The talents, the extraordinary prudence and forbearance, the knowledge of the Arabic language, and other essential qualifications in an African traveller, which the ever-to-be-lamented Burckhardt so eminently possessed, gave me the greatest hopes of his success in his arduous enterprise, until I discovered, when reading his Travels, that he was poor and despised, though a Muselman.
There is too much reason to apprehend that he was suspected, if not discovered by the Muselmen, or he would not have been secluded from their meals and society: the Muselmen never (sherik taam) eat or divide food with those they suspect of deception, nor do they ever refuse to partake of food with a Muselman, unless they do suspect him of treachery or deception; this principle prevails so universally among them, that artful and designing people have practised as many deceptions on the Bedouin under the cloak of hospitality, as are practised in Christian countries under the cloak of religion! I cannot but suspect, therefore, from the circumstance before recited, that the Muselmism of Burckhardt was seriously suspected, and that his companions only waited a convenient opportunity in the Sahara for executing their revenge on him for the deception.
The very favourable reception that my account of Marocco met with from the British public; the many things therein stated, which are daily gaining confirmation, although they were doubted at the period of their publication, have contributed in no small degree, to the production of the following sheets, in which I can conscientiously declare, that truth has been my guide; I have never sacrificed it to ambition, vanity, avarice, or any other passion.
The learned, I am flattered to see, are now beginning to adopt my orthography of African names; they have lately adopted Timbuctoo for the old and barbarous orthography of Timbuctoo; they have, however, been upwards of ten years about it. In ten years more, I anticipate that Fez will be changed into Fas, and Morocco into Marocco, for this plain and uncontrovertible reason,--because they are so spelled in the original language of the countries, of which they are the chief cities. Since the publication of my account of Marocco, I have seen Arabic words spelled various ways by the same author (I have committed the same error myself); but in the following work I have adopted a plan to correct this prevailing error in Oriental orthography, which, I think, ought to be followed by every Oriental scholar, as the only correct way of transcribing them in English; viz. by writing them exactly according to the original Arabic orthography, substituting gr (not gh, as Richardson directs) for the Arabic guttural [غ Arabic] grain, and kh for the guttural k or [خ Arabic]--
Note. We should be careful not to copy the orthography of Oriental or African names from the French, which has too often been done, although their pronunciation of European letters is very dissimilar from our own.
CONTENTS.
An Account of a Journey from Fas to Timbuctoo, performed about the year 1787, by El Hage Abd Salam Shabeeny,
Route to Timbuctoo.--Situation of the City.--Population.--Inns or Caravanseras, called Fondaks.--Houses.--Government.--Revenue.--Army.--Administration of Justice.--Succession to Property.--Marriage.--Trade.--Manufactures.--Husbandry.--Provisions.--Animals.--Birds.--Fish.--Prices of different Articles.--Dress.--Time.--Religion.--Diseases.--Manners and Customs.--Neighbouring Nations.
Journey from Timbuctoo to Housa
The River Neel or Nile.--Housa.--Government.--Administration of Justice--Landed Property,--Revenues.--Army.--Trade.--Climate.--Zoology.--Diseases.--Religion.--Persons.--Dress. Buildings.--Manners.--Gold.--Limits of the Empire.