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Title: Travels in Kordofan : Embracing a description of that province of Egypt, and of some of the bordering countries, with a review of the present state of the commerce in those countries, of the habits and customs of the inhabitants, as also an account of the slave hunts taking place under the government of Mehemed Ali
Author: Pallme, Ignatius
Language: English
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*** Start of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Travels in Kordofan : Embracing a description of that province of Egypt, and of some of the bordering countries, with a review of the present state of the commerce in those countries, of the habits and customs of the inhabitants, as also an account of the slave hunts taking place under the government of Mehemed Ali" ***
=TRAVELS IN KORDOFAN;=
EMBRACING
A DESCRIPTION OF THAT PROVINCE OF EGYPT,
AND OF SOME OF THE BORDERING COUNTRIES,
WITH A REVIEW OF THE PRESENT STATE OF THE COMMERCE
IN THOSE COUNTRIES,
OF THE HABITS AND CUSTOMS OF THE INHABITANTS,
AS ALSO AN ACCOUNT OF THE SLAVE-HUNTS TAKING PLACE
UNDER THE GOVERNMENT OF MEHEMED ALI.
BY
IGNATIUS PALLME.
FROM NOTES COLLECTED DURING A RESIDENCE OF NEARLY TWO YEARS IN
KORDOFAN.
LONDON:
J. MADDEN AND CO., 8, LEADENHALL STREET.
1844.
LONDON:
Printed by S. & J. BENTLEY, WILSON, and FLEY,
Bangor House, Shoe Lane.
PREFACE.
* * * * *
Towards the close of the year 1837 I undertook, at the request of
a friend, a journey into the most distant portion of the countries
under the government of the Viceroy of Egypt, in order to collect
information referring to commerce, but more especially with the view
of convincing myself whether trade might be carried on with these
countries directly, instead of through the intermediation of agents,
in whose hands it had hitherto rested. The task, although rather
arduous, was not displeasing to me, for a residence of several years
in Egypt had rendered me tolerably proficient in the Arabic language
and colloquial dialect, and my prior travels in various parts of
the Soudan had made me familiar with the habits of the natives,
besides procuring me the acquaintance of many merchants from the
more distant provinces. With these advantages I travelled during
nineteen months in all directions through these countries. Whilst on
my journey, or sojourning in any place, I noted down in my journal
everything that appeared to me remarkable, which I laid before my
friends for their amusement on my return. It is with their advice,
and more particularly at the instigation of the celebrated French
traveller _Antoine d’Abbadie_, that the information I was able
to collect respecting a country of which so little was formerly
known, now appears in print. My journey was strictly mercantile
in its tendency; I cannot, therefore, venture on so explicit
a description as might be expected of a traveller or a man well
versed in the various sciences a traveller should profess, and yet
I am not altogether diffident, inasmuch as I think that my small
contribution will at least form a short guide for those who may be
willing to explore these countries more fully hereafter, as it will
give them many a hint before they reach these climes, which will
save them much trouble and inconvenience during their residence in
Kordofan. Although two distinguished German travellers, _Dr. Rueppel_
and the _Conseillier des Mines, Russegger_, have visited the country
before me, their sojourn there was of such short duration, and they
travelled in so much company, that many things must have escaped
their observation, and remained hidden from them, which were
revealed to me, who, defying every species of danger, wandered
through the province alone, under a variety of circumstances,
sometimes accompanied by one solitary servant, and sometimes even
without thus much protection. Thus I have often shared the humble
fare of a camel-driver in the desert, or conversed with the natives
in their damp and obscure Tukkoli; whilst at other times I have
enjoyed the opportunity of gaining information from the governor
and higher officials, to whose feasts I was frequently invited.
My readers must excuse me if, in the perusal of this small work,
they meet with a deficiency of much information generally expected
from a traveller, for I repeat again that I did not undertake this
journey with the view of writing, but that I wrote merely at the
request of my friends, and because I thought that by lifting the
veil of obscurity from certain relations, I might in some measure
become useful to futurity, and in this respect I have already met
with a few grateful acknowledgments. I shall, therefore, send this
little book into the world with confidence, assured that it will find
a considerate reception, and that its deficiencies will be placed
to the account of the circumstances under which it was produced.
THE AUTHOR.
_Cairo._
TRANSLATOR’S PREFACE.
* * * * *
Ignatius Pallme, a Bohemian by birth, it would appear, undertook the
journey to Kordofan, on commission, for a mercantile establishment
at Cairo, in the hope of discovering new channels of traffic with
Central Africa. In the pursuit of his object, he sojourned longer
in the country than any European before him; the information
he furnishes respecting the present state of this province of
Egypt in particular, and of the Belled Soudan in general, may,
therefore, be considered the most authentic in existence at the
present time. That few travellers have visited these countries,
and subjected the information they were enabled to collect to
print, may be deduced from the facts, that scarcely one-half of
the places mentioned in the work before us are to be found on the
most recent maps; and that in referring to the literature on these
countries, for making a comparison between Pallme’s opinions and
those of other authors, many difficulties were experienced, and
many researches proved ungratified. The original is characterised
by an ingenuous and unassuming style; and it has been my chief
endeavour to paraphrase the text as closely as compatible with
the two languages. Those idiomatic constructions which may be met
with in the translation, are owing to this strict adherence to the
original; but I have at least the consolation of knowing that the
loss by solecism may be considered as gain in authenticity—the
chief object of the undertaking. Pallme’s orthography has been
generally followed as regards Arab terms, excepting where the same
words are familiar to the public in a different garb, or where they
are to be found otherwise spelt, in at least two accredited English
authors; for it was impossible to furnish the certain literation,
as the Arab character is not affixed to the original text.
THE TRANSLATOR.
LONDON,
_May 1st,_ 1844.
CONTENTS.
* * * * *
CHAP. PAGE
I. Position of the Country; Borders, Rivers,
Soil, and Climate 1
II. History 11
III. Government 27
IV. Habits and Customs 44
V. Character of the People 107
VI. The Bakkara. (Nomadic Tribes.) 118
VII. The Kubbabeesh 132
VIII. Dar-Hammer 142
IX. Tribes bordering on Kordofan, Shilluk,
Nuba, Takele, etc. 147
X. Religion 184
XI. Diseases 192
XII. The Troops 199
XIII. Products 217
XIV. The Capital of Kordofan; Lobeid 258
XV. Commerce 279
XVI. Mehemed Ali’s Slave-hunts in general 305
XVII. Description of a Slave-hunt in the years
1838 and 1839 326
XVIII. Information concerning the Course of the
Bahr-Abiad (White Nile). — Antiquities of
Kordofan. — Bandanianiam 345
XIX. On the kingdom of Darfour 350
TRAVELS IN KORDOFAN,
ETC.
* * * * *
CHAPTER I.
POSITION OF THE COUNTRY BORDERS, RIVERS, SOIL, AND CLIMATE.
Kordofan, one of the most southern provinces under the government of
the Viceroy of Egypt, extends in the north from Haraza to Kodero,
in the south from the Nuba mountains, and eastwards from Caccia
to the Shilluk or Shillook[1] mountains, about four degrees of
longitude. The desert of Dongola forms its northern border, that of
Darfûr its western limit. Towards the south, no definite confines
can be described, as the extent of these dominions increases or
decreases accordingly as the inhabitants of this part of the country
become tributary, either by their own free-will, or are rendered
subjects by force, as occasionally occurs, and subsequently free
themselves from the yoke. On this account the present government
has divided the country into five districts, and regards Kodero,
and the free heathen Nuba, as its southern border. Kordofan has no
townships on the Bahr-Abiad, or White Nile, for the village nearest
to this river is situate at a distance of about four hours’ march
from its banks. The Nomadic tribes, inhabiting the western shore,
belong to the realms of Sennaar, and are entirely distinct from
the natives of Kordofan; the Bakara-Kubbabeesh[2] only, a Nomadic
tribe, also, frequently drive their herds to the borders of the
White River for pasturage. The five districts are named severally:
Korci, Bara, Ketshmar, Abou-Haraz, and Dayara. Each of them is
governed by a Casheff, or captain of the district, who is at the
same time captain in a regiment of the line. Taking a general view
of Kordofan, it may be said to consist chiefly of a cluster of small
and large oases, which are not far distant from each other, as in
the Great Desert. The soil is sandy throughout, and the country is
rather flat than mountainous. In the vicinity of Haraza, however,
a chain of mountains arises, shelving off towards the White River;
while the mountains in the interior are inconsiderable, several
of which may be seen towards the south and south-east. The soil
is, on the whole, very fertile; for, with the commencement of
the rainy season, vegetation springs up from the earth as if by
magic, and nature then shows herself in her full vigour and pomp;
balsamic odours, which act almost intoxicatingly on the senses, are
everywhere breathed forth, and the traveller might imagine himself
transplanted into the fairy gardens of the Arabian Nights’ tales.
Kordofan has no flowing rivers; during the rainy season, some few
running streams are formed, but these dry up as quickly as they
appear. There are several lakes, or large ponds, in the country,
amongst which those at Arat, Birget,[3] Ketshmar, and Caccia,
are the most considerable; in the latter, many leeches are found;
but the other stagnant waters, which are generated during the rainy
season, quickly evaporate, and only those above-named contain water
throughout the year. In the vicinity of Haraza, in a north-easterly
direction from the village, pure and fresh water for drinking is
found on the summit of a mountain during the whole year. There is
an abundance of iron ore in the province, respecting which more
explicit information may be gleaned from the work of Russegger,
the Royal Imperial inspector of mines, who, in the year 1837,
travelled through this country as far as Sheibon, to which book I
must refer my readers, as geognostic research was not the purpose
of my travels. The climate is very unhealthy, especially during the
rainy season; no hut is then, indeed, to be met with in which there
are not at least several sick; in the dry season, again, all disease
disappears; at this time, however, not only man, but all living
creatures, suffer from the extreme heat. The eye then rests with
melancholy on the desolate and parched plains,— trophies of the
victory of the heat over animated nature,—where nothing is to be
seen but bones of men and animals bleached by the burning sun. During
the whole of this season, which endures about eight months, the sky
is clear and cloudless, and the heat is insupportable, especially
in the months of April and May. From eleven o’clock, A.M., to
three, P.M., when the thermometer stands in the shade at 38°, or
even at 40°, Reaumur (117° to 122° Fahrenheit), it is impossible
for any breathing creature to remain in the open air. Every living
being, both men and cattle, with equal eagerness seek the shade,
to protect themselves from the scorching rays of a fierce sun. Man
sits during these hours as if in a vapour-bath, his cheerfulness
of disposition declines, and he is almost incapable of thought;
listless, and with absence of mind, he stares vacantly before him,
searching in vain for a cool spot. The air breathed is hot as if
it proceeded from a heated furnace, and acts in so enervating
a manner on the animal economy, that it becomes a trouble even
to move a limb. All business ceases, everything is wrapped in a
sleep of death, until the sun gradually sinks, and the cool air
recalls men and animals again into life and activity. The nights,
on the other hand, are so sharp, that it is necessary to be more
careful in guarding against the effects of cold in this country,
than in the northern parts of Europe during the severest winter, for
the consequences frequently prove fatal. During the whole year, day
and night are equally divided, or with but imperceptible variation,
and, as in all tropical climates, there is no twilight; for with
sunset night begins. During the dry season, everything in nature
appears desolate and dismal; the plants are burnt up; the trees lose
their leaves, and appear like brooms; no bird is heard to sing;
no animal delights to disport in the gladness of its existence;
every living being creeps towards the forest to secrete itself,
seeking shelter from the fearful heat; save that, now and then, an
ostrich will be seen traversing the desert fields in flying pace,
or a giraffe hastening from one oasis to another. In this season,
however, frightful hurricanes occasionally arise, and fill the minds
of those, who have not been witness of such a phenomenon in nature
before, with the utmost consternation. A powerful current of air,
of suffocating heat, blows fiercely from one point of the heavens
to the other, devastating everything that lies in its course. The
atmosphere bears at these times generally a leaden grey appearance,
and is impregnated with fine sand: the sun loses its brilliancy,
and total darkness envelopes the earth, rendering it even difficult
to distinguish objects at a few paces distant. The sky changes
suddenly, becomes of a yellow colour, then assumes a reddish hue,
and the sun appears as a blood-red disk. The wind howls, tears up
everything within its reach; houses, fences, and trees by the roots,
carrying them away with it; levels mounds of sand, and piles up
fresh hills. In short, the devastation caused by a hurricane of this
kind is beyond description. Unfortunate, indeed, is he who happens
to be overtaken in the desert by one of these storms. There is no
course left for him to save himself, but to throw himself with his
face on the ground, in order to avoid suffocation by the pressure
of the atmosphere. Respiration is totally impeded; all the fibres
are tightly contracted; the chest threatens to burst for want of
pure air; and a man of rather weak constitution, overtaken by one
of these hurricanes in the open air, generally succumbs. But robust
men, even those in full vigour of life, feel depressed in every
limb for several hours after exposure to these storms, and recover
but slowly, and by degrees. Animals fly and endeavour to conceal
themselves; every creature, in fact, seeks a place of shelter. The
camels on journeys indicate the storm before it breaks forth by an
unsteadiness of gait, and by drooping their heads towards the ground.
A no less remarkable phenomenon is the Mirage, _i. e._ the appearance
of seas and rivers, supposed to be observed in the middle of
the desert, but which, in fact, are only represented to the eye
in this deceptive manner by a rising vapour, and the reflection
of the sun. The sensation is indescribable, of descrying at the
distance large rivers and lakes, after having travelled for several
tedious days through the desert, where nothing is to be seen but
sand and heaven, as but water and sky on the high seas, and at a
time, moreover, when the traveller is longing after water. We wish
for wings, to be able to reach the element of which we have been
so long deprived as quickly as possible. We delight in the idea
of invigorating the exhausted and enervated body by a bath, and
the eye is continually bent upon this pleasing object. But what
is our disappointment,—how are the spirits depressed,—when,
notwithstanding these ardent wishes, on our approach, the lakes
and rivers, which we had discerned at the distance, are resolved,
in the literal sense of the word, into thin air; and when we find,
in lieu of water, the sand as hot and dry as in the place we had just
left! When the traveller has frequently observed this phenomenon,
and accustomed himself to it, he will be pleased with the image
which diverts his eye, and will look upon it as a variation in
the scene. These aerial phenomena are called in the country,
Bahr-el-Ghazal, or Gazelle Rivers, probably because, like these
animals, they disappear as soon as seen.
The rains begin in the month of June, and terminate with the month of
October. Those who have not spent this season in a tropical country,
can form no idea of the showers which then drench the earth. The
storms generally arise in the east or in the south. A small black
cloud is, at first, perceived on the horizon, which increases as
it approaches, spreads in a few minutes, with incredible velocity,
over the whole region, and then descends. A fearful storm now rages:
flash upon flash, and peal succeeding peal, the lightning illumines
the whole heavens, and the thunder rolls most fearfully, as if the
sky were about to open and the earth to burst; streams of water
pour down with violence, which the soil is incapable of imbibing,
and torrents are thus formed, destined, however, soon to be lost
in the sands. Showers of this description generally last over one
quarter of an hour, seldom for a longer period, and very rarely,
indeed, are they repeated on the same day. They remit frequently
during two, three, or even six days, and this is the most unhealthy,
and even dangerous time both for strangers and natives; but it is
admitted by general consent, that those of white colour suffer more
than the blacks.
As if by magic, Nature now awakes from her sleep of death; for,
immediately after the first shower, the earth is clad with verdure,
the trees shoot forth fresh buds, and a vesture of flowers is spread
over the whole country.
Certain districts of Kordofan, whose position is not elevated, may,
indeed, be compared with Paradise. Everything there appears in most
perfect luxuriance. All the trees and bushes are covered with flowers
and fruit, so that the leaves are scarcely discernible. The grass
attains a height sufficient to cover a rider and his horse. Creeping
plants wind themselves up to the summit of the highest trees;
in short, the force and vigour of vegetation is everywhere
demonstrated. As the eye is delighted by the diversity of the
magnificent flowers, so it is also gratified by the varieties
of colours displayed in the plumage of the parrots, colibris, and
other feathered inhabitants of the desert and the gardens, animating
the trees with their gorgeous plumes, and enchanting the ear with
their delightful song; melodious and charming notes resound, as if
in emulation, from the various branches, and I could almost have
forgotten the song of the lark and the nightingale of my own beloved
country. But these silvery notes are not of long duration; the song
is too sweet to last for a long time. It begins as the first dawn of
morning removes the veil of night, increases as the light extends;
but when the sun arises above the horizon of the desert, or gilds the
mountains with his rays, one warbler after the other becomes mute,
and single notes are only heard. Now appear a swarm of butterflies
and beautiful insects, delighting the eye with the same change of
gorgeous colours. Giraffes, antelopes, and other animals, browse
upon the plains in the full enjoyment of life. But all these charms
soon disappear, for, under the operation of the unhealthy climate,
all cheerfulness of spirits fades in opposition to the resolute
efforts of the will, and anxiety befalls man and robs him of all
his rest. Debility of stomach, nausea, disinclination for food,
in short, all the precursory symptoms of disease, deprive him of
every enjoyment which the beauties of nature might afford; and, in
a short time, he is stretched upon the bed of sickness, from which
no stranger is entirely exempt; thus, of all the Europeans who have
visited these regions, and sojourned there for any time, but very
few have escaped with their lives, as far as our observations at
present reach; for the miasmata with which the air is impregnated,
arising from the morasses, the unwholesome water, the damp south
winds, penetrating to the very nerves, all co-operate to wear out
the thread of life; and every one hastens, if it be, indeed, in
his power, to quit this unhealthy climate as quickly as he possibly
can. Do not imagine that the showers clear the atmosphere, as is the
case in Europe, for they are immediately followed by intense heat,
which, during my residence in the country attained a degree of 30°
R. = 99° Fahrenheit.
December and January are the most healthy months, but the nights
are then so cold that the thermometer frequently falls to 8°,
or even 4° R., (50° or 41° F.,) especially shortly before
sunrise. This rapid change from the extremes of heat and cold, and
the pernicious vapours, are very deleterious in their effect on the
constitution of man, especially on the health of strangers coming
from the northern districts of Egypt or from Europe; and, indeed,
few men can ever totally accommodate themselves to this climate.
CHAPTER II.
HISTORY.
Every one will agree that it is no easy matter to write the history
of a country, or, rather, of a province, whose inhabitants live in a
state of utter ignorance, and care little for the occurrences which
took place but half the period of the life of man before them. There
exist, moreover, no chronicles capable of giving information on any
event which might serve as reference; thus I was unable to extend
my researches, or to learn more than was communicated to me by a
faquir,[4] seventy-eight years of age, who appeared to me worthy
of belief, and who had been an eye-witness of all the recent events.
Kordofan takes its name from a mountain, situate at three and a
half hours’ march to the south-east of Lobeid. The aborigines
are negroes from Nubia, who, even at the present time, inhabit
many parts of Kordofan. The word Kordofan itself is of Nubian
derivation. Three tribes subsequently immigrated: the Hadejat, el
Giomme, and Bederie. The period of this immigration, however, cannot
be definitely determined. These three nomadic tribes distributed
themselves over the country round about Mount Kordofan, occupied
themselves with cattle-breeding, and each tribe had its sheikh, or
magistrate; but from these three tribes, collectively, a head was
chosen, who acted as impartial judge in all questions of difficulty,
and, in fact, as the last authority. This people became, towards
the middle of the last century, better acquainted with Sennaar. The
King of Sennaar, namely, sent, in the year 1779, the Sheikh Nacib,
with two thousand cavalry, to take possession of the country, and
the tribes surrendered, with a pretty good grace, to their fate,
without offering much resistance. Thus they remained for about five
years, under the government of Sennaar. A Melek was instituted,
and the people felt themselves happy under his government. Several
Arab tribes, and people from Sennaar and Dongola, immigrated into
the country, and agriculture and commerce began to flourish. Darfour
now directed its attention towards this province, and entered on a
campaign, in which the Melek-el-Hashma was driven out of Sennaar,
and expelled the country for ever. Meleks now governed this country
in the name of the Sultan of Darfour, up to the year 1821, during
thirty-five years of the reign of Mehemed Ibn Fadels. During this
epoch the country was also prosperous; the inhabitants lived in
peace, and were not troubled with taxes; the merchants were exempt
from all duties, and the tribute paid was a voluntary present to
the Sultan of Darfour.
Bara, the second commercial town of importance in the country, was
built by the Dongolavi; tribes immigrated from the most distant
parts, and this province enjoyed a high degree of prosperity,
under the really mild government of Darfour. Commerce extended in
all directions; caravans brought the produce from Abyssinia, the
interior of Africa, and from Egypt, into the two towns of Lobeid
and Bara, whence the greater part was again transported into other
countries. Abundance might be said to reign everywhere, and there
was no want of any necessaries, whilst all were wealthy, and even
the women of the less opulent inhabitants wore golden rings in their
noses and ears, and many even golden bracelets and silver anklets
round their feet. No other metal but gold or silver was to be seen
in the decoration of the women, and many female slaves even wore gold
about their persons. Agriculture and cattle-breeding flourished, and
there were few inhabitants in the country who did not, to a certain
extent, devote themselves to commerce. The whole population, in fact,
lived free from care, and was wealthy; singing and dancing resounded
from place to place; in short, this was the golden age of Kordofan.
This state of happiness was not, however, of long duration, for
in the year 1821 Mehemed Ali sent his son-in-law, the notorious
Defturdar, with a brigade of four thousand five hundred infantry
and cavalry, attended by eight hundred Bedouins and eight pieces
of artillery, to subject this country to his power. The people,
apprized of his intention, prepared themselves to the utmost of
their power for defence. The Melek Moosalem marched out with his
troops to meet the Defturdar at Bara,—a march of twelve hours
from Lobeid. His numerous but irregular army was well provided with
every species of warlike weapons, excepting fire-arms, which were
little or not at all known in the country. The cavalry, like the
old Numidian equestrian troops, wore a shirt of mail, and pointed
helmet without a vizor on their heads, and bore a double-edged
sword thirty-six inches in length. The horses were caparisoned with
plates of copper. The infantry were nearly naked; armed simply with
a shield and spear, and but a small party of them with two-edged
swords, (_turbatsh_,) and a species of tomahawk. The battle was
fierce and bloody. The men of Kordofan rushed with fury upon the
foe, and defended their freedom with a total disregard of death;
even women participated in the fray. Hundreds of the combatants fell
struck by the balls of the enemy; the wounded placed their fingers
in their wounds, unable to understand how they could have been hurt,
without having been touched by a weapon; so ignorant were they of the
use of fire-arms. Infuriated they flung their spears at the cannons;
and, having succeeded in capturing a gun for a short time, sought to
revenge themselves on it for the destruction it had poured forth, by
attacking it with their swords. The battle remained for a long time
undecided. The Defturdar placed himself at the head of his cavalry,
and, although ill, would not leave the field. Several attacks
were valiantly repulsed. The Bedouins put the Turks to the blush
by their bravery; where the battle raged hottest, these children
of the desert were to be seen discomfiting the enemy most. Victory
inclined sometimes to the side of the Turks, sometimes to the side
of the men of Kordofan, but it yet remained doubtful. The Turks
were sometimes sorely pushed; a Sheikh, however, of the Bedouins,
from the race of Gemeat, was fortunate enough to lay Moosalem, the
leader of the Kordofanese, prostrate with a pistol shot; his death
decided the battle. The army of Kordofan, deprived of its leader,
turned and took to flight; they were pursued by the Turkish cavalry,
and many of them killed on this route. Amongst the dead on the field
of battle three women were even found, who had taken an active part
in the fight for their freedom. On the second day after this battle,
the Defturdar entered Lobeid with his victorious army. The town was
plundered, and nearly wholly sacked; the Defturdar found immeasurable
treasure in this place, which this avaricious tyrant immediately
appropriated to himself. The country surrendered without further
resistance, excepting the mountain of “Dyre,” situated at twenty
hours’ march from Lobeid, which has retained its freedom to the
present day. The Turkish army suffered deprivations of all kinds;
the greater part fell victims to the climate, and but few survived
who could withstand its pernicious influence, and thus escaped with
their lives.
Kordofan, excepting the free Nuba, is now divided into five
districts; a Casheff, or captain, presiding over each; a colonel,
resident in Lobeid, is governor of the province, and no pen can
describe to what oppression the country is now subjected; all
signs of wealth have entirely disappeared, and it is, as it were,
drained by the Turks, who will not suffer any private person to
attain the slightest degree of opulence. Many of the natives, tired
of this oppression, have emigrated with all their possessions,
and sought refuge either in Darfour, or in Takeli; and even as
lately as the year 1838 the inhabitants of six villages have left
the country. Nothing is now discernible but poverty and misery;
inhabitants of even moderate means are not to be met with, if we,
perhaps, except some few Djelabi.[5]
The various tribes inhabiting the country at present are the
following: Hadejat, el Giomme, Bederie, Shiswaba, el Etoman,
Ogendiab, Birget, Dombab, Almakaita, Elberiab, Hassenie, Hawara,
Felata, Denagle or Dongolavi, Darhammer, Abusanun, Darhami,
Serauy, Freseh, Basaue, el Maramera, Volet el Angon, Czahalin,
Kubbabeesh (Sheikh Salé), Benecira, Hababin (Sheikh Abdel Mahmud),
Elhauwasma (Sheikh Moosa), el Messerie (Sheikh Labaied), Koncieri or
Darfurer, Pergu, and Nas-Gioffon;[6] but these people may be arranged
collectively under three heads, namely: the Negroes; the Bakkari and
Arabs or free people; and the Dongolavi. All these various tribes
differ in their manners and customs, if not totally, at least to a
certain extent, and speak thirteen dialects and languages among them.
The total population of Kordofan may be computed at 400,000 souls,
excluding the nomadic Bakkari. The Defturdar did all in his power
to degrade this country, and his name is, even at the present day,
a word of terror to the natives. Terribly, indeed, the tyrant
abused his authority in this unhappy country; no pen can describe
the cruelties which he perpetrated in the province. Human nature
revolts at hearing the inventions of this ruffian, practised upon
his unfortunate victims for the mere gratification of his passion of
cruelty. I should not have believed every rumour, or have regarded
the accounts I heard of the atrocities of this man, for the most
part, in the light of fiction, if I had not received corroborating
evidence in all the districts of Kordofan, Sennaar and Egypt, through
which I travelled; tales the more worthy of credit, inasmuch as
many persons are yet living who were not only eye-witnesses of all
these deeds of horror, but even themselves sufferers by his cruelty.
I may, perhaps, be permitted to illustrate a few traits in the
character of this ruthless tyrant by narrating some of his feats;
it will then become evident, that this flourishing country could
but sink in a very short time, as the natural consequence of his
oppressive tyranny; and that a considerable period must elapse
before it will be able to recover itself but slightly.
A soldier who had stolen a sheep from a peasant was caught in the
very act. He not only refused to return the stolen goods, but even
maltreated the peasant. Confiding in the equity of his cause, the
latter thought he should more probably have justice done him by
the governor than by any one else, and entered a complaint against
the soldier. The Defturdar listened very patiently to the story;
but, when the peasant had finished, the tyrant accosted him in an
angry voice, with the words: “And with these trifles you trouble
me?” Then turning to his attendants he ordered the peasant to be
brought before the kadi; they understood immediately that he meant
by the kadi, a cannon, carried the poor wretch immediately off,
and bound him to the mouth of a gun which was instantly fired.
His very servants, consisting not only of slaves, but of free Arabs
and Turks, although they might be regarded as his executioners,
stood in great awe of him, for he punished the slightest offence
of which they might be guilty with every imaginable species of
cruelty. Thus it happened that one of these servants was tempted to
dip his finger into a dish to taste it. The Defturdar, unfortunately,
observed the act. He demanded of the unhappy man, in an ironical
tone, whether the dish were sweet or sour? The servant was naturally
mute with fear. The Defturdar now ordered him to be nailed by the
tongue to the door and his face to be smeared with honey, in order,
as he expressed himself, to stimulate his gustatory faculties. In
this position the unfortunate man had to pass two full hours. It
took a long time before he recovered, and a variety of remedies
were required to heal his tongue.
A seyss or groom, whose office is, according to custom in Egypt, to
run before the rider, was incapable of keeping up with the Defturdar
from absolute fatigue, in a long and quick trot. The tyrant struck
him with his whip to quicken his pace. The unfortunate man, who
was, however, quite exhausted, as may be supposed, did not become
more active after this remedy had been applied. For this crime the
unnatural barbarian had his feet bound to the tail of a horse, and
ordered the animal to be driven through the streets of Lobeid by
two other seyss. The unhappy groom would, no doubt, have met with
his death in this manner, were not the streets paved merely with
fine sand; thus he received many wounds, but none which proved
mortal. The horse, unaccustomed to such usage, turned suddenly
round, and struck at the unfortunate seyss, who, in desperation,
seized the animal with all his remaining strength by the head;
and to save himself bit into its upper lip. No attention was at
first paid to this slight wound, but in a short time the head of
the horse began to swell, and it eventually died. The seyss who
was covered with wounds, however, survived the torture.
A man gave his neighbour, in a quarrel, a box on the ears; the latter
brought a complaint against him before the Defturdar. “With which
hand didst thou strike thy neighbour?” asked the tyrant. “With
the right,” answered the peasant. “Well,” replied the
Defturdar, “that thou mayst not forget it, I shall have the flesh
removed from the palm of that hand.” This order was immediately
executed. “Now return to thy work,” said the Defturdar to the
sufferer, who, writhing with pain, replied: “In this state I cannot
work.”—“What!” exclaimed the tyrant in a rage; “thou darest
to contradict me! cut his tongue out, it is rather too long!” and
this operation was also immediately performed, without consideration
of the tortures to which he had been previously subjected.
The Defturdar one day observed, that some one had taken a pinch
of snuff out of his box during his absence; his suspicion lighted
upon his valet; he, therefore, on a subsequent occasion, confined a
fly in his box and leaving it in his divan went into another room,
and ordered his servant to fetch something from the chamber in
which he had put down the box. The servant fell into the snare,
was really tempted to take a pinch, and the fly escaped without
being observed. In a short time the Defturdar returned to the room,
found that the fly had escaped from its confinement, and immediately
asked the servant “Who had opened the box?”—“I, sir,”
he confidently replied; “I took a pinch.” This liberty he paid
with his life: the ruffian had him flogged to death.
A negro bought milk of a women for five paras,[7] drank it,
but forgot the payment; the woman complained to the Defturdar,
who happened to be in the neighbourhood. “Well,” said he,
“I will immediately investigate the affair,” and ordered the
offending negro to be instantly brought before him. When he appeared,
he asked him, if he had bought milk of that woman and not paid for
it? The negro in fear denied it. The barbarian immediately ordered
the abdomen of the negro to be cut open, to see whether his stomach
contained the milk. It was, indeed, found; whereupon he quietly
said to the woman: “Thou art right, take these five paras, and
now go thy ways.”
In his garden the Defturdar had a den, in which he kept a lion;
the animal became gradually so tame that he ran about at liberty in
the grounds, and followed his master like a dog. Of this tame lion
the tyrant made use to frighten the people who came before him, a
species of wanton sport in which he took the greatest pleasure. If
it so happened that no stranger came to visit him during the hour in
which he engaged himself in his garden, he ordered his attendants
to bring any person they might meet on the high roads to him. The
invitation was sufficient in itself to frighten any one to death;
but when an unfortunate man in the greatest trepidation entered the
garden, and in absolute fear of his life creeping along the earth,
approached the Defturdar, he set the lion at him, and the poor
fellow, of course, fell senseless to the ground at the sight of
the wild beast. This was now his greatest delight; for, although
the animal did no harm, it was sufficient to frighten the most
courageous man to be brought in close contact with a rampant lion.
Before this animal was quite domesticated, and whilst it was
yet kept in confinement, one of the gardener’s assistants was
guilty of some error, of which the superintendant complained to
the Defturdar. In no case dilatory in passing judgment, he ordered
the accused, without going into details, or listening even to
the full explanation of the case, to be cast into the lion’s
den. This order was immediately complied with; the beast, however,
treated the poor condemned wretch like a second Daniel; it not
only did him no harm, but, to the astonishment of all beholders,
licked his hands. The gardener’s assistant was not the animal’s
attendant, but had occasionally thrown some of his bread into the
den in passing. The noble animal had not forgotten this kindness,
and spared his benefactor’s life. The Defturdar, on hearing this,
was by no means pleased; but bloodthirsty as ever, and without
feeling the slightest appreciation for this act of generosity,
ordered the lion to be kept fasting during the whole of the day,
and the delinquent to remain in confinement, thinking in the anger
of ungratified rage, to force the beast to become the executioner of
its benefactor. But even hunger could not overcome the magnanimity of
the royal animal, and the poor gardener remained the whole day unhurt
in the den with the lion.[8] In the evening he was liberated, but the
unfortunate man did not long escape the vengeance of the tyrant, who,
meeting him one day in the garden, where he had brushed up a heap of
leaves, accosted him with, “Dog, thou art so bad that a lion will
not eat thee, but now thou hast made thine own grave.” Hereupon he
commanded him to carry the dry leaves to an oven, and then to creep
in himself. When this order was executed the tyrant had the leaves
lighted, and the poor wretch expired under the most horrid tortures.
A Fellah (peasant) owed the government forty maamle,[9] the sheikh
of his village had his last ox seized, the fellah declaring himself
incapable of paying. The beast was slaughtered and divided into
forty parts: the butcher received the head and skin for his trouble,
and the remaining forty parts were sold at one maamle each, to
the inhabitants of the village promiscuously. The meat, as may be
supposed, was quickly sold at this low price. The poor peasant now
appeared with a complaint before the Defturdar, assuring him that
the ox was worth more than forty maamle. The Defturdar proceeded
with all speed to the village, to investigate the matter on the
spot. Having convinced himself of the truth, he ordered the sheikh,
the butcher, and all those persons who had bought a portion of the
confiscated ox, to be called together, and reproached the sheikh,
in presence of all for his unlawful conduct. The butcher now received
the order to slaughter the sheikh and to divide his body into forty
parts. Every former purchaser was obliged to buy a part at a price
of one maamle, and to carry the flesh home with him. The money was
handed over to the Fellah as an indemnification for the ox which
had been taken from him.
At the feast of the Baëram[10] all the servants and seyss, eighteen
in number, went before the Defturdar to offer their congratulations
according to custom, and begged at the same time for a pair of new
shoes. “You shall have them,” said he. He now had the farrier
called, and commanded him to make eighteen pairs of horse-shoes
to fit the feet of his servants; these were ready on the next day,
whereupon he ordered two shoes to be nailed to the soles of the feet
of each of the eighteen servants without mercy. Nine of them died
in a short time of mortification; he then had the survivers unshod,
and consigned them to the care of a medical man.
But, enough of the atrocities perpetrated by this tiger in
human shape, cruelties which are neither to be justified nor
excused. Volumes might be filled with instances of tyranny of which
this barbarian was guilty in the conquered country of Kordofan,
in Sennaar, and Egypt. No single day passed without its tribute
to his blood-thirsty cruelty. His power of invention of tortures
for his unfortunate victims was extraordinary, and he was always
capable of lighting upon some new mode of gratifying his revengeful
disposition. His name will remain unforgotten for ages in Kordofan,
Sennaar, and Egypt, and is yet an object of terror to all who hear
it. Mehemed Ali, wearied of the complaints which daily reached him
against this tyrant, at last had a bowl of poison presented to
him. I myself saw several of the victims of his cruelty who had
been fortunate enough to escape with their lives, but wandered
about the country as cripples, begging their daily bread from
their neighbours, deprived of their noses, ears, or tongues, or
with their eyes put out.
We may now easily imagine what fate befel this ill-starred country,
when it became subject to the Turks. In former days, the inhabitants
lived in freedom, without care, in the consciousness of security of
property, or at least of life; but, when the Turks gained possession
of this province, a total change took place; from that moment, the
right of property ceased to exist, and the government considered
all possessions as its own. Add to this the inhuman conduct of
the Defturdar, which brought the people to the verge of despair;
for the slightest suspicion that any one subject had amassed a
small fortune, either in goods, money, or cattle, was sufficient
to bring him, under some pretext, to death, in order to be able to
confiscate his property. The Defturdar was insatiable; he robbed
everything, if he only knew where to find it, and had thus collected
immeasurable wealth in a very short space of time.
The government is, indeed, at present, rather more lenient, and its
officers have received a check in their arbitrary abuse of power;
but the distance from the seat of government is too great to render
the superior authorities cognizant of all abuses, too many of which,
unfortunately, yet afflict this doomed province.
CHAPTER III.
GOVERNMENT.
The form of government of Kordofan resembles that of other countries
under Egyptian sway, that is to say, it is despotic; but the
inhabitants of this province are subjected to particularly severe
oppression, being situate, as we have above observed, at so great a
distance from the seat of government, that it indeed almost amounts
to an impossibility to proffer a complaint to the first authorities.
The people feel themselves, therefore, extremely miserable, the
more so since, under the dominion of Sennaar and Darfour, neither
property nor life were endangered, as they are at present. The
difference may be deduced from the fact, that, in former times,
nearly all the women wore ornaments of gold, a metal which is now
rarely, or never seen in the province.
Under the government of Darfour, there were no taxes, no duties,
trade was free, and everywhere reigned opulence. Now the reverse is
observed. Duties and imposts of every description oppress the people,
and have reduced them to abject poverty. The old proverb, “Where
a Turk sets his foot no grass will grow,” is, in this province,
adequately exemplified. The originator of all this misery was,
undoubtedly, the Defturdar, the conqueror of this country. With
the conquest, government was out of the question, for every one
was subjected to arbitrary and tyrannical treatment. Mehemed Ali,
indeed, recalled the Defturdar, but the people experienced, on
the whole, no material relief by this measure, for the subsequent
governors were by no means idle in scraping treasure together,
and gradually exhausted all the sap from this already impoverished
country. The province is now governed by the Bey, (colonel,) of
the first regiment of the line, quartered at Lobeid, to whom the
Casheffs, (chief magistrates of the five districts, and generally
captains in the same regiment,) are subordinate. The Bey is again
responsible to the Pasha (general) of Khartoom, who is, at the same
time, governor of the whole Belled Soodan.[11]
The Bey, or governor, is the superior authority in all civil and
military affairs; his decision is peremptory; but, in matters of
importance, orders must be received from Khartoom. In judicial cases,
the kadi passes judgment, and the governor sees it executed; this,
however, is generally a mere blind, to keep up the appearance of
a just administration of the law to the people, for every judgment
is perfectly arbitrary.
The revenue consists of the ordinary taxes, and in the levy of
custom duties, but these are never exacted in proper proportion,
or after a fixed scale; for when a contribution is ordered to be
levied from Cairo, the country is generally forced to contribute
double the amount,—a very natural consequence, when we consider
that all the government situations are held by officers, who
purchase their commissions from the governor. It is, of course,
an understood thing, that one functionary endeavours to outbid the
other, in which practice he is encouraged by the knowledge, that
he will in time be able to make good his outlay. They certainly
cannot reckon on enjoying their privileges for any length of time;
for if a person present himself, and pay a few purses of money more,
the colonel is not long in finding a cause for turning one of his
former employes out of office, and conferring the vacant situation
on the new candidate. Every officer, therefore, endeavours to extort
as much as he possibly can by oppression, in the shortest possible
time, in order to reimburse himself for his expenditure, and to gain
something by his bargain. Each casheff, or captain of a district,
is provided with a few subordinate officers, who are distributed
in the distant localities. These subalterns, and the Sheikhs el
Belled, or village magistrates, must occasionally make presents to
the casheffs. The sheikhs are by no means thoughtless of themselves;
and lastly, the copts, who perform the duties of secretaries, all
and every one prey upon the small gains of the poor inhabitants,
so that we may easily conceive what the unfortunate people have to
suffer. Mehemed Ali, acquainted with the arbitrary proceedings of the
governors, and subordinate functionaries, notwithstanding the great
distance from the scene of their rapacity, has done everything in his
power to put a limit to these impositions. Thus, in the years 1838
and 1839, a greater part of the _employés_ were summoned before
a commission of enquiry, and sent into different provinces,—in
short, everything was done to bring about a just administration,
but all in vain. With the best intentions, the Viceroy was incapable
of curing the cancer which preyed upon the bowels of the land; and
although, indeed, much of the property, which had been unjustly
scraped together,—or we should rather say, the plunder of the
government functionaries,—was confiscated; the Viceroy was, in the
end, the gainer, not the people. To the latter, nothing is returned;
and this restitution, indeed, would be no easy undertaking, inasmuch
as the individual sufferers could not be readily found, and Mehemed
Ali, moreover, does not trouble himself in the slightest about the
matter. It is true that the country swarms with spies, who observe
every action of the government officers with great accuracy, and make
their reports in a higher quarter; but the state, in these cases,
confiscates the plunder, as I have before mentioned, and the poor
people receive no indemnification. The interests of the separate
functionaries are, moreover, too closely united for the one to
place any impediment in the way of the other. The judges are bribed,
and a mere deposition, or loss of office, generally terminates the
affair. When the detected fraud is, however, too flagitious, the
criminated officer is immediately sent into a distant province, and
then prosecuted, in order that he may have no opportunity of coming
to an understanding with his judges, or accusers. In this case he
is certainly lost; but the state confiscates the proceeds of his
rapacity, and his successor plunders and extorts again, as much as
he possibly can, as long as he can manage to keep his actions secret.
An additional, and chief grievance, is the circumstance of the
Viceroy being obliged to treat the governors with the utmost lenity
and forbearance; for he knows full well how dangerous it would be to
irritate them, and thus, perhaps, to goad them on to rebellion. In
one moment the whole Belled Soodan would be lost, and not so easily
regained. The troops of the garrison consist of native negroes,
who implicitly obey those who give them the most, or merely make
them the largest promises, and who more especially treat them with
kindness. The country in general detests the Viceroy, believing him
to be the cause of all the oppression under which it groans, as it
considers all the acts of injustice, under which it has to suffer,
to be perpetrated by his orders. In case of a governor, therefore,
rebelling against the government, the whole province would instantly
attach itself to his faction, if he merely released them of a portion
of their taxation. To re-conquer the country by force of arms would
be a more difficult matter than it was twenty years ago; we know what
resistance the negroes of Kordofan and Sennaar offered the Turks,
when armed with spears and swords only; and at present, there are
15,000 muskets in the arsenal at Khartoom, which would give the
insurgents no small advantage. Mehemed Ali knows all this very well,
and acts very wisely in conciliating the governors: the authority
of the latter is, therefore, virtually far greater than that of
the Viceroy, and most wofully do they use it to their advantage;
for, with few exceptions, they exert unlimited power, are masters
over life and death, as also over the property of the people. A
code of laws has certainly been instituted, but these are totally
disregarded, and in every case will is law. Judgment is sometimes
even passed according to the whim or fancy of the individual in
the most unjustifiable manner. During my residence in this country,
I had the opportunity of convincing myself of this fact.
A Turk, who travelled with a large quantity of goods, was murdered
in the desert of Bahiouda,[12] and robbed of his property. All
investigations and endeavours to detect the murderer proved
fruitless; thus much was, however, subsequently discovered, that
the goods had been sold at Darfour, and it was suspected that the
perpetrator of the crime was secreted in Kordofan. Several persons
were taken into custody, and examined, but in vain; the delinquent
could not be discovered. A prophetess, who, by casting a handful
of shells on the sand, pretended to be able to look into futurity,
and to explain the past, arrived, by means of her mystic art,
at the conclusion, that the son of the Sheikh of Haraza was the
murderer. The result of her sorcery was imparted to the governor,
Mohammed Bey, in conversation over a pipe of tobacco. The governor,
a man of weak mind, who placed more confidence in the idle talk
of an old woman, than in common sense, gave credence to this tale,
and had the man accused instantly arrested, and conducted by a party
of soldiers to Lobeid; he was then loaded with irons, and cast into
prison; whereupon the investigation immediately took place. Although
he asserted that he was at that time in quite a different place, and
was able to corroborate this statement by witnesses, the testimony of
a fortune-teller was regarded as better evidence, and the unfortunate
man was subjected to the most cruel tortures to force a confession
from him. He was bound, by order of the governor, hand and foot,
close to a large fire, whence a soldier took a burning branch, and
burnt his body; he received twenty wounds, and not until he writhed
like a worm with pain and anger did the governor put a stop to the
cruelty. The true criminal was shortly after this discovered, and
the son of the Sheikh, who had been so frightfully tortured, was now
proved to be innocent; but no one could alleviate his sufferings,
and any further compensation was totally out of the question.
When an individual is guilty of any offence, the examination
generally takes place as soon as he is arrested, judgment is quickly
passed, and instantly executed. Two circumstances are, however,
necessary for the conviction of the party accused,—namely,
detection in the act, or confession. If he plead not guilty, and
deny the charge, he is submitted to torture, and thus it frequently
happens that the innocent suffer for the guilty.
Stealing a slave, an ox, a camel, an ass, &c., is punished by
the loss of a hand. The judgment is executed by the first butcher
casually met with in the streets. The delinquent is ordered to lay
his hand upon a block, in which situation it is held down by two men:
the butcher then chops it off. The stump is immediately thrust into a
vessel containing butter, heated nearly to the boiling point, which
stands in readiness, for the purpose of stopping hæmorrhage, and
preventing mortification, and the limb is then enveloped in a rag. In
the course of ten minutes all is over, and the sufferer returns home.
Murder, with the exception of negroes, is of very rare
occurrence. One single instance of this crime occurred in the year
1838; the murderer was detected, and, after a short examination,
hung on a gibbet erected in front of the house of the governor. In
praise of Mehemed Ali, it must be stated that there is not at
present that danger for an European travelling through the country
as was the case during the time it was under the government of
Darfour, when no Djelabi could venture to undertake a journey into
this province, excepting under the protection of a considerable
escort. At present, any person may traverse the country from one
end to the other without fear. I myself, on nearly all occasions,
travelled alone, or merely accompanied by my servant, and never met
with the slightest delay from robberies, or other hinderances; on
the contrary, I was everywhere received with the utmost hospitality
and courtesy,—the more so when it became gradually known that I
was no Turk, although of white colour, but a Frank.
Cases of petty larceny are of frequent occurrence; for thieving is
almost a congenital vice with many of the negroes. What they see they
wish to possess, and if it be not given to them freely, they will
watch their opportunity of appropriating it to themselves; but we
never find several persons conspiring together to commit a robbery.
A single mountain,—“Mount Dyre,” inhabited by negroes,
who have not yet been brought to submission, is to be dreaded;
for these people live solely by plunder and robbery. They make
incursions into the neighbouring country in large bodies, even
to Milbes, situate at three hours’ march from Lobeid, and steal
and rob everything that comes in their way, both men and cattle,
which they either use for their own purposes, or sell to others,
The Djelabi, and other travellers, avoid this hill, by making a
great circuit, in order to escape the negroes of “Dyre.”
The jurisdiction over the offences and crimes of slaves, is an
affair _sui generis_. This class of beings is not looked upon, or
treated as men, but as cattle. The master of a slave acts as judge
in cases of offences, which the one or the other may commit in his
house. If one slave murder or stab the other, the proprietor must
bear the loss, if both the slaves be his property; and he can merely
punish the criminal, or sell him, if he please. In this case, the
affair is regarded in the same light as when, in Europe, one horse
kills the other, both belonging to the same owner. If, on the other
hand, the murdered slave be the property of another, the proprietor
of the murderer must make the loss good; and only if he refuse,
or offer too little, proceedings at law are entered upon,—not a
criminal process for murder, but a suit for damages. Only in case a
slave murder a free man, is he ever brought to trial, and executed
according to sentence.
The revenue is collected partly in money, partly in kind, _i. e._, in
products, or slaves; there is no systematic arrangement in the mode
in which the contribution is levied; the governor fixes the rate,
and it is the duty of the casheffs, and Sheikhs-el Belled, to collect
it. Whosoever is suspected of possessing any treasure is forced to
give it up, or his cattle, or other property, is taken away from him
by force. In the year 1838, the country was obliged to contribute, in
addition to the imposts in money, beside cattle, butter, and slaves,
4,000 ardeb[13] (about 118,000 sacks) of doura,[14] or millet;
and the Bakkara nomadic tribes, 12,000 oxen, and kine. Cattle is
only received from the villagers when they cannot produce cash; a
large ox is then taken by the government to the value of 35 piaster,
(3 fl., 30 kr., C.M.; about 9 shillings sterling). During several
years, 8,000 heads of horned cattle were annually sent to Cairo, the
greater part of which perished on the road. The government have now
had their eyes opened to the absurdity of driving beasts so great
a distance, and the transport of cattle to Cairo has consequently
ceased; they are now only driven to Khartoom. The cash received as
revenue proceeds from taxes, duties, the sale of slaves, and other
produce of the country. It is impossible to describe the cruelty
with which the taxes and contributions are collected; and it is
really wonderful that it should be yet possible to drain a country,
where so little trade is carried on, of such large sums annually. But
this state of things cannot last long; for the ready money decreases
with every year, and the trade of the country is scarcely worthy
of consideration. The people will, in fact, eventually be obliged
to emigrate, as they have already from several parts, or a general
insurrection will be the result; this revolution would, indeed, have
taken place in 1838, if a leader had been forthcoming. Droughts, or
excess of rains, may cause the harvest, in many districts, to fail,
or the locusts may totally devour it; the cattle, moreover, may fall
a prey to epidemic diseases; but none of these circumstances are ever
taken into consideration, and the contributions are levied without
mercy or compassion. In the year 1838, the inhabitants of several
villages, were forced, in consequence of an unsuccessful harvest, to
take refuge in a forest, and to live upon the fruit of a tree, called
Egelit, and on milk; but the government knew very well where to find
them, and took away all their cattle. When a village has nothing left
wherewith to pay its taxes, it is obliged to find a certain number
of slaves, who are drafted as recruits into the various regiments,
or publicly sold; in the former case, the government receives these
slaves at a value of 150 to 300 piasters, (15 to 30 fl., C.M.;
from 30 shillings to £3 10s.) a-head; children at 30 piasters, or
more; but always below the market price, in order that Mehemed Ali,
the great slave-merchant, may gain something by the bargain, at the
expense of his oppressed subjects. A great portion of the imposts
is even now paid in slaves; and on these occasions truly revolting
scenes frequently take place. Should it ever happen that Mehemed
Ali puts an end to slave-hunting, as he has confidently promised,
he would yet remain the most extensive slave-merchant, because he
endeavours to cover his revenues by slaves, and receives them in lieu
of money. It is, indeed, much easier in this country to find a slave
than a dollar of ready money; and this state of things is rather on
the increase than on the decrease. With what right, may I ask, is
Mehemed Ali called, by many Europeans, the civilizer of his country,
when we have ample proof of his forcing his people to steal slaves,
in order to be able to satisfy his claims as regent! Many of these
subjects meet with an untimely end in these expeditions; for the
negroes defend their freedom most stubbornly. If a native of Kordofan
lose his father, his brother, or his friend, in one of these private
depredatory excursions, he lays the blame on the free negroes, and
endeavours to revenge the death of his relative; he becomes cruel,
and, lastly, stains himself with the crime of murder, whilst the
blame is due to no one but Mehemed Ali, the great slave-trader. Even
if it were really ever to happen, that the transport of slaves to
Cairo should cease, I have a strong suspicion that those slaves
which Mehemed Ali receives in Kordofan, and elsewhere, in payment
of imposts, would be sold to the Djelabi, to be transported into
Arabia, to which country thousands are being daily sent.
