In
The Desert There Are Many Lions, Leopards, And Ostriches, The Eggs Of
Which I Have Often Eaten, And Found Them Very Good.
Don Henry has farmed out the trade of the island of Arguin, under the
following regulations.
No person must enter this gulf to trade with the
Arabs, except those who are licensed according to the ordinance, and have
habitations and factors on the island, and have been accustomed to
transact business with the Arabs on that coast. The articles of
merchandize chiefly provided for this trade are, woollen cloth and linen,
silver trinkets, _aldtizeli_ or frocks, and cloaks, and other things, and
above all, wheat; and the Arabs give in return negro slaves and gold. A
castle has been built on the isle of Arguin, by order of the prince, to
protect this trade, on account of which caravels or ships arrive there
every year from Portugal.
The Arabs of this coast have many Barbary horses, which they carry to the
country of the Negroes, which they barter with the great men for slaves,
receiving from ten to eighteen men for each horse, according to their
goodness. They also carry thither silken staffs of Granada and Tunis,
with silver, and many other things, in return for which they receive
great numbers of slaves and some gold. These slaves are brought first to
Hoden in the desert, and thence by the mountains of Barka into Barbary,
whence they are transported across the Mediterranean into Sicily. Part of
them are sold in Tunis, and in other places along the coast of Barbary;
and the rest are brought to Arguin, where they are sold to the licensed
Portuguese traders, who purchase between seven and eight hundred every
year, and send them for sale into Portugal. Before the establishment of
this trade at Arguin, the Portuguese used to send every year four or more
caravels to the bay of Arguin, the crews of which, landing well armed in
the night, were in use to surprise some of the fishing villages, and
carry off the inhabitants into slavery. They even penetrated sometimes a
considerable way into the interior, and carried off the Arabs of both
sexes, whom they sold as slaves in Portugal.
Leaving Arguin we sailed along the coast to the river Senegal[4], which
is very large, and divides the people called Azanaghi, or Azanhaji, from
the first kingdom of the Negroes. The Azanhaji are of a tawny colour, or
rather of a deep brown complexion, and inhabit some parts of the coast
beyond Cape Branco, ranging through the deserts, and their district
reaches to the confines of the Arabs of Hoden. They live on dates, barley,
and the milk of camels; but as they border likewise on the country of the
Negroes, they carry on trade with these people, from whom they procure
millet and pulse, particularly beans. Owing to the scarcity of provisions
in the desert, the Azanhaji are but spare eaters, and are able to endure
hunger with wonderful patience, as a poringer of barley-meal made into
hasty-pudding will serve them a whole day. The Portuguese used to carry
away many of these people for slaves, as they were preferred to the
negroes; but for some time past this has been prohibited by Don Henry,
and peace and trade has been established with them, as he is in hopes
they may be easily brought over to the catholic faith by intercourse with
the Christians, more especially as they are not hitherto thoroughly
established in the superstitions of Mahomet, of which they know nothing
but by hearsay. These Azenhaji have an odd custom of wearing a
handkerchief round their heads, a part of which is brought down so as to
cover their eyes, and even their nose and mouth; for they reckon the
mouth an unclean part, because it is constantly belching and has a bad
smell, and ought therefore to be kept out of sight; even comparing it to
the posteriors, and thinking that both ought alike to be concealed. On
this account they never let their mouths be seen except when eating, as I
have often had occasion to observe. They have no lords among them, but
the rich men are respected somewhat more than the rest. They are of
ordinary stature, and very lean, wearing their black hair frizzled over
their shoulders like the Germans, and grease it daily with fish oil,
which gives them a nasty smell; yet they consider this as modish. They
are extremely poor, egregious liars, the greatest thieves in the world,
and very treacherous. They have never heard of any Christians except the
Portuguese, with whom they had war for thirteen or fourteen years, in
which many of them were carried off as slaves, as has been already
mentioned. Many of these people informed me, that, when they first saw
ships under sail, which had never been beheld by any of their ancestors,
they took them for large birds with white wings, that had come from
foreign parts; and when the sails were furled, they conjectured, from
their length, and swimming on the water, that they must be great fish.
Others again believed that they were spirits, who wandered about by night;
because they were seen at anchor in the evening at one place, and would
be seen next morning 100 miles off, either proceeding along the coast to
the southwards, or put back, according as the wind changed, or the
caravels might happen to steer. They could not conceive how human beings
could travel more in one night than they were able to perform themselves
in three days; by which they were confirmed in the notion of the ships
being spirits. All this was certified to me by many of the Azanhaji who
were slaves in Portugal, as well as by the Portuguese mariners who had
frequented the coast in their caravels.
About six days journey by land from Hoden, there is a place called
Teggazza[5], which in our language signifies a chest or bag of gold.
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