his fingers, as the great reward
of all his labour in preparing the supper of bazeen for his companions.
Once he did not sufficiently squeeze off the oil from his hands, and his
uncle scolded him for leaving so much on to suck. He protested to his
uncle that the bazeen had taken him an unusually long time to
prepare[105]. The supper is now ready. The party squat round it on their
hams. They dig into the mass with their fingers, after saying aloud, as
grace, _Bismillah_, "In the name of God," before they begin supper.
Digging thus into it, they make small or large balls, according to the
measure of their jaws, which are generally sufficiently wide, or
according to the sharpness or dulness of their appetite. These balls they
roll and roll over in the oil or sauce that is often made of a herb
called hada, or âseedah, a pleasant bitter, and producing a yellow
decoction, (whence the bazeen is sometimes called,) which enables the
large boluses to slip quietly and gratefully down the throat. Meanwhile
a jug of water is handed round, provided always there is any difficulty
in getting down the balls; but mostly the water is handed round after the
eating. It is drunk with a _bismallah_, and then a _hamdullah_, or
"praise to God," the grace after meat, winds up and finishes the repast.

The business of the caravan and its affairs of encampment are always
terminated before supper. So the dumpling or pudding-fed travellers now
roll themselves up in their barracans, covering their faces entirely, and
stretch themselves down on the ground to sleep, frequently not moving
from the place where they ate their supper. There is generally a mat or
skin under them, and they lie down under the shade of the bales of goods
which their camels carry. The first thing on encamping is to look for the
direction of the wind, and so to arrange bales of goods, panniers, and
camel gear, as to protect the head from the wind. In this way one often
lies very snug whilst the tempest howls through The Desert. People like
to retain the taste of the pudding in their mouths, particularly if a
little fat or oil be poured over it. I once gave an Arab some coffee
after his pudding-supper, which he drank with avidity, but afterwards
began to abuse me. "Yâkob, what is your coffee? I'm hungry, I'm ravenous.
Why, before I drank your coffee, my supper was up to the top of my
throat, but now I want to begin my supper again. I'll never drink any
more of your coffee, so don't bring it here." A little more cuscasou is
eaten on this route than on that of Ghat from Ghadames, the Fezzaneers
and Tripolines preferring coarse cuscasou to bazeen if they can get it.
The poor Arabs are often obliged to put up with zumeetah, which they eat
cold. Haj Ibrahim eats his fine cuscasou, which he brought from Tripoli,
but I do not consider him a _bonâ-fide_ Saharan merchant. This is his
first trip in The Desert.

_6th._--Rose as the day broke, with a hazy yellow tint over half the
heavens, and started early in order to reach the well before night. Very
cold, and continued so all day long. Felt my nerves braced, and liked
cold better than heat. In proportion as I liked the cold, all my
travelling companions disliked this weather; all were shivering and
crumpled up creatures. The slaves suffered dreadfully, having
shivering-fits and their eyes streaming with water. However, I could not
help laughing at the Shereef and the Touatee, who kept crying out, as if
in pain, "_Mou zain el-berd_ (Not good is the cold!)" And, to make it
worse, they both rode all day, by which they felt the cold more. On the
contrary, I walked full three hours, and scarcely felt myself fatigued.
Indeed, to-day, I was decidedly the best man of the caravan, and suffered
less than any. I always walk an hour and a half every morning. But my
Ghadames shoes, that I'm anxious to preserve, are fast wearing out, which
spoils some of the pleasure. The small stones of Desert soon cut and wear
out a pair of soles, which are made of untanned camel's skin. Observed to
the Shereef, to tease him, "Why, you Mussulmans don't know what is good.
Your legs and feet are bare. You have nothing wrapt tight round your
chest. Your woollens are pervious to the cold air. You're half naked; but
for myself, I'm clothed from head to foot, only a small portion of my
face is exposed. You must go to the Christians to learn how to travel
The Desert." "The Christians are devils," he returned, "and can bear cold
and heat like the Father of the imps in his house (perdition)." "Mou
zain, el-berd," cried the Touatee. Yesterday and this morning the slaves
were oiled all over with olive-oil, to prevent their skin and flesh from
cracking with the cold. This is a frequent practice, and reckoned a
sovereign remedy. Hot oil is also often swallowed. Boiling oil is a
favourite remedy in North Africa for many diseases. The poor slaves were
again driven on by the whip. We reached the well just after sunset. Haj
Ibrahim rode far in advance on his maharee to see that the well was all
right, our water being exhausted. Happily the weather prevented any great
absorption of its water. When the slaves got up, having suffered much
to-day from thirst, although so cold, they rushed upon the water to
drink, kneeling on the sands, and five or six putting their heads in a
bowl of water together. I myself had only drunk two cups of tea this
morning, Said having given the slaves all the water we had left. To-day's
march convinced me that thirst may be felt as painfully on a cold day as
on a hot day.

Course, north-east, inclining to east. Met with some Fezzanee Touaricks,
who were a very different class of people from those of Ghat and Aheer.
They are simple shepherds, tending their flocks, mostly goats, in open
Desert, which browse the scanty herbage of the plain. The mountain chain
on our right continues north with us. We found in our route the blood and
filth of a camel just killed. Dead or killed camels, are generally found
near the wells on the last day's journey, after having made five or six
days' forced marches to reach them. It is here they're knocked up, going
continually and most patiently to the last moment of their strength, when
they expire at once.

Teenabunda or "Well of Bunda," is a well of sweet delicious water. It is
some thirty or forty feet deep. There is nothing to mark the site of the
well from the surrounding plain, nor palm tree, nor shrub, nor herbage of
any kind. An accident alone could have discovered this well. Some stones
are placed about in the form of seats, and one can easily see where there
has once been a fire from the sign or circumstance of three stones being
placed triangularly, leaving a small space between them for the fire.
These three stones also support the pot for cooking, as well as inclose
the fire. This evening took some bazeen with the Ghadamsee merchants.
They are fond of showing me this little mark of hospitality. However the
same thing was enacted as at the Shereef's supper. Three grown-up persons
sat down to the one day's meal, a smallish dumpling, seasoned with highly
peppered sauce of hada, and a little fat. It is quite absurd to call this
a supper for three persons; it is mocking European appetite. How they
live in this way I cannot comprehend.

_17th._--Rose early, but did not start until the sun had two hours
mounted the horizon. We usually start half an hour after sunrise. Weather
fair and fine, a cool breeze and hot sun, which is suitable for the
middle of the day. I do not feel it at all oppressive. Continued
north-east. We now caught a glimpse of the palms of The Wady. But here we
overtook our Tripoline friends, who had left Ghat ten days before us and
were waiting for our arrival. They conducted us to their encampment. The
party consisted of Mustapha, an Alexandrian merchant of Tripoli, and
another merchant, having with them some sixty slaves. When our slaves
arrived these ran out to meet them, welcoming them in a most affectionate
manner as old friends. In fact, most of them had been companions in the
route from Aheer to Ghat, sharing one another's burthens and sufferings,
helping to alleviate their mutual pains. After being separated and sold
to different masters, never expecting to see one another again, it is not
surprising there should have been such a tender and affectionate meeting
of the poor things. I shall not soon forget the sight of two little girls
who unexpectedly met after being sold to different masters and separated
some weeks. The little creatures seized hold of one another's hands, then
each took the the head of each other with the palms of the hand, pressing
its side, in the meanwhile kissing one another passionately and sobbing
aloud. And yet those brutal republicans of America,

    "Whose fustian flag of freedom, waves
    In mockery o'er a land of slaves--"

have the devilish cruelty to continue to stigmatize, by their laws of
equality and liberty, the Africans as goods and chattels, depriving them
of their divine right of sentient and intellectual beings, having all the
tenderest and holiest affections of humanity. These poor little girls
were quite unobserved by their masters or drivers, who were now occupied
with the rakas or courier, who had brought letters from Tripoli in answer
to ours sent some time ago. The news is good for the merchants; the Pasha
will not exact the customs-dues of Fezzan on those who return this
route, on account of the war between the Shânbah and Touaricks.

Near the well Haj Omer beckoned me to show me what he called,
"water-courses of Christians," ancient irrigating ducts of the people of
former times. These consisted of raised banks of earth, stretching across
the road to the mountains on the right. Along these lines of embankment
were large fields of cultivation, showing the country had declined in its
agricultural industry, which, indeed, is manifest from every oasis I have
yet seen in The Sahara. It is probable these earlier or ancient
cultivators of the soil were colonies from the coast. Omer also pointed
out at a distance, what he styled "The tombs of Christians," on the sides
of the mountains, scattered miles along, showing The Desert to have been
cultivated to a far greater extent in past times.

Our route from Ghat to Fezzan is good enough perhaps for man, being
simple and plain, easily traversed, generally on level surfaces, but it
is very bad for animals, there being scarcely any herbage, except at
Serdalas, and the Ghat Wadys. Our camels had little herbage for seven
days, which greatly tried their strength and endurance. The caravan we
now joined had lost two camels, and I was afraid for my nagah. Water they
had none for six days. The Soudan sheep also went without water those six
long days. Our route is thus mentioned by Dr. Oudney: "There are several
routes to Ghat (from Mourzuk); and the upper one, where we had to enter
the hills, was last night fixed for us. There is plenty of water, but
more rough than the lower, which is said to be a sandy plain, as level as
the hand, but no water for five days." Travelling with slaves, a route
is always extended one-fifth, at the very least: such was our case.

Afternoon, we encamped at the mouth of the wady, weary, thirsty, and
exhausted, which forcibly brought to my mind that oasis of rest,
(wearied and disgusted, as I felt with Saharan travel,) so divinely
described in Desert pastoral style: ουδε μη πεσῃ επ' αυτους ὁ ἥλιος,
ουδε παν καυμα . . . . και ὁδηγησει αυτους επι ζωσας πηγας ὑδατων.
(Rev vii. 16, 17.) We have in these divine words the smiting and
parching of Saharan sun and heat, and the Lamb-Shepherd leading the
drooping flocks to the living life-giving springs of the oases of
Desert.

Our people called the series of little oases, which we now entered,
_El-Wady_. But this term is hardly sufficiently distinctive, and, I
think in the general division of Fezzan, it is called _El-Wady
Ghurby_--‮الوادي الغربي‬--or "The _Western_ Valley," in
contra-distinction from _El-Wady Esh-Sherky_, "The _Eastern_
Valley."

_18th._--Entered fully into The Wady this morning. After so much Desert,
was delighted to ecstasy with the refreshing sight of the distant forests
of palms, crowd upon crowd in deepening foliage, their graceful heads
covering the face of the pale red horizon, as with hanging raven locks of
some beautiful woman. Saw a few huts of date branches, some wells, and
here and there a villager. The huts were so blended with the date-palms,
in colour and make, that it was with difficulty our eye could catch sight
of them. I am often astonished how these slight, feeble tenements can
protect the people from the sun and cold and wind. It is like living in
open Desert. When we had continued our course some two hours, the Sheikh
of the district came running out after us, demanding the customs-dues,
and attempting to stop the slaves for payment. "What does this fellow
want?" I said to our people, feeling myself now under the protection of
the Tripoline government, and knowing the Sheikh to be subjected to the
Bey of Mourzuk. They replied, "Oh, he wants some slaves to work at the
water (by irrigation)." The Sheikh would not be said "nay." He demanded
to see the teskera of the Pasha exempting us from the duties, which he
could not, as Haj Ibrahim was gone to purchase dates. He then commenced
seizing slaves, but our Arabs now attacked him, pushing and dragging him
away. These people are mighty fond of a little scuffling. We encamped for
the night in The Wady. More "Tombs of Christians" were pointed out to me.
Many dwarf palms were scattered about, wild and producing no fruit. Water
may be under the surface. Our people say these palms would all bear fruit
if cultivated and watered. Undoubtedly many more could be cultivated.
There are innumerable palms in this wild dwarf state. My nagah growled
and grumbled on seeing the palms, rightly concluding that we were arrived
in an inhabited country. These melancholy-looking creatures are extremely
wise. The other evening we had great trouble to get the nagah to eat
herbage when she was brought to the encampment. She had for her supper
every evening a few dates and barley for several successive days. Now we
left off giving her them on arriving at The Wady, where there was
abundant herbage. This she resented, and grumbled nearly all night,
keeping us from sleeping, and would not eat the herbage. On encamping,
the camels are allowed to stray and graze an hour or two, and are then
brought up to the encampment for the night, the drivers cutting a little
herbage for them to eat during the night, or in the morning before
starting. Like us, more intelligent brutes, the camels don't like
starting on a journey with an empty stomach.

Haj Ibrahim expressed surprise that I had with me religious books. He
thought the English had "no books," (that is, religious books.) Some
Christians in Tripoli (Roman Catholics) had told him the English people
had no books. He then observed to me, that it was wrong to worship Mary,
who was not God, or the mother of God, for God had no mother or father.
And although the French and Maltese, in Tripoli, had told him the English
had a bad religion, it could not, he observed, be a worse religion than
this, that of worshiping a woman instead of God. Of Mary, he continued,
"She was a good woman, and conceived without a husband. Mary merely
wished to bear a child, and as it was a pious wish, God granted her
request, and by a simple word she conceived and bore Jesus." Of slaves,
the merchant, says:--"They are brought from all countries of Soudan,
nearly a thousand countries. Only a few slaves captured or brought to the
Souk are Mussulmans, they're nearly all Pagans. Mussulmans make war
against infidels to get prisoners, as we and you did formerly; the
Maltese[106] and English made us slaves, and we made you slaves. Some of
the slaves are Christians, (_i. e._ Pagans,) and some are Jews." I was
much interested, and questioned the merchant about this latter remark,
when a Negro slave, who had been lately to Soudan with his master,
observed, "The black Jews keep the Sabbath, and get drunk on that day.
They drink bouza (or grain liquor). They also circumcise as we
Mohammedans." It is probable these Negro Jews are the corrupt descendants
of the converts of Abyssinian Jews, who ages ago penetrated Central
Africa _viâ_ the provinces of Darfour and Kordofan, and the countries
lying on the two great branches of the sources of the Nile. In the
beginning of our era, we hear of the Eunuch of the "Queen of the
South[107]," or of Abyssinia, who was a Jew, and converted by Philip to
Christianity. There is therefore no manner of difficulty in accounting
for the presence of these corrupt degenerate black Jews, amongst the
tribes of Central Africa.

Two little girl-slaves were barbarously whipped this evening for eating
hasheesh (herbage), which they picked up on the roadside. This was done
to prevent them having diarrhœa, and eating poisonous herbs. It was
nevertheless what they had been taught to do on the Aheer route, and
there could not be very much harm in picking up a little fresh juicy
herbage, to appease their thirst during the heat of the day's march. The
slaves _en route_ are only permitted to drink twice in the day, once at
noon, and once in the evening. When our supply of water is scanty, only
once a day.

_19th._--This morning made but three hours' journey through The Wady
Oases. We had not proceeded an hour _en route_, when the same farce was
attempted to be played upon us as yesterday; three or four people coming
galloping up to us to stop us, in order to collect the customs-dues. This
they did a second time, after letting us go on once. I was determined now
to show I was not a slave-dealer, and would not be stopped to suit their
caprice, for we told them we had a teskera from the Pasha, exempting us
from the gomerick. Proceeding forwards with Said, one of the party, a
fellow on horse-back, stopped my nagah, seized her, and commenced beating
Said. I instantly jumped off, exclaiming, "I'm an Englishman--a
Christian, and not a slave-dealer; I have nothing on which to pay duties,
and will not be stopped." Our people bawled out likewise, "The Christian
has nothing for the gomerick, he has no slaves." The fellow gave Said
another rap with his sword on his attempting to rescue our camel.
Hereupon, losing all patience, I took the spear, and with the flat part
of its head gave the fellow a tolerable blow on the shoulders. Now
followed a desperate scuffle, the first I had had in The Desert. The
fellow screaming out, suddenly maddened to fury, drew his sword, and made
a thrust at me, but the blow was turned by the shaft of my lance. Our
people now seized hold of him and me. A little more scuffling went on,
and getting clear of the grasp of our people, I made off in advance, with
Said, alone. After continuing half an hour through the palm-woods, we
turned and saw the whole caravan coming up quickly after us. The party
who stopped us had consented to let the caravan follow me. Haj Ibrahim,
who had the Pasha's teskera, was again absent, having gone to purchase
more dates. If the fellow had not been very impudent and violent,
inflicting blows on Said, I should not have committed this folly of
forcing my way, for, after all, it was great imprudence on my part, and
might have been attended with very serious consequences.

When the caravan came up, I said, in hearing of our people, to the fellow
who was still following them, "If you had struck my servant in Tripoli,
the Pasha would have put you in prison. This is not Touarghee country,
but a country where there is a government. This country belongs to
Tripoli and the Sultan. Your violence was equally improper and
unnecessary." All applauded this, and our champion of the sword said
nothing in reply. After arriving at the small district of Blad
Marabouteen, or "a country of Marabouts," we encamped for the day. The
fellow, who turned out to be an Egyptian, a petty officer of the Porte,
and Kaed of the district through which we passed, now came to me, sat
down by my side, and made it up. I then observed to him, "It's all
nonsense." The Egyptian laughed and I laughed. He kept seizing me by the
hand, and exclaiming with vehemence, "Gagliuffi! Gagliuffi! ah! that's a
fine fellow! Gagliuffi at Mourzuk." Again the Egyptian laughed, and
screamed with frantic gesticulations, and our people coming up were also
merry with him. "Ah!" he continued, "Gagliuffi, a real cock of the
dunghill, a noble fellow, Gagliuffi! Do you know Gagliuffi?" I said I did
not. This he couldn't understand, and said, "Ah, Gagliuffi has got plenty
of money, he's the Bashaw of Mourzuk. Every time you go to see him he
gives you coffee." Another Fezzaneer, standing by, swore to this:
"Gagliuffi is the Bey! Gagliuffi has got plenty of money." Afterwards I
reported this affair to Mr. Gagliuffi, our Vice-Consul at Mourzuk. He was
greatly amused and flattered at the report of his wealth and consequence.
He observed, "Although I'm poor enough, God knows, it's better that these
people should think me rich." The Egyptian was commanding a small force
of Arabs in The Wady. I learnt from him, the Vice-Consul had been sick
lately, but was now better. In The Wady there is fever during summer, but
not much now. The Kaed, I saw in conversing with him, had been drinking
leghma, and was "elevated," which sufficiently accounted for his
interrupting our march, and the violence of his conduct. Our people say,
he wished us to encamp in his district, to amuse himself with us. They
continued all the evening to praise my spirit for resisting the fellow's
impertinence in his stopping us. "To-day you were a man, Yâkob," they
kept repeating. I explained, "Fear, where fear is necessary, as in the
Touarghee districts. There we must bow the head, for resistance would be
dangerous. But here, in the country of the Sultan, why should we fear?"
This speech greatly pleased our people, who themselves had not been
detained by the Kaed, on account of my forcing the way. Upon the whole,
this ludicrous affray raised my reputation for (physical) courage amongst
the people. For moral courage I always take credit to myself. It is
nevertheless, a very delicate thing in Saharan travel to know when and
where resistance is to be offered against imposition: and perhaps, it is
better to give way always than to resist, leaving the matters of dispute
(of this sort especially) to be settled by the caravan with which you
travel.

The united caravans will remain here some eight or ten days, to give rest
to the slaves, as well as to obtain fresh provisions. To-morrow morning I
go early to Mourzuk, which is two days from The Wady. Tripoli is distant
from The Wady, fifteen, seventeen, or twenty days, according to the
progress of the caravan. The route lies direct _viâ_ Shaty, four days'
distant from this, and Mizdah, in the mountains (Gharian), ten or twelve
days, and thence three days more to Tripoli. The route from El-Wady to
Shaty consists of groups of sand-hills, of painful traverse. Shaty itself
is a series of oases. Between El-Hasee and El-Ghareeah, which now follow,
there is an immeasurable expanse of Desert plain. The Atlas Mountains
then succeed with their bubbling fountains and green valleys, and
olive-clad peaks. Mizdah in The Mountains consists of two large villages.

Saw several of the inhabitants of The Wady, and made acquaintance with
the Fezzaneers, as they have been called. Some of them are as black as
negroes, others as white as the Moors of the coast, others olive, yellow,
brown, &c., and their features are various as the colour of their
complexions. The Fezzaneers must be considered Moors and townspeople,
rather than Arabs or nomades. Houses in The Wady are of palm-branches,
and some of sun-dried mud-bricks, but mostly miserable hovels, the very
picture of wretchedness. We passed a village entirely abandoned, (Kelah,
as the people said,) apparently from the failure of water. Palms in The
Wady are not very fine. There are many patches of cultivation of grain
and vegetables. Water is found near the surface, and the wells are
numerous.

_20th._--I left our caravan early this morning for Mourzuk. On taking
leave of my companions of travel they begged me to come back, and
continue the route with them to Tripoli. Could only promise in the style
of En-Shallah, "If God wills," for I had long made up my time not to
return. Should the Bornou route be favourable, I might go up before the
hot weather came on; if not, I intend returning _viâ_ Sockna to Tripoli,
"the royal road," wishing to see as much as possible of the inhabitants
of the oases of The Sahara, on which route were many centres of
population. My companions, from whom I had received nothing but kindness,
continued to call after me, "Come back, Yâkob," until our little company
was out of sight. I thought this extremely friendly, and another instance
of the unadulterated kindness of heart found in Saharan traders. Our
course now lay somewhat back again, we proceeding south-east. We had to
cut through the mountains which had been so long on our right. The range
still continued north up The Wady, but how far I cannot tell. I believe
no European whatever has travelled the route _viâ_ Shaty and Mizdah, to
Tripoli. As we ascended through the gorge or break in the chain, "the
tombs of the Christians" were again pointed out to me, or rather the
burying-places of the earlier inhabitants of these regions. All the early
inhabitants, or those before the Mohammedan conquest of Africa, are
vulgarly called Ensara by Moors. These tombs consist simply of circular
heaps of stones, picked up from the rocks around. Some are large,
perhaps a dozen yards in circumference. Mounting one, I found it hollow
at the top; the stones had been merely heaped up in a circular ring.
Within was a little sand settled, collected from the wind when it
scatters the sand about. There was no appearance of bones, or any
inscriptions. The whole mountain range of The Wady, I am told, has heaps
of stones piled up in this way. There is no doubt but what they are the
graves of former inhabitants.

The question to be solved is, why are these graves of this circular form?
why heaps or rings of stones thus heaped up, so different from the long
square graves now met with in all North Africa and The Desert? The form
of these tumuli evidently denote another people, or at least a people of
another religion. Where there are tombs there are legends of the dead. My
travelling companions now related to me, that there appears not
unfrequently, and mostly at midnight, when the moon has but a narrow dim
circlet, a solitary Christian, who flits mournfully through these
solitudes, now and then sitting on the circular tombs, now peeping from
within the rings of stones, his chin resting on the edge. His aspect is
hideous, and he has one big burning eye-ball in the middle of his
forehead. His skin (for he is naked) is covered with long hair, like a
shaggy goat (a species of satyr), and two tusks come out of his mouth,
like those of a wild boar. A holy Marabout once met him, and interrogated
him courageously about his doleful doings amongst these graves. The
spectre deigned this answer, "I mourn the fall of my fellow-Christians
and the triumph of the Faithful over the Infidels. The Devil makes me
come here. I shall wander until the appearance of Gog and Magog upon the
earth, and then shall be yoked to their chariot, and go out and conquer
the world, and kill the Faithful. But I shall be tormented afterwards.
Such is my doom: I can't help it." It is said the Marabout pitied him,
and prayed to God for him, but it was revealed to the holy man in a
dream, not to pray for lost spirits, whom Heaven's decrees had
irrevocably doomed to perdition.

There was also another legend related to me by the Fezzan Targhee, who
was now my guide through this dreary gorge, full of the tombs of the
dead. It is too long to repeat. Suffice it to say that, whilst his
great-grandfather and other shepherds were tending their flocks on the
subjected plains below, a troop of these Christians broke loose from the
dark caverns in the mountains, where they are chained, and began to abuse
and banter the shepherds, because they did not say, "There are three
Gods." The shepherds withstood the temptation and the terror of their
countenances, although they, the shepherds, exceedingly quaked. The
Christians, in their rage against the shepherds professing so constantly
the Unity of God, dispersed their flocks, drove them into the caverns,
and disappeared together with the flocks. But the angel Gabriel descended
from heaven, and blessed the faithful shepherds, led them on many miles
to a desert place, where there were three tholh-trees which had been
planted by these reprobate Spirits in adoration to The Three Gods. Now
the number of shepherds also happened to be three. The good Gabriel told
them to cut down the trees, and burn them separately. The shepherds did
so, and for their obedience, from beneath the ashes a great cake of
molten gold came pouring out. "These cakes are the Gods of the
Christians; there are three of these cakes," said Gabriel. "Take each
one, and go, and trade to Soudan," added the angelical messenger; and
then in a bright cloud ascended over the top of the mountains. It so
happened that his great-grandfather thought three was a lucky number, and
wished to become a Christian, whereupon God caused a troop of banditti to
fall upon his caravan, who plundered him of everything, and reduced him
again to beggary. Such are the tales of Marabouts of The Sahara, quite a
match for the legends of our Monks of the good and happy olden times.

As these legends finished, we got up to the top of the range, when a cold
bleak wind cut our faces, coming north-east over the plateau, which to my
surprise now appeared. I expected to find a descent, or another rounded
side of the chain. But all east was a bare, bleak, black plateau, as
hideous as desolation could render it, according well with the scenery of
the desolate grave-stones we had just seen, and the woeful tales about
them we had heard. It was the veritable beach of the river Styx. I turned
with a chill of horror from the waste back again upon the valley which we
had left. How different the view! Here we beheld the ten thousand fair
waving palms, which cover the green bosom of The Wady,--a paradise
encircled with ridges and outlines of the most frightful sterility. We
now mounted our camels, for it was necessary to face also this new
desert. I greatly perspired with the labour of the ascent, and now caught
a cold, and had a bilious attack, the only time I was seriously unwell
during my nine months in The Desert, and strange enough that it should
be occasioned by cold. Our party consisted of myself and Said, the
Targhee guide, and Mustapha, the Tripoline Moor, who was going to
purchase provisions, and borrow money at Mourzuk. These merchants so ill
manage their affairs, that they were nearly out of provisions for their
some hundred and odd slaves, themselves and servants, and besides had no
money to replenish their stock. Our course was now east verging to the
south. On the plain I saw the last of the Touaricks, and it was a noble
sight. This was a Targhee Scout, scouring The Desert in search of the
Shânbah, well-equipped and mounted on his maharee. He was returning
south-west to Ghat, taking the route over the mountains which we had just
ascended.

[Illustration]

After a few hours we again descended into a small shallow wady, where was
a little herbage. We continued all day, and endeavoured to reach a part
of the plateau, where were some Fezzan Touaricks tending their flocks,
and where it was said we should get milk and a kid of the goat to kill
and eat. The whole of the day it was cold, and the wind piercing, which I
attributed to the elevated region we traversed. On arriving at a thin
scattered forest of tholh-trees we stopped, but being most unusually
exhausted by the fatigue of the ride, and the attack of the bile, I could
not dismount from my camel, and was lifted off. We searched a long time
for the shepherds, and at length their flocks were discovered. I took a
little tea, and surrendered myself to rest and to sleep, not being able
to eat anything. My companions pretended to seek out and purchase a kid,
but unless you furnish the money, nothing of this luxurious sort is ever
obtained in The Desert. I had no money, and we had no kid. Meanwhile our
people, who had only brought with them dates, ate up my little stock of
cuscasou. I had only laid in a sufficient quantity for some fifteen days,
from Ghat to Mourzuk. Passed a bad night, and greatly relaxed.

_21st._--Up to this time I had always travelled through The Desert with a
large number of persons. Our party was now only four. And yet I felt no
fear, and went to bed last night in open desert with as much indifference
as if I had been in a hotel in Europe. Such is the force of habit. The
Desert itself now even begins to wear a homely face to me, and, indeed,
for the present, I am obliged to make it my home. We rose early, and I
found myself a little better. At the time I attributed my illness to the
water of The Wady, but which was incorrect. Before starting, I obtained a
bowl of sour milk. To my surprise I saw only women tending these flocks.
I asked about their husbands. They were gone away to work in Ghat,
Fezzan, and other parts. Here were three or four adult women, and a few
children, wandering solitarily in Open Desert! Not a habitation was near
for many miles round! I could not help exclaiming, "Are you not afraid of
robbers?" "No," replied an aged woman, "I have been here all my life, and
shall die here. Why go away? What better shall I find in Mourzuk or Ghat?
Can they give me more than milk? More than milk I care not for. And God
is here as elsewhere!" Let the reader picture to his mind's eye, three or
four lone females, with a child or two, wandering over a sandy plain,
tending amongst a thinly-scattered forest of gum-acacia trees a few small
goats, without a house or even a hut to sleep under, only the shade of a
straw mat suspended in the prickly trees, and, then, repeat and mark well
the truth of Pope's fine lines,--

    "Order is heaven's first law, and this confess'd,
    Some are, and must be, greater than the rest,--
    More rich, more wise; but who infers from hence
    That such are happier, shocks all common sense."

Our people observed to me, "This is a country of the Sultan, so the women
fear nothing." But the environs of Ghadames are the country of the
Sultan, which does not prevent the depredations of banditti. There is no
water here, they go to Agath to bring their water for themselves and
their flocks. Of course, the complexion of these shepherdesses is quite
brown or brown-black, by exposure to the weather. I shall ever remember
the modest air with which a nomade young woman came and presented us with
a bowl of milk. It was modesty's self's picture! The shepherdess nymph
stepped forward timidly, with her eyes averted, not presuming even to
look at us; and as soon as she placed the bowl on the ground, a short
distance from us, she escaped to the thicket of the tholh-tree, like a
young roe of the timid trembling herd. On her glowing cheek,--

    "Sweet virgin modesty reluctant strove,
    While browsing goats at ease around her fed."

    "And now she sees her own dear flock
    Beneath verdant boughs along the rock--
    And her innocent soul at the peaceful sight
    Is swimming o'er with a still delight."

Such a picture of pure heartfelt shyness and delicate modesty could only
be witnessed in these solitudes, where this maiden shepherdess never
perhaps speaks to any man but her own way-worn, severe, but
honest-hearted father, when he returns from his little peregrinations,
bringing a few blankets, a little barley and oil, the staple matters of
existence for these lonely nomades. Nothing was given in return for the
milk, for we had nothing to give. But if offered it would not have been
accepted, by the laws of hospitality amongst these desert Arcadians. The
reason now assigned for not giving us a kid, is, all the men are absent,
and they cannot part with one, even if money be sent from Mourzuk for
payment.

About 3 P.M., to my great joy, we arrived at the village of Agath. Our
route was over a bare level plain, and our progress like at sea, when the
masts of the ship are first seen, then the hull; so here we first saw the
heads of the date-palms, then their trunks, and then the clusters of the
hovels of the village. I was happy to learn our guide determined to pass
the night here. The poor fellow was himself worn to a skeleton in
travelling these wastes, with but one eye left, and that very dim. He was
glad to "put up" for the night. When he started it was to have been a
journey of a day and a half, it was now to be three days. We got into an
empty hovel, and with palm-branches kindled a fire, which was kept up in
a blaze to serve for a lamp. This is the usual practice, now and then
putting on a piece of wood to make a light. Very few Saharans have the
luxury of lamps or candles. I still suffered from bile, languor, and
exhaustion, and once placed upon my mattress, I did not leave it till
next morning. We had no provisions, for our party had eaten up all I had.
We tried to get something from the Sheikh of the village, but only
succeeded in obtaining a few loaves of newly-baked bread, with a little
herb sauce, hot with peppers, to pour upon the bread to moisten it.
Mustapha attempted to make a great noise, and talked about reporting him
to the Pasha of Mourzuk, and getting him bastinadoed for treating a
Christian in this way. I discouraged these threats, and would have no
imbroglio, for I knew the character of the Sheikh could not well be worse
than that of Mustapha himself. Mustapha demanded meat, but I begged only
a little flour and butter to make some bazeen in the morning. The Sheikh
promised and took leave. In the morning the Sheikh fled, and we saw no
more of him. He deserved to be reported at Mourzuk. Hospitality certainly
does not flourish at Agath. It's odd, the only time I was seriously ill,
and really wanted hospitality, I found it not. To-day we picked off
several fine pieces of gum from the tholh. Many of the trees had their
branches lopped off, first for allowing the goats to nibble the green
leaves, and afterwards to use the dry branches for firing.

FOOTNOTES:

[103] In the East Indies persons are known to become blind _for
    the night_, (something like the _night-blindness_, which we have
    before mentioned,) by the influence of the moon; or such is what
    people say.

[104] In the Koran it is intimated that God fattens the wicked in
    this world for the day of slaughter in the next. I forget the Surat.
    The Arabic is--‮سنسدرجهم‬--signifying, "_We_ (God) _make
    them proceed by degrees_;" that is to say, We, God, give the
    wicked pleasures and enjoyments in this world, that we may punish
    them the more in the next world. This is a most abominable
    sentiment, and intolerable to a right-thinking mind. But I believe
    such a blasphemous opinion has also been held by some mad-brained
    Christians.

[105] In the event of my publisher bringing out a new edition of
    the venerable Mrs. Glass, or Mrs. Rundall, I fervently hope he
    will not fail to avail himself of this receipt for the making of
    bazeen. I am also of the opinion of the former ancient dame, with
    regard to the necessity of catching a hare before it is dressed;
    and I think the meal likewise must be procured before it is made
    into bazeen. To be eaten with relish, it besides must be eaten in
    The Desert.

[106] The oath taken by the Knights of the Order of Malta,
    was--"_To kill, or make the Mohammedans prisoners, for the glory
    of God_."

[107] "And behold a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority
    under Candace, Queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all
    her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for worship."--(Acts viii.
    27.)




CHAPTER XXV.

RESIDENCE AT MOURZUK.

     Arrival at Mourzuk; and reported as a Christian Marabout from
     Soudan.--Meet Angelo, who conducts me to his Master, the British
     Vice-Consul.--Hearty Welcome from Mr. Gagliuffi.--Detail of the
     Slave-Caravans of The Wady.--Read the Newspapers; Massacre of
     Jemâ-el-Ghazouat, and the Annexation of Texas.--Visit to the
     Bashaw of Mourzuk.--Visits to the Commandant of the Garrison and
     the Kady.--Poetical Scrap of European Antiquity.--Celebration of
     a Wedding.--Environs of Mourzuk.--Camera Oscura.--Mourzuk
     Couriers.--The Kidnapped Circassian Officer.--Old Yousef, the
     Renegade.--Dine with the Greek Doctor on a Carnival Day.--An
     Albanian's Revenge.--Greece and its Diplomatists.--Officials of
     Mourzuk.--An Arab's estimate of God and Mahomet.--What is
     Truth?--Improvements of the Commandant of the Troops.--How
     English Politics taste in The Desert.--Visit to the Grave of Mr.
     Ritchie.


_22nd._--ROSE early, and got off again as well as I could, considering I
had had little or nothing to eat for the last two days, and should have
nothing till the evening, when we expected to reach Mourzuk. Course east
and south-east. Still cold and windy. Palms scattered over all the route,
from Agath to Mourzuk, but only a few of them cultivated. It was most
refreshing to behold so many trees on our road, after traversing such
treeless and sandy wastes. A few wells here and there, and a little corn
cultivation. Arrived at Mourzuk at about 4 P.M.

