Africa by Élisée Reclus/Volume 3/Chapter 8
CHAPTER VIII.
THE TSAD BASIN.
General Survey.
HE geographical centre of the African continent is not an Alpine range, as in Europe and Asia, but on the contrary a deep depression largely flooded by marsh waters, and in its relief inclining rather towards the Niger and the western regions. East and south this basin is encircled by mountains and uplands, north and west by disconnected hills and terraces, falling in the south-west to open, low-lying plains, through which the great lacustrine depression almost merges in the Benue hydrographic system. Thus the central region is almost everywhere easily accessible, and also contains a relatively dense population, estimated at certainly more than seven millions in a total area exceeding 280,000 square miles. Thanks to the fertility of the soil and its rich vegetation, the Tsad basin promises to become perhaps the most flourishing region in the whole of Africa.
But this inland basin has not yet been brought into direct and regular communication with the civilised world. Years pass before the echo reaches Europe of the events of which it is the scene, and the great movements of migration, wars and conquests remain unknown. Hitherto its direct relations have mainly been through the Dar-For and Wadai routes with the east, whence it has received its Mohammedan religion, its foreign culture and knowledge of the outer world. The highway connecting the Tsad basin with the Mediterranean seaboard has been of far less historic importance, although in recent times more frequented by traders from the north, and consequently now better known. But this more direct route is, in its turn, being gradually replaced by the much longer but easier south-western waterway of the Benue and Lower Niger.
The Tsad basin has hitherto been visited by few European explorers, and this dangerous journey has proved fatal to several of those who have attempted it. Bornu was first reached in 1823 by the Fezzan route and Kawar oasis by Denham, Clapperton, Oudney, Hillman, and Toole; but two of these English pioneers never returned to their native land. Over a quarter of a century passed before the next expedition was undertaken in 1851 by Richardson, Overweg, and Barth, but the two former soon perished, while their successor, Vogel, met with a violent end in Wadai, the same fate some years afterwards overtaking Beurmann in Kanem. In 1871 and 1872 better success attended Nachtigal, who, after visiting Borku and Kanem, successively traversed Bornu, Baghirmi, Wadai, and Dar-For. Matteucci and Massari followed in 1880, but no traveller has yet succeeded in crossing the water-parting which separates the waters flowing north to Lake Tsad and south to the Congo. Nor has any European yet reached the Mendif uplands, which may be regarded as the orographic centre of the continent, dominatin g at once the Nile, Niger, Tsad, and Congo basins.
Eastwards the natural limit of the Tsad geographical system is formed by the
Marrah range, which in Dar-For constitutes the divide in the direction of the Nile. Farther west the plains are broken by some secondary chains, such as the two parallel Tirdzé ridges running north and south in Dar-For and Wadai at an altitude of about 2,000 feet above the sea, falling imperceptibly northwards in the direction of the Sahara, and continued south-westwards by isolated eminences and by the Gheré hills occupying a large part of West Wadai. West of the Shari, some of whose affluents flow from the Gheré uplands, the divide between the Tsad and Benue is formed by the Wandala Mountains, which have a mean elevation of 2,600 feet, culminating in Mount Magar, about 8,000 feet high. Near this range tise two isolated peaks, Kamallé, terminating in a columnar mass, and much farther 844 WEST AFRICA. south the twin-crested Mendif, which at a distance seem white, but which are said to be really blackish, probably basaltic, the white appearance being due to a deposit of guano from the myriads of birds whirling round these heights. Towards the west the incline is very slight from the plains of Bornu to the divide separating them from the oceanic basin. The absolute height of the hills does not exceed 2,000 feet, except in the isolated Mount Fika, visible in all direc- tions for several days' march. In the extreme north the limits of the Tsad basin are indicated less by the relief than by the climate, although some chains of sand- hills, escarpments of the plateau, and a few rocky eminences vary the monotony of the steppe zone intermediate between the forest regions and the Saharian wastes. Lake Tsad. Although the streams flowing westwards from the Marrah range belong to the Tsad system, it seems probable that none of them, except on rare occasions, actually reach the lake or its great tributary, the Sbari. The Wady Azum and its various affluents form a permanent watercourse only during the kharif, or rainy season, and even then the slight general incline and the intervening eminences cause the sluggish current to expand in shallow meres, soon carried off by evaporation. The Batha, which rises in the Tirdze hills, flows south-west and west to the Fitri depression, alternately a morass and a lake, according to the abundance of the rainfall. In the language of the riverain populations who preceded the present Kanuri masters of the land, Tsad (Tsade, Chad, Chade), had the sense of " great body of water," and the term Kolo (Kula), applied to this vast flooded depression by the Yedina islanders, appears to have the same meaning. Burckhardt was the first to describe it with some approach to accuracy. All Arab traders, accepting the assumed identity of the Timbuktu, Bornu, and Egyptian waters, regarded Lake Tsad either as a common reservoir of all the African " Niles," or the inland sea of a great central plateau, whence the rivers escaped in all directions to the periphery of the continent. Since Denham, the 'first European who reached the lake, which he named "Waterloo," accurate surveys have shown that, on the contrary, it occupies one of the lowest regions in Africa, standing, according to Vogel and Nachtigal, not more than 850 or 900 feet above sea-leVel, while its hydrographic function is limited to collecting the surrounding waters in a completely landlocked basin. Its actual extent cannot yet be even approxim'ately estimated, the sources and headwaters of its chief affluent, the Shari, being still unknown. Nachtigal's tentative calculation of 11,000 square miles for the lake alone is reduced by Rohlfs to 4,500 for the dry, and raised to 22,000 for the wet season. But although thus rivalling in extent some of the other great lakes of the Old and New Worlds, Tsad cannot compare with them in the depth or volume of its waters. According to the natives the greatest depth -between the shore near Kuka and the Shari mouth, is only " the height of two men," and the island of Seyorum, 12 miles off the coast, may be reached on horseback. In the deepest parts surx by him, Overweg found only 20 feet, so that Tsad is rather a permanent
inundation than a lake in the true sense of the term, in this respect resembling the Siberian Balkash, apparently a great inland sea, in reality a shallow expansion of the River Ili.
The coastline is clearly defined only at the northern extremity, where the Saharian sands drifting before the trade winds have been heaped up in dunes, whose base projects like a headland into the water. Almost everywhere else it seems impossible to say where the Fig. 170. — Lake of Tuburi.
land ceases and the water begins. The south-east corner, and farther north the part near the Kanem coast, are occupied by groups of islands, covering, according to Nachtigal, one-third of the whole surface, and separated from each other by shallow or marshy straits. The southern archipelago of Karka is in fact a mere assemblage of eminences dotted over a morass, which if drained would present an appearance analogous to that of the neighbouring land of Kanem, where green hills and leafy thickets alternate with treeless spaces.
