Chapter I (5)

Incredibly rapidly does all herbage spring up here, called forth by the great warmth, and the regular tropical rains, from the rich fruitful earth, and especially where subterraneous water affords moisture, even to the surface soil. This was here evidenced, by the patches of green grasses, the trees, and especially the durra, which now, under the glowing heat, not only sent out from the under joints of the stem beautifully fresh and vigorous shoots, but, from the tops, where the heads had been cut off, a verdant crown of graceful sprouts. Most of the copse, besides some nebbek-trees, mimosas, &c., consisted of a species of tree that sends out from the root many stems and branches, with leaves small as needlewood, and much resembling the cypress. The wood is very weak, excessively light, gives little charcoal, and is very pithy and brittle. If these trees are deprived of their leaves by fire, or have got no water for a year, they wither and die away; they give little shade, and our people called them Aetle. Some quarter of an hour ere we reached Mohammed Din’s abode, the trees seemed far larger and of considerable age; the woods also were thicker, as the fires had not, seemingly, raged so furiously here. But the older trees looked most mournful; the tops and upper branches were withered, without foliage, and not seldom were the under ones in the same state.

Much to our vexation, we learned that Mohammed Din had gone with fifty Schaigies, to a camp of his nephew, Sheik Mussa, some two hours and a half further distant; and his absence was all the more annoying to us, as it nullified our purpose of alighting at his tent, partly to gain a better knowledge of this far-famed man in his own household, and of the manners and habits of his tribe, and partly to fill our empty and craving stomachs. His absence, therefore, caused us to dismount at the entrance to the village, at the hut of Jusbaschi (Captain) Sali Effendi, where he and the liquor-loving Sheik Ali were making very slow progress in arranging and collecting the tribute. We had intended remaining with them till four o’clock P.M., when the worst part of the day’s heat would have been over; but we soon perceived remaining here was out of the question, as the small hut afforded no protection from the sun, and was constantly crowded with Arabs delivering cattle, who never ceased wrangling and disputing among themselves, as well as with the tribute- gatherers. We therefore resolved, in spite of the sun, to push on and reach the village of Mitkenab, two hours and a half distant. Another reason, too, urged us to move, viz., to regain our liberty; for hardly had we dismounted at El Soffrè, when my brother was recognised by some Arabs as a Hakem, and was instantly mobbed by real and fancied sick in such numbers, that ere long we had half the village round us, demanding medicines and medical advice, and both gratis. Great patience is required here by any one acting the part of Doctor, as all directions must be repeated over and over again, and after all, it is more than probable, these are neither understood nor followed, and the parties return again and again to ask questions, and torment the prescriber. The people here not understanding us, an Arabian interpreter was necessary, and this made matters worse, as he could not convey medical directions. Here, too, a sick man never comes alone, but ever accompanied by six or eight relations or friends, every one of whom must interfere, and give his opinion as to the illness, and, as may be easily imagined, all this severely taxes the medical man’s patience and temper. All Arabs and Turks long and beg for medicines, and with the dose the illness must at once vanish, or else both doctor and medicine are held valueless. To repay the doctor for advice or medicine, never, by any chance, enters their heads; they hold the furnishing of the one as the other to be only the doctor’s duty, before both man and Allah.

After we were thus for some time pestered, we again mounted our dromedaries, and left the Arabs to their own devices, who gazed after us with no pleased eyes, and showered curses on us, as we would not remain and serve out medicines to them; although not one of them would, on being asked, procure us even a little milk, but slunk away behind his companions on our requesting it, and pointed to his neighbour as better able to furnish it than he. For more than half-an-hour we rode on through the far scattered village, nor even then did we see any thing like the half of it, as most of the huts lay off the main path, concealed among bushes and trees; and great numbers of the tribe, also, had no huts at all, but lived under the forest’s shade. All the huts we saw were composed of palm mats, circular and kiln-shaped, high behind, but so low in front, that one has to stoop much to enter them. The interior arrangement is most simple; a raised sleeping-place, called an angareb; a few stakes driven into the ground, or a low bench covered with mats, woven of reeds of dried twigs, form the whole furniture. If the owner is well to do, the sleeping-place is covered or surrounded with a great coarse grey woollen cloth, to keep off wind and weather. A murhaka (two stones to grind grain with), and earthen pot are all the moveables, as these, with a girbe (leathern water-bucket) are all required for Arab housekeeping; so that, without any great preparation or loss, they can desert the birsch (huts), and proceed on their constant wanderings. Some twenty or forty huts, inhabited by families related to each other, are generally surrounded with an enclosure or thorn fence, called a seriba; and so a settlement or village is made up out of a number of these smaller squattings. Each of such family seribas has the most respected or oldest of its occupiers as its head or Sheik; and this dignity is often even hereditary, so that the children frequently have a wokil. In the evenings a fire burns before each tent, on each of which may be seen, in every position and posture, the earthen pots, filled with durra; and as every pot is, more or less, cracked and broken, considerable ingenuity is required so to place them, as to only expose to the fire such parts of them as remain sound, and capable of holding in the contents while the cooking is going on. Round these pots crowd the women, occupied in preparing the food; all of those we saw were old and ugly; but, by all accounts, there is no want of young and pretty girls here, and such are also in much request as female household slaves in Bellad-Sudan. Of these, however, we saw none, as all held their faces closely muffled up in their dirty and torn ferdas; and all the young-looking women we came upon ran off sideways into the bushes, or hid behind trees to avoid our gaze. Almost all the women wore a skin round the hips, which reached down to the knee, and was lapped over in front. On the march they let it hang down behind like a tail, and when they sit down, they draw the part hanging down behind in between the legs and up in front, fastening it to the girdle. Some of the men were also thus dressed. Two men from the hill regions we fell in with had a similar skin round the hips, and, in addition, a sheepskin, wool inwards, hanging over the shoulders: this was the whole dress; and when to it were joined their long hair and fierce wild faces, they were excellent specimens of truly savage life.

