TUAREG BOYS OF BAGUEZAN MOUNTAINS.
“ATAGOOM,” A TUAREG NATIVE OF AÏR IN TYPICAL DRESS.
The women wear loose cotton garb swathed about them, but, being of diminutive stature, they seldom bear anything of the native gracefulness which is often associated with the men, many of whom have more than ordinary vanity as to their appearance and carry themselves accordingly. The women are much given to wearing bright coloured cottons, and sometimes the effect in sombre surroundings is very pleasant. For ornament the women principally wear bangles both on the wrists and above the elbows, necklaces to which one or more charm is attached, and earrings.
With regard to the wealth of the natives, I think it may safely be said that they are a poor people, if we except one or two chiefs who possibly have fair means. The wealthiest individual that I questioned on this matter was a native of Timia, who possessed thirty camels, which, if valued at £12 a piece—which is a fair average price—would place his total wealth at £360. But the property of the ordinary native of Aïr is usually comprised of one or two camels and a number of goats, ranging from herds of five to thirty according to their means. The camels, besides being the means of transporting private stores of grain from the south, bring in a certain ready-cash return (usually about two francs per camel per day) when hired by traders or military authorities to make up a caravan journey to Hausaland or elsewhere. The goat-herds furnish milk, which is a staple food among the Tuaregs—liquid or in the form of cheese; while male animals are butchered from time to time, the meat eaten, and the hides turned to domestic use or sold.
The Tuaregs of Aïr appear to be a fairly healthy race, but the women do not bear large families, and I am told that there is a good deal of inbreeding wherever there are small local settlements. Outside of Agades there is no European doctor (at Agades there is a doctor, the only one north of Zinder), and the country would benefit greatly if it could support an adequate medical staff.
The language of the Tuaregs, which they call Tamāshack (Temashight and Tarkiye: Barth), is much more difficult to learn than Hausa, and is spoken in a peculiar rapid-running fashion, which makes it very difficult to grasp the distinct sounding of the vowels. Tuareg voices are often pleasantly soft and musical.
I have remarked with interest that tree names and the names of birds and animals are well-known to almost all the natives, even boys at an early age having much knowledge of the nature about them. How many of us at home can name all the trees and birds of the common roadside? But then we are really an indoor, over-civilised people, while those natives of the outdoors must know Nature and something of her secrets, since she provides their livelihood: food, building material, ropes, saddlery, leather, clothing, dyes, medicines, even luxuries—all that is essential to man’s needs, the Tuareg harvests from his countryside, in small portion, whether he seek among the branch-tops, or digs at the tree-roots, or kills with arrow or noose-trap, or sows and reaps grain with the two hands Creation gave him and little else besides the scraps of metal he fashions to bring to his aid.
On the other hand, so far as one can observe, these natives do not discern beauty in the scenes about them, and I have often witnessed them pass by some exceptionally fair picture without paying the slightest attention to it. They are, however, attracted by strange shapes, such as are often to be seen among the rugged mountain-tops, and they sometimes exclaim and point these out.
These natives have also some meagre knowledge of the great world outside their own land: no doubt scraps of information brought to their ears by their Mohammedan priests, or by those who have made the pilgrimage to Mecca and returned alive. They know, for instance, that there are such races as Japanese and Indians; while they have a Tamāshack name for fish, and know that this is a creature that lives in the water and is good to eat, though none exist anywhere in Aïr.
The Mohammedan religion, and sects of Mohammedanism, such as Senussi, constitute the faith of the natives of Aïr, and they are very devout.
In their domestic life, it seems to me, the Tuaregs know little of the beauty of love. Marriage to them is something of an animal instinct, and the devotion of the men is never sacred to one woman, for they have usually from two to four wives. As an instance of their apparent lack of deep devotion, I have seen Tuaregs, after being away on a journey with their camels for months, return to their home-village and alight on the outskirts to enter into promiscuous conversation with the crowd of men that quickly gather to hear the news the travellers bring, and have known them to spend hours thus engaged before they give a thought to go forward to their huts to greet their wives and children: surely a strange indifference to domestic devotion on the part of men who have been long away from home.
