One singularity I must remark of Fezzan, which is that fleas are unknown there, and those of the inhabitants who have not been on the sea coast cannot imagine what they are like. Bugs are very numerous, and it is extraordinary that they are called by the same name as with us. There is a species of them which is found in the sands, where kafflés are in the habit of stopping; they bite very sharply, and fix in numbers round the coronet of a horse: the animals thus tormented often become so outrageous as to break their tethers.
The revenues of the Sultan of Fezzan arise from slaves, merchandise, and dates. For every slave, great or small, he receives, on their entering his kingdom, two Spanish dollars. In some years the number of slaves amounts to 4000. For a camel’s load of oil or butter, seven dollars; a load of beads, copper, or hardware, four dollars; and of clothing, three dollars. All Arabs who buy dates pay a dollar duty on each load (equal at times to the price of the article) before they are allowed to remove it. Above 3000 loads are sold to them annually. Date trees, except those of the Kadi and Mamlukes, are taxed at the rate of one dollar for every 200: by this duty, in the neighbourhood of Morzouk, or more properly, in the few immediately neighbouring villages, the Sultan receives yearly 10,000 dollars. Of all sheep or goats he is entitled to a fifth. On the sale of every slave, he has, in addition to the head money, a dollar and a half, which, at the rate of 4000, gives another 6000 dollars. The trees, which are his private property, produce about 6000 camels’ loads of dates, each load 400 pounds weight, and which may be worth, at a low estimate, 18,000 dollars. Every garden pays a tenth of the corn produced; presents of slaves are frequently made, and fines levied; each town pays a certain sum, which is small, but as the towns are numerous, may be averaged to produce 4000 dollars. Add to this, his annual excursions for slaves, sometimes bringing 1000 or 1500, of which one-fourth are his, as well as the same proportion of camels. He alone can sell horses; which he buys for five or six dollars, when half starved, from the Arabs, who come to trade and cannot maintain them; and makes a great profit by obtaining slaves in exchange for them. All his people are fed by the public, and he has no money to pay but to the Bashaw, which, until the recent quarrel, was 15,000 dollars per annum. I have enumerated his general income, but there are various other ways in which he extorts money. If a man dies childless, the Sultan inherits great part of his property; and if he thinks it necessary to kill a man, he becomes his entire heir! All his people are on an allowance from him, out of what he takes from others, at about the rate of two Kail, or above two gallons, of corn, and four of dates, per month. His negresses are also allowanced in corn, dates, oil, &c. according to their size and age.
In company with Mohammed the Mamluke, I rode to Tessouwa, an inconsiderable town about twenty miles west of Morzouk. It has the remains of an old Arab castle, built of mud. The palms are not numerous, and the inhabitants amount to about 300. It is divided from Morzouk by a plain of sand.
On the 8th of November, 1819, Mr. Ritchie being again attacked by illness, I much wished him to allow of my selling some of our powder to procure him a few comforts; but to this he would not consent. On the 9th I also fell ill, and was confined to my bed; and Belford, though himself an invalid, attended on us both. Our man servant was of no use to us whatever; but, on the contrary, presuming on our poverty, did exactly as he pleased. Our little girl, however, assisted in nursing us. After lying in a torpid state for three or four days, without taking any nourishment or even speaking to us, Mr. Ritchie became worse, and at last delirious, as in his former illnesses. In the interval, my disorder having abated, I was enabled to rally a little, and to attend my poor suffering companion.
After he had somewhat recovered his intellect, he appeared very anxious to know whether any letters had arrived, announcing to us a further allowance of money from Government; but when I, unfortunately, was obliged to reply in the negative, he avoided all comment on the subject. He would not drink any tea, of which we still had some remaining; but preferred vinegar and water, our only acid, which he drank in great quantities. Being entirely free from pain, he flattered himself that he should, in a day or two, recover, particularly as he was not at all emaciated, but rather stouter than he had been for some months previous to his illness. One day (the 17th) he appeared so far recovered as to be able to get up and be dressed. We placed him on the mat in the centre of the room, when he seemed much refreshed, and thanked us for the trouble we had taken; he then expressed a wish to have a little coffee, which, for a time, I was unwilling to give him, fearing it might injure him: he was, however, so earnest in his request, that I was obliged at last to comply with it. As he complained of the closeness of his room, and appeared determined on lying that night on the mat, we made his bed on it; and I laid myself down by him. In the afternoon he examined his tongue in the glass, and appeared a good deal alarmed at its colour; but presently said, “I was frightened at the blackness of my tongue, but now recollect I have been drinking coffee; had I observed that appearance without knowing the cause, I should have said I had a bilious fever, and should bid you good bye.” In the evening one or two of the Mamlukes came in; he spoke to them for a little while, and soon after fell asleep. I remained awake the greater part of the night, during which he slept soundly; but in the morning I found he had crept from his bed, and was lying uncovered, and in a state of delirium, on the cold sand. We immediately put him to bed in his own room, and he appeared to rally again.