In the centre of these family divisions there is always an open space, on which the children, always numerous, play and amuse themselves, all naked as when born, under the burning sun. Their activity and rapidity of motion joined to their dark colour and grinning faces, give them much resemblance to what we would picture a parcel of young devils to be; even such small children as with us would be in the cradle or nurse’s arms, roll and tumble about in the sand, without any one heeding them, but left to look out for themselves. Nothing is more amusing than to watch these young imps, only a few days old, as they crawl and roll about, for in these warm climes development is rapid. Clothes they have none to dirty or spoil, and mixed up among them may be seen cattle of all kinds; and the lambs and goats jump over and play among and with the merry little black creatures.

As we all alone rode on through the village, the men gazed most savagely and angrily at us, and as they certainly took us for Turks, did not bestow the kindest or most friendly wishes on us. All the natives of these lands have a wild and defiant physiognomy, and, with their long black hair and fiery eyes, are by no means unlike their companions the beasts of blood and rapine of the shaaba. At home here, among their own settlements, no man moves unarmed, their round shields and lances are never for a moment out of reach. He who has no iron-headed lance or javelin, is sure to have a long slender staff, of some hard wood, pointed at the end, which, against a naked foe, is little inferior to a more finished lance; the higher orders wear swords in no way differing from those in common use in Bellad-Sudan. Their build is generally tall and slender, but powerful, and a proud feeling of self-reliance and self-esteem is plainly displayed in all their movements and gestures. In colour most are dark brown or brown-black, but many, especially the women we saw, are brown-yellow, or even yellow itself. Some few Negro slaves we saw were perfectly black. Their manner of dressing their hair is similar to that of the Bischari. They have on the crown a toupé, on the sides and behind the long hair is laid in small round twists or curls, first plaited and intertwisted and then frizzed out, so that a strong head of hair makes the head itself seem more than double the usual size, and when beheld from behind, gives the wearer the appearance of having no head, but an immense pyramid of hair rising direct from the shoulders. Thick beards they cannot boast of, and as little of thick calves. Water and wells were in plenty; the latter, holes of twenty or thirty feet deep, going down into a clay subsoil; from these the water is drawn by the women and poured into great circular flat troughs, made by a low small surrounding wall of clay or mud, for the cattle to drink from. The keeping these troughs full, as well as fetching all water for household purposes, falls on the women; these, as we passed, were standing in crowds round the wells, drawing water or filling the skins which were enclosed in a kind of cord net-work. Some bore off these to the huts, some loaded the many asses with them, while the men sat looking calmly on, nor did one of them stir to aid or assist the women in any way. The asses here, as well as the camels, are all trained to lie down, so as to be more easily loaded. Herds of cattle we saw every where, and often remarked how these were being driven off by their owners into concealment in the forest.

The number of huts and tents we beheld were some 1500 or 2000, but far the greater number we did not see, and many, very many of the natives have no fixed dwelling. At all events, from the numbers of men, women, and children we met, double the number of huts we saw would have been necessary to house them. In the present critical times, doubtless many natives from other places (such as the settlements of Issi and Teschum, nearer our camp) have joined Mohammed Din, but it is equally certain that a greater number (30,000 or 40,000, according to Sali Effendi) have, from terror of the Pascha, or to conceal their herds and other goods, fled to the chaaba, to which wilds Mohammed Din himself has sent off 6000 camels, that they might be out of the way of the Turks. On reaching the centre of the village, our path led up a gohr some twelve or fourteen feet wide, which must at times contain a large body of water, and which runs from east to west. In it, and on both sides along its course, were the greater number of the wells. It seems as if here, either a subterraneous stream ran, or that some sunken supply of water filtered up to the surface through the clay subsoil, as at all seasons of the year, water is to be had here in plenty. In the country of the Haddenda is one spring, which supplies nearly the half of it; there one can plainly observe how the water runs strongly below the surface, and the land of Taka is also full of such underground watercourses. But, perhaps, after all it is a mere gathering of water caused by the soil some twenty or thirty feet down being a stiff clay through which water cannot penetrate. However, in the gohr of the hills, even where the ground slopes, and a constant dropping of water must be going on, this element can every where be found. From this under stratum of clay, the inhabitants procure the material from which they form the burnt red earthenware water jugs, which they use in their washings before prayer and at other times.

