especially as to the numbers of the natives. In the evening we waited on
the Pascha to report our return. He was also most curious and anxious to
gain information, and to lead us to speak freely he again went over his
before often declared magnificent plans for the future. His views as to
the goodness of the land, and its fitness for growing all kinds of
produce, as also of its happy position, were on the whole most just,
only he allowed far too short a time for the realization of his ardent
hopes, and would with too hasty zeal at once set about its improvement
and alteration, only, like all Turks, the sooner to leave all off again.
Even now, when as yet not a step had been taken, he set about counting
up the sums he was to draw from these lands, for the Turk will hear or
think of nothing else but gathering money in such sums as by cunning,
injustice, oppression, or violence, he can lay his hands on, nor even
trouble his head that in so doing he may ruin the future welfare of his
subjects, and at the same time destroy all source of revenue to himself.
An idea, that has originated in the hatred borne by the races to each
other, has been put into the Pascha’s head by Mohammed Ehle. This is,
that the fall of the waters can be cut off above the Gohr el Gash, and
thus the lands of Taka be deprived of the necessary supply for
agricultural purposes, and the forests of the Chaaba be caused to
wither. He now firmly believes he can carry this out, and so force the
people of Taka to purchase from him, by an immense yearly tribute, the
waters for the irrigation of their fields, congratulating himself
greatly on the completion of this wondrous deed, of which he seems to
dream day and night. How far such hopes are reasonable we cannot
determine, as we know so little about the size of this gohr, and its
influence on the lands of the Haddenda and others. But still we think
that were the streams of the gohr diverted, sufficient water would yet
sink into the ground to keep the wells supplied, and that from the falls
of rain that occur before the regular rainy season, as well as from the
immense floods that, according to all accounts, pour down during the
Chariff, the damming up of the gohr may not have those consequences of
which the Pascha dreams, and this we suspect will be the fact, even
after hearing his most vivid and certainly biassed account of his
scheme.
To in some degree justify so harsh a measure, the Pascha is to-day of
opinion, that the present natives are mere children, and must be treated
as such; that one must have patience with them, and what cannot be got
out of them this year, they must be compelled to pay the next; this, he
says, is why he has observed the greatest moderation and kindness
towards them, and not set on them with fire and sword. So far as we have
got any insight into the character of these races, such kindness seems
little likely to be estimated by them; only a stern and strict rule that
inspires fear (but not such as the Turks practise, which inspires more
vengeance than terror,) will keep them in order, and in time, perchance,
overcome their opposition to all reform. To once accustom these unruly
tribes to settled dwellings and regular labour will be a formidable
task, and of all the Turks we have met with in Bellad-Sudan, not one
seems in the least qualified to effect it. Besides, the smallest change
in the rule in Egypt might rend altogether from Turkish dominion the
countries of Taka, Baraka, Atisch, Kataref, &c., as then the troops
necessary to hold them, would be nowhere to be procured.
Some days after our trip a violent attack of fever overcame us both, and
for some time deprived us of all power of writing or thinking, and also
caused us to lose our reckoning of time; so that for the future no more
journalising or exact dates can be attempted.
At length the confusion of the camp has been in some degree put an end
to; between the seribas and the small huts of the soldiery a free space
is now left of some fifty paces broad, the various bodies of cavalry and
infantry are separated, and each have certain places allotted to them.
Still in the various divisions there is yet much confusion, every one
setting down his hut where he pleases, and never heeding in the
slightest how it blocks up or impedes the way. The Pascha is perfectly
ennuied, seeks to make time pass by, exercising himself in the sports of
the jerreed, with his Schaigies, who perform this oriental tournay in
all its dangerous irregularities, in the most masterly manner, as if
they were real centaurs—or he makes the Dinka practise before his tent
the staff-throwing at each other, which causes many bloody mouths and
severe contusions for the doctors to attend to. He also labours hard in
his own person, at that most important business, the tavela reale, of
which he never wearies, and in which in turn Topschi Baschi, Abd el
Kader, and Abdin Aga aid and assist him, so that a lively rattling of
the dice is ever kept up, the sound of which is plainly audible to all
who pass his tent. At first, when thus engaged, Topschi Baschi was so
fortunate as to be allowed to sit, but now he must stand the whole time,
so that a proper respect may be maintained between him and his master.
