race is said to have no religion; but their common practice of first holding up to heaven the carcass of any animal, killed for food, belies their being atheists—a reproach attributed to them solely by their enemies. On the contrary, it harmonizes with those universal feelings of reverence and awe for a Supreme Being, which have ever existed among all nations, and in all ages. The favourite food of this persecuted tribe is said to be dogs, which they fatten for the purpose. Their country is of small extent, defended by impenetrable morasses and forests, by which alone they preserve a precarious and dangerous independence. At Sansan we were waited upon by the principal native inhabitants, and the resident Arabs. Among the Arabs there was a cousin of the sheikh of Bornou, Hadje El Min El Hanem. The reports of our travelling companions, the merchants, contributed very much to exalt our character wherever we went. Dec. SO.—At noon I found the latitude of our encampment to be 12° 20' 48" north by meridian alt. of lower limb of sun. Sansan in Arabic signifies “ the gathering,” where the scattered parties of an army assemble previous to an expedition. The town had its name from a late sultan of Bornou, making it the rendezvous of his army when he went to conquer Haussa. The place where he pitched his tent is still held in great veneration, and the buildings around it were first erected by his army. The neighbouring district also abounds in towns and villages, which, together with Bedeguna and Sansan, are under the governor of Katagum, who is himself subordinate to the governor of Kano. Sansan is formed of three distinct towns, called Sansan Birnee, Sidi Boori, and Sansan Bana. The principal one, in which the governor resides, is Sansan Birnee, or Sansan Gora, signifying £ the walled,” from a low clay wall in ruins, surrounded by a dry ditch almost filled up. The mosque is without a roof, and the huts and houses of the inhabitants are old and dilapidated. Sidi Boori, another of the three towns, having a signification scr indecent that I must forbear to translate it, is about half a mile west of Sansan Birnee, and inhabited by Shauah Arabs. The third town, called Sansan Bana, or, “ of the banners,” where the sultan’s tent stood, is about a mile distant from Sansan Birnee, and is inhabited by Bornouese, who are here in great numbers, and were first brought by force from Old Birnee, and other towns of Bornou. At present they are quite reconciled to the change, and now remain from choice. The sister of the sultan of Bornou, having been made captive by the Felatahs, was living here with her husband in great obscurity, although her brother, the sultan, is surrounded by all the barbaric magnificence of central Africa. She came out to meet the kafila, along with several of her countrywomen, from whom she was nowise distinguished in attire. The dress of Bornouese women consists of one or two turkadees, blue, white, or striped, as before described. The turkadee is wrapped rather tightly round the body, and hangs down from the bosom, below the knees. I f a second is worn, as by women of some consideration, it is commonly flung ovei; the head and shoulders. Their sandals are the same as those of men, of tanned leather, or of the undressed hide, according to their circumstances. The hair is plaited in five close tresses,—one like a crest along the crown, and two at each side, and thickly bedaubed with indigo. They dye their eyebrows, hands, arms, feet, and legs of the same colour, except the nails of the fingers and toes and the palms of the hands, which are stained red with henna. They blacken the eyelashes with crude antimony in powder. The ornaments for the ear are not pendent like ours, but little green studs, or buttons, fixed in the lobe. The very poorest wear strings of glass beads round the neck, and the wealthy are adorned with armlets and anklets of horn or brass. Ornaments of silver are very rare, and of gold hardly ever seen. Dec. 81.—At sunrise the thermometer was 42°. Being market d
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