VISIT A TAWA'REK ENCAMPMENT.

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at least not for a night's quarters. They however treated us in the evening with a good supply of milk, while they also informed us that a large encampment of that section of the Tawárek which is called Iregenáten was at a few miles' distance. El Waláti supposed, or rather pretended to suppose, that they were the clan of a powerful chief of the name of Somki, and assured me that it would be necessary to make this chief a handsome present, in order that under his protection we might proceed safely from camp to camp till we reached the banks of the Niger; for, although we might have traveled by a more southerly road turning from this point westward to Núggera, it seemed more prudent to endeavor to get out of the range of the dominion of the Fúlbe, in order not to be at the mercy of the chief of Hamda-Alláhi, who certainly could not but be hostile to my intention of reaching Timbúktu. And it seems not to be out of place to mention here that this very Núggera, a hamlet of some note, as being the residence of learning and holiness, was the point from which the founder of the dynasty of Hamda-Alláhi started.

CHAPTER LXIII.

IMO'SHAGH OR TAWA'REK ENCAMPMENTS SOUTH OF THE NIGER. -LAKES AND BACKWATERS OF THE GREAT RIVER.

Wednesday, August 10th. In conformity with our project, I myself, with El Waláti and two of my people on horseback, leaving my luggage behind with the rest of my servants, started in the morning for the camp of the Tawárek, having provided a very handsome present, consisting of a large Núpe tobe, a red cap, a túrkedí, and three fine "háf" or "lithám," altogether worth about 20,000 shells. However, we had only proceeded about a mile when we met a few Tawárek serfs, who informed us that it was not Somki, but another chief who had moved his encampment to this place; and, from what I observed, I concluded that El Waláti had been well aware of this before, but wanted only to extort from me a large present. Once in the hands of this crafty Arab, I had to use great discretion in order to prevent him from betraying me altogether, and I was obliged to bear silently any little trick which he might play me in order to enrich himself, as long as I proceeded onward and approached the object of my arduous

undertaking. We therefore moved on, and, soon leaving the mountains behind us, after a march of about eight miles through a plain covered with dense underwood, reached the encampment of the Tawárek.

This was a very important stage of my journey. Having with the greatest difficulty and danger crossed the wide open country of the other more easterly tribes of the Tawárek on the setting out of our expedition, and heartily glad to have got rid of them, I here once more entered their territory, and delivered myself up into their hands without enjoying the protection of a single powerful chief, and guided solely by the advice of that crafty man whose only purpose was to get from me as much as possible. The encampment consisted of leather tents of larger or smaller size, but it evidently belonged to a chief without great power, as seemed to be apparent from the total absence of camels and horses. However, I immediately conceived a favorable impression of the muscular strength and dexterity of these people; for when we approached the tent of the chief, who was sitting inside upon his couch of reeds, he with a single jerk jumped out and suddenly stood upright before us. Of course the tent was open in front, but, nevertheless, it appeared to me a great gymnastic feat, especially taking into account the lowness of the entrance, as in jumping out he had to stoop at the same time. Without delay a smaller tent was placed at our disposal, and we made ourselves comfortable.

The tents, "éhe" (pl. éhénnan), consist of a large round piece of leather formed of a great number of smaller sheep-skins cut in quadrangular pieces and sewed together, while the borders of the whole are left purposely very irregular, in order to pass the stalks which describe the outward circle of the tent through the projecting corners. These skins are spanned over three pairs of poles, the middle pair of considerable elevation, the remaining two not so high, and one of them, on the right of the entrance, being forked, as represented in the following wood-cut, although, as far as I have become aware, the middle poles are not always the same, in some tents both joining at the top, in others seeming 'to stand apart. The whole character of these tents will be still better understood from the plate representing the Tawárek encampment at Amalélle in a subsequent part of this volume.

In such a tent there are generally two couches, or divans, called “teshégit,” made of a fine species of reed, and raised about a foot

from the ground; for these people generally choose the most swampy places for their encampments, and after a thunder-storm are sometimes to be found in the midst of a lake. They are also not wanting in comforts; and on every couch there is a leather pillow, "adafór," which certainly seems very essential, as it would be most uncomfortable to rest the elbow on the uneven and hard surface of these reed couches. Almost all the furniture of these simple people, besides a few wooden bowls for eating and drinking, consists of leather bags of excellent workmanship and sometimes very tastefully ornamented, as will be shown farther on in the volume. In these they stow away their clothes as well as their provisions, and during the night they surround the whole tent with very neat mattings of a fine species of reed, so that a tent of this description forms quite a comfortable dwelling.

Although our host was evidently not one of the first-rate chiefs, he, as well as his kinsfolk and friends who came to visit us, had a very noble and prepossessing appearance, being rather broadshouldered, stout, and well knit, with a pleasing expression of countenance and a fair skin, though there were a few among them who, with their coarse features and their dark skin, bore testimony to the deterioration of the Berber blood. We had scarcely made ourselves comfortable, when we were treated with large quantities of fresh and sour milk, while a fat sheep was slaugh

tered and prepared for our supper, but without any additional food, these people living almost entirely on meat and milk.

Of course I had to make a handsome present to my new friends, consisting of a fine black tobe, a túrkedí, and a black harám; but I doubt very much whether my friend El Waláti gave them these articles as a present from me, or whether he sold them as his own. However, be this as it may, I wanted not only their protection, but their assistance, too, as my camels were so weakened by the continual humidity to which they were exposed, that they were not fit to carry my luggage any farther. But, besides, as we had to pass the seats of these lawless tribes, we had to grope our way as well as possible from one encampment to the other, so that we wanted guides; and it was therefore arranged that, hiring a couple of pack-oxen at this place, we should join this tribe the following morning, when they would take us on our way to the chief, Somki. The mountainous district, in the direction of Núggera, had the following appearance at its termination.

On returning from this encampment to Bóne, being misled by by a man who professed to know the district, which for the most part consists of swampy ground, we fell into a dangerous bog, and made our way with great difficulty. We were also visited by a very heavy thunder-storm in the evening, which swamped the whole country, killed one of my camels, and rendered our night's rest very uncomfortable. In consequence of this violent rain our road the next day, on our way to the Tawárek, was very bad, and we had great difficulty in avoiding the swamps; but I was rewarded by the picturesque aspect of the scenery, a rich cascade rushing down over the steep cliffs of the mountain from a height of about two hundred feet, and forming at the bottom a powerful torrent, which swept along through a fine border of vegetation in the direction of Bóne. The poor independent inhabitants of that mountain had left their stone cottages and caves on the slope of