As far as my observations went during my sojourn in this country, and
it is an opinion of the correctness of which I had the opportunity of
convincing myself in a great measure, there are many sources in the
state to cover its revenue, without proceeding to such extreme and
inhuman measures as slave-hunting or slave-trading. The sugar-cane
grows here without cultivation and thrives exceedingly. The soil is,
in many situations, well adapted to the growth of indigo, and the
country would yield many other products, if the experiment were made,
and water were not so scarce as it is in many situations. Although
the White Nile flows close to the confines of the province, yet
the water of this river could not be rendered serviceable for the
irrigation of Kordofan by means of a canal, for the excavation
of the bed would cost millions of money, and the country is so
elevated that a simple canal would not answer the purpose. No
less than twenty thousand heads of horned cattle might, with ease,
be annually sent to Egypt, for there is no lack of pasturage; but
the transport of cattle should be intrusted to the care of more
sensible people than it has been hitherto, who have acted entirely
on their own discretion. Mehemed Ali has, further, not yet made an
attempt to derive any benefit from the large forests of gum trees
in Nubia. They might be a source of great profit to the state, and
would prove far more productive than those contemptible and atrocious
slave-hunts. He need only employ the tenth part of those troops whose
services are required in these abominable excursions as inspectors
in collecting the gum, and allow the negroes of Nubia small wages,
as is done in Kordofan; both the state and the people would in
this way gain, and the negroes would enjoy their liberty; their
confidence in the government would be augmented, when they came to
understand that they were treated as a free people and not as slaves;
trade, commerce, and agriculture would, by this measure, receive a
stimulus and improve; and every man would with pleasure engage in
an undertaking whence a small profit might be expected, because he
would not have to tremble for his freedom and his life. The mountains
of Nubia might yield from ten to twenty thousand cantari[15] of gum
of the best quality annually; and Mehemed Ali would soon find out,
that he could with as much ease obtain two cantari of gum as one
slave, and that the acquisition would be attended with less expense.
The governors and government functionaries look upon Kordofan as
their private property, and, regarding the inhabitants as slaves,
treat them as such, in every sense of the word; thus the country
is subjected to every possible species of extortion. In the year
1838, Mehemed Ali determined to undertake a journey to Sennaar. Many
cases of oppression had probably reached his ears which were likely
to lead to proceedings, and might prove productive of considerable
sums. On his arrival at Khartoom, he summoned the chief sheikhs of
Kordofan into his presence, and listened to the complaints of his
subjects. On accurate investigation, and where he was convinced of
unlawful actions he had the guilty party immediately prosecuted. Thus
the governor of Kordofan was deposed, and all the staff-officers,
with nine other officers and copts, were brought to trial. Much
property which had been illegally acquired was certainly confiscated;
but, as I have before observed, Mehemed Ali was, in the end, the
sole gainer by this measure, and not the people. On his departure,
the former arbitrary system prevailed; he left, indeed, strict
orders with the governor and other government officers, rigorously
prohibiting them from indulging in cruelties, but these measures were
insufficient to mitigate the evil. Mehemed Ali was, on this occasion,
cunning enough, in travelling to Fazoglo, to liberate a convoy of
slaves he casually met on the road, who had but a few days before
left their native hills;—but why? Because several Europeans were
in his suite. No such orders were left in Kordofan; the stipulated
number of five thousand slaves were delivered to a man. I was the
only European at that time in Kordofan, and the governor condescended
to request that I would not mention this circumstance in Europe. The
country, in fine, could only be relieved and gradually raised from
its present degraded state, by sending a governor to Kordofan who
would act, not upon private interest, but on the interests of the
state and people: in fact, as a man, as well as a diplomatist.
CHAPTER IV.
HABITS AND CUSTOMS.
The dwelling-places, in Kordofan, are called “tukkoli,” and
are of extremely simple construction. The house is generally ten
to twelve feet in diameter, and of a circular form; it has but
one single entrance, which answers the purpose of door, window,
and chimney, and is just large enough for a man to creep in
whilst stooping. One house is as like the other as one egg is
like its fellow, for there is no scope for architectural display;
as the residences of the negroes are built on the same plan at the
present day, and formed of the same materials they were centuries
ago. A certain number of wooden poles are stuck into the ground,
in a circular form, according to the dimensions required, and,
being bent inwards, form a fork above. A second series, exactly
similar to the first, is added, and the ends are bound together in
a point, so that the second layer has the shape of a sugar loaf,
and constitutes the roof. The whole fabric is then combined with
a kind of basket-work and covered with dokn[16] straw. The apex
of the roof forms a basket, which serves as a nest for the black
stork, which generally returns in the months of May and July from
its migrations, and hatches its young in the nests it finds ready
formed. If no stork happen to build on one or the other of these
“tukkoli,” three or four ostrich’s eggs are placed, by way of
ornament, on a pole erected perpendicularly on the top of the roof.
Simple as is the construction of these houses, they may be said,
on an average, to be very firmly built, so that a drop of water
seldom penetrates during the heaviest shower in the rainy season,
and they afford, at least, a dry place of shelter. From two to five
of these tukkoli are generally built for one family, and the whole
homestead is then hedged in with a fence of thorn; an opening is
left in this hedge for the gate, represented by a bush of thorn,
which is taken away and replaced after entrance or egress from the
enclosure. This is not done from any apprehension of thieves or
of any other intrusion, but to keep the hungry camels, who would
devour the house, in a short time, down to the very framework, at a
respectful distance. These thorn fences are a great inconvenience,
and even dangerous to strangers, for, if they do not exactly shed
blood, they will seldom enter them or quit them without leaving a
portion of their dress thereunto attached. The expense of building
a house of this description is very trifling; the poorest people,
therefore, are able to erect their own tukkoli. Wood may be cut in
the forests without any charge being made for it; certainly those
who do not happen to grow corn, and consequently have no straw, are
obliged to buy this material. The expense, however, rarely exceeds
from five to ten piasters, (less than three shillings;) for which
sum, a sufficient quantity may be bought to keep out every drop of
water during the severest shower. Labourers are not paid, for each
man assists his neighbour gratuitously. These houses present another
and very desirable advantage, putting aside the consideration that
the material costs a mere trifle and the building but little trouble;
for every man can have his house carried away, by ten or twelve men,
in two divisions, and quickly again erected in a different place, if
the site did not please him, or a disagreeable neighbour rendered his
prior residence unpleasant to him. If fire break out in a village,
no attempt is made to extinguish it, as it would be labour in vain,
but the houses nearest to the seat of conflagration are conveyed
out of the reach of danger, and a limit is thus put to the raging
element. Whole villages are sometimes carried away, when an insect
happens to infest the neighbourhood, and renders residence in a
certain district insupportable. The animal is the ricinus,[17]
called there “kurat;” it harbours in the sand, whence it
issues, in astonishing numbers, to attack those who may happen to
sit down on the sand naked, as the negroes do. This little animal
then immediately approaches and bites most severely. The camels
stand in great awe of it, immediately take flight, and cannot be
made to stop in a place where it is to be met with. The sting of
this insect is only to be avoided by sitting on straw mats, for
they seldom creep upon these.
Every family possesses an additional hut, (called “moraka,”)
in which the flour necessary for the consumption of the house is
ground. This operation is performed in a hollow stone, a species of
rude mortar, which is fixed into the ground, whilst a girl, generally
a slave, reduces the grain (dokn) with another cylindrical stone to
a powder. In a family consisting of eight persons, one girl would be
occupied throughout the whole year in grinding the necessary quantity
of corn. This simple labour requires great exertion, and is only
to be performed by girls who have attained their fourteenth year,
younger children being unequal to the task. Even grown persons suffer
considerably in this occupation, for it requires no slight exertion
to roll a heavy stone all day long backwards and forwards in the
heat of these huts; the poor creatures thus employed are generally
bathed in perspiration, and yet they may be heard singing all day
long. Their songs are certainly merely expressive of their desire
to escape, or of longing after their homes. The chaunts are very
peculiar, and, with few exceptions, the impromptu pouring-forth of
the feelings of the singer, according to the custom prevalent over
nearly the whole of the East.
Few songs are to be met with which the one learns of the other;
for each individual sings exactly what he thinks, without any regard
to metre or time. For their dances the natives have a few peculiar
melodies, which, however, are frequently altered by variations of
their own composition. The young female slaves are heard to sing
chiefly in a minor key, and their notes are scarcely audible in the
next hut: the song will frequently run in the following strain:
“The sun is concealing itself behind the hills, come people to
the joyous dance; the cows are milked, the work is done, light the
fire; my lover comes to fetch me home, &c.” A tear may be seen to
flow from the eye of many a girl as she thinks of her native hills,
over these songs; time, however, is capable of assuaging the grief
of these poor creatures, and after the lapse of two or three years
but few of them devote a thought to their native country. In Egypt I
have often conversed with both male and female slaves who scarcely
remembered their fatherland, which they the more easily forget,
as they meet with treatment in captivity they could not have
experienced under the paternal roof; they subsequently adopt the
customs and habits of the people with whom they are forced to live,
and frequently laugh at the simple customs of their own country.
In the houses of the married there is a small elevation, of about
one foot and a half in height, in which an earthern pot is immured
up to its _embouchure_: this is called “tirankul,” and is for
the purpose of fumigating the person. Wood cut into thin shavings,
named “klet” and “telch,” is placed in the pot, and ignited,
whereupon the person performs the fumigation. This smoke is very
tonic in its operation, and so astringent that it corrugates the
skin. The shirts are also fumigated with sandal-wood over this pot.
The influential and more opulent inhabitants of the village, _e. g._
the sheikhs or the djelabis, possess, in addition to the houses we
have already described, a hut built in a quadrangular form and called
“rakuba:” they are more spacious than the common dwellings, and
are furnished with two entrances to admit of a freer circulation
of air, but are not tenantable during the rainy season on account
of the extreme lightness with which they are constructed. This
description of public building serves the purpose of a place of
abode for travellers, and is certainly preferable to the dark and
hot tukkoli, which are built rather for the rainy season than for the
dry and hot weather, during which period the people live more in the
open air. In Bari and Lobeid, where many Turks and Dongolavi reside
who look more to comfort, several spacious residences are to be met
with, constructed on the principle of those observed in all Egyptian
towns. The houses at Bari are more substantially built than those
at Lobeid, which are, literally speaking, made of sand. An European
architect would be much puzzled to erect a house of this description,
if he were shown the material only. It consists of wood and sand;
but as the swallows build their nests with very slight material,
which, however, in time becomes as firm as stone, in like manner
houses are constructed at Lobeid which, although they will not last
for ever, resist the inclemencies of the weather for a great length
of time, and afford the occupant a secure place of shelter.
In several parts of the East I have had frequent opportunities
of observing that they build very neat dwellings as it were of
nothing. Houses, two stories in height, are frequently erected
from the ground in five or six weeks. The walls are represented by
a thick framework of wood, lined with a few bricks. A coating of
mortar covers the whole, and thus a house bears all the appearance
of being built of stone, and does not easily fall, especially where
they are not detached, but form streets, and the one, therefore,
supports the other. In Kordofan, on the other hand, each man builds
an isolated hut, and every species of building material, excepting
wood, is wanting; the construction, therefore, is completely that
of a swallow’s nest. When a man has fixed upon the plot of ground
on which he intends to construct his house, the earth is excavated
to the depth of half a foot; and as much of the sand dug out as
is necessary for the building, is mixed with water in a well,
at two or three paces distant from the site of the building. The
foundation is now erected to a height of about two feet, and the
labour is remitted for two or three days, to allow the wall of
sand to acquire the proper firmness. This latter proceeding is the
more essential as the whole fabric would tumble to pieces before
it had attained its necessary height, unless this precaution were
adopted. When the destined elevation is completed, and the wall is
thoroughly dry, thin rafters are laid horizontally across it to
form the skeleton of the roof. Mats of straw are now placed upon
the rafters, and covered with a thin layer of sand, which is then
wetted; small pebbles of quartz are now strewn over this bed, and
the whole mass is firmly beaten together. A fabric of this nature
is not unlike _papier maché_, and, like the latter, would become
perfectly saturated with the first rain, and fall to pieces, if they
did not take the precaution of covering the whole with a coating
of cow-dung, which effectually keeps out water, and thus prevents
the occurrence of such a calamity. It will be easily conceived that
a house of this kind diffuses no very agreeable odour during the
first few days after erection, and that its colour is by no means
the most pleasing. In the rainy season this plastering has to be
repeated several times, and yet the rain frequently penetrates. I
have lived in one of these houses, and derived the greatest benefit
from my umbrella both by day and by night.
Most places are provided with draw-wells, but the water is on
the average very bad. The wells are situated at a short distance
from some of their places of residence, and the tributary springs
frequently dry up, as was the case in the year 1839, when many
villages suffered from want of water. In several localities,
where this element was formerly found at a depth of ten feet,
it is now necessary to dig to a depth of twenty feet before it
can be reached. About fifteen years ago water was found at twenty
feet below the level of the ground at Lobeid; at present fifty feet
must be penetrated before arriving at it. During the rainy season
water is, indeed, never wanting; but the rains do not last long,
and that which remains in the ponds either quickly evaporates,
or becomes in a short time so deteriorated that it could not be
drank without producing fatal consequences.
The arrangements in the interior of the tukkoli are as simple as
the huts themselves. In addition to an “angareb” (a bedstead or
frame, with straps fastened across it), a leathern shield, and a few
spears, the furniture consists of the following objects:—a pot,
called “burma,” for water; a second for boiling, and a third
for “merissa” (a species of beer); further a flat earthern dish
“doka” for baking bread; some few gourds for drinking; a wooden
platter named “gedda” for the boiled food; and a dish of straw
plaited from the leaves of the Doum palm, called “tabake.” Milk
is kept in a basket formed of rushes so densely interlaced that no
fluid can percolate: to render them thus impermeable they are steeped
in boiling water immediately after they are plaited. Provisions
and other articles of domestic economy are hung against the walls,
to keep them from the mice and white ants; these insects are a
thorough plague in the country, and nothing is safe from them;
they will even gnaw and undermine the wood-work of a house, and
cause the whole fabric to fall to pieces. Their habitation is the
sand, especially where it is rather damp; everything in fact that
is placed on the ground is in danger of being eaten up by them;
chests and trunks should, therefore, be placed upon stones, for
they do not creep up these: the open air is also fatal to the white
ant. When they have gnawed anything to pieces they leave a moisture
mixed with sand, which becoming hard forms an incrustation; and
beneath this they carry on their work of destruction. This covering
is not intended to defend them from other insects inimical to them,
and likely to disturb them in their work, but to guard themselves
against the access of the air, which, as I before mentioned, they
cannot bear. I took all possible pains to learn something more of
the habits of these animals, to find out where they live and in
what numbers they congregate. I have often dug to a depth of one
foot or two feet in the sand without meeting with one single ant;
and yet, if I placed a wooden chest on the ground, where I had
just been digging, I found in a short time the spot covered with
hundreds of these insects.
The interior of some of the tukkoli is decorated with beautiful
coloured straw mats; the angareb is also covered with variegated
matting, and serves, at the same time, as a couch. Two or three
ropes are drawn across the middle of the hut, to which ribbons,
two fingers in breadth, plaited of rushes, and spreading out
inferiorly, are attached; by these ligatures blue porcelain plates,
of English manufacture, are suspended, to contain food and preserve
it from the insects. A second cord is passed round the hut, to
which black glass bottles are hung, ornamented with gold paper;
part of these are empty, others again are filled with perfumery
and cosmetics belonging to the women, as grease, palm-oil, oil of
cloves, shebe,[18] telka,[19] etc. The walls are decorated with a
shield, a two-edged sword, and a few spears. Before the tukkoli,
a hollow cylinder made of cow-dung is frequently met with, it is
placed on stones, and is hermetically closed with a lid. In this
vessel the inhabitants keep their corn, but a majority of them
bury their stores under-ground. For this purpose they dig a pit,
and line it internally with straw-matting; the corn is then thrown
in and covered with straw-mats; sand is now shot over the whole,
and the ground is levelled. Cabinets d’aisance are not known
to the natives; in these matters they imitate the cats. There
are no stalls or stables for the domestic animals; the cattle is
penned together in an enclosure of thorn, in the vicinity of the
tukkoli. The fence is exceedingly dense, intended to keep out the
wild beasts at night; and yet it frequently happens that a lion,
or hyæna, when urged by hunger, will effect an entry through the
thickest hedge, and carry away a sheep, a goat, or a calf.
The habits of the people are very simple, and their labour is
restricted to the most necessary employments. As soon as the
day begins to dawn old and young rise from their couches, and
after washing their faces, hands, and feet, in accordance with
their religion, proceed to work; the occupation of the majority,
however, consists in again retiring to the angareb. It is worthy
of remark that no one sleeps on the bare ground, and that the
meanest slave is provided with a mat to lie upon. In the houses
of the more respectable natives, one or two angarebs are always
found on which they sleep, while the lower orders are provided
with straw-mats, for no human being could endure lying on the
mere ground for any length of time; for the vermin harbouring in
the sand would nearly eat him up. The bed of a slave is certainly
not of eiderdown, and many Europeans, rising in the morning from
a couch of this description, would consider they had undergone
a severe punishment; for these straw, or rather cane-mats, are
plaited from a species of reed, the stalks of which are as thick
as the little finger, and each particular reed is so far apart in
the texture, that their entire number may be counted in the morning
on the body of the slave. I have often asked these poor wretches
how they could possibly sleep on a bed of torture of this kind,
but they have always assured me, laughing, that they could rest
better there than on the bare ground. As a general rule no one
places any pillow under his head, not even as much as a stone;
but the natives cover themselves with a shirt, if indeed they have
one; in this garment they envelope the whole head, and if any one,
in fact, neglect covering his head at night, he will experience a
sensation of heaviness and indisposition in the morning, which will
continue during the whole day. Breakfast is not customary in this
country. Although the coffee from Abyssinia, and even from Yemen,
which stands in commercial connexion with Kordofan, is very cheap,
this beverage is but little known and is only drank by some few
djelabi and the Turkish residents of Kordofan; with the exception
of one coffee-house at Lobeid, there is no establishment of the
kind in the whole province, and this single _café_ is frequented
by the Turks solely, and not by the natives. Among the most
respectable Dongolavi, however, some few may be occasionally found
who do not abstain altogether from this beverage. If a foreigner
visit an influential person in the morning a pipe and merissa are
offered him, and a dish, reckoned a great delicacy, which requires,
however, a stomach differently constituted to that of an European
to digest it. I, on one occasion, had the honour of being treated
with this dish. I was one day invited by a djelabi at Denaglé to
breakfast. Having arrived at the appointed time, I was conducted
to a seat on an angareb covered with beautiful carpets, and a pipe
and merissa were handed to me. When I observed that no fire was
lighted in the fire-place and that no other preparations were being
made, I asked, without further ceremony, where the breakfast was,
for I knew very well that simple merissa would not be considered
sufficient to offer me, and I had not time to remain longer. The
djelabi told me that it would be ready immediately, and pointed to
a sheep which was running about in the court, adding, that he would
not have it slaughtered until I had arrived. I replied, “It will
soon be midday and I have other business to attend to, and cannot
wait until the meat is roasted or boiled, especially as you have
not even prepared a fire.” My host assured me that the breakfast
would be ready immediately, and that I should have ample time to
attend to my business. My curiosity was now excited to the utmost
to know with what kind of breakfast he intended to honour me, and I
kept my eyes continually on the sheep, which was to be sacrificed
in honour of my visit; judge, however, of my embarrassment when a
slave, on a signal from his master, quickly decapitated the sheep,
and without waiting to flay the animal, ripped up its abdomen, took
out the stomach, cleaned it, cut it into small pieces, and laying
them on a wooden dish, squeezed the gallbladder of the animal, as we
might a lemon, on the fragments, and lastly, strewed a considerable
quantity of cayenne pepper over the whole mess. This being done,
and, indeed, in an incredibly short space of time, I was pressed to
help myself quickly, before the dish became cool; I sighed, however,
and thanking my host, begged to be excused, assuring him at the same
time that an European stomach could not possibly bear this very
exquisite dish, and that I would, therefore, content myself with
looking on. He smiled piteously at my fastidiousness, and showed
evident symptoms of relishing the delicacy. I afterwards frequently
observed that this is a very favourite dish, and was tempted,
rather to satisfy my curiosity than my appetite, to partake of it;
and really the flavour is not very disagreeable, for the gall in
combination with the cayenne takes away the odour and taste of the
raw paunch, nevertheless I could never eat a sufficient quantity
of it to satisfy the demands of hunger. Not only in Kordofan,
but in Sennaar, and Abyssinia, also, this dish is considered,
as I have before observed, a great delicacy.
The duties the inhabitants have to perform during the day require
very little trouble, and in no country have I seen as much
indolence as in Kordofan. Every man, be his means ever so small,
endeavours to purchase a slave, and this poor wretch must then do
all the work, in order that his master may lie all day long in the
shade, indulging in idleness. The natives never perform any more
labour than is absolutely necessary, and thus much only when it is
urgently required. Those who attend to agriculture have very little
trouble or care in their employment; for they have nothing to do
but to sow the seed at a certain season, and to carry the harvest
in three months’ time. Very few persons occupy themselves with
handicraft. The houses are repaired, or renovated, at the utmost
every three or five years; thus no one has anything to do, and
the natives are consequently seen lying about sleeping all the day
long. The women attend, indeed, to the domestic duties, but these
are inconsiderable, and if their means will permit it, they pass the
greater part of the day on the angareb. The men have no amusements;
only very few of the Dongolavi smoke tobacco, but the negro tribes
indulge the more in this habit. They take little or no interest in
the dances of the women, and when they are tired of lying down, and
have slept to their hearts’ content, a few neighbours congregate;
and after greetings and mutual inquiries into the state of their
health,—a ceremony which generally occupies a quarter of an
hour,—the conversation at the most turns upon the governor and
the casheffs, or they talk of their sick camels or asses. Politics
in general are a very small trouble to them; the taxes, however,
which they are forced to pay several times in the year, cause them
a few days of great uneasiness. On these occasions they consult
together how they may best collect them; and if the harvest was
successful, and merissa consequently plentiful, many a bitter hour
is drowned with this liquor. Their conversation becomes then more
animated, they console themselves with providence, and the rhababa,
a lyre with five strings, entirely dissipates their cares. This
instrument is their chief amusement, they will listen for hours to
its monotonous notes, and it forms a frequent accompaniment to the
voice; but story tellers who relate tales from the Arabian Nights
are not to be met with among them as in Egypt. However noisy their
amusements may become, or whatever the effects of the merissa
may be, they seldom or never proceed to quarrels. Swearing and
abusive language is scarcely ever heard among them as it is among
the Arabs, and if, as a very rare occurrence, a quarrel ever arise,
it is immediately arranged by the elders present. They never fall
to blows, although they may, perhaps, occasionally pull each other
about by the shirts. They are hospitable, and every one who casually
passes by whilst they are amusing themselves is considered their
guest, and must participate in the amusements.
Among the Dongolavi, I found a very singular custom prevalent for
settling their affairs of honour, as they are termed; these are,
generally, disputes arising from love, or jealousy, at which the
young unmarried men have taken mortal offence; the married, who
certainly have better cause for duelling, never proceed to such
extremities; they are far more tolerant on the like occasions,
and not very particular about such trifling affairs. The young
men, on the other hand, take these things far more to heart; when,
therefore, the friends have not been able to adjust the quarrel,
a formal challenge is sent. The duel takes place in an open space,
in presence of all their friends and comrades, who act as seconds,
or rather as umpires. An angareb is placed in the middle of the field
of battle: the two combatants strip, and, binding their shirts round
their loins, each man places his foot close to the edge of the couch,
the breadth of which simply separates them from each other. A whip,
made of one solid thong of the hide of the hippopotamus, is handed
to each, and attempts to reconcile them are again resumed. If both
parties, however, prove obstinate, or their sense of honour be too
deeply implicated, for either to yield, the signal of battle is
at last given. He who is entitled to the first blow, now inflicts
a severe lash on the body of his adversary, who instantly returns
the compliment, and thus the conflict is kept up, blow for blow,
with great regularity. The head must not be struck. The manner in
which they lacerate each other is perfectly frightful; for the blows
are dealt with the utmost severity, and the weapon is sufficiently
formidable to cause an immense ecchymosis with the very first
stripe,—with the third or fourth blow the blood begins to flow
most copiously. Not the slightest expression of pain is uttered
by either party, and the umpires remain cool spectators of the
scene. Thus the duellists persevere with their barbarous cruelty,
until the one or the other, overcome with pain, or exhausted with
fatigue, throws down his whip, whereupon the victor does the same,
and both shake hands, in sign of mutual satisfaction. Their comrades
now rend the air with their exclamations of joy, and congratulate
them on their reconciliation; their lacerated backs are washed with
water, and the affair terminates with a copious libation of merissa,
sundry jugs of which had been provided beforehand for the occasion.
Similar causes sometimes give rise to another species of duel,
far more dangerous in its consequences than the latter, for it
frequently terminates with an injury, the effects of which are
felt during life, or even with the loss of the use of a limb. The
combatants, on this occasion, are also divided by an angareb; but,
in dealing out their alternate blows, they pay no attention to the
part they fall upon, whether the face, or any other sensitive portion
of the body, and thus severe injuries are always the result. These
duels are, however, rare, and mortal quarrels are generally fought
out in the manner above described. The girl, who had been the cause
of all this broil and warfare, is not drawn into the affair, but
is generally considered innocent, or pitied as seduced.
As a general rule, the women are far more industrious than the men;
for, besides attending to their domestic occupations, they employ
themselves more especially with plaiting straw-mats, making baskets
to hold milk, and funnels for filtering merissa. They perform,
moreover, other business, which should more properly be considered
as the duty of the men. I have even seen them tanning leather,
whilst their husbands were quietly looking on, smoking their pipes,
and indulging in idleness.
The women are, generally speaking, regarded as servants. Their
degradation is yet greater, if they should unfortunately happen not
to have children. In this case they are quite despised by their
lords, if they were ever so fond of them before, and the husband
indemnifies himself with a female slave. Should this woman bear him
a child, which is generally the case, she is immediately raised to
the rank of his wife, and his former spouse is either sent away,
or totally neglected. Among the more opulent natives, the custom
prevails of making the wife a small allowance after the birth of the
second child, and giving her a separate hut as a place of residence;
for they grow old very rapidly, and a woman in her twenty-fourth
year is considered _passée_. Hence it is that many women may be
seen running about as if deranged to consult their Sheikhs,[20]
or fortune-tellers. The information these impostors give is, of
course, always agreeable to the desires of the client, but is,
generally speaking, utterly false.
The women of Kordofan are very merry; they may be heard singing, or
laughing, all day long; and chaunt over their work, either singly,
or in company. As soon as the labours of the day are ended, the
girls and neighbours congregate together, and dancing commences,
an amusement generally kept up till past midnight. They are, in
fact, passionately addicted to this recreation. If they have even
been employed during the whole day with the most onerous labour,
sufficient to fatigue a strong man, all symptoms of weariness
immediately disappear when the wood-fires are lighted before the
huts in the evening, and the sound of the Dar’abook’keh[21] is
heard. This is, in fact, the signal for old and young to leave their
houses, and hasten to the scene of amusement, where the men, with
their wives, lay themselves down in a circle, and become spectators,
or, joining in the song, beat the time with their hands, while the
girls now make their appearance, and singly begin the dance.
This dance is very simple in its nature, requires, however,
great muscular exertion, and would prove a very difficult task
for some of our fair countrywomen. The black beauties commence
their evolutions by moving slowly, but frequently, in a small
space. Whilst beating time with their feet, they throw their heads
back at measured intervals, and draw their shoulders up; so that
they frequently even bend their bodies backwards until their heads
touch the ground. This is done with so much muscular effort, that
it is scarcely possible to believe a girl of slender build could
possess sufficient power of muscle. The movements are, at first,
all very slow, but gradually increase in rapidity, and become, at
last, so frequent and quick, that you could almost imagine yourself
looking at an automaton moving on springs and wires, and not on
a human being. When a girl has nearly danced herself to death,
she modestly retires to the background, and a second takes her
place. If one of them particularly distinguish herself, and the
company wish to pay her a very great compliment, she is desired
to stand forth, and a sword is flourished several times over her
head. During this ceremony, the music is silenced, but becomes the
more noisy afterwards, and is intended as a kind of musical honour
to the _danseuse_. This compliment is generally paid her by her
admirer or by a stranger present. The natives are always delighted
if a stranger will attend their dances, offer him the best place,
and treat him with abundance of merissa. Married women, and those
more advanced in age, scarcely ever dance; they are mere spectators,
or pass the time in a different manner, more agreeably to themselves;
they form, namely, _comme chez nous_, very polite _côteries_
for scandal, where the neighbour who happens to be brought on the
_tapis_ is by no means spared, for they leave no hair of his head
untouched. The married women, again, are those who pay the least
attention to the seventh commandment, a crime which is considered
very heinous according to the Mahommedan laws; the girls, on the
other hand, are far more moral. In some parts of Kordofan, the men
consider it a great honour if their wives have several admirers,
but the difference exists, in this country, that the ladies court
the men.
The dress of both men and women is very simple, for only the
Dongolavi, the wealthiest of all the tribes, wear long shirts with
wide sleeves, and a táckeéyeh,[22] or small white cap, with a white
shawl on their heads, like the turban of the Turks; red caps are
but rarely seen, nor is the táckeéyeh white longer than one day,
for it soon becomes, with dirt and grease, as black as the owner. All
the other tribes are nearly naked; they bind simply a cotton cloth
round their loins, throwing one end of it over one shoulder; they
wear no covering to their heads, but let their hair grow as long
as they please, or braid it in from ten to sixteen plaits, which,
however, never reach their backs. Every man carries a double-edged
dagger in a sheath on his left arm, and a few charms sewn up in red
leather, which the fakéers write and sell to them. On journeys,
they wear long double-edged swords, in leathern sheaths, suspended
by a short strap from the left shoulder; the hilts of these sabres
have no guards, and are merely covered with leather. The sheikhs,
however, bear swords with massive silver hilts, terminating in
a knob as large as a hen’s egg of the same metal; some of them
ornament the sheaths with agates, or imitations of precious stones
in glass. The men carry large oval shields on their backs made
of the skin of the antelope, when on a march. They also carry a
number of spears, or javelins, contained in a rude leathern quiver
hanging from their shoulders. Short tours are performed on asses;
longer journeys on camels or dromedaries. The peasants who possess
no camels travel short distances on oxen.
The dress of the women does not differ from that of the men of the
lower orders, for they also wear a large cotton cloth bound round
their loins, part of which is thrown over one shoulder. When they
walk out they sometimes cover their heads with this cloth, but,
whilst at work, they wind the whole of it round their loins. These
melayeh, as they are termed, are at first white, then proceed
through various gradations of colour, until they lastly become
black, for they are seldom washed. In washing they make use of
the bark of a tree called Egelit, instead of soap, and spread the
linen on a piece of tanned leather, which is laid in a deep hole
in the sand. The melayeh of the Dongolavi is washed with soap, and
is generally decorated with a broad red border. It is also adjusted
with a certain degree of care, in order to give their dress a more
picturesque appearance. The women wear no covering on their heads,
but roll their hair into curls, smearing them well with butter or oil
made of sim-sim.[23] They anoint the skin of the whole body with a
pomatum prepared of spikenard,[24] mahleb,[25] and tuffer;[26] these
ingredients, rubbed down upon a stone, are called “telka.” The
oils and butter give the hair a certain gloss, as long as it is free
from dust; but the pomatum on the head soon becomes rancid, when it
is impossible to remain long in proximity of one of these beauties,
without offence to the olfactory nerves. Their eyelids are covered
with powdered antimony.[27] Women who pride themselves on their
head-dress, and do not wish to discompose their curls, make use of a
small wooden bench, about a span in height, and hollowed out above,
so as to admit the neck, as a pillow when they lie down to sleep,
in order to avoid pressing their curls. It is the most incommodious
pillow in the world, but the women, to gratify vanity, accustom
themselves to it, as the slave becomes inured to his fetters, and
sleep very well, notwithstanding the uncomfortable position they are
obliged to adopt. An idea may be formed of the hardship they have at
first to undergo, in considering that this position does not admit
of the slightest change during sleep; but as our belles willingly
allow their ribs to be uncomfortably compressed by a tight corset to
appear with a small waist, thus the women of Kordofan voluntarily
submit to this torture to preserve their head-dress. The toilette
of these children of nature requires, moreover, a much longer time
than that of our European ladies, for the number of curls which are
matted together with oil and grease and dust, until they form one
dense mass, demand considerable time for their dressing. As they
have no combs, scissors, pincers, hair-pins, or other implements of
_coiffure_, one simple wooden peg answers the purpose of all these
instruments, and we may easily imagine that a great deal of time is
spent in arranging the hundreds of curls of their woolly hair. The
women wear rings in their noses and ears, mostly of silver and brass,
for those of gold have totally disappeared, or have become, at least,
very rare. Several of them, indeed, wear bracelets and rings of
silver round their ankles, the latter decorated with small pieces
of coral or small bells. The greater part of the bracelets worn
are of horn or of ivory, frequently two inches in breadth, and the
anklets are mostly of copper, sometimes even as much as one pound
in weight. Round their necks and heads the women wind strings of
beads of Bohemian glass; the favourite colour is dark blue. Some of
the ladies hang small round plates of gold, an inch in diameter, on
their foreheads, or small round pieces of amber of the same size. On
their fingers they wear silver rings set with cornelians. They are,
in fact, fond of anything that shines or glitters, and has a bright
or gaudy colour, and it is no easy matter, at times, to abstain from
laughter, on beholding one of these black beauties in full dress. I
have, frequently, on the other hand, met with others who dressed
themselves with peculiar taste, so that they really presented an
agreeable appearance. Women who are not wealthy wear small pearls,
or small red berries, or a charm sewn up in red leather on their
foreheads. On their arms they carry ivory or horn bracelets; round
their ankles copper rings or a large milk-white glass bead; round
their necks they hang strings of blue glass beads, and in their
noses and ears rings of brass. The unmarried or girls walk about
naked, and bind only round their loins a fringed leathern belt,
from which several hundred small thin straps depend. This girth is
called “rahat,” and is frequently decorated with agates. They
are, also, very fond of ornament, and adorn their heads and necks
with glass beads. The boys run about in a perfect state of nudity up
to their twelfth year. The men anoint their bodies, like the women,
with oil, butter, and other greasy substances, not so much for
the purpose of giving the skin a glossy appearance, as to preserve
it from cracking, to which inconvenience it would be very liable,
as they walk about uncovered, exposing themselves to a scorching
heat. The covering to the feet consists of sandals of undressed
leather bound with straps; the Dongolavi, however, wear sandals
of tanned leather, decorated with coloured straps. On journeys,
some of the natives wear sheepskin, after the same fashion as the
miners[28] of Germany a leather behind them, to avoid sitting down
naked on the burning ground.
Slaves are met with in nearly every house: the female portion is
employed in domestic work, the male in agricultural labour; they
receive once a year, at the feast of the great Baëram, a piece
of cotton stuff; which wound round their loins constitutes their
whole clothing. They are treated very well, and, in most families,
partake of the same fare as their masters. The badge of servitude
is, however, not wanting; for the male slaves are generally bound
in fetters, applied to their legs, to prevent them from running
away. I never saw one of these beings illtreated by his master
for doing too little work; it is only when they make an attempt to
run away, that they are beaten. The female slaves run at liberty,
and unfettered; they are also treated with more lenity, especially
if they should happen to be young and pretty, or when the master
admits them to the rights of a wife. The children, born by these
slaves, are the property of the owner, who may sell them; this is,
however, no longer the case in Egypt, where all natural children
are treated like Egyptians. These poor creatures have equal cause
to complain of their masters, as some slave-proprietors make this
a branch of commerce; thus they are mostly mustered after a few
years, and sold to slave-merchants, who take them down to Grand
Cairo. Europeans must be very careful in purchasing female slaves,
and ought especially to be on their guard against those who speak
Arabic well, for many of them are acquainted with all kinds of
tricks. Many slaves, on the other hand, are not to be purchased from
their proprietors, especially if they are well taught; and only
when they have not adopted the faith of Islam, and die, are they
treated like cattle. These children of nature frequently behave in
the most singular manner when they take an object that is unknown
to them into their hands; it would, indeed, make any man laugh
heartily to see how awkwardly they comport themselves. A very comical
instance of the kind occurred to me: a girl, who was suffering from
head-ache, begged a cloth of me to bind round her head, and I lent
her my flag,[29] as I had nothing else at hand. I visited her on
the next day, thinking to find her ill at home, but was told that
she was much better, and had gone out. My astonishment at meeting
the handsome girl, in company with several of her friends, on the
market-place, decked out with my flag in the form of a woman’s
frock, may be easily imagined; and my laughter was greatly increased,
at observing the double-headed eagle expanded in full glory over the
centre of her body. Several Turks, who were present, were likewise
attacked with fits of laughter; but the _belle_, and her friends,
found this decoration so pretty, that I was besieged with entreaties
to present them also with like _fantasias_; and I was obliged to
use all possible means to persuade them, and make them understand,
that I possessed no more articles of ornament of this description,
and that I must even take this one back. The handsome girls were,
as may be supposed, by no means pleased with this measure, for I
had a great deal of trouble in getting my flag back to hoist it in
its place in proper time.
The food consists chiefly of dokn bread, assida, and woika. The dokn,
having been ground on a stone to flour, is put into an earthen pot,
and converted, by means of water, into a thin paste. A fire is now
lighted under an earthen-dish (or under an iron-plate, called doga),
which stands on three stones; when the dish is heated, it is greased
with butter, and the paste is spread upon it in the shape and size
of an ordinary cake. The one side being baked, the bread is turned,
and the dish again greased with butter. These cakes are about the
thickness of a finger, and for Europeans very indigestible; they
distend the stomach, indeed, awfully; an effect produced by the
corn, partly because the husks are not separated from the flour,
partly because the bread is not well baked. Those who are more
wealthy, consume a better kind of bread, which has also a more
pleasant flavour; the flour is purified, and the paste more fluid;
it is spread upon the dish by means of a small brush, but otherwise
prepared in the same manner as the former variety. Much time is
required to bake the necessary quantity for the consumption of the
house. More than one hour is spent in making bread enough of the
latter description to serve two persons at dinner. Fresh bread must,
therefore, be prepared every day; and it is always made by the women;
for, as there is no mill in Kordofan, every one is obliged to grind
the quantity of flour necessary for his consumption daily. This is
done, as I have already observed, by female slaves.
The assida and woika are the common dishes of the natives of
Kordofan. The former consists of flour, boiled after the fashion
of the Italian polenta[30]; but there is a considerable difference
in the mode of preparing this mess; for the poorer class use the
flour in its natural state, whereas the wealthy natives have it
several times washed in water, a process rendering it much whiter
and purer. Woika is prepared in the following manner:—The natives
take pieces of beef, dried in the sun, cut for the purpose into long
slips, of the thickness of a finger, which form in every family a
part of the household stores. This is reduced with dried bamié[31]
to a coarse powder in a wooden mortar. Some onions are now burnt
with butter in an earthen-pot, over which water is poured. When
the stock boils, one person stirs it up, whilst another gradually
adds the pounded meat and bamié, until it forms a thick mass. This
ragout, or currie, is then poured into the assida before described,
and served up; it has a pleasant flavour, is very nutritious, and far
more wholesome than any other kind of animal food. A great deal of
meat is consumed; for it is very cheap, and nearly every one keeps
goats and sheep. The Turks, indeed, do not eat the beef, nor is it
to be recommended to Europeans, for it is very indigestible, and of
ill flavour. The oock’ckah,[32] of two pounds and three quarters,
does not cost more than twenty paras (twopence); and it is sold in
the market-place of Lobeid without the bones. In the country, it is
retailed at half this amount; and the price of the piece bargained
for is fixed, without weighing it, by judging by the eye alone. There
is no deficiency of fowls, pigeons, and various species of gazelles;
these, however, are luxuries which are only to be met with in the
houses of the wealthy, and on festive occasions. Every family dines
at midday; the men are first served; and when they have finished
their meal, the women and children sit down. A straw-mat is spread
upon the sand, in the centre of which a wooden dish is placed,
containing assida and woika; while the necessary bread is served
up on a flat straw-dish. Every one present in the hut, the family
as well as strangers, for no invitation is required, sit down, with
their legs bent under them, on the straw-mat round the dish; and, on
being invited by the master of the house with the word, Bishmillah
(in the name of God) to help themselves, all plunge their hands at
the same time into the dish. Each person now takes as much as he
can hold in his five fingers, and conveys it to his mouth. The bread
is generally eaten at the same time; and thus they proceed, taking
one handful after the other, until the dish is emptied of the last
morsel. If a stranger cease to eat first, the master of the house
invites him to continue, not as a matter of ceremonious courtesy,
but in true kindness. During dinner little is spoken, for each
individual endeavours above all things to satisfy hunger. In the
villages, curds and bread are served up in the dish at meals. The
poorer class have not always assida, but the woika alone, and bread
and milk. When the contents of a dish are coming to an end, one man
rises after the other. The master of the house receives no thanks,
nor does he, indeed, expect them; for it is regarded as an understood
thing, that every one must be satisfied who happens to be present
at the time of the meals. They wash their hands before, and after
eating, and the same ablution is performed in the evening at sun-set.
During the dinner, water is only handed round in gourds to drink;
when the meal is over the merissa is served up. This description
of beer is met with in all the villages of Kordofan with but
few exceptions; and even among the nomadic tribes, it is seldom
missing, except, indeed, when the harvest has been particularly
unsuccessful. Merissa is brewed in the following manner:—the
dokn forms the chief basis: it is allowed to germinate first, as
the barley in Germany, dried in the sun, and then bruised between
stones. Cakes of bread are now made, placed in a pot and covered
with water, and when this liquor has sufficiently fermented,—a
process requiring two days,—it is filtered through a sieve formed
of rushes. This merissa must be drunk immediately, for with the
third day it begins to turn acid, a result which is not to be
wondered at considering the intense heat of the climate, for they
have no cellars in which they could preserve it for any length
of time. The same merissa repeatedly filtered until it has become
clearer is called _bill-bill_; but _bill-bill_ prepared with sugar,
nutmeg, cloves, and other optional drugs forms _sansugot_. The
latter beverage is made in various ways. It is an agreeable drink
and very cooling. As a rule it is far more conducive to health to
drink a larger quantity of merissa than of water in this climate,
and I advise travellers in particular to observe this prescription,
the more so as I found by experience that, as soon as I discontinued
water, and commenced drinking merissa and brandy, the fever and
dysentery, of which I could not get rid before, left me. I have
also known natives, who, confining themselves to merissa, never
drank one drop of water throughout the year, and these men were,
without exception, the healthiest; whereas the water-drinkers were
always attacked with fever during the rainy season.
In those districts, where the inhabitants occupy themselves with
agriculture, as at the foot of Mount Kordofan, merissa flows in great
abundance, and the greater part of the men are, consequently, in a
state of intoxication all the year round, for they never take the
vessel containing it from their mouths from early in the morning
until late at night. In Lobeid, and in many villages, there are
houses for the sale of merissa, where this beverage is served by
very pretty girls, who are also excellent dancers, and thus attract
many guests. They are, moreover, so very acute that you might believe
them to have been brought up, or at least to have received a lesson,
in one of the capitals of Europe. Mehemed Ali, a few years ago, put
down public prostitution in Egypt, and some of the refugees found
an asylum in Kordofan and Sennaar. When the governor or other Turks
give a _fête_, they always engage some of these able performers to
amuse their guests. They come accompanied by a clown, and besides
their original dances give plastic representations which, be they
ever so trifling or even offensive against the mahommedan law,
afford much pleasure. I saw travesties of this kind performed
in presence of the governor, in which the government and its
respective functionaries were faithfully portrayed, and affairs
were represented such as too frequently occur in reality; but no
offence is ever taken at these plays, they, on the contrary, only
increase the laughter of those who feel themselves hit.
Brandy is distilled at Lobeid only, from dates imported from Dongola:
the natives are very fond of it, but it is too expensive an enjoyment
for them to indulge in to intoxication, or to drink instead of
merissa; for the bottle costs nine piasters or fifty-four cruitzers
(equal to about two shillings and sixpence). The wealthy inhabitants,
therefore, and the Turkish officers only drink brandy. Festivals
like those kept in Egypt are not known in Kordofan, for the natives
in general are not sufficiently wealthy to spend large sums on the
like amusements, and it is not, moreover, customary to give feasts
at marriages, circumcisions, and other occasions of this kind. If
a man be about to marry, he goes straightways to the father of
the bride he has selected, and before exchanging a word with her
concludes the contract, determining the allowance he proposes to
make to his future wife.
The marriage portion consists either in money, oxen, sheep, goats,
or other articles of domestic economy, and is at the same time the
property of the woman, although she may be shortly divorced from
her husband. Marriages are contracted with very little ceremony,
for as soon as the bridegroom has agreed with the father of the
bride on the bargain, he takes the woman of his choice home, hews
the rahat, or fringed virginal girdle with a knife in innumerable
pieces, covers her with a melayeh as a sign that she is now his
wife, and the ceremony thus terminates. The nearest neighbours are
at the most invited to a dinner; merissa is served up, and the whole
affair is concluded with the customary dances. If the bride belong
to one of the tribes who practise circumcision, she is certainly
forced to subject herself to a fresh operation twenty days before
her marriage. When a woman is ill-treated by her husband, or there
exists any other cogent reason, she requests to be divorced from him,
and the separation is effected without the slightest difficulty. She
takes her marriage portion, and if there be children, the girls
away with her, whilst the boys remain with the father. A separation
is, however, frequently insisted upon without any good cause,
for if the husband does not make his wife a sufficient allowance
of telka,[33] she may sue for a divorce. Many men separate from
their wives when they begin to age, as they generally do after
the birth of the second child, and marry a second time with a
young girl. To these cast-off wives a tukkoli is then accorded,
and a maintenance sufficient to keep them, consisting generally
of twenty paras, little more than three halfpence daily. The rich
of course are only able to follow this custom, one man, however,
scarcely ever has more than two wives in lawful wedlock; but every
one keeps a number of female slaves as concubines, especially when
his wives begin to grow old. They do not pay much attention to
those clauses in matrimony, prescribed by the mahommedan religion,
and to which the Moslemins rigidly adhere. The birth of a child
is attended with little or no festivity, and the husband pays but
slight attention to his wife during this critical period, for every
one knows that labours are mostly natural, and terminate quickly
and successfully. A midwife and an elderly relation at the utmost
are present in the hut with the parturient woman, and when the
child is born, a drink, consisting of soda, dried dates, and milk,
which is very cooling, or water only, is offered to the mother. On
the second, frequently even on the first day, the woman leaves her
bed and goes about her ordinary occupations. Parents are very fond
of their children, and are never known to beat them for any error
they may have committed. The care and education of the young is left
entirely to the mother; until they have attained a more mature age,
the father troubles himself but little about his children. When
a mother weans her child—children at the breast are, however,
frequently fed with bread soaked in water—and it has attained the
age of one year, it may be seen with an onion in its little hands,
gnawing it with as much pleasure as our European children evince in
sucking preparations of sugar. Wild fruits are also given to them,
and yet the children are for the most part healthy and strong,
with this one exception, that they all, up to a certain age, have
protuberant abdomina, a consequence of feeding them on bread, which
causes distention even in grown-up persons. Whilst the children are
very young, they are laid in cradles, or rather hammocks, consisting
of a cotton cloth, attached with cords by its four ends to a beam.
Circumcision is generally performed according to the custom of the
Moslems, between the fourth and sixth year. I also met with some
few tribes, where circumcision of the female was practised; this,
however, is a popular custom, totally unconnected with religious
rites, and is probably intended to prove to the bridegroom, who
is about to marry, that the girl is a virgin,—a circumstance
to which these tribes attach much importance. The Turks, and
others, have a peculiar ceremony on the occasion of their marriage
festivals, by which the bridegroom, on the day of his marriage,
convinces himself of the virginity of his bride; but this test is
liable to fallacy, which is not possible with circumcision. The
operation of circumcision[34] is performed on girls when they
are five, or, at the utmost, seven years of age, and is attended
with festivities, for which no expense is shunned; it constitutes,
indeed, a festival, against which the poorer people begin to save
money a year before it takes place, that nothing may be wanting to
add to its celebration. From four to eight days before the period of
circumcision they dance and sing all day long until late at night;
but on the actual day of the operation, the dancing and singing is
kept up during the whole night. Professional performers are hired
for the occasion, merissa is distributed, in short, everything is
done to afford amusement to the poor victim, and to induce her to
forget the bitter moment which awaits her. When the important hour
arrives, all the men are turned out of the hut; but the mother, and
a few women, remain with the girl, partly to hold her during the
operation, partly to encourage her to bear it with fortitude. The
patient is now stretched upon an angareb, and the women surrounding
her grasp her feet, arms, head, and body firmly, so that she cannot
move; an elderly matron then approaches with a common razor, and
performs the operation. At this moment, both those within the hut,
and those without, become merry to ecstacy; they applaud until their
hands burn with clapping; the dara’book’keh is beaten until the
skin is ready to burst; and the singers exert their voices to the
utmost, with deafening eagerness, in order to drown the cries of pain
of the little sufferer, which, nevertheless, penetrate through all
this noise. The incision is performed from below upwards, and removes
the external organs of the girl. Hæmorrhage is stopped with butter,
the bark of a tree, beaten into fine fibre, is laid into the wound,
instead of lint, and a piece of wood, about the size of a quill,
is inserted, to prevent its edges from adhering together. The great
toe of each foot is then firmly tied together, and in this extended
position the little patient has to lie for twenty long days on an
angareb. During this period, very little is given her to drink,
and she is lifted out of bed, at the most twice, daily. The wound
generally heals successfully; but it frequently happens that a
girl has to undergo a second operation two years after the first,
or a little later, for they marry in this country at an early age.
When the bridegroom has concluded the marriage contract with the
father,[35] (...) The second operation is now performed, which the
girl bears with more patience, as she enters on a married life
immediately after she has recovered from her sufferings. Twenty
days are on this occasion required for the cure; whereupon the
bridegroom, as I before mentioned, hues the rahat of the girl into
pieces, and dresses his bride with the melayéh.
Another operation, which is quite as painful, and infinitely
more revolting, is performed on the young male slaves, who are
intended for the guards of the harems of the Turks, and other
moslems. A sheikh at Lobeid, named Sultan Tehmé,[36] performs this
operation. Boys of eight, or nine years of age, are generally brought
to him for mutilation. The operation is performed in his court,
where the poor victim is stretched upon the ground like a head of
cattle. Sacks, filled with sand, are laid upon his feet and chest,
which are so heavy that the poor boy can scarcely breathe beneath
their weight. With one incision, with a common razor, the organs
of generation of the unfortunate being are removed; hæmorrhage
is arrested with melted butter, and the bark of a tree, beaten
into fibre, is then laid as dressing on the wound, while a piece
of lead, of the size of a quill, is inserted into the urethra, to
keep that necessary passage open. The patient remains twenty days
under treatment, at the expiration of which term, he is returned
to his master. More than one half of these unfortunate boys die
under the operation, or during their march to Egypt, for very few
of them ever reach the place of their destination. The price of
these eunuchs is, consequently, generally double that of a common
slave. The operator receives ten reals, at fifteen piasters, for
each operation. Two boys are also frequently given to the mutilator,
the one of which must be returned to the owner, whilst he keeps the
other in lieu of payment. Castrates are, indeed, made in Sennaar,
and Upper Egypt; but those of Lobeid are in greater request.
The death of a native is immediately made known by the cry of “Lu,
lu, lu, lu!” which the women set up, bringing the notes out
separately at certain intervals, and resting upon them with their
voice. Not only the mourners, but all the women, who happen to be
present at the time, join in the dismal dirge. This lamentation
is continued until sun-set, and repeated on the following day. The
corpse is then washed, wrapped in a white cotton cloth, if his means
were adequate to the expense, and is carried on a stretcher to the
place of sepulture, and there interred. His widows mourn always in
company with their female friends, until their grief is allayed,—a
result which requires a few days only, especially if they be young,
and pretty, and wish to marry again. This mode of mourning is not
only customary where the deceased was a grown-up person; but if a
child, a few days old, die, it is honoured with the same ceremony
during a few days. The negro women are very susceptible, both to pain
and pleasure; and I have frequently, on these occasions, seen them
writhing, as if beside themselves, in the sand, biting their arms,
until the blood flowed in sincere grief, and not for outward show.