In daily life it is the custom of the natives to rise before daylight, and they are already started on the road if they are travelling, or at work about their hut doors if they are in camp, before dawn lightens the eastern horizon. But you are not to conclude from this that they are energetic people, far from it; I believe that, except when travelling, the men are the laziest people I have ever met. By 8 a.m. I have known men to lie down in their huts, and not again make any attempt to rise and exert themselves until 4 or 5 p.m. in the cool of the evening. The dreadfully hot climate tends towards such laziness, but without doubt it is inherent in the blood. And their lazy life begins in childhood, for at an early age the children are sent out by their parents to herd the goats; and through the heat of a long day the youngsters chiefly spend their time sleeping or idling beneath the shade of acacias while the animals wander at no great range. In the cool of the evening the herd-boys wake to exertion, and if flocks have strayed while unattended, they have merely to follow their footprints in the tell-tale sand to come up with them and drive them home to the village.
It is pleasant to be near a native village at sundown: to hear the clear voice of some woman who sets out along a bypath uttering some strange peculiar call known only to her herd, who will in time bleat an answer; then, so that they may be milked and sheltered for the night from prowling, destructive jackals, to see her humour them slowly homeward, repeating her call the while, as the active animals run from bush to bush in haste to ferret out a few last mouthfuls of supper; while shadows of evening deepen and the comfort of coolness sets men and women rejoicing in the village. Then may be heard, above the talk and laughter of the villagers, the thud! thud! thud! of pestle poles as women crush grain for the evening meal in wooden mortar-bowls, and the cries of nursling livestock that await their feeding-time— the bleat of suckling goats and the unhappy roaring call of the milk-hungry, impatient camel-calves.
It is the women who work: they who carry water, tend the beasts, collect firewood, prepare the evening meal; and, besides their many domestic tasks, to them also is credit due for teaching their children all that they know of home-work and bush-work, of school-learning and legend, of folksong and dance.
I would say of the Tuareg men that they are adventurers of the road; seen at a disadvantage in their villages, but active and able when away with their caravans—superb camel-riders, observant trackers, and endowed with that marvellous second sense of direction which belongs only to natives.
CHAPTER XVI
HEADING FOR HOME
Who of us who have lived in Out of the World places do not know the boundless pleasure that is ours in those memorable hours when trammels are cast aside and, task-free and care-free, we are at liberty to set out Homeward Bound! on that dream-journey that has ever been treasured as something finer than gold and oft our solace in the bitterest hours of solitude! And, at Agades, while packing up and preparing to go south, I confess to spending days of exultation, while honest John went about with a perpetual smile on his face: for he too was at last going home!
I left Agades, en route to the south, on 10th August, with a caravan of camels bearing boxes and bales containing my complete collections.
We had no sooner departed than we experienced terrible weather: sandstorms succeeded by thunderstorms and rain, which for the next six days caused me considerable anxiety in my efforts to protect the precious cases of specimens from damage.
On the second day we camped below Tegguidi cliff in a regular land of flood, while thunderstorm raged and rain swept down upon us in torrents, and we spent a miserable night, standing ankle-deep in water, unable to lie down on the ground to sleep.
Next day we were in the centre of lakes of water, and it was impossible for the caravan-camels to travel; indeed, it was not until late morning on the following day that the water subsided sufficiently to permit of foothold for the camels and we were able to load up and, with difficulty, get out of the predicament.
The advent of Rains had set the game moving northward out of the bush-country, and, when travelling between Tegguidi and Abellama, great numbers were seen out on open plains which had been bleak and barren sand-wastes when I had passed northward, but which now contained patches of fresh grass-greenness. Dama Gazelles (Gazella dama damergouensis, subsp. nov.: Hausa: Mena) were most numerous, and many large herds of them were seen, and I counted herds of 37, 44, and 84. Dorcas Gazelles (Gazella dorcas dorcas: Hausa: Matakundi) were also plentiful, while I also saw a few handsome White Oryx (Oryx algazel algazel).
A day later Egyptian kites and marabou, and black and white storks were very common feeding on the abundance of locusts which now infested the green vegetation, the former catching locusts on the wing or swooping to pick them off grass-blades with their well-known dexterity. None of these birds had been present in this locality in the dry season.
On 16th August I reached the lonely post of Aderbissinat, and camped there for two weeks while collecting waterfowl and hunting again for ostrich. Much water had collected in ponds in Aderbissinat valley, and here, and henceforth, territory that had appeared bleak and barren when I passed northward was now green and fresh and well-watered, and completely changed in aspect. Waterfowl were unknown in the territory in the dry season, but now I found them plentiful: geese, ducks, waders; even gulls. But the advent of rain had brought one evil upon Aderbissinat—it was infested with mosquitoes, and much malaria was prevalent among the native soldiers of the Fort.
