which causes a continued unbroken train of women, camels, asses, &c.,
between the two not very distant villages, employed in the transport of
water. We found Melek Mammud encamped under an ancient and large tree,
his fifty mounted Schaigies round him. He himself had just arrived, so
had nothing save water to offer us, but we were only too well pleased to
find ourselves once again on angarebs, under a cool shade. After a short
rest, a pillau of dates, with some roasted gazelle venison we had been
provident enough to bring with us from the camp, tasted to us right
well, but still more did we relish after it, a large cup-shaped gourd
full of merissa, refreshing and pleasant to our palates, as the best
beer. Better merissa than this, I never drank in Bellad-Sudan; it was
almost white, had a slight sourish flavour, similar to light hock, and
the mealy taste was not perceptible in it. Much to our satisfaction
there was plenty of it, so we sent the cup merrily round, persuading
ourselves we were quaffing the loved beer of our Fatherland.
Shortly after appeared Mohammed Din, who had also camped under an
adjoining tree, to pay us a visit. A train of at least fifty men
accompanied him. The Great Sheik, whose bravery we as highly honoured as
his own people did, could not be prevailed on by us to seat himself on
an angareb, but would use only a palm-mat on the earth, giving us to
understand, while scorn curled his lip and glanced from his eye, that
this was the position that now best became him.
We now had an opportunity of closely inspecting the physiognomy of this
Sheik, whom every Arab from Atbara to the Red Sea honours as a demi-god,
and of whom they say “Ragil, taib schatter mafish seie di” (A brave man,
full of courage, there is no other like him). His face is round and
full, with small hazel eye, sly and crafty, and well denoting his
cunning, treacherous, but persevering mind; his nose is proportionate to
his face, but slightly retroussé; his mouth small and ever curled with a
satirical contemptuous smile. Were it not for this feature, and his
false glance, he might easily pass for a well fed common-place monk, and
his bald head would well become the hood. His manner and demeanour were
but too evidently intended to impress all beholders with his importance.
His movements are slow, measured, and dignified, while his train, ever
composed of the first in the land, and many of it his own relations,
follow him at a respectful distance. His bald head was uncovered; he
wore a white cotton shirt and ferda, with sandals on his feet; his
colour is brown. He did not speak Arabic, as few of these people can,
though of Arab origin, but only Aggem (a mixture of Arabic and the
dialect of the present natives), such as, with few exceptions, is spoken
by the original race of Bischari, and also by the Arab-descended races
of Schukurie, Hallenga, &c. With smiling face he asked us, through one
of his train, who spoke Arabic, how the country pleased us, and with
much irony added the question, if we had noted down the number of trees
we had passed on our journey. He seemed to know we took notes, but could
not comprehend we merely did this for our own amusement, but seemed to
hold us as spies of the Pascha. After asking us a few more questions as
to our own country, and remarking that we should not make notes, as it
was neither fair nor handsome, Mohammed Din took his leave.
Some hours afterwards we went to pay our return visit to him. He lay
sleeping on an angareb, while his whole train, lance in hand, stood as
body-guard round him, speaking seldom and then in low tones; on his
waking, all still remained reverently standing, nor did they seat
themselves, till he requested it. He was again all smiles and most
friendly, but did not offer us any refreshment. He, like all Sheiks of
high rank and Faki, neither smokes nor drinks any kind of spirituous
liquors, not even merissa, but yet takes snuff in large quantities. He
examined most closely our basket-hilted dragoon swords, and said they
were good. We complimented him on being known everywhere as a warrior,
even by the Franks; he shook his head, said, he had seen on the Salt
Sea, near Sauakinn, large ships with cannons, but that he did not desire
aid from the Ingleb (English), and added some more words that were not
translated to us. I unthinkingly asked, how many his people might
number. “Count the trees!” he replied, looking proudly round him. Our
talk having to be carried on through an interpreter soon wearied us, and
we took our departure.
* * * * *
CHAP. VI.
