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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 78611 ***
+
+
+
+
+                                TIMBUCTOO
+                             THE MYSTERIOUS
+
+                                   BY
+
+                              FELIX DUBOIS
+
+                      Translated from the French by
+
+                               DIANA WHITE
+
+           With One hundred and fifty-three Illustrations from
+                Photographs and Drawings made on the spot
+                        and Eleven Maps and Plans
+
+                             [Illustration]
+
+                                 LONDON
+                            WILLIAM HEINEMANN
+                                  1897
+
+
+
+
+_All rights reserved_
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+     I    FROM PARIS TO THE NIGER,                      1
+
+    II    THE NIGER,                                   18
+
+   III    THE VALLEY OF THE NIGER,                     40
+
+    IV    THE TOWNS OF THE NIGER,                      56
+
+     V    JENNE,                                       80
+
+    VI    THE SONGHOIS,                                89
+
+   VII    THE MOORS IN THE SUDAN,                     122
+
+  VIII    JENNE--YESTERDAY AND TO-DAY,                143
+
+    IX    FROM JENNE TO TIMBUCTOO,                    189
+
+     X    TIMBUCTOO,                                  208
+
+    XI    TIMBUCTOO ACROSS THE CENTURIES,             223
+
+   XII    THE COMMERCE AND LIFE OF TIMBUCTOO,         250
+
+  XIII    THE UNIVERSITY OF SANKORÉ,                  275
+
+   XIV    POLITICS AND LITERATURE,                    297
+
+    XV    EUROPE AND TIMBUCTOO,                       321
+
+   XVI    THE FRENCH CONQUEST,                        352
+
+  INDEX,                                              373
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+  A Train in the Sudan: Native Passengers,              3
+
+  A Railway Station,                                    4
+
+  On the Road: Dioulas Halting,                        10
+
+  On the Road: Europeans Travelling,                   11
+
+  A Commissariat Transport,                            12
+
+  The Commissariat: in Fort Bammaku,                   13
+
+  Bammaku,                                             16
+
+  The Niger at Koulikoro,                              17
+
+  A Fishing-Village on the Banks of the Niger,         19
+
+  Scene on the Niger,                                  20
+
+  My Yacht,                                            24
+
+  On the Banks of the Niger: The Venus
+  Anadiomenes,                                         25
+
+  The Military Salute,                                 26
+
+  Pasture on the Shores of the Niger,                  27
+
+  The Shores of Lake Debo at Gourao: Gunboat
+  Station,                                             29
+
+  Mount St. Charles, at the Entrance to Lake
+  Debo,                                                30
+
+  Mount St. Henri,                                     31
+
+  Oyster-Beds at Segu,                                 32
+
+  Through the Sea of Grass,                            33
+
+  The Ferry-Boat,                                      35
+
+  Going Ashore in the Evening,                         37
+
+  The Valley of the Niger’s Source,                    43
+
+  The Tembi in the Sacred Wood,                        46
+
+  A Waterfall in the Valley of the Niger’s
+  Source,                                              48
+
+  ‘Prepare to receive Cavalry,’                        56
+
+  The Rocky Barrier at Sotouba,                        61
+
+  A Workshop on the Banks of the Niger,                62
+
+  Cotton in the Sudanese Markets,                      64
+
+  Weavers on the Banks of the Niger,                   66
+
+  Segu,                                                67
+
+  Segu: The Ancient Palace of Ahmadou transformed
+  into a Fort (Exterior),                              68
+
+  The Fort of Segu: View of the Interior,              69
+
+  Arrival of the Courier: Segu,                        70
+
+  Postal Canoe on the Niger,                           71
+
+  Bearer of an Urgent Message,                         72
+
+  Entrance to Mademba’s Palace,                        73
+
+  A Courtyard in Mademba’s Palace,                     74
+
+  Fama Mademba,                                        75
+
+  Sansanding: Corner of the Market,                    77
+
+  ‘The Bosos in the bow abruptly ceased plying
+  their bamboo poles,’                                 79
+
+  Jenne,                                            80-81
+
+  Boats on the Niger,                                  82
+
+  Jenne: A Corner of the Town,                         83
+
+  House in Jenne,                                      84
+
+  A Street in Jenne,                                   85
+
+  House in Jenne,                                      86
+
+  A Street in Jenne,                                   87
+
+  A Passenger on the River,                            88
+
+  Houses in Jenne,                                     92
+
+  Jenne: A Corner of the Town,                        101
+
+  Jenne: The Fishing Port,                            105
+
+  A House in Jenne,                                   108
+
+  View of Jenne,                                      111
+
+  A Corner in Jenne,                                  119
+
+  Native Child,                                       121
+
+  A Street in Jenne,                                  132
+
+  Jenne,                                              134
+
+  Jenne,                                              139
+
+  A Square in Jenne,                                  142
+
+  Brick-making,                                       149
+
+  House in Jenne,                                     151
+
+  The Old Mosque restored,                            157
+
+  The Ruins of the Old Mosque,                        161
+
+  The Cemetery in the midst of the Ruins,             162
+
+  View of the Interior of Jenne and the Old
+  Mosque,                                             164
+
+  Building a Large Boat,                              167
+
+  Jenne: A Corner of the Quay,                        169
+
+  The Chief of the Town of Jenne,                     173
+
+  Market in the Streets,                              174
+
+  Precincts of the Dwellings of the Great
+  Merchants,                                          175
+
+  The Commercial Harbour,                             176
+
+  Shops of Itinerant Merchants,                       177
+
+  Women selling in the Streets,                       178
+
+  The Great Market of Jenne,                          179
+
+  The Money-Changer,                                  180
+
+  The Butcher,                                        181
+
+  Corner of the Market,                               182
+
+  Jenne: The Hairdresser,                             183
+
+  Jenne: The Barber,                                  185
+
+  A Commercial Fleet upon the Niger,                  190
+
+  On the Niger,                                       192
+
+  The Fort of El Oual Hadj,                           194
+
+  The Arrival at Kabara,                              197
+
+  The Quays of Kabara,                                198
+
+  Kabara: The Graves of the Aube Expedition,          199
+
+  On the Quays of Kabara,                             200
+
+  Scene at Kabara,                                    201
+
+  The Fort of Kabara,                                 202
+
+  The Convoy,                                         203
+
+  The Dwarf Forest,                                   204
+
+  Fording the Stream on the way to Timbuctoo,         205
+
+  ‘Our’ Oumaira,’                                     206
+
+  Inscription on Cross,                               207
+
+  Distant View of Timbuctoo,                      208-209
+
+  A Street at the Entrance to the Town,               210
+
+  Timbuctoo: The Great Market,                        212
+
+  A Large House,                                      214
+
+  The Straw Huts, with Straw Enclosures,              215
+
+  Timbuctoo: A Street,                                216
+
+  Timbuctoo: A Corner of the Town,                    217
+
+  My Courtyard at Timbuctoo,                          220
+
+  Scene in Timbuctoo,                                 221
+
+  Moors in the Neighbourhood of Timbuctoo,            224
+
+  Moorish Women,                                      225
+
+  Moorish Encampment,                                 226
+
+  School in a Moorish Encampment,                     227
+
+  Moorish Flocks in the Neighbourhood of
+  Timbuctoo,                                          228
+
+  Touareg with ‘Nicab’ and ‘Litham,’                  229
+
+  Touaregs and their Flocks,                          230
+
+  A Pool at the Gates of Timbuctoo,                   233
+
+  Panorama of Timbuctoo,                          240-241
+
+  ‘A Veiled Man in Sombre Garments,’                  242
+
+  A Thoroughfare in Timbuctoo,                        245
+
+  Sudanese wearing the ‘Dissa,’                       247
+
+  Timbuctoo: A Corner of the Town,                    248
+
+  A Caravan,                                      250-251
+
+  A Block of Salt,                                    253
+
+  A Salt Merchant,                                    254
+
+  Retailing Salt,                                     255
+
+  Caravan,                                            256
+
+  The Port of Timbuctoo,                              258
+
+  Halt of a Caravan,                                  259
+
+  Unloading Camels,                                   260
+
+  The Gardens of Timbuctoo,                           262
+
+  Traders from the Country of Mossi,                  264
+
+  Street in the Arabian Quarter,                      265
+
+  Gold Merchants,                                     267
+
+  A Lady of Timbuctoo,                                271
+
+  A Bakehouse in the Street,                          273
+
+  Musician,                                           274
+
+  The Mosque of Sankoré,                              279
+
+  The Tombs Surrounding Timbuctoo,                    284
+
+  Tomb of a Saint,                                    286
+
+  A School at Jenne,                                  290
+
+  A School in the Street,                             291
+
+  A Schoolmaster,                                     293
+
+  A Sewing-School in the Sudan,                       296
+
+  The Grand Mosque of Timbuctoo,                      300
+
+  Behind the Mosque of Sankoré,                       305
+
+  Oratory of Sidi Yaia,                               311
+
+  A Sudanese Scene: A Reading in the Street,          317
+
+  Cross raised to one of the Companions of Mungo
+  Park,                                               324
+
+  Laing’s House,                                      326
+
+  Caillié’s House,                                    335
+
+  Barth’s House,                                      344
+
+  View taken from the Terrace of Barth’s House,       347
+
+  Tail-piece,                                         351
+
+  General View of Fort Bonnier,                       356
+
+  Entrance to Fort Bonnier,                           361
+
+  Fort Philippe,                                      363
+
+  Colonel Bonnier’s Tomb at Timbuctoo,                367
+
+  A House: Typical of Timbuctoo Restored,             369
+
+  The Policeman at Timbuctoo,                         370
+
+
+
+
+MAPS AND PLANS
+
+
+  The Sources of the Niger Tembi,                      44
+
+  Map of the Nigerian Regions as far as Timbuctoo,     49
+
+  The Region of the Three Deltas,                      52
+
+  Map of the Songhoi Emigration,                       94
+
+  The Early Songhoi Empire,                            98
+
+  The Songhoi Organisation,                           113
+
+  Map of Jenneri,                                     144
+
+  The Island and Town of Jenne,                       146
+
+  Plan of the Old Mosque,                             155
+
+  Timbuctoo and Kabara, showing Inundations,          196
+
+  Plan of Timbuctoo,                                  341
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+FROM PARIS TO THE NIGER
+
+
+The journey from Paris to the Niger is scarcely so simple as that from
+Nice to Algeria.
+
+Having fallen asleep in a railway carriage on your departure from
+Paris, you awake six weeks later on a canoe-barge upon the Niger.
+
+The steamer lands you at the entrance to the Senegal, in a country
+which has belonged to France for centuries, and yet is only known to
+the general public by its thermometrical mention, inscribed between
+‘_bains ordinaires_’ and ‘_culture des vers à soie_’ at 40° centigrade
+as ‘the temperature of Senegal.’ These rudimentary notions are not
+even accurate. Will you believe that for months there you wear your
+greatcoat morning and evening, the mean temperature registered at the
+local observatory being 24°, not 40°?
+
+From Dakar (the port of Senegal, and the finest harbour on the west
+coast of Africa) you go by train to St. Louis, the capital of the
+colony. Greeting to those one hundred and seventy odd miles of iron
+road! They are the first laid by Europeans in Negraic Africa, and date
+from 1882. Civilisation has stamped other of its signs upon these
+virgin soils. In St. Louis and at Rufisk (an important commercial
+town in Dakar Bay) you find the streets lighted by electricity; and
+universal suffrage is vigorously handled under the form of legislative
+elections, municipalities, and general elections. Betting and
+horse-racing are treated with equal vigour.
+
+A small service of steamers starts regularly twice a week from
+the quays of St. Louis for the Sudan. The management on board is
+comfortable and dear; and you play poker in the saloon just as on any
+big self-respecting steamer. For eight days you watch the banks of the
+Senegal monotonously unfold; then comes the morning when you moor on
+a broken bank at the foot of a huge tree. This is Kayes, the port and
+actual capital of the Sudan.
+
+A pestilential corner, and the solution of the following difficult
+problem: How to be at the same time a town in the middle of a swamp
+and a swamp in the middle of a town. This anomalous method of building
+a town makes you think for a moment that you have arrived at the end
+of the world, but you recover your self-possession on seeing the
+telegraph wires crossing the street and on hearing the whistle of the
+locomotives. A railway in fact continues the path from the Senegal to
+the Niger, and will one day carry the traveller right up to Bammaku so
+easily that we shall be able to reckon it a fortnight from Paris to the
+Niger.
+
+At present the railway only extends 108 of the 341 miles that separate
+Kayes from Bammaku. For the first 78 miles its track (reduced to a
+three-foot way as are certain local lines in France) is normal and open
+to commercial traffic. Its administration and maintenance are in the
+hands of military engineers, and the trains arrive at both ends with
+remarkable punctuality. Its only mistake is in stopping at Bafoulaba,
+where the Bafing and the Bakoy unite to form the Senegal. After that
+you have to content yourself, for the present, with a décauville for
+the 130 miles to Dioubaba.
+
+[Illustration: A TRAIN IN THE SUDAN: NATIVE PASSENGERS]
+
+I found my caravan, which had gone on in front, awaiting me at
+Dioubaba. I picked up luggage, porters, and horse there, and a curious
+adventure in addition. I had stumbled upon a white horse in the early
+part of my journey. I say stumbled, for I should assuredly never have
+bought such a thing; the colonial administration had kindly placed it
+at my disposal. A white horse! What a predicament! Bad luck, as every
+one knows, bad luck for the rest of the journey! How could I avert such
+an evil omen? Providence obligingly came to my rescue by one of those
+secret ways which are His.
+
+[Illustration: A RAILWAY STATION]
+
+I luckily noticed at Kayes that my saddle-cloth was missing, and I
+tried all the shops (not a long business) without being able to find
+another. In these countries the only thing you can find that you want
+or can rely upon is--yourself. I had to fall back upon one of those
+blankets they sell to the negro, and chose one that was cheap and red,
+but soft to the horse’s back. He, the horse, had come by luggage-van as
+far as Bafoulaba, but as the décauville was unable to carry him further
+in that manner, I sent him on by road to Dioubaba, whilst I made use
+of the little railway. It is just as well to avoid twenty-eight miles
+of road on horseback when you have some hundreds in prospect. It was
+night when the miniature train entered the leafy vault at Dioubaba,
+that serves as station and waiting-room. My people were all asleep, and
+my horse peacefully grazing. Nothing abnormal there, apparently. But
+at starting next morning, as I was about to bestride my mount for the
+first time, what did I see?--A scarlet horse! Imagine my joy! It was
+evidently the finger of God that had thus transformed my steed,--aided
+by heat, perspiration, and the negro blanket. Behold me now, full of
+confidence for the rest of my journey.
+
+The adventure did not end here, for in spite of repeated groomings and
+washings it proved impossible to restore my charger to his original
+colour. The dye, detestable for blankets, is admirable for horses. My
+animal was the wonder of the natives of all the villages we passed
+through. ‘Ah! these white men,’ they said, ‘they can even make scarlet
+horses!’
+
+Enough of the horse! Let us now review my equipment. First among them
+is my _valet-de-chambre_, butler, etc., etc., for numerous functions
+accumulate in the Sudan under the modest title of ‘_garçon_.’ He is a
+black, thick-lipped fellow, with a European straw hat, a white vest
+with shiny leather buttons, short breeches with narrow blue-and-white
+stripes, naked legs, and feet ditto. One of the survivors of the
+Bonnier affair, in which he figured under the title of ‘Captain
+Nigote’s servant.’ His master was the solitary officer who escaped
+from the Touaregs, only to die shortly after my arrival. Splendid
+testimonials. The doctor says he is ‘an excellent sick-nurse.’ I
+immediately engage him upon that, with the idea that if I leave my
+bones in the desert it will at least be with the conviction that they
+have been well cared for. To sum him up: he is a well-balanced person,
+no chatterbox, but dignified, as becomes a person of note.
+
+There is nothing tragic nor historical about my cook. He is my joy,
+except in those deadly moments when I rage with despair. I engaged
+him rather hurriedly. ‘Can you cook?’ ‘Oh yes!’ he replied, with
+the assurance of every good nigger when questioned concerning his
+capabilities. If I had said, ‘Can you paint like Raphael and Murillo?’
+he would have answered ‘Oh yes,’ with equal conviction. In reality he
+can whistle a few bars of the Marseillaise tolerably well, and can boil
+water and eggs--hard. I do all the rest.
+
+The third and last person of my establishment is the groom. A silent,
+bearded fellow, with Semitic profile. He leads the horse up to me
+when we start, holds the stirrup, and disappears for the rest of the
+journey, reappearing at the end of it to hold the stirrup, and vanish
+again--with the animal. Never a word says he to me, and never a word
+say I to him. I do not even know his name: he is a riddle, an enigma.
+It would not surprise me to learn that he is the nigger from Porte St.
+Denis, though I have not yet heard the clock ticking in his stomach.
+
+Around this trinity circle twenty-two natives, uniform as to rarity
+of drapery, but very varied as to coiffure. Some have hair like
+astrachan or door-mats; the heads of others are shaved as bare as a
+lawyer’s chin; some have a tuft in the middle, others again rejoice in
+a circular fringe like the beard of some old sea-dog. Scarcely less
+variegated are the colours of their skins: treacle black, charcoal
+black, dull prune, shiny prune, coffee colour, Seine colour--a whole
+scale is well represented.
+
+Place half a hundredweight of baskets and cases upon each head, and you
+have a very complete sketch of the equipment necessary for travel in
+the Sudan.
+
+Having made use of various means of locomotion, since leaving Paris,
+for accomplishing his journey with comfort and rapidity, the traveller
+now finds himself face to face with the most primitive of all--the
+road, I may add, the African road. That is to say, something vague,
+that has nothing in common with its European prototype but the name;
+something to which levelling, ballasting, a firm soil, and even bridges
+are unknown. And it is only now that the soul of the African traveller
+thrills and tastes of joy. Another life is beginning for him, the true
+life, the only life--the life of the bush.
+
+What makes this life so intoxicating to all who experience it, from
+the officer straight from the military academy down to the private or
+marine-artilleryman fresh from a village school; from the aristocrat of
+royal descent to the professor of rhetoric? It captivates all alike;
+the ministerial quill-driver become colonial official, the engineer,
+the artist, and the man of commerce who superintends a factory.
+
+Its charm cannot easily be explained to the sedentary; it escapes
+analysis, being as subtle as it is penetrating.
+
+Let me see. The food is indifferent, the water is indifferent, the
+sleeping is indifferent, and your health is often in a precarious
+state. Heat and fatigue are the only things superior in quality, and
+yet your heart is filled to overflowing with contentment. As it can
+hardly be their inconveniences that make the hours spent in the bush
+so delightful, it must be the sensations that are grafted on them,
+and the wonderful pictures accompanying them. It is the mingling of
+the human with the free life of forests and plains that have existed
+for thousands and thousands of years; and the fact that you are
+contemplating that life with centuries of civilisation beating in
+your veins. It is something, too, in the manner in which these people
+express their thoughts. You are accosted by giants who could crush you
+between their finger and thumb, and who address you humbly, ‘Greet one
+of God’s poor.’ In another village an old skeleton of a chief totally
+ignores your arrival, your presence, even your visit. You stand near
+enough to touch his foot, and he continues impassively squatting and
+reading his Koran, until you half expect to hear the whistling of a
+lance through the air, to see the flash of a sabre, or hear the cocking
+of an old musket. Then, again, some old negress stops your horse,
+mumbling words that are unintelligible. She smiles at you, and offers
+you a handful of sweet roots. To give her pleasure, and because her
+wrinkled smile recalls the fact that such poor old things took pity
+on René Caillié and Mungo Park (your predecessors in this corner of
+Africa), and saved them from dying of hunger, you accept her present
+of cold cooked roots. Her joy is great, and by some small donation you
+double it. To put the finishing touch to her pleasing contentment, you
+bite one of her offerings and continue your way, absently munching the
+sweet batatas, whose flavour so strangely recalls the _marron glacé_.
+Memory is sent galloping in pursuit of visions of your native land, and
+you recall the fact that it is snowing and hailing hard there, while
+you have been gently cooking since daybreak.
+
+And then life in the bush means flocks of guinea-fowls running about
+in the thickets, and coveys of young partridges that rise, careless
+of sportsmen, from under your horse’s very hoofs. It means strange,
+intoxicating scents that suddenly envelop you, and leave you as
+suddenly as they came; and a delirium of sunsets passionately colouring
+a sky that was monotonously colourless the moment before. And nights!
+One night we encamped in the huts surrounding a village square, and my
+men lighted huge fires in the open air. The gleams from their flames
+carved a vault of red and gold upon the darkness, and under this arch a
+fantastic ballet took place. The wings of bats, illuminated from below,
+made streaks of light upon the night, like the trails of falling
+stars, and were distantly encircled with satellites of fireflies.
+
+But I can only give a tenth part, and that feebly, of the unexpected
+sights and sensations I enjoyed. You cannot taste life’s choicest
+morsels reclining in an arm-chair.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Dioubaba, the terminus of the décauville, is situated in the heart
+of lovely mountain and river scenery. Its landscape would realise a
+handsome income in Europe. The river Bakoy, hitherto closely confined,
+here breaks into a rocky waterfall, some hundreds of yards in length,
+full of rapids and foaming currents. The horizon is bordered by
+mountain-tops, and the river-banks are covered by gigantic trees
+festooned with garlands of long creepers. A sergeant of the engineers
+acts as station-master, and a sapper attends to the telegraph. They are
+perfectly happy, they say; and are married, according to the custom
+of the country, of course, to two gay little natives with charming
+ways. This society is completed by Bibi, a young hippopotamus, lately
+captured, and very tame. With a discretion, unlooked for in such an
+animal, he spends the day in the Bakoy, so as not to interfere with his
+friends’ occupations. They go to the bank when in want of amusement and
+call ‘Bibi! Bibi!’ Bibi’s pink muzzle soon appears; he looks round for
+them with his little black eyes, and, dripping and wriggling, he runs
+up to be caressed.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The road from Dioubaba to Bammaku cuts from east to west across the
+massive Foota Jallon range that separates the basin of the Senegal
+from that of the Niger. It is full of pictures recalling the Forest
+of Fontainebleau, and is so abundantly watered that you fall asleep
+every night to the sound of some gurgling cascade or waterfall. I know
+nothing more suggestive than this road, the main artery of the Sudan.
+You see the colonial life coming and going upon it from day to day;
+and it also reflects the retrospective image of the life that rolled
+along the great European highways before the days of coaches. Without
+the highwaymen, however, for we have made enormous progress since the
+pacification of the Sudan ten years ago. Then, travellers encamped upon
+it with sentinels posted at night as if they were in the country of an
+enemy. To-day it is as safe as the Champs Elysées.
+
+[Illustration: ON THE ROAD: DIOULAS HALTING]
+
+Not that vehicles are numerous, but people are, and animals. They are
+principally parties of porters that you meet; some travelling to their
+destination laden with cases, and bundles, and sacks of millet; others
+returning, freed from their burdens, dancing and capering along the
+road to the sound of flute or drum, joyous as children let loose from
+school. There are _dioulas_, too, or native commercial travellers, with
+their servants or slaves and their wives and children, all driving
+donkeys laden with salt and pearls, etc.
+
+[Illustration: ON THE ROAD: EUROPEANS TRAVELLING]
+
+A meeting between Europeans is particularly pleasant. You exchange bows
+and a declension of names, and titles when you have them; and a long
+talk ensues between two people who have never seen each other in their
+lives before. News of the interior is exchanged for news of Europe or
+the coast. You hear what is passing in the countries to which you are
+going and in the countries to which you are not going. You exchange
+a thousand little services, and, above all, the time! For watches in
+these climates develop the most fantastic manners, and the only thing
+you can be sure of is that they will never tell you the time even
+approximately. After this you turn your backs upon one another with all
+the grace in the world, and each resumes his journey.
+
+The Europeans you meet are mostly government officials, officers,
+and privates. Some are returning to France for a holiday, having
+fulfilled their year or eighteen months of service, while others
+are newly arrived to take their vacant places. Sometimes you pass a
+hand-ambulance from which the head of some unlucky invalid emerges,
+and, if you are good-natured and furnished with plenty of provisions,
+it is very easy to play the good Samaritan on these occasions.
+
+[Illustration: A COMMISSARIAT TRANSPORT]
+
+Unfortunately the man of commerce only furnishes the smallest share of
+these encounters: and why? The answer is to be found in the road itself
+and the troops of porters you are incessantly meeting upon it, for
+the head of man is too limited a means of transport to permit a very
+extensive traffic. Why not use vehicles then? The account given above
+of the _pseudo_ roads of the Sudan will answer this question, for they
+exist only in name. The commissariat department knows something of all
+this, for the forts we have set up in our vast Nigerian possessions
+must be victualled. Europeans, surrounded by black troops, live in
+them, keeping the country in order, civilising it, organising it,
+and preparing it for occupation. It is of course necessary to supply
+these garrisons with European provisions, such as cases of wine, great
+iron boxes of flour, coffee, sugar, barrels of salt meat, and arms,
+ammunition, clothes, tools, etc. To carry these stores to the river
+(the only easy means of transport) the commissariat possesses carts
+which are set upon this pretence of a road; at what cost of time,
+trouble, and money it would take volumes to tell. One meets these
+transports from time to time, struggling with the chasms and other
+asperities of the so-called roads. They are commanded by artillery
+officers, and are always accompanied by a veterinary; but I prefer to
+leave to your imagination the condition to which the unhappy mules are
+reduced, even though they only do ten or twelve miles a day. It is a
+terrible thing this victualling, its shadow pursues you all along the
+road. Encampments are provided every ten or twelve miles with straw
+huts for the men and picket-lines for the animals. You can follow the
+progress of the transports by the litter of rags, bits of paper and
+abandoned carts they leave behind them. Two forts mark the road from
+Badoumba to Kita. Neither is garrisoned, and both have fallen a prey
+to the commissariat department. Their various outworks and approaches
+are strewn with a litter of cases on which one reads medicines,
+sugar, candles, oil, etc., and the names of the places to which these
+stores are destined--Farannah, Siguiri, Segu, or Timbuctoo. The forts
+themselves are filled from end to end with squatting porters awaiting
+their share of burdens; and you hear, in the snatches of conversation
+and the orders that are flying about, of nothing but ‘cases’ and
+‘transport.’ The impatience with which Europeans and natives alike are
+awaiting the continuation of the rail from Dioubaba to Bammaku becomes
+suddenly comprehensible.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+[Illustration: THE COMMISSARIAT: IN FORT BAMMAKU]
+
+At last beyond Kundu (a third fort, completely abandoned) you reach
+the line of cleavage between the Senegal and Niger. So far the country
+has been pleasantly varied, recalling somewhat of Switzerland without
+giving an equal impression of fertility; but in the next and last
+twenty-five miles of the road springs and rivulets multiply at every
+step. Agriculture, interspersed with charming glimpses of silvery
+water, spreads over uninterrupted fields for the rest of the way. The
+villages cluster closer together, and are more densely populated. In a
+delightful valley of the great Kati mountains a stream tumbles along
+between two rocky ledges, which start suddenly aside and spread into a
+fan, to disappear upon the distant banks of the Niger.
+
+It was not without a certain amount of emotion that I approached the
+great river, and for this reason. It was four years now since I first
+started for the Niger and failed to reach it! My then companion,
+Captain Faidherbe, was making his third attempt to reach that serpent
+of Western Africa. In his first he followed the Flatters Mission along
+the Southern Nigerian route. In the second, starting from the frontier
+of Portuguese Guinea, he was stopped by wars among the natives. For the
+third time he started from Benty and the Mellacorée, in the company of
+the painter Adrien Marie and myself, only to be cut short by Samory’s
+troops at a distance of twenty-five miles from its banks; and two years
+ago he died without having seen the Niger.
+
+The memory of his ill-fortune possessed me, and grew more intense with
+every stage of the journey. I had an idea that some of his ill-luck
+must pursue me. Assuredly I too shall not see this Niger, I thought.
+And now at last, after doubling the stages for the last five days (so
+great was my anxiety to reach it), my horse begins to stumble down the
+steep and rocky declivity that leads to the river. I dismount, and a
+fresh anxiety seizes me. Suppose it is only another great disillusion
+to which I am advancing?
+
+The narrow path widens suddenly; its rocky sides are flung right
+and left like the leaves of a door. ‘There is the Djoliba,’ says my
+historical servant, as calmly as if he were announcing ‘Dinner is
+served.’ It is an impressive spectacle from the height of the road that
+still clings to the hill. A vast horizon lies at my feet bathed in the
+splendours of a tropical sunset, and down there, in a plain of gold and
+green and red, shines a silver trail bordered by a line of darkness.
+There it is, a mere vapour, the dream of a river in a valley of dreams,
+and the dark line is the hills by which it flows, almost invisibly.
+‘God is great’ as they say here. There is no disillusion, as is so
+often the case in the realisation of the unknown. I can scarcely take
+my eyes from the serenely majestic panorama that is spread before me.
+
+And now come what may! I remount my horse and urge him to a gallop
+along the road, bordered by trees, that stretches across the plain.
+A postern stops me, bearing a placard on which is written in white
+letters on black, like the name of a railway station: Bammaku.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+[Illustration: THE NIGER AT KOULIKORO]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+THE NIGER
+
+
+The Niger, with its vast and misty horizons, is more like an inland
+ocean than a river. Borne along upon it, scarcely seeing land, the
+traveller is carried away by those endless dreams which haunt the
+infinitudes of the sea. Its waters break upon its banks in the
+monotonously cadenced waves of the Mediterranean shores; and when
+winds, grown to violence in the desert, swell its waves into a great
+race, sea-sickness will convince the most rebellious that the river
+Niger is of kin to oceans.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Its shores, no less than its waves, resemble those of the ocean. Only
+occasionally rising into cliffs, as at Koulikoro, they more frequently
+call to mind our own Atlantic strands, being formed, not of the white
+impalpable dust of the desert, but of the true reddened shingle of the
+beach.
+
+Like the oceans, the Niger possesses its sailors, not merely occasional
+seamen, but whole populations, privileged to serve it exclusively,
+living for it and by it alone. They are the Somnos or Bosos, and are
+not the aboriginals of the Nigerian countries, but were among the first
+of those great migrations of people who saw Western Africa across the
+centuries. The history of their origin is shrouded in a legend which
+the ancient among them are very willing to impart.
+
+[Illustration: A FISHING-VILLAGE ON THE BANKS OF THE NIGER]
+
+‘Our ancestors,’ they say, ‘came from the great mountains of the East.’
+Do they mean the mountains of Ethiopia? Could they have come from the
+hills surrounding the Upper Nile? They have no idea. Nothing in their
+features recalls the marked type of the Eastern African, and their
+skins are as black to-day as those of the natives of the Sudan. The one
+thing their legend preserves for certain is, that even in those early
+times they were a purely aquatic people. They fished and navigated
+for the king of their country, being bond-servants, apparently, to
+the crown. The Sudanese to this day do not reckon them among the free
+tribes.
+
+Thus they boated and fished upon their rivers, until one day the king
+wished them to build him houses and bridges. This was a task alien
+to their caste, the work of slaves according to their ideas, and
+therefore repugnant to them. In revenge they offered their king a
+present of poisoned tortoise, of which he ate and died; whereupon they
+took flight in their vessels, carrying all the boats with them, to
+ensure against pursuit. They followed the course of river after river
+in their flight until they arrived at the Niger, which, according to
+them, flowed to the north.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+And there they live to this day, lining its streams and tributaries
+with villages that recall the fishing-hamlets of our own coasts. They
+form the sole population of these settlements and occupy distinct
+quarters in the towns and cities, thus emphasising the fact that the
+Bosos still belong exclusively to the river. All this gave me a reflex
+affection for them which increased with knowledge, gained by many
+days spent in the midst of their lives. I have seen them set out to
+the capture of their great prey (the alligator and sea-cow), looking,
+the black Bosos in his black canoe, like a bronze group against the
+blinding light. In the bow of the long, narrow, unsteady pirogue one of
+their number stands upright in a fine attitude of attack, whilst the
+other, crouching in the stern, noiselessly obeys the directions of his
+companion. Silently, almost without movement, they advance until the
+watchful eye in the bow discerns some alligator asleep on the tide, or
+some great bearded fish dozing betwixt wind and water. Then the nude
+silhouette in the bow is strained by a beautiful movement of the free
+body, the right arm is poised, and the harpoon flung, striking the
+great beast unawares.
+
+The Bosos is not only the fisherman, he is also the boatman of the
+Niger, and I have seen him exert admirable physical qualities in this
+latter capacity, yielding nothing in sobriety and endurance to the
+ocean-going sailor. The six or eight men forming the crew of my boat
+worked day and night, alternately sitting to wield the paddle when
+the water was deep, and standing, when the bottom could be felt, to
+ply the long bamboo poles. This variation was the only relaxation
+they allowed themselves besides a few moments for their meals. And
+what meals they were! If I had permitted it, a few handfuls of millet
+seed, neither cooked nor ground, but merely moistened with water,
+would have amply satisfied them. Sometimes when the moon was late in
+rising, or slumber proved too inviting, one of their number would chant
+some monotonous and melancholy refrain to which the singer improvised
+brief couplets which were taken up in chorus by his comrades. Now and
+again they would rouse themselves to greater exertions by their cry of
+‘Tara (quickly), tara, Bosos!’ The six or seven days of our journeying
+were only broken by some four or five hours of indifferent repose,
+uncomfortably snatched at the bottom of the boat, and disturbed by
+the continued paddling of their companions. Could any men of our race
+furnish a like example of endurance? The chatter and laughter were a
+little less perhaps in the last few days, and they had recourse rather
+more frequently to powdered tobacco (their only stimulant), which some
+thrust up their nostrils and others into their mouths. These were the
+only signs of unusual fatigue which they permitted to appear. Nor were
+their exertions undertaken from any motives of devotion, but for a
+man whom they had never seen until a few moments before starting, and
+whom they knew they would leave soon after reaching their destination.
+Moreover, my very eagerness to press forward was unintelligible to
+them. Time has neither value nor meaning for them; they do not even
+know their own ages, and their life is merely a road, sometimes long,
+sometimes short, but in any case leading nowhere.
+
+For the first few days I had to discipline and threaten a little, and,
+when warnings failed, to distribute a few blows. A strict impartiality
+always determined these awards, and since a rigid sense of justice is
+preserved in all primitive natures, they bore me no ill-will for the
+chastisement. With the mark of the blow still showing grey on their
+black shoulders, they would seize the first and least pretext to shout
+with laughter, while the boat slipped along with increased rapidity to
+the cry of ‘Tara, tara, Bosos!’
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+One more tribute I will pay them. Alone among them, distant many days’
+journey from the white man, and travelling through an imperfectly
+conquered, sometimes openly hostile country, never once did I feel
+that my safety was in any way threatened. Was it entirely owing to the
+superiority of the white man, a conviction of which becomes firmly
+impressed upon one (in spite of natural modesty and philosophy) as one
+traces one’s path through these virgin countries? Did not this sense of
+security proceed as much from a contemplation of the attractive manners
+daily displayed before my eyes, the litany of greetings exchanged
+with the unknown occupants of the canoes we met or overtook, and the
+good-nature and disinterestedness evinced by all? Fishing Bosos would
+spontaneously offer my men a share of their catch, a fine fish, or a
+portion of alligator. Hardly slackening the pace to receive the gift,
+thanks would still be flying when we had left the giver far behind.
+‘Tara, tara, Bosos!’
+
+Is it surprising that the hours spent upon the vast dominions of the
+Niger should seem pleasant to me? Is it not probable that they will
+represent the happiest hours of my life as I watch my staff of travel
+burning on my hearth? They will remain as the souvenirs of a cruise
+into infinite space and liberty, as a brief escape from the thousand
+fetters mankind has placed upon man under the pretence of progress.
+Their memory is a vision of a primeval existence ignorant of good and
+evil, living, without effort and without laws, an upright and good
+life. It was, in short, a flight from all the falseness and corruption
+that civilisation has put into the heart of man, the realisation of
+the dream which, though played with by many philosophies, has been
+accomplished by none.
+
+Ah, that delightful, that matchless cruise, which you, fortunate
+possessors of fast, sumptuous, and elegant yachts, can never enjoy!
+
+My yacht would have ill-supported any one of those adjectives, for it
+was a whimsical mixture of European barge and aboriginal canoe. It had
+borrowed from the former its breadth of beam and its flat bottom, and
+from the latter its sharply pointed extremities and its deplorable
+facility for springing a leak. A thatched hollow served me amidships as
+bedroom, dining-room, study, and dressing-room. I enjoyed, moreover,
+an amphibious existence, for the water unceasingly trickled through
+the flooring into my apartment. A small folding bedstead was my only
+piece of furniture. Table, cupboards, desk, washstand, and sideboard
+were represented by different packages, wicker baskets, bottle-cases,
+and portmanteaux. A long box filled with earth served as kitchen and
+stove, and was placed fore and aft in accordance with the direction of
+the wind. In the remaining very limited spaces the seven or eight men
+who handled the boat were distributed, together with two bleating sheep
+(representing our meat-supply) and some clucking hens. The game brought
+down by lucky shots, and the fish and other properties of my men, were
+extra; and, in addition to all this, some place had to be found for the
+kitchen fuel. For the benefit of those who like figures and complicated
+problems, I will add that my Noah’s ark measured twenty-six feet three
+by seven feet six in the widest part.
+
+[Illustration: MY YACHT]
+
+Obviously it would have embarrassed me to give one of those Trouville
+or Cannes _fêtes_ to which my fellow-yachtsmen are accustomed, but
+luckily the occasion never arose. Yet _fêtes_ there were, provided day
+and night by the Niger with a variety and splendour that the richest
+merchant in sugar-plums could not have equalled. Its waters were now
+blue as the Mediterranean, now grey as the North Sea, and now again
+they were apparelled in the green of the great ocean; while Venus
+Anadiomenes in black sported upon its banks. If these latter were
+not smilingly coiling their tresses, it was only because their hair
+was short and greased with butter. Failing this poetic occupation,
+they were engaged in alternately scrubbing their cooking utensils
+and washing their children in the splashing wave. Art, however, lost
+nothing by that, for, in their constantly changing attitudes, their
+perfect nudity only served to call attention to their marvellously
+sculptured torsos and their bronze skins, touched into gold by the
+brightness of the sunshine.
+
+[Illustration: ON THE BANKS OF THE NIGER: THE VENUS ANADIOMENES]
+
+Here and there upon the great strands were playing the strange childish
+forms, with the great heads and stomachs balanced on the slender limbs,
+of the negro babies. Drolly would they interrupt their games and run
+close to the river-bank to watch the white man pass, making him the
+while--a military salute! Nothing more comical could be imagined than
+these little naked caricatures with one arm stiffly raised at an
+angle. If I smiled, they gave me back the same broad laugh the Venus
+Anadiomenes had tossed me with their ‘Anissagai’ (Good day)--the same
+that my Bosos laughed a minute after they had been struck. This gentle
+laughter, with neither intellect nor malice in it, is always ready to
+their lips, even in the most serious circumstances, and is as necessary
+to their existence apparently as food or water. It is the happy mirth
+of a childish people, ignorant of the physical and moral torments from
+which the more perfect man results.
+
+[Illustration: THE MILITARY SALUTE]
+
+The placid fisher with the line also greets us in military fashion.
+This form of salutation seems to be the only thing that our
+civilisation has brought them so far. Poor souls! when the rest has
+followed they will have ceased to laugh.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Between Segu and the regions bordering Timbuctoo I passed wonderful
+herds of oxen, horses, goats, and sheep. Unlike the stunted cattle and
+emaciated hacks of the countries of the Niger’s source, these oxen had
+imposing humps, and the horses were on the lines of Arabs. The sheep,
+too, were astonishing. Long fleece replaced the close wool of the
+southern animal, and their flocks were to be counted by such thousands
+of heads that I was greeted at long distances by ovations of bleating.
+
+[Illustration: PASTURE ON THE SHORES OF THE NIGER]
+
+Travelling one day between Lake Debo and Sarafara, it was given me to
+see quite another sort of herd. We were touching upon a large plain
+bordered by a distant wood, when suddenly, at sunset, four black
+lions appeared walking in Indian file. They advanced with slow and
+solemn steps, pausing with heads erect as the sound of our paddles
+reached them. After fixing upon us a look that was half-displeased,
+half-disdainful, they turned their backs upon us, and, still keeping
+the same order, disappeared with unmoved slowness and solemnity in the
+wooded green of the distance. The scene was so captivating that the
+thought of my Winchester never entered my head. The gun was always at
+hand, however, to spread a little perturbation (impossible to effect
+more appreciable results) among the families of hippopotami who,
+towards evening, thrust their pink muzzles out of the water, and to
+annoy the numerous alligators who relaxed in sunny slumbers throughout
+the day.
+
+The feathered species did not get off so cheaply, however, especially
+the wild ducks, whom, at my leisure, I would invite to my table in the
+shape of roast or stew. The white ospreys, the Niger’s favourite bird,
+were truly innumerable. They dappled the banks, looking like flakes of
+precious snow, with silky reflections made lustrous by the sun. The
+gracious outlines of their slender forms, the supple necks and long
+slim legs, stood out in such dainty visions from the green grass and
+grey banks that one shot them remorsefully. Alas! their death-warrant
+is written and attached to the base of their slender necks; for it is
+there, and not on their heads, that the fragile plumes grow--delicate
+emblems of themselves and of those alone who should be privileged
+to wear them. From these plumes, in fact, are made those precious
+_parures_ which, mounted in jewelled clasps, place such a charming
+point of pride upon the forehead of brunette and blonde alike. The
+allurement of such a spoil, seen in imagination adorning some cherished
+head, dispels all remorse, and hastens the fall of the trigger.
+
+The confidence of these charming birds is very great, for the native,
+disdainful of its flesh and ignorant of the value of its plumes, has
+never hunted it. They alight boldly in the midst of the flocks of sheep
+that have such an inexplicable attraction for them, and it is very
+quaint to see groups of two or three ospreys surround each sheep, and
+with gravely measured steps follow its browsing until the innocent
+ruminant looks like some captive surrounded by its gaolers.
+
+Other birds of valuable feather dart about the sands, such as the
+marabou, metallic blackbirds, kingfishers in every shade of wonderful
+azure, and flocks of guinea-fowls, flamingoes, and pelicans. Sometimes,
+on approaching the sedgy banks, a strange rustling is followed by a
+cloud of dust. It is caused by those tiny creatures, scarcely bigger
+than crickets, the millet-eaters. I must not forget to mention the
+trumpet-bird among my intimate friends--a large black wader, whose note
+might easily be mistaken for the horn of our tramways.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+As infinitely varied as the colours of the kingfisher are the scenes in
+which this medley of life unfolds. At Toulimandio the shores are formed
+of high woods of wonderful verdure, dark and deep as velvet, and the
+mountains seen in the distance are the last ramifications of the Foota
+Jallon range. Were it not for the unaccustomed proportions of the river
+and the marvellous sun, there would be nothing specially tropical about
+this country.
+
+[Illustration: THE SHORES OF LAKE DEBO AT GOURAO: GUNBOAT STATION]
+
+Little by little the woods thin and the trees diminish in height. The
+river-bed is strewn with trunks torn from the banks by the floods, and
+many more hang disconsolately over the water, certain victims to the
+approaching inundations.
+
+At Nyamina, Segu, and Sansanding, the woods give place to great plains
+of tillage and cattle-rearing, that spread further than the eye can
+reach, and close upon them follows, with Lake Debo, a maritime scene.
+This lake is a huge basin of water by the side of the river, and,
+the two hillocks guarding its entrance being passed, a veritable sea
+spreads before you. Water everywhere, always, and for ever. Its shores
+are invisible, for no distant mountains betray their boundaries, as is
+the case with the Swiss lakes.
+
+[Illustration: MOUNT ST. CHARLES, AT THE ENTRANCE TO LAKE DEBO]
+
+An equally unexpected vision awaits the traveller beyond Lake Debo;
+and it is now a landscape from Normandy or England that is disclosed
+to eyes stupefied by such an apparition in the heart of tropical
+Africa. Great meadows of a moist, intense green are bordered by
+park-like woods. So vivid is the impression that you are disappointed
+not to see the turrets and battlements of a Lancashire manor, or the
+slated roofs of some Château of the Eure, rising from their midst. The
+superb troops of humped cattle, large and sleek, scarcely dispel this
+northern illusion.
+
+All this changes after Sarafara, and it is now the tangle of a tropical
+forest that defiles before my yacht, now some Eastern scene that I
+have already witnessed in Egypt or Syria. Palm-trees, slenderly erect,
+dominate a scanty vegetation containing the melancholy green of the
+olive-trees of Palestine, and thickets of low bushes that recall the
+fig-trees of Judæa.
+
+[Illustration: MOUNT ST. HENRI]
+
+El Oual Hadj passed, bright green stretches of quite another character
+appear, and the villages no longer crowd together upon the bank, but
+are scattered out of sight, far removed from the river-banks on account
+of the floods. The only perceptible signs of life come from the fires
+of these villages, that streak the sky with ribbons of smoke by day
+and tinge it with red at night. You may travel miles and miles without
+seeing a living thing, man or beast, upon the shores. An atmosphere
+of secrecy hovers over the country: you suddenly recall the fact
+that those mysterious Touaregs are still momentarily its masters and
+oppressors, and you slip sixteen balls into your Winchester.
+
+Finally, on the borders of Timbuctoo the dunes of the Sahara begin to
+oppose the sterility of their bare whiteness to the river, increasing
+in number until the desert itself is behind them.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+[Illustration: OYSTER-BEDS AT SEGU]
+
+Varied as these scenes are, they possess a still further element of
+change in the formidable rising and falling of the river. A scene known
+at the height of the waters is unrecognisable in the fall. Taking
+the same route after some months’ interval, you seem to be following
+an entirely different river. Where before you sailed in the midst of
+plains, you now pass between banks some twenty-six feet high. There,
+where a vast stretch of water gave the impression of a sea, you find
+a combination of pools and sandbanks recalling the flat shores of
+the ocean at low tide. At Timbuctoo it flows in swift and foaming
+torrents, its sides and bed being encumbered with rocks. The towns and
+villages, at which you had gone ashore to the nearest houses, are now
+perched upon mounds encircled by vigorously growing grass, and wearing
+the little airs of a Rhenish _burg_. Fields of tobacco-plants and
+kitchen gardens flourish on the uncovered banks, while before Segu the
+oyster-beds pierce the surface of the water. This is in the fall.
+
+[Illustration: THROUGH THE SEA OF GRASS]
+
+All the effects of the rise originate from below Lake Debo, at Mopti,
+where the river is joined by another as important as itself, namely,
+the Bani. Towards December they have become a vast mass of waters
+rushing to the north, and entire plains are submerged to a considerable
+depth. On the right of Lake Debo an immense region to which the little
+arm of Koli-Koli formerly gave access, has now become a fief of the
+Niger. The greatest surprise of all awaits the traveller here, for it
+is literally a sea of grass. How does that strike you, my luxurious
+fellow-yachtsmen? It is in truth a singular element, being neither
+land nor water, but a strange mixture of both; without being a marsh,
+however, for, the waters not being stagnant, the passing breeze raises
+no fetid odour. From a depth of six to eight feet the tall grasses
+emerge, thick and green, and wearing all the appearance of a great
+field. One of our sheep was so deceived by it that he threw himself
+overboard, thinking to arrive on pasturage, but committed suicide
+instead.
+
+Between banks perfectly clear cut, though formed solely by grass, winds
+that Koli-Koli which has brought hither and spread afar all these
+waters. The boundaries of Lake Korienza are no less sharply defined in
+this bizarre element.
+
+In crossing this region my Bosos recommended the abandonment of the
+easy, but infinitely capricious and winding, course of the Koli-Koli.
+The journey, they say, will be greatly lessened by cutting straight
+across this sea of green, a change of route that suits me to perfection.
+
+Paddling being no longer possible, the men, leaning heavily on their
+bamboos, push the boat vigorously through the grass, which, parting
+in front, closes together behind us with loud rustling and crackling.
+We are no longer upon the water, but seem, and it is a truly exotic
+sensation, to be sliding under a tropical sun over grassy steppes
+streaked with watery paths. This region of navigable grass is a world
+apart; the repeated passage of canoes has worn away the green and
+traced ribbons of water on its surface, in the same manner that the
+constant tread of man and beast upon the earth destroys the grass and
+exposes the bare soil. These paths, as conventionality would require
+of them, are beautifully flowered. Placid water-lilies adorn their
+surfaces with cups of white, mauve, and yellow, and they are further
+encompassed by a strange tropical bindweed looking like chaplets of
+floating onions. With this trivial, perhaps, but certainly apt,
+comparison they possess another point of resemblance, they are edible,
+and are greatly esteemed by the native in times of dearth.
+
+It would be ungrateful if among all these pictures, pale images as they
+are of hours of enchantment, I forgot to include the twilights and
+nights upon the Niger.
+
+[Illustration: THE FERRY-BOAT]
+
+The moments of sunset upon the river are those the greatest intensity
+of life. The canoes multiply near the villages bringing the fruit
+of the field to buildings to which the people will flock for
+to-morrow’s market. The ferry-boat causes the river to resound with
+gay chatter and laughter, the bleating of sheep, and the clucking
+of frightened poultry. In the solitudes beyond human habitation the
+timid hippopotamus, again become the autocrat of the river, gambols
+grotesquely in the water, prudently waiting until nightfall to come
+ashore and dine; and the great trees on the bank are so whitened at
+this hour by the sleeping ospreys that they seem to have been covered
+by a fall of snow.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I now join a village and spread my table-cloth on some grassy hillock
+close to the river-bank. Very animated and well attended are my
+dinners. First the children come, consumed with curiosity to see
+the white man, but a little apprehensive too. They advance timidly,
+evidently feeling for me some of the fear which the negro inspires in
+white children. A few lumps of sugar soon tame them, however, and then,
+duly apprised, the chief and notabilities of the village arrive. They
+salute me and offer (read ‘sell’) presents of milk, eggs, and poultry,
+and, business being done, I detain them with a little of those two
+precious commodities, tobacco and salt.
+
+We light great fires as night falls, and they bring out their little
+clay pipes, their snuff-boxes, or some kola nuts, and a long gossip
+ensues. Absorbing landscape all day, night reveals to me the soul and
+thoughts of the country, its history, and the why of a thousand things
+the sight of which had puzzled me during the day. Above everything, I
+enjoyed evoking oral traditions concerning the first appearance of the
+white man in these parts. Mungo Park, the first European to explore
+the Niger, is the most vividly remembered. I frequently heard, between
+Nyamina and Khabara, of Bonci-Ba (the great beard), a name given him by
+the Nigerian tribes, but I could find no trace of our own René Caillié
+even at Timbuctoo itself. Barth’s voyage, though not accomplished in
+these regions, is well known by report of people who saw him or heard
+him spoken of in Timbuctoo. The old men, with wrinkled skins and white
+hair and eyebrows, were my favourite historians. They could recall to
+me the past prosperity and great commerce of the Valley of the Niger.
+They told me of the desolating conquerors and disastrous wars of the
+present century; of Cheikou Ahmadou, the fanatic Foulbe king, who
+changed the prosperity of former days to misery. Timbuctoo was the most
+frequent subject of my questions. It was the home of their youthful
+memories, and they would speak of it enthusiastically, and with
+laughter--much laughter--at the recollections of their gay life there,
+the lively frolics which sweetened their labours, and the especially
+vivid remembrance of the bewitching beauty of the ladies of Timbuctoo.
+
+[Illustration: GOING ASHORE IN THE EVENING]
+
+In the villages of the Bosos the Niger formed the basis of our
+conversation. They would narrate to me the legends and the life
+and being of the giant. On the margin of Lake Debo, they told me,
+a treasure of gold was hidden in the hillock, which René Caillié
+pompously christened ‘Mont St. Charles,’ and which they call Mount
+Sorba. The treasure remains undiscovered to this day. They often
+alluded to a very large town situated on a lake called Guido. It was
+the centre of a powerful empire, which, with its capital, has now
+entirely disappeared.
+
+Finally, with so many other affinities to the great oceans, the Niger
+could not decently lack its romances of pirates. They had their nest
+at Sibi, a large village crowning a high mound on the Black Niger. It
+was passed daily by numberless boats laden with the produce of Massina
+and Farinanka. Kaid-Ali, the chief of the pirates, was taken with the
+ingenious idea of stretching an iron chain across the river, in order
+to prevent the escape of these boats, which he pillaged at leisure.
+
+These Bosos, living at a distance of eight hundred and seventy miles
+from the coast, possess, as one might imagine, no idea of the sea or
+of the part of outlet that it plays to the rivers. The question of
+what becomes of the Niger beyond the regions they know troubles them
+very little. I sometimes attempted, in the course of conversation,
+to enlighten their minds on this point. Having one day captured an
+unusually intelligent Bosos, I made him enumerate all the towns he
+knew, or had heard of, down the Niger. ‘Sarafara, Khabara, Gao,’ he
+came to a standstill. ‘Well! and beyond them, what becomes of the
+river?’ ‘Beyond them,’ he reflected. ‘Oh! beyond them the fishes
+swallow it.’
+
+When I found some village particularly rich in information and the
+power of imparting it, I would stay over the following day in order to
+renew the nocturnal chat, generally retiring to the river at night on
+account of its beneficial freshness. In the distance, beacon-like fires
+blazing on the brim of the great river would indicate some native
+ball, and on approaching one could hear the droning of tom-toms and
+the cadenced clapping of hands that always accompany these functions.
+Elsewhere, grazing in the now deserted fields, the noctambulating
+hippopotamus would neigh us his serenades.
+
+Great fires cover the banks in March. It is the black man’s method of
+clearing and manuring his fields on the eve of seed-time. He destroys
+the tall grasses and other parasites by these means, and enriches his
+soil with their ashes. Thus magnificently illuminated, we glide over
+the water to the sound of a great crackling which is occasionally
+mingled with the cry of some wild animal that the flames have surprised
+in its lair.
+
+In this manner I wandered so much at my own sweet will that even
+my Bosos, expert as they are, were obliged to confess themselves
+bewildered at times. With all these pleasures spiced with the
+apprehension of a sudden illness or unexpected attack, and sustained by
+the thought of having some lines of the world’s history at the end of
+my pen when Jenne and Timbuctoo should be attained, am I not right in
+saying that the cruise of my thatched yacht was a unique one?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+THE VALLEY OF THE NIGER
+
+
+The ancient renown of Timbuctoo, its boasted commerce, and its prestige
+as a rich and powerful metropolis, warrant the assertion _à priori_
+that the regions surrounding this city of the Niger must be remarkably
+fertile. It could hardly have usurped such a reputation. History
+affords no parallel of an error continuing to deceive the world through
+four or five centuries.
+
+The geographer, sitting in his study between a modern map of Africa and
+the works of El Bekri, Ca da Mosto, De Baros, Léon the African, and
+other travellers, would reason thus: With sand to the north-east and
+west of it the huge market of Timbuctoo is situated on the threshold of
+the desert. Yet it is not with sand that the wheels of such an enormous
+traffic are greased. In order, therefore, that Timbuctoo should be
+enabled to play the part attributed to it, we should expect to find a
+rich extent of territory in the south, an isthmus of fertility, as it
+were, jutting into the sea of sand. We should anticipate this stretch
+of land to be large, since it has maintained a great commerce for some
+centuries, and supplied such varied markets as Morocco, Tuat, and
+Tripoli, as well as the various nomad populations of the desert.
+
+Do these fertile regions really possess the happy distinction of
+being discoverable by mere force of logic, as certain stars are by
+mathematical calculation?
+
+The occupation of Timbuctoo has made it possible to verify such
+surmises by opening up routes, accessible not only to the explorer
+proper, who crosses the country worn by privation and at the mercy of
+his guides, but available also for the traveller who lingers to gather
+complete information at his ease.
+
+This country lying to the south of Timbuctoo is the Sudan, otherwise
+called the Valley and the Buckler of the Niger, a vast region,
+traversed to an extent of nearly 2500 miles by one of the largest
+rivers in the world.
+
+Egypt was happily defined by Herodotus as being the ‘present of the
+Nile.’ What Herodotus said of Egypt we might with equal truth say of
+the Sudan.
+
+The Arabian conqueror Amru, who took possession of Egypt in the seventh
+century, gives the following complete and accurate description of it in
+a letter to his master the Khalif Omar.
+
+‘O Prince of the Faithful! Picture unto thyself an arid desert and
+a fruitful country, for such is Egypt. A beneficent river flows
+majestically through its midst. The rise and fall of its waters are as
+regular as the course of the sun and the moon. At an appointed time all
+the springs of the universe come to pay tribute to this king of rivers.
+They cause its waters to swell and leave their bed, covering the
+surface of Egypt with a fruitful mire, and when the waters cease to be
+necessary for the fertilisation of the soil, the obedient river returns
+to the limits prescribed to it by destiny, in order that the treasures
+it has hidden in the bosom of the earth may be gathered. The people
+thus favoured by Heaven sow seeds in the bowels of the earth, that they
+may be brought to prosperity by the munificence of the Supreme Being
+who causes harvests to ripen. The most abundant harvests are succeeded
+by sudden sterility; and thus it is, O Prince of the Faithful, that
+Egypt offers successively the images of an arid and sandy desert, a
+liquid and silvery plain, a marsh of black mire, a green, undulating
+meadow, and a field of golden grain. Blessed for ever be the Creator of
+such marvels.’
+
+What the Nile has done for Egypt, the Niger has accomplished for the
+Sudan. In the course of a year we witness the same striking and opposed
+pictures. The cultivation is as facile as that of Egypt, and is due to
+the same regular rise and fall of the river. But the Niger shows an
+even greater munificence in its gifts than does its brother of Eastern
+Africa. For thousands of years the labour of man has co-operated with
+the beneficent work of the latter, and yet, flowing imbedded between
+two mountain chains, it only carries fertility to some few hundreds or
+thousands of feet; while the Niger, on the other hand, owing to its
+immense plains, dispenses its benefits over an extent of more than
+sixty miles without the intervening aid of man.
+
+The prestige of Timbuctoo in the past, and its boasted commerce, are
+now explained by finding it as we do upon the threshold of another
+Egypt, equally favoured by nature, but infinitely greater in extent.