Besides the rains, which begin in June, Tsad is fed by large tributaries, chiefly from Bornu in the west, and from Baghirmi in the south. From Bornu come two komodogu or "rivers," which in the dry season shrink to a mere chain of Jagoons, but which during the rains flow in a continuous stream much too deep te if, tore and rapid to be forded. The Yeu (Yoobé of Nachtigal, Waubé of Barth), has its farthest sources in Haussa Land, 480 miles to the west, and it drains the whole of West Bornu, and apparently also the Babir territory on the Adamawa frontier, which is said to send it a tributary flowing for part of its course through an underground gallery.
Much more important are the contributions received from the southern regions watered by the copious tropical rains. The streams, such as the Mbulu, rising in the Mandara country, flow sluggishly over the level plains, expanding into vast sheets of water, and for weeks and months together interrupting all communications. Lake Tuburi is the centre of a series of lagoons presenting a continuous waterway between the Upper Benue and the Tsad, while during the rains all the branches of the Shari delta, on the south side, are merged in a common stream 30 miles wide. When this great body of water reaches the lake it begins to rise rapidly, attaining its highest level towards the end of November.
The Shari, which in the local idioms has the same meaning as Tsad, is one of the great rivers of Africa, the problem of whose source, however, is not yet completely solved. At the same time, Schweinfurth's suggestion that the Welle of the Monbottu and Niam-Niam regions is its upper course, is now rejected by most geographers, who regard the Welle as an affluent of the Congo. The farthest eastern headstreams of the Shari are probably still over 600 miles from
the source of the Welle, taking their rise in the southern uplands of Dar-For and Wadai. According to the natives, the ramifications of its delta begin 360 miles above its mouth, at a point where it divides into two ba or chief branches, the Ba Bai, or Logon, flowing to the left, the Ba Busso, or Shari proper, to the right. But however this be, the eastern arm after receiving the Bahr-el-Abiad ("White River"), from the Banda territory, throws off a branch, the Ba Batchikam, which is again united 150 miles lower down. Farther on both main branches are merged in one, while a number of secondary channels find their way in shifting beds to the lake.
The annual discharge of the Shari is roughly estimated by Nachtigal at over 2,100 billion cubic feet, or an average of 70,000 per second, this quantity being at. least double the supply received by the lake from all other influents and the rainfall taken together. The total rise caused by all these contributions is estimated by Rohlfs at about 80 feet, the area of the flooded depression increasing during the inundations by many thousand square miles, and exceeding in extent the lake of Geneva ten or even twenty times.
Unlike all other large closed basins, Tsad is a freshwater lake, a phenomenon all the more surprising that wells sunk in Kanem yield a brackish fluid, while several islands in the eastern archipelago contain saltpetre. Doubtless its main influent, the Shari, flows through a region extremely poor in salt; but if the lake
were of great geological age, the saline particles, however small in quantity, must necessarily have accumulated by the effect of concentration and evaporation, whence the inference that this reservoir is of comparatively recent formation. At present it is the scene of incessant change, due mainly to the action of the Shari, whose alluvial delta advancing on the south side causes the liquid domain to encroach on the other sides, and especially on the west coast, where the route between Bornu and Kanem is constantly receding farther and farther inland. Here the district of Kuka is exposed to frequent inundations, which laid the city under water in 1878, when the Sheikh proposed to remove his residence much LAKE TSAD. ' 349 farther west. For the same reason several other towns, such as ^gigmi in the north-west corner, have had to be rebuilt farther inland. While the water is thus advancing westwards, it is retiring on the opposite side, where the Bahr-el-Ghazal, although at a lower level than the Tsad, has been gradually drying up. This watercourse was long supposed to be a tributary of the lake, until Nachtigal's surveys confirmed the original statement of Denham and Clapperton, that it is really an old emissary, which is even still occasionally flooded. At the time of Nachtigal's visit, the current penetrated some 50 miles into the Bahr-el-Ghazal, which according to the local tradition, only ceased to be a regular affluent about the second half of the last century. Some infiltration probably still goes on below the surface, where brackish water can always be found at depths of from 4 to 6 or 7 feet. According to Nachtigal's preliminary survey, the Bahr-el-Ghazal flowed first east, then north-east for about 300 miles to the Bodele depression, at the foot of the Borku escarpments. West of this point occurs another broad depression, that of Egay, also at a lower level than Tsad, and separated from the Bahr-el- Ghazal by a barrier of dunes. Here the sandhills, all disposed in the direction from north-east to south-west, generally move with considerable rapidity under the action of the regular trade- winds. Where the original lacustrine bed is not concealed by these sands, it is found strewn with the remains of fish in such numbers and so well preserved that a naturalist might here conveniently study the ichthyology of the Tsad basin. At present there are neither cultivated tracts nor permanent settlements in this region, where, however, Nachtigal discovered the remains of a city, and where the Senusiya missionaries have announced their intention of founding an establishment near the copious Galakka springs, on the route between Bodele and Borku. Climate. — Flora. — Fauna. The climate of Bornu is much more equable than that of the Sahara, the difference of temperature being much less perceptible between day and night, and scarcely exceeding 17° F. between the hottest and coldest months. According to Denham the mean for the year at Kuka is 82"^, falling to 75° in December, and rising to 91° in April. Throughout most of the j^ear the trade winds prevail, flowing sometimes from the north-east, at others parallel with the equator. The rainfall increases generally in the direction from north to south, and from east to west, and is consequently much heavier in Bornu than in Wadai, in the Shari basin than in Kanem, and heaviest in the Mandara uplands, where the wet season lasts seven full months, and sometimes even more. In Bornu the corresponding period begins towards the end of May, and is over at the end of September, here the mean annual rainfall being certainly more than 40 inches. The remaining eight months are divided into a dry and a hot season, the former following, the latter preceding, the rains, and the transition between all these periods being
everywhere very abrupt. 
