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27 chapters
THROUGH TIMBUCTU AND ACROSS THE GREAT SAHARA
THROUGH TIMBUCTU AND ACROSS THE GREAT SAHARA
AN ACCOUNT OF AN ADVENTUROUS JOURNEY OF EXPLORATION FROM SIERRA LEONE TO THE SOURCE OF THE NIGER, FOLLOWING ITS COURSE TO THE BEND AT GAO AND THENCE ACROSS THE GREAT SAHARA TO ALGIERS BY CAPTAIN A. H. W. HAYWOOD, F.R.G.S. Royal Artillery WITH 45 ILLUSTRATIONS & A MAP LONDON SEELEY, SERVICE & CO. LIMITED 38 GREAT RUSSELL STREET 1912...
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CHAPTER I
CHAPTER I
Reasons for the journey — Selecting a servant — Preparations — The Sierra Leone Railway. AFRICA, like India, seems often to cast a spell over those who visit it, and certainly at the end of 1909 I found myself under this curious fascination. I had spent some years soldiering in West Africa, and had often wished to explore the ramifications of the Upper and Middle Niger, but the difficulty of obtaining sufficient leave had been an insurmountable obstacle. My chance came at last, however, when I f
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CHAPTER II
CHAPTER II
Bush scenery — A night at Bo — The Frontier Force at Daru — Mendi and Kissy carriers — Cotton-growing — Secret societies — Poro and Bundu societies — Marriage customs — The Liberian frontier. THE country of Sierra Leone consists of two parts: the colony and the protectorate. The colony is mountainous, and runs out in a peninsula from the protectorate or hinterland. Roughly speaking, the colony is the civilized part, and the protectorate is in West African parlance the “Bush.” In the peninsula a
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CHAPTER III
CHAPTER III
Shooting in the grass-country — An unfortunate mishap — Doubtful pleasures of a journey — Sources of the Niger — A curious frontier rock — Bush fires — Bird-life. IN the northern Konnoh country some good bushcow shooting is obtainable. In the grass-lands before mentioned these animals are wont to feed at night and during the early hours of the morning, and this is the best time to come up with them. When the sun gets hot they retire into the bush, where they remain till late in the afternoon. Th
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CHAPTER IV
CHAPTER IV
The Harmatan — Native burial rites — Koranko superstitions — The Anglo-French frontier — Solitude of a Customs post — A change of scenery — Smuggling — A change of carriers — Intoxicating liquor — The Upper Niger — A splendid spectacle — A good highway — Native music. IN the Tembikunda Mountains I found the variations of temperature between night and day extremely trying. The maximum by day never exceeded ninety degrees, but at night the temperature used sometimes to fall to under fifty degrees.
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CHAPTER V
CHAPTER V
Faranah — The Malinkés — Castes — Big game on the Mafou River — Native methods of hunting — Trapping — Ground nuts — The native trader — Kouroussa — Native types — French gardens — Native dances — Beehives — Fruit. BY the 22nd of January, the date of our arrival at Faranah, I had so far recovered as to be able to walk a few miles each day. My usual plan was to walk in the early morning until the sun got oppressive, when I retired to the hammock until about eleven. About this hour I used to halt
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CHAPTER VI
CHAPTER VI
Samory and the Sofas — The Sofa wars — Desertion of my “boy” — Kouroussa and Kankan — Native horses — An inhospitable reception — Kankan — Trade at Kankan — The rubber vine — Native telegraphy — Personal adornment. MENTION has several times been made of King Samory and his Sofas. Kouroussa was for some time the centre of his plundering operations; it will therefore be advisable to give some account of this enlightened chief’s history before describing his doings in that country. Samory came from
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CHAPTER VII
CHAPTER VII
Hippopotami — Game in the Wasulu country — Lazy carriers — In pursuit of elephants — Fetish haartebeest — “Red” elephants — A fetish altar — Braimah’s juju — Charms and tests. AT Falama I found the two hunters I had engaged for my shooting expedition. They were the head hunters of the district, one of them being a man from the big hunting village of Dialakoro, who was reputed to know every yard of the game haunts in the Wasulu country, so it was with high hopes of good sport that I began to talk
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CHAPTER VIII
CHAPTER VIII
Mamadu’s new hat — Tribal marks — Unreliable guides — A lonely prospector — Bolting carriers — A local chief — More trouble with carriers — Hunting eland — Sand-flies and mosquitoes — The headman’s duty — Undesirable presents — Jomongonas — A magnificent view — Jilingé — Gold — Superstition of the River Fie — A Niger ferry — An unappreciated delicacy — Fishing on the Niger. AT Falama I procured the requisite carriers from the chief. It was arranged that they should accompany me all the way to th
