Chapter IX: Part II: Egypt (4)

The first week of the month _Rabîa-el-achir_, this year, was distinguished by a festival which I conceive peculiar to this country—the _Geled-el-Nahâs_, the leathering of the kettle-drum. It lasts eight or ten days successively; during which time the Meleks and great men offer to the monarch considerable presents. I have known the Melek of jelabs take with him in his visit of congratulation presents, of various kinds, worth sixty head of slaves. Almost all, except absolute mendicants, are obliged to come forward with some offering, proportioned to their rank. In recompence of this involuntary generosity on the part of the people, a kindness almost as involuntary, but somewhat cheaper, is exhibited on the part of the Sultan—his kitchen during the time is devoted to the public service. But as too great a number of animals is frequently slaughtered on the first day, the meat often remains to be devoured in a corrupt state; which gave occasion to some one to remark, that the festivals of Fûr resembled those of the Leopard[38]. The celebrity is also marked by a review of the troops. But as their equestrian exercises are no more than a clumsy imitation of those of the Mamlûks, a more particular description of them would afford nothing new. They serve however to characterise the mode of warfare, where victory is always the effect of personal exertion. The monarch and his chief officers have fine horses of Dongola, which they mount without skill, carrying in one hand five or six javelins, in the use of which they are adequately expert.

During the summer of 1794, five men, who had exercised considerable authority in some of the provinces, were brought to El Fasher as prisoners. It was said that they had been detected in treasonable correspondence with the hostile leader (Hashem) in Kordofân. They did not undergo any form of trial, but as the Sultan chose to give credit to the depositions that were made against them, his command issued for their execution. Three of them were very young men, the youngest not appearing to be more than seventeen years of age. Two of them were eunuchs. A little after noon they were brought, chained and fettered, into the market-place before one of the entrances of the palace, escorted by a few of the royal slaves, armed with spears. Several of the Meleks, by the monarch’s express order, were present, to witness, as he termed it, what they might expect to suffer if they failed in their fidelity. The executioner allowed them time only to utter some short prayer, when he plunged the knife in the neck of the oldest of them, exactly in the same manner as they kill a sheep. The operation too is marked by the same term (_dhebbah_). He fell and struggled for some time: the rest suffered in their turn. The three last were much agitated, and the youngest wept. The two first had borne their fate with becoming firmness. The crowd, that had assembled, had scarcely satiated itself with the spectacle of their convulsive motions, while prostrate in the dust, when the slaves of the executioner coolly brought a small block of wood, and began mangling their feet with an axe. I was surprized at this among Mohammedans, whose decency in all that concerns the dead is generally worthy of applause. Nor did it diminish my astonishment, that having at length cut off their feet, they took away the fetters, which had been worn by the criminals, in themselves of very inconsiderable value, and left the bodies where they were. Private humanity, and not public order, afterwards afforded them sepulture.

It happened this year that some excesses had been committed by persons in a state of inebriation, and the Sultan having had cognizance of the fact, could find a remedy only in force. He ordered search to be made in all houses throughout the country for the utensils for making _merîsé_; directed that those who should be found in a state of intoxication should be capitally punished; and the women who made it should have their heads shaved, be fined severely, and exposed to all possible ignominy. The Furians had however been habituated to Merîsé before they had known their monarch, or the Islam. The severity of the order, therefore, and the numbers trespassing against it, defeated the Sultan’s purpose. It was indeed put in execution, and a few miserable women suffered unrelenting tonsure, and innumerable earthen jars were indignantly strewed piecemeal in the paths of the faithful; but the opulent, as is usual, escaped with impunity, and some were bold enough to say, that the eyes even of the Sultan’s women were still reddened with the voluptuous beverage, while priests and magistrates were bearing the fulminating edict from one extremity of the empire to the other. It is certain that, subsequent to this new law, the minds of the troops were much alienated from the monarch, and it is thought that no other cause than this was to be sought. The monarch who admits of no licence will never reign in the hearts of the soldiery; and he must give up the hope of their affections, who is disposed to become an impartial censor of the public morals.

Innumerable reports had been propagated at different times, that the Jelabs would be allowed to depart. But none was well authenticated; nay, as afterwards appeared, all were false. It is probable they were artfully circulated by order of the Sultan, with a view to cajole the foreign merchants, who, having now collected the intended number of slaves, were at a heavy expense for their daily sustenance, and of course ill bore the unexplained delay, while his own merchandize was sold at a prodigious advance in Egypt. In effect, two small caravans found their way thither, between the time of my arrival at Fûr, and that of my departure; but they consisted only of the Sultan’s property, and that of one or two individuals, whom he particularly favoured. For a great quantity of merchandize having accumulated in his hands, he was determined to dispose of it to advantage, before the other merchants should be permitted to produce theirs for sale.

They were therefore restrained by the strong arm of power, to favour the monarch’s pernicious monopoly; while the latter, with singular effrontery, gave out, that he had sent to negociate with the Beys the reception of the commodities of Soudân, on more advantageous terms than they had been before admitted.

The man whom I had brought with me from Kahira as servant, had availed himself of the property he had plundered to purchase several slaves. He still continued to live in an apartment within the same inclosure with myself, and I occasionally employed one of his slaves to prepare my food.