+Its only disadvantages consist in not having been developed by four or
+five thousand years of civilisation, and in not standing in the doorway
+of Europe as does the Valley of the Nile.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+[Illustration: THE VALLEY OF THE NIGER’S SOURCE]
+
+The Niger rises in the mountain chain which extends from the country
+of Sulima in the north to Kono in the south, and spreads to the Kissi
+country in the east. Contrary to the generally accepted opinion, the
+range is not, geologically speaking, a dependency of that Foota Jallon
+upheaval which is considered the centre of a great movement whose
+subordinate branches were pushed beyond the sources of the Niger. In
+reality, the range of the Niger’s sources, or the Kouranko chain, forms
+the true centre of the upheaval. Its altitudes, in the countries of
+Negaya and Kono, attain to 3840 feet (sources of the Niger), and 4920
+feet in the south, while the average elevation of the Foota Jallon is
+not more than 2625 feet.
+
+The principal summits of the Kouranko range are: Mount Bondi, Mount
+Ma, Mount Keina, Mount Konko-Kourawa, the two Kolas, the two Soullous,
+Mount Kokonante (sources of the Niger), Mount Darou, the needles of
+Kinki, the Songoula, the Banka, Fingui, Soofoa, Tinki, Owaloo, Kora,
+and the Toumba (the four last are in the country of Kono).
+
+[Illustration: THE SOURCES OF THE NIGER TEMBI]
+
+In the Kissi country two rivers, the Paliko and the Tembi, flow towards
+the north, pursue a parallel course, and, meeting at Laya, unite in one
+bed to become the Niger or Joliba. The most important of the two rivers
+is the Tembi, considered by the natives as the Father of Joliba. It
+rises in a little hill to the east of Mount Kokonante, and not far from
+the foot of Mount Darou. The hill from which the Tembi flows is in no
+way remarkable from a topographical point of view. Bare at its summit,
+it is covered a little lower down with a vegetation which, growing
+thicker as it descends towards the waterway of the valley, proclaims
+the presence of water.
+
+About a hundred feet from the summit of the hill is a little basin,
+about three feet in diameter and a foot in depth, full of clear water,
+and called by the natives Tembi-Kuntu, or Head of Tembi. A hundred feet
+further down is another and larger basin, which is not easily found on
+account of the thick vegetation, the inextricable confusion of thorny
+canes, trees thrown down by storms, tangles of creepers and tree ferns,
+in which it is hidden.
+
+The water of this little creek flows through the wood, and reappears
+656 feet lower down in the valley. At this point the Tembi is a mere
+rivulet; 875 yards from its source it has become, at the village of
+Tembi-Kuntu, a gentle stream, increasing rapidly in size and depth as
+it flows towards the north. At Nelia, eight miles from the source, it
+is eighty feet wide, and at Farannah, sixty-two miles from the source,
+it has attained a breadth of nearly 328 feet.
+
+The wood from which the Tembi springs is reputed sacred, and is the
+subject of innumerable legends and superstitions. Access to it is
+denied to the profane; terrible misfortunes overtake any one uttering
+a word or touching anything there, and warriors and all who have shed
+blood die on approaching this spot. Its waters are believed to express
+the judgments of God. If a man is accused of some crime which he denies
+he is forced to drink of them, and if he is guilty his sin is proved by
+an inflation of the stomach, followed by instant death.
+
+[Illustration: THE TEMBI IN THE SACRED WOOD]
+
+The natives say that in the centre of the little creek of Tembi is
+a rocky islet. This little island is the abode of the Spirit of the
+Spring, and the mysterious retreat of the High Priest who represents
+the deity to mortals. He takes up his residence there by plunging into
+the water and approaching it invisibly. According to the legend there
+is a golden dwelling at the bottom of the lake, and his acolytes, the
+minor prophets, profess to have heard the noise he makes in opening and
+shutting the doors of his supernatural home. High priests and lesser
+priests unite in jealously guarding the approaches to the spring, and
+the mystery they make of it confers great distinction and authority
+upon them throughout the country. The neighbouring kinglets refer to
+them before undertaking a war or other act of importance, and the
+common herd consult them on all occasions of weight. The Spirit of the
+Spring, being eminently practical, will only condescend to attend to
+them through the medium of sacrifice.
+
+These ceremonies are not very ferocious, merely oxen being offered, and
+not human victims, as in neighbouring Dahomey. The oxen, however, must
+be young, as the Spirit likes his meat to be tender. The immolations
+do not take place at the spring, but in the village of Nalia, where
+the priests live with their wives and families. When the animal is
+slaughtered the best portions are cut off, and naturally go to the
+ministers of the Spirit and their families. The head and legs are left
+adhering to the skin, which is then stuffed, sewn up, and thrown into
+the river as it flows past the sacrificial spot. A few paces further
+on the stream momentarily disappears through a subterranean passage.
+The stuffed ox disappears with the Tembi, to reappear later on, its
+head proudly erect, as, apparently overflowing with life, it rears and
+plunges, appearing and disappearing with the bubbling of the current.
+Every one then retires satisfied; the Spirit of the Spring and his
+ministers pleased with the prospect of some first-rate meals, and the
+people, who had defrayed the costs, charmed by the gambols of their ox.
+
+[Illustration: A WATERFALL IN THE VALLEY OF THE NIGER’S SOURCE]
+
+This Kissi region lies in the ninth latitude, where the last
+ramifications of the Foota Jallon mountains join the first buttresses
+of the Kong chain. The source of the Niger is to be found there, and
+it is _par excellence_ the land of heavy rainfalls. From February to
+July the water falls from the skies in veritable torrents. The gentle
+slopes of the mountain ranges are channelled by innumerable cascades,
+rivulets, brooks, and rivers, that carry off the heavenly overflow. It
+is not surprising, therefore, that at Kouroussa, although the river has
+received only three tributaries of importance, it has already acquired
+an imposing bed. The further it advances, the larger and more numerous
+become the waters by which it is swelled. These supplies cease
+abruptly above Bammaku, and from there to Diafaraba the river is almost
+solitary.
+
+[Illustration: MAP OF THE NIGERIAN REGIONS AS FAR AS TIMBUCTOO]
+
+It is between Tembi-Kuntu and Diafaraba that we meet with the first of
+a homogeneous series of naturally irrigated zones. The left bank is
+narrow, and descends in a gentle slope to the Niger, the Foota Jallon
+range closely bordering and not quitting it until after Koulikoro.
+The right bank, however, is free, and forms a large plain, which is
+splendidly watered by the crowd of tributaries that run parallel to the
+great river.
+
+The latter does not squander its miracles on this first zone, which is
+already so richly dowered with precious waters that its co-operation
+would be superfluous. These countries of the Upper Niger are radiant.
+Tropical vegetation spreads over them with the utmost prodigality,
+its orange, citron, kola, and banana trees delighting the eyes of the
+European.
+
+The Niger is accumulating its forces as it crosses this region, and its
+inundations are unimportant, scarcely overflowing the banks by half a
+mile. The giant is reserving his strength that he may transform into
+opulent plains the immense stretches of sand that await his coming
+from here to Diafaraba. The river pauses for a moment below Bammaku,
+in front of the rocky barrier of Sotouba, in order to gather up and
+concentrate, before approaching the sand, the formidable mass of
+waters sent by the heavens during the previous five months. Then in
+the plenitude of its strength it rushes on towards the north, passing
+Nyamina, Segu, and Sansanding on its way.
+
+Having cleared Diafaraba, it arrives, towards September, impetuous
+and swollen, at Mopti, where it is joined by a monster tributary, the
+Bani, with a mass of waters as formidable as its own. With such a
+reinforcement, the army of waters has grown immense, infinite. Its bed
+is now too narrow, it stifles between the banks. In front, behind, upon
+all sides, it seeks outlets, hurling itself into the least depression,
+and invading the smallest passage. And now takes place what I shall
+call the intoxication of the Niger.
+
+Happy intoxication! if such it be. The river flings itself headlong
+over the entire low-lying region between Diafaraba and Timbuctoo,
+covering it and swamping it, until a steppe of barren sand becomes one
+of the most fertile spots in the universe. It has for centuries drifted
+a beneficent vegetable mud into these low-lying countries, effacing the
+sand and transforming this region into a granary of plenty. We find
+there not one delta, as in Egypt, but three.
+
+The first is from Diafaraba to the approaches of Lake Debo. On its left
+bank, having found two auspicious outlets, the Niger forms the pools of
+Diarka and Bourgoo. Its principal branch runs in a parallel direction,
+and flows with its two arms into the Debo. Its waters are still so
+abundant, in spite of this distribution of its forces, that the three
+streams communicate with one another by means of natural channels. The
+Bani connects itself with the Niger in the same manner on the right
+bank.
+
+Thus a most thorough and complete system of irrigation is formed, to
+which man has not needed to put his hand; and fertility is spread over
+thousands of square miles. The rise and fall of these waters is as
+regular as those of the Nile, and an infinitely greater distance is
+covered. At Mopti, for example, you can calculate in September ninety
+miles from east to west inundated to a depth of eight or nine feet.
+
+The countries of Sana, Bourgoo, Massina, Jenneri, and Kunari are
+situated in this delta.
+
+The second extends from Lake Debo to El Oual Hadj. Here the Niger
+again divides into three branches. The least important, the Koli-Koli,
+rises south of Lake Debo; the Barra Issa or Black Niger, and the Issa
+Ber or White Niger, north of the lake. The Koli-Koli traverses Lake
+Korienza and joins the Black Niger at Sarafara, the latter being in its
+turn united with the White Niger near El Oual Hadj.
+
+[Illustration: THE REGION OF THE THREE DELTAS]
+
+Like the Bani and the Niger, like the Niger and the pools of Diarka and
+Bourgoo, these three branches communicate with one another by means of
+winding channels, and we find everywhere the same system of irrigation
+accompanied by the same wonderful fertility. Nor is this all. On the
+left bank, at the extreme limit of inundation, the river finds a new
+formula for its gifts in an admirable series of lakes, twelve in
+number, and separated by chains of hills. The following are the names
+of eleven of them, counting from south-west to north-east: the Kabara,
+Tenda, Sumpi, Takadji, Sanaki, Horo, Fati, Goro, Dauna, Tela, and the
+Faguibine.
+
+The floods fill these lakes by means of gullies more or less wide.
+Those of the Fati, Horo, and Takadji are particularly wide and open to
+commerce at any time of the year. Others are clear for certain months
+(October to March), and are then obstructed by weeds, not, however,
+to the extent of impeding the passage of small canoes. The borders of
+these lakes, like the banks of the river they rival in fertility, are
+alternately flooded and left bare for a distance of some hundreds of
+yards.
+
+The lakes of Tela, Faguibine, and Dauna form depressions to a depth
+of thirty-three feet below the mean level of the Niger. They are fed
+by means of gullies and subterranean infiltration. At the height of
+the floods, by simply scraping the ground with your hand, you can find
+water anywhere on the surface between the river and the lakes.
+
+This chaplet of lakes forms an ingenious system of reservoirs for the
+formidable masses of water discharged by the Niger and Bani united.
+They return a portion of their water by means of gullies and channels
+as the floods subside. To the second delta belong the countries of
+Guimbala, Farimanka, Aoussa-Kattawal, Seno Krou-ku, Fituka, and
+Sobundu-Samba.
+
+The third delta occupies the valley extending from El Oual Hadj to
+Khabara, the port of Timbuctoo. After El Oual Hadj the river pursues a
+solitary course to its mouth.
+
+This zone of irrigation is formed in the following manner:--Numerous
+natural channels connect the Tela and Faguibine lakes with the left
+bank of the river, the most important of them going by the name of the
+Pool of Gundam. On the right bank a new series of lakes and the Pools
+of Guaki and Kuna are scattered over the north-east of the valley.
+Unfortunately these lakes are only known by name, but according to
+the latest information they are twenty-three in number; among them
+are the Kangara, Dinaguira, Doumba, Labou, Hongonta, Fatta, Tahetant,
+Tibouraguina, Do, Gakora, Tengueral, Titoulawina, Agwabada, Garo,
+Haribongo, Kherba, Tibouraghina, Dadji, Fankora, and the Marmar.
+
+This delta comprises Kissou, Killi, Surayamo, Aribinda, and Gurma.
+
+Retarded thus by innumerable and remote digressions, by liberalities
+great and small, it is not until January that the Niger reaches
+Timbuctoo. Driven back there by the sands of the Sahara, it takes a
+sharp turn to the east, the dunes closely following it on the left bank
+and preventing it from spreading to its full width. On the right bank,
+however, the country is once more favourable for inundations, and the
+Niger makes its fertilising power manifest in channels and lakes which
+irrigate the country by natural means and give this Bamba region a
+widespread reputation for wealth.
+
+The course of the river to the east is now suddenly arrested by the
+granite range of Taosay. It forces a narrow passage for a while, and
+then, wearied with struggling against these rocky masses, it makes
+straight for the south. Here again the left bank proves inhospitable,
+while the Niger continues its customary marvellous transformations
+on the right. Its progress is so greatly retarded here that it is
+not until the middle of July that it arrives at Say with its full
+complement of water, and it finally reaches the mouth in September.
+Nearly a year therefore has it taken this immense mass of water from
+the regions of the Upper Niger to reach, considerably lessened in bulk,
+the Atlantic Ocean.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+We have now seen that Nature has neglected nothing to make these
+southern lands fit to maintain a commerce so important as that of
+Timbuctoo. Cattle-rearing and agriculture attain to an extreme degree
+of perfection, and one fondly pictures the wealth that might be drawn
+from a country so marvellously constructed.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+THE TOWNS OF THE NIGER
+
+
+‘Prepare to receive cavalry!... Mar-r-r-ch!’ This command uttered in
+a ringing voice, a clang of arms and a great clatter of feet, were
+the first sounds I heard on awakening in one of the casemates of Fort
+Bammaku. Somewhat bewildered, I question my servant, who is squatting
+in the corner waiting for me to open my eyes. ‘It is the soldiers being
+drilled,’ he says, and, peeping through one of the loopholes, I see a
+square of negroes, bristling with bayonets.
+
+Bammaku is the first fort upon our route that contains military
+apparatus and a garrison. The critical circumstances under which it was
+built are curiously reflected in its structure. It is simply a great
+rectangular wall with none of the ingenuity of modern construction
+about it; but a superabundance of loopholes everywhere--in the
+stables, the powder-magazines, the rooms, and the kitchen. They had
+to build quickly in 1883 and content themselves with the merely
+necessary; for Samory was still terrorising the country when Colonel
+Borgnis-Desbordes planted the first French flag upon the Niger.
+A little troop of infantry intrenched in a neighbouring redoubt
+held the position while the Chinese hastily raised these primitive
+fortifications; the hordes of blacks multiplying the while, and
+Samory himself coming to command this last and decisive engagement.
+As ammunition was giving out, the Colonel and his staff joined in the
+_mêlée_. Borgnis-Desbordes, running to repell the last assault, said
+to his companions, ‘Better keep the last charge in your revolvers, for
+when we have served the rest it will be time to think of ourselves.’
+
+If Bammaku is not yet a purely administrative centre, like Bafoulaba,
+Badoumba, and Kita, it is not because this part of the country needs a
+display of strength (it is no less peaceful than that through which I
+have just passed), but because it is situated in the very centre of our
+colony, and forms an important strategic point from which it is easy to
+send reinforcements to any part that may be momentarily threatened.
+
+This precaution is wise. For do we really know how far we are masters
+of this splendid country, which is many times larger than France, and
+contains from ten to fifteen millions of people? We have a fleet of two
+gunboats and some iron barges armed with mitrailleuses, upon the Niger,
+commanded by a naval lieutenant and a midshipman; the crew is black,
+as are all the troops garrisoning the interior. Except the servers of
+the field-pieces, there is not a single white private in the country.
+Officers and petty officers alone are Europeans, and the respective
+numbers of blacks and whites occupying the immense Sudan are: six
+hundred Europeans, including officers, petty officers, doctors,
+veterinaries, officials, and telegraph-clerks, and four million negroes
+enrolled as foot-soldiers, cavalry, and transport-bearers.
+
+When we realise that we have only occupied this country for the last
+ten years, and that it is three or four times as large as Algeria
+(which requires an army of 40,000 men to maintain it), we find the
+necessary controlling force in the Sudan to be as surprisingly as it is
+delightfully small.[1]
+
+The town of Bammaku is situated between the fort and the river, not
+immediately upon its banks but at a distance of a quarter of a mile;
+that is to say, on the limits of inundation. Its aspect is most
+charming, thanks to the initiative and intelligence of the officers who
+have successively commanded it. They have well taken to heart their
+_rôle_ of civilising medium, and have made (between its rows of white
+dwellings built of rammed clay) roads, which they have bordered with
+trees that give a most welcome shelter.
+
+They have also laid out great squares where the superbly tall
+cheese-tree spreads its parasol-like foliage. A large building shelters
+the native market, and not far from it are two shops containing
+European merchandise. A negro, armed with an old sabre, acts the part
+of superintendent of police and looks after the town property. This
+Europeanising does not displease the natives in the least. Every year
+sees the town increase and new roads constructed, while rapid strides
+are being made towards regaining its ancient prosperity, which was
+destroyed by El Hadj Omar and Samory out of sheer envy.
+
+The great encompassing plain is no less enchanting to look at. Partly
+inundated and partly irrigated by numerous rivulets, there is no need
+to dilate upon its obvious fertility, and I pass on to speak at greater
+length of the three kinds of tree which grow so abundantly in the
+fields, bush, and rocky ledges of this region.
+
+The most interesting of the three is the karita or butter-tree, and
+is best represented among our trees by the pear, the similarity of
+their leaves being remarkable. The bark and trunk are rugged like
+those of the chestnut-tree. Its branches develop in the form of a
+dome, and should attain to great dimensions. A fully developed karita
+is unfortunately a rare sight; for the natives take no care (in their
+fields or elsewhere) to preserve this tree, which they have neither
+to plant nor to cultivate, and whose fruit can always be gathered to
+satiety. I know no tree in the whole of Western Africa more valuable
+for the services it renders the native or for those it will soon be
+called upon to render the European.
+
+It first attracted my attention at Dion at the close of a day’s journey
+that had been prolonged until nightfall. When we finally reached the
+village in which we had arranged to spend the night, great was my
+surprise at inhaling an unmistakable odour of chocolate. Some European
+has forestalled me, I thought, and I made inquiries for him among
+the inhabitants. No, not another white man in the place. Whence this
+delectable odour, then? Guided by the perfume I presently found a large
+earthen pot confronting me, in which a dark brown mass was boiling.
+This was the karita, and they were boiling its nuts to obtain the
+butter they yield, and it was thence the well-known fumes escaped.
+
+This nut is enclosed in a flesh that resembles the peach in taste,
+and is made into a sweetmeat by the natives. The nut is shelled and
+set to dry and harden; in this state its red-brown colour, aroma, and
+taste are completely analogous to our cocoa. The Sudanese, though not
+yet initiated into the joys of chocolate, make a very ingenious use of
+it, nevertheless. They obtain, by a process similar to that of making
+cocoa-nut butter, a product of the first necessity, vegetable butter;
+and throughout the whole of the Sudan no other fatty substance is used,
+the great white blocks of karita possessing the inestimable advantage
+of never going bad.
+
+The European will undoubtedly find a still more profitable use for this
+tree later on, for on incision it yields a gutta-percha--a product for
+which many industries are now anxiously seeking, for its supply has
+diminished in proportion to the increase of demand.
+
+In the neighbourhood of the karita grows another curious tree, the
+nata. After the butter-tree the flour-tree. This flour, sold in all the
+markets of the region, is enclosed in large pods; it is of a yellow
+colour and singularly rich in sugar, so much so that I have seen it
+used by Europeans in the manufacture of confectionery and pastry.
+
+It would be difficult to say too much about the third tree found in
+these parts, the cheese-tree. Not satisfied with providing her negro
+with butter and pastry, Dame Nature has benevolently adorned the
+branches of this tree with camenberts and livarots. This tree (called
+baga or bamanbi by the natives) also produces capsules, from which
+very fine and brilliant filaments escape. So much do they resemble the
+precious threads of the cocoon that the name of vegetable silk has
+been given them. Nor is this the only Sudanese plant to furnish this
+miracle: the follicle of a very abundant anemone is equally full of a
+lustrous silk; while in the second delta of the Niger I have frequently
+observed a large plant growing to about the height of a man and bearing
+a pretty mauve blossom which is furnished in the same manner.
+
+[Illustration: THE ROCKY BARRIER AT SOTOUBA]
+
+The principal articles of commerce sent by Bammaku to Timbuctoo are
+gold, kola nuts, karita, and arachides. It would doubtless send cereals
+and other of its abundant products if the river permitted of direct
+relations being established between the two cities.
+
+At a little distance down the Niger, however, its bed is encumbered
+by the great barrier of Sotouba, forming one of the most picturesque
+scenes in the Sudan. I visited it just at the fall of the waters,
+and found that a formidable chaos of bitumen-coloured rocks had been
+uncovered on the left bank, while a terribly swift and foaming rapid
+extended as far as the eye could see upon the right.
+
+[Illustration: A WORKSHOP ON THE BANKS OF THE NIGER]
+
+The passage of Sotouba is only practicable at the height of the waters
+when the rocks are covered and the river is one enormous and very
+dangerous rapid. The current is so swift that a canoe from Bammaku
+arrives at Toulimandio, a distance of twenty-five miles, in three
+hours. At this latter place the course of the river is more normal,
+and we have made a little harbour from which travellers, bound for the
+north of the Sudan, come and go.
+
+It has no garrison, but merely possesses a dwelling of vaguely European
+type, built of rammed clay and thatched after the fashion of the
+native hut. A tricolour flag waves from its roof, and under it live an
+artillery sergeant and a gunner, closely recalling the two sappers of
+Dioubaba; only, instead of being occupied with trains and playing at
+station-master, the artilleryman is admiral and commander of the fleet
+of transport barges.
+
+The two men live surrounded by monkeys, guinea-fowls, and poultry, and
+their contentment rivals that of the comrades of Bakoy. A youthful
+alligator supplies the place of the hippopotamus, but does not display
+the same amiable desire to be tamed. He would make a mouthful of the
+hand ill-advised enough to attempt a caress; he has a strong chain
+attached to him, and is fastened up like a dog. There is only one
+thing that troubles these sons of the soil: they cannot understand why
+the natives do not labour to obtain even greater profit from the rich
+extents of fertility at their disposal. ‘They should send the fools to
+France to be taught how to work,’ is their recommendation.
+
+[Illustration: COTTON IN THE SUDANESE MARKETS]
+
+Some ten miles south of Toulimandio we have established a shipyard on
+a pretty, rocky promontory of the Niger. Its name is Koulikoro, and
+its neighbouring forests supply the wood from which the barges are
+concocted. These boats are something between a whaler and a canoe in
+shape, and officers, privates, travellers, and stores circulate up and
+down the river upon them. The director and workmen of the shipyard are
+all natives of Senegal.
+
+It is an amusingly primitive and exotic arsenal that is represented
+upon the river-bank. The workshops are leafy vaults; and benches, with
+forges, lathes, and pyramids of planks, lie scattered round the feet of
+mighty trees. The forms of toiling carpenters, blacksmiths, and sawyers
+mingle with those of their wives and children washing and bathing in
+the stream. Horses and other animals browse contentedly near, and
+the whole forms a delightful babel of laughter, blows of the hammer,
+neighing, saw-grinding, chatter, and bleating.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Further on, with Nyamina and Sansanding we reach the cotton district.
+Large fields are consecrated to the cultivation of this valuable plant,
+and it is here those beautiful fabrics known as _pagnes de Segu_ are
+made. They are patterned in deep indigo, and are in great request in
+Senegal, in the markets of Timbuctoo, and among the inhabitants of the
+coast, who greatly prefer them to the European textiles.
+
+Nyamina reposes gracefully at the far end of a little creek on the
+left bank of the Niger. This town is as gay and animated as possible,
+possessing, not one, but many markets in which the products of this
+rich country of Sarro are exchanged. Not only is there no fort nor
+garrison, there is not even a single European here, the government of
+town and country being in the hands of a native chief.
+
+[Illustration: WEAVERS ON THE BANKS OF THE NIGER]
+
+Segu, on the contrary, distant two days’ journey on the right
+river-bank, is strongly fortified; partly in its character of ancient
+bulwark of the Toucouleur dominion and capital of El Hadj Omar, and
+partly because it is the stronghold of the central valley of the Niger.
+Seen from the river its appearance is very attractive, with its massive
+gates and its walls zig-zagging like the folds of a screen. At the far
+end a conglomeration of points produces the illusion of a strong castle
+bristling with battlements. This edifice was the fantastic creation
+of the town’s first governor, an artillery officer, and it lodges
+the European staff, provision and ammunition stores. Its architect
+was inspired by the bizarre and vague efforts at adornment on the
+palaces of the kings of Segu. The ornaments with which they sought to
+soften the high bare walls which made their palaces look like prisons
+were, it appears, imported by masons from Jenne. With these models
+before him, the ingenuity of the artilleryman, combined with negraic
+masonry, resulted in a very queer product indeed. Seen close, it
+resembles a porcupine, or some large cathedral organ with a multitude
+of pipes. Unfortunately the sun-dried bricks of which it is built are
+inconsistency itself, and every rainy season sees the pilasters melt
+away like sugar-plums. Alas! three times over, this curiosity will not
+live to amuse our sons.
+
+[Illustration: SEGU]
+
+The town is populous, busy, and lively, but its interior does not
+fulfil the promise of its outward show. It is a pity that no one has
+taken the trouble to make the vistas and squares that give so much
+charm to Bammaku. The royal palace is its only object of interest,
+and of that not much more than the walls have been left standing.
+The interior has been destroyed and altered to suit our tastes and
+necessities, and it was but the carcase of Ahmadou’s (son of El Hadj
+Omar) palace that furnished the artilleryman with a model for his
+amazing monument. As for the abode of the famous negro conqueror, a
+cabbage plot grows where his harem was wont to flaunt its black beauty,
+and a post-office stands upon the site of his treasury.
+
+[Illustration: SEGU: THE ANCIENT PALACE OF AHMADOU TRANSFORMED INTO A
+FORT (EXTERIOR)]
+
+[Illustration: THE FORT OF SEGU: VIEW OF THE INTERIOR]
+
+This post-office is the last and most northern of the fourteen
+scattered about the Sudan. Hereafter we shall only find second-hand
+ones--that is to say, a petty officer who ensures the departure and
+delivery of letters in every occupied town. Once a fortnight a French
+mail arrives and departs timed to reach Dakar the day before the large
+steamers touch there. These mails, enclosed in waterproof bags, cross
+the country by means of relays of porters being carried in canoes on
+the Niger at the rate of thirty-five miles a day.
+
+[Illustration: ARRIVAL OF THE COURIER: SEGU]
+
+In addition the Sudan is provided with 1860 miles of telegraph lines.
+Segu is their northern limit, and it would be tedious to insist upon
+the value, from the point of view of security alone, of these little
+threads to a young colony. Not less useful are they as an instrument of
+public information, a gazette; a happy innovation for countries where
+newspapers only arrive some months old. Twenty words from France arrive
+daily in Senegal. This despatch, consisting of a summary of the day’s
+events, is transmitted to Kayes, and from there it is re-telegraphed
+from office to office across the country. It is communicated by letter
+to places that have no telegraph. These summaries are written out and
+attached to the doors of offices and forts throughout the country, and
+by their means the colonist lives in touch from day to day with the
+mother-country.
+
+Sansanding, twelve hours distant by the Niger from Segu, is situated,
+like Nyamina, in a creek on the left bank. There is no soldier or white
+man here either.
+
+Besides protecting and governing, we instituted a new form of rule
+for the Sudan. It was initiated by Colonel Archinard, one of its most
+intelligent governors.
+
+[Illustration: POSTAL CANOE ON THE NIGER]
+
+Amongst the wise reforms instituted in Senegal by Faidherbe, the one
+that rendered most signal service was the establishment of the School
+of Hostages at St. Louis. The sons of kings, kinglets, and the great
+chiefs of Senegambia are educated there on European lines. They are
+inoculated with modern culture and ideas, and are taught to share the
+French hopes and ideals for the future of these vast countries of the
+Sudan.
+
+Arrived at manhood, the sons either assist their fathers in a
+government to which they will succeed, or they enter the Senegalese or
+Sudanese services, civil and military. Some are officers, and others
+are utilised in the administration and telegraph offices, while many
+fill the important post of interpreter.
+
+[Illustration: BEARER OF AN URGENT MESSAGE]
+
+Mademba, son of a chief of Walo (of considerable authority in matters
+of religion and politics), was educated in this manner. He entered
+the telegraphic department somewhere about 1868, and rendered devoted
+service for twenty years to the cause of French occupation. He followed
+Colonel Borgnis-Desbordes and Colonel Archinard in their respective
+expeditions up the Niger; and the latter, wishing to reward his
+devotion, created for him a little kingdom on the left bank of the
+river, with Sansanding as his capital.
+
+This idea of governing the negroes of the Sudan by a Senegalese negro
+educated in accordance with our ideas was a lucky hit. It is a living
+and daily example to these people, an encouragement to them to receive
+the education we offer. When we remember with what modest means we
+occupy the Sudan, we recognise how inestimable this moral force of
+education must be.
+
+When the commanders of neighbouring forts have occasion to collect
+provisions of cereals, recruit tirailleurs, assemble porters, or no
+matter what, they can rely upon Mademba as they would upon a European.
+Any white man passing through Sansanding, whatever his position may be,
+receives the welcome of a friend. If you appeal to his assistance, even
+after only having once seen him, Mademba will perform the impossible in
+order to serve you.
+
+[Illustration: ENTRANCE TO MADEMBA’s PALACE]
+
+Although a Mussulman himself, he so appreciates the benefits he
+received from a European education, that he sends his sons to the
+Christian school of St. Louis, subscribes to our papers, and keeps up
+with the news and politics of France. Colonial movement more especially
+engages his attention, and he gives it practical encouragement in
+his kingdom. He sends to Paris for various seeds, and endeavours to
+introduce new growths into the country. He has an experimental garden
+on the banks of the Niger, and I have seen corn, and plum and peach
+trees, etc., trying to grow there. The natives have noticed all this,
+and respect him accordingly. ‘Mademba is not a negro,’ they say, ‘he
+is a tou bab’ (European), not meaning by this that he has renounced
+his race and colour, but to express their pride in the fact that one
+of their number has raised himself to the level of those white men
+whose culture is their perpetual astonishment. The Europeans indorse
+this judgment and treat him in every way as one of themselves. I need
+scarcely say that I passed many interesting hours at the court of
+King--or, as the natives say, Fama--Mademba. A most diverting mixture
+of European and native customs obtains there. His house is built in a
+succession of courts cut in battlements, and the whole is enclosed with
+high walls after the fashion of native palaces. It is at one and the
+same time a farm, barracks, country house, and royal dwelling, just
+like the kingly palaces of Homer. In the first court you pass through
+groups of horses, women, sheep, children, and ducks and hens; in the
+second, clusters of servants, armed or otherwise, are measuring rice
+and millet seed, or selling barrels of salt, tobacco, and kola nuts.
+In Mademba’s own apartments, amongst the skins spread about on the
+floor for the accommodation of a native audience, were comfortable
+arm-chairs, tables, books, pen and ink, lamps and candlesticks, a
+thousand objects trifling in themselves but interesting enough when
+found under a negro’s roof.
+
+Mademba has retained the religion of his father, and most of his
+subjects practise Islamism. Although discarding some of its usages, he
+has preferred to preserve the custom of polygamy.
+
+[Illustration: A COURTYARD IN MADEMBA’S PALACE]
+
+[Illustration: FAMA MADEMBA]
+
+Towards evening, as the mares and colts were brought in from the fields
+under his vigilant eyes, I sat beside him with my glass of water
+perfumed with some drops of absinthe; and melancholy were the glances
+he cast upon his own ‘undefiled tumbler.’ His retinue was numerous, and
+he had too much tact to scandalise them by drinking his water anything
+but neat, nor did he neglect to prostrate himself in the prayer that
+every good Mussulman must say at sunset. But no sooner did we find
+ourselves _tête-à-tête_ at dinner, waited on by familiar servants
+(Senegalese like their master), than red wine and champagne from the
+royal cellars filled both our tumblers, nor was a final glass of
+Chartreuse forgotten. The repast was served in European fashion, plates
+and knives being changed with each course, a little luxury I had not
+always met with in the Sudan at the tables of white people. In contrast
+to all this, the wardrobe of the king retained its local colour. He
+wore a red fez and a long mantle (like the priestly cope), dark green
+in colour and heavily embroidered in gold. He wore, moreover, various
+decorations, among which I noticed that of the legion of honour. I
+will not deny that he had something of the stage monarch about him and
+might have come out of a theatrical wardrobe-shop, but his appearance
+was in no way inharmonious; and how ridiculous he would have looked in
+frock-coat and top-hat!
+
+Having scoured the country for so many years, and being by nature
+an observer gifted with a keen judgment, Mademba was a perfect
+treasure-house of information. He had a complete knowledge of native
+idioms, and could express himself in French with ease. He gave me an
+account of the ancient splendour of Sansanding, and entered into the
+reasons of its decadence, recounted his heroic resistance against the
+Toucouleurs, and showed me how he was slowly rebuilding his kingdom.
+The explanation of many things came to me in this way: the speedy
+submission of the Sudan, and, above all, its rapid pacification,
+and the security of completely isolated Europeans, like the two
+artillerymen at Toulimandio.
+
+Mademba sent for a chief of the town in order that I might receive
+enlightenment at the fountain-head. He was an old man, Bossissa by
+name, withered and whitened by age, whose energies had all ebbed into
+his eyes. His grandfather was the most powerful shipowner in Sansanding
+a hundred years ago; the greater part of the canoes trading with
+Timbuctoo were his, and his slaves were to be counted by hundreds.
+Mungo Park was his guest in 1805, and his descendants have preserved
+more than one reminiscence of the hardy explorer which shall be
+recounted later on.
+
+[Illustration: SANSANDING: CORNER OF THE MARKET]
+
+‘Thou hast seen our city in ruins,’ said Bossissa; ‘its houses deserted
+and falling in pieces. Thou hast beheld our most unhappy Mosque. And
+when thou shalt be returned into the country of thy fathers, thou
+shalt say: I have seen Sansanding, and it is a city in ruins, a city
+of nothingness. But yet thou hast not seen our city, neither has the
+Fama beheld it. This beard and these white hairs alone have seen it.
+And at that time the city was cheerful and well built, containing many
+markets. The people were full of contentment, and were apparelled in
+the fine garments and rich clothing of Arabia which were brought by
+our canoes from Timbuctoo, together with many things both beautiful
+and pleasant. All this suffered sudden change forty years ago. It was
+the will of God! Men came from the south hungered and thirsting for
+blood, as the hyena comes seeking corpses. El Hadj Omar was at their
+head. From the west he brought them, saying unto them: “The Djoliba
+takes its source in Mecca. To look upon it is to make a pilgrimage unto
+the Holy City. All who bathe in it shall be received in Paradise.” We
+were good Mussulmans here, but they made war against us for the sake
+of our wealth. We fought long, and conquered many times, but our city
+was taken from us and set in ruins. Our people left their country. My
+friends wished me to depart also, but I made answer, “I will rather
+die where my father died.” A life of sadness began. The Toucouleurs
+destroyed and pillaged; many of the inhabitants had nothing left to
+them but their two ears. The fields were no longer cultivated. The
+country returned to the bush, and wild animals peopled it. Hyænas came
+to our very doors and carried away our children in the twilight. Then
+the Frenchmen came, and Segu was destroyed, and the Toucouleurs were
+swept away, and joy returned to the country. Peace reigns among us;
+he who does evil is of a certainty punished. Now that the harvest is
+no longer stolen, the fields are once more cultivated. We can travel
+without fear; a child, knowing its way, may walk alone along the roads.
+Merchants sleep in safety in the bush far from all habitations; while,
+formerly, we did not dare to go beyond the town. When we met others
+stronger than ourselves, they seized us and made us their slaves. The
+weak village was at the mercy of the powerful. But to-day all are equal
+and contented, and one may not do wrong unto another.
+
+‘It is to the white man that we owe this; and dost thou still ask why
+we are satisfied with their presence and wherefore we rejoice in it?
+Dost thou not now understand why the country submits unto thee and is
+peaceful?’
+
+[Illustration: THE BOSOS IN THE BOW ABRUPTLY CEASED PLYING THEIR BAMBOO
+POLES]
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+JENNE
+
+
+At the village of Kouakoru we abandoned the Niger for one of those
+natural channels which carry fertility afar by their floods.
+
+About twelve hours after we had left the main stream, to my sudden
+astonishment, the Bosos in the bow abruptly ceased plying their long
+bamboo poles. Sheltered as I was under my thatched hollow, the horizon
+was completely hidden from me, and I could see nothing but water and
+raised banks. Unable to understand their sudden inaction, I prepared
+to blow them up. They turned at my appeal in open-mouthed surprise,
+silently pointing to some object that was invisible to me; then, with
+voices barely audible from emotion, they murmured, ‘Jenne!’ They were
+overwhelmed by the sight of an unknown town; they, who knew great
+cities like Segu, Nyamina, and Sansanding! Here was something that I
+had never seen before, either, and shall never see again, namely, a
+negro surprised and affected, not by some European invention, but by a
+spectacle of his own country. I hastened forward, and stood astonished
+in my turn; for the first time in these regions I was astounded by the
+work of man.
+
+Curious and beautiful sights had not been wanting on my journey, but
+there was always something lacking to the eye and mind of a cultivated
+man, some trace of civilisation that should evoke the genius of
+humanity; for, in spite of all that has been said about the mutilations
+and sacrileges to which man has subjected the great works of nature,
+one must confess to finding these great works somewhat incomplete
+when one has seen nothing else for a long time. The valley of the
+Loire, clothed solely in its own virgin robe, is a beautiful sight,
+but set with those precious stones called Amboise, Tours, Chambord,
+Chenonceaux, it becomes marvellous.
+
+Jenne is the jewel of the valley of the Niger.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Here is the picture engraved upon my memory as I sat perched in the
+bow among my Bosos. A vast plain, infinitely flat, without a touch
+of relief; no villages nor any other sign of humanity, only now and
+again some trees at long intervals, showing as dark spots upon the
+yellow-green expanse. In the very midst of this solitude is a circle
+of water, and within it, rising victorious (like the summit of the
+palm-tree amidst the sands of the desert), is reared a long mass of
+high and regular walls, erected on mounds as high, and nearly as steep,
+as themselves. A forest of projections crowns them with terraced roofs,
+palms, gable-ends, stairs, and dome-like trees; a whole smiling life
+salutes me from the height of this little island.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+It is sunset, and the violent contrast of tropical light and shade
+intensifies the effect. It is an impressive scene at this hour, and
+fully justifies the emotion of my Bosos. The high mass of the town is
+dark against the sky and the bare immensity of the plain that flames
+right and left of it; and Jenne stands out without transition from
+the brilliance of land and sky. It seems as if all there was of life
+had sought refuge on this mountain isle which rises protectingly and
+majestically from the distance.
+
+As my boat approaches by the channel that branches at right angles
+towards the heart of the town, the banks and walls of the city emerge
+in greater proportions from the encircling water. At their feet I can
+distinguish a harbour filled with large boats that have nothing in
+common with the accustomed pirogue. They are large and strange in form,
+like the city that shelters them.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+[Illustration: JENNE: A CORNER OF THE TOWN]
+
+When I have climbed the banks and entered the walls, my surprise
+takes a definite form, and I am completely bewildered and thrown out
+of reckoning by the novelty and strangeness of the town’s interior.
+Surely the angel of Habakkuk has suddenly transported me a thousand
+leagues away from the Sudan. For it is not in the heart of a country
+of eternally similar huts (childish in their simplicity and confusion)
+that I should look to find a real town. Yes, a real town in the
+European sense of the word; not one of those disorderly conglomerations
+of dwellings which we call towns in this country. Here are true houses;
+not primitive shelters crowned with roofs that are either flat or
+in the shape of an inverted funnel. Streets too; not seed-plots of
+buildings amongst which one wanders by paths that serpentine more than
+the most serpentining serpent.
+
+The idea suddenly occurs to me, perhaps this is Timbuctoo after all.
+That would explain everything. But it is impossible; the Bosos say we
+are still twelve days’ journey distant from there.
+
+[Illustration: HOUSE IN JENNE]
+
+What is this town, then, with its wide, straight roads, its houses
+of two stories (some with a sketch of a third) built in a style that
+instantly arrests the eye? I am completely bewildered by an apparition
+so absolutely unexpected in the midst of a barbarous country. Where did
+this gathering of unknown life come from? What is this civilisation,
+sufficiently assured to possess a manner and style of its own? My
+thoughts naturally turn to the culture of the Khalifs: the Arabian
+countries are those nearest to the valley of the Niger, and Islamism
+is diffused among them. But logically a creed should be accompanied
+by its art, and there is nothing Arabic in this style. There is no
+trace in any of the houses, old or new, of the cupola which is such
+a characteristic commonplace of Egypt, Syria, and Algeria. These
+buildings have as little in common with the airy palaces of Cairo and
+Damascus as they have with the delicate and complicated structures
+of Cordova, Granada, or Seville. This style is not Byzantine, Roman,
+nor Greek; still less is it Gothic or Western. All traces of European
+civilisation cease between the coast and the Niger.
+
+[Illustration: A STREET IN JENNE]
+
+At last I recall these majestically solid forms; and the memory is
+wafted to me from the other extremity of Africa. Their prototypes rise
+upon the banks of another great river, but no life is associated with
+their image. They are dead cities, or rather cities of the dead; for
+it is in the lifeless towns of the Pharaohs and their hypogeums, it is
+in the ruins of ancient Egypt in the valley of the Nile, that I have
+witnessed this art before.
+
+[Illustration: HOUSE IN JENNE]
+
+How came it here across the far-off centuries? How is it it adorns a
+living town to-day? What is this hitherto unnoticed Egyptian colony?
+
+The key to this enigma must be found, and I interrupted my journey,
+firmly resolved not to resume it before I had unravelled the mystery.
+I succeeded in fathoming the riddle by means of long talks with the
+chiefs, notabilities, and marabuts (learned men and Mussulman priests)
+of the town. Arabic documents supplemented oral traditions, and, above
+all, I had the good fortune to find a complete copy of the _Tarik é
+Soudan_ (long coveted by Orientalists), the great chronicle of the
+countries of the Niger. I completed and elucidated many of its pages by
+means of the narratives transmitted from father to son; and, little by
+little, the mystery unfolded. In the next chapter I shall show how the
+beneficent influence of Egypt, mother of all our western civilisation,
+penetrated the heart of the negro country; and by what means a
+reflection of its culture spread and survived unto our day, containing
+in its afterglow all the glory and vivid charm of the tropical twilight.
+
+[Illustration: A STREET IN JENNE]
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+THE SONGHOIS
+
+
+In travelling from the coast the European passes through successive
+native tribes of Western Africa: Cérères, Ouolofs, Khassonkas, Soussons
+and Bambaras, etc., all more or less thick-lipped, woolly-headed,
+flat-nosed, and barbarous, and all equally well known to the
+ethnographer.
+
+But arrived at Jenne the traveller finds himself face to face with
+an entirely new ethnographical entity, namely, the Songhois. Most
+Europeans miscall them the Sonrhais, but the natives refuse to
+recognise the word disfigured in this fashion. During the whole forty
+years in which the interior of Africa has occupied the attention of
+the world, the name has only appeared before us once. Among ancient
+geographers Léon the African alone has mentioned them, and that in a
+paragraph of--two lines! Among moderns, the famous German traveller
+Barth mentions them at greater length, but all his remarks are wrongly
+based, for he reckons the Songhois among the aboriginals of the
+Sudan, and places their cradle between Tindirma and the Dira, to the
+south-west of Timbuctoo. Quite other is the tradition of the Songhois
+themselves. They invariably told me that they did not originate in
+the countries of the Niger, and when questioned concerning the home
+of their fathers they all gave the same reply. The right arm of the
+human document was raised, flinging back the numerous white draperies
+that serve as clothing, and a black hand pointed unhesitatingly in the
+direction of the purple dawn. It was their unvarying response in Jenne
+or elsewhere, and it was never the west, where Tindirma and Dira lie,
+that they indicated, but always the east. Once again was that great law
+of the migrations of peoples confirmed, which draws the nations from
+the land of the rising to that of the setting sun.
+
+After the human documents I consulted the written, and among all the
+historical manuscripts collected in my travels the only one to refer to
+the origin of the Songhois is the _Tarik_.
+
+It must be attentively read, too, for its most precious indications are
+very concisely enclosed. ‘The first king of the Songhois,’ it says,
+‘was called Dialliaman. His name comes from the Arabian _Dia min al
+Jemen_, signifying “He is come from Yemen.” Dialliaman,’ the narrative
+continues, ‘quitted Yemen in company with his brother. They travelled
+through the country of God until destiny brought them to the land of
+Kokia.
+
+‘Now Kokia was a town of the Songhois people situated on the banks of
+a river, and was very ancient. It existed in the time of the Pharaohs,
+and it is said that one of them, during his dispute with Moses, sent
+thither for the magician whom he opposed to the Prophet.
+
+‘The two brothers reached the town in such a terrible state of distress
+that their appearance was scarcely human; their skins were cracked
+by the heat and dust of the desert, and they were almost naked. The
+inhabitants questioned them concerning the country of their origin, and
+their names have been forgotten in the surname with which their reply
+provided them, “Dia min al Jemen”--“Come from Yemen.” And Dialliaman
+the elder settled in Kokia. Now the god of the Songhois was a fish who
+appeared to them from the water at certain periods, wearing a golden
+ring in his nose; and the people gathered together and worshipped the
+fish, receiving its commands and prohibitions and obeying its oracles.
+
+‘Perceiving their error, Dialliaman hid in his heart a resolution to
+kill the false deity, and God assisted him in his design.
+
+‘One day he pierced the fish with a lance in the presence of the people
+and killed it. Then the people proclaimed Dialliaman king.’
+
+We thus learn that the Songhois possessed, at a time which we will
+determine later, a very ancient town called Kokia that was situated
+near a river. Now where was this town? Barth sought for it on his
+journey from Lake Chad to the Niger, and placed it upon the banks of
+the Eastern Niger, though he would assuredly never have found it there.
+
+We will now appeal to oral tradition. With the _Tarik_ in my hand I
+questioned the Songhois concerning the whereabouts of this city of
+Kokia. ‘The city of Kokia was far, very far away in the east, beyond
+Gao,’ was their unanimous reply; and upon two occasions the marabuts
+added, ‘It was a town in the country of Misr.’ Now in the Sudan the
+country of Misr means Egypt, the valley of the Nile, and the name comes
+from Misra, signifying Cairo.
+
+What river do we find in the map east of Gao? None, large or small, but
+the Nile; and it is in Egypt alone that Kokia, ‘situated near a great
+river,’ could have existed. Moreover, this will explain why the author
+said, to indicate the great antiquity of the town, ‘it already existed
+in the time of the Pharaohs,’ and that ‘one of them sent thither for
+magicians to defeat Moses.’ It would probably be a neighbouring and
+vassal country to which they would apply for them.
+
+Again, Yemen is not far from the valley of the Nile, and the journey of
+Dialliaman from there to Kokia[2] is quite plausible. The passage of
+the desert that separates the Nile from the Red Sea would amply explain
+the condition in which he is depicted to have arrived.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+[Illustration: HOUSES IN JENNE]
+
+It now remains to be proved at what period and in what manner the
+Songhois passed from the shores of the Nile to those of the Niger. The
+reconstruction of their exodus is, unfortunately, not so simple as the
+demonstration of their origin, but the following version seems to be
+the most probable.
+
+The emigrations must have begun towards the middle of the seventh
+century, for Jenne was founded one hundred and fifty years after the
+Hegira (about 765 of our era), and Jenne is the extreme western point
+of their invasion. From a hundred to a hundred and twenty years would
+be a sufficient length of time to include the years of wandering and
+those of settlement and occupation in the Songhoi countries.
+
+The tranquillity of Egypt (which had lasted since the Roman conquest)
+was rudely disturbed in the seventh century by the lieutenants of
+the first Khalifs; and the country received a shock that would fully
+justify such an exodus. The conquerors were dazzled by the richness
+of these territories, as the letter sent by Amru to the Khalif Omar
+amply proves. It was a magnificent quarry to the starveling Arab,
+and the distress of the vanquished must have been in proportion
+to the enthusiasm of the conquerors. The Lower, Upper, and Middle
+Egypts were all overrun towards the year 640. Possibly the Songhois
+suffered more than others from this invasion. Perhaps they refused to
+receive Islamism. My learned friends, the marabuts, being the official
+representatives of Mohammedanism, would naturally not have admitted
+this reason, and the historical manuscripts are dumb upon the subject.
+Their compilers of three centuries ago were likewise marabuts, and
+the silence of both is very likely to have been actuated by the same
+motive. In any case, the habitual methods of the conquering Arabs,
+their brutality and cupidity, would in themselves sufficiently account
+for the flight of a people as peaceful and industrious as the Songhois
+have remained to this day.
+
+Was Dialliaman the promoter and leader of this emigration? The
+character would harmonise with the picture the _Tarik_ has drawn of the
+adventurer who raised himself to the throne of a country he had entered
+naked and hungry. His native land was Yemen, the recent birthplace
+and centre of the Mohammedan religion. He may have quarrelled with the
+early disciples of the Prophet, or he may have quitted Arabia in order
+to escape the violence of their propaganda. Finding himself once more
+face to face with the fanatics in the country of his adoption, he would
+naturally resolve upon a new exile to more remote countries, and would
+depart, accompanied not merely by his brother, but leading a whole
+people with him.
+
+[Illustration: MAP OF THE SONGHOI EMIGRATION]
+
+However that may be, Dialliaman, the intrepid traveller and adventurer
+that the chronicle shows him to be--Dialliaman, the true Arab who
+changes his country as easily as his coat,--was in every way fitted to
+be the leader of a people driven by cruel conquest to seek a new home
+in a far-off land. The route taken by the emigrants, keeping south of
+the Libyan desert, passing by Agades and the north of Lake Chad, would
+meet the Niger somewhere near Gao. They would naturally follow the
+outskirts of the desert, as the line of less dense population would be
+that least likely to impede their progress. In this manner they would
+reach the Niger, in spite of the enormous tract of land to be covered,
+in a comparatively short time. Several details favour this theory.
+A language similar to that of the Songhois is spoken at Agades, the
+people bordering the desert between the Chad and the Niger are also
+Songhoi; and there is no doubt that many more analogous ethnographical
+and linguistic traits will be found to exist when the countries lying
+between Lake Chad and the Nile are better known.
+
+Finally, in the country of Bourrousu, near the city of Gao,[3] local
+tradition preserves the arrival in these parts of an Egyptian Pharaoh,
+who is probably none other than Dialliaman, or the leader of the
+Songhoi emigration.
+
+Before tracing the development of this new country of the Songhois,
+I will enforce the arguments in favour of their Egyptian origin by
+others no less decisive. The great name of Barth, with whom I am in
+opposition, seems to compel this digression.
+
+The narratives of the famous traveller serve to confirm these very
+suppositions, for he is continually finding Egyptian traces in the
+Songhoi countries and in their countries alone. He observes, in
+fact, that ‘the Songhois seemed to have received their civilisation
+from Egypt and to have maintained very close relations with her, as
+many very interesting details show.’ After that, what would not his
+conclusions have been if he had visited Jenne itself and seen the
+character of her architecture; or if he had gained his facts from the
+intelligence and science of the Songhois themselves instead of relying
+upon the information of the Kountas, his hosts at Timbuctoo, who were
+strangers of comparatively recent date in the country?
+
+He recognised the influence of Egypt, but not in its direct relation,
+and he believed its civilisation had been received through the medium
+of the Mohammedan religion! Now, at the date of the appearance of
+Islamism in the Sudan (which was towards the eleventh century) the
+civilisation of the Pharaohs had been dethroned for nearly four
+hundred years by that of the Khalifs. It is hardly possible that the
+apostles of a new and essentially exclusive cult would have imported
+and established the manners of ancient Egypt in preference to those of
+contemporary and Arabian Egypt, which was at that time at the height
+of its prosperity. It follows therefore that the direct relation with
+Egypt must have been instituted prior to the appearance of Islamism.
+The strength of the connection, in spite of the enormous distance
+which separates the valley of the Nile from that of the Niger, plainly
+indicates a direct relation. The current that flowed so persistently
+and strongly between Egypt and the Sudan up to the sixteenth century
+represents something more than a merely commercial interest; it reveals
+the route of an exodus. The influence and commerce of Morocco and
+Algeria in the Sudan (countries comparatively near) were for a long
+time overpowered by distant Egypt. We find undeniable proofs of this
+among the ancient geographers. Ibn Batouta, a Moor, who visited the
+countries of the Niger in 1352, relates that at Oualata ‘the greater
+part of the inhabitants wore the beautiful costumes of Egypt.’ Now
+Oualata is only two months’ journey distant from Morocco, while the
+valley of the Nile is at a distance of at least eight months. Again, to
+destroy the powerful and traditional bias of Egypt towards the Niger
+and establish the preponderance of the northern countries of Africa
+would require no less than a Moorish occupation in 1592.
+
+The Songhois themselves furnish further proof that they were originally
+strangers in the country. Their speech is totally different from the
+numerous Sudanese dialects, and its roots are those of the languages
+of the Nile. Moreover, their physical type owns nothing in common with
+that of the West African negro. In the most mixed group of negroes a
+Songhois may be identified at the first glance; his skin is as black as
+theirs, certainly, but nothing in his mask conforms to their well-known
+characteristics. The nose of the Songhois is straight and long, pointed
+rather than flat; the lips are comparatively thin, and the mouth
+wide rather than prominent and broad; while the eyes are deeply set
+and straight in their orbit. A cursory glance shows that the profile
+resembles that of the European, and one is struck by the remarkable
+intelligence of their physiognomy and expression. In addition, they are
+tall, well-made, and slender.
+
+These peculiarities are still more noticeable among children between
+six and ten years of age. Their skins are less profoundly black than
+are those of other infant negroes, and the regularity of their features
+is even more remarkable than in the adult. Many a time I have been
+arrested by the sight of a group of children in Jenne and charmed by
+their rare beauty. They seemed to be deeply bronzed children of the
+race of Shem rather than of Ham. In short, the Songhois recalls the
+Nubian rather than the West African negro, and I have studied both at
+leisure. Ethnography, then, assists us in determining the point of
+departure of the emigration from the valley of the Nile.
+
+It is to the south of the island of Philæ that we find a similar race,
+and there also has ancient Egypt left indelible traces. On the left
+bank of the river she has set up a magnificent series of her most
+characteristic monuments, and it is small wonder that its inhabitants
+should be so strongly imbued with them that they preserved the vision
+to the furthest point of their wanderings.
+
+This point was Gao, as we have already seen. Quitting a country of
+such numerous waters as Nubia, the emigrants would naturally, before
+settling, seek a situation that would recall the land of their birth
+in its external conformation; less from pious memories, perhaps
+(patriotism is always the latest virtue acquired by a race), than from
+a desire to continue to live according to their customs and special
+aptitudes. For a great distance their route would appear singularly
+unpropitious, for much sand and little water was not what they wanted,
+and they would not settle in any quantities between the Nile and the
+Niger.
+
+[Illustration: THE EARLY SONGHOI EMPIRE]
+
+But at Gao they would find a river which would recall the shores they
+had left, and whose rise and fall fertilised the country in the same
+manner. Here they could resume their accustomed methods of labour and
+cultivation; and, like Barth, they would doubtless be charmed by the
+beautiful vegetation, containing the date, tamarind, and sycamore trees
+of their mother-country. And so they fixed their capital at Gao, where
+they could think for the first time of definite repose, and where
+their hope of a new home was realised. Half the valley of the Niger
+they made their own, finding only a feeble and patient aboriginal
+population there, which has almost disappeared to-day. These people,
+the Habais, are so timid that they arm themselves with bows and
+arrows to work in fields which are surrounded by their own villages,
+and then prefer running away to using their weapons. Occupation was
+therefore an easy matter to the Songhois. They founded Jenne, their
+most western territory, in 765, and made it the market of their empire.
+We may conclude their dominion to have attained its normal and present
+boundaries towards the end of the eighth century. These limits comprise
+the countries from the east of Gao to Lake Chad, and that portion of
+the valley of the Niger below Jenne and Say. The Sahara bounds them in
+the north, the empire of the Mali in the west, and the countries of
+the Bambaras, the Mossi, and the Sokoti in the south; while the vague
+regions between Agades and Lake Chad limit them in the east.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+We will now take a rapid survey of the history of the Songhois and the
+considerable place their empire held in the Sudan during a period of
+nearly a thousand years. It comprised three dynasties, the Dia, the
+Sunni, and the Askia, and was not without its hours of glory.
+
+The prefix of the Dia was borrowed from Dialliaman, but the Sudanese
+annals are silent concerning their employment of the six hundred years
+that contained their reigns (700 to 1335); and we only know that they
+numbered thirty in all.[4]
+
+In the reign of Dia Soboï the Songhoi kingdom experienced its first
+crisis, becoming the vassal of its neighbour of the west, the Mali
+empire, then at the height of its glory. In addition to this an army
+of the Mossi crossed the valley to pillage Timbuctoo, and succeeded in
+separating Jenne from the main body of the empire (1329).
+
+Dia Soboï’s two sons, Ali Kolon and Suliman Naré, were taken to the
+court of Kounkour-Moussa. ‘For it was, and is still, the custom in the
+Sudan for a monarch to be served by the children of his vassals,’ says
+the _Tarik_. ‘Some were permitted to return to their native countries
+after a certain time, but others lived in bondage to the end of their
+days.’ The young Songhoi princes were detained for a long period at the
+court of Kounkour-Moussa, but Ali Kolon travelled through the kingdom
+of the Mali from time to time under the pretext of increasing its
+revenues and augmenting its commerce. He was an intelligent youth, full
+of prudence, reflection, and enlightenment. By prolonging each journey
+a little further he learned to know the roads of the country, and,
+above all, those leading towards Songhoi. At last he determined in his
+heart to return to his native land, and for this purpose he collected
+stores of arms and provisions, which he concealed along the route he
+intended to take. Having confided his plan to his brother, they began
+to train their horses, feeding them well and accustoming them to endure
+great fatigue. One day they took their departure. When the news of
+their flight came to the king’s ears he commanded them to be pursued
+and killed; but although they were overtaken, they defended themselves
+so well that they were enabled to reach the country of the Songhois.
