KHARTOUM,
AND
THE BLUE AND WHITE NILES.
* * * * *
VOL. II.
[Illustration: _Ipsamboul._
London, Colburn & Co. 1851.]
KHARTOUM,
AND
THE BLUE AND WHITE NILES.
BY GEORGE MELLY.
[Illustration]
Second Edition.
IN TWO VOLUMES.
VOL. II.
LONDON:
COLBURN AND CO., PUBLISHERS,
GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET.
1852.
LONDON:
Printed by Schulze and Co., 13, Poland Street.
CONTENTS
OF
THE SECOND VOLUME.
* * * * *
CHAPTER I.
Preparations for a start — Camel-riding — Our encampment — 1
Partridges — Temple at Samneh — A jackall hunt — Eagles —
Picturesque country — Alkaline hot springs
CHAPTER II.
Waking the Bedouins — Camels of the Nursery and Camels of the 18
Desert — Travelling — Nubian children — Dinner
CHAPTER III.
Sakkut — desert vegetation — Arab village — A one-eyed Venus 28
— Dates at Derr Hamed — Nubian faith in European medicine —
Ruined temple — Gazelles — Lost in the Desert — Flowers and
birds — School
CHAPTER IV.
Governor of Dongola — Embarkation of camels — Well in the 42
desert — Camel drivers — Iron fragments — Effects of cold on
the Bedouins — An Arab superstition — Verdure on the banks of
the Nile — Pastoral scene
CHAPTER V.
Gebel Berkel — Antiquities — Appearance of the country — 59
Hawks — A pastoral scene — Illustrations of Holy Writ — Arab
dwellings — Wady Bashana — Bedouin revels — Christmas Day in
the desert
CHAPTER VI.
Khartoum — Introduction to the Governor, Latiffe Pasha — His 82
extreme civility — The Regent’s Park Hippopotamus — Europeans
settled at Khartoum — Interior of the desert — Collection of
curiosities — The Governor of Berber — Bayoumi Effendi, and
the School at Khartoum
CHAPTER VII.
The illustrious strangers — Something about costume — Houses 103
at Khartoum — Mahometans, Christians, and Jews — Trade and
Commerce — Scheme for colonizing the White Nile, latitude 4°
— Morals — The rainy season — Superstition — Military
CHAPTER VIII.
Visit from the Governor — Catholic mission and school — A 116
Colonel of Cavalry — Our grand banquet given to Latiffe
Pasha, and Ali Bey Hassib — Turkish custom of dressing the
table — The Governor’s statements — New dromedary saddles and
bridles — An excursion — An interesting group — A Visit to
Madame Latiffe Pasha — Farewells
CHAPTER IX.
The Governor’s dahabeeyeh — A Bedouin feast — Tickling a 131
crocodile — Pyramids at Meroe — A frightened Hippopotamus —
Their manners — Arrival at Berber — A very pretty investment
CHAPTER X.
Romance of Oriental life — Summary justice and Latiffe Pasha 146
— His despotism — Hatred of Europeans — A box on the ear —
Visit to the hareem of Ah Bey Hassib — Juvenile costume —
Marabouts
CHAPTER XI.
Prejudices of Nubian parents — Egyptian youths sent for 161
education to Paris and London — Unsatisfactory result — Story
of a Perversion — Its tragic end — Jealousy of the Egyptian
Government — A grand prospect
CHAPTER XII.
Mesmerism in Nubia — An Arab Seer — Awkward disclosures — 175
Journey from Berber — Effects of taxation — Scenery of the
desert — Gagee — The comfortable point of temperature —
Intense heat — Giraffes
CHAPTER XIII.
192
CHAPTER XIV.
Additions to our party — Skeleton guides — Lost in the desert 203
— Surefootedness of the camel — The well — A horrible story —
Nubian despotism — An Arab’s revenge
CHAPTER XV.
