The history and description of Africa

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WORKS ISSUED BY

XLhc Ibafclu^t Society

THE

HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF AFRICA

OF

LEO AFRICANUS.
vol. I.

No XCIL

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v*

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THE HISTORY

AND

DESCRIPTION OF AFRICA

AND

OF THE NOTABLE THINGS THEREIN CONTAINED,

WRITTEN BY

AL-HASSAN IBN-MOHAMMED AL-WEZAZ AL-FASI,

A MOOR, BAPTISED AS GIOVANNI LEONE, BUT BETTER KNOWN AS

LEO AFRICANUS.

DONE INTO ENGLISH IN THE YEAR 1600,

BY

JOHN PORY,
Shiir noto Etritetr, toitfp an Itttrotmctiott antr jlotM,

BY

Dr. ROBERT BROWN.

IN THREE VOLUMES.— VOL. I.

LONDON:
PRINTED FOR THE HAKLUYT SOCIETY,
4, LINCOLN'S INN FIELDS, W.C. j^

M.DCCCjXCVI.

' 1 9b

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LONDON t
PRINTED AT THS BEDFORD PRESS, 20 AND 21, BBDFORDBURY, W.C.

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CONTENTS.

VOLUME I.

PAGE

Prefatory Note.

Introduction . . . i

Pory's Dedication to Sir Robert Cecil . . 3

His Address to the Reader . . . .4

His General Description of Africa . . .12

His Description of Places undescribed by Leo . 24

An Approbation oV Leo's History by Richard Hakluyt
and others . . . . .103

Notes on Pory's Introductory Matter . . . .107

John Leo his First Book of the Description of Africa 122
Notes to Book I . . . .191

VOLUME II.

The Second Book

. 225

Notes to Book II

• 325

The Third Book

• 393

Notes to Book III

. 561

The Fourth Book

. 659

Notes to Book IV

. 690

107251

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VI

CONTENTS.

VOLUME III.

The Fifth Book

. 699

Notes to Book V.

. 745

The Sixth Book

• 773

Notes to Book VI

. 803

The Seventh Book

. 819

Notes to Book VII

. 838

The Eighth Book

. 855

Notes to Book VIII

. 906

The Ninth Book

. 927

Pory's Relation of ti

ie Great Princes of Africa

. 973

His Discourse of the

Religions professed there

. IOOI

And of the Fortresses and Colonies maintained there
by the Spaniards and Portuguese

Index of Places ....

Index of Persons, etc.

1064

1073
1 106

MAPS.
I. Northern Africa.
II. Lower Egypt (inset on No. I).

III. Cairo {inset on No. I).

IV. Barbary.

V. Hea and Marocco (inset on No. IV).

VI. The Road from Fez to the Upper Ziz
(inset on No. IV).

VII. Northern Fez.

VIII. Pory's Map of Africa (reduced).

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PREFATORY NOTE.

As the members of the Hakluyt Society are already
aware, the much-deplored death of the editor, at a period
when barely a third of the text was in print, has
deprived the present work of the advantage of his final
revision, and also of the notes which it had been his inten-
tion to affix to the concluding chapters. As, however, the
portion thus left unannotated was comparatively small,
and seemed to contain few points not already touched
upon in the notes to the earlier chapters, it has been
deemed advisable not to introduce any additional matter,
and the work, therefore, is issued in the state in which the
manuscript was left at Dr. Brown's decease, with the ex-
ception of a few necessary alterations and excisions.

The task of seeing through the press the remainder of
the text, together with Dr. Brown's Introduction, has been
performed in a most able manner by Dr. E. Denison Ross,
whose linguistic attainments, and particularly his intimate
acquaintance with Arabic, have been of especial benefit
to the book. Dr. Ross has also prepared the general
index to the volumes.

Acknowledgments are also due to Mr. E. G. Ravenstein
for the set of illustrative Maps which, together with an
explanatory memorandum, he has prepared and presented
to the Society for reproduction in these volumes. Founded
as they are on an independent study of Leo's writings,
these maps form in themselves an important contribution

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VIII PREFATORY NOTE.

to African geography, and greatly enhance the value of
the book.

In addition, Mr. Ravenstein has kindly contributed the
index of place-names, which not only includes all references
in the text, but also indicates the position of each place
upon the appropriate map.

The great bulk of the work has necessitated its issue in
three volumes. Ordinarily, these would have been allotted,
two to one year, and the third to the next After careful
consideration, however, it has been judged best to issue all
three for 1895, thus presenting the subscribers for that
year with an extra volume.

William Foster,

Hon. Secretary.

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INTRODUCTION.

z HE Arab who wrote the famous work
to which these pages form an

Introduction bears many names.
That by which he was first in-
troduced to the knowledge of
lettered Europe by Gian Battista
Ramusio (1485-1557), Secretary of the Venetian
Council of Ten, was Giovanni Leone or Leo. This
name he received from Giovanni de' Medici, Pope
Leo X, 1 who was first his master, then the priest by
whom he was converted to Christianity, and finally
his godfather and patron. Hence Leo is also some-
times known as Joannes Medices. Having been
born in Granada he is occasionally termed Eliberit-
ances 2 — Granada being falsely supposed to be the

1 The writer of the article " Leo, Johannes " in the Encyc.
Britannica (vol. xxiv, p. 453) is in error when he states that the
Pope bestowed on him "his own name Johannes and Leo."

2 Paulus Jovius. " Leon de Grenade " is the name given to
him by Genty de Bussy in De retablissement des Frangais dans la
Regence d' Alger, etc. (1835).

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11 INTRODUCTION.

Roman Illiberes. However, from the fact of Leo
being an African, or from his writing on Africa, he
is now invariably called Leo Africanus.

His Arab name was Al- Hassan Ibn Mohammed
Al-Wez&z, Al-F&si, 1 that is, the man of Fez (a
surname he obtained in his later years). He is
also known as " El-Gharn&thi", the Granadian, 3
a designation which, apart from other facts, renders
it extremely probable that he was born, not in
Morocco, as "Al-F&si" might seem to indicate, but
in Granada. On this point, indeed, there can
be little doubt : for not only does he state the
circumstance more than once in the body of the
volume, 8 but Ramusio, who obtained his information
from one of Leo's friends, reiterates the state-
ment. Again, Leo tells us (p. 299) how he
met at " Elmadin " " one of Granada my countrey-
man, who was exceeding rich, having serued as
an archer in the region for fifteen years" ; so that
there is no reason for the hesitation expressed by
Pory in his preface (notwithstanding the explicit-
ness of the title-page of his translation), as to
whether Leo "were borne in Granada, in Spaine
(as it was likely), or in some part of Africa".

1 Hartmann, Edrisii Africa^ p. xix.

2 Thus (in 1889) M. Delphin calls him " El Hassan ben
Mohammed El Ouezaz El R'ernathe plus connu sous le nom de
L£on PAfricain". — Juis, son university etc., pp. 6-7.

3 The book ends after the Arab fashion, " finisce il Libro di
Giovan Leone nato in Granata e allevato in Barberia" (10th
March, 1526).

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INTRODUCTION. Ill

The passage which seems to have raised doubt
in his mind and in the minds of other com-
mentators, e.g., Braus, 1 is the Latin of Florianus :
" Cui " (Africa) "et vitae initium et educationis
meae bonam partem debeo", 2 which Pory translates,
correctly enough : " Africa unto which countrie I
stand indebted both for my birth and also for the
best part of my education" (p. 187). But the Italian
original bears no such interpretation. " Essendo
TAffrica mia nudrice, & nella quale io cresciuto, &
dove ho speso la piu bella parte & la maggiore degli
anni miei." This simply means that Africa was his
" nurse", and that he there passed the early part of
his life.

Yet, with all the suppleness of his race, he was
wont in the course of his life to claim either Africa
or Europe as his birth-place, according as it seemed
best for his own interest. " For mine owne part",
he tells us, " when I heare the Africans euill
spoken of I will affirme my self to be one of Granada :
and when I perceiue the nation of Granada to be
discommended then will I professe my selfe to be
an African" (p. 190).

Yet, in spite of these explicit statements, M. Canal,
a resident in Algeria, in quoting our authors account
of Oujda, 3 calls him " Leon TAfricain, voyageur
Toscan"; and Mr. Rae, a most intelligent traveller,

1 Allgemeine Geographische Ephemeriden, Bd. vii (i8oj), p. 311.

2 Antwerp edition (1556), p. 36.

3 Bulletin de la Sot. de Giog. et d 7 Archeologie d'Oran, 1886.

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IV INTRODUCTION.

who cites Leo frequently in Porys version, per-
petrates the extraordinary blunder of saying that he
was "born in Barbary and brought up as a Christian
in Granada", 1 the exact contrary of what was the
case. Even the accurate Prescott, in that he refers
to him as "a learned Granadine who emigrated to
Fez after the fall of the capital", 2 seems to have
been under the impression that Leo's learning was
obtained in Spain. 8 Much of his learning was
of Italian origin, though he was undoubtedly an
erudite man after the Arab standard, before he
came to Rome. 4

His Birth and Parentage.

That he was born in 1491 is a statement which
writers have hitherto copied from one another,
without taking the trouble to ascertain upon what
foundation the assertion rests. In reality, it is a

1 Country of the Moors y p. 22.

2 History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic
(Kirk's edition, 1890), p. 454. {

3 Jerome Lalande (Mimoire sur Vintkrieur de 1'Afri^ue,
Paris, " An troisieme de la Republique," p. 4) actually states that
Leo went to Africa in 1491, "a la suite du Roi d'Espagne."

4 Ramusio (1485-155 7), though the contemporary of Leo and
in Rome on business of the Venetian Republic many times
during his residence there, does not seem to have been personally
acquainted with him. In the dedication of the first volume of his
Navigatione to Hieronimo Fracastoro, he merely tells his friend
that the short account he gives of Leo was obtained from a
gentleman of good credibility (degno di fede) who knew him at
Rome and lived some time with him there.

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INTRODUCTION. V

mere inference, that as Granada was surrendered on
the 2nd of January 1492, and Leo went to Africa
as a child, he must have been born in the previous
year. But this also assumes that Leo's father left
Spain as soon as " from the Alhambra were all the
crescents flung", though, as history has it, most
of the Moors remained in the city ; and even
Boabdil himself did not emigrate until 1493.

But, as I will presently show, there is no founda-
tion for assuming that Leo's family left in 1492,
or indeed at any particular date, before he was
old enough to make the Thagia pilgrimages. The
mere fact of his having been acquainted with
Spanish admits of no safe inference. For his
family must have spoken it freely, especially if, as
I hope to prove, he was born, not in 1491 but in
1494-95 ; in that case they were for at least
three years subjects of Ferdinand and Isabella.
Leo affords us some safe guidance in this difficulty ;
for he intimates that when Saffi fell into the
hands of the Portuguese he was twelve years
old. This event happened in 1 507-8, which would
put his birth in the year I have indicated. Again,
he tells us that when he was fourteen he knew
" Sidi Jeja", who was there as captain of the coun-
try about Saffi engaged in collecting the revenues
of King Emanuel the Fortunate. Now this man is
well known to history. He is the personage who
is usually called Sidi Yahia ben Tafut. But he
did not obtain his post — that of official chief of
the Arabs — until about the year 1508-9, when,

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VI INTRODUCTION.

according to the usual legend, Leo must have been
seventeen or eighteen. This of course renders it
impossible for us to accept 1491 as the year of his
birth ; and as Leo's personal acquaintance with
" Sidi Jeja" did not begin till two years after the
capitulation of Saffi, namely, in 1509, the difficulty
of believing that he was born earlier than three or
four years after the fall of the last Moorish kingdom
in Spain becomes an impossibility.

Who his father was we are not told, except that
he owned land, etc. But it is certain, from the dis-
tinguished position which his relatives occupied in
Morocco, that he was a man of wealth and conse-
quence, both in Fez, and previously in Granada.
Leo's uncle seems also to have been a person of
consequence ; for he was sent as Ambassador
from the King of Fez to the King of Timbuktu,
and bore a wide reputation as " an excellent Oratour
and a most wittie Poet". Leo seems also to have
had another relative at Fez, who impoverished
himself with the study of alchemy (p. 66) ; but
beyond this we know nothing of his family, and
nearly all that we know of his career is derived
from the incidental remarks he chooses to vouchsafe
in the course of his work.

Return of the Moors to Africa.

In 1492, however — from three to four years,
according to our calculation, before Leo was born —
the last stronghold of the Moslems in Spain

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INTRODUCTION. Vll

surrendered to the army of Ferdinand and Isabella ;
and the Moorish king, after bewailing the fate which
Allah had decreed, as he stood upon that rocky emi-
nence still known to the Andalusians as " El ultimo
Sospiro del Moro" — "The Last Sigh of the Moor" —
retreated to the mountain territory in the Alpujarras
that had been allotted to him by the clemency of his
conqueror. It may, however, be remembered that 1/
the Moors were not expelled. That step, so fatal
to the prosperity of Spain, was not taken until a
later period. They were permitted to either remain
as subjects of His Catholic Majesty, or return to
Africa, as suited them best. Even after the re-
bellion of the Alpujarras mountaineers in 1 500-1 502,
those concerned in the revolt were granted a general
amnesty on condition of either being baptised or
leaving the country. But though all who wished
to seek a home in Barbary were transported thither
in public galleys at a charge of ten golden doblas a
head, very few could afford to avail themselves of
that privilege. This is Bledas' 1 version of the
first banishment of the race, and is no doubt correct,
albeit that chronicler is by no means charitable to the
infidels. But Padre Bernaldez, the Curate of Los
Palacios, disposes of them in a manner less credi-
table, though possibly his statement is an accurate
account of what happened in some cases. " For",
remarks this historian, 2 "the Christians shipped the

1 Cronica de los Moros de Espana (16 18), pp. 634-641.

2 Reyes Catblicos, cap. 165 ; cf Prescott, History of the Reign
of Ferdinand and Isabella (Kirk's edition, 1890), p. 467.

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Vlll INTRODUCTION.

men, gave them a free passage, and sent them to
the devil."

Religion, nevertheless, sate easy on the Spanish
Moors. Thousands had been more or less volun-
tarily converted by the liberal-minded Talavera and
the more bigoted Ximenes, and outwardly at least
performed the duties of their new faith. It was not
m fltil 1 6 io th at Philip the Third, at the instigation
of the fanatical Archbishop of Valencia, deported
the remnants of the race which still conformed to
the creed of their fathers, retaining as slaves a
certain number to expiate their offences against his
sovereignty by toiling in the galleys, or dying by
inches in the mines of Peru.

In the execution of this "grande resolucion", as
the King termed it, about a million of the most
industrious of the " Morisco " inhabitants of Spain
were hunted like wild beasts, and banished to
Africa, with every concomitant of barbarity. Many,
indeed, were slain before they could reach the
coast. The crews in many cases rose upon
them, butchered the men, violated the women, and
threw the children into the sea. Others, driven
by the winds on the sandy shores of Barbary, were
attacked by the marauding Arabs and slaughtered,
despite their creed or their nationality ; for a
people who killed or enslaved every shipwrecked
seaman, and every tribe of which was at war with
the other, were not likely to bestow much esteem
on castaways in Spanish garb, speaking Arabic with
a Castilian accent, and whose previous history did not

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INTRODUCTION. IX

altogether clear them of the taint of renegadism. Few
escaped maltreatment and robbery ; and those who
managed to reach the shores of Morocco, Algiers, or
Tunis arrived penniless, and only to find that there
was no place for them among their less effeminate
kindred. Many, disheartened with the coldness of
their co-religionists in the cities, wandered into the
desert and perished from privations and hardships
which their life in Andalus had little fitted them
to endure. It is therefore by no means incredible that,
in one expedition in which 140,000 " Moriscos " were J
carried to Africa, upwards of 100,000 suffered]
death within a few months of their leaving
Spain. 1

But at the period when the father of little Hassan,
son of Mohammed, crossed the Straits of Gibraltar,
there had been little cruelty of this kind practised.
The Moors had fought, won, fought again and lost ;
and latterly, though they remembered the evil fate
which had lost them a country that only the
industry of their fathers and the enlightenment of
their sovereigns had made fairer and more fertile than
that to which they were driven, they cherished no
particular hatred towards the Christians for recover-
ing what seven centuries before had been wrenched
from their grasp. It was, as La Valette remarked
to Dragut, the corsair chief, as he saw him labouring
at the galley oar in a Maltese harbour, " Usanza di
guerra " — the way of war.

1 Davida, Vida de Felipe III, p. 146.

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X INTRODUCTION.

And so, with the happy fatalism of their race they
kept the keys of their Granada houses, and cherished
— as some of their descendants are still said to do 1 —
the title-deeds of their ancient property, praying
every Friday to Allah to restore them finally
to their ancient homes. If there was any special
venom, any dislike more pronounced than that
which the vanquished must ever feel towards
the victor, it was directed less against the Christians
than against their own Sultan, who, to use the
words of his mother Ayesha, wept like a woman for
the loss of what he could not defend like a man.
His nomad subjects despised him : his life was
even in danger from them. It is therefore not
unlikely that this circumstance, quite as much as
weariness of governing, led to his resolution to sell
for a sum of money the Alpine kingdom which he
held as a vassal of Ferdinand and Isabella, and
next year follow into Africa his kindred, who had
already proceeded thither. Al-Makkari is perhaps
not unjust to the "Infidel King" when he affirms
that the latter did his best to expedite his old rivals
departure. The after-career of Boabdil is very
obscure, and the statements regarding it extremely
contradictory. Almeria was the port from which
he set sail, and Melilla the one at which he landed
in Morocco. It had been his original intention to
fix his residence at Marakesh (the City of Morocco) ;

1 I have heard this picturesque tale in Tetuan, Tunis, and
other towns of Barbary. But I have never managed to see either
the keys or the parchments.

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INTRODUCTION. XI

but hearing on his arrival in Africa that the pro-
vinces of that part were sadly afflicted by famine,
pestilence, and other calamities, he is affirmed in
one version to have taken up his residence at
Fez, where he settled with his family and adherents,
and built some palaces in imitation of those of
Granada. Al-Makkari adds that this hapless Sultan
died in Fez in the year 940 (a.d. 1538), and was
buried in front of the mosque which stands outside
the B&b ush-Sharl'at (the Gate of the Law).

But more recent researches tend to show that
Boabdil 1 in reality sought and received an asylum
from Abu 'Abd Allah Mohammed eth-Th&biti,
Sultan of Tlemsen, and there remained until his
death in a.h. 899 (a.d. 1494), according to an
inscription on a tombstone, now in the museum of
the famous city, where the fallen King of Granada
survived, for so short a period, his unmerited mis-
fortunes.

The conditions of the capitulation of Granada
were liberal beyond anything which could have been
expected of Spain or of the age. There was
actually nothing to prevent any Moslem from living
in the full enjoyment of civil and religious liberty
under Ferdinand and Isabella, for every right of
property and conscience was by the treaty to be
rigorously respected. No doubt, at a later period,
many of its conditions were shamefully ignored.
But at the date when the family of our author

1 A corruption of Abu 'Abd Allah (Mohammed), his full name.

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Xll INTRODUCTION.

passed the Straits of Gibraltar, this persecution had
not begun — a fact which it is necessary to remember
in connection with the entire lack of bitterness
displayed by him towards the Christians, for in
spite of diplomatic reserve this would have ap-
peared in his writings ; as well as the readiness he
displayed at a later date to adopt their creed to
advance his own interests — a practice which had
never been uncommon in Granada.

The self-expatriated Moors of the better class
were, however, readily received in the different
Barbary Courts. In Morocco especially — then be-
ginning to be racked by the civil war between the
Beni-Marini and the Shereefs — owing to their skill
in military operations, and in various crafts little
practised at the time in Maghreb al-Aksa, they were
welcomed much more warmly than were their
brethren a century later. Fez was their favourite
place of residence, and, as Leo tells us, they built
and re-peopled several towns in the vicinity. To
this day the descendants of these immigrants, many of
them bearing markedly Spanish features, and like Sid
Hajj Mohammed Torres (the present Commissioner
of Foreign Affairs at Tangier), having Spanish names,
are still pointed out as " El-Andeless". Soforo,
between Fez and Mekines, is said to have been
built by them. Curiously enough, Leo never men-
tions Boabdil, although his father was this kings
immediate adherent, and despite the probability
that Leo was in Fez at the time of the ex-monarch's
residence in that town. This reticence is much to

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INTRODUCTION. Xlll

be regretted ; for we possess but scanty information
regarding the latter days of these Andalusian Moors
in Morocco.

The Sultan left two sons, whose descendants less
than a century later were little better than beggars
at the mosque doors ; and to this day humble folks
are pointed out in Morocco who claim to be " Beni-
s-Sultdni-1-Andalus " — sons of the Sultan of Spain —
though many of these are not actually the descen-
dants of Boabdil, but of his uncle and rival,
Sultan Az-z&ghel, who also settled at Tlemsen. 1

Condition of Morocco in Leo's Day.

At the period when Leo was brought to Africa,
the empire of Morocco was in a condition of
political disintegration and moral decay. The
Kingdom of Fez was held by Mulai Said. But in
the South the Shereefs, who afterwards obtained
entire possession of the country, were beginning
that movement which resulted in Morocco, Sus, and
Tafilet becoming independent sovereignties, only to
be united, nearly two centuries later, by the ruthless
genius of Mulai Ismail, who made a desert, and
called it peace.

But in 1 500 the Portuguese had possession of all

1 M. Brosselard, formerly Prefect of Oran, seems to entertain
a contrary opinion. — Memoire kpigraphique et historique sur les
tombeaux des 'emirs Beni Ztiyan et de Boabdil, dernier roi de
Grenade, decouverts a Tlemcen (1878), pp. 159 et seq.

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XIV INTRODUCTION.

the best parts of Morocco, and were gradually
extending their outposts into the interior, with the
intention of seizing Marakesh. This design, as
well as the capture of Fez, they would unquestion-
ably have accomplished, had not Dom Sebastians
death and defeat on the plains of El-Ksar el-Keblr
(1578) discouraged any further aggression. 1
\T~ To add to the misfortunes of the empire, syphilis,
*? J which has since then sapped the vitality of the people,
J had been introduced by the immigrant Jews. From
Leo speaking of the smoking of keef ox hashish as a
Tunisian practice, it may be inferred that this vice,
now practised throughout Morocco, had not then
become general. Piracy, which assumed its greatest
proportions and was conducted with most success
when the Moors were finally expelled from Spain,
had not then taken root in Morocco. 2

But though Morocco was then barbarous com-
pared with Spain, it was perhaps at the zenith of
its fame as a land of learned men. Fez, at that
time a far more opulent city than at present, was
the seat of Arabic learning, to which students
resorted from all parts of Islam ; and its libraries, as
well as those of the City of Morocco, were famous
even in Cordova and Granada. A fresh stimulus

1 The actual locality of this famous fight — the " Battle of the
Three Kings," the subject of George Peele's drama — was near the
Wad Mkhamsen.

2 The origin and history of Moroccan piracy I have fully
discussed in the Introduction to the Adventures of Thomas
Fellow (1890).

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INTRODUCTION. XV

must certainly have been imparted to this regard
for learning by the arrival in Morocco of so many
cultured men from Spain.

Even for some generations subsequently — actually,
indeed, until the civil wars following Mulai Ismail's
death — Morocco still held some men of learning,
such as Ibn Madin, whose wise maxims may
be read in the elegant version of Dombay ; Al-
Petrage, who demonstrated the obliquity of the
ecliptic, and discovered the fallacies of Ptolemy's
hypothesis ; and the Jew physician and philosopher,
Avenzoher (Abu Merw&n 'Abd el-Malek Ibn Zohr),
one of the ornaments of the Court of Yusuf Ibn
T&shfin, for whom his " Teicyr", or the method of
regulating diet and preparing medicines (known in
Europe by the Latin version of " Paravicus ") was
composed. This man was, according to Leo, the pupil
of the still more illustrious Averrhoes ; for though
the latter, like most of the literati mentioned, was a
native of Spain, he passed some years in Fez, where
(in the middle of the twelfth century) his co-
religionists lived tranquilly, and made money even
more rapidly than do their persecuted descendants of
these less liberal days. The fact of such men leaving
the cultured courts of Seville and Cordova to take
up their residence in the ruder one of Morocco,
shows that the offers made to them by the
African Sultans must have been of a most tempting
nature. About the same period Averrhoes himself
(Abu Walid Mohammed Ibn Roshd) came from
his native town, Cordova, to be the physician

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XVI INTRODUCTION.

and friend of Yakfib el-Mansfir, whose orthodoxy
was somewhat shocked by the philosopher's views
regarding the creation of the world, the divine
knowledge of particular things, and the future of the
human soul ; nevertheless, the last of the great
Moslem philosophers ended his days in honour in
Morocco. 'Ali 'Abd ul- Hasan was one of the
great astronomers and travellers of Morocco at the
beginning of the twelfth century ; and though Ibn
Sabin of Murcia and Ceuta was not worthy of being
named along with Averrhoes, he was liberal enough
to find a temporary retirement in the farther East
necessitated by the dictates of prudence. But
emphatically the greatest, and also one of the
earliest, of Moroccan travellers, was Ibn Batuta, of
Tangier, though in accuracy he was far behind
Leo ; while Mohi ed-Dln Abu Mohammed 'Abd
el-Walhid Ibn 'Ali et-Tam!ml el-Morr&koshi (1185),
who was educated at Fez, and wrote a History
of the Almohades of Spain, is worthy of being
ranked with Ibn Khaldoun, the historian of
the Berbers, who also lived for a time in the
northern capital. Ebn Abi-Zer6, whose Kartas
Sagir forms our almost sole authority for the
history of Northern Morocco prior to the four-
teenth century ; Ahmed Sheb&b ed-Din, another
native of Fez, who wrote an abridged universal
history ; and Ibn Adhcirl, who flourished soon
after El-Morr&koshi, and was the author of a
Chronicle of Spain and Africa up to the close of
the thirteenth century, were also among the literati

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INTRODUCTION. XV11

of the country. Nor, of course, should Edrisi be
forgotten, in recalling the famous savants of a land
in which there are now none to carry on the old
traditions ; this most illustrious of ancient geo-
graphers was a native of Ceuta. Among the few
modern scholars of any note are Abu-1-Kasem ben
Ahmed Ezzi&nl, and Mohammed es-Seghlr Ibn
el-Hajj ben 'Abdillah el-Oufrani. The former wrote
Ettordjeman elmoarib 'an douel el-machriq oul
maghrtb, or " The Interpreter who expresses him-
self clearly upon the Dynasties of the East and
West." 1 The latter is known from his history of
the Saadian Dynasty in Morocco ( 1 5 1 1 - 1 670). 2
Both books are of the utmost value to the historian
of the empire, and go to prove that well into this
century a regard for the past lingered in a land
where nowadays it is rare to find any learning
at all.

For fully a century after Leo's arrival in Fez,
learning was held in such esteem that Mulai
Ahmed II El-Manstir, who defeated Dom Sebastian,
maintained a friendly correspondence with Philip 1 1
of Spain, by whose intervention the noblemen taken
at the Battle of El-Ksar were released from slavery.
In return, Spanish painters and architects were

1 A part of this work was translated in 1886 by M. Houdas
under the title of Le Maroc de 1631 & 1812. Ezziani, who died
at Sidi-bu-Medin, near Tlemsen, also wrote a Life of Mulai
'All esh-Sherif, which it is hoped may yet be translated into some
European tongue.

2 Nozhet-Elhadi, translated by M. Houdas (1889).

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XV111 INTRODUCTION.

despatched to Morocco ; and by them many of the
public buildings and decorations in the palaces were
executed.

As late as 1535 — not 1540, as often affirmed —
Nicolas Clenard, the celebrated grammarian, spent
a year and a half in Fez, for the purpose of profiting
by its libraries and learning ; and from that town
he dates several of his letters, the Latinity of which
approaches in elegance the style of a more classi-
cal age. 1 In Clenard's day, there were many men
of letters there, and grammar was taught in the
schools, though most of the studies related to
religion and religious ceremonies ; and to this day
the Arabic spoken in that city is better than in
other parts of the empire. But Clenard found no
booksellers at the time of his visit, though he tells
us that at certain seasons of the year book-sales
were held on the Friday in the great mosque.

However, at the beginning of the sixteenth century
with which these notes are alone concerned, there
was an abundance of Arabic scholars in Fez, pro-
vided not only with the best writers in their own

1 Nicolai Clenardi Peregrinationum ac de rebus maohometicis
Epistolae elegantissimae. His unlatinised name was Nicolaes
Cleynaert van Diest. See also " Naauwkerige Voyage van Nico-
laas Clenard na Africa, gedaan in 't jaar 1535, uit syn eygen
brieven byeen verzameld" (1651); and Tiele, "BouwstofFen
voor een bibliogr. v. Ned. Reisbeschr." in Bibliog. Adversaria,
vol. i, p. 37. A note on his works may be found in Playfair and
Brown's Bibliography of Morocco, No. 48 (R. G. S. Supp. Papers,
vol. iii, part 3, 1893).

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INTRODUCTION. XIX

language, but with translations of the Greek and
Roman authors made by the literati who were
encouraged to add lustre to the courts of the
Moorish Kings of Spain. Under these teachers
Leo seems to have made the most of his oppor-
tunities, studying " Grammer, Poetrie, Rhetorick,
Philosophic, Historie, and other ingenious sciences".
Allusions continually occur in his works to the most
recondite Arabic writers — such as Ibn er-Rakfk,
Mas'tidi, El-Bekri, etc. — and also, though less
frequently, to the Latin classics ; x though whether
he made his acquaintance with the latter in Fez
or during his stay in Italy must remain a moot
question. It is certain that he became "a most
accomplished and absolute man", or, as Master
Pory puts it in his enthusiastic way, "as Moses
was learned in all the wisdome of the Egyptians :
so, likewise, was Leo in that of the Arabians
and Mores." (< He was not meanely but extra-
ordinarily learned." His account of the culture
of Fez may perhaps be accepted as a fair picture
of what was true also of Granada in its palmy
days, and still more of Cordova, the most lettered
of all the courts of Andalus. His masters are not
mentioned, but we find several allusions to his
fellow-students. Thus, while visiting " a certain
Hermite" — that is, a " Marabout," " Santo," or holy

1 Thus, in describing the letters and character of the Arabians,
he has an allusion to Latin historians of African manners, which
may refer to Sallust or Livy ; and he also criticises the Natural
History of Pliny.

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XX INTRODUCTION.

man, of whom there has always been a plethora in
Morocco — Leo found among his followers one with
whom he "had old acquaintance and familiaritie :
for we were certaine yeares fellow-students together
at Fez, when being of one standing and seniority
we had that booke of the Mahumetan religion
expounded, which is commonly called the Epistle
of Nensefi"} Again, among the Berbers of " the
mountaine called Seusaua", who, in spite of their
brutish and savage life, cherished " abundance of
learned men and of skilful lawyers, whose counsell
they vse at all times", he met with "some who had
heretofore been my fellow -students at Fez, and
for our old acquaintance sake, gaue me most
courteous entertainment : and, to the end I might
escape the danger of theeues, they conducted me a
good part of the way".

The affluence of his family, as well as his habits
of life while a student, are shown by the fact that
he lived for four summers in the ruined castle of
Hubbed, on a hill six miles from Fez, " because it
standeth in a most pleasant aire, being separate
from concorse of people, and a solitarie plain fitte
for a man to studie in : for my father had got a
lease of the ground adjoining to this castle from the
gouernour of the temple, for many yeeres". This
Hubbed, I may here remark (as it is so directly
connected with the early life of Leo), is a place once
noted as the residence of a " Marabout", who was

1 'Ak&id en-Nasafl) a well-known theological commentary.

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INTRODUCTION. XXI

the first fakih of the great mosque of Fez. But, as
noticed by our author, it was in ruins at the period
of his stay, having been destroyed in the Said wars,
about seventy years before the period to which he
refers.

Leo seems also to have performed the customary
pilgrimages, though he does not appear ever to have
gone to Mecca, otherwise so notable an event would
have been alluded to by a traveller not addicted to
hide his light under a bushel. Albeit, he was at
Jeddah and elsewhere in Arabia, and it may there-
fore be reasonably supposed that he crossed the
Hij&z. He tells us that, as a child, he joined
with his father in making the great Fez pilgrimage
to the shrine at Thasia of a most holy man, who
is reputed in the time of 'Abd el-Mtimen (that is
to say, about the middle of the twelfth century), " to
haue wroght many miracles against the furie of
lions". After " being growne up to man's estate",
he repaired thither, to make supplications to this
saint, who is supposed to have been Sidi (or
Mulai) Buaza. He also fell in with the practice
of visiting " a certaine aged sire", whom the people
of Teza " adored as if he had been a god". But
even at that early date Leo had begun to form
opinions for himself, since a single visit served to
disabuse him of any other opinion than that,
like most of the " marabout" order, this " certo
vecchio" was little better than an impostor, who
" deluded the fonde people with strange deuises".

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XX11 INTRODUCTION.

Leo's Employments.

When a young man he acted for two years, at a
salary of three ducats per month, as notary (notajo)
in the " Morestan", or Strangers' Hospital, in Fez,
"secondo Tusanza de giovani studianti". From this
remark, which is curiously enough omitted in most
of the translations of Leo, 1 it would appear that the
students undertook the duty of making the wills,
and generally playing the " man of business", to the
patients in this "spedale per li forestieri infermi".
He also in the course of his travels repeatedly
acted in a similar capacity, or, as a Thaleb learned in
the law, officiated as Kadi in various towns where
no one endowed with the necessary knowledge
resided. Thus, in the course of his travels with a
" Seriffo or Mahumetan priest", he arrived at
" Ileusugaghen, a town of Hea", and there,
"because the Seriffo had brought no lawyers with
him, nor any judges to decide controuersies, he
would needes that I should take that office vpon
me" ; though, unfortunately, his decisions ended in
"such a bloodie and horrible conflict" among
the litigants, that the peacemakers thought it
wisest to quit the town. At Samede he fared
not much better. Here he served as judge for nine

1 Florianus is here, as in so many other places, guilty of
carelessness: and Pory follows suit. Temporal, however, is
faithful to the Italian.

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INTRODUCTION. XX111

days in a place so illiterate that, in default of
anyone capable of acting as clerk, he had to serve
in this capacity, in addition to being the arbiter in
the manifold quarrels which it was their custom to
always refer to any passing stranger ; but the end
of all their promises of paying him handsomely for
his trouble was, that he had to be content with what
is known in an American backwoods store as "pro-
duce". One gave a cock, another some nuts and
onions, a third a handful of garlic. The wealthier
bestowed on him a goat ; but as there was not a
farthing of money in the mountain, the amateur
judge, who had been awake all night wondering
how much gold he would receive for his pains,
obtained not even a piece of silver, and was fain
to recompense his host with the goat, fowls, and
garden stuff with which he had been obliged to
be contented.

At M£dea (Medut), however, he was in better
luck ; for not only was he sumptuously enter-
tained, but for his two months services he received
two hundred ducats ; and had not his engagements
forced him to depart, he would have been willing
to remain there all the rest of his life. When
he was first asked to act as judge he was not
more than fourteen or fifteen. But even at that
early age he wore white robes, "being such as
the learned men of our country are usually clad
in". It was at this date (15 10) that he travelled
with a " Sceriffo", that is, a Shereef or descendant
of the Prophet, though it is now impossible to

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XXIV INTRODUCTION.

say for certain who this "My Lord Sheriffo"
was ; since in Morocco, as in all other Moslem
countries, these kinsmen of Mohammed, real or
reputed, are extremely numerous, and not always
reputable.

He appears also in the course of his travels to
have been a merchant, or to have travelled with
merchants, to whom possibly he acted as clerk or
notary, reducing their transactions to writing, keeping
their accounts, and generally assisting in the legal
part of their business, at the same time indulging, we
may infer, in his own little speculations. Thus he
describes, with much graphic power, the romantic
adventure which befel him in the Atlas, when
" vpon a certaine day of the month of October " he
was " travelling with a great companie of mer-
chants", and had, moreover, "a certaine summe of
gold " about him. On another occasion, while on
a voyage to Egypt, he tells that they bought from
the Bedouins of the coast of Cyrenaica and Barca,
some sheep and butter (alquante de lor castrati e
butirro). 1 Then, having shipped the merchandise,
"we betooke vs to flight, fearing lest we should
haue beene met withall by the Sicilian and Rhodian
pirates" ; and the translator adds, with that freedom
which he takes much too frequently with the
original, " beene spoiled not onely of our goods but
of our liberties also". He was, after the manner

1 This passage has been erroneously translated by Pory, who
taske castrati to mean " Eunuchs or gelded men". — E. D. R.

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INTRODUCTION. XXV

of the age and the law of the land, a soldier also,
"et militavit non sine gloria." For, from the
frequent allusions to the " Portugals", and the wars
waged against them during their persistent aggres-
sions in Morocco, he evidently took part in several
of the expeditions of the Sultan Mohammed VI,
who reigned in Fez (i 508-1 527) during the active
years of Leo's residence in the country. Thus he
expressly tells he was "serving the King" in the
expedition of Mohammed against Azila, when the
city was actually taken, and would have been
held, but for the arrival of a Spanish squadron
generously sent to the aid of Vasco Coutino, the
governor, and Juan de Meneses, the commander of
Tangier, by Ferdinand of Castile. This was in
October 1508, when Leo was a boy of fourteen.
Seven years later — on the 24th of June 15 15 — he
was present at the disastrous attack which Antonio
de Norona made upon Mamora, where the Portu-
guese suffered heavily at the hands of the Moorish
army, led by Mulai N&ser el-Watas, the Sultan's
brother.

Like his uncle, Leo was entrusted with diplomatic
missions at an early age. Thus, in 1 509, he saw at
the distance of a mile, being " mounted upon a swift
courser", the defeat and slaughter of the Moorish
archers by the Portuguese under the walls of
Bulahwan (Tabulawan), having been sent by the
King of Fez " to declare unto the King of Morocco,
and unto the Seriffo, that the King of Fez, his
brother, was presently to depart unto Duccala : for

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XXVI INTRODUCTION.

which cause they were requested to prouide soldiers
for the better resistance of the Portugal armie " — an
expedition by no means fortunate for Mulai N&ser.
Then, in 15 12, he accompanied the same King of
Fez — viz., Mulai Mohammed VI — on his expedition
to " Elmadina, a towne of Ducala"; and, on the
Kings return to Fez was despatched "as ambassa-
dor " to Morocco. At that period N&ser Bu
Shentrif was the nominal King of Morocco. He
was a relation and vassal of the King of Fez. But
the actual rulers, and most influential people in the
country, were the old Shereef, Hassan Ibn
Mohammed and his three sons, more especially
Mohammed, who had been tutor to the sons of
the King of Fez. Just then, under pretence of
arousing a holy war against the Portuguese (who
under Fernando d'Atayde, governor of Saffi,
Pedro de Sousa, governor of Azemor, and the
renegade Arab chiefs Yahia and Mamun, had
approached almost to the walls of Morocco city),
these chiefs were insidiously strengthening that hold
on the southern part of the empire which, before many
years had passed, enabled them to establish the
dynasty of the El-Hoseinf Shereefs as masters of
Morocco. It is not unlikely that the " Seriffo" whom
Leo accompanied on various travels about the year
1 5 10 was a member of this family, and that their
purpose was to assist in the propaganda mentioned.
It was in 15 12, also — and in the same expedition,
no doubt, already mentioned — that Leo shared in
the hostilities which Mulai Mohammed of Fez

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INTRODUCTION. XXV11

waged against the Arabs of the plain, who were in
the habit of harassing the pious inhabitants of the
Iron Mountain, north of Mogador (p. 369).

As a troubadour, the versatile Granadian, at
the age of sixteen, was also not without merit ;
he so charmed a Berber chief of "the mountaine
called Tenuenes", in the Atlas, with his music,
that though this "signore" did not understand
Arabic, he, "for a recompence of his verse", pre-
sented Leo with a good horse and fifty ducats.
On his 1 5 1 2 embassy to Morocco, he seems like-
wise to have displayed his literary powers. For
when at " Hadecchis, a towne of Hea" (p. 233),
he was entertained by a " certaine courteous and
liberall -minded priest", to whom, finding him an
enthusiast regarding Arabic poetry (certain erotic
forms of which were much cultivated in Fez
University), Leo read "a certaine breefe treatise as
touching the same argument : which he accepted so
kindly at my hands that he would not suffer mee
to depart without great and bovntifull rewards". In
short, he had got a patron, and the " dedication fee".
It was a day when the scholar could not live by
his scholarship ; and we may take it that, when not
engaged in trading, or fighting, or diplomacy, or
acting as Kadi or notary, the Thaleb was hawk-
ing verses of his "certain briefe feature", or the
like, among the Courts which he visited ; for rich
men, even when not lettered themselves, loved to
encourage men of learning. Nor does our author
appear to have been at any period fanatically

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XXV111 INTRODUCTION.

patriotic ; for we find him visiting Tumeglast in
company with Sidi Jeje, who, as "gouernour over
all that circuit called by them Azafi", went thither
" to gather up the tribute of the countrie on the
behalf of the King of Portugall", against whom
Leo had been fighting on other parts of the
coast. 1

As Leo was only fourteen when he met this
renegade Moor, whose identity we shall pre-
sently discuss, it is probable that the journey
mentioned was made in the capacity of notary or
clerk to a less literate envoy sent to treat with
this personage, whose proceedings in the years
succeeding 1508 seriously alarmed the Kings of
Fez and Morocco. Indeed, it is open to believe
that many of his wanderings were undertaken as an
attachtoi this sort, either to government functionaries
or to private merchants.

This theory of Leo's business is rendered the more
probable from our finding him in 1506 at Tefza
(Kasba Tadla, according to my identification) with
the official sent thither to receive the fifty thousand
ducats fine from the Jews, who " were said " to
favour the Kings enemies. He notes, moreover,
with a knowledge which is almost professional, the

1 Pory, following Florianus's imperfect translation, takes leave
to characterise Sidi Jeje as Leo's " deare friend". There is no
such expression in the original. " Io fui", he writes, "in questa
terra alloggiato con Sidi Jeje, che era venuto a riscuoter li tributi
di quel paese in nome del ih di Portugallo, dal quale era stato
capitane della campagna di Azafi."

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INTRODUCTION. XXIX

capacity of people for paying, and the difficulty or
ease with which money is to be got out of them.
Thus, "no people are slower" than those of Efza
"for paying of debts"; albeit, like these easy-going
folk all the world over, " they are most liberall and
courteous". And this he knew : for " my selfe was
in this towne when the Kings army lay in Tedles,
and then they yeelded themselves to the King",
which places this visit about the year 151 2.

Leo's Travels.

So little is known of the career of Leo, except what
he incidentally tells us in the course of his narrative,
that it is difficult to give a consecutive account
of his roamings, and very often one is tantalised
by a casual remark which shows that he travelled
in distant regions, but the particulars of those
journeys it is now impossible to obtain. Here and
there, however, we come upon a date, or can fix
the occurrence of particular events by inferences
which bring us into the beaten track of history.
Few as these landmarks are, we can say with
confidence, that though as a child he made
acquaintance with various parts of Morocco on the
pilgrimages he made with his father, his first active
employment was at the siege of Azila, when he was
about thirteen or fourteen. This must have been
his age, since he declares that he was twelve
at the date when Saffi fell into the hands of the
" Portugals". This was in 1507 or 1508, for the

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XXX INTRODUCTION.

preliminary hostilities continued for some time,
and Leo is a little vague, like most Moors, about
his exact age at the time the events in question
were being enacted. It is, however, just possible
that he refers not to the actual capture of the
place but to the building of the fortified Portu-
guese "casa", which " castle" (as Pory translates
the word) was avowedly erected to help the designs of
the Portuguese merchants on the city. In any case,
if he was fourteen when he made the acquaintance
of the "governator della campagna", 1 speaking with
him " per nome del re di Fessa e del Serif principe
di Sus ed Ea", we must antedate his birth by at
least three years. He mentions that the governor,
or " capo", of Saffi when the place was taken and
all but he fled, was called "Jeja". As the same
person is named on p. 67 as following the occupation
to which he had been appointed by Emmanuel
the Fortunate of Portugal, under the name of
"Jeje", "governour ouer all that circuit called by
them Azafi", Leo, if he conferred with him "in
the name of the King of Fez and the Prince
Sheriff of Sus and Haha", must at the age of four-
teen, in the same year that he was at the siege
of Azila, have been either an attache of some sort,
or as an envoy been entrusted with the conduct of
diplomatic affairs. But as Saffi was taken in 1507
or 1508, and Leo's acquaintance with "Jeje" began
after that event (as we must infer from the context),

1 "Governor of the country", i.e., round the town of Saffi.

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INTRODUCTION. XXXI

his conference could not have taken place much
later than 1509 or 15 10.

A word or two may fitly here be said as to the
identity and history of the so-called Jeje.

Turning to the annals of Portuguese relations
with Morocco, we find that when Saffi was
disputed by the factions of Abd er- Rahman (who
had established a kind of monarchical republic
in the city) and the chiefs 'AH Ibn Gesimen 1 and
Yahia Ibn Tafut, the former sought help from
Portugal against their rivals. This was granted
by King Emmanuel, but only on the condition
that the Christians should be permitted to build
a factory, or fondak with a gate to the sea, and
a tower for their better security. This was agreed
to, with the result that the Portuguese took care to
convert their "casa" into a veritable fortress, well
provided with small-arms and artillery smuggled in
among goods. These preliminaries being speedily

1 " Hali sonne unto one Goeseman," as Pory translates " Ali
figliuol di Guesinen", or, as Marmol names him, "Ali Ben
Guecimen". In the Africa Porluguesa of Manuel de Faria y
Sousa (168 1, vol. i, p. 77), he is called "Cide Alia dux", or, a
few lines later, " Haliadux", while his coadjutor is named " Cide
Haya Abentafut", while " Azaafe " (Saffi) is then declared to be
" con alguna corrupcion dezimos Zafin " (p. 76). He is the
"Yahaya Aben Tafuf" of Marmol. Finally, to end these
citations of misreadings of two well-known names, in Diego de
Torres' Relation del origen y sucesso dt los Xarifes (1586), from
whom most of his successors have borrowed freely, " Cide Haya
Abentafut " and " Cide Hali " are the titles given to the two
chiefs.

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XXX11 INTRODUCTION.

settled, the Portuguese took the first opportunity
they could find for picking a quarrel with the Moors.
The old allies of the Christians offered a stout
resistance to their treacherous friends, who had
so distinctly played the part which the Saxons
acted in England ; but on the arrival of Garcio de
Melo and Diego Azambuja from Mazagan with
troops and three " caravelas", further resistance
proved useless, and Ali with most of the people
sought safety in flight. But Yahia demanded to be
sent to Lisbon that he might explain his con-
duct ; and in this he was so successful that he
returned, as Leo correctly states, as ruler of the
native tributaries in the adjoining country, with the
title of General. In the succeeding years he did ad-
mirable service to his Christian master ; for in rapid
succession he subjugated Dukkala and part of the
province of Haha, and defeated in succession the
troops of the King of Fez and of the Shereefs of Haha
and Sus. He had even the temerity to plant his
lance on one of the gates of Morocco city, though
nothing more came of that venture. In 15 19, how-
ever, after a chequered career, in which jealousy,
treachery, and injustice played a large part, he was,
to the irreparable loss of the Portuguese, assassi-
nated. Some contemporary chroniclers are inclined
to believe this was done at the instigation of the
Shereefs ; though considering the dislike which his
amazing success, and his favour with the King, had
won for him, the chances are that Nufio de
Mascarefias, who had succeeded Nufio de Altayde

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INTRODUCTION. XXX111

in the governorship of Saffi, was not quite innocent
of that dastardly deed. 1

As this Yahia — who must not be confounded
with Sidi Yahia, governor of Baiza in 1499, or
with a renegade of the same name who, in 1 51 1,
was governor of Agades — was a famous man in the
history of the Portuguese wars in Africa, we are
enabled to fix certain dates. Leo's account of him
is quite correct, though in both the Latin and
English versions it is grossly mistranslated.

Following up Leo's sporadic dates, we find that
in a.h. 915 ( = a.d. 1509) he was at Sheila, where he
diligently copied out the epitaphs on the monuments
of " thirty noble and great personages" buried there;
which epitaphs, with others accumulated at a later
date, he seems to have put into the form of a book.

In 1 5 10, he appears to have been moving about in
the train of " My Lord Seriffo", who, as I have
already indicated, may have been one of the Shereefs
who about this period were engaged in preaching
the Holy War, which ended not only in driving the
Christians from the coast, but in seating the
Hoseinl dynasty on the throne of Morocco. The
particular member of the family with whom Leo

1 Pellissier (de Reynaud), Memoires historiques et geographiques
sur PAlgerie, pp. 155-57; Mercer, Histoire de V Afrique septentrio-
nale, t. ii, p, 428 ; Marmol, L Afrique (trans. D'Ablancourt), t. i,
p. 448, etseq., t. ii, pp. 8, 9, 10, 15, 6$, 79, 80, 81, 87, 88, 92,
93> i°5» io 7 ; Faria y Sousa, Africa Portuguese t. i, p. 76, et
seq.; Cartonnet des Fosses, Les Portugais au Maroc (Extrait des
Ann, de PExtrime Orient etde F Afrique, 1886), p. 12.

d

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XXXIV INTRODUCTION.

travelled was possibly Ahmed, the second son of
Hassan Ibn Mohammed, who had been appointed
a Professor in Fez University, and who was there-
fore in all likelihood one of our author's teachers.
He was with him at Ileusugaghen in Haha, at
Tefetni, " a fortress upon the ocean sea", in the
same province, in the mountain " called Ideuacil"
— probably Idaouicar, a part of that westward spur
of the Atlas which ends at Agades — and in other
localities where it is known that the Shereefs were
looking to their own interest about that period.
Thus he was -in Sus when " My Lord the Seriffo
bare rule over it"; and at Tagovost he remained
thirteen days with the " Seriffo his principal chan-
cellor, who went thither of purpose to buie certaine
slaves for his Lord". But as he mentions that this
was in the year of the Hegirac)i9 ( = a.d. 1513 1 ), the
journey in question must have been made at a later
date. In 151 1 (a.h. 917) he was on his way from
Draa to Fez, and next year he was at Dedes,
a place which he heartily disliked. But he could
not help himself; being "commanded by one to
whom I was in dutie bound to travell [from Morocco]
to Segelmessi, I could not chose but come this
way". 2 Who was this person to whom Leo was

1 Not 15 10, as Florianus and Pory add ; for Leo seldom gives
the equivalent in the Christian era, and then not always correctly,
while his translations are frequently inaccurate.

2 "Ma mi vi convenne passar, mentre andai da Marocco a
Segelmesse per obbedir a cui era tenuto." The " from Morocco "
is omitted in most translations.

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INTRODUCTION. XXXV

compelled to yield obedience by going on a journey
he cared so little about ? In all probability it was
undertaken on behalf of one of the Shereef s sons —
Ahmed, if my supposition is correct ; for at that
time the old Shereef lived in the Draa country on
the other side of the Atlas in a " Kasba " or forti-
fied hamlet called Tegumedat or Tamugadert, not
far from Segelmessa.

It was in 15 12, also, that Leo made his diplo-
matic visit to Morocco (p. 297); and in 15 13 he
returned, evidently from Tunis, to see his friends in
Fez {mia patriot). The rest of that year, and the
following one well into 1 5 1 5, have to be accounted
for ; and if our calculations of the year of his birth
be not wide of the mark, these were' appropriated
to the journey which he made with his uncle
to Timbuktu and other parts of Central Africa.
He was then sixteen ; and allowing that he was
close on seventeen, and that the journey was begun
in 1 513, this date would fall in fairly well with his
having been born in 1495-6.

He must, however, have returned by 1 5 1 5 ; for
in that year (p. 412) he was at the attack on
Mamora, and at Etiad, in the same year, he was
" once entertained by a preest". 1

As Leo tells us that he was at Mamora a little

1 "Alloggiato in casa del sacerdote della terra." Perhaps
" sacerdote " might be better translated " a reader of the law", or
"a member of the Uleiria"; for in Morocco, as in all other
Moslem countries, priests in the Christian sense of the word are
unknown.

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XXXVI INTRODUCTION.

time before he made his journey to Constantinople,
this must have been made either in 15 15 or in
1 5 16; and as he tells us that it was his "hap
thrice to travell into Egypt since Selim the Great
Turk conquered Egypt", he must have made these
three journeys after 15 17, which was the date of
the capture of Cairo ; moreover, as his description
of Egypt under the Mameluks bears the impress of
personal knowledge, we are free to infer that between
1 5 15 and 1517 he may have visited the country
while on the Constantinople voyage. In another
part of his work (Book iv) we learn that he was in
Bougie in 15 12, the same year that he was in
Morocco, on his way to Constantine and Tunis.
He also tells us that he heard of the defeat of Diego
de Verras before Algiers in 1 5 1 6, and of the death
of Barbarossa in 15 18. But it is not clear at what
part in his travels these tidings, which he relates
not very accurately, reached him.

The chronology suggested is the more likely to
be accurate since we have still a variety of travels
to account for. Thus he tells us that should it
please God to vouchsafe him longer life, he proposed
to describe " all the regions of Asia which I haue
travelled, to wit, Arabia Deserta, Arabia Felix,
Arabia Petrea, the Asian part of Egypt, Armenia,
and some part of Tartaria, all of which countries I
saw and passed through in the time of my youth.
Likewise I will set down my last voyages from Fez
to Constantinople, frpm Constantinople to Egypt,
and from thence unto Italie, in which Iourney I

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INTRODUCTION. XXXV11

saw diuers and sundry Islands". He further lets
us know that he was " carried by mariners by
water from Cairo to Assouan, with whom returning
back unto Chanli [Kenneh] I travelled over the
desert unto the Red Sea, ouer which sea I crossed
unto Iambuth [Yambo, the port of Medina] and
Ziddem [Jeddah, the port of Mecca], two hauen-
townes of Arabia deserta, of which two townes,
because they belong vnto Asia, I will not here
discourse, least I should seem to transgresse the
limits of Africa".

This explanation shows the route which he took,
and the period at which the journey to Arabia was
taken — namely, during one of his visits to Egypt. But
we also learn that he was at Tauris (Tabriz), in Persia
(p. 137), which was perhaps the "part of Tartaria"
to which he refers ; and as he was also in Armenia,
the presumption is that it was during a journey in
the latter country that he reached the city, which
was then, as it is still, the great meeting-place for
the caravans. Unfortunately, if he ever wrote any
account of these countries it has long ago been lost.

His acquaintance with Morocco was obtained
during the wandering life he led, while his less
accurate, or at least less minute, knowledge of the
other Barbary States seems to have been picked up
during coasting voyages to and from Egypt and
Constantinople, or while engaged in caravan
journeys in the interior. In these days merchant-
vessels called in at many ports for fresh food and
water, to avoid pirates and stormy weather, or to

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XXXV111 INTRODUCTION.

sell or buy the products of the different districts ; so
that in the course of voyages which were not fewer
than six in number, he must have grown familiar
with every town on the Barbary shore.

All his information regarding Central Africa
appears to have been gathered during the long
journey which he made with his uncle by the
ordinary caravan route. At that period Timbuktu
was in its glory ; for the Songhay dynasty was
not overthrown by Jaudar, the Morocco captain, for
nearly seventy-six years after Leo's visit ; so at
that date (15 13-15) its sovereigns were not in any
way vassals of the Sultans of Morocco, as they be-
came for a short period after the victory of Jaudar.
On this expedition he passed through fifteen negro
kingdoms, viz. — "beginning from the west, and
so proceeding eastward and southward, Gualata
( Walatd), Ghinea (Djenne, Guinea), Melli (ATd/i),
Tombut (Timbuktu), Gago (Gogo)> Guber (G6ber) y
Agadez, Cano (Kano 1 ), Casena (Katsena 2 ), Zegzeg,
Zanfara (Zamfra), Guangara (Wangara) y Burno
(Bornu), Gaoga (Gagho), Nube {Nubia)"? Most of
these, as he accurately enough remarks, are situated
near the River Niger. But it is probable, from his
giving accounts of other countries than those in the
direct road to Timbuktu, that he returned by
another route. He appears to show a personal
familiarity with Bornu and Lake Chad ("The Lake

1 Ghanah. 2 Cassina, Katchna.

3 Mauroy, Precis de Vhistoire et du commerce de PAfrique
septentrionale (1852), pp. in, 238.

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INTRODUCTION. XXXIX

of the Desert of Gaoga"), in which, erroneously, he
places the source of the Niger.

This portion of his work, though not the most
accurate, nor that portion which is most fully com-
piled from his own observations, is valuable in so
far that it enables us to ascertain the many changes
which had happened since Edrisi described the
same region from information brought to him by
various travellers. Kano had ceased to hold its
old supremacy among these Niger states, and had
become subject to Timbuktu. Wangara had become
independent, while neither Bornu nor Katsena then
held the commanding power they afterwards obtained.
Timbuktu, from being an insignificant principality,
had, owing to the conquests of Mohammed ben
Abu Bakr El-Hajj Askia (whom he erroneously
styles King of Timbuktu), become a flourishing
state, to which most of the neighbouring countries
paid tribute, though Leo does not mention Askias
expedition against Agadez, of which he might have
heard as easily as of those against Katsena and
Kan6, which preceded the former by only two years.
Otherwise, he seems to have been well informed
regarding the great conquests of the personage
whom he names Abubacr Ischia. It is, however,
possible that the account which Leo gives of
Agadez represents the condition of that town
when he visited it, before Askias time, and not at
the date when he wrote, his statement regarding
the tribute of 150,000 ducats payable to the
King of Timbuktu having been derived from

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xl INTRODUCTION.

later information. His account of Askia is also
confused. " Hauing by warres in the space of
fifteene yeeres conquered many large dominions, he
then concluded a league with all nations and went
on a pilgrimage to Mecca." But (as Barth has
pointed out) Askia having ascended the throne of
Gagho on the 14th of Jum&da II, a.h. 898, began
his pilgrimage in Safer a.h. 892, consequently in the
fifth year of his reign. Yet Leo received informa-
tion of his expedition against Katsena and the
adjoining provinces which was made in a.h. 919. 1

He also repeats many of the mistakes of Edrisi
regarding the situation of the Niger kingdoms ; and
among numerous minor inaccuracies which I shall
have occasion to note in their proper place, he even
speaks of the ocean encircling the desert from Cape
Nun to Gaoga, and gives an inaccurate position- to
Wangara in order to make it fit in with this view.
In short, the leading defect of Leo's descriptions —
the lack of exact dates, and the uncertainty how far
he is speaking as an eye-witness, and how far from
second-hand information — is prominent in his book
on the Niger kingdoms. His route, if we may
determine anything from the order in which he takes
up the different countries, was through the desert,
and then along the lines followed by the Moorish
caravans from Guinea (Ghinea) and Melli (Mdli),
eastwards down the river to Timbuktu and Gagho,
and thence across the desert to Gobes on the

1 Barth, North and Central Africa^ vol. i, p. 463.

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INTRODUCTION. xll

northern frontier of Hausaland ; thence to Agadez,
which is more easterly, Zegzeg and Zanfara, still
more in the rear, till at length he arrives at Wan-
gara (Guangara), in the remote interior. But he
displays his imperfect acquaintance with Hausaland
by setting Casena (Katsena) on the east, and Cano
(Kan6) and Zanfara in like manner on the east of
Zegzeg. Hence it is not surprising to find him
placing Wangara on the east of Zanfara.

Capture of Leo and His Life in Italy.

But it so happened that the cup went too often
to the fountain ; for on returning from what appears
to have been a second voyage to Constantinople
(which had then been for about seventy years under
the Turks), he had the ill-luck to fall into the hands
of some Christian (probably Venetian) corsairs 1 off
the famous island of Djerba, the Island of the
Lotos Eaters, and for three centuries later a
favourite haunt of the Mediterranean sea-robbers.
These pirates, finding that they had a person of
greater learning than usual on board, carried him
to Rome as a present to Pope Leo X (Giovanni
de' Medici), in the hope, no doubt, of atoning by
this pious act for a long accumulation of infamy.

The exact date of this important event in
Leo's life is not known. But as he made three

1 According to Ramusio, "alcune fuste di corsari". The
religion of these pirates may be inferred from their subsequent
proceedings.

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xlli INTRODUCTION.

voyages to Egypt subsequent to 15 17, it could
scarcely have happened before 1520 (certainly not
in 1 5 1 8, as Berbrugger fancies) ; and it was not later
than 1523, as the Pope died in that year. We may
therefore fix on 1520 as the probable year of his
arrival in the imperial city. At that time Moorish
slaves were common at every court, and Moorish
guards then occupied in many of them the places
afterwards taken by the Swiss. But Leo X, who
was proud of being the patron of men of letters,
when he found that his slave was a man of learning,
and familiar with many strange countries, received
him graciously, and not only immediately freed him,
but gave him a handsome pension, that he might
not have any inclination to leave him. 1

But he naturally did more than this. For he
immediately set about converting the Moor ; and
when one remembers the position in which the
latter was placed, it is not surprising that his
patron's efforts were speedily crowned with success.
Thereupon he was baptized under the name of
Giovanni Leone, the Pope standing as the new
convert's godfather, and giving him his own name
also. 2 There is little doubt that Leo's change of
faith was dictated by self-interest. Even in our
times, the conversion of Mohammedans, especially
of Moors, is so rare that the exceptional cases are

1 "E diedegli vna buona prouisione accib occh 7 egli non si
partisse", according to Ramusio.

2 " . . . . E indusse a farsi Christiano & gli pose in due
suoi nomi, Giouanni & Leone " (Ramusio).

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INTRODUCTION. xlili

deservedly looked upon with profound suspicion.
But at the close of the fifteenth and the beginning
of the sixteenth centuries, they were so abundant
that their insincerity can scarcely be doubted. In
Granada, after the expulsion of the Moorish kings,
fifty thousand consented to be baptized, though their
relapses afforded in future years an endless amount
of toil for the Inquisition. Under Cardinal Ximenes'
policy of learned argument and costly presents, so
many insisted on abjuring the creed of " false
Mahound", that the good Archbishop had to
baptize the perverts by means of a wet mop trundled
over their heads. In this way four thousand were
sometimes admitted into the Church in one day.
During Leo's residence in Morocco he must
have frequently heard of similar occurrences ; and,
moreover, as there were in these days many
Spanish and Portuguese missionaries in the country,
and even a few converts, besides numbers of very
indifferent Moslems in Mazagan, Saffi, Tangier, and
other of the towns in the Christians' hands, his
change of faith could scarcely have troubled him
greatly. 1 It was simply a necessity of the circum-

1 Mula'i Hamed, the last King of Tunis of the Hafside
dynasty, retired into Sicily in 1573, and there adopted
Christianity; and in 1622 Ajaja, son of the Bey Yusuf, died in
Palermo, where he had been voluntarily baptised under the name
of Philippe, his godfather having been Philippe of Austria. — De
la Rive, Hist, gen'erale de la Tunisie (1883), p. 289.

A Bishop of Morocco was appointed, and actually lived in the
country as early as the thirteenth century. But though there
were numbers of native Christians by the year 1544, the titular-

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xllV INTRODUCTION.

stances in which fortune had placed him ; and an
action, moreover, likely to be of material advantage
to him. For in 1520 the great schism of Martin
Luther had inflicted so serious a humiliation on the
Papal court, that even the adhesion of a scholarly-
Moor was treated as a greater victory than it might
have been accounted in more flourishing clays of the
Church.

The next few years of John Leo's life in
Rome must have been extremely agreeable. To
the literati of Pope Leo's capital, the arrival
of so pleasant an addition must also have been

holder of that office resided either in Ceuta or in Seville. — Del
Puerto, Mission historial de Marruecos, p. 140; Gramaye,
Africa Illustrate p. 56 ; Godard, Maroc et Revue Africaine
(1857), pp. 124, 257, 433.

As late as the middle of the seventeenth century two Shereefs
embraced Christianity. The first was Mulai El-Arbi, nephew of
the Sultan Mulai Er-Rashid, and son of Mulai Mohammed;
who, after fleeing to Larache, crossed to Spain and was
baptised under the name of Augustin de la Cerda. The
second was Mulai Mohammed Athasi (commonly described as
the only son of the Sultan Mohammed IX ; but he was more
probably only one of the many Shereefs or princely descendants
of the Prophet), who was captured on his way to Mecca by a
Maltese galley under the command of Fray de Mendez. He was
baptised in 1656 under the name of Balthazar de Loyola de
Mendez, and died in Toulouse (not Madrid, as Santalia and
Godard have it) in August, 1667. — Gonzales de Santalia,
Manductio, etc., pp. 40, 54 ; Godard, Maroc ; p. 507 ; and an
extremely rare brochure (printed at Lille in 1669, and signed
"F.R.P.S.C.L.C.") entitled: Copie cVune leitre envoiee de France
au sujet de la conversion admirable du Fils unique du roy de
Marocque et de Fez, pp. 8. Calderon has a comedy, entitled
Magnus princeps de Fez D. Balthazar de Loyola (1660).

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INTRODUCTION. xlv

an event. He had travelled further than any of
them, and was familiar with lands then only
vaguely known through Edrisi, Ptolemy, and
other ancient geographers.

The chances are that he was more or less familiar
with Italian before arriving in Rome. Spanish, we
know, was among his accomplishments ; and it
would have been difficult for him to have travelled
so much along the shores of the Mediterranean
without attaining a vernacular acquaintance with
what was then — as it still is in the upper portion of
that sea — the language of commerce. However,
his Italian was never more than passable. Even in
Ramusio's version it is far from elegant, though not
without a certain rude vigour, and a simple lucidity
which renders it difficult to mistake his meaning.
Latin was, however, one of his Roman acquisitions.
He also taught Arabic — the most distinguished of
his pupils being the Bishop of Viterbo, afterwards
Cardinal Egidio Antonini. In Rome, also, he would
appear to have written in Italian the work which
is his chief claim to fame. No doubt he had
previously kept a diary or notes ; for it is impossible
that so multifarious a mass of details could have
been retained with such accuracy in his memory.
But that it was prepared in Rome 1 in the form we

r Ramusio tells us that during his long residence in Rome Leo
learnt to read and write Italian, and translated into that language
the Arabic description of Africa which he carried with him when
captured. " The Pope . . . understanding that he took delight in

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xlvi INTRODUCTION.

have it is certain, from the many references to events
which occurred after his arrival, and to authors with
whom it is most improbable he could have been
acquainted, before Latin ancj/the libraries of Rome
opened up to him new fields of knowledge ; and,
lastly, by the fact that he dates it as " written at
Rome in the yeere of Christ 1526, and upon the
tenth of March " — or three years after Pope Leo's
death ; thus making it less probable that His
Holiness helped him with the book.

The Pope was, indeed, too busy a man for any
such unostentatious toil ; and, moreover, had he
done so, would have insisted on a more polished
version. The book was, however, either wholly or
in a rough draft, originally written in Arabic ; and
though this version is not now known to be in
existence, the MS. was at one time in the library
of Vincenzo Pinelli (1535-1601). The only version
now extant is the Italian, into which he himself
translated the book from the Arabic ; and even this
MS., though Ramusio had it in Leo's own hand-
writing, has disappeared, so that the Editio
princeps is our sole authority for Leo's statements.
Had the original been accessible, 1 many moot
points might have been settled.

geography, and had with him a book that he had composed on the
subject, received him graciously," etc.

1 Mr. S. Cock, the editor of the Narrative of Robert Adams,
etc. (18 16), appears, from some remarks which he makes (p. 188)
to have thought that the MS. was still in existence. Even M.
Berbrugger {Revue Africaine (1858), p. 362) is not without hope

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INTRODUCTION. xlvii

The Later Years of Leo.
In Rome Leo lived for many years, though at
times he paid visits to Bologna and other cities.
In 1550, when Ramusio published his Navigazioni,
he does not appear to have been a resident in the
Pontifical city, or indeed in Italy. He is merely
described as having lived for a long time in Rome
(cost abitb pot in Roma lungo tempo) ; and this state-
ment is repeated in the edition of 1554. But in the
1563, 1588, 1 and subsequent editions — the latter
issued many years after his death — it is affirmed,
though without any authority being given, that not
only did Leo live in Rome, but never set foot out
of it for the rest of his life. 2 At all events, he was
at work in the year 1541. How he ended his
chequered career is not, and probably never will
be, known. But, from an allusion in the works of
a contemporary — Widmanstadt — it is conjectured
that, hurt at the little consideration he received
after the Popes death, he took up his residence
in Tunis (where he died in 1552); and when last
seen was once more quite as good a Moslem as he
had ever been a Christian. There is much proba-

of the original M'S. being found. Ramusio mentions to Frasca-
toro that the MS. came into his hands "after several accidents,
too long to recount " — a fear for boring his friend which posterity
must regard less tenderly.

1 "Tommaso Giunti," the printer, addresses an additional
preface to the reader, from which it may be inferred that he was
responsible for this edition.

2 " Cosi habito poi in Roma il rimanente della vita sua."

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xlviii INTRODUCTION.

bility in the conjecture ; for he expressly intimates
his intention of returning (though naturally he
reserves the delicate question of recantation to
himself); and after telling (at the close of Book VIII)
the different countries which he had visited but not
described, he concludes, "All which .my travels
I meane (by God's assistance) being returned forth
of Europe into mine owne countrie, particularly
to describe." And it supplies a picturesque — an
almost logical — ending to this famous Moorish
travellers life, that not unlikely this was actually the
case.

The Character of Leo.

Leo's contemporaries are so silent regarding him,
that almost nothing is known as to his ways of
life or character, beyond what can be gathered
from the pages of his magntim opus. However,
this is in many places so frankly autobiographical,
that it is possible to piece together from various
passages a fair picture of the man who was for
nearly three centuries the sole authority on the
geography of Northern and Central Africa. Whether
he was a married man or a bachelor is not known:
with a Moslem's reticence on such delicate sub-
jects as his womenkind, he avoids the slightest
allusion to the harem. Yet this could not have
been through any regard for the susceptibilities
of the priestly society in which he found himself at
Rome ; for the Court of Leo X and the Pontifical
College in the sixteenth century were not so deeply

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INTRODUCTION. xll*

tinctured with the prudishness of St. Anthony as to
have counselled any reserve on marital matters.
Indeed, had Leo been married, we should in all
likelihood have learned the fact directly or in-
cidentally, for he seemed to have been something of
a gallant.

Nor was Leo without humour of a pawky type.
He jokes, somewhat parlously, one might imagine,
over the craze of one Pope for destroying the build-
ings erected by his predecessor, and hints that the
" daintie cates " in the vegetarian monastery at
Asouiat might be taken as a proof that the inmates,
like the monks o' Melrose, "had gude kail on
Fridays when they fasted" — and perhaps during the
rest of the week also. His remarks about the social
evils in Egypt are those of a shrewd observer whose
eyes were not blind to anything which concerned
mankind. He is often frank to a fault ; as, for
instance, when he congratulates himself on seeing
the rout at Bulahuan in 1 5 1 3 mounted " on a
fleet courser" — a confession of cowardice quite con-
sistent with the practical character of the clerkly
soldier, who considered it idle to throw away his
life for an idea. Moreover, all through his book
we find the same Mohammedan spirit of not
" crying over spilt milk" — a recognition of the
uselessness of fighting against " Kismet" — of the
impiety of wailing against what "has been written"
in the book of fate.

He does not appear at any time to have been
a bigot. Thus, as already noted, even when a

e

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1 INTRODUCTION.

boy he was not deceived by the assumed piety
of the "ancient sire" at Tessa; and his chief
pleasure in the mosque was to see the people
troubled with colds sneezing, and then all the other
worshippers sneezing in concert, until it was im-
possible to hear the words of the preacher. Nor
did he believe in the art of magic. His ideas of
good government were ahead of his times ; for he
laments the tyranny which prevailed, and the civil
broils which were the natural result of it ; and he
prophesies, with an accuracy only too well justified
by subsequent events, that the universal avarice and
corruption of men in authority would bring about
contempt of learning and education, and thereby
widespread ignorance, immorality and superstition,
with the national ruin which would be sure to follow
in their train. The mere fact that he renounced
Islam for Christianity is to be taken more as a
proof of his suppleness than of his open-mindedness ;
for at that- period religion was considered by the
Moors as a topload on the conscience, which might
be tossed overboard as the worldly interest of the
owner dictated. It may be taken that if Leo was
of any creed, he was always at heart a Moslem ;
and if the person seen in after years in Tunis was
actually he, then the convert of Giovanni de' Medici
had, as almost always happens in such cases,
reverted to his ancient faith in preparation for the
visit of Azrael. But as long as he was nominally a
Christian and a resident in Rome, the quondam
Al-Hasan Ibn Mohammed cursed the Prophet with

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INTRODUCTION. H

the best of them. " The Mohammedan plot," "the
pernicious foundation of Mohammedan law," and
so forth, were the fine phrases by which this
newly-made Christian referred to the belief which
he had abandoned.

Above all, the Moor was blessed with that
happy adaptability which is the birthright of his
race. Perfectly at home anywhere, and always
" lovingly" entertained, ready to be African or
Granadian, Moslem or Nazarene, as best suited
the circumstances of the case, keen to note every-
thing, and capable of telling what he had seen
in a pleasant fashion, to trader or lawyer, soldier
or judge, diplomatist or priest, each in his turn,
with equal readiness, Leo Africanus must have
been a pleasant companion to travel with, and
of all men the best fitted to traverse the interior
of Africa.

