On the 11th, at five in the morning, we continued our journey still in the same direction. One of the marabouts was going the same way, and we travelled in company. The soil, consisting of yellow sand, was covered with khakhames. We passed near eight or ten tombs, and as soon as my fellow-travellers descried them at a distance, they exclaimed: Salam aleycoom; la allah ila allahou! (Peace be with you; there is only one God.) We stopped to pray, which gave me time to examine the tombs. Mounds are raised upon the bodies, and at the head of each is a flat stone, on which is written the name of the deceased. After a short prayer, we each threw a small branch of a tree on the tombs; my companions then went to the grave of a celebrated marabout which had a hole a foot deep at the head; they took earth from this hole, and rubbed their foreheads, breasts, and backs with it, and then invited me to follow their example; from which I inferred that all passers-by were expected to perform this ceremony.
At eleven o’clock, we arrived at the camp of the Dheiolebere tribe, of which my marabout was the chief; we had then travelled ten miles. We rested here during the heat of the day, and they gave us water to refresh ourselves. At two, we continued our journey towards the west, over a rich black argillaceous soil. We came again to the rivulet, and at six o’clock we halted at el-Khara Hett-Louhed-lahi. A little before we reached the place, we were espied by a troop of women, who were gathered around a drum; two youths, with each a stick, were beating this drum; and the women kept time, clapping their hands, singing, and making a thousand contortions without changing their places. As soon as they perceived me, they left their amusement and came to torment me; gathering around the bullock on which I was seated, they pulled me by the legs, pinched me, and screamed frightfully whenever I moved. In vain the marabout who was with me attempted to drive them away, and assured them I was a Musulman; they pursued me, shouting el-nasrani! el-nasrani! (the christian! the christian!) while the children threw stones at me. A girl struck me with a stick, and fairly exhausted my patience; I snatched the stick from her, and gave her a such a stroke on the face, that all the rest were frightened and ran off. We visited a friend of my guide’s, where I was well received, and had some couscous given me for supper which I thought delicious; for it was the first time I had eaten any since I had been amongst the Moors. I was afraid that I should have been tormented again in the evening, but the stick had frightened the curious, and I was left in perfect quiet.
On the 12th of October, at six in the morning, we resumed our route to the south. The soil, though stony in some places, is good. I remarked on the road some indigo plants of great beauty; the Moors are not aware of its properties. We travelled for six miles, and towards nine in the evening arrived at the camp of my marabout, where I was received with great joy by the inhabitants.
On the 13th, the youngest son of Mohammed-Sidy-Moctar cut off my hair, and made me a pair of breeches out of my coussabe, and a coussabe out of a pagne which I had with me.
On the 14th, we went to visit his aunt, whose camp was not far from ours. All the marabouts welcomed me politely, and I was happy to find that I should be less tormented than I had been by the hassanes. One of the marabouts brought me a slave who had a cancer in her breast, and begged me to tell him of some herb which would cure her, offering me six oxen as a reward; I bade him observe that vegetation was all dried up at this season, and that it was impossible to procure any herbs. After him, came a multitude of invalids, all entreating that I would cure them; some I remarked were suffering acutely, and it grieved me extremely that I could afford them no assistance. In vain I told them that I was not a physician, and that I had no medicines with me; they renewed their entreaties, and I could only escape from this scene of woe by leaving the camp. It was one o’clock when I returned to my marabout.
I have observed that the Moors in general are not subject to severe illnesses, an exemption which they probably owe to their temperance; but they are very susceptible of pain, and the least suffering unmans them. I have seen a Moor with a slight head-ache cry like a child. The remedies most in vogue amongst them, are the following: when ill, they diet themselves and take nothing but milk, and as soon as they are convalescent, they feed upon flesh only, that they may recover their strength the sooner. When they have a head-ache they bind a cloth round the forehead, as tight as they can. For a cold, they introduce melted butter into their noses, by means of a pipe fitted into a vessel, and they pretend that they derive much benefit from this, especially for a cold in the head. When troubled with pain in the stomach, they make a drink of half a glass of camel’s urine mixed with two bottles of water; the bark of mimosa burnt and reduced to powder serves for all sorts of cuts, burns, contusions, &c. They make an ointment of it, by mixing it with butter, and rub it on the part twice a day. The leaf of the bauhinia pounded, and mixed with powdered gum and water, is a recipe for aches; they lay it like a poultice on the part affected, and the gum when dry forms a crust, which they leave to fall off of itself; they sometimes burn the gum before they make use of it. For pain in the face occasioned by cold, they have a special remedy in a certain very hard red stone, which they find on the mountains; they reduce it to powder by grating it against a flint, and rub the powder in a dry state upon the part. It is common to see people with half the face red—sometimes an eye, or part of the cheek: this stone is called lahmiri; I consider it to be a sort of red lead, and the Moors make ink of it by mixing it with gum water. I wished to have brought home a specimen of this stone, but I looked for it in vain, and could never persuade any one to give me a bit. The Moors are subject to fever, for which they have no remedy, but they drink gum and milk when they are attacked with it. I saw a woman, who had had a fever for a month, rub her head with very hot butter, in which pounded cloves had been steeped.
Aperients are seldom employed, although they are acquainted with the use of them. They collect senna, and call it falagé; when they mean to make use of it, they bruise it in a mortar with the fruit of the ziziphus lotus, and dilute the powder in a considerable quantity of water, which they give to the patient to drink. They have another plant which they use as an aperient, which is less potent in its effects.
The itch, so common among the negroes, is rare with the Moors. Whoever is attacked with it is shut out from society; he is forbidden to enter the mosque; a mat is spread in one corner of a tent for his bed, and nobody drinks out of the same vessel with him till he is cured. Gunpowder steeped in water is the remedy, and with this the patient rubs his body all over. Such is the medical practice I have seen in this country, from which the Moors appear to benefit very little. I saw during my stay, one case of elephantiasis, one blind man, but not a single leper; with the last disease they seem not to be acquainted; I never once met with a cripple.
When I returned to the camp, I asked the marabout’s son, who was about eighteen years of age, to repeat some verses of the Koran, which I wanted to write down, that I might learn them by heart. At the second line, however, he stopped and refused to proceed, telling me that it was unlawful to write the words of God with a profane hand; he afterwards consulted one of the marabouts on this point, who was wiser and bade him to continue.
Walking about in the camp, I remarked some heavy black stones lying loose on the soil; one of these I broke; and found that it contained a great deal of iron; a specimen of these stones I have sent to the governor. The Moors smelt this ore, and make locks, fetters, and other things, of the iron. To smelt it, they dig a hole in the ground, a foot and a half deep, over which they build a furnace in the shape of a pyramid five feet high, leaving at the bottom four holes for the bellows. They fill the furnace with ore broken into small pieces, and heat it with sheep’s dung, which when dry makes a very strong fire. Four men, placed at the apertures of the furnace, blow the fire, till the iron is melted, after which they leave it to cool without giving it any form, which renders it very difficult to work, so that they prefer what they buy of us.