I here thought of a squib which had been published in a rival paper at
Malta, representing me as "The Consul of the Blacks at Mourzuk" in
allusion to and satirizing my anti-slavery propensities. These things
will come back to one's memory years and years after they have been
forgotten. When I read the squib, I little imagined I should ever visit
Mourzuk, and yet the visit could be traced readily enough as resulting
from my anti-slavery labours in Malta and the Mediterranean. Mustapha
stopped at the gate to make his toilet, and I lent him my barracan to
make on entering the city. Moors and all Saharan travellers dress
themselves up before they enter any large or particular place, when on a
journey, and they wonder why I do not follow their nice tidy example. On
entering Mourzuk, I suppose I looked very queer, for it was immediately
reported to the Bashaw, "A Christian Marabout is arrived from Soudan." We
were stopped a few minutes at the gates, to see if I had any exciseable
articles. This done, I made the best of my way to the residence of Mr.
Gagliuffi. On the road I casually met the Maltese servant of the
Vice-Consul. His face brightened up with joyful amazement, and he shook
me eagerly by the hands. Englishmen arrive here once in half a century,
or rather never, which sufficiently accounts for the excitement of the
Maltese. Angelo took me direct to the Consul's house, and I found Mr.
Gagliuffi at the door. The Consul was as astonished to see me as his
servant. He stared at me as if I had just dropped from the clouds. He had
heard of my going to Ghadames, Ghat, and Soudan, but did not expect to
see me one while. I need not add, Mr. Gagliuffi gave me a most hearty
welcome. I found the Consul in a very fine and spacious house for oases
of Desert, with "all his English[108] comforts around him," as we say.
Seven months had made me forget all these things, and I was now a Saharan
entering into the domains of comfortable, if not civilized, life. The
appearance of Mourzuk was not very pleasing to me, the major part of its
dwellings being miserable hovels. The Castle looked dirty, and tumbling
down. Nevertheless, the presence of Turkish troops and officers in
uniform about the streets, with a variety of people congregated from
different towns and districts of Sahara, gave the place more the aspect
of a city than any other town I had seen since I left Tripoli. I was
extremely knocked up and unwell, and at once determined not to leave
Mourzuk until my health should be restored. I found myself right as to
the date of my arrival at Mourzuk, on comparing notes with Mr. Gagliuffi;
but two days wrong as to the name of the day, having written down Friday
instead of Sunday. As to the Moorish reckoning of Ghat and Ghadames, that
was quite different from the name of the day, and the number of the day,
as found in Mourzuk. Time is very badly and incorrectly kept in The
Sahara.

Some few particulars must now be recorded of the slave-caravans which I
left in The Wady. The united number was some one hundred and thirty
slaves. Two-thirds were females, and these young women or girls. There
were a few children. Necessity teaches some of the best as well as the
sternest lessons. A child of three years of age rode a camel alone, and
without fear. The poor little creature knew if it complained or
discovered itself frightened, it would be obliged to walk through The
Desert. The slaves were fed in the morning with dates, and in the evening
with ghusub. Female slaves, after the style of Aheer people, pounded the
ghusub in a large wooden mortar, just before cooking. But they had little
to eat, and were miserably fed, except those who had the good fortune to
be purchased by Haj Ibrahim. For some of these improvident stupid
merchants had actually purchased slaves without the means of keeping
them. On arriving at The Wady, they sent jointly, through Haj Ibrahim, to
borrow a hundred dollars of the Bashaw of Mourzuk. The messenger was
Mustapha. His Highness kindly enough handed him over the money. All the
masters carried a whip, but this was rarely used, except to drive them
along the road, when they lagged from exhaustion. Thus it was
administered at times when it could least be borne, when nature was
sinking from fatigue and utter weariness! and therefore was cruel and
inhuman. Yet only some twenty were sick, and two died. When very ill they
were lashed upon the back of the camel. Some of the young women that had
become favourites of their masters experienced a little indulgence. I
observed occasionally love-making going on between the slaves, and some
of the boys would carry wood for the girls. My servant Said had one or
two black beauties under his protection. But everything was of the most
innocent and correct character. Some groups of slaves were aristocratic,
and would not associate with the others. Three young females under the
care of the Shereef, assumed the airs and attitude of exclusives, and
would not associate with the rest. Every passion and habit of civilized,
is represented in savage life. A perfect democracy, in any country and
state of society, is a perfect lie, and a leveller is a brainless fool.
There is also an aristocracy in crime and in virtue, in demons and in
angels. The slaves are clad variously. Haj Ibrahim tried to give every
one of his a blanket or barracan, more or less large. Besides this, the
females had a short chemise, and a dark-blue Soudan cotton short-sleeved
frock. Many had only this frock. The poor creatures suffered more from
the ignorant neglect of the Touaricks than the Tripoline merchants, and
their complaints and diseases usually begin with their former masters.
Yet I am assured by Mr. Gagliuffi, that the Touaricks of Aheer are
infinitely better and kinder masters than the Tibboo merchants of Bornou,
or even many Tripolines. The Tibboos cannot bring a female child over The
Desert of the tender age of six or seven, without deflowering her, whilst
the Touaricks of Aheer shudder at such sensual brutality, and even bring
maidens to the market of an advanced age. The brutal Tibboos besides
bring their slaves quite naked, with only a bit of leather or cotton
wound round their loins, whilst the Touaricks always furnish them with
some little clothing.

_23rd._--Felt better, but weak. The excitement produced in me by my new
quarters and reading the journals, after four months elapsing since I saw
the last, made all the people fancy I was already attacked with their
Mourzuk fever. Mr. Gagliuffi treated me as such, and the Greek doctor was
sent for, who approved of my being treated as attacked, and I took
accordingly fever powders. But another night's rest restored me and I
discovered no symptoms of fever, for which I could not be too thankful,
as the fever nearly attacks all strangers journeying in Mourzuk. The news
from Europe was exceedingly disagreeable to me, inasmuch as I read of
crimes and events of a much darker shade than the things which I had seen
in Desert amongst the Barbarians. The two events which arrested my
attention were the massacre of five hundred French troops near Jamâ
El-Ghazouat, and the annexation of Texas, as most relating to my present
pursuits. The first was an evident retribution for burning alive a tribe
of Arabs in the caverns of the Atlas. Some high personages in Paris
deplored this massacre of their devoted and hapless countrymen, but the
poor Arabs of the Atlas, the men, women, and children burnt or suffocated
alive, were unpitied and unmourned[109], because they happened to be
resisting the placing of a foreign yoke on their necks. Such is the high
tone of our political morality in Europe! No wonder the curse of God is
upon us and afflicts us with famine and cholera! The annexation of Texas,
for the extension of slavery and the slave trade, I hope will at once and
for ever disabuse the minds of our wild democrats, who fancy that because
people call themselves republicans and establish a republican form of
government, therefore they are the friends of freedom. Better had America
been bound hand and foot for ever to the aristocratic tyranny of the
mother country, than that she should now become, as she is, the world's
palladium of Negro slavery, and the huge breeding house of slaves to
endless generations! We cannot but recommend to these trans-atlantic
tramplers upon the freedom and rights of man, in defiance of all divine
and human laws, the following lines of Mr. James--

    "Oh, let them look to where in bonds,
      For help their bondsmen cry--
    Oh, let them look, ere British hands
      Wipe out that living lie.

    "Veil, starry banner, veil your pride,
      The blood-red cross before--
    Emblem of that by Jordan's side
      Man's freedom price that bore,
    No land is strong that owns a slave,
    Vain is it wealthy, crafty, brave."

    "The slaver's boastful thirst of gain,
    Tends but to break his bondsman's chain."

_24th._--Much better in health to-day. Sent off Said, with a man of this
place, to fetch my trunk and other baggage left in The Wady. Find Mr.
Gagliuffi keeps up a friendly correspondence with the Vizier of the
Sheikh of Bornou. Any one going to Bornou would derive great advantage
from the Vice-Consul's letters of recommendation. Mr. Gagliuffi has also
considerable influence over the population of Fezzan, and is on good
terms with the Mourzuk Bashaw.

_25th._--Felt well enough to-day to call upon the Bashaw. His Highness's
full name and title is Hasan Bashaw Belazee. I was introduced to him by
Mr. Gagliuffi, who previously insisted upon sprucing me up a bit, and
removing my Maraboutish appearance by getting me a new red cap or _fez_.
My _Christian_ hat was left at Ghadames. It was impossible to wear it in
Desert or towns, for people always said I looked like a Christian devil
when I wore the European black hat. We found His Highness just recovered
from a month's indisposition. He received us very politely, and Mr.
Gagliuffi tells me he is really a very good sort of man. His Highness
gave us pipes and tea, which is becoming now a favourite beverage amongst
the Moors of East, as it has long been in West Barbary, amongst all races
of the Maroquines, who have introduced the fashion of tea-drinking and
teetotalism at Timbuctoo. His Highness was very talkative and affable. He
was amazed at my audacity in going amongst the Touaricks without a single
letter of recommendation, and looks upon my arrival at Mourzuk as an
escape from death to life. His Highness confessed, however, that the
Touaricks are people of one word, and that, after having told me they
would protect me, I did right in confiding in their honour. He added, "If
you go to Aheer hereafter I will assist you all I can." Mr. Gagliuffi
pretends the Bashaw has considerable influence amongst all the Touarghee
tribes, and the Touaricks always follow strictly the recommendations
which the Bashaw, as governor of the province of Fezzan, and a near
neighbour, has taken upon himself to give them. Every person carrying a
letter from His Highness to the Touaricks, has invariably been well
received. His Highness is very fond of illustrating his conversation by
similes, and related a little facetious palaver which he had with a
Targhee of Aheer.

His Excellency thus to the Targhee:--"You always thought there was a
great mountain separating you from us, protecting you from our armies.
You besides always boasted of having an army of 100,000 warriors. But the
other day there came to you a bee, and buzzed about your ears, and you
all at once fled before the little bee. How is this? Where are your
100,000 unconquerable heroes?"

The Targhee thus to the Bashaw:--"Ah, ah, how amazing! it was just so."

_H. E._--"But are you not ashamed of yourselves?"

_The Targhee._--"Ah, ah, but we shall now go and fight them."

_H. E._--"Well, we shall see your courage."

The Bashaw explained to us, how the Touaricks of Aheer were put to flight
by the Weled Suleiman, whom he the Bashaw, and his master at Tripoli,
only esteemed as so many troublesome little bees. This was the affair of
the capture of the 1000 camels, when the Touaricks were carrying off the
spoils of a Tibboo village, before mentioned. These Weled Suleiman have
just joined the rest of the refugees under the son of Abd-El-Geleel. The
Bashaw is the famous Moorish commander who captured and beheaded
Abd-El-Geleel, and who has sworn to extirpate not only the family of this
Sheikh, but all the tribes subjected to his son. The Bashaw received the
appointment of Bey or Bashaw of Fezzan, for his hatred to this family,
and his services in capturing and destroying its chief. Belazee is a
fresh-coloured Moor, and rather good-looking, with a dark, piercing, and
cruel eye. He is about forty years of age and very stout. Of his courage
there can be no question, and his reputation as a military man is very
great in all this part of Sahara. Mr. Gagliuffi had instructed me
diplomatically to boast of the attentions which I had received from the
Touaricks, for observed the Consul, "If you say the Touaricks did not
treat you well in every respect, the Bashaw will commiserate you before
your face, but laugh at you behind your back, and tell his people how
happy he is (and I'm sure he will be happy) you have been well fleeced by
the Touaricks, of whom the Turks here are jealous in the extreme." Mr.
Gagliuffi also volunteered a diplomatic hit of another kind on his own
account: "My friend, your Excellency, on entering the gates of Mourzuk,
and looking up at the Castle, thought he was entering a town of the dead,
it looked so horribly dingy and desolate." I said to the Consul
afterwards, "Why did you say so?" He replied, "I am trying my utmost to
improve the city, and want the Bashaw to whitewash the Castle. He has
promised me he will do it." The Bashaw addressed me, "Think yourself
lucky you have escaped, but for the future you must be placed in the
hands of the Touaricks by us as a sacred deposit, and then if anything
wrong happens we shall demand you of all the Touaricks by force." I
thanked him for the compliment; I believe he meant what he said at the
time. But such an insulting message could not be delivered to the brave,
chivalric, and freeborn sons of the Touarghee deserts; they would trample
your letter under their feet, or spear it with their spears.

Mr. Gagliuffi and myself then went to see the troops exercised. The
commanding officer is trying to reduce them to order and discipline, and
succeeds admirably. Before he arrived, great disorder reigned amongst
them, and they were constantly found intoxicated in the streets. After
the manœuvring, we visited the commander and his staff, who were all
extremely polite. The Bashaw does not interfere with the discipline of
the army. The Turks can well distinguish, if they please, between civil
and military affairs. And it is wrong to consider the Turkish Government
and people, like Prussia and other military nations of the north, as one
great military camp. We afterwards visited the Kady, Haj Mohammed Ben
Abd-Deen, an intimate friend of the Consul. He had under his care the
Denham and Clapperton caravan, and is well acquainted with us English. I
was surprised to find the Kady quite black, although his features were
not altogether Negro. Mr. Gagliuffi says Mourzuk is the first Negro
country. This statement, however, involves a very difficult question.
Fezzan, Ghat, and other oases, contain many families of free Negroes,
some perhaps settled formerly as merchants, and others the descendants of
freed slaves. I do not think the real black population begins until we
reach the Tibboos, although Ghatroun is mostly inhabited by Negroes.
Certainly, the Negroes have never emigrated farther north in colonies.
Mr. Gagliuffi has just received by the courier from Tripoli, several
watches sent there for repair, belonging to the Sheikh of Bornou. They
were given to the Sheikh by our Bornou expedition, twenty years ago. It
is pleasing to see with what care the watches have been preserved in
Central Africa, for they looked as good as new.

_26th._--I must now consider myself recovered from indisposition. At
first, people talked so much about Mourzuk fever that I thought I
must have it as a matter of course, and felt some disappointment at
its not attacking me. Three-fourths of the Europeans who come here
invariably have the fever. I speak of the Turks. It attacks them
principally in the beginning of the hot, and cold, weather, or in
May and November. Fortunately, I am here in February. Mourzuk
is emphatically called, like many places of Africa, _Blad
Elhemah_--‮بلاد الحمة‬--"country of fever."

Amongst the Christian and European curiosities and antiquities which I
have discovered in this Mussulman and Saharan city, is the following
poetical scrap, published by myself, some four or five years ago, upon
that beautiful rock of Malta, or, according to the Maltese, _Fior del
Mondo_, "The flower of the world."

SONNET.

    "Hail, verdant groves! where joy's extatic power
      Once gave the sultry noon a charm divine,
      Excelling all that Phœbus or the Nine
    Have told in glowing verse!--Youth's radiant hour
      Yet beams upon my soul,--while memory true
      Retraces all the past, and brings to view
    The magic pleasures which these groves have known,
      When Hope and Love, and Life itself, were new,
    Delights which touch the SOUL OF TASTE alone,
      Taught by the many and reserved for few!
    O! busy _Memory_, thou hast touched a chord
    Recalling images, beloved,--adored,--
      While Fancy keen still wields her knife and fork,
      O'er roasted turkey and a chine of pork!"
                                            CLEMENTINA.

I found it flying about in one of Mr. Gagliuffi's old lumber rooms, and,
being such a precious gem, I must needs reproduce it upon the page of my
travels. Who is the author, and how I came by it, I cannot now tell. I
only know it once adorned the columns of the "Malta Times," at a period
which now seems to me an age ago.

There was a wedding to-day, and the bride was carried on the back of the
camel, attended with the high honour of the frequent discharge of
musketry. In order that I might likewise partake of these honours, the
Arab cavaliers stopped before the Consul's house, and several times
discharged their matchlocks. It was a gay, busy, bustling scene. The
cavaliers afterwards proceeded to the Castle, and discharged their
matchlocks, standing up on the shovel-stirrups, and firing them off at
full gallop. But these cavaliers are nothing comparable to the crack
horsemen of Morocco. Their horses are in a miserable condition, and they
themselves ride badly. The horse does not do well in the Saharan oases.
In Fezzan he is often obliged to be fed on dates, which are both heating
and relaxing to the animal. Meanwhile the discharge of musketry was
rattling about the city, the lady sat with the most exemplary patience on
the camel (covered up, of course), in a sort of triumphal car. A troop of
females were at the heels of the animal loo-looing. The ceremony stirred
up the phlegm of the Turks, and delighted the Arabs.

In the evening I visited one of the gardens in the suburbs. The corn was
in the ear on this, the 26th day of February. In a fortnight more they
will cease their irrigation, and it will be reaped quickly afterwards. We
gathered some young green peas. The flax plant is here cultivated; the
fibres and dried leaves are burnt, and the seed is eaten; no other use is
made of it. Two crops of everything are obtained in the year, one now, in
the spring, and the other in autumn. The irrigation by which all this
cultivation is produced, rain rarely ever falling, cannot be carried on
during the intense and absorbing heats of summer. A couple of asses and a
couple of men, or a man and a boy, do all the business of irrigation.
Fezzan water is brackish generally, and the wells are about fifteen of
twenty feet deep. These are in the form of great holes or pits. The more
distant suburbs present beautiful forests of palms, producing a fine
reviving effect upon an eye like mine, long saddened by the ungrateful
aspect of a dreary desert. The atmosphere and ambient air is less
pleasing to view, presenting always a light dirty red hue, as if
encharged with the fine sand rising from the surface. The soil of the
Fezzan oases is indeed mostly arenose, and the dates are nearly all
impregnated with fine particles of sand, which takes place when they are
ripe, and very much lowers their value. But this sandy soil does not
sufficiently account for the eternal dirty vermilion hue of the
atmosphere of Mourzuk. They say its site is very low, in the shallow of a
plain, and to this cause they attribute its fever.

_27th._--Health quite restored, and got up early. There are two or three
round holes in the window-shutters of my bed-room; by the assistance of
these, when the shutters are closed, in the way of a camera oscura, all
the objects passing and repassing in the streets are most sharply and
artistically drawn on the opposite wall. Here beautifully delineated I
see the camels pass slowly along,--the ostriches picking and billing
about, which are the scavengers of the street, instead of the pigs at
Washington, (see Dickens,) and the dogs of Constantinople, (see all the
tourists,)--the women fetching water,--the lounging soldiers limping by
with their black thick shoes pulled on as slippers,--the slaves squatting
in circles, playing in the dirt,--groups of merchants, black, yellow, and
brown, bargaining and wrangling,--asses laden with wood,--the
coffee-maker carrying about cups of coffee, &c., &c. Wrote letters for
to-morrow's post, and very disagreeable to me, as announcing my tour
broken up midway.

_28th._--Post-day. The courier leaves every Saturday, but it requires
nearly forty days to get the answer of a letter from Tripoli. The courier
is eighteen days _en route_. A caravan occupies from twenty-four to
thirty days. In the route of Sockna there is water nearly every day, but
one or two places, the longest space three and a half, and four days. The
Commander visited me again this morning, as also the Greek doctor, who
calls every morning. The Major now came in. He is a young Circassian; by
birth a Christian, but kidnapped and sold to the Turks. He is a very
amiable young man, and deeply regrets that he was not brought up a
Christian. It is high time this infamous practice of selling the
Christians of the East to the Turks, was put a stop to. It is to be hoped
that Russia will atone for the wrongs which she has inflicted upon
Poland, and offer some compensation for the blood which she is still
shedding in Circassia, by abolishing this odious system of Christian
slavery through all south-eastern Europe, as in western Asia.
Notwithstanding our hatred to Russia's system, and its iron-souled Grand
Council, we Englishmen (I presume to speak for all), are willing and
happy to do justice to Russia in the efforts which she made, and the aid
she rendered the Servians, in emancipating them from the galling yoke of
Mussulman bigotry and Turkish tyranny[110]. Nicholas has a noble and
mighty mission before him, not to subjugate Turkey, or infringe upon the
liberties of Europe, but to civilize his vast empire, and the wild
countries of Northern Asia. But the Czar does not seem to understand his
destiny--or the task, more probably, is beyond his power. It must be left
to his successor, or happier times. This Circassian tells me he has not
had the fever in Mourzuk. He thinks the city healthier than formerly, and
attributes the fever to people's eating dates, and their bad living.
Dates are not only the principal growth of the Fezzan oases, but the main
subsistence of their inhabitants. All live on dates; men, women and
children, horses, asses and camels, and sheep, fowls and dogs.

Mr. Gagliuffi gives the following statistics of the slave-traffic _viâ_
Mourzuk from Bornou and Soudan:--

In 1843       2,200
In 1844       1,200
In 1845       1,100
              -----
       Total, 4,500

The two last years shows a diminution, and he thinks the trade to be on
the decline. But this evidently arises from the Bornouese caravan being
intercepted, or the traffic interrupted by the fugitive Arabs on the
route. There has been no large caravan from Bornou for three years. And
Mr. Gagliuffi considers the route at the present, so unsafe, as
positively to refuse countenancing my going up to Bornou this spring.
However, a couple of small slave-caravans have ventured stealthily down
twice a year, conducted by Tibboos. The principal Tripoline slave-dealers
who frequent Mourzuk are from Bengazi and Egypt. Slaves are besides
brought occasionally from Wadai; and there is a biennial caravan from
Wadai to Bengazi direct, leading to the coast a thousand and more slaves
at once. Our Consul is frequently employed in administering medicine to
the poor slaves, who arrive at Mourzuk from the interior, with their
health broken down, and often at death's door. He makes frequent cures,
but, alas! it is for the benefit of the ferocious Tibboo slave-dealer.
The Consul naturally laments he cannot buy these miserable slaves, who,
in this state of disease, are often offered at the market for five or six
dollars each. He has no funds at his disposal, or he would procure them
by some means, cure them, and give them their liberty.

This evening I called upon a Moor, an ancient renegade of the name of
Yousef, who was well acquainted with all our countrymen of the Bornou
expedition. His arm was set, after being broken, by Dr. Oudney, which he
still exhibits as an old reminiscence of the doctor. Yousef has lately
given great disgust to his good neighbours, by purchasing a new concubine
slave, to whom he introduced us, notwithstanding that he has his house
full of women and children. This sufficiently proves that Mohammedans
discountenance the unbridled licence of filling their houses with women.
One of his old female slaves, by whom Yousef has had several children,
said to Mr. Gagliuffi, "I won't speak to you any more, Consul. Don't come
more to this house. Why did you give my master money to buy a new slave?"
The Consul protested he did not. Old Yousef laughed, and drily
observed:--"When this (pointing to the new slave), is in the family way,
I must purchase another wife. If I can't keep my wives myself, I must beg
of my neighbours to contribute a portion of the necessary expense." Old
Yousef is a thorough-going scamp of a Moor.

_1st March._--Occupied in writing down the stations of the Bornou route
from the mouth of one of the Sheikh's couriers. There are now two of
these couriers in Mourzuk, natives of Bornou. The Sheikh corresponds with
Belazee as well as with Mr. Gagliuffi. Bornouese couriers travel in
pairs, lest a single one should fail if sent alone. They are mounted on
camels, and it requires them forty days to make the traverse from Mourzuk
to Bornou. I tired the courier pretty well with dictating to me the
route. It is extremely difficult to get an African to sit down quietly
and attentively an hour, and give you information. If ever so well paid,
they show the greatest impatience. Afterwards paid a visit to the young
Circassian officer. He related to me how he was captured. It was in the
broad day, when he was quite a child, playing by a little brook, and
picking up stones to throw in the water. The officer says, that in his
dreams, he often sees the silvery bubbles and rings of the water rising
after he had thrown the pebble into the brook; and, especially, does he
see the ever-flown visions of his green and flowery pastimes of
childhood, whilst he is out on duty in the open and thirsty desert, lying
dozing under an intense sun, darting its beams of fire on his head. The
kidnapper took him to Constantinople. His brother came up after to rescue
him. But the master, to whom he was sold, terrified him, by threatening,
if he should show the least wish to return, to cut him to pieces. The
barbarous threat had its desired effect, and he submitted to his fate.
This Circassian officer has still a hankering after Christians, and in
his heart is no good Mussulman. He tries to adopt as much as possible
Christian manners, and boasts of having all things like them. Such forced
renegades deserve our most sincere sympathies.

Evening--Mr. Gagliuffi and myself dined with the Greek doctor. It was a
carnival day with the doctor, and he prepared a befitting entertainment.
An Albanian Greek dined with us, who had been brought up from Tripoli by
Abd-El-Geleel, to make gunpowder for the Arab prince. When the Turks
captured Mourzuk they found here the Albanian. He has nearly lost his
sight, and is now charitably supported by the Doctor. We were waited upon
by the Doctor's servant, an Ionian Greek, and the Maltese servant of the
Consul, and so mustered six Christians, a large number for the interior
of Africa. The dinner was magnificently sumptuous for this part of
Africa. We had a whole lamb roasted. After dinner, its shoulder bones
were clean scraped and held up to the light by the Doctor, in order to
catch a glimpse of the dark future! This is an ancient superstition of
the Greeks. Besides several Turkish dishes, (for the Doctor lives half
Turk, half Christian,) we had salmon and Sardinians. This was the first
piece of fish I had seen or eaten for seven months. It was remarked when
the large caravan from Bornou comes, expected in this summer, it will
certainly bring dried fish from the Lake Tschad. In Central Africa, they
dry fish, as meat, without salt, and it keeps well. We had bottled stout,
table wines, Malaga, rosatas, and rum. We were all of course very happy,
and the Albanian sang several of his wild mountain songs. He was very
merry, and, swore he was obliged to keep himself merry, because, not
like other people, he had an affair which rankled in his breast. We asked
him what it was. The Albanian answered, greatly excited, both with his
wine and his subject, "A man killed my brother, and I have not yet been
able to kill him. The vengeance of my brother's blood torments me night
and day. I pray God to return to my country to kill the murderer." This
Albanian is an enthusiastic Greek, and wishes and prays to see his
countrymen plant again the Cross on the dome of St. Sophia. "But many of
you have turned Turk," I remarked. "Yes," observed the Albanian, "many of
my countrymen have turned Turk, and I, who am less than the least of them
all, I have not committed this folly. I can't comprehend how they could
so trample on the name of their Saviour." In short, I found the Albanian
possessed of all the fire, bigotry, ferocity and vindictiveness, for
which his countrymen are so celebrated. I encouraged him, and said, "The
Greek kingdom ought to have its bounds a little widened." The Greek
jumped up wildly at this remark, and clenching my hand, began screaming
one of his patriotic airs, and cursing the Turks, so that we became all
at once a seditious dinner-party, under the shade of the pale Crescent.
Had we been in Paris, that pinnacle of liberty and civilization, we
should all immediately have been conveyed off, without finishing our
dessert and the wine which made us such patriot Greeks, to the sobering
apartment of the Conciergerie. Happily we were in The Desert, under the
rule of barbarians. Coletti was mentioned, but I forget what was said of
him. In Jerbah, a Greek merchant protested to me, that the only way to
regenerate Greece was to cut off the head of this Coletti, as well as
all the present chiefs of parties. He observed "Another generation alone
can regenerate Greece." The merchant added, "I should like also to hang
up that Monsieur Piscatory."

It does seem a pity that diplomacy should be reduced to the most
detestable intrigues, lying and duplicity, which if any other class of
men were guilty of, they would be put out of the pale of society. But
mankind would care little about these archpriests of falsehood, were it
not for the serious consequences resulting from their works. Look at the
state of Greece now, the handicraft of diplomatists! Such is the result
of the good and friendly offices rendered to an infant state by these
sons of the Father of Lies!

At this time there are some nine hundred Albanians in Tripoli, regular
troops of the Porte, whose only occupation is lounging, lying and smoking
about the streets. There were sixty or seventy Christians amongst them,
but for some reason or other unexplained, the Bashaw sent them all back.
The report is, the Sultan does not know what to do with these Albanians,
and has sent them to Africa to decimate them. The massacreing Janissary
days are past, and we have arrived at an age of the more humane policy of
letting them die of fever on the burning plains of Africa. Perhaps France
has recommended the Porte this policy, having found it answer so well in
the experiment made on malcontent regiments in Algeria. How very humane
all our European Governments are getting! How kindly they treat their
poor troops! Who would not be a soldier, and fight the battles of
"glorious war?" But we must return to our host, who is a very different
kind of Greek. Doctors are always pacific men. The Doctor observed
laconically, "I eat the bread of the Turks, and whilst I do so I must be,
and I am a good Ottoman subject." Mr. Gagliuffi speaks Greek and Turkish
besides Arabic and Italian, and so he is at home with all these people.
It is happy for the Consul he does, for after all, Mourzuk is but a
miserable dirty place, and would kill with ennui, if fever were wanting,
some score of English Vice-Consuls.

_2nd._--The Consul received a visit from the Adjutant-Major, Agha
Suleman. The Doctor came in and was very merry with the Adjutant, who is
always trying to get himself reported sick, in order that he may return
to Tripoli. The Adjutant observed to me, whilst he drew himself up, made
a wry face, and heaved a deep sigh, as if his last, to persuade the
Doctor he was greatly suffering, "I would not go to Bornou if you were to
give me 100,000 dollars." But why should he? With what sort of feeling
could he go there? The spirit of discovery, which once stirred up the
Arabian savans to explore Nigritia, is now totally extinct both in Arabs
and Turks. I learnt some items of the pay of Officials in Mourzuk. The
Bashaw has 5,000 mahboubs per annum. The Adjutant-Major has 30 dollars
per mensem; the Doctor 25 dollars; and so on of the rest, the commanding
officer having perhaps 50 dollars per mensem. This amount of pay is
considered sufficient for expenses at Mourzuk. The officers have quarters
with the Bashaw in the Castle. Mr. Gagliuffi related a characteristic
anecdote of the ignorance prevailing amongst the Arabs as gross as that
of Negroes. Mohammed Circus (or the Circassian) was a few years ago
Bashaw of Bengazi whilst Mr. G. visited that place. The Bashaw was buying
something of an Arab, and gave him but a third of its real value. Mr. G.
took upon himself to say, "Why do you injure this poor man by giving him
but a third of the value of his goods?" "Oh!" rejoined the Bashaw, "that
is not a man, he is only a dog. Let me call him back and you shall see
what he is." Immediately the Bashaw called the man back and asked him,
"Who was the better, God or Mahomet?" The Arab bluntly answered, smiling
with conceit, "Why do you ask me such a thing? What harm do I receive
from Mahomet or what harm do others receive from our prophet? But God
kills one man with a sword, hangs another, drowns another. All the evil
of the world is from God, but Mahomet does nothing except good for us."

This poor ignorant fellow was filled with ideas of irresistible fate.
Some Arabs and Moors ascribe only the good things to God, whilst others
all things, the evil and the good. When this anecdote was being ended, a
Moor came in, and being in a disputing humour, I asked him abruptly,--

"What is truth?"

"The Koran."

"Who told you the Koran is truth?"

"Mahomet."

"And who told Mahomet?"

"God."

"How do you know this?"

"Mahomet says so."

"What did Mahomet do to make you credit his word?"

"Plenty of things."

"What things?"

"Killed the infidels, sent us the camel into Africa, planted for us the
date-palm, and worked many wonders."

"Is that all?"

"No, great many more things I cannot now recollect."

The camel, I think, was introduced into Africa about the third century.
It is a mistake to say, Mahomet did no miracles. The people in North
Africa and The Desert all relate miracles performed by Mahomet. The
Prophet, however, repudiates miracles in the Koran. In Surats xiii. and
xvii., in answer to miracles demanded, the Prophet replies by the
knock-down argument, "All miracles are vain. Whom God directs, believes;
whom he causes to err, errs." Our conversation passed to old Yousef
Bashaw, whose family the Porte has deposed. Mr. Gagliuffi observed
justly, and which so often happens in despotic countries, "Yousef
established Tripoli and its provinces in one firm united kingdom, and in
the early part of his life his power was respected and his people happy;
but as the Bashaw declined in life, he again disorganized everything, and
Tripoli was rent in pieces." Went to visit a member of the Divan. All
these despotic Bashaws consult or prompt a mute Divan. Let us hope the
Consulta lately assembled by Pius IX. will turn out something better than
these mute Divans, or a Buonaparte Senate. We were treated with coffee,
and milk, sour milk (or leben), but not skimmed, which is considered a
great luxury, and only presented to strangers of consequence.

_3rd._--We received a visit from the Bey, as he is sometimes called, the
commander of the troops, who is a very sociable kind-hearted little
fellow. Mr. Gagliuffi related some of the atrocities which were committed
by the troops previous to the commander's arrival. They killed a woman,
committed rape on a child, were never sober, and always quarrelling with
the inhabitants. They are now reduced to discipline and order. One day
Mohammed Effendi said to Mr. Gagliuffi, "I am always at work, either
making improvements in the town or exercising the troops, but who sees me
here, no one recognizes my conduct in The Desert." The Consul endeavoured
to console the desponding officer by observing, God saw him, and one day
would reward him for his good works. So we see, the Turks are a part of
the human race after all, and could lead on their fellow-creatures in the
way of improvement if their energies were properly directed. Africa could
be greatly benefitted by the Turks. Even at Mourzuk they are introducing
things which will soon be imitated at Bornou. Not being infidels, the
same objection does not exist against their innovations as against us
Christians. Even in the little matter of gloves I saw an immense
difference. The officers here wear gloves, and nothing is thought of it.
People do not say to them as they have said to me at Ghat and Ghadames,
"You have the devil's hands." Mohammed Effendi actually went so far as to
make this speech, "I shall go to England one day in order that I may
learn something." The grand occupation of the Commander now is, the
building of a guard-house within the city. This occupies his attention
morning, noon, and night; and it certainly has a good appearance. There
is not such a natty thing in Tripoli. The officer directs all the works,
and is assisted occasionally by the friendly counsel of the Consul; so
that a wonder of architecture will at last be reared amidst the
crumbling-down places of this city of hovels.

My Said returned this afternoon, bringing the baggage from The Wady. Five
more slaves of Haj Ibrahim are sick. His first slave adventure at Ghat is
likely to turn out a bad speculation. Read an article or two from
_Blackwood's Magazine_, No. CCXXX. The Consul has got a few stray numbers
up The Desert. English politics read all stuff in Desert, like what a
celebrated man was accustomed to say of his philosophy after dinner,
"It's all nonsense or worse." So is reading English politics in this part
of the world. How soon our tastes and passions change, with our change of
place, and scene, and skies! An Englishman married a Malay woman at
Singapore. In six years he lost all his English, nay, European feelings,
and became as listless and stupid as the people whose habits and
nationality he had sunken under.