AGADES FORT, BUILT WITH CLAY-MUD.
CAUGHT IN FLOOD RAINS BELOW TEGGUIDI.
Aderbissinat, as I have already stated, is on the southern borders of Aïr, and in departing from it on 30th August I bid final farewell to the strange land I had come so far to explore.
In pursuit of my zoological research I calculate my camel-caravan travelled the following distances in Aïr:
| Miles | |
| Aderbissinat to Agades | 93½ |
| Agades to Tasessat, Baguezan Mountains | 79 |
| Tasessat to Timia | 49 |
| Timia to Iferouan | 77 |
| Iferouan to Aguellal | 31 |
| Aguellal to Assodé | 40 |
| Assodé to Timia | 30 |
| Timia to Tasessat via east side of Baguezan | 73 |
| Tasessat to Agades | 79 |
| Agades to Aouderas via Tilisdak river | 62 |
| Aouderas to Agades via east side of Tarrouaji | 93 |
| Agades to Aderbissinat | 93½ |
| Total caravan travel in Aïr | 800 |
| Kano to Aderbissinat | 303 |
| Aderbissinat to Kano | 303 |
| Total travel with camels | 1,406 |
There is one point I would like to refer to before departing from the subject of Aïr. Aïr has been termed in the past on African maps and in textbooks a great “oasis,” a word which I take it means a “fertile place in a sandy desert”; a concise enough explanation, unless one endows it with a wider, less clearly defined latitude. But it appears to me that such a term applied to Aïr, inferring as it does that the country is fertile, is an imposition on the word that is apt to be misleading to anyone who endeavours to conceive, through the medium of description, the real composition of the country. And I hold this belief because during the dry season I cannot imagine a more barren country than Aïr in all the world: mountain after mountain of bare rock and far-reaching lowlands of nothing but dark gravel-covered ground, bleak as a ploughed field in winter time, except for scant rifts of green along shallow sandy river-beds or close under mountain slopes. Without doubt Aïr is bleak almost as the veriest desert: the one a vast lifeless scene of rock and boulder and pebble, the other great wastes of sand. For my own part, therefore, I am happier and much more sure of my ground when, in speaking of the country, I refer to it nominally as “The mountain land of Aïr,” and am sure that at the present time it has no real claim to be termed an “oasis” unless in the height of a good season of rain.
From Aderbissinat I travelled south to Tanout, where I camped in the hope of securing an ostrich, as I had met with no success in hunting for those birds up till that time. Here, however, owing solely to the keenness of the French officer at the Fort, I managed to secure a very fine adult male ostrich, which proved on later examination to be the same species as is found elsewhere in Africa: Struthio camelus camelus. Those birds carry a large quantity of fat, and the task of skinning this specimen, and cleaning and drying the skin free of oily matter with due regard to keeping the rich plumes unsoiled, occupied no less than two days.
Tanout, like everywhere else now, was greatly changed since I had passed north, and I found all the inhabitants in the fields cultivating large areas of millet which had already sprung up almost to man-height. All natives declare it has been a bountiful and wonderful season of rain; which has fallen here earlier than farther north.
North of Tanout the country is uninhabited (except for a few roving Tuaregs) and uncultivated; but on resuming the journey south of this Fort, I thenceforth passed green fields of millet each day.
I need not dwell further on my return journey to Nigeria, via Zinder, for it was henceforth, until our destination was reached, simply routine of continual wearisome grinding travel, while I suffered from fitful attacks of malaria which I had contracted at Aderbissinat.
On 22nd September I re-entered Kano. All that I find recorded in my diary of this, to me, memorable day is: “The trail has ended—the camels have gone and faithful Dogo—and I miss the fretful roar of the beasts, and the soft speech of the Tuaregs, and the glow of the camp-fire. . . . Everyone is most kind in welcoming me safely back.” But it needs no diary to recall the day of my arrival in Kano—when the long trail finished, and riding saddles and pack saddles and a band of sorely tried camels were freed upon the sand from precious loads of specimens which they had carried for many months. That great last day when work was done—the burden and worry of it all thrown to the four winds—the warm handshake of friends awaiting to welcome me in—a day, indeed, rare in a lifetime.