On the 20th we got a fowl, of which we made a little soup for him; and while he was taking it, a man came in, and told me a courier had arrived from Tripoli with letters. I went out, but returned, to my sad disappointment, empty-handed, the man having no despatches for us. The broth which Mr. Ritchie drank was the first nourishment he had taken for ten days, though we had used all our endeavours to prevail on him to eat. He said he felt much revived by it, and turned round to go to sleep. I placed my bed at the entrance of his room, and remained watching him. He seemed to breathe with difficulty; but as I had often observed this during his former maladies, I was not so much alarmed as I should otherwise have been. At about nine o’clock, Belford, on looking at him, exclaimed in a loud voice, “He is dying!” I begged him to be more cautious, lest he should be overheard, and immediately examined Mr. Ritchie, who appeared to me to be still in a sound sleep; I therefore lay down on my bed, and continued listening. At ten I rose again, and found him lying in an easy posture, and breathing more freely: five minutes, however, had scarcely elapsed before his respiration appeared entirely to cease; and on examination I found that he had actually expired, without a pang or groan, in the same position in which he had fallen asleep.
Belford and myself, in our weak state, looked at each other, expecting that in a few days it might probably be our lot to follow our lamented companion, whose sad remains we watched during the remainder of the night. And now, for the first time in all our distresses, my hopes did indeed fail me. At daylight I went out and informed our kind friends, Yussuf and Hadje Mahmoud, of our misfortunes; at which they were much affected, and offered us all the assistance in their power. Belford, as well as he was able, hastened to form a rough coffin out of our chests; and a sad and painful task it was. The washers of the dead came to us to perform their melancholy office, and Mr. Ritchie’s body was washed, perfumed, and rubbed with camphor; and I procured some white linen, with which the grave-clothes were made. During our preparations for the burial, the women, who are always hired to cry at the death of persons whose friends are able to pay them, proposed to perform that disgusting office in our house; but I would not allow it, and very unceremoniously shut the door against them. While I was out of sight, either our servant or some of our officious visitors stole several of our effects, and I clearly saw that we were now considered as lawful plunder. The coffin being completed, I hired men to carry it with ropes, but one of them having suddenly gone away, poor Belford was obliged to take his place; when, attended by our small party of Mamlukes, we proceeded at a quick pace to the grave, at about ten o’clock. The clay below the sand was white, which was considered as a good omen; and Belford and myself threw the first earth into the grave. During the night we had, unknown to the people, read our protestant burial service over the body; and now publicly recited the first chapter of the Koran, which the most serious Christian would consider as a beautiful and applicable prayer on such an occasion.
Having thus performed the last sad duties to our unfortunate friend, we returned home to pass a day of misery. It was necessary to distribute food to the poor who surrounded our door in great numbers, and we had no money even to purchase a morsel for ourselves; Yussuf’s kindness again having supplied our wants, and I succeeded in getting the house a little more quiet. Within an hour after the funeral had taken place, a courier arrived from Tripoli bringing a truly welcome letter, announcing that a further allowance of £1000 had been made by our Government towards the expense of the mission. Had this letter reached us a little sooner, many of our troubles and distresses would have been prevented.
I waited on the Sultan to announce to him Mr. Ritchie’s death, at which the hypocrite affected to be much grieved, though he must have been well aware that had his inclination equalled his power to serve us, he might have enabled us to procure the necessaries of life, and thus perhaps have averted, or at least tranquillized the last moments of Mr. Ritchie. I informed him of the additional allowance which I expected, begging him to lend me some money. He talked much of his regard for me, but dwelt a great deal on his poverty; and ended by saying, he might perhaps be able to furnish me with a little, which he expressed with particular emphasis, reminding me that I already owed him eight dollars. I was not then, I own, in the humour to remonstrate with such a wretch, and plainly told him I would never more ask for his assistance or friendship; and that according to his law, ingratitude, such as he had so cruelly shown to Mr. Ritchie and myself, was the highest and blackest crime a man could be guilty of, and would one day be visited on him.
On my return home, I found poor Belford greatly overcome by the efforts he had made, whilst I was equally so from the exertions of mind I had undergone. The consequence was, that a strong fever confined us both to our beds, at the mercy of any one who chose to pillage us. Before I took to mine, however, I contrived to write despatches to England, which I sent off by a courier.