Heinrich Barth

“ After the richness of natural forms which I had beheld in Ádamáwa, the country seemed extremely monotonous, there being nothing whatever to cheer the eye except the blossom of the mimosas, which spread a sweet scent all around. We encamped during the hot hours of the day near the well of Káine, where we had great difficulty in supplying ourselves with water from the well, while a little later in the season a large lake is formed here: for Africa is the region of contrasts as well in nature as in human life. ”

“ The evening being clear, and illuminated by splendid moonlight, I sat a long time outside—perhaps too long in my precarious state of health—enjoying the sound of music and dancing which came from the opposite quarter of the village; but I was not a little astonished when I heard from my young friend, whom I asked why he did not go to join in the merriment, that it was not an ordinary amusement, but a religious dance to celebrate the death of an old man; for if a person in old age dies, his death is deemed a cause of satisfaction and mirth, while that of a young one is lamented with tears. ”

“ By-and-by the camels arrived, the encampment was formed, and every one had given himself up to repose of mind and body, when suddenly the alarm-drums were beaten, and everybody hastened to arms, and mounted his horse. It seemed incredible that an enemy whose movements were uncombined, and not directed by any good leaders, should attack such an army, of more than ten thousand cavalry, and a still greater number of foot, although I am persuaded that a resolute attack of a few hundred brave men would have defeated the whole of this vain and cowardly host. ”

“ I have never seen a Háusa woman strolling about the streets with her gown trailing after her on the ground, the fashion of the women of Kúkawa, and wearing on her shoulders some Manchester print of a showy pattern, keeping the ends of it in her hands, while she throws her arms about in a coquettish manner. In a word, their dress, as well as their demeanour, is far more decent and agreeable. ”

“ The vizier could not bring forward any other argument in his defence, than that the slave-trade furnished them with the means of buying muskets; and, lamentable as it is, this is certainly the correct view of the subject, for even on the west coast the slave-trade originated in the cupidity of the natives in purchasing the arms of Europeans. Such is the history of civilization! If the poor natives of Africa had never become acquainted with this destructive implement of European ingenuity, the slave-trade would never have reached those gigantic proportions which it has attained. ”

“ But my companions did not seem to agree as to the path to be pursued; and my guide, overlooking on the rocky ground the footsteps of the camels, which had taken the direct path to the Kasr Ghurián, wanted to take me by the wady, and, instead of ascending the eastern cliffs of the ravine, kept along it, where, from being narrow and rocky—the mere bed of a torrent,—it widens to a pleasant, cultivated, open valley, with rich marly soil, and adorned with an olive-grove. On a hill in the centre lies the first village of the district Ghurián. ”

“ Having started at length, we made a long day’s march, and after eleven hours and a half travelling reached the well-known sand-hill opposite Tin-téllust, where our encampment had stayed so long, not by the great road along the valley, but by “the Thief’s Passage,” in order to observe before we were observed. But the residence of the great chief Ánnur was buried in the deepest silence; the courtiers, the blacksmiths, all the great men and ladies, had gone away. Hámma went to see if anybody remained behind, while we cooked our rice, and prepared to make ourselves comfortable for the night. ”

“ All was fertility and vegetation, though these fields near the capital are certainly not the best situated in Bórnu. I felt strengthened by the fresh air, and followed the eastern path, which did not offer any place [502] for an encampment. Looking round, I saw at length two of my men coming towards us, and found to the left of the track, on a little sandy eminence, a convenient spot for pitching my tent. I felt happy in having left the monotony and closeness of the town behind me. Nothing in the world makes me feel happier than a wide, open country, a commodious tent, and a fine horse. ”

“ But Nature has provided so well for the defence of these poor pagans, that they are not easily taken by surprise.
We succeeded, with the dawn of day, in passing the first broad sheet of water of the wide “ngáljam” of Wúliya, but found great difficulty in passing another water with a deep, argillaceous soil of so boggy a nature that several of the horses fell, even those whose riders had dismounted; and I felt not a little anxiety on account of my own restless and fiery horse, which was snorting like a hippopotamus. ”