In the intermediate zone between the Sahara and Sudan, the characteristic vegetation are graminaceous plants and trees not requiring much moisture, such as the acacias, the prevailing species of which traverse the whole continent from the Red Sea to the shores of the Atlantic. Plere animal life is surprisingly rich, including vast herds of antelopes and gazelles, of giraffes and elephants, ostriches still as numerous as they ever were on the Algerian plateau, and the hippopotamus in the lake and all its affluents. Eapacious beasts, such as the lion and hysena, are also met in this region, while in the forests the weaver-bird hangs its nest on every pliant bough, and the shallow waters are animated by flocks of ducks, geese, pelicans, storks, and herons. Snakes are numerous, and after every shower the ground swarms with centipedes and other insects. South of the border zone, vegetation increases in vigour and variety in the direction of the equator. The dum palm, rare and stunted in the steppe, acquires its full development in the interior of Bornu, and on the plains of Baghirmi and the Mandara territory, here and there accompanied by the deleb palm, and every- where associated with the leafy tamarind- tree, and in the south with the gigantic baobab. In South Baghirmi the forest vegetation prevails everywhere, the trees increasing in size and presenting several new species peculiar to the tropics, such as the Eriodendroii atifraduosum, yielding a down soft as that of the eider ; the still more useful butter-tree (bassia Farldi), so valuable in a country where the domestic animals supply but little milk, and the Parkia biglohosay whose berry afPords an extremely nutritious flour. In these forest regions the characteristic animals are the cynocephalous apes, lions, and other felida}, elephants, the hippopotamus, and in South Wadai the abu-horn, or two-horned rhinoceros. Baghirmi is described by Barth and Nachtigal as a land teeming beyond most others in insect life, scorpions, ants, and termites swarming everywhere, while certain districts are infested by the tsetse fly, or some analogous pest. Pyramidal termite-hills are frequently seen, resembling the native huts, but more solidly built, and for centuries resisting the action of the tropical sun and rains. Some were seen by Barth which stood 40 feet high with a circumference of about 70 yards. During the rainy season, when they assume wings, the termites hover heavily about their nests, and are then captured and devoured in vast quantities by the natives. They are found in endless variety : some almost microscopic, some nearly an inch long ; some black, grey, or green, others brown, red, or white ; some forming warlike aristocracies, others communistic republics, but all equally industrious and hardworking, whence the term kida-Jdda ( '• work- work " ) applied to them by the natives. Lake Tsad appears to abound in fish, which form the staple food of the islanders, and which are largely exported to the interior of Bornu. The lacustrine fauna includes some much- dreaded carnivorous species, and the malacopterunis, a dangerous electric fish, besides the manatns Vogelii, a cetacean so named from the traveller who first described it. In the Tsad basin the chief cereals are dokhn and durra, the former cultivated in the sandy districts of the north, the latter in the stronger soil of the south. 352 WEST AFEICA. Crops are also raised of maize, rice, sesame, and ground-nuts, besides a little wheat and barley, which, like the fig, citron, and pomegranate, are of recent introduction. These trees grow to an enormous size, but the fruits are inferior in flavour to those of the Mediterranean regions. Horned cattle, horses, asses, sheep, and goats thrive well, and' despite the pre- cepts of Islam, the people of Kuka keep herds of swine, which act as scavengers in concert with the carrion birds. In Bornu camels are rare, except in the north, where the Koyam people have succeeded in acclimatising a particular variety. Of oxen there are several breeds, of which one is distinguished by enormous horns growing in the form of a lyre 20 inches in circumference at the base ; while another has a hump like that of the zebu, and short movable horns rocking at every step. The horses, introduced from the north during the period of the Mohammedan invasion, are of the Barbary stock, which they still equal in endur- ance, vivacity, and speed. All these domestic animals are carefully tended in well- kept stables, and protected against the "evil eye" by high enclosures furnished with amulets. Wadai. In the Tsad basin the political preponderance belongs at present to Wadai, or Borgu, which is, nevertheless, neither the richest nor the most populous state in this region. Wadai, properly so-called, is a country of small extent lying west of the low Tirdze range, scarcely one- tenth of the subdued territory, not even reckon- ing the vassal states of Kanem and Baghirmi. The sultan's dominions, which are scarcely anywhere clearly defined, are officially conterminous with Dar-For, from which, however, they are separated by no natural frontier, but rather by an inter- mediate neutral zone or borderland occupied by nomad populations. Towards the north and north-west the frontiers oscillate with the migrations of subject tribes moving from camping- ground to camping-ground ; the western limits also are frequently modified by wars and marauding expeditions, while southwards the territories of the reduced tribes have no known confines. But the area of the empire with all its tributary states and dependencies may be roughl}' estimated at about 180,000 square miles, with a scanty population — according to Nachtigal, not exceeding two millions six hundred thousand. Nearly all the attempts hitherto made to visit Wadai have ended in disaster. Curry and Beurmann both perished, one approaching from the east, the other from the west. Yogel reached the capital in 1855, but only to be murdered by the fanatical Mussulman inhabitants; Nachtigal, however, who crossed the frontier in 1873, was more fortunate, by his prudent conduct overcoming prejudice and securing friends even amongst the most zealous Mohammedans. Matteucci and Massari also were at least able to traverse the country rapidly and under escort in 1879. • The Arab element is relatively much larger in Wadai than in any other part of Central or Western Sudan. The indigenous races have, nevertheless, maintained the preponderance, and the Negro Maba nation, comprising one- seventh of the WADAI. 853 whole population, claim to be nobles amongst the nobles, founding tbeir preten- sions on their early conversion to Islam. Their speech is widely diffused amongst the surrounding tribes as the general medium of social and commercial inter- course. South and south-east of the Mabas dwell the Abu-Sharibs, separated from the kindred Tamas, who occupy the uplands of the same name north-east of Wara, former capital of the kingdom. .Like their Kadoi neighbours they are a valiant race, who long maintained their independence against the Mabas. Other power- ful peoples are the recently subdued Massalits in the eastern borderland between Wadai and Dar-For, and the Kukas and Bulalas, founders of the Fitri state, who still enjoy a measure of independence, and whose sultan, although now tributary to Wadai, is considered of more noble origin than his suzerain chief. North of Wadai proper, the Zoghawas, as well as the kindred Dazas and Tedas, are repre- sented by some zealous Mohammedan tribes. Wadai is at present a chief centre of religious propaganda, the Maba sultan having become the ally of the Senusiya sect. Nevertheless, most of the subject tribes or vassals in the south have remained pagans, or are at most merely nominal Mohammedans. Thus the Kutis, akin to their Moslem neighbours the Run gas, still practise witchcraft, while other *' Kafir" populations inhabit the southern region vaguely known as Dar-Banda. Like the Niam-Niams still farther south, the Banda people are cannibals, and worship a goddess Wamba, to whom they offer beer and the first-fruits of the chase. This country, say the natives, is bounded southwards by the Bahr Kuta, a great river inhabited by crocodiles and hippopota- muses, and very probably identical with the Welle or some other great affluent of the Con 2:0. Of the Arabs, collectively known in Wadai by the name of Aramka, the most numerous tribe are the Mahamids, settled in the country for over five hundred years, and very rich in camels and other live stock. They pitch their tents especially in the northern valley, and on 'the steppes stretcning away to Borku and Tibesti. The other Arabs of Wadai, more or less mixed with Nuba blood, are divided into the two groups of the Soruks, or " Blacks," and Homr, or " Eeds." The Arab element is also largely represented among the Jellabas, or traders, whose caravans penetrate west to Sudan, south to Dar-Banda, and south-east to Baghirmi, taking slaves, ivory, ostrich feathers, and copper in exchange for salt and European wares. Topography and Administration of Wadat. Aheshr (Abes/ie/t), present, capital of Wadai, lies in the Maba country, near the caravan route leadino^ from Ivuka through Dar-For and Kordofan to Khartum. It is a modern town, founded in 1850 by a sovereign whose previous residence, Wara, was exposed to the attacks of the surrounding highland populations. Of Wara, situated 24 miles north of Abeshr, nothing remains except a brick mosque and minaret, and on the summit of a rock a sacred cabin, where, on his accession, the sultan has to make a seven days' retreat. It was for rashly penetrating into this hallowed spot that Vogel seems to have been put to death.