Visited this evening the grave of Mr. Ritchie, who died at Mourzuk on
November 20, 1819. He was buried by Capt. Lyon, his companion in African
travel. The grave is placed about two hundred yards south of the Moorish
burying-ground; it is raised eight or ten inches above the level of the
soil, and is large, being edged round with a border of clay and small
stones. We were conducted by old Yousef, who told us the Rais (Capt.
Lyon) chose the site of burial between three small mounds of earth, in
order that the grave might be easily distinguished hereafter. Mr.
Gagliuffi, had never visited the grave before my arrival, which I
proposed to him as a sacred duty that we owed to our predecessors in
African travel and discovery. The Consul promises now to have the grave
repaired and white-washed, and I, on my part, promise, in the event of my
return to the interior, to carry with me a small tombstone, to place over
the grave, with name, date, and epitaph. If there were a thorough and
_bonâ fide_ Geographical Society in England, this little attention to the
memory of that distinguished man of science would have been performed
long ago. But our societies are instituted to pay their officers and
secretaries, and not to promote the objects for which they are ostensibly
supported by the public. The Moorish cemetery close by, is a most
melancholy, nay, frightfully grotesque picture. No white-shining tombs
and dome-topped mausoleums, no dark cypresses waving over them and
contrasting shade with light, which mournfully adorn the cemeteries of
the north coast. All is the grotesque refuse of misery! Here we see
sticks of palm-branches driven down at the head of the graves, which
sticks are driven through old bottles, pitchers, jugs, ostrich eggs, &c.,
so that at a distance the burying-ground has the appearance of a dull,
dirty, desolate field of household rubbish, and old crockery-ware. I did
not trouble myself to ask the reason of this trumpery of trumperies, but
I imagine it is to distinguish one grave from another. The cemetery of
Ghadames, where nothing is seen but stones, if it be a desert-looking
place, yet has not this trumpery appearance. I was glad to see the grave
of Ritchie lying apart from this, though in its infidel isolation. There
lies our poor countryman, alone in The Sahara! But, though without a
stone or monument to mark the desert spot, still it is a memorial of the
genius and enterprise of Englishmen for travel and research in the
wildest, remotest regions of the globe. And, for myself, I would rather
lie here, in open desert, than in the crowded London churchyard, amidst
smoke, and filth, and resurrectionists, the pride and glory of our
Cockney-land. Here, at least, the body rests in purity, the desert
breeze, which sweeps its "dread abode" barer and barer, is not
contaminated with the effluvia of a death-dealing pestilence; and though
the ardent sun of Africa smites continually the lonely grave, the bones
mayhap will rest undisturbed till reunited and refleshed at the loud call
of the Trump of Doom! unkennelled, uncoffined by wild beast, or more
ferocious man.

FOOTNOTES:

[108] Although Mr. Gagliuffi is an Austrian, a native of Trieste,
    he has acquired all the English ideas of comfort, and speaks
    excellent English.

[109] As a remarkable exception, some one or two _French_ papers
    did protest against this wholesale burning alive of an Arab tribe.

[110] See Mrs. Kerr's translation of the History of Servia.




CHAPTER XXVI.

RESIDENCE AT MOURZUK.

     Mr. Gagliuffi's opinion of the Touaricks.--Amazonian
     White-Washers.--Visit, and take leave of the Bashaw.--Various
     Anecdotes related by His Highness.--Safe-conduct given to
     liberated Slaves in returning to their Country.--Character of the
     Tibboos, and particularly Tibboo Women.--Description of the Oases
     of Fezzan.--Leo's Account of these Oases.--Recent History of the
     Government of Mourzuk.--The Traitor Mukni.--Life and Character of
     Abd-el-Geleel.--The Civil War in Tripoli, and Usurpation of its
     Government by the Turks.--The Tyrant Asker Ali.--Skirmish of
     Hasan Belazee with the Town of Omm-Errâneb, and the Oulad
     Suleiman.--Retreat of the Oulad Suleiman to Bornou, and their
     Marauding Character.--My departure from Mourzuk with the
     Slave-Caravan of Haj Essnousee.--Establishment of British Consuls
     in The Great Desert and Central Africa.--Force of the new
     Slave-Caravan.


_4th._--FEEL as well in health as when I left Tripoli, though housed in
this city of fever. Mr. Gagliuffi has some ideas about the Touaricks
which I have not acquired in Ghat. He pretends Touaricks are always
afraid of their women, and are obliged to do whatsoever their wives tell
them. The son never will go with his father, but always follows his
mother. His father he learns to hate the more he loves his mother. The
Consul does not think the Touaricks of Aheer to be so numerous as
represented. The same, indeed, may be said of all the kingdoms of Africa.
The principal slave or servant (factotum) of the Sultan of Aheer is now
in Mourzuk, transacting business for his master. The Bashaw offered to
write to the Sultan for me through this man. He is called Hiddee, and
paid me a visit this morning. En-Nour, the friend of Kandarka, is only a
Sheikh. Hiddee is the slave whom the Bashaw has been quizzing so severely
about the mighty armies of his master.

A number of women are now occupied opposite to us in white-washing or
white-claying the Guard-house, this _chef-d'œuvre_ of Mourzuk
architecture. The women alone do this work, and as their privilege. There
are about thirty of them so occupied, under the command of a queen
white-washer. They all tremble at the sound of her Majesty's voice.
Sometimes she gives them a crack over the head with a bowl, to make them
look sharp about them. The white-washers prepare the wash in the usual
way, and then lade it out in small bowls, throwing a whole bowl at once
at the walls, using no brush, now and then only with their hands rubbing
over a place not wet with the wash. This arises from the nature of the
wash, it being merely a fine brown-white clay, or a species of pipe-clay.
There is no lime in the oases near: people fetch it from Sockna. For this
reason the Castle is so dirty. There is attendant on the women a band of
Arab musicians, to cheer them on in their work. Every man who passes by
gets a piece of white-wash clay thrown at him. If it hits him he has to
pay, if not he escapes. On his non-payment, when so hit, he is tabooed
from the privileges which he possesses in and over women. He can have no
communication with them, nor can he buy anything from them, or receive
anything from their hands. If he does not pay in a few days, his fine
increases with his delay. This custom prevails, and its stipulations are
most religiously binding, whenever women are employed to white-wash
Government houses and establishments. Once a Targhee received some money,
which a woman thus employed offered to him, to entrap him. Immediately
exclaimed the virago, "You cowardly rascal, instead of giving us money,
you take money away from us." Then a mob of these Amazons followed him to
his house, and, to save himself from being torn and scratched to pieces
by the troop, he paid ten dollars, and was happy to escape so easily. The
Amazonian white-washers like to have a shy at Mr. Gagliuffi or the
Doctor, because they are down upon them for a good mulct or present. To
save their respective dignities, Consul and Doctor take care to keep out
of that quarter of the town where the work of the Amazons is going on.

We paid a visit to the Bashaw this afternoon previous to my departure
to-morrow. We had tea and pipes again as before. His Highness was
excessively civil, and related to me many anecdotes of the people of this
part of the world, of which anecdotes and such chit-chat he is very fond.
This Bashaw is a sort of chronicler of the Arabian Nights order, with the
difference, that what His Highness relates are generally true stories.
Mr. Gagliuffi instructed me in a little of his Desert diplomacy, and I
accordingly observed, "Your Excellency must extend the Turkish rule in
Sahara, and you ought to capture Ghat, for that is the centre of commerce
in these parts." This was put forth as a feeler. The Bashaw deigned the
following in reply:--"There was a boy left with his father, whilst the
mother and wife had gone to a neighbouring village on an errand. The boy,
after a sleep of three hours, awoke, and, looking about him and not
seeing his mother, began to cry for her. 'Oh,' said the father, 'you
have begun to cry for your mother after three minutes, you blubbering
urchin; whilst I have been waiting for my wife, with the most enduring
patience, these three long hours."--"So it is with me," continued the
Bashaw; "you are crying for Ghat after three months' residence here, and
I have been crying for Ghat these three long years. I have been waiting
every year, every month and day in the year, to go and take it, or
destroy it, but the Sultan sends me no orders." I noticed the Fullan boy
of the Bashaw, and observed to him that I had seen very few of the Fullan
slaves. The Bashaw returned, "That boy is gold to me. When I was sick, he
was the only one who waited upon me unceasingly, and never left my couch.
I have also a Fullan girl; her hair is as long as your women's, and
reaches down to her waist." Mr. Gagliuffi afterwards told me His Highness
had been some while choosing a wife, that is, a substitute for his wife
who is in Tripoli, and had at last found what he liked in this Fullan
girl, of whose beauty and grace he said the Bashaw boasted to him (the
Consul), a thing quite unusual amongst Mohammedans. The features of this
Fullan boy were very regular, black eyes and a light olive complexion.
Such were Fullan slaves of our caravan; and the most _recherchée_ of all
the females, fetching the highest price, was a Fullanah girl.

His Highness related several anecdotes of the Soudanese people. Slaves
are told, on leaving Soudan, that white people will kill them and eat
them; but when they get here, and see themselves kindly treated, they
become reconciled to slavery. In some of the Nigritian countries, when
the people get old,--say seventy or eighty years of age,--their
relatives and friends say to them, "Come, now you are very old, and are
of no use in the world: it is better for you to go away to your fathers
and to the gods. There you will be young again, eat and drink as well as
ever, and be as beautiful and as strong as you ever were or can be. You
will renew your young days like the young birds, and the young lions."
"Very well," reply the aged decrepid creatures, "we will go." They then
dress up their aged worn-out victim in his fine clothing, and make a
feast. When in the midst of drums and horrible screams, during the height
of the feast, they lay hold of the old man, and throw him into a large
fire, and he is immediately consumed to ashes. The Bashaw did not
particularize the country, but this barbarous rite has been witnessed in
other parts of the world besides Africa.

The inhabitants of Wadai are a nation of drunkards. They can do nothing
unless drunk. Amongst these people, the greatest mark of friendship is to
present their friends with raw meat, with the bile of the liver poured on
it as sauce or gravy. Wadai is in the neighbourhood of Upper Egypt and
Abyssinia, and the tale reminds one of Bruce, and the live-meat eating
Abyssinians. A Tibboo chief came to Mourzuk, and presented himself
without introduction before His Highness, and thus harangued him:--"Oh
Bey! I want to write to my son, the Bashaw of Tripoli. You must send my
letter to my son." "Give it to me," said His Highness, most
condescendingly. "There it is," cried the Tibboo, and flung it down at
the feet of the Governor. The letter being opened, the contents ran
thus:--"Son, be a good man, fear me and fear God. If you behave well, and
acknowledge me as your father, I will send you three slaves and come and
see you." The Tibboo was allowed to depart from the Governor as a madman.

"See," said the Bashaw to me, "how ignorant and presumptuous are these
Tibboo people."

I replied, "It was always so that ignorance and pride went together, and
it always will be so."

_His Highness._--"Are your people so?"

"Of course, all the world is so."

The Bashaw now came to the Touaricks. "The Touaricks detest cities. When
they visit us, we cannot make them sleep within the walls." I observed,
they have not confidence in the people of the towns they visit. The
Bashaw thought that was a hit at him, and so it was, for the Touaricks
sleep within the walls of their own cities, and even inside Ghadames. I
occupied a house which they had tenanted just before my arrival.
Therefore His Highness jumped from the Touaricks to the
Ghadamseeah:--"The Ghadamsee people are a nation of Jews. I once had to
escort them. One morning when I got up I found them all in separate
groups, for they detest each other's society. (The Bashaw might have
observed the separation of the two hereditary factions.) They were all in
disorder. I got a whip and laid it on them one after another, as they
whip their slaves. The next morning they were all ready to start before I
was. This is the way to treat these Jews. The curse of God is upon them.
When they die nothing is found in their houses, nor gold, silver, money,
or goods, not even victuals. God punishes them thus because they are a
nation of Jews and slave-dealers." Belazee forgets that his government is
partly supported by the slave-traffic. But the Bashaw is a man of great
audacity, takes large views of things, assumes the air of lavish and
magnificent pretensions, and hates the quiet, thrifty, and money-making
character of the merchants of Ghadames. The Bashaw concluded his long
string of anecdotes by asking me, on my return, to bring him a watch, but
not to bring it if I did not intend to charge him for it, for he could
not accept presents from me, since he had a fixed salary from the Sultan.
He added, "I'm sorry you have not brought a letter from the Bashaw of
Tripoli, for I can't show you the attention I would wish. But bring a
letter when you return, and I'll write to all the princes of Africa for
you." I answered, "Oh, I'll bring you a firman from the Porte, if that
will do for you." At which His Highness laughed heartily.

Whatever ferocity of disposition Hasan Belazee may have shown in the
decapitation of Abd-El-Geleeh, he certainly knows how to be polite and
show hospitality to strangers. The British Consul-General tried to get
him removed from Mourzuk, with the tyrant, Asker Ali, from Tripoli, but
Belazee was the only man who could keep this province tranquil, and the
trade with the coast uninterrupted. Mr. Gagliuffi tells me, as a proof of
the Bashaw's influence in the interior, that His Highness wrote to the
Touaricks of Aheer and Ghat to allow liberated slaves to return
unmolested to their country, as an act acceptable to God, seeing the poor
slaves had been liberated by their pious Mussulman masters, who invoked
upon them the blessing of the Almighty on the day of their liberation.
And it is said, that, in no case, when a freed slave took a letter from
the Bashaw, did the slave fail to reach his native country. How
different this Desert morality to that of the villanous Americans, who
glory in recapturing freed slaves, or hanging them up by Lynch Law--and
those poor men have bought their freedom by the sweat of their brow! The
Bashaw is also strong amongst the Tibboos, who are generally an immoral
race of Africans. These Tibboos attacked a merchant of Tripoli and
plundered him near their country. His Highness immediately clapped all
the Tibboos then at Mourzuk in prison, until the merchant's goods were
restored, and he himself brought safe to Mourzuk. Since this strong
measure, the Tibboos have plundered no more Tripoline merchants.

Mr. Gagliuffi pointed out several Tibboos to me in the town, and amongst
the rest one who called himself a Sultan. This chief came the other day
to the Consul and thus addressed him:--

"My wife is coming here. I'm so glad. She is such a good wife. Oh, so
good!"

"Why is she a good wife?" inquired the Consul.

"Oh, she has killed two women; first the daughter, then the mother;
wretches who wanted to kill her. Isn't that a good wife?"

The Tibboo women secrete knives about them, as the Italian and Spanish
ladies conceal the stiletto in their garters. It does not come within my
province to describe the Tibboos, but I may say briefly of the social
condition of those tribes, in that country it is "Man and his Mistress,"
and not "Woman and her Master." The Tibboo ladies do not even allow a
husband to enter his own home without sending word previously to announce
himself. A Tibboo lady once explained this matter in Mourzuk. "Why,"
said the Tibbooess, "should I not have two or three husbands, as well as
my husband two or three wives? Are not we women as good as men? Of
course, I don't wish my husband to surprise me enjoying myself with my
lovers." It is a notorious fact, that when the salt caravans go from
Aheer to Bilma, the whole villages are cleared of the men, the Tibboo men
escaping to the neighbouring mountains with provisions for a month. In
the meanwhile, the Tibboo women and the strangers are left to themselves.
The women transact all the trade of salt, and manage alone their
household affairs. The Tibboo women, indeed, are everything, and their
men nothing--idling and lounging away their time, and kicked about by
their wives as so many useless drones of society. The women maintain the
men as a race of stallions, and not from any love for them; but to
preserve the Tibboo nation from extinction.

A brief description of the oases of Fezzan may be given, beginning with
_Mourzuk_, (‮مرزوق‬). The capital is placed in
25° 54′ N. Lat., and 14° 12′ E. of Greenwich. It is a walled city,
contained within the circumference of about three miles, having a
population of about 3,500 souls. The area of the site was reduced to
a third, on the south side, by Abd-El-Geleel, for the convenience of
defence, when he held it against the Turks. On the west, is the
Castle of the Bashaw, forming a separate division or quarter from
the town. The Castle, which consists of many buildings and
court-yards, contains the barracks. The town is formed of one large
broad street, opening into a spacious square before the Castle, and
several smaller narrower streets. Since the occupation of the Turks,
many improvements have been made. A new mosque has been built, and
a guard-house is being finished for the troops in town. Two or three
coffee-houses and new shops have been fitted up, and the progress of
building improvements continues. Mourzuk has three gates. The houses
are mostly built of sun-dried bricks, cemented with mud, very little
stone and no lime being found in the environs. Altogether it is a
clean place, for an interior African city. The suburbs already have
been noticed, where in the gardens wheat, barley, ghusub, ghafouly,
the flax plant, common vegetables and flowers, a few roses and
jessamines, are cultivated, with the noble date-palm overshadowing
all. Every garden has its well, or wells. Sweet water is scarce. The
spring crops are six weeks in advance of those in Tripoli. The
Bashaw, on my taking leave of His Highness, presented me with a
handful of ripe barley to bring to Tripoli, as a rarity. One bushel
or measure of seed-corn produces from twenty-four to twenty-eight
bushels. A greater quantity of corn could be easily produced in all
the oases. A man and boy with an ass can cultivate corn enough in a
season to subsist three or four families during six months. There
are two seasons and two crops. But the gardens near the city offer
no features of beautiful vegetation. At a distance there are much
finer specimens of Saharan cultivation.

The government of Mourzuk consists of a Bashaw, ostensibly assisted by a
Divan of six persons, to whom is joined the Kady. Besides a Kady in this
city, there are four Kadys in the rest of the province. The garrison
consists of five hundred and fifty men and boys, about one-third only of
whom are Turks, the rest being Arabs and Moors. Of the whole force, one
hundred and fifty are cavalry. There is besides an irregular corps of a
hundred Arab horse. The superior officers, including the
commander-in-chief, are all Turks. The medical officer is a Greek. The
Porte has very few Turkish doctors. The medical officer at Tripoli was
the late Dickson, an Englishman. This inconsiderable force is sufficient
to maintain all the oases in tranquillity, and defend them from the
hostile tribes.

The commerce of Mourzuk is at a low ebb on account of the rival Touarick
city of Ghat, and especially from the disturbed state of the Bornou route
during the last few years. However, there are caravans between Cairo and
Mourzuk, which never frequent Tripoli. Many British and Levant goods come
by this route, which are not brought by the ordinary route from Tripoli.

Saharan merchants divide Central Africa or Nigritia, into three
divisions, according to the marts and routes of the interior commerce,
viz.: Bornou, with which Mourzuk has the most direct relations; Soudan,
or Bur-el-Abeed, ("Land of Slaves"), with which Ghat and Ghadames have
direct and most frequent communications; and, finally, Timbuctoo, with
which Ghat and Ghadames have likewise always relations. But Morocco is
the country in North Africa which has the most constant relations with
Timbuctoo; so much so, that in past times, the Emperors pretended to
exercise sovereignty over this mysterious city of the banks of the Niger.

As before mentioned, Mourzuk is not healthy[111]. The Greek doctor calls
the fever "_febre terziane_" (Ital.), apparently the ordinary
intermittent fever, or perhaps the tertian ague, with local
peculiarities. It usually begins in April and continues all summer. It
recommences in October, and persons attacked in this month are sick
during the whole of the month. About two per cent. die if they have
medical assistance, but, without this assistance, a great number die.
After it, comes the bile, "_gastrica bigliosa_." (Ital.) This disease has
also fatal consequences. The simple fever is often accompanied, when it
presents itself, with worms; it then changes to intermittent fever, and
if it does not, is usually fatal. Persons not cured of the fever often
become dropsical. There are a few cases of consumption. Syphilis is very
virulent, and prevails amongst the troops. Ophthalmia and rheumatism are
common complaints. Thus Mourzuk is not quite one of those oases, or
Hesperian gardens, where the happy residents quaff the elixir of immortal
health and virtue. Contrarily, it is a sink of vice and disease within,
and a sere foliage of palms and vegetation without, overhung with an ever
forbidding sky, of dull red haziness.

The Turkish system of laxity of morals, as exhibited in all their
garrison towns, has full force, free course, and scope in Mourzuk,
beginning as an example with His Highness the Bashaw, and descending to
the lowest soldiers. Yet they say, it was infinitely worse before the
present commanding officer had charge of the troops. The officers have
no legitimate wives, nor, of course the privates. The women of Mourzuk
are therefore necessarily of bold aspect and depraved manners. All the
lower classes of females are usually unveiled, and will commit acts of
immodesty anywhere. In general these women are constantly being divorced
and taking new husbands. In such a depraved state of society, love and
affection are consequently unknown,

Here never--

    "Love his gold shafts employs;"

Never here--

    "Waves his purple wings."

Mr. Gagliuffi thought one of the greatest obstacles to the suppression of
the slave-trade was the facility which it afforded Moorish and Arab
merchants to indulge in sensual amours. Although a merchant would get no
profit by his long and dreary journeys over Desert, he would still carry
it on for the sake of indulging in the lower passions of his nature. A
slave dealer will convey a score or two of female slaves from Mourzuk to
Tripoli, and change the unhappy objects of his brutal lust every night.
This is, he considers, the summum bonum of human existence, and to obtain
it, he will continue this nefarious trade, without the smallest gain, or
prospect of gain, and die a beggar when his vile passions become extinct.
"What is life without a slave?" says The Desert voluptuary. "Better to
die than have no slaves!" But there are exceptions. A young lad is placed
by his uncle, who lives in Tripoli, under the care of the Consul. His
uncle wrote to the Consul, "To tell the lad, to send no more slaves to
Tripoli, to abandon the traffic altogether," adding, in his letter, "In
future, God deliver us from this shameful traffic!" But the Consul
previously had written to the uncle that he would not take the boy under
his care if he trafficked in slaves. Notwithstanding all this, some few
Saharan merchants there are who really detest this traffic, and its
attendant immoralities. Such I have found in my later peregrinations
through North Africa.

Fezzan, as vulgarly computed, is said to contain one hundred and one
towns and villages, or inhabited oases. The districts are, 1st. Mourzuk,
the capital; 2nd. East side, including Hofrah, Shargheeah, and Foghah;
3rd. North side, Sebhah, Bounanees, Jofrah, and Shaty; 4th. West side,
Wady Sharghee, Wady Ghurby, and Wady Atbah; 5th. South side, Ghatroun.
This division embraces twelve principal towns, where there are resident
Kaeds. All the lesser towns have their subordinate Kaeds or Sheikhs. It
will be seen that Sockna is not included in this enumeration, and it is
not usually considered a part of the government of Fezzan. Of the rest,
and all the towns, Zuela is the more interesting for its antiquities.
Formerly the capital, as well as Germa, it was colonized by the Romans.
Zuela contains some ancient inscriptions, and not long ago two
store-rooms were discovered, full of indigo, supposed to have been a
portion of the ancient commerce of the interior. Zuela is the principal
town of the division of Shargheeah, or The East.

To the natural productions of Fezzan, already enumerated, may be added,
the Trona[112], or "Sal Natrone" of Tripoline merchants. It is procured
from the bottom of the lakes when the water evaporates during the summer
season. Besides its use of being masticated in Barbary, it is exported to
Europe in considerable quantities, for the manufacture of glass. A little
gum-arabic is procured hereabouts, and the quantity is increasing.

Leo Africanus gives the following account of these oases, which, joining
those of the Tibboos, connect almost in a straight line Northern with
Central Africa:--

"Fezzen è similmente una grande abitazione, nella quale sono di grossi
castelli e di gran casali, tutti abitati da un ricco popolo si di
possessioni, como di danari; perciocchè sono ne' confini di Agadez e del
diserto di Libia che confina con lo Egitto; ed è discosto dal Cairo circa
a sessanta giornate; nè pel diserto altra abitazione si truova, che
Augela che' é nel diserto di Libia. Fezzen è dominata da un signore che è
come primario del popolo, il quale tutta la rendita del paese dispensa
nel comun beneficio, pagando certo tributo a' vicini Arabi. Similmente in
cotal paese è molta penuria di pane e di carne; e si mangia carne di
camello, la quale è tuttavia carissima."--(_Sixth Part, chap._ Liii.)

Formerly Fezzan was exceedingly rich and populous, but now it is
become impoverished to the last degree, and many of its largest
district populations are reduced to the starvation-point. Its
inhabited oases would produce an infinitely greater amount of the
materials of existence, if moderately cultivated, whilst many oases,
once smiling paradisal spots in Desert, are altogether abandoned.
The few merchants who have any money are those of Sockna, but which
town, as before mentioned, does not properly belong to Fezzan,
though its relations with these oases are intimate. Before the
Turks and Abd-El-Geleel, Fezzan was governed by its own native
Sultans, whose family was of the Shereefs of Morocco. But about
thirty years ago one Mukhanee, or Mukni[113], as he is commonly
called, entered into conspiracy with the Bashaw of Tripoli to seize
the government of the native princes, who were thus deposed, and the
usurped government continued in the hands of the Bashaw and his
creatures, until it was seized in turn by the brave and enterprising
Arab chieftain, Abd-El-Geleel. The immediate ancestors of this
Sheikh were destroyed by old Yousef Bashaw, amongst whom Saif
Nasser, grandfather of the Sheikh, and the head of the Oulad
Suleiman, was a celebrated warrior. These chiefs and their tribes
occupied the shores of the Syrtis (Sert ‮سرت‬), and were originally
from Morocco. They might claim some connexion with the deposed
Shereefian government. When all his ancestors, and especially his
grandfather, Saif-Nasser, were butchered by the exterminating policy
of Yousef Bashaw, Abd-El-Geleel, then a boy, was saved,--as an
instrument of future vengeance in the hands of Providence--by the
secret interference of the women of the Bashaw's family. As the boy,
however, grew up, he could not fail to excite the suspicions of the
Bashaw, for the old hoary-headed assassin saw in him, not darkly or
dimly, the sword which was being drawn by avenging Heaven to cut off
his family root and branch, perhaps his own head, and break up for
ever his blood-cemented kingdom. These suspicions of a guilty
conscience came at length to such a pitch, that the day arrived when
the innocent youth was to be strangled, so snatching violently away
the instrument of vengeance from the hands of inexorable justice!
But, on that very day, the Bashaw received intelligence of a
threatened invasion from Mehemet Ali, and old Yousef knew this
aspiring young warrior to be the only man who could unite the
scattered and disaffected tribes of the Syrtis, and repel the
invasion. Abd-El-Geleel was therefore forthwith dispatched to muster
the Arabs, and make all things ready to meet the invading enemy.
However, the alarms of invasion soon died away, and the young Sheikh
was sent up to the province of Fezzan to quell some insurrection of
the Arabs.

But finding himself surrounded continually with suspicious agents and
cut-throat spies, who might in a moment compass his assassination, whilst
the Arabs _en route_ were ripe for revolt, the wary Sheikh at once raised
the standard of rebellion, and took possession, successively, of the town
of Benioleed, the mountainous district of Gharian, the Syrtis, and the
province of Fezzan, all which he held nine years with the style and power
of a Sultan. Then the day of his fate also began to hasten on. The old
Bashaw's family, polluted with the most cruel and odious crimes, fell by
its own intestine divisions, ending in a civil war, which war was closed
by the usurpation of the Turks. Abd-El-Geleel was now called upon to
submit to the Sultan of Constantinople, a new and a more formidable
master. The Sheikh refused submission, and declared and carried on war
with the Turks. At length, however, his intrepid brother, Saif Nasser,
was killed in battle, and the Sultan-Sheikh became dispirited, lost his
courage and presence of mind. Abd-El-Geleel madly surrendered himself,
at the instigation of his own Sheikhs, who betrayed him to the Turks, and
Belazee, the present Bashaw of Fezzan, who commanded the troops against
him, on hearing of his voluntary surrender, sent word that the Arab
prince was not to be brought alive into the camp. He was then instantly
decapitated! This cruel assassination took place in 1842. The whole of
the usurped districts held by the prince, now returned to the power of
the Turks.

Asker Ali, the blood-thirsty tyrant then governing Tripoli, on hearing of
this intelligence was drunk with joy. His insolence to the British
Consul-General knew no bounds. The tyrant even boasted openly, that God
would give into his hands his two other enemies, the British
Consul-General, and the Vice-Consul of Mourzuk! The tyrant was fond of
dipping in astrology and reading fate, and he was once surprised by his
ministers, reading the certain destruction of these last two of his
remaining enemies in a small portion of sand. The consequence of all this
open violence naturally was his instant recal, Sir Stratford Canning
threatening the Porte that, if it delayed his recal more than one hour, a
British squadron would depose the tyrant, and replace him by another
Bashaw. The ancient Bey of Bengazi, an exile in Malta, and one of the
Caramanly family, or of the old Moorish dynasty of Bashaws, would have
replaced Asker Ali. This tyrant, like all tyrants, on receiving his
recal, was unmanned, and became weaker than a child, for the performance
of acts of the darkest cruelty and the most arrant cowardice, are quite
compatible. The tyrant Asker Ali shed tears! on leaving the country,
where he had exercised the most atrocious cruelties. However, he was
fated to execute one act of justice, in the style of the Turk, against
the betrayers of Abd-El-Geleel; for the tyrant strangled all the
subordinate Arab chieftains who had conspired against their master, and
delivered him into the hands of the Turks,--the just vengeance of heaven
against traitors. Asker Ali returned to Constantinople, and as is the
custom now-a-days, the Porte, imitating the recent policy of the French
Government, which Government, whenever it disavows its agents, decorates
them as a matter of course,--so that to be, or get decorated, is to do
something contrary to international law and justice,--following such a
good and honest maxim, such a discovery in the science of diplomacy, I
repeat, the Porte, in its sympathy, immediately conferred on the tyrant a
new Pashalic. Thence, after a short time, Asker Ali continuing his
horrible trade of official murder, consulting his book of fate and atoms
of sand, and hanging up the good subjects of the Porte "without judge or
jury," got again recalled; and I have not heard more of this miscreant
Pasha. Asker Ali is a bright jewel of native Ottoman ferocity.

The Chief Abd-El-Geleel figures in the Slave-Trade Reports of Tripoli,
1843, as an abolitionist. But, according to M. Subtil, he was only
bamboozling Col. Warrington[114]. This Subtil also pretends the chieftain
was more inclined to French than English interests. Such a statement is
probably a calumny of the sulphur-exploring adventurer in Tripoli, and
was made to get himself popularity in France, or to help his schemes of
Tripoli speculations. At any rate, it rests solely upon his very dubious
authority. The Arab prince lost all by attempting too much. He reversed
the maxim of "attempt much, and you will get a little." An arrangement
was offered to the Sheikh, by which, on paying a contribution of 25,000
dollars per annum, and acknowledging the sovereignty of the Grand
Signior, the usurped districts should be confirmed to him, and
hereditarily to his family. But, like the ten thousand military
chieftains, soldiers of fortune, who have gone before him, whose faith
saw their star always in the ascendant, he sighed for Tripoli, and its
Bashaw's Castle, and lost all.

The son of Abd-el-Geleel, on the assassination of his father, took the
advice of Col. Warrington, and emigrated to Bornou, whose Sultan being of
Arab extraction, received the emigrant hospitably as a brother, and
assigned the unfortunate prince and his scattered followers, a district
on the confines of Bornou, between the Tibboos and his own empire. Since
then, the exiled prince has received a great accession of strength by a
numerous reinforcement of the Oulad Suleiman, and is now strong enough
himself to defend his newly acquired territory, should the Sultan of
Bornou at any time be won over by the intrigues of the Turks, to cancel
his concession of lands and attempt to expel the refugees. This movement
of the Oulad Suleiman is connected with the further military exploits of
Hasan Belazee.

About a twelvemonth ago, the inhabitants of the village of Omm-Errâneb
("mother of hares"), took it into their heads to revolt, and upon some
frivolous pretext seized their neighbours' camels, as an intimation to
the Bashaw of their seditious intentions. It is certain, however, from
what followed in the course of events, that their revolt was concerted
with the Oulad Suleiman. The villagers of Omm-Errâneb had not the shadow
of excuse for their revolt, for they paid no contributions to the Bashaw,
and merely acknowledged the Porte. This town is walled and consists of
about two hundred houses, and at the time of the war had a population of
some eight hundred souls, entirely Arab, but of the people only three
hundred were armed. The Bashaw of Fezzan went out himself against the
rebels, although extremely unwell, captured their city, and destroyed
about one hundred and twenty of them. The Arab townsmen fought from house
to house with the most determined bravery, obstinately retiring through
their town from one gate to the other. The Bashaw would have slaughtered
more of them, but he had no men to intercept their egress at the opposite
gate of the town. His Highness lost only eight Turks and eight Arabs in
the capture of this place. On the next day, to the astonishment of all,
about six hundred of the Oulad Suleiman came up from the Syrtis, all
fully armed, having left their families some two days' distance. The
first thing they did was to capture a convoy of sick and wounded, in
charge of the Greek Doctor, all of whom they immediately butchered in
cold blood, with the one exception of the Doctor.

The account which the Doctor gives of his capture and escape is
sufficiently characteristic.

_The Assailant._--"May your father and mother be cursed, and your wife
prostituted, you dog of a Turk!" (raising the sword to strike him).

_The Supplicant._--"Oh! have mercy upon me, I'm a doctor," (falling on
his knees).

_An Arab_, aside.--"Strike! strike! he lies."

_The Assailant._--"May all your children beg their bread, and the curse
of God be upon them!" (seizing him by the turban to cut off his head).

_The Supplicant._--"Oh! have mercy upon me, I'm the brother of the
English Consul at Mourzuk, your friend."

_The Arab_, aside.--"Hold! hold! let him go."

But the Doctor did not get off until he had emptied his pockets of his
dollars. In this way only he rendered his supplications effectual.

In warfare, both Turks and Greeks have been in the habit of taking what
money they possess with them, to redeem them from slavery if captured, or
for any other available purpose in the case of defeat[115]. The Oulad
Suleiman then attacked the Bashaw with extreme ferocity, and His Highness
was in great danger. He was so unwell at the time that he could not sit
upon his horse. But, when the troops began to waver, the officers took
the Bashaw and set him upon his horse to show him to the soldiers. The
sight of the veteran commander rallied their sinking courage. His
Highness had just strength enough to hold up his sword and point to the
enemy, on seeing which his troops rushed on impetuously, and obtained a
complete victory over the Arabs. The Arabs were, however, only dispersed
a moment, and were allowed to reunite their scattered bands and pursue
tranquilly their way to Bornou, to the prince of their tribe. All the
fugitives of the Omm-Errâneb accompanied them. On their march up, they
ruthlessly sacked all the villages of Fezzan and the Tibboos, and
arrived at the quarters of their compatriots laden with booty. The
Bashaw returned weary and exhausted, having no sufficient force to follow
up the pursuit of the Oulad Suleiman, whose march was that of conquerors
rather than fugitives. Indeed, the Bashaw was glad enough of their
retreat to Bornou. Whilst this fighting was going on, the greatest
confusion reigned at Mourzuk, and many of the wealthy inhabitants
deposited their money and valuables in the house of the English Consul,
for to add to their miseries, some malicious persons had reported the
capture of the Bashaw, with all his army. It is probable the Turks are
exceedingly well satisfied with the emigration of these restless and
indomitable Oulad Suleiman. There cannot be a doubt of their being
devoted to the English, but they are of difficult treatment for us. At
the present time, they are dispersed in marauding parties on the route of
Bornou, and were even an English tourist to fall into their hands, he
might be maltreated before he was recognized as a British subject, and as
such received the protection of their prince. This was the main
difficulty which prevented my going up to Bornou.

It would seem, however, the Oulad Suleiman are getting tired of the
burning climate and fevers of Bornou, and are sighing for the cool airs
and healthy breezes of the shores of Syrtis, with the refreshing sight of
the dark-blue waters of the Mediterranean. For on my return to Tripoli, I
found the British Consul in negotiation with the Bashaw to procure their
return to the Syrtis: of which since I have heard nothing. The Bashaw
told the Consul they must write to the Sultan for pardon. The negotiation
was placed in the hands of Mr. Gagliuffi, of whom they are passionately
fond, and in whom they have the most implicit confidence. These
malcontent Arabs were, of course, on friendly terms with the Touaricks of
Ghat, as every attempt to resist the consolidation of the power of the
Porte in Tripoli is viewed favourably by the Touaricks. But the marauding
of the Oulad Suleiman in the interior, and the interruption of the
commerce of Bornou, ill requite the asylum and hospitality afforded them
by its Sultan, and for the sake of the commerce of The Sahara, the sooner
they are back again to the Syrtis the better.