“ There was a numerous herd of cattle just being watered at the two wells of the village. Starting again in the afternoon, we reached one of the hamlets forming the district Magá just in time to avoid the drenching of a violent storm which broke forth in the evening. But the lanes formed by the fences of the yards were so narrow that we had the greatest difficulty in making our camels pass through them—an inconvenience which the traveller experiences very often in these countries, where the camel is not the indigenous and ordinary beast of burden. The well here was nine fathoms deep. ”

“ Bokhári having remained some time quietly in this place, strengthening his party and assisted underhand with arms and men by the vizier of Bórnu, had just now set out to try his fortune against his brother, and was beating the drums in order to collect as many people as possible.
Predatory incursions are nothing new in these quarters, where several provinces and entirely distinct empires have a common frontier; but this, as the event proved, was rather a memorable campaign for the whole of this part of Negroland, and was to become “the beginning of sorrows” for all the country around. ”

“ In another part were to be seen all the necessaries of life, the wealthy buying the most palatable things for his table, the poor stopping and looking greedily upon a handful of grain; here a rich governor dressed in silk and gaudy clothes, mounted upon a spirited and richly caparisoned horse, and followed by a host of idle, insolent slaves; there a poor blind man groping his way through the multitude, and fearing at every step to be trodden down ”

“ The encampment springing up gradually from the ground, with its variety of light dwellings built only for the moment—the multifarious appearance of armed people—the number of horses of all colours, some of the most exquisite beauty—the uninterrupted train of beasts of burden, camels, and pack-oxen, laden with the tents, furniture, and provisions, and mounted by the wives and concubines of the different chiefs, well dressed and veiled,—altogether presented a most interesting picture ”

“ Our camels had already gone on some time before we parted from this solitary memorial of Roman greatness; and after a little distance we passed the ruins of another Roman fort called Hanshír Hámed. The country hereabouts, forming a sort of bowl or hollow, and absorbing a great deal of moisture, is very fertile, and is also tolerably well cultivated; but after a while it becomes stony. Having here passed a village, we reached a beautiful little valley, the head of the Wady Sheikh, which is irrigated by two springs, that feed a splendid little orchard with all sorts of fruit. ”

“ This road to Ngórnu, is strongly marked with that sameness and monotony which characterize the neighbourhood of Kúkawa. At first nothing is seen but the melancholy “káwo,” Asclepias procera or gigantea; then “ngílle,” low bushes of Cucifera, appear, and gradually trees begin to enliven the landscape, first scattered here and there, further on forming a sort of underwood. The path is broad and well-trodden, but consists mostly of deep sandy soil. There are no villages on the side of the road, but a good many at a little distance. In the rainy season some very large ponds are formed by its side. ”

“ Having now a horse whereon to mount, I rode every day, either into the eastern town to pay a visit to the sheikh, or to the vizier, or roving around the whole circuit of the capital, and peeping into the varied scenes which the life of the people exhibited. The precincts of the town with its suburbs are just as interesting as its neighbourhood (especially during the months that precede the rainy season) is monotonous and tiresome in the extreme. ”

“ Five good horsemen would have sufficed to overthrow this whole troop of young unbearded lads, who were snapping their firelocks without being in general provided with balls. It was very lucky, indeed, that Overweg and I with our people kept well together in the foremost part of the train, for the natives, rushing suddenly out from their hiding place upon the stragglers, laid hold of two camels, with which they immediately made good their retreat, their young riders, who a moment before had shown such courage, having betimes jumped off their animals and run away. ”

“ While we were still in Tin-téllust the rumour had spread of an expedition undertaken by the latter tribe against Aïr, and the people were all greatly excited. For the poor Kél-owí, who have degenerated from their original vigour and warlike spirit by their intermixture with the black population and by their peaceable pursuits, are not less afraid of the Awelímmiden than they are of the Kél-gerés; and old Ánnur himself used to give me a dreadful description of that tribe, at which I afterwards often laughed heartily with the very people whom he intended to depict to me as monsters. ”

