CHAPTER XVIII.
The entry into Mourzouk, the capital of Sultan Mukni, was attended with the usual ceremonial. On drawing near to the palm groves and gardens, which encompass the city, a large body of horse and foot was seen approaching with silken flags. When the horsemen had advanced within five hundred yards of the party, they set off at full speed, and, on coming up, threw themselves from their horses, and ran to kiss the sultan's hand. On drawing nearer to the town, the cavalcade was met by the dancers, drummers, and pipers. Two men, bearing fans of ostrich feathers, stationed themselves on each side of the sultan, beating off the flies. Thus preceded by the led horses and silken flags, they made their entry, the horsemen continuing to skirmish till they reached the gate. The soldiers then raced up every broad street, shouting and firing, whilst the women uttered their shrill cry, and on passing a large open space, a salute was fired from two six-pounders. The scene was altogether highly interesting.
Mourzouk is a walled town, containing about 2,500 inhabitants, who are blacks, and who do not, like the Arabs, change their residence. The walls are of mud, having round buttresses, with loopholes for musketry, rudely built, but sufficiently strong to guard against attack; they are about fifteen feet in height, and at the bottom eight feet in thickness, tapering, as all the walls in this country do, towards the top. The town has seven gates, four of which are built up, in order to prevent the people escaping when they are required to pay their duties. A man is appointed by the sultan to attend each of these gates, day and night, lest any slaves or merchandise should be smuggled into the town. The people, in building the walls and houses, fabricate a good substitute for stones, which are not to be found in those parts, by forming clay into balls, which they dry in the sun, and use with mud as mortar; the walls are thus made very strong, and as rain is unknown, durable also. The houses, with very few exceptions, are of one story, and those of the poorer sort, receive all their light from the doors. They are so low as to require stooping nearly double to enter them; but the large houses have a capacious outer door, which is sufficiently well contrived, considering the bad quality of the wood, that composes them. Thick palm planks, of four or five inches in breadth, for the size and manner of cutting a tree will not afford more, have a square hole punched through them at the top and bottom, by which they are firmly wedged together with thick palm sticks; wet thongs of camels' hide are then tied tightly over them, which, on drying, draw the planks more strongly and securely together. There are not any hinges to the doors, but they turn on a pivot, formed on the last plank near the wall, which is always the largest on that account. The locks and keys are very large and heavy, and of curious construction. The houses are generally built in little narrow streets, but there are many open places, entirely void of buildings, and covered with sand, on which the camels of the traders rest. Many palms grow in the town, and some houses have small square enclosures, in which are cultivated a few red peppers and onions. The street of entrance is a broad space, of at least a hundred yards, leading to the wall that surrounds the castle, and is extremely pretty. Here the horsemen have full scope to display their abilities, when they skirmish before the sultan. The castle itself is an immense mud building, rising to the height of eighty or ninety feet, with little battlements on the walls, and at a distance really looks warlike. Like all the other buildings, it has no pretensions to regularity. The lower walls are fifty or sixty feet in thickness, the upper taper off to about four or five feet. In consequence of the immense mass of wall, the apartments are very small, and few in number. The rooms occupied by the sultan are of the best quality, that is to say, comparatively, for the walls are tolerably smooth and white-washed, and have ornamental daubs of red paint in blotches, by way of effect. His couch is spread on the ground, and his visitors squat down on the sandy floor, at a respectful distance. Captain Lyon and his party were always honoured by having a corner of the carpet offered to them. The best and most airy part of the castle is occupied by the women, who have small rooms round a large court, in which they take exercise, grind corn, cook, and perform other domestic offices. The number of great ladies, called kibere, seldom exceed six. This dignified title is generally given to the mothers of the sultan's children, or to those, who having been once great favorites, are appointed governesses to the rest; there are, altogether about fifty women, all black and very comely, and from what stolen glances we could obtain, they appeared extremely well dressed. They are guarded by five eunuchs, who keep up their authority by occasionally beating them.
The sultan has three sons and two daughters, who live with him in this cage, the doors of which are locked at night, and the keys brought to him, so that he remains free from any fear of attack. The castle is entered by a long winding passage in the wall, quite dark and very steep. At the door is a large shed, looking on a square place capable of containing three or four hundred men, closely huddled together. Under this shed is a great chair of state, once finely gilt and ornamented, with a patchwork quilt thrown over it, and behind it are the remains of two large looking-glasses. In this chair the sultan receives homage every Friday, before he ascends the castle, after returning from the mosque. This place is the Mejlees, and was the scene of all the cruelties practised by Mukni, when he first took possession of the country.
