About the 20th of September, Mr. Ritchie again became ill, and was confined to his bed; and though Belford had, in some degree, recovered his health, he was completely deaf. We hired a woman to cook for us, at a dollar a month; but she was only required to come once a day to bake our bread, or to make our cusscussou, as we were now on an allowance. It often happened, that when she had stolen half our pittance, we were obliged to fast until the morrow. In all our troubles, however, I struggled to keep up my spirits; and, in the evenings when Mr. Ritchie had composed himself to sleep, I sometimes accompanied Mohammed (who was civil to me on account of some tobacco I possessed) to the parties of the natives, where I joined them in dancing, and drinking Lackbi and Booza. The latter is a liquor resembling in taste bad thick beer, and is made of dates, the flour of Gussub, and water; it ferments in the course of a night, and on becoming sour, is fit for drinking: it is preferred when thick, and it soon intoxicates.
As these meetings were not very select, I was obliged to promise secresy; for, had it been known that Mohammed or myself ever tasted such unlawful beverage, we should have been looked on as downright kaffirs. The people who formed these parties were generally of the lower class, although I once detected amongst them the religious old Kadi himself, in a state very far from sober, and listening to a woman playing the Erbab; but I found, by occasionally mixing with them, that I became better acquainted with their language and customs, which I knew would be of essential advantage as I proceeded southward. I also acquired many friends who, as far as their power extended, were of much assistance to me. Mohammed condescended to join in the dances, becoming always very much intoxicated, and I frequently remained the only sober person amongst them; so that I was able to make observations, and to be much amused by my companions. As on all these occasions we were with closed doors, in an open court, the women played to us on the Erbab, and really produced a very pleasing, though a wild melody: their songs were pretty and plaintive, and generally in the Soudan language, which is very musical.
At some of our parties, a woman sang a song, which she said was much admired by the brother of the last Sultan, whose name was Sidi Montesor; and from certain expressions in it, I discovered that it was the same mentioned by Horneman; and what was singular enough, it was sung by the same woman: she recollected that traveller, as having often been at the castle when she performed there. Some of these songs abound with poetical images;—for example, a lover will compare his mistress to a young date just ripened; the jetty hue of her skin, to the wing of a raven; her teeth to pearls; her eyes to the sun; and her breath to the attar of roses; her words to musk; her voice to the erbab; and her kisses to honey, or the sugar brought from Egypt. The Arab songs are also very pretty, and generally in the same style. A young man once took much pains to teach me one; composed, as he said, by a relation of his own. He sang it, as is the Arab custom, in a voice low and monotonous, though far from disagreeable. The hero of the piece is one of the Waled Suliman; he is riding to see a girl whom he admires, but who belongs to another tribe.—As nearly as I can recollect, the words ran thus:
“Here I am, well mounted, on a horse whose ears are like pens, who runs like an antelope, and knows none but his master. My new red cap becomes me well; my sword is sharp, my pistols well cleaned, and my belt shines in the sun. As the heart of a pigeon beats when she finds she is robbed of her young, so will my love’s heart beat when she sees me. She will not allow the dog to bark, and she will leave the tent as if in search of wood. Should her kinsmen see her with me, she shall not fall under their displeasure. I will lift her on my horse, and fly with her; for my steed has ears like pens, he runs like an antelope, and knows none but his master. My new tagaïa becomes me well; my sword is sharp, my pistols clean, and my belt shines in the sun.”
The natives have a variety of dances, of which two or three are peculiar to the country. The parties assemble on the sands, in the dusk of the evening, when a number of young men and women range themselves side by side, and dance to the sound of drums, to which they keep very good time. The men have a rude kind of iron cymbal in each hand, which opens and shuts: this they beat in the manner of castanets; both sexes singing at the same time in chorus. The movements consist in stepping forward, the whole line at once, at a particular turn of the tune, as if to catch something with their two hands, which they hold out; they balance themselves a short time on the advanced foot, and then step back, turning half round, first to one side and then the other. The whole line then moves slowly, in a circle, round the musicians who form the centre, and who all join in the dance.