Nunro, west of Wara, is the centre of the Jellaba traders, but not their chief depot. Of the other groups of population the largest is Kodogus, 120 miles south of Abeshr, in a district inhabited by Arabs and Abu-Sharibs. Yawa, on Lake Fitri, capital of the Bulalas, is said to be one of the oldest places in Sudan.
The Sultan of Wadai, a member of the Ghemir (Nuba) tribe, is the direct ruler only of the northern part of the kingdom. This territory is divided, like Dar-For, into provinces named from the cardinal points, and governed by kemakels, or lieutenants, with the right of life and death over their subjects on the condition of remitting to the sultan the customary tribute. This tribute varies according to usage and the local conditions, some places furnishing slaves, some horses or cattle, others honey or corn. In the administration of the country the Sultan is assisted by the fasher, or "privy council," while the laws — that is, the Koran and its commentaries — are interpreted by the fakih or ulima, although local usage still largely prevails. The army, of about seven thousand men, is chiefly employed in enforcing the payment of tribute in Baghirmi and the other vassal states.
Kanem.
Taken in its general acceptation, Kanem is the region, some 30,000 or 32,000 square miles in extent, which is bounded on the south-west by Lake Tsad, on the south-east by the Bahr-el-Ghazal depression, on the west by the great caraA^an route from Bornu to Tripoli, and on the north by the line of wells on the verge of the desert. But in a narrower sense Kanem, properly so called, is the triangular space whose base is formed by the shore of the lake, and apex by the two latitudinal and meridional lines running north and south-east from the two corners of the lacustrine basin. Within this region of woods and cultivated tracts are concentrated nearly all the inhabitants of Kanem, who are estimated at scarcely more than one hundred thousand. Northwards stretch the almost level Manga plains, forming an intermediate steppe zone towards the desert.
The kingdom of Kanem was for five hundred years, from the beginning of the tenth century, the hotbed of the Mussulman propaganda, and the most powerful kingdom in Central Africa. Then about 1500 the centre of political influence was displaced towards Bornu under the influence of the Bulala invaders from the east, a people akin to the Kanuri. Since that time Kanem has never recovered its independence, passing successively from the Bulalas and Kanuris to the Dazas and its present Arab rulers, the Aulad-Sliman, who are regarded as the masters of the country, although forming a mere fraction of the population, and in 1871 mustering not more than one thousand armed men. Yet this handful of warlike clansmen, often at feud among themselves ever the distribution of the plunder, contrive to keep in a state of terror all the populations comprised between Bornu, Air, and Wadai. By the Dazas and others bordering on North Sudan they are called Minnemime or "Devourers," a name said to be given to them on account of their gluttony, but which may be accepted in a figurative sense; for they have verily devoured the land on which they have pitched their tents, and in many places they have passed like a whirlwind, sweeping before them the inhabitants with their flocks and all their substance.
The Aulad-Slimân come from the Mediterranean seaboard, where some of their kinsmen still survive, but whence the bulk of the tribe were driven southwards after long and sanguinary wars with the Turks of Tripolitana. Settling in Kanem
just north of Lake Tsad, near the natural trade route between Sudan and the Mediterranean, they first raided in the Kwar Oasis and Bilma salines, in a few years capturing over fifty thousand camels. But having on one occasion fallen foul of the Tuaregs, these terrible children of the desert vowed vengeance, and in 1850 nearly exterminated the tribe. Yet the survivors, joined by others from the north, found themselves in less than twenty years strong enough to renew their depredations, and to revive the reign of terror which they still maintain over all 366 WEST APRICA. this region. In vain they are threatened with hell by the Senusiya emissaries if they persist in spoiling and slaying the " faithful." To them the " peace of Islam " is as naught, for scorning work they delight only in war and pillage. '* True," they confessed to Nachtigal, " that we live in injustice and sin ; but to earn a livelihood otherwise we should have to work, which our fathers never did, and it would be a shame and a treason not to follow their example. Besides, why are the cursed pagans on the earth except to work for a nobler race ? " Yet these " pagans " are nearly all Mohammedans, at least in name, and are often even allied by marriage to the Aulad-Sliman, from whose tyranny, according to the latest reports, they will soon be released by the intervention of the Saltan of Wadai. The Kanem-bu and Kuri Peoples. The Kanem-bu, or " People of Kanem," former masters of the land, are also immigrants from the north at an unknown date, as indicated by the very word Kanem, which means "South." The various Daza tribes who occupy the northern districts have also a unanimous tradition that their original homes lay to the north. They are in fact related to the Tedas, or northern Tibbus, with whom thousands of them still dwell at the foot of the Tibesti hills. The general movement of the population has thus been southwards, and in recent times large numbers of the Kanem-bu have been compelled to migrate still farther towards Bornu, the marshy shores and even the islands of Lake Tsad, where they have sought shelter from the raids of the Aulad-Sliman marauders. The Kanem-bu are distinguished from the kindred Tibbu race by their darker complexion, larger stature, and less graceful carriage. In the remote districts their dress is limited to a skin or leather loin-cloth, and a high headdress fastened under the chin by a white bandage, which may be regarded as a survival of the litzani or veil worn by the Tibbus and Tuaregs of the desert. They have also retained the spear and other weapons of the nomads, except the shangormangor, or iron dart. They regard themselves as the elder brothers of the Kanuris of Bornu, who were originally an advanced colony of the Kanem-bu, and who during their long sojourn in a more fertile and civilised region acquired greater power and social refinement. Of all the Kanem peoples the Ngijems and Danoas alone have succeeded in preserving their independence, never having been subdued even by the Aulad- Sliman. But in order to maintain the struggle they have had to shift their quarters more than once, and in recent times they have acknowledged themselves vassals of Wadai. The Danoas are settled in the south-east part of Kanem, grouped round the central station of Nguri in the woodlands some 24 miles from the shores of Lake Tsad. Physically speaking they differ in no respect from the Kanem-bu, and like them speak an idiom closely related to the Kanuri ; but their traditions connect them with the Manga nation living on the banks of the Yeu in West Bornu.