The habitation in which Captain Lyon and his party were lodged, was a very good one, and as all the houses are built upon nearly the same plan, the following description will give an idea of all the rest. A large door, sufficiently high to admit a camel, opened into a broad passage or skeefa, on one side of which was a tolerable stable for five horses, and close to it, a small room for the slaves, whose duty it might be to attend the house. A door opposite to that of the stable opened into the kowdi, a large square room, the roof of which at the height of eighteen feet, was supported by four palm trees as pillars. In the centre of the roof was a large open space, about twelve feet by nine, from this, the house and rooms receive light, not to mention dust and excessive heat in the afternoon. At the end of the room facing the door, a large seat of mud was raised about eighteen inches high, and twelve feet in length. Heaps of this description, though higher, are found at the doors of most houses, and are covered with loungers in the cool of the morning and evening. The large room was fifty feet by thirty-nine. From the sides, doors opened into smaller ones, which might be used as sleeping or store rooms, but were generally preferred for their coolness. Their only light was received from the door. Ascending a few steps, there was a kind of gallery over the side rooms, and in it were two small apartments, but so very hot as to be almost useless. From the large room was a passage leading to a yard, having also small houses attached to it in the same manner, and a well of comparatively good water. The floors were of sand, and the walls of mud roughly plastered, and showing every where the marks of the only trowel used in the country—the fingers of the right hand. There are no windows to any of the houses, but some rooms have a small hole in the ceiling, or high up the wall.
Near the house was the principal mosque, to which the sultan and the Christian party went every Friday, as a matter of course, and every other day they found it necessary to appear there once or twice. It is a low building, having a shed projecting over the door, which, being raised on a platform, is entered by a few steps. A small turret, intended to be square and perpendicular, is erected for the Mouadden to call to prayers. One of the great lounges is on the seat in front of the mosque, and every morning and evening they are full of idle people, who converse on the state of the markets, and on their own private affairs, or in a fearful whisper canvass the sultan's conduct.
In Mourzouk there are sixteen mosques, which are covered in, but some of them are very small. Each has an imaum, but the kadi is their head, of which dignity he seems not a little proud. This man had never, been beyond the boundaries of Fezzan, and could form no idea of any thing superior to mud houses and palms; he always fancied the Europeans to be great romancers, when they told him of their country, and described it as being in the midst of the sea.
They had many opportunities of observing the fighi and their scholars sitting on the sand. The children are taught their letters by having them written on a flat board, of a hard wood, brought from Bornou and Soudan, and repeating them after their master. When quite perfect in their alphabet, they are allowed to trace over the letters already made, they then learn to copy sentences, and to write small words dictated to them. The master often repeats verses from the Koran, in a loud voice, which the boys learn by saying them after him, and when they begin to read a little, he sings aloud, and all the scholars follow him from their books, as fast as they can. Practice at length renders them perfect, and in three or four years their education is considered complete. Thus it is, that many who can read the Koran with great rapidity, cannot peruse a line of any other book. Arithmetic is wholly put of the question. On breaking up for the day, the master and all the scholars recite a prayer. The school-hours are by no means regular, being only when the fighi has nothing else to do. Morning early, or late in the evening, are the general times for study. The punishments are beating with a stick on the hands or feet and whipping, which is not unfrequently practised. Their pens are reeds—their rubber sand. While learning their tasks, and perhaps each boy has a different one, they all read aloud, so that the harmony of even a dozen boys may be easily imagined.
In the time of the native sultans, it was the custom, on a fixed day, annually, for the boys who had completed their education, to assemble on horseback, in as fine clothes as their friends could procure for them, on the sands to the westward of the town. On an eminence stood the fighi, bearing in his hand a little flag rolled on a staff; the boys were stationed at some distance, and on his unfurling the flag and planting it in the ground, all started at full speed. He who first arrived and seized it, was presented by the sultan with a fine suit of clothes, and some money, and rode through the town at the head of the others. These races ceased with the arrival of Mukni, and parents now complain that their sons have no inducement to study.
All the houses are infested with multitudes of small ants, which destroyed all the animals which the party had preserved, and even penetrated into their boxes. Their bite was very painful, and they were fond of coming into the blankets. One singularity is worthy of remark in Fezzan, which is, that fleas are unknown there, and those of the inhabitants, who have not been on the sea-coast, cannot imagine what they are like. Bugs are very numerous, and it is extraordinary that they are called by the same name as with us. There is a species of them which is found in the sands, where the coffles are in the habit of stopping; they bite very sharply, and fix in numbers round the coronet of a horse; the animals thus tormented, often become so outrageous as to break their tethers.
