After passing this desert of twenty days, they enter a country which varies in its appearance, particular spots being fertile 15 (called El Wah). Here they meet with sederah 16, a kind of wild myrtle, in great quantities. This plant is called by the natives, gylan: its height is about that of a man; the camels feed upon it. Between these shrubs there is a very small quantity of grass in particular spots. In this part of the desert they meet with extensive strata of stones: though the surface is generally sand, yet at the depth of eight or ten inches, they meet with a yellow or reddish earth; and about four feet deeper, with another kind of earth of various colours, but most commonly of a brownish cast; about five or six feet under this they find water, which springs up very slowly, and at the bottom of this water you meet with a light sand. Sometimes the water is sweetish, frequently brackish, and generally warm. This last desert is about twenty days' journey, and is a vast plain without any mountains. They meet with no Arabs in this part, but the country on the right and left of their route, at the distance of from three to eight days' journey, is inhabited by Arabs, who are governed by their own (sheiks) chiefs, and are perfectly independent.
Footnote 15:(return) El Wah. For a full explanation of this term, see Jackson's Account of the Empire of Marocco, 3d edition, p. 283.
Footnote 16:(return) Sederah, thorny shrubs of all kinds are so called.
From Akka to Timbuctoo, a journey of forty-three days, they meet with no trees, except the sederah, no rivers, towns, or huts. From Draha, which is a country abounding in camels, to Timbuctoo, the charge per camel is from sixteen to twenty-one ducats. 17 That so long a journey is performed at so small 18 an expense, is owing to the abundance of camels in Draha. The caravan generally contains from 300 to 400 men, of whom a great part prefer walking to the uneasy motion of the camels.
Footnote 17:(return) From Fas to Tafilelt, 20 days, for 11 ducats per camel.
Tafilelt to Draha, 6 do. 6 do. do.
Draha to Timbuctoo, 48 do. 18-½ do. do.
--- ----
69 days, for 35-½ ducats per camel
load, which is about the rate of one farthing per quintal per
mile. This does not include the expense of camels for the
conveyance of merchants, servants, &c. or of provisions or
water, but merely of those carrying goods. A full account
of these caravans, and their mode of crossing the Sahara,
will be found in Jackson's Marocco, ch. 13. Footnote 18:(return) The expense is now (A.C. 1818) smaller, as the ducat, by a coinage which is depreciated, has fallen to 3s. 6d. sterling.
Situation Of The City Of Timbuctoo.
On the east side of the city of Timbuctoo, there is a large forest, in which are a great many elephants. The timber here is very large. The trees on the outside of the forest are remarkable for having two different colours; that side which is exposed to the morning sun is black, and the opposite side is yellow. The body of the tree has neither branches nor leaves, but the leaves, which are remarkably large, grow upon the top only: so that one of these trees appears, at a distance, like the mast and round top of a ship. Shabeeny has seen trees in England much taller than these: within the forest the trees are smaller than on its skirts. There are no trees resembling these in the Emperor of Marocco's dominions. They are of such a size that the largest cannot be girded by two men. They bear a kind of berry about the size of a walnut, in clusters consisting of from ten to twenty berries. Shabeeny cannot say what is the extent of this forest, but it is very large. Close to the town of Timbuctoo, on the south, is a small rivulet in which the inhabitants wash their clothes, and which is about two feet deep. It runs in the great forest on the east, and does not communicate with the Nile, but is lost in the sands west of the town. Its water is brackish; that of the Nile is good and pleasant. The town of Timbuctoo is surrounded by a mud-wall: the walls are built tabia-wise 19 as in Barbary, viz. they make large wooden cases, which they fill with mud, and when that dries they remove the cases higher up till they have finished the wall. They never use stone or brick; they do not know how to make bricks. The wall is about twelve feet high, and sufficiently strong to defend the town against the wild Arabs, who come frequently to demand money from them. It has three gates; one called Bab Sahara, or the gate of the desert, on the north: opposite to this, on the other side of the town, a second, called Bab Neel, or the gate of the Nile: the third gate leads to the forest on the east, and is called Beb El Kibla. 20 The gates are hung on very large hinges, and when shut at night, are locked, as in Barbary; and are farther secured by a large prop of wood placed in the inside slopingly against them. There is a dry ditch, or excavation, which circumscribes the town, (except at those places which are opposite the gates,) about twelve feet deep, and too wide for any man to leap it. The three gates of the town are shut every evening soon after sun-set: they are made of folding doors, of which there is only one pair. The doors are lined on the outside with untanned hides of camels, and are so full of nails that no hatchet can penetrate them; the front appears like one piece of iron.
