An Account Of Timbuctoo And Housa Territories In The Interior Of Africa Part 3

[Footnote 50: These horses are the desert horse, or the _shrubat er'reeh_. See Jackson's Marocco, 2d or 3d edition, p.

94. to 96.]

[Footnote 51: These are _El Heirie_, (or _Erragual_), for a particular description of which see Jackson's Marocco, p. 91.

to 93.]

[Footnote 52: A distance of upwards of 1200 British miles.]

27 BIRDS.

They have common fowls, ostriches, and a bird larger than our blackbird[53]; also storks, which latter are birds of pa.s.sage, and arrive in the spring and disappear at the approach of winter; swallows, &c.

[Footnote 53: The starling.]

FISH.

They have many extremely good in the Nile; one of the shape and size of our salmon[54]; the largest of these are about four feet long. They use lines and hooks brought from Barbary, and nets, like our casting nets, made by themselves. They strike large fish with spears and fish-gigs.

[Footnote 54: The _shebbel_, a species of salmon, a very delicate fish, but so rich that it is best roasted, which the Arabs do in a superior manner.]

PRICES OF DIFFERENT ARTICLES.

Sheep from ten to sixteen cowries. Cowries[55] are much valued, and form an ornament of head-dress even for the richest women; they are highly valued as ornaments. Goats are cheaper than sheep; the best from eight to twelve cowries. Fowls from four to six cowries each.

Antelopes are very scarce and dear. Camels from thirty to sixty cowries, according to their size and condition. Ostriches, of which vast numbers are brought to market, are very cheap; the fore-feathers[56] are often carried to Tafilelt and Marocco, the 28 inferiors are thrown away. A good slave is worth ten, fifteen, or twenty ducats of five s.h.i.+llings each; at Fas, they are worth from sixty to a hundred ducats: females are the dearest. Slaves are most valuable about twelve years old. They have fish-oil for lamps, but use neither wax nor tallow for candles. The fish-oil is a great article of trade, and is brought from the neighbourhood[57] of the sea by Genawa[58] to Housa, and thence to Timbuctoo; dearer at Timbuctoo than at Housa, and dearer at Housa than at Genawa.

[Footnote 55: Cowries are called _El Uda_, and are sold in Santa Cruz and in South Barbary, at twenty Mexico dollars per quintal.]

[Footnote 56: Called _Ujuh_.]

[Footnote 57: Probably from the coast of Guinea, with which Housa carries on an extensive trade.]

[Footnote 58: _i.e._ Guinea; Genawa being the Arabic name for the coast of Guinea.]

DRESS.

The sultan wears a white turban of very fine muslin, the ends of which are embroidered with gold, and brought to the front; this 29 turban comes from Bengala.[59] He wears a loose white cotton s.h.i.+rt, with sleeves long and wide, open at the breast; unlike that of the Arabs, it reaches to the small of the leg; over this a _caftan_[60]

of red woollen cloth, of the same length; red is generally esteemed. The s.h.i.+rt (_k.u.mja_) is made at Timbuctoo, but the caftan comes from Fas, ready made; over the caftan is worn a short cotton waistcoat, striped white, red, and blue; this comes from Bengala, and is called _juliba_.[61] The sleeves of the caftan are as wide as those of the s.h.i.+rt; the breast of it is fastened with b.u.t.tons, in the Moorish style, but larger. The _juliba_ has sleeves as wide as the caftan. When he is seated, all the sleeves are turned up over the shoulder[62], so that his arms are bare, and the air is admitted to his body.

[Footnote 59: _i.e._ Bengal.]

[Footnote 60: A _caftan_, or coat, with wide sleeves, no collar, but that b.u.t.tons all down before.]

[Footnote 61: It is not the cotton cloth which comes from Bengal that is named _Juliba_, but the fas.h.i.+on or the cut of it.]

[Footnote 62: The Moorish fas.h.i.+on.]

