Travels through Central Africa to Timbuctoo; and across the Great Desert, to Morocco, performed in the years 1824-1828, Vol. 2 (of 2)Caillié, René
History
Travels through Central Africa to Timbuctoo; and across the Great Desert, to Morocco, performed in the years 1824-1828, Vol. 2 (of 2)
Caillié, René
Sahara -- Description and travel; Sudan (Region) -- Description and travel
I went out to take a view of the interior of the village. The
streets are narrow, but neat. I saw several female traders, and
from one of them I bought a little milk and a loaf of wheaten flour,
which cost me twenty cowries. I made a hearty breakfast, for I had
not tasted any thing all day. I had not cause to think much of the
honesty of the woman from whom I made the purchase, for she wanted
to make me pay twice. I was foolish enough to pay her beforehand;
it is the custom in this country to lay the value of what is bought
on the basket in which the goods lie, and the money is not removed
until the article is in the hands of the purchaser. This precaution
does not say much for the honesty of either buyers or sellers.
I saw in the port a number of large canoes undergoing repair.
The owners are accustomed, as soon as the boats are unladen, to
draw them on shore, where they are supported on large round blocks
of wood, which keep them a little elevated from the ground. Were
it not for this prudent practice, the cords with which the planks
are fastened together would very quickly rot. The little port of
Cabra extends east and west for the space of half a mile, being
about sixty paces broad. It would be a very useful place, were it
kept in better order; but it is very dirty and full of mud. Numbers
of men and women are always ready in the port to load and unload
the vessels. This was the day for celebrating the conclusion of the
Ramadan. The inhabitants were dancing and indulging in their simple
demonstrations of joy. They were all decently clothed. I asked a
female slave, who was sitting before her hut, for some water to
drink. She immediately rose, and, washing a wooden bowl, brought
me some water in it, which she presented to me with great civility.
The Soorgoos, or Tooariks, receive at Cabra the duties which they
levy on vessels. They roam about the village, and behave in the
most arbitrary way, making the inhabitants give them provisions
and other property—in fact, seizing whatever they can lay their
hands on. The inhabitants of Cabra took no notice of me. The Moors
of Adrar invited me to partake of their supper of rice, which
I found very palatable; and I passed the night in the open air,
sleeping on a mat beside my companions. I was a little tormented
by the mosquitoes, which, however, are not so common on the banks
of the Dhioliba as on those of the Senegal.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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