Life and Travels of Mungo Park in Central Africa by Mungo Park

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I observed that, in the night, the Moors kept regular watch, and
frequently looked into the hut, to see if I was asleep, and if it was
quite dark, they would light a wisp of grass. About two o'clock in the
morning, a Moor entered the hut, probably with a view to steal something,
or perhaps to murder me: and groping about, he laid his hand upon my
shoulder. As night visitors were at best but suspicious characters, I
sprang up the moment he laid his hand upon me; and the Moor, in his haste
to get off, stumbled over my boy, and fell with his face upon the wild
hog, which returned the attack by biting the Moor's arm. The screams of
this man alarmed the people in the king's tent, who immediately
conjectured that I had made my escape, and a number of them mounted their
horses, and prepared to pursue me. I observed upon this occasion that Ali
did not sleep in his own tent, but came galloping upon a white horse from
a small tent at a considerable distance: indeed, the tyrannical and cruel
behaviour of this man made him so jealous of every person around him,
that even his own slaves and domestics knew not where he slept. When the
Moors had explained to him the cause of this outcry, they all went away
and I was permitted to sleep quietly until morning.

March 13th. With the returning day commenced the same round of insult and
irritation: the boys assembled to beat the hog, and the men and women to
plague the Christian. It is impossible for me to describe the behaviour
of a people who study mischief as a science, and exult in the miseries
and misfortunes of their fellow-creatures. It is sufficient to observe
that the rudeness, ferocity, and fanaticism, which distinguish the Moors
from the rest of man-kind, found here a proper subject whereon to
exercise their propensities. I was a _stranger_, I was _unprotected_, and
I was a _Christian_; each of these circumstances is sufficient to drive
every spark of humanity from the heart of a Moor; but when all of them,
as in my case, were combined in the same person, and a suspicion
prevailed withal, that I had come as a _spy_ into the country, the reader
will easily imagine that, in such a situation, I had every thing to fear.
Anxious, however, to conciliate favour, and if possible, to afford the
Moors no pretence for ill-treating me, I readily complied with every
command, and patiently bore every insult; but never did any period of my
life pass away so heavily; from sunrise to sunset was I obliged to
suffer, with an unruffled countenance, the insults of the rudest savages
on earth.

CHAPTER X.

_Various occurrences during the Author's confinement at Benowm--is
visited by some Moorish ladies.--A funeral and wedding.--The Author
receives an extraordinary present from the bride.--Other circumstances
illustrative of the Moorish character and manners._

The Moors, though very indolent themselves, are rigid task-masters, and
keep every person under them in full employment. My boy Demba was sent to
the woods to collect withered grass for Ali's horses; and after a variety
of projects concerning myself, they at last found out an employment for
me; this was no other than the respectable office of _barber_. I was to
make my first exhibition in this capacity in the royal presence, and to
be honoured with the task of shaving the head of the young prince of
Ludamar. I accordingly seated myself upon the sand, and the boy with some
hesitation sat down beside me. A small razor, about three inches long,
was put into my hand, and I was ordered to proceed; but whether from my
own want of skill, or the improper shape of the instrument, I
unfortunately made a slight incision in the boy's head, at the very
commencement of the operation; and the king, observing the awkward manner
in which I held the razor, concluded that his son's head was in very
improper hands, and ordered me to resign the razor, and walk out of the
tent. This I considered as a very fortunate circumstance; for I had laid
it down as a rule, to make myself as useless and insignificant as
possible, as the only means of recovering my liberty.

March 18th. Four Moors arrived from Jarra with Johnson my interpreter,
having seized him before he had received any intimation of my
confinement: and bringing with them a bundle of clothes that I had left
at Daman Jumma's house, for my use in case I should return by the way of
Jarra. Johnson was led into Ali's tent and examined; the bundle was
opened, and I was sent for to explain the use of the different articles.
I was happy, however, to find that Johnson had committed my papers to the
charge of one of Daman's wives. When I had satisfied Ali's curiosity
respecting the different articles of apparel, the bundle was again tied
up, and put in a large cow-skin bag, that stood in a corner of the tent.
The same evening Ali sent three of his people to inform me, that there
were many thieves in the neighbourhood, and that to prevent the rest of
my things from being stolen, it was necessary to convey them all into his
tent. My clothes, instruments, and every thing that belonged to me, were
accordingly carried away; and though the heat and dust made clean linen
very necessary and refreshing, I could not procure a single shirt out of
the small stock I had brought along with me. Ali was however
disappointed, by not finding among my effects the quantity of gold and
amber that he expected; but to make sure of every thing, he sent the same
people on the morning following, to examine whether I had any thing
concealed about my person. They, with their usual rudeness, searched
every part of my apparel, and stripped me of all my gold, amber, my
watch, and one of my pocket compasses; I had fortunately, in the night,
buried the other compass in the sand; and this, with the clothes I had
on, was all that the tyranny of Ali had now left me.