In this gohr we came upon a great mass of men and beasts, and much surprised the former seemed at our appearance. We now understood our guide’s anxious hurry to get us on to where Mohammed Din was. He believed us not to be in safety among these people, and he was in the right, for as Mohammed Din was not at hand, who alone could answer for our lives, it were better we hastened to him; though it was highly improbable he would neglect to provide for our security, as his only son Mussa was a hostage in our camp. We kept up this gohr some half hour, having all the time many wells and springs on our right and left, and meeting many Arabs. Our way lay north-east, and all through bush that often compelled us to lie flat along our dromedary’s back, not to be left suspended on some tree, although no old or high trees were to be seen among it, from the constant devastations of the burnings. Ere long the wood became thinner, the trunks of numbers of trees, withered and uprooted by the heavy mass of the flood, lay scattered on the ground far and wide, in many places blocking up the path, and every where annoying to the rider and dangerous to the legs of his animal. In many places the water had dug out large hollows in the soil, and here the ground had fallen in, as if the under soil had been carried away by the waters.

These continued for an hour of our way, and the grey soil uncovered by a single green stem, with its holes thus excavated, and small gohrs, devastations, leafless dead trees standing erect or thrown to the earth, and covered with slime and mud, with no bird or beast visible on or near it, showed out most mournfully and disheartening. But these holes, sinkings, lifeless and uprooted trees, bore strong testimony to the great gatherings and deep floods of waters, the more so as the ground is level, and so no great stream can be looked for. From all appearance, the mountains of Abyssinia must shed down much water on to these lands.

One hour before we reached Mitkenab, the country altered. The trees again showed green leaves, and were enlivened by some long tailed birds, which we did not venture to pursue, but remained sitting quietly on our beasts, as the glowing sun shone directly down on our skulls, and no refreshing breeze made its way in among the trees. We caught sight also of some antelopes, vanishing like lightning in the distance. The whole way now showed one uninterrupted stream of people and beasts, and great numbers of persons on camels, horses, and asses. Some few women and girls we got a peep at might be called pretty; they much resembled those of the island, and had, as all women in Bellad-Sudan, large black though not fiery eyes, round faces, small rather stumpy noses, and thick though not blubber lips. Their greatest beauty was small very white teeth. All gazed with angry and hostile eyes on us, taking us for Turks, as we were the only Franks that had as yet found their way into these lands.

Again, ere we reached Mitkenab, the country altered, and for the better, becoming almost beautiful, at least beautiful as far as any scenery can be without hill or water. All was now bright green; older and finer trees were in numbers on the edge of the chaaba (bruch, thick jungle or bush). We were most particularly pleased by the great nebbek-trees, forming bowers and halls, which were overgrown, and joined together by a bright green creeper till complete roofs were formed, affording perfect shelter from the hottest sun. The under branches of many of these trees were cut half through, and their ends being trained down to the ground, thus formed an enclosure for cattle, the entrances to which were stopped up with thorny bushes. In all these lands the trees in general afford but a poor shade, and one can easily conceive how gladly we availed ourselves of such perfect camping places as these bowery trees offered. In their branches cooed thousands of doves. We met hereabouts a large number of camels loaded with salt, which is procured in masses by evaporation of the waters of the Red Sea (Bachr male); and brought from thence by Sauakin, and sent even to India; packed up in pear-shaped basket-work cases.

Mitkenab at last came into sight through the trees, offering us an asylum from the burning midday sun. On our halting outside the village under some shady trees, numbers of Arabs as usual gathered round us, curiously inquiring who we were, but it never occurred to any one of them to offer us, thirsting as they must have seen us to be, either milk or water. Ere long the two Sheiks of the village appeared, but evidently regarded us as very suspicious characters; they did certainly give us their hands in sign of welcome, but did not invite us to enter the village. Soon after one of them sent us a present of a fat sheep, but we declined accepting it, as we expected food would be provided us, and we saw no means of carrying the animal away with us. In its stead we begged some milk, though in vain. It was joyful news to us, to learn that some Schaigies had arrived at the wells near, belonging to the village of Sheik Mussa, Mohammed Din’s nephew, under the command of their Melek Mammud, and in company with Mohammed Din himself; and immediately, in spite of sun and heat, we were on our way to their camping place, some 300 yards from us. This settlement of Mitkenab is in every way perfectly alike to El Soffrè, both as to huts and inhabitants; the latter are also numerous, and their lands lie towards the S.E. The village is large, the huts many and running along the edges of the forest, but it seemed smaller than El Soffrè. Of its political importance nothing can be said, for here, as in all Taka, as well as neighbouring, nay, even distant lands, there is but one Mohammed Din, who is lord of all, and his word an oracle for and to all. It is true, the Haddenda, like all the tribes, have Sheiks of their own, but all are subordinate to this great Sheik Mohammed Din. In Mitkenab were many Sheiks, having equal authority to each other: among the Hallenga, the head Sheik is Mohammed Ele, who bears the character of a bold warrior and honest man.

