TIMBUCTOO TO HOUSA.

Shabeeny, after staying three years at Timbuctoo, departed for Housa: and crossing the small river close to the walls, reached the Nile in three days, travelling through a fine, populous, cultivated country, abounding in trees, some of which are a kind of oak, bearing a large acorn [73], much finer than those of Barbary, which are sent as presents to Spain. Travelling is perfectly safe. They embarked on the Nile in a large boat with one mast, a sail, and oars; the current was not rapid: having a favourable wind, on his return, he came back in as short a time as he went. The water was very red and sweet. [74] The place where they embarked is called Mushgreelia; here is a ferry, and opposite is a village. As the current is slow, and they moored every night, they were eight or ten days sailing down the stream to Housa. They had ten or twelve men on board, and when it was calm, or the wind contrary, they rowed; they steered with an oar, the boat having no rudder. He saw a great many boats passing up and down the river; there are more boats [75] on this river between Mushgreelia and Housa than between Rosetta and Cairo on the Nile of Egypt. A great many villages are on the banks. There are boats of the same form as those of Tetuan and Tangiers, but much larger, built of planks, and have ribs like those of Barbary; instead of pitch or tar, they are caulked with a sort of red clay, or bole. The sail is of canvas of flax (not cotton) brought from Barbary, originally from Holland; it is square. They row like the Moors, going down the stream.

Footnote 73:[ (return) ] Called El Belûte. These acorns are much prized by the Muhamedans, and are considered a very wholesome fruit.

Footnote 74:[ (return) ] The word hellue, in Arabic, which signifies literally, sweet, here implies that the water was pure and good.

Footnote 75:[ (return) ] See Jackson's Marocco, page 314, 2d or 3d edition.

There is a road by land from Timbuctoo to Housa, but on account of the expense it is not used by merchants: Shabeeny believes it is about 5 days' journey. If you go this way, you must cross the river before you reach Housa. They landed at the port of Housa, distant a day and a half from the town; their merchandise was carried from this port on horses, asses, and horned cattle; the blacks dislike camels; they say, "These are the beasts that carry us into slavery."

The country was rich and well cultivated; they have a plant bearing a pod called mellochia, from which they make a thick vegetable jelly. [76] There is no artificial road from Timbuctoo to the Nile; near the river the soil is miry. Shabeeny travelled from Timbuctoo to Housa in the hot weather when the Nile was nearly full; it seldom falls much below the level of its banks; he travelled on horseback from Timbuctoo to the river, and slept two nights upon the road in the huts of the natives. One of the principal men in the village leaves his hut to the travellers and gives them a supper; in the mean time he goes to the hut of some friend, and in the morning receives a small present for his hospitality. [77]

Footnote 76:[ (return) ] The pod of the mellochia, which grows near Sallee and Rabat, is of an elongated conical form, about two inches long.

Footnote 77:[ (return) ] This is a common custom in West and South Barbary; they always clear a tent for the travellers.

THE RIVER NEEL OR NILE.

The Neel El Kebeer [78], (that is, the Great Nile,) like the Neel Masser or Nile of Egypt, is fullest in the month of August, when it overflows in some places where the banks are low; the water which overflows is seldom above midleg; the banks are covered with reeds, with which they make mats. Camels, sheep, goats, and horses, feed upon the banks, but during the inundation are removed to the uplands. The walls of the huts both within and without are cased with wood to the height of about three feet, to preserve them from the water; the wells have the best water after the swelling of the river. The flood continues about ten days; the abundance of rice depends on the quantity of land flooded. He always understood that the Nile empties itself in the sea, the salt sea or the great ocean. There is a village at the port of Housa where he landed, the river here is much wider than where he embarked, and still wider at Jinnie. He saw no river enter the Nile in the course of his voyage. It much resembles the Nile of Egypt, gardens and lands are irrigated from it. Its breadth is various; in some places he thinks it narrower than the Thames at London, in others much wider; at the landing place they slept in the hut of a native, and next morning at sunrise set off for Housa, where they arrived in twelve hours through a fine plain without hills; the country is much more populous than between Timbuctoo and the Nile. Ferry boats are to be had at several villages.

