According to Tissot, this language is in the main similar to all the dialects spoken in the Sahara by the Tibu and the Tuareg right away from Senegal to Nubia, but of course not including the new dialects spoken by the Negroes or Sudanese.
The Tuareg language is that which most nearly approaches that of the Berbers; but those independent peoples, who call themselves Imoshag, Amazigh, Shloh, may be said to be more closely akin to the Kabail, Zauau of Algeria, and the Berbers of Tunisia.
In my book, Algeria and the Sahara, I described my travels through the Sahara, and at the same time gave a short sketch of the Tuareg bands. Here I will give from the best works[7] of French travellers, but adhering as far as possible to Bertholon’s account, a brief supplementary commentary on the status of woman in these desert tribe communities, for their position is quite different from that occupied by their sisters in Mohammedan countries.
A Tuareg woman exercises a decided right of option in the matter of marriage. Indeed, without her consent, and unless she herself has chosen a husband, she cannot be given in marriage, and, in spite of the Koran, she has found the way to prevent her husband taking a second wife.
Amongst the Tuareg tribes in the Western Sahara, monogamy is so firmly established that it has given rise to the following adage: “The man who takes two wives invites death to his tent.”
Divorce, so easily obtainable amongst Mohammedans, is almost unknown to the Tuareg, and is, besides, very difficult of accomplishment. It can only take place after the case has been submitted to a court of arbitration composed of four persons—two for each of the married pair.
The Tuareg woman is not her husband’s slave; she is his equal, she sits beside him at meals, and can take long journeys alone, for she is not shut up like an Arab woman.
Whilst the man journeys afar with the caravans, or on freebooting expeditions, she remains at home to direct affairs. But this is not all, for she studies old traditions, is highly enlightened, and far in advance of the men in knowledge of old customs and manners, and also of the art of reading and writing the Tuareg language. In short, it is she who preserves their traditions and is acquainted with their literature, and indeed sometimes ranks as the highest authority of the tribe.
Duveyrier relates that amongst the eastern Tuareg the women take part in the councils when the tribes assemble, just as did the Iberian women in ancient days.
In the battlefield it is often dread of the women’s scorn which drives the men to make the utmost efforts to return victorious.