The wells in Mitkenab are few, and not sufficient for the population, which causes a continued unbroken train of women, camels, asses, &c., between the two not very distant villages, employed in the transport of water. We found Melek Mammud encamped under an ancient and large tree, his fifty mounted Schaigies round him. He himself had just arrived, so had nothing save water to offer us, but we were only too well pleased to find ourselves once again on angarebs, under a cool shade. After a short rest, a pillau of dates, with some roasted gazelle venison we had been provident enough to bring with us from the camp, tasted to us right well, but still more did we relish after it, a large cup-shaped gourd full of merissa, refreshing and pleasant to our palates, as the best beer. Better merissa than this, I never drank in Bellad-Sudan; it was almost white, had a slight sourish flavour, similar to light hock, and the mealy taste was not perceptible in it. Much to our satisfaction there was plenty of it, so we sent the cup merrily round, persuading ourselves we were quaffing the loved beer of our Fatherland.

Shortly after appeared Mohammed Din, who had also camped under an adjoining tree, to pay us a visit. A train of at least fifty men accompanied him. The Great Sheik, whose bravery we as highly honoured as his own people did, could not be prevailed on by us to seat himself on an angareb, but would use only a palm-mat on the earth, giving us to understand, while scorn curled his lip and glanced from his eye, that this was the position that now best became him.

We now had an opportunity of closely inspecting the physiognomy of this Sheik, whom every Arab from Atbara to the Red Sea honours as a demi-god, and of whom they say “Ragil, taib schatter mafish seie di” (A brave man, full of courage, there is no other like him). His face is round and full, with small hazel eye, sly and crafty, and well denoting his cunning, treacherous, but persevering mind; his nose is proportionate to his face, but slightly retroussé; his mouth small and ever curled with a satirical contemptuous smile. Were it not for this feature, and his false glance, he might easily pass for a well fed common-place monk, and his bald head would well become the hood. His manner and demeanour were but too evidently intended to impress all beholders with his importance. His movements are slow, measured, and dignified, while his train, ever composed of the first in the land, and many of it his own relations, follow him at a respectful distance. His bald head was uncovered; he wore a white cotton shirt and ferda, with sandals on his feet; his colour is brown. He did not speak Arabic, as few of these people can, though of Arab origin, but only Aggem (a mixture of Arabic and the dialect of the present natives), such as, with few exceptions, is spoken by the original race of Bischari, and also by the Arab-descended races of Schukurie, Hallenga, &c. With smiling face he asked us, through one of his train, who spoke Arabic, how the country pleased us, and with much irony added the question, if we had noted down the number of trees we had passed on our journey. He seemed to know we took notes, but could not comprehend we merely did this for our own amusement, but seemed to hold us as spies of the Pascha. After asking us a few more questions as to our own country, and remarking that we should not make notes, as it was neither fair nor handsome, Mohammed Din took his leave.

Some hours afterwards we went to pay our return visit to him. He lay sleeping on an angareb, while his whole train, lance in hand, stood as body-guard round him, speaking seldom and then in low tones; on his waking, all still remained reverently standing, nor did they seat themselves, till he requested it. He was again all smiles and most friendly, but did not offer us any refreshment. He, like all Sheiks of high rank and Faki, neither smokes nor drinks any kind of spirituous liquors, not even merissa, but yet takes snuff in large quantities. He examined most closely our basket-hilted dragoon swords, and said they were good. We complimented him on being known everywhere as a warrior, even by the Franks; he shook his head, said, he had seen on the Salt Sea, near Sauakinn, large ships with cannons, but that he did not desire aid from the Ingleb (English), and added some more words that were not translated to us. I unthinkingly asked, how many his people might number. “Count the trees!” he replied, looking proudly round him. Our talk having to be carried on through an interpreter soon wearied us, and we took our departure.

* * * * *

CHAP. VI.

Merissa Huts. — Arab Gratitude. — Splendid Soil. — The Pascha’s Grand Projects. — A Pleasant Servant. — Turkish Eating. — Turkish Faith. — Arabs of Hedjas. — Mehemet Ali’s Campaigns.

