Succession to Property
Upon the decease of a native, the first claim is that of his creditors; the next is that of his widow, who is entitled to the dower 34 promised by her husband to her father, if, not already paid, and to one-eighth of the remainder; the rest is divided among the children. A son’s share is double that of a daughter. If they agree, the land may be sold, if not, it must be divided as above. Of lands and houses, nothing is sold till the children arrive at the age of discretion; when each is entitled to his share, the rest being unsold till the others are of age in turn. This age is not fixed at so many years, but the period of discretion is determined by the relations, upon oath, before a magistrate: there is hardly any man that knows his own age. The father may dispose of his property by will, as far as regards the property of his children, but he cannot divest his wife of her rights; if a wife dies without a will, her children succeed. Wills are not written; the guardian appointed by the father takes care of the property of the deceased, and employs in trade, and lends out the money for the benefit of his children. Relations succeed if there are no children; and if there are no relations, the king takes all but the wife’s share. The wife’s relations are not considered as the husband’s relations. Children of concubines inherit equally with those of the wife. If a man have two children by a concubine, she becomes free at his death, otherwise she remains a slave. She is entitled, having children, to an eighth of the property.
MARRIAGE.
A man agrees to pay a certain price to the father of his wife, and witnesses are called to support the proof of the contract: the girl is sent home, and at night a feast is made by the husband for his male friends; by the wife for her female friends.
Rape is punished by death. Adultery is not punishable by the law, nor is it a ground for divorce. A husband may always put away his wife, but if without sufficient legal ground, he must pay her stipulated dower. Abusive language is a sufficient ground of divorce, but adultery is not. The dower is the price originally agreed upon with the father; and if it has been already paid (which it seldom is), she has no further claim upon the husband, though put away without sufficient ground. Her clothes, jewels, &c. given to her by her relations are her own property. A father generally gives the daughter in jewels, &c. a present double the value of that given him by the husband. A man can have but one wife, but may keep concubines. Seduction and adultery are not cognisable by law. The law says, “a woman’s flesh is her own, she may do with it what she pleases.” Prostitutes are common. A man may marry his niece, but not his daughter.
The people of Timbuctoo are not circumcised.
TRADE.
Timbuctoo is the great emporium for all the country of the blacks, and even for Marocco and Alexandria.
The principal articles of merchandise are tobacco, kameemas 35, beads of all colours for necklaces, and cowries, which are bought at Fas by the pound. 36 Small Dutch looking glasses, some of which are convex, set in gilt paper frames. They carry neither swords, muskets, nor knives, except such as are wanted in the caravan. At the entrance of the desert they buy rock-salt 37 of the Arabs, who bring it to them in loads ready packed, which they carry as an article of trade. In their caravan there were about 500 camels, of which about 150 or 200 were laden with salt. The camels carry less of salt than of any other article, because (being rock-salt) it wears their sides. They pay these Arabs from twenty to fifteen ounces 38 of Barbary money per load. An ounce of Barbary is worth about 6d., and a ducat is worth about 5s. sterling. They sell this salt at Timbuctoo upon an average at 50 per cent. profit; it is more profitable than linen. They take no oil from Barbary to Timbuctoo as they are supplied from other places with fish-oil used for lamps but not for food; they make soap with the oil. The returns are made in gold-dust, slaves, ivory, and pepper; gold-dust is preferred and is brought to Timbuctoo from Housa in small leather bags. He bought one of these bags of gold-dust and pieces of rings for 90 Mexican dollars, and sold it at Fas for 150. The merchants bring their gold from Timbuctoo in the saddle-bags, in small purses of different sizes one within the other. The bag which Shabeeny purchased was bought at Housa, where it sells for seven or eight ducats cheaper than at Timbuctoo. On articles from Marocco they make from thirty to fifty per cent. clear profit. Cowries and gold-dust are the medium of traffic. The shereefs and other merchants generally sell their goods to some of the principal native merchants, and immediately send off the slaves, taking their gold-dust with them into other countries. The merchants residing at Timbuctoo have agents or correspondents in other countries; and are themselves agents in return. Timbuctoo is visited by merchants from all the neighbouring black countries. Some of its inhabitants are amazingly rich. The dress of common women has been often worth 1000 dollars. A principal source of their wealth is lending gold-dust and slaves at high interest to foreign merchants, which is repaid by goods from Marocco and other countries, to which the gold-dust and slaves are carried. They commonly trade in the public market, but often send to the merchant or go to his house. Cowries in the least damaged are bad coin, and go for less than those that are perfect. There are no particular market days; the public market for provisions is an open place fifty feet square, and is surrounded by shops. 39 The Arabs sit down on their goods in the middle, till they have sold them. The pound weight of Timbuctoo is about two ounces heavier than the small pound of Barbary, which weighs twenty Spanish dollars; they have also half and quarter pounds; by these weights is sold milk, rice, butter, &c. as well as by the measure. The weights are of wood or iron under the inspection of a magistrate called in Barbary m’tasseb, i.e. inspector of weights and measures, and if the weights are found deficient, he punishes the offender immediately; they have also a quintal or cwt. They have a wooden measure called a m’hoad 40, equal to the small m’hoad of Barbary, where a m’hoad of wheat weighs about 24 lb. Both the weights and measures are divided into 1/2, 1/4, 1/8 and 1/16.
