CAR 



437 



CAR 



Cpa, of the storm, had made its appearance above the 

 Caravan, promontory ; it expanded, and we were overtaken 



^ [ u a g.iK- of wind, which compelled us to take in all 



hails, and continue lyin^ to during the whole 



night, tossed about by short and overgrown bil- 



;." 



There are several lakes in Caramania which are 

 \s-ell stored with fish, and furnish salt in abundance. 

 A great deal of silk is also produced here. At- 

 talia, or Satalia, situated upon a gulf of the same 

 nnme, is the capital of the province. See Sonnini's 

 Trdftl* in dYiVfv ami Turkey, Eng. edit. 4-to. 1801, 

 p. 7i! 11<); Chateaubriand's Trnrelx hi (irccce, Pa- 

 ,r, .'sic. vol. ii. p. 227 ; and I'iih-f, -in Palestine 

 and Garamama, from the original dreneimgt of L. 

 Mayer, n-iih an Historical and Descriptive Account 

 of the Country, &c. London, 1.S01. (T) 



CARAPA. See I'EUSOJMA, Jiutn>/t/ Index. 

 CARAVAN, from the Arabic Caira-Mtn, and 

 the Persian kervan, a trader, is the name given to a 

 company of merchants or pilgrims, who travel through 

 the deserts in a body, in order to be secure against 

 the attacks of the Arabs and robbers with which 

 they are infested. 



In the articles ARABIA, ASIA, and CAIRO, we have 

 already given an account of some of the principal 

 caravans of Asia ; and we shall therefore confine our 

 attention at present to those of the African con- 

 tinent. 



A very extensive and lucrative commerce has from 

 time immemorial been carried on between Timbuctoo, 

 the great emporium of Central Africa, and the ma- 

 ritime states of Marocco, Tunis, Algiers, Tripoli, 

 and Egypt, by means of akkabaahs, or accumulated 

 caravans. These caravans consist of several hundred 

 loaded camels, attended by the Arabs, who let them 

 at a low rate to the merchants, and they generally 

 cross the great desert of Sahara between the months 

 of September and April inclusive. The line of their 

 march is extremely irregular, as they are obliged to 

 turn out of their direct route to fall in with the for- 

 tile and cultivated spots called Oases.* The cara- 

 vans remain at each of these Oases about seven days; 

 and after being supplied with water, and feeding and 

 refreshing the camels, they proceed to another spot 

 of the same kind. 



Upon the arrival of the caravans at Akka, situated 

 in Lower Suse, on the confines of the desert, the 

 guides and camels are discharged, and others are 

 hired to proceed to Fas, Marocco, Terodant, Tafilelt, 

 and other places. Including the sojournments at 

 the Oases, the caravans traverse the desert in about 

 130 days. Setting out from the city of Fas, and 

 travelling 7 hours a day, at the rate of 3 miles an 

 hour, they arrive at Wedinoon, Tatta or Akka, in 

 18 days, where they remain. It is from the latter 

 place that the grand accumulated caravan proceeds. 

 Sixteen days are spent in the journey from Akka to 

 Tagassa, and after remaining fifteen days to replenish 

 their camels, they proceed to the Oasis and Well of 

 Taudeny, which they reach in seven days. Here they 

 stay 15 days, and in seven days they make the watering 



plar After a stay of 15 day, they C*ra*tn. 



n-;u li 'I i 00 the bixth day. The time em- *"" ".'"""*' 



ployed in this journey is therefore 129 days, 75 be- 

 ing !-| t, and At in actual travelling. On 

 some occasions this journey is completed in the short 

 period of 82 days. 



Another caravan sets off from Wedinoon and Sok 

 Assa, and crossing the desert between the black 

 mountains of Cape Bojador and Gualata, touches at 

 V/est Tagossa, and after remaining there for some time 

 to collect salt, it proceeds to Timbuctoo. This ca- 

 ravan employs five or six months in its journey, as it 

 goes as far as the White Mountains near Cape Blanco, 

 through the desert of Mograftra Woled Abuswbah, 

 to a place called Agadeer, where it remains twenty 

 days. 



" The akkabaahs which cross the desert," say* 

 Mr Jackson, " may be compared to our fleets of 

 merchant vessels under convoy ; the stuta,or convoy 

 of the desert, being two or more Arabs, beloaging 

 to the tribe through whose territory the caravan pas- 

 ses; thus in passing the territory of Woled Abusse- 

 bah, they are accompanied by two Sebayhees, a peo- 

 ple of that country, who, on reaching the confines of 

 the territory of Woled Deleim, receive a remunera- 

 tion, and return, delivering them to the protection of 

 two chiefs of Woled Deleim ; these again conduct- 

 ing them to the confines of the territory of the Mo- 

 graffra Arabs, to whose care they deliver you, and so 

 on, till they reach Timbuctoo. Any assault made 

 against the akkabaah during this journey, is consi- 

 dered as an insult to the whole clan to which the 

 (stata) convoy bclongs,and for which they never fail 

 to take ample revenge. 



" Besides these grand accumulated caravans, there 

 are others which cross the desert on any emergency, 

 without a stata, or guard of soldiers ; but this is a 

 perilous expedition, and they are too often plunder- 

 ed near the northern confines of the desert, by two 

 notorious tribes called Dikna and Emjot. In the 

 year 1798, an akkabaah consisting of two thou- 

 sand camels loaded with Soudanic produce, toge- 

 ther with 700 slaves, was plundered and dispersed, 

 and many were killed. These desperate attacks 

 are conducted in the following manner : A whole 

 clan picket their horses at the entrance of their 

 tents, and send out scouts to give notice when an 

 akkabaah is likely to pass ; these being mounted 

 on the heirie, or shrubba er'reeh, quickly communi* 

 cate the intelligence, and the whole clan mount their 

 .horses, taking with them a sufficient number of (uiag) 

 female camels, to supply them with food, (they li- 

 ving altogether on the milk of that animal;) they 

 place themselves somewhere in ambush near an Oasis, 

 or watering place* from whence they issue on the ar- 

 rival of the akkabaah, which they plunder of every- 

 thing, leaving the unfortunate merchants entirely 

 destitute." 



The manners and customs of the merchants, du- 

 ring these long and dangerous jouruics, are extrem&- 

 ly simple and natural. Prohibited by their religion 

 from the use of intoxicating liquors, their only 



' The Arabic name of these cultivated spots is Elicah, hence Wuhs or Oas, and Oasit, or Wah*is. The plural in the.ArWc 

 is El Wahaht. 



