Chapter X: Part II: Egypt (5)

The bull is sometimes castrated. Yet of the animals slaughtered in the market I have generally observed that the emasculated are fewest in number; nor is any preference given to the one over the other for food. Indeed, the character of animals in the entire state appears materially to differ from what is remarked of the same animals with us. The horned cattle, fed by the tribes in the vicinity of the rivers, amounts to a very considerable number, and the tribute paid out of them to the monarch forms a valuable part of his revenue. Thence they are brought to the several towns for slaughter. The beef is good: the Egyptians dislike it, but with the natives it is a constant article of food. Cows are also in abundance, but their milk is not very palatable: some of the settlers make it into a kind of cheese, but the inhabitants are not generally acquainted with that process; they have, however, a mode of giving it an acescent taste, and in that state it may be kept a few days, and is neither disagreeable nor insalubrious.

The camels of Fûr are of a mixed breed, and they are found of all colours and sizes. Those which come directly from the West or South are large, smooth-haired, and most frequently of a colour approaching to white, or light brown. Those which are brought from Kordofân are many of them black, and are remarked to be less docile than the others. There are few countries where the animal abounds more than in Dar-Fûr. They are remarkable for enduring thirst, but not for bearing great burthens. The camels in this country are particularly subject to the mange, (_Gerab_,) which attacks them chiefly in winter, and in some pastures much more than in others. This malady is very contagious. It is cured by the application of a kind of tar, procured by distillation per deliquium, from the seeds of the water-melon. When the male camel is found unruly, they sometimes deprive him of one or both testicles. It is a cruel operation, as immediately after having incided with an ordinary knife, they sear the wound with an hot iron till the hemorrhage be stopped. It may be doubted whether this practice be permitted by the law of the Prophet; but, however bigoted their minds, where advantage is hoped for, their faith is ductile. The flesh of the camel, particularly of the female, (_naka_,) which is fattened for the purpose, is here much used for food. It is insipid, but easily digested, and no way unpleasant. The milk also is much in esteem. The camels bred in Fezzân, and other countries to the West, as well as those of Arabia, are for labour reckoned superior to those of Fûr, and fetch an higher price. The former are larger and able to carry an heavier burthen, but not so capable of enduring thirst. In Soudân they seldom carry above five hundred weight, and oftener three or three and a half: while in Egypt they are frequently obliged to toil under eight, ten, or even more. From these are selected the camels which bear the sacred treasure to the tomb of the Prophet. Soudân affords many fine dromedaries, but those of Sennaar are most celebrated. Incredible stories are told of the long and rapid journies performed by them; as that they will hold out for four-and-twenty hours, travelling constantly at the rate of ten miles per hour: however this be, they are indisputably swift, and perform long journeys almost without refreshment.

The dogs of Dar-Fûr are of the same kind as those of Egypt, and live on the public like the latter. I have understood that there is in some parts of the country a species of dog, used in hunting the antelope, (_ghazâl_, Ar.) and another sort to guard the sheep; of the sagacity of the latter wonderful tales are told, as well as of the courage and fidelity of both. Experience has not enabled me to confirm the report. The common house-cat is scarce; and if I am rightly informed, there are none but what have been originally brought from Egypt. They are of the same kind as with us.

The wild or ferocious animals are, principally, the lion, the leopard, the hyena, (Fûr. _murfaîn_, _dubba_, Ar.) the wolf, the jackal, _canis aureus_, the wild buffaloe: but they are not commonly seen within the more cultivated part of the empire, at least that which I have visited, excepting the hyena and the jackal; the former come in herds of six, eight, and often more, into all the villages at night, and carry off with them whatever they are able to master. They will kill dogs, and asses, even within the inclosure of the houses, and fail not to assemble wherever a dead camel or other animal is thrown, which, acting in concert, they sometimes drag to a prodigious distance; nor are they greatly alarmed at the sight of a man, or the report of fire-arms, which I have often discharged at them, and occasionally with effect. It is related, that upon one of them being wounded, his companions instantly tear him to pieces and devour him; but I have had no opportunity of ascertaining this fact. The people of the country dig pits for them, and lying in ambuscade, when one is entrapped, stun him with clubs, or pierce him with their spears. The jackal is harmless, but his uncouth cry is heard far off, and wherever there are rocks to shelter them, their howling community dwells undisturbed.

In the countries bordering on the empire of Fûr, where water is in greater abundance, the other animals mentioned are very numerous, and much dreaded by travellers, particularly on the banks of the _Bahr-el-Ada_. To those already enumerated, may be added, the elephant, the rhinoceros, the camelopardalis, the hippopotamus, and the crocodile.

The elephant is seen, in the places he frequents, in large herds of four or five hundred, according to report. It is even said that two thousand are sometimes found together; but I do not suspect the Arabs of extreme accuracy in counting. These people hunt him on horseback, having singled out a straggler from the herd; or aim at him with spears from the trees; or make pits into which he falls. His hide is applied to many useful purposes. The African elephant is smaller than the Asiatic, and probably of a different species. The meat is an article of food in great esteem with them. The fat forms a valuable unguent, and the teeth, as is well known, supply the merchants with immense profits.

