CHAPTER X.

=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.