Yes! I was back among my own people at last, had drifted in unannounced like the sandstorms that fitfully bore me company from the north, no one knowing of my coming until a ragged figure was in the streets of the European settlement, where civilisation and railway begin and the desolation of the Sudan ends.
Fourteen hundred miles lay behind me in my camels’ tracks, and all of the months of a year but one since the day I left home.
Assuredly, and perhaps I may be forgiven for thinking so, it was good to be back on British soil, good to hear my own tongue spoken, and good to look on the broad grin on John’s face. “Kano is sweet past Zinder,” he had said long ago, and boarding the steamer at Lagos a few days later, while honest John stood by with tears in his eyes and repeated injunctions that “master” was to hurry to return, I said to him: “Yes, John, what you mean is: ‘Home is sweet past anywhere else on earth—and you are right!’” And I stepped on board, followed by John’s parting cry ringing in my ears: “Sai wata rana” (Farewell till another day).
APPENDIX
NEW SPECIES AND SUBSPECIES DISCOVERED DURING THE EXPEDITION
NEW SPECIES AND SUBSPECIES OF MAMMALS (OTHER THAN RUMINANTS)
Described by Messrs. Oldfield Thomas and Martin A. C. Hinton of the British Museum (Natural History). (The complete collection is fully described by Messrs. Thomas and Hinton in Novitates Zoologicæ, the Journal of the Tring Museum, vol. xxviii., pp. 1-13, 1921.)
| Locality taken | |
| Wild cat: Felis haussa sp. nov. | Kano and Damagarim. |
| Caracal (Lynx): Caracal caracal poecilotis subsp. nov. | Baguezan Mts. |
| Pale sand-coloured fox: Vulpes pallida harterti subsp. nov. | Damergou and Aïr. |
| Silver-grey fox: Vulpes rüppelli cæsia subsp. nov. | Aïr. |
| Striped weasel: Poecilictis rothschildi sp. nov. | Kano. |
| Ground Squirrel: Euxerus erythropus agadius subsp. nov. | Aïr. |
| Naked-soled gerbil: Taterillus gracilis angelus subsp. nov. | Kano. |
| Nigerian hairy-soled gerbil: Gerbillus nigeriæ sp. nov. | Kano and Damagarim. |
| Dwarf gerbil: Desmodilliscus buchanani sp. nov. | Kano. |
| Fat-tailed mouse: Steatomys cuppedius sp. nov. | Kano. |
| Giant rat: Cricetomys buchanani sp. nov. | Kano. |
| Dwarf mouse: Leggada haussa sp. nov. | Kano and Damagarim. |
| Spiney rock mouse: Acomys airensis sp. nov. | Aïr. |
| Striped bush mouse: Lemniscomys olga sp. nov. | Damergou. |
| Jerboa: Jaculus jaculus airensis subsp. nov. | Damergou and Aïr. |
| Gundi: Massoutiera rothschildi sp. nov. | Aïr. |
| Short-eared hare: Lepus canopus sp. nov. | Kano. |
| Rock dassie: Procavia buchanani sp. nov. | Aïr. |
With regard to the entire collection of mammals (other than Ruminants), in which is contained the above species and subspecies which are new, the British Museum paper, in the foreword makes the following appreciative statements:
“Thanks to the kindness of Lord Rothschild we are now able to give a list of the complete collection made by Captain Buchanan, both of such further mammals as he obtained in the Kano region and of those which he got northwards to Aïr itself, which he explored most successfully.
As this is a country which has been hitherto entirely out of the ken of mammalogists, we were prepared to expect a considerable number of new forms to be discovered, but we certainly never expected that so very high a proportion of the species would be new. Indeed we believe it may safely be said that in the history of mammalogy no collection containing so high a proportion of novelties has ever come to Europe from a continental locality.
In all, the collection contains 36 species and subspecies, of which no less than 18 are new, 6 of these latter having been described in our previous paper. Considering the comparatively barren nature of the country, and the number of mammals usually found to occur in any given area, the capture of 36 forms indicates that Captain Buchanan has been highly successful in getting a full representation of the fauna of the districts he has worked in. . . .
“As already stated, the National Museum has to thank Lord Rothschild for a full set of the mammals dealt with, including all the types. The skins are all beautifully prepared, and Captain Buchanan is to be congratulated on the great value that his collection has proved to possess.”