The buffaloe is not found tame in Soudân. The wild one is hunted by the Arabs, and serves them for food. The hippopotamus is killed for his skin, (which being remarkably tough, makes excellent shields, and whips not wholly unlike our horse-whips) and for his teeth, which are much superior to ivory. The horn of the rhinoceros, to which animal the Arabs have applied a term somewhat less appropriate than the Greek, but still characteristic, (_Abu-kurn_, father of the one horn,) makes a valuable article of trade, and is carried to Egypt, where it is sold at an high price, being used for sabre-hilts, and various other purposes. The more credulous attribute to it some efficacy as an antidote against poison.

The antelope and the ostrich are extremely common throughout the empire. The civet-cat is not seen wild in the quarter which I visited, but is frequent enough farther to the South. Many are preserved in cages in the houses of the rich. The women apply the odour extracted from them to add to their personal allurements; and what is not thus disposed of becomes an article of trade.

The lion and leopard, though common in a certain district, are not found near the seat of government. The Arabs hunt them, strip off the skin, which they sell, and often eat the flesh, which they conceive generates courage and a warlike disposition. They occasionally take them young, and bring them for sale to the Jelabs, who sometimes carry them as presents to the great men in Egypt. I purchased two lions: the one was only four months old when I bought him. By degrees, having little else to employ me, I had rendered him so tame, that he had acquired most of the habits of a dog. He satiated himself twice a week with the offal of the butchers, and then commonly slept for several hours successively. When food was given them they both grew ferocious towards each other, and towards any one who approached them. Except at that time, though both were males, I never saw them disagree, nor shew any sign of ferocity towards the human race. Even lambs passed them unmolested. The largest had grown to the height of thirty inches and a half over the shoulders.

The _ennui_ of a painful detention, devoid of books and rational society, was softened by the company of these animals; and the satisfaction was not small, even from this species of diversion. At length, towards the end of my stay, after they had been with me more than two years, finding it impossible, under the circumstances I then was, to carry them with me, I shot the one; and the other, either from disease or the loss of his companion, died a few days afterwards. The Sultan had also two tame lions, which, with their attendant, came into the market to feed.

The remaining quadrupeds may be classed more briefly; for being all known, they will require no particular description.

Ar.

_Mus Jaculus_—Jerboa.

_Simia Æthiops_—Abelang.

_Histria ciestria_— _Porcupine_.

_Simia cynamolgos_—kurd Ar.

BIRDS.

1. _Charadrius Kerwan_—Oriental dotterel.

2. _Numida Meleagris_—Guinea fowl.

3. _Tetrao Coturnix_—Egyptian quail.

4. _Vultur Percnopterus_—White-headed vulture.

5. _Psittacus Alexandri_—Green peroquet.

6. _Columba domestica_—Common pigeon.

7. _Tetrao rufus_—Red partridge.

8. Owls (not common).

9. _Columba Turtur_, very common.

No. 4. This bird is of surprising strength, and is said by the natives to be very long-lived, _sed fides penes auctores_. I have lodged a complete charge of large shot, at about fifty yards distance, in the body of this bird: it seemed to have no effect on him, as he flew to a considerable distance, and continued walking afterwards. I then discharged the second barrel, which was loaded with ball: this broke his wing, but on my advancing to seize him, he fought with great fury with the other. There are many thousands of them in the inhabited district. They divide the field with the hyena: what carrion the latter leaves at night, the former come in crowds to feed on in the day. Near the extremity of each wing is a horny substance, not unlike the spur of an old cock. It is strong and sharp; and a formidable instrument of attack. Some fluid exsudes from this bird that smells likes musk, but from what part of him I am uncertain.

No. 2. This beautiful bird is found in great numbers in Fûr, of which the common fowl, though it now abounds, is not a native. The voice of the Guinea fowl, when apparently elated, is very peculiar. No external difference, even in this their native climate, is to be observed between the male and female of this bird. They are carried as a profitable commodity to Kahira, where however, in a domestic state, it is said they seldom or never breed.

5. These birds, in the beginning of summer, fill the trees in the vicinity of the town I lived in. They are caught unfledged, and brought up in the houses, till they become quite domestic; are then carried to Egypt, and taught a kind of speech, which being acquired, they are sold at a high price.

Of fish I saw none but what were too much disguised by drying to be recognised.

The fish in the river _Ada_, I am told, consist of nearly the same species as those of the Nile in Upper Egypt. They are caught in wicker baskets, and used for food.—The natives have also a way of drying them, but it does not prevent their being so offensive to the smell, as to be useless to any but themselves. Numerous huts built of reeds are found on the bank of the river, as well for the use of the fishermen, as of those who ensnare the ferocious animals that come to drink its waters.

The Chameleon abounds in Dar-Fûr; the _viverra Ichneumon_, _nims_, and almost all the species of lizard are also seen there.

Of Serpents, the _Coluber Hayé_ of Egypt, the _Coluber vipera_, and the _anguis Colubrina_, were the only ones I saw: and no more than one or two of each; though it was represented to me that in some places they are numerous. The Fûrians have not the art of charming them, like the Egyptians and Indians. I exposed myself to much ridicule by collecting a number of chameleons in my apartment, to observe their character and changes; the people there think them impure, and relate many foolish stories concerning them.

A great number of insects and reptiles, which I had taken care to conserve, accident has deprived me of, and I cannot now furnish a catalogue. The scorpion is small, of a brown hue, and his venom not extremely violent. The natives cure the sting by immediately applying to the part a bruised onion, which is renewed till the pain subsides.