The inhabitants of the Tsad islands, although for the most part belonging to 
different races, are connected at least geograpliically with the populations of Kanem. Lying in the immediate vicinity of the east coast, the shifting insular groups are sufficiently accessible to afford a refuge to fugitives from the mainland. Hence numerous Kanem-bu, Dazas, and others are here settled either temporarily or permanently, while hundreds of Arabs have for generations been encamped round the inlet comprised between the Shari delta and the Bahr-el-Ghazal effluent. The Kuri, occupying some fifteen islands north of the Bahr-el-Ghazal outflow, are regarded as the true aborigines of the archipelago, no traditions associating them with the mainland. They are of very dark complexion, tall and robust figures, resembling in appearance and speech the Makari Negroes on the south side of the lake. By intermixture with Kanem-bu, Arabs, and others, they have been diversely modified, forming in the northern islands the subrace of the Yedinas or Buddumas. Some sixty islands are occupied by these barbarians, who, accord- ing to Nachtigal, number about fifteen thousand, or one-half of the whole insular population. Stockbreeders, fishers, boatmen, and traders, the Yedinas also occasionally turn to piracy, and, although calling themselves vassals of the sultan of Bornu in order to have access to the Kuka market, they make no scruple of plundering the subjects of their pretended suzerain. During the floods they are able to penetrate into the very streets of the surrounding villages, where they slay the men and carry off the women and children. Yet the Bornu rulers have never fitted out a fleet to pursue these daring corsairs amid the intricate channels of their insular domain. Naval battles have often been fought on the lake, some- times as many as two hundred large boats being engaged, but always between the Kuri and Yedinas themselves. These incessant wars decimate the population, which still increases naturally at a rapid rate, as amongst most fish-eating peoples. All the Kuri are Mohammedans, but the Yedinas are so in name only, many still practising pagan rites, and invoking Najikenem, the great spirit of the lake, who lashes the waters and strews them with wreckage. The Bahr-el-Ghazal depressions are scantily peopled by some nomad Arabs, and the Sakerda and Kreda pastors of Daza speech. Having lost nearly all their horned cattle, most of the Kredas have taken to husbandry, retiring, however, farther east in order to place themselves under the Sultan of Wadai against the Aulad-Sliman marauders. Topography of Kan em. Mao, residence of the political representative of Wadai, lies on the verge of a great plain nearly in the centre of the historical kingdom of Kanem, But it is of recent origin, and in 1871 formed a group of about a hundred and fifty straw- thatched cabins. Njimi, capital of the state, said to have been a very large place before the Bulala invasion, lies a day's march to the north-west ; and about the same distance to the west stands Gala, formerly peopled by the Kuburi, noblest of the Kanem-bu tribes. At a somewhat shorter distance south of Mao, and like it 358 "WEST AFRICA. > peopled by natives of Kanuri speecli, lies the picturesque village of Yaggiiberi^ in the most productive part of Kanera. Some 12 miles to the south-east of this place stands the Arab town of Mondo, and midway between it and the lake follow Nguri and Dibelontcid, the former capital of the Danoas, the latter of the Ngijems. It was in the neighbourhood of Mao that Beurmann was murdered in 1863. Thinking him proof against lead and steel, the assassins garotted him with a running noose. BORNU. According to the natives, the true name of Bornu is Barr Noa, or " Land of Noah," given to it by the Mussulman missionaries because of its surprising fertility. Then the legend, seizing on this word, related that here the ark settled after the subsidence of the waters, the African Ararat being sought in the isolated Ha jar Teus rock, on the south side- of Lake Tsad. The limits of the kingdom are clearly defined only towards the east by the lake and the course of the Shari. In the north there can be no natural frontiers, the transition between the grassy and desert zones here shifting with the winds, the rains, and the incursions of marauding tribes. The southern confines are also very uncertain, thanks to the almost incessant warfare carried on between the Mussulman populations and the pagan highlanders. Towards the west the border- line is better marked between the civilised Bornu and Ilaussa states, although even here frequently modified by wars and local revolutions. The total area may be approximately set down at 56,000 square miles, with a population roughly estimated by Barth and Nachtigal at upwards of five millions. Inhabitants. The extremely mixed inhabitants of Bornu, collectively called Berauna, present a surprising diversity of colour, stature, and other physical features. The term Kanuri, current in the country for centuries, designates not a particular race, but simply the more civilised residents, in whom have been gradually merged the various ethnical elements introduced by trade, slavery, Avar, or peaceful immigra. tion. The sense of the word is unknown, although by a complacent popular etymology referred to the Arabic nur, " light," whence Ka-Nuri, or " People of Light," earned by their mission of illuminators amid the darkness of the surround- ing heathen world. The fanatical Fuiahs, however, read it otherwise, substituting nar, " fire," for nur, and designating the lukewarm. Mussulman inhabitants of Bornu as Ka-Nari, or " People of Fire," that is, doomed to hell-fire. South-west of the capital dwells the noble Magomi nation, who claim to be sprung of the same stock as the ancient dynasty which ruled for nearly a thousand years over Kanem and Bornu. They seem to have come originally from Kanem, as did also the Sugusti and Tomaghera people of the marshy coastlands, and the Koyams west of Kuka, who alone have preserved the camel as a domestic animal. The So, or true aborigines, were gradually absorbed by these immigrants from Kanem and by the Makari intruders from the south, and appear to be now best represented by the Keribina tribe on the left bank of the Shari.
