Footnotes:

Footnotes:[48]Bazeen, ‮بزين‬, called alsoAseedah, ‮عصيدة‬.[49]Some have endeavoured to distinguish in English the mausoleum in which a dead saint is laid by the term Marabet, though in Arabic both the dead and living saint, and the cupola house in which the dead saint is laid, are all called Marabout. When a village or town, is built round the mausoleum of a saint, it is also called after the saint, as in the instance now related.[50]"We (God) created you, and afterwards formed you (mankind); and then said unto the angels,WorshipAdam; and they worshipped him, except Eblis (The Devil), who was not one of those who worshipped. God said unto him, What hindered thee from worshipping Adam, since I had commanded thee? He answered, I am more excellent than he: thou hast created me of fire, and has created him of clay. God said, Get thee down therefore from Paradise; for it is not fit that thou behave thyselfproudlytherein: get thee hence; thou shalt be one of the contemptible."—Suratvii.Intitled Al-Araf.[51]The words in theCross, which Constantine is reported to have seen in the heavens.[52]When the milk is fresh it is called by the Arabs ‮حليب‬, when sour, ‮لبن‬.

[48]Bazeen, ‮بزين‬, called alsoAseedah, ‮عصيدة‬.

[49]Some have endeavoured to distinguish in English the mausoleum in which a dead saint is laid by the term Marabet, though in Arabic both the dead and living saint, and the cupola house in which the dead saint is laid, are all called Marabout. When a village or town, is built round the mausoleum of a saint, it is also called after the saint, as in the instance now related.

[50]"We (God) created you, and afterwards formed you (mankind); and then said unto the angels,WorshipAdam; and they worshipped him, except Eblis (The Devil), who was not one of those who worshipped. God said unto him, What hindered thee from worshipping Adam, since I had commanded thee? He answered, I am more excellent than he: thou hast created me of fire, and has created him of clay. God said, Get thee down therefore from Paradise; for it is not fit that thou behave thyselfproudlytherein: get thee hence; thou shalt be one of the contemptible."—Suratvii.Intitled Al-Araf.

[51]The words in theCross, which Constantine is reported to have seen in the heavens.

[52]When the milk is fresh it is called by the Arabs ‮حليب‬, when sour, ‮لبن‬.

Gaiety of the Black Dervish.—Walking Dance of the Slaves.—The Fullans or Fellatahs.—Shoushoua, or scarifying the face of Negroes.—Terms used in connexion with Slaves.—TheRazzia.—A Souafee Politician.—Parallel Customs between The East and The Sahara.—The mercenary Blood-letter.—Indifference to the sufferings of the Arab Troops.—Colour of the people in Paradise.—Excellent Government of the Fullanee Nations.—Moors do not fondle their Children.—Administering Physic to Camels.—Simplicity of Touarick manners.—Knocked down by a Pinch of Snuff.—Departure of the Tibboo alone to Ghat.—Blood in White Sugar, and Anecdote of Colonel Warrington and Yousef Bashaw about collecting old Bones.—Colonel Warrington compared to the late Mr. Hay.—Said, a subject of Anti-Slavery discussion.—Specimen of Desert Arab freedom.

18th.—Withthe full moon the cold has regularly set in. Good-bye flies and good-bye scorpions. Can now write with my door open, without being covered with flies. Can also sleep without waking up at midnight to kill scorpions running over the mattresses. The mad black dervish is always in motion, and full of gaiety. People are so fond of him that they think he is inspired. When all the Moors are in solemn vacant thought, or brooding over their griefs, or dreaming in broad day of their being marabouts or sultans, the poor witless thing runs in amongst them, shaking hands with the first he meets with, and bursts out a-laughing. He usually succeeds in infusing a little of his cheerfulness into these equallymadpeople, but more sober in theirmethod of madness. Yesterday the slaves had another feastfor the dead. The Moors allow their slaves the liberty of blending the two religions, as Rome has allowed the blending of Christianity and paganism. And when questioned about it they say; "Oh, the slaves know only a little of Allah, and are not much better than donkeys in their understandings." The slaves assembled to the number of some fifty in the Souk. Here they performed a species of walking dance, in two right lines, very slow and very stiff and measured, having attached to it some mysterious meaning. They were gaily dressed, attended with a drum and iron castanets, making melodious noises. Each had a matchlock slung at his back. The women carried a chafing-dish of incense, as if about to raise some spirit or ghost. A crowd was around them; but they performed nothing but this slow-marching dance, and then retired to the tombs. The dervish, poor fellow, mingled in the gay throng, shouldering a stick for a gun.

Received many little presents from people lately. Sheikh Makouran brought me himself a small basket of very fine dates. My taleb afterwards brought me somegharghoush, or small cakes, made of flour, honey, sugar, and milk. They are extremely pleasant eating and a littleacid, which adds greatly to their flavour. There are but few things acid in this country; of sour things there is an abundance.