He knew too much of me to imagine that I should lose any opportunity that might offer of punishing him, and accordingly was desirous of anticipating my design. I had received warning of his views, and was cautious, sleeping little at night, and going always armed; not that I much expected any thing would be attempted by open force, though in effect two men had been employed by him, under promise of a reward, to strangle me. Finding that measure unsuccessful, he obtained some _corrosive sublimate_, and put it into a dish that one of the slaves was dressing. She was honest and generous enough to inform me of it, or the scheme would probably have taken effect, as I had certainly then no suspicion. The villain on returning, after a few hours, and finding that the poison had not produced its effect, vented his rage on the slave, and had nearly strangled her with a cord, when I interfered and forced him to leave her. The next scheme was an accusation of debauching his slaves, which after a tedious investigation before the civil judge, and then the Melek of Jelabs, I was able to refute. Other attempts, planned with sufficient art, were made against my life, which, however, I had equal good fortune in escaping.

In the summer of 1795, I received the second payment for the property in the Sultan’s hands, which consisted of female camels (_naka_). The same injustice operated on this occasion as before. After all the other creditors of the monarch had been satisfied, I was directed to choose from what remained: two of which, as usual, were allotted as equivalent to a slave, though of so inferior a kind, that three would not have been sufficient to purchase one.

After having received these, I was preparing to return to Cobbé, when a message came to require my attendance on a sick person. The patient was brother of the Melek of the Jelabs. He was in the last stage of a peripneumony, and I immediately saw the case was desperate; but was forced to remain there with the sick man, administering such remedies as his situation permitted the application of, till he expired. Two guides were sent to accompany me home, but coming to a torrent that crossed the road, (it was the middle of the _Harîf_, or wet season,) they were fearful of passing it, and returned, after endeavouring in vain to persuade me to do the same. I was obliged to abandon the camel, which belonged to the Melek, and pursue my journey on foot.

The time I was constrained to devote to this patient afforded me an opportunity of remarking the _True believer’s practice of physic_. No mummery, that ever was invented by human imbecility to banish the puny fears of mortality, was forgotten to be put in practice. The disease was sometimes exorcised as a malignant spirit, at others deprecated as the just visitation of the Deity: two or three thousand _fathas_ were to be uttered, and numbered at the same moment on a chaplet; and sentences of the Koran were then written on a board, which being washed off, the inky water was offered to the sick man to drink, when he was no longer able to open his mouth. But though this puerile anxiety prevailed so long as the man remained alive, the moment he was dead, all sunk into undisturbed composure, except a few of the women, who officiously disquieted the living, with vociferations of affected sorrow for the dead.

Near the end of the year 1795, a body of troops was mustered and reviewed, who were to replace those that had died of the small-pox in Kordofân, which it was said amounted to more than half the army. The spoils which had been taken from Hashem, were also on this occasion ostentatiously displayed. They consisted of eighty slaves, male and female, but the greater proportion of the latter, many of them were very beautiful, nor the less interesting, that though the change in their situation could not be very important, their countenances were marked with despondency. To these succeeded five hundred oxen and two hundred large camels; the whole procession concluded with eighty horses, and many articles of less value borne by slaves. Shouts rent the air, of “Long live el Sultan Abd-el-rachmân el rashîd! May God render him always victorious!”

A short time after I caused a petition to be drawn up, which was presented by Ali-el-Chatîb to the Sultan, in which I stated my sufferings, requested payment of what yet remained due to me, and permission to proceed on my journey to Kordofân. Though the person who presented it was a man of considerable weight, no answer was given. I therefore followed it up by a visit in person, which I had resolved should be my last. My arrival was no sooner known, than I was directed as before to attend some sick person. This I positively refused to do; and it was many days before I could be admitted at court, for Fowaz, the Melek of Jelabs, was grown tired of his office. I therefore accompanied (11th December 1795) the Chatîb to the monarch’s presence, and shortly stated what I came to request, which the former seconded, though not with the zeal that I might have wished. To my demand of permission to travel no answer was returned. But the generous and hospitable monarch, who had received from me the value of about 750 piasters in goods, and notwithstanding that my claim was well supported, condescended to give me twenty meagre oxen, in value about 120 piasters! The state of my purse would not permit me to refute even this mean supply, and I bad adieu to El Fasher, as I hoped for ever.

Another accident happened at this time, which awaked my attention to personal security. Being retired at night to a small distance from my apartment, a spear was thrown over the fence, grazed my shoulder, and stuck in the ground near me. I ran to the place whence it came, but saw no one, and in vain endeavoured to discover the owner of it.

Having applied the value of the oxen to preparatives for the journey to Egypt, the report of the caravan’s departure growing daily stronger, I lost no time in joining the Chabîr, who was then encamped at _Le Haimer_, (3d March 1796,) a small village about three days’ journey North of Cobbé, where was a tolerable supply of water, but no other requisite for living.

