Whilst speaking to Yusuf on this subject, En-Noor the Kailouee, who, by
the bye, must not be confounded with the Sultan of Aheer bearing the
same name, came in and told us that he had just seen Wataitee, who was
exceedingly exasperated, and who threatened to stop the caravan in the
morning if his demands were not complied with. What is to be done? Were
we to aim at satisfying all the unjust claims made upon us, we should
not only be beggared immediately, but should have whole crowds of fresh
suppliants coming in every day. Wataitee seems to expect that I should
give him something like a hundred reals in money for his pretended extra
services, and goes thundering about, "that the lands, and rocks, and
mountains of Ghat do not belong to God, but to the Azgher, to whom the
Creator has given them once and for ever, and who are the sovereign and
omnipotent rulers of this portion of earth--this large tract of Sahara."
There has often been detected in the speeches of African princes a
certain degree of blasphemy and resistance to the omnipotent sovereignty
of the Deity they adore; and this kind of language was not new to me.
The possessors of lawless power seem easily to identify themselves with
gods.
To us, naked rocks, and treeless valleys, and bare stony plains, are
objects without interest, except in a geological point of view. But it
is very different with the Haghar and Azgher.
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