Heard a great deal about the Foullans, Foulahs, and Fellatahs, the predominant race in Soudan.Foullan(‮فلّان فلّانين فلّاني‬) is the Soudanic term,Fellatahthe Bornouese, andFoulahwhat is used to denominatethem among the Mandingoes. According to information here, they were once the most miserable race ofArabwanderers in The Desert. But at last they settled down as neighbours to the Negroes, some 700 years since. They continued to increase in numbers and importance, abandoning tents and building villages and towns, and intermixing with the Negroes, till about forty-five (and others thirty-five) years ago, when they expanded their ideas to conquest and renown. About this time they made the conquest of Kanou, Succatou, and the other large cities of Housa. Never a people rose to greater fame and power. They were assisted, like the Saracens before them, by religious fanaticism, and so far corresponded with them, in extending the boundaries of Islamism. They went on conquering and to conquer till within the present year, when their power received some check by the daring exploits of the Tibboo prince of Zinder, a vassal of Bornou. This prince has taken from them a few towns. The complexion of the ordinary Fullanee is a deep olive, with pleasing features, not much Negro, and long hair.

Negro's Head

Negroes in Nigritia are known by theShoushoua(‮شوشوا‬), or scarifying. Generally in Negro countries, which profess the Mohammedan religion, theShoushouais abandoned asharamor prohibited. It is mostly the sign of paganism. The operation is performed by a sharp cutting instrument, and is nevereffacedfrom the face during life. The annexed drawing presents theShoushouaof the Negroes of Tombo, near Jinnee, who are pagans. Whenever the slaves see these marks they know the country of the other slaves who bear them. Formerly it could be ascertained whether a slave wasborn on the coast, or brought from the interior, by the presence or absence of theShoushoua. Now it cannot, because the practice is discontinued in countries subject to Moslem rule, whence slaves are sometimes brought. In Ghadames a freed slave is calledmâtouk(‮معتوق‬) orhorr(‮حرّ‬). The termswaseef(‮وسيف‬) and sometimesmamlouk(‮مملوك‬) are employed for a single slave, andâbeed(‮عبيد‬) for many. The Arabic terms ‮قايد الوصفان‬ "the chief of slaves," are used to denote the person who is responsible for the conduct of slaves, or the "Sheikh of the slaves." The wordRazzia, which the French are said to have invented, and which has acquired such atristecelebrity by their butcheries of the Arabs in Algeria, is derived from the same word as designates a Slave-hunt (ghazah)[53]amongst our Saharan people. The verb is ‮غَزَا‬ghaza, "petivit," which in the second conjugation means, "expeditione bellica petivit hostem," and the noun in use is ‮غَزَاة‬ghazah, "expeditione bellica." The Bornouese word to denote a slave-hunt, as carried on by the Touaricks, isDin, applied to private kidnapping expeditions, and means, I think,simply "theft," showing that not by war, as captives, but by "theft," "stealing," the "man-stealing" of the Apostle Paul, are slaves generally procured in Central Africa. It is only just thatrazziaandghazah, the same words, should be so closely allied in application to their different actions. The French, to do the thing properly, and in their usual style, should erect a monument upon the "Place" of the city of Algiers, to the new inventionRazzia, with its derivations fromghazah, "a slave-hunt." A prize essay might also be proposed to the Oriental Chair of Paris, and its various students, now looking for distinction as interpreters in the land ofRazziasor "butcheries," for the best derivation and historical progress of the termRazzia, as used by Christian and civilized nations, in relation to infidel and Mohammedan barbarians. At the bottom of the monument erected by the French to theDemon Razzia, may be appended the following veracious words, copied from the late proclamation of the Duc d'Aumale, on his assumption of the high post of Governor-General of Algeria (Moniteur Algérien, October 20, 1847):—"You have learned by experience, O Mussulmans! how just and clement is the Government of France." The Duke unpardonably forgets to cite one of the last proofs of this just and clement Government, the roasting of a tribe of Arabs, men, women and children in the caverns of the Atlas! . . . . Will not the Lying Bulletin (native of France) be proclaimed till doomsday?

This morning the merchants asked me why the English did not drive out the French from Algeria. They had often badgered me with this subject. I thought it better to speak plainly at once, and for all.I began by asking, why should the English drive out the French? and continued, "France and England are now at peace. They don't wish to make war at all, and England does not consider Algeria of such importance as to go to war about it. England did not derive much benefit from Algeria when Mussulmans ruled there; besides the Algerines were always sea-robbers. The English were obliged to go and chastise them several times before the French captured their country. And do not think, that if war did take place between England and France, and the English should drive the French out of Algeria, the country would therefore be given up to the Sultan and the Mussulmans. The English might wish to rule there themselves. Upon no account wish for war in Algeria, for the miseries of the war would chiefly fall upon you, Mussulmans." This completely settled them, and exasperated them, as well it might; they said no more. The Mussulmans always have in their memories the conduct of the English when they drove out the French from Egypt, and discussing this kind of politics, it is quite natural.

Afterwards I heard a Souafee holding forth to another group. His theme was, the Shânbah, Warklah, Touaricks, Tugurt, Souf, and Ghadames, and it was evident to him that besides the people now enumerated there were no others in the world. A respectable Moor observed at the time, "That Souafee is a rascal. He's as great a robber as a Shânbah bandit. Mussulmans are not like Christians. The Christians have but one word, and are brothers. The Mussulmans have a thousand and ten thousand words, they don't speak the truth, and they are enemies to one another." The ingenuousMoor knew little of the history of Europe and America. I did not disabuse him of his good opinion of us. He was a Ben Wezeet, and complained that now theNāther(‮ناظر‬), or native overseer of the city, and the Kady or judge, and some of the richest merchants belonged to the Ben Weleed, and added mournfully, with a sigh, "It was not so in my father's time. But the world has changed, and this is the new world."