Footnote 78:[ (return) ] Properly Enneel. El is the article; but when it precedes a word beginning with a letter called a labial, it takes the sound of that letter. This error is committed throughout a book, lately published, entitled Specimens of Arabic Poetry, by J.D. Carlyle, Professor of Arabic in the University of Cambridge, 2d edition p. 53, Abdalsalam, instead of Abdassalum; p. 59, Ebn Alrumi, instead of Ebn Arrumi; and p. 65, Alnarhurwany, for Annarhurwany, &c. &c.

HOUSA.

They did not see the town till they came within an hour from it, or an hour and a half; it stands in a plain. Housa is south-east [79] of Timbuctoo, a much larger city and nearly as large as London. He lived there two years, but never saw the whole of it. It has no walls; the houses are like those of Timbuctoo, and form irregular lanes or streets like those of Fas or Marocco, wide enough for camels to pass with their loads. The palace is much larger than that of Timbuctoo; it is seven or eight miles in circumference and surrounded by a wall; he remembers but four gates, but there may be more; he thinks the number of guards at each gate is about 50; it is in that part of the town most distant from the Nile. The houses are dark coloured and flat roofed. He thinks Cairo is about one-third larger than Housa; the streets are much wider than those of Timbuctoo; the houses are covered with a kind of clay of different colours but never white. They have no chalk or lime in the country.

Footnote 79:[ (return) ] Rather south-east by east.

GOVERNMENT.

If the king has children, the eldest, if a man of sense and good character, succeeds; otherwise, one of the others is elected. The grandees of the court are the electors. If the eldest son be not approved, they are not bound to elect him; he has, however, the preference, and after him the other sons; but the choice of the council must be unanimous, and if no person of the royal line be the object of their choice, they may elect one of their own body. The members of the council are appointed by the king; he chooses them for their wisdom and integrity, without being limited to rank: the person appointed cannot refuse obedience to the royal mandate. The council consists of many hundreds. The governor who controls the police lives in the centre of the town.

THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE

Is very similar to that of Timbuctoo, except that the king is perfectly despotic; and though he consults his council, he decides as he thinks proper. The governor administers justice in small affairs; but, in important cases, he refers the parties to the king and council, of which he is himself a member. No torture, is ever inflicted. The governor employs a great number of officers of police at a distance from the town. If robberies are committed, the person robbed must apply to the chief of the district, who must find or take into custody the offender, or becomes himself liable to make compensation for the injury sustained. [80]

Footnote 80:[ (return) ] This is also the law in West Barbary. When a robbery is committed, the district where it has been committed is made liable for double the amount; the half goes to the person robbed, and the other half to the treasury. The good effects of this law is admirable, insomuch that it has almost annihilated robbery: but when one has actually been committed, the energy and exertion of every individual is directed to discover the depredator, and they seldom fail to discover him. The fear of the penalty also makes them very cautious who they admit among them; and very inquisitive respecting the character and vocation of all, strangers in particular, who sojourn in their country!!

LANDED PROPERTY.

They have a class of men whose peculiar business it is to adjust all disputes concerning land; the office is hereditary; the offender pays the compensation, and also the fees of these officers; the innocent pays nothing. When lands are bought, these officers measure them. There is a plant resembling a large onion, which serves as a land-mark; if these are removed, (which cannot be easily done without discovery) reference is had to the records of the sale, of which every owner is in possession; they express the sum received; the quantity, situation, and limits of the land. These are given by the seller, and are written in the language and character of the country, very different from the Arabic. The same letters are used at Timbuctoo. They write from right to left. The character [81] was perfectly unintelligible to Shabeeny. Children, whose father is dead, succeed to the same portion of their grandfather's property as their father would, had he out outlived his father, though there are other issue of the grandfather. The rules of succession are the same as at Timbuctoo.

Footnote 81:[ (return) ] Possibly the ancient Carthaginian character.

Persons of great landed property, of which there are many, employ agents or stewards; they let the lands, and the rents are paid sometimes in kind, and sometimes in gold-dust and cowries. Houses are let by the month. He paid four Mexico dollars per month; but a native would not have paid above two for the same house. A man who has five Mexico dollars [82] a month, is esteemed in easy circumstances; those, however, who have 30 or 40 per month, are common.