NEW SUBSPECIES OF UNGULATE MAMMALS
Described by Lord Rothschild, F.R.S., Ph.D. (The complete collection of Ungulate Mammals is fully described by Lord Rothschild in Novitates Zoologicæ, the Journal of the Tring Museum, vol. xxviii., pp. 75-77, 1921.)
| Locality taken | |
| Arui, Udad, or Barbary sheep: Ammotragus lervia angusi subsp. nov. (Largest head collected: right horn 21 in. over curve; left horn 20⁸⁄₁₀ in.) | Aïr. |
| Dama gazelle: Gazella dama damergouensis subsp. nov. (Largest head collected: length of horns 5⁶⁄₁₀ ins.) | Damergou. |
NEW SUBSPECIES OF BIRDS
Described by Dr. Ernst Hartert, Director of Tring Museum. (The complete collection of Birds is fully described by Dr. Hartert in Novitates Zoologicæ, vol. xxviii., pp. 78-141, 1921.)
| Locality taken | |
| Subsaharan striped kingfisher: Halcyon chelicuti eremogiton subsp. nov. | Kano and Damagarim. |
| Straight-billed wood-hoopoe: Scoptelus aterrimus cryptostictus subsp. nov. | Aïr. |
| Golden goatsucker: Caprimulgus eximus simplicior subsp. nov. | Damagarim and Damergou. |
| Sand martin: Riparia obsoleta buchanani subsp. nov. | Aïr. |
| Sombre rock-chat: Cercomela melanura airensis subsp. nov. | Aïr. |
| Northern ant-eating wheatear[11]: Myrmecocichla æthiops buchanani subsp. nov. | Kano, Damagarim, and Damergou. |
| Saharan bush-babbler: Crateropus fulvus buchanani subsp. nov. | Aïr. |
| Grey bush-babbler: Crateropus plebejus anomalus subsp. nov. | Kano. |
| Long-tailed sunbird: Nectarinia pulchella ægra subsp. nov. | Kano, Damagarim, and Aïr. |
| Crested shrike: Prionops plumatus haussarum subsp. nov. | Kano. |
| Asben brown pipit[11]: Anthus sordidus asbenaicus subsp. nov. | Aïr. |
| Dunn’s desert lark: “Calendula” dunni pallidor subsp. nov. | Damergou. |
| Small rock sparrow: Petronia dentata buchanani subsp. nov. | Damagarim. |
| Pencil-crowned weaver-bird: Sporopipes frontalis pallidior subsp. nov. | Damagarim and Damergou. |
Dr. Hartert, in his most interesting foreword to his paper (which deals extensively with the zoo-geographical history of the Sahara and the important information which the Expedition has brought to light in that connection), states two facts which have a particular bearing on the value of the collection of birds:
“Zoologically Aïr remained absolutely unknown until Buchanan’s expedition. It was with great satisfaction to myself that Lord Rothschild fell in with my ideas about it, with his usual zeal and interest in all scientific exploration, and that Captain Buchanan accepted the offer to make a collecting trip to Aïr for the Tring Museum. The exploration of that country has been in my mind since 1886. . . . It was one of my many unfulfilled dreams of life to visit Asben myself, but I have never given up hope one day to see natural history specimens from there. . . .
“Captain Buchanan obtained skins of 168 species. In a country which, to a great extent, is desert and therefore poor in animal life, and considering that he also collected as many Lepidoptera and mammalia as possible, this is a very fine collection.”
NEW SPECIES AND SUBSPECIES OF BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS
Described by Lord Rothschild, F.R.S., Ph.D. (The complete collection is fully described by Lord Rothschild in Novitates Zoologicæ.)
