14th.—As may be imagined, I passed an unquiet night, disturbed by the most gloomy forebodings. It now appeared to me that all the amenity of the Sultan had been assumed, in order that he might first get all he could out of us by gentle means, previous to resorting to threats and bullying. As to resistance, it is, of course, impossible, if imperative demands be made. In the morning En-Noor sent a message, to the effect that he could not see us unless we had made up our minds to give him the seven hundred dollars. He is getting more and more bold and impertinent. I deputed Mahommed Tunisee and the Sfaxee to him as negotiators. They are to offer a present of five hundred dollars; that is to say, three hundred for the escort to Zinder, and the remaining two hundred after the signing of the treaty. With some difficulty the matter was for the present arranged, by the sacrifice of another hundred dollars as a present to the courtiers of the great man, in order that they might induce him to be so kind as to accept of the remaining five hundred! My agents were greatly assisted by the Wakeel of Makersee of Mourzuk. I consented to the arrangement on En-Noor's writing a letter to her Majesty's Government, promising protection to British travellers for the future; and thus ended this new, and I may say, flagrant series of exactions. Possibly, had I been alone, I might have been able to hold out longer and more successfully; but it is somewhat embarrassing to act with persons who share in your councils without sharing in your responsibility, and who naturally seek the shortest and easiest method of getting over all difficulties. The conclusion of the arrangement had a tranquillising effect upon our encampment, especially on my worthy German colleagues.
The people have complained to En-Noor that we are "writing the country." This is an old complaint, and pervades all Northern Africa and the Desert, "that the Christians come first to write a country, and afterwards invade or capture it." Travellers, therefore, especially when they venture to use the pen in public, are looked upon as spies, which may in part account for the rough treatment they sometimes receive.
Every place has certain things especially in demand. Here nothing goes down but white calico and very small looking-glasses, which shut up in boxes. With these we purchase the greater part of our provisions. There is a little cotton-money about. Our encampment sometimes resembles a market. The people are curious to observe every action which differs from theirs. When I promenade a little for exercise, they immediately turn their eyes upon me with astonishment, and some come to ask what I do that for. I reply by signs,[17] feeling my legs and stretching them. This proves satisfactory, for the Kailouees are apparently an active people, at least in this season; but they moved about little while the rain lasted, and in the middle of the day they rarely visit us—always in the morning and in the afternoon. Dr. Overweg has got some patients; but people generally seem to enjoy very good health in this place. We have now a great deal of wind instead of rain: it always blows hard in the latter part of the day. I find this weather very bracing, though the thermometer at nine P.M. sometimes stands at 83°. The rainy season may be considered nearly at an end.
The valleys and rocks of Aheer abound with several kinds of wild animals, both the inoffensive and the ferocious; viz. the gazelle, the wadan, the wild ox, the ostrich, the wild boar, the jackal, the wolf, the hyæna, and the lion. Numerous birds haunt the trees. Amongst others we noticed a very beautiful species of dove, with a very distinct black ring round its neck; the hippoo; the wood-pecker; linnets; and over us flew the little black-and-white bird with the long feathers in its tail.
15th.—We had a fine morning; the wind has quite dried our encampment. There will be little more wet weather, they tell us; and the rain has some time quite ceased in Soudan. This is fortunate, as already several of our things have been spoiled. The Kailouees are taking advantage of the dry weather, and may be seen riding about in all directions. The members of the great families, like our European aristocrats, seem to have no other occupation. God has created the earth for this class to gallop about over. It was very warm and fine all day; thermometer at noon, in tent, 95° Fahr.: there was little wind.
The secret of En-Noor's authority is this: in all his great gains, and lucky enterprises, and pieces of good fortune—as our arrival here has proved—he gives his principal people and courtiers a share of the profit or the spoil; and when nothing particular is going on, he feeds them from the granary of his house, or clothes them from his heaped-up merchandise. All this, however does not save the prince from being occasionally robbed—if we are to believe report, which says that the other evening some black cotton turbans were taken from his house. The news from the town is, that En-Noor and his courtiers have received the amount of their extortion in goods. We have now given at Tintalous to the value of nearly a thousand dollars, and yet we have not received the smallest present in return—not a supper the day of our arrival, not a little butter or fruit; nothing, absolutely nothing!
Our servants have nearly procured all the ghaseb which they require for the journey from this to Zinder, viz. one hundred sahs. This they have purchased with various little wares, principally knives and looking-glasses. The ghaseb is always mixed with ghafouley, a species of grain about a third the size of a small pea. Ghafouley is called koula in Soudanese. The Aheer cheese has appeared for the first time amongst us to-day. It is made in little squares, three by two inches broad, and a quarter of an inch thick. It is eaten fresh, but has a poor flavour. The people prefer pounding it into dust when dry, and drinking it with ghaseb-water, which is white as milk, and very cool. The paste thus made is very white, and becomes as hard as a stone when dry. I have also made acquaintance with doua doua, round black balls of a vegetable composition, eaten with various dishes as seasoning. It is very abundant in Soudan. There is also a species of ghaseb-paste, called dābóă, not unlike macaroni in very small pieces. This is very much esteemed. It swells exceedingly when boiled, like paste. We begin to get into regions where the preparation of food is greatly changing. Yesterday my servants purchased me a fowl, and I learned for the first time that this delicacy was to be procured.
I have studied but little since I left Tripoli. Our affairs have always been worse and worse, and we have had a continual battle to preserve our existence. Such is the beginning of this expedition: God only knows what may be its end. There is left for us but a firm reliance in His goodness and protecting providence.
16th.—This was a warm, hazy day, and we were troubled with considerable languor. I have slept but little these three nights, and feel somewhat indisposed for want of rest. I read a good deal of Clapperton's "Journey to Sakkatou," besides beginning a vocabulary of the Kailouee language, with the assistance of Mokhlak Bou Yeldee, who is a very clever young man. He gets his living by writing charms, and sells a good number for the cure of disease. People pour water on the ink or writing of the charm, and then drink the magic liquid. The remedy is doubtless as effectual as many patent medicines in Europe. As is well known, this superstition of drinking the Koran is of old date.
En-Noor sent a message this morning by the slave of Makersee, that we were not to say a single word to any one, not even to our servants, about the money, or its amount, which we have paid him for our escort to Zinder. He says, "If the people hear of this money, they will all come down upon me for a portion; and if I do not comply with their wishes they will abandon us, and not go with us to Zinder, and I want as many of them to go with me as possible."