Before The Salt Caravan Returned The Half Days
Journey From Their Salt Heaps, Some Of The Emperors People Made Certain
Pits by the water side, and near the place where the salt was left, and
when the negroes came to
Deposit their gold on the salt, those who were
concealed in the pits attacked them suddenly and took four of them
prisoners, all the rest making their escape. Three of those who were thus
taken were immediately set free by the captors, who judged that one would
be quite sufficient to satisfy the curiosity of their emperor, and that
the negroes would be the less offended. But after all, the design proved
abortive; for though spoken to in various languages, the prisoner would
neither speak or take any victuals, and died at the end of four days. On
this account, the Melli negroes concluded that these other negroes were
dumb; but others were of opinion, that being endowed with the human form,
they must necessarily have the power of speech; but, that finding himself
treated in this manner, so contrary to ancient custom, he refused to
speak from indignation. This untoward result was much regretted by the
negroes of Melli, because it prevented them from gratifying the curiosity
of their emperor; who, on being informed of this persons death, was much
dissatisfied, yet asked what manner of men the prisoners were. He was
accordingly informed that they were of a deep black colour, well shaped,
and a span taller than the natives of Melli. That their under lip was
thicker than a mans fist, of a very red colour, and hung down on their
breasts, with something like blood dropping from it; but that their upper
lips were small, like those of other men. That the form of the under lip
exposed their gums and teeth, which were larger than their own, having
great teeth in each corner of their mouth, with large black eyes, and
altogether a terrible appearance, as the gums dropped blood continually,
as well as the great hanging under lip.
This cross accident prevented all the succeeding emperors of Melli from
making any farther attempt of the kind; because, from that time, these
negroes forbore, for three years, from coming to buy salt as usual. It is
believed that their lips began to putrify, through the excessive heat of
the climate; and being no longer able to endure a distemper, of which
some must have died for want of the effectual remedy which they had
experienced from the use of salt, they returned of their own accord to
traffic for that commodity in the old way. All this has established an
opinion that they cannot live without salt; the negroes of Melli judging
of the case of others by their own. As for the emperor of Melli, he cares
not whether these blacks will speak, and be seen or not, so that that he
has the profit of their gold[3]. This is all I could learn on this
subject, which I think may be credited, as so many persons have vouched
for its truth, of which I, who have both seen and heard of many wonderful
things in this world, am perfectly satisfied.
The gold brought to Melli is divided into three parts. One part is sent
by the caravan which goes annually from Melli to _Kokhia_[4], which lies
on the road to Syria and Cairo. The other two parts go first to Tombuctu,
whence one of them goes by _Toet_[5] to Tunis and other ports of the
Barbary coast, and the other portion is carried to Hoden, and from thence
to _Oran_ and _One_[6], towns in Barbary, which are within the Straits of
Gibraltar, and to Fez, Morocco, Arzila, Azafi, and Messa, towns on the
African coast of the Atlantic, where the Italians and other Christians
procure it from the Moors, in return for various commodities. Gold is the
best and principal commodity which comes through the country of the
Azanhaji, and a part of it is brought every year from Hoden to Arguin,
where it is bartered with the Portuguese[7].
No money is coined in the land of the _Tawny Moors_, or Azenhaji; nor is
any money used by them, or in any of the neighbouring countries; but all
their trade is carried on by bartering one commodity against another. In
some of their inland towns, the Arabs and Azanbaji use small white
porcelain shells, or cowries; which are brought from the Levant to Venice,
and sent from thence into Africa. These are used for small purchases. The
gold is sold by a weight named _mitigal_, which is nearly equal in value
to a ducat. The inhabitants of the desert have neither religion nor
sovereign; but those who are richest, and have the greatest number of
retainers and dependents, are considered as chiefs or lords. The women
are tawny, and wear cotton garments, which are manufactured in the
country of the Negroes; but some of them wear a kind of cloaks, or upper
garments, called Alkhezeli, and they have no smocks. She who has the
largest and longest breasts, is reputed the greatest beauty; on which
account, when they have attained to the age of seventeen or eighteen, and
their breasts are somewhat grown, they tie a cord very tight around the
middle of each breast, which presses very hard and breaks them, so that
they hang down; and by pulling at these cords frequently, they grow
longer and longer, till at length in some women they reach as low as the
navel. The men of the desert ride on horseback after the fashion of the
Moors; and the desert being everywhere very hot, and having very little
water, and extremely barren, they can keep very few horses, and those
they have are short lived. It only rains in the months of August,
September and October. I was informed that vast swarms of locusts appear
in this country some years, in such infinite numbers as to darken the air,
and even to hide the sun from view, covering the horizon as far as the
eye can reach, which is from twelve to sixteen miles in compass; and,
wherever they settle they strip the ground entirely bare.
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