with our faint knowledge of the migration of tribes in general, and of African tribes in particular, to explain how this tribe came to settle in the region along the lower course of the Senegal, as their type is distinguished in so very remarkable a manner from the character of the other tribes settled in that neighborhood, and evidently bears more resemblance to some nations whose dwellingplaces are in the far east, such as the Malays, with whom M. Eichwaldt, in his ingenious but hypothetical essay on the Fúla,* has endeavored to connect them by way of Meroë. I myself am of opinion that their origin is to be sought for in the direction of the east; but this refers to an age which, for us, is enveloped in impenetrable darkness, while what I have said about the progress of their conquest from west to east relates to historical times, comprising the period from the fourteenth century downward.† In this respect the mission of two religious chiefs of this tribe from Melle (where they resided at the time) to Bíri, the King of Bórnu, who ruled about the end of the thirteenth and the beginning of the fourteenth century, is of the highest interest, as it shows us at once that this tribe, even at that early period, was distinguished by its religious learning, and gives a proof of the progress of the tribe from west to east. Some other facts which have come to our knowledge with regard to the progress of this tribe eastward will be mentioned in the chronological tables; here I will only call the reader's attention to the circumstance that we find among the most intimate friends and most stanch supporters of Mohammed el Háj A'skia a man of the name of 'Alí Fulánu, while in general it was the policy of the Songhay dynasty, which was begun by that great ruler of Negroland, to keep in check this tribe,

Eichwaldt in Journal de la Société Ethnologique, 1841, vol. i., p. 2, et seq. Among all the arguments brought forward by this gentleman in order to show a relation of the Fulbe with the Malays, there is none of any consequence; and all his specimens of words brought forward with this object are either taken from bad sources or prove nothing, the only striking similarities in the language of these two nations being the words for fish and spear. I speak here of a special and direct relationship of the Fulbe with the Malays, without taking into consideration the vestiges of the general relationship of the whole human race, which have lately been pursued and demonstrated with such industry by Mr. Logan.

There may be some remote affinity between the Fulbe and the South African tribes, but this refers to an age probably not later than the rule of the Pharaohs; and the idea that the Fulbe proceeded from South Africa is certainly entirely erroThe identity of a few numerals in the Fulfulde and Kaffir languages is curious, but may be explained on historical grounds.

neous.

Vol. ii., p. 584, under Bíri (Ibrahim.)

FULBE IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY.

. 115 the conquering tendency of which could not but become apparent to intelligent rulers, notwithstanding the humble character of “berroróji,” under which they used to immigrate and settle in foreign countries; and this is the acknowledged reason why the Gabéro, a tribe whom we shall meet in the course of our proceedings on the river below Gágho, have entirely forgotten their Fulfulde idiom, not having been allowed, for a certain period, to use it. Whether it be true, as the Féllani-n-Háusa assert, that Kanta, the founder of the homonymous dynasty of Kébbi, in the very beginning of the sixteenth century, was originally a slave of a party of Fúlbe settled in the country, a fact which, if confirmed, would prove the early settlement of the tribe in this country, I am unable to decide, although it is certainly true that in the course of the sixteenth century the Fúlbe became strong enough, in the regions on the east side of the I'sa or Kwára to exercise a great influence in the struggles which ensued between the successors of the first Kanta, while it was a chief of their tribe, the ruler of Danka, or Denga, who, according to A'hmed Bábá,* first began his predatory incursions into the Songhay territory, laying waste the fertile and once extremely populous region along the Rás el má. It is thus explained how, even in the beginning of the seventeenth century, Fúlbe tribes were settled in several places of Bagírmi.+

But just on account of the vastness of the region over which they were scattered were these people, while pursuing only their own local interest, powerless even in these loosely-connected and almost crumbling kingdoms where they had found a new home, with the exception of Bághena, where they appear to have formed a nucleus of greater strength, but destitute of any religious impulse. A new epoch for this wide-spread tribe did not open till the beginning of this century, when, in the year 1802, Báwa, the ruler of Góber, summoned to his presence the Sheikh 'Othmán, together with the other chiefs of the tribe, and severely reprimanded them on account of the pretensions which they were beginning to put forward. It was then that 'Othmán, who, being settled in the village Dághel, performed the office of imám to his countrymen, and had begun to give them a new religious impulse, which raised them above their petty interests, filled with indignation at the manner in which he, the great Moslim, was treated by those pagans, was roused to the attempt of making himself and his tribe independent of the will of the native ruler of the country, and, * Ahmed Bábá, J. L. O. S., vol. vi., p. 550. t See vol. ii., p. 550.

having assembled his countrymen, who now conferred upon him the dignity and authority of a sheikh, raised the standard of revolt; but his proceedings, at least as far as regarded Góber and the capital Alkalawa, were far from proving successful at the beginning, he being vanquished in almost every encounter; but the fanatical zeal of his followers, whom he continually inspired with fresh energy by his religious songs,* was so great that gradually he overcame all these obstacles, and at length 'succeeded in laying the foundation of a vast empire, being greatly assisted in his career by his brother 'Abd Alláhi, who, although his senior, had been the first to pay him homage, and by his son Mohammed Bello. He took up his residence first at Gando, where he was besieged for a long time, and afterward at Sifäwa, till, as described by Captain Clapperton in the excellent and concise account of this strugglet which he has given in the report of his second journey, 'Othman ended his life in a sort of fanatical ecstasy or madness.