Merissa Huts. — Arab Gratitude. — Splendid Soil. — The Pascha’s Grand
Projects. — A Pleasant Servant. — Turkish Eating. — Turkish Faith. —
Arabs of Hedjas. — Mehemet Ali’s Campaigns.
On one side of Mitkenab there is held every morning a great market
(sukh), to which the natives come in streams, from all parts round, to
dispose of cattle, grain, honey, butter, cotton cloths, &c., but all
trading is by barter, and by him who has no top, or dogk[11], or such
cotton stuffs as are made by the natives themselves, or at least some
durra, no business is to be done, or purchases made. And even, though we
had possessed all these we could not have traded, as in these villages
the hatred against the army was so great, that it seemed as if all the
inhabitants had mutually agreed, to allow the foe to procure nothing
they could possibly prevent, by the strictest care, nor could we obtain
the smallest morsel of flesh, and now much lamented we had not accepted
the sheep proffered us in the morning. It is true, it only required a
sign from Mohammed Din, and we would have been supplied, and in
abundance, with all we could wish for; but as he mistrusted us on
account of our note-takings, and classed us among the Turks, this sign
he did not give. Little or no coin is to be found among these people,
but they are acquainted with the Theresa-thaler, or dollar (value one
thaler, twenty piastres), which they call a real, and this they demanded
from us for the merest trifles, the true value of which was not two or
three pence. Austria still continues to have these thalers coined from
the old die, for eastern use, and these are called by the Arabs here
“Abu Nukta” (father of drops, _i.e._, the pearls in the diadem of the
Empress Maria Theresa, of which there are numbers). The Kolonates in the
land of Sudan call them “Abu Mutfa,” mistaking the pillars of Hercules
on them for cannon. In the Levant the Spanish money is commonly called
piastres (from piasto), although it is reduced to one twentieth part of
its value, and it is possible, that the Arab and Turkish words gersch
and grusch for piastre, may be the origin of our groschen.
To see at least as much as possible of the village, and its environs, we
two, arming ourselves only with our sabres, now set out for a walk, but
without our knowing it, two completely armed Schaigies followed us, and
ere long, two young lads, relations of Sheik Mussa, joined us, to
provide for our safety, as we afterwards learned. The whole village is
formed of mat huts, and is similar in all respects to El Soffrè; its
extent is great, and its population numerous, and seemingly rich in
cattle. As we marched through it, the people stared greatly at us, the
women ran off to hide themselves, as if from evil spirits, and the
children who rushed out from their so-called schools, laughed at and
mocked us, for they had never before seen white men. To our great
satisfaction, we turned into a merissa drinking shop, which, erected
under a large tree, was filled with men. We seated ourselves on some
square stools with backs, and were at once supplied with some stout
beakers full of merissa, which, being good, we relished much, and it
even made us feel somewhat in the wind. In such places, the Arabs will
sit from early morning to late eve, drinking and carousing, and often
eating nothing for many days, as merissa is meat and drink too. Here I
remarked for the first time, that even among these dark-skinned men,
some red colour is perceptible on their cheeks, such being the case with
some of the topers here, who, from copious libations, had sent most of
the blood into their heads, as was shown by their deeply flushed though
swarthy faces. The nephew of the Sheik Mussa, whom our old camp-
neighbour Mohammed Defalla had made our friend, had, on our entering,
explained to the company, that we were not Turks, but Inglebs, English,
a word which here seems to answer to the Frank of the East; all
therefore were friendly and kind, and more so, when they found we drank
stoutly. They were particularly pleased, when we taught them the _a
tempo_ drinking, in which, from our old student-habits, we came off
victorious. In their now confidential intimacy, they told us, they would
soon settle matters with the Turks, if Mohammed Din so willed it.
