“The object of this letter is to inform you that we have come to an understanding with Commandant Hourst, known under the name of Abd el Kader, on the following points:—between us and him there shall be only good and peace; your traders shall come to us by land and by water, assured that no one in our country will molest them in any way. You will bring no trouble into our possessions, nor interfere with our civil and religious traditions. Be it also known unto you, that so soon as your envoys are returned, and you will have proved our truth, you will see us come and go alone and in parties by land and by water. This is the exact truth without reserve and without exaggeration. After you have given us the promises mentioned we shall be brothers; greeting!”
Djamarata asked me in my turn to leave behind me a written statement of the verbal arrangement we had made. This seemed only fair, and here is my reply:
Letter from Commandant Hourst, surnamed Abd el Kader, to Madidu, Amenokal of the Awellimiden, and to Djamarata his nephew.
“This is to certify, that having been sent by the Sultan of the French to you to establish eternal peace between us, and to inaugurate commercial and friendly relations, and having received from him full powers to speak in his name, I can assure you that our only desire is to act in the manner explained in your letter. We will not establish posts in your country, nor touch that which belongs to you, nor change your civil and religious traditions in any way.
“You can come to us in peace in numbers or alone, to trade or merely to visit us. Once in our territories, which are on the west of the dune of Ernessé, you will find nothing but good and peace.
“As for what you say on the subject of our religion, we are governed by the law of Sidna Issa (Jesus Christ); we know that there is but one God; we pray, we fast, we give alms. As a result we could not prevent these things amongst others without becoming unworthy of the protection of God.
“Know therefore that all this is the absolute and exact truth, that we are of noble race, that a lie is as much unknown amongst us as it is with you, who too are of noble race.
“Come to us, then, without fear either at Timbuktu or wherever we may be. The truth will then be proved.”
We spent the rest of the day chatting with the Tuaregs and distributing presents. Meanwhile Baudry went with Digui to reconnoitre the river below Fafa.
For the second time a treaty, or rather a written agreement, had been made between a Tuareg confederation and the French. The first was that which followed or resulted from the grand journey of Duveyrier in Southern Algeria and amongst the Azgueur Tuaregs, after which a mission, including the Prince de Polignac, made a convention with them at Rhâdames.