The men’s dress, among the Moors of Ludamar, differs but little from that of the Negroes (which has been already described,) except that they have all adopted that characteristic of the Mahomedan sect, the turban; which is here universally made of white cotton cloth. Such of the Moors as have long beards, display them with a mixture of pride and satisfaction, as denoting an Arab ancestry. Of this number was Ali himself; but among the generality of the people, the hair is short and bushy, and universally black. And here I may be permitted to observe, that if any one circumstance excited among them favourable thoughts towards my own person, it was my beard; which was now grown to an enormous length, and was always beheld with approbation or envy. I believe in my conscience, they thought it too good a beard for a Christian.
The only diseases which I observed to prevail among the Moors, were the intermittent fever, and dysentery: for the cure of which, nostrums are sometimes administered by their old women; but, in general, nature is left to her own operations. Mention was made to me of the small-pox, as being sometimes very destructive; but it had not, to my knowledge, made its appearance in Ludamar, while I was in captivity. That it prevails, however, among some tribes of the Moors, and that it is frequently conveyed by them to the Negroes in the southern states, I was assured, on the authority of Dr. Laidley; who also informed me, that the Negroes on the Gambia practise inoculation.
The administration of criminal justice, as far as I had opportunities of observing, was prompt and decisive. For, although civil rights were but little regarded in Ludamar, it was necessary, when crimes were committed, that examples should sometimes be made. On such occasions, the offender was brought before Ali, who pronounced, of his sole authority, what judgment he thought proper. But I understood that capital punishment was seldom or never inflicted, except on the Negroes.
Although the wealth of the Moors consists chiefly in their numerous herds of cattle; yet, as the pastoral life does not afford full employment, the majority of the people are perfectly idle, and spend the day in trifling conversation about their horses, or in laying schemes of depredation on the Negro villages.
The usual place of rendezvous for the indolent, is the King’s tent; where great liberty of speech seems to be exercised by the company towards each other; while in speaking of their chief, they express but one opinion. In praise of their sovereign, they are unanimous. Songs are composed in his honour, which the company frequently sing in concert; but they are so loaded with gross adulation, that no man but a Moorish despot, could hear them without blushing. The king is distinguished by the fineness of his dress; which is composed of blue cotton cloth, brought from Tombuctoo, or white linen or muslin from Morocco. He has likewise a larger tent than any other person, with a white cloth over it: but, in his usual intercourse with his subjects, all distinctions of rank are frequently forgotten. He sometimes eats out of the same bowl with his camel driver, and reposes himself, during the heat of the day, upon the same bed. The expences of his government and household are defrayed by a tax upon his Negro subjects, which is paid by every householder, either in corn, cloth, or gold dust; a tax upon the different Moorish Korrees, or watering-places, which is commonly levied in cattle; and a tax upon all merchandize which passes through the kingdom, and is generally collected in kind. But a considerable part of the king’s revenue arises from the plunder of individuals. The Negro inhabitants of Ludamar, and the travelling merchants, are afraid of appearing rich; for Ali, who has spies stationed in the different towns, to give him information concerning the wealth of his subjects, frequently invents some frivolous plea for seizing their property, and reducing the opulent to a level with their fellow citizens.
Of the number of Ali’s Moorish subjects, I had no means of forming a correct estimate. The military strength of Ludamar consists in cavalry. They are well mounted, and appear to be very expert in skirmishing and attacking by surprise. Every soldier furnishes his own horse, and finds his accoutrements, consisting of a large sabre, a double barrelled gun, a small red leather bag for holding his balls, and a powder horn slung over the shoulder. He has no pay, nor any remuneration but what arises from plunder. This body is not very numerous; for when Ali made war upon Bambarra, I was informed that his whole force did not exceed two thousand cavalry. They constitute, however, by what I could learn, but a very small proportion of his Moorish subjects. The horses are very beautiful, and so highly esteemed, that the Negro princes will sometimes give from twelve to fourteen slaves for one horse.
Ludamar has for its northern boundary, the Great Desert of Sahara. From the best inquiries I could make, this vast ocean of sand, which occupies so large a space in Northern Africa, may be pronounced almost destitute of inhabitants; except where the scanty vegetation which appears in certain spots, affords pasturage for the flocks of a few miserable Arabs, who wander from one well to another. In other places, where the supply of water and pasturage is more abundant, small parties of the Moors have taken up their residence. Here they live, in independent poverty, secure from the tyrannical government of Barbary. But the greater part of the Desert, being totally destitute of water, is seldom visited by any human being; unless where the trading caravans trace out their toilsome and dangerous route across it. In some parts of this extensive waste, the ground is covered with low stunted shrubs, which serve as landmarks for the caravans, and furnish the camels with a scanty forage. In other parts, the disconsolate wanderer, wherever he turns, sees nothing around him but a vast interminable expanse of sand and sky; a gloomy and barren void, where the eye finds no particular object to rest upon, and the mind is filled with painful apprehensions of perishing with thirst. “Surrounded by this dreary solitude, the traveller sees the dead bodies of birds, that the violence of the wind has brought from happier regions; and, as he ruminates on the fearful length of his remaining passage, listens with horror to the voice of the driving blast; the only sound that interrupts the awful repose of the Desert.”[12]
The few wild animals which inhabit these melancholy regions, are the antelope and the ostrich; their swiftness of foot enabling them to reach the distant watering-places. On the skirts of the Desert, where water is more plentiful, are found lions, panthers, elephants, and wild boars.
Of domestic animals, the only one that can endure the fatigue of crossing the Desert, is the camel. By the particular conformation of the stomach, he is enabled to carry a supply of water sufficient for ten or twelve days; his broad and yielding foot, is well adapted for a sandy country; and by a singular motion of his upper lip, he picks the smallest leaves from the thorny shrubs of the Desert as he passes along. The camel is, therefore, the only beast of burden employed by the trading caravans, which traverse the Desert in different directions, from Barbary to Nigritia. As this useful and docile creature has been sufficiently described by systematical writers, it is unnecessary for me to enlarge upon his properties. I shall only add, that his flesh, though to my own taste dry and unsavoury, is preferred by the Moors to any other; and that the milk of the female is in universal esteem, and is indeed sweet, pleasant, and nutritive.
I have observed that the Moors, in their complexion, resemble the Mulattoes of the West Indies; but they have something unpleasant in their aspect, which the Mulattoes have not. I fancied that I discovered in the features of most of them, a disposition towards cruelty, and low cunning; and I could never contemplate their physiognomy, without feeling sensible uneasiness. From the staring wildness of their eyes, a stranger would immediately set them down as a nation of lunatics. The treachery and malevolence of their character, are manifested in their plundering excursions against the Negro villages. Oftentimes, without the smallest provocation, and sometimes, under the fairest professions of friendship, they will suddenly seize upon the Negroes’ cattle, and even on the inhabitants themselves. The Negroes very seldom retaliate. The enterprizing boldness of the Moors, their knowledge of the country, and, above all, the superior fleetness of their horses, make them such formidable enemies, that the petty Negro states which border upon the Desert, are in continual terror while the Moorish tribes are in the vicinity, and are too much awed to think of resistance.