Index

Index
The153 Club
The Agades Cross
People of the Sahara
Saharan Landscapes
Saharan Salt Trade
The Gundi
Illizi Festival 2000
Sahara Freeze-up
Camel Cheese
153 Club Newsletter
153 News Update
Join the 153 Club

Père de Foucauld
L'Arbre du Ténéré 1
L'Arbre du Ténéré 2
Saharan Forts 1
Saharan Forts 2
Saharan Rock Art
Giraffe Engravings
Leo Africanus
Battuta's Saharan travels
Shabeni's Timbuktu
Timbuctoo the Mysterious
Heroditus & Pliny on Libya
Timbuktu, a poem

Joliba Trust
Ibn Khaldûn quotes 1
Ibn Khaldûn quotes 2
Ibn Khaldûn quotes 3
Ibn Khaldûn quotes 4
Ibn Khaldûn quotes 5
Ibn Khaldûn quotes 6

Old Michelin Maps
Early NW Africa Map 1
Early NW Africa Map 2
Early NW Africa Map 3
Early NW Africa Map 4
Early NW Africa Map 5
Saharan Exploration

Henry Barth 1
Henry Barth 2
Henry Barth 3
Denham & Clapperton 1
Denham & Clapperton 2
Haardt & Audouin-Dubreuil 1
Haardt & Audouin-Dubreuil 2
Haardt & Audouin-Dubreuil 3
Haardt & Audouin-Dubreuil 4

External Links

Jim Mann Taylor's Home Page
___________________________

 

 

 

Index

Index
The153 Club
The Agades Cross
People of the Sahara
Saharan Landscapes
Books on the Sahara(1)
Books on the Sahara(2)
Books on African Art
Saharan Salt Trade
The Gundi
Illizi Festival 2000
Sahara Freeze-up
Camel Cheese
153 News Update
Join the 153 Club
Today's African News

Père de Foucauld
L'Arbre du Ténéré 1
L'Arbre du Ténéré 2
Saharan Forts 1
Saharan Forts 2
Saharan Rock Art
Giraffe Engravings
Leo Africanus
Battuta's Saharan travels
Shabeni's Timbuktu
Timbuctoo the Mysterious
Heroditus & Pliny on Libya
Timbuktu, a poem

Joliba Trust
Ibn Khaldûn quotes 1
Ibn Khaldûn quotes 2
Ibn Khaldûn quotes 3
Ibn Khaldûn quotes 4
Ibn Khaldûn quotes 5
Ibn Khaldûn quotes 6

Old Michelin Maps
Early NW Africa Map 1
Early NW Africa Map 2
Early NW Africa Map 3
Early NW Africa Map 4
Early NW Africa Map 5
Saharan Exploration

Henry Barth 1
Henry Barth 2
Henry Barth 3
Denham & Clapperton 1
Denham & Clapperton 2
Haardt & Audouin-Dubreuil 1
Haardt & Audouin-Dubreuil 2
Haardt & Audouin-Dubreuil 3
Haardt & Audouin-Dubreuil 4

External Links

Jim Mann Taylor's Home Page
___________________________

 

 

 

 

 

Index

Index
The153 Club
The Agades Cross
People of the Sahara
Saharan Landscapes
Books on the Sahara(1)
Books on the Sahara(2)
Books on African Art
Saharan Salt Trade
The Gundi
Illizi Festival 2000
Sahara Freeze-up
Camel Cheese
153 Club Newsletter
153 News Update
Join the 153 Club
Today's African News

Père de Foucauld
L'Arbre du Ténéré 1
L'Arbre du Ténéré 2
Saharan Forts 1
Saharan Forts 2
Saharan Rock Art
Giraffe Engravings
Leo Africanus
Battuta's Saharan travels
Shabeni's Timbuktu
Timbuctoo the Mysterious
Heroditus & Pliny on Libya
Timbuktu, a poem

