Numidia, Lybia, and the Land nf/the Negroes. The second
and third of these names afe applied in ajsertèe 'quite different
from that' in which they Were used by the ancients. Bar-
baria is Barbary, parallel to the Mediterranean coast; Numidia
is Biledulgerid,oT the Land of Dates; extending to the
southward of Barbary and of the chain'of* Atlas/from the
borders of Egypt to ;the city ,of Nun upon the Atlantic ocean.
The third region, or Lybia, is the Desert termed by the Arabs,
Sahara : it extends from the kingdom of Gaoga on the
ôaët, to the land óf Gualata which borders on the óèfÉip..
Beyond this is the Land of Negroes, the southern part of
which, says Leo, is unknown to us, but the merchants who
come thence continually to the kingdom of Tombutmn, have
sufficiently described the country to us. “ This Land 'of the
Naroes has a mighty river, which, taking the -name&of the
region, is called Niger.” The latter of these regions lies
beyond the seope of our present observai ons ri it^viïihabitanife
will Le considered in a succeeding chapter. The native
people of the three former divisions are termed by Leo,
“ gentes subfusci coloris ” or races of tawny complexión.
He describes them as divided into'several péöplés or tribes,
termed respectively Sânhagi, Musmudi, Zeneti, Hàoari, and
Guméri. “ The tribe of Musmudi inhabit the western part of
Mount Atlas, from the province of Hea, to the river-óf
Seman, or Guadalhabit. They likewise dwell upon tile
south side óf the mountains, and in all the interior plains
of that region. The tribe of Gumeri possess certain mountains
of Barbary, which lie over against the Mediterranean
Sea. These two tribes have several habitations by themselves
; the other three tribes are dispersed confusedly over
all Africa; yet they are, as strangers, distinguished from
one another by certain properties or tokens. In times past
all the aforesaid people had their habitation in tents, or in
the ópen fields ; the governors of the country attended their
herds and flocks, and individuals employed themselves in
manual labour and husbandry. The aforesaid, five families, or
nations, being divided into hundreds of tribes,use notwithstanding,
all one kind of language, which is termed by them, Aquel-
Amarig, i. e. the noble tongue. The Arabians who inhabit
Africa esdl it / Lingua Barbara/ and this is the true and
natural language of. the Africans, although it has divers
words • ;eopamdh to it and the Arabic^. Indeed all the
Gutneri-' and most^^f the Hajari speak the Arabic, -though
corruptly, which, I suppose,, pame to pass by the long
acquaintance and conversation, of the^fiatives with the Arabians.”
.^Léoproceeds, to give/ari account of the entrance of
Arabian tribes into Afçieh/ where they supplanted the native^
Of Berbêf-inhabitants, driving them out of Barbary, into the
inland and comparatively desert regions- of Lydia and Numidia.
There thefaêtill contiwqerto dwell or to wander as
Nomades^distinguished from other nations-by their.manners
as-well as by their Berber language*
In another passage,. Leo terms „the. five nations designated
Gefites subfusci co.Joris^the , people ©f Zenaga, of Gan-
ziga, of Tergaÿ of Leuta, and of Bardeoa*. He says they
live- all after the Same manner, that is, without all law and
.civility ; he describes their mode of riding,mpon camels as
singular. For beds they lie upon mats made „of sedge and
bulrushes. He then proceeds to describe their manner of
living as one of incredible hardships/
Though the different tribes of. this people were so well
known to Leo, the existence of the Tuaryk,, widely, as they
are spread in northern Africa, must be considered as in
modern times the discovery of ' Mi Hornemami, and the
identification of the. race with the Berbers of Mount Atlas as
that of Mr. Marsden. Previous to the travels of llornemann
it was not known that any other nomadic, people existed in
the great wilderness of north Africa, except tribes of Arabian
origin.
Homemann describes two nomadic races dispersed over
the vast regions of the Sahara ; viz.' the Tibbos and the
Tuaryk. The Tibbos possess the greater parts.of the desert,
from the meridian of Fezzan eastward, and the Tuaryk, the
more extensive region to the westward of the same limit,
as yrell as some places nearer to Egypt.
It was supposed by Yater and others that the Tibbos speak
* J. Leonis Africa, life/*, p. 6 in the first edition.