As another relief to his overlaboured mind, the great man has caused
Mohammed Ehle to procure him an Abyssinian damsel, whom he has quartered
in a hut with a high enclosure round it, and for whose amusement he
often of an evening orders the heart-delighting band of the 8th regiment
to perform; this never fails to call up an accompaniment from every ass
in the camp, and it is yet an undecided point whether the band or the
asses have the best of it. But these long-eared gentry do not disdain to
get up a concert of their own, as hardly a night passes that we are not
repeatedly awoke from our sleep by the sweet voices of some 5000 or 6000
asses. Let one only commence, all chime in; the splendid deep notes of
the older males mix with the shrill treble of the young females, and
then the more stately camels fail not with vigorous roarings or
growlings, to join their voices in good time and tune, to the harmonious
concert.
We should have often been much pleased, when thus agreeably aroused from
rest, to have sought some consolation in a good supper, had not our cook
Achmet, a long, lanky native, too often left us unprovided with the
materials for one. Long had this man been our daily torment, from his
ill-conditioned, obstinate, and contradictory spirit; and even the most
vigorous appliance of the karbatsch failed in effecting his cure, as he
submitted standing erect, stiff, and perfectly silent, never giving sign
or note of pain, and treating our most cutting blows with stoical
indifference, and when all was over asking, “Schenu di?” (What’s this
for?) He even now and then ventured to set us to rights, and ever was at
open war with all our other servants. The man was born with a mania for
discord; could he not get up a squabble with his fellows at home, he
would sally out and cast about for some cause of quarrel amongst our
peaceful neighbours. That he ever lived in peace with any one, or spoke
a good word of another, we never heard. With us and our actions he, as a
matter of course, constantly found fault. Out of revenge, he for
fourteen days in succession gave the other servants no butchers’ meat;
and often when we had a sheep killed, he purposely kept the meat till it
was putrid, so that they might not be able to eat it. He also carried
off our and the servants’ things, and hid them, merely to be able to
turn with his slanderous words suspicions of theft on some other one.
The only good about him was his talent for cooking, as he could, indeed,
produce a good dinner out of almost nothing; but this he never would
exercise unless we stood over him and compelled him, or when he desired
to appear exceedingly active in our eyes, for some purpose of his own.
From a fellow of such character we had every thing to fear; and when at
last we discovered him to be a thief, and learnt from his own confession
that he had often, ere now, stolen money, clothes, sugar, coffee, rice,
various bottles of wine and rum, and sold them, our patience and
forbearance towards him were at an end, and, ere half an hour was over
his head, he found himself enrolled by the Bimbaschi Hassan Effendi, as
soldier in the 1st regiment. We had at first pardoned him, merely
dismissing him our service; although the persons to whom he had sold the
stolen goods had come forward to give evidence against him, and had
proved him beyond doubt to be the thief: but, on the day we made him a
soldier, I was lying, much worn out, on my angareb, the fever having
just left me, when I heard in the back part of our hut a case of
provisions being broken open. I looked round, and there was Achmet, who
had taken out a loaf of sugar, and was about to carry it off by the back
door. I cried out, “Rugh fenn?” (Where with that?) He put down the
sugar, and with a snarling “Aus è?” (What’s wanted?) advanced up to me,
as if, I being all alone, he would have throttled me; but, at the
instant, I seized one of my pistols, which hung near me, and pointed it
at his head; on which he remained as if rooted to the ground, his eyes
glaring on me like a tiger’s. As if it had been arranged, and perchance
fortunately for me, my brother at that moment entered the hut by the
back door, and Topschi Baschi by the front, at the same instant; and now
I had to spring up to prevent the wild Kurd, who at once comprehended
how matters stood, from splitting Achmet’s head on the spot. Although
our friend Achmet came from the land of Djaal, the inhabitants of which,
as well as of Barabra, are not compelled to serve as soldiers, their
countries being much depopulated, still an exception was made in his
favour. He was thus rendered harmless to others, as now the Nabut would
take care of his doings; and the example we made of him had the best
effect on our other servants.
