I hear now that, since the dispersion of the Walad Suleiman, the route of Bornou, from Kuka to the Tibboos, is quite secure.
Some lemons have been brought to me, equal in flavour, though small, to those of the north coast. In Soudan they are marvellously cheap; ten are sold at Kanou for the fiftieth part of a penny, viz. one wadâ; for the same single wadâ forty can be had at Kashna. There are forests of lemon-trees in Soudan.
The news has arrived from the salt-caravan, that Barth says that he will not return even if they threaten to cut his throat. En-Noor is at Tesaoua, and says they should return; but the salt-caravan is distant from him, and the communication between the two places is difficult.—I had scarcely written these words when the four people sent to bring back Drs. Barth and Overweg returned without them, and brought letters from my colleagues, each one stating that he should continue his journey as previously determined. Ferajee, one of the messengers, pretends that En-Noor is going with Overweg to Maradee; which is very unlikely. Dr. Barth seems very angry, but his comrade takes matters more easily.
The Shereef Kebir is said to be the only person who has money in Zinder. This man monopolises all the power and all the money. I do not know how long this will last, but I should think it will soon make both the Sultan and the people of Zinder disaffected. As it is, all the merchants of Zinder are foreigners, and so have the disposal of all the goods most coveted by the blacks, who have only the ghaseb and the cattle.
22d.—The morning is hazy and mild, the thermometer standing at 57°.
A fire broke out close to us early this morning, and two or three huts were immediately consumed. However, the people quenched the flames in a very short time. I wonder half the town is not burnt down every now and then. Visitors pour in upon me as soon as I am up and dressed; and some patients likewise.
The brother of the present Sarkee of Zinder, who ruled a year in Zinder, is called Tanimu. He has a great military reputation, and is a brave man. During his administration he razzied no less than thirty countries. Daura, or Dura, was the principal theatre of his exploits. This Daura is a country consisting of about a thousand towns and villages; four hundred belonging to the Fullans, and six hundred to the Sheikh of Bornou. The Fullanee Sultan is called Mohammed Bello, and he of the Sheikh, Sofo Lukudi. The nearest place in Daura is not more than one day S.W. of Zinder. The people of the country are remarkably expert in the use of the bow and arrow; and their arrows are very strong, piercing through, as the people say, three boxes, and afterwards killing a man. The wound of these arrows is fatal, the flesh of the smitten part rising up immediately into an enormous swelling. The brother of the present Sarkee brought in hundreds of slaves from Daura, the people at the same time having risen against the authority of the Sheikh.
The blacks of Kanou—not the Fullans—do not scarify their faces like their neighbours. The form of the shonshona of Zinder and its provinces is four cuts on each side the cheek, but not drawn very near the corner of the mouth; that is, rather towards the ears. In Tumbi and Gumel, provinces of Bornou, they draw four on the left side of the cheek and five on the right side; the cuts not drawn very near either the corner of the mouth or the ears. Maradee and Kashna have six cuts on each side of the cheek, drawn from the top of the ears down to the corner of the mouth. Gouber has four small cuts close to the corner of the mouth. The people of the Sheikh of Bornou have two small cuts drawn down the face, under each eyelid, and one in the forehead, between the eyes. Even Mekka has its shonshona. One of the shereefs here in Zinder, who was born in that holy city, has three small cuts on each side his face, drawn down the fleshy part of the cheek. It is only in Mekka that the shonshona is seen. The other countries of Arabia do not use this disfigurement.[16]
The Sheikh Lousou sent his slave to salute me on his part. They say, that had we been committed to his care, he would not have fleeced us like En-Noor. But I almost question if he would have been strong enough to protect us. I observe, again, that all the Tuaricks are well behaved in Zinder, and have a wholesome dread of the Sheikh.
Many of the domestic slaves in Zinder are constantly ironed, for fear they should run away to the neighbouring towns and villages. The poor people live just like convicts. It is only when they are taken to Kuka, or to a great distance, that their irons are struck off.