Joliba Trust
Ibn Khaldûn quotes 1
Ibn Khaldûn quotes 2
Ibn Khaldûn quotes 3
Ibn Khaldûn quotes 4
Ibn Khaldûn quotes 5
Ibn Khaldûn quotes 6

Old Michelin Maps
Early NW Africa Map 1
Early NW Africa Map 2
Early NW Africa Map 3
Early NW Africa Map 4
Early NW Africa Map 5
Saharan Exploration

Henry Barth 1
Henry Barth 2
Henry Barth 3
Denham & Clapperton 1
Denham & Clapperton 2
Haardt & Audouin-Dubreuil 1
Haardt & Audouin-Dubreuil 2
Haardt & Audouin-Dubreuil 3
Haardt & Audouin-Dubreuil 4

External Links

Jim Mann Taylor's Home Page
___________________________

 

 

 

 

Index

Index
The153 Club
The Agades Cross
People of the Sahara
Saharan Landscapes
Books on the Sahara(1)
Books on the Sahara(2)
Books on African Art
Saharan Salt Trade
The Gundi
Illizi Festival 2000
Sahara Freeze-up
Camel Cheese
153 Club Newsletter
153 News Update
Join the 153 Club
Today's African News

Père de Foucauld
L'Arbre du Ténéré 1
L'Arbre du Ténéré 2
Saharan Forts 1
Saharan Forts 2
Saharan Rock Art
Giraffe Engravings
Leo Africanus
Battuta's Saharan travels
Shabeni's Timbuktu
Timbuctoo the Mysterious
Heroditus & Pliny on Libya
Timbuktu, a poem

Joliba Trust
Ibn Khaldûn quotes 1
Ibn Khaldûn quotes 2
Ibn Khaldûn quotes 3
Ibn Khaldûn quotes 4
Ibn Khaldûn quotes 5
Ibn Khaldûn quotes 6

Old Michelin Maps
Early NW Africa Map 1
Early NW Africa Map 2
Early NW Africa Map 3
Early NW Africa Map 4
Early NW Africa Map 5
Saharan Exploration

Henry Barth 1
Henry Barth 2
Henry Barth 3
Denham & Clapperton 1
Denham & Clapperton 2
Haardt & Audouin-Dubreuil 1
Haardt & Audouin-Dubreuil 2
Haardt & Audouin-Dubreuil 3
Haardt & Audouin-Dubreuil 4

External Links

Jim Mann Taylor's Home Page
___________________________

 

 

 

Index

Index
The153 Club
The Agades Cross
People of the Sahara
Saharan Landscapes
Books on the Sahara(1)
Books on the Sahara(2)
Books on African Art
Saharan Salt Trade
The Gundi
Illizi Festival 2000
Sahara Freeze-up
Camel Cheese
153 Club Newsletter
153 News Update
Join the 153 Club
Today's African News

Père de Foucauld
L'Arbre du Ténéré 1
L'Arbre du Ténéré 2
Saharan Forts 1
Saharan Forts 2
Saharan Rock Art
Giraffe Engravings
Leo Africanus
Battuta's Saharan travels
Shabeni's Timbuktu
Timbuctoo the Mysterious
Heroditus & Pliny on Libya
Timbuktu, a poem

Joliba Trust
Ibn Khaldûn quotes 1
Ibn Khaldûn quotes 2
Ibn Khaldûn quotes 3
Ibn Khaldûn quotes 4
Ibn Khaldûn quotes 5
Ibn Khaldûn quotes 6

Old Michelin Maps
Early NW Africa Map 1
Early NW Africa Map 2
Early NW Africa Map 3
Early NW Africa Map 4
Early NW Africa Map 5
Saharan Exploration

Henry Barth 1
Henry Barth 2
Henry Barth 3
Denham & Clapperton 1
Denham & Clapperton 2
Haardt & Audouin-Dubreuil 1
Haardt & Audouin-Dubreuil 2
Haardt & Audouin-Dubreuil 3
Haardt & Audouin-Dubreuil 4

External Links

Jim Mann Taylor's Home Page
___________________________

 

 

