We passed the night in a camp of marabouts, who were superintending the cultivation of the lands. I remarked a great many seeds of nymphæa which were drying, and I was told that this seed is used to flavour the sangleh. I ate a little of it, but its taste was unpleasant. They also eat the bulbous root of this plant boiled in water, it has a pleasant flavour and is slightly astringent. This plant, the greatest ornament of the lakes and marigots, grows in profusion in all the lands which have been inundated, and is of great service to the Moors who live on the banks of the river. I have since learnt at St. Louis that the negroes also make use of this plant; they eat the root, boiled; and employ the seed more particularly to season their fish.
On the 16th we arrived at our camp, where I was received with fresh congratulations. The grand marabout especially was proud of my return, and seemed to attribute it to the effect which his superior wisdom had produced upon me; it was not my business to undeceive him, and it was very easy to confirm him in his error.
Hamet-Fal, his eldest son, took me aside to question me as to the reception I had met with on board the vessels. I told him, and his brother could witness the truth of what I said, that persuasions had been used to induce me to return to the whites, and that I had rejected their propositions; that I liked better to eat a little sangleh with Musulmans than to return to the christians to live in luxury; and that I hoped this sacrifice would be well pleasing to God. He took my hand, lifted it to his forehead, and then exclaimed in extacy: “Do not doubt it, Abdallah; all the good things of this world are not to be compared with those which you may expect in Heaven; in this life all is transitory; but the riches which God reserves for the faithful are eternal. The christians are rich; they have abundance of every thing; they eat a great deal, they drink wine, and spirituous liquors; they will not acknowledge the prophet: they will go to hell; this world is their paradise. As for us, we have nothing but oxen and sheep; we eat nothing but a little sangleh and drink nothing but milk and water; but we pray to God who will reward us in heaven. Nothing is to be compared with the bliss which is there enjoyed; it is renewed every hour, every minute; you have only to wish in order to obtain in abundance whatever you desire. Four great rivers flow through Paradise; one of water, one of milk, one of honey, and the fourth of brandy; but this brandy is far superior to what the christians drink and what God forbids: it is the most exquisite beverage that can be drunk. There, are to be found bowls of butter, of dates, of sangleh, in a word, all that renders life agreeable; and beauties the freshness of whose bloom never fades. Look at this fruit,” said he (holding in his hand a fruit of the zizyphus lotus); “on earth it is very small; but in Paradise it is as big as a very large liquor bottle.” (He chose this comparison because he had seen some very large liquor bottles on board the vessels at the port). “You Abdallah,” continued he, “you will occupy the first place; you will have more merit in the sight of God than all other Musulmans together, because you have renounced the comforts of life, and all the advantages which you were called to share, in order to come amongst us, subjecting yourself to privations which you never had suffered before.”
Such was the address of my marabout’s son. This man was about forty years old; he had been at St. Louis, was able to appreciate the sacrifice which I had made, and became in consequence one of my warmest friends. All doubts as to the sincerity of my conversion were now dispelled, and from this moment I was considered as a true disciple of the prophet. I was in the highest esteem with all the Moors, and hoped that this esteem would enable me to put into execution a project which I had long ago formed, of visiting all the most interesting parts of the desert; travelling as a merchant and pilgrim to Mecca, and there effecting my return through Egypt into France. My proposition however, as will hereafter be seen, was but ill received.
On the following days, I went to visit the marabouts of the camp; they all received me equally well. I will mention an anecdote which I think characteristic. One of them had killed an ox during my absence, and he knew that I had brought back some goods; he offered me a meal on condition of my giving him some tobacco; I consented. He brought a little bit of meat on a board, and began eating it with me. While he was swallowing it as fast as he could, he preached to me about abstinence, and assured me that he who eats little is beloved by God, because he likes better to pray than to satisfy his hunger (which they call being koran-stomached); and that he who thinks only of satisfying his appetite is an infidel. He flattered me much and told me that I had a Koran stomach. I gave him to understand that his device was easily seen through, and told him that though I ate little it was because I had little to eat, and that I believed other Musulmans were abstinent for the same reason. I pointed to an old man who was seated near us, and seemed half-famished; “Look at this good old man,” said I, “he has eaten nothing to-day: I will answer for it, that if you will give him some sangleh, he will show no Koran stomach, but eat it up directly.” The poor man replied: “It is true that I have tasted nothing since last night, when I had a little milk for my supper; and I shall bless him who gives me a good dinner to-day.” I told my host that if he himself made but one meal a day, it was for want of means, and not for the love of God; and I added, that if he could meet with any body who would give him as much as he liked, he would not require much pressing to eat it. “Ah,” said he, “the hassanes would perhaps take advantage of such a circumstance to eat immoderately; but a marabout would never do so.” I mentioned an occurrence which took place at the port, on board the Désirée, and to which Mohammed-Sidy-Moctar’s son was witness. Four marabouts came on board to sell a package of gum; as it is the custom to supply them with food till the goods are delivered, a supper was prepared for them. An enormous dish of rice boiled with meat, on which was poured a great quantity of butter, of which they are very fond, though they rarely eat it at home, was handed to one of the party who seemed to be the leader; he hid himself in a corner to devour it, and presently after came back and asked for supper for his three companions. The astonished agent inquired what he had done with the dish of rice which contained supper for four. “Pooh,” said the Moor, “I have eaten it all, and I am not half satisfied.” Supper was brought after this for the three others; but the greedy fellow was punished, for he had like to have died of an indigestion. My host censured the want of moderation which his colleague had shown, but I am convinced that he would not have been more discreet in a similar situation.
