Travels and Discoveries in North and Central Africa: Being a Journal of an Expedition Undertaken Under the Auspices of H. B. Majesty's Government, Volume 1 |
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A'gades A'nnur afternoon Aïr Arabs arrive ascended aser Azkár belonging Bénuwé Berber Bilma Bórnu Bóro called camels caravan character chief cliffs companions considerable crossed cultivated desert distance district east encamped expedition farther feet Fezzán foot formed Fulbe Ghát gneiss governor granite Háj Hámma Hammáda Háusa Hausa language herbage hour Imghád inhabitants journey Kanó Kanúri Kátsena Kél-gerés Kél-owí Kúkawa kurdí length máyo mayo Kébbi miles Mohammed morning Mount mountain Múrzuk native Negroland night noon o'clock P.M. Overweg pagan passed plain present Púllo settlement quarter ravine reached regions residence Richardson ridge river road rocky ground route ruins sand-hills scarcely seems sheikh side slaves slope soon Spanish dollars Sudán sultan talha talha-trees Tarki Tawárek Tawát tent Timbúktu Tintéllust Tinýlkum town traveler trees tribe Tripoli valley village Wadi wall Welád whole zawiya Zinder
Popular passages
Page 456 - Igbira and Igbo, while towards. the southeast it invades the whole of Adamawa, and is only limited by the nakedness of the pagan sans-culottes, who do not wear clothing.
Page 431 - We listened to the tales of our comely and cheerful companion, the " baba-n-bawa," of Tagelel, who detailed to us the wonders of this African London, Birmingham, and Manchester — the vastness of the town, the palace and retinue of the governor, the immense multitudes assembled every day in its marketplace, the splendor and richness of the merchandise exposed there for sale, the various delicacies of the table, the beauty and gracefulness of the ladies.
Page 255 - Mukni, requested us most urgently to testify, in writing, that they were innocent of our blood. Mr. Richardson himself was far from being sure that the sheikhs did not mean exactly what they said. Our servants, and the chiefs of the caravan, had left us with the plain declaration that nothing less than certain death awaited us; and we were sitting silently in the tent, with the inspiring consciousness of going to our fate in a manner worthy alike of our religion and of the nation in whose name we...
Page 442 - ... or bejaji, busy preparing the meal for her absent husband, or spinning cotton, and at the same time urging the female slaves to pound the corn; the children naked and merry, playing about in the sand at the
Page vii - The principal merit which I claim for myself in this respect is that of having noted the whole configuration of the country ; and my chief object has been to represent the tribes and nations with whom I came in contact, in their historical and ethnographical relation to the rest of mankind, as well as in their physical relation to that tract of country in which they live.
Page 443 - ... wood in order to give it the desired tint; there another, drawing a shirt from the dyepot, or hanging it up on a rope fastened to the trees ; there two men beating a well-dyed shirt, singing the while, and keeping good time ; further on, a blacksmith busy with his rude tools in making a dagger which will surprise, by the sharpness of its blade, those who feel disposed to laugh at the workman's instruments, a formidable barbed spear, or the more estimable and useful...
Page x - Extending over a tract of country of twenty-four degrees from north to south, and twenty degrees from east to west, in the broadest part of the continent of Africa, my travels necessarily comprise subjects of great interest and diversity. After having traversed vast deserts of the most barren soil, and scenes of the most frightful desolation, I met with fertile lands irrigated by...
Page 384 - ... of tall reeds, excluding to a certain degree the eyes of the passer-by, without securing to the interior absolute secrecy ; then near the entrance the cool shady- place of the " runfa" for ordinary business and i, i M T1SEA. CORN STACE. for the reception of strangers, and the
Page x - Benuwe, which I discovered, affords an uninterrupted navigable sheet of water for more than six hundred miles into the very heart of the country. Its western branch is obstructed by rapids at the distance of about three hundred and fifty miles from the coast ; but even at that point it is probably not impassable in the present state of navigation, while, higher up, the river opens an immense high-road for nearly one thousand miles into the very heart of Western Africa, so rich in every kind of produce.
Page 430 - Kano, indeed, is a name which excites enthusiasm in every traveler in these regions, from whatever quarter he may come, but principally if he arrives from the north. We thus started in the twilight, passing in the bush some herds of cattle remaining out in the pasture-grounds, and meeting several troops of travelers, which made us fancy the capital to be nearer than it really was. We listened to the tales of our comely and cheerful companion, the