Two nights previously to leaving Cobbé I received a letter, impressed with the seal of Fowas, Melek of Jelabs, importing that he (Fowas) had obtained from the Sultan for me the permission I had so often earnestly sought, _viz._ of passing through Kordofan to Sennaar, and that nothing remained but to repair to El Fasher, and set out from that place. My astonishment was great at finding that what had so constantly and contumeliously been refused, should now be spontaneously offered. I therefore immediately went to some of the merchants, in whom I had the greatest confidence, to inquire their opinion. All of them strongly dissuaded me from paying any attention to the Melek’s letter, hinting at the same time that they understood what it meant. I acquiesced, notwithstanding my earnest desire of going eastward; and it afterwards was proved to me in a way sufficiently clear, that this letter was the result of a scheme concerted between the Melek and my servant Ali, by which it was contrived that I should reach the eastern confine, and there perish by the hands of my attendants.

During my residence at El Fasher and Cobbé, I had been repeatedly assured, and that from those persons who were best informed, that the Sultan never meant to permit my departure; and the imperfect compensation he had directed for what had been brought him confirmed that opinion. But as I knew much is done among persons of that description by whispers, I took care to spread them thickly in his way. To the Chabîr I promised an ample recompence for his assistance, and set before him the consequences of his appearing in Kahira without me. I also offered proofs that I had been able to dispatch letters to Egypt, unknown to the government here. The Chabîr did not neglect to use his interest with the Sultan; and whether the latter was really intimidated by these vain insinuations, whether he had begun to hold a more favourable opinion of me from my having been so long in the country without attempting any thing improper, or whether he was not in reality much more tranquil and indifferent on the subject than we at that time imagined, I cannot even now with certainty affirm.

We arrived at Le Haimer about a month before Ramadan, and it was not till the sixth day of El Hedge, the second month after that fast, that we actually commenced our journey to Egypt. In the mean time having pitched the tent under a great tree, where we were sheltered from the rays of the sun, and in tolerable security, I fed on polenta (_as-cidé_) and water with the camel-drivers. I had collected eight camels for the journey, but the best of them was stolen while grazing. Another died; and to supply his place I was obliged to seek one on credit, for my whole exchangeable property at that time amounted only to about eight piasters.

While the caravan was assembling, an incident happened which may deserve mention. The Muggrebîns of Elwah, having passed by Selimé, crossed the desert (a route of three or four days) to Dongola, where they carried off goods and captives. Among these was a Dongolese girl, of fourteen years of age, who was sold in Upper Egypt, and carried to Kahira, where she was bought by an Arab, who had afterwards returned to Dar Fûr with his property. The girl being recognized by some Dongolese, of her own tribe, resident in Fûr, the question came before the Melek of the district, and was referred to the monarch. Her master pleaded the purchase at a valuable consideration; but it was decided that having been free, she was not a subject of sale, and she was restored to her friends.

This pretext of an accusation for purchasing free persons is often used to extort money from rich merchants, and an instance happened, within my knowlege, in which the purchaser was condemned, not only to forfeit two females, but to pay a fine of seven slaves for each. Such is the sole attention which the government pays to the freedom of the subject.

Our voyage, once commenced, was continued with little remarkable, except the violent heat. We returned by the only caravan route, _Bir el malah_, _Leghea_, _Selime_, _Sheb_, and _Elwah_. Our provisions were indifferent, and in small quantity. The camel-drivers regaled themselves with the flesh of those animals, when they chanced to be disabled on the road. When we came to _Beirîs_ we were met by a Cashef, who welcomed the Jelabs with an exhibition of fire works; on this occasion he treats the chief merchants with coffee, and presents to each a _benîsh_ of coarse cloth, worth about a guinea, expecting, however, in return, a slave from each, worth at least ten guineas. When I arrived at Assiût it was four months since I had eaten of animal food. The hard living, heat, and fatigue, occasioned a diarrhea which much weakened me; but before leaving Assiût, where I passed about twenty days, it was considerably abated.

CHAP. XVII.

DAR-FÛR.

_Topography of Fûr, with some account of its various inhabitants._

The town called Cobbé, as being the principal residence of the merchants, and placed almost in the direct road from the North to the South extremity of the country, shall, for the sake of perspicuity, though not centrally situated, be considered as the capital of Dar-Fûr.

I found it to be in lat. 14° 11′ long. E. G. 28° 8′. This town is more than two miles in length, but very narrow, and the houses, each of which occupies within its inclosure a large portion of ground, are divided by considerable waste. The principal, or possibly the only view of convenience by which the natives appear to have been governed in their choice of situation and mode of building, must have been that of having the residence near the spot rented or inherited by them for the purpose of cultivation. The town is full of trees of several kinds, among which are the palm, _deleib_, &c. but chiefly the _heglîg_ and the _nebbek_, which give it an agreeable appearance at a small distance, for being situated in a plain, it is not distinctly visible more than four or five miles in any direction.

During the rainy season, the ground on which it stands is surrounded by a _wadi_ or torrent. Fronting it to the East, (for the town extends from North to South,) is a mountain or rock, distinguished by the same appellation. It is not memorable for its height, nor indeed for any thing but as being the resort of hyenas and jackals; yet it forms part of a ridge of hills, or rocks, for there is little earth on them, which runs from North to South for many leagues.