| BUTTERFLIES | |
| Locality taken | |
| Teracolus amelia f. arid. insignis f. nov. | Kano. |
| Teracolus celimene angusi subsp. nov. | Damagarim. |
| Teracolus liagore f. pluv. liagoroides f. nov. | Aïr. |
| Eronia bugueti buchanani subsp. nov. | Damergou. |
| Terias flavicola f. arid. parva f. nov. | Kano. |
| Vivachola livia pallescens subsp. nov. | Damagarim and Aïr. |
| Spindasis buchanani sp. nov. | Kano and Damagarim. |
| MOTHS | |
| Aegocera brevivitta rectilineoides subsp. nov. | Damergou. |
| Timora buchanani sp. nov. | Aïr. |
| Timora terracottoides sp. nov. | Damagarim. |
| Adisura affinis sp. nov. | Damagarim. |
| Eublemma dissoluta sp. nov. | Damagarim. |
| Eublemma bipartita sp. nov. | Damergou. |
| Eublemma perkea sp. nov. | Damagarim. |
| Eublemma pseudonoctna sp. nov. | Damagarim. |
| Ozarba damagarima sp. nov. | Damagarim, Damergou, and Aïr. |
| Pseudozarba abbreviata sp. nov. | Aïr. |
| Pseudozarba bella sp. nov. | Aïr. |
| Enlocastra sahariensis sp. nov. | Damagarim. |
| Enlocastra pseudozarboides sp. nov. | Aïr. |
| Tarache buchanani sp. nov. | Damergou and Aïr. |
| Tarache asbenensis sp. nov. | Aïr. |
| Crypsotidia griseola sp. nov. | Damagarim. |
| Crypsotidia parva sp. nov. | Kano. |
| Grammodes buchanani sp. nov. | Damagarim. |
| Parachalciope mixta sp. nov. | Locality not noted. |
| Raphia buchanani sp. nov. | Kano. |
| Rhynchina sahariensis sp. nov. | Damagarim, Damergou, and Aïr. |
| Rhynchina buchanani sp. nov. | Aïr. |
| Hypena sordida sp. nov. | Damagarim. |
| Casama griseola sp. nov. | Damagarim and Damergou. |
| Acidaliastis micra dissimilis ab. saturata ab. nov. | Aïr. |
| Tephrina quadriplaga sp. nov. | Damergou. |
| Paropta buchanani sp. nov. | Aïr. |
| Anadiasa sahariensis sp. nov. | Aïr. |
| Pachypasa concolor sp. nov. | Aïr. |
| Miresa coccinea intensior subsp. nov. | Damagarim. |
| Ommatopteryx hampsoni sp. nov. | Aïr. |
| Ommatopteryx asbenicola sp. nov. | Aïr. |
| Surattha albostigmata sp. nov. | Aïr. |
| Heterographis medioalba sp. nov. | Damergou. |
| Heterographis airensis sp. nov. | Aïr. |
| Heterographis eximia sp. nov. | Aïr. |
| Heterographis sahariensis sp. nov. | Damagarim and Aïr. |
| Heterographis cretaceogrisea sp. nov. | Damagarim, Damergou, and Aïr. |
| Homœosoma straminea sp. nov. | Damagarim. |
| Homœosoma basalis sp. nov. | Aïr. |
| Homœosoma asbenicola sp. nov. | Aïr. |
| Brephia inconspicua sp. nov. | Aïr. |
| Brephia gracilis sp. nov. | Aïr. |
| Crocidomera intensifasciata sp. nov. | Aïr. |
| Pogononeura buchanani sp. nov. | Aïr. |
| Anerastia aurantiaca sp. nov. | Aïr. |
| Pterothrix damergouensis sp. nov. | Damergou. |
| Crocolia africana sp. nov. | Damergou and Aïr. |
| Pyralis soudanesis sp. nov. | Damagarim, Damergou, and Aïr. |
| Tyndis umbrosus sp. nov. | Aïr. |
| Bostra asbenicola sp. nov. | Aïr. |
| Dattima buchanani sp. nov. | Aïr. |
| Dattima dubiosa sp. nov. | Aïr. |
| Marasmia hampsoni sp. nov. | Kano. |
| Loxostege damergouensis sp. nov. | Damergou. |
| Cybolomia azzalana sp. nov. | Aïr. |
| Cybolomia ledereri sp. nov. | Damergou. |
| Cybolomia fenestrata sp. nov | Aïr. |
| Metasia angustipennis sp. nov. | Damagarim. |
| Metasia parallelalis sp. nov. | Damagarim. |
| Tegostoma camparalis sahariensis subsp. nov. | Damergou and Aïr. |
MAP OF
THE AUTHOR’S ROUTE
INDEX
- A
- Abellama, 129
- Aderbissinat outpost, 125, 243
- Administrative headquarters, 78
