“The Shereef’s Account of Fezzan,” said the Governor, “my own knowledge confirms; and many of the particulars which he relates of Bornou and Cashna I have heard from the report of others. His countrymen say that he is better acquainted with both than any other individual among them; and such is the opinion which the King himself entertains of his probity, knowledge, and talents, that to his management is always entrusted whatever business in either of those empires his Sovereign has to transact.”
But while Mr. Lucas, with a prudent and laudable caution, was thus endeavouring to ascertain the truth of the Shereef’s account, another, and perhaps more decisive test of its value was fortunately obtained in England.—For, before the return of Mr. Lucas, or the arrival of his papers, the Committee of the Association, assisted by Mr. Dodsworth, (whose residence of fourteen years in Barbary had given him a competent knowledge of Arabic) had procured from Ben Alli, a native of Morocco, at that time in London, an account of all those countries to the South of the Desart of Zahara, which, in the course of his extensive Travels as a Merchant, he had formerly visited: and though his remarks appear to be those of a superficial Observer, who possesses activity of spirit rather than energy of mind, and whose remembrance of what he saw is impaired by the lapse of near twenty years; yet, (as will be seen in the following pages) the general conformity of his description of Bornou to that which the Shereef has given, has an obvious tendency to strengthen the credit of the latter.
This short account of the nature of the only external evidence that has yet been obtained in support of the following Narrative seemed to be due from the Committee; but in what degree that evidence is impressive of belief, or what internal marks of authenticity the Work itself may afford, the judgment of others must decide; for on these points, it is evident that each individual must determine for himself. In forming his opinion, however, it is requisite he should know, that while the most anxious attention has been given to the faithful preservation of the sense of the Original, an entire change has been made in its language and arrangement; a change which, the obvious advantage of methodizing conversations, as desultory as they were numerous, of separating the blended accounts of unconnected objects, and of uniting a variety of broken and detached descriptions of the same thing, has unavoidably occasioned.
CHAPTER IV.
Rout from Mesurata — Enumeration of the principal Towns of Fezzan — Account of its Climate and principal Productions — Description of the Manners, Religion, and Government of its People, their Revenue, Administration of Justice, and Military Force.
Fezzan, whose small and circular domain is placed in the vast Wilderness, as an island in the midst of the ocean, is situated to the South of Mesurata. A journey of eight days, through districts but little inhabited or improved, though naturally not unfertile, conducts the Traveller to the town of Wadan, where every requisite for the refreshment of the caravan is found.—From thence, in five hours, he arrives at the forlorn village of Houn, on the edge of the Desart of Soudah, on whose black and obdurate soil, the basis of which is a soft stone, no vegetable but the Talk is seen to grow. To this tree, which is of the size of the small Olive, and bears a sprig of yellow flowers, the husbandman of Fezzan is indebted for the hard and lemon-coloured wood of which he forms the handles of his tools, and the frames of his larger instruments. Having crossed the Desart, which furnishes no water, and for the passage of which four days are requisite, the Traveller accepts the refreshments of a miserable village that affords him nothing but dates of the worst quality, some brackish water, and a small supply of Indian corn, of the species called Gassób. From Zéghen, by which name the village is distinguished, a single day conducts him to the town of Sebbah, where the large remains of an antient castle, built upon a hill, and other venerable ruins, that in point of extent are compared to those of Lebida, impress on his mind the melancholy idea of departed greatness; while, on the other hand, the humble dwellings of the modern inhabitants, and the rich vegetation of their neighbouring fields, present to his eye an ample store of all that is requisite for the sustenance of man.—Dates, barley, Indian corn, pompions, cucumbers, fig trees, pomegranates, and apricots, and for meaner purposes, the white thorn and Spanish broom are described as but a part of the numerous vegetables that reward the industry of the people. The animals in which they most abound are said to be the common fowl, and the brown long-haired and broad-tailed sheep.
From Sebbah a journey of two days transports the Traveller to Goddoua, a small town of similar produce; and from thence, in two days more, he arrives at Mourzouk, the capital of the kingdom of Fezzan.
This city[3] is surrounded by a high wall, which not only furnishes the means of defence, but affords to the Government an opportunity of collecting, at its three gates, a tax on all goods (though provisions are exempted) that are brought for the supply of its people. Its distance from Mesurata, which borders on the coast, and with respect to which its situation is nearly South, is about[4] 390 miles.