Leo's Miscellaneous Writings.

Among the known treatises which were written

before his Description of Africa are the Lives

of the Arab Physicians and Philosophers, 1 and a

vocabulary of the Arabic and Spanish languages. 2

1 "Zte Fin's quibusdam illustribus apud Arabes Libellus
Johannis Leones Africani" in J. A. Fabricius' Bibliotheca Grceca,
vol. xiii (Hamburg, 1726), pp. 259-298. Of the twenty-nine
chapters, the last three are concerned with the Hebrew physicians
and philosophers. Leo refers to it in the present work, p. 155,
Bk. III.

2 This vocabulary Jacob Mantino, the celebrated Hebrew
physician, mentions having consulted in manuscript (Ramusio).

e 2

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Hi INTRODUCTION.

According to his own statements, he seems also
to have written — or intended to write — an Epitome
of the Mohammedan Chronicles, a History of the
Mohammedan Religion, and a collection of Arabic
epitaphs from the burial-grounds around Fez, the
MS. of which he gave to the kings brother ;
while we have already noted the fact that he had
a project, which he does not seem ever to have
carried out, of narrating his travels in Asia and
Europe. "The divers excellent poems" which he
wrote have likewise vanished.

His " Descrizione dell' Affrica" : early
Editions.

As we have already seen, Leo probably wrote
his Description of Africa in the first place in Arabic ;
but after having learnt Italian, he seems to have re-
written the entire work in his adopted tongue ; for
this version, which is the one from which all the
translations have been derived, contains allusions
to events which occurred long after his capture, and
bits of information, as well as allusions to authors
with which he could not well have been acquainted
prior to his residence in the Pontifical capital.
This manuscript of the Italian version is dated
from Rome, March ioth, 1526; but it was only
in 1550 that Ramusio — the Hakluyt of Italy — was
fortunate enough to obtain it for his collection of
Voyages and Travels, in which, after Ramusio had
edited it " with the utmost diligence he was master

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INTRODUCTION. HH

of", it duly made its appearance. 1 Of the fate of
the MS. nothing is known, but there is every proba-
bility that it perished in the fire which, seven years
: later, destroyed so much of the material collected
for Ramusio's second volume. s*

The period in which Leo's epoch-making con-
tribution appeared was a stirring one in the history
of exploration. In the year when it was being
written the world had been turned upside down by
wild tales of the new continent which Columbus
and his companions had discovered. In 1497, the
year in all likelihood which saw the family of Leo
repatriated in Africa, Vasco da Gama had started
on his successful voyage to India, by way of the
Cape of Good Hope ; in the following year the
mainland of America had been reached ; and in 1 500
Pinzon had lighted upon Brazil and its mighty
rivers. Thirteen years later, Balboa, "silent upon
a peak in Darien", had sighted the Pacific; six years
nearer Leo's time Cortes had conquered Mexico ;
and at the time our author was so quietly telling of
regions then as little known as any in the New
World, Pizarro and Almagro were partitioning
Peru, and Soliman the Grand Turk was threaten-
ing Europe with the Moslem yoke. Yet not a hint

1 In spite of Ramusio's editorial care, it is full of grammatical
mistakes. The history of the manuscript is not given. It merely
fell into his hands owing to a series of accidents, which it would
take too long to recount — " II qual libro, scritto da lui medesimo,
dopo molti accidenti che sarrano lunghi a raccontare, pervenne
nelle nostre mani."

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liv INTRODUCTION.

do we get of all these stirring events. Indeed,
interesting and important as Leo's pages undeniably
are, the reader is apt, when he remembers the
feverish tidings which must have all the time been
reaching Leo's ears, to hold at cheap appraisement
his descriptions of petty princes and their states.

But in the middle of the sixteenth century the
world was eager for news of any country " not
Christian". Africa was then in an eminent degree
a dark continent ; for scarcely any portion of it
was known, and the imaginative cosmographers —
who even at a later date in constructing their maps
were compelled to dot their open spaces with
" elephants for want of towns" — were adrift from
the lack even of coast-lines. Men had, it is true,
some vague knowledge of the coasts of Northern
and Western Africa ; and there were rumours,
derived from Edrisi and Ibn Batuta, of Arab
kingdoms on the east coast, and of others on the
upper waters of a great river then beginning to
be known as the Niger — which, however, was
frequently confounded with the Gambia, the
Senegal, and even with the Nile. About two
hundred and fifty years before (1291), Ugolino,
Guido Vivaldi, and Tedisio Doria had attempted
the circumnavigation of Africa ; but scarcely any-
thing was achieved until the early part of the
fifteenth century, when began the series of voyages
associated with the name of Prince Henry the
Navigator. In 1434-46, Portuguese seamen had
skirted the edge of the Sahara, bringing rumours

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INTRODUCTION. lv

of Timbuktu, Jenne, Congo, and the lands beyond ;
and various ships had crept down the west coast.
In 1487 Bartolomeo Diaz had discovered the Cape
of Good Hope, an event which, if known to Leo,
is not noticed by him. 1 In 1500 Diego Diaz had
sighted Madagascar; and in 1550 Pannilini had
penetrated Algeria for some distance. But the
interior of the continent south of the old settled
regions of the north, except for a short distance
from the coast, was a terra incognita. How little
was known of the interior may be gathered from
the summary which Pory made fifty years later, as
an introduction to his translation of Leo.

Ramusio's collection, to which we have already
referred, went through several editions in three
volumes, the first of which was devoted to Leo's
involuntary contribution ; these editions bear the
dates 1550, 1554, 1563, 1588, 1606, and 1613.
In 1556, soon after its reappearance in Venice, the
work was translated into French, apparently from
the 1554 edition, though the voyages were not
arranged in the same order as in the Italian
original. 2 This most sumptuously printed version

1 In reality, Leo's work, though called a Description of Africa,
is merely a description of those parts lying north of the Equator
which were personally known to the Author and his informants.

2 Historiale Description de LAfrique, tierce partie dv monde,
contenant ses Royaumes, Regions, Files, Cites, Chdteaux et
forteresses : lies, Fleuves, Animaux, tant aquatiques, que terrestres :
coutumes, loix, religion etfafon defaire des habitds, avec pourtraits
de leurs habis : ensemble autres choses memorables, et singulieres
nouueautes : Escrite de notre terns par lean Leon, African,

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lvi

INTRODUCTION.

was published by Jean Temporal, who seems him-
self to have been the translator, and also the author
of two laudatory poems to Ramusio, which form
part of the various prefaces and dedications attached
to the volumes. It has a curious double-page
woodcut map of Africa — a copy of the one in the
1554 edition of Ramusio — and a series of large,
fair woodcuts, purporting to be portraits of African
people, though it is clear the artist had nothing
better than his imagination to go upon.

This excellent version of Jean Temporal, which
was dedicated to the Dauphin, afterwards Francis II,
the first husband of Mary Stuart, was no sooner
out than it was pirated by Christopher Plantin, who
six years before had established in a small way of
business that famous printing house which for two
centuries and a half was the pride of Antwerp. 1

This volume, admirably printed and bound in
vellum, but without maps or illustrations, is confined
to Leo's work, which from the first was regarded as
the most important in Ramusio's collections ; for

premierement en langue Arabesque, puis en Toscane, 6° d present
mise en Francois, Plus cinq Nauigations au pais des Noirs, auec
les discours sur icelles, comme verres en la page suiuante. Tome
Premier, A Lyon, par lean Temporal [folio] 1556. Avec Privilege
dv Roy. — See Playfair and Brown, Bibliography of Morocco, No. 49.
1 Historiale description de VAfrique, tierce partie du monde,
contenant des royaumes, regions, villes, cites, chateaux et fortresses :
lies, fleuves, Animaux iant aquatiques, que terrestres : coutumes,
loix, religion, et fafon de /aire des habit a(n)s, etc. Anvers, 1556,
i2mo, pp. xxvii + 413 (on alternate pages = 826) + index 47 pages
(not paged).

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INTRODUCTION. lvil

Plantin could not afford to indulge in the luxury
of publishing books which did not "pay". Plantin s
piracy was repeated in the same year and city by
Jean Bellere, in a reprint of less beauty but now of
even greater rarity. 1

The Latin Edition of Florianus and its
Blunders.

In the same year and in the same city that
Plantin and Bellere were reprinting Temporal's
French version, there appeared a Latin translation
by Joannes Florian, Rector of the Grammar School
of Antwerp. 2 Owing to the wide-spread popularity
at that period of the chief classical tongue, this

1 " Historiale description de VAfrique, tierce par tie du monde,
contenant ses royaumes, regions, viles, cites, chdteaus et forteresses :
lies, fleuves, animaus, tant aquatiques, que terrestres : coutumes,
loix, religion et fafon de faire des habitas, avec pourtraits de leurs
habis : ensemble autres choses mkmorables, et singulieres nouveautes.
Ecrite de notre temps par lean Leon, african, premierement en
langue Arabesque, puis en Toscane, et a present mise enfranfois"
En Anvers ches lean Bellere, 1556, avec privilege (in i2mo, with
coloured engravings).

2 "foannis Leonis Africani, de To tins Africa descriptione,
Libri i~ix. Quibus non solum, Africa regionum, insularum, 6r*
oppidorum situs, locorumque interualla accurate complexus est, sed
Regum familias, belloru?n causas &* euentus, resque in ea
memorabiles, tarn d seipso diligenti obseruatione indagatas q in
veris Maurorum Annalib. Memoria tr adit as, copiose descripsit,
recens in Latinam linguam conuersi loan, Floriano Interprete.
Antwerpise, Apud loan. Latium -md.lvi. Cum Priuilegio "
[8vo]. The title-page, Privilege from Philip II as Duke of
Brabant, dedication to Melchior Corvinus, Treasurer of Antwerp,
and Index, occupy 32 pages. The text extends to p. 302 ;

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lvili INTRODUCTION.

Latin version obtained a currency which its merits
never deserved, while the infinitely superior version
of Temporal fell into disuse. A second edition
appeared in 1558, and it was reprinted at Zurich
in 1559, 1 and at Leyden in 1632 2 ; and up to
this hour it is cited by geographers, and such
historians as usually go to original sources for in-
formation, with a confidence which has caused and
perpetuated many errors ; most of them being
apparently unacquainted with the Italian or any
other version.

It is, indeed, scarcely possible to characterise in
terms too severe the way in which Florianus exe-
cuted this version, or the mischief which he has
done to the cause of truth. The Latinity is

but as only one side of each leaf is numbered, the pages actually
amount to 604.

1 As Florianus died in 1585 (Foppert, Bibliothec. Be/g., p. 639),
this edition was published in his lifetime. It differs from the
original in having the pages (1-5 17) consecutively numbered,
and in the chapters and paragraphs of each book also being
numbered. But the type, in italics, is small, and not very clear.
It is not often met with.

2 Ioannis Leonis Africani, Africa description ix lib. absoluta
(Lug. Batav., Apud Elzevir, Ao. 1632, with engraving of an emble-
matic character). 1 vol. (in two parts, with continuous pagination),
i2mo, pp. 800, with 16 pp. index at the end. This is the Latin
edition most frequently quoted. It was re-issued in 1639 by the
same publisher in two volumes, evidently from the same type.
A i6mo work, issued at Leyden in 1634 — " Tvrcici Imperii
Status" — is sometimes classed as another edition. It is in reality
composed of extracts from various writers on Turkish affairs,
with an account of Tunisia and Algeria from Gramaye and Leo,
though without acknowledgment (Bib/, of Morocco, No. 184).

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INTRODUCTION. llX

tolerable, and in some instances elegant, though
far from what we have a right to expect from one
occupying an academical position in a day when
this tongue was almost the vernacular of learned
men. But the accurate reproduction of the author's
meaning is in numerous places scarcely aimed at.
Whole passages, some indeed of cardinal import-
ance, are omitted ; and blunders quite inexcusable
are. made with such frequency and under circum-
stances so inexplicable that it is impossible to
believe that he was familiar with Italian, or that he
bestowed the most ordinary care upon his task. I
have already incidentally noted a few of these errors ;
but as the Latin of Florianus has been for more
than three centuries the standard version — the
Italian, French and English being comparatively
seldom quoted — under the mistaken belief that it
was trustworthy, it may be advisable to prelude
my comments on Leo's text by instancing some of
the more flagrant lapses of this Flemish translator,
whose ignorance and negligence seem to lay equal
claim on our amazement. 1

Thus, to instance some of his mistranslations,
coccucie (melons) are Latinised as cocci, which
Pory Englishes as "Cocos". " Mele " (honey) is
represented by pira, a bonfire; and "melaranci"

1 The Antwerp (1556) edition is quoted throughout, for the
Leyden (1632) reprint is a discreditable dumpy duodecimo, in
which the Elzevirs have slavishly copied all the blunders of
Florianus, without however giving his dedication, or indeed
making the slightest reference to him. "'.'-..

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lx INTRODUCTION.

(oranges) by mala citrea; "Tedeschi" (Germans),
is translated Tuscos; " brigantini " (ships) is turned
into milites, soldiers ; " avolo " (grandfather) into
avunculum (uncle); "carne di agnelli" (lamb), in-
stead of being translated carnem agninam, is
transformed into vitalenare ; "Gozzi" (swellings)
becomes gargullones nodani ; while "il verno"
(winter), of which the natural translation would
have been hyems, becomes in the Latin verna
tempora. These and other faults, of a similar
though less heinous character, are due to the
translator employing a Latin word which is not
the equivalent of the Italian one. But he frequently
goes further, by actually adding or omitting whole
clauses or expressions — a process by which the
meaning of Leo is materially altered. Thus (p.
198), in describing Oran he characterises it as
" maximum hoc atque frequentissimum oppidum" —
this huge and much-frequented city — which is a
turgid exaggeration of Leo's "una citt& grande" — a
large town ; while "ante aliquot saecula ab Afris ad
Mare Mediterraneum exstructum" (a statement of
doubtful accuracy) is an exceedingly free expansion
of "edificata da 'gli antiche Affricani sul mare
Mediterraneo". The words, " a d'intorno alte e belle
mura" — surrounded by good and lofty walls — get
expanded into the sonorous " muris vndique altis-
simis atque munitissimis cingitur". Leo describes a
large number of the citizens as being artisans and
weavers — "artigiani e tessitore di tele"; but the
" artigiani " is omitted by Florianus. Again, speak-

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INTRODUCTION. lxi

ing of the number of Catalans who frequented Oran
for the purposes of trade, he mistranslates the Italian
4 'loggia" into "vicus" — a street. A line or two
lower down, "Tentrate del porto " — the Custom
House dues — appear as "tributum Regium" ; while
" fuste 1 e brigantini armati", which Pory (who,
unfortunately, for reasons not difficult to explain,
follows Florianus in most of his blunders) very
properly translates " foists and brigandines of war",
appears in the Latin version (as already noted)
"propriis sumptibus milites" ; though one might
think the seafaring men of Antwerp could have
explained to the Rector of its High School what a
" foist" and a " brigantine " were. After telling
how Ferdinand, King of Spain, captured Oran,
Leo — who, when he does not write from personal
knowledge, is usually careful to say so, and in this
case derives his information from " most credible
and substantiall persons, which were themselves eie-
witnesses of the scene" — apologises for this pusill-
animity on the part of his countrymen by the fact
that the town was torn by civil broils ("per causa
di molti disordini ") ; but Florianus omits these
important words. A still more serious blunder
is his mistranslation of "d' indi a molte mesi con
F ajuto d' alcuni vescovi e del cardinale de Spagna
una maggiore ne rifece : e con questa in una giornata
fu presa lacitt& " 2 into "verum post aliquot deinde

1 Fustciy a galley.

2 " After many months, with the help of some Bishops and a

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lxil INTRODUCTION.

menses Vasconum atque Cardinalis Hispaniae copiis
adjutus, Oraniam occupauit". Here the ludicrous
blunder is made of mistaking Biscayans for Bishops,
who, as Leo very correctly remarks, helped the
king very much — the " Cardinal * of Spain" — viz.,
Francesco Ximenes de Cisneros, Archbishop of
Toledo, having proclaimed the siege of Oran as a
Holy War, and sent messages round the Sees under
his control, with the object of raising funds for its
prosecution. This ignorance of history is certainly
remarkable in a scholar who was contemporary with
the events he describes ; though a further specimen
of it is given in the dedication to his version of
Leo, where he describes the author as "natione
Granetensis, patria per Ferdinandum & Elizabeth
Hispaniarum Reges expugnata in Barberiam pro-
fugiens " — three lines which contain a direct mis-
statement and an inaccuracy. 1 Finally, these
blunders, which are all contained in one short
paragraph about Oran, are capped by the con-
clusion. After correctly translating the passage
in which Leo dates the capture of Oran by the
Spaniards as " anni nouecento sedici deir hegira"
(a.h. 916), he adds, "qui Christi fuit mdvii."
This reduction to the Christian era is wrong by

Cardinal of Spain, he raised a greater army, with which he
captured the city in a single day."

1 It is doubtless to this inference of Florianus that we trace the
widely accepted notion that Leo's family fled to Africa after the
fall of Granada — a conclusion which we have shown is by no
means justified by any of the facts within our knowledge.

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INTRODUCTION. lxill

two years ; for the day on which Oran fell was
1 6th May 1509. 1

Again, we find — not to enumerate less ' material
errors — "giudice" (judge) mistranslated "judaeum"
(Jew), evidently jander the belief that the word is
"giudeo", and "una scorta" (a convoy or escort),
by scortum (a hide), etc. Another mistranslation
has often puzzled those familiar with Morocco,
and misled a still greater number of readers who,
like Florianus, were unacquainted with that country.
It is in describing Leo, when he met with his
romantic adventure among the Atlas snows, as
travelling with "currus" (p. 26). This word, which
occurs thrice in rapid succession, is translated
" carts " by Pory. But as there are no roads
except bridle-paths in Morocco, wheeled carriages 2

1 Fey, Histoire d'Oran avant, pendant, et aprh la domination
Espagnole (Oran, 1858), p. 69, whose authority is Alvarez Gomez.
There is something not unpleasant, according to the Roche-
foucaldian maxim, in finding that Lorsbach, a German grammarian
who is cruelly hypercritical upon Florianus, is in this passage quite
as blundering as the translator whom he corrects ; for Oran was
not captured in a.h. 619 — which may be a misprint for 916 — nor
is the latter year equivalent to mdx. Temporal is even worse :
for he translates " novecento sedici " as " neuf cens".

2 The Sultan has an ancient state carriage in which, at a very
slow pace, he is dragged to the palace mosque on Fridays, the
horses being led, not driven. But he always rides back. In
1890, the late Mulai Hasan acquired a hansom cab ; but it
is never outside the palace. Some carts were taken to Marakesh
(Morocco City) a few years ago ; but soon got broken. In
Mulai IsmaiFs time there were a few rude waggons at Mequinez
dragged by Christian slaves, but they were not used for carrying
merchandise.

—

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lxiV INTRODUCTION.

are unknown outside of the coast towns, all goods
being carried on the backs of camels, horses, mules
and donkeys, and consequently this statement that
" carts" were employed for freight nearly four cen-
turies ago, especially in the rugged Atlas, seems
inexplicable; until we find that in the original Italian
the word is "carovana" — or caravan, a pack-
team of animals, which might have been correctly
Latinised as " comitatus", though unfortunately the
puzzle has seldom been solved by ascertaining what
the Moor himself said.

These instances of faulty translation, of un-
warrantable omission or amplification, might be
indefinitely multiplied did space permit. In short,
Florianus, with all his merits — and the vast service
he did to geography by rendering Leo accessible
to many people too learned to understand either
Italian or French must not be forgotten — was
afflicted with the worst fault in an editor, that lues
emendatoris which afflicted so many of the
transcribers of the period. He could not let well
alone. He tried to improve the text by giving his
personal gloss to the writers meaning, a proceeding
which would have been perfectly justifiable and
even commendable had he not too frequently in-
corporated his reading into the text without dis-
tinguishing what was his and what was Leo's.
Thus — as final citation — there is the passage
which seems to have troubled the conscientious
editor of the fictitious narrative of Adams (Mr. S.
Cock, of the Company of Merchants trading to

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INTRODUCTION. lxv

Africa). 1 Here the words of Leo, in which he
describes the houses in Timbuktu as huts, built
with stakes covered with chalk (or clay) and
thatched with straw (an almost exact description
according to the latest account), appear to Florianus
to fall below what he considers the then half-
fabulous city of Central Africa ought to be ; for
he adds " sunt mutatae". Again, Leo's rather
confused description of Timbuktu as being " vicina
a un ramo del Niger circa a dodici miglia", is
improved by Floriatius and Pory into "in duo-
decimo miliaria a quodam fiuviolo situm fuit quod
e Nigro flumine effluebat". 2

Pory's Edition.

In these preliminary criticisms upon the trans-
lation of Florianus, I have somewhat anticipated
what might have fittingly appeared as emendatory
notes to the chapters in question. But as this
version has been accepted for more than three
hundred years as a sort of geographical classic, it
is right that its latter-day students should be warned
against the many pitfalls with which its pages
are studded. Unfortunately, also, the translation
which is here reprinted has in many places been

1 The Narrative of Robert Adams, a Sailor who was wrecked
on the Western Coast of Africa in the Year i8io> was detained
Three Years in Slavery by the Arabs of the Great Desert, and
resided several months in the City of Tombuctoo (1816), p. 183.

2 " Within twelue miles of a certaine branch of Niger." — Pory.

/

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lxvi INTRODUCTION.

affected by the errors or the carelessness of Florianus.
For, though Master John Pory does not say in so
many words that his version is from the Italian,
without the interposition of the latter, he is
evidently desirous, from his references to Ramusio,
and his sedulous avoidance of Florianus' name, that
this impression should be conveyed, In reality, as
shown by the fact of his accepting the worst of
the Latin blunders, though his good sense enables
him to steer clear of some of the Antwerp
Rectors absurdities, his version seems in the main
to have followed that of Florianus, though at
times the translator may have consulted the Italian,
a language with which he was probably less familiar
than with Latin.

Pory was a friend of Hakluyt, 1 who, according
to the dedication, and a note prefixed to the
volume, intimates that not only did he regard
the way in which the translation has been exe-
cuted with approval, but that he himself "was

1 Of Pory little is known. In the Register of Gonville and
Caius College, Cambridge, he is entered as "John Porye", who
became an undergraduate in 1587. There is no further infor-
mation regarding him, but in Dr. Venn's printed list the following
quotation is translated from an "early note" in Latin. "This
man translated and collected a geographical history of Africa,
written in Arabic and Italian by John Leo, a Moor born in
Granada. He presented a copy of it to our library, with a printed
paper in the beginning testifying to his regard to the College."
The date of this " early note" is not stated. He does not seem
to have graduated. In the Court and Times of Charles I (vol. ii,
p. 90), there is printed a letter from Pory to Sir Thomas
Puckering.

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INTRODUCTION. lxvil

the first and only man that perswaded him to take
it in hand." The version has, therefore, peculiar
claims upon the Hakluyt Society. Apart, however,
from any merits of its own — and any vital defects
will be pointed out — the book is an excellent
specimen of Elizabethan English, lucid, quaint,
and plain-spoken to the verge of what, in these
more conventional times, might be regarded as
a little unrefined.

Again, as Pory was almost a contemporary of
Leo, his version is preferable to one written in
language less in accordance with the Italian of the
original. He was, moreover, a scholar, and in his
way a geographer, for his translation 1 is sandwiched
between an account of the part of Africa not
described by Leo, compiled from various authors,
and of value as a fair view of the knowledge of
that continent possessed by the Englishman of the
closing years of Queen Elizabeth's reign.

1 A Geographical \ Historic of Africa, .... | Written in
Arabicke and Italian \ by John Leo a More, \ Londini, \ 1600.
Title ; Dedication, 1 page unnumbered ; To the Reader, 5 pages
unnumbered ; A generall description of all Africa, togither with
a comparison of the ancient and new names of all the principall
countries and prouinces therein, 1-57; An approbation of the
historie ensuing, by me Richard Haklvyt [with extracts in praise
of Leo by Ramusio, Ortelius, Bodin, and Posseuinus], 57-60 ;
Leo's text, 1-358 ; A briefe relation concerning the dominions,
reuenues, forces, and manner of gouernment of sundry the
greatest princes either inhabiting within the bounds of Africa,
or at least possessing some parts thereof, translated for the
most part out of Italian, 359-420. The only edition is in 4to,
with a map of Africa.

/2

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lxviii INTRODUCTION.

The book is dedicated to Sir Robert Cecil, Lord
Burleigh's son, Secretary of State, and afterwards
Earl of Salisbury; and as it refers to the recent visit
of " the Marocon ambassadour", 1 and the interest on
that account aroused regarding Africa, we may take
it that Master Pory, with fine business instinct, pro-
duced his famous treatise at an opportune moment.

Considering the circumstances mentioned, his
translation can scarcely be regarded as equal to
Temporal's, so far as literal accuracy is concerned.
It is, nevertheless, better than that of Florianus ;
and when the occasional inaccuracies which he
too readily adopted from this latter are corrected, it
may be regarded as quite worthy of the esteem in
which it was held by his contemporaries, and still is
up to this day by those geographers who continue
to quote it. Like Florianus, he is at times apt to let
his feelings get the better of him, and to intercalate
an offensive remark touching that " great deceiver
Mohamet ", or to strengthen an abusive epithet

Having been issued in the same year that the
last volume of Hakluyt's Principal Navigations,
Voyages, Traffiques and Discoveries was completed,
it does not appear in that collection. But in the
second volume of Hakluytus Posthumus or Purchas
his Pilgrimes — a work made up mainly of materials

1 Sent by Mulai' Ahmed II (Abu-l J Abbas El-Mansur), com-
monly known as Khan esh -Sheriff (i 578-1605). Elizabeth sent,
in 1577, Edmund Hogan, "one of the Sworne Esquires of her
Ma't's Person", as Ambassador to Mulai 'Abd el-Melik (1576-
78), the immediate predecessor of Mulai Ahmed.

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INTRODUCTION. lxix

left imprinted by Hakluyt — the greater part of
Porys volume is included. 1 It is also abridged in
Harris's collection. 2 The next edition of Leo which
appeared seems to have been the Dutch one issued
at Rotterdam in 1665, 8 though, as in so many of its
predecessors, the translator — who seems to have

1 Observations of Africa, and a description of the Kingdomes of
Bugia and Tienes, the Land of the Negroes ; and of the Confines of
Egypt : with an account of the People, Tribes, Languages, Seasons,
Vertues, Vices, and other more general considerations of Africa,
volii, pp. 749.. (1617-25.)

2 " A particular account of the Kingdom of Morocco, taken
out of John I<eo. Additions collected from Marmol, John Leo's
Description of the King of Fez", etc. Harris, Navigantium atque
Itinerarium Bibliotheca, etc., vol. i, pp. 316-338 (1705).

3 Fertinente beschryvinge van \ Africa met alle de Landen,
Koningrijken, Steden, Volken, \ Gewoonten Gedierten Vogelen, Boom-
en, I Aaard-vruchten die daar zijn. \ Mitsgaders \ der Koningen
die daar geregeert, ende de oorlogen die sy gevoert \ hebben, van den
jare 1600 | afi Getrokken en vergadert uyt de Reys-boeken van \
Johannes Leo Africanus. \ Met Kopere Plater ver tier t. \ Hierneffens
is by-gevoegt een pertinente beschryvinge van de Kuste van Guinea,

I soo als die hedens daags bevaren word, en de Handelinge die daar
op de I Gout-Kust word gedreven, beginnende he xvii. Cap. | Tot
Amsterdam. | By Arnout Leers. Boek-verkooper | mdclxv, 4to.
The book is dedicated in a very laudatory preface (signed
by the publisher) to the Admiralty Committee of Rotterdam.
The map is a copy of that published by Jodocius Hondius, and
the copper-plates are for the most part reproductions of those in
the French version of Leo. The book is divided into twenty-two
chapters, the first nine (pp. 1-225) of which correspond to the
nine books of Leo. The others are occupied with compiled
matter, in many cases containing curious facts of much value
relating to the Moorish sovereigns, the trade of the Moors with
Guinea and Gago, the different settlements along the African
coast, and particularly with the Dutch commerce in the West
African settlements.

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lxx INTRODUCTION.

been the publisher, Arnout Leers — made his version
from the Latin of Florianus, instead of from the
original Italian.

With the exception of Purchases annexation, Pory's
translation has not hitherto been reprinted, and
perfect copies now fetch a price sufficiently high to
show the esteem in which it is held by collectors.
But, in 1738, Francis Moore, 1 an unusually learned
Factor of the Royal African Company, retranslated,
as an appendix to his work on the Gambia, nearly
the whole of Leo's account of the Negro kingdoms,
which he, in common with most of the geographers
of that date, believed to be identical with the
Niger. 2 This version professes to be from the
original Italian ; though as it is merely a summary,

1 " Travels into the Inland Parts of Africa : containing a Descrip-
tion of the several nations for the space of six hundred miles at the
River Gambia : their trade, habits, customs, Languages, Manners,
religion and government : the Power, Disposition and Character of
some Negro Princes : with a particular Account of Job Ben
Solomon, a Pholez, who was in England in the year 1733, and
known by the name of the African, 7o which is added Capt.
Stubbs' Voyage up the Gambia in the year 1723, to make Dis-
coveries ; with an accurate Map of that River taken on the spot :
And many other Copper Plates. Also Extracts from the Nubians
Geography [Edrisi's], Leo the African, and other Authors ancient
and modern, concerning the Niger, Nile and Gambia, and observa-
tions thereon; by Francis Moore, Factor several years to the Royal
African Company of England. London : Printed by Edward
Cave, at St. John's Gate, for the Author, and sold by J. Stagg,
in Westminster Hall; and at St. John's Gate aforesaid,

M.DCCXXXVIII."

3 In my work on Africa, vol. i, pp. 120-276, the history of the
revolution in opinion on this subject is traced.

X

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INTRODUCTION. lxxi

it is difficult to say whether he, like others, did
not consult the Latin too frequently. It differs
from Pory, though it is not free from a few of
the blunders of Florianus. Moore, who like many
of the early West African traders, seems to have
been a man of unusual intelligence, adds a few notes
to his pages, some of which I have found of use in.
trying to interpret Leo's meaning.

Up to the year 1801, no German translation
seems to have appeared ; for in a critical sum-
mary of the book by the H of rath Paul Jacob
Bruns, 1 only the Latin of Florianus(Leyden edition,
1632) and the Italian of Ramusio are quoted.
This paper is a useful analysis of Leo ; but though
the author was a student of African geography, 2 the
information at his disposal scarcely enabled him to
do much in the way of elucidation, while the attempt
he makes to fix the principal dates of the Moor s
career is not in accordance with the facts which we
have extracted from the book itself.

But in the same year that Bruns published this
brief analysis, Leo's work was made the theme of
a discourse by Lorsbach, Prorector of the Nassau
University, in which the inaccuracies of the Antwerp

1 Leo's aus Africa Rcisen in Africa" vom Herrn Hofrath
Bruns (Gaspari und Bertuch's Allgemeine Geographische
EphemerideS) vii Bds. Viertes Stuck, April, 1801). Weimar,

PP- 3°9-344-

2 He wrote a Neue Systematische Erdbeschreibung von Africa,
Nuremberg : 6 vols. (1791-99), as part of a general geography by
Schneider and others.

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lxxii INTRODUCTION.

Latinist were anathematised in a tract of twenty
pages, half Latin half German, composed in the
true style of that grammarian who consigned his
rival to perdition for his treatise on the irregular
verbs. This exposure of his predecessor's inaccura-
cies was, however, only an advertisement showing the
urgency of a fresh translation, 1 which was duly pro-
duced five years subsequently. So far as literal
accuracy is concerned, this German version is fault-
less, but the author being entirely unfamiliar with the
region described by Leo, adds nothing of his own to
the elucidation of the text ; and as African explora-
tion was then in its infancy, he could benefit but
scantily by the labours of others. Most of his
emendata have, however, after verification, been
embodied in the present volume.

This was the last version of Leo produced, though
in 1830, Ramusio's Voyages 2 were reprinted at

1 Johann Leo's des Afrikaner's Beschreibung von Afrika.
Herborn, 8vo, 1805. This version is, according to my experience,
the rarest of all the editions of Leo. The British Museum does
not possess a copy, and I have in vain searched other libraries for
it, nor have I yet been able to obtain a copy in Germany (Feb.
4th, 1895).

2 II Viaggio di Giovan Leone \ e \ le navigazioni \ diAlviseda Ca
da Mosto y di Pietro di Cintra, di Annone^ \ di un piloto Portoghese
e di Vasco di Gama ; \ quali si leggono nella raccolta \ di Giovam-
battista Ramusio, \ Nuova Edizione, riveduta sopra quelle de 1
Giunti ; in molti luoghi \ emendata ; ed arricchita di sei notizie
che il viaggiatore, i navi \ gator i ed il raccoglitore ragguardano. \
Volume Unico — [medal, with portrait of Ramusio, and on the
reverse, a map of the world as known to him] Venezia, co' tipi di
Luigi Plot, mdcccxxx. Sm. folio, pp. 257. The notices of

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INTRODUCTION. lxxiil

Venice, and Temporals translation at Paris j 1 in
both cases with careful revisions of the text, though
without the maps or woodcuts in the original
version.

I have only to add that the late Dr. Heinrich
Barth promised, more than thirty years ago, to
undertake the task which has fallen to a less com-
petent successor. But it is understood that he had
made little — if any — progress with a labour for
which he was so eminently qualified, when his
untimely death in 1865 postponed for more than a
quarter of a century the reissue of a traveller, whose
only rival in the knowledge of Northern and Central
Africa had, up to that date, been Barth himself.
Fortunately, however, the accomplished young
German, in his two great works, 2 has put at our

Ramusio, Leo, and other authors are signed " B." Leo's work
occupies 168 double-columned pages. Only one volume was ever
issued. This is the Italian text usually quoted.

1 De VAfrique^ \ contenant \ la description de ce pays, \ par
Leon VAfricain \ et \ la navigation des anciens Capitaines
Portugais \ aux Indes Orientales et occidentals. Traduction
dejean Temporal. Four vols., 8vo. " Paris. Imprime* aux frais
du gouvernement pour procurer du Travail aux ouvriers typo-
graphies. Aout 1830" (De rimprimerie de L. Cordier). Vol. i,
pp. Iv, 640; vol. ii, pp. 581 ; vol. iii, pp. xvii, 576; vol. iv, viii,
758. Leo's share of the work is vol. i, pp. 1-640, and vol. ii, pp.
1-324.

It is a beautiful piece of typography, which, apart from being
undertaken to find " work for the unemployed printers", seems to
have been suggested by the public interest in Africa, due to the
capture of Algiers in 1830. A new French translation is medi-
tated by M. Schefer, of Paris (Feb. 5th, 1895).

2 Wanderungen durch die Kustenlander des Mittelmeeres,

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lxXlV INfkODUCTlON.

disposal the most important portion of his informa-
tion regarding the countries described in Leo ; and,
as the following pages will often bear witness, he,
though dead, speaks again in the notes extracted
from those volumes.

Works compiled from Leo's Africa.

Though the above editions comprise all that can
properly be described as acknowledged versions of
Leo, there are many other works which are, to all
intents and purposes, little more than compilations
from the information which he supplies, or para-
phrases of his text Thus Marmol-Caravajal — who,
like Leo, a native (1520) of Granada, and who was
taken prisoner during the expedition of Charles V
against Algiers, and for the next seven years travelled
over a great part of North Africa — in his famous
description of Africa, 1 merely translates largely from
his predecessors work, though he has the meanness
to mention Leo's name only once. 2

ausgefuhrt in den Jahren, 1845, 1846, and 1847. Two vols.
(1849) ; and Travels and Discoveries in North and Central Africa :
being a Journal of an Expedition undertaken tinder the auspices of
H. B. M*s. Government in the years 1849-1855. Five vols. (1857).
See also his paper on the " State of Human Society in Central
Africa", Journal Royal Geographical Society, vol. xXx, pp. 11 2-1 28.

1 Descripcion General de Africa, etc., 1573. In our notes, the
more accessible translation of D'Ablancourt {VAfrique, 3 vols*,
1667) is usually quoted.

2 Sub voce " Berdoa". He has even the effrontery to appro-
priate some of the personal adventures of Leo !

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INTRODUCTION. lxxv

On the other hand, Langres de Tassy 1 copies
freely from Marmol, while Joseph Morgan 2 is quite
as much in his debt, though it is incorrect to say
that his works are " mere translations'' from Langres
de Tassy.

Jean-Baptiste Gramaye 3 was an equally barefaced
plagiarist of Leo and Marmol, " Maximum partem",
runs the verdict of Hartmann, " t quae Geogra-
phiam spectant, ad verbum ex Leone desumsit".
Manuel de Faria y Sousa 4 is also indebted to him
for his information about various transactions, though
without acknowledgment.

Dapper 6 puts Leo freely under contribution, while
Ogilby's 8 huge folio is practically a translation of the

1 Histoire du Royaume d Alger (1725).

2 History of Algiers ; to which is prefixed an epitome of the General
History of Barbary from the earliest times (1728)/ A Compleat
History of the Piratical States of Barbary, etc.) by a gentleman
who resided therefor many years in a public character (1750).

3 Africa Illustrates, Lib. x in quibus Barbaria gentesque ejus
ut olim ut nunc describantur Tornaci-Nerviorum (Doornik), 1622.
Gramaye, who like Florianus was a citizen of Antwerp, had been
for some time a slave in Algiers (1619-1622), which to him was
"HelVs epitome", "Miseries Ocean", "Whip of the Christian
World", "Torture's Centre", etc. (1681).

4 Africa Portuguesa, etc. (1681).

5 Nauwkeurige beschrijving der Afrikaansche Gewesten van
Egypten, Barbaryen, Libyen, Biledulgered, Negroslant, Guinea,
Etheopitn, en Abyssinien. Amsterdam, 1668, 2nd ed. 1676, fol.

6 Africa : being an accurate description of the regions of Egypt,
Barbary, Lybia, and Billedulgerid, etc., 1670. It is valuable
historically for its plans of Tangier, while occupied by England.
Petit de la Croix's Relation Universale de PAfrique, etc. (1688), is
another plagiarism of Dapper.

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lxxvi INTRODUCTION.

Dutch geographer. D'Avity, also, would never
have written his work 1 had Leo not written before
him. Livio Sanuto 2 is more honest, though scarcely-
less indebted to the Moor, and all the map-makers
from Hondius 8 downwards, and even earlier — for in
Ramusio and Pory there are maps of Africa based
upon his descriptions — draw their information direct
from his pages. Indeed, up to a very recent date,
nine-tenth of the names on the maps of those parts
of Africa traversed by him were placed there on his
authority alone : for he was not only the great, but
the sole authority in these regions.

It is perhaps unnecessary to add, that every author
who had occasion to write on the Barbary States and
the " Land of the Negroes", quotes him profusely.
Hofer, 4 and Dureau de la Malle in his industrious
digest of the geography of the Province of Con-
stantine, 5 refer to him on almost every page ; and
as late as 1834, that most untrustworthy though
voluminous author, Graberg di Hemso, 6 again and

1 Description gkn'erale a" Afrique, etc., 1 643.

2 Geographia Distincta in xii liori, 1588. The authors whom
he most frequently cites are Leo, Cadamosto, Barros, Massoudi,
and Ptolemy.

3 Atlas Minor, 1608.

4 JO Univers pittoresque : Afrique (vol. v), 1848.

6 Province de Constantine: Recueil de Renseignement pour
t expedition ou Pitablissement des franfais dans cette partie de
V Afrique septentrionale, 1837.

6 Specchio geografico, e statistico delV impero di Marocco y 1834.
He also endeavoured {Journal Roy, Geog. Soc, vol. vii, p. 243) to
guess at some of the place-names in Leo ; but the attempt quite

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INTRODUCTION. lxxvil

again copies without acknowledgment Leo's descrip-
tions of Moroccan towns ; in many instances without
even taking the trouble to ascertain whether they
existed, or whether the data which were accurate in
1520 applied with the same strictness three centuries
later. In like manner, Lord, in his work on
" Algeria" (1830), compiles the geography in part
from Leo.

All of the older writers on Africa exhaust them-
selves in eulogies upon the Moorish geographer.
Pory has appended some of them to his own descrip-
tion of the parts of Africa undescribed by Leo.
Chief among these admirers of our author was
Richard Hakluyt. 1

Authors of a later date are scarcely less unani-
mous in vouching for the merits of Leo. Walckenaer,
who for his time was one of the most accurate
students of African geography, 2 affirms that seventy
years ago the geography of " Jean Leon, surnomm6
rAfricain", threw an entirely new light upon the
interior of Africa, and that "c'est encore aujour-
d'hui pour ces regions la principale autorite, la
source destruction la plus abondante et la plus pure.
. . . Les notions les moins douteuses que Ton a pu
acqu^rir dans les derniers temps, coincident avec
celles qu'il nous a donn^es."

deserves the uncomplimentary criticism bestowed on it by Tissot.
{Recherches sur la gkographie compark de la Mauri tanie Tingi-
tane> 1877, pp. 148, 461.) x See present edition, p. 103.

2 Recherches Geographiques sur rintkrieur de VAfrique septen-
trionaki etc. (1821), pp. 36, 84, 192.

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lxxviil INTRODUCTION.

Hartmann, a still more learned commentator on
mediaeval geography, 1 is even more enthusiastic in
his praise ; he remarks : " De libelli eius praestantia
inter omnes satis constat. Libellus (olim dicta enim
repetere me non poenitet) est aureus : quo si caruis*
sem lumine quasi quam saepissime caruissem." .

Scarcely a traveller has written on Northern or
Central Africa without citing Leo's opinions ; not
to cite the numerous minor writers who have been
indebted to, or have spoken in appreciative terms
of, the work, we may mention Renou, Pellissier,
Carette, Shaw, Temple, Mannert, Gu^rin, Playfair,
D'Avezac, Berbrugger, Castiglioni, the Beecheys ;
and last, but by no means least, Barth.

With the exception of some parts of the Atlas
and the Riff country, all, or nearly all, of the regions
described by Leo have been visited by European
travellers. Hence, while the old writers accepted
him as their sole available authority for the geo-
graphy of vast tracts, without the possibility of
checking his statements, the modern student is able
to regard him merely as an historian — a personal
witness of towns, and events, and manners which
have passed away, or of circumstances which for foiir
centuries have remained unaltered. But whenever
we are in a position to test his statements, Leo's
credit as an observer has gained rather than di-
minished. Hence, to-day, the traveller in Morocco,
or in Algeria, or in Tunis, or in Tripoli, or in

1 JLdrisii Africa, ed. altera, 1796, p. xx.

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INTRODUCTION. lxXU

Egypt and Central Africa, finds frequent occasion
to refer to John Leo, though seldom to scoff at
his accuracy when he discourses of what he actually
saw.

Indeed, among the many authors who have
commented on, or pillaged from, or mentioned his
book, the only ones whom I can remember as
unfavourable to him are Morgan and Chenier.
Morgan, himself one of the most audacious of
plagiarists, prefers Marmol in spite of his being
4 'somewhat too verbose, virulently partial, and not
always correct. 1

Chenier's meritorious treatise 2 — which is said to
have given great offence to Sidi Mohammed X —
though of little geographical value, sneers at Leo's
description of Fez as exaggerated. But when the
Scottish traveller, William Lithgow, 3 visited it about
the year 1617, he was amazed at the grandeur of
the mosques (into which, more fortunate than his
successors, he was permitted to enter), and palaces,
and caravanserais, which made it second only to
Cairo, equal to Constantinople, and far superior to

1 A Complete History of Algiers, etc., by J. Morgan (1731),
Preface, p. vii,

2 Recherckes historiques sur les Maures (1787), vol. iii, p. 65.

8 Totall Discourse of the Rare Adventures and Painefull
Peregrinations of long nineteene yeares Travay les from Scotland to
the most Famous Kingdomes in Europe, Asia, and Africa, wherein
is contayned an Exact Relation of the Lawes, Religion, Policies,
and Government of all their Princes, Potentates, and People, By
William Lithgow ; together with the grievous Tortures he suffered
by the Inquisition of Malaga in Spaine (1632), Part viii.

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1XXX INTRODUCTION.

Aleppo, these four cities being the greatest he had
ever seen at home or abroad ; though Lithgow
seems to exaggerate when he affirms that the
plain contained at that date "125,000 fine houses,
and in them a million of souls." Even at that
date it was a literary centre, the home of a " great
number of poets", and the scene every year, on
the Prophet's birthday, of literary competitions ;
albeit what he says on the subject bears a suspici-
ous resemblance to Leo's description, though our
traveller is never once mentioned by him.

Leo's Status as a Traveller.

This general consensus of opinion regarding the
merits of Leo — by the old writers who were com-
pelled to take him on trust, and by the younger
who were able to check many of his statements —
may be accepted as a positive proof that the great
reputation he has enjoyed for three-and-a-half
centuries is not undeserved. He occupies, in the
first place, a distinct position in the roll of African
geographers. His period comes between those of
El-Bekri and Edrisi on one side, and the histories of
Marmol, Haedo, Birago, Diego de Torres, Gramaye,
and the native historians on the other side. He may
indeed be described as the last of the Arab scholars
who derived their inspiration from the brilliant age
of Mussulman civilisation in Spain ; for the decadence
of his people in polite letters began at the date of
his birth; while even in his day, as he laments, the

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INTRODUCTION. lxxxi

love of polite letters had ceased to be a passion with
the African Moors. The Arab geographers before
El-Bekri scarcely deserved the name. Their works
were undigested compilations, out of which it is
often difficult to make any sense. Into this category
come Ibn el-Wardi and Kazwini. Even the works
of Abu-1-Feda and Ibn Haukal, both of which
contain so many useful notes on the early geography
of Africa, cannot be excluded from this general
stricture.

El-Bekri, with whose works Leo was acquainted —
for he begins Book vn with a reference to the fact
that neither he nor Mas'fidi supplies any informa-
tion regarding the Negro country — contrary to what
might be premised from his nationality, was not
personally familiar with Africa. He was born at
Cordova, towards the close of the eleventh or about
the beginning of the twelfth century, and in his
capacity of Kh&tib had frequent opportunities of
conversing with natives of the Northern provinces
of Africa. The principal of these informants was
a Berber, who came to Cordova about a.h. 352,
as envoy from the Omayyid Khalif, Mostanser.
But nowhere does Bekri say in so many words —
" this I saw with my own eyes", or " heard with
my own ears", as Leo is in the habit of doing. All .
that he is able to affirm is on the authority of some
preceding writer, or the declaration of some native
of the particular region he is describing, or the news
brought back by travellers who had explored the
region. His book is therefore a compilation of

g

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lxxxii INTRODUCTION.

second-hand information; though, no doubt, owing
to Spain and Africa being, at the time he wrote,
under Arab rule, his opportunities for picking the
brains of competent informants were excellent.

Edrisi was probably born about a.h. 493. (a.d.
1099-1100); and Casiri 1 seems to have satisfied
himself, though on what grounds he does not
inform us, that Ceuta, in Morocco, was his birth-
place. Cordova appears to have been the place
of his education, and from the intimacy with the
geography of Spain which he displays, it is pro-
bable that he travelled through most of that
country. However, he soon left for Sicily, whither
many of his family had fled after the victory of
'Obeid Allah ben Ismail El-Mahdi, towards the com-
mencement of the tenth century. In that island he
won the favour of King Roger II, under whose
patronage he wrote his " Going out of a Curious
Man to explore the Regions of the Globe, its
Provinces, Islands, Cities, and their Dimensions and
Situations"; the alternative name of " Nubian
Geography", which was given to it by Sionita and
Hezronita, two of its editors, being altogether arbi-
trary, as the book is actually a description of the
entire world known to Edrisi and his informants.
He does not seem to have travelled much himself,
for though he returned to Africa, and died at Ceuta,
the work which formed so notable a landmark in
the history of geography was a compilation from

1 Bibliotheca Arabico-Hispanica, vol. ii, p. 9.

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INTRODUCTION. lxxxili

notes supplied him by agents sent out expressly for
the purpose.

In this respect both he and El-Bekri differed
widely from Leo, who wrote for the most part about
what he had actually seen. But though Edrisi lacks
the luminous style of Leo, the critical acumen
which he bestowed on the materials put at his dis-
posal, imperfect and inaccurate though many of them
were, compares favourably with the credulity dis-
played by subsequent compilers such as the unknown
writer whose plagiarisms have been so long accepted
under the name of Sir John Maundevile's Voyage*
and Travaile, which seem to have been collected in
the first two decades of the fourteenth century. It
must also be remembered that when Edrisi wrote,
the Berber dynasty of the Almohades had just
dethroned that of the Almoravides ; and that though
the Arabs had begun to play a very secondary part
in the West, they were still powerful in the East —
a fact which the historian, in spite of his anxiety to
be agreeable to his royal patron, tries to impress
upon his readers. Leo also was the protege of a
powerful Christian sovereign — a circumstance which
doubtless suggested to him the omission of much
which might otherwise have been inserted in his
volume. Thus he observes much the same kind
of reticence regarding the conduct of the Spaniards
and Portuguese in Morocco, which Edrisi does
concerning the enterprise of Roger II.

Still, there is no reason to doubt the accuracy of
what Leo tells us. This, indeed, we can check by

g 2

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lxxxiv INTRODUCTION.

our own observations. The distinguishing feature
of this writer is the minute accuracy regarding com-
paratively trifling matters. Kafsa (Caphsa), which he
describes quite accurately, is inhabited, he informs
us, by a people of "a rude and illiberall disposition
and vnkinde vnto strangers : wherefore they are
held in great contempt by all other Africans"
(Book vi). This trait is still notorious, and was
noticed by Sir Grenville Temple when he visited
the place upwards of sixty years ago. Leo appears
(as we have already noted) to have kept memoranda,
otherwise it is impossible for his memory to have
preserved so many details : though when he finished
his volume he was very little over thirty years of
age. As a tribute to his conscientiousness, when
describing " the mountaine called Horteta" — the
highest peak of the Atlas — he mentions that he
saw many notable things there of which he could
" make no discourse at all, partly because they are
out of my remembrance*'. When Leo tells exactly
what passed before his own eyes he is seldom far
wrong ; it is only when he trusts to others that he
falls into absurdities. Throughout the book it is,
however, his own knowledge that is mainly relied
upon. It is only in matters of history that he quotes
from other writers, and from the frequency with
which he refers to them we obtain a hint regard-
ing the extent of his reading. Thus, he knew his
Ptolemy — as did Edrisi also — and his Orosius. He
often quotes Ibn el-Rakik, from whom he has
taken his account of the early Arab invasions and

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INTRODUCTION. lxXXV

other particulars, Edrisi, El-Bekri and Mas'ftdi ;
and though he does not mention him by name,
his description of the Riff is so like that of Strabo
as to suggest something more than a mere coin-
cidence ; and he is condescending towards Pliny as
a man of merit who erred owing to his ignorance of
Africa.

Nor, as we have seen, is his book free from errors
for which he, and not his translation, is responsible.
Thus, in addition to what we have already noted
regarding his errors in dates and the like, he is
altogether confused in discussing the site of Volu-
bilis, and he places Agadir (Gartguessen) on the
River Sus instead of six miles north of it, while
he confounds that river with the Nessa. Nor is
Leo innocent of blunders which cannot be attri-
butable to imperfect knowledge of certain countries.
Thus, he declares that the Chelif (Selef) rises in
the Gunseris (Wanseres) Mountains and falls into
the Mediterranean between Mezagran and Mosta-
ganem ; this river in reality having its source in
the Jebel el-Amtir in the meridian of Algiers, and
not in the Wanseres, which are much farther to
the west, while its mouth is to the east, not to
the west, of Mostaganem. Berbrugger 1 is, however,
entirely wrong in affirming that Leo makes the
Muluia fall into the ocean. He expressly intimates
that it enters " nel mare Mediterraneo non molto
discostb della citta di Casasa". It is Temporal who

1 Revue Africaine, 1858, p. 363.

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1XXXV1 INTRODUCTION.

makes this mistake, Florianus and Pory translating
Leo's text quite accurately.

His description of Tuggurt (Techort) is, how-
ever, the most extraordinary of his few inaccuracies.
"The ancient towne of Techort" — I am quoting
Pory, who renders the meaning quite satisfactorily —
"was built by the Numidians vpon a certain hill 1
by the foote whereof runneth a riuer, vpon which
riuer standeth a draw bridge. The wall of this
towne was made of free stone and lime, 2 but that
part which is next vnto the mountaine hath instead
of a wall an impregnable rock opposite against it : 3
this towne is distant fiue hundred miles 4 southward
from the Mediterranean sea, and about 300 miles
from Tegorarim (Tegorarin)". Again, in giving a
list of the places he is about to describe in the west,
he mentions first Tegorarin, then Mzab, then
Tuggurt, and last of all Wargla, the enumeration
proceeding from west to east. Yet Tuggurt is put
to the west of Wargla. However, it is in the
description of Tuggurt that he is most wide of the
mark, for that town has always been built in a
plain, not on a mountain. It has no river below,
for that name could not reasonably be bestowed on
the ditch or canal which receives the superfluous

1 " Una montagna corne un tufo" — a mountain in the form
of a promontory.

2 " Pietra viva e di creta."

3 " Non della parte del monte, perciocche ivi e difesa delle
rupe."

4 Leo's miles are Roman.

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INTRODUCTION. lxxxvii

irrigation water furnished by artesian wells. But,
as M. Berbrugger very justly remarks, if we admit
this canal to be the little river (fiumicello) of
Leo, and that he gives the name of a mountain to
the earthwork where the town is fortified, it is
impossible to understand how he places it between
Mzab and Wargla, or how he accounts for those
high rocks, of which there exists not a trace under
the city walls.

Nevertheless, the fact remains that Leo stands
out prominently among the writers, not only of his
own age, but of succeeding ages, for his freedom
from superstition and credulity, his absence of
prejudice, and his unusual accuracy.

Marmol, who wrote nearly a century later, was an
historian of a different type. His judgment had
been warped by the wrongs he had suffered during
his captivity in Barbary, differing so widely from
the kindness which Leo met with in the course of
his nominal servitude to the Pope. He displays
without moderation on every page his violent
religious prejudice, and his hatred of those who
professed a different faith from his own. He even
goes so far as to declare that his object in writing
was to stimulate the Christian natives " to arm
against the infidels". His position was a remark-
able contrast to that of Leo's in Africa. The Moor
passed out of Spain to receive honour and distinction
among his kindred in Barbary. The Spaniard left
the land of his birth to endure for more than seven
years the humiliation of slavery, in the very regions

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lxXXVlli INTRODUCTION.

through which his predecessor and townsman
travelled in freedom and comfort. Leo took what
notes he pleased. Indeed, as a man of letters, he
was encouraged to write on any and every topic,
and in his capacity of notary had ample oppor-
tunities for inscribing remarks on the peculiarities
of the people with whom he came into contact.
Marmol, by the surveillance of his guardians, was
doubtless debarred any such privilege, so that his
descriptions are taken almost verbatim from Leo,
though as an historian he has merits of his own.
Captain Carette 1 carries the contrast between the
two great rivals in the geographical description of
Africa still further. Thus, while Leo closed his
travels as a captive, Marmol closed his as a free man
in his own country, though it is equally to be
regretted " que le Chretien, transplant^ sous la tente
des Arabes, n'ait pu ecrire tout ce qu'il voyait, et
que le' Maure, transplant^ a la cour pontificate, n'ait pu
dire tout ce qu'il savait". And it is curious to note
that both writers ended life as they began it : the
Spanish officer by a translation of the Morals of
Saint Brigitte : the godson of Leo X by a treatise
on the Mohammedan religion, and most likely by a
recantation of the creed into which he had been
baptised.

1 Etude des routes suivies par les Arabes dans la partie mkri-
dionale de VAlgerie et de la rigence de Tunis ("Exploration
Scientifique de TAlgerie," vol. i, 1844), pp. ix-xxiv.

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INTRODUCTION. IXXXIX

The Credibility of Leo's Narrative.

Time has, therefore, dealt kindly with Leo : for
if we find that he is worthy of general confi-
dence on matters which can be checked, it is
justifiable to assume that he is equally to be
trusted when his statements cannot be verified.
There are, for instance, parts of the Atlas which
have not been visited since his day by any
.traveller capable of describing what he has seen ;
so that for the present, at least, it is impossible
to confirm his description of certain villages, tribes,
and geographical features, or even to identify them.
Again, the condition of the African cities in the
sixteenth century must, for the most part, be ac-
cepted on his word, and several towns described
by him are no longer to be found — the very names
have vanished.

This is, however, not a matter for any surprise.
Three or four centuries work wonderful changes,
even when a city of stone or brick and mortar is
left to itself. The native towns of Barbary are
generally built either of swish, of " tabia" (lime
and clay), or of sun-dried bricks, which after a few
rainy winters, if the houses are not repaired, re-
turn to their original clay ; and when places are
deserted, through w T ar or other causes, it is difficult
in a few years to trace the outlines of a once pros-
perous village, or even "city", after the Morocco
fashion. An apt illustration of this is furnished by

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XC INTRODUCTION.

Shaw, 1 though he rather exaggerates the unsubstan-
tially of a Barbary town. " When I was at Tozer
in December, a.d. 1727", he tells us, "we had a small
drizzly shower that continued for the space of two
hours ; and so little provision was made against
accidents of this kind, that several of the houses
which are built only, as usual, with palm branches,
mud, and tiles baked in the sun (corresponding
perhaps to, and explanatory of, the untempered
mortar, Ezek., xiii, 11), fell down by imbibing the
moisture of the shower. Nay, provided the drops
had been larger, or the shower of longer continuance,
or overflowing in the Prophet's expression, the
whole city would have undoubtedly dissolved and
dropt to pieces." Yet, in El-Bekri's day, Tozer was
regarded as "a great city surrounded by a wall of
stone and brick", many bazaars, suburbs, and a
numerous population. Even to-day, though its walls
are demolished, and it is little more than a collection
of villages, Tozer is still a place of some conse-
quence.

In Leo's pages we have repeated mention of
towns being evacuated and being half in ruins when
he saw them. This state of matters has been steadily
in progress ever since. War, pestilence, or the
whim of a Sultan, has led to once thriving places
being deserted, so that it is no wonder that many
" cities" visited by the traveller of four centuries

1 Travels and Observations relating to several parts of Barbary
and the Levant. Second edition (1757), p. 136.

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INTRODUCTION. XC1

ago are no longer to be seen. They have crumbled
into mud, or a few blocks of tabia, still bearing traces
of whitewash, stand amid the prickly acacia bushes
or the palmetto scrub : mute evidence that on a spot
where now no sound is heard save the squeak of the
land-tortoises, or the whirl of the partridges, were,
at a time of which tradition has not kept the record,
the hives of a busy race of men.

Again, whole tribes have been exterminated, and
towns razed, to gratify the vengeance of a conqueror.
To threaten a city with being so completely de-
stroyed that it might be sifted through a sieve, was a
common hyperbole of the Moorish Sultans. Then,
too, tribes not only disappear but change their
homes. Thus, in Leo's day, the valley of the Ziz —
or Siss — was inhabited by the Zanega, a Berber
tribe, the same Mr. Ball 1 suggests, as the Azanegues,
whom Ca da Mosto describes in the vicinity of the
Wad Nfin. They have since migrated across the
Sahara, and, still calling themselves Zanega and
speaking a Berber dialect, are dangerous neighbours
to the black people of the Senegal.

The names of places also change in time. One
example out of many may suffice. Agadir, which

1 Hooker and Ball, Tour in Morocco (1878), p. 377. This
volume contains a useful paper on the geography of South
Morocco; but Mr. Ball is in error when he supposes that " there
is nothing in the published annals of the Portuguese wars with
the Moors to suggest a belief that the former at any time
established their authority in the interior of South Morocco, or
even undertook any inland expeditions" (p. 383).

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XC11 INTRODUCTION.

in the Berber tongue means the wall (Arabic, Sdr),
is identical with the place which Leo calls Gart-
guessem ; yet at the time of the foundation of the
Portuguese fort, and while the place on the hill
grew, it was known to the Europeans as Santa Cruz,
and to the natives as the Europeans 1 house •(*.*.,
Tiguimmi-Rumi of the Berbers, Ddr-R&mi of the
Arabs).

A village will often be known by the name of a
noted chief or saint, and take that of his successor ;
or if, owing to any untoward incident, the old name
is accounted "unlucky", it will in time be changed.
Moreover, in North Africa, and especially in
Morocco, there are almost universally two names
for every place — the Arab and the Berber — and the
one which a traveller hears depends very much on
the nationality to which his informant belongs. On
the coast, and for the better-known cities of the
interior, there are usually three, the third being
that applied by the Europeans as their transforma-
tion of the native one. This, however, is not likely
to lead us far astray.

Leo had not, so far as we can gather from his
remarks, any acquaintance with the Berber lan-
guage ; so that it is very probable that he occasion-
ally mistook the pronunciation of place-names not
Arabic ; and when translating his Arabic manuscript
into Italian adopted a puzzling form of transliteration,
which may account for the peculiar shape some of
the names have taken, or for others the identity of
which is less easy to settle. In addition, it must have

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INTRODUCTION. XC111

inevitably happened that Leo's manuscript contained
the usual percentage of lapsus pennce ; while Ra-
musio's print, in spite of the care he bestowed
upon it, contains various errors.

All of these factors must be taken into account
in studying Leo's text and the accuracy of his state-
ments. We must not therefore allow the fact that
many of Leo's remarks no longer hold good at the
present time to have more than its due weight.

Changes since Leo wrote his Description
of Africa.

Leo is sometimes considered to have been
rather florid in his description of the riches and.
populousness of Northern Africa four centuries ago.
But there is no room for doubt that the popula-
tion of all the Barbary States, and that of Morocco
in an especial degree, must, with the prosperity
which population gives, have markedly diminished
within the interval between Leo's day and ours.
Even within the last century there has been a
remarkable decrease in both. Any other conclusion
is impossible. Arab and Berber families are usually
large, but no natural increment could make up for
the hecatombs slain in civil war, or laid low by
epidemics and famine. The ruined towns and vil-
lages, the deserted hamlets, the legends of populous
places where there are now no sounds save the cry of
the jackal, together with the startling falling-off in the
population of cities like Fez, Mekines and Merakesh,

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XC1V INTRODUCTION.

are proofs that even within the last century, or cen-
tury and a half, the people of Morocco have been
waning in numbers, while the decline in the pros-
perity of the Empire since Leo's day has been remark-
able. Allowing that he did not permit his country to
lose anything in the eyes of the Christians, for whom
his famous work was written — although there is not
much in its pages to demand any such postulate
— these must have been flourishing times in all
parts of the kingdoms of Fez and Morocco, and
particularly in Haha and other southern provinces,
where the people lived in comparative prosperity
and culture, where there were men of education
quite equal to the average of the period in Europe,
and even scholars of some distinction.

Yet it is difficult to fix the site of some of these,
and at the present day squalor and ignorance take
the place of the wealth and refinement which was
then so notable. In all of them the population has
dwindled away. Others, though bearing traces of
former grandeur, are now little better than heaps of
ruins and miserable villages, while the population of
the country cannot be a third of what it was when
Leo wrote. The iron and copper mines which
were worked in his day are now scarcely legend-
ary, and various crafts then generally practised
have in our time ceased to be followed. Educa-
tion was then so widespread that when Leo finds
certain out-of-the-way districts deficient in a know-
ledge of reading and writing, the fact is considered
worthy of note. No modern traveller would think

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INTRODUCTION. XCV

this circumstance worthy of a special memorandum
in his diary.

But otherwise, the Morocco of our day is
amazingly like the Morocco which Leo knew so
well ; just as his Africa, as a whole, is very like the
Africa of Herodotus or the " Dark Continent" of
the latest explorer. There is always the same
tawdry magnificence and the same squalid misery ;
the same absence of any middle class between
wealthy despotism and grinding poverty ; the same
lack of change, or desire to change, among the
people. The population is smaller and poorer, and
as a whole less enlightened ; yet they cherish the
same customs as their forefathers, and the inhabitants
of particular sections of the country are distinguished
by traits identical with those which the keen-eyed
Moor noted four hundred years ago, and the
more remote the region the more exactly do Leo's
words still apply. Cross-question, for example, an
Arab from Sus on the places described in this
work, and you will be startled to find him — of course
entirely ignorant of the purport of your questions,
and of the existence of the old historian — giving
answers which confirm almost verbatim the state-
ments made by him.

And the government is much what it always was.
The Empire is now nominally under a single head.
Yet now, as always, the Chiefs of the Southern
Arabs, and of the Berber tribes of the North, and
of some Arab septs, etc., recognise the authority of
the Sultan only when they are defeated by the army

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XCV1 INTRODUCTION.

with which he is all the summer marching to-and-fro,
collecting his internal revenue, or -engaged in
punitory expeditions against the refractory subjects
who have despitefully used his officials. The
merciless tyranny of the latter is as abominable as
ever, and the injustice, the venality, and the ruth-
lessness which are the concomitants of Moorish
rule, even more remarkable in our day than his,
though possibly the central authority is now
stronger than it was four hundred years ago.
However, many of the Atlas, Sus and Riff tribes
preserve their autonomy more or less perfectly,
though the democratic governments which prevailed
in towns like Sallee, Tarudent and Saffi (before the
Portuguese seized it) have long ago been crushed.

The Berbers of 1895 l° ve the Arabs no better
than those of 1455 did; and then, as now, the former,
living in stationary villages on the hills, are liable to
raid the flocks of the tented nomads in the valleys
below, with murderous reprisals when opportunity
offers on the part of the latter. No later than 1888,
the then Sultan, Mula'i el- Hasan, on one of his
expeditions against the Beni-M'tir and other moun-
tain tribes, got himself so hemmed in that it was
with difficulty a way was cut out for him by the
courage of Kaid Maclean and his troops ; andjstill
more recently one of the late Sultan's sons had an
equally narrow escape from the Zenmur tribe, whose
country is not far from Sallee- Rabat. In short, the
ancient "Mauri" — which the Berbers are — have
not, in spite of the lapse of twelve centuries,

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INTRODUCTION. XCV11

been conquered yet ; while little risings are of con-
stant occurrence, and for generations no Sultan has
succeeded to the throne without having to crush the
more or less formidable risings led by his rivals. 1
Still, turbulence and brigandage are less frequent
than in earlier times, and the safety of travellers
is something to be reckoned upon with greater
confidence.

With the exception of the Spanish presidios on
the coast, no Christian power has any part of the
Moroccan soil under its flag, and hence war against
the European powers is not so constant as it was
when, as in Leo's day, Spain and Portugal held most
of the seaports in their grasp. Christians have also
been treated with greater respect, since piracy and the
enslavement of captives have ceased, though it is
questionable whether they are loved any better than
in former days. There are numbers of them in all
the coast towns, and within the last two years agents
of commercial houses have managed for the first time
to establish themselves in Fez and Marakesh re-
spectively. In these cities, also, ladies, representa-
tives of a Scottish missionary society, have had the
courage to live and dispense medicines, for which
the Moorish appetite is ravenous ; though I am not
aware that their efforts have been crowned with
much success, if ever they have openly attempted
the perilous task of proselytising.

1 The young Mulai 'Abd el-Aziz has, up to date, escaped better
than his predecessors.

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XCV111 INTRODUCTION.

In other respects, the interior is still left entirely
to the natives, in spite of the fact that by treaty
obligation every part of the Empire is free to the
" Nasr&ni". Many parts can, indeed, be visited
only at the peril of the traveller, and there are vast
regions in Sus and in the Atlas, and the country
beyond, where not even the safe-conduct of the
Sultan is of any service to the explorer. During
the period of Leo Africanus, and certainly for
more than two centuries subsequently, Europeans
visited the out-of-the-way parts of Morocco almost
as freely as they do at present, and were even able
to trade with places, such as Tarudent, from which
they are at present practically debarred. 1

Still, take it as a whole, Morocco has not changed
to anything like the same extent which Europe has
in four centuries, though it would — from the facts
mentioned — be unreasonable to expect every little
town and village which Leo described to exist, or to
be exactly as they were in his day. It is still as
roadless, and as bridgeless as ever. Indeed, it is
probable that not one of the half dozen bridges in
the Empire dates from a period much later than his,
and the few ferryboats afloat in his time have, in

1 Roger Bodenham, previous to his trip to Mexico in 1564
{Hakluyt^ vol. iii), used to "trade and traffic to the ports of
Barbary", and suffered loss and hindrance "by that new trade
begun by me in the city of Fez" ; and when Captain John Smith
—afterwards of New England — went to Morocco in search of
soldierly service, he found several free Englishmen prospering in
Marakesh (Bibliography of Morocco », No. 173).

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INTRODUCTION. XC1X

some instances, not been replaced. The trains of
loaded camels, horses, mules and donkeys, and the
long cavalcade of mountain travellers, still trudge at
a walking pace over the same narrow bridle-paths
as their predecessors did a thousand years or more
ago. There has been absolutely no change, except
for the worse, and any advances made in the coast
towns are due entirely to the enterprise of foreigners.
An exception might be made in favour of the
army, though it is questionable whether the instruc-
tion of the tribesmen in the use of instruments of
more murderous efficiency can be described as
progress. Part of the standing army is now com-
manded and drilled by European officers, and a
French military commission, forced upon the Sultan,
usually accompanies his punitory expeditions. A
few thousands of the men are provided with arms of
greater precision than flint-lock muskets, and among
the equipment of the forces are some Krupp and
Armstrong guns. But medical staff or commissariat
are as little known to the Shereefian army as
humanity and the first principles of hygiene.
" Copples ' of wretched prisoners secured by the
neck accompany the victors in the civil broils
described, and happy is the fate of these unfortunates
if their heads surmount the city gates. Too
frequently they are sent to rot in loathsome
dungeons ; or if believed to be rich, or the relations
of rich people, they are tortured until they discover
their hoards, or their kinsmen relieve their sufferings
by disgorging to their cruel gaolers — which has

h2

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C INTRODUCTION.

been the way of Barbary and the East generally
ever since time was.

Algeria — though this name was not then devised —
has changed most of all, though there, as elsewhere,
the ways of the country people are not widely
different from what they have been for more than
eleven centuries. When Leo travelled through that
region it was still broken up into a number of
small independent kingdoms, under native princes of
Arab or Berber descent ; though then, as was the
case for long subsequently, the mountain tribes and
the desert nomads recognised no rulers but their
own chiefs. The most powerful of these petty
monarchs was the King of Tlemsen, though most
of what is now Algeria was then under the Kings
of Tunis. But the provinces of Algiers proper and
Tennez were generally bestowed by the Tlemsen
sovereign on sons or relations, who acted nominally
as Viceroys, though in reality as all but independent
rulers. But a little before Leo visited the country
the disruption had begun, by Spain (1505-10)
taking advantage of dissensions among these petty
sovereigns to invade the country, and conquer in
succession Mersa el-Keblr, Oran, Dellys, Bougia,
Mostaganem, Tlemsen and Algiers, in so far that this
town consented to pay tribute and to abandon piracy.
To enforce these conditions a fort was built on the
Penon, 1 part of which still exists as a foundation for
the lighthouse.

1 " A certaine high rocke standing opposit the towne." — Leo.