- Agades, ancient, 134
- Agalak mountains, 181
- Agaraguer mountain, 189
- Agoras river, 185, 189, 203, 206
- Aguellal mountains, 200
- Aguellal, south of, 202
- Aïr, barren nature of, 153, 167, 187, 199, 222
- entered, 125
- mountains in view, 134
- nature of foothills, 149, 151, 166, 216
- northern end, 195
- places where water, 150, 152, 193, 195, 201, 224
- stricken, 186
- travel ends, 231
- Altitudes, Aïr, 150, 152, 167, 184, 189, 192, 199, 202, 217, 220, 222, 224, 228
- Ancient stone huts, 171
- Animals discovered, 247
- trapping, 66
- An isolated walled town, 75
- Ants, white, 57, 146
- Aouderas mountains, 151, 224
- village, 223
- Area of Kano, 27
- A remarkable individual, 7, 98
- Arra district, 151
- Assodé, 204
- Atagoom and Saidi, 177
- A wonderful city, 19
- Azzal, 220
- B
- Baban Tubki, 58
- Baguezan, east of, 215
- mountains, 151, 164
- plateau, 166, 168, 179
- Barbara village, 53
- Barbary sheep, 152, 163, 202, 216, 225, 230
- Beauty in Africa, 169
- Beri-Beri hunter, a, 97
- Birds, collecting, 62
- rare, 153, 197, 220, 250
- Bilma oasis, 172
- Border of desert, 95, 110
- Boundaries of Aïr, 127, 161, 165
- Bushland, end of, 83
- Bustard, Arab, 89
- Butterflies and moths, 67, 218, 251
- C
- Camel corps, 137
- Camels, alarming decline of, 92
- in mountains, 165, 179
- of Hausaland, 41
- on loading, 45
- stolen, 212
- Camps, hunting, 36, 58, 93, 152, 166, 213, 225
- Caravans, composition of, 41
- Caravan travelling started, 48
- Cartridges, 62
- Chief killed by robbers, 148, 227
- of Aouderas, 225
- of Baguezan, 148, 153, 162, 174
- Climate, 60, 78, 101, 130, 173
- change? 188
- Collecting in Damergou, 106
- in Nigeria, 37
- Collecting, scientific, 60, 71, 121
- Companionship, regarding, 219
- Comparison of distances, 74
- Construction of mud huts, 24, 77, 142
- Country changing, 56, 83, 86
- nature of Damagarim, 57, 73, 83, 85
- of Damergou, 86, 89, 93, 245
- north of Kano, 49
- of bad repute, 175
- Cultivation in Aïr, 139, 183, 220, 223
- Currency, drawbacks of, 39
- D
- Damagarim territory, 58
- Dambiri village, 86
- Damergou territory, 90
- Date Aïr occupied, 136
- of British occupation, 20
- of French occupation, 79
- palms, 183, 193, 195, 217, 223
- Declining population, 77
- Delayed at Kano, 35
- Deserted villages, 152, 186, 189, 201, 204, 217, 224
- Desert entered, the, 129
- the shores of, 83
- Desolate country, 133
- Difficulties at start, 46
- Discomforts of Harmattan, 18
- Discouraging rumours, 82
- Distance travelled, 243
- Dogo village, 57
- Dry season, the, 102
- Dwelling, an outpost, 145
- E
- Engaging natives, 6, 23, 178
- Escort, 96, 122, 148, 177, 184
- European population, Kano, 21
- Expedition ends, 246
- F
- Fachi oasis, 172
- Faodet mountains, 189
- Food plentiful in Nigeria, 53
- Forest and bush, 15
- Fox trapped, 65, 161
- French forts, 54, 78, 91, 125, 137
- frontier, 54
- mission to Agades, 136
- Friendly fact, a, 20
- G
- Gazelle, Dama, 104, 151, 216, 242
- Dorcas, 59, 89, 104, 151, 191, 200, 216, 242
- Red-fronted, 53, 59, 85, 104
- Geological change? 187
- Giant walls, 27
- Giraffe, 86, 105, 113
- Gorge, mouth of Timia, 182
- Goundaï mountain, 185, 206
- Grain, chief native food, 139
- Grain-growing country, 90, 245
- Green growth, 217, 242, 245
- Ground-nut boom, 49
- Growing poverty, 86
- Guarding camels, 160
- Guide, a native, 184, 197
- Guns, 61
- H
- Harmattan, the, 17, 52, 56
- Hausa names of game, 105