The south-eastern districts are held by the Makari (Kotoko) nation, who helped the Kanuris to crush the aborigines. Of darker complexion and more uncouth form, the Makari seem to be also less intelligent than the other Negroes of Bornu; nevertheless, they are distinguished for their industrious habits as peasants, artisans, and fishers, and the products of their industry are easily recognised by their freer style in the bazaars of Sudan. The peaceful Gamergus, near the southern extremity of the lake, and the Mandaras (Wandalas), on the slope of the
hills still farther south, differ little in physical appearance, habits, and speech from their Makari neighbours, and like them have embraced Islam and accepted the authority of the Bornu sultan. But in the more inaccessible parts of these uplands dwells the chief of Sugur, an independent prince who is said to combine a-sort of priesthood with his royal functions, sacrificing cocks and sheep to the mountains. The Musgos also, akin to the Mandaras and dwelling on the left bank of the Shari, have remained pagans, whose chief fetish is a spear stuck in the ground. The Musgos, who recognise the sovereignty of Bornu, and who call themselves "Mussulman," that is, "civilised," are a finer and stronger people than the 360 WEST AFEIOA. Makari, but of mucli ruder habits, wearing nothing but a leather apron about the loins, treating their horses with atrocious cruelty, and slaying their prisoners by chopping off one leg and letting them bleed to death. The women insert bone or metal plates in both lips, which in conversation add a strange clapping sound to their harsh guttural language. In the hilly region west of the Musgos, between Bornu and Adamawa, dwell other pagans, such as the Marghi, worshippers of Tunibi, whose abode is the finest and most wide-branching tree in the forest. With their southern neighbours, the Sani, they form a distinct race, whose dialects bear no resemblance to those of Bornu, and only a very faint affinity to those of the Musgos and Babirs. In some respects these idioms would seem to form the transition between the typical Kegro languages of Sudan and the Bantu family of South Africa. The Marghi are also a much finer race than the surrounding peoples, tall, symmetrical, Avith almost European features, crisp, but not woolly hair, and reddish or bronzed complexion. The Marghi have no villages, properly so-called, their dwellings being always isolated and surrounded by a plot of ground belonging to the family. But this arrangement exposes them all the more to the attacks of the slave-hunters, and when Barth came amongst them as a friend and not to raid, like all other strangers, they thought he must be some god who had appeared in their midst to make them for a moment forget the woes and terrors of life. They were formerly a very powerful nation, capable even in the middle of the present century of raising a force of thirty thousand warriors. They mourn only for their young men, rejoic- ing when the aged, weary of life, have been gathered to their fathers. Although reputed barbarians, the Marghi are in some respects more civilised than their neighbours ; thus they have long practised inoculation, scarcely known elsewhere in Bornu. In the extreme north-west dwell the Manga people, who are quite distinct from the Kanuri, and related perhaps to the So aborigines. They are a rude, half -savage race," who merge westwards with the Haussawa, and towards the south with other barbarous tribes, such as the Bedde, Ngizzem, Kerri-Xerri, Kka, and Babir, occupying the hilly borderland between Ilaussa and Bornu. In Bornu the Arabs are very numerous, those known by the name of Shoa, or Shua, numbering at least a hundred thousand. Althougl^ settled in the country for several generations, and often intermingled with the indigenous populations, they still speak the language of the Koran with remarkable purity. The largest tribe are the Salamats, settled in the Makari country west of the Shari river. Owing to the moist climate, the Arab population is certainly diminishing. They are no longer able to supply the numerous cavalry formerly placed at the service of the sultan, while the annual tribute of horses and butter has also considerably diminished. The Xanuri language, while intimately related on the one hand to the northern Teda, Daza, Baele, shows on the other certaitl surprising analogies with the Sudanese languages proper, such as the Ilaussa, So, and Baghirmi. In the Tsad basin it has become the dominant speech, everywhere superseding Arabic and all other rivals as the chief medium of intercourse. Even at the sultan's court Arabic has ceased to be the official language, even those who understand it affecting to require the aid of an interpreter when it is used in their presence.
The Kanuri people are distinguished by some remarkable qualities. Extremely industrious and mostly monogamous, they take their share jointly with their wives in field operations, in weaving, dyeing, and all other handicrafts. Thus woman is held to be man's equal, in some respects even enjoying certain prerogatives, such as the right of being first saluted. Temperance is a national virtue, and in this respect the converts are much more rigid observers of the law than the preachers. Instruction is widely diffused amongst the Kanari and neighbouring peoples; all
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the towns have schools attended by boys, and Kuka possesses the most valuable library in the whole of Sudan east of Timbuktu. The people of Bornu are generally regarded as the most cultured in Central Africa, and their industrial products are the most highly esteemed in all the bazaars. They are skilled workers in metal, and can even cast guns, but have hitherto done nothing to improve the communications. Many of the rivers are still crossed on frail rafts constructed of calabashes and reeds, and the general absence of highways, and consequent high price of merchandise, explains the existence of certain industries which would soon disappear were greater facilities afforded for the development of foreign trade.
Topography.
Kasr Eggomo, or Birni, first capital of Bornu, stood near a lake in the Middle Yeu basin on the border of the Manga territory. Although the enclosure is only 6 miles in circumference, it is said to have contained at one time as many as two hundred thousand inhabitants, but both Birni and the neighbouring Gambera, residence of the sultan, were destroyed in 1809 or 1810 by the conquering Fulahs. The court was then removed to Kafila, called also Birni-el-Jedid, or "New Birni," which lay much nearer Lake Tsad, but which in a few years was replaced by Ngornu, near the south-west angle of the lake. Then followed a change of dynastv, which led to the foundation of a new capital, called Kuka, from a baobab growing on the spot. Kukawa, the form current in West Sudan, is said to mean in Kanuri "he two baobabs."
Kuka, one of the great cities of the interior of the continent, is said by Nachtigal to have a population of from fifty to sixty thousand, without counting the pilgrims, traders, adventurers from all parts of Sudan and of the Moslem world from Marocco to Mesopotamia. It consists of two distinct quarters, forming two regular parallelograms surrounded by walls, with groups of cabins dotted round about. From the neighbouring plain, stretching away towards the south-west shore of the lake, the city is scarcely visible, the trees overshadowing every house giving it rather the appearance of a thickly wooded tract. The western and more populous section, forming a regular quadrilateral nearly two square miles in extent, is the centre of all the life and trade of the place, the eastern section, containing the royal palace and most of the courtiers, being comparatively deserted. During the rainy season the streets are converted into quagmires, and stagnant ponds are even formed, in one of which Nachtigal saw a little crocodile living on the offal thrown to him by the neighbours.
Once a week a great fair is held on the west side, attended by over ten thousand persons, and stocked with European and Eastern wares of all sorts. Needles are in great demand, and Barth, who had a large supply, became known as the "Prince of Needles." Visitors are surprised at the low figures for which costly goods are offered for sale, which is due to the fact that this is the great market for second-hand goods imported especially from Egypt and Asia Minor. But of all the "commodities," the most important are human beings—slaves, eunuchs, court dwarfs. In 1870, Nachtigal witnessed the departure of a caravan of fourteen hundred slaves, of whom one-third were destined for Egypt, the rest for Rhat and Tripoli. Rohlfs speaks of another conveying four thousand captives, which left in successive detachments, taking a fortnight to get clear of Kuka. Since the first half of the present century the legal currency has been Maria Theresa crown pieces, the Spanish douro, and cowries, four thousand of the last mentioned being equivalent to the crown piece at the time of Nachtigal's visit.