There are several pools of stagnant salt water in the town, which it is conceived in a great measure promote the advance of the summer fever and agues. The burying places are outside the walls, and are of considerable extent. In lieu of stones, small mud embankments are formed round the graves, which are ornamented with shreds of cloth tied to small sticks, with broken pots, and sometimes ostrich eggs. One of the burying places is for slaves, who are laid very little below the surface, and in some places the sand has been so carried away by the wind, as to expose their skeletons to view. Owing to the want of wood, no coffins are used. The bodies are merely wrapped in a mat, or linen cloth, and covered with palm branches, over which the earth is thrown. When the branches decay, the earth falls in, and the graves are easily known by being concave, instead of convex. The place where the former sultans were buried, is a plain near the town; their graves are only distinguished from those of other people, by having a larger proportion of broken pots scattered about them. It is a custom for the relations of the deceased to visit, and occasionally to recite a prayer over the grave, or to repeat a verse of the Koran. Children never pass within sight of the tombs of their parents, without stopping to pay this grateful tribute of respect to their memory. Animals are never buried, but thrown on mounds outside the walls, and there left. The excessive heat soon dries up all their moisture, and prevents their becoming offensive; the hair remains on them, so that they appear like preserved skins.
The men of Mourzouk of the better sort, dress nearly like the people of Tripoli. The lower orders wear a large shirt of white or blue cotton, with long loose sleeves, trousers of the same, and sandals of camel's hide. The shirts being long, many wear no other covering. When leaving their houses, and walking to the market or gardens, a jereed or aba is thrown round them, and a red cap, or a neatly quilted cotton white one, completes the dress. On Fridays, they perhaps add a turban, and appear in yellow slippers. In the gardens, men and women wear large broad-brimmed straw hats, to defend their eyes from the sun, and sandals made from the leaves and fibres of the palm trees. Very young children go entirely naked, those who are older have a shirt, many are quite bare-headed, and in that state exposed all day to the sun and flies. The men have but little beard, which they keep closely clipped. The dress of the women here, differs materially from that of the moorish females, and their appearance and smell are far from agreeable. They plait their hair in thick bobbins, which hang over their foreheads, nearly as low down as the eye-brows, and are there joined at the bottom, as far round to each side as the temples. The hair is so profusely covered with oil, that it drops down over the face and clothes. This is dried up, by sprinkling it with plenty of a preparation made of a plant resembling wild lavender, cloves, and one or two more species pounded into powder, and called atria; it forms a brown dirty-looking paste, and combined with perspiration and the flying sand, becomes in a few days far from savoury. The back hair is less disgusting, as it is plaited into a long tress on each side, and is brought to hang over the shoulders; from these tresses, ornaments of silver or of coral are suspended. Black wool is frequently worked in with their black locks, to make them appear longer. In the centre of the forehead, an ornament of coral or beads is placed, hanging down to the depth of an inch or two. A woollen handkerchief is fastened on the back of the head; it falls over behind, and is tied by a leathern strap under the chin. Each ear is perforated for as many rings as the woman possesses, some wearing even six on one side. The largest, which is about five inches in diameter, hanging lowest, supported by a string from the head. Round the neck, a tight flat collar of beads, arranged in fancy patterns, is worn with coral necklaces, and sometimes a broad gold plate immediately in front. A large blue shirt is generally worn, the collar and breast ornamented with needle-work. The women also wear white shirts, and striped silk ones called shami, which are brought from Egypt; a jereed and red slippers complete their dress. They generally have their wrappers of a darker colour than those of the men. Some of the better class of women wear trousers, not fuller in the leg than those worn in Europe; they are very prettily embroidered with silk at the bottom of the leg, and form a handsome contrast to the black skin of the wearer. Cornelians or agates, roughly shaped in the form of hearts, are much worn as necklaces, and they have a variety of rings for the thumbs and fingers. A band of silk cord hanging round the body from one shoulder, is generally filled with pendent leather or cloth bags, containing charms. Round the wrists and above the elbows, armlets of silver, gold, glass, horn or ivory are worn, according to the ability of the wearer to purchase them, and on the ankles they have silver, brass, copper or iron shackles. A pair of silver ones were seen, which weighed one hundred and twenty-eight ounces, but these ponderous ornaments produce a callous lump on the leg, and entirely deform the ankle. The poorest people have only the jereed and sandals. Both men and women have a singular custom of stuffing their nostrils with a twisted leaf of onions or clover, which has a very disgusting appearance. The men, not using oil, are much cleaner than the women, but the whole race of them, high and low, apparently clean, are otherwise stocked with vermin, and they make no secret of it. The sultan has been frequently observed, when detecting an interloper, to moisten his thumb to prevent its escape, and then demolish it with great composure and dignity. Some of the neighbours, whom Captain Lyon visited, while reposing on their carpets, would send for a slave to hunt for these tormentors on their shirts, and it is a great recommendation to a female slave on sale to say that she is well skilled in this art, and in that of shampooing.