+
+Ali Kolon was proclaimed king and given the name of ‘Sunni, the
+Liberator.’
+
+Such is the history of the founder of the second dynasty, which lasted
+from 1355 to 1492, and counted eighteen kings.[5]
+
+Freed by Ali Kolon from the dominion of the Mali, the Songhois resumed
+the peaceable existence they seemed to have led in the preceding
+centuries.
+
+[Illustration: JENNE: A CORNER OF THE TOWN]
+
+The history of the Songhois takes a wider range with Sunni Ali (1464 to
+1493). They now overflow their early boundaries and develop an empire
+of an extent never before witnessed in western Africa.
+
+Sunni Ali is pre-eminently the soldier; the true negro soldier, who
+marches from conquest to conquest absorbing all the populations in
+war, and so absorbed in it himself that he has no time to create and
+organise his conquests in durable form. He is an old soldier solely
+occupied with plunder and prisoners and the levying of tribute.
+Nevertheless, while fighting from east to west during twenty years, he
+is unconsciously laying the foundations of Songhoi greatness; and the
+ground being thus prepared, it is not long before an organiser appears
+who speedily raises the glory and prosperity of the empire to their
+greatest height.
+
+The career of Ali the Conqueror started in masterly fashion with the
+conquest of Timbuctoo in 1469. It is somewhat surprising that we have
+not met this name earlier in the history of the most civilised race of
+the Sudan; but it was not founded by them, and had never before been
+counted among their possessions. So complete was the annexation of this
+famous city that it obtained its supreme grandeur at the precise moment
+of the Songhois’ pre-eminence and declined with their fall.
+
+Jenne, having emancipated itself at the time the Mali and the Mossi
+were signalising their victories over the last of the Dias, was reduced
+to obedience after a long siege. Sunni Ali followed up the conquest
+by attacking the kingdoms of the Mossi and the Hombouri in the centre
+of the valley, and the Teska Kouboura and Kanta in the east. His
+chief and most prolonged effort, however, was directed to the west,
+and concentrated upon the destruction of that Mali empire which had
+threatened his nation in former days. He subdued nearly the whole
+of the left bank of the western Niger in this manner, taking little
+Haoussa (south of Timbuctoo) and Barra (country of Gundam at Lake
+Debo); destroying Guiddio, a large town on Lake Debo, and fighting
+against the Senhadiata, the Foulbes, and the people of Diarka.
+Returning to Gao from one of these expeditions, he was drowned in a
+small tributary of the Niger to the south of Timbuctoo.
+
+‘He only suffered two reverses,’ relates the chronicle, ‘one at Duoneo
+(Douentza?) and the other in Barkou (Bourgoo). He surpassed all the
+kings, his predecessors, in the numbers and valour of his soldiery. His
+conquests were many, and his renown extended from the rising to the
+setting of the sun. If it is the will of God, he will be long spoken
+of.’ The Sudanese writers do, in fact, speak much of Ali the Conqueror,
+but it is in an unexpected fashion. They heap the most violent epithets
+upon him and cover him with insults. ‘An impious monarch and horrible
+tyrant,’ says one. ‘A great oppressor and destroyer of towns, with
+a hard and unjust heart,’ says another. ‘A sanguinary despot who
+slaughtered so many thousands of people that God alone knows their
+number; he was cruel to the pious and wise, he humiliated them and put
+them to death,’ exclaims a third.
+
+As a matter of fact, he was neither better nor worse than his
+successors, nor any other Sudanese prince. War has always a
+particularly brutal and detestable aspect in negro countries. The
+impartiality of history has no concern with these accumulations of
+abuse; they merely represent the personal venom of his chroniclers.
+These were the marabuts who represented literature and the sciences,
+and were the vicegerents of Islam; it was this latter capacity
+that dictated their judgments. The incident is interesting for its
+revelation of the bitter and revengeful feelings which at this period
+actuated the Mohammedan religion towards outside affairs, even those
+of the past. It had not attained to great power at this time, and its
+roots were by no means established in the country. Later on, having
+acquired a stronger growth, we shall find it still pursuing this
+_rôle_ and becoming the prime factor in considerable and calamitous
+events. The great grievance cherished against the conqueror by the
+marabuts was his very lukewarm religiousness. ‘He took great liberties
+with the faith,’ relates the _Tarik_. ‘He was wont to delay until
+nightfall or even till next morning the five prayers which every good
+Mussulman should say between the rising and the setting of the sun. By
+degrees he contented himself with merely mentioning their names, and
+finally he still further simplified these negligences into a single
+invocation of the name of God, adding, “You all know my prayers, let
+each take therefrom what concerns him.”’
+
+The origin of this scepticism is explained in a little work by El
+Moucheïli, a very learned man of Tlemcen, of whom I shall have occasion
+to speak later on. He affords us a glimpse of the customs of the
+period, and shows us the position of Islamism in this country towards
+the close of the fifteenth century. The higher classes alone, it
+appears, had rallied to the religion of Mahomet, and that without any
+great conviction. Idolatry was not prohibited in the court itself, and,
+seeing that the monarch showed himself scarcely a Mohammedan even in
+name, his retinue would naturally follow his example. The people openly
+continued to practise witchcraft and the worship of fetiches, whose
+temples remained standing even in Gao and Jenne.
+
+‘God had directed us,’ says another extract, ‘towards a country whose
+inhabitants called themselves Mussulmans, and who were so on the
+surface. They attended the great service of Friday and the week-day
+call to the five prayers, but we had little confidence in their
+marabuts.... The manners of this country are very singular. We find
+a people here who pretend to know the science of occult things, and
+base this knowledge upon a study of lines traced upon the sand, on the
+position of the stars, the cries of birds and their flight, etc.
+They profess to write charms which will increase profits, excite love,
+and oppose ruin; which will put their enemies to flight in battle and
+preserve themselves from the sword and the poison of arrows: and many
+other things that sorcerers practise in incantations.
+
+[Illustration: JENNE: THE FISHING PORT]
+
+‘The mother of Sunni Ali came from the country of Farou (Sokato), a
+nation of infidels who adored images of wood and stone. They had faith
+in these idols and consulted them. When good or evil befell them, they
+ascribed it to the idols being favourable or unfavourable. The worship
+of these false gods is directed by priests, who are guided in their
+turn by soothsayers and magicians who give consultations.
+
+‘Sunni Ali passed his youth and grew to manhood there, and his mind was
+naturally influenced by these idolatries and customs. Nevertheless, he
+decided in favour of Mohammedanism when he became king, although its
+usages were barely known to him. He would add after the name of the
+Prophet, Let him be praised: and after the holy name of Allah he would
+say, May the prayer and salvation of God be with him. But the reverse
+is what he should have said. For a time he fasted during the month of
+Ramadan, and made offerings and sacrifices in the mosques; but after
+a while he returned to idols and soothsayers, he sought guidance in
+practices of witchcraft, and honoured trees and stones with sacrifices
+and offerings, asking of them the fulfilment of his desires.
+
+‘At last, neither he nor his companions were ever seen (even on Friday)
+in the cathedral mosque, or in any of the others, and from fear of him
+the thousands of men and women dwelling in his house neither fasted
+nor prayed during Ramadan. He did not know the Fatiha (the first sûra)
+by heart, nor any other sûra of the Koran. Habitually careless in
+his prayers, he neither bowed nor prostrated himself during their
+recitation. He had relations with women that are unrecognised by
+marriage, or any other contract permitted by Islamism. If a woman
+pleased him he took her to his palace regardless of her husband or her
+family. He also allowed Mussulmans to be pillaged and slain, and he put
+to death many theologians and learned men of law.’
+
+The last clause is true, but Moucheïli omits to add that Sunni Ali
+only ill-treated certain marabuts, and those, not because they were
+Mussulmans and priests, but because they had interfered in politics
+and conspired against him on account of his scepticism. In spite of
+his enemies among the caste, he invariably honoured the holy men who
+made religion and piety alone their study; ‘always keeping an accurate
+record of their numbers,’ says the _Tarik_, ‘he paid homage to their
+merits and made them large presents.’ This generosity shows the
+tolerant spirit which is characteristic of the Songhoi people.
+
+I will only dwell upon one more side of his character, the violence and
+frenzy of his wrath. It flamed into a fury upon the least provocation,
+and in its transport he would order the death of any one of his
+retinue, even of the one who was useful and devoted to him and whom
+he most cherished. The excess of his rage was only equalled by the
+promptness of his remorse. His servants were aware of this, and, when
+the condemned person was one whom Sunni Ali would afterwards regret,
+they would merely keep him out of sight until the moment of repentance
+arrived. The king would be filled with joy upon these occasions to find
+that the fulfilment of his commands had been delayed.
+
+Among those whose existence was often separated from Paradise by a mere
+thread was Mohammed ben Abou Bakr, a native of Touroud. It is not easy
+to establish the exact number of times he was condemned to death, but
+he was Sunni’s right hand, his best general and his wisest minister. ‘A
+great heart, gifted with a great generosity which God had given him by
+nature.’
+
+[Illustration: A HOUSE IN JENNE]
+
+The death of Sunni Ali gave this man food for reflection. He naturally
+did not care to continue the same precarious existence under the son,
+Sunni Barro, which he had enjoyed under the father. His personal
+influence being considerable, he determined to seize the crown.
+
+‘As soon as his preparations were complete, therefore, he placed
+himself at the head of his partisans and attacked Sunni Barro at
+Dangha. His army was defeated and he was obliged to take refuge in Gao.
+Reassembling his forces, however, the adventurer tried his fortunes a
+second time. The struggle which ensued was a long and desperate one,
+both armies being all but annihilated, but Sunni Barro was finally
+obliged to fly from the country never to return to it, and Mohammed
+ben Abou Bakr ascended the throne in 1494.
+
+‘The news being announced to the daughters of Sunni Ali, they exclaimed
+‘Askia!’ which signifies ‘It is not he,’ or ‘Usurper.’ This being
+repeated to him, Mohammed ordained that no other surname should be
+given him, and Askia Mohammed he accordingly became.’
+
+We have thus arrived at the third and last Songhoi dynasty, which
+reigned from 1494 to 1591.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Askia Mohammed showed considerable political ability from the very
+moment of his accession. He adopted an entirely new attitude towards
+religion, and a few months after his accession there was not a more
+devout Mussulman throughout all Songhois than the late friend and
+companion of the ‘miserable infidel.’ He insisted that Islamism should
+be held in honour throughout the country, and instead of the former
+soothsayers his retinue now consisted of marabuts. He showered gifts
+upon them and took their advice in everything.
+
+They, in return, hastened to legitimise his usurpation, authorised him
+to take possession of the Conqueror’s treasure, and assisted him in
+despoiling the dignitaries of the former’s rule. They demonstrated in
+council that Sunni Ali had been the most abominable of infidels, and,
+in consequence, the war undertaken by Askia against his descendant was
+a necessary war, an excellent war--in short, a holy war.
+
+The pious biographers exult over him, they represent him as ‘a
+brilliant light shining after great darkness; a saviour who drew the
+servants of God from idolatry and the country from ruin. The Defender
+of the Faithful, who scattered joy, gifts, and alms around him.’
+
+As soon as his authority was well established he placed the reins of
+government in the hands of his brother Omar, and proceeded to still
+further legitimise himself by a gorgeous pilgrimage to Mecca and Cairo
+(1497).
+
+‘He made a pilgrimage to the house of God, accompanied by a thousand
+foot-soldiers and five hundred horse, and carrying with him three
+hundred thousand mitkals of gold from the treasure of Sunni Ali. He
+scattered this treasure in the holy places, at the tomb of the Prophet
+in Medina, and at the sacred mosque at Mecca. In the latter town he
+bought gardens and established a charitable institute for the people of
+the Sudan. This place is well known in Mecca, and cost five thousand
+mitkals.
+
+‘He rendered homage to the Khalif Abassid Motewekkel in Egypt, praying
+to be made his deputy in the Sudan in general and in Songhois in
+particular. The Abassid consented, requiring the king of Songhois
+to abdicate for three days and to place the power in his hands. On
+the fourth day Motewekkel solemnly proclaimed Askia Mohammed the
+representative of the sultan in the Sudan. He accompanied this by
+placing a green fez and white turban upon his head and returning him
+his sabre.’
+
+This pilgrimage had another and still more important effect upon his
+reign and his people, for he assiduously entertained the theologians
+and learned men of Cairo while there. He evinced a great interest in
+many subjects, and displayed much anxiety to receive their counsel
+upon the best and most enlightened manner of life and government. He
+deferred especially to Essoyouti, a scholar whose name is celebrated
+in Arabian literature to this day. Askia opened a correspondence with
+him on his return to Songhois, and always submitted his most important
+reforms to the savant, never neglecting to follow his advice concerning
+them. It was at Cairo, undoubtedly, that he acquired those notions of
+government which his organising genius applied to the erection of a
+fabric so solid and durable that it lasted to the end of his dynasty.
+Thus once again we find Egypt exercising a civilising influence upon
+the Sudan.
+
+[Illustration: VIEW OF JENNE]
+
+Having won the sonorous title of ‘Emir Askia el Hadj (the pilgrim)
+Mohamman’ by this long voyage, he earned, as the immediate result of
+it, the more valuable title of Askia the Great. He resumed the reins of
+government on his return, making his brother Omar his generalissimo.
+The position of neither was an easy one, for Sunni Ali’s unorganised
+conquests had to be consolidated--almost, in fact, renewed; and hardly
+a year of his reign is unmarked by some expedition.
+
+The first was against the Mossi in 1449. This kingdom, situated to
+the south of Songhois, had pursued a very turbulent and aggressive
+policy, and advancing its boundaries throughout the north of the valley
+(Gourma) had penetrated as far as Oualata. The _Tarik_ describes their
+suppression by Askia in the following words:--
+
+‘The Emir sent an ambassador to the king of Mossi demanding his
+conversion to Islamism. The monarch replied, saying he must take
+counsel with his ancestors who were in the other world; and for this
+purpose he retired to the temple of his idols, accompanied by his court
+and the ambassador, the latter being curious to see how the dead were
+communicated with.
+
+‘After the performance of the usual ceremonies of these heathen, an
+old man appeared, before whom they prostrated themselves, delivering
+the Emir’s message. “I will never consent to your doing this thing,”
+was the reply. “You must fight against the Songhois until you have
+exterminated either the enemy or yourselves.” Then said the king to
+the ambassador, “Return to your master and say to him that nothing but
+war can be between him and me.” When all the people had quitted the
+temple, the ambassador spoke to the being who had appeared in the form
+of an old man, and said, “In the name of the all-powerful God, what art
+thou?” “I am Satan,” was the response, “and I have led these people
+astray that they might perish in their infidelity.” The ambassador
+related all that had passed to the Emir, and a holy war was declared.
+The arms of Askia were victorious, and he destroyed their fields and
+villages, making men, women, and children his prisoners, and compelling
+them to be converted.’
+
+After the south, the west; and it now became necessary to destroy
+the kingdom of the Mali, a twelve years’ task (1501-1513). Zalna,
+the capital, was taken, and so thoroughly destroyed that it is now
+impossible to identify the situation of this once important town. This
+success was followed up by a savage war upon the provinces, the towns,
+and the races of the Mali.
+
+The struggle was a desperate one on both sides, and the final supremacy
+was dearly bought, as the following anecdote will show: ‘The Emir lost
+such great quantities of his best soldiers in Mali that his brother
+Omar wept, saying, “The Songhois will be exterminated.” But Askia
+replied, “On the contrary, these conquered nations will make our lives
+easier, for they will become a part of us, and will assist us in our
+enterprises.” And in this manner he drove the sadness out of his
+brother’s mind.’
+
+Having thus reduced the west, Askia turned his attention to the east,
+and reorganised that portion of his empire lying in the neighbourhood
+of Lake Chad (1514-1519). Agades had asserted its independence at the
+instigation of the Berbers, and he was obliged to reconquer it, as
+Sunni Ali had formerly subdued Jenne. He also subjugated the kingdoms
+of Katsina, Kano, Zegzey, and Sanfara.
+
+[Illustration: THE SONGHOI ORGANISATION]
+
+His empire now extended from the salt-mines of Thegazza in the north
+to Bandouk, or the country of Bammaku, in the south, and from Lake
+Chad in the east to the shores of the Atlantic in the west. ‘It
+was a six-months’ journey to cross this formidable empire,’ says a
+contemporary.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+And yet the reign of Askia the Great is not so remarkable for its
+conquests as for the wise method of government he established in
+the country, and the pains he took to closely incorporate the new
+territories with the Songhoi empire.
+
+Unlike Sunni Ali, he was not content with simply demanding tribute,
+but destroyed all the old systems, and reconstructed them, giving
+their administration into the hands of his own functionaries. Thus the
+empire was not merely temporarily but actually enlarged, and that for a
+prolonged period. It is said that his will was as well carried out in
+the furthest extremities of his kingdom as in Songhois, or even in the
+royal palace itself.
+
+Four viceroys were created, who controlled the governors of the
+provinces, military chiefs, judges, and the collection of taxes.
+The first was the viceroyalty of Dandi (with a capital of the same
+name), which commanded Lake Chad; the second, that of Bankou, governed
+the country between Timbuctoo and Gao in the north; the third was
+the viceroyalty of Bal or Balma, and administered the whole of the
+north-west from Timbuctoo and Gambara to Thegazza, and included the
+control of the king of the Touaregs; whilst the fourth and most
+important was that of Kourmina (capital Tindirma) and comprised the
+government of Baghena (Mali), Barra (capital Sâ), Dirma (capital Dira),
+and Massina.
+
+The great governments of Bandouk, Kala (Sansanding), and Hombouri had
+no viceroy.
+
+The highest officers of state were either chosen from the royal family
+or married to its princesses, as were the principal military chiefs and
+marabuts.
+
+The administration thus formed a dynastic aristocracy of the greatest
+importance to national unity.
+
+Another innovation, which assisted Askia to effect his numerous
+conquests and ensure the peace and prosperity of the country, was the
+creation of a standing army.
+
+Sunni Ali had completely disorganised the Songhois by compelling
+all the available population to prosecute his wars. Askia, on the
+other hand, ‘divided his people into subjects and soldiers.’ It was
+this trained soldiery that made the conquest of the improvised and
+inexperienced bands of his enemies so easy. He formed a large body
+of cavalry, armed with spears and mounted on powerful horses brought
+from barbarous states. The bellicose Touaregs were also formed into
+auxiliary squadrons.
+
+The numerous infantry were armed with bows and poisoned arrows; the
+great chiefs went to battle in cuirasses and iron helmets, while
+the less important had shields only. When the new territories had
+so greatly increased that the Songhois soldiers no longer sufficed
+to maintain them, Askia recruited new troops from the conquered
+populations, thus fulfilling the reassuring prospects with which he had
+comforted Omar during the sanguinary Mali campaign.
+
+The division of the population into civil and military classes
+permitted the productive and trading elements to pursue their
+occupations undisturbed. Commerce developed amazingly, its transactions
+being favoured and assisted by excellent measures guaranteeing
+regularity and honesty. A unification of weights and measures was
+decreed, and all falsifications were severely punished, every market
+of importance being placed under the surveillance of an inspector.
+Jenne was the centre of the internal commerce, Timbuctoo monopolised
+relations with the west and north-west (Morocco and Tuat principally),
+and Gao those with the east and north-east (Egypt and Tripoli).
+
+The Niger constituted the principal commercial route, for the
+greater part of the transactions were carried on by water. European
+merchandise penetrated in large quantities to the centre of the black
+world, and were in such request, that the supply scarcely kept pace
+with the demand.
+
+In the train of the merchants came the learned strangers who flocked to
+the Sudan upon hearing that they would be particularly well received.
+They came from Morocco, Tuat, Algeria, and Cairo. Science and letters
+received a sudden impetus, and were not long in producing Sudanese
+writers of the greatest interest; whose manuscripts, in fact, furnish
+me with all these details, and of whom I shall speak at greater length
+when we have reached Timbuctoo.
+
+Among his numerous innovations Askia naturally did not neglect
+religion. It had, after himself, an official and supreme representative
+(exclusively ecclesiastic) in the person of a Sheik-ul-Islam, whose
+residence was at Timbuctoo. The king had seen a similar authority
+side by side with the Khalif Abassid in Egypt; and he adopted this
+religious institution, together with the attire and manner of living
+of the Arabian ruler. He formed the etiquette of his court upon that
+of the Khalif’s, keeping himself strictly invisible to the vulgar eye.
+‘Askia el Hadj did not care to be seen,’ reports the _Tarik_, ‘and he
+persuaded his brother Omar to follow his example in this. “Expose not
+thyself to perish of the evil eye,” he said to him.’ He compelled the
+women of the towns to lead the life of the Eastern harem, and forbade
+that any (married or single) should show themselves unveiled, making
+his own family set the example. People approaching the king in audience
+covered their heads with dust: he never spoke directly to assemblies
+nor to the people, but always dealt with them through the medium of a
+herald. Upon the occasions of his going out, his cortège was preceded
+by musicians, drums, and trumpets, and he rode in solitary state, with
+his suite at a respectful distance behind. Servants marched surrounding
+his horse, and holding by turns to his saddle; they were called foot
+companions, and their head-man was the ‘master of the road.’ Viceroys
+had a right to a similar but more modest display. Only one drum was
+allowed to precede them, and their musicians were to keep silence when
+in sight of a town in which the king was residing. In short, the royal
+negro, like other white usurpers, made the greater parade of the power
+and state of majesty the less right he had to it. But all this is
+insignificant in view of the really great qualities possessed by this
+ruler of the Songhois.
+
+A wonderful impulse was imparted to this country in the sixteenth
+century, and a marvellous civilisation appeared in the very heart of
+the black continent. This civilisation was not imposed by circumstances
+and force, as is so often the case, even in our own countries, but was
+spontaneously desired, evoked, and propagated by a man of the negro
+races. Unfortunately, its fairest promises were never fulfilled, owing,
+not so much to the native successors, as to the civilised (some say
+white) peoples who ruthlessly destroyed all this good seed, and caused
+the tares of barbarism to sprout anew.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+After thirty-five years of responsibilities nobly discharged, the
+faculties of Askia the Great began to decline. His numerous sons (he
+had a hundred) now longed to be quit of him, and finally the eldest,
+Askia Moussa, revolted and deposed his father at Gao, 1529.
+
+All that Moussa and his successors were called upon to do was to live
+in the solid edifice erected by the founder of their dynasty. I will
+only relate, therefore, those particulars of their reigns which will
+enable us to form some idea of the character, manners, and customs of
+these people at this time.
+
+Moussa’s first care was to moderate the ambition of his brothers by
+having a certain number of them put to death. Some offered armed
+resistance, notably Bala, his father’s favourite son. ‘Being forced
+to give himself up, Bala replied to the intercession of the king’s
+son on his behalf, “My child, it is necessary that I should die; for
+these three things I would never consent to do--give Moussa the title
+of Askia, throw dust upon my head in his presence, nor ride behind
+him in processions.” Moussa commanded an exceedingly deep hole to be
+dug, in which Bala and one of his cousins were placed; it was then
+filled with water, and the two young men were drowned.’ These singular
+family manners furnished the restored and consolidated Islam with an
+occasion to, very laudably and courageously, assert its authority. The
+Sheik-ul-Islam interposed as mediator between Moussa and his brothers,
+and vindicated his position in the following manner. He took his place
+beside Moussa, turning his face away from him. ‘Dost thou dare to turn
+thy back upon me?’ asked Moussa; and the Sheik replied, ‘I cannot look
+upon the face of him that has deposed the Emir of the true believers.’
+On another occasion a mere marabut delivered himself of the following:
+‘We enjoyed prosperity and repose in the reign of thy father, the
+happy, the good; and we made prayers that God might accord him victory
+and a long life. We asked ourselves, Has he a son who shall be the hope
+of Islam? and we answered, Yes; so we offered prayers for thee as well
+as for thy father. Thou hast deceived our hopes, but we do not cease
+our prayers, only instead of invoking God in thy favour we pray against
+thee.’
+
+Finding themselves in the process of decimation, the brothers of
+Moussa assassinated him, and a nephew of Askia the Great reigned under
+the title of Askia Bankouri (1533). He, also, made haste to remove
+a certain number of his uncle’s sons, and even showed an increased
+cruelty towards the great and unhappy old man himself. Moussa had
+at least left Askia to live quietly in the royal palace of Gao, but
+Bankouri relegated him to the little island of Kankaka, to the west of
+that town, ‘where the frogs leaped around him,’ says the chronicle.
+
+[Illustration: A CORNER IN JENNE]
+
+Bankouri appears to have wielded the power with great magnificence.
+His court was brilliant, for he liked to be surrounded by all his
+dignitaries, who wore gorgeous garments. Music was held in high esteem,
+and a chorus of singing slaves was established.
+
+He was deposed in 1537 by the viceroy of Dandi, whom he had imprudently
+threatened, and Askia Ismael was proclaimed king. The motives that
+decided the latter to accept the crown were as varied as they were
+remarkable.
+
+‘I accepted the honour for three reasons,’ he declared: ‘to rescue
+my father from his distressful condition, to enable my sisters to
+resume the veil that Bankouri had obliged them to relinquish, and to
+pacify Yan Mara, one of the hundred hen ostriches who was wont to throw
+herself into a frenzy whenever she saw Bankouri.’
+
+The _Tarik_ does not tell us if Yan Mara recovered her happiness after
+this, but we learn with pleasure that Askia the Great returned to his
+palace of Gao, and died in peace there in 1538. Ismael was the first
+of the Askia to die on his throne (1540), and he was succeeded by
+his brother, Askia Ishak. He, like his predecessors, had very strong
+family feelings, and put an end to a good many of his relations. He is
+reported to have destroyed one of them by means of a spell. Arbinda,
+his sister’s son, caused him much anxiety. He was a remarkable man, of
+such astonishing valour, that he was greatly desired as a successor
+to Ishak. The latter confided his fears to a man versed in the occult
+sciences, and begged his assistance. The magician filled a vase with
+water and pronounced several invocations, after which he called
+‘Arbinda! Arbinda! come hither!’ Then there rose out of the water a
+puppet greatly resembling Arbinda, and the magician put chains upon
+its feet and struck it with a spear, saying, ‘Go!’ and the puppet
+disappeared. Soon afterwards it was found that Arbinda had died at the
+moment the image was struck by the magician.
+
+The four last Askias to reign over the whole empire were Askia Daoud,
+1549-1581; Askia El Hadj II., 1581-1586; Askia Mohamman Ban, 1586-1587;
+and Askia Ishak II., 1587-1591. These, like their predecessors,
+undertook a certain number of expeditions (almost all fortunate ones),
+not so much to make new conquests as to preserve the old ones. They
+had no need to enlarge their magnificent heritage, as we can well
+understand, but they did not even make an effort to improve it, nor to
+encourage the progress instituted by the first of their race. If, on
+the one hand, they were not guilty of any retrogressive movement, as
+little can any wise innovation be attributed to them.
+
+Fratricidal struggles, family ferocities, and a perpetual fear of
+rivalry, were their dominant pre-occupations, always including debauch.
+‘They changed the fear of God into infidelities. Abandoned to the
+practice of forbidden things, they covered themselves with sin in the
+open day. They drank intoxicating liquids, and committed acts contrary
+to nature. Adultery was their most common vice; it would seem that they
+did not even consider it reprehensible, and neither rank nor services
+were any obstacle to them. Some even committed this sin with their own
+sisters.’
+
+[Illustration]
+
+In spite of receiving no care from its rulers, the powerful machinery
+created and set in motion by Askia the Great still endured, so well
+had it been planned and so solidly was it built. For nearly a quarter
+of a century its prosperity suffered no decrease. The empire was so
+firmly constructed that it would have lasted intact until the race of
+Askia had produced a sovereign worthy of its founder and well fitted to
+continue his work.
+
+But now the invading Moor appears, and the Songhoi empire passes out of
+sight, to become a Moorish colony, which is to say that the terrible
+Arabian race is about to accomplish one of its worst pieces of work in
+the Sudan.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+THE MOORS IN THE SUDAN
+
+
+The prosperity of the Sudan, and its wealth and commerce, were known
+far and wide in the sixteenth century. Caravans returning along the
+coasts proclaimed its splendours in their camel loads of gold, ivory,
+hides, musk, and the spoils of the ostrich. The Portuguese (always
+the first traders of Europe), endeavoured at this time to enter into
+relations with these countries of the Niger, whose magnificence had
+become a proverb. ‘As tar cures the gall of a camel, so poverty finds
+its unfailing remedy in the Sudan,’ was the saying of northern Africa.
+
+So many attractions gathered together under one sky could not fail
+to rouse the attention, and by-and-by the cupidity, of neighbouring
+territories. Chief among these was naturally that country nearest to
+the Sudan, Morocco. From the first their avarice assumed a harshly
+definite character, for the people of Morocco had not, and never did
+have, any desire to colonise and develop a commerce, nor even to
+institute a religious propaganda. They looked upon the Sudan in the
+light of a gold-mine, and their first aspirations, like their ultimate
+efforts, were concentrated upon the mere drainage of this precious
+metal. This covetousness of theirs was also the source of a new danger
+to the Sudan, as it became the means of jeopardising its salt-supply.
+
+The interior of the Sudan lacks this most necessary of products, and
+salt represented, and always will represent, their principal article
+of commerce. It was the true gold of the Sudanese, their most precious
+commodity, and they obtained it from the mines of Thegazza, which were
+situated in the heart of the desert. These mines were nearer to Morocco
+than to the countries of the Niger, but Thegazza, as we have seen, was
+the property of the Songhois, and possessed its representative Emir.
+
+Hostilities commenced towards the middle of the sixteenth century. In
+1545 Mouley Mohammed El Kebir, the sultan of Morocco, sent an embassy
+to the king of the Songhois, claiming the mines of Thegazza, under
+the pretext that they were situated on his frontiers. Askia Ishak I.
+admitted neither the pretext nor the argument, and emphasised his
+denial of the claim by an army of Touaregs whom he despatched to
+pillage Draa, a town on the frontiers of Morocco, a plain intimation
+that he was strong enough to defend his own, and was quite prepared to
+do so should the sultan be inclined to dispute his rights.
+
+This firm attitude gained a twenty-years respite for the Sudan, and the
+question was not reopened until a later reign. It then assumed a new
+form under Mouley Abdallah, who, instead of claiming Thegazza itself,
+demanded a rent for the use of the mines. The Sudan was under the
+rule at this time of Askia Daoud, who did not entertain the question
+of tribute, but sent a very conciliatory message to the sultan,
+accompanied by a present of ten thousand mitkals of gold (150,000
+francs). The sultan was so overcome by the magnificence of this gift
+that he made no further demands (1547).
+
+The fatal moment approached, however, with the accession of the Sultan
+El Mansour. A reform, of great importance under the circumstances, had
+been instituted by his predecessor, who had greatly increased the
+efficiency of the army by supplying it with firearms, cannon, etc.
+
+From the beginning of his reign El Mansour had especially occupied
+himself with the Sudan. He sent an embassy in 1583, ostensibly charged
+with magnificent gifts, but in reality commissioned to reconnoitre
+the roads and principal towns of Songhois, and make a study of its
+army. Askia El Hadj II. received the embassy at Gao, and returned it
+laden with gifts of still greater splendour than those it had brought.
+This was fuel to the flames, and, too impatient to waste any time in
+making preparations, El Mansour set twenty thousand men on the road to
+Timbuctoo. The route, traversing desert after desert, was a long one,
+and in no way fitted to accommodate an unexpected army. Hunger and
+thirst very soon forced the invaders to retreat, and the sultan had
+to content himself with posting a body of two hundred musketeers at
+Thegazza. Thereupon the Sudanese abandoned the place and its mines for
+others recently discovered at Taoudenni, which for the future supplied
+them with the precious produce.
+
+El Mansour now had more salt than he knew what to do with, but no gold,
+and the Sudan continued to occupy his thoughts. A new king reigning in
+Songhois, he resuscitated the ancient pretext of tribute, and demanded
+a mitkal of gold for every load of salt entering the Sudan. Askia
+Ishak II. refused point blank, and, by way of expressing his whole
+thought, accompanied the refusal by a gift of swords and javelins. He
+should have gone still further, and followed the example of Ishak I.
+by sending a force of Touaregs to show themselves upon the Moorish
+frontier. As it was, El Mansour took the initiative.
+
+Having convoked a grand council of his most experienced advisers at
+Marrakesh, he explained his plans to them in the following words: ‘I
+have resolved to attack the Sudan. It is an exceedingly rich country,
+and will furnish us with large taxes, and we shall thus be enabled to
+give greater importance to the Mohammedan armies.’
+
+The sultan having thus, as a contemporary Moorish historian expresses
+it, ‘emptied his quiver and purged his liver of its bile,’ did not find
+his assembly particularly enthusiastic upon the subject. ‘Prince,’
+they said, ‘there is an immense desert between our country and the
+Sudan, which is devoid of water and vegetation, and so hard to traverse
+that the very birds lose their way there.’ ‘If these are all your
+objections,’ replied El Mansour, ‘I see no reason why they should
+hinder my resolution. You speak of dangerous deserts and perilous
+solitudes. But do we not see, from day to day, feeble merchants, poor
+in resource, penetrating these regions, and passing through them on
+foot, on horse or camel, in groups or solitary? Cannot I do what these
+caravans accomplish? I, who am in every way better equipped than they?
+The conquest itself will be an easy one, for these Sudanese know
+neither powder nor cannon, nor are they acquainted with the muskets
+of terrifying sound. They are only armed with spears and sabres, and
+what can they avail against us? Why should we make war against the
+Turk, who gives much trouble and little profit, when the Sudan would
+be an easy conquest, and is richer than the whole of northern Africa?’
+The councillors allowed themselves to be persuaded by this eloquence,
+saying, ‘Lord, God has inspired you with the truth, and we have no
+longer anything to say against it. So true is it that the minds of
+princes are the princes of minds.’
+
+El Mansour took immense pains to organise an army, not great in
+numbers, but carefully selected. From among his nomadic soldiers and
+auxiliaries he chose the bravest and most devoted men, providing
+them with strong camels and thoroughbred horses. In this manner
+he collected an army of three thousand musketeers and a thousand
+combatants (half cavalry and half foot) with side-arms. The supreme
+command was intrusted to the Pasha Djonder, with ten subordinate chiefs
+(or kaids), and the expedition left Morocco towards the end of the year
+1590.
+
+It entered the Sudan from the west, near the region of the lakes south
+of Timbuctoo, and its fortunate arrival on the banks of the Niger was
+considered in the light of its first victory, and was celebrated by a
+great festival of rejoicing. It now turned towards Gao, the capital,
+and when Ishak II. heard of the arrival of the Moors he assembled an
+army of thirty thousand foot and twelve thousand horse, and opposed
+them to the invaders. The battle took place in February 1591 at
+Toundibi, not far from Timbuctoo.
+
+El Mansour had not made a wrong estimate of the perfections of his
+armament. The Songhois were routed almost without a blow being struck,
+‘in the twinkling of an eye,’ it is said. The sudden shock of smoke,
+noise, and the hail of balls so terrified them, that many, thinking
+nothing could preserve them from such miracles, did not even attempt to
+fly. They were found upon their shields with legs crossed, waiting for
+the conquerors, and they allowed themselves to be killed without making
+any movement in self-defence. The Moors pitilessly slew the demoralised
+crowd, not even sparing those who cried, ‘We are Mussulmans; we are
+your brothers in religion.’
+
+The panic lasted as it had reigned during the battle, and spread
+throughout the entire country. Ishak, who had gone to battle full of
+confidence, surrounded by magicians and sorcerers, took to his heels
+at the beginning of the action, and made no attempt to resist, even in
+the capital itself. On receiving a command to evacuate it the monarch
+sought refuge with the crowd, flying to Bornou in the south-east,
+without attempting the chance of a second battle.
+
+Djonder entered Gao without striking a blow, and Ishak hastened to
+make overtures of peace, acquiescing in the demand of annual tribute,
+and offering a present of a hundred thousand mitkals of gold, and one
+hundred slaves in addition.
+
+The pasha, judging these terms acceptable, transmitted them to the
+sultan with a convoy of gold and slaves, and then turned his steps to
+Timbuctoo, taking it without opposition, and settling there to await
+the reply of his master.
+
+El Mansour, however, would not hear of limiting himself to his original
+claims. The success which he had so clearly foreseen intoxicated him.
+‘He received so much gold-dust, musk, slaves, ebony, and other valuable
+objects,’ says the chronicle, ‘that the envious are troubled and all
+spectators are stupefied. He now pays his functionaries in pure metal
+of good weight.’ From which it would appear that he had not been above
+falsifying his coinage. ‘There were fourteen thousand smiths in his
+palace employed in making the gold into coins, while other portions of
+the treasure were converted into necklaces and jewels, and the name of
+El Dékébi (the Golden) was given to the sultan.’
+
+Great public rejoicings continued at Marrakesh during three days,
+and deputations came from all parts to offer congratulations. Poets
+wrote verses to celebrate El Mansour’s glory, inviting ‘the birds of
+happiness to sing unceasingly in his honour,’ and calling him ‘the root
+of glory to which all attach themselves.’ The triumph of the white over
+the negro race was recorded in the following picturesque language: ‘The
+army of the day hath fallen upon the army of night, and the whiteness
+of the one hath destroyed the blackness of the other.’
+
+It was not without reason that the Moors exulted over the conquest.
+‘They found that the Sudan,’ says the _Tarik_, ‘rivalled the countries
+most favoured by God, in the abundance, prosperity, security, and
+health of all its territories, and all these benefits resulted from the
+blessed reign of the Emir of the true believers, Askia El Hadj. But
+from this time everything was altered; security became fear, prosperity
+was changed into ruin, health into sickness and anguish, and men began
+to fight and pillage among themselves.’
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Dissatisfied with the moderation of Djonder, El Mansour removed him
+from the supreme command and instantly despatched another pasha, named
+Mahmoud, to the south. He was instructed to pursue Askia Ishak to the
+death, and make the Sudan a Moorish province. On reaching Timbuctoo,
+Mahmoud garrisoned it and departed with the army in search of the king
+of the Songhois. The latter, hearing that his terms were rejected
+by the sultan, took up arms afresh; but the disaster of Bamba was
+as complete as that of the first encounter, and Ishak was forced to
+retreat further into the south.
+
+In these circumstances (already sufficiently critical), the Songhois
+enfeebled themselves still further by internal dissensions. Half the
+army proclaimed Askia Kaghou king, and Askia Ishak was too demoralised
+to make any effort to regain the supremacy. He disappeared from the
+scene in a manner that, if not heroic, was at least tragic. ‘Having
+resolved to yield the power to his rival, he gathered together the
+officers of that part of the army which had remained faithful to him,
+and collecting all the insignia of royalty, they burned them in a place
+called Tera. The king and his officers then took leave of one another,
+weeping and begging mutual forgiveness; and this was the last time they
+saw each other.’ Ishak shortly afterwards died, obscure and abandoned,
+at Gourma (1592).
+
+The pasha now proceeded to a conquest and pacification which have
+become legendary. The usurper, Askia Kaghou, having given himself up,
+he and his retinue were crushed (by order of the pasha), by the fall of
+the house in which they were imprisoned. Eighty-three members of the
+royal house suffered death in various ways, some being beheaded, while
+others were drowned or crucified.
+
+Timbuctoo, which had rebelled against the harsh treatment of the
+garrison, was cruelly punished. Two of its chief personages were
+mutilated by having their hands and feet cut off, and were then left
+to die. Many were massacred, and all the learned men, those marabuts
+who had been the pride of the great city, were imprisoned or taken to
+Morocco, from whence very few returned.
+
+With the fall of the Songhois many of their conquered provinces
+revolted, pillaging and destroying in the south and east of the empire.
+Half the kingdom fell a prey to anarchy. Foulbes, Touaregs and Bambaras
+distinguished themselves in this capacity. Moorish columns, aided by
+the kaids, overran Baghena, Diarka, Jenne, and the countries of the
+Upper Niger, ravaging as they went.
+
+At the same time, the pasha Mahmoud was similarly occupied in the other
+extremity of the kingdom, in Hombouri and Dandi, where a few Songhois
+had taken refuge with Askia Noé.
+
+In 1595 the conquest was complete, and the Moors, realising that the
+Niger was the key to the Sudan, fortified its course from east to west,
+garrisoning Jenne, Tindirma, Timbuctoo, Bamba, Gao, and Koulani in the
+extreme south-east. Each of these forts was placed under the command of
+a kaid.
+
+The governor of the colony took the title of pasha. He was nominated
+by the sultan, sent from Morocco, and exercised the civil power only.
+The chief command of the troops devolved upon a kaid, and there was
+also a hakim, or kahia, who filled the offices of treasurer and
+prime minister. The sultan further instituted two emirs, who were
+comptrollers for the crown, and resided, the one at Timbuctoo, and
+the other at Jenne. These two towns, with Gao, were the great centres
+of occupation, Jenne and Gao finally ceding the position of capital
+to Timbuctoo. The latter town, situated on the high-road to Morocco,
+was the residence of the governor; the greater part of the troops
+were quartered in it, while reinforcements arrived at and expeditions
+started from there.
+
+This represents the Moorish side of the colony, but it still preserved
+a native one. Mahmoud, after establishing the prestige of the
+conquerors by the cruelties we have just witnessed, soon realised that
+the administration of the country would be impossible if he destroyed
+the whole of its organisation. Some members of the royal family had
+joined him since the invasion, and he distinguished one among them,
+Askia Soleiman, by making him king under his tutelage, and giving
+him a residence at Timbuctoo. Askia the Great’s distribution of the
+country into viceroyalties and governments was preserved, the pasha
+retaining the nomination to these posts. Touaregs, Foulbes, Songhois,
+and feudatories were recruited to form auxiliary troops, and when the
+musketeers departed on an expedition they were accompanied by native
+contingents, commanded by their king, or viceroy, under the orders of
+the kaid.
+
+For twenty years the constitution worked pretty well; then, in
+consequence of events that occurred at Morocco, disintegration set in.
+El Mansour died from poisoning in 1604. His successors, occupied with
+palace intrigues and intestinal struggles, took no further heed of the
+Sudan than to look for its convoys of gold, and interested themselves
+little, if at all, in what went on there.
+
+In 1613 the governor of the Sudan was no longer nominated from
+Morocco, but was chosen by the troops from among their kaids. Up to now
+the soldiers had been periodically reinforced. In 1605 twenty-three
+thousand Moors had been sent to the Niger, but these supplies gradually
+dwindled, and ceased altogether in 1620. The sultan only manifested his
+care and attention when some embezzlement was brought to his notice,
+or when the transports of gold did not equal his expectations; and on
+these occasions he would give orders to hang and drown a certain number
+of persons interested. For the rest, he left the colony to disentangle
+its affairs as it best could, which it occasionally accomplished by
+tying them into tighter knots than before. The kaids deposed one
+another and disputed the title of pasha among themselves, settling
+their rivalries by force of arms. The pasha of to-day beheaded or
+imprisoned the pasha of yesterday. In a period of thirty years, 1620
+to 1650, twenty governors may be counted. Some enjoyed the power for a
+mere six or eight months, and later on their reigns are to be counted
+by weeks and days, some by a day only, and occasionally there was no
+pasha at all. In spite of the disputes concerning this ephemeral and
+generally tragic dignity, its prestige as a position was still enforced
+among the natives, and any revolt always found the Moors united against
+it.
+
+[Illustration: A STREET IN JENNE]
+
+It was not long, however, before this solidarity was shaken. The
+garrisons mutinied, and offered battle to the troops of the pasha;
+rivalries spread among the soldiers, as they had among their chiefs.
+They divided into parties, of Fez, Marrakesh, and, in the south, Moors.
+These different elements were not existing on their arrival in the
+Sudan, but had grown up in the various garrisons and the jealousies
+that arose among them. Little by little they gained independence and
+formed small governments, ruling the neighbouring countries. The
+governor of Timbuctoo retained the title of pasha, but it became a
+purely nominal one, and his authority was only recognised in his own
+region. The single remaining tie between the colony and Morocco was the
+tribute to the sultan, and that was paid as irregularly as possible.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+In the eighteenth century the independence of the Sudan was complete;
+the name ‘Moor’ had even ceased to distinguish the masters of the
+country. The former conquerors had intermarried with the Songhois,
+and had increased and multiplied abundantly, their descendants being
+called Roumas, after El Mansour’s musketeers, who had made such a
+terrible impression on their first appearance in the Sudan. The native
+organisation, Askia’s viceroys and koïs, had disappeared, and many
+territories had asserted their independence under the government of
+local chiefs. The Roumas retained principally those banks of the Niger
+on which their forefathers had settled. Each group only concerned
+itself with its own region, and had no relations, beyond occasionally
+hostile ones, with neighbouring groups. Profiting by all this, two
+elements of confusion established themselves and augmented the general
+anarchy, viz. the Touaregs and the Foulbes.
+
+The Touaregs were the first to exploit the situation. They crossed the
+river, exchanging their position in the sands of the Sahara for the
+opulent plains in the north of the valley. In 1770 they had taken Gao
+from the Roumas, and Timbuctoo in 1800. The constant rivalries of their
+distinct tribal divisions delayed the organisation of their conquests.
+It was not so, however, with the Foulbes.
+
+Contrary to the opinion that obtains among the Europeans of the Sudan
+and Senegal, and is accepted to this day by the numerous books of
+travel, the Foulbes did not enter the Sudan from the east. Neither did
+they come by the valley of the Nile, as some, identifying them with
+the Fellahs, believe: there is no connection between them. It was from
+the west, from the Adrar, the land of sand extending to the north of
+Senegal, that they arrived. The _Tarik_ clearly says, ‘The Foulbes are
+nations of the land of Tischitt.’ They are connected with the white
+race, as are the Touaregs, and like them are pastoral nomads.
+
+The Foulbes were probably forced back towards the Sudan when the Moors,
+driven out from Spain, invaded Adrar. This exodus towards the east was
+not an emigration, nor an invasion, nor a conquest. It was for these
+shepherds and their flocks a mere changing of pasture. A great number
+of them settled amid the fertility of Massina, and it is there that we
+see a powerfully organised empire arise in 1813.
+
+[Illustration: JENNE]
+
+Cheikou Ahmadou, its founder, not only ousted the Roumas, but made war
+upon the Touaregs and captured Timbuctoo from them, accomplishing all
+this in the space of twenty years.
+
+He had been a petty chief reigning in the country of Noukouna (Massina)
+under the name of Ahmadou Lobo. He spread about the report that he was
+of the family of the Prophet, one of his ancestors having married a
+daughter of Mahomet; and he was, like all the Foulbes, a fanatically
+zealous Mussulman. In Africa, in the countries of the Niger and the
+Nile, fanaticism can be carried to all lengths, and his zeal was, in
+fact, the origin of his fortunes. His history is sufficiently curious;
+for us, practical masters of the Sudan, it is full of instruction.
+
+An Arabian work, found at Timbuctoo, revealed his history to me. It
+was a little pamphlet of propaganda, written and disseminated by an
+influential marabut at the instigation of Cheikou Ahmadou. The author
+pompously addresses himself to the whole of Africa; ‘to the sultans of
+Morocco, Tunis, and Algiers, to the Andalusians’ (a Moorish tribe which
+had sought shelter in western Africa after their expulsion from Spain),
+‘to the populations living near the great salt sea (Atlantic), and to
+all people who are followers of Islam.
+
+‘The twelfth of the regenerating Khalifs, he after whom the Mahdi
+comes, is born. He is the Sheik, the Emir of the Faithful, Ahmadou
+ben Mohammed, who is risen to restore the faith of the Lord and to do
+battle for God in the Sudan.’
+
+After this, it is necessary to prove that our friend is the twelfth
+Khalif. ‘If I am asked for the proof of this,’ says the devout marabut,
+‘I reply, the proof is to be found in the _Fatassi_, a history of our
+country written by that learned man of law, Mahmoud Koutou (or Koti).’
+
+The author, under the pretence of quotation, now proceeds to very
+neatly relate his client to all the most celebrated Songhoi princes,
+and even to Askia the Great. He thus serves a double purpose, shedding
+upon the unknown the prestige of a popular sovereign’s glory, and
+securing the sympathy, if not the concurrence, of the Songhois
+populations. He dilates at great length upon the renown, goodness, and
+wisdom of the great Askia, details his pilgrimage to Mecca, announcing
+that he became Khalif, but adding that he was only the eleventh of
+those Khalifs whose coming had been foretold by Mahomet.
+
+So far he is accurate enough and fairly approximates to history,
+but after this we enter the region of fable, the mythical facts of
+interested trickery. After recalling the fact that Askia conversed
+with and became the friend of Essoyouti at Cairo, the author of the
+pamphlet makes the famous sheik deliver himself of the following
+prophecy. ‘After thee,’ he announced to the king of the Songhois, ‘the
+Sudan shall behold a twelfth Khalif, who will not be of thy family,
+Askia. A holy man shall arise, a priest shall he be and learned, an
+active man and an observer of the law, and he shall be called Ahmadou
+ben Mohammed, of the tribe of the Ulemas of Sonkor, and shall manifest
+himself in the island of Sibre-Massina. He shall inherit the Khalifat
+from thee, and shall have abundance of smiles, moral beauty, and
+victory, and he shall be established in all his designs. Thy greatness
+shall be surpassed by his, for he will have studied the sciences, while
+thou knowest only justice, prayer, and the elements of the faith. Such
+shall be the twelfth Khalif announced by Mahomet.’
+
+No one but Askia would have persisted in the face of such very
+unpleasant predictions, but (according to the pamphlet) the great
+king desires to know more concerning the successor who is to have no
+connection with his family but is to surpass him in glory.
+
+‘Will this new Khalif find the faith prospering?’ he asks. ‘No,’ the
+oracular sheik replies. ‘He will find religion destroyed, but Ahmadou
+shall be as a spark among dry grass. God shall give him the victory
+over infidels, and will prosper all who aid him. Those who see this
+Khalif and follow him shall be blessed as were the followers of
+Mahomet, and all who render obedience unto him shall be as those who
+obeyed the Prophet.’
+
+It can scarcely be necessary to explain that this prophecy is not to
+be found in the _Fatassi_, but was invented to assist the cause of
+Cheikou Ahmadou and the Foulbes. It is as well, however, to bring the
+document to light, as it was probably in the same manner that the Mahdi
+of the Egyptian Sudan was accredited fourteen years ago. It was thus we
+recently saw El Hadj Omar and Samory rise, and it will undoubtedly be
+in the cause of religious fanaticism that the country will be roused to
+revolt against our dominion in the future.
+
+Our Sudanese possessions are peopled with divers races owning so
+little in common with one another, that it would always be possible
+to bring one tribe to reason with the assistance of another, on the
+condition that the religious influence, which alone could subdue the
+jealousies and dissensions of these different nations and unite them in
+a dangerous whole, must be at once and totally crushed.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Cheikou Ahmadou died in 1844, and was succeeded by his son Ahmadou
+Cheikou. Even during the lifetime of its founder this hastily
+constructed empire had shown signs of failing, for the Foulbes,
+rapacious and cruel to co-religionists and infidels alike, were kept
+constantly defending their supremacy. So great was their unpopularity
+that the inhabitants of Timbuctoo did not hesitate to call a third
+element to their assistance, and introduced the Berber tribe of Kountas
+from the south of Tunis into the valley of the Niger.
+
+In addition to this, a rival dynasty was already dawning in the regions
+of the Upper Niger and Senegal. It was founded by a member of the
+Toucouleurs, a tribe of negro and Foulbe half-breeds. Of insignificant
+origin, the son of a marabut, he too traded on a reputation for
+holiness. He made a pilgrimage to Mecca, and called himself El Hadj
+Omar. Like Cheikou Ahmadou, he put the whole of the southern Sudan
+to fire and sword under the pretext of a divine mission against the
+infidels--‘the infidels’ being all those who were unwilling to submit
+to his authority. Having pillaged and destroyed the south, he turned
+to the north and west, to attack the Foulbe empire and their new king,
+Ahmadou Ahmadou. A great battle took place at Sofara, which resulted
+in a victory to El Hadj Omar, and decided the supremacy of the valley
+of the Niger. Sorely wounded, Ahmadou Ahmadou, with a few faithful
+spirits, took flight in canoes, hoping to reach Timbuctoo.
+
+Learning the direction taken by the fugitives, the king of the
+Toucouleurs commanded him to be pursued and taken alive. The wounded
+man would have offered some resistance on being overtaken, but the last
+of the faithful fled across the fields leaving Ahmadou alone, face to
+face with El Hadj Omar’s people. On hearing the order that had been
+given to them, Ahmadou Ahmadou replied, ‘I will not return to Omar. I
+will never see him in this world again.’ He returned to the canoe, and
+taking his valuables from it he placed them upon the ground. Putting
+on a white garment he knelt and made salaam, then, having finished his
+prayer, he turned to the Toucouleurs and said, ‘I will never be Omar’s
+prisoner. Fulfil now my last request, and do that which is pleasing to
+God. Kill me, and all these things will I give to you in recompence,
+and you shall say to Omar he died of his wounds.’
+
+Thus was the tale of the death of the last king of the Foulbes told
+me at Jenne. El Hadj Omar vowed undying hatred against Ahmadou’s
+family and slew eight of its members, two of Ahmadou’s nephews alone
+succeeding in saving themselves. One of these two, Ahmadou Abdoulay,
+retreating to the east of the valley, became a small chief, and founded
+a dynasty that rules the little country of Fiou to this day.
+
+[Illustration: JENNE]
+
+The Foulbe dynasty was particularly distinguished, from one point of
+view, by its detestation of Europeans. It was at the instigation of
+Cheikou Ahmadou that Major Laing was killed on leaving Timbuctoo.
+Later, in 1834, Ahmadou persistently sought the death of Barth, who
+gives a very full account of the dangers he escaped, and of how it was
+to El Backay, the Kounta sheik, that he owed his life. This hatred was
+again manifested quite recently. In 1891 a lieutenant of the marines,
+M. Spitzer, sent as ambassador to Ahmadou Abdoulay, was very nearly
+assassinated in the capital one night; it was entirely owing to the
+swiftness of his horse that he escaped. This kinglet, alarmed by our
+unceasing progress, has since humbly implored pardon and paid tribute.
+
+The death of Ahmadou Ahmadou was speedily followed by that of his
+conqueror. El Hadj Omar was scarcely installed in the capital of his
+foe before he was attacked by an army of Foulbes, accompanied by a
+reinforcement of Kountas. The Toucouleur held out for several months,
+but the town was finally captured. He succeeded in escaping to the
+neighbouring mountains of Bandiagara, and there he learned in his turn
+to know all the desolation of defeat which had been suffered by Ahmadou
+Ahmadou. His death, not so heroic as that of his victim, came about in
+the following manner. Being pursued by his enemies he sought refuge in
+a cave, which they surrounded and blew up with gunpowder, and El Hadj
+Omar perished in its ruins (1863).
+
+The Toucouleurs, under the government of Tidiani, a nephew of the late
+king, still remained masters of the north of the valley. Tidiani was
+succeeded by his son, who was opposed by his brothers in a series of
+civil wars which terminated in 1877, leaving Ahmadou sole ruler.
+
+A new prophet entered the scenes about this time, he too massacring and
+pillaging in the name of God. He was Samory, that scourge of the valley
+and of the left bank of the Niger.
+
+But little by little, under the directions of General
+Borgnis-Desbordes, our forts advanced towards the great river, and we
+were installed upon its banks at Bammaku in 1883. Our gunners made
+us known in the north while our columns pursued Samory in the south.
+Colonel Archinard continued our march along the course of the Niger,
+and the capture of Segu marked the termination of the Toucouleur
+dominion in 1892. We reached Jenne in 1893, and before the end of the
+same year the tricolour flag waved over Timbuctoo.
+
+These few pages of history, and the fresh information they contain, are
+not necessary only to explain Jenne and its Egyptian architecture, they
+have another claim on our attention.
+
+They serve to show that we have taken possession of the Sudan at
+an exceptionally favourable moment as far as ease of conquest is
+concerned. But they also show that we arrived after two hundred years
+of its worst misfortunes, and at a time singularly unpropitious to the
+prosperity of the country.
+
+The Moors were the first cause of the work of disintegration, which
+steadily increased during the two centuries of their reign, to reach
+its maximum in the present day. The history of this disruption is a
+tissue of accumulated misery and desolation.
+
+We find the country in a most abnormal political and economical
+position, a position which is general, not localised and partial. From
+north, east, and south Touaregs, Foulbes, Toucouleurs and Kountas have
+flung their starveling herds into this promised land. They appear in
+the light of some monstrous association eager to destroy the happy
+privileges nature showered upon these rich territories, and labouring
+to annihilate the benefits of an ancient civilisation in the triumph
+of their native barbarism. And all this in the name of the one God!
+Cheikou Ahmadou, El Hadj Omar, and Samory were not the only devastating
+prophets. I have pruned numerous other fanatic and sanguinary meteors
+from these pages who account for a lesser share of the great sum of
+evil.
+
+During all this time agriculture was interrupted and commerce
+destroyed. The river was deserted of its canoes, and the traffic of
+the caravan became impossible. The markets were empty, the population
+decimated by slavery and famine, and entire countries were depopulated
+by emigration.
+
+The negro race is so prolific, however, thanks to polygamy, and the
+earth is so fertile, thanks to the inundations of the Niger, that all
+these evils will be repaired in a few years owing to the peace and
+organisation we have introduced in the country.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+JENNE--YESTERDAY AND TO-DAY
+
+
+During the miseries of the three centuries following upon the Moorish
+conquest Gao disappeared. The Touaregs swept through it, and left
+behind them a mere fraction of the grandeur and civilisation, the
+customs and ancestral traditions, of the Songhoi capital. Barth was
+fortunate in finding even the site of the city remaining. A massive
+tower (such as we see at Timbuctoo), representing both the ruin of the
+grand mosque and the tomb of Mohammed Askia, was, with the exception of
+a few native huts, all that he found there.