Some 30 miles south-east of Kuka, and close to the lake, lies Ngornu, the second largest town in Bornu proper. Owing to the periodical inundations and consequent erosions, Ngornu, like all the coast villages, is constantly moving westwards. To the perils of the floods are added the incessant incursions of the Yedina pirates, who lie in ambush or fall suddenly on the people working in the outskirts. Kawa and Banca are also exposed to these surprises, while Ngigmi and the other coast towns farther north are exposed to the attacks of the equally formidable Tuareg and Aulad-Sliman nomads.
In western Bornu, watered by the Yeu, Clapperton, Barth, and Rohlfs mention several towns with over ten thousand inhabitants. Near the ancient Birni is the village of Ngurutna, where Richardson died of exhaustion in 1851. Farther west follow Surrikolo, Borsari, Khadeja, Bundi, Mashena, Gummel, and Birmenawa, the last two on the frontier and peopled by Haussawa, although belonging to Bornu. The north-west angle of the kingdom is occupied by the vassal state of Sinder
(Zinder), visited and sometimes plundered by the Tuareg nomads. Here is also a little settlement of Jewish "converts" from the Mediterranean seaboard. The capital, built at the east foot of a bluff, has been called the "Gate of Sudan," owing to the Tuareg traders in salt, who have formed their camping ground in the vicinity.
The Munio hills, which eae like a promontory into the steppe bordering on the desert, have also some important places, such as Guré, Vushek, and farther south Buné and Suleri, near which is a natron lake, and another with two basins, 864 WEST AFRICA. one of fresh tlie other of intensely salt water. All the towns of the Munio district are built on the model of those of Mauritania. On the trade route leading from Kuka south-west to the lower Benue one of the chief stations is Mayommeri, residence of one of the great dignitaries of the empire. Here Rohlfs saw an ostrich farm, probably the only one in Sudan. Farther on the road traverses Mogodom in a cotton -growing district, and Gujba, partly inhabited by pagans. The southern extremity of the lake, here skirted by the historical highway between Wadai and West Bornu, also contains numerous towns, such as Yedi, regarded as the cradle of the Yedina islanders ; Marte, on the ethnological frontier of the Kanuri, Makari, and Arabs ; Missene and Ngala on the route to Wadai, and in the Shari delta, Afade and Gufe'i. Elf {Alfii), said to be the oldest place in the country, is carefully avoided by wayfarers, owing to the magic power attributed to its inhabitan-ts. Logon-Karnak, capital of the Logon territory, is the chief station for the traffic between Bornu and Baghirmi, to both of which conterminous states its Mohammedan sultan is tributary. The vassal states in the basin of the Mbulu have also some large places, such as the stronghold of Dikoa, which was often the residence of the Bornu kings ; the aeighbouring Ala, formerly capital of a state ; Mai-dug-eriy inhabited by many thousands of the Gomergu nation ; Mahani and Kastikula, large markets in the Uje territory where the Mohammedans of the north and the southern pagans exchange their commodities. Farther on at the foot of the Mora mountains stands the city of Boloo, divided into two quarters by a winding stream. This extensive place, which is encircled by modern ramparts, is the capital of the Mandara state, now tributary to Bornu. Here Yogel was held captive for a month, and was frequently in imminent danger of his life. South- west of Doloo are seen the ruins of the former capital. Mora, standing on the escarpment of a rock over 650 feet high. Administratiox. The Mai, or Sultan of Bornu, usually designated by the title of Sheikh, is an absolute despot, "the Lion, Conqueror, Wisdom," who nevertheless condescends to be assisted by a council including, besides the members of his family, the Kokenawa, or military chiefs, and the official representatives of the various races inhabiting the State. Most of the high offices are held by slaves, and even under the previous dynasty the commander-in-chief, ranking above the prince royal, was always a slave. The permanent army, which is of considerable strength, is partly distributed along the frontiers, partly attached to the person of the sovereign for purposes of parade and prestige. The sultan possesses some artillery, and the elite of the troops are armed with rifles, some companies even wearing European uniforms, although of the most varied and fastastic fashions. The cavalry still wear armour,
as in the Middle Ages, sometimes coats of mail, sometimes thickly wadded cover
ings reacliing down to the feet. Of these armoured corps there are altoo-ether about a thousand, more formidable in appearance than really dano-erous. The men get no pay, but when invalided receive allotments of arable land, the great military and civil dignitaries being remunerated with fiefs. The provinces directly administered are intermingled, great and small, with the feudatory states attached under diverse conditions to the central authority. In most of these secondary kingdoms the rulers continue to dispose of the lives of their subjects, and organise razzias on their own account among the surroundino- pagan populations. The homage paid to the Mandara sultan even exceeds that claimed by the Bomu monarch himself. No ceremonial is more strictly enforced and more slavishly performed than that of the court of Doloo. Baghirmt. Baghirmi, properly so called, consists of the open and somewhat marshy plain comprised between the Lower Shari, Lake Tsad, the Sokoro hills, and the cliffs skirting the west side of Lake Fitri, an area altogether of scarcely 20,000 square miles. But to Baghirmi also belong politically the conterminous regions inhabited by tributary pagan populations, or to which slave-hunting expeditions are regularly sent, raising the total area to more than 60,000 square miles. According to the Arab writers, the natives were called Baghirmi (Bakirmi, Bakarmi), from the two words hagcjar miya, or "a hundred cows," because the first sovereigns of the countr}^ had imposed a tribute of a hundred head of cattle on each tribe subject to them. But in the native language these called themselves Barmaghe, of which Baghirmi may be a corrupt form. The population, estimated by Barth about the middle of the century at one million five hundred thousand, appears to have been since reduced by at least one- third by sanguinary wars with Wadai, famines, and marauding expeditions. Like the Kanuri of Bomu, the civilised inhabitants of Baghirmi proper are a mixed people descended from the So, the Makari. and other aborigines, intermingled with Arabs and Fulahs, and further modified by the introduction of Mohammedan culture. According to the local records and traditions, the founders of the state came from Arabia at the end of the fifteenth or beginning of the sixteenth centuries, when a general movement of migration and conquest was in progress, as at present, from east to west. Inhabitants. The Baghirmi are physically a much finer people than the Kanuri, the women especially being distinguished by really pleasant features and an agreeable expression. The men are well built, with robust wiry frames, seldom of very dark complexion and mostly with a reddish, almost metallic tinge. They are generally intelligent and skilful craftsmen, noted especially for tbeir excellency in weaving, dyeing, leatherwork, and embroidery On his return from the victorious expedition to Baghirnii in 1871, the Sultan of Wadai is said to have carried off as many as thirty thousand builders, weavers, tailors, and dyers, at the same time forbidding the natives to wear fine robes. Thus the local industries were greatly impaired, and it would be no longer possible to build a brick palace such as that occupied by the Sultan of Massefia. On the other hand, so accustomed are the people to the use of arms that honest labour is despised by the upper classes, while brutal cruelty is held in honour. The last sovereign was proud of the surname Abu-Sekkin ("Father of the knife"), earned by the wholesale butchery of guests to whom he had sworn faith and friendship. Although despising their Kanuri and Wadai neighbours, as inferior in martial valour, the Baghirmi have never succeeded like them in establishing a really powerful state, their political status having mostly been one of more or less disguised vassalage. At present they are tributary to the Sultan of Wadai, from whom their sovereign receives his investiture.