 

 

Index

Index
The153 Club
The Agades Cross
People of the Sahara
Saharan Landscapes
Books on the Sahara(1)
Books on the Sahara(2)
Books on African Art
Saharan Salt Trade
The Gundi
Illizi Festival 2000
Sahara Freeze-up
Camel Cheese
153 Club Newsletter
153 News Update
Join the 153 Club
Today's African News

Père de Foucauld
L'Arbre du Ténéré 1
L'Arbre du Ténéré 2
Saharan Forts 1
Saharan Forts 2
Saharan Rock Art
Giraffe Engravings
Leo Africanus
Battuta's Saharan travels
Shabeni's Timbuktu
Timbuctoo the Mysterious
Heroditus & Pliny on Libya
Timbuktu, a poem

Joliba Trust
Ibn Khaldûn quotes 1
Ibn Khaldûn quotes 2
Ibn Khaldûn quotes 3
Ibn Khaldûn quotes 4
Ibn Khaldûn quotes 5
Ibn Khaldûn quotes 6

Old Michelin Maps
Early NW Africa Map 1
Early NW Africa Map 2
Early NW Africa Map 3
Early NW Africa Map 4
Early NW Africa Map 5
Saharan Exploration

Henry Barth 1
Henry Barth 2
Henry Barth 3
Denham & Clapperton 1
Denham & Clapperton 2
Haardt & Audouin-Dubreuil 1
Haardt & Audouin-Dubreuil 2
Haardt & Audouin-Dubreuil 3
Haardt & Audouin-Dubreuil 4

External Links

Jim Mann Taylor's Home Page
___________________________

 

 

 

 

Index

Index
The153 Club
The Agades Cross
People of the Sahara
Saharan Landscapes
Books on the Sahara(1)
Books on the Sahara(2)
Books on African Art
Saharan Salt Trade
The Gundi
Illizi Festival 2000
Sahara Freeze-up
Camel Cheese
153 Club Newsletter
153 News Update
Join the 153 Club
Today's African News

Père de Foucauld
L'Arbre du Ténéré 1
L'Arbre du Ténéré 2
Saharan Forts 1
Saharan Forts 2
Saharan Rock Art
Giraffe Engravings
Leo Africanus
Battuta's Saharan travels
Shabeni's Timbuktu
Timbuctoo the Mysterious
Heroditus & Pliny on Libya
Timbuktu, a poem

Joliba Trust
Ibn Khaldûn quotes 1
Ibn Khaldûn quotes 2
Ibn Khaldûn quotes 3
Ibn Khaldûn quotes 4
Ibn Khaldûn quotes 5
Ibn Khaldûn quotes 6

Old Michelin Maps
Early NW Africa Map 1
Early NW Africa Map 2
Early NW Africa Map 3
Early NW Africa Map 4
Early NW Africa Map 5
Saharan Exploration

Henry Barth 1
Henry Barth 2
Henry Barth 3
Denham & Clapperton 1
Denham & Clapperton 2
Haardt & Audouin-Dubreuil 1
Haardt & Audouin-Dubreuil 2
Haardt & Audouin-Dubreuil 3
Haardt & Audouin-Dubreuil 4

External Links

Jim Mann Taylor's Home Page
___________________________

 

 

 

 

Index

Index
The153 Club
The Agades Cross
People of the Sahara
Saharan Landscapes
Books on the Sahara(1)
Books on the Sahara(2)
Books on African Art
Saharan Salt Trade
The Gundi
Illizi Festival 2000
Sahara Freeze-up
Camel Cheese
153 Club Newsletter
153 News Update
Join the 153 Club
Today's African News

Père de Foucauld
L'Arbre du Ténéré 1
L'Arbre du Ténéré 2
Saharan Forts 1
Saharan Forts 2
Saharan Rock Art
Giraffe Engravings
Leo Africanus
Battuta's Saharan travels
Shabeni's Timbuktu
Timbuctoo the Mysterious
Heroditus & Pliny on Libya
Timbuktu, a poem