_5th._--Rose early to write and prepare for my departure to Tripoli.
Called on the Turkish officers to take leave. One and all observed,
"Before you were going to h----, now you are going to heaven," alluding
to my projected tour to Soudan. I was not of this opinion; for, after
months and months in my dreams, night-dreams and waking-dreams, having
acted over in my imagination all the dangers and privations of The
Desert, and seen all the wonders of the mysterious regions of Nigritia, I
set about my departure from Mourzuk with a heavy heart, lamenting my
ill-starred luck and failure, seeing my mission abruptly cut off midway
in its accomplishment. Mr. Gagliuffi arranged for my returning to Tripoli
with the slave-caravan of Haj Essnousee, whom the reader will be pleased
not to confound with my friend Essnousee of Ghadames, who had gone on to
Soudan with the return caravan. Haj Essnousee had accompanying him two or
three other traders, all of whom were natives of Sockna. Their slaves had
not come from Ghat, but had been brought three months ago by the Tibboos
from Bornou.

I left Mourzuk late in the afternoon. I had heard the melancholy song of
the slaves departing in the morning. I had now to overtake them this
evening. Mr. Gagliuffi and the Doctor accompanied me outside the gates,
and the Consul's Moorish servant conducted me to the first night's
encampment, both of us riding horses. I do not regret turning off the
direct route to Tripoli, and visiting Mourzuk before my return. For here
I obtained a better idea of the Upper Provinces of Tripoli, and I am
greatly indebted to the Vice-Consul for his assistance in my researches.
I must acknowledge likewise the kind attentions of the Doctor and the
Turkish officers. I bade Mr. Gagliuffi an affectionate farewell, who
answered with the plain earnest old English of "God bless you!" I left
the Consul in but indifferent health. Three times has he had the fever,
yet he is determined to keep up to the last. When Mr. Gagliuffi first
went to Mourzuk, he expected that Abd-El-Geleel, whose agent he was, as
well as having the appointment of British Vice-Consul, would have been
confirmed in his authority. But this Chief's assassination left the
Consul to struggle against formidable difficulties, and Mr. Gagliuffi was
obliged to apply to the British Government for pecuniary assistance,
which has been tardily granted.

The appointment of Mr. Gagliuffi has fully answered all the objects
originally projected. The traffic in slaves is well watched on this
route, and reported upon. The Vice-Consul exercises a beneficial
influence on the affairs of Mourzuk, and is useful both to the governing
power and the governed. The population of Fezzan have great faith in the
integrity of Mr. Gagliuffi as agent of the British Government. The Consul
assists them in various ways. Some twenty months ago he lent the people
of Mourzuk money to meet the tribute demanded from them by the Government
of Tripoli. His relations with Bornou have already been mentioned. The
Vizier of the Sheikh lately, on his return from a pilgrimage to Mecca,
stopped at the Consul's house, and Mr. Gagliuffi transacted all his
business. Most strangers go to the Consul, in preference to the Ottoman
authorities, or the people of the town. A great Maroquine Marabout came
this way from Mecca, and deposited all his money, whilst in Mourzuk, in
the hands of the Consul. The people were jealous that a Marabout should
trust a Christian in preference to themselves, and remonstrated with the
Marabout, who very drily replied to them, "You are not of the Faithful:
you are all robbers. I am obliged to trust this Christian."

Unquestionably the establishment of English Consuls and Vice-Consuls
throughout The Desert, and all the great cities of the Interior of
Africa, would be an immense benefit to humanity, whilst it would equally
promote British trade and interests, and the commerce of the entire
world. One day, in happier times, there may be a Minister wise enough and
bold enough to undertake this great enterprize, and to make this
application of our resources, which eventually would be no sacrifice, for
the benefit of all mankind. It will, however, require sacrifices from
individuals as well as from Government, for a residence in The Desert or
Central Africa is no consular retreat, or diplomatic lounge for an
invalid Minister. But if any sacrifice be made for foreign nations and
countries, it surely should be made for Africa, on whose unhappy children
we as a nation, in past times, have inflicted such enormous wrongs.

I shall only give one instance of the positive and material benefit which
the people of Fezzan have derived from the establishment of the British
Consul at Mourzuk. Mr. Gagliuffi induced the people to cultivate the
tholh for collecting gums. Fifty cantars were collected the first year,
and last year some two hundred. The whole of the population are now
seized with a fit of gum-collecting, but they are not yet expert at
making the incisions in the trees. In the course of time it will be a
most profitable article of export for the people. This gum now sells for
10 or 12 mahboubs the cantar in Tripoli. Such has been entirely the "good
work" of the English Consul.

We stopped at one of Mr. Gagliuffi's gardens to get some sweet water.
This was a very nice plantation of palms overshadowing crops of corn. The
Consul has several of these gardens, but all of a limited size. After
sunset, we found the encampment at Terzah. It consisted of three
merchants and their servants, about sixty slaves, most of whom were young
women and girls, and twelve camels. Felt cold during the night--in fact
caught cold, and not very well. Ought to have a tent. Said very happy in
the prospect of returning to Tripoli, and as usual immediately made
friends amongst the male and female slaves.

FOOTNOTES:

[111] Our former tourists say: "The opinion of everybody, Arabs,
    Tripolines, and our predecessors (Mr. Ritchie and Captain Lyon),
    were unanimous as to the insalubrity of its air." And "Every one
    of us, some in a greater or less degree, had been seriously
    disordered; and amongst the inhabitants themselves, anything like
    a healthy-looking person was a rarity." Denham observes also that
    to account for the sickliness of Mourzuk was a very difficult
    matter, and required a wiser head than his.

[112] _Trona_, ‮الطرون‬, and ‮ترونه‬ "Carbonate of
    Soda." The great _Trona_ lake is near Germa or Garama.

[113] ‮مُخني‬

[114] See "Histoire d'Abd-el-Geleel, Sultan de Fezzan, assassiné
    en 1842." _Revue de L'Orient_, Sept., 1844.

[115] The Doctor afterwards recovered his money, the Arab who
    captured him having fallen in the skirmish.




CHAPTER XXVII.

FROM MOURZUK TO SOCKNA.

     Well of Esh-Shour.--Village of Dillaim.--Tying up a Female Slave
     to the Camel.--Village of Gudwah.--Well of Bel-Kashee
     Faree.--Melancholy Songs of the Slaves.--Reflections on the Slave
     Trade; Christian Republicans, and the Scottish Free Kirk.--Well
     of Mukni.--El-Bab.--She-Camels with Foals.--How American Consuls
     justify Slavery.--Arrival at Sebhah, and description of the
     People.--Cruelty of a Moorish Boy to the young Female
     Slaves.--Prohibited Food in matters of Religion.--The Taste of a
     Locust.--Anecdotes related by the Bashaw of Mourzuk and Mr.
     Gagliuffi.--Divinations of the Tyrant Asker Ali.--Continual
     delays.--Altercation with a Moor about Religion.--The Songs of
     the Female Slaves interpreted.--Version of Mr. Whittier, the
     American Poet.--The _Amor Patriæ_ of the Negroes.--Primitive
     Style of playing Draughts.--Games and Wine prohibited by the
     Koran.--Sebhah, a City of the Dead.--Oases and extent of the
     Sebhah district.--Fezzanee Palms bear Fruit without Water.--Town
     of Timhanah.--Bad Odour of the Turks in these Oases.--Essnousee,
     an atrocious Slave Driver.--Stroke of a Scorpion.


_6th._--ROSE early, and made a long day. Passed a few dwarf wild palms.
Country about here is mostly sandy, and in hollow flats. Encamped by the
well of Esh-Shour. Our course east and north-east. We passed by the small
village of Dillaim. One of the Moors travelling with us said to me, "Oh,
master, how could you think of going to Soudan! How you would have
suffered!" I returned, "No noble enterprizes are achieved without great
mental and bodily suffering." This remark impressed him in my favour, and
we continued great friends all the route to Tripoli.

This morning Haj Essnousee, being on foot, called out for his camel to
stop, in a tone which denoted he had some important business on hand. I
turned to see what was the matter, and so did all, as if something
peculiar was about to happen. I then saw Essnousee bringing up a slave
girl about a dozen years of age, pulling her violently along. When he got
her up to the camel, he took a small cord and began tying it round her
neck. Afterwards, bethinking himself of something, he tied the cord round
the wrist of her right arm. This done, Essnousee drove the camel on. In a
few minutes she fell down, and the slave-master, seeing her fallen down,
and a man attempting to raise her up, cried out, "Let her alone, cursed
be your father! you dog." The wretched girl was then dragged on the
ground over the sharp stones, being fastened by her wrist, but she never
cried or uttered a word of complaint. Her legs now becoming lacerated and
bleeding profusely, she was lifted up by Essnousee's Arabs. She then,
however, continued to hold on, the rope being also bound round her body
so as to help her along. Thus she was dragged, limping and tumbling down,
and crippled all the day, which was a very long day's journey. Whether
she feigned sickness, or sulked, or was exhausted, I leave the reader to
judge. Neither I nor her cruel master could tell. Indeed, such is the
nature of the Negro character it is impossible to tell. A slave may sulk,
and may not; whilst also ill and dying, they may be flogged on the point
of death, as Haj Ibrahim flagellated his dying victim. No doubt, at times
these wretched slaves, when worn down and exhausted, play some innocent
tricks to get a ride. Nevertheless, such is the power of sullen
insensibility which slaves can command, that the brutal masters may flog
them to death without finding out whether they are really ill, or only
sulky.

_7th._--On our return from a difficult journey, everything is, or appears
to be easy. We think little or nothing of it, especially if we have got
with us a new supply of matters of equipment and provisions. So I rose
early with the most profound indifference of the month's journey before
me, as if travelling in old England, and I must likewise add, with less
anxiety for the safety of my baggage. Desert baggage-stealers there are
indeed none, and pickpockets and pilferers are as rare as the birds,
which now and then are seen hopping about the wells, picking up what they
can chance to find.

Our course is north, over an undulating sandy soil. About 11 A.M. we had
in view Ghudwah, and in an hour more we reached the village. Ghudwah is a
cluster of wretched mud hovels, rendered tolerable by being placed amidst
a wood of palms. The squalor of these humble dwellings is, in truth,
forgotten amongst the patches of beautiful green corn, some already in
the ear, and the graceful, towering, all-over-hanging palm-trees. In a
wady on the left were also forests of palms. The oases of Fezzan are, in
fact, but a series of these palm forests. Unquestionably a great body of
water must be under and near the surface. But we must keep to the
designation of oases in describing the province of Fezzan, of which we
had a convincing proof this morning; for, during four or five hours we
traversed a country in every respect desert, covered with small black
stones, defying all attempts at cultivation, and this desert land
apparently surrounds and intersects the entire series of the oases of
Fezzan.

When we got clear of Ghudwah we halted for the day, about 2 P.M., near a
well called Bel-Kashee-Faree. I was glad to halt, both for the sake of
the slaves, and myself. To-day the same girl was not tied to the camel,
but a younger one. She also, poor thing, was dragged along, limping as
she went, and whenever she stopped a moment to tie up her sandals, she
had the greatest difficulty to reach again the camel. I was annoyed to
see none of her sister-slaves give her a lift and help her on to get up
to the camel, so that she might continue to be assisted by its march.
Some of the poor things, however, have their intimate friends in their
fellow bondswomen. The girl dragged on yesterday, had her faithful
companion, bringing her water and dates. But in spite of all their
sufferings, the poor bondswomen keep up well. The young women sing and
sometimes dance on the road, while the boys ape the Turkish soldiers whom
they had seen exercise in Mourzuk, walking in file, holding up sticks on
their shoulders, and crying out "Shoulder arms!" or words to that effect.
The guileless lads of Africa think these two magic words to be the
quintessence of Turkish and European civilization, and that which renders
the white men superior to their sable fathers. Two of the boys are
dressed in old soldiers' jackets and look very droll. So we journey along
as well as we can.

But whilst surveying the march of this troop of human cattle for the
market, I can't but think how dreadful a trade is this of buying and
selling our fellow creatures! The Moors and Arabs of the ghafalah are
civil enough. They discover great curiosity at seeing me write, and not a
little surprise, like all I have met with, to find me writing Arabic,
whilst some of themselves cannot. They are all of Sockna.

It is now near sunset, but I am not going to write a description of a
Saharan sunset, which this evening offers nothing but sheets of bright
yellow flame. Towards the east, the palms, underwood, and herbage make me
fancy myself in the midst of a boundless circle of cultivation, for I see
no "darksome desert" through the pale skyey openings of the thick
verdure. My feelings thus would be soothed and gratified, were it not
that the sounds--always to me so melancholy--of the Negroes' song, as
they clap their hands and sing and dance their native sports, are heard
near my encampment. Then again I feel happy in the reflection that God
gives moments of joyous happiness even to slaves. Why not be soothed to
hear this song of slaves? What a mysterious thing is Providence! Not to
the masters of these slaves, who are now stretched in dreamy listlessness
on the ground, gives God such jocund innocent delights; not to the wiser
and wisest, to the stronger or strongest, (as "the battle is not to the
strong,") gives God happiness; but to the poorest, weakest of mortals,
the forlorn, helpless female slave! As I have mentioned, I heard this
same song--to me so melancholy and disheartening--as the slaves were
departing from Mourzuk. I was then quietly writing, but as the mournful
accents broke on my ear, I started from my usual propriety of feeling,
and the courage which carried me over The Desert gave away under the
pressure of these strange Nigritian sounds of the poor black children,
the desolate daughters of the banks of the mysterious Niger. The tears
rushed to my eyes, but I stopped them in their lachrymal sluices, and
called it folly, for to weep I cannot, I will not. Rather let me curse
the slave-dealers of every land and clime. Yes, let this foolish
sensibility be turned to exasperation; let me curse those proud
Republicans, in whose heart there is no flesh, whose flag bears impiously
against Heaven the stripes and the scars of the slaves! These I cursed,
and those who in the hypocrisy of their souls, and their sanctimonious
pretensions to Church freedom, received the gold tainted with the blood
of the slave, to build up their Free Kirk! But why curse? What impotence!
Why not leave the avenging bolt of wrath to that God, who "hath made of
one blood all the nations of men, for to dwell on all the face of the
earth?"

_8th._--Rose at sunrise and started with the day. Route north and
north-west, over an undulating gravelly plain. A few tholh trees, and one
solitary tholh by the road-side, which at a great distance forms a very
conspicuous object. A single tree in The Desert always excites more
interest in the mind of the reflective traveller than a forest. Solitary
palms are often seen near the coast. At noon, reached the well called
Beer Mukhanee, after the distinguished traitor, who dug it, but who
betrayed and ruined this country. Many a tyrant and traitor has left
behind him some monument of utility, to relieve the weight of his
infamous name with posterity. The well is very deep and the water good,
but we did not take in any, as wells are frequent hereabouts. Continued
our course until sunset, a long day, and encamped at the base of a small
mountain, called Babān, or "Two Doors," and by others, El-Bab, or "The
Door." The Door and the Gate, like the famous "Iron Gate" in Algeria, are
frequent names of rocky hills and mountains in this part of Africa.
Ghaljeewan, a mountainous district of the south-eastern part of Aheer, is
called "the door of Aheer." On the Danube there is a reef of ugly and
huge rocks, over which the current of the river dashes furiously. The
Turks call this "The Iron Gate" of the Danube.

On the road the camels had no herbage to eat. Some of them ate the dried
dung of camels and horses. We have a young camel with us about four
months old; it continues to suck. It has no frolic or fun in its actions,
and is as serious as its mother. The foal of the camel frolics in awkward
antics a few days after its birth, but apparently soon loses all its
infant mirth. In the first place, the foal has to walk as long a day as
its mother, enough to take all the fun out of the poor little thing;
then, it sees all its more aged companions very serious and melancholy,
and soon imbibes their sombre spirit, assuming their slow solemn gait.
The mother-camel never licks or shows any particular fondness for its
young beyond opening her legs for the foal to suck. At best, the camel,
as an animal, is a most ungainly and unlovely creature. What surprises me
most are the bites of the male-camel. He bites his neighbour, without
passion or any apparent provocation, and simply because he has nothing
else to do _en route_, or nothing arrests his attention.

To write in the open Desert is no sinecure. When I go under the shade
from the sun the wind blows unpityingly, when in the sun the flies
torment me. Our grand slave-driver Haj Essnousee, is most determinedly
bent on showing himself a perfect master in his profession. This
afternoon he set to work beating one poor girl most shockingly for not
keeping up with the rest. Nearly all got whipped along to-day. Gave a
ride to one little fellow, hardly five years of age, who limped sadly.
There was no sulk in him. He was cheerful with all his sufferings. Our
road is strewn with chumps of petrified wood.

Was thinking to-day, for whilst travelling with slaves the subject is
most disagreeably pressed upon you, even to nausea, of the reasons
offered by American Consuls in vindication of slavery in the United
States. Mr. P----thus apologized:--"I once spoke to a male slave who
earned plenty of money. I said, 'Do you want to be freed?' 'Oh no,' he
replied, 'I get fifty dollars a month. I give my master forty and keep
ten for myself. Why should I wish to be free?'" Mr. M---- said to me one
day, "My wife has slaves, but they are well taken care of. They each have
two new suits of clothes per year, and the doctor's bill for each comes
to two or three dollars also per year." To such miserable drivelling as
this are men, of some education and standing in society, and the
representatives of the free as well as the slave States, driven to
bolster up the nefarious system of holding in bondage their fellow
creatures! In the one case, a man robs his brother of the rightful fruits
of his labour. This robbery is perpetrated coolly and deliberately
through a series of years. In the other case, the taking care of a slave,
as every humane man must take care of his horse, and give him good beans,
hay, and a warm stable, is made the corner stone of "the living lie" of
liberty on the southern transatlantic plains.

_9th._--Rose with the sun, throwing his orient beams of gold athwart all
the plain, and purpling the rocky block of El-Bab. I mounted the rock,
and saw Sebhah in the north, where we were to rest in the afternoon.
There was a huge stone balancing on a ledge of the rock, which apparently
wanted but a feather's weight to throw it down. Bent on mischief, I was
going to heave it down, when the people called to me to desist. On
descending, they told me the stone had fallen from the clouds and caught
there; it was unlucky to touch it. A demon sits upon it every night and
swings himself as a child is swung in a swing. Continued our route over a
sandy plain, until we arrived at a line of palms stretching east and
west, as far as the eye could see. At 11 A.M., we entered the suburbs of
the town. After a little rest I went to see what sort of a place it was.
Found it a tolerably well-built place; the houses are constructed of
stone and mud-mortar; some have even got a touch of lime or pipe-clay
wash. Several of the streets are covered in at the top like those of
Ghadames. Very few people stirring about, being occupied in the suburban
gardens. Fell in with a cobbler, a tailor, and an old pedagogue with an
ABC board. Discussed the politics of the place with them all. They took
me at first for a Turkish Rais coming from Mourzuk. When they found I was
not a Turk, they began to abuse the Turks. "The Turks," said they, "take
all our money and leave us nothing to eat but dates. The curse of God be
upon them!" Whenever Turkish officers stop here they levy contributions.
The town is walled in with mud and stone-work, and there are several
towers around it forming part of the wall, pierced with loopholes for
firing musketry therefrom. Most of these towns are built for protecting
the people against the Arabs, who can do nothing against a wall, even
were it only a brick thick. One small piece of cannon would be enough to
batter down every one of these Saharan-fortified towns. A part of this
town is placed on a small hill, like Ghat. Sebhah has a dull dingy
appearance at a distance. There is no lime-wash to give it that agreeable
aspect which many Moorish towns have, although always very delusive when
one enters their gates.

This forenoon, a slave-girl was sadly goaded along. An Arab boy of about
the same age was her goad, who was whipping her and goading her along
with a sharp piece of wood. Sometimes the young rascal would poke up her
person. I could not see this without interfering, although I am afraid to
interfere. She had got far behind, and the boy was thus tormenting her
like a young imp. I made him take one hand, and I the other. But we could
not get her up to the camel on which she might lay hold by means of a
rope, and so get dragged along. We then set her upon a donkey, but she
was too unwell to ride, and fell off several times, the cruel rogue of a
boy beating her every time she fell. What annoyed me more, her companions
in bondage, those hearty and well, set up a loud yell of laughter every
time she fell off. I'm sick at heart of writing these shocking details.
But the reader will not be surprised that the Moors make bad
slave-masters, when they have such an early training as this little
reprobate boy, the nephew of Haj Essnousee. I often wondered how this
boy, who was some thirteen years of age, and fully capable of the
sentiment of love, in a climate like Africa, could torment these poor
girls of his own age with such brutality. If he found one lagging behind,
and at some distance from the grown-up men, he would strip her, throw her
down, and begin tormenting her in the way I have already mentioned. I
spoke to his uncle about it, but without avail. I then refused to carry
on my camel some choice dates, which he had in his charge for Tripoli.
But it was of no use, the boy was the worthy pupil of his uncle, a little
fiend of ferocity.

My Sockna companions of travel chat with me, but their conversation
offers nothing new or remarkable. "There is no money in Fezzan. Our
city (Sockna) only has a few merchants. Mukhanee was originally a
merchant, and a member of the Divan of Mourzuk. He ruined Fezzan."
One of the people of this place said to me, "Better if you were a
Mussulman, and ate and drank like us." I replied, "I eat everything
good, and never fast to make myself ill." This plain speech amazed
them. But one said, somewhat to my surprise, "That only which is not
good, and not fit to eat, is haram (prohibited)." I immediately said
"Amen" to this, for generally the Moors maintain that pork and other
things of the kind prohibited, are not good because they are
prohibited, and not on account of any intrinsic badness in the
things themselves. They, of course, asked me what sort of places
were England and London. It's little use to answer such questions;
they cannot realize the idea or forms of an European city, even in
imagination. Describing the riches of London, one observed
ill-naturedly, "Oh, God gives the infidels peace in this world, and
fire in the next." I then thought it time to leave off my
description. Whilst we were chatting, a locust was caught and
roasted. I tasted it, and found it not a bad shrimp. The locust
requires salt and oil to make it palatable. The Arabs swear the locusts
have a king, which perfectly agrees with--Καὶ ἔχουσιν ἐ
φ' αὐτῶν βασιλέα: (Rev. ix. 11.) The name given to this
insect monarch as perfectly corresponds with their migratory devastations,
Απολλυων, "destroyer," for before their march are smiling fields of
verdure and fruitfulness, whilst behind them are desert and
devastation.

I find in this part of my journal several anecdotes of the Bashaw of
Mourzuk and Mr. Gagliuffi, which seem to have come to my recollection _en
route_. The Tibboo chief before mentioned, whose jurisdiction extends
over a wretched village, observed one day to the Bashaw, "The Sultan of
the Tibboos (himself) inquires after the health of the Sultan of the
Turks. But I am well, therefore the Sultan of the Turks is well; and if I
am not well, then the Sultan of the Turks is not well." His Excellency
replied, menacingly, "You're right, but take care you don't get unwell,
for by G--d if you do get unwell, and so make my Sultan unwell, I'll come
and cut all your people's throats, and burn down your city." The Tibboo
chief, feeling the force of the argumentum ad hominem, started out of the
audience-chamber in a fright, and made off from Mourzuk as quick as
possible. Before, indeed, he could get off, he began to fancy himself
ill, and was ill with fright, and expected every moment to be within the
clutches of the Bashaw. I related to the Bashaw the story of the Governor
of Ghat, having the sword of his ancestors amongst the trophies at
Constantinople. The facetious Bashaw observed to me:--"You ought to have
said, 'I'll fetch you the sword, Haj Ahmed, if you'll promise like a good
little boy not to cut your fingers with it.'"

Mr. Gagliuffi was well acquainted with the tyrant Asker Ali. The tyrant
once dreamt he should kill Abd-El-Geleel, and his brother, and some other
chiefs, but one would escape. The escaping Sheikh was Ghoma, now an exile
at Trebisonde. This dream was actually related and retailed in Tripoli
two years before the events happened. One day Mr. Gagliuffi called on the
tyrant, and found him very thoughtful divining in the rumel ("sand").
"What's the matter?" asked the Consul. His Highness exclaimed, "Oh, I'm
much troubled. An Arab chief has come here professing allegiance to my
government. But he's a great villain, for such I have found him in the
sand." The next day the unfortunate Arab was assassinated. Many an honest
man was murdered by the fortuitous throw and fall, and scattering of
these atom sands, in the cruel fingers of the tyrant. Who will deny after
this that the events of our life are (to us) so many accidents? A
Touarghee Sheikh once proposed to Mr. Gagliuffi to sell his country to
the Sultan of the English. The Consul, who took this as serious, ought to
have considered it a joke of the grave Touarghee. The Touaricks can tell
the most funny stories, and make the most cutting gibes at their
neighbours, without moving a single muscle of the face.

_10th._--We are to stay here to-day and to-morrow, in order that our
slave-masters may obtain provisions. These people can do nothing without
losing an enormous quantity of time. It breaks my heart to lose so much
precious time. I could have got up to Soudan before I shall get down to
Tripoli. A Touarghee once talked to me of travelling, and on my telling
him I was going to The East, to the New World (America), and many other
places, he exclaimed, "Allah Akbar, thou fool, thy life isn't long
enough." And certainly it would not were we to travel at the rate of our
Saharans. They never measure a man's life and what he can do in it. The
day present, and its evils, is with them enough. The proverb quoted by
the great teacher of Christianity, "Sufficient unto the day is the evil
thereof," is much better adapted to ancient than modern society, or
rather to Oriental and African than European society. The European is
obliged to think of the morrow, and take thought for the morrow, or he
would not be able to live; in these days of restless and overpowering
competition he would die of starvation. One of the Moors tried to write
the name of Mahomet in Roman letters. I have seen several Moors attempt
this; one did it pretty well.

At noon, had a strong altercation with a Moor of the town about religion,
who introduced the subject and was very insulting. Being out of the hands
of the Touaricks I have less delicacy on these matters, and so I boldly
contradicted his notions. I told him, with all frankness, "It was
impossible for a good Christian ever to become a Mussulman: a bad
Christian might, one who had robbed, or murdered, or run away from his
country. Such were the Spaniards who run away from the prisons of exile
in Morocco. Mahomet witnessed that Jesus was a true prophet; and Jesus
witnessed that Moses was a prophet, and Moses prophesied of Jesus. But
neither Jesus, nor Moses, nor any other prophet, witnessed to the truth
of the mission of Mahomet." This amazed him excessively. Seeing this, I
added, "Never attempt to convert a Christian, or speak to him about
religion; for in the end you are sure to be dissatisfied." The zealot
immediately changed the conversation. Several of the people of the town
listened to our argument, but they made no observation, except one old
man, who observed laconically, "Mahometans, Jews, and Christians, are all
rogues; but God is merciful." This, I think, is about the truth.

This evening the female slaves were unusually merry and excited in
singing, and I had the curiosity to ask Said what they were singing
about. As several spoke the language of his own country, Mandara and
Bornou, he had no difficulty in answering the question. I had often asked
the Moors about the merry songs and plaintive dirges of the negresses,
but could never get a satisfactory answer.

Said replied at first, "Oh, they're singing of Rubbee (God)."

"What do you mean?" I rejoined impatiently.

"Oh, don't you know," he continued; "they ask God to give them the
Atkah[116]."

_I._--"Is that all?"

_Said._--"No; they say, 'Where are we going to? The world is large, O
God! Where are we going? O God! Shall we return again to our country?'"

_I._--"Is that all, what else?"

_Said._--"They call to their remembrance their own country and say,
'Bornou was a pleasant country, full of all good things, but this is a
bad country and we are miserable, and are ready to sink down.'"

_I._--"Do they say anything more?"

_Said._--"No, they repeat these words over and over again, and add, 'O
God! give us our âtkah, let us go to our dear home.'"

I am not surprised the Moors never gave me a satisfactory answer
respecting the songs said and sung by their slaves. Who can assert that
the above words are not an appropriate song? What could have been more
congenially adapted to their present woeful condition? And what language
could have given us a more favourable opinion of the feeling and
intellect of the African? May pitying Heaven hear the prayers of these
poor creatures, give them their liberty, restore them to their country!
It is not to be wondered at, these poor bondswomen should cheer up their
hearts with words and sentiments like these; but, oftentimes, their
sufferings were too great for them to strike up this melancholy dirge,
and the silence of the dreadful Desert was many days unsubdued,
uninterrupted by these mournful strains!

I take this opportunity of noticing the several love ditties and songs
about gallant chiefs and warriors returning from battle, the lovers of
the sable maidens, attributed to these poor female slaves _en route_ over
The Desert, as found in some books of travel, which, I believe, are the
invention of slave-masters, embellished by the traveller. No; their song
is, and was, and always will be, because the spontaneous voice of
distressed nature, appealing to the justice and help of the Author of
all being!

"O God! give us our freedom. Where are we going? The world is large and
terrifies us.

"Shall we return again to our dear homes, where we lived happily and
enjoyed every blessing?

"But we are in a horrible country; all things frown upon us; we suffer,
and are ready to die.

"O God! give us our freedom[117]."

Mr. J. G. Whittier, the distinguished American poet, has rendered these
words into verse. He says:--

"The following is an attempt to versify this melancholy appeal of
distressed human nature to the help and justice of God. Nothing can be
added to its simple pathos.

SONG OF THE SLAVES IN THE DESERT.

    Where are we going? Where are we going?
      Where are we going, Rubee?
    Hear us! Save us! Make us free;
    Send our Atka down from thee!
    Here the Ghiblee wind is blowing,
    Strange and large the world is growing!
    Tell us, Rubee, where are we going?
      Where are we going, Rubee?

    Bornou! Bornou! Where is Bornou?
      Where are we going, Rubee?
    Bornou-land was rich and good,
    Wells of water, fields of food;
    Bornou-land we see no longer,
    Here we thirst, and here we hunger,
    Here the Moor man smites in anger;
      Where are we going, Rubee?

    Where are we going? Where are we going?
      Hear us, save us, Rubee!
    Moons of marches from our eyes,
    Bornou-land behind us lies;
    Hot the desert wind is blowing,
    Wild the waves of sand are flowing!
    Hear us! tell us, Where are we going?
      Where are we going, Rubee?"

Some freed slaves passed to-day on their return to Bornou, their native
land. This reminded me of what Mr. Gagliuffi related respecting a female
slave, who, after being brought to Mourzuk, was taken back by her master
to Bornou. When her master first told her of his intention, she simply
replied, "No, you will not take me back." She always persisted in the
same reply, when the subject was ever mentioned. At length the time came,
and she was mounted on a camel and started off. But her master, on
returning, having changed the first part of the route from that which he
came, her suspicions and unbelief were at once confirmed. However, a few
days elapsed and the old route was resumed, and seeing, at last, from
various indications of the road that she was really returning, she burst
into convulsions of joy, and with no ordinary care her life was saved.
She never properly recovered from the effect of these convulsions of
transport. What can be stronger than such feelings of _amor patriæ_, what
more marked proof of intelligent sensibility, allying the negro with the
whole human, race? For,

    "Lives there a man with soul so dead,
    Who never to himself hath said,
    'This is my own, my native land.'"

If Dr. Pritchard's argument be good in religion, by the existence of
which sentiment in the breast of every portion of humankind he proves
that all men are of one species, and of one original race or stock, the
argument is equally true of patriotism. I have found, however, some
Moors, like some of our philosophers, denying the Negro to be of the same
race as the white man. But such Mahometan detractors of the Negro
character are extremely rare. The greatest champion of this class was a
slave-dealer, and, indeed, it is a convenient opinion for men-stealers of
every nation.

The Moors have a primitive way of making a draught-board. A person of the
town brought an apron full of sand. This he threw upon a stone bench, and
spread it over, making a number of holes for the white and black squares
of the board. This done, they then brought a certain number of pieces of
stones with a corresponding number of dried balls of camel's dung, (and
which, it may be remarked, are very small in comparison to the size of
the animal). The whole was now complete and the parties set to work. All
the Islamites whom I have seen are passionately fond of gaming and games
of chance; and, curious enough, thousands who could not be prevailed upon
to drink wine (or eat pork), will game all day long, notwithstanding that
gaming is prohibited in the very sentences of the Koran, in which wine is
condemned. "They will ask thee (Mahomet) concerning wine and lots.
_Answer._--In both there is great sin." "Satan seeketh to sow dissension
and hatred amongst you, by means of wine and lots," &c. (Surat ii. and
v.) How the commentators have quieted the consciences of the Faithful on
the point of lots and not about wine, I cannot imagine. Such is the
absolute folly of matters of this sort, the "clean" and the "unclean" in
religion.

_11th._--The sky is overcast this morning, and, what a wonder! we have
had a few precious drops of rain. Rain, like gold, is valuable according
to circumstances. Wind from N.W. No heat is now felt here. Sebhah is the
very abode of dead men, the catacombs of the living. Here, at mid-day,
you might sit in the lonely streets, and lecture on the immortality of
the soul, to the few people, who, at long intervals, pass flitting by,
like spectres of the dead. The melancholy appearance of the place so
horrifies me that I don't go into it. When and where the inhabitants
rendezvous and gossip is a complete mystery. To the palms and huts of
palm-leaves without the town, I return, to convince myself I am in the
land of the living. Visited some of the suburban gardens. Irrigation is
the support of all vegetable life here. People were employed in weeding
the corn-fields; besides the weeds, they picked up the small blades of
corn, those not likely to be ripe with the rest of the crop, which are
given to the sheep and horses. I have seen, however, no horses here. It
is reported amongst the people of the town, that the Touaricks attacked
me and took away all my money. As this continues to spread amongst the
oases, I shall soon be murdered by the helping imagination of the people,
at any rate, before I arrive at Tripoli. A gardener tells me, many palms
grow and bear fruit without being watered, or having any water running
under them.

The Sebhah district embraces four villages besides its town, viz.,
Ghortah, Hajrah, Marwees, and Hafat. The population are Moors and Arabs
mixed occasionally with Negro blood; but no black population begins at
these or the oases hereabouts, as foolishly stated on the map of Capt.
Lyon.

_12th._--We leave to-day to pursue our journey. Oh, what is life! In the
wilderness or the abode of civilization, it is one weary way: but soon,
thank God! to end. This morning I was convinced, that, however bad the
condition of a people may be, it may still be worse. A poor wretched
woman of Sebhah came to beg dates from the slaves! from their scanty
allowance. As it mostly happens, the poor give more than the rich in
proportion to their means, so these poor slaves gave the beggar woman a
most disproportioned quantity of their miserable allowance. A little
vanity there may have been in this, for however badly off we are
ourselves, we are not displeased to see some people still worse off, and
are gratified in laying them under some miserable obligation. Left Sebhah
about 8 A.M., and after three hours' ride came in view of a forest of
date-palms. This wood of palms is out of the line of route, and extends
from Sebhah to Timhanah, a day's journey. Essnousee observed, on arriving
at the palms, "See, these are all young palms, lately planted; they are
never watered but bear plenty of dates. It is only in Fezzan the palms
bring dates without water." Our route is north, and, as before, over an
undulating gravelly surface. Several heaps of stones in a part of the
road, evidently to clear it, as it is next to impossible to miss the way
in this part of Sahara. No stones were added to these heaps by us. Our
precursors, in past times, were much more attentive to clearing routes
than ourselves.

