CAMP OF THE TARABANAʼSA.

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fusion of white rings, which are made of the bones of that very remarkable animal the "ayú," or Manatus, which seems to be not less frequent in the western than in the eastern branch of the Niger. As a token of their nobility and liberty all of them carried iron spears and swords, the degraded tribes not being allowed to make use of these manly weapons.

The encampment consisted of about thirty leathern tents, of great size; and, besides the Tarabanása, a party of the Kél-hekíkan of Zíllikay were encamped. This was a less favorable circumstance; for, while as yet I had been always on the best footing with these Tawárek, the latter proved rather troublesome: and I got involved in a religious dispute with one of their chiefs named Ayúb, or Sínnefel, against my inclination, which might have done me some harm. On his asking me why we did not pray in the same manner as themselves, I replied that our God did not live in the east, but was every where, and that therefore we had no occasion to offer up our prayers in that direction. This answer appeared to satisfy him; but he affected to be horrified when he heard that we did not practice circumcision, and endeavored to excite the fanatical zeal of the whole camp against me. I, however, succeeded in partly effacing the bad impression thus caused, by making use of a Biblical expression, and observing that we circumcised our hearts, and not any other part of our body, having expressly abolished that rite, as it appeared to us to be an emblem of the Jewish creed.

I also told them that if they thought that circumcision was a privilege and an emblem of Islam they were greatly mistaken, as many of the pagan tribes around them, whom they treated with so much contempt, practiced this rite. This latter observation especially made a great impression upon them; and they did not fail to remark that I always knew how to parry any attack made against my creed. But, in other respects, I was very cautious in avoiding any dispute, and I was extremely lucky in not having any thing to do with an arrogant relative of the sheikh, of the name of 'Abd e' Rahmán Weled Síd, who had lately come from A'zawád to stay some time with his uncle, and obtain from him some present.

With the small present which I made to each of the Tarabanása I got on very well with them; but as for their women, who, as was always the case at these encampments, came in the evening to have a look at me, and, if possible, to obtain a small present, I

left them without the least acknowledgment. Among the whole tribe I did not observe one distinguished in any manner by her beauty or becoming manners.

The chief behaved so inhospitably that my companions were almost starved to death, and I had to treat several of them; but, in acknowledgment, I received some useful information.*

Tuesday, April 25th. At length we left this uncomfortable and unhealthy camping-ground, and had some difficulty in turning round the swamp which is here formed, and farther on in traversing a dense forest which almost precluded any progress. Having then passed along a rising sandy ground, we had again to cross a most difficult swampy tract, overgrown with dense forest, which at times obliged us to ascend the high sandy downs that bordered the great river on our right, and afforded a splendid view over the surrounding scenery.

Gradually we emerged from the dense forest upon the green border of a backwater which stretched out behind the sandy downs, which were enlivened by cattle. Marching along this low verdant ground we reached a place called Taútilt at eleven o'clock. Here Wóghda, the father-in-law of Wóghdugu, had just pitched his tents, and part of his luggage was, at the moment of our arrival, being carried over from the island of Kóra, where the chief Sául had encamped, and the shores of which were enlivened by numerous herds of horned cattle.

Such is the remarkable mode of life adopted by these southern sections of the mysterious veiled rovers of the desert. Totally metamorphosed as they are by the character of the new region of which they have taken possession, they wander about and remove

* A complete list of all the tribes and sections of the I'móshagh or Tawárek will be given in Appendix XI. Here I will communicate the family relations of those chiefs of the Igwádaren, which are of importance for understanding clearly the political state of things in this part of the Niger, and which may be of some use to any future expedition. First, A'khbi, the principal chief of this tribe, is a son of Salem, son of Hemme, son of Akhéum. His rival is Sadáktu, the nephew of Simsim, who is a son of El A'mmer (the name of Sadáktu's father I do not know), son of Walaswaríslar, son of Akhéum. Associated with A'khbi is El Wóghdugu, a chief of a section of the Tarabanása, a very chivalrous man, and a great friend of the Sheikh el Bakáy, and son of E'g el Henne, son of Mansur; El Wóghdugu's brothers are Míni, Mohammed, Aníti, and Lubéd. Another chief of the Tarabanása, and a deadly enemy of El Wóghdugu, although allied with Akhbi, is E' Téni, son of Agánte, son of Kháwi, son of Mansur, son of Ag e' Sa'ade, son of Awédha. E' Téni's sons are: Umbúnge, Imbékke or Bába, Asátil, and Innósara; sons of a brother of E' Téni are: Babaye and Bubákkeri. Another great man related to E' Téni is U'gast, son of Shét, son of Khawi.

RELATIONS OF VARIOUS CHIEFS,

411 their encampments from one island to the other, and from one shore to the other, swimming their cattle across the river. They have almost renounced the use of the camel, that hardy animal which afforded their only means of existence in those desert regions which had formerly been their home.

It was a highly interesting camping-ground. This branch of the river, which was about two hundred yards broad, and at present from six to eight feet deep, was enlivened by several boats, together with a good number of cattle, apparently rather averse to entering the water, which in summer usually dries up; the Tawárek busily arranging their little property and pitching their tents, or erecting their little booth-like huts of matting; then behind us the dense forest, closely enveloped by climbing plants. The principal branch of the river is from two to three miles dis

tant.