Joliba Trust
Ibn Khaldûn quotes 1
Ibn Khaldûn quotes 2
Ibn Khaldûn quotes 3
Ibn Khaldûn quotes 4
Ibn Khaldûn quotes 5
Ibn Khaldûn quotes 6

Old Michelin Maps
Early NW Africa Map 1
Early NW Africa Map 2
Early NW Africa Map 3
Early NW Africa Map 4
Early NW Africa Map 5
Saharan Exploration

Henry Barth 1
Henry Barth 2
Henry Barth 3
Denham & Clapperton 1
Denham & Clapperton 2
Haardt & Audouin-Dubreuil 1
Haardt & Audouin-Dubreuil 2
Haardt & Audouin-Dubreuil 3
Haardt & Audouin-Dubreuil 4

External Links

Jim Mann Taylor's Home Page
___________________________

 

Shabeni's Description of Timbuktu

Shabeni was a merchant from Tetuan who was captured and ended up in England where he told his story of how as a child of 14, around 1787, he had gone with his father to Timbuktu. A version of his story is related by James Grey Jackson in his book An Account of Timbuctoo and Hausa, 1820. It is related below with some of the footnotes incorporated into the text between square [ ] brackets. His own idiosyncratic spelling (Marocco for Morocco, Fas for Fez, Muhamedans for Mohammedans and Housa for Hausa etc., is retained in the quotations below.

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 [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] 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. [El Kibla signifies the tomb of Muhamed: in most African towns there is a Kibla-gate, which faces Medina in Arabia.] The gates are hung on very large hinges, and when shut at night, are locked, as in Barbary; and are farther secured 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 sunset: 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.

POPULATION
The town is once and a half the size of Tetuan, [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] and contains, besides natives about 10,000 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.

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, etc. in the same place. These fondacs [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] 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 enclosure, 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 fon-dacs are called Woal 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, etc. 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.

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 washhouse are generally to the right and to the left of the passage; the necessary is next the washhouse.

GOVERNMENT
Timbuctoo is governed by a native black, who has the title of sultan. He is tributary to the sultan of Housa, and is chosen by the inhabitants of Timbuctoo, who write to the king of Housa for his approbation. Upon the death of a sultan, his eldest son is most commonly chosen. The son of a concubine cannot inherit the throne; if the king has no lawful son (son of his wife) at his decease, the people choose his successor from among his relations. The sultan has only one lawful wife, but keeps many concubines: the wife has a separate house for herself, children, and slaves. He has no particular establishment for his concubines, but takes any girl he likes from among his slaves. His wife has the principal management of his house. The sultan's palace is built in a corner of the city, on the east; it occupies a large extent of ground within an enclosure, which has a gate. Within this square are many buildings; some for the officers of state. The king often sits in the gate to administer justice, and to converse with his friends. There is a small garden within it, furnishing a few flowers and vegetables for his table; there is also a well, from which the water is drawn by a wheel. [A wheel similar to the Persian wheel, worked by a mule or an ass, having pots, which throw the water into a trough as they pass round, which trough discharges the water into the garden, and immerses the plants.] Many female slaves are musicians. The king has several sons, who are appointed to administer justice to the natives. Except the king's relations, there are no nobles nor any privileged class of men as in Barbary; [The privileged class of men in Barbary, are the Fakeers; but no one in Barbary is noble but the King's relations, who are denominated shereefs] those of the blood-royal are much respected. The officers of state are distinguished by titles like those of Marocco; one that answers to an Alkaid, i.e. a captain of 700, of 500, or of 100 men; another like that of Bashaw. The king, if he does not choose to marry one of his own relations, takes a wife from the family of the chiefs of his council; his daughters marry among the great men. The queen-dowager has generally an independent provision, but cannot marry. The concubines of a deceased king cannot marry, but are handsomely provided for by his successor.

