Persons of a superior rank are also possessed of leathern cushions, that are stuffed with wool; of several brass and copper utensils, of a handsome carpet, and of a sort of candlesticks; for instead of the vegetable oil which is used by the common people, they employ the light of candles manufactured from their bees wax and the tallow of their sheep.
Bornou is situated at the distance of a day’s journey from a river which is called Wed-el-Gazel, from the multitude of antelopes that feed upon its banks, and which is lost in the deep and sandy wastes of the vast Desart of Bilma.[21]
From the symmetry of the houses, and the general resemblance which they bear to each other, a regular arrangement of streets might, with the utmost ease, have been given to their towns. In Bornou, however, a different system has prevailed; for even in the capital, the houses, straggling wide of each other, are placed without method or rule; and the obvious propriety of giving to the principal mosque, a central situation, exhibits the only proof of attention to general convenience.[22]
The King’s palace, surrounded by high walls, and forming a kind of citadel, is built, perhaps with a view to security, in a corner of the town.[23]
Markets for the sale of provisions are opened within the city; but for other articles, a weekly market, as in Barbary, is held without the walls.
| £. | s. | d. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| The common price in Bornou of a cow or a bull is a mahaboob of Tripoli, or | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| A sheep, | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| An ostrich, | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| An antelope, | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| A camel from 6l. to 7l. 10s. or at a medium, | 6 | 15 | 0 |
| A horse from 3l. to 7l. 10s. or at a medium, | 5 | 5 | 0 |
In general, the towns have no other defence than that which the courage of the inhabitants affords: but the capital is surrounded by a wall of fourteen feet in height, the foundations of which are from eight to ten feet deep, and which seems to be built with considerable strength. To this defence is given the additional security of a ditch, which encompasses the whole; and care is taken, that at sun-set the seven gates which form the communication with the country shall be shut.[24]
The great population of Bornou is described by the indefinite and metaphorical expression of a countless multitude.
In Fezzan the price of all things is measured by grains of gold; and where the value is too small to be easily paid in so costly a metal, the inhabitants have recourse to corn, as a common medium of exchange. But in Bornou, as in Europe, the aid of inferior metals is employed, and copper and brass (which seem to be melted together, and to be mixed with other materials) are formed into pieces of different weights, from an ounce to a pound, and constitute the current species of the empire.[25]
Dominions so extensive as those of Bornou have seldom the advantage of one uniform language; but an instance of so many different tongues, within the limits of one empire, as are spoken in that kingdom, and its dependencies, has still less frequently occurred, for they are said to be more than thirty in number.