MANUFACTURES.
The black natives are smiths, carpenters, shoemakers, tailors, and masons, but not weavers. The Arabs in the neighbourhood are weavers, and make carpets resembling those of Fas and of Mesurata, where they are called telisse 41; they are of wool, from their own sheep, and camels’ hair. The bags for goods, and the tents, are of goats’ and camels’ hair; there are no palmetto trees in that country. Their thread 42, needles, scissors, &c. come from Fas: most of their ploughs they buy of the Arabs near the town, who are subject to it. Some are made in the town. These Arabs manufacture iron from ore found in the country, and are good smiths. They make iron bars of an excellent quality. They tan leather for soles of shoes very well, but know nothing of dressing leather in oil: the upper leather comes from Fas 43; their wooden combs 44 and spoons come from Barbary; they have none of ivory or horn. No lead is brought from Barbary; he thinks they have lead of their own. The best shoes are brought from Fas.
The country is well cultivated, except on the side of the desert. They have rice, el bishna 45, and a corn which they call allila 46, but in Barbary it is called drâh: this requires very rich ground. They make bread of el bishna: they have no wheat or barley. Property is fenced by a bank and a ditch. Dews are very heavy. Lands are watered by canals cut from the Nile; high lands by wells, the water of which is raised by wheels 47 worked by cattle, as in Egypt. They have violent thunder-storms in summer, but no rains: the mornings and evenings, during winter, are cold; the coldest wind is from the west, when it is as cold as at Fas. The winter lasts about two months, though the weather is cool from September to April. They begin to sow rice in August and September, but they can sow it at any time, having water at hand: he saw some sowing rice while others were reaping it. El bishna and other corn is sown before December. El bishna is ripe in June and July; as are beans. Allila may be sown at all seasons; it requires water only every eight or ten days. Their beans are like the small Mazagan beans, and are sown in March; the stalk is short, but full of pods. The allila produces a small, white, flattish grain.
PROVISIONS.
Rice is their principal food, but the rich have wheaten flour from Fas 48, and make very fine bread, which is considered a luxury. Bread is also made from the allila. They roast, boil, bake, and stew, but make no cuscasoe. Their meals are breakfast, dinner, and supper. They commonly breakfast about eight, dine about three, and sup soon after sunset. They drink only water or milk with their meals, have no palm wine or any fermented liquor; when they wish to be exhilarated after dinner, they provide a plant of an intoxicating quality called el hashisha 49, of which they take a handful before a draught of water.
ANIMALS.
Goats are very large, as big as the calves in England, and very plentiful; sheep are also very large. Cattle are small; many are oxen. Milk of camels and goats is preferred to that of cows. Horses are small, and are principally fed upon camels’ milk; they are of the greyhound 50 shape, and will travel three days without rest. They have dromedaries 51 which travel from Timbuctoo 52 to Tafilelt in the short period of five or six days.
They have common fowls, ostriches, and a bird larger than our blackbird 53; also storks, which latter are birds of passage, and arrive in the spring and disappear at the approach of winter; swallows, &c.
FISH.
They have many extremely good in the Nile; one of the shape and size of our salmon 54; the largest of these are about four feet long. They use lines and hooks brought from Barbary, and nets, like our casting nets, made by themselves. They strike large fish with spears and fish-gigs.
