Like the roving Arabs, the Moors frequently remove from one place to
another, according to the season of the year or the convenience of
pasturage.
In the month of February, when the heat of the sun
scorches up every sort of vegetation in the desert, they strike
their tents and approach the negro country to the south, where they
reside until the rains commence, in the month of July. At this
time, having purchased corn and other necessaries from the negroes,
in exchange for salt, they again depart to the northward, and
continue in the desert until the rains are over, and that part of
the country becomes burnt up and barren.
This wandering and restless way of life, while it inures them to
hardships, strengthens at the same time the bonds of their little
society, and creates in them an aversion towards strangers which is
almost insurmountable. Cut off from all intercourse with civilised
nations, and boasting an advantage over the negroes, by possessing,
though in a very limited degree, the knowledge of letters, they are
at once the vainest and proudest, and perhaps the most bigoted,
ferocious, and intolerant of all the nations on the earth - combining
in their character the blind superstition of the negro with the
savage cruelty and treachery of the Arab.
CHAPTER XIII - ESCAPE FROM CAPTIVITY
Having, as hath been related, obtained permission to accompany Ali
to Jarra, I took leave of Queen Fatima, who, with much grace and
civility, returned me part of my apparel; and the evening before my
departure, my horse, with the saddle and bridle, were sent me by
Ali's order.
Early on the morning of the 26th of May I departed from the camp of
Bubaker, accompanied by my two attendants, Johnson and Demba, and a
number of Moors on horseback, Ali, with about fifty horsemen, having
gone privately from the camp during the night. We stopped about
noon at Farani, and were there joined by twelve Moors riding upon
camels, and with them we proceeded to a watering-place in the woods,
where we overtook Ali and his fifty horsemen. They were lodged in
some low shepherd's tents near the wells.
May 28. - Early in the morning the Moors saddled their horses, and
Ali's chief slave ordered me to get in readiness. In a little time
the same messenger returned, and, taking my boy by the shoulder,
told him in the Mandingo language, that "Ali was to be his master in
future;" and then turning to me, "The business is settled at last,"
said he; "the boy, and everything but your horse, goes back to
Bubaker, but you may take the old fool" (meaning Johnson the
interpreter) "with you to Jarra." I made him no answer; but being
shocked beyond description at the idea of losing the poor boy, I
hastened to Ali, who was at breakfast before his tent, surrounded by
many of his courtiers. I told him (perhaps in rather too passionate
a strain), that whatever imprudence I had been guilty of in coming
into his country, I thought I had already been sufficiently punished
for it by being so long detained, and then plundered of all my
little property; which, however, gave me no uneasiness when compared
with what he had just now done to me. I observed that the boy whom
he had now seized upon was not a slave, and had been accused of no
offence; he was, indeed, one of my attendants, and his faithful
services in that station had procured him his freedom. His fidelity
and attachment had made him fellow me into my present situation,
and, as he looked up to me for protection I could not see him
deprived of his liberty without remonstrating against such an act as
the height of cruelty and injustice. Ali made no reply, but, with a
haughty air and malignant smile, told his interpreter that if I did
not mount my horse immediately he would send me back likewise.
There is something in the frown of a tyrant which rouses the most
secret emotions of the heart: I could not suppress my feelings, and
for once entertained an indignant wish to rid the world of such a
monster.
Poor Demba was not less affected than myself. He had formed a
strong attachment towards me, and had a cheerfulness of disposition
which often beguiled the tedious hours of captivity. He was
likewise a proficient in the Bambarra tongue, and promised on that
account to be of great utility to me in future. But it was in vain
to expect anything favourable to humanity from people who are
strangers to its dictates. So, having shaken hands with this
unfortunate boy, and blended my tears with his, assuring him,
however, that I would do my utmost to redeem him, I saw him led off
by three of Ali's slaves towards the camp at Bubaker.
When the Moors had mounted their horses I was ordered to follow
them, and, after a toilsome journey through the woods in a very
sultry day, we arrived in the afternoon at a walled village called
Doombani, where we remained two days, waiting for the arrival of
some horsemen from the northward.
On the 1st of June we departed from Doombani towards Jarra. Our
company now amounted to two hundred men, all on horseback, for the
Moors never use infantry in their wars. They appeared capable of
enduring great fatigue; but from their total want of discipline our
journey to Jarra was more like a fox-chase than the march of an
army.
At Jarra I took up my lodging at the house of my old acquaintance,
Daman Jumma, and informed him of everything that had befallen me. I
particularly requested him to use his interest with Ali to redeem my
boy, and promised him a bill upon Dr. Laidley for the value of two
slaves the moment he brought him to Jarra. Daman very readily
undertook to negotiate the business, but found that Ali considered
the boy as my principal interpreter, and was unwilling to part with
him, lest he should fall a second time into my hands, and be
instrumental in conducting me to Bambarra.
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