[100]The influence of the Emir of Sokoto to which Barth has referred is exercised through the Itesan by virtue of their domicile near this city. Cf. Barth, op. cit., Vol. I. p. 468.
[101]Cf. Leo Africanus, Vol. III. p. 829.
[103]My estimate of 30,000 inhabitants was arrived at locally without any books of reference. On my return I found that Barth had arrived at the same figure, with a possible maximum of 50,000 (op. cit., Vol. I. p. 472).
[104]The French operations of 1918 against Air, the occupation of the country from the south in 1904 and the passage of the Foureau-Lamy expedition are not considered, as the superiority of European weapons makes it impossible to compare these exploits with native enterprises, though the success of the first two and the appalling losses in camels and material of the last in a measure confirm the thesis.
[105]Vide supra, [Chap. II.]
[106]By Barth, op. cit., Vol. I. p. 459, and by Cooley, Negroland of the Arabs, p. 26, as 1438 A.D.
CHAPTER IV
THE ORGANISATION OF THE AIR TUAREG