René Caillié

“ To lighten the canoe all the slaves were set on shore, and the rice-grinders were sent to continue their work on the plain. At sunset the wind fell a little, and the oars might have been used during the whole of the night, but the negroes, to whom time is of no value, and who are never in a hurry to reach their destination, thought proper to wait till morning. ”

“ About eight in the morning, we entered a plain of black sand, in which we perceived here and there spots resembling little islands covered with herbage and mimosas. In proportion as we approached the limits of the desert, nature appeared less desolate. At eleven, we halted upon loose sand: we experienced the whole day a stifling heat, which created a dreadful thirst; as night drew on, some rice was boiled as usual for supper. About ten o’clock on the same day, we started towards the N. N. E., over a soil broken by deep ravines, on the edge of which some vegetation appeared. ”

“ Here the Moors and Berbers of our little caravan went through their devotions; after a short ceremony they took a little sand from the place in which they had prostrated themselves and sprinkled it over their camels and slaves. I learned that these ruins belonged to an ancient village called Zawât, long since abandoned by its inhabitants, who had elsewhere founded another town of the same name.
The soil of the environs is barren, hard, and full of stones of various colours; a few bushes indeed are to be seen, but their foliage is parched up by the sun. ”

“ I was never taken at first sight by the Moors of Tafilet for an Arab; they always treated me at once as a stranger; redoubled artifice was necessary to deceive them: but when I declared myself to have been taken prisoner while very young by the army of Bonaparte, they appeared satisfied, and congratulated me upon the good resolution I had formed of returning to my country
At the gate of Marca, I met, by a singular accident, a Berber whom I had known at el-Harib: he received me with kindness, and immediately acquainted the assembly with my history. ”

“ A boundless horizon was already expanded before us, and we could distinguish nothing but an immense plain of shining sand, and over it a burning sky. At this sight the camels uttered long moans, the slaves became sullen and silent, and, with their eyes turned towards heaven, they appeared to be tortured with regret for the loss of their country, and with the recollection of the verdant plains from which avarice and cruelty had snatched them. ”

“ The camels are so well acquainted with the desert that, as soon as they are loaded, they take, as if by instinct, the northern course. It would seem that they are guided by the recollection of the springs of water which are found in that direction. I really believe that a traveller, though alone, might safely trust himself to the guidance of his camel. ”

“ About nine in the morning, we halted at the wells of Bohayara, around which the vegetation is luxuriant; they are twelve feet deep, and sunk in grey sand, mingled with coarse gravel. They are very near to a camp of Berbers, who water their sheep and goats at them: these men inhabit the passes of the mountains, where they feed numerous flocks of sheep and herds of camels, and cultivate a little barley and wheat. ”

“ On the 12th, at two in the morning, still half asleep, I mounted my camel and we resumed our route northward, over a level, hard and stony soil: I saw some mimosas scattered in the plain at great distances apart, without any other sign of vegetation. About nine, we descended, through a very narrow path, into a deep ravine, surrounded by enormous blocks of granite, of a pink and various other colours, in strata of eighteen or twenty inches thick. The camels, fatigued with so bad a road, had much difficulty in descending amongst these rocks. ”

“ After proceeding six miles in this direction, we arrived at Mourat, a small village, containing five houses like those of El-Arawan, and built of sand bricks. At Mourat, the sons of Sidi-Boubacar, chief of El-Arawan, keep a school, where the children of the inhabitants of the town study the Koran. Mourat appeared to me even more gloomy than El-Arawan; the uniformity of the soil is broken only by a few plants, which are eaten by the camels, and which are buried beneath the sand, drifted by the east wind. On leaving Mourat, the traveller comes to some deep wells filled with brackish water. ”

“ On the 28th, Sidi-Boubacar, who was become much attached to me, sent me an invitation to his house, where he waited to receive me. He seated me on a fine carpet, spread in the court, under a little shed, and then requesting me to wait a moment, he went for a friend of his, a Moor of distinction. Soon afterwards a slave brought, upon a very clear copper waiter, a meat pasty fried in butter, and a fine slice of melon, bought on the preceding day at the market of Boheim: Sidi-Boubacar broke the pasty and his friend and I as well as himself did justice to it. ”