On one side of Mitkenab there is held every morning a great market (sukh), to which the natives come in streams, from all parts round, to dispose of cattle, grain, honey, butter, cotton cloths, &c., but all trading is by barter, and by him who has no top, or dogk[11], or such cotton stuffs as are made by the natives themselves, or at least some durra, no business is to be done, or purchases made. And even, though we had possessed all these we could not have traded, as in these villages the hatred against the army was so great, that it seemed as if all the inhabitants had mutually agreed, to allow the foe to procure nothing they could possibly prevent, by the strictest care, nor could we obtain the smallest morsel of flesh, and now much lamented we had not accepted the sheep proffered us in the morning. It is true, it only required a sign from Mohammed Din, and we would have been supplied, and in abundance, with all we could wish for; but as he mistrusted us on account of our note-takings, and classed us among the Turks, this sign he did not give. Little or no coin is to be found among these people, but they are acquainted with the Theresa-thaler, or dollar (value one thaler, twenty piastres), which they call a real, and this they demanded from us for the merest trifles, the true value of which was not two or three pence. Austria still continues to have these thalers coined from the old die, for eastern use, and these are called by the Arabs here “Abu Nukta” (father of drops, _i.e._, the pearls in the diadem of the Empress Maria Theresa, of which there are numbers). The Kolonates in the land of Sudan call them “Abu Mutfa,” mistaking the pillars of Hercules on them for cannon. In the Levant the Spanish money is commonly called piastres (from piasto), although it is reduced to one twentieth part of its value, and it is possible, that the Arab and Turkish words gersch and grusch for piastre, may be the origin of our groschen.

To see at least as much as possible of the village, and its environs, we two, arming ourselves only with our sabres, now set out for a walk, but without our knowing it, two completely armed Schaigies followed us, and ere long, two young lads, relations of Sheik Mussa, joined us, to provide for our safety, as we afterwards learned. The whole village is formed of mat huts, and is similar in all respects to El Soffrè; its extent is great, and its population numerous, and seemingly rich in cattle. As we marched through it, the people stared greatly at us, the women ran off to hide themselves, as if from evil spirits, and the children who rushed out from their so-called schools, laughed at and mocked us, for they had never before seen white men. To our great satisfaction, we turned into a merissa drinking shop, which, erected under a large tree, was filled with men. We seated ourselves on some square stools with backs, and were at once supplied with some stout beakers full of merissa, which, being good, we relished much, and it even made us feel somewhat in the wind. In such places, the Arabs will sit from early morning to late eve, drinking and carousing, and often eating nothing for many days, as merissa is meat and drink too. Here I remarked for the first time, that even among these dark-skinned men, some red colour is perceptible on their cheeks, such being the case with some of the topers here, who, from copious libations, had sent most of the blood into their heads, as was shown by their deeply flushed though swarthy faces. The nephew of the Sheik Mussa, whom our old camp- neighbour Mohammed Defalla had made our friend, had, on our entering, explained to the company, that we were not Turks, but Inglebs, English, a word which here seems to answer to the Frank of the East; all therefore were friendly and kind, and more so, when they found we drank stoutly. They were particularly pleased, when we taught them the _a tempo_ drinking, in which, from our old student-habits, we came off victorious. In their now confidential intimacy, they told us, they would soon settle matters with the Turks, if Mohammed Din so willed it.

The chaaba near here shows a thick strong bush, intermixed with high old trees, the ground below strewed with uprooted trees and bearing tall grasses. Many fine trees were not to be seen as the violent and sudden hurricanes that occur in the rainy season break over or uproot the high trees, for the soil becomes so saturated with the heavy floods that the roots retain but a poor hold. The chaaba or forest extends from the Atbara to the Red Sea and upwards to Habesch. It is the abode of unnumbered elephants, many of whose immense spinal joint bones we found lying among the grass, of rhinoceroses, lions generally without manes, tigers, hyenas, giraffes, gazelles, large antelopes, wild asses, wolves, cats, &c., and immense numbers of most venomous snakes. From fear of these no Arab will at night move outside his seriba. To form a clear and broad path, such as the Romans cut through the German forests, through this overgrown and dense wilderness, would require many thousand European axes, but such as the Pascha has already given out to the soldiery, many times during our march to clear the way, would be perfectly useless for such a gigantic task. On our return to the well a little before sunset, we found all the Schaigies on the move to take possession of a seriba outside the village, partly for security against the lions, who at night come out from the forest to the water, and partly as a precaution against the hostile-minded Arabs. We could not decline going with them, and encamped with Melek Mammud, in the centre of his troop and of the seriba, thus forming the staff. In the evening some bread was brought us (thin cakes piled on each other like pancakes), but neither flesh, milk, nor butter. Fortunately we had got our rice and chammerdin; flat cakes made of apricots and other things, a sweet compound of Syria; still left us, and at length the old Chingi, whom Joseph had often in the camp given medicine to with satisfactory results, sent us some milk in a girbe. We passed the night in sound agreeable sleep, and were only once awakened by the horrible howlings of troops of hyenas prowling around the village, and setting all the dogs into commotion and uproar. At the entrance (bab) of our seriba slept Mohammed Din himself. In such good odour did we stand with the natives.