I am sorry to record the nasty feelings of the people of these Fezzanee
towns towards Christians. I found the people a most inhospitable set, and
could not get from them a drop of milk for love or money. As, however,
they sent plenty of prepared food every evening to the people of the
ghafalah, Essnousee was kind enough to give me a dish or two. I attribute
this inhospitality to their hatred of the Turks, and the English being
considered as the friends of the Turks.

Reached Timhanah at 3 P.M. I was grievously attacked with the tooth
and ear-ache, produced by the strong cold wind which had been
blowing nearly all day. Got some rum and doctored myself, and by
sunset I was enabled to read a little of my Greek Testament. I did
not go into the town of Timhanah, being so disgusted with the people
of Sebhah. Apparently Timhanah is half the size of Sebhah, and
walled with mud and stones. The country around offers the usual
prospect of palms and patches of corn cultivation, with wells in
each field for irrigation. These oases are most annoyingly alike,
and one description must serve for all. The inhabitants fancy I am a
Turk, and ask me to speak Turkish. Others shun me as such; and since
the Turks, in passing these oases, levy upon the inhabitants
hospitality by force, this may be the cause of the little good
feeling manifested by them to strangers. Essnousee, for whom I am
beginning to entertain the most intense disgust, amused himself this
evening with most unmercifully beating his slaves. I could not find
out the cause. The females usually catch it most. I cannot tell the
reason, except it be, they are more difficult to reduce to a
regimen, or system of travelling, and are always fond of playing
some innocent pranks. The lively things certainly make more noise
and botheration than the males. We are to purchase dates here, they
being cheap and of good quality. The townspeople come to see me
write, but I lose patience with them, knowing them to be such a
nasty set. Bad rulers make bad subjects. The Turks would make any
people suspicious and inhospitable. However, when I left the place,
some of them came forward to lend a hand in loading the camel, a
mark of friendship, which showed me they would be hospitable if
their hospitality were not abused by the Turks. To my surprise, this
morning a lad of our ghafalah was struck by a scorpion. I did not
expect to see scorpions this time of the year. The scorpion was
killed instantly. It was a small one, and its stroke feeble, for the
lad complained very little, and I heard no more of the matter. In
the Apocalypse, locusts are represented as striking a man like
scorpions, although they are by nature harmless, so far as wounding
humankind is concerned. It is well to observe, the Saharan people
always speak of scorpions as not stinging but striking a man, the
verb used being ‮ضرب‬, "to beat," "to strike." So in chap. ix. 5, it
is said, καὶ ὁ βασανισμὸς αὐτων ὡς βασανισμὸς σχορπίου, ὄταν παίδῃ
ἄνθρωπον ("and their torment [i. e., _inflicted by locusts_] was
as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man").

FOOTNOTES:

[116] _Atkah_ is the freedom document. On the liberation of a
    slave, this is signed by the Kady, in the presence of two
    witnesses. A freed slave has it generally about him. But after he
    is known, and has resided long in one place, it is no longer
    thought of. When a batch of slaves are liberated on the death of
    their master, they follow him to his burial, carrying the âtkah
    tied at the top of long rods.

[117] The prayer to God is a chorus sung by the whole troop. When
    not fatigued, and in good health, the Negresses will sing from
    morning to night.




CHAPTER XXVIII.

FROM MOURZUK TO SOCKNA.

     Continued delays.--Confidence of the Slaves in the Kafer
     (myself).--Supply them with Water.--Negro Youths exhibit
     Sham-Fighting.--Commissions recorded in Journal.--Missionary
     Labour in Central Africa.--Beer Tagheetah.--Palms of
     Ghurmeedah.--A Fezzanee's description of his Country.--Reading on
     the Camel's Back.--Arrive at the Village of Zeghen.--French
     Patent Soup.--Young Camels broken in.--Omm El-Abeed.--Essnousee
     sermonizes on "What is Good in this World."--Various Races of
     Fezzan.--My extreme exhaustion.--The Flogging of the Mandara
     Slave by Essnousee.--Illusions of Desert Sands.--Plateau
     magnifying objects.--Horrid Waste.--How restored from
     Fatigue.--Digging a Well by the order of the Turks.--Slaves
     benighted.--Gibel Asoud.--Well of Ghotfah.--Meet Reinforcements
     of Arab Cavalry.--Arrival at Sockna.


_13th._--TO-DAY we came but a short distance, leaving late and encamping
about half-past 2 P.M. Our object is to allow the camels to feed well,
for there will now be little or no herbage for them until we arrive at
Sockna, a distance of some six days. Respecting all these delays, I can
say with the most heartfelt sincerity, "Here is the patience of
(travellers)." The poor slaves know by instinct the encampment of the
Kafer to be a friendly one, notwithstanding the Moors and Arabs persist
ungenerously in teaching these poor things to call me kafer, or infidel,
and to look upon me with a species of horror. For water, they come to us
continually. To deposit a little bazeen, or flour-pudding, in the evening
until the morning, they come to us, finding it secure in our hands. Not
to be beaten, they come to us, crouching down by me, and getting out of
the way of the whip behind my back. In this way the poor things show
their confidence in the man whom their masters teach them to look upon as
an enemy of God! Although the wells are numerous, only a certain supply
of water is carried, and a small quantity is served out to the slaves.
They frequently require a little water before the time of departing
arrives, and come to me, looking up wistfully, putting their fingers to
their parched and cracking lips. Said looks after them, and gives them as
much of our water as he dares, fearing we shall be short ourselves.

    "Should ye ever be one of a fainting band,
    With your brow to the sun, and your feet to the sand,
    Traverse The Desert, and then you can tell,
    What treasures exist in the cold deep well;
    Sink in despair on the red parched earth,
    And then you may reckon what water is worth."

The Negro youths are practising some of their wild sports and warrior
tricks. Three on one side and three on the other set to work to bring off
a sham-fight. The youths made arrows of the branches of the palm, and,
holding up a portion of their clothes for a shield, they throw these
palm-branch arrows with great force and precision, almost always hitting
one another. This they continued for some time. As the arrows are thrown
by the party of one side they are picked up by the other. When a man
falls by a slip or otherwise, the opposing combatants fight over his body
with great obstinacy and animation. This was the prettiest scene of the
wild fight. The real arrow used in the interior is usually poisoned. The
Negroes are expert in discovering and preparing vegetable poisons, as
men of all countries are in inventing weapons for their own destruction.
The Negroes have their Captain Warners as well as we. Bundles of these
poisoned arrows were exposed for sale at Ghat, together with
bullocks'-hide shields. Whilst the lads are thus passing their time, the
lasses are combing, dressing, and oiling their hair, or washing and
cleaning, or decorating themselves, or playing with their little trinkets
of glass beads and chains; thus clearly defining the tastes of the male
and female Negro animal. It is much the same amongst us civilized brutes.
Men fight and quarrel one way or the other, and the women flirt and
dress. The occupation of the women is the more harmless. Perhaps we are
getting a little better. Men begin to think there is more noble
employment in the world than cutting one another's throats, and deifying
the wholesale assassins who destroy them; women, too, seem disposed to
prove that they have something else to attend to, besides setting off and
conserving their beauty. We have with us a youth sent for sale to Tripoli
by the Bashaw of Fezzan, who it seems must dabble in slave-dealing,
notwithstanding his imprecations against the merchants of Ghadames for
the same crime. He is from Mandara, and was kidnapped by the Tibboos.
This is the captain of all the sham-fighters, and the leader and prompter
of all other sports on the way. There is always one who assumes
superiority over the rest, in every troop of human beings; so it was in
the beginning, and so it will ever continue to be.

I see by my notes I have various commissions to execute--if--if--if I
return to Mourzuk _en route_. First for the Sheikh of Bornou, I am to
bring a small coining-machine to make a copper-currency, replacing the
present inconvenient system of pieces of cotton called Ghubgha[118].
Next, I am to bring Congreve-rockets, by which the Sheikh may set on fire
the straw-hut cities of his enemies; but I should think a good
drill-serjeant would be better than rockets. Finally, some instructions,
in the Arabic language, for preparing indigo, and bees'-wax, and tanning
leather. This last memorandum of the commission is infinitely more
grateful to one's feelings, as promoting the useful arts in Central
Africa, than either establishing a base currency, or multiplying the
weapons of destruction. For the Bashaw of Fezzan is to be brought a
splendid gold watch. The Greek Doctor wants an Italian Medical
Dictionary, and a small case of surgical instruments; and for Mr.
Gagliuffi I am to bring everything which may be useful to him. The Consul
very justly recommends, the teaching Negroes the useful arts as the only
means of permanently extinguishing the traffic in slaves. He also
recommends the introducing of Missionaries into the Pagan countries,
Mandara and Begharmy, beyond and neighbouring to Bornou, as an important
means of civilizing Africa. But, it is to be understood, that the
Missionaries should go as merchants, and, like Paul, work with their own
hands at mechanical trades. It must not be a wild-goose chase of empty
declamation, but a thoroughly conscientious project, wrought out
according to the circumstances of the country, with discretion and
courage. In this way it would, with the blessing of Providence, succeed
admirably. The Moravians alone have successfully applied themselves to
this kind of Missionary labour.

Passed a well this morning, on our left, called Beer Tagheetah. There is
water in many places where no attempt is made to cultivate the cultivable
soil. I asked an Arab of Timhanah why more land was not cultivated? "We
have no bullocks, no asses; we cannot draw up the water--we want money,"
was the reply. This sort of answer is applicable to almost every country
in Europe. Our encampment is at the place called Ghurmeedah. Here are
only two or three untenanted huts, where the date-watchers sleep or
repose during the season. This small forest of palms belongs to Zeghen.
Took a little cuscasou with some Arabs who have joined us, being hired by
Essnousee to carry dates for the slaves. Giving an account of their
country, they say, "Fezzan is a country of poor people; it always was so:
we have only the date-palm. This is our riches. If the sea came up to
Fezzan, then we would ship dates for Tripoli; but as it is, they are too
heavy--they don't pay the expense of carrying to Tripoli. We have
besides, a little corn, but not cattle enough to draw water to increase
this cultivation. Many of the people live only on dates and hasheesh
(herbs). We eat the ghoteb." In the abandoned huts I found three or four
women just come from Zeghen. They were collecting and boiling the ghoteb,
which they sell in their town; it eats very cooling and pleasant with
dates. If I recollect, it is something like the barilla-plant. I tasted
the herb, but could make nothing of it. Nevertheless, the inhabitants of
Fezzan are apparently healthy and happy. Providence blesses this poor
dish of herbs, and makes it palatable and nourishing.

_14th._--Rose with the sun's rising, and started with the first
scattering of the bright orient beams. Course over an undulating surface
of mostly sandy soil, but firm to the camel's foot. In various places is
scattered a great quantity of the common black volcanic shingle, and
which, indeed, covers a fifth of The Sahara I have traversed. Essnousee
tells me this stone contains iron, for so, reported our countrymen of the
two former expeditions in Fezzan. The Turks of Mourzuk assert the same
thing, though not very great authorities in geology. This shingle has
certainly a most ferruginous appearance. About three hours after leaving
our encampment we passed the town of Semnou on our right. Our people read
on the camel's back. Essnousee pretends to devotional reading. I never
attempted reading on the camel, in order to preserve my eyes, though by
no means difficult. An European who has to traverse these Saharan
solitudes might supply himself with a few entertaining books, in large
type, and while away many lonely and tedious hours, when riding on the
camel's back. Only one of the slaves is sick, to whom I give a ride every
morning. The rest go pretty well--in fact, our short days' journeys,
during these last several days, are a trifle to us all.

Arrived at Zeghen at 2 P.M. Don't feel very strong. Ought to eat more,
but can't get meat. Had a good drink of camel's milk this morning. Tired
of cuscasou, and now like bazeen better. Several of the people come to
see me, apparently more hospitable than those of Sebhah. They are all
very poor, scarcely existing, ground down to the dust of The Desert. Went
into the town. People got talking of religion. The presence of a person
of another faith always suggests the subject to these unsophisticated
people. I declared to them, that as the Great God was "The Most
Merciful," every good man of every nation, be he Mahometan, Christian, or
Jew, might expect the Divine favour. This doctrine was too liberal for
some, others approved. Moors, in all these discussions, speak a good deal
about hell-fire. They think, at least, this will shake a Christian's
courage. They are very sensible to corporal torments themselves, like all
barbarians or semi-civilized people. But, poor idiots, they don't know
that we denounce them as the future inhabitants of the same
place,--"Companions of The Fire." A Marabout came and listened, who
evidently was one of the fools so kindly and humanely taken care of by
Barbary people. The idiot had ostrich feathers round his breast, and a
circlet of large beads in his hands, which he kept telling with a vacant
stare. He begged of me, but I gave him nothing, having nothing to give.
Population of Zeghen, about a third or fourth-rate town of these oases,
is estimated at 200 men, 300 women, and 700 children and slaves. There
are always a few more women than men in these Saharan towns. This surplus
of women is kept up by importing female slaves from Central Africa. There
the men perish in wars, or otherwise are enslaved for the Western Coast,
and a surplus of women is left for the North.

This evening arrived the courier from Mourzuk, who took charge of a
small packet of French patent soup, which I left behind. Mr. Gagliuffi
had had this soup three years, and it was still very good. It is
preserved in thin pieces like dried glue. It requires only boiling with a
little salt, and then is pretty good. In long Desert journeying it would
be easy to take a supply of this sort of preserved soup, as well as
potted meat. On the address of the packet was, "Signore Richardson--Mr.
Gagliuffi--God bless him."

_15th._--This morning, at starting, I was very much amused at seeing two
young camels loaded for the first time with a few trifling things, to
break them in. They are only one year old. The little reprobates cried
and groaned, and grumbled most piteously; one would have thought they
were about to be killed, with the knife at their throats. The Arabs, to
prevent their crying, throw some sand into their open mouths. By this
little bit of barbarity, the poor young things were obliged to cease
crying to chew the unwelcome bolus of sand. When laden, they started off
as mad, trying to throw off their load. Do they know, by their powerful
and foreseeing instinct, that this was the beginning of their painful
labours and journeyings? and do they thus resist the imposition of
burthens with all their youthful ardour and strength? A young camel
remains with its mother and sucks a whole year. It is five years before
the camel attains maturity of growth and strength.

Our route is north, over what the French call _la terre accidentée_. It
was the _bonâ fide_ Sahara, and wore its rugged face of desolation. But,
after continuing five hours, we encamped at the Omm-El-Abeed, or "Mother"
or "Country of Slaves," so called probably because the slave-caravans
stop here to take in a good supply of water for four days on the highway
of Tripoli. Whatever its name, this is a fair spot, abounding with
excellent water near the surface. There are two wells, and both full to
overflowing. The water is slightly impregnated with iron. Herbage around
is abundant, and wild palms give it the appearance of an oasis.
Essnousee, who is a sagacious fellow, justly remarked to me:--"If this
country were in the hands of Christians, they would make it a fruitful
garden, palms would be planted, corn sown, and houses built." The Moorish
merchants can appreciate the superior industry and intelligence of
Europeans. Undoubtedly, the presence of abundant good water, and a soil
composed of a mixture of sand and earth, (the essential ingredients for a
fruitful oasis,) would, in other hands, soon render this spot a paradise
in Desert. It rejoices my heart to contemplate the future--if perchance
that future come--when this Saharan region shall fall into the hands of
another Government, be invaded, circumscribed, and reduced on every side,
and such a conquest over The Desert made by the hand of industry, as to
render it a garden of the Hesperides, and to blossom as the rose. In
another century, or a century after that, this may be the case. Even
Moors, the worst people of the world in looking forward to improvements,
have in many of these oases planted young palms, and already reaped the
benefit in an increasing crop of dates, although, unfortunately, more
from necessity than forethought have they been actuated. What may then be
expected from men who adopt the principle of progress! Oftentimes I have
connected, in imagination, the shores of the Mediterranean with the banks
of the Niger, by a series of uninterrupted palmy oases, with jutting
fountains, and silvery streams of living water, and cool shady
resting-places for weary caravans. Hope is still my consolation in
travelling through this thirsty dreary wilderness. Better to feed the
mind with these expectations, even should they be illusory, than sighing
and groaning over the desolations of Africa.

This evening took a little cuscasou with Essnousee. After supper the
eternal subject of religion was brought forward by this slave-driver. He
cannot comprehend my travelling, and thinks I must have some secret
mission. He was more surprised when I told him I should visit the New
World after exploring Africa, for this shifted his suspicions from
Mahometan countries. Essnousee, like others of his countrymen, cannot
comprehend notions of enterprise and discovery in travel. How should he?
What country has a Moor? What purposes of renown and glory can fill him
with a patriotic ambition? Nevertheless, a Moor has three passions, those
of gain--sensuality--and religion, which latter sentiment often at, or
even before, the close of life, absorbs the other two, yet itself
degenerating into superstition and fanaticism. These passions make up the
end and compass of the being of a Moor, the objects of all his pursuits
through life. On the latter of these sentiments or passions, Haj
Essnousee, a thoroughly bad man himself, took the liberty of addressing
me these words, in reply to my demand of "What is good in this world?"
"If you wish to do a good thing," said the slave-driver, "do this,
abandon your country and your friends. Forget you were born a Christian.
Go to Egypt--there turn Mussulman. Then go to Mecca. There read and
study all the day, and all the days of your life. See and hear the time
of prayers announced from El-Kaaba[119]. Pray at Fidger, Subah and Aser,
Mugreb and Lailah[120]. Observe well the burying-place where the body of
the Prophet is laid, and be assured that if you are buried there, you
will rise up at the Resurrection to Paradise. This is the good work I
counsel you to do, but you won't do it." I smiled at this fine speech,
and asked the slave-merchant to give up his trade, go to Mecca, and carry
out that which he so eloquently recommended me to do. This turning the
thing on himself displeased him, and the zealous preacher dropped his
sermon in a moment.

Fezzan, with its numerous and large oases, offers for investigation to
the physiologist, the three distinct species or varieties of the human
race which overspread all Central Africa, viz., The Arabs and Moors, the
Touaricks, and the Negroes,--and these all mixed and blended together, of
all shades of colour, stature, and configuration. The Arabs and Moors
abound this side Mourzuk. Sebhah and Zeghen are all Arabs and Moors. The
Touaricks are found in the Wady Ghurbee, and are occupied chiefly in a
pastoral life, leading their flocks through open Desert. Some live in the
villages of The Wady. But these Touaricks are not subjects of the
chieftains of Ghat. The Negroes begin at Mourzuk, and extend south in all
the districts of Fezzan, as far as the Tibboos. Ghatroun, I am informed,
has an entire population of coloured people, under the protection of a
Marabout.

_16th._--Another day lost. We stop here to-day to take in water, (as if
we did not arrive soon enough yesterday to take in water for a hundred
times our number,) and to let the camels feed. Felt, however, excessively
weak, and very nervous to-day. At one moment, I seemed as if I were
placed in an exhausting-receiver, and was about to give up the ghost.
It's perhaps as well for my health, we don't go on quicker. According to
the report of the Fezzaneers, there is fever in every oasis during the
summer, and considerable mortality. Eating dates continually in the
summer must create a great deal of heat in the system, and thus it is not
surprising that fever prevails.

Evening, just at sunset, the Mandara slave came near to my encampment and
mumbled something to my Negro servant. Looking at him, I saw he asked
Said to beg me to do something on his behalf. In a few minutes, a slave
belonging to another master came up to him and began to console him,
saying, "Go, go." They both then took up handfuls of sand and scattered
it upon their foreheads and chins, as if performing some incantations to
avert an impending evil. This done, they both burst into tears, and
sobbed aloud. By this time, I learnt from Said that Haj Essnousee had
sent for the Mandara slave to beat him. I then asked, "For what?" The
slaves replied, "For nothing." This I could not believe. Looking towards
the encampment of Essnousee, I saw the slave-driver greatly excited, and
heard him call to two other slaves, "Fetch him, fetch him." These slaves,
(I almost cursed them in my heart,) came running to my encampment like
two bloodhounds, and seized the wretched slave, their brother in bondage,
and dragged him off to the enraged slave-driver. The poor fellow, from
fear and trembling, could not stand upon his legs, and was held up by his
captors. The Mandara slave being brought to Essnousee, and the two
captors having pinned him down, this ferocious Moor took him aside and
flogged him with a huge slave-whip until The Desert was literally filled
with his cries! continuing to flagilate his bare body until he
(Essnousee) was himself exhausted by administering the brutal flogging.
The Arabs of our caravan, who were near, got upon their legs, from sheer
annoyance at the sound of the whip and the cries of the slave, but, like
dastardly wretches, contented themselves with looking on, silent and
motionless. I felt, at the time, extreme contempt for what are called
"the brave and gallant sons of The Desert." I was not near enough, on my
journey to Tripoli, to justify any effectual interference on my part.
Afterwards I went up to Haj Essnousee and asked him, why he had flogged
the slave? He answered still greatly excited, "He'll not eat; he's a
devil; it is necessary there should be one devil amongst my slaves." His
nephew observed, as a hopeful pupil of his merciless uncle, "He's a
thief, he robs us." This is the only satisfaction I could get; but from
the rest of the caravan I learnt that the poor Mandara slave was flogged
for no other reason except to gratify the capricious cruelty of
Essnousee. This Sockna Moor was born to be a slave-dealer and
slave-driver, a cunning ferocity and genuine Moorish sensuality being
impressed upon his Cain-like countenance. I was enabled to study his
character on our way, but study was scarcely requisite to discover the
mark of the first murderer stamped on his brow. When too indolent to beat
his slaves he would throw stones at them; when flogging the female
slaves, if he could not succeed in rousing their sensibilities as they
dropped from exhaustion in The Desert, he would poke up their persons
with a stick. This Saharan villain was thoroughly imbued with the
principle of an English duke, "That he (Haj Essnousee) had a right to do
what he liked with his own," and did not scruple to mutilate a slave to
satisfy his demoniac caprice, in spite of its losing half of its price or
value in the market. Poor miserables are those pro-slavery writers, who
argue that a man will take care of his slaves because they are his own
property! Why did not the imperial tyrants of Rome defend the liberties
of their people, because they were their own people? Neither human nor
divine law can permit any man, even a good man, to have absolute property
in his fellows, much less a bad man or a tyrant. But Haj Essnousee is not
altogether an unmixed monster; he has something of enterprise and an
active intelligence about him, to redeem him from complete execration.
Seeing me disconcerted about his whipping the slave, he observed,

"There are two fine wells here, have you written them? You must give a
good account of everything to your Sultan."

I then returned to the other slave-masters, owners of seven slaves, and
said, "Why do you let a poor wretch be flogged to death in this way and
not interfere?"

They replied, "Oh, you yourself should interefere; we're frightened at
Haj Essnousee."

_I._--"You then wish me to interfere,--I, who am a Christian, and an
Englishman, and we English have no slaves,--and you wish me to meddle
with your business?"

Another Moor said, "Ah, Yâkob, we know if it had been a Christian
flogging a Christian, you would have interfered. But we are an accursed
race, our merchants fear not God. And when one does wrong, another will
not speak to him, and tell him he does wrong to himself and God."

After this we had no more flogging to Sockna. I hinted to these people,
something might be said by the English Consul to the Bashaw of Tripoli
about this flogging work. The remark was probably reported to Essnousee.
I made up my mind, if the poor fellow was flogged again, to get him to
run away at Tripoli, or into a consulate, and then divulge the affair. It
may be mentioned here, that two days before arriving at Sockna, I turned
to look at one of the female slaves, who was last of all, and being
driven along by the whip, with several others, and thought I saw symptoms
of insanity marked in her face. "Why," I observed to the driver, "this
woman is mad!" "Mad!" he replied; "No, she went blind yesterday." On
examining her, I found she was both blind and mad from over-driving. What
a happiness if the poor creature had died or been flogged to death! She
would then have escaped two of the heaviest of human calamities, as well
as the curse of slavery.

_17th._--On leaving Omm-El-Abeed, after a couple of hours, we traversed
some sand hillocks, all dismounting to lighten the camels. The sand
deceived my vision frequently in walking. Looking at some heaps over
which I was pacing, I imagined them at a considerable distance off, when,
to my amazement, I found them under my feet in an instant. It might be
partly owing to the dizziness of riding. The sand was a deep shining
red. At another time a hillock of sand seemed projecting near my face,
and putting out my hand to feel it, I found nothing but thin air. More
sand encumbers this route than that between Ghadames and Ghat. After a
couple of hours of sand we ascended an elevated rocky plateau, continuing
our route north till night. This was a long, long day, full of weariness
and misery. Nothing for the camels to eat, and we were obliged to give
them dates. The poor slaves drooped and were dumb. The frown of God was
stamped on this region! For--

    "Here rocks alone and trackless sands are found,
    And faint and sickly winds for ever howl around."

_18th._--Continued our course over the plateau. It was now become hard
sun-baked earth, and bare of herbage. As upon the plain of the celebrated
Tenezrouft, objects here become greatly magnified in the distance,
exceeding the most powerful magnifying lens. In the simple and bold
language of our camel-drivers, "A man becomes a camel, and a camel
becomes a mountain." Some bones of a camel, at a distance of less than a
quarter of a mile, looked like a living camel going along with several
people, the white bones representing the burnouses of the men. A small
white stone, not ten inches high, appeared to be several feet in height,
at the distance of a quarter of an hour's ride. And so of the few other
discernible objects on this wide expanse of optical delusion. Mirage was
seen at times, but nothing pretty. We encamped late, midway through the
vast plateau, when shadowy night began to establish her sable throne, in
"rayless majesty," over this silent, sombre Desert. On such a horrid
waste as this, when crime and murder shall have depopulated the world,
the last man will breathe his last sigh! Another long and weary day was
this. With difficulty could I descend from my camel, and when I did, I
was unable to stand. My plan is, immediately on descending from the camel
to take a table-spoonful of rum and swallow it neat. This restores me to
a consciousness of the objects around me, and then I lie down an hour,
whilst supper is preparing. An hour's rest generally enables me to get up
and walk. If restored sufficiently, I go to chat half an hour with my
companions of travel; if not, I never rise till the next morning. I found
the rum of essential advantage in restoring me to consciousness. I am
indebted to the Greek Doctor for it. One bottle lasted me from Mourzuk to
four days within reaching Tripoli.

_19th._--Continued the route of the plateau till the afternoon, when with
a low range of mountains on our left, we entered a hilly undulating
country, having stones, some good sized blocks, scattered thick over all
the surface of the ground. In the small intervening valleys were a few
acacias, and a little herbage for our camels. But behold a wonder! At
noon, we passed through one of these small valleys, when to my thorough
and complete amazement, we found a few men and a tent pitched. Doing
what? Oh, wonder of wonders! These men were digging a well at the command
of the Turks! Formerly the Turks in Barbary did nothing but fill up the
wells, or let them be filled up. Another day has dawned over "the spirit
of their dream." The Ottomans now begin to see that they must step
forward in the march of improvement, or be blotted out of existence, as
a nation of the earth. This is the most difficult part of the route in
coming up from Tripoli to Mourzuk, and the object of digging the well is
to reduce the distance where water may be taken in to two and a half or
three days, instead of four or five, which is now the case. The new well
is already dug very deep, and I am sorry this extraordinary enterprise of
the Turks, that of digging a well in The Desert, has not yet been crowned
with success. Water would be found at last, but I have my misgivings
about their perseverance. The French scientific officers, who have
examined the Saharan districts of Algeria, are of opinion, that Artesian
wells might be bored through every part of The Desert, and all these vast
solitudes be linked together with chains of wells. Nothing is too great
for the enterprising genius of man!

We encamped late in one of these valleys. The male slaves went to fetch
wood. They were benighted, and could not return, or find their way back.
A horse-pistol was fired three times, and these reports brought them into
the encampment. Our Moors recommend me, when at any time benighted in The
Desert, never to move, but wait for some sign or signal, or report of
firearms, or until a person be sent in pursuit of me. This the slaves
did, and were enabled to return. Had they wandered about, they would
probably have got a long way out of the track, or from the encampment,
and not heard the report of the pistol. To show the improvidence of our
Moors, we had only just powder enough for these three discharges.

_20th._--Continued through the undulating country until we got fairly
amidst massy mountainous groups of considerable altitude. These mountains
are covered with small blocks of black (iron) stone, and ferruginous
shingle. These immense groups are called Gibel Asoud, "Black Mountain." I
went, on foot, with Essnousee and his slaves, "the short-cut," or
mountain foot-path of Nifdah, leaving the camels to go round by the
other, or camel route, of En-Nishka. I found, however, this "short-cut" a
very long one, and dreadfully fatiguing. I recommend all travellers never
to believe in the short-cuts of the Arabs, for they are sure to be
deceived. These people have no ideas of distance or time. Only conceive a
weak and exhausted traveller, like myself, climbing up and down groups of
mountains for two weary hours. At length we descended into the valley
where is the well of Ghotfa. We only remained an hour to rest, and drank
a little water, not encamping at the well. We proceeded to meet the
camels by the camel route. On overtaking them, we encamped at night-fall.
This was another long and weary day, and made our fourth from
Omm-El-Abeed. Our slaves were exhausted to the uttermost; their song,
with which they were wont to cheer themselves, was never heard: their
plaintive choruses never broke over the silence of Desert! It was to-day,
whilst threading the precipitous mountain-path, I observed the unhappy
negress, who went blind and mad by overdriving. Our route to-day is
graphically described by Denham, and the passage being short, I shall
copy it. "We had now to pass the Gibel Asoud, or Black Mountain. The
northernmost part of this basaltic chain commences on leaving Sockna. We
halted at Melaghi (or place of meeting); immediately at the foot of the
mountain is the well of Agutifa (Ghotfa,) and from hence, probably, the
most imposing view of these heights will be seen. To the south, the
mountain-path of Nifdah presents its black overhanging peaks, the deep
chasm round which the path winds, bearing a most cavern-like appearance.
A little to the west, the camel-path, called En-Nishka, appears scarcely
less difficult and precipitous, the more southern crags close the
landscape, while the foreground is occupied by the dingy and barren Wady
of Agutifa, with the well immediately overhung by red ridges of limestone
and clay, the whole presenting a picture of barrenness not to be
perfectly described either by poet or painter." By this craggy gorge the
plateau above-mentioned is entered, and it is frequently by such gorges,
which seem to be the buttresses of the plateaus, that the elevated
Saharan plains are approached.

About noon we met a reinforcement of Arab cavalry on the way to Mourzuk,
to intercept the son of Abd-El-Geleel, in the event of his returning
during the spring to Egypt or the Syrtis. I found the reputed six reduced
to two hundred men, and most _triste_ cavaliers, mounted on still more
miserable horses. The stories which we have read of the fondness of the
Arab for his horse were sadly belied by the fact of the condition of this
troop. Indeed, an Arab treats his horse much in the same way as his
wife--most miserably bad. This _triste_ troop, worthy the command of the
Knight of La Mancha, was a faithful picture of the wretched condition of
the province of Tripoli. On passing me, some saluted, and others stared.
Said met a former fellow-slave of the island of Jerbah going under the
protection of this escort. The freed slave gave a confused account of
the last act of abolition of the Bey of Tunis. He was on his way to
Begharmy, his native country. I observed a Turkish officer, having a sort
of sedan-chair, swinging on the back of a camel, a good thing for an
European female travelling in these countries, and not a bad thing for a
worn-down emaciated tourist like myself. I envied him this Desert luxury.

_21st._--Started with the first solar rays, and as we journeyed on, the
valley of Ghotfa widened, till we found ourselves traversing an immense
plain, at the extreme north of which, and on the west, we saw the palms
of Sockna. We had seen them yesterday indistinctly from the peaks of
Gibel Asoud. We continued our route for four hours, when we arrived at
Sockna. There is still a goodly number of palms, notwithstanding the
thousands destroyed by Abd-El-Geleel when besieging this place. The
trunks of the destroyed palms still remain, and look like a leafless
forest in winter, or as if blasted with lightning. But these Arabs,
either in building up or in throwing down, never do their work
effectually. Tired of their work of destruction, they thus, happily, left
the inhabitants a considerable number of palms, affording a good stock of
dates. We were met near the gates of the city by the friends and
relatives of our people. Some of them gave me a salute, but I am now so
half-Moorishly dressed, or Turk-like, that I am not readily distinguished
as a Christian. When within the walls, the heat and the refraction of the
sun's rays from the stone walls were so intense, that I really thought my
face would have been burnt up. With a little patience we were domiciled
in the dark room of an empty house, where I went to bed at 3 P.M., and
did not get up till the evening of the next day. During these hot sultry
glaring days in Desert, how grateful is darkness,--how much better than
light. On arriving at a station, I find it the best thing possible to lie
down an hour or two, and, if in a town, where we are to remain a few
days, to go to bed at once. This is the only way to recover effectually,
and far better than food or stimulants. Since leaving Tripoli I have not
performed a more arduous journey than these last five days. Our days'
journeys were at least fourteen or fifteen hours long. In summer it
requires seven days, or five short days and five long nights. On the
road, there were no animals or living creatures, except a few lizards,
starting from under the camel's feet, as if to look who we were, and ask
why we had come to disturb their solitary basking in the sun; and a few
swallows, which seemed to follow us to the well, or to the shores of the
Mediterranean, whence they will now skim their airy way to the more
temperate clime of Europe. I think, also, we saw two birds not unlike
snipes. But we shall soon get within the region of birds and beasts.

FOOTNOTES:

[118] A _ghubgha_ is a measure of six feet long, and measures
    pieces of cotton six feet long (and three inches broad), from
    which circumstance the currency is thus named. Four ghubghas form
    a rottol or pound, and thirty rottols are of the value of a
    Spanish dollar. This was the exchange in 1845.

[119] The Sanctum Sanctorum of the Temple of Mecca.

[120] The names of the five times of the day when Mussulmans pray.




CHAPTER XXIX.

RESIDENCE IN SOCKNA.

     Visit to the Turkish Kaed of Sockna.--The Concubine of His
     Excellency.--Convoy of Provisions for the Troops of Mourzuk.--The
     number of Palms destroyed at Sockna by Abd-El-Geleel.--Population
     of Sockna, and position of the Oasis.--Visit to the Sockna
     Maraboutess.--The Lady honoured with "_Stigmata_," or "Holy
     Marks."--Propriety or impropriety of assuming the Moorish
     Character and the Mahometan Religion whilst Travelling in
     Sahara.--Gardens of the Environs.--Find several old Charms in my
     Lodgings.--Commerce and Merchants of Sockna.--Second Visit to the
     Maraboutess; her Character and Occupation--Visit the Kaed; he
     compliments Christians.--Panoramic view from the Castle of
     Sockna.--Description of the Castle.--Third Visit to the
     Maraboutess.--Few Children in Sahara.--The little Turk or Kaed
     suffering under the power of Epsom, and very unwell.--Arrival of
     another Convoy.--Rain in North Africa.--Parallel Ideas between
     The East and Africa.