There are certain districts in Kordofan, the agricultural population
of which inhabit two different villages in the year; for even in
several of the most fertile tracts of land, water is at times
entirely wanting, more especially during the dry season. Whole
villages, therefore, are frequently necessitated to reinstate
themselves in localities a few miles distant from their former
place of residence, where they find wells. The whole of their
domestic utensils will not overload an ox, hence an emigration of
this nature is quickly effected, and without much difficulty. Those
tribes who occupy themselves with the tillage of land, possess but
few horses or camels, but a more considerable number of oxen, sheep,
and goats. The oxen are broken in for riding and carrying loads. In
some villages the herds of horned cattle are very considerable. When
the herds of a village are driven out, the drover either rides
before or after them on an ox; each animal has its peculiar name,
by which the herdsman recalls it, if it stray to either side
or remain behind the drove. The animals quickly hear his voice,
understand it well, and are very obedient to his command. If a head
of cattle stray too far from the herd, and do not hear his call,
he rides after it, and brings it back without any difficulty. These
herdsmen ride very well, and it is a matter of astonishment to see
them going along at full gallop on a very young ox. They ride on
the bare back of the animal, with a cord passed through the nose
of the beast, answering the purpose of a bit. In many villages
in isolated situations, far distant from other habitations, where
the cattle, therefore, cannot easily stray and become mixed with
other herds, there are no drovers, but when the cows have been
milked in the morning the enclosures are opened, and the whole
herd is let out. They all proceed straightways to a well, where
they are watered in troughs, hollowed out of the trunks of trees,
and when they have finished drinking and are all collected together,
an old ox taking the lead, shows them the way and the whole drove
follows him. It is astonishing how accurately they follow their
leader, who frequently conducts them to a pasture situated at a
distance of two hours’ march from the village, and brings them
all safely back again. The most remarkable part of the affair,
however, is that they always re-assemble at the well punctually
at half an hour before sunset, whether they have been one mile or
eight miles distant. I observed this fact at the village of Ledet,
where I met the cattle at a distance of eight miles from the huts,
and, to my great astonishment, saw no herdsman. On my arrival in the
village I asked what this meant, and was told that it had been the
custom from time immemorial, to allow the cattle to go unattended to
pasture in this village, as it is in many others; and that an animal
very rarely strayed. In order to be the better able to look after
a beast which might possibly be lost, a circumstance, however, of
very rare occurrence, it is only necessary to observe the direction
the herd takes in wandering out in the morning. I was told that,
a few months before my arrival, a cow belonging to this place was
missing when the herd returned. As the animal did not come back in
the night, the owner mounted a camel with the first dawn of day,
provided himself with a supply of bread and water sufficient for
four days, and rode out in the direction the cattle had taken on
the former day. Having arrived at the place of pasture he traversed
it in all directions, until he came upon the track of a camel and a
cow, which he followed up during two whole days, until it brought
him to an encampment of the Kubbabeesh, where he found his lost
cow alive; nor did he experience the slightest difficulty about
its restitution. The cows are milked throughout the country twice
daily, once in the morning at sunrise, and again in the evening,
but they yield very little milk, which in an hour’s time turns
sour and thick. The baskets made of rushes, into which the cows
are milked, can never be washed thoroughly clean, and are probably
the chief cause of the deterioration of the milk; it is consequently
impossible to keep it for any length of time. Butter is quickly made,
and without any difficulty. As soon as the necessary quantity of
milk is obtained it is put into leathern bags, which are fastened
to a piece of wood, and shaken about for some time until the butter
is ready. A small yellow fruit is sometimes added to the milk,
and greatly accelerates the butyration.
In many villages a market is held once a week, when every inhabitant
must provide himself with supplies for the whole week, as nothing
is to be purchased on the intervening days; this rule applies more
especially to tobacco, an article of consumption which ranks, with
many natives, before food. As a proof of this assertion I may,
perhaps, be allowed to mention the following occurrence:—In a
village where a market is generally held every week, a fire broke out
and burnt the hut of an old man to the very ground. The proprietor
stood quietly looking on at a distance, and consoled himself with
an exclamation of “Allah-Kerim” (God is merciful); he then
approached me, and I, expecting to hear a dismal tale, had a trifling
present in readiness for him, but greatly was I astonished when he
refused the present, and begged of me to give him merely a handful
of tobacco, as his whole supply was consumed in the conflagration.
The natives of Kordofan are a very good tempered people, and the
traveller meets everywhere with a kind and hospitable reception. If
he arrive at midday, or in the evening in a village, he has only
to choose a hut, which the inhabitant immediately quits, leaving
it entirely at the disposal of his guest. The natives content
themselves, in the meantime, with being quartered on their next
neighbours, or they will pass the whole time, if the weather
permit it, in the open air. If he do not despise their fare, he
will not have a _sous_ of outlay, neither for himself, his servant,
nor for his camels, who find their food close to the village. The
inhabitants perform all the services he may require willingly, and
without the slightest contradiction, and he will hear nothing of
the “backsheesh,” so troublesome among the Egyptians. The only
custom which the stranger will find a nuisance, are the visits with
which he is honoured in great numbers soon after his arrival. The
judge, and persons of influence in the village, enter the hut, whilst
the rest encamp around it in the open air. The ceremonies commence
with greetings, and then a hundred questions are asked, as, whence
he came? where he is travelling to? what has befallen him on the
road? whether he have heard of any fresh war, and the like? in fact
they scarcely allow him time to breathe, and he has barely answered
one question before a hundred fresh inquiries are made. The servant
has to suffer more even than the master from their importunities;
for they endeavour to obtain all possible information indirectly
from him. They ask him who the stranger is? whether he is a person
of consideration? to which nation he belongs? and anything else,
in fact, they may deem worthy of knowing. If they hear that he is a
Frank, then the conflux becomes great indeed. All the sick persons
in the village are dragged into his presence, and he is entreated
to give advice and medicine. Protestations to the effect that he
is no medical man are of no use, for a Frank must be a hakkim,
and the stranger has no alternative left him, but to console them
with the hope of recovery through Providence, if he will not make
use of common domestic remedies. Should he have coffee and sugar
served, or at least a pipe of good tobacco, he will cause them a
great pleasure. Every man takes a few whiffs from the pipe and then
hands it to his neighbour, and thus it circulates among them. He
must not, however, imagine that, when the pipe is out and the coffee
finished, the natives will take their leave, for they become then,
on the contrary, more talkative as their bashfulness is dissipated
by his condescension. There is, in fine, no other way of getting
rid of these troublesome visitors than by pretending to be overcome
with sleep from weariness and fatigue. When they observe his eyes
to be shut they all rise, and leave the hut so quietly that they
are scarcely heard. Having got rid of the men the worst is not
yet over, for then come the women tormented with curiosity to see
a Frank. They assemble generally at some distance before the hut
he inhabits, and anxiously await the moment he may quit the house
and exhibit himself to them. At first they are afraid to approach,
but in a short time, or by presenting a piece of sugar to their
children, they become as familiar with him as if he had lived for
years among them. The villages situated on the road to Dongola or
Khartoom are very much plagued by the frequent marches of troops
through them, and especially with the frequent journeys of the
Turkish officers. The latter on arriving at a village, immediately
take possession of the best hut, leave the inhabitants no time to
take their few chattels away with them, but drive them out whip
in hand, and heap every species of abuse on the poor natives. All
the articles of food they require are demanded in an authoritative
tone, and if they be not immediately forthcoming they again resort
to the whip; and fowls, or pigeons, or any living thing that is not
willingly given, is shot down by the officer or his servants in the
streets before the houses. Payment is totally out of the question;
in all villages, therefore, exposed to the marches of the Egyptians,
very little poultry or other animals subservient as articles of
food are to be met with; for the inhabitants keep their stock and
provisions concealed. But no sooner do they hear that the traveller
is a Frank, than they bring him everything he asks for; their demands
are very moderate, and they frequently will not accept anything in
return. They are also very attentive in procuring everything he may
require for his journey onwards; whereas the Turks frequently have,
in this respect, to suffer a deficiency of many things. The natives
of Kordofan are altogether the best tempered people in the world,
if they are but treated with common civility, and differ widely from
their neighbours in Sennaar, who although under the same government,
situate under the same degree of latitude, and for the most part
of the same race, are of totally different disposition.
The villages, more especially lying on the borders of the country,
form an exception to the former rule, and are not in the best odour
with the natives themselves. The traveller should, more particularly,
be on his guard at Haraza, on the road to Dongola; Ledet, on the road
to Khartoom; and Caccia on the road to Darfour; the last mentioned
village is of all the most formidable. In travelling through Haraza,
I myself took an active part in a scene which might have proved of
very evil consequences, if my servant had not been able to intimidate
the son of the sheikh with an excusable falsehood. At this place
it is necessary to take in a supply of fresh water, because none
is to be met with until beyond Ketshmar, situate at a distance
of two short days’ journey from the former village. Persons
also travelling to Dongola must furnish themselves with water,
sufficient to last them to the rocky caverns in Semmeria, in this
village. The sheikh, who considers himself the proprietor of all the
wells, will not allow water to be drawn, except he be paid for it;
and the Djelabi are forced to give him from one to five dollars for
the permission of filling their water-bags. When I wanted water,
he demanded six dollars of me, thinking a Frank ought, of course,
to pay more. He was not prepared for any contradiction, because he
saw me travelling alone with my servant; I, however, was acquainted
with these arbitrary demands, and had been, moreover, cautioned
by others not to submit to his extortions, as he has no right to
sell the water for his own benefit, which is the property of the
government. I, consequently, refused to pay the sum he demanded with
decision; and after much talking on the one side and the other,
he at last ordered water to be given me from a well, which was so
putrid that the camels even would not drink it. When my servant
mentioned this circumstance to me, I ordered him to pour the water
immediately away, and demanded good drinkable water of the sheikh,
as I knew that there were pure wells in the neighbourhood; he,
however, would not draw me any more, not even of the bad water. I
was so irritated at the audacious conduct of this man, that I drew
my pistol from my belt, and, pointing it at his breast, threatened
to shoot him if he did not immediately give orders to his people
to furnish me with the quantity of water necessary for my journey
from the good wells. My servant begged of me not to shoot; took the
sheikh’s son aside, and whispered to him, that I was not to be
trusted, as I had, twelve days before, shot a sheikh in Dongola for
a similar resistance, and that I had a perfect right, as a Frank,
to slay any man who opposed himself to my lawful demands. This
_ruse_ had the desired effect; and the man, who had been before so
obstinate, now humbly begged my pardon, entreated me to go into his
own residence, where the good water I required should be sent in
a very short time. This was really done; and, in addition to the
supply required, he presented me with a fat sheep for my journey,
would not receive any payment, and shewed himself altogether very
desirous of gratifying every wish I might express.
This sheikh possesses several very excellent horses, broken for
hunting the giraffe, and almost all those beautiful animals sent
to Europe and America are caught by him. At the time I speak of,
he had twenty-four sons and daughters living.
Before undertaking a journey into Kordofan, it is essential to
understand properly the characters of the various nations inhabiting
this country, to study their dispositions well, and treat them
accordingly; for that which is to be effected with the one by rigour
and intimidation, can only be obtained from the other by friendly
and conciliating treatment. In the contrary case, the worst must
be feared. The negroes, especially, should be treated with lenity
and kindness; whereas, with the Arabs and Dongolavi, severity and
intimidation are necessary. In my travels, during nineteen months in
the various countries, I had to suffer more (consequently had more
experience) than those travellers who hurried through the country,
accompanied by a military escort, a number of Ghawa’zee,[37]
servants, and others, whereas I had but one single servant, and,
during the latter part of my travels, was not even attended by
him. I was often forced to suffer the greatest torments of hunger
and thirst, and was, for a short time, obliged to rest contented
with locusts and putrid camels’ flesh,—bread was quite out of
the question; I even held out once for thirty-six hours without
water. As far as my eye could reach, I saw nothing but sand and
sky,—not a worm even enlivened the dismal scene; the skeletons of
men and camels lay strewn about the plains, as fitting monuments
of the surrounding misery; a hot wind raised the burning sand,
so as to darken the sun, and I expected with every step to find
my grave. One of our camel-drivers sank under the fatigue; and
the sand of the desert which rode upon the winds soon covered his
bones. On my flight from Kordofan to Sennaar, sleep, during which
so many cares and troubles are forgotten, frequently failed me;
and what did I not suffer on my return home through the frightful
desert, from Abouhamed to Krusko, on the Nile! I had not the means
to purchase a second camel. My solitary beast was laden with my
luggage and water-bags; it was, indeed, overloaded, I could not,
therefore, mount it, and I was thus under the painful necessity of
following the caravan, during two tedious days on foot, enduring
a march of twenty-one hours daily on the sand, under a scorching
sun. Man overcomes many difficulties, and will bear more than is
generally believed. In eight days I reached Krusko, where I met
Mr. Kotschy, the naturalist; he alone can tell how worn out I was
with fatigue, hunger, and thirst, when I arrived at his tent, where
he entertained me during three days, for he had just arrived from
Grand Cairo.[38] I may, therefore, say that I have been put to many
trials, endured innumerable hardships, and had many hair-breadth
escapes with my life. It is not very probable that a traveller,
furnished with a passport, would now meet with any misadventure
in the interior of the country, for the government is very strict;
on the borders, on the other hand, especially towards Darfour and
Takale, he may dread the worst; for who would make enquiries after
a single stranger, if he were robbed and murdered by these nomadic
tribes? should he even be missed, it would be a very extraordinary
thing if any one could come upon the track of a single individual;
for no one native would ever betray the other. It is, therefore,
very essential to study well the character of these people, and
to avoid coming into collision with them. I will mention a single
instance in illustration, which happened on the borders of the
Shilluk’s country, on the White Nile, and nearly cost me and my
servant our lives. With my knowledge of the character of the people,
and by humouring them, and thus gaining on their weak points, I was
alone able to help myself out of this embarrassment. I pitched my
tent, namely, on the shore of the Nile, and sent my servant out in
search of the wood requisite for our consumption during the night;
for it is necessary in these regions, when encamped in the open
air on the banks of the river, to keep up a fire all night long,
partly on account of the crocodiles, which swarm in these localities
and are very dangerous, partly on account of the hippopotami; for,
although the latter never do any injury, yet they are by no means an
agreeable acquaintance. Lions, moreover, and other beasts of prey,
might pay a very disagreeable visit in the dark, and they are only
to be kept at a respectful distance by maintaining a fire throughout
the night. Just as my servant was about to sally forth in quest of
fuel, a boat, laden with wood, and rowed by a negro, crossed the
river, and landed near my tent. My servant immediately walked up
to the negro, and demanded a quantity of wood, as he could find
none in the neighbourhood. The good-tempered black instantly gave
him the half of his store; but, as soon as I had turned my back, my
avaricious servant asked for more, which the negro flatly refused;
the former, hereupon, became abusive, and his opponent by no means
remained mute, until from words they fell to blows, and, finally,
began to fight in real earnest. The negro, who was the better man of
the two, gave my servant a sound beating, and did not cease, until
he roared out most lustily for mercy. I observed the scuffle from
the distance; but, unacquainted with what had transpired, and merely
seeing that my servant was getting the worst of the affray, I took my
double-barrelled gun, presented it at the negro, and commanded him to
desist. He instantly sprang on his feet, seized his spear, and threw
it at me, before I was even aware of his intention; the missile,
fortunately, only grazed my wide papooshes. He was now disarmed,
and I again presented at him. The negro remained perfectly cool,
and merely said: “Shoot on! I die; and what of that!” I now saw
that nothing was to be effected by intimidation, laid my gun aside,
and, walking up to him, enquired into all he circumstances of the
case, which he faithfully related. Convinced of the injustice of my
servant, I endeavoured to pacify the negro, and assured him that I
would punish the former. All my persuasion was, however, in vain;
he foamed with rage, and replied, that we should both suffer for
this act. Seeing that he was too weak to offer battle to us both,
he ran away in an instant, loudly uttering his war-cry of “Lu, lu,
lu!”[39] This was an ill omen for us, and put us both in no slight
degree of fear. Flight was out of the question, we had no chance of
thus escaping. I, therefore, set my wits to work to devise a remedy,
to avert at least the first outbreak of our enemies rage. I bound
my servant hand and foot with a cord, and taking up the branch of
a tree which lay near me pretended to beat him most unmercifully;
he played his part remarkably well, and screamed as if he were being
impaled, whenever I made the slightest movement with my hand; for we
already descried a crowd of natives at the distance, running towards
us, their lances glittering in the evening sun, and the shouts of
the women, who followed in the wake of the men, boded us no good;
but the nearer they approached the better we played our parts;
and my servant continued his screams until he was fairly out of
breath. Those of our enemies, who were nearest, called out to me to
desist; and when I obeyed, my servant rolled himself about in the
sand like a madman. The negro who had been the cause of the whole
scene now walked up to me, took my hand, and said, “Have no fear,
you shall not be hurt, because you have acknowledged the injury your
servant has done me, and have punished him for it.” An old man
now untied the cord which bound the hands and feet of the culprit,
and approached me, to be informed of the whole affair. They proved
to be Bakkara.[40] I invited the old man and the negro, of whom
I have before spoken into my tent, where I entertained them with
coffee, and gave them my pipe to smoke. Harmony was immediately
restored, and every one conciliated. They asked me whence I came,
and where I was travelling to, and then the conversation turned on
other topics. When the night closed in, they all gradually retired,
with the exception of five men, who remained with me all night
as a guard, emptied several pots of merissa together, and kept up
the fire, thus consuming the whole of the wood which had been the
_belli teterrima causa_. When they took their leave of me in the
morning, they presented me with a young gazelle, as provision for
my further journey.
I cannot sufficiently praise the kind, and even cordial behaviour
of the natives of Kordofan. I received many proofs of kindness
at their hands, and I could not have expected better treatment in
my own country from my nearest relations. This was especially the
case when I had the misfortune to fall sick in the desert, where I
lay helpless on the sands, as I was too weak to keep my seat on my
camel. In this state of exhaustion I was obliged to remain, until I
could receive assistance from the neighbouring village, which was,
fortunately, only half an hours march distant from the spot. A
good-natured inhabitant carried me home, and I passed thirty days
in his hut, stretched upon a bed of sickness. I cannot describe the
interest these kind people appeared to take in my sufferings; the one
vied with the other to be of service to me. Some women and girls sat
alternately by the side of my bed, by day and night, the one keeping
off the flies, the other cooling me with a fan of ostrich feathers,
for the heat was frequently at 40° Reaumur (122° Fahrenheit)
in my hut, as there was no current of air through it. A young and
beautiful slave, Agami was her name, evinced so much sympathy, that
she frequently shed tears when she observed my sufferings. All the
medicines with which I had taken the precaution to provide myself,
proved ineffective; I lay in a continued fever, and was already,
on the fifth day, so weak that I could not move, and the good women
were obliged to lift me on and off the bed; for my own part, I had
quite made up my mind that my days were drawing to a close.
When no amelioration was observed to take place, they bound amulets
round my arms, and placed charms beneath my head, endeavouring
in this way to overcome the disease. I submitted to all these
proceedings in order not to avoid hurting the feelings of the good
people; but as my illness still continued to rage, they sent for a
celebrated fortune-teller from a neighbouring village, who casting
her shells upon the sand, prophesied that the Frank would not yet
die. As soon as the prophetess had taken her departure, the women
lifted me out of bed, seated me down on a bundle of straw, with
my back to the door, took off my shirt, and as I was too weak to
sit in an upright position, held me up by passing their arms under
my axillae. I suddenly felt a shock through my whole frame, which
deprived me of breath for a few moments, for they had poured a whole
basket full of cold spring water over my feverish body. Hundreds
of others would have instantly expired, but my sound constitution
enabled me to survive this douche. I was immediately dried, returned
to bed, and covered with empty sacks and sheep-skins. I felt somewhat
relieved and fell asleep; a refreshment I had not enjoyed for a
long time. On waking, the women told me that I had perspired but
very slightly, and that the douche must be repeated to put me into a
thorough sweat. I allowed this hazardous proceeding to be repeated
because I had no other choice. The operation was performed in the
same manner as on the former occasion, but it did not produce so
violent a shock, because I was prepared for it. After this bath I
perspired so freely that, on waking, I believed myself to be in a
second bath. This proceeding, however, broke through the chain of
morbid symptoms, and I felt so much relieved, that I was able to
rise from my bed, and walk about for a short time in the shade of
the palm-trees. As soon as the rumour spread in the village that
I was recovering, the inhabitants all flocked around to greet me,
and to congratulate me on my convalescence. A fire was lighted
before my hut at night, round which the people danced to evince
their delight at my recovery; I regaled them with merissa, and all
were happy and merry. My convalescence proceeded now very rapidly,
and I was in a short time able to resume my journey; but I shall
never forget the debt of gratitude I owe to these good people, who,
from pure and disinterested charity and feeling for the sufferings
of a fellow creature, took so much care of me whilst in this
lamentable condition.
CHAPTER V.
CHARACTER OF THE PEOPLE.
There exists, perhaps, no country in which the inhabitants are so
various, and diametrically opposed to each other in character as
in Kordofan; for, after half a day’s journey from one district
to the other, the traveller is almost tempted to believe that he
has arrived in a different country, subject to quite a different
government, and professing a different religion. A shade of variation
in the race of the people quite alters their characters. There
are, properly speaking, three distinct races of men abruptly
differing from each other in the province: namely the negroes,
properly so called, or Aborigines; then the Arabs or free people,
to which class the Bakkara belong; and, lastly, those who have
emigrated from Dongola. The negroes who, with the exception of many
slaves, profess the faith of Islam, are to be met with distributed
over all the five districts, and occupy themselves chiefly with
agriculture. Their wants are, therefore, fewer than those of the
trading population, who on their travels have become acquainted with
many comforts, which have become additional necessaries imperative
to them. These negroes, the greater part of which are Noubas, are of
very amiable disposition, extremely hospitable, exceedingly fond of
their children, and possess the most honourable feelings. In their
dealings they are particularly upright, and there is no fear of
being overreached in transacting business with them; I will even
go so far as to say there is less to be feared in their dwellings
than in many European towns which appear far more safe. They
are sincere friends, and assist each other in all difficulties;
are endowed with a strong attachment to their native country;
and only the most tyrannical oppression, such as existed under the
government of the Defturdar, could force a few villages to leave
their native land. When they are, however, enraged, they utterly
disregard life for the opportunity of revenging themselves. Anger,
however, is of exceedingly rare occurrence with their good tempers;
and when a negro is observed to be carried away by passion, a few
kind words are only required to pacify him; but harshness must by
no means be resorted to. It is, in fact, necessary to treat them
like children; for their mental faculties are very limited, and they
may, indeed, be said to be on the lowest scale. There is, moreover,
not the slightest probability of their ever making any progress in
the cultivation of their minds, for they manage everything at the
present day as it was done a hundred years ago. Their dwellings and
domestic utensils, in short everything is the same as it was in the
time of their forefathers. By the manner in which they perform their
work, it is easy to perceive that they follow the plan adopted in
former centuries, and the idea never enters their heads of improving
upon any object, or of making a new invention. This apathy to all
progressive improvement is the more astonishing, as these negroes
are for the greater part agriculturists, and have fixed places
of residence, and consequently enjoy the opportunity of gradually
perfecting themselves, as many other nations have done before them,
who formerly stood at the same low degree of civilization. Amongst
these people, however, civilization is in a state of permanent
stagnation. A few individuals may indeed be met with who can read
and write a little, but that is not worth mentioning, and thus
everything is enveloped in the densest obscurity. The climate
contributes in no small degree to this obtuseness of mind, and it
is a well-proved fact, that Europeans who have passed several years
in these parts suffer a diminution in their capacity of mind, and
in time forget a great part of their former acquirements. Apathy
and phlegma are congenital with the negroes: it is, therefore, not
probable that they will ever rise in the scale of civilization. The
west of Africa may, perhaps, form an exception to this rule.
These people are very candid and confiding, when they are acquainted
with a person; they then seldom or never make a secret of their
actions,—never, indeed, unless they believe their personal or
the public interest to be endangered by the communication. The
people of a similar race in the neighbouring countries are of the
same character: an observation, the slaves brought from these parts
afford ample opportunity of making. These slaves are for the most
part heathens, and this is the chief reason why they, and the tribes
allied to them, are rather harshly treated. If, in the course of
time, they adopt the faith of Islam, they are at least treated more
like one of the family, although not liberated. The fate of these
unfortunate beings is, on the whole, dreadful; for deprived of the
greatest blessing, their liberty, they are forced to perform hard
labour, and indeed in fetters, in which they are bound to prevent
them from running away to their native hills, frequently in sight of
their place of captivity. These fetters, unlike the irons with which
convicts are laden in Europe, consist of rings round both ankles,
kept asunder by an iron bar, attached to the rings round the ankles
by two smaller rings. Thus the slave can make but one pace at a time,
and never approximate his two feet. The large rings open on one
side sufficiently to admit the ankle, and in adjusting them they are
welded together with a large stone, in lieu of a hammer. The slave,
on these occasions, is laid upon the ground, and a stone is pushed
under his foot to serve the purpose of an anvil. Every precaution
is, indeed, taken in putting on the irons, but the unfortunate being
feels severe pain with every blow. Some few fetters may be met with
furnished with locks, which, however, are very rare luxuries. To
prevent the rings from excoriating the ankles, rags are interposed
between the iron and the skin. If the operation of putting on the
irons be attended with pain, the slaves suffer infinitely more when
they are taken off. On the latter occasion one side of the ring is
firmly attached to a tree, the slave lays himself down on his back,
and about eight people pull in the direction opposite to the tree,
at a cord attached to the ring, until it is sufficiently opened to
allow the ankle to be disengaged. A quarter of an hour is sometimes
spent in efforts to remove the trammels.
The negroes are, generally, at the commencement of their slavery,
morose, and speak very little, unless spoken to. Their thoughts are
continually directed to their homes, or at work inventing all manner
of means of escape, for the prevention of which they are bound in
irons. They are all powerful men, and are put to agricultural labour,
very few of this race being sent to Egypt. Many of them are aware
that urine will, in time, corrode iron, and this knowledge enables
them, occasionally, to succeed in gradually ridding themselves of
their fetters, when they, of course, immediately decamp. A negro
who had liberated himself in this manner told me he had resorted
to this process himself. His flight, however, unfortunately failed,
for he was soon caught and brought back again. Fourteen whole months
were required to soften the iron, before he could complete his work
of breaking it through with a stone. There are many slaves who do not
wear irons, especially such as have lived many years with one master,
who has become thoroughly acquainted with their character; but even
these men are frequently, after many years, attacked with nostalgia,
and then take to flight. During my residence in the country, a slave,
who had lived seven years in one house, where he had walked about
unfettered, suddenly ran away, without any appreciable cause. Another
captive, who wore irons, volunteered to bring the deserter back, if
his master would allow him, henceforth, to lay aside his fetters,
assuring him, at the same time, that he would remain his slave
for life, and did not wish for liberty. The master was, certainly,
at first, rather undecided, but ultimately ventured to allow him
to sally forth on this expedition, and furnished him, moreover,
with a camel. He returned, in a short time, bringing the fugitive
back with him. The master kept his word, took the fetters off, and
bought him a female slave as a wife, whereas the deserter was put
in chains,—probably for life. The girls walk about at liberty,
because there is not so much fear of their running away. They would
soon be brought back, are, moreover, very timid, and would be readily
recognised in the next village; but they sometimes also effect
their escape, as I had myself once the opportunity of observing.
A slave merchant at Lobeid kept eight girls, destined for Grand
Cairo, together in one house, and locked them up carefully in
a room without windows; to be yet more secure, he placed his
angareb at night before the door and slept there. How great was
his astonishment, however, in the morning, to find that all the
girls had disappeared out of the room! He ran about, as if mad,
to all his neighbours, begging them to assist him in his search;
but all endeavours to find the fugitives were in vain, and the man
firmly believed the Shitan[41] had spirited them away. In making
a closer investigation of the wall of the room, however, a light
was soon thrown upon the subject, for an immense hole was found
through which the girls had crept and covered it carefully with
a straw mat. It appeared that they had thrown water against the
wall of clay, a few days before they had effected their escape,
and were thus enabled to make the breach with facility, for these
houses melt like sugar when water is poured upon them. Not one of
these girls ever again made her appearance.
The natives of Kordofan treat their slaves with much humanity; the
Turks, on the other hand, (and I am sorry to say, within the last few
years, two Europeans also,) are guilty of the greatest cruelty, and
are not deterred by qualms of conscience from staining their hands
with the blood of these unfortunate beings. Thus, an Italian doctor
bound a rope round the neck of his slave and strangled him with his
own hands; another medical man, a renegade, castrated his slave with
his own razor, for some trifling offence he had been guilty of. The
man died of the effects of the operation. Mohammed Bey also, the
governor of Kordofan, whom Mehemed Ali deposed towards the close
of the year 1838, and not without good cause, treated his slaves
most barbarously, as the following fact will illustrate. A female
slave belonging to his haárem was guilty of some slight offence,
which, however, enraged him to such an extent that he ordered her
to be thrown into a distant well and drowned. One of the servants,
happening to pass the well on the following day, found the girl
still living, reported the circumstance to the governor, and asked
whether he should liberate her, as the water only reached her arms;
the tyrant, however, felt no pity for the poor wretch, and ordered
the well to be filled up with sand, thus burying his victim alive.
The Arabs, or free people, to which the Bakkara and other nomadic
tribes belong, differ totally from the aborigines; they breed camels
and other cattle, and engage but little in agricultural pursuits. The
largest tribes of Bakkara are, el Giomme Hababin under Sheikh Abdel
Machmud, Elhawasma under Sheikh Moosa, el Messeria under Sheikh
Labaeid, el Nassarie, Hababin, el Hommer, etc.; beside these, the
Kubbabeesh under Sheikh Salé must be mentioned. These Arabs, as they
call themselves, are, like the negroes, black; one tribe of Bakkara,
(Hababin,) however, is copper-coloured, although they live under
the same zone and lead the same kind of life. I very much doubt the
tradition, that all these tribes wandered out of Arabia into Africa,
during the great migration of nations in the seventh century. I
know of no tribe in all Araby of black colour, and the climate of
Africa could not have made them as dark as they are at present,
even in a thousand years. If this discoloration be the effect of
climate, why have not the red Bakkara, as they are here called,
become black? for the copper-coloured nations more readily change
to black than those of white complexion. Their features, moreover,
bear no resemblance to those of the Arabs; they are, also, unlike
the negroes; they have not the prominent cheek-bones and the thick
everted lips; their hair is rather smooth than curling, and they
wear a number of plaits. This race is, in part, of pure blood,
and yet they speak very bad Arabic, whereas other Arab tribes,
who live at a much greater distance from the parent country, as
several tribes of Bedouins, have preserved the native purity of
their language. It is far more probable, then, that these Arabs
have been inhabitants of Africa, on the borders of the Red Sea and
in the neighbouring deserts, since thousands of years, and that
the red Bakkara, as they are termed, formerly inhabited a country
under the tropics, for in their profiles, and in the manner in which
they wear their hair, they correspond exactly with those figures
observed on monuments in Upper Egypt and Nubia. In disposition
they differ entirely from the negroes, for they are stupid, proud,
and very suspicious, despise every one who is not of their caste,
and endeavour, moreover, to overreach every person with whom they
may have dealings. The traveller cannot be too well on his guard
against them. In concluding a bargain with them it is necessary
that some one be present who does not belong to their tribe, or
the stranger may make sure of being imposed upon. The chastity of
their wives and daughters is very praiseworthy.
The Dongolavi, a race of people distributed, under different
denominations, over a great part of Africa, are men of athletic
build, on whom little fat is seen, but the more muscle and
sinew. They have well formed features, but deeply set and very
sparkling eyes; their beards are weak, and they mostly only wear a
moustache, less frequently an additional tuft on the under lip. They
do not show age, except they are very old and the beard has become
grey. They vary in colour from bronze to jet black; this difference
is owing to the circumstance of their having mixed much with other
nations, and intermarried. Their language resembles that of the Nuba
in its etymology. The Dongolavi are the most opulent inhabitants of
Kordofan, and nearly the whole of the export trade by caravan is in
their hands. They, also, carry on the less important home trade with
the negroes in the hills, with whom they barter for slaves, ivory,
etc. They have immigrated from Dongola into Kordofan, and are to be
met with in other negro states, where they have become residents
chiefly for the sake of the trade. The Dongolavi have frequently,
also, been obliged to fly and settle in different places, on account
of debt or other offences; they are of very cheerful disposition,
but shun all manner of work. They are the greatest liars on the face
of the earth, for truth never proceeds from their mouths; they will,
indeed, rather allow themselves to be murdered than speak the truth,
especially if their interests be concerned. In trading with them,
they should never be trusted with cash, which would be irrecoverably
lost, for they will part with their wives and children rather than
with money. They know no gratitude, and understand merely how to
flatter. If a person accept anything of them, he may rest assured
that they will demand, at least, twice as much as it is worth,
on the following day. Their women are very frivolous. Servants of
this tribe should be carefully avoided; and I advise, indeed, every
European about to travel in Kordofan to hire his servant at Cairo.
CHAPTER VI.
THE BAKKARA. (NOMADIC TRIBES.)
There are several large and small tribes of this nomadic people in
the country who have no fixed places of residence, but change them
frequently in the same year. They inhabit the districts situated
towards the south, south-east, and south-west of Lobeid. Each
tribe, whether large or small, is governed by its sheikh, who may be
regarded almost as an absolute monarch; as all the rest of the tribe,
with the exception of a few under-sheikhs, are totally dependent upon
him, and may, indeed, be considered as his serfs. They pay tribute to
Kordofan, consisting of about twelve thousand oxen, a little gold,
and a few slaves; but the contribution must generally be collected
by force. They are not reckoned among the other inhabitants of the
five districts; but when the time for levying the tribute arrives,
they are hunted out, tribe by tribe, and—plundered. They do not
cultivate agriculture, excepting on the lake of Arrat, where a
little rice, of an inferior quality, is grown. Their occupation
consists otherwise in breeding horned cattle, and, besides herds
of kine, they possess a few horses and camels. The sheikhs are
all wealthy, and carry on a considerable trade in cattle, butter,
and slaves, the latter of which they steal from the bordering
countries. They are a very warlike and depredatory race, and live
in a continual state of warfare, not only with their neighbours,
but even among themselves; for if two Bakkara tribes meet, or are
merely encamped near each other, there is sure to be bloodshed;
nor does the conflict terminate until the weaker tribe succumbs,
or is driven away. With the commencement of the hot season, they
wander into distant regions, unknown to the governor of Kordofan,
into which he dare not venture to penetrate to levy the taxes, as
this measure would be attended with great danger to his troops. It
is, indeed, impossible for the government to send a large force, as
it would meet with many obstacles, and a small detachment would not
answer the purpose, for it might be easily intercepted, and totally
cut up. Thus this people enjoy exemption from all contributions
during the dry season. The government, however, suffers no loss
thereby, for it knows full well that they will, in a short time,
be forced to leave the safe districts beyond the boundaries of
Kordofan, and thus return spontaneously into the hands of their
oppressors. There is, perhaps, no people who have so many and
such dangerous enemies. All the negro tribes, without exception,
persecute the Bakkara from one region to the other, on account
of the slaves they have kidnapped, and endeavour, by all possible
means, to revenge themselves on them. The government does all in
its power to torment this people in the most piteous manner; and,
lastly, add the quarrels of the tribes among themselves. Annoyances
of this description would be sufficient in themselves to force the
Bakkari to change their residences continually.
But their greatest plague is a little animal, called _Yohara_[42]—a
fly which makes its appearance in great numbers, in many regions in
central Africa, in the rainy season, and proves very destructive. Its
bite is harmless to man, but the more dangerous to cattle, and
instances are on record, in several regions, of whole herds having
been destroyed by these vermin in a very short time. The camels,
who cannot defend themselves with their short tails against their
encroachments, and must, therefore, of course perish, suffer
chiefly. In Shilluk, Shabun, Runga, Kulla, etc., no camels are,
consequently, to be met with; these countries, therefore, can only
be visited in the dry season. The Djelabi are frequently prevented
from entering on their march home from these countries betimes,
and have, on these occasions, lost all their camels by the sting
of this fly. This insect is also the chief cause of the Bakkari
leaving these parts of the country, which are otherwise so safe
for them, and so advantageous for their cattle; it forces them,
in fact, to deliver themselves into the hands of the Turks. Their
habits are very simple, and they occupy themselves with attending
to the cattle, and occasionally with warlike exercises.
I passed some time among one of the Bakkara tribes, on the lake
of Arrat, and had ample time and opportunity for making myself
thoroughly acquainted with the people, and their habits and
customs, for they kept nothing secret from me, and, as they knew
for certain that I was no Turk, they received me with extraordinary
hospitality. I would, however, not advise an European to entrust
himself to their care, or to venture too near to their encampment,
without having previously secured the friendship of their sheikhs;
for his life would be exposed to all manner of dangers, as they
do not even know the word European, or Frank, as we are otherwise
termed, but look upon every person of white colour as a Turk,
consequently as their enemy. But their acquaintance being once made,
the traveller may be certain of receiving the most unequivocal proofs
of hospitality, and may place the greatest confidence in them. Their
food consists of meat alone, and milk; of the latter there is such
an abundance among them, that they give it to their horses as drink,
and it seems to agree excellently with them. All the horses I saw,
whilst sojourning among them, were of very superior breed. The
Bakkari eat very little bread, which is reckoned a luxury, and
merely enjoyed by their sheikhs. Their dwellings consist of tents
covered with ox hides. They pitch them in separate divisions, and
then enclose the whole camp, together with the space of ground into
which they drive the cattle, with a fence of thorns. In the centre
of the encampment, and generally on a slight elevation, the chief
guard-house is situated, which is inhabited by a certain number
of armed men, who are daily relieved. The guard is armed with from
three to six light javelins, and shields, and the men are provided
with their dar’book’keh (drum), in order to be able to alarm
the whole camp with the slightest danger. A fire is also kept up
all night at this guard-house. They generally dance half the night
long to keep themselves awake, are always prepared for an attack,
and cannot easily be surprised. The women and girls pass the time of
the watch with their husbands, or brothers, at the chief guard-house,
and join in the dances. Their dance differs entirely from that of
the other natives of Kordofan; it is very fantastic, and has really
something imposing about it. A large fire is frequently lighted at
each of the four corners of the space, where the drummers, singers,
and those who beat time, are located. The dancers range themselves in
two rows in the centre, the one being formed of women, the opposite
of men, armed with their spears, with which they frequently strike
the ground, in time, during the dance. At first their movements
are slow, but they are soon hurried away by excitement; and the
men swing their lances with a fearful cry, as if they were about
to throw them at the women, who represent the enemy. The latter now
assume a more humble deportment, and evince their submission to the
attacking party. This dance must be seen, in order to form a proper
conception of it; and I can assure my readers, that nothing can be
more picturesque than to see this group of dancers on a dark night,
the scene lighted up by four blazing fires, when the stillness of
the night is only interrupted by the simple scream of a night-bird,
the distant roar of a lion, or the howl of a hyæna. The expressive
countenances of the dancers form an admirable picture, which well
accords with the wildness of the whole scene.
The women and girls are very talkative and friendly with those they
know; they all shook hands with me, and made repeated enquiries
about my health, and frequently asked me what I wished to eat or
drink. Nor are they by any means shy; for I even had the opportunity
of being present at the toilette of a sheikh’s wife. The lady
sat on an angareb (bedstead), surrounded by a number of young and
beautiful negro girls, upon each of which a particular duty was
incumbent. The one fanned away the flies with a handful of the most
beautiful ostrich feathers, whilst the others arranged her hair, an
occupation requiring several hours for its performance; for it is no
easy task to open all the various matted curls with a single pointed
wooden peg. A third slave washed her feet, a fourth ground sulphur
to a fine powder between two stones. Another slave held a gourd,
filled with merissa, in her hand, to offer her mistress a cooling
draught whenever she might demand it; while another girl held a cup,
containing more than one pound of melted butter, which was poured
over the lady’s head as soon as the hair was undone. All the
butter that dropped off her hair on to her back was rubbed in over
her whole body by an additional attendant. In conclusion, her head
was powdered with the fine flower of sulphur, which was strewn by
handfulls over her greasy hair, where every single grain remained
adherent. A massive golden ring was now inserted in her nostrils,
and two bracelets of ivory, about two inches in breadth, were put
upon her arms. On her forehead three pieces of amber, about the size
of a gold coin, were hung, and round her neck, several strings of
beads, formed of Bohemian glass. A piece of cotton stuff was wound
round her loins, the one end of which was thrown gracefully over
her right shoulder, and thus the toilette of this black princess
was completed. She now admired herself once more in the mirror,
represented by half a gourd filled with water. It must not be
imagined that these women in any way offend against the dictates
of delicacy; for although, like the other inhabitants of this hot
climate, they are totally naked, with the exception of a piece of
cotton, or a leathern apron (rahat), round their loins, they never
transgress the rules of the most rigid propriety. The women are,
without exception, handsome, and are treated very well by their
husbands. Their occupation consists in cooking, and attending to
other domestic duties; but when the men go into battle, they by
no means remain idle spectators, but encourage them with their
shouts, and assist them in every way in offering the most resolute
resistance.
The men attend to the cattle, and make depredatory excursions for
stealing slaves, on which occasions their few, but exceedingly
beautiful and hardy horses render them essential service. When a
tribe of Bakkara is encamped in the vicinity of the hills of the
negroes, the horsemen are sent out to kidnap boys or girls. They
have not yet had the courage to carry on this business on the
same extensive scale as Mehemed Ali. The mode of proceeding is
the following:—The Bakkari repair to places in which it is
likely that these children will congregate,—for example, in the
vicinity of separate droves of cattle, or to wells,—where they
lie in ambush, and as soon as one of the children is within reach,
they seize it, mount their horses, and ride away with their prize
at full gallop. Although the scene of this robbery may be in the
neighbourhood of a village, or of a tribe of negroes, and it even
create a disturbance, yet they are certain of their prey, for their
fleet steeds soon carry them beyond the reach of their pursuers,
who, moreover, possess no horses. They live very contentedly among
themselves, and are very happy, as I was assured by one of their
sheikhs, who added,—“We have beautiful horses, handsome wives,
good fare, suffer no want, and might even call ourselves rich; but
our enemies, who surround us on all sides, and especially the flies,
so dangerous to our cattle, embitter our lives; for, in order to
escape the latter plague, we are forced to leave the safe parts of
the country. In the neighbourhood of the negroes we cannot remain,
as they would rise in mass against us, and destroy us all, in
revenge for their kidnapped children; thus we are forced to choose
the least of these many evils, and to deliver ourselves into the
hands of the Turks, who treat us with great harshness and cruelty,
and take away by force what we will not give them willingly,—but
ALLAH KERIM (as God will)!”
The government of Kordofan treats this people, indeed, with every
species of cruelty; for as soon as they are necessitated to fly
from the more distant regions, and make their appearance in the
neighbourhood of Kordofan, troops are immediately despatched to
demand the tribute of them. I was myself an eye-witness of this
scene, and saw nothing but unmerciful extortion and barbarous
brutality used, which is, unfortunately, the ordinary proceeding
of that government. A major, with three subaltern officers, and two
hundred men, rank and file, of infantry, attended by a few Bedouin
horsemen, and fifty men of irregular troops, received orders to
proceed from Lobeid to levy the annual tribute, consisting of
one thousand heads of oxen, from the nearest Bakkara. The tribe,
acquainted with the approach of their enemies, did all in their
power to entertain them to the best of their means. On their
arrival, several oxen and sheep were daily slaughtered, merissa
was served in abundance, all kinds of amusements were introduced,
in short, nothing was neglected that might render the sojourn
agreeable to their tormentors. The officers and soldiers felt
exceedingly comfortable with this kind of life during four days,
enjoyed their Keyf,[43] and everything went off very peaceably
and all were happy. On the fifth day, however, the scene suddenly
changed: for the major had a sheikh summoned into his presence, and
greeting him with all the customary terms of abuse, said, in a harsh
tone,—“Do you remember that you gave me last year the worst and
leanest cattle, the greater part of which died on the road, and that
I had to make good the loss to Mehemed Ali from my own purse! That
I may not suffer a similar loss this year, I draw your attention
to this circumstance, and shall immediately take care to impress
it also on your memory.” He hereupon ordered the sheikh to lay
himself on the ground. Entreaties, prayers, and promises, were all
in vain. Two corporals seized the condemned man, threw him forcibly
to the ground, and stood in readiness to inflict the punishment the
major might think fit to order, with the whips of hippopotamus’
hide they held in their hands. The delinquent again endeavoured to
conciliate the major with entreaties, and, begging for mercy, assured
him that he would not only give him very good cattle this time, but,
moreover, make him a present, as a compensation for the loss he had
sustained the preceding year. This was what the extortioner wanted;
but to intimidate the sheikh the more, and to force him to increase
his liberality, he pretended to be inflexible; at last, however, he
allowed the supplicant to rise, and go home to fetch the promised
presents. The sheikh hastened immediately to fulfil his promise,
and brought the major four large nose-rings of massive gold, and
two slaves for each officer. Thus harmony was once more restored;
the number of oxen required, and, indeed, from the best herd,
were selected, and the march was ordered back to Lobeid.
On every occasion of levying tribute, the commanding officer,
after having collected the government dues, allows himself all
kinds of cruelties and oppressive means to extort a present for
himself and his men. A sheikh of the Bakkara told me,—and the
soldiers subsequently corroborated his statement,—that two years
ago a major, who had already collected the tribute from a small
Bakkara tribe, and had besides received considerable presents for
himself and his officers, not contented with the booty, resorted
to a singularly cruel plan for forcing them to greater liberality.
A sergeant, who was in the secret, feigning drunkenness, went into
a tent in which the sheikh’s wives were kept, and there conducted
himself with so much impropriety, that the women ordered him to
leave the place. He refused to obey; and seized upon a woman, who,
not knowing how to free herself from his importunities, began
to scream. On hearing the cry, several Bakkara, who happened
to be near, entered the tent, and one of them, witnessing the
sergeant’s indecorous behaviour, dealt him a blow. This was what
the soldier expected; he immediately made a great noise, ushered
himself instantly into the presence of the commanding officer, and
complained that a Bakkara had dared to strike one of Mehemed Ali’s
soldiers. For this offence, the commanding officer demanded a most
enormous fine, and ordered his troops to take possession of all
the sheikh’s women and girls, and to keep them as hostages. The
sheikh himself was now summoned, and told to bring instantly an
addition of two hundred oxen, as a compensation for the offence
offered to a soldier in the service of the government. To give
additional weight to these orders, and to intimidate the chief
the more, the barbarian had one of the sheikh’s wives and two of
his female slaves hewn to pieces by a corporal, in his presence,
informing him, at the same time, that a similar fate awaited all his
wives and female slaves, if the two hundred oxen demanded were not
instantly forthcoming. The sheikh, terrified to the utmost by these
proceedings, promised to satisfy their demands, and in a few hours
the number of oxen required were delivered to the extortioner. The
cattle was of course shared by those who were privy to the secret.
As the delivery of cattle to Egypt is at present put an end to by
order of the Viceroy, the Bakkara have no longer to suffer these
torments; but they are, no doubt, tortured in some other way. The
southern provinces, as Dongola, Sennaar, and Kordofan, have, for
several years past, been forced to tender twelve thousand oxen
annually for Egypt alone; eight or nine thousand heads being the
stipulated portion required from Kordofan. More than one half of
these animals perished on the road on account of the bad management
with which the transport was conducted, and thus the government
suffered a great loss. Sheds where grass or chaff was kept for
the transport were, indeed, erected between Deppa and Cairo, at a
distance of each day’s march; but these shunes, as they are here
termed, were under very bad direction; for the inspectors sold the
greater part of the forage, and thus the cattle were but sparingly
fed, and the exhausted beasts were deprived of the opportunity
of recruiting their strength. A second error was also prevalent,
namely, that of not allowing tired or sick beasts to rest on the
road, for they were driven on with the rest of the drove until they
dropped. Thus by bad management one half the cattle was annually
lost, although they might easily have been preserved by more
careful treatment, and would have been of invaluable assistance
to the northern part of Egypt, where the consumption of beasts
is considerable.
CHAPTER VII.
THE KUBBABEESH.
This small nomadic tribe inhabits the country to the east of the
Bahr Abiad (White Nile), and allied tribes are to be met with in
the province of Dongola. They differ somewhat in their habits from
the Bakkara, remain stationary throughout the year in Kordofan,
merely changing their pastures frequently. They scarcely follow
any agricultural pursuits, and breed but very little cattle. Their
actual occupation consists merely in effecting the transports which
the government sends to Dongola and Sennaar, and in supplying the
caravans of the Djelabi proceeding in all directions over Africa
with the camels necessary for their purpose. They themselves
breed very few of these animals, but buy the greater quantity in
the country. Their accurate acquaintance with the roads in every
direction across the desert is truly wonderful. They readily shape
their course by the heavens by day or night, know exactly where
they are, and can tell to a nicety the exact distance from the
position in which they may happen to be to any other place. Their
senses both of sight and hearing are so acute and quick, that
they can distinguish, at the greatest distance, objects which an
European could only see with the aid of a telescope; they can even
at night-time perceive camels at long distances, seldom deceiving
themselves in the estimation of their numbers; they are, therefore,
invaluable to the government in the transport of the various products
of the country, and to the caravans passing through the country,
in general, they are almost indispensable. Their sheikhs, who, I
may say, are lords and masters, consider their subjects as their
serfs, and treat them accordingly. This race of men is already
much contaminated by mixing with negro women. The sheikhs make a
considerable profit by furnishing travellers with camels; the more
so as their expenses on the road may be considered a mere trifle,
for they find the food for their camels on the road-side, and the
drivers receive only a little flour for bread, (which, however,
they do not bake daily,) or dockn, a small quantity of which they
boil in water and call belilleh. With a small bag of these hard
pills they undertake the longest journeys, and will bear hunger
and thirst for an astonishing length of time. Locusts they consider
a delicacy. The head, wings, and first joints of the hind-legs of
the insect are torn off, and the body, spitted on a wooden skewer,
is roasted over the coals. At first I could not make up my mind
to taste these insects, but two woful days, many of which may be
passed in Africa, at last compelled me to eat them. The hard pills,
or belilleh, were too dry for me, and would not pass down my throat;
I therefore made the best of a bad case, and resorted to locusts. At
first, as I before mentioned, I felt a slight degree of disgust, and
I could not relish them, but I subsequently consoled myself with John
the Baptist and Allah Kerim. When the Kubbabeesh meet with a sick
camel, which the caravans are frequently obliged to leave behind
them, they immediately cut its throat, and make a hearty meal;
the rest of the meat is laden on their own camels, and eaten even
when covered with maggots. They use no doga in making their bread,
but bake it after the fashion of many of the negro tribes; that is
to say, they lay several stones close together in form of a circle,
selecting pebbles, if they can find them, as the small stones become
more quickly heated, and light a large fire upon them. As soon as
the wood is consumed, they remove the charcoal from the stones, and
spread a paste of dockn flour, of the thickness of three fingers,
on them, covering it carefully over with the coal. The bread is
baked in a very short time, or, to speak more accurately, the upper
and lower crust is burnt whilst the paste remains unbaked in the
interior. They are not paid any wages, but, at the feast of the great
Baëram, a present is made them of a piece of cotton and a dollar.
On journeys it is as well to behave with kindness towards these
children of the desert, for although life may never be endangered by
them, they injure those who treat them with harshness in a manner
which is most severely felt. Their mode of revenging themselves
generally consists in making an almost imperceptible incision with
their lances into the leather bags containing the water, which
is thus wasted, and does not last over the expected time. They
call themselves sultans of the desert, and the stranger is indeed
entirely at their mercy, for they can themselves bear thirst well
for one day or longer, but travellers are dreadfully tortured by
this proceeding; hence it is much better not to injure these poor
people in any way, as they are by no means officious, but readily
perform all the services required of them for a mere trifle.
