I had now been nine days with Mohammed-Sidy-Moctar, and not a word had been said about teaching me. I applied to the eldest of Mohammed’s sons, who wrote the Arabic alphabet upon a board for me, and told me to learn it by heart; I could not do it alone and begged him to help me; and I afterwards applied to his brothers, but seldom found them disposed to take the least trouble with me: they liked better to loll in their tents and to chat or sleep. In other respects, my situation was more agreeable than in the king’s camp; I never suffered from hunger, for I had commonly sangleh twice a-day with a little milk to it. At noon and at ten o’clock at night they gave me my allowance. At noon I had sometimes cheni instead of sangleh, and sometimes my sangleh was moistened with cheni and butter; but this mess was always so filthy, that I often went without my dinner on account of the nasty way in which the butter is made; nevertheless it is a great luxury amongst the Moors—none but the rich eat it, and they very seldom. The marabouts live better than the hassanes because they employ their slaves in gathering haze; the men eat sangleh once a-day, and drink milk at night; the women live entirely upon milk. In the dry season, when milk is scarce, the marabouts go to Fouta to buy millet in exchange for cattle and Guinea cloth. Those who have no means of buying it, content themselves with what milk they have; and to a certainty they are very ill off, for in the months of February and March the best cows do not give above two bottles a day. The poor who have no herds of their own are maintained by their tribe, every inhabitant of the camp in turn giving them the milk of one cow; this however is only amongst the marabouts.
Those who have large herds and flocks kill a cow or a sheep, but it is a rare event: during the seven months that I spent in Mohammed-Sidy-Moctar’s tent, only ten were killed, and those during the dry season, for they are never killed when milk is abundant, or after the millet harvest.
The wealthiest hassanes eat meat once a day; some, however, from economy, refrain from it for several days. They are great gluttons, and if they were to eat as much as they liked, their flocks would not be capable of supplying their wants. They never eat to their heart’s content except on a journey, when they can levy contributions upon their hosts.
CHAPTER III.
Method of cultivating and using millet. — Character of the hassanes or warriors. — The balanites ægyptiaca, its fruit, method of extracting oil from it. — Quarrel excited by a woman. — Manner of protecting oneself from cold in the tents. — Method of collecting gum. — Marriages of the marabouts, and of the hassanes. — Inheritance of property. — Method of tanning leather. — Dress of the Moors.
The millet is reaped at the end of May; at that time the marabouts receive it from their slaves and the hassanes from their zenagues, or tributaries. This millet supports them till the month of July when the rainy season commences; they then withdraw from the banks of the river, and live entirely on milk. If any millet remains, it is laid by till the next dry season.
In the month of November, when the waters begin to subside, the Moors send their slaves to sow the ground which has been flooded by the rains, or by the overflowing of the river. It is at this season also, that the zenagues come down to the banks of the river to cultivate millet. The slaves of the same camp lodge together, and cultivate the same district; each field is marked out, and the produce carefully kept in a separate place. Their method of cultivation is exceedingly bad, but it gives them little trouble. With a thick stick they make holes in the ground six inches deep, and into these holes they drop three or four grains of millet, covering them with sand or light mould. They never prepare the ground in any way, and only weed it after the millet has come up. To save themselves trouble they select a poor soil, because a richer would require more weeding, and they are naturally lazy. When the seed is sown, they wait quietly till the millet makes it appearance, then thin it a little, and weed round the roots to give it air; many do no more than this, and suffer the grass to grow up between the roots.
When the ear begins to show, they stay in the field to drive away the birds, which would devour the grain before it is ripe; and this occupation does not allow them a moment’s rest: they walk about the field incessantly, shouting and throwing stones, and at night they lie down among it to protect it from gazelles, porcupines, and wild boars, which would make great havoc.
When the millet is ripe, they cut it, and thrash it with sticks. The grain is put into sacks, and carried to the camp, and those who have reaped more than they are likely to want carry the surplus to the markets, and sell it to the dealers.