_22nd._--GOT up to write a little of my journal; found myself greatly
recovered. Essnousee called, and we went to see the Turkish Governor in
the evening. The Governor is called Kaed, Bey, and generally Mudeer
Suleiman, by the people. We found his Excellency in the midst of his
business, squatting tailor-like upon a raised bench of mud and lime,
covered with a carpet. The Mudeer seemed happy enough, his secretary
sitting below at his feet. He was very glad to see me, "For people," he
observed, "don't see Christians every day in this horrid country." The
Mudeer made me mount his throne by his side, giving me his superfine
cushion to repose on, talking all the time; "Foolish men, you
Christians, to come to these horrible countries." From this elevated
position I was enabled to survey his Excellency's receiving apartment,
with the adjoining one. It was a rich and varied scene; only Dickens
could do justice to any description of these state-rooms of the Castle of
Sockna. We had first the Mudeer, a little dirty mean-looking Turk, most
shabbily attired, with some fifty or sixty winters on his Ottoman brow,
but with a sufficiently good-natured face. The Mudeer has been only two
months in Sockna. He was sent from Mourzuk, and enjoys the confidence of
Hasan Belazee. Before him there was another Turkish Kaed of Sockna. The
continual jealousies and rivalries in these towns prevent the Pacha from
appointing them one of their native Sheikhs. The Mudeer has been four
years in Barbary, but, like all the Turks, speaks Arabic very badly, with
a most detestable accent. The apartment of the Kaed is a portion of the
Castle, the passages to which are a mass of ruins, and you are afraid of
the walls or ceilings of dilapidated rooms tumbling on your head. Sockna,
like Mourzuk, has its Castle, separated from the town. The Mudeer's room
is a wretched dirty barn, with a large mud fire-place in the centre.
Around it are now seated a number of Moors, talking violently and
quarrelling. The Kaed cannot understand them, and calls out, "What is it?
what is it?" "Oh, nothing," they scream out in turn, "we're only talking
amongst ourselves." The Turk turns to me:--"Christian, I am a Kaed of
beasts, not men, Drink your coffee now." There is always a great mixture
of freedom and awe, as it may happen, in the intercourse between the
Turks and Moors. But the prime feature of the scene now under
consideration, is the Sockna doxy, whom the little dirty Turk has
closeted in an adjoining room. At first she peeps out, but seeing only a
Christian has come in, she becomes more familiar, and at last sallies out
boldly, and begins romping with the Kaed's Negro lad. This is a great
lout of a fellow, who can't keep from grinning. The Nigger lout is
dressed in the clothes of the new Turkish troops, and, as might be
expected, there is a rent behind, from which issues his dirty linen, in
all its nasty splendour. This the doxy now seizes hold of, to the
infinite amusement of his Excellency the Governor, his Secretary, and
various courtiers, as likewise myself. The lady herself is not quite a
Desert maiden, skipping like a young roe over the mountains, in untutored
innocence or coyish bashfulness. She is young, it is true, but full-blown
and bloated, very big about, and excessively dirty and nasty. The
favourite of the Mudeer is besides almost as black as a Negress, with a
pock-marked face. After dodging about with the Negro clown some ten
minutes, her eye catches the shape of a huge ill-looking Turkish fellow,
walking heavily into our apartment, or hall of audience, and the Moorish
damsel immediately retires to her private boudoir.

I was not aware of the presence in Sockna of another Turk. He is in
charge of a convoy of provisions for the troops of Mourzuk, consisting of
eighty camels laden with oil, and rice, and mutton fat, boiled down. The
convoy has been detained ten days for want of camels. The officer had
been on as far as Ghotfa Wady, and returned, his miserable camels
dropping and dying. These provisions are conveyed at the expense of the
principal towns through which the convoy passes. The discussion going on
to-day between the Kaed and the Sockna people, was about obtaining the
requisite number of camels. The Kaed I now heard exclaim, "By G--d, after
to-morrow the camels must go!" The people, "Impossible! they will die,
they will die." I could obtain no news from the Turk escorting the
convoy. He was an ignorant beast. But, curious enough, the fellow was
dressed as much like an European as he could well be so travelling, with
neckcloth, jacket, trousers strapped over black shoes, and a large pair
of leather gloves, which he told me he found very useful in keeping the
sun from burning his hands.

During my interview, the circumstance of Abd-El-Geleel cutting down the
palms of the suburbs because the Sockna people would not surrender to his
summons, or acknowledge his authority, was mentioned. The number cut
down, by the besieging Sheikh, from 20,000 was now raised to 120,000. Of
course, this is exaggeration. Unfortunately, however, the Sheikh
destroyed nearly all the best palms, those bearing most delicious fruit,
and which palms have rendered Sockna dates so celebrated, whilst he left
all the worst to spite the people. It will require seven years merely to
replace them as fruit-bearing palms, and thirty or fifty years to mature
palms yielding fruit of the quantity and quality of those destroyed. This
it is which fills all Sockna people with a thirst of vengeance to
extirpate root and branch the family of Abd-El-Geleel. The people
themselves have offered Government to defray the expense of an expedition
to Bornou, to cut off his son and all the Oulad Suleiman. Essnousee, a
good patriot, swears he will not rest until he has had vengeance upon the
Oulad Suleiman; yet he is afraid to go to Bornou again whilst they are
there. He says:--"We (Sockna people) muster 2,000 men, all fighting men,
not women or chickens, like the people of Ghadames. We fight like the
French. Our country is like France. The Bashaw sends no troops to our
assistance. He knows we can defend ourselves." It is a fact they have no
troops here, although Sockna is the most important town of these upper
provinces. Since the conquest of Algiers by the French, the Moors think
France the greatest military nation upon the face of the earth. If we
reckon the adult males of Sockna at the half of Essnousee's estimate, the
general population will be something like this amount:--

Men                  1,000 souls
Women                1,500 "
Children and slaves  3,000 "
                     -----
            Total    5,500 "

Sockna is often spoken of as distinct from the districts of Fezzan, and
so it really is; but others include both it and Bonjem within the circle
of these clusters of oases, forming one province. The Turkish Kaed is
more or less dependant on the Bashaw of Mourzuk. His salary is not very
extravagant, twenty-five dollars per mensem. His Excellency may make a
little besides on his own account, for this is hardly enough to keep him.
Sockna is placed in 29° 5′ 36″ north latitude, and has always been an
emporium of trade on the ancient line of communication between Northern
and Central Africa. In many respects Sockna is like Ghadames. The
principal inhabitants are a few rich merchants; provisions are scarce,
everything being imported, as the gardens afford but a scanty supply of
edible products, and all things are extremely dear. Leo mentions that, in
his times, both Ghadames and Fezzan were dear places, and food scarce.

_23rd._--Much better to-day in health, and rose early. Wrote several
letters, which were not sent on, curiosities in their way, and scarcely
now legible. Afternoon sent a letter by the Shantah (courier) to Mr.
Gagliuffi. It will reach Mourzuk in eight days. A letter is also eight
days getting to Tripoli, in the opposite direction. This evening all the
town was occupied in buying a few sheep. What people for business are
these Moors! The sheep were brought out, one by one, and bid for, as at
an auction. They were cheap, from two and a half dollars to three each.

Called upon some Sockna ladies, whose acquaintance I made through the
nephew of Essnousee. They were his relations, and received us very
kindly, _en famille_. These ladies were occupied with worsted embroidery,
at which they earn a few paras. One is a Maraboutah, or Maraboutess. She
reads and writes a little, and this, with a mind prone to religious
ideas, constitutes her a saint. Few are the Moorish or Arab female
saints, for woman is hardly dealt with by the Mahometan faith. There is a
celebrated tutelary goddess, or Maraboutah, near the city of Tunis, who
is invoked by all the women of the country, and a pilgrimage is made to
her shrine every morning. The remarkable circumstance about this Sockna
Maraboutess is, that she is very weak about the loins and cannot walk
upright, being frequently carried about. She says, and the people confirm
her testimony, she has "holy marks" upon her, imprinted by some
supernatural being; I think the angel Gabriel was mentioned. This reminds
me of the "Stigmata" of Saint Francis of Assisi, for doubting which
"canonical fact," Pope Ugolino was very near anathematizing the Bishop of
Olmutz. I therefore shall not doubt this prodigy, equally well
authenticated, lest I incur the excommunication of the good people of
Sockna. I had not the pleasure of seeing the "holy marks" of the
Maraboutess, they being imprinted on an unobserved portion of her body,
but I cannot question their existence. It is wonderful (a far greater
prodigy!) what are the analogies of religion and superstition. How like
the feeling and the sentiment! and in this case the very corporal marks
of the body! I asked the Maraboutess if she would prefer the use of her
limbs to these "holy marks." She answered very quietly and properly, "As
God wills, so I will." The Sockna saint then put to me this question, "If
the English knew and worshipped God?" How many times has this question
been asked! And yet we, in the pride of our conceit, imagine that we
monopolize all religion, as well as all virtue and science, presuming all
the world knows it, and recognizes our superiority. My Maraboutess was
pleased to hear that the English knew God.

_24th._--Copied a letter or two. Since my return, looking over the
published journal of the Bornou expedition, I find this paragraph under
the rubric of Sockna. "And in this way we entered the town: the words
Inglesi! Inglesi! were repeated by a hundred voices from the crowd. This,
to us, was highly satisfactory, as we were the first English travellers
in Africa who had resisted the persuasion that a disguise was necessary,
and who had determined to travel in our real character as Britons and
Christians[121]," &c. "In trying to make ourselves appear as Mussulmans,
we should have been set down as real impostors." This is a most
extraordinary passage. The reader will hardly believe, or really cannot
believe after this, that these very parties themselves were circumcised
and attended the mosques. But such was the case; I had it from
unquestionable authority. This is altogether too bad. A little decorating
of an incident, or a conversation, I imagine, is allowed to the
traveller, but this circumstance can hardly be passed by without
animadversion. However, when this was written, the most conscientious man
of the party (Oudney) was dead. Clapperton did not write this portion of
the journal: for its composition Denham alone seems to be responsible. I
shall add no more, thanking God, that, with all my follies, I did not
commit such a folly, as first to ape the Mussulman, and then repudiate it
in print before the world.

_25th._--Took a walk and went to see the Kaed. His Excellency was sitting
outside, washed and clean shaved, for once whilst I saw him, with a thin
white burnouse thrown over his shoulders. It was a saint's day with him.
His Excellency presented to me a cup of coffee without sugar, but,
Turk-like, when indulging in their dreamy taciturnity, did not open his
lips. However I had nothing to say to him, nor he to me. Afterwards I
strolled through the suburbs to botanize. Visited the nearest garden, and
found the slaves occupied in irrigating it. An old Moor gave me a little
horticultural information. It requires twelve years for growing a good
fruit-bearing palm; but, he admitted, a palm might bear fruit within
seven or eight years. Observed a male palm. Instead of white flowers
which the female palm has at this season, the male has enormously long
broad hard pods, but also contains flowers. When the flowers are fit for
germination the pods will burst. The flowers are then thrown over the
female palm to produce impregnation. The madder-root is here cultivated;
it is watered every third day. The leaves are cropped often, but the root
requires three years to come to perfection. Wheat and barley are watered
in Sockna every other day. Observed the tree called gharod, or gharoth,
or gurd; it bears a seed-pod which is used in tanning leather, from its
great astringency. In all the Sockna gardens this tree abounds. It is a
species of mimosa, with a yellow flower, and small delicate leaves like
the acacia. It is a pretty tree, high, and spreading, perhaps twenty feet
in height. The seed-pod is sold one quarter dollar the Fezzan kael, or
measure, half a peck or so. The gurd is also employed medicinally. I was
glad to see several young palms recently planted. I love progress;
everything in the shape and style of progress delights me. Would to God
the entire Desert was covered with palms. But man would be just as
corrupt and unthankful! Being shut up in a dark room three or four days,
I felt the sun disagreeable, paining my eyes. In returning, I stopped at
a school and wrote for the boys,

  ‮بسم الله الرحمان الرحيم ربّ واحد وقادراً‬

which delighted them beyond measure.

A man, ran away to-day with his three camels, not liking Government work,
which is usually performed by Moors and Arabs for the Turks at a price
less than nothing. Some of the Kaed's officers went in pursuit of him.
Evening, called on the Kaed, and found his flaming concubine extended at
her full length upon his elevated seat of authority. His Excellency
himself, meanwhile, had stepped out of the Castle to look after the
camels. The Bashaw of Mourzuk has sent him a wigging letter for the delay
in sending up the convoy of provisions. Picked up several old charms in
my room to-day. They had been placed over the threshold of the door to
keep out the Evil One. Sometimes they are tied round the necks of camels,
and even placed on trees, especially at the time when bearing fruit, for
the purpose of preserving the camel from mange, or the tree from blight.
These talismans usually have a diagram of this and other shapes, with
certain Arabic signs, letters, words, and sentences, written within and
without.

[Illustration]

It will be seen that some of the signs are Greek letters. I brought with
me three of these charms from The Desert; one to obtain me a good
reception from the English Sultan on my return; another to conduct me
safely to Timbuctoo, should I be disposed to attempt the journey; and the
third to procure for me a pretty wife. My charms have not yet compassed
these various interesting objects, but they infallibly will do so. The
taleb who wrote them gets his living by writing charms, and is very
successful in his craft. His paper squibs rarely miss fire, and when they
do it is not the fault of the charms but that of the person who wears
them. It is necessary to kiss them frequently and fervently, and repeat
over them the name of God[122].

_26th._--We were to have started to-day, but, as usual, delay. Time is
not the estate of these people; rather it is their lavish, valueless
waste. Called early on his Excellency. Coffee without sugar. His
Excellency very merry, because he had sent off the oil, grease, and rice
caravan. What a pother it was--it was like the starting of an expedition
to conquer all Central Africa! His Excellency's concubine still occupies
the seat of honour, where she frequently goes to sleep. The courtiers of
his Excellency wink at this little peccadillo. Essnousee remarked to me
it was all right; "The Mudeer must have some sort of a wife." Had some
conversation with an intelligent Moor on the trade of Sockna. It appears
the merchants are in the same predicament as those of Ghadames. They are
all without capital, and are virtually commission-agents of the Jewish
and Christian merchants in Tripoli. They receive their goods on giving
bills for six, nine, and twelve months. These goods they carry to Mourzuk
and Ghat, exchanging them for slaves and other produce of the interior.
Afterwards they return to Tripoli, sell their slaves and goods, pay off
their old debts, and contract new engagements. Meanwhile they have
scarcely a para to call their own. Therefore European merchants, aided by
native Jews, are the _bonâ fide_ supporters of the traffic of slaves in
Sahara.

Visited my dearest lady-saint, or Maraboutess, this evening.

_The Saint._--"In a short time I am going to _Beit Allah_ ('house of
God,' or Mecca)."

"Indeed!" I replied.

"Yes, there I shall repose under the shadow of the Holy Place, resting my
poor broken limbs and spending my days in fervent prayer, preparing
myself for heaven:" continued the pious lady.

_The Traveller._--"What shall you do in Paradise?"

_The Lady._--"I shall eat and drink well, and be dressed in silk."

_The Traveller._--"Shall you have a husband?"

_The Lady._--"Yes."

_The Traveller._--"Shall you bear children!"

_The Lady._--"No."

_The Traveller._--"Where is Paradise?"

_The Lady._--"God knows, you don't know[123]."

This good amiable lady is somewhat _spirituelle_ for a Mooress, and
makes lively and apposite remarks on other things, as well as
religion. The Maraboutess may be twenty-five or thirty years of age,
not good-looking, neither disagreeable. A dark complexion, a
prominent aquiline nose, a fine gazelle-like eye, and hard-looking
features are overshadowed with a _triste_ and melancholy expression,
from the circumstance of her being continually an invalid. I saw the
poor thing was so weak that she could not stand upright. The saint
said, with a heavy sigh, as she attempted to move about, "If I were
to go to Tripoli, would you give me a ride on your camel?" I
answered, "Every morning a couple of hours," during which time I
always walk. She then complained of her poverty. She did not know
how she should get money enough to go on her pilgrimage to Mecca. If
God had given her the strength of others, she would have walked
bare-foot over The Desert. I consoled her by saying, that, being a
saint, all the pious Moslems would relieve her. She would get a ride
from one and another, and God would soon help her over the dreary
Desert. The Maraboutess was busy embroidering in coloured worsted,
chiefly the bodies of frocks, which are worn by brides on their
marriage-days, as well as by lady Mooresses on other festivals. In
ten days she earns two shillings, the price of one embroidered
frock. She has always more than she can do, for the women of Sockna
consider garments made by her, "holy robes," and keep them all their
life-time. For the rest, she, poor thing, lives on alms. She asked,
of course, many questions about women in Christian lands, and was
very much surprised to hear that the supreme ruler of England was a
woman. The Maraboutess observed, however, in her character as such,
"What a pity she (the Queen of England) was not the daughter of
Mahomet, like Fatima!" The saintess then asked if Her Majesty had
any children, and was glad to hear she had so many. Three or four
children is a good number for women in these oases. She was puzzled
to know why I was not married. I told her I could not carry about a
wife in Sahara. Another woman, listening, observed, "Why, you
foolish one, leave her at home till you return." These ladies then
spoke of religious rites, and asked me if a Christian, when he was
buried, was placed on his knees. This notion they have got from our
habits of prayer. Moslems never kneel, properly speaking, at prayer.
Their attitudes at prayer are in style and essence, prostration. The
ladies, growing bolder, began to speak of the "Bad Place," the
_ultima thule_ of Moorish discussion with Christians, imitating the
fire of perdition with their hands and mouth, wafting the air with
those, and blowing and puffing with this, and then asked me how I
should like "The Fire" (‮النار‬). But I returned, "Christians say
all Mohammedans will go into that fire." This greatly shocked them,
and they asked if I thought so likewise. I replied, "All who fear
God, and are good to their neighbour, may expect to see Paradise, if
there be one." "Ah, that's good!" these proselyting ladies
exclaimed. The Maraboutess was, however, more thoughtful. "Do you
doubt there is a Paradise?" she asked, looking me full in the face.

_I._--"There must be such a place, at least let us hope so; for this is a
bad world, and everybody in it is miserable--Sultans and Dervishes."

"God is great!" exclaimed the Maraboutah. She then begged for medicine to
cure her, for although she had stigmata like St. Francis, she would
rather be cured of them. I recommended her the baths in Tripoli, and to
put herself under the treatment of the English doctor. "Oh," she added,
"send me some medicine, and I'll give you some milk." Then the poor
thing, groaning with an attack of pain, continued, "Do, make haste." I
could do nothing for the poor sufferer. On returning to my house, I sent
her some cream-of-tartar, and received from her some milk immediately,
showing her high sense of gratitude.

_27th._--Visited the little dirty Kaed. He gave me dates' syrup to drink.
It was more delicious than honey This syrup is made by pouring fresh
water on fresh dates, and covering up the bowl in which they are placed,
allowing it to stand a night. Only one of the species of the Sockna
dates, but that of the most exquisite quality, will produce this Saharan
ambrosia.

Generally, if dates are steeped in water, they will not produce syrup,
and only get a little soft. People never wash dates. They say it deprives
them of their fine fresh and peculiar date-flavour. When the Mudeer
handed me the bowl to drink the syrup, he observed to the Moors and his
precious doxy, sitting wantonly by his side, "The Christians are fine
people. If in Sockna you give them a cup of coffee, or a few dates, and
see them afterwards in Tripoli they will make you many compliments, and
be very kind to you." This remark was made spontaneously, having no
selfish end. The old Turk was too much of a gentleman in his way to allow
such a sordid calculation to enter his mind at the time. I may mention
here, a woman observed when I visited the Maraboutess, (addressing me),
"You must send the medicine, for a Christian _mou yakidtheb_ (never
lies)." It is a pity that these people, who have discernment enough to
see at times the moral superiority of Christians, should not look a
little below the surface and inquire into its cause. Not, however, that
all Europeans, (or myself,) deserve these high compliments of gratitude
and love of truth, although, compared to Moors and Arabs, we are
certainly far their superiors in morals. The little dirty Turk had as
usual his fair concubine installed on the seat of honour. Sockna people
say, "She has no husband," and others, "She is the Kaed's wife," to make
the best of a bad appearance.

_28th._--Shut up writing during the morning, but in the evening paid a
visit to the little nasty dirty Turk, and found the little nasty dirty
fellow very civil. His Excellency complained of being very sick. I
returned immediately to fetch him some medicine. Afterwards we mounted
together to the top of the Castle. From this eminence, we had a splendid
view of the environs, and the various little oases of Sockna and its
neighbouring desert. The distant mountains form an unbroken circular line
on the pale margin of the sky, except on the east, where it is indented a
little, but of several heights and colours, giving a fine and more varied
effect to The Desert scene. Within this circle, at the base of the
various groups, are black-green palms, scattered in little forests,
casting shades on the now white, now light red, and now purple mountain
sides, as if to set off the perspective of The Desert picture. Here and
there are garden-huts or lodges in the wilderness, so many black spots
within little squares of pale-green patches of corn cultivation. There is
a string of moving dots. What is that? A caravan winding along its weary
way. Not a bird is seen to wing the ambient air. The atmosphere generally
is a pale unpolished yellow, inclining in some cloudy flakes to red. The
Saharan sun now fast descends, with a feeble heat and exhausted lustre,
showing the near approach of the dull and drowsy step of shadowy night.
There is something about Saharan views which is peculiar to them and to
Africa; every object is so smoothed down and smoothed over, that the
scenery of Desert looks at a distance more like paint and picture-work,
than the stern realities of the Wasteful Sahara. And yet these
smoothed-down picture-objects are so well defined and sharply
prominent--all the lines traced in the most absolute manner--no blending
of shapes or even colours. Mist and misty objects are not frequent in the
African Desert.

The Castle of Sockna would be considered by us a ruined building, and
condemned as unsafe to be inhabited, but here it is always "The Castle."
It does not contain a single good room; all is tumbling to pieces, and if
you don't take care, you will fall through some of the floors, gaping
open with large holes at your feet to let you in. Only one miserable
piece of cannon was mounted, and two other pieces of ordnance were lying
"below stairs," corroding most delightfully in rust. But the Turks never
pretend that this place can make any serious defence against an enemy.
Were indeed a good piece of ordnance fired from the top of The Castle,
the concussion would knock down all the part of the building where it was
placed. As it is, a portion of the outer walls has fallen down, and the
rubbish is scattered up to the doors of the neighbouring shops. No effort
is made to clear away this rubbish. "Why should it not remain where God
has allowed it to fall?" says the fate-believing Moslemite. The owners of
the shops creep to their magazines of merchandize as they best may. I
remarked to the little dirty Turk, who sat with a dreamy stare looking
over The Desert, smoking very unpolitely with his back to the sun, "This
country without question was formerly in a much better state, and The
Castle in good repair." His Excellency shook his head negatively. The
Turks detest this country, hating its inhabitants with the most cordial
hatred. Yet the lust of rule, (the object of a fatal ambition in all
Moslemite countries,) and the right and power of bastinading a man when
they please, reconciles them to The Desert, and to its weary, dreary,
blank mode of existence. For what toys do men sacrifice the best days of
their life, and the most noble faculties of their being!

Glad to get away from the dirty old Turk. Called later to see my dearest
Maraboutess, with whom I was almost inclined to fall in love. It is a
positive relief to find something, and somebody amiable in this Desert of
human affections. The saint had many visitors, and is evidently held in
high respect by the inhabitants. Her female associates sitting by her,
asked me, what has been so often asked before, if the Christian women
brought three or four children at a birth. From some cause or other,
polygamy, obesity in the women, or the abuse of the marriage-bed, Saharan
females have very few children. There were five elderly men in our
caravan; all were married, of course, for every man marries amongst
Mahometans. These old gentlemen had not more than two children each, and
one of them none. I set the Sockna ladies right, telling them, some of
our women had twins, and now and then three, but that one was the rule.
Every thing about us Christians is exaggerated. The people of these towns
think us a distinct race from themselves. Such is the effect of religion
when misapplied; it estranges men from one another instead of drawing
them together with the cords of brotherly affection. An Arab present with
us, changing the subject, asked why I did not go to Bornou, for all the
Oulad Suleiman (Arabs of the Syrtis) up at Bornou were friends of the
English, and one and the same with them? He continued, "But let them come
here to cut down again our palms, and we will not leave one of them
alive." I gave the poor Maraboutess a few paras, received her blessing,
and bade her an affectionate adieu. Happy would be many, if with such
bodily afflictions they could amuse themselves with such blissful
visions!

His Excellency presented me with half a pound of coffee, and told me to
beware of the Sockna people, who would rob me of it if they could.

_29th._--Called early to visit the "Grand Turk" of the Castle, and
administered to his Excellency a full dose of genuine Epsom. In turn, he
gave me a basin of coffee with milk,--quite a novelty in The
Desert,--which I thought a splendid exchange. I had a good deal to do to
get him to swallow the Epsom. On calling to see him in the afternoon, I
found his Excellency racing about like a real jockey of Epsom, running
out at times very abruptly, to the great amusement of his Sultana, who
admired the effects of the Epsom. Called again in the evening to see my
patient, and found his Excellency suffering from what he called
dysentery, and administered a couple of small opium pills. The Turk
observed, with something of a grin, that Christian doctors knew more of
the inside than the outside of a man.

_30th._--Another Turk arrived this morning with another convoy of
provisions from Tripoli. He is twenty days from that city. He
complains of the camels. Certainly I never saw worse camels than
these of the Tripoline Arabs. The Turk brings good news. Rain has
fallen copiously in The Mountains. It is the "_latter_ rain" in the
Scriptural phrase, ὑετον οψιμον. The "_early_ rain," ὑετον πρωϊμον,
falls in North Africa about September and October. The "_latter_
rain" continues to April, and sometimes falls in May. In December
and January there is often dry weather, and the finest season in the
year for Europeans. Want of rain in Fezzan and Sockna is compensated
for by the abundance of springs. These rains in The Mountains will
establish the rule of the Turks. It is only a question of
provisions. The want of rain for several years has brought Tripoli
to the verge of ruin, and the Sultan is tired of supporting this
Regency. If a few good harvests come, Tripoli will support itself.
Wrote to Mr. Gagliuffi by this caravan, to tell him where I was on
the 30th of March! He expects me by this time to be at Tripoli. We
are to leave this evening.

Amused myself again by noticing several parallel ideas between The East
and Africa, as found in our Scriptures.

In these countries there is always some one great river; for this
reason, Moors will always have the Nile and the Niger to be "one
great river." Mr. Cooley, in his "Negroland of the Arabs," proposes,
for the various names given by ancient and modern geographers to the
Niger, the simple epithet of "The Great River." In The East, we
have, τὸν ποταμὸν τὸν μεγαν τὸν Εὐφράτην (Rev. xvi. 12), "The Great
River Euphrates." It is not to be supposed the prophets and
evangelists were instructed in geography beyond their age. The vial
of wrath is not poured upon Ganges, or Mississippi, or Amazon, but
on Euphrates, the great river of that age and time, although not of
our age and times.

Καλαμον χρυσοῦν (Rev. xxi. 15), "a golden reed." The term
καλαμον, the root of which are the three consonants κλμ,
is the same as ‮قلم‬, "a reed" first, and afterwards, "a
pen made of a reed." It is difficult sometimes to get reeds in The
Desert, and they are carried about from oasis to oasis. On the salt
plains of Emjessem, near Ghadames, there is a fine lagoon of reeds,
of which pens are made. It is probable the angel _wrote_ the
measurement of the "Holy Jerusalem" with a reed pen, and not
_measured_ it with a reed, as represented in our version.

Και ἡ γυνη εφυγεν εις την ερημον (Rev. xii. 6), "and the woman fled
to the Wilderness." The Wilderness, or Desert, in ancient times, as
now, in this part of the world, was always a place of refuge; but,
as the world becomes civilized, the Wilderness will offer no
resource to the fugitive, and the back-woods of the new colonies
will no longer shelter the runaway, or outlaw of society, or the
innocent patriot fleeing from the pursuit of his country's tyrants.
Gibbon gives an affecting description of the fugitive Roman, who
found Rome's omnipresent tyrant in every clime whither he fled, on
every soil paced by his trembling foot. Before this time arrives,
let us hope liberty will have settled down, with its outspread eagle
wings sheltering every country of the habitable globe.

Εὰν ὁ Κύριος θελήσῃ, καὶ ζήσωμεν, καὶ ποιήσωμεν τοῦτο ἢ εκεῖνο.
(James iv. 15.) Mahomet and his disciples have made enough of this
divine injunction, which, indeed, ought to be more practised by
Christians. By the Moslems, however, it is carried to a superstitious
excess, and the _En shallah_--‮ان شاء الله‬--"_Deo
Volente_," is continually in their mouths. They cannot even say,
"Yes," to anything, although _la, la_, "no, no," is heard frequently
enough. The _aywah_, ‮ايوه‬, "yes," means rather "well done," than
"yes." But it is a pity they have not adopted, with the same
superstitious strictness, the ομνὑετε, "swear not," of the same
writer; for no people in the world swear so much, and by such sacred
names, as the Arabs and Moors.

Φόβος ὀυκ ἔστιν ἐν τῇ ἀγάπῃ, ἀλλ' ἡ τελεία ἀγάπη ἔξω βάλλει τὸν
φόβον, ὅτι ὁ φόβος κόλασιν ἔχει. (1 John iv. 18.) "There is no fear
in love, but perfect love casteth out fear; because fear hath
torment." I have never yet heard the Arabs or Moors speak of
"_loving_ God." They say either, "He _knows_ God," or, "He _fears_
God." Nevertheless, such phrases agree with our expression of
religious sentiment. Besides knowing and fearing God, our religion
requires that we _love_ God. This the Saharan Mussulman does not
well understand. All his religious system is: "To know that there is
a God, to be feared and dreaded as an earthly Prince or Sultan, who
at times rules them with a rod of iron." So all their actions,
motives, impulses, whether religions or secular, spring the rather
from fear than love. And so it is, that whenever they speak to a
Christian about religion, their first and last argument is, "The
torments of the Lost," as I have already so often mentioned; and the
fear of the fire of perdition, it may be added, is their continual
"torment." The Koran helps them out, in their dread of corporal
torments. I need not refer to the celebrated passage, which
represents the wicked in the regions of the lost as "gnawing their
fingers and knuckles in the rage and agonies of their pain." But in
Rev. xvi. 10, we also have--εμασσωντο τας γλωσσας αὑτων εκ του πονου
"they gnawed their tongues for pain." In both cases the picture is
too terrible to be calmly contemplated. It is a true observation of
philosophy, that the pictures of the future state of man, as
delineated in the sacred books of different religions, are, the
greater part of them of a painful and horrible character. But the
Koran surpasses all these books, in wire-drawn and elaborately
wrought descriptions, the most mournful, the most disgusting, the
most terrible, of the torments of the damned. Is it because, men
generally can only be moved by fear, and not by love, to the
practice of virtue and religious observances? But in Sahara the
principle of fear is carried into the minutest relations of social
life. The child fears and venerates, not loves, his father; he
approaches his parent with awe, not with the confidence of love. The
wife always fears, rarely loves, her husband. Connubial pleasures
are not the embraces of love and confidence, but of lust and rule;
and the woman slavishly submits to the caprices of the man, as bound
by an absolute and resistless contract, and not from affection or
any inclination. So it was in earliest times,--the weaker went to the
wall, and the stronger was the master; might was right. Peter ungallantly
reminds the women of his age of κύριον αὐτον καλοῦσα,
"(the wife), calling him (the husband) lord," as the practice of the
women of a still remoter age. Nothing flatters an African husband so
much as to hear his wife call him "lord," and "master." But it was
not the intention of the first propagators of our religion to
disturb the social customs and (Oriental habits of) society.
Besides, the apostles, being Jews and Asiatics, would naturally
introduce into their new doctrine the old despotic notions of the
East regarding women. When Christianity spread west and north, these
notions of despotism over women were resisted in Greece[124] and
Rome, and by the Germanic tribes, amongst whom especially women were
treated as dignified and responsible agents, enjoying equal rights
with men. Nevertheless, the condition of women has improved
everywhere with the spread of the pure morality of Christianity.

Near Sockna, or one and a half hour east, is Houn; and two hours
north-east, is Wadan. The water of these two towns is brackish.

FOOTNOTES:

[121] This is probably an allusion to the following observations
    of Captain Lyon, in justification of his assuming the Mahometan
    religion:--"It may be necessary before I take leave of Mourzuk,
    and indeed of Tripoli, to explain that our adoption of the Moorish
    costume was by no means a sufficient safeguard in either of those
    places, or in traversing the interior of Africa; for, though it
    might, to a casual observer, blind suspicion, yet when we had
    occasion to remain for a time at any place, or to perform journeys
    in company with strangers, we found that it was absolutely
    requisite to conform to all the duties of the Mohammedan religion,
    as well as to assume their dress. To this precaution I attribute
    our having met with so little hindrance in our proceedings; for
    had we openly professed ourselves Christians, we might, in Fezzan,
    have experienced many serious interruptions; whilst farther in the
    interior, even our lives would have been in continual jeopardy.
    The circumstance of our having come from a Christian country,
    which we always acknowledged, frequently rendered us liable to
    suspicion; but by attending constantly at the established prayers,
    and occasionally acknowledging the divine mission of Mahomet; or,
    more properly, by repeating, 'There is no God but God, Mahomet is
    his Prophet,' we were enabled to overcome all doubts respecting
    our faith." It must be added, in justice to Messrs. Ritchie and
    Lyon, that since 1821 a vast change has been wrought in the minds
    of the Moors of North Africa, and especially with regard to
    Englishmen. When even Denham and Clapperton visited Mourzuk, they
    were not allowed to reside in the town, but kept in the castle,
    under the special protection of the Bashaw, lest anything should
    befall them from the prejudices of the people.

[122] As a suitable accompaniment of Mussulman charms, I add in a
    note, the following specimen of a Christian charm, which I found
    in the letter of the _Times'_ Swiss correspondent.--(See _Times_,
    10th Dec., 1847):--

    "More--I have seen some curious little brass amulets, with the
    effigy of the Virgin on one side and the Cross on the other, which
    were sold in great numbers to the people as charms against all
    possible injuries in battle. Those sold at seven and ten batzen
    (about 10_d._ and 15_d._ of our money) were efficacious against
    musket and carbine balls; those at twenty batzen (about
    half-a-crown) were proof against cannon shot also! The purchasers
    of these medals were also presented with a card, of which the
    following is a _verbatim_ transcript, capitals, italics, and
    all:--

                           'O MARIE
                       CONCUE SANS PECHE,
            PRIEZ POUR NOUS QUI AVONS RECOURS A VOUS!

    '_Quiconque_, portant une médaille miraculeuse, recite avec piété
    cette invocation, se trouve placé sous la protection spéciale de
    la Mère de Dieu; c'est une promesse de Marie Elle Même.'

    Which, being interpreted--if indeed I may be excused for profaning
    the honest English tongue with such blasphemy--is,

    'Oh Mary!--conceived without sin--pray for us who have recourse to
    you. _Any one_ carrying a miraculous medal, who recites with piety
    the above invocation, becomes placed under the especial protection
    of the Mother of God. This is a promise made by Mary herself.'"

[123] This is the tiresome, frequently-recurring phrase of the
    Koran.

[124] So we find Paul declaiming that he will not suffer a woman
    to speak in the churches. It was the Greek women who wished to
    assert the dignity of woman by teaching in the assemblies of the
    saints.




CHAPTER XXX.

FROM SOCKNA TO MISRATAH.

     Well of Hammam.--Innocent game of the Negresses.--Baiting at
     noon.--Bird's-nests and Birds in Sahara.--Ghiblee or the
     _Simoum_; its terrible effects on our Caravan.--Delusions of
     Desert, and bewilderment of our People.--Disastrous Fate of the
     Young Tuscan.--Snakes.--Small capital of some
     Slave-Merchants.--Arrival at Bonjem.--Visit the Roman Ruins of
     Septimius Severus.--The newly created Oasis.--Regulations to
     mitigate Saharan Slave-traffic.--My Imbroglio with
     Essnousee.--Imbroglio of an Arab with the Kaed of
     Bonjem.--Description of the Fort of Bonjem.--The Disease of the
     _Filaria Medinensis_, and its Cure.--My Journal confused and
     fragmentary.--Route from Bonjem to Misratah.--Enter the regions
     of Rain and Open Culture.--_Bughalah_, or the Rock, where
     Abd-El-Geleel was assassinated.--Wells of Daymoum and
     Namwah.--Sudden changes of Temperature in North Africa.--Well of
     Saneeah Abd-El-Kader.--Stream of Touwarkah.--Ecstatic joy on
     arriving near the Sea.--How diminutive all things are become in
     comparison with the Vast Sahara.--Arrival at Misratah.


