Chapter XI: Part II: Egypt (6)

This people exceeds in indulgences with women, and pays little regard to restraint or decency. The form of the houses already described secures no great secrecy to what is carried on within them, yet even the concealment which is thus offered, is not always sought. The shade of a tree, or long grass, is the sole temple required for the sacrifices to the primæval deity. In the course of licentious indulgence father and daughter, son and mother are sometimes mingled. The relations of brother and sister are exchanged for closer intercourse; and in the adjoining state, (Bergoo,) the example of the monarch countenances the infraction of a positive precept, as well of Islamism, as of the other rules of faith, which have taken their tincture from the Mosaic dispensation.

But however unbridled their appetites in other respects may be, pæderasty, so common in Asia and the North of Africa, is in Soudân little known or practised. The situation, character, and treatment of women is not exactly similar, either to that which marks the manners of Asia, and other parts of Africa, or to that which is established in Europe. In contradistinction to the women of Egypt, in Soudân, when a stranger enters the house, one of the more modest indeed retires, but she is contented to retire to a small distance, and passes and repasses executing the business of the house in the presence of the men. In Egypt, a veil is invariably the guardian of real or affected modesty. In Dar-Fûr none attempt to conceal their faces but the wives of the great, whose rank demands some affectation of decency—who from satiety of indulgence become coquets, or whose vanity induces them to expect that concealment will ensnare the inexperienced with the hope of youth which has ceased to recommend them, or beauty by which they could never boast to be adorned. The middle and inferior rank are always contented with the slight covering of a cotton cloth, wrapped round the waist, and occasionally another of the same form, materials, and size, and equally loose, artlessly thrown over the shoulders. They never eat with the men, but shew no hesitation at being present when the men eat and drink. The most modest of them will enter the house, not only of a man and a stranger, but of the traders of Egypt, and make their bargains at leisure. On such occasions, any indelicate freedom on the part of the merchant is treated with peculiar indulgence. The husband is by no means remarkable for jealousy, and provided he have reason to suppose that his complaisance will be attended with any solid advantage, will readily yield his place to a stranger. Nothing can shock the feelings of an Egyptian more than to see his wife in conversation with another man in public. For similar conduct, individuals of that nation have been known to inflict the last punishment. A liberty of this kind has no such effect on a Fûrian.

_Defendit numerus, junctæque in umbone phalanges._

The universality of the practice prevents its being esteemed either criminal or shameful.

Some of the most laborious domestic offices in this country are executed by women. They not only prepare the soil and sow the corn, but assist in gathering it. They alone too are engaged in the business of grinding and converting it into bread. They not only prepare the food, in which (contrary to the practice of the Arabs) it is esteemed disgraceful for a man to occupy himself, but fetch water, wash the apparel, and cleanse the apartments. Even the clay buildings, which have been mentioned, are constructed chiefly by women. It is not uncommon to see a man on a journey, mounted idly on an ass, while his wife is pacing many a weary step on foot behind him, and moreover, perhaps, carrying a supply of provisions or culinary utensils. Yet it is not to be supposed that the man is despotic in his house: the voice of the female has its full weight. No question of domestic œconomy is decided without her concurrence, and, far from being wearied with the corporeal exertions of the day, by the time the sun declines, her memory of real or imaginary injuries affords matter for querulous upbraiding and aculeate sarcasms.

Whoever, impelled by vanity, (for no profit attends it,) receives to his bed the daughter of a King or powerful Melek, (women of this rank are called _Mîram_,) finds her sole moderatrix of his family, and himself reduced to a cipher. Of his real or reputed offspring he has no voice in the disposal, government, or instruction. The princess, who has honoured him with the limited right over her person, becomes not the partner, but the sole proprietor, of all that he possessed; and her most extravagant caprices must not be thwarted, least her displeasure should be succeeded by that of the monarch.

The man cannot take another wife with the same ceremonies or dowry; and if any dispute arise concerning inheritance, the right is always decided in favour of the _Mîram_. Finally, he is almost a prisoner in the country, which he cannot leave, however distressed, and however he may be inclined to retrieve his fortune by trade, without special permission from the Sultan, and the immediate and unqualified forfeiture not only of the dowry he gave, but of all the valuables he received in consequence of the honourable alliance.

Previously to the establishment of Islamism[49] and kingship, the people of Fûr seem to have formed wandering tribes, in which state many of the neighbouring nations to this day remain. In their persons they differ from the negroes of the coast of Guinea. Their hair is generally short and woolly, though some are seen with it of the length of eight or ten inches, which they esteem a beauty. Their complexion is for the most part perfectly black. The Arabs, who are numerous within the empire, retain their distinction of feature, colour, and language. They most commonly intermarry with each other. The slaves, which are brought from the country they call _Fertît_, (land of idolaters,) perfectly resemble those of Guinea, and their language is peculiar to themselves.

In most of the towns, except Cobbé, which is the chief residence of foreign merchants, and even at court, the vernacular idiom is in more frequent use than the Arabic; yet the latter is pretty generally understood. The judicial proceedings, which are held in the monarch’s presence, are conducted in both languages, all that is spoken in the one being immediately translated into the other by an interpreter (_Tergimân_).

After those who fill the offices of government, the _Faquî_, or learned man, i.e. priest, holds the highest rank. Some few of these _Faquîs_ have been educated at Kahira, but the majority of them in schools of the country. They are ignorant of every thing except the Korân. The nation, like most of the North of Africa, except Egypt, is of the sect of the Imâm Malek, which however differs not materially from that of Shafei.

