Chapter XVIII

INFORMATION CONCERNING THE COURSE OF THE BAHR-ABIAD (WHITE NILE). —
ANTIQUITIES OF KORDOFAN. — BANDANIANIAM.[89]

During my residence in Kordofan, I enjoyed the opportunity of coming in contact with persons who had travelled over the greater part of the South-east and South-west of Africa, and who were able to give me information on many points hitherto subjected to doubt. These were in part Djelabi (merchants), in part Takruri (pilgrims). My chief object in making these inquiries, was to obtain an authentic account of the course of the White Nile, but I was unable to gain satisfactory information for a length of time, and nearly despaired of ever arriving at my end; for the men who travelled in the countries through which this river flows, were partly too deeply engaged in their own business to attend to matters of little or no importance to them, or were such from whose statements no certain conclusions could be deduced. At last, however, I became acquainted with a negro from Runga, who had spent three years of his life in Europe, and then returned to his native country. A lengthened intercourse with this man convinced me that he had enjoyed the opportunity of learning more than his countrymen, and had profited by it, and was, moreover, not addicted to falsehood, as the natives are, almost without exception. He had visited his fatherland after three years of absence, and had made various journeys into other countries. I thought, therefore, that he would be the best man to apply to for information on the course of the White Nile; I found him both intelligent and willing, and obtained the following description, which appears to me most worthy of credence:—

The Bahr-Abiad, or White Nile, flows through Runga, a country situated to the south of Darfour, to which kingdom it is tributary. The river is said to be very broad, but by no means deep, and even fordable by men or cattle. During the dry season, it is not navigable throughout, for in certain spots there is not enough water to float a boat, and the natives are only in few places provided with rafts. From Runga its course is directed towards Bakkara, then towards the country of the Jenky, Dynke, or Denkani, where it is said to receive a tributary stream, of whose course I could obtain no further information. After flowing through the country of the Jenky and Shilluks, the Bahr-Abiad is said to enter Sennaar, where it unites with the Blue Nile, near Khartoom. As I was more anxious to know the course of the river before it reaches Runga, my friend, the negro, introduced me to several of his acquaintances, natives of those countries, which are watered by this stream, and from this source I learnt that it flows through Binga, Wuanga, Gulla, and Banda. I conversed with two or three persons on this subject, two of them natives of Bornu, and the third a native of Binga, who had resided during five years in the former state, and they all coincided in that statement, that a river flows through the country, named in their language the Gazelle-stream, because its water is as pure and transparent as that of springs. They could not tell me its source; but all agreed that it takes its course towards Banda, where it is named the White River, from the colour it assumes, dependent on the nature of the soil through which it flows. I also received intelligence of certain Egyptian antiquities, standing in the desert, between Kordofan and Darfour, at Cab-Belull,[90] a place situated at a distance of two days’ march from Caccie, on the borders of Kordofan. Doum-palms grow by the side of the ruins, and in the dry season water is to be found at a distance of eight miles from the spot. This place is very little known in Kordofan even, for no road passes through the neighbourhood. My informant was a Djelabi (merchant), who, on his return from Darfour, had been compelled to make a considerable circuit to avoid a horde of robbers, and had encamped at Cab-Belull. His camel-drivers, who were Kubbabeesh, were acquainted with this spot, and had frequently, on their former journeys, driven their beasts to this place for pasture. I conclude the ruins to be Egyptian antiquities, as the merchant compared them with those at Luxor, with which he was also acquainted. They are said to consist of large portals, and high walls; some few colossal figures in stone are also reported to be there met with, but the greater part of them is buried in the sands. The Djelabi brought a few camel-drivers to me, who had a knowledge of that neighbourhood, for I had made up my mind to visit the place, but unforeseen circumstances subsequently prevented me from carrying this design into effect.

On the hills, in the neighbourhood of Banda, a race of people dwell, quite uncivilized in manner, warlike and predatory in habit: the enemy, and even the terror, of all the bordering negro tribes. They are of a white complexion, like the Arabs in Egypt, of regular feature, well-grown, and have large blue eyes. They are called by the negroes, Bandanianiam (_Anthropophagi_), and are said to be of Jewish extraction. The Sultan of Banda institutes hunts to kidnap the girls of this tribe, and Sultan Mohammed Fadel, of Darfour, has a few of them in his harem.