Travels and discoveries in North and Central Africa

by Heinrich Barth

It was a great pity that we had purposely avoided the more frequented and general road, which passes by several settlements of the Fúlbe or Felláta, in order not to give any trouble to the latter; for no doubt that tract would have been far more interesting, as well from a natural point of view, as with regard to the political state of the country, as it would have given us the clearest insight into the way in which that enterprising and restless people is pushing on every day more and more, and strangling, as it were, the little kingdom of Mándará.

Monday, Dec. 22.—Dense forest continued to prevail during the first five miles of our march. It then cleared, and was succeeded by considerable fields of wild rice, most of which was burnt down; for, as I have repeatedly had occasion to mention, all these wildernesses of Central Africa are set on fire after the rainy season. The whole ground in this district was one uninterrupted succession of holes made by the foot of the elephant, which obstructed the march of the army very considerably, and was the reason of several horses being lamed. Sálah, a younger brother of the vizier, a very intelligent man, broke his arm. A herd of six elephants was in the neighbourhood, and after a great deal of confusion, one animal, which got between the horsemen, was killed. It is no wonder that these regions are so frequented by them, as they find here plenty of the choicest food. The jungles of wild rice were only interrupted for a short time by a tract covered with dúm-bush. Water was plentiful, every now and then a considerable pond appearing, girt by beautiful trees, and at present enlivened by groups of horsemen, who were watering their animals.

After a march of about fifteen miles we encamped close to a larger sheet of water, which was full of fish of the species called “bégeli,” and enabled us to give to our food that day more variety, the forest, as well as the water, contributing its share; for, besides the fish, we had roast hare and elephant’s flesh, which was very palatable, and much like pork.

Tuesday, Dec. 23.—Three heavy strokes upon the drum, at the dawn of day, set our motley host once more in motion. It was an important day, and many of the principal people had exchanged their common dress for a more splendid attire. We entered the Músgu country, and at the same time came into contact with fragments of that nation, who, having spread from the far west over the one-half of Africa, are restlessly pushing forward and overwhelming the pagan tribes in the interior. These are the Fúlbe or Felláta, the most interesting of all African tribes, who, having been driven from Bórnu, have here laid the foundation of a new empire.

Twice on our march we were obliged to make a halt: the first time owing to the arrival of Ádishén, the Músgu chief, with a troop of naked horsemen mounted on a breed of small, unseemly, but strong ponies, without saddles and bridles, and presenting altogether a most barbarous and savage spectacle. The second halt was caused by the appearance of a Púllo or Felláta chief, with two hundred horsemen of his nation, who, by their shirts and shawls, their saddles and bridles, certainly claimed a higher degree of civilization, but who, nevertheless, were far from exhibiting a grand appearance. This chief was an officer of Khúrsu, the ruler of the town or principality of Fétte or Pétte, which we had left at a short distance to the west. He came to join this expedition, the object of which was to weaken the Músgu tribes, who, behind their natural defences of rivers and swamps, had hitherto been able to maintain their independence. Of course, on this occasion the policy of these Fúlbe chiefs went hand in hand with that of the Bórnu people, although it is not a little remarkable, and serves to show the slight political unity existing between the integral parts of these empires, that while the governor of Ádamáwa was at present on a hostile footing with the ruler of Bórnu, one of his vassals was allowed to enter into an alliance with the latter.

After these interruptions we pursued our march, and reached, about half an hour before noon, the northernmost of the Músgu villages, which is called Gábari, surrounded by rich fields of native grain; but everything presented a sad appearance of pillage and desolation. None of the inhabitants were to be seen; for, although subjects of Ádishén, who enjoyed the friendship and protection of the rulers of Bórnu, they had thought it more prudent to take care of their own safety by flight than to trust themselves to the discretion of the undisciplined army of their friends and protectors. The preceding evening the order had been issued through the encampment that all the property in the villages of Ádishén should be respected, and nothing touched, from a cow to a fowl, grain only excepted, which was declared to be at the disposal of everybody.

It was rather remarkable that the greatest part of the crops were still standing, although we had been lingering so long on our road, and had given sufficient time for the people to secure them for themselves. All the grain consisted of the red species of holcus, called by the Bórnu people “ngáberi kemé,” which grows here to the exclusion of the white species and that of millet. All the people of the army were busy in threshing the grain which they had just gathered at the expense of their friends, and loading their horses with it. Even the fine nutritive grass from the borders of the swamp, which, woven into long festoons, the natives had stored up in the trees as a provision against the dry season, was carried off, and, notwithstanding the express order to the contrary, many a goat, fowl, and even articles of furniture which had been left behind by the natives, fell a prey to the greedy host.

The spectacle of this pillage was the more saddening, as the village not only presented an appearance of comfort, but exhibited in a certain degree the industry of its inhabitants. In general each courtyard contained a group of from three to six huts, according to the number of wives of the owner. The walls of the dwellings, without a single exception, were built of clay, which in the courtyards of the richer people even formed the building material of the fences. The roofs of the cottages were thatched with great care, and at least as well as in any house or village in Bórnu, and far superior to the thatching of the Shúwa. The roofs even exhibited traces of various styles, and perhaps a certain gradation in the scale of society. Almost every courtyard enclosed a shed, besides the huts, and one granary built of clay, and from twelve to fifteen feet high, with an arched roof, likewise of clay, there being an opening at the top which was protected by a small cover of thatching, as the accompanying woodcut shows. The way in which the natives had stored up their supply of hay for the dry season was very remarkable, the rank grass being woven into festoons of about fifteen feet in length, and hung up in the kórna-trees which adorned the fields.

Having roved about at my leisure, I pursued my march, and, emerging from the cornfields, entered upon open meadow-grounds, partly under water, which spread out to a considerable extent, and which, with their fresh green turf, formed a beautiful contrast to the tall yellow crops which I had just left behind. Ascending a little, we kept straight towards a group of splendid trees which adorned the fields in front of another village. The village was called Kórom, and belonged to a chief under the authority of Ádishén, while Kadé, the residence of the latter, was only at a short distance. In these fields the vizier had dismounted and chosen the place for the encampment; and it was with a sad, sympathetic feeling that I witnessed the lopping of the rich branches of the fine trees, which were without doubt, the most splendid specimens of the karáge-tree which I had seen in Negroland, not excepting those in the Marghí country. The largest among them measured not less than eighty feet in height, and the diameter of their crown could scarcely be less; but the foliage of this tree is by no means so dense and so regularly shaped as that of the fig or tamarind-tree. None of these fine trees, which had adorned the landscape, escaped destruction, in order to provide fences for the larger tents; but the few monkey-bread-trees which here appeared, owing to the scanty foliage with which their gigantic branches were decked out, escaped unhurt. Here we remained the two following days, and the encampment became very confined, the more so as the ground was rather uneven. The delay could scarcely be defended in a strategical point of view, as it could not but serve to put all the neighbouring chiefs, who were hostile to Ádishén, on their guard against any sudden inroad. But it was well that they did so, as by a sudden inroad the poor persecuted natives might have been totally annihilated.