Upon his turban, on the forehead, is a ball of silk, like a pear; one of the distinctions of royalty. He wears, also, a close red skull-cap, like the Moors of Tetuan, and two sashes, one over each shoulder, such as the Moors wear round the waist; they are rather cords than sashes, and are very large; half a pound of silk is used in one of them. The subjects wear but one; they are either red, yellow, or blue, made at Fas. He wears, like his subjects, a sash round the waist, also made at Fas; of these there are two kinds,--one of leather, with a gold buckle in front, like those of the soldiers in Barbary; the other of silk, like those of the Moorish merchants. He wears (as do the subjects) breeches made in the Moorish fas.h.i.+on, of cotton in summer, made at Timbuctoo, and of woollen in winter, brought ready made from Fas. His shoes are distinguished by a piece of red leather, in front of the leg, about three inches wide, and eight long, embroidered with silk and gold.

30 When he sits in his apartment, he wears a dagger with a gold hilt, which hangs on his right side: when he goes out, his attendants carry his musket, bow, arrows, and lance.

His subjects dress in the same manner, excepting the distinctions of royalty; viz. the pear, the sashes on the shoulders, and the embroidered leather on the shoes.

The sultana wears a caftan, open in front from top to bottom, under this a slip of cotton like the kings, an Indian shawl over the shoulders, which ties behind, and a silk handkerchief about her head. Other women dress in the same manner. They wear no drawers.

The poorest women are always clothed. They never show their bosom.

The men and women wear ear-rings. The general expense of a woman's dress is from two ducats to thirty.[63] Their shoes are red, and are brought from Marocco.[64] Their arms and ankles are adorned with bracelets. The poor have them of bra.s.s; the rich, of gold. The rich ornament their heads with cowries. The poor have but one bracelet on the leg, and one on the arm; the rich, two. They also wear gold rings upon their fingers. They have no pearls or precious stones. The women do not wear veils.

[Footnote 63: Equal to from two to thirty Mexico dollars.]

[Footnote 64: They are manufactured at Marocco.]

31 DIVERSIONS.

The king has 500 or 600 horses; his stables are in the inclosure; the saddles have a peak before, but none behind. He frequently hunts the antelope, wild a.s.s, ostrich, and an animal, which, from Shabeeny's description, appears to be the wild cow[65] of Africa.

The wild a.s.s is very fleet, and when closely pursued kicks back the earth and sand in the eyes of his pursuers. They have the finest greyhounds in the world, with which they hunt only the antelope[66]; for the dogs are not able to overtake the ostrich.

Shabeeny has often hunted with the king; any person may accompany him. Sometimes he does not return for three or four days: he sets out always after sunrise. Whatever is killed in the chace is divided among the strangers and other company present; but those animals which are taken alive are sent to the king's palace. He goes to hunt towards the desert, and does not begin till distant ten miles from the town. The antelopes are found in herds of from thirty to sixty. He never saw an antelope, wild a.s.s, or ostrich alone, but generally in large droves. The ostriches, like the storks, place centinels upon the watch: thirty yards are reckoned a distance for a secure shot with the bow. The king always shoots on 32 horseback, as do many of his courtiers, sometimes with muskets, but oftener with bows. The king takes a great many tents with him.

There are no lions, tigers, or wild boars near Timbuctoo. They play at chess and draughts, and are very expert at those games: they have no cards; but they have tumblers, jugglers, and ventriloquists, whose voice appears to come from under the armpits.

He was much pleased with their music, of which they have twenty-four different sorts. They have dances of different kinds, some of which are very indecent.

[Footnote 65: The _Aoudad_; for a particular description of which, see Jackson's Marocco, Chapter V., Zoology, p. 84.]

[Footnote 66: The Gazel, or Antelope, outruns at first the greyhound; but after running about an hour the greyhound gains on him.]

TIME.

They measure time[67] by days, weeks, lunar months, and lunar years; yet few can ascertain their age.