The natives have a variety of dances, of which two or three are peculiar to the country. The parties assemble on the sands in the dusk of the evening, when a number of young men and women range themselves side by side, and dance to the sound of drums, to which they keep good time. The men have a rude kind of iron cymbal in each hand, which opens and shuts; this they beat in the manner of castanets, both sexes singing at the same time in chorus. The movements consist in stepping forward, the whole line at once, at a particular turn of the tune, as if to catch something with their two hands, which they hold out; they balance themselves a short time on the advanced foot, and then step back, turning half round, first to one side and then to the other, the whole line then moves slowly in a circle round the musicians, who form the centre, and who all join in the dance. There is nothing improper nor immodest in this exhibition, but on the contrary, from its slowness and the regularity of its movements, it is extremely pleasing and elegant. Another dance is performed by women only, who form a circle round the drummers, and occasionally sing a lively chorus; one advances, and with her arms extended, foots it to and from the drummers, two or three times, until a change of tune, when she runs quickly backwards and falls flat down, the women behind are ready to receive her, and by a jerk of their arms throw her again upright, on which she once more turns round and resumes her place, leaving the one next in succession to her, to go through the same movements, all of which are performed in the most just time; the whole party occasionally enlivening the music, by their skill and extraordinary shout of joy. The dancing in the houses is not so pleasing as that in public, and as for decency, it is quite out of the question. The male slaves have many dances, in which great activity and exertion are requisite. One consists in dancing in a circle, each man armed with a stick, they all move, first half and then quite round, striking as they turn, the sticks of those on each side of them, and then jumping off the ground as high as they can. Another is performed by boys, and they have no drum, but keep chorus by singing in a particular manner, la ilia il alia, (there is no God, but God.)
The sultan had frequently requested Mr. Ritchie to visit his children, and some of his negresses when they were indisposed, and he had in consequence frequently attended them, but being himself confined by illness, Captain Lyon was allowed to prescribe for them, and had therefore frequent opportunities of observing the interior of his family, which would not otherwise have been afforded him. He was much struck with the appearance of his daughters, one of three, the other of one year and a half old, who were dressed in the highest style of barbarian magnificence, and were absolutely laden with gold. From their necks were suspended large ornaments of the manufacture of Timbuctoo; and they had massive gold armlets and anklets of two inches in breadth, and half an inch in thickness, which, from their immense weight had produced callous rings round the legs and arms of the poor infants. They wore silk shirts composed of ribbons sewed together, in stripes of various colours, which hung down over silk trousers. An embroidered waistcoat and cap completed this overwhelming costume. Their nails, the tips of their fingers, the palms of their hands and soles of their feet were dyed dark-brown with henna. Captain Lyon viewed with amazement and pity the dress of these poor little girls, borne down as they were with finery; but that of the youngest boy, a stupid looking child of four years old, was even more preposterous than that of his sisters. In addition to the ornaments worn by them, he was loaded with a number of charms, enclosed in gold cases, slung round his body, while in his cap were numerous jewels, heavily set in gold, in the form of open hands, to keep off the evil eye. These talismans were sewn on the front of his cap, which they entirely covered. His clothes were highly embroidered, and consisted of three waistcoats, a shirt of white silk, the women only wearing coloured ones, and loose cloth, silk, or muslin trousers.
The costume of the sultan's court or hangers-on, is strictly Tripoline, and as fine as lace or presents of cast off-clothes can make them. It is the custom with Mukni, in imitation of the bashaw, to bestow occasionally on his principal people some article of dress. Those presents are made with much affected dignity, by throwing the garment to the person intended to be honoured, and saying, "Wear that," the dress is immediately put on in his presence, and the receiver kneels and kisses his hand in token of gratitude. Captain Lyon once saw the old kadi, who was very corpulent, receive as a gift a kaftan, which was so small for him, that when he had squeezed himself into it, he was unable to move his arms, and was in that condition obliged to walk home.