The white ant, or _Termites_, is found in vast numbers, and is exceedingly destructive, eating through every thing within its reach, whether vegetables, cloth, leather, paper, provisions, &c. A bull’s hide, if not newly covered with tar, is no defence against it. The _Apis mellifera_ (common bee) abounds; but they have no hives, and the wild honey is commonly of a dark colour, and unpleasant taste. I have observed a beetle, not very large, which is characterized by burying its eggs in a small ball of horse’s or other dung, and then rolling the ball from place to place in the sand or clay, till it attains a size greatly exceeding that of the animal itself. Great quantities of cochineal are visible; which, if the natives, or the Egyptians who visit them, had any reflection or spirit, it might be thought would be applied to some useful purpose.

The locust of Arabia, _Gryllus_, is very common, and is frequently roasted and eaten, particularly by the slaves. The _Scarabeus Ceratoniæ_; the _Culex Egypti_, _namûs_ in Ar. (mosquito), is particularly vexatious in the rainy season.

METALS AND MINERALS.

Of metals, the number found in the district known to me, is small. But in its neighbourhood, to the South and West, if I have been rightly informed, almost all descriptions are to be met with. The copper brought by the merchants from the territories of certain idolatrous tribes bordering on Fûr, is of the finest quality, in colour resembling that of China, and appears to contain a portion of zink, being of the same pale hue. The large rings into which it is formed (of ten or twelve pounds weight each) are very malleable: of the ore I never was able to procure a specimen. Iron is to be found in abundance, and the Pagan negroes, on whom the Mohammedans look with contempt, are the artists that extract it from the ore; an art of which the former, as far as I have seen, are ignorant. Though their iron, through the stupidity of the inhabitants, never acquire the more useful character of steel, its effects in the form of knives and javelins are yet commensurate with the malign dispositions of mankind. And though soft and perishable, with increased trouble in renewing the edge, the tools formed of it answer all the purposes of their rude workmanship.

The method by which I observed a workman supply the defect of a furnace for fusing metals appeared worth noticing. He had a leathern bag, which, on compression, forced the air through a wooden pipe for bellows, and placed over the fire, made in a small hole in the earth, the remains of a water jar, with which simple apparatus the effect was rapid and not inconsiderable.

Silver, lead, and tin, I have never heard mentioned here, but as coming from Egypt. Of gold, in the countries to the East and West, the supply is abundant. Little comes to Dar-Fûr, except by accident. What is produced in the West reaches the northern markets by means of other caravans. The monarch occasionally obtains a small quantity for his own use from the East.

Alabaster, and various kinds of marble, exist within the limits of Fûr. The rocks chiefly consist of grey granite. But of stone adapted to building, or convertible into lime, either there is none, or the quantity must be extremely small. The granite serves for hand-mills without being cut, for the metal of which their tools are composed is too soft to be employed for that purpose.

Fossile salt is common within a certain district: and there is a sufficient supply of nitre, of which however no use is made. A quantity of sulphur is brought by the Arabs, who feed oxen (_Bukkara_) from the South and West. But of the place where it is found I have heard no description. It must also exist on the mountain called Gebel Marra; as it is related there are hot springs there; which animals, particularly birds, are observed not to approach; this, if true, may be the effect of sulphureous vapours.

PLANTS.

Though my residence in Dar-Fûr was so much protracted, I feel myself able to furnish only a very imperfect catalogue of its vegetable productions. These are to be sought chiefly in the districts to the South, where water abounds, and where the extreme restraint under which I found myself prevented me from seeking them.

During seven or eight months in the year the whole surface of the earth to the North is dried up by the sun, and the minute plants which spring and flourish during the _Harîf_[45], are mingled in the general marcescence, as soon as that season is passed. Even the trees, whose fibres pierce more deeply into the substance of their parent soil, lose the distinctive marks of their proper foliage, and exhibit to the distant observer only the sharp outline of their grosser ramifications.

Of the trees which shade our forests or adorn our gardens in Europe, very few exist in Dar-Fûr. The characteristic marks of those species which most abound there, are their sharp thorns, and the solid and unperishable quality of their substance. 1. The Tamarind is not very common in the quarter I frequented; but those which were visible to me were of great height and bulk, and bore a copious supply of fruit.

2. The Plane, platanus Orientalis, _Deleib_, is found, but seems rather to have been brought from Egypt, than indigenous.

3. Sycamore of Egypt, _Ficus Sycomorus_, _Gimmeiz_, a few near Cobbé; said to be much more common to the southward. I did not observe that it produced any fruit.

4. _Nebbek_ Ar. _Paliurus Athenæi_. Of this there are two species in Dar-Fûr. They term the largest _Nebbek-el-arab_. There is a difference in their fruit, as well as in their external appearance. The one is a bush, with leaves of dark green, not very different from those of the ivy, but much thinner. It appeared to be the same I had seen in the gardens of Alexandria. The other a tree, growing to considerable size, but having both the leaves and fruit smaller, and the fruit of darker colour, and somewhat different flavour. Both of them equally thorny. The natives eat the fruit fresh or dry; for it dries on the tree, and so remains great part of the winter months. In that state it is formed into a paste of not unpleasant flavour, and is a portable provision on journies.