At sunrise next morning all in our seriba were in motion, as the soldiers were to accompany Mohammed Din, who was about to go, with the purpose of gathering contributions, to his tribe in the large village, Fille, which lies some two and a half or three hours’ journey to the S.E. of Sheik Mussa’s village, and is similar to all these settlements. Between the villages extend large fields or plains covered with durra, with a few trees interspersed among them. We also prepared for the march, and as we did so had again a good example of the ingratitude of these people;—the old Chingi did not blush to demand back the old worthless girbe he had sent us the night before with the milk, and which, there being yet some left in it, we had already had packed on our camel. Furious at such niggardly conduct in one who owed so much to my brother’s care and medical attention, I threw the skin, milk, and all to the ground, and rode off. We should have liked to have remained some time longer in Mitkenab, but the young relative of Sheik Mussa urged our departure, ready for which waited an Arab escort; and we held it wisest to follow his well-meant advice, the more so as a report had been spread,—we knew not how or why,—that we had been expressly sent by the Pascha to take notes of the country and all we saw, so that he might hereafter be guided by these when he advanced into it. So had we not soon taken ourselves off, it might have easily occurred to the natives that it would be as well to put such dangerous notes and note-takers out of the way. At the edge of the forest a troop of Arabs, armed with shields and lances, friends of the Sheik Mussa, awaited us and accompanied us on our journey; and as long as our way lay through this forest, we had to sit crouching on our dromedaries’ backs, from the lowness of the branches, till we again got into our old path among the durra fields. This young man, who, next morning accepting our invitation, accompanied us into the camp, acted thus to protect us from an intended attack, which might have cost us our lives, had he not fortunately heard of it, and so avoided it. This evil opinion of us Melek Mahmud afterwards confirmed, and told us the people were very much excited (salahn) from our taking such accurate notice of every thing.

Our way back led through the same country we had already seen, but our march was very slow, as our dromedaries, from all supplies being yesterday refused us, had been without food; and on their account we were often obliged to stop to allow them to browse on the trees as they went along. We again rode along the gohr in Mohammed Din’s village, and quietly dismounted at Sali Effendi’s small branch-formed hut, he having proceeded somewhere else on his tribute-collecting business. Although this hut was open on both sides, we fortunately found here a store of some pieces of flesh which we much enjoyed, and by promise of some medicine for the cholic, we obtained from a Sheik some merissa; but from the natives themselves, as before, nothing was to be had. Towards evening we reached our own camp; but some half hour before doing so we came on some trees, where many hundreds of turtle doves were roosting, so that we soon supplied ourselves with materials for a supper; though many we shot we had to leave on the ground, as we dared not venture into the bushes to pick them up, from the numerous venomous snakes and other insects, and the darkness, too, which was setting in. On our return, we had again been met by long trains of Arabs bearing away durra from the fields to their hiding places.

The cotton plantations round our camp of Aronga were, indeed, of considerable extent, and even during the present dry season offered a vigorous and fresh verdure that showed their healthiness, but neither in extent or luxuriance are they to be compared to the durra fields, nor are they, considering their great importance, at all in keeping with the numbers of the Haddenda; it is true the Haddenda are yet too much of the Bedouin,—a race that shun and despise all kinds of domestic labour, and who, if they had cotton plantations, would be tied to these spots; but loving wandering much more, they prefer bartering their durra for cloths made at Hedjas, to growing and preparing such themselves. But yet what might not be made of this splendid land, the fruitfulness of which is so well nourished by the moisture of subterraneous waters, the regular fall of rain, and overflows from the Abyssinian mountains and the hills of Kassela, Abrit, &c.,—a soil that, in spite of hurricanes and the ever repeated forest burnings, never ceases to produce splendid trees, and crops of tallest durra, without tilling or manure, with stalks of fifteen and twenty feet in height, and yielding fifteen and eighteen fold of the best sort and fullest ear, growing cotton within one year to a height of five feet. What, I ask, might not be done with and grown on such a soil? And what is it now? Nothing! save this durra, some little cotton, and a few beans;—this durra, the straws or stalk of which are left standing on the fields, the cattle turned in to feed on it, then left to wind and weather, not to decay, and so return something to the soil as manure, but to be almost wholly swept away by the floods in the rainy season; this from the extraordinary moderation of the natives answers all their wants; for with it, a little milk, and a few beans, all their wants and desires in the way of food are fully satisfied. Undoubtedly all our grains and vegetables would grow splendidly here, so that this land might be made the granary for the grain-needing Hedjas, which is only saved from famine by the gratis delivery of the whole annual crop from the district round Kenne; or when this is insufficient, has to be fed from the lands of Sint and Manfallut in Egypt. Indigo might be cultivated here as well as in Egypt, where its culture is by no means inconsiderable; rice also, tobacco, oil, flax, and especially sugar, which, from the quantity of wood in the neighbourhood might be refined on the spot, whereas it has now to be brought from India. A matter of high importance would also be the planting of date trees. For many days’ journey from Gos Rajeb, the banks of the river are covered with dhom forests; here, too, in certain spots are to be seen magnificent dhom trees, and where these flourish, all the date tribe will do so; and this might be a source of much profit, as in Egypt. Gum- trees we have as yet seen none, many as are their uses. Where now old useless fruitless trees cumber the ground, might soon flourish, oranges, sweet and bitter (Portugahn), pomegranates (Ruman), figs (tihn), nay, even the vine itself (einap).[12]