Extreme cold — Milanese Refugees in the desert — A camel 215
lost — An extraordinary day — Arab merchants — Making up
a small parcel — Rain in the desert — The mirage — First
rate calculators — English weather — In sight of the Nile —
Arrival at Korosko
CHAPTER XVI.
The Cataracts — Fogs — Keneh — A gang of convicts — Nile 228
thieves — Domestic merchants — Shadoofs — Taxation — Ossioot
— The Conscription — Female relations — Coffee shops
CHAPTER XVII.
Tombs at Benihassan — Boat aground — Cairo — The Esbekya — 253
Abbas Pasha and the Porte — The Census — Cairene ladies —
Their evening parties — Palaces of the Pasha — The Overland
Route — An American — Mehemet Ali’s Palace
CHAPTER XVIII.
Barrage — Cotton-boats on the Nile — The bazaars at Atfeh 277
— Interior of a coffee shop — Villages on the banks of the
Mahmoudieh Canal — Nile locomotion — Illuminations — An
Eastern scene — A striking contrast
CHAPTER XIX.
Sale by auction — Dinner and ball — Ride from Alexandria — 290
Rain-water lakes — Effects of distance — Ancient house — A
wonderful Englishwoman — A midnight serenade — A parting
scene — Farewell to Egypt
KHARTOUM,
AND
THE BLUE AND WHITE NILES.
* * * * *
CHAPTER I.
Preparations for a start — Camel-riding — Our encampment — Partridges —
Temple at Samneh — A jackall hunt — Eagles — Picturesque country —
Alkaline hot springs.
The bargain for conveying us across the desert had already been struck,
and we had arranged everything to start at day-break; but the camels had
not arrived when it wanted but an hour of noon, and then there was the
process of loading to accomplish.
We were not allowed to have the scene entirely to ourselves. Every
ferry-boat had brought at least a dozen gazers from Wadeh Halfea, and
the bank could boast an unusual collection of picturesque objects,
looking in the distance like bundles of white linen, surmounted by curly
heads; while here and there a camel lay groaning, in apparent
anticipation of the coming burthen. Prominent in the fore-ground, was
the Camel Sheik, sedately smoking his tchibouque, while enduring our
united abuse for having shown so little respect to the terms of his
agreement. The space all around us that was not occupied by living
packages, was strewn with baggage of every description.
At last, the camels having arrived, the men begin to display
considerable activity in removing our belongings, and a great deal of
ingenuity in adjusting them in nicely-balanced heaps across the backs of
the poor beasts that had been engaged for their transport, whose
melancholy howls proclaimed their protest against the heaviness of their
task. Happy, above all his fellows, must have been the poor wretch to
whom had been assigned our respectable hen-coop, containing three
turkeys, and fifty hens, which was balanced on the other side by a
capacious bag of rice, and triumphantly surmounted by the kitchen-table:
wretched beyond the whole wretched lot, must have been he who bore the
huge boxes of culinary utensils swung on each side of him. But he did
not seem an object of pity, for he was a magnificent fellow, quite
white, and standing twelve hands high at the lower point of the
shoulder; and though he kept up a tremendous uproar, while his burthen
was being adjusted to his back, no sooner was the process complete, than
he stalked away to the Desert under eight hundred weight and a half,
apparently as much at his ease as a London dray-horse with an empty
barrel.
The noise increases, the more restive of the camels being assailed with
terrible shouts, and sometimes with severe blows; but the whole eleven
are at last accommodated, some with tents, some with water-casks and
provisions, necessary to last our numerous party for two months; and all
with a freight worthy of their well-deserved title, “Ships of the
Desert.” And now the travellers must as quickly as possible reconcile
themselves to their own mode of transit.
Our servant Mahomed, and our cook Abbas—the former sufficiently
grotesque in his desert costume, the latter rendered formidable by the
addition of a pair of monstrous pistols—looked wonderfully picturesque,
as they passed slowly along on the top of their dromedary; six others
await our selection: a small brown one falls to my share. On him my
immense saddle-bags are fastened, containing my wardrobe and bedding:
upon these are fixed my mattrass and pillow, with my gun secured behind.