5. _Heglîg_ or _Hejlij_, Ar. This tree is about the same size as the one last mentioned, and is said to be a native of Arabia, though I have seen it only in Fûr.—The leaf is small, and the fruit it bears is of an oblong form, about the size of a date. Colour brown, tinctured with orange; dry, and of a viscous quality. The nucleus is large in proportion to the fruit, which adheres to it with great tenacity. This is also formed into a paste, but of no agreeable flavour. It is however eaten by the Arabs, and by some esteemed efficacious as a remedy for certain diseases. It seems a slight diuretic. The wood is hard, and of a yellowish colour; it grows in great abundance, and is very thorny. This, together with the _Nebbek_, chiefly furnish thorns for the fences.

6. _Enneb_, a small tree, to the fruit of which they have given the name of grapes. It bears leaves of light green hue, and the fruit, which is of a purple colour, is attached, not in bunches, but singly to the smaller branches, and interspersed among the leaves. The internal structure of the fruit is not very unlike the grape, which it also resembles in size. But the pulp is of a red hue, and the taste is strongly astringent.

7. _Shaw_, Ar. a shrub about the size of the Arbutus, having, like it, a leaf of strong texture, of oval form, pale green, wider at the lower, and narrower at the upper extremity than the arbutus.—The leaf has the pungency and very much the taste of mustard. This shrub I saw chiefly in _Wadi Shaw_, a place we passed in going and returning, between Sweini and Bîr-el-malha. The natives cut off the smaller branches, which they use to rub their teeth, alleging that the acrid juice of this plant has the property of whitening them.

From an exact correspondence as to the place of its growth, viz. near the salt springs, the camels not eating it, and some other circumstances, I take this to be the _Rack_ of Bruce, vol. v. p. 44. though unable to recognize it in the figure there given.

8. Ceratonia Siliqua, _Charôb_.

9. Solanum sanctum, nightshade, _Beidinjan_, or _Melingân_, brought originally from Egypt, and used for food.

10. _El Henne_, from Egypt, growing into use.

11. _Sophar_, Ar. Cassia sophera, wild senna, native, and grows in plenty after the rains.

12. _Sûnt_, Mimosa Nilotica, in great quantity.—It is from this tree, which is also called _Seiâl_, that the gum, brought to Egypt by the caravans, is chiefly gathered. There are also found the trees called by Bruce _Ergett Dimmo_, and _Ergett-el-Kurûn_, and the _Farek_, Bauhinia Acuminata of the same writer.

13. A kind of legumen called _Fûl_, bean. It is not much used for food, but as an ornament by the women, being strung in the form of beads, when quite dry, at which time it is very hard. It is also used as a weight of four or five grains.

14. A beautiful legumen, of a scarlet colour, with a black spot at the point of attachment to its cyst. It is called in Dar-Fûr _Shûsh_; is about the size of a small pea, hard and polished; grows on a plant resembling tares; is strung and used as an ornament by the women.

15. The common onion, Allium cepe, _Bassal_, Ar. is abundantly supplied in Dar-Fûr, but inferior in size, taste, and colour, to that of Egypt.

16. Garlick, Allium sativum, _Tûm_ Ar. cultivated and used for food.

17. Water-melon, Cucurbita citrullus, _Butteik_ Ar. This grows wild over almost all the cultivable lands, and ripens as the corn is removed. In this state it does not attain a large size. The inside is of a pale hue, and has little flavour. As it ripens, the camels, asses, &c. are turned to feed on it, and it is said to fatten them. The seeds, as they grow blackish, are collected to make a kind of tar, _Kutrân_. Those plants of the melon which receive artificial culture grow to a large size, and are of exquisite flavour.

18. Common melon, Cucumis melo, _Kawûn_ Ar. is occasionally cultivated, but rarely brought to perfection.

19. Cucumbers, Cucumis sativus, _Cheiar_ Ar. of which the Jelabs have introduced the culture, as well as of the preceding.

20. Gourd, Cucurbita Lagenaria, _Karra_ Ar. This serves for drinking-vessels and other purposes. It is found in abundance. When fresh, it is used for food, and being properly dressed with meat, is very palatable. Grows to a large size.

21. Cœlocynthis, _Handal_ Ar. very common.

22. Momordica Elaterium, _Adjûr_ Ar. also very common.

23. _Ushar_. This plant abounds so much as to cover whole plains. No other use is made of it than to spread its branches and leaves under mats and goods, which it is said guards them from the _Termis_ or white ant.

24. Nightshade, Solanum foliis hirsutis, _Enneb-el-dîb_.

25. Hemp, Cannabis vulgaris, _Hashîsh_, Ar. is now become an article of regular culture, being used in various ways as an aphrodisiac, and in different proportion as a narcotic. _Hashîsh_ is a general name for green herbs, but chiefly appropriated to this: it is chewed in its crude state, inhaled by means of a pipe, or formed, with other ingredients, into an electuary, _maijun_. In Egypt the consumption of this article is much greater than in Dar-Fûr, but the best is that of Antioch in Syria.

26. Rice, Oryza, _Oruzz_ Ar. is brought in small quantities by the wandering Arabs, who find it growing wild in the places they frequent. It is little used or esteemed, and indeed has no quality to recommend it.

27. Cayenne pepper, _chetti_ or _Tchetti_, in the language of the country, is extremely common in one district, whence it is dispersed over the country and used with food.