The noble art of cooking is as little known in Bellad-Sudan as in Arabia
or Turkey. Cleanliness, there, is even less attended to than it is
generally among the Arabs and Negroes, and the cook is ever
distinguished by being dirtier and more filthy in his dress than others.
Even in Europe, it is said, if a man would enjoy his dinner, he must not
see it cooked; but let one here only cast a glance into the filthy hole
they call a kitchen (matbach), see the dabblings of the cook with filthy
hands, an equally dirty pipe ever in his mouth, and how, without knife,
fork, or spoon, he tastes every dish with his fingers, and with these
arranges each _plât_ on its dish, and he must indeed be a man of strong
stomach, and stronger appetite, who can eat at all. Arab cookery is
certainly very simple, as it is composed of boiled beans, and flesh,
either boiled (lachame masluk, or mistaui) or roasted (kabab). This last
consists of small pieces of meat stuck on wooden skewers, and roasted
over the embers, and if it be desired to make it somewhat better than
common, pieces of flesh, fat, and liver are placed on the skewers
alternately. The Turks of rank have generally their food prepared for
them by the female slaves of their harem, but, even then, cleanliness is
no matter of boasting, and none of the Turkish ladies know anything of
cookery, and their laziness prevents their acquiring any knowledge of
it. Soup is never seen at Turkish tables, as it would be impossible to
eat it with the shallow spoons they use, generally made of wood or horn.
All the meat to be used for the dinner is boiled or sodden together in
one great pot; from this mass afterwards the various _plâts_ are
prepared, almost all of which have a similar taste, having been all at
first subjected to the same treatment. In some the meat is cut down
smaller than in others, in some smothered by a vile sauce of butter or
melted fat; some slightly roasted, and otherwise disguised; but in this
way the cook prepares a number of dishes, as quantity, not quality, is
his object, and constitutes the goodness of the dinner; but in none of
them, is there either nourishment or flavour,—all are sodden and
tasteless, from want of salt, pepper, spice, &c. The vegetables are ever
villanously cooked, and floating in grease, or the water the meat has
been boiled in. The sweets, of which all Easterns are especially fond,
are better and more varied; but even these are very similar in taste,
and cannot for a moment compare with an European dessert.
All food is served, not on dishes, but on plates, many often not larger
than a saucer, and all are at one time crowded and heaped on a sennié,
_i.e._ a large copper flat dish, with a low edge, which is placed on a
stool a foot or twenty inches high, or an equally low table. The
honourable company sit round this, on carpets spread on the floor, and
each at once plunges his hand into any or every dish that pleases him,
and gropes about till he gets hold of the best bits, pulls them out, and
swallows them. Very often a bite is only taken from the piece thus
seized on, and the rest returned to the dish; but, in spite of the
cleanly treatment it has undergone, it is again soon seized hold of by
another, and, perchance, again similarly handled, till all is finally
bolted. The Turks eat incredibly rapidly, as they bolt every thing, and
keep cramming into the mouth more ere the former mouthful has been
swallowed; while a smacking of lips, and licking of sauce-dripping
fingers succeed, and proclaim their pleasure in the meal. Bread is
generally to be found on the table, but neither salt, oil, vinegar, or
pepper; although when they dine with Europeans they show no dislike to
highly seasoned dishes, or strong drinks. Although their dishes are
numerous, they contain but little, and that little by no means of a
quality suited to a German stomach, and this, too, would require to
satisfy its cravings as much as four Turkish; but, after all other
_plâts_, comes the never failing pillau, and he who has not already got
his fill had better now lose no time in idling up between his two first
fingers and thumb some balls of its mass, and cramming them down his
throat; as the pillau is an invariable sign that the feast is ended. If
there are many courses, or more dishes than the table will hold at one
time, the entertainer is ever busied making signs to the attendants
which are to be removed; and not seldom the guest finds that the very
dish he was about to help himself from is carried off from under his
very nose. The Pascha used often to amuse himself by playing tricks on
his guests, by ordering off with the utmost rapidity those dishes he
found their longing eyes fixed on, ere their outstretched hands could
convey any portion of them into their watering mouths. Water, in
abundance, is never wanting to wash down the repast, as many slaves
stand by, in readiness to pour it out, as well as to keep off the flies.
