Travels Of Richard And John Lander Into The Interior Of Africa For The Discovery Of The Course And Termination Of The Niger By Robert Huish
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They Invariably Reside In Houses Or Hovels Built Of Stone And
Timber, Which Are Generally Situated On Some Commanding Eminence, And
Are Fortified And Loop-Holed For Self-Defence.
Their usual mode of
warfare is, to surprise their enemy, rather than overcome him by an
open attack; they
Are reckoned the best marksmen, and possess the
best fire-arms in Barbary, which render them a very destructive enemy
wherever the country affords shelter and concealment; but although
they are always an over-match for the Arabs, when attacked on their
own rugged territory, they are obliged on the other hand, to
relinquish the plains to the Arab cavalry, against which the
Berrebbers are unable to stand on open ground.
The Arabs, who now form so considerable a portion of the population
of Barbary, and whose race in the sheriffe line has given emperors to
Morocco ever since the conquest, occupy all the level country of the
empire, and many of the tribes penetrating into the desert, have
extended themselves even to the confines of Soudan. In person, they
are generally tall and robust, with fine features, and intelligent
countenances. Their hair is black and straight, their eyes large,
black and piercing, their noses gently arched; their beards full and
bushy, and they have invariably good teeth. The colour of those who
reside in Barbary, is a deep, but bright brunette, essentially unlike
the sallow tinge of the mulatto. The Arabs of the desert are more or
less swarthy, according to their proximity to the negro states,
until, in some tribes they are found entirely black, but without the
woolly hair, wide nostril, and thick lip, which peculiarly belong to
the African negro.
The Arabs are universally cultivators of the earth, or breeders of
cattle, depending on agricultural pursuits alone for subsistence. To
use a common proverb of their own, "the earth is the Arab's portion."
They are divided into small tribes or families, each separate tribe
having a particular patriarch or head, by whose name they distinguish
themselves, and each occupying its own separate portion of territory.
They are scarcely ever engaged in external commerce; they dislike the
restraints and despise the security of residence in towns, and dwell
invariably in tents made of a stuff woven from goats' hair and the
fibrous root of the palmeta. In some of the provinces, their
residences form large circular encampments, consisting of from twenty
to a hundred tents, where they are governed by a sheik or magistrate
of their own body. This officer is again subordinate to a bashaw or
governor, appointed by the emperor, who resides in some neighbouring
town. In these encampments there is always a tent set apart for
religious worship, and appropriated to the use of the weary or
benighted traveller, who is supplied with food and refreshment at the
expense of the community.
The character of the Arab, in a general view, is decidedly more noble
and magnanimous than that of the Berrebber. His vices are of a more
daring, and if the expression may be used, of a more generous cast.
He accomplishes his designs rather by open violence than by
treachery; he has less duplicity and concealment than the Berrebber,
and to the people of his own nation or religion, he is much more
hospitable and benevolent.
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