Merchandize and goods entrusted to them are well taken care of, for
their sheikh, with whom an agreement touching the delivery of the
goods is made, is answerable for their safe arrival. Anything that
may be stolen by his people, or destroyed through their neglect,
he is forced to make good; he consequently only receives one half
of the stipulated payment in advance. On my journey to Kordofan I
met with seventeen camel-loads of gum and hides, near the ravine
of Semmeria, which the Kubbabeesh, for some reason with which I am
not acquainted, left lying in the road, having themselves decamped
with their camels. Neither the gum nor the hides had suffered any
damage, and the whole cargo was subsequently safely delivered at
Dongola. The Divan of Lobeid, however, made a demand of thirty
thousand piasters as an indemnification for the loss said to be
sustained by the damage done to the goods. The sheikh was forced
to pay this sum to the very farthing, although the goods had not
cost the government more than about one thousand piasters; for the
government pays one ox-hide with three piasters, and a cantaro of
gum with fifteen piasters. The government, moreover, had not even
lost anything in interest for the capital laid out, as the occurrence
took place during the dry season. But this is the system pursued by
this tyrannical administration for extorting money from this tribe,
which is otherwise not highly taxed, and thus it again deprives them
of their hard-earned wages, a pittance literally gained by the sweat
of their brow, as their pay is always most narrowly calculated;
and so much is, moreover, deducted from the sum agreed upon, that
barely enough remains to keep them from starving.
It has been proved, by accurate calculation, that the Kubbabeesh
must make considerable sums by the thousands of camel-loads which
the government and the many Djelabi, transport, especially as their
own expenses are but trifling. In order, therefore, to lessen these
profits, as far as this is possible, for the benefit of their
employers, all manner of ruses and subterfuges are resorted to,
to enable the government to sue the sheikhs for a compensation
for damage sustained. The gum is forwarded immediately after it
has been collected from the trees, when four cantari constitute a
camel-load. The distance from Kordofan to Dongola, is twenty days’
journey. Wind and heat will dry gum, and it of course decreases in
bulk and weight; much is, moreover, lost on the road, in consequence
of the slovenly manner in which it is packed. Arrived at Dongola,
it is left several days lying in the sun before it is weighed, the
natural consequence of this exposure is, that each load suffers a
considerable reduction in weight. All this loss the sheikh has to
make good, and in effecting the arrangement, the gum is calculated
at the price at which the government sells it in Alexandria to the
Europeans; thus the sheikh frequently only receives a quarter of
the sum agreed upon for the freight, and not even this pittance in
ready money, for he is finally compelled to accept cotton-stuff,
manufactured at Dongola, in lieu of payment, taking the piece
sold by the government in the same place for twelve piasters, at
a value of twenty piasters. Goaded to the utmost by oppressions
of this description, the subjects of a small sheikh determined,
in the year 1838, to leave Kordofan, and settle in Darfour. The
poor people, however, gained nothing by this movement, but fell,
as the proverb has it, out of the frying-pan into the fire; for on
their arrival at Darfour, where they intended to place themselves
under the protection of the Sultan Mohammed Fadel, he seized nearly
all their camels, with the exception only of some few beasts, laden
with bread and water, and had the emigrants hunted over the borders,
thus they were forced to deliver themselves again into the hands
of their former tormentors in Kordofan. When Mehemed Ali, on his
last journey, heard this, he summoned, on his arrival at Khartoom,
Salé, the great sheikh of the Kubbabeesh, into his presence, and
flattered him in every possible manner, in order to win him over;
he even did him the extraordinary honour of allowing him to sit on
his right hand, and after having convinced himself of the injustice
under which his people groaned, promised to take the measures
necessary for their relief. The Viceroy immediately raised the rate
of freightage of a camel-load from forty-five to eighty piasters,
and thus Sheikh Salé was conciliated. On the same occasion,
Mehemed Ali asked the chief the reason why he, so young a man,
had already a grey beard? This question he impressively answered
by saying,—“Your Turks are the cause of my beard turning grey;
for they oppress and torment me in every possible way, and make
me grow old before my time!” Mehemed Ali consoled him, and took
leave of him with that flattering language so peculiar to him on
these occasions. The government, in fact, well understands the
necessity of keeping on good terms with these good people; for the
services they perform are invaluable, and nothing is, moreover, to
be effected by force with this tribe; for if they had the slightest
idea that coercive measures were to be employed against them, they
would soon disappear out of Kordofan. To emigrate into Darfour
would certainly be too hazardous an experiment; to the south and
south-east the murderous fly, so destructive to the camels, is
to be met with, and helps materially to compel them to remain in
the country. Notwithstanding these impediments, however, they know
very well how to secure themselves when force is employed against
them, for the following facts were related to me by an officer,
who was himself an eye-witness of the affair. The government was
about to expedite several hundred camel-loads of goods, and sent
couriers to the Kubbabeesh with orders to furnish the necessary
quantity of camels, and bring them to Lobeid; the latter, however,
refused to obey. A considerable military detachment was now sent to
force them to submission, but the government was very much deceived
in its expectations of the result; for the Kubbabeesh, acquainted
with their intentions, collected all their camels, and fled to the
desert, where it was impossible to overtake them. They always kept
half a day’s march in advance of the troops, could even frequently
be descried at a distance, but all attempts to overtake them were
in vain; for, thoroughly acquainted with all the roads and various
localities, they were enabled easily to deceive their pursuers, and
thus to effect their escape. Arrived on the third day at a spring,
they watered their camels, supplied themselves with the quantity
of water they required, filled up the well, and continued their
march. The soldiers, in their turn, arriving with their camels at
the well, found it destroyed, and were forced, for want of water,
to return, and give up the chase of the victorious Kubbabeesh. Thus
the government was obliged to wait patiently until they returned
of their own accord.
Their dress consists of a piece of cotton-stuff which they wind
round their bodies, and very few of them only wear shirts. Their
heads are uncovered, but on journeys they wear a sheep or goatskin,
after the fashion of the leathern apron of the miners of Germany,
to enable them to sit down, a position which would otherwise be
impracticable, considering the burning heat of the sand. They always
carry a few spears and a shield. Foreigners visiting these countries
cannot travel more economically than by engaging the Kubbabeesh;
in Dongola, the Dongolas indeed keep camels, but I advise every one
to give the preference to the former, for although the government
pays eighty piasters from Lobeid to Debba, or Dolip, on the Nile,
(in the province of Dongola,) whereas the Djelabi only pay sixty
piasters, sometimes even only forty-five, for the same distance,
and thirty piasters from Lobeid to Khartoom, the Kubbabeesh always
give the preference to an engagement with the latter because the
payment, although less, is effected in ready money, whereas the
government make great deductions, and force them moreover to accept
of goods in lieu of cash.
CHAPTER VIII.
DAR-HAMMER.
This people immigrated several years ago from Darfour into Kordofan;
a large branch of the same tribe, however, is yet to be found in
the former country. Their occupation consists in rearing camels and
in agriculture. They are possessed of the finest “ships of the
desert” in Kordofan; they do not, however, undertake transports
like the Kubbabeesh, but merely trade in these animals, which they
sell to the Djelabi, Kubbabeesh, and neighbouring tribes. They
are obliged to furnish the government with the quantity of camels
necessary for the slave-hunts or other grand expeditions, and
to bring them to Cairo. They also form the guard of the borders
towards Darfour, several thousands of men armed with shield and
spear, and in part with large double-edged swords being always in
readiness to prevent an invasion from that quarter. No incursion
has ever yet taken place, but many a depredatory excursion has
been undertaken by the Dar-Hammer themselves into the neighbouring
villages of Darfour; and the Egyptian government not only tolerates
these marauding invasions, but lends the Dar-Hammer every possible
assistance, furnishing them even with a few Bedouin horsemen on
these occasions. These expeditions are, in fact, virtually undertaken
for the government, for the number of camels they demand as tribute
from the tribe is too great for the sheikh to be able to furnish,
and he is therefore forced to steal the deficiency in Darfour.
When the sheikh, a few years ago, complained at the divan in Lobeid,
that it was not in his power to return the number of animals required
of him, and that he must make an incursion into Darfour for the
purpose of stealing camels to be able to satisfy their claims;
they not only approved of the measure, but agreed to assist the
sheikh in the execution of this useful project by lending him a
number of Bedouin horsemen. Thus, if there be a lack of camels,
an incursion is made without further question into the nearest
villages, to steal them. It is only astonishing that Darfour puts
up with this depredation without making any reprisals.
The residence of the sheikh of the Dar-Hammer is situated at
a distance of twelve hours’ march from Lobeid. I made his
acquaintance in the town, and subsequently paid him a visit
at his quarters. He received me most hospitably, and I had the
opportunity of being present at a divan which he held in his spacious
tukkoli. The sheikh’s seat was on an angareb opposite the door,
and by his side sat one of his four wives; he changes them, indeed,
daily, and the great lady must honour the divan with her presence. By
his side lay his sword of justice, with a massive silver hilt
and silver head of the size of a hen’s egg. The plaintiffs and
defendants had arranged themselves in the form of a half circle on
the floor. A large earthen pot filled with merissa was placed at
the feet of the chief’s wife, from which she offered both parties
frequently a cup during the transaction of the business. But this
was done with a certain degree of ceremony, in order to prove that
the sheikh, as arbitrator, knew no partiality, and that both parties
were, in fact, equal in his eyes. The decision of the arbitrator is
always short and decisive; is regarded as peremptory, and strictly
acted upon, for these good people go upon the principle that their
head can never be deceived.
The Dar-hammer do not differ in their domestic habits from the
other inhabitants of Kordofan, and are on the whole one of the most
amiable class of people in this province. They make a noise with
their tongues to express “yes or no,” like the other natives of
Kordofan; and this sound must have been frequently heard before it
is possible to distinguish between the negative and affirmative tone.
During my whole residence in Kordofan I never heard of their
having ill-treated or robbed any stranger, much less of their
having committed murder; always excepting their excursions into
Darfour, which they do not regard as wrong, as they are undertaken
with the sanction or, more properly speaking, at the command of
the government.
The chief sheikh, a very handsome man, is only to be distinguished
from the rest of his tribe by his silver hilted sword. He
is generally beloved by his subjects, and all his orders are
executed with a punctuality on which but few governments can pride
themselves. When out of doors he is always mounted, and his horse
might have been the boast of the stud of an European court; for
during all my travels I never saw a more beautiful animal, or one
of such pure breed.
The Dar-Hammer are very hospitable, and it requires but little
trouble to win the affection of these simple children of nature, for
they know but few wants, and are always satisfied with a trifle. The
women are not handsome, but of very amiable disposition; they
attend to the household affairs, and to the children, and occupy
their leisure hours, of which there are certainly many, with their
simple adornment. Their dress resembles that of the other tribes;
not even their sheikh wears a covering to his head, nor do they
indeed require it, for their bushy hair is so thick that the rays
of the sun could not easily penetrate through it.
It is an axiom that where there is no water neither man nor
animals can live. A great tract of the Dar-Hammer forms, however,
an exception to this rule. This appears indeed incredible, but it
is, nevertheless, true; for when the rain-water which collects in
the small ponds, called by the Dar-Hammer Fula, has evaporated,
not a drop of drinkable water is, commonly speaking, to be found
in the various districts they inhabit during three months of the
year; and there are no wells or cisterns in the country, with the
exception of the Nedjer wells. The villages, therefore, situated
at a distance from these springs, are obliged to send their women,
children, old and infirm men, their goats, sheep, and part of
their camels, to the above-mentioned wells, and to Ketshmar,
during three months of the year. Only the men, and a few camels,
remain behind. To furnish a substitute for water they resort to the
following plan: they cultivate large fields of water-melons, which
ripen about the time at which the scarcity of water begins to be
felt. The ripe fruit is daily gathered, and the juice expressed is
not drunk, but used for merissa, or boiling the assida and woika:
they escape one inconvenience which would result from a lack of
water elsewhere, for they have no linen to wash, and those who
wear so luxurious an article of dress as a shirt never wash it,
even when there is abundance of water. The camels remaining with
them receive two fresh melon husks daily. This allowance supplies
them with the quantity of fluid necessary for them, and they do
not suffer in the slightest degree from thirst; for, as a rule,
camels are only watered every two or three days.
CHAPTER XI.
TRIBES BORDERING ON KORDOFAN, SHILLUK, NUBA, TAKALE, ETC.
On the borders of the province of Kordofan properly so called,
towards the south-east, live the Shilluk, and the Denky, or Jenky,
as they are also termed; the latter inhabit the eastern shore of
the White Nile. The country of the Shilluk occupies a very large
tract of land extending considerably into the interior towards the
west of the White River. Both tribes, the Shilluk as well as the
Denky, seem to be one and the same people, as far as their outward
appearance, their build, habits and customs are concerned, but
their language differs. The sultans of the Shilluk were formerly
very potent: even Sennaar, the realms of which extended to the
borders of Dongola, they had conquered; and the latter country was
governed by one of the sultan’s family as late as the year 1821,
when it was rendered tributary to Mehemed Ali by the superior force
of the Egyptian troops. The son of the last king of Sennaar is at
present living in a miserable village. Mehemed Ali, with peculiar
consideration, has made him magistrate of this village, where he
lives in very straitened circumstances. The Shilluks and Denky
are easily distinguished from among a concourse of other nations,
for they have oblong heads, and are more especially known by the
want of the four lower incisor teeth, which are extracted when
they are ten or twelve years of age, a kind of religious ceremony,
as I was told, similar to that of circumcision or baptism. They
are of muscular build, and very merry, but are not much prized as
slaves, and are indeed always at a lower price than other captives
in Kordofan and Sennaar. The chief reason of this discrepancy is
that they are stupid, lazy, and childish, and cannot be confidently
entrusted with any duty. They are to be seen running about all day
long, or engaged in games which could only please children. They are
very treacherous, and can never be left to themselves, but must, in
fact, always be placed under the inspection of other slaves. Those
only who leave home at a very early age form the exception to this
rule. With such deficiences they are, consequently, only used for
the very lowest class of labour, and treated not much better than
beasts of burden. Mehemed Ali, who formed his first regiment of foot
entirely of negroes, has latterly given orders not to enlist any more
recruits from this tribe; he found, indeed, that their services
were not only of no avail, but that their excessive stupidity
was likely to lead to ulterior consequences; for there have been
instances known of soldiers from this tribe whilst on duty, giving
their musket without hesitation, and the charge into the bargain,
to any casual passer-by who happened to offer them a small present
for it. In fact, the officers were always obliged to keep these
men under strict inspection, for they were never to be trusted alone.
In many books of travels and geography the Shilluks are described
as cannibals, but this report is erroneous, and all intelligence
which I have been able to collect from the Djelabi on this point
agrees in proving this assertion to be utterly false, for they have
never even heard the slightest rumour corroborative of this absurd
report. On my flight from Kordofan, I heard on my arrival at Tara,
on the White River, that an European was residing at the chief town
of the Shilluk, with a strong escort, to catch eight hippopotami for
Mehemed Ali, and to prepare their skins, to stuff them, in fact,
as specimens for a museum. I immediately set out on my journey
from Tara, and after a long march of two tedious days on a camel,
reached the scene of action, where I certainly found the hippopotamus
hunters; but the European, whose name was Bartolo, had left a few
days before my arrival, for Khartoom, on the eastern shore. During
my sojourn among the Shilluks, I assisted at a hippopotamus hunt;
five had been already killed, but they were so carelessly dissected,
that I felt sure they would not keep for any length of time; in fact,
they very soon spoiled, and are now lying quite useless at Cairo. On
this occasion, I had an opportunity of becoming more intimately
acquainted with the Shilluks, as far in fact as my residence among
them would permit it. I found that they are in their own country,
quite as idle as they are in captivity abroad; they may be seen
loitering about, but never by any chance at work. During the hot
season they do not sleep in their huts, but in the open air, old and
young congregating together like a herd of cattle. The Shilluks walk
about in a state of complete nudity, and only when they are married
cover their loins with a strip of cotton-stuff. The majority of
them wear merely a piece of calico of the size of a hand to cover
their nakedness. Their women are very ill-used. The cause of this
ill-treatment is, generally, superstition: thus, if the husband
whilst hunting miss his aim with his spear, or tread a thorn into
his foot, his wife must bear the blame; he accuses her of having
at the moment of his disaster, been unfaithful, and there is no
help for her, she must undergo chastisement. If the adultery be
proved, and a complaint be made to the Sheikh, she receives three
strokes on the head with a crooked stick, one in the centre and one
at either side of the head, such unmerciful blows indeed, that the
blood instantly gushes forth. These punishments are of very frequent
occurrence, for adultery is not uncommon among the Shilluks.[44]
(...)
The products they obtain from the ground may be regarded as a mere
nothing. They cultivate as much dokn as they believe sufficient to
last from one harvest to the next. On the possibility of a failure
of the harvest, they never bestow a thought, nor do they pay any
consideration to other contingencies, by laying in stores. Their
cattle is said to be numerous in some few places, but is reared
without the slightest care or attendance. They have no salt in
their own country, and are obliged, therefore, to obtain it from
Sennaar or Kordofan; but the greater portion of the inhabitants
have never tasted this condiment. All other necessaries, which
they might produce with little trouble themselves, they obtain by
barter from their neighbours, giving articles in exchange which
nature brings forth without the assistance of art. This tribe
is, taken all in all, the very _ne plus ultra_ of idleness and
stupidity, and they differ but immaterially from animals. They are
consequently not as dangerous to travellers as other tribes, who
are always on the alert for prey, and but few robbers by profession
live among their hills; the other Shilluks, moreover, always warn
the Djelabi travelling through their country not to approach the
infested neighbourhoods. Their chief wealth consists in ivory, which
they likewise obtain in certain parts of their dominions without
the slightest trouble. They arrange the teeth in rows, forming a
fence round their huts, and barter them away to the Djelabi when
they come into their parts. There are many elephants in the country
wandering about in herds of several hundreds each; they are, however,
met with singly, during the greater portion of the year. It is only
at a certain period—generally before the rain sets in—that they
collect together in herds, and then they cross the White Nile in the
direction of Fazoglo. An old female elephant is always the leader,
and determines on the spot for crossing the stream. This movement
is effected with a fearful noise, as may be easily imagined when so
large a number of these moving mountains are known to be swimming
in the river at the same time. They draw up a quantity of water in
their proboscis, and spurt it forth again like a fountain, thus
appearing to convert a large extent of the water in which they
carry on their pranks into a sort of whirlpool. Notwithstanding
their immense weight they swim with incredible facility, and I
have been assured that when these animals cross the river singly,
the water remains frequently undisturbed, so that the unwieldy
mass appears to be moved by some invisible power. Whilst on their
journey, the emigrants observe the strictest order; their leader,
a female, turns frequently round and raises a cry if an elephant
stray, to recall him to the ranks again. A herd frequently takes
its route directly through a village, without doing the slightest
injury to the huts, or to the inhabitants; singly they never do
any harm. Several of these elephants always remain behind their
companions; for they feel a presentiment of their approaching end,
and then choose a solitary valley in the neighbourhood of the river,
where they patiently await their death, which generally takes place
before the large herds return from their migrations. No one ever
disturbs them, for death generally overtakes them in a short time,
and then they fall a certain prey to the negroes. Hunting expeditions
are, indeed, occasionally instituted against these animals, but
only whilst they are to be met with singly, and dispersed over the
country; for when they have collected together in herd it would
be attended with great danger to attack them. Ivory is the only
commodity of trade in these regions.
Beside ivory, a small quantity of gold-dust is to be met with, among
some few of the Shilluks, and yet more among the Jenky; they fetch
it from the mountains of the Blue River, but these simple people
do not know its real value, and trouble themselves very little
about looking after it. The Djelabi transact the most business
with them. The present Sultan of the Shilluks is named Denap;
his wealth consists in elephants’ tusks. I was told by several
Djelabi that there existed an animal in the country of the Shilluks,
totally unknown in Kordofan and Sennaar. The natives call it _denk_;
it is said to be rather larger than a rat, of an ash-grey colour,
and to resemble a monkey in shape; the fore and hind paws, they say,
are like the hands and feet of man; the tail is very short. This
animal feeds on gum, climbs the trees, but cannot jump from branch
to branch like the monkey. There are no camels in the country,
on account of that destructive fly called here Yohara.
At a distance of about twenty or thirty hours’ march southward
and to the south-east of Lobeid, the free negroes live, who are in
part tributary to Kordofan; the tribute, however, is always levied
by force from these tribes. They resemble each other perfectly in
stature and features, but converse in different languages—thus,
in one day’s march, many different dialects and languages may
be heard spoken: it would appear, however, that the language of
the Takale, Kodero, and Schabun are of the same root. The largest
tribe with which I am acquainted calls itself Nuba, and occupies a
large extent of the mountainous tract. The Nuba are republicans, and
recognise no superior authority beyond their particular sheikh, who,
however, plays a passive part only, for his jurisdiction does not
extend beyond the confines of one village. Even one of these chiefs,
if obnoxious to the greater number, is immediately deprived of his
dignity, and superseded by another sheikh, elected by a majority
of votes. It is for this same reason, that a magistrate of this
description dare not enforce his decisions: thus the opinion of the
multitude prevails. It has frequently happened that a sheikh, who
had acquired authority among this tribe by his personal advantages,
or by his wealth, has at last had the intention of usurping the
authority of sultan or monarch of all the Nuba; but this attempt has
never yet succeeded, for the unfortunate usurper was immediately put
to death as soon as the Nuba negroes had the slightest suspicion
of this project. Their sheikhs, therefore, are mere ciphers, only
to be tolerated as long as they do not interfere with the freedom
and privileges of the subject.
All the negro tribes inhabiting the country, extending to about the
tenth degree of latitude, are easily to be distinguished from each
other, some by their ear-rings and nose-rings, some again by the
loss of the lower incisor teeth, others by a hole in the under lip,
into which they insert the tooth of some animal, which adheres in
the aperture; others, again, are tattooed about the face. These
negroes have all perfectly woolly hair, which covers the head but
sparingly; thick everted lips, and small compressed noses. Many of
them are less black than the negroes inhabiting the southern regions,
have not the high projecting cheek-bones, and are, on an average,
a well-made race of men. The girls have fine breasts, convex from
below upwards, and superiorly rather concave.
These Nuba reside in villages, which they build chiefly in the most
inaccessible parts of the mountains, and put in the best possible
state of defence. Their dwellings are made of straw, hedged in with
thorns, and some of the houses are built of stone. I must, however,
observe, that those tribes which are under monarchic government
live more peaceably than the republicans, who frequently go to war
for trifles, when the stronger tribes make prisoners of the weaker,
and sell them as slaves.
The climate of these districts is far more healthy than that of
Kordofan. The dress of the natives is very simple. Only the grown-up
people wear a piece of cotton stuff; the majority wear only a strip
about as broad as the hand, passing a cord round their hips, with
which they fasten it to the abdomen and back. In addition to this
simple hip-cloth, they decorate themselves with ear-rings of brass
or iron wire, and the women wear necklaces of Bohemian and Venetian
glass beads. Some of the men wear a ribbon, about an ell in length,
round their loins.[45] This ornament costs immense patience and
no less trouble in its manufacture: it consists of a number of
small buttons of about the size of a shirt-button, made of the
shell of the ostrich’s egg, with a perforation in the centre,
through which a string is passed, connecting them together. I took
the trouble of counting the single buttons of one of these ribbons
in my possession, and found a total number of six thousand eight
hundred and sixty. Above and below they are frequently ornamented
with small iron pins and glass beads. If we consider that these men
possess no sharp cutting instruments to facilitate their labour,
we may readily understand that great patience is required in
the manufacture of one of these girdles. On some of the hills
of the Nuba mountains the women dye their hair of a red colour,
by reducing a species of red sandstone to a fine powder, which
they mix with butter, and thus form a pomatum, with which they
anoint their curls; it generally remains for a few days adherent
to the hair, and gives them no very pleasing appearance. Incisions
are made into the cheeks, arms, breasts, and bodies of the girls,
by way of ornament. The household furniture of the Nuba negroes
is very mean; it consists merely of a few pots, for water, for
merissa and for cooking; and of a few drinking cups, made of gourds:
the latter filled with water, serve the women in lieu of mirrors,
which the girls frequently resort to during the day.
The arms of the men, which they always carry about them, and
scarcely ever lay aside, are a shield, spears with iron or wooden
points, the latter always poisoned; a small double-edged knife;
and a kind of scythe, consisting of a cutting blade, which is at
first straight, but then cordiform in its curve, and about two feet
in length. This weapon they denominate a Turbatsch, and use it in
battle for warding off sabre-cuts, and throw it also at the feet
of the enemy in an attack.
Their favourite occupation is tobacco smoking: they are, indeed,
never to be met during the whole day without a pipe in their
mouths. The young girls seldom smoke, but the old women never put
their pipes aside for one moment; and when several of them squat
down together, and form, as in other places, a clique for scandal,
you might imagine yourself to be in a chimney. The bowls of the
tobacco-pipes of these Nuba negroes are made of clay or wood, and
they give them a very pleasing appearance. The pipe is manufactured
of wood, and is of about the thickness of a finger—into this they
insert a thin iron tube, three inches in length, which serves the
purpose of a mouth-piece. They grow their own tobacco—it resembles
that of Kordofan, has a small leaf, and thick stalk. It is very
probable that the negroes have smoked from time immemorial, and
that tobacco, therefore, does not come originally from America alone.
The food of the Nuba negroes is far better than that of the natives
of Kordofan, for on many of the hills there is an abundance of
oxen, goats, sheep, pigs, fowls, butter, and honey. Amongst their
favourite dishes rats must be classed, which are considered a
great delicacy on several of the hills. The species eaten is the
field rat, and has not the same disgusting appearance as that of
Europe. It is roasted here on a spit in its skin, and is subsequently
flayed. Besides the above-mentioned animals, game, which is met
with in abundance on their hills, serves as an article of food,
and they are very expert in catching young giraffes, ostriches,
hares, and various kinds of antelopes, in snares, for their own
consumption. Bread forms one of their chief wants, they, therefore,
pay great attention to agriculture. It frequently happens that a
drought destroys the harvest, or that it is eaten up by the locusts,
so common in these regions, or, what is more likely still, that it
falls a prey to the predatory Turks, when a great dearth of bread,
which is of the most frightful consequence, is generally the result;
instances are then known of parents selling their children for a few
handfulls of dockn. I myself saw a girl whom a Djelabi had bought
for fifty handfulls of grain. A brother will, on these occasions,
sell his sister to obtain a little flour, and thus to supply himself
and his people with bread for a few days. One Djelabi received eight
oxen for a camel-load of dockn, consisting of about three cantars;
and another merchant bought eight children at the same price. In
these calamitous times, the price of a man, therefore, is equal to
that of a beast. It is very astonishing that a famine should ever
exist with the abundance of animal food they possess; but it is
nevertheless certain that, during scarcity of corn, these negroes
will despise every other food, and rather suffer every species of
misery. Whenever this famine exists, the consequences are always
very fearful; for the Nuba negroes then sally forth in quest of
prey into the neighbouring villages, where they plunder and steal
everything they can lay their hands upon. These depredations give
rise to many quarrels, which always lead to a war, and the conflict
lasts until the weaker party is overcome, when they are all sold
by the conquerors as slaves.
The chief exports of the Nuba consist in gum, ostrich feathers,
tamarinds, honey, and slaves, with all of which they carry on a trade
by barter. No one troubles himself about the gum since Mehemed Ali
has monopolized the trade, for the freight to Kordofan would cost
double the amount which he pays for it; hence thousands of cantari
of gum, which might afford a maintenance to as many hundreds of
families, are annually allowed to rot. The Nuba negroes do not know
the value of money, and always accept such goods as they reckon
among their wants for their commodities. The Djelabi generally
import cottons, brass, and iron wire, glass beads, counters, &c.,
and exchange them for the articles above specified. The barter
among themselves consists in tobacco, salt, and small shells. In the
neighbourhood of Schabun the negroes collect gold, which they find
in the mountain torrents, and keep in the quills of large birds of
prey; but they attach no great importance to this metal, for they
do not know its value. The Dongolavi only, who have immigrated into
these regions, since time immemorial, for the purpose of trading,
and have become residents there, draw considerable profit from
that source. This gold is met with in commerce in Kordofan in
quills; it is frequently preferred to ready money, and is also cast
into rings. It would appear that the negroes at Shabun possess no
fireproof crucibles to melt the metal, as is the case with the other
negroes and Galla tribes. The Dongolavis have in several places
intermarried with negro girls, whence a mixed language, as I am
told, has originated: they, however, preserve the characteristics
of the father, and a Dongolavi, although born of a negro mother,
may be immediately recognized.
The Nuba negroes are for the most part heathens, and only very few
of them profess the Mahommedan faith. Their ideas of religion, in
general, are very limited, and they observe scarcely any ceremonies
of worship. They believe, indeed, in a superior being, but it ranks
below the moon, and hence it comes that the end of the lunar month
is especially kept holy. Many of them again imagine that the sun,
which produces the rain, is the superior being, because nothing
can grow without rain. They can accurately determine the period
when the rainy season will begin, and count from the commencement
of each month. They are not idolators, but are by no means free
from superstition, for before entering upon any undertaking or
business, they wait for certain omina, according to which they
regulate their actions. If, for example, an owl perch upon a
house in the night and utter its melancholy note, they consider
it a certain sign that one of the inhabitants will shortly die. A
raven makes a still stronger impression upon these simple beings;
should it, as of course frequently occurs, happen to fly into a
village and settle on a tree or house, the whole place is then in
consternation, all cheerfulness disappears, song and music cease to
be heard, and even dancing is put a stop to on this woful day, for
the arrival of a raven is a sure sign to them, that the Turks are
coming to plunder them, or even to carry them off as slaves. They
believe firmly in ghosts. On some of the hills they celebrate the
anniversary of their dead, and indeed, at a certain time, annually. A
large fire is on this occasion kindled in an open space, in the
evening, whence every man takes a burning branch in his hand as a
torch, and thus the procession moves first to the place of burial,
and then to those houses in which some person had died during the
preceding year. A song is now commenced in honour of the dead, at
the conclusion of which, they toss their burning branches into the
air, much after the same fashion in which midsummer is celebrated
in certain countries of Europe.[46] A festival is kept when the
first rain falls, and again at the termination of the harvest. To
celebrate the latter feast, everything the house affords which could
enliven the festive scene is contributed, and merissa, of course,
flows in abundance. Their favourite amusements are singing and
dancing, every one who is in any way capable of exercise, dances,
both men and women, and frequently even the aged and infirm, join in;
no day in fact passes, on which the whole population of the village
do not collect in an open space after sunset and pass their time
in dancing. The accompaniment consists in singing, in beating time
with their hands to the sounds of a drum, and the tones of a fife are
frequently also added. The young girls more especially may be heard
singing all day long, for they never perform any office be it ever
so trivial, without the accompaniment of the voice. As soon as the
sun disappears behind the hills, large fires are lighted in all the
villages, and dancing begins; whilst songs are re-echoed from hill to
hill, producing the effect of a kind of vocal response or salutation.
These Nuba are of a more amiable disposition than might be expected
of a people in a state of semi-barbarity, and if they be only
convinced that a traveller has no intention of doing them harm,
he may make sure of the most hospitable reception, notwithstanding
the ill-treatment and oppression they occasionally suffer from
the neighbouring Turks, which has imbued them with an almost
incontrovertible hatred towards all white men. The slave merchants
greatly contribute to keep up this aversion by assuring the negroes,
that all the captives who fall into the hands of the white men
are fattened in their country for slaughter. When the Djelabi have
reached Kordofan and set out on their journey to Cairo, they make the
poor slaves understand that those white men who, like the Arabs and
Turks, profess the true faith, do not eat the flesh of the negroes;
but that the _Giaours_, or unbelievers, by which denomination they
distinguish the Franks, follow that barbarous custom. This will
account for the circumstance of slaves so frequently beginning
to cry when purchased by a Frank at Cairo, they are, in fact,
seized with the fear of being led to the shambles. A Nuba negro,
who spoke Arabic well, said to me once very coolly: “We black men
are far better than you white men, for when our children come into
your country you slaughter them; we could do the same with you, but
we are charitable and do not act thus, therefore we are better than
you.” With kindness every thing may be obtained from these children
of nature, whilst harshness and severity produce the opposite effect;
for as soon as they perceive that force is about to be employed,
they become passionate and malicious and obstinate to a degree,
for they are children of freedom, and will rather forfeit their
lives than tolerate coercion. In requiring a service of them it
is necessary to make considerate representations to them, and to
use the utmost caution to keep them in a good humour, for in the
contrary case evil consequences are alone to be expected; they will,
indeed, rather suffer death than allow themselves to be forced by
ill-treatment to the performance of even the most trivial office.
Polygamy is not a general custom, each man takes to himself only
one or two women; the sheikhs alone have several wives. When a man
is about to lead a girl away as his wife, he treats first with the
father concerning the price at which he will deliver her up. The
amount of course varies much, and depends on the youth, beauty, and
other advantageous qualifications of the chosen bride. The dowry
consists generally in a certain number of cows, goats, or sheep,
which become the personal property of the newly-married woman. As
soon as the agreement and business transactions are settled, the
bridegroom proceeds, accompanied by all the young men in the village,
to the hut of his selected wife, who is delivered by the mother and
nearest relations, with some simple ceremonies, to the bridegroom;
and he now leads her with song, drums, and fifes, into his own hut,
where a feast is prepared for all his guests. In conclusion there
is a ball at which all assist, and thus the marriage festivities
terminate. In their family circles these negroes live very peaceably,
and if a case ever occur that a husband for any reason separate
from his wife, she goes back to her parents, keeps her marriage
portion, and takes every thing she has received from her husband
away with her.
Their agricultural pursuits are very profitable to them, and require
very little labour, as the soil is uncommonly fertile; hence their
occupations in the fields during the time of sowing and of the
harvest are terminated in an incredibly short space of time, and they
have nothing to do but to rake up the weeds with the _hasseiaseh_,
in the intermediate space between the two former seasons. After the
first fall of rain they hasten to the fields and plant the dockn;
this is done in the same manner as in Kordofan, and will be explained
hereafter in the twelfth chapter. Tobacco is largely cultivated,
for they are inordinately addicted to smoking. When the plant has
arrived at its full growth the leaves are gathered and dried, and
after having been subjected to a process of damping, are formed
into the shape of a cake. When the negroes are about to smoke they
break off a piece of the size required, rub it to powder between
their hands, and fill their pipes. Their tobacco is very potent,
so that an European is, in fact, obliged to soak it in water for
twenty-four hours before he can use it to render it more mild; and
even then he will find it too acrid, and it almost amounts to an
impossibility to smoke two of their short pipes successively. They
barter away this product. The whole of their husbandry is comprised
in the cultivation of these two articles, and in the interval between
the sowing season and the harvest their occupation consists merely
in rearing cattle, in hunting, and throwing spears.
The business attended with the greatest trouble to them is the
collection of honey, for though they are in a state of nudity
and totally uncovered, they use no means of defence against the
sting of the angry bees. In taking a hive, therefore, they must
endeavour to drive the bees away as far as this is practicable
with branches of trees, before they can get at their produce; but
notwithstanding these and other precautionary measures, the little
animals, infuriated at the invasion of their peaceful dwellings,
generally beset the uninvited guest in swarms, and vent the whole
force of their anger on him; the intruder has no alternative but to
throw himself on the ground and writhe in the sand, but the effects
of the punishment inflicted are always severely felt for several
hours afterwards.
The military exercise of the Nubas consists chiefly in throwing
spears, and covering the body with the shield in defence. For this
practice they make use of the stalks of the dockn, which they throw
at each other with much accuracy, seldom or never missing their aim;
but they are, on the other hand, so well versed in the use of their
shields that they generally ward off the missile and receive the
blow on it, or rolling themselves almost into the form of a ball,
cover the whole body with their shields. Their attacks are always
attended with a frightful noise, augmented by the shrieks of
the women in the back ground, and follow with such rapidity that
the party attacked has but little time for consideration, or for
placing himself on his guard. If the first shock, however, be well
sustained, and a bold front be offered, they retreat as rapidly as
they advanced, and do not so soon again venture on a second charge,
but confine themselves to skirmishing. Their battles amongst each
other are always terrific, nor do they terminate until the one
or other party is brought to subjection, whereupon the prisoners
are all sold as slaves. But these Nuba negroes have, in addition
to their own tribes, two classes of far more dreaded enemies,
namely, the Turks and the Bakkara; the former take them away by
force as slaves, and the latter by stratagem; they are, therefore,
continually prepared for an attack, and keep up their watchfires
all night long, to avoid being thrown into confusion during darkness.
Their fires even are frequently a source of annoyance and trouble
to them, for as they possess no means of generating this element,
they must be very careful never to allow it to go out. In cases of
this disastrous occurrence, or when engaged in hunting, or in other
occupations, at a great distance from their villages, they resort to
the following primitive method for striking a light. They take two
dry pieces of wood, in the one of which they cut a hole with a knife,
or sharp-pointed stone, barely large enough to admit the other; they
then lay the former on the ground, holding it firmly in that position
with their feet, fit the second piece into the perforation, and rub
the two together with extraordinary rapidity, throwing a few grains
of sand occasionally into the hole to augment the friction. This
is a labour demanding great exertion, and two persons are always
necessary for its performance. A handfull of dry grass, or an old
piece of cotton rag, is placed beneath the wood to catch the sparks,
and glows as soon as the wood is converted into coal. Dried grass
and sticks are now added, when the combustible materials are fanned
into a living flame. In Kordofan the same custom prevails. If all the
fires be extinguished in a small village during the rainy season,
the inhabitants are indeed put to the greatest embarrassment,
especially where the distance to the nearest village is great,
because all the grass and wood is then very wet. A Shilluk told
me that in his village, which was situated at a distance of ten
hours’ march from any other inhabited spot, they were once not
able to produce a fire during twenty days. The inhabitants had made
frequent attempts to transport a burning branch from the nearest
locality, and had lighted more than fifty fires in the intervening
space, in order to bring it gradually into their own village;
but the showers had, on four different occasions, frustrated their
endeavours when they were on the point of succeeding. Soft wood is
useless for procuring a light, and there was no hard wood in that
neighbourhood. I was myself once put to a very great inconvenience
whilst at Lobeid for want of a flint, for there was not one to be
purchased in the bazaar at any price; my servant, however, soon
invented a remedy: he went up to a soldier, a Shilluk of course,
and bought the flint of his musket, which he unscrewed whilst on
duty, and delivered at the high price of four-pence halfpenny.
The dominions of Takele are situated at a distance of about five
days’ journey to the south-east of Kordofan; they are governed by a
sultan, who is an absolute monarch, and has his residence at Tassin.
This sultan, and the greater part of his subjects, are of the
Mahommedan persuasion. In former times, when Kordofan and all
these realms were subject to Darfour, Takele paid tribute to that
government, and even after Mehemed Ali had taken possession of
Kordofan, sword in hand, the fine was annually paid, it being taken
for granted that the conquerors should enjoy the same rights as the
former administration. But when the Turks, not contented with the
tribute, subsequently sought to put their golden rule of raising
the taxation into practice, looking upon everything in the country
as their own property, the Sultan of Takele refused to submit,
and opposed their claims in person with an armed force. Mehemed
Ali undertook three ineffective campaigns against this country, and
was at last obliged to give up the project, after having lost more
than half of the forces employed in the expedition. Takele possesses
many irregular troops, which proved very galling to the Egyptians;
for they always took the unsuspecting Turks by surprise, and, after
having put them to the rout, fled again into their hills, where the
former dare not venture to pursue them. The commander-in-chief of
the Egyptian forces revenged himself by destroying all the crops
which happened to be standing at the time, by fire, and thus the
war terminated; for when the Turks saw that nothing was to be gained
by plunder they retreated, and no attack has since that period been
made upon Takele.
The Djelabi, from Lobeid and Bara, are allowed to carry on their
trade with the country without interruption, as are also those
of Takele with Kordofan; for several Dongolavi from Kordofan have
settled in this country, as it affords them many advantages. Takele
is hilly in its whole extent, and is said to be traversed by a
chain of mountains, two full days’ journey in length, considered
there as one hill. The natives of Takele, in forming an estimate
of the magnitude of their dominions, generally reckon by the
number of hills which are inhabited; thus they say that Takele has
ninety-nine inhabited hills, and that the Nubas have one hill more,
and reckon one hundred; hence we may conclude that Nuba is larger
than Takele. These numerals, however, must not be taken literally,
for they denote every large number, if it exceed thirty, by the term
ninety-nine; and say (_e. g._), instead of forty or eighty sheep,
ninety-nine heads of cattle. I have myself met with negroes from
distant parts, whose whole knowledge of arithmetic was limited to
“five,” named after the five fingers; thus the thumb was one,
the forefinger two, the middle-finger three, and so forth. A question
put to men of this limited knowledge, entailing a definite number,
is an affair attended with great difficulty, and it is indeed
impossible to obtain a satisfactory answer.
The natives of this country are far more industrious than those of
Kordofan, and pay much greater attention to agriculture, and the
cultivation of cotton, than their neighbours; they also manufacture
the cotton themselves into stuffs, and produce other articles of
commerce. They have few, but very beautiful horses; and a man must
be a bold as well as an excellent rider to keep his seat on these
spirited animals, which the natives prize very highly, for they will
not readily part with them. In fact, an opportunity only offers
itself of purchasing one of their horses when, in a depredatory
invasion by the Bakkara, or in a conflict with their neighbours,
a man of Takele has been killed, and his horse becomes the booty
of the conqueror. I believe that the pedigree of these horses must
be sought in Darfour. These negroes hunt elephants, and carry on a
trade in ivory with Kordofan. In those parts of the country where
there are no horses the elephants are caught in pits, but where the
inhabitants possess horses the following plan is pursued:—Two men,
mounted on horseback, go hunting together, and generally pick out
a full-sized elephant, because the larger animals prove the more
profitable. When they have discovered an elephant, one man rides
at a distance of about a hundred paces in front of him, so that
he keeps in full view of the beast. The other rider approaches to
within a hundred paces of the animal from behind, dismounts from his
horse,—for he is sure that it will stand quietly,—stealthily
approaches it from the rear, and with one cut with a sharp sabre,
severs the back sinews of its heel-joint. Infuriated to the utmost
by the violent pain, and seeing the rider before it, the animal
rushes instantly in pursuit of him, whilst the man who inflicted
the wound gains time to vault upon his horse, and make off. The
elephant cannot follow the rider far, partly because the latter has
the advantage of a start,—and the horse is, moreover, fleeter
than the elephant,—partly because he is, in a certain measure,
lamed; thus he ultimately treads off his foot, and sinks exhausted
with the loss of blood, an easy prey to the huntsman.
As fire-arms are not yet known in this country, the natives slay
lions in the following manner:—They trace out the lair where
one of these animals generally takes its noonday repose; but the
nature of the ground must be such, that the tree under which it
sleeps is isolated, or at least somewhat distant from the other
trees. If the ground be advantageous, the negro betakes himself
to the scene of action four hours before mid-day, and climbs the
tree opposite to that under which the animal takes its nap. During
this time he knows the lion to be out in search of prey, and is
sure that he will return to indulge in his siesta when the heat
increases, between ten and eleven o’clock. The lion does not
trouble himself about the business of the man on the tree, even if
he should happen to see him; and his adversary remains perfectly
quiet till between twelve and one. The huntsman is furnished with a
sackfull of small stones, and a few sharp spears. When the sand on
the ground is burning hot, so that animals even cannot walk about,
the hunter begins to pelt the lion with stones, always aiming at
his head, and the negroes are very expert marksmen. The proud king
of the beasts utterly disregards the first three or four stones,
and does not consider it even worth his while to rise; but the
blows upon his head thickening, and being, perhaps, hit in the eye,
the audacity appears too great to be borne with patience, and he
sets up a frightful roar as a signal of revenge. With one leap he
is at the foot of the tree on which the disturber of his rest is
perched, but receives a lance in his body; his roar now becomes
more terrific, not that the wound is so irritating to him at this
moment as the burning sand painful to his feet, and he retires
once more to his lair. Another stone hits him, he becomes furious,
makes a second charge at the tree, and is welcomed by one, two, or
more spears. He now takes to flight, yelling and howling with pain;
but the loss of blood soon exhausts his strength, and the huntsman,
who keeps him in sight from the tree, has, in a very short time, the
pleasure of seeing the royal beast stretch its carcase on the plains.
The inhabitants of Takele are a well made race of men, and all
those I met with were of very pleasing countenance. Their dress is
like that of the other negroes, the more opulent only wearing white
and blue shirts. Their habits and customs are said to be the same
as those among the Nuba, some few Mahommedans merely forming the
exception. The sultan is reported to be an exceedingly good man,
and all those who have the honour of his acquaintance speak highly
in his favour; he is, indeed, almost adored by his subjects, none
of which approach him, otherwise than kneeling, and murmuring a
prayer into their hands, nor do they venture to rise, or to sit
down, before the sultan has given them permission. The divan,
in which he holds his audience, is a large saloon built of stone,
decorated with swords, spears, and other warlike trophies, eighteen,
or twenty, of his body-guard are always present, they sit, armed with
spears, cross-legged, in the centre of the saloon, and form a kind
of living fence. The sultan proceeds every morning, with sunrise,
immediately after prayers, into the divan, hears all causes himself,
and issues his decision immediately. He is fond of hunting, and of
his women, three hundred of which he is said to keep in his harem,
a stone building, situate on the summit of a rock at Tassin, very
difficult of access, which has, moreover, only one approach. The
brother of the Sultan of Takele, whom a Djelabi of my acquaintance
brought to my house at Lobeid, wore merely a blue shirt, and sandals,
and not even a Táckeyeéh[47] on his head.
It was formerly my intention to undertake a journey into Takele,
as no European has ever yet set foot into that country. This was the
chief reason why I sought the acquaintance of the Prince of Takele,
who came every year to Lobeid. He visited me daily during his sojourn
in the capital, gave me every information respecting his country, and
assured me that his brother, the sultan, would with pleasure receive
me in his states, where I should have nothing to fear, as it was his
most ardent wish to make the acquaintance of a Frank. The governor,
and Turkish officers, however, dissuaded me from my project, assuring
me that I should be exposed to all manner of dangers, as the Turks
are hated in Takele, and every white man, without distinction,
is considered an Osmanlee. Hence, I was necessitated to relinquish
my plan, and to confine myself to the information I received from
this prince, and the Djelabis, who had travelled in the country. I
have since, however, convinced myself that these apprehensions,
created by the officiousness of others, were totally unfounded,
and that an European might visit Takele without any danger, through
the intermediation of the brother of the sultan, or a Djelabi,
by merely previously forwarding, through one of the opportunities
named, a small present to the sultan, who would then send an escort
to the borders, under which the journey might be continued with
safety. Above all things, however, it would be necessary to make
the acquaintance of one or the other of the persons mentioned,
that they might become security that the traveller was a Frank,
and not a Turkish spy. The prince, above mentioned, assured me
that his brother was very anxious to receive an European visitor,
for the express object of learning something from him, and, more
especially, to receive instruction in tactics. This offer would
be very acceptable to many military men; for I am convinced that
the Sultan of Takele would treat an instructor of this description
very well, who would, moreover, have the opportunity of collecting
authentic information respecting the country, and, probably, also
concerning the neighbouring states. The prince, who very frequently
visited me, endeavoured to persuade me in every possible way to
travel with him to Takele; and I had already overcome all fears,
and was about to venture on the journey, when I was forced by
circumstances to alter my plans. I made the chief a present of a
tarboósh[48] some time before his departure, which he wore all the
time he passed at Lobeid; but on the day of his departure he brought
it back to me, begging me to keep it for him until he returned,
as he dare not wear it in Takele, because his brother, the sultan,
had none.
At the head of the irregular troops is a general, or seraskeer,
as the Turks call him, who is, indeed, chosen by the sultan, but
obliged to distinguish himself, in accordance with the custom of
the country, by some feat of bravery, to prove himself worthy of
the dignity of that office. This feat is generally an incursion
into one or the other of the neighbouring states, or some other
proof of personal valour and intrepidity. The ordeal, however,
does not always turn out to the advantage of the aspirant, for,
in the year 1838, the commander-in-chief of the troops of Takele,
who was already elected, fell a victim to his feat of heroism. He
crossed the borders with about a hundred men armed with spears, and
attacked the nearest Bakkara tribe, and was to put his heroism to
the test on a Mogghrebeen who happened to be present. The general,
armed with a broadsword, charged the Mogghrebeen on horseback,
waved his sabre in the air, and thought, with one single blow,
to put an end to the poor native of the desert; but the latter,
although on foot and armed merely with a pistol, cleverly avoided
the impending blow, and laid the valorous general prostrate with
a pistol-ball. The invading party, seeing their leader slain,
immediately took to flight, and the Bedouins became the possessors
of the horse and arms of the defunct general. A slight idea may
thus be formed of the state of the army of Takele.
Slaves are also exported from Takele, which these negroes capture in
the wars with their neighbours, but they themselves are, in their
turn, not spared, and suffer greatly, partly by the predatory
Bakkara, partly by their own countrymen, who devise all manner
of means to kidnap their children by force or stratagem, and to
sell them to the slave merchants. I myself met with a girl, in the
house of an European at Cairo, who had been stolen, together with
her younger sister, from the paternal roof, in a manner which must
cause the utmost astonishment at the subtlety and cunning of these
uncivilized children of nature. This story may also serve as a proof
of the manner in which these poor blacks are everywhere treated.
A slave, who had been stolen in Takele, bought by a Turk in Khartoom,
and liberated on the death of his master, as is frequently the case,
returned to his home. The sheikh of the place, a native of Abyssinia,
who had come to settle in those parts at an early age, and had
adopted the Mahommedan religion from love for a negro girl, received
this slave hospitably into his house, and completely provided
for him, for his parents were dead, and he had no other relations
living. He remained, during several months, in the sheikh’s house,
where he ingratiated himself, by his pleasing manners so much with
all the inhabitants, but more especially with the children, that
he was not treated like a stranger, but regarded as a member of
the family. One day he was left alone with the children at home,
the sheikh’s wife being called away to visit a sick friend in a
hut that was rather distant, while the sheikh himself was at work in
the fields. He amused the children, for some time, with a variety
of games, then left them for a short interval, and, on his return,
invited the eldest daughter, a girl of eleven years of age, and
her sister, who was rather younger, to accompany him to fetch their
mother. The children, not suspecting any harm, acceded, with delight,
to his proposition, and left the house in his company. He immediately
led them out of the village, pretending to show them a nearer way
to the hut of their mother’s friend. On the road, he endeavoured
to divert the attention of the girls, by relating stories, showing
them flowers, and plucking fruit for them, in order that they might
not observe that he was leading them on an unbeaten track. After
several hours, passed with many consolatory assurances, they arrived
in an open country, at a forest, where several men lay hidden among
the bushes, and were feeding their horses. The ungrateful villain
now again assured the children that he would soon conduct them to
their parent in the company of all these men, and gave them some
refreshments. When the night closed in, more horsemen arrived, and
they all immediately set out on their march. The robber took the
two girls on his horse, the youngest in front of him, and the eldest
behind, again protesting that he would very soon bring them to their
mother, who was already waiting for them. The whole night through
they rode in the forest and to prevent the girls, who, overcome with
fatigue, had fallen asleep, from slipping off his horse, he bound
them both with a rope to his body. The younger girl still believed
they were going to their home, but the elder began to scream and cry,
and complained bitterly that she knew they had both been stolen and
were to be sold as slaves. The barbarian now changed his conduct;
he beat the poor girls about the head and face, and threatened to
murder them, if they uttered another note. Thus they travelled on
during four nights, for by day these Bakkara robbers—such they
proved to be—were obliged to hide in the woods, or other desolate
places, to avoid being seen and attacked by the natives. At last they
reached an encampment of Egyptian troops. The kidnapper now led the
two girls to the commanding officer, and made him a present of them,
of course against a present of equal worth. The officer, moved to
pity by the tears of these two children, endeavoured to pacify them,
offered them refreshment, and asked them whence they came.