+
+Jenne, most happily, has reached us nearly intact. So complete is this
+town that we can trace the thoughts and life of the Songhoi people in
+it better than we could ever have done at Gao. By what miracle has it
+been preserved? By none, but simply by the exceptionally privileged
+position of the town and its surrounding country. The land here
+marvellously resembles that of Egypt, and the emigrants were evidently
+struck by the similarity, realising that their peculiar qualities would
+best thrive in this place.
+
+What more could they ask than this vast plain, periodically inundated
+by the united rise of the Niger and its confluent the Bani. The
+Kouakouru, a curious and important channel, connects these rivers
+with Jenne. From July to November the stream flows from the Bani to
+the Niger, for the four succeeding months it flows from the Niger to
+the Bani, and during the rest of the year it has no current at all.
+This alternation has been remarked by the natives, and recorded in
+the following naïve observation: ‘Our country is watered by two great
+rivers that marry at Mopti. The Bani is the male, and the Niger is
+the female element. At first the Bani fills the Niger, but some time
+afterwards the Niger, grown great, returns its fulness to the Bani.’
+
+[Illustration: MAP OF JENNERI]
+
+The scientific explanation of this phenomenon is simple. The Niger
+and the Bani pursue an almost parallel course, and are enlarged at
+the same period of the year by the same rains. The course of the
+Niger is impeded, however, by great natural dams, and it has in
+addition to fill the Pools of Dia and Bourgoo, while that of the Bani
+is free, and augments no reservoirs. Inasmuch as the waters of the
+Niger are more considerable, the two rivers do not overflow at the
+same time of the year. The Bani rises first, and as it encounters no
+obstacle, and suffers no diminution, it can by means of the Kouakouru,
+transfer its superabundance to the Niger. The larger river attains
+its fullest height later on, and it is then the Niger that flows
+into its diminished confluent. The immense plain is flooded from
+September to October, and during this period the waters of the Bani
+are at their highest. This is not the case with the Niger, but its
+mass is nevertheless greatly augmented, and forms a barrier against
+the rapid currents of the Bani at Mopti. The level of the latter,
+owing to this dam of water, begins to rise. The Pool of Kouakouru and
+the various channels rise also, and the surrounding country, owing
+to the absence of protective dykes, is flooded. At this period the
+appearance of the region closely resembles that of the valley of the
+Nile in times of inundation. The villages of the Songhoi agriculturist
+emerge from the sheet of water like those of the Fellahs. They are
+built of the same light grey clay upon mounds more or less artificial,
+and are interspersed with the same feathery tufts of palm-trees.
+The roads and the banks of river, channels, and pools have entirely
+disappeared, canoes being the only means of communication remaining to
+the villagers. The great plain has become a great sea strewn with grey
+islands crested with green.
+
+The waters subside in November, and rice (the principal cereal of this
+region), having been planted in the first rains, is then harvested. The
+soil being moist and easily worked, a second harvest of millet or maize
+is prepared. The wonderful fertility of the ground is such that two
+closely consecutive harvests may be obtained from it.
+
+‘Fortune has showered its gifts upon Jenneri,’ says the old chronicle;
+‘its markets are held every day of the week, and its populations are
+very numerous. Its seven thousand villages are so near to one another
+that the chief of Jenne has no need of messengers. If he wishes to send
+a command to Lake Debo, for instance, it is cried from the gate of the
+town, and repeated from village to village, by which means it reaches
+its destination almost instantly.’
+
+The meeting of many channels in this golden land severs an island from
+the plain, and that island is Jenne.
+
+Was it chance, or was it intention resulting from inquiry, that drew
+the first Songhois to establish here the frontier town of their empire?
+It matters very little; inspiration or choice was equally remarkable.
+
+[Illustration: THE ISLAND AND TOWN OF JENNE]
+
+The position was impregnable. If it were attacked in the fall of the
+rivers, when its girdle of waters was fordable in parts, its banks
+(from twenty to sixteen feet high), crowned by a ten-foot wall, still
+presented an inaccessible front. In the floods the enemy would have
+required special apparatus and instruments of war which were unknown
+in those days. To starve it into capitulation would have been the work
+of at least two years; and it would have needed a formidable army to
+blockade both land and water, for Jenne is defended by its channels,
+pools, and floods as much as by its walls.
+
+Its inhabitants do not forget to tell you that Jenne, alone among all
+the cities of the Sudan, was never taken, destroyed, nor pillaged. The
+_Tarik_ confirms this assertion. When Gao and the rest of the Songhoi
+empire became the tributaries and vassals of the powerful kingdom
+of the Mali, Jenne and its people remained independent. ‘There were
+many battles, nearly a hundred, and the people of Jenne were always
+victorious. After the last defeat the Malinkas said, “We will come
+again”; but in this year (1664) in which I write, the hundredth battle
+has not been fought, and the Malinkas have not returned.’
+
+Proud of its wealth and conscious of its power, was it at the height
+of the Mali supremacy that Jenne broke loose from the links binding it
+to the decadent Songhoi empire, and asserted its independence? Most
+probably it was, inasmuch as, somewhere about that time (fourteenth
+century), the army of Mossi took Timbuctoo, and separated Jenne
+completely and effectively from the rest of the empire. When Sunni Ali
+restored the power of the Songhois, his longest and most obstinately
+opposed campaign was directed against these people. He invested the
+town, and, according to some, he devoted seven years, seven months, and
+seven days to the siege; others allow only four years. However that may
+be, his entire army was collected in the country for so long a period
+that his soldiers turned farmers. Jenne being suddenly threatened with
+famine, the chief of the town proposed peace, and Sunni Ali, wearied
+out on his side, hastened to accord the most honourable terms. So far
+from humiliating it in the day of its capitulation, he seated his
+former enemy on his right hand, married his mother, and, most important
+of all as far as we are concerned, he respected the town.
+
+Thus returned to the bosom of the Songhoi empire, Jenne supported her
+lot with resignation. In the Moorish conquest she compounded with
+the victors, as she did later with the Foulbes, and again a hundred
+years after with the Toucouleurs. She would have spontaneously opened
+her gates to Colonel Archinard had it not been for Alpha Moussa, the
+commander of the Toucouleur garrison.
+
+Jenne possesses another advantage in its insular position, from an
+archæological point of view. The town, being built in a comparatively
+limited space, could not invite the settlement of foreign elements in
+any numbers sufficient to influence her appearance and customs. In
+another situation the city would have enlarged into suburbs, which,
+being incorporated with the town, would, by degrees, have modified its
+earlier aspect, as was evidently the case at Gao. But Jenne in her
+island has remained as completely herself as if she had been enclosed
+in a tower of ivory.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+We know that the palaces and temples of the Pharaohs were raised by
+blows of the lash, and the fathers of the Songhois probably laboured
+under them. The builders of these edifices were themselves content
+with modest earthen dwellings; and if the construction of houses in
+the new country had been a matter of quarrying and shaping blocks of
+stone, they would have been satisfied with the primitive native hut,
+and I should not have seen a city of the Pharaohs existing to this
+day. Fortunately the Songhois discovered a suitable material for the
+building of their town, which was neither the granite nor sandstone of
+Egyptian monuments, but was merely a clay, plentifully found in the
+island and its neighbourhood. Humble as it was, to these new-comers it
+must have been inestimably precious, since it replaced that mud which
+the negro is obliged to solidify by mixing with gravel, manure, or any
+filth that comes to hand before he can build with it. It was not the
+wretched _banco_ that makes Segu so unhealthy when the deluges of the
+winter season soak into the infected sponges that represent its houses,
+but was a good stiff clay, solid, resisting, and wholesome.
+
+[Illustration: BRICK-MAKING]
+
+They were enabled to make regular bricks from it, flat, long, and
+rounded at the ends like those of ancient Egypt. Except in the Songhoi
+countries, the negro does not proceed thus, but is content to fashion
+his _banco_ into irregular balls as he uses them. These bricks, being
+baked by the fierce Sudanese sun, are set in the walls with mortar, and
+finally receive a special rough-casting. Dwellings thus constructed are
+of great durability, and have all the appearance of being cut from one
+enormous block of stone. They defy the heaviest tornadoes of rain and
+wind in an astonishing manner, and with some repairing, which consists
+entirely of renewed rough-casting, they last for centuries.
+
+These clay bricks are admirably suited to the massive and simple lines
+of Egyptian architecture, and the Songhois could build on as large a
+scale with them as could the Pharaohs with their great blocks of stone.
+Owing to their being enabled to work quickly and easily with this clay,
+the town could be begun and completed while the memory of their native
+country was still vividly before them.
+
+Above all, the houses of Jenne display that essential characteristic of
+Egyptian art--the pyramidal form, which represented solidity to those
+ancient architects. The walls of the oldest constructions have a slight
+inward inclination, and possess no windows, or only the roughest sketch
+of them. Light and air enter through openings cut in the ceiling or
+roof. In all the negro habitations the roofs are rounded to carry off
+the terrible deluges of winter, but here they are flat, like those of
+the valley of the Nile, where rain is scarce. The Songhois knew no more
+how to construct an arch than did the Egyptians. The summits of their
+dwellings are ornamented by those triangular battlements which may be
+seen on the palaces of Rameses Meiamoun. The pylon, which is another
+characteristic of Egyptian architecture, gives access to the dwellings
+of Jenne, and forms, too, a motive of decoration, the façades of the
+houses being adorned with great buttresses of pylonic form. You would
+suppose these buttresses were intended to give additional support to
+the edifice, but interrogation of the local architects convinces you
+that they are merely ornamental adjuncts. Moreover, they are only to
+be found in the houses of the wealthy, though the poorer dwellings
+are no less solidly constructed. On certain buildings two of these
+pylons are united at their summit by a projecting plinth, recalling the
+ancient propylon. In short, the effect of the whole, its harmonious
+proportions, the symmetrical distribution of its ornamental motives,
+and its massiveness, unmistakably proclaim the art of Egypt.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+If we refer to the antique bas-reliefs which reproduce the principal
+features of the ancient Egyptian habitations, and to the works of the
+orientalists, we shall find they agree in every particular with the
+buildings of Jenne. ‘The private houses were simple, and were not
+constructed of stone nor granite, as were the temples and palaces,
+but of rough bricks. The walls were plastered within and without, and
+enclosed a suite of rooms which were not uniformly disposed, but were
+divided according to the taste of the proprietor. They consisted of a
+ground floor and a second floor surmounted by a terrace. The approaches
+to the wealthiest houses were adorned with pylons and obelisks. The
+summits and angles of the clay walls were finished by a kind of
+framework of reeds held together by transverse bands. The roof was
+flat, and formed by placing planks across the length and breadth of the
+house; branches and rushes were strewn upon them, and the whole was
+covered by a thin layer of earth reduced to the consistency of mud.
+This covering slightly projected from all sides of the wall.’
+
+The same methods of construction are pursued in the buildings of Jenne;
+all these details are to be found, with others that are veritably
+stupefying when seen in the heart of a negro country. A system of
+baked pipes is established in every dwelling to carry away the
+household water, and latrines, with perfectly constructed drainage, are
+established on all the terraces.
+
+The survival, through all those ages, of this method of building is
+due, not only to the fact that the town has never been destroyed, but
+also to the great durability of the houses. I was shown some which were
+three or four hundred years old, their age being proved by the fact
+that their ground floors were about three feet below the level of the
+street outside. Centuries of layers have raised these roads as they
+have those of Jerusalem, which stands to-day fourteen or sixteen feet
+above its original level. Successive generations always possessed,
+therefore, some models of ancient times, and their types have been
+handed down to the present day. The great pent-houses with which
+some are supplied form their chief digression. This addition to the
+principal doors was provoked by the torrents of rain which threatened
+to flood the ground floors. They are massively designed, somewhat
+resembling the mantles of our ancient fireplaces, and are in nowise
+out of harmony with the façades. One or two courts are arranged inside
+the dwellings, and the few openings for air and light in the latter
+are embellished with slabs of terra-cotta, ornamentally designed, and
+set in the walls. The Moors, who installed themselves at Jenne after
+the conquest, introduced the use of windows with wooden shutters in
+the Arabian style, the only growth of their art they succeeded in
+engrafting. Moreover, these windows were not manufactured in Jenne,
+but were imported whole from Timbuctoo.
+
+The Egyptian originality of the town must have been greatly jeopardised
+by the Moorish arrival, for the new-comers, impregnated as they were
+with Arabian art, would assuredly attempt other innovations. Thanks
+to its precious clay, however, Jenne remained unspoiled, for this
+substance did not lend itself to the construction of little columns and
+colonnades, and Moorish arcades, nor was it suitable for arabesques
+and all that slenderness of detail that have caused Fez and Marrakesh
+to resemble Cairo and Algiers. Some adaptations would doubtless be
+attempted, but they would crumble away in the first rains, and thus
+the city has remained faithful to its ancient traditions, preserving
+through twelve centuries indubitable proofs of its origin.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Although private houses are numerous, the type of monumental edifice is
+lacking. It did exist, however. The domicile of the governor of Jenne
+was of much greater dimensions than those of the ordinary dwelling; his
+rank, and the custom of maintaining a numerous retinue, would require
+it. His house, which was called the Madou, would have supplied us with
+the missing example of the Songhoi palace, but unfortunately in the
+eleventh century an event occurred which swept away this monument. ‘The
+town remained pagan,’ reports the _Tarik_ and popular tradition, ‘until
+the fifth century of the Hegira (1050). At that period it followed
+the example of its chief Koumbourou, and adopted Islamism. The chief
+convoked all the ulemas of the country, and more than four thousand
+obeyed the summons. Koumbourou, having shaved his head in their
+presence and announced his conversion, asked the ulemas to address the
+following prayer to God in favour of the town: That any person who
+should arrive there, having quitted his country from poverty and an
+inability to live in it, should receive from God such abundant and easy
+means of life that he should forget his native land. That Jenne should
+become a great centre of commerce, and that its inhabitants should be
+overwhelmed with wealth.’ This the ulemas did, and the prosperity of
+the town is a proof that God heard their prayers.
+
+‘On becoming a Mussulman Koumbourou destroyed his palace and built a
+mosque upon its site. He lived to see its completion, but it was his
+successor who surrounded it with walls.’
+
+The zeal of the neophyte has thus robbed us of the sight of an ancient
+Songhoi palace. The fact is the more lamentable that the various
+Sudanese chronicles give no compensating description of the building.
+The temple that was built to the new God somewhat attenuates these
+regrets, however, for the grand mosque of Jenne was long famous in the
+valley of the Niger, being considered more beautiful than the Kasbah of
+Mecca itself.
+
+It was an enormous block, rigidly square, its sides measuring
+one hundred and eighty-three feet long by thirty-nine feet high.
+Besides the usual pylonic adornments, three groups of buttresses
+were distributed on each façade. Every group was composed of three
+deep ridges, possessing a projection of nine feet at the base, which
+diminished as they rose. The first of these groups was thirty-two
+feet from the angles of the building, and they were separated from
+one another by an interval of about twenty-six feet. The walls were
+crowned with triangular battlements separated by the terminating ridges
+of the buttresses, which were of similar form, but greater in height.
+The building was oriented with each façade towards one of the cardinal
+points, but the sides were not absolutely uniform with one another.
+
+The north and south façades displayed two rows of windows.[6] The north
+gave admission to the faithful through two doors, the south through
+one only. The eastern (which was the sacred side, that looked towards
+Mecca), was uninterrupted by either door or window, and its surface was
+only broken by pylonic adornments and the three groups of buttresses.
+The western side was also without a door.
+
+[Illustration: PLAN OF THE OLD MOSQUE]
+
+The double rows of windows might lead one to suppose that the interior
+of the edifice was composed of two stories. It was nothing of the kind;
+they lighted a closed gallery which ran round the square. Opposite the
+sacred eastern side was a row of nine triforiums.[7] Their dimensions
+were analogous to those of the gallery which formed the veritable body
+and sanctuary of the edifice. The interior was softly gloomy, its
+only light being admitted through some openings in the high ceiling,
+by reflections grudgingly let in by the two passages, by some windows
+in the great gallery, and by the two doors opening on to the court of
+the mosque. This latter occupied a wide space in front of the ninth
+triforium, and measured one hundred and fifty feet long, by sixty-five
+wide.
+
+In the centre of the building, between the seventh and ninth
+triforiums, rose a quadrangular tower, of which two sides measured
+twenty-six feet at the base. Steps were cut in it, and it opened on to
+the terraced roof by means of an edicule, from which a marabut called
+the faithful to the five daily prayers. Another of these edicules was
+placed in the centre of the eastern side.
+
+A low wall ran round the building at a distance of sixteen feet from
+it, widening respectfully to sixty-five feet before the sacred façade,
+and forming there a spacious parade. This was the holy ground in which
+the venerated marabuts, together with the scholars and people of
+importance, reposed in their last sleep. It was their Pantheon, and
+this chosen cemetery harmonised with the high wall that looked towards
+the Kasbah. With its ridged buttresses alternating with pylons, and
+with no doors nor windows to break its uniform grandeur by a note
+of life, this eastern façade gave a very forcible impression of a
+mausoleum.
+
+The mosque was built on rising ground in the south of the town. A great
+excavation at its feet provided the materials for its construction, and
+served to further separate it from the town, so that it stood out from
+the surrounding fortifications and houses, soaring above them like a
+castle.
+
+Is it necessary to refer once more to the Egyptian atavism revealed in
+its massive dimensions, in the plan and symmetry of its construction?
+Is it not better to dwell upon the fact that the only materials
+employed by its architects were clay and wood, and yet, in spite of
+that, their work lasted eight centuries?
+
+It still survived sixty years ago, and would have lasted many centuries
+longer if Cheikou Ahmadou, the great Foulbe conqueror, had not
+commanded its destruction in 1830.
+
+[Illustration: THE OLD MOSQUE RESTORED]
+
+For a long time this command remained inexplicable to me. How came a
+prince, a well-known fanatic, to destroy a mosque? ‘Because there were
+so many mosques,’ said one. ‘Because it claimed to be more beautiful
+than that of Mecca,’ said another, with greater probability. Priestly
+_amour-propre_ caused them to conceal the true reason, and it was a
+priestly jealousy that revealed it to me.
+
+I was holding a _séance_ of human documents one day, and among its
+members were three marabuts; two of them were natives of Jenne, and the
+third was from Segu. In this religious society I did not fail to return
+to the question of the destruction of the mosque. Quite in vain; the
+two natives reiterated the same imbecile reasons I had already heard,
+while the third sat silent, obstinately studying his sandals.
+
+It did not occur to me that there had been any special significance
+in this attitude, until I saw him mysteriously reappear very early
+next morning. After rapidly examining my dwelling upon all sides, he
+entered, and closing the door, he assumed the attitude of the evening
+before, saying, ‘You asked us why Cheikou Ahmadou destroyed the old
+mosque. I know the reason, but the history of it is unpleasant to
+Jenne, and the marabuts naturally do not care to repeat it. That is why
+I did not tell it to you yesterday. I will do so now, and you shall go
+to them, saying, Is this true?’
+
+Which I did; and the two marabuts confirmed the story, pretending to
+have learned it in the interval.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Part of Cheikou Ahmadou’s youth had been spent in Jenne. He was sent
+there by his parents to acquire learning from the numerous marabuts and
+scholars of the place. As his family was neither rich nor powerful, the
+young man was forced to lead the life of a poor student, and the alms
+of wealthy merchants were his sole support. The town was prosperous,
+and the Sudan was enjoying its last years of comparative tranquillity.
+Plenty of amusements went on in Jenne, and strangers lived a joyous
+life there, thanks to the laxity that prevailed in manners and matters
+of religion.
+
+Young Ahmadou, who, like most of the Foulbes, was austere both from
+necessity and a rigid faith--Ahmadou, who was destined to take the
+title of Emir of the True Believers, conceived a great horror of all
+this depravity. The special quarters of the corruption were none other
+than the precincts of the old mosque. The centre of debauch was just
+opposite that sacred eastern wall which should have recalled the image
+of the Kasbah to the minds of the faithful, and dances were held there
+to the sounds of tom-tom and bafalon. Owing to its numerous foreign
+elements, the town could supply the whole repertoire of the lascivious
+dances of the Sudan. The neighbouring huts sold an intoxicating
+drink (a kind of beer called dolo), which was naturally forbidden to
+Mohammedans. An evening thus begun often terminated in low houses
+erected close to the west wall of the mosque, and even more frequently
+the dancers sauntered about the galleries of the mosque itself. Already
+full of ambitious plans, Cheikou Ahmadou swore to put an end to these
+scandals on the day that God should put the power in his hands.
+
+Twenty-five years later, having destroyed the power of the Roumas and
+taken Timbuctoo and Jenne, he kept his word. He also forbade idolatrous
+strangers to enter the town, as he considered them the first cause of
+the corruption. In order to still further punish Jenne, he founded a
+new capital on the right bank of the Bani, calling it El-Lamdou-Lillahi
+(To the praise of God), the Hamdallai of to-day. Finally, to purify the
+quarter in which the dancing and drinking had taken place, he built
+the new mosque, which, simple, bare, and commonplace, marks the spot
+to this day. When it was completed he ordained his son and successor,
+Ahmadou Cheikou, his grand Iman, and then--he commanded the destruction
+of the old mosque (1830).
+
+All that now remains of it is a heap of ruins, surrounded and preserved
+by their enclosing walls. The interior of the edifice has disappeared,
+the triforiums, the ceiling, the galleries, and the two towers are
+totally effaced. The great walls offered more resistance to the
+destroyers, and are only partially broken through. With the assistance
+of these, and the memories of the old men, my work of reconstruction
+was easy enough. The rows of windows are fairly distinguishable, so
+are the indented lines of the terrace and the positions of the great
+buttresses. Guided by these indications it was not difficult to trace
+the walls of the triforiums, the minarets, and the extent of the court.
+The only consolation left for its destruction lies in the fact that it
+is now possible to verify the great antiquity of the monument. This is
+easily done by a method resembling that of the woodman, who determines
+the age of a tree by the concentric circles of its trunk. From the
+great walls of the façade, whose normal thickness was three feet, I
+removed a layer of rough-casting not less than thirty-five inches
+thick. According to the old houses, the masons allowed about four
+inches a century, which would take us back to the eleventh century, and
+this date would correspond with that given by the _Tarik_.
+
+[Illustration: THE RUINS OF THE OLD MOSQUE]
+
+The venerated tombs were the only things respected by Cheikou Ahmadou,
+and they now form a cemetery, or rather a charnel-house, in which I
+spent many hours of research. I had no idea that I was in a place of
+tombs and corpses the first time I saw it. The surface of the earth was
+pierced here and there by terra-cotta pipes similar to those employed
+in the household drainage of the town. Here, planted vertically in the
+soil, you would take them for the chimneys of troglodyte dwellings. But
+on looking down these supposed chimneys you find them full of earth;
+they are connected with subterranean dwellings, however, for this is
+the abode of the dead, and these pipes mark their tombs.
+
+[Illustration: THE CEMETERY IN THE MIDST OF THE RUINS]
+
+In some places the earth had fallen through, and I could distinguish
+piles of skeletons that were only separated from one another by thin
+layers of earth. The dead sleep so closely to one another that in a
+short time there will be more human dust than earth in this little
+place. One seldom sees the living in this spot, but there is life here,
+of a sort, that is very intense and active, and is produced by the dead
+lying below the red tubes.
+
+Eagles and crows, hovering overhead, swoop suddenly down upon the dogs
+and rats that dig up the tombs. Legions of red and yellow lizards
+frisk unconcernedly about in this world of worms and insects. Goats
+and their kids make pretty spots of white and red against the sombre
+tones of the ruined walls. They too find a living in this dead heap;
+the grass must be savoury here, and they can enjoy such delightful
+climbs among these ruins. But the kings of the place are the enormous
+iguanas--green, and large as crocodiles; the daintiest morsels of the
+charnel-house are for them, and they have traced long passages from
+drain to drain. They find many a feast there--corpses, and worms that
+they snap up with their long double tongues, rats, lizards, scorpions,
+and others. The ground is littered with the remains of its inhabitants:
+tibias and shoulder-blades here, femurs there, with occasional shreds
+of intestines. There are no skulls. Is it possible that the animals
+consider as inferior that part which man values most?
+
+All this is not in the least sad or gloomy. At the foot of the ruins,
+from town, market, and crowd, mount the great sounds of life. The sun
+pours its floods of intense light and gaiety upon this double death;
+upon those mounds where the works of God and the works of man are done
+with, and are crumbling away together.
+
+‘Jenne is one of the greatest commercial towns of Islam. The salt of
+Thegazza and the gold of Boundou are sought there, and its inhabitants
+have acquired great riches. Good fortune is in its soil, and on account
+of this blessed city men come to Timbuctoo from all parts.’
+
+So says an old Sudanese chronicle of the sixteenth century. How did
+such a commercial centre come about? and why at Jenne rather than any
+other town? The reason is to be found in the wealth and configuration
+of this part of the Sudan.
+
+[Illustration: VIEW OF THE INTERIOR OF JENNE AND THE OLD MOSQUE]
+
+The wonderful fertility of the soil yields, as we know, a profusion of
+exchangeable produce, and the hydrographic system, which gives such
+exceptional irrigation to agriculture, also offers means of transport
+which is all that could be desired. These great advantages are not
+peculiar to Jenne, however, but are common to all the towns above
+and below her. Moreover, if her insular position was an excellent
+one from point of view of security, it was a serious drawback where
+communication was concerned. Segu and Sansanding on one side, and
+Mopti, Korienza, Sa, and Sarafara on the other, possessed the advantage
+of being situated on the Niger itself; yet Jenne was the town that
+attained the greatest celebrity. She not only ranked above Timbuctoo,
+but took her place among the great commercial centres of Islam. And why?
+
+Because, among all the towns of the Niger, Jenne alone was a Songhoi
+city. Because her inhabitants bore within them the germs of the
+great Egyptian civilisation. Because, from the midst of the gloom of
+barbarity which covered the whole of the valley, Jenne stood out as the
+luminous point in which the cultured man appeared. Because this culture
+gave Jenne conceptions, and the means for executing them, that were
+unknown to her rivals.
+
+In place of the primitive barter between village and village, and
+market and market, she created a true commerce. Her inhabitants
+formulated ‘business firms,’ in the European sense of the word, which
+were provided with a routine and staff similar to our own. They
+established representatives in important centres and opened branches
+at Timbuctoo. They sent out travelling agents who received so much per
+cent. on the business they accomplished, and were, in fact, no other
+than our ‘commercial travellers.’ The staff was composed of relatives
+and slaves, or free men who were obliged to earn their living. Among
+their numbers there were occasionally, as with us, certain indelicate
+members who disappeared with the merchandise that had been intrusted to
+them.
+
+Thus organised, Jenne drains the whole of the Sudan in general, and the
+south of the valley in particular, through the medium of the markets
+of Baramandougou, San, and Bla. The ground floors of its large houses
+serve as spacious bonded warehouses by means of which their merchandise
+is not exposed to the rain and numerous parasites, as is the negro’s.
+These storehouses are filled with cereals, great sacks of rice and
+millet, jars full of honey, blocks of karita covered with leaves and
+bound with rushes, arachides, spices, onions, cakes of indigo, baskets
+of kola nuts, neta flour, monkey-bread (the fruit of the baobab), and
+bars of a wonderful iron brought from Karaguana (a country near Mossi),
+packets of ostrich feathers, ivory, virgin gold, civet musk; lead from
+the mountains of Hombouri and marble bracelets from the same place
+(ornaments greatly affected by the inhabitants of Nigerian countries);
+antimony, used by the negresses to darken the orbits of their eyes and
+increase their brilliancy--the blonde among them (for there are fair
+negresses) using it to darken their complexions; native fabrics, fine
+linen and woollen textiles, long white lengths of stuff from which
+the ample garments of these people are made, _pagnes de Segu_ for the
+women, and superb large draperies artistically patterned in yellow,
+black, copper-colour, and blue. I must not forget to mention another
+kind of merchandise, warehoused in the same place and as much in demand
+as any of the preceding, namely, slaves.
+
+There is no specialisation of trade. Every one sells everything:
+textiles, human flesh, cereals, metals, and spices. These merchants do
+not carry on their real trade in the market--they merely send thither
+agents provided with a small stock; their true business is done in the
+penumbra of their large Egyptian dwellings.
+
+With this abundance of products, the means of assembling, and shops to
+shelter them, there still remains the problem of transport. It was
+Jenne that taught the Sudanese the art of commercial navigation. Its
+boats could be compared with the aboriginal pirogue as little as the
+town could with a native city or its houses with the native huts. The
+negro’s canoe is a mere sketch of a boat, hollowed out from the trunk
+of a tree, and at the mercy of the least of the Niger’s breezes. It
+can only carry the smallest of cargoes, and, in order not to capsize
+it, the occupants are obliged to sit motionless as a Buddha in a Hindu
+temple or practise the agility of a Japanese equilibrist.
+
+[Illustration: BUILDING A LARGE BOAT]
+
+But the people of Jenne built regular vessels that were large and
+steady. The framework or body is not formed of regular planks adjusted
+and nailed to the keel, as one would expect, but is made of irregular
+blocks of Kaïcedra ebony or cedar-wood. These blocks are pierced
+with holes, then juxtaposed like pieces of Mosaic, and held together
+by strong hempen cords; the recipe apparently being: Take holes and
+surround them with rope and wood. They are finally made sufficiently
+water-tight by means of straw, tow, and clay; this method of
+construction imparting to them an elasticity that is highly desirable
+in view of the frequent groundings encountered on the sandbanks of the
+river.
+
+Not being limited to the size of a tree-trunk, the Songhois construct
+boats measuring between fifty-eight and sixty-five feet long by ten
+broad, and able to carry from twenty to thirty tons. To convey the same
+weight by land would necessitate a caravan of a thousand porters, or
+two hundred camels or three hundred bullocks. Instead of any one of
+these costly methods, a single vessel, with from six to ten boatmen, is
+all that is required, which clearly proves the superiority of Jenne to
+the surrounding country.
+
+Its great merchants have their own boats devoted exclusively to
+transport. The less wealthy have fleets of regular fly-boats at their
+disposal, which carry merchandise and passengers at a fixed tariff.
+Bars of iron, blocks of karita, jars, anything, in short, that water
+cannot damage, are stored in the hold, and upon these are piled sacks
+of cereals and the more delicate merchandise. A compact mass is thus
+obtained which forms the deck, and upon this the passengers lie or
+squat, protected by an awning from the sun. A space is left in the
+middle of the hold for baling out and cooking purposes. These fly-boats
+travel all day, and only stop at sunset for the evening meal; when
+there is a moon the journey is resumed as soon as it rises. For a
+consideration of 1500 cowries (2 frs. 50 c.) you can go to Timbuctoo
+(a twenty days’ journey), or for three francs you can send thither a
+hundredweight of goods.
+
+Other towns, such as Sansanding, Korienza, and Sarafara, learned how
+to construct these large boats, which, wherever they may have been
+built, are invariably called ‘Jenne boats.’ Little by little an active
+commercial movement was diffused among the labyrinths of the Niger. But
+Jenne still retained her position as metropolis, owing partly to the
+superiority of her inventive resources, and partly to her isolation,
+which protected her from the sudden cataclysms and destructions to
+which the other cities were subject.
+
+By means of her numerous fleets, her more civilised manners, progress
+and architecture spread throughout the western valley, even penetrating
+to Timbuctoo and the Kong country. After leaving Bammaku I found
+adaptations of her architecture everywhere: in the façades of the royal
+dwellings of Segu and in the town gates. All the mosques, though of
+more modest proportions, are built in the style of the old mosque at
+Jenne.
+
+[Illustration: JENNE: A CORNER OF THE QUAY]
+
+The sole point of contact between these vast regions and the Songhoi
+world, Jenne had morally dominated them long before they were actually
+conquered by the kings of her race. With this supremacy augmented by
+her fabulous wealth, it is small wonder that she was enabled to hold
+her own in ‘nearly a hundred battles’ against the Mali kings, who
+were practically the masters of the valley. Her work of civilisation
+continued uninterruptedly through centuries. Slowly she prepared the
+Western Sudan for that sudden and brilliant flight revealed by history
+in the great century of the Askias (1500-1600).
+
+This civilising _rôle_ would be a title in itself to a place in the
+memories of mankind, but she possessed another of equal importance: she
+could claim to be the foundress of Timbuctoo.
+
+Her commercial attention must have been fixed from the first upon that
+inestimable commodity which the Sudan lacked, viz. salt. The caravans
+bringing it from the Thegazza mines returned by the interior, instead
+of diverging to the east towards the river. Their precious burden would
+thus be rapidly diffused among the wealthier towns (notably Oualata),
+and but a costly fraction of it would reach the banks of the Niger.
+
+Jenne would therefore take especial pains to assure a regular
+salt-market from which she could provide herself with large quantities
+at a fair price. This would naturally lead her to the discovery of the
+admirable geographical position of Timbuctoo, which was situated at
+the very doors of the Mali people and on the confines of her frontier.
+Caravans could go there direct from the mines, and the merchandise
+be secured at first hand; Jenne’s great vessels, her most valuable
+auxiliaries, would now enter upon the scene, and the new market would
+thus be established.
+
+Timbuctoo (as we shall see later) could hardly be said to exist until
+the merchants of Jenne settled there, and brought all that the wealth
+of the Sudan could offer to the indigent starvelings of the desert
+in exchange for their loads of salt. The traders of Morocco and Tuat
+followed in her train, and in this way Jenne, although she did not
+actually create, undoubtedly founded Timbuctoo, for she was the means
+of transforming the poor hamlet into a great commercial centre of
+universal renown.
+
+The Sudanese express this idea in their saying: ‘Jenne and Timbuctoo
+are two halves of the same city.’ It is, in fact, a portion of Jenne
+that lies out there on the threshold of the desert; her great merchants
+have homes and agents in the town, and during several months of the
+year they personally direct operations there. But in spite of this,
+the parts played in the Sudanese commerce by these two halves are in
+no way homogeneous. Jenne’s is the active, preponderating, and most
+interesting share; she represents the producer, the great merchant
+who settles in the centre of a country to utilise all its powers and
+resources. The character of Timbuctoo, on the other hand, is passive;
+she is the counting-house, the branch, a mere _dépôt_. Her inhabitants
+are brokers, intermediaries, and innkeepers, and she has always been
+inferior to Jenne both in wealth and commercial importance. This is why
+the old chronicle speaks of Jenne, and not Timbuctoo, as being one of
+the most considerable towns of Islam, adding, ‘It is on account of the
+blessed city of Jenne that men come to Timbuctoo from all sides.’
+
+How comes it, then, that Timbuctoo has acquired notoriety all over the
+world while Jenne has remained comparatively unknown? The distinct
+characters of the two towns will explain this injustice. The caravans
+of North Africa, Morocco, Tuat, and Tripoli, which made the renown of
+Timbuctoo, never went beyond that city, and knew nothing of the Western
+Sudan. They had no need to prolong their journey into the south so long
+as Timbuctoo offered in great quantities all the merchandise they had
+come to seek. Even if it had occurred to the more enlightened among
+them that they would obtain these goods at cheaper rates in the country
+of their production, the paths thither were encumbered by considerable
+difficulties.
+
+Nature, in creating, at the immediate south of Timbuctoo, a land
+that was a network of tributaries and channels and was periodically
+submerged, had closed the doors of the Sudan against the caravans of
+northern Africa. Their camels, admirably adapted to the passage of the
+desert, would have been totally useless in such a country, and would
+soon have perished from the excessive moisture. The north, therefore
+(at that time Europe’s sole source of information concerning the
+interior), totally ignored the Sudan proper; they only knew, and could
+only know, Timbuctoo. This crushing preponderance is far from obtaining
+in the Sudan, however, where the name of Jenne is known to every one,
+while Timbuctoo is frequently ignored.
+
+The renown of the Songhoi town extends to the Kong country in the
+south, and to the Atlantic Ocean in the west. She sends merchandise to
+the sea-coast; and when the first Europeans trading between Banin and
+Cape Palmas asked where the gold and produce offered them for sale came
+from, the natives answered ‘from Jenne.’ Her name was thus given to the
+Gulf of Guinea, and, indirectly, to an English coin, the guinea, so
+called because the first pieces were struck from gold coming from there.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+[Illustration: THE CHIEF OF THE TOWN OF JENNE]
+
+Of all the great cities of the Niger, Jenne was the one to suffer
+least from the long period of anarchy that the history of the Sudan
+has revealed to us. Signs of violence are not visible at first sight
+as they are at Nyamina and Sansanding. It was, nevertheless, cruelly
+used under the Toucouleur dominion. ‘We suffered nothing but vexation
+and pillage,’ an old chief told me. ‘El Hadj Omar was a brigand, and
+his sons and generals have carried on his trade. Little by little the
+town has been emptied of its original inhabitants. Thou wilt find more
+of the people of Jenne in the surrounding country than in the city
+itself. It was time for the French to come. Colonel Archinard has done
+very wisely. When he came before our walls he respected the merchant
+quarter, and bombarded only that Toucouleur citadel which is now your
+fort.
+
+‘I will not disguise from thee that, in spite of all we suffered
+from the Toucouleurs, the arrival of your people was disagreeable
+to us. The Toucouleurs were at least Mussulmans, and we were afraid
+of the dominion of the Christian. We had been told of many misdeeds
+committed by you. But now we are very satisfied. You allow us to make
+our prayers, and you do not despoil us as the Toucouleurs did, nor do
+you force impious practices upon us, and make us eat and drink unclean
+things, as we were told you would. When you have collected the tax you
+do not demand more, and you pay for all you want. We can resume our
+trades in safety and with greater profit, for the three tolls we had to
+pay upon the Niger before reaching Timbuctoo have been removed. This is
+why the former inhabitants are returning to us from all sides.’
+
+[Illustration: MARKET IN THE STREETS]
+
+[Illustration: PRECINCTS OF THE DWELLINGS OF THE GREAT MERCHANTS]
+
+In fact, during my stay there many old houses became reinhabited and
+new ones were built, and these latter afforded me the opportunity of
+observing those Songhoi methods of construction which had been brought
+from so far, and were so different from those I had hitherto noticed
+among the negroes. The general physiognomy of the town is not less
+striking. Its thresholds are no longer encumbered by sleepers and
+idlers, nor are its streets obstructed by loafers, as is the custom
+elsewhere. A bright energy and an unusual gaiety and elasticity of
+movement are astir in the town from early morning. The people hurry
+busily about, driving donkeys and carrying burdens, and all are working
+to attain some end. I must admit that all this energy is only relative.
+In Paris or London I should call it indolence, but in the Black
+Continent, under a blazing sun, it does not do to be too particular.
+The precincts of the great merchant dwellings are particularly busy,
+their doors being literally besieged. A crowd of clients, in the Roman
+and commercial sense of the word, are awaiting their turn of audience.
+Some fill the streets with a sound of noisy discussion, while others,
+preoccupied by their affairs, meditatively crack and peel kola nuts.
+Here and there in front of the eastern rampart, where the bank slopes
+gently to the commercial gate, slaves load and unload the vessels which
+are incessantly coming and going. At the four cross-roads you see low
+straw huts (the improvised stalls of the itinerant vendor) looking
+conspicuously out of harmony with the large houses. A few women keep a
+stall before their door; sometimes they leave their goods with piles
+of cowries beside them indicating the prices, while they themselves
+are busy about the house. Thus, instead of confining her trade to the
+market-place, as is the case in other towns, Jenne cries ‘Commerce!
+commerce!’ at every step of the way.
+
+[Illustration: THE COMMERCIAL HARBOUR]
+
+[Illustration: SHOPS OF ITINERANT MERCHANTS]
+
+The market does not present the accustomed haphazard appearance of
+its negro counterpart, with merchandise strewn about here, there, and
+everywhere. It occupies a large square in the centre of the town, and
+is regularly intersected with paths for the buyers and raised places
+for the sellers. Rows of shops border three of its sides, and the
+fourth opens upon the Mosque, as if in reminder that honesty and good
+faith should preside over all its transactions. Sitting surrounded
+by calabashes and potteries, the women sell vegetables, milk, fish,
+animal butter (salt or fresh), karita, spices, soap, and faggots of
+wood. There are three erections formed by square posts in the centre
+of the market-place, with a shop between every two posts, in which men
+sell the choicer goods--native and European textiles principally, with
+salt, kola nuts, slippers, boxes of matches, mirrors, pearls, knives,
+etc. The money-changer is stationed here also, with his black face
+showing out from between little mountains of cowries. For native gold
+(in rings like the moneys of the Pharaohs) and silver coins, varying
+from five-franc pieces to fifty centimes, he gives and takes hundreds
+and thousands of these little shells. Our gold pieces are not rated,
+because--well, because they are not very well known there just yet.
+
+[Illustration: WOMEN SELLING IN THE STREETS]
+
+[Illustration: THE GREAT MARKET OF JENNE]
+
+The butchers’ shops are the most characteristic and picturesque of
+all. Dead shrubs, retaining only their principal branches, are planted
+before the posts, and the joints of meat are suspended from them, while
+live sheep await their turn of cutlets and chops. Primitive furnaces
+are established in their near neighbourhood, upon which you may roast
+your purchase free of charge, if you buy your fuel from the wood-seller
+next door. It is just like a London grill-room; but instead of the
+heavy atmosphere and gloom peculiar to the taverns of that city, there
+is the vast sky for ceiling, the brilliant sun for light, the bright
+and beautiful decoration of an ancient Egyptian town for background,
+and a crowd of people clothed in the white draperies of the Songhois
+for surroundings.
+
+[Illustration: THE MONEY-CHANGER]
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Islamism and Arabian civilisation have been superimposed and so firmly
+planted in these countries that a great many Egyptian manners and
+customs have disappeared. The embalming of the dead bodies of their
+celebrities (one of the most marked characteristics of the peoples of
+the Nile) is no longer practised. The Mohammedan religion considered
+the practice impious, but the custom survived among the Songhois for a
+long time, nevertheless. The old chronicles tell us concerning Ali the
+Conqueror: ‘The king being dead, his children caused him to be opened
+and the entrails were taken out and replaced by honey, in order that
+the body should not become corrupt.’ Unfortunately their documents do
+not shed as much light upon other subjects. Nothing recalls the ancient
+hieroglyphic or demotic characters. It is true that thin pieces of a
+very smooth wood are used instead of paper (which is expensive), to
+teach writing to the school-children. The Pharaohic scribes were wont
+to employ the same materials, in order to economise the more costly
+papyrus. The Arabic writing has entirely obliterated the other, as it
+has in Egypt, and, for that matter, as the Koran and Arabian jurist
+have effaced the native judicial customs.
+
+[Illustration: THE BUTCHER]
+
+But you have only to enter their houses, and penetrate their private
+life, to find in manners and customs many very characteristic
+indications of their origin. Their oral traditions, their chronicles,
+and their dwellings all betray their Nilotic fatherland. The Songhois
+resemble a palimpsest on which the first manuscript is dimly
+decipherable. Fragments are, and always will be, missing, but the
+omissions are those which it is easy to supply.
+
+Among the favourite divinities of ancient Egypt, the crocodile was
+especially dear to the priests of Thebes and Crocodilopolis, and the
+cult is still to be found at Jenne under a form naturally attenuated.
+The town and its environs are frequented by enormous green iguanas very
+similar to crocodiles. In Senegal and elsewhere the natives hunt this
+saurian for the sake of its flesh, which is very fine and delicate--so
+I am told. The people of Jenne, on the other hand, consider it sacred,
+and to kill it is to commit sacrilege. ‘The Koran does not forbid its
+meat,’ replied the marabuts to whom I reported this custom of the
+negroes, ‘but we venerate the iguanas because our fathers did so.’
+
+[Illustration: CORNER OF THE MARKET]
+
+The dove, the oracular bird of the temple of Ammon, enjoys similar
+privileges at Jenne; nests and food are arranged for them in the
+houses, and they are never by any chance put upon the spit. The respect
+paid to the dove by these people is known of in Nigerian countries
+other than Songhoi, where they are called ‘birds of Jenne.’
+
+[Illustration: JENNE: THE HAIRDRESSER]
+
+The same ready sweetness of disposition that has already been ascribed
+to the Egyptian races forms the psychological basis of the Songhoi
+character. The chronicler of the _Tarik_, a man of the Sudan but not
+of this race, has been struck by this. ‘The characteristics of its
+inhabitants,’ he says, ‘are sympathy, kindness, and generosity.’ They
+gave me an impression of that goodness and spirit of charity with which
+the old Egyptian papyri are so strongly imbued. The following was the
+happy altruism of the old Jenne merchant who said to me (explaining
+the system of their commission agents): ‘We trust our merchandise to
+people who have no goods; they sell it for us throughout the country,
+and part of the profit is theirs. If they have the will they can become
+merchants in their turn.’ And he concluded, ‘It is a disgrace to beg
+here, for among us it is possible for every one to earn a living.
+However poor he may be, a man has but to work to become rich.’
+
+We will now pass to more commonplace comparisons. Contrary to Oriental
+and Arab usage, but conformably with ancient Egyptian custom, it is
+the men among the Songhois who weave the textiles, and not the women.
+The latter do the spinning and dyeing. Moreover, the Nigerian negro
+knows only one colour, the blue of his indigo, but the Songhoi uses
+black, yellow, and copper-red vegetable dyes. The ornamental motives
+employed are severely symmetrical, the most frequently used being that
+alternation of dark and light squares so often found in the hangings
+and draperies of the Egyptian frescoes. Among their finer tissues one
+deserves special attention; it is a luxurious stuff, used for shawls or
+turbans, and woven with an uneven surface resembling our honey-combed
+towelling.
+
+Among the artisans we can trace vestiges of a division into companies.
+Masons and blacksmiths alike are furnished by certain families, the
+trades descending from father to son. Both occupations recognise the
+supreme authority of one of their number, who takes his place among
+those personages of the town who deliberate and control public affairs.
+Masonry is man’s work here, while in the negro countries it is the
+women who build the houses.
+
+While Senegalese and Sudanese lean towards blue as the prevailing tint
+of their garments, the Songhois show a preference for white, like the
+Nubians; and rice, not millet, is their staple food. Their kuss-kuss
+is not taken from calabashes, but is served in cups of baked clay
+similar in every point to those in the scenes of repast depicted upon
+the Egyptian tombs. The various forms of their numerous potteries also
+recall the antique specimens of the same land; and they have real
+wooden bedsteads instead of the lump of earth, covered with skins,
+that serves the negro as a place of repose....
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+[Illustration: JENNE: THE BARBER]
+
+The last day at Jenne! I have been employed since morning in receiving
+processions of the friends I have slowly gained among her inhabitants.
+Oh! very slowly. Our first acquaintance was not made without much
+hesitation, suspicion even. They could not understand this European,
+the first they had ever seen, who was neither soldier nor trader. My
+incessant and entirely unexpected questions bewildered them. They
+looked at one another and laughed as the interpreter transmitted them,
+and were obviously thinking, ‘What absurd idea has the white man got
+into his head? What has all this got to do with him?’ Then, hearing
+that their most learned marabut was reading the _Tarik_ to me, and
+that I gathered marabuts about me and blacked sheets of paper as I
+listened to them, they began to classify me accordingly and called
+me the ‘marabut-toubab’ (the white marabut), and the nick-name soon
+became popular. By-and-by I became a subject of much salutation in my
+walks abroad. The men greeted me in Arabian fashion, with the right
+hand placed first to the forehead and then to the heart; the women
+with a gracious movement of the left hand similar to the military
+salute. I did not deceive myself, however; these demonstrations merely
+expressed much compassion and indulgence for a harmless lunatic, an
+inoffensive imbecile, ‘the man with the questions.’ But when I could
+speak with some knowledge of their ancestors, their epopee, and their
+little anecdotes: ‘Iho, iho’ (ah, ah!), they triumphantly exclaimed,
+‘thou wilt write a Tarik for the whites about the blacks!’ After this
+they lent me their books willingly enough, and opened their doors to
+me, even introducing me to the women’s apartments. Thus the monomaniac
+became, bit by bit, more than a mere acquaintance, and an indulgent
+contempt was exchanged for a real affection. Their farewell visits
+(entirely unexpected) revealed this to me, and I discovered that I too
+had a feeling for some of them which was more than sympathy. They all
+brought some offering, a small souvenir, a few provisions, and little
+notes in Arabic, representing letters of introduction. Kindly wishes
+for the journey were mingled with affectionate questions: ‘Would I come
+and see them again?’ ‘Should we talk together once more of Dialliaman,
+the impious Sunni Ali, and the unhappy old age of Askia the Great?’ In
+order to justify my reputation of ‘marabut-toubab,’ I said to them:
+‘Yes, we shall all meet again. Not here, but in a country where there
+are neither blacks nor whites, in the land of Allah, where you will be
+white like me.’ Whereat we all laughed together for the last time.
+
+Towards the end of the afternoon, as the hour of the prayer that must
+be said at sunset approaches, they all withdraw, and I go up to the
+terrace of my house. From that height the town, the island, and the
+three channels that join to sever Jenne from the mainland, look as
+though drawn upon a map. After having pressed the hands of its friendly
+inhabitants, I wish to take a last look at this country which has so
+impressed itself upon my imagination.
+
+The plain is scattered with white dots like daisies, but they are
+moving daisies, all possessed by the same motive and all drawn towards
+the town as to the sun. On the banks of the river the white dots
+collect in groups; they are the people hastening to their houses at the
+close of day, and waiting for the canoe ferry-boat to take them over
+the water. Dark spots now appear in the distance making for the same
+point; they are troops of horses returning from pasture. They wait for
+no ferry-boat, but precipitate themselves into the water that separates
+them from their stables. Finding no one waiting for them at the gates,
+they gallop through the town, joyously chasing, kicking, and nibbling
+each other. The streets are filled with a delightful uproar, cries,
+laughter, and swirling movements of voluminous white draperies as the
+foot-passengers start aside from the frolicsome animals. When the
+latter have had their play out, they go peaceably home in search of the
+masters who have given themselves no trouble to look for their beasts.
+
+All sounds gradually die away in the town. A marabut has climbed to the
+terrace of the great mosque, and cries, ‘God is great!’ The surrounding
+terraces are peopled with white forms, which stand out against the
+summits of the palm-trees and the green of the baobab. Their backs are
+turned to the purple splendours of the dying light, for their faces
+look towards the already darkened east, which is lighted for them by
+that eternal light in which Mecca is to be found.
+
+The silence is harshly broken by a brazen sound; it is the bugle from
+the fort sounding the call for rations....
+
+The plain is now a vast desert, phantasmagorically illuminated. Above,
+the sky flames into every imaginable colour, and the channels, scarcely
+visible a moment ago, blaze into a reflection of the ardour of the sky,
+while the rows of ospreys upon their banks look like necklaces of pink
+pearls. Then all the enchantment is overwhelmed in the sudden darkness
+of a tropical night.
+
+Farewell, my friends, whose lips are murmuring prayers unknown to mine!
+Farewell, strange island! Farewell, mother of Timbuctoo, thou Egyptian
+Jenne to whom I owe the unimaginable joy of having lived, at the end of
+the nineteenth century, in a city of the Pharaohs!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+FROM JENNE TO TIMBUCTOO
+
+
+Re-installed in my yacht-canoe, I followed the accustomed path of the
+Niger in order to reach Timbuctoo. I hastened towards the mysterious
+city, hoping to find the sequel to that epoch of civilisation of which
+Jenne had accounted for the first half. I longed to raise completely
+the veil which has hidden the Sudan from us for so long, and caused us
+to look upon that country as the last refuge of barbarity, which was
+in reality an offshoot of the great Egyptian tree, the father of all
+western civilisation.
+
+Tara, tara, Bosos! give way, my brave fellows! What a life that was
+during those seven days! We journeyed day and night, and I did not get
+two hours’ consecutive sleep the whole time. To find one’s way across
+the three deltas lying between Jenne and Timbuctoo is no easy task.
+I was obliged to navigate my little craft with compass in one hand
+and chart in the other, like a captain crossing the ocean. An ocean
+this country veritably is in January. When the floods are at their
+height, it becomes a region of navigable verdure, a labyrinth which
+extends a bewildering network of meandering tributaries, creeks, and
+channels along the course of the river. My imperfect chart and hastily
+recruited, inexperienced crew demanded an untiring vigilance. No moon!
+and the vague light of the stars only served to assist our digressions.
+One night in particular has left behind it the memory of an agonising
+nightmare. I was in the neighbourhood of El Oual Hadj, where two
+branches of the Niger, joining in one bed, form a small archipelago by
+their union. Entering this seed-plot of islands in the pitch darkness,
+I wandered about and up and down to such good purpose, that it was
+daylight before I succeeded in getting clear of them. The entire night
+was spent in wandering backwards and forwards in utter darkness. Every
+moment I thought I had at last found an opening, only to be confronted
+by another island. I seemed imprisoned in a labyrinth.... You know the
+anecdote of the tipsy man who guided his staggering steps by means of
+the railing of a monument, and ended by thinking he had been locked up?
+Allowing for an absence of wine and the presence of a great deal too
+much water, my sensations were precisely similar.
+
+[Illustration: A COMMERCIAL FLEET UPON THE NIGER]
+
+In seven days’ time we had cleared the region of the deltas, an actual
+distance of three geographical degrees; but, what with its bends and
+windings, we had made at least 311 miles of it. In the course of these
+miles I had watched landscapes from Normandy and scenes from Syria
+unfold before my moving dwelling. I had seen the ports of Korienza,
+Sarafara, and Dara-Salam, which unite with Jenne in supplying the
+markets of Timbuctoo, and I had passed, and met, many of those
+delightful ‘Jenne boats.’ They were sometimes solitary, sometimes in
+fleets of ten or fourteen, according to the old-time custom, when
+numbers were their only protection against the pirates of the Niger.
+I enjoyed a picturesque glimpse of one of these little fleets one
+evening. The boats were anchored in the shelter of a small creek, and
+the crews were camping out round the great fires they had lighted on
+the banks; they reminded me of the Phœnicians trading and living thus
+upon the shores of the Mediterranean.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Only two fortifications are set up on our route, viz. Sarafara and El
+Oual Hadj, both being so entirely different from any I had seen before
+that they deserve mention. It is only a year since we set foot in this
+region (lately the scene of Touareg pillage and exploitation), and it
+is easily understood that these posts (being valuable strategic points)
+are not simple centres of surveillance and administration, but have
+retained the character of forts. The gleam of bayonets is visible at
+some distance, and look-outs are posted on high places to keep watch on
+the horizon.
+
+The military aspect of El Oual Hadj is particularly marked. It is a
+pioneers’ outpost, and was entirely constructed by a half-company of
+Sudanese tirailleurs. On an artificial hillock, in a clearing in the
+midst of palm-trees, two rows of sheds are set up. The trees which were
+cut down to make the glade formed the sole materials used for their
+construction. One row contains the whites, officers and petty officers,
+and the other the blacks. The embankment is surrounded by a palisade,
+clumps of dead thorn are scattered about its slopes, while iron wires
+are stretched across to guard against surprise. It has no walls or
+loopholes, its very rough-and-ready intention being merely to guard
+against surprise, and to permit the discharge of volleys of firing.
+Do you care to know what the fort has cost the nation? The formidable
+sum of forty-nine francs fifteen centimes, inclusive of an admirable
+_mirador_, from which the look-out signals suspicious arrivals by water
+or land.
+
+At some hundreds of feet from these fortifications, a solitary hillock
+rises from the banks of the river. It is obviously an artificial
+eminence, and here and there are found scattered about the bricks and
+stones which so puzzled Captain Philippe, the constructor of El Oual
+Hadj. The natives, upon being questioned, yield the information that
+several similar mounds are to be found on the left bank of the river,
+and a legend affirms that they were the dwellings, now fallen into
+ruins, of the chiefs of old.
+
+[Illustration: THE FORT OF EL OUAL HADJ]
+
+This is not my opinion. I believe them to represent the tombs, and
+not the palaces, of these same chiefs. El Bekri, an Arab who visited
+this country towards the middle of the eleventh century, describes
+their funerals in these words: ‘Upon the death of a king these negroes
+construct a great wooden dome, which they set up in the place appointed
+to be his grave. They then arrange the body on a couch covered with
+stuffs and cushions, and set it inside the dome. Beside the dead they
+place his ornaments, arms, and the plates and cups from which he had
+eaten and drunken during his lifetime. Different kinds of food and
+beverages are also placed there, and they enclose with the monarch
+several of his cooks and the concoctors of royal drinks. The whole
+being covered with mats and cloths, the people assemble and throw earth
+upon the tomb until it forms a large hillock. These negroes sacrifice
+victims to their dead, and bring them intoxicating drinks as offerings.’
+
+Unfortunately, I was not able to ascertain if these mounds still
+enclosed their ghastly remains. But better times are coming; and when
+the Touaregs are once more relegated to their real home, the desert,
+I hope that among the commanders of El Oual Hadj one will be found of
+a sufficiently enterprising turn of mind to claim its secret from the
+little mound.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+After Sarafara, in addition to its varied pictures, the river offers
+the further interest of the enaction of one of Nature’s dramas--the
+struggle between the Niger and the Sahara, the battle of life against
+death. The rebuffs the giant river offers to the sand are plainly
+visible. The blows he has given are marked by patches of green meadows,
+stretches of cultivation, rice-fields and trees; those he has received
+shine and quiver in sandy whiteness under the brilliant sun. Across the
+vegetation the enemy traces now and again a path which dies abruptly on
+approaching the river-banks. The spectator is warned; the dominion of
+the waters is about to cease and the kingdom of the desert is at hand.
+
+The Niger weakens as it draws nearer to Timbuctoo, and instead of
+pursuing its triumphant progress towards the north it gradually
+diverges to the east. The sands redouble their attack. Upon the left
+bank their masses grow in size and increase in numbers; and they follow
+the giant watchfully, approaching as they see his powers fail.
+
+The last act of the drama takes place near Timbuctoo, where the Niger,
+finally resolved to yield the north to the desert, turns abruptly to
+the east and retires in the direction of Lake Chad. It is not a flight
+but a retreat, and he withdraws with all the honours of war, detaching
+a great arm to protect his rear. This arm, the Pool of Dai, offers a
+last resistance to the dunes. So valiantly does it defend the retreat
+of the river that we find it advancing into the midst of the sand, and
+its waters appear under the walls of Timbuctoo itself.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+The kingdom of the sands is now our goal, for the famous town stands
+at its very gates. The river may pursue the dawn; we will part from
+him here and direct our steps towards the Pool of Dai. This month of
+January marks the highest moment of flood, and the waters carry their
+weeds right up to the foot of the dunes. A vast yellow-green expanse
+spreads to the distant fringe of trees that indicate _terra firma_.
