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He was one of the best specimens of Aheer Touaricks, and always said to me, "Come to our country. You will walk about the streets without being molested by any one. We never saw a Christian in our country, and we wish to see one." Evening, a ghafalah from Aheer has arrived, bringing sixty camel-loads of senna, and ten of elephants' teeth.
Richardson's residence at Ghât is copied from a summary in his journal, with occasional insertions from his despatches to Government. It is very brief and imperfect; but the traveller was so fully occupied by various kinds of business during his stay, that he was not able to write, and only threw upon paper a rough memorandum after he had started on his way to Aheer.
I shall not trouble the reader with ten or more reasons, all having more or less of weight, which I have recorded in my journal, but which are more curious than sensible. I mention, that, on my departure from Ghat, I wrote to the Sultan of Aheer, by the advice of my best friends, informing him of my intention to visit him at some future period.
During our ride we met a small slave caravan, and learned the important intelligence that there are several people of the Sultan En-Noor of Aheer at present at Ghât with slaves. This will be useful to us. I wrote to my wife and others by this opportunity, and trust the missives will reach their destination.
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.
Water you will have first, sweet water. Wood there will be always ready for you to make a fire and cook the cuscasou. You will be my friend, Yâkob, before the Sultan. In our towns, we have cheese, butter, wheat, sheep, bullocks. You Christians have none like them. Make haste back, make haste, and come to Aheer."
Then I had a visit from one of the slaves of En-Noor's brother. This man gave a good account of En-Noor, and said he would certainly go with us. He observed, also, respecting the Sultan's authority, "En-Noor governs everywhere all Aheer, and even Damerghou and Zinder." This must be taken to signify, En-Noor has great influence in all these countries.
This is the grandest desert prospect I have yet seen, and must strongly clash with the ordinary notion of the Great Sahara which untravelled geologists have represented as the recently-elevated bed of some ocean. We must now have reached the summit of an inland Atlas, dividing the extreme limits of the Ghât territory from the, to us, mysterious kingdom of Aheer.
All the Kailouees are very fond of powder, and also very much alarmed at it. They say they could themselves make plenty of powder if saltpetre were found them. 21st. It appears that some of the districts of Damerghou are included within the circle of Aheer, and that the Kailouees exercise authority there. En-Noor has a house there. Overweg's three hypotheses of danger south of Bornou are:
The scenery resembles that of yesterday; but there is not so much herbage, and the palms are absent. Probably the date-palms of Berket are the last trees of this species which we shall see until our return. The olive-district has long ago been left behind; and now the columnar date-palm is also to be among the things that were. They report, however, that there is a diminutive species in Aheer.
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