28. Kidney-bean, _Lubi_ Ar.

29. _Meluchia_.

30. _Bamêa_, in great abundance.

31. A plant of the same size with the _Meluchia_, of very dark green, strong smell and taste. It grows in great quantity, and with the natives forms a principal article of food. They call it _Cowel_.

32. Sesamum, _Simsim_, Ar. From this an oil is extracted. It is also bruised in a mortar, and mixed with the food. It is even used by the great to fatten their horses.

33. _Mahreik_, and _Dokn_, the holcus dochna, of _Forskal_, as has been already mentioned, are the basis of their provision, but chiefly the latter.

34. Tobacco is produced in abundance in Fertît and Dar Fungaro. It seems to be unquestionably of native growth.

CHAP. XIX.

DAR-FÛR.

_Government — History — Agriculture, &c. — Population — Building — Manners and customs — Revenue — Articles of commerce, &c._

_Government._

The magistracy of one, which seems tacitly, if it be not expressly favoured by the dispensation of Mohammed, as in most other countries professing that religion, prevails in Dar-Fûr. The monarch indeed can do nothing contrary to the Korân, but he may do more than the laws established thereon will authorise: and as there is no council to control or even to assist him, his power may well be termed despotic. He speaks in public of the soil and its productions as his personal property, and of the people as little else than his slaves.

When manifest injustice appears in his decisions, the _Fukkara_, or ecclesiastics, express their sentiments with some boldness, but their opposition is without any appropriate object, and consequently its effects are inconsiderable. All the monarch fears is a general alienation of the minds of the troops, who may at their will raise another, as enterprising and unprincipled as himself, to the same envied superiority.

His power in the provinces is delegated to officers who possess an authority equally arbitrary. In those districts, which have always or for a long time formed an integral part of the empire, these officers are generally called _Meleks_. In such as have been lately conquered, or perhaps, more properly, have been annexed to the dominion of the Sultan, under certain stipulations, the chief is suffered to retain the title of Sultan, yet is tributary to and receives his appointment from the Sultan of Fûr.

In this country, on the death of the monarch, the title descends of right to the oldest of his sons; and in default of heirs male, as well as during the minority of those heirs, to his brother. But under various pretences this received rule of succession is frequently infringed. The son is said to be too young, or the late monarch to have obtained the government by unjust means; and, at length, the pretensions of those who have any apparent claim to the regal authority are to be decided by war, and become the prize of the strongest.

It was in this manner that the present Sultan gained possession of the Imperial dignity. A preceding monarch, named _Bokar_, had three sons, _Mohammed_, surnamed _Teraub_, _el-Chalîfe_, and _Abd-el-rachmân_. Teraub the eldest (which cognomen was acquired by the habit of rolling in the dust when a child) first obtained the government. He is said to have ruled thirty-two lunar years, one of the longest reigns remembered in the history of the country. The sons he left at his death being all young, the second brother, under pretence that none of them was old enough to reign, which was far from being the fact, and in some degree favoured by the troops for the generosity by which he was eminently distinguished, under the title of _Chalîfe_, vicegerent of the realm, assumed the reins of government. His reign was of short duration, and characterised by nothing but violence and rapine. He had been only a short time seated on the throne, when a discontented party joining with the people of Kordofân, in a war with whom his brother Teraub had perished, found employment for him in that quarter. Abd-el-rachmân, who, during the life of his brother, had assumed the title of _Faquîr_, and apparently devoted himself to religion, was then in Kordofân. He took advantage of the situation of the Chalîfe, and the increasing discontent of the soldiery, to get himself appointed their leader. Returning towards Fûr, he met his brother in the field, and they came to an engagement, which, whether by the prowess of Abd-el-rachmân, or the perfidy of the other’s adherents, is unknown, was decided in favour of the former. The Chalîfe was wounded; and while one of his sons parried the blows that were aimed at his life, they perished together covered with wounds. The children of Teraub, the rightful heirs, were in the mean time forgotten, and are now wandering about, scraping a miserable subsistence from the parsimonious alms of their usurping uncle. Abd-el-rachmân thought fit to sacrifice but one of them, who being of mature age, and, according to general report, endowed with talents greater than the rest, was the chief object of his suspicion and his fears.

The usurper, after the victory, found himself in peaceable possession of the throne; yet judging it right to maintain for a time the shew of moderation and self-denial, he employed that dissimulation for which his countrymen are famous, in persuading them that his affections were fixed on the blessings of futurity, and that he was indifferent to the splendour of empire. He refused even to see the treasures of his deceased brother, in gold, slaves, &c. and as he entered the interior of the palace drew the folds of his turban over his eyes, saying the temptation was too great for him, and invocating the Supreme Being to preserve him from its effects. For a certain time too he confined himself to the possession of four wives (free women) allowed by the law of the Prophet. At length, finding his claim unquestioned, and his authority firmly established, the veil of sanctity, now no longer necessary, was thrown aside, and ambition and avarice appeared without disguise. He now wastes whole days in misanthropic solitude, gazing in stupid admiration on heaps of costly apparel, and an endless train of slaves and camels, and revels in the submissive charms of near two hundred free women. Abd-el-rachmân assumed the Imperial dignity in the year of the Hejira 1202, of the Christian æra 1787. The discontent of the people however, and particularly of the soldiery in consequence of the severity of his regulations, and his personal avarice, were (1795) very much increasing, which made me imagine his reign would not be long.