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INTRODUCTION. CI

It was at this juncture (1516) that the so-called
" Emir", Salem ben Teumi, hearing of the exploits
of the brothers B&b&-Ari\j and Kheir ed- Din-
better known as Barbarossa, a corruption of the
elder brothers Turkish name 1 — invited them to help

1 These two remarkable adventurers, whose names often figure
in Leo, were — so it is generally accepted, though the question is
a disputed one — the sons of Mohammed, an Albanian renegade,
who occupied a post of some importance in the navy of the
Sultan Bayazid. Retiring to the island of Mitylene to escape
punishment for a misdemeanour, he married in the town of
Bonava a Christian named Catalina, the widow of a Greek priest.
This is the statement of Sandoval {Historic de la vida y hechos del
imperador Carlos V, 1581), who positively contradicts the state-
ment of Paulus Jovius (Pauli Jovii Novocomensis Episcopi
Nucerihi, Historia sui Temporis, lib. xxiii, cited in Rerum a
Carolo V Ccesare Augusto in Africa bello gestarum Commentary etc.
Antwerp, 1555, p. 70) that they were the sons of a Greek priest
who had apostatised (vol. i, p. 65), and there is no basis for the
assertion of Marmol that the elder brother was born in Sicily of
an Andalusian mother. By his Greek wife Mohammed had six
children : two daughters, brought up as Christians (one of them
as a Religieuse), and four sons, who, as was the fashion in these
mixed marriages, embraced the religion of their father. The eldest
of these was Aruj, or Haruj (according to an Arabic MS. of
Gazewat in the National Library of France, translated by Venture);
Horuc (according to Sandoval), Latinised by Paulus Jovius into
Horucius, and in the MS. memoirs of Cardinal de Granvelle in
the Besan^on Library into Horuscius ; and Aruch, according to
Haedo's spelling. He was brought up as a sailor. (2) Ishak, a
carpenter. (3) Kheir ed-Din, variously rendered in European
histories by Hairadin, Chairadine, Haradin, and Tcherdine — who
was brought up to his fathers newly-adopted trade of pottery.
(4) Mohammed (sometimes called Ilyas), who aspired to the holy
life of a Marabout, or Saint. Sandoval (vol. i, p. 64) is the
authority for the doubtful assertion so widely credited that he
derived his welUknown name of Barbarossa from the Knights of

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C1I INTRODUCTION.

him to dislodge the Spaniards, from the castle
commanding the town, of which he was the nominal
ruler. These Corsairs had already (15 12-15 15)
failed to take Bougia, but in 15 14 they had turned
the Genoese out of Jijelli. Accordingly, they
readily accepted Salem ben Teumi's invitation, and
not only succeeded in making themselves masters of
the town, but putting the Emir to death proclaimed
BcLbeL-Artij king in his place. This was the
beginning of the Turkish Empire in Algeria, as
Leo relates, partly from his own observations, but to
a large extent from second-hand information, some
of the events noted having happened after his de-
parture from the country. For, sore pressed by the
Spaniards on one side, and by the native Algerians
on the other, Kheir ed-Dln, who had succeeded his
brother (15 18), put himself under the suzerainty of

Malta (Rhodes), by whom he was taken captive and served as a
galley-slave. — "Y como era vermejo", he tells us, "llamaren le
todos Barbarrosa no saviendo por ventura su proprio nombre."
— Rotalier, Histoire d? Alger (1841), t. i, pp. 76, 77, 79; M. de
Grammont {Revue Africaine, No. 171 (1885), p. 226; and
Histoire d Alger sous la domination Turque [1887]) is, however,
convinced that the old etymology is the right one. Mercier,
Histoire de PAfrique septentrionale, t. ii (1888), p. 426, etc. ; Rang
et Denis, Fondation de la Regence d* Alger > Histoire de Barberousse y
Chronique Arabe du xvu siecle, publie sur un manuscript de la
Bibliotktque royale y avec un appendice et des notes, etc. (1837),
vol. ii, pp. 103-107. This anonymous Arab author describes them
as the sons of Yakub Reis : " honnSte musulman qui fasait un
petit commerce maritime, dans PArchepel, avec un navire qu'il
commandait."

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INTRODUCTION. Clll

the Sultan, Sellm I, by whom he was named Pasha
of Algiers.

The subsequent events it is not necessary to
recapitulate at any length. The Turks gradually
extended their conquests over the whole of Algeria,
and all the Barbary States except Morocco,
where they never had a footing (though they
marched on Fez). The Pashas were succeeded
by the Deys, whose vile rule lasted until 1830,
when the French seized Algiers, and in the course
of a few years, after in vain trying the experi-
ment of suzerain native princes, 1 took possession
of the entire region. The result was good govern-
ment, good roads, fine railways, public buildings far
in advance of the necessities of the colony, and the
transformation of all the old crumbling Arabo-
Turkish towns.

But of the Turkish rule Leo said little. Even that
of Barbarossa had not fairly begun when he was taken
to Italy. Yet he saw most of the incidents described,
having travelled from Fez to Tunis, and been enter-
tained by " one that was sent ambassadour from the
people of Alger into Spaine, from whence he
brought three thousand bookes written in the
Arabian toong"; an event dating prior to the Spanish

1 Thus 'Abd el-Kader was Emir of Tlemsen, and of all the
Province of Oran, beside Titeri, his governors ruling in Miliana
and Medea; and until 1837, Hajj-Ahmed was, if not formliay
recognised, the independent ruler of Constantine, the French not
even attempting to displace him until 1836, on which occasion
Marshal Clauzel met with a grievous reverse.

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CIV INTRODUCTION.

domination mentioned. He was at Bougia during
the time Barbarossa was besieging the place. There
were two sieges of this town, one in 1 5 1 2 by BaM-
Artij (who lost an arm in the attack), and the other,
not more successful, in 1515, by his brother, Kheir
ed-Dln. As Leo expressly limits the name of
Barbarossa to the elder brother, this must refer to
the former of these two sieges. But as the Moor
tells us that he afterwards proceeded to Constantine
in the due course of his journey, and next to Tunis,
hearing in the meantime that " Barbarossa was
slaine at Tremizen, 1 and that his brother called
Cairadin succeeded in the government of Alger",
(which took place in 1518), this could scarcely
have referred to the same journey. It is, indeed,
probable that the news reached him after he had
left the country, for immediately after he tells us
how "we heard also" that "the Emperour Charles
the fift had sent two armies to surprize Alger : the
first whereof was destroied vpon the plaine of Alger,
and the second hauing assailed the towne three daies
together was partly slaine and partly taken by

1 This event took place not actually at Tlemsen — as usually
stated — but at the River of Oudja, or Rio Salado, west of Oran,
when, after his escape from the city which he had defended for
twenty-six days, Aruj was overtaken by Alfonso Velasco (not
Martin d'Agote, as Marmol has it). The man who slew him after
a desperate fight was the ensign, Garcia de Tineo. On this
subject, Elie de Primaudace's Histoire de r occupation Espagne en
Afrique (1506-15 74) : Documents in'edits (1875), p. 25 et passim,
and Berbrugger, Revue Africaine, vol. iv, pp. 25-33, ma y be
profitably studied;

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INTRODUCTION. CV

Barbarossa, insomuch that very few escaped backe
into Spaine. This was done in the yeere of the
Hegeira nine hundred and twentie two" — which gives
the incorrect date of a. d. 1516. Moreover, though
the army sent by Ximenes (who became Regent of
Spain on the death of Ferdinand 1 ) under the com-
mand of Diego de Vera was so utterly routed, that
after his return to Spain the children shouted after
him that Barbarossa with one arm defeated him with
two, the defeat was not quite so complete as Leo
describes. Still, as he saw the close of the Arab
and Berber rule, and the beginning of the Turkish,
this portion of the Moor's narrative is more than
usually valuable.

Tunisia has changed perhaps less than Algeria, so
far as the civilisation of the people is concerned ;
but territorially it has altered quite as much. Be-
fore the events which led to the settlement of the
Turks in Barbary, the Kings of Tunis were the
most powerful of the sovereigns in that part of
North Africa. Their power extended from Tripoli
in the east, to Constantine and Bougia in the west,
these principalities being generally governed by
relatives, sons or favourites of the king. In addition
to the authority they exercised in their immediate
dominions, the Tunisian sovereigns had much
influence with the Arab tribes, in what it is now the

1 Charles V was then a boy of sixteen, and was not elected
Emperor till three years later. I quote Pory; but, as will be
seen by-and-by, both Florianus and he have given a very slovenly
translation*

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CV1 INTRODUCTION.

fashion to call their "hinterland". But several of
the provincial governors were, as in the neighbour-
ing kingdoms, almost independent. It is perhaps
needless to add that neither Bougia nor Constantine
is now a fief of Tunis, while Tripoli has long been
a possession of the Sultan of Turkey:

When Leo knew Tunis (before 1520, for his
subsequent residence and death in that country are
problematical) Mulai Abu 'Abd Allah Mohammed,
of the Beni Hafs dynasty, was King. He died in
1525. For a time his heirs maintained, with the
help of the Spaniards to whom they had become
vassals, a nominal power, alternated by tussles with
Dragut the Corsair, who was twice master of the
city of. Tunis. But the last of these suffragan
princes disappeared when the Turks ousted the
Spaniards. Then, from the 3rd of September
1573, to the 12th of May 1881, the " Khutba"
was read in the name of the reigning Sultan
of the Osmanlis. But from the latter of these
dates, Tunis, from being a Regency of Turkey —
though in reality governed by a Dey or a Bey inde-
pendent in everything but the name — became a
Protectorate of France, or, in other words, a colony
conveniently ruled in a despotic manner by a Resi-
dent who, as Mayor of the Palace, issues his decrees
in the name of Sidi 'Ali, brother of Mohammed es-
Sadok, the ruler whom the French insisted on
"protecting". He will, most likely, even as rot
faineant, be the last reigning descendant of Hussein
ben 'Ali, the Greek renegade, who, in 1705, was

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INTRODUCTION. CV11

elected Bey by the Turkish soldiers, and thus
founded the dynasty now on the eve of expiring.

Since the new condition of affairs, Tunisia has
changed somewhat. Justice is better, if not so
cheap, and tyranny, other than that of the bureau-
crat, is unknown. The coast-towns have all re-
ceived a garrison, and have acquired a varnish of
the cafe type of civilisation ; a railway runs from
the city of Tunis to Algiers, and two smaller ones
to Goletta, Carthage, and Hamman el-Enf. There
is a boulevard and a European quarter outside the
walls of the capital, which are already getting
breached ; and a costly system of administration
has been introduced, entirely unsuited to a land in
which the old patriarchal rule, purified and im-
proved, would have been amply sufficient..

But the interior is even yet very little affected by
the Franks. There the Arabs live as they have
always lived, and though the traveller is no longer
in the imminent peril of losing his purse and his life,
as he was before the days of the protectorate,
the habits of the tribesmen are unaltered.
• Tripoli, Barca and Cyrenaica are perhaps the
least changed of all the Barbary States — less so than
even Morocco. For, though the country is now a
vilayet of the Ottoman Empire, there has been
little alteration in it during the last four or five
centuries. When Leo visited this region, it was in
a state of transition as regards rulers. Don Pedro
Navarro had just (1510) wrested the city of Tripoli
from the Tunisian sovereign, on behalf of Ferdinand

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CV111 INTRODUCTION.

the Catholic. Thirteen years later, Charles V be-
stowed it upon the Knights of St. John, who, in
1553, were compelled to surrender to Dragut and
Sinan, the Turkish pirates. Up to the year 17 14
the country was governed by Bashaws, who were
tributary to Constantinople, in much the same way
that the Deys of Algiers or the Beys of Tunis were.
But, in that year, Ahmed Pasha Karamanli became
actually independent, and his descendants continued
to rule Tripoli until 1835, when the Turks took ad-
vantage of a civil war to reassert their own authority.
Yet all these revolutions affected only the city
of Tripoli and a few of the coast towns. A little
way into the interior, the Arabs and Berbers lived
without troubling themselves much over who had,
or who had not, " Tarabulus al-Gharb", except in so
far as the quarrels for mastery interfered with their
caravan trade, the crocus gardens from whence their
saffron was produced, or their chance of plunder.
Tripoli (like the adjoining parts of Barbary) ought
to-day to be under the successors of the Knights ;
for the Maltese are still their commercial masters,
and, beyond such civilisation as they have brought in
their train, this dirty Moorish town bears few traces,
except in its battered fortifications, of having been
so often contended for by half the nations of
Christendom. A few miles beyond the walls the
country is stationary. Roads and wheeled carriages
are unknown, the safety of travellers not to be
reckoned on, and railways a dream which never
disturbs the sleep of the drowsy inhabitants.

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INTRODUCTION. C1X

Egypt is, so far as the river-side and coast
towns are concerned, a very different land from that
which Leo described. All these are Frenchified or
Anglicised. Railways thread the country, and
martial airs of the Gaiours' garrisons call the Faith-
ful to prayer. But Leo made his acquaintance
with the Nile Valley at an interesting period of its
history, namely, just subsequent to the year 15 17,
when the long line of Slave Kings — called the
Bahri, or Turkish, and the Burgi, or Circassian,
Mamelukes, to whose enlightened love of art
Cairo still bears witness — came to an end on the
conquest of Egypt by the Ottoman Sultan Selim I.
Leo's description of Lower Egypt contains the
earliest account which we possess of. the " Soldans"
court, both before and after this grievous mis-
fortune for the Delta. Otherwise, the data he
supplies regarding the country at large are less
important than those concerning other regions ;
and he seems to have compiled his accounts of
"Anthiiis" and other places either from inaccurate
information, or from manuscripts which he met with
in Rome, since it is difficult to make them fit in
with known facts.

Finally, the central portions of Africa visited by
him have not until lately changed at all (except
those situated on the fringe of the desert south of
Algeria or on the Upper Niger), or, at least, only
in so far that one dynasty of black kings has been
succeeded by another. His description of the
towns would serve equally well to-day : his accounts

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CX INTRODUCTION.

of the habits of the people are not very different
from those brought home by the most recent
explorers. But in the four centuries which have
elapsed since his day, Africa has been penetrated
in every direction, and Timbuktu, of which he gives
the earliest account known to us, has been reached
by many travellers ; while the Niger was descended
in 1889 from Barnaku almost to the city itself —
which is not on the river — by a French steam-
launch, 1 and in 1894 this city was occupied by a
French garrison.

Timbuktu is thus, with most of the Sahara, now
brought within the French " sphere of influence' 1 .
In time a railway will reach it either from Senegal
or from Algeria, and this once mysterious city will
receive unbelieving visitors as complacently as has
the holy city of Kairw&n since 1882. Bornu and
Sokoto and "Ghinea", with much of the Upper
Niger and Lake Tschad country may, in like
manner, become at some future date a Protectorate
of Great Britain.

In his particularisation of the genealogies of the
Upper Niger kings, Leo falls into some blunders,
which will be pointed out in the proper place, and

1 This voyage to Kabasa, the port of Timbuktu, was made
by Lieut. Carson in 1887 : two years later Lieut. Jaime* made a
second trip with two gunboats, starting from Kuliman, close to
Barnaku, reaching the neighbourhood of Timbuktu without
difficulty. — Caron, De Saint-Louis au Port de Tombouktou.
Sourai, 1891. Col. Bonnier occupied it on the 10th January
1894.

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INTRODUCTION. CXI

his natural history is, with few exceptions, very
indifferent. This, indeed, is the most unsatisfactory
section of Leo's volume ; his critical faculty is at its
worst when he enlarges on " the strange beasts and
other liuing creatures of Africa' — the lions 1 20 feet
in length, " the sea-oxe," and " the huge and
monstrous dragons" — notwithstanding his amusing
patronage of Pliny, who was among the number of
authors he had read with evident attention.

Altogether, in closing these preliminary critical
remarks on the old African traveller, it is not
saying more than he deserves when I affirm that he
is one of the few geographical writers of his age who
can still be read, not merely for the purposes of the
historian, or for entertainment — and he is good for
both — but also for actual information regarding the
condition of the countries and the habits of the
people described by him.

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A GEOGRAPHICAL

HISTORIE of AFRICA,

Written in Arabic!^ and ftalian

by Iohn Leo a More, borne

in Granadajnd brought vf

in Barbaric.

Wherein he hath at Urge defenbed, notonelythe qualities, fituattons, mi true
di Stances of the regions . cities, townes/nountames.mers, and other places
throughout all the north And principal! partes of Africa \ but alfo the
defcents and families of their kings, thecaufes andeuents of their mrres,
with their manners , cnHomes , religions , and cimle gouernment , and
many other memorable matters : gathered partly out of his own* di-
ligent obferuattons, and partly out of the ancient records md Chronicles
of the Arabians and Mores.

Before which, out of the beft ancient and moderne writers, is prefixed agenerall
defcription of Africa, and alfo a particular treatife of all themaine lands
and files vndefcribed by lohn Lea.

And After the fame u annexed a relation of the great Princes >and the manifold religions
trt that p*rr of the world.

Tranflatcd and collc&ed byloHNPoRY, lately '

of Goneuill and Caius College

in Cambridge.

L O NT) I N /,

fmfenfis (jeorgfBifhop.

l 6 o o

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TO THE RIGHT HONORA-

ble sir Robert Cecil, Knight, princi-

pall Secretarie to her Maiestie, Master

of the Court of Wardes and Liueries, and

one of her Highnes most Honorable

prime Counsel/.

O heere the first fruits, or rather the
tender buddes and blossomes of my
labours. Which least in this their
winterly sprouting they might per-
haps by some bitter blasts of censure
be frost-nipped, I humbly recom-
mend to your Honorable protec-
tion.

Most due they are onely to your selfe, being for the

greatest part nothing else, but a large illustration of cer-

taine southern voiages of the English, alreadie dedicated

to your Honour. And at this time especially I thought

they would prooue the more acceptable : in that the

Marocan ambassadour (whose Kings dominions are heere

most amplie and particularly described) hath so lately

treated with your Honour concerning matters of that estate.

Vouchsafe therefore (right Honorable) according to your

accustomed humanitie towards learning, to accept of this

Geographicall historie, in like manner as it pleased your

Honour not long since most fauourablie to take in good

part those commendable indeuours of my reuerend friend

M. Richard Hakluyt : who out of his mature iudgement in

these studies, knowing the excellencie of this storie

aboue all others in the same kinde, was the onely

man that mooued me to translate it.

At London this three and fortieth most

ioifull Coronation-day of her

sacred Maiestie.

1600.

Your Honors alwaies most

readie to be commanded

lOHN PORY.
A 2

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To the Reader.

Iue me leaue (gentle Readers) if not to
present vnto your knowledge, bicause
some perhaps may as wel be informed
as my selfe; yet, to call to your
remembrance, some fewe particulars,
concerning this Geographicall His-
toric, and Iohn Leo the author
thereof.
Who albeit by birth a More, and by religion for many
yeeres a Mahumetan : yet if you consider his Parentage,
Witte, Education, Learning, Emploiments, Trauels, and
his conuersion to Christianitie ; you shall finde him not
altogither vnfit to vndertake such an enterprize ; nor
vnwoorthy to be regarded.

First therefore his Parentage seemeth not to haue bin

ignoble : seeing (as in his second booke himself e testifietk) an

Vncle of his was so Honorable a person, and so excellent an

Oratour and Poet ; that he was sent as a principall Ambas-

sadour,from the king of Fez, to the king of Tombuto. 1

And whether this our Author were borne at Granada in
Spaine, (as it is most likely) or in some part of Africa ; 2
certaine it is, that in naturall sharpenes and viuacitie of
Wit, he most liuely resembled those great and classicall
authours, Pomponius Mela, Iustinus Historicus, Columella,
Seneca, Quintilian, Orosius, Prudentius, Martial, Iuuenal,
Auicen, &c. reputed all for Spanish writers ; as likewise
Terentius Afer, Tertullian, Saint Augustine, Victor,
Optatus, &c. knowen to be writers of Africa. But amongst
great varietie which are to be found in the processe of this

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TO THE READER. 5

notable discourse, I will heere lay before your view one onely
pattern e of his surpassing wit. In his second booke therefore ■,
if you peruse the description of Mount Tenueues, ^<?# shall
there finde the learned and sweete Arabian verses of Iohn
Leo, not being then fully sixteene yeeres of age, so highly
esteemed by the Prince of the same mountaine, that in recom-
pence thereof after bountifull entertainment, he dismissed him
with gifts of great value.

Neither wanted he the best Education that all Barbarie
could affoord. For being euenfrom his tender yeeres trained
vp at the Vniuersitie of Fez, in Grammar, Poetrie,
Rhetorick, Philosophic, Historie, Cabala, Astronomie, and
other ingenuous sciences, and hauing so great acquaintance
and conuersation in the kings court \ how could { he choose
but prooue in his kinde a most accomplished and absolute
man? So as I may iustly say (if the comparison be
tolerable) that as Moses was learned in all ± the wisedomej>f
tlie Egyptians ; so likewise was Leo, in that of the Arabians
and Mores.

And that he was not meanely, but extraordinarily learned ;
let me keepe silence, that the admirable fruits of his rare
Learning, and this Geographicall Historie among the rest
may beare record. Besides which, he wrote an Arabian
Grammar, highly commended by a great Linguist of Italie
who had the sight and examination thereof ; as likewise a
booke of the Hues of the Arabian Philosophers ; and a
discourse of the religion of Mahumet ; with diuers excellent
Poems, and other monuments of his industrie, which are not
come to light.

Now as concerning his Emploiments, were they not such
as might well beseeme a man of good worth ? For (to omit
how many courts and campes of princes he had frequented)
did not he, as himself e in his third booke witnesseth, personally
serue king Mahumet of Fez in his wars against Arzilla ?
And was he not at another time, as appeereth out of his second

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6 TO THE READER.

Booke, in seruice and honorable place vnder the same king of
Fez, and sent ambassadour by him to the king of Maroco ?
Yea, how often in regard of his singular knowledge and
iudgement in the lawes of those countries, was he appointed,
and sometimes constrained at diuers strange cities and
townes through which he trauelled, to become a iudge and
arbiter in matters of greatest moment ?

Moreouer as touching his exceeding great Trauels, had he
not at the first beene a More and a Mahumetan in religion,
and most skilfull in the languages and customes of the
Arabians and Africans, and for the most part trauelled in
Carouans, or vnder the authoritie, safe conduct, and com-
mendation of great princes : I maruell much how euer he
should haue escaped so manie thousands of imminent
dangers. And (all the former notwithstanding) I maruel
much more, how euer he escaped them. For how many
desolate cold mountaines, and huge, drie, and barren deserts
passed he? How often was he in hazard to haue beene
captiued, or to haue had his throte cut by the prouling
Arabians, and wilde Mores? And how hardly manie
times escaped he the Lyons greedie mouth, and the deuouring
iawes of the Crocodile ? But if you will needes haue a
brief e iournall of his trauels, you may see in the end of his
eight booke, what he writethfor himself e. Wherefore (saith
he) if it shall please God to vouchsafe me longer life, I
purpose to describe all the regions of Asia which I haue
trauelled : to wit, Arabia Deserta, Arabia Petrea, Arabia
Felix, the Asian part of Egypt, Armenia, and some part
of Tartaria ; all which countries I sawe and passed through
in the time of my youth. Likewise I will describe my last
voiages from Constantinople to Egypt, and from thence
vnto Italy, &c. Besides all which places he had also beene at
Tauris in Persia: and of his owne countrey, and other African
regions adioining and remote, he was so diligent a traueller ;
that there was no kingdome, prouince, signorie, or citie ; or

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TO THE READER. 7

scarcelie any towne, village, mountaine, valley, riuer, or
forrest, &c. which he left vnuisited. And so much the more
credite and commendation deserueth this woortky Historie of
his ; in that it is (except the antiquities, and certaine other
incidents) nothing else but a large Itinerarium or Iournal of
his African voiages : neither describeth he almost any one
particular place, where himself e had not sometime beene an
eie-witnes.

But, not to forget His conuersion to Christianitie, amidst
all these his busie and dangerous trauels, it pleased the
diuine prouidence, for the discouery and manifestation of
Gods woonderfull works, and of his dreadfull and iust
iudgements performed in Africa (which before the time of
Iohn Leo, were either vtterly concealed, or vnperfectly and
fabulously reported both by ancient and late writers) to
deliuer this author of ours, and this present Geographicall
Historie, into the hands of certaine Italian Pirates, about the
isle of Gerbi, situate in the gulf e of Capes, betweene the cities
of Tunis and Tripolis in Barbaric Being thus taken, the
Pirates presented him and his Booke vnto Pope Leo the
tenth : who esteeming of him as of a most rich and inualu-
able prize, greatly reioiced at his arriuall, and gaue him most
kinde entertainement and liberall maintenance, till such time
as he had woone him to be baptized in the name <?/* Christ,
and to be called Iohn Leo, after the Popes owne name. And
so during his abode in Italy, learning the Italian toong, he
translated this booke thereinto, being before written in
Arabick. Thus much of Iohn Leo.

Now let vs acquaint you with the Historie it selfe. First
therefore from so woorthy an author, how could an historie
proceed but of speciall woorth and consequence ? For proof e
whereof, I appeale vnto the translations thereof into Latine,
Italian, Spanish, French, English, and (if I be not decerned)
into some other languages? which argue a generall approba-
tion of the same, I appeale also to the grand and most

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8 TO THE READER.

* Read pag. 59 iudiciall Cosmographer* Master Iohn Baptista Ramusius,

of places vnde- #

scribed by iohn sometime Secretarie to the state of Venice, who in the
Preface to his first volume ofvoiages, so highly commendeth
it to learned Fracastoro, and placeth it euery word in the
very forefront of his discourses, as the principal and most
praisewoorthy of the all. And were renowned Ortelius
aliue, I would vnder correction report me to him ; whether
his map of Barbarie and Biledulgerid, as also in his last
Additament that of the kingdomes of Maroco and Fez, were
not particularly and from point to point framed out of this
present relation, which he also in two places at the least
preferreth farre before all other histories written of Africa. 4
But to leaue the testimonies of others, and to come neerer to
the matter it selfe; like as our prime and peerelesse English
Antiquarie master William Camden in his learned
Britannia, hath exactly described England, Scotland,
Ireland, and the isles adiacent (the which by Leander
for Italie, by Damianus a Goez briefly for Spaine, by
Belforest for France, by Munster for vpper Germanie, by
Guiccardini for the Netherlandes, and by others for other
countries hath beene performed) so likewise this our author
Iohn Leo in the historie ensuing hath so largely \ particularly,
and methodically deciphered the countries of Barbarie,
Numidia, Libya, The land of Negros, and the hither part
of Egypt, as (I take it) neuer any writer either before or
since his time hath done. For, if you shall throughly consider
him y what kingdome, prouince, citie, towne, village, moun-
taine, vallie, riuer ; yea, what temple, college, hospitall,
bath-stoue, Inne ; or what other memorable matter doth he
omit ? So doth he most iudicially describe the temperature
of the climate, and the nature of the soile, as also the dispo-
sitions, manners, rites, customes, and most ancient pedigrees
of the inhabitants, togitker with the alterations of religion
and estate, the conquests, and ouerthrowes of the Romaines,
Goths, and Arabians, and other things (by the way) right

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TO THE READER. 9

tvoorthie the obseruation. So that the Africans may iustly
say to him, and the English to master Camden, as the prince
of Roman oratours did vnto Marcus Varro the learnedst of
his nation. Nos in patria nostra peregrinantes errantesque Tuii. Acad.

, . . ... . . , , , quaest. lib.

tanquam hospires, tui libn quasi domum deduxerunt, vt
possemus aliquando, qui & vbi essemus, agnoscere. Tu
aetatem patriae, tu descriptiones temporum, tu sacrorum
iura, tu domesticam, tu bellicam disciplinam, tu sedem
regionum, & locorum, &c. Which may thus be rudely
Englished. Wandring vp and downe like Pilgrimes in our
owne natiue soile, thy bookes haue as it were led vs the
right way home ; that we might at length acknowledge
both who and where we are. Thou hast reuealed the
antiquitie of our nation, the order of times, the rites of our
religion, our manner of gouernment both in peace and
warre, yea thou hast described the situation of countries
and places, &c.

Now as concerning the additions before and after this
Geographicall Historie ; hauing had some spare-howers since
it came first vnder the presse ; 1 thought good (both for the
Readers satisfaction, and that Iohn Leo might not appeere
too solitarie vpon the stage) to bestowe a part of them in
collecting and digesting the same. The chief e scope of this
my enterprize is, to make a briefe and cursorie description of
all those maine lands and isles of Africa, which mine author
in his nine bookes hath omitted. For he in very deed leaueth
vntouched all those parts of the African continent which lie to
the south of the fifteene kingdoms of Negros, and to the east
of Nilus. For the manifestation whereof, I haue (as truely
as I could coniecture) in the mappe adioined to this booke,
caused a list or border of small prickes to be engrauen; which
running westward from the mouth of Nilus to The streights
of Gibraltar, and from thence southward to the coast of
Guinie, and then eastward to the banks of Nilus, and so
northward to the place where it began ; doth with aduantage

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10 TO THE READER.

include all places treated of by Leo, and excludeth the residue
which by way of Preface we haue described before the
beginning of his African historic Likewise at the latter end
I haue put downe certaine relations of the great Princes of
Africa, and of the Christian, Iewish, Mahumetan, and
Gentilish religions there professed. The Princes of greatest
account either inhabiting or at least possessing large territories
there, are first The grand Neguz or Christian Emperour of
Abassia or the higher Ethiopia, commonly called Presbyter
The varietie of Iohn or (as Zagazabo his owne ambassadour would haue

this emperours * °

names read in him) Pretious Iohn ; but bicause throughout all the Ethiopick

a marginall •

note Pag. of relation of Francis Aluarez, being the best that euer was

places vnde-

scribed by written of those parts, he is continually named Prete Ianni,
in imitation of him I also most commonly call him by that
name. And so likewise though Zagazabo 5 (for the more
magnificent reputation of his prince) will haue his dominions
called Ethiopia ; yet with the consent of some approoued
authors, and also to distinguish the country of this emperour
*rom many other regions situate both in the higher Ethiopia,
and in the lower ; I haue set it downe in my mappe, and in
my discourses do most vsually speake thereof vnder the name
of Abassia. The other great Princes intreated of in the said
relations, are The K. of Spaine, The Turkish Emperour,

serifo Xerif0 ' ° r The * Xarifo otherwise called The Miramonfn or the king of
Maroco Sus and Fez, and the emperour of Monomotapa.

My methode in the discourse before Leo is after a generall
preface of Africa, to begin at the Red sea, where Leo endeth;
and thence (as well in the description of the maine lands, as
of the isles by him vntouched) to proceed on southerly to the
cape ofBuensi esperan9a ; from which cape we retume toward
the north, describing all along the westeme countries and
isles 0/" Africa, till we haue brought our whole descriptions to
an endvpon the most southwesterly parts of Barbarie, where
our author Iohn Leo beginneth his.

Et quoniam (as one faith) turpe non est, per quos pro-

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TO THE READER. II

seceris, agnoscere : my principall authors out of whom I
haue gathered this store, are, of the ancienter note, Ptolemey,
Strabo, Plinie, Diodorus Siculus, &c. and amongst later
writers, I haue helped my selfe out of sundrie discourses in
the first Italian volume ^/"Baptista Ramusio, as likewise out
of Iohn Barros, Castanneda, Ortelius, Osorius de reb. gest.
Eman. Matthew Dresserus, Quadus, Isolario del mundo,
Iohn Huighen van Linschoten, & out of the Hollanders late
voiages to the east Indies, and to San Tome* : but I am much
more beholding to the history of Philippo Pigafetta, to the
Ethiopick relations of Francis Aluarez, & of Damianus
a Goez, and beyond all comparison (both for matter and
method) most of all, to the learned Astronomer and Geographer
Antonius Maginus of Padua, and to the vniuersall relations
written in Italian by G. B. B.

And heere, before I surcease, I must admonish the Reader

of certaine faults escaped in some copies : as namely in the

description of the isles in the Barbarian bay, Acotatado,y0r

Acotado ; in a marginall note ouer against the description

ofTombuto in the seuenth booke of Iohn Leo, Money for Gold ;

in the relation of the Christianitie of Egypt, Hypostasis

twice togither, in stead of Hypostases ; and in the

discourse of the Christianitie of Congo, Paulo

Aquitino, for Panso Aquitimo. Other

liter all faults (if there be any) will not

be hard for the Reader himself e

to amend.

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12

A GENERALL DESCRIPTION

Africa other-
wise called Li-
bya.

The greater
part of Africa
vnknowen in
former ages.

When Africa
was sailed
round about.

* And since
also by the En-
glish, French,
and Dutch.

* Bartholomew
Dias doubled
the cape before ;
but returned
fearefully with-
out proceeding
any farther.
The etymologie
or deriuation
of this worde
Africa.

A generall description of all Africa,

togither with a comparison of the ancient

and new names of all the principall

countries and prouinces therein.

57J Hat part of inhabited lande extending
1*1 southward, which we call Africa, and
the Greeks Libya, is one of the three
generall parts of the world knowen
ynto our ancestors ; which in very
deed was not throughly by them
discouered, both bicause the Inlands
coulde not be trauailed in regard of huge deserts full of
dangerous sands, which being driuen with the winde, put
trauailers in extreme hazard of their Hues ; and also by
reason of the long and perilous nauigation vpon the
African coasts, for which cause it was by very few of
ancient times compassed by nauigation, much lesse searched
or intirely known. Of which few, the principall were
Hanno a Carthaginian captaine sent by the gouernours of
that commonwelth for discouerie of the saide lande, and
one Eudoxus that fled from Ptolemceus Lathyrus, the king of
Alexandria. Howbeit in these latter times it hath beene
often* by the Portugals sailed round about, and diligently
searched, especially along the shore, euen from the
streights of Gibraltar to the enterance of the red sea :* but
the first Portugall that euer doubled the cape of Buena
esperanga, and coasted the south and southeast parts of
Africa, in former times vnknowne, was Vasco da Gama y
in the yeere 1497, who from hence sailed to Calicut in the
east Indies, to the vnspeakeable gaine of the Portugals.
To omit lohn Leo his etymologies of this name Africa ;

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OF ALL AFRICA. 1 3

Festus will haue it to be deriued from the Greeke worde

falter), which signifieth horror or colde, and from a the

particle priuatiue, as who shoulde say, .Africa is a pla ce

free from all horror and ext rpmitie nf rnlH^ bicause it lieth

open to the heauens, and is sandie, drie, and desert.

Others say that it is called Africa quasi Aprica y that is

exposed and subiect to the scorching beames of the sunne,

the most part thereof lying betweene the Tropicks. Iosephus

wil haue it so called from Afer one of the posteritie of

Abraham^ and others from Afer sonne to Hercules of

Libya. But it was by the Greekes called Libya, bicause it Why Africa

was in old time conquered by Libs the king of Mauritania. Ijlya. '

In the holie Scriptures it is called Chamesis, by the

Arabians and Ethiopians Alkebulam, and by the Indians

Besecath.

In situation & shape this land of Africa is almost an The situation
islle, being by a very small and narrowe neckland (passing "Africa? 6 °*
betweene the Mediterran sea and the gulfe of Arabia, alias
the red sea) conjoined to Asia, and in extension of ground
being almost twise as bigge as Europe, albeit for inhabi-
tants it is not halfe so populous. Wherefore though in a comparison
longitude from west to east Africa be shorter then Europe a^dEurope Ua
in some places, yet extendeth it so farre vnto the south,
that Europe in that respect is nothing comparable vnto it :
for Africa containeth almost seuentie degrees in latitude,
whereas Europe stretcheth but fiue and thirtie degrees :
moreouer Africa is more vniforme and spacious; but Europe
is of a more distracted and manifolde shape, being in
sundry places dispersed & restrained by the sea. Howbeit
notwithstanding Africa hath farre greater extension oi The causes why
ground then Europe, yet is it not so populous, nor so simdeViyTn-
commodious to inhabite : for the lande of Africa is in hablted -
many places vnhabitable ; the principall causes whereof
are, the scarcitie of water, the barrennes of the soile, being
either couered with unprofitable sande, dust, or ashes, or else

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14 A GENERALL DESCRIPTION

SandUseasin being subiect to extreme heate of the sunne : also there are

Africa. ^

certaine dangerous heapes of sande, which being raised by
the winde, are driuen vp and downe like the waues of a
tempestuous sea: In briefe, there are such abundance of
venemous and hurtfull creatures, that for feare of them
the land in some places can very hardly, and in others
by no meanes be manured or inhabited, be it neuer so
fruitfull. Wherefore in diuers parts this region lieth waste
and vnpeopled : howbeit where it is inhabited, it is exceed-
ing fertile, and that especially in the north parts thereof,
lying ouer against Europe, where (according to the report
of many historiographers, and cosmographers) it was in
ancient times abundantly furnished with inhabitants : so
likewise all the westerne coast betweene Cabo de buena
esperancja, and Cabo Negro situate about nineteene degrees
of southerly latitude, containeth many plaines, hils, vallies,
and other places most fruitfull and pleasant, it being there
a continuall spring, and elsewhere also it is verie fertile,
as it shall be declared more at large in the particular
descriptions of each region.
The position of The Equinoctiall circle doth in a manner diuide Africa

Africa, accord- ^

ingtothe i n the verie midst thereof; from whence it stretcheth not

neauens.

onely to each tropique, but also twelue degrees almost
beyond them both : wherefore the greater part is com-
prized betweene the saide Tropiques vnder the Torrid or
burnt Zone, for which onely cause the ancient writers
supposed it to be vnhabi table and desert in so many
places : which indeed is much rather to be ascribed to the
waste wildernesse, the barren and sandie soile, and the
scarcitie of waters and fountaines. It comprehendeth
therefore fully and perfectly the three first northerly
climates, and so many and the like climates southerly ;
for it is situate betweene the eleuenth north Parallele,
and the eleuenth Antiparallele, or south Parallele, both
which are equally distant from the Equinoctiall on either

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OF ALL AFRICA. IS

side. But about either of the foresaid extremes, the
longest day consisteth of fowerteene howers and one fourth
part, and about the midst, of twelue howers exactly.
Likewise as touching the longitude, Africa stretcheth from
the Meridian vnder fower degrees to the Meridian vnder
fower-score and two degrees of longitude, to wit, from Cabo
Roxo, or the Red cape on the west, to Cape Guardafu on
the east side, betweene which two capes is the greatest
bredth of Africa.

Africa hath too narrowe boundes allotted vnto it by Iohn The boundes of
Leo and certaine others, for they disioine the greater part of a '
Egypt and all Ethiopia there from. Wherefore it is more
conuenient in this behalfe to follow Ptolemey, and the late
writers, limiting the same on the north with the Mediterran
sea, and the streights of Gibraltar ; on the east with the
Red sea or the Arabian gulfe, and the small neckland of
Asia passing betweene the Mediterran sea, and the said
gulfe ; on the south (at the cape of Buena esperanga,
where it endeth in forme of a wedge) with the maine
Ocean partly called the Ethiopian sea, as being neere vnto
the land of Ethiopia ; and on the west, from the hither
side of the Equinoctiall line, with the Atlantike Ocean,
(called by Ptolemey Mare Occiduum, by Dionysius
Hesperiunty and part thereof by the Spaniards Mar del
Norte) but beyond the Equinoctiall line it is bounded
westward with the Ethiopian sea.

Africa hath very many and most exceeding great Themoun-
mountaines, the principal whereof is Mount Atlas, whose Africa. •
tops of incredible height rising out of the midst of sandy Mount Atlas.
desertes, exalt themselues aboue the cloudes. This
mountaine beginneth westward at that place, where it
distinguisheth the Ocean by the name of Atlanticus :
from whence by a perpetuall ridge, after many windings
and turnings, it extendeth east toward the confines of
Egypt: moreouer it is in most places rounde, hard to

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1 6 A GENERALL DESCRIPTION

ascend, craggie, steepe, impassable, cold, barren, shadie,

and euery where full of woods and fountaines, with

cloudes alwaies houering about the tops thereof, being

* Tkjprou™- forlorn and desolate toward the Ocean, but ouer against*

ces of Temizen,

Alger, Bugia, Africa minor, most fertile, and abounding with plentie of
and Tunis. ' corne and of thick woods which are clad with a kinde of
mosse no whit inferior to silke.

The tops of this mountaine are couered with deepe
snowes euen in the midst of sommer : and sometimes when
the North winds blow any thing sharpe, the snow falleth
in such abundance, that it hideth the trees growing vpon
the sides thereof, and is deadly both to man and beast.
Extreme cold Moreouer the fountaines which are here found, are so

fountaines. .

extreame cold in the hottest of sommer, as if a man should

dip his hand therein but for a short space, it would loose

Mountaines both life, sence, and motion. Besides Mount Atlas those

called Os Picos . .... c 1 - i i .

fragosos: that mountaines likewise are very famous, which being situate

tinted. ' * iohn on the south part of Africa, are called by the Portugales

lib^l'cap 6 . '^ Os Picosfragosos : 6 for by reason of their surpassing height

and craggie cliffes it is impossible to skale them, and they

are bare, forlorne, and destitute of all reliefe.

Likewise the cape commonly called Sierra Leona is as
it were framed out of an exceeding high mountaine, which
may be kenned a mightie distance off: the top of this
mountaine is continuallie ouershadowed with cloudes,
which often send forth dreadfull thunder and lightening :
whereupon some think it to haue bin called by Ptolemey,
and by Hanno of Carthage, The chariot of the gods. 7
Luna monies. The mountaines of the moone also, knowen of old, and
situate vnder the Tropique of Capricorne, being very high
and craggie, are inhabited by barbarous and sauage people
nere vnto which are valleis of such exceeding depth, as if
they reached to the center of the earth. 8 Likewise there
are certain mountaines in Angola called Cabambe con-
taining most rich siluer-mines, &c.

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OF ALL AFRICA. 1 7

Also in Africa are certaine mightie lakes, which for their The lake of
extension seem rather to be seas, the principal whereof b y some others
called by some Zembre, being situate by a number of huge )he Equinoc-'
mountaines, and distant from the Equinoctial eleuen or Hall%
twelue degrees to the south, containeth about fiue hundred
leagues in compasse out of which lake doe spring the
famous riuers of Nilus, Zaire, and Cuama, and some affirme
very strange sea-monsters to be therein. 9

Africa likewise hath many exceeding great riuers, as The riuers
namely Nilus, Niger, Senaga, Gambra, Zaire, Abagni,
Tagassi, Coluez, Coauo, Cuama, and Maniche, or Rio del
spirito santo, all which are in a manner of the same ,
qualitie and disposition ; for with their yeerlie inundations
they doe most wonderfullie fatten and enrich the soile of
the territories adioyning. Nilus the most famous riuer mius.
of the world, diuiding Egypt in the midst, and with his
ouerflowes making it most fruitefull, continueth in his
yeerely increase fortie daies, and forty daies in decrease ;
to wit, from the seuenteenth of lune to the sixt of October :
and this riuer after a mightie long course through Ethiopia
and Egypt, dischargeth his streames into the Mediterran
sea. The riuer. of Niger, running through the land of Niger.
Negros, called of old (as Solinus supposed) by the naturall
inhabitants Astabus, and (according to Marmolius) Hued
Nijar in the Arabian toung, is now esteemed by Paulus
Iouius to be Gambra, and by Cadamosta the riuer of
Senega ; but that both of them are deceiued, it is euident
out of the description of Sanutus, who putteth downe the
two foresaid riuers seuerallie, and thinketh Niger to be
that which is now called Rio grande. This riuer taketh
his beginning, as some thinke, out of a certain desert to
the east,, called Seu, or springeth rather out of a lake, and
after a long race, falleth at length into the western Ocean.
It increaseth also, for the space of fortie daies like Nilus,
and is for so long space decreasing about the verie same

B

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iS A GENERALL DESCRIPTION

time; by which inundation it bringeth such fruitfulness
vnto all the land of Negros (certain mountaines onely
excepted) as no place in the world can be imagined more
fertile. Senaga or Canaga, a most notable riuer, called,
as some thinke, Baratis by Ptolemey, and for the length
thereof, and manifold strange creatures therein contained,
comparable to Nilus, seuereth by his winding chanel the
barren and naked soile, from the greene and fruitefull.
Moreouer it maketh a separation betweene nations of
sundrie colours : for the people on this side are of a dead
ash-colour, leane, and of a small stature ; but on the
farther side they are exceeding blacke, of tall and manly-
stature, and very well proportioned : howbeit neere vnto
the riuer on either side, they are of a meane colour, com-
plexion, and stature betweene both the aboue mentioned.
It falleth into the sea by two mouthes, the principall
whereof is about a mile broad, vp into the which the sea
entreth almost 60 miles. It springeth (according to John
Barros) out of two lakes (the greater whereof is now called
the lake of Gaoga, but heretofore by Ptolemey Oielonidce
paludes y and the lesser Ptolemey calleth Nubcepalus) as
These two ri- also out of a riuer named by Ptolemey Ghir. This riuer of

uers of Senaga .

andGambra Senaga hath great variety of strange fishes, and other

are not cer- i i • • i » i

tainiy known, creatures that hue in the water, as namely, sea-horses,

lie mate rnters crocodiles, winged serpents, and such like: neere vnto it

tro^wckesand ^ so are great store of Elephants, wilde bores, lyons, and

Tiiger? ^ leopards. Gambra or Gambea a very great riuer, lying

betweene Senaga and Niger, and esteemed by Sanutus to

be that which Ptolemey called Stachir, fetcheth his originall

from the lake of Libya, and from the fountaines which

Ptolemey assigneth to the riuer of Niger: this riuer in

greatnes and depth exceedeth Senaga, and hath many

vnknowne riuers falling thereinto, and bringeth foorth all

kindes of liuing creatures that Senaga doth. In the midst

phants?° '" of this riuer standeth the Isle of Elephants, so called, in

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Of ALL AFRICA. 19

regarde of great numbers of those beasts. The riuer
Zaire beginneth out of the same lake from whence Nilus
springeth : this being one of the greatest riuers of all
Africa, and vtterly vnknowne vnto ancient writers, con-
taineth at the mouth eight and twentie miles in bredth,
hauing a very safe harbour for ships to ride in : also there
are many and great Islands in the chanell thereof, and
sundrie riuers do fall thereinto, the principall whereof are
Vumba, Barbela, Coanza, and Lelunda : in briefe, this
riuer Zaire running through the kingdome of Congo,
disgorgeth it selfe into the maine Ethiopian sea. Out of These two

riuers of Cua-

same lake, which is the very fountaine of Nilus, springetlv^ and Mag-

, , , , r . , . . - , nice {according

another notable and famous riuer, which after a long race to Phmppo
toward the south and east, is diuided into two branches : spring both out
the northerly branch, which is exceeding great (for \t°{J!darenot ae
receiueth sixe great riuers thereinto, and is nauigable for Jj*^ J °^ one
the space of seuen hundred miles) being properly called
Cuama, and the other branch more southerly, which is
verie great also, being named Manich or Magnice, or Rio
del spirito Santo. 10

The promontories, capes, or headlands of Africa be verie Thepromon-
many, the most famous and principal wherof are, The °fAfrTca
cape of Buena esperanga, or good hope, Cabo verde, and esperanza™"*
Cabo de los corrientes. The cape of Buena esperan^a or
good hope is the extreame southerly point of all Africa,
being a most renowned and dangerous promontorie, which
in the yeere one thousand foure hundred ninetie seuen was
the second time discouered by Vasco da Gama at the
commandement of Don Emanuel king of Portugal : this
cape the mariners were woont to cal the lion of the Ocean,
and the tempestuous cape, by reason of the russling and
roring of the windes, which they found there for the most
part very boisterous : for the sea thereabout is exceeding
rough, by reason of the continual fury of the windes ;
neither will any nauigatours touch vpon the cape, except

B 2

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20 A GENERALL DESCRIPTION

Caboverde. they be enforced by meere necessitie. Cabo verde or
The greene head-land, is esteemed by some to be the same
which Ptolemey calleth Promontorium Arfinarium, & is
compassed on either side by the riuers of Senega and

Cabo de los cor- Gambra. Cabo de los corrientes, otherwise called the cape

rtentes. x

of San Sebastian, stretcheth foorth it selfe right ouer
against the south ende of the great Isle of Madagascar :
it is a cape well knowne, by reason it is so dangerous to
double, which the Moores durst not passe for a very long
time.

And heere as concerning the strange beasts, fishes,
serpents, trees, plants, and roots of Africa, as likewise
touching the diseases, whereto the African people are most
subiect; and the varietie of languages (excepting the
Chaldaean, Egyptian, Turkish, Italian, and Spanish toongs)
which are now and haue beene of ancient times spoken in
Africa ; I refer the Reader to the first and last bookes of
lohn Leo, and to other places, where they are at large
and purposely intreated of.
The inhabit- Moreouer this part of the worlde is inhabited especially

ants o/ Africa. ..... , , . .. ,

by nue pnncipall nations, to wit, by the people called
Cafri or Cafates, that is to say outlawes, or lawlesse, by the
Abassins, the Egyptians, the Arabians, and the Africans or
Moores, properly so called ; which last are of two kinds,
namely white or tawnie Moores, and Negros or blacke
The diuersitie Moores. Of all which nations some are Gentiles which

of religions in ,.,,, , /-, r •**■ *

Africa. worship Idols ; others of the sect of Mahumet ; some

others Christians ; and some Iewish in religion ; the
greatest part of which people are thought to be descended
from Cham the cursed sun of Noah ; except some Arabians
of the linage of Sem, which afterward passed into Africa.
Now the Arabians inhabiting Africa are diuided into many
seuerall kinds, possessing diuers and sundrie habitations
and regions ; for some dwell neere the sea shore, which
retaine the name of Arabians ; but others inhabiting the

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OF ALL AFRICA. 21

inland, are called Baduini. There bee likewise infinite

swarmes of Arabians, which with their wiues and children, * iZ*^

leade a vagrant and roguish life in the deserts, vsing tents U^^

in stead of houses : these are notable theeues. and very

troublesome both to their neighbour-inhabitants, and also

to merchants : for which cause trauellers and merchants

dare not passe ouer the African deserts alone, but onely in

Carouans, which are great companies of merchants riding,

and transporting their goods vpon their camels and asses :

who go very strong, and in great numbers, for feare of the

said theeuish Arabians.

Ptolemey in his fourth booke of Geography diuideth The ancient
Africa into twelue regions or prouinces : namely, Mauri- A/rZTby
tania Tingitana, Mauritania Caesariensis, Numidia, Africa a comparison of
propria, Cyrenaica, Marmarica, Libya propria, AEgyptus witn^thT*
superior, AEgyptus inferior, Libya interior, AEthiopia sub fnodernenames -
AEgypto, & AEthiopia interior.

Mauritania Tingitana, the most rich and beautifull Mauritania

r a r • i r i • • rr*»« • i • i Tingitana, be-

countrey of Africa, so named of the citie Tingis, which we ing ail one with
at this day call Tanger, was sometimes also (as Plinie f Ma?oc™nd
witnesseth) called Borgundiana: moreouer others haue es '
called it by the names of Mauritania Sitiphensis, Hispania
Transfretana, and Hispania Tingitana : but Solinus termeth
the same Mauritania inferior. The inhabitants were of old
named by the Graecians Maurusij, and by the Romaines
Mauri, but the Spaniards at this present terme them
Alarabes. 11 In this part of Africa are now contained two
stately kingdomes, namely the kingdome of Maroco, and
the kingdome of Fez ; both which are enuironed with the
mountaines of Atlas, the Ocean and the Mediterran seas,
and to the east with the riuer of Muluia.

Mauritania Caesariensis, named according to the citie of Mauritania
Caesaria, which was so called after the name of Claudius caih^uhis
Ccesar, at this present bearing the name of Tiguident ox^eT^dAigeV.
Tegdemt, which worde in the Arabian toong signifieth

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22 A GENERALL DESCRIPTION

ancient ; was by Victor Vticensis, termed Mauritania maior ;
by Strabo Massilia, and Massaesilia, and the inhabitants
thereof by Plinie Massaesuli. At this present it containeth
the kingdome of Tremizen, as Dominias Niger, and Giraua
are of opinion.
Numidu the Numidia the ancient, called in the time of Ptolomey, The

anctent, con- •' '

tayningBugia, new, but by the Greekes (as Plinie testifieth) Metagonitis,

Bona, Metzad, and the inhabitants thereof Numidae, and Nomades ; is

that region which lieth betweene The great riuer, and the

riuer Megerada, ouer which countrey king Masinissa bare

rule. It containeth now (as I coniecture) the prouinces of

Bugia, Constantina, Bona, and Mezzab. Howbeit at this

present we vnderstande by Numidia that region which lieth

betweene the mountaines of Atlas and the Libyan deserts,

called by Iohn Leo and Marmolius Biledulgerid, or the

lande of Dates, bicause this is the onely region for plentie

of Dates, in all Africa.

Africa propria Africa propria, situate vpon the Mediterran sea, betweene

kingdom* of the regions of old Numidia, and the Cyrene, is called by

Tunis.

Plinie Zeugitania, who diuideth it into the ancient and the
new. At this present it is the kingdome of Tunis, for it
containeth Byzacium, which by Strabo is accounted a part
of Africa propria. The head of this prouince in times
past was Carthage, whereof at this present there are
nothing but ruines extant.
Cyrene now Cyrene, or Cyrenaica, by Plinie called Pentapolis,

called Mesrata. J J J r *

and by the Hebrews Lebahim, is esteemed by Giraua
to be at this present called Corene, and by Andrew
Theuet y Assadib : but Iohn Leo and Marmolius name it
Mesrata.
Marmarica Marmarica is called by Plinie Mareotis, and Libya :

comprehended

in the desert of howbeit at this present the desert of Barcha, described by
Iohn Leo in his sixt booke, containeth a great part of
Cyrenaica, and all Marmarica.

Libya propria,

called Sarra. But Libya propria, retaineth till this present the name

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OF ALL AFRICA. 23

of Libya, and is that part which the Arabians call Sarra,
which worde signifieth a desert.

Both the ancient Ethiopias are now possessed by the AEMopia,

now called

Abassins, vnder the dominion of Prete Ianni. Abassia.

Egypt retaineth euen till this day, the ancient name.

The best moderne diuision of Africa, for these our times
is to adde vnto the foure general partes, Barbaria, Numidia,
Libya, and the land of Negros, set downe by Iohn Leo,
th^ee other generall partes to wit, Egypt ; the inner or the
vpper Ethiopia, containing Troglodytica, Nubia, and the
empire of Prete Ianni ; and the lower, or the extreme
Ethiopia, stretching from the said empire along the sea-
coast, and through the Inland euen to the Cape of Buena
Esperanga.

Thus much of Africa in generall. Now it remaineth
that we briefly describe in particular all the principall
maine landes, and islands, (vndescribed by Iohn Led) which
thereto belong, or adioyne ; beginning first with the Red
sea one of the chiefe limites of Africa, and from thence
shaping our course along the easterne or farthest quarters
thereof, through the dominions of Prete Ianni, the lande of
Zanguebar. the empires of Mohenemuge, and Monomotapa,
and the region of Cafraria : and then, hauing doubled the
cape of Buena esperan^a, range we along the westerne
partes by the kingdomes of Angola, Congo, Anzichi, Benin,
Ghinea, and by the capes of Sierra Leona, Capo verde, and
the castle of Arguin, till we haue brought our selues to
finish our course, vpon the most southwesterne partes of
Barbarie, from whence our author Iohn Leo beginneth his.

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24 A DESCRIPTION OF PLACES

A particular description of all the knowne borders,

coastes and inlands of Africa, which Iohn Leo

hath left vndescribed : collected out of

sundry ancient and late writers.

Of the red sea.

THe red sea called by others the Arabian gulfe, and the
streight of Mecha, containing in length twelue
hundred miles, and in bredth but one hundred, is deuided
into three partitions or chanels ; the middlemost whereof
being called The large or deepe sea, is without danger
nauigable both day and night, because it hath from fiue
and twentie to fiftie fathomes water, especially from the
isle of Camaran euen to Suez stading at the very bottome of
the gulfe : the other two partitions, which are the easterne
and westerne extremities, are incumbred with so manie
little isles and rocks, as it is impossible to saile ouer them
but onely by day-light, and with most expert pilots, which
This isle I take are to be hired at a small island lying ouerthwart the very

to be Babel- , r f , , . , , , .

mandei. mouth or entrance of the red sea ; which the ancient kings

of Egypt (if the report of Strabo be true) barred with a
chaine, from the African, to the Arabian side. 12 This sea
is very skarce of. fish ; perhaps because there fall no riuers
thereinto, which with their fresh and sweete waters doe
much delight and nourish the fish ; and the strand or shore
thereof is destitute of all greene grasse, herbes, or weedes.
The portes and hauens of this sea are for the most part
very dangerous and difficult to enter, by reason of the
manifold windings and turnings, which must be made, to
auoide the rockes.

Suez called of At the very head or North end of this gulfe, standeth

olde Heroum ,.,, r ^..

duitas, and Suez, which heretofore seemeth to haue bin called Ciuitas
Heroum, and in the times of Dauid and Salomon Hazion-

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VNDESCRTBED BY TOHN LEO. 25

Geber, from whence the fleetes of those partes were sent
to Ophir for golde and other rich commodities. Vnder
the Egyptian Ptolemeys and the Romans, this towne
flourished exceedingly, by reason of the infinite quantitie
of merchandize brought thither from the east Indies, and
Arabia. But now it is nothing so frequented ; partly in
regard of the mighty concurse and traffique which Mecha
draweth vnto it selfe, and partly by reason of the
Portugales conueiance of spices and other Indian
commodities about the cape of Buena esperanga. At
this present the great Turke hath there an Arsenate, Arsenate signi-

r b . Jiethastore-

with certaine gallies, for feare of the Portugals aforesaid : house for mu-
nition , and for
against whome there haue bin dispatched from this place all necessaries

two greate fleetes, one for the assailing of Diu, and another poire, andfur-

for Ormuz. Howbeit because all the countries round nts a '

about are vtterly destitute of wood, it is a matter of infinite

charge to furnish foorth a fleete from hence ; for they are

constrained to fetch their timber as far as Caramania, <

partly by sea, and partly vpon camels backs. At this

towne of Suez they haue no fresh water; but all their

water is brought them from a place sixe miles distant

vpon camels backs, being notwithstanding brackish and

bitter.

The western shore of the Red sea is inhabited with Troglodyte

people called in old time Troglodytae, which at this that liued in ,

present do all of them yeelde obedience to the great TarVh™ auoiJe

Turke : who considering, that the fleets of the Portugales Mng'TAuef

entered very often into the Red sea, and were there *»• tSVa*-

receiued by the subiects of Prete Gianni, and did him USJu. *"

great domage; hath thereupon taken occasion not onely

to conquer the Troglodytae, but also to wast and subdue

a great part of Barnagasso, the most Northerlie prouince A great part of

of the said Prete. So that the audacious attempts of ^^ subdued by the

Portugales in those parts haue bred two most dangerous

and bad effects ; the one is, that the Arabians haue most

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26 A DESCRIPTION OF PLACES

strongly fortified all their sea-townes, which before lay
naked and without fortification ; the other, for that the
Turke also hath bin occasioned thereby to make warre
against the Prete. Wherefore they ought not to haue
vndertaken any such enterprise, but with full resolution
and sufficient forces to accomplish the same : for lesser
attempts serue to no other end, but onely to rouze and
arme the enimie, which was before secure and quiet.

Neither is it heere to be omitted, that in the foresaide
sea, a man can saile in no ships or barks, but only those of
the great Turke, or at least with his licence, paying vnto
him for tribute a good part of the fraight. For this
purpose he hath certaine Magazines or store-houses of
timber, which is brought partly from the gulfe of Satalia,
and partly from Nicomedia, and other places vpon the
Euxin sea, vnto Rosetto and Alexandria ; from whence
it is afterward transported to Cairo, and thence to Suez.

This sea is called the Red sea, not in regard that the
waters thereof be all red, but (as some thinke) from
certaine red rushes which growe vpon the shore : and (as
others are of opinion) from a kinde of red earth which in
sundry places it hath at the bottome : which earth dieth
not the very substance of the water red, but by trans-
parence causeth it (especially neere the shore) to appeere
of that colour.

Africa Troglodytica.

THat sandie, barren, and desert part of Africa which
lieth betweene Nilus and the Red sea, especially to
the south of the tropike, was in old times inhabited by the
Troglodytae, 13 a people so called, bicause of their dwelling
in caues vnder the ground. Along this westerne coast of
the Red sea runneth a ridge of mountaines, which being an
occasion that the inland riuers can not fall into the saide
sea, they are forced to discharge themselues into Nilus.

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VNDESCRIBED BY IOHN LEO. 27

The foresaide mountaines and sea coast are now inhabited
by Mahumetans, being partly Arabians, and partly Turkes :
which not many yeeres ago haue attempted to saile that
sea, and to inuade the regions adioining. The naturall
inhabitants are a rude barbarous people, and very poore
and beggerly. The chiefe places of habitation are
Corondol, 14 a speciall good porte ; Alcosser 15 a place well
knowne, bicause that neere vnto it the saide mountaines
open themselues, and giue passage to the bringing in of
the fruits and commodities of Abassia ; Suachen 16
esteemed one of the principall ports in all the streights,
and being made by an island. Here resideth the Bassa of
the great Turke, which is called the gouenour of Abassia,
with three thousand soldiers or thereabout.

Next followeth Ercoco 17 the onely hauen towne of thri
Prete, lying ouer against the little isle of Mazua: 18 and
heere the mountaines make an other opening or passage,
for transporting of victuals out of the lande of the saide
Prete Ianni. From hence almost to the very entrance of
the Red sea, the coast is at this present vninhabited,
forlorne, and desert. Likewise from Suachen to Mazua
is a continuall woode, the trees whereof are but of small
woorth. lust within the saide entrance standeth the
towne and port of Vela, 19 vnder the iurisdiction of the king
of Dancali a Moore.

Vpon all this west shore of the Red sea, as likewise
vpon the contrary east shore, scarcitie of water is the cause,
why there are so fewe, and so small places of habitation ;
and the people runne and flocke togither, where they may
finde any pit or fountaine of water.

Some curious reader might here expect, because I haue
nowe passed so neere the frontiers of Egypt, that I should
make an exact description of that most famous and fruite-
full prouince, and likewise of the great city of Alcair, 20 and
of the inundation and decrease of Nilus : all which, because

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28 A DESCRIPTION OF PLACES

they are expressed in most orient and liuelie colours by
our author Iohn Leo; I should shew my selfe both iniurious
to him, and tedious to all iudiciall readers, in anticipating
and forestalling that, before the beginning of his booke,
which he so neere the end doth in such large and particular
wise intreate of. Now therefore let vs proceed to the vpper
or inner Ethiopia, beginning with the first and most
northerly prouince thereof called Nubia.

Nubia.

PAssing therefore westward from the Island of Siene,
you enter into the prouince of Nubia, bordering on the
west vpon Gaoga, 21 eastward vpon the riuer Nilus, towards
the North, vpon Egypt, and southward vpon the desert of
Goran. 22 The inhabitants thereof called by Strabo N'sGag,
Hue at this present (as Francisco Aluarez reporteth) a most
miserable and wretched kinde of life ; for hauing lost the
sinceritie and light of the gospel, they do embrace infinite
corruptions of the Iewish and Mahumetan religions. At
the same time when the foresaid Aluarez was in Abassia,
there came certaine messengers out of Nubia, to make suit
vnto the Prete, that he would send them priests, and such
persons as might preach and administer the sacraments
vnto them. But he returned answere, that he could not in
regard of the scarcitie of great clergie-men in his dominions:
The said messengers reported, that the Nubians had sent
often to Rome for a bishop ; but being afterward by the
inuasions of the Moores and the calamitie of warre, cut
short of that assistance, they fell for want of teachers and
ministers, into extreme ignorance of Christian religion, and
by little and little were infected with the impious and
abominable sects of the Iewes and Mahumetans. Some
Portugals trauailing to those parts, sawe many churches
destroied by the handes of the Arabians, and in some

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VNDESCRIBED BY IOHN LEO. 29

places the pictures of saints painted vpon the wals. They
are gouerned by women, and call their Queene Gaua.
Their principall citie called Dangala, and consisting °^^y a -^ the f
about ten thousand housholds, is a place of great traffike, NuHa.
bicause it is so neere vnto Egypt and the riuer Nilus. All
their other habitations are villages and base cottages.
Their houses are built of claie, and couered with strawe.
The chiefe commodities of this region are rice, stone-sugar,
sanders, 28 iuorie (for they take many elephants) as likewise
abundance of ciuet, and golde in great plentie. The
countrey is for the most part sandie : howbeit there are
certaine mightie lakes, by the benefite whereof a great part
of Nubia is watred and made fruitfull.

The Isle of Meroe.

MEroe called at this time by the names of Guengare,
Amara, and Nobe, being the greatest and fairest
isle which Nilus maketh, and resembled by Herodotus to
the shape of a target, containeth in bredth a thousand, and
in length three thousand stadios or furlongs. It aboundeth
with golde, siluer, copper, iron, Eben-wood, palme-trees,
and other such commodities as are in Nubia. Some write,
that there growe canes or reeds of so huge a bignes, that
the people make botes of them. Heere also you haue
minerall salt, and lions, elephants, and leopards. This
island is inhabited by Mahumetans, who are confederate
with the Moores against Prete Ianni. Strabo affirmeth,
that in old time the authoritie of the priests of this island
was so great, that by a meane and ordinarie messenger
they woulde command the king to murther himselfe, and
woulde substitute an other in his roome. But at length,
one king hauing in a certaine temple put all the saide
priests to death, quite abolished that monstrous custome.
And heere as Nilus vnfoldeth himselfe into two branches,

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30 A DESCRIPTION OF PLACES

to embrace this Islande, he receiueth from the east the
riuer of Abagni, and from the west the riuer Sarabotto,
which haue likewise other smaller riuers falling into them.
The Abassins are of opinion, that the Queene of Saba,
which trauelled so farre to heare the wisdome of Sa/omon,
was mistresse of this isle. Paulus Ionius saith, here are
three kings, one a Gentile, the second a Moore, and the
third a Christian, subiect vnto the Prete. From Meroe to
Siene it is accounted fifteene daies iourney by water.

* OrAEthopia * Abassia, or the empire of Prete Ianni.

the higher.

* Commonly r "T , He Abassins are a people subiect to* Prete Ianni:
Latine writers, A whose empire (if we consider the stile which he
Johannes, by vseth in his letters) hath most ample confines. For he
A'ic/aZssi. intituleth himselfe emperour of the great and higher
a Abassi!uhis Ethiopia, king of Goiame, 24 which (as Botera supposeth) is
™c%£?'ihatis, situate betweene Nilus and Zaire ; of Vangue a kingdome
^egtTwhict bevond Zaire J of Damut which confineth with the land of
importetha j^e Anzichi j 26 and towards the south he is called king of

king, and ' °

Beiui also, Cafate and Bagamidri, two prouinces bordering vpon the
with Encoe in first great lake, which is the originall fountaine of Nilus ;

the Chaldean f . ,. ■ , . , r ^ ^ .

toong, both as likewise of the kingdomes of Xoa, Fatigar, Angote,

wordes signifie v

precious or Baru, Baahganze, Adea, Amara, Ambea, Vague, Tigre-
%g * mahon, Sabaim, where the Queene of Saba gouerned, and

* OrBama- lastly of* Barnagaes, and lorde as farre as Nubia, which

bordereth vpon Egypt. But at this present the center or
midst of his Empire (as Iohn Barros writeth) is the lake of
Barcena. 26 For it extendeth eastward towarde the Red
sea, as farre as Suaquen, the space of two hundred twentie
v and two leagues. Howbeit betweene the sea and his
dominions runneth a ridge of mountaines inhabited by
Moores, who are masters of al the sea-coast along, except
the porte of Ercoco, which belongeth to the Prete. And
likewise on the west, his empire is restrained by another

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VNDESCRIBED BY IOHN LEO. 3 1

mountainous ridge stretching along the riuer of Nilus,

where are founde most rich mines of golde ; amongst which Most rich gold

mines.

are the mines of Damut and of Sinassij, wholie in the
possession of Gentiles which pay tribute vnto the Prete.
Northward it is bounded by an imaginarie line supposed
to be drawen from Suachen to the beginning of the isle
Meroe aboue mentioned ; which line extendeth an hundred
and fiue and twentie leagues. From thence the Abassin
borders trend south * somewhat crookedly in manner of
abowe, as farre as the kingdome of Adea (from the moun-
taines whereof springeth a riuer called by Ptolemey* Raptus J^^£'f*
which falleth into the sea about Melinde) for the space of QuiiimaMcu
two hundred and fiftie nine leagues ; next vnto the which
borders, inhabite certaine Gentiles of blacke colour, with un-
curled haire. And heere the saide empire is limited by
the kingdome of Adel, the head citie whereof called Arar,
standeth in the latitude nine degrees. So that all this
great empire may containe in compasse sixe hundred
threescore and two leagues, little more or lesse. It is
refreshed and watered by two mightie riuers which conuey
their streames into Nilus, called by Ptolemey Astaboras and
Astapus, and by the naturall inhabitants Abagni and
Tagassi ; the first whereof taketh his originall from the
lake of Barcena, and the second from the lake of Colue.
Barcena lieth in seuen degrees of north latitude ; & Colue
vnder the verie Equinoctiall. The first (besides Abagni)
ingendereth also the riuer of Zeila : and the second (besides
Tagassi) giueth effence to the riuer of Quilimanci Between
Abagni and the Red sea lieth the prouince of Barnagasso : # sinusBar .
betweene Abagni and Tagassi are the kingdomes of Angote ^f*£?» * lfe
and Fatigar ; and more towards the * bay of Barbarians, 27 on the backeside

° ' of Africa,

the prouinces of Adea and of Baru : and somewhat lower, stretching {as

some will haue

that of Amara. In briefe, beyond the riuer of Tagassi ly it) from 4. de-

the regions of Bileguanzi, and of Tigremahon. eriyto 17. of

The Abassins haue no great knowledge of Nilus by fitted**

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32 A DESCRIPTION OF PLACES

reason of the mountaines which deuide them from it ; for.
which cause they call Abagni the father of riuers. How-
beit they say that vpon Nilus do inhabite two great and
populous nations ; one of Iewes towards the west, vnder
the gouernment of a mightie king ; the other more southerly,
.^consisting of Amazones or warlike women ; whereof wee
will speake more at large in our relation of Monomotapa.

Throughout all the dominion of the Prete there is not
any one city of importance, either for multitude of inhabi-
tantes, for magnificent buildings, or for any other respect.
For the greatest townes there, containe not aboue two
thousand housholds ; the houses being (cottage-like) reared
vp with clay and couered with straw, or such like base
matter. Also Ptolemey intreating of these partes, maketh
mention but of three or foure cities onely, which he
appointeth to the south of the Isle Meroe. Howbeit in
some places vpon the frontiers of Abassia there are certaine
townes verie fairely built, and much frequented for traffique.
The Portugales in their trauailes throughout the empire
haue often declared vnto the Abassins, how much better it
were, for auoiding of the outragious iniuries and losses
daily inflicted by the Moores and Mahumetans both vpon
their goods and persons, if the emperour would build cities
and castles stronglie walled and fortified. Whereunto they
made answere, that the power of their Neguz, or emperour,
consisted not in stone-walles, but in the armes of his people.
They vse not ordinarily any lime or stone, but onely for
the building of churches (saying, that so it becommeth vs
to make a difference between the houses of men, and
churches dedicated to God) and of their Beteneguz or
houses of the emperour, wherein the gouernours of prouinces
OftheseBetene-dLVQ placed to execute iustice. These Beteneguz stand

guz read Fran- , . . . - ,

as Aiuarez, continually open, and yet in the gouernours absence no

cap ' 42, man dare enter into them, vnder paine of being punished

as a traytour. Moreoucr in the city of Axuma (esteemed

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VNDESCRIBED BY IOHN LEO. 33

by them to haue beene the seate of the Queene of Saba)
stand certaine ruinous buildings like vnto pyramides ;
which by reason of their greatnes, remaine euen til this
present, notwithstanding their many yeeres antiquitie.
Likewise there are in this countrie diuers churches and
oratories hewen out of the hard rocke, consisting but of
one onely stone, some sixtie, some fortie, and some thirtie* * Oryardes:

J ' 7 ' Braccia stg-

fathomes long, being full of windowes, and engrauen with nijuth both.
strange and vnknowne characters. Three such churches
there are of twelue* fathomes broade and eightie in length.
The Abassins which are subject to the Prete y hold
opinion, that their prince deriueth his petigree from Melich o/Meiuh read

x x x ° more at large

the sonne of Salomon, which (as they say) he begot of '*» Francisco

v J JJ to Aluarez,cap.

the Queene of Saba; and that themselues are descended 37.: and cap.
from the officers and attendants which Salomon appointed
vnto this his sonne when he sent him home vnto his
mother : which seemeth not altogether vnlikely, if you
consider the Iewish ceremonies of circumcision, obseruing
of the sabaoth, & such like, which they vse vntill this
present : likewise they abhorre swines flesh and certaine
other meates, which they call vncleane. The Prete
absolutely gouerneth in all matters, except it be in
administring of the sacraments, and ordaining of priests.
Hee giueth and taketh away benefices at his pleasure ; and
in punishing offenders, maketh no difference betweene his
clergie and laitie. The administration of their sacraments
is wholie referred to the Abuna or Patriarke. The Prete
is lorde and owner of all the lands and possessions in his
empire, except those of the church ; which are in number
infinite ; for the monasteries of saint Antonie (besides which
there are none of any other order) and the colleges of the
Canons and of the Hermites, togither with the parishes,
are innumerable. They are all prouided by the king, both
of reuenewes and of ornaments.

They haue two winters and two summers ; which they

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34 A DESCRIPTION OF PLACES

discerne not by colde and heate, but by rainie and faire
weather. They begin their yeere vpon the 26. of August*
and diuide it into twelue moneths, each moneth containing
thirtie daies, whereunto they adde euery common yeere fiue
daies, and in the leape yeere sixe, which odde daies they
call Pagomen, that is, The end of the yeere. Their
ordinarie iourneies in trauelling are twelue miles a day.
The common harlots dwell without their townes, and haue
wages allowed them out of the common purse : neither may
they enter into any cities, nor apparell themselues, but only
in yellow.