Footnote 82:[ (return) ] Ten dollars worth of rice is sufficient for the daily food of a man a twelve-month.

REVENUES.

The king has 2 per cent. on the produce of the land. The revenues arise from the same sources as at Timbuctoo, but are much larger. Foreign merchants pay nothing, as the Housaeens think they ought to be encouraged. The revenue is supposed to be immense.

ARMY.

He cannot precisely tell the number of troops, but believes the king can raise 70,000 to 80,000 horse, and 100,000 foot. The horses are poor and small, except a few kept for the king's own use. He has no well-bred mares. Their arms are the same as at Timbuctoo; the muskets, which are matchlocks, are made in the country. They are very dexterous in throwing the lance. Gunpowder is also manufactured there; the brimstone is brought from Fas; the charcoal they make; and he believes they prepare the nitre. [83] Their arrows are feathered and barbed; the bows are all cross-bows, with triggers; the arrows, 20 to 40 in a quiver, are made of hides, and hang on the left side. The king never goes to war in person. The soldiers have a peculiar dress; their heads are bare; but the officers have a kind of turban; the soldiers have a shirt of coarse white cotton, and yellow slippers; those of the officers are red. Some have turbans adorned with gold. They carry their powder in a leather purse; the match, made of cotton, is wound round the gun; they have flint and steel in a pouch, and also spare matches.

Footnote 83:[ (return) ] The saltpetre and brimstone are probably derived from Terodant in Suse, where both abound.

THE TRADE

Is similar to that of Timbuctoo; in both places foreign merchants always employ agents, or brokers, to trade to advantage; a man should reside sometime before he begins. Ivory is sold by the tooth; he bought one, weighing 200 lb. for five ducats (1£. 5s.); he sold it in Marocco for 25 ducats, per 100 lb.; it is now [84] worth 60.

Footnote 84:[ (return) ] A.D. 1795.

The king cannot make any of his subjects slaves. They get their cotton from Bengala. [85] They have no salt, it comes from a great distance, and is very dear. Goods find a much better market at Housa than at Timbuctoo. There are merchants at Housa from Timboo, Bornoo, Moshu, and India; the travelling merchants do not regard distance. From Timboo and other great towns he has heard, and from his own knowledge can venture to assert, that they bring East India goods. Gold-dust, ivory, and slaves are the principal returns from Housa. The people of Housa have slaves from Bornoo, Bambarra, Jinnie, Beni Killeb [86] (sons of dogs), and Beni Aree (sons of the naked); they are, generally, prisoners of war, though many are stolen when young, by people who make a trade of this practice. The laws are very severe against this crime; it requires, therefore, great cunning and duplicity; no men of any property are ever guilty of it. The slave stealers take the children by night out of the town, and sell them to some peasant, who sells them to a third, and so from hand to hand, till they are carried out of the country; if this practice did not exist, there would be few slaves for the Barbary market. Beyond the age of fourteen or fifteen, a slave is hardly saleable in Barbary. Few merchants bring to Housa above two or three slaves at a time; but there are great numbers of merchants continually bringing them. His own slave was a native of Bambarra, and was brought very young to Timbuctoo. Slaves are generally stupid; but his, on the contrary, was very sensible; he understood several languages, particularly Arabic; he bought him as an interpreter; he would not have sold publicly for above twenty ducats; but he gave 50 for him; his master parting with him very reluctantly. He bought two female slaves at Housa, at 15 ducats each. [87] The value of slaves has since then doubled in Barbary; he does not know the present [88] price at Timbuctoo. At Timbuctoo not ten slaves in the hundred bought there, are females; when bought, the merchant shuts them up in a private room, but not in chains, and places a centinel at the door: when the confidence of any of them is supposed to be gained, they are employed as centinels. Housa having a great trade, is much frequented by people from Bambarra, Foulan, Jinnie, and the interior countries.

Manufactures and husbandry are similar to those at Timbuctoo.

Footnote 85:[ (return) ] Bengal, or the East Indies.