_Revenues of Dar-Fûr._

1. On all merchandize imported the king has a duty, which in many instances amounts to near a tenth; as for instance, on every camel’s load of cotton goods brought from Egypt, and which commonly consists of two hundred pieces, the duty paid to the king by the merchants of Egypt is twenty pieces: the Arabs who are under his government and the natives pay more; some articles however do not pay so much.

2. In addition to this, when they are about to leave Dar-Fûr on their return to Egypt, another tax is demanded on the slaves exported, under pretence of a voluntary douceur, to be exempt from having their slaves scrutinised. This, on our caravan, which comprised about five thousand slaves, amounted to 3000 mahbubs, between 6 and 700l. to be paid to the Chabîr on their arrival in Egypt.

3. All forfeitures for misdemeanors are due to the king; and this is a considerable article; for in case of a dispute in which blood is shed, as often happens, he makes a demand of just what proportion he thinks right of the property of the village in which the offence was committed, of the whole, of an half, of a third, of every species of possession, and this most rigorously estimated.

4. In addition to this, every one who is concerned in a judicial proceeding before him, must bring a present according to his rank and property: this is another considerable source of revenue.

5. Of all the merchandise, but especially slaves, which are brought _from the roads_, as they call it, that is, from all quarters except Egypt, the king is entitled to a tenth; and in case of a _Selatéa_, that is, an expedition to procure slaves by force, the tenth he is entitled to becomes a fifth, for the merchants are obliged to wait six weeks or two months before they can sell any of their slaves, and then are obliged to pay in kind one tenth of the number originally taken, one half of which is by that time generally dead.

6. At the time of _leathering the kettle-drum_, which happens every year on the 27th of the month Rabia-el-awil, all the principal people of every town and village, nay, as I have understood, every housekeeper, is obliged to appear at El Fasher, with a present in his hands, according to his rank and ability. This is another considerable source of revenue. The present of the Melek of the Jelabs on one of these occasions, I have known to be valued at 900 mahbûbs, or about 200l. sterling. At this solemn festival, all the troops, not in actual service, are obliged to be present, and as it may be called, reviewed; that is, every man who has or can procure an horse, mounts and shews him in the public meeting.

7. A number of presents are daily and hourly received from all the great people of the country, as well as from the merchants who come on business, and those who solicit offices. The merchants generally present some kind of manufacture for clothing, such as light woollen cloth, carpets, arms, &c. and the people of the country, camels, slaves male and female, _tokéas_, oxen, sheep, &c.

8. But one of the most considerable articles of revenue is the tribute of the Arabs who breed oxen, horses, camels, sheep. Those who breed horses should bring to the monarch all the males which are yearly produced by their mares; but this I am told they often contrive to avoid. The customary tribute of the Arabs who breed oxen, or _Bukkara_, as they are called, is one tenth[50]. But when I was there, they having neglected paying it for two years, the Sultan sent a body of troops, who seized all they could lay hands on, to the number of twelve thousand oxen. If the tribute were regularly paid, it might amount to four thousand oxen per annum: but these Arabs live in tents, and consequently change their habitations frequently, and when they feel themselves united, are not much inclined to pay tribute. Those who breed camels should also pay a tenth of their property yearly; and I have understood that they acquit themselves of the obligation with more regularity than the former. These also however are sometimes rebellious, and then nothing is received from them. Two tribes, _Mahría_ and _Mahmîd_, were at war during my residence in Fûr, and a battle took place between them, in which many fell on both sides: the monarch, to punish them for their contumacious behaviour, sent a Melek with a detachment of about sixty horsemen, who seized on one half of the camels of every Arab, and where they found five took three, as the fifth could not be divided. The owners of sheep and goats pay a tenth.

9. Every village is obliged to pay annually a certain sum in corn, _Dokn_, which is collected by the king’s slaves. The monarch has also lands of his own, which are cultivated by his slaves, and which serve to supply his houshold; for, though a merchant, he does not sell corn. The whole of the district of Gebel Marra, to the West, is entirely appropriated to his use, and the wheat, wild honey, &c. which are abundantly produced there are all reserved for his table.

10. The king is chief merchant in the country, and not only dispatches with every caravan to Egypt a great quantity of his own merchandise, but also employs his slaves and dependents to trade with the goods of Egypt, on his own account, in the countries adjacent to Soudan.

_Articles of Commerce._

Gold rings are sometimes worn in the nose by women of distinction. Sea-shells (_Cowries_) are among other female ornaments, but not very current. The red legumen, called _Shûsh_, is much worn in the hair.

Commodities brought by the Jelabs from Egypt are:

1. Amber beads.

2. Tin, in small bars.

3. Coral beads.

4. Cornelian ditto.

5. False Cornelian ditto.

6. Beads of Venice.

7. Agate.

8. Rings, silver and brass, for the ancles and wrists.

9. Carpets, small.

10. Blue cotton cloths of Egyptian fabric.

11. White cotton ditto.

12. Indian muslins and cottons.

13. Blue and white cloths of Egypt called _Melayés_.

14. Sword blades, strait, (German,) from Kahira.

15. Small looking-glasses.

16. Copper face-pieces, or defensive armour for the horses’ heads.

17. Fire arms.

18. Kohhel for the eyes.

19. _Rhéa_, a kind of moss from European Turkey, for food,
and a scent.