Footnote 19:(return) The tabia walls are thus built: They put boards on each side of the wall supported by stakes driven in the ground, or attached to other stakes laid transversely across the wall; the intermediate space is then filled with sand and mud, and beat down with large wooden mallets, (as they beat the terraces) till it becomes hard and compact; the cases are left on for a day or two; they then take them off, and move them higher up, repeating this operation till the wall is finished.
Footnote 20:(return) El Kibla signifies the tomb of Muhamed: in most African towns there is a Kibla-gate, which faces Medina in Arabia.
Population.
The town is once and a half the size of Tetuan 21, and contains, besides natives, about 10,000 22 of the people of Fas and Marocco. The native inhabitants of the town of Timbuctoo may be computed at 40,000, exclusive of slaves and foreigners. Many of the merchants who visit Timbuctoo are so much attached to the place that they cannot leave it, but continue there for life. The natives are all blacks: almost every stranger marries a female of the town, who are so beautiful that travellers often fall in love with them at first sight.
Footnote 21:(return) That is about four miles in circumference. Tetuan contains 16,000 inhabitants; but, according to this account, Timbuctoo contains 50,000, besides slaves, a population above three times that of Tetuan: now, as the houses of Timbuctoo are more spacious than those of Tetuan, it is to be apprehended that Shabeeny has committed an error in describing the size of Timbuctoo.
Footnote 22:(return) Who go there for the purposes of trade.
INNS, OR CARAVANSERAS.
When strangers arrive they deposit their merchandise in large warehouses called fondacs; and hire as many rooms as they choose, having stables for their camels, &c. in the same place. These fondacs 23 are private property, and are called either by the owner's name, or by that of the person who built them. The fondac, in which Shabeeny and his father lived, had forty apartments for men, exclusive of stables; twenty below and twenty above, the place having two stories. The staircase was within the inclosure, and was composed of rough boards; while he staid, the rooms were constantly occupied by natives and strangers; they hired rooms for three months, for which they paid thirty okiat, or fifteen shillings sterling per month. These fondacs are called Woal 24 by the negroes. The money was paid to the owner's agent, who always lives in the fondac for this purpose, and to accommodate strangers with provisions, &c. At their arrival, porters assisted them and procured every thing they wanted; but when they were settled they hired a man and a woman slave to cook and to clean their rooms, and to do every menial office. Slaves are to be bought at all hours: the slave-merchants keep a great number ready for sale.
Footnote 23:(return) It is probable that Adams, the American sailor, (if he ever was at Timbuctoo,) saw one of these fondacs that belonged to the king, and mistook it for his palace.
Footnote 24:(return) Ten okiat, or drahems, make a Mexico dollar. The name of the king of Timbuctoo, in 1800 A.C. was Woolo. Many of the fondacs are rented of him.
HOUSES.
In the houses little furniture is seen; the principal articles (those of the kitchen excepted) are beds, mats on the floor, and the carpets; which cover the whole room. The rooms are about fourteen feet by ten; the kitchen and wash-house are generally to the right and to the left of the passage; the necessary is next the wash-house. 25
Footnote 25:(return) Being more convenient for the Muhamedan ablutions.
GOVERNMENT.
Timbuctoo is governed by a native black, who has the...