REVENUE
The revenue arises partly from land and partly from duties upon all articles exposed to sale. The king has lands cultivated by farmers who are obliged to supply his household and troops; the surplus after the support of their own families is deposited in matamores, [Subterraneous excavations, or rooms in the form of a cone, which have a small opening like a trapdoor; when these matamores are full of grain, they are shut, and the air being excluded, the grain deposited in them will keep sound twenty or thirty years. I have been in matamores in West and in south Barbary, that would contain 1000 saas of wheat, or nearly 2000 bushels Winchester measure. They are from sit to Sixteen feet deep, and of various conical forms] these are stores to be used in time of scarcity: the mata-mores are about six feet deep. The king often gives gold dust, slaves, etc., to his favourites, but the royal domains are never given. Lands not very fruitful are common pastures. Moors pay no duties; they say they will not bring goods if compelled to pay duty, but the natives must pay; the duties are collected by the king's officers, they are four per cent, upon each article ad valorem. At the gate of the desert, goods brought by foreigners pay nothing, but goods brought in by the gate of the Nile, (which is the gate of the Negroes,) pay a tax: another part of the revenue is two per cent in kind on the produce of the land; but the people of Barbary do not pay even this for what land they cultivate. The property of those who die without heirs goes to the king, but when a foreigner dies the king takes no part of his property; it is kept for his relations. Timbuctoo being a frontier town remits no revenue to Housa; the king of Housa sends money to Timbuctoo to pay the garrison.

ARMY
The troops are paid by the king of Housa, and are armed with pikes, swords, cutlasses, sabres, and muskets; the other natives use the bow and arrow. At Timbuctoo, in time of war, there are about I 2,000 or 15,000 troops, 5000 of which receive constant daily pay in time of peace, and are clothed every year they are all infantry except a few of the king's household. Sometimes he subsidises the friendly Arabs, and makes occasional presents to their chiefs; these Arabs can furnish him with from 80,000 to 40,000 men.

ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE
Punishments are the bastinado, imprisonment, and fine. He recollects but one prison. If a native stabs another, he is obliged to attend the wounded man until he recovers; if he dies, the offender is put to death. The offender must pay a daily allowance to the wounded man for his support; if the wound appears dangerous, the culprit is immediately imprisoned; if the wounded man recovers, the offender must pay a fine and suffer the bastinado. There are four capital punishments: beheading, hanging, strangling and bastinadoing to death. Beheading is preferred; it is thus performed: the criminal sits down, and a person behind gives him a blow or push on the back or shoulder, which makes him turn his head, and while his attention is thus employed, the executioner strikes it off. Hanging and strangling are seldom used and basti-nadoing to death, is only inflicted when the crime is highly aggravated. Capital crimes are murder, robbery with violence, and stealing cattle. Small offences, as stealing slaves and other articles, are punished by the bastinado. The landed estates of criminals are never forfeited. The police is so good, that merchants reside there in perfect safety. There are no exactions or extortions practised by government, as in Barbary, nor even any presents asked for the king. A debtor proving his inability, cannot be molested; [This is the written Muhamedan law: the insolvent is always liable, but cannot be arrested or imprisoned whilst he remains insolvent, but continues always liable for the debt if he afterwards becomes solvent. The present Emperor of Marocco has lately published an edict. Hearing that his Jew subjects in London frequently became bankrupts, or made compositions with their creditors, has enacted, that all persons in his dominions who live by buying and selling, shall pay their just debts but if unable, their brethren, or relations shall pay their creditors for them. If they are unable. the insolvent is to receive a beating every morning at sunrise, to remind him of his defalcation. This law was enacted at Fas in 1817, and since then, I am informed, no bankruptcy has happened in that great commercial city] but to the extent of his means he is always liable; on refusing to pay, he may be imprisoned; but upon proving his insolvency before the judge, he is discharged, though always liable if he should have means at any future time. Watchmen patrol in the night with their dogs; others are stationed in particular places, as the marketplace and the kasserea, or square, where the merchants have their shops. Guards are placed at the king's palace. Capital crimes are tried by the king: smaller offences by inferior magistrates. The council sit with the king, every man according to his rank; it consists of the principal officers of his household; he asks their opinion, but unless they are unanimous, decides according to his own. There are always five or six judges sitting in the king's court for the general administration of justice. The king is understood to have no power of altering the laws: if the council are unanimous, the king never decides against them.
A slave is entirely at his master's disposal, who may put him to death without trial; yet the slave may complain to the council of ill-usage, and if the complaint be well-founded, his master is ordered to sell him. The slaves are always foreign; a native cannot be made a slave. There are three reasons for which a slave may be entitled to freedom: want of food, want of clothes, and want of shoes: an old slave is frequently set at liberty, and returns to his own country. The children of slaves are the property of their master. Slaves cannot marry without the consent of their masters. The master of the female slave generally endeavours to buy the male to whom she is attached. [Many conscientious Muhamedans, in purchasing slaves, calculate how many years' service their purchase money is equal to. Thus, if a man pays a servant twenty dollars a-year for wages, and he gives 100 dollars for a slave, he retains the slave live years, when, if his conduct has been approved, he often discharges him from servitude. The period for liberating slaves in this manner is however quite optional, and admits of great latitude; neither is there any compulsion in the master. I have known instances of a slave being liberated after a few years of servitude; and his master's confidence has been such that he has advanced him money to trade with, and has allowed him to cross the desert to Timbuctoo, waiting for the repayment of his money till his return. This is often the treatment of Muhamedans to slaves I how different from that practised by the Planters in the West India Islands !!!]