20. _Shé_, a species of absynthium, for its odour, and as a
remedy: both the last sell to advantage.

21. Coffee.

22. _Mahleb_, _Krumphille_, _Symbille_, _Sandal_, Nutmegs.

23. _Dufr_, the shell of a kind of fish in the Red Sea, used for
a perfume.

24. Silk unwrought.

25. Wire, brass and iron.

26. Coarse glass beads, made at Jerusalem, called _Hersh_
and _Munjûr_.

27. Copper culinary utensils, for which the demand is small.

28. Old copper for melting and re-working.

29. Small red caps of Barbary.

30. Thread linens of Egypt—small consumption.

31. Light French cloths, made into Benîshes.

32. Silks of Scio, made up.

33. Silk and cotton pieces of Aleppo, Damascus, &c.

34. Shoes of red leather.

35. Black pepper.

36. Writing paper, (_papier des trois lunes_,) a considerable
article.

37. Soap of Syria.

Transported to Egypt:

1. Slaves, male and female.

2. Camels.

3. Ivory.

4. Horns of the rhinoceros.

5. Teeth of the hippopotamus.

6. Ostrich feathers.

7. Whips of the hippopotamus’s hide.

8. Gum.

9. Pimento.

10. Tamarinds, made into round cakes.

11. Leather sacks for water (_ray_) and dry articles (_geraub_).

12. Peroquets in abundance, and some monkeys and Guinea fowl.

13. Copper, white, in small quantity.

CHAP. XX.

_Miscellaneous observations on Dar-Fûr, and some of the adjacent
countries._

The preceding chapters concerning Dar-Fûr, contain mostly facts of which I was an eye-witness, or received from undoubted authority. But as every information, however minute, may either conduce to facilitate farther progress in this part of Africa, or may perhaps interest the curious reader, as relating to regions little known, I shall now proceed to some matters, related to me on the spot, but the accuracy of which I cannot pretend to vouch.

The people of Fûr are represented as using many superstitious ceremonies at the _leathering of the kettle-drum_, a ceremony before mentioned. Among others, it is said, they put to death, in the form of a sacrifice, a young boy and girl. Even to this day, many idols are worshipped by the women of the Sultan’s _Harem_. The mountaineers offer a kind of sacrifice to the deity of the mountains, when they are in want of rain.

Several superstitious notions prevail among the slaves. One of them having died suddenly, it was imagined that he had been possessed by the devil, and none of them would wash the body. It was with difficulty that they could be prevailed on even to carry it to the place of interment.

The people of Dageou, a country on the West, represented as not far from Bergoo, it is said, conquered the country now called Fûr, and retained it till they were exhausted by mutual contentions: upon which the present race of kings succeeded, but from what origin I have not been able to discover. Probably, Moors driven from the North by the Arabs. The race of Dageou is said to have come from the vicinity of Tunis. It is reported, that they had a custom of lighting a fire on the inauguration of their king, which was carefully kept burning till his death. At present there is a custom in Fûr, of spreading the carpets on which the several deceased Sultans used to sit, before the new prince, and from the one he prefers, it is judged his character will be analogous to that of its former possessor.

The Sultan Omar, one of the predecessors of Teraub, carried on a long and destructive war with the neighbouring country of Bergoo, in which he exhausted his treasures and people, and at the same time greatly weakened the adverse country.

The families between which the pretensions to authority now lie, are those of Abd-el-Casim, Teraub, and Chalifé, his brother. Each of them has a number of warm partizans among the soldiery, who would never be faithful to any of the other families. The competitors are so numerous that much confusion is expected to follow the death of the present Sultan; and it is inferred that the kingdom will be divided.

I shall now proceed to state some relations that were made to me concerning Kordofân and other adjacent countries.

A king, of the name of _Abli-calik_, is the idol of the people of Kordofân, where he reigned about fourteen years ago, and is renowned for probity and justice. The kings of Kordofân had been deputed by the Mecque of Sennaar, till after the death of the son of _Abli-Calik_, when it was usurped by Fûr, in consequence of the weakness and dissensions of the government at Sennaar.

The people of Kordofân are reported to be not only indifferent to the amours of their daughters and sisters, but even attached to their seducers. The father or brother will even draw the sword against him who offends the _Refîk_, or companion of his daughter or sister. Very different is the mode of thinking in Sennaar, where immodesty is only permitted among the female slaves. The chief merchants have companies of these slaves, and derive great profit from their prostitution.

_Afnou_, a country beyond Bornou to the Westward, is said to produce such abundance of silver, that the natives construct defensive armour of that metal. The coats of mail are jointed, and represented as very beautiful. Of the same material, it is reported, are made pieces to protect the head and breast of their horses, the former having the chaffron, or horn, known in our days of chivalry.

Among the Southern countries, whither the Jelabs of Bergoo and Fûr sometimes journey to procure slaves, is _Dar Kulla_. The chief article they carry to Kulla is salt, twelve pounds of which are estimated as the price of a male slave, _sedasé_, about twelve or fourteen years of age. A female brings three pounds more, whimsically computed by the natives, as, a pound for the girl’s eyes, another for her nose, and a third for her ears. If copper be the medium, two rotals are esteemed equal to four of salt. _Hoddûr_, a large sort of Venetian glass beads, and tin, are in great esteem. Of the latter they make rings and other ornaments.

