French enterprise in Africa : $b the personal narrative of Lieut. Hourst of his exploration of the NigerHourst
History
French enterprise in Africa : $b the personal narrative of Lieut. Hourst of his exploration of the Niger
Hourst
French -- Sudan; Mali -- Description and travel; Niger River -- Description and travel; Tuaregs
WADALEN—Chief Niugi. | ERATAFAN—Chief Yoba.
|
CHEIBATAN—Chief Rafiek. | IBENDASAN.
|
LOGOMATEN—Chief Bokar Wandieïdu. | AHIANANURDE—Chief Amadida.
|
| TABOTAN—Chief Muley.
Subject to each of these last-named tribes are _imrads_, but I only
know the name of one of their tribes, that of the Ekono, vassals of
the Wadalen.
In addition to their predatory excursions the Tuaregs on the right
and left bank of the Niger make two annual migrations, the time of
which is generally the same.
During the dry season, from December to May, the higher districts
are sterile and dry, the ponds and wells empty of water. Then the
Tuaregs move down to the river-banks and their flocks and herds
graze on the coarse weeds which line them. To avoid the sickness
amongst the camels which results from eating damp food, and to which
I alluded in speaking of Timbuktu, they generally leave them a little
further inland. It is at this time that the negroes pay their tribute
of maize and tobacco, and it is also during this same season that
warlike expeditions are generally undertaken.
For the rest of the year the rain pours down in torrents in the
riverside districts, and although its fall is not so constant or so
heavy in the higher lands, they too are fertilized by the filling
up of the ponds and the wells, many of which even overflow.
Then the nomad tribes go back again to their old haunts, and settle
down for the winter in their camps about the wâdies, resembling
those of Algeria, which begin near Gao.
These wâdies are such very characteristic features of Central
Africa, that a description of one of them may be useful. The word
_wâdy_ means the channel of a watercourse which is dry except in
the rainy season, but there is water in the upper portion of that
of Gao in every season. Its source is far away in the north, and
it seems to be identical with the Igharghar of the south, alluded
to by Duveyrier, the Astapus of the ancients, which comes down from
the Atakor or Ahaggar.
This would confirm Barth’s suggestion, that the marshy depressions
which debouch on the Ngiti Sokoto do not extend beyond the district
of Air.
My own opinion is that the Gao Wâdy, before it became choked up
with sand, was a tributary of the Niger when the course of that
river was far more rapid than it is now.
An examination of its banks does in fact lead to the conclusion,
that nearly if not quite all along them a line of cliffs, eroded by
the action of water, marks what was once the bed of part of the old
Niger. In their annual migration the Awellimiden go up as far as the
districts near Air, where they come in contact with their enemies the
Kel Gheres. Probably competition for the ownership of the pasturages
yielding food in the dry season, was the original cause of the feud
between the two races, which dates from centuries ago.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account