On the 24th of March I set out again for the port hoping to find an answer from the governor as it was now thirteen days since I wrote. We travelled W.N.W. that we might proceed direct to the port without going through Podor. On the way I was shown some of the genuine gum-trees, from which the gum had been gathered. On the 31st I arrived at the vessels. The pinnace which had taken my letter to St. Louis had returned without bringing me any answer, and I concluded that she had not waited, I took up some goods belonging to M. René Valentin, a resident at St. Louis, and I cannot speak too highly of this gentleman’s generosity towards me. On the 3rd of April I set out on my return to the camp. We wished to keep the same course which we had taken in coming, but the woods were so thick and the road so ill defined, that we lost ourselves. We travelled on at random without knowing whither, till ten o’clock at night, when we met with a marabout who was tending his flock. We requested him to direct us to the camp; he gave us equivocal answers, and told us first one way and then another, leaving us more uncertain than ever as to which we should take. We suffered terribly from thirst, for we had found no water on our journey, and followed the marabout for a long time, begging him for the love of God to show us the way; the holy man amused himself at our expense, and purposely kept back his cattle. We perceived that he was afraid lest we should attend him home, and oblige him to give us a supper; we were very hungry but we assured him that we did not want any thing to eat, and cared for nothing but a drop of water. He hesitated a long time, and at last, yielding to our entreaties, he gave us a cow to serve as our guide. As soon as the poor animal was set at liberty, she ran towards the camp, lowing; and we soon heard her calf answer: the cow proceeded to the thorn enclosure, and we to the tents, where we were better received than the behaviour of the marabout had led us to expect. All the marabouts welcomed me with great politeness, and made me recite prayers that they might judge of my progress by the number I could repeat; after this the marabout’s son and I had sangleh for supper, but our companions had nothing but milk.
On the 5th of April, we arrived at the camp; it had removed three miles to the east since we left, and was now near a marsh named Tiartiaka.
On the 6th, I was told that the governor had passed the port on his way to Podor, and that on his return he would stop to have an interview with king Hamet-Dou; I was informed also that he had expressed a wish to see me. I desired most ardently to have an interview with him and did all that lay in my power to set off again immediately. But it was not till the 8th that I could set out again for the port, where I arrived on the 10th, two days after the departure of the governor for St. Louis. I expected to find a letter, but had the mortification to learn that he had not left one for me; he had however authorized the officer who commanded the brig on that station to make some advances on my behalf; but when I applied to this officer, he told me that he had no government effects on board, and that the advance which he was ordered to make was very trifling. My wants however were urgent, and I asked for two pieces of Guinea cloth; they gave me two pieces of burham pooter,[31] but so very bad that I could not have exchanged them for millet. I wrote again to the governor, but received no answer. I suspected from that time that opposition would be made to my scheme, and my fears were afterwards realized.
Before I left the mart, I took up some more goods belonging to M. René Valentin, who had the generosity to let me have them without security. I set off on my return to the camp with a heavy heart and a head wearied with the thoughts that crowded upon me, on losing the hope which I had cherished of assistance from government for the completion of my design. I scarcely noticed what was passing around me; it was not till we halted near a lake called Tichilite el Bedane, that I perceived that my companions had purchased a sheep with the Guinea cloth which I had received on board. Two zenagues, who had followed us in the hope of coming in for a share of the sheep which they had sold, were charged with the business of dressing it. When it was cooked, the two marabouts were very generous at my expense, and we found about fifteen persons ready to partake of it: they had the precaution, however, to reserve a piece uncooked for the morrow; the marabouts took their share apart, and did not eat with the rest. On a journey they always affect to be people of prodigious importance, and shew a great deal of pride in all their actions.
The next day, when we wanted to cook the part we had saved, we were rather embarrassed by having neither gun nor flint to strike fire. I was then witness to an operation which I had never seen before, though I had heard of its being practised; the Moors took two pieces of wood, and rubbed them violently together, till they took fire, which was not for some time; the wood which they used was very hard.