IN the afternoon, about three, we left Sockna _en route_ for Tripoli; we
arrived at Hammam in a couple of hours. On the road, we met not less than
three hundred camels laden with provisions and ammunition for the troops
at Mourzuk, shewing evidently the dread which the Turks have of the Arabs
under the son of Abd-El-Geleel, and any sudden attack by them on Fezzan.
This is a bad speculation for the Turks. Fezzan can never pay at such a
rate.

Hammam, is a collection of small sand-hills grouped together, around and
upon which are palms. There is also a well of tolerably good water. The
name Hammam ("hot-spring"), is derived from the circumstance of there
being here a hot-spring; but now said to be covered up by the sand-hills.
This is what the people have received by tradition. Very hot this
evening; the sun burnt us most extraordinarily. We felt it more after
having been shut up some days in Sockna; we took in a supply of water at
Hammam in preference to the waters of Sockna. This evening, the Negresses
played their usual sweet innocent little game. They form an alley by
taking hands, blocked up at the end. At the top enters one of their
number backwards. As she passes along the opposite pairs, each couple put
their hands across and form a sort of seat for her, by which she is
bumped backwards from one seat to another seat of hands, through the
whole alley. When arriving at the end, she falls into the chain of hands.
Another now enters, being bumped backwards on her broad bustle like her
predecessor, and caught by the hands stretched across the alley. I don't
know whether this is intelligible, but the game is very simple and full
of mirth. The point of tact is, their always sitting down on the hands,
and not falling back on the ground, when, like every body who attempts to
sit down on a chair and suddenly finds himself on the floor, they would
look very foolish. But as the Devil leaped over the fold of Paradise, so
he may be expected to creep in everywhere, and the Negro lads are always
peeping about, at a respectful distance, to see what they can see, when
these falls take place; and I imagine the zest of the thing, both amongst
the lads and the lasses, turns upon this naughty circumstance. So much
for poor innocence, and innocent games.

_31st._--Started, as the sun shewed his broad face above the horizon.
Route till the afternoon, over a sandy, gravelly plain; then entered some
hilly country, where we came to the well of Temet-Tar. Excessively hot
again to-day, apparently the precursor of the Simoum the following day.
In this Fezzanee caravan, it is our practice to halt at noon, or
thereabouts, to take a little refreshment. I am informed all the caravans
of this route do so. The Ghadamsee caravans, on the route of Ghat, never
halt in the day-time, continuing from morning to night. Our people carry
a few dates in a bag, or on the camel's back, all ready for the luncheon.
These they throw down upon a portion of a barracan spread on the sands.
Sometimes a piece of bread is broken over the dates. They then squat
round this repast in groups. The slaves save from their previous day's
supper, or from the morning, a few dates for this time of the day, and
are allowed each a drink of water. Noticed a bird's nest on a furze of
The Desert. This is only the second I have ever seen in Sahara. A few
small birds are now hopping about on the line of route. But I have
observed the colour of the birds to vary with the region through which we
pass. Now they are yellow, now black, now black and white, and all as
small as linnets. These birds have no song, only chirping and twittering
about. A few larks I have seen where water and palms and other trees
abound. We encamped about 4 P.M. The water of the well is by no means
sweet, but not being brackish, it quenches thirst sufficiently.

_1st April._--Rose early and started early. A terrible day! A
_ghiblee_ in all its force[125]. The wind is directly from south
(‮قبلي‬ "south"). It is quite dry, unlike the _sirocco_ which blows
at Malta. Sirocco is damp and most enervating, and south-east in its
direction. Probably, however, it is the same wind, but sweeping over
the sea it attracts moisture, and changes to south-east. I was
praying for, and prophesying all the morning, up to 9 A.M., a cool
day. The reverse has happened, as so often happens in answer to our
most ardent wishes. I never was so astonished as when I saw the
negroes on this day. Mr. Gagliuffi had said to me, "If you have
ghiblee, the slaves can't go." But I could hardly believe a hot wind
to be so injurious to these children of the sun. They seemed as if
they could bear any cold better than a hot south wind. They got
behind the camels or stooped under their bellies; they held up their
barracans, taking it by turns to hold them up, by which means they
sheltered five or six together; they concealed their faces and their
bodies with their tattered garments; they invented all sorts of
expedients to shelter themselves a moment against The Desert simoum.
I could not help observing how superior the white man was to the
black man in his physical make. Our Arabs and Moors kept up erect,
facing this furnace blast, and bore the heat and burthen of the day
a thousand times better than the Negroes--these children begotten by
the sun from the slime of the Niger, on whose swampy plains heat
reigns eternally with all its fiery fervour! I had always thought
the Negro, being naturally a chilly creature, could not be affected
with a hot wind. We all drank plentifully today, ten times as much
as on other days. But this being a ghiblee day, it was necessary to
drive on the slaves quick, and with violence, the camels not
carrying a sufficiency of water for a couple of days of this sort.
Essnousee now showed how eminently qualified he was for this
infernal traffic. He did drive them on most furiously, while as to
one wretched Negress, I thought he would have left her dead on the
spot, flaying her most unmercifully. The miscreant Essnousee was
only prevented from the perpetration of this horrid crime by the
main-force interference of Mohammed Azou, another slave-dealer
travelling with us, with seven slaves, and who, I must record, was a
humane man, though a dealer in the flesh and blood of his fellow
creatures. I have not observed him even once beating his slaves,
which is saying a great deal. The conduct of this humane Moor proved
that it was not absolutely necessary to beat slaves when driving
them over Desert. The Touaricks of Aheer, indeed, know this, and
never lay a finger on their poor captives. We, at length, got
through this day of horrible heat and thirst, for God gives an end
to all things. Never will be effaced from the tablet of my memory
the prayer of a poor Negress girl, who, in the height of the simoum
came running up to me, her eyes bloodshot, her face streaming with
tears, "Buy me, Yâkob, O, buy me! I am very good, I will be good
wife to you, and sleep with you. O, I'm dying! take me, buy me, buy
me, Yâkob. The wind kills me."

We encamped on a vast plain, having ranges of low mountains on our right
and left. The carcases of two camels were left on the road, which had
broken down from the large caravan we had passed; and, a thing unusual,
the Arabs had left part of the flesh on the bones; some of our slaves
immediately devoured it raw. Hunger's the thing to give you a relish.

_2nd._--Rose at Fidger, a little before day-break, or at the point of
day, in fright of another ghiblee. Necessity has, indeed, in such a case,
no law, and no compassion on the unfortunate. But, to-day, God sent the
poor slaves a little fresh north wind, for "God tempers the wind to the
shorn lamb." The north wind increased towards the evening, we journeying
on very well. Course, north and north-west, over the vast expanse
mentioned yesterday. Quantities of bits of marble, pieces of fine quartz,
and shining felspar, are strewn over the plain, which contrasting with
its dark ground-work, look at times as if we were traversing some
enchanted carpet. But our brains reeled, and we all suffered from thirst.
People seemed all mad to-day. One called to me, "Yâkob, listen." I
listened, but being hard of hearing, I thought there might be some
sounds. Another camel-driver pretended he heard sweet melodious sounds.
On inquiring what music it was, he replied, "Like the Turkish band." Then
another came running to me, "Yâkob, see what a beautiful sight." I turned
to look, but my eyes were so weak and strained, that I could see nothing
upon the dreary face of the limitless plain. Essnousee swore to seeing a
bright city of the Genii, and actually counted the number of the palaces
and the palms. I believe our people were delirious from the effects of
yesterday's simoum, for I did not observe mirage. The beautiful words of
Cowper recurred to me when I had the power of calm reflection, in the
evening of the day:--

    "So in The Desert's dreary waste,
    By magic power produced in haste,
        (As ancient fables say,)
    Castles, and groves, and music sweet,
    The senses of the traveller meet,
        And stop him in his way.

    But while he listens with surprise,
    The charm dissolves, the vision dies,
        'Twas but enchanted ground."

Not much sand on the plain, but gravel occasionally. Some sand hills
appear in the distance, a line of waving dazzling white on the horizon.
Encamped late in the evening. The well of Nabah is not in the line of
route.

At the site of this well happened a sad event two years and a half ago,
and which now, suffering as I was with thirst, came with redoubled force
to my mind. Mr. Gagliuffi, on his appointment to be Consul at Mourzuk,
took with him a young Tuscan as secretary. The vivacious Italian soon
quarrelled with the Consul, and immediately determined to return to
Tripoli, during the height of summer (August), in spite of the warnings
of everybody. However, with care and due preparation, this route, and all
Saharan routes, can be and are travelled in every season of the year; as
is sufficiently proved by my own journey to Ghadames. Two days after the
Tuscan left Sockna, came on a terrible ghiblee, but infinitely more
intense and stifling than any south wind could be in this season. The
Tuscan was travelling with a caravan of a few people, who determined to
bring up for the day, about 2 P.M., although having but a small supply of
water. They were then about seven hours from the well of Nabah. The
distance was tempting to the rash European. With a little courage and
dispatch could not the well be reached before night? Why not? thought he.
The youth was self-willed and peremptory. He knew better than the old
Arab camel-drivers, traversing this route all their life-time. The Tuscan
had also with him a horse. But what does he do? Having about a bucket of
water left, he gives it to the horse; and then starts, taking off with
him a young Arab, apparently as foolish as himself. They proceeded on
their last journey, the Tuscan riding the horse, the poor Arab boy going
on foot, as guide to the well. The caravan weathers out the ghiblee--the
men covering up their faces and mouths from the scorching blast, afraid
to breathe the killing air of the simoum--the camels moaning in
death-like tones, prophetic of the fate of those who had just gone! But
night comes, and brings some relief to the wasting, if not dying animals.
Then the morning breaks with a refreshing breeze, and the exhausted
caravan has enough strength left to seek the well. Near the well, not a
quarter of a mile distant, they first find the young Italian stretched
dead, a little farther off the horse, and a little farther off the Arab.
They had perished at the well's mouth! There cannot be a doubt, these
unhappy youths perished by their own folly. The European had even water
enough to last him a whole day, but gave it to his horse, and braved
wildly the death-gale of The Desert. The poor Arab, I am told, was forced
away against his will to guide the mad-cap Tuscan to their fatal end. By
such folly, have also perished unnumbered caravans in the Saharan
regions.

Our people who went to Nabah for water, found the well too late to
return, and came back at day-light in the morning, about two and a half
hours' distance from the line of route.

_3rd._--We held on our course northward, weary and exhausted, but the
wind freshened from north-west, and we did not suffer from heat. We now
entered into groups of small mountains. At 4 P.M., seeing the sandy hills
of Bonjem, our merciful slave-master, Essnousee, determined we might now
encamp, and go fresh and early next day to the Fortress. Observed two
small snakes to-day in open Desert, the first time I have seen them in
Sahara. So much for the snakes, asps, adders, basilisks, cockatrices, and
fiery flying serpents of The Desert! We have with us one old gentleman
who joined us at Sockna. He is conveying _one_ slave to Tripoli. Greatly
surprised at this, I asked him how he could travel these horrid wastes
with such a miserable stake in commerce as a single slave! The Saharan
veteran replied, "You are right. It would be better for me to remain in
Sockna, and spend my days in prayer and poverty like a dervish. But I
have another slave in Tripoli. This is the whole of my property. I shall
return again, after I have sold them, to Mourzuk, and buy and sell. Such
is the will of God, what can I do?" And so the traffic in human beings
goes on. It is quite certain, from this case, nothing but main force can
put an end to the slave-trade, for the Moors will carry it on at all
risks, and under any circumstances. How induce men to give up a traffic,
who will travel a month over Desert with a capital of a couple of slaves!

_4th._--Rose early, and was astonished and alarmed to find my bed-clothes
and all my wearing apparel wet with a thick heavy dew. This I had not
experienced through all my journeyings in Desert, for, as the ancient
Arabian writers have styled this country, it is a "Dry Country," from
Egypt to the Atlantic. But new things always surprise--often alarm us. We
soon got used to dewy nights and heavy dews. We were now also entering or
near to the regions of rain. I dried my clothes at the fire, and felt no
ill effects from this heavy night dew. All were travelling without tents,
except the female slaves, who, unless sheltered during the night, would
soon have died from cold. Day-time our female slaves were poorly clad,
having on only a piece of woollen wrapper, besides a black cotton frock,
and some not even a piece of wrapper to cover their heads and shoulders.
Bonjem people say these dews are perpetual, covering all the sandy soil
of the country round with fresh green herbage, which our poor camels now
cropped with a voracious delight. In two hours and a half we entered the
new town of Bonjem. It is the site of the ancient Roman station, or town,
called Septimius Severus. A fort has recently been built from the ancient
ruins, with a few small miserable houses in the shape of a village. The
fort, or burge, is however strong and commodious, and has quarters for
the accommodation of five hundred troops. The present garrison consists
of about thirty raw Arabs, relieved every two months. They have no pay or
allowance, except their rations. The object of the Pasha in the erection
of this fortress, was to connect militarily The Mountains with the large
and important oasis of Sockna. A few gardens have been laid out, several
wells dug, and these, with the homely hovels, the very picture of "the
day of small things," are still infinitely preferable to the naked
desolation of Sahara. On proceeding upwards, water is here taken in for
three or four days. The water is very good, although it has a fetid
odour, rendering it disagreeable when drinking. Walked about the village.
There may be forty or fifty houses, mere square boxes of mud or plaster,
mixed with old Roman stones, about twelve feet high, and containing
perhaps a hundred inhabitants. Being new, the houses have a clean
appearance. There are two streets, and a fondouk, or caravanserai. To
build such a village and a fortress, some rather fine Roman ruins
received their final stroke of demolition.

Afternoon,--went to see the ancient Roman station of Septimius Severus.
It lies east of Bonjem at a quarter of an hour's walking. Of the fort or
castle, there remains still a sufficient quantity of blocks of stone to
point out the four gates, and some rude pillars seven or eight feet high,
denoting the site of a temple, or other public building, within the
castle. We visited three of the gates, but found only one inscription,
cut on a single block deeply imbedded in sand, and covered with other
blocks of stone. The letters were Roman, and, pretty freshly chiselled,
but we could not move the other stones so as to decipher the words in
their full length. Some blocks of stone were shaped into arches, others
lay scattered in single blocks, on one of which was this plain device.

[Illustration]

This is the sole result of my antiquarian visit. Not a bit of fine marble
or a coin was picked up. The stone of the ruins was a dark grey granite,
almost black, of very coarse grain. It must have been brought some
distance, for I have seen no stone like it in the neighbourhood. The
walls of the castle were very thick, and built in the usual Roman style,
with cement and small stones, the mortar being now nearly as hard as the
stone itself. These walls were also faced with the blocks of stone
mentioned. The walls of the city had merely cement and small stones.
These latter are extensive. The _ensemble_ of the ruins makes one deeply
regret to see The Sahara has gone back ages in the arts and civilization,
for such is evident from these _debris_ of Roman Saharan culture. This
fact, even the Moors themselves accompanying me, acknowledged by such
exclamations as _wasâ_, "wide!" and _kebir_, "great!" But the impression
with them is fleeting, and anything unconnected with their religion, and
the history of the conquests of Islamism, I have always observed is
accounted nothing by these people. Half a day west of Bonjem, the people
tell me there is a few scattered ruins of another ancient city. On our
way we found two wells, lately dug, and the Taleb-Kaed says, water is
every where found near the surface, and always good, in spite of the
disagreeable gaseous exhalation when drunk. A few tiny palms are also
planted about these wells, in this Turkish attempt to upraise Septimius
Severus. The little sprigs of palm pleased all, and were welcomed by us
as the germ of the future oasis, which shall afford shade and fruit to a
large population. There may be a dozen wells already dug, and every year
the infant oasis shows more signs of life, and a little, little more
progressive existence. The prevailing soil is sandy, but good for grain
and palms.

This evening had an imbroglio or row with Essnousee, who attempted to
impose upon me by charging for two or three suppers which he furnished me
in the way of hospitality at his native place of Sockna. I had lent him
all my money to purchase food for his slaves. He now refused to refund,
on this and other pleas.

During the road from Sockna to Bonjem, I thought of two or three
regulations which might mitigate the evils of Saharan slave-traffic, as
well as limit its operations, if our Government could prevail upon the
Turks to adopt them. If we can't stop the trade at once, we may try to
lessen its miseries. We English did the same in the case of our own
slave-trade.

1st. That no Tripoline, or other Ottoman subject, should purchase a slave
out of the provinces of Tripoli.

2nd. That the slaves _en route_ for Tripoli should be accompanied by a
Government officer, who should watch over them and see that they are not
over-driven or inhumanly flogged.

3rd. That for every slave dying _en route_, or in any of the towns _en
route_, for the markets of the Coast, whatever may be the cause, the
owner of that slave should be fined a sum equal to the duty paid for it
to Government.

The first rules would lessen the operations of the traffic, and prevent
slave-merchants from purchasing and speculating in Soudan, and always put
them under the eye and surveillance of the agents of Government. The
second would in a great measure prevent over-driving and inhuman
flogging, if faithfully followed out. The third would, at least, always
insure the slaves having food enough to preserve them in good health.

I think I see the free-trader smile at these restrictions, and hear him
say, "What humbug!" But first, it is here a question to regulate a
nefarious traffic which the Porte, our ally, is not yet prepared to
abolish. Until the free-trader can prove to me that the traffic in slaves
is a legitimate commerce, I shall advocate the crippling of it by
restrictions, let these restrictive regulations be ever so puerile. But
we have the fact, that since Mr. Gagliuffi persuaded the Ottoman
authorities to lay a tax of ten dollars per head on each slave, the
traffic has diminished considerably. So at any rate the merchants
themselves tell me. This was the object of the Vice-Consul, and he
accomplished his object. On the other hand, it could be represented to
the Porte, that the first regulation would bring the commerce of the
interior within their territories, a great advantage for the Regency of
Tripoli.

_5th._--Not so much dew as yesterday morning. The imbroglio with
Essnousee continues about refunding the money I lent him. To-day it
assumed a formidable shape, not only all our caravan was involved in it,
but the whole of the town, and the Kaëd at their head. I agreed to give
the slave-merchant a fair price for his suppers, but for the rest,
insisted on being paid back the money which I lent him, and which he
promised to refund at Sockna. On arriving at Sockna, Essnousee found
money scarce, and thought he would bamboozle me out of my money. The
Taleb-Kaëd saw the justice of the plea, as did all the people, and the
merchant was ordered to give me the balance of the few dollars. The money
was requisite to purchase a little milk, or butter, or fresh provisions.
My vanity, however, came in the way of my stomach. So when I got the
dollars, to show I did not carry on this imbroglio for selfish purposes,
but solely for the sake of common justice between man and man, I ordered,
with great pomposity and an air of immense benevolence, the money to be
distributed to the poor of the town. This ostentation greatly pleased all
the Moors and Arabs, save and except the crest-fallen chagrined
Essnousee; it only increased the bitter misery of his defeat. I was
wicked enough to be glad to humiliate the unfeeling slave-dealer in this
way, for he had no money and was obliged to borrow to pay, which sadly
lessened his consequence.

Afterwards went to see the Moorish Secretary Kaëd, installed in the
Castle. This functionary is placed here principally for the dispatch of
the mails backwards and forwards. The secretary does not interfere with
the Sheikh who commands the garrison, and only attends to couriers and
the little affairs of the village. For this work he has the large salary
of three dollars per month. It seemed as if imbrogliamento was the order
of the day, for here I witnessed a row as violent as my own. An old Arab,
very crusty and obstinate, had arrived from Sockna on Government
business. He was to receive money from the Kaed, and pay money to him.
The Kaed would not pay, and he would not pay. The old gentleman sat down
before the irritated functionary, and holding the teskera and a new
Turkish passport in his hand, said, "Give me my rights. Why rob you a
poor man? Is it because I am poor and old you rob me? Fear I the Sultan?
Why should I fear you or the Sultan? I fear alone God." The excited Kaed
could no longer restrain himself. He seized the papers out of the hands
of the Arab and tore them to pieces, exclaiming, "Go out, you dog!"
Besides this the Kaed threatened the bastinado. The hangers-on of his
Excellency carried the old man out of the apartment until the wrath of
their dwarf tyrant had cooled down. The affair afterwards ended by both
parties accepting and paying their mutual claims. The Arabs are greatly
exasperated about these passports, which, indeed, are of no possible use,
and are only used by these petty functionaries to extort money from the
poor people. An Arab said to me, showing the animus of the question
hereabouts, "Before our Sultan became a Christian we never heard of these
teskeras. Now that he is become an infidel, he sends us these accursed
things to take away our money, and rob our children of bread." The poor
Sultan, in fact, if he can get hold of any detestable thing of European
civilization, is sure to adopt it, to torment his subjects.

Spent the rest of the day within the Castle, gossiping with the Arab
soldiers, their Sheikh, and the Kaed. To-day I was thankful for two
things, for having inflicted a salutary lesson on the iniquitous
slave-driver, and for being sheltered from the sun and wind. The Castle
has three towers at three of its corners, but not rising much higher than
the upper terrace walls. The outer walls are about twelve or fifteen feet
high, and as usual pierced with holes for musketry. I did not see any
mounted ordnance. Within is a fine court yard, and there is a detached
breast-work of defence over the entrance. It is very comfortable in many
of its apartments, affording a most effectual shelter from wind and heat.
The short time of service makes the Arab soldiers cheerful, and they are
pretty well fed and enjoy good health. There is no fever, but they tell
me there are a few cases of the _Enghiddee_ of Soudan, a fine silken worm
formed under the cuticle of the body, mostly on the legs and arms,
already described under the name of Arak-El-Abeed[126]. Arabs do not
catch this disorder so much as merchants going to Soudan. The only arms
these troops have, is the matchlock or musket, on some of which the
bayonet is mounted. From the top of the Castle the surrounding country
presents an unbroken mass of desert, and more distantly low ridges of
mountains and sand hills. The Kaed assures me, however, that in seven
years he will have a fine plantation of palms. He has planted several,
and is about to fetch some choice shoots from Tripoli. With toil and care
The Desert, in truth, can not only be rendered habitable and tractable,
but even comfortable, as the building of this fort well proves. It has
been built since Mr. Gagliuffi passed this way to Mourzuk, and I am the
only European who has seen this bran-new town of Bonjem. The Bashaw of
Tripoli boasts of it as his work, and on my return begged me to give him
a sketch of it, which I did, but for which I received no thanks. A few
snakes are often seen coiling themselves on the shrubs, gazelles,
aoudads, and wild oxen, skip and bound and run about, now and then an
ostrich races past or sails along, half in heaven and half on earth, and
deebs (wolves) come down to drink at the pits during the night. But the
Arabs are not allowed to hunt, nor garden or dig; their duty is to spend
the live-long day in "strenuous idleness," or doing nothing but sleep and
lounge. To-day was hot and sultry. The female slaves were very busy in
washing themselves. They afterwards had a good race stark naked, running
after me and grinning. It is very seldom they commit such breaches of
modesty. In general, the Negress is very modest in her manners, more so
than Mooresses.

I congratulated myself in having a comfortable sleep under roof to-night.
I felt glad also for a rest here of a couple of days. In travelling
through Sahara, one or two days greatly relieve you without making you
feel that you have been stopping when you again mount the camel, whilst a
rest of a week often makes a new journey and a new tour, and you feel all
the pain and misery of beginning again.

_6th to the 11th._--My journal gets very fragmentary, confused, and
enigmatical. Many of the memorandums I cannot recal to mind. I find I was
getting at this time much exhausted, and weary of writing. My health,
indeed, was being greatly undermined, and suffering was become my daily
solace! Often I could not stand when lifted off my camel. Sometimes I was
senseless for an hour or two after we had encamped. I expected "to get
used to it." Vain thought! I was just as tired and stiff with riding the
last day as the first day when I started on the tour, besides having my
health and strength essentially impaired.

We directed our course to Misratah, instead of Benioleed, on account
of there being more water in the former route. Benioleed, or Ben
Waleed--‮بن وليد‬--lies to the north-west of Bonjem, but Misratah
nearly due north. I was disappointed in not seeing Benioleed, on
account of its Hesperian valley of olives, and other fruit-trees
scattered in paradisal beauty and profusion. The valley, in which
the town is situate, lies at the base of some of the lofty ridges of
the Tripoline Atlas, and contains a population of about three
thousand souls. I was glad to hear there were some Europeans now
employed in improving the wells of the town, sent by the Bashaw, all
which denotes progress in the Turk. Benioleed is six good days'
journey from Bonjem, and four or five from Tripoli.

Nothing remarkable occurred in our route from Bonjem to Misratah. Before
arriving at Bonjem, I saw, by the nature of the country, that we were
approaching the regions of rain, herbage and shrubs increasing on every
side. The country also assumed a more even, though an undulating
surface; and I lost sight of those low, dull, dreary, and monotonous
ridges which characterize the desolations, of the African Wilderness.
However, I expected to see the eastern terminations of the Tripoline
Atlas. Continuing our six days' route, now west, now north-west, now
north, and now north-east and east, wriggling in serpentine style about,
we arrived at length within open-culture lands, where were two or three
small patches of barley, mostly in ear, not being irrigated, but left to
the free rains of heaven. The sight of these made my heart bound with
joy: now I knew I had got without the bounds of the dry and desolate
Sahara! There seemed to be something so fresh and natural about
barley-fields, depending for life and growth on the fattening rains of
heaven, in comparison with the garden patches of grain I had witnessed
for months cultivated by the hand of man. All our people seemed equally
affected by the sight of these natural corn-fields; and Essnousee, to
show his respect for property thus left to the mercy of every
camel-driver, ordered the camels not to be driven through the standing
barley. The camels heeded little the command, and managed to get large
mouthfuls; our Soudan sheep fed to their full; a good deal was also
destroyed. I observed, nevertheless, the camels preferred the green
tender herbage, to the corn in the ear, and picked it out carefully
between the rows of straggling barley. With the increase of herbage and
water,--for water was not found in all the route from Bonjem,--the
animals increased. Gazelles bounded before us, at times in small herds of
six or seven; and hares were constantly started from under the camels'
feet. We had no sportsmen with us, and no game was shot or taken. The
Arabs ran frequently to the bushes whence the gazelles bounded, in order
to find young ones. Birds now increased to full flights. Here were
numbers of little birds with yellow body and brown back. This part of The
Sahara had its particular bird, as the rest. The little black and white
fellow higher up was now succeeded by the little yellow and brown fellow.
Other birds were flying about, but not so numerous as this species. But
the bird that now caught my attention was the gull. At first I was
perplexed to know how this bird could be found so far up The Desert, but
I recollected we had but six or seven days from Bonjem to Misratah, near
the coast. The gull suggested to my drooping spirits sea-breezes to
restore my shattered frame, and gave me new life. As we neared Misratah
the country increased in comeliness (because after so much desert), and
near Misratah the hills were actually green and flowery, so long black
and hideously bare. But indeed, it was the best time of Spring. We passed
on every side scattered Arab tents,--to us pavilions of pleasure,--with
their flocks and herds: all denoting open-culture and the presence of
rain.

Scarce a ten-thousandth part of this country is reduced to cultivation.
Here and there only are some few corn-fields, where the seed, when sown,
is left to get ripe as it may, the only manure being the burning of the
stubble of the previous year. We must, indeed, say more or less of the
coast of all North Africa, and express the same hope for the future in
the words of one of the prophets: "And the desolate land shall be tilled,
whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by. And they
shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the garden of
Eden; and the waste, and desolate, and ruined cities are become fenced,
and are inhabited." (Ezek. xxxvi. 34, 35.) North Africa was once the
garden as well as the granary of the world. A series of disastrous
revolutions has successively reduced this once so fair and fertile
region, to waste, barrenness, and barbarism; the Mahometan fate-doctrine
meanwhile hugging and conserving its ruins and dilapidations. We may
perhaps hope, the French are doing something for the Algerian coast. The
Turks may yet do something in Tripoli. Tunis and Morocco have more
cultivated lands than Tripoli or Algeria, and reforms are agitating both
countries. Once the spirit of improvement gets fairly into this region,
it may resume its ancient celebrity of being "like the garden of Eden."
Near Misratah, I observed, for the first time in my tour, the
hawthorn-tree: it was reddened over with nice ripe haws.

On the evening of the _6th_, we passed the spot where Abd-El-Geleel was
decapitated, called Bughalah ("mule"). This was a small piece of
mountain, looking abruptly over a wady, or deep valley. On this mountain
block the Sheikh concentrated all his military forces, collecting as well
the families of his tribe. Here he skirmished with the Turks for many
days, he winning and they winning a battle, as it happened; but they, at
length hemming him round, and isolating him on the rock, where there was
not a drop of water to be had, the Sheikh finally was obliged to
surrender. His retiring to this hideous rock was only matched in folly by
his confiding in the faith of a Turk. Truly, when men are to be
destroyed, their evil genius inspires them with madness.

On the _8th_, we took in water from the well of Daymoum. Around were the
remains of a fortified camp, and stones were placed in a large circle.
This camp was erected by Hasan Bashaw, Commander-in-Chief of the Regency,
when he was at war with Abd-El-Geleel. It looks not unlike a Druidical
circle.

On the _9th_ we took in a little water from the well of Namwah. Several
sea-gulls were here flying about. To-day I have to mention a fact which
shows to what extraordinary changes of temperature the Great Desert is
subject, as well as Barbary generally. About nine in the morning a strong
ghiblee got up, increasing till it became so violent that we encamped at
once, not venturing to expose the slaves to this killing simoum. Covering
up my face and mouth, I put my head into a pannier. I was almost
suffocated it is true, still it was better than exposing myself to the
searching flame of this furnace wind. What became of the slaves I cannot
tell, I was too busy with myself. Here I lay gasping for an hour, when Said
came and called to me, "Now _Bahree_ (‮بحري‬)," or north. "How,
bahree!" I answered astonished. "Bahree! bahree!" he continued, "the
caravan is going." I got up, and felt sensibly and convincingly enough it
was bahree. The wind had made a whirlwind sweep in the space of an hour,
it was now blowing as hard from the north as it had done from the south.
But strange yet natural enough, columns of hot air were blown back into
our faces from the north for some time, until, towards the evening, the
wind became as cold, bleak, and biting, as it had been hot and stifling.
These sudden changes are terrific, and are often attended with most
serious consequences in The Desert. Asking our people how long a simoum
or ghiblee would blow in The Desert, they replied, "Never violently more
than a couple of days." I do not recollect it once to have continued a
whole day, but light south winds have prevailed for several days. As an
instance of the calamitous effects of sudden changes of weather in North
Africa, I may mention that, in the Spring of 1845, when Sidi Mohammed,
"Bey of the Camp" in the Regency of Tunis, was returning from the Jereed,
he lost, on one day, some Turks and other troops from the heat, and, on
the very next day, several perished from the cold. Some hundred camels
also died from the cold at the same time. A recent expedition in Algeria,
during which some hundred French troops were frozen to death, must recur
to the recollection of the reader, having happened from the same cause of
a sudden change of temperature.

On the _10th_ we came to the well of Saneeah Abdel Kader, ("Garden of the
slave of the Most Mighty," or God). At this place was a ruined fortress,
looking over an immense district of country, a great quantity of which
was under cultivation, presenting light-green and orange-brown patches of
grain. We passed the stream of Touwarkah, a name apparently derived from
Touwarick, or Touarick. The bubbling running stream was looked upon as a
wonder by our slaves. They rushed into it, and washed and bathed
themselves, like so many mad things; indeed, after so much dry desert,
the stream was a wonder to us all. I had almost begun to think I should
never see again a large running stream. But I have seen the negresses
wash their faces, hands and legs, on the coldest morning. An Arab or a
Moor hardly washes himself once a month. These habits of cleanliness the
negresses bring from the banks of the Niger. We had the village of
Touwarkah on our right, to which was attached a forest of palms, nearly
half a day's journey in length. I had scarcely spoken a word to Essnousee
during these last five days, but, on the morning of the 11th, he entered
voluntarily into conversation with me, informing me there was an English
quarantine agent at the port of Misratah. The slave-driver, getting
nearer to the coast, had cunningly abated his ardour for beating the
slaves. He now began to fear he might get reported to the Bashaw.
Sometimes, however, he would throw a stone at the poor things, that is,
when too idle to go and flog them. I looked about in vain for the Atlas
chain, or the last of its eastern links; one mass of undulating country
stretched to the sea-shore. What feeling of excessive joy thrilled
through my nervous frame when our people talked of the sea, for though
not visible to us, we were near enough to breathe its invigorating air.
Now, indeed, all was changed, and new life took possession of the entire
caravan. The green and pleasant spring cultivation, the darkly fair
verdure of several young olive-trees, here and there a graceful palm, now
broad leafy shadowy fig-trees, the delicate almond and the pretty
pomegranate, all the treasures of the gardens of Misratah, raised our joy
to ecstasy. I myself often thought I should never see again Tripoli, or
the sea; now they seemed restored to me, and I to them, as if at one time
they had been hopelessly lost! But how small had all objects become, how
diminutive, how confined, limited and contracted their dimensions, and
how pretty yet how petty, compared to the vast huge and limitless lines
of existence, which form and circumscribe the Great Saharan Regions!
where I had travelled so many long months. When I first arrived in
Africa, I looked upon the dark and purple mountains of the coast with a
species of mysterious feeling, as if such mountain groups were boundless
in extent, unfathomable and unsearchable in their stronghold foundations.
But now, returning again to the regions of Atlas, the chains of this
celebrated range in Tripoli, Tunis, and Algeria, seemed like old familiar
faces to me, or so many contracted domestic objects. My eye had been so
accustomed to gazing day after day over plains without an apparent bound,
on mountain ridges running along weeks and weeks of Desert journeying,
that it could now only regard all the African coast scenery as so many
pretty little painted landscapes, which might be reduced and easily
accommodated to stage scenery at a minor theatre.

On the arrival of our ghafalah at Misratah, I was introduced to the
quarantine agent, Signor Francesco Regini, an Italian born in Tripoli,
but under British protection, and having a Maltese wife. Regini begged me
to put up in his house, and I accepted his kindly proffered invitation,
when his wife cooked me a fowl and I dined like a prince. I now thought I
would return to Tripoli by sea, to get a little bracing sea-air, but
afterwards I determined to continue with the caravan of slaves to
Tripoli, to see the last of the poor things, or accompany them till their
arrival at the Tripoline market of human flesh.

FOOTNOTES:

[125] As the description of the _Simoum_ ("poisoned" wind, from
    ‮سمّ‬ "poison"), given by the following writers, is the account
    of men, who were _bonâ fide_ Saharan travellers, I shall take the
    liberty of transcribing their various relations:--

    "Nothing can be more overpowering than the South wind (Ghibee,) or
    the East, (Shirghee), each of which is equally to be dreaded. In
    addition to the excessive heat and dryness of these winds, they
    are impregnated with sand, and the air is darkened by it, the sky
    appears of a dusky yellow, and the sun is barely perceptible. The
    eyes become red, swelled and inflamed; the lips and skin parched
    and chapped; while severe pain in the chest is generally felt, in
    consequence of the quantities of sand unavoidably inhaled.
    Nothing, indeed, is able to resist the unwholesome effects of this
    wind. On opening our boxes, we found the many little articles, and
    some of our instruments which had been carefully packed, were
    entirely split and destroyed. Gales of the kind here described,
    generally continue ten or twelve hours."--LYON.