“ It was half-past nine o’clock, the weather having now cleared up, when we entered the valley of Tin-téllust, forming a broad sandy channel, bare of herbage, and only lined with bushes along its border. On the low rocky projections on its eastern side lay a little village, scarcely discernible from the rocks around; it was the long and anxiously looked-for residence of the chief Eʾ Núr or Ánnur. ”

“ Hence I cherish the well-founded conviction, that along this natural highroad European influence and commerce will penetrate into the very heart of the continent and abolish slavery, or rather those infamous slave-hunts and religious wars, destroying the natural germs of human happiness, which are spontaneously developed in the simple life of the pagans, and spreading devastation and desolation all around. ”

“ But even after I had the good fortune to see Háj Beshír, I found it difficult to obtain quarters, and I was obliged to pitch my tent in a courtyard.
Being tired of the crowd in the town, I mounted on horseback early next morning in order to refresh myself with a sight of the lake, which I supposed to be at no great distance, and indulged beforehand in anticipations of the delightful view which I fondly imagined was soon to greet my eye. We met a good many people and slaves going out to cut grass for the horses; and leaving them to their work we kept on towards the rising sun. ”

“ The valley Tíggeda had now a very different aspect from that which it wore when we were going to Ágades; for while at that time, beautiful as it was, it was not enlivened by a single human being, now at its very head we met a considerable caravan of Kél-owí, laden with salt, and accompanied by a herd of young camels, to be bartered in the market of Ágades for corn, and further on we found a herd of from sixty to seventy head of cattle, and numerous flocks of goats, indulging in the rich herbage which had previously excited my astonishment. ”

“ But at present all this district, the finest land of Bórnu in the proper sense of the word, which once resounded with the voices and bustle of hundreds of towns and villages, has become one impenetrable jungle, the domain of the elephant and the lion, and with no human inhabitants except a few scattered herdsmen or cattle-breeders, who are exposed every moment to the predatory inroads of the Tuarek. ”

“ It was a pity we were not allowed by circumstances to proceed in our real character of peaceful travellers, anxious to befriend all the people with whom we came in contact, instead of being obliged to join this host of merciless and sanguinary slave-hunters, who, regardless of the beauty of the country and the cheerful happiness of the natives, were only intent upon enriching themselves with the spoil of the inhabitants. ”

“ As far as the market-place I had already proceeded on foot; but Báwu, as soon as he saw me, had hurried me back to my lodgings, as having not yet been formally received by the governor. But no one on foot can get a correct idea of an African town, confined as he is on every side by the fences and walls, while on horseback he obtains an insight into all the courtyards, becomes an eye-witness of scenes of private life, and often with one glance surveys a whole town. ”

“ We here trace a historical thread which guides us through this labyrinth of tribes and overthrown kingdoms; and a lively interest is awakened by reflecting on their possible progress and restoration, through the intercourse with more civilized parts of the world. Finally, we find here commerce in every direction radiating from Kanó, the great emporium of Central Africa, and spreading the manufactures of that industrious region over the whole of Western Africa. ”

“ Here a row of shops filled with articles of native and foreign produce, with buyers and sellers in every variety of figure, complexion, and dress, yet all intent upon their little gain, endeavouring to cheat each other; there a large shed, like a hurdle, full of half-naked, half-starved slaves torn from their native homes, from their wives or husbands, from their children or parents, arranged in rows like cattle, and staring desperately upon the buyers, anxiously watching into whose hands it should be their destiny to fall. ”

“ It is a great pity that these poor natives do not know how to avail themselves, against their cruel and cowardly enemies, of the fastnesses with which nature has endowed these regions. Of course these immense forests, which separate one principality, and I might say one village, from another, are themselves a consequence of the want of intelligence and of the barbarous blindness of these pagan tribes, who, destitute of any common bond of national unity, live entirely separated from, and even carry on war against each other. ”

“ This road, during the whole day, is crowded by numbers of people on horseback and on foot; free men and slaves, foreigners as well as natives, every one in his best attire, to pay his respects to the sheikh or his vizier, to deliver an errand, or to sue for justice or employment, or a present. ”