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.
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.
March 28. - 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 seem to shudder when they looked at the
whiteness of my skin.
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
its 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 3. - 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 7. - 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. 8. - 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 10. - 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.
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