On the 15th of October, the pasture being exhausted, we broke up the camp, and removed four miles to the S.W. ¼ W. to a peninsula formed by the bed of a rivulet, and called by the Moors Guigué; it was then covered with pasturage, which is inundated in the rainy season, and the trees are finer there than elsewhere.
On the 21st, I suffered much from the colic. One of my marabout’s sons repeated prayers, and then spat on my stomach, assuring me that it was an excellent remedy; he did the same to the milk which I was to drink, and I let him have his own way, disgusting as it was, rather than contradict his opinions.
In the evening, a caravan on its way to Fouta, to exchange salt for millet, stopped at our camp, and took up its quarters in the midst of us; mats were brought to serve as beds for the travellers. At ten o’clock at night, milk was brought to the marabout, from all sides, and calabashes full of sangleh and milk, which were distributed among the ziafis, or travellers.
When a caravan is small, only a part of the camp contributes to the supply of its wants, and the inhabitants take their turns to do so: if it is large, every body furnishes his quota. If it arrives in the day time, the chief of the camp, when he goes to the mosque to prayer, makes a collection for the ziafis, and each person sends a measure or two of grain according to the number of the strangers. A slave is appointed to pound the corn and prepare the sangleh. When a traveller arrives alone, he goes to any tent he pleases, and the owner supplies him without having recourse to his neighbours. As strangers always prefer the best-looking tents, the same tent is often visited five or six days in succession. Travellers frequently stay some time in the camp; for the first three days they are fed as a matter of right, after which the master of the tent is at liberty to refuse them provisions. The hassanes when they travel are always unwelcome guests, on account of the arbitrary manner in which they exact what they want. If they are not waited upon as quickly as they expect, they clamour and threaten, and call their host an infidel—the most opprobrious epithet that can be bestowed on a marabout. If a stranger arrives amongst them, he is ill-treated, and ill-fed; hence their camps are always avoided, and the burden of entertaining travellers devolves in consequence upon the marabouts.
The Moors, as has just been observed, afford one another hospitality, but they do not deserve to be called hospitable, for nothing annoys them so much as the sight of strangers. They receive them not out of humanity but from fear, particularly when they happen to be hassanes, who would not fail to plunder, if they were not treated as they liked. They seldom afford assistance to travelling negroes; if any such pass through a camp, they beg morning and night when the cows are milked for a draught, going about with a jotala in their hand, and receiving so little, that they are obliged to traverse two or three camps before they obtain sufficient for a meal.
Many negroes from Fouta-Toro come amongst the Moors to study the Koran; they often remain five or six months, and have no other means of subsistence but alms. Though Musulmans, they are in bad repute, and very generally despised amongst the Moors, who say they are fit for nothing but slaves. The negroes take nothing with them, because they would be sure to be stripped by the hassanes; they always travel on foot, and carry at their backs a small board, on which they write passages of the Koran.
There are amongst the Moors a sort of vagabonds called Wadats; these are the very poorest hassanes, who have often neither tents to lodge in, nor cattle to feed them; and being too idle to work, which indeed they consider as a disgrace, they like better to run from tent to tent and beg for a living. The insolence of these troublesome parasites is without bounds; when they arrive at a camp they throw it into confusion: nothing is heard on all sides but the disputes which they cause by their importunities. Impudent as they are, they get whatever they ask for; because, if they were to complain to their tribes that they had been ill received in a camp, the hassanes would carry off the herds belonging to that camp while feeding in the woods, and the marabouts would be obliged to give many head of cattle to redeem them. The parties of Wadats are chiefly composed of women and children; there are seldom any men amongst them: they travel on foot or mounted on asses, and always apply to the chief of the camp, who is obliged to find them provisions. To get rid of them, it is common to give them food enough for three or four days, and send them off; they then go to another camp, where they beg again, and as they know that they shall always obtain as much as they want to eat, they sell what they can spare for Guinea cloths, often to the very people who afford them hospitality. If they have no beasts to carry what has been given to them, they borrow some to go as far as the next camp. They visit only the marabouts, for the hassanes and zenagues refuse to receive them.
At the time when the gum is collected, these vagabonds beset the marabouts, and follow them into the woods, requiring to be fed, and worrying them till they can get a good share of gum, which they carry to the markets. The marabouts dare not refuse them, for the Wadats would join together if they did, beat them, and steal their gum. Such is the life of these people. It is worthy of remark, that when they are with the marabouts they are very exact in performing the salam; but they trouble themselves no further about it when they are out of their sight.
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.
On the 4th of November, the son-in-law of Mohammed-Sidy-Moctar came to the camp. As he did not lodge with his father-in-law, I conclude that they were not on good terms. I went to pay him a visit; he was very polite, and asked me many questions about the resolution which I had taken, congratulating me upon it, and telling me that he was very much afraid the christians would detain my goods, or, if I returned to fetch them, would detain me by force. I endeavoured to correct a mistake which proceeded from his religion, and assured him that the christians would leave me at perfect liberty to do what I pleased; and that as to my goods they would be as safe in their hands as in my own. “The whites,” said I, “rob nobody; their laws punish such crimes with severity, and they would do justice to the poorest Musulman exactly as they would to a christian of the first importance; both are equal in the eye of the law.” I seized this opportunity to ask him, why the Musulmans pursued a conduct with regard to christians, so contrary to religion; and why they ill-treated and made slaves of those who ventured amongst them for commercial objects, without having committed any offence. “I cannot believe,” added I, “that a good and merciful God approves of such conduct. If you want to convert the christians, it can only be effected by intercourse with them, and by excelling them in justice and kindness—not by ill-treating them. For my part, I am a Musulman, but I shall never approve of doing ill to those who have done us no harm.” The marabout allowed the truth of what I advanced; but he said it was unbearable, that when a Musulman spoke to a christian about the prophet, the christian should laugh in his face; that none but an infidel would do so; and that it would be a good action to kill him, that they might both go to heaven. I wished to enter into some particulars respecting christianity; but I durst not let my zeal run away with me, and I contented myself with telling him that the christians adored the same God as the Musulmans. “Yes,” said he, “I know that; but they never pray; they drink wine and spirituous liquors, which is displeasing to God; and the religion of Mahomet, which alone is agreeable to him, condemns to everlasting fire those who do not adopt it.” He asked me afterwards if I meant to make a journey to Mecca; to which I replied that it was the duty of every good Musulman, and that I hoped to discharge it. He took me by the hand, and answered: “That is right, Abdallahi, you love God and the prophet.” Boubou-Fanfale served as interpreter in this conversation.