There is nothing improper or immodest in this exhibition; but on the contrary, from its slowness and the regularity of its movements, it is extremely pleasing and elegant. Another dance is performed by women only, who form a circle round the drummers, and occasionally sing a lively chorus; one advances, and with her arms extended, foots it to and from the drummers, two or three times, until a change of tune, when she runs quickly backwards, and falls flat down. The women behind are ready to receive her, and by a jerk of their arms, throw her again upright; on which she once more turns round, and resumes her place, leaving the one next in succession to her to go through the same movements, all of which are performed in the most just time; the whole party occasionally enlivening the music, by their shrill and extraordinary cry of joy. The dancing in the houses is not quite so pleasing as that in public, and as for decency it is quite out of the question; no man or woman standing up, unless to throw themselves into a variety of indelicate postures. The male slaves have many dances, in which great activity and exertion are requisite. One consists in dancing in a circle, each man armed with a stick; they all move, first half and then quite round, striking, as they turn, the sticks of those on each side of them, and then jumping off the ground as high as they can. Another is performed by boys, and they have no drum, but keep chorus, by singing in a particular manner, La illa il ’Alla لاالله الاالله. “There is no God but God.”
The Sultan had frequently requested Mr. Ritchie to visit his children, and some of his negresses, when they were indisposed, and he had, in consequence, frequently attended them; but now being himself confined by illness, I was allowed to prescribe for them, and had, therefore, frequent opportunities of observing the interior of his family, which would not otherwise have been afforded me. I was much struck with the appearance of his daughters, one of three, the other of one year and a half old, who were dressed in the highest style of barbarian magnificence, and were absolutely laden with gold. From their necks were suspended large ornaments of the manufacture of Tembuctoo, and they had massive gold armlets and anklets of two inches in breadth, and half an inch in thickness, which, from their immense weight, had produced callous rings round the legs and arms of the poor infants. They wore silk shirts, composed of ribbons sewed together in stripes of various colours, which hung down over silk trowsers. An embroidered waistcoat and cap completed this overwhelming costume. Their nails, the tips of their fingers, the palms of their hands, and the soles of their feet, were dyed dark brown with henna. I had viewed with amazement and pity the dress of these poor little girls, borne down as they were by finery; but that of the youngest boy, a stupid-looking child of four years old, was even more preposterous than that of his sisters. In addition to the ornaments worn by them, he was loaded with a number of charms, enclosed in gold cases, slung round his body; in his cap were numerous jewels, heavily set in gold in the form of open hands, to keep off the effects of the “Evil Eye.” These talismans were sewn on the front of his cap, which they entirely covered. His clothes were highly embroidered, and consisted of three waistcoats, a shirt of white silk, the women only wearing coloured ones, and loose cloth, silk, or muslin trowsers.
The costume of the Sultan’s court, or hangers on, is strictly Tripoline, and as fine as lace or presents of cast off clothes can make them. It is the custom with Mukni, in imitation of the Bashaw, to bestow occasionally on his principal people some article of dress. These presents are made with much affected dignity, by throwing the garment to the person intended to be honoured, and saying, “wear that;” the dress is immediately put on in his presence, and the receiver kneels and kisses his hand in token of gratitude. I once saw the old Kadi, who is very corpulent, receive as a gift, a Kaftan, which was so small for him, that when he had squeezed himself into it, he was unable to move his arms, and was in that condition obliged to walk home.
Each of the Sultan’s sons has a large troop of slaves, who attend him wherever he goes; they are generally about the same age as their master, and are his playmates, though they are obliged to receive from him many hearty cuffs without daring to complain. The suite of the youngest boy in particular forms a very amusing group, few of them exceeding five years of age. One bears his master’s Bornouse, another holds one shoe, walking next to the boy who carries its fellow. Some are in fine cast off clothes with tarnished embroidery, whilst others are quite, or nearly naked, without even a cap on their heads; and the procession is closed by a boy tottering under the weight of his master’s state gun, which is never allowed to be fired off.
In Morzouk the luxuries of life are very limited, the people subsisting principally on dates. Many do not, for months together, taste corn, and when obtained, they make it into a paste called Aseeda اسيد, which is a softer kind of Bazeen. Fowls have now almost disappeared in the country, owing to the Sultan’s having appropriated all he could find for the consumption of his own family.