The gold and amber were highly gratifying to Moorish avarice, but the
pocket compass soon became an object of superstitious curiosity. Ali was
very desirous to be informed, why that small piece of iron, the needle,
always pointed to the Great Desert, and I found myself somewhat puzzled
to answer the question. To have pleaded my ignorance, would have created
a suspicion that I wished to conceal the real truth from him; I therefore
told him, that my mother resided far beyond the sands of Sahara, and that
whilst she was alive, the piece of iron would always point that way, and
serve as a guide to conduct me to her, and that if she was dead, it would
point to her grave. Ali now looked at the compass with redoubled
amazement; turned it round and round repeatedly; but observing that it
always pointed the same way, he took it up with great caution and
returned it to me, manifesting that he thought there was something of
magic in it, and that he was afraid of keeping so dangerous an instrument
in his possession.

March 20th. This morning a council of chief men was held in Ali's tent
respecting me; their decisions, though they were all unfavourable to me,
were differently related by different persons. Some said that they
intended to put me to death; others, that I was only to lose my right
hand: but the most probable account was that which I received from Ali's
own son, a boy about nine years of age, who came to me in the evening,
and, with much concern, informed me that his uncle had persuaded his
father to put out my eyes, which they said resembled those of a cat, and
that all the Bushreens had approved of this measure. His father, however,
he said, would not put the sentence into execution until Fatima the
queen, who was at present in the north, had seen me.

March 21st. Anxious to know my destiny, I went to the king early in the
morning: and as a number of Bushreens were assembled, I thought this a
favourable opportunity of discovering their intentions. I therefore began
by begging his permission to return to Jarra, which was flatly refused;
his wife, he said, had not yet seen me, and I must stay until she came to
Benowm, after which I should be at liberty to depart; and that my horse,
which had been taken away from me the day after I arrived should be again
restored to me. Unsatisfactory as this answer was, I was forced to appear
pleased: and as there was little hopes of making my escape, at this
season of the year, on account of the excessive heat, and the total want
of water in the woods, I resolved to wait patiently until the rains had
set in, or until some more favourable opportunity should present
itself;--but _hope deferred maketh the heart sick_. This tedious
procrastination from day to day, and the thoughts of travelling through
the Negro kingdoms in the rainy season, which was now fast approaching,
made me very melancholy; and having passed a restless night, I found
myself attacked, in the morning, by a smart fever. I had wrapped myself
close up in my cloak, with a view to induce perspiration, and was asleep
when a party of Moors entered the hut, and with their usual rudeness
pulled the cloak from me. I made signs to them that I was sick, and
wished much to sleep; but I solicited in vain; my distress was matter of
sport to them, and they endeavoured to heighten it by every means in
their power. This studied and degrading insolence, to which I was
constantly exposed, was one of the bitterest ingredients in the cup of
captivity; and often made life itself a burthen to me. In those
distressing moments I have frequently envied the situation of the slave,
who, amidst all his calamities, could still possess the enjoyment of his
own thoughts; a happiness to which I had, for some time, been a stranger.
Wearied out with such continual insults, and perhaps a little peevish
from the fever, I trembled lest my passion might unawares overleap the
bounds of prudence, and spur me to some sudden act of resentment, when
death must be the inevitable consequence. In this perplexity, I left my
hut, and walked to some shady trees at a little distance from the camp,
where I lay down. But even here persecution followed me; and solitude was
thought too great an indulgence for a distressed Christian. Ali's son,
with a number of horsemen, came galloping to the place, and ordered me to
rise and follow them. I begged they would allow me to remain where I was,
if it was only for a few hours; but they paid little attention to what I
said; and after a few threatening words, one of them pulled out a pistol
from a leather bag, that was fastened to the pummel of his saddle, and
presenting it towards me, snapped it twice. He did this with so much
indifference, that I really doubted whether the pistol was loaded; he
cocked it a third time, and was striking the flint with a piece of steel,
when I begged them to desist, and returned with them to the camp. When we
entered Ali's tent, we found him much out of humour. He called for the
Moor's pistol, and amused himself for some time with opening and shutting
the pan; at length, taking up his powder horn, he fresh primed it; and
turning round to me with a menacing look, said something in Arabic, which
I did not understand. I desired my boy, who was sitting before the tent,
to inquire what offence I had committed; when I was informed that having
gone out of the camp without Ali's permission, they suspected that I had
some design of making my escape; and that, in future, if I was seen
without the skirts of the camp, orders had been given that I should be
shot by the first person that observed me.