The same day, a young Moor invited me to accompany him into the woods, where I was to meet a number of other young men from the same camp. When we came to a very thick part of the wood, he sat down, and a moment after a slave brought a sheep; he then picked up wood, and lighted a fire, after having made a hole in the ground, in the form of an oven; a marabout then killed the sheep,[24] and the slave skinned it. The marabouts took the intestines, which they emptied by squeezing them between their fingers; and then, without washing, they made puddings with them; these were put over the fire, and eaten when they were half cooked. When there was a large quantity of embers, they were removed from the hole, and the sheep put in their place; embers and ashes were then spread over it, and fire kindled above. In half an hour’s time, my companions considered that the sheep was sufficiently dressed; they took it out of the hole, gave the head and a scrap of the neck to the slave, and divided the rest into as many portions as there were persons present; lots were cast after this to determine to whom each share should belong. Feasts of this kind are much in vogue with the Moors; five or six young men join, and furnish each a sheep in their turn, which they eat in the woods, that they may not be beset as they would be in the camp. When they have had as much as they can eat, they carry the rest to their relations; but there is never much left for this purpose, and sometimes none at all. Of the skins of their sheep and goats they make leather bags, and use them to keep and carry water in; for that purpose, they slit the skin of the animal from the knee nearly to the shoulders, loosen it with their hands and turn it back, and then take out the flesh through the opening.
On the 6th of November, the camp broke up; we then marched three miles W. ¼ N.W. along the bank of a stream, where pasturage was abundant. Part of the camp remained behind, and rejoined us on the 8th. I was informed by a marabout that Mohammed-Sidy-Moctar was then on the road to his camp.
The ground in the vicinity of el-Hadjar is rich, and covered with fine vegetation. The periodical inundation of the river deposits a slime which improves the soil, and it is also enriched by the numerous flocks and herds which are attracted by the pasturage. This virgin soil wants nothing but the hand of the husbandman to produce in abundance all the plants which it might be desirable to cultivate; but it would be in vain to suggest such a thing to the Moors, and the distance from the coast will never admit of a European establishment. Half a league from the banks of this stream, the nature of the soil changes, and it becomes ferruginous; vegetation is to be found only on little patches of very hard yellow sand, where the rain brings forth a few species of grass.
On the 9th of November, some Moors came and asked me to shew them the proper way of taking sweet basil; Mohammed’s eldest son advised me not to tell them till they had given me a new coussabe; but I replied that if I was fortunate enough to have it in my power to render any service to the Moors, I would do it for the love of God, and not to gain a reward. I mention the fact to shew how little idea those people have of generosity. I have already said that the sons of my marabout gave me very few lessons; I did not, however, neglect any opportunity of gaining instruction; I applied to the other marabouts, who taught me some verses of the Koran, and I also learnt from them the Arabic letters. The news of their father’s speedy arrival rendered my hosts more attentive; they now furnished me with a regular scholar’s board, and I was set morning and night to sing the praises of God and his prophet, by the light of a small fire.
On the 10th, as I was boiling a little milk for my breakfast, two hassanes, who had lately arrived at the camp, came to me; one of them threw a dirty rag into my milk, and then began scolding his companion, as if he had done it, and pretending to take my part. This anecdote will give a correct idea of this class. Both these men were still with the camp on the 12th, when we were preparing to remove. They had found a poor wretch, a haddad, or blacksmith, and wanted to force him to give them a coussabe: the poor fellow had not one for himself, for he was naked; they struck him, threatened him, and at last put a cord round his neck, and tied him to a camel to take him off with them; but, at this moment, a marabout interfered, and obtained his release after many entreaties. When I inquired the cause of this cruelty, I was told that the hassanes always treat the zenagues, or tributaries, in this way when they want to extort something from them; they make them run to keep up with their camels, beating them unmercifully, and do not let them go till they get what they want.
The artizans are always zenagues; they are generally despised by the other classes, and perpetually exposed to the rapacity of the hassanes. When they have earned any thing by their labour, they give it to a marabout to keep, for it would not be safe in their own hands. They are either shoemakers or smiths; the shoemakers do all kinds of work in leather, make shoes, portfolios, saddles, etc.; the smiths make locks, fetters, poniards, and other iron articles; they are also goldsmiths, and are extremely ingenious; though they have few tools, they produce astonishing pieces of workmanship. Those who employ them commonly supply them with metal, and pay them with millet, milk, or stuff for clothing.
It was eight o’clock when the camp broke up. We travelled six miles N.N.W., on a soil covered with iron-stone, and three miles over yellow sand. The tree named balanitis ægyptiaca, grows here in great abundance; the Senegal negroes call it soump. The Moors collect the fruit of this tree, from the kernel of which they make a kind of sangleh, which they relish much, because it is very greasy. This kernel contains much oil, and the inhabitants of Senegal extract it for their use when they are short of olive oil. I tasted it at St. Louis, and found it tolerably good, but I think it might be better if more care were taken in gathering the fruit, and expressing the oil. If government were to afford encouragement to this culture, this fruit might become an important article of commerce. The tree grows every where near the Senegal. To extract the oil, the inhabitants pound the kernels in a mortar; when reduced to a paste, they make a hole in the middle, into which the oil flows speedily and abundantly; they lade it out by degrees, until no more runs; they then squeeze the paste in their hands, and it yields a little more oil, but not so clear as the first. A quart of kernels produces about a bottle of oil; hence it might be inferred, how much might be obtained by a better process. The negroes eat the pulp of the fruit, either raw or baked in the ashes. The trunk of the balanite furnishes yellow wood, easily worked, and firm; the Laobés[25] make mortars, pestles, baganes (large wooden bowls) and many other things of it.
On the 24th of November I was witness to a scene which diverted me extremely. I saw a number of women outside the camp, who were uttering shrill cries, and some children who were throwing stones; I approached to see what was the matter, and found a woman in tears, muffled up in her garments, and supported by her friends. While I was inquiring the cause of her affliction, I espied some men and a crowd of women at a distance, quarrelling about the loads of two oxen; three slaves with leather straps attacked the women when they came near the oxen, and the women in their turn laid on with sticks, and pitched off the loads. While the men were engaged in replacing them the women snatched what they could reach, and carried it off towards the camp in triumph, singing as they went. This contest lasted more than two hours, and the baggage was perceptibly diminished, when the wife and daughter of the great marabout interfered; they seated themselves on the remainder of the baggage, and the two parties began to listen to one another. The distressed female was born in this camp, and had married a marabout of a distant camp. Wishing to see her relations again, she had persuaded her husband to accompany her; some days after their arrival the husband was desirous of returning, he put off his journey however, at the request of his wife. At last, his business required it, and he was determined to return; but his wife who was bent upon keeping him, got up a quarrel, struck him, and collected all the women of the camp round him. The women flew at the husband like furies; the husband was supported by some of his friends; they tried to load the oxen again with the goods which the women had thrown on the ground; the women pushed and pulled, and sent them rolling with the bales; and the oxen were four times loaded and unloaded in my presence. In vain did three strong negroes, slaves of the husband, lash the women by the order of their master; they could not keep off the crowd, but were beaten themselves; and the boys, who are always fond of mischief, threw showers of stones upon them and the marabouts. At last, the wife and daughter of the grand marabout having taken possession of the baggage, a capitulation ensued; the women were desired to disperse; and the marabouts promised to take the goods back to the camp till the morrow. When every body was gone, they loaded the oxen again and set off, taking with them about a fourth of their goods; and in the evening the lady departed to rejoin her husband.