The natives of Kulla are represented as partly negroes, partly of a red or copper colour. Their language is nasal, but very simple and easy. It is said they worship idols. They are very cleanly, to which the abundance of water in their country contributes: and they are remarkable for honesty, and even punctilious in their transactions with the Jelabs.

They have ferry-boats on the river, which are impelled partly by poles, partly by a double oar, like our canoes. Slaves are obtained in Dar Kulla either by violence, _Selatéa_, or by the following method. In that country the smallest trespass on the property of another, is punished by enslaving the children or young relations of the trespasser. If even a man’s footstep be observed among the corn of another, the circumstance is attended by calling witnesses, and application to a magistrate, and the certain consequence of proof is the forfeiture of his son, daughter, nephew, or niece, to the person trespassed on. These accidents are continually happening, and produce a great number of slaves. A commission to purchase any thing in a distant market, not exactly fulfilled, is attended with a like forfeiture. But above all, if a person of note die, the family have no idea of death as a necessary event, but say that it is effected by witchcraft. To discover the perpetrator, the poorer natives, far and near, are obliged to undergo expurgation by drinking a liquor which is called in Dar-Fûr _Kilingi_, or something that resembles it; and the person on whom the supposed signs of guilt appear, may either be put to death, or sold as a slave.

The people of Kulla are strangers to venereal complaints, but are subject to the small-pox. In that part of the country which is visited by the Jelabs there is a king; the rest is occupied by small tribes, each of which is ruled by the chief who happens to have most influence at the time. The _Kumba_, or Pimento tree, is found there in such plenty, that a _rotal_ or pound of salt will purchase four or five _mid_, each _mid_ about a peck.

The trees are so large, from the quantity of water and deep clay, that canoes are hollowed out of them sufficiently capacious to contain ten persons.

It was related to me by Jelabs who have visited that country, that the inhabitants of Dar Bergoo make war by sudden incursions, traversing and laying waste a large space in a short time. They leave their women behind, and are thus better adapted to military operations than the Fûrians, who follow an opposite practice, never marching without a host of attendant females. The people of Bergoo seldom make _Selatéa_.

Some of the idolatrous nations, dependent on Bergoo, are represented as making war in a very formidable manner. The combatants never retreat; and the women behind light a fire, in which they heat the heads of the spears, and exchange them for such as are cooled in the combat. They also use poisoned weapons.

There is a remote part of the pagan country, from which slaves are brought, which the Arabs distinguish by the term _Gnum Gnum_, (a sobriquet,) whose inhabitants eat the flesh of the prisoners they take in war. I have conversed with slaves who came thence, and they admit the fact. These people are also in the habit of stripping off the skin of the hands and faces of their slaughtered foes, which afterwards undergo some preparation, and are worn as a mark of triumph. Their arms, a spear or javelin, are of iron, wrought by themselves. After having heated them to redness, they stick the point into the trunk of a particular tree, and there leave the weapon till the juice has dried on. In this manner it acquires, as is reported, a most deadly poison.

A few of the more common vocabula in the language of _Dar-Run̄ga_.

Water Tta.

As eide (a pudding) Gnung.

Come and eat Gagra.

Quickly Undelak nonnerâ.

Bring the bowl Kiddeki, Kiddeki.

A mat Kubbenâng.

Cloths Lemba.

Shoes Bŏrŏ.

Sun Agn̄ing.

It is hot Agn̄ing betrân.

Moon Medding.

A wooden mortar Bedding.

Ass Gussendĕ.

Horse Filah.

Dog Ming.

House Ttong.

Kingdom Kussé.

Wood of any kind Unjŭm.

Fire Nissiek.

Woman Mmi.

Man Kameré.

Is it I? Ammé?

Reprimanding Ggó!

Grain Assé.

Maize Dimbiti.

Millet Gurwendi.

Fowl Kidi.

Winged ant Agn̄emâ.

Spear Sûbbûk.

Knife Dangala.

Foot Itar.

Eye Khasso.

Ear Nesso.

Hand Tusso.

Light blue Endréng.

Dung Abûrr.

Urine Nissich.

Copper Simméri.

Tin Fueddah.

Beads Arrû.

Loins (of the human body) _also_ Arrû.

One Kadenda.

Two Embirr.

Three Attik.

Four Mendih.

Six Subotîkeda.

Seven Ow.

Eight Sebatéis.

Nine Atih.

Ten Bûff.

Rain Kin̄ga.

God, _also_ Kin̄ga.

By God, _an adjuration_ Kin̄ga go!

Honey Tuggi.

Fish Kogn̄ong.

Meat Missich.

Gruel Ba-birré.

Stone Dissi.

A star Beité.

The stars collectively Beité-jûk.

Slave of either sex Guiah.

Male slave Guiah méré.

Female slave Guiah Mmi.

Mountain Ddéta.

Wind Wwi.

Cinders Firgi.

CHAP. XXI.

MEDICAL REMARKS.

_Psorophthalmia — Plague — Small-pox — Guinea worm — Scrophula — Syphilis — Bile — Tenia — Hernia — Hydrocele — Hemorrhoides and Fistula — Apoplexy — Umbilical ruptures — Accouchemens — Hydrophobia — Phlebotomy — Remedies — Remarks — Circumcision — Excision._

From the following detached remarks, the result chiefly of personal observation, if the physiologist can derive any amusement, or the traveller the smallest mitigation of his personal sufferings, the purpose of committing them to paper is answered.