“ At nightfall, rice was cooked for our supper. We had nothing before that but a little dokhnou and water to refresh us; as the roots of this plant were scarce, the slaves were sent to pick up camel’s dung for fuel; though the wind quickly effaces their footsteps, it is always easy to track them by the great quantity of their excrement. ”

“ It was very warm during the whole of the fortnight that I stayed at Timbuctoo; the wind never ceased to blow from the east.
The caravan destined for el-Arawan, with which I had resolved to travel, was to set out on the 4th of May, at sun-rise. My host was up so early that morning as to allow me time, before my departure, to breakfast with him on tea, new bread, and butter. That nothing might diminish the agreeable impression which my stay at Timbuctoo had made upon me, I met, on departing, the host of Major Laing, who made me accept some new clothing for my journey. ”

“ The intention of the donors is not precisely to propose a prize for competition; the lure of a sum of money could not be offered for an attempt which might be attended with the loss of life: but they hold in reserve a just and honourable indemnity for him who shall happily overcome all the obstacles, to which so many others have, up to the present time, succumbed.
As the judge and dispenser of this recompense, the Society of Geography will duly appreciate the merit, the courage, and the devotedness, of travellers, as well as the real services they may have rendered to science. ”

“ On the 2nd of September, I quitted Rabat with the owner my ass, the most worthless man I had met with in this country. The poor beast destined to carry me, was already oppressed by a heavy burthen, and sunk at every step up to his knees in the loose sand of the sea-shore; I had therefore no alternative but to dismount, and though I had paid a good price for my conveyance, and was scarcely able to drag myself along, was obliged to perform half the journey on foot, while my unworthy guide rode forward with the utmost indifference. ”

“ This mysterious city, which has been an object of curiosity for so many ages, and of whose population, civilization, and trade with the Soudan, such exaggerated notions have prevailed, is situated in an immense plain of white sand, having no vegetation but stunted trees and shrubs, such as the mimosa ferruginea, which grows no higher than three or four feet. The city is not closed by any barrier, and may be entered on any side. Within the town are seen some of the balanitis ægyptiaca, and in the centre is a palm tree. ”

“ Its commerce is not so considerable as fame has reported. There was not as at Jenné, a concourse of strangers from all parts of the Soudan. I saw in the streets of Timbuctoo only the camels, which had arrived from Cabra laden with the merchandise of the flotilla, a few groups of the inhabitants sitting on mats, conversing together, and Moors lying asleep in the shade before their doors. In a word, every thing had a dull appearance. ”

“ Our road lay northward. The slaves who had been on board our canoe also accompanied us, so that we formed a numerous caravan. The youngest slaves were mounted upon asses, as the road is very sandy and wearisome. Near Cabra we passed two lakes, the banks of which were overgrown with mimosas from five to six feet high. A little further the eye was refreshed by some signs of vegetation. The country presented the same scenery until we had proceeded half way on our journey, and then it began to be more naked, and the sand becoming exceedingly loose, rendered travelling very difficult. ”

“ No money is current here, except that of Morocco and Spain; the coin of other European countries is taken by weight. After traversing the great desert, almost deprived of the necessaries of life, the pleasure which I experienced in contemplating a market so richly furnished is indescribable, but I was obliged to return to the village with the slave to whose care Sidi-Boubacar had consigned me, and this man, when his purchases were completed, was unwilling to stay any longer. ”

“ Nobody suffered more intensely from thirst than the poor little slaves, who were crying for water. Exhausted by their sufferings and their lamentations, these unhappy creatures fell on the ground, and seemed to have no power to rise; but the Moors did not suffer them to continue there long when travelling. Insensible to the sufferings which childhood is so little fitted to support, these barbarians dragged them along with violence, beating them incessantly, till they had overtaken the camels, which were already at a distance. ”

