This is the common food of the Shelluhs of Atlas, and they call it by a similar name, Azamitta.
The opinion of the author of the History and Conquest of the Canary Islands, is, that the inhabitants came originally from Mauritania, and this he founds on the resemblance of names of places in Africa and in the islands: for, says he, “Telde,[177] which is the name of the oldest habitation in Canaria, Orotaba, and Tegesta, are all names which we find given to places in Mauritania and in Mount Atlas. It is to be supposed that Canaria, Fuertaventura, and Lancerotta, were peopled by the Alarbes,[178] who are the nation most esteemed in Barbary; for the natives of those islands named milk Aho, and barley Temecin, which are the names that are given to those things in the language of the Alarbes of Barbary.” He adds, that
“Among the books of a library that was in the cathedral of St. Anna in Canaria, there was found one so disfigured, that it wanted both the beginning and the end: it treated of the Romans, and gave an account, that when Africa was a Roman province, the natives of Mauritania rebelled and killed their presidents and governors, upon which the senate, resolving to punish and make a severe example of the rebels, sent a powerful army into Mauritania, which vanquished and reduced them again to obedience. Soon after the ringleaders of the rebellion were put to death, and the tongues of the common people, together with those of their wives and children, were cut out, and then they were all put aboard vessels with some grain and cattle, and transported to the Canary islands.”[179]
The following vocabulary will shew the similarity of language between the natives of Canaria and the Shelluhs (inhabitants of the Atlas mountains south of Marocco).
| LANCEROTTA AND FUERTAVENTURA DIALECT. | SHELLUH OR LYBIAN TONGUE. | ENGLISH. |
|---|---|---|
| Temasin | Tumzeen | Barley |
| Tezzezes | Tezezreat | Sticks |
| Taginaste | Taginast | A palm-tree |
| Tahuyan | Tahuyat | A blanket, covering or petticoat |
| Ahemon | Amen | Water |
| Faycag | Faquair | Priest or lawyer |
| Acoran | M’koorn | God |
| Almogaren | Talmogaren | Temples |
| Tamoyanteen | Tigameen | Houses |
| Tawacen | Tamouren | Hogs |
| Archormase | Akermuse | Green figs |
| Azamotan | Azamittan | Barley meal fried in oil |
| Tigot | Tigot | Heaven |
| Tigotan | Tigotan | The Heavens |
| Thener | Athraar | A mountain |
| Adeyhaman | Douwaman | A hollow valley |
| Ahico | Tahayk | A hayk or coarse garment |
| Kabehiera | Kabeera | A head man or a powerful |
| Ahoren | — | Barley meal roasted |
| Ara | — | A goat |
| Ana | — | A sheep |
| Tagarer | — | A place of justice |
| Benehoare, the name of the natives of Palma. | ||
| Beni Hoarie, a tribe of Arabs in Suse betweenAgadeer and Terodant.[180] | ||
FOOTNOTES:
[167]This Kohtan is the Yoctan, son of Eber, brother to Phaleg, mentioned in Genesis. Chapter 10, verse 25.
[168]The African Jews find it very difficult in speaking, to distinguish between shim and sim, for they cannot pronounce the sh, (ش) but sound it like s (س); the very few who have studied the art of reading the language, have, however, conquered this difficulty.
[169]Mr. Hugh Cahill.
[170]When they write to any other but Mohammedans, they never salute them with the words “Peace be with thee,” but substitute—“Peace be to those who follow the path of the true God,” Salem ala min itaba el Uda.