PRICES OF DIFFERENT ARTICLES.
Sheep from ten to sixteen cowries. Cowries 55 are much valued, and form an ornament of head-dress even for the richest women; they are highly valued as ornaments. Goats are cheaper than sheep; the best from eight to twelve cowries. Fowls from four to six cowries each. Antelopes are very scarce and dear. Camels from thirty to sixty cowries, according to their size and condition. Ostriches, of which vast numbers are brought to market, are very cheap; the fore-feathers 56 are often carried to Tafilelt and Marocco, the inferiors are thrown away. A good slave is worth ten, fifteen, or twenty ducats of five shillings each; at Fas, they are worth from sixty to a hundred ducats: females are the dearest. Slaves are most valuable about twelve years old. They have fish-oil for lamps, but use neither wax nor tallow for candles. The fish-oil is a great article of trade, and is brought from the neighbourhood 57 of the sea by Genawa 58 to Housa, and thence to Timbuctoo; dearer at Timbuctoo than at Housa, and dearer at Housa than at Genawa.
DRESS.
The sultan wears a white turban of very fine muslin, the ends of which are embroidered with gold, and brought to the front; this turban comes from Bengala. 59 He wears a loose white cotton shirt, with sleeves long and wide, open at the breast; unlike that of the Arabs, it reaches to the small of the leg; over this a caftan 60 of red woollen cloth, of the same length; red is generally esteemed. The shirt (kumja) is made at Timbuctoo, but the caftan comes from Fas, ready made; over the caftan is worn a short cotton waistcoat, striped white, red, and blue; this comes from Bengala, and is called juliba. 61 The sleeves of the caftan are as wide as those of the shirt; the breast of it is fastened with buttons, in the Moorish style, but larger. The juliba has sleeves as wide as the caftan. When he is seated, all the sleeves are turned up over the shoulder 62, so that his arms are bare, and the air is admitted to his body.
Upon his turban, on the forehead, is a ball of silk, like a pear; one of the distinctions of royalty. He wears, also, a close red skull-cap, like the Moors of Tetuan, and two sashes, one over each shoulder, such as the Moors wear round the waist; they are rather cords than sashes, and are very large; half a pound of silk is used in one of them. The subjects wear but one; they are either red, yellow, or blue, made at Fas. He wears, like his subjects, a sash round the waist, also made at Fas; of these there are two kinds,—one of leather, with a gold buckle in front, like those of the soldiers in Barbary; the other of silk, like those of the Moorish merchants. He wears (as do the subjects) breeches made in the Moorish fashion, of cotton in summer, made at Timbuctoo, and of woollen in winter, brought ready made from Fas. His shoes are distinguished by a piece of red leather, in front of the leg, about three inches wide, and eight long, embroidered with silk and gold.
When he sits in his apartment, he wears a dagger with a gold hilt, which hangs on his right side: when he goes out, his attendants carry his musket, bow, arrows, and lance.
His subjects dress in the same manner, excepting the distinctions of royalty; viz. the pear, the sashes on the shoulders, and the embroidered leather on the shoes.
The sultana wears a caftan, open in front from top to bottom, under this a slip of cotton like the kings, an Indian shawl over the shoulders, which ties behind, and a silk handkerchief about her head. Other women dress in the same manner. They wear no drawers. The poorest women are always clothed. They never show their bosom. The men and women wear ear-rings. The general expense of a woman’s dress is from two ducats to thirty. 63 Their shoes are red, and are brought from Marocco. 64 Their arms and ankles are adorned with bracelets. The poor have them of brass; the rich, of gold. The rich ornament their heads with cowries. The poor have but one bracelet on the leg, and one on the arm; the rich, two. They also wear gold rings upon their fingers. They have no pearls or precious stones. The women do not wear veils.