+This border is abruptly broken as we advance, and a sandhill larger and
+whiter than any we have seen before is unmasked, dominating the horizon
+and arrogantly proclaiming the victory of the desert. It has reason to
+be proud, for directly behind it lies Timbuctoo.
+
+[Illustration: THE ARRIVAL AT KABARA]
+
+Kabara, however, the landing-place and fort of Timbuctoo, is not there,
+but further away upon the horizon, where that round dark mass emerges.
+We make for it in a direct line, abandoning the pool to cut straight
+across the navigable green. As my boat advances, another sandy height
+appears beside the distant mass, and slowly defines itself into a
+square mass of walls. At one extremity a flag is floating (the fort,
+doubtless), and at the other, clearly cut against the sky, spread the
+sinister arms of a tall black cross. Below this strange apparition
+square earthen houses and round straw huts cover the sloping banks. It
+is Kabara.
+
+[Illustration: THE QUAYS OF KABARA]
+
+We have now reached a basin of water in which a fleet of ‘Jenne boats’
+are lying at anchor. The buzz of humanity rises from its large quay,
+and all the amusing bustle of a harbour reigns there. In miniature
+certainly. The port of Timbuctoo is a mere toy in comparison with Havre
+or Marseilles, but the first impression is the same.
+
+We are no sooner disembarked than my attention is arrested by two
+things which stay by me until my departure, viz. the sand and the
+Touaregs. The sand, because you have no sooner set your foot on shore
+than you flounder about in it as if it were a mire, and it pursues you
+everywhere, in the country, in the streets, and in the houses.
+
+The Touaregs are impressed upon you, because, though you never see
+them, everything recalls them. You notice the unaccustomed luxury of
+sentinels posted about the approaches to the fort, and that its usual
+garrison of infantry is supplemented by cavalry and several cannon.
+All are still on the alert, although a year has expired since our
+occupation. The stern lesson of the Bonnier disaster has been taken to
+heart, a lesson which has been recently enforced by the not less tragic
+episode of the massacre of the midshipman Aube, at a place some few
+miles distant from the fort. His gunboat was anchored at the foot of
+the green mound, and, being attacked by the veiled men of the desert,
+he allowed a rash pursuit of them to draw him into the midst of the
+sands. The foolhardy young man and his nineteen companions now lie on
+the crest of the hill under the great cross which stretches its arms
+towards the serenity of the sky.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+[Illustration: KABARA: THE GRAVES OF THE AUBE EXPEDITION]
+
+Kabara, like Segu and Sansanding, suffered cruelly under the prolonged
+anarchy which reigned in the valley of the Niger, and her misery was
+further aggravated by the exactions of the Touaregs. The town is in
+ruins, but for all that the dominant impression is not one of poverty.
+The wretchedness of the town itself is overpowered by the life and
+movement it encloses. The quays are astir with lively bustle, and
+encumbered with bales, jars, and sacks in the process of loading or
+unloading. Boatmen and passengers economically camp out in parties
+everywhere.
+
+[Illustration: ON THE QUAYS OF KABARA]
+
+Through the streets stream a perpetual coming and going of
+dock-labourers, donkeys and camels, convoys arriving from Timbuctoo in
+search of merchandise, and nomads from the desert bringing their cattle
+in exchange for fresh provisions. These two figures may help to give
+precision to the details: with twelve hundred settled inhabitants, the
+town contains a floating population of a thousand strangers.
+
+Kabara is not the only port of Timbuctoo. She shares the honour with
+two others, being herself only able to play the part during a limited
+period (November to March) of each year. When the waters are at their
+maximum (in January) they encroach upon and follow the course of two
+depressions at the extremity of the dune of Kabara, passing behind
+it and penetrating some six or eight miles into the midst of the
+sands. One of these branches, the smallest, turns to the west and is
+navigable. It is called the Pool of Kabara, and they say that in years
+of unusual inundation (such as in 1894) large boats of thirty tons can
+go, by its means, right up to the gates of the town. Otherwise their
+cargoes have to be considerably lightened, but, for six weeks or so,
+canoe lighters ply regularly between Kabara and Timbuctoo by means of
+this pool.
+
+The level of the Niger being considerably lowered in April, the great
+plain of navigable grass dries up and becomes a stretch of cultivation
+which reaches to the quays of Kabara; and the town, ceasing to be a
+harbour, becomes an agricultural centre.
+
+From April to June the great boats stop at Dai, two and a half miles
+from Kabara, and canoes carry the cargoes between the two places by
+means of a small canal. Later on, in July, the vessels are stopped at
+Koriouma-Djitafa, situated upon the Niger itself at a distance of six
+miles from Kabara.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Timbuctoo has therefore three ports, the inconvenience of which did not
+fail to attract the attention of Askia the Great when he concentrated
+his fleet at Kabara. He it was who cut the canal from Dai to Kabara,
+and at that time it probably assured the permanent circulation of
+lighters and made Kabara the sole port, Dai and Koriouma being
+relegated to the position of mere places of trans-shipment. The canal
+has silted up now, however, and is useless at the fall of the river.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+[Illustration: THE FORT OF KABARA]
+
+Timbuctoo is only separated from Kabara by five miles of overland
+route, and I could have reached the mysterious town a few hours after
+landing at its port. But I was in need of rest to restore my mental
+balance before I could quietly, sanely, and fully enjoy the sight
+of the town that I had travelled all these miles to behold. To see
+Timbuctoo! I had dreamed of it as a schoolboy, and now my dream was
+about to be realised. I determined to be epicurean, and rush into no
+rash gluttony. They tell me I can see the town from the height of the
+fort, but I will not go. I wish to taste the first impression in its
+entirety, without destroying its bloom by a bird’s-eye view.
+
+One afternoon I bestride a first-rate mule, a regular walking
+arm-chair, and my traps augment the humps of several camels. Three
+o’clock. A bugle sounds, and the town shakes off its drowsiness.
+A medley of people, donkeys and camels, stream towards the little
+parade in front of the fort, while from it emerges a picket of twenty
+tirailleurs with rifles on their shoulders.
+
+[Illustration: THE CONVOY]
+
+It is the hour of departure for the daily convoy. These few five miles
+of road are not to be traversed at will, as are the three hundred
+separating Kayes from the Niger. We are obliged to travel under escort
+here, for, short as it is, the road is not safe. You divine the reason?
+Touaregs--always. Only ten days ago these brigands attacked some
+solitary travellers, and duly pillaged and killed them.
+
+‘To the front for the Sahara!’ The crowd for Timbuctoo advances. Each
+one carries or drives something. Children worry unfortunate little
+asses, which are so loaded that only their ears are visible, and they
+look for all the world like walking bundles. Men armed with spears
+and guns accompany the camels, and women, placidly smoking their long
+pipes, are perched upon small donkeys, with their screaming progeny on
+the crupper. The whole thing has less the effect of a caravan than of
+the emigration of an armed people carrying the very uttermost of their
+household goods with them.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+[Illustration: THE DWARF FOREST]
+
+The borders of the desert were a surprise to me, for I had fully
+expected to find them a sudden expanse of bare, shining sand. Nature’s
+moods are not so abrupt, however; she prepares a transition. We are
+in the midst of hot, soft sand certainly, but it is not bare. Only
+the road, or rather track, is of the expected shining whiteness. The
+rest is covered with a peculiar vegetation which is neither wood nor
+thicket. It is a dwarf forest containing a rickety growth of scrubby
+palms, mimosas, and gum acacias. They are a pale, dusty colour, an
+anæmic green, with such trivial branches and leaves that the shade they
+give is anæmic too, the phantom shade of a phantom forest.
+
+The watercourse which we meet and meet again, and yet a third time, is
+equally unexpected. Water in the desert! It is the Pool of Kabara on
+its devious way to Timbuctoo. God be praised, they have not yet made
+a bridge across it. Imagine the Sahara with bridges! The water cuts
+straight across the track, and escort and escorted have to ford it, to
+the great joy of the spectator.
+
+[Illustration: FORDING THE STREAM ON THE WAY TO TIMBUCTOO]
+
+The water is fully breast high. The tirailleurs carefully remove
+their uniforms, and the men take off their ample draperies; so do the
+women, but they imperturbably retain their pipes. They carry their
+most precious possessions, arms, clothes, and goods, on their heads.
+It is now the turn of the animals, and the donkeys make the most
+ridiculous scenes. As soon as the water has so shallowed that swimming
+is unnecessary, they sit down in it, apparently bent on suicide.
+Indescribable barbarities now take place. Men, women, and children
+fling themselves upon an unfortunate animal. One seizes it by the
+ears, another by the legs, and a great many by the tail (the lever
+_par excellence_ on these occasions). The animal calmly allows itself
+to be drawn to the bank, while its zealous rescuers charge into the
+absent-minded, and cause many an involuntary bath.
+
+I pictured a party of Touaregs arriving in the midst of this hubbub.
+Right and left of the track the undulating ground and scrubby thicket
+could well mask a surprise, and equally well cover a retreat, the
+attack being once made.
+
+[Illustration: ‘OUR’ OUMAIRA’]
+
+The road half-way between Kabara and Timbuctoo bears a sinister
+reputation. The natives have given it the tragic name ‘Our’ Oumaira’
+(They hear not), meaning that neither at Timbuctoo nor Kabara can the
+cries of the victims be heard. The place has bitter memories for us
+also. A cross, sister to the one that gloomily dominates Kabara, is set
+up in one of these valleys. A little leather placard is nailed to it,
+bearing the following inscription:--
+
+[Illustration: OUR OUMAIRA·ON N’ENTEND PAS
+
+  ICI
+  _périrent en attaquant une armée de
+  Touaregs et d’Arabes_
+
+  _AUBE Léon enseigne de Vaisseau
+  LE DANTEC 2^e M^{tre} de Timonerie_
+
+  _et les laptôts fidèles Isaac N’Diaye
+  Cantara Taraouéré Diakounta Soumaré_
+
+  _et quinze autres encore partis de Kabara_
+
+  Tombouctou entendit, accourut
+
+  _LES VENGEA AUSSITOT_
+]
+
+After reading this inscription one casts suspicious glances right and
+left into the undulating and woody landscape. A little prudence is
+decidedly advisable. This preoccupation is so increased by the uproar
+of the picturesque medley of people crowding round the escort like
+chickens round a hen, that the thought of the approaching vision of the
+town is forgotten.
+
+At a given moment, however, the mass gathered round the escort opens
+out, the track rises to climb a bare dune, and when we have followed it
+to the top--Timbuctoo is spread before our eyes.
+
+[Illustration: DISTANT VIEW OF TIMBUCTOO]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+TIMBUCTOO[8]
+
+
+An immense and brilliant sky, and an immense and brilliant stretch
+of land, with the grand outlines of a town uniting the two. A dark
+silhouette, large and long, an image of grandeur in immensity,--thus
+appeared the Queen of the Sudan.
+
+Across the space everything looks simple and severe; the forest is
+dwarfed out of sight, and nothing diminishes the vast landscape, which
+is lighted by the throbbing glare of the veritable sun of the desert.
+
+Truly she is enthroned upon the horizon with the majesty of a queen.
+She is indeed the city of imagination, the Timbuctoo of European legend.
+
+Her sandy approaches are strewn with bones and carcasses that have
+been disinterred by wild beasts, the remains of the camels, horses,
+and donkeys that have fallen down and died in the last stages of the
+journey. The cities of the East are invariably encircled by their
+bones, and the roads across the desert are lined by their bodies.
+
+The details of the distant shape grow clearer by degrees. The illusion
+of walls, produced by the distinctness with which the town stands out
+from the white sand, disappears, and three towers, placed at regular
+intervals, dominate the mass. The terraces of square houses are now
+distinguishable, giving an appearance of depth to the outlined mass,
+and renewing the first impression of grandeur.
+
+[Illustration: A STREET AT THE ENTRANCE TO THE TOWN]
+
+Whether you approach from the banks of the Niger, from the shores of
+the Atlantic, by the Moroccan and Arawan routes, or from the coasts
+of the Mediterranean by Tripoli or Ghadames, the town presents the
+same outlines: fine, long and deep, and evoking the same impression of
+grandeur in immensity.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+We have entered the town, and, as behind the scenes of a theatre,
+behold! all the grandeur has suddenly disappeared.
+
+It is another scene now, equally impressive, but on account of its
+tragic character rather than its beauty. Instead of finding the compact
+and well-ordered city which was promised us by the exterior, we enter a
+town that seems to have recently passed through the successive dramas
+of siege, capture, and destruction.
+
+The foreground, to which the play of sun and shadow had given the
+distant effect of city ramparts, proves to be a mass of deserted
+houses. The roofs have fallen in, the doors are gone, the walls are
+broken and crumbling, and have become mere heaps of ruin. Piles of
+earth, bricks, and bits of wood are scattered over the open spaces
+which were once the paths leading to these defunct dwellings.
+
+Beyond these ruins behold the market, or rather one of the markets.
+This is the largest of them, I am told, and I begin to hope that the
+sinister impression left by the entrance to the town will now be
+removed.
+
+The place is spacious, certainly, but is this the great market of
+Timbuctoo? These women with little baskets, little calabashes, and
+little round mats, selling insignificant little things, red, green,
+white, drab, and black, spices and vegetables, for infinitely little
+sums of cowries, just as in any, no matter what, little market in no
+matter what little town of the Sudan. Is this the universal commerce of
+Timbuctoo? Why, if I only recall the market of Jenne, this is the most
+miserable in the world. And I, who thought to find here a pendant to
+the great fairs of yesterday or those of Nijni Novgorod of to-day! I,
+who expected to see heaps and heaps of the produce of Arabian Africa,
+Negraic Africa, and Europe!
+
+[Illustration: TIMBUCTOO: THE GREAT MARKET]
+
+Instead of obliterating the image of these ruins, this spectacle bites
+it in more deeply. What is passing here? what has passed here? I ask
+myself in disconcerted bewilderment. The houses round the market-place
+have the appearance of being able to stand, certainly, and are even
+inhabited, but, O my beautiful dwellings of Jenne, how far away you
+seem! Where are your imposing forms and harmonious outlines? You would
+appear monumental now. Here are merely houses of a kind, things without
+character, height, or style. Just four walls and a flat roof. If this
+mediocrity were only pleasingly clean! But their unburnt bricks are
+worn, crumbling, and cracked, under the combined effects of rain,
+wind, and sun. Any attempt to keep them repaired was given up long
+ago. They seem to have been deserted for years and inhabited again
+quite recently. The bizarre appearance of their enclosing walls seems
+to confirm this hypothesis, for the breaches in them have been hastily
+stopped with carelessly adjusted mats, bundles of straw, and fagots of
+brushwood.
+
+The further we advance the more the misery increases, and all traces of
+the majestic exterior disappear. Only the sky is the same, brilliant
+and immense.
+
+[Illustration: A LARGE HOUSE]
+
+Let us follow the road that buries itself in the heart of the town.
+The buildings bordering it are rather higher here; they even have an
+additional story. But indulgent as I am inclined to be, I cannot deny
+that they also are threatened with ruin, and that neglect is written
+on their walls in cracks and crevices. Their second stories are still
+further advanced in disintegration, and the bars of the little Moorish
+windows have fallen away. Only the doors and thresholds show any sign
+of care and habitation. The former are curious, being very massive,
+garnished with a profusion of enormous-headed nails, and bound with
+iron like a safe. They are all carefully shut, too, contrary to the
+custom of negro countries.
+
+Beyond this road (a comparatively sound spot), the leprous patches
+reappear, and vague bits of ground (the sites of houses which have
+been deserted or destroyed), mingle with poor hovels enclosed by a
+heterogeneous collection of brushwood, mats, and walls. The general
+wretchedness is occasionally varied by groups of straw huts with fences
+of matting. They are clusters of nomad Foulbe dwellings in the midst of
+the _débris_ of the town.
+
+In spite of certain vague imaginings, I had not expected to find
+an Athens, Rome, or Cairo here; but straw huts! not many of them,
+certainly, but--in the very heart of the town.
+
+[Illustration: THE STRAW HUTS, WITH STRAW ENCLOSURES]
+
+Here and there I pass a few healthy islands of tall houses with
+studded doors close shut; then, more ruins. One of the latter arrests
+my attention. Although it is a lamentable wreck, with ceiling and
+roof hanging from a lacework of walls, its great size indicates some
+dwelling of importance. A public building perhaps. Who lived here?
+It proved to be no ordinary house, for the man who dwelt there was
+known all over Europe, all over the world, and the Queen of England
+corresponded with him. A man whom the learned and the explorers of
+every country held in pious memory, Barth’s host and protector, Sheik
+el Backay, lived here. Its crumbling walls have no other roof than the
+sky. The family of one of his servants vegetates in a little corner
+of the courtyard, into which some seedlings of the cotton-plant have
+thrust their way. This is all that remains of the once brilliant life
+that held sway there.
+
+From one extremity of the town to the other the same story is repeated
+of roads ill and dying. You sink in their sands as if you were in the
+midst of the desert. A city in deliquescence, such is the town which
+the sun had shown from afar as so majestically great.
+
+[Illustration: TIMBUCTOO: A STREET]
+
+Have I been the sport of a mirage? The spectacle was so unexpected and
+absorbing that I had hitherto paid no heed to the life and movement
+stirring among these ruins, and had not noticed their contrast with
+the fading town. But tall blue-and-white forms are energetically
+stirring about the city, and strings of heavily laden camels, donkeys,
+and porters encumber the roads. I scarcely notice that all the idioms
+of the Sahara, Sudan, and elsewhere, from the Mediterranean and the
+Atlantic to Lake Chad, are to be heard here. I do not distinguish,
+under white turban or red fez, all the different types of the negro
+races,--Arab, Berber, Songhoi, Mossi, Bambara, Toucouleur, Malinka,
+among the blacks; and Foulbes, Moors, Touaregs, and Tripolitans among
+the whites. This human amalgam is miserably clad, and their untidy,
+ragged, and dirty coats are so completely in harmony with their
+background, that one confounds them with the ruins. The obstinately
+closed doors would lead you to imagine that all these passers-by are
+strangers to the town.
+
+[Illustration: TIMBUCTOO: A CORNER OF THE TOWN]
+
+The impression is so profound that sight and judgment are deceived,
+overthrown. It is not only the illusion of the distant view, the
+vanished mirage, which embitters the deception, it is the destruction
+of all that glamour which surrounded the name of Timbuctoo in the mind
+of the European. The disillusion is complete, for I know that the town
+has not been besieged, pillaged, bombarded, nor destroyed since it was
+occupied by our troops. Our flag was planted there some months back
+without a shot being fired. The town is precisely what it was before
+we entered her.
+
+And this is the great Timbuctoo, the metropolis of the Sudan and the
+Sahara, with its boasted wealth and commerce. This is Timbuctoo the
+holy, the learned, that light of the Niger, of which it was written,
+‘We shall one day correct the texts of our Greek and Latin classics by
+the manuscripts which are preserved there.’ And I have not even seen
+one of the open-air schools which were so numerous at Jenne.
+
+These ruins, this rubbish, this wreck of a town, is this the secret of
+Timbuctoo the Mysterious?
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+You can imagine my perplexity when it became time to think of a
+lodging. My first thought was naturally to settle in the road and
+pitch my tent in one of its empty spaces,--at a respectful and prudent
+distance from these falling houses, be it understood. My servant,
+however, an old Senegalese tirailleur, who had fought against Samory,
+and who was afraid of nothing, set out in quest of an abode while I
+continued to explore the town. ‘I have found a house,’ he cried on his
+return, and radiantly led me towards one that was in every respect as
+deliquescent as the rest.
+
+To my great surprise, however, the inside did not harmonise with its
+exterior. It was no palace, but it was fresh and clean, and in good
+condition, truly regal in contrast with the outside sights. I decided
+upon it at once, and found the habitation comprised two rooms, a
+vestibule, and an ante-room to a court, which was about as large as
+a couple of linen sheets. Three rooms (the apartments proper) opened
+from these. A passage led to a court of vague locality somewhere at the
+back, and a little staircase gave access to the roof. The whole was let
+for twenty-five francs a month.
+
+The camels grunting at the door were immediately unloaded, and I
+contemplated my traps with emotion. A moment ago I thought there was
+not a whole thing in Timbuctoo,--in the world even. The sight of my
+packages dispelled this nightmare. In a regular fever I insisted
+upon unpacking them myself. I set up the camp-bedstead, my table and
+folding-chair, my pots and pans, my tub and my toothbrush, and then I
+contemplated them all with a childish joy, not unmixed with tears, for
+all these things were not cracked, crumbling, and falling into ruins.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Next morning I sent round the letters of recommendation provided by
+my friends in Jenne. The little pieces of paper were filled with warm
+words, and very soon rows of slippers on the threshold of my dwelling
+announced the presence of numerous visitors within. My house was filled
+with welcoming presents, eggs, dates, ostrich plumes, hens, chickens,
+and sheep. I was compelled to sacrifice the latter, as pasturage was
+not included in the twenty-five francs a month, but the poultry were
+installed in the court at the back. For the first time in my life I
+had a poultry-yard, and I experienced all the deliciously childish and
+countrified sensations of ‘fetching the eggs myself.’
+
+I responded to the graciousness of my new friends with stuffs,
+Mussulman chaplets, tea, sugar, and perfumes. The letters of
+introduction had instructed them concerning the object of my visit,
+and having learned wisdom from my experience at Jenne, I hastened
+to explain my purpose still further. They were assiduous in their
+attentions, and constantly brought me new visitors, whose acquaintance
+they thought might be useful to me. A charming life now began for me in
+the house I had entered with so much distrust.
+
+[Illustration: MY COURTYARD AT TIMBUCTOO]
+
+In the penumbra of the little court, which was partly covered by a
+verandah, and still further defended by a large awning against the
+ardour of the Saharian sun, I held meetings night and morning. My
+visitors sat crouched upon their heels, while I occupied the solitary
+chair, with a little table and some blank paper before me. The picture
+recalled certain glimpses of the Mosque University of El Azhar at
+Cairo. It was a class, in fact, with the proportions reversed, the
+professors being the many and the pupil the one. The deliberate
+and picturesque phraseology of the Oriental flowed on unceasingly,
+recitations being succeeded by readings from the old chronicles of
+Timbuctoo.
+
+There was nothing pedantic nor affected about our gatherings; each
+member related his memories at random, and passed from subject to
+subject with every imaginable ease. Tea, coffee, cigarettes, and kola
+nuts circulated at intervals. The neighbours’ pigeons and ‘my hens’
+made an occasional irruption, but with discretion. Chaffinches with
+red throats and tails, and the lively little lizards who shared the
+apartments with me, joined the party. They frolicked in our midst with
+the utmost effrontery. The lizards ran about all over my guests, and
+the birds flew round them, fluttering and singing incessantly. No one
+but myself took any notice of them, however, so accustomed is Timbuctoo
+to their numbers and caprices.
+
+For several days I did not stir out of my house; my life was so full
+I had no leisure to do so. Yet so pleasantly active and varied was
+it that I was content to remain in, and gradually, without having
+set foot in the street, a new Timbuctoo was built up before me. The
+wretched spectacle which had greeted me on my arrival, and which I had
+believed ineffaceable, disappeared bit by bit. A secret had clearly
+hovered over Timbuctoo the Mysterious. I had the eyes that saw; and at
+last the image of the great city, the wealthy Timbuctoo of the legends,
+was restored to me.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+TIMBUCTOO ACROSS THE CENTURIES
+
+
+In order to understand Jenne, we referred to the history of the
+countries east of the Niger, and found there a vein of Egyptian
+civilisation; the origin of Timbuctoo, however, must be sought in
+a different direction, for her past is connected with the Arabian
+civilisation of northern Africa.
+
+This same northern Africa was the world of the Berbers, and included
+all those white people whom we have known under the names of Touaregs
+in the Sahara, Kabyles in Algeria, Moors in Morocco and Senegal, and
+Foulbes in their infiltrations into the Sudan. Misled by their previous
+condition, we erroneously believed them to have been nomads from all
+eternity; but, like the Jews, circumstances alone caused them to adopt
+a wandering life, and in reality they represent the autochthonous
+populations of Mediterranean Africa, of Morocco, Algeria, Tunis, and
+Tripoli. Ibn Chaldoun, their great historian, observes: ‘All northern
+Africa, as far as the country of the blacks, has been inhabited by
+Berber races since an epoch of which we know neither its anterior
+events nor its commencement.’ These races lived on the coasts of
+Africa, and cultivated the beautiful valleys of Tell long before the
+arrival of the Phœnician and Roman colonists. Carthage and Rome set
+the Berbers in motion by crowding and pressing them back into the
+interior, and they it was who transformed them into a nomadic people.
+
+[Illustration: MOORS IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF TIMBUCTOO]
+
+Originally the Berbers of Morocco, that is to say the Moors, were the
+last to suffer. The ancient colonisation, most intense in Algeria
+and Tunis, was less direct in its effects on Morocco, which was not
+entirely divested of its inhabitants by the arrival of the colonists.
+Half its population, following the coasts of the Atlantic, wandered
+towards the country of the blacks, while the other half maintained
+themselves side by side with the new-comers. This portion remained
+fairly stationary and compact until the Arabian invasion. Moors and
+Arabs then combined to conquer Spain, where for three centuries they
+enjoyed the hospitality offered them by Europe. It is well known what
+valuable services their polished manners and beautiful art, their
+cultured literature and advanced industries, rendered to the cause of
+Western renaissance.
+
+[Illustration: MOORISH WOMEN]
+
+What became of these brilliant people, we ask, when they were driven
+out of Spain? Returning to Morocco to find their ancient patrimony in
+the hands of the Arabs, and being forced to prolong their exodus into
+the south, they followed the Atlantic coasts and the negro countries
+and became nomads in their turn. These Spanish Moors, wandering about
+the great lakes on the left bank of the Niger in the neighbourhood of
+Oualata and Timbuctoo, carried with them a name which leaves us in no
+doubt as to their origin. They are called Andalusians to this day.
+
+As we shall see later, these Moors, at the epoch of their return,
+became one of the prime factors in Timbuctoo’s greatness. The wonderful
+architects and the sumptuous possessors of the palaces and mosques of
+Seville, Granada, and Cordova dwell to-day in leathern tents, and the
+sands of the Sahara are their only place of prayer. The vicissitudes of
+nomadic life have sadly deteriorated them from the exalted civilisation
+to which they had attained. Herds of goats and humped oxen, flocks
+of sheep, and a few horses and books, form their sole wealth. The
+delicate ornamentation of leather, their embroidered wallets, cushions,
+and gun-cases, with some jewellery work, are all that recall the
+characteristic manner of the art they introduced into Europe.
+
+[Illustration: MOORISH ENCAMPMENT]
+
+Let us now see what became of the Berbers of Algeria and Tunis,
+countries in which the action of the Ancients was more brutal. A small
+number, thrown back beyond the Atlas Mountains, found a land capable
+of maintaining them in the mountains and valleys of Kabyle, and there
+they have remained, stationary and impregnable, through all these
+centuries.
+
+[Illustration: SCHOOL IN A MOORISH ENCAMPMENT]
+
+The greater part of them must have taken the roads of the Sahara, at
+that time in the possession of the black races. Its vast sands were
+more habitable and fertile then than they are now, for it was the
+inexperience of these new-comers, their excessive clearings, and the
+ravages of their herds, which diminished the already parsimonious gifts
+of Nature to the desert.
+
+This exile forced a new existence upon them which, little by little,
+transformed the whole race; the place, and everything they found there,
+obliging them to adopt a special life, manners, and even costume. We
+have called this portion of the Berber people Touaregs, a name of
+Arabian origin, which they completely ignore, only recognising the
+titles of Aoulemidens, Tenguaragifs, Taddamakets, Hoggars, Azers, and
+Airs, the patronymics of their principal tribes.
+
+The rearing of horses, oxen, and goats is their chief industry, the
+milk and flesh of these animals furnishing, with the addition of dates,
+their principal nourishment. Agriculture is scarcely possible under
+a sky from which the rain does not fall for six or eight consecutive
+years.
+
+[Illustration: MOORISH FLOCKS IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF TIMBUCTOO]
+
+Owing to their eyes not being accustomed to the terrible glare of this
+desert, nor their lungs to its sand-storms, they adopted a head-dress
+of two veils. One, the _nicab_, is rolled round the temples, hanging
+down in front to protect their eyes; the other, the _litham_, reaches
+from the nostrils to the edge of their clothing, completely covering
+the lower part of the face. Hygiene was obviously the only motive of
+this mysterious accoutrement, which set the savants seeking all manner
+of far-fetched origins with which to endow these Touaregs. This is
+proved not only by their own statements, but also by the sobriquet
+‘mouths for flies,’ which they give to all who do not wear this
+costume. The veils are never removed, even at meal-times, and the garb
+has become so much a part of them that ‘any one being deprived of it
+is unrecognisable to his friends and relatives. If one of their number
+is killed in battle and divested of his veil, no one can identify him
+until it has been restored to its place.’ And this in spite of the
+fact that the bridge of the nose and the eyes alone are visible.
+
+[Illustration: TOUAREG WITH ‘NICAB’ AND ‘LITHAM’]
+
+The scarcity of water and their speedy exhaustion of the scanty
+pasturage of the desert kept them perpetually on the march. With this
+constant movement any aggregation of their life was impossible; every
+social and political organisation disappeared, and they gradually lost
+all notion of law and authority. Like the Jews, and all people thrown
+out of their natural paths, their souls and brains became steeped in
+vice, and it was not long before they had become the mere prey of
+their instincts. Their nomadic life soon reduced them to the level of
+vagabonds, thieves, and brigands, and the only law they recognised was
+the right of the strongest.
+
+Theft was their natural industry--a branch of education, in fact--and
+they augmented the meagreness of their herds by extorting ransoms from
+some of their neighbours and completely despoiling others. Travellers
+and merchants were their principal victims, but when these failed they
+robbed and killed each other; for, so far from their tribes being
+united, they were divided by the most bitter and persistent hatreds.
+
+They adopted a vague form of Islamism which they reduced to a belief in
+talismans. Since no morality, Mohammedan or otherwise, found foothold
+among them, they soon became characterised by the worst vices, only
+retaining the one quality of physical endurance. Thieves and murderers
+when in sufficient numbers, they are the most obsequious of beggars
+when convinced of their weakness, and are, in either case, absolutely
+faithless. A Sudanese proverb says, ‘The word of a Touareg, like water
+fallen on the sand, is never to be found again.’ They have nobles,
+serfs, and slaves among them, but nobility none; if you wish to find
+any quality other than vanity and pride, you must look for it among
+their negro slaves. Neither age nor womanhood inspires them with either
+pity or respect. Bloodthirsty and cruel as they are, they do not even
+possess that unlimited courage which forms the redeeming characteristic
+of the _condottieri_. Their valour is displayed at night during the
+sleep of their victims or adversaries. Ruse is their principal weapon,
+even though they never show themselves without a spear in their hand,
+a sword at their side, and a poignard attached to the left arm. The
+Sudanese have bestowed upon them three epithets which epitomise their
+psychology: ‘Thieves, Hyænas, and the Abandoned of God.’
+
+Yet it is to these people, who have become the most useless and
+nefarious on the face of the earth, that Timbuctoo owes its origin.
+
+[Illustration: TOUAREGS AND THEIR FLOCKS]
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Towards the fifth century of the Hegira (1100 of our era) a Touareg
+tribe, the Maksara,[9] established its herds between the town of
+Arawan in the Sahara and the little village of Amtagh,[10] situated on
+the banks of the Niger.
+
+During the summer and dry season they pastured their flocks on the
+shores of the river, returning to the desert for the winter floods. In
+one of their many wanderings they noticed an oasis in the midst of the
+sands, formed by an overflow of the Niger. It was a narrow depression,
+having somewhat the appearance of a river, and must have been fairly
+deep, since the hippopotamus found his way there, and was a place in
+which the Touaregs could always be sure of finding some vegetation, as
+well as abundant and excellent water.
+
+The situation was an admirable one for man and beast, and, with the
+palm-trees which reared their elegant forms there, did not lack a
+certain charm of aspect. They established a fixed camp on this spot in
+order to prevent its occupation by others during their absence. They
+cut down bushes of thorny mimosa from the neighbouring thickets, and
+formed, according to their custom, a _sanié_ or enclosure, to keep out
+the wild animals of the desert--lions, panthers, and hyænas. Straw huts
+were built behind this shelter, in which the Touaregs placed their
+provisions and other cumbersome properties. They left some Bailas, or
+slaves, there, who kept guard under the superintendence of an old woman
+called ‘Tomboutou’ (The mother with the large navel).
+
+The sobriquet became popular in the country, and contributed to the
+speedy renown of the advantages of their encampment. ‘Travellers
+paused there,’ says the _Tarik é Sudan_. ‘The populations increased by
+the power and will of God, and the people began to build themselves
+fixed dwellings. Caravans coming from the north and east (Algeria
+and Tripoli) on their way to the Mali kingdom delayed at the camp
+to renew their stores. A market was soon formed; a high enclosure of
+matting was substituted for the barrier of dead thorns, and it became a
+meeting-place for people travelling by canoe or camel.’
+
+[Illustration: A POOL AT THE GATES OF TIMBUCTOO]
+
+The place did not deserve the name of town, however, until the
+merchants of Jenne (which had been a city for some three hundred years)
+settled there. The tradition which I have just mentioned concerning the
+origin of the town was confirmed in Timbuctoo. ‘The Touaregs are the
+fathers of the town,’ my friends told me. ‘When thou wert little, what
+didst thou call her who nourished thee at her breast? Thou calledst her
+mother, didst thou not? Well, Jenne is the mother of Timbuctoo, for
+it was she who made it live and grow; and it was she who, by bringing
+hither her merchandise, caused it to become a great place of commerce.’
+
+The merchants of Jenne taught Timbuctoo to build houses of baked brick,
+and to replace the _sanié_ of mats by a low earthen wall. They also
+built a mosque, afterwards the Cathedral Mosque of Ghingaraber; and
+a wealthy woman, a native of Sokolo, erected a second temple, which
+became later the University Mosque of Sankoré. Thus enlarged, Timbuctoo
+entered into competition with Oualata.[11] The latter town was the
+great cosmopolitan market of western Africa in the twelfth century.
+‘It was with Oualata that the caravans traded, and it was there the
+most pious, learned, and wealthy men lived. They went thither from all
+countries and all tribes, from Egypt, Fezzara, Soussa, Tuat, Tafilalet,
+Ghadames, Ouargla, and Fez.’ This active and intelligent population,
+which was strongly imbued with the Arabian civilisation, could not
+fail to make acquaintance with Timbuctoo and the many advantages
+of its position. The numerous conquests of the Mali kings, however,
+which disturbed western Africa in the thirteenth century, diverted the
+caravans little by little from Oualata. Its merchants and scholars
+emigrated to the new city, and were supplemented there by a fraction of
+the great Moorish tribe of Senhadia. By the fourteenth century Oualata
+had become entirely eclipsed, and the splendours of Timbuctoo had grown
+from her ruins.
+
+The Touaregs, who still pursued the wandering life of the desert,
+contented themselves with nominating a governor of the town who levied
+taxes in their name. They augmented their demand in proportion to the
+increasing prosperity of the town, until inhabitants and caravans alike
+were forced to pay veritable ransoms. Becoming, not unnaturally, weary
+of this, the people invited Kounkour-Moussa, whose kingdom of Mali was
+then at its height, to take possession of the town. He, being just
+returned from the conquest of the Songhois and a pilgrimage to Mecca,
+entered Timbuctoo in 1330. He presented the Cathedral Mosque with a
+minaret of pyramidal form, built himself a palace, and installed a
+governor there upon his departure. The dominion of the Malinkas did not
+open very happily, however. The cupidity of the people of Mossi had
+already been excited by the renown of Timbuctoo, and their sultan now
+appeared before its gates at the head of a large army. The new masters
+of the town took flight, while the enemy pillaged and burned. When the
+Sultan of Mossi and his army withdrew, laden with spoils, the people of
+Mali repossessed themselves of Timbuctoo, and remained its masters for
+a hundred years (1337-1434).
+
+The young city arose once more from its ruins, and Timbuctoo expanded
+as the kingdom of Mali declined. ‘The original masters of the town
+did not fail to take advantage of the deterioration of their rivals.
+The Maksara Touaregs pillaged the outskirts of the town, and the
+Malinkas were afraid to offer any resistance. Akil, the chief of the
+Touaregs, sent a message to them at last, saying, ‘If you cannot defend
+Timbuctoo, cease to occupy it.’ Whereupon the people of Mali retired.’
+
+The nomads now reigned for forty years, committing the grossest
+excesses. They proved themselves tyrants and oppressors, accumulating
+exactions, hunting people from their dwellings, and violating the
+women; and for the second time the town was forced to seek a new master.
+
+Oumar, its governor, having been wronged by his own people (the
+Touaregs), secretly resolved upon revenge. With this intention he sent
+a messenger to Sunni Ali, giving information concerning Akil and the
+Touaregs, exposing their weakness, and promising to deliver up the
+town. The messenger took Oumar’s sandals with him as a guarantee of
+good faith. Sunni Ali, who was at that time (middle of the fifteenth
+century) laying the foundations of the Songhoi empire, accepted the
+invitation. At the appearance of his cavalry on the river-bank opposite
+the dune of Amtagh, Akil resolved on flight. He departed, followed by
+his people and a great number of the learned men of Sankoré, to seek
+refuge in Oualata. Sunni Ali was furious at the exodus of marabuts, and
+suspecting the remainder of being the friends and accomplices of the
+Touaregs, he heaped every imaginable ill-treatment upon them. Did he
+show himself equally cruel towards the remainder of the inhabitants? In
+spite of the old chronicles, I do not believe he did, for the reasons I
+have given in the history of the Songhois.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The year 1496, the year of the capture of Timbuctoo by Sunni Ali, is an
+important one in the history of that city. For the future she forms
+part of the Songhoi empire, steadily keeping pace with the progress
+of the latter, until she becomes Timbuctoo the Great, the city of
+universal renown, the fabled Queen of the Sudan.
+
+More than a century of tranquillity now lies before her, the century
+of Askia the Great. Owing to his wise creation of a standing army,
+his great era of war had no disturbing influence upon the Sudan. The
+well-regulated and powerful organisation which, with their viceroys and
+governors, he bestowed upon the conquered territories, soon brought
+them under control.
+
+The immense kingdom of the Songhois now extended over the desert
+from Thegazza to Agades, and the conquered Touaregs renounced their
+brigandage to become docile auxiliaries in the hands of Askia. The
+routes of the desert were perfectly secure, and the caravans came and
+went with an activity hitherto unknown.
+
+This security, spreading north and south of Timbuctoo, was not the only
+element of her prosperity, but was seconded by the organisation and
+inspection of her markets, the unification of weights and measures,
+and the stern suppression of all falsifications. Timbuctoo, more than
+any other town in the Sudan, profited by the measures and victories of
+Askia the Great.
+
+The city had now doubled its extent. Its houses were well built, and
+arranged in orderly streets. The ancient mosques had been restored
+and new ones built. A great emigration of Songhois reinforced the
+Jennereans, counterbalancing the Arabian and Berber elements, which
+had hitherto predominated. The dialects of Jenne and Gao became its
+current speech, Arabic remaining the medium of communication with
+strangers and the language of science. The university of Sankoré was at
+the height of its prosperity, the fame of its professors being known
+not only in the black countries but throughout Arabian Africa itself.
+Learned strangers flocked hither from Morocco, Tunis, and Egypt. The
+civilisation of Arabia clasped hands with the civilisation of Egypt,
+and from their union resulted the apogee of Timbuctoo (1494-1591).
+
+Such was her splendour that our imaginations are still dazzled by its
+reflections, three centuries after the setting of her star. So great
+was her glory that, in spite of all the vicissitudes she has suffered,
+her vitality is not yet extinguished.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The decadence of Timbuctoo began with the Moorish conquest in 1591.
+The powerful links forged by Askia the Great being once snapped, the
+whole of western Africa was shaken. While the last of the Askias was
+fighting for national independence on the eastern shores of the Niger,
+Jenne revolted in the west, her example being followed by the Touaregs,
+Foulbes, and Malinkas. The north and south were thrown into confusion,
+and Timbuctoo, their intermediary, seeing her commerce mutilated,
+rebelled in her turn. She was brutally repressed by the conquerors, and
+the flower of her scholars exiled to Morocco (1594). A terrible dearth,
+provoked by the lack of rain, visited the town, and her inhabitants
+were reduced to ‘eating the corpses of animals, and even of men.’ This
+was followed by the pestilence in 1618.
+
+When the Sudan had once more regained tranquillity, Timbuctoo, by
+reason of her proximity to the Moorish frontier, had become the capital
+of her conquerors. The rivalries of the Roumas reigned within her
+walls, their pashas disputing the supreme power, and their troops
+settling their differences in the streets, The town was the constant
+scene of some panic, and from the moment the disorganisation of the
+Moorish colony became evident, her decline was rapid.
+
+Without, the Touaregs and other nomadic tribes rose again in revolt.
+The Roumas were still strong enough to repress them, but one can
+imagine the disastrous effect these riots had upon the trade of the
+town. Within, the rivalries of the Moorish chiefs grew more and more
+bitter. The competitors for the title of Pasha pillaged and otherwise
+ill-treated the inhabitants of the town. The population divided, and
+took sides with this, that, or the other aspirant. Barricades were
+raised, fighting went on in the streets, and the poor pillaged the
+wealthy. In 1716 one of these revolutions lasted four months. No one
+went to market during all that time, ‘and the grass began to grow
+there.’ At another time (1735) one of the rivals seized Kabara, and
+prevented the vessels unloading their merchandise and despatching it to
+Timbuctoo.
+
+It is not surprising, therefore, that the town was depopulated, and
+that the caravans grew fewer and further between. Touaregs, Berbers,
+and Foulbes added to the general confusion. They began by disturbing
+the outskirts of the town, and it became necessary to place patrols
+on the road to Kabara in order to protect the merchants trading with
+Timbuctoo. The resistance of the Roumas grew slowly weaker, and in 1770
+the veiled men had become strong enough to invest the town for three
+months. The Roumas, incapable of enforcing peace, bought it. ‘They paid
+the Touaregs a tribute of eighteen of the best horses of the town,
+twelve hundred garments, and seven thousand mitkals of gold.’
+
+The nomads spread freely over the banks and valley of the Niger,
+pillaging the vessels making for Kabara, and thus injuring, even at a
+distance, the trade of Timbuctoo.
+
+[Illustration: PANORAMA OF TIMBUCTOO]
+
+In the beginning of the nineteenth century the city had relapsed into
+the same state as that preceding its conquest by Sunni Ali. The Roumas
+had become the mere representatives of the Touaregs, governing and
+imposing taxes in their name. Straw huts increased in numbers, and the
+new quarters at the north of the city, which had been built in the time
+of Askia, were completely deserted, the houses falling into ruins. As
+its decline became more accentuated the town diminished in extent until
+it had shrunk to its dimensions of the sixteenth century.
+
+Timbuctoo was re-delivered from the hands of the Touaregs in 1827.
+Cheikou Ahmadou, the Foulbean leader, made successful war against
+the nomads, and took possession of the town. But the Touaregs, grown
+aggressive, wearied out his successor, who agreed, for the sake of
+peace, to pay them a third of the taxes levied upon the city. This
+understanding lasted until El Hadj Omar destroyed the power of the
+Foulbes in 1861.
+
+The most critical period of her history now opened for Timbuctoo. The
+roads of the Sudan and desert alike had never been less safe, nor had
+her commerce ever encountered such difficulties, all security having
+disappeared in the town itself.
+
+If Timbuctoo was now without a master, she was in the possession of a
+thousand tyrants. Touaregs, Tenguaragifs and Irregenaten divided her
+among themselves and adorned her with the tragic and sordid attire
+which now clothes the Queen of the Sudan.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+That time has been described to me in the following words: ‘Thou hast
+seen those veiled men in sombre garments, with chest and back covered
+with red and yellow talismans as though by cuirasses. When they come
+to us now they are modest, but before the French arrived they walked
+insolently through the streets, carrying iron spears. Every year we
+paid them tribute in gold or kind, corn, salt, garments, and turbans,
+etc. Their chiefs with their retinues were well lodged when they came
+here. The caravans bound for this town paid them toll in the desert,
+and they exacted toll upon the river also, from the fleets going to
+Kabara. This did not suffice them; these were the least of our evils.
+From one end of the year to the other they treated us as captives of
+war, as slaves. They were constantly arriving in groups and dispersing
+through the town. All doors were closed as soon as they appeared, but
+they beat upon the doors, and thou canst see the traces of the heavy
+blows from their lances everywhere. We were forced to open to them,
+and without paying the least attention to the master of the house or
+his family, they would install themselves in the best rooms, taking
+all the cushions and couches, insolently demanding food and drink, and
+insisting upon having sugar, honey, and meat. On departing to rejoin
+their camp the only acknowledgment they made was to steal something
+from the house and spit upon their host.
+
+‘If they alighted upon some man too poor to satisfy their exactions,
+they vented their ill-humour by destroying his belongings, and any
+attempt at resistance was met by their raised spear. If they arrived at
+midnight, accommodation must be found and a repast prepared for them.
+
+‘They took possession of anything that pleased them in the markets. All
+the shops and sellers of stuffs and garments had people posted about
+the town to give notice of their appearance, and every one barricaded
+their doors. They robbed the passers-by in the streets. If they met a
+man wearing a beautifully embroidered robe or a new garment, or even
+only a clean one, they instantly despoiled him of it. They snatched the
+golden ornaments, coral necklaces, and adornments of glass beads from
+the women, and plundered children and slaves in the same manner.
+
+‘The schools were formerly held in front of the houses of the masters,
+and our children played in the streets as in other parts of the Sudan.
+But the Touaregs used to seize them and carry them off, and only
+restored them to us upon the payment of heavy ransoms. If a man whom
+they suspected of being rich had hidden all his valuables, they would
+leave some small thing behind on quitting his house, and then would
+return in numbers, crying out that they had been robbed, and the man
+would be forced to pay an indemnity.’
+
+These narratives would be interrupted by sundry resigned ‘_Imsh
+Allah!_’ (May God’s will be done). ‘But why did you not unite against
+your enemies?’ I asked them. ‘Oh, if we resisted them it was still
+worse. One day some Touaregs met a young man returning from the market
+with some meat he had bought. They took his purchase from him, and when
+the young man resisted, the Abandoned of God killed him with their
+spears. All for a piece of meat! At another time a woman who was alone
+in a house was ill-treated by one of them. Her cries attracted her
+brother, who mortally wounded the Touareg in his wrath. The avenger
+immediately fled and sought refuge in Sarafara, but he was forced to
+return, and the veiled men cut his throat as they would a sheep’s.
+
+‘We could not prevail against them, because we are merchants and not
+fighters. And if we had subdued them in the town they would still
+have remained our masters, because they controlled the routes of the
+caravans and the road to Kabara. They could have ruined us and left us
+to die of hunger whenever they liked.
+
+‘Strangers sometimes gave these hyænas a lesson. Four or five years
+ago a caravan from the south, composed of three hundred of the men of
+Mossi, was staying in the town. One of them, wearing a beautiful new
+turban, encountered a Touareg, who snatched it from his head and ran
+away. But the people of Mossi are active and brave, and this man gave
+chase to the thief and overpowered him. Other Touaregs, however, came
+up and rescued their companion.
+
+‘The man of Mossi ran to the chief of the caravan, who said, “Beat the
+alarum of the people of Mossi upon the tom-toms.” His people, armed
+with spears and bows and arrows, came running to answer the summons.
+Their chief distributed honey-dolo, and they set out to find the
+Touaregs. The principal personages of Timbuctoo sought to prevent the
+conflict. “No!” replied the chief, “we are strangers here and your
+sacred guests. We have been injured, and we will avenge ourselves or
+die.” The kaid of the town offered to give them a similar turban. “No,”
+said the chief of the Mossi, “it is the Touaregs who have stolen it,
+and it is they who must make amends.” They were only to be appeased on
+hearing that the Touaregs had prudently quitted the town.’
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+[Illustration: A THOROUGHFARE IN TIMBUCTOO]
+
+Such was the existence of Timbuctoo during the last thirty-five years.
+One can imagine the disastrous results such a state of affairs was
+bound to produce in the long-run. Finding themselves thus molested,
+the strangers who ventured there gradually lessened in numbers. Weary
+of living in a constant state of alarm, and of submitting to exactions
+to which they saw no end, the people began to emigrate. The strangers
+who had settled in the city returned to their native country. Natives
+who had relations in the neighbouring countries joined them there.
+The deserted houses cracked, their walls crumbled and fell to pieces,
+forming the unexpected and inexplicable heaps of ruins which greeted
+me on my arrival.
+
+The poorest and wealthiest alone remained faithful to the city. The
+first, living in straw huts, possessed nothing, and consequently had
+nothing to lose. The second, the opulent merchants, could, owing to
+their great fortunes, manage to endure these annoyances, and the
+emigration of the smaller traders, moreover, permitted them to augment
+their business, and therefore their profits.
+
+No one ever gets accustomed to pillage and ill-treatment however,
+whatever the compensations may be; and to avoid being robbed in
+the open street, and seeing their houses turned upside down, the
+inhabitants adopted a new manner of living. They transformed their
+garments and dwellings, and ceasing to be Timbuctoo the Great, they
+became Timbuctoo the Mysterious.
+
+Instead of the imposing white turbans of the natives and the beautiful
+dark ones (made of shining tissues) of the Moors, the people cover
+their heads with unappetising rags, or cheap caps. Shabby old shoes
+are substituted for the yellow Turkish slippers of the women and the
+silk embroidered, soft, red leather boots of the men. The caftans and
+the ample garments of dazzling whiteness, the beautifully embroidered
+vestments, the fringed and ornamented _Dissas_ (thrown over the
+shoulder as the toreador wears his cloak), have all disappeared. They
+wear instead old scanty clothes, whose dirtiness, being their sole
+adornment, offers no temptation to the Touaregs. In place of the long
+cane, ornamented with leather or chased iron, on which the Sudanese
+loves to support his fine form, they use a plain stick of a cheap white
+wood. Their one idea being to avoid any sign of affluence which might
+attract the attention of their oppressors.
+
+On the few occasions of their going out, the women attire themselves in
+the coarsest stuffs, and take off all their gold and amber ornaments,
+and the slaves, before going to fetch water at the town gates, hide
+their modest jewellery. The children are kept inside the courts, and
+the schoolmaster holds his classes within his house.
+
+[Illustration: SUDANESE WEARING THE ‘DISSA’]
+
+The houses are disguised like their owners, and, to escape the visits
+of the veiled men, all appearance of wealth and prosperity is avoided.
+I will not assert that they are voluntarily defaced, but time and
+weather are allowed to work their will upon them unhindered. The
+tornadoes of winter have been permitted to wash away the rough-casting
+and expose the baked bricks of the façades; the walls of their terraces
+have crumbled, and the little Moorish windows fallen away. In front of
+the houses, the banks of earth (tim-tims) on which the well-to-do were
+wont to pass their hours of leisure have entirely disappeared.
+
+By these means the town very soon acquired a tumble-down and battered
+appearance. Everything seems to be falling into the streets, except
+the doors--those obstinately closed doors that had so astonished me on
+my arrival. They are the objects of the most studied care, and are set
+up regardless of cost. Heavy planks of a very hard wood are brought
+from a distance for this purpose, and are adorned with armour like any
+gentleman of Agincourt. Thus barricaded, the inhabitants, under cover
+of a simulated misery, live the silent life of the cloisters. They have
+given up grinding their kuss-kuss in the great wooden mortars common
+to the Sudan, and now crush the grain between two stones and pound
+it without noise, for the sound of the heavy pestle would inevitably
+attract some marauding Touareg in search of a meal. If a knocking
+on the door is heard, the whole household, hastily concealing its
+valuables, assumes the silence of death. The unfamiliar visitor has
+to loudly recite his names, his recommendations, and the purpose of
+his visit. If his discourse is judged satisfactory, and it is decided
+to show some sign of life, there are still questions to be asked and
+answered before the door is finally opened.
+
+[Illustration: TIMBUCTOO: A CORNER OF THE TOWN]
+
+The same mystery naturally attends all business transactions; a moment
+must be snatched when all Touaregs are known to be at some distance,
+otherwise it is necessary to wait until nightfall.
+
+I was initiated into the secret of Timbuctoo, and her disastrous
+appearance was explained to me. With my narrators for guides I explored
+the same streets and houses that I had seen on my arrival. The armoured
+doors were opened for me, and there lay revealed all that these
+tumble-down old places concealed. I was seized with admiration both for
+the splendour of Timbuctoo’s past and her ingenuity and tenacity of
+to-day.
+
+[Illustration: A CARAVAN]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+THE COMMERCE AND LIFE OF TIMBUCTOO
+
+
+‘Timbuctoo is the meeting-place of all who travel by camel or canoe.’
+
+This simple dictum of an old Sudanese chronicle excellently expresses
+the commercial greatness of the city; the ‘canoe’ representing the
+south of Timbuctoo (the Sudan), and the ‘camel’ indicating the Sahara
+and the whole of northern Africa, Morocco, Algeria, Tuat, Tunis,
+Tripoli, and, finally, Europe.
+
+An intermediary of exchange between north and south having become
+essential, Timbuctoo supplies the part, and serves to unite the Berber
+and Arab with the Negraic world. This task is marvellously facilitated
+by her unique situation. Placed as she is at the outlet of a labyrinth
+of tributaries, creeks, and channels, at the point where the Niger
+bends abruptly from the western to its eastern course, she offers an
+easy point of concentration to north and south. Here the Sudan can
+assemble her many different products, and satisfy all her clients of
+the north at the same time. Timbuctoo is like a port with bonded docks
+situated on the coast of an opulent continent, with a sea of sand
+stretching before her upon which the fleets of the desert come and go.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The commerce of the desert and the organisation of its caravans were
+established by the Moorish and Arabian tribes who dwelt on the confines
+of the desert. The country in which they pitched their tents permits of
+no cultivation, but favours the rearing of innumerable camels, and the
+nomads offer the native merchants the hire of these useful animals[12]
+in exchange for cereals and clothing.
+
+On account of its proximity and its former conquest of the city,
+Morocco has become the principal client of Timbuctoo, Tendouf, Souara,
+Marrakesh, Fez, and Tafilalet being the points of departure of its
+caravans. Algeria is only of secondary importance, as its relations
+with the city are indirect, being established by means of Tuat; in the
+same manner Tunis and Tripoli trade through Ghadames. The caravans
+from the coast are chiefly laden with European stuffs, the principal
+fabric being the indigo blue cotton called Guinea, which is imported
+all over Africa. It is worth from fourteen to twenty-five francs the
+length in Timbuctoo, and only seven in Senegal. White calico is also in
+great request, and a few silks are numbered among the more luxurious
+textiles. In a general way the odd medley of patterns and colours which
+are in such demand upon the coast are despised in Nigerian Africa,
+their place being taken by more sober designs of Arabian character.
+
+Other articles of commerce are firearms, gunpowder, cutlery, paper
+(sold on the Niger at twenty-five or thirty centimes a sheet),
+scissors, needles, mirrors, silk, and seed pearls (for embroidery),
+amber, coral, large pearls for necklaces, spices (principally cloves),
+sugar, tea, coffee, perfumes, tobacco from Tuat, teapots, cups,
+snuff-boxes, dates, carpets, fez, burnouses, caftans, etc.
+
+The camels are only partly loaded on starting, for half-way the
+caravans complete their freights with that unique article, salt. I
+have laid stress upon the primary importance of this product in former
+chapters, and it only remains for me to show how it is procured.
+
+The long depression in the western Sahara bearing the name of El Djouf
+is a vast mine of rock salt. We have seen that the supply first came
+out of Thegazza, and that these mines were abandoned in the sixteenth
+century for those of Taoudenni, situated nearer Timbuctoo.
+
+[Illustration: A BLOCK OF SALT]
+
+Little accustomed as they are to smiling pastures, Taoudenni, according
+to the people of the desert, is one of the dreariest spots on the face
+of the earth, possessing neither trees nor vegetation, while the little
+water that is to be found there is salt. Shade, and water fit to drink,
+must be sought at the wells of Oued Teli, distant a day’s journey. Not
+even earth for the construction of dwellings is to be found, houses
+and mosques being built of rock salt and roofed with camel skins. The
+inhabitants of the town subsist upon the dates the caravans bring on
+their way to Timbuctoo, and the cereals and other provisions they leave
+behind on their return.
+
+Under a thin covering of sand the mineral is found in clearly marked
+layers. It is dug out in large lumps by slaves, and trimmed down to
+blocks (about 3 ft. 7 in. by 1 ft. 3 in.), looking like bars of red
+or grey-veined marble, and which, as they come out of the mine, are
+stamped with the trade-marks of the different contractors. They are
+worth from two to six francs, according to their quality, and a camel
+can carry four or five at a time.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Before entering the Negraic countries they undergo a regular toilet
+at Timbuctoo, where they are embellished with geometrical designs in
+black paint, and the name of some venerated chief is written on them
+in Arabic characters. Sidi Yaia, the patron of Timbuctoo, Abd’ el
+Kader, the great Algerian chief, Cheikou Ahmadou, El Hadj Omar, etc.,
+are honoured in this fashion. Thus ornamented, they are bound round
+with thongs of raw leather, which are arranged to hold the fragments
+together in cases of fracture. The fact that the manufacture of these
+thongs occupies an entire branch of business from one end of the year
+to another will give some idea of the importance of her salt trade to
+Timbuctoo.
+
+The densest and whitest blocks are the most in demand, those veined
+with red being of an inferior quality. Their price in Timbuctoo varies
+according to the greater or less security of the Sudanese routes.