The soil of Abassia aboundeth generally with graine,
and in especiall with barly and all kindes of Pulse, but not
so much with wheate ; they haue sugar likewise (not
knowing how to refine it) and hony, and cotton-wooll,
orenges, cedars, and limons, grow naturally there. They
haue neither melons, citrons, nor rape-roots : but many
plants & herbes different from ours. Their drinke is made
of barley and millet : neither haue they any wine made of
* Patriarke. grapes, but onely in the houses of the emperour, and the*
Abuna. They are not destitute of Elephants, mules, lions,
tygres, ounces, and deere. Their owne countrey horses
are but of a small size : howbeit they haue also of the
Arabian and the Egyptian breed, the coltes whereof within
fower daies after they be foled, they vse to suckle with
kine. They haue great and terrible apes ; and infinite
sorts of birds ; but neither cuckowes nor Pies, so farre as
euer could bee learned. Heere are likewise great store of
mines of gold, siluer, iron, and copper ; but they know not
how to digge and refine the same : for the people of this
countrey are so rude and ignorant, that they haue no know-
ledge nor vse of any arte or occupation. Insomuch as they
esteeme the carpenters or smithes craft for an vnlawfull
and diabolicall kinde of science ; and such as exercise
the same, Hue among them like infamous persons ; neither

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VNDESCRIBED BY IOHN LEO. 35

are they permitted to enter into any of their churches.
In the kingdome of Bagamidri are founde most excellent
mines of siluer, which they knowe none other way how to
take from the ore, but onely by melting it with fire into
thinne plates. Goiame aboundeth with base gold. In
the kingdome of Damut they digge and refine it somewhat
better. They haue neither the arte of making cloth (for
which cause the greater part of them go clad in beasts
skins) nor yet the manner of hauking, fowling, or hunting ;
so that their countries swarme with partridges, quailes,
fesants, cranes, geese, hens, hares, deere, and other like
creatures : neither knowe they how to make any full vse
or benefite of the fruitefulnes of their countrey, nor of the
commoditie of riuers. They sowe mill for the most parte,
sometimes in one place, and sometimes in another, accord-
ing as the raine giueth them opportunitie. In summe,
they shew no wit nor dexterity in any thing so much as in
robbery and warre ; vnto both which they haue a kind of
naturall inclination. Which is occasioned (as I suppose)
by the continuall voiages made by the Prete, and by their
vsuall liuing in the wide fields, and that in diuers and
sundry places. For to trauaile continually, and remaine in
the fields without any stable or firme habitation, com-
pelleth men as it were, of necessitie, to lay holde on all that
comes next to hande, be it their owne, or belonging to others.
They are much subiect to tempests ; but to an incon-
uenience far more intollerable, namely to innumerable
swarmes of locusts, which bring such desolation vpon
them, as is most dreadfull to consider : for they consume
whole prouinces, leauing them quite destitute of succour
both for man and beast. They vse no stamped coine in
all this empire, but insteede thereof certaine rude pieces
of golde, and little balls of iron, especially in Angote ;
as likewise salt and pepper, which are the greatest riches
that they can enioy.

c 2

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36 A DESCRIPTION OF PLACES

Hence it is, that the tributes which are payed to the
prince, consist onely of such things as his owne dominions
do naturally afforde ; as namely of salt, gold, siluer, corne,
hides, elephants teeth, the home of the Rhinoceros, with
slaues, and such like. Which forme of tribute (being most
agreeable to nature) is vsed also in other parts of Africa.
Their salt is taken out of a certaine great mountaine in
the prouince of Balgada, and is made into square pieces. 29

The most populous place in all Abassia is the court of
the Prete, wheresoeuer it resideth ; and there are erected
fiue or sixe thousand tents of cotton of diuers colours, with
so notable a distinction of streetes, lanes, market-places,
and Tribunals ; that euen in a moment euery man knoweth
his owne station and the place where he is to doe his
busines. A man may coniecture the greatnes of this
courte, if he doe but consider, that (according to the report
of some who haue there bin personally present) besides
the camels which carry the tents, the mules of carriage
exceede the number of fiftie thousand. Their mules serue
them to carry burthens, and to ride vpon : but their horses
are onely for the warres. The Mahumetans haue now
brought this prince to great extremity: but heretofore
while he was in his flourishing estate, he liued so maiesti-
cally, that he neuer spake but by an interpreter ; nor
would be seene to his subiects, but onely vpon solemne
dayes. At other times it was held as a great fauour, if he
did shew but the halfe part of his feete to ambassadours,
and to his fauorites. And no maruel : for amongst the
Ethiopians it hath beene an ancient custome (as Strabo
writeth) To adore their kinges like gods, who for the
most part Hue enclosed at home. This so strange and
stately kinde of gouernment, did exceedingly abase his
subiects, whom the Prete vsed like slaues ; so that vpon
the smallest occasions that might be, he would depriue
them of all honour and dignity, were they neuer so great.

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VNDECSRIBED BY IOHN LEO. 37

Abassia containeth many large plaines, and very high
mountaines, all fruitfull. In some places you shall haue
most extreame coulde and frostie weather: but not any
snowe throughout the whole empire, no not in the moun-
taines.

The Prele hath many moores in his dominions, and
vpon his borders ; but the most populous of all others
are the Moores called Dobas, 30 who are bound by a law Th f Moors

J called Dobas.

neuer to marry, till they can bring most euident testimony,
that each of them hath slaine twelue Christians. Where-
fore the Abassin merchants passe not by their country, but
with most strong guardes.

A particular and briefe relation of all the king-
domes and prouinces subiect to the Christian
Emperour of Abassia, commonly called
Prete lannt.

Barnagasso.

OF all the prouinces subiect vnto the Prete> that of
* Barnagasso 31 is best knowne vnto vs, bicause it is * Bamagaez.
so neere vnto the Red sea ; ouer against the shore whereof
it stretcheth in length from Suachen, almost as farre as
the very mouth or entrance of the streight, being (as is
before saide) bounded on the south part with the mightie
riuer of Abagni, which runneth westward out of the lake Out of this lake

° also the riuer

of Barcena into Nilus. Howbeit it hath no other port of Zeiia run-

neth eastward

vpon the Red sea but onely Ercoco, situate neere the Isle into the Red
of Mazua ; neither hath the Prete any porte but this, in all
his dominions ; so that he is (as it were) on all sides land-
locked, which is one of the greatest defects in any empire,
kingdome, or state, that can be imagined. This prouince

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38 A DESCRIPTION OF PLACES

is full of townes and villages, as likewise of riuers and

pooles which make it exceeding fruitfull. The Viceroy or

* Bar in the gouernour hereof, called also by the name of *Barnagasso,

Abassin toong ° J & »

significth the resideth in the citie of Beroa, otherwise called Barua, and

Sea, and Neguz

a king: so that by Ptolemey (as Sanutus thinketh) Coloue, situate vpon a
Bamagasso, is pleasant riuer abounding with fish. Vnto him likewise are
king of the 'sea, subiect the gouernments of Danfila and of Canfila, neere
ZiiSffi* vnto the borders of Egypt.

Certaine yeeres past the great Turkes forces haue
mightily afflicted this prouince, destroying the townes,
and leading the people captiue : so that in the end Isaac
the lorde Barnagasso was inforced to compound with the
Turkes lieutenant (bearing title, The Bassa of Abassia,
and residing in Suachen) for the yeerely tribute of a
thousand ounces of golde. Ouer and besides he paieth
euery yeere vnto his soueraigne the Prete, an hundred and
fiftie excellent horses, with cloth of silke and of cotton, and
other matters.

On the most westerly part of Barnagasso, beginneth a

mightie ridge of mountaines, which for a good space

waxing narrower and narrower, at length in the kingdome

ah persons of of Angote dilateth it selfe into a rounde forme, enuironing

the Abassin .

blood royaii en- with the steepe sides, and impassable tops thereof, many

mightie fruitefull and pleasant vallies, for the space of fifteene daies

'mountaines. iourney in compasse : within which vallies (as it were in

rez"cap. $7!"' wa U e d castles) all persons whatsoeuer, both male and

58^ 59. 60. 61, f ema i e> f the Abassin bloud royall, are vnder paine of

most extreme punishment, togither with their whole

families, limited to remaine. Within this great roundell or

enclosure of mountaines, there is (among many others)

contained one lesser, which is begirt arounde with a

mountainous wall so craggie, steepe, and vnscaleable, that

no man can come in or out, but onely by a certaine basket

drawne vp and downe vpon a rope : neither is it possible

to famish the parties within by a siege, be it neuer so long :

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VNDESCRIBED BY IOHN LEO. 39

for they haue fruitefull ground, with houses, a church, a
monasterie, cesternes of water, and all other necessaries
for the continuall maintenance of fiue hundred persons.
Within this strong citadell of mountaines (for the auoiding
of all tumults and seditions) are locked vp those great
personages which come neerest in bloud to the Prete, and
are in possibilitie of the crowne ; and here must they all
Hue and die, except a very few of them, who attaine at
length vnto the gouernment of the empire. The Abassins
haue a tradition, that one AbraJiam an emperour of theirs
being admonished in a dreame, that he shoulde keepe his
dominions in tranquilitie by the meanes aforesaid, was the
first that founde this mountaine, and used it for the same
purpose.

Tigremahon.

TIgremahon, a very large kingdome, lieth betweene the
riuer Marabo, Nilus, the Red sea, and the kingdome
of Angote. The gouernour heereof paieth for yeerely
tribute vnto the Prete two hundred Arabian horses, a
great quantitie of silke and cotton-cloth, and very much
golde. Vnto this kingdome is subiect the prouince of
Tigray, wherein standes the citie of Caxumo, sometimes
the royall seate of the Queene of Saba (which they say
was called Maqueda, of whom Salomon begat a sonne
named Melick, before mentioned) which citie was the seate
likewise of Queene Candace. Also to the said kingdome
of Tigremahon belong the prouinces of Sabaim, Torrates,
Balgada, and others.

Angote.

THis kingdome standing betweene the kingdomes of
Tigremahon and Amara, is full of mountaines and
valleies, and aboundeth mightilie with all kinde of corne
and cattell. The inhabitants eate but one meale in fower

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40 A DESCRIPTION OF PLACES

and twentie howers, and that alwaies in the night : their
foode is most commonly rawe flesh, with a kinde of sauce
made of an oxe gall. In stead of money they vse salte,
and little balles of iron, as is. before saide. Vnto this
kingdome do belong the prouinces of Abuguna, and
Guanamora, with other regions and places.

Amaru.

THe kingdome of Amara bordering north vpon Angote,
east vpon Xoa, south vpon Damut, and extending
west almost as farre as Nilus ; is for the most part a plaine
region, without mountaines, very fertile, and abounding
with cattell. Vpon the frontiers of this kingdome standeth
the foresaide large, high, and craggie mountaine, wherein
the sonnes, brethren, and kinsfolkes of the Prete are most
warily kept, and from whence after his decease the heire
apparant is brought, to be inuested in the empire.

The kingdome of Xoa situate betweene the kingdomes
of Amara, Damut, and Fatigar, containeth many deepe
vallies, and aboundeth with all kinde of corne and cattell.

In the kingdome of Goiame are two mightie lakes, from
which Nilus is saide to fetch his originall. Heere is
exceeding plentie of golde vnrefined : the north part of
this region is full of deserts and mountainous places.

Bagamidri one of the largest kingdomes in all the vpper
Ethiopia, extendeth in length by the riuer Nilus, the
space almost of six hundred miles : and in this kingdome
are many most rich siluer-mines.

The kingdome of Fatigar lying betweene the kingdomes
of Adel, and of Xoa, consisteth the greatest parte of
champion groundes, which yeelde wheate, barly, and other
graine most plentifully. In this kingdome standes an
exceeding high mountaine, on the toppe whereof is a lake
of twelue miles in compasse, abounding with great varietie

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VNDESCRIBED BY IOHN LEO. 4 1

of fish ; and from this mountaine runne many riuers stored
with fish also.

The kingdome of Damut- (as Sanutus affirmeth) doth
border vpon the kingdome of Xoa,and is enclosed on either
side with the lake of Barcena, and the lande of Zanguebar.
Howbeit others place Damut betweene the kingdomes of
Vangue and Goiame towarde the west, which opinion
seemeth most probable. This countrey aboundeth with
golde, ginger, grapes, corne, and beasts of all sortes. The
slaues of this kingdome are much esteemed, and are
commonly solde throughout all Arabia, Persia, and Egypt,
where they prooue most valiant soldiers. The greater
part of the people of Damut are Gentiles, and the residue
Christians, who haue certaine monasteries. In this king-
dome is that exceeding high and dreadfull mountaine, The mountaine
(hauing one narrow passage onely to ascend by) whither the
Prete sendeth his nobles which are conuicted of any heinous
crime, to suffer ignominious death with hunger and cold.
About the fountaines of Nilus some say, that there are
Amazones or women-warriers, most valiant and redoubted, Of these Ama-

zones read more

which vse bowes and arrowes, and Hue vnder the gouerne- in the discourse

*~\ 1-1 ^ r • of Monomotapa

ment of a Queene : as likewise the people called Cam ox following.
Cafates, being as blacke as pitch, and of a mightie stature,
and (as some thinke) descended of the Iewes ; but now
they are idolators, and most deadly enimies to the
Christians ; for they make continuall assaults vpon the
Abassins, dispoiling them both of life and goods : but all
the day-time they lie lurking in mountaines, woods, and
deepe valleies.

The stile vsed by Prete Ianni in his letters.

This stile is
taken out of a

I the king, whose name the lions do reuerence, and who letter written
by the grace of God was at my baptisme called Athani Emferlur of
Tingil, that is, The incense of the virgine> but now at the 1524. % °* ta

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42

A DESCRIPTION OF PLACES

beginning of my raigne, tooke vpon me the name of Dauid;
beloued of God, the piller of faith, descended of the tribe
of Iuda, the sonne of Dauid, the sonne of Salomon, the
sonne of the pillar of Sion, the sonne of the seede of Jacob,
the sonne of the hand of Marie, the sonne of Nahu accord-
ing to the flesh, the sonne of the holy Apostles Peter and
Paul according to grace, Emperour of the higher and
greater AEthiopia, and of most large kingdomes, territories,
and iurisdictions, the king of Xoa, Caffate, Fatigar, Angote,
Barii, Baaliganze, Adea, Vangue, and Goiame, where the
fountaines of Nilus are ; as likewise of Amara, Baguamedri ;
Ambea, Vague, Tigremahon, Sabaim the countrie of the
Queen of Saba, of Barnagasso, and lorde as farre as Nubia,
which confineth vpon Egypt

Certaine answeres of Don Francisco

Aluarez, (who from the yeere 1520, for the

space of sixe yeeres next ensuing, had trauailed and

remained in the countrey of Prete Ianni with the

Fortugall ambassadour Rodrigo de Lima) made vnto

sundrie demaunds or questions of the Archbishop of

Braganca, concerning the state of the foresaide countrey

and prince, andoft/ie disposition, manners, and cus-

tomes of the people. Io. Bap. Ramusius, vol. i.

delle voiagfol. 254. 255.

He Ethiopian Emperour called Prete
Ianni hath no setled place of abode
where he continually resideth ; but is
alwaies flitting vp and do wne, sometimes
to one place, and sometimes to another,
and liueth in tentes set vp in the fields,
enuironed with a kinde of fortification ;
of which tents there may be in his campe of all sorts to the

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VNDESCRIBED BY IOHN LEO. 43

number of 5000. or 6000 ; and of horsemen and males
50000. and vpwards.

It is a generall custome of the Prete and of all his
subiects not to passe on horsebacke by any church (so
great is their reuerence to holy places) but so soone
as they approch thereunto, they light vpon the ground,
and hauing passed by, they mount on horsebacke
againe.

Whensoever the Prete marcheth with all his troupes,
there is carried before him vpon the shoulders of certaine
priests an altar and a consecrated stone, whereon they vse
to administer their communion : the priests appointed to
cary it vpon a frame of wood, are eight in number, seruing
fower and fower by turnes ; before whom goeth a clerke
with a censer and a little bell sounding ; at the sight and
noise whereof all persons forsake the way, and such as are
on horsebacke, dismount.

In all this countrey there is not any towne consisting of
aboue 1600. families, & there are very few that haue so
many : neither are there any castles or walled places ; but
verie manie villages, and infinite numbers of people. Their
houses are built round, al of earth, flat-roofed, and couered
with a kind of thatch which wil last the time of a mans
life, being compassed about with courts or yards. They
haue no bridges of stone vpon their riuers, but all of wood.
They sleep commonly vpon oxe-hides, or else vpon certaine
couches corded & sustained with thongs made of the said
hides. They haue no kind of tables to eat their meat vpon,
but haue serued it in vpon plaine & very broad platters of
wood, without any table-cloth at al. Also they haue
certaine great deep dishes like basons made of black earth
shining in maner of let, with other cups of the same earth,
out of which they vse to drinke water & wine. Many of
them eate raw flesh, but others broile it vpon the coles or
firebrands : and some places there are so destitute of wood,

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44 A DESCRIPTION OF PLACES

that the people are faine to dresse their meate with oxe-
dung.

Their armour and weapons be Azagaie or short darts,
some few swords, and certaine shirts of male verie long
and streight, and (as some of our men which haue seene
them doe report) made of naughtie and vnseruiceable
matter. They haue bowes and arrowes great store, but
not with feathers as ours be : as likewise helmets and head-
peeces, but very few, and first brought in since they began
to haue traffique with the Portugals : howbeit they haue
♦1526. manie strong targets. Of artillerie they had *at our

departure foureteene small yron-peeces, which they had
bought of certaine Turkes that vsually came to trafficke
vpon the coast ; for which peeces the Prete willed that they
should haue their vttermost demande, to the end they
might be the willinger to returne and bring more ; and he
caused some of his seruants also to learne how to discharge
them.
ffta^ifi**' ^^ e r ' uer °^ Nilus, I my selfe neuer saw, although at one
mius to spring time I was within thirtie miles thereof: howbeit some of

out of one great

lakeoneiy, our Portugales haue trauelled to the very fountaines of

which is to the

south of Nilus, which are two great lakes comparable to seas, situate

in the kingdome of Goiame ; out of which hauing conueyed
it selfe a small distance, this riuer embraceth certaine
Islets, and then holdeth on his course to Egypt.
Jfthel'nVr'eax Th e reason w hy Nilus yeerely ouerfloweth Egypt, is,
of mius. because the generall winter of Ethiopia holding on with
most mightie and continual raines from the middle of Iune
to the midst of September, doth make the said riuer so
exceedingly to swel, that the waters thereof couer al the
plaine countrie of Egypt.

In all the foresaid dominions of the Prete, they vse not
to write one to another, neither do the officers of Iustice
commit any of their affaires to writing, but all matters are
dispatched by messengers and by wordes of mouth : onely

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VNDESCRIBED BY IOHN LEO. 45

it was told me, that the reuenues and tributes of the Prete,
are put downe in writing both vpon the receite, and at the
disbursement.

The emperour Prete Ianni hath two speciall princely
names, to wit, Acegue, which signifieth an emperour, and
Neguz, a king.

The Patriarke or arche-prelate of all Abassia is called
Abuna, that is to say, Father ; neither is there any in
all the whole empire which ordaineth ministers, but onely
hee.

There is no wine of the grape made publiquely in any
place, but onelie in the houses of the Prete and of the
Patriarke ; for if it be made anie other where, it is done by
stealth.

The wine which is vsed in their communions, they make
of raisins steeped ten daies in water, and afterward streined
in a wine-presse ; and it is a most cordiall, delicate, and
strong wine.

t In this countrey is a great abundance of golde, siluer,
copper, and tinne, but the people are ignorant how to worke
it out of the mines : neither haue they any coine of golde
or siluer, but all their bargaines are made by bartering of
one commoditie for another. Also they trucke little peeces
of gold, some weighing a dram, and some an ounce. But
salt is the principall thing which runneth currant for money
throughout all the emperours dominions. ^

Some places there are which yeeld wheat and barly, and
others millet in great plentie ; and where the saide graines
are not reaped, there groweth Tafo da guza, a seede vtterly
vnknowne in these parts, as likewise lentiles, beanes, pease,
fitches, and all kinde of pulse in abundance.

Heere are infinite store of sugar canes, which they know
neither how to boile nor refine, but eate it rawe.

There be great plentie of faire grapes and peaches, which
are ripe in the moneths of Februarie and Aprill. Of

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46 A DESCRIPTION OF PLACES

orenges, limons, and citrons, the quantitie is innumerable ;
for they growe most naturally out of the Abassin soile :
garden-herbes there are but fewe, bicause the people delight
neither to set nor sowe them.

All the whole countrey is full of Basill, which groweth
very tall both in the woods and vpon the mountaines : so
are there likewise other odoriferous herbes of diuers sorts,
but vnknowen vnto vs. Of trees common with vs I
remember none other kinds growing there, but onely
Cypresses, damsin-trees, sallowes by the waters side, and
trees of Iuiubas.

Honie there is exceeding great plentie all the countrey
ouer : neither are their bee-hiues placed abroad in the open
aire as ours are : but they set them in chambers, where
making a little hole in the wall, the bees go thicke in and
out, and come home laden with honie. Wherefore there is
great quantitie gathered in all the empire, but especially in
the monasteries, where they make it a great part of their
sustenance. There are founde also swarmes of bees in the
woodes and vpon the mountaines, neere whom they place
certaine hollowe boxes made of barke, which being filled
with honicombes, they take vp, and carrie home to their
houses.

They gather much waxe, whereof they make their
candles, because they haue no vse of tallow.
Oyiestrayned They haue no oyle of oliues, but of another kinde
which they call Hena : and the hearbe whereout they
straine it, is like a little vine-leafe : neither hath this
oyle any smell at all, but in colour it is as beautifull
as gold.

Heere likewise they haue store of flax, but they know
not how to make cloth thereof.

Here is also great plenty of cotton, whereof they make
cloth of diuers colours.

One countrie there is so extreamely colde, that the

out of an herbe.

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VNDESCRIBED BY IOHN LEO. 47

people are inforced to clad themselues in very course cloth
of a darke tawnie.
t Concerning phisicke, and the cure of diseases, they know
verie little or nothing ; but for aches in any partes of their
bodies the onely remedy which they vse is to apply
cupping-glasses; and for head-aches they let the great
vaine of the temples bloud. ,.

Howbeit they haue certaine herbes, the iuice whereof
being drunke, serueth them in steede of a purgation.

^There would in this countrie be gathered infinite store
of fruit, and far greater quantitie of corne, were not the
poore commons most miserablie oppressed by their
superiours, who extorte all their substance from them ;
so that they neuer till nor plant any more, then they must
of meere necessities

In no place wheresoeuer I trauelled, could I see any
shambles of flesh, but onely at the court of the Prete :
for in other places no man may kill an oxe, though it
bee his owne, without licence from the gouernour of the
countrie.

As touching their ordinary proceeding in iustice, they Their manner
vse not to put any to sudden death, but beate them with
bastinados according to the quality of the offence, and
likewise they plucke out their eyes, and cut off their
handes and feete : howbeit during mine abode there I saw
one burnt for robbing of a church.

The common sort speake truth very seldome, though
it bee vpon an oathe, vnlesse they be forced to sweare
By the head of the King. They feare exceedingly to be
excommunicated ; so that being enioned any thing that
tendeth to their preiudice, if they do it all, it is done for
feare of excommunication.

Their depositions or othes are performed in this manner. Their maner

. . of swearing.

The partie to be deposed goeth accompanied by two
priests, carrying with them fire and incense to the church-

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48 A DESCRIPTION OF PLACES

doore, whereon he layeth his hande ; and then the said
priests adiure him to tell the truth, saying : If thou siveare
falsly, as the lyon deuoureth the beasts of the forest, so let tlie
diuell deuoure thy soule ; and as corne is ground vnder the
mill-stone, so let him grinde thy bones ; and finally, as the
fire burneth vp the wood, so may thy soule burne in the fire
of hell : and the partie sworne, answereth to euery of the
former clauses, Amen. But if thou speake truth, let thy
life be prolonged with honour, and thy soule enter into
Paradise with the blessed : and he againe answereth, A men.
Which being done, hee giueth testimonie of the matter in
question.
The ceremonies No person may sit in their churches, nor enter into them

vsi-d in their r J 1

churches. with his shooes on, nor spit within them, neither may any
dogge or any other creature voide of reason come within
them. They confesse themselues standing vpon their
feete, and so standing likewise, receiue absolution. They
say their forme of publike praier after one and the same
manner, both in the churches of their Canons, and of their
friers : which friers haue no wiues ; but the Canons and
priests are permitted to haue. Where the Canons Hue
togither, they go each man to diet at his owne house ; but
the friers eate their meate in common.

Their ecclesiastical 1 gouernours are called Licanati.
The sonnes of the Canons are, as it were by inheritance,
Canons ; but priests sonnes haue no such priuilege, vnlesse
they be ordained by the Abuna. They pay no tithes to
any churches, but the clergie are maintained by great
possessions belonging to their churches and monasteries.
Also when any priest is cited, he is conuented before a
secular iudge.

Whereas I saide, they sit not in their churches, it is to
bee vnderstoode, that alwaies without the church doore
stande a great number of woodden crutches, such as
lame men vse to go upon ; where euery man taketh his

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VNDESCRIBED BY IOHN LEO. 49

owne, and leaneth thereupon all the time of their diuine
seruice.

All their books (which they haue in great numbers) are
written in parchment, for paper they haue none ; and the
language wherein they are written named Tigia, is all one
with the Abassin language : but so it was called from the
name of the first towne in all that empire, which was
conuerted to the Christian religion.

All their churches haue two curtaines, one about their
great altar, with belles, within which curtaine none may
enter but onely priests : also they haue another curtaine
stretching through the midst of their church, and within
that may no man come, but such as haue taken holy
orders: insomuch that many gentlemen and honorable
persons take orders vpon them, onely that they may haue
accesse into their churches.

The greater part of their monasteries are built vpon
high mountaines, or in some deepe valley: they haue
great reuenues and iurisdictions ; and in many of them
they eate no flesh all the yeere long. Neither do they
spende any store of fish, bicause they know not how to
take it.

Vpon the wals of all their churches are painted the
pictures of Christ, of the blessed virgine Marie, of the
apostles, prophets and angels, and in euery one the picture
of Saint George a horseback. They haue no Roodes, neither
will they suffer Christ crucified to be painted, bicause they
say, they are not woorthy to behold him in that passion.
All their priests, friers, and noblemen continually carrie
crosses in their hands ; but the meaner sort of people
carrie them about their neckes.

Their mooueable feasts, namely Easter, the feast of
Ascension and Whitsontide, they obserue at the verie same
daies and times that we do. Likewise as concerning the
feasts of Christmas, the Circumcision, the Epiphanie, and

D

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SO A DESCRIPTION OF PLACES

other the feasts of the saints, they agree whollie with vs,
though in some other things they varie.

They haue great store of leprous persons, who are
not put apart from the rest of the people, but liue in
company with them : and many there are who for charitie
and deuotions sake do wash them, and heale their
wounds.

intent? 11 Thev haue a kinde of trumpets, but not of the best,
and likewise certaine drums of brasse which are brought
from Cairo, and of woode also couered with leather at
both endes, and gimbals like vnto ours, and certaine great
basons whereon they make a noise. There are flutes in
like sort, and a kinde of square instruments with strings,
not much vnlike to an harpe, which they call Dauid
Mozan> that is to say, the harpe of Dauid ; and with
these harpes they sonde before the Prete, but somewhat
rudely.

Their horses of the countrey-breed are in number infinite,
but such small hackney-iades, that they doe them little
seruice : howbeit those that are brought out of Arabia and
Egypt are most excellent and beautifull horses : and the
great horse-masters also in Abassia haue certaine breeds or
races of them, which being new foled, they suffer not to
sucke the damme aboue three daies, if they be such as they
meane to backe betimes : but separating them from their
dammes, they suckle them with kine, and by that meanes
they prooue most sightly and gallant horses. Hitherto
Aluarez.

Thus much (I hope) may suffice to haue bin spoken
concerning the vpper or Inner Ethiopia which containeth
the empire of Prete Ianni: now sithens we are so far pro-
ceeded, let vs take also a cursory and briefe surueie of the
lower or extreme Ethiopia, extending it selfe in forme of a
speares point, or a wedge, as far as thirtie fiue degrees of
southerly latitude.

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VNDESCRIBED BY IOHN LEO. 5 1

Of the lower or extreme Ethiopia.

THis parte of Africa being vtterly vnknowne to Ptolemey
and all the ancient writers, but in these later times,
thoroughly discouered by the Portugales, especially along
the coast, beginneth to the Northwest about the great riuer
of Zaire, not far from the Equinoctial : from whence
stretching southward to thirtie fiue degrees, and then
Northward along the sea-coast on the backside of Africa,
as far as the very mouth or enterance of the Arabian gulfe,
it limiteth the south and east frontiers of the Abassin
Empire last before described.

In this part also are many particulars very memorable,
as namely besides sundry great empires and kingdomes,
The famous mountaines of the moon, the mightie riuers of
Magnice, Cuama, and Coauo, springing out of the lake
Zembre, the renowned cape of good hope, and other
matters whereof we will intreate in their due places.

This portion of Africa is diuided into sixe principall
partes, namely : The land of Aian, the land of Zanguebar,
the empire of Mohenemugi, the empire of Monomotapa,
the region of Cafraria, & the kingdome of Congo.

T

Aian the first generall part of Ethiopia tlte lower.

He land of Aian is accounted by the Arabians to be
. that region which lyeth betweene the narrow

entrance into the Red sea, and the riuer of Quilimanci ; TheHuer^of

Quilimanci in

being vpon the sea-coast for the most part inhabited by the nine degrees of
said Arabians : but the inland-partes thereof are peopled tude.
with a black nation which are Idolaters. It comprehendeth
two kingdomes ; Adel and Adea.

Adel is a very large kingdome, and extendeth from the Adel the first

generaJ-l fart

mouth of the Arabian gulfe to the cape of Guardafu called of Aian.
of olde by Ptolemey Aromata promontorium. South and

D 2

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52 A DESCRIPTION OF PLACES

west it bordereth vpon the dominions of Prete Ianni, about
the kingdome of Fatigar. The king of this countrie being
a Moore, is accounted amongst the Mahumctans a most
holy man, and very much reuerenced by them, because he
wageth continuall war with the Christians, taking captiue
many of the Abassins, and sending them to the great
Turke, and the princes of Arabia, of whome he receiueth
greate ayde for the maintenance of his warres, both of
horse and foote. The people of Adel are of the colour of
an oliue, being very warlike, notwithstanding that the
greatest part of them want weapons. Their principall city

* Or Arar. [ s called * Anar, as some are of opinion. Vnto this king-
dome is subiect the citie of Zeila inhabited by Moores,
situate on a sandie and low soile, which some suppose to be
built in the very same place, without the enterance of the

Ptoi. geog. lib. Red sea, where Ptolomey placed the ancient mart-towne of
Aualites. This citie is a place of great traffike ; for hither
they bring out of India, cloth, elephants teeth, frankincense,
pepper, golde, and other rich merchandize. The territorie
adjoining yeeldeth abundance of honie, waxe, and a great
quantitie of oile, which they make not of oliues, but of a
kinde of daintie plumes : it affourdeth likewise such plentie
of corne, of cattell, and of fruits differing from ours, that
they are transported by shipping to other nations. Barbora
likewise, a citie of the Moores, standeth in this kingdome of
Adel, and hath a commodious hauen, whereunto resort
many ships laden with merchandize, from Aden in Arabia,
and from Cambaya vpon the riuer of Indus. The citizens
are blacke people, and their wealth consisteth most of all
in flesh. <

In the yeere 1541, Gradaameth the king of this place,
after manie mischiefes which he had done to Cladius the
emperour of Abassia, being vanquished by Christopher de
Gama y the Indian Viceroy of Iohn the third king of
Portugale ; hee did by meanes of the souldiers and warlike

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VNDESCRIBED BY IOHN LEO. 53

prouisions, which were sent him from the Sheque or
gouernour of Zebit, ouercome the Portugals & the Abassins.
Howbeit afterward hairing sent the said forces backe
againe to Zebit, himselfe was slaine, and his whole armie
ouerthrowne by king Claudius aforesaide. But certaine
yeeres after, the successour of Gradaameth hauing in a
warlike encounter subdued the Prete y rode in triumph vpon
a little asse ; signifying thereby, that he ascribed not the
victorie to his owne forces, but to the power of God.

Adea, the second kingdome of the land of Aian, situate A**** tke se ;

' b ' condpartof

vpon the easterne Ocean, is confined northward by the Aian.

kingdome of Adel, & westward by the Abassin empire.

It is exceeding fruitful, & one part thereof mightily

aboundeth with woods, the residue being sufficiently stored

with cattell & corne. The inhabitants being Moores by

religion, and paying tribute to the emperour of Abassia,

are (as they of Adel before-named) originally descended of

the Arabians : who many hundred yeeres agoe, partly by

their rich traffike, and especially by force of armes, became

lords not onely of Aian, but of all the sea-coast along as

farre as Cabo de los corrientes, standing in the southerly

latitude of fower and twentie degrees. In all which space

the cities standing vpon the sea-coast ; before the Portugals

discouered the east Indies, lay open and vnfortified to the

sea (bicause the Arabians themselues were absolute lords

thereof) but were strongly walled toward the lande, for

feare of the Cafri, or lawlesse wilde Negros, who were

deadly enimies to the Arabians, and vtterly misliked their

so neere neighbourhood. Howbeit since the Portugals

taking of Magadazo, and diuers other townes vpon

the coast, they haue applied themselues very much to

fortification. But, to returne to the matter where we left,

vnto the foresaid kingdome of Adea belongeth the king- The kingdom

b t> & andcitieof

dome of Magadazo* so called of the principall citie therein, Magadazo.
which is a most strong, beautifull, and rich place, and is

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54 A DESCRIPTION OF PLACES

subiect to the kingly gouernment of a Moore. The
territorie adiacent is exceeding fruitfull, abounding with
sheepe, kine, horses, wheate, barly, and other kindes of
graine. It hath also an excellent hauen, and much fre-
quented by the ships of Aden and Cambaya, which come
thither laden with sundrie kindes of cloth, with spices and
other merchandize ; and from hence they carrie elephants
teeth, golde, slaues, honie, and waxe. The inhabitants are
of an oliue-colour, and some of them blacke, like vnto the
nations adioining, and they go naked from the girdle-stead
vpward, and speak the Arabian toong. They are but
meanely weaponed, which causeth them to shoote poisoned
arrowes. This citie was in times past head of all the
townes and cities of the Moores standing along this coast
for a great distance.

Zanguebar or Zanzibar, the second generall part of
the lower Ethiopia.

ZAnzibar or Zanguebar, so called by the Arabians and
Persians, is that tract of lande, which runneth along
some parte of the dominions of Prete Ianni, and from
thence extendeth it selfe by the east of Mohenemugi, til it
ioyneth with the frontiers of Monomotapa. Howbeit some
there are who vnder the name of Zanzibar will haue all
the south part of Africa to be vnderstood, euen as far as
Cabo Negro, which stretcheth into the western Ocean
about 1 8. degrees of southerly latitude : so that they com-
prehend therein the empires of Mohenemugi and Monomo-
tapa, and all the land of Gafraria. But in this controuersie
wee rather chuse to follow the opinion of Sanutus, affirming
with him, that the said maritime tract of Zanguebar (as it
is by vs before limited) is a lowe, fennie, and woodie
counlrie, with many greate and small riuers running through
it : which extremity of moisture in those hot climates

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VNDESCRTBED BY IOHN LEO. 55

causeth the ayer to be most vnholesome and pestilent.
The inhabitants are for the most part black, with curled
haire, being Idolaters, and much addicted to sorcery and
witchcraft They go naked all the vpper part of their
bodies, couering their nether partes with clothes of diuers
colours, and with beasts skins. And this tract of lande
stretching along the sea-coast from the riuer Quilimanci to
the riuer of Magnice containeth the kingdomes and terri-
tories of Melinde, Mombaza, Quiloa, Mozambique, Sofala,
and others.

Melinde, the most Northerly kingdome of Zanguebar, ^fpar/tf
situate in two degrees and an halfe of southerly latitude, Zanguebar.
and stretching from the coast vp into the main for the space
of an hundred miles, hath a strong and stately city of the
same name, being seuentie miles distant from Mombaza.
It aboundeth with Rice, Millet, flesh, limons, citrons, and
all kinds of fruites : but as for corne, it is brought hither
out of Cambaya. The inhabitants (especially on the sea
coast) are Moores and Mahumetans : who build their
houses very sumptuously after the manner of Europe.
They are of a colour inclining to white, and some blacke
people they haue also among them, which are for the
greatest part Idolaters : howbeit all of them pretend a
kinde of ciuilitie both in their apparell, and in the decencie
and furniture of their houses. The women are white, and
sumptuously attired after the Arabian fashion with cloth of
silke. Likewise they adorne their neckes, armes, hands,
and feete with bracelets and iewels of golde and siluer.
When they go abroad out of their houses, they couer
themselues with a vaile of taffata, so that they are not
knowne but when they themselues lift. Vpon this coast
of Melinde you haue a very safe harborough, wherunto
the ships that saile those seas do vsually resort. In briefe
the inhabitants are a kind, true-harted, & trustie people, &
courteous to strangers. They haue alwaies beene in league

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56 A DESCRIPTION OF PLACES

with the Portugals, giuing them most friendly entertainmet,
& reposing much cofidence in them ; neither haue they
euer done them any iniury.
Mombaza the The kingdome of Mombaca, being the second generall

second portion

o/Zanguebar. part of Zanguebar, and situate in three degrees and a halfe
beyond the Equinoctiall line, bordering to the north vpon
Melinde, and to the south vpon Quiloa ; is so called after
the name of a certaine isle and citie vpon the coast, both
which are named Mombasa, and are peopled with
Mahumetans : their houses are of many stories high, and
beautified with pictures both grauen and painted. Their
kings are Mahumetans, and most deadly enimies to the
Christians : one of the which taking vpon him to resist the
Portugals, was himselfe quite vanquished and ouerthrowen,
and constrained to leaue his citie to the sacke and spoile
of his enimies, who found therein a good quantitie of gold,
siluer, and pearle ; and likewise cloth of cotton, of silke,
and of gold, with great numbers of slaues, & such other
commodities. Howbeit they remained not there any long
time, but were inforced to abandon the place in regard of
the most vnholesome and infectious aire. This kingdome
is tributarie to the great empire of Mohenemugi.

Quiloa the The kingdome of Quiloa situate in nine degrees towarde

third fart of *> >£ &

Zanguebar. the pole Antarticke, and (like the last before mentioned)
taking the denomination thereof from a certaine isle and
citie both called by the name of Quiloa ; may be accounted
for the third portion of the lande of Zanguebar. This
island hath a very fresh and coole aire, and is replenished
with trees alwaies greene, and with plentie of all kinde of
victuals. It is situate at the mouth of the great riuer
Coauo which springeth out of the same lake from whence
Nilus floweth, and is called also by some Quiloa, and by
others Tahiua, and runneth from the saide lake, eastward
for the space of sixe hundred miles, till it approcheth neere
the sea, where the streame thereof is so forcible, that at

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VNDESCRIBED BY IOHN LEO. 57

the very mouth or out-let, dispersing it selfe into two
branches, it shapeth out a great island, to the west whereof
vpon the coast you may behold the little isle and the citie
of Quiloa, being separated from the maine by a very narrow
arme of the sea. This isle (as also the great isle before
named) is inhabited by Mahumetans, who are of colour
whitish. Their women are comely, and rich in their attire.
Their houses are fairely builte of lime and stone, and haue
within them very gallant and costly furniture, and without
they are enuironed with gardens and orchards full of sundry
delicate fruits and herbes. Of this island the whole king-
dome (as is aforesaide) tooke the name ; which vpon the
coast extendeth it selfe to Cabo Delgado, or the slender
Cape (being the limite betweene Mozambique and this
kingdome of Quiloa) & from thence it stretcheth vnto the
foresaid riuer of Coauo. In old time this kingdome of
Quiloa was the chiefest of all the principalities there
adioining ; for the Arabians which were masters thereof
had inlarged their dominions for the space of nine hundred
miles, so that all the sea-coast and the islands, as farre as
Cabo de los Corrientes situate in fower and twentie degrees
of southerly latitude, were tributarie and subiect thereunto.
Whereupon when the Portugals arriued in those countries
the king of this place trusted so much to himselfe, that he
thought he was able with his owne forces, not onely to
make a defensiue warre against them, but also to driue
them from those places, which they had already surprized.
Howbeit, quite contrarie to his expectation, he was by the
Portugals vtterly vanquished and put to flight. Who
seazing vpon the isle and citie, enriched themselues with the
great booties & spoiles that they found therein. Thus the
mightie king of Quiloa (who before the Portugals arriuall
in those parts, enioied also the chiefe commoditie of the
rich gold mines of Sofala) became at length, by a composi-
tion made with Don Pedro Cabral, tributarie to the crowne

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58 A DESCRIPTION OF PLACES

of Portugall, paying for tribute at the first fiue hundred,
and afterward fifteene hundred peeces of gold. Vpon the
foresaid isle the Portugals erected a fortresse, which their
king afterward commanded them to deface, considering
that there were other forts sufficient enough for that coast
Mjzamtnque Betweene the two mightie riuers of Coauo and Cuama

the fourth part

ofZanguebar. (both which spring out of one lake with Nilus) among the
kingdomes of Mombara, Mozimba, Maeuas, and Embeoe,
which are not as yet perfectly discouered, lieth the king-
dome of Mozambique, so called of three small islets, situate

* c ° s rMo * hin in the mouth of the riuer *Meghincate in fowerteene and a
halfe, or fifteene degrees of southerly latitude, which king-
dome in ancient time by Ptolemey was called Promon-
torium Prassum. In the principall of the three foresaide
isles, there is a very commodious and secure hauen, capable
of all kinde of vessels, and there also the Portugals haue
built a very strong forte : where albeit in regard of the
lownes and moisture of the soile, being full of bogges and
fens, the aire be most vnholsome, and in manner pestilent :
yet the opportunitie of the place, and the plentie of victuals,
haue made it one of the most famous and frequented
hauens in all that Ocean. For which cause the fleetes
which saile from Portugall to the east Indies, when they
are out of hope to performe their voiage in summer,
do vsually resort to spend the whole winter at Mozam-
bique : and those Portugale ships also which come from
the Indies toward Europe, must of necessitie touch at
this place, to furnish themselues with victuals. Along
these coasts do saile certaine Moores in vessels sowed or
fastened togither with thongs of lether, the sailes whereof
they make of Palme-leaues, and in stead of pitch and
tallow, they calke them with gumme which they gather in
the woods. Vnto this kingdome of Mozambique belongeth

Angoscia. the prouince of Angoscia, so called from certaine isles of
that name, lying directly ouer against it, which prouince

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VNDESCRIBED BY IOHN LEO. 59

stretcheth to the riuer of Cuama. It is inhabited by
Mahumetans and Gentiles, who are for the greatest part
merchants, and do trafficke along that coast with the
same wares and commodities wherewith the people of
Sofala do trade. •
Sofala, or Sefala, the fift and last general part oiSofaiathefift

rj . part of Zan-

Zanguebar, is a small kingdome lying vpon the sea-co ast, guebar.
between the riuers of Cuama and Magnice, being so called
after the name of a riuer running through it, in which riuer
lyeth an Island, which is the head and principal place of
the whole countrie. On this Island the Portugales haue
built a most strong forte, by meanes whereof they are
become Lordes of the richest trade in all those parts. For
(to say nothing of the Iuorie, Amber, and slaues which are
hither brought) all the gold in a manner that is taken out
of those manifolde and endlesse mines of Sofala and all the
Inland-countries thereabouts, is here exchanged vnto the
Portugales for cotton-cloth, silkes, and other commodities
of Cambaia : all which is thought yeerely to amount vnto
the summe of two millions of gold. This golden trade was
first in the power of the Moores of Magadazo ; and after-
ward it befell to them of Quiloa. The inhabitants of
Sofala are Mahumetans, being gouerned by a king of the
same sect, who yeeldeth obedience to the crowne of
Portugale, because hee will not be subiect to the empire
of Monomotapa.

Neither is it heere to bee omitted, that in these parts
vnder the name of Iuorie, are bartered not onely ele-
phants teeth, but also the teeth of sea-horses : which
creatures are commonly found in the riuers of Nilus, Niger,
Coauo, Cuama, Magnice, and all other the great riuers of
Africa.

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60 A DESCRIPTION OF PLACES

The empire of MoJtenemugi* 2 the third generall part of the
lower Ethiopia.

THis mightie empire bordering south vpon the
kingdome of Mozambique, and the empire of
Monomotapa ; to the riuer Coauo, and beyond ; west
with the riuer Nilus ; North vpon the dominions of Prete
Ianni\ and east vpon the kingdomes of Melinde,
Mombasa, and Quiloa, hath not many yeeres ago bin
discouered or at least heard of by the Portugales, vpon
occasion perhaps of the warres, which with vnfortunate
successe they haue waged against Monomotapa. The
emperour of this country holdeth a continuall league with
the princes of Melinde, Mombasa, and Quiloa, towards the
sea, for traffiques sake : for they prouide his dominions
with cloth of cotton, cloth of silke, 33 and sundrie other
comfnodities brought from Arabia, Persia, Cambaya, and
India, which are very well esteemed in those parts :
but amohg the rest they bring especially certaine little
balles, of a red colour, and in substance like vnto glasse,
being made in Cambaya of a kinde of Bitumen or clammie
claie, which balles they vse to weare like beades about
their necks. They serue also to them in stead of money,
for gold they make none account of. Likewise with the
silkes that are brought vnto them they apparel themselues
from the girdle downward. In exchange for all the fore-
saide wares and commodities they giue gold, siluer, copper,
and iuorie. Howbeit vpon his Inland frontiers to the
south and southwest, he maintaineth continuall and bloudie
warres against the emperour of Monomotapa, his principall
and greatest forces consisting of a most barbarous and
fierce nation, called by the people of Congo Giachi, but by
themselues Agag, who inhabite from the first great lake
which is the fountaine of Nilus, for a certaine space vpon

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VNDESCRIBED BY IOHN LEO. 6l

both sides of the said riuer, and then afterward on the
westerne banke as farre as the second great lake from
whence Zaire hath his chiefe original, & thence euen to the
confines of Prete Ianni. They are a wilde and lawles
people, liuing (after the manner of the ancient Scythians
and Nomades, and like the Tartars and Baduin-Arabians
of these times) a vagrant kind of life, vnder cabbins and
cottages in the open forests. They are of stature tall, and
of countenance most terrible, making lines vpon their
cheekes with certaine iron-instruments, and turning their
eie-lids backward, whereby they cast vpon their enimies a
most dreadfull and astonishing aspect. They are man-
eaters, and couragious in battaile. For their armour of
defence they vse certaine Pauises or great targets wherwith
they couer their whole bodies, being otherwise naked : and
their offensiue weapons are dartes and daggers. It is not
many yeeres since these cruel sauages ranging westward
from Niliis, inuaded the kingdome of Congo, vanquished
the inhabitants in sundrie battels, tooke the head citie, and
forced the king Don Aluaro to flee for succour and safetie
vnto the isle of horses, in the mouth of the great riuer
Zaire, being one of the extreme frontiers of his dominions.
Where the king himselfe was taken with an incurable
dropsie, and his people in great numbers died of famine ;
who to relieue their extreme necessities, sold their wiues,
their children, and their owne selues for slaues vnto the
Portugals. Howbeit these warlike Giacchi, notwithstand-
ing their hautie courage, and great exploits, are no whit
feared, but rather most boldly encountered, and sometimes
vanquished by the Amazones or women warriers of Mono-
motapa. Which two nations, what by warlike stratagems,
and what by open and maine force, do often fight the most
desperate and doubtfull battailes, that are performed in all
those southern parts.

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62 A DESCRIPTION OF PLACES

The empire of Monomotapa^ the fourth general part
of the lower Ethiopia.

BEnomotapa, Benomotaxa, or Monomotapa is a large
empire, 34 so called after the name of the prince
thereof, who in religion is a Gentile, and for extension of
dominions, and military forces, a renowned and mightie
emperour ; in the language of whose subiects an cmperour
is signified by this word Monomotapa. This empire of his
lyeth, as it were, in an Island which containeth in compasse
seuen hundred and fiftie, or (as some thinke) one thousand
leagues, being limited on the north-west by the great lake
whereout Nilus springeth ; on the south, by the riuer
Magnice and the tributarie kingdome of Butua or Toroa ;
on the east it hath the sea-coast and the kingdome of
Sofala, which in very deed is a member thereof ; and the
North part abutteth vpon the riuer of Cuama, and the
SomewWAaue empire of Mohenemugi. That part of this great Island

Magnice and

Cuama to be which lyeth betweene the mouth of Cuama, and the cape

one mightie ri- de los Corrientes, is a very pleasant, holesome, and fruitfull

ortffih?g%at country. And from the said cape to the riuer of Magnice,

jngio™t%£ b *~ the whole region aboundeth with beasts both great and

Teparate'Mono- sma11 \ °ut lt is cold b y reas ° n of the sharp brizes which

7hTmm f e°ia m ke. come off the sea '> and so destitute of wood, that the people

for fewel are constrained to vse the dung of beasts, and

they apparel themselues in their skinnes. Along the banke

of the riuer Cuama are diuers hilles and downes couered

with trees, and vallies likewise watered with riuers, being

pleasantly situate, and well peopled. Here are such plenty

of Elephants, as it seemeth by the great quantitie of their

teeth, that there are yeerely slaine betweene foure and fiue

thousand. Their elephants are nine cubites high, and fiue

cubites in thicknes : They haue long and broad eares,

little eyes, shorte tailes, and great bellies : and some are of

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VNDESCRIBED BY IOHN LEO. 63

opinion, that Ethiopia yeeldeth as many elephants, as
Kurope doth oxen. The townes and villages of this
empire are very few, and their buildings are of wood and
clay, couered with thatch. None may haue doores to their
houses but onely great personages. Their principal cities
are* Zimbas, and Benamataza, the first whereof is one and * This place

both in regard

twentie, and the second nfteene daies lourney from Sofala. of the name and

*-r<t 1 . 111 1.1 situation may

Iney serue this emperour at the table vpon their knees : seemetohaue

to sit before him, is all one, as with vs for a man to stand ^entwnedly 1

vpon his feete, neither may any presume to stand in his ptolemey -

presence, but onely great lords. He is tasted vnto, not

before, but after he hath eaten and drunke. For his armes

he hath a spade and two dartes. Tribute he taketh none,

but onely certaine daies seruice and giftes presented vnto

him ; without which there is no appearing in his sight.

Hee carrieth, withersoeuer he go, foure hundred dogs, as a

most sure and trustie guard. Hee keepeth all the heires of

his tributary princes, as vassals, and as pledges of their

fathers loialtie. There are no prisons in al his empire :

for sufficient testimonie being brought of the commission of

any crime, iustice is executed out of hand : - and of all

offences none are punished with greater seueritie and

rigour, then witchcraft, theft, and adulterie. His people are

of a meane stature, blacke, and well proportioned. They

are Gentiles in religion, hauing no idols, but worshipping

one onely God whom they call Mozimo. 86 They go

apparelled in cloth of cotton, either made by themselues,

or brought from other countries : howbeit the king will in

no case weare any forrein cloth for feare of poison or such

like trecherie v : and the meaner sort of his subiects are clad

in beasts skins. Among all the armies and legions of,

soldiers, which this emperour (for the defence of his great

estate) is forced to maintaine, his Amazones are women

warriers before mentionied are the most valiant, being

indeed the very sinewes and chiefe strength of all his

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64 A DESCRIPTION OF PLACES

militarie forces. These women, after the manner of the
ancient Scythish or Asiatike Amazones, so much spoken of
in histories of former times, seare^ off-t heir leffa, p gps, that
they might not be an hinderance vnto them in their shoot-
ing. They are most expert in warlike stratagems, and
swift of foote. Their weapons are bowes and arrowes.
At certaine times for generations sake they accompany
with men ; sending the male children home to their fathers,
but keeping their daughters vnto themselves. They
inhabite towards the west, not farre from the beginning
of Nilus, in certaine places which themselues make choise
of, and which are graunted vnto them by the fauour of the
Emperour.

This empire of Monomotapa comprehendeth not onely the
foresaid great island, but stretcheth it selfe farther also to-
ward the cape of Buena esperancja, as farre as the kingdomes
of Butua or Toroa, 37 which being gouerned by particular
lords, do acknowledge Monomotapa for their soueraigne.
Throughout all this emperours dominions is found infinite
quantitie of gold, in the earth, in the rockes, and in the
riuers. The gold-mines of this countrey neerest vnto
Sofala are those of Manica, vpon a plaine enuironed with
mountaines ; and those also in the prouince of Matuca,
which is inhabited by the people called Battonghi, and
situate betweene the Equinoctiall line and the Tropique of
Capricorne. These mines are distant from Sofala, betweene
the space of 300. and sixe hundred miles : but those of
the Boro and Quiticui are fifteene hundred miles distant
towards the west. Others there are also in the kingdomes
of Toroa or Butua: so that from hence or from Sofala,
or from some other part of Monomotapa, some are of
opinion, that Salomons gold for the adorning of the temple
at Ierusalem, was brought by sea. A thing in truth not
very vnlikely : for here in Toroa, and in diuers places of
Monomotapa are till this day remaining manie huge and

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VNDESCRIBED BY IOHN LEO. 65

ancient buildings of timber, lime and stone, being of
singular workemanship, the like whereof are not to be
found in all the prouinces thereabouts. Heere is also a
mightie wall of fiue and twentie spannes thicke, which the
people ascribe to the workemanship of the diuell, being
accounted from Sofala fiue hundred and ten miles the
neerest way. 88 All other houses throughout this empire
(as is aforesaid) consist of timber, claie, and thatch. And
heere I may boldly affirme, that the ancient buildings of
this part of Africa, & along the coast of the east Indies,
may not onely be compared, but euen preferred before the
buildings of Europe. The authors of which ancient monu-
ments are vnknowen : but the later African buildings haue
beene erected by the Arabians. In the time of Sebastian
king of Portugale, the emperour of Monomotapa and many
of his nobles were baptised : howbeit afterward being
seduced by certaine Moores, hee put Gonsaluo Silua to
death, who conuerted him to the Christian religion. Where-
upon Sebastian king of Portugall sent against him an
armie of sixteene thousand * consisting for the most part * Mine author
of gentlemen and men of qualitie, vnder the conduct of downe too great
Francisco BarrettoP The Monomotapa being afraid of a num €r '
the Portugall forces, offered Barretto as good and accept-
able conditions of peace as might be desired : but he not
contented with reason, was quite ouerthrowne, not by his
enimies, but by the vnwholesome aire of Ethiopia, and by
the manifold diseases which consumed his people.

Cafraria the fift generall part of the lower Ethiopia.

CAfraria, or the land of the Cafri, we esteeme to
be both the coasts and inlands of the extreame
southerly point of Africa, beginning from the riuer
Magnice, and thence extending by Cabo da pescaria, Terra
do Natal, Bahia da lagoa, Bahia fermosa, about the cape

E

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66 A DESCRIPTION OF PLACES

of Buena esperanga, by the bay called Agoada Saldariha,
and thence Northward along the westerne coast of Africa,
as far as Cabo Negro, or the blacke cape, which is situate
verie neere vnto eighteene degrees of Southerly latitude.
The saide Cape of Buena esperan^a is deuided into three
smaller headlands or capes ; The westermost, being called
Cabo de buena esperan9a, or The cape of good hope after
the name of the whole promontorie, and being cut from
the rest of the firme land : The middlemost is named Cabo
falso, because the Portugales in their voiage homewards
from the east Indies, haue sometimes mistaken this for
the true cape beforementioned ; betweene which two
capes runneth into the sea a mightie riuer called by the
Portugales Rio dolce 40 (where their caraks often take in
fresh water) and by the naturall inhabitants Camissa, which
springeth out of a small lake called Gale, situate among
The mountaines of the moon so much celebrated by
ancient geographers: The third and eastermost cape
stretching farthest into the sea, is called Cabo das Agulhas,
or the cape of Needles, because there the needles of dialles
touched with the loadstone, stand directly North, without
any variation either to the east or to the west : betweene
this cape and the foresaid westermost cape (which ly forth
into the sea like two homes) is the bredth of this mightie
promontorie, containing about fiue and twentie leagues ;
the length whereof from the riuer of Fernando Poo, where
it beginneth to iuttie forth into the sea, along the westerne
coast southward, to the cape das Agulhas, amounteth to
two thousand and two hundred Italian miles; and from
Cabo das Agulhas, along the easterne shore northward, to
Cape Guardafu, are three thousand three hundred of the
same miles. This cape at the first discouerie thereof was
called by Nauigators, The Lyon of the sea; & Cabo
tormentoso, or The t£pestuoiis cape ; not so much, as I
take it, for the dangerous and stormie seas mpre about

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VNDESCRIBED BY IOHN LEO. 67

this cape than any other; but partly in regard of the
chargeable, dangerous, and long trauels of the Portugals
before they could attaine vnto it ; and partly bicause of the
great compasse which in their voiages outward they are
constrained to fetch for the doubling thereof; and, partly
also in regard of some tempestuous and stormie weather
wherewith they haue beene encountered at this Cape ;
which notwithstanding at certaine times is an ordinarie
matter vpon all shores and promontories ouer the face of
the whole earth. And albeit some will not come within
sight of this cape, but keepe a great distance off, for feare
of the dangerous seas beating thereupon (as namely
Francis de Almeida who sailed aboue an hundred leagues
to the south, in fortie degrees of latitude ; Pedro de Agnaia g. b. b. Rei.
in fortie fiue ; and Vasco Carualbo in fortie seuen, where in v part\'uh*.
the moneth of Iuly eight of his men died for cold) yet we
find by the late and moderne experience of sir Francis
Drake, master Candisk* 1 master Lancaster in his returne
from the east Indies, 42 and of the Hollanders in, their
nauigations thither, begun in the yeere 1595, that those
seas are at sometimes not onely free from stormie
tempests, but most pleasant also to saile vpon, with faire
and gentle weather. And as the Spaniards for a long
time (that they might discourage all other nations from
attempting nauigation vpon The south sea beyond
America) blinded all Christendome with a report, that
the streights of Magellan were unrepasable : so perhaps
the Portugals, to terrifie all others from sailing to the east
Indies, and to keepe the gaine and secrets of that rich
trade entire vnto themselues, haue in their writings and
relations made the doubling of the cape of Buena
Esperancja, and the crossing ouer those seas, a matter
of farre greater difficultie and danger, then it is of late
manifestly found to be. The name of Buena esperancja
or good hope, was giuen vnto this promontory by Iohn

E 2

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68 A DESCRIPTION OF PLACES

the second king of Portugall ; bicause that when his
fleetes had once doubled this cape, either outward or
homeward, they then stedfastly hoped in good time to
performe the residue of their voiage ; otherwise not. In
the midst of this cape lieth a plot of ground of that beautie
and delight, as that without any humane industrie it may
compare with the most artificiall gardens of Europe. On
the top of this place, nature minding as it were to excell
her-selfe, hath framed a great plaine, which for beautifull
situation, fruitfulnes of herbes, varietie of flowers, and
flourishing verdure of things, seemeth to resemble a terres-
triall paradise. The Portugals terme it not altogether
unfitly, The table of the cape. 48 And to the end they
might not faile of the meanes to enioy so pleasant a place,
there is close vnder it a very good harbour which is called
The port of Conception.

The people of this place called in the Arabian toong
Cafri, Cafres, or Cafates, that is to say, lawlesse or out-
lawes, are for the most part exceeding blacke of colour,
which very thing may be a sufficient argument, that the
sunne is not the sole or chiefe cause of their blacknes ;
for in diuers other countries where the heate thereof is
farre more scorching and intolerable, there are tawnie,
browne, yellowish, ash-coloured, and white people ; so that
the cause thereof seemeth rather to be of an hereditarie
qualitie transfused from the parents, then the intempera-
ture of an hot climate, though it also may be some
furtherance thereunto. The Hollanders in the yeere 1595.
entering the harbour of Saint Bras, somewhat to the east
of Cabo das Agulhas, had conuersation and truck with
some of these Cafres, whom they found to be a stoute and
valiant people, but very base and contemptible in their
behauior and apparell, being clad in oxe and sheeps skins,
wrapped about their shoulders with the hairie sides inward,
in forme of a mantle. Their weapons are a kinde of small

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VNDESCRIBED BY IOHN LEO. 69

slender dartes or pikes, some whereof are headed with
some kinde of mettall, the residue being vnheaded, and
hardened onely at the points with fire. They couer their
priuie parts with a sheepes tayle, which is bound vp before
and behinde with a girdle. Their home-beasts are, like
those of Spaine, verie well limmed and proportioned.
Their sheepe are great and faire, not hauing any wooll
on. their backes, but a kinde of harsh haire like goates.
Other particulars by them obserued, for breuities sake, I
omit

Now that we may proceede in describing the residue of
Cafraria, hauing sayled about the cape of Buena esperanga
westward, albeit the coast in regard of the greatnes thereof
may seem to ly directly north, yet for the space of
seuenteene degrees, till you come to Cabo Negro, (the
farthest North-westerne bound of this fift part of the
lower Ethiopia) it trendeth somewhat to the west : along
which coast somewhat within the land appeareth a mighty
ranke or ridge of mountaines, called by the Portugales
Os picos fragosos, that is, the ragged points or spires, OsPicosfn
being besides their excessiue height, craggie, rough, and'
steepe, lying bare, desolate, and vtterly voide of all
succour, and seruing for no other end, but for an object
to the windes, and a mark for the tempests, The residue
of the coast, till you cornel to Cabo Negro, sometimes lying
lowe and sometimes high, sometimes shooting into the sea,
and sometimes again gently retiring, containeth many
plaines, hils, vallies, and places most fertile and delightful ;
some of them being alwaies of so fresh and pleasant view,
as they seeme to represent a continuall spring.

gosos.

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A DESCRIPTION OF PLACES

The sixt and last part of the lower
or extreme Ethiopia, containing the king-
dome of Congo ; whereunto in times past were
tributarie and subiect the kingdomes of Matama,
and Angola to the south; the kingdomes of
Quisatna, and Pangelungos to the east ; and to
the north the kingdome of Anzicana inhabited
by the Anzichi> and Loango peopled by
the Bramas.

The kingdome
oj Matama.

Angola.

Irst therefore (according to our pro-
posed order) that we may begin
with the most southerly parts ; The
kingdome of Mafama 44 so called
after the name of the king thereof,
(who being a Gentile ruleth ouer
diuers prouinces named Quimbebe)
bordereth north vpon the first great
lake whereout Nilus springeth, and vpon the south
frontiers of Angola; east it abutteth vpon the western
banke of the riuer Bagamidri ; and stretcheth south as far
as the riuer Brauagul, which springeth out of the moun-
tains of the moone. This countrey standeth in a good &
holesome aire, & abourideth with mines of cristall & other
metals, and hath victuals great plenty. And although the
people thereof & and their neighbour-borderers doe traffike
togither ; yet the king of Matama and the king of Angola
wage war oftentimes one against another: also the said
riuer Bagamidri deuideth this kingdome of Matama from
the great empire of Monomotapa before described, which
lieth to the east thereof.

Next followeth Angola, a kingdome subiect in times

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VNDESCRIBED BY IOHN LEO. 7 1

past fo the king of Congo, the gouernour whereof not verie
many yeeres ago, growing exceedingly rich & mightie,
rebelled against his soueraigne, & by diuers attempts
skaking off the yoke of superioritie, became himselfe an
absolute prince. This countrey, by reason that the people V"^
are suffered to haue as many wiues as they list, is a place
most woonderfully populous. The goe whole millions of
them to the warres, not leauing any men of seruice behinde :
but for want of victuals they are often constrained to leaue
their enterprises halfe vndone. Vpon this king, Paulo
Diaz, who remained gouernour in these parts for the king
of Portugall, waged warre : the reason was, bicause certaine
Portugall merchants and others going by way of traffike to
Cabaza, a towne situate an hundred and fiftie miles from
the sea, where the king of Angola vsually resideth ; they
were by order from this king, the same yeere that king
Sebastian died in Barbarie, 45 sodainly spoiled of their
goods, and part of them slaine ; it being alleaged, that they
were all spies, and came to vndermine the present state.
Whereupon Paulo Diaz prouided himselfe, and with two
galeots did many notable exploits on both sides of the
riuer Coanza. Finally hauing built a forte in a very com-
modious and hillie ground, at the confluence or meeting of
the riuer last mentioned, and the riuer Luiola, with a small
number of Portugals, ioined to the aide sent him from the
king of Congo and from certaine princes of Angola his
confederates, he gaue the foresaid king (notwithstanding his
innumerable troupes of Negros) diuers & sundry ouer-
throwes. The said riuer Coanza springeth out of the lake
of Aquelunda, 46 situate westward of the great lake where-
out Nilus takes his originall. In this kingdome are the
mountaines of Cabambe, abounding with rich and excellent
siluer mines ; 47 which haue ministred the chiefe occasion of The Hiuer
all the foresaid warres. This region aboundeth also with TamZ:
other minerals, and with cattell of all sorts. Most true it is,

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72 A DESCRIPTION OF PLACES

that dogs-flesh is heere accounted of all others the daintiest
meate ; for which cause they bring vp and fatten great
plentie of dogs for the shambles. Yea it hath beene con-
stantly affirmed, that a great dogge accustomed to the
bull was sold in exchange of two and twentie slaues, the
value of whom coulde not amount to much lesse than two
hundred and twentie ducats. The priests of Angola called
Gange, are helde in such estimation and account, as the
people are verily perswaded, that they haue in their power
abundance and scarcitie, life and death. For they haue
knowledge of medicinable hearbes, and of deadly poisons
also, which they keepe secret vnto themselues ; and by
meanes of their familiaritie with the diuell, they often
foretell things to come.

Quizama* Towards the lake of Aquelunda before mentioned, lieth

a countrey called Quizama ; the inhabitants whereof being
gouerned after the manner of a common wealth, haue
shewed themselues very friendly to the Portugals, and
haue done them speciall good seruice in their warres
against the king of Angola.

Thus hauing briefely pointed at the former three border-
ing countries, let vs now with like breuitie passe through

Bahia das va- the kingdome of Congo it selfe. This kingdome therefore

cas, or the baye

ofCowes. (accounting Angola, as indeede it is, a member thereof)
beginneth at Bahia das vacas in thirteene, and endeth at
Cabo da Caterina in two degrees and a halfe of southerly
latitude. True it is that the coast neere vnto the saide Bay
of Cowes is subiect to the king of Congo, but the inland is
gouerned by him of Angola. East and west it stretcheth
from the sea in bredth as farre as the lake of Aquelunda,
for the space of sixe hundred miles, and is diuided into

The six pro- sixe prouinces : namely, the prouince of Pemba, situate in

uinces of

Congo, the very hart and center of the whole kingdome ; Batta,

the most easterly prouince, where the ancient writers seenje
to haue placed Agifymba ; Pango which bordereth vpon

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VNDESCRIBED BY IOHN LEO. 73

Parigelungi ; Sundi the most Northerly prouince ; Sogno

which stretcheth ouer the mouth of the great riuer Zaire ;

and Bamba which is the principall of all the rest both for

extension of ground, for riches, and for militarie forces. In

the prouince of Pemba, or rather in a seuerall territorie by

it selfe, standeth the citie of Sant Saluador, in former times s. Saluador

called Banza, being the metropolitan of all Congo, and the fC<mgo. C%

seate of the king, situate an hundred and fiftie miles from

the sea, vpon a rocke and high mountaine ; on the verie top

whereof is a goodly plaine abounding with fountaines of

holesome and sweete water, and with all other good things

which are requisite either for the sustenance, or solace of

mankinde : and vpon this plaine where Sant Saluador is

seated, there may inhabitie to the number of an hundred

thousand persons. In this citie the Portugals haue a

warde by themselues, separate from the rest, containing a

mile in compasse : and about that bignes also is the palace

or house of the king. The residue of the people dwell for

the most part scatteringly in villages. It is a place

enriched by nature with corne, cattell, fruits, and holesome

springs of water in great abundance. The principall riuer

of all Congo called Zaire, taketh his chiefe originall out of Thegreatriuer

the second lake of Nilus, lying vnder the Equinoctiall line :

and albeit this is one of the mightiest riuers of all Africa,

being eight and twentie miles broad at the mouth, yet was

it vtterly vnknowen to ancient writers. Amongst other

riuers it receiueth Vumba and Barbela, which sprung out

of the first great lake. In this countrey are sundry other

riuers also, which fetch their originall out of the lake of

Aquelunda: the principall whereof are Coanza, which

diuideth the kingdome of Congo from that of Angola, and

the riuer Lelunda, which breedeth crocodiles & water- Crocodiles.

horses which the Greeks call Hippopotami, of which

creatures the isle of horses in the mouth of the riuer Zaire

taketh denomination. The Hippopotamus or water-horse Water-horses.

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74

A DESCRIPTION OF PLACES

is somewhat tawnie, of the colour of a lion ; in the night
he comes on lande to feed vpon the grasse, and keepeth in
the water all the day time. The Africans tame and
manage some of these horses, and they prooue exceeding
swift ;H>ut a man must beware how he passe ouer deepe
riuers with them, for they will sodainly diue vnder water.
Also in these riuers of Ethiopia are bred a kinde of oxen,
which Hue euery night vpon the lande. Here likewise
breedeth another strange creature, called in the Congonian
language Ambize Angulo, that is to say, a hogge-fish, being
so exceeding fatte, and of such greatnes, that some of them
weie aboue fiue hundred pound. 48 This abudance of
waters, togither with the heat of the climate, which pro-
ceedeth from the neerenes of the sunne, causeth the
countrey to be most fruitfull of plants, herbes, fruits, and
corne ; & much more fertile would it be, if nature were
helped forward by the industrie of the inhabitants. Heere
also, besides goates, sheepe, deere, Gugelle, conies, hares,
ciuet-cats, and ostriches, are great swarmes of tigres, which

The Zabra. are very hurtfull both to man and beast The Zebra or
Zabra 49 of this countrey being about the bignes of a mule,
is a beast of incomparable swiftnes, straked about the body,
legges, eares, and other parts, with blacke, white and
browne circles of three fingers broad ; which do make a
pleasant shew. Buffles, wilde asses, called by the Greekes
Onagri, and Dantes (of whose hard skins they make all
their targets) range in heards vp and downe the woods.

The elephant Also here are infinite store of elephants of such monstrous
bignes, that by the report of sundrie credible persons, some
of their teeth do weigh two hundred pounds, at sixteene
ounces the pound : vpon the plaines this beast is swifter
than any horse, by reason of his long steps; onely he
cannot turne with such celeritie. Trees he ouerturneth
with the strength of his backe, or breaketh them between
his teeth ; or standeth vpright vpon his hinder feete, to

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browse vpon the leaues and tender sprigs. The she
elephants beare their brood in their wombes two yeeres
before they bring foorth yoong ones : neither are they
great with yoong, but onely from seuen yeeres to seuen
yeeres. This creature is saide to Hue 1 50. yeeres ; hee is
of a gentle disposition ; and relying vpon his great strength,
he hurteth none but such as do him iniurie ; only he will
in a sporting maner gently heaue vp with his snowte such
persons as he meeteth. He loueth the water beyond
measure, and will stande vp to the mid-body therein, bath-
ing the ridge of his backe, and other parts with his long
promuscis or trunke. His skin is fower fingers thicke ;
and it is reported, that an elephant of this countrey being
stricken with a little gunne called Petrera, was not wounded
therewith, but so sore brused inwardly, that within three
daies after he died. Heere are likewise reported to be
mightie adders or snakes of fiue and twentie spannes long,
and fiue spans broad, which will swallow vp an whole
stagge, or any other creature of that bignes. Neither are
they here destitute of Indie-cockes and hens, partridges,
feasants, and innumerable birds of praie, both of the lande
and of the sea ; whereof some diue vnder the water, which
the Portugals call Pelicans.

Ouer against the most southerly part of the said king- The isle and
dome of Congo, where it confineth with Angola, lyeth an Loanda.
Isle called Loanda, being twentie miles long, and but one
mile broad at the most, betweene which and the maine
land is the best port of all that Ocean. About this Isle do
haunt infinite store of whales, where, notwithstanding no
amber at all is found ; which is a manifest argument that
it proceedeth not from these creatures. Here they fish for
certaine little shels, which in Congo and the countries
adioyning are vsed in steed of mony. The well-waters of
this Isle, when the sea ebbeth, are salte, but when it floweth
they are most fresh and sweet. In this Isle 60 the Portugals

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76 A DESCRIPTION OF PLACES

haue a towne from whence they traffique to Congo and
Angola : and amongst other commodities, they get euery
yeere in those parts about fiue thousand slaues ; the
custome of which trade belongeth by ancient constitutions
vnto the crowne of Portugale.

Loango. To the north of Congo vpon the sea coast beginneth

the kingdome of Loango tributarie in times past to the
king of Congo : It aboundeth with elephants ; and the
inhabitants called Bramas are circumcised after the Iewish
manner. 61

AnzUhu Next vpon them doe border the Anzichi, who are-

possessed of large countries, namely from the riuer Zaire
euen to the deserts of Nubia. They abound with mines of
copper, and with sanders both Red, and Gray which are
the best ; and some are of opinion, that here groweth the
right Lignum Aquilae, which is of so excellent vertue in
phisick. 52 They haue one supreme king, with many
princes vnder him. They traffique in Congo, and carrie
home from thence salt and great shels to be vsed for coine
(which are brought thither from the Isle of San Tom6) in
exchange of their cloth of the palme tree, and of Iuory :
but the chiefe commodities which they part from, are
slaues of their owne nation and of Nubia : and the said
shels they vse also insteed of Iewels and ornaments. Both
they and the Bramas before mentioned do carry for their
defence in the warres, certaine targets made of the skin
of a beast which in Germany is called Dante: 63 their
weapons offensiue be little bowes and shorte arrowes,
which they shoot with such wonderfull celerity, as they
will discharge twentie one after another, before the first
arrow fall to the ground. They haue shambles of mans-
flesh as wee haue of beeues and muttons. They eat their
enemies which they take in the warres : their slaues which
they cannot make away for a good round price, they sell
vnto the butchers : and some will offer themselues to the

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VNDESCRIBED BY IOHN LEO. 77

slaughter, for the loue of their princes and patrons: so"
sillie they are, that to do their lordes a pleasure, they will
not refuse present death : wherefore the Portugals repose
not so much trust in any kinde of slaues as in them : and
they are very valiant also in the warres.

