We had plenty of good fare in the evening, the Bórnu titular mayor of the place sending me a sheep, besides corn for the horses, and our hosts preparing a fowl for myself, and several dishes of hasty-pudding, with fish-sauce, for my people. The evening being clear, and illuminated by splendid moonlight, I sat a long time outside—perhaps too long in my precarious state of health—enjoying the sound of music and dancing which came from the opposite quarter of the village; but I was not a little astonished when I heard from my young friend, whom I asked why he did not go to join in the merriment, that it was not an ordinary amusement, but a religious dance to celebrate the death of an old man; for if a person in old age dies, his death is deemed a cause of satisfaction and mirth, while that of a young one is lamented with tears.
I have already noticed some peculiar customs of the Marghí; but I must say a few words about their curious ordeal on the holy granite rock of Kóbshi. When two are litigating about a matter, each of them takes a cock which he thinks the best for fighting; and they go together to Kóbshi. Having arrived at the holy rock, they set their birds a-fighting, and he whose cock prevails in the combat is also the winner in the point of litigation. But more than that, the master of the defeated cock is punished by the divinity, whose anger he has thus provoked; and on returning to his village he finds his hut in flames.
It is evident that this tribe, as well as many of the neighbouring ones, venerate their forefathers, in which respect they closely resemble the South African tribes, although the Berbers also seem originally to have had this sort of worship as well as the Háusa people. The Marghí do not practise circumcision; but, what seems very remarkable, they practise inoculation for the small-pox, at least to a considerable extent.
As I was sitting outside the courtyard, by degrees a great many natives collected round me, when a young man took me aside and entreated me earnestly to give him a remedy against the dislike of people. I, however, soon succeeded in making him confess that he meant only the dislike of one girl, who, he said, did not relish his haughty demeanour, and that he was reduced to a state of desperation, and wished for nothing but to die in battle. This example shows that even these simple people have some sentiment of love.
Saturday, July 12.—I had some difficulty in persuading Bíllama to leave this hospitable place; but I was ashamed to cause these good people, who had been robbed and despoiled a short time ago by Kashélla ʿAlí, any more trouble. We took a more easterly path than that by which we had travelled before, but nearly of the same character—full of holes and crevices, and covered with thick forest, while the nutritive root “katakírri” employed the several members of our caravan continually, particularly a Púllo pilgrim from the far west near the coast, who was indefatigable in digging as well as in eating. We had only proceeded a few miles when we met a troop of Marghí, who were going to perform a sacrifice in the holy grove of Íssege, one of them carrying a sheep and another a fowl. One of them had ornamented his shield with red lines, which on the black ground of the elephant’s hide were quite becoming; but I do not think that this custom is general; perhaps it had some connection with the sacrifice.
After a march of eight hours, we reached the first cluster of huts of the Northern Molghoy, where we wished to find quarters; but the unfortunate people, by the recent exactions and contributions levied on them by the Kanúri, were driven to a state of despair, and obstinately refused to receive us. There remained, therefore, no alternative but to continue our march, and to try to reach Yerímarí; but the effort was too much for me, and had the worst consequences in my reduced state of health. I was for some time quite senseless when, after a ride of thirteen hours, I succeeded in reaching the well-known place, and threw myself flat upon the ground of my little hut. Scarcely had my luggage arrived, when a storm, which the whole afternoon had been hanging over our heads, broke forth, and continued till midnight with unabated violence.
Man as well as beast was so exhausted that we remained here the following day, when I felt strength enough to walk out a little into the fields. There was an extraordinary difference between the advanced state in which I had left the crops in Ádamáwa and that in which I found them here. The reader will remember that the fields round this place were just being sown on the day of my leaving it; and during the time of my absence rain must have been rather scanty, so that the crops were scarcely twenty inches above the ground. In the afternoon, Bíllama, who was always obliging, gave me some information with regard to the adjacent country.
Monday, July 14.—We continued our march, and, with a halt during the hot hours, reached Ujé Kasúkulá in the evening. The aspect of the country offered unmistakable proof of our advance northwards. Even the grass here was barely an inch or two above the ground; the crops, where most advanced, were ten or twelve inches high, while other fields were still covered with the tunfáfia, or Asclepias gigantea,—a sure proof that they had not yet been brought under cultivation. We passed a good many cotton-fields. I reached the place in a state of the utmost exhaustion, and was obliged to stay here three days to recruit my strength, taking hardly any food but quinine, and placing a plaster of cantharides on my chest. The governor of the place, Kashélla ʿAlí Aláwó, treated my party very hospitably and kindly, and showed sincere compassion for my feeble condition. I learnt from him, to my great satisfaction, that Mr. Overweg had really embarked in the boat on the Tsád, and was gone to the Búdduma.
Friday, July 18.—At length we set out again; but though I felt a little better, I was glad when, after a short march of three hours through a very pleasant and populous country, we took up our quarters in a place called Gúlfo, a great proportion of the inhabitants of which are Shúwa. Having passed the hot hours in a spacious and cool hut, I enjoyed for a while the freshness of the evening outside, in my courtyard, delighted at the same time by the sight of the herds of cattle returning from their pastures.