+‘There was a time,’ said the old men, ‘when these blocks cost only from
+five to ten francs’; but during my sojourn there thirty or forty francs
+more nearly represented the price paid for them. An exporter from Jenne
+and Sansanding will purchase five hundred blocks at a time. Bought at
+thirty francs, for example, and worth forty-five at Sarafara and double
+at Jenne, they represent about seventy or eighty francs apiece at San
+or Sansanding, increasing in value at the same rate until they reach
+Mossi and the regions of Lake Chad. With such voyages in prospect the
+advantage these bars of salt possess over our powdered substance is
+sufficiently obvious. Hard as stone, and proof against injury from
+moisture, they do not suffer from the loss and theft to which our sacks
+of salt are peculiarly liable. The seller retails them in small pieces
+proportioned to the demand. They often serve the traveller as a means
+of barter, for the Sudanese who declines to sell his provisions for
+cowries, silver, or even gold, will never refuse a small lump of salt.
+
+[Illustration: RETAILING SALT]
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Having completed its freight at Taoudenni, and paid one or several
+tolls to the Touaregs, the caravan reaches Timbuctoo, if it has not
+been entirely pillaged by the way. It does not enter the town, which
+would be seriously encumbered by its multitude of camels, but encamps
+before the northern walls in the _Abaradiou_, or caravan suburb. This
+quarter consists of groups of straw cabins surrounded by thorny fences,
+which recall the early settlement of Touaregs that gave birth to the
+city of Timbuctoo.
+
+The merchants accompanying the caravans lodge in the town, but the
+camel-drivers find shelter in the Abaradiou. The camels are watered
+at large pools lying near, and are pastured on the neighbouring
+dunes, where the sober-minded animals find the camel-grass and other
+miserable and thorny vegetation which form their chief delicacies.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+As one would suppose, the number and importance of the caravans vary
+in direct relation with the security of the Sahara on the one side and
+the prosperity of the Sudan on the other. The large caravans include
+from six hundred to a thousand camels and from three to five hundred
+men, their freight representing from six hundred thousand to a million
+francs’-worth of goods. They generally arrive from December to January
+and from July to August. Smaller caravans of sixty or a hundred camels
+are arriving all the year round, the town annually receiving about
+fifty or sixty thousand camels. In the year following our occupation
+(evidently an abnormal one) the official returns only stated fourteen
+thousand camels.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+[Illustration: THE PORT OF TIMBUCTOO]
+
+Like the burdens of the camels, the cargoes of the fleets comprise
+two distinct parts. One portion, destined for Timbuctoo and the towns
+and nomadic tribes of the Sahara, consists principally of matters of
+alimentation, such as millet, rice, karita, manioc, arachides, honey,
+kola nuts, neta and baobab flour, monkey-bread, tamarinds, onions and
+tobacco (cheaper and inferior to that of Tuat), dried fish, and in
+addition, soap, iron, antimony, cotton, straw hats, potteries, and
+calabashes. The other is specially allotted to Morocco, Tuat, and
+Ghadames, and comprises gold, ivory, ostrich plumes, raw leather, wax,
+incense, civet musk, indigo, gum, etc., and includes a few slaves.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+The different methods of northern and southern transport being now
+explained, the commerce of Timbuctoo appears in all its simplicity.
+The camels transfer their burdens to the canoes, and the vessels
+confide their cargoes to the camels, Timbuctoo being the place of
+trans-shipment. The city is merely a temporary _dépôt_, situated
+between the borders of the desert and the copiously watered valleys of
+the south, and is so completely a town of warehouses and docks that
+none of its merchants possesses either camel or boat. What part, then,
+do its people play if they are neither exporters nor importers? They
+are brokers, contractors, and landlords. ‘The guest is a present from
+God,’ says an Arabian maxim much in vogue in Timbuctoo, where there are
+no caravansaries. The inhabitant offers gratuitous board and lodging
+to the stranger merchant for the first three days, and interprets
+the noble precept in a disinterested and elevated manner. There is a
+perfectly straightforward understanding that at parting on the fourth
+day the guest shall hire one of his host’s houses (some own as many
+as ten or fifteen) for the remainder of his stay. These dwellings
+are similar to the one I occupied, and are large enough to serve as
+warehouse as well as habitation. Moreover, the part of _diatigui_ or
+landlord does not end there; he is expected to instruct the stranger
+on the current prices, the abundance or scarcity of the product he has
+come to buy or sell, the standing of any client who may offer himself,
+and also to assist his guest in making his purchases, the price of
+lodging thus including the benefits of brokerage.
+
+[Illustration: UNLOADING CAMELS]
+
+I too made use of my landlord according to custom, asking him to
+advise me in the choice of tradespeople, and appealing to him in all
+my business transactions. I requested him to conduct me about the town
+as though I were some merchant of Mossi or Tafilalet, and he led me
+through the markets and showed me the interior of those crumbling
+wrecks of houses which had so deceived me on my arrival. To my great
+surprise I found well-provided shops under these ruins, stored with
+the most varied fabrics from all parts of Europe and the Sudan, and
+containing every description of native product. We pursued the same
+dilapidated road I had followed on the first day. Under the low roof of
+a hut, open to the four winds, we found a tailor and his nine workmen,
+whose needles were flying through blue-and-white stuffs, while an old
+greybeard in spectacles read verses of the Koran to them through his
+nose. Some were making pantaloons and the ample robes of the Sudan,
+while others were ornamenting them with elaborate Moorish embroideries.
+These embroidered robes (Timbuctoo’s chief industry) were notorious
+at the time of the Sudan’s greatest prosperity, and her workshops
+could barely keep pace with the demand for them. They were exported to
+Morocco, Bammaku, and Gao, and cost from three to four thousand francs
+apiece. They are marvels of taste and delicate workmanship, with roses
+and arabesques on the back and front, embroidered in shining silken
+threads that stand out in brilliant whiteness from the raw silk of the
+fabric.
+
+Shoemakers formerly employed a similar art upon the wonderful leather
+of the country, the true marocco, fine, supple, and light, which is
+made into boots embellished with green and yellow embroideries, and
+into slippers, cushions, and bindings. We directed our steps towards
+a cracked and dilapidated house, whose upper story had fallen into
+fragments. It was the abode of a great merchant, and before its closed
+and barricaded door my guide recited the accustomed discourse; in spite
+of the several months of our occupation, the old habits of precaution
+have not entirely disappeared. Having passed the second armoured
+door, we found ourselves in a courtyard shaded by a large verandah,
+whose arched galleries ran round its four sides, like the _patio_ of
+Spanish houses. Out in the streets the heat was terrific, but this
+court was agreeably cool, with no trace of the external misery and
+ruin. Everything was marvellously clean and well kept, and after the
+_Lasciate ogni speranza_ of the exterior it seemed a paradise.
+
+[Illustration: THE GARDENS OF TIMBUCTOO]
+
+Carpets and cushions were scattered about under the galleries, for
+this court is the reception-room, and it is here that all business is
+transacted. A panther skin was offered me for seat, and we were served
+with tea and sugar and the delicious dates of Tuat. After that we
+visited the shop, which ran across the entire house, and in which sacks
+of millet were heaped upon sacks of rice, and blocks of salt were to be
+counted by the hundreds. Bales of dates lay side by side with packets
+of ostrich feathers and elephant tusks. This house, outwardly a ruin,
+contained about fifty thousand francs’-worth of merchandise.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Side by side with these unofficial are the official brokers or _taifa_,
+who specialise in certain products, such as salt, gold, cattle and
+textiles. They go from house to house, offering their services,
+showing samples, and explaining prices. On asking the number of the
+specialists, I am told, ‘There are about three hundred who carry on the
+profession from father to son, but all, even the women and children,
+are brokers in Timbuctoo.’
+
+If he is provided with the necessary capital, and sees the moment to be
+propitious, the native of Timbuctoo is not above speculating on his own
+account, and his operations are very similar to those of our Bourse.
+At certain periods of the year, when the great caravans are expected,
+the rich merchants buy up all the chief articles of commerce, salt,
+cereals and textiles, thus causing an artificial rise in price, which
+they maintain until their agent signals the approach of caravan or
+fleet. They also buy large quantities of karita, kola nuts, onions, and
+other stores, which are sold by children and slaves in the markets and
+streets.
+
+Falsification and fraud, as well as speculation, have long been known
+and practised in Timbuctoo. An old writing of the time of Askia the
+Great devotes several pages to the denunciation of false weights and
+measures, the admixture of copper with virgin gold, the aëration of
+meat, and the baptism of milk, etc.
+
+It is sufficiently obvious that the great firms of Morocco, Tuat, and
+Ghadames would, like Jenne and Sansanding, seek to relieve themselves
+of the onerous intervention of the native broker. All these towns, in
+fact, possessed property in Timbuctoo, and their representative, a
+relative or confidential slave, was installed there, the heads of the
+firm paying an annual visit in order to verify accounts and control
+the inventory. Occasionally the merchants of north and south would
+establish themselves in the city, returning to their native country as
+soon as their fortunes were made. All these people bought and sold
+directly from the caravan.
+
+[Illustration: TRADERS FROM THE COUNTRY OF MOSSI]
+
+The Arabian traders formerly constituted the most numerous,
+enterprising, and richest element of the city. They introduced a system
+of banking, and the traveller could procure from them letters of
+credit for the whole of northern Africa. They also gave credit to the
+_dioulas_, or travelling negro merchant. All this required considerable
+courage, for there are no police in the Sudan, and two or three years
+had often elapsed before they saw their debtors again. Frequently they
+never reappeared at all, owing not so much to intentional dishonesty,
+as to the numerous wars and the frequent insecurity of the different
+routes. The quarters occupied by the Arabs were called the Baghinde,
+and the population, natives of Morocco, Tuat, and Tripoli, formerly
+numbered about three hundred. They formed a colony which was known by
+the name of ‘the community of white men,’ and was analogous to the
+European colonies of Eastern cities. They had a deputy at their head,
+occupying a similar position to our consul, who was called ‘head of
+the whites,’ and who was always a member of the town council. On our
+entry into Timbuctoo, our officers found the ‘head of the whites’ to
+be a Tripolitan named Milad. He was a man of exceptional intelligence,
+and having had intercourse with Europeans in his own country, he
+was enabled, by his advice and other good offices, to give material
+assistance to our occupation.
+
+[Illustration: STREET IN THE ARABIAN QUARTER]
+
+Like the native population, this Arabian colony fell to pieces under
+the unbearable tyranny of the Touaregs; but for all that it would
+be a mistake to suppose that Timbuctoo was ever a very populous
+city. I should calculate the town to have possessed a population of
+only forty or fifty thousand inhabitants, even at the time of its
+greatest splendour. The absence and impracticability of any local
+industry explains a figure so inconsiderable when compared with other
+great places of Mussulman commerce, such as Cairo and Damascus, but
+sufficiently important when we realise that the entire population lived
+by, and was occupied with, commerce alone.
+
+Seen in this light, the following figures will not be surprising. In
+January 1895 the statistics show a turnover of 460,000 francs, and
+at the time these figures were stated to me those who computed them
+assured me that they hardly represented a third of the actual sum.
+No serious effort has ever been made to obtain an accurate knowledge
+of such things. The captain of the port of Timbuctoo has not even an
+interpreter at his service. One has to be satisfied with the voluntary
+declarations made by the merchants to the military authorities and the
+native police superintendents of Kabara and Timbuctoo. Even less than
+his European _confrère_ does the African merchant like to let the whole
+world into the secrets of his affairs.
+
+[Illustration: GOLD MERCHANTS]
+
+It is necessary to mention the markets that since our occupation have
+been established by the timid or intractable upon the Lower Niger.
+Two of these markets, viz. Keirago and Bamba, now possess a traffic
+and population almost as important as those of Timbuctoo itself. All
+these causes of fluctuation must be taken into account before we can
+accurately estimate the capabilities of Timbuctoo. I believe it will
+not be long before the city will increase her annual commerce by twenty
+millions, that is to say, double the amount computed in 1893 for the
+entire colony of the French Congo.
+
+Not only was Timbuctoo the great commercial centre, it also represented
+a city of pleasure to the whole of western Africa, and especially to
+the Arabs.
+
+I talked at Senegal with one of those Moorish traders who form a very
+active and wealthy colony at St. Louis. Being _en route_ for Timbuctoo,
+I naturally did not forget to ask him what he knew, or rather had
+heard, of the city, for he had never visited it. ‘Ah! you are going to
+Timbuctoo!’ he cried, with sparkling eyes. ‘Oh! at Timbuctoo there are
+ladies, very many and very beautiful!’ To his mind the city seemed to
+represent a gallant life rather than business. After gold, ivory, and
+ostrich feathers, the principal attractions of Timbuctoo for the people
+of the north are undoubtedly the easy manners prevailing in the Sudan.
+This is also confirmed by ancient geographers.
+
+Léon the African contents himself with saying, ‘The inhabitants of
+Timbuctoo have gay natures, and dancing goes on every evening until an
+advanced hour.’ He was writing for the Vatican, which may explain his
+reserve. Ibn Batouta is more explicit. He observes on his arrival in
+the Sudan that ‘these people have very singular manners. The men are
+not in the least jealous concerning their women-folk. The latter are
+not at all embarrassed in the presence of a man; and although they are
+very devout in their prayers, they go about with unveiled faces. They
+have friends and companions among the men, and the men on their side
+have friends among the women. Thus it often happens that a man, on
+returning home, finds his wife entertaining a friend. Having received
+permission from the kaid of Oualata to visit him, I presented myself
+at his house one day, and found him with a woman who was young and
+beautiful. I was about to retire upon seeing her, when, without showing
+the least shame, she went into fits of laughter at my embarrassment.
+“Do not go,” said the kaid. “It is only a good friend of mine.” I was
+thunderstruck at seeing a jurisconsult, a scholar, and a man who had
+made a pilgrimage to Mecca, behaving in such a manner. I learned later
+that he had applied to the sultan for permission to make the pilgrimage
+that same year in company with his good friend! Upon another occasion
+I visited a man, and found him seated on a rug while his wife occupied
+a chair and was conversing with a man who was sitting beside her. “Who
+is that woman?” I asked. “She is my wife,” he replied. “And who is
+the man sitting beside her?” “That is a friend of hers.” “How can you
+suffer such a thing?” I indignantly asked; “you who have lived in our
+countries of the north, and know the rules of the Koran.” “With us,” he
+replied, “women have friendships that are in every way honourable, and
+no suspicion is ever aroused, for our women are not like those of your
+country.” I was so disgusted by his folly that I instantly quitted his
+house, and have never set foot in it again.’
+
+It was towards 1350 that Ibn Batouta was so scandalised by the manners
+of Oualata, and history has shown us that Timbuctoo was developed by
+the immigration thither of the people of the former town. Merchants
+and scholars would naturally import their manners as well as their
+commerce, wealth, and science.
+
+In a chapter entitled, ‘All that I found of evil in the conduct of
+the blacks,’ the same author continues, ‘The slaves, male and female,
+and the young girls, appear in the streets quite nude. I saw a great
+number thus even in the month of Ramadan. It is the custom for all
+great personages to break their fast with the sultan, and for this
+purpose they send parties of twenty or more young slaves to carry the
+provisions to the palace. They appear before the sultan quite nude, and
+his own daughters do the same. The evening before Ramadan I saw several
+slaves with food leave the palace accompanied by two of the sultan’s
+daughters, and they likewise wore no clothes.’
+
+Ibn Batouta was a highly cultured man, as pious as he was learned, and
+deeply imbued with the veiled manners of Islam. Such customs could but
+shock and move to wrath a mind thus educated, but their effect upon
+the vulgar, the merchants and their clerks and camel-drivers, would
+probably be different. Bred in the Arabian world, in which men and
+women lived absolutely separate lives, and in which the latter disguise
+not only their form but even their features under heavy draperies,
+the spectacle of such manners must have been to them both novel and
+curious. They would not experience the repulsion of the learned Ibn
+Batouta, but would mix with this life and enjoy the new customs that
+in their own countries would raise a blush to their cheeks. Timbuctoo
+would soon be surrounded by a halo in their minds as being, upon earth,
+one little corner of the paradise promised by Mahomet. Askia the Great,
+having observed the Mohammedan practices of Egypt, attempted several
+reforms. The women were compelled to drape themselves from head to
+foot and adopt the life of the harem. He also established a ‘body of
+men charged to exercise a constant surveillance, and to arrest and
+imprison any man found talking to a strange woman after nightfall.’
+These measures fell into disuse under the sons of the great king, and
+the manners of the country relapsed into their accustomed freedom.
+
+Ibn Batouta’s description of Timbuctoo being amply sufficient, I
+prefer to speak of the women of the city, that is to say, those of
+its aristocratic families. By reason of continual intermarriage with
+the Berber and Arab races, their features have become more regular
+and considerably refined. Although they are black in colour they
+approximate more to the Aryan type than the Negraic; the flatness of
+the nose and mouth is much less noticeable, and the whole face is
+pleasantly lighted by wonderful eyes, whose gentle, intelligent glance
+seems to enfold you.
+
+[Illustration: A LADY OF TIMBUCTOO]
+
+These natural charms are supplemented by the arts of coquetry. Their
+foreheads are charmingly adorned with bands of pearls and sequins, and
+the most accomplished hairdressers arrange their tresses in wonderful
+top-knots interspersed with ornaments of golden filagree. Ear-rings of
+the same precious metal dangle from their ears, and necklaces of gold,
+coral, or amber are wound round their throats; they also embellish
+their nails with henna and darken their eyes with antimony. Above all,
+they know how to drape themselves tastefully in the various kinds of
+stuff which are to be found in Timbuctoo--European, Arabian, and native
+fabrics.
+
+Unlike her negro sister, the woman of Timbuctoo plays the part of great
+lady. She transfers the household work and the care of her children
+to slaves, contenting herself with seeing that her orders are carried
+out. She employs her time in reading and playing upon the violin (whose
+sole string is made of camel’s hair), visiting her friends and--smoking
+pipes, for no one is perfect.
+
+Over and above these _mondaines_, Timbuctoo possesses her
+_demi-mondaines_, who imitate the former in all things. The following
+is an account of fashionable life given me by one of its members:--
+
+‘Business here allows of plenty of leisure; we have to wait until
+certain articles have arrived, or until others have diminished or risen
+in price. The stranger merchant, in order to amuse himself, gathers
+his friends together at mid-day, or in the evening by preference,
+and offers them a repast. They eat fat sheep, pigeons, kuss-kuss,
+dates, kola nuts, wheaten biscuits, and honey-cakes. They drink tea,
+and sometimes coffee. Marabuts (to whom some present has been made
+beforehand) are invited, and delight the assembly with their old-world
+histories. Each guest also tells some tale of his native country, and
+it is by these means we know so well, not only what is passing in
+Morocco, Tuat, and Tripoli, but all that is going on in Europe and
+France also. These little _fêtes_ have become less frequent in the
+present time of misfortune. Formerly one used to receive an invitation
+nearly every day. Many Arabs from the north lived in Timbuctoo
+then, and one might have built houses of lumps of sugar, such great
+quantities of it were brought here by the caravans. The people of
+Ghadames, Tunis, and Fez liked to live well. They taught their slaves
+the art of preparing very elaborate and varied dishes, pastries, and
+sweets; so much incense was burned and such great quantities of attar
+of roses were sprinkled about the houses that you were seized with
+headache on the doorstep.
+
+[Illustration: A BAKEHOUSE IN THE STREET]
+
+‘The most costly _fêtes_ were those given to the women. The people of
+Jenne, Sansanding, and Bammaku rivalled the Arabs, but the people of
+Tuat were the most extravagant. On the other hand, the Mossi did not
+squander their money in this fashion, but left the town as soon as
+their business was concluded.
+
+‘Those who had mistresses gave feasts which lasted many hours, much
+intoxicating liquid was consumed, and the men became as drunk as the
+idolatrous Bambaras. Musicians were sent for, dancing began and was
+prolonged through the night. Men would spend two or three hundred gold
+pieces in disputing a mistress with a rival. A merchant of Sansanding
+is said to have made his lady a present of five hundred blocks of salt.
+This man lived near the mosque, and having passed the night in feasting
+he wished to sleep during the day, and had the audacity to say to the
+muezzin who calls the faithful to the five daily prayers, “I am very
+tired, your voice will disturb me. If I do not hear you throughout the
+day, I will make a rich offering to the mosque.”
+
+‘Many people who only came to stay a few weeks would prolong their
+visit for months and years, detained either by the agreeable life of
+the town or some passion; and many who arrived with a fortune returned
+home ruined.’
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+THE UNIVERSITY OF SANKORÉ
+
+
+The Queen of the Sudan would have been adorned with an imperfect diadem
+if the crowning glory of Art had been wanting.
+
+Insuperable objections prevented her possession of monuments. Neither
+wood nor stone existed in her neighbourhood, not even plaster was at
+her disposal, and the priceless clay of Jenne is not to be found on
+the threshold of the desert. These facts are sufficient excuse for my
+not giving a long account of the architecture of the great mosques of
+Timbuctoo (Gingharaber and Sankoré) and the oratory of Sidi Yaia. The
+dimensions of these buildings greatly exceed those of the ordinary
+dwellings; but a mere collection of walls, more or less high, long
+and thick, can scarcely be called a work of art, and nothing in these
+temples recalls the happy decorative harmony of the old mosque of
+Jenne. In a distant view of the city, their three minarets, looking
+like abbreviated pyramids, represent their only interest.[13]
+
+Unable, therefore, to develop the sensuous arts, Timbuctoo reserved all
+her strength for the intellectual, and here her dominion was supreme.
+The city became the religious, scientific, and literary centre of the
+Nigerian regions. ‘Salt comes from the north, gold from the south, and
+silver from the country of the white men, but the word of God and the
+treasures of wisdom are only to be found in Timbuctoo,’ says an old
+Sudanese proverb.
+
+It would perhaps be an exaggeration to put the school of Timbuctoo on a
+level with those of Syria, Spain, Morocco, and, above all, Egypt; for
+I must admit that I have not found among her libraries any work equal
+in literary glory to those masterpieces of the Arabian language and
+intellect--the _Hariri_, the _Hamadani_, or the Bedouin _Kaisadas_.
+For all that, Timbuctoo was not merely the great intellectual nucleus
+of the Sudan, that is to say, of the negroes--she was also one of the
+great scientific centres of Islam itself, her university being the
+younger sister of those of Cairo, Cordova, Fez, and Damascus. Her
+collection of ancient manuscripts leaves us in no doubt upon the point,
+and permits us to reconstruct this side of her past in its smallest
+details.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+It is in Eastern Africa that the origin of the intellectual glory
+of Timbuctoo must be sought, and it is to the Moors that it must be
+attributed. We know that this fraction of the Berber peoples adopted
+the religion of their Arabian conquerors, and it was through the
+Moorish tribes who ranged along the Atlantic coast that Islamism
+penetrated to the country of the blacks in the ninth century. Wherever
+the Mussulman religion found foothold it was invariably followed by
+the language of the Koran and the Arabian sciences. The holy book
+contained, or should contain, everything needful for a disciple
+of Mahomet. It gave laws to man and regulated his faith, whether
+religious or philosophical. The Koran was a code in which everything
+was decreed--so much so, indeed, that to elucidate it was to teach
+religion, philosophy, and law. Grammar and literature were also founded
+on it, for they were taught on the lines of the language employed by
+the editor of the holy book and illustrated by examples taken from it.
+
+Thus the Arabian language and culture spread over the frontiers of
+the negro countries. Oualata, ‘where the holiest and most learned men
+resided,’ became its bulwark; and upon the emigration of her people
+to Timbuctoo, the latter town became the palladium of the faith. The
+Moorish poets and scholars of Spain brought with them the harvests of
+Grenada and Cordova. The caravans from the north spread abroad the
+progress of Fez, Marrakesh, and Tunis; and the annual pilgrimage to
+Mecca and Medina proved the means of disseminating the many advantages
+of Cairo. Timbuctoo, more than any other town, was enabled to profit
+by the conquests of Arabian intellect and to collect and arrange large
+libraries. Market of merchandise as she was, she also became the
+storehouse of the Arabian language and science, spreading them afar
+with her textiles and salt.
+
+The confusion of tongues prevailing in the metropolis of the Sudan
+necessitated a common language, and Songhois, Foulbes, Toucouleurs,
+Touaregs, Bambaras, Mossi, Haoussankas, Malinkas, etc., all used Arabic
+as the vehicle of a mutual comprehension.
+
+An entire class of the population was devoted to the study of letters,
+being called fakirs or sheiks by the old manuscripts, and marabuts
+by the Sudanese of to-day. The first term carries the meaning of
+jurist, ‘those who know the law,’ and is interesting, as it proves
+that the scientific movement originated from the study of the judicial
+principles contained in the Koran. The name sheik or marabut is
+preferable for present use, as it signifies both priest and doctor, and
+therefore better expresses the dual character of the Sudanese scholar.
+
+The marabut is a man who, by his devotion to Islam and his application
+of the duties indicated by the Koran, by his profound knowledge of the
+holy writ, his learning and the dignity of his personal life, sets an
+example to all true believers. He belongs in general to a family which,
+so to speak, makes a profession of devotion and science; this twofold
+reputation descends from father to son, and is sustained by pilgrimages
+to the holy places and sojourns in the great Arabian universities.
+We possess the biographies of several hundreds of these learned men,
+and all are related to one another in a more or less direct line. A
+cerebral refinement was thus produced among a certain proportion of the
+negraic population which has had surprising results, as we shall see
+later, and which gives the categorical lie to the theorists who insist
+upon the inferiority of the black races.
+
+These pious and cultured families of Timbuctoo lived within the
+precincts of the mosque of Sankoré, and formed a locality analogous
+to the Quartier Latin of Paris. They were held in great esteem by
+both dignitaries and people. ‘The learned Ahmed (father to Ahmed Baba
+the writer) was attacked by a dangerous illness. In order to render
+homage to the merits and piety of this holy man, the sultan went every
+evening to pass several hours by his bed of suffering, continuing this
+assiduity until the pious sheik was completely recovered.’ For a long
+time a portion of the taxes (the _diaka_ or tenth) was reserved for
+these marabuts. The Songhoi kings pensioned the most celebrated, and
+they received many gifts, especially in the month of Ramadan. They
+were intrusted with the education of children, and, to ensure them
+the tranquillity so necessary to the man of thought and letters, their
+affairs were managed and their properties cultivated by their slaves.
+
+Each marabut followed his special vocation. Some confined themselves
+to the study of religion and the service of God and the mosque, others
+practised law, becoming magistrates or kadi, and a great number
+consecrated their lives to the art of teaching. It was not unusual to
+see two, or even all three, of these professions united in one person,
+and the study of books and the art of writing them were pursued by all.
+
+[Illustration: THE MOSQUE OF SANKORÉ]
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Having already described the rich metropolis and the city of pleasure,
+we will now, with the aid of the marabuts who consecrated themselves
+to God, resuscitate that Holy City of which the _Tarik_ proudly says,
+‘Never has Timbuctoo been sullied by the worship of idols nor by
+rendering homage to any other deity than the merciful God. It is the
+dwelling-place of wise men, the servants of the Most High, and the
+perpetual habitation of saints and ascetics.’
+
+The marabuts, under the direction of the Sheik-ul-Islam and the imans,
+called the faithful to prayers, held public readings of the sacred
+writings, and preached during the month of Ramadan, the great Mussulman
+fast. Some, like the recluses of the Thebaïd, withdrew from the world
+and fasted incessantly. They passed entire nights in prayer in the
+mosque, and were full of care and pity for orphans. Others--but let us
+rather admire the perfect picture given in the original.
+
+‘The very learned and pious sheik, Abou Abdallah, had no property, all
+his goods went to succour the poor and unhappy, and he bought slaves
+that he might give them their liberty. His house had no door, every
+one entered unannounced, and men came to see him from all parts and at
+all hours, especially on Sundays after the two o’clock prayer. Moors
+and Arabs flocked to him in crowds as soon as they learned his virtues.’
+
+We might be reading the life of some Christian saint; and numerous
+miracles are not lacking to complete the resemblance. The following
+was accomplished by a marabut who lived somewhere about the year 1330:
+‘The fakir El Hadj, grandfather of the Kadi Abderrahman, was living in
+Bankou when the king of Mali attacked that town. The people gathered
+round him before going to battle, and he instructed them to eat of
+a certain herb. With the exception of one man, all did as they were
+directed. Then said El Hadj, “Go forth to battle, and the arrows of
+the enemy shall have no power to hurt you.” They all returned safe and
+victorious, with the exception of the man who would not eat, and he
+had died in the contest.’ A no less extraordinary incident happened
+to the great-great-grandfather of the celebrated writer Ahmed Baba.
+‘Being in Medina (Arabia), he asked permission to visit the tomb of the
+Prophet. This grace being denied to him, he sat down upon the threshold
+and recited the litanies of God’s elect. The door immediately opened
+of its own accord, and the priests, amazed by this marvel, humiliated
+themselves before him and kissed his hands.’
+
+The life of Sidi Yaia, the patron of Timbuctoo, is particularly full of
+miracles. One day, as he was holding an open-air reading of the Koran,
+a cloud appeared overhead and rain fell. The rain being followed by a
+clap of thunder, his disciples arose to seek shelter. ‘Remain in your
+places,’ said Sidi Yaia, ‘it will not rain upon this spot.’ And thus
+it happened. The following anecdote is equally remarkable: ‘His female
+slaves wished to cook a fish, and for a whole day they submitted it
+to the action of the fire without result. The women were astounded,
+but Sidi Yaia, overhearing their talk, said to them, “As I went to
+pray in the mosque this morning my foot touched something moist; it
+was probably your fish, for that which my body has touched fire has no
+power to burn!”’
+
+Miracles being so plentiful, it will surprise no one to learn that the
+marabuts were on equally familiar terms with prophecies and visions.
+The departure from Marrakesh of the Moorish army which was to conquer
+the Sudan was announced on the same day to the people of Timbuctoo by
+the fakir Abderrahman. ‘After reciting the morning prayer,’ says the
+_Tarik_, ‘he invoked the name of Allah three times, and said, “This
+year thou shalt hear many things, the like of which thou hast never
+heard, and thou shalt see many things, the like of which thou hast
+never seen!”’
+
+In the early part of Sidi Yaia’s life, Mahomet was wont to appear
+to him every night, but as he grew older these visits became less
+frequent, until finally the Prophet only appeared to him once a year.
+When asked the reason of this remissness, Sidi Yaia replied, ‘The only
+reason which occurs to me is, that formerly I paid no attention to
+trade, and now I devote a good deal of time to it.’ ‘But why do you do
+so?’ ‘Because I have no wish to be dependent on others,’ answered the
+saint.
+
+Mohammed Neddo, who governed Timbuctoo in the name of the Touaregs
+shortly before its conquest by Sunni Ali, was on very intimate terms
+with Sidi Yaia. Towards the end of his life it was shown to Neddo
+in a dream that though the sun had set the moon had not risen. This
+portentous vision was imparted to his friend, who said, ‘Art thou
+afraid to learn the meaning of this dream?’ ‘I am not afraid,’ was
+the reply. ‘It signifies, then, that I shall die very soon, and that
+you will die shortly after.’ Neddo was overcome with sadness. ‘Art
+thou afraid?’ asked Sidi Yaia. ‘This sadness is not caused by fear of
+death,’ answered Neddo, ‘but by the great love I bear for my little
+children.’ ‘Confide them to God,’ said the prophet. Sidi Yaia died
+shortly after this, and Neddo soon followed him, and was buried by the
+side of his friend in the mosque he had built.
+
+The marks of divine favour by which Allah distinguished his marabuts
+from other believers were even manifested after death. A certain
+sheik had given instructions that only one of his disciples should
+be permitted to prepare his funeral toilet. When the time came the
+disciple found a lighted taper by the side of the corpse. He commanded
+that it should be extinguished and the grave-clothes brought. When the
+winding-sheet was spread over the body it immediately gave forth such a
+marvellous light that the whole chamber was illuminated by it.
+
+The old chronicles relate a thousand incidents as remarkable in every
+way as those I have just quoted. A learned doctor of Timbuctoo was
+justified in saying, ‘The holy men of this city were not surpassed in
+piety by the companions of the Prophet.’ These pious individuals were
+called _Oualiou_, and men of evil life, who found their last moments
+full of the fear of the Lord, requested that they might be buried near
+these saints, in order that the departed should intercede for them with
+the Most High. Pilgrimages were made to their houses and their gardens.
+Miracles were asked for, and granted, because--well, because there
+is no reason why they should not be granted when asked for by true
+believers.
+
+North, south, east, and west of the town, upon the crests of the dunes,
+are built the little chapels which mark their graves and form a rampart
+of sanctity round the city. Wishing to visit these dunes, in memory of
+the charming tales which had grown out of the dust of those who slept
+there, my servant and I sallied forth one morning, with Winchesters
+duly charged in readiness for the Touaregs. Scarcely a dozen of these
+_edicules_ are still standing under the sickly shade cast by a few of
+the consumptive trees of the desert. We found an old man before one
+of them, a marabut of the present who had come to visit his brothers
+of the past. He had opened the door of one of the little chapels, and
+its interior showed a small clay mound covered with pieces of a coarse
+stuff. Sitting on the threshold, the old man quavered a few verses from
+the Koran.
+
+[Illustration: THE TOMBS SURROUNDING TIMBUCTOO]
+
+It was the only sound we heard, and he was the only living being we
+met in the white furnace of the sands, the vast field of death which
+surrounds the city. At every step the foot knocked against some skull,
+tibia, or even an entire skeleton, the remains of bygone generations,
+and of corpses confided yesterday to the inconstant sands, and
+disinterred to-day by the wild beasts of the desert. The sternness
+and sterility of the desert, and the accumulated death encircling me,
+recalled the vision of the Valley of Jehoshaphat spreading before the
+walls of Jerusalem the Holy, whose soil, like this, produces only an
+efflorescence of death.
+
+The marabuts, who devoted themselves to the study of law, administered
+justice according to the precepts of the Koran and the decisions
+contained in the most important works of the Arabian jurists. They also
+made inventories of property, determining its succession, and generally
+filling the position of lawyer.
+
+The scholars of Timbuctoo yielded in nothing to the saints and their
+miracles. During their sojourns in the foreign universities of Fez,
+Tunis, and Cairo, ‘they astounded the most learned men of Islam by
+their erudition.’ That these negroes were on a level with the Arabian
+savants is proved by the fact that they were installed as professors in
+Morocco and Egypt. In contrast to this we find that the Arabs were not
+always equal to the requirements of Sankoré. ‘A celebrated jurist of
+Hedjaz (Arabia), arriving in Timbuctoo with the intention of teaching,
+found the town full of Sudanese scholars. Observing them to be his
+superiors in knowledge, he withdrew to Fez, where he succeeded in
+obtaining employment.’
+
+The profession of teaching was absolutely free, its only qualification
+consisting of a sufficiently large audience. If one may believe their
+biographies, these masters were of rare merit, full of kindliness and
+goodwill towards their pupils, and keenly alive to the responsibilities
+of their position. They would refuse the exalted and lucrative post of
+iman in order to continue their profession. One of them ‘multiplied
+obstacles to avoid being made Grand Kadi.’
+
+The following is a description of the daily occupations of Mohammed
+ben Abou Bakr, one of the most respected scholars of his day: ‘He gave
+lectures on different subjects from early morning until ten o’clock.
+After returning home for prayer he went to the kadi to settle the
+affairs of his clients and act as mediator between disputants. He
+recited the mid-day prayer in public, and taught in his own house
+until three o’clock; he then said the prayer of _asr_, and went out to
+teach in a different place until dusk, and after sunset he gave a final
+lecture in the mosque.’
+
+[Illustration: TOMB OF A SAINT]
+
+Here is the portrait of a professor of whom it was written, ‘The Sudan
+did not possess another as learned and pious.’ He was endowed with
+every imaginable gift, and was, in fact, none other than Sidi Yaia
+himself, the patron of Timbuctoo; and we shall see him under the triple
+aspect of saint, kadi, and scholar:--
+
+‘He was gifted with a calm intelligence which was only equalled by his
+infallible memory. His science was universal, his whole personality
+commanded respect and obedience, and many men owned no other rule of
+conduct than the precepts which fell from his lips. People came in
+crowds to ask his blessing, bringing with them gifts of considerable
+value. He received all these visitors with great modesty, and
+invariably gave their presents away to others. On being elected kadi he
+abolished many of the abuses and corrupt practices of the tribunal, and
+was a model of equity in the eyes of all true believers. The pressing
+duties of magistracy in no way abated his ardour for teaching, and
+by his eloquence he charmed all who listened to him. What clearness
+of explanation! How sure and easy a guide was his method! Such an
+intellect was surely created to revolutionise!’ Sidi Yaia, in fact,
+resuscitated the sciences in the negro countries, and instructed many
+young men who afterwards distinguished themselves in letters. His life
+was as long as it was useful; he lived to the age of eighty-seven
+(1373-1462), and was employed in teaching during fifty of those years.
+
+It would be superfluous to insist that these learned men must have
+possessed marvellous libraries, for their catalogues are mentioned by
+the Sudanese authors. Religious, judicial, and grammatical works occupy
+the first place. They consist of collections of traditions concerning
+the Prophet, such as the _Sahih of Bokhari_, the _Djana of Essoyouti_,
+the _Sahih of Moslem_, and the _Sogra_, in which the author says
+that, having been transported to Paradise, he saw Abraham engaged in
+teaching little children and setting them copies to write. The _Alfyga_
+is a grammatical treatise, and the _Chemail of Termedi_ contains a
+description of the qualities of the Prophet, his private life and
+policy. Finally, works on law are represented by the doctrines of the
+sect of Iman Malek, including the numerous commentaries to which they
+gave birth, the abridgment of Sidi Khalil, the _Risala_ of Abou-Zaid of
+Kairwan, etc.
+
+Poetry and works of imagination are not lacking, nor compositions
+of a kind peculiar to Arabian literature; such as the _Hariri_ and
+_Hamadani_. I found a copy of the _Choice of Marvels_, composed at
+Mossul by the learned Abu Abdallah ben Abderrahim of Grenada in the
+year 1160. The historical and geographical works of Morocco, Tunis, and
+Egypt were well known in Timbuctoo (Ibn Batouta being often quoted),
+and the pure sciences were represented by books on astronomy and
+medicine. In short, the libraries of Timbuctoo may be said to have
+included almost the whole of Arabian literature.
+
+Amongst other trades, the city made a speciality of manuscripts. ‘Books
+sell very well there,’ said Léon the African, ‘and a greater profit
+is to be made out of them than out of any other merchandise.’ The
+learned doctors were, to use an expression which may appear strange
+when applied to negroes, bibliophiles. In the best sense of the word,
+be it understood; they had no mania for collecting uncut books and
+bindings, but were true lovers of books. We see them ‘searching with a
+real passion for volumes they did not possess,’ and making copies when
+they were too poor to buy what they wanted. They would in this manner
+collect from seven hundred to two thousand volumes; and in marked
+contrast to the miserly book-lovers of our day, these bibliophiles
+experienced a real joy in sharing their most precious manuscripts with
+others. ‘Abou Bakr loved the friends of science, and paid them every
+sort of attention. He would lend them his most cherished books and
+never ask for them back again, however rare they might be. He lavished
+his entire library in this manner (may Allah reward him!); the student
+who came to his door to borrow was never denied, and this is the more
+remarkable, as he was passionately devoted to books, and would only
+obtain his reward in heaven.’
+
+The libraries of Timbuctoo were sadly reduced by the pillage of the
+Foulbes and Toucouleurs. At the present time the marabuts and kadis are
+best provided, but every wealthy inhabitant prides himself upon the
+possession of a few books. He does not often read them, it is true, but
+he likes to show them, which, to him, is almost as good.
+
+In spite of this I found it very difficult to procure any books in the
+early part of my stay. They were afraid I should practise the nefarious
+customs of the Toucouleurs and Foulbes. After I had gained some credit
+among them, a few solitary pages were lent to me, and when they saw
+that I treated them tenderly and faithfully returned them, they decided
+to trust me with whole volumes. I never succeeded in inducing any of
+them to sell me a book, however much I offered for it, and had to
+content myself with copying all that seemed interesting to me. One man
+told me the history of a unique volume which he had parted with to a
+merchant from the south, and had regretted ever since. He had received
+forty gros of gold for it, which, at the rate of ten francs a gros,
+represents a respectable sum for a book, even in France.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+From the masters we will turn to the pupils. These flocked to the city
+from all sides, from the desert, Morocco, and all parts of the Sudan.
+Jenne and the secondary intellectual circles, such as Tindirma, Dia,
+Sa, Korienza, etc., served as preparatory schools for Timbuctoo. The
+sons of the Songhoi kings quitted the palaces of Gao, and the children
+of the Touaregs deserted their great tents to receive an education at
+the University of Sankoré. The _Tarik_ mentions this interesting fact:
+‘One of the Askia, Mohammed Bankouri, collected an army with which to
+dispute the supreme power with a king proclaimed at Gao. Pausing at
+Timbuctoo, and having conversed with the Grand Kadi, he requested him
+to write a letter to his rival, saying that he, Bankouri, renounced
+the throne that he might follow the life of a student in this city of
+books.’ Side by side with princes and sons of chieftains came poor
+wretches, eager for knowledge, who were supported by the dignitaries
+of the town, and by those merchants who liked to play the _rôle_ of
+Mæcenas.
+
+[Illustration: A SCHOOL AT JENNE]
+
+The student or _Taliba_ arrives armed with the groundwork of
+instruction; some small marabut of his native country having taught
+him to read and write. It is a picture one constantly sees in the
+Sudan. In the shade before the schoolmaster’s house, a collection of
+children are gathered together in the coolest corner. Arranged in
+circles and sitting on their heels, they repeat verses of the Koran in
+chorus, following the inflections, marking the pauses, and imitating
+the tone indicated to them. They learn to form the Arabic characters by
+copying a page of the holy book on the wooden tablets which take the
+place of the too costly paper. From time to time the tablet is washed
+and set in the sun to dry, after which it is again ready for use.
+
+Reading and writing being accomplished, the master delivers a
+grammatical and exegetical explanation of the text. He either takes
+the words one by one, or grouped in sentences, and discourses on the
+rules of syntax, explains the meaning of the passage, and adds
+some religious or historical reflections. When the entire Koran has
+been gone through, the parents, who have offered weekly presents of
+cowries or in kind, make a final and more extensive present to the
+professor, and invite him to a little _fête_ given to their friends and
+acquaintances.
+
+[Illustration: A SCHOOL IN THE STREET]
+
+The young man is now prepared for the reading of works of greater
+importance of another kind. I say ‘reading’ designedly, for Arabian
+instructions consist less of lessons _ex professo_ than of the
+explanation of books.
+
+Thus prepared, the _Taliba_ sets out for Timbuctoo, and there he
+usually studies under several masters, each of whom makes a speciality
+of elucidating some particular work. He goes from one to another,
+according to their merits or the dictates of his own fancy. The lessons
+are given under the arcades of the mosque of Sankoré, or in the court
+or gardens of the teacher’s house.
+
+The branches of instruction were many and various. The theologians
+commented upon and analysed the great sacred books, and taught
+rhetoric, logic, eloquence, and diction in order to prepare the
+student to spread abroad the words of God and maintain controversies.
+The jurist expounded the law according to the Malekite dogmas, and
+the stylists taught the art of writing ‘in ornamental terms.’ Others
+professed grammar, prosody, philology, astronomy, and ethnography;
+and others again were ‘very versed in the traditions, biographies,
+annals, and histories of mankind.’ Mathematics do not appear to have
+formed a special course; and as for medicine, the grossest empiricism
+was mingled with the hygienic principles of the therapeutic Arab. A
+certain sheik is shown curing a toothache ‘with a little earth from his
+garden,’ and, worse than that, ‘a great personage having been attacked
+by leprosy, doctors came from all parts of Africa to prescribe for him.
+One of them said, “He can only be cured by eating the heart of a young
+man.” The emir instantly ordered one to be killed, but it did no good,
+and the great personage died of his disease.’
+
+[Illustration: A SCHOOLMASTER]
+
+These studies were exceedingly long. ‘We were three years over the
+explanation of the Teshil of the Iman Malek before we acquired a
+thorough mastery of the subtleties of the Arabian language,’ says
+a writer of Timbuctoo. Physical education, on the other hand, was
+grossly neglected. Even in the time of Sunni Ali the children were
+forbidden to play or practise bodily exercises. When the learned men,
+pursued by the tyrant, were obliged to quit Timbuctoo, ‘they did not
+know how to mount a camel, and fell miserably to the ground.’
+
+The students, having completed their education, receive a diploma or
+licence to teach. They are now marabuts in their turn, and all the
+liberal careers of the Sudan are open to them. They can enter the
+mosques and become imans or preachers in some small town, or they
+can aspire to the position of kadi, or assistant-kadi, in their own
+country. Some adopt the careers of their masters and found fresh
+families of sheiks.
+
+Rich merchants often take one of these young men into their household,
+where he plays a part analogous to that formerly occupied by the
+chaplain in European families. He occupies himself with the education
+of the children, reads aloud to the head of the family, and writes his
+letters. He also gives his opinion on matters of hygiene and morality,
+superintends the merchant’s charities, and tells him amusing stories.
+Other _Talibas_ gain a livelihood by giving lessons in the Arabian
+language and writing to the negro strangers passing through Timbuctoo.
+A great number fill the office of public scribe, and undertake the
+correspondence of different merchants; they also copy books, for which
+they are paid from fifteen to one hundred francs, according to the
+importance of the work.
+
+Thieves and hypocrites may also be counted among their numbers. These
+exploit the credulous and cultivate superstition among the people,
+reducing Islamism to the level of the fetich-worship and the practice
+of magic, brought from Egypt by the ancestors of the Songhois.
+They will prepare noxious potions for a consideration, and hold
+somnambulistic consultations. They foretell the failure or success
+of a journey or enterprise, manufacture talismans, and profess to
+cast spells. The traffic of talismans or _gris-gris_ is particularly
+lucrative, their principal clients being Touaregs and negroes. These
+_gris-gris_ consist of prayers or invocations, written on a morsel of
+stuff and sewn up in a leathern bag. They are suspended from the walls
+of houses to keep away demons and djinns, and to serve as a protection
+against enemies. Certain rigmaroles read on a Monday or a Friday will
+protect travellers on their journeys. I have even discovered a ‘recipe
+for driving away locusts.’ Here it is: ‘Any one desiring this, should
+write upon four sheets of paper the prayer I have composed, and place
+one in each corner of his field. He must then take a yellow and a red
+locust and pronounce the first verse of my prayer seven times, after
+which he must say, “O Locust, if thou and thy companions do not quit
+this field, thou shalt be charged with the abominable sin of him who
+hath relations with mother and daughter.”’
+
+A learned man of great celebrity, El Moucheïli, wrote a book on these
+charlatans, entitled, ‘Advice to honest people against allowing
+themselves to be duped by pretended marabuts.’
+
+[Illustration: A SEWING-SCHOOL IN THE SUDAN]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+POLITICS AND LITERATURE
+
+
+Not content with being priests, magistrates, and scholars, the marabuts
+farther extended their influence over the domains of politics and
+literature.
+
+We have shown great and small hastening to the dwellings of these
+learned men to seek counsel and consolation from their holiness and
+wisdom, and in this manner the marabuts accustomed themselves to giving
+advice without always waiting to be asked for it. These pious and wise
+men ‘remonstrated, sometimes severely, with people of all classes, even
+princes.’ Kadi El Akib, for example, ‘possessed a mixture of firmness
+and independence which raised him above all prejudices; he expressed
+his opinion to the sultan with the same frankness he employed to his
+humblest subject. When he observed anything in his sovereign’s conduct
+that was reproved by the Law of the Prophet’ (_nota bene_, it is always
+possible to find a text in the Law of the Prophet which will command or
+forbid anything, no matter what), he would resign his post and retire
+to his house.’ Thus the marabuts glided into the dangerous path of
+politics.
+
+Their intrusion into the political world soon led to their being
+regarded with grave suspicion, and finally caused their fall. As we
+have seen, the soldierly fist of Sunni Ali weighed heavily upon those
+who opposed him.
+
+The marabuts regained their lost ground, however, under the Askias. The
+founder of the dynasty, whether from conviction or expediency, showed
+himself their ardent and untiring friend, and we have seen them lending
+devoted support to the usurper in return, and legitimising with sacred
+texts his assumption of the throne. They were kept constantly about
+his person, and he consulted them in everything, even asking their
+advice in matters of war. He appealed to them in all legal affairs, and
+treated them, in short, as his ministers. A pamphlet of the period,
+found in a library at Timbuctoo, describes the part played by the
+marabuts. Its author is not a Sudanese, but is one of those Arabian
+doctors who travelled about the Sudan in the reign of the famous
+monarch, and whose description is unfortunately still wanting. The very
+original character of El Moucheïli may serve to fill the blank, perhaps.
+
+Born in Tlemcen in Algeria, ‘he combined a remarkable intelligence,’
+says his biographer, ‘with a passion for study, and was distinguished
+as much by his piety as his erudition.’ Of a bold and enterprising
+disposition, and filled with zeal for the Koran, he devoted all his
+knowledge and energies to the cause of fanaticism. Having gained
+considerable influence with the Assembly of Notables during his sojourn
+in the confederation of Tuat, he urged them to a persecution of the
+Jews. Not content with degrading and depriving these people of their
+privileges, he incited the populace to massacre them and destroy their
+synagogues. The Grand Kadi of the Republic highly disapproved of this
+violence, and the ulemas of Fez, Tunis, and Tlemcen were consulted on
+the question. Two of them defended El Moucheïli, and one of them drew
+up a long memorial on the legitimacy of intolerance, addressing the
+hero of Tuat in the following words: ‘All honour to our brother the
+zealous doctor, who alone had courage in these times of corruption
+to proclaim his faith in open day, to resist abuses, and to arouse
+lukewarm souls to the true religion. It is a glory to him to have
+opposed with such energy the enterprises of the Jews (whom may God
+crush with His scorn!). He only has been found sufficiently faithful to
+awaken the people whom worldly interest has made deaf to the voice of
+the Prophet.’ On the reception of this letter El Moucheïli announced
+the triumph of his opinions to his partisans and commanded the
+destruction of the synagogue. He put a price upon the Jews, and paid
+seven mitkals (ninety francs) a head for them out of his own purse. The
+massacre which followed obliged him to quit the country and seek refuge
+in the heart of the Sudan, where he found shelter and a position in the
+court of Askia the Great.
+
+The Songhoi king asked him seven questions on the subject of the
+reforms then occupying his mind, viz. the regulation of commercial
+transactions, the suppression of fraud, the establishment of the tax
+on land, the tithe upon newly conquered countries, the question of
+inheritance, and the measures to be taken to ensure morality and good
+manners among the Sudanese.
+
+The pamphlet in my possession contains these questions and the answers
+made to them by the Arabian sheik, which are treated as carrying all
+the force of law. El Moucheïli counsels, among other things, the
+creation of inspectors of markets and manners, and the verification of
+weights and measures. Besides these excellent reforms, he suggested
+the adoption of measures which are in every way regrettable, bearing
+as they do the imprint of the severity and intolerance of which he
+had given ample evidence in his campaign against the Jews of Tuat. He
+advocated the most stringent regulations, generally accompanied by a
+death penalty, and always based upon the most judicial and religious
+arguments.
+
+This excessive zeal and the great influence El Moucheïli exercised
+over the Sudan (he is still an authority there) leads us to a subject
+upon which hitherto we have not had occasion to touch, but which,
+nevertheless, is of considerable importance, viz. the psychology of the
+Mussulman negro.
+
+[Illustration: THE GRAND MOSQUE OF TIMBUCTOO]
+
+The character of the Sudanese in general, and the Songhoi in
+particular, is essentially based upon a foundation of goodness and
+docility, and they lack the elements necessary to produce the savage
+sectarian so common to the north of Africa and Asia. The Sudanese
+generally adopted the religion of Mahomet out of pure snobbishness,
+because their conquerors professed it, and it reflected some prestige
+upon them and gave them a claim to consideration. Once under European
+rule, therefore, there would be no impediment to their conversion to
+Christianity. Left to themselves, they form the type of the tolerant
+Mussulman. Five centuries after the introduction of Islamism into the
+Sudan we still find the fetichist’s temple standing side by side with
+the mosque, even in great centres like Jenne, where the idolatrous
+altars were not destroyed until 1475. Among the numerous biographies
+of the saints I have never seen the intolerance of these pious
+individuals boasted of nor even mentioned. In a general way, the tepid
+fervour of the populace is tainted by the naïve scepticism displayed
+by Sunni Ali in the very typical incidents I have already described.
+They seldom observe the fast of Ramadan in all its rigour, and I have
+mentioned the consumption of intoxicating liquids once or twice before.
+Circumcision and the daily prayers constitute, in fact, their principal
+observances of the Mohammedan religion.
+
+Contemporary history of the Sudan has, however, revealed frequent
+fanatical explosions and numerous holy wars. The curious biography of
+El Moucheïli has disclosed one of the causes of these disturbances,
+namely, the influence of the Arabian Mussulman, which at the present
+moment principally makes itself felt by the propaganda of the sect of
+the Snoussi. Another fruitful cause is to be found in the pilgrimages
+to Mecca. It is, therefore, through direct, or indirect, contact
+with the foreign Mussulman of the white races that the Sudanese is
+transformed into a sectarian, and it is from this contact that we must
+preserve him in order to maintain peace in the Nigerian countries.
+
+Finally, and most characteristically, it is not the pure-bred negro
+among the populations of the Sudan who allows himself to be led into
+holy wars, but it is those people in whose veins the blood of the white
+races flows, the Foulbes of Berber origin, and the Toucouleurs, who are
+a mixture of the Foulbe and the negro of Mali.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Among the Sudanese marabuts noted as the ministers of Askia the Great,
+Mohaman Koti, or Koutou, deserves special notice. With him we shall
+have occasion to speak of the literary productions of the Sudan, for
+among the Nigerian writers worthy of attention he is the first in date.
+
+According to some he was a Malinka, according to others a Songhoi
+born at Karamiou. His education, begun at Tindirma, was completed
+at Timbuctoo, and he became the most esteemed and even tyrannical
+counsellor of the great king. His authority originated in the following
+manner. Askia one day distributed some dried dates among his retinue,
+and Koti, newly arrived at the court, was somehow overlooked. Shortly
+afterwards the learned doctor assembled his pupils and dispensed
+fresh dates among them. This miracle--for the Sudan does not produce
+dates--having reached the ears of the king, he immediately discerned
+that Koti was marked with the divine seal. From that moment Askia gave
+him all his confidence, and bestowed so much wealth upon him that he
+was free to devote himself entirely to literature.
+
+The Sudanese doctors were enabled to add the works of their own
+authors to the books of Bagdad, Cairo, and Grenada, which formed the
+foundations of their libraries. These writings were almost invariably
+of a serious kind, scholastic and judicial treatises, and the greater
+part of their productions are entirely without interest to us. A
+fraction of it, on the other hand, is of the highest importance, and
+contains those historical works which shed so much light upon the
+obscure past of these vast regions.
+
+Under the title of the _Fatassi_, Koti edited a history of the kingdoms
+of Ganata, Songhoi, and Timbuctoo, from their origins to the year
+1554 (950 of the Hegira). In spite of the most persistent research, I
+have not been able to procure more than fragments of this important
+work. Every one knows all about it, but no one possesses it; it is the
+phantom book of the Sudan.
+
+Koti was born in 1460, and as he survived Askia the Great by fourteen
+years, and was connected with all the public affairs, his account of
+this brilliant epoch of the Sudan would be of inestimable value.
+The fragments we have discovered amply prove this, and their extreme
+interest greatly augments our regrets. ‘Perhaps you will find a
+complete copy at Dia or Korienza,’ they told me. But all I could
+discover was one of the descendants of the historian, named Ahmadou
+Sansarif, who exercised the functions of kadi at Timbuctoo. He was very
+well informed, and revised the manuscripts which had been copied for
+me, and these are the facts he imparted concerning the great work of
+his progenitor:--
+
+‘The _Fatassi_ has never been so well known as the other histories of
+the Sudan because it dealt with the concerns of many peoples and many
+men. Families, since grown rich and powerful, and the chiefs of various
+countries, were shown with very humble origins, sometimes being the
+offspring of slaves. The book caused great annoyance to many people on
+this account, and those interested bought all the copies they could
+procure and destroyed them. The original manuscript, however, had been
+transmitted to our family. One of my great-aunts, living in Tindirmah,
+had inherited it, and guarded it jealously. To avoid unpleasantness,
+and at the same time preserve the book from destruction, she had it
+placed in a wooden box and buried under a hillock close to her house.
+My aunt was a widow, and among other charms she possessed the gift of
+conversation. Her house was the centre of frequent gatherings, and when
+she was asked, “What is this mound in your garden?” she always replied,
+“It is Ahmadou Koti, my venerable ancestor, who is buried there.” Her
+friends never failed to say a short prayer over the mound, for Koti
+had left a great reputation for piety and wisdom behind him. A Foulbe
+succeeded in becoming so intimate with my aunt that she imparted her
+secret to him. He immediately quitted Tindirma and went to his king,
+Cheikou Ahmadou, to reveal to him the existence of a complete copy of
+the _Fatassi_. Shortly afterwards the king sent a troop of soldiers to
+dig up the mound and discover its precious treasure; but as they were
+returning to Hamdallai the bearer of the priceless volume capsized his
+canoe, and the book was lost to the world for ever.’
+
+We have seen that, in order to legitimise his holy war and his
+conquests, Cheikou Ahmadou gave himself out to be the twelfth Khalif,
+and rested the pretension upon an obvious fabrication professing to be
+taken from the _Fatassi_. Is it not likely that the Foulbes organised
+the persecution of the book with the intention of destroying the proofs
+of their king’s trickery?
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The political influence of the marabuts steadily increased under the
+successors of Askia the Great, and we have shown them remonstrating
+with the unnatural sons of the unhappy old man. The turn taken by their
+authority is interesting and unexpected, for it represents what we
+to-day call ‘public opinion,’ and we are about to see the Songhoi kings
+showing themselves singularly susceptible to its influence.
+
+‘The king, Askia Moussa,’ relates the _Tarik_, ‘having been defeated in
+the countries of Lake Chad and obliged to take to flight with his army,
+said to his generalissimo, “In spite of all the anguish of defeat, it
+is less painful to me to endure than is the thought of what will pass
+in Timbuctoo when the news of my disaster reaches there. The agitators
+will gather together behind the mosque of Sankoré and say, Young men,
+have you heard what is passing in Kanta? The king has been forced to
+fly lest he and his army should perish. They whom he has fought would
+annihilate him!--I can hear them as plainly as though I were there.”’