But to returne vnto the sea-coast ; from the mouth of
the riuer Zaire Northward, the land bearing out somewhat
more to the west, is framed into three headlands, namely,
Cabo primero, Cabo da Caterina, and the cape of Lopo
Gonsalues, 54 which is a cape very well knowen in regard of
the eminency and outstretching thereof. It lyeth in one
degree of southerly latitude. Ouer against which cape
within the land do inhabite the people called Bramas in
the kingdome of Loango beforementioned. From hence
for the space of fiue or sixe degrees, till you come to
Punta delgada, or The slender point, the coast lyeth in a
manner directly North ; most of which tract is inhabited
by a nation of Negros called Ambus. North of the said
slender point you haue Rio dos Camarones, 66 or The riuer
of shrimps, which is full of little Isles ; not far from which
riuer are The countries of Biafar and Medra, inhabited
with people which are addicted to inchantments, witch-
crafts, and all kinds of abominable sorceries.

Much more might be said concerning this sixt part of
the lower Ethiopia: but because it is in so ample and
methodicall a manner described in the historie of Philippo
Pigafetta, most iudiciously and aptly Englished by the
learned Master Abraham Hartwell ; I refer the reader
thereunto, as to the principal and the very fountaine of all
other discourses which haue bin written to any purpose of
Congo and the countries adioyning. 66

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7$ A DESCRIPTION OF PLACES

Of the countries of Benin, Meleghete, Ghinea, and
Sierra Leona.

WEstward from the countries last mentioned lyeth the
kingdome of Benin, hauing a very proper towne of
that name, and an hauen called Gurte. The inhabitants
Hue in Idolatry, and are a rude and brutish nation ; not-
withstanding that their prince is serued with such high
reuerence, and neuer commeth in sight but with great
solemnity, & many ceremonies : at whose death his chiefe
fauorites count it the greatest point of honour to be buried
with him, to the end (as they vainly imagine) they may doe
him seruice in another world. This countrie aboundeth
of this long with long pepper called by the Portugals Pimienta dal
RamuHus, rabo, which is as much to say, as pepper with a tayle:
pag**.' " S This tailed or long pepper so far excelleth the pepper of
the east Indies, that an ounce therof is of more force than
halfe a pound "of that other. For which cause the kings of
Portugale haue done what lay in them, to keep it from
being brought into these parts of Europe, least it should
too much abase the estimation and price of their Indian
pepper. All which notwithstanding there hath bin great
quantitie secretly conueied from thence by the Portugals :
as likewise the English and French nations, and of late
yeeres the Hollanders haue had great traffique into those
parts. 57
The provinces Next follow the kingdomes of Temian and Dayma ;
DaumaTand and lower to the south the prouince of Meleghete, a place
e eg ete. ver ^ f amous anc j we jj fcnowne, J n regard of a little red

graine which there groweth, being in shape somewhat like

to the Millet of Italy, but of a most vehement and firy

tast : and these little graines are by the apothecaries called

Grana Para- Grana Paradisi. Here also is made of oile and the ashes

dtsi.

of the Palme-tree, a kind of sope, which hath double the
force of ours. For which cause it is forbidden by the 1

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VNDESCRlBEt) BY lOHN LEO. 79

Portugals, who haue vpon that coast a little to the east of The castle of

x Mtna.

Cabo das tres puntas, in the northerly latitude of fiue
degrees, a strong castle called San Georgio de la Mina,
whereunto by way of traffike they draw all the gold and
riches of the countries adioining.

Westward of these lieth the countrie of Ghinea, in-
habited by a people which the ancient writers called
* Autolatae, and Ichthyophagi : Ghinea is so named, l^%Jgf%£
according to the chiefe citie thereof called Genni, being
situate vpon the riuer of Sanega. The people of this
countrie towards the sea-coast Hue vpon fish ; and they
of the inland sustain themselues with Lizards and such
like creatures ; & in some places more temperate their
food consisteth of herbes and milke. They conuerse togither
in great families ; and they fight oftentimes for water and
for pastures ; neither haue they anie knowledge of learn-
ing or liberall arts. So long as the sun continueth in our
northern signes, that is, from the xj. of March to the xiij.
of September, this people in regard of extreme scorching
heat, are constrained all the day time (being ordinarily
with them of 12. howers) to retire themselues within their
houses, and do all their busines in the night. The countrey
in most places is destitute of trees that beare fruite: •
neither haue the greatest part of the inhabitants any haire /
on their bodies, saue onely a thicke tuft growing vpon their
heads: they sell their children vnto strangers, supposing
that their estate cannot possiblie be impaired. Vnto these
naturall miseries of the place,you may ad the insupportable
mischiefs which are here done by the locustes : for albeit
these creatures do infinite harme likewise in all the inner
parts of Africa ; yet seemeth it that this countrey of
Ghinea is their most proper habitation ; whither they do
often resort in such innumerable swarms, that like a
mightie thicke cloud they come raking along in the skie,
and afterward falling downe, they couer the face of the

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80 A DESCRIPTION OF PLACES

(earth, deuouring all things that they light vpon. Their
comming towards any place is known two or three dales

Ucustes. before by the yellownes of the sunne. But in most places
where they haunt, the poore people are reuenged of them
by killing and driyng them in the aire for their foode :
which custom is commonly vsed by the Arabians and
Ethiopians ; and the Portugals also haue found vessels full
of them vpon the coast of Cambaia, where they do the
like mischiefes. They which haue eaten of them affirme
that they are of a good taste, and that their flesh (so much
as it is) is as white as that of a lobster. These may seem
to be al one with those grashoppers which God sent to
plague Egypt ; and the same kinde of locustes, which the
holy prophet Iohn Baptist fed vpon in the wilderness. 68

Moreouer along the coasts of Meleghete and Ghinea are
diuers small riuers and freshets, containing little water, and
running a slow pace : which notwithstanding are the best
and pleasantest things that are to be founde in these
forlorne countries. For wheresoeuer any little water
springeth or runneth, thither do the people resort, partly
for the watring of their scorched grouds, & partly to quench
their own thirst. Also vpo these coasts are diuers and
sundry headlands which stretch into the sea ; as namqjy
The faire cape, The three-pointed cape, The cape of

Sierra Leona. Palmetrees, Cabo da Verga, & Sierra Leona. This cape
last mentioned hath an exceeding high mountaine there-
upon, which causeth it to be seene a mightie distance off.
It seemeth to be the same promontorie which Hanno and
Ptolemey call The chariot of the gods. It is called by the
name of a lyon in regard of the dreadfull thunders and
lightnings which are continually heard from the top
thereof: howbeit neere vnto it are found apes, munkeies,
and such other beasts as Hue in temperate places.

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VNDESCRIBED BY IOHN LEO. 8l

Of Cabo verde, Sanega, and Gatnbra or Gambea.

NOrthward of Sierra Leona lieth Cabo verde, or the
greene cape, called by Ptolerney Arsinarium, and
being one of the most famous headlands in Africa. It is
enuironed with two riuers, namely the riuer of Gambra or
Gambea on the south, and the riuer of Senaga 69 on the
north ; which last riuer is esteemed to be an arme of Ghir
or Niger. Gambea springeth out of the same fountains
assigned by Ptolerney vnto Niger (which by all the ancient
writers is placed heereabout) and out of the lake of Libya.
It is larger and deeper then that other of Senaga, and
runneth a crooked course, receiuing many lesser riuers A factorie of
thereinto. One hundred and eightie leagues within the oru 8 as -
mouth of this riuer the Portugals haue a factorie or place
of traffique, called The factorie of Cantor. Hither by
exchange of sundry wares, they draw the gold of all those
countries. In the midde way (as it were) vnto the said
factorie, there is a place called the isle of Elephants in grants!
regard of the huge numbers of those creatures. The
riuer of Senaga is. thought to take his original out of
the lakes called Chelonides. It containeth certaine Isles,
which in regard of their rough and ragged shape are
good for nothing, but to breed adders and such like hurt-
full things, and these Isles in many places make the riuer
vtterly innauigable. About one hundred and fiftie leagues A mightie

J & & cataract or fall

from the mouth thereof, it falleth spouting- wise with such of Senaga.
maine force from certaine high cliffes or rockes, that a man
may walke drie vnder the Streame thereof. The Negros in
their language call this place a Bowe. It is reported that
Nilusdoth the like at his Cataracts or ouerfals. And Strabo
writeth of certaine riuers of Hircania, which from exceeding
steepe and craggie rockes gush with such violence into the
Caspian sea, that whole armies may passe vnder them
without danger of drowning. Into this riuer of Senaga,

F

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82 A DESCRIPTION OF PLACES

among many riuers vnknowne, falleth one, which passing
through a red soile, is itselfe also died red : and whosoeuer
drinketh of the waters first of the Red riuer, and after of
Senaga, is constrained extremely to vomite. Along the
banks of this mightie riuer inhabite the blacke and bar-
barous nations of the Gialofi, 60 the Tucuroni, 61 the Cara-
guloni, 62 and the Bagani. 68 Finally it voideth into the
sea at two mouths, one of which mouthes is a mile broad.
(] And it is strange to consider, how vpon the south side of
this riuer the people are blacke and well proportioned, and
the soile pleasant and fertile ; whereas on the north side
they are browne and of a small stature, and do inhabite a
barren and miserable countrie. In both the said riuers of
Gambra and Senaga do breed diuers strange kindes of
fishes, and other creatures of the water, as namely croco-
diles, sea-horses, and winged serpents ; and hither come to
drinke sundry sorts of wilde beasts. The lands com-
prehended betweene them both, by reason of their yeerely
inundation (for from the xv. of Iune they increase fortie
daies togither, and are so long time decreasing, after the
manner of Nilus) abound with all kinds of graine and
pulse wherof the climate is capable, as namely with beanes,
pease, millet, &c. but wheate, rie, barley, and grapes
cannot there attaine to ripenes and perfection, by reason of
ouermuch moisture : saue onely some small quantite of
wheat neere the deserts where the Caraguloni inhabite.
But their chiefe sustenance is Zaburro, otherwise called
Ghinie-wheate or Maiz, which they sowe after the inunda-
tion of their riuers, casting some quantitie of sande there-
upon to defend it from the heate, which otherwise would
scorch the grounde too excessiuely. They drinke the iuice
of the palme-tree, which they cut and lance for that
purpose : and this iuice not being tempered, it is strong
and headie as any wine. Neither are they heere destitute
of mightie adders, of lions, leopards, and elephants ; but

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VNDESCRTBED BY IOHN LEO. 83

beasts for labour they haue none, saue onely a small kinde
of oxen, and goates. The horses which are brought
thither by merchants, Hue but a short time. The aire, by
reason of abundance of lakes bredde by the ouerflowes of
their riuers, is moist and grosse. And heere fall most
vnholesome and palpable dewes. It raineth in these
countries from October till the end of Iuly, euery day
about noone, with thunder and lightning.

All the kingdomes and countries by vs before described,
from the cape of Buena esperanga, to the riuer last
mentioned, are inhabited by blacke people. The most
northerly are the Gialofi, who spread themselues between
the two foresaid riuers for the space of fiue hundred
leagues eastward : so that the riuer Senaga is the vtmost
northern bound of Negros, or nations extremely blacke ;
howbeit vpon the bankes thereof are found people of
sundry colours, by reason of the varietie of women.

Betweene this riuer of Senaga and Cabo bianco, or the
white cape, lieth a countrey called by some Anterote,
being all ouer in a manner sandy, barren, lowe, and plaine ;
neither is there in all this distance any place of account
or reckoning, saue onely the isles of Arguin (whereof we
will intreat among the isles of Africa) and a territorie of
towne sixe daies iourney within the maine, called Hoden.
This towne is not walled, but lieth open, and consisteth of Ramusim vol.
the wandring Arabians rude and homely* habitations, being
notwithstanding a place of Rendeuous or meeting for all
such as trauell in Carouans from Tombuto, and other
places in the lande of Negros to Barbaric The principall
food of the inhabitants heere, are dates and barly, both
which the soile yeeldeth indeed, but not in so plentifull a
manner : and they drinke the milke of camels & of other
beasts, for wine they haue none at all. These people are
Mahumetans, and most deadly enimies to Christians :
neither abide they long in any place, but runne rouing and

F 2

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84 A DESCRIPTION OF PLACES

wandring vp and downe those deserts. They are them-
selues very populous, and haue abundance of camels, vpon
whose backes they carrie copper, siluer, and other com-
modities from Barbarie to Tombuto, and to the residue of
the land of Negros. 64

From Cabo bianco to the regions of Sus, and Hea (which
are the first prouinces described by Iohn Leo) excepting a
small portion onely of Biledulgerid, you haue nothing but
part of the vast, fruitles, & vnhabitable desert of Libya,
called by the Arabians Sarra, 65 which stretcheth from the
westerne Ocean as farre as the frontiers of Egypt.

Thus from the very bottome of the Red Sea, hauing
coasted along the easterne and westerne shores of the
most southerly partes of Africa, and briefly described all
the principall knowen empires, kingdomes, and regions
within that maine, which are left vntouched by our author
Iohn Leo ; let vs now with little or more breuitie prosecute
the description of the islands which are by the hand of the
omnipotent creator planted round about this ample and
spacious continent.

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85

A briefe enumeration and description

of all the most famous and knowne Islandes

situate round about the coasts of Africa, which haue

beene omitted by Iohn Leo : beginning first with

the most northeasterly, and so by little and little

bringing our selues about the Cape of Buena

Esperan£a neerer vnto Europe.

The Islands of the Red Sea.

Oth the shores of the Red sea, as well Babeimandei.
on the African as on the Arabian
side, are euerie where beset with
many small islets and rockes, which
lie so thicke togither, that they
make the nauigation all along the
said coasts to be most dangerous
and difficult.
The isles of the Red sea most woorthie to be remembred,
ire these following. Babeimandei 66 a little isle situate in
he very mouth of the Red sea, in twelue degrees, con-
aineth two leagues in compasse, being from either of the
irme lands three miles distant, and standing about twentie
►aces high out of the water. By Ptolemey it is called The
>le of Diodorus. Vpon this isle, or one of the continents
dioining, are to be hired the most experimented pilots for
1 that narrow sea, euen as far as Suez. And from the
asterne and westerne side of this islet, Strabo reporteth
lat the twofold enterance of the Arabian Gulfe was
irred with a double chaine. More to the north standeth
amaran, being about eight leagues from the Arabian TheisUof
>ast in fifteene degrees of latitude. 67 Vpon this isle are to amaran -

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86

A DESCRIPTION OF PLACES

Dalaqua.

Mua.

Mazua.

The isle,
hauen, and
citie of
Suaquen,

be seene great ruines of ancient buildings. It hath one
indifferent good hauen, and aboundeth with fresh water, (a
thing most precious and acceptable in those parts) with
salt, and with cattell. On the other side towards Africa,
in fifteene degrees and an halfe, standeth the isle of Dalaqua
of about thirtie miles in circuite, 68 which space is almost
contained in the length thereof, being a place very famous
for the abundance of pearles which are there caught ;
wherewithall likewise the isle of Mua neere vnto it is richly
endowed. Next followeth Mazua 09 in forme like to an
halfe moone, and not aboue a bow-shoot distant from the
African maine : betweene which isle and the continent,
there is an excellent hauen which is now the only porte
that Prete Ianni hath in all his dominions ; for which (as
you may read before in the description of the said princes
empire) his lieutenant Barnagasso is constrained to pay a
greate yeerely tribute to the Turke.

Ouer against Mazua, vpon the firme, standeth the towne
of Ercoco. Vpbn this little isle are diuers houses of
Arabians, built of lime and stone ; and others of claie
couered with thatch. North of Mazua standeth Suaquen
in a certain lake made by the sea, which there insinuateth
it selfe within the land, and frameth a most secure and
commodious hauen. On this small islet is built the faire
and stately city of Suaquen, 70 being almcst as large as the
isle it selfe ; wherein resideth the Turke's lieutenant or
Bassa of Abassia.

Of the Isle of Socotera and other isles lying without the
narrow entrance of the Arabian gulfe.

Without the streight of Babelmandel there are no
islands woorthy of mention, saue onely Socotera ;
which (as Iohn Barros supposeth) was of old called by
Ptolemey Dioscoridis, & lieth in sight of cape Guardafu,
which the same author nameth Aromata Promontorium.

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VNDESCRIBED BY IOHN LEO. 87

Being about three-score miles long, and fiue and twentie
miles broad, it is diuided with a rough and exceeding high
ridge of mountaines, and is subiect vnto most terrible and
boisterous windes, which do out of measure dry and parch
the same. For which cause, and in regard of the slothfull
rudenes of the inhabitants, it is very scarce of victuals :
for it yeeldeth neither wheate, rice, wine, nor hony. In the
vallies and places of shelter it affoordeth some quantitie of
Millet, of dates, and of sundrie kinds of fruits : neither is it
altogether destitute of pasture for cattell. It is frequented
by merchants for *Cinabre, Sanguis Draconis, and the* i ££ vermilm
most excellent Aloes of the world. It hath no hauen of
importance. The Portugals are heere possessed of two J™p™£ e J a °{ s
small townes, one called Coro, and the other Benin ; and *» Socotora.
here in times past the king of Fartac [A countrey of Arabia
Fcelix^\ had a castle and a garrison of soldiers vpon this
isle, which castle being taken by the Portugals, was after-
ward by them abandoned, bicause it quited not the cost.
The inhabitants being of a browne colour, and of a good
constitution ; are in religion a kind of Christians. 71 They
hold an opinion that Saint Thomas suffred shipwracke
vpon this isle, and that of his ship was built a most
ancient church, which as yet is to be seene walled
round about, with three allies or partitions, and three
doores.

Furthermore they Hue for the most part in caues or in
cabins made of boughes, very farre from the sea. They go
apparrelled in course cloth, or in the skins of beastes. In
war their weapons are slings, and swordes made of base
iron : and the women are as good soldiers as the men.
They are much addicted to Magick and inchantments, and
doe bring to passe matters incredible. They haue no vse
at all of nauigation, nor of traffique, and yet forsooth they
esteeme themselues the most noble and worthy people
vnder the heauens ; as also they are vtterly voide of

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88 A DESCRIPTION OF PLACES

learning: which I doe note, because that such as are
learned make but small account of their wisedome.
The two sisters. To the North of Socotera are two small Isles which
are called the two sisters : the inhabitants whereof
being of an oliue-colour, Hue without lawe, and haue no
conuersation with any other people. The commodities
of these Islets are Iuorie, amber, Sanguis draconis, Aloes,
and a kind of pretious stones called Nizzolij.

Likewise ouer against Socotera are two other Islets,
one called the Isle of men, and the other the Isle of women,
being distant thirtie miles asunder, and fiue miles from
Socotera. They are so termed, because that in the one
dwell men onely, and in the other women. Howbeit they
visite one another at certaine seasons: but they cannot
stay one in the Isle of another aboue three moneths, in
regarde of a secret qualitie of the ayer which is contrary to
either sexe. A matter (if it be true) most strange and
admirable.

Of the Isles lying in the sea called Sinus Barbaricus, ouer
against the Easterne and Southeasterne shore of
Africa.

A LI along from the cape of Guardafu to the cape of
Buena Esperan^a are found sundry Islands, partly
dispersed heere and there in the sea, and partly adioining
vponthe firme land. Such as are far into the sea, are
the greatest part vnhabited, as namly, the Isle of Don
* isles which Gargia, The *three and The *seuen brethren, As rocas
"habited™' partidas, the Isles of Sant Brandan, and those of
Mascarenha, of Sant Francis, of Santa Apollonia, of Iohn
de Lisboa, of Cosmoledo : and betweene the great Isle of
Saint Laurence and the maine, the Isles of Do Natal
or of the natiuitie, as likewise the three Isles of Comoro,
with those of Alioa, of Spirito Santo, and of sant Christo-
pher. 72

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VNDESCRIBED SY IOHN LEO. 89

But of those which the vicinity of the firme land hath ( r ( ? tC€f 7 1 ^ the

* # islet of Mobaca,

made more noble and frequented, the first that offereth it Quiioa, 6* Mo-

fambique read

selfe to our consideration, is the Isle of Mombaza in foure more at large

t r t i 1 . 1 1 . - .in the discourse

degrees of southerly latitude, cut out by a certaine chanel ofZanguebar
or arme of the sea, which deuideth the same from the JownefwAereas
maine of Africa : in compasse it containeth twelue miles ; meeteft to\n-
and at the entrance of the saide chanel, vpon a downe, Mngfas iT'
standeth the city of Mombasa, built very handsomely after JZ^nVs^/ 6
the Arabian fashion. Somewhat farther from the continent ^Jw%vj*
are situate the Isles of Pemba, Zanzibar, and Monfia 73 ^ ri ^ rie . s . ,

' ' therof subtect

inhabited by Negros ; the greatest of which is Zanzibar, ***<> them -
the prince whereof is called by the name of a king ; and it
lyeth vnder sixe degrees of south latitude, being from the
main ten leagues distant. But the soueraigne of all these
Isles was Quiioa, 74 inhabited like the rest, with Mahumetans
:>f little bodies and abiect mindes. It aboundeth with
-ice, millet, cattel, woods of palme-trees, limons, orenges,!
& sugar-canes ; whereof notwithstanding they are ignorant)
low to make sugar. The city standeth vpon the sea-shore
>uer against the firme land : it is built of pure marble, and
he streetes are very narrow : a thing common among the
\rabians, whereby they vse to defend themselues, after
he enemie hath once entered their townes. From this Isle
o Mozambique are about an hundred leagues. Without
he porte lieth Misa, and three miles off Songo and
'anga inhabited by Moores. Next follow As Ilhas do
L£otatado, or The isles of the scourged, bicause here a
srtaine pilot that was a Moore, who had determined to
ttacke the whole fleete of Vasco da Gama receiued punish-
lent. Concerning Mozambique called by Ptolemey and
ther ancient writers Prassia, we haue intreated before.
ower miles from thence lie the desert isles of Saint
eorge : and then the isles of Angoscia 76 inhabited by
[oores. These are stored with indifferent quantitie of
ctuals and here vpon an east winde they gather plentie of

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90 A DESCRIPTION OF PLACES

Pientie of Am- Ambergrise. An hundred and fiftie miles from Cabo dos

bergnse.

corrientes, lieth A Ilha das vacas, or The isle of Cowes,
with a castle thereupon, and store of good water. As
Ilhas lianas, or The plaine isles are not woorth the
speaking of. A Ilha da cruz, otherwise called Ilha das
fontanhas, was the farthest limite of Bartholomew Diaz
his nauigation, who was the first Portugale that euer
doubled the cape of Buena esperan^a, and hauing doubled
it, returned backe without discouering any farther.

T

Of the Isle of Saint Laurence, otherwise called
Madagascar.

'His isle called by the Portugales The isle of Sant
Laurence, by the naturall inhabitans Madagascar,
by Paulus Venetus Magastar, by Ptolerney Menuthias, and
by Plinie Cerne, is accounted one of the greatest, noblest,
and richest in the whole world. About the midst thereof
it approcheth towards the maine of Africa, in forme of an
elbowe, being distant from thence an hundred threescore
and ten miles. The extreames of this isle are very farre
separate from the saide maine, and especially that which
stretcheth toward the northeast. The whole isle con-
taineth in bredth fower hundred and fowerscore, in length
one thousand two hundred, and in compasse fower
thousand miles ; so that in bignes it farre exceedeth Italy,
though it be not so well inhabited and manured. Situate
it is beyond the Equator in seuenteene degrees, and
stretcheth from thence to sixe and twentie degrees and an
halfe of southerly latitude. It is plentifully endowed with
all things needfull for mans vse : for it yeeldeth cotton,
Millet, Rice, Potatos, sweete orenges, sugar-canes, and
sundry kindes of pulse : as likewise, amber, Iette, siluer,
copper, red sanders, saffron, a spice somewhat like vnto
cloues, and some quantitie of ginger. Moreouer, heere are
V lions, leopards, stags, roe-deere, goates, kine, sheepe, and

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VNDESCRIBED BY IOHN LEO. 9 1

other beastes both tame. and wilde. Heere are likewise

innumerable elephants, 76 so that from hence is conueied

great quantitie of iuorie. They haue also great store of

camels, whose flesh the inhabitants eate for the holesomenes

thereof. The people (except some few Moores vpon the

coast) are idolaters, of colour black, with curled haire, very

barbarous, and in fashions resembling much the Cafres.

They go naked all saue their priuities, which they couer

with cloth of cotton : and they vse in the warre certaine

crooked staues headed with bone. The Iesuits in their

letters report, that in one part of this island there are

white people found ; who (as they affirme) are descended

from the people of China ; whereby may be gathered the

great length of the Chinians nauigations, and the largenes

of their empire. The Portugals sailing towards India in

due time, do passe betweene this great isle and the firme

land ; but if the season growcth towards winter, they holde

on their course (as themselues report) on the backe-side

thereof. In these two courses of nauigation they haue

found, and daily do discouer sundrie isles, but of small

account, part whereof we haue mentioned before. Amongst

others, as it were ouer against Mozambique, lieth on a

certaine strand or shold an isle called Langane of a

reasonable bignes, with a great riuer therein, being

inhabited by Moores. And the farthest toward the west

are those isles which the Portugals call Os Romeros. On

the northeast part of this isle is the Bay of Antogill, being

one of the safest and most commodious harbours in the

world. 77

Of the Isles of the Ethiopian Sea about the cape of
Buena esperanqa.

THis sea I take to be most exceeding deepe, because it
hath fewer Isles then the former, and those few
which it hath are but little ones. The first that was

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92 A DESCRIPTION OF PLACES

discouered on this side the cape of Buena Esperan^a is
that of Don Aluarez, 78 situate in thirtie degrees and an
halfe. And to the northwest of that is the Isle of Tristan
d* Acunna beeing distant 1 500. miles from the cape, and
beyond the Equinoctiall eight and thirtie degrees ; which
beeing of a round forme, containeth in compasse fiftie
leagues. It is full of birdes, and especially of sea-crowes
or cormorants, and round about it lie foure other small
islets. The marriners hold, that neere vnto this isle, as
vnto that of Bermuda, there are continual stormes and
tempestes. Not far from the main are certaine dry and
rockie isles, and others of none account.

The Isles of Santa Helena, and of the Ascension.

NExt followeth in the height , of sixteeene degrees of
southerly latitude the isle of Santa Helena, dis-
couered by Iuan da Nona, being so fitly and commodiously
situate for such as returne home from the east Indies into
Europe, as it seemeth there of purpose to haue beene
planted by God for the furtherance of this voiage, and for
the refreshing and comfort of nauigators. In compasse it
containeth nine miles, and hath a most perfect healthfull
aire, and sundry freshets of excellent water. The soile is
of a red colour, and like vnto ashes ; it giueth way to ones
footing like sand, and a man may shake euery tree vpon
the isle. Heere the kings of Portugall haue enacted, that
none may remaine to inhabite, except it be sometime two
or three sicke persons for the recouerie of their health ; to
the end that the fleets may heere plentifully and of free
cost furnish themselues with fresh victuals, fruits, and
water. So that when they arriue, they vsually plant or
sow some one thing or other, which presently springeth
and groweth to ripenes ; and then the seed falling into the
earth, it multiplieth of it selfe. Heere are woods of Eb&n
and Cedar, with infinite store of limons, orenges, and all sorts

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VNDESCRIBED BY IOHN LEO. 93

of fruits ; as likewise hogs, geese, hens, partridges, feasants,
Guinie-cocks, and other like creatures brought thither by
the Portugals out of Europe, or from other countries. In
sailing from Portugall toward India it is not so easily
found : but in their returne home they do heere in fewe daies
cure all their diseases, and relieue their wants : and heere
to their vnspeakable solace and recreation they hunt, foule,
and fish, and prouide themselues of water, wood, and all
things necessarie. To the west thereof appeere in the sea ™e isI ? s °f

° rsr Ascension.

the isles of Santa Maria, and of the Trinitie, which
serue for signes vnto the mariners. To the northwest
of this isle, towards the coast of Brazil, are the isles of
Ascension, so called, bicause they were first discouered
by Tristan Acunna in his returne from the Indies vpon
Ascension day in the yeere 1 508. They are all vnhabited
and desert, and haue vpon them infinite swarmes of a
kinde of fowles of the bignes of duckes.

Of the Isles of Loanda, Nobon, and Saint Thomas.

H

Ard vpon the firme land of the south part of Congo,

is situate the isle of *Loanda before mentioned. * Concerning

this isle read

And ouer against the cape of Lopo Gonsalues in a more at large

& r r in the descrip-

manner, lieth the small isle of Nobon, being a rockie and Hon of Congo.
desolate place, but of great importance for fishing; for
which cause it is frequented by the inhabitants of Saint
Thomas isle. This isle of Saint Thomas being an hundred
and fower-score miles distant from the maine, is of a round
forme, containing threescore Italian miles from side to
side, and an hundred and fower-score miles also in
compasse : of which isle (bicause it is situate iust vnder the
Equinoctiall, so that the horizon thereof passeth by both the
poles) it will not be from our purpose to intreat somewhat
at large ; to the end we may the better vnderstand the
qualitie and temperature of such places as are seated in

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94 A DESCRIPTION OF PLACES

that part of the world. This isle when it was first
discouered was nothing else but a woode of vnprofitable
trees, with their boughs turning crookedly vpward. The
aire is extremely hot : in the moneths of March and
September, when the sunne passeth perpendicularly ouer,
it raineth heere out of measure, and in other moneths heere
falleth onely a moist dewe which watereth the ground.
In the verie midst it hath a woodie mountaine, which is
continually ouershadowed with a thick cloud, which cloud
so moistneth the trees that grow in great abundance vpon
this mountaine, that from hence droppeth water sufficient
for the watering of al their fields of sugar-canes. By how
much the sun is more perpendicular ouer this isle, by so
much is the aire more cloudie & darke ; and contrariwise,
the farther it is distant from perpendicularitie, the cleerer
and brighter is the skie. In the moneths of December,
Ianuarie, and Februarie, such as are borne in Europe, can
very hardly walke or mooue themselues for faintnes : and
all the rest of the yeere, once in eight or ten daies, they
seeme to be taken with an hot and a cold fit of an ague,
which continueth vpon them for tow howers togither.
They are thrice or oftner let bloud euerie yeere : and few
of them Hue aboue fiftie yeeres ; but their Negros remaine
more than an hundred yeers aliue. They which newly
arriue there, are commonly surprized with a most dangerous
feauer, which holdeth them for twentie daies togither.
And these are let bloud, without any reckoning of ounces.
Heere blow no windes at all, but onely from the southeast,
south, and southwest, which windes stirre not in the
moneths of December, Ianuarie, and Februarie, and there-
fore these moneths are most extremely hot. But in Iune,
Iuly, and August, they blow a fresh gale. In this isle the
French euill, and the scuruies are verie rife. The soile is
of a meane colour betweene red and yellow, being clammie
like claie, and by reason of the continuall nightly dewes,

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VNDESCRTBED BY IOHN LEO. 95

as soft and pliable as waxe, and of incredible fertility.
Besides diuers other good ports, it hath one principall *^u *%£?**
among the rest, belonging to the chiefe tovvnie or citie wAi f h ^ as {

° ° ° contecture)

called *Pauoasan, consisting of aboue seuen hundred maybeaiione

with Poblacion.

families, and inhabited by Portugals, and into the saide in Spanish,

, ,. , - ,. which signi-

port runneth a little nuer of excellent water. fieth a Colonic

To euery of the Ingenios or sugar-houses (which in all w ° wne '

may amount to the number of seuentie) do belong Negro nioTinSan 6 '

slaues, for the planting of their canes and the dressing of Tomi%

their sugars, to some, two hundred, and to others, three

hundred a piece, who Hue vpon Maiz or Ghiny-wheat : the

number of which slaues is so great, that oftentimes they

rebell, to the great domage of the Portugals. They haue

good sustenance also by meanes of a root, called there

Igname, but in the west Indies Batata. 79 Wheat that \^J

heere sowen, groweth not to any ripenes or graine, but is

resolued altogether into grasse. They make wine of the

Palme-tree. Vines prosper nothing kindely in this place,

except it be heere and there one, planted by an house-side,

and attended with great diligence. They bring forth

clusters at the same time, some ripe, some greene, and

blossomes onley ; and they beare fruit twice in the yeere,

as doe the fig-trees likewise. They haue sugar-canes ripe

all the yeere long: but melons onely in Iune, Iuly, and

August. No tree that beareth fruit with a stone or kernell

will fructifie or prosper in this place. Here are found all

ouer the Isle certaine crabs or creuises like vnto them of

the sea ; heere be likewise gray parots, and infinite other

birds of diuer sortes ; and in the sea are mightie store of

whales, especially toward the firme land. The principall

riches of this isle consist in sugars, whereof there groweth

great abundance. The sugar-canes are planted and cut

euery moneth, and in fiue months they grow to ripenes, but

by reason of the moistnes of the ayer, they neither prooue

hard nor white, but are of a reddish colour. The tenths

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which belong to the king amount to the number of 1 2. or
14. thousand Arrouas, euery Arroua being one and thirtie
Italian pound-weight. 80 In times past there were fortie ships
yeerely laden therewith : but now of late certaine wormes
which eat the roots of the canes, or (as others think) white
antes or mice, haue so mightily impaired the growth of
this commodity, that now there are not aboue sixe ships
laden therewith. The sugar-canes, after they be once
ground, they giue vnto their hogges, wherewith they prooue
at, and their flesh is very sauory. For returne of sugars,
the merchants of Europe carry thither meale, wine, swordes,
oile, cheese, hides, drinking glasses, and certaine shels,
which there and in the countries adioining they vse instead
of money. Of the coniunction betweene the men of
Europe and the Negro women are bred a generation of
browne or tawnie people.

This Isle of Saint Thomas together with the principal
towne and castle, was in October 1 599 taken by part of the
same fleet of Hollanders, which not fullie foure moneths
before had sacked the isles, castles and townes of Gran
Canaria and Gomera.

Of the Isle del principe, and that of Fernando Po.

THe Isle del principe 81 or of the prince, situate in three
degrees of Northerly latitude, and one hundred
twentie miles on this side the isle of Sant Thomas, is little
in quantitie, but excellent in qualitie : for which cause it is
thoroughly tilled and manured. The reuenues thereof
(which consist the greatest part in sugars) were in times
past allowed vnto the prince of Portugale; whereupon it
was named The isle of the prince.

This Isle was in the yeere 1 598 taken by certaine ships
of war sent forth vnder the conduct of Iulianus Clerekagen
at the charges of Balthasar Musheron of Camphere in

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VNDESCRIBED BY IOHN LEO. 97

Zeland merchant, who had the conquest thereof giuen him
by patent from Prince Maurice > and the States generall of
the vnited prouinces.

That of Fernando Pd® hath no other matter of speciall
note, saue onely a certaine lake which is the originall of
sundry freshets of sweete and holesome water, which make
the island to be most pleasant. It seemeth so beautifull
to the first discouerer thereof, that he termed it Ilha
fermosa, 88 or The faire isle.

To the west of these two isles are situate the isle of Sant
Matthew, and that of Santa Cruz ; 84 and afterward hauing
passed the Equinoctial, you come to the isle of Sant Paule, 85
and the isle of conception, both which were discouered
by Pedro Aluarez Cabral in the yeere 1501.

Of the isles of Cabo verde.

NExt vnto Cape verde it selve stand The Barbacene 86
which are seuen small isles replenished with greene
trees, and full of strange birds vnknowne to vs ; and yet
are they vtterly voide of inhabitants. But those that are
called the isles of Cape verde (which by ancient authors
are thought to haue bin named Gorgones, or Gorgades, or
Hesperides) are nine 87 in number, and are situate betweene
Cabo verde and Cabo bianco. They were first discouered
by Antonio di Nolli a Genoway, and began in like sort to
be peopled, in the yeere of our Lord 1440. 88 Albeit there
are none of them now inhabited, but onely the isle of Sant
Iago, 89 and Isla del fogo or The burning isle. The
principall of them all is Sant Iago being seuentie miles This towne
long, whereon the Portugals haue a faire and strong towne Is™ Francis
called Ribera grande, with a riuer running through it, and and^MrAn-
a commodious and secure hauen : it is very strongly seated 'f?£ e Sherle y
betweene two mountaines, and consisteth of fiue hundred
families at the least. The riuer (which springeth two

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98 A DESCRIPTION OF PLACES

leagues from the city) is beautified vpon the bankes
thereof with Cedars, Orenge-trees, and diuers other plants,
amongst which the Palme tree of India that beareth nuts,
prospereth exceeding well. The hearbes of Europe grow
here as naturally as in their original soile ; howbeit the
seeds thereof must euery yeere be brought out of Spaine.
The isle is generally vneuen and mountainous : but the
valleis are passing fertile, and thoroughly inhabited : and
here is sowed abundance of rice and Saburro, which
groweth to ripenes in fortie daies. Howbeit the soile will
beare no wheat. Here is store of cotton also, the cloth
whereof is dispersed along the coast of Africa. The shee-
gotes here, as likewise in all the isles adiacent, bring forth
three and more kids at a birth, euery foure moneths.
When the sunne is in Cancer, it raineth here in a manner
without ceasing. 80

To the west of Sant Iago stand the isles of Fogo and
Braua being but of small importance (albeit that of Fogo
is in some parts thereof inhabited) and to the North of the
same is situate the isle of Maio, where there is a lake of
two leagues long, which is full of salt ; 91 the which is a
common thing in all these islands ; but in one, more then
in any of the other, in that it is full of such like salt-pits,
and is therefore called The island of salt, being destitute
of all other liuing things, saue onely of wild gotes. The
isle of Buena vista hath a name contrary to the quality ;
for it is without all shew of beauty. Of the others I haue
nothing woorthie the obseruation.

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VNDESCRIBED BY IOHN LEO. 99

Of the Isles of A rguin.

Little to the south or the backside
of Cabo bianco, within a certaine
gulfe or baie which entereth thirtie
miles into the maine, lie the isles of
Arguin, which were discouered in the
yeere 1443, 92 so called after the name
of the principall of them, which hath
great store of fresh water, whereof all the residue are
destitute. Heere the king of Spaine hath a fortresse, for
the traffique of gold and other rich commodities of those
countries. These isles are sixe or seuen in number, all
little ones, being inhabited by the Azanaghi, who Hue of
fish, whereof there is plentie in that baie. They go to sea
in certaine small botes which they call Almadies. The
names of the other isles (as farre as I coniecture) are The
isle of Penguins, The isles of Nar, Tider, and Adeget.

Of the Isles in the Atlantick Ocean y and first of the
Canaries.

FOr so the isles named of olde Insulce fortunatce (which
euer since the decay of the Romaine empire, till
within these two hundred yeeres, lay vndiscouered) are at
this present called. They are in number twelue, (although
the ancient writers make mention of but sixe) that is to
say, Canaria, Langarotta, Fuerte ventura, Hierro, Palma,
Gomera, Santa Clara, Isla de lobos, La Roca, Gratiosa,
Alegranga, and Infierno. They generally abound with \
barly, sugar, hony, goates, cheese, hides, and Orchel, 93 being
a herbe commodious to die cloth withall, and whereof they
make great merchandise. Amongst other beasts they haue
also camels. The natural inhabitants of the countrey are
of a good disposition, and notable agilitie ; but before they

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100 A DESCRIPTION OF PLACES

were discouered, they were so grosse and rude, as they
knewe not the vse of fire. 94 They beleeued in one creatour
of the world, who punished the euill, and rewarded the
good ; and in this point they all consented, but in other
matters they were very different. They had no iron at all,
but yet esteemed it much when any came to their hands,
for the vse thereof. They made no accout of gold or
siluer, iudging it a folly to esteem of that mettal, which
could not serue for mechanicall instruments. Their
weapons were stones and staues. They shaved their heads
with certaine sharpe stones like to flint. The women
would not willingly nurse their owne children, but caused
them to be suckled by goates. They were and are at this
day delighted with a kinde of dance which they vse also in
Spaine and in other places, and because it tooke originall

* ^ t . , fr° m thence, it is called The Canaries. From hence also

* This isle

with the prin- they bring certaine birds which sing at all times of the

cipalltowne * ° &

and castles was yeere. The greatest of all these isles is the *Gran Canada,

sacked by the . . ..... , . , .

Hollanders in containing tower-score and ten miles in circuit, and it hath
1599. to the number of nine thousand inhabitants. Tenerif is

The Pike of not altogether so great. This is esteemed one of the
encrtf. highest islands in the world, by reason of a mountaine

therein of the forme of a diamond, being (as it is reported)
fifteene leagues high, 96 & it may be seene more then three-
score leagues off. Hierro hath neither spring nor well,
but is miraculously furnished with water by a cloud which
ouer-spreadeth a tree, from whence distilleth so much
moisture, as sufficeth both for men and cattell. This cloud
ariseth an hower or two before the sunne, and is dissolued
two howers after sunne rising. The water falleth into a
ponde made at the foote of the tree. The isle of Palma is
little, but beautifull, and abundant in Sugar, wine, flesh, and
cheese : wherefore such ships as go from Spaine to Terra
firma, and Brasil, do there ordinarily prouide themselues
of fresh victuall. It is from Lisbon a thousand miles by

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.VN DESCRIBED BY IOHN LEO. IOI

sea, being much subiect to tempests, and especially those
which come from the northwest.

Of these islands Langarota, Hierro, and Gomera are in
the hands of priuate men : the others belong to the
crowne.

Of the Isles of Madera and of Puerto Santo.

MAdera is the greatest and most principall of all the Madera in
isles in the Atlantick Ocean. It standeth in two fieth wood or
and thirtie degrees and an halfe, fortie miles to the south-
west of Puerto santo. So it was called, because at the first
discouerie thereof it was all ouergrowen with mightie
thick woods. Wherfore, to waste the said woods, and to
make it fit to be manured, the first discouerers set them on
fire, which continued burning (as some report) for the space
of certaine yeeres together: whereupon it grew so
exceeding fertile, that of corne it yeeldeth sixtie folde.
for one : and for a certaine space the fifte part of the
sugars amounted to threescore thousand Arrouas (one of
which Arrouas containeth fiue and twentie pounds of
sixteene ounces the pound) but now it cometh not to
the one halfe of that reckoning. This isle containeth in
compasse an hundred & sixtie miles. It is diuided into
foure regions or quarters, that is to say, Comerico, Santa
Cruz, Funcial, and Camara de los Lobos. It aboundeth
with water : and besides diuers and sundry fountaines,
it hath eight small riuers which make it as fruitfull and
pleasant as a garden. It yeeldeth euery thing in such
perfection, that Cadamosta (in regard of their excellency)
affirmgth all commodities which are there gathered, to be
gold. It produceth infinite store of fruits, excellent wines,
and sugars which cannot be matched. Heere is likewise
great abundance of cedars, whereof are made fine chestes
and other works of account : for which purpose there are
diuers sawing milles vpon the foresaid rivers. This isle is

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102 A DESCRIPTION OF PLACES

very scarce of oile and of corne. The head or principall citie
hereof is Funciall, being the seat of an archbishop who
hath 8000. ducates of reuenue. Here are two fortresses
built which command the hauen.
Puerto Santo Fortie miles to the northeast of Madera lieth the isle of

trie principall

towne whereof Puerto santo, so called bicause it was discouered vpon the

was taken by x

sirAmias day of all saints, in the yeere 1428. It containeth in
compasse fifteene miles, and aboundeth with oxen, wilde
swine, and honie, and yeeldeth wheat sufficient for the vse
of the inhabitants. Heere groweth a fruite in bignes and
shape like vnto a cherry, but of a yellow colour. The tree
that beareth this fruit being cut neere the roote with
certaine strokes of an hatchet, putteth foorth the yeere
following a kinde of gum which is called Sanguis
Draconis. 96

The woonder- The generation of one shee-cony bigge with yoong,

ful increase of *

one shee-conie. brought hither out of Portugale at the first inhabiting of
' this isle, did in short time so exceedingly increase, that
the inhabitants were quite out of hope euer to repaire the
ruine and waste which they committed. At this present
there is a small isle neere vnto Puerto santo which
breedeth nothing but conies.

Vnto all these might be added such isles as lie neere the
African coast within the streights of Gibraltar : the princi-
pall whereof (as namely Pennon or The little rocke ouer
against Velles de Gumera, with the isle of Gerbi, &c.)
bicause they are largely described by Iohn Leo y I hold it a
matter meerely vaine and superfluous in this place to
stande vpon them.

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VNDESCRIBED BY IOHN LEO. IO3

An approbation of the historie ensuing, by me
Richard Haklvyt.

Eing mooued to publish mine opinion as
touching this present Historie of John
Leo ; I do hold and affirme it to be
the verie best, the most particular,
and methodicall, that euer was written,
or at least that hath come to light,
concerning the countries, peoples, and
affairs of Africa. For which cause, and knowing well the
sufficiencie of the translator, my selfe was the first and
onely man that perswaded him to take it in hand.
Wherein how diligently and faithfully he hath done his
part, and how he hath enlarged and graced this Geo-
graphicall historie out of others, the best ancient and
moderne writers, by adding a description of all those
African maine lands and isles, and other matters verie
notable, which Iohn Leo himselfe hath omitted : I referre
to the consideration of all iudiciall and indifferent Readers.

Richard Hakluyt

VNto this approbation of master Richard Hakluyt, I
holde it not altogither amisse to adioine the testi-
monies of certaine moderne writers, the most approoued
and famous for their skill in Geographie and historie,
which they haue also purposely set downe in commenda-
tion of this author of ours Iohn Leo.

First therefore master Iohn Baptista Ramusius, Secre-
tarie to the State of Venice, and a man of singular
iudgement and diligence in these matters, in his epistle
Dedicatorie before the third edition of his first volume of
voiages, speaking of the manifold difficulties which he

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104 APPROBATION OF THIS HISTORIE

vnderwent to bring the important discourses therein, to
light, writteth vnto learned Fracastorius in manner fol-
lowing.

Oltra che gli essemplari che mison venute cdle mani, &c.

MOreouer (faith he) those copies which haue come to
my hands, haue been extremely fowle and vncor-
rect ; a matter sufficient to discourage the minde of any
man, though neuer so forward and resolute, were it not
sustained by considering what vnspeakable delight these
discourses will breed vnto all those that are studious in
Geography ; and most especially this of Africa written by
Iohn Leo. Concerning which part of the world, euen till
these our daies, we haue had no knowledge in a manner
out of any other authour, or at leastwise neuer any in-
formation so large, and of so vndoubted truth. But what
do I heere speake of the delight which those that are
learned and studious shall reape heereby ? As though it
were not a matter which will affoord also very much
satisfaction vnto the greatest Lords and Princes ? Whom
it concerneth more then any other to know the secrets
and particularities of this African part of the world,
togither with the situations of all the regions, prouinces,
and cities thereof, and the dependences, which the princes
and people haue one towards another. For albeit they
may haue some aduertisements and instructions from
others that haue personally trauailed these countries, &
may think their writings & discourses to be very large ;
yet I am well assured, that hauing once read this booke of
Iohn Leo, and throughly considered the matters therein
contained and declared, they will esteeme the relations of
all others, in comparison of this, to be but briefe, vnperfect,
and of little moment : so great will be the fruit which to
their exceeding contentment, all readers shall reape
heereby, &c. Thus farre Ramusius.

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BY RICHARD HAKLUYT AND OTHERS. 105

Abraham Ortelius before his generall mappe
of Africa hath these wordes.

Ex recentioribus, &c.

AMong the late writers (for your more perfect know-
ledge of Africa) you must read Aloisius Cadamosta,
Vasco da Gama, and Francis Aluarez, who trauailed
Ethiopia ; Sed omnium accuratissime &c. but of all others
you haue it most exactly described by Iohn Leo.

Also the same author before his map of Barbary
and Biledulgerid.

BVt (saith he) concerning these regions and people, you
shall finde a most exquisite description in the
Historie of Iohn Leo, &c.

The opinion of Iohn Bodin in the fourth chapter

of his method of reading Histories

concerning this our author.

Ita quoque Leo Afer, genere Maurus, &c.

SO likewise Leo Afer by descent a More, borne in
Spaine, in religion a Mahumetan, and afterward a
Christian, hauving by continuall iournies trauelled almost
ouer all Africa ; as also ouer all Asia minor, and a good
part of Europe, was taken by certaine pirates, and pre-
sented vnto pope Leo the tenth : vnder whom he translated
into Italian all those things which with incredible studie
and diligence he had written in the Arabick toong, con-
cerning Africa, the manners, lawes, and customes of the
African people, and the situation and true description of
the whole countrey. Their militarie discipline he lightly

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106 APPROBATION OF THIS HISTORIE.

passeth ouer: and briefly mentioneth the conflicts and
victories of famous warriours, without any orations or
ornaments of speech, rather like a Geographer then a
Chronicler : and with a perpetuall delight of new and
strange things, he doth (as it were) perforce detaine his
Reader, &c. And a little after he addeth : Profecto vnus
est ex omnibuSy &c. Certes of all others this is the onely
man, by whom Africa, which for a thousand yeeres before
had lien buried in the barbarous and grosse ignorance of
our people, is now plainly discouered and laide open to
the view of all beholders.

Antonius Posseuinus de historicis sect. 7. cap. 2.

Sed & perdignaest lectu> &c.

Lso the Historie of Leo Afer the Geographer is most

A

worthie to be read, bicause it containeth an exact
description of all the regions and people of Africa ; and it
hath beene published in Italian and French.

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NOTES TO PORY'S PREFACE, GENERALL
DESCRIPTION, Etc.

(i) Timbuktu.

(2) See Introduction.

(3) See Introduction. Pory exaggerates the number of transla-
tions.

(4) Most of the maps up to a very recent time have had Leo's names
and positions inscribed on them.

(5) Zaga or Tsaga Za-ab, " the Grace of the Father", accompanied
the Portuguese Embassy, the principal members of whom were Dom
Rodriguez de Lima ; Father Francisco Alvarez, who wrote the work
to which Pory refers, and Joao Bermudez, the physician and secre-
tary. The Envoy returned to Lisbon in 1526. Bermudez was,
however, detained by the Negus. — Markham, The Abyssinian Ex-
j>edition^ p. 17.

(6) " Os picos fragosos, cio h le punte aspere." This phrase does
not, however, refer to any particular mountains : but from the context
may have been suggested by the Lange Berg, the Langkloof Berg,
and other ranges of the East Coast north of Cape Agulhas (or
Hagulhas, as De Barros spells the name) and south of Zanzibar, his
narrative being very brief.

(7) There is no mountain in this part of Africa fit to be called
Qeu>i/ "Oxy/wi, the " Chariot of the Gods". Ptolemy more accurately
places it near the site of the Cameroons Peak.

(8) The " Mountains of the Moon" in the older maps figuring as a
range extending across the continent from Abyssinia to the Gulf of
Guinea, and then after vanishing from this position to re-appear in
Abyssinia, in Kenia and Kilimanjaro, and in the so-called Kong
Mountains, have been strenuously claimed by Mr. Stanley as Ruwen-
zori. This theory has quite as little in its favour as the previous ones,
and is not even supported by the old maps adduced in proof by its
originator. Peters considers that they are the crescent-shaped range
in Unyamwezi, or the " Land of the Moon"; and Baumann is quite
convinced that he has discovered them in the precipitous wooded hills

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108 NOTES TO PORY'S PREFACE,

in Urundi, which form the watershed between the Rufizi and the
Kagera. The natives know them as the " Mountains of the Moon"—
Stanley, In Darkest Africa, vol. ii, pp. 267-288 ; Peters, New Light
on Dark Africa, p. 419 ; Ravenstein, Scott. Geog. Magazine y 1891,
p. 306 ; Baumann, Durch Massailand zur Nilquelle, p. 297; Burton,
Journ. R. G. S. 9 1859, p. 278 ; Geog.Joum. 9 vol. i, 1893, p. 228. Peters,
however, derived his idea from Beke, who broached it as early as
1846. I have discussed this question in The Story of Africa, vol. iii,
pp. 63-65.

(9) The lake which plays so large a part in all maps up to the era of
the discoveries of Burton, Speke, and Livingstone, was doubtless a
vague embodiment of floating tales about Nyassa, or the lake out of
which the Zambesi flowed, the Shire branch being taken as the
main river. " Zembere" or " Zambre" is likely enough a corruption
of " Zambesi". But none of the early authorities (De Encisco, De
Barros, Do Couto, Pigafetta, Dos Santos, gave any name to the
lake. — Cooley, Inner Africa Lead Open, pp. 65 et seq.

(10) All this is, of course, now very ancient geography, though, until
the contrary was demonstrated, Baker insisted on Tanganyika being a
Nile source, and to the last day of his life, Livingstone was searching
for some Nile tributary, as we now know, far outside the Nile Basin.
The speculations of the ancient geographers were therefore by no
means more wide of the mark than those of the modern before the
hydrography of Central Africa was elucidated, if, indeed, they were
not more reasonable.

(n) The Mauri — or Moors— were the Berbers. The Spanish term,
Al Arabes, is indifferently applied to them and the Arabs. " Mori"
is the more common appellation.

(12) Outside the Strait of Bab el mandeb, or "Straits of Mecca",
neither Strabo nor the Ptolemies knew much. If the legend has
even a semblance of truth, it refers more likely to the Gulf of Suez.
The " Isle of Babelmandeb" is Perim.

(13) The term Troglodytae was applied by Agatharchides of Cnidus
{dr. 115 B.C.), who was tutor to Ptolemy Sotor II, to the people
inhabiting the mountains bordering the western side of the Red Sea,
at some distance in the interior, from their living in caves, and the term
Troglodytic Coast to the western shore. Though less barbarous
than the Ichthyophagi of the littoral, they went almost naked, and
had wives in common, put to death the infirm and aged, and drank
the blood and milk and ate the flesh of their extensive herds of cattle.
Weeded of the customary amount of fable, these people were perhaps
the ancestors of the present Arabised tribes.

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GENERALL DESCRIPTION, ETC. IO9

(14) Grodol, Ghorondol, Chorondol, as variously spelled ; Jebel
Attak is not now a harbour, but was long a favourite among the many
places identified as the point from which the Children of Israel
crossed the Red Sea.

(15) Kosseir, Chosair, Chossir.

(16) Suakin, Suakem, Zuaquin, Suaquen.

(17) Arkiko.

(18) Massuah, the Matzua of the early Portuguese invaders under
Christovao da Gama in 1542.

(19) "John Leon and Sanutus after him, esteems Dancala or
Dangala, the chief of the Kingdom ' of Nubia' seated on the Nile." —
Blome, A Geographical Description, etc., Affrica, p. 52. But here
there seems a confusion. For Leo's "Dangala" (Book vn) is evidently
the modern Dongola, while Dancala or Dancali, with its Red Sea
port of Vela (Asab?), is the Danakul or Adal country. The anonymous
compiler of the map attached to Pory's translation marks both
" Dangala" and " Dagale". In Sanson's map (1656), of which Blome's
is a copy " rendered into English", " Dancala" is placed on the Nile,
and Dangali near the Red Sea, between " Arquico" and " Zeila".

(20) Cairo.

(21) As will be seen in due course, this powerful kingdom first
mentioned by Leo is what the Bornu people call Bulala.

(22) Libyan Desert. " Gorham is on the Nile and on the coast of the
Isle Gueguere. Sanutus makes a Kingdom, a Desert, and a People
of this name, and extends them almost the length of the Isle Gueguere :
not making any mention of the City of this name, nor John Leon of
Affrica, nor the A rab of Nubia [Edrisi], nor Vincent Blanch, who saith he
has been in these quarters, and speaks only of the Desert of Gorham.
Other authors make mention of this City, and describe it on the Nile.
Sanutus saith that there are Emeralds in these mountains, which
bounds Gorham on the South." — Richard Blome, A Geog. Description
oj the Four Parts of the World (1670), Affrica, p. 52. " Gorham"
or " Gorhan" is clearly Kordofan. Gueguere, or Guengare, is
Meroe (Pory, ut supra), which is not an island proper, though so
called by all writers who blindly followed the assumptions of Ptolemy.
Meroe, the only town near, is small and of no importance. It is on the
right bank of the river. Here camels are got for crossing the Bahida
Desert to Berber. There are, however, remains of two temples at
Jebel Barkal, and pyramids at Dankelah, which may account for the
legend.

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IIO NOTES TO PORY'S PREFACE,

(23) Santalum album — but not really a native of Africa.

(24) Godjam, a province south of Lake Dembea.

(25) The Anzichi were understood to inhabit the Anziko country on
the Zaire or Congo opposite Sundi. Their capital was Monsol, which
D'Anville placed fully 700 miles from what must have been its true
position. Anziko and all its derivations mean simply people of the
interior, and Anzichi, or rather Nsek£, "inland" (Stanley, Congo^
vol. i, p. 3). Father Girolamo de Montesarchio describes a journey
which he made to " Cancobella", a town on the Congo, tributary to
the Micoco, a King of the Anziko (Cavazzi de Montecucclo, Istorica
Relattione de Tre Regnt\ etc., 1690, p. 408).

(26) Dembea, or Tzana,most likely. But geographical names were so
transmogrified by the old historians and travellers, and, worse still, so
embodied in fables, that it is now almost useless to try and trace many
of them. Shoa, Amhara, etc., are easily brought into line with modern
knowledge. But " Tigremahon" was not a " Kingdome" at all. It
was the name of a chief who took charge of the wounded in the battle
which Dom Christovao da Gama (a grandson of Vasco da Gama)
fought in 1 54 1 not far from Debra Damo in Tigre. Tigre-Maquanen
is still the title of the chief of a district near Senafe\ — Markham,
Abyssinian Expedition, pp. 24, 25.

(27) The Sinus Barbaricus of Ptolemy was south of the equator
and north of lat. io° S. About the centre of the supposed bay was
the mouth of Rhaptus fluvius, which Dr. Schlichter (Proc. R. G. 5.,
1 891, p. 525) identifies with the river Pangani.

(28) The absurd blunders of the old geographers regarding distances,
make the Kingdom of Abyssinia, " Monomotapa", and Congo meet
in the centre of the continent. Hence we find the Abyssinian name
Bagamidr persistently clinging to the upper course of the Kwango.
Possibly, a confused echo of the Kingdom of Bagirimi had reached
the coast.

(29) The great Salt plain, described by Alfonso Mendez and Father
Lobo, is near the River Ragolay, in a desert country about fifty miles
from the sea, in a southerly direction from Mulkutto.

(30) Bernagasso (or Baharnagash) was only a Ras or Governor
under the Negus. His district is now mainly that held by the Italians.
This account is from Alvarez.

(31) The Doba Valley is in the Azebo Galla country. The term
" Moore", it will be noticed, is used by Pory, like the other writers of
his time, to describe any Mohammedans not white or Negroes. Even
then he qualifies it by speaking of " Tawnie Moores".

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GENERALL DESCRIPTION, ETC. 1 1 1

(32) This inflated account Cooley considers refers to Munha
Munge, " Lord of the World", who in 1503 helped Agi Hocen (Haji
Hussein), King of Kilwa, to destroy a hostile neighbour. Hence
Monemoezi, Muenhe Muge, Moenemugi, Mohenemugi, or Monomugi,
of writers subsequent to De Barros, who gives the first account of
him (Decade IX, foL 207, Botero, Delia Relationi Universali,
1592, p. 310.) It is difficult to decide at this date how far these
descriptions were fact and how far fancy. The latter is probably
nearer the reality ; for most frequently when we have had an oppor-
tunity of comparing the early Portuguese and other descriptions with
the actual people and spots, the " mighty Emperors" of the Navigators,
anxious to rival Cortes and Pizarro, dwindle down to petty chiefs and
the " great cities" to squalid villages.

(33) Cambay (Khambhat) the port and capital of a small Indian
feudatory state of Bombay, at the head of the Gulf of Cambay, now
fallen from its ancient magnificence by the gradual obstruction of its
seaward navigation and commerce.

(34) The " Empire of Monomotapa", which has occupied so large a
place up to a very recent date in the works of historians — who seemed
to have derived their information largely from this summary of De
Barros — was from the outset based on a misreading of that chronicler.
In reality, there was no such " Empire". Benomotapa, or Monomo-
tapa, was "a pagan prince" who ruled "all the land which we
include in the kingdom of Sofala", a name now applied to a Portu-
guese province in East Africa. "This prince, whom we call
Benomotapa or Monomotapa, is with us an emperor, for this is
the meaning of his name amongst them." Whichever title is used
(and all earlier writers, e.g., Barbarosa and Camoens use the first) the
meaning is the same, namely, " principe", "emperador", prince or emperor ;
the initial syllable, Bena and Mono, being ordinary Bantu words
answering to our chief, lord, master, etc. The second part, rnotapa,
has not been so satisfactorily explained ; but Mr. Keane (Murray's
South Africa, p. 19), suggests that it may mean " mine", from the root
tapa=io excavate or extract. Hence " Lord of the Mines" was not
an inappropriate title for the ruler of an auriferous region, equivalent
to Manica and Mashonolands. Mr. Baines {Gold Regions of South-
Eastern Africa, p. 1) is rather loose in his etymology when he trans-
lates Monomotapa as "a place whence something valuable is
derived". For it is not a place at all, and was far less an " empire",
but " Principe gentio chamado Benomotapa" of " o reyno de Qofala".
Yet, even Livingstone {Missionary Travels, ch. xx) is dubiously
correct in deriving the word from a corruption of the title and name
of a chief Mhwene Motape, and for three centuries geographers

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112 NOTES TO PORY'S PREFACE,

argued about and politicians founded claims upon the position of an
" Empire which never had any existence, as might have been
discovered had they referred to the original authorities. Burton,
generally reckless in his literary iconaclism, also comes under this
censure (" Lake Regions of Central Equatorial Africa", Jour. R. G. S.,
vol. xxix, pp. 1 66, 214, 347).

(35) This note is taken by Pory from De Barros ; but it will not
bear sifting. Ptolemy's Agysymba (Agizymba) was not a " city", but
regio ALthiopum latissime extensa, south of the " Lunae Montes",
through which the Greek geographer drew the thirtieth meridian
east of Greenwich— the longitude of Alexandria.

(36) Dos Santos tells us that there are days on which they do not
work. These they call " Mozimos, or days of the holy who are
already dead". Mr. Bent (who by an oversight quotes Leo when it is
Pory's abstract he is referring to) mentions that the term Mozimo for
the spirits of ancestors is still used in many parts of the country, and
has been compared with the term molimo used by the Bechuana for
the Supreme Being. N. N. Gravenbroek (Gentes Africaner, MS. in
Sunderland Library), also writing in 1695, states, "Divinitatem
aliquam Messimo dictam in lucis summo cultu venerantur." The day
of rest is kept only during the ploughing season (Bent, Ruined Cities of
Mashonoland, p. 300 ; Santos's Hist de PEthiope Orientale, trad, par
Charpy, 1684).

(37) Butua and Toroa have given geographers about as much trouble
as the "Empire of Monomatapa". On Pigafetta's map (15 19) they
figure as two distinct territories, the former south of, the latter west
of, Manhica (Manica), with Zimbaoe (Zimbabwe) between them.
(Relatione del Reaume di Congo] et del la Cirionvicine contrade, 1591 ;
Le Congo, traduite en frangaise par Cahun, 1883 : Keane, in Murray's
South Africa, p. 13.)

(38) Mr. Bent (Lib. cit. p. 205) quotes this passage, in mistake, from
Leo Africanus. De Barros gives the position of Zimbabwe very nearly
correct, though the early writers were extremely vague as to distances.
But instead of 5 10 miles, the distance should be 640 miles (170 leagues),
which is too far west of Sofala by nearly 400 miles, accepting the
Portuguese league as equal to 3.87 miles (Keane). Pory seems to
have taken it roughly at three miles.

(39) Baretto's expedition was actually much smaller ; and it was
sent quite as much to explore the gold deposits, which from sickness,
opposition of the natives, and hardships, the adventurers never
reached.

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GENERALL DESCRIPTION, ETC. 1 1 3

(40) The " Sweet River" by no means "mightie". " Lake Gale" is
a myth.

(41) Thomas Cavendish, who, eight years before Pory published
this work, had died brokenhearted at the failure of his second expedi-
tion to the Pacific. The variant " Candish" in spelling his name is
worth noting.

(42) Sir James Lancaster, after whom Lancaster Sound, off Baffin's
Bay, was named. He visited (after being a soldier and merchant
in Portugal) the East Indies on his own account in 1591-94, and in
1594 captured Pernambuco in Brazil. He was knighted in 1604,
on returning from leading the first fleet of the East India Company
to India. But this was after Pory wrote. (Markham, Voyages of
Sir James Lancaster, Hakluyt Society, 1877.)

(43) Table Mountain.

(44) Another semi-mythical " kingdome" of Central Africa, made up
of traders' gossip and the half-understood chatter of slaves. Matoma
or Matama is, however, still a Congo Chiefs name.

(45) This was in 1578.

(46) The source of the Quanza, or Coanza, is still unknown.

(47) From the earliest time these Cabambe mines have been
rumoured to exist, though without any basis more definite than that
the natives of that district paid tribute to the Portuguese in silver, and
that the King of Angola gave Paulo Diaz, in return for Dom Sebastian's
presents, several armlets of silver and copper. The silver was made
into a chalice for the Church of Belem at Lisbon/ (Monteiro, Angola
and the River Congo, vol. i, p. 4 ; vol. ii, p. 62;. The mines have never
yet been re-discovered.

(48) The tamed hippopotamus (even with the inconvenient habit
of its suddenly reverting to savagedom) must, we are afraid, be attri-
buted to the old historian's credulity. Gordon Cumming's in- ^
voluntary tour by one on the Limpopo is about the nearest approach

to this use of the " river horse". But, in spite of the grotesque lan-
guage in which they are described, the other animals are realities.
The " kinde of oxen, that liue euery night vpon the lande", are simply
" sea cows", or Manatees described, without any further knowledge of
them than their absurd popular name. One species (Manatus Sene-
galensis or Vogelli) is — or was — not uncommon in the rivers of West
or East Africa. Manatee Island, near Sea Horse Point on the Congo,
commemorates this fact. It has also been reported to frequent Lake
Chad, and was suspected by Schweinfurth (from native reports) to

H

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114 NOTES TO PORY'S PREFACE,

inhabit the River Keebaly, a distant tributary of the Nile, in long.
27 E. {Heart of Africa, vol. ii, p. 96). The "hogge fish" is evidently
a cetacean, either one of the marine species or a riverine form, allied,
most probably, to the lnia geoffrensis or Pontoporia blainvillii of the
Amazon, La Plata, and other South American rivers. Such an
animal has been frequently seen in the Niger, and Mr. Johnston espe-
cially notes that not only the manatee, but " a species of river dolphin,
is occasionally found in the Lower Congo and about the estuary.
I have seen a skull alleged to belong to it." {The River Congo, p. 379.)

(49) The zebra is no longer an animal of the Congo country. The
" buffle" (buffalo) of the river region is Bubalis brachyceros, as fierce,
but not as big, as the species found in Central and South Africa.
But it is more than doubtful if a wild ass ever existed in that region,
the only African species {A. tceniopus) being confined to Abyssinia.
The " tiger" is, of course, a leopard. The " gugelle" is evidently the
gazelle. " Dante" is an animal referred to by Leo, from whose pages
Pory takes its name.

(50) Sao Paolo de Loanda is not built on the long sandy island
which protects the harbour from the Atlantic surf, but on the main-
land. The water-supply is still the great drawback to the place. The
money-shell referred to is the cowry {Cyprcea moneta). In the palmy
days of the trade in human flesh, as many as 90,000 or 100,000 slaves
were shipped here annually, and not many years ago a marble arm-chair
stood on the custom-house wharf, in which the bishop sat, while
baptizing and blessing the batches of negroes, as they were des-
patched by the bargeful to the vessels anchored off shore.

(51) The elephant is no longer one of the animals of Loango. The
coast-people call themselves Bapote, not " Bramas". Near Chinchoxo
a tribe (the Mavambu, or Umvambu) are known to the Europeans as
" Black Jews", on account of their Semitic features. — Bastian, Die
Deutsche Expedition am der Loango Kuste, 1847-75.

(52) "Anzichi", we have seen, is simply a general term for the
interior (p. 30). In this case, the reference to copper mines may
indicate Katanga. " Red and grey Sanders" are, however, not natives
of any part of Africa. Either these plants had been incorrectly
identified, or the drugs' country of origin not correctly ascertained,
being set down to Africa simply because a ship most recently from
that coast brought them to England. "White Sanders," or sandal-
wood {Santalum album), is the produce of a small tree growing on the
mountains of Southern India and in the Indian archipelago. Its export
is aGovernment monopoly, the wood being valuable for the oil, for making
a pigment used by the Brahmins for distinguishing caste marks, for

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GENERALL DESCRIPTION, ETC. 115

incense, etc. The white or grey and the yellow Sanders are different
parts of the same tree. But neither possesses much medicinal value.
" Red Sanders" is the produce of another small tree {Pterocarpus
santalinus) of Southern India and other parts of tropical Asia. It is
mainly used as dye-stuff, an astringent, and as the basis of some
tooth-powders. " Lignum aquilae" is one of the trade-names applied
to the wood of Aquilaria malaccensis, Linn., also so inappropriately
called " Aloes Wood". But it does not come from Africa, but from
Malacca. At one time it enjoyed a great reputation as a stimulant,
and even as a remedy in epilepsy and apoplexy.

(53) On this animal I shall have something to say in the note to
Leo's Bk. ix. "Dante" is not a "German" or a "Greek" term (p. 76).

(54) Now corrupted into "Cape Lopez". It is about thirty-two
miles south of the Equator.

(55) Now corrupted into Cameroons, which the Germans have
Teutonised into Kamerun, in entire ignorance of its original form
and meaning.

(56) Report of the Kingdom of Congo, a Region of Africa and of the
Countries that border rounde about the same, drawen out of the writ-
inges and discourses of Odoardo Lopez, a Portingall, translated by
Abraham Hartwell, 4to, 1597. Lopez left Portugal in 1578, and after
some years spent in Africa, returned to Europe with a mission from
the King of Congo to the King of Spain. Philip was, however, at
that date engaged in fitting out the Spanish Armada, so that Lopez,
disappointed with the little attention shown him, went to Rome, where
the Pope received him favourably. He dictated his narrative to
Pigafetta, who wrote it in Italian, and printed it at Rome in 1591.
Hence, the Italicising of the names of this part of Africa, Pigafetta's
narrative being the authority from which Pory (in whose day it was a
new book) and other authors copied. Lopez collected most of the
floating legends about the African lakes, etc. Mrs. Hutchinson re-
Englished the book in 1884.

(57) In the seventeenth century, the Kingdom of Benin seems to
have been one of the most powerful in West Africa. Badagry and
Lagos were both colonies from it, and several states, independent
until they came under British rule or protection, comprised within its
limits. "Gurte" or Gwato (also called Gato, Agatho, or Agatton),
about thirty miles N.N.E. of the mouth of the Benin River, is still a
port of some importance for the palm-oil trade, which in 1600 had not
begun. Guinea pepper, or Malaguetta (Malagheta, Meleghite, Mele-
guetta, etc.) pepper, is in modern times generally accounted equivalent
to the Grains of Paradise {Amomum Grana Paradisi), which is referred

II 2

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Il6 NOTES TO PORY'S PREFACE,

to in the next paragraph. But the name is also applied to the dried
fruits of Cubebs Clusit\ and the seeds of Habzelia ^Ethiopica. The
capsules of Capsicum frutescens are likewise sold under that designa-
tion, and it is evidently capsicum that Pory alludes to as " long pepper".
The u Grain" or " Pepper Coast" perpetuates the memory of the trade
done in these spices.

(58) Pliny (lib. vi, 32, §§ 201, 203, 204) describes the land of Autololes
as opposite the Purpurariae Islands discovered by Juba, who
established on one of them a factory for dyeing the GaetuHan purple.
If these islands were, as is generally supposed, the two easternmost
Canaries, the Autololes coast was that of the Sahara. Jinni, Ginnie,
Genna, or Jinnie, was founded in a.d. 1043-4 (a.h. 435), and was
well known by that name as early as 1351. The boundaries of the
Guinea district with which the Niger town, from which it takes its
name, had never much to do, have always been very vague ; but, in
general terms, the Guinea Coast, until the European colonies got
established, may be taken as equivalent to tropical West Africa.

(59) Senegal. This belief in the Senegal and Gambia being the
mouths of the Niger held its place, not unreasonably, until late in last
century, while the lake origin of the Senegal was akin to the per-
sistent notion that all the great African rivers had their source in such
sheets, a legend which perhaps was due to the traders mistaking
the negroes 1 expression for lake, and water, river, and village, or,
possibly, to the indiscreet prompting of the uninterested savages.
The " mightie cataract" seems to refer to the Felu Falls, where navi-
gation is interrupted by a ledge of rock across the river's bed. The
Isle of Elephants is Morfil. Even in Brue's day (1697), herds of
forty or fifty elephants wandered quite peacefully on the island.