Amongst the polished Baghirmi dwell representatives of all the surrounding races, Kanuri everywhere, Makari in the west, Kukas and Bulalas in the north, Arab agriculturists (Assela, Salamat, Aula-Musa, Shoa and others) also chiefly in the north, Fulahs mainly in the south. The Fulahs visited by Nachtigal called him "cousin," saying that their ancestors had come like him from the shores of the Mediterranean.
The partly or even completely independent peoples in the southern and eastern districts are mostly related to the Baghirmi in speech, while resembling them in physical appearance. They are split up into an infinity of ethnical fragments, each district having its special group, which again becomes broken into fresh subdivisions by every famine, inundation, or slave-hunting incursion. Most of the tribes are distinguished by some special tattoo or other physical mark: the Gaberi of the southern riverain plains by the extraction of an upper and lower incisor; the Saras farther to the south by filing their teeth to a point, like so many of the Nilotic peoples; the Kufus, a branch of the Saras, by piercing the lips for the insertion of little rods round the mouth.
Tree-worship survives amongst the Sorarai, neighbours of the Gaberi, who
swear by the bark of a species of acacia. All however believe in a supreme being
whose voice is the thunder, and who is enthroned in the clouds. To this god they
offer bloody sacrifices of cocks and goats in shrines from which women and children
are excluded. The "wise men" interpret to the vulgar the decrees of the deity,
reading his will in the blood of the victims, in their last spasms, or the position of
the dead bodies. They also denounce the wicked wizards, their rivals in knowledge of the occult science. When a young man dies two wise men take his body,
which then drags them, as they say, irresistibly to the hut of the murderer.
Then blood is shed for blood, and the property of the "culprit" is shared between
the chief and the injured family. Amongst the Saras a tuft of grass or foliage
placed upon the magician's head throws him into a divine frenzy, during which
he reels, bounds, capers about, staggers as one overcome with drink, falling at last
before one of the audience, who is forthwith devoted to death. Amongst the
Niyillems, on the right bank of the Shari, young maidens are said to be buried
the evil one.
Polygamy is general among the wealthy classes in Upper Baghirmi, where some remains of matriarchal institutions are also said to survive. Thus one of the petty states below the Ba-Busso and Bahr-el-Abiad confluence is known by the name of Beled-el-Mra, or "Women's Land," because the government is here always entrusted to a queen.
Although nominal Mohammedans, the Baghirmi make no effort to spread Islam amongst their pagan subjects. They even look askance at the proselytising fervour of the Fulahs, the reason being that, once converted to Islam, the peoples amongst whom their gangs of slaves are recruited could no longer be regarded as vile heathens whom it is lawful to plunder and enslave. The supplies of young men and women for the Sudanese markets are obtained especially from the Sara tribes, who are usually designated by the name of "Vile Slaves." To avoid the razzias of the Baghirmi slave-hunters many tribes voluntarily pay the annual blood tax, uniformly fixed at "a hundred head," and in order to procure these victims such tribes organise marauding expeditions on their own account. When supplied with rifles against men armed only with spear, arrow, or axe, the hunt is always successful, and Nachtigal was obliged to assist at the capture of several Gaberi families who had taken refuge in two large trees. Nevertheless there are tribes, protected by their position, who have hitherto defied all the attacks of the Baghirmi "bloodhounds." Such are the Sokoros, whose numerous little republican communities are grouped amid natural strongholds of steep crags, which the warriors of the plains do not venture to assail.
Administration and Topography.
Like nearly all the central African governments, that of Baghirmi knows no law except the ruler's whim, no limit except the power of rival neighbours. But to guard against dangerous enemies in his own household, the sultan, on ascending the throne, causes each of his brothers to be blinded of one eye, custom requiring the reigning sovereign to be free from any physical defect. His despotic powers are enforced by his numerous eunuchs and other functionaries, who impose the taxes and plunder the people at pleasure. The subject must approach his master in very humble attitude. On entering the sultan's palace all bare their breasts, fall on their knees, and bend forward with clasped hands. This rule of etiquette is dispensed with only in favour of the musicians, who are of royal blood, and of some Sokoro chiefs, whose warlike deeds have placed them above the common law.
Masseña (Massenia), city of the "Tamarind-tree," capital of Baghirmi, was founded over three centuries ago in the vast plain of the Lower Shari, about 12 miles north of Batchikam. Within the walls is comprised a considerable extent of cultivated land, market-places, and even a temporary lake, presenting somewhat the same aspect as that of Kano, and rendering the city very insalubrious. Massena, which was captured by the Sultan of Wadai in 1871, is the largest town in the kingdom, and before the siege had a population of at least twenty thousand. According to Nachtigal, Bugoman, on the left bank of the Shari, is only one-fourth as large, but occupies one of the most convenient points for caravans to cross the river. Together with its neighbour, Kokorotché, it supplies nearly all the corn required by the markets of the capital.
Kanga, perched on a northern bluff in the Gheré hills to the east of the kingdom,
is held by an independent Sokoro tribe; yet it is regarded by the Baghirmi nation as a sort of metropolis, being the traditional home of the royal dynasty. Southwards stretch the still-unexplored regions watered by the Shari headstreams, and ascending either towards the sources of the Welle or towards a divide between the Tsad and Congo basins. Here lies the Central African region, where the most important geographical discoveries have still to be made in the Dark
Continent. 