The inhabitants are supplied with water from wells, of small depth, which are dug within the inclosure of many of the houses; but the best of them are those which are in or near the bed of the torrent. The water is generally turbid, and though not apparently possessing any injurious quality, has often an ungrateful flavour. The quantity too is not always equal to the public consumption, which sometimes throws the people into difficulties before the periodical return of the rains. Their manner of digging is so unskilful, that the soil often collapses; and the same well is seldom useful for more than three or four months successively.

There are some villages, at small distances, in various directions from Cobbé, which are dependent on it, and increase its apparent population. To the N.E. by N. _Hellet Hassan_, inhabited altogether by the people of _Dongola_. It has been[39] governed many years by the _Chabîr Hassan wullad Nasr_, one of the oldest of them, who had been formerly once, or more than once, _Chabir_ (leader) of the jelabs on their journey to Kahira, and a man, as I have generally understood, respectable for his talents and his virtues. North and North-west, _Nûkti_ and _Hellet-hummâr_. South, _Hellet-el-Atamné_ and _Hellet Jemîn-Ullah_. South-west and West, _Hellet-el-Fukkara_ and _Bweri_. There are some other smaller ones, the names of which I have either never learned or have forgotten.

On all sides Cobbé is surrounded by a plain. To the West and South-west it extends to the foot of _Kerda_ and _Malha_, two rough mountains or rocks, at about twenty-miles distance in that direction. South it is bounded by _Gebel Cusa_, at near twelve miles distance, near which are seen some villages. South-east it extends to _Barbogé_, and is there bounded, on the North-east, by _Gebel Wanna_, and on the East South-east by a wadi or torrent, which bears its name, and the sands (_goze_) beyond it. But to the East there is no extent of level ground; the whole road from _Sweini_ North, to _Gidîd_ South, being bounded in that direction by a mountain, first under the name of _Téga_, and then under that of _Wanna_. Gebel Cobbé stands almost insulated, and is placed West of the latter. In Cobbé there are very few houses, perhaps none, inhabited by natives of Fûr. The people are all merchants and foreigners. The other more noted towns of the empire are, _Sweini_, _Kûrma_, _Cubcabîa_, _Rîl_, _Cours_, _Shoba_, _Gidîd_, _Gellé_. Sweini is situated almost North of Cobbé, at the distance of more than two days diligent travelling. Koûrma, a small town, West by South, at the distance of four and a half or five hours—twelve or thirteen miles. Cubcabîa, a more considerable one, it was not in my power to visit, but it is described as nearly due West, at the distance of two days and a half. The road is rocky and mountainous, and of course may be supposed somewhat circuitous. Cours, a place of little note, North-west by West, at five hours and a half travelling from Cobbé. Rîl is something more than three days removed from it, in the direction South-south-east; and as the road is good and lies through a plain, this cannot be estimated at much less than sixty miles. Shoba is two days and a half from Cobbé.

Gidîd is nearly South-east, and about one day and a half from Cobbé. Gellé is not far from Cubcabîa, but some hours further removed to the South. Sweini is the general resort of the merchants trading to Egypt, both in going and returning, and thence derives its chief importance. Provisions, of most kinds which the country affords, are found there in plenty, and while the jelabs remain there, a daily market is held. The Chatîb, and some other of the principal merchants have houses there, for the convenience of lodging their property, as the caravans pass and repass. A Melek, with a small number of troops, is always stationed there to receive them. The town therefore may be considered as in some measure the key of that road, though not entirely so, as there are two others which lead from the center of Dar-Fûr towards Egypt, without going to Sweini.

The poorer people who constantly live there, are either of the province called Zeghawa, or Arabs.

In Kourma, the merchants who occupy almost the whole of the place, are called the _Jeiâra_, most of them born in the Upper Egypt. Exclusively of them and their dependents, the number of people in that town is inconsiderable. Twice in the week a market is held there for meat and other provisions, as at Cobbé.

Cubcabîa is a considerable town, and its inhabitants various and numerous. It forms the key of the Western roads, as Sweini of the Northern; and is the depôt of all the merchandize that is brought from that quarter. A market is held there twice a week, in which the chief medium of exchange for articles of small value is salt, which the inhabitants make by collecting and boiling the earth of those places where horses, asses, or other animals have been long stationary. This market is celebrated for the quantity of _tokeas_, and for the manufacture, if so it may be called, of leather, which they are very dextrous in stripping of the hair, tanning, and then forming into large and durable sacks for corn, (_geraubs_,) water, (_ray_,) and other purposes. The tokeas are cotton cloths, of five, six, or eight yards long, and eighteen to twenty-two inches wide: they are strong but coarse, and form the covering of all the lower class of both sexes. The inhabitants are partly Fûrians, who speak their own language, in part Arabs, and partly from some of the Western countries, as Bergoo, &c. There are also some of the race called _Felatîa_, and other descriptions.