In reading the Arabic Testament, I have noticed several parallel customs or habits between The East and North Africa. Take this:

"But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote upon the ground." (John viii. 6.)

People of Ghadames are writing daily with their fingers on the ground. They are also wont, with fancy ornamental sticks, which they usually carry, to illustrate their ideas on the sand or dust of the streets, by drawing figures. In speaking with them on geography, they sketch shapes of countries. They cast up all their ordinary accounts by writing figures on the sand. They have also certain games which they play by the use of sand. Sand is their paper, their ledger, their boards of account, their pavement, and their auxiliary in a thousand things. It is said in the Gospels, that The Saviour escaped to the mountains[54], either from the pressure of the people, or from the persecutions of his enemies. Persons are accustomed to escape to the mountains in Barbary, more particularly in Morocco and Algeria; but also in this country. Our Saviour, besides, gives the same advice to his disciples: "Let them which are inJudeaflee to the mountains." (Luke xxi. 21.) It has always been difficult to apprehend fugitives in the mountains, especially in ancient times, when a good police did not exist. The conqueror has always had great difficulty, and exposed his conquests to imminent risk, by pursuing the conquered in mountainous districts. Such are the instincts and habits of men in all ages. The Desert has, besides, afforded an asylum to the fugitive and unfortunate, as well as the persecuted. Our Saviour was wont to retire to desert places. In this country, the discomfited defenders of their country's liberties have invariably escaped to The Sahara. How many times has Abd-el-Kader escaped to the mountains of Rif, or the solitudes of The Sahara? But it is unnecessary to pursue this obvious idea farther, otherwise it also will escape to The Mountains or The Desert.

The "fivebarleyloaves," (John vi. 9,) reminds me of thebarleybread of these countries, more frequent than any other sort of bread. Wheaten bread is rarely eaten by the lower classes.

It is needless to cite all the passages of Scripture where the people in the towns and villages are represented as bringing out their sick of every kind and description. (Matt. xiv. 14, 35, 36.) So it is in North Africa. Whenever an European visits these countries with any pretensions to medical skill, all the sick of the place are brought out to him. When I see the sick daily brought to me—as also when I was in The Mountains—I cannot help thinking of those affecting pictures of disease and misery which were providentially exhibited to demonstrate the divine skill of the GreatPhysicianof mind and body.

Salt is procured in a few hours' journey beyondSidi Mâbed, and is considered superior to that procured at theSalinæof the coast. This Saharan salt is only obtained after there has been some rain, the earth being impregnated with it, and the water washing away the earthy particles. It is gathered in the dry season.

19th.—Amuse myself with Arabic reading and philological studies. The mornings continue cool. Administer now little medicine, for I have but little left. Ordered an Arab to be bled by the old Moor, who possesses a good lancet. The big hulking Arab proved a greater coward than a child. How sickness unnerves a man, the hardiest and strongest of men! I once took a passage from Algeria to Marseilles in a French transport of convalescents. There I saw the brave and brilliant French troops cry and whine like children under the influence of fever. When the old Moor had bled the soldier, he said to me, "Where's the money?" This shows that, though they rarely think of remunerating the services of the Christian Tabeeb, they have a perfectly clear conception of what is due to the labour and skill of a doctor when the case refers to themselves. Some time after, I went to the old Moor again, and asked him to bleed another soldier attacked with fever. He refused to bleed him, alleging that he must be paid. "He will die," I said. "Let him die," returned the unfeeling old blood-letter; "why do they bring soldiers here, we don't want them?" This afternoon I visited the barrack, where several Arab soldiers were laid up with the fever, which they had caught at Emjessem. One was very bad. The Arabs said to me, "You must give him money to buy some bread, and a little meat to make some broth." Itold them they must go the Rais; it was his business to look after his troops. It is distressing to witness the condition of these wretched Arabs. At different times I have given them a little meat, and bread, and oil; but now my stock of provisions is getting down, and the communication between Tripoli and Ghadames is very precarious. In the evening I saw theNāther, and said to him—expecting he would mention it to the Rais, "See that soldier lying on the stone-bench; he is sick, and has nothing to eat."

The Nāther.—"Yes, he is ill."

I.—"But he has nothing to eat; can't you get him something to eat?"

The Nāther,—"Pooh, he must die."

The other Moors present laughed at my simplicity in begging something to eat for a fever-worn, emaciated wretch of a soldier. The matter of fact is, these poor fellows are detested by the inhabitants, and starved to death by the Government. The soldier had caught the fever of Derge, whilst sent there on business, which is a bad tertian fever, prevalent in some oases of The Sahara.

