272 TRAVELS IN AFRICA. Chap. XXIX. 
of Ber Ber origin, is still clear so late as the time of 
Edris Alawoma, that is to say, only two centuries and 
a half ago ; for in the report of his expeditions, con- 
stant mention is made of the Berber tribes (" kabail 
el Beraber ") as a large component part of his army, 
and constantly two parts of this army are distin- 
guished as the Beds, " el A'hhmar," and the Blacks, 
" e' Slid." * 
This part of the population of B6rnu has separated 
from the rest, I suspect, in consequence of the policy 
of 'All, the son and successor of Haj 'Omar, a very 
warlike prince, who, in the second half of the 17th 
century, waged a long war with A'gades. 
Yiewed in the light thus shed by past history, the 
continual and uninterrupted warlike expeditions made 
by the Tawarek at the present time against the north- 
ern regions of Bornu and against Kanem assume quite 
a new and far more interesting character. 
Now if it be objected that the Kanuri or B<5rnu 
language does not appear to contain any Berber ele- 
ments f (which indeed it does not), I have only to 
* Makrizi says of the inhabitants of Kanem in general, that they 
were molathemun ; that is to say, they covered their faces with a 
litham. The names of towns like Berberwa and others may be also 
mentioned here. Compare Leo's expression — "Negri e Bianchi." 
j- In the vocabulary of the Kanuri language, a few words may 
easily be discovered which have some relation to the Berber lan- 
guage, the most remarkable amongst which seems to me the term 
for ten, " meglm," which is evidently connected with the Tema- 
shight word " merau," or rather "meghau;" but the grammar is 
entirely distinct, and approaches the Central Asiatic or Turanian 
stock. 