The Moorish women have great influence over their husbands, which they frequently make a bad use of. Polygamy is not practised by the inhabitants of this part of Africa, and their wives would not permit them even to have concubines. The king himself has, like his subjects, only one wife.
On the 25th of November, an hassane stole some oxen belonging to a marabout of our camp, which caused a great bustle; every body was on foot all the evening, and two friends of the injured man went to the hassane’s camp to demand the oxen. I was told that if the king had been there the thief would have been severely punished. The same evening Mohammed-Sidy-Moctar arrived; I expected to see his family very joyful upon the occasion, and was surprised that nobody went out to meet him. He entered his tent, and saluted them all; his greeting was very coldly returned; his daughter alone rose, and laid her hands respectfully upon his head, without any demonstration of affection. I have never seen the Moors embrace each other; even a lover does not kiss his mistress; he lays his hand on her lips, and then puts it to his own, no doubt to convey to it the kiss which she has impressed on it. The next day the marabouts who went to demand the oxen returned; but without success.
On the 28th, the grand marabout went himself to claim them, and they were given up; he had much difficulty in prevailing, and did not return till the 6th of December; the oxen arrived shortly after him.
The Moorish laws are very severe against theft, but they are hardly ever enforced. If the thief is taken in the king’s presence, the king may order him fifty or sixty stripes on the back, or have his ears cut off, without any form of trial. Capital punishment is sometimes inflicted upon the tributaries, but never upon hassanes or marabouts. By the law of Mahomet, a thief is to have his hand cut off; but every body has an interest in mitigating this clause, for the Moors would all be one-handed if it were rigorously enforced. The law does not apply to those who pillage christians; on the contrary, that is considered a meritorious action, and they lose no opportunity of plundering them.
On the 10th of December, the camp moved twelve miles W. ¼ N.W. to a spot three miles east of lake Aleg, whither a party went to fetch water for the use of the camp. The women are charged with this labour; they fill the skins and load them upon asses; at nine they left the camp, and they were back again in an hour.
It was now beginning to be cold; the north wind blew violently, and rendered the nights very unpleasant. At this season the Moors set up the varroi, a large covering made of tanned sheep-skins sewed firmly together; they stretch it over stakes in their tents, with the sides hanging down, so as to keep off the wind during the night. They have also woollen counterpanes, or cloaks, which they buy from the Koont traders, who bring them from Wâlet, or other great towns in the interior. They wrap themselves up in these counterpanes at night, and also in the day, when the cold is severe. The slaves sleep also under the varroi, upon the ground, with no other covering than the sheep-skin which serves for their clothing.
On the 11th, I saw an ox killed: the four feet were first tied by slaves, who knocked the beast down, and thrust a stake through the skin of his throat to prevent him from moving his head; a marabout stuck him, and the slaves took off the skin. The flesh was cut into thin slices and hung upon cross-bars, fastened to poles, to dry. A fence of briars was formed round it to keep off the dogs, and it was covered with mats to preserve it from being spoiled by the sun. A slave slept by it till it was dry, and kept up a small fire at night to counteract the effect of damp. The meat thus dried was put in leather sacks to preserve it. When it is well dried, it will keep a long time, and has no disagreeable taste. The Moors generally eat it without further preparation or cooking. The slaves who flay the ox receive the neck and some bones; the head is given to the haddads, and the other bones are distributed as presents.
The Moors never invite their friends, not even their relations, to eat meat; what they have they keep for themselves. Sometimes a number of them join together, each furnishing his ox, which they kill in turn, and eat the flesh in common, as I have before said respecting the young men and the sheep. This is a sort of carnival amongst them, and they give it a name which signifies “a party to eat flesh.”
On the 12th of December I went to lake Aleg, it was surrounded by camps of marabouts, for it is the rendezvous of all those who travel on the banks of the river. The environs are broken by little hillocks covered with iron-stone. The voscia integrifolia grows abundantly in the plain; the Moors collect the fruit, which they call iré, and eat it cooked with meat. The banks of the lake are covered with mimosa, zizyphus lotus, and nauclea africana. Its breadth does not exceed three miles; it stretches from south to north, and terminates in a north-westerly direction; the circumference may be about twelve leagues. It overflows periodically, like the river, and inundates the contiguous lands for a mile round. These lands are particularly productive, and are cultivated by the Moors when the waters have subsided. The lake is fed by the el-Hadjar, and by an immense number of ravines, which collect water during the rainy season.
The season for collecting gum had now arrived, and every body was employed in making preparations; I intimated a wish to accompany those who were going out for that purpose, but I could not get leave. I attribute this refusal to distrust; for the Moors conceive that the Europeans wish to take possession of their country as being the finest in the world. Not being allowed to gratify my wish of observing these operations, I tried at all events to obtain accurate information on the subject.
On the 13th the slaves destined to this labour set off under the direction of several marabouts; it was not till some days afterwards that I learnt from my host’s wife the particulars which I am now about to relate. It has been believed, but without foundation, that there were forests of gum-bearing trees in the desert; travellers have fallen into this error from the inaccurate accounts of the Moors, who, to do honour to their country, always profess that every thing is to be found there in the greatest abundance. The acacia which furnishes gum grows singly in all the elevated parts of the desert, never on argillaceous or alluvial soil, but on dry sandy ground; it is very rare on the banks of the Senegal. The tree is not the same with the mimosa gummifera of the botanists, which I had seen in our settlements; its leaves are regularly pinnated; the folioles are broader, thicker, and of a darker green; in its shape and appearance it more nearly resembles the acacia cultivated in France.
The wells which have been dug in the interior, where the operation of collecting the gum is carried on, have given their name to the neighbourhood, and such has been the origin of the names that have been given to the fictitious gum forests. Near these wells the marabouts take up their abode, and the slaves cut straw to make huts; a single marabout superintends the slaves of his whole family, or of several of his friends; and he assembles them all, sometimes to the number of forty or fifty under the same hut. Every marabout sends as many slaves as he can spare, and they are sometimes joined by a few wretched zenagues. The superintending marabout takes with him two cows, and carries a bag of millet for his food.
