In
This Place Large Quantities Of Salt Are Dug Up Every Year, And Carried By
Caravans On Camels To _Tombucto_ And Thence To The Empire Of _Melli_,
Which Belongs To The Negroes.
Oh arriving there, they dispose of their
salt in the course of eight days, at the rate of between two and three
hundred _mitigals_, or ducats, for each load, according to the quantity,
and then return with their gold.
[1] This is erroneous, as there are several towns on the coast of Morocco
beyond this Cape, as Saffia, Mogadore, Santa Cruz, and others.
Cape Cantin is in lat. 32 deg.30'N. and the river _Sus_ in 30 deg.25', which
is 140 miles to the south. There are no towns on the coast beyond that
river; but the northern limit of the _Sahara_, or great desert, is in
lat. 27 deg.40', 186 miles to the south of the river _Sus_, and is surely
inhabited by wandering Arabs. Even the great desert, which extends 750
miles from north to south, almost to the river Senegal, is thinly
interspersed by several wandering tribes of the _Azanhaji_. - E.
[2] Called Tombuto in the original, and Ataubat in Grynaeus. - Astl. Hoden
stands in an _ouasis_, or watered island, in the sea of sand, or great
desert, about lat. 19 deg.20'N. and W. long. 11 deg.40'. - E.
[3] Under the general name of _Azanhaji_, which probably signifies the
pilgrims or wanderers of the desert, the Nomadic Arabs or Moors are
distinguished into various tribes; as Beni-amir, Beni-sabi, Hilil
Arabs, Ludajas, and Hagi; sometimes called Monselmines, Mongearts,
Wadelims, Labdessebas, and Trasarts; all named in their order from
north to south, as occupying the desert towards the Atlantic. - E.
[4] In the text this river is named Senega, and its name probably
signifies the river of the Azanhaji. It Is called in Ramusio _Oro
Tiber_. - F.
[5] The name of this place is explained as signifying a chest or bag of
gold. There is a place marked in the Saharra, or great sandy desert;
under the name of _Tisheet_, where there are salt mines, in lat. 17 deg.
40' N. and long. 6 deg. 40' W. which may possibly be Teggazza. The
distance of Tisheet from Hoden in our maps is about 375 miles E. S. E.
But there are other salt mines in the desert still farther to the east.
- E.
SECTION III.
_Of the Empire of Melli, and some curious particulars of the Salt Trade:
Of the Trade in Gold: Of the, Azanhaji; and concerning swarms of Locusts_.
The empire of Melli, of which some mention has been made in the preceding
Section, is situated in an extremely hot climate, and affords very bad
nourishment for beasts; insomuch, that out of an hundred camels which go
from the desert into that country, scarcely twenty-five return; several
even of the Arabs and Azanhaji, belonging to the caravans, sicken and die
likewise every year. There are no quadrupeds kept by the natives of the
country, as indeed none can live there for any time. It is reckoned to be
forty days journey on horseback from Tegazza to Tombuctu, and thirty from
thence to Melli[1]. Having inquired what use the merchants of Melli made
of this salt, the traders of the desert informed me, that a part of it
was consumed in that country, which lying near the line, where the days
and nights are of equal length, certain seasons of the year are so
excessively hot that the blood of the inhabitants would putrify, if it
were not for the salt, and they would all die. They have no art or
mystery in its use; but every one dissolves a small piece every day in a
porringer of water, and drinks it off, which in their opinion preserves
their health.
The remainder of the salt is carried a long way in pieces on mens heads,
every piece being as large as a man can well bear. As brought from
Teggazza, the salt is in large pieces as taken out of the mine, each
camel being loaded with two pieces, and the negroes break these down into
smaller pieces, for the convenience of carrying them on their heads, and
muster a large number of footmen for this yearly traffic. These porters
have each a long forked stick in their hands; and, when tired, they rest
their loads on these sticks. They proceed in this manner till they arrive
on the banks of a certain water, but whether fresh or salt my informer
could not say, yet I am of opinion that it must be a river, because, if
it were the sea, the inhabitants could not be in want of salt in so hot a
climate. The negroes are hired to carry it in this manner for want of
camels or other beasts of burden, as already mentioned; and, from what
has been said, it may easily be concluded that the number, both of the
carriers and consumers must be very great. When arrived at the water side,
the proprietors of the salt place their shares in heaps in a row, at
small distances, setting each a particular mark on his own heap; and when
this is done, the whole company retires half a days journey from the
place. Then the other negroes, who are the purchasers of the salt, who
seem to be the inhabitants of certain islands, but who will on no account
be seen or spoken to, come in boats to the place where the heaps of salt
are placed, and after laying a sum in gold on each heap as its price,
retire in their turns. After they are gone, the owners of the salt return,
and if the quantity of gold on their heaps is satisfactory to them, they
take it away and leave the salt; if not, they leave both and withdraw
again. In this manner they carry on their traffick, without seeing or
speaking to each other, and this custom is very ancient among them, as
has been affirmed to me for truth by several merchants of the desert,
both Arabs and Azanhaji, and other creditable persons[2].
On inquiring how it came to pass that the emperor of Melli, whom they
represented as a powerful sovereign, did not find means, by friendship or
force, to discover who these people were who would not suffer themselves
to be seen or talked to, I was informed that this emperor, not many years
ago, resolved to procure some of these invisible people, and held a
council on the occasion, in which the following plan was devised and
carried into execution.
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