The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-11-06


Praise be to Allah, whom the weight
of a pearl upon the earth does not escape.
Nav prayer and salvation be with the
master of the first and last. our Lord Mo-
manned OF a verify have l been blessed
with blessings abundant, and enveloped by
The cloak of his protection. The adven-
lures which have befallen me through for
~ years of Bedouin life are many and d.
verse, but none so astounding as those /
encountered when in search OF that mys-
terious phantom of the Soudan. the Fa-
tessi
We. the desert pirates of the tribe En-
mira. dreaded from the Tinghert even to
the white city Of the Sultan of Sokoto, had
left the marshes from the north, and were
moving eastward across the stern sterile
desert in the direction of Gao, or Kou-
Kou as it is popularity known among us
where we could dispose Of our stolen mer-
chandise.
For months we had travelled across that
immensely of rcd brown sands, where the
very birds lose themselves, our camels Of
ten stumbling upon some skull, tibia, or
even an entire skeleton, the remains OF
bygone generations of travellers who had
perished on those lonely wastes. The sun
blazed hercely in the flaming sky, the lips
were parched and cracked, and the mouth
filled by the ever whirling sand. All the
water we had was warm. and having been
in the skins for many days was full OF
worms. A scaly viper occasionally crossed
our route, and at long intervals the swift
flight Of an antelope was seen. For days,
months, nothing had Tejoiced our eyes save
the deceitful vision of the mirage, until
one evening we decided upon three days
halt for rest.
on the previous day our vision had been
gladdened by sight of a small well, where
we had refilled our water-skins; therefore
we were enabled to take our ease, al
though, being in an entirely unfamiliar
country, the watchfulness of our sentries
was never for a single instant relinquish-
ed We were travelling with the sun only
as our guide therefore knew not into
what territory we had entered save that
1t was as barren and lnhospliable re-
gion as il has ever been our lot to en-
counter-a shadowless land of solitude
abandonment and misery.
In our raid upon the caravan near Lake
Chad a bundle of papers had come into
our POSSESSION. ana THESE ldu DFSn ldAlN-
ed to me as being a scholar and able 10
speak the tongue of the Franks, but trav-
cling constantly 1 had not had either time
or inclination to examine them. That
night, however, alone in my tent, united
and spread them out. Most of them, In
Guiding kind of diary, were written in
the language of the Roumis, and as some
bore the image of the Liberty of the
Franks concluded that they must have
belonged to some zouave officer in the
northern region of the desert who had
probably persisted in an attempt TO pene-
trate south.
one paper, however, the last I took up.
was written in my own tongue, and read
it eagerly. 1t was an official letter dated
from the ministry of war in Paris urg-
ing its repicient to secure If possible, dur
ing his explorations the far-famed Fa-
tassi of Kot. as the French government
was extremely anxious TO obtain possess
sion of 1t, and by that letter offered 10
pay any shiekh or tribesman a large sum
of money In exchange for 1t.
l put the letter down, smiled and re-
sumed my pipe The Franks are, indeed,
q strange people. Having conquered us
IN Algeria they believe themselves mas
ters OF the world The hapless explorer
whoever he may have been, had probably
died and certainly his hopes would never
be realized. for the Fatassi of the learned
marabout Kou was the phantom book
of the Soudan. There was not a clans
man in the whole of the Great Desert who
did not know all about that priceless vol
ume yet no une had ever seen Il. Ii
had been lost to the world for age
Mohaman Koti, the learned Arab schcl-
ar. who lived at Jene, near Timbuktu. in
the year $50 OF the Hegira, was the most
esteemed and even tyrannical councillor
of our ancestor its powerful Sultan Ac-
cording to the story common among us his
l. 1
The king one day distributed some dried
dates to his court, and Koti, who had re-
Gently arrived, was overlooked Shortly af-
terward the learned councillor assembled
number of people. and to them distribute
ed fresh dates. This miFacle-for we have
no fresh dates in this region of the far
South-having reached the Sultan's ears
he discerned that upon Kou was set the
divine seal, and from that moment gave
him all his confidence. A few years later
the marabout edited a history of the great
kingdoms of Ganata, Songhoi, and Tim
buktu, the only history of those once all
powerful centers of a civilization now de-
cayed and forgotten. Families since grown
rich and powerful and the chiefs of vari-
Gus countries were shown to be of very
humble origin, Outlines being the off,
spring of slaves.
But while the book was being written
news was conveyed TO the Sultan of Jenne
tAldl NhG DptlSilOAS uttu IcNOllGu ana ndu
combined with the great nation of Mossi
10 attack and capture its capital, there
fore In order to save his great stores OF
treasure he at once had it made up into
single camel loads, taken out of the city
and secreted in various distant spots on
the confines of his empire. In these cir
cumstances II became necessary of course,
TO keep strict and minute indication of
each spot where the wealth Of the capital
was concealed in order that it might be
recovered after the war; therefore Koti
was ordered to inscribe in his book direc-
tons how TO unearth the great store Of
gold and gems, the spoils of the wars or
four centuries. This, according to our
book the Tarik e Soudan he did, and
the precious manuscript was given into
the Sultan's own keeping.
Ere one moon had waned. however the
learned historian died suddenly at TindIr-
ma, where little white mosque-lilIe
house marks his grave to this day. 1t
supposed that he was poisoned by order of
the Sultan so that he should not divulge
the whereabouts of the secreted treasure.
The war was afterward fought, proving