The position of the land is also highly favourable for the export of its superabundant produce. It lies between the Red Sea and the Nile: to Sauachinn, on the former, is fourteen or fifteen days’ journey for laden camels; to Berber, on the Nile, ten or twelve; from both of these places there is abundance of transport. Then it is more than probable, that, without much difficulty, the Atbara might be made navigable as far as Gos Rajeb, for at least four months in the year; for though, as far as we could judge from a view of its bed in the summer or dry season, this is full of sand banks and sunken rocks, still the banks show most plainly how high the river rises, and what an immense body of water it contains in the rainy season, and as far as my opinion goes, I see no reason why it could not be easily made available for transport. To found stores and magazines at various places, and convey the produce there would certainly be necessary, and this, ere the rainy season set in, as then all roads become impassable for man or beast. But could not these channels of communication be improved? If the natives, by widening these, cutting down the large trees, and clearing the dense bush, would only expose them to the drying powers of wind and sun, then would undoubtedly the roads be available for traffic a month earlier than now. The present so-called roads (derba, sicca, main roads) are nothing but narrow, nay often hardly traceable footpaths, at times formed by the wild animals, which, by their constant and repeated windings to avoid thickets or other small impediments, greatly lengthen the way, and such paths too are ever overgrown with trees, and choked up with brush and jungle.

At present all trade is confined to honey, durra, butter, and salt, brought by the natives on the Red Sea; but this might be much increased and extended to other articles,—cattle-breeding, for instance; the present most numerous herds, by a little attention, might be easily improved and greatly increased, as their support is a matter of no difficulty, and hides might thus become articles of trade. By like care and improvement of the flocks of sheep, wool might be added, while at present these animals are only used for their flesh, and that not as a source of gain. Even the very beasts of prey, lions, tigers, panthers, &c., although their numbers would certainly much diminish with a better cultivation of the land, might for many years to come be a source of great profit in their skins and furs. This the natives would soon find out, and with the knowledge of their value would soon evince the wish to procure them, even though at the cost of a little toil and danger. But most of all would the cotton, at present grown only in such small quantities as not to suffice for the wants of the land, become a trading object of the highest importance. When one beholds in what abundance and beauty it flourishes, even under the present careless and low culture, one must at once be convinced what an immense crop might be produced, merely by some little more attention being bestowed on it. Here there would be no need, as there is in Egypt, to provide for the regular watering of the plants, a work of immense labour; and to this great advantage it is to be added, that the larger mass of the people have at least some acquaintance with the management of this crop,—an advantage inestimable with a race that clings so inveterately to all that is handed down to them from ancient times, manners, habits, customs, modes of life and labour, and who look upon each change and innovation as a diminution of the dignity of their free descent, and a violation of their hereditary rights from oldest time. Trade in elephants’ teeth and tusks there is at present almost none, although, from the immense numbers of these animals, such might be furnished in abundance by the natives, and much more easily and readily than those brought, with long delay and much trouble, from the distant country of Darfur.

A great saving on the other hand might be made by discontinuing the expenditure at present laid out in the purchase of horses from Habesch; the breed, too, is small and ugly, and it is only too evident that here far better animals might be bred and reared. If these and the numerous oxen were trained and employed in agriculture, what a large body of men would be left disposable for other branches of industry—by their employment, arrangements might be made for a general and regular irrigation of the whole country. At present many large fields are, for irrigating purposes, intersected with ditches and small walls of six inches or one foot deep or high, but this is far from sufficient, and only by wisely regulated and extensive arrangements, could the power be attained of watering all at a wish, and only by proper machines for raising this wealth of nature from the subterraneous streams and reservoirs, could a certain and secure supply be depended on during the dry season of the year, for the crops which here require an ever copious and repeated supply of moisture. And why should not manufactures be introduced into a land where hands and wood are in plenty? Everywhere at a greater or less depth clay is to be found in abundance, and out of this, from which the natives form good and lasting dishes and water jars, surely bricks could be made. The capital required for carrying out these plans indeed would be large, but then it would as surely be repaid, and with interest, in a very few years, and it would also call into existence a people and country, who, from agriculture, manufacture, and trade, would be entitled to rank among the most thriving.