If any medical professor should chance to advert to them, the writer is too conscious of the superficiality of his own knowlege not to perceive, that little satisfaction will be derived. But persuaded, that the art of healing, even at this day, abounds little less in experiments than in the age of one of its brightest ornaments, who makes the confession, he is induced to believe, scarcely any fact relative to it, or any experiment, faithfully narrated, can be wholly destitute of its use.

_Psorophthalmia._

It is remarked that in Egypt, but particularly in Kahira, the blind, and those who have defective vision, bear a large proportion to the number of the inhabitants. The fact observed, which cannot be disputed, has been explained in various ways. It has by some been considered as proceeding from the habitual use of rice. By others, as the effect of the subtle dust which floats in the air. Even the water of the Nile has been supposed to co-operate at least, if not to be the sole agent, in producing this remarkable disease.

To explore the origin of this or any other malady, all its appearances must first be accurately noted. The ophthalmia of Egypt leads us through a diversity of symptoms, from slight inflammation and defluxion, to the total and irrecoverable blindness occasioned by opacity of the Cornea. To enumerate them all correctly, and compare them in a variety of cases, must be the task of an oculist long resident on the spot, and accustomed to numerous patients. A transient observer, however diligent in his inquiries, may more easily prove the falsehood of the assigned causes, than trace the real one.

The Nile water, it may be supposed, when taken into the stomach, can have no effect on the eyes, but by first altering the state of the fluids, into which it, as well as other aliments, is gradually converted. Whether from mineral or vegetable impregnations, it could never operate solely on the eyes, without affecting any other part of the animal economy. The effect of opium is seen on the blood and muscular fibres; of mercury on the glands and lymphatics; of cantharides on the nerves: and too great a portion of these, taken into the body, may have a pernicious effect on the eyes, but always through the medium of other parts. The whole _materia medica_, perhaps, furnishes no drug or mineral that is known, when taken into the stomach, to have a local and partial effect on the eyes. Such an effect is even irreconcileable with the general and constantly observed operation of all remedies applied to the human body.

Besides, if the injury were solely or even in part to arise from the use of the Nile water, all those who drink it must be equally affected, allowing for the different degree of firmness in the stamina of each. But certain orders of men are rarely attacked by this disease, and they too who are continually using the river water both internally and externally.

Rice is one of the most nutritive and salubrious of the farinaceous aliments, and certainly does not operate to render the humours acrid, and thereby to inflame the eyes. It is used as a main article of food by the natives of a large portion of Asia, and forms no inconsiderable part of the consumption in other countries, without being observed to produce any such effect as is here attributed to it; and may therefore fairly be denied to have any such power.

Something more plausible indeed offers itself as to the injurious operation of an external cause. Nothing can be more subtle than the dust into which the vegetable soil of Egypt resolves itself when it becomes dry. This, during a certain portion of the year, is in a manner suspended in the air, from a cause which exists in few other countries, I mean the want of rain. It also contains a large portion of nitre, which is copiously produced in Egypt. This circumstance, however, is common to many other places. This light dust, doubtless of a very irritating quality, not only floats in the streets, but pervades the apartments of every dwelling, insinuating itself into the most artfully constructed inclosures: by it therefore the eyes may and must be in some degree affected. But Nature has not ordained that a part so much exposed should be destitute of its appropriate protection. The secretions of the lachrymal glands are, in general, abundantly sufficient to counteract the injury sustained by the action of corrosive or irritating substances on the external fabric of the eye, being always produced exactly in proportion to the circumstances that demand them, as daily experience confirms: yet it cannot be denied, that the continually repeated operation of an offending cause, when no remedy is applied, may be more than commensurate with the efforts of Nature to restore herself.

Such is precisely the condition of the Kahirines. The accommodating the quality of diet to the symptoms of derangement in the economy is a precaution unknown to them: and of their remedies, many are so prepared, or so administered, as to augment rather than to annihilate disease. No idea offers itself to them, but of topical applications to remove a local complaint. If any thing be applied in these _flussioni_ (dysophthalmia) it is generally _kôhhel_ (calx of tin mixed with sheep’s fat) or _tûtti_, a still more powerful astringent, applied in coarse powder, and naturally tending to increase rather than to allay the irritation.

When thus incommoded, the Egyptians of the lower class esteem water pernicious, and therefore rarely wash their eyes; but as the collected dust begins to cause an uneasy sensation, apply their fingers or a coarse cotton cloth to remove it. The higher orders, who are neat in their persons, and regular in their ablutions, are rarely observed to be greatly harassed by this complaint. And the progress of the disorder, when in its nascent state, has several times been stopped, under my observation, by the use of rose-water, solution of sacchar. saturn. &c. as in other places.

But as no single one of these causes, nor even all of them together, appear sufficient to account for all the phenomena, another, more powerful, is to be sought; and none suggests itself more opportunely than that alleged by Savary, who imagines that the defect of vision is principally brought about by the habit of being exposed to the nocturnal air during the summer, at which season a heavy dew falls, and a great transition happens from the heats of the day. In fact, if the face of those who sleep exposed be not completely covered, an itching and unpleasant sensation is always felt in the eyes at rising.

It is ordinarily experienced in the city, where, from being confined in the day, people feel most disposed to seek for coolness and refreshment on their terraces at night.