_History._

Mohammed Teraub, already mentioned, was preceded by a king named Abd-el-Casim; Abd-el-Casim by Bokar; Bokar by Omar. Some of the earlier kings are yet spoken of under the names of Solyman, Mohammed, &c. But as the people of the country possess no written documents, I found those of whom I inquired often at variance both with regard to the genealogy and the succession of their monarchs. In all countries these are points of small import; but especially in one of which so few particulars are known to us. It may yet be remarked, that they commonly mention the reign of Solyman, as the epocha when Islamism began to prevail in the country. Describing this Sultan, at the same time, as of the _Dageou_ race, which swayed the sceptre long before that of Fûr became powerful. Circumstances have inclined me to believe, that the reign of this prince must have been from one hundred and thirty to one hundred and fifty years ago.

On what the natives relate of their early history, little dependence can be placed: but it seems that the _Dageou_ race came originally from the North, having been expelled from that part of Africa now, nominally at least, under the dominion of Tunis[46].

_Harvest, food, &c._

In that part of the country where I resided are found neither lakes, rivers, marshes, nor any other appearance of water but the wells which are dug for domestic consumption, except during the rainy season. At that period torrents, of greater or less dimensions, intersect the country in all directions. The rainy season lasts from before the middle of June to the middle or end of September. This season is called Harîf[47].

I have observed that the rain, which is generally very heavy and accompanied with lightning, falls most frequently from 3 P.M. till midnight.

The changes of the wind are not periodical but instantaneous. It is with a southerly wind that the greatest heat prevails; and with a South-East that the greatest quantity of rain falls. When the breeze is from the North or North-west it is most refreshing, but does not generally continue long in that quarter. The hot and oppressive winds which fill the air with thick dust blow constantly from the South.

One day, while I was sitting in the market-place at Cobbé, I observed a singular appearance in the air, which soon discovered itself to be a column of sand, raised from the desert by a whirlwind. It was apparently about a mile and a half distant, and continued about eight minutes; this phenomenon had nothing of the tremendous appearance of the columns of sand described by Bruce as rising between Assuân and Chendi, being merely a light cloud of sand.

The harvest is conducted in a very simple manner. The women and slaves of the proprietor are employed to break off the ears with their hands, leaving the straw standing, which is afterwards applied to buildings and various other useful purposes. They then accumulate them in baskets, and carry them away on their heads. When threshed, which is awkwardly and incompletely performed, they expose the grain to the sun till it become quite dry; after this an hole in the earth is prepared, the bottom and sides of which are covered with chaff to exclude the vermin. This cavity or magazine is filled with grain, which is then covered with chaff, and afterwards with earth. In this way the maize is preserved tolerably well. In using it for food, they grind it, and boil it in the form of polenta, which is eaten either with fresh or sour milk, or still more frequently with a sauce made of dried meat pounded in a mortar, and boiled with onions, &c. The Furians use little butter; with the Egyptians and Arabs it is an article in great request. There is also another sauce which the poorer people use and highly relish, it is composed of an herb called _Cowel_ or _Cawel_, of a taste in part acescent and in part bitter, and generally disagreeable to strangers.

As a substitute for bread, cakes of the same material are also baked on a smooth substance prepared for the purpose, which are extremely thin, and if dexterously prepared not unpalatable. These are called _kissery_ (fragments or sections); they are also eaten with the sauce above mentioned, or with milk, or simply water; and in whatever form the grain be used, the rich cause it to be fermented before it be reduced to flour, which gives it a very agreeable taste. They also make no hesitation in eating the dokn raw, but moistened with water, without either grinding or the operation of fire.

The Sultan here does not seem wholly inattentive to that important object, agriculture. Nevertheless, it may be esteemed rather a blind compliance with antient custom, than individual public spirit, in which has originated a practice adopted by him, in itself sufficiently laudable, since other of his regulations by no means conduce to the same end.

At the beginning of the _Harîf_, or wet season, which is also the moment for sowing the corn, the King goes out with his Meleks and the rest of his train, and while the people are employed in turning up the ground and sowing the seed, he also makes several holes with his own hand. The same custom, it is said, obtains in Bornou, and other countries in this part of Africa. It calls to the mind a practice of the Egyptian kings, mentioned by Herodotus. Whether this usage be antecedent to the introduction of Mohammedism into the country, I know not; but as it is attended with no superstitious observance, it would rather seem to belong to that creed.

_Population._

The number of inhabitants in a country in so rude a state as this is at present, it must necessarily be extremely difficult to compute with precision. Possibly the levies for war may furnish some criterion. The Sultan, for about two years, had been engaged in a very serious war with the usurper of Kordofân. The original levies for this war I have understood consisted of about two thousand men. Continual reinforcements have been sent, which may be supposed to amount to more than half that number. At present the army does not contain more than two thousand, great numbers of them having been taken off by the small-pox, and other causes. Even this number is very much missed, and the army is still spoken of as a very large one. It seems to me from this and other considerations, that the number of souls within the empire cannot much exceed two hundred thousand. Cobbé is one of their most populous towns; yet from the best computation I have been able to make, knowing the number of inhabitants in the greater part of the houses, I cannot persuade myself that the total amount of both sexes, including slaves, much exceeds six thousand. Of these the greater proportion are slaves.