+
+Other anecdotes show us the marabuts treating the royal authority with
+a freedom which savours of insolence. The sovereigns, on the other
+hand, display a great lack of spirit, and by the sixteenth century
+the pious scholars have become a politically dangerous and turbulent
+element.
+
+[Illustration: BEHIND THE MOSQUE OF SANKORÉ]
+
+It was this which brought upon them the Moorish exile; their
+conquerors, although Mussulmans, soon saw that the mosque constituted
+their sole danger. It was undoubtedly at the instigation of the
+marabuts that Timbuctoo revolted against the foreign garrison, and the
+pasha Mahmoud employed a soldier’s method (that is to say, a radical
+one) of quelling these priests. He arrested a great number of them,
+with their families, and despoiled them of their wealth, which had
+become considerable. A certain proportion were massacred, and the
+rest, after five months’ imprisonment, were exiled to Morocco (1594).
+
+Their misfortunes surpassed those endured by their ancestors under
+Sunni Ali, for they were dragged in chains through the desert and
+incarcerated at Marrakesh. Though they had abused their power in the
+days of prosperity, they did not succumb to the blows of adversity. So
+far from humiliating themselves before their merciless conquerors, the
+firm and haughty demeanour they maintained excites our admiration. One
+of them, finding death to be near, charged his companions to deliver
+a sealed letter to the sultan, which contained these words: ‘Thou art
+the oppressor and I am the oppressed, but oppressor and oppressed alike
+shall stand before the Eternal Judge.’
+
+However regrettable this exile may be from its consequences to the
+Sudan, it does not lack great historical interest. It is the touchstone
+which enables us to test the eulogies concerning Sudanese science
+and learning contained in the native documents, for we now see the
+scholars of Sankoré confronted by the highest developments of Arabian
+civilisation. How will they stand the ordeal? The test proves entirely
+to their advantage.
+
+Among the exiles was a learned doctor, Ahmed Baba by name, born in
+1556 at Arawan, of Senhadjan[14] Berber parentage. In spite of his
+youth, he enjoyed a considerable reputation in Timbuctoo at the time
+of the Moorish conquest, and his brethren gave him the title of ‘The
+Unique Pearl of his Time.’ His renown increased in Morocco and became
+universal, spreading from Marrakesh to Bougie, Tunis, and even to
+Tripoli. The Arabs of the north called this negro ‘very learned and
+very magnanimous,’ and his gaolers found him ‘a fount of erudition.’
+At the request of the Moorish scholars the doors of his prison
+were opened a year after his arrival (1596). All the believers were
+greatly pleased with his release, and he was conducted in triumph
+from his prison to the principal mosque of Marrakesh. A great many of
+the learned men urged him to open a course of instruction. His first
+thought was to refuse, but overcome by their persistence he accepted
+a post in the Mosque of the Kerifs and taught rhetoric, law, and
+theology. An extraordinary number of pupils attended his lectures,
+and questions of the gravest importance were submitted to him by
+the magistracy, his decision always being treated as final. With a
+modesty worthy of his learning, he said concerning these decisions: ‘I
+carefully examined from every point of view the questions asked me, and
+having little confidence in my own judgment I entreated the assistance
+of God, and the Lord graciously enlightened me.’
+
+The ancient histories of Morocco relate many other interesting details,
+and the author of the _Bedzl el Mouasaha_ reports the following
+utterance of Ahmed Baba: ‘Of all my friends I had the fewest books,
+and yet when your soldiers despoiled me they took 1600 volumes.’ The
+Nozhel el Hadj gives the following instance of the courage and pride
+of the negro sheik: ‘After he was set at liberty Ahmed Baba presented
+himself at the palace of El Mansour, and the sultan gave audience to
+him from behind a curtain. “God has declared in the Koran,” said the
+sheik, “that no human being can communicate with Him hidden behind a
+veil. If it is your wish to speak to me, come forth from behind that
+curtain.” When El Mansour raised the curtain and approached him, Ahmed
+Baba continued, “What need had you to sack my house, steal my books,
+and put me into chains to bring me to Morocco? By means of those
+chains I fell from my camel and broke my leg.” “We wished to establish
+unity in the Mussulman world,” replied the sultan, “and since you
+were one of the most distinguished representatives of Islam in your
+country, we expected your submission to be followed by that of your
+fellow-citizens.” “If that is so, why did you not seek to establish
+this unity amongst the Turks of Tlemcen and other places nearer to
+you?” “Because the Prophet says, Leave the Turks in peace so long
+as they do not interfere with thee.” “That was true at one time,”
+responded Ahmed Baba, “but since then Iba Abbas has said, Leave not the
+Turks in peace even though they should not interfere with thee.” El
+Mansour, being unable to reply to this, put an end to the audience.’
+
+Although apparently free, Ahmed Baba was detained in Morocco for twelve
+years; the sultan had only released him on that condition, fearing the
+effect of his influence on his fellow-citizens. It was not until after
+the death of El Mansour that permission was obtained from his son for
+the learned man to return to the Sudan. Ahmed Baba then set out for the
+country to which he had so ardently desired to return, and of which
+he never spoke without tears in his eyes. The following verses were
+written by him in his exile:--
+
+‘O thou who goest to Gao, turn aside from thy path to breathe my name
+in Timbuctoo. Bear thither the greeting of an exile who sighs for the
+soil on which his friends and family reside. Console my near and dear
+ones for the deaths of their lords, who have been entombed.’
+
+The principal marabuts of Marrakesh formed him a guard of honour at his
+departure, and, at the moment of farewell, one of them seized Ahmed
+Baba by the hand and saluted him with the following sûra from the holy
+book: ‘Certainly he who has made the Koran for thee shall lead thee
+back to thy point of departure’--a customary address to a traveller in
+wishing him a safe return. On hearing these words, the sheik abruptly
+withdrew his hand, exclaiming, ‘May God never bring me back to this
+meeting, nor make me return to this country!’
+
+He reach Timbuctoo in safety, and died in 1627.[15] A man of great
+learning and a prolific writer, the names of twenty of his books have
+been handed down to us. Except for an astronomical treatise, written in
+verse, and some commentaries on the holy texts, his books are chiefly
+elucidations of the law and the sciences he professed, and prove that
+he was above everything a jurist. Two of his works alone possess
+general interest; they have been preserved, happily, and I was enabled
+to bring copies of them away with me. One is entitled the _Miraz_, and
+is a little book upon the different negraic peoples, written by Ahmed
+Baba in exile, with a view to making the Sudanese populations known to
+the Moors. The other is _El Ibtihadj_, a large biographical dictionary
+of the Mussulman doctors of the Malekite sect; in it Ahmed Baba carried
+on the famous work of Ibn Ferhoun, and made it a continuation of the
+latter’s _Dibadje_. The learned biographer added to it the lives of all
+the scholars whom Ibn Ferhoun had not mentioned. Ahmed Baba completed
+his book in 1596, and it had such a great success in both northern and
+negraic Africa that the author was obliged to publish a popular edition
+containing the principal biographies only.[16]
+
+It is partly owing to the _Ibtihadj_ that it has been possible to
+reconstruct the intellectual past of Timbuctoo, and for this reason the
+name of Ahmed Baba deserves to be held in pious memory by our savants,
+as it is by those of the Arabian countries of Northern Africa. To this
+day his name represents to the latter every effort made by the Sudan to
+attain the intellectual level of the Mussulman world; so much so, in
+fact, that any Sudanese work of unknown parentage is attributed to him.
+
+The family of Ahmed Baba is not yet extinct, and I found some of
+his descendants living near the mosque of Sankoré in a house of
+considerable size, which had been, I was told, the home of their
+ancestor. One of his great-great-grandchildren, Ahmadou Baba Boubakar,
+is kadi, and enjoys a considerable reputation for learning; the other,
+Oumaro Baba, lives by making copies of books, which he executes in a
+very beautiful handwriting. The family religiously preserve a chair
+which had belonged to their glorious progenitor, to whom it had been
+presented by his liberator, the Sultan El Zidan. A curious family
+tradition is connected with this venerated piece of furniture. On the
+occasion of the marriage of a member of the family, the bridegroom is
+permitted to seat himself in this chair on the day of his nuptials.
+It is hoped, they told me, that some of the great qualities of the
+illustrious sheik will fall upon the husband and his descendants.
+
+That sixteenth century, which we saw end so disastrously for the
+marabuts, formed the apogee of Timbuctoo’s scientific and literary
+grandeur. The wholesale arrest and exportation of her scholars proved
+a fatal blow to the university of Sankoré. The decline of learning, as
+of everything else, set in with the Moorish occupation, and yet the
+greatest work of all the literature of the Sudan was produced in the
+first days of its twilight, namely, that _Tarik é Soudan_ (the History
+of the Sudan) which we have so often had occasion to mention.
+
+The Orientalists have long been on the watch for this precious book,
+whose existence had been signalled to them from Tripoli, Algeria, and
+Morocco, and which had been unanimously attributed to Ahmed Baba.
+
+[Illustration: ORATORY OF SIDI YAIA]
+
+The explorer Barth, who was the first to reveal some of its fragments,
+confirmed this error. How could a man so well informed on Arabian
+subjects be so completely deceived? The very extracts collected by him
+refute this paternity, for they cite Ahmed Baba as an authority. But
+the learned German is not to be embarrassed by such a trifle. ‘It is
+the custom of these Arabs,’ he observes, ‘to quote themselves.’
+
+If he had read the entire book with more attention, he would have seen
+that the date--year, month, and day--of Ahmed Baba’s death is mentioned
+by the author, and that elsewhere he gives a very circumstantial
+account of himself and his belongings. His name is Abderrahman (ben
+Abdallah, ben Amran, ben Amar) Sadi el Timbucti, and he was born at
+Timbuctoo (the ‘object of his affections’), of one of those families
+in which science and piety are transmitted as a patrimony. In
+mentioning the death of an illustrious professor, he observes that he,
+Abderrahman, was his pupil; and from this we may gather that his youth
+was spent in study. He arrived at the age of manhood somewhere between
+1625 and 1635, at a time when the power of the pashas of Timbuctoo was
+on the wane. The Moors had intermarried with the native populations,
+and, instead of persecuting the sheiks as formerly, they protected
+them, and made use of them when they were in need of intelligent
+and devoted men. We can see with what consideration a learned man
+like Abderrahman Sadi was treated; and the account of his journey to
+Massina and the regions of the Upper Niger shows the high reputation he
+enjoyed, not only in Timbuctoo, but in all the countries which shared
+the intellectual life of that city. Wherever he went he was received
+with joy, covered with marks of respect, and overwhelmed with presents.
+In 1631 he was nominated iman of the mosque of Jenne. Deprived later
+of the honour by the kadi of the town, ‘a man who rejoiced in exactions
+and injustice,’ he returned to Timbuctoo, where society consoled him
+for his mortification by the most heartfelt marks of sympathy. He
+relates that when he visited the kadi of this city, ‘he arose from his
+seat as soon as he saw me, and, taking me by the hand, he seated me
+upon the chair he had just vacated.’
+
+Abderrahman Sadi lived sometimes at Timbuctoo and sometimes at Jenne,
+being employed on negotiations and missions by the pashas, and engaged
+as secretary to one of their number. He also occupied his time in
+giving lectures and holding conferences, and, above all, he undertook
+the great historical work which embraced all the countries of the
+Niger. Thanks to his voyages, his official functions, and his personal
+position, he had access to all existing documents, so many of which
+have disappeared in the toil and tumults of centuries. This work,
+to which he consecrated the last years of his life, is inestimably
+precious.
+
+The _Tarik é Soudan_ is conceived upon a perfectly clear and logical
+plan, according to the most correct rules of literary composition.
+Nothing is lacking, not even a preface, which I will quote because
+it shows, among other things, the very clear, perhaps exaggerated,
+estimate the author had of the decadence of the empire:
+
+‘Praise be to God whom the weight of a pearl upon the earth does not
+escape. May prayer and salvation be with the Master of the first and
+last, our Lord Mohammed. We know that our ancestors took pleasure in
+mentioning the companions of the Prophet and the saints, the sheiks and
+eminent kings of their country, with their lives, their edifices, and
+the great events of their reigns. They have told us all that they have
+seen, or heard, of the times extending behind us.
+
+‘As for the present time, no one is to be found to take an interest in
+these things or follow the path traced by their ancestors. Witnessing
+the decline of this science (history), so precious on account of the
+instruction it offers to mankind, I have implored the assistance of
+God in writing down all that I have read, seen, or heard concerning
+the kings of the Sudan and the Songhoi people, and in relating their
+history and the events connected with their expeditions of war. I shall
+speak of Timbuctoo and of its foundation, of the princes who have
+wielded the power of that city, I shall mention the learned and pious
+men who dwelt therein, and I shall continue this history to the close
+of the dominion of the sultans of Morocco.’
+
+After this prelude he opens his history at the earliest date known to
+him, and notices the origin of the Songhoi kingdom, the founding of
+Jenne and Timbuctoo, and of the empires of Ganata and Mali. He rapidly
+and clearly familiarises the reader with the principal towns and
+peoples which are to figure in his narrative, and he enters fully into
+his subject with Sunni Ali. We are taken as far as the year 1653, and
+given an excellent idea of Foulbes, Touaregs, Mossi, and Ouolofs by the
+way. He dilates upon Morocco and the kingdom of Massina, adds a series
+of biographies of saints and scholars, and appends his own _curriculum
+vitæ_.
+
+He does not consider his work ended with the task he set himself to
+do, however, and the historian takes up the pen of the annalist. ‘What
+shall happen hereafter I will relate in the same manner as that which
+is past, for as long as I shall be alive,’ says the last page of the
+_Tarik_. An appendix enumerates all the events until 1656, which we may
+take to have been the year of his death.
+
+Such is the plan of the important work which served as my charming
+and picturesque guide through the Sudan. It forms, with the exception
+of the holy writings, the favourite volume of the negro, and is known
+to the furthest extremity of western Africa, from the shores of the
+Niger to the borders of Lake Chad. Barth discovered fragments of it at
+Gando, and I heard it spoken of in Senegal. I found an excellent copy
+in Jenne, and had a duplicate made from it, which was corrected from an
+example at Timbuctoo, so that we possess the book in as complete a form
+as possible.[17]
+
+Its style is very simple and clear, entirely lacking those literary
+artifices so much in vogue among the Arabs; and the author displays an
+unusual conscientiousness, never hesitating to give both versions of a
+doubtful event. His biography of the great infidel, Sunni Ali, shows
+him to be sufficiently impartial, and his book is above everything
+remarkable for the admirable philosophy (Islamic, be it understood)
+pervading it. It is a work of elevated morals, and is particularly
+adapted to exercise a happy influence upon the negraic mind; for
+Abderrahman is not content with a mere narration of events--he explains
+them, and that without having recourse to the convenient fatalism
+of the Mussulman who says of a calamitous event, ‘It was written.’
+He accounts for incidents as being the reward of God when they are
+fortunate, and as the punishment of such-and-such a crime when they are
+disastrous. Severe towards all infractions of the divine law by kings
+and humble alike, and sternly stigmatising all cruelty, he relates
+every good action with obvious pleasure, and exalts all forms of
+courage, especially the civic. The whole book is a collection of active
+morals, and is one of the most charming of its kind, for fables,
+marvels, and miracles are agreeably intermingled with real events.
+
+I will remark farther that the _Tarik_ is to this day the Hozier of
+the Sudan. In addition to the attractions to be found in its pages,
+it contains a charm which entirely escapes the Sudanese, and which we
+alone are privileged to taste, viz. the _naïveté_, good-nature, and
+delicious sincerity which pervade the book. Like Homer, Abderrahman
+sometimes wanders astray, pen in hand. Side by side with the gravest
+events he mentions that ‘a white crow appeared from the 22nd of Rebia
+to the 28th of Djoumada, on which day the children caught and killed
+it.’ Elsewhere in the narratives of his voyage to Massina, one of his
+hosts gave him his daughter in marriage. He was fifty years of age at
+the time, and in possession of several other wives. Not content with
+imparting the event to posterity, he adds, ‘My union with Fatima was
+concluded on the twelfth day of Moharrem, 1645, but the marriage was
+not consummated until Friday the sixteenth.’ I believe he would have
+given us his washing-bills if the use of body linen had been familiar
+to the Sudanese. His book admirably reflects the life and mind of the
+Sudan of yesterday. One enjoys from its pages the delicate repasts
+offered by Homer, Herodotus, and Froissard, and it is for this reason I
+have called the _Tarik_ the _chef-d’œuvre_ of Sudanese literature.
+
+I found and brought away from Timbuctoo other historical works composed
+at later date, upon the model of the _Tarik_. One of them is called
+the _Diwan el Moulouk, fi Salatin es Sudan_ (Divan of Kings, a book on
+the Sultans of the Sudan), and narrates the events occurring between
+1656 and 1747; the name of the author is unknown. Another book, on
+the contrary, has no title, but is known to us by the name of its
+author, Mouley Rhassoun. He resumes the _Diwan_ from the last date
+given in its pages and carries it up to the year 1769, so that we are
+well instructed up to the beginning of the nineteenth century. Other
+documents and oral traditions permit us to reconstruct the order of
+dates and events, and, in its broad outlines at least, the whole of the
+Sudanese past is known to us.
+
+[Illustration: A SUDANESE SCENE: A READING IN THE STREET]
+
+Although these two books are precious for their historical value, they
+entirely lack the literary merits which charm us in the _Tarik_.
+Intellectual decadence has made rapid strides since the eighteenth
+century, and the author of the _Diwan_ states in his first pages:
+
+‘The men of my generation have arrived at the point where their
+intellects possess nothing. As for the old men, those who know the
+deeds of their ancestors are few and far between, and those possessing
+any intelligence at all are equally rare. When I question them
+concerning what is passing in the town, they are incapable of making a
+response of any interest.’
+
+His narrative reveals the fact that he himself was betrayed into
+the errors he deplores. His style is full of faults, the pages are
+encumbered with repetitions, and the interest of the narrative
+gradually declines. The work of Mouley Rhassoun is still more feeble,
+consisting entirely of dry records and obituary notices.
+
+‘Why did they not write more books and abandon records?’ was the
+question I asked the marabuts at Timbuctoo. ‘We have no men among us
+clever enough to do so,’ they answered. ‘Nor can we devote ourselves
+exclusively to science; we cannot buy books nor travel to complete
+our learning in Cairo, Fez, or elsewhere, for to-day we are the
+poorest people in the country. Formerly the people noted the most
+uninteresting things; they counted the number of days on which rain
+fell in winter; they mentioned that such-and-such a person was going
+to marry so-and-so. For Ahmed Baba had taught the importance of the
+science of facts and dates.[18] When the town was rich and every one
+sought to please the marabuts, they were well clothed and fed, they
+could give themselves to meditation and read books and write them. But
+for the last hundred years there have been nothing but wars and ruin.
+We have only known peace since the arrival of the French. We marabuts
+have to run about right and left to procure a livelihood, the education
+of children brings us in so little. Sometimes we are asked to write
+talismans and to copy books, but that does not give us sufficient to
+live upon. Many are obliged to devote themselves to commerce; and,
+absorbed by the care of not dying of hunger, how can they find time to
+write?’
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I have shown the town of yesterday, Timbuctoo the great, under all its
+aspects.
+
+Let us now allow our imaginations to be carried back to the days of its
+splendour. Let us picture the caravans of Morocco, Tuat, and Tripoli
+travelling for weeks and months across that immensity of sands ‘where
+the very birds lose themselves.’ The sun blazes fiercely in the flaming
+sky, the skin cracks, and the lips are parched. All the water to be
+had is warm and impure, and even then cannot be procured in sufficient
+quantities. A scaly viper occasionally crosses the route, and at long
+intervals the swift flight of an antelope is seen.
+
+For days and months nothing rejoices the eye save the deceitful vision
+of the mirage, until Taoudenni, the great halting-place, the city of
+salt, has been reached.
+
+One morning three little black spots show upon the burning horizon.
+The camels cease to grumble, they roar; and, as the three minarets grow
+clearer, Timbuctoo displays her majestic form. Behold her gardens, her
+palm-trees, and her gleaming waters! The town is three times as large
+as it is to-day, the streets are fresh and blue under the shade of
+the great trees, and they seethe with the life of its fifty thousand
+inhabitants.
+
+In place of the solitude, abandonment, and misery of to-day, it
+presents the traveller with a satiety of everything desirable. With
+abundance of water and shade, it represents the saving help of the word
+of God, the charm of the word of man, the wealth of gold and ivory, the
+sweetness of honey and a profusion of smiles.... I have been told that
+men went temporarily mad upon seeing it for the first time.
+
+Can we not understand how it was that the men of Tripoli, Tunis,
+Algeria, and Fez, having experienced its pleasures for one day only,
+have celebrated the splendours of Timbuctoo to their last hour, and how
+it was that their narratives, reaching Europe, gave birth to the legend
+of the fabulous city?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+EUROPE AND TIMBUCTOO
+
+
+All who have studied the remarkable genius of Colbert proclaim his
+ideas to have been greatly in advance of his century. It will not
+surprise us, therefore, to find his name among the first of those who
+attempted to open the gates of Timbuctoo to Europe.
+
+The great minister acquired a very clear apprehension of the value of
+the Sudan from a report made by André Bruc, governor of the African
+colonies, and he conceived the notion of reaching Timbuctoo by way of
+Senegal. This plan, which received the approbation of Louis XIV., was
+precisely that followed by Faidherbe forty years ago, continued by
+Borgnis-Desbordes and Archinard, and finally completed in the last days
+of 1894.
+
+We shall see later on how Lieutenant Boiteux took possession of
+Timbuctoo in the name of France, and how the tricolour was hoisted in
+the town for the first time by one of his sailors. Now, if ever, we
+might say, ‘It was written,’--for the first European to see Timbuctoo
+was also a Frenchman and a sailor, Paul Imbert, who was born on the
+sands of Olonne. I must add that his journey thither was purely
+involuntary. He was shipwrecked on the coast of Morocco, captured
+by the Arabs, and sold as a slave to a Portuguese renegade in the
+service of the sultan. His master, sent on a mission by the Moorish
+government, took the old sailor with him to Timbuctoo in 1670. Paul
+Imbert contrived to send news of his misfortunes to Europe, but died
+in captivity before it was possible to effect his release.
+
+The third name connected with Timbuctoo is that of Mungo Park. Starting
+from Gambia, he succeeded in reaching the Niger at Segu, and was the
+first European to see the great river of Western Africa (1795). He
+published a most attractive account of the Niger, which is doubled in
+value by the solid information of the writer. His book was the point of
+departure for numerous explorations into this portion of Africa in the
+early part of the present century, and is still well worth reading. The
+Sudan is shown at a relatively normal period, and the picture is drawn
+by an interesting and competent pen.
+
+The giant river exercised the same fascination upon Mungo Park which
+was experienced by myself, and which I have attempted to describe, and
+he soon returned to it with the intention of descending the river to
+its mouth (1805). He was accompanied by forty Europeans--thirty-five
+English soldiers, four carpenters, and an artist named Scott. This
+little troop, considerably lessened in number by fever, reached the
+Niger at Bammaku. I found very vivid recollections of Mungo Park
+below this town. He had been well provided with merchandise, and had
+displayed a generosity in dealing with the people which had deeply
+impressed itself on their memories. They naturally do not speak of
+him by his real name, which could have no meaning for them, and would
+have been difficult to remember; but like all the early Europeans who
+ventured into those parts, he was given a picturesque sobriquet, and
+called _Bonciba-tigui_, ‘the man with the large beard’ (literally:
+_batigui_, owner; _bonci_, beard; _ba_, large).
+
+The natives also spoke of him at Samba-Marcalla, a charming little
+town built under large and beautiful trees, upon the left bank of the
+Niger, between Nyamina and Segu. The traveller spent several days
+here, tempted doubtless by his warm reception and the blue shade in
+which the quiet life of its inhabitants was passed. In acknowledgment
+of their hospitality Park presented the mosque with a Chinese vase,
+with which to adorn the summit of its minaret, and this ornament was
+still to be seen in 1888. One day, the gunboats having dropped anchor
+before Samba-Marcalla, their commanders, MM. Hourst and Davout, induced
+the inhabitants to exchange the vase for another, and the traveller’s
+gift was brought to France and placed in the Colonial Office. Learning
+further that one of the companions of ‘the man with the great beard’
+had died at Samba-Marcalla, our officers had the grave of the
+Englishman pointed out to them, and their gunners forged a fine iron
+cross, which marks the resting-place of the unknown to this day. It
+bears the following inscription:--
+
+  TO THE MEMORY
+  OF ONE OF THE COMPANIONS OF
+  MUNGO PARK
+  WHO WAS BURIED HERE
+  _The Niger Fleet. November 1888._
+
+According to a tradition transmitted to the inhabitants of
+Samba-Marcalla, Mungo Park’s companions were at this time reduced to
+seven.
+
+Permission to enter Segu being refused him, the explorer went on to
+Sansanding. He met with a better reception there, and was the guest of
+Kounta-Mamadi, the richest merchant of the town, and grandfather of
+the present chief, who told me that Park had been greatly liked by the
+inhabitants. He had sold them merchandise and made little presents to
+the children; a saw which had been given by him to his host has been
+carefully preserved by the family.
+
+Having journeyed hitherto by land, Mungo Park embarked upon the Niger
+at Sansanding in a large, flat-bottomed boat he had had constructed;
+and from there, ignorant of which of the many possible routes he had
+taken to reach Timbuctoo, I found it difficult to trace him. He was
+spoken of at Kabara, but he had not been able to reach that port
+on account of the hostilities of the Touaregs, who attacked him at
+Koriouma.
+
+[Illustration: CROSS RAISED TO ONE OF THE COMPANIONS OF MUNGO PARK]
+
+Mungo Park was therefore obliged to turn his back upon Timbuctoo, and
+Barth found traces of him at Bamba, Bourroum, and Gao. The appearance
+of the white man with the great beard and his large boat has become
+a legend on the shores of the Eastern Niger, and the end of the
+courageous explorer is well known. His boat was smashed upon the rocks
+of the Boussa rapids, at a comparatively short distance from the mouth
+of the Niger, and the brave Scotsman and his four or five remaining
+companions were drowned.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The soldiers and considerable sums of money placed at Mungo Park’s
+disposal prove how much the Nigerian countries interested England
+at this time. She made repeated efforts to penetrate Western Africa
+between 1810 and 1825, the most remarkable being conducted by Major
+Laing, aide-de-camp to the governor of Sierra Leone. This young officer
+also succeeded in making his way to the Niger, reaching it at Falaba.
+He, too, was a Scotsman, as powerfully constituted and well informed as
+his compatriot, and was looked upon by England as a second Mungo Park.
+His government provided him with large resources, and the mission of
+attaining Timbuctoo was confided to him in 1825.
+
+His first voyage having familiarised him with the negraic countries,
+Laing preferred to take the northern route in his second, and traverse
+the Arabian and Berber countries. Starting from Tripoli, he passed
+through Ghadames, Tuat, Oualata, and Arawan, was attacked in the desert
+by the Touaregs, and reached Timbuctoo in August 1828.
+
+I have collected fresh details concerning his stay there and his death.
+Although they are somewhat at variance with the generally accepted
+account, I do not hesitate to vouch for them, as they came from an
+excellent source. They were communicated to me by the most learned man
+in Timbuctoo, the alamany, or religious chief of the town, and grand
+iman of the great mosque of Ghingaraber. He was an old man, bent with
+age and almost blind, but of still reliable intelligence and well
+versed in the traditions of the town. He had obtained his facts from
+his uncle, Alpha Saidou, who was grand kadi and judge of Timbuctoo at
+the time of the Scotsman’s stay there, and was therefore in a position
+to be well informed.
+
+Laing, who was known under the name of _El Rais_, the chief (given
+him, doubtless, on account of his rank as major), presented himself
+as an envoy from the English government to the chief of the town,
+Osman-Alcaidi ben Alcaidi Boubakar. According to custom, the latter
+offered him one of his houses as a dwelling, which, thanks to the
+alamany, whose uncle Saidou had also lived in it, I was enabled to
+see. The family being extinct in the direct line, the house became,
+according to custom, the property of the chief of the town.
+
+[Illustration: LAING’S HOUSE]
+
+It is situated in a little square near the great market and the mosque
+of Ghingaraber, and is surrounded by the usual shabby, dilapidated
+houses and straw huts with straw enclosures. On one side of the square
+an oblong mound of masonry represents the tomb of some saint, or
+Oualiou. The house appears to have been one story high, and of good
+size, but I found it in the process of demolition.[19] The façade
+was destroyed, and the first floor, by falling in, had warned its
+inhabitants that it was time to begin repairs. The masons were clearing
+away the ruins, leaving the thick walls of the ground floor standing
+ready for rebuilding, and the square was encumbered with bricks drying
+in the sun.
+
+The Touaregs having extorted a ransom, but not pillaged him, Laing
+arrived with considerable baggage, and was able to make the usual
+presents to the chief of the town. He explained that he had been sent
+by his government to see the commerce and life of the city, that the
+white people wished to make acquaintance with the inhabitants of
+countries unknown to them, and establish friendly relations which could
+only result in good to both sides. Such a task had often been confided
+to him before. The second day after his arrival he was to be seen
+exploring the town, taking notes, drawing great lines (plans?) upon
+paper, and questioning the passers-by.
+
+The chief of the town entered into relations with him, and visited
+him pretty frequently; but the other inhabitants, great and small,
+maintained a marked reserve. His questions had excited great suspicion;
+and he seems to have committed the error of not taking all and sundry
+into his confidence, and elaborately explaining his presence and
+business to them. ‘He did not know how to gain the confidence of the
+people,’ the old alamany told me. ‘He did not talk to them and amuse
+them. If he had done so, he would have had friends in the town, and
+they would have warned him of what was being plotted against him. Now,
+every one is aware that you are neither soldier nor merchant, and we
+all know that you want to see everything and hear everything and read
+our books, not to do us harm, but to tell the white people the history
+of the blacks. Every one comes to you, your house is far from the fort,
+and you live alone with your servant. Well, if any one conspired
+against you, certainly I, or one of those who know you, would warn you.’
+
+The people were afraid of Laing and his notes and questions, and the
+surname of _El Rais_ doubtless added to their fears. The unhappy man
+did nothing to offend or shock the inhabitants, and no one had any
+reproach to bring against him, but all unanimously agreed that the
+suspicion of his being a spy had finally roused the hostility of the
+people. This was evidently the real cause of his death, and not, as was
+supposed, the fact of his being a Christian.
+
+Some days before his departure Laing determined to visit Kabara, and
+persisted in riding there after nightfall, in spite of the warnings
+of his host as to the insecurity of the road. This last imprudence
+seems to have been decisive. ‘He is undoubtedly a spy,’ thought the
+inhabitants, and, urged by the populace, the notables of the town
+planned the murder of the stranger. His host, the chief of the town,
+was charged with his arrest. Being asked by Laing (who had decided to
+return by Arawan) to procure him a guide, Osman-Alcaidi sent for the
+chief of the Berabichs, a Moorish tribe encamped in the neighbourhood.
+To this man, Sidi Mohammed Habeida (grandfather of the present chief),
+the Alcaidi confided the anxieties of the town, and requested him to
+dispose of the European, body and goods.
+
+The witnesses are unanimously agreed upon this point, the Berabichs
+did not kill Laing upon their own initiative, nor because he was
+a Christian, but at the formal request of the chief of Timbuctoo.
+This new version is evidently the true one; for if in certain cases
+interest may compel them to disguise the truth, it would clearly have
+been to the interest of the natives, in this instance, to put all the
+responsibility of the murder upon the shoulders of the Berabichs, and
+not charge themselves with it.
+
+Mohammed Habeida made no difficulty about accepting a part which did
+no violence to the pillaging instincts of his tribe, and Laing left
+Timbuctoo under his guidance. For two days they travelled together
+towards Arawan, and the unfortunate man was killed at dawn on the third
+day.
+
+Laing’s visit and the circumstances accompanying it are still vividly
+impressed upon the memories of the inhabitants; for, at the instance of
+England I believe, the Sultan of Morocco made an inquiry at Timbuctoo
+concerning his death. At that time the authorities naturally did not
+care to assume the responsibility of the deed, and would certainly
+shift it on to the backs of the Berabichs. In this way the version
+which made Laing a victim of the fanaticism of the desert was accepted.
+
+One of his last letters announced that he had collected numerous
+manuscripts on the subject of Timbuctoo, and these precious documents
+naturally occupied the mind of the scientists and explorers a good
+deal. René Caillié made inquiries concerning them, and reported that
+they had been dispersed among the inhabitants of the desert. Barth
+raised the question twenty-five years later, and was told that not one
+remained. Lenz, on the contrary, believes that the papers and effects
+are still preserved in Arawan. Since our installation in Timbuctoo,
+the military authorities have made several attempts to discover the
+fate of these letters from envoys sent by the chief of the Berabichs.
+M. Josse, the Arabian interpreter, was especially persevering, but in
+vain; the Berabichs insisted that nothing remained in their possession.
+For my part, I made the acquaintance, during my stay, of an agent of
+the Mossi, with whom I was at pains to be on excellent terms, and who
+rendered me many little services. One evening I sent for him, and, with
+air of great mystery, offered him a large sum of money if he would find
+the papers of _El Rais_ and bring them to me. I assured him that no
+one in the town, European or native, should know anything about it; but
+in spite of all my diplomacy, I was no more successful than the rest.
+Some time afterwards he assured me that the tribe possessed neither
+papers nor anything else belonging to the traveller. Knowing the keen
+distrust of these people, however, and the fear of punishment they
+still entertain (in spite of repeated assurances), and, knowing too,
+the great respect with which all written matter is regarded in these
+countries, I do not think all hope need be abandoned.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+If the first explorer to reach Timbuctoo was an Englishman, the first
+to come back from it was a Frenchman--René Caillié, to wit. As was
+proved by the Grand Prix of 10,000 francs offered by the Geographical
+Society of Paris to the first visitor from Timbuctoo, the interest to
+Europe consisted in the return.
+
+Behold the perversity of things, or, if you will, the ways of
+Providence. Mungo Park and Laing departed accompanied by the good
+wishes and encouragement of their countrymen, well provided with
+money, merchandise, and escort--and failed. Success was reserved for
+a humble and solitary man of ridiculously small means who had been
+contemptuously repulsed by the representatives of his country, and who
+had scarcely a friend to press his hand at parting.
+
+‘I was born,’ says René Caillié, ‘in 1800 at Mauzé, in the department
+of the two Sèvres, of poor parents, whom I had the misfortune to lose
+in my childhood. I was apprenticed to a trade as soon as I could read
+and write, but it was not long before I wearied of it, thanks to the
+books of travel which I read in all my leisure moments. I borrowed
+geographical works; and the maps of Africa, in which I saw deserts and
+unknown regions marked, excited my keenest interest. Finally, the
+interest became a passion to which I sacrificed everything.’
+
+He started for Senegal at the age of sixteen with a fortune of sixty
+francs in his pocket. Of the two vessels starting on the same day for
+the same port, he had the good luck to choose the one which arrived
+safely; the other, the _Medusa_, made a notable shipwreck.
+
+He disembarked at St. Louis (1816), where nothing was being talked of
+but the English expeditions into the interior. He made an attempt to
+join one of these, but a French officer dissuaded him and sent him to
+Guadeloupe, where he obtained a small employment which kept him at
+Pointe à Pitre for six months. The narratives of Mungo Park having
+fallen into his hands, he returned to Senegal at the end of that time,
+more absorbed in Africa than ever.
+
+This brings us to the year 1818, and the English have in no wise
+relaxed their efforts to penetrate the interior. The expedition of
+Major Grey was just succeeding to that of Majors Peddie and Campbell,
+and René Caillié attached himself to it ‘without appointment or
+engagement of any kind,’ happy in only being allowed to start. The
+Europeans were all mounted, but he had to make the journey on foot; and
+if he did not share the comforts of his companions, he certainly had
+his part of the dangers and sickness, for on his return he was obliged
+to go back to France to recruit his health.
+
+These hardships proved no discouragement, however, and he returned
+to Senegal in a small sloop in 1824. He entered into trade upon his
+arrival, and his business prospered; but this was not what he had
+come for. It was not a fortune that he wanted; as he says himself,
+‘Timbuctoo had become the one object of my thoughts, the aim of all my
+efforts, and I was determined to reach it or die in the attempt.’
+
+He neglected nothing to ensure the success of this great enterprise.
+Realising that a knowledge of Arabic and the forms of the Mohammedan
+religion was essential, he submitted to a second and severer trial.
+Leaving his business, and attiring himself in Moorish dress, he went to
+the Braknas Moors with the request that he might live with their tribe
+and be converted to Islamism. He suffered many annoyances and much
+ill-treatment, but he learned to talk, read, and write Arabic, and was
+initiated into the mysteries of the Koran and the Mussulman prayers. He
+then returned to St. Louis to find the means of putting into execution
+his plan of reaching Timbuctoo and travelling across Africa to Egypt,
+under the guise of a merchant and pilgrim to Mecca.
+
+His real hardships were to begin now; for, instead of being encouraged
+in his purpose and congratulated upon the task he had achieved, he
+was received with cold sarcasm at St. Louis. Instead of the 6000
+francs he asked for to buy the necessary merchandise, the governor of
+Senegal allowed him soldier’s rations that he might not die of hunger,
+and found him employment with a salary of fifty francs a month. ‘The
+fatigue and privations I endured had perhaps entitled me to expect
+something better,’ is his sole comment.
+
+A new governor, Baron Roger, arriving in Senegal, Caillié’s hopes
+revived, and for the second time he related his sojourn among the
+Moors and explained his plans. This is how he tells the story of his
+attempt:--
+
+‘M. Roger pooh-poohed my project, and refused me any pecuniary aid.
+This would have been a thunderbolt to any one else, but it only had
+the effect of more deeply rooting my determination. I had the courage
+to return to the charge, and he was then good enough to promise me
+a certain sum upon my return from Timbuctoo.... Upon my return from
+Timbuctoo! And if I died on the way? This idea, terrible to a man who
+would leave a much-loved sister without help or resources, determined
+my reply. I refused every arrangement, deciding that if I died, I
+would at least leave the friend of my childhood one incontestable
+possession--the merit of having done everything by myself.’
+
+While France refused him 6000 francs, England was spending eighteen
+million francs in attempting to penetrate from the western coast of
+Africa. Caillié now turned to the English colony of Sierra Leone, and
+at once aroused the interest of the governor, General Charles Turner.
+He obtained, instead of the ridiculous employment offered to him by
+a Frenchman, the direction of an indigo factory and a salary of 3600
+francs. He would probably have succeeded in getting the 6000 francs
+for his voyage, but the governor objected--very reasonably from an
+Englishman’s point of view--that Major Laing was already _en route_ for
+Timbuctoo, and he could not have a hand in depriving him of the glory
+of being there first.
+
+Caillié succeeded in saving 2000 francs, however, and was no longer
+affected by the refusal. Having resumed the Moorish costume, he
+converted his savings into merchandise, and set out upon his journey
+(1827).
+
+His stock of goods being too small to permit of his giving himself out
+to be a trader, as he had first intended, he invented a new pretext.
+‘Born in Egypt,’ he told every one, ‘I was taken as a child and made
+to serve in the French army, which was then in Egypt. I was brought as
+a slave to France, and my master took me with him to Senegal to assist
+him in his business. He was so pleased with my services that he gave
+me my liberty, and now that I am free to go where I will, I naturally
+desire to return to Egypt to find my parents, and resume the Mussulman
+religion.’ Thanks to his knowledge of Arabic and the prayers of the
+Mussulman cult, the fable of his origin was everywhere accepted, and
+his journey was made comparatively easy. He entered Timbuctoo on the
+20th of April 1828, having passed by the Foota Jallon, reached the
+Niger at Kankan, traversed the Bambara kingdom of Segu, and paused at
+Jenne by the way.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+As Caillié was taken for the man he pretended to be, I found it
+exceedingly difficult to follow his track. All inquiries at Jenne were
+fruitless, and I feared they would be equally so at Timbuctoo, for poor
+Arabian travellers arrive there all the year round, and he had only
+stayed fourteen days in the city. The name of his host, however, Sidi
+Abdallah Chabir, one of the most important merchants of his time, was
+perfectly well remembered. One of his wives had died only within the
+last few years, and his son but shortly before my arrival. I saw the
+house in which Caillié had lodged, and the old alamany revived some
+memories of the explorer himself.
+
+The latter had not failed to impart the history of his Egyptian origin,
+his misfortunes, and his slavery in France, and I was thus enabled
+to trace him. The old alamany repeated to me (with some variations)
+the fable mentioned above as concerning a traveller lodged by Sidi
+Abdallah. The worthy merchant, an Arab fond of remarkable stories,
+had been greatly struck by this tale, and, being a pious man into
+the bargain, he had been deeply touched by the religious zeal of the
+young Egyptian. From all this Sidi Abdallah had concocted a narrative
+which he delighted to impart to his friends, and which he accompanied
+by improving reflections on the tenacity of the Mussulman faith. The
+history was so often repeated in Timbuctoo that the Grand Kadi, Alpha
+Saidou, noted it down as one of the curious episodes of his time. He
+edited his history under the direction of Sidi Abdallah, and blackened
+four sheets of paper with it. Although the old alamany had inherited a
+portion of his uncle’s books and papers, this curious manuscript was
+not among them, he assured me. I requested him to make inquiries of
+the other inheritors of the kadi, and was then told that the papers
+had been burnt in a recent fire. This explanation does not appear to
+merit any great amount of belief, and one day somebody will doubtless
+be more fortunate than myself. The history was probably embellished
+with imprecations on the Christians, and they were therefore not over
+anxious to communicate it to me.
+
+[Illustration: CAILLIÉ’S HOUSE]
+
+The house pointed out to me as having been lived in by the Egyptian
+was situated near the market, and in the same street as the one Laing
+had occupied. His dwelling, more fortunate than Laing’s, is still
+standing in a very good state of preservation--in the interior, be it
+understood. It is a large house, plainly indicating the importance
+of the man who showed the poor traveller such gracious hospitality.
+Sidi Abdallah did not live in it himself, but used it as a warehouse.
+It is now occupied by one of the principal merchants of Timbuctoo, a
+Moor, like Sidi Abdallah, and he too has converted it into a shop. I,
+therefore, saw the dwelling under much the same aspect it must have
+worn to René Caillié.
+
+I found, surrounding the two spacious courts, ‘the little, long, narrow
+and windowless rooms, serving indifferently as shop or bedroom,’ in
+one of which René Caillié lodged, and in which ‘he suffocated day
+and night.’ The interior was encumbered with packages and sacks of
+all kinds, principally bales of ostrich feathers and ivory. Lances
+thrust into the floor showed that the men of the Desert occupied those
+suffocating rooms at the moment. The real proprietor of the house,
+Mohammed El Bakir, had just received his annual caravan from Tendouf,
+a Moorish town on the borders of the Sahara. His relations had great
+troops of camels over there, and they were enabled to continue their
+commerce in spite of the insecurity of the desert routes, for they
+belonged to a family of marabuts possessing great influence in the
+Sahara. I was on excellent terms with Mohammed El Bakir, and he it
+was who furnished me with some notion of the present state of the
+commerce of Timbuctoo. He was acquainted with Europeans, having
+traded with them at Mogador, where it was his custom to buy large
+quantities of our produce. I was surprised, nevertheless, when he
+asked me for news of Paris (he pronounced it Parisse). He said he had
+long known the name of the town, for the rich Moorish Jew who bought
+his ostrich plumes lived there. His curiosity had been excited by the
+marvels described to him by a Moor who had visited the city during the
+exhibition, and he wished to know if he had not been the dupe of a
+too lively imagination. I reassured him, of course, and told him the
+true history of René Caillié. To risk one’s life and sacrifice one’s
+interests for the simple satisfaction of seeing a new town or country
+was incomprehensible to him, but he understood, nevertheless, that in
+our eyes his house was the most interesting thing in Timbuctoo, and I
+profited by that to advise him to keep it in very particular repair.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Whether it was the considerable sacrifices made by the English
+Government for Laing, or whether it was owing to the great confidence
+the public had in this brilliant officer, I do not know, but the
+English have always expressed great contempt for René Caillié’s
+success. Their disdain developed into injustice, and they disputed his
+journey, his book, and his sojourn in Timbuctoo, professing themselves
+completely edified when, twenty-five years later, the truth of
+Caillié’s statements was confirmed by a German.
+
+The English Government made a fresh effort to reach the Sudan in 1850.
+Richardson was equipped at Tripoli with the same munificence that had
+been allowed to Mungo Park and Laing, and intrusted with the mission of
+reaching Lake Chad. At the request of Prussia, two Germans were added
+to the party, one of whom was Doctor Barth.
+
+All his companions having died one after the other, Barth was left to
+fulfil the mission alone. After exploring the basin of Lake Chad, and
+discovering the Benue, he pursued the Bournou and Sokoto route, passed
+Say, crossed the valley of the Niger from south to north, and arrived
+at Timbuctoo on August 29th, 1853.
+
+His journey was greatly facilitated by his position as English
+ambassador, and by the rich presents with which he was enabled to
+sustain the part. His position at Timbuctoo, however, was extremely
+critical. There are people still living in the city who remember seeing
+Barth, or rather Abdel Kerim (‘the servant of the Lord’), as he called
+himself, and I gathered some interesting details from them.
+
+The explorer had counted upon staying at Timbuctoo with a sheikh
+named El Backay, whose importance had been boasted of and greatly
+exaggerated to him, and which he in turn exaggerated to Europe. The
+Backays belonged to the tribe of Kountas. These Berbers, strongly
+infused with negro blood, were, two centuries ago, still settled to
+the south of Timbuctoo, in the neighbourhood of Kairwan. From there
+they emigrated to the desert, spread along the route from Tunis to the
+Sudan, and settled in Saharian Adrar, a rocky plateau to the north-east
+of Timbuctoo, near the town of Mabruk. They have since drawn nearer the
+Niger, and are now to be found in the valley east of Timbuctoo, on both
+sides of the river.
+
+The Backays were a family of marabuts and scholars, not warriors, and
+none of them ever had the ‘opportunity of mounting the throne,’ as
+Barth has affirmed. They were content to mount the pulpit, and their
+learning and wisdom have been famous in the desert for over a hundred
+years. The first to be mentioned in the history of Timbuctoo was Sidi
+Moktar el Kabir, a man pious to asceticism, in whose eyes smoking was
+an impurity. He wrote a book entitled _Taraïfa Koubra_ (The Great
+Taraïfa), which is still in the possession of the Kountas, and would
+be a desirable book to procure, for it contains several historical
+notices, I am told.
+
+The fame of his wisdom was the cause of his being called to Timbuctoo
+in the early part of the present century. The last of the Roumas were
+living on exceedingly bad terms with the Touaregs, and Sidi Moktar,
+on being invited to adjust their disputes, settled the tribute to be
+paid to the veiled men, and the terms to be observed by them in return.
+He acted as mediator in other circumstances, and his fame and the
+number of his pupils steadily increased. On his death (1811) every one
+said, ‘He was a saint’; a little chapel was built upon his grave, and
+pilgrimages were made to his tomb, which still stands on the dunes east
+of Timbuctoo.
+
+His son, Sidi Mohammed, maintained the family reputation, and died
+in 1826, leaving several children, the eldest of whom was called
+Sidi Moktar. The latter also played the part of peacemaker which had
+been so well sustained by his grandfather. When the Foulbes took
+possession of Timbuctoo, the populace appealed to him to intercede for
+them with Cheikou Ahmadou. He succeeded in satisfying both parties
+so well that the town offered him a large dwelling, the Foulbe king
+overwhelmed him with gifts and attentions, and he definitely quitted
+Adrar for Timbuctoo. He was consulted in all disputes between Moors
+and Touaregs, all controversies between the town and its nomadic
+neighbours were submitted to his judgment, and he became the recognised
+arbitrator of these countries. He had no public function, and filled
+no official post, but was merely a great marabut, enjoying universal
+consideration, receiving numerous presents from pious people, giving
+excellent lectures, and followed by many pupils from the Sudan and
+desert. He, too, was a man of the pen, and composed a history of the
+Kounta Touaregs and other desert tribes, which he called the _Taraïfa
+Sochora_, or Little Taraïfa.
+
+On his death in 1847, his son Ahmadi, the child of a slave, succeeded
+to this honourable and lucrative post, but was ousted by his uncle. The
+disputes between the two rivals irritated the Foulbe king, who was full
+of reverence for the defunct, and greatly diminished the prestige of
+the family in Timbuctoo. Now, the ambitious uncle was none other than
+Sheik El Backay, who, having finally got the better of his nephew,
+endeavoured to restore the family reputation and make himself famous by
+travelling in the neighbouring countries. He was sojourning in Gundam
+when the explorer reached Timbuctoo in 1853.
+
+Barth was evidently under the impression that El Backay occupied some
+commanding position in Timbuctoo. This is the only possible explanation
+of the attitude he adopted upon his arrival, and his singular want of
+tact which led to so many disagreeables. Contrary to custom, he visited
+neither the chief of the town nor the authorities, but contented
+himself with settling in one of the sheik’s houses and awaiting his
+return there. The town was offended by this want of respect, and so
+much hostility was displayed that the European was warned not to
+venture out. This state of affairs lasted a month, and all Barth saw
+of Timbuctoo was the view of the town he enjoyed from the roof of his
+house.
+
+Instead of improving, the situation became more critical with the
+return of El Backay. In 1853 Timbuctoo formed, as we know, a part of
+the Foulbe empire, and the local authorities had hastened to send a
+message to Hamdallai, the residence of Ahmadou Ahmadou, to inform him
+of the arrival of the traveller. Greatly affronted that an ambassador
+should go to Timbuctoo without offering him homage or the customary
+presents, without asking permission to enter one of his towns, nor even
+informing him of his presence, the king sent an order that the stranger
+should be taken and brought to him. The arrival of this command, with a
+troop of soldiery charged to execute it, coincided, happily for Barth,
+with the return of the sheik.
+
+El Backay, greatly flattered by receiving an ambassador, seeing all
+the lost prestige he could recover, and delighted to play a trick
+upon the government which had crossed his ambition, formally and very
+courageously took Barth under his protection. ‘The stranger is in my
+hand. You must cut it off before you can take him,’ was the haughty
+response he made to the envoys. The whole of Timbuctoo was confounded
+by this incident. The authorities made many vain attempts to induce El
+Backay to reconsider his decision, and it was finally determined to
+attack protector and protected, and carry away the latter by force. The
+two then quitted the town together, and took refuge in a neighbouring
+camp. Backay was compelled to call the worst enemies of the city to his
+assistance, and it was to the Touaregs that Barth owed his escape from
+the fate of Laing and his safe return to Europe.
+
+[Illustration: PLAN OF TIMBUCTOO]
+
+From the day of his arrival to the hour of his departure, the explorer
+lived in Timbuctoo like a prisoner. He was confined to one house with
+his own and his host’s servants perpetually on guard. He was unable to
+explore the town or even take an hour’s walk in its streets, and all he
+saw of them were the few he passed through as, surrounded by an escort,
+he left the city to take refuge in the desert from the hostility of
+the populace. He only knew Timbuctoo through the eyes of his servants
+and other people of that class, and that is why this portion of his
+book is so deceptive and, in spite of its length, vague and empty. It
+consists of copious details of his anxieties, his hopes and fears for
+his life; and its few interesting passages are swamped in an ocean of
+tiresome details, according to the method of German scholars. Instead
+of showing us some new aspect of the Mysterious City, he rails at
+his servants like a peevish housewife and entertains us again and
+again with the health of his camels. René Caillié saw, questioned,
+and observed an astonishing amount during his fourteen days’ stay in
+Timbuctoo, and gathered an incomparably richer harvest than did Barth
+in his sojourn of a month. On comparing the two accounts, one sees that
+Barth’s utterances are mere amplifications of the facts acquired by his
+predecessor.
+
+After this we are somewhat surprised to see Barth, from his height of
+Doctor, treating René Caillié as an ‘altogether incapable man’;[20] and
+surprise turns to stupefaction when he assumes that ‘no one has been as
+well able as himself to represent the town and its inhabitants in their
+true aspect.’[21] It is another example of the old saying, that one may
+have great learning and little wit. René Caillié has given us far more
+than we could expect from a man who only knew how to read and write,
+a poor fellow who had not enough to eat most of his days, and was
+tormented by scurvy; while Barth on the contrary did not, in Timbuctoo
+at least, fulfil the promise of his great reputation.
+
+He had his excuses however; circumstances prevented his seeing more
+of the town than its roofs, and deprived him of any knowledge of its
+inhabitants. Public feeling was against him. El Backay was in revolt
+against the authorities of the town and its Foulbe king, and both he
+and his guest were avoided by the people. Barth lived in the society of
+a stranger sheik and his brothers, the chiefs of the Touaregs, Foulbes,
+Berabichs, and other people of the desert, who were equally strangers
+to the town. This explains how it was that he was unable to procure
+any of the literary works of the city, and remained ignorant of the
+real author of the Tarik in a town in which it was known to all. He had
+to be content with extracts, hastily copied from an example at Gando,
+from which he composed his historical chapter (the only new thing in
+his book); and he so completely confuses the history of the Songhoi
+with that of Timbuctoo that, in his hands, the amusing and picturesque
+Chronicle of the Sudan becomes something unutterably flat and tiresome.
+We surely had a right to expect something better from the accredited
+scholar who was so exacting towards one who had been educated in an
+elementary school.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+We have seen that El Backay’s house to-day is a mere heap of ruins;
+this is not the case, however, with the one next door, which his
+hospitality offered to Barth. This dwelling remains exactly as it was
+described by the explorer, and it is to be hoped that it will be as
+carefully preserved as that of René Caillié. Timbuctoo has none too
+many relics of the Europeans, and, everything considered, there is no
+need to look harshly on the memory of Barth. His surly disposition
+and his infatuation must have caused him disagreeables enough in his
+lifetime, and Europeans at Timbuctoo remember with gratitude that he
+was the first to follow the course of the eastern Niger to Say, and to
+clear up the vast geographical regions surrounding Lake Chad.
+
+[Illustration: BARTH’S HOUSE]
+
+I also found traces of Barth in his character of ambassador. On his
+return to Europe he set before the English a scheme of penetration in
+the direction of Timbuctoo which was based upon an exaggerated notion
+of the authority of El Backay. The shorter routes, those of Algeria and
+Senegal, being in the possession of France, he advocated reaching the
+city by way of the Niger, starting from its mouth. He laid great stress
+upon the value of El Backay’s support to an English enterprise, a view
+which was the more readily accepted by the Government as the progress
+France was making in Southern Algeria was causing them much anxiety.
+
+The capture of Timbuctoo gave some curious documents into our hands.
+They have not been edited, and we give them in their entirety, for they
+display English plans and methods without any need of commentary.
+
+
+LETTER I
+
+    LETTER FROM LORD CLARENDON TO SHEIK EL BACKAY.
+
+    Praise be to God! May He be glorified!
+
+    On the part of Clarendon, Minister to the Queen and Government
+    of England, to the greatly honoured and very noble Sheik,
+    the learned among scholars who shines by his intelligence,
+    Sidi Mohamed El Backay, ben Sidi Mohamed, ben Sidi Moktar El
+    Kounti; to whom we address our thanks and the expression of our
+    consideration. May God reward him! So be it!
+
+    Salutation be with you.
+
+    May God accord you His mercy and blessing with the purest of
+    His graces!
+
+    I would have you know that the Queen of England has heard the
+    report of Doctor Barth (named Abdel Kerim among the Arabs),
+    who visited you at her command, in your country, to renew
+    the friendship existing between you and us, and to make you
+    known to her. Barth has made known to us the goodwill with
+    which you received him and which can never be forgotten. You
+    have protected him from a faithless people who were unable to
+    distinguish good from evil (may God reward you for the good
+    actions His law recommended to you!). He has informed us of
+    your strength and courage, and we have felt great joy thereat.
+
+    The letters you sent by him have arrived. We have read them and
+    well understand what they contain. It has been a great pleasure
+    to us. The hopes of the English Government have been understood
+    by you. What we wish is to open the eyes of the Arabs of the
+    south to commerce and all appertaining to it, and we are now
+    aware that you have looked upon our mission with pleasure and
+    have accepted our friendship with joy.
+
+    We have given you our word that the friendship binding us shall
+    not diminish through the centuries, and that all that the Arabs
+    require of us we will do, without increase or diminishment. We
+    will assist them in all that they are unable to perform, and as
+    our government is very powerful we will protect your people who
+    turn to us, above all with the aid of your Lordship, who have
+    long shown your power and your friendship for us.
+
+    The Queen experienced great joy when she knew the benefits
+    with which you loaded Abdel Kerim, who was enabled to return
+    in peace owing to your reception and the honours with which
+    you surrounded him, and she sends you presents of products
+    manufactured in England.
+
+    These presents have been packed in cases and sent to the
+    Consul-general of Tripoli, who will send them on to you. God
+    grant that they may arrive safely and in good condition, and
+    that they may please and rejoice you.
+
+    We request and recommend you to say to the chief of the
+    Aoulemidens and the chief of the Tademekkats, that the Queen of
+    England has received the letters sent by them to her through
+    Abdel Kerim. We have all been pleased by them. She begs you
+    to say to these chiefs that she salutes them and sends them a
+    poignard and a sabre, the poignard for one, and the sabre for
+    the other. You will easily recognise these objects, for the
+    name of the recipient is written upon each.
+
+    To conclude this letter, we wish to say to you that our joy
+    would be great to see one of your people, above all a child of
+    your own house, whose visit would honour us. We wish to show
+    him our power, our manufactures, and many other things.
+
+    May God prolong your life and preserve you to live.
+
+                                              Your friend,
+
+                                                              CLARENDON,
+                                    _Minister of the English Government_.
+
+LONDON, _the fifteenth day of April 1859_.
+
+[Illustration: VIEW TAKEN FROM THE TERRACE OF BARTH’S HOUSE]
+
+
+LETTER II
+
+LETTER FROM THE ENGLISH CONSUL AT TRIPOLI TO EL BACKAY.
+
+    Praise be to the one God! May God grant His blessing to him
+    after whom there was no longer a Prophet (otherwise Mahomet)!
+
+    To our friend the noble Lord, the very high, very learned, very
+    complete Sidi Ahmed Backay.