“ His house was within a few doors of that which had been inhabited by the unfortunate Major Laing. He has employed sixteen months upon this labour and in collecting the materials with which he has enriched his wallet. Nothing disheartened him, neither refusal, nor disgust, nor fatigue, nor danger; his vocation, as he has frequently repeated to me, demanded that he should cross Africa; he followed it and has solved the problem that a European may traverse this continent, a problem, the impossibility of which appeared all but demonstrated. ”

“ The Moors of el-Harib are generally detested by their neighbours; in el-Drah and Tafilet they are seldom called any thing but cafirs or infidels. In my life I never saw women so evil disposed and so dirty as those of this country: they do not veil themselves, like the women of Morocco, but expose a face disgustingly filthy; the smell that proceeds from them is most offensive. The inhabitants eat the camels which have died from fatigue, but not till they have drained off the blood; they keep some sheep and a few horses. ”

“ The people are gentle and complaisant to strangers. In trade they are industrious and intelligent; and the traders are generally wealthy and have many slaves. The men are of the ordinary size, well made, upright, and walk with a firm step. Their colour is a fine deep black. Their noses are a little more aquiline than those of the Mandigoes, and like them they have thin lips and large eyes. I saw some women who might be considered pretty. They are all well fed: their meals, of which they take two a day, consist of rice, and couscous made of small millet, dressed with meat or dried fish. ”

“ The inhabitants of the town are all fanatical Moors; they have numerous slaves, which they purchase at Sansanding, and, notwithstanding the natural brutality of the people, they treat their slaves kindly; they allow them plenty of food, consisting of sangleh, which is eaten with a sauce made of dried baobab leaves, boiled and seasoned with salt or allspice. They also clothe them well. If to the misery incidental to this wretched country were added the bad treatment which slaves experience in some parts of the desert, the poor creatures could not long survive. ”

“ The Moors of this miserable country are incessantly harassed by the Berbers, from whose habits of rapine they have every thing to fear, although they pay them a heavy tribute; and not one of them, whatever rank he may hold at home, dares travel without being thus accompanied. These roving people, not being themselves cultivators of the soil, are obliged frequently to go to el-Drah to purchase barley and dates for food, and not daring to attempt this without the convoy of the Berbers, they pay them an additional tribute by way of remuneration. ”

“ Shops may be found in most quarters of the town furnished with all sorts of provisions, dried or otherwise; as bread, meat, butter, pastry, fruit, and vegetables. As there are no inns, travellers without acquaintance in the city have no other resource than to buy what they want at these shops, and to carry it to the mosque or to the fandac to eat.
A market is held every day; it is attended by a great concourse of strangers, who come from great distances to sell their commodities: great quantities of dates and tanned leather are brought to this market from Tafilet ”

“ There was something in the appearance of the flotilla far more interesting than I could have expected to find in the interior of Africa. The bustle on every side almost made me fancy myself in a trading port of Europe. The largest vessels belong to Moors, who carry on the principal trade of the country: they form themselves into companies, and employ their canoes in conveying merchandise to Timbuctoo, where they are paid their freight in salt or cowries. ”

“ Heartily cursing the inhumanity of their masters, I returned sorrowfully to our own camp under the date-trees. The Berbers keep a great number of dogs to watch their flocks, and they are so accustomed not to suffer the approach of any stranger whatsoever to the habitations of which they are left in charge, that the fear of being devoured by them serves as a wholesome restraint upon the depredations of those robbers by whom the country is so much infested. The Berbers themselves dare not approach without caution the camps of their own tribe to which they are strangers ”

“ Our countryman has with so much attention and perseverance recorded his routes, their direction, and the hours of march, that one of our associates has found it easy to form, from his journal, a continued and complete itinerary from Kakondy to the port of Rabat, in the states of Morocco, in which the nature and various accidents of the soil are indicated, such as the mountains, plains, ravines, and forests, the villages and all inhabited places, the rivulets, lakes, and morasses, the torrents, cataracts, fords, wells, and every thing relating both to the running and stagnant waters. ”