An Account Of Timbuctoo And Housa Territories In The Interior Of Africa Part 5

The hot winds blow from the east; the summer is hotter than in 48 Marocco, and hotter at Timbuctoo than at Housa. The cold winds are from the west: the morning fog is great. He never saw it rain at Housa, in the course of two years; he says it never rains there.

Scarcity is never known. A considerable part of their provisions is brought from the banks of the Nile; the river, when overflowing, never reaches above half way from its common channel towards Housa.

They have excellent wells in their houses, but no river near the town.

ZOOLOGY.

He saw no camels at Housa, but heard, they use them to fetch gold, and cover their legs with leather, to guard them from snakes. They have dogs and cats, but no scorpions or snakes in their houses.

Lice, bugs, and fleas abound. He saw no wild animals or fowl in the neighbourhood of Housa.

DISEASES.

Physicians agree with the patient for his cure. No cure no pay. The prevailing diseases are colds and coughs.

RELIGION.

The same as at Timbuctoo; the poorer cla.s.ses, as in most countries, have many superst.i.tious notions of spirits, good and bad, and are alarmed by dreams, particularly, the slaves, some of whom cannot retain their urine in the night, as he thinks, from fear of 49 spirits, they take them often upon trial when they buy them, and if they have this defect, a considerable deduction is made in the price. A man possessed by a good spirit is supposed to be safe amidst 10,000 shot. A man guilty of a crime, who in the opinion of the judge is possessed by an evil spirit, is not punished! He never heard of a rich man being possessed.

PERSONS.

They are of various sizes, but the tallest man he ever saw was at Housa. The city being very large, he seldom had an opportunity of seeing the king, as at Timbuctoo. He saw him but twice in two years, and only in the courts of justice; he was remarkable for the width of his nostrils, the redness of his eyes, the smoothness of his skin, and the fine tint of his perfectly black complexion.

DRESS.

Like that of Timbuctoo, their turbans are of the finest muslin. The sleeves of the soldiers are small, those of the merchants wide. The former have short breeches, the latter long. The officers dress like the merchants, each according to his circ.u.mstances. The caftan is of silk, in summer, brought from India; instead of the silk cords worn by the king of Timbuctoo, the king of Housa wears two silk sashes, three fingers broad, one on each shoulder; they are 50 richly adorned with gold; in one hangs his dagger, and when he rides out, his sword in the other; he wears not the silk pear in his turban, as does the king of Timbuctoo. The front of his turban is embroidered with gold.

BUILDINGS.

The houses are like those at Timbuctoo, but many much larger. They have no wind or water-mills, but they have stone mills, turned by horses.

MANNERS.

They never bow. An inferior kisses the hand of a superior; to an equal he nods the head, gives him his hand and asks him how he does. The women do the same.

The general body are honest and benevolent, the lower cla.s.s is addicted to thieving. They are very careful of children, to prevent their being stolen. Snakes do not frequent cultivated lands, so that animals are not there in danger from them. The people of Timbuctoo and Housa resemble each other in their persons and in their manners. They castrate bulls, sheep, and goats, but never horses. Supper is the princ.i.p.al meal. They do not use vessels of bra.s.s or copper in cookery; they are all of earthenware. At sunset the watchmen are stationed in all parts of the town, and take into custody all suspected or unknown persons. They have lamps made of wood and paper; the latter comes from Fas. Women of respectability 51 are attended by a slave when they walk out or visit, which they do with the same freedom as in Europe. The women ride either horses or a.s.ses, they have no mules; the men commonly prefer walking, they are strong and seldom sensible of fatigue, which he attributes to their having a rib more than white men. Some bake their own bread, others buy it, as in England. They make leavened bread of allila[89] and bishna; the cattle-market is within the city, in a square, appropriated to this purpose. There are a great many rich men, some by inheritance, others by trade. Every morning the doors of the rich are crowded with poor, the master sends them food, rice, milk, &c. They have names for every day. They make their own pipes for smoking, the tubes are of wood. They have songs, some with chorus, and some sung by two persons in alternate stanzas.

They have the same feasts once a quarter as at Timbuctoo. The king has but one wife, but many concubines. The favourite slaves of the queen of Housa are considered as superior to the queen of Timbuctoo.

[Footnote 89: Millet and Indian corn.]

GOLD.

The ground where it is found is about sixteen miles from Housa.

They go in the night with camels whose legs and feet are covered to protect them against snakes, they take a bag of sand, and mark with 52 it the places that glitter with gold; in the morning they collect where marked, and carry it to refiners, who, for a small sum, separate the gold. There are no mountains or rivers near the spot, it is a plain without sand, of a dark brown earth. Any person may go to seek gold; they sell it to the merchants, who pay a small duty to the king. The produce is uncertain; he has heard that a bushel of earth has produced the value of twelve ducats, three pounds sterling, of pure gold. They set out from Housa about two o'clock in the afternoon, arrive about sun-set, and return the next day seeking for gold during the whole night.

LIMITS OF THE EMPIRE

Beyond Timboo, on the north side of the Nile, are very extensive.

Afnoo is subject to the king of Housa, no slaves can be made from thence. Darfneel is near Afnoo; the latter is on the north side of the river, nearer to its source, and a great way from Timbuctoo. No Arabs are found on the banks of the Nile. He supposes the circ.u.mference of the empire to be about twenty-five days' journey; has heard that many other large towns are dependent upon it, but does not remember their names.

The neighbouring countries are Bambarra, Timboo, Mooshee, and Jinnie; all negroes. He has heard of Bernoo[90] as a great empire.