In Cours are found some merchants from the river; the remainder are _fukkara_, who affect extraordinary sanctity, and are distinguished for their intolerance and brutality to strangers. Rîl is inhabited partly by Fûrians; but there are also some foreign merchants. During the reign of Sultan Teraub there appear to have been many more there; for he had built a house, and made the town his usual residence in time of peace. But Abd-el-rachmân has abandoned it, probably from the fear attendant on usurpation. Rîl[40] is the key of the South and East roads, as Cubcabîa of the West, and Sweini of the North; and therefore a Melek with a body of troops commonly resides there, as a guard to the frontier, and to keep the Arabs, who abound in that neighbourhood, in subjection. It is a place eminently fitted for the Imperial residence, being abundantly supplied with fresh water from a large pool, which is never completely dry, with bread from _Saïd_[41], with meat, milk, and butter from the Arabs, who breed cattle, and with vegetables from a soil well adapted to horticulture; nor are they without a kind of tenacious clay, which, with little preparation, becomes a durable material for building. In Shoba, another town of some note, was an house of Sultan Teraub. The place is said to be well supplied with water, and there are some chalk pits near it, from which that material was drawn at the time I was in the country. These pits were then almost exhausted, for the purpose of adorning the royal residence, and some others, with a kind of white-wash. In Shoba reside some jelabs; the rest of the people are Fûrians, and occupied in other pursuits.

Gidîd has also a competent supply of water, and is near the road from Cobbé to Rîl. Its bearing from the former is South-east. It is a town of _Fukkara_, who are reported to be so little famous for hospitality, that they will hardly furnish to a traveller water to allay his thirst. In this town are many houses, and some of them belong to merchants who derive their origin from the Eastward.

Gellé was esteemed less flourishing than most other towns of Dar-Fûr, being under the galling tyranny of a priest. The _Faqui Seradge_, one of the two principal _Imams_ of the Sultan, a man of intrigue and consummate hypocrisy, had gained an ascendancy over his master, and distanced all competitors at court. Gellé was his native place, and the people of the town were become his dependents. His unsated avarice left them neither apparel nor a mat to lie on; and his immortal malice persecuted them for having no more to plunder. The greater part of the people are either _Corobâti_ or _Felatîa_ (two tribes); of the latter sort is the _faqui_.

The greater part of the people inhabiting Cobbé consists, as hath been already observed, of merchants. The generality of them are employed in trading to Egypt, and some of them are natives of that country; but the greater number come from the river. The latter class, if from circumstances a conjecture may be hazarded, seem first to have opened the direct communication between Egypt and Fûr. For many years their native countries, Dongola, Mahas, and all the borders of the Nile as far as Sennaar, which, according to report, are in all the gifts of nature much superior to Dar-Fûr, have been the scene of devastation and bloodshed, having no settled government, but being continually torn by internal divisions, and harassed by the inroads of the _Shaikié_ and other tribes of Arabs, who inhabit the region between the river and the Red Sea. Such of the natives as were in a condition to support themselves by traffic, or by manual labour, in consequence emigrated, and many of them retired to the West. These people, accustomed in their native country to a short and easy communication with Egypt, and impelled by the prospect of immense profit, which a farther attempt of the same kind promised them, opened the route which the Jelabs now pursue. But to return to _Cobbé_.—

Some Egyptians, chiefly from Saïd, a few Tunisines, natives of Tripoli, and others, come and go with the caravans, only remaining long enough to sell their goods. Others have married in Dar-Fûr, and are now perfectly naturalized, and recognized as subject to the Sultan. The fathers being no more, the children are in many instances established in their room, and are engaged in the same occupations.

The remainder of them consists of foreigners, coming from Dongola, Mahas, Sennaar, and Kordofân, who are generally remarked as indefatigable in commerce, but daring, restless, and seditious, (which consideration has induced the present Sultan to use some efforts to banish them from his dominions,) and the offspring of those whose parents have emigrated, and who are themselves born in Dar-Fûr. The latter are often people of debauched manners, and not remarkable for the same spirit of enterprise as the actual emigrates. Gradually formed to the despotism which coerces their external deportment, and seeks to crush and sterilize even the seeds of energy, somewhat of the spirit of their progenitors yet remains: the affections indeed are turned askance, but not eradicated. The pushes that should have been made _ad auras æthereas_, opposed revert to _Tartarus_. The luxuriancy of mental vigour, though repulsed and forcibly inverted, still extends its ramifications. Its pallescent shoots pierce the dunghill, when not permitted to open themselves to the influence of the sun. The active mind may descend to brutal sensuality, when it can no longer expand itself in a more sane exercise.

The people first mentioned commonly among themselves use the language of _Barabra_, though they also speak Arabic. The latter are generally unacquainted with any language but the Arabic. They usually intermarry with each other, or with the Arabs. Some of them avoid marrying, and cohabit only with their slaves, seldom taking to wife a Fûrian woman. Both these descriptions of men are easily distinguishable from the natives of the country[42], being usually of a more olive complexion, and having a form of visage more nearly resembling the European, with short curly black hair, but not wool. They are a well-sized and well-formed people, and have often an agreeable and expressive countenance, though sometimes indicating (if so much faith may be given to physiognomy) violent passions and a mutable temper. Such are the inhabitants of Cobbé. South-east of the town, in a large open space adapted to the purpose, a market[43] is held twice in the week, (Monday and Friday,) in which are sold provisions of every kind, and, in short, all the commodities which the country produces, or which are derived from Egypt and other quarters. Slaves however, though sometimes brought to the market, are now commonly sold privately, which is not unfrequently complained of as an evil, inasmuch as it facilitates the sale of such as have been stolen from other quarters. The people of Barabra and Kordofân cannot relinquish their favorite liquor, and as all who drink persist in drinking till they are completely inebriated, the natural violence of their temper is increased, and gives occasion to continual disputes, which frequently are not decided without blows, and occasionally terminate in bloodshed.