In the afternoon the horizon, to the eastward, was thick and hazy, and
the Moors prognosticated a sand wind; which accordingly commenced on the
morning following, and lasted, with slight intermissions, for two days.
The force of the wind was not in itself very great; it was what a seaman
would have denominated a _stiff breeze_; but the quantity of sand and
dust carried before it was such as to darken the whole atmosphere. It
swept along from east to west, in a thick and constant stream, and the
air was at times so dark and full of sand, that it was difficult to
discern the neighbouring tents. As the Moors always dress their victuals
in the open air, this sand fell in great plenty among the kouskous; it
readily adhered to the skin, when moistened by perspiration, and formed a
cheap and universal hair powder. The Moors wrap a cloth round their face
to prevent them from inhaling the sand, and always turn their backs to
the wind when they look up, to prevent the sand falling into their eyes.

About this time, all the women of the camp had their feet, and the ends
of their fingers, stained of a dark saffron colour. I could never
ascertain whether this was done from motives of religion, or by way of
ornament. The curiosity of the Moorish ladies had been very troublesome
to me ever since my arrival at Benowm; and on the evening of the 25th,
(whether from the instigation of others, or impelled by their own
ungovernable curiosity, or merely out of frolic, I cannot affirm,) a
party of them came into my hut, and gave me plainly to understand that
the object of their visit was to ascertain, by actual inspection, whether
the rite of circumcision extended to the Nazarenes (Christians) as well
as to the followers of Mahomet. The reader will easily judge of my
surprise at this unexpected declaration; and in order to avoid the
proposed scrutiny, I thought it best to treat the business jocularly. I
observed to them, that it was not customary in my country to give ocular
demonstration in such cases before so many beautiful women; but that if
all of them would retire, except the young lady to whom I pointed,
(selecting the youngest and handsomest,) I would satisfy her curiosity.
The ladies enjoyed the jest, and went away laughing heartily; and the
young damsel herself, to whom I had given the preference, (though she did
not avail herself of the privilege of inspection,) seemed no way
displeased at the compliment; for she soon afterwards sent me some meal
and milk for my supper.

March 28th. This morning a large herd of cattle arrived from the
eastward; and one of the drivers, to whom Ali had lent my horse, came
into my hut with the leg of an antelope as a present, and told me that my
horse was standing before Ali's tent. In a little time Ali sent one of
his slaves to inform me, that, in the afternoon, I must be in readiness
to ride out with him, as he intended to show me to some of his women.

About four o'clock, Ali, with six of his courtiers, came riding to my
hut, and told me to follow them. I readily complied. But here a new
difficulty occurred; the Moors, accustomed to a loose and easy dress,
could not reconcile themselves to the appearance of my _nankeen
breeches_, which they said were not only inelegant, but, on account of
their tightness, very indecent; and as this was a visit to ladies, Ali
ordered my boy to bring out the loose cloak which I had always worn since
my arrival at Benowm, and told me to wrap it close round me. We visited
the tents of four different ladies, at every one of which I was presented
with a bowl of milk and water. All these ladies were remarkably
corpulent, which is considered here as the highest mark of beauty. They
were very inquisitive, and examined my hair and skin with great
attention; but affected to consider me as a sort of inferior being to
themselves, and would knit their brows, and seemed to shudder, when they
looked at the whiteness of my skin. In the course of this evening's
excursion, my dress and appearance afforded infinite mirth to the
company, who galloped round me as if they were baiting a wild animal;
twirling their muskets round their heads, and exhibiting various feats of
activity and horsemanship, seemingly to display their superior prowess
over a miserable captive.