On our return to camp we were questioned by all, and about all, but most especially as to the numbers of the natives. In the evening we waited on the Pascha to report our return. He was also most curious and anxious to gain information, and to lead us to speak freely he again went over his before often declared magnificent plans for the future. His views as to the goodness of the land, and its fitness for growing all kinds of produce, as also of its happy position, were on the whole most just, only he allowed far too short a time for the realization of his ardent hopes, and would with too hasty zeal at once set about its improvement and alteration, only, like all Turks, the sooner to leave all off again. Even now, when as yet not a step had been taken, he set about counting up the sums he was to draw from these lands, for the Turk will hear or think of nothing else but gathering money in such sums as by cunning, injustice, oppression, or violence, he can lay his hands on, nor even trouble his head that in so doing he may ruin the future welfare of his subjects, and at the same time destroy all source of revenue to himself.

An idea, that has originated in the hatred borne by the races to each other, has been put into the Pascha’s head by Mohammed Ehle. This is, that the fall of the waters can be cut off above the Gohr el Gash, and thus the lands of Taka be deprived of the necessary supply for agricultural purposes, and the forests of the Chaaba be caused to wither. He now firmly believes he can carry this out, and so force the people of Taka to purchase from him, by an immense yearly tribute, the waters for the irrigation of their fields, congratulating himself greatly on the completion of this wondrous deed, of which he seems to dream day and night. How far such hopes are reasonable we cannot determine, as we know so little about the size of this gohr, and its influence on the lands of the Haddenda and others. But still we think that were the streams of the gohr diverted, sufficient water would yet sink into the ground to keep the wells supplied, and that from the falls of rain that occur before the regular rainy season, as well as from the immense floods that, according to all accounts, pour down during the Chariff, the damming up of the gohr may not have those consequences of which the Pascha dreams, and this we suspect will be the fact, even after hearing his most vivid and certainly biassed account of his scheme.

To in some degree justify so harsh a measure, the Pascha is to-day of opinion, that the present natives are mere children, and must be treated as such; that one must have patience with them, and what cannot be got out of them this year, they must be compelled to pay the next; this, he says, is why he has observed the greatest moderation and kindness towards them, and not set on them with fire and sword. So far as we have got any insight into the character of these races, such kindness seems little likely to be estimated by them; only a stern and strict rule that inspires fear (but not such as the Turks practise, which inspires more vengeance than terror,) will keep them in order, and in time, perchance, overcome their opposition to all reform. To once accustom these unruly tribes to settled dwellings and regular labour will be a formidable task, and of all the Turks we have met with in Bellad-Sudan, not one seems in the least qualified to effect it. Besides, the smallest change in the rule in Egypt might rend altogether from Turkish dominion the countries of Taka, Baraka, Atisch, Kataref, &c., as then the troops necessary to hold them, would be nowhere to be procured.

Some days after our trip a violent attack of fever overcame us both, and for some time deprived us of all power of writing or thinking, and also caused us to lose our reckoning of time; so that for the future no more journalising or exact dates can be attempted.

At length the confusion of the camp has been in some degree put an end to; between the seribas and the small huts of the soldiery a free space is now left of some fifty paces broad, the various bodies of cavalry and infantry are separated, and each have certain places allotted to them. Still in the various divisions there is yet much confusion, every one setting down his hut where he pleases, and never heeding in the slightest how it blocks up or impedes the way. The Pascha is perfectly ennuied, seeks to make time pass by, exercising himself in the sports of the jerreed, with his Schaigies, who perform this oriental tournay in all its dangerous irregularities, in the most masterly manner, as if they were real centaurs—or he makes the Dinka practise before his tent the staff-throwing at each other, which causes many bloody mouths and severe contusions for the doctors to attend to. He also labours hard in his own person, at that most important business, the tavela reale, of which he never wearies, and in which in turn Topschi Baschi, Abd el Kader, and Abdin Aga aid and assist him, so that a lively rattling of the dice is ever kept up, the sound of which is plainly audible to all who pass his tent. At first, when thus engaged, Topschi Baschi was so fortunate as to be allowed to sit, but now he must stand the whole time, so that a proper respect may be maintained between him and his master. As another relief to his overlaboured mind, the great man has caused Mohammed Ehle to procure him an Abyssinian damsel, whom he has quartered in a hut with a high enclosure round it, and for whose amusement he often of an evening orders the heart-delighting band of the 8th regiment to perform; this never fails to call up an accompaniment from every ass in the camp, and it is yet an undecided point whether the band or the asses have the best of it. But these long-eared gentry do not disdain to get up a concert of their own, as hardly a night passes that we are not repeatedly awoke from our sleep by the sweet voices of some 5000 or 6000 asses. Let one only commence, all chime in; the splendid deep notes of the older males mix with the shrill treble of the young females, and then the more stately camels fail not with vigorous roarings or growlings, to join their voices in good time and tune, to the harmonious concert.