The Mamlûks, and higher order of Arabs, that is, Mohammedan merchants, and the superior rank of Copts and Franks, are least affected, as being cleanly, not exposing themselves to the night air without necessity, and being well covered. The Arabs of the desert are as free from blindness as any people. They never sleep with the face exposed, and have moreover the advantage of being devoid of the dust and other supposed causes of psorophthalmia in the city. The disorder appears no where so much as in Kahira, because no where are all the causes so much combined: yet it is seen in Alexandria, Damiatt, and in Upper Egypt, which shews that the cause is not confined to Kahira. Among the poorer class of all countries prevails a kind of _insouciance_. That of Kahira is particularly exposed to the changes of temperature and the nocturnal dew, and is ill clothed. Hence the disorder is mostly found among the populace. A disposition to inflammation often appears in the eyes of children, but yields to proper remedies. Hence it may be imagined, that with attention the Egyptians would not suffer more than other nations.

Some travellers have thought that the ophthalmic disease in Kahira was occasioned by the fetid exhalations of the Chalige, and the drains; and have even observed, that those who are most severely affected in winter, recover as soon as the water has filled the Chalige and the pools. This is also a common idea with the natives. “The stink blinds me,” is a frequent expression on coming into a place of fetid odour; and it may be remarked, that the ordinary maxims of _indigenæ_ are rarely to be entirely disregarded. Whatever miasms however may issue from the canal, they cannot be equally dispersed over the city, as blindness is; and the Franks, Greeks, and other strangers who reside nearest this depôt of impurity, would be most affected if that were the cause. It may yet be one cause. Another I take to be the subtile dust above mentioned; but the most powerful, indiscreet exposure to the nocturnal air and dews. The collective influence of these is strengthened by the cloudless splendour of a vertical sun, reflected from the sterile expanse of sand, which offers no sombrous object on which the eye may repose itself.

These considerations, it may be acknowleged, do not carry conviction; but too many local diseases are yet unexplained, to leave any wonder if the cause of this should yet remain problematical.

_Plague._

All the improvements in the art of healing which modern Europe can boast as its own, are the result of more frequent experiment, and more patient and minute investigation, than existed in the antient.

To conjecture ingeniously is a matter of small effort, and in treating of what is properly the object of experiment, it is not only of no value, but often of dangerous result. But it is suited to the indolence of the human mind, and flattering to personal vanity, which delights to perform much by a single energy. Hence, an hypothesis supported by some insulated fact, perhaps only by specious error, is often advanced with warmth, and the most important considerations militating against it, are forgotten, or warped to serve the purpose of the inventor. Thus the increase of the Nile was once confidently attributed to the Etesian winds; and the malady which has so often almost depopulated Kahira, is still by some imagined to proceed from the putrid deposition of its waters.

We have at length disposed ourselves to the habit of tracing the cause of disease, by combining a number of minute, and often varying, symptoms. A practice which, if correct in its detail, can never but be accurate in its deductions. Relative to the Plague, however, whose very name distracts the timid, and appals even the courageous, our reasonings and our deductions are quite of a different description. Respecting its cause, all is conjecture. No experienced or well-informed practitioner has watched the bed of the sick; none has accurately examined the different appearances which the disease assumes in different persons, nor even in its different stages, in the same person. Scarcely any, it is believed, has been tranquil enough to hear patiently from the mouth of the sufferer an account of his sensations, which, recounted by a third person, never fail to vary.

Where this malady appears, the physician and the priest, the pride of science and the security of faith, confident and boastful when the patient alone is threatened, are both equally alert in their efforts to escape. The ignorant and unreflecting Muslim, indeed, awe-struck, and resigned to the unalterable decree of Fate, hangs over the couch of his expiring relative. But the report, guided by prejudice, is likely to mislead, and the observation can be of little value when the sole sentiment is stupor.

Thus the Plague remains almost destitute of a local habitation, though it have a name in nosology.

Who can at this day determine, whether the pestilence mentioned by Thucydides be the same as that of Modern Egypt and Turkey? Or whether the epidemical diseases, which have for several centuries, at intervals ravaged different parts of the Turkish empire, have been all specifically the same? The Europeans frequenting the Levant, have written profound treatises on the plague, simply from having seen a quantity of dead bodies carried past the doors of their houses, which the double optics of fear have occasionally magnified from 500 to 10,000.

The facts that appear chiefly to be ascertained relative to the plague, are, 1st, That the infection is not received but by actual contact. In this particular, it would seem less formidable than several other disorders. 2. That it is communicated by certain substances, by others not, as by a woollen cloth, or rope of hemp, but not by a piece of ivory, wood, or a rope made of the date tree; nor by any thing that has been completely immersed in water. It would appear from the report of the Kahirines, that no animal but man is affected with this disorder; though, it is said, a cat passing from an infected house, has carried the contagion. 3. That persons have often remained together in the same house, and entirely under the same circumstances, of whom one has been attacked, and died; and the others never felt the smallest inconvenience. 4. That a person may be affected any number of times. 5. That it is more fatal to the young than the old. 6. That no climate appears to be exempt from it; yet, 7. that the extremes of heat and cold both appear to be adverse to it. In Constantinople it is often, but far from being always terminated by the cold of winter, and in Kahira by the heat of summer; both circumstances being, as may be conjectured, the effect of indisposition for absorption in the skin, unless it be supposed that in the latter case, it may be attributed to the change the air undergoes from the increase of the Nile.

