and to ask questions, indeed, also to carry on a little conversation
of civilities, or on the news of the day—had become so familiar to
our ears in Egypt, that the Nubian language attracted us, even by its
novelty. It is divided, as far as I have been hitherto able to learn,
into a northern and a southern dialect, which meet near Korusko.[41]
The language has a distinct character from the Arabic, even in its
first elements in the system of consonants and vowels. It is much more
euphonous, as it has hardly any accumulation of consonants, no hard
guttural sounds; it has little sibilance, and many simple vowels,
differing more distinctly from one another than in the Arabic, and
generally parted by a consonant, thus again avoiding an effeminate
accumulation of vowels. It has no accordance, either with the Semitic
languages or with the Egyptian, in any part of the grammatical forms,
or the radical words, much less with our own, and therefore surely
belongs to the original African tongue, without any immediate connexion
with the present language of the Ethiopian-Egyptian race, although the
people may have been often comprehended by the ancients under the name
of Ethiopians, and were, perhaps, less strangers to them by descent.
They are not a trading people, and therefore can only reckon up to
twenty in their own language; they borrow the higher decades from the
Arabic language, yet they use a peculiar word for one hundred—_imil_.
The grammatical distinction between the genders exists almost solely
throughout the language in the personal pronouns when they stand
alone; they make a distinction between “he” and “she,” but not between
“he gives” and “she gives.” They conjugate more by additional actual
flexions, as in our languages, than by alteration of accent, and change
of vowel, as in the Semitic. They form the ordinals by the addition of
_iti_; the plural, by _îgi_; they do not possess a dual. The connexion
of the pronouns with the verb is both prefix and affix, but it is simple
and natural; they distinguish between the present and the preterite; they
express the future by a particle; they have also a peculiar form for the
passive voice. The root of the negation is _m_, usually succeeded by an
_n_; perhaps the only agreement more than accidental with the roots of
most other languages. Their original wealth of ideas is very limited.
They have, indeed, peculiar words for the sun, the moon, and the stars;
but they borrow terms from the Arabic for time, year, month, day, and
hour; water, sea, and river, are all _essi_; but it is remarkable that
they designate the Nile by a particular word—_Tossi_. They have peculiar
words for all native animals, tame and wild; Arabic words for everything
connected with house-building, and even navigation; it is only the boat
they themselves call _kub_, which, most likely, has nothing to do with
the Arabic _mérkab_. They have only one word—_béti_ (fenti)—for the
date-fruit and the date-tree, which are expressed by different terms in
Arabic—_bellah_ and _nachele_. The sycamore-tree they call by an Arabic
name: but it is remarkable, that they designate the sont (acacia) tree by
the same word as tree generally—_g’ôui_. Spirit, God, slave, the ideas
of relationship, the different parts of the body, weapons, the produce
of the field, and all that belongs to the preparation of bread, have
Nubian names; on the other hand, servant, friend, enemy, temple, to pray,
believe, read, is Arabic. It is striking that they have special words for
writing, and book; but not for style, ink, paper, letter. They call all
the metals by Arabic names, with the exception of iron. They are _rich_,
in the Berber tongue; _poor_, in Arabic; and, in fact, they are all rich
in their miserable home, which they cling to like the Swiss, and, devoid
of wants, they despise the Arabic gold, which they might earn in Egypt,
where their services are much sought for, as house watchmen, and in all
confidential posts.
We are now waiting for the arrival of the camels, to commence our desert
journey. Till we reach Abu Hammed, eight days hence, we shall only once
find water fit to drink. We shall travel four days longer on camels, as
far as Berber; there, by the arrangement of Achmed Pascha, we shall find
boats ready for us. We must go to Kartûm, to supply ourselves again with
provisions; if we may believe Linant, to go still higher up as far as
Abu Haras, and thence to Mandera, in the eastern desert, will scarcely
repay us; but Achmed Pascha has promised to send an officer to Mandera,
to test once more the statements of the natives.
I shall send this report, with other letters, by an express messenger to
Qeneh.
LETTER XVI.
_Korusko, the 5th January, 1844._
It is with no small regret that I have to inform you that we shall,
perhaps, be compelled to give up our Ethiopian journey, the second
principal task of our expedition, and return to the north from this spot.