Footnote 86:[ (return) ] Properly Ben Ekkilleb, or Hel Ekkileb, i.e. the canine-race. These are described to be swift of foot and low of stature, having a language peculiar to themselves.

Footnote 87:[ (return) ] About the 1790th year of the Christian era.

Footnote 88:[ (return) ] In the year 1795.

CLIMATE.

The hot winds blow from the east; the summer is hotter than in Marocco, and hotter at Timbuctoo than at Housa. The cold winds are from the west: the morning fog is great. He never saw it rain at Housa, in the course of two years; he says it never rains there. Scarcity is never known. A considerable part of their provisions is brought from the banks of the Nile; the river, when overflowing, never reaches above half way from its common channel towards Housa. They have excellent wells in their houses, but no river near the town.

ZOOLOGY.

He saw no camels at Housa, but heard, they use them to fetch gold, and cover their legs with leather, to guard them from snakes. They have dogs and cats, but no scorpions or snakes in their houses. Lice, bugs, and fleas abound. He saw no wild animals or fowl in the neighbourhood of Housa.

DISEASES.

Physicians agree with the patient for his cure. No cure no pay. The prevailing diseases are colds and coughs.

RELIGION.

The same as at Timbuctoo; the poorer classes, as in most countries, have many superstitious notions of spirits, good and bad, and are alarmed by dreams, particularly, the slaves, some of whom cannot retain their urine in the night, as he thinks, from fear of spirits, they take them often upon trial when they buy them, and if they have this defect, a considerable deduction is made in the price. A man possessed by a good spirit is supposed to be safe amidst 10,000 shot. A man guilty of a crime, who in the opinion of the judge is possessed by an evil spirit, is not punished! He never heard of a rich man being possessed.

PERSONS.

They are of various sizes, but the tallest man he ever saw was at Housa. The city being very large, he seldom had an opportunity of seeing the king, as at Timbuctoo. He saw him but twice in two years, and only in the courts of justice; he was remarkable for the width of his nostrils, the redness of his eyes, the smoothness of his skin, and the fine tint of his perfectly black complexion.

DRESS.

Like that of Timbuctoo, their turbans are of the finest muslin. The sleeves of the soldiers are small, those of the merchants wide. The former have short breeches, the latter long. The officers dress like the merchants, each according to his circumstances. The caftan is of silk, in summer, brought from India; instead of the silk cords worn by the king of Timbuctoo, the king of Housa wears two silk sashes, three fingers broad, one on each shoulder; they are richly adorned with gold; in one hangs his dagger, and when he rides out, his sword in the other; he wears not the silk pear in his turban, as does the king of Timbuctoo. The front of his turban is embroidered with gold.

BUILDINGS.

The houses are like those at Timbuctoo, but many much larger. They have no wind or water-mills, but they have stone mills, turned by horses.

MANNERS.

They never bow. An inferior kisses the hand of a superior; to an equal he nods the head, gives him his hand and asks him how he does. The women do the same.

The general body are honest and benevolent, the lower class is addicted to thieving. They are very careful of children, to prevent their being stolen. Snakes do not frequent cultivated lands, so that animals are not there in danger from them. The people of Timbuctoo and Housa resemble each other in their persons and in their manners. They castrate bulls, sheep, and goats, but never horses. Supper is the principal meal. They do not use vessels of brass or copper in cookery; they are all of earthenware. At sunset the watchmen are stationed in all parts of the town, and take into custody all suspected or unknown persons. They have lamps made of wood and paper; the latter comes from Fas. Women of respectability are attended by a slave when they walk out or visit, which they do with the same freedom as in Europe. The women ride either horses or asses, they have no mules; the men commonly prefer walking, they are strong and seldom sensible of fatigue, which he attributes to their having a rib more than white men. Some bake their own bread, others buy it, as in England. They make leavened bread of allila [89] and bishna; the cattle-market is within the city, in a square, appropriated to this purpose. There are a great many rich men, some by inheritance, others by trade. Every morning the doors of the rich are crowded with poor, the master sends them food, rice, milk, &c. They have names for every day. They make their own pipes for smoking, the tubes are of wood. They have songs, some with chorus, and some sung by two persons in alternate stanzas. They have the same feasts once a quarter as at Timbuctoo. The king has but one wife, but many concubines. The favourite slaves of the queen of Housa are considered as superior to the queen of Timbuctoo.