The Moors are certainly very good horsemen. They ride without fear; their
saddles being high before and behind, afford them a very secure seat; and
if they chance to fall, the whole country is so soft and sandy, that they
are very seldom hurt. Their greatest pride, and one of their principal
amusements, is to put the horse to his full speed, and then stop him with
a sudden jerk, so as frequently to bring him down upon his haunches. Ali
always rode upon a milk-white horse, with its tail dyed red. He never
walked, unless when he went to say his prayers; and even in the night,
two or three horses were always kept ready saddled, at a little distance
from his own tent. The Moors set a very high value upon their horses; for
it is by their superior fleetness, that they are enabled to make so many
predatory excursions into the Negro countries. They feed them three or
four times a day, and generally give them a large quantity of sweet milk
in the evening, which the horses appear to relish very much.

April 3d. This forenoon a child, which had been some time sickly, died in
the next tent; and the mother and relations immediately began the death
howl. They were joined by a number of female visitors, who came on
purpose to assist at this melancholy concert. I had no opportunity of
seeing the burial, which is generally performed secretly in the dusk of
the evening, and frequently at only a few yards distance from the tent.
Over the grave, they plant one particular shrub; and no stranger is
allowed to pluck a leaf, or even to touch it; so great a veneration have
they for the dead.

April 7th. About four o'clock in the afternoon, a whirlwind passed
through the camp with such violence that it overturned three tents, and
blew down one side of my hut. These whirlwinds come from the Great
Desert, and at this season of the year are so common, that I have seen
five or six of them at one time. They carry up quantities of sand to an
amazing height, which resemble, at a distance, so many moving pillars of
smoke.

The scorching heat of the sun, upon a dry and sandy country, makes the
air insufferably hot. Ali having robbed me of my thermometer, I had no
means of forming a comparative judgment; but in the middle of the day,
when the beams of the vertical sun are seconded by the scorching wind
from the Desert, the ground is frequently heated to such a degree, as not
to be borne by the naked foot; even the Negro slaves will not run from
one tent to another without their sandals. At this time of the day, the
Moors lie stretched at length in their tents, either asleep, or unwilling
to move; and I have often felt the wind so hot, that I could not hold my
hand in the current of air, which came through the crevices of my hut,
without feeling sensible pain.

April 8th. This day the wind blew from the south-west, and in the night
there was a heavy shower of rain accompanied with thunder and lightning.

April 10th. In the evening the Tabala, or large drum, was beat to
announce a wedding, which was held at one of the neighbouring tents. A
great number of people of both sexes assembled, but without that mirth
and hilarity which take place at a Negro wedding: here was neither
singing nor dancing, nor any other amusement that I could perceive. A
woman was beating the drum, and the other women joining at times like a
chorus, by setting up a shrill scream; and at the same time, moving their
tongues from one side of the mouth to the other with great celerity. I
was soon tired, and had returned into my hut, where I was sitting almost
asleep, when an old woman entered, with a wooden bowl in her hand, and
signified that she had brought me a present from the bride. Before I
could recover from the surprise which this message created, the woman
discharged the contents of the bowl full in my face. Finding that It was
the same sort of holy water, with which, among the Hottentots, a priest
is said to sprinkle a new married couple, I began to suspect that the old
lady was actuated by mischief or malice; but she gave me seriously to
understand, that it was a nuptial benediction from the bride's own
person; and which, on such occasions, is always received by the young
unmarried Moors as a mark of distinguished favour. This being the case, I
wiped my face, and sent my acknowledgments to the lady. The wedding drum
continued to beat, and the women to sing, or rather whistle, all night.
About nine in the morning, the bride was brought in state from her
mother's tent, attended by a number of women who carried her tent, (a
present from the husband,) some bearing up the poles, others holding by
the strings; and in this manner they marched, whistling as formerly,
until they came to the place appointed for her residence, where they
pitched the tent. The husband followed, with a number of men leading four
bullocks, which they tied to the tent strings; and having killed another,
and distributed the beef among the people, the ceremony was concluded.