There are in the town four or five _Mectebs_, where boys are taught to read, and, if they wish it, to write. Such of the _Fukkara_ as fill the office of lecturer, instruct gratuitously the children of the indigent; but from those who are in easy circumstances they are accustomed to receive a small remuneration. Two or three lecture in the Korân, and two others in what they call _Elm_, theology.

There was, at the time of my arrival, only one small mosque, a little square room, formed by walls of clay, where the _Fukkara_ were accustomed to meet thrice in the week. The _Cadi_ of the place was a certain _Faqui Abd-el-rachmân_, a man much in the decline of life, originally of _Sennaar_. He had studied at the _Jama-el-azher_ in Kahira, and was much reputed in the place for the justice and impartiality of his decisions, and the uniform sanctity of his life. He sunk under the weight of years and infirmity, during the second year after my arrival, and the charge of Cadi was committed by the monarch to another, who was almost incapacitated from executing the duties of it, as well by a painful disorder as by his great age. The more active part of the office, therefore, was discharged by his son, who was as remarkable for corruption as the _Faqui Abd-el-rachmân_ had been for integrity. Whether from indignation at this man’s unworthiness, or envy of his pre-eminence, is uncertain, a division ensued among the _Fukkara_, and part of them united under _Hassan_, part under _Bellilu_, a man said to be learned in the laws, but of a forbidding and ungracious deportment. The former, with the countenance and assistance of the Sultan, had commenced building a mosque more spacious than that above mentioned; but I observed it went on slowly, though the material for building was nothing better or more costly than clay. The area inclosed was about sixty-four feet square, and the walls were to be three feet thick.

CHAP. XVIII.

DAR-FÛR.

_On the mode of travelling in Africa — Seasons in Dar-Fûr — Animals — Quadrupeds — Birds — Reptiles and Insects — Metals and Minerals — Plants._

One mode of travelling, with small variations, obtains through all the north of Africa. I mean by _caravans_ (from قرو _Karu_, to wander from place to place). When the inhabitants have occasion to pass the boundaries of their respective states, they form themselves into a larger or smaller body, united under one head. Their association is produced by considerations of mutual convenience and security, as even the most easy and safest of the roads they are to pass, would yet be difficult and dangerous for a single traveller.

Three distinct caravans are employed in bringing slaves, and other commodities, from the interior of Africa to Kahira. One of them comes straight from Murzûk, the capital of Fezzân, another from Sennaar, and the third from Fûr. They do not arrive at fixed periods, but after a greater or less interval, according to the success they may have had in procuring slaves, and such other articles as are fitted to the market, the orders of their respective rulers, and various other accidental circumstances.

The Fezzân caravan is under the best regulations. The merchants from that place employ about fifty days in their passage from Murzûk to Kahira; which city they as often as possible contrive to reach a little before the commencement of Ramadan, that such as find themselves inclined to perform the pilgrimage, may be prepared to accompany the Emîr of Misr. The sale of their goods seldom employs them in the city much more than two months; after the expiration of which, those who have no design of visiting Mecca return to their native country. The arrival of this caravan is generally annual.

The other two are extremely various in their motions; sometimes not appearing in Egypt for the space of two or even three years, sometimes two or more distinct caravans arriving in the same year. The perpetual changes in their several governments, and the caprices of their despots, are in a great degree the occasion of this irregularity. The road also between these two places and Kahira, is often infested by bodies of independent Arabs, as that of Sennaar, by the Ababdé and Shaikié, and that of Fûr by the Cubba-Beesh and Bedeiât: the latter is however for the most part much safer than the former. The departure of a caravan from Dar-Fûr forms an important event. It engages the attention of the whole country for a time, and even serves as a kind of chronological epocha.

The period of their arrival in Kahira is as uncertain as that of their departure; for they travel indifferently either in winter or summer. The journey from Assûan to Sennaar requires much less time than that from Assiût to Dar-Fûr.

Many obstacles exist to the erection of any permanent marks by which the roads of the desert might be distinguished. Yet I have observed that the people of our caravan, in such places as afforded stones for the purpose, used to collect four or five large ones, thus raising small heaps at proper distances from each other. This affords them some satisfaction at their return; but in many places, where the sand is loose and deep, it becomes impracticable. They are then obliged to rely on the facility acquired by habit, of distinguishing the outline and characteristic features of certain rocks, as they are perfectly ignorant of the compass, and very little informed as to the fixed stars. Though the names of the constellations be little known to them, yet they distinguish such as may guide them in their course during the night. With all these aids however their deviations from the true line are not infrequent. Three times, in the course of our journey, the whole caravan was quite at a loss for the road, though some of the members of it had made ten or twelve different journies to and from Dar-Fûr. During the whole of my route I had reason to suspect that the accounts in books of travels, which have generated such terrific notions of the moving sands of Africa, are greatly exaggerated. While we remained at Leghea, indeed, a violent gale sprang from the North-west, and raised a cloud of sand. At that time I placed a wooden bowl, capable of containing about two gallons, in the open air. Thirty minutes had elapsed when it appeared completely filled with sand. Our companions indeed affected to relate various stories of caravans that had been overwhelmed. But as neither time nor place were adduced, it would seem not unreasonable to doubt the truth of the assertion.