The chaaba near here shows a thick strong bush, intermixed with high old
trees, the ground below strewed with uprooted trees and bearing tall
grasses. Many fine trees were not to be seen as the violent and sudden
hurricanes that occur in the rainy season break over or uproot the high
trees, for the soil becomes so saturated with the heavy floods that the
roots retain but a poor hold. The chaaba or forest extends from the
Atbara to the Red Sea and upwards to Habesch. It is the abode of
unnumbered elephants, many of whose immense spinal joint bones we found
lying among the grass, of rhinoceroses, lions generally without manes,
tigers, hyenas, giraffes, gazelles, large antelopes, wild asses, wolves,
cats, &c., and immense numbers of most venomous snakes. From fear of
these no Arab will at night move outside his seriba. To form a clear and
broad path, such as the Romans cut through the German forests, through
this overgrown and dense wilderness, would require many thousand
European axes, but such as the Pascha has already given out to the
soldiery, many times during our march to clear the way, would be
perfectly useless for such a gigantic task. On our return to the well a
little before sunset, we found all the Schaigies on the move to take
possession of a seriba outside the village, partly for security against
the lions, who at night come out from the forest to the water, and
partly as a precaution against the hostile-minded Arabs. We could not
decline going with them, and encamped with Melek Mammud, in the centre
of his troop and of the seriba, thus forming the staff. In the evening
some bread was brought us (thin cakes piled on each other like
pancakes), but neither flesh, milk, nor butter. Fortunately we had got
our rice and chammerdin; flat cakes made of apricots and other things, a
sweet compound of Syria; still left us, and at length the old Chingi,
whom Joseph had often in the camp given medicine to with satisfactory
results, sent us some milk in a girbe. We passed the night in sound
agreeable sleep, and were only once awakened by the horrible howlings of
troops of hyenas prowling around the village, and setting all the dogs
into commotion and uproar. At the entrance (bab) of our seriba slept
Mohammed Din himself. In such good odour did we stand with the natives.
At sunrise next morning all in our seriba were in motion, as the
soldiers were to accompany Mohammed Din, who was about to go, with the
purpose of gathering contributions, to his tribe in the large village,
Fille, which lies some two and a half or three hours’ journey to the
S.E. of Sheik Mussa’s village, and is similar to all these settlements.
Between the villages extend large fields or plains covered with durra,
with a few trees interspersed among them. We also prepared for the
march, and as we did so had again a good example of the ingratitude of
these people;—the old Chingi did not blush to demand back the old
worthless girbe he had sent us the night before with the milk, and
which, there being yet some left in it, we had already had packed on our
camel. Furious at such niggardly conduct in one who owed so much to my
brother’s care and medical attention, I threw the skin, milk, and all to
the ground, and rode off. We should have liked to have remained some
time longer in Mitkenab, but the young relative of Sheik Mussa urged our
departure, ready for which waited an Arab escort; and we held it wisest
to follow his well-meant advice, the more so as a report had been
spread,—we knew not how or why,—that we had been expressly sent by the
Pascha to take notes of the country and all we saw, so that he might
hereafter be guided by these when he advanced into it. So had we not
soon taken ourselves off, it might have easily occurred to the natives
that it would be as well to put such dangerous notes and note-takers out
of the way. At the edge of the forest a troop of Arabs, armed with
shields and lances, friends of the Sheik Mussa, awaited us and
accompanied us on our journey; and as long as our way lay through this
forest, we had to sit crouching on our dromedaries’ backs, from the
lowness of the branches, till we again got into our old path among the
durra fields. This young man, who, next morning accepting our
invitation, accompanied us into the camp, acted thus to protect us from
an intended attack, which might have cost us our lives, had he not
fortunately heard of it, and so avoided it. This evil opinion of us
Melek Mahmud afterwards confirmed, and told us the people were very much
excited (salahn) from our taking such accurate notice of every thing.