The first symptoms are said to be thirst; 2. cephalalgia; 3. a stiff and uneasy sensation, with redness and tumour about the eyes; 4. watering of the eyes; 5. white pustules on the tongue. The more advanced symptoms of buboes, fœtor of the breath, &c. &c. are well known; and I have nothing authentic to add to them. Not uncommonly, all these have successively shewn themselves, yet the patient has recovered; in which case, where suppuration has had place, the skin always remains discoloured, commonly of a purple hue.—Many who have been bleeded in an early stage of the disorder, have recovered without any fatal symptoms; but whether from that or any other cause, does not appear certain. The same operation is reported to have been commonly fatal in a late stage. It is said that embrocating the buboes continually with oil has sometimes wrought a cure; but this remedy is so difficult and dangerous for the operator, that it would appear experiments must yet be very defective. The natives of Kahira are too supine to seek for any remedy, and too bigoted to avoid the danger.

The plague which happened in Egypt so early as the year 1348, when Constantinople was yet subject to the Greek emperor, and Egypt in possession of Mohammedans, may be supposed to have originated in the latter. But not to mention that there were many other places from which it might be brought, this single instance, not given in detail, is insufficient to overthrow the testimony of the modern inhabitants, who with one consent affirm, whether Mohammedans or Christians, that the plague is not endemial in Egypt, but that all the instances of it which they are able to trace are proved to have been derived from abroad.

The learned Dr. Mead has brought the plague from Ethiopia, where famine and the small-pox indeed carry off numbers; but where the plague was never known to exist. It is not remembered to have penetrated far into the Upper Egypt, except in some few instances, when it was known to have been carried thither by the boats from Kahira. No more is required to account for its introduction into Egypt at this day, than the admission, that it is never completely extinct at Constantinople, which, it seems, has scarcely been denied.

The imagination of one of our poets has drawn the pestilence from the filth of Kahira, and the mud of the Nile. But, not to mention that there is less disposition to fermentation and putrefaction in the atmosphere of Egypt, than in almost any other that I have heard described, Kahira is very far from being impure. No offensive substance remains in the streets twenty-four hours; and even what is left to annoy passengers in London and Paris for months, is there carried away and preserved for burning.

The mud of the Nile becomes dry in a very short space of time after the water has left it, except in the canal (Chalige) which is indeed not very odoriferous; but so far from emitting pestilential exhalations, that the Franks who especially dwell close to it, are never infected with the plague, and are in general among the most healthy of the inhabitants of that metropolis.

_Small-pox._

The small-pox is a disease much dreaded by the people of Soudân, whether Moors or Negroes, and little less by the Bedouins of Egypt. The Christians of Kahira are many of them in the habit of inoculating. A few of the Mohammedans use the same practice. It is however almost impossible to persuade them to adopt our mode of treatment.

Independently of the general ill consequence of improper management of the patient, the chief reason of the extraordinary fatality of this complaint among the negroes, appears to be the thickness of the skin, which resisting the effort of nature to protrude the morbid matter to the surface, tends to throw it back into the circulation. A proprietor of slaves, who was rather anxious for the conservation of his property, than scrupulous in his attachment to religious prejudice, desired me to inoculate five of them. A strong dose of senna was administered as preparative, and they were afterwards restrained as to diet. Three of them had not in the whole forty pustules, and soon recovered. The other two suffered much; and the eruption, though not confluent, proved fatal to one of them. Whether he had caught it before, been improperly treated, or whether it was the effect of habit of body, was not clear. These were of the true negro cast, called, _Fertît_. They were all under twelve years of age.

_Guinea Worm._

The Mohammedans of Fûr, and the Arabs, call the idolaters in their neighbourhood _Fertît_, (فرتيت à فرت _improbus fuit_). The disease called the Guinea Worm is known among them by the same name. It is extremely common, and very troublesome to the slaves, and sometimes to free persons. It is by some esteemed contagious, which however is rather surmised than certified. It consists of a whitish tumour, at first hard and painful. Often shews itself about the knee, in the fleshy part of the thigh, and in the foot, just below the instep. As it is matured, a small white worm appears, which is to be wound off by degrees, and in coming out is followed by the discharge of purulent matter. If broken in the extraction, it is sometimes very inconvenient, and often lasts four or even six months. There is no certain cure for this disease, which most frequently shews itself in the beginning of winter, after the rains; but generally disappears at the commencement of the hot season. It seems to originate in the water, which is replete with animalcules, and which no care is used to purify.

They find by the termination of the tumour the extremity of the worm, which they call _wullad-el-Fertît_, and in that spot, puncture the skin with a red-hot iron, which they conceive forces it out; but which always appeared to me a painful operation, without any kind of effect. There is observed in some individuals a greater disposition to this disease than in others, but it is not confined to age, sex, or colour.

_Scrophula._

The scurvy is very uncommon in Egypt and Syria. In the former I saw no instance of it. In Dar-Fûr I have observed it in the gums, but never any general dissemination of scrophulous humour appearing in the blood. As the transpiration is seldom interrupted, and generally copious, it must doubtless carry off much of the acrid humours, and prevent their accretion. Salt provisions, which generate the scurvy in the North of Europe, are almost unknown; and much of the diet of the people consists of vegetables. All these circumstances have their influence, but none of them perhaps so much as the Nile-water, which is a perfect solvent; and by the change of its component parts during the increase, has a particular tendency to throw off impurities from the blood.

_Syphilis._

The disease which attacks the principle of generation, and destroys, in its source, one among the few solaces with which human life is sparingly diversified, which the heroism and the philanthropy, or the ambition and the avarice, of Europeans have propagated wherever the malign destiny of other nations has ordained that their dominion should be established, does not appear in Egypt with all the terrors that mark its course in other countries.