If caravans have been thus buried on their road, it may be presumed that accident can only have happened after they have been deprived of the power of moving, by the influence of a hot wind, want of water, and other causes. A number of men, and other animals, found dead, and covered with sand, would be sufficient ground for succeeding native travellers to believe, as they are strangers to ratiocination, or, though not entirely persuaded, to relate, as they delight in the marvellous, that the persons they had found had been overwhelmed on their march; when in fact this accumulation had not happened till they were already dead. But perhaps the matter scarcely merits this discussion.

Our company consisted of nearly five hundred camels. This exceeds the number usually employed by the Jelabs on their return from Egypt, which is often not more than two hundred. In passing from Dar-Fûr to Egypt, they esteem two thousand camels, and a thousand head of slaves, a large caravan. Of persons of other countries, but particularly Egyptians, trading for themselves, there were not more than fifty, including five or six Coptic Christians, whose admittance in Dar-Fûr the monarch of that country has since forbidden. Several of this number were Muggrebines, or Occidental Arabs; the remainder, amounting to one hundred and fifty or two hundred, including the chabîr, or leader, were subjects of Fûr. Few particulars of other caravans are known to me but by report.

The Arabs and Jelabs find the camel too indispensable to their long and fatiguing voyages, not to employ much care in nourishing him. This _ship of the land_, (مركب البر,) as he is called, is exclusively the bearer of their fortunes, and the companion of their toils. Much care is observed in rearing him, and not unfrequently the merchant pays nearly as much for the camels to carry his merchandize, as he did for the commodities themselves; what then must be the profit that covers his expenses, his fatigue, indemnifies him for accidental losses, and yet leaves him a gainer? But if this patient and enduring animal be thus rendered subservient to their wants, or their avarice, he is not at least tortured for their caprice.

Horses are very little used by the Jelabs. They generally furnish themselves with Egyptian asses, which alleviate the fatigue of the way, and are afterwards sold in Soudân at an advanced price. The strength and spirits of this animal are recruited with a small quantity of straw and water; the horse has not the same recommendation; and these people, though not averse from parade in cities, find the labour and hazard of these voyages too enormous, not to augment their profits by all possible economy.

The provisions they use are scanty and indifferent, and by no means testify any foresight for the necessities of the sick, or for the procrastination of the voyage by those innumerable accidents that may befal them.

I did not observe that any of them were furnished with dried meat, as is common with the Fezzanners. But few used coffee and tobacco, and the rest contented themselves with a leathern bag of flour, another of bread baked hard, a leathern vessel of honey or treacle, and another of butter. The quantity of each was regulated by the number of persons, and seldom exceeded what is absolutely necessary. In travelling from Dar-Fûr to Egypt another article is much in use, especially for the slaves, which Egypt itself does not afford, or produces in no quantity. The grain chiefly in use among the Fûrians is the small _kassob_, called among them _dokn_ (millet). Of this, after it has been coarsely ground, they take a quantity, and having caused it to undergo a slight fermentation, make a kind of paste. This will keep a long time, and when about to be used, water is added to it; if properly made, it becomes a tolerably palatable food. But the natives are not very delicate. From its acidity they esteem it a preventive of thirst. The fermentation gives it also a slight power of inebriating, and it has a narcotic tendency. The substance so prepared is called _ginseia_. The want of materials for fire on the road prevents the use of rice, and other articles that would require cookery.

Experienced travellers, among every ten camels laden with merchandize, charge one with beans, and straw chopped small, which, sparingly given, serves them during the greater part of the voyage. Those with whom I travelled were not so provided, these articles being then very dear in Egypt; and in consequence numbers of camels perished. In coming from Dar-Fûr, they use for the same purpose the _dokn_, and coarse hay of the country, but not altogether with the same salutary effect.

The water, in leaving Egypt, is commonly conveyed in goat skins artificially prepared; but no skill can entirely prevent evaporation. On their march from Soudân to Egypt, the Jelabs oftener use ox-hides, formed into capacious sacks and properly seasoned with tar or oil. A pair of these is a camel’s load. They keep the water in a better state for drinking than the smaller; and these sacks are sold to great advantage throughout Egypt, a pair of the best kind being sometimes worth thirty piasters. They are the common instruments for conveying water from the river to different parts of each town. The camels are not allowed to partake of this store, which, after all the care that can be taken of it, is often very nauseous, from the tar, the mud which accompanies the water in drawing, heat, &c. Six of the smaller skins, or two of the larger, are generally esteemed sufficient for four persons for as many days.

The _Cubba-Beesh_, and the _Bedeiât_, the latter of whom seem to me not of Arab origin, when they make any attempt on the caravans, commonly shew themselves between Leghea and the Bîr-el-Malha. But this road is so ill provided with any thing that is necessary for the sustenance of man or beast, that neither the wandering tribes, nor the ferocious animals, which infest other parts of the continent, are commonly found there. The Egyptians and other whites therefore, though they commonly carry fire-arms with them from the North, generally take advantage of the market of Fûr, and return without any. The natives of Soudân are furnished with a light spear, or spears, the head of which is made of unhardened iron of their country. They have also a shield of about three feet long, and one foot and a half or three-quarters broad, composed of the hide of the elephant or hippopotamus, very simple in its construction.