We have waited, in vain, since the 17th November for the camels, always
promised, but never appearing, that were to take us to Berber, and we
have still no more prospect of seeing them than at the beginning. I am
sorry to say that what we heard on our arrival is confirmed; the Arab
tribes, who alone manage the transport, are discontented with Mohammed
Ali’s reduction of the charge from eighty to sixty piastres for each
camel from hence to Berber; they have agreed among each other to send
no more camels here, and no Firman, no promises, no threats, are of any
avail. A great number of chests, with ammunition, destined for Chartûm,
have been lying here these ten months past, and they are unable to convey
them any farther. We had hoped for the assistance of Achmed Pascha
Menekle, the new governor of the Southern Provinces, as he had been most
friendly and unbounded in his promises. The officer, who remained behind
here with the ammunition, received a direct order from him to detain the
first camels that should arrive, for our use; nevertheless, we are not at
all nearer to our object. The Pascha himself had scarcely means to pursue
his journey onward, although he required but few camels. He had brought
some of them with him from the north, and he caused some to be forcibly
driven together here. Notwithstanding this, he was very ill-provided on
his departure, and it is said that half of his beasts either died, or
fell sick in the desert.
On the 3rd December, as no camels had yet come, though the Pascha must
have passed the province of Berber, from whence he was to send us the
requisite number, I sent our own excellent and trustworthy Kawass,
Ibrahim Aga, with Mohammed Ali’s Firman, across the desert of nine days’
journey, to Berber. Meanwhile, we went up as far as Wadi Halfa, to the
second Cataract, and visited the numerous monuments which are to be found
in this region, returning here, three weeks afterwards, with a rich
harvest.
It is now thirty-one days since our Kawass set out on his journey, and
a few days ago I received a letter from the Mudhir of Berber, by which
I learn that he was still unable to furnish me with camels, although,
after the arrival of our Kawass, and the reception of the letter of the
Mudhir in this place, he had immediately despatched soldiers, in order to
collect the necessary number of sixty camels. Thus they are in the same
situation there, as we here; the authorities can do nothing in opposition
to the ill-will of the Arabs.
Since the sudden death by poison, at Chartûm, of Achmed Pascha, who had
been placed at the head of the whole Sudan, and who, as it is asserted,
has for some time past been engaged in a conspiracy, in order to make
himself independent of Mohammed Ali, the Southern Kingdom has been
divided into five provinces, and placed under five Paschas, who are to
be installed in their several offices by Achmed Pascha Menekle. One of
their number, Emir Pascha, has been hitherto Bey at Chartûm, under Achmed
Pascha, who, it appears, he betrayed. Three others arrived at Korusko
soon after Achmed Pascha Menekle. The most powerful of them, Hassan
Pascha, went to his province of Dongola by water, as far as Wadi Halfa;
he had scarcely any attendants, and wanted but few camels to proceed on
his journey. The second, Mustaffa Pascha, who is destined for Kordofan,
has seized by force a mercantile caravan returning from Berber. However,
by the Arabs’ report, some of the wearied beasts became unserviceable
when they reached the well, which is situated about four days’ journey
in the desert; there he found some merchants, whom he robbed of eight
camels; the rest of this caravan did not make its appearance here,
fearing probably that it would be again detained, it has taken another
route to Egypt. The third Pascha, Ferhât, is still waiting here with us,
and uses all the means in his power to collect some camels from the north
or the south for himself. Hence our last hope has vanished with respect
to this province, as we are less capable than he to arouse the small
force of the authorities; and at this moment we have neither Firman nor
Kawass with us. Every one, and the Paschas more than all, endeavour to
console us in the most friendly manner from day to day; but meanwhile the
winter is passing away, the only season when we can work in the upper
country. In addition to this, the Mudhir, till now of Lower Nubia, with
whom we were on friendly terms, has been complained of by the Nubian
Sheikh of his province to Mohammed Ali, and has just been recalled by
him. This part of the country has, therefore, been temporarily placed
under the Mudhir of Esneh, whose deputy is a young, but otherwise
well-disposed man, not however yet acquainted with the province, so we
must expect still less from him.
I have, therefore, at length made up my mind for the last course which
remains open to me. I shall, myself, go to Berber with Abeken, and a very
few camels, and leave Erbkam here, with the rest of our party, and all
the baggage. There I shall be better able to see the state of affairs on
the spot, and, by aid of the Firman and the Kawass, whose authority I
am much in want of here, I shall try what can be done. We were received
here, by Achmed Pascha Menekle, with the greatest courtesy, and are
already assured of his most efficient support, through the interposition
of his body-physician, our countryman and personal friend, Dr. Koch.