Each of the sultan's sons has a large troop of slaves, who attend him wherever he goes; they are generally about the same age as their master, and are his playmates, though they are obliged to receive from him many hearty cuffs, without daring to complain. The suite of the youngest boy in particular, formed a very amusing groupe, few of them exceeding five years of age. One bears his master's bornouse, another holds one shoe, walking next to the boy who carries its fellow. Some are in fine cast-off clothes, with tarnished embroidery, whilst others are quite or nearly naked, without even a cap on their heads, and the procession is closed by a boy, tottering under the weight of his master's state gun, which is never allowed to be fired off.
In Mourzouk, the luxuries of life are very limited, the people principally subsisting on dates. Many do not, for months together, taste corn; when obtained, they make it into a paste called asooda, which is a softer kind of bazeen. Fowls have now almost disappeared in the country, owing to the sultan having appropriated all he could find for the consumption of his own family. The sheep and goats are driven from the mountains near Benioleed, a distance of four hundred miles; they pass over one desert, which, at their rate of travelling, occupies five days, without food or water. Numbers therefore die, which in course raises the price of the survivors, They are valued at three or four dollars each, when they arrive, being quite skeletons, and are as high as ten and twelve, when fatted. Bread is badly made, and is baked in ovens formed of clay in holes in the earth, and heated by burning wood; the loaves, or rather flat cakes are struck into the side, and are thus baked by the heat which rises from the embers. Butter is brought in goat-skins from the Syrtis, and is very dear. Tobacco is very generally chewed by the women, as well as by the men. They use it with the trona (soda). Smoking is the amusement of a great man, rather than of the lower class, the mild tobacco being very dear, and pipes not easily procured.
The revenues of the sultan of Fezzan arise from slaves, merchandise, and dates. For every slave, great or small, he receives, on their entering his kingdom, two Spanish dollars; in some years the number of slaves amount to 4,000; for a camel's load of oil or butter, seven dollars; for a load of beads, copper, or hardware, four dollars; and of clothing, three dollars. All Arabs, who buy dates pay a dollar duty on each load, equal at times to the price of the article, before they are allowed to remove it. Above 3,000 loads are sold to them annually. Date trees, except those of the kadi and mamlukes, are taxed at the rate of one dollar for every two hundred; by this duty, in the neighbourhood of Mourzouk, or more properly in the few immediately neighbouring villages, the sultan receives yearly 10,000 dollars. Of all sheep or goats, he is entitled to a fifth. On the sale of every slave, he has, in addition to the head-money, a dollar and a half, which, at the rate of 4,000, gives another 6,000 dollars. The captured slaves are sold by auction, at which the sultan's brokers attend, bidding high only for the finest. The owner bids against them until he has an offer equal to what he considers as the value of the slave; he has then three-fourths of the money paid to him, while one-fourth is paid by the purchaser to the sultan. Should the owner not wish to part with his slaves, he buys them in, and the sum which he last names, is considered as the price, from which he has to pay the sultan's share. The trees, which are his private property, produce about 6,000 camel loads of dates, each load 400 pounds weight, and which may be estimated at 18,000 dollars. Every garden pays a tenth of the corn produced. The gardens are very small, and are watered, with great labour, from brackish wells. Rain is unknown, and dews never fall. In these alone corn is raised, as well as other esculents. Pomegranates and fig-trees are sometimes planted in the water-channels. Presents of slaves are frequently made, and fines levied. Each town pays a certain sum, which is small; but as the towns are numerous, it may be averaged to produce 4,000 dollars. Add to this his annual excursions for slaves, sometimes bringing 1,000 or 1,600, of which one-fourth are his, as well as the same proportion of camels. He alone can sell horses, which he buys for five or six dollars, when half starved, from the Arabs, who come to trade, and cannot maintain them, and makes a great profit by obtaining slaves in exchange for them. All his people are fed by the public, and he has no money to pay, except to the bashaw, which is about 15,000 dollars per annum. There are various other ways, in which he extorts money. If a man dies childless, the sultan inherits great part of his property; and if he thinks it necessary to kill a man, he becomes his entire heir.
In Mourzouk, about a tenth part of the population are slaves, though many of them have been brought away from their native country so young as hardly to be considered in that light. With respect to the household slaves, little or no difference is to be perceived between them and freemen, and they are often entrusted with the affairs of their master. These domestic slaves are rarely sold, and on the death of any of the family to which they belong, one or more of them receive their liberty; when, being accustomed to the country, and not having any recollection of their own, they marry, settle, and are consequently considered as naturalised. It was the custom, when the people were more opulent, to liberate a male or female on the feast of Bairam, after the fast of Rhamadan. This practice is not entirely obsolete, but nearly so. In Mourzouk there are some white families, who are called mamlukes, being descended from renegades, whom the bashaw had presented to the former sultan. These families and their descendants are considered noble, and, however poor and low their situation may be, are not a little vain of their title.