Lately, as my turjeman and Said, with several negroes, were chatting, and saying people would have husbands and wives in the next world, I asked, in the manner of the Sadducees, "If a woman had three husbands in this world, whose wife would she be in the next?" They all answered, "The wife of the last." As some of the group of these theologians and diviners of the future state were negroes, I asked, "Whatcolourwill people be in the next world?" They replied, "All white, and alike; and not only will their skins be white, but all their clothing will bewhite." White, indeed, is the favourite colour ofMussulmans; and a sooty-black Mohammedan negro will set off his face with a white turban, as our Christian niggers do theirjapanwith a lily-white neckcloth. Butwhiteis the colour of purity, of religion in North Africa and The East, as inBiblicaltimes.—περιβεβλημένους ἐν ἱματίοις λευχοῖς. (Rev. iv. 4.)

20th.—Weather continues fine and cool. Less meat to be had; nothing decided about the new levy of money, except that the people will not or cannot pay. The Sheikh Makouran tells me he is greatly in debt to Messrs. Silva and Laby, and so are all Ghadamsee merchants. The money now employed in commerce is chiefly that of European and other merchants of Tripoli and Tunis. "We have no money," says Makouran, "we cannot pay any new levies. If Rais persists, he must collect our money at the edge of the sword; and this can't last, for we shall all soon die of hunger." These continual complaints make me melancholy, and added to my impatience "to be up and doing," make me very peevish. O Dio! but such is the lot of man, to suffer always, either in mind or body. Much annoyed at my taleb for eating Said's dinner, even before my face. These Moors, at least some of them, have neither honour nor conscience. I suppose the taleb is pinching his belly to pay his portion of the new contribution. To punish the taleb, I give Said coffee before him, without asking him to take any. I may observe, the Moors don't like to see me treat the poor blacks and slaves as their equals. I frequently give the negroes tea and coffee before I serve them, to show I despise such distinctions, although, perhaps, against propriety.

The taleb began boasting about Soudan, and he hasmuch reason to boast of it, if we compare what Mohammedans have there done with what Christians have done on the Western Coast of Africa. He said, "There's nogomerick(Custom-house), no oppression, for the people are Mussulmans." Such were the reasons for their not being oppressive. It is a great question how far a country may be civilized, and in how short a time, without actual conquest? Civilization has progressed in Central Africa with the spread of Islamism. When it reaches the point of Mahometan civilization it will stop. The question with us is, "Whether we shall civilize the Mohammedans, and so work on Central Africa, or reconquer their conquests?" There appears very little chance of civilizing Africa without arms and conquest. Bornou, Soudan, and its numerous cities, Timbuctoo and Jinnee, formerly all governed by theKohlan—‮كحلان‬, or "blacks," are now governed by strangers, either Arabs (pure) or Touaricks or Fullans. These are the present most important kingdoms of the ancient Nigritia, and include a population of some millions. I continue to pursue my inquiries respecting the Fullans. All agree in representing them as originallyArab, but now greatly mixed, of very dark colour, some being nearly black, others, and most of them, a dark brown and yellow red, and some nearly white. The fortunes of the Fullans, emerging filthily from the dregs and offscouring of The Sahara, have become as great as the old Romans formerly in Europe, but they will always have powerful and vindictive rivals in the Touarghee and pure Arab and Berber races. The Revd. Mr. Schön has given a too unfavourable report of the Fullans, in his Notes and Journal of the Niger Expedition, biassed against them inhis Missionary zeal, simply because they are Mahometans. It is true that the Fullans are great slave-dealers, but so are nearly all the princes of Africa. The mild and equitable administration of the kingdoms of Kanou, Succatou, Kashna, and other immense centres of population, as carried on by the Fullans, is notorious throughout The Great Desert. No people of Nigritian Africa has so profoundly excited my best sympathies as the Fullanee races[55].

The Moors do not fondle and dandle their children on their knees, as parents are accustomed in Europe; and when grown up, the children appear as distant from their parents as strangers. This arises from the absolute authority assumed by parents over children during their minority. I have often been angry to see some of the lower people here teaching the children to call meKafer("infidel") as a sort of religious duty, lest, I imagine, the children should see at last that there is no very great difference between aKaferand a Moslemite.

Was much amused this afternoon in seeing physic administered to camels. The camel is made to lie down, and its knee joints are tied round so that it cannot get up. One person then seizes hold of the skin and cartilage of the nose, and that of the under jaw, and wrests with all his force the mouth wide open, whilst another seizes hold of the tongue and pulls it over one side of the mouth; this done, another pours the medicine down the throat of the animal, and, when the mouth is too full, they shut the jaws and rub and work the medicine down its throat. The disease was the falling off of the hair; and the medicine consisted of the stones of dates split into pieces and mixed with dried herbs, simple hay or grass herbs, powdered as small as snuff, the mixture being made with water. People told me it would fatten the camel as well as restore its hair. Camels frequently have the mange, and then they are tarred over. For unknown incomprehensible diseases, the Moors burn the camel on the head with hot irons, and call this physic. Men are treated in the same way, and the Moors are very fond of these analogies between men and brutes. What is good for a camel is good for a man, and what is good for man is good for a camel. Whilst the camel was being drugged, a Touarick came up and said, "Salām âleikom" to me. They always use this primitive mode of salutation. When they swear oaths they also say, "Allah Akbar," (God is Greatest!) the famous war-cry of the Saracennic conquerors of olden times. They are primitive in all their ideas and words; their manners are equally stiff, and slow or courtly, "stately and dignified;" they fully understand the doctrine that, "Great bodies move slow."