When a zenague joins the slaves, he applies to the marabout, who gives him a cow and what else is needful, and at the end of the gum-harvest he receives half of what he has collected. The zenagues are only permitted to gather upon this condition; if they were to attempt it on their own account they would be plundered by the hassanes. Every detachment is provided with a pulley and cord to be used at the wells, and a leather bag which is to serve as a bucket for drawing up water. I have been assured that those wells are very deep, and the ropes which I saw were thirty or forty fathoms long. The pulley is fixed to two stakes driven into the ground on each side of the well, and meeting at their extremities; the end of the rope passed through it, is tied round the neck of an ass, which, driven by a marabout, draws up the bucket; another marabout receives it, and pours the water into a wooden trough for the use of the cattle. The superintending marabouts are charged with this duty. The slaves fill their leather bags with water every morning, and, furnished with a great forked stick, they traverse the fields in search of gum; as the gum-bearing trees are all thorny, this stick is used to knock off from the higher branches the lumps of gum which could not be reached by the hand. As they pick it up they put it in their leather bags; and thus they spend the day, without any thing but a little water to refresh them. At sun-set they return to the hut; a woman prepares sangleh for the marabout’s supper; another milks the cows; and each drinks the milk of that which is allotted for his subsistance. When the gum is plentiful each person employed collects about six pounds a day, which proves that the trees are detached; for if they grew in forests, as some say, and no time were lost in running from one to another, the quantity of gum collected must be much greater.
The superintending marabout receives a proportion of the gum; the slaves work five days for their master, and the sixth for the superintendent, who thus comes in for the greater part of the produce. The Moors have neither vessels nor bags to carry home their gum; when they have collected a certain quantity, the slaves make holes in the ground and there deposit what they have collected. When these holes are full they are covered with ox-hides, straw, and earth; care is also taken to give the surface of the soil above the same appearance as it has round about; for, if discovered, the treasure would be carried off by other Moors; when they remove from the spot, they make a mark on some tree or stone near the hole, and the gum is left there till it is taken to the markets to be sold: it is then put into large leather bags; and carried by oxen and camels.
There is no private property in gum-trees; every marabout has a right to send as many slaves as he likes, without asking leave, or paying any additional contribution. It would assuredly be a great source of wealth to them, if they consulted their own interest better, but they are so indolent that they not only do not try to augment the number of their slaves, but do not even send as many of those they possess as they might do. Their wants however are limited; a single garment suffices them.
On the 14th a young man belonging to a neighbouring tent, having a mistress in the camp of the Oulad Biery tribe, invited me to accompany him, with some other friends, to pay her a visit; this camp was a mile to the north of ours. I accepted the invitation, for I sought every opportunity of obtaining an insight into the character and customs of these people. I was politely received; all the women collected around me, talked to me a great deal, and asked me many questions; our conversation was pretty lively; for they asked me amongst other things if I intended to marry, and on my replying in the affirmative, they desired me to chuse one of them, and pressed me to say which I liked best. I told them that the choice was too embarrassing, and that I would rather marry them all, for I thought them all equally beautiful and agreeable. This joke amused them; they were very much pleased with it and even thanked me. Perceiving that the marabout lover was absent, I inquired what had become of him, but could get no information except that he would come again towards night. Several of the women were employed in adorning the betrothed lady, and they had just put on the henna to render her more lovely in the eyes of her admirer. This henna, lawsonia inermis, is found in great plenty in the interior; the Moorish women bruise the leaves, and obtain from them a pale red tincture which they use to brighten their charms. The leaves being bruised and reduced to pulp, this pulp is applied to the various parts of the body which they are desirous of staining; it is kept covered, to preserve it from the action of the air, and moistened at intervals with water in which camel dung has been steeped. The colour is five or six hours in fixing; after that time the pulp is removed and the flesh to which it has been applied is stained a beautiful red. Henna is applied to the nails, the feet, and the hands; upon which last they make all sorts of patterns; I have never seen it applied to the face. The colour remains a month without changing, and does not disappear entirely in less than twelve months. It is not only an ornament with the Moors, but a religious ceremony for women who are about to be married. When a woman has used henna she takes care to show it, and to attract attention to her hands and feet, that she may be complimented; women are coquettes all the world over!
The toilet of the Moorish ladies is not confined to the use of henna; the lady in question had her hair dressed; her tresses, which hung on her shoulders, were smeared with a sort of ointment, made of butter, pounded cloves, and water; and adorned with amber, coral, and bits of glass of different colours. I had never seen a Mooress so bedizened before.
In the evening I went to look for the lover; a young Moor accompanied me. We met him close to the camp, and I concluded that he was going to his intended; but he told me, on the contrary, that he did not chuse to pass by her tent, and that he was on the way to one of his friends. I expressed my surprise, and he told me that he wished to avoid the lady’s relations; on this subject we had a long conversation, the substance of which is as follows.
When a young man becomes attached to a girl, and wishes to marry her, he seeks her in secret, and obtains her consent. That point secured, he commissions a marabout to treat with the girl’s relations, as to the presents which he is to make, the number of oxen he is to give to the bride’s mother &c. This being arranged, the marabout who has undertaken the negotiation informs the other marabouts, when they are assembled to prayer, the lover himself being present. From this moment the lover is not to see the father and mother of his future bride; he takes the greatest care to avoid them, and if by chance they perceive him they cover their faces, as if all the ties of friendship were broken. I tried in vain to discover the origin of this whimsical custom; the only answer I could obtain was, “It is our way.”
I did not like to suppose that a connexion of this kind could destroy the esteem and affection which had previously subsisted between the two families, and I took some pains to ascertain whether it was so or not; I often talked to a father of his son-in-law and vice versâ; and I found that the indifference was only feigned, that they felt the same affection as before, and in conversation extolled one another’s merit.
The custom extends beyond the relations; if the lover is of a different camp, he avoids all the inhabitants of the lady’s camp, except a few intimate friends whom he is permitted to visit. A little tent is generally set up for him, under which he remains all day, and if he is obliged to come out, or to cross the camp, he covers his face. He is not allowed to see his intended during the day, but, when every body is at rest, he creeps into her tent and remains with her till day-break. This indiscreet method of courtship lasts for a month or two; after which the marriage is solemnized by a marabout. The mother of the bride gives a feast, and kills an ox if she can afford it; providing abundance of couscous and sangleh for the guests, who are sure to be numerous. The women collect round the bride, singing her praises and amusing themselves the whole of the day; I have seen some of them dance.
The hassanes are not obliged to conceal themselves from their new relations; they meet as usual both before and after the marriage: their feasts are also more gay and brilliant, and they admit the guéhués to them. Whatever may be the difference between the ceremonial however, the woman and her husband are in all cases subjected to the parents of the latter.