Our way back led through the same country we had already seen, but our
march was very slow, as our dromedaries, from all supplies being
yesterday refused us, had been without food; and on their account we
were often obliged to stop to allow them to browse on the trees as they
went along. We again rode along the gohr in Mohammed Din’s village, and
quietly dismounted at Sali Effendi’s small branch-formed hut, he having
proceeded somewhere else on his tribute-collecting business. Although
this hut was open on both sides, we fortunately found here a store of
some pieces of flesh which we much enjoyed, and by promise of some
medicine for the cholic, we obtained from a Sheik some merissa; but from
the natives themselves, as before, nothing was to be had. Towards
evening we reached our own camp; but some half hour before doing so we
came on some trees, where many hundreds of turtle doves were roosting,
so that we soon supplied ourselves with materials for a supper; though
many we shot we had to leave on the ground, as we dared not venture into
the bushes to pick them up, from the numerous venomous snakes and other
insects, and the darkness, too, which was setting in. On our return, we
had again been met by long trains of Arabs bearing away durra from the
fields to their hiding places.
The cotton plantations round our camp of Aronga were, indeed, of
considerable extent, and even during the present dry season offered a
vigorous and fresh verdure that showed their healthiness, but neither in
extent or luxuriance are they to be compared to the durra fields, nor
are they, considering their great importance, at all in keeping with the
numbers of the Haddenda; it is true the Haddenda are yet too much of the
Bedouin,—a race that shun and despise all kinds of domestic labour, and
who, if they had cotton plantations, would be tied to these spots; but
loving wandering much more, they prefer bartering their durra for cloths
made at Hedjas, to growing and preparing such themselves. But yet what
might not be made of this splendid land, the fruitfulness of which is so
well nourished by the moisture of subterraneous waters, the regular fall
of rain, and overflows from the Abyssinian mountains and the hills of
Kassela, Abrit, &c.,—a soil that, in spite of hurricanes and the ever
repeated forest burnings, never ceases to produce splendid trees, and
crops of tallest durra, without tilling or manure, with stalks of
fifteen and twenty feet in height, and yielding fifteen and eighteen
fold of the best sort and fullest ear, growing cotton within one year to
a height of five feet. What, I ask, might not be done with and grown on
such a soil? And what is it now? Nothing! save this durra, some little
cotton, and a few beans;—this durra, the straws or stalk of which are
left standing on the fields, the cattle turned in to feed on it, then
left to wind and weather, not to decay, and so return something to the
soil as manure, but to be almost wholly swept away by the floods in the
rainy season; this from the extraordinary moderation of the natives
answers all their wants; for with it, a little milk, and a few beans,
all their wants and desires in the way of food are fully satisfied.
Undoubtedly all our grains and vegetables would grow splendidly here, so
that this land might be made the granary for the grain-needing Hedjas,
which is only saved from famine by the gratis delivery of the whole
annual crop from the district round Kenne; or when this is insufficient,
has to be fed from the lands of Sint and Manfallut in Egypt. Indigo
might be cultivated here as well as in Egypt, where its culture is by no
means inconsiderable; rice also, tobacco, oil, flax, and especially
sugar, which, from the quantity of wood in the neighbourhood might be
refined on the spot, whereas it has now to be brought from India. A
matter of high importance would also be the planting of date trees. For
many days’ journey from Gos Rajeb, the banks of the river are covered
with dhom forests; here, too, in certain spots are to be seen
magnificent dhom trees, and where these flourish, all the date tribe
will do so; and this might be a source of much profit, as in Egypt. Gum-
trees we have as yet seen none, many as are their uses. Where now old
useless fruitless trees cumber the ground, might soon flourish, oranges,
sweet and bitter (Portugahn), pomegranates (Ruman), figs (tihn), nay,
even the vine itself (einap).[12]
The position of the land is also highly favourable for the export of its
superabundant produce. It lies between the Red Sea and the Nile: to
Sauachinn, on the former, is fourteen or fifteen days’ journey for laden
camels; to Berber, on the Nile, ten or twelve; from both of these places
there is abundance of transport. Then it is more than probable, that,
without much difficulty, the Atbara might be made navigable as far as
Gos Rajeb, for at least four months in the year; for though, as far as
we could judge from a view of its bed in the summer or dry season, this
is full of sand banks and sunken rocks, still the banks show most
plainly how high the river rises, and what an immense body of water it
contains in the rainy season, and as far as my opinion goes, I see no
reason why it could not be easily made available for transport. To found
stores and magazines at various places, and convey the produce there
would certainly be necessary, and this, ere the rainy season set in, as
then all roads become impassable for man or beast. But could not these
channels of communication be improved? If the natives, by widening
these, cutting down the large trees, and clearing the dense bush, would
only expose them to the drying powers of wind and sun, then would
undoubtedly the roads be available for traffic a month earlier than now.