We had scarcely arrived when the cheerful little Wóghda started from his tent with a sudden bound worthy of a public exhibition, in order to receive his friend the Sheikh el Bakáy. We encamped in the shade of the large trees, close to the border of the water, where we were soon visited by several Songhay people who inhabit a small hamlet on the island of Kóra, where they cultivate tobacco. This article constituted in former times the chief branch of cultivation all along the river, but at present, since the conquest of the country by the Fúlbe, it has become a contraband article, so that the people from Timbúktu come stealthily hither in order to buy from these people their produce with cotton strips or tári.

This chief, Wóghda, had been present, when quite a boy, at the attack which the Igwádaren at E'gedesh made upon Mungo Park, whom all the old men along the river know very well, from his large strange-looking boat, with his white sail, his long coat, his straw hat, and large gloves. He had stopped at Bámba in order to buy fowls, of which he appears to have endeavored to obtain a supply at every large place along the river. Wóghda farther asserted that it was on this occasion that the Tawárek killed two of the Christians in the boat; but this seems to be a mistake, as it appears evident that two of the four valiant men who, solitary and abandoned, in their boat, like a little fortress, navigated this river for so many hundred miles in the midst of these hostile tribes, were killed much lower down.

The people have plenty of asses, and a sword-blade of the com

monest German or Solingen manufacture fetches every where two of these animals, which are sold for at least 6000 shells each in the town. But the more conscientious Arabs do not trade with the' Tawárek, whose property they well know, for the greatest part, to be "harám," or forbidden, because taken by violent means.

It had been announced that we were to start in the afternoon, but there was no reason for hurrying our departure, and we quietly encamped here for the night, when we were visited by a great number of the Welád Molúk, whose encampment was at no great distance from ours. They were short, thick-set men, with fair complexions and expressive prepossessing features, but some of them were suffering dreadfully from a disgusting disease, which they attributed to the bad quality of the water. One or two of them, at least, had their nose and part of their face entirely eaten away by cancers, and formed altogether a horrible spectacle.

Much more agreeable was a visit which I received from the Tawárek chief Sául, the leader of the Kél-Támuláit, a very stately personage, who remained the greater part of the night with us, engaged in animated conversation with the sheikh. The following morning, while we were arranging our luggage, he and another chief of the name of Khasíb came to pay me their compliments, and sat for a long time near me in order to observe my habits.

At length we were again on our march, following the windings of the river, which at times spread out to a fine sheet of water, but at others became hid behind sandy downs. On our left we had a well-wooded country, now and then changing into a low swampy ground, and enlivened by guinea-fowls. In this place we met a fine tall Tárki, mounted upon one of the highest "mehára" I had ever seen. It was Wóghdugu, the most valiant of all the southern Tawárek, Awelímmiden, Igwádaren, and Tademékket taken together, and a sincere and faithful friend of the Sheikh el Bakáy. He was a fine, tall, broad-shouldered man, of six feet four or five inches, and evidently possessing immense muscular strength, although he was by no means fat at the time, and even pretended not to be in the enjoyment of good health.

Numerous deeds of valer are related of this man, which remind one of the best age of European or Arab chivalry. He is said, at the time when the Tawárek conquered the town of Gúndam from the Fúlbe, to have jumped from his horse upon the wall of that place, and catching upon his shield the spears of all the enemy

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who were posted there, to have opened a way for his comrades. A few days before, he had been surprised, when quite alone, by a party of from ten to twelve of his private enemies, the followers of E' Téni, but he succeeded in defending himself against them, and catching upon his shield all their iron spears, he reached the river, and made good his retreat in a boat.

Led on by this interesting man, and by a brother of his of the name of Mohammed, we soon reached a place named Izéberen, so called from two sandy downs rising from a flat shore, and at times entirely insulated. Inland, a large swampy backwater leaves only a narrow neck of land dry.

CHAPTER LXXIV.

RETROGRADE MOVEMENT TOWARD TIMBU'KTU.

THE locality of Izéberen, where we had encamped, was not at all inviting, as it was but scantily provided with trees. Here we gave up our journey eastward, and again commenced our retrograde movement toward Timbúktu. I was now filled with the saddest forebodings; for, after three or four days spent in vain dispute between the sheikh and A'khbi, the chief of the Igwádaren, who was encamped here, the latter persisted in his rebellious conduct against his liege lord, Alkúttabu; and, instead of restoring what he had taken from the tribes placed under the protection of the latter, he made up his mind to follow the instigations of the sheikh's enemy and rival, Hammádi, and to throw himself into the arms of the Fúlbe and of the chief of Hamda-Alláhi. He thus caused an immense disturbance in this whole region; and in fact a bloody war broke out soon after my safe departure.

The encampment at Izéberen, to which this sad remembrance attaches, was tolerably enlivened with some interesting people, including as well some kinsmen of A'khbi, as more especially the sons of E'g el Henne, Wóghdugu, and his brethren, Mohammed, Aníti, and Míni, all of whom are of a very cheerful disposition, and (as far as it possible for a Tárki to be so) even amiable men. Among the former there was a boy named Kúngu, whose arrogance at first was a little troublesome, but eventually he became one of my best friends, and even now occupies a foremost place in my remembrance. He was a nephew of A'khbi's, and his father