When they had told the Turk the name of their father and their place
of residence, and at the same time related the manner in which
this ungrateful wretch had stolen them from their paternal roof,
he became enraged, and ordered the robber a _bastinado_ of several
hundred stripes. He quieted the sobs of the children, and promised
to send them home again, and told them their father had arrived the
day before in the camp, but hastened back home again, to seek them
elsewhere, as he had not found them there. It so happened that the
Egyptian officer was a friend of their father’s, who had done him
a great service some few years before. He immediately summoned a
subaltern into his presence, and put the two girls under his care,
with orders to take them back to their father, and give him notice
of his arrival at the borders. The subordinate mounted a camel,
took charge of the girls, and delighted them with the assurance
that they should reach the borders of Takele in two days, and that
he would there find some safe opportunity of sending them to their
parent; but how were they deceived on their arrival at Khartoom,
after ten days, when they observed a town totally unknown to them,
and when this second robber showed himself in his true colours! He
hastened immediately to the blue Nile, and hired a boat for the
remainder of his journey to Cairo; but he was here arrested and
carried before the governor. On being questioned whence he came,
and by whose authority he was escorting these slaves, he pretended
to have received orders from the officer commanding the troops of
the borders to convey the girls to Cairo. The governor demanded
a proof in writing, but the corporal pretended to have lost his
passport. This circumstance, and the assertion of the twice-stolen
girls, corroborating the suspicion that he had kidnapped them,
and deserted from the ranks, he received the punishment he richly
deserved. The girls were now given in charge to a sergeant’s wife,
and told they should be sent with the next transport back to their
father’s friend, the commanding officer of the Egyptian troops on
the borders, who would then see them forwarded to their parents;
but this good fortune was not their fate. The sergeant, to whose
care they were intrusted, happened to meet a Djelabi one evening in a
certain house, he waked the girls out of their sleep at night, told
them to prepare for their journey home, and led them to the banks
of the blue Nile, where they were ferried across, and immediately
mounted on a camel standing in readiness to receive them. Early
the next day they were delivered over to a second slave-merchant,
who sold them to a Turk at Cairo, of whom the European, at whose
house I met the elder girl, had bought her. Thus we see, that a
hard fate attends these poor blacks everywhere, and that slavery,
without the possibility of escape, is almost their certain lot.
CHAPTER X.
RELIGION.
The greater part of the natives of Kordofan profess Islamism, but
they are less fanatic than other Mahommedans, probably arising from
the fact, that few Christians and no Jews are to be met with in these
southern parts, hence there is no cause for religious asperity or
hatred. I found, however, as a rule that, with the exception of the
Dongolavi, but few adhere strictly to the Koran, and their ideas on
articles of faith are quite in their infancy; nor do they trouble
themselves much with the various religious ceremonies, and live in
a state of utter ignorance, with the exception of believing in one
God, and sometimes calling upon their prophet for assistance. There
are very few Mosques in the country, and these are only frequented
by the Turks and Dongolavi, who are resident there. Thus the
Koran is not very strictly followed, but every one lives after
that natural species of religion which has been impressed upon
his mind, through the medium of his senses of sight, and hearing,
under the paternal roof. Hence all manner of heterogeneous opinions
and ideas are mixed-up with their faith. They believe in one God,
and in addition to him in an evil spirit, and a great deal of
heathen superstition is, moreover, jumbled together with their
Islamism. A prominent cause of this ignorance is the negligence
of the government, which does not institute a sufficient number of
schools, for very few of them are to be found among the majority of
the tribes. Only a small portion of the natives can read and write,
with the exception of the Fakeérs and Tekirs. It is the office
of these men to study the Koran, and to communicate what they have
read to the people. The former are the school-masters and religious
instructers: they write a few sentences from the Koran on a board,
and make their scholars copy them. When they have learnt thus much,
they are considered sufficiently instructed, leave the school, and
before a year is over have forgotten everything again. They also
write amulets, with which they frequently deceive the people in the
most shameful manner. They ingratiate themselves further into the
favour of families, like the clergy of Italy, and when they have once
gained a footing, worm out the most trivial secrets, interfere with
all the domestic affairs, and have frequently more authority in the
house than the master himself. Matches are concocted by them, and,
in fact, nothing is undertaken without their advice. The functions of
a Fakeér would appear to be hereditary, for they descend generally
from father to son, and are not so easily transferred from one family
to another. They also make vows, for example, not to smoke for the
remainder of their lives, to abstain from merissa and coffee, each
man choosing the hardship he likes best; in short, they are the same
as the Derweéshes among the Turks, but with this wide difference,
that they are looked upon as saints. I found the greatest number of
Fakeérs among the Dongolavi, who are also the most rigid observers
of the Mahommedan religion, with one single exception, that they
are very fond of brandy. They do not follow agricultural pursuits,
but are merchants, brokers, &c. They are said, as a rule, to be
all capable of reading and writing, and wear a long string of large
wooden beads round their necks. The majority of them are hypocrites,
and indeed it is better to avoid them altogether.
The Mahommedan negroes all live in a state of the most abject
ignorance. Not many Fakeérs are to be met with among them, and, with
the exception of circumcision, they bear in fact very few signs of
belonging to the Mahommedan religion. They have some peculiar ideas
of their own on matters of faith, for example, on the creation of
the world, and mix up a great deal of superstition with the Koran,
with which they are altogether but very little acquainted. Thus
an old negro explained to me why God Almighty allowed white men,
dark-coloured, and black men, to live together in this world. When,
namely, our first parents were driven out of Paradise after
committing the original sin, the Lord came down from heaven every
day to see his orders strictly obeyed, and to convince himself that
they gained their daily bread with the sweat of their brow. Eve,
or as the negroes call our first mother, _Hauve_, bore daily many
hundred children, which she was obliged to shew to the _Abou_,
(God the Father) who sent them into all parts of the world there
to multiply. It happened once that _Hauve_ brought several hundred
children into the world of a darker colour. When _Abou_ came and
saw these, he reproached _Hauve_, and said he would not have any
more of these dark babes, took them immediately away from her, and
transplanted them into the present Abyssinia. Shortly after this,
_Hauve_ brought forth another lot of similar children, which for fear
of the _Abou_, she locked in an oven to secrete them; but _Abou_,
on his arrival, had a suspicion of what had transpired, and as he
did not receive a satisfactory answer from _Hauve_ respecting the
last children, hunted for them everywhere, and found them eventually
in the oven. When they crept out of their place of confinement,
they were all quite black with the soot. _Abou_ in his wrath at this
second offence on the part of _Hauve_, again took away her children,
and swore that they should, in commemoration of their mother’s
crime, remain for ever as black as when they emerged from the oven,
and that nothing in the world should be capable of wiping off the
stain. These children now became the original parents of the negroes.
The Mahommedan negroes are altogether fond of clothing their religion
in a traditionary garb, and of adulterating it with absurdities,
which remain then so strongly impressed upon their minds, that it is
almost impossible to eradicate the false notions and instruct them
differently. They believe firmly in metempsychosis, and accord to
apes the honour of being animated by those human souls which, for
the commission of some crime during life, must suffer punishment
after death in the shape of monkeys. They never in any way injure
these animals, and take care that they do not suffer from want
of food. If they see any person ill-treating one of them, they
become very wrath, and an old negro once reproached me severely for
punishing my monkey for some offence of which it had been guilty,
for, added he: “Why dost thou beat thy monkey? May it not be
thy grandfather, whose soul is incorporated in this animal after
death?” Elephants and parrots share the same honour with apes;
and they contend that the former more especially could not act so
sensibly as they do, unless a human soul dwelt within their body.
Those sheikhs or saints, so common in Egypt, where they are
regarded as holy, and, as it were, adored, but who are virtually
idiots or cunning impostors, are not tolerated in Kordofan. On the
contrary, unfortunate beings really neglected by nature are not
indeed ill-treated, but kept as secluded as they possibly can be
in their own families, who take care that they do not so readily
come in contact with strangers. I only know of two instances in the
whole province of Kordofan of those saints above-mentioned (Sheikhs)
being worshipped, as they so frequently are, by the Moslems, both
before and after death. The one of these died several years ago,
and the people from the most distant parts, at the present time
undertake pilgrimages to his grave, situated at a distance of two
hours’ march from Lobeid. They there make vows to do certain
things if the saint will grant them their request. The offerings
brought to his grave consist of sheep, corn, &c.; the former are
slaughtered on Mondays and Thursdays, and distributed among the
blind beggars who assemble on these days, at the tomb. The person
bringing the sacrifice now offers up a short prayer, and thus the
vow is completed.
The second Sheikh, who is yet living at Lobeid, is named Beduy: he
is a pious man and anything but a hypocrite, hence he is beloved and
enjoys the good opinion of all men. He settles disputes, and gives
friendly advice to all who come to ask for it, knows no partiality,
and in no instance receives a present. He lives very simply, his
food consisting of nothing but _Garat_,[49] which he has ground to
flour, and made into bread. He only eats meat once a year. I have
visited him on various occasions, conversed with him on a variety
of topics, and have had the opportunity of convincing myself that
he is possessed of good sound sense, and has correct ideas on
most subjects. As far as his religion is concerned, he is a rigid
Mahommedan, and defends his opinions and articles of faith with the
greatest zeal; but I never heard him speak with contempt of the
Christian or of any other religion, as the Derweeshes frequently
do; he merely pities those who are not as fortunate as himself
in belonging to the true faith. In short, he is a Mahommedan
missionary. He has made thousands of proselytes among the heathen
negroes, for he strolls about during the greater part of the year in
the mountains, endeavouring to disseminate el Islam. He also defends
his faith according to the letter of the Koran, sword in hand, and
has even lost a son in the fight for the good cause. The Fakeérs
are very much afraid of him, and take great care not to play their
pranks in his vicinity; he also feels a thorough contempt for them.
It is high time for the Missionary Societies of Europe to direct
their attention to this part of Africa; if they delay much longer it
will be too late, for when the negroes have once adopted the Koran,
no power on earth can induce them to change their opinions. I
have heard through several authentic sources that there are but
few provinces in the interior of Africa where Mahommedanism has
not already begun to gain a footing. The Djelabi are the people
who have taken the conversion of the negroes on themselves, and
have met with partial success; I must, however, observe, that if
the propaganda, or protestant missionary societies, should decide
upon sending missionaries into the country, they ought not to settle
where the Koran predominates, for all their trouble would be wasted,
and all their money spent in vain. Sennaar and Kordofan, are not
fit provinces for this purpose, even if they intended to convert
negroes from distant countries, who may be there bought for a trifle,
and to send them back into their own country; for the converse with
Mahommedans, and the acquirement of the Arabic language, would be
sufficient causes of themselves to frustrate their endeavours. Nuba,
Kodero, Shilluk, Runga, Kulla, &c.; these are the countries where
something might yet be done, but “if it were done, when ’tis
done, then ’twere well, it were done quickly,” or these, and
many other states, will be lost to Christianity.
CHAPTER XI.
DISEASES.
In all my travels I never met with any country where the climate
is so unhealthy, and where there is such a variety of disease as in
Kordofan. Every one in the province, natives and strangers, more or
less succumb to this scourge, but the Europeans are the first who
fall victims. Two thirds of the white men who visit these regions
may be with certainty regarded as sacrificed. The Turks and Egyptians
ordered there in Mehemed Ali’s service, dwindle down perceptibly,
and must be continually replaced by fresh supplies. Of the sixteen
European medical men and apothecaries employed in Kordofan, within
the space of seventeen years seven have died, and of eight Englishmen
sent into this province to work iron mines, six perished in less
than two months, and the remaining two only escaped with their
lives by making a rapid flight from this unhealthy district. Captain
Woodfall, an Englishman, who visited this country in the year 1831,
fell a victim to the climate.
All diseases show themselves with redoubled vigour during the rainy
season; no house, no hovel is then free from sick, and the whole
of Kordofan may be regarded as one large hospital. The total want
of European medical men who are only to be found attached to the
army at Lobeid—during my residence in this town, there were none
at all there, for the only one I met with very soon died—is a
circumstance deeply to be regretted; and it has generally happened
that those sent into the province have paid their tribute to the
climate, or were soon thus far disabled that they could be of no
assistance to other sufferers. There is, indeed, no lack of native
doctors, but it may be easily imagined to what system of treatment a
patient is subjected under their hands. Add to this the favourite,
_“Allah kerim”_ (as God will) of the Mahommedans, and we may
readily understand the reason why they never resort to means for
suppressing a slight indisposition until it increases to a frightful
disease. Before parents offer their children relief in sickness, or
before the children attend to their parents, they consult Fakéers
and writers of amulets, and the like fanatics and fortune-tellers,
and their advice must have proved useless.
The chief diseases are fevers, dysentery, abscesses about the neck
(named _durore_), dropsy, small-pox, jiggers, skin diseases, and
lues. Every resident in the country is attacked with fever, and all
precautionary measures to avert the evil, such as a regular life,
etc., are generally speaking futile. I found, on the contrary,
that those persons who indulged in ardent liquors, such as brandy,
merissa, or bill-bill, remained far more free from fever and
dysentery, than those who endeavoured to escape these complaints
by the observance of rigid diet, and other prophylactic means;
for the latter were not only sooner attacked, but sooner fell
victims to these scourges. I myself observed this mode of life;
but, unfortunately, experienced the contrary to what I might have
expected, under similar circumstances, in Europe, or in any more
healthy climate; for, out of the eleven months of my residence in
this country, there were but few weeks during which I could consider
myself free from fever and dysentery. All the drugs, with which I had
provided myself for my journey, proved of no avail, until I followed
the advice of several old people, and drank brandy and merissa,
in moderation, when both diseases left me. The chief causes of the
two maladies named, are the sudden changes of temperature, and,
more especially, the use of water. The greater part of the water
is putrescent, much of it is filled with animalculæ, if it be
not previously boiled; and unfortunately for the adoption of this
precaution the opportunity is not always at hand; in this case it
should be mixed with brandy. Where these rules are not observed,
fever, or dysentery, are sure to be the infallible consequence.
The methods of treatment, customary among the natives of Kordofan,
are various, and consist in the employment of the common domestic
quack-remedies of Europe, in addition to the above-mentioned
superstitious aids. Thus, those attacked with fever, after the
amulets and other mystic charms have proved useless, drink, for
three or four days, a cup containing about a pound of melted butter
daily, or a large quantity of milk, in which sandal-wood has been
steeped during twenty-four hours. Both these remedies produce a
powerful alterative effect, and I saw several persons cured of
fever by them. For allaying dysentery, they make use of sour milk,
in which _dabaldia_, the fruit of a tree, causing constipation, has
been steeped over night. The same fruit, taken in small quantities,
acts as a gentle purgative; but these modes of treatment are only
adapted to the natives, and always prove fatal to Europeans. For
dropsy they know of no remedy, and persons attacked with this
disease die, with but few exceptions.
As soon as the jiggers show themselves, the part inflamed is
burnt with a red-hot iron, and a small opening made, when the
worm immediately presents itself. The treatment is now the same
as that of tapeworm: thus the natives seize the portion of the
animal protruding through the opening, wind it carefully round a
small piece of wood, and proceed in this manner until they have
gradually extracted the whole. If it tear before it is entirely
eradicated, the disease is reproduced. When attacked with small-pox,
the natives rub their whole body with earth, or roll in the sand,
until the pustules are broken, and the entire surface is covered
with an incrustation, which they allow to remain adherent until the
period of desiccation. A negro, who has suffered from small-pox,
presents a very ridiculous appearance when the scabs fall off, for
his body is speckled with white spots, which gradually become red,
but resume, subsequently, the original black colour,—he is, in
fact, for the time being, pie-bald. They suffer greatly with this
disease, for they cannot keep themselves warm for want of clothing,
or other covering, and are thus put to inconceivable torture. A great
number of natives fall victims to this complaint, but the majority
are cured. The form of disease presenting itself with abscesses
about the neck, named durore, is indigenous to the country, and
frequently shews itself during the rainy season; it is said by the
natives to originate in colds. In the treatment of this affection,
they open the abscesses with the potential cautery, and when the
matter is discharged, dress the wound with an ointment prepared of
butter and clay. Syphilis was totally unknown in these regions during
the preceding century, and the natives have only been inoculated
within recent years, through the intermediation of the Egyptian
troops quartered in the province. It may be easily imagined what
ravages this disease commits, as these simple people, unacquainted
with its nature, frequently neglect it for a considerable time. They
are certainly at present rather more enlightened on the subject, and
resort to a few remedies, which, however, prove of slight avail, and,
during the rainy season more especially, all endeavours to arrest
its progress are in vain. The disorder assumes a very obstinate
character in this country; for though cured in the dry season,
it generally presents itself again at the period of the rain,—a
circumstance very easily explained, if we consider that the cure,
what with their inacquaintance with the nature of the disease, and
defective treatment, is generally palliative, or temporary, and never
radical; hence many of these patients remain cripples for life. They
mostly employ in the treatment an earth, named traiba,[50] which has
a purgative action. The lavements are administered in the following
manner:—They take the thighbone of a fowl, and clearing away the
marrow, fasten it to a portion of the intestines of a sheep, into
which they pour a decoction of garra,[51] and then insert the pipe
into the anus, compressing the gut until the whole of the contents
pass into the abdomen. If to the want of medical men, and scarcity
of remedies, we add the state of uncleanliness in which these people
live, we may form some slight idea of the sufferings they endure
in sickness. It is, in fact, impossible to form a conception of the
misery to be met with in their hovels, which are sometimes crowded
with patients; nursing and all attention is out of the question;
every man is left to himself, hence many of course perish, who, with
but slight care, might easily have been saved, but—Allah Kerim!
There are no prophylactics against all these diseases, and I know
of no better advice to give to Europeans travelling in this country
than to caution them against drinking new milk or water; the latter
they should always boil, and ought moreover to be careful to keep
themselves, and more especially their feet, warm during the rainy
season; they should further use a large quantity of pepper with
their food, and rather eat too little than too much. In cases of
dysentery, for which rice and gum-water are generally prescribed in
Egypt, the traveller should by all means avoid these same remedies,
for he would only debilitate his digestive organs the more. For
my own part I resorted latterly to the shells of the pomegranate
steeped for a few hours in cold water, and found this remedy very
successful. It is quite a mistake to imagine the use of spirituous
liquors pernicious in tropical climates, for I convinced myself,
but unfortunately too late, of the contrary. On my own personal
experience I can assert that a moderate quantity of brandy (in defect
of wine) or Merissa taken daily is an excellent prophylactic. All
those natives, moreover, who possess the means of procuring it,
enjoy health, and are not so easily attacked with fever or dysentery;
it will of course be understood that every excess is hurtful.
CHAPTER XII.
THE TROOPS.
The military force stationed in Kordofan consists of three battalions
of the first regiment of the line, each battalion being composed of
1000 men, further of 800 Bedouin horsemen, called also Mogghrebeen,
and of about 40 artillery men to serve the few guns employed in
the slave-hunting expeditions; to this number about 200 men of
the irregular Turkish cavalry were added, in the commencement
of the year 1839. The latter troops were removed from Dongola
to Kordofan, but for an indefinite time only; they were, indeed,
expecting orders shortly to return to their former quarters. The
staff is stationed at Lobeid, and the colonel of the regiment (the
Bey) whom we have before mentioned, is both civil and military
governor of the province. Two companies of the same regiment are
quartered in Sennaar. This regiment was originally the first which
Mehemed Ali formed of Negroes at Assuan in Egypt, and placed on
European footing; hundreds of Egyptians have, at various times,
been drafted into this corps, but they mostly fell victims to the
climate, or perished after a few years’ service in the razzias
or slave-hunts. The entire garrison consists of blacks: it is, in
fact, indispensably necessary that it should be so; for the white
men cannot accommodate themselves to the climate. Among all Mehemed
Ali’s troops, numbers of which I have seen in various parts of his
dominions, I never met with a regiment so wretchedly equipped, so
badly drilled, and so utterly deficient in discipline as the one in
question. The soldiers wear only a white cotton uniform, and it would
be injudicious indeed to clad them in cloth in this hot climate;
but when we come to consider that the negroes, by nature not over
addicted to cleanliness, do not trouble themselves with washing,
and are not even provided for this purpose with soap, an expense
they feel no inclination to defray from their own purses, and add to
this that they are in the habit of anointing their bodies frequently
with butter as a means for preserving their health, a pretty correct
idea of a trooper of Kordofan may be formed. On meeting one of these
foot-soldiers without his accoutrements a stranger is really at a
loss how to classify him, and before he has thoroughly accustomed
himself to the sight he would rather take him for a scarecrow than
a soldier.[52] The accoutrements, like the regimentals, are not in
the very best state; while the drill sergeants are as ignorant as
the recruits, and quite inadequate to their task, with the exception
that the latter have no conception of fire-arms; thus muskets may
be seen on which Time has set his tooth in the literal sense, so
weak in the barrel, not with over cleaning, but with over rust,
that they would never stand a charge. Instead of a flint a piece
of wood is frequently screwed into the lock, the soldier finding
it far more judicious to sell the former to enable him to buy a
little tobacco. To prevent desertion as far as it is possible,
the government encourages the soldiers in marrying; they do not
then live in barrack, but in separate huts of their own without
the precincts. It must not, however, be imagined that there are
barracks in Kordofan like those in Europe, or even in Egypt. Those
at Lobeid consist of about fifty detached huts built irregularly,
but surrounded with a fence of thorn; in the latter an aperture is
left, guarded with the branch of a tree, which forms the gate. The
interior arrangements correspond with the external appearance; beside
the angarebs and the knapsacks of the men, there is not a single
article of barrack furniture to be seen. There are three infantry
barracks of this description in Lobeid. When the men mount guard,
the women accompany them, or, if they happen to be unmarried, some
of their comrades follow, carrying the straw mats and pipes of the
detachment; for it is the first maxim among them to make their visit
to the guard-room as pleasant and comfortable as possible. This rule
extends even to the very sentry, who makes his duties as easy as he
possibly can; he does not stand sentry, but sits down whilst on duty,
and that the musket may not inconvenience him by its weight during
this important time, he lays it down at a few paces distance. If
an officer happen to pass by, the occurrence by no means disturbs
his equanimity; the sentinel at the most rises, but shouldering or
presenting arms is a mark of respect never heard of. In relieving
guard they do not wait for orders or other arrangements, but as
soon as the fresh detachment arrives, and the various posts have
been relieved, every man walks quietly home with his straw mat and
pipe under one arm, and his musket on the other, leaving it to his
superior officers to manage every thing else.
Their drill and exercise is at the same low ebb as their garrison
and field service. The recruits are drilled during a few weeks only;
they are quick of conception, and with the exception of the Shilluks,
very soon learn, but they as readily again forget what they have
acquired, for they do not consider it worth their while to keep
themselves in practice by repeated exercise. The drill is generally
performed singly, they very seldom exercise in large detachments,
and scarcely ever in companies. It is, therefore, not astonishing,
that a battalion cannot execute the most simple movement with
precision. I have seen the commanding-officer on a field-day not even
able to bring his battalion to form a square; he had, in fact, to
take each separate man by the arm, and lead him to the place where
the square was to be formed, and yet this is the only manœuvre
to which they are obliged to pay attention, because frequently put
in practice in skirmishes, in warfare with their neighbours, or on
those barbarous expeditions of slave-hunting. The intention of this
_quarré_ is to place the troops in readiness to receive their enemy,
who always attacks suddenly, sword in hand, because it was found by
experience that single detachments sent in advance were literally
cut up, notwithstanding the advantage Mehemed Ali’s regular troops
enjoy in the possession of fire-arms. According to the present
system, when an attack is expected, the troops form a quarré,
and prepare to receive cavalry; sometimes the square is hollow,
and all non-combatants, ammunition, and baggage, and frequently
also the cavalry, are enclosed within its precincts. When the first
shock has been sustained, and the enemy retreats in disorder, they
deploy and pursue. The nature of the attack of the negroes has
therefore induced the officers to have this manœuvre principally
practised. Of other movements, such as advancing in column, marching
in sections, wheeling to the right or left, forming detachments,
defiling, or other necessary manœuvres, be they ever so simple,
these soldiers have no conception, and should it ever enter the
head of the inspector at a review to order one of them, it is
executed with so much confusion, that the officer commanding
has the greatest trouble in re-forming his battalion from the
confused chaos. It is incredible how soon they forget every thing,
for this regiment formerly had an excellent French preceptor,
as lately even as the middle of the year 1837, at which period
he was obliged to leave the country on account of ill health. The
troops learn to shoot well; it is not, however, to be wondered at,
considering the wretched state of their muskets, if the best shot
frequently miss his aim. Ball practice, so essential a branch of
service, is but rarely resorted to, and in this country, indeed,
the soldier is treated more like a policeman than a military man,
for his services are required for enforcing the payment of taxes,
the arrest of prisoners, and for other duties generally devolving
upon the constabulary.
It would, moreover, prove a very dangerous experiment to trouble the
troops much with exercising and other matters of duty, and would be
attended with an incurrence of the very worst of hazards. An officer
dare not even venture to enforce his orders with the common rigidity
of discipline; they would not only not be obeyed, but the officer
offending in this manner must expect the worst. With kindness
every thing may be effected with these semi-barbarians, whilst
with harshness nothing is to be done; and to obtain obedience to an
order in which their services are required, it is necessary either
to rouse their ambition, or to persuade them by soft words. There
is, therefore, a wide difference between these negro soldiers
and the Egyptian troops. The latter, accustomed from infancy to
be driven with a stick to their duties, cringe before an officer,
like a worm upon the ground, in presentiment of the punishment they
are to undergo; whereas the negro who has been reared in liberty
boldly faces his superior, whilst awaiting his command. When he
has received his orders, provided his sense of dignity or freedom
be not impeached, the officer may rely upon their being punctually
executed. But woe betide the _martinet_ who should venture to force
a soldier by harsh words or ill-treatment to the performance of his
duty! His life would be endangered from that moment, and a revolt
amongst the whole troops might prove of the most serious consequence,
as has already been the case. The Turkish officers are well aware
of this, and are very careful not to say or do anything that might
irritate the negro soldiers.
The pay is the same as that of all other Egyptian troops, namely,
twenty paras (two-pence) per diem, and a ration consisting of bread,
meat, and butter in abundance; but for their actual pay they have
to wait frequently a whole twelvemonth, and their arrears are then
liquidated with slaves or camels.
It frequently happens on these occasions that a son receives his
father or his brother instead of payment. It might be imagined that
this would be considered a fortunate occurrence by both parties, and
that the slave would, as a natural consequence, be liberated; but
this is by no means the case, for the soldier has usually incurred
a debt on his arrears, and in the distribution of pay two troopers
very often become co-proprietors of one full-grown slave. Thus
little regard can be paid to filial or fraternal affection; the
soldier can only delay the sale of his father or brother for a few
days, but it must eventually take place. Officers themselves have
told me, that these scenes are of frequent occurrence, and that it
would move the heart of the most unfeeling man to pity, to behold
a son or brother concluding the bargain with the Djelabi for his
near relative, when they are forced to part for ever.
The soldiers’ boys receive pay from the day of their birth, and
having attained their eleventh year, are drafted into the ranks as
drummers or pipers; when they subsequently increase in strength
they advance to the musket. On the whole, a military anarchy may
be almost said to reign predominant; and it is indeed an arduous
undertaking for the colonel to keep order among these undisciplined
troops. Their present commander, however, appears to be better fitted
to the task, and also to have the design of paying greater attention
to the subject; for he insists upon a more rigid discipline, but will
tolerate no ill-treatment; and I am convinced that he is most likely
to succeed in bringing about an improved subordination, as everything
may be expected from the negroes by stimulating their ambition.
The Bedouins, those children of the desert, enticed by vain promises
from their native plains, to them still dear, though neglected by
nature, are to be pitied indeed; for they have but slight hopes
of ever being able to return to their homes; receive a miserable
pay after waiting for it for a long time, like the rest of the
troops; and are expected to find themselves in clothing, horses,
and accoutrements out of their own pockets. Their sheikh must supply
all deficiencies, and if a man lose his horse is forced to procure
him another, whilst the Bedouin has to resign all claims on pay,
until the sum the new animal cost is defrayed; and thus it often
happens that the poor fellow must serve during three or five years
gratuitously. The government allows no compensation, even if the
horse be killed on actual service. It will now be understood what
kind of services may be expected from these men. Although they are
not deficient in personal valour, in cases where it is required,
and are certainly equal to the rest of the troops in courage and
bravery, if they do not surpass them; yet they never confidently
meet the enemy, as a natural consequence of this absurd system,
for they are always thinking of their horses, on these occasions,
and often take to flight at the most decisive moment, to avoid
sustaining a loss. It has frequently even happened on slave-hunts
in which service they are generally employed, that the van-guard,
on being surprised by the enemy, has turned to the right about
in disorderly flight, and thrown the infantry, by which it was
to be supported, into confusion; so that the latter were obliged
to retreat in all haste, and to form again, in order to stand the
charge of the pursuing enemy. If the government were to treat the
Mogghrebeen like the rest of the cavalry, and when they had lost
a horse in service, were to provide them with another, or at least
to allow some proper indemnification, they would prove a far more
efficient body of men. This corps is, moreover, not treated as it
deserves; for if one of them happen to be on the sick list he is not
even admitted into the infirmary. Certainly, as far as my experience
bears me out, they are far better off in this respect than those
who have the misfortune to be received into the hospital at Lobeid,
whilst under the direction of medical men who have pursued the whole
course of their studies from beginning to end at Abusabel.[53] There
is more discontent among these Bedouins or Mogghrebeen, as they are
also termed, (although they constitute the less number of the body,)
than in any other corps. The greater part of them are quartered
at Lobeid, the rest are distributed over the country, where they
perform a species of gens d’armes duty. The circumstance of their
being used by the government as catchpolls, and the excess of which
they are frequently guilty in their ill-humour and discontent, render
them obnoxious to the natives, and they themselves take no pains to
heal the breach or to remove this ill impression. They are of robust
constitution, and can defy the climate and all weather. An instance
presenting the opportunity of convincing myself of their capability
of bearing more than ordinary men came under my own observation. It
appears, indeed, an adventure _á la Münchhausen_, but I can vouch
for the truth, for I was not the only person present at the time,
but several thousands witnessed the feat:—The governor held
a review of all the troops prior to a march, the occasion was a
slave-hunt. After inspecting the Mogghrebeen, he commanded them to
dismount; in the confusion attending this movement, a horse broke
loose and ran away. Some of the men pursued it on horseback, whilst
others endeavoured to catch it on foot: and thus it happened that
a Bedouin who tried to stop the animal came in collision with it,
his forehead, indeed, striking the front of the horse. Both man
and beast instantly fell, the horse dead on the spot, but the man
survived the shock for several days.
Their arms consist of a long gun, two pistols, and a sabre;
their colours are a green silk flag, which they regard as sacred,
and two kettle-drums attached to the saddle-bow of the drummers
are beaten on a march by way of music, which is, of course, very
monotonous. These troops are irregulars, and their attacks are
always made with impetuosity, and in the greatest disorder. Hence
the first moment is decisive, whether they shall keep the ground,
or seek their safety in a precipitate flight.
The third detachment of troops, stationed in Kordofan, consists of
about forty men of artillery. I have been present at their ball
practice, and have, therefore, had the opportunity of convincing
myself of their performances. Of fifty balls scarcely one hit the
target, and even the successful shot must be ascribed to perfect
chance, for the men have not the slightest conception of charging or
pointing their guns. The pieces of ordnance are in a most lamentable
condition; the carriages, warped by the excessive heat, give no
firmness to their bearings, and the officers and men have no idea
of remedying the defect. Repair is totally out of the question,
and thus these field-pieces are dragged about from place to place,
as long as it is possible, when their services are required,
charged, pointed at hazard at the object against which they are
employed, and fired without further consideration. The effect of
their balls may be easily guessed; during the first slave-hunts,
when they attacked a hill, several shots were generally fired at
an object without one ball ever taking effect. The negroes were,
indeed, alarmed at the terrible report, and even put to the rout;
but they soon became accustomed to the noise, and, subsequently,
paid but little attention to it, when they perceived no other
effect than noise and smoke. The artillery men are all Turks, and
when they are enlisted at Cairo no one questions what their prior
occupation consisted in; it is, in fact, all the same whether they
were shoemakers or tailors by trade, they are enrolled as artillery,
and must, henceforth, act in that capacity.
The military, in general, have a great deal to suffer, for,
besides being hated by the people, as the executioners of the cruel
punishments to which the poor natives are frequently condemned by
the government, they do not lead the most agreeable life themselves,
inasmuch as they are only paid once a-year. They are obliged to serve
for the term of their natural lives, and are nothing but slaves in
the strictest sense of the word. If a man fall sick, he is, indeed,
admitted into the hospital, but this is a perfect place of horror
to the soldier, for, as soon as he enters the infirmary, he may
make his will and prepare for his latter end, so few are fortunate
enough to escape with their lives. It would really be more humane
to allow the soldiers to cure themselves after their own fashion;
and I am convinced that the majority of those literally murdered
by the doctors and apothecaries from sheer ignorance, would be
yet living to put them to the blush. Before I was aware of the
frightful mortality in the hospitals, I expressed my sorrow for the
poor Mogghrebeen who are refused admission, and severely censured
the government for its cruelty; but I subsequently convinced myself
that they have every reason to think themselves fortunate in not
being received into those houses of slaughter. I procured, indeed,
the bills of mortality of the regiment, and that of the corps of
Mogghrebeen, compared the number of deaths amongst the three thousand
troops of the line and the number of patients in the hospital,
with those of the eight hundred men, Bedouins, who receive no
medical relief, but cure themselves by domestic remedies, and found
a result of twenty-seven per cent. of deaths among those killed
in the hospital above the rate of mortality of the Mogghrebeen,
who are left entirely to themselves. The Egyptian doctors and
apothecaries, scarcely escaped from the elementary schools and
placed on their own footing, treat the sick soldiers like cattle,
never dream of diagnosis, prescribe whatever enters their heads,
and care very little whether they save a man’s life or murder him.
The hospital consists of a few hovels of clay, covered with a
straw roofing; they are ill-ventilated, and, in the wet season, the
rain beats in upon the sick soldiers through the narrow windows,
as they are not furnished with glass; the cold nights, moreover,
prove very severe trials, especially to those who are suffering
from small-pox. The invalid lies on an angareb, and is left to his
fate. The medical man hurries through the whole hospital in one
single visit, which he pays after sunrise, prescribes what he has
been reading up for the occasion at home, without inquiring into
the disease, and every order is given on the principle of “Allah
kerim!” I have several times had the opportunity of convincing
myself of the unparalleled neglect with which the hospital patients
are treated, for, on my arrival at Lobeid, I found but one European
medical man, Dr. Iken, a native of Hanover, who was too ill to
do duty, and shortly afterwards died. It is a common saying, that
an apothecary is no physician, and, _vice versâ_; but we know by
experience that there are many apothecaries who are sufficiently
well educated to be able to prescribe a remedy in cases of urgent
necessity; we may, however, form an idea of the want of medical
knowledge of an Arabian apothecary, when the doctor of medicine is
himself ignorant, and we may also guess what the poor patients who
fall into their hands have to expect or suffer between them. In
Europe, the sick soldier is desirous of being admitted into the
hospital, because he is convinced that he will there receive speedy
and certain relief. In Lobeid, the contrary is observed, for the
invalided men are obliged to be dragged to the infirmary by force,
because they stand in so much awe of this terrible place, that every
disease increases as soon as they know that they are to enter the
establishment; and thus the greater number keep their sufferings
secret as long as they possibly can. The apothecary who performed
the duty of the medical man in the infirmary paid his visit once
daily, and, on his arrival there, it depended, properly speaking,
on the nurses what medicines the patients should take. Of these
subordinate functionaries, even, there was a great deficiency, for,
as fast as they arrived from Cairo, they were taken off their duties
and employed by the doctor and apothecary in private practice;
for by these means they were enabled to earn more than their pay,
for which they always had to wait twelve months. This extensive
apothecary, who acted in the capacity of pharmaceutist and medical
man, usually commenced a categorical conversation with the nurse,
without seeing any one of the patients; the following dialogue took
place during one of my visits to the establishment.
_Apothecary._—“How is No. 1?”
_Nurse._—“He is still feverish.”
_Apoth._—“It cannot be helped, for I have not had a drachm of
quinine for several months past, and I have no other febrifuge;
he will get better in time without physic. How is No. 2?”
_Nurse._—“He died last night.”
_Apoth._—“And is No. 3 no better?”
_Nurse._—“He wants nothing further, for in two or three days
he will be dead.”
_Apoth._—“How is No. 7?”
_Nurse._—“I don’t understand his complaint. The patients
tell me he has not been able to sleep for the last four nights;
he has no appetite, and is continually vomiting.”
_Apoth._—_(Making up some tincture of opium, which he gives to
the nurse.)_ “There, that is to make him sleep. I know nothing
about the other symptoms. What does No. 8 say for himself? has his
dysentery diminished?”
_Nurse._—“No, it has rather increased, and it will probably
be all over with him this evening, so he wants nothing more; but
No. 9 may be discharged to-day.”
_Apoth._—“How is No. 35?”
_Nurse._—“I think he ought to be bled, for the inflammation
increases.”
_Apoth._—“I will have nothing at all to do with venesection,
for I might be placed in the same unpleasant position as Dr. Ali
Effendi, from whose pay three hundred piasters were deducted,
because he divided the artery in performing the operation, and the
soldier was invalided. Is there no increase?”
_Nurse._—“Three patients; two fevers, and I don’t know what
is the matter with the third, but my comrades think it is gout.”
From this short dialogue, we may conclude how the hospital at
Lobeid is managed, and what condition the poor patients who are
sighing for relief must be in. No medicine, no attention, and a
hard couch! My heart misgave me every time I entered this place
of misery, and saw the cool deliberation with which the poor sick
soldiers are murdered, in the strictest sense of the word. If the
other inhabitants of Lobeid died in the same ratio, the capital of
Kordofan would be totally depopulated in less than fifty years.
CHAPTER XIII.
PRODUCTS.
The two seasons prevailing in this country and so strongly defined,
are the chief reason why the ground does not yield as many products
as might be obtained by the assistance of art; for, if field and
garden fruits were cultivated with the utmost care during the
dry season, no success could be expected, as there is a total
want of water wherewith to irrigate the plants, and, in the wet
season, the rain beats down with such force that it would wash all
small plants out of the earth; hence agriculture is confined to
articles which thrive without much attention, and proceed quickly
to maturity. I have no doubt that, if wells were sunk and large
reservoirs excavated to collect, during the rainy months, the
quantity of water necessary for the irrigation of the soil during
the ensuing dry season, many vegetables might be produced which
it is now quite impossible to rear. There are no running streams,
and the few small lakes, or rather ponds, met with in the country,
are not supplied with water throughout the year, and are, moreover,
very inconsiderable when compared with the extent of arable land.
Horticulture is limited to certain spots, and, excepting at Bara
and some other small villages, where there is plenty of water,
no gardens are to be seen in the whole province. The wants of
the natives who live in fixed places of residence are not such as
they may supply by cultivating gardens; and the frequent change of
residence is a yet greater hindrance to the nomades from occupying
themselves with tillage of the ground. The blame, however, is
chiefly to be attributed to the government, who would lay their
hands upon the harvest, or levy large contributions upon it, which
the natives would not be able to pay. When the Egyptians first took
possession of the country, under the Defturdar, they found merely
dokn, a little douhra, water-melons, bamíyeh, meluchia (lentils),
onions, and tobacco. The Defturdar’s army, therefore, suffered
greatly from want of provisions, until it was supplied from the
stores in the north, and the necessary articles of consumption were
subsequently produced in the country. Since these times, the Turks,
who have become residents, and the Dongolavi have cultivated gardens,
in which they now grow wheat, bedingajoti[54] (Poradies-üepfel[55]),
small beans, radishes, celery, dill, and garlic; some vineyards
have been planted, as also pomegranates, lemon trees, Indian and
common figs. In the larger plantations sim-sim, ful-Darfûr (beans
from Darfour), rice, and cotton are grown. It is, however, by mere
chance if garden fruits, or green vegetables, are ever seen exposed
for sale in the market place at Lobeid; weeks frequently pass without
any such luxuries coming to sight, for the gardeners are very far
backward in their art, and take but little pains to produce any
plants. The natives, in fact, leave the cultivation of the gardens,
like everything else, to chance, and do not give the vegetation
the slightest assistance, so that it is really by mere hazard if
anything thrive. Should the traveller wish to obtain vegetables for
his own consumption during his residence in this country, he must
make a kind of agreement with the proprietor of a garden to deliver
the produce of the season at his house; for to wait for what might
be exhibited in the market, would be, indeed, to wait in vain, as
such an exhibition is, in the first place, according to my former
statement, of very rare occurrence, and vegetables are only offered
publicly for sale when all the private consumers are supplied, and
there is a surplus of one or the other production. The vegetables
indigenous in temperate climates are not of the same succulent
quality in this country, partly because they are not properly
attended to, and partly because the tropical climate causes them
to grow too luxuriantly to arrive at the same state of perfection
in which we obtain them in Europe. Grapes ripen twice in the year,
but the leaves must be gathered off the vines, or all the sap will
be exhausted by the foliage and tendrils, and no grapes will be
formed. Those which ripen in the month of August are very watery,
those, on the other hand, which come to perfection at the end of
December are very sweet. A great number of lime-trees are planted in
the gardens, but the lemons are too small, have but little juice and
acidity, and are quite exsiccated in a few days after they have been
gathered from the trees. The orange tree produces no fruit, for it
is not suited to the climate. Indian (cactus) and Syrian figs bear
fruit, but not of the best quality. The same observation applies
to other garden productions: they have not the flavour that might
be expected, and do not in general attain their full size, for all
plants form too much leaf to produce sound and good fruit. Thus even
onions are too sweet in taste, of small dimension, and without the
slightest acridity. Salad is not to be met with. The water-melons,
which are chiefly cultivated in Dar-Hammer, are not of an agreeable
flavour. The fruit of the few date-trees to be seen in the province
ripens during the rainy season, is, consequently, very watery, and
will not keep for any time, like the dates of Egypt, but decomposes
shortly after it is gathered. Sim-Sim is largely cultivated, whence
the natives express an oil used in the preparation of their pomatum;
for they never burn oil, and, if they wish to illuminate their
tukkoli at night-time, light a wood-fire. Wheat is grown in some
few places, but only in small quantities, and in the dry season,
indeed, by artificial irrigation; a sufficient supply for the few
Turkish residents during a few months is, however, merely, produced,
and even they are obliged to eat dokn-bread during the greater
part of the year. This description of corn is very dear, and cost,
in the year 1838, two hundred piasters (£2 18_s._ 4_d._) the ardeb;
whilst in Egypt the value of the same quantity rarely exceeds the sum
of thirty or sixty piasters. Only the Bakkara cultivate rice on the
borders of the lakes Arrat and Pirget, but it differs totally from
the variety generally met with in commerce; for it is small in grain,
and of unpleasant flavour. The greater quantity of rice consumed
in Kordofan, by the Turks more especially, is imported, therefore,
from Egypt. Cotton is grown in very inconsiderable quantities, in
proportion to the demand for this article; in fact, not one-third of
the quantity consumed in the manufacture of their calicoes. It is of
the finest quality, and resembles that of Sennaar,[56] well-known
in the trade in Europe. The fibre is rather longer than that of
the Makko[57] variety. I have often enquired of the natives, why
they do not attach more importance to the cultivation of plants,
which would prove of so much advantage to them, since they are
at present necessitated to purchase the calico required for their
simple clothing at a very high price; but they always answered me,
they were well aware that the growth of cotton was very profitable,
but they had no desire to work for the soldiers of the government,
as they knew very well that they would leave them little or none
of the cotton produced, and they should therefore be obliged to
buy the cloth for their own consumption as they do at present;
hence they save themselves the labour. Indigo would thrive very
well in various parts of Kordofan,—for it grows spontaneously
in some districts,—and its cultivation would prove a source of
great profit to the government. Experiments have been already made,
and have furnished indigo of a quality superior to that of Egypt;
but the government pays no attention to this subject, and the
natives are far too ignorant to stumble upon an object of so much
importance without a hint from some kind friend.
All the articles above mentioned are reared in gardens, the
cultivation of which is entrusted to slaves. The irrigation is
effected artificially by means of draw-wells. As soon as the
rainy season is at an end, every native hastens to put his garden
in order, which during the former period had been, as it were,
lying fallow; for if any one were to venture to sow or plant
during the period of the rains, he must expect everything either
to be washed out of the earth by the violent showers, or to rot
before it arrived at maturity. Very few articles are, therefore,
cultivated, and these merely where the position of the land is
suitable. The absolute tillage, or treatment of the soil, requires
but slight trouble, for the clods of earth are simply broken by
means of a short-pointed stick, beaten into mould with a rather
thicker staff, and then levelled with the hand, or with the same
instrument. The seed is now sown, and covered with a little earth;
and small furrows are made in the various beds, which are daily
watered from a draw-well. Agriculture, in general, is confined
to dockn, a species of field-fruit which may be compared to the
millet, from which it however differs in the circumstance that the
stalk, with the inflorescence, attains the height of seven or eight
feet. It is the only species of grain used by the inhabitants of
Kordofan and the bordering countries, and is indispensable to them
for their bread. It is a very exuberant and profitable plant, and
is cultivated everywhere throughout the whole province. The fields
in which the dockn grows are generally very large, and many of them
are situated in the forests. To render these woodland tracts arable,
the trees are hewn down to the height of a man; by the next year they
are dry—when fires are lighted, the stems being burnt at the same
time with the brushwood. These fields do not require as much labour
and attention as our corn-fields. The natives are not acquainted
with the plough, the harrow, or, in fact, with any other civilized
engine of husbandry; a single falciform piece of iron, pointed
at either extremity, and furnished in the centre with a staff,
answers the purpose of all necessary implements. This instrument
is called a hashash, and is to be found in every hut; thus all the
agricultural utensils of a Kordofanese peasant cost twenty paras
(little more than three-halfpence). After the fall of the first rain
the grass is raked up in the fields, and preparations are made for
sowing, an occupation requiring the services of two persons only;
the one walks before the other, making, at about every two paces, a
hole with the hashash in the sandy soil, in which his companion each
time places a few seeds, and then treads down the hole with his right
foot. This operation is performed with extraordinary rapidity. The
ensuing rain imparts to the ground the necessary moisture, and as
soon as the rainy season terminates the fruit ripens. The chief
condition for a successful harvest is, that an over abundance of
rain do not injure the seed, and on this account the field should
be situated on a declivity, that the water may run off; but if
too little rain fall, a failure is likewise the result. With the
straw the natives build their tukkoli; the remainder is consumed
as food by the cattle. The grain is thrashed out in the field,
laden upon camels or oxen, and brought into the village, where it
is shot into pits lined with straw mats, and subsequently covered
over with sand. The latter proceeding is chiefly for the purpose of
securing the produce from the over-abundant vermin, and frequently
also from the rapacity of the government.
Besides this species of grain a small quantity of douhra may be
met with, and I doubt very much whether a species of corn of the
temperate zone might be cultivated with more profit or with the
same facility as the dockn. It happens, however, in some years
that the necessary quantity is not grown, and then whole villages
are frequently necessitated to betake themselves to the woods,
and live upon the egelit,[58] a fruit of the size of a plum,
of a yellowish colour, and pulpy consistence, which has not an
unpleasant flavour. Kordofan is altogether blest with many useful
trees notwithstanding its poverty in other respects, and an addition
might be made to their number with very little artificial aid,
were the inhabitants not too lazy and too stolid to engage with
energy in any undertaking, whilst the government, on the other
hand, only directs its attention to those objects which return an
immediate profit.
Among the most useful trees growing without cultivation, must be
reckoned: the gum-tree, the tamarind, the beautiful tabaldi, and
the egelit before mentioned. The gum-tree (_mimosa Nilotica_) as
it is termed in books, merits a different denomination in Kordofan,
for the shape of the tree, its leaves and spines, differ materially
from those of the mimosa Nilotica, properly so called. The latter
tree yields common gum only, whereas that of Kordofan is of the
finest description, so that it is erroneously distinguished by the
name of gum-Arabic. In some parts of the country, the mimosa forms
whole forests of vast extent; but the district of Bara furnishes
the largest quantity of gum. The harvest is modified by the annual
fall of rain, for, if it rain much, the trees sweat the more. The
gum exudes from the bark of the stem and large branches, nearly in
the same manner as the resinous exudation from the cherry-trees of
Europe. In digging for a beetle, I casually observed that the gum
proceeds from the root also. Sennaar, which is situated under the
same degree of latitude as Kordofan, yields a far less quantity
of this product. The gathering takes place a few months after the
rain, in the months of December, January, and February, it is an
exceedingly profitable affair to the government, and therefore a
monopoly. But even in this undertaking, the Egyptians act with
unparalleled neglect, and do not interfere when they see whole
forests of gum-trees hewn down, and the ground converted into dockn
fields, although immense tracts of the country far better adapted
for arable land remain uncultivated, by making use of which, the
gum-trees would be spared. But the government does not trouble
itself about such trifles, it merely scrapes together that which
comes within its reach without paying the slightest attention to
ulterior consequences. Of the plantation of young trees and the
extirpation of such as are unprofitable, it has no idea, nature
must attend to that business.
The Garrat,[59] whose pod is employed in tanning, and the tamarisk
(_tamarindus Indica_) are likewise frequently seen in the province,
but not in the same abundance as the gum-tree. The pods of the
tamarind are collected and trodden into the form of cakes, which
are dried, and either kept for domestic use or converted into
commodity. A large quantity of this production is consumed in the
country. This tree suffers greatly by the locusts; for sometimes
the inflorescence, sometimes the fruit, is totally devoured by
these destructive insects, and in those years, there is, of course,
a scarcity of this fruit in many villages.
The Tabaldi is one of the most beautiful specimens of the vegetable
kingdom indigenous in this country. When in blossom, the majestic
tree is nearly covered with flowers, resembling those of the double
red hollyhock, and, at a distance, gives the idea of hills covered
with roses, while the eye rests with delight on so beautiful an
object. It blooms at the commencement of August: the sarcocarp is
three-quarters of a foot in length, interiorly divided into many
cells, each of which includes a stone. The fruit is of a pleasing
acidulous flavour, but causes diarrhoea in those who are not
accustomed to eat it; it is, however, also employed for allaying
dysentery; but, to produce this opposite effect, it must be eaten
in large quantities. The stems of these trees measure sometimes more
than forty feet in circumference, and the wood is as hard as ebony;
their age may be estimated at thousands of years. Of the fruit of
the Doum palm[60] and fan-shaped palm,[61] the outer skin is eaten,
and a kind of syrup is also obtained from them.
Besides the trees above-mentioned, there is an innumerable variety
of plants which spring up from the ground in full luxuriance after
the first rain, and convert the whole province into a most beautiful
flower-garden. I am too little versed in botany to be expected to
give a full description of all the plants found in the country,
more especially as there are many species not yet mentioned in
any botanical work; but I am convinced that Kordofan would prove a
very interesting field to any botanist who would take the trouble to
explore it by travelling there for a lengthened period. Dr. Rueppell
and Mr. Kotschy spent too short a time in the country, and visited,
moreover, too few places to be able to make valuable collections.
The animal kingdom affords a no less fertile source of instruction
and amusement in this country. Among domestic animals we have the
horse, the camel, the ass, the mule, the cow, the sheep, the goat,
the dog, the cat, fowls and pigeons; and of wild beasts: lions,
giraffes, leopards, panthers, two varieties of hyænas, jackals,
about ten species of antelopes, some of which are not yet known
in Europe: further, monkeys, three varieties of wild cats, hares,
hedge-hogs, black and yellow mice, rats, and many animals yet
unknown, are to be met with in Kordofan; elephants and rhinoceroses
are rare; occasionally, however, one or the other of these animals
may be seen on the borders of the country. The province is very
rich in specimens of reptiles, and the boa may also be found.