Perhaps money and threats, even though late in the day, may carry our
point. By mere chance I have myself been able to procure six camels. Two
more are still absolutely necessary for the completion of our little
caravan; but the deputy of the Mudhir, with the best will towards us,
cannot even procure these two camels. We have already been waiting three
days for them, and still do not know whether we shall receive them.
LETTER XVII.
_E’ Dâmer, the 24th January, 1844._
Our difficulties, though at a late hour, are terminated. I arrived
here yesterday with Abeken, still two days’ journey from the Pyramids
of Meröe, and probably the whole of our camp also arrived yesterday
at the southern extremity of the Great Desert at Abu Hammed. After my
last discouraging account from Berber, I set out on the 8th January,
about mid-day, with Abeken, the dragoman Jussuf Scherebîeh, a cook, and
our little Nubian boy Auad. We had eight camels, two of them, however,
scarcely in a fit state to make the journey, and two asses. As the
promised guide was not at hand, I compelled the Sheikh of the camels,
Achmed, to accompany us himself, as he might be of service to us, on
account of his reputation among the tribes of the Ababde Arabs dwelling
here. We had besides these, another guide, Adâr, who had been given us
instead of the promised one, and five camel-drivers; and soon after
our departure several other foot-passengers joined our party, besides
two people with asses, who availed themselves of this opportunity to
return to Berber. We took with us ten water-skins, some stores of rice,
macaroni, biscuit, and cold meat, besides a light tent, our coverlets on
which to ride and sleep, the requisite changes of linen, and a few books;
and, in addition, a proper supply of good courage, of which I scarcely
ever feel the want in starting on a journey. Our friends accompanied us
a short way into the rocky valley, which very soon entirely concealed the
neighbouring banks of the river, and its pleasant palm-trees.
The valley was both wild and monotonous, nothing but sandstone rock,
the surface of which was burnt as black as coal, but in every quarry,
and every hollow, this changed into a brilliant golden yellow; from
these a multitude of streams of sand, like streams of fire out of black
dross, trickled down, and filled the valleys. We were preceded by the
guides; they had simple folds of drapery round their shoulders and hips;
in their hands were either one or two spears, made of firm, but light
wood, provided with iron points and shafts; a round, or lightly carved
shield, with a very prominent boss made of giraffe skin covered their
naked backs; their other shields were oblong in form, and usually made
of hippopotamus skin, or of the dorsal hide of the crocodile. During the
night, and often in the daytime also, they bound sandals under their
feet, the thongs of which, not unfrequently cut out of one piece with
the sole, are drawn between the great toe and the second toe, and then
surround the foot in the manner of a skate.
Sheikh Achmed was a magnificent man, youthful, but tall and noble in
stature; he had extremely supple limbs, of a brilliant brown-black
colour, his features were very expressive of emotion, a brilliant dark
eye, which had both a gentle and sly look, and his mode of speech was
so incomparably beautiful, with such harmonious expression, that I
liked to have him constantly beside me, although we had a continual
contest with him in Korusko, as he was bound to furnish the camels and
all appurtenances, and on account of circumstances he neither would nor
could procure them. He gave us a proof in the desert of his agility and
the elasticity of his limbs, for taking a long run on the sandy ground,
peculiarly unfavourable for leaping, he made a bound of 14½ feet in
width; I measured the distance between the footmarks with his lance,
which was rather more than two metres long (6 feet 7 inches English).
Adâr, our second guide, alone ventured to make the leap after him, but he
did not nearly reach the same distance.