The pummel is hung with a satchel, in which are deposited various
travelling resources—a Shakspeare, powder and bullets, tobacco and
biscuit, pipe, whip, and water-bottle. What I resembled I cannot pretend
to say, but I thought my brother appeared very like a travelling pedlar;
his rifle, double-barrelled gun, powder-horn, water-skin, and last not
least in request, “Macaulay’s England,” constituting but a very small
portion of his stock. The ladies, mattrassed up, looked at least very
cosy on their pillowy nest.
The process necessary towards obtaining that elevation must here be
detailed, in deference to those of our readers who may be curious to
know how a lady secures a seat on a steed so very different to those
with whose backs she is expected to be more familiar. The pack-saddle is
laid across the rump, and ought to be low enough to be steady, and long
enough to afford a good seat; saddle-bags, carrying small-sized
portmanteaus, in which were apparel, a few books, medicines, and
instruments for observation, are then nicely balanced upon it; over this
a light mattrass is either thrown across, or the ends turned up at each
end, forming a sort of chair, the rider’s feet resting either on the
animal’s neck, or in stirrups suspended from the pack-saddle. The camel
also carries the personality of his driver, which, however, did not
greatly increase his load. With some animals, their walk or amble is
tolerably easy, but the long trot and the slow walk of the larger
species jolts awfully; and any other pace is intolerable.
All our preparations having been completed, our crew gave us a cheer—not
quite an English one, but the best their Eastern lungs could produce.
The Reises, and some others, offered us their hands to shake, and
numerous were the parting salaams and adieux we received, as we stalked
majestically away.
The high road to Dongola, is as broad as you can see on one side, and
has the river on the other. During the first three miles, we beheld
nothing more lively than the skeletons of some camels, who had died
under their burthens—a common feature in the landscape. At last, we met
a caravan of twenty-five living camels, each bearing two packages of
gum-arabic; they were accompanied by four Bedouins, naked to the waist,
bearing a striking resemblance to those very imaginative portraits that
adorn the wrappers—
“Of thine incomparable oil Macassar.”
Our first encampment had considerable pretensions to the picturesque. It
was pitched beside a small lake with rocky banks—a portion of the
Nile—where the date-trees looked luxuriantly verdant, and the refreshing
aspect of the water suggested the bath I was very soon enjoying. The
three white tents were arranged in a semi-circle, another being formed
by the numerous boxes—a principal object was the fire, bearing four or
five copper-pans, in which our dinner was cooking. Standing by, were the
swarthy Arabs, peeling onions and potatoes, like English kitchen-maids;
a little further on, a group of camels were devouring fresh-cut grass,
whilst their drivers, at a convenient distance in another group, were
eating with equal relish dates and bread. On the other side, the rest of
the camels, and their drivers, were similarly occupied; near me the
fifty hens were proceeding to devour the beans, that had been scattered
for them, displaying a most pugnacious spirit at every heap, and making
a prodigious noise and fluttering, to show their enjoyment of their
liberty. The turkeys had selected the top of the hen-coop for their own
place of rest, but some of the hens appeared to entertain the same ideas
of its comfort, and then the former took violent measures to dispossess
the intruders.
The next morning we began our first regular day’s journey during a
beautiful sunrise, and with a deliciously cool atmosphere. We saw a
covey of partridges, but they were out of shot—then another came flying
overhead—we dismounted to hold acquaintance with a third, and managed to
kill a brace; though they are so extremely difficult to approach, that
we rarely got within forty yards of them. They were very like our
friends of the same species in England, but smaller in size and stronger
in flavour.