The country abounds in insects of every description, many of which
are analogous, or very similar, to those of Senegal. A good harvest
may be made a month before the rain, during the whole of that season,
and at the most a month after it; during the remainder of the year
all trouble to find single specimens even is in vain. Collecting
insects formed one of my chief occupations during the whole of my
travels, and my labours were rewarded in a very extensive display
of the various specimens of the insects of Kordofan: so complete
a collection was, in fact, never yet brought from that country
to Europe. Entomology might have been benefited by the addition
of many new species, and years must transpire before so copious
a collection will again reach Europe, for few men will be able to
stand eleven months of this unhealthy climate. I have shed millions
of drops of sweat in my pursuit, and looked like one who had been
scourged after every excursion, from the scratches I received
from the thorns, with which most of the shrubs and trees of this
country are furnished. I defied all weather and every species of
danger in forming this cabinet: but, unfortunately, all my trouble,
together with the advantages entomology might thence have reaped,
are totally lost—thanks to those barbarians of the lazaretto at
Trieste, who allowed my whole collection, consisting of several
consignments, to spoil. In butterflies the country is very poor,
but there are more than a hundred different species of flies.
Among the feathered tribe there are birds of the most beautiful
plumage in this province, and many European varieties, even those of
Germany, hibernate here. The grey water-wagtail may more especially
be met with in myriads. The desert, the woods, even the huts in
the villages, are filled with these beautiful creatures, which
delight the eye with their magnificent colours, and the ear with
their charming song. It is, indeed, impossible to form a conception
of the spectacle they afford without having seen it. New species
arrive with every month, whilst others migrate until the proper
season recalls them. Eagles, vultures, parrots, colibris, a variety
of aquatic birds, ostriches, black storks, and the ibis, considered
holy by the ancient Egyptians, are to be here met with; the latter
two varieties are the chief birds of Kordofan. A large aquatic
bird saved me a great deal of trouble in collecting shells in the
marshes. If I descried one of these birds in the vicinity of a pond,
I had only to retreat to a distance of about fifty paces from it,
and to watch its movements. It dived beneath the water, and always
brought up one of the conchylia in its beak, which resembles that of
the woodpecker, and laid it on the sand at a distance of a few paces
from the water. Its prize consisted of a larger or smaller number of
these shells according to their size. It generally collected about
twelve on one spot, but as these conchylia are bivalvular, and the
one shell is so firmly connected with the other that they can only
be opened with a knife, it had to wait until the rays of the sun
performed the office for it. He continually walked round the spot
where he had deposed his prey, and kept his eye upon it. As soon,
however, as one of these mollusca opened its shell he instantly
inserted his beak, to prevent it from closing it again, and tore
it asunder with his claw. I never disturbed him in his work, for
he saved me the trouble of destroying the animal and clearing the
shell, which, as I knew by experience, he seldom entirely separates.
Kordofan can enumerate no running streams; the fula (ponds)
and small lakes nearly all dry up during the hot season, and
yet fish, differing in variety and size, are to be found in this
province. At first, I could not understand this apparent anomaly,
and the explanation given me by the natives, that the fish hide
themselves in the mud, appeared to me very unsatisfactory, for it
becomes in time, so hard that a heavily laden waggon might pass
over it, and the spawn of the fish remaining would, of course,
be soon destroyed by the rays of the sun. The natives, however,
firmly believe that the fish are preserved under ground, and come
to life again in three or six months’ time, when the rain has
softened their bed. I, of course, could not give credence to this
version of the story, but casually made a discovery likely to throw
a light upon the subject. I one day shot a wild duck, and having
gutted it, proceeded to prepare it for dinner; in examining the
intestines, I found a quantity of fish eggs. Is it not, therefore,
probable that the aquatic birds, which set out on their migration
immediately after having gorged themselves with spawn on the White
Nile, and take to the water again on their arrival in Kordofan,
discharge one half of their prey in an undigested form, and that
thus the fish are shortly hatched?
The horses are not very excellent, or of pure Arabian blood, but a
half-breed between Dongola horses and those of Berber and Darfûr;
they are not, indeed, as well built as the pure Arabians, but are,
nevertheless, fleet, and exceedingly hardy. The natives, more
especially the Bakkari, pride themselves on their steeds, and give
them milk to drink as long as they live, which they say renders them
very strong, and capable of enduring the greatest fatigue. The other
inhabitants of Kordofan also offer their horses milk until they are
four years old, and not until they have attained that age do they
feed them on grass. The dockn forms their substitute for oats. The
sheikhs of the Bakkara, seem nearly grown to their horses, and are
scarcely ever seen without them. They are of the utmost service to
them, in their wars among themselves, and against their neighbours;
but more especially in capturing slaves. Their remarkable fleetness
renders them very useful in catching giraffes, and ostriches even;
but on the whole there are not so many horses to be met with in
this country as in the other provinces under the sway of the Viceroy.
The most valuable gift nature has bestowed on the hot climates of
Africa, is undoubtedly the camel. The value of these animals to the
country is beyond calculation, independently of their utility in
carrying loads, which no other beast, except the elephant, could
bear, or would even be capable of drawing. The food of the camel
causes the drivers but little care, for contented with the worst
produce of the desert plains, namely, with thistles or a few leaves,
this animal will hold out for four days without feeding, and even
eight days without drinking, and yet it suffers no appreciable loss
of strength. Its paces are very sure, and it scarcely ever falls,
hence all goods, be they ever so fragile, may be more safely
transported by camels than they could possibly be by any other
animal, or by waggon. For loading or unloading, the camel bends
down, as it does also for the convenience of the rider, when about
to mount. If the load be too heavy, it instantly gives notice of
the circumstance to its driver by its groans. It requires no whip,
and keeps up its slow but progressive march without ever breaking
from the same pace. A laden camel will perform eight miles in two
hours. In the cool of the morning or evening, and when cheered
up by the songs of the drivers, these animals become more lively,
and increase their paces to one third of their speed. Their organs
of sight and smell are very acute, for they scent the vicinity of
water at a distance of half a day’s journey or further, and make
it known by snuffing with the upper lip, in sign of pleasure. By
night they perform the office of a watchful dog; for if a man, or
an animal approach the caravan, or a wild beast give tongue even
at a great distance, the camels instantly perceive it, prick their
ears, and stretch their long necks towards the suspected quarter,
to draw the attention of their keepers to the interruption. Of no
less utility is the dromedary, a camel of more slender build, and
broken in for riding. It was formerly an erroneous hypothesis that
the dromedary was a different animal from the camel, and the former
was generally depicted with two humps; but this is a fallacy, for
the dromedary is nothing but a camel, and the variation in the name
is merely made use of by the inhabitants of the East to indicate
that it is broken-in for riding, and not for carrying loads. They
select from among the young camels such as are most slightly built,
and most light of foot, never lay any load upon their backs except
the saddle, and thus gradually break them in for this important
service. No horse can keep up with the dromedary, when proceeding at
full trot. When this animal is at the top of its speed, the rider is
obliged to bind a hand-kerchief before his face, to avoid the effects
of the pressure of air, which would otherwise be painful to him. If
a dark speck, which quickly increases, be observed on the horizon,
at the greatest distance in the desert, a dromedary rider is sure to
be met in a few minutes, and the natives, in endeavouring to impart
a correct idea of the fleetness of these animals to the traveller,
have a saying: “If you meet a good dromedary, and the rider salute
you with _‘Es-selam’ aley’koom,’_[62] both man and beast are
out of sight before you can answer _‘aley’koom es-selám.”_
It requires, indeed, some practice to be able to bear the exertion
of riding these animals. Letters from the southern provinces,
are usually forwarded to Cairo by couriers mounted on dromedaries,
who generally require twenty-eight days to perform a distance of
about seventeen degrees of latitude. For the accomplishment of this
task, a relay of three or four couriers is necessary. On important
missions, however, one and the same courier frequently performs
the whole distance, merely changing his dromedaries at the various
stations. The rider is always very lightly accoutred, and carries,
besides his arms, consisting of a sabre, a pair of pistols, and
frequently also of a long gun, two bags of moderate size for his
provender, and a small water-bag attached to his saddle-bow, and
thus he sets out upon his journey, which would prove a most arduous
undertaking to any other person, with the least possible incumbrance,
and with no uneasiness.
The flesh of the young camels, of the two or four years old, is
highly prized by the natives, more especially by the Nomadic tribes,
and forms their chief article of food. Many of them are slaughtered
at Lobeid, and the meat is sold at the same price as beef, which
some of the residents prefer. The milk is also a chief article of
consumption with many of the natives.
The asses, native to the country, are of a very inferior breed;
good donkeys are, therefore, still imported from Egypt by the
Djelabi. Horned cattle is more especially met with in vast
numbers. There are few villages in the neighbourhood, in which
large herds may not be seen at pasture; and amongst the Bakkara,
the droves consist even of thousands of heads. They feed throughout
the year in the open air, but suffer much from hunger in the dry
season, when everything is burnt to a cinder, and are, therefore,
not so fat at this period as during the rainy season, when they are,
literally speaking, up to their horns in grass. Thus thousands of
heads of cattle may be feeding in a meadow, and yet not one single
beast will be seen; their presence is merely denoted by the motion of
the grass. The kine, however, are not of very excellent breed, they
yield but little milk, of inferior quality, and much worse beef. The
Turks resident in Kordofan never eat this meat. Amongst the Bakkara,
a particular breed of short-horned oxen is to be met with, furnished
with a high hump, or deposition of fat above the fore-quarters,
and a dependent flap of skin below the neck and chest, reaching
downwards to the knee.[63] The oxen are chiefly used for riding,
and carrying weights: a cord passed through the nose of the animal
forms a species of bridle. They are instructed for these purposes
at a very early age, and, indeed, by children. The instruction,
however, requires immense patience, for many months frequently
transpire before a young calf will allow a lad to sit quietly on
its back, and the boys meet with innumerable falls, before they
succeed in thoroughly breaking-in one of these animals. In many
parts of Africa, where the camel will not live on account of the
fly (yohara), oxen are only employed for riding, and transporting
loads. There are many sheep, and among them one species of very
large breed; they bear no wool, but short hair; the mutton is of
good flavour, and is preferred to beef, or to the flesh of goats.
The goat is very common in the country, and may be reckoned among
the chief domestic animals. There are several varieties, or rather
cross breeds, and some of exceedingly elegant form; but they
are mostly very small. Nothing can induce the Turks to partake of
goat’s-milk during the rainy season; for they firmly believe that
it produces fever, if the animal should happen to have browsed the
leaves of a tree called, in Arabic, _escher_ (_asclepias procera_),
and known as a poisonous plant. It is, in fact, the tree whence the
well-known poison is expressed, with which an obnoxious person was
quietly put out of the way with a fingán of coffee in former times
in Egypt, and is sometimes employed for the same purpose at the
present day. This plant may be met with occasionally as a shrub in
Upper Egypt; but in Kordofan it attains the height of a tree. Many
of the natives pay great attention to its cultivation, and lay the
leaves into the sieve, through which they filter their merissa. These
leaves contain a white milky juice, which is imparted to the beer
and said to render it very narcotic. I have often warned these good
people against its use; but they excuse themselves, by saying that
their fathers, and mothers made use of it before them. The camel,
not very particular in the selection of its food in general, never
touches the escher.[64] As regards the superstition prevalent
among the Turks, that the milk of the goats generates fever, in
consequence of their having fed off the foliage of this poisonous
plant, it is perfectly absurd; for it is a well-known fact, that
any kind of milk taken during the rainy season will produce fever.
Dogs, of which there are a great number, run about, as in all other
mahommedan countries, without any real owners, and are yet looked
upon as domestic animals. They are mostly of a yellow colour, but
rather better shaped than the Egyptian dogs; like them they feed
off the garbage and fallen cattle, and are not otherwise of the
slightest utility. I found, however, that they might be instructed
for sporting, with very little trouble. There are very few cats in
the country, hence the rats and the mice are so tame that they will
run across the feet of a person by day-time. If anything be thrown
to them for food, they immediately pick it up, devour it quickly,
and return fearlessly to fetch more. The natives of Kordofan take
little pains to destroy this vermin, and merely set snares in the
fields and gardens for the field rat, which is eaten by many negroes,
and even by some few of the Dongolavi. I myself saw the Nuba negroes
eating rats; they roast them in their skins, and flay them after
they are cooked. There is one species of rat, however, which does
not create the slightest disgust. It is of a cream-colour, with
a snow white belly and feet tipped with white, and its coat is as
sleek as silk. They may be classed amongst the most elegant animals.
The fowls of this province are far larger than those of Egypt—the
cock birds more especially—and are decorated with a very beautiful
plumage, similar to those observed in Nubia. The tame pigeons are
likewise larger than those met with in Egypt, and I counted nine
different varieties of wood-pigeons, the smallest of the size of
a blackbird, but with a tail as long as the bird itself.
The giraffe, one of the most beautiful animals of Africa, is
frequently seen in Kordofan, and nearly all the specimens of this
animal sent by way of Egypt to Europe and America, have been caught
in the plains of Kordofan. During the rainy season they are not to
be met with, for they are supposed to travel into countries situate
at a great distance from this province. The natives believe them to
betake themselves to parts where very little rain falls, as of all
the wild beasts of the torrid zone, none is so sensitive to climate
as the giraffe. In captivity they require the greatest care and
attention to keep them alive; in Egypt even they must be guarded
during the winter months against cold, and their diet, moreover,
demands the strictest attention, for instances are known of giraffes
dying very soon, in consequence of a trifling neglect on the part
of their keepers. As soon as the dry season commences, the giraffes
return to the neighbourhood of Kordofan; they are not gregarious in
their habits like the antelopes, and are only to be seen separately,
or at the most in pairs. These beautiful creatures are caught by men
on horseback, but merely the young animals are taken alive, as it
would almost amount to an impossibility to catch an old beast, who
would overthrow both horse and rider, and use them very roughly. The
latter are, therefore, slain with the sword, merely for the sake
of their skins, which form an article of trade. The flesh is eaten,
and has not exactly a disagreeable flavour. In order to be allowed
to hunt giraffes for a menagerie, it is necessary first to obtain
a firman from the minister of the interior, and it is indeed the
best plan to apply at once to the Sheikh Abdel Had at Haraza; he
will immediately give an order to his people who occupy themselves
with this sport, for it requires not only a very expert horseman,
but a very perfect horse, and more especially experience in this
species of hunting. Generally speaking, two horsemen provided
with one or two camels laden with a supply of provender and water
sufficient for a few days, proceed into the desert frequented by the
giraffes. The camels are left at an appropriate place, whilst the
riders reconnoitre the country until they come upon the track of an
animal. Great experience is now requisite to distinguish whether the
trace be of to-day or yesterday, or of a yet older date. If it be
recent, and that of a young animal, it is immediately followed up,
and the huntsmen may make sure of gaining a sight of their prey in
a few hours. As soon as the giraffe is in view, the run instantly
takes place, for the animal, very timid by nature, seeks refuge
in flight, and indeed with extraordinary fleetness. Everything
now depends on the dexterity of the rider, and activity of his
horse. They must do all in their power to gain upon the game they
have started, an endeavour which is the more readily to be effected,
as the giraffe never takes a straight course, but by nature timid,
doubles, in the fear of its life, sometimes to the right, sometimes
to the left, and is thus quickly overtaken by the horsemen. Having
come up with the young animal pursued, the rider casts a lasso over
its head; his throw but seldom fails, and in the worst case must be
repeated. He then attaches the end of the rope to his saddle, drags
the animal as closely as he can to his horse, and thus the capture
is effected. But now a steady and patient horse, well broken to its
work, is again necessary for the further transport; for the horse
must resist the animal’s efforts, or give way to them (for it
pulls and jumps in all directions), in conveying it to the nearest
village, which the huntsmen endeavour to reach as quickly as they
possibly can. A she-camel should stand in readiness there to give
the young giraffe milk, with which it is fed before being weaned
to grass or hay. This treatment must be subsequently followed,
and even full grown giraffes should receive milk daily as drink,
if it be in any way possible.
When the young animal has rested for some time, it is furthered,
without delay, to Dongola, but on this occasion great attention is
again required. A kind of head-stall is put on the animal’s head,
to which four stout cords are fastened. Two men, each holding the
end of one of the ropes in his hand, walk in front, and two follow,
to keep its gait steady, a task requiring during the first few days
extraordinary exertion. A she-camel must accompany the young giraffe
to give it the necessary nourishment on the road. Arrived at Dongola,
a certain time is again devoted to rest, and the animal is here
accustomed to the milk of the cow and to grass. It is incredible what
difficulties the Arabs have to contend with in preserving a giraffe
alive, and it is, consequently, not to be wondered at that their
price is so enormous. In Egypt, for example, at Cairo or Alexandria,
a living specimen always costs from five to six hundred dollars.
There are not many leopards in this province; the stragglers
merely from the interior of Africa show themselves occasionally in
Kordofan. They will sometimes approach the villages, but instances of
their having done an injury to man are very rare. They mostly steal
their prey from one of the herds, but immediately withdraw with it to
their covert, but are by no means as bold as they may be in the more
internal tracts of this and another quarter of the globe. They are
not hunted, partly from want of fire-arms, partly because the skin,
the only portion of value about them, is not much in request, and
a leopard is very rarely, indeed, known to have been killed in any
district. Hyænas, of which there are said to be three varieties, are
far more numerous. The striped species is the most common in Egypt
and Syria; but the tiger-skinned hyæna is far larger, and if the
third variety exist it has never come under my own observation. They
form herds of ten or twenty animals, secrete themselves during the
day in the caves and ravines of the neighbouring mountains, which
they merely quit at night, when they go in quest of prey, and on
these occasions they gradually separate. Dead bodies, which they dig
out of the graves, are their favourite food, and they immediately
scent out where a corpse has been interred, whether in the desert
or in the burial-ground. They are also fond of picking out the
young sheep from a flock, although these are enclosed during the
night within a dense fence of thorn-hedging. The hyæna, however,
understands mining, digs beneath the fence, and frequently breaks in
upon a flock. They never do any harm to man, and there is scarcely
a single instance on record of a hyæna having seized upon a man,
and those, indeed, known, were only occasions where they had been
greatly irritated or wounded. In Europe, this animal is very much
calumniated as being the most ferocious and most cruel of all wild
beasts, thus, at least, it is described in nearly all the books
on natural history; one author, in fact, copies the error from
the other, without investigating his subject more closely; hence
the opinion first gained ground and subsequently became prevalent
in the whole of Europe, that the hyæna is the most formidable
of all quadrupeds. I and several other Europeans have convinced
ourselves, that it is not only not feared, but totally disregarded
by the natives. It is timid, may be cowed by blows, and rather
endeavours to secrete itself than to attack. The circumstance of
its disinterring dead bodies and devouring them is no proof of
its being the most formidable or ferocious animal; for if it can
surprise sheep or gazelles, it prefers them, but hunger oftentimes
forces it to dig up a corpse, and feed off it. Its forepaws are
certainly adapted by nature for digging in the earth, but there are
sufficient instances of dogs having scratched out the bodies of the
dead and eaten them. In Hungary, Poland, and Russia, examples of
wolves attacking men are very numerous; in Africa, the instances of
the hyæna having done the same are very scarce. Ten hyænas may,
in fact, be sooner tamed than one jackal. Thus, in the court of a
house at Lobeid, I saw a hyæna running about quite domesticated:
the children of the proprietor teased it, took the meat thrown to it
for food out of its jaws, and put their hands even into its throat,
without receiving the least injury. When we took our meals in the
open air, to enjoy the breeze, as was our general custom during
the hot season, this animal approached the table without fear,
snapped up the pieces that were thrown to it like a dog, and did
not evince the slightest symptom of timidity. A full grown hyæna,
and her two cubs, were, on another occasion, brought to me for sale:
the latter were carried in arms, as you might carry a lamb, and
were not even muzzled. The old one, it is true, had a rope round
its snout, but it had been led a distance of twelve miles by one
single man, without having offered the slightest resistance. The
Africans do not even reckon the hyæna among the wild beasts of
their country, for they are not afraid of it. The rhinoceros passes
among them as the most vicious of all quadrupeds. They say the
lion, and other beasts of prey, merely attack man when they are
wounded or irritated, or when goaded on by hunger; and as there
are sheep and goats everywhere, and numbers of antelopes and other
animals, in the desert, and they suffer no want of food, man need
not fear them. Widely different is the case with the rhinoceros,
for although it is a graminivorous animal, neither man nor beast
are safe from its wanton cruelty. Without having been disturbed or
irritated in the least, it will immediately attack a man or animal,
be it ever so large—even the elephant or lion. It endeavours in
the first charge to pierce its adversary with its powerful horn,
which is situated, as is well known, superiorly on the nasal bone,
taking a curved direction upwards. If the first blow take effect, the
animal attacked, even if it be the elephant, is lost; should he, or
the lion, however, avoid the blow, the rhinoceros generally succumbs,
and notwithstanding this risk it is always the aggressor. Fortunately
there are said to be but very few rhinoceroses; and it is indeed
a great rarity if one of them happen to stray into Kordofan. The
haunts of these animals are in the vicinity of rivers and lakes,
their horns may be met with in commerce, and are employed in the
manufacture of the handles of the Turkish swords. The lighter the
colour of the horn the greater is its value; but the black variety
is not in request, and is regarded as useless for sabre hilts. The
quality of the horns cannot be judged of by their outward appearance,
for externally they are all black. Those which are met with in
commerce in Kordofan are imported from the countries tributary to
Darfour, situated on a river,—probably the White Nile,—of which
I shall speak more fully in a subsequent chapter.
The number of lions in this province is not very considerable, but
they frequently enter villages for prey, and carry away a head of
cattle before their visit is even suspected. In the day time they
are neither heard nor seen, for they generally lie crouching in a
dense covert, or sleeping beneath a shady tree. But early in the
morning, as soon as the sun begins to cast its rays on the sandy
billows of the desert, the royal animal rises from his lair to sally
forth in quest of prey. His voice may then be heard in the distance;
it commences with a low murmuring, which gradually increases, until
it at last becomes a fearful and terrific roar, like the rolling of
thunder, and is audible at a distance of two miles. The whole animal
kingdom trembles, and evinces the greatest fear when the king of
the beasts is heard; the sheep tremble as if attacked with ague,
place their heads together, and endeavour to hide themselves; the
horses break out into a sweat with fear; and the dogs hurry away as
fast as they can to find a place of refuge. In fine, all the beasts
are seized with the most unequivocal terror when the lion makes
his approach known. Should a caravan happen to be near the spot,
it is impossible to keep the camels together, they leap about in
all directions, and are scattered abroad under the influence of
fear. I myself once had the opportunity of witnessing a scene of
this kind. On arriving in my travels at the wells of Semmeria,
we suddenly heard a murmuring noise afar, resembling the rolling
of balls in an empty barrel; but we were soon acquainted with its
true cause when it gradually increased to that terrible thunder-like
roar. With the first perception of this noise, the camels belonging
to our caravan suddenly took fright, and instantly separated in
all directions. The men and the cases were thrown off, and if one
of the riders happened to keep his seat at the first alarm, he was
subsequently necessitated to leap down, to avoid being felled by the
branches of the trees; for we were unfortunately near a forest of
mimosas, and every one was in danger of being torn by their large
spines. This confusion, however, did not last long, for the lion
took quite an opposite direction to the route of our caravan; but
a whole day was lost in collecting the goods that had been thrown
off, or torn down by the trees, and one of the camels strayed to
a great distance. Lions are seldom hunted in this country; for
there are very few of them, as I have before-mentioned, and they
do so little damage that it would not be worth while to incur the
danger attending the sport. The flesh of the lord of the forest is
very tough and tendinous, and is not readily devoured by any other
animal. A dog will sneak away as soon as he smells it.
A few panthers may be met with in the country, but they are not
as large as those of Asia. I have been assured that there are no
tigers in Kordofan. Antelopes may be seen browsing in large numbers,
and, indeed, in great variety; like the camels, they are able to
bear thirst for eight days. I have myself observed them in places
situated at a distance of twenty-six miles from any water, so that
it would have been impossible for them to perform this journey daily,
or even on every other day.
Besides the animals mentioned, there are a number of quadrupeds, the
names of which are not even known in Europe; for Kordofan has only
been visited, up to the present day, by two naturalists, _viz._,
by Dr. Rueppell and Dr. Kotschy, who remained too short a time in
the country to have been able to traverse it, and explore it in all
directions. A residence of a few years would at least be required to
investigate everything thoroughly; and all those who have resided in
the country hitherto have suffered so much by the unhealthy climate,
that they have been obliged to leave it as quickly as possible,
to avoid the danger threatening the life of every European.
The various species of birds arriving in this country at the
different seasons of the year, and leaving it again at others,
are very numerous, and vary from the little colibri to the gigantic
ostrich. As they are not often frightened by the noise of fire-arms
they are not timid and may be easily shot; but if the traveller
sojourn for some days in one spot and pursue them with his gun, they
then of course soon become as shy here as in other places. Several
of the birds, and this applies more especially to the varieties
of pigeons, are so little accustomed to fire-arms that, although
many will fall at one shot, those which are not hit will remain
quietly perched on the tree. I must also draw the attention of
all travellers who may be sportsmen to the fact that the birds
become very shy if they observe a Turkish attire and a red cap or
turboosh, whereas if the sportsman wear a blue shirt and brown cap,
after the fashion of Upper-Egypt, he may be sure of killing double
the number he would in the dress above-mentioned. The black storks
occupy nearly every house in the villages; each hut is furnished
with a basket, which forms the apex of its roof, and serves these
birds as a nest, thus saving them the trouble of building for
themselves. He who might venture to do an injury to a stork would
expose himself to the greatest abuse from the natives; and were
the dread of the white men not overawing, he might even subject
himself to sensible proofs of their displeasure; for, as regards
these birds, they are as superstitious as the people in some parts
of Europe about the white stork. They are in consequence so tame
that they run about the villages like geese, and I frequently had
to throw my stick at them when collecting insects in their company
in a meadow, for they were far quicker in picking them up than
I was, and would frequently snatch a beetle away from me when I
had my hand upon it. The sacred ibis, of the ancient Egyptians,
appears to be a native of Kordofan: it builds its nest on trees
in the villages, and I have often counted from twenty to fifty of
them on one tree. I have altogether seldom seen animals living as
peacably among themselves as these birds. They hatch their young,
two in number,—rarely three,—during the rainy season; they
enjoy the same good opinion of men as the storks, but even to a
greater degree; for when I was about to kill a few, near the house
of Sultan Temé, at Lobeid, he said very solemnly: “Rather shoot
all the fowls in my court, than one of these ibises, which have
come to my trees to build their nests, and sought my protection.”
When the young birds are full grown, the old ones migrate, and
return with the first fall of rain. I could not find out where
they resort to during the dry season; in the time of the ancient
Egyptians, they evidently went to Egypt, as the many thousands of
ibis-vases met with at Sakara and in other situations would prove;
but at present they are never to be seen in that country. I have,
indeed, occasionally observed a single bird of this species on the
White River, as late as the month of April; but I suppose these to
have been invalids incapable of following the flight.
The ostrich may be reckoned among the most useful birds; for its
flesh is eaten, and that of the young birds is of very pleasant
flavour. The price of a young ostrich is five piasters (1_s._ 5½_d._
sterling). The eggs are also eaten, one of them is sufficient to
satisfy four persons. The egg-shells are exported as an article of
commerce, but the feathers return the largest profits. A full-grown
ostrich will always yield three rottoli of black feathers, and
half a rottolo of white plumes. The greater number of these birds
are caught in Caccie in snares, placed on a plate, matted from the
wood of a species of willow, perforated with holes, and buried in
the sand. The gin itself, which is laid upon this plate, is bound
to the nearest tree, or to a piece of wood. As many as fifty of
these are laid in a certain spot. If an ostrich, or a gazelle,
happen to stray into these parts, and set its foot on one of the
plates, the snare opens; and as soon as the leg is withdrawn,
it closes again, and the animal is caught. It would, indeed, be
almost impossible to capture one of these birds in any other way,
for they are exceedingly cautious, and very quick of sight; as soon,
therefore, as they descry a man approaching them, they immediately
take to flight. To overtake the bird, even with the fleetest steed,
would be a matter of great difficulty, for, scarcely touching the
ground with its feet, it runs so fast, that it appears almost to
fly; and the illusion is still greater when the motion of its short
wings is observed, which it uses as propellers.
The natives of Kordofan draw but little profit from all these
products of the animal and vegetable kingdoms; for, independently
of their not understanding how to turn the various articles to
advantage, or rather to perfect them by art or industry, they are
too lazy to do any thing more, than is necessary for their absolute
maintenance. Very few artisans are, consequently, to be found among
them: they consist of a few weavers of calicos, smiths, tanners,
and potters. The cottons the natives produce are not sufficient for
the supply of the country, hence the greater part of the consumption
is imported from Dongola, Egypt, and Europe. Not that there is a
deficiency of the necessary means for cultivating a larger quantity
of raw cotton, or for manufacturing it; but they will not take
the slightest trouble about it, because all their labour would be
purchased by the government at an arbitrary price, which would not
repay the workman for his trouble, and they, therefore, prefer to
lie about idle all the day long, or to pass their time with useless
games. It is really an interesting sight to watch a weaver at his
work; and I know not which is more astonishing, the simplicity of
the implements with which he toils, or the patience he displays in
his occupation. The weavers can only work in the dry season, because
their houses are too small to allow them to fit up a loom in them;
they consequently place the frames close to the door of their huts,
and work in that situation. An European weaver, even the most expert
in his art, would be greatly puzzled if put to one of these looms,
and would scarcely know how to begin his work, so primitive are they
in construction. Four stout sticks, are driven into the ground,
to which the reed and other parts of the apparatus are attached;
the weft is expanded at a distance of scarcely one span from the
ground, bound to a pole to which a stone is attached, and then drawn
along with it. The frame is of the dimensions the piece manufactured
is required to have, and is sometimes twenty ells in length. The
weaver stands in a pit before his loom, and casts his shuttle at
a venture. With every second throw his thread breaks, and then it
takes him double the time to tie it again; but nothing disturbs
the equanimity of the weaver, he ties his knot with the greatest
patience, and again throws his shuttle, again breaks his thread,
and again readjusts it. Thus it is impossible to conceive the space
of time required to finish a piece about twenty ells in length. They
do not understand how to manufacture woven goods from goats’ hair.
The smiths are the most industrious workmen; they fabricate all the
necessary household and agricultural implements, are at the same time
miners, and smelters of ore; for they dig the iron from the bowels
of the earth themselves, and melt it after a very simple process;
but they do not understand how to harden it. They have no fixed
workshops, but arrange them wheresoever they may happen to find work;
the fitting up of the forge costs them but little trouble, for a
large stone is soon found on which they place a piece of iron, this
serves them then as an anvil; close to this essential instrument,
they construct a small furnace, to which a leather sack, answering
the purpose of bellows, is attached. They make no heavy objects,
for, beyond spear-heads, hashiash, (an agricultural implement,)
double-edged, and arrow-pointed knives of various sizes, they
cannot produce any other article. Their work is not well rewarded;
for the minerals, such as the iron or charcoal cost them scarcely
anything, and thus they can only bring their manual labour into
calculation. Their tools are not particularly complicated, and
consist merely of a few hammers and of a pair of pincers.
The potters manufacture one single kind of vessel (_Bursha_) in
form of a bomb, but with rather a wider neck, and this is used
as a receptacle for water, for boiling, roasting, and for keeping
merissa in; they make, further, a round and rather deepened plate
(_Doga_) for baking bread, and pipe-heads more of a German shape
than like the Turkish bowls; all these articles are, however,
perfectly plain without the slightest attempt even at ornament.
There are many tanners in the province who tan the leather by a
most simple process, in which they employ the Garat,[65] the pod
of a tree. They also manufacture the water-holders, the larger of
which, are termed _Rai_, the smaller _Ckir’beh_;[66] the latter
are generally made of goats’ hides, as in Egypt; the goats being
skinned for this purpose like hares; the interior of the skin is
merely tanned, whilst the hair is left externally; leathern bags
are also fabricated to serve the office of churns. Of leather they
produce further sandals, shoes, rahads, and, lastly, shields. The
rahad is a girdle fringed by many thousands of small straps,
and is generally one, or half a span in length; the girls wear
these fringes round their loins, and they are usually decorated
with agates and small shells. Shields are mostly manufactured
from the hide of the large antelopes; they are of an ovoid shape,
furnished with a protuberance in the centre. On the inner surface,
a piece of wood bisects them longitudinally, to which two straps are
attached to receive the arm; they are very stout, for a thrust with a
spear or a sabre-cut scarcely ever penetrates them. The sheep-skins
they tan very neatly, and impart to them a red, yellow, green, or
other optional colour, by means of the juice of certain plants;
the natives bind their shoes, ornament their sandals, or sew up
charms with this coloured leather; they also prepare sheaths for
knives and other articles from it.
The women plait some very ornamental articles from the foliage of
the _Palma Thebaica_, further, bread-baskets named _Tabak_, covers
for dishes, mats, &c. They dye the leaves in different colours,
and decorate them with patterns that are really astonishing. They
also manufacture funnels for straining merissa, and baskets for
keeping milk. The latter so densely worked that, when the fluid
has once permeated them, they do not even leak. Every description
of work performed in this country is very simple, and it is only
to be wondered at, that the natives are able to produce thus much,
as they labour under a deficiency of implements of all kinds.
CHAPTER XIV.
THE CAPITAL OF KORDOFAN, LOBEID.
Lobeid, or Labayet, as it is also termed, is a town composed of
several villages, from one of which it neither differs in its
external appearance nor internal arrangements, excepting, perhaps,
in being of greater extent. The houses, like those of the villages,
are mere huts of straw, some few of them are, indeed, built of
clay, but not one single house is of stone. The former town of
the same name was totally destroyed by the Turks when they took
possession of Kordofan, and the six villages, of which the capital
of this province now consists, were subsequently built on the same
site. Although these villages are not separated from each other by
the intervention of a large space, yet each of them forms a separate
quarter, and is inhabited by a distinct class of men. _Wady Naghele_,
the first of these, is entirely inhabited by the Dongolavi and
foreign merchants; _El-Orta_, the camp, also named the town of
the Turks, is the quarter in which the government buildings are
situated, consisting of two Barracks, the arsenal, the hospital
and the residences of the officers, and of many married soldiers
living out of barrack; in this quarter of the town the Bazaar is
also seen. _Wady Soffie_ is the place of abode of the negroes who
immigrated with the Melik-Moussalem; _Takarir_ or _Takruri_, is
the village of the pilgrims, where the greater part of the negroes
from Pergu and other districts reside. In this part of the town the
straw-huts of _Abumedina_, the brother of the Sultan of Darfûr,[67]
are also situate. In _Kongeri_ those emigrants from Darfûr dwell,
who have become residents, and remained after the conquest of the
country by the Egyptian troops. The sixth village includes the new
buildings of the _Mogghrebeen_, who are not provided with barracks,
and have themselves built their own dwellings. These six villages
collectively form the town of Lobeid. I estimate the number of
inhabitants, exclusively of the military, at 12,000 souls. The
houses named in the language of the country, Tukkoli, are mostly
huts, similar to those described on a former occasion. The town
does not present a very pleasing appearance, and is, on the whole,
exceedingly dull and dismal, for very few large houses are to be
seen, and not even one minaret, met with in nearly every village in
Egypt, which, with the date-trees planted around them, give those
villages at least a more cheerful aspect.
Nothing can be more monotonous than the appearance of the town during
the dry season, when the detached houses present themselves with all
their defects and meanness, and the scanty trees and gardens offer
no diversification of scenery; for the former then stand as bald as
brooms, and the latter are not even thought of. The burning sand,
moreover, serves to remind the traveller that he is in a desert,
and there is not the slightest object to be seen that might delight
his eye.
How marked is the contrast in the rainy season! It is difficult to
persuade yourself that it is the same place you have shortly before
seen standing in barren nakedness. All those spots, where nothing but
sand was to be observed before, are now clad with a most luxuriant
verdure, interspersed with the most beautiful flowers. The hedges
round the houses are interlaced with a variety of creepers and
twining plants, whose variegated flowers afford a most pleasing
spectacle. The environs of the houses are cultivated with dockn,
which stands so high that the tops of the roofs are only to be
seen projecting beyond it; not a single house can be descried at a
distance, and the whole country appears like one large forest. The
entire town then resembles a park intersected by mazes, rendering
it difficult for a stranger to extricate himself, or to find out
a particular house. His embarrassment is greatly augmented by the
circumstance of there being several thousands of small straw huts,
and by the close resemblance of the houses to each other—for all
are built alike—so that the stranger experiences much trouble
in even recognising the house he may be lodging in. But all this
is in its way unique, and diverts the eye. The traveller wanders
with pleasure through these thousands and thousands of intricate
paths, and is delighted at every step with the beautiful variations
in the scene. At this time, however, the tropical showers set in,
bringing a number of disagreeables in their train; for the rain falls
so suddenly, and in such abundance, that the soil in some places
cannot absorb the water with sufficient rapidity; and thus streams
are formed, or the ground is ploughed up into beds, which fill in
an instant, rendering the intercourse between one quarter and the
other, or even from house to house, very difficult, if they do not
totally impede all communication. There are no bridges, not even
as much as boards laid down to facilitate the passage over these
brooks, and he who is obliged by business to go out immediately
after the rain, has no alternative but to wade through all these
streams and puddles barefooted. It would be impracticable at this
period to ride a donkey even, for notwithstanding their sureness
of foot, the ground is so uneven that they must tread into holes,
and both man and beast would run the risk of being drowned. Nearly
every year there are instances of loss of life from men venturing to
go from hut to hut by night, and it is really advisable to remain
confined to the house until these torrents are lost in the sand,
as is very soon the case.
As soon as the harvest is concluded, and the stubble is quite dry,
the natives proceed to burn the remaining herbage. This occupation
offers a very singular spectacle. The grass is in part collected
into heaps, and old and young congregate around them to witness
the exhibition which ensues: the pile is ignited, and a dense smoke
issues from it. Disturbed by the fumes, and frightened by the noise
of the multitude, thousands of locusts, which had lain concealed in
the grass, fly up, but are quickly seized upon by the bystanders,
impaled and roasted, and offered for sale in the market-place, at the
price of five for one para or hassasch; they constitute a favourite
dish with the natives, by whom they are greedily devoured. After
this act of purification the place again presents itself to view
in all its nakedness, and many other matters come to light, which
had hitherto been hidden by the grass: bones of men and animals lie
scattered about in all the roads, for no one thinks it worth his
trouble to inter them. The cause of this barbarity will be readily
understood when it is known that, as soon as a slave dies, a rope is
bound round his foot, by which he is dragged out of the hut with as
little ceremony as a dead beast, and scraped into the sand anywhere,
or even left to decompose in the grass until the hyænas come to gnaw
his bones in the night; the remains are devoured in the morning by
the dogs, two or more of which may not unfrequently be seen fighting
over a human arm or foot. The hyænas are really in some respects
a blessing to these countries, they are, in fact, the scavengers,
consume all the dead bodies and garbage, and thus prevent the air
from being poisoned with miasmata and nauseous vapours. A fallen
animal is treated in the same manner as a dead slave; it is thrown
on to the neighbours’ territory, and is likewise devoured in
the night by the beasts of prey; whilst the remainder is enjoyed
during the day by the hungry dogs, in company with greedy vultures,
eagles, and other rapacious birds. The places of sepulture are not
held sacred by these uninvited guests; for the dead bodies being
generally very superficially covered over with earth, they are
disinterred at night by the hyænas and ravenous dogs, and totally
consumed, or the remains are left exposed in the high roads.
Lobeid counts five mosques, only one of which is a brick
building. This is situated in the quarter of Wady-Naghele; it
is quite a plain edifice, without that decoration so generally
observed about the places of worship in Egypt. All the other
public buildings, as also the houses belonging to the chief Turks,
are simple huts of clay, differing from the others merely in
their internal arrangements, which consist, however, only in the
construction of a few divans. There are three barracks at Lobeid,
constituted by a series of straw-huts, likewise about fifty in
number, which are enclosed by a fence, furnished with an entrance,
the gate of which is represented by a large branch of a tree. The
hospital, that terror of all the soldiery, is also erected of
clay. One of the largest buildings in Lobeid is the governor’s
residence. It is distinguished from the other houses only by its
magnitude, and a rather more comfortable arrangement of its interior,
for in construction it resembles all the other buildings. There is,
in fact, no choice of material; thus the palaces of the great, and
the hovels of the lower orders, are raised of clay, and their outer
walls covered with a coating of cow-dung. Besides a large saloon
and court, the government-house has an orangery. In the court,
at the back of the house, the divan, or chamber of audience, is
situated, where public business is transacted, and the visits are
received of foreigners and natives, as also of all subordinates,
who, according to Eastern custom, are obliged to do honour to the
governor periodically. To the left of this saloon is the lesser
divan, as it is called, in which a captain disposes of the less
important matters, or arranges disputes, and other trifling affairs,
that the governor may not be unnecessarily troubled. The scriptoria
of the Coptic secretaries, met with in all Mehemed Ali’s divans are
situate on the left of the court. During my residence in Kordofan,
Mahommed Bey, colonel of the first regiment of the line, was at
the same time civil and military governor of the province. This
man, a Circassian by birth, who was brought as a slave to Egypt,
became a mameluke of Mehemed Ali’s, and in a short time rose to
his present high station. He is a man of very limited capacity,
without the slightest education, and is entirely governed by his
dependants and flatterers. Besides his ignorance, he possessed a
very large share of pride, and knew how to keep up the appearance
of great importance and dignity; he passed, however, the greater
part of his time in conversation with a fakeér, to whom he paid
far more attention than to his other subordinates, and whose visits
were far more agreeable to him than those of his officers. He could
not write at all, could read but little, and only understood how
to make the impression of his kashef[68] (seal). If instructions,
or other orders, arrived from Cairo, his secretary, a copt, was
obliged to read them aloud, and when he came to a passage which
was to be kept secret, he stopped him, and ordered him to finish
it in his private room; the reports for Egypt were then laid before
him to seal with his kashef: the remainder of his time he passed in
smoking, and drinking coffee; he very rarely walked in the open air,
or rode. To drink twenty or thirty cups of coffee daily was to him
a trifle, for as soon as a visitor arrived, he merely looked at the
attendants in the apartment, who understood his meaning instantly,
and brought coffee and pipes, the former was kept in an adjacent room
continually on the fire. It is a rule and should be made general to
pay the governor visits of etiquette, as they are termed, at certain
times, for the Turks attach great importance to this custom, and
a neglect of this mark of respect might give offence. Very often
visitors arrive, who, after a mute salutation, sit down, as soon
as invited to do so, drink the coffee presented to them, and in
a short time rise, taking their departure as mutely as they came,
with a silent greeting.
The ammunition, and other military stores, are contained in an
appropriate building, enclosed by a mud wall, and surrounded by a
fosse, which is, however, scantily supplied with water during three
months, and remains empty for the remainder of the year. The wall
is constructed of clay, and might easily be breached by stones. It
may be imagined what superintendence is there prevalent; and it is
really astonishing that an invasion is not undertaken on the part of
the natives of Darfour to revenge themselves for the loss of their
stolen camels, more especially at the time of the slave-hunts, when
nearly the whole of the military force is absent, and the entire
garrison of Kordofan does not consist of six hundred men. They
might very soon, and with but little trouble at that time, capture
or destroy all the military supplies, and before a reinforcement
could be despatched from the Nuba mountains, the enemy might plunder
and sack everything without meeting with the slightest resistance.
Opposite the government buildings the gallows is erected. This engine
of civilization is composed of two posts driven vertically into the
ground, and surmounted by a cross-beam, to which the victims of a
rigid penal law are suspended, without further ceremony. Not far
from the fatal scaffold is an elevation, or clay mound, furnished
with a few steps, where the priest reads a prayer on high-feasts, the
service being only attended by the male population of the town. The
Soock, or proper market-place, is contiguous to this mound. It
would be an egregious fallacy to imagine that order reigned here
predominant, as in other towns in the equally uncivilized East;
for not only are all objects intended for sale jumbled pell-mell
together, and exposed without consideration to the inclemencies
of the weather, and other destructive influence, but it costs,
moreover, indescribable trouble to obtain even such articles as
you may be willing to purchase. Close to this market-place on
the right, stands the only coffee-house in the whole province
of Kordofan. In the year 1838 it was closed, and no tenant was
to be found for a considerable time on account of the high rent
demanded by the government; the price of coffee had also risen at
this period to eighteen piasters (five shillings and threepence)
the rottolo (about three quarters of a pound), as none had arrived
from Abyssinia. In the year 1839 the establishment was again opened
by the new governor Yussuff-Bey, in consideration of this beverage
being so indispensable to the Turkish officers.
The remaining store-houses consist of three walls of clay covered
in by a thatched roof; the goods are here laid down on the sand
and exposed, as I before mentioned, to all weathers. The upper part
of the market-place is appropriated to the sale of dockn, camels,
cows, sheep, goats, asses, and other domestic animals; next to these
may be seen the djelabi with the commodity they have brought from
Cairo lying on the sand; then come the water-dealers, and lastly,
at either side of the soock, the women exhibit themselves, sitting
down in four or six rows, to sell sour milk, butter, lard, garden and
wild fruits; they bring also in addition to the articles mentioned,
tobacco pipe-bowls, eggs, etc., for sale; the stands of the dealers
in wood and grass are contiguous to these, and occupy a large extent
of the market-place, for as wood and grass may be collected by any
one, there is considerable competition in this branch of trade. The
portion of the market occupied by the women, affords a most singular
sight, for they sit crowded together without order or regard for
personal comfort, and the small vacant space is densely filled with
buyers, who will not budge an inch to make room for each other; thus,
in order to move from place to place, you have, literally speaking,
to walk over the heads of the women, cowering down on the ground,
and they allow this want of gallantry without a murmur. Altogether,
that quarrelling, so common in Egyptian markets, is never to be
heard here. Beside the retailers and venders, the public criers must
be mentioned; these people deal in old clothes and other articles,
and have no permanent stand, but holding the object for sale high up
in their hands, dispose of it according to the custom in other towns
in Egypt, to the highest bidder. This description of auction is not
carried on at a fixed place, for the auctioneer, bawling out the
price last bid, presses through the crowd of human beings, and runs
from place to place until an advance is made, whereupon he is obliged
to return to the former bidder, and inform him that his offer has
been superseded. It is very remarkable that these criers can always
accurately find out the man who has made a bid for the article in
question, and thus expressed a wished to become a purchaser, in the
immense crowd. If no one advance on the last offer the article put
up for sale is delivered after several perambulations to the highest
bidder. This species of auction is the public sale in common vogue in
Egypt. If an European die leaving many effects, a formal auction is
advertised by his respective consul, and the chattels are publicly
sold in the same manner as in Europe; inconsiderable relics are,
however, disposed of by the criers above-mentioned. Market lasts at
Lobeid generally from three o’clock in the afternoon until sunset;
for the heat during the day being insupportable, no one leaves his
house without cogent reasons, before three in the afternoon, and it
would thus be useless for the merchants and dealers to congregate
in the market-place at an early hour.
Provisions and articles of domestic economy produced in the country
are, generally speaking, cheap; but in Lobeid, as in all other
capitals, they are more expensive than in the environs, where they
may be procured at a distance of eight or twelve miles from the town,
at two-thirds of their cost in the market-place. A large sheep,
the price of which is from fifteen to eighteen piasters in Lobeid,
may be bought in the villages, at a distance of not quite twelve
miles from the town, for six piasters at the utmost, and the same
observation applies proportionately to all other provisions. The
price of the finest camels is on an average one hundred and fifty
piasters, that of ordinary animals from forty to eighty piasters
(from eight to sixteen shillings). The most revolting scene on the
Soock, is the sale of slaves, which takes place every day throughout
the year. The unfortunate being offered for sale is led about like
any other commodity by the crier, who expatiates upon the beauty,
or other characteristics of the slave, and walking before him,
bawls out the price. If a purchaser present himself, he enters
upon an examination of his fellow creature, as we should examine
a head of cattle, in Europe; he looks at his teeth, eyes, hands,
and feet, and inquires into his age, place of birth, and in short,
into every circumstance which might influence his price while the
unfortunate wretch follows the crier like a dog, anxiously awaiting
his future fate. A mother may not be separated from the infant at her
breast, but children of three or four years of age may be disposed
of separately; the latter are very reasonable; their price varies
only from thirty to sixty piasters (eight and sixpence to seventeen
shillings). Full-grown slaves fluctuate according to the supply
of the market; girls and boys from ten to fifteen years of age,
are in the greatest request, and cost from one hundred to three
hundred piasters; if there be few for sale, and many Djelabi are
about to travel to Cairo, the price, of course, rises. There are
certain conditions under which a slave may be returned to the vender,
_e. g._ if he have offensive breath, or snore in his sleep, or be
troubled with incontinence of urine, for any one of these vices he
may be sent back at the expiration of the third day; should a female
slave be pregnant, the term is somewhat prolonged. The slave-trade is
not always carried on in retail, for the Djelabi buy slaves in lots;
on these occasions, however, the individuals are singly examined,
and the aged and infirm are separated from the flock. The chief
object is to have as many young girls and boys as possible in a
lot, and to be able to transport them safely to Egypt; thus every
one in purchasing a male or female slave, looks chiefly to their
age, and a boy or girl, beyond the thirteenth or fifteenth year,
is seldom sold in the bazaar of Cairo or Alexandria; every one, in
fact, prefers bringing them up according to his own taste, and for
this purpose selects the youngest. The older women and men exposed
for sale in the bazaar, of the towns above named, are mostly such
as are resold by their masters for some particular defect, and it
is by no means, therefore, advisable to purchase them.
The soock, or market is the only place of diversion for the European
or stranger in general, at Lobeid. Besides the pleasing spectacle
afforded by the bustle of the place, the crowd, and various groups of
dealers and Djelabs, all the Turkish officers, Coptic secretaries,
and the few foreign merchants collect in the market-place, around
the single coffee-house we have before mentioned, where each man
endeavours to surpass the other in retailing news. Although deep
in the interior of Africa, there is no lack of news from the most
distant parts of the world; and even when at the time of the heavy
rains the communication with Egypt is interrupted, intelligence may
be heard every day from that quarter; sometimes it consists of a
most palpable tissue of lies; yet it is greedily devoured by many a
patient ear, because agreeable to the majority of the audience. The
report usually circulates that Mehemed Ali is at war with the Turks
in Syria, and carrying on warfare at the same time in Arabia, and
is beaten everywhere; then it is generally added, that the regiment
quartered at Lobeid would receive orders by the next dromedary to
march to Egypt. This is, of course, most pleasing intelligence to
the Turkish officers, who are ardently longing for a release, and is
bruited about with innumerable variations and additions. Then they
talk about England, Germany, Russia, and France, these being the only
countries in Europe with which the Turks are acquainted. In one or
the other of these states there is sure to be always war declared by
the Grand Sultan, because the sultan of the country which happens to
form the topic of conversation has failed to pay the tribute due to
Constantinople; for the majority of the Turks still uphold the absurd
opinion that these four countries are tributary to the Grand Sultan
of Constantinople. Thus the conversation turns upon these political
questions. If a sudden shower should happen to come on when least
expected; for the rain, as in all tropical countries, generally
falls in torrents, and, indeed, without the slightest premonitory
sign, so that it is difficult even to reach a place of shelter, the
confusion thus created would excite the most hypochondriacal person
to laughter. The mass of human beings who stood, or sat, crowded
together like a swarm of locusts, are in an instant scattered in all
directions. The screams of the women, afraid of losing their goods
in the crowd or of seeing them spoiled by the rain; the cries of the
children who have lost their way, and are in search of their parents;
the alertness of the men, who like all the rest dread the rain more
than blows, and endeavour to escape as quickly as they can, all tend
to render the scene of confusion so ludicrous, that the most stern
spectator would be involuntarily disposed to laugh. It is not the
fear of ruining their garments that induces them to scamper away so
fast from the rain, for the most of them have no clothes to spoil,
and the Djelabi merely wear a shirt, which the contact of a little
pure water, moreover, could not harm; and the Turks and foreigners
who are entirely dressed wear linen clothing, which water cannot
injure; and yet they stand in as much awe of every drop of rain
as if burning sparks were falling among them. They are impressed
with the absurd idea that to get once a little wet is sufficient
to produce a fever. Their apprehension is, strictly speaking, not
so very erroneous, for the slightest cold during the rainy season
is sufficient to stretch the most healthy man on a bed of sickness,
from which it will be very doubtful whether he recover.