_Intercourse with Mecca._

No regular caravan of Hadgîs leaves Dar-Fûr, but a number of the natives make their way to Mecca, either with the caravan of merchants trading to Egypt, or by way of Suakem and Jidda. The present king was about to establish his attorney (_waquîl_) at Mecca, but some obstacles had prevented his reaching that place, when I came away. Fear of the sea, or I know not what other cause, prevents them from choosing the route by Suakem, though it be so much shorter and less expensive than that by the way of Egypt; but the territory between Fûr and Suakem is not subject to any settled government, and those who have travelled with property have frequently been plundered there. The _Tocrûri_ however, who come from various parts, and somewhat resemble the Derwishes of the North, travelling as paupers, with a bowl to drink out of, and a leathern bag of bread, frequently take that route and pass in safety.

_Seasons, &c._

The perennial rains, which fall in Dar-Fûr, from the middle of June till the middle of September, in greater or less quantity, but generally both frequent and violent, suddenly invest the face of the country, till then dry and steril, with a delightful verdure. Except where the rocky nature of the soil absolutely impedes vegetation, wood is found in great quantity, nor are the natives assiduous completely to clear the ground, even where it is designed for the cultivation of grain.

As soon as the rains begin, the proprietor, and all the assistants that he can collect, go out to the field, and having made holes at about two feet distance from each other, with a kind of hoe, over all the ground he occupies, the _dokn_ is thrown into them, and covered with the foot, for their husbandry requires not many instruments. The time for sowing the wheat is nearly the same. The _dokn_ remains scarcely two months before it is ripe; the wheat about three. Wheat is cultivated only in small quantities; and the present Sultan having forbidden the sale of it, till the portion wanted for his domestic use be supplied, it is with difficulty to be procured by purchase. The _Mahriek_, or greater _kassob_, which is a larger grain than the _dokn_, is also common, and a small supply of sesamum, (_Simsim_ in Arabic,) is sown. What they term beans is a species of legumen different from our bean. In what are called gardens are _Bamea_, _Meluchîa_, lentils, (_adis_,) kidney beans, (_lubi_,) and some others. The water melon, and that called in Kahira _Abd-el-awi_, together with some other kinds, abound during the wet season, and indeed before, if they be watered. Sultan Teraub was solicitous to procure every thing the gardens of Egypt produce, and caused much care to be taken of the culture of each article brought: but the present prince does not turn his thoughts to that kind of improvement, and little of the effect of his predecessor’s laudable anxiety is at this moment distinguishable. There are several species of trees, but none that produces fruit worth gathering, unless it be the Tamarind (_Tummara_[44] _Hindi_). The date trees are in very small number, and their fruit diminutive, dry, and destitute of flavour. That tree seems not indigenous in the country, but to have been transported from the neighbourhood of the Nile, Dongola, Sennaar, &c. The inhabitants appear not well to understand the management of this useful production; and perhaps the great drought will never admit of its flourishing, whatever diligence or care may be used to increase the number or improve the kind.

ANIMALS.

_Quadrupeds._

Of animals the list found in Dar-Fûr with which my own knowlege furnishes me, is not very extensive; nor will it be interesting so much as containing any thing new, but as it will shew the peculiar circumstances of the country, as distinguished from other neighbouring regions, and somewhat indicate the present state of the people.

The horse is used, but not in great number, nor are the natives very solicitous as to the breed. The only good horses they possess are bred in the country of Dongola, and by the Arabs to the East of the Nile. These are generally larger than we are accustomed to find the Egyptian horses. They are perfectly well formed, and full of fire, yet tractable. Their action is grand beyond what I have observed in any other species; but it is said they are not remarkable for bearing fatigue. The Arabs, who breed them, are in the habit of feeding them with milk. They rarely, if ever, castrate them. Horses and mares are indiscriminately used for the saddle. The horses of Soudân are none of them shod.

Two or three distinct breeds of sheep, _Ovis aries_, exist in Soudân, not however very materially differing from each other. The large-tailed sheep, which are found elsewhere, I believe are here unknown. The meat is inferior to that of the Egyptian sheep. They are covered with coarse wool, resembling hair, and apparently wholly unfit for any manufacture. The goats, _capræ cervicapræ_, are much more numerous than the sheep, and the flesh of the former is somewhat cheaper than that of the latter. The goats grow perhaps rather larger, but otherwise differ not from those of Egypt. It is not uncommon to castrate both these animals, but neither is it a very general practice.

The ass here is of the same appearance, and the same indocile nature, with that of Great Britain. The only good ones are what the Jelabs bring with them from Egypt: yet the animal is much used for riding; indeed few persons mount an horse but the military, and those who are in immediate attendance at court. An Egyptian ass fetches from the value of one to that of three slaves, according to the weight he is able to bear. A slave will purchase three or four of the ordinary breed; yet they are not anxious to improve them. Perhaps the animal degenerates: but it is certain that his external appearance undergoes a great change.