_by W. G. Browne._

_to face page 284._

_London, Published by Messrs. Cadell and Davies Strand 4 June 1799._]

The houses are separated from each other by wide intervals, as each man chooses for building the spot nearest to the ground he cultivates; so that in an extent of about two miles on a line, not much more than one hundred distinct inclosures properly to be termed houses are visible. The number of villages is considerable; but a few hundred souls form the sum of the largest. There are only eight or ten towns of great population.

The people of Dar-Fûr are divided into those from the river, of whom I have already spoken, some few from the West, who are either Fukkara, or come for the purposes of trade. Arabs, who are very numerous, and some of whom are established in the country, and cannot quit it; they are of many different tribes, but the greater number are those who lead a wandering kind of life on the frontiers, and breed camels, oxen, and horses. Yet they are not, for the most part, in such a state of dependence as always to contribute effectually to the strength of the monarch in war, or to his supplies in peace. These are _Mahmîd_, the _Mahréa_, the _beni-Fesâra_, the _beni-Gerâr_, and several others whose names I do not recollect. After the Arabs come the people of Zeghawa, which once formed a distinct kingdom, whose chief went to the field with a thousand horsemen, as it is said, from among his own subjects. The Zeghawa speak a different dialect from the people of Fûr. We must then enumerate the people of Bégo or Dageou, who are now subject to the crown of Fûr, but are a distinct tribe, which formerly ruled the country. Kordofân, which is now subject to Fûr, and a number of other smaller kingdoms, as _Dar Bérti_, &c. _Dar Rugna_ has a king, who is however dependent, but more on Bergoo than on Fûr. What are the numbers of each is very difficult to say, as there are few or no data whence any thing satisfactory can be deduced.

_to face page 286._

_Brown del._

_Lowry Sculp._

_For the Description of this Plate, to which the References are made, see the End of the Appendix._]

_Building._

This art, in which more refined nations display so much ingenuity, and consume so much of their property, is here limited by the necessity that produced it. A light roof shelters the Fûrian from the sun and rain, and he fears not to be crushed by the mass which he has raised for his security. The conflagration may desolate his abode, but his soul is not appalled, for he has raised no monument of vanity to become its prey. The walls, wherever that material is to be procured, are built of clay; and the people of higher rank cover them with a kind of plaster, and colour them white, red, and black. The apartments are of three kinds, one is called a _Donga_, which is a cube commonly formed in the proportion of twenty feet by twelve. The four walls are covered with a flat roof consisting of light beams laid horizontally from side to side; over this is spread a stratum of ushar, or some other light wood, or, by those who can afford the expense, course mats; a quantity of dried horse’s or camel’s dung is laid over this; and the whole is finished with a strong and smooth coating of clay. They contrive to give the roof a slight obliquity, making spouts to carry off the water. The roof thus constructed is a tolerable protection from the rain, and the whole building is in a certain degree secure from robbers, and the other inconveniences which are there to be expected. The _Donga_ is provided with a door, consisting of a single plank, hewn with the axe, as the plane and saw are equally unknown. It is secured by a padlock, and thus constitutes the repository of all their property. The next is called a _Kournak_, which is usually somewhat larger than the _Donga_, differing from it in being without a door, and having no other roof than thatch, shelving like that of our barns, composed of Kassob, the straw of the maize, and supported by light rafters. This however is cooler in summer than the more closely covered buildings, and is appropriated to receiving company, and sleeping. The women are commonly lodged, and dress their food in another apartment of the same kind as the last, but round, and from fifteen to twenty feet in diameter: this is called _Sukteia_. The walls of the _Donga_ are often about twelve or fifteen feet high; those of the other buildings seldom exceed seven or eight, but this depends on the taste of the owner. The floor of each, by persons who are attentive to neatness, is covered with clean sand, which is changed as occasion requires. An house in which there are two _Dongas_, two _Kournaks_, and two _Sukteias_, is considered as a large and commodious one, fitted to the use of merchants of the first order. A _Rukkûba_ (shed) is frequently added, which is no more than a place sheltered from the sun, where a company sit and converse in the open air. The interior fence of the house is commonly a wall of clay. The exterior universally a thick hedge, consisting of dried branches of acacia and other thorny trees, which secures the cattle, and prevents the slaves from escaping; but which, as it takes no root, is never green, and has rather a gloomy aspect. The materials of the village houses require no particular description; they are commonly of the form of the _Sukteia_, when they rise above the appellation of hut, but the substance is the straw of the maize, or some other equally coarse and insecure. Tents are not used, except by the Meleks and great men, and these are ill-constructed. In time of war materials to construct huts are found by the soldiers, and applied without great difficulty; and the _Sarcina belli_ of each man is a light mat adapted to the size of his body.