The temperature, the air, the mode of living, perhaps simply the first, which maintains continued transpiration, render it much milder in its effects than with us, or even in the islands of the Archipelago.

The institutes of the Prophet, indeed, have tended to diminish promiscuous concubinage, yet there is no such deficiency as to impede the propagation of the disease, if it were as virulent as in other places.

Ulcers of long duration, noseless faces, and all the disgusting consequences of this malady are indeed occasionally visible. But they are in very small number, and notoriously the result of extreme negligence, and of repeated infection, where no means have been employed to exterminate it.

It may truly be esteemed fortunate that this disease prevails with no violence in Egypt, for its only certain remedy, mercury, is there found much less efficacious than in the more temperate latitudes. Administered even in smaller doses than in Europe, it is said ptyalism is either produced very early, or it passes off with the fæces, without any visible effect.

A Frank practitioner of Kahira, accustomed to the climate, ordered two drams of Mercury in thirty pills, with Gum Arabic and Syrup of Cichory, to be taken one a day. In this case, he declared, that the pills having been administered during the first seven days, and then, with the intermission of three days, two having been given each day for five days more, had produced no visible effect on the disease, but passed off by stool. In other cases he had known much smaller doses, in the space of two days, had caused inflammation of the salivary glands, and he was obliged to abandon the use of it, and have recourse to other means of cure.

The natives, who are unacquainted with the use of mercury, and indeed of minerals in general as employed internally, are yet provided, as they say, with efficacious remedies for the venereal disease. They use flax oil, fresh, as it is expressed, from the seed. A Greek, who was in the service of Murad Bey as a mariner, (_galeongi_,) and who was known to me in Kahira, had been infected, and on applying to a Frank physician, was told that it would be necessary immediately to use mercurials. The man was not inclined to confinement or to regimen, and went to a Copt at Jizé, who professed to relieve the sick. This man ordered him to take two coffee-cups of flax oil every morning fasting, and directed no regimen, but that of keeping himself warm. The Greek observed none, for he continued freely the use of _aqua vitæ_, and even sacrificed to Venus, (for persons who have been once infected and fully cured, are, it is said, in no fear of reinfection,) and was often in the heat of the sun. He had continued this method for two months, when a general eruption took place over his body, but chiefly about the head and glands of the throat. In this condition I saw him. His Esculapius ordered him to cover the pustules of his face with a kind of red earth, found in some parts of Egypt. They gradually became dry, and came off without leaving any mark. At the end of the third month from the time he had applied to the Copt, and one month after the appearance of the eruption, the man was in perfect health, and the skin had completely recovered its tone and polish.

In the cure of the simple gonorrhea, a decoction of mallows is commonly used, and they seem to place their chief confidence in diuretics. I never heard of an injection, but from those who were acquainted with European practice. Certain herbs and roots macerated, are applied locally in case of inflammation and tension (chordee).

Shankers, &c. externally, are repeatedly washed with soap and water, and then kept covered with the red earth above mentioned. I never saw the effect, but the cure is said to be rapid.

In Dar-Fûr I have not observed the venereal disease more formidable than in Egypt. I saw a few individuals who were mutilated in the organs of generation by its effects.

The old women, who are physicians in ordinary, use a decoction of certain roots, of which I never came at the knowlege, infused in _bouza_, which appear to operate successfully. Gleets are frequent; and continued indulgence produces early debility and impotence.

The great advantages of the _étuves_, or warm baths, is evident in very many instances in Kahira. But it is difficult to admit Savary’s assertion (vol. i. p. 108) in its full extent, viz. that they operate as a radical cure of the venereal disease. They doubtless assuage many of its graver symptoms.

In no country are pulmonary diseases more rare than in Egypt, which could not happen if the baths had any tendency to cause them.

_Leprosy._

The leprosy is more frequent in Syria than in Egypt. It exists however in the latter country, with all its concomitants of swelled and distorted joints, a livid, spotted, parched, and cracked skin, &c.

I have seen it under all its forms of _Borras_, _Jiddâm_, &c. In Kahira there is no provision for the unhappy sufferers, who are allowed to beg about the streets, but forbidden by their religion from the contact of others, and excluded from society by an inefficient police. I have heard of a cure of the leprosy in its worst stage, by the use of corrosive sublimate in small doses. The natives seem not to know any specific.

In Dar-Fûr, the _Borras_, which is not uncommon, gives to the blacks the appearance of being _pyebald_, changing to white both the skin and hair. A case of, what I was convinced was _Jiddâm_, beginning in the hands, was cured under my observation by a slave, a native of the kingdom called _Baghermi_, but the means he had used he could not be prevailed on to disclose.

_Bile._

Complaints proceeding from too copious secretion of bile are extremely common both in Egypt and Dar-Fûr. _Murâr_, the bile, or gall, is the generic name for all diseases of this kind, at least in their nascent state; for they are not solicitous in the choice of names, till distinct appearances teach them to seek a more characteristic appellation. There seems to be no efficacious remedy for these maladies, and therefore they take their course; and all the inconveniences consequent upon them are common, and increased by general inattention to diet.

The _tuhhâl_, or _tehhâl_, deriving its name from the spleen, _morbus spleneticus_, is very frequent. One of its outward symptoms is a tumor hard to the touch, but subject to increase and diminution, in the neighbourhood of the spleen, and general inflation in the supra-umbilical region.