The general appearance of the men of Fezzan is plain, and their complexion black. The women are of the same colour, and ugly in the extreme. Neither sex are remarkable for figure, weight, strength, vigour, or activity. They have a very peculiar cast of countenance, which distinguishes them from other blacks; their cheek-bones are higher and more prominent, their faces flatter, and their noses less depressed, and more peaked at the tip than those of the negroes. Their eyes are generally small, and their mouths of an immense width; but their teeth are frequently good; their hair is woolly, though not completely frizzled. They are a cheerful people, fond of dancing and music, and obliging to each other. The men almost all read and write a little, but in every thing else they are very dull and heavy; their affections are cold and selfish, and a kind of general indifference to the common incidents of life, mark all their actions. They are neither prone to sudden anger, nor at all revengeful. In Mourzouk the men drink a great quantity of lackbi, or a drink called busa, which is prepared from the dates, and is very intoxicating. The men are good-humoured drunkards, and when friends assemble in the evening, the ordinary amusement is mere drinking; but sometimes a kadanka (singing girl) is sent for. The Arabs practise hospitality generally; but among the Fezzaners that virtue does not exist, they are, however, very attentive and obsequious to those in whose power they are, or who can repay them tenfold for their pretended disinterestedness. Their religion enjoins, that, should a stranger enter while they are at their meals, he must be invited to partake, but they generally contrive to evade this injunction by eating with closed doors. The lower classes are from necessity very industrious, women as well as men, as they draw water, work in the gardens, drive the asses, make mats, baskets, &c. in addition to their other domestic duties. People of the better class, or, more properly, those who can afford to procure slaves to work for them, are, on the contrary, very idle and lethargic; they do nothing but lounge or loll about, inquiring what their neighbours have had for dinner, gossip about slaves, dates, &c., or boast of some cunning cheat, which they have practised on a Tibboo or Tuarick, who, though very knowing fellows, are, comparatively with the Fezzaners, fair in their dealings. Their moral character is on a par with that of the Tripolines, though, if any thing, they are rather less insincere. Falsehood is not considered odious, unless when detected; and when employed in trading, they affirm that it is allowed by the Koran, for the good of merchants. However this may be, Captain Lyon asserts, that he never could find any one able to point out the passage authorizing these commercial falsehoods.
The lower classes work neatly in leather; they weave a few coarse barracans, and make iron-work in a solid, though clumsy manner. One or two work in gold and silver with much skill, considering the badness of their tools, and every man is capable of acting as a carpenter or mason; the wood being that of the date tree, and the houses being built of mud, very little elegance or skill is necessary. Much deference is paid to the artists in leather or metals, who are called, par excellence, sta, or master, as leather-master, iron-master, &c.
From the constant communication with Bornou and Soudan, the languages of both these countries are generally spoken, and many of their words are introduced into the Arabic. The family slaves and their children by their masters, constantly speak the language of the country, whence they originally come. Their writing is in the Mogrebyn character, which is used, as is supposed by Captain Lyon, universally in western Africa, and differs much from that of the east. The pronunciation is also very different, the kaf being pronounced as a G, and only marked with one nunnation, and F is pointed below; they have no idea of arithmetic, but reckon every thing by dots on the sand, ten in a line; many can hardly tell how much two and two amount to. They expressed great surprise at the Europeans being able to add numbers together without fingering. Though very fond of poetry, they are incapable of composing it. The Arabs, however, invent a few little songs, which the natives have much pleasure in learning, and the women sing some of the negro airs very prettily, while grinding their corn.
The songs of the kadankas (singing girls), who answer to the Egyptian almehs, is Soudanic. Their musical instrument is called rhababe, or erhab. It is an excavated hemisphere, made from the shell of a gourd lime, and covered with leather; to this a long handle is fixed, on which is stretched a string of horse hairs, longitudinally closed, and compact as one cord, about the thickness of a quill. This is played upon with a bow. Captain Lyon says, the women really produced a very pleasing, though a wild melody; their songs were pretty and plaintive, and generally in the Soudan language, which is very musical. What is rather singular, he heard the same song sung by the same woman that Horneman mentions, and she recollected having seen that traveller at the castle.