[Footnote 67: The hour is an indefinite term, and a.s.similates to our expression of a good while; it is from half an hour by the dial to six hours, and the difference is expressed by the word _wahad saa kabeer_, a long hour; and _wahad saa sereer_, a little hour; also by the elongation of the last syllable of the last word.]

RELIGION.

They have no temples, churches, or mosques, no regular wors.h.i.+p or sabbath; but once in three months they have a great festival, which lasts two or three days, sometimes a week, and is spent in eating and drinking. He does not know the cause; but thinks it, perhaps, a commemoration of the king's birth-day; no work is done. They 33 believe in a Supreme Being and another state of existence, and have saints and men whom they revere as holy. Some of them are sorcerers, and some ideots, as in Barbary and Turkey; and though physicians are numerous, they expect more effectual aid in sickness from the prayers of the saints, especially in the rheumatism. Music is employed to excite ecstasy in the saint, who, when in a state of inspiration, tells (on the authority of some departed saint, generally of Seedy Muhamed Seef,) what animal must be sacrificed for the recovery of the patient: a white c.o.c.k, a red c.o.c.k, a hen, an ostrich, an antelope, or a goat. The animal is then killed in the presence of the sick, and dressed; the blood, feathers, and bones are preserved in a sh.e.l.l and carried to some retired spot, where they are covered and marked as a sacrifice. No salt or seasoning is used in the meat, but incense is used previous to its preparation. The sick man eats as much as he can of the meat, and all present partake; the rice, or what else is dressed with it, must be the produce of charitable contributions from others, not of the house or family; and every contributor prays for the patient.

DISEASES.

The winds of the desert produce complaints in the stomach, cured by 34 medicine. They have professed surgeons and physicians. The bite of a snake is cured by sucking the wound. They have the jlob[68]

violently, for which sulphur from Terodant in Suse is taken internally and externally. This disorder is sometimes fatal. They are afflicted also with fevers and agues. Bleeding is often successful; the physicians prescribe also purgatives and emetics.

Ruptures are frequent and dangerous; seldom cured, and often fatal.

They tap for the dropsy. He never heard of the venereal disease there. Head-aches and consumptions also prevail. The physicians[69]

collect herbs and use them in medicine.

[Footnote 68: Probably the itch, called El Hack in Barbary.]

[Footnote 69: The physicians have a very superior and general knowledge of the virtues of herbs and plants.]

MANNERS AND CUSTOMS.

The nails and palms of the hands are stained red with henna[70], cultivated there: the Arabs tatoo their hands and arms, but not the people of Timbuctoo. These people are real negroes; they have a slight mark on the face, sloping from the eye; the Foulans have a horizontal mark; the Bambarrahees a wide gash from the forehead to the chin. Tombs are raised over the dead; they are buried in a winding-sheet and a coffin: the relations mourn over their graves, and p.r.o.nounce a panegyric on the dead. The men and women mix in 35 society, and visit together with the same freedom as in Europe.

They sleep on mattresses, with cotton sheets and a counterpane; the married, in separate beds in the same room. They frequently bathe the whole body, their smell would otherwise be offensive; they use towels brought from India. At dinner they spread their mats and sit as in Barbary. They smoke a great deal, but tobacco is dear; it is the best article of trade. Poisoning is common; they get the poison from the fangs of snakes, but, he says, most commonly from a part of the body near the tail, by a kind of distillation. Physic, taken immediately after the poison, may cure, but not always; if deferred two or three days, the man must die: the poison is slow, wastes the flesh, and produces a sallow, morbid appearance. It causes great pain in the stomach, destroys the appet.i.te, produces a consumption, and kills in a longer or shorter time, according to the strength of const.i.tution. Some who have taken remedies, soon after the poison, live 8 or 10 years; otherwise the poison kills in 4 or 5 days.

Physicians prescribe an emetic, the composition of which he does not know.

[Footnote 70: A decoction of the herb henna produces a deep orange die. It is used generally by the females on their hands and feet: it allays the violence of perspiration in the part to which it is applied, and imparts a coolness.]