High feasts and festivals create no variation in the ordinary scene,
as a general rule, and none of those fantasias[69] so common in
Egypt are seen on Sundays and holidays at Lobeid; the only amusement,
as I have before observed, consists in the dances and songs of the
women and girls, after sunset, when every one returns to his house.
In the quarter of the town named _Kongeri_, which is inhabited by
the men of Darfour, dwells the sheikh Sultan Tehme, a descendant of
the sultans of Darfour. His present occupation is very ill-suited
to his illustrious birth, for he is the mutilator of those poor
boys who subsequently serve as guards in the various harems. This
sheikh possesses two of the largest copper kettle-drums I ever saw
in my life; they were presented to him by Mehemed Ali, as a mark of
distinction. These drums are beaten all day long on every Friday
and festival; but their sound is by no means very agreeable to
those who are not over fond of music. This sheikh presents a very
imposing appearance, for though black as the night, he has a very
luxuriant beard, not very general among the negroes, which he dies
with a pomatum of a bright red colour; it forms a striking contrast
with his black shining face. When he rides into the country his
horse is preceded by two musicians blowing during the whole march
on a leathern pipe with eight holes.
When I arrived at Lobeid I only found one single European living,
Dr. Iken, whom I have before mentioned, a native of Hanover, who,
like most of the Europeans, after a short residence there paid his
tribute to the climate. He is buried in the court of his own house,
which is situated in the quarter or village of _Takarir_, near
the residence of the sultan Abumedina of Darfûr. The government
has appropriated his house to themselves, and converted it into
a magazine for leather. Seven other Europeans, besides Dr. Iken,
breathed their last at Lobeid, and are buried on the north side of
the hospital square. I planted a tree on each grave, and had already
fixed upon a place of rest near them. After I had recovered from my
dangerous illness in a slight measure, and was just able to creep
along with the assistance of a stick, my favourite promenade was to
those graves; they were the only relics of Europeans I could find in
that distant country, and I was under the influence of a peculiar
feeling when arriving at those hillocks; I knew myself in the
company of Europeans, although departed from this world; I fancied
myself in reality in their presence, and I could have believed that
they were listening with sympathy to my soft complaints, heard my
longing voice for my distant fatherland, and were congratulating me
on my recovery and speedy departure from this country, so fatal to
Europeans. When I paid my last visit to this spot I was overpowered
by that same feeling we experience when parting with our friends.
Taking a summary view of Lobeid it appears only to be a large
village; the barren country around it presents a slightly excavated
surface, and the rain-water flowing towards the village forms a
torrent which runs towards the north, but soon disappears in the
sand. The environs are cultivated with dockn. Lobeid offers many
spectacles rendering it interesting to the traveller, the chief of
which is the concourse of men from the most distant parts of Africa,
even from Timbuctoo, and other negro states as yet totally unknown
to Europeans. Before the first rays of the sun emerge from the sea
of desert sand, the whole of the population is on foot, and each
man begins the business of the day; with the majority, however,
this only consists in lying on the sand, or visiting his neighbour
when the same interesting occupation is performed in company. The
flocks are driven to their pasture by a shepherd riding on his ox,
the slaves are led to work with chains on their feet, caravans are
passing and repassing, and all this affords an unique exhibition. In
the streets songs are heard everywhere, even the female slave at
the Morak sings her plaintive ditty of attachment to her home,
whilst grinding the corn; in fact all is life and motion as in a
beehive; but from 11 o’clock A.M. till 3 o’clock P.M., during
the hot months, quietude and silence reign in the streets, and the
whole town resembles a city of the dead; every one seeks shelter
from the fierce rays of a vertical sun in his own hut, and there
enjoys his rest, for it is impossible to exist out of the shade;
only a few hungry dogs may then be seen running about in the streets,
and even they do not remain long in the open air, but seek a shady
place with all speed, where they may protect themselves from the
burning heat. This recess lasts until 3 o’clock, when every one,
refreshed by his siesta, returns to his occupations. The streets now
become again as animated as they were at sunrise, but the most lively
scene is then in the market-place; this state of activity lasts until
the sun sets, when the inhabitants all retire again to their houses
to recover from the fatigues of the day. The streets become suddenly
empty, for with sunset night closes in; there is no twilight, and
every one is anxious for repose. This silence continues until they
have all finished their frugal meal, for the poorest man finds the
necessaries of life in his hut, or should he really suffer want, goes
to his nearest neighbour, where his wants are willingly supplied. As
soon as the repast is over, large fires may be seen burning before
the huts far and near; drums, beating of hands, and songs resound
in all directions, and the girls and young men congregate for the
merry dance, which is kept up until midnight; and then the whole
town once more becomes as suddenly silent, for each man, with but
few exceptions, betakes himself again to rest. The streets are now,
indeed, wrapped in the silence of the grave, save that the stillness
of the night is occasionally interrupted by the howl of a hyaena,
or the yelling of the timid dogs. This mode of life is repeated
daily, and but rarely undergoes even the slightest variation.
CHAPTER XV.
COMMERCE.
The monopoly enjoyed by the Egyptian government in this province
totally impedes trade in general. The chief articles of commerce
are not only all bought by the authorities, who are, moreover,
protected by a law prohibiting any private person from bringing them
into the market; but the immense duties levied on the goods render
it impossible to transport them to Egypt; this rule especially
applies to ivory. Every one is, therefore, forced to sell to the
government,—the most arbitrary species of monopoly, or rather
worse, inasmuch as the individual suffers an outlay in capital,
freight, and duty. The country might produce indigo, opium, sugar,
and many other articles, which would yield an immense profit,
both to private persons and to the administration, for the soil
requires but little cultivation, and brings forth every plant in
great luxuriance; but the onus placed upon the province by the
despotic government discourages the individual from attempting more
than trusting entirely to nature. The whole population live in fear,
and are not one day sure of their property; thus every one looks
only to the moment, and troubles himself very little about his
successor. All the produce met with in commerce is in its natural
state, and few manufactured goods are ever seen beyond some solitary
cottons, and objects in leather.
The articles of export are: gum, hides, senna-leaves, ivory,
rhinoceros’-horns, cattle, tamarinds, ostrich-feathers,
ostrich-eggs, gold in rings and in grain, water-bags, salt, tobacco,
sim-sim, cisme, and slaves. The first three articles named are
the most lucrative in a commercial point of view, and monopolized,
of course, by the government. The gum Arabic is collected in the
forests a few months after the expiration of the rainy season,
and we may say by force; for the government pays the cantaro of
forty-four oock’ckahs, equivalent to one hundred and ten pounds,
with fifteen piasters (four shillings and fourpence) only. They might
greatly increase their profits if they were to remunerate the labour
better, and to pay more attention to this branch of trade, although
it must be allowed to a certain extent to rest under the influence of
the weather, for if much rain fall, the trees are the more prolific;
but the collection itself is performed with the utmost carelessness,
as the people employed are driven to this work by force, and receive
but small wages. Add to this, that whole forests are being annually
hewn down, and converted into arable land, whilst no one dreams of
replanting trees, a provision considered a work of supererogation,
and left entirely to nature.
If the export of gum and ivory to Europe should ever become a
free-trade, merely subjected to duty, these two articles will yield
a very considerable profit to those who may have the good fortune to
benefit first by this alteration, and who take the trouble to repair
to the spot. The gathering takes place, as I have before-mentioned,
at the close of the rainy season, in the months of November,
December, and January; the gum obtained is of the finest quality,
and is erroneously named gum Arabic. Kordofan yields, in average
years, from three thousand five hundred to four thousand loads of
this product, or from ten to fourteen thousand hundred-weight, at
forty-four oock’ckahs. I have been assured by many persons that
an addition of six thousand hundred-weight might be made to this
quantity, if the labour of the persons employed in the collection
were but better remunerated. Before the introduction of the monopoly,
it was sold in the following manner, a plan which will be again
pursued as soon as the present statutes are repealed. A number of
men, women, and children, gather the raw gum in the forest into
baskets, capable of containing twelve rottoli (the rottolo about
three quarters of a pound). Forty of these baskets constitute
a camel-load, which weighs four hundred and eighty rottoli, and
reckoning the tare of the cases at five hundred rottoli; the cost
of this quantity would vary from five and a half to six Spanish
dollars. These five hundred rottoli[70] cannot be transported by
camel across the desert to Debba, on the Nile, because the load
would be too heavy; for three to four contari, at one hundred
rottoli, form the average load of each camel. Another expedient,
which might be turned to very good account, would be to pack the
gum in ox-hides instead of cases; for the government buys dry hides
at three piasters (ten pence halfpenny), and at Alexandria they are
sold at thirty piasters (six shillings and sixpence). It would be
imperatively necessary to employ the natives in the purchase of gum,
sending them out in all directions into the various villages; but
I would advise every one to be on his guard against the Dongolavi,
and it should be a rule in general not to trust any native with
much money, for it would stand a very good chance of being totally
lost. Those who are furnished with articles in consumption in the
country may effect one-third of their outlay in goods, and will
thus realize an average profit of fifty per cent.
The place best adapted for the purchase of gum would be Bara, and
I adjoin a list of the expenses of freightage and duties thence to
Cairo, as defrayed before the introduction of the monopoly:—
£. _s._ _d._
To outlay for four hundred and eighty rottoli
(about three and a half hundred-weight), at
forty-four oock’ckahs 1 0 0
Freight to Dongola 1 0 0
„ from Dongola to Wady Chalfa 0 14 0
„ per boat to Cairo 0 4 8
Duty in Kordofan 0 8 9
„ Darawi 0 11 0
„ Cairo 0 5 0
----------------
4 3 5
As the export duty is, according to the existing laws, only twelve
shillings, _ad valorem_, the customs would amount only to sixteen
shillings per hundred-weight to Alexandria.
In the countries bordering on Kordofan, as Nuba, Takele, Kodero,
etc., the gum rots every year, because Mehemed Ali makes no use of
it, but is too avaricious to allow any other person to derive benefit
from it. The purchase might in those places be effected by barter.
IVORY.—Many of the merchants at Trieste, Marseilles, and Livorno,
are even at the present day of the opinion that the ivory imported,
_viâ_ the Cape of Good Hope, is found in the East Indies, and
have, therefore, given it the name of Asiatic ivory; that, on the
other hand, brought by way of Tripoli and Alexandria, they have
termed African ivory; whereas I can assure them, that more than
one-third, if not the half of the former, is, properly speaking,
African. During nineteen months of my travels in the interior of
Africa, I endeavoured to collect accurate information concerning
this article of commerce, and I think that my experience will prove
of sufficient interest to entitle me to give it at length. Mehemed
Ali monopolizes the trade in ivory, and thinks that he receives all
the ivory imported into his states from the centre of Africa; but he
is very much mistaken in this respect, for only that brought by the
caravans from Darfour, which usually reach Siut, in Upper Egypt, in
the months of February and March, is sold to the Viceroy, and this
merely from necessity, in order to enable the vendor to purchase
other articles with the net proceeds. In Kordofan, the very centre
of the ivory trade, he has thrown the trade open, but at the same
time very cunningly calculated that it must eventually come into his
hands, for, after the djelabi (merchants) have bought the ivory in
Kordofan, and defrayed all the expenses of its transport to Cairo,
he is the first to make them an offer for their stock, and, indeed,
at so low a price that they can hardly gain a small interest on
the capital laid out; hence very little ivory is brought to him
now-a-days through that source. Darfour, which receives ivory from
its tributary provinces, Runga, Kulla, Shala, Binga, Gimir, Sachana,
Yambusa, Dama, etc., as contribution, sells it in the country to the
merchants of Kobbe and El-Fasher. That which is collected at Pergu,
Bachermi, Kugo, and Niro, is annually forwarded to Tripoli. The
market price at Kobbe and El-Fasher, where large stores are always
kept, is 3_l._ 2_s._ 6_d._ the cantaro of 12 rottoli (= 88 lbs). The
purchase is likewise effected by barter against cottons from Dongola,
or articles of trade from Germany, viz., double-edged swords, red
cloth, amber, glass-beads, spikenard, wire, etc. From Darfour the
ivory is brought to Lobeid, the capital of Kordofan, and to Bara,
a commercial town in the same province, but the greater quantity
passes through the country to the shores of the Red Sea. In Kordofan,
the cantaro costs already 10_l._ 18_s._, including the duty. A great
deal is brought from Shabun and the Shilluk country to Kordofan,
where the djelabi of Lobeid and Bara become the possessors of it by
barter; the Bakkara (a nomadic tribe) also trade in ivory, and barter
it away to the djelabi above mentioned; to the Shilluks they give,
at the most, cottons from Dongola, glass beads, salt, and tobacco,
in exchange for it. All the ivory which passes through Kordofan,
whether directly or indirectly obtained, is forwarded to Suakim,
a sea-port on the Red Sea, under the 19° of northern latitude,
where it is received by Englishmen who have been quietly awaiting
its arrival, and have cast their net over sixteen hundred or two
thousand miles of the interior of Africa. The Englishman pays well
and promptly, hence he commands the market without any trouble;
whilst for Mehemed Ali remains only that which, for want of time, or
owing to some other circumstance, was not forwarded to Suakim. The
English have done all in their power, for a long time, to keep
secret the sources, whence they derive so large a quantity of this
commodity; thus they remained perfectly quiet at Suakim, where this
article of commerce was brought to them, avoiding the necessity
of exposing themselves to the unhealthy climate of the interior of
Africa, or rather of Kordofan. They have appointed agents at Suakim,
Indians by birth, who manage the business for two, or at the most
three, English houses established in India. In the year 1840,
an Englishman was stationed there transacting business, and he
was by no means pleased at finding the secret, which had stood the
test of so many years, at last discovered. The cantaro costs from
10_l._ to 12_l._, and scarcely a fourth part of it pays duty at
the customhouse in Suakim. Small coasting vessels act as lighters
to convey the cargo to the larger Arabian and Indian ships lying
off in readiness to receive it, which then sail for India directly.
At a distance of half a league from the shore of Abyssinia,
and two leagues from Arkiko, is an island in the possession of
the Viceroy of Egypt, named Massauwa, which forms, as it were,
the key of Abyssinia; for all the ivory brought from Abyssinia,
the Galla country, and the south-west and southern parts of Africa,
must pass through this island. The cargoes from Shoa (in southern
Abyssinia) and the neighbouring states, are discharged at Berbera
and Zeila, a town on the African coast. From these few remarks, it
may be easily deduced that the ivory passing from Africa to India,
and by the Cape, is not all Asiatic, although a large share of it
is certainly obtained in India. In conclusion, I must observe that,
when Mehemed Ali throws the trade open, the first buyers in Kordofan
will realize a very handsome profit; but they should rather pay the
cantaro of one hundred and fourteen rottoli, with seven hundred
and fifty piasters at Lobeid, than venture into the country of
the Shilluks, or to Shabun, Runga, or Darfour, where they might
certainly purchase it at half the price, but would incur a risk
which would decidedly overbalance the advantage. It would be no
less hazardous to send a native of Kordofan into these countries
to effect the purchase, for they are such infamous liars, more
especially the Dongolavi, that they will rather allow themselves
to be murdered than speak one word of truth: the goods, moreover,
or the money with which they might be intrusted, would be certainly
lost, as they will leave their wives and children for so favourable
an opportunity of cheating.
The djelabi, would, in like manner, raise the price of the ivory
considerably, as soon as they had an idea that the demand for this
commodity increased; hence it would probably be the most judicious
plan to come to an understanding with a Turkish officer quartered in
Kordofan, and to effect the acquisition in his name; the officers
would willingly lend themselves to this undertaking, without any
pretensions to a share in the profits, if they were only treated
to a few bottles of wine or good brandy; many honourable men are,
moreover, to be met with among the Turks, to whom the business might
fearlessly be intrusted. There would be no difficulty in entering
into Darfour or in reaching Kobbe, which is not the capital, but
merely the chief commercial town in the kingdom; nor would it be
impracticable to obtain ivory by purchase or barter there, or,
indeed, at El-Fasher, the capital, where large stores are kept;
but no one could answer for his return as long as Sultan Mohammed
Fadels is on the throne. Should the government ever devolve upon
his brother, Abumedina, Europeans would then have free ingress and
egress to the country, for he is favourably disposed towards the
Franks, and would willingly serve them. For this assertion I can
vouch, as I received the most unequivocal proofs of the kindness of
his disposition, at a time when my life was at stake. The further
expenses contingent upon this undertaking would be as follows:—
Piasters. Day’s journey.
To freight of one camel-load
of three to three and a half
cantari of one hundred rottoli,
from Lobeid to Debba on the Nile 60 16
To boat-hire thence to New
Dongola for one boat 30-60 4-6
To freight from New Dongola,
across the desert to Wady Chalfa 30-50 14-16
To freight from Wady Chalfa to the
Isle of Phylae on the first cataract 60-150 8-10
To freight to Assuan (the ancient
Syene), a distance of one and a half
hour’s march., per camel 3-4
To freight per boat from Assuan
to Cairo 400-1000 20-30
To freight, per boat, from Cairo
to Atfe 150-400 4-8
To freight, per boat, from Atfe
on the canal of Mahmudie 30-80 1
It must be mentioned in giving this estimate, that the boat-hire
would vary according to the size of the vessel employed, nor can
the time of the journey by water be accurately calculated, as
it depends in a great measure on the wind and the height of the
water of the Nile. As a general rule three months and a half may
be reckoned as the time required to reach Alexandria from Lobeid
in travelling with goods.
Tamarinds are an article to which the government attaches no value,
it consequently permits the export. In the years 1837, 1838,
and 1839, when, from some cause unknown to me, the inflorescence
dropped off and no pods were formed, the rottolo cost on the
spot three-quarters of a penny; and this was at a time when the
natives were compelled to import tamarinds from Darfour, as the
soil did not produce the necessary quantity for the consumption of
the country. In other years, taking an average harvest, a camel
load of three cantari will sell at one pound, The duty on this
article is trifling. I found the flowers taken in the form of tea,
a very excellent remedy, and am only astonished that this wholesome
beverage is not in more general use in Europe. Ostrich feathers may
be reckoned among the most profitable articles of commerce, when in
demand in Europe. The inhabitants of Caccie, a town on the borders of
Darfour, and of Haraza, and many other villages, occupy themselves
with the capture of these birds. An ostrich’s skin yields usually
about three rottoli of black feathers, and half a rottolo of white
plumes. Several sorts are parted off for sale, _e. g._: two-thirds
blacks, one-third whites, at 10_s_ 6_d_ to 13_s_ 6_d_ the rottolo;
greys at 5_s_ 3_d_; blacks at 2½ to 3 piasters; white plumes,
not of the best quality, from 2_l_ 2_s_ to 2_l_ 12_s_. The duty
on the feathers is one pound on the value in Kordofan, Darauve,
and Cairo. They are made up into small packages enclosed in the
skin of the bird; but great attention is required in the packing,
for it is almost incredible how the moth attacks these goods, it is,
therefore, indispensably necessary to air the feathers occasionally,
and to pepper them in the packing.
The government purchases all the oxhides and consigns them to Egypt;
it pays three piasters for each hide. There are no calf-skins in
commerce, as it is contrary to the koran to slaughter calves. Sheep
and goat skins for water-bags (Ckirbeh) constitute an article
of export trade; these water-bags are also manufactured from ox
leather, two of them generally form a camel load. Salt and tobacco
are articles of export to the Shilluks and Yaenky, and are considered
favourable objects for barter.
Sim-sim, whence an oil is expressed, is exported to Sennaar;
Cisme,[71] which grows in Kordofan, although that of a superior
quality comes from Takele, is exported to Egypt and the Levant. The
price is very low; about twenty paras (two-pence) the rottolo,
the same quantity is, however, paid in Cairo with four piasters
(one shilling). It is used as a remedy in diseases of the eye,
but great caution is necessary in purchasing this article; and it
should indeed be always subjected to close examination, for there
are several varieties in commerce, the fine grained specimens being
the best, and the coarse grained the inferior varieties.
Gold is a very important article of export, but not very profitable
at present, since the price has risen considerably. I am told
that the oock’ckah was sold at two hundred piasters before the
Turks entered the country; whereas the same quantity now costs three
hundred and seventy or four hundred piasters; at this price, from ten
to fifteen per cent. may be realized; the oock’ckah of Kordofan is
rather heavier than that of Sennaar. Gold is met with in commerce,
in rings varying in size, and also in grains; the latter variety
is enclosed in the quills of large birds of prey, and is generally
preferred to that in rings, which the natives have already began
to adulterate. The greatest quantity of this metal is brought from
the neighbourhood of Shabun, and from other southern provinces.
Horned cattle forms one of the chief exports, and is transported by
the government to Egypt in large droves, of which more than the half
perish on the road from want of proper care. Private individuals
cannot engage in this speculation, for it would be injudicious to
transport large herds, like those of the government, because attended
with enormous expense, as it would require magazines to be erected
at each day’s march between Debba and Cairo. Smaller droves are
forwarded to Sennaar and Dongola by private parties. The government
have even given up their large transports to Cairo. Camels are also
exported to Cairo, because the price of these animals is very low
in Kordofan.
The chief trade, before all the articles enumerated, is,
unfortunately, in slaves. The government and the Djelabi emulate
each other in doing all in their power to gain possession of
these unhappy beings by every possible method. The former, who
are wholesale dealers, resort to the most cruel practices to
seize upon slaves in large bodies;[72] whilst the Djelabi imitate
them on a smaller scale, and consider every species of cunning and
deception fair, where the object is to gain possession of these poor
wretches. The slaves of the Djelabi, however, are always treated
with more forbearance than those of the government, who are not
very particular about losing several hundred of their unfortunate
victims by positive ill-treatment, or no less blameable neglect;
whereas the Djelabi are compelled to use them more leniently, as the
death of each slave entails the loss of a small capital. Lobeid is
the centre of the slave trade, and market is, consequently, held
there daily. To this place slaves are brought, not only from the
neighbouring countries, but even from Kulla, Banda, Wuanga, Bachermi,
Bergu, Pegu, and more distant states, but not in such large numbers
as from the borders. It is absolutely revolting to hear how these
poor creatures have oftentimes fallen into captivity, and it would
be, indeed, incredible were not the opportunity for conviction
of the truth of so frequent occurrence. The Djelabi proceed into
the neighbouring countries with goods, which they barter away for
slaves who have become prisoners of war or captives by stealth. They
stand in connexion with a species of kidnappers, who think very
little of stealing the children of their own countrymen for a
trifle, and bringing them to a preconcerted spot for barter. The
greater part of those bought up by the Djelabi are thus collected
by the marauding Bakkara. The price of these unhappy beings varies
according to their age, health, and beauty, as also according to the
country they may call their fatherland. Children born in Kordofan of
captive parents are generally of the highest price, because already
accustomed to some species of work and more especially because
acquainted with the Arabic language, for the owner of a married
slave, or of a girl who brings a child into the world, is at the
same time proprietor of the latter, and is permitted to sell it;
masters even who have children by their female slaves may dispose
of their offspring, and examples of this unnatural proceeding are
by no means uncommon. In short whatever is considered most cruel
and revolting by all civilized nations, is treated with the utmost
levity in this country, so that it is, indeed, impossible to find
words to give full vent to your feelings of indignation and horror.
The human being, deprived of his liberty, is here regarded as a
commodity, or ready money, passes from hand to hand as in circulation
or in commerce, and must think himself fortunate if he ultimately
chance to become the denizen of a house where he may find rest for
the sole of his foot, or may reckon on the treatment due to him as a
portion of humanity. No single house is to be found among the more
opulent part of the community which is not provided at least with
one slave, either male or female, for the performance of the menial
offices, for it is, as it were, _comme il faut_ to fill the house
with captives, and to keep a separate slave appropriated to each
separate office. The greater number, however, is hence exported,
in larger or smaller convoys, to Egypt and the Levant.
_Senna-leaves_ are found in many parts of Kordofan in abundance,
but the government makes no use of them, and others are prevented
from turning them to advantage by the existing monopoly. They are
equal in quality to those of Dongola, which the administration
thence imports and sells under the denomination of Alexandrian or
Egyptian Senna. Not the fiftieth part of these leaves, however,
are natives of Egypt, for they are first met with at Assuan, and
are erroneously called Egyptian leaves; their true native country
is the province of Dongola. The government draws its entire supply
from that province. The inhabitants of the deserts in those parts
collect them, and receive from two hundred to four hundred piasters,
according to the state of the market, for the camel-load of three
cantari, at forty-four oock’ckahs, delivered in New Dongola. As the
government would have to pay an addition of sixty to eighty piasters
on the freight of each camel-load they might draw from Kordofan,
they naturally do not obtain any leaves from that province, and
they are left to rot unused.
These are then the chief articles produced in the country, or
received transito from the bordering states.
The importation of articles for home consumption, or for trade
with other countries, is effected by caravans, the majority of
which arrive from Cairo, a far less number comes from Sennaar, and
yet less from Suakim; they return laden with a few inconsiderable
objects from Araby and India to Lobeid and Bara. Commerce is carried
on in a very dilatory manner, and the return of profits is attended
with a considerable loss of time. In the month of Ramadan, the great
Turkish fast, the most home-business is transacted. During the rainy
season all communication with other countries is cut off, and it is
a rare occurrence if a small caravan ever arrive during that period,
for every merchant is justly under the apprehension of a loss, by
the damage his goods might sustain from the heavy showers; and the
streams are, moreover, so overflowing that frequently many days
transpire before a caravan can cross them. The immense journey
of three or four months duration, and the freightage by camel
and boat, render the price of all imported articles very high in
Kordofan. This outlay would, however, be but of slight importance
in a commercial point of view, were it not for the exorbitant duty,
which so materially augments the price of the goods; such absurdity
and despotism could, in fact, only exist under the government of
Mehemed Ali; even if his realms were to extend to the assumed range
of mountains of the moon, the merchandize would have to pay customs
in each province it might pass through before reaching the place
of its destination. All goods on their arrival at Alexandria are
subjected to a moderate import duty, which, however, only franks
them to Cairo. The same goods shipped in Old Cairo to be conveyed
up the Nile must again pay as follows: in Old Cairo on an average
twelve shillings, in Dongola thirty piasters per camel-load, in
Lobeid three hundred piasters for a load of cottons, whether fine or
of inferior quality, without distinction. A camel-load of rice pays
one hundred and fifty piasters, wine one hundred piasters, brandy,
rosoglio, and rum fifty shillings ad valorem. The states of Austria
furnish the greater quantity of articles for Kordofan, the majority
of which are again exported into the negro states. England yields
only white calicos; common Bohemian linen was formerly imported,
but the more reasonable prices of cottons have quite ousted it
from the market. The following are the articles of import trade
to Kordofan: cloves, pepper, sugar, coffee, sulphur, rice, soap,
chintz and cotton prints, red and blue sackcloth, linen from Cairo
(named here _shouter melanie_), ready-made clothes for Turks, red
shoes, wine, brandy, rosoglio, vinegar, oil, green olives, cheese,
amber from Prussia (Nos. 3 to 6), opaque coral, and a few other
inconsiderable objects. The imports from the Austrian dominions
are the following: spikenard,[73] shot, dogas,[74] razors,[75]
double-edged swords,[76] camel-bells, antimony,[77] arsenic,[78]
iron and brass wire,[79] lucifers, Bohemian products, ordinary
cloths,[80] looking-glasses in paper cases, finger-rings set with
stones, glass beads of every colour,[81]—that of lapis lazuli,
is the most fashionable in Kordofan,—card-counters.[82] The sale
of glass will increase considerably in time, the whole sum expended
in this commodity at Cairo does not at present amount to more than
twenty-five pounds at the utmost. The Levantine articles are in chief
request, such as narghilé,[83] brick,[84] mastrapà,[85] syringes,
and common tumblers. From Venice the natives obtain glass beads,
and paper dressed in the Turkish fashion. Austrian manufactures
finding so ready a market in a large portion of Africa and Asia,
and Cairo being the most suitable depot, it is very astonishing
that only two Austrian commercial houses should be established
in that town: the one is a Bohemian house for the sale of glass
beads and looking-glasses, the other a Venetian for the sale of
Venetian beads. The Austrian trade thus suffers a great loss, for
the Asiatic and African merchant is forced to purchase the imperial
produce after it has passed through many hands, and as each agent
must make at least a small profit, it is evident that the price of
the articles is in this manner considerably raised.
All these goods pass through Cairo, but few of them by way of Suakim
and Sennaar. I was the first Austrian subject who made an attempt
to traffic with this country, I had not the idea of establishing
myself, for my capital was too inconsiderable for that purpose,
and, in fact, only intended to defray the expenses of my journey,
but I believe that the experience I made may be of great service
to others. I caution every one, however, who may intend visiting
this country with goods to be on his guard against the white ants,
and never to neglect placing his cases on stones, for I have
myself unfortunately been a sufferer by the ubiquity of these
destructive beasts. During my illness I was incapable of looking
after my luggage, and as a consequence found, on my recovery, all
my cottons in a perfectly unsaleable state, and this when on my
flight at a time when I had moneys to reclaim. The Termites became
the cause why I was compelled to return without a servant, and to
march during two days on foot through the Desert of Krusko. The
prices of goods vary with the seasons; thus, during the rains,
when no caravan can arrive from Egypt, and goods are consequently
scarce, the prices increase by fifty shillings of their usual cost.
_Coffee_ is imported from Abyssinia, and the ordinary price of the
rottolo is three piasters; but in the year 1838, it rose to eighteen
piasters (5_s._ 1_d._). During the rainy season sugar stood at
nine piasters per rottolo (1lb. English); rice at twelve piasters
per oock’ckah; vinegar at fifteen piasters the bottle: soap at
nine piasters the rottolo; pepper at twelve piasters; the prices
of all goods, however fall with the arrival of fresh supplies. Many
of the articles of importation are bought up by Djelabi, who trade
with the interior of the country, and barter them away for slaves
and other commodity. The commerce with the interior even requires
some experience, _e. g._ in respect to glass-beads; for, on some
of the hills, the white specimens are in request; on others the
red or blue beads are preferred, and the same rule applies to many
other articles. A great deal of salt and tobacco is imported into
the country of the Shilluks. The Djelabi, in whose hands the entire
trade may be said to rest, might turn it to far better advantage,
if they had more talent for business, and were less careless in
its transaction. Thus they pay no attention to the demands of
the market, but purchase, year after year, the same articles, sit
themselves down in a sook, and will not quit that spot in quest of
fresh supplies until they have sold the very last article, be it
ever so trifling. The value of time is totally unknown to them, and
as for leaving the remainder of their unsold goods with an agent on
commission, a son would not trust his own father, but rather lose
the most valuable time for travelling for two or three pounds of
soap, and a few trumpery glass-beads. These Djelabi are Dongolavi,
and have remained true to the character of their original parents
in Dongola. They will rather allow their goods to spoil than part
with them below their standard; they sell one article at the same
rate as one hundred articles, and make very little difference in
price as regards quality; for common or damaged cottons, rusty
or intact wire, are all sold at the same price. The merchandize
which is not damaged on the road is spoiled in the market-place,
where everything is thrown down on the sand in one large heap, and
no one troubles himself whether a person in the crowd walk over his
goods with dirty feet, or a shower drench them thoroughly. He who
first comes selects the best articles, and he who is forced to wait
until the greater part is disposed of, takes whatever he may happen
to lay his hands on, pays the same price, or sometimes even more,
considering the scarcity, but walks away equally contented.
I have convinced myself that the very commonest goods only should
be brought to this market, for every man may form an opinion of
the manner of transacting business, and of the mode in which the
merchandize is treated. I am certain that an European, accustomed
to the climate at an early age, and acquainted with the demands
of the country, who might establish a commercial-house at Lobeid,
and carry on his business with moderate caution, would realize a
handsome fortune. But, as I have before said, an European would
meet with difficulties, and irksome trials in this undertaking,
unknown to the natives. The time for engaging in a speculation of
this description is now at hand, for Mehemed Ali is about to throw
the trade open.
The currency of the country is that of Egypt, a piaster being
equal to three-pence-halfpenny English. The Maria Theresia dollar,
column-dollars, and five franc pieces, of which there are three
varieties, are taken at an estimate of twenty piasters each,
although they virtually differ in value. The dollars, however,
when in request for purchases in Darfour, are paid with twenty-two,
twenty-three, and even twenty-four piasters; in examining them, the
natives do not look to the seven points in the clasp, or the nine
points in the diadem, nor to the letters “S. F.” as is the case
in Abyssinia. No copper circulates, and very few silver piasters,
so that, indeed, in purchasing single piasters, one piaster, _agio_,
is paid for nine pieces. In addition to this coin, there is a small
coin of iron, named _hashias_, in circulation, struck during the
reign of the sultan of Darfûr, which has continued in currency since
that period: it is a small piece of iron, from two to three inches
in length, and of the form of an obtuse bibrachial anchor. 150 of
these pieces were formerly considered equivalent to one dollar;
they subsequently fell in value to 250, and their present currency
is 800 to the dollar, or one _para_ each. The weight is the same
as in Egypt, viz. 1 cantaro, equal to 100, or to 112 rottoli, or to
forty-four oock’ckah’s. The rottolo is = 144 oz., the oock’ckah
equal to 400 dir’hems. Forty-four oock’ckahs constitute about
one hundred weight. The measure for corn is the ardeb of twenty-four
_mith_, two ardebs are equivalent to three stajo of Trieste.
Common cottons will pass from hand to hand as currency, and in small
dealings half a gourd of dockn, or two handfulls may be substituted
for cash. The yard-measure in use among the natives, is the distance
from the elbow to the index-finger, adding four finger breadths.
CHAPTER XVI.
MEHEMED ALI’S SLAVE-HUNTS IN GENERAL.[86]
Many travellers who have visited the East, and more especially
Egypt, justly mention the humanity with which slaves are treated
in these countries, but few persons are probably acquainted with
the inhuman manner in which these miserable beings are led into
captivity. The treatment they meet with among the Turks, Arabs,
and other eastern nations, certainly is an indemnification, although
a very frail one, for the loss of their liberty; but unfortunately
only a small number of these poor wretches live to enjoy even this
slight benefit, for more than one half of them fall victims to
barbarous and cruel treatment before they reach the place of their
destination. The Viceroy of Egypt institutes annually, once or twice
in the course of the year, an actual hunt in the mountains of Nuba,
and in the bordering countries, and seizes upon a certain number
of the negroes by stratagem or force, in order either to pay the
arrears due to his troops in Kordofan with these unfortunate men,
instead of with ready money, or to increase his revenue by the sale
of his fellow creatures. I must leave it to the kind judgment of my
readers whether an apology for such a proceeding is to be found,
and abstain myself from any observation on the subject, as the
object of my sketch is simply to give a correct description of the
slave-hunts as conducted by Mehemed Ali. Several European journals
have stated that these marauding expeditions were put an end to
by command of the viceroy on the occasion of his visit to Sennaar,
but I can assure the reader that the order was “_vox et præterea
nihil_,” and that these robberies take place as before even at
the present day. No pen can describe the acts of deliberate cruelty
perpetrated on these occasions, revolting atrocities which I am sure
that Mehemed Ali, were he acquainted with the particulars, would
visit on the heads of his officers, notwithstanding that they are
committed in his interest and in his service; unfortunately, however,
the distance of this ill-fated province is too great from the seat
of justice for the cries of the afflicted to reach his ear, and those
whose duty it would be to report these inhuman deeds, are too deeply
criminated themselves. The burden of this sanguinary fate falls most
heavily upon the miserable inhabitants of the Nuba mountains. In the
year 1825, four years, therefore, after the conquest, the number of
slaves which had been led away into captivity was estimated at forty
thousand; and in the year 1839 the total number amounted at least
to two hundred thousand, without reckoning the thousands stolen by
the Bakkara and bought by the Djelabi. As soon as the rainy season
is concluded, the arrangements for the marauding excursion called
gasua[87] are made, and the necessary number of camels are pressed
into service. Of the multitude of animals required an estimate may
be formed, by considering that every infantry soldier is provided
with a camel to mount, and that their total amount is nearly doubled
by those employed in the transport of arms, ammunition, tents,
and other military stores. The outfit of the expedition causes the
commanding officer, however, not the least care, for everything
being considered in the countries subject to Egypt as property of
the government, he experiences very little trouble in obtaining his
supplies. The soldiers steal whatever they can find, and thus in a
few days the most necessary articles are furnished. To provisions
very little attention is paid, for the harvest terminates with the
rainy season, and the soldiers well know by many years experience
where to find the supplies of the poor negroes, gained absolutely
by the sweat of their brow, but vainly hidden from the rapacious
hands of these avaricious barbarians. The province of Dar Hammer
is more especially oppressed for the purpose of obtaining camels;
but as the majority consists of young animals which have never
borne a weight upon their backs, and must therefore be taught to
bend to receive their load or for the convenience of their rider,
each soldier is provided with his camel ten to fourteen days before
the march, during which interval they are daily exercised in the
morning and afternoon. It is really a very imposing sight to behold
these hundreds of camels collected together on one spot, where the
obstinate animals are being broken in to kneel down. A well-taught
camel always exhibits evident signs of displeasure and utters a
piercing cry whenever it bends down; imagine therefore in addition,
an immense number of wild unbroken beasts who are frequently obliged
to be pulled down on their knees by ropes, and you will be able to
form a slight idea of the exercising ground. It frequently happens
that a clumsy rider is thrown in mounting, or rather as the animal
rises, and receives a severe injury. But even on this occasion we
have proof that the animal must succumb to the will of man, for in
the course of a few days the same beasts we had seen so refractory
and dull before, obey their riders at a mere wink. The complement of
the brigade employed in a slave-hunt consists ordinarily of from one
thousand to two thousand men regular troops of infantry; from four
hundred to eight hundred Mogghrebeen armed with guns and pistols;
from three hundred to one thousand native troops on foot, with
shields and spears, each man carrying from three to five javelins
in a small leathern quiver attached to his shoulder by a cord; and
from three hundred to five hundred natives mounted on dromedaries,
armed with shield and spear. The dromedary riders present a very
military appearance; they are quite naked, with the exception of
a small piece of calico round their loins, and exhibit an alacrity
which is almost incredible; they also exercise for a certain time
before the march, and their shouts in a charge, which is always
made in a body and at the full speed of the dromedary, the whistling
of their lances in the air, whilst their shaggy locks float in the
wind, and the oblong shields covering their entire bodies, give the
riders a very fearful appearance, sufficient to overawe the most
courageous man. I was always present at their manœuvres, and can
assure my readers, that it took a long time before I accustomed
myself to the sight of these men without feeling a secret horror,
although I lived among them, and had absolutely nothing to fear. At
these moments these people appear as if deranged, and it is very
difficult to recognise those with whom you may be well acquainted,
they so distort their features in their shout.
As soon as the preparations are concluded, the expedition sets
out upon its march. Two to four field-pieces accompany it, and it
is provided with a sufficient supply of bread for eight days. The
oxen, sheep, and other beasts for slaughter, which may be required,
are seized on in Kordofan, although the province may have already
paid its contribution. If they meet a herd at pasture or at a well,
the cattle is stolen; no one asks whether it belong to one person
or to several, the contribution is not effected in shares; whoever
meets with the loss must bear it with patience; no objection,
no remonstrance is of avail; no complaint is ever listened to,
for the governor is present in person.
On the arrival of the forces at the nearest hills of the Nubas,
the natives are challenged to contribute a stipulated number of
slaves. This demand is generally acceded to willingly, because the
poor creatures know they are too close to the confines of Kordofan,
and that they would expose themselves to a far more obdurate fate
if they offered resistance. If then the slaves are voluntarily
contributed, that hill is spared. But about this time a scarcity
of bread generally begins to be felt; the troops, therefore, are
not content with slaves alone but must be provided with grain,
nor do they ever for one moment consider whether the harvest has
been successful, or the reverse with these poor people; but whatever
their wants may be, they must be supplied either spontaneously, or by
force; and on these occasions the soldiers show vast experience in
detecting the hidden stores of the unfortunate natives, whom they
frequently leave barely enough bread for the ensuing day. The march
is now continued to the next hill. The skirmishers already consider
themselves on hostile ground, and they halt in the vicinity of that
hill they intend to storm on the next day, or if time admit it, on
that very day. Before the actual charge takes place, they endeavour
to arrange the affair amicably, and dispatch a herald to the sheikh
of the hill, commanding him to descend into camp, and bring the
number of slaves ordered by the commanding officer with him. If he
have already come to an understanding with his subjects, or feel
his inequality to the Turkish troops, and will not offer resistance,
the stipulated number of slaves is furnished, and the claim is thus
cancelled, in order to avoid unnecessary bloodshed. Then comes the
conscription. The slaves are generally volunteers, who sacrifice
themselves, or who to free their brethren from a hard fate subject
themselves to a yet more painful lot. Scenes may at these times
be witnessed that would rend the heart of a man of feeling. Who
is ever willing to quit his home, to separate himself for ever
from his parents, his blood-relations, and friends? who leaves
the roof willingly that has covered him from the day of his birth,
under which he has passed happy hours in the circle of those that
are dear to him? Who can boldly face a frightful future, entailing
permanent captivity, promising nothing but misery, cruel treatment,
and, what becomes even desirable, pallid death? Yet the necessity
is there—some one must be victimized, some one must volunteer
to sacrifice his liberty; and for this privilege the father
will contend with the son, and the brother with the brother, for
each man is anxious to save the other at the expense of his own
life. Overpowering, indeed, must be the knowledge that they are
about to fall into the hands of the heartless Turks, where nothing
but misery and torture awaits them, to which they must ultimately
succumb; but yet more heart-rending must be the feeling of leaving
all that is nearest and dearest to them, for ever; this must be
wretchedness, indeed. In sorrow and tears they part—press the
last kiss on the cheek of their relations, and descend into the
camp of their heartless and ruthless tormentors; nay, they are
even frequently torn by force from the arms of their friends. The
sheikh generally receives a present of a dress in remuneration
for the readiness with which he has performed his services. Very
few hills, however, submit to the voice of power thus tacitly on a
mere challenge; for the majority of the villages, advantageously
situated on steep declivities or inaccessible heights, and only
to be scaled with the utmost difficulty, defend themselves most
sturdily, and fight for their liberty with a courage, perseverance,
and resolution equalled by few instances we find recorded in
history. A very small portion of the negroes only fly before the
approach of their persecutors, although they might save themselves
with all their property, by a retreat into the neighbouring hills,
for they always receive timely intimation of the advance of the
enemy; but they look upon escape by flight as disgraceful, and prefer
death in the struggle for their freedom. If, therefore, the sheikh
will not listen to the claim made upon him, the village must stand
a storm. The cavalry and lance-bearers surround the whole hill,
whilst the infantry endeavour to scale the heights. In former days,
the villages and places where the negroes were congregated together,
were cannonaded, but with the inefficiency of the Egyptian artillery
scarcely one shot ever took effect; and thus the negroes paid no
attention to this prelude, but it appeared on the contrary rather
to encourage them to a more obstinate resistance.
The roaring of the cannon certainly caused them at first more
alarm than the effect, but they subsequently became accustomed
to the noise, and totally disregarded it. Every access to the
hill is barricaded with stones and other impediments, and the
village supplied with water for two days, for few hills can boast
of springs, the water, therefore, must be fetched from the foot
of the hill. All the cattle and other property is carried up into
the fortified height, in short, every arrangement is made for an
obstinate defence. The men, armed with spears, occupy every point
of importance, while the women even do not remain idle spectators,
but either participate in the fight, or encourage their husbands by
their lamentations and war-cry, and hand them their arms; in fact,
every one is in activity except the aged and infirm. The points
of their wooden arrows are dipped into poison which stands in an
earthen vessel beside them. It is the juice of a plant, and appears
white like curdled milk, but of what plant it may be the juice
I could never learn, for this is a secret imparted only to a few
persons in the village. I am told that there are many hills where
this secret is totally unknown. As soon as the officer gives the
word of command to attack, the infantry beat to arms and storm the
hill. Thousands of spears, large stones, and immense beams of wood
are instantly hurled at the storming party, every stone is an ambush
to a wary negro, who either throws his poisoned dart at the enemy,
or, waiting his opportunity, thrusts his spear into the body of his
unsuspecting foe on his approach. The soldiers, who experience the
greatest difficulty in scaling the steep acclivities, are obliged
to sling their muskets to their backs to facilitate their ascent
with their hands, and frequently fall victims before they have even
seen the enemy. But nothing deters these marauders when bent on
prey, goaded on by cupidity and the desire of revenge they heed no
impediment, not even death itself; over the dead body of his fallen
comrade the successor marches with impetuosity, his mind totally
engrossed by ideas of plunder and murder; and thus the village is
at last captured in spite of the most resolute defence. But now,
indeed, is vengeance terrific: neither aged men nor the infirm,
neither helpless women and children, nor, indeed, the babe unborn
are spared; every hut is plundered, the property of the unfortunate
besieged either pillaged or destroyed, and whosoever falls into the
hands of the destroyer with his life is carried down into the camp
as captive. When the negroes see that resistance is no longer of
avail, they frequently prefer suicide, unless prevented, to slavery;
and thus it often occurs that a father rips up the abdomen of his
wife, then of his children, and lastly murders himself, to avoid
falling alive into the hands of the enemy. Others endeavour to
escape captivity by secreting themselves in caverns, where they
pass many days without food; they there lie upon their backs, and
will remain in this position sometimes for an entire week. I have
been informed that a man can very well bear the whole of the eight
days without nourishment, if he have only surmounted the difficulty
of the first three days. But even in this covert they are not safe,
as the monsters either hunt them up or destroy them in their places
of refuge; for the soldiers light fires with pitch, sulphur, and
other combustibles before the entrance, and endeavour to drive the
irritating fumes into the caves, when the poor wretches are forced
to creep out and deliver themselves to their enemies, or perish by
suffocation in the smoke. After every means have been resorted to for
gaining possession of the living, the unfortunate beings are escorted
to the camp, the houses are plundered, and the cattle is driven away,
and a detachment of several hundred soldiers then examines the hill
in every direction to pillage the hidden grain, in order that the
survivors who may have been fortunate enough to save their lives
by flight, or by secreting themselves in inaccessible caverns,
may not find anything on their return wherewith to maintain their
dearly purchased existence.
The experience of many years has made the troops employed in these
expeditions gradually wiser; in former times one-third of the number
at least, and on some occasions even one half of them lost their
lives in these attacks, at present they confine themselves to a
simple blockade, and storm merely in extreme cases. Very few hills
are, as I before said, provided with springs, when, therefore, all
communication is impeded, the poor negroes are forced to surrender,
but not before they have suffered the most horrible tortures; for
they never provide themselves with a supply of water for longer
than two days, partly from want of vessels or reservoirs, partly
because they do not expect to be besieged for a longer period,
thus the scarcity of water is generally felt on the third day
of the blockade. Nothing can be more frightful than the position
of these unhappy men at this time. The fear of falling into the
hands of the Turks on the one hand, and the certainty of death
from thirst on the other, drives the poor wretches to the very
verge of despair. This scarcity is immediately known in camp,
for the screams of the children and the groans of the cattle
betray the melancholy position of the village. The cattle runs
about as if wild, and on the third day becomes so dangerous that
the negroes are obliged to slay it. The human being struggles in
despair with death, to find a mode of escape, but, alas! in vain:
the blood-thirsty huntsmen have surrounded their game too securely,
thus not one soul can escape with his life. Many of the unhappy
victims prefer death for themselves and their families to captivity,
whilst others endeavour to conceal themselves in caverns, and thus
to spare themselves the awful miseries of slavery. The remainder
call a meeting to concert upon the surrender of their village and
their children. The calamity makes not the slightest impression
upon their persecutors, who remain quiet beholders of all these
horrors, impatiently awaiting the moment when they shall receive
their victims. The scarcity of water does not apply to all the hills
without exception, for several of them are well supplied with water,
and are not so easily to be taken. In such cases force becomes
necessary, but it frequently happens that populous villages or such
as are favoured by the ground, are able to repel the storming party
several times with considerable carnage, so that the expedition
frequently will not venture on an attack for fear of heavy losses,
as was the case with Mount “Deyer,”[88] situated at a distance
of two day’s march from Lobeid, which was thrice attacked without
success, and where the troops suffered severely. But even in such
cases they know how to ensure the certain fall of their victims
by demoniacal deceit. Thus, after Kurshid Pasha, governor of the
Belled-Soodan, had made several fruitless attempts at storming a
hill in the country of the Shilluks, in which he had been, moreover,
always repulsed with considerable carnage, and at last had made up
his mind that every further attack would be in vain, and his loss
too frightful, he thought of the following _ruse_, which would never
have succeeded with any other people than this good-natured tribe;
in this case, however, it proved successful. He encamped himself,
namely, at the foot of the hill, without surrounding it, where he
quietly remained for several days; he then despatched one of his
soldiers into the village with the request to the inhabitants to
send down four hundred dishes of food to his people in camp, and
assured them at the same time that they need be under no further
apprehension about him, as he would not make another attack on their
village, but would march his troops off immediately on receipt
of the provisions. The good-natured negroes, suspecting no harm,
forgot all animosity towards their enemy in consideration of their
pretended unfortunate position, and instantly shewed their readiness
to accede to the request, by furnishing the provisions required. The
articles of food were duly prepared, and four hundred grown persons
carried the number of dishes demanded down into the camp of their
persecutors. How were they, however, now deceived! for no sooner had
they placed the dishes on the ground at the order of Kurshid-Pasha,
than they were, on a signal he gave, surrounded on all sides and
made prisoners, without the necessity of pulling a trigger, or
without the possibility of their offering resistance.
The inhabitants of those hills which may have been forced into
a surrender by cutting off their supplies, and more especially
by depriving them of water, are compelled to deliver themselves
up as captives in the camp, as soon as they have capitulated;
but the condition of those who have defended themselves, or stood
the blockade for some time, is far more dreadful. Worn out with
the fatigues of the conflict, or totally exhausted by the want
of water, they can scarcely stand, and are literally speaking,
dragged down into camp, where they are certainly regaled with the
absolute necessaries of life, but are allowed only a short time to
recover themselves. The Turks have, indeed, sufficient compassion
to send the necessary quantity of water up to those poor wretches
on the hill, who are too weak even to be brought down; they are
obliged to pour water over their heads first, and to allow them
to drink only in small quantities, and gradually, for indulgence
would prove fatal to them.
The greatest sufferings are not yet surmounted, and many of these
unhappy men would prefer death inflicted by their own hands to
the dreadful fate which awaits them, if they were acquainted with
their lot beforehand. They now have to suffer every description of
ill-treatment from their tormentors; blows with the butt-end of the
musket, bayonet wounds, and stripes with the whip, are the ordinary
modes of encouragement adopted to arouse the energies of those
miserable beings, who, exhausted by physical or moral suffering,
may happen to sink. Pity is unheard of in these transports; and
as personal interest is not engaged for the preservation of one
of those unhappy wretches, or to prove it an advantage, the only
consideration is to render their escape impossible. The Djelabi treat
their slaves with more humanity, because their personal interests
are implicated, for each slave may be considered a capital to them,
and they, consequently, do all in their power to preserve life,
at least, and thus to avert a loss. The Turks, on the other hand,
who have no considerations of this description to attend to, treat
their prisoners far worse than they would beasts. As soon as they
have collected from three to six hundred, or perhaps a thousand
slaves, the convoy is sent with an escort of native troops, and of
about fifty men, regulars, under the command of an officer to Lobeid.