The first day we had started early, about eleven o’clock in the morning,
and we rode on till about five; we then stopped for an hour and a
half, and went on again till about half-past twelve. We then pitched
our tents on the hard ground, and laid down to sleep, after a march of
twelve hours. The most refreshing thing, after these hot and fatiguing
days’ journeys, was our tea in the evening; we were, however, obliged
to habituate ourselves to the leathery taste of the water, which we
perceived even through the tea and coffee. The second day we were
fourteen hours on our camels; starting about eight in the morning, we
halted about four o’clock in the afternoon to eat something, proceeded on
our journey about half-past five, and about half-past twelve we struck
our encampment for the night, having left the hills, and about ten
o’clock, with the rising moon, descended into a vast plain. Hitherto we
had not seen a tree, nor a blade of grass, not even a creature, except
some white eagles and ravens, who fed upon the carrion of the camels
which had fallen. On the third day, after setting off early in the
morning, we met a troop of one hundred and fifty camels, which had been
purchased by the Government, to be sent into Egypt. The Pascha is anxious
to import several thousand camels from Berber, that he may thereby, in
some measure, repair the consequences of the cattle-disease of last year.
A great number had already passed through Korusko, without our venturing
to make use of them, as they are the private property of the Pascha; we
could not have mounted them besides, as they had no saddles.
The guide of the troop, whom we met to-day, brought us at last the long
desired intelligence that our Kawass, Ibrahim Aga, had left Berber with
sixty camels, and was already marching quite close to us, but on another
route, which led across the desert a little more to the west. Sheikh
Achmed was sent after him, that he might bring us three good camels, in
place of our feeble ones; and also to gain some further intelligence
about him. He said that he should overtake us the following night, or
at latest the second. I sent a couple of lines to Erbkam, by the Chabîr
(guide) of the troop. We halted about half-past five, and remained all
night, hoping to see Sheikh Achmed arrive sooner. Towards evening we saw
the first scanty vegetation of the desert; the yellowish-grey dry blades
of grass, which were hardly visible when near, in the distance gave a
pale greenish-yellowish colour to the ground, which alone called my
attention to it.
We ought to have arrived the fourth day at the well of brackish water,
fit however for the camels to drink; but that we might not hasten on
too quickly before Sheikh Achmed, we terminated our day’s journey as
early as four o’clock, about four hours distant from the well. At
length, about mid-day, we left the great plain BAHR BELA MA (the River
without Water), which unites with the mountain chain of EL BAB, two
days’ journey in length, and which we had entered coming out of Korusko,
and we now approached other chains. Hitherto we had seen nothing but
sandstone rocks, both beneath and around us; it was therefore really
a joyful event, when looking down from my tall camel upon the sand, I
saw the first Plutonic Rock. I immediately glided down from my saddle,
and broke off a fragment; it was a greyish green stone of very fine
grain, and undoubtedly of the nature of granite. The preceding chains of
mountains were also chiefly composed of species of porphyry and granite
of different colours, not unfrequently associated with broad veins of
red syenite, such as appears so abundantly on the surface at Assuan, and
which was so extensively worked by the ancient Egyptians. Farther in the
mountains, quartz was sometimes very prevalent, and the appearance was
very singular when, here and there at different heights, the snow-white
silicious veins appeared on the surface of the black mountains issuing
like a spring from a point in the mountain, and flowing into the valley,
where its white rolled fragments spread out like a lake. I carried away
with me some small specimens of the different kinds of rocks. After we
had passed behind a low mountain defile and a small valley, BAHR ʾHATAB
(the Wood River, on account of the wood, which is said to grow somewhat
farther away on some neighbouring mountains), and another valley, WADI
DELAH, inclining to the northern side of the principal mountain which
succeeds it, we reached the rocky hollow, E’ SUFR, where we expected to
find rain water, and to re-fill our shrunken water-skins (_girbe_, _pl._
_geràb_). During one month of the year, about May, there is usually some
rain in this high mountain of primitive rock. The huge granite basins
in the hollow valleys are then filled, and retain the water throughout
the entire year. Some vegetation was to be seen on this Plutonic Rock,
resulting from the rain, and because the granite itself seems to contain
more fertilising matter than the barren loose sand, almost wholly
composed of small grains of quartz. In WADI DELAH, which evidently has
water in the rainy season, we came to a long continuous row of Doum
Palms; the circular form of their leaves, and their bushy growth, has a
less bare appearance than the long slender-leaved date palm; the latter
cannot stand the rain, and therefore cannot live in Berber, while the
Doum Palm appears in Upper Egypt for the first time, quite isolated, and
the farther we travel south, we see them in greater numbers, larger in
size, and of more luxuriant growth. If their fruit drop off when unripe
and dry, the small portion of pulp round the stony kernel tastes like a
coating of sugar; if they ripen, the yellowish woody pulp may be chewed;
it has a good taste, and some of their fruit had an aroma almost similar
to the pine-apple. They are sometimes as large as the largest apples.