    "I derived some benefit from fastening a strip of cotton over my
    eyes, and another over my mouth, to keep off the burning air which
    parched my lungs. The burning East wind which was beginning to
    blow rendered the heat insufferable, and the scorching sand found
    its way into our eyes, in spite of the precautions which we took
    to exclude it. Tepid water was distributed, which we thought
    delicious, though it had little effect in quenching our thirst. My
    thirst was so tormenting that I found it impossible to get any
    sleep. My throat was on fire, and my tongue clove to the roof of
    my mouth. I lay as if expiring on the sand, waiting with the
    greatest impatience for the moment when we were to have our next
    supply of water. I thought of nothing but water--rivers, streams,
    rivulets, were the only ideas which presented themselves to my
    mind during this burning fever. In my impatience I cursed my
    companions, the country, the camels, and for anything I knew, the
    sun himself, who did not make sufficient speed to reach the
    horizon."--CAILLIE.

    "The Simoum felt like the blast of a furnace. To describe this
    awful scourge of The Desert, defies all the powers of language.
    The pencil assisted by the pen might perhaps afford a faint idea
    of it, winged with the whirlwind and charioted with thunder, it
    urged its fiery course, blasting all nature with its death-fraught
    breath. It was accompanied by a line of vivid light, that looked
    like a train of fire, whose murky smoke filled the whole wide
    expanse, and made its horrors only the more vivid. The eye of man,
    and the voice of beast were both raised to heaven, and both then
    fell upon the earth. Against this sand tempest all the fortitude
    of man fails, and all his efforts are vain. To Providence alone
    must we look. It passed us, burying one of my camels. As soon as
    we rose from the earth, with uplifted hands for its preservation,
    we awoke to fresh horrors. Its parching tongue had lapped the
    water from our water-skins, and having escaped the fiery hour, we
    had to fear the still more awful death of thirst."--DAVIDSON.

[126] This disease is the _Filaria Medinensis_, or Guinea Worm.
    The rude Arabs give a sort of Shakesperian witches' receipt for
    the cure of this disease, such as the liver of a vulture, the
    brains of an hyæna, the dung of the ostrich, mixed with other
    wonderful ingredients. This reminds me of the receipt of my
    Ghadamsee Doctor for the cure of _Night Blindness_, which here
    followeth:--"_Description of a remedy by which affliction (or
    blindness) of the sight is cured at night_. Take the liver of a
    goat, or the liver of a camel, and cut off a piece of it, mince it
    small, and take also a couple of ‮سحر‬? and reduce it to a fine
    powder, and rub them together, and place them on the fire so that
    the water boils or simmers, and then drop (or pour) the water on
    the eye, and _it will straightway see_."




CHAPTER XXXI.

FROM MISRATAH TO TRIPOLI.

     The Establishment of Signor Regini.--Visit the Acting Kaed of
     Misratah.--Shabby Conduct of Mehemet Pasha to
     Regini.--Description of the Villages comprised within the
     Jurisdiction of Misratah.--Population and Condition of the Jews
     in Misratah and Tripoli.--Regini sighs for the honour of hoisting
     the Union Jack.--Village of Zeiten.--Leghma; and the tapping of
     the Date-Palm.--Corn Fields and Grain Culture in North
     Africa.--Manipulation.--Sahel or Salhin; its splendid
     Gardens.--The Eastern _Terminus_ groups of Mount Atlas.--Ruins of
     Lebida; and other Ancient Ruins.--Monosyllabic Old Moor.--Meet
     the Bey of Misratah.--Wad Seid, and plain of El-Jumr.--The
     Sand-Storm.--Our Slaves' first sight of the Sea.--Said left
     behind.--Essnousee foiled in attempting to beat one of his
     Slaves.--Trait of the Tender Passion in our Troop of
     Slaves.--Result of my Observations on the Saharan Slave
     Traffic.--Gardens of Tajourah.--The Gardens of the
     Masheeah.--Distance, Time, and Expenses of my Tour.--Disposal of
     Said, and the Camel.


_12th._--EASTER SUNDAY. It is a grand _festa_ with Signor Regini, and his
family are dressed out in their best. They are the only family of
Christians in this town, but keep the _festa_ with as much religious zest
and zeal as if in Malta or Rome. Poor Regini gets only twelve dollars a
month from the Pasha of Tripoli for his employment of quarantine agent,
and is obliged to look after three ports, for Misratah has three ports,
at a considerable distance from each other, as well as several hours'
ride from the town. Visited with Regini the acting Kaed or Governor of
this place, and brother of the Bey, now in Tripoli. The Kaed stared
stupidly at me whilst relating to him some things about the Touaricks.
He was astonished they treated me so well, instead of murdering me, as he
thought they had a right, or ought to have done. This Moorish beast
finished by consulting me respecting his health, and begging physic, but
which I refused to give him, seeing his indisposition proceeded from
sheer indolence. His people, or officers of the place, were all amazed at
my travelling as I was, and wondered what I could be doing. Mr. Regini
heard one say, "The Christian has written the country; the English are
coming to take all this land." Another observed, "This Englishman is a
dervish, and is mad. His friends send him here to get rid of him." I took
no interest whatever in the interview, feeling thoroughly tired of my
tour and the people. The Kaed had heard some merchants say, "The
Touaricks are a people of one word," which he now repeated, and which was
a good satire upon himself and his Moorish brethren, "A people of ten
thousand words." The Kaed informed me of the safe arrival of Haj Ibrahim,
and the rest of his party, at Tripoli.

Regini's house is a constant resort of visitors and idlers. Amongst the
objects of attraction, is Mr. R.'s pretty little daughter, who turns the
heads of all the Moors. Mr. R. says the Pacha is going to build him a
larger house, and allow it him rent-free, as an increase of salary. This
His Highness, indeed, promised to do. But Mehemet Pasha showed the usual
and insulting duplicity of the Turk, for the Consul-General heard
afterwards that, instead of giving Regini a new house, he increased the
rent of his old one. This unhandsome conduct of the Pasha so enraged
Colonel Warrington, that, on hearing it, after he had invited the Bashaw
to dine with him at his garden, the Colonel determined to withdraw the
invitation, or rather not give the dinner. So the Pasha's dining at the
British garden did not come off, much to my annoyance, for I wished to
have been present at the dinner. These little bits of Turkish duplicity
irritate and annoy our Consuls more than acts of tyrants like Asker Ali.

Visited the environs in the evening. Picked up some chamomile flowers,
which abound in the lanes and highways. The barilla plant is also very
common; it is collected and burnt, and the ashes exported in considerable
quantities. Several ponds of water are found during winter in this
neighbourhood, which are frequented by numerous flights of wild-duck,
affording capital game for the hungry sportsman. Date-palms are now in
blossom, whose flowers are all at first encased in a pod. Essnousee tells
me, Abd-El-Geleel destroyed the palms of Sockna by simply cutting off the
tops or heads of the palms, in the same way as people do when they tap
palms for leghma. Some of them grow again, others do not, it being all a
matter of chance. The date-palm is most abundantly cultivated on the
Tripoline Coast, supplying the people with a full third of their food.

_13th._--Misratah is an aggregate or series of villages, scattered about
to an extent of a full day's journey, containing about 12,000
inhabitants, two-thirds Moors, the rest Arabs, Negroes, and Jews. The
houses and other buildings make but a mean appearance, built of mud and
stones, and some of lime-mortar. There are a few Marabets shining
beautifully white in the sun, with light and chaste cupola tops. A
drawing of one of these is given, that of Sidi Salah. The Marabet is a
common, but fair and picturesque, feature in coast scenery. The bazaar,
or market of Misratah, is held three times a week, but in different
places of the villages included within this circle of jurisdiction. The
principal port is three or four hours from the central village, the
inhabitants not enjoying an immediate view of the sea, so delightful on
the North African Coast. The grand cultivation is dates, but not of good
quality, then barley and wheat (the most of the former), olives, figs,
and some other fruit-trees. Oxen, goats, and sheep, are in numbers, and
there is a considerable export trade in hides and wool. The markets are
pretty well stocked with provisions, and cheaper than in Tripoli.
Nevertheless, the villages of Misratah are choked full of very poor
destitute people, and during the past year, in the midst of comparative
abundance, many of them lived almost entirely on herbs. These wretched
creatures congregate in Misratah from all the neighbouring districts, the
Gharian and Gibel mountains, the village of Touarghah, and other places.
The same system of spoliation by Government is going on here as in other
provinces of Tripoli, the inhabitants being reduced gradually to most
complete beggary. Every year the number of poor increases, whilst the
taxes on land, under the curse of Turkish oppression, as fatally
increase, reducing all to serfdom, leaving not an acre of land in the
hands of the people, excepting those lands protected by the sanctuaries
of religion. The civil power in this country has no conscience; the
people are alone protected from annihilation by their religion.

Fifty families of Jews are located in these villages, occupied as
brokers and petty traders, or in making essences. They pay a
poll-tax of a hundred mahboubs per annum to the Pasha. They have two
synagogues, and a Rabbi superintending them. Rabbi Samuel says he
has heard there are Jews in Soudan. Lyon has mentioned the same
report, and locates Jews south from Timbuctoo, supposing them to
have gone originally from Morocco. Many of the Tripoline mountains
contain Jews, and in Misratah there are a hundred families. As a
specimen of the state of Biblical learning and literature amongst
these Jews, I give the following conversation I had with Rabbi
Samuel. He explained the 53rd chap. of Isaiah as referring to
another and a past suffering Messiah, the Messiah of Ephraim, the
son of Ephraim, and not the son of David, who is to be the future
and conquering Messiah. To Philip's question, "Of whom speaketh the
prophet this?" &c. (Acts viii. 34), he candidly answered,
acknowledging that the prophet spake not of himself, but the suffering
Messiah. The epithets אל גבור‬ and ‮אבי־עד‬, in Is.
ix. 6, 7, the Rabbi explained, as denoting the reign of Messiah to be full
of peace and happiness for all mankind, quoting Psalm lxxii.,
observing properly, the words first refer to Solomon, and then to
the Messiah. Asking him for a passage of the Pentateuch, referring
to the future state, he replied;--"Moses did not speak at all of a
future state; Moses intended to have done so when he got to
Jerusalem, and settled the people in the Holy Land; but having
offended God, he was not permitted to enter there, and was prevented
from communicating knowledge about the future world. But you will
find in the commentaries all the information you require." He could
not tell where the future state was spoken of in the prophets, so I
pointed out to him Daniel xii. 2, 3. Rabbi Samuel now bestowed on me
the honorary title of English Marabout, earnestly recommending me to
call on Rabbi Jacob at Tripoli, the mighty scholar of the Regency.
He added:--"The Mussulmans say that our Messiah will conquer them
first; but afterwards, they (the Mussulmans) will recover their
strength and dominion, and destroy us and our Messiah. You see they
are idiots." So much for Jewish learning in Tripoli.

Signor Regini is an original in his way. Speaking of an old man about
taking a young wife, he observed, "Growing old, he became young." Of
himself, he says, "_Noi siamo molto respetati qui_ (We are much respected
here)."

"So you ought to be," I replied, "for I would not live here to be
despised."

"Stop, Signore Inglese," he rejoined abruptly, "I am the first man here.
You are a learned man, and have travelled all over the world, and you
know Latin; '_Aut Cæsar, aut nullus_,' that's my motto. I only want the
flag here. Get me appointed British Consul. I don't want a salary. Then
shall I be a greater man than the Bey of Misratah."

I promised, as in duty bound, after this sally of modest ambition, to
mention his wish to the Consul-General. The fact is, Regini is a very
deserving man, and could he hoist the Union Jack, might benefit British
subjects and promote British interests at the same time that he gratified
his own Cæsar-like ambition.

This afternoon we left Misratah for Tripoli, our last stage. We found the
gardens of Misratah very agreeable, getting clear of them by night, and
encamping in a hilly country, covered with the delicious green of spring,
with nibbling snowy flocks scattered and feeding, and Arabs' tents
pitched, "black, but comely." But I was surprised to see so few Arabs'
tents and douwars in this Regency. In fact, the Arabs of Tripoli are
nearly all located and confined to The Mountains.

_14th._--Afternoon, arrived at _Zeitin_, a small village. The palm is
abundant as usual, and the gardens are full of olive and
other Barbary fruit-trees. On encamping, I purchased some
_Leghma_--‮لقمة‬--according to some philologists, "tears" of the
palms, and others "foam," from the fermenting quality of the sap. At
this season many trees are tapped, being, indeed, the tapping season.
When a tree is tapped, a small hut of palm-branches, cut from off the
tapped palm, is set up close to it, which is turned into a sort of
_tap_-room, or boozing-place, for drinking the leghma, and half a
dozen Moorish louting fellows are always seen idling and skulking
about the hut, or sweltering with intoxication inside, as long as the
tree yields the spirituous juice. A tree, if a good one, will yield
its sap for two months, and sometimes a few days more. You can
purchase a tree, tap it and drink of its sap at your pleasure, for
only a couple of dollars. And for this trifle, people will often
destroy their best palms. The leghma is pleasant when quite new or
fresh; when a few days old it becomes very strong and acrid drinking,
continually fermenting. Moors do not understand drinking leghma, wine
or spirits, for their health, considering the object of drinking
fermented liquor is not attained until they become intoxicated. In
these palm-booths, or huts, the Moors occasionally bring their
provisions, and here they will pass night and day for weeks together
in dreamy drunken musings, each sot, shut up in himself, making
himself by a drunken and delirious imagination, Kady, or Sheikh, or
Sultan, or some mighty warrior, and all mankind his slaves and ardent
worshippers, as the bent of mind wildly leads him. Moderation Moors
cannot comprehend, they can neither drink moderately, nor eat
moderately; they must either abstain altogether or eat or drink like
beasts. Of course I speak of their general character. But such is the
case with too many amongst us, as well as these semi-barbarians.

We encamped amidst palms and barley-fields. High wind from the east. The
barley was getting ripe very fast, in some places being reaped. All these
crops of grain are thin, the stalk of the barley short, the ears
small--not the barley or wheat of England certainly. No part of North
Africa furnishes such fine and heavy corn-fields as my own native county,
Lincolnshire; I might, perhaps, add, no place in the world. The plains of
Morocco furnish thousands of acres of barley[127], but all straggling and
thinly growing. The wheat is the same. Add to which, you will find a
North African corn-field full of weeds, herbs, and wild flowers.

_15th._--Helping up my little Negro to a ride this morning, as the camel
ascended a hillock he was pitched off in a summerset. A slave immediately
got hold of him and began to stretch his neck for fear it was broken, and
otherwise pull and manipulate him, holding him up by the head and neck.
Manipulation and pulling and stretching are favourite appliances of
remedy in all this part of Africa. Manipulation is frequently used at the
baths, and is attended with surprising cures. Every muscle of the body is
stretched, and rubbed, and _coaxed_. To burning, bleeding, and charms,
some Moorish doctors add manipulation, as the fourth sovereign remedy.
Early, we reached Sahel (Salhin?). These cultivated lands are a
continuation of Zeiten; but Sahel is in a much higher state of
cultivation. The golden harvest is nodding over Afric's sunny plains.
Fields of ripe barley are waving in the wind, overshadowed with splendid
palms of young and vigorous growth. Besides there are most beautiful
olive plantations all around us. Essnousee, who now became a little more
familiar, kept crying out to me with spontaneous admiration, "This is the
new world (_Dunyah Jedeed_)!" The slave-driver had heard me praise the
vast fields of fertility in America. Sahel, in fact, is a country of most
vigorous and teeming fertility. But, to-day, from the camel's back, I saw
the sea. How rejoiced I was, after nine months _Ocean_ Desert-travelling,
over sands and rocks, and naked sultry plains, suffering all sorts of
privations and hardships, to see once more the world of waters! And this,
notwithstanding it had been so often unfriendly to me in my various
travellings by land and water. I kept straining (and pumping) my lungs to
breathe its pure cool air. Sahel is of considerable extent, but has no
nucleus of houses in the shape of a town, consisting merely of a series
of small villages and detached houses, like our cottage groups and farms,
but, of course, in Moorish style. Extremely warm to-day, though near the
sea. Cleared the Sahel the afternoon, and, at night, encamped amidst the
last groups of the Atlas, spreading and stretching eastwards. I had
observed we were about to enter these terminus groups and links of the
eastern Atlas chain, whilst at some distance, and easily distinguished
them from those of the Saharan groups and ridges. Their appearance is
strikingly different, being wooded and bristling on the sides, shooting
up in craggy heights, hoary and white on the uppermost peaks and ridges,
as if bitten by the cold and frost, and bared by the bleak winds of the
sea. The Great Desert ranges, on the contrary, are naked as nakedness can
be, dull, dreary, and dead, smoothed over as velvet, of black and purple
hues, and look more like mountains which children might paint than the
sterile realities of Old Sahara. Here, amidst the mountainous scenery of
the coast, I could recognise many of the features of Virgil's
description. (Æneidos b. iv.)

    "Jamque volans apicem et latera ardua cernit
    Atlantis duri, cœlum qui vertice fulcit:
    Atlantis, cinctum assidue cui nubibus atris
    Piniferum caput et vento pulsatur et imbri;
    Nix humeros infusa tegit; tum flumina mento
    Præcipitant senis, et glacie riget horrida barba."

But this grand portrait of Old Atlas, whose brawny shoulders support our
various globe, can only be realized (during winter) in the Morocco chain
of the Atlas, whose highest peak is Miltsin, in Jibel Thelge, or
"Mountain of Snow." This peak, some 15,000 feet in height, is near the
city of Morocco itself. Dr. Shaw, who never visited Morocco, was puzzled
to apply this classic description to the Algerian chains of Atlas. The
Atlas Chain, which here terminates eastward, strikes out into the ocean
just below Santa Cruz, in Morocco, being its western termination; but, in
Tunis, at many places, it is interrupted in its connecting links. I was
delighted to find a number of beautiful fruit-gardens, so many Hesperian
spots, in the small valleys of these Atlas groups, observing for the
first time the vine cultivated in vineyards. Several pleasant fields of
the vine adorned the valleys. But the date-palm disappears in these
mountains, whilst the olive increases, crowning the lower groups of
Atlas, or spreading in large fields in the valleys. Patches of wheat and
barley are also cultivated on the mountain sides. Arab stone-built
villages are seen scattered through the rising groups and valleys. I am
told these gardens belong to people in Tripoli. They are the sweetest,
prettiest, loveliest little things which I have seen in all my nine
months' tour. Oh, that these valleys were full of them!

At noon, we passed the ruins of Lebida (or Lebdah) on our right, situate
on the sea-shore, several miles out of the line of route. What nonsense
to believe Cicerones in these parts. Regini told me I should be sure to
see Lebida, for it was in the road--that is to say, five or six miles
off, behind sand-hills. The whole of the ground, from Sahel to these
first groups of Eastern Atlas, is scattered over with Roman and Greek
ruins, and, as it happens, there is a huge piece of an ancient building
in the road itself, apparently a temple. I was too weak, however, to
descend from the camel, to look closely at it. Many of these
mountain-ridges are crowned with ancient forts, and farther on, when we
arrived close by the sea-shore, we observed the remains of a Roman
road,--a firm broad layer of cement and small stones embedded in the
shifting sands. This was making a road in a business-like, dominion-like
style, and worthy of those once mighty masters of the world. In our
traverse of the mountains we met the Bey of Misratah returning from
Tripoli, full of the confidence of his Turkish master the Pasha, and very
splendidly attired though _en route_, with some dozen mounted Moors, all
very gay, showing themselves off on their prancing barbs. Essnousee, with
all our people, descended from their camels to pay their respects to
these big-wigs, and made them a present of some crushed Sockna dates,
called Krum. Here new cavalry horses were feeding, attended by the
Nitham, or new troops. The Turks in Tripoli have but one small troop of
horse.

The old Moor with one slave, and I frequently had some serious talk
together, but I could seldom draw him out. I spoke to him about Said
to-day.

_Myself._--"I don't know what to do with Said. If I take him to my
country, the cold will hurt him, and perhaps he'll die."

_Old Moor._--"Rubbee (God)!"

_Myself._--"I thought of giving him my camel, and letting him turn
camel-driver; but the Arabs are such thieves, they will soon steal the
camel from him."

_Old Moor._--"Rubbee (God)!"

_Myself._--"He's such a goose, too, he gives away all he has."

_Old Moor._--"Rubbee (God)!"

_Myself._--"Perhaps I shall leave Said at Tripoli."

_Old Moor._--"If it please God."

_16th._--All the morning we continued to traverse the Atlas groups. I
found the lesser summits of these groups also strikingly contrasted with
the Saharan ridges. Here were heights crowned with fresh and green
cultivation. On the contrary, the Saharan mountain tops are covered with
lava and columnar green stone, and overstrewn with other loose stones,
forming an extensive black and dreary plain. At noon, we got upon
undulating ground, a great part of which was under cultivation, with here
and there sheep and cattle grazing. Encamped in the Wady Seid (Zag). This
undulating ground is sometimes called the fertile plain of El-Jumr. Wady
Seid is now quite dry, but evidently has a strong and large current
during the winter rains. In the course of this day's march, crossed many
small but deep dry ravines, all of which have water in the winter. No
hares or gazelles were started in these few days' journey from Misratah,
the country being generally populated, but birds increased on every side.
Noticed here, as in Tunis, a great variety of beetles. North Africa,
indeed, is the classic land of beetles; also a few snakes and many
lizards were observed. Our people now all shaved their heads and washed,
changing their linen in preparation for our entering Tripoli to-morrow or
next day. A Moor will wear a shirt three months, an Arab, six months or a
year. They cannot comprehend the necessity of the frequent changes of
linen by Europeans. And yet, Moors will take a bath once or twice a day,
whilst they re-put on their linen for three months together.

_17th._--When we started this morning we fully expected to reach Tripoli
in the evening, at least I did, leaving the ghafalah at Tajourah. But,
after we had marched a few hours, the sky was suddenly overcast, and the
wind blew until it became a horrible tempest--

    "Sudden the impetuous hurricanes descend,
    Wheel through the air, in circling eddies play,
    Tear up the sands, and sweep whole plains away."

We got safely over Wady Rumel, whose bed is covered with reeds, having
besides a good deal of stagnant water. My nagah forded the river as well
as any of the camels, if not better. We now entered the sands of the
sea-shore, and after two hours sat down to eat a few dates. We resumed
our march through the sands which line the margin of the sea, the wind
meanwhile blowing a perfect gale.

Now I witnessed what I had not seen in my nine months' Saharan travel, a
veritable sandstorm. The wind so filled the air with sand, that we could
hardly see, or get on groping our way, and we were obliged to hold on our
camels, for fear of being blown off. Our poor slaves shrunk back aghast
from the tempest, whilst the sea now and then broke open upon them
through the sand groups, showing, to their amazement, its most
tempestuous aspect.

Assuredly this, their first sight of the sea, will be associated in
memory hereafter with the greatest and most cruel sufferings of our poor
slaves, for to-day they suffered unusually from the wind and cold--the
tempest of sand blinding them, and the miserable creatures falling
continually on the wayside. I secured my eyes and face from the sand by
tying round them a dark silk handkerchief, through which I saw my way
without getting eyes, ears, and mouth full of sand. All our animals, as
well as our people, had a thick coating of sand round their eyes, the
cold and wind making their eyes run, and the water collecting the sand.
Unable to proceed farther, we were obliged to encamp about 2 P.M., close
by the sea-shore, under the shadow of a great cliff, the spray of the
waves washing our feet and resting-place, and the noise of their chafing
and roaring stunning our ears, whilst the sand-storm worked its way of
desolation over our heads. The slaves surprised by this new sight of the
sea, lashed into its wildest form, stared with wonder and horror at the
tempest-tossed waters; some grinned and chattered with their teeth;
others looked savage and moody, as if asking, "Whether the devils of the
white men inhabited these waters?" whilst others, cowered down and
sinking, hid their faces under their tattered clothes. I love to look
upon the sea in its wildest shape, possessed by the tempest, and am
disposed to be very poetical about it, but, mind you, rather from the
land, than pitching over its briny foamy billows. We had some rain, and
the cold was intense during the night. In very deed, it seemed as if
heaven and earth were conspiring against the wretched, slaves the nearer
they approached the end of their sufferings! Still there was an end of
this, as of all things, and God sent us fair weather the next day. I was
grievously afflicted about Said this night. He had suddenly disappeared
during the sandstorm, and what had become of him I could not tell. I kept
asking myself, "Whether he was doomed to perish at the gates of Tripoli,
on his return, after his painfully wearying journey?" I sent out people
on all sides. No tidings were brought of him. All was a blank...... We
called, and called...... No answer.

_18th._--Started early, but without Said. I began to be overwhelmed with
sadness at his unaccountable disappearance. My impression was, when more
calm, that he had overslept himself during the day, whilst we rested an
hour to eat a few dates on the sand, and the slaves walking with him, or
his companions, allowed him to sleep on without waking him. I missed him
immediately, but was told he was a short way behind and would soon be up
to us. As he was in the habit of loitering behind in this way, I saw no
reason for not believing what the slaves said. However, I lectured the
slaves and all the people, knowing he could not have been left behind
without some trick, or connivance on their part, threatening to bring
them up before the Pasha. This startled them, and they were all uneasy.
Before, they seemed to care no more about it than if a dog had been left
behind. But at noon, Said was brought up by an Arab who had found him on
the roadside, lost and wandering about. He pretended he had been sick and
stayed behind voluntarily, afraid to accuse the slaves to me of their
unkindness in leaving him sleeping on the sands. Said knew very well we
had fed them and clothed them often _en route_, and the sick had often
been placed on my camel, whilst I walked wearily over Desert. I really
felt deeply wounded at this ingratitude of the slaves, but I believe it
was a trick planned by Essnousee, to give us annoyance. Poor Said had
slept all night in open Desert, amidst sand and wind, and cold and rain,
with nothing to eat. His lips were blanched and his eyes streamed with
water. I got him placed on a camel.

The wind continues to blow high, and the storm still lingers late,
scattering about sand. Several of the female slaves are placed on the
camels from utter exhaustion. Others are cruelly driven on. Just as we
arrive at Tajourah, a negress of tender age falls down from exhaustion,
bleeding copiously from the mouth. The Arabs on foot cannot get her
along. Essnousee, seeing this, called out, "Beat her, beat her." But the
people not obeying his brutal orders, he immediately jumped off the
camel, taking with him a thick stick to beat her. As soon as he did this,
not being able to restrain myself, I instantly also jumped off my camel,
and ran after him, taking with me a stick, a match for his. When I got up
to him, surrounded with a group of people, some of whom were from the
neighbouring village, all striving to save the girl from his stick, I
called out, "Now, stop, stop your stick, we are now in Tripoli; no more
whipping on the road," holding up my stick and assuming a threatening
attitude, determined to resist the slave-driver at all risks. Seeing
this, he cowered back at once, and screamed out, "Oh, it's a she-devil!"
The people now took courage against the monster, and said, "No, no, she's
exhausted with fatigue (with the way)." Essnousee then had her carried on
the back of a camel to the village, and afterwards she continued riding
to Tripoli. I was just in the humour for giving this miscreant
slave-driver a thrashing, and taking on him satisfaction (but a millionth
part indeed), for the torments he had, during forty days inflicted upon
these wretched slaves, and should have done so had he attempted to beat
the poor exhausted bleeding negress. I felt myself secure enough at the
entrance of the gardens of Tripoli, and could well stand the risk of
being brought up before the Pasha for flagellating an honourable
man-dealer.

We sat down under some olives a minute, ate a few dates, drank a little
water, and then entered the gardens of Tajourah, which offered nothing
new, except that they were more richly cultivated than most of those we
had seen on our way. Threading our way amidst the mud garden walls, I was
gratefully soothed with the sight of increasing culture, and population.
A sweet trait of the tender passion must be here recorded as taking place
amidst this havoc of human cruelty, perpetrated on our sable brothers and
sisters. At the side of my camel were two young things, a lad and a girl,
who every now and then, when the Moors turned their heads, watching their
opportunity, kept locking one another's fingers together. The lad now
started off as if shot from a bow, and instantly brought some beans from
a neighbouring garden, and these he presented gracefully to his
lady-love. With such a little innocent incident, and there were many of
the kind, I bid an eternal farewell to this slave caravan, by stating
succinctly the results of my observations on the traffic in slaves, as
carried on in The Great Desert of Sahara.

_1st._--The slave-traffic is on the increase in The Great Desert; (though
temporarily decreasing on the route of Bornou).

_2nd._--Many slaves are flogged to death _en route_ from Ghat to
Tripoli, and others are over-driven or starved to death.

_3rd._--The female slaves are subjected to the most obscene insults and
torments by the Arab and Moorish slave-drivers; whilst the youngest
females (children of four or five years of age) are violated by their
brutal masters, the Tibboos, in coming from Bornou to Ghat, or Fezzan.

_4th._--Slave children, of five years of age, walk more than one hundred
and thirty days over The Great Desert, and other districts of Africa,
before they can reach the slave-markets of Tripoli to be sold.

_5th._--Three-fourths of the slave-traffic of The Great Desert and
Central Africa, are supported by the money and goods of European
merchants, resident in Tunis, Tripoli, Algiers, and Egypt.

_6th._--A considerable traffic in slaves is carried on in the Southern
Provinces of Algeria, under French protection, by the Soufah and Shânbah
Arabs.

_7th._--At present there are no wars carried on in Central Africa, except
those for the capture of slaves, to supply the markets of Tripoli and
Constantinople; (so far as my information goes).

_8th._--Slaves are the grand staple commerce of the Soudan and Bornou
caravans, and without slaves this commerce could hardly exist. Twenty
years ago, the Sheikh of Bornou reiterated to our countrymen; "You say
that we are all the sons of one father; you say also, that the sons of
Adam should not sell one another; and you know every thing. God has given
you great talents. What are we to do? The Arabs who come here will have
nothing else but slaves. Why do you not send us merchants?"

The gardens of Tajourah are about one and a half hours' ride. There was
then the break of an hour, where are pools of stagnant salt-water, with
snipes running about. Afterwards we entered the gardens of the Masheeah,
amongst which is the British garden, or residence of Colonel Warrington.
The Masheeah is a series of mud-walled gardens, or small fields of corn,
fruit, and vegetable cultivation, and houses within the enclosures. Some
of them not unlike town farms. The whole stretches some ten miles along
the sea-shore. The population of the Masheeah, including Tajourah, is
equal to that of the city of Tripoli itself, if not greater. These
suburban villages have their mosques and religious establishments. They
have besides a separate Governor from that of the town, and their
inhabitants exercise great political influence during a revolution. In
the last, these people supported one Bashaw, or pretender against the
other, or that of the city. The Masheeah is two-thirds of a mile from the
gates of Tripoli. The houses and gardens being situate mostly on the east
and southeastern suburbs of the city.

We arrived in the neighbourhood of the British Consul's garden an hour
before sunset. On the road, near it, are great gaping holes, very
convenient for tumbling in on a dark night. These holes were dug years
ago to store grain in. The Tripoline Government thinks it not worth while
to fill them up. Immense fig-trees have grown up in some of these holes.
I deemed it prudent to wait near the Consular Gardens till dark, having
rather a dervish appearance, and being without an European hat, cap, or
shoes. Whilst waiting in a neighbouring garden, a Moor came up to me and
talked, and then brought me a little cuscasou. I felt sensibly this
trifling manifestation of hospitality on my return.

It is now just eight months and a half since I left Tripoli for Ghadames.
I have passed eighty days, or nine hundred and sixty hours, out of this
on the camel's back, and made a tour in The Sahara of some one thousand
six hundred miles. I reckon my distances and days thus, averaging one
with another:--

DAYS' JOURNEY.

From Tripoli to Ghadames     15 days
From Ghadames to Ghat        20  "
From Ghat to Mourzuk         15  "
From Mourzuk to Tripoli      30  "
                             --
        Total                80  "

These eighty, days, at the rate of twenty miles per day, make 1600 miles.
I walked every day, one day with another, about two hours, which, at the
rate of two and a half miles per hour, makes the distance of four hundred
miles that I went on foot through the Great Desert.

I wore out two or three pairs of shoes, but not one suit of clothes. My
Moorish articles of dress I gave to Said, except the burnouse, which I
gave away afterwards in Algeria. My whole expenses, including servant,
camel, provisions, lodging, Moorish clothes, &c., &c., for the nine
months' tour, did not exceed fifty pounds' sterling, and nearly half of
this was given away in presents to the people and the various chieftains,
who figure in the journal. I am sure, for I did not keep an exact
account, my expenses did not exceed the round number of fifty by more
than half a dozen pounds. I hope, therefore, I shall not be blamed for
want of economy in Saharan travelling, especially when it is seen that
the Messrs. Lyon and Ritchie expedition cost Government three thousand
(3000) pounds' sterling, whose journey did not extend further south than
mine, nor did they, indeed, penetrate so completely into The Sahara as I
have done. Capt. Lyon likewise writes, that without "additional pecuniary
supplies," he could not think of proceeding farther into the Interior,
and accordingly returned. But were a person to ask me these questions,
"Did you spend enough? Did you supply all your necessary wants? Could you
safely recommend others to follow your example?" I must reply negatively
to them all. This tour, to have been performed properly, as undertaken
only by a private individual, ought to have cost at least one hundred
pounds. The reader will, perhaps, be inquisitive to know, at whose
expense the journey was accomplished. On this score, I am also disposed
to be as communicative as on other points, for I do not wish this or that
patronage to be suspected, although certainly the spending of fifty or
sixty pounds' sterling is not a very mighty business. Well, then, the
expenses were paid out of the funds of a salary granted for
correspondence by one of the London newspapers. So much for the aid
supplied by the Fourth Estate for the prosecution of philanthropic
objects and discoveries in Africa. Let our printers' devils have their
due in these days of universal patronage and pretension.

I now lay down and stretched myself at full length upon the fresh herbage
under a sheltering palm, watching with a silent melancholy the last
departing rays of the sun. I then thought over all my journey, beginning
with the beginning and ending with the end, all the incidents of the
route from first to last, and all the privations and sufferings I had
undergone--praying to and thanking the Almighty for having delivered me
from every ill and every danger.


POSTSCRIPT.--Said, on my leaving Tripoli, was committed to the care of
Signor Merlato, the Austrian Consul, who promised to find him employment,
or keep him in his own service. My poor camel, for which, were I a poet,
I would chant a plaintive strain of adieu! I was obliged to sell. The
Bengazi Arab who bought her promised me, however, to treat her lightly,
and only to use her to ride upon.

    "The world and I fortuitously met,
    I owed a trifle, and have paid the debt."

FOOTNOTES:

[127] On the plains of Angadda the French troops, at the battle of
    Isly, passed two or three days together through fields of barley.


THE END.

LONDON: HARRISON AND CO., PRINTERS, 45, ST. MARTIN'S LANE.



Transcriber's Notes:

1. On page 249 of Vol. II, there is a possible line missing.
A period has been changed to a comma & marked. See the original
page image for details.

2. <th> in dates has been italicised consistently.

3. There are numerous spelling inconsistencies in proper and place names
as well as within accented characters. These have been left as printed.





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