CHAPTER XI.

_Occurrences at the camp continued.--Information collected by the Author
concerning Houssa and Tombuctoo; and the situation of the latter.--The
route described from Morocco to Benowm.--The Author's distress from
hunger--Ali removes his camp to the northward,--The Author is carried
prisoner to the new encampment, and is presented to Queen Fatima.--Great
distress from want of water_.

One whole month had now elapsed since I was led into captivity; during
which time each returning day brought me fresh distresses. I watched the
lingering course of the sun with anxiety, and blessed his evening beams
as they shed a yellow lustre along the sandy floor of my hut; for it was
then that my oppressors left me, and allowed me to pass the sultry night
in solitude and reflection.

About midnight a bowl of kouskous, with some salt and water, was brought
for me and my two attendants. This was our common fare, and it was all
that was allowed us, to allay the cravings of hunger, and support nature
for the whole of the following day: for it is to be observed, that this
was the Mahomedan Lent, and as the Moors keep the fast with a religious
strictness, they thought it proper to compel me, though a Christian, to a
similar observance. Time, however, somewhat reconciled me to my
situation: I found that I could bear hunger and thirst better than I
expected; and at length I endeavoured to beguile the tedious hours by
learning to write Arabic. The people who came to see me soon made me
acquainted with the characters; and I discovered, that, by engaging their
attention in this way, they were not so troublesome as otherwise they
would have been: indeed, when I observed any person whose countenance I
thought bore malice towards me, I made it a rule to ask him, either to
write in the sand himself, or to decipher what I had already written; and
the pride of showing his superior attainments generally induced him to
comply with my request.

April 14th. As Queen Fatima had not yet arrived, Ali proposed to go to
the north, and bring her back with him; but as the place was two days'
journey from Benowm, it was necessary to have some refreshment on the
road; and Ali, suspicious of those about him, was so afraid of being
poisoned, that he never ate anything but what was dressed under his own
immediate inspection. A fine bullock was therefore killed, and the flesh
being cut into thin slices, was dried in the sun: and this, with two bags
of dry kouskous, formed his travelling provisions.

Previous to his departure, the black people of the town of Benowm came,
according to their annual custom, to show their arms, and bring their
stipulated tribute of corn and cloth. They were but badly armed:
twenty-two with muskets, forty or fifty with bows and arrows; and nearly
the same number of men and boys with spears only: they arranged
themselves before the tent, where they waited until their arms were
examined and some little disputes settled.

About midnight on the 16th, Ali departed quietly from Benowm, accompanied
by a few attendants. He was expected to return in the course of nine or
ten days.

April 18th Two days after the departure of Ali, a Shereef arrived with
salt and some other articles from Walet, the capital of the kingdom of
Biroo. As there was no tent appropriated for him, he took up his abode in
the same hut with me. He seemed to be a well informed man, and his
acquaintance both with the Arabic and Bambarra tongues enabled him to
travel, with ease and safety, through a number of kingdoms; for though
his place of residence was Walet, he had visited Houssa, and had lived
some years at Tombuctoo. Upon my inquiring so particularly about the
distance from Walet to Tombuctoo, he asked me if I intended to travel
that way; and being answered in the affirmative, he shook his head, and
said, _it would not do_; for that Christians were looked upon there as
the devil's children, and enemies to the Prophet. From him I learned the
following particulars; that Houssa was the largest town he had ever seen;
that Walet was larger than Tombuctoo; but being remote from the Niger,
and its trade consisting chiefly of salt, it was not so much resorted to
by strangers; that between Benowm and Walet was ten days' journey; but
the road did not lead through any remarkable towns, and travellers
supported themselves by purchasing milk from the Arabs, who keep their
herds by the watering places; two of the days' journies were over a sandy
country, without water. From Walet to Tombuctoo was eleven days more; but
water was more plentiful, and the journey was usually performed upon
bullocks. He said there were many Jews at Tombuctoo, but they all spoke
Arabic, and used the same prayers as the Moors. He frequently pointed his
hand to the south-east quarter, or rather the east by south; observing,
that Tombuctoo was situated in that direction; and though I made him
repeat this information again and again, I never found him to vary more
than half a point, which was to the southward.

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