At first, in spite of the pillau, we never were quick enough to get
sufficient to eat, not having been brought up to bolt our food; and that
the Turks are so quickly satisfied, and by so little, is wholly owing to
this bolting of their food, is undeniable: and this, also, produces the
repeated eructations they so loudly and joyfully give vent to, as
proving their high health and vigour. A newly arrived European is almost
certain to rise from table unsatisfied, on dining with a party of Turks;
for this dabbling of hands in the dishes, these handlings and tastings
of the meat without taking it wholly away, must be disgusting to him;
and, even now, when we have become pretty well used to it, we cannot
wholly get over our dislike and loathing to the whole eating business;
yet all the other Franks here have adopted it, looking upon it as a most
comfortable method of feeding.
The contributions come in very sparingly, and are so small, that they
more resemble presents than tribute. Of cows only 300 have been
delivered, while Churschid Pascha, and with much less ado about it, got
3,000, and also managed in his two campaigns to pick up some 950 purses.
When the wealth of these people in herds and flocks is considered, it is
no small piece of daring in them to fancy they can make the Pascha
credit that these 300 animals are anything like a tenth; and he is
furious at the return thus made him for his mildness and forbearance,
has sharply rebuked all the Sheiks about it, and has summoned Mohammed
Din, Sheik Mussa, and the two Sheiks of Mitkenab to appear before him.
All have appeared, though their people, fearing evil, would have
prevented their coming in; but they felt secure, depending on the Amàhn
already granted by the Pascha to them. But he, like all Turks, faithless
in word and deed, had instantly all four made prisoners and laid in
irons; chains are placed on their necks and feet, besides their being
chained to each other. When we first beheld in camp, with the white
handkerchief (mandilla) round his neck, as sign of submission and
pardon, the great Sheik Mohammed Din, we more than suspected that old
fox would soon be trapped, have, as hostage for his tribe, to travel to
Chartum, and most certainly not die in his own land, like the other
chiefs of the island. He may, indeed, then have in his heart laughed at
his investment in a robe of purple and red shawl, and fancied he had
done well in coming in; but, in spite of all his cunning, he has fallen
into the snare, and his fate is fixed. Could not the old freebooter have
been once again as wise as to confide his fortunes to his forests and
arms, instead of having, as now, advanced with steady step to certain
ruin? For most surely for long, if not altogether, would the
impenetrable and extensive forests have afforded him safe shelter, and
there might, indeed, his javelins have dealt death and destruction on
our army; but perchance his policy was to hold the Turks here, by empty
promises and false hopes, till the rainy season, and then to have seen
them, in this inhospitable and totally over-flooded land, perish, man
and beast, from sickness and starvation, aided, if needed, by his
tribe’s arms. But the Pascha has forestalled his plans.
The day he was put in chains the evening gun was loaded with grape shot,
and fired into the forest of the Haddenda land, probably to alarm any
Arabs concealed in it, as the thunder of the great guns ever strike
terror into the souls of these Arabs and blacks, even of such of them as
should be well used to the noise; for we often have seen these, when by
any chance near the cannon when fired, start back some six or seven
paces, pale and trembling at the report. When the Turks attacked a
large, populous, and fortified hill near Faszogl, the blacks sent out
spies to learn how strong were their foes, and how they were armed;
these spies came back laughing, with the report that there was no great
body of troops, and such as there were had no other arms than polished
sticks over their shoulders, but neither lances, swords, nor shields.
Ere long, however, the ignorant unfortunates discovered the fearful
efficacy of these polished sticks, though they could not for a moment
comprehend how such small pieces of lead could so speedily wound, nay,
slay outright; so the general opinion pronounced that an Afritt scheitàn
(devil or evil spirit) lived in the muskets, and under this idea a
black, who had laid hold of a soldier’s musket, instantly placed his
hand on the muzzle to keep the scheitàn in; the soldier drew the
trigger, and the leaden devil shattered the hand and breast of the poor
negro. Still they hold their own lances as much the most deadly, and far
superior to the invisible balls; hence a negro, after a skirmish, having
got possession of some six or seven muskets of the slain soldiers, bore
them joyfully home, to convert the barrels into lance heads, in the
midst of a circle of admiring countrymen. Some of the former, however,
chanced to contain the charge, and becoming red hot in the fire, burst,
and sent wounds and death among the astonished lookers-on.