He was followed by Mohammed Bello, who endeavored to introduce more order into the empire thus consolidated, and who, on the whole, must rank high among the African princes, being distinguished not less by his great love of learning and science than by his warlike spirit, although his military achievements were far from being always successful. But he has had the misfortune, after enjoying a great name in Europe for a short time for the kind and generous spirit in which he received Captain Clapperton on his first journey, to incur the severest condemnation on account of the manner in which he treated that same enterprising traveler on his second journey. No doubt he was a distinguished ruler, but he must not be judged according to European ideas. He had to struggle hard, not less against the native tribes anxious to assert their independence, than against his great rival, Mohammed el Kánemí, the King of Bórnu, who, just at the time of Clapperton's second stay, pressed him very closely, and, having successfully overrun the eastern provinces of the Fulfulde or Felláta empire, threatened Kanó. Hence this political position, together with the instigations of the Arabs, who feared for their commerce with Negroland if the road from the south should be opened, will account in some measure for his treatment of the English traveler, who perhaps urged his going to the Sheikh of Bórnu with too much energy. However, there is no doubt that Bello's successor

* I shall communicate his principal song in Appendix III.

+ Clapperton's Second Journey, p. 203, et seq.

PRESENT STATE OF THE EMPIRE.

117

and brother, 'Atíku, who ruled from the year 1832 till 1837, would have weakened the interest of the European public in the example which Bello gave of an energetic and generous ruler in those distant and out-of-the-way regions if his career had become known to them; for he seems to have fully belied the expectation of "a mean prince,"* which he raised when still living in his retirement as a jealous king's brother without power and influence. But his reign was too short for consolidating sufficiently the loosely-connected empire, although, as long as he lived, full security is said to have reigned. The spirit of independence broke out more strongly under his successor 'Alíyu, a son of Bello by a female slave, who, save a well-meaning and cheerful disposition, does not appear to have inherited many of the noble qualities of his father, and, least of all, his warlike spirit; and hence the lamentable condition in which I found this extensive kingdom, while there is scarcely any hope that affairs will assume a more consolidated character before another more energetic ruler succeeds to 'Aliyu. Nevertheless, the kingdom or empire, even at the present time, still comprises the same provinces which it did at its most flourishing period, with the exception of Khadéja, the governor of which has made himself independent; but the military strength of these provinces, especially as regards cavalry, as well as the amount of revenue, is greatly impaired, although the latter, collected from all the provincest together, certainly exceeds one hundred millions of shells, or about £10,000 sterling, besides an equal value in slaves and native cloth, or articles of foreign produce. The whole strength of the empire, if the distracted state of each province allowed its quota to be withdrawn from thence, would certainly still form an imposing force, viz., the cavalry of the seat of government, together with the subjected parts of Kébbi and Zánfara, about 5000; the cavalry of Kanó, from 5000 to 7000; that of Baúchi, from 1500 to 2000; that of Zégzeg, 3000; A'damáwa, 2000; Kátsena and Mésaw, each about 1000; Katágum, 1200; Marmar and Shéra, each 500; Bobéru, 600; Dáura,

This is the term which Clapperton uses with regard to him.

There are inspectors of the provinces residing in Sokoto who are responsible for the tribute being duly delivered. 'Abdú, the son of Gedádo, has all the following provinces under his inspection: Kanó, Zégzeg, A'damáwa, Hamárruwa, Sámbo Degímsa, Katágum, Sámbo-Lé, governed by Yeríma A'hmedu. The ghaladíma Ahmedu has only Kátsena under his inspection; the mágaji inspects Zánfara ; Modéggel, Bauchi; Yéron Sambo, Kazáure, the province of Démbo; Dennil Jódi, Dáura.

400; Kazáure, about 200. But we have seen to what a state Zánfara is at present reduced, while the curious manner in which Kébbi is portioned out between the rulers of Sókoto and Gando* can not fail to cause a great deal of jealousy and controversy between the two courts, at the very centre of power; and as for A'damáwa, there are still so many hostile elements in the interior of that half-subdued province, that it is impossible to withdraw from thence a particle of its home force; nay, even the province of Kanó is so harassed and distracted by the continual inroads of the governor of Khadéja, that the ruler of that province is scarcely able to send a few hundred horsemen to join the army of his liege lord. We have seen how that same rebel governor of Khadéja repeatedly defeated a numerous host, taken from almost all the provinces of the empire, which had been sent against him, and we shall see what were the inglorious manoeuvrings of 'Alíyu himself when he led out, in person, his army against the enemy during my stay in Wurnó, of which I shall now proceed to give a short diary.

Monday, April 4th. Having entered my quarters in the dark, I had no idea of their character, and it was not till the following day that I became aware of it. They consisted, as shown in the accompanying wood-cut, of a spacious court-yard containing nothing but a clay building, which comprised two apartments besides a small granary, built of clay, but which was covered all round

1. Entrance hut or parlor, furnished with two seats of clay and two couches of the same material.

2. Second hut, without couches.

4. Hut for my chief servant.

3. Open court-yard, overgrown with grass. 5. Clay hall, with a store-room at the back. 6. Small granary.

* See Appendix IV.