The king has 500 or 600 horses; his stables are in the inclosure; the saddles have a peak before, but none behind. He frequently hunts the antelope, wild ass, ostrich, and an animal, which, from Shabeeny’s description, appears to be the wild cow 65 of Africa. The wild ass is very fleet, and when closely pursued kicks back the earth and sand in the eyes of his pursuers. They have the finest greyhounds in the world, with which they hunt only the antelope 66; for the dogs are not able to overtake the ostrich. Shabeeny has often hunted with the king; any person may accompany him. Sometimes he does not return for three or four days: he sets out always after sunrise. Whatever is killed in the chace is divided among the strangers and other company present; but those animals which are taken alive are sent to the king’s palace. He goes to hunt towards the desert, and does not begin till distant ten miles from the town. The antelopes are found in herds of from thirty to sixty. He never saw an antelope, wild ass, or ostrich alone, but generally in large droves. The ostriches, like the storks, place centinels upon the watch: thirty yards are reckoned a distance for a secure shot with the bow. The king always shoots on horseback, as do many of his courtiers, sometimes with muskets, but oftener with bows. The king takes a great many tents with him. There are no lions, tigers, or wild boars near Timbuctoo. They play at chess and draughts, and are very expert at those games: they have no cards; but they have tumblers, jugglers, and ventriloquists, whose voice appears to come from under the armpits. He was much pleased with their music, of which they have twenty-four different sorts. They have dances of different kinds, some of which are very indecent.
TIME.
They measure time 67 by days, weeks, lunar months, and lunar years; yet few can ascertain their age.
RELIGION.
They have no temples, churches, or mosques, no regular worship or sabbath; but once in three months they have a great festival, which lasts two or three days, sometimes a week, and is spent in eating and drinking. He does not know the cause; but thinks it, perhaps, a commemoration of the king’s birth-day; no work is done. They believe in a Supreme Being and another state of existence, and have saints and men whom they revere as holy. Some of them are sorcerers, and some ideots, as in Barbary and Turkey; and though physicians are numerous, they expect more effectual aid in sickness from the prayers of the saints, especially in the rheumatism. Music is employed to excite ecstasy in the saint, who, when in a state of inspiration, tells (on the authority of some departed saint, generally of Seedy Muhamed Seef,) what animal must be sacrificed for the recovery of the patient: a white cock, a red cock, a hen, an ostrich, an antelope, or a goat. The animal is then killed in the presence of the sick, and dressed; the blood, feathers, and bones are preserved in a shell and carried to some retired spot, where they are covered and marked as a sacrifice. No salt or seasoning is used in the meat, but incense is used previous to its preparation. The sick man eats as much as he can of the meat, and all present partake; the rice, or what else is dressed with it, must be the produce of charitable contributions from others, not of the house or family; and every contributor prays for the patient.
DISEASES.
The winds of the desert produce complaints in the stomach, cured by medicine. They have professed surgeons and physicians. The bite of a snake is cured by sucking the wound. They have the jlob 68 violently, for which sulphur from Terodant in Suse is taken internally and externally. This disorder is sometimes fatal. They are afflicted also with fevers and agues. Bleeding is often successful; the physicians prescribe also purgatives and emetics. Ruptures are frequent and dangerous; seldom cured, and often fatal. They tap for the dropsy. He never heard of the venereal disease there. Head-aches and consumptions also prevail. The physicians 69 collect herbs and use them in medicine.
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS.
The nails and palms of the hands are stained red with henna 70, cultivated there: the Arabs tatoo their hands and arms, but not the people of Timbuctoo. These people are real negroes; they have a slight mark on the face, sloping from the eye; the Foulans have a horizontal mark; the Bambarrahees a wide gash from the forehead to the chin. Tombs are raised over the dead; they are buried in a winding-sheet and a coffin: the relations mourn over their graves, and pronounce a panegyric on the dead. The men and women mix in society, and visit together with the same freedom as in Europe. They sleep on mattresses, with cotton sheets and a counterpane; the married, in separate beds in the same room. They frequently bathe the whole body, their smell would otherwise be offensive; they use towels brought from India. At dinner they spread their mats and sit as in Barbary. They smoke a great deal, but tobacco is dear; it is the best article of trade. Poisoning is common; they get the poison from the fangs of snakes, but, he says, most commonly from a part of the body near the tail, by a kind of distillation. Physic, taken immediately after the poison, may cure, but not always; if deferred two or three days, the man must die: the poison is slow, wastes the flesh, and produces a sallow, morbid appearance. It causes great pain in the stomach, destroys the appetite, produces a consumption, and kills in a longer or shorter time, according to the strength of constitution. Some who have taken remedies, soon after the poison, live 8 or 10 years; otherwise the poison kills in 4 or 5 days. Physicians prescribe an emetic, the composition of which he does not know.
NEIGHBOURING NATIONS.