Footnote 89:[ (return) ] Millet and Indian corn.

GOLD.

The ground where it is found is about sixteen miles from Housa. They go in the night with camels whose legs and feet are covered to protect them against snakes, they take a bag of sand, and mark with it the places that glitter with gold; in the morning they collect where marked, and carry it to refiners, who, for a small sum, separate the gold. There are no mountains or rivers near the spot, it is a plain without sand, of a dark brown earth. Any person may go to seek gold; they sell it to the merchants, who pay a small duty to the king. The produce is uncertain; he has heard that a bushel of earth has produced the value of twelve ducats, three pounds sterling, of pure gold. They set out from Housa about two o'clock in the afternoon, arrive about sun-set, and return the next day seeking for gold during the whole night.

LIMITS OF THE EMPIRE

Beyond Timboo, on the north side of the Nile, are very extensive. Afnoo is subject to the king of Housa, no slaves can be made from thence. Darfneel is near Afnoo; the latter is on the north side of the river, nearer to its source, and a great way from Timbuctoo. No Arabs are found on the banks of the Nile. He supposes the circumference of the empire to be about twenty-five days' journey; has heard that many other large towns are dependent upon it, but does not remember their names.

The neighbouring countries are Bambarra, Timboo, Mooshee, and Jinnie; all negroes. He has heard of Bernoo [90] as a great empire.

On the 31st of March, 1790, Shabeenee gave further information, in the presence of Lord Rawdon [91], Mr. Stuart, and Mr. Wedgewood. Mr. Wedgewood proposed the questions, and Mr. Dodsworth interpreted. The following is some of the information, omitting what has been noticed already.

Between Timbuctoo and Housa, there is a very good trade. Timbuctoo is tributary to the king of Housa. The imports into Timbuctoo [92] are spices, corn, and woollens from Barbary, and linens from the sea-coast.

Footnote 90:[ (return) ] Ber Noh, or Bernoh, i.e. the country of Noah, is said by the Africans, to be the birth-place of the patriarch Noah.

Footnote 91:[ (return) ] Now the Marquis of Hastings.

Footnote 92:[ (return) ] For a more detailed account of the imports to Timbuctoo, see Jackson's Account of Marocco, &c.

The written character is very large, perhaps half an inch long. The empire is divided into provinces; the provinces into districts. The king appoints the governors of both; but the son of the deceased governor is understood to have the preference.

They make their pottery by a wheel, but do not glaze it. The wheel turns upon a pivot placed in a hole in the ground: at top and bottom are two pieces of wood like a tea-table; the lower, which is largest, is turned by the foot, and the upper forms the vessel. When they make a large pot, they put on the top a larger piece: the pots are dried in the sun or burnt in the fire. The iron mines are in the desert; the iron is brought in small pieces by the Arabs, who melt and purify it. They cannot cast iron. They use charcoal fire, and form guns and swords with the hammer and anvil. The points of their arrows are barbed with iron; the crossbows have a groove for the arrow. No man can draw the bow by his arm alone, they have a kind of lever; the bow part is of steel brought from Barbary, and is manufactured at Timbuctoo. They do not make steel themselves.

They inoculate for the small-pox; the pus is put into a dried raisin and eaten. "Rooka Dindooka" is a kind of oath, and means, by God. They believe only one God. After dinner they use the Arabic expression, El Hamd Ulillah; praise to be to God. [93]

They believe the immortality of the soul, and that both men and women go to paradise; that there is no future punishment; the wicked are punished in this world. Happiness, after death, consists in being in the presence of God. They are not circumcised. A divorce may take place while a woman is pregnant, but she cannot marry again till delivered. As soon as a woman is divorced, midwives, women brought up to that profession, examine her to see whether she is pregnant.

Footnote 93:[ (return) ] This is the Arabic, or Muhamedan grace after meat; the grace before meat is equally sententious, viz. Bismillah, i.e. in the name of God.

[Larger format]