- phrasing, 34
- race, boundary of, 81, 87
- salutation, 24
- Heat intense, 78, 103, 128, 130, 223
- Hive of industry, a, 28
- Homeward! 241
- Horses, country unfit for, 113
- Kano, 30
- Hunting, a morning’s, 61
- unlucky, 103, 110, 120
- Huts of Kano, 22
- I
- Iferouan, 194
- Igouloulof, 185
- Illness, 131
- Inhabited villages, Aïr, 139
- J
- Jigawa, 53
- John, 1, 51, 122, 246
- K
- Kano market, 29
- Northern Nigeria, 16
- Kano’s defences, 27
- Kings, primitive, 143
- Kites, Egyptian, 242
- Korrigum, 105
- L
- Lagos, 10
- Lagos-Kano railway, 13
- Lagos lagoon, 5
- Land of immense possibilities, 15
- Life in Kano, 31
- Lost ammunition, 37
- M
- Magaria fort, 54
- Malaria, 222, 243
- Map and compass, 198, 204
- Margin of mountainland, the, 231
- Market, village, 87
- Military force in Aïr, 137
- rule, 77
- Mirage, 220
- Modes of transport, 29
- Mosque, Assodé, 205
- Tintaghoda, 193
- Mosquitoes, 191, 243
- Mountain climate, 173
- scenery, wild, 180, 224
- stronghold, 165, 169
- Mountains, rugged, 153
- N
- Native dress, 235
- hunter, a, 99, 122
- limitations, 2
- personnel, 35
- population, Agades, 138
- Aïr, 232
- Baguezan, 172
- Damergou, 92
- Kano, 21
- scouts, 148
- soldiers, 138
- taxidermists, 9
- weapons, 97
- Natives of Damagarim, 58, 77, 80
- of Lagos, 11
- shot, 211
- suspicious, 174
- uneasy, 82, 121
- Nigeria’s needs, 14
- Northern Aïr, 177
- Notability of local kings, 143
- O
- Oasis, the term, 244
- Oryx, white, 105, 113, 242
- Ostrich foods, 116
- hunting, 95, 245
- scarcity of, 108
- trap, 118
- Outfit, 39
- P
- Palm belts, 16
- Pass into Baguezan, 165, 179
- Pets, 54
- “Pigeon English,” 33
- Pilgrim routes, old, 135, 221
- Plants, Kano, common, 17
- Population grows less, 58, 77
- Preparations for journey, 39
- Prestige of white men, 125
- Produce of Aïr, 139
- Prospering trade, 50
- R
- Race, a question of, 2
- Rainfall scant, 90, 115
- Rains, 159, 161, 185, 217, 222, 227, 230, 241, 245
- Rains, local, 219
- Remote territory, 38, 75
- Rising of 1916, 137, 186
- Robber tracks, 194, 207
- Robbers attack Timia, 209, 213
- dread of, 97, 157, 223
- Hogar, 214
- persistent, 137, 227
- Routine of travelling, 51
- Ruins of the past, 171, 187
- Rumours of robbers, 82
- S
- Sahara Desert, 129
- remote, 38
- Sand and bleakness, 18
- Sandstorms, 241
- Sand tracks, heavy, 56
- Scarcity of food, 83, 138, 200
- of water, 89, 93, 126, 228
- Sentry posted, 185
- Skinning lessons, 8
- specimens, 67
- Skins complete, 68, 70
- Solitude, weight of, 75
- Spring for a moment, 229
- Sultan of Agades, traitor, 137
- Sultan’s palace, 140
- Suspicious of stranger, 164
- T
- Takoukout country, 95, 110
- Tamgak mountains, 192
- Tanout, 88
- Tarrouaji hills, 228
- Tarusszgreet summit, 167
- Tebernit valley, 216
- Tegguidi cliff, 132
- Teouar village, 217
- Thunderstorms, 189, 219, 241
- Time to hunt, 61
- Timia, 183
- Tom-tom proclamations, 87
- Tragedy, relics of a, 159
- Transport animals, 41
- Travel by night, 123
- Treaty between Britain and France, 79
- Trees of Aïr, 149, 151, 194
- Tuareg huts, 170, 183
- natives, 93, 138, 173, 232
- U
- Untravelled land, 172
- V
- Vegetable gardens, 55
- Villages in Baguezan mountains, 170
- W
- Walls of Kano, the, 27
- of Zinder, 76
- Wares in native markets, 29
- Water, foul, 203
- Wild life of Kano, 36
- men, 190
- Wireless, 137
- Y
- Yashmak, 234
- Z
- Zinder, 73
- Zoological geography, 59, 72