+
+    May our greeting reach him with the expression of our
+    consideration.
+
+    You will find in this letter an epistle from the minister
+    Clarendon, with a translation in Arabic. It is written in reply
+    to the letter received by you.
+
+    When you have read this letter _you will know that the English
+    Government has sent a steamer up the river that flows out of
+    your country, and has recommended those on board to make every
+    effort to reach you_. Watch for them. _We desire to unite
+    ourselves in friendship with the people of your country, and
+    make ourselves known to you, above all at Timbuctoo where you
+    live._ We ask God to assist us in this task because _it will
+    result in great good to your country and to us also_.
+
+    The son of your sister, Sidi Mohamed, and the people of his
+    retinue are well. He is with me at this moment, awaiting the
+    presents the Government is sending him, and the writings which
+    seal the friendship existing between you and us.
+
+    Our Government has already given Sidi Mohamed the choice
+    between several things. They would send a boat to take him to
+    them, or they would reward him here and return him to you,
+    or he could stay with me till the end of the winter and the
+    beginning of the spring, when a boat could take him to England.
+    Sidi Mohamed decides to return from here, and this is also
+    preferred by my Government, for we fear the effect of the cold
+    of our climate upon his health. This cold is very great, _etc._
+
+                                            (_Signature illegible._)
+
+The boat mentioned never did reach Timbuctoo, nor did El Backay visit
+England and see its manufactures. Lord Clarendon’s ‘great joy’ was of
+short duration, and his hopes resulted in nothing.
+
+After the departure of Barth, his protector had no leisure to give
+to the plans which had been sketched between them; he was entirely
+occupied in taking care of himself. The generous attitude which had
+popularised him with Europe had greatly complicated his position in
+Timbuctoo. His very strained relations with the Foulbe authorities, and
+the suspicion with which the inhabitants regarded a _protégé_ of the
+Touaregs obliged him to maintain a good deal of reserve.
+
+The most critical period of the Sudan was now approaching, and the
+Toucouleur invasion was spreading from south to north. El Hadj Omar had
+marched from victory to victory, and was now menacing the Foulbe empire
+(1860). Ahmadou Ahmadou naïvely sought to avert the peril by opposing
+a man of religion to one who, to justify his massacres, posed as a
+reformer, and Sheik El Backay reappeared on the scenes. He was exhorted
+to intervene as mediator between the kingdom and the new Prophet, but,
+remembering the former harshness of the Foulbe monarch, he at first
+refused. Afterwards, however, he addressed a message of peace to El
+Hadj, which he accompanied with several presents. For all reply the
+conquering Toucouleur ironically invited the sheik to hasten with his
+homage, to which El Backay responded by a satire in verse on the false
+Prophet. Ahmadou Ahmadou had perished meanwhile, and the Toucouleurs
+were installed in his capital of Hamdallai. One of their columns,
+entering Timbuctoo under the command of Alpha Omar, pillaged the town
+and sacked the house of El Backay.
+
+After a while the sheik decided to return from the desert, in which he
+had sought shelter, and at his instigation Touaregs and Kountas joined
+the fray. Alpha Omar’s column was surprised by night and totally
+destroyed, and the conquerors, reinforced by Foulbes, besieged El Hadj
+Omar in Hamdallai. The Toucouleur peril was averted, but dissension now
+spread among the troops, and El Backay quitted Timbuctoo to establish
+peace. Before reaching Hamdallai, however, he fell ill at a little
+village, on the right bank of the Niger, called Saradina, and died
+there eight days afterwards (1864).
+
+Abbidin, who was his favourite son, according to Barth, attempted to
+assume his father’s position at Timbuctoo, but in vain, for neither
+Touaregs nor inhabitants would have anything to do with him. He
+then attempted a political _rôle_ in the countries of the Deltas,
+and finally relapsed into brigandage; pillaging and terrorising the
+shores of the Black and White Niger, under the pretext of fighting the
+Touaregs. He was killed by the latter as he was making a pilgrimage to
+his father’s tomb in 1890.
+
+Such was the history of the Backays up to the moment of our arrival in
+Timbuctoo. It is the story of the decline of a great and noble family
+of the desert. I will mention one more somewhat remarkable episode.
+Barth awoke at Berlin one morning under the impression that he must
+write to General Faidherbe, the governor of Senegal, and recommend the
+Backays to him in case one or other of them should require assistance.
+He sent the letter, and at the precise moment of its arrival in St.
+Louis, Oulad Backay had been arrested as a spy, and was on the point
+of being condemned to death by a court-martial. Faidherbe naturally
+acquitted the prisoner, and thus Barth’s and England’s debt was repaid.
+
+Two of the sheik’s sons, namely, Baba Ahmed and Bai, were still living
+when we entered Timbuctoo. They had returned to the Saharian Adrar, the
+cradle of their family, and settled at Tached-Ait (the mountain of
+stone), a ten days’ journey from Timbuctoo. All traces of the influence
+their forefathers exercised over the Touaregs had disappeared, and
+they were living on exceedingly bad terms with their neighbours, the
+Touaregs of Air.
+
+Ahmed, grandson of the sheik, lives at Gourbo on the Niger, and seems
+to wish to restore the prestige of the family. He addressed a letter to
+the French authorities, asking if they were disposed to ratify the good
+relations established by Barth. He was answered in the affirmative, but
+his situation is so precarious that he will scarcely be of much use to
+us. A solitary Backay, Ahmadi-Alouata, occupies a modest position in
+Timbuctoo, and is on the best of terms with the authorities.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+THE FRENCH CONQUEST
+
+
+Up to the last moment England endeavoured to put her hand upon the
+commerce of Timbuctoo. Failing in her efforts from Tripoli and the
+Niger’s mouth, she attempted to secure a footing by way of Morocco,
+and was installed towards 1890 at Cape Juby. It was then too late.
+Our columns and posts had been slowly advancing by the Senegal route
+advocated by Colbert, and in 1893 Colonel Archinard took Jenne, the
+last halting-place but one. The following year we were at Timbuctoo,
+and Cape Juby was evacuated.
+
+Whatever may have been said at the time, the occupation of Timbuctoo
+was not only necessary, but had to be effected with the least possible
+delay. No one can complain now that we have not made known the history
+of these people and their country. The prosperity of the Sudan is
+so closely connected with that of its principal market, that if the
+general anarchy had been prolonged in Timbuctoo all the sacrifices of
+human life and money we had made on her threshold would have remained
+sterile. The sooner an end was put to the ruinous dominion of the
+Touaregs the better would it be. What would have become of the town if
+the French occupation had been prevented? We can easily picture the
+scene: the Touaregs would assemble and unite with Kountas, Foulbes, and
+Moors, as they did thirty years ago against the Toucouleurs at the
+instigation of El Backay. The routes from Morocco, Tuat, and Tripoli
+would have left the Sudan (that enormous country which we occupy with
+such modest means) open to foreign intrigues, to the introduction of
+arms and ammunition, and to fanatics led by some inspired marabut,
+to a second El Hadj Omar returned from Mecca, or to some Mahdi come
+from Tuat. The result of long years of struggle and effort would
+be destroyed in a few months, our patient work of regeneration and
+pacification would be hopelessly compromised, and the flames of revolt
+which would break out in Timbuctoo would rapidly spread to Algeria. The
+seat of so many perils, the key to all the routes of the Sahara and
+Sudan, must be in our hands as soon as possible.
+
+These dangers were dissipated by the promptitude of our march on
+Timbuctoo. All homage to Colonel Archinard, who knew so well the
+country and people with whom he had to deal. By his alacrity the
+colony was spared fresh convulsions and the capital great sacrifices.
+No sooner was Jenne taken, than, with remarkable intuition, he traced
+the plan of the succeeding campaign. A forced march was to be made
+on Timbuctoo to prevent any concentration of the nomads, one column
+traversing the countries on the left bank of the Niger, another
+advancing by means of the river as the gunboats cleared the passage.
+Such were the tactics pursued at the end of 1894. Colonel Bonnier
+conducted one of the columns, Colonel Jouffre the second, while
+Lieutenant Boiteux commanded the flotilla. Unfortunately Colonel
+Archinard was not there to conduct the campaign; had he been, the
+unfortunate episodes which marred its execution would probably have
+been averted.
+
+I am now going to show the taking of Timbuctoo in a new light, as it
+appeared to the inhabitants. They related it to me as the old Sudanese
+chroniclers, whose art is unhappily lost, might have done.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+From the beginning of November 1894 vague rumours were afloat in
+Timbuctoo, reports of a mustering of troops at Segu. The country
+being quiet on their side, the inhabitants conjectured it to be some
+expedition preparing for the north. Three weeks passed without any
+news, and then suddenly events took shape. A merchant, who arrived from
+the south, announced that the gunboats had reached Sarafara and were
+preparing to start for Kabara. They had taken on board, as pilots, two
+of the leading merchants of Timbuctoo, who were in exile at Sarafara,
+having been ruined by the Touaregs. The next day news came of the
+arrival of the flotilla at Koriouma.
+
+A body of Tenguaragif Touaregs were in Timbuctoo, and they summoned
+Hamdia, the chief of the town, and ordered him to have the tabala
+(war drum) sounded, and to command the people to take up arms. The
+excitement was great, the population being divided between fear of the
+French and terror of the Touaregs; some of the notables remonstrated
+with Hamdia, and the Kountas alone showed any courage. However, all
+those who had not hidden themselves in time had to set out in company
+with the veiled men. This small army, of which the Touaregs formed the
+cavalry, was armed with lances and javelins, and a few rifles belonging
+chiefly to the Kountas.
+
+As this army was marching to Kabara on the morning of December 5th,
+the flotilla had left Koriouma, and was ascending the Pool to Dai.
+There Commandant Boiteux and some Laptots (black sailors) disembarked
+in a lighter to reconnoitre the route to Kabara, and gather sufficient
+information to acquaint the two columns with the situation when they
+should arrive. But an incident occurred which upset their intended
+plans, and hastened the capture of Timbuctoo in an unforeseen manner.
+
+The approach of the lighter having been signalled at Kabara, the
+Touaregs and Timbuctooans assembled on the banks, silent and immovable.
+When the lighter appeared in sight a cloud of lances and javelins
+greeted it, the Kountas discharged their guns, and a general uproar
+took place. Only one shot carried, wounding a laptot; the rest had time
+to escape the javelins by crouching at the bottom of the boat. They
+replied with a volley which wounded several, killed one, and put all to
+flight, the Touaregs to the desert, and the Timbuctooans back to their
+city.
+
+A few hours later the gunboats and lighters anchored in the harbour of
+Kabara.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+At Timbuctoo the authorities held council during the night. ‘What is to
+be done’? asked Hamdia, the chief.
+
+‘Listen to my words and thought,’ replied the kadi. ‘You must write a
+letter to the commander, and say, “It is not we who are responsible
+for what has happened at Kabara but the Touaregs, whom we fear. We,
+the people of Timbuctoo, are not opposed to your arrival here, for you
+hold the countries from which we draw our commerce and alimentation. We
+place ourselves in your hands.” This is my advice.’
+
+‘I am afraid to do that,’ replied Hamdia. ‘The Touaregs insulted me
+this morning by saying that we had written to the white men asking them
+to come. They know that some of our people are on their side.’
+
+‘The Touaregs do us nothing but harm: why listen to them?’ replied the
+kadi. ‘We had better send a letter to Kabara.’
+
+‘But the road is guarded. Our messengers would be taken and killed.’
+
+‘You can get to Kabara by other than the main route.’
+
+‘So be it,’ said Hamdia finally. ‘Let us do as you say.’
+
+The kadi drew up the letter, and wrote to the commander as follows:--
+
+[Illustration: GENERAL VIEW OF FORT BONNIER]
+
+‘We would have you to know that what took place this morning was done
+without our sanction. We only took part under compulsion from the
+Touaregs, and we fled as soon as we could. Our united resolution was
+this. When, a month ago, we learnt of the arrival of your troops at
+Segu, some Arab merchants counselled us to write to our former master,
+the Sultan of Morocco, and ask him what we were to do if the white men
+came. The messengers set out for Fez with a caravan. The route is long,
+and they have not yet returned. We are women. We do not fight.’
+
+Two messengers, who were bribed with a hundred yards of white linen to
+go to Kabara, immediately set out. Before sunrise they returned. One of
+the Timbuctooans, who accompanied the gunboats, had read and translated
+the kadi’s letter to the white man’s interpreter, and then written the
+following answer in the commandant’s name:--
+
+‘I know that all the mounted men and those armed with lances were
+Touaregs, but those who had guns were natives of Timbuctoo. Why did you
+attack us before you knew what we wished? It is not thus you should
+receive people with whose intentions you are not acquainted. Ours were
+for your good. But what is past is past; to-morrow send some of your
+chiefs for a palaver.’
+
+Early in the morning of the next day the Touaregs returned to
+Timbuctoo. They were questioned by one of the notables, Alpha Saidou,
+the chief of the Ghingaraber quarter.
+
+‘We pay you taxes, therefore you ought to defend us. Here are the white
+men. What do you intend doing?’
+
+‘Do as you like,’ they replied. ‘The Tenguaragifs are not the only
+masters here. Other tribes share the tax with us, and our people ought
+not to be the only ones to be slaughtered. Besides, we have just
+learned that a column is coming from the west, the Gundam quarter,
+where our flocks and wives are. We want to protect them, and we are
+going.’
+
+The Touaregs having left the town, the chiefs and notables assembled
+in the mosque of Sidi Yaia after the sunset prayer. They decided to
+accede to the commandant’s wish, and two delegates were chosen. The
+letter which accredited them repeated that they were merchants and not
+combatants, and that if the commandant would wait for the sultan’s
+answer all would be well; but if not, he was at liberty to do just
+what he pleased; he would not be opposed by the people. However, the
+delegates came back; one, a Tripolitan chosen by the Arab merchants,
+would not do. The commandant, would not treat with a stranger, but
+only with the natives. He was replaced by an influential marabut,
+Mohaman Kouti, the other delegate being Alpha Saidou. From that time
+negotiations opened very amicably with Kabara, the delegates frankly
+explaining the situation and announcing the exodus of the Touaregs. The
+commandant received them courteously, told them that two armies were
+following him up, and demanded that a treaty of peace should be signed
+by the chief and authorities of the town placing the country under
+the protectorate of France. But no one in Timbuctoo dared give his
+signature. The town was dismayed, every one feared the return of the
+Touaregs, knowing that in that case his signature would cost him his
+head.
+
+According to a local legend, the Niger has an exceptionally high
+and early rise in those years when some remarkable event, generally
+sinister, is to take place, such as war, epidemic, or famine. For
+thirty years no one remembered to have seen so much water in the pool
+that winds from Kabara to Timbuctoo. M. Boiteux decided to hasten the
+negotiations, and arrived at Timbuctoo, by means of the pool of Kabara,
+with two lighters armed with revolving guns, borrowed from the gunboats.
+
+And thus it was that Timbuctoo, a town nearly eight hundred miles from
+the sea--a town of the Sahara, moreover,--was taken by sailors, thus
+equalling the feat of Jourdan’s Hussars, who took possession of the
+Dutch fleet among the ice of the Zuyder Zee.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+It was December 15th. The evening before, the two delegates had been
+sent back to Timbuctoo to prepare it for the events which were to
+follow. During the night, the lighters, manned by eighteen men, had
+crossed the sands without hindrance, and were before Timbuctoo by the
+morning. On hearing this, some forty of the besieged, Foulbes and
+Kountas mostly, took up arms; but the authorities compelled them to put
+them down, threatening to stir up the mob against them if they did not.
+The chiefs then proceeded to the banks of the pool, taking with them
+gifts of welcome. ‘Are you bringing me the treaty of peace I demanded?’
+asked Commandant Boiteux. ‘No,’ the chief replied, ‘for we only heard
+of your arrival last night.’ ‘Then I cannot accept your gifts,’ said M.
+Boiteux, ‘and I have nothing further to say to you. You know my wish; I
+made it known to your two envoys.’
+
+As the deputation retired one of the guns was landed and planted on a
+neighbouring dune, which was rapidly transformed into a redoubt; the
+other was left on board the lighter, to cover any eventual retreat.
+
+The presence of the little troop, and, above all, the two cannon (whose
+terrible power was known to them), reassured the authorities as to the
+return of the Touaregs, and gave them courage for a final resolution.
+They assembled their notables and marabuts at the mosque, and, the
+three o’clock prayer having been recited, Kouati, the most influential
+marabut, stood up and said, ‘What have you all to say?’
+
+‘But what have you to say?’ the assembly replied.
+
+‘I? Oh, I am not one of the authorities.’
+
+‘Certainly. But you are a marabut, you have the word of God. Speak!
+speak!’
+
+‘This is my thought,’ Kouati then said. ‘All those who will not make
+peace will be responsible in the Judgment Day for the souls of those
+who get killed.’
+
+‘We will do as you counsel us.’
+
+‘I am not the only marabut in Timbuctoo,’ Kouati objected.
+
+‘Question my brethren.’
+
+‘What Mohaman Kouati says is true,’ opined the brethren.
+
+‘It is well,’ concluded Kouati. ‘I am going to make peace with the
+French.’
+
+And then he went to the lighters with Alpha Saidou, who had accompanied
+him to Kabara, and said to the commandant, ‘We ask for peace. We will
+accept it, and do all you wish. Henceforth we are with you.’
+
+‘Your decision gives me much pleasure,’ M. Boiteux assured them. ‘We do
+not like making war, we prefer peace. It was the Toucouleurs who first
+fired at Jenne; had it not been for that, we should not have fired a
+shot. In future, you have nothing to fear. Sign the treaty by which you
+recognise the French as masters of the town, and I, on my side, will
+sign one which will place you under our protection.’
+
+The next morning, the two treaties having been exchanged in the
+presence of the chiefs and marabuts, they implored the commandant to
+enter and occupy the town, explaining their fear of reprisals from
+the Touaregs, and assuring him that henceforth he could in all things
+count upon them. They loyally informed him that the besieged had taken
+up arms, and they undertook to keep them under surveillance, and to
+acquaint him with all that went on inside and outside the city.
+
+M. Boiteux requested them to show him the highest point of the city,
+and there he selected a large house. One of the guns was hoisted on
+to the terrace, and the surrounding walls were temporarily put into a
+state of defence. This improvised fortlet was at the north of the town,
+where a real fort, occupied by a squadron of Spahis, now stands. At the
+south of the town another house was transformed in the same manner, and
+the second gun was placed there, while the handful of Europeans and
+Laptots were stationed in between, and some fifty men, armed with guns
+furnished by the town, were posted as sentinels.
+
+In the meantime the Touaregs had plotted with, and been joined by, some
+Kountas. On December 21st they attacked the flotilla reserve station
+at Kabara. It was on this occasion the sad episode occurred which cost
+Midshipman Aube his life. At the moment he was dying at Our’ Oumaira,
+the sentinels at Timbuctoo, having heard rifle-shots, had given the
+alarm. The only two horses in the town were brought out, Commandant
+Boiteux mounted one, another European the other, and, accompanied by
+the little garrison and the fifty natives, they set off in all haste to
+Kabara. They routed the Touaregs, who fled, leaving fifteen of their
+number dead.
+
+[Illustration: ENTRANCE TO FORT BONNIER]
+
+The enemy mustered again in the night, and were seen in the day-time
+passing the town. Being greeted with shot, they dispersed, some
+to block the road to Kabara on the south, while others installed
+themselves to the north of the city. The next night they sent a letter
+to the kadi couched in the following terms: ‘People of Timbuctoo, are
+you for us, or for the white men?’ The messenger was sent back with no
+other answer than having seen the letter torn in pieces and spat upon.
+At the same time, an inhabitant of the city arrived who had been made
+prisoner by the Touaregs, and had escaped under cover of the darkness.
+He told the Timbuctooans that at a council of the Touaregs, N’-Gouna,
+chief of the Tenguaragifs, had proposed marching on Timbuctoo, but had
+been opposed by the chiefs of the Kalintassars.
+
+The commandant was immediately warned, and the alarm given to the
+inhabitants, who feared an attack in the dark, according to the usual
+custom of the veiled men. Every one was armed; even the strangers of
+Mossi, who had been recently exploited by the Touaregs, seized their
+bows and arrows. They were posted east and west, while the two fortlets
+guarded north and south.
+
+As day broke they could see bands passing from east to west, but not
+daring to approach when they saw the muster. The divisions among the
+Touaregs increased; the Kalintassars, who had not wished to attack
+Timbuctoo, returned to their homes, and only the Tenguaragifs remained,
+and they seized the road to Kabara with the intention of starving the
+town.
+
+They calculated well. About January 6th the garrison found the
+provisions were running short. Whatever happened, they must revictual
+from Kabara. The commandant resolved to use the path by which he
+had come; so, in the night, the two lighters, armed afresh with the
+revolving guns and a few men, glided out unperceived. However, they
+could not get back before daylight, and the Touaregs, having discovered
+them, assembled in a mass on the shores where the banks of the pool
+narrowed. As they were preparing to fling their javelins, the guns were
+unmasked, and a charge of grape-shot saluted them. The Touaregs had not
+noticed the departure of the lighters, and thinking that reinforcements
+had arrived, they fled to the interior westward of the town, and the
+road to Timbuctoo was free.
+
+Four days later, January 10th, the first column, under command of
+Colonel Bonnier, entered the town, and thus ended the extraordinary
+adventure of the marines in Timbuctoo.
+
+I have transcribed, word for word, the naïve account given me by
+those ebony and bronze men who were either the chief actors or chief
+spectators in this action. My one care has been to simplify their
+narrative and avoid any embellishments, yet I doubt if, in modern
+times, there has been any event as improbable. The gravity of heroic
+drama is mingled with the fun of an operetta, buffoonery wrestles with
+the sublime. Not even the unhealthy imagination of Edgar Poe ever
+conceived anything more fantastic.
+
+[Illustration: FORT PHILIPPE]
+
+It is so preposterous on the face of it. Nineteen men, seven of whom
+are Europeans and the remainder Senegalese negroes, set out to bring to
+terms a town of 8000 inhabitants, and are asked to take possession of
+it. And this town is no African Lauderneau: it is Timbuctoo the Great,
+known as a mysterious, fanatical, inaccessible city. Events follow _in
+crescendo_. The population sides with its masters of to-day against
+those of yesterday. One day they are ‘women,’ the next they are heroes
+ready to die in defence of their conquerors, and, what is more, they
+prove it! These Touaregs, whom formerly they had not dared to look in
+the face, they now fight in the open country. And, more astonishing
+still, they beat them! This dishevelled epopee, this mingling of
+cavalry and artillery with naval combats and pictures of siege, does
+not last for one or several days, it is prolonged for a month. In
+fact, one is surprised not to see the green-eyed Pallas Athene, or the
+white-armed Venus, appearing in the plain of Timbuctoo to protect the
+combatants and inflame them with warlike ardour, while Apollo of the
+silver bow brings the others to confusion with his arrows. But no,
+this is no fable; it has all been lived in our notoriously prosaic
+nineteenth century. Why should such a glorious and amusing quip be
+followed by so sinister an epilogue?
+
+The actors are the first column and those same Touaregs whom just now
+we left to the west of Timbuctoo. The story has been written by M.
+Raille, one of the garrison officers in Timbuctoo, who collected the
+facts from the survivors.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The morning after their entry into Timbuctoo, Colonel Bonnier, without
+further delay, ordered the fifth company and a platoon of the eleventh
+to set out and reconnoitre, that they might rid the neighbourhood of
+the nomads infesting it, and avenge, if possible, the massacre of
+Midshipman Aube.
+
+At five o’clock in the morning, leaving the rest of the troops under
+the command of Captain Philippe, the colonel started with the little
+column. He was accompanied by Commander Hugueny, Captains Regad,
+Livrelli, Tassard, Sensaric, and Nigote, Lieutenants Garnier and
+Bouverst, Sub-lieutenant Sarda, Doctor Colonel Gallas, the veterinary
+Lenoir, and interpreter Acklouck.
+
+It was the 14th of January 1894. At two o’clock in the afternoon
+Colonel Bonnier learnt that the Touaregs were distant only a mile
+or two in front of the column. They continued marching until eight
+in the evening, and then they saw some flocks and a few armed men.
+After giving chase to the stragglers, they encamped at a place called
+Taconbao, which had just been evacuated by the Touaregs. Every one was
+satisfied and cheerful.
+
+They encamped, as nearly as possible, in the form of a square, the men
+of the fifth company occupying the north, and those of the eleventh
+company the south side. Every one slept rolled up in his blanket with
+his arms piled near. On the other two sides the captured flocks were
+picketed. The prisoners were installed in the middle of the camp, while
+the staff formed a group in the middle of the square towards the east
+side, where the colonel’s quarters were.
+
+Until midnight the officers of the staff were awake, and laughing and
+joking, having spent the evening gaily. At last every one slept. It was
+a magnificent night, and the brilliant light of the moon illuminated
+everything, until she set towards four o’clock in the morning. At
+half-past four only the sentinels, of whom there were six, were awake.
+The colonel himself gave the orders to have them placed at a short
+distance from the camp. Suddenly, in the midst of the silence and
+darkness, two reports of firearms resounded through the camp, and the
+cry ‘To arms!’ was repeated everywhere. Immediately every one was up,
+hurriedly seeking his arms. Alas! it was too late!
+
+The Touaregs, some of whom had been seen straggling round the camp
+the evening before, had assembled during the night. Their cavalry,
+accompanied by running footmen and favoured by the darkness, flung
+themselves on to the French camp in a furious and irresistible charge.
+In the twinkling of an eye they had capsized the piled weapons and
+swarmed into the camp before any one had had time to defend himself.
+
+It was night indeed, and the frightful scene which ensued cannot be
+depicted. It was a furious onslaught, an indescribable tumult. Above
+everything sounded the warcries of the enemy, who were striking
+and killing on all sides with lances, assegais, sabres, poignards,
+tomahawks, etc. A few rifle-shots mingled with the clamour of distress,
+and that was all.
+
+Our tirailleurs succumbed to this human avalanche. In a few minutes it
+was all over.
+
+Three Europeans, an officer and two non-commissioned officers (Captain
+Nigote, Sergeant-Major Baretti,and Sergeant Lalire) and a handful of
+men succeeded in forcing a passage and reaching some bushes near the
+encampment. Captain Nigote collected the fugitives in the midst of
+these unprecedented perils and difficulties, and conducted them to the
+convoy which had been left behind. There they were able to reform.
+
+Eighty-two of our men and two guides were missing. Nine officers,
+including the colonel, three non-commissioned officers (of whom two
+were Europeans), eight corporals, and sixty native tirailleurs, had
+fallen before the enemy.
+
+As far as the survivors could judge in the darkness and tumult, they
+had been attacked by about two hundred horsemen and between two and
+three hundred foot-soldiers.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Twenty-five days afterwards, the second column, commanded by Colonel
+Jouffre, arrived at Taconbao and collected the skeletons of the
+thirteen Europeans, bringing them back to Timbuctoo. They were buried
+behind an enclosure of dead thorns at the foot of the fort which was
+being built to the south of the town. The last solemn honours were
+rendered them before the whole garrison and the assembled population,
+and modest mounds of sun-dried bricks and simple black crosses were
+placed over the graves of these unfortunate heroes. Then Colonel
+Jouffre turned his thoughts to vengeance. He soon ascertained that the
+Tenguaragifs had settled between the Lakes Faguibine and Fati, not far
+from Gundam. They were surprised by night in their encampments, and
+our tirailleurs and Spahis slew a great number of them. According to a
+saying of their own country, they paid the ransom of blood.
+
+[Illustration: COLONEL BONNIER’S TOMB AT TIMBUCTOO]
+
+Since we have avenged our dead, as the customs of the desert require,
+and since we possess the country and the markets from which the
+Touaregs draw their supplies, their different tribes have offered their
+submission. I will not affirm that this submission is complete and
+definite. It will still be necessary from time to time to show them
+that their nefarious dominion is at an end, and that they have found
+their master.
+
+Timbuctoo remained unwaveringly faithful through all these
+vicissitudes, true to the word given on the first day, ‘We are for you
+henceforth,’ and it is easy to see that this allegiance will never be
+withdrawn.
+
+After waiting for it a year, the town received the sultan’s reply. The
+sovereign of Fez wrote as follows:--
+
+      ‘Praise be unto the one God.
+
+    ‘May blessings and salutations be upon our Lord Mahomet, upon
+    his family, and upon his companions.
+
+    ‘Greeting to the chief of the town and the notables. May God
+    accord you His favours, accompanied by His blessings and His
+    mercy.
+
+    ‘I have paid great attention to the help and protection you
+    ask of me. I am greatly distressed. I should have responded to
+    your appeal and given you good support, but the great distance
+    between us compels me to be cautious. Your neighbours must come
+    to your assistance.
+
+    ‘I will march upon the French and drive them away from you, but
+    you must first send me proofs of your dependency on my high
+    government and my kingdom. If you possess writings emanating
+    from your ancestors (those generous ones who are already in
+    the Land of the Blessed), manifest and serious documents, send
+    them to me. With their help I will deliver you from everything
+    by the power and grace of the Most High God, who suffices unto
+    the afflicted and who comforts those who suffer, for He is
+    All-powerful.
+
+                                 ‘Salutation.
+
+                                                 ‘MOULAY EL HASSAN.’
+
+And so faded their last and fondest illusions. As soon as received, his
+majesty’s letter was put into the hands of the commandant of Timbuctoo,
+who delicately placed it in the archives.
+
+Two large forts have replaced the improvised fortifications, and
+their guns command every side of the town. Under their protection
+the inhabitants are reviving. The long nightmare of the Touaregs
+is being slowly dispelled, they are beginning to repair and rebuild
+their houses, to leave the doors ajar, and to resume their beautifully
+embroidered robes.
+
+[Illustration: A HOUSE: TYPICAL OF TIMBUCTOO RESTORED]
+
+The town begins to show signs of European occupation. A great,
+herculean negro plays the part of policeman, and promenades the streets
+with a sabre at his side. An enterprising merchant, Gaston Mery, has
+recently established a counting-house, and he carries on an excellent
+business in the large and comfortable house he has built there.
+Cardinal Lavigerie’s White Fathers have arrived, led by Father Hacquard
+(a man well known in Algeria), and, thanks to them, the town is already
+endowed with a church (Our Lady of Timbuctoo) and a school.
+
+Such are the first days of the new era upon which Timbuctoo has
+entered, and from which she will emerge more famous than ever; for she
+possesses one thing which can never be destroyed, and which ensures her
+perpetual greatness--her unique geographical position on the threshold
+of the Sudan between the eastern and western Niger, two arms which
+embrace the whole of western Africa.
+
+[Illustration: THE POLICEMAN AT TIMBUCTOO]
+
+I see Timbuctoo throwing aside her rags in the distant future, and
+raising the form bent by misfortunes. The sandy pool of Kabara will
+have been cleared and deepened, and the Niger will have brought its
+abundant waters to the gates of the town. It will be an easy task then
+to carry an arm to north and east, and the town will be embraced by
+a girdle of cultivation. Her gardens, her wealth of verdure, and her
+palm-trees will be restored to her, and, threaded by shady walks, she
+will become a pleasant and active cosmopolitan city, a point of union
+between the black and white worlds.
+
+The Sahara will be conquered; an iron chain will be put about its
+sands, the links of which will be railways; freights will circulate
+between Algiers and Timbuctoo with the speed of lightning; and the
+fleets of the Mediterranean will unite with those of the Niger.
+Touaregs, Kountas, and all unproductive nomads will be thrown back upon
+the desert, their first home, where they will form an efficient police
+force, which will protect the routes of the Sahara.
+
+I picture the city become a centre of European civilisation and
+science, as it was formerly of Mussulman culture. The reputation of
+her scholars will again spread from Lake Chad to the mountains of Kong
+and the shores of the Atlantic, and Timbuctoo will once more be the
+wealthy and cultured Queen of the Sudan which her distant view now so
+deceitfully promises her to be.
+
+
+
+
+FOOTNOTES
+
+
+[1] This is how our conquest has been organised:--The Sudan is divided
+into regions, the regions into circles, and these again into posts. The
+first are five in number. The government resides provisionally in the
+first region, that of Kayes (though logically the centre of the colony
+should be at Bammaku). Its circles are those of Nioro, Kita, Bafoulaba,
+and its posts, Selibaba and Gumbu. Other European centres are: Medina,
+Dinguirai, Dioubaba, and Badoumba. Second, the southern region. Centre:
+Bissandugu (ancient capital of Samory). Circles: Siguiri, Farannah,
+Erimakono, Kissidugu. Posts: Kankan, Beyla, Kerwana, Kuroussa. Third,
+the eastern region on the left bank of the river and to the right
+across the valley of the Niger. Centre: Bammaku. Circle: Bougouni.
+Posts: Koulikoro and Toulimandio. Fourth, the north-east region on both
+sides of the river. Centre: Segu. Circles: Jenne, Sokolo, Bandiagara.
+Posts: Mopti and Gourao on Lake Debo, headquarters of the flotilla.
+Fifth, the northern region comprising the lakes of the north valley.
+Centre: Timbuctoo. Circles: Gundam and Sarafara. Post: El Oual Hadj. A
+superior officer is at the head of each region; captains administer the
+circles; and officers of different grades command the posts.
+
+[2] It would probably be necessary, in order to identify Kokia with a
+town of the Nile valley, to find one built upon an island like the two
+principal Songhois towns, Jenne and Gao. The _Tarik_ mentions a town of
+the same name existing in the sixteenth century south of Gao, but it
+can have no connection with the Kokia at present under discussion. The
+name was probably given to it by the Songhois in memory of their first
+home; if indeed the town really had this name, and it is not an error
+of the copyists.
+
+[3] Gao is also called Kou-Kou, Gogo, Garo, and Gago.
+
+[4] A record of their names is immaterial, but I append it, thinking to
+please the orientalists, who will thus be enabled to read them for the
+first time as they are pronounced by the Songhois.
+
+Dialliaman’s successors were: Dia Arkaï, Dia Atkaï, Dia Akkaï, Dia
+Akkou, Dia Alfaï, Dia Biagoumaï, Dia Bi, Dia Kira, Dia Aum Karawaï, Dia
+Aum Sumaïam, Dia Aum Danka, Dia Kiobogo, Dia Koukouraï, Dia Kenken;
+these were idolaters. The sixteenth king, reigning towards the year
+1000 of our era, was converted to Islamism in 1010, and since then all
+the Songhoi princes have been Mussulmans. The list of names continues
+without incident up to Dia Soboï: Dia Koussaï Daria, Dia Hin Koronou
+Goudam, Dia Bia Koni Kimi, Dia Binta Say, Dia Bia Kaïna Kamba, Dia
+Kaïna Siniobo, Dia Tip, Dialliaman Diago, Dia Ali Korr, Dia Berr
+Faloco, _Dia Siboi_, Dia Dourou, Dia Kabaro, Dia Bissi Baro, Dia Bada.
+
+[5] Sunni Alikolon, Sunni Suliman Naré, Sunni Ibrahim Kobia, Sunni
+Osman Kanava, Sunni Barkaïna Ankabi, Sunni Moussa, Sunni Boukari
+Dianka, Sunni Boukar Dalla Bougoumba, Sunni Marikin, Sunni Mohammed
+Daon, Sunni Mohammed Kokia, Sunni Mohammed Barro, Sunni Maré
+Kollighimon, Sunni Maré Arcouna, Sunni Maré Ardhan, Sunni Suliman Dami,
+_Sunni Ali_, and Sunni Barro (or Boukari Dao).
+
+[6] The windows form squares of nineteen inches at a three-foot
+interval. The first row is sixteen feet from the ground, and the second
+twenty-four feet or thereabouts.
+
+[7] Each triforium formed a gallery of little less than six feet six
+inches wide by thirty-two feet high. The walls of this part were rather
+more than two feet thick, while the walls of the gallery were about
+four feet thick.
+
+[8] The native pronunciation is more nearly represented by the
+orthography Tomboutou.
+
+[9] The Markassighi of to-day, settled to the east of Timbuctoo, and
+forming part of the Tenguaragif family.
+
+[10] The Hamtagal of to-day, to the south-west of Timbuctoo.
+
+[11] Called Ganata and Gana by the Arabs in the ancient texts, and
+Birou by the Songhois.
+
+[12] The hire of a camel plying between Morocco and Timbuctoo costs
+from forty to fifty francs, and merchants usually employ from thirty to
+forty of these animals.
+
+[13] The King of Mali erected a palace at Timbuctoo in the fourteenth
+century. But palaces have a precarious existence in the Sudan, and by
+the sixteenth century it had disappeared. Its ruins, forming a compact
+hillock in the west of the town, are now used as a slaughter-house.
+
+[14] This tribe of Senhadja spread very freely over the south-west of
+Africa, and it is from them that Senegal takes its name.
+
+[15] He was buried beside his father, Sidi Ahmed, whose tomb is still
+to be seen to the north of Timbuctoo.
+
+[16] A copy of this book is to be found among the manuscripts of the
+Bibliothèque Nationale, Fonds Orscela, No. 4628. It was found in
+Algeria by M. Cherbonneau, who has published some very interesting
+extracts.
+
+[17] M. Houdas, the eminent Professor of the Oriental School of
+Languages, is preparing a complete translation.
+
+[18] The following encounter took place between the chief of chiefs
+Omar and a Jew who brought him a document in which the Prophet
+commanded the exemption from taxation of the people of Khaibar (a
+Jewish town in Arabia). This document was accompanied by the testimony
+of the companions of the Prophet, Ali Ibn Abm Thaleb among others.
+These documents were brought to the chief of chiefs, and caused great
+astonishment to all people. They were shown to Aben Bekr, a prudent man
+and endowed with a wonderful memory. He reflected a moment, then said,
+‘All this is a lie.’ ‘How so?’ they asked him. ‘I find the evidence of
+Mo’awai in this document,’ he replied, ‘and Mo’awai did not embrace
+Islamism until the year of the capture of Khaibar. I also see the
+testimony of Sá’ad ben Mo’adh, and he died on the day of Bani-Karaide
+before the capture of Khaibar.’ This incident greatly amused the people.
+
+The above anecdote is related by Ahmed Baba in the beginning of his
+_Ibtihadj_.
+
+[19] I procured from its destroyers a little wooden Moorish window
+belonging to the upper story, in which the traveller lived during his
+stay. I brought away the poor relic, which is in every way worthy of
+a place in the Greenwich Hospital by the side of the mementoes of the
+Franklin Polar expedition.
+
+[20] _Barth_, vol. iv. p. 38, French edition.
+
+[21] _Ibid._, p. 442, German edition.
+
+
+
+
+INDEX
+
+
+  Abderrahman Sadi el Timbucti, author of _Tarik é Sudan_, life of,
+        312-313;
+    the plan of his work, 313-315, 316.
+
+  Abou Abdallah, 280-281.
+
+  Abu Abdallah ben Abderrahim, 287.
+
+  Ahmadou Abdoulay, 139.
+
+  ---- Ahmadou, last King of the Foulbes, 138, 139, 140, 340.
+
+  ---- Baba Boubakar, 310.
+
+  Ahmed Baba, life of, 306-310;
+    his books, 309, 312, 318.
+
+  Akil, takes refuge in Oualata, 236.
+
+  Alpha Moussa, 148.
+
+  Amru, the Arabian conqueror, on Egypt, 41-42.
+
+  Arabian language, spread of, in the Sudan, 276-277.
+
+  ---- traders of Timbuctoo, 264-266.
+
+  Archinard, Colonel, 71, 72, 140, 148, 172, 321, 352;
+    his march on Timbuctoo, 353.
+
+  Askia Bankouri, 118-119.
+
+  ---- Daoud, 120.
+
+  ---- El Hadj II., 120, 124.
+
+  ---- Ishak I., 120, 123, 124.
+
+  ---- Ishak II., 120, 124, 126, 127;
+    death of, 128.
+
+  ---- Ismael, 119-120.
+
+  ---- Kaghou, 128.
+
+  ---- Mohammed, 109-117;
+    his devotion to Islamism, 109;
+    pilgrimage to Mecca and Cairo, 110;
+    conquests of, 111-113;
+    extent of his empire, 113;
+    wise administration of, 114-116;
+    deposed by his son, 117;
+    death of, 120, 121.
+
+  ---- Mohamman Ban, 120.
+
+  ---- Moussa, 117-118, 304.
+
+  Aube Expedition, graves of the, 199.
+
+
+  Badoumba, 14.
+
+  Bafing river, 2.
+
+  Bafoulaba, 2, 4.
+
+  _Baga_, or _bamanbi_, or cheese-tree, 60-61.
+
+  Bakoy, 2, 9.
+
+  Bambaras, 129.
+
+  Bammaku, Fort, 2, 9, 50, 56, _et seq._;
+    its principal articles of commerce, 61, 68, 322.
+
+  Bani river, 33, 50, 51, 143-145.
+
+  Bankouri, 289.
+
+  Barth, 36, 89, 95, 98, 139, 143, 215, 312, 324, 329, 337-344;
+    as English Ambassador, 344-349, 350, 351.
+
+  Berbers, the, 113;
+    origin and history, 223-227.
+
+  Birds of the Niger, the, 28-29.
+
+  Boiteux, Lieutenant, 321.
+
+  Bonci-Ba (‘the great beard’), name given to Mungo Park, 36, 322.
+
+  Bonnier disaster, the, 199.
+
+  Borgnis-Desbordes, Colonel, 57, 72, 140, 321.
+
+  Bosos or Somnos, the sailors of the Niger, 18;
+    their origin, 19;
+    their physical qualities, 22-23, 38, 39, 80, 81, 82.
+
+  Bourgoo, Pool of, 51.
+
+  Bossissa, on the results of the French conquest, 76-78.
+
+  Brick-making in the Sudan, 148-150.
+
+  Bruc, André, 321.
+
+
+  Caillié, René, 8, 36, 329;
+    his career, 330-334;
+    his host and his house at Timbuctoo, 334-337, 342.
+
+  Camel, cost of hire of, from Morocco to Timbuctoo, 251 _n._ 12.
+
+  ‘Captain Nigote’s servant,’ 5.
+
+  Chad, Lake, 195.
+
+  Cheikou Ahmadou, 37, 68, 134-137, 138, 139, 156;
+    his reasons for destroying the great mosque at Jenne, 158-160, 240;
+    trickery of, 304.
+
+  Clarendon, Lord, letter from, to the Sheik el Backay, 345-346.
+
+  Colbert, 321, 352.
+
+  Commissariat in the French Nigerian possessions, 12-14.
+
+  Convoy from Kabara to Timbuctoo, 203-207.
+
+  Cotton district of the Niger, 65.
+
+  Crocodile worship at Jenne, 181-182.
+
+
+  Dai, 201.
+
+  ---- Pool of, 195, 196.
+
+  Dakar, the port of Senegal, 1, 70.
+
+  Debo, Lake, 27, 30, 33, 51, 145.
+
+  Deltas of the Niger, 51-53.
+
+  Diafaraba, 50, 51.
+
+  Dialliaman, 90 _et seq._;
+    his successors, 99.
+
+  Dia Soboï, 100.
+
+  _Diatigui_, or landlord, his duties, 260.
+
+  Difficulty of procuring books in Timbuctoo, my, 289.
+
+  Dioubaba, 2, 5;
+    journey from, to Bammaku, 9-16.
+
+  _Dioulas_, 10-11.
+
+  _Dissas_, 246.
+
+  Djonder, Pasha, 126, 127, 128.
+
+  Doves, respect paid to, at Jenne, 182.
+
+
+  Egypt, the ‘present of the Nile,’ 41.
+
+  ---- influence of Ancient, on the Sudan, 87-88, 95-97, 111, 188.
+
+  Egyptian art, characteristics of, in the houses at Jenne, 150-153.
+
+  ---- Customs, disappearance of, among the Songhois, 180.
+
+  El Backay, 139;
+    his house, 215, 343; 337, 340, 341;
+    letters from Lord Clarendon and English Consul to, 345-348, 349,
+        350.
+
+  ---- Bekri, quoted, on funeral customs, 194.
+
+  ---- Djouf, 252.
+
+  ---- Hadj, 281.
+
+  ---- ---- Omar, 59, 67, 68, 76, 138, 140, 141, 172, 240, 349, 350.
+
+  ---- _Ibtihadj_, 309.
+
+  ---- Mansour, Sultan, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 130, 307.
+
+  ---- Moucheïli, on Sunni Ali, 104-107, 295;
+    his persecution of the Jews, 298-299;
+    influence with the King, 299, 301.
+
+  ---- Oual Hadj, 31, 51, 191, 193;
+    mounds at, 193-195.
+
+  ---- Zidan Sultan, 310.
+
+  England, efforts of, to gain a footing in Western Africa, 325, 331,
+        352.
+
+  English methods in the Sudan, 345.
+
+  Essoyouti, 110, 136.
+
+
+  Faidherbe, Captain, his attempts to reach the Niger, 15, 71.
+
+  ---- General, Governor of the Niger, 350.
+
+  Farannah, 14.
+
+  _Fatassi_, the, 137, 302, 304;
+    anecdote of, 303-304.
+
+  Fires the black man’s method of manuring, 39.
+
+  Flatters Mission, the, 15.
+
+  Foota Jallon range, 9, 29, 42, 50.
+
+  Fording the stream to Timbuctoo, 205.
+
+  Foulbe dynasty, their detestation of Europeans, 139.
+
+  Foulbes, the, 129, 133-134, 135, 137, 140, 141, 147.
+
+  French arms, disaster to, near Timbuctoo, 365-366.
+
+  ---- influence in Jenne, beneficial results of, an old chief on,
+        172-173.
+
+
+  Gao, capital of the Songhoi Empire, 94, 95, 98, 99, 108, 113, 124,
+        126, 127, 133, 143, 147.
+
+  Ghingaraber, cathedral mosque of, 234, 325, 326.
+
+  Grey, Major, his expedition, 331.
+
+  Guinea, the coin, named from ‘Jenne,’ 172.
+
+
+  Habais, the, 98.
+
+  Hacquard, Father, 369.
+
+  Hamdallai (El-Lamdou-Lillahi), 159.
+
+  Houdas, M., 315 _n._ 17.
+
+
+  Ibn Batouta, 96;
+    quoted, 268-270.
+
+  ---- Chaldoun, quoted, 223.
+
+  ---- Ferhoun, 309.
+
+  Imbert, Paul, sold as a slave, 321-322.
+
+  Inundations of the Niger and Bani rivers, 143-145.
+
+  Islamism, appearance of, in the Sudan, 96.
+
+  Irregenaten, 241.
+
+
+  Jenne, 39, 67, 80 _et seq._, 100, 102, 113, 140, 146;
+    its situation, 146-147;
+    description of the houses at, 150-153;
+    the grand mosque at, 154-156;
+    commerce at, 165-167;
+    boat-building at, 167-168;
+    cost of travel at, 168;
+    influence of, on the Western Sudan, 169-170;
+    the founder of Timbuctoo, 170;
+    contrasted with Timbuctoo, 170-172;
+    under the Toucouleurs, 172;
+    results of French occupation, 172-173;
+    the market at, 178-180;
+    crocodile worship at, 181-182;
+    my last day at, 185-188;
+    the mother of Timbuctoo, 234.
+
+  Jenneri, 51.
+
+  Josse, M., 329.
+
+  Jouffre, Colonel, 353, 366.
+
+
+  Kabara, Port of Timbuctoo, 197;
+    population of, 200, 239, 242, 328.
+
+  ---- Pool of, 200, 205.
+
+  Kadi el Akib, 297.
+
+  Kaid-Ali, 38.
+
+  _Karita_, or butter-tree, 59-60.
+
+  Kati Mountains, 14.
+
+  Kissi country, 44, 48.
+
+  Khalif Abassid, 110, 116.
+
+  Kayes, the port of the Sudan, 2, 4, 70, 203.
+
+  Kingdom of the Sands, the, 196.
+
+  Koli-Koli river, 33, 34.
+
+  Kong chain, 48.
+
+  Koran, the, 276-277.
+
+  Korienza, port of, 191.
+
+  Koriouma-Djitafa, 201.
+
+  Kouakoru, village of, 80.
+
+  Kouakouru, 143, 144, 145.
+
+  Kounkour-Moussa, 235.
+
+  Koulikoro, 18, 50, 65.
+
+  Koumbourou, 153, 154.
+
+  Kounta-Mamadi, 323.
+
+  Kountas, Berber tribe, 137, 140, 141.
+
+  Kouroussa, 48.
+
+  Kunari, 51.
+
+
+  Laing, Major, 139, 325;
+    his house at Timbuctoo, 326-327;
+    his mission, 327;
+    his death, 328-329;
+    his papers, 329-330, 333.
+
+  Lakes of the Niger, 53, 54.
+
+  Lavigerie, Cardinal, 369.
+
+  Léon the African, 89, 268, 288.
+
+  Life in the bush, its charms, 7-9.
+
+  _Litham_, 228.
+
+  Louis XVI., 321.
+
+
+  Mademba, Fama, 72, 75-76.
+
+  Mahmoud, Pasha, 128;
+    conquest of Sudan by, 129, 305.
+
+  Mahommed Neddo, 282-283.
+
+  Moorish conquest of the Sudan, 122-130;
+    disintegration sets in, 130;
+    Songhois revolt, 131, 133.
+
+  Maksara, Touareg tribe, 231.
+
+  Marabuts, the, 278-280;
+    lives of, 280-283;
+    graves of, 283-284;
+    their erudition, 285;
+    their libraries, 287-288;
+    their students, 289-295;
+    in politics and literature, 282-320;
+    exile of, 305-306.
+
+  Markets opened since French occupation at Timbuctoo, 267.
+
+  Mali, the, 100, 101;
+    conquest of, by Askia, 112-113, 147.
+
+  Malinkas, 147, 235, 236.
+
+  Marie, Adrien, 15.
+
+  Marrakesh, 124, 127, 306.
+
+  Massina, 51.
+
+  Mopti, 33, 50.
+
+  Morocco the principal client of Timbuctoo, 252.
+
+  Mohammed ben Abou Bakr, 107;
+    quoted, 285, 286.
+
+  Mosque at Jenne, the grand, 154-156;
+    the story of its destruction, 158-160;
+    its ruins, 160;
+    its tombs, 160-163.
+
+  Mossi, the, pillage Timbuctoo, 100;
+    conquered by Askia, 111-112.
+
+  Mouley Abdallah, 123.
+
+  ---- Mahommed el Kebir, 123.
+
+  ---- Rhassoun, 317, 318.
+
+
+  _Nata_, or flour-tree, 60.
+
+  Negraic Africa, first railroad in, 1.
+
+  _Nicab_, 228.
+
+  Niger, the, 1, 2, 9, 14;
+    my first view of, 15-16, 18 _et seq._;
+    rise and fall of, 32-34;
+    nights upon, 35-36;
+    the ‘Nile of the Sudan’ 42;
+    its source, 42-44;
+    course of, 50-55, 115, 143-145 _et seq._
+
+  Nigerian countries, number of Europeans in, 58;
+    size and population of, 57.
+
+  Nyamina, 29, 50, 65.
+
+
+  Ospreys, white, on the Niger, 28.
+
+  Ouad Teli, wells of, 253.
+
+  Oualata, 96, 234, 235.
+
+  _Oualiou_, 283.
+
+  ‘Our’ Oumaira,’ 206-207.
+
+  Our Lady of Timbuctoo, 369.
+
+
+  Paliko river, 44.
+
+  Park, Mungo, 8, 36, 322-325;
+    death of, 324.
+
+  Pasture on the Niger, 27.
+
+  Peddie and Campbell, Majors, their Expedition, 331.
+
+  Philippe, Captain, 193, 364.
+
+  Pirates of the Niger, 38.
+
+  Post-offices of the Sudan, 70.
+
+
+  Queen of the Sudan, the, 208, 241, 275, 371.
+
+
+  Raille, M., his narrative of events in Timbuctoo, 364-366.
+
+  Region of the three deltas of the Niger, 53.
+
+  Rice the staple food of the Songhois, 184.
+
+  Richardson’s Expedition to the Sudan, 337.
+
+  Roger, Baron, 332.
+
+  Roumas, the, 133, 238, 239, 240, 338.
+
+  Rufisk, town of, 1.
+
+
+  Sahara, the, and Niger, struggle between, 195.
+
+  St. Louis, 1;
+    School of Hostages at, 71.
+
+  Salt, the true gold of the Sudan, 123, 170.
+
+  Samba-Marcalla, 322, 323.
+
+  Samory, 57, 59, 140.
+
+  Sana, 51.
+
+  Sankoré, University of, 237-238, 275 _et seq._
+
+  Sansanding, 29, 50, 65, 67, 71, 72, 165.
+
+  Sarafara, 27, 31, 165, 191, 195.
+
+  Segu, 14, 26, 29, 33, 50, 65, 67-70, 165, 322.
+
+  Senegal, the temperature of, 1.
+
+  ---- river, 2, 9, 14.
+
+  Sidi Abdallah Chabir, 334.
+
+  ---- Moktar el Kabir, 338, 339;
+    his successors, 339-340.
+
+  ---- Yaia, life of, 281-282;
+    described, 286-287.
+
+  Siguiri, 14.
+
+  Sofara, battle at, between the forces of El Hadj Omar and Ahmadou
+        Ahmadou, 138.
+
+  Songhois, the, their origin, 89-90;
+    first king of, 90;
+    their exodus, 93-95;
+    their language, 97;
+    their physical type, 97;
+    capital of, 98;
+    their race of kings, 99, 121;
+    their empire invaded by Moors, 121, 148, 150;
+    writings of, 181;
+    sweetness of disposition of, 183;
+    customs and habits of, 184-185;
+    kingdom, extent of, in 1496, 237;
+    character of, 300.
+
+  Sotouba, barrier of, 50, 61, 63.
+
+  Spitzer, M., 139.
+
+  Sudan, the, 5, 6, 41;
+    French conquest of, how organised, 58 _n._ 1;
+    story of French conquest, 140, 141, 352-371.
+
+  Sudanese, the, character of, 300;
+    Mohammedans and fetichists, 300;
+    outbursts of fanaticism among, 301.
+
+  Sunni Ali, 100, 101;
+    his conquests, 102;
+    his oppressions, 103-104;
+    ‘liberties with the Faith,’ 104;
+    traits in his character, 107, 109, 147, 180, 236, 237, 304, 306,
+        316.
+
+  Sunni Barro, 108.
+
+
+  _Taifa_, the official brokers, 262-263.
+
+  _Taliba_, or student, 289-290;
+    his school routine, 290-294;
+    openings for the, 294-295.
+
+  Taoudenni, salt-blocks of, 253-255;
+    their value, 255;
+    salt caravans of, 256.
+
+  _Taraïfa Koubra_, 338.
+
+  _Tarik é Sudan_, quoted or referred to, 87, 90, 91, 93, 100, 120,
+        128, 134, 147, 153, 160, 185, 232, 280, 304, 310-315;
+    its style, 315;
+    the Hozier of the Sudan, 316, 320, 343.
+
+  Telegraph, the, in the Sudan, 70-71.
+
+  Tembi-Kuntu, 50.
+
+  Tembi river, 44, 45;
+    superstitions associated with, 45-47.
+
+  Tenguaragifs, 241, 357, 366.
+
+  Thegazza, salt-mines of, 123, 124, 252.
+
+  Tidiana, 140.
+
+  Timbuctoo, 14, 26, 32, 37, 39, 40 _et seq._, 100, 113, 124, 133, 140;
+    contrasted with Jenne, 170-172, 195, 200-211;
+    market of, 211-212;
+    buildings in, 213-216;
+    life among the ruins of, 216;
+    impressions of, 216-218;
+    my life in, 218-222;
+    decadence of, 240;
+    in possession of tyrants, 241-245;
+    disastrous results, 245-249;
+    commerce and life of, 250-274;
+    articles of commerce, 252;
+    the caravans and fleets of, 257;
+    hospitality of inhabitants to strangers, 259-260;
+    the shops and shopkeepers, 261-262;
+    the traders, 262-266;
+    statistics, 266-267;
+    the city of pleasure for Western Africa, 269;
+    manners and customs of the people, 270-274;
+    fashionable life in, 272-274;
+    a religious, scientific, and literary centre, 273-276;
+    in its days of greatness, 319-320;
+    the necessity for French occupation, 352-353;
+    the capture of, 353-355;
+    attitude of the population, 355-360;
+    the future of, 369-371.
+
+  Tomboutou (‘The mother with the large navel’), 232.
+
+  Touaregs, the, 5, 31, 115, 123, 129, 133, 134, 141, 143, 198, 199,
+        203, 206;
+    their industries, 227-228;
+    head-dress of, 228;
+    their nomadic habits, 229;
+    theft their natural industry, 229;
+    religious beliefs of, 231;
+    proverb concerning, 231, 231 _et seq._, 256, 284, 338, 341, 350,
+        351, 360, 362, 364, 365, 367.
+
+  Toucouleurs, the, 77, 78, 138, 140, 172, 173;
+    invasion by, 349.
+
+  Toulimandio, 29, 63.
+
+  Toundibi, battle between Moors and Songhois at, 126, 128.
+
+  Tribes of Western Africa, 89.
+
+  Turner, General Charles, 333.
+
+
+  ‘Unique Pearl of his Time,’ the, 306.
+
+
+  Venus Anadiomenes, the, of the Niger, 25, 26.
+
+  Voyage from Jenne to Timbuctoo, my, 189-207.
+
+
+  White Fathers at Timbuctoo, the, 369.
+
+
+  Printed by T. and A. CONSTABLE, Printers to Her Majesty
+  at the Edinburgh University Press
+
+
+Transcriber’s Notes.
+
+Italic text is indicated with _underscores_, bold text with =equals=.
+Small/mixed capitals have been replaced with ALL CAPITALS.
+
+Evident typographical and punctuation errors have been corrected
+silently. Inconsistent spelling/hyphenation has been normalised.
+
+The usage of "iman" (imam) is the author’s.
+
+An unresolved anomaly in the index (punctuation and page number
+sequence) has been left as printed. See El Backay, his house.
+
+A Half-title page has been discarded.
+
+End of page footnotes have been sequentially numbered and relocated to
+the end of the text.
+
+To improve text flow, illustrations have been relocated between
+paragraphs.
+
+Cover art created for this eBook is granted to the
+public domain.
+
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 78611 ***