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CHAPTER IX
CHAPTER IX
Kob — A West African road — Characteristics of the Moors — The influence of Islam — The French Soudan — Kangaba — Hospitality — A picturesque market — Vexatious delays — African punctuality — A new acquaintance — Uncomfortable marching — Shea-butter — Its uses — A native toothbrush — Arrival at Bamako. OUR route to Tombola lay across a marshy, open stretch of land for some miles. The marsh was dried up in many places, and a rank, coarse grass grew over it to a height of seven or eight feet. This
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CHAPTER X
CHAPTER X
Bamako — The Bambaras — An animated scene — The Kati Plateau — Dinner with the Governor — Government House — Game in the “Bend” of the Niger — The Senegal-Niger Railway — Bamako market — The hotel. THE first sight of Bamako to the traveller is, indeed, a strange one. After walking through miles upon miles of bush and seeing nothing more imposing than a native village, one suddenly is amazed to behold a fine large town, with wide boulevards and solidly built stone houses, nestling close to the fo
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CHAPTER XI
CHAPTER XI
Koulikoro — Niger Navigation Service — Rapids on the Niger — The Hourst Expedition — An explorer’s death — Horse-breeding. ON the 27th of February I left by the morning train for Koulikoro. The director of the eastern section of the Senegal-Niger Railway, to whom I was introduced, travelled down in the same carriage. Commandant Digue is a most interesting man, with a vast experience of railways in West Africa, and possessing a reputation for great energy and ability. He was formerly an officer o
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CHAPTER XII
CHAPTER XII
On a river launch — Salutations — Crocodiles — An evening halt — Camping on the bank — Tobacco-growing — Cotton-growing — Garrison mess life — Irksome travelling — An enlightened ruler — An excellent shooting ground — A holy city — Kadis — Architecture — Sails of grass — Picturesque pilots — A strike in the engine-room — Flat country. AS we glided easily down the river I began to think that life on the “Réné Caillé” would be rather pleasant. It was very enjoyable to sit on deck in an easy chair
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CHAPTER XIII
CHAPTER XIII
A land of inundations — River transport in the Macina Province — The “King of Mopti” — Mopti — Prospects of the rice trade — Shooting wart-hog — Native huts — The protection of egrets — A lion as a pet — A dangerous joke — Scarcity of wood — The white ant — The driver ant. MOPTI is the chief town in the rich province of Macina. The province lies entirely on the right bank of the Niger. It extends on the north to Lake Dhebo, on the east almost to Bandiagara, and on the south to the town of Djenné
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CHAPTER XIV
CHAPTER XIV
Fulani cattle — Lake Dhebo — Duck shooting — Teal — A tough bird — The Niger River winds — Towing a barge — Niafounké — The edge of the Sahara — Stalking birds — Sheep-farming — Developing the wool trade — Raided by a leopard — Ostrich-farming. ON the 9th of March we left Mopti, finding considerably more water in this section of the Niger, chiefly due to the increase in its volume caused by the influx of the Bani. On both banks there were now wide stretches of rich green grass springing luxurian
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CHAPTER XV
CHAPTER XV
Game on the Issa-Ber — Hiring a canoe — A leaky craft — Borgou grass — Fish tanks — Sebi — Tracks of lions — Good wildfowl shooting — Tortures of a native saddle — Mamadu’s horsemanship — A flat country — Fulani villages — Saraféré — Desert winds — Niger canoes — Hardy hunters — Ancient fire-arms — Lion shooting — The Fulanis. ON the 13th of March I left Gauba. For the first few miles our way lay through a swampy country, consisting of creeks and backwaters of the Niger, or to be more accurate,
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CHAPTER XVI
CHAPTER XVI
Land near the Bara-Issa — Tuaregs — A salt caravan — Stalking hartebeest — Lake Niangaye — The village of Kanioumé — My runaway horse — Tracking elephants — Elephants bathing — A stampede of elephants — A wounded elephant — Cave dwellers — Sandstorms and rifles. ON the 21st of March I left Saraféré. I had managed to buy a horse here, being glad to have my own mount at last. He was a little animal, a dark bay, about fourteen hands; not exactly the most suitable beast for the work for which I requ
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CHAPTER XVII
CHAPTER XVII
Bullocks — Pelicans on Lake Niangaye — Stalking ostriches — Friendly Tuaregs — Lakes and swamps — By canoe to Timbuctu — An intricate route — Horses of the Sonrhais — Kabara — Timbuctu — A quaint desert city — A change of route — A steel canoe — Yakubu — Explorers — Réné Caillé — Barth — Scenes in Timbuctu — The Sonrhay empire — Mosques — Salt trade — Saharan sirocco — Desert caravans. ON the 3rd of April I returned to Bambara-Maaundé on my way north to Timbuctu. My first plan had been to march
