FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   138   139   140   141   142   143   144   145   146   147   148   149   150   151   152   153   154   155   156   157   158   159   160   161   162  
163   164   165   166   167   168   169   170   171   172   173   174   175   176   177   178   179   180   181   182   183   184   185   186   187   >>   >|  
, abhor women of any age. All their slaves are of tender years. The older these gentlemen get, the younger they require their concubines to be. An aged sinner of Aghadez had a mere child with him. En-Noor is said to have half-a-dozen stout girls running about his house. Really, to satisfy the passions and sensuality of these Africans, women should be like the houris of Paradise, and never grow old. Those that accompanied us were, of course, regarded as mistresses, but were required also to do nearly all the drudgery of the caravan. Their masters must have sold much prettier and finer girls at Ghat. The name of the place where we are now encamped is, as I have said, Takeesat, and that of the rocky plain we traversed between Esalan and Aisou is [_omitted in Journal_]. We shall now have great confusion in the denominations of places, the Tuaricks using one name and the Kailouees another. _20th._--We rose early, and at four o'clock were already in motion. It was a long and weary day--fourteen hours of actual travelling; but this, thank Heaven! is, we are told, the last long stretch of that kind we shall have to undertake. The country was nearly similar to that between Falezlez and Aisou; plains or slightly indented valleys. The granite appeared again, with sandstone on the top. No herbage was found to-day, except a few scanty bits here and there. In the morning our blacks all ran up to a sugar-loaf shaped rock, which they called their altar or temple, Jama. There they performed certain strange incantations, after which they descended and began to indulge in mock-fights, sometimes even simulating an attack upon the caravan. What was the real meaning of their pantomime it was impossible to make out, but they amused us exceedingly by their wild gestures and cries. The three mysterious Haghars still continued to follow us throughout the day, declaring that they had no evil intentions, but were merely poor wayfarers journeying to Aheer. They have made friends with the Tanelkums, with whom they have more points of resemblance than with the Kailouees. In appearance and manners they are remarkable enough. They wear a shield of bullock or rhinoceros hide hanging down on one side of their camels. During our march, it was evidently their desire to show off; for they moved in order of battle as they called it, in a line, the two who had spears holding them bravely up. It was certainly a pretty sight to see them play off this lit
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   138   139   140   141   142   143   144   145   146   147   148   149   150   151   152   153   154   155   156   157   158   159   160   161   162  
163   164   165   166   167   168   169   170   171   172   173   174   175   176   177   178   179   180   181   182   183   184   185   186   187   >>   >|  



Top keywords:
Kailouees
 

caravan

 

called

 

amused

 

exceedingly

 
attack
 
pantomime
 

impossible

 
meaning
 

incantations


shaped

 

temple

 
blacks
 

scanty

 
morning
 

indulge

 
fights
 
simulating
 

descended

 

performed


strange

 

intentions

 

During

 

evidently

 

desire

 

camels

 

bullock

 

shield

 

rhinoceros

 

hanging


pretty

 
bravely
 

holding

 

battle

 

spears

 
declaring
 

follow

 
continued
 

gestures

 
mysterious

Haghars
 

wayfarers

 
resemblance
 
points
 

appearance

 

remarkable

 
manners
 

journeying

 
friends
 

Tanelkums