The present so-called roads (derba, sicca, main roads) are nothing but
narrow, nay often hardly traceable footpaths, at times formed by the
wild animals, which, by their constant and repeated windings to avoid
thickets or other small impediments, greatly lengthen the way, and such
paths too are ever overgrown with trees, and choked up with brush and
jungle.
At present all trade is confined to honey, durra, butter, and salt,
brought by the natives on the Red Sea; but this might be much increased
and extended to other articles,—cattle-breeding, for instance; the
present most numerous herds, by a little attention, might be easily
improved and greatly increased, as their support is a matter of no
difficulty, and hides might thus become articles of trade. By like care
and improvement of the flocks of sheep, wool might be added, while at
present these animals are only used for their flesh, and that not as a
source of gain. Even the very beasts of prey, lions, tigers, panthers,
&c., although their numbers would certainly much diminish with a better
cultivation of the land, might for many years to come be a source of
great profit in their skins and furs. This the natives would soon find
out, and with the knowledge of their value would soon evince the wish to
procure them, even though at the cost of a little toil and danger. But
most of all would the cotton, at present grown only in such small
quantities as not to suffice for the wants of the land, become a trading
object of the highest importance. When one beholds in what abundance and
beauty it flourishes, even under the present careless and low culture,
one must at once be convinced what an immense crop might be produced,
merely by some little more attention being bestowed on it. Here there
would be no need, as there is in Egypt, to provide for the regular
watering of the plants, a work of immense labour; and to this great
advantage it is to be added, that the larger mass of the people have at
least some acquaintance with the management of this crop,—an advantage
inestimable with a race that clings so inveterately to all that is
handed down to them from ancient times, manners, habits, customs, modes
of life and labour, and who look upon each change and innovation as a
diminution of the dignity of their free descent, and a violation of
their hereditary rights from oldest time. Trade in elephants’ teeth and
tusks there is at present almost none, although, from the immense
numbers of these animals, such might be furnished in abundance by the
natives, and much more easily and readily than those brought, with long
delay and much trouble, from the distant country of Darfur.
A great saving on the other hand might be made by discontinuing the
expenditure at present laid out in the purchase of horses from Habesch;
the breed, too, is small and ugly, and it is only too evident that here
far better animals might be bred and reared. If these and the numerous
oxen were trained and employed in agriculture, what a large body of men
would be left disposable for other branches of industry—by their
employment, arrangements might be made for a general and regular
irrigation of the whole country. At present many large fields are, for
irrigating purposes, intersected with ditches and small walls of six
inches or one foot deep or high, but this is far from sufficient, and
only by wisely regulated and extensive arrangements, could the power be
attained of watering all at a wish, and only by proper machines for
raising this wealth of nature from the subterraneous streams and
reservoirs, could a certain and secure supply be depended on during the
dry season of the year, for the crops which here require an ever copious
and repeated supply of moisture. And why should not manufactures be
introduced into a land where hands and wood are in plenty? Everywhere at
a greater or less depth clay is to be found in abundance, and out of
this, from which the natives form good and lasting dishes and water
jars, surely bricks could be made. The capital required for carrying out
these plans indeed would be large, but then it would as surely be
repaid, and with interest, in a very few years, and it would also call
into existence a people and country, who, from agriculture, manufacture,
and trade, would be entitled to rank among the most thriving.