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 [The husband always stipulates to pay the father of his wife a certain sum this is the Muhamedan dower] 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, etc., given to her by her relations are her own property. A father generally gives the daughter in jewels, etc., 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 [Kameema is the Arabic word for the linen called plattillias They are worth 50 Mexico dollars each, at Timbuctoo.], beads of all colours for necklaces, and cowries, which are bought at Fas by the pound. 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 [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 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Article Africa] 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 [Okia is the Arabic name for this piece of money.] 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 saddlebags, 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, arid 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. 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, etc. 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, be punishes the offender immediately; they have also a quintal or cwt. They have a wooden measure called a m'hoad, [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.] 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 ½, ¼, 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; 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, needles, scissors, etc. 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; their wooden combs 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.

HUSBANDRY
The country is well cultivated, except on the side of the desert. They have rice, el bishna and a corn which they call allila 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' worked by cattle, as in Egypt. They have violent thunderstorms 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 , 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, [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, 2nd or 3rd edit. p.131 & 132.] 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 shape, and will travel three days without rest. They have dromedaries which travel from Timbuctoo to Tafilelt in the short period of five or six days.

BIRDS
They have common fowls, ostriches, and a bird larger than our blackbird; also storks, which latter are birds of passage, and arrive in the spring and disappear at the approach of winter; swallows, etc.

FISH
They have many extremely good in the Nile; one of the shape and size of our salmon; 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 them selves. They strike large fish with spears and fish-gigs.

PRICES OF DIFFERENT ARTICLES
Sheep from ten to sixteen cowries. Cowries a 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 b 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 of the sea by Genawa 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. 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 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 juhba.[ It is not the cotton cloth which comes from Bengal that is named Juliba, but the fashion or the cut of it.] 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, 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 skullcap, 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 earrings. The general expense of a woman 's dress is from two ducats to thirty. Their shoes are red, and are brought from Marocco. 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.

DIVERSIONS
The king has 500 or 600 horses his stables are in the enclosure; 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 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 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 chase 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 bunt 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 sentinels 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 [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] 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 birthday; 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 idiots, 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 violently, from 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. Headaches and consumptions also prevail. The physicians collect herbs and use them in medicine.

MANNERS AND CUSTOMS
The nails and palms of the hands are stained red with henna [A decoction of the herb henna produces a deep orange dye. 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] cultivated there: the Arabs tattoo 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; 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.[All true Muhamedans are circumcised, so that they must partake of Paganism if uncircumcised.] 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.

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