When the marriage is celebrated, the husband may take away his wife forthwith if he has a camel; in that case the mother-in-law supplies the equipage for the beast, the cradle, and the carpet which lines it; she adorns the daughter with her finest ornaments, gives her a mat to lie upon, and a sheep-skin for a coverlid; the husband leads the camel, and keeps his face covered till he is out of the camp. If he has no camel, he leaves his wife in the camp till he can procure one, for it would be a terrible disgrace if the woman were brought home to her husband’s camp on a bullock. Sometimes he settles in his wife’s camp, sends for his flocks and herds, and ceases to hide himself.
It often happens that the husband and wife cannot agree, or are desirous of a separation; one of them then quarrels with the other, and they part without having recourse to the marabouts who brought them together. The one who wishes for a divorce makes a present to the other. If there are children, the boys go with the father, and the girls remain with their mother; if she is pregnant at the time, and brings forth a boy, it is sent to the father who has it nursed by a zenague.
When the husband dies, his wife goes into mourning and wears it four months and ten days; during this time, she puts on her worst apparel, receiving nobody into her tent but her nearest relations, and covering her face when she goes out. The husband, on the other hand, does not wear mourning for his wife, and may marry again the next day.
The law of inheritance is as follows: when a man dies his wife receives one fourth of his goods; the mother of the deceased has a tenth of the three other fourths, and the father a fourth of the remainder; the children’s share, which is thus reduced to one half, is so divided, that each boy shall have twice as much as each girl. When the husband inherits, he takes half the property of his wife, and the other half is divided among the grand-parents, and the grand-children, in the same proportions. At the death of husband and wife without offspring, the property goes back in the ascending line; for collateral branches never inherit.
At the death of husband or wife, the uncle of the deceased becomes guardian to the children, until they are eighteen, which is the age of majority; the oxen which they are to inherit are confided to the grandfather until that time. Children who are still at the breast are sent to the zenagues, till they are two years old, and then return to their uncle.
The Moors never grieve for any body’s death, and would think it very improper to shed tears over the deceased, being persuaded that his soul has ascended straightway to heaven! They shave the whole body with the exception of the beard, and wrap it in a white shroud, after having washed it with care; it is then left exposed in the tent for four days, during which time the marabouts assemble round it and sing verses of the Koran.
If the relations of the deceased are rich, they kill an ox to regale the singers; if they are poor they only give a little sangleh every evening. On the fifth day, they dig a grave about two feet and a half deep, and the body is laid in it on one side, with the face towards Mecca. Briars are placed upon the grave to protect it from wild beasts. If the deceased was a person of consequence, the grave is lined with mats; when it is filled up, an inscription is placed upon it; the marabouts perform the salam and return to the camp.
The hassanes and zenagues do not bury their own dead, but have recourse to the marabouts, who undertake the business for a small remuneration. The women are not present at the interment of a man, nor the men at that of a woman.
When a child is born its body is rubbed all over with fresh butter, which is also given to its mother to take; her face is likewise rubbed with it; she eats nothing but meat till her complete recovery. The husband takes care to be absent himself when his wife is in labour, for no sooner does a woman feel her pains coming on, than she screams in the most frightful manner, and assails her husband in the most abusive and indecent language. This is another of their customs! When the child has acquired a little strength, it is slung in a pagne, tied at the four corners to serve as a hammock. The mother usually suckles the child herself.
The country of the Braknas is situated about sixty leagues E.N.E. of St. Louis; it is bounded on the south by the Senegal; on the east by the country of the Douiches;[26] on the N.E. by that of the Koonts;[27] and on the north, by the tribe of Oulad-Lame,[28] which is united with another neighbouring tribe; these two compose a nation formidable on account of the depredations which they commit; they are not Mahometans. The tribe of Labohs[29] is on the N.E., and to the west of the Trarzas. This nation is composed of several tribes, some hassanes, and others marabouts. The principal tribes of hassanes are: Oulad-Sihi, Oulad-Aly, Oulad-Hamet, Oulad-Makhso, Oulad-Abdallah, Oulad-Baicar, Oulad-Pis-nem-Nematema; of the marabouts, Dhiedhiebe-Touaryk, Oulad-Tandora, and Oulad-Biery-Togat. Each of these tribes has its separate and independent chief. Hamet-Dou is recognised as king by the French government, and the duty on the trade in gum is paid into his hands; he receives also the tax which is levied on merchant ships; but the goods derived from these sources are divided amongst all the chiefs and princes. The marabouts receive nothing from the princes.
These tribes are often engaged in war with one another, which they undertake without the king’s consent. The crown is hereditary only when the king leaves a son who is of age; if he leaves no children, or minors only, it devolves to his brother, who enjoys it during life; after his death, if the sons of the preceding king are of age to inherit, the eldest succeeds to his father’s rights. The population of the Braknas is not very numerous; it is divided into five classes, which have been already mentioned: hassanes, marabouts, zenagues, laratines, and slaves.
The hassanes may be considered as the aristocracy of the country and its warriors; their armies consist of themselves and their slaves; the zenagues join also, in the hope of pillage; the common people, that is, the poorer hassanes, are attracted by the same hope, but they serve only as volunteers, and the princes have no power to compel free men to enlist in their armies.
When the chief of a tribe is cruel or unjust towards his subjects, or even deficient in liberality, it is at every man’s option to remove with his flocks, and to join any other tribe which he pleases; hence nothing is more uncertain than the population of a tribe, which increases or diminishes according to the reputation of its chief; even the king’s own tribe is not exempt from desertion.
When the Moors make war upon one another, they take no prisoners; if any of their enemies fall into their hands, they kill them immediately, and the spoils of the slain belong to the conqueror. They fight from a distance, and only attack by surprise. The chiefs fight like their subjects; I have been told, however, that when Hamet-Dou goes to war, he is always accompanied by one of his ministers, whose business it is to hold him by his coussabe and to keep him at a safe distance: report says the coussabe has never been torn; but this may be a calumny. It is the hassanes who always make excursions against the negroes to pillage them, and carry off slaves; and on these occasions they are seldom accompanied by the zenagues. The hassanes are idle, mendacious, thievish, envious, superstitious, and gluttonous; they combine in short, all possible vices. An hassane who possesses a horse, a gun, and coussabe, thinks himself the happiest of mortals. Filthiness they seem to consider as a virtue. The men swarm with vermin, of which they take no pains to rid themselves. The women are disgusting; lying always upon their couches, with their heads besmeared with butter, which, being melted by the heat, runs down their faces and their whole bodies: they exhale in consequence a perfume which to Europeans is any thing but agreeable. In idleness they surpass the men, for they will not even rise to take their food, but rest on their elbows while a slave gives them their milk.