About four o’clock we pitched our camp, the camels were sent into the
hollow, situated behind, to the rain water, and Abeken and I got upon
our asses, to accompany them to these natural reservoirs. Riding over
coarse gravel and sharp stones we penetrated deeper and deeper into the
ascending defile; the first large basins were empty, we left our asses
and camels behind, clambered up the smooth granite sides of the rock,
and stepped from one basin to another amidst these huge masses of rock.
All were empty; the guide said there must be water in the fissure which
lay farthest back, that there it was never exhausted; but even in that
spot not a drop was to be found, so we were obliged to return without any
success, as dry as we came. The numerous herds of cattle, which during
the past year had been driven out of the Sudan into Egypt, had consumed
it all. Only three skins of water had remained over for our party, and
we were therefore compelled to find out some means to procure more.
Other cisterns were said to exist higher up in the mountains behind
this defile. I was anxious to climb up the rocks with the guide, but he
considered it too dangerous an undertaking. We turned round, rode back to
the encampment, and with the setting sun, the camels were forced to start
once more in search of water among the hills lying to the north, about
an hour distant from this spot. They returned at a late hour with four
skins full; the water was good, and pleasant to the taste. Sheikh Achmed,
however, did not either return this night, and we now hoped to find him
at the well, whither he might have preceded us by the southern road.
We started soon after sunrise, on the fifth day, and penetrated deeper
into the great mountain chain of ROFT, which always exhibited the same
rock, at first slaty in texture, then more in the form of blocks,
afterwards abounding in quartz. The heat of the day was more oppressive
in the mountains than in the plains, where the north wind blowing almost
continuously, produces greater coolness. With the exception of the
different kinds of rock, there was little around to attract our notice.
I met with a great ant-hill in the middle of the barren desert, and
I looked at it for a long time; there were smaller and larger bright
black ants, who were carrying all the small pieces of earth which they
were able to lift out of their building, so that the coarser little
stones alone remained, and formed solid walls; the larger ants were
distinguished by their heads being in proportion to their size, twice
as thick as the others, and they did not themselves work, but led the
regiment, and gave a push to each of the smaller ants, who were carrying
nothing, drove them forwards, and kept them more diligently at work.
The difficulty to converse when riding on the hard-pacing camel is so
much the greater because it is not easy to make them keep the step
beside each other, as with the horse or ass. When upon a good dromedary
(Heggîn), and travelling without, or with but very little baggage,
the creature keeps in a trot. This is an easy pace, and is not very
fatiguing, but it is difficult to get accustomed to the long step of
the ordinary baggage-camel, which throws the high load backwards and
forwards. Yet even this was alleviated by our being sometimes able to
dismount from our camels and get upon our asses, and we often went on
foot for a considerable distance both early in the morning and in the
evening.
I now return to the fifth day of our desert journey. We started about
eight o’clock in the morning from the little valley of E’ Sufr, where we
had encamped under some gum, or sont-trees, and about half-past twelve,
after turning to our left into a flat valley for the distance of about
half an hour from our road among the hills, we reached the brackish well
in WADI MURHAD. Here we had accomplished about half our desert journey.
We saw some huts built of small stones and reeds, and near them a couple
of starved goats were fruitlessly searching for some pasture; our black
host led us into a reed arbour, where we made ourselves as comfortable as
we could in the shade.
In this rocky valley we had been struck for some time by the snow-white
crust of Natron, frequently appearing above the sand which makes the
water of the well brackish. Towards the end of the valley, where it
divides into two branches, the water is to be found between five and six
feet beneath the surface, and has been discovered by digging eight wells.
The water in the wells which lie farthest back, is greenish, rather salt,
and has a bad taste, which, however, satisfies the camels; the three in
front, on the contrary, yield clear water, which might very well have
been drank by us in a case of necessity. There is a government station
here, usually inhabited by six persons, but at the present moment four
of them had been sent out on an excursion, and only two remained behind.
From this spot there are two roads to Korusko, a western and an eastern
one. Ibrahim Aga had chosen the former road, we the latter, and we had,
therefore, unfortunately missed each other. Sheikh Achmed was also not to
be found here; probably he had not overtaken our camels before the second
day, and we were compelled to proceed on our journey without him.