Bornese Soldiers

This image shows a Bornu soldier in full regalia and surrounded by foot soldiers with spears and shields. In Barth's book this illustration is captioned, Kanembu Chief with Horse. Kanembu refers to the Kanuri of the kingdom of Bornu in the Central Savanna region around Lake Chad. They were returning from a slaving expedition into the Marghi country. The spearmen, carrying light but strong fogo wood shields, formed the backbone of he mid-nineteenth century Bornu army. Around their heads they wear bolts of the local cloth currency, gubka, which may also have served as a form of helmet (Christopher Spring, African Arms and Armour [British Museum Press, 1993], p. 44). The Harper's illustration accompanies an article on the first American edition of Barth's Travels and Discoveries in North and Central Africa (Philadelphia, 1859). Heinrich Barth (1821–1865) was a German explorer and scholar of North Africa. He spoke Arabic, Fulani, Hausa and Kanuri, meaning he carefully documented the details of the cultures he visited. He traveled through the Western and Central Savana region between 1850 and 1855, which he published in a five five-volume account in both English and German. He established close relations with Umar I ibn Muhammad al-Amin in Bornu. Harper's Weekly: A Journal of Civilization was an American political magazine based in New York City and published by Harper & Brothers from 1857 until 1916. It featured foreign and domestic news, fiction, essays on many subjects and humor, alongside illustrations. It covered the American Civil War extensively, including many illustrations of events from the war.