Page images
PDF
EPUB

had inundated the district to some extent; and about two miles beyond Gongúngo we had to cross swampy meadow-grounds, where my Háusa Púllo, a native of Zabérma, whom I had taken into my service in Champagóre, called my attention to a plant named here "yángara-bubíki," which is said to keep flies from open wounds, especially from those of the camel; it probably contains a sort of slight poison. Having crossed a short tract of rugged ground, where granite, gneiss, and sandstone protruded through the surface, we entered a more populous district, with several villages right and left, but presenting great difficulties to the passage of the camels, as it consisted of red clay soaked with water, which formed several large ponds, and, being recently traversed by a numerous herd of cattle, was extremely muddy.

Thus leaving two villages on one side, we reached, a little before noon, the clay wall of the town of Sebba, which, though the residence of the lord of Yágha, has nothing in its appearance to indicate the capital of even a small province. The governor was sitting in front of his house, close to the mosque, in the midst of a large congregation of people, and was reading and interpreting to them some passages from the Kurán. Having sent two of my servants in advance, I soon obtained quarters, and was lodged in an excellent hut, which I shall here describe.

The hut measured about twenty feet in diameter, the walls be

4

8

1. Jodórde, a clay seat of semicircular shape, raised about a foot, on each side of the door.

2. Lyggere, two round shallow holes in the floor, measuring about eight inches in diameter, to place the dishes during dinner, in order to prevent them from being upset.

3. Kosóndi, a half-oval-shaped place, surrounded by a slight clay rampart, about two and a half feet high, for containing luggage, etc.

4. Hurgal, a sort of clay bank, about six feet in length, and about a foot in height, and rather 5. Three "benbel," or large-sized clay jars, for containing corn.

narrow.

6. Six smaller "benbel," called "mabbirgel benbel."

7. Hobinirde, the cooking-place, consisting of four stones, or rather clay mounds, protected against any gust of wind by a slight wall toward the side of the door, while its privacy is already sufficiently guaranteed by the large clay jars.

8. Two movable seats, or jodórde, one of round, the other of an oblong shape, both made of wood. 9. Kekimákka, or middle pole, for supporting the roof of the hut.

DESCRIPTION OF HUTS.

195

ing ten feet high to the beginning of the roof, but consisting merely of matting, which was coated with clay. The roof was supported by a pole in the middle. The hut was full of larger or smaller vessels of clay, and was apparently intended for a considerable household. The wood-cut above will give a full idea of the comfort which an African household in this region possesses. Besides the immovable articles, if we exclude the two smaller seats of wood which were movable, only very few utensils had been left in the hut by the industrious landlady, the couch, and even the dishes having been taken away. But suspended from the roof was the "pílgure," or basket for smaller luggage, which contained at the time, besides the komcha, the pittórke, or small stick for weaving, and the fabáru, a small leather portfolio for writing. The accompanying view, though it exhibits the hut rather in an inverted manner, will give the reader a fair idea of its character.

[graphic]

The clay being excellently polished, and the hut of recent construction, left a very pleasant impression; but, as is so often the case in human life, all this finery covered nothing but misery, and I discovered the next day, to my utter amazement, that this beautiful hut was one entire nest of ants, which had in one day made great havoc with the whole of my luggage.

In the afternoon I went to pay my respects to the governor, who is not without power, so that I thought it better to sacrifice to him a bernús of inferior quality, besides some smaller articles. He was a fine-grown man, with large features, which at once indicated his origin from the black stock of the Fúlbe or the Tórobe.

Sitting at the door of his palace, he received me kindly, and prom ised me that I should have no difficulty in my farther progress. Considering the scarcity of provisions he treated me hospitably on the whole, sending me the next day a young heifer, besides a great many dishes of prepared food.

The name of the principality is Yágha,* dating from the time which preceded the conquest of the Fúlbe; but the governor's private name is Sájo ben Ibrahíma.

Notwithstanding the power of the ruler, the place is in a miserable condition, and resembles rather a wilderness than a town; but it is extremely picturesque, having a thick covert of beautiful trees nourished by a large sheet of water. The place contains scarcely 200 huts, and nothing like a market is to be found. The difficulty of our obtaining supplies was the greater, as, contrary to our expectation and the information we had received, nothing but shells had currency in the place; and it was with a great deal of trouble that, by means of the cotton strips with which we had provided ourselves, we obtained a small supply of butter and corn, four dr'a being reckoned here the same as in Gando, while in the town of Say there was thirty per cent. profit upon the cotton strips. The most abundant article I found here was milk, which was the best I had ever yet tasted in Negroland, and it gave me a fair, but rather exaggerated idea of what I might expect to find among the Fúlbe farther west. We also bought a small quantity of corn from the women, in exchange for some looking-glasses and cloves. All the corn here consists of sorghum; and seventy shells, at the time, would just buy sufficient corn for a horse for one day, which is a very high price indeed for Negroland.