A man is said sometimes not to be worth "a pinch of snuff;" and yet a pinch of snuff will knock a man down, as it knocked me down this evening. My value then does not quite reach to a pinch of snuff standard. To come to explanation: a merchant offered me a pinch of snuff, and to please him, I took a large pinch, pushing a portion of it up my nostrils. Immediately I fell dizzy and sick, and in a short time, vomited violently. The people stared at me with astonishment, and were terrified out of their wits, and thought I was about to give up the ghost. They never saw snuff before produce such terrible effects. After some time, I got a little better and returned home. This snuff was that from Souf, and what people callwâr("difficult"). I had been warned of it, and therefore richly paid for my folly. Moreover, it was a violation of my usual abstinence from this not very elegant habit. The Souf snuff is extremely powerful; it is constantly imported here, and for the satisfaction of snuff-takers and snuff-taking tourists, I am bound to inform them that they will find snuff much cheaper in Ghadames than in Tripoli. People call snuff hot and cold, according to its stimulating, irritating, and tickling power. It is prohibited to drink wine and spirits amongst Moslemites, but, nevertheless, many of them do not fail to intoxicate themselves with everything besides which comes in their way: they snuff most horribly all the live-long day. In the season the Arabs drink theirleghma, and the Mahometan Negroes theirbouza, the Soudanic merchants chew theirghour, nuts, andkouda, as our jolly tars their tobacco, and others munch thetrona. My taleb came to me to see if I were dead. He had heard such a horrible report in the town. Iembraced the opportunity of lecturing him upon the absurdity of the prohibition from drinking wine, when he and others intoxicated themselves with snuff. But man will havehisstimulant, and the tee-totaller, who protests against all stimulants, seeks his in his tea and coffee. There is no harm in this, and the question only remains to seek as harmless a stimulant, as consistent with health as possible. In justice to the Marabout city of Ghadames, I must mention that some of the more strict Mohammedans consider snuffing, as well as smoking, prohibited by their religion, and opium (‮ععيون‬), andkeef, an intoxicating herb, sometimes calledtakrounee, ‮تكروني‬, are not smoked in this place. In general, few of the Moors of this place smoke at all.

21st.—Weather fine, no rain. The merchants begin to bake biscuits for their journey to Ghat, which looks like preparation. My friend Abu Beker called and gave me two letters written to him from Timbuctoo by his brother, who is established there. Since my return, I have given one of these letters to the Royal Asiatic Society, and the other to the British Museum, considering them a great curiosity, so long as this city shall remain separated from us Europeans by such impassable barriers.

The following is the translation of the letter presented to the Royal Asiatic Society:—

Letter from a Brother in Timbuctoo to a Brother in Ghadames.

"From the poor servant of his Lord, Muhammad ben Ali ben Talib, to our respected brethren, Abu Bekr and Muhammad, and Abdallah, and Fatimah, and Ayshah,and our Aunt Aminah; God prosper their conditions, Amen!

"After a thousand salutations and respects to you, and the mercy of God, and his blessings on you, should you indeed inquire concerning us, we are well, and you, please God, are so likewise; and we desire no further favour from God than the sight of your precious countenance; may God unite us with you before long, for He is the Hearer (of petitions)! As to this country there is in it neither buying nor selling. By G—d, O my brother! this day we are six months in Timbuctoo, and truly in the whole time I have received but 15 mithcals. There is not a single farthing (or kirat) in this town, nor commerce at all, except in salt, &c., (some other commodities, whose names I cannot discover.) And our minds are in continual fear here from the scarcity of the times. I am desirous of going to Arawan, if we can find something to sell there, when the people of Kiblah (the South) come; but they are not yet arrived, up to the present moment, and we do not think they will come. And thou, O my brother, beware of sending us any thing! as in this country there is no commerce, (neither buying nor selling); and whatever has been sent us, we have received for it neither far nor near. And truly, from the day in which we entered Timbuctoo, we have given 600 louats (some measure) to the Touaricks and the Fullans. But do you pray with us that we may be delivered from this land; and we have no more news after the letter which we have written to you. Convey our salutation to our aunt and to our brothers, many thousand salutations; and to Muhammad ben al Tayil, and his brother and his sons, many thousand salutations; and toMuhammad Ibn Ibrahim Taraki, many thousand salutations. Salute also the Hajj al Beshir, and his brother the Hajj Yusuff, if he is arrived; and salute also Hajj Abdallah. The people (caravan) of Touat have not yet come to us. Our salutation to Al Mustafa and his brother Abdal Cadir, and tell the Hajj al Behir, for God's sake not to send us any thing. Of a truth, we sincerely hope to fulfil your commissions, but in this land there is neither buying nor selling. By G—d, neither in Arawan nor in Timbuctoo, have we seen any one who will buy of you for a mithcal, nor for a kirat. Tell the Hajj al Beshir, the Sheikh has not yet arrived. And of all the (——?) I brought to Timbuctoo, I have not sold a single thing, and I sent them back to Arawan. Know, that there is no dealing here except by cowries, and the cowrie is 3,500 to a mithcal. Convey my salutation to the Hajj Abdal Kerim Ben Aun Allah, and his brother Abdarrahman, and to their sons; many thousand salutations, and say to them, For God's sake take care how you send us any thing, for this land is a vexation to us. May God not visit you with vexation, and may he open to us a way of deliverance! And our salutation to the Hajj Muhammad Sahh, if he is arrived, and tell him not to forget us in the Fátihah (1st. chap. of the Koran, used in prayer,) and in the prayer called Salihah (the Beneficial.) And also to his son and to his mother, many thousand salutations. And our salutation to the Hajj Muhammad ben Ali, and his brother, and their father, many thousand salutations. And salutation to our cousin (the daughter of our uncle) Miriam, many thousand salutations, and to our aunt Sultánah, and to her brothers, and to (some otherfemale name)and her sons, many thousand salutations. And our salutation to our cousins (the children of our uncle) and say to them, For God's sake do not forget us in the Fátihah and the prayer Salihah, that God may deliver us from this land; and the people ("or caravan") of Touat are not yet come to us. O my brethren! we anxiously and most earnestly do desire news of you; the Lord give us news of your welfare before long. And do thou, O my brother! send us some cinnamon and some black pepper, and some grains of ‮جلاو‬. And when thou writest, give us all the news, and take care not to leave your letter unclosed, for the people here read it, and be sure to seal it. Salute the inhabitants of our street, all of them, without exception, each one by name.