There are no Arabs between Timbuctoo and the Nile; they live on the other side 71, and would not with impunity invade the lands of these people, who are very populous, and could easily destroy any army that should attempt to molest them. The lands are chiefly private property. The Foulans are very beautiful. The Bambarrahs have thick lips and wide nostrils. The king of Foulan is much respected at Timbuctoo; his subjects are Muhamedans, but not circumcised. 72 They cannot be made slaves at Timbuctoo; but the Arabs steal their girls and sell them; not for slavery, but for marriage.
Girls are marriageable very young; sometimes they have children at ten years old.
Notes
34 The husband always stipulates to pay the father of his wife a certain sum: this is the Muhamedan dower.
35 Kameema is the Arabic word for the linen called plattilias. They are worth 50 Mexico dollars each, at Timbuctoo.
36 Called, in Amsterdam, Velt Spiegels, and in Timbuctoo, Murrâih de juah.
37 This salt is bought at Tishet, at Shangareen, and at Arawan, in the south part of Sahara; for which see the Map of Northern and Central Africa, in the new Supplement to the Encyclopædia Britannica, Article Africa.
38 Okia is the Arabic name for this piece of money.
39 Similar to the corn-market at Mogodor.
40 The m’hoad is no longer used in Barbary. There is a krube, of which sixteen are equal to a saa, which, when filled with good wheat, weighs 100 lbs. equal to 119 lbs. English weight.
41 Telissa, sing.; Telisse, plur.
42 To Fas they are brought from England through Gibraltar and Mogodor.
43 Leather is also imported from Marocco, and from Terodant in South Barbary.
44 Wooden combs are imported from Marseilles to Mogodor.
45 El Bishna. This is the Arabic name for Indian corn.
46 Allila, a species of millet.
47 A wheel similar to the Persian wheel, as before described in the note, page 13.
48 And also from Marocco.
49 El Hashisha. This is the African hemp plant: it is esteemed for the extraordinary and pleasing voluptuous vacuity of mind which it produces on those who smoke it: unlike the intoxication from wine, a fascinating stupor pervades the mind, and the dreams are agreeable. The kief is the flower and seeds of the plant: it is a strong narcotic, so that those who use it cannot do without it. For a further description of this plant, see Jackson’s Marocco, 2d or 3d edit. p. 131 & 132.
50 These horses are the desert horse, or the shrubat er’reeh. See Jackson’s Marocco, 2d or 3d edition, p. 94. to 96.
51 These are El Heirie, (or Erragual), for a particular description of which see Jackson’s Marocco, p. 91. to 93.
52 A distance of upwards of 1200 British miles.
53 The starling.
54 The shebbel, a species of salmon, a very delicate fish, but so rich that it is best roasted, which the Arabs do in a superior manner.
55 Cowries are called El Uda, and are sold in Santa Cruz and in South Barbary, at twenty Mexico dollars per quintal.
56 Called Ujuh.
57 Probably from the coast of Guinea, with which Housa carries on an extensive trade.
58 i.e. Guinea; Genawa being the Arabic name for the coast of Guinea.
59 i.e. Bengal.
60 A caftan, or coat, with wide sleeves, no collar, but that buttons all down before.
61 It is not the cotton cloth which comes from Bengal that is named Juliba, but the fashion or the cut of it.
62 The Moorish fashion.
63 Equal to from two to thirty Mexico dollars.
64 They are manufactured at Marocco.
65 The Aoudad; for a particular description of which, see Jackson’s Marocco, Chapter V., Zoology, p. 84.
66 The Gazel, or Antelope, outruns at first the greyhound; but after running about an hour the greyhound gains on him.
67 The hour is an indefinite term, and assimilates to our expression of a good while; it is from half an hour by the dial to six hours, and the difference is expressed by the word wahad saa kabeer, a long hour; and wahad saa sereer, a little hour; also by the elongation of the last syllable of the last word.
68 Probably the itch, called El Hack in Barbary.
69 The physicians have a very superior and general knowledge of the virtues of herbs and plants.
70 A decoction of the herb henna produces a deep orange die. It is used generally by the females on their hands and feet: it allays the violence of perspiration in the part to which it is applied, and imparts a coolness.
71 North of the town.
72 All true Muhamedans are circumcised, so that they must partake of Paganism if uncircumcised.