Notwithstanding the poor character of the place, I was obliged to stay here two whole days, exclusive of the day of my arrival, in order to give the camels some rest, as they were suffering greatly from the effects of the rainy season, and on account of the holiday of the "fotr," which fell on the 8th. If I had known the character of the province of Libtáko better, I should have deemed it prudent to make even a longer stay here: and I would advise any future traveler to do so, taking care, however, to have a sufficient

*The places belonging to the province of Yágha are the following: Denga, Gongúngo, Gesángu, Sínsirga, Nótu, Dóri (surnamed Dembíni, in order to distinguish it from Dóri or Dóre in Libtáko), Sebba, Namantúgu, Kankanfógu, Hóga, Humóre, Kábo.

DEPARTURE FROM SEBBA.

197

supply of shells with him, which will enable him to make himself quite comfortable in Yágha.

Music having announced the arrival of the important and joyful day soon after midnight, almost the whole of the men went out in the morning in order to say their prayers at about a mile's distance from the town. All the Fúlbe were dressed in snowwhite shirts, as a symbol of the purity of their creed; but some of them wore dark-blue trowsers. There were about forty horses with the party, which probably was all that the townspeople could muster.

Having had to sustain here a slight religious attack from the kádhi, who wanted to represent me as a sorcerer, I thought it prudent to make a small present to each of the holiday people, as a kind of séddega, or alms. The holiday also disturbed me in compiling a small vocabulary of the Gurma language, called by the Fúlbe Gurman-kóbe, which I had begun, but was obliged to leave unfinished.

CHAPTER LXI.

PROVINCE OF LIBTA'KO.-SOUTHEASTERN LIMIT OF THE RANGE OF THE COMMERCE OF TIMBUKTU.

Saturday, July 9th. We left Sebba, the capital of the wilderness -bírni-n-dáji, as I called it,-passing through a district where forest and cultivated ground alternated. The slaves were busy in the fields rooting up the weeds from among the crops; but, after a march of about four miles, we had to cross a very considerable water, which is here called Yáli, and about whose course I am not able to give distinct information. It is said to come from Mósi, and to join the river Sírba not far from Bosebángo; but the latter statement is incredible. The water being not less than four feet and a half in depth, with a breadth of at least four hundred yards, most of our luggage became wetted.

The country then assumed a more rocky appearance — mica slate, granite, and gneiss alternating, the granite sometimes appearing in large boulders. The vegetation also assumed here a more varied aspect, besides tamarind-trees, mádachi and kadé predominating; and altogether the forest exhibited a fresh and pleasant character, especially as the sun had at length broken through the

L

clouds which had obscured its rays during the first part of the day. After a march altogether of about eleven miles, we reached the village of Namantúgu, which still belongs to the province of Yágha, the mayor of which we had met a short time before on the road as he was going to look after his cattle.

The village is of some importance, and consists of several groups which cover an extensive tract of ground, lying straggling about in the fields; but the huts themselves are very narrow, and the one which was assigned to myself was so small that there was scarcely room to breathe. Nothing is more unhealthy for a European than these abodes of stench and filth; but during the rainy season he is often obliged to seek shelter in these dirty dwellings, especially if he has valuable property in his possession.

Namantúgu, which seems to have been of considerable importance in the history of the Songhay empire,* was a rather eventful place for my whole subsequent proceedings, as I here met an Arab from the west, in whose company I was safely to enter the town of Timbúktu. He called himself Sheikho, though this was not originally his proper name; and, in order not to cause any mistake, I will in future call him (from his father and the name of his birth-place) Weled A'mmer Waláti. He was certainly a very remarkable fellow; and I shall have frequent occasion in the farther course of my journey to advert to his doings. Being originally a native of Waláta, he had emigrated to Timbúktu, whence he had roved about a great deal among the Tawárek as well as among the Fúlbe, and was at present on his way from Belanga, the residence of one of the principal chiefs of Gurma. He had a good quantity of the broad gábagá, or cotton strips, of Mósi with him, which form the staple currency in the whole tract of country from Libtáko to Timbúktu, ten dr'a being reckoned equal to one hundred shells. Besides Arabic, he spoke Fulfulde, Songhay, Mósi, and Bambara fluently, and Temáshight, or the language of the Tawárek, almost as well, and altogether was one of the cleverest men whom I met on my journey, in spite of the trouble he caused me and the tricks he played me. He was a handsome man, of middle size and of rather slender growth, and with very fine expressive features. His dress consisted of a long black gown, with a black shawl wound round his head; and his whole appearance, as he was moving along at a solemn thoughtful pace, frequently reminded me of the servants of the Inquisition. * See the Chronological Tables at the end of this volume.

« PreviousContinue »