(60) Joloffs, or Woloffs. (61) Turucols.
(62) Serawallies. (63) Bagnas.

(64) This town has never been identified in accordance with the
report of the Arabs, Berbers and Tuaregs, imperfectly understood by
Ca da Mosto. But so convinced were the Portuguese of its existence,
that they sent an expedition from Arguin to found a factory at Hodem
or Huadim ; though it does not appear that they ever reached a spot
corresponding to the description. Until recently, however, the
name appeared on maps by such authority as Rennells', illustrating
Horneman's Journal of Travels from Cairo to Mourzouk ( 1 802, p. 1 58).
No such place exists where it was previously placed, and up to
date its actuality has either been scouted or forgotten. There is,
however, great probability of its being the plateau of u El Hodh", due

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CBNERALL DESCRIPTION, ETC. 117

west of Timbuktu, on which is Walata (Oulata), a town in the Desert
reached in i860 by Alioun Sal, an Arab officer in the French service,
on his journey to Aruan, from Podor on the Senegal. According to his
account it was a much more important centre than Aruan, and a
somewhat busy rendezvous for traders from that town and Timbuktu
on their way to the Sudan and Barbary. This entirely agrees with
Ca da Mosto's description of it being a rendezvous for caravans
engaged in the traffic. The salt mines of " Tegazzi" (Ca da Mosto in
Ramusio, Ed. 161 3, vol. 1, 100 a, and Leo, Bk. VI, sub voce " Tegaza")
may refer to several places in the Desert dealing in salt. Aruan,
for instance, does a large business in this commodity. Taudeni,
when Mordokhai Abi-Serour visited it, was in ruins ; but what trade
was carried on by the few people who lived in the tumble-down
Arab houses was in salt, of which formerly thousands of camel loads
were annually sent to Timbuktu. When Lenz arrived here twelve
years later, he found the place entirely deserted.

(65) Sahara.

(66) This is the modern 'Perim, the Jezirat al Maiyun of the Arabs.

(67) Close to Ras el Bayath.

(68) Dhalac, in the Dhalac Archipelago.

(69) Massowah. (70) Suakim.

(71) Except in reverence of the cross, the Nestorian form of
Christianity adopted by the Mahra settlers from the opposite Arabian
coast in the sixth century has now been almost entirely lost. Even
the legends, that usually last longer than the substance to which they
cling, have vanished.

(72) The history of the names applied to the islands off East Africa
would form an instructive essay on the vicissitudes of geographical
nomenclature. Portuguese has suffered sadly in the mouths of
foreign seamen — Englishmen more especially. But Arabic has been
still more mangled by the Lusitanian mariners and the map-makers,
until even the few places mentioned by Pory are now difficult to
extricate from the general confusion. As a specimen of the metamor-
phoses which an Arab name has undergone, the island of Aldabra may
be cited. On some charts it is changed into Albadra, and on the great
Mappemonde of Cabot it is written Alhadara, though it is evidently the
Arabic Al-Khadhra, or the Green, which in time has come to be
applied to the familiar Pemba, Penba, or Panda. In seventeenth-
century charts we have the island of Adarno. On the maps of Ortelius
it becomes Darea, and in the Spanish chart of Diego Ribero (1529) we
trace it back to I. de Arena, though doubtless it was originally and

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very properly designated Ilha da Ar£a, Sandy Isle. The Amirantes
were originally the Ilhas do Almirante — the Admiral's Islands, Vasco
da Gama having met with them in 1502 on his second voyage from
Melinda to Cananor. The Mascarenes are a corruption of the
name of Pero de Mascarenhas, one of the companions of Vasco
da Gama ; and the Sete Irmaas, or Seven Sisters, have become the
Seychelles.

The Galician, Juan de Nova, was commemorated in an island
(A Galega) now bearing his name, though a cluster of islands
called Juan de Nova were formerly known as " A doze ilhas". But
more to the east, north of Madagascar, south of isle of Cosmo Ledo
(Cosmoledo), is another isle called Astov, which is a corruption
of "A doze ilhas". Again, the island of A Galega (Agalega) was
discovered by De Nova in 1501, and named in allusion to his
Galician nationality. Cosmo Ledo preserves the name of a
Portuguese sailor. O Cerne, the name of a Portuguese family, was
first applied to Mauritius, but on Diego Ribero's map it figures as Santa
Apollonia, by which name it seems to have been known in Pory's day.
Rodriguez (probably Diogo Rodrigues, or Diogo Roys, if abbreviated),
is on the same chart Domingos Fernandes, replaced in those of
Ortelius and Mercator by Don Galopes, under which barbarous
transformation we recognise Diogo Lopes de Sequeira, the fifth
Governor of Portuguese East India (1518-1521). Pero dos Banhos is
corrupted into Peros Banhos, two shoals, one near the Amirantes, and
a second in the Chagos Archipelago, south of the Maldives. Roque
Pires is changed into Roquepiz, and under Antongil (p. 91), we detect
the name of Antao Gongalves. Cargados-Garajos, or simply Cargados,
is Coroa dos Garajaos, or the sand bank on which the Garajo (a
common sea fowl) collects (D'Avezac, Isles d'Afrique, Troisieme
Partie, pp. ii-iv). St. Christopher is an old name for Mayotta, and
Spirito Santo for Johanna Isle, so forth.

(73) Mafiyal. (74) Kilwa. (75) Angoche.

(76) The elephant is not a Madagascar animal, and the camel is
equally absent.

(77) Antongil Bay, north of St. Mary's Isle (see note 72).

(78) Ilha de Gongalo Alvarez, sometimes corrupted into Albarez,
now called Gough Island after Capt. Gough, who, in 17 13, rediscovered
it, though it was not for a century later that his island was recognised as
identical with the one erroneously put on charts as Diego Alvarez.

(79) These might be the yam (Dioscorea sativa\ or the sweet potato
(Batatas edulis), still sometimes confounded with the former plant.
The latter supposition is most probably true, not only from Pory

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GENERALL DESCRIPTION, ETC. 119

applying to the u Batata", its Portuguese name, but from the feet
that Pigafetta had only recently called attention to it as an article of
food among the Brazilian Indians. The true potato, which does not
grow in Sao Thome, was then almost unknown in England, though
Raleigh had introduced it from Virginia, a few years before Pory
wrote. The plants brought by Hawkins from Santa Fe in 1 563 were,
apparently, sweet potatoes, which for many years subsequently were
confounded with the "Batata Virginiana sive Virginianorum et
Pappus, Potatoes of Virginia", as they are described in Gerard's
Herbal (1599).

(80) An arroba is now twenty-five pints : liquid measure thirty-one
pints English.

(81) Ilha do Principe.

(82) Originally Ferno doa Poo, from its Portuguese discoverer.
In Spanish his name, and the name of the island when it fell to Spain,
was literally translated Fernando del Polvo, which in time became
Fernan-do-Pd, still further abbreviated into Fernando-P6, the usual
foreign form of the word, though in some French works the much-
suffering mariner and his island have become Fernand d'0-P6. The
" certaine lake" is non-existent, so far as present information extends,
though it is quite possible it lies on some of the valleys of the
mountainous interior, which rises to over 9,000 feet, and gives origin
to endless torrents.

(83) Ilha formosa, in 147 1.

(84) St. Matthew and Santa Cruz are now classed among the
imaginary isles of the Atlantic. The first was reported in 1525 by the
Friar Garcia de Loaysa, on his way to the Moluccas with a squadron
of seven ships sent by Charles V. Possibly he mistook Annobon for
it, and the description he gave is not unapplicable to that island.
Santa Croce, Santa-Crosse, or Santa Cruz, appears on sixteenth-
century charts about 200 leagues west of St. Matthew ; but that is the
extent of our knowledge regarding this mythical spot, which if it ever
existed has long since sunk into the ocean.

(85) St. Paul, or the Penedo (that is Rock) of San Pedro, is in
reality 53' north of the Equator. It was discovered by Dom Garcia de
Noronha in 151 1, and received its alternative name from the Sao
Pedro, one of his squadron, commanded by George de Brito. But
the " Isle of Conception" (Santa Maria d'Agosto ?), was not discovered
by Pedro Alvarez Cabral or anyone else.

(86) The Bird, Magdalen, or Beshitten Islands,

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120 NOTES TO PORY'S PREFACE,

(87) Thirteen, all told.

(88) The Cape Verd Islands were certainly not known to the
Ancients — the Gorgones being the Canaries, and the Hesperides
either that group or the Azores. The expedition fitted out by Prince
Henry in 1441, under Antonio and Bartolomeo di Nolli, partially dis-
covered them. But they were not settled until after the voyage of
Ca da Mosto and Antonio Usodimere in 1456.

(89) Sao Thiago, the St. Jago of English navigators.

(90) Ribeira Grande, owing to its insecure anchorage, is now in
decay, and both port and cathedral are becoming picturesque ruins.
Villa de Praia is now the chief town.

(91) The Salina Velha.

(92) By Nuno Tristam in one of the expeditions despatched by
Prince Henry. In 1448 a fort was built here, destroyed, and recon-
structed in 1 46 1, after which it was for many years the chief com-
mercial establishment of the Portuguese in West Africa, and especially
on the Grains Coast and the district round about, now officially
known as " La cote d* Arguin". After various vicissitudes, in
which it was successively in the hands of the Dutch, the French, and
the Brandenburgers (who, after offering it to the English for ;£ 100,000,
sold it to the Dutch for ,£30,000), it passed in 1721 again into posses-
sion of the French. The late Col. Ellis {Hist of the Gold Coast, p. 4),
asserts that on the island of Arguin, which he believed was the Cerne
of Hanno, cisterns, constructed by the Cathaginian colonists, can still
be traced. This is extremely doubtful. These remains are much
more likely those of the Portuguese, or of some of the various masters
of Arguin, now part of the colony of Senegal The principal isles are
Tidre (Tider), Risse, Jouick, and Jagamet (Adeget).

(93) The Archil or Orchil lichen (Rocella tinctoria),

(94) This statement about the Guanches has been proved to be
erroneous.

(95) El Piton, the loftiest point, is actually 12,200 feet high. Pory
is evidently inclined to swallow any legend.

(96) The " Sanguis Draconis" is not now a product of Porto Santo,
for the island is entirely bare of wood, though there was plenty when
it was first discovered. The Dragon's Blood of the Canaries
is the resin of Draccena Draco, out of which Perestrello, father-in-law
of Columbus, who was Governor of the Island, hoped to have made a
fortune. But the trees were recklessly cut down for fuel and any

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GENERALL DESCRIPTION, ETC. 121

other purpose, until the precious resin ceased to be gathered in Porto
Santo. It is referred to by Pliny as a product of the Fortunate Isles.
" Ex iis quoque insulis Fortunatis Crinabaris Romam advehabatur.
Sane hodie num frequens est in insulis arbor ilia quae Crinabarim
gignit, vulgo sanguinem draconis appellant" (Hist. Nat., lib. vi,
cap. xxxvii). The Socotra Dragon's Blood which Pory mentions,
p. 87, is the exudation of an entirely different tree, viz., Pterocarpus
Draco. The rabbit (cony) pest has now been overcome, both in
Porto Santo and in the Balearic Isles.

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IOHN LEO HIS

FI RST BOOKE OF

the description of Africa, and
of the memorable things
contained therein.

Why this part of the worlde was named
Africa.

KRICA is called in the Arabian toong
Iphrichia y of the word Faraca, which
signifieth in the said language, to
diuide : but why it should be so
called, there are two opinions ; the
first is this : namely, because this
part of the worlde is diuided from
* others diuide Europa by the Mediterran sea, and from Asia* by the

it from Asia

by the red sea. riuer Nilus. Others are of opinion, that this name Africa
was deriued from one Ifricus the king of Arabia Fcelix,
who is saide to haue beene the first that euer inhabited
these partes. This Ifricus waging warre against the king
of Assyria, and being at length by him driuen out of his
kingdome, passed with his whole armie ouer Nilus, and so
conducting his troupes westward, made no delay till he
was come vnto the region lying about Carthage. Hence it
is that the Arabians do imagine the countrie about
Carthage onely, and the regions lying westward thereof, to
comprehende all Africa. 1

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THE DESCRIPTION OF AFRICA. 1 23

The borders of Africa.

AFRICA (if we may giue credite vnto the writers of that
nation, being men of learning, and most skilful
Cosmographers) beginneth southward at certaine riuers
issuing foorth of a lake in the desert of Gaoga. Eastward
it bordereth vpon the riuer Nilus. It extendeth northward
to that part of Egypt, where Nilus at seuen mouthes
dischargeth his streames into the Mediterran sea: from
whence it stretcheth westward as farre as the streites of
Gibraltar, and is bounded on that part with the vtmost
sea-towne of all Libya, called *Nun. Likewise the south * Nan.
part thereof abutteth vpon the Ocean sea, which com-
passeth Africa almost as farre as the deserts of Gaoga. 2

The diuision of Africa.

OVR authors affirme, that Africa is diuided into fower
partes, that is to say, Barbaria, Numidia, Libya,
and the lande of Negros. Barbaria taketh beginning from
the hill called Meies, which is the extreme part of all the
mountaines of Atlas, being distant from Alexandria almost
three hundred miles. It is bounded on the North side
with the Mediterran sea, stretching thence to mount-Meies
aforesaid, and from mount-Meies extending it selfe to the
streites of Gibraltar. Westward it is limited with the said
streites, from whence winding it selfe out of the Mediterran
sea into the maine Ocean, it is inclosed with the most
westerly point of Atlas : namely, at that Westerne cape
which is next vnto the towne called Messa. And south-
ward it is bounded with that side of Atlas which lieth
towards the Mediterran sea. This is the most noble and
worthie region of all Africa, the inhabitants whereof are of
a browne or tawnie colour, being a ciuill people, and
prescribe wholesome lawes and constitutions vnto them-
selues.

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124 THE FIRST BOOKE OF THE

The second part of Africa is called of the Latines
Numidia, but of the Arabians Biledulgerid ': this region
bringeth foorth dates in great abundance. It beginneth
eastward at the citie of Eloacat, 8 which is an hundred miles
distant from Egypt, & extendeth west as far as the towne
Non. of *Nun, 4 standing vpon the Ocean sea. Northward it is

inclosed with the south side of Atlas. And the south part
thereof bordereth vpon the sandie deserts of Libya. All
the Arabians doe vsually call it The land of dates : because
this onely region of Africa beareth dates.

The third part called of the Latines Libya, and of the
Arabians Sarra (which word signifieth a desert) beginneth
eastward at that part of Nilus which is next vnto the citie
of Eloacat, and from thence runneth westward as far as
the Ocean sea. Northwarde it is bounded with Numidia,
southward it abutteth vpon the land of Negros, eastward it
taketh beginning at the kingdome of Gaoga, and stretcheth
westwarde euen to the land of Gualata, which bordereth
vpon the Ocean sea.

The fourth part of Africa which is called the land of
Negros, beginneth eastward at the kingdome of Gaoga,
from whence it extendeth west as far as Gualata. The
north part thereof is inclosed with the desert of Libya, and
the fourth part, which is vnknowen vnto vs, with the Ocean
sea : howbeit the merchants which daily come from thence
to the kingdome of Tombuto, haue sufficiently described
the situation of that countrie vnto vs. This lande of
Negros hath a mightie riuer, which taking his name of the
Theriuerof region, is called Niger : this riuer taketh his originall from
the east out of a certaine desert called by the foresaide
Negros Sen? Others will haue this riuer to spring out of
a certaine lake, and so to run westward till it exonerateth
it selfe into the Ocean sea. Our Cosmographers affirme
that the said riuer of Niger is deriued out of Nilus, which
they imagine for some certaine space to be swallowed

Niger.

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DESCRIPTION OF AFRICA. 12$

vp of the earth, and yet at last to burst foorth into such

a lake as is before mentioned. Some others are of opinion,

that this riuer beginneth westward to spring out of a

certaine mountaine, and so running east, to make at length

a huge lake : which verily is not like to be true ; for they

vsually saile westward from Tombuto to the kingdome

of Ginea, yea and to the land of Melli also ; both which

in respect of Tombuto are situate to the west : neither

hath the said land of Negros any kingdomes comparable,

for beautifull and pleasant soile, vnto those which adione

vnto the banks of Niger. And here it is to be noted,

that (according to the opinion of our Cosmographers)

*that land of Negros by which Nilus is said to run * AeMopia.

(namely, that part of the world which stretcheth eastward

euen to the Indian sea, some northerly parcell whereof

abutteth vpon the red sea, to wit, the countrie which lieth

without the gulfe of Arabia) is not to be called any

member or portion of Africa ; and that for many reasons,

which are to be found in the processe of this historie set

downe more at large : The said countrie is called by the

Latines Aethiopia. From thence come certaine religious

Friers seared or branded on the face with an hot iron, who

are to be seene almost ouer all Europe, and specially at

Rome. These people have an Emperour, which they

call Prete Gianni, the greater part of that land being

inhabited with Christians. Howbeit, there is also a

certaine Mahumetan among them, which is said to possesse

a great dominion. 6

A aiuision of the fower for enamed partes of Africa,

BArbarie is distinguished into fower kingdomes : the
first whereof is the kingdome of Maroco ; which is
likewise diuided into seuen regions or prouinces ; namely,
Hea, Sus, Guzula, the territorie of Maroco, Duccala,
Hazcora, & Tedles. The second kingdome of Barbarie

—

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126 THE FIRST BOOKE OF THE

called Fez, comprehendeth in like sort seuen regions within
the bounds thereof ; to wit, Temesne, the territorie of Fez,
•Habai. Azgara, *Elabat, Errif, Garet, and *Elcauz. The third
* Tremizen. kingdome is called *Telensin, and hath three regions vnder
it, namely, the mountaines, Tenez, and Algezer. The
fourth kingdome of Barbarie is named Tunis ; vnder
which are comprized fower regions, that is to say, Bugia,
Constantina, Tripolis in Barbarie, and Ezzaba, which is a
good part of Numidia. Bugia hath alwaies beene turmoiled
with continuall warres ; because sometimes it was subiect
vnto the king of Tunis, and sometimes againe vnto the
king of Tremizen. Certaine it is that euen vntill these
our daies, this Bugia was a kingdome of it selfe, and so
continued till the principall citie of that region was at the
commandement of Ferdinando the king of Castile, taken
by one Peter of Nauarre. 7

The diuision of Numidia.

THis is the basest part of all Africa ; neither will our
Cosmographers vouchsafe it the name of a kingdome,
by reason that the inhabitants thereof are so far distant
asunder ; which you may easily coniecture by that which
followeth. Teffet a citie of Numidia containeth about
fower hundred families, and is in regard of the Libyan
desert, seuered from all places of habitation almost three
hundred miles ; wherefore this second part is thought by
diuers not to be woorthie the name of a kingdome.
Howbeit we will make some relation of the habitable
partes of Numidia ; some whereof may not vnfitly bee
compared with other regions of Africa, as for example,
that of Segelmess, which territorie of Numidia lieth ouer
against Barbarie ; likewise Zeb, which is situate against
Bugia, and the signiorie of Biledulgerid, whieh extendeth
vnto the kingdome of Tunis. Reseruing therefore many
particulars for the second part of this historie, we wil make

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DESCRIPTION OF AFRICA. \2J

our entrie and beginning at those places, which lie vpon
the west of Numidia : the names whereof be these ; Teffet,
Guaden, Ifren, Hacca, Dare, Tebelbelt, Todga, Fercale,
Segelmess, Benigumi, Fighig, Tegua, Tfabit, Tegorarin,
Mefab, Tegort, and Guarghela. The region of Zeb con-
taineth fiue townes, to wit, Pescara, Elborgh, Nesta,
Taolac, and Deufin : so many cities likewise hath the
territorie of Biledulgerid ; namely, Teozar, Caphesa,
. Nesreoa, Elchamid, and Chalbis : and from hence east-
ward are found the isles of Gerbe, Garion, Mesellata,
Mestrata, Teoirraga, Gademis, Fizza, Angela, Birdeoa, and
Eloacat. These are the names 8 of the most famous places
of all Numidia, being bounded (as is said before) westward
vpon the Ocean sea, and eastward with the riuer of Nil us.

A description of the Libyan deserts, which lie betweene
Numidia and the land of Negros.

THese deserts haue not as yet any certaine name
amongst vs, albeit they be diuided into fiue partes,
and receiue all their denomination from the inhabitants
which dwell vpon them, that is to say, from the Numidians,
who are in like sort themselues diuided into fiue partes
also, ty wit, the people or tribes called ^Zanega, Ganziga,
Terga, Leuta, and Berdeoa.Y There bee likewise certaine
places, which take some proper and particular name from
the goodnes and badnes of the soile ; as namely the desert
of Azaohad, so called for the drought and vnfruitfulnes
of that place : likewise Hair, albeit a desert, yet so called
for the goodnes and temperature of the aire. 9

A diuision of the land of Negros into seuerall
kingdomes.

MOreouer, the land of Negros is diuided into many
kingdomes : whereof albeit a great part be
vnknowen vnto vs, and remooued farre out of our trade ;

S

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THE FIRST BOOKE OF THE

* Cairo.

we will notwithstanding make relation of those places,
where we our selues haue aboad, and which by long
experience are growne very familiar vnto vs ; as likewise
of some other places, from whence merchants vsed to
trauell vnto the same cities wherein my selfe was then
resident ; from whom I learned right well the state of
*triwsiiedouer ^ eir countries. I • my selfe saw fifteene kingdoms of the
If'th^ia^iof Negros : howbeit there are many more, which although I
Negros. saw no t with mine owne eies, yet are they by the Negros

sufficiently knowen and frequented. Their names there-
fore (beginning from the west, and so proceeding Eastward
and Southward) are these following: Gualata, Ghinea,

^ --JMelli, Tombuto, Gago, Guber, Agadez, CanoJ Cafena,

;;_,, r-.j^ Zegzeg>Zanfara, Guangara, Borno, Gaogo, Nube. These

"" ■ — fifteene kingdomes are for the most part situate vpon the

riuer Niger, through the which merchants vsually trauell
from Gualata to the citie of *Alcair in Egypt. The iourney
indeede is very long, but yet secure and voide of danger.
All the said kingdomes adjoine one vpon another; ten
whereof are separated either by the riuer Niger, or by
some sandie desert : and in times past each one of the
fifteene had a seueral king, but now* at this present, they
are all in a manner subiect vnto three kings onely :
namely, to the king of Tombuto who is Lord of the
greatest part ; to the king of Borno, who gouerneth the
least part, and the residue is in subiection vnto the king of
Gaoga : howbeit he that possesseth the kingdome of Ducala
hath a very small traine attending vpon him. Likewise
these kingdomes haue many other kingdomes bordering
vpon the South frontiers of them : to wit, Biro, Temiam,
Dauma, Medra, and Gorhan ; the gouernors and inhabitants
whereof are most rich and industrious people, great louers
of iustice and equitie, albeit some lead a brutish kinde of
life. 10

• About the
yeere 1526.

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DESCRIPTION OF AFRICA. 1 29

Of the habitations oj Africa, and of the signification
of this word Barbar.

OVr Cosmographers and historiographers affirme, that
in times past Africa was altogether disinhabited,
except that part which is now called the land of Negros :
and most certaine it is, that Barbarie and Numidia were
for many ages destitute of inhabitants. The tawnie people
of the said region were called by the name of Barbar,
being deriued of the verbe Barbara, which in their toong
signifieth to murmur : because the African toong soundeth
in the eares of the Arabians, no otherwise than the voice
of beasts, which vtter their sounds without any accents.
Others will haue Barbar to be one word twise repeated,
forsomuch as Bar in the Arabian toong signifieth a desert,
For (say they) when king Jphricus being by the Assyrians
or Aethiopians driuen out of his owne kingdome, trauelled
towards Aegypt, and seeing himselfe so oppressed with his
enimies, that he knew not what should become of him and
his followers, he asked his people how or which way it
was possible to escape, who answered him Bar-Bar, that
is, to the desert, to the desert : giuing him to vnderstand
by this speech that he could haue no safer refuge, then to
crossfe ouer Nilus, and to flee vnto the desert of Africa.
And this reason seemeth to agree with them, which
affirme the Africans to be descended from the people of
Arabia foelix. 11

The originall of the people of Africa.

A Bout the originall of the Africans, our historiographers
doe much disagree. For some will haue them to
be deriued from the inhabitants of Palaestina ; because (as
they say) being expelled out of their owne countrie by the
Assyrians, they came at length into Africa, & seeing the
fruitfulnes of the soile, chose it to be their place of

I

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* Forte Asia
minor.

* Genesis the
10. v. the 6.
Mezraim is
accounted the
brother ofChus.

* Gen. 10. 7.

habitation. Others are of opinion, that they tooke their
originall from the Sabeans a people of Arabia fcelix, and
that, before such time as they were put to flight by the
Assyrians or Aethiopians, as hath beene aforesaid. Some
others report, that the Africans descended from certaine
people of *Asia, who being chased thence by reason of
warres which were waged against them, fled into Greece,
which at the same time had no inhabitants at all. Howbeit
the enimie still pursuing them, they were forced to crosse
the sea of Morea, and being arriued in Africa, to settle
themselues there : but 'their enimies aboad still in Greece.
All which opinions and reportes are to bee vnderstood
onely of the originall of the tawnie people, that is to say,
of the Numidians and Barbarians. For all the Negros
or blacke Moores take their descent from Chus, the sonne
of Cham, who was the sonne of No'e. But whatsoeuer
difference there be betweene the Negros and the tawnie
Moores, certaine it is that they had all one beginning.
For the Negros are descended of the Philistims, and the
Philistims of Mesraim the *sonne of Chus: but the tawnie
Moores fetch their petigree from the Sabeans, and it is
euident that Saba was begotten of *Ratna y which was the
eldest sonne of Chus. Diuers other opinions there be as
touching this matter: which because they seeme not so
necessarie wee haue purposely omitted. 12

A diuision of the tawnie Moores into sundrie tribes or nations.

J5

HE tawnie Moores 13 are' diuided into
fiue seuerall people or tribes : the
tribes called Zanhagi, Musmudi, Zeneti,
Hacari, and Gumeri. 14 The tribe of
Musmudi inhabit the western part of
mount Atlas, from the prouince of
Guadaihabit. Hea to the riuer of *Seruan. 16 Like-

wise they dwell vpon the south part of the said mountaine,

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DESCRIPTION OF AFRICA. 131

and ypon all the inward plaines of that region. These
Musmudae haue fower prouinces vnder them : namely,
Hea, Sus, Guzula, 16 and the territorie of Marocco. The
tribe of Gumeri possesse certaine mountaines of Barbarie,
dwelling on the sides of those mountaines which lie ouer
against the Mediterran sea : as likewise they are Lords of
all the riuer called in their language Rif. This riuer hath
its fountaine neere vnto the streites of Gibraltar, and
thence runneth eastwards to the kingdome 01* Tremizen, Tremizen

& ' called by the

called by the Latines Ccesaria}* 1 ancient Cosmo-

graphers

These two tribes or people haue seuerall habitations by Cttsanaor
themselves ; the other three are dispersed confusiuely ouer Casariensis.
all Africa : howbeit they are, like strangers, discerned one
from another by certaine properties or tokens, maintaining
continuall warre among themselues, especially those of
Numidia. These (I say) are those very people (as some
report) who had no other places then tents and wide fields
to repose themselues in : and it is reported, that in times
past they had great conflicts together, and that the van-
quished were sent to inhabit townes and cities, but the
conquerors held the champions and fieldes vnto themselues
and there setled their aboad. Neither is it altogether
vnlikely ; because the inhabitants of cities haue all one
and the same language with the countrie people. For the
Zeneti, whether they dwell in the citie or in the countrie,
speake all one kinde of language : which is likewise to be
vnderstood of the rest. The tribes of Zeneti, Haoari, and
Sanhagi ; inhabit the countrie of Temesne : 18 sometimes
they Hue peaceably, and sometimes againe, calling to
minde their ancient quarrels, they breake foorth into cruell
warres and manslaughters. Some of these people beare
rule ouer all Africa, as namely the Zeneti, who in times
past vanquished the familie called Idris ; from which some
affirme the true,. and naturall Dukes of Fez, and the
founders of the same citie to deriue their petigree : their

I 2

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progenie likewise was called Mecnasa. 19 There came
afterward out of Numidia, another familie of the Zeneti
called Magraoa : this Magraoa chased the familie of Mec-
nafa with all their Dukes and chieftaines out of their
dominions. Not long after, the said tribe of Magraoa was
expelled in like sort by certaine others of the race of the
Sanhagij, called by the name of Luntuna, 20 which came
also out of the desert of Numidia.

By this familie was the countrie of Temesna in processe
of time vtterly spoiled and wasted, and all the inhabitants
thereof slaine, except those which were of their owne tribe
and kindred of Luntuna, vnto whom was allotted the
region of Ducala to inhabit, and by them was built the
Who were the citie commonly called Maroco. 21 It fell out afterwards by

founders of . .

Maroco. the inconstancie of fortune, that one Elniahai the principall

Mahumetan preacher among them, 22 conspiring with the
Hargij (these Hargij were of the familie of Musmuda)
expelled the whole race of the Luntuna, and vsurped that
kingdome vnto himselfe. After this mans decease, suc-
ceeded in his place one of his disciples called Habdul
Mumen a Banigueriaghel' 2 * of the kindred of the Sanhagij.
The kingdome remained vnto this family about an 120.
yeeres, whereunto all Africa in a manner was subiect : At
length being deposed by the Banimarini, a generation of
the Zeneti, the said familie was put to flight: which
Banimarini are said to haue raigned afterward for the
space of 170. yeeres. 24 The Banimarini which descended
of the Sanhagij and of Magroa, waged continuall warre
against Banizeyan the king of Telensin : likewise the
progenie of Hafasa, and of Musmuda are at variance and
dissension with the king of Tunis. So that you see what
stirres and tumults haue at all times beene occasioned in
those regions by the foresaid fiue families. 25

Certaine it is, that neither the Gumeri, nor the Haoari
haue at this present any Jurisdiction at all ; albeit hereto-

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fore (as we reade in their chronicles) 2 * they had some
certaine dominion, before such time as they were infected
with the Mahumetan lawe. Out of all which it is euident,
that in times past all the foresaid people had their habita-
tions and tents in the plaine fields : euery one of which
fauoured their owne faction, and exercised all labours
necessarie for mans life, as common among them. The
gouernours of the countrie attended their droues and
flockes ; and the citizens applied themselues vnto some
manuall art, or to husbandrie. The said people are
diuided into fiue hundred seuerall families, as appeereth by
the genealogies of the Africans, author whereof is one
Ibnu Rachu, whom I haue oftentimes read and perused.
Some writers are of opinion, that the king of Tombuto,
the king of Melli, 27 and the king of Agadez fetch their
originall from the people of Zanaga, to wit, from them
which inhabite the desert.

The agreement or varietie of the African language.

THe foresaid fiue families or people, being diuided into
hundreds of progenies, and hauing innumerable
habitations, doe notwithstanding vse all one kinde of
language, called by them A quel Amarig^ that is, the AqudAmaHg.
noble toong : the Arabians which inhabite Africa, call it a
barbarous toong ; and this the true and naturall language
of the Africans. Howbeit it is altogether different from
other languages, although it hath diuers words common
with the Arabian toong ; whereupon some would inferre,
that the Africans (as is aboue said) came by lineall descent
from the Sabeans, a people of Arabia foelix. Others say,
that these words were euen then inuented when the
Arabians came first into Africa, and began to take
possession thereof: but these authors were so rude and
grosse-witted, that they left no writings behinde them,

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which might be alleaged either for, or against Moreouer
they haue among them another diuersitie, not onely of
pronuntiation, but of significant words also : as namely,
they which dwell neere vnto the Arabians, and exercise
much traffique with them, doe for the greater part vse
their language. Yea, all the Gumeri in a manner, and
most of the Haoari speake Arabian, though corruptly;
which (I suppose) came first hereupon to passe, for that
the said people haue had long acquaintance and conuersa-
tion with the Arabians. The Negros haue diuers languages
among themselues, among which they call one Sungai™
and the same is current in many regions ; as namely, in
Gualata, 30 Tombuto, 31 Ghinea, Melli, and Gago. 32 Another
language there is among the Negros, which they cal
Guberf 3 & this is rife among the people of Guber, of
Cano, 84 of Casena, 36 of Perzegreg, 86 & of Guangra. 87 Like-
wise the kingdom of Borno hath a peculiar kinde of speech,
altogether like vnto that, which is vsed in Gaoga. And
the kingdome of Nube 88 hath a language of great affinitie
with the Chaldean, Arabian, & Egyptian toongs. But all
the sea-towns of Africa fro the Mediterran sea to the
mountains of Atlas, speake broken Arabian. Except the
kingdome and towne of Maroco, & the inland Numidians
bordering vpon Maroco, Fez, & Tremizen ; all which, vse
the Barbarian toong. Howbeit they which dwel ouer
against Tunis & Tripoli, speake indeede the Arabian
language ; albeit most corruptly.

Of the Arabians inhabiting the citie of Africa.

Hutmen. /^\F that armie which was sent by Calif a* Otmen the

third, in the fower hundred yeere of the Hegeira,

there came into Africa fowerscore thousand gentlemen and

others, who hauing subdued sundrie prouinces, at length

arriued in Africa : and there the Generall of the whole

o 1

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DESCRIPTION OF AFRICA. 1 35

armie called *Hucha Hibnu Nafich remained. This man * Hucka.

built that great citie which is called of vs *Alcair. For * Cairaoan.

he stood in feare of the people of Tunis, least they should

betray him, misdoubting also that they would procure aide

out of Sicily, and so giue him the encounter. Wherefore

with all his treasure which he got, he trauelled to the

desert and firme ground, distant from *Carthage about one * Tunis.

hundred and twentie miles, and there is he said to haue

built the citie *Alcair. The remnant of his soldiers he * Cairaoan.

commanded to keepe those places, which were most secure

and fit for their defence, and willed them to build where

no rocke nor fortification was. Which being done, the

Arabians began to inhabit Africa, and to disperse them-

selues among the Africans, who because they had beene

for certaine yeeres subiect vhto the Romans or Italians,

vsed to speake their language : and hence it is, that the

naturall and mother-toong of the Arabians, which hath great

affinitie with the African toong, grewe by little and little

to be corrupted : and so they report that these two nations

at length conioined themselues in one. Howbeit the

Arabians vsually doe blaze their petigree in daily and

triuiall songs ; which custome as yet is common both to

*vs, and to the people of Barbarie also. For no man there * of T ^ a ^l es

is, be he neuer so base, which will not to his owne name,

adde the name of his nation ; as for example, Arabian,

Barbarian, or such like. 89

Of the Arabians which dwell in tents.

THE Mahumetan priestes alwaies forbad the Arabians
to passe ouer Nilus with their armies and tents.
Howbeit in the fower hundred yeere of the Hegeira 40 we
reade,that they were permitted sotodoe by a certaine factious

and schismaticall *Califa : because one of his nobles had * A Mahume-
tan fatnarke.

rebelled against him, vsurping the citie of Cairaoan, and

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the greatest part of Barbaric After the death of which
rebell, that kingdome remained for some yeeres vnto his
posteritie and familie ; whose iurisdiction (as the African
chronicles report) grew so large and strong in the time of
Elcain (the Mahumetan Califa and patriark of Arabia)

l> eh ?onditi(m Ue t * lat ** e sent vnto them one Gehoar, whom of a slaue he
conquered ail h a( ~[ m ade his counsellour. with an huge armie. This

Barbaric, 9 °

Numidia, Gehoar conducting: his armie westward, recouered all

Egypt, and to '

Syria. Numidia and Barbaric Insomuch that he pierced vnto

the region of Sus, and there claimed most ample tribute :
all which being done, he returned backe vnto his Calipha,
and most faithfully surrendred vnto him whatsoeuer he
had gained from the enemic 41 The Calipha seeing his
prosperous successe, began to aspire vnto greater exploites.
And Gehoar most firmely promised, that as he had
recouered that westerne dominion vnto his Lord, so would
he likewise by force of warre most certainly restore vnto
him the countries of the East, to wit, Egypt, Syria, and all
Arabia; and protested moreouer that with the greatest
hazard of his life, he would be auenged of all the iniuries
offered by the familie of Labhus® vnto his Lords prede-
cessors, and would reuest him in the royall seate of his
most famous grandfathers, great-grandfathers, and pro-
genitors. The Calipha liking well his audacious promise,
caused an armie of fower-score thousand soldiers, with an
infinite summe of money and other things necessarie for the
warres, to be deliuered vnto him. And so this valiant and
stout chieftaine being prouided for warfare, conducted his
troupes through the deserts of Aegy pt & Barbarie ; & hauing
first put toflight the vice-Califaof Aegypt(who fled vntoElair
the Califa of Bagdet) in short time he subdued very easily all
the prouinces of Aegypt and Syria. Howbeit he could not
as yet hold himselfe secure ; fearing least the Califa of
Badget would assaile him with an armie out of Asia, and
least the garrisons which he had left to keepe Barbarie

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DESCRIPTION OF AFRICA. 137

should be constrained to forsake those conquered prouinces.
Wherefore hee built a citie, and caused it to be walled
round about. In which citie he left one of his most trustie
captaines, with a great part of the armie : and this citie he
called by the name of Alchair, which afterward by others was Gehoar the

first founder

named Cairo: 48 This Alchair is saide daily so to haue^Carm
increased, that no citie of the world for buildings and
inhabitants was any way comparable thereunto. Now
when Gehoar perceiued that the Calipha of Badget made
no preparation for warre, he foorthwith wrote vnto his Lord,
that all the conquered cities yeelded due honour vnto him,
and that all things were in quiet and tranquillitie : and
therefore, that himselfe (if he thought good) should come
ouer into Aegypt, and thereby with his onely presence
should preuaile more to recouer the remnant of his
dominions, then with neuer so huge an armie : for he was
in good hope that the Calipha of Badget hearing of his
expedition, would leaue his kingdome and prelacie, and
would betake himselfe to flight. This notable and ioyfull
message no sooner came to the eares of Calipha Elcain ;
but he being by his good fortune much more encouraged
then before, and not forethinking himselfe what mischiefe
might ensue, leuied a great armie, appointing for vice-roy
for all Barbarie one of the familie of Sanagia aforesaid,
finding him afterward not to be his trustie friend. More-
ouer Calipha Elcain arriuing at Alchair, and being most
honorably entertained by his seruant Gehoar, began to
thinke vpon great affaires, and hauing gathered an huge
armie, resolued to wage battell against the Calipha of
Badget. In the meane season he that was appointed vice-
roy of Barbarie compacting with the Calipha of Badget,
yeeldeth himselfe and all Barbarie into his hands. Which
the Calipha most kindly accepted, and ordained him king
ouer all Africa. But Calipha Elcain hearing this newes at
Alchair was woonderfully afflicted in minde ; partly

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because he saw himselfe repelled from his owne kingdome,
and partly for that he had spent all his money which hee
brought with him : insomuch that he knew not what in the
world to doe, determining some seuere punishment for
Gekoar, by whose counsell he left his kingdome of Arabia.
Howbeit there was one of his secret counsellors a very
learned and wittie man, who seeing his Lord so sad and
pensiue, and being desirous by some good aduise to preuent
the danger imminent, comforted him in this wise : Your
highnes knoweth (most inuincible Califa) that fortune is
most variable, and that the courage of your soldiers is no
whit daunted by reason of these mishaps. For mine owne
part, as I haue heretofore shewed my selfe to be your
trustie seruant, so will I at this time giue you such profitable
counsell, whereby you may within short space recouer all
those dominions which haue beene so treacherously taken
from you, and may without al peraduenture most easily
attaine vnto your owne harts desire. And this you may doe
without maintaining any armie at all ; yea, I assure you, if
you please to take mine aduise, that I will foorthwith
procure you such an armic, as shall giue you great store
of money, and yet notwithstanding shall doe you good
seruice also. The Califa being somewhat emboldened at
these speeches, asked his counsellour how this might
possibly be brought to effect : My Lord (saith his
counseller) certaine it is, that the Arabians are now growen
so populous and to so great a number, that all Arabia
cannot containe them, scarcely wil the yeerely increase
of the ground suffice to feede their droues, and you see
with what great famine they are afflicted, and how they
are destitute not onely of habitations, but euen of victuals
and sustenance. Wherefore if you had heeretofore giuen
them leaue, they would long ere this inuaded Africa.
And if you will now licence them so to doe, doubt you
not, but that you shall receiue of them an huge masse

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DESCRIPTION OF AFRICA. 1 39

of golde. This counsell could not altogether satisfie the
Califa his minde : for he knew right well that the Arabians
would so waste all Africa, as it should neither bee profit-
able for himselfe, nor for his enemies. Notwithstanding,
seeing that his kingdome was altogether endangered, hee
thought it better to accept those summes of money which
his counsellour promised, and so to be reuenged of his
enemie, then to lose both his kingdome and gold all at
once. Wherefore hee permitted all Arabians, which would
pay him ducats apeece, freely to enter Africa ; condition-
ally that they would shewe themselues most 'deadly
enemies vnto the treacherous king of Barbaric Which
libertie being granted vnto them, it is reported that ten Ten tribes of

Arabians

tribes or families of Arabians, being halfe the people of invade Africa.
Arabia deserta, came immediately into Africa ; vnto whom
certaine inhabitants of Arabia fcelix ioyned themselues,
insomuch that there were found amongst them about fiftie
thousand persons able to beare armes : their women,
children, and cattell were almost innumerable : the storie
whereof Ibnu Rachu % the most diligent chronicler of African ***"&";*" a

• & famous histo-

affaires (whom we haue before mentioned) setteth downe riograpker.
at large. These Arabians hauing trauersed the desert
betweene Aegypt and Barbarie, first laid siege vnto
Tripolis a citie of Barbarie, which being ouercome, they
slew a great part of the citizens, the residue escaping by
flight. Next of all they encountred the towne of Capes, 4 ^
which was by them taken and vanquished. At length
they beseiged Cairaoan also; howbeit the citizens being
sufficiently prouided of victuals, are said to haue indured
the siege for eight monethes : which being expired, they
were constrained to yeeld : at what time there was nothing
in Cairaoan but wofull slaughters, hideous outcries, and
present death. This land the Arabians diuided among
themselues, and began to people and inhabite the same ;
requiring in the meane space large tributes of the townes

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and prouinces subiect vnto them. And so they possessed
all Africa, vntill such time as one Ioseph the sonne of Ieffin
attained to the kingdom of Marocco. This Ioseph was the
first king of Marocco, who endeuored by all meanes to
aduance the friends and kinred of the late deceased king
of Africa vnto the kingdome ; neither did he cease vntill
he had expelled all the Arabians out of Cairaoan. Howbeit
the Arabians possessed the regions thereabout, giuing them-
selves wholy to spoiles and robberies : and the friends of the
said deceased king could beare rule but in certaine places
only. 46 Afterward succeeded in the kingdome of Marocco
one Mansor, who was the fourth king and prelate of that
Mahumetan sect which was called Muachedim.^ This
man, albeit his grand-fathers & great grand-fathers had
alwaies fauoured the posteritie and friends of the foresaid
deceased African king, and had restored them to their
ancient dignitie ; deuised altogether how to oppose him-
selfe against them, and to vsurpe all their authoritie.
Wherefore making a fained league with them, we reade,
that he prouoked the Arabians against them, and so very
easily ouercame them. Afterward Mansor brought the
greatest part of the Arabians into the westerne dominions
of Africa ; vnto the better sort of whom he gaue the
habitation of Duccala & Azgara, and vnto the baser
remnant he bequeathed the possession of Numidia. But
in processe of time he commanded the Numidian slaues to
be set at libertie, and so in despight of the Arabians, he
caused them to inhabite that part of Numidia which he
had allotted vnto them. But as for the Arabians of
Azgara and of certaine other places in Barbarie, he
brought them all vnder his subiection. For the Arabians
out of deserts are like fishes without water: they had
indeede often attempted to get into the deserts ; but the
mountaines of Atlas, which were then possessed by the
Barbarians, hindred their passage. Neither had they

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libertie to passe ouer the plaines, for the residue of the
Barbarians were there planted. Wherefore their pride
being abated, they applied themselues vntp husbandrie,
hairing no where to repose themselues, but onely in
villages, cottages, and tents. And their miserie was so
much the greater, in that they were constrained yeerely to
disburse vnto the king of Marocco most ample tribute.
Those which inhabited Duccala, because they were an huge
multitude, easily freed themselues from all tribute, and
imposition. A great part of the Arabians remained still at
Tunis, for that Mansor had refused to carie them along
with him : who, after the death of the said Mansor, grew
to be Lords of Tunis, and so continued, till they resigned
their gouernment vnto the people called Abu-Haf, 48 vpon
condition that they should pay them halfe the reuenues
thereof; and this condition hath remained firme euen
vntill our daies. Howbeit, because the Arabians are
increased to such innumerable swarmes, that the whole
reuenues are not sufficient for them, the king of Tunis 1526.
most iustly alloweth some of them their duties, to the
end they may make secure passage for merchants, which
indeede they performe without molestation or hurt of any.
But the residue which are depriued of their pay, betake
themselues wholy to robberies, thefts, slaughters, and such
other monstrous outrages. For these, lurking alwaies in
the woods, no sooner see any merchant approching, but
suddenly they breake foorth, depriuing him of his goodes
and life also : insomuch that now merchants dare not passe
that way but with a garrison of safe-conduct. And so
they passe sometimes to their great inconuenience. For
they are notwithstanding constrained to giue vnto the
foresaid Arabians, which are in pay with the king of Tunis,
great summes of money : and are likewise oftentimes so in
danger of robbers, that they lose both their goods & Hues.

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A diuision of the Arabians which inhabite Africa, and are

called by the name of Barbarians, into diuers

progenies or kinreds?*

HE Arabians which inhabite Africa are
diuded into three partes : one part
whereof are called Cachin, the second
Hilell, and the third Machill. The
Cachin are diuided into three nations
or tribes ; to wit, the tribes of Etheg,
Sumait, and Sahid. Moreouer Etheg
is diuided into three families; that is to say, the familie
of Delleg, Elmuntefig, and Subair : and these are dispersed
into many regions. Hilel are deriued into fower gene-
rations ; to wit, the people of Benihemir, of Rieh, of
Sufien, and of Chusain. The familie of Benihemir is
diuided into the linages of Huroam, Hucben, Habrum and
Mussim. The tribe of Rieh are distributed into the
kinreds called Deuvad, Suaid, Afgeg, Elcherith, Enedri,
and Garfam ; which kinreds possesse many dominions.
Machil haue three tribes vnder them : to wit, Mastar,
Hutmen, and Hassan. Mastar are diuided into Ruchen,
and Selim ; Hutmen into Elhasi and Chinan ; and Hassan
into Deuihessen, Deuimansor, and Deuihubaidulla. Deui-
hessen is distinguished into the kinreds called Dulein,
Berbun, Vodein, Racmen and Hamram ; Deuimansor into
Hemrun, Menebbe, Husein, and Albuhusein ; and lastly
Deuihubaidulla, into Garag, Hedeg, Teleb, and Geoan.
All these doe in a manner possesse innumerable regions ;
insomuch that to reckon them vp at large, were a matter
not onely difficult, but almost impossible. 60

Of the habitations and number of the foresaid Arabians.

THE most noble and famous Arabians were they of the
familie of Etheg, vnto whome Almansor gaue the
regions of Duccala and of Tedles 51 to inhabit. These

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DESCRIPTION OF AFRICA. 143

Arabians euen till our times haue beene put to great
distresse and hazard, partly by the Portugall king, and
partly by the king of Fez. They haue at all oportunities,
if need should require, a hundred thousand soldiers fit to
beare armes, a great part whereof are horsemen. The
Arabians called Sumait enioy that part of the Libyan
desert which lieth ouer against the desert of Tripoly.
These make often inuasions into Barbarie, for they haue
no places allotted them therein, but they and their camels
doe perpetually remaine in the deserts. They are able to
leuie fower-score thousand soldiers, the greatest part being
footmen. Likewise the tribe of Sahid doe inhabite the
desert of Libya : and these haue had alwaies great league
and familiaritie with the king of Guargala. They haue
such abundance of cattell, that they doe plentifully supply
all the cities of that region with flesh, and that especially
in sommer time, for all the winter they stirre not out of
the deserts. Their number is increased to about a hundred
and fiftie thousand, hauing not many horsemen among
them. The tribe of Delleg possesse diuers habitations,
howbeit *Caesaria containeth the greatest part of them. * Tremizen.
Some also inhabit vpon the frontiers of the kingdome of
Bugia ; who are said to receiue a yeerely stipend from
their next neighbours. But the least part of them dwell
vpon the field-countrey of Acdes, 62 vpon the borders of
Mauritania, and vpon some part of mount Atlas, being
subiect vnto the king of Fez. The people of Elmuntafig
are seated in the prouince of Azgar, and are called by the
later writers Elcaluth. These also pay certaine yeerely
tribute vnto the King of Fez, beeing able to furnish about
eight thousand horsemen to the warres. The kindred of
Sobair doe inhabit not farre from the kingdome of Gezeir, 53
being many of them vnder the pay of the king of Tremizen,
and are said to enioy a great part of Numidia. They haue,
more or lesse, three thousand most warlike horsemen.

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They possesse likewise great abundance of camels ; for
which cause they abide all winter in the deserts. The
remnant of them occupieth the plaine which lieth betweene
Sala and Mecnes. 64 These haue huge droues of cattell,
and exercise themselues in husbandrie, being constrained
to pay some yeerely tribute vnto the king of Fez. They
haue horsemen, who, as a man may say, are naturally
framed to the warres, about fower thousand in number.

Of the people of Hillel, and of their habitations.

Hlllel, which are also called Benihamir, dwell vpon the
frontiers of the kingdome of Tremizen and Oran.
These range vp and downe the desert of Tegorarin, being
in pay vnder the king of Tremizen, and of great riches
and power ; insomuch that they haue at all times in a
readines for the warres six thousand horsemen. The tribe
of Hurua possesse onely the borders of Mustuganim. 55
These are sauage people, giuing themselues wholy to
spoiles and robberies, and alienating their mindes from
the warres. They neuer come foorth of the deserts ; for
the people of Barbarie will neither allow them any places
of habitation, nor yet any stipend at all : horsemen they
haue to the number of two thousand. The kindred of
Hucban 56 are next neighbours vnto the region of Melian, 57
who receiue certaine pay from the king of Tunis. They
are rude and wilde people, and in very deede estranged
from al humanitie : they haue (as it is reported) about
fifteene hundred horsemen. The tribe of Habru inhabit
the region lying betweene Oran and Mustuganim : these
exercise husbandrie, paying yeerely tribute vnto the king
of Tremizen, and being scarce able to make one hundred
horsemen.

The people called Muslim possesse those deserts of
Masila 59 which extend vnto the kingdome of Bugia. These
likewise are giuen onely to theft and robberie ; they take

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DESCRIPTION OF AFRICA. 145

tribute both of their owne people, and of other regions

adioyning vnto them. The tribe Riech inhabite those

deserts of Libya which border vpon Constantina. These

haue most ample dominions in Numidia, being now

diuided into sixe parts. This right famous and warlike

nation receiueth stipende from the king of Tunis, hauing

fiue thousande horsemen at command. The people of

Suaid enioy that desert, which is extended vnto the

signiorie of Tenez. These haue very large possessions,

receiuing stipend from the king of Tremizen, being men of

notable dexteritie, as well in the warres as in all other

conuersation of life. The kindred of Azgeg dwell not

all together in one place : for part of them inhabite the

region of Garet among the people called Hemram : and

the residue possesse that part of Duccala which lieth

neere vnto Azaphi. The tribe of Elcherit dwell vpon

that portion of Helin which is situate in the plaine of

Sahidim, hauing the people of Heah tributarie vnto them,

and being a very vnciuill and barbarous people. The

people called Enedri are seated in the plaine of Heah :

but the whole region of Heah maintpiineth almost fower

thousand horsemen ; which nothwithstanding are vnfit for

the warres. The people of Garsa haue sundrie mansions ;

neither haue they any king or gouernour. They are

dispersed among other generations, and especially among

the kindreds of Manebbi and Hemram. These conuay

dates from Segelmessa to the kingdome of Fez, and carrie

backe againe from thence such things as are necessarie for

Segelmess.*

Of the tribe ofMachiL

THE people called Ruche, who are thought to be
descended from Mastar, doe possesse that desert,
which lieth next vnto Dedes and Farcala. 61 They haue
very small dominions, for which cause they are accounted

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no whit rich ; howbeit they are most valiant soldiers, and
exceeding swift of foote ; insomuch that they esteeme it a
great disgrace, if one of their footemen be vanquished by
two horsemen. And you shall finde scarce any one nian
among them, which will not outgoe a very swift horse ;
be the iourney neuer so long. They haue about fiue
hundred horsemen ; but most warlike footemen, to the
number of eight thousand. Selim inhabite vpon the riuer
of Dara ; from whence they range vp and downe the
deserts. They are endowed with great riches, carrying
Tw&to t0 euer y y eere merchandize vnto the kingdome of Tombuto,
and are thought to be in high fauour with the king
himselfe. 62 A large iurisdiction they haue in Darha and
great plentie of camels : and for all oportunities of warre
they haue euer in a readines three thousande horsemen.
The tribe of Elhasis dwelleth vpon the sea-coast neere
vnto Messa. They doe arme about fiue hundred horsemen,
and are a nation altogether rude and vnacquainted in the
warres. Some part of them inhabiteth Azgara. Those
which dwell about Messa are free from the yoke of
superioritie, but the others which remaine in Azgar are
subiect to the king of Fez. The kindred of Chinan are
dispersed among them which before were called Elcaluth,
and these also are subiect unto the king of Fez. 64 Very
warlike people they are ; and are able to set foorth two
thousand horsemen. The people of Deuihessen are
diuided into the kindreds of Duleim, Burbun, Vode,
Deuimansor, and Deuihubaidulla, Duleim are conuersant
in the deserts of Libya with the African people called
Zanhaga. They haue neither dominion nor yet any
stipend ; wherefore they are very poore and giuen to
robberie : they trauell vnto Dara, and exchange cattell
for dates with the inhabitants there. All brauerie &
comelines of apparell they vtterly neglect ; and their
number of fighting men is ten thousand, fower thousand

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DESCRIPTION OF AFRICA. 1 47

being horsemen and the residue footmen. The people
called Burbun possesse, that part of the Libyan desert,
which adioyneth vnto Sus. They are a huge multitude,
neither haue they any riches beside camels. Vnto them
is subiect the citie of Teffet, which scarce sufficeth them
for the maintenance of their horses, being but a few. The
people of Vode enioyeth that desert, which is situate
between Guaden and Gualata. 65 They beare rule ouer the
Guadenites, and of the Duke of Gualata they receiue
yeerely tribute, and their number is growen almost infinite.
For by report they are of abilitie to bring into the field
almost three score thousand most skilful soldiers ; not-
withstanding they have great want of horses. The tribe
of Racmen occupie that desert which is next vnto Hacha. 66
They haue very large possessions, and doe in the spring-
time vsually trauell vnto Teffet : for then alwaies they haue
somewhat to doe with the inhabitants there. Their people
fit for armes are to the number of twelue thousand ; albeit
they haue very few horsemen. The nation of Hamrum
inhabit the deserts of Tagauost, exacting some tribute of
the inhabitants there, and with daily incursions likewise
molesting the people of Nun. Their number of soldiers is
almost eight thousand. 67

The people descended of Deuitnansor.

THE generation of Dehemrum, which are saide to
deriue their petigree from Deuimansor, inhabite the
desert ouer against Segellmess, who continually wander
by the Libyan deserts as farre as Ighid. They haue
tributarie vnto them the people of Segelmesse, of Tod-
gatan, of Tebelbelt, and of Dara. 68 Their soile yeeldeth
such abundance of dates, that the yeerely increase thereof
is sufficient to maintaine them, although they had nothing
else to Hue on. They are of great fame in other nations,
being able to furnish for the warres about three thousand

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148 the first booke of the

horsemen. There dwell likewise among these certaine
other Arabians of more base condition, called in their
language Gar/a Esgch ; which notwithstanding haue great
abundance of horses and of all other cattell. A certaine
part also of the people Hemrun obtaineth many and large
possessions among the Numidians, from whence they haue
a notable yeerely reuenue brought them in : this part of
Hemrun maketh often excursions towards the deserts of
Fighig. In summer they disperse themselues all ouer
the prouince of Garet, possessing the east part of Mauri-
tania. They are noble and honest persons, and endued
with all kinde of humanitie and ciuilitie ; insomuch that
all the kings of Fez in a manner do vsually chuse them
wiues out of the same tribe ; needes therefore must there
be great friendship and familiaritie among them. The
people of Menebbe doe almost inhabite the very same
desert, hauing two prouinces of Numidia vnder them ; to
wit, Matgara, and Retebbe. These also are a most valiant
nation, being in pay vnder the prouince of Segelmess, and
being able to make about two thousand horsemen. The
kindred of Husein, which are thought to be descended of
Deuimansor, are seated vpon the mountaines of Atlas.
They haue in the said mountaines a large iurisdiction,
namely diuers castles euerywhere, and many most rich and
flourishing cities, all which, they thinke, were giuen them
in olde time by the uice-royes of the Marini : for so soone
as they had woon that kingdome, the kindred of Husein
affoorded them great aide and seruice. Their dominion is
now subiect vnto the kings of Fez and of Segelmess.
They haue a captaine, which for the most part resideth at
the citie commonly called Garseluin. Likewise, they are
alwaies, in a manner, trauersing of that desert which in
their language is called Eddara. They are taken to be a
most rich and honest people, being of abilitie to furnish
for the warres about sixe thousande horsemen. Among

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DESCRIPTION OF AFRICA. .149

these you shall oftentimes finde many Arabians of another
sort, whom they vse onely to be their seruants. The tribe
of Abulhusein doe inhabite part of the foresaid desert of
Eddara, hovvbeit a very smal part : the greatest number
of whom are brought vnto such extreme miserie, that they
haue not in those their wilde tents sufficient sustenance to
Hue vpon. True it is, that they haue built them certaine
habitations vpon the Libyan deserts ; but yet they are
cruelly pinched with famine and with extreme penurie
of all things : and (that there might be no end of their
miserie) they are constrained to pay yeerely tribute vnto
their kindred and parents. 69

The of spring of Deuihubaidulla.

ONE generation of the people of Deuihubaidulla are
those which are named Gharrag : these enioy the
deserts of Benigomi and Fighig, 70 hauing very large pos-
sessions in Numidia. They are stipendiaries vnto the king
of Tremizen ; who diligently endeuoreth to bring them to
peace and tranquilitie of life ; for they are wholy giuen to
theft and robberie. In sommer time they vsually repaire
unto Tremizen, where they are thought for that season of
the yeere to settle their aboad : their horsemen are to the
number of fower thousand, all which are most noble
warriours. The kindred of Hedeg possesse a certaine
desert neere vnto Tremizen, called in their owne language
Hangad. 71 These haue no stipend from any prince, nor
yet any iurisdiction at all, rapine and stealth is onely
delightfull vnto them, they prouide onely for their familie
and themselues, and are able to set foorth about fiue
hundred horsemen. The tribe of Theleb inhabite the
plaine of *Algezer : these haue often vagaries ouer the * Alger.
deserts vnto the prouince of Tedgear. 72 Vnto them were
subiect in times past the most famous cities of Algezer
and Tedelles : 73 howbeit in these our daies they were

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recouered againe from them by Barbarossa the Turke ;

which losse could not but greatly grieue and molest their

king. It is reported moreouer, that at the same time, the

principal of the said people of Theleb were cut off. For

strength and cunning in chiualrie they were inferiour to

no other nation ; their horsemen were about three

thousand. The tribe of Gehoan inhabite not aJl in one

place : for part of them you may finde among the people

of Guarag, 74 and the residue amongst the people of Hedeg,

and they are vnto them no otherwise than their seruants,

which condition they notwithstanding most patiently and

willingly submit themselues vnto. And here one thing is

ans called *~ to be noted by the way ; to wit, that the two forenamed

S^uYdfJcfnded people called *Schachin 75 and Hilel are originally Arabians

f thTbasTsVnne of Arabia deserta, and thinke themselues to be descended

of Abraham. f rom Jsmael the sonne of Abraham. And those which wee

Th ?A r ?i ia ™ called Machil, came first forth of Arabia fcelix, and deriue

called Machil ' '

descended of their petigree from Saba. Before whom the Mahumetans

Saba.

preferre the former, which of Ismael are called Ismaelites.
And because there hath alwaies beene great controuersie
among them, which part should be of greater nobilitie,
they haue written on both sides many dialogues and
epigrams, whereby each man is woont to blaze the
renowne, the vertuous manners, and laudable customes
of his owne nation. The ancient Arabians, which were
before the times of the Ismaelites, were called by the
African historiographers Arabi-Araba, as if a man should
say, Arabians of Arabia. But those which came of Ismael,
they call Arabi Mus-Araba, as if they should say, Arabians
ingrassed into the land of Arabia, or Arabians accidentally,
because they were not originally bred & borne in Arabia. 76
And the which afterward came into Africa, they name in
their language Mustehgeme, that is, barbarous Arabians ;
and that because they ioyned themselues vnto strangers
insomuch that not only their speech, but their manners

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DESCRIPTION OF AFRICA. I SI

also are most corrupt and barbarous. These are (friendly-
reader) the particulars, which for these ten yeeres my
memorie could reserue, as touching the originals and
diuersities of the Africans and Arabians ; in all which
time I remember not, that euer I read or saw any historic
of that nation. He that will know more, let him haue
recourse vnto Hibnu Rachu the historiographer before-
named.

The manners and customes of the African people, which
inhabit the desert of Libya.

THose fiue kindes of people before rehearsed, to wit, ^^£f °f
the people of Zenega, of Gansiga, of Terga, of
Leuta, and of Bardeoa, are called of the Latins Numidce :
and they Hue all after one manner, that is to say, without
all lawe and ciuilitie. Their garment is a narrow and base
peece of cloth, wherewith scarce halfe their bodie is
couered. Some of them wrap their heads in a kinde of
blacke cloth, as it were with a scarfe, such as the Turks
vse, which is commonly called a Turbant. Such as will be
discerned from the common sort, for gentlemen, weare a
iacket made of blew cotton wiah wide sleeues. And
cotton-cloth is brought vnto them by certaine merchants
from the land of Negros. They haue no beastes fit to
ride vpon except their camels ; vnto whom nature,
betweene the bunch standing vpon the hinder part of
their backes and their neckes, hath allotted a place, which
may fitly serue to ride vpon, in stead of a saddle. Their
manner of riding is most ridiculous. For sometimes they
lay their legs acrosse vpon the camels neck ; and some-
times againe (hauing no knowledge nor regard of stirrops)
they rest their feete vpon a rope, which is cast ouer his
shoulders. In stead of spurres they vse a truncheon of a
cubites length, hauing at the one end thereof a goad,
wherewith they pricke onely the shoulders of their camels.

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Those camels which they vse to ride vpon haue a hole
v bored through the gristles of their nose, in the which a
ring of leather is fastened, whereby as with a bit, they are
more easily curbed and mastred ; after which manner I
haue seene buffles vsed in Italic For beds, they lie vpon
mats made of sedge and bulrushes. Their tents are couered
for the most part with course chamlet, or with a harsh
Wooii growing kinde of wooll which commonly groweth vpon the boughes
tree. of their date-trees. As for their manner of liuing, it would

seeme to any man incredible what hunger and scarcitie
this nation will indure. Bread they haue none at all,
neither vse they any seething or rosting ; their foode is
camels milke onely, and they desire no other dainties.
For their breakefast they drinke off a great cup of camels
milke : for supper they haue certaine dried flesh stieped in
, butter and milke, wherof each man taking his share,
\^ eateth it out of his fist. And that this their meate may
not stay long vndigested in their stomackes, they sup off
the foresaid broth wherein their flesh was steeped: for
which purpose they vse the palmes of their hands as a
most fit instrument framed by nature to the same end.
After that, each one drinks his cup of milk, & so their
supper hath an ende. These Numidians, while they haue
any store of milke, regard water nothing at all, which for
the most part happeneth in the spring of the yeere, all
which time you shall finde some among them that
will neither wash their hands nor their faces. Which
seemeth not altogether to be vnlikely; for (as we said
before) while their milke lasteth, they frequent not those
places where water is common: yea, and their camels,
so long as they may feede vpon grasse, will drinke no
water at all. They spende their whole daies in hunting
and theeuing : for all their indeuour and exercise is to
driue away the camels of their enemies ; neither will they
remaine aboue three daies in one place, by reason that

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DESCRIPTION OF AFRICA. 153

they haue not pasture any longer for the sustenance of
their camels. And albeit (as is aforesaid) they haue no
ciuilitie at all, nor any lawes prescribed vnto them ; yet
h^.ue they a certaine gouernour or prince placed ouer them,
vnto whom they render obedience and due honour, as
vnto their king. They are not onely ignorant of all good
learning and liberall sciences ; but are likewise altogether
careles and destitute of vertue : insomuch that you shall
finde scarce one amongst them all which is a man of
iudgement or counsell. And if any iniured partie will goe
to the lawe with his adversarie, he must ride continually
five or sixe daies before he can come to the speech of any
iudge. This nation hath all learning and good disciplines in
such contempt, that they will not once vouchsafe to goe
out of their deserts for the studie and attaining thereof :
neither, if any learned man shall chance to come among
them, can they loue his companie and conuersation, in
regarde of their most rude and detestable behauiour.
Howbeit, if they can finde any iudge, which can frame
himselfe to Hue and continue among them, to him they
giue most large yeerely allowance. Some allow their
iudge a thousand ducats yeerely, some more, and some
lesse, according as themselues thinke good. They that
will seeme to be accounted of the better sort, couer their
heads (as I said before) with a peece of blacke cloth, part
whereof, like a vizard or maske, reacheth downe ouer their
faces, couering all their countenance except their eies; and
this is their daily kinde of attire. And so often as they
put meate into their mouthes they remooue the said
maske, which being done, they foorthwith couer their
mouths again ; alleging this fond reason : for (say they)
as it is vnseemely for a man, after he hath receiued meate
into his stomack, to vomite it out of his mouth againe
and to cast it vpon the earth ; euen so it is an vndecent
part to eate meate with a mans mouth vncouered. The

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women of this nation be grosse, corpulent, and of a swart
complexion. They are fattest vpon their brest and paps,
but slender about the girdle-stead. Very ciuill they are,
after their manner, both in speech and gestures : sometimes
they will accept of a kisse ; but whoso tempteth them
farther, putteth his owne life in hazard. For by reason of
iealousie you may see them daily one to be the death and
destruction of another, and that in such sauage and brutish
manner, that in this case they will shew no compassion at
all. And they seeme to be more wise in this behalfe then
diuers of our people, for they will by no meanes match
themselues vnto an harlot. The liberalitie of this people
hath at all times beene exceeding great. And when any
trauellers may passe through their drie and desert terri-
tories, they will neuer repaire vnto their tents, neither will
they themselues trauell vpon the common highway. And
if any carouan or multitude of merchants will passe those
deserts, they are bound to pay certaine custome vnto the
prince of the said people, namely, for euery camels load a
peece of cloth woorth a ducate. Vpon a time I remember
that trauelling in the companie of certaine merchants ouer
the desert called by them Araoan, it was our chaunce there
to meete with the prince of Zanaga ; who, after he had
receiued his due custome, inuited the said companie of
merchants, for their recreation, to goe and abide with him
in his tents fower or fiue daies. Howbeit, because his
tents were too farre out of our way, and for that we should
haue wandered farther then we thought good, esteeming it
more conuenient for vs to hold on our direct course, we
refused his gentle offer, and for his courtesie gaue him
great thanks. But not being satisfied therewith, he com-
manded that our camels should proceede on forward, but
the merchants he carried along with him, and gaue them
very sumptuous entertainment at his place of aboad.
Where wee were no sooner arriucd, but this good prince

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DESCRIPTION OF AFRICA. 1 55

caused camels of all kindes and ostriches, which he had Camels and

ostriches vsed

hunted and taken by the way, to bee killed for his houshold/^wV/wa/j.
prouison. Howbeit we requested him not to make such
daily slaughters of his camels ; affirming moreouer, that
we neuer vsed to eate the flesh of a gelt camell, but when ^
all other victuals failed vs. Whereunto hee answered,
that he should deale vnciuilly, if he welcommed so woorthie
and so seldome-seene guests with the killing of small
cattell onely. Wherefore he wished vs to fall to such
prouision as was set before vs. Here might you haue
seene great plentie of rosted and sodden flesh : their
roasted ostriches were brought to the table in wicker
platters, being seasoned with sundrie kindes of herbes and
spices. Their bread made of Mill and panicke was of a
most sauorie and pleasante taste : and alwaies at the end
of dinner or supper we had plentie of dates and great store
of milke serued in. Yea, this bountifull and noble prince,
that he might sufficiently shew how welcome we were
vnto him, would together with his nobilitie alwaies beare
vs companie : howbeit we euer dined and supped apart by
our selues. Moreouer he caused certaine religious and
most learned men to come vnto our banquet ; who, all the
time we remained with the said prince, vsed not to eate
any bread at all, but fed onely vpon flesh and milke. u-
Whereat we being somewhat amazed, the good prince
gently told vs, that they all were borne in such places
whereas no kinde of graine would grow : howbeit that
himselfe, for the entertainment of strangers, had great
plentie of corne laid vp in store. Wherefore he bad vs to
be of good cheere, saying that he would eate onely of such
things as his owne natiue soile affoorded : affirming more-
ouer, that bread was yet in vse among them at their feast of
passouer, and at other feasts also, whereupon they vsed to
offer sacrifice. And thus we remained with him for the
space of two daies ; all which time, what woonderfull and

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magnificent cheere we had made vs, would seeme incredible
to report. But the third day, being desirous to take our
leaue, the prince accompanied vs to that place where we
ouertooke our camels and companie sent before. And
this I dare most deepely take mine oath on, that we
spent the saide prince ten times more, then our custome
which he recieued came to. Wee thought it not amisse
here to set downe this historie, to declare in some sort the
courtesie and liberalise of the said nation. Neither could
the prince aforesaid vnderstand our language nor we his ;
but all our speech to and fro was made by an interpreter.
And this which we haue here recorded as touching this
nation, is likewise to be vnderstood of the other fower
nations aboue mentioned, which are dispersed ouer the
residue of the Numidian deserts. 77

The manners and customes of the Arabians which intiabite

Africa.

'HE Arabians, as they haue sundrie mansions and

places of aboad, so doe they Hue after a diuers and

sundry maner. Those which inhabite betweene Numidia

and Libya leade a most miserable and distressed life,

differing much in this regard from those Africans, whom

wee affirmed to dwell in Libya. Howbeit they are farre

more valiant than the said Africans ; and vse commonly to

exchange camels in the lande of Negros : they haue like-

Where the wise great store of horses, which in Europe they cal horses

(fibred. w " of Barbaric They take woonderfull delight in hunting

and pursuing of deere, of wilde asses, of ostriches, and such

like. Neither is it here to be omitted, that the greater part

of Arabians which inhabite Numidia, are very wittie and

Arabian poems conceited in penning of verses : wherein each man will

and verses. *

decipher his loue, his hunting, his combates, and other his
woorthie actes : and this is done for the most part in ryme,
after the Italians manner. And albeit they are most

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liberally minded, yet dare they not by bountifull giuing
make any shew of wealth ; for they are daily oppressed
with manifold inconueniences. They are apparelled after
the Numidians fashion, sauing that their women differ
somewhat from the women of Numidia. Those deserts
which they doe now enioy were woont to be possessed by
Africans : but the Arabians with their armie inuading that
part of Africa, draue out the naturall Numidians, and
reserued the deserts adioining vpon The land of dates,
vnto themselues ; but the Numidians began to inhabite
those deserts which border vpon the land of Negros. 78 The
Arabians which dwell betweene mount Atlas and the
Mediterran sea are far wealthier then these which we now
speake of, both for costlines of apparell, for good horse-
meate, and for the statelines and beautie of their tents.
Their horses also are of better shape and more corpulent,
but not so swift as the horses of the Numidian desert
They exercise husbandrie and haue great increase of corne.
Their droues .and flockes of cattell be innumerable, inso-
much that they cannot inhabite one by another for want
of pasture. They are somewhat more vile and barbarous
then those which inhabite the deserts, and yet they are not
altogether destitute of liberalitie : part of them, which
dwell in the territorie of Fez are subiect unto the king
of Fez. Those which remaine in Marocco and Duccala
haue continued this long time free from all exaction and
tribute: but so soone as the king of Portugall began to
beare rule ouer Azafi and Azamor, there began also among
them strife and ciuill warre. Wherefore being assailed by
the king of Portugall on the one side, and by the king of
Fez on the other, and being oppressed also with the
extreme famine and scarcitie of that yeere, they were The Arabians

, .... , r , rr , . offer themselues

brought vnto such miserie, that they freely ottered them- siaues to any
selves as siaues vnto the Portugals, submitting themselues reieeue their
to any man, that was willing to releeue their intolerable liLn&r.