The lower classes and the slaves, who, in point of colour and appearance, are the same, labour together. The freeman has, however, only one inducement to work, which is hunger; he has no notion of laying by any thing for the advantage of his family, or as a reserve for himself in his old age; but if by any chance he obtains money, he remains idle until it is expended, and then returns unwillingly to work. The females here are allowed greater liberty than those of Tripoli, and are more kindly treated. Though so much better used than those of Barbary, their life is still a state of slavery. A man never ventures to speak of his women; is reproached, if he spends much time in their company, never eats with them; but is waited upon at his meals, and fanned by them while he sleeps. Yet these poor beings, never having known the sweets of liberty, are, in spite of their humiliation, comparatively happy.
The authority of parents over their children is very great; some fathers of the better class do not allow their sons even to eat or sit down in their presence, until they become men; the poorer orders are less strict.
There are no written records of events amongst the Fezzaners, and their traditions are so disfigured, and so strangely mingled with religious and superstitious falsehoods, that no confidence can be placed in them. Yet the natives themselves look with particular respect on a man capable of talking of the people of the olden time. Several scriptural traditions are selected and believed. The Psalms of David, the Pentateuch, the Books of Solomon, and many extracts from the inspired writers, are universally known, and most reverentially considered. The New Testament, translated into the Arabic, which Captain Lyon took with him, was eagerly read, and no exception was made to it, but that of our Saviour being designated as the son of God. St. Paul, or Baulus, bears all the blame of Mahomet's name not being inserted in it, as they believe that his coming was foretold by Christ, but that Paul erased it; he is therefore called a kaffir, and his name is not used with much reverence.
Captain Lyon had not been more than ten days at Mourzouk, before he was attacked with severe dysentery, which confined him to his bed during twenty-two days, and reduced him to the last extremity. His unadorned narrative conveys an affecting account of the sufferings to which the party were exposed from the insalubrity of the climate; the inadequate arrangements which had been made for their comfort, or even subsistence, and the sordid and treacherous conduct of the sultan. "Our little party," he says, "was at this time miserably poor; for we had money only sufficient for the purchase of corn to keep us alive, and never tasted meat, unless fortunate enough to kill a pigeon in the gardens. My illness was the first break up in our little community, and from that time, it rarely happened that one or two of us were not confined to our beds. The extreme saltness of the water, the poor quality of our food, together with the excessive heat and dryness of the climate, long retarded my recovery, and when it did take place, it was looked on as a miracle by those who had seen me in my worst state, and who thought it impossible for me to survive. I was no sooner convalescent than Mr. Ritchie fell ill, and was confined to his bed with an attack of bilious fever, accompanied with delirium, and great pain in his back and kidneys, for which he required frequent cupping. When a little recovered, he got up for two days, but his disorder soon returned with redoubled and alarming violence. He rejected every thing but water, and, excepting about three hours in the afternoon, remained either constantly asleep or in a delirious state. Even had he been capable of taking food, we had not the power of purchasing any which could nourish or refresh him. Our money was now all expended, and the sultan's treacherous plans to distress us, which daily became too apparent, were so well arranged, that we could not find any one to buy our goods. For six entire weeks we were without animal food, subsisting on a very scanty portion of corn and dates. Our horses were mere skeletons, added to which, Belford became totally deaf, and so emaciated as to be unable to walk. My situation was now such as to create the most gloomy apprehensions. My naturally sanguine mind, however, and above all, my firm reliance on that Power which had so mercifully protected me on so many trying occasions, prevented my giving way to despondency; and Belford beginning soon to rally a little, we united, and took turns in nursing and attending on our poor companion. At this time, having no servant, we performed for Mr. Ritchie the most menial offices. Two young men, brothers, whom we had treated with great kindness, and whom we had engaged to attend on us, so far from commiserating our forlorn condition, forsook us in our distress, and even carried off our little store of rice and cuscoussou; laughing at our complaints, and well knowing that our poverty prevented the redress which we should otherwise have sought and obtained."
Rhamadan, the Mahommedan Lent, was announced on the 22nd June. The strictest fast was immediately commenced, lasting from before day, about three a.m., till sunset, seven p.m. In order to support their assumed character as Moslem; they were now obliged, during the sixteen hours, to eat only by stealth, their friend Mukni having surrounded them with spies. Mr. Ritchie only, being confined to his bed by illness, was privileged to take food or drink. The excessive heat, which now raged, added to their sufferings. During the month of June, the thermometer, at five o'clock a.m., stood at from 86° to 93°, but at two o'clock p.m., it rose to 117°, 122°, 124°, and at length, on the 19th and 20th, to 131° and 133° of Fahrenheit. In the early part of July, the heat somewhat abated; the thermometer, at two p.m., ranging between 110° and 117°. Towards the close of the month, it again rose to 125°, in August to 130° and 133°, in September it ranged between 119° and 133°, with little difference in the temperature of the mornings; and in October, the average was about 110°. The minimum, in December, was 51° at five a.m., and 77° in the afternoon.