The mere cocking of the piece, and, far more surely, the report, will
send most Arabs flying, though no damage has been done, as we have often
beheld in the tribes of Taka; but the inhabitants of Hedjas have taken a
wiser part, having managed to provide themselves with muskets, and
though very slow they are sure shots; hid behind their rocks and walls,
they are pretty sure, with their far carrying flint-guns, to hit their
man; and in most skirmishes with them the fallen soldiers are found to
have been hit on the foreheads, as the red tarbush affords them an
excellent mark to aim at.
These Arabs have been known from oldest times as a brave and freedom-
loving tribe, and even withstood the conquering arms of Rome, preserving
their liberty. The mountains of their country (Hedjas) rise some short
day’s journey from the Red Sea, steep and high, so that almost two days’
laborious travel is required to reach the plateau on which they dwell.
The path up is steep and rocky, and gives even a good climber enough to
do to ascend; and yet these Arabs have trained their horses, and even
their camels, to ascend it with heavy loads. If these latter come to a
steeper or more dangerous place, they kneel down and crawl along on
knees and belly. On the shore are coral reefs. The hills themselves are
composed of granite, naked and rugged, to the sea; but no sooner is the
plateau or inhabited land reached, than one beholds the most luxuriant
verdure, splendid though wild cypresses, oranges, peach, apricot, plum,
and pear trees, and, above all, the most flourishing vines and date-palm
trees. Hill streams pour their crystal waters from rock to rock, while
from their banks rise the balmy perfumes of herbs of all kinds, balm,
fennel, &c. &c. The fields, however, are poorly cultivated, as the
constant feuds of the various families or clans among each other prevent
any careful culture of the soil. Only during a short armistice for
sowing and harvesting, do they live at peace and work together, nay,
even visit one another; for then, by ancient and inviolable custom, all
feuds are at rest; but hardly is the last seed buried in the earth, or
the last ear gathered off it, when the old feuds again commence and
continue as bitter as ever. _Blood-vengeance_, which reigns there in
full force, is usually the origin of these feuds, and ere long the whole
clans on both sides are involved in the quarrel. From the ever-enduring
feuds one sees none but armed men in this country, and their houses are
converted into small fortalices, in which they can hold out and defend
themselves; these are built of stone, in a tower-like form, but with
only one very low entrance, through which men can only pass by stooping
much; and the upper story of the house is used to contain the horses,
camels, cows, &c., all of which have been used from birth to creep in on
their bellies through such low doorways, and the inside thus gained have
again to mount up a narrow, small stone staircase, at which they are all
most expert, difficult though the task may be. Instead of windows these
houses have small arrow-slits, and when the inmates have (if necessary)
built up their doorway from the inside with stones and stakes, the
fortress is in readiness for a siege, as care is ever taken to hold it
provided with stores of food for man and beast.
Hospitality is ever and at all times a sacred duty with these Arabs,
even towards an enemy; and they have, too, held fast to all their old
virtues and good customs, which is far more than can be said of the
tribes of the sea coasts and plains; but this may be easily accounted
for, from the latter having been more thrown in the way of holding
intercourse with foreign nations, and from their trading much more with
such. They are particularly distinguished from the mountain races, who
will have nothing to do with them, by their darker skin, but they wear a
similar dress, and all acknowledge themselves to be of the sect of the
Wachabites (Wahabi), thus distinct from the Mussulmen as also by
building no mosques, smoking no tobacco, nor adorning their dress with
silk or gold, &c.; as they plundered the chaaba in Mecca, and robbed the
richly endowed groves of Mahomet and his daughter Fatima in Medina, so
also did they take from all caravans without exception, their silver,
gold, and valuables, and when they no longer dared venture on such
robberies, they invented another means of levying toll on all pilgrims,
by compelling them to let fall on the ground their money and other
valuables, so that they might afterwards take it to themselves as
windfalls; but this procedure is also now forbidden them.