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hunger : and by this meanes scarce one of them was left in
all Duccala. Moreouer those which possesse the deserts
bordering vpon the kingdomes of Tremizen and Tunis may-
all of them, in regard of the rest, be called noblemen and
gentlemen. For their gouernours receiuing euery yeere
great reuenues from the king of Tunis, diuide the same
afterward among their people, to the end they may auoid
all discord : and by this meanes all dissension is eschewed,
and peace is kept firme and inuiolable among them. They
haue notable dexteritie and cunning, both in making of
tents, and in bringing vp and keeping of horses. In
summer time they vsually come neere vnto Tunis, to the
end that each man may prouide himselfe of bread, armour,
and other necessaries : all which they carrie with them into
the deserts, remaining there the whole winter. In the spring
of the yeere they applie themselues to hunting, insomuch
that no beast can escape their pursuit. My selfe, I
remember, was once at their tents, to my no little danger
and inconuenience ; where I sawe greater quantitie of cloth,
brasse, yron, and copper, then a man shall oftentimes finde
in the most rich warehouses of some cities. Howbeit no
trust Is to be giuen vnto them ; for if occasion serue, they
will play the theeues most slyly and cunningly ; notwith-
standing they seeme to carrie some shewe of ciuilitie.
They take great delight in poetrie, and will pen most
excellent verses, their language being very pure and
elegant. If any woorthie poet be found among them, he
is accepted by their gouernours with great honour and
liberalise ; neither would any man easily beleeue what wit
and decencie is in their verses. Their women (according
to the guise of that countrie) goe very gorgeously attired :
they weare linnen gownes died black, with exceeding wide
sleeues, ouer which sometimes they cast a mantle of the
same colour or of blew, the corners of which mantle are
very artificially fastened about their shoulders with a fine

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siluer claspe. Likewise they haue rings hanging at their
eares, which for the most part are made of siluer : they
weare many rings also vpon their fingers. Moreouer they
vsually weare about their thighes and ankles certaine
scarfes and rings, after the fashion of the Africans. They
couer their faces with certaine maskes hauing onely two
holes for their eies to peepe out at. If any man chance to
meete with them, they presently hide their faces, passing
by him with silence, except it be some of their allies or
kinsfolks ; for vnto them they alwaies discouer their faces,
neither is there any vse of the said maske so long as they
be in presence. 79 These Arabians when they trauell any
iourney (as they oftentimes doe) they set their women
vpon certaine saddles made handsomely of wicker for the
same purpose, and fastened to their camels backes, neither
be they anything too wide, but fit onely for a woman to sit
in. When they goe to the warres each man carries his
wife with him, to the end that she may cheere vp her good
man, and giue him encouragement Their damsels which
are vnmarried doe vsually paint their faces, brests, armes,
hands, and fingers with a kincle of counterfeit colour: 80
which is accounted a most decent custome among them.
But this fashion was first brought in by those Arabians,
which before we called Africans, what time they began
first of all to inhabite that region ; for before then, they
neuer vsed any false or glozing colours. The women of
Barbarie vse not this fond kind of painting, but contenting
themselues only with their naturall hiew, they regarde not
such fained ornaments : howbeit sometimes they will
temper a certaine colour with hens-dung and safron,
wherewithall they paint a little round spot on the bals of
their cheeks, about the bredth of a French crowne. Like
wise betweene their eie-browes they make a triangle ;
and paint vpon their chinnes a patch like vnto an oliue
leafe. Some of them also doe paint their eie-browes : and

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this custome is very highly esteemed of by the Arabian
poets and by the gentlemen of that countrie. Howbeit
they will not vse these fantasticall ornaments aboue two or
three daies together : all which time they will not be seene
to any of their friends, except it be to their husbands and
children : for these paintings seeme to bee great allure-
ments vnto lust, whereby the said women thinke them-
selues more trim and beautifull.

How the Arabians in the deserts betweene Barbarie and
Aegypt doe lead their Hues.

^E life of these men is full of miserie and calamitie:
for the places where they inhabite are barren and
vnpleasant. They haue some store of camels and cattell :
howbeit their fodder is so scarce, that they cannot well
sustaine them. Neither shall you finde ouer all the whole
region any place fit to beare corne. And if in that desert
there be any villages at all, which vse to husband and
manure their ground ; yet reape they small commoditie
thereby, except it be for plentifull increase of dates. Their
camels and other of their cattell they exchange for dates
and corne ; and so the poore husbandmen of the foresaide
villages haue some small recompence for their labours:
notwithstanding, how can this satisfie the hunger of such a
multitude? For you shall dayly see in Sicilia great
The Arabians numbers of their sonnes layde to pawne. Because when
Ihdr'smm* to they haue not wherewithall to pay for the corne which they
pawne vnto the t here buy, they are constrained to leaue their sonnes behinde

Sicilians for J ' J

corne. them, as pledges of future payment. But the Sicilians, if

their money be not paide them at the time appointed, will
chalenge the Arabians sonnes to be their slaues. Which
day being once past, if any father will redeem his childe,
he must disburse thrise or fower times so much as the due
debt amounteth vnto : for which cause they are the most
notable theeues in the whole world. If any stranger fall

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into their hands, depriuing him of all that he hath, they
presently carrie him to Sicilie, and there either sell or
exchange him for corne. And I thinke, that no merchants
durst at any time within these hundred yeeres arriue for
traffiques sake vpon any part of their coast. For when
they are to passe by with merchandize, or about any other
weightie affaires, they eschew that region fiue hundred
miles at the least. Once I remember, that I my selfe, for
my better securitie, and to auoide the danger of those
mischievous people, went in companie with certaine
merchants, who in three ships sayled along their coast.
We were no sooner espied of them ; but forthwith they
came running to the shore, making signes that they would
traffique with vs to our great aduantage. Howbeit because
we durst not repose any trust in them, none of our
companie would depart the ship, before they had deliuered
certaine pledges vnto vs. Which being done, we bought
certaine Eunuchs or gelded men, and good store of
butter of them. And so immediately weighing our
ankers we betooke vs to flight, fearing least we should
haue beene met withall by the Sicilian and Rhodian
Pirates, and beene spoiled not onely of our goods, but of
our liberties also. To be short, the saide Arabians are
verie rude, forlorne, beggerly, leane, and hunger-starued
people, hauing God (no doubt) alwaies displeased against
them, by whose vengeance they dayly sustaine such
grieuous calamities. 81

Of tlie people called Soara, namely \ which possesse drones and
flockes ofcattell, and being Africans by birth, do notwith-
standing imitate the manners of the Arabians.

YOV shall finde many among the Africans which Hue
altogither a shepheards or drouers life, inhabiting
vpon the beginning of mount Atlas, and being dispersed
here and there ouer the same mountaine. They are con-

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strained alwaies to pay tribute either to the King of the
same region where they dwell, or else to the Arabians,
except those onely which inhabite Temesna, who are
free from all forren superioritie, and are of great power.
They speake * the same kinde of language that other
Africanes doe, except some fewe of them which conuerse
with the inhabitants of the citie called Vrbs (which is
neere vnto Tunis) 82 who speake the Arabian toong. More-
ouer there is a certaine people inhabiting that region
which diuideth Numidia from Tunis. These oftentimes
wage warre against the King of Tunis himselfe, which they
put in practice not many yeeres since, when as the said
King his sonne marching towards them from Constantina
with an armie, for the demaunding of such tribute as was
due vnto him, fought a verie vnfortunate battell. For no
The ouerthrow sooner were they aduertised of the Kings sonne his

and death °f

the King of approach, but foorthwith they went to meete him with two
sonne, thousande horsemen, and at length vanquished and slew

him at vnawares, carrying home with them all the furniture,
bag, and baggage, which he had brought foorth. And
this was done in the yeere of Mahumets Hegeira 915.
From that time their fame hath beene spred abroad in
all places. Yea, many of the king of Tunis his subiects
reuolted from their King vnto them ; insomuch that the
Prince of this people is growen so puissant, that scarcely
is his equall to be found in all Africa. 88

Of the faith and religion of the ancient Africans
or Moores.

THE ancient Africans were much addicted to idolatrie,
euen as certain of the Persians are at this day,
some of whom worship the sunne, and others the fire, for
their gods. For the saide Africans had in times past
magnificent and most stately temples built and dedicated,
as well to the honour of the sunre as of the fire. In these

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temples day and night they kept fire kindled, giuing
diligent heed that it might not at any time be extinguished,
euen as we read of the Romane Vestall virgines: All
which you may read more fully and at large in the Persian
and African Chronicles. Those Africans which inhabited
Libya and Numidia, would each of them worship some
certaine planet, vnto whom likewise they offered sacri-
fices and praiers. Some others of the land of Negros
worship Guighimo, that is to say, The Lord of Heauen.
And this sound point of religion was not deliuered vnto
them by any Prophet or teacher, but was inspired, as
it were, from God himselfe. After that, they embraced
the Iewish law, wherein they are said to haue continued
many yeeres. Afterward they professed the Christian
religion, and continued Christians, vntil such time as the
Mahumetan superstition preuailed ; which came to passe
in the yeere of the Hegeira 208. About which time
certaine of Mahomets disciples so bewitched them with
eloquent and deceiueable speeches, that they allured their
weake minds to consent vnto their opinion ; insomuch
that all the kingdomes of the Negros adioyning vnto
Libya receiued the Mahumetan lawe. Neither is there
any region in all the Negros land, which hath in it at this
day any Christians at all. At the same time such as were
found to be Iewes, Christians, or of the African religion,
were slaine euerie man of them. Howbeit those which
dwell neere vnto the Ocean sea, are all of them verie
grosse idolaters. Betweene whom and the Portugals
there hath beene from time to time and euen at this
present is, great traffique and familiaritie. The inhabitants
of Barbarie continued for many yeeres idolaters ; but
before the comming of Mahomet aboue 250. yeeres, they
are saide to haue embraced the Christian faith : which
some thinke came to passe vpon this occasion ; namely,
because that part of Barbarie which containeth the king-

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dome of Tripoli's and Tunis, was in times past gouerned
by Apulian & Sicilian Captaines, and the countries of
*Tremizen. *Caefaria and of *Mauritania are supposed to haue beene
*j£z aroco and subiect vnto the Gothes. At what time also many Chris-
tians fleeing from the furie and madnes of the Gothes left
their sweet natiue soyle of Italy, and at length arriued in
Africa neere vnto Tunis : where hauing setled their aboad
for some certaine space, they began at length to haue the
dominion ouer all that region. Howbeit the Christians
which inhabited Barbaria, not respecting the rites and
ceremonies of the Church of Rome, followed the Arrians
religion and forme of liuing : and one of the African
Christians was that most gcdly and learned father Saint
Augustine?* When the Arabians therefore came to
conquer that paft of Africa they found Christians to be
Lords ouer the regions adiacent ; of whom, after sundry
hot conflicts, the saide Arabians got the victorie. Where-
upon the Arrians being depriued of all their dominions
and goods went part of them into Italy and part into
Spaine. And so about two hundred yeeres after the death
of Mahutnet, almost all Barbarie was infected with his law.
Howbeit afterward, ciuile dissensions arising among them,
neglecting the law of Mahutnet, they slue all the priests
and gouernours of that region. Which tumult when it
came to the eares of the Mahumetan Caliphas, they sent
an huge armie against the saide rebels of Barbarie, to wit,
those which were reuolted from the Calipha of Bagdet, and
seuerely punished their misdemeanor. And euen at the
same time was layd the most pernitious foundation of the
Mahumetan law ; notwithstanding there haue remained
many heresies among them euen vntil this verie day. As
A booke written touching the patrons of the Mahumetan lawe, and likewise
concerning the concerning the difference in religion betweene the Mahume-
reUgion. *" tans of Africa, and them of Asia, we will (by Gods grace)
write more in another seuerall volume : and in the meane

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season, let these particulars which we haue noted suffice
the Reader.

Of the letters and characters of the Africans,

THose writers which record the histories of the Arabians
doings are all iointly of opinion, that the Africans
were woont to vse onely the Latine letters. And they The Africans

vsed in times

doe most constantly affirme, that the Arabians, when they past none other
first inuaded Africa and especially Barbarie (which was but the Roman
the principall seate of the Africans) found no letters nor
characters there, beside the Latine. Neither indeede doe
they denie that the Africans haue a peculiar kinde of
language, but this they firmly auoUch, that they haue the
very same letters which the Hetrurians or Florentines a
people of Italie haue. The Arabians haue no historie* of* Perhaps he

. . meaneththe

African matters, which was not first written in Latine. histories of
They haue certaine ancient authors, who writ partly in the Liuius, and
times of the Arrians and partly before their times, the °
names of all which are cleane forgotten. Howbeit it is
very likely that those Latine authors have written many
volumes : for when their interpreters laboured to perswade
something unto vs, I remember they would say, it is contained
in the seuentieth booke. Neither did they in translating
of the said volumes altogether follow the authors order ;
but taking the historie of some one prince, they would
conioine his time and actions with the historie of the
Persian, Assyrian, and Chaldaean kings, or of the Israelites,
which concerned the same times. But when as those
which rebelled against the Calipha of Bagdet (as is
aforesaid) got the vpper hand in Africa, they burnt all
the Africans bookes. For they were of opinion, that the
Africans, so long as they had any knowledge of naturall
philosophic or of other good artes and sciences, would
euery day more and more arrogantly contemne the lawe
of Mahumet. Contrariwise, some historiographers there

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are which affirme, that the Africans had a kinde of letters
peculiar vnto themselues ; which notwithstanding, from
the time wherein the Italians began first to inhabite
Barbarie, and wherein the Christians fleeing out of Italie
from the Gothes, began to subdue those prouinces of
Africa, were vtterly abolished and taken away. For it
is likely that a people vanquished shoulde follow the
customes and the letters also of their conquerors. And
did not the same thing happen to the Persians, while
the Arabians empire stood ? For certaine it is, that the
Persians at the same time lost those letters which were
peculiar vnto their nation : and that all their bookes, by
TheMahume- xh e commandement of the Mahumetan prelates, were burnt,

tan Calif as * '

caused ail the least their knowledge in naturall philosophic, or their
Persians to be idolatrous religion might mooue them to contemne the

burned.

precepts of Mahumet. The like also (as we shewed
before) befell the Barbarians when as the Italians and the
Gothes vsurped their dominions in Barbarie ; which may
here (I hope) suffice the gentle reader. Howbeit this is
out of doubt, that all the sea-cities and inland-cities of
Barbarie doe vse Latine letters onely, whensoeuer they
will commit any epitaphes or any other verses or prose
vnto posteritie. The consideration of all which former
particulars hath made me to be of opinion, that the
Africans in times past had their owne proper and peculiar
letters, wherein they described their doings and exploites.
For it is likely that the Romans, when they first subdued
those prouinces (as conquerours vsually doe) vtterly
spoiled and tooke away all their letters and memorie, and
established their owne letters in the stead thereof ; to the
end that the fame and honour of the Roman people might
there onely be continued. And who knoweth not that the
very same attempt was practised by the Goths vpon the
stately buildings of the Romans, and by the Arabians
against the monuments of the Persians. The very same

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thing likewise we daily see put in practice by the Turks,
who when they haue gotten any citie or towne from the
Christians, doe presently cast foorth of the temples all the
images and memorials of their saints. And to omit all
the aforesaid, may we not in our time see the like daily
practised in Rome ; where sumptuous and stately buildings
left vnperfect by reason of the vntimely death of one
Pope, are for some noueltie vtterly ruined and destroied
by his next successour ? Or else, doth not the new Pope
cause his predecessours armes to be razed, and his owne in
stead thereof to be set vp ? Or at the least, if he will not
seeme so arrogant, letting his predecessours monuments
stand still, doth he not erect others for himselfe farre more
sumptuous and stately ? No maruell therefore, though so
long successe of times and so many alterations haue quite
bereaued the Africans of their letters. Concerning those
nine hundred yeeres wherein the Africans vsed the letters
of the Arabians, Ibnu Rackich, a most diligent writer of
Africa, doth in his Chronicle most largely dispute ;
whether the Africans euer had any peculiar kinde of
writing or no. And at last he concludeth the affirmatiue
part ; that they had : for (saith he) whosoeuer denieth this,
may as well denie, that they had a language peculiar vnto
themselues. For it cannot be that any people should haue
a proper kinde of speech, and yet should vse letters
borrowed from other nations, and being altogether vnfit for
their mother-language. 85

Of the situation of Africa.

AS there are fower partes in Africa, so the situation
thereof is not in all places alike. That part which
lieth towards the Mediterran sea, that is to say, from the
streites of Gibraltar to the frontiers of Aegypt, is here and
there full of mountaines : Southward it is extended about a
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some other narrower. From the saide mountaines vnto
mount Atlas there is a very spatious plaine & many little
hillocks. Fountaines there are in this region great store,
which meeting together at one head doe send foorth most
beautifull riuers and cristall streames. Betweene the
foresaid mountaines and the plaine countrie is situate the
mountaine of Atlas ; which beginning westward vpon the
Ocean sea, stretcheth it selfe towards the east as farre as
the borders of Aegypt. Ouer against Atlas lieth that
region of Numidia .which beareth dates, being euerywhere
almost sandie ground. Betweene Numidia and the land
of Negros is the sandie desert of Libya situate, which
containeth many mountaines also ; howbeit merchants
trauell not that way, when as they may goe other waies
with more ease and lesse danger. Beyond the Libyan
desert beginneth the land of Negros, all places whereof are
barren and sandie except those which adioine vpon the
riuer of Niger, or through the which any riuer or streame
runneth.

Of the vnpleasant and snowie places in Africa.

A LI the region of Barbarie, and the mountaines con-
tained therein, are subiect more to cold then to
heat. For seldome commeth any gale of winde which
bringeth not some snow therwith. In al the said
mountaines there grow abundance of fruits, but not
so great plentie of corne. The inhabitants of these
mountaines Hue for the greatest part of the yeere vpon
barlie bread. The springs and riuers issuing foorth of the
said mountaines, representing the qualitie and taste of
their natiue soile, are somewhat muddie and impure,
especially vpon the confines of Mauritania. These moun-
taines likewise are replenished with woods and loftie trees,
and are greatly stored with beastes of all kindes. But the
little hils and vallies lying betweene the foresaid mountaines

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and mount Atlas are far more commodious, and abounding
with corne. For they are moistened with riuers springing
out of Atlas, and from thence holding on their course to
the Mediterran sea. And albeit woods are somewhat more
scarce vpon these plaines, yet are they much more fruitfull,
then be the plaine countries situate betweene Atlas and
the Ocean sea, as namely the regions of Maroco, of
Duccala, of Tedles, of Temesna, of Azgara, and the
countrie lying towards the straites of Gibraltar. The
mountaines of Atlas are exceedingly colde and barren, Themoun-

taines of Atlas

and bring foorth but small store of corne, beeing woody on exceeding cold.
all sides, and engendring almost all the riuers of Africa.
The fountaines of Atlas are euen in the midst of summer
extremely cold ; so that if a man dippeth his hand therein
for any long space, he is in great danger of loosing the
same. Howbeit the said mountaines are not so cold in
all places : for some partes thereof are of such milde
temperature, that they may be right commodiously
inhabited : yea and sundry places thereof are well stored
with inhabitants ; as in the second part of this present
discourse we will declare more at large. Those places
which are destitute of inhabitants be either extremely cold,
as namely the same which lie ouer against Mauritania : or
very rough and vnpleasant, to wit, those which are directly
opposite to the region of Temesna. Where notwithstand-
ing in summer time they may feede their great and small
cattell, but not in winter by any meanes. For then the
North winde so furiously rageth, bringing with it such
abundance of snowe ; that all the cattell which till then
remaine vpon the saide mountaines, and a great part of
the people also are forced to lose their Hues in regard
thereof : wherefore whosoeuer hath any occasion to trauell
that way in winter time, chuseth rather to take his iourney
betweene Mauritania and Numidia. Those merchants
which bring dates out of Numidia for the vse and seruice

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of other nations, set foorth vsually vpon their iourney

about the ende of October ; and yet they are oftentimes so

Most wonder- oppressed and ouertaken with a sudden fall of snowe, that

full and rr

terrible snowes. scarcely one man among them all escapeth the danger of
the tempest For when it beginneth to snow ouer night,
before the next morning not onely carts and men, but euen
the verie trees are so drowned & ouerwhelmed therein, that
it is not possible to finde any mention of them. Howbeit
the dead carcases are then founde when the sunne hath
melted the snow. I my selfe also, by the goodnes of

The extreme almighty God, twise escaped the most dreadfull danger of

danger of snow b J J r &

which John Leo the foresaid snow : whereof, if it may not be tedious to the

himselfe

escaped. reader, I will heere in a few wordes make relation. Vpon

a certaine day of the foresaid moneth of October, trauelling
with a great companie of Merchants towards Atlas, we
were there about the sunne going downe weather-beaten
with a most cold and snowy kinde of hayle. Here we
found eleuen or twelue horsemen (Arabians to our thinking)
who perswading vs to leaue our carts and to goe with
them, promised vs a good and secure place to lodge in.
For mine owne part, that I might not seeme altogether
vnciuill, I thought it not meete to refuse their good offer ;
albeit I stood in doubt least they went about to practise
some mischiefe. Wherefore I bethought my self to hide vp
a certaine summe of gold which I had as then about me.
But all being ready to ride, I had no leisure to hide away
my coine from them ; whereupon I fained that I would
goe ease myselfe. And so departing a while their com-
panie, and getting me vnder a certaine tree, whereof I
tooke diligent notice, I buried my money betweene certaine
stones and the root of the said tree. And then we rode on
quietly till about midnight. What time one of them
thinking that he had staied long ynough for his pay,
began to vtter that in words ivhich secretly he had
conceiued in his minde. For he asked whether I had

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any money about me or no ? To whom I answered, that
I had left my money behind with one of them which
attended the cartes, and that I had then none at all
about me. 86 Howbeit they being no whit satisfied with
this answer, commanded me, for all the cold weather,
to strip my selfe out of mine apparell. At length when
they could find no money at all, they said in iesting &
scoffing wise, that they did this for no other purpose, but
onely to see how strong and hardie I was, and how I could
endure the cold and tempestuous season. Well, on we
rode, seeking our way as well as we could that darke and
dismall night ; and anone we heard the bleating of sheepe,
coniecturing thereby, that we were not farre distant from
some habitation of people. Wherefore out of hand we
directed our course thitherwards : being constrained to
leade our horses through thicke woods and ouer steepe
and craggie rocks, to the great hazard and perill of our
Hues. And at length after many labours, wee found
shepherds in a certaine caue: who, hauing with much
paines brought their cattell in there, had kindled a lustie
fire for themselues, which they were constrained, by reason
of the extreme cold, daily to sit by- Who vnderstanding
our companie to be Arabians, feared at the first that we
would do them some mischiefe: but afterward being per-
swaded that we were driuen thither by extremitie of cold,
and being more secure of vs, they gaue vs most friendly
entertainment. For they set bread, flesh, and cheese 87
before vs, wherewith hauing ended our suppers, we laid vs
along each man to sleep before the fire. All of vs were as
yet exceeding cold, but especially my selfe, who before
with great horrour and trembling was stripped starke
naked. And so we continued with the said shepherds for
the space of two daies : all which time we could not set
foorth, by reason of continuall snowe. But the thirde day,
so soone as they saw it leaue snowing, with great labour

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they began to remooue that snowe which lay before the
doore of their caue. Which done, they brought vs to
our horses, which we found well prouided of hay in
another caue. 88 Being all mounted, the shepherds ac-
companied vs some part of our way, shewing vs where
the snowe was of least depth, and yet euen there it.
touched our horse bellies. This day was so cleere, that
the sunne tooke away all the cold of the two daies going
before. At length entring into a certaine village neere
vnto Fez, we vnderstood, that our cartes which passed by,
were ouerwhelmed with the snowe. Then the Arabians
seeing no hope of recompence for all the paines they had
taken (for they had defended our carts from theeues) carried
a certaine lew of our companie with them as their captive
(who had lost a great quantitie of dates, by reason of the
snowe aforesaid) to the end that he might remaine as their
prisoner, till he had satisfied for all the residue. From my
selfe they tooke my horse, and committed mee vnto the
wide world and to fortune. From whence, riding vpon a
mule, within three daies I arriued at Fez, where I heard
dolefull newes of our merchants and wares, that they were
cast away in the snowe. Yea, they thought that I had
bcene destroied with the rest ; but it seemed that God
would haue it otherwise. Now, hauing finished the historie
of mine owne misfortunes, let vs returne vnto that discourse
where we left. Beyond Atlas there are certaine hot & dry
places moistened with very few riuers, but those which flow
out of Atlas it selfe : some of which riuers running into the
Libyan deserts are dried vp with the sands, but others do
ingender lakes. Neither shal you finde in these countries
any places apt to bring forth corne, notwithstanding they
haue dates in abundance. There are also certaine other
trees bearing fruit, but in so small quantitie, that no
increase nor gaine is to be reaped by them. You may
see likewise in those partes of Numidia which border vpon

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DESCRIPTION OF AFRICA. 1 73

Libya certaine barren hils destitute of trees, vpon the
lower parts whereof growe nothing but vnprofitable thornes
and shrubs. Among these mountaines you shall finde no
riuers nor springs, nor yet any waters at all, except it be
in certaine pits and wels almost vnknowen vnto the inhabi-
tants of that region. Moreouer in sixe or seuen daies
iourney they haue not one drop of water, but such as
is brought vnto them by certaine merchants vpon camels
backes. And that especially in those places which lye
vpon the maine road from Fez to Tombuto, or from
Tremizen to *Agad. That iourney likewise is vevie * Agadez.
dangerous which is of late found out by the merchants of
our daies from Fez to Alcair 87 ouer the deserts of Libya,
were it not for an huge lake in the way, vpon the bankes
whereof the Sinites and the Goranites doe inhabite. 88 But
in the way which leadeth from Fez to Tombuto are
certaine pits enuironed either with the hides or bones of
camels. Neither doe the merchants in sommer time passe
that way without great danger of their Hues : for oftentimes
it falleth out, when the south winde bloweth, that all those
pits are stopped vp with sande. And so the merchants,
when they can finde neither those pits, nor any mention
thereof, must needes perish with extreame thirst : whose
carcases are afterward found lying scattered here and
there, and scorched with the heat of the sunne. 89 One
remedie they haue in this case, which is verie strange : A strange
for when they are so grieuously oppressed with thirst, they by the African
kill foorthwith some one of their camels, out of whose ^Znchtkeir
bowels they wring and expresse some quantitie of water, * trst '
which water they drinke and carrie about with them, till
they haue either found some pit of water, or till they pine
away for thirst. In the desert which they cal Azaoad
there are as yet extant two monuments built of marble,
vpon which marble is an Epitaphe engrauen, signifying
that one of the said monuments represented a most rich

w

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A merchant
constrained by
extreme thirst %
gaue ten thou-
sand duckats
for a cup of
water.

Thefruit
called Goran.
Cocos. Cucum-
bers. Onions.

merchant, and the other a carrier or transporter of wares.
Which wealthie merchant bought of the carrier a cup of
water for tenne thousand ducates, and yet this pretious
water could suffice neither of them ; for both of them were
consumed with thirst 90 This desert likewise containeth
sundry kinds of beasts, which in the fourth part of this
discourse concerning Libya, and in our treatise of the
beasts of Africa, we will discourse of more at large. I was
determined to haue written more cocerning those things
which happened vnto my selfe & the rest of my company
trauelling through the Libyan deserts vnto Gualata. For
somtime being sore a thirst, we could not find one drop of
water, partly because our guide strayed out of the direct
course, and partly because our enemies had cut off the
springs and chanels of the foresaid pits and wels. Inso-
much that the small quantitie of water which we found, was
sparingly to be kept ; for that which would scarce suffice vs
for fiue daies, we were constrained to keepe for ten. But
if I should commit to writing all things woorthie of
memorie, a whole yeare were not sufficient for me. The
lande of Negros is extreme hot, hauing some store of
moysture also, by reason of the riuer of Niger running
through the midst thereof. All places adioining vpon
Niger doe mightily abound both with cattle & corne. No
trees I saw there but only certain great ones, bearing a
kind of bitter fruit like vnto a chestnut, which in their
language is called Goron. 91 Likewise in the same regions
grow Cocos, cucumbers, onions, and such kinde of herbes
and fruits in great abundance. There are no mountaines
at all either in Libya or in the land of Negros: howbeit
diuers fennes and lakes there are ; which (as men report,)
the inundation of Niger hath left behinde it. Neither are
the woods of the said regions altogether destitute of
Elephants and other strange beasts ; whereof we will make
relation in their due place.

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DESCRIPTION OF AFRICA. 175

What naturall impressions and motions the aire of Africa
is subiect vnto ; and what effects ensue thereupon.

THroughout the greatest part of Barbarie stormie and
cold weather begin commonly about the midst of
October. But in December and Ianuarie the cold groweth
somewhat more sharpe in all places : howbeit this happeneth
in the morning onely, but so gently and remissely, that no
man careth greatly to warme himselfe by the fire. Februarie
somewhat mitigateth the cold of winter, but that so incon-
stantly, that the weather changeth sometime fiue and
sometime sixe times in one day. In March the north and
west windes vsually blowe, which cause the trees to be
adorned with blossoms. In Aprill all fruits attaine to
their proper forme and shape, insomuch that cherries are
commonly ripe about the end of Aprill and the beginning
of May. In the midst of May they gather their figs : and
in mid-Iune their grapes are ripe in many places. Like-
wise their peares, their sweete quinces and their damascens
attaine vnto sufficient ripenes in the moneths of Iune and
Iulie. Their figs of Autumne may be gathered in August ;
howbeit they neuer haue so great plentie of figs and
peaches, as in September. By the midst of August they
vsually begin to drie their grapes in the sun, whereof they
make reisins. Which if they cannot finish in September,
by reason of vnseasonable weather, of their grapes as then
vngathered they vse to make wine and must, especially in
the prouince of Rifa, as we will in due place signifie more
at large. In the midst of October they take in their honie,
and gather their pomegranates and quinces. In Nouember The oliues of
they gather their oliues, not climing vp with ladders nor *"
plucking them with their hands, according to the custome
of Europe ; for the trees of Mauritania and Caesarea are so
tal, that no ladder is long ynough to reach vnto the fruit
And therefore their oliues being full ripe, they clime the

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trees, beating them off the boughes with certaine long
poles, albeit they know this kinde of beating to be most
hurtfull vnto the saide trees. Sometimes they haue
great plentie of oliues in Africa, and sometimes as great
scarcitie. Certaine great oliue-trees there are, the oliues
whereof are eaten ripe by the inhabitants, because they
are not so fit for oile. No yeere falles out to be so
vnseasonable, but that they haue three monethes in the
spring alwaies temperate. They begin their spring vpon
the fifteenth day of Februarie, accounting the eighteenth
of May for the ende thereof: all which time they haue
most pleasant weather. But if from the fiue and twentith
Raine signify- of Aprill, to the fifth of May they haue no raine fall, they
scarcitie. take it as a signe of ill lucke. And the raine-water which
falleth all the time aforesaid they call Naisan, that is,
water blessed of God. Some store it vp in vessels, most
religiously keeping it, as an holy thing. Their summer
lasteth till the sixteenth of August ; all which time they
haue most hot and cleere weather. Except perhaps some
showers of raine fall in Iuly and August, which doe so
infect the aire, that great plague and most pestilent feuers
ensue thereupon ; with which plague whosoeuer is infected,
most hardly escapeth death. Their Autumne they reckon
from the 17. of August to the 16. of Nouember ; hauing
commonly in the moneths of August and September not
such extreme heate as before. Howbeit all the time
betweene the 15. of August and the 15. of September is
called by them the furnace of the whole yeere, for that it
bringeth figs, quinces, and such kinde of fruits to their full
maturitie. From the 15. of Nouember they begin their
winter-season, continuing the same till the 14. day of
Februarie. So soone as winter commeth, they begin to
till their ground which lieth in the plaines : but vpon the
mountaines they goe to plough in October. The Africans
are most certainly perswaded that cuery yeere containeth

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DESCRIPTION OF AFRICA. 177

fortie extreme hot daies, beginning vpon the 12. of Iune ;
and againe so many daies extreme cold, beginning from
the 12. of December. Their Aequinoctia are vpon the
16. of March, and the 16. of September. For their Solstitia
they account the 16. of Iune and the 16. of December.
These rules they doe most strictly obserue, as well in
husbandrie and nauigation, as in searching out the houses
and true places of the planets : and these instructions, with
other such like they teach their yoong children first of all.
Many countrie-people and husbandmen there be in Africa, Thepesants

' * x ana vn learned

who knowing (as they say) neuer a letter of the booke, people of Africa

cunning in

will notwithstanding most learnedly dispute of Astrologie, Astrologie.
& alleage most profoud reasons & arguments for them-
selues. But whatsoeuer skill they haue in the art of
Astrologie, they first learned the same of the Latines : yea
they giue those very names vnto their moneths which the
Latines do. Moreouer they had extat among them a
certaine great booke diuided into three volumes, which
they call The treasurie or storehouse of husbandrie. This
booke was then translated out of Latine into their toong,
when Mansor was Lord of Granada. In the said Treasurie
are all things contained which may seeme in any wise to
concerne husbandrie ; as namely, the changes and varietie
of times, the manner of sowing, with a number of such like
particulars, which (I thinke) at this day the Latine toong
it selfe, whereout these things were first translated, doth
not containe. 92 Whatsoeuer either the Africans or the
Mahumetans haue, which seemeth to appertaine in any
wise to their law or religion, they make their computation
thereof altogether according to the course of the moone.
Their yeere is divided into 354. daies: for vnto sixe Theyeereof
moneths they allot 30. daies, and vnto the other sixe but Africans. and
29 ; all which being added into one summe doe produce
the number aforesaid : wherefore their yeere differeth
eleuen daies from the yeere of the Latines. They haue at

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diuers times festiual daies, and fasts. About the ende of
Autumne, for all winter, and a great part of the spring
they are troubled with boisterous windes, with haile, with
terrible thunder and lightning : yea then it snoweth much
in some places of Barbaric The easterne, southerne, and
southeasterne windes blowing in May and Iune, doe very
much hurt there : for they spoile the corne, and hinder the
fruit from comming to ripenes. Their corne likewise is
greatly appaired by snow, especially such as falleth in
Thcyeere the day-time, when it beginneth to flower. Vpon the

diutded into

two seasons mountaines of Atlas they diuide the yeere into two partes

onely, vpon the

mountaines of onely : for their winter continueth from October to Apnll ;
and from Aprill to October they account it summer:
neither is there any day throughout the whole yeere,
wherein the tops of those mountaines are not couered with
snowe. In Numidia the yeere runneth away very swiftly :
for they reape their corne in May, and in October they
gather their dates : but from the midst of September
they haue winter till the beginning of Ianuarie. But if
September falleth out to be rainie, they are like to lose
most part of their dates. All the fields of Numidia require
watering from the riuers ; but if the mountaines of Atlas
haue no raine fall vpon them, the Numidian riuers waxe drie,
and so the fields are destitute of watering. October being
destitute of raine, the husbandman hath no hope to cast his
seede into the ground ; and he despaireth likewise, if it raine
not in Aprill. But their dates prosper more without raine,
wherof the Numidians haue greater plentie then of corne.
For albeit they haue some store of corne, yet can it
scarcely suffice them for halfe the yeere. Howbeit, if they
haue good increase of dates, they cannot want abundance
of corne, which is sold vnto them by the Arabians for
dates. If in the Libyan deserts there fall out change of
weather about the midst of October; & if it continue
raining there all December, Tanuarie, and some part of

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DESCRIPTION OF AFRICA. 179

Februarie, it is wonderful what abundance of grasse and
milke it bringeth foorth. Then may you finde diuers lakes
in all places and many fennes throughout Libya ; where-
fore this is the meetest time for the Barbarie-merchants to
trauell to the land of Negros. Here all kinde of fruits
grow sooner ripe, if they haue moderate showers about
the ende of Iuly. Moreouer the land of Negros receiueth
by raine neither any benefite, nor yet any dammage at all.
For the riuer Niger together with the water which falleth
from certaine mountaines doth so moisten their grounds,
that no places can be deuised to be more fruitfull : for that
which Nilus is to Aegypt, the same is Niger to the land of
Negros : for it increaseth like Nilus from the fifteenth of The increase of

the riuers of

Iune the space of fortie daies after, and for so manyM£*r&*
againe it decreaseth. And so at the increase of Niger,
when all places are ouerflowen with water, a man may in a
barke passe ouer the land of Negros, albeit not without
great perill of drowning; as in the fift part of this treatise
we will declare more at large.

Of the length and sh&rtnes of the Africans Hues.

A LI the people of Barbarie by vs before mentioned Hue
vnto 65. or 70. yeeres of age, and fewe or none exceed
that number. Howbeit in the foresaide mountaines I sawe
some which had liued an hundred yeeres, and others which
affirmed themselues to be older ; whose age was most
healthfull and lustie. Yea some you shall finde here of
fowerscore yeeres of age, who are sufficiently strong and
able to exercise husbandrie, to dresse vines, and to serue
in the warres ; insomuch that yoong men are oftentimes
inferiour vnto them. In Numidia, that is to say, in the
land of dates, they Hue a long time : howbeit they lose
their teeth very soone, and their eies waxe woonderfully
dimme. Which infirmities are likely to be incident vnto
them, first because they continually feede vpon dates, the

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sweetnes and naturall qualitie whereof doth by little and
little pull out their teeth : and secondly the dust and sand,
which is tossed vp and downe the aire with easterne windes
entring into their eies, doth at last miserably weaken and
spoile their eie-sight The inhabitants of Libya are of a
shorter life ; but those which are most strong and healthfull
among them Hue oftentimes till they come to threescore
yeeres ; albeit they are slender and leane of bodie. The
Negros commonly Hue the shortest time of al the rest :
howbeit they are alwaies strong and lustie, hauing their
teeth found euen till their dying day : yet is there no
nation vnder heauen more prone to venerie ; vnto which
vice also the Libyans and Numidians are to too much
addicted. To be short, the Barbarians are the weakest
people of them all.

What kindes of diseases the Africans are subiect vnto.

THE children, and sometimes the ancient women of
this region are subiect vnto baldnes or vnnaturall
shedding of haire; which disease they can hardly be cured
of. They are likewise oftentimes troubled with the head-
ache, which vsually afflicteth them without any ague ioined
therewith. Many of them are tormented with the tooth-
ache, which (as some thinke) they are the more subiect
vnto, because immediately after hot pottage they drinke
cold water. They are oftentimes vexed with extreme
paine of the stomacke, which ignorantly they call, the
paine of the hart. They are likewise daily molested with
inwarde gripings and infirmities ouer their whole body,
which is thought to proceede of continuall drinking of
water. Yea they are much subiect vnto bone-aches and
goutes, by reason that they sit commonly vpon the bare
ground, and neuer weare any shooes vpon their feete.
Their chiefe gentlemen and noblemen prooue gowtie often-
times with immoderate drinking of wine and eating of

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daintie meats. Some with eating of oliues, nuts, and such
course fare, are for the most part infected with the scuruies.
Those which are of a sanguine complexion are greatly
troubled with the cough, because that in the spring-season
they sit too much vpon the ground. And vpon fridaies I
had no small sport and recreation to goe and see them.
For vpon this day the people flocke to church in great
numbers to heare their Mahumetan sermons. Now if
any one in the sermon-time falles a neezing, all the whole
multitude will neeze with him for companie, and so they
make such a noise, that they neuer leaue, till the sermon
be quite done; so that a man shall reape but little
knowledge by any of their sermons. If any of Barbarie be
infected with the disease commonly called the French
poxe, they die thereof for the most part, and are seldom^
cured. This disease beginneth with a kinde of anguish &** French

disease.

and swelling, and at length breaketh out into sores. Ouer

the mountaines of Atlas, and throughout all Numidia and

Libya they scarcely know this disease. Insomuch that

oftentimes the parties infected trauell foorthwith into

Numidia or the land of Negros, in which places the aire is

so temperate, that onely by remaining there they recouer

their perfect health, and returne home sound into their

owne countrie : which I saw many doe with mine owne

eies ; who without the helpe of any phisitian or medicine,

except the foresaide holesome aire, were restored to their

former health. Not so much as the name of this mals

was euer knowen vnto the Africans, before Ferdinand the

king of Castile expelled all Iewes out of Spaine ; after the

returne of which Iewes into Africa, certaine vnhappie and M™** and by

* * fwhat nteanes

lewd people lay with their wiues ; and so at length the/^ French poxe

r r . I was brought

disease spread from one to another, ouer the whole region into Africa.
insomuch that scarce any one familie was free from the
same. Howbeit, this they were most certainly perswadec
of, that the same disease came first from Spaine ; where-

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fore they (for want of a better name) do call it, The
Spanish poxe. Notwithstanding at Tunis and ouer all
Italie it is called the French disease. It is so called
likewise in Aegypt and Syria : for there it is vsed as a
common prouerbe of cursing ; the French poxe take you.
%£asecaiud Amongst the Barbarians the disease called in Latine
bursting or the }{ ern { a ; s no t so common ; but in Aegypt the people are

rupture. ° * * *

much troubled therewith. For some of the Aegyptians
haue their cods oftentimes so swollen, as it is incredible to
report. Which infirmitie is thought to be so common
among them, because they eate so much gumme, and salt
cheese. Some of their children are subiect vnto the falling
sicknes ; but when they growe to any stature, they are free
from that disease. This falling sicknes likewise possesseth
the women of Barbarie, and of the land of Negros ; who,
to excuse it, say that they are taken with a spirite. In
Barbarie the plague is rife euery tenth, fifteenth, or
twentieth yeere, whereby great numbers of people are
consumed ; for they haue no cure for the same, but
onely to rub the plague-sore with certaine ointments made
Earth of Ar. Q f Armenian earth. In Numidia they are infected with
the plague scarce once in an hundred yeeres. And in the
land of Negros they know not the name of the disease :
because they neuer were subiect thereunto. 98

The commendable actions -and vertues of the Africans.

THose Arabians which inhabite in Barbarie or vpon
the coast of the Mediterran sea, are greatly addicted
vnto the studie of good artes and sciences : and those
things which concerne their law and religion are esteemed
by them in the first place. Moreouer they haue beene
heretofore most studious of the Mathematiques, of Philoso-
phic, and of Astrologie : but these artes (as it is aforesaid)
were fower hundred yeeres agoe, vtterly destroyed and
taken away by the chiefe professours of their lawe. The

truma.

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DESCRIPTION OF AFRICA. 1 83

inhabitants of cities doe most religiously obserue and
reuerence those things which appertaine vnto their religion :
yea they honour those doctours and priests, of whom they
learne their law, as if they were petie-gods. Their
Churches they frequent verie diligently, to the ende they
may repeat certaine prescript and formal prayers ; most
superstitiously perswading themselues that the same day
wherein they make their praiers, it is not lawfull for them
to wash certaine of their members, when as at other times
they wil wash their whole bodies. Whereof we will (by
Gods helpe) discourse more at large in the second Booke
of this present treatise, when we shall fall into the
mentioning of Mahumet and of his religion. Moreouer
those which inhabite Barbarie are of great cunning &
dexteritie for building & for mathematicall inuentions,
which a man may easily coniecture by their artificiall
workes. Most honest people they are, and destitute of all
fraud and guile; not onely imbracing all simplicitie and
truth, but also practising the same throughout the whole
course of their Hues : albeit certaine Latine authors, which
haue written of the same regions, are farre otherwise of
opinion. Likewise they are most strong and valiant
people, especially those which dwell vpon the mountaines.
They keepe their couenant most faithfully : insomuch The Moores

J r J are a people of

that they had rather die than breake promise. No nation great fideiiUe.

in the world is so subiect vnto iealousie; for they will \/

rather leese their lives, then put vp any disgrace in the

behalfe of their women. So desirous they are of riches

and honour, that therein no other people can goe beyonde

them. They trauell in a manner ouer the whole world to

exercise traffique. For they are continually to bee seene in

AEgypt, in AEthiopia, in Arabia, Persia, India, and Turkie :

and whithersoeuer they goe, they are most honorably

esteemed of : for none of them will possesse any arte, vnlesse

hee hath attained vnto great exactness and perfection «V^^

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therein. They haue alwaies beene much delighted with all
kinde of ciuilitie and modest behauiour : and it is accounted
heinous among them for any man to vtter in companie,
any bawdie or vnseemely worde. They haue alwaies in
minde this sentence of a graue author ; Giue place to thy
superiour. If any youth in presence of his father, his
vncle, or any other of his kinred, doth sing or talke ought
of loue matters, he is deemed to bee woorthie of grieuous
punishment Whatsoeuer lad or youth there lighteth by
chaunce into any company which discourseth of loue, no
sooner heareth nor vnderstandeth what their talke tendeth
vnto, but immediately he withdraweth himselfe from among
them. [ Thes e are the things which we thought most
woorthie of relation as concerning the ciuilitie, humanitie,
and vpright dealing of the Barbarians :f let vs now proceede
vnto the residue. Those ArabtaTTswhich dwell in tents,
that is to say, which bring vp cattell, are of a more liberall
and ciuill disposition : to wit, they are in their kinde as
deuout, valiant, patient, courteous, hospitall, and as honest
in life and conuersation as any other people. They be
most faithfull obseruers of their word and promise ; inso-
much that the people, which before we said to dwell in
the mountaines, are greatly stirred vp with emulation of
their vertues. Howbeit the said mountainers, both for
learning, for vertue, and for religion, are thought much
inferiour to the Numidians, albeit they haue little or no
knowledge at all in naturall philosophic They are
reported likewise to be most skilfull warriours, to be
valiant, and exceeding louers and practisers of all
humanitie. Also, the Moores and Arabians inhabiting
Libya are somewhat ciuill of behauiour, being plaine
dealers, voide of dissimulation, fauourable to strangers,
and louers of simplicitie. Those which we before named
white, or tawney Moores, are stedfast in friendship : as
likewise they indifferently and fauourably esteeme of

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other nations: and wholy indeuour themselues in this
one thing, namely, that they may leade a most pleasant
and iocund life. Moreouer they maintaine most learned
professours of liberall artes, and such men are most deuout
in their religion. Neither is there any people in all
Africa that lead a more happie and honorable life.

What vices the foresaid Africans are subiect vnto.

Euer was there any people or nation
so perfectly endued with vertue, but
that they had their contrarie faults
and blemishes : now therefore let vs
consider, whether the vices of the
Africas do surpasse their vertues &
good parts. Those which we named
the inhabitants of the cities of Barbarie are somewhat
needie and couetous, being also very proud and high-
minded, and woonderfully addicted vnto wrath ; insomuch
that (according to the prouerbe) they will deeply engraue
in marble any iniurie be it neuer so small, & will in
no wise blot it out of their remembrance. So rusticall
they are & void of good manners, that scarcely can
any stranger obtaine their familiaritie and friendship.
Their wits are but meane, and they are so credulous, that
they will beleeue matters impossible, which are told them.
So ignorant are they of naturall philosophic, that they
imagine all the effects and operations of nature to be
extraordinarie and diuine. They obserue no certaine
order of liuing nor of lawes. Abounding exceedingly with
choler, they speake alwaies with an angrie and lowd voice.
Neither shall you walke in the day-time in any of their
streetes, but you shall see commonly two or three of them
together by the eares. By nature they are a vile and base
people, being no better accounted of by their gouernours

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then if they were dogs. They haue neither iudges nor
lawyers, by whose wisdome and counsell they ought to be
directed. They are vtterly vnskilfull in trades of mer-
chandize, being destitute of bankers and money-changers :
wherefore a merchant can doe nothing among them in his
absence, but is himselfe constrained to goe in person,
whithersoeuer his wares are carried. No people vnder
heauen are more addicted vnto couetise then this nation :
neither is there (I thinke) to bee found among them one of
an hundred, who for courtesie, humanitie, or deuotions
sake will vouchsafe any entertainment vpon a stranger.
Mindfull they haue alwaies beene of iniuries, but most
forgetfull of benefites. Their mindes are perpetually
possessed with vexation and strife, so that they will
seldome or neuer shew themselues tractable to any man ;
the cause whereof is supposed to be ; for that they are so
greedily addicted vnto their filthie lucre, that they neuer
could attaine vnto any kinde of ciuilitie or good behauiour.
The shepherds of that region Hue a miserable, toilsome,
wretched and beggerly life : they are a rude people, and
,s a man may say) borne and bred to theft, deceit, and
brutish manners. Their yoong men may goe a wooing to
diuers maides, till such time as they haue sped of a wife.
f Yea, the father of the maide most friendly welcommeth
her suiter : so that I thinke scarce any noble or gentleman
among them can chuse a virgine for his spouse : albeit, so
soone as any woman is married, she is quite forsaken of all
her suiters ; who then seeke out other new paramours for
their liking. Concerning their religion, the greater part of
these people are neither Mahumetans, Iewes, nor Christians ;
and hardly shall you finde so much as a sparke of pietie in
any of them. They haue no churches at all, nor any kinde
of prayers, but being vtterly estranged from all godly
deuotion, they leade a sauage and beastly life : and if any
man chanceth to be of a better disposition (because they

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DESCRIPTION OF AFRICA. 1 87

haue no law-giuers nor teachers among them) he is con-
strained to follow the example of other mens Hues &
maners. All the Numidians being most ignorant of
naturall, domesticall, & common wealth- matters, are princi-
pally addicted vnto treason, trecherie, murther, theft, and
robberie. This nation, because it is most slauish, will
right gladly accept of any seruice among the Barbarians,
be it neuer so vile or contemptible. For some will take
vpon them to be dung-farmers, others to be scullians, some
others to bee ostlers, 94 and such like seruile occupations.
Likewise the inhabitants of Libya Hue a brutish kinde of
life ; who neglecting all kindes of good artes and sciences,
doe wholy apply their mindes vnto theft and violence.
Neuer as yet had they any religion, any lawes, or any
good forme of liuing ; but alwaies had, and euer will haue
a most miserable and distressed life. There cannot any
trechery or villanie be inuented so damnable, which for
lucres sake they dare not attempt. They spend all their
daies either in most lewd practises, or in hunting, or else
in warfare : neither weare they any shooes nor garments. . /
The Negros likewise leade a beastly kinde of life, being
vtterly destitute of the vse of reason, of dexteritie of wit,
and of all artes. Yea they so behaue themselues, as if
they had continually liued in a forrest among wilde beasts.
T hey haue ffreat swarmes of harlots_ among th^ m ; where-
upon a man may easily coniecture their manner of liuing :
except their conuersation perhaps be somewhat more
tolerable, who dwell in the principall townes and cities :
for it is like that they are somewhat more addicted to
ciuilitie.

Neither am I ignorant, how much mine owne credit The author of

this worke his

is impeached, when I my selfe write so homely of Africa, Apoiogiefor
vnto which countrie I stand indebted both for my birth, 95 relation.
and^^o^for the best part of my education : Howbeit in
this regarde I seeke not to excuse my selfe, but onely to.

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appeale vnto the dutie of an historiographer, who is to set
downe the plaine truth in all places, and is hlame-woorthie
for flattering or fauouring of any person. And this is the
cause that hath mooued me to describe all things so
plainly without glossing or dissimulation : wherefore here
I am to request the gentle Reader friendly to accept of
this my most true discourse, (albeit not adorned with fine
words, and artificiall eloquence) as of certaine vnknowne
strange matters. Wherein how indifferent and sincere I
haue shewed my selfe, it may in few words appeere by that
which followeth. It is reported of a lewd countriman of ours,
that being conuicted of some heinous crime, he was
adiudged to be seuerely beaten for it. Howbeit the day
following, when the executioner came to doe his busines,
the malefactor remembred that certaine yeeres before, he
had some acquaintance and familiaritie with him : which
made him to presume, that he should find more fauour
at his hands, then a meere stranger. But he was fowly
deceiued ; for the executioner vsed him no better, then if
he had neuer knowne him. Wherefore this caitife at the
first exclaiming vpon his executioner, oh (saith he) my
good friend, what maketh you so sterne, as not to acknow-
ledge our olde acquaintance ? Hereupon the executioner
beating him more cruelly then before : friend (quoth he)
in such busines as this I vse to be mindfull of my dutie,
and to shew no fauour at all : and so continually laying
on, he ceased not, till the iudiciall sentence was fulfilled.
It was (doubtlesse) a great argument of impartiall dealing,
when as respect of former friendship could take no place.

Wherefore I thought good to record all the particulars
aforesaid ; least that describing vices onely I should seeme
to flatter them, with whom I am now presently conuersant;
or extolling onely the vertues of the Africans, I might
hereafter be saide to sue for their fauour (which I haue of
purpose eschewed) to the end that I might haue more free

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DESCRIPTION OF AFRICA. 1 89

accesse vnto them. Moreouer, may it please you for this
purpose to heare another resemblance or similitude.
There was vpon a time a most wily bird, so indued by
nature, that she could Hue as well with the fishes of the
sea, as with the fowles of the aire ; wherefore she was
rightly called Amphibia. This bird being summoned
before the king of birds to pay her yeerely tribute, deter-
mined foorthwith to change her element, and to delude the
kingj and so flying out of the aire, she drencht herselfe
in the Ocean sea. Which strange accident the fishes
woondring at, came flocking about Amphibia, saluting her,
and asking her the cause of her comming. Good fishes
(quoth the bird) know you not, that all things are turned
so vpside downe, that we wot not how to Hue securely in
the aire ? Our tyrannicall king (what furie haunts him, I
know not) commanded me to be cruelly put to death,
whereas no silly bird respected euer his commoditie as I
haue done. Which most vniust edict I no sooner heard
of, but presently (gentle fishes) I came to you for refuge.
Wherefore vouchsafe me (I beseech you) some odde corner
or other to hide my head in ; and then I may iustly say,
that I haue found more friendship among strangers, then
euer I did in mine owne natiue countrie. With this speech
the fishes were so perswaded, that Amphibia staied a
whole yeere among them, not paying one penie or halfe-
penie. At the yeeres ende the king of fishes began to
demand his tribute, insomuch that at last the bird was
sessed to pay. Great reason it is (saith the bird) that each
man should haue his due, and for my part I am contented
to doe the dutie of a loyall subiect. These words were
no sooner spoken, but she suddenly spred her wings, and
vp she mounted into the aire. And so this bird, to auoide
yeerely exactions and tributes, woulde eftsoones change
her element. 96 Out of this fable I will inferre no other
morall, but that all men doe most affect that place, where

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190 DESCRIPTION OF AFRICA.

they finde least damage and inconuenience. For mine
owne part, when I heare the Africans euill spoken of, I
wil affirme my selfe to be one of Granada : and when I
perceiue the nation of Granada to be discommended, then
will I professe my selfe to be an African. But herein the
Africans shall be the more beholding vnto me; for that
I will only record their principall and notorious vices,
omitting their smaller and more tolerable faults.

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NOTES TO BOOK I.

(i) In this etymology of Africa, Leo follows the Arab and Berber
historians. Ifrikis was a son of a king of Yemen, and the conqueror
of Maghreb, " the West", to which he gave the name of " Ifrikia" —
Ibn Khaldun, History of the Berbers ', ed. Slane, vol. i, pp. 168, 176,
etc.; Abu -1 -fida, Hist. Ante-Islamitica, ed. Fleischer, p. 116; El
Kairouani, Histoire de PAfrique (Expl. Scientifique de 1'AlgeVie,
vol. vii), p. 21 ; Carette, Recherches sur Porigine et les migration des
principales tribus de PAfrique Sept. et particulie'rement de PAlgMe
(Expl. Sc. de PAlge'rie, vol. iii), p. 306 ; Mover's Die Phbnizier, vol. ii,
2nd part, p. 417 ; teste Tissot, Geog. Comparie de la Province Romaine
d'Afrique, vol. i, p. 389. Some of the legends affirm that this Ifrikis,
Ifraki, Ifriki, or Ifricus (Ifrico in Leo's Italian), fled from Egypt into
Barca, when finding no sustenance for his followers, he sent scouts
out to Cyrenaica, in which land fit for tillage and pasture was
reported, and that the spies cried out, " Ber ! ber !" " land ! land !"
which explains the origin of Berber and Barbary. But this legend
looks too much of later origin, and, according to Mr. Dupuis,
who lived long at Mogador, is unknown to the people of Morocco.
The modern Arabs have no particular name for Africa, with which
few of them have any acquaintance beyond the region they travel
over, or reside in. Al Gharb, or Maghriba, that is, the west, is
Barbary, the direction being its bearing from Arabia and Syria,
the focus of the Empire of the early Khalifs. Maghrib or Magh-
arib Mokribi, the first division west, is Cyrenaica, the Lybian desert,
and as far as Fezzan. Tripoli, Tunis, and Algeria, as far as Tenez,
Tlemsen, and Teggort, is Maghrib al-Wasat, the Central West, and
Morocco is Maghrib al-Aksa. Sahara is applied not so much to
any particular desert, as to any sterile spot in Africa or Arabia.
Sudan, from Aswad, black, is a vague term designating the entire
country about the Niger, and so forth. The Arabs affirm that Africa is
a corruption of Al Mafrika, the ancient name of the country beyond
the Nile westward, this word meaning disunited or divided, implying
that it was cut off from Asia by the Nile. This is one of the legends
preserved by Leo, and in Dupuis' day, early in this century, was
current among the Arabs of Morocco, though I have been unable to
find any one now acquainted with it. A second tradition, not however
so popular, is that the Red Sea was the dividing line, the water having

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192 NOTES TO BOOK I.

concentrated there after the deluge. Hence the opposite shore was
called Mafrika. The Berbers know nothing of these legends, though
they have a widespread legend that when the sea broke through the
Strait of Gibraltar many kingdoms and cities were overwhelmed by
the waters now occupying the Mediterranean. This belief the
victorious invaders of Spain adopted in naming the points on the
opposite shore of the Strait of Gibraltar, El Boghaz (" the barrier"),
Terf el Gharb (Cape Trafalgar) and Algesiras (Al Jeseira), implying
that these were parts of the Gharb, or an island of it, before the
Atlantic (Bh'ar el Mil' eit) burst into what is now the Mediterranean
(Bh'ar er Rum, the Roman Sea).— Dupuis, Journal of a Residence in
Ashantee, pp. lxxvii-lxxxiii ; Davis, Carthage^ p. 41.

Other etymologists incline to regard the word Africa as of classical
origin. Africa is mentioned for the first time in two fragments of
Ennius (who wrote in the interval between the two first Punic wars),
though in a way indicating that the name was familiar to his readers.
" Africa terribili tremit horrida terra tumultu, Undique ..." (Anna/es vi) ;
"Lati campi quos gerit Africa terra politos" {Satires ill). Isidrus
Halpensis, Bishop of Seville {Etymologiarum /idri, xiv, v. 2), who
flourished about A.D. 630, fancifully traces Africa to afirica, in allusion
to its hot, dry, climate. Bochart {CAaanan, 1, xxv), hardly less
absurdly finds its origin in efer, dust ; while Solinus (xxiv, 2), as is
usual with the classical writers, inclined to fall back upon some
mythological hero as the name-father of Africa. In this case it is
Afrus, son of the Libyan Hercules. Suidas {sub voce *Af>poi\ looks to
Afer, the son of Saturn and Philyra, as the progenitor of the
Africans, while Josephus {Antiq. y i, xv) preserves a Graeco-Jewish
story, in which this Afer is transformed into a son of Abraham and
Cethura, named Aphera, who succoured Hercules in the fight against
Antaeus. According to Suidas, the ancient name of Carthage was
'A(f>piKTj. Hence, D'Avezac seizes upon the word as the origin of
Africa. Afriquah was the Semitic radical, signifying distinct, different
Thus Africa was a distinct and separate colony from that of Tyre,
which sent forth the Phoenician founders of Carthage, and thus the
Arabs came to designate all the country in which the ancient
Afriquah was established by that general name {Description et histoire
de FAfrique ancienne, etc., p. 5). But even admitting that Carthage
bore this name when the Arabs made its acquaintance, its position
and importance did not warrant the ancient founders in regarding
it as isolated from Tyre ; and, moreover, Mahedia bore in the
Middle Ages the name of Africa, so that a similar line of argument
could scarcely apply to it. Carette (/.*-., p. 306) is more plausible when
he tries to connect the name of Africa with the tribes of Aurigha,
Afarik, or Ifurces of Corippus, who, driven into the Sahara, formed
again as the Auraghen one of the most important fractions of the

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NOTES TO BOOK I. 193

Azger Berbers. The name of Aurighia is indeed given to one of the
principal dialects of the Tamashek language, and from the Aouragh
Ibn Khaldun, traces the great Berber divisions of Sanhadja and
Lamta. This powerful race anciently inhabited the sea coast, and
may have given their name to the country around Carthage, just as the
Greeks of Cyrenaica applied the term Libou, the first section of
Berbers with whom they came in contact with, to the whole of Africa
with which they were acquainted (Libya), an example which the
Romans partly followed. Barth {Travels in North Africa, vol. i,
PP- 339> 344)- Nachtigal (Sudan, vol. ii, p. 223, etc.), tells us that the
Kelowi of Air, not mentioned by Leo or any other writer before
Horneman (Journal, etc., pp. 109 etseq.), belong, at least so far as the
noble part of them are concerned, to the Auragha, and hence their
dialect is called Auragheye even at the present day. In the time
of Abu-Obeid El Bekri (Description de PAfrique Septentrionale, ed.
Slane, pp. 13, 44), the Auraghas inhabited the shores of the Gulf of
Syrtis, and the districts of Kabes and Barca. It was here that
Corippus, in the sixth century, placed the Ifurces (Vivien de St. Martin,
JOAfrique dans PAntiquitd, pp. 150, 151 ; Mignard, Hist gdnirale de
La Tunisie, p. 223). In reality, however, these etymologies seem
rather far fetched — Auragha, Afarik, or Ifrikia, Afer, Ifurac, or Africa.
Africa is really a Latinised form of the original Afer, which in its turn
maybe derived from the once powerful Ifre (Meltzer, Geschichte der
Karthager, vol. i, p. 433), and it is quite certain that Africa was used
by the Romans in the restricted sense of being applied to the territory
of Carthage, the part of Tunisia comprised in that area being still
called Frikia or Ifrikia. Edrisi gives an Itinerary from Misr (Cairo)
to Ifrikia as followed by the Almoravides in A.D. 530. It ends at
Sidjilmessa (near Tafilet). — Edrisi, Description de PAfrique et de
PEspagne, ed. Dozy and De Goeje, pp. 194-5.

(2) Gaoga, as we have seea (p. 100), and shall see more fully
by-and-by, is identical with what the Bornu people call Bulala. If
this is the case, the Desert of Gaoga is some of the barren country
not far from the western shore of Lake Chad, which is the only
large sheet of water in that direction, and might readily be
supposed to be the source of various rivers. Lake Fitri, which is
in the middle of the Bulala country, is too small to be taken
into account. — Nachtigal, Sudan, vol. ii, p. 333 ; Barth, Travels,
vol. iii, p. 427.

(3) Eloacat, a " citta" in a district to which Leo gives the name of
Alguechet (Bk. vi), which seems to have consisted of more than one
oasis, is evidently the Al Wahat, or Desert of the Oases, a
vast desolate tract in the Libyan Desert, behind the western ridge of

N

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194 NOTES TO BOOK I.

mountains which bounds the Nile valley. Ibn el-Wardi ( Unto Miracu-
lorunt, De Sacy in Notices et extraits des Manuscrits de la BibL du
Roiy pt. ii, 1789), and Leo include this district as a separate division of
Africa, between Barca and Egypt The oases are several in number,
those which contribute to the Egyptian revenue being : — the Greater
Oasis, or El Wah el-Khargeh, or Menamun, Leo's Eloacat (El Wakat),
and the Lesser Oasis the oasis parua of the Romans, or El Wah el-
Gharbie, or El-Behnesa or El-Mendisheh, Leo's Gerbe and the
Ai Alvahet or Al Wihat of Edrisi. (Hartmann, Edrisii Africa,
pp. 489, 491), the Wah el-Hayz, the Wah of Farafrah, the Oasis of the
Blacks (Wady Zerzure), discovered by an Arab at the beginning of
this century, the Wah el-Siwah, the Oasis of Ammon, Gebabo, Tazerbo,
Rebiana and the Wah el-Dakhel, sometimes also called the Wah el-
Gharbie, though this term is usually applied to the Lesser Oasis. The
author of Murray's Egypt (p. 371), notes that the name of " Dakhel",
or " receding", is given in opposition to " Khargeh", or " projecting",
the latter projecting towards Egypt. But the oases are still imper-
fectly known, and may be the palm-bearing spots which, according to
Edrisi, extend to Kuka and Kawar. — Rennell, Geog. of Herodotus,
p. 564 ; Murray, Hist Account of Discovery and Travels in Africa,
vol. ii, p. 191 ; Lucas, Troisietne Voyage fait en 17 14, t. ii, p. 206;
Browne, Travels in Egypt and Syria, p. 132, 186 ; Brugsch, Reise nach
den grossen Oase el-Khargeh in der libyschen Wuste (1876) ; Rohlfs,
Drei Monate in libyschen Wuste (1875), etc

(4) This is the place more frequently mentioned than visited, under
the name of Nun (Noon) Gudnun, I nun (Inoon), or more frequently
Wadinun, Wadnun (Wadnoon) ; but the latter name is properly
only applied to the Assaka River, on which it is situated, some
twenty or thirty miles from the Atlantic. Wadnun is, there-
fore (as translated), merely the "the river of Nun", and the term
is applied to the neighbouring territory, which also bears the name
Jezula (Guzzula) (Leo, Bk. 11). It is doubtful whether Nun is the Nul
in the Lanta country mentioned byEdrisi ; the chief basis for this
conjecture being the similarity of names and the fact that neither Leo
nor Marmol make any mention of Nul (Dozy and Goeje's ed. of
Edrisi's Description de PAfrique et de VEspagne, pp. 65, 66). Not for
from Agadir there are vestiges of Tul, ruined by the Shereefs in 15 17,
but which in the days of Diego de Torres (fstoria de los Xarifes, p. 63)
was well peopled and very rich. The modern Nun is in Sidi Hi sham's
country, a part of Sus, where the Sultan's authority is not recog-
nised, and most of the people are Berbers. The town is large
and rather picturesque, and well built, and is the meeting-place for
caravans between Mogador in Morocco and Timbuktu. The place,
according to Arab legend, derives its name from Nunnah, a queen of

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NOTES TO BOOK 1. I9£

their race who reigned in Portugal. That is, of course, a modern
fiction ; but the authority for the note to Davidson's African
Journal^ 1835-6, p. 84, that Nun is "properly Nul, and was so named
when the Arabs possessed Portugal" is not mentioned. Cape Nun,
owing to a confusion regarding the two rivers, is not near what
used to be called the Wad Nun, but on the north side of the
Wad Draa mouth.

(5) Shawy (see also Bk. vn), a place near the mouth of the Shari
River, a feeder of Lake Chad. " It is obvious .... that the name
Seu is the root of the appellative Showy and the name Shouaa,
respectively given by Denham to a town on the Shary, and the Arab
tribes inhabiting the adjacent country." — Cooley, Negro/and, etc.,
p. 130 n.

(6) Most of these places will be noticed at a later stage. Monachism
was introduced in the Empire of Prete Gianni (Prester John) about
the year 470, since which time it has been a power in Abyssinia. But
though Leo and most of the writers after the fourteenth century came
to the conclusion that the seat of the semi-fabulous Christian monarch,
who had so long been sought for, was in Abyssinia; it is doubtful
whether the earlier legends of his existence originated out of the semi-
Christianisation of the Negus and his subjects. Central Asia, India,
East Africa, and other regions, were all at different times rumoured to
be the home of " Presbyter Johannes". At least as early as 1497 the
Abyssinians possessed a chapel and an altar in the church of the
Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, though Marco Polo, writing not far from
the close of the thirteenth century, mentions that a mission was sent
from the King of Abyssinia to make offerings on his part at this
particular shrine. The Abyssinians also possessed the church of
St. Stephen in the Vatican. At the end of the fifteenth century —
indeed about the time Leo wrote — Joao II of Portugal made enquiries
of " Abyssinian monks who visited those Spanish regions, and through
certain friars who went from this country to Jerusalem". It may have
been some of these scar-faced friars whom Leo saw. — Oppert, Der
Prysbeter Johannes in Sage und Geschichte (1870); Zarncke, Der
Priester Johannes (1876-79); D'Avezac, Recueil de Voyages et de
M/moires, vol. iv, pp. 547-564 ; Alvarez, Narrative of the Portuguese
Embassy to Abyssinia (Hakluyt Society, 1881), etc.

The "certaine Mahumetan" among them ("un signore Maumettano')
might have been some Galla chief. For the Gallas, many of whom overran
Abyssinia from a very early to a very late period, were Mohammedans,
while every now and then some other powerful Moslem obtained a
hold on the country : hence Leo's allusion may be of very general

N 2

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I96 NOTES TO BOOK I.

application. The " Moors" of Adel and Zeila continually warred against
Abyssinia, and in 15 13 the Negus sent to request the help of Portugal
against them, the result of which was the fleet and embassy of which
Alvarez was a member. In 1 528, two years after Leo's narrative was
published, a great army of Moslems under Muhammed Gragn entered
Abyssinia from the low country, and compelled the Emperor to take
refuge in the mountains. In short, the " signore Maumettano" was a
standing trouble to Abyssinia from a very early period, and has remained
so to this hour, though possibly the " signore Italiano" may before
long take his place.

In the geographical jumble regarding the Niger as identical with
the Nile, etc., Leo is only following the cosmography he had
picked up in Italy ; thus, as usual, proving a poor comparative
geographer, but an admirable descriptive one. Thus he follows Pliny
in making the "Nigris" identical with the Nile, and forming the
boundary between " Africa" and Ethiopia on the frontier of Gaetullia,
and in Book IX he expressly admits that he considers a river
called the Ghir the same as Ptolemy's Niger (Niger, TXLytip), which
might or might not be the river now called by that name. But Cooley
{Claudius Ptolemy and the Nile, p. 6) is entirely mistaken in affirming
that Leo by the Nile meant the Senegal. He possibly confused some
of the rivers in that section of Africa ; but from the names of the king-
doms on its banks it is certain that it was the Niger he was describing
so far as his own knowledge went, and so far as the information of
the Arab traders enabled him to write at second hand. What may
have puzzled him, as it puzzled many of his predecessors and suc-
cessors, was finding the Niger first flowing east and then south. But
it must be noted that long before Reichard, in 1802, suggested that
the Niger found its way westward into the Atlantic by many mouths,
Leo had positively asserted this to be the case. His other notion
about the Nigro-Nilotic hydrography was of course wrong. Yet it
was not more erroneous than many theories held up to the close of
the controversy by the arrival of the Landers at the Nun mouth in
1830. Even so astute a geographer as Rennell was inclined to regard
Wangara as its delta, and that its waters spread out by inundation
into shallow lakes in the interior, which might, under the burning rays
of a tropical sun, be completely evaporated. In other words, they
disappeared in a "sink", like so many. of the smaller streams in the
Western American desert. Murray, a compiler of excellent judgment,
writing in 181 7, almost scoffs at Reichard's idea of the Niger finding
its way into the Gulf of Benin, as " supported by no evidence"; and
Jackson, who resided in Morocco, stoutly contended (1800) that the
Nile of the Blacks (the Niger) was the same with the River of Egypt.
There is evidence that in speaking of "our cosmographer" he is
referring to lbn Batuta.— Lee's edition, p. 236.

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NOTES TO BOOK T. 1 97

(7) Don Pedro Navarro (Conte Pietro Navarro), took Bugia in
1508.

(8) These names are for the most part those of well known places
or of villages or towns no longer in existence. For instance, among
the "townes" of the Western Barbary Sahara, Teguat (misprinted
Tegvad in TemporaFs translation, and Tegua in Pory's version) is
Touat, and Tsabit is doubtless the Tsabet mentioned by EF Aiache in
his journey from Morocco to Tripoli, in 1662-63 (Berbrugger, in ExpL
Scientifique de FAlgMe, vol. ix, p. 21^. Sagelmess is identical with
Tafilet. Zeb, Zibin, or Zaab, is the Zebe or Zabe of the old writers.
" Zabe, supra montem Aurasium ad Mauritaniam pertinentem,
Sitiphem metropolem habens" (Procopius de Bello Vandalico, lib. xi,
c. 20). It is the Al Zeb of Abulfeda. Biledulgerid (Bled el-Terrid)
is the Arabic name for the " Dry Country", or the region south of the
Atlas, or bordering on the Desert.

