In countries that afford without cultivation, or that give in return for slight exertions of labour, the principal requisites of life, few articles of export are likely to be found. Those of the Bornou Empire consist of—
| Gold Dust,[30] | Ostrich Feathers,[30] |
| Slaves, | Salt, and |
| Horses, | Civet. |
By what means the gold dust, that appears to be a principal article of trade, is procured by the inhabitants, whether from mines in the country, or by purchase from other nations, the Shereef has not explained. But of their mode of obtaining the Slaves, which constitute another extensive branch of their commerce, he gives the following account:
South East of Bornou, at the distance of about twenty days travelling, and separated from it by several small desarts, is situated an extensive kingdom of the name of Begarmee, the inhabitants of which are rigid Mahometans, and though perfectly black in their complexions, are not of the Negro cast. Beyond this kingdom to the East are several tribes of Negros, idolaters in their religion, savage in their manners, and accustomed, it is said, to feed on human flesh. They are called the Kardee, the Serrowah, the Showva, the Battah, and the Mulgui. These nations the Begarmeese, who fight on horseback, and are great warriors, annually invade; and when they have taken as many prisoners as the opportunity affords, or their purpose may require, they drive the captives, like cattle, to Begarmee. It is said that if any of them, weakened by age, or exhausted by fatigue, happen to linger in their pace, one of the horsemen seizes on the oldest, and cutting off his arm, uses it as a club to drive on the rest.
From Begarmee they are sent to Bornou,[31] where they are sold at a low price; and from thence many of them are conveyed to Fezzan, where they generally embrace the Musselman faith, and are afterwards exported by the way of Tripoli to different parts of the Levant.
Such is the mode of obtaining the greatest part of the slaves who are annually sold in Bornou; but as several of the provinces of the empire are inhabited by Negros, their insurrections, real or pretended, afford to the Sovereign an opportunity of increasing his income by their sale.
A more politic and more effectual mode of aiding his finances is fruitlessly offered by the salt lakes of the Province of Domboo: for, as the great Empire of Cashna is entirely destitute of salt, and none is found in the dominions of the Negros, the sole possession of this article might insure to the King of Bornou a constant and ample revenue of the best kind, a revenue collected from the subjects of Foreign States; but such is the prevalence of antient custom over the obvious suggestions of policy, that the people of Agadez, a Province of the Cashna Empire, are annually permitted to load their immense caravans with the salt of Bornou, and to engross the profits of this invaluable trade. The salt is collected on the shores of the several lakes which produce it, and the only acknowledgement that the Merchants of Agadez give in return for the article, is the trifling price which they pay in brass and copper (the currency of Bornou) to the neighbouring peasants.
The civet, which forms another article of the export trade of Bornou, and the greatest part of which is sent to the Negro States who inhabit far to the South, is obtained from a species of wild cat that is common in the woods of Bornou and of Cashna.
This animal is taken alive in a trap prepared for the purpose, is placed in a cage, and is strongly irritated till a copious perspiration is produced. Its sweat, and especially the moisture that appears upon the tail, is then scraped off, is preserved in a bladder, and constitutes the much valued perfume. After a short interval the operation is renewed, and is repeated, from time to time, till at the end of twelve or fourteen days the animal dies of the fatigue and continual torment. The quantity obtained from one cat is generally about half an ounce.
Of Manufactures, none for exportation are furnished by the people of Bornou; but the Shereef remarks that, for their own consumption, they fabricate from the iron ore of their country, though with little skill, such slight tools as their husbandry requires.[32]