The commerce of the Braknas is carried on by the marabouts. It is they who collect all the gum, for which they pay no tribute; and when they have disposed of it to Europeans, they travel into a distant part of the country, to sell the guns and Guinea cloth which they receive in exchange. They often stop at Adrar, seven days’ journey north of lake Aleg; this town gives its name to a small kingdom, and is inhabited by a number of marabouts who are wholly engaged in agriculture, and keep numerous herds of cattle. Dates are plentiful in this part; the fields are surrounded by date-trees. These marabouts do not live in tents, like the Braknas; they have mud houses one story high, and flat at the top. They barter their dates and millet, for the guns and Guinea cloth of the Braknas; of the Guinea cloth they make garments, for they grow no cotton. They have many slaves, who are employed in the cultivation of rice and millet, and in the tending of the cattle. Pasturage is not abundant in the neighbourhood of the town, so that they are obliged to send their flocks to a distance to graze: it is said that the slaves who take care of them are sometimes absent for one or two months. This nation is peaceful, and only takes up arms to defend itself against the depredations of its neighbours. It is during the rainy season that the Braknas undertake their trips to Adrar, in which they are compelled to cross a desert of four days’ journey. These particulars I received from some marabouts who have visited that country several times. I intended to accompany those who were going the following spring, if I had remained among them.
The Brakna marabouts are as idle as the hassanes; they take no other exercise than walking to the mosque; and their only diversion is reading the Koran. They sometimes converse together as they lie on the sand, and go to sleep while talking over religion and politics.
Of all the classes of Moors the marabouts give the least and require the most; their quality of priests causing them to be considered as the dispensers of favours, they are never refused any thing, especially as the Moors are persuaded that they shall gain heaven by liberality. It is not to the hassanes alone that they apply; they harass one another also, and they torment the poor zenagues more especially. This class, despised by the others, is oppressed by them all. If the marabouts do not maltreat them as the hassanes do they threaten them with everlasting fire; and the poor zenague, in the hope of a happier life hereafter, strips himself to comply with the demands of his insatiable masters in this. Those marabouts who have no slaves to collect gum, being far too lazy to work for themselves, would be without clothes if the zenagues did not supply them with the means of procuring them. In the same way they obtain bags of butter to sell at the markets for Guinea cloth. It may be thought, perhaps, that the marabouts are grateful, and know how to appreciate the sacrifices which the zenague makes to please them; but ingratitude is one of their vices, and scarcely have they obtained what they want before they slander their benefactors, curse them, and devote them to eternal fire.
Some of these wretches, who have no other means of subsistence, settle amongst the zenagues to instruct their children: besides their food, they receive in payment sheep, butter, tanned hides, and stuff for tent-covering.
The marabouts are not more susceptible of friendship than of gratitude. I told Mohammed-Sidy-Moctar one day, that I should like to go and see his son-in-law; he tried immediately to dissuade me. “He is a good-for-nothing fellow,” said he; “he ought to have given you an ox the first time you went to his tent, and he only gave you a coussabe; he never gives me any thing; he does not like me.” I asked him if he liked Hamet-Dou, who had made him presents before my eyes: “Oh,” said he, “Hamet-Dou is rich.”
I recollect, that when I was leaving the camp, I gave a pagne to a slave who had taken care to supply me with sangleh; my marabout, who was near, took the pagne from her, and gave her a severe scolding. I insisted that the pagne should be returned, but he would not hear of it, and he scolded me in my turn, and told me that a marabout ought never to give, but always to receive. At last he handed the pagne to my guide, and bade him put it with the rest of my goods. This trait conveys a good idea of their character.
If they are ungrateful, they are also inhuman. They treat their slaves with barbarity; calling them by insulting names, beating them, and requiring a great deal of service in return for very little food, and having no other garment than a sheep-skin. I sometimes protested against the cruelty with which these wretches were treated. “They are slaves, they are infidels,” was the reply; “you see that they never pray; they know neither God nor the prophet.” I have seen slaves however who prayed with the utmost regularity, and were no better treated for it; neither did it save them from the degrading appellation of slaves.
The office of the marabouts renders them more dissembling than the hassanes; they are less cruel, and more hospitable; but I have found repeatedly that they receive strangers unwillingly, rather from the fear of insult or pillage than from humanity.
A European traveller who should not make up his mind to dissemble, as I did, if he were to escape the fanatic fury of the hassanes, would probably not be murdered by the marabouts; but they would forbid him to enter their tents; and they would afford him no sustenance; or if they gave him a little milk to save him from dying of hunger, it would be in the hope of being well paid. If a christian were to fall into the hands of the hassanes or zenagues, there is no kind of torture to which he would not be exposed.
The marabouts wander less from the banks of the river, than the hassanes; they remove their camps less frequently, and never change their place except to seek pasturage.
The zenagues, or tributaries, are the most wretched of the Moors; they are the serfs of the hassanes, and every hassane has more or fewer under his command. They exact from them annual contributions, consisting in general of a mator (about a quarter of a barrel) of millet, a calabash of butter, a few sheep-skins, and a laize of stuff for a tent; or a cow and a calabash of butter from each. The tributaries pay with the utmost exactness; but their unjust and grasping lords always claim more than is due, and inflict the most horrible tortures to extort what they want. I have already mentioned how they drag them at the camel’s tail; but their cruelty goes still farther; if nothing can be got by torturing a poor zenague, his barbarous master not unfrequently stabs him. They are never safe from these tyrants, who pursue them even into their camps; where they sometimes take up their abode for days, and call for whatever they like.
The zenagues possess few oxen, but large flocks of sheep and goats, of whose milk they make butter, which they can exchange at the markets for Guinea cloth. They are allowed to keep a few slaves, who are employed in taking care of their flocks; but they must not send their slaves to collect gum, or the hassanes would take it all for them. They seldom go far from the river, and usually encamp in a thick wood, to avoid as much as possible the troublesome visitations of the hassanes and other travellers. They prefer marshy land, because it affords most food for their cattle. They have a great deal of milk, but its flavour is unpleasant, owing to the many rank herbs which the ewes and goats feed upon; it is so bad indeed, that the hassanes and marabouts who come amongst them will hardly drink it, and never if they can procure any other.
Immediately after the waters retire, the zenagues come down to the banks of the river to sow millet; they work in the fields themselves with their slaves. The women, laborious through necessity, spin and weave the hair of the sheep and camels, to form coverings for their tents; they also sew them together; tan leather, make the varrois and every thing else except iron-work. Their method of tanning is as follows: if it is an ox-hide, they cut it down the middle; they then make a pit in the ground and plaster it with cow-dung; after having moistened the hide, and rubbed it with ashes, they put it into the pit, and cover it carefully with ashes. Having thrown water upon the ashes so as to wet them thoroughly, they close up the pit with a layer of cow-dung. The hide is left in this state for six or eight days, at the end of which time they scrape it with a knife to take off the hair, and then wash it well to cleanse it from the ashes. When cleaned it is put into a large calabash with the bark of the boscia and the seed of the mimosa, (the same that is known in commerce by the name of babela, and on the Senegal by that of nem-nem,) taking care to rub and mix them well. Water is poured upon it to soak it thoroughly; in this state it is left for four days or more, then taken out again and scraped, to remove any hair that may have remained after the first operation. When thoroughly cleaned, it is again put into the calabash with an increased quantity of seed, reduced to powder and sufficiently moistened. Four days suffice to tan it completely. At the end of this time, it is well washed, and scraped with sharp-edged shells, which the Moors bring from the sea-shore. Sheep and goat skins are tanned in the same manner, only more quickly, from being thinner. The leather which is tanned by this process, is exactly of the same colour as ours, and very good. For common purposes it is used without further preparation, and a little butter is applied to grease it, when it is required to be particularly supple. The women also make soap of beef-tallow and ley; but the soap is very bad, washes ill and gives an unpleasant smell to the linen.