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CHAPTER XVIII
CHAPTER XVIII
Preparing to cross the desert — Articles for barter — My barge — My new “boy” — My crew — Stranded — A miserable people — “Cram-cram” — Borgou — Bamba — Under sail — A variety of game — The defile of Tosaye — The “Oued Telemsi” — A curious coloured clay — Gao — A lazy class — Mosques at Gao — A perilous journey — Giraffe. ON the 12th of April my barge was to be ready for me at Kabara. I had asked the Commandant to send a telegram to the authorities at Gao, advising them of the probable date of m
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CHAPTER XIX
CHAPTER XIX
Loading a camel — Water vessels — My camels — My caravan — Nomads of the Sahara — Vegetation of the desert — Country of the Kountahs — Line of wells — Rainfall — My tent — Gazelle — Fowls of the desert — A trying march — Ill-used animals — How to mount a camel — Moroseness of the camel — Vagaries of the camel — An unpleasant feature — Uncomfortable riding. THE preparations to be made for a journey across the Sahara are many, as I soon found out at Gao. It was not merely a question of arranging f
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CHAPTER XX
CHAPTER XX
An unreliable guide — Relief — Typical scenery — Game in the “oueds” — A dreary scene — The effect of the sun — A breakdown — Kidal — Reorganization — A veiled people — The Iforas — Tuaregs and Iforas — Iforas as camel-masters — Adrar — I abandon my bath — The value of dates — French couriers — A solitary post — Relics of the Stone Age — Relics of former nations. OWING to the heat and the fine particles of sand constantly flying in the air, Sidi Mahomed, the Arab guide, became much troubled with
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CHAPTER XXI
CHAPTER XXI
The camel’s reserve store — Variations of temperature — The Sahara by moonlight — Halley’s Comet — Wells of Abeibera — Tea in the desert — Difficult bargaining — Enduring donkeys — Saharan game — A dry well — Missing camels — In Ouzel — An indifferent boundary — Unpleasant recollections — A change in the desert — Saharan shrubs — Welfare of the camel. THE camels I had now were far superior animals to those I had previously hired at Gao. I had particularly stipulated for animals in the best of co
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CHAPTER XXII
CHAPTER XXII
The dreaded Tanezrouft — Camel saddles — The wells of Timissao — A valuable plant — A night march — An improvised shelter — Sandstorms — Enemies to sleep — Gloomy scenery — The water supply — An exhausting struggle — The wells of Ahnet — Instinct of the guides — Protecting the water-skins. WHILE at In Ouzel I had to make a careful overhaul of my equipment. The portion of desert now close in front of me was the much-dreaded Tanezrouft, and a journey across it at any time of the year was not a thi
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CHAPTER XXIII
CHAPTER XXIII
The Ahnet or Western Hoggar — A bad reputation — Tuareg highwaymen — A salt well — A barren region — We reach Insalah — A dramatic entrance — Colonel Laperine — Insalah — Its importance — Resources — Artesian wells — Varieties of dates — Pasturage — The streets. THE region of the Tanezrouft, which we had just quitted, divides Adrar from the Hoggar country, and it was into the Ahnet, or Western Hoggar, that we had now emerged. The subsoil of Hoggar Ahnet consists of a certain amount of clay under
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CHAPTER XXIV
CHAPTER XXIV
Disturbing news — En route for Algiers — A remarkable man — Horses at Insalah — Hospitality of French officers — Slavery amongst the Arabs — An unusual sight — A pathetic story — My own valet and cook — A precipitous track — The “Great Erg”— Hassy Inifel — An incompetent guide — Lost — A useful camel-driver — A hospitable Arab chief — An unappetizing menu — The dates of Ouargla — Touggourt — A ramshackle coach — Biskra. THE morning after my arrival at Insalah the officer in command of the post c
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CHAPTER XXV
CHAPTER XXV
By rail to Algiers — A difficult project — The resources of the Sahara AS I settled myself in the railway carriage I had ample food for reflection over the events of my journey. Naturally the part that had made the most impression on me in many ways was the journey across the Sahara. It had taken me exactly seventy-five days to cover the total distance from Gao to Biskra, nearly 1600 miles. Now that the strain was over I began to feel really fatigued. It was pleasant to sit quietly in the train
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APPENDIX
APPENDIX
Map showing the Route of Captain Haywood’s Journey ( Large-size )...
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