"And so farewell: at the date of Rajab the 25th, in the year 1246; and again farewell, from this poor (servant of God,) and many thousand salutations, as also from Ibrahim and from the Hajj al Mansur and the Hajj al Mansur's son, who is still with him. Farewell.

"(Postscript below.)—Convey our salutation to Hajj Hamad, and tell him Muhammad ben Canab is doing well, and he is in Arawan; and in like manner salute from us his brother Ali.

"(2nd Postscript at the side.)—Salutation also to our uncle, and say to him, that among the people of the Sheikh (‮اهل الشيخ‬) we obtain nothing, except what the Lord has brought us (a proverbial expression of the Moors, signifying nothing at all.) So farewell!

Address.

"To the hand of our esteemed brethren Abu Bekr,and Muhammad and Abdullah ben Ali Ibn Talib; may God amend their condition, amen!

"(With Solomon's seal, and a rude commencement of another; the name of Ben Talib, and the mystical words ‮طه‬ and ‮بسم‬ the first of which is prefixed to the xxth chapter of the Koran, and the other probably intended for ‮طسم‬, heading the xxvith, and xxviiith; or for ‮يس‬ xxxvi.)"

Obs.—This letter is written within and without, and on every fold of it. The advice to seal the letter to prevent it from being "Grahamized" is curious. I have seen a hundred letters in The Desertunsealed, and it is only in case of suspicion, that the Saharan merchants seal their letters. Such is their confidence in each other's honour and good faith, that it is an insult to seal a letter when put into the hands of a friend. It would appear, from this letter, that some twenty years ago the commerce of Timbuctoo was in the most languishing deplorable state; but as far as I can judge, from the present operations of the merchants in Ghadames, the trade of Timbuctoo has in a measure revived. The letter itself is a most admirable specimen of the epistolary style of the Saharan Moors, and in this respect alone is of considerable value.

When walking out this morning, an impudent young dog came running after me and shouted, "There is no God but God, and Mahomet is the Prophet of God;" whilst another cried out, "You Kafer!" Judging it necessary to put a stop to this, I gave each little imp for his pains a hard rap of the head with my fly-flapper, which greatly surprised them, and sent them off yelping. Some of the boys, however, are very friendly, and comerunning after me and take hold of my hand. A day or two afterwards these young rascals came running after me again in the same way; but they were chased by an adult Moor, who gave them a good thrashing.

22nd.—Weather fine. Nothing new. Bought Said a new pair of Morocco shoes, and made him happy for a day or two. He begins to sulk about going amongst the Touaricks. To my great joy, theShantahfrom Tripoli has arrived, bringing letters from Colonel Warrington, and Mr. Francovich, which latter has remitted to me 125 mahboubs. Two Touaricks have also arrived from Touat. The road is open. Rain has fallen in many places of The Desert in copious showers, which has buoyed up the hopes of the camel-graziers. Rumours of fighting between the Shânbah and Touaricks are prevalent.

The Tibboo left during the night for Ghat—alone!riding on a single camel. His conduct has astonished everybody. Some say "he's mad," and some say "he's a bandit." He had with him a small quantity of light goods, and about 300 dollars in cash. I asked the Rais about him. He observed, "That Tibboo has no wit. Many people die on the routes, the camels running away whilst they sleep. What can he do alone!" I asked the people, all of whom replied, "The Tibboo is a wonderful fellow!" One said, "Ah, that's a man, Yâkob. No Christian like the Tibboo." But another said, "Without doubt he's a cut-throat, that is the reason he goes alone. Even the Touaricks are afraid of him; and when they brought him here he quarrelled with them several times. Besides, a few days ago he was going to knock down the toll-taker at the gate." Afterthis display of personal daring, I shall never have a contemptible idea of a Negro. The free, independent, and enlightened gentleman slave-driver of Yankee Land, armed with that symbol of order and good government, the bowie-knife! would find his match in this his brother Tibboo slave-driver. The Tibboo has done what no man of this city would have dared to do, in undertaking a journey of some twenty days over The Desert alone. What is very extraordinary, he never travelled the route but once before, that is, when he came here. They say he will arrive at Ghat in twelve days. He took the precaution of purchasing a good pair of horse-pistols before he left. I may add, he arrived safe and sound at Ghat.