When a tributary is unusually oppressed by his master, he can choose another. He takes his flocks and all he possesses to him to whom he wishes to subject himself, and tries to cut off his ear, if he finds him asleep, or to kill his horse; from that moment he is tributary to this new master, who has immense power over him, while the former loses all his authority. If the fugitive should be taken again before he has cut off the ear or killed the horse, he is beaten, stripped of all he possesses, and driven away without mercy. He is then extremely wretched; few people will grant him hospitality; his life is only protracted suffering, and he frequently sinks under the weight of his misery, while none of his fellows deigns to bestow on him a look of pity. I saw one in the camp where I was, who came stark naked to beg alms and shelter; instead of awakening the least symptom of compassion, he was driven away with blows, and they even set the dogs at him. What would become of this unhappy creature? And what cause could there be for such cruelty? Had he lost the attributes of humanity because he wished to change his oppressor? With what pleasure would I have gone without my supper, to give it to him! but his relentless countrymen would not allow me this satisfaction.
I have been told that in times of scarcity the zenagues eat grasshoppers, drying them first in the sun; this, however, I suspect to be only a fiction to degrade the zenagues in my estimation; for, as they cultivate millet, and possess flocks, they are usually better provided with food than the other classes, and must suffer less in a scarcity than the less industrious orders. In the whole course of my peregrinations, though I have been among very needy tribes, I have never seen the Moors eat grasshoppers.
The haddads (or blacksmiths) belong to the class of tributaries, and are, perhaps, still worse off than those who are employed in agriculture and the care of flocks. They cannot inhabit a separate camp, if they did, the hassanes would plunder them; they are obliged, in order to avoid their rapacity, to dwell in the same camps as the marabouts, and make them the guardians of all they possess.
Notwithstanding the pains I took, I never could learn the origin of this race, nor how it had been reduced to pay tribute to the other Moors; when I made inquiries on the subject, I was always told that it pleased God it should be so, and that they were infidels who seldom performed the salam. Can they be remains of conquered tribes? And, if so, why is there no tradition left about them? This can hardly be; for the Moors, proud of their ancestors, never forget the names of those who have been a credit to their race; and the zenagues, forming the majority of the population, and being, moreover, accustomed to war, would have revolted under the conduct of some descendant of their former chiefs, and recovered their liberty, by exterminating their oppressors. It is in their power to do so, for they are very numerous.
The fourth class of the Moorish population is composed of the offspring of a Moor and a black slave; they are called laratines. Though slaves by birth, they are never sold, but have land of their own, and are treated almost like the zenagues. The laratines, whose fathers are hassanes, are warriors; those, whose fathers are marabouts, receive instruction and embrace the profession of their fathers. Proud of their birth, they are not very obedient to their masters, and it is only by force that the latter can compel them to pay the tribute which is due to them. They possess few cattle, for they are not allowed to increase their herds, lest they should enfranchise themselves if they were to become wealthy. The laratines and the zenagues have the care of the herds which the hassanes possess out of their camps.
The slaves form the fifth class, and are all negroes. They are charged with all the labours of the camp—the care of flocks, the providing of water and wood, and the culture of the land. The women pound millet, prepare food, wait upon their mistresses, water the calves, fetch water, and if they belong to marabouts, collect haze and gum. On a journey, the slaves carry on their heads whatever cannot be laid upon oxen. They are, as I have already mentioned, ill treated, ill fed, and beaten at the caprice of their masters, whether they have committed any fault or not. They are seldom addressed by any name but that of slave. In short, there is no species of vexation, which they are not obliged to endure.
The Moors leave the banks of the river, when the rainy season commences, that is at the beginning of August; for not only would they be greatly incommoded by the inundations, but they would also be exposed to many diseases which they occasion, and their cattle would be devoured by the mosquitoes. They remove to the N.E., to the confines of the great desert, where they find plentiful pasturage, and a salubrious climate, and are free from the inconveniences which they would suffer in the vicinity of marshes. They return towards the river when the waters retire, and reside there from March till August.
The dress of the wealthy Moors consists, in a drah, or tunic of Guinea cloth, which reaches nearly to the knees; the sleeves are as wide as the body and hang down to the ground. Loose drawers containing six or eight yards of Guinea cloth come down to their knees; a pagne completes the dress; this is put on over the tunic, and sometimes on their heads also, like a turban. Those who cannot afford a tunic, wear only a coussabe[30] made of two or three yards of Guinea cloth.
The Moors shave all the hairy parts of the body except the beard, which they suffer to grow and hold in great veneration. A fine beard is the greatest ornament of a Musulman.
The dress of the woman is half a piece (about seven yards) of Guinea cloth, which they wrap three times round them. With one end, consisting of about one third of the stuff, they make a kind of coussabe, doubling the stuff down and sewing it so as to leave three holes, one for the head, and two for the arms. The openings are not at the side, as they are in the men’s dresses, and the stuff falls in drapery so as not to obstruct the motion of the body; where it is sewed together at each shoulder, there is a silver clasp, which serves to support the second round of the stuff; the third passes over the head, and forms a head-dress.
In mourning, or in the presence of strangers, of christians especially, they put it on so as to show nothing but their eyes. This dress is called malafé; they have no change of apparel, but wear it for two or three months without washing, and are often two years without being able to procure a new one.
They have fine hair which they lay in tresses round the head in an oval form, two smaller tresses which unite under the ear, are ornamented with pieces of glass, and hang down on each side of the head. Some of them have, on the sides, two other longer tresses, from which they suspend strings of amber, coral, and glass beads, hanging down upon the breast; others again have an immense number of tresses, but always loaded with ornaments. Those who do not suspend their string of beads from the hair, attach it to the clasps of their dress; they are not in the habit of wearing it round the neck. A strip of Guinea cloth, five feet in length, and five or six inches wide, completes their head-dress; they wrap it several times round the head. They grease their hair daily with butter; this custom preserves the hair extremely well, but communicates an insupportably rank smell. The young girls have a large gold ear-ring in the lower part of each ear, and four others in the upper part, which is bent down by their weight. Women of twenty-four wear only one small ring in the upper part of the ear.