_Manners._

The troops of the country are not famed for skill, courage, or perseverance. In their campaigns much reliance is placed on the Arabs who accompany them, and who are properly tributaries rather than subjects of the Sultan. One energy of barbarism they indeed possess, in common with other savages, that of being able to endure hunger and thirst; but in this particular they have no advantage over their neighbours. On the journey, a man whom I had observed travelling on foot with the caravan, but unconnected with any person, asked me for bread—“How long have you been without it?” said I.—“Two days,” was the reply.—“And how long without water?”—“I drank water last night.”—This was at sun-set, after we had been marching all day in the heat of the sun, and we had yet six hours to reach the well. In their persons the Fûrians are not remarkable for cleanliness. Though observing as Mohammedans all the superstitious formalities of prayer, their hair is rarely combed, or their bodies completely washed. The hair of the pubes and axillæ it is usual to exterminate; but they know not the use of soap; so that with them polishing the skin with unguents holds the place of perfect ablutions and real purity. A kind of farinaceous paste is however prepared, which being applied with butter to the skin, and rubbed continually till it become dry, not only improves its appearance, but removes from it accidental sordes, and still more the effect of continued transpiration, which, as there are no baths in the country, is a consideration of some importance. The female slaves are dexterous in the application of it, and to undergo this operation is one of the refinements of African sensuality. Their intervals of labour and rest are fixed by no established rule, but governed by inclination or personal convenience. Their fatigues are often renewed under the oppressive influence of the meridian sun, and in some districts their nightly slumbers are interrupted by the dread of robbers, in others by the musquitoes and other inconveniences of the climate.

An inveterate animosity seems to exist between the natives of Fûr and those of Kordofân. From conversations with both parties I have understood that there have been almost continual wars between the two countries as far as the memory of individuals extends. One of the causes of this hostility appears to be their relative position; the latter lying in the road between Dar-Fûr and Sennaar, which is considered as the most practicable, though not the direct communication between the former and Mekka. Nor can caravans pass from Suakem to Fûr, as appears, but by the permission of the governors of Kordofân. The jealousy of trade therefore is in part the origin of their unvaried and implacable animosity.

Nothing resembling current coin is found in Soudân, unless it be certain small tin rings, the value of which is in some degree arbitrary, and which alone obtains at El Fasher. In that place they serve as the medium of exchange for small articles, for which in others are received beads, salt, &c. These rings are made of so many various sizes, that I have known sometimes twelve, sometimes one hundred and forty of them, pass for a given quantity and quality of cotton cloth. The Austrian dollars, and other silver coins, brought from Egypt, are all sold for ornaments for the women, and some little profit attends the sale of them, but the use of them in dress is far from general.

Gold not being found within the limits of Fûr, is seldom seen in the market; when it appears there, it is in the form of rings of about one-fourth of an ounce weight each, in which state it comes from Sennaar. The Egyptian _mahbûb_, or other stamped money, none will receive but the people of that country. The other articles chiefly current, are such as belong to their dress, as cotton cloths, beads, amber, kohhel, rhéa, and on the other hand, oxen, camels, and slaves.

The disposition of the people of Fûr has appeared to me more cheerful than that of the Egyptians; and that gravity and reserve which the precepts of Mohammedism inspire, and the practice of the greater number of its professors countenances and even requires, seems by no means as yet to sit easy on them. A government perfectly despotic, and at this time not ill administered, as far as relates to the manners of the people, yet forms no adequate restraint to their violent passions[48]. Prone to inebriation, but unprovided with materials or ingenuity to prepare any other fermented liquor than _bûza_, with this alone their convivial excesses are committed. But though the Sultan hath just published an ordinance (March 1795) forbidding the use of that liquor under pain of death, the plurality, though less publicly than before, still indulge themselves in it. A company often sits from sun-rise to sun-set drinking and conversing, till a single man sometimes carries off near two gallons of that liquor. The bûza has however a diuretic and diaphoretic tendency, which precludes any danger from these excesses.

In this country dancing is practised by the men as well as the women, and they often dance promiscuously. Each tribe seems to have its appropriate dance: that of Fûr is called _Secondari_, that of Bukkara _Bendala_. Some are grave, others lascivious, but consisting rather of violent efforts than of graceful motions. Such is their fondness for this amusement, that the slaves dance in fetters to the music of a little drum; and, what I have rarely seen in Africa or the East, the time is marked by means of a long stick held by two, while others beat the cadence with short batons.

They use the games of _Tab-u-duk_ and _Drîs-wa-talaité_, described by Niebuhr, which however appear not indigenous, but to have been borrowed of the Arabs.

The vices of thieving, lying, and cheating in bargains, with all others nearly or remotely allied to them, as often happen among a people under the same circumstances, are here almost universal. No property, whether considerable or trifling, is safe out of the sight of the owner, nor indeed scarcely in it, unless he be stronger than the thief. In buying and selling the parent glories in deceiving the son, and the son the parent; and God and the Prophet are hourly invocated, to give colour to the most palpable frauds and falsehoods.

The privilege of polygamy, which, as is well known, belongs to their religion, the people of Soudân push to the extreme. At this circumstance the Musselmans of Egypt, with whom I have conversed on the subject, affect to be much scandalized: for whereas, by their law they are allowed four free women, and as many slaves as they can conveniently maintain, the Fûrians take both free women and slaves without any limitation. The Sultan has more than an hundred free women, and many of the Meleks have from twenty to thirty. Teraub, a late king, contented himself with about five hundred females as a light travelling equipage in his wars in Kordofân, and left as many more in his palace. This may seem ridiculous, but when it is recollected that they had corn to grind, water to fetch, food to dress, and all menial offices to perform for several hundred individuals, and that these females (excepting those who are reputed _Serrari_, concubines of the monarch) travel on foot, and even carry utensils, &c. on their heads, employment for this immense retinue may be imagined, without attributing to the Sultan more libidinous propensities than belong to others of the same rank and station.