To prevent flight, a _Sheba_ is hung round the neck of the full-grown
slaves; it consists of a young tree about six or eight feet in
length, and two inches in thickness, forming a fork in front; this
is bound round the neck of the victim so that the stem of the tree
presents anteriorly, the fork is closed at the back of the neck by
a cross-bar, and fastened _in situ_ by straps cut from a raw hide;
thus the slave, in order to be able to walk, is forced to take the
tree in his hands, and carry it before him. No individual could,
however, bear this position for any length of time; to relieve each
other, therefore, the man in front takes the log of his successor
on his shoulder, and this measure is repeated in succession. It
amounts to an impossibility to withdraw the head, but the whole
neck is always excoriated, an injury leading often to inflammatory
action, which occasionally terminates in death. Boys from ten to
fifteen years of age, who could not carry the sheba, are hand-cuffed
together by wooden manacles. The instruments are applied to the
right hand of the one and the left of the other, above the wrists,
where they are fastened by straps; they are somewhat excavated
to admit the hand, but generally fit so closely that the skin is
excoriated, and malignant ulcers are the result; but even if the
hand were to mortify, or drop off, no alleviation of the sufferings
of the individual would ensue, for the fetters are not taken off
before the arrival of the convoy at Lobeid. Some of the boys are
fastened together in couples by straps applied round the upper part
of their arms. It may, therefore, easily be imagined how difficult
progression is rendered to these poor sufferers, and what tortures
they have to endure on this march. In addition to these trials, they
have to bear with most miserable fare, and further ill-treatment,
should their strength fail them, or should they become too weak to
proceed. Children under the age before-mentioned, women, and old
men, are marched singly, and unfettered. Many a mother carries her
infant, born but a few days before, at her breast, and must even
take two or three of her children, who may be too young or too weak
to walk alone, in her arms, or on her back. Old and infirm men who
can scarcely creep along with the aid of a stick, the sick, and the
wounded, are taken in the middle, between their daughters, wives,
or relations, and thus slowly dragged onwards, or even carried by
turns. If one of these unfortunate beings happen to remain behind
the ranks, he is immediately stimulated to increased activity by
blows with the butt-end of the musket, or flogged on with the
whip. Should even this encouragement fail, and when several of
these poor wretches cannot possibly proceed any further, ten or
twenty of them are bound by the hand with a rope, the one end of
which is attached to the saddle-bow of a camel, and thus those who
are half dead are dragged onwards; even if one of them happen to
sink no mercy is shown, but the fallen man is trailed along the
ground and not liberated, even should he breathe his last, before
his arrival at the stated place of rest. Before the caravan halts
there is no idea of offering any refreshment whatever in the way
of food to the exhausted; the heartless Turk feels no compassion,
knows no pity; even if a drop of water might revive a weary wretch,
none is given him—no, he may perish from want.
When the caravan reaches the place of rest, those who have been
dragged along are liberated; whilst the dead and the exhausted are
thrown without mercy on the sand, and the latter left to their
fate. No prayers, no entreaties can soften the obdurate hearts
of their torturers. They do not even allow a wife to take leave
of her husband, or a child to press the parting kiss upon the
lips of its expiring parent. No one is permitted to approach these
unfortunate wretches,—they are given over to their fate. Not even
as much as a piece of bread, or a drop of water is left behind for
them. The discarded wretch is given up to his doom to linger out
his existence, add to which the misery of the full consciousness
of certain death. In six or fourteen days, the transport reaches
Lobeid, and it is no wonder, considering the inhuman treatment the
captives have had to endure, that on its arrival more than one-tenth
of the number is found wanting. No notice, however, is taken of
this frightful loss on the road, for it is government property,
and personal interest is not concerned.
In Lobeid the slaves remain together until all the transports arrive,
and then the distribution takes place. The men best adapted for
the purpose are drafted into the regiments as recruits, and the
remainder of the full-grown slaves are delivered over to the troops,
quartered in Kordofan, in liquidation of their arrears of pay, at
an estimate of three hundred piasters a head; younger slaves are
valued at various prices. The soldiers are compelled to re-sell them
to the merchants for ready money, or for money’s worth; sometimes
the slave dies of over-fatigue, or excess of torture, or does not
realize the full sum on account of his age or infirmities, and then
the soldier suffers the loss, who, moreover, generally receives but
half his pay, although he has had to wait for several months, or
more frequently a whole twelvemonth for this portion of his arrears.
It is not an uncommon occurrence for a son to find his own father,
or a father his son, assigned to him, or for a brother to become
the possessor of his brother; but he is forced in defiance of the
feelings of nature to sell him, in order to share the proceeds with
a comrade who is co-proprietor of the slave with him. Officers
and privates are obliged to receive these slaves at a certain
valuation in lieu of money, and generally sell them at a loss to
the Djelabi. The remainder is disposed of by public auction, in
the market-place, to the highest bidder.
CHAPTER XVII.
DESCRIPTION OF A SLAVE-HUNT IN THE YEARS 1838 AND 1839.
Towards the end of the year 1838 the Viceroy commanded the province
of Kordofan to contribute five thousand slaves. The corps under
orders for this purpose, consisting of two thousand four hundred
infantry, seven hundred and fifty Mogghrebeen (Bedouin horsemen),
two hundred men irregular cavalry, three hundred dromedary
riders, and twelve hundred natives armed with spear and shield,
and attended by three guns, set out upon the march towards the
close of the month of November 1838. On this occasion every two
men of infantry were furnished with one camel, as they could
not collect the complement very soon, and an immense number was,
moreover, required for the transport of the baggage, water, tents,
etc., for the troops. Provisions and forage for the cattle, both
for service and for slaughter, were only added to the transport
sufficient for a few days, for they hoped to be able to obtain
the necessary supply in a short time by plunder and pillage. A
hill, one of the nearest on the borders of the free Nuba, which
had already suffered by the troops of Mehemed Ali, and by the
marauding Bakkara, and, was in consequence greatly depopulated,
was the first challenged to surrender. The sheikh instantly came
into camp and delivered himself with all his subjects, consisting
of one hundred and ninety-six souls, into the hands of the Turks;
he received his liberty and a present of a dress, but the sheba was
put on the young men, and the whole number forwarded on the next
day to Lobeid. This sheikh himself told me that when the Turks
first entered his village eighteen years before, the population
consisted of three thousand souls, but the annual contribution of
slaves, augmented by the insatiable Turks to ten times the number,
had reduced them to one hundred and ninety-six souls. The prisoners
of this hill were treated with some humanity, and not one instance
of suicide took place among them, for they had seen the futility of
resistance, and voluntarily surrendered to their dismal fate. The
troops, however, were now in want of bread, and as they found but
a very slight supply of dockn among this impoverished people,
they were necessitated to advance. The next hill was attacked,
but how were the soldiers disappointed in their expectations when
they found the place evacuated! The inhabitants, apprized of the
approach of the corps, had fled, taking all their property and
cattle away with them, and had left nothing but the empty huts,
which were instantly fired and burnt to the ground. And now the
march was continued to the third hill. The inhabitants of this
village had formed the firm resolution of defending their freedom
to the uttermost; and, determined to suffer death rather than the
horror of Turkish captivity, had prepared for a most obstinate
resistance. The hill was charged, but the troops were several times
repulsed; the attacks, however, were renewed, and the village was
ultimately taken by storm. The scene which now presented itself
to view was frightful in the extreme. Of five hundred souls who
had been the peaceful inhabitants of the village, one hundred and
eighty-eight only were found living. Every hut was filled with
the bodies of the aged and the young indiscriminately, for those
who had not fallen by the sword in battle, had put themselves to
death to elude the dreadful fate of captivity. The prisoners were
led away; and the place was given up to the soldiery for plunder,
but the dead were left disinterred. What a fearful scene for the few
who were fortunate enough to escape the carnage by flight! Nothing
but the dead bodies of their friends and the ashes of their homes
met their eye on their return!
In order to recruit the troops, a camp was now formed, and a
detachment sent out in search of forage. An encampment of this
description, which is always erected on the plains, consists
of an irregular quadrangle, surrounded by a hedge of thorns or
bushes, or sometimes even by a stone fence, in which the regular
infantry, the guns, and baggage are enclosed, whilst the cavalry and
spear-bearers encamp without the enclosure. Of setting outposts,
or of other judicious military movements they have no idea, but
confine themselves merely to preparations for defence in case of a
surprise, as the negroes frequently venture by night on an attack,
which might prove very destructive to the troops, considering
their carelessness. Generally speaking a camp is soon broken up,
and this was the case on the present occasion; for no sooner had
the soldiers recovered somewhat from their fatigues, and furnished
a scanty supply of provisions, than the tents were struck, and the
march commanded for the next hill destined for attack. The cavalry
was sent about two miles in advance to surround the hill. On its
arrival, however, in the vicinity of the village, it was suddenly
surprised by the inhabitants, who had received intelligence of the
movements, of the troops and was attacked with vigour. The negroes
in a very large body, and only armed with spears and shields,
broke with impetuosity from their covert, and with a fearful
war-cry, augmented by the shouts of the women accompanying them,
(resembling the _Lu, lu, lu!_ of the Arab women,) threw themselves
headlong upon the enemy. Surprised by this sudden movement, yet too
discreet to sustain the attack of the negroes, the cavalry turned
and took to flight. One of the Bedouin chiefs, who was mounted on a
restive horse, and could not keep up with his troop, was surrounded;
he seized his gun to discharge it at the first man who might attack
him, but it refused fire, and before he could make use of his pistols
and sabre, or put himself in any other way on his defence, he was
torn off his horse and instantly slain. None of his corps made the
slightest attempt to save their officer, for each man was intent on
his own escape. This flight must not be ascribed to cowardice on
the part of the Bedouins; for they generally fight well, provided
their interest is not at stake. By fraud, or promises destined never
to be fulfilled, these nomadic people are enticed away from their
native plains and employed in these frightful slave-hunts. With the
exception of very trifling pay, they can expect nothing beyond what
they may be able to gain themselves by robbery and plunder; if by
any chance, and without fault on their part, they happen to lose a
horse,—which is their personal property—even on actual service,
they cannot reckon upon any indemnification from the government;
for should they not have the means of purchasing a fresh animal, they
are indeed mounted by the government, but the price of the horse is
deducted from their pay, which is always on the very lowest scale,
and thus they have to serve for several years gratuitously. Their
sheikh, or commanding officer, told me this himself, and assured
me that his Bedouins, (erroneously termed Mogghrebeen) would act
very unwisely in risking their horses on an attack whence nothing
was to be gained; for the negroes, in encountering cavalry, are
well aware of the advantage of injuring the horse rather than the
rider, as the latter falls a certain victim to them when the animal
is slain. After the cavalry had again formed in the rear of the
infantry, the officer in command ordered a charge by the foot for
the following day. If the attack had succeeded, the carnage would,
indeed, have been terrific, for the troops were all eager to revenge
the death of the Bedouin sheikh. But it was differently recorded
in the book of fate. With the first dawn of morning the infantry
were put in marching order for the ensuing storm, and the cavalry
placed in reserve. The advance was now made, on the word of command,
with the utmost caution, a few cannon balls having been first sent
into the village without effect. All remained perfectly quiet, until
the advanceguard of the storming party had reached the foot of the
hill and prepared for action, when the negroes suddenly broke forth
endeavouring to surround the enemy. The position of the Egyptians
became now very critical, for bent upon the capture of this hill,
they had overlooked two other villages flanking the one attacked,
which were densely populated by negroes, who joined the besieged,
and threw themselves with the whole strength of their united forces
upon the troops. Not one man would have escaped, for enclosed in a
narrow valley, and surrounded by hills, the infantry could scarcely
move, and no assistance could be expected from the cavalry. The whole
brigade, in fact, would have been lost, as the negroes gathered like
a black cloud upon the hills, and poured down by hundreds upon the
enemy; no troops could withstand their attack, for they rushed into
battle with unparalleled frenzy, regardless of shot or bayonet,
and used their spears with great dexterity. The commander of the
Egyptian forces, however, betimes recognized the danger threatening
his troops, and ordered a retreat; when the whole body fled in wild
confusion from the vale of death. The cavalry was not behindhand in
this movement, and thus the brigade never halted until it was fairly
out of the dominions of the foe. Of a renewal of the attack there
was now no idea; for nothing in the world can induce these heroes
to repeat an advance where they have once been beaten. They know
further that the negroes become almost invincible with success;
while the musket and bayonet afford but slight advantage over
the weapons of the blacks, for the wild inhabitants of the hills
rush blindly to the charge, heedless of every wound. I myself had
opportunities of convincing myself of the intrepidity of these men.
After the troops had again collected, order was once more restored,
and the march was continued; in the course of a few days several
hills were taken, and the prisoners duly forwarded to Lobeid. The
expedition now moved in a southern direction from the Nuba mountains,
towards a country inhabited by a different race of men. The tribe
now attacked differs from the natives of Nuba, both in language and
manners; they are easily recognized by the number of brass ear-rings,
which they do not pass through the appendix of the ear, but wear
in the upper part of the cartilage, by which means the whole ear is
distorted, so that the superior portion covers the meatus. Almost all
the men wear the tooth of some animal, one inch and a half to two
inches in length, above their chin; it is passed through a hole in
the under lip when they are very young, and acquires a firm adhesion
with the integument. In their habits they differ but little from the
other negro tribes, but it is rather remarkable that they do not,
like the negroes, Turks, or Arabs, convey food to their mouths
with their fingers, but make use of a shell, or piece of wood,
shaped like a spoon, for this purpose. The dwelling place of this
tribe was very advantageously situated on the summit of a hill,
and very difficult of access; the commanding officer, therefore,
on hearing that it was not supplied with water, to avoid a loss,
decided upon surrounding the hill, and forcing the negroes by thirst
to surrender. The siege lasted eight days, and the poor creatures,
who felt themselves too weak for a _sortie_, had not a drop of water
left on the fourth day, as was subsequently heard. The cattle was
slain in the early part of the blockade to diminish the consumption
of water; on the sixth day, several children and old people had
perished of thirst; and on the seventh day the mortality became
so frightful, that they determined to surrender. Several of them
advised a sally, but exhausted as they were, they saw the futility
of this movement; and when, on the eighth day, hundreds had fallen
in the most fearful torments of unsatisfied thirst, and many of the
negroes, in the horrors of despair, had put an end to their miseries
by ripping open their abdomina with their double-edged knives,
the small body of survivors delivered itself up to the enemy. Of
more than two thousand souls, one thousand and forty-nine were only
found living, the rest had all perished by thirst, or had committed
suicide. On entering the village, the huts were seen filled with
the dead, and the few unfortunate survivors were so exhausted by
fatigue, and overpowered by thirst, that they could scarcely stand
upon their feet; yet with blows with the butt-end of the musket,
or with the whip, these poor wretches were driven from the huts,
dragged into camp, with every description of cruelty, and thence
despatched for Lobeid, on which march more than one hundred and
fifty souls perished from ill-usage.
On the fourth day of the march of this transport, after the caravan
had halted, and whilst the prisoners were forming detachments to take
up their quarters for the night, it so happened that an aged woman,
worn out with the fatigues of the long march, or overcome by the
mental sufferings she had endured, was incapable of reaching the
spot assigned to her with sufficient alacrity, and a barbarous Turk
dealt her a blow with the butt end of his musket, which laid her
nearly lifeless on the sand. Her son, who witnessed this gratuitous
act of cruelty, no longer master of his feelings, rushed with fury
towards the soldier, struck him a blow with the sheba round his
neck, and felled him to the ground. This was the signal for attack;
all the slaves, who bore a sheba, threw themselves upon the troops,
and knocked them down, before they could take to their arms, or
fix their bayonets; thus fifty-six negroes took to flight during
the confusion in the camp, and aided by the darkness of night,
succeeded in effecting their escape. The natives, attached to this
transport, remained quiet spectators of the fray, a proof of the
interest they feel in these sanguinary hunts.
The body of the expedition had, in the meantime, continued its march
and taken another hill by storm,—but not without loss. This village
was situated on a steep declivity, accessible only on the one side,
and so well supplied with water that a blockade was out of the
question. A storm was, therefore, commanded. On both sides, the men
fought with desperate bravery. The storming party purchased dearly
with their blood every inch of ground they advanced. The negroes had
barricaded every accessible spot; each tree and every stone formed
an ambush whence they rushed forth upon their enemies, who were
scaling the heights under severe difficulties. The muskets were of
no avail, for the soldiers were forced to creep upon their hands and
feet and could not use their arms; thus, many were stabbed by the
spears of the natives, before they could rise on their feet, and,
in their fall, tore several of their advancing comrades down with
them into the precipice and ravines below. The cannonade employed
against the village was ineffective, and forced to be silenced to
avoid injuring their own men. The struggle was fearful, and the event
for some time doubtful, the soldiers, however, at last succeeded in
obtaining a footing on the heights, and were able to employ their
arms; the bayonet now decided the victory in their favour, and the
village was soon taken, in spite of the most obstinate resistance
on the part of the negroes. The havoc became frightful: everyone
who offered the slightest resistance was cut down, children, women,
and old men were put to the bayonet, the huts were fired, and the
whole place was pillaged; in short, every species of cruelty was
perpetrated on these ill-fated victims. Those who fell into the hands
of the victorious enemy were immediately dragged down into the camp;
whilst those who endeavoured to escape, by concealing themselves
in caverns and ravines, were either hunted out by fire and smoke,
or suffocated in their place of shelter; every description of
atrocity was practised, nor did the carnage cease until the very
last man of this ill-starred tribe was exterminated or led away in
captivity. All the inconsiderable property of the natives which the
troops could not carry away with them as plunder was destroyed, and
the whole village sacked and levelled with the ground. These were not
all the sufferings which fell to the lot of these unfortunate men,
for severer tortures awaited them during their march to Kordofan. I
was unfortunately, during some few days, an eye-witness of the misery
these poor prisoners endured. No pen can describe the cruelties these
miserable men were made to suffer, in addition to the mental torment
consequent on their loss of freedom; for laden with the heavy sheba
round their necks, or bound together with tight straps or handcuffs,
the poor negroes were driven on like cattle, but treated with far
less care or forbearance. The greater number of them, covered with
the wounds they had received in battle, or excoriated by the sheba,
or the straps, and handcuffs, were put to yet severer trials on the
road, and, if too exhausted to keep pace with the transport, the
most cruel punishment awaited them; the piercing cry of complaint
of these unfortunate beings, and the tears and sobs of the children
who had either lost their parents in the capture of the village,
or were too tired to follow their exhausted mothers, would have
melted a heart of stone to pity. On these ruthless executioners,
however, even this scene of misery produces no effect; they march
with unconcern by the side of the prisoners, and are only anxious
to further the progress of the convoy, by urging on those who
may be so weak that they cannot follow the rest with blows and
stripes. As they dragged everyone away with them whom they found
living, there was, of course, a large number of lame, blind, and
old men, and persons afflicted with other infirmities, among the
complement of slaves, who were sure to perish on the road, or who
would be of no value on their arrival in Lobeid. But, even this
circumstance was not deemed worthy of consideration; without mercy
all were driven from their homes, and delivered up to their fate;
for the sole object is, to furnish the number of slaves demanded
by the government. Every morning, at about ten o’clock, a halt
was ordered, whereupon the prisoners were formed according to their
age into divisions, to receive their rations, consisting of boiled
dokn. Salt was out of the question, and the dokn so hard that the
full-grown men experienced difficulty in masticating it. Children,
who are too weak in the jaw to reduce the grain, swallow it as they
would pills, and are frequently put to the most excruciating agony
in consequence; for, not being able to digest the food, their bodies
swell, and they suffer from flatulence and spasm. I have seen mothers
chewing the victuals for their children, and then offering it to
them. In forming these detachments according to age, children who
anxiously cling to their parents are torn by force from their arms,
that they may eat alone. The condition of sick and wounded was not
considered; their wounds were not even dressed, and they received
the same allowance; many of them threw themselves on the sand, and,
refusing all food, preferred to rest their weary limbs. When one
of these poor wretches was so debilitated that it became a matter
of doubt whether he could be dragged on any further, or when he was
drawing his last breath, he was thrown, like a piece of wood, aside,
either to languish in despair, or to be torn to pieces by the wild
beasts. Bread is unheard of on these marches, although they have
every convenience for baking; this would be too great a luxury,
however, for the poor slaves, who must content themselves with
food not even good enough for cattle.
As soon as the signal for the march was given, the slaves were forced
to join their detachments, and, in case of delay for one minute
only, the whip and butt-end of the musket were again at work. Old
men and infirm women, bent down with the weight of years and care,
who could scarcely creep along, suffered like treatment, and when too
weak to move on were left to perish on the sand. Children were not
allowed to take leave of their nearest relatives; a tear and a look
of sorrow was the only tribute they could pay to the unfortunate
beings delivered over to their doom. To prevent a father or a
mother from perishing in this miserable manner, their wives or
daughters, who were unfettered, would take one of these wretches
between two of them, who, passing his arms round the neck of both,
was thus dragged on, or even at times carried. Children above six
years of age, or even at the age of four, were forced to walk;
they also generally succumb to the fatigues of the march, and are
then carried by their mothers or sisters. I have seen a mother with
an infant on one arm, and a child of two years of age on the other,
at last charge herself with a grown boy on her back, until she sank
herself exhausted under this triple load.
The officers commanding on these expeditions are more especially
to blame for the cruelty of the troops, for, riding at a distance
in front, or in the rear of the transport, they do not trouble
themselves about the condition of their prisoners, but leave them
entirely to the mercy of a ruthless soldiery. If an officer of
more feeling should happen to be in command, the circumstance is
instantly known by the diminished mortality on the road. I once
met with one of them who feelingly attended to the children and
the sick; who ordered them to be mounted on the beasts of burden
when too weak to proceed, and I saw him even take one or even two
of the children on his own horse. This man may lay his head on his
pillow in peace, free from the reproach of having augmented the
sufferings of his unfortunate fellow-creatures, whilst many of his
comrades must quail under the pangs of a guilty conscience for the
fearful death of hundreds of human beings.
An hour before sunset a halt was again ordered, and rations of
boiled dokn were once more served. But in the night the misery of
the slaves reached its very climax. In the month of January, when
the changes of temperature are ordinarily very perceptible, and the
thermometer generally falls below 4° Reaumur (41° Fahrenheit),
the cold is felt as severely as when at 4° or 5° below 0° of
Reaumur (23° to 20, 75° Fahrenheit), in the northern parts of
Germany. Imagine, now, the poor negroes in a state of absolute
nudity, without the means of covering themselves, and debilitated by
hunger and fatigue, when some idea may be formed of the sufferings
they had to endure; fires were certainly lighted, but the scanty
supply of wood rendered it impossible to defend these poor wretches
from the effects of cold. The shrieks and sobs of the children, the
cries of the wounded, and the groans of the sick, were perfectly
horrifying, and in the morning an infant was once found dead and
stiff with the cold at its mother’s breast. It is true that the
negroes have no covering in their own villages beyond a girdle or
a piece of linen passed round their loins, but then they lie at
night in their huts, or cover themselves with the skins of animals,
none of which they can find on their march. Those who wore the sheba
could not sleep at night for pain, as it so severely compresses the
neck that it impedes every movement, and thus not one man was free
from suffering. A woman far advanced in pregnancy was delivered
in the night without assistance. I gave the poor mother a shirt,
in which she wrapped her infant, and thus safely carried it to
Lobeid, and in compassion for her weak state I lent her my ass
to ride. I am unequal to the task of narrating all the horrors
I witnessed during the few days I attached myself to the convoy;
no words are sufficiently expressive to describe the sufferings of
the slaves, and no tongue can tell the painful sensations of a man
of feeling who witnesses these atrocities. I did all in my power,
with entreaties and presents, to make the troops, and the irregular
natives forming the escort, more compassionate, and thus many a man
was induced to take a child who could not move its jaded feet along
the burning sand upon his back, or to relieve a mother exhausted by
its weight, and carry it during the whole of the day. Unfortunately,
however, I was not able to put a stop to all acts of cruelty, and
was forced on one occasion to see an unfeeling soldier fell a man
to the ground with the butt-end of his musket because unable to keep
pace with the rest: his feet, in fact, refused their office: he had
been wounded in that part during the siege, the wound had inflamed,
and the pain had quite overpowered him. I lost all command of my
feelings on witnessing this brutal act, drew my sword, and should
have cut down the inhuman barbarian, if my servant had not seized my
arm and wrested my sword and pistols from my hand; nor did he return
my arms to me before he saw that my passion had cooled. On the eighth
day the expedition arrived at Lobeid. The distribution, described in
the former chapter, now took place, and this is, properly speaking,
the chief cause of the harsh and merciless behaviour of the soldiery
towards the slaves; for they know, that they will be compelled to
receive them in liquidation of their arrears of pay, at a value far
above the price they will obtain from the slave-merchants; that the
slaves, moreover, frequently die before they can dispose of them,
in which case the loss falls upon them, and they must serve the
government for months gratuitously. Hence they do all in their
power to rid themselves of the old and infirm slaves before they
reach Lobeid, in order to avoid the inconvenience of being forced
to take one of these men in lieu of their pay. If the payment of
the troops in the Belled-Soodan were effected in cash, as it is in
the other provinces, I am convinced that the unfortunate slaves
would meet with more humane treatment. But thanks to the noble
Queen Victoria of England, whose eye of compassion has penetrated
into these distant realms, and cheered the hearts of the dejected
and oppressed inhabitants,—at whose earnest representations,
in fine, these slave-hunts have been put an end to by Mehemed Ali
himself,—thousands of these poor negroes, who from year to year
trembled under the fear of a similar fate, may now live in peace and
tranquillity; and the prayers of the emancipated, offered up to the
throne of the Almightly for this truly great monarch cannot fail
to reward her humanity by a prosperous and happy reign. According
to reports from Kordofan, no expedition for kidnapping slaves
was ordered in the year 1839, and the troops were paid in cash;
but those, unfortunately, of 1840 and 1841 sound very differently,
for Mehemed Ali, in spite of his solemn promise to put an end to all
further slave-hunts, had again commenced these revolting expeditions.
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.
CHAPTER XIX.
ON THE KINGDOM OF DARFOUR.[91]
The realms of Darfour, one of the most extensive dominions of central
Africa, and totally unknown in its interior, consist of the following
countries, partly provinces of the kingdom, and partly tributaries to
that throne: Darfur, Runga,[92] Shala, Gulla, Binga,[93] Bergu,[94]
the latter was conquered by the Sultan of Darfour, in the year 1833,
and includes the small provinces of Bachermi,[95] Kugo, and Niero;
and further, the small, but independent states of Berti, Domurky,
Birget, Gimmer, Fellata, Forga, and Bandala. Gimir, Sachaua,
Bego, Yambusa, Dama, Masalit, and Midol, are small republics,
which formerly had no superiors beyond a magistrate, or sheikh,
in each village, who exerted no executive power, but was obeyed as
the head of a family.
All these states were subjected to Darfour by force of arms. Their
respective sultans inherit the right of throne as heretofore, but are
now tributaries to that country; the contribution consists of ivory,
rhinoceros’ horns, white copper, gold, and slaves. The seraskier,
or general, who resides at Shata or Deleb, is forced to levy the
tribute; and detachments of troops are continually on foot in the
various districts, engaged in collecting the taxation, for which
purpose they are always obliged to resort to coercive measures. The
army consists of irregular troops armed with shield and spear,
and some few with bows and arrows. The cavalry are provided with
very hardy horses, and armed with double-edged sabres, which they
obtain from Germany; they are, in part, clad like the old Numidian
horse in shirts of mail, purchased at large sums in Arabia; so high,
indeed, is the price of this armour, that it might be manufactured
in Germany at one fourth of the cost. There are only about four
hundred muskets, of various shapes and sizes, in the whole army;
their balls they cast of copper. At El Fasher, the capital of
Darfour, four iron cannons are mounted. Dar-Marra, a large hill,
situated at a distance of two short days’ journey from El Fasher,
is considered the fort of Darfour, and is believed to be impregnable,
as it has a never-failing supply of water, and if besieged, might
grow sufficient corn for the consumption of the garrison. The army
of Darfour, has, at various times, ventured as far as Banda,[96]
Wuanga, and Pegu, but was always beaten back with considerable
loss. Mohammed Fadel, Sultan of Darfour, is the present despotic
monarch reigning over all these countries; he is an exceedingly
barbarous man, greatly dreaded by all his subjects, and has merely
kept himself in power by his considerable irregular army. His
younger brothers, Abumedina and Achmet, who are both beloved by
the people, he, on that account, bitterly hates, and consequently
treats them more harshly than slaves. When his oppressive cruelty
became too severe to be endured, they determined, with the aid of a
few trustworthy friends, to effect their escape to Kordofan, their
flight was, however, discovered, and Sultan Fadel had them pursued;
they were overtaken on the borders of Kordofan, and the youngest
was, after some slight resistance, seized and carried before his
brother Fadel, who instantly had his eyes put out. A fleet horse
saved Abumedina, and he reached Kordofan, after having received
a severe sabre wound across his head in his defence; he now placed
himself under the protection of Mehemed Ali, who instantly made him a
monthly allowance. On his last journey to the gold-mines of Fazoglo,
in Sennaar, Mehemed Ali summoned Abumedina into his presence, and
promised to place him on the throne of Darfour, as soon as his own
affairs with the Porte were settled; for which kind office Abumedina
is to pay an annual tribute to Egypt of a thousand horses, ivory,
and white copper; the exact quantity of the latter articles was
not determined, but he is to keep the Egyptian auxiliaries in his
pay as long as he may deem their services necessary.
Should his wishes of rising to the throne of Darfûr be fulfilled,
as he confidently hopes, Europeans would gain considerably by
this change in the government, for it would open a new path into
the unexplored portions of Central Africa; and much good may be,
moreover, expected from his very excellent character. He has often
told me himself, that he would receive an European, who would occupy
himself with the civilization of his people, with open arms.[97]
The following short anecdote may serve as a proof of the kindness
of his disposition, and of the nobleness of his character.
During my sojourn in Lobeid, I had the opportunity of an introduction
to Abumedina: he received my visit with great kindness and
attention, and I passed for a considerable time some hours daily
in his company.[98] Among my effects there happened to be a gun
in the form of a walking-stick, which Abumedina very much wished
to possess, when he learned the use of it. At his request, but
rather as a mark of my esteem, I gave it to him, with instructions
as to the treatment of it, in loading, &c., and I more especially
drew his attention to the quantity of powder necessary for the
charge. A short time after this, Abumedina went out shooting, at
his country-seat, and overcharged the gun, which of course burst and
in the explosion very much shattered his left hand. His attendants
laid the blame of this accident upon me, and requested the sultan
to punish me for it. Apprehensive of the consequences, I fled, and
concealed myself in the house of a fakeér, who was my friend, and
from whom I had no treachery to fear. I there heard that the Divan
at Lobeid had instituted proceedings at law against me, but that
Abumedina had taken my defence upon himself, and torn the papers,
saying, “Pallme is my friend! he cautioned me; he is innocent;
it was the will of God.” After passing ten days in a dark and
damp straw hut, in the greatest anxiety, I preferred continuing my
flight, although I had nothing further to fear from Abumedina. I
consequently proceeded straightway to the White Nile, and thence
to Sennaar, whence I travelled over Berber, and the desert, to
Egypt. By the time I had passed the first cataract, all my cares
were dissipated, and I was walking one day on the banks of the
Nile, at Sijuth, when I suddenly heard a negro calling me by my
name, at a short distance from me. I turned round, and immediately
recognized Abumedina’s eunuch. This rencontre appeared to me,
at the moment, rather suspicious; I quickened my pace, therefore,
towards my boat, to reach my arms, and defend myself, if necessary;
nor could the eunuch induce me to follow him; but then came one of
the Sultan’s mamelukes, in whom I could place more confidence;
I consequently accompanied him to the boat belonging to the prince,
where I was most cordially welcomed. The Sultan had all my luggage
removed to his boat, and I travelled in his company to Cairo,
where he waits for the twelve thousand men, which Mehemed Ali has
promised to lend him, for the purpose of conquering Darfour,[99]
as soon as circumstances will permit him to spare as many troops.
THE END.
LONDON:
Printed by S. & J. BENTLEY, WILSON, and FLEY,
Bangor House, Shoe Lane.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 1: The Rev. J. Russell’s Nubia and Abyssinia,
p. 179.—TR.]
[Footnote 2: A pastoral race.]
[Footnote 3: Birket, as found on the maps of Arrowsmith.]
[Footnote 4: A hermit, and also a schoolmaster.]
[Footnote 5: Slave Merchants; Merchants in general; called, also,
Djelabs, Gelabs, and Jelabs. Vid. “Legh’s Narrative of a
Journey in Egypt and the Countries beyond the Cataracts” and, also,
the Journal of Captain Light.—TR.]
[Footnote 6: The German orthography has been generally followed,
as it is impossible to give the exact spelling of these names,
without being furnished with the Arab characters.—TR.]
[Footnote 7: Accounts, it would appear, are kept in _current
piastres_ of Egypt, each piastre being equivalent to forty
paras. Fifteen and a half or sixteen piastres are = one Spanish
dollar; hence one piastre = three pence halfpenny of English
money, and five paras would, therefore, be about one halfpenny
English. For further information _vide_ Encyclopædia Britanica,
vol. iii. Article Egypt.]
[Footnote 8: This noble animal will probably be found stuffed in
the royal Museum at Munich, for Mehemed Ali presented it to the
Conseillier d’Etat Schubert who was at Cairo in the year 1836.]
[Footnote 9: A coin which is no longer current, but was equal to
two piastres ten para, about twelve and a half kreuzer current =
eight pence of English money.—TR.]
[Footnote 10: A solemn feast kept by the Moslemin; the great Baëram,
commences on the 10th of Dhu Ihajia; the little Baëram is held at
the close of the fast Ramadhan.—TR.]
[Footnote 11: Sennaar and Kordofan; Dongola is also under his sway,
but does not belong to the Belled Soodan.]
[Footnote 12: Between Ambukol and Khartoom.]
[Footnote 13: The ardeb is equivalent to very nearly five English
bushels.—LANE. _Modern Egyptians, Library of Entertaining
Knowledge._—TR.]
[Footnote 14: _Holcus arundinaceus_, or _Sorghum vulgare_, of
Linnæus, and _Holcus Doura_, of Forskaël.—TR.]
[Footnote 15: The Cantaro is = 100 Rotoli, but the rotolo has
different weights. The former is = 150 lb avoirdupois; the latter =
6159 grs. English, or, also, to 18 oz. avoirdupois.—TR.]
[Footnote 16: A general term for millet, whether _panicum miliaceum_,
or _holcus spicata_; it is the _holcus dockna_ of Forskaël.—TR.]
[Footnote 17: Ornithomyzes, a family of apterous and parasitic
insects, vulgarly called “tics.” The latin name _Ricinus_,
is taken from Varro, and not well chosen, as it is liable to be
confounded with the plant of the same name. Vid. _Dictionnaire des
Sciences naturelles_, tom. xlv. article _Ricins._—TR.]
[Footnote 18: Shebé or Sheb, native alum.—TR.]
[Footnote 19: Telka or Telg, a species of pomatum.—TR.]
[Footnote 20: These Sheikhs, or saints, are what we call idiots. They
are unfortunate beings, who, although neglected by nature, are
considered in this country as direct apostles from God, to inform
the children of man of their destiny. These poor wretches are
all but idolized, every one being anxious to shew them the utmost
respect. When they walk out in the streets, they are stopped by
old and young, who kiss their face, hands, and even their feet, and
offer them everything they wish for. Beings of this description are
generally very apathetic, and accept little or nothing; they are,
in fact, generally to be met dressed in the most disgusting clothes,
in rags, or utterly naked, although they would be provided with the
finest raiment if they merely expressed the slightest wish. Their
parents, sisters, or other relations, on the other hand, know how to
turn their misfortune to the best account, and accept considerable
presents for their intercession with these saints, or for procuring
others an opportunity of consulting this oracle. They give the most
absurd and ridiculous answers to questions that are put to them,
partly as a consequence of their fatuity, and partly because taught
to do so; it is, indeed, scarcely possible at times to guess at
their meaning. The more absurd the answer, the more contented is
the party interested; and absolutely delighted, if he can only make
out a single word of the whole rodomontade, which in the slightest
agrees with his wishes. To these saints the women flock in numbers
to beg for fertility. Besides these Sheikhs, there are others, and
Fakéers, who write amulets, which the women wear on their arms,
or heads, firmly believing that their most fervent wishes will be
then fulfilled. The latter profession is exceedingly lucrative,
and I have seen several persons who had made a small fortune in
this manner, and very well understood the art of imposing on the
people, and of persuading them to purchase a fresh charm, although
experience must have convinced them of the futility of the last.]
[Footnote 21: Tarabuka, a drum, which is beaten with the hand.]
[Footnote 22: Takie.]
[Footnote 23: The Arab term for the Sesamum.—TR.]
[Footnote 24: _Spica nardus_; _Valeriana celtica_.—TR.]
[Footnote 25: The fruit of the _prunus mahaleb_, or perfumed cherry,
a native of Austria.—TR.]
[Footnote 26: Dhofer is the shell of an animal found on the Red Sea,
cut into small pieces and used as a perfume, emitting a pleasant
odour when held over the fire. _Burckhardt’s Travels in Nubia_,
p. 286.—TR.]
[Footnote 27: The use of Kophel is of very great antiquity, and is
mentioned in the New Testament by the term στιβίζειν.—TR.]
[Footnote 28: The miners in Germany form almost a particular
caste, and are distinguished from every other artizan by the
peculiarities of their dress. It consists of a black half smock of
glazed linen, with wide sleeves, contracted at the wrist, decorated
with innumerable buttons, and reaches to the waist, where it is
fastened by a broad belt. A leather apron, worn either in front,
or, during their work, reversed, completes the uniform. The latter
article of dress is essential to them in their occupation, which
consists of sitting on the hard rock and breaking the ore away with
their hammers. The head is covered with a thick felt hat, without
a brim, on the crown of which the lantern or candle is placed,
during their descent into the mines.—TR.]
[Footnote 29: It is customary among Europeans travelling on the Nile,
to hoist their national flag, a custom which is the more necessary,
as they, by so doing, avoid many enquiries, which are made at
different places by the local police, and thus save themselves much
trouble, and unnecessary delay.]
[Footnote 30: Chesnut, or maize flour, boiled in water, a species
of flummery.—TR.]
[Footnote 31: Bamié, or bamíyeh, the esculent _hibiscus_:
the part eaten is a polygonal pod full of seeds and nutritive
mucilage. _Lane’s Modern Egyptians, note,_ p. 199.—TR.]
[Footnote 32: The oock’ckah is = 400 dir’hems, is from 3 lb. 3
oz. 13¾ dwt., to 3 lb. 4 oz. troy; or from 2 lb. 11 oz. 8 dr. 18¾
gr., to about, or nearly 2 lb. 12 oz., or 2¾ lb. avoirdupois. Vide
_Lane’s Modern Egyptians, Library of Entertaining Knowledge,
appendix_, p. 578.—TR.]
[Footnote 33: A pomatum for anointing the body, prepared from
Spikenard, Mahaleb, and Tuffer. Burckhardt, in his Travels in
Nubia, p. 200, mentions a preparation of sheep’s-fat, soap,
musk, pulverized sandal-wood, senbal, _i. e._, Spikenard, and
Mahaleb. Brown names as one of the articles of this unguent, _dufr_,
a species of shell of a fish used for perfume.—_Brown’s Travels
in Africa, Egypt, and Syria._—TR.]
[Footnote 34: Or rather, probably, excision, a custom of
great antiquity.—Vide _Strabo Lib._ xvii., Καὶ τὰ
παιδία περιτεμνειν καὶ τὰ θήλεα
ἐκτέμνειν.—TR.]
[Footnote 35: Mulieri in manum conventuræ mentulæ suæ imaginem
ligneam seu luto formatam sponsus mittit.—TR.]
[Footnote 36: See the chapter entitled the capital Lobeid.]
[Footnote 37: Public dancing girls.—TR.]
[Footnote 38: It is, of course, understood, that travellers from
Cairo are furnished with provisions of all kinds, whereas those
returning from the Belled-Soodan are merely provided with red
lentils. A singular fate has brought us five times unexpectedly
together, within the space of five years, in three different quarters
of the globe; the last time we met in a miserable village, in the
Isle of Cyprus, towards the end of last year.]
[Footnote 39: _Lu, lu, lu!_ This cry has a triple signification. It
expresses joy, grief, and danger, and serves also as an encouragement
in battle. The intonation of these sounds determines the difference
of their import. It may be readily recognised when it has been
frequently heard, but cannot be described.]
[Footnote 40: Bakkara are a race of Arabs who occupy themselves
with breeding cattle.]
[Footnote 41: Evil Spirit.—TR.]
[Footnote 42: Johara.—TR.]
[Footnote 43: The most prevalent means, in most Mooslem countries,
of exciting what the Arabs term “Keyf,” which I cannot more
nearly translate than by the word “exhilaration,” is tobacco,
whose accompaniment is usually the cup of coffee.—_Lane’s Modern
Egyptians_, vol. ii., ch. 2., p. 35-6.—TR.]
[Footnote 44: Maxima mihi etiam apud hoc nigrorum genus generationis
organa observandi fuit occasio.]
[Footnote 45: Hic cinctus pudenda tegit.]
[Footnote 46: A custom more especially prevalent in the Harz
mountains on the evening of 1st of May, the night of Walpurgis,
when fires are lighted on the hills, and torches tossed into the
air, to drive away the witches, who are supposed on this occasion
to be making holiday. This custom is alluded to in Goëthe’s
Faust.—TR.]
[Footnote 47: A white cap, worn beneath the Tarboósh.]
[Footnote 48: A red cap, with a silk tassel.]
[Footnote 49: The pod of a tree with which the natives tan leather
in Kordofan.]
[Footnote 50: This earth is found near Shendy, and is said to be
met with in several places on the White Nile also.]
[Footnote 51: It resembles the tomato in shape and size, grows in
a similar manner, and has a very unpleasant taste.]
[Footnote 52: The _chaussure_ consists of shoes and sandals, but
a part of them appear on parade barefooted, for they are not over
rigid disciplinarians; the covering to the head, like that of all
the other troops, is the turboosh—a red cap, and the only article
of dress about them in decent preservation.]
[Footnote 53: Situated at a distance of four hours’ march from
Cairo. This school was subsequently removed to Cairo at the advice
of Prince Pückler-Muskau.]
[Footnote 54: _Solanum Lycopersicum_.—TR.]
[Footnote 55: _Citrus Decumana_, the shaddock?—TR.]
[Footnote 56: Long-staple, Sea island, Egyptian cotton.]
[Footnote 57: Long staple, common Egyptian cotton.—TR.]
[Footnote 58: Heglig, of Browne; Agihalid, of Adamson; the
Balanites Egyptiaca in the _Description de l’Egypte, publiée
par_ Panckoucke. Forskael mentions the fruit of the eglit, but not
the tree.—TR.]
[Footnote 59: The Acacia.—TR.]
[Footnote 60: Cucifera thebaica, in the _Description de
l’Egypte_.—TR.]
[Footnote 61: Faecher palme, Borassus flabelliformis, of
Forskael.—TR.]
[Footnote 62: “Peace be on you,” the greeting of peace, to which
the response is, “On you be peace.” This is the salutation of
Mooslims to each other only.—Vide, _Lane’s Modern Egyptians_,
p. 273.—TR.]
[Footnote 63: Buffaloes.—TR.]
[Footnote 64: The oschour of Burckhardt and Browne.—TR.]
[Footnote 65: Of the Acacia, according to Burckhardt’s Travels
in Nubia, p. 264.—TR.]
[Footnote 66: Girbe.—TR.]
[Footnote 67: Vid. Chapter XIX.]
[Footnote 68: The Kashef, or impression of the seal, is customary
over the whole of the East, and a signature, although in the
handwriting of the individual, does not render a document, or other
paper, valid unless it be at the same time sealed with the Kashef,
or initials of the writer.]
[Footnote 69: An expression in use among the natives of Egypt,
Syria, and Arabia, to denote an amusement and every description
of ornament or pomp; thus the women are said to have a _fantasia_
on their heads or dress, as they go out to witness a _fantasia_.]
[Footnote 70: Wind and heat cause a diminution in the weight of
the gum before it reaches Cairo.]
[Footnote 71: Cisme, or shishme, a small grain of the size and
shape of the smallest lentil of a deep black shining colour is
imported from Darfour. It is pulverized and rubbed into the eyelids
for complaints of the eye.—_Burckhardt’s Travels in Nubia_,
p. 262.—TR.]
[Footnote 72: Vide the following chapters.]
[Footnote 73: Spikenard, from Carinthia, is as indispensable
as bread in this country, it is employed, as before-mentioned,
in the preparation of telka, which every woman must possess, or
she has the right of divorce. The rottolo of one pound is sold at
four or five piasters (one shilling and twopence to one shilling and
sixpence). This article is already in demand in the negro states, and
the consumption will greatly increase in the space of a few years.]
[Footnote 74: Dogas, manufactured in Carniola and Styria, are
iron plates of various sizes, furnished with a ring and hook, and
employed for the purpose of baking bread. They are indispensable
to the caravans.]
[Footnote 75: The razors (the commonest sort manufactured in the
capital of Styria,) are not used for shaving the beard; some few
natives employ them for the hair of the head, but the greater number
for shaving the hair of the pudenda. They are also put into use in
the circumcision of girls and in the mutilation of boys.]
[Footnote 76: Two-edged swords, of Austrian manufacture,
are thirty-six inches and a half in length, and one inch and
three-quarters in breadth, of equal diameter throughout, and
rounded off inferiorly. Seven inches and a quarter in the curve,
and marked: ♁ with a lion. The scabbards and hilts are made in the
country. They are in most request in Darfour. The sale is attended
with considerable profit, but those marked with a death’s-head
from the workshops of Peter Knell, in Solingen, are preferred.]
[Footnote 77: Antimony from various mines in the province of Austria,
and reduced to a powder, is used as a cosmetic by the women and
girls, who cover their eyelids with it.]
[Footnote 78: Arsenic from different parts of Austria is bought
in those negro states where gold is found. It is transmitted from
Kordofan as far as Bunda.]
[Footnote 79: Iron wire and brass wire from the Tyrol and the
province of Austria, is in great request in all parts of Africa
for the decoration of lances and tobacco-pipes, and also for
ear-rings. In some districts the natives wear as many as ten brass
rings in one ear.]
[Footnote 80: Common cloths from Bohemia termed technically Londerin
seconds. The scarlet colours are preferred in Darfour.]
[Footnote 81: Glass beads from Bohemia play a very prominent part
in the commerce of Africa. In some places the red are in demand,
in others again the blue or yellow beads, but where a particular
colour does not happen to be fashionable, there is no sale for them
even at the cost price.]
[Footnote 82: Card counters are in request in most of the negro
states, they are worn by the women as an ornament in the head-dress.]
[Footnote 83: Narghilé, the glass water-reservoirs of the Persian
pipes.—TR.]
[Footnote 84: Brick or ebrigh ablution vases, in the form of a
coffee biggin; those in general use in the East are made of copper,
but those of glass are also frequently to be met with.—TR.]
[Footnote 85: Drinking-cups of glass, shaped like our
tea-cups.—TR.]
[Footnote 86: I furnished Dr. Madden, who was sent by the English
“Society for the Abolishment of the Slave Trade,” to Egypt,
with the body of the matter of this and the following chapter
at his urgent request, and that of several other gentlemen who
were totally at a loss for correct information on the slave-hunts
annually taking place in the provinces of the Pasha of Egypt. I
was the more willing to assist him in this undertaking, as it was
the intention of the Society to make representations to Mehemed
Ali on this subject, and thus to endeavour to save thousands of
unfortunate victims. This and the subsequent chapter have appeared
in the second volume of the “British and Foreign Anti-Slavery
Reporter,” No. 28, Jan. 13th, 1841.]
[Footnote 87: Gasua originally means a campaign against the infidels,
and is the same word as razzia so often heard in Algiers, merely
differing in pronunciation.]
[Footnote 88: Dire.—TR.]
[Footnote 89: The information I was able to collect was communicated
to the celebrated French traveller, Antoine d’Abbadie, who laid it
before the Academy in Paris and the Geographical Society in London;
by the latter it was subsequently published in the Athenæum,
of 18th January 1840. As regards the White Nile, more accurate
information may now have been obtained through the expedition sent
in the year 1840, for the third time, by Mehemed Ali, to trace the
river to its source.]
[Footnote 90: In the _Athenæum_ this place is erroneously called
Bab-Belull, its correct name is Cab-Belull.]
[Footnote 91: I consider myself justified in annexing these few
remarks on Darfour to the description of Kordofan, although somewhat
irrelevant to the subject, as so little is yet known of that kingdom,
and the source of my information may be considered very authentic;
for I had it from no less a person than Sultan Abumedina, the brother
of the Sultan of Darfour, and I am, moreover, of opinion that it
will not be altogether useless in a geographical point of view.]
[Footnote 92: Runga is situated on a river, believed to be the
White Nile, and is said to be a fertile country, with a very
healthy climate. Bananas, wild grapes, lemons, and three sorts
of potatoes, grow in the country; the first is a small and curved
variety, which grows without cultivation in the sand; the second
variety resembles the European potatoe in shape and flavour,
and is planted; the third, which is also cultivated, is a giant
potatoe, said to attain the weight of twelve oock’ckahs, equal
to twenty-seven pounds. The country is supposed to be very rich
in silver ore, of which but little use is made, as the smelting
costs the natives too much trouble. Darfour draws a great deal
of ivory and rhinoceros’ horn from this country, but it has no
camels. Islamism has made great progress there within the last
few years. The religion of the natives is exceedingly simple; they
believe in the existence of an invisible deity who produces water,
namely rain, and makes their fruit to grow. They pay, further, great
respect to persons afflicted with fatuity, and believe them to be
prophets of the invisible God. They build peculiar huts for these
beings, more like birdcages than houses, where they are confined,
and provided with food. Before sunset the populace visits them to
consult them for advice, and every answer, be it ever so nonsensical,
is regarded as an oracle, and firmly believed. The same ideas are
said to prevail in Banda, Wuanga, Binga, and Gulla.]
[Footnote 93: In Binga a large quantity of copper ore is found,
which is met with in commerce in Kordofan, and converted into
anklets for the women, weighing about one pound each; it has not
the same characteristics as the European copper, but bears a nearer
resemblance to brass; its colour is pale yellow.]
[Footnote 94: A caravan leaves Bergu annually for Tripoli. The
distance from Bergu to Kobbe, the chief commercial town of Darfour,
is twenty days’ march. Since Bergu has become tributary to Darfour,
European goods have found their way into the latter country from
Tripoli by way of Bergu.]
[Footnote 95: Bagermi.—TR.]
[Footnote 96: Banda has been vaunted to me as a country rich in gold;
it is also said to possess a large quantity of white copper.]
[Footnote 97: At present any traveller might reach Darfour, but he
would never return, because the reigning Sultan looks upon every
white man as a spy of Mehemed Ali’s. Mohammed Fadel’s chief
wish is to have some European settlers in his country; he even
invited me through a Djelabi, to come; for he is well aware that
Mehemed Ali has set his eye upon Darfour. An European died eight
years ago in that kingdom: he was a renegade, and stood very high
in the favour of the Court. He has left two full-grown sons; but
I could neither discover his name, nor the country he came from.]
[Footnote 98: I have frequently dined at his table, and when I, on
one of these occasions, observed no bread, and asked the reason,
he answered: bread is only for servants and slaves; but that it
had never been a custom of the Sultans of Darfour to eat bread.]
[Footnote 99: It need scarcely be mentioned that this change of
government has not yet taken place.—TR.]
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*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Travels in Kordofan : Embracing a description of that province of Egypt, and of some of the bordering countries, with a review of the present state of the commerce in those countries, of the habits and customs of the inhabitants, as also an account of the slave hunts taking place under the government of Mehemed Ali" ***
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