53 On the 31st of March, 1790, Shabeenee gave further information, in the presence of Lord Rawdon[91], Mr. Stuart, and Mr. Wedgewood. Mr.

Wedgewood proposed the questions, and Mr. Dodsworth interpreted.

The following is some of the information, omitting what has been noticed already.

Between Timbuctoo and Housa, there is a very good trade. Timbuctoo is tributary to the king of Housa. The imports into Timbuctoo[92]

are spices, corn, and woollens from Barbary, and linens from the sea-coast.

[Footnote 90: Ber Noh, or Bernoh, _i.e._ the country of Noah, is said by the Africans, to be the birth-place of the patriarch Noah.]

[Footnote 91: Now the Marquis of Hastings.]

[Footnote 92: For a more detailed account of the imports to Timbuctoo, see Jackson's Account of Marocco, &c.]

The written character is very large, perhaps half an inch long. The empire is divided into provinces; the provinces into districts. The king appoints the governors of both; but the son of the deceased governor is understood to have the preference.

They make their pottery by a wheel, but do not glaze it. The wheel turns upon a pivot placed in a hole in the ground: at top and bottom are two pieces of wood like a tea-table; the lower, which is largest, is turned by the foot, and the upper forms the vessel.

When they make a large pot, they put on the top a larger piece: the pots are dried in the sun or burnt in the fire. The iron mines are in the desert; the iron is brought in small pieces by the Arabs, 54 who melt and purify it. They cannot cast iron. They use charcoal fire, and form guns and swords with the hammer and anvil. The points of their arrows are barbed with iron; the crossbows have a groove for the arrow. No man can draw the bow by his arm alone, they have a kind of lever; the bow part is of steel brought from Barbary, and is manufactured at Timbuctoo. They do not make steel themselves.

They inoculate for the small-pox; the pus is put into a dried raisin and eaten. "_Rooka Dindooka_" is a kind of oath, and means, by G.o.d. They believe only one G.o.d. After dinner they use the Arabic expression, El Hamd Ulillah; praise to be to G.o.d.[93]

They believe the immortality of the soul, and that both men and women go to paradise; that there is no future punishment; the wicked are punished in this world. Happiness, after death, consists in being in the presence of G.o.d. They are not circ.u.mcised. A divorce may take place while a woman is pregnant, but she cannot marry again till delivered. As soon as a woman is divorced, midwives, women brought up to that profession, examine her to see whether she is pregnant.

[Footnote 93: This is the Arabic, or Muhamedan grace after meat; the grace before meat is equally sententious, viz.

Bismillah, i.e. in the name of G.o.d.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: map of West Barbary]

55

LETTERS CONTAINING AN ACCOUNT OF JOURNIES THROUGH VARIOUS PARTS OF WEST AND SOUTH BARBARY, AT DIFFERENT PERIODS, PERFORMED PERSONALLY BY J.G.J.

LETTER I.

_On the opening of the Port of Agadeer, or Santa Cruz in Suse, and of its Cession by the Emperor Muley Yezzid, to the Dutch._

TO JAMES WILLIS, ESQ.

(Late British Consul for Senegambia) Eversholt, near Woburn, Bedfords.h.i.+re.

MoG.o.dor, 28th February, 1792.

The emperor has consented to the proposition of the Dutch government, to open the port of Agadeer, or Santa Cruz, in the province of Suse, to the commerce of that nation; and I have finally resolved to establish a house there, so soon as the sultan Yezzid's order respecting that port shall reach the hands of Alkaid Aumer ben Daudy, the governor of this port. There are various political intrigues in agitation, to deter me from going personally 56 to establish the commerce of this most desirable and long-neglected port of Santa Cruz. The governor antic.i.p.ates a considerable diminution in the treasury of MoG.o.dor; and the merchants of this place antic.i.p.ate a great diminution of the various articles of produce of this fine country, seeing that the princ.i.p.al articles of exportation from the empire of Marocco are produced in the province of Suse, and in the neighbourhood of Santa Cruz.

The stream of commerce will, therefore, necessarily be converted from MoG.o.dor to Santa Cruz. The merchants of Fas also, who have their establishments and connections at Timbuctoo, and in other parts of Sudan, will resort to Santa Cruz in preference to MoG.o.dor, for all European articles calculated for the markets of Sudan, the former port being in the neighbourhood of the desert, or Sahara, and at a convenient distance from Akka in Lower Suse, the general rendezvous of the akkaba, (or acc.u.mulated caravans,) destined for the interior regions of Africa or Sudan. This akkaba starts annually for Timbuctoo, consisting of 2000 or 3000 camels, loaded with merchandise from Fas, Tetuan, Sallee, MoG.o.dor, Marocco, Tafilelt, Draha, and Terodant. The port of Santa Cruz is hence 57 aptly denominated _Beb Sudan_, i.e. the gate or entrance of Sudan.

The port of Santa Cruz was formerly farmed by the emperor[94] Muley Ishmael, to some European power, for 50,000 dollars a-year, as I have been informed; others say it was purchased of him by his own Jewish subjects, for the purposes of trade. However this may have been, no advantage was ever taken of the favourable opportunity then offered, of opening and securing to Europe an extensive and lucrative trade with the various countries of Sudan or Nigritia.

I can account for this omission only by supposing that the interior of Africa was then less known than even it now is; and that the merchants then established at Santa Cruz, had there sufficient advantages in commerce to engage their attention, without examining into this immense undiscovered mine of wealth!