23rd.—This morning exceedingly cold. In going out, a man said to me, "Where are you going this cold morning?" People were all shivering, or wrapped up in their burnouses. Said is attacked with ophthalmia. Received a visit from an old Arab doctor. He says cattle are attacked with the plague, as well as men. He wrote me a receipt for the cure ofnight-blindness, which would cure it in one night. He says, in the neighbouring desert, towards the west, there is a small oasis of Arabs, who are calledEl-Hawamad—‮الحومد‬—who are always afflicted by night-blindness, which singular affection is called by themJuhur(‮جُهُر‬). Mr. Jackson, in his Morocco, calls this strange diseasebutelleese. The Arabs ofEl-Hawamadsee perfectly well in the day-time. But I must mention, that I received an application for medicine from a person who is affected with the same strange kind of malady. The European physicians call this diseaseNyctalopia(Νυκταλωπια). I recently myselfmet with a case in London. But what is equally extraordinary, Captain Lyon (I think) mentions a case which he met with in The Desert, of a person who could see in the night-time but not in the day-time—a human owl. We conversed about other diseases in Ghadames. The principal, as before-mentioned, are ophthalmia and diarrhœa. There are two lepers; a few dropsical people; and, occasionally, small-pox and syphilitic diseases. There are, besides, various cutaneous affections. Dogs are known to go mad amongst the Arabs, but not very often. When mad, they are calledmakloub. The remedy is, when they bite people, the hair of the mad dog himself, rubbing it over the part bitten. Mussulmans are fond of this antagonistic idea, of the bane and the antidote being one and the same thing, for they preserve the dead scorpions to be applied to the sting of the living ones, and they aver it to be a certain cure. Quackery is the native growth of the ingenious as well as the whimsical and hypochondriacal ideas of men. In dropsy the native doctors cut the body to let out the water, as we do.

Wrote letters to Mr. Alsager, Colonel Warrington, and others. People grumbling about their letters being too high charged. Formerly letters went free to Tripoli. The Turkish post-office and policy never fail to make things worse. Treating some Moors with coffee and loaf-sugar, one asked me if there were blood in sugar, for so he had heard from some Europeans in Tripoli. I told him in loaf sugar. "What, the blood of pigs?" one cried. "How do I know?" I rejoined; "if the refiner has no bullock's blood, why not use that of pigs?"This frightened them all out of their senses. They will not eat loaf-sugar again in a hurry. A most ludicrous anecdote of the old Bashaw of Tripoli here occurs to me. Old Yousef one day sent for Colonel Warrington, with a message that the Consul's presence was very particularly required. The Consul, putting on his best Consular uniform, and taking with him his Vice-Consul, his Chancellor, and his Dragoman, immediately waited upon His Highness. The Consul found His Highness sitting in full Divan, surrounded with all his high functionaries. Approaching the Bashaw, the Consul was begged to take a seat. His Highness then opened business, and, drawing a very long and solemn face, requested to know, "If the Christians were carrying away all the bones from the country?" assuring the Consul that such he heard was the case from his people, adding, that even the graveyards were ransacked for bones. The Consul, nothing blinking, or disquieted, congratulated His Highness upon bringing such an important subject before his notice, and observed, "It is very improper for the Christians to be ransacking the tombs for old bones to ship off for Europe." "Improper!" exclaimed the Bashaw, "why the man who does so ought to be beheaded!" "Yes, yes," replied the Consul, coaxingly, "he ought, your Highness; I quite agree with you." The Bashaw then got a little more calm, and begged of the Consul, as a favour, to tell him what the Christians did with all these old bones. The Consul, now assuming a magnificent air, deigned to reply, "Now, your Highness, you must be cool. You drink coffee?" "Yes." "You put sugar in it?" "Yes" (impatiently). "You use white sugar?" "Yes, yes," said the Bashaw, half amazed,half trembling, wondering what would come next. "Then," cried the Consul triumphantly, "I beg most submissively to inform your Highness, hoping that your Highness will not be angry, but thank me for the information, that the old bones are used to make white sugar with." Hereupon was an awful explosion ofAllahs!—beginning with His Highness the Bashaw, and going round the whole assembled Divan, in such serious and perplexed conclave now met. Then followedharams!—in the midst of which Colonel Warrington graciously and elegantly backed himself out of the Divan, smiling and bowing, bowing and smiling, to the utter horror of all present. Next day His Highness made a proclamationforbiddingany of his subjects from exporting old bones on pain of death. On his part, the Consul issued a notice calling upon all British subjects not to be such barbarians as to violate the tombs of pious Mussulmans, at the same time threatening them with the full weight of the Consular displeasure. I am assured that Yousef Bashaw never ate white sugar afterwards.

