Narrative of travels and discoveries in Northern and Central Africa, in the years 1822, 1823, and 1824Denham, Dixon
History
Narrative of travels and discoveries in Northern and Central Africa, in the years 1822, 1823, and 1824
Denham, Dixon
Africa, Central -- Description and travel; Africa, North -- Description and travel; Natural history -- Africa, North
On the 13th, we left Tegerhy, and proceeded on the desert: it was
scattered with mounds of earth and sand, covered with athila (a plant
the camels eat with avidity), and other shrubs. After travelling six
miles we arrived at a well called Omah, where our tents were pitched,
and here we halted three days. On the 16th, after clearing the palm
trees, by which Omah is surrounded, we proceeded on the desert. About
nine we had a slight shower of rain. At three in the afternoon,
we came to a halt at Ghad, after travelling ten miles. Near the
wells of Omah, numbers of human skeletons, or parts of skeletons,
lay scattered on the sands. Hillman, who had suffered dreadfully
since leaving Tegerhy, was greatly shocked at these whitened skulls,
and unhallowed remains; so much so, as to want all the encouragement
I could administer to him.
Dec. 17.—We continued our course over a stony plain, without
the least appearance of vegetation. Coarse opal and sand-stone[10]
strewed the path. We saw Alowere-Seghrir, a ridge of hills, bearing
east by south; Alowere-El-Kebir, a still higher ridge, lies more to
the east, but was not visible. These, by the accounts of the natives,
are the highest mountains in the Tibboo country, with the exception
of Ercherdat Erner. More to the south, the inhabitants are called
_Tibboo-Irchad_ (the Tibboos of the rocks). Through passes in both
these mountains, the road lies to Kanem. About sunset, we halted near
a well, within a half mile of Meshroo. Round this spot were lying
more than one hundred skeletons, some of them with the skin still
remaining attached to the bones—not even a little sand thrown over
them. The Arabs laughed heartily at my expression of horror, and said,
“they were only blacks, _nam boo_!” (damn their fathers!) and
began knocking about the limbs with the butt end of their firelocks,
saying, “This was a woman! This was a youngster!” and such like
unfeeling expressions. The greater part of the unhappy people, of
whom these were the remains, had formed the spoils of the sultan of
Fezzan the year before. I was assured that they had left Bornou with
not above a quarter’s allowance for each; and that more died from
want than fatigue: they were marched off with chains round their necks
and legs: the most robust only arrived in Fezzan in a very debilitated
state, and were there fattened for the Tripoli slave market.
Our camels did not come up until it was quite dark, and we bivouacked
in the midst of these unearthed remains of the victims of persecution
and avarice, after a long day’s journey of twenty-six miles, in
the course of which, one of our party counted 107 of these skeletons.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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