Tesset may be Tossout, where there are ruins of Texouda, called
Tezzota by Leo. Dare (Dara in the Italian) is Dra, though, were it not
shown by the context to be different, it might be Dahra. Tebellelt
is an oasis south of Tafilet. Todga or Toudga are the Berbers near
Bugia, to whose mountain villages the tribal name is applied, though
Tolga, not noticed by Leo, is one of the most ancient towns of Zab,
and, therefore, Todga may be a misprint for it. Fighig is the oasis
of Figuig. Tegort may be another way of spelling Teggurt (else-
where Techort), or it may be El-Gattar, the ancient Tagora. Guar-
ghela is Warghla, and Mesab, Mzab. Pescara is Biskra, noticed
by Ibn Khaldun and El Bekri as the capital of Zab. Elborgh
(Elborgiu in the Italian) is the modern El Bordj. Hacca, Akka,
Tegoranen, or Gonarara, is north of the Touat oasis. Deusen
(Dousar) is still a village of Zab. Nesta, a misprint for Nefta.
Teozar is Tozeur (spelled on p. 41 Teuzar). Caphesa, Gafsa, or Cafsa,
is the ancient Capsa. Mesellata (in the Mesellata mountains in
Tripoli), Garian, Ghurion, in the same region, and others, are
unnecessary to annotate at this place as they are mentioned more
than once on subsequent pages. Pory, however, makes a serious
blunder in writing the "isles of Gerbe (Gerbo in Temporal),
Garion", etc. In the original it is, of course, " isola di Gerbe" (the
island off which Leo was captured), the other places not being islands
at all, but towns like Ghadames, and countries like Fezzan, far in the
interior, or wide regions like that of Birdeoa (Birdeva) the home of
the Bardoa, Berdoa, Birdera, or Berdera, branches of the Tibbu in
Borhtu, Burgu, or Birgu, and Eloachet (the country of Eloacirt,
though in the original the name is not given as in Pory), etc.
— Nachtigal, Sudan, voL ii, pp. 187-191. Hornemann, Journal,
p. 178.

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198 NOTES TO BOOK I.

Numidia, "the land of the Nomads", is for the most part in
Algeria.

(9) The Zenega seem to have extended from the Atlantic to the
Salt marshes of Traza, from Western Sus and the Wad Draa on the
north to Timbuktu in the south. The Guanziga (the Zuenziga or
Guaneceres of Marmol) roamed from Traza to the desert of Air (Hair)
and as far north as the Taflet oases, Tebelbelt, and Beni-Gumi,
and southward to the kingdom of Guber. The Terga or Tuaregs
were then, as now, the terror of all the desert area from Air (or Asben,
not Ahir) to Iguidi ; on the north as for as Tuat and the Wad Mzab,
and southward to Agadez. In the desert of Iguidi on to Berdoa the tribe
of Lemta held sway, being bounded northward by the oases of Wargla,
Teggort, and Rhamades, and southward by the kingdom of Kanro.
The Berdoa, or Birdeoa in the original Italian (p. 14), were in Leo's
day the predominant race between the deserts of Iguidi and
Audjila, not extending further north than Fezzan or Barca, or
further south than Bornu, while in the Audjila Desert the Lenta,
or Levata, were masters, their range being probably as far as
the Nile. These races, as we may find occasion to notice, have,
by the encroachment of other stocks, the occupation of the
country by the whites, or by their own advances, considerably
altered their range since the date mentioned.— Carette, ExpL de
VAlgiriey voL iii, pp. 52-53.

Azaohad (Azaoad) is the district of Azawad, an extensive region
to the north of Timbuktu. The name Asawad is an Arab corruption
of the Berber word Azawagh (pronounced Azawar), which is common
to many desert tracts. Azawad proper is a most sterile country, and
has been so characterised by all Arab travellers from Ibn Batuta to
Leo Africanus, though to the wanderer in these wastes, not. familiar
with more fertile regions, it is a kind of desert paradise, having in
favoured spots plenty of food for camels and a few cattle. It is dotted
with four small towns, the most noted of which is Arauan, a great
outfitting place for Timbuktu caravans, the Berabish chief of which,
Hamed Weled 'Abeda Weled Rehel, murdered Major Laing. The
original inhabitants of Azawad seem, from the prevailing dialect, to
have been Songhay people (Barth, Travels , vol. v, pp. 459-465 ;
Lenz, Timbuktu^ vol. ii, p. 363, where this region is called El-Azauad).
Caillie' mistook the name Azawad, which he writes Zawat, for that of a
tribe {Travels to Tim&uctoo, vol. ii, p. 97, etc.); Leo's etymology of
Air, "ma nomato dalla bonta delP aere", is apocryphal beyond
arguing.

(10) For notes on these Niger kingdoms, see Introduction.

Bito is the Berde of Denham and Clapperton {Narrative of Travels

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NOTES TO BOOK I. 199

and Discoveries, vol. ii, p. 218) ; the Bedde of Barth (vol. iv, p. 32, and
iv, 613), adjoining or comprised in Bornu. Temian may be an error for
Yemyen. Dauma is probably the Doma of some maps, and the
country on the right bank of the Benue. Medra may be Mandara,
one letter being obliterated in Leo's Arabic notes. Goran (in Marmol
Gorhan, a form also adopted by Pory), which Leo frequently refers to,
can be no other spot than Kordofan. This name might easily by
negligent writing become Korhan, or, as Leo, uniformly writing Kej
with a g and omitting the aspirates, would represent it, Goran. —
Cooley, Negro land of the A rats, pp. 129-30.

Marmol in copying this passage (vol. i, foL 15) omits Dauma, and
substitutes for it Mandinga. Leo's remark about the safety of
travelling on the Niger is almost identical with what Ibn Batuta says.
" A traveller may proceed alone amongst them without the least fear
of brigands, or robbers, or ravagers" (Leo's edition, p. 240 ; Defremery
and Sanguinetti's edition, vol. iv, p. 421). Leo, also, in describing the
negroes as leading a " brutish kind of life", agrees with the old Tangier
vagabond, who describes the free women as never clothing themselves
until after marriage, and the greater part of the people as eating the
stinking dead bodies of dogs and asses.

(11) The etymology of " Berberi" and Barbary is still very dubious,
and likely to remain so. The Berbers are the race which forms the
ethnic substratum of the greater part of North Africa. Even yet
they are a powerful stock, though their domain has been much
encroached upon by the Arabs. Their various sections are the Shluh
(Southern Morocco, the Zaylah of Macrizi), Tuareg (Sahara), and
Berber people of Tunis, Algeria, and North Morocco, divided into
numerous tribes. But Berber is not the name they apply to them-
selves. Their general natural name is Amazirgh, Amazigh, or
Amashek, *>., " freemen" — a description specially claimed by the Riff
people of Morocco— and their language Tha Tamashik, or Tanazigt,
a word which, stripped of the prefix and the post-fix / (Keane),
is identical with the Magu&s of Hecataeus, the Md%vsp of Herodotus,
the MaC/xfcs of Ptolemy, and the Maxitani of Justin ; though quite as
likely these people might be the fraction of the race now known as
Maschouacha or Machouach(Chabas, Etudes surPAntiquiU historique
etc. pp. 189, 227). The word Berber is, perhaps, simply a corruption of
the Roman Barbari, Barbarian, and their country Barbaricum, the
land of the Barbarians, or Barbary, as it afterwards came to be called.
This is, moreover, rendered more probable by the fact that at the date
of the Arab invasion the name was applied to the people of Southern
Morocco. In A.H. 62, Okba-ben-Nafih, proposing to pass from
Tangier to Algesiras, was warned by the Governor of Tangier not to
leave in his rear the " Berber nation— inhabitants of Sus, a people

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200 NOTES TO BOOK I.

without religion, who ate the carcases of animals, drank wine, knew not
God, and lived like the brutes". Accordingly, he marched against
their country (Cha' ab-ed-Din, " The Book of Pearls" in Notices des
Manuscrits de la Bibl. impMale, t. ii, p. 157). There was also a region
in Mauritania Tingitana which was assigned to the Barbari. After
this period the name of Berber replaced the Latin Libyi, and the
Arab geographers applied the new title of Beled-al- Berber, the Berber
country in Barbary, to all the region of North Africa between Barda
and the Atlantic, that is, to the ancient Libya, though Maghreb or
Belad el-gharb is also used to indicate the direction of this country
from Arabia. Abd el-Bar, writing in the fifth century of the Hegira,
derives the name from Ber, son of Kis-Rilan, one of the first Kings
of Egypt who invaded the Maghreb, "Ber-berra," his country-
folk said, " Ber has retired into the desert", and since that period the
name Berber has come into use. Finally, Tabari relates an even more
puerile tale of Afrikis having established a colony of Amalekites in the
country to which he gave his name. They murmured at having been
sent so far from home. " The Canaanites grumble" {berberna\ was
the King's remark : hence the name of the new African colonists !
(Cha' ab-ed-Din, /. c, p. 151.) At all events, the word Berber,
plural Beraber, has now been quite adopted into the Arabic and
Berber languages, with various grammatical forms. — Lerchundi,
Vocabulario Espanol-Arabigo del Dialecto de Afcrruecos, 1892,

P. 139.

It will be noticed that Leo" never uses the word Kabaile y now so
universally applied in Algeria and Tunis to the Berber tribes, and
even to those of Arab origin. " Kabyles" are, indeed, regarded as
equivalent to the mountain races. But the word is Arab, though it
came in with the conquest of Barbarossa and the rule of the Turks, so
that in all likelihood the Arab traveller never heard it employed in
the present sense. In Turkish a tribe is Silsilet, in Arabic K'bil, or
plural, Kabail, and came to be applied to the tribes from hearing the
Arab using it in saying that such a K'bil is so and so. We even
see in telegrams of French origin the Morocco tribes called Kabyles,
though not a word of Turkish is spoken in that empire. The Franco-
Turkish "Pacha" is universally used by the Europeans under the
form of " Bashaw", to designate the governor of a Moroccan pro-
vince, though the word is quite unknown to the people themselves,
Kaid, with various modifying terms, being the title of all government
officials. During the Melilla troubles in 1894 the Turkish title of
" Bey" was even applied to the Moroccan official stationed on the
mainland, which proved how little either Madrid or Paris knew about
the ethnology of Mulai el Hassan's empire. Moor (Maure> Moro) is
another word strange to both Arabs and Berbers. It seems derived
from the old Mauri, and, therefore, is applicable to the Berbers alone.

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NOTES TO BOOK I. 201

But it is popularly considered the national name of the races inhabiting
Morocco — the Negroes and Jews excepted. In reality the " Country
of the Moors" is quite as much in the other Barbary States. It has,
however, no precise meaning, though as the Berbers and wandering
Arabs are tolerably clearly defined, and not much mixed, the term
might be reserved for the mongrel races inhabiting the towns, many
of whom have European blood in their veins. In Spain "Moro"
became and continued to be almost synonymous with a Mussulman.
At the period that Pory wrote — and sometime before and afterwards
— by "Moors" was meant almost any Mohammedan people, not
negroes : in Africa especially it was used in the loosest possible
manner. The <; Koulouglis", or offspring of Turkish fathers and Arab,
Berber, or slave mothers, were peculiar to Algeria, Tunis, and Tripoli,
though in the former country they have now ceased to be distinct
from the other races, most of the Turks having left on the French
capture of Algiers and the other cities in which they were numerous. —
Duvivien, Recherches et Notes sur la portion de FAlgMe au sud Guelma,
etc.,ipp. 57-58 ; Carette, Explor. de PAlgirie, vol. iii, pp. 1 3- 1 8 ; Castiglione,
Mdmoire giographique et nutnismatique sur la partie orientate de la
Barbarie appelie Afrikia par Us A rates, suivie de Recherches sur les
Berber es Atlantiques, anciens habitans deces contries, pp. 83-97 ; Shaler,
Sketches of Algiers, pp. 84-105, and Nouv. Annates de Voyages,
t. xxvii, p. 83 ; Fournel, Les Berbers, p. 32 ; Ibn Khaldun, Historie
de FAfrique sous les Aghlabites et de la Sicilie sous la dominion
Musulman, trad, par N. Desvergers, and Histoire des Berbers (Slane
tran.). Ibn Khaldun repeats the Arab story, which Leo follows with
variations, about Berber being a corruption of the Arabic word berberat,
unintelligibly applied to their language by Afrikis, "son of Kis,
son of Safi", the Yemen King, who conquered Africa, and gave
his name to such parts of it as were then known (note 1, p. 19).
Tissot (La Province Romaine dAfrique, vol. i, pp. 393-97) is not
inclined to accept the current etymology of Berber, which really
originated with Gibbon {Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire,
vol. iii, p. 226). He notes that Pliny mentions among the natives of
Africa propria the "Sabarts", whom Ptolemy calls ?Za(3ovp(3ovpee,
while, according to Herodotus, the same name BapPapoi was applied by
the Egyptians to a race living on the Nile Valley. Even yet the
name Brabra (pi. of Berber) is given to the Sena&ri Nouba and
Kenous. In ancient times the Somali country was known, as /
Barbaria, and in the Periplus of the Erythrean sea another
Barbaria is the country of the Troglodytes, and so on, though ^
not improbably these names were given for exactly the same reason
that the Greeks and Romans called all races outside their citizenship
Barbarians, and their country Barbaria. It may also be noted that
there is still a Beni-Barbara tribe in southern Tripoli, and the

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202 NOTES TO BOOK I.

Beni-Barbar in the Aures (Vivien St. Martin, Le Nord de UAfrique^
etc., pp. 208-209). But all such etymologies are mere guesses, and
only worthy of recalling in so far that they may possibly give a clue
to the origin of the widespread Berber race.

Hippolytus (Lid. G/n/ral., vol. ii, p. 10 1 ; Chronicon Paschale^ Ed
Bonn,yfc& Barth), it may be noticed, enumerates among African tribes
"Afri qui et Barbaras", and in the /tin. Antonini, p. 2, the Macenites
Barbari are mentioned. Barth would fain have connected the War-
waren, a tribe of the Azkar Imghad, a negroised and degraded race
in a condition of serfdom to the ruling race of the Imoshagh, with the
Latin Barbari. But " war", a syllable with which a great many Berber
names begin, seems to signify " man".

(12) From these remarks of Leo, it would seem that previous to the
sixteenth century theories on the origin of the Berbers (or Africans)
had been quite as numerous as since that date. The one which he
adopts from Edrisi and also from IbnKhaldun, is that still in favour with
learned Arabs. But, unfortunately, it is, if not worse than its rivals,
decidedly no better. Jews are undoubtedly amongst the oldest of the
foreign colonists of North Africa. Ancient tombstones buried under
the sands are said to exist in Sus, and the late Rabbi Mordakkai
Ali Serour, of Akka, believed that he had found in the Daggaturs, a
barbarous tribe of the Sahara between Morocco and Timbuktu, an
ancient Jewish colony (Bull, de Soc. Giog.^ Paris, 1877, PP- 345 _ 37°> an( *
Bull. Alliance Israelite^ 1882 ; and Duveyrier, Bull, de Soc. Ge*og.,
1876, p. 129). To this day they are found living among Arab and
Berber tribes, though not speaking any language except that of their
neighbours, and in the Atlas there is more than one tribe which are
affirmed to have been originally Jews. The all-pervading Phoenicians,
also, had settlements on the Barbary coast, and it is quite possible that
the story in Procopius (De Bello Vandalico y Lib. ii, p. 222, Edit 1531)
that at Tangier there used to be a pillar on which was an inscription
stating that the people who erected it had fled from the wrath of " the
robber Joshua, son of Nun", was correct. (See also Lee's edition of Ibn
Batuta, p. 18.) But all of these people were at most mere colonists,
and influenced the population of the country very little. The Berbers
are unquestionably of a much older date, and must have originated in
a very different way from what Leo and other theorists have imagined.
Dr. Slane considers that the similarity of the Berber language to the
Semitic type was marked in its triliteral roots, the inflexion of the
verb, the formation of derived verbs, the gender of the second and"
third persons, the pronominal affixes, the aoristic style of tense, the
whole and broken plurals, and the construction of the phrase, whereas
it differs from it in the dative of the third personal pronoun and
in the mobilisation of the pronominal affixes. But in spite of the many

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NOTES TO BOOK I. 203

Arabic words introduced into modern Berber (in some dialects almost
a third), an interchange reciprocated, as in Tangier, where the basis of
the population is Berber, and the tongue is now — either radically or by
adoption of words from their neighbours — marked by Hamitic, and has
no links which unite it to the Semitic tongues, the belief of certain
philologists to the contrary notwithstanding. (Renan, Revue des
Deux Mondes y i« r Sept., 1873.) But though it differs from the Coptic
or Hausa in conjugation, declension, and vocabulary, it is considered
by Keane to be distantly related to the old Egyptian and the Bega
Somal, Galla, and other Ethiopian languages of North-Eastern Africa.
The Berber tongue, with various more or less distinct dialectic differ-
ences, is spoken from the Siwah oasis to the Atlantic, including most
of the Sahara; and on the Temple of Karnak, dating from Rameses II
{circa 1400 B.C.), the word " Beraberata" occurs in an -inscription. Yet
this and other facts do not justify the inference that the Berbers spread
from the Nile valley to Morocco ; it is just as reasonable to conclude
that the course of their migration was in an opposite direction.
There is, indeed, a great deal to be said in favour of the belief that
the Berbers were the stock who inhabited the British Isles, France,
and Spain prior to the Celtic invasion, and whose slow retreat into
and through Northern Africa may be traced by the rude stone monu-
ments, of the Stonehenge type, found in all these countries, and which
they were building after the Roman invasion of Africa, tombs of
that character being found in Algeria, built on Roman roads. The
Caucasian cast of face thought to be generally characteristic of the
Berber is, perhaps, more imaginary than true, and had better not be
made the basis of any hypothesis regarding their origin. Nor do I
think much ought to be founded on the occasional fair-haired and
light or grey-eyed families found among these people. The many
European races, including the Vandals under Genseric, and the
endless European slaves who, turning renegade, became absorbed
into the population, must have left their mark over all the Barbary
States. The flow of European blood is markedly noticeable in Fez
and other cities of Morocco, and also among the town population of
Algeria and Tunis ; and red-haired and short-faced Berbers and
Arabs are not infrequently seen in the interior of these countries,
pointing to reversion, through the law of atavism, to, it may be, a
distant northern ancestor, or possibly to a Hibernian renegade of less
remote date. Yet, leaving out of account these familiar facts, the
Egyptian monuments of the 14th and 1 5th centuries B.C. depict the
Libyans (Berbers) as pink complexioned, blue eyed, and fair or red
haired, so that in this case the " white n Berbers referred to may be
only survivals of the original stock now reduced to duskiness by the
infusion of Arab or Sudanic blood, conclusions, for many reasons,
not untenable. Among the Kelowi, for instance, the chief must not

"— ■

204 NOTES TO BOOK I.

marry a woman of Targi (Tuareg) blood, but ^can rear children only
from black women or female slaves. In Asben, again, if a man
marries a woman from a distance, he must go and live in her village ;
and in some tribes the custom still prevails of the sister's son
inheriting instead of the reputed son of his father. (Barth, Travels^
vol. i, p. 341.)

The absence of any traces of foreign tongues among the Berbers
must not be accepted as a proof of their not being mixed with
the ddbris of the Greek, Roman, and Vandalic colonies, since we
know the rapidity with which a language can be lost The writer is
acquainted with the children of French and other renegades who do not
know one word of their father's mother-speech ; and considering that
before the arrival of the Mohammedans the Berbers had received a
veneer of Christianity without anything except a very doubtful trace
now remaining, the loss of an even more evanescent culture need not
excite wonder. Yet, to a certain extent, traces of the civilization with
which they came in contact remain. As Sir Lambert Playfair
remarks : — " The religious persecution of the Arians and Donatists,
which so effectually opened the way for Islamism, no doubt drove
many of the poorer members of these colonies for safety to the
mountains, where they soon became mixed up with the aboriginal
inhabitants. There can still be traced among their customs the
traditions of Roman law and municipal institutions, and one frequently
meets amongst them types, easily recognisable, of the Latin and
Germanic races. Some have supposed that the crosses which Kabyle
girls are in the habit of tatooing on their faces are remnants of the
Christian faith. .Many of their families had, no doubt, European
ancestors, dating from long after the extinction of the Romans. Their
own traditions assert this fact, and the beauty of the women of Ait
Ouaguennoun, which is proverbial in the country, is regarded as a proof
of their foreign origin. The Arab element amongst them was introduced
later, less by actual conquest than by the moral influence of Islam, and
the institution of slavery has had the effect here, as in all Mohammedan
countries, of introducing black blood into the mixture." — Playfair,
Algeria and Tunis, p. 7 ; Tissot et Broca, Sur les monuments rndga-
lithiques et les populations blondes du Maroc (Revue £ Anthro-
pologies No. 3, 1876). M. Rinn will even go so far as to make the
Berber language and alphabet parent to the Greek and Latin {Les
Origines Berblres, etc.) 1889). If, however, the origin of the Berbers
is still a moot question, their spread over Africa is even more
speculative. They were very probably the colonists of the Canaries,
though it is more difficult to accept Dr. Brinton's belief that they
were the founders of Etruria, and the parents of the mysterious
Etruscans (Proc. American Philos. Soc> February 10th, 1890). David
Urquhart (The Pillars of Hercules y 1850), amid much material not

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NOTES TO BOOK I. 205

altogether to the purpose, insists on the relationship of the Berbers to
the Celts, and on the remnants of Christianity among the former.
Now that the Iberian theory renders it admissible to recognise the
Berbers as akin to, if not identical with, the races who preceded the
Celts, his speculations deserve more attention than they originally
received. Admitting the truth of the theory mentioned it could
scarcely mean that Celtic words crept into the Berber language — or
vice versd — and it is curious to find a peculiar form of brooch used in
the Highlands of Scotland and in Ireland, in use all over Northern
Africa among the Berbers. The lingering traces of Christianity are
more dubious. St. John's day, or Midsummer, is celebrated as " el
dnserah", and the old style European calendar *is still maintained
among them with a sort of water clock, consisting of a basin with a
hole in the bottom. • The Virgin Mary is still revered in certain
parts of Morocco, and it is said that the women in the agony of
child-birth will cry " Oh Maria ! " But how much of this is invention,
and how much the eager desire of theorists to justify their preconceived
notions, is not worth arguing. — Meakin, Journ. Antk. Institute,
Aug., 1894.

(13) What Pory translates "tawnie Moores", with deliberate
disregard of Leo's text, and Florianus " Subfusci", is, in the original,
"Affricani bianchi" (white Africans), and " I Bianchi delP Affrica" (the
whites of Africa), that is, the Berbers, to distinguish them from the
Negroes. The word " Moor", as used by Pory and by all the writers
of his time, and, indeed, subsequently, in a very loose way, is almost
equivalent to Mohammedan. Leo never calls the Arabs " Africans",
they being immigrants from Arabia into Africa, though no doubt well
known as individual settlers and traders long before they invaded
Barbary in a.h. 27 (a.d. 647).

(14) Zanhagi (Senhadja, Sanhagia, Sanagia, in the original Italian);
Musmudi (Musmuda, Masmuda) in the original ; Zeneti (Zeneta in the
original) ; Hacari (Aoara in the original), Havara (Haoura of other
orthographers) ; Gumeri (Gumera in the original, Ghomara, Gumeral,
the Remera of other writers), probably intended for Komera (Leo
always using g'm the k sounding). For the range and migration of
these tribes see Carette, Exploration de VAlgdrie, vol iii, pp. 48-313,
et passim; Mercier, Histoire de VAfrique Septentrionale, t. i, pp.
179-189. The Zanhagi still exist, much reduced from the day when they
contended for thrones in the Hadjutes of the Mitidja. The name of
the Zeneta was famous in Moorish Spain. The Haora are still found
near Medeah, and the fame of the Gomera still lives in El Penon de
Velez de Gomera, the Spanish presidio in their country, which in the
Middle Ages was called " Ghommera", a name then applied to the

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206 NOTES TO BOOK I.

Morocco provinces of El Garb and Rif, extending from the River
Muluica to Tangier. — (Ibn Khaldun, Hist des Berberes* vol. ii, p. 134;
Fey, Histoire dOran, p. 8.) About a.h. i 16, the Gomera founded a
petty dynasty in Ceuta, which, according to El Bekri, held power
for three generations. The tribe — a fraction of the Musmudi — now
exists in small septs near Oran, and in other places ; the village of
Rommera, on the Wad Rir near Teggort, another in the Jebil-bu-
Kahil, and considerable numbers of their race in the Ziban Oases,
mark their migrations. In the Middle Ages, however, they were
essentially Moroccan, and though they did not take a leading part in the
commotions which put Berber chiefs on so many thrones, they seem to
have been attracted to the " Ghomerra coast" by its vicinity to Spain.

(15) " The riuer of Seruan" ("fiume de Servi"). Here Leo translates
into Italian the Arabic name of the Wad-el- Ahd, or River of Servants,
a tributary or branch of the Wad Oum-er-bia, which falls into the
Atlantic at Azamur. Pory, more acute than some of his successors,
divined this meaning by his side-note, " Guadalhabis". Florianus,
however, put it " ad flumen usque Serai", and Temporal, " au fleuve
de Serai."

(16) Haha, Sus, Guzula (near Sidi Honein ben Hashem territory).

(17) This is an extremely mistaken rendering of "la riviera della
Rif", riviera being here used in the sense of a sea-coast, as in the
familiar " Riviera" bordering the Gulf of Genoa. Here it means the
well-known Rif or Riff country. There is no river of that name,
though Florianus, who led Pory astray, has " fluvium occupat qui ille
Rifa appellatur", and, next sentence, "hie fluvius". Even Temporal,
a much more careful translator, blunders into " la riuiere qui s'appelle
Rif". Tremizen (Telensin) is the Algerian town and province of
Tlemgen. Mauritania Cesariensis was Western Algeria, North
Morocco, Mauritania Tingitana that is of Tingis or Tangier.

(18) Temseena.

(19) Miknasas. — Carette, ExpL de PAlgMe, vol. iii, p. 156.

(20) The Lemtuna (Luntuna) were originally from the Sahara, near
the Upper Niger.

Magraoa is Maghrua (Maghroua, Magraoua). — Carette, ExpL de
HAlgMe, vol. iii, pp. 160 et seq. ; Mercier, Hist de PAfrique, vol. i,
pp. 186,217, 381, etc.

(21) Merakeh (City 01 Morocco) was begun in a.d. 1072 by Yusef-
ben-Tachfin, founder of the Berber dynasty of the Almoravides, whose

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NOTES TO BOOK I. 207

sway was so brilliant. " El-Morabetin" is the more correct form of
the word, Almoravides being a corruption of El-Morabetin, pi. of
Morabet (" Marabout"), a pious person.

(22) This "principal Mahumetan preacher", who fabricated a
genealogy which made him a descendant of Fatima and Ali, was a
Berber Mohamed-ben-Abd- Allah, though generally known under the
name of Ali ebn-Yussuff, Mohammed ebn-Tumert el Mahdi, "the
leader" who, as has happened again and again, was to reform the faith
at the close of a period fixed to suit this particular Mahdi's con-
venience. He called his disciples El-Mahaedu, corrupted into
Almohades, that is to say, believers in one God, or Unitarians. The
" Hargi" who first joined him, were the Hergha, who, like the Hentata,
Timmal, etc., were of the Masmuda stock or tribe. He was a founder
of the Almohade dynasty, which reigned from a.d. 1148 to 1269, so
that Leo is quite correct in his statement regarding its duration. —
Abdo'1-wahed-al Marrekeshi, History of the Almohades, edited by
R. Dozy, 2nd ed., 1881.

(23) This was Abdul-el-Munen-ben-Ali-el-Kumi-ben Wariagol
whom the Mahdi met at Mellala, a small town belonging to the Beni
Wariagol, a Sandhaja (Zanhaji or Sanhaji, written both ways in this
paragraph) tribe allied to the Musmudi.

(24) The Beni-Merin dynasty reigned from 1269 (a.h. 668) to 1550
(a.h. 957), or rather longer than Leo allows — Mohammed-ebn-Ahmed
el-Kazeri being the last of the line.

(25) " Banizeyan, the King of Telensin" — (" Banizeyan re di
Telensin") — must either have been a misreading of Leo's manuscript,
or a loose way of applying the name of a dynasty to the occupant of
a throne. For the Beni-Zeiyan were a family who reigned long in
the Tlemgen. There had always been a deep-seated hatred between
the two families. But it did not break out into hostilities until the
reign of Abu-Said-Othman, son and successor of Abu-Yahia Yaghr-
moragen, when, in revenge for the latter refusing to surrender his
rebellious son (Ibn-Otton), Abu Yakub-Yussuf, the Merinide Sultan,
raided the Tlem^en territory up to the very walls of the capital. This
was in a.d. 1290 (a.h. 689).

A subsequent siege of eight years' duration was raised in 1308,
in consequence of the murder of the Sultan of Fez. A third one
began in 1335, and ended by the city falling into Merinide hands
in 1337. In 1348-9 it was again lost, and for ages continued the
centre of an oft-occupied battle-field between the Kings of Fez and
those of Tlem^en. The Beni-Zeiyan dynasty was founded in a.d.
1283 (a.h. 637) by Yaghrmoracen-ben-Zeiyan, the Emir of the Berber

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208 NOTES TO BOOK I.

tribe of Abd-el-Wahed (or, less accurately Ouad) : hence the Empire,
which he extended until it was bounded by the Mediterranean on the
north, the Mizab on the south-east, Figuig'on the south-west, and the
Sahara on the south, its neighbours being the Hafside Empire of
Tunis, and the Merinide Empire of Fez and Morocco, is some-
times called that of the Abd-el-Wahedits. It lasted until 1554 (a.h.
962). The Sheikh Sidi Abu-Abd' Allah Mohammed Ibn Abd' el
Djelil al Tenessy, Histoire des Bene-Zeiyan de Tlemqen^ trad, de
Arabe par TAbbd J. J. T. Barge*, 1852 ; Complement de Histoire des
Bene-Zeiyan, 1887 ; TUtnqen, ancUnne capital du royaume de ce nom,
1859, Presse et Canal. " Tlem<jen" (Extrait de PAJrique franqaise\
1889, etc

44 Likewise the progeny of Hafasa and of Musmuda are at variance
with the King of Tunis," the original " guerregiarono ancora con
Afaza i re di Tunis, i quali venero dalla origine di Antata stirpe
di Musmoda"; that is, they engaged in warfare against the Haf-
sides, Kings of Tunis, who were sprung from the Hantata of the
Musmuda tribe. The Beni Hafs, or Hafsite dynasty, was founded
by a lieutenant of the Almohade Emir, the Sheikh Abu Zakaria
Yaha, son of Abu Mahomed Abu-el- Wahed-ben- Abu- Hafs, who in
the year 1228 (a.h. 626), taking advantage of the decay of the
Almohade power, declared himself independent, and founded an
empire which lasted until the Spanish Conquest in 1535 ; Abu
Zakaria belonged to the Musmuda tribe, which also (we have
seen) claimed the founder of the first Almohade Sultan as a
member. The wars to which Leo alludes were in 1347, when the
Merinide Abdul Hasan, taking advantage of the civil broils among
the Arab Kings, attacked Spain, and remained master of Tunis after
Abu Hafs, who had pursued him, was slain near Cadiz, though in
1236 Abu Zakaria had captured Tlemcen, Tafilet (Segilmen), and
Ceuta. Two years later the Moroccans were defeated near Kairwan
(Kairouan). — Mohammed-Ben-Abi-el-Raimi-el-Kalrouan, Histoire de
rAfrique^ trad, de PArabe par MM. Pellissier et Remusat, pp. 164 et
seq.y Fragment d'une histoire de la dynastie des Beni-Hafes 9 trad, par
M. Cherbonneau.

(26) The " chronicles" referred to are those of Ibn Khaldun and
Ibnu-r-Rakik (Ibna Rachu).

(27) Melle is still a very " mixed" empire. — Barth, Travels^ voL i,
p. 341.

(28) Ak61 amazirgh. Yet Berber is the prevalent language of
Morocco — Arabic only of its creed and government. One of the
Almohade Sultans dismissed the officials of the great Karuin
Mosque in Fez, because they could not speak Berber as well as

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NOTES TO BOOK I. . 209

Arabic. As a rule, the Berber women speak less Arabic than the
men, and among the Tuaregs more of them, it is said, read than men
(Meakin, Journ. Anth. Institute, Aug., 1894).

(29) Songhay or Sonhrai. (30) Valata. (31) Timbuktu.

(32) Gogo, or Gagho, or Gao, capital of the Songhay Empire.

(33) Gober. (34) Kano.

(35) Katsena. (36) Zegzeg. (37) Wangara.

(38) Nubia. Leo's ideas of the relative positions of some of the
kingdoms of the Niger region were rather vague, when he de-
rives his knowledge second-hand ; and his philology equally leaves
something to be desired. For instance, the name Hausa seems to
have been unknown in his days, or, at least, not within his knowledge.
Else, instead of saying that the peoples of Zegzeg, Katsena, and Kano
spoke the language of Gober, he would have noticed that they spoke
the Hausa tongue, now so widely understood all over the regions in
question, owing to the wandering habits and mercantile instincts
of that intelligent race ; though it is by no means to be inferred from
Leo not employing so familiar a name that it was employed to
designate the countries in which it prevails, or applied to the
language itself subsequent to his day. Leo is also as much in error
in saying that the inhabitants of Wangara (Guangara) spoke Gober
(Hausa), as when he affirms that the Melli people spoke Songhay. —
Barth, Travels^ vol. ii, p. 69.

(39) Some of the blunders in this and other succeeding paragraphs
have already been pointed out in the Introduction. They are
many and grievous, partly Leo's and partly those of Florianus,
copied by Pory. "Califa Otman" (Hutman) is Othman the third
Khalif. "Fower hundred yeeres of the Hegeira" should be 27
(A.D. 647). " Hucha Hilnu Nafisch" (Ueba Jebnu Nafic) is Sidi
Okkba ben Nazic (Nazic, Nafa, or Nafaz), a vassal of the Khalif-
ate of Cordova, and the "great citie" which he founded (a.h. 50,
A.D. 670) was not Alcair (Cairo), but, as Leo very properly put
it, Kairwan (Caravanserai or resting-place) ; the blunder of altering the
name to Alcairan being that of Florianus in which Pory follows him,
though with a note of interpretation. " The people of Tunis", is in the
original " riviera di Tunis" (the coast of Tunis), which is more likely,
considering that Kairwan is in Tunis, at about the distance from
Carthage mentioned. " Romans or" is an addition ; Leo mentions
" Italiani" alone. Leo is also wrong in supposing that the Arabic and
Berber are in any way akin to each other, or that the Arabic got so

O

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2 tO NOTES TO BOOK I.

corrupted, and vice versd, that in time they became the same, or
rather a compound language. They are still quite distinct, though
with many words in common. Nor is there any ground for believing
that the Berbers at large ever picked up the language of their
European rulers.

(40) For correction of these dates and names, cf. Introduction.
The " schematicall Califa" was 'Abd al-Melik, the Omayyad Khalif of
Damascus. The " noble" was Koce*ila, a Berber who, after reigning
for four years (683-688), was defeated and slain by Zoheir, and Kairwan
recovered.

(41) Abul-Kanen, who took the name of El Kam-bi-Amr- Allah —
the Executor of the Commands of God — is Leo's Elcain. The troubles
referred to originated with the capture of Kairwan and the siege of
El Mehdia by Abu Yezid. He was succeeded as third Fatimite
Khalif by his son Abu-Tahar-Ismail, surnamed El Mansur-bi-Amer-
Allah (the Victory by the order of God), from his success in Sicily, in
Thiaset, and over Abu Yezid. His son, Maad Abu-Tumin, who took
the title of El Moezz-li-din-Allah (the Exalter of the Religion
of God), succeeded in a.d. 953. It was by his order that
Abul-Hosein-Goher-el-Kaid, a native of Greece, who had been
a slave of El Mansur, equipped a large expedition, through the
Maghiel, during which he advanced to the gates of Fez in one
direction and to Sus in another, everywhere recovering the provinces
which had been filched from the Khalif. He even conquered the Riffias.
As El Kaim died on the 1st May, 946, and Egypt was not invaded until
twenty-three years later, all of Leo's subsequent narratives about El
Kaim and Gonha must refer to El Moezz. There is, indeed, no reason
for believing [that El Kaim ever was in Egypt. — D'Herbelot, Biblio-
tkkque Orientate (1697); Morgan, History of Algiers^ pp. 173-74,
where the facts are taken from Herbelot.

(42) Abu-Bekr the first rightly directed Khalif— "El Abbas".

(43) Gowher conquered Egypt in a.d. 969 (a.h. 358), and after
driving Abul Fowaris, the deputed Akshid ruler, from Fostat, the old
capital, laid the foundation of Misr-el-Kahireh (the modern Cairo,
Alchair of Pory), originally called El-Mansoor-i-yeh, but afterwards
re-named from the planet Mars (Kaher) being in the ascendant on the
night that the foundation was laid. The Khalif of Bagdad in 969 was
Al Mufadhl al Moti (944-974), also known as Ibn Bouyeh (which Leo
corrupts into El uir=El vir) the founder of the House of Bouyeh, who
renounced the temporal power of the Khalifs. At Gowher's solicita-
tion, El Moezz removed his court from Damascus to Cairo in A.H. 365.

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NOTES TO BOOK I. 211

Goher founded the great mosque of El Ahazar, which, as a seat of
Moslem learning, soon became a rival to the " University of Fez", and
eventually was a centre to which students flocked from all parts
of the Mohammedan world, until its ruin. — Quatremere, Vie de
Moezz,

(44) Gabes.

(45) Yussuf ibn Tachfin, the Almoravide, began to reign in a.d. 106 i
(a.h. 453). He took Tunis in 1100, and died in 1106 (a.h. 500) at the
reputed age of one hundred.

(46) Abu-YussefYakub-el-Mansur, son of Abd-el-Mumen, a.d. 1163-
11 84 (a.h. 558-580). He was an Almohade, but the third, not the
fourth King of "that dynasty. " Muachedin" = El Moahedoun, or
Mowahadi, as the word is still pronounced in Morocco. The money
called "Maravedi" derives its name from this famous Berber line
of sovereigns.

(48) The Hapites.

(49) " Iquali sono detti Arabi barberi", who are called " Barbary
Arabs".

(50) Arab historians are not in accord regarding the tribes which
entered Africa from Arabia about the year 1048. According to
Ka'irouani, they were the Beni-Riah, the Beni-Zegba, and a part of the
Beni-Amer and the Senan. If we are to credit the chroniclers, the
Beni-Zegba were after some time driven from Africa by the Beni-Riah
and replaced by the Beni-Kara. Marmol simply expands the account
which he found in Leo. The Cachin he calls Esquequin, the Hitell
the Beni-Helala, and the Machill the Mahquil, and both historians
derive their information from Ibnu-r-Rakik (Ebn-er-Rak'ik).

The Cachin seem to have been divided in Leo's day into Ouled
Hadadj (Etheg of Pory, Etegi of Leo, who invariably omits the
aspirates), scattered through Tunis and the Moroccan provinces of
Dukkala and Teda, SumeU (Suma\t) inhabiting parts of eastern Libya,
on the borders of the Tripolitan deserts, and the Said (Sahed),
roamisg over Tunis, between the city of that name and Kairwan,
and in numbers on to the Desert of Barca. The Elledji, or
Delleg (Ouled-el'Hadj), Elmurtesig {Ouled Mutafik or Halotes),
and Sobair, which Leo makes out to be fractions of the Etegi,
Marmol classes as separate tribes, but the Amran-Litali, Amran-
Distani) Ako-Zuberta, Bu-Arez> and Farach> he puts into the former
position.

The Garbia- Yeecha and Ohled-Chiadma inhabiting the same provinces

O 2

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212 NOTES TO BOOK I.

as the Etegi, are noted by Marmol but not by Leo. The Hilel, I lei,
or Beni-Helal, Leo divides into Benihemir (Beni-Amer) Benien of
the Italian original), and numerous races between Tlemgen and
Oran Riah (Ric, Rieh), Sufien, and Chusain Cusain (Djochen).

The Beni-Amer he sub-divides into Hursan (Uroa, Ouled Hurua,
on the borders of Mostagamen), Hueben (Ucba, Ouled Okba\
Habrum (Abru, Ouled Habra) and Mussem (Afuslem, in the
deserts of Msila, considered by Carette to be the Beni-Msellen,
established in the upper part of the plain of Hodna).

The Riah Leo divides into the Deuvad (Daouaoutda), Suaid (S'ald),
Afgeg, (Asge,AzgueA) y Elcherith (Elcherit, Ouled~el-Krid y El-Akhdar,
oxKhadr\ Enedri (Enedr, Ouled-Nader, or Fader), and Garfam (Garfa,
OuUd-Garfa).

The Machel (Mahquil, Makel) he divides into three tribes — the
Mastar, the Hutmen (Utmen, Ouled Othanna\ and Hassan (Assan,
Ouled Hassan). The Mastar are further sub-divided into Ruchen
(Ruche, Ouled Ruke, in the deserts of Dader and Ferkala) and Selim
(Ouled Selim, near Vad Draa). The Othanna are split up into El
Hasi (Elesin, Hoceine) and Chinan (Chenana, Ujaouana) ; while the
Ouled Hassan were in 1500 divisible into Deuihessen (Deviessen,
Dm Hassane\ Deuimansor (Devimansor, Dui-Mansur), and Deui-
hubai-dulla (Deviu-bei-dulla, Dm-Obetd- Allah). The Dul-Hassane
were sub-divisible into Dulein (Ouled Delein\ Berbus (Ouled Berbesh)
Vodein (Vodei, Oudaia, in the desert between Wadan and Walata),
Racmen (Racme, Rehamna, or perhaps Rokaitate\ Ham ran (Amir,
Ouled Amer); the Dui-Mansur into Hemrun (Emrun, Amrari),
Menebbe (Menebalt), Husein (Useln, Hocetne), and Albuhosein
(Abulhusein, Ouled-bu-P -Hocetne). Finally, the Dui-Obeid-Allah were
split into four fractions — the Garag (Garagi, Kharadj), Hedeg (Edegi,
Hedadj), Teleb (Thdaleba\ and Geoan (Ujaouana). Different his-
torians differ widely as to the number of tribes, their classification, and
their relative rank, and the difficulty of making out Leo's meaning is
not rendered any easier by his entire lack of system in translating
Arabic words into Italian, and by the carelessness of Pory and other
translators or copyists in gratuitously altering these into names which
have only a resemblance to the original, and are the designation of no
races or places in Africa or elsewhere. However, all the tribes named
by Leo are perfectly well known, and most of them still exist in greater
or less numbers scattered throughout Northern Africa. Thus the
Ouled-l'Akub noticed by Marmol corresponds to the Ouled-' L'akab-
ez-Zraa, a tribe of the Wad-Mzab. The Ouled-Ta'alba (Mahquil) are
still, as in the sixteenth century, scattered from the desert of Numidia to
Jekdemt ; indeed, a tribe called Ta'alba exists in SVanseris, another in
Kabylia, and a tribe as a fraction of the Beni-Bel-Hacen, who live
with the Beni-Dja'ad. In Morocco, the Oiried-Delelm, the Ouled

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NOTES TO BOOK I. 213

Berbesh, and the Oudaia (Mahquil) are still, as four centuries
ago, established in the dry country between Senegal and the
Atlantic. The great race of the Beni-Helala, or Helala, who
furnished so large a contingent to the population of Algeria,
have left their name in the Ouled-Helal of the Tell, and in a
glen, called Helala, near the source of the Wad-Souflat (Carette).
The endless revolutions and civil broils of Barbary have, in the course
of four centuries, made such changes in the distribution and status of
the tribes that Leo's classification is valuable only as expressing the
views held in his day, or by the Arabic authors whom he followed.
Even then he admitted it not only difficult " ma impossible recordarsi",
all the tribes then existing, and which have ever since been splitting
up, or leaving off, or reuniting, trying to massacre and exterminate each
other, or having the same unkindly intention carried into effect for them
by the successive masters of Barbary — Arab, Turk, and " Christian".
" Leo, from Ib'n al Rakik, the African chronologist" (writes Morgan
Cancelliere to the British Consulate in Algiers), "gives an ample
account of these Arabs. He says they were ten Tribes or Families
from Arabia Desert a, and half the inhabitants of that Region : with
many from Arabia Felix, tho J to all he gives three general names :
But the sub-divisions he makes 600, many of which he mentions by
Names still in being, and some I have never heard of: tho' that is no
Argument of their Non-existence : And, I believe, that had he swelled
the Number of petty Divisions, including the Moors, or natural
Africans, to 6,000, he would not much have overshot himself;
they being almost enumerable." — A Complete History of Algiers,
p. 175.

" Ait," it may be noticed, is the ordinary Berber prefix for a tribe,
though some have adopted the Arabic Ben. " Ida" and " Doui" (the
latter thought by Renon to be originally Adoui) are possibly deriva-
tives of that word, though, as in the above list, the latter is commonly
employed by Leo and Marmol in the nomenclature of Arab tribes
of Devi-Massur, Devi Huberdalla, etc., and to this day is found
in Algeria (the Doui-Mnia, the Doui-Iahia). " Oulad" is a tribe, and
"Hel" {e.g.) Hel-'Ang-ad) may be an abbreviation of it. Renon,
"Description geographique de FEmpire du Maroc" {Exploration
scientifique de PAlg/rie, vol. viii, p. 46) ; Marmol, LAfrique (d' Ablan-
court's trans.), vol. i, pp. 75-86 ; Mercier, Histoire de FAfrique Sep-
tentrionale, vol. ii, pp. 8-14 ; Carette, Exploration scient de PAlgMe,
vol. iii, pp. 433-441 ; Accardo, Rfyertoire alphabitique des tribus et
Dotiars de VAlgirie dress/ d'aprh les documents officiels (1879),
passim.

(51) In Morocco. (52) Agadez.

(53) Algiers, Ed. Djezair.

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214 NOTES TO BOOK I.

(54) Sallerc and Mekines (Mequinez), or that part of Morocco
comprising the old kingdom of Fez.

(55) Mostaganem in Algeria. The Ouled Hurua is the tribe noticed
(n. 50).

(56) Ucba, Ouled-Okkba.

(57) Miliana in Algeria ; Meliana in the original.

(58) Abru, same as Habrum in the preceding paragraph.

(59) Msila. The desert (deserto) not deserts (deserta^ Florianus),
mean here simply lands uninhabited by settled races. Msila town was,
according to El Bekri, founded by Abu-l-Kasem-Ismail-ben-Obeld-
Allah, the Fatimite, A.H. 313 (a.D. 925-26), who traced out the walls of
the city with the point of his lance as he galloped on horseback. In
A.D. 1088, Msila was destroyed, and its inhabitants transported to
Kalaa. Again rebuilt, the walls were once more levelled, sixty years
later, by the Zanata, and, after being a second time reconstructed,
Msila suffered a sack at the hands of the Hafsite Abu Yahea.

(60) Azaphe is Saffi ; Heah, Ha'ah. Hemran is the Ouled-Amran
of Sedgelmessa, which is the modern Tafilet.

The great tribe of the Hilal-Ben-Amer and Solein belonged to the
Morler family of Arabia, established in the middle of the eleventh
century in the Desert of Hedjaz, close to the province of Nedj, when
they were let loose on Barbary by the Khalif El-Mustansir lillah
Abu-Timin-Ma'add, in order to revenge himself on his representative
in that region who had proclaimed the authority of the Abassides in
Kairwan. The worst wars of this section of Northern Africa began.
The Nile crossed, they rushed on the province of Barca like
famished wolves on a flock of sheep, and while some of the invaders
abandoned themselves to internecine quarrels, the Riah, under their
chief, Munes-ben-Yahia, marched to robbery, murder, and outrage.
" They seemed", wrote Ibn-Khaldun, less than 300 years after their
arrival, "like a cloud of locusts, and destroyed everything in their
path", thus fully confirming the character which Leo gave them in
1 501. It is doubtful, however, if they were quite so numerous as Leo
and Marmol make them out to be.

(61) Jebil-Dades and Farkala, an oasis just beyond, on the desert
side of the Atlas.

(62) Ouled-Selim. Dara, Darha, the Wad-Dra. They still traffic
to Timbuktu.

(63) "Elasim", Ouled-el-Ha9en (note 50).

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NOTES TO BOOK I. 21 J

(64) "Chinana", Ouled - Kenana, Elcaluth (Elcabut), Holotes
(note 50).

(65) Ouadan (Wadan), Oulata (Walata). "The Duke of Gualata"
is in the original " signore de Gualata in Terra negrc?\ the last two
words (in Negroland) being omitted by Pory.

(66) Hacha. Acca, Akkaba, an oasis of Sus, on the caravan route
to Timbuktu.

(67) " Hamrun" is not the Ouled-Anran, for Leo has " Amer" as the
Ouled-Amer, who are inhabitants of the "deserto de Taganot" and
have relations with the community of Tagavost (Tagaost), this remark
being transferred by the translator to Tesset.

(68) Dehemrum (Deemrun) is apparently another form of Amran
(p. 212, note 50), a tribe which roamed to the south of Tafilet
(Sedjelmassa, or Segelmesse), and on to the Desert of Iguidi (Ighid),
intersected by the caravan route from Akka to Timbuktu.

Todgatan is Todga in the original (Todra ?), an oasis north-west of
Tafilet (or Tafililt).

Tebelbet is another oasis south of the Tafilet Sibka, with, like all
these oases, villages and date palms. Dara is Dra.

(69) Matgara is the district called Medrara by El-'Archi el Mula-
Ahmed, the Berber traveller, who passed through this region in the
year 1661 (a.h. 1073) on his way to Mecca. He also mentions the
Ouled 'Abd-Allah ben-'Amar. The Wad-er-Retib is also among his
notes (Expl. Scientifique de PAlgMe, p. 8). Vide also Book VI.

Garseluin is Guers- } Aluin y where, in Leo's day, the province of
Sgedelmessa began in the Atlas. Eddara is Ed Dra y the desert through
which the Dra runs when there is any water to fill its bed, and which
was then the territory of the Abulhusein (Ouled- Abu-el- Houcein).

(70) Ouled-Garradji, in the Beni-Gumi and Figuig deserts.

(71) Ouled-Hadadji, in the Desert of Angad.

(72) That is, the Ouled-Taalba inhabited the Metidja and the
Numidian Desert to Takdemt.

(73) Tedles.

(74) Gehoan= Ouled- Djohai dispersed among the Garadji and
Hadadji tribes.

(75) Schachin, a variant of Cachin (note 50).

(76) Their favourite genealogy is, at best, not based on historical
evidence, and is evidently derived from the mythical Hebrew legends

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2l6 NOTES TO BOOK I.

or inventions. The division into Arab or pure, and Mostareb (Mus-
Araba, Mustehgeme in Leo's Italian) or adscititious, is more substantial,
as this classification is very ancient

(77) This description of the Terga, Tawarek, or Tuareg applies
quite accurately at the present day : dress, ways of life, food, manners,
and morals, seem not to have altered much in four centuries. On
this subject there are some judicious remarks in an anonymous
review of Denham and Clapperton's Travels and Discoveries^ " British
Critic", 1826, pp. 510, 516; Duveyrier, Les Touaregs du Nord,
pp. 317-318 (nomenclature) ; Bissuel, Les Touaregs de P Ouest,
PP. 35-36.

The practice of paying tribute or, as it is called in many parts of
Africa, "hongo", still prevails. This "custom due" is known as
gheramay which Leo corrupts into gabella. "Ma le carivane che
passano per li deserti loro sono tenuti di pagare ai lor principi certa
gabella. n

" Mill and panicke" — miglio e di panico — are simply varieties of
millet (Panicum). P. miliaceum is the common variety. Paspalum
exile is generally cultivated in Africa, as is also Egyptian millet or
Guinea corn (Pennisetum typhoideum). In Central Africa many of the
Tuareg from Bornu to Timbuktu subsist on the seeds of "uzak"
(Pennisetum distichum), out of which, also, they make a pleasant cooling
drink. Its little burr-like seeds, by attaching themselves to every part
of the dress, are a constant annoyance to travellers. The so-called
"India millet" or durra {Sorghum vulgare) is, perhaps, the chief
African corn plant.

The woolly-looking material about the spathes of palm leaves is still
used to make clothing, not only in Africa, but in various other parts of
the world.

Parts of this description have, however, been freely translated.
Thus Temporal (twice) puts sheep into the bill of fare of the "good
prince" (who is, however, in the original only " buono uomo" ; he is at
best "il signor")— "grandi quantate de chameaux jeunes et vieux
avec autant de Moutons et quelques autruches". But Leo says
nothing about mutton, and Pory's "camels of all kindes" is more
precisely indicated : " molti cammeli, e giovani e vechi, e insieme alt
rettanti castrati, e certi struzzi." Again, in serving up the roast
ostriches, no mention is made of the " sundrie kindes of herbes and
spices" being from Negro land ("della Terranegra"), an omission
also in Florianus, though not in Temporal. The Dutch translation is
so frequently abridged and free that I have purposely not collated it.
"His nobilitie" is, in the original, "nobili e parenti" — nobility and
relatives. Ostriches are now much scarcer in the Sahara, though their
feathers still come with the caravans to Tripoli.

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NOTFS TO BOOK I. 2\J

(78) In reality, the migration commenced before the time of Islam,
when Wargla or Tuat were occupied, and the black races originally
inhabiting those Saharan oases driven south. Leo, it seems, con-
sidered that this forcible exile of the Tuaregs to the desert began soon
after the great exodus of Arabs into Africa, at the instigation of
Ahmed ben 'Ali-el-Jerjerano, who died in 1044-5 ( A - H - 43^), and not a
few years later under the Vizier, El Yezuri (note 60, Barth, Travels,
vol. iii, p. 226).

(79) The country women in Morocco, and other parts of Barbary, do
not always veil themselves specially before Christians, holding that
Infidels are not worthy of being treated with such decency. In the
interior towns, however, they will turn their faces to the wall, and
possibly — if any of the faithful are within earshot — suggest to the
unbelieving Nazarene that the fire is lighted for him. If no one is
looking, and the lady is young, she may likely enough be more
complacent

(80) With henna juice {Lawsonia inermis).
u A French crown" — " uno scudo" — a ducat.

" Hen's dung and safron" — " fumo di galla e di zafferano" — really
smoke of plants and saffron. Pory's very free mis-reading being due
to Florianus, "Confisciunt tamen aliquando e galle fumo atque
croco", etc.

The mention of the women going to war with their husbands is
interesting. For the Zemmur people, near Rabat, in Morocco, and
other tribes, still do so, the women loading their lords' muskets, and
exhibiting a ferocious courage quite equal to that of the men.

(81) The character which Leo gives the people of this coast still
applies almost literally. In some recent consular correspondence it
was shown that the slave trade is on occasions secretly carried on, and
they are in no respect to be trusted. Indeed, Leo shows a better
knowledge of the character of its wild kindred than many Europeans,
who have again and again perished by putting too much confidence in
the romantic legend about the stranger being safe in an Arab's tent if
once he has broken the Bedouin bread.

(82) "Urbs," which is again referred to in Bk. v, is, perhaps,
the ancient Orba, Obba, or Abba, the position to which Leo assigns it
being marked by a quantity of ruins, belonging, possibly, also to
Larilus ; Mannert, Giographique ancienne des Etats Barbaresques (Ed.
Marcus et Duesberg, 1842), pp. 394, 687, 688. Edrisi (t. i, pp. 259-268),
in his remarks on Arbes, seems to confirm the conjecture. See also
E/Be&riyp. 130; Ibn Haukal, "Description de PAfrique {Journal
Asiatique, 1842, p. 223), and Guerin, Voyage Archkologique dans
la Rigence de Tunis, t. ii, pp. 86-87).

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2l8 NOTES TO BOOK I.

(83) These Soara, Soava, and Zouara, are identical with people
whom Marmol calls Azuagues, who in his time existed in considerable
numbers in the Tamesna and Fez provinces (Morocco), and in Tunis
and Belad-el-Jered, and at present inhabit the Zouara country not far
from Tunis — the town of Zouara, north of Tunis, indicating the limits
of their range in that direction. They were known from the fifth
century before the Christian Era, as the Zavqxtg of Herodotus, but
have undergone many migrations since that period. The incident
described by Leo took place in 1500, so that he might have been
personally acquainted with what, as a naturalised Moroccan Arab, he
seems to take a pride in. The people of Belad-el-Tered, having revolted
against the King of Tunis, marched towards Constantine, at that time
under the Hafsites, and gained such an advantage over the Governor
of Malai, Nazir, son of the Emir Mohammed, that he had to fall back
on the city with 2,000 horsemen. This victory gave the tribesmen
great iclat, and determined many others to make common cause with
them. The insurgents pursued their march into the mountains of
Kabylea, where, in the Jurgura range, they established a principality
called "Cuco" by Marmol. This appears to have been a Zouara
confederation, of which the memory still exists in the town of Kouko.
Towards the close of the sixteenth century offshoots of them occupied
Jebel-Zarhun, near Fez, and other parts of Barbary. — Carette, Explor.
scient. de PAlgirie, vol. iii, pp. 278-315.

(84) If by this juxtaposition of Arianism and St Augustine Leo would
wish it to be inferred that the Bishop of Hippo favoured that heresy, it is
almost unnecessary to say that he is wrong. Nor is it quite correct to
say that Augustine was an "African Christian" in any heterodox sense.
For, though a native of Tagaste, he was a convert of Ambrose, Bishop
of Milan, and a violent opponent of the Donatists and Pelagians.
The rest of Leo's remarks about Christianity in Africa may be accepted
as merely his own speculations mixed with admitted historical data.

(85) The Berber alphabet, now scarcely known among the Morocco
tribes, seems, in spite of the theories which derive it from Roman or
Greek, or vice versd y to be of prehistoric origin — though this was not
suspected until 1822, when Dr. Oudney discovered its existence in the
Tuareg country. Specimens of this " tafinagh" writing are to be seen
on various rocks in the Sahara and Barbary. " Tafinagh" is a Punic
word, "finagh" being, indeed, equivalent to " Phoenician". The letters,
variously named at pp. 32-35, closely resemble old Semitic forms, and,
apart from the name applied to the language, there is almost a cer-
tainty of Phoenician origin. Perhaps a careful search of the ancient
female ornaments in Morocco might reveal traces of the old character ;
for though the Berbers speak various dialects, their language from

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NOTES TO BOOK I. 219

Tangier to the limits of the Tuareg range is fundamentally the same
as it was when St. Augustine wrote {De Civitate, xvi, p. 6) : — " In
Barbary we know many people with one tongue." About the only
volume of any importance in Berber is the "Tuwahid" (The Unity
of God), written by the Almah-Sultan, Mohammed ebn Tumert,
who is the author of the " Murshidah" also, to convince his Berber
followers of the truth of his mission as the Mahdi. The Musmudi
tribe being unable to speak Arabic, the Sultan counted the words in
the first chapter of the Koran, and, calling as many men, seated
them in a row, and named each one with a word. Then, each
pronouncing his name in order, they repeated the chapter. —
Meakin, Journ. Anth. Institute, Aug. 1894 ; Halevy, Etudes Berblres
{Premiere Par He); Essai dEpigraphie Libyque, 1875 ; Rinn, Les
Origines Berblres, 1889 ; Hodgson, Notes on Northern Africa,
the Sahara, and Soudan, 1844, PP- I2 "44> though Mr. Hodgson is
wrong, as other writers more excusably have been, in describing the
"Tuarycks" as "a white people". — Jones, Dissertatio de Lingua
Shilhense, 171 5 ; Ukert, Bemerkungen iiber die Berbern und Tib/us,
1826 ; the Berber Dictionaries of Venture, Delaporte, and Newman ;
Hanoteau, La Kabylie, 1872-73, etc., etc. The Tuwahid is still
occasionally met with ; but a treatise still older, the Koran given to
the Gumera tribes of Tetuan and the neighbouring coast by Abu
Mohammed Hemym ben Ali-khalef Menhat, in 937 (a.h. 325), is
mentioned by El Bekri, and is analyzed by Ebn Abd-el-Hhalim in his
" Kartas". Another MS. described by these two historians is the book
given to the Barguahah Berbers by Saleh-ben-Tarif, their chief, in
A.H. 177 (a.d. 783), which is supposed to have been wholly or partly
written in their language. Leo is also wrong in supposing that the
Romans — or Italians as Pory translates " Romani" — began to subdue
Africa when "the Gothes" invaded Italy.

(86) This graphic description of a winter adventure in the Atlas
might, so far as geographical details are concerned, have happened
a few months, instead of four centuries, ago. Every winter the Atlas
is deep in snow, and its spurs in the Riff are also white. At long
intervals the Tangerines wake up to see a thin covering of the same
very un-African snow in their town, though it is, we believe, erroneous
to say that five years ago snow fell as far south as Mazagan. In
reality it was hail. But less than a century after Leo's adventure,
Mulai Achmed and his army had a narrow escape from being buried
among the snows in the mountains between Sus and Dra, and caravans
have since that date been smothered in the drifts. In the case of both
Pory and Florianus the translation is faulty. Thus, wherever " cartes"
are mentioned, "caravan" should be understood. What Leo
calls " cacio" (cheese), is really more like curd. It sours in a few

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220 NOTES TO BOOK I.

hours, but, notwithstanding, is kept and eaten when old. Like the
rancid butter, buried in great jars, it requires a long appren-
ticeship to the custom of Morocco before it is much to European
tastes.

(87) Cairo.

(88) There are many caves in the Atlas and other mountains of
Morocco, some natural, others artificial. Several of the latter are
excavated in the tufa deposit near Tasimet. Mr. Thomson could
not find in his cursory examination anything to show that they had been
used as human habitations, but inclines to the belief that they were places
for concealing grain, or for the Pagan Berbers to bury their dead in.
There are others, even more enigmatical, at the eastern end of the
valley of Teluet, near the village of Tabugumt, Like the Tasimet ones,
they are divided into separate cells, and in front of each cell is a
trap-door giving entrance to a species of cellar. The Tabugumt Jews
still use them as granaries, but from the smoke on the walls and roof,
and the general arrangement of the caves, the probability is that
they have at some time been utilised as dwelling-places, just as
some are in Algeria. Close to Ain Tazil, in the foot of the
hills of the Atlas, not very for from Amsmez, there are some
of a very similar description, the doorways faced with masonry,
and in some cases the cells are placed in tiers, so that the tro-
glodytic inhabitants must have entered by descending with ropes
into what are more like pits than caves. There are hundreds of these
excavations, and many more in different parts of the country, such as
on the way from Tetuan to Sheshuan in the Riff country, and again
beyond Wazan. Hanno speaks of the swift-footed Troglodytes of the
Atlas; but this is beside the point, as the Carthaginian mariner
was never in the Atlas, and could only have seen the coast spurs
where, however, there are plenty, e.g., near Cape Spartel. — Thomson,
Travels in the Atlas and Southern Morocco, pp. 181-237 ; Harris, The
Land of an African Sultan, pp. 243-245 ; Playfair and Brown,
Bibliography of Morocco (Supp. Papers R.G.S., vol. iii, pp. 217-225).
" Grandissimo lago, d'intorno al quale sono i popoli di Sin e di
Gorran ,, ; " Maximus lacus, cujus accolae sunt Sinitae at Gorranitae"
(Florianus). This passage seems an echo of some vague information
grafted into a fragment of lore from Strabo and Ptolemy, picked up
either in Rome, or among the Arabic translations of the Greek and
Latin writers, of which there were many in the libraries of the Moorish
Kings of Spain, and in those of Morocco, four hundred years ago. For
there are certainly no lakes, large or small, on the route from Fez to
Egypt, since the Chotts and Lebkas could scarcely be designated by
that name, even did they lie on the caravan track. But the name

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NOTES TO BOOK I. 221

" Gorran" supplies a clue, for Leo uses it as equivalent to Kordofan.
Accordingly, as the Morocco traders have for ages been in the
habit of making a round journey by travelling from Timbuktu to
Kordofan by way of Vadai and Darfur, this must be the route Leo
indicates, though he never passed over it. As he has already
noticed, Chad, the Great Lake, could not be the one intended, and
Fittri is much too small. Arabs, however, often confuse lakes and
rivers under one designation (Bahr), so that it is scarcely worth
laying too much stress on Leo's vague, second-hand information.
It is equally necessary to give a wide margin as to distances and
localities noted under such circumstances. Hence it is possible that
in placing the "people of Sin" (Sinites) in close relation to the
" Goranites", he was simply making one of those easy guesses which,
until the last thirty or forty years, were quite the rule among
geographers. Strabo £Bk. n) mentions the Sfrra/, and Ptolemy
(Bk. iv, ch. v) places the 2svr/rg£, or H'ivrtdeg, in Cyrenaica, close to the
Nasamones. Again (Bk. iv, chap, vii, p. 30$, Wilberg's edit.), he notes
among the tribes near Meroe " Isle" on the Nile, the 2x»jv*j/Va/. It is
also allowable to suggest that Leo might have obtained either from
Ptolemy ideas of the " Nili Paludes", or from the Arab traders of the
actual lake sources of the great River of Egypt. It may be added
that, even at the beginning of this century, the people whom Jackson
consulted regarding the country between the Niger and the Nile
spoke of " a lake" on the course of the latter, so broad that they could
not see the opposite shore. A party of Jinni negroes who travelled
it, joined at Cairo the great caravan of the Wel-Akkaba el Garbra, .
with which they found their way through Barca, Tripoli, Tunis,
Algeria, and Amgad to Fez, and Marekesh, when they again attached
themselves to the Akka caravan, with which they reached Jinni after
an absence of three years and two months.

(89) In 1805, a caravan proceeding from Timbuktu to Tafilet failed to
find water at the usual wells, and the whole of the persons belonging to
it, 2,000 in number, besides 1,800 camels, are said to have perished
of thirst. All travellers by the caravan routes describe bones of men
and animals as mingled together in various parts of the desert. —
Jackson, Morocco^ p. 285 ; Denham and Clapperton, Narrative of
Travels and Discoveries in Northern and Central Africa^ vol. i,
pp. 123, 125-8, 131, etc.

(90) This monument in the district of Azawad, if it ever existed,
must have long ago been buried in the sand. Yet the story may be
founded on fact. To this day traders declare that if by any accident
the water skins give out, or much is lost by percolation, 10 or even
20 dollars are given for a drink, and there is a tale told of 500 dollars

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222 NOTES TO BOOK I.

having been paid for enough of water to quench the thirst of a wealthy
traveller. — (Jackson.)

(91) "Goron" is "Goro" of the original. Moore, who mis-
translates the word as Coran, makes it out to be the point of the
well-known Kola or Guru nut (Sterculia acuminata). — Travels in the
Inland Parts of Africa^ p. 36. The Carica Papaya^ which bears
splendid fruit, and is scattered over the Niger country, is called
"gonda".

(92) This "Tesoro degli agricoltori traditto dalla lingua latina
alt' arabica in Cordova" (not " when Manzor was Lord of Granada"),
seems to have been the lost work on Agriculture by Marcus Terentius
Varro (116-27 B.C.), who Moore, or the translator who assisted him,
with a direct inversion of fact, declares translated it into Arabic !
The remains of Latin customs among the Berbers are noted by Leo.
"Frumenty" or " Frumme'ty" (from the Latin Frumentum) a dish into
which boiled wheat enters largely, is in some parts of England eaten
on Christmas Eve. In Morocco precisely the same dish (Kerrberr)
is eaten on or about the 1st of January, O.S., or the 12th of January,
N*S., which is still reckoned New Year's Day by the Moors in their
calculations of the Christian era. Although never used for ordinary
reckoning, the European (Old Style) Calendar is employed to calcu-
late certain periods of feasts — one of which is St. John's Day — more
especially among the Berbers. The names of the month are ap-
parently corruptions of those in the Latin group of languages. — Times
of Morocco (Tangier), No. 168, January 26th, 1889.*

(93) The mistranslation of this chapter has been commented on
in the Introduction. In addition to the diseases mentioned,
intermittent fever, ophthalmia and other maladies of the eyes,
small-pox, typhus occasionally, cholera at intervals, elephantiasis
dropsy, and liver complaints are found among the Morocco people.
Vaccination is said to have been known to them from a very early
date, and those who practise it take the lymph direct from the cow :
but until the English Sherifa of Vazan persuaded many of her hus-
band's adherents to be vaccinated, the prophylactic was little carried
out, or even heard of. Dysentery is common owing to the readiness
with which the people will drink almost any water with no more
filtering than through a piece of new turban, and the complete neglect
of sanitary precautions. But dyspepsia and liver ailments, due to
inordinate gluttony, is the most ordinary disease among the richer
class of people, who eat heavily of fat highly-spiced dishes, and take
no exercise. Paralysis is also sometimes seen : but lunacy is not
frequent, and unless the victims are very dangerous they are per-
mitted to go at large, a madman being regarded as specially under

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NOTES TO BOOK I. 223

the countenance of Allah— a belief fully taken advantage of by a host
of filthy, ragged, long-haired (often naked) knaves, who haunt the
towns and markets, receiving alms from the charitable Gonta, rarer
than in Leo's day. Drinking is at times secretly indulged in by the town
natives, and much less commonly practised in the interior than a few
centuries ago, when Canary wine was among the gifts made openly by
Embassies to the Sultans. But, now-a-days, if a dissipated Moor tipples
brandy reckless of the Koran — which casuists say prohibits wine
only — he must compromise matters with his conscience by doing so
secretly. Otherwise, the consequences are apt to be unpleasant if
the- peccadillo comes to the ears of the Governor, that is, unless
he can dull that official's sense of duty with a bribe. The
Jews, however, make a Marsala-like wine, and distil a spirit
from dates and figs, which is occasionally smuggled into the harems ;
while the Riffians, and other Berber tribes, drink the wine of their
grapes. The races of northern Morocco, in general, have excellent
teeth. Lame people are not often seen, and it is affirmed that many of
the blind men who act as muezzins or callers of prayers in the mosques,
have had their eyes destroyed in childhood, a blind man being in
request for an office the incumbent of which overlooks from his perch
in the mosque-tower all the adjoining gardens, house-tops, and
court-yards. Corns, bunions, and deformed toes are almost unknown,
as the loose slippers worn permit their feet to grow naturally ; though
the sole is so hard that it has been known to be frizzled by the fire
only when the smell of roasted horn was noticed. A sham renegade
(Al Aluje), one of a class for whom they have a well-founded contempt,
who affected great piety in the mosque, was speedily unmasked by the
presence of callosities on his feet. Syphilis is not now called the
" Spanish disease" (mal di Spagna), but " the great sickness" (maradd
el Kebir), or " the woman's sickness " (maradd el nissuan), and has now
so permeated the entire race north of the Atlas that there are very
few families who do not show marks of the national malady. Hot
sulphur baths, like those of Mulai Yakub, near Fez, are greatly in
request as remedial agents, and to severe perspiration many cures
have been attributed. Thus one Kaid freed the negro soldiers of the
" Maradd el Kebir" by making them carry heavy loads up the steep
ascent from Fonti to Agader, and another — he was an Algerine —
accomplished the same end by chaining the sick man to the rowing
bench of his piratical galley, and plying the scourge freely. The
plague has not appeared for many years, but leprosy is usually described
as common. I have seen many of the cases accounted such. Lepers,
according to Rohlfs — speaking, however, chiefly of Fez and the
surrounding country more than thirty years ago— are not allowed to
marry, except with lepers, or to enter towns or villages, or to practise
any handicraft The " Modjdun" live on alms, and some of them

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224 NOTES Tp BOOK I.

have prospered so well out of the* olferings of the charitable thrown I
into the plate at the roadside .by which they sit with their monotonous 1
cry of " A leper ! A leper !" (Modjdun ! Modjdun !) that they possess
cattle and cultivate farms. It is, however, very doubtful if the
" djden" is really leprosy, and not a form of syphilis, which the hot
climate of Morocco and the lack of proper treatment has made much
worse than any variety of it known in Europe. Close to the
Bab Dukala of Marakesh, the gate which leads to. Mogador, is a
village (El Hara) inhabited by people afflicted with the djden.
It seems not to be spreading, and is not regarded as infectious. For,
in spite of the statement of Rohlfs, who considered it leprosy — a
view not held by most of the embassy physicians who have
examined it — so considerable a number of healthy natives live in these
villages that the rightful inhabitants are' in a minority. Building also
is going on, and so little fear have the people of the disease, that
marriages occasionally take place between "lepers" and healthy
persons without, Mr. Meakin was informed, the children inheriting the
disease — a conclusion unlikely to be well based, no matter what
theory is taken of its character. Yet the El Hara people are forbidden
to enter the city, and, unless on special occasions, to be at the Gate,
except in parties not exceeding two or three. Rohlfs, " Beitrage zur
Geschichte der Medicin und medicinischen Geographie Marokkos"
{Quid novi ex Africd, pp. 194-212) ; Erckmann, Le Maroc Moderne,
P- 2 95 > Quedenfeldt, " Krankheiten, Volksmedicin und aber-
glaublische Kuren in Marokko" {Das Ausland, vol. iv, pp. 75-9 ;
v, pp. 95-98; viii, pp. 126-9) [Meakin]; Times of Morocco, No. 159
(Nov. 24th, 1888) ; Marcet, Le Maroc, voyage (Tune mission francaise
a la Cour du Sultan, pp. 193-4, etc

(94) " Curatori di destri, quai cuschi e guatteri delle cucine e quai
famigli di stalle."

(95) " My nursing" — mia nudra literally — which is in accordance
with the writer's Spanish birth, and having " passed the greater part of
his life" in Africa.

(96) " Amphibia" is not in Leo's text — simply a bird " d'un ingegno
mirabile." The story, which dates from the time " when men took the
form of animals, and animals spoke like men", is still told by the
professional story-tellers in the market places of Morocco, whose tales
constitute such a wealth of ungathered Arabic and Berber folk-lore.

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