ing. His motives, according to the Tarik, are interesting.
"I accepted the honour for three reasons," declared he; "to rescue my
father from his distressful condition, to enable my sisters to resume
the veil that Bankouri had obliged them to relinquish, and to pacify
Yan Mara, one of the hundred hen ostriches, who was wont to throw
herself into a frenzy whenever she saw Bankouri."[202]

Ismael died in 1540 and was succeeded by his brother Ishak. Following
the example of his predecessor, he put to death many of his relations.
The last four Askia to rule over the entire empire had much difficulty
in maintaining their positions because of the internal and external
causes operating to make it decline and fall. The Moors, the most
aggressive peoples then seeking to invade the dominions, finally
overran the empire and made it a colony.

Referring to this turbulent period through which the empire passed,
the Tarik says: "All was changed in a moment. Danger took the place of
security, destitution of abundance, trouble, calamities, and violence
succeeded to tranquillity. Everywhere the populations began to destroy
each other. In all places and in every direction rapine became the
law, war spared neither life nor property, nor the position of the
people. Disorder was general, it spread everywhere till it reached at
last the highest degree of intensity." "Things continued thus," adds
the historian, "until towards the moment in which the Songhoi dynasty
approached its end, and its empire ceased to exist. At this moment
faith was exchanged for infidelity; there was nothing forbidden by God
which was not openly done. Men drank wine, they gave themselves up to
vice.... As to adultery, it became so frequent that indulgence in it
was almost accepted as permissible. Without it there was no elegance
and no glory. ... Because of these abominations, the Almighty in his
vengeance drew down upon the Songhoi the victorious army of the Moors.
He brought it through terrible suffering from a distant country. Then
the roots of this people were separated from the trunk, and the
chastisement they underwent was exemplary."[203]

The Tarik e Soudan, however, continues its story beyond the fall of
the empire of the Songhoi. It throws light on Foulbes, Touaregs, Mossi
and Ouolofs, mentions Morocco and Massina, sketches the careers of
saints and scholars, sets forth the authors _curriculum vitae_, and
brings this narrative to a close in 1653. His task