The close of the Rhamadan, on the 22d July, was attended, in the city, with the most extravagant demonstrations of rejoicing. Everybody was in motion, screaming, dancing, firing guns, eating and drinking. Poor Mr. Ritchie, after having been confined to his bed for fifty-eight days, was now able to sit up a little, and by the 20th August had tolerably recovered. About the same time, Belford was again attacked with giddiness and deafness, and fell into a very weak state. Their rate of living was now reduced to a quart of corn per diem, with occasionally a few dates, divided amongst four persons. No one would purchase their merchandize, owing, as it became apparent to Mukni's treacherous orders. Mr. Ritchie, for reasons not explained, did not think it right to draw for money on the treasury, and they were reduced to the last extremity, when the sultan graciously condescended to advance them eight dollars, and at this time a neighbour repaid them ten dollars, which they had lent soon after their arrival. They were now able to treat themselves with a little meat. About the 20th September, Mr. Ritchie, who had never recovered his spirits, but had latterly shunned the society even of his companions, again relapsed, and was confined to his bed, and Belford, though better in health, was entirely deaf; their condition became every day more destitute. They had hired a woman to cook for them at a dollar a month. She was required to come only once a day, to bake their bread or make their cuscoussou; and it often happened, that when she had stolen half the allowance to which they had restricted themselves, they were obliged to fast till the morrow. They were saved, when on the very brink of starvation, by a supply of seven dollars, the munificent reward conferred upon Belford by the sultan, for constructing a rude kind of carriage for him. Soon afterwards, they sold a horse for seventy dollars. This seasonable supply was carefully economized; but it had become much reduced when Captain Lyon and Belford both fell ill again. The former rose from his bed, after being confined to it for a week, a skeleton. Under this exigency they met with a remarkable instance of disinterested friendship on the part of a native, Yusuf el Lizari, who, as well as his brother, had previously shown them much kindness. "One night," says Captain Lyon, "as we were all sitting pensively on our mat, our friend Yusuf came in, and, addressing Mr. Ritchie, said, 'Yusuf, you, and Said are my friends. Mukni has hopes you may die, that he may secure to himself all your goods. You seem very melancholy; do you want money?' Mr. Ritchie having acknowledged that he did, Yusuf rejoined, 'I have none myself, but I will borrow some for you.' Twenty dollars being the sum named, our kind friend went out, and soon returned with thirty, an act of generosity so unlocked for, that we were incapable of thanking him as he deserved. This seasonable supply enabled us to buy some good food, and to make some amends for our late privations. Our health soon improved, and Mr. Ritchie's spirits began to brighten."
But this interval of hope was soon darkened. On the 8th of November, poor Ritchie was again attacked by illness, and after lying for three or four days in a state of torpor, without taking any refreshment, he again became delirious, and on the 20th expired. The two survivors of this ill-fated party were themselves reduce to the lowest state of debility, and the only prospect before them, was that of probably following, in a few days, their lamented companion. "And now, for the first time in all our distresses," says Captain Lyon, "my hopes did indeed fail me. Belford, as well as he was able, hastened to form a rough coffin out of their chests, while the washers of the dead came to perform their melancholy office. The protestant burial service was read over the body, in secret, during the night, and on the next day, the remains were committed to the grave. At the grave, it was deemed necessary to keep up the farce of Mahommadism, by publicly reciting the first chapter of the Koran, which the most serious Christian would consider as a beautiful and applicable form on such an occasion."
Within an hour after the funeral, a courier arrived from Tripoli, announcing that a further allowance of £1,000 had been made by the British government towards the expenses of the expedition. Had this welcome intelligence reached them a little sooner, many of their distresses would have been prevented. The efforts and mental exertions which the survivors of the party had undergone, proved, however, too much for their strength, and, for ten days, both were again confined to their beds. During this time, they were most humanely attended by Yusuf and Haji Mahmoud, and by a little girl, who was their principal nurse. At length, Captain Lyon sufficiently recovered his health, to undertake, during the months of December and January, two excursions to the east and south of Mourzouk, preparatory to his return to England. On the 9th of February, he finally left Mourzouk; and on the 25th March, exactly one year from the day on which the party left Tripoli, the Captain and Belford, his surviving companion, re-entered that capital.