The liberties which Colonel Warrington was wont to take with old Yousef Bashaw, of the Caramanly dynasty, could not now be, in these days of Ottoman politeness, at all tolerated. For a long series of years, and especially during the French war, the Colonel was the virtual Bashaw of Tripoli. I shall only give another of a thousand incidents in which the British Consul showed himself the master, and the Bashaw the slave, instead of the Sovereign of his own country. One day the Bashaw had done something to offend the Consul. Colonel Warrington, hearing of it whilst riding out, immediately rides offto the Castle, and rushes, whip in hand, into the presence of the Bashaw, producing consternation through the whole Court. An Italian, having at the time an audience with His Highness, demanded, "Che cosa vuole Signore Consule?" seeing the Consul frustrated in his rage for want of an interpreter. "Tell him(the Bashaw)he's a rascal!" roared the Consul, almost shaking his whip over the head of His Highness. But the Italian was just as far off, not knowing English, and fortunately could not interpret this elegant compliment. The very next day, the Consul and the Bashaw dined together at the British Garden, the Colonel slapping the old gentleman over his shoulder, and drinking wine with him, like two jolly chums. In this way, Colonel Warrington managed to be, what he was called in Malta, "Bashaw of Tripoli." Now that Colonel Warrington, during the time these pages have been going through the press, has left us for another and a better world, we may for a moment compare his Consular system with that which was pursued by the late Mr. Hay, Consul-General of Morocco. The difference is striking, if not remarkable. Colonel Warrington boasted of being able to do anything and everything in Tripoli; Mr. Hay boasted of being able to do nothing in Morocco. The former had the Bashaw under his thumb, or hooked by the nose; the latter stood at an awful distance from the Shereefian Presence. Colonel Warrington underrated the difficulties and dangers of travelling in Tripoli and Central Africa, making the route from Tripoli to Bornou as safe as the road from London to Paris; Mr. Hay, exaggerating every obstacle, represented it as unsafe to walk in the environs of Tangier, under its very walls, and even boasted of himself being shot at in the interior ofMorocco, on a Government mission, and whilst attended by an escort of the Emperor's troops. With Colonel Warrington, a mission of science or philanthropy had a real chance of success; with Mr. Hay, no mission could possibly succeed—failure was certain. And so I might continue the opposite parallels. But in justice to these late functionaries and their friends, I must observe, that both were zealous servants of Government and their country. They exerted themselves diligently and conscientiously to protect and advance the interests of their countrymen, who had relations with Tripoli or Morocco, according to their peculiar temperaments and circumstances. No doubt they gave Government at home an immense deal of unnecessary trouble, and sometimes even annoyance; but so long as each public functionary abroad thinks the affairs of his own particular post of more importance than those of anybody else, this inconvenience will always happen, in a lesser or greater degree.

Said furnishes me with a continual anti-slavery text against the slave-trade. Everybody asks me if Said is a slave. I reply, "Slavery is a great sin amongst the English. We cannot have slaves, or make slaves of our fellow-creatures." Then follow discussions, in which I damnify the traffick in human beings as much as possible.

Today witnessed a good specimen of Arab Desert freedom. I was conversing quietly with the Governor, seated beside him on his ottoman, a privilege granted only to me, the Nather (nativegovernor) and the Kady, when rushed into the apartment a Souafee Arab, exclaiming to the Rais, "How are you?" and seizing hold of his hands, knocked his fly-flap down on the floor. His Excellency was shocked at this rudeness, and I myself was a little startled. The conversation which followed, if such it may be called, is characteristic of the bold Arab, and the haughty Turk.

The Souafee.—"The Shânbah are coming to Ghadames."

The Governor.—"I don't know; God knows."

The Souafee.—"My brothers write to me and tell me so."

The Governor.—"I don't know."

The Souafee.—"Give me money, and I'll go and look after them."

The Governor.—"I have no money."

The Souafee.—"Make haste, give me money."

The Governor.—"Have none."

The Souafee.—"Where's the money?"

The Governor.—"Go to the Ghadamseeah."

The Souafee.—"They tell me you have all their money."

The Governor.—"Go to them."

The Souafee.—"I'm going,Bislamah(good bye.)"

The Governor.—"Bislamah."

As the Souafee left the threshold of the apartment, his Excellency turned to me, and raising his right hand underneath his chin, drew its back jerkingly forwards, making the sign of the well-known expression of contempt in North Africa. He then said to me:—"See what a life I lead, what insults I am obliged to put up with! what beasts are these Arabs!" The Souafah are, indeed, the type of the genuine Desert Arab. They have no foreign master, and manage all their affairs by their own Sheikhs and Kadys. The immense waste of sand lying between Ghadames and Southern Tunis and Algeria, is their absolute domain, in the arid and thirsty bosom of which are planted, as marvels of nature, their oases of palms. The Shânbah bandits, who plunder every body, and brave heaven and earth, nevertheless dare not lay a finger on them. I cannot better represent the feelings of the Souf Arab, nor the "wild and burning range" of his country, than by quoting the lines of Eliza Cook:

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