Our road led us across numberless hills interrupted by plains of sand,
thickly strewn with white quartz, and granite of a very crumbly
nature—the quartz resembling pieces of common soap. A small gum caravan,
and the partridges, were the only living creatures we met. We found,
however, many traces of hyenas, gazelles, jackalls, and of a large
species of vulture, which had no doubt assisted in preparing the
numerous skeletons that lay far and wide over the hills.
On the third day, after passing over a succession of small hills divided
by valleys of very deep sand, we arrived at Samneh, where there is a
small temple, on the top of a hill overlooking the river, which is very
narrow, and rushes between high black rocks with prodigious force. This
temple consists of one oblong chamber about fifteen yards in length,
built of large stones, covered with hieroglyphics inside and out; on
both sides there is a species of covered balcony, supported by
columns—three square ones on one side, and one fluted round one on the
other—and pedestals remain for two more. The interior is in excellent
preservation; the border round the side looking remarkably gay with its
bright red, green, and yellow. There are numerous hieroglyphics still
retaining the sharpness of their original carving, particularly those
with the gondola; the paddle, and other features reminding us strongly
of our old acquaintances at Venice.
While our antiquarian enthusiasm was at its height, our attention was
directed to a wounded jackall ascending the opposite hill pursued by a
crow pecking at him as he ran. In a moment, Egypt and all her wonderful
relics were forgotten—we pocketed our dilettanteism with the greatest
possible dispatch, and followed by a Bedouin chief from the neighbouring
village, my brother and I set off in pursuit. The chase was very severe,
but the scent _i.e._ footsteps in the sand, was good, and we passed hill
and dale at a clipping pace for about half an hour, when we ran our game
to earth in a narrow valley among a heap of huge stones.
He gave chase again while I mounted a hill to mark down a covey of
partridges, and I saw him stealing along the opposite hill; but, though
I followed at full speed, after ascending two of the hills, I found it
such hard work that I was forced to give in, dead-beat. My brother,
however, kept up the chase half an hour longer, being rewarded every now
and then for his perseverance by a sight of his game. At last, he found
himself on a rock, but of the whereabouts of the jackall he had not the
most remote conception; when suddenly the fellow started up almost from
under his feet, and was walking away apparently quite at his leisure,
when the gun was levelled at his head. Three caps were exploded in
succession—the rifle would not go off—and the jackall did. So we
returned to the temple, very little satisfied with our experience of
hunting in the desert.
Among the sculptures we found the names of Wilkinson, Holroyd, Hanbury,
Lessep, and Hyde. In such good company, I was proud to inscribe my own.
The Bedouins did not manifest much curiosity upon seeing European
ladies, though they beheld them for the first time; but as they never
exhibit any feelings whatever, this apparent indifference was not so
surprising. We heard of ruins upon an island on the river which some
travellers had recently visited; but the account of them that was
related to us did not sufficiently excite our curiosity to induce us to
dare the rays of the blazing sun on the dazzling waters of the river.
Soon after resuming our journey, we discovered three eagles making a
repast on a camel; its demise had been more recent than that of his
brethren whose bones lay bleaching on the sand. My brother killed one of
these birds. It was of a white and black colour, with a yellow beak and
a handsome crest, and measured five feet five inches from tip to tip.
We passed a fine vein of quartz, and a considerable tract of country,
covered with what very much resembled petrified forests; also a hill,
having the appearance of an immense pile of slates, with vast quantities
of the same useful material scattered about. The road was hard and stony
all the way.
After arriving at the station of Dangour, our path was a continued
ascent over very high hills. We noticed some fine veins of quartz, with
red and white granite mixed. The country then became remarkably
picturesque—a very broad river being seen rushing by numerous islands,
and among bold black rocks, with the opposite shore singularly verdant
with date trees; whilst above towered a majestic mountain. The desert is
covered for miles around with enormous boulders in striking positions,
and of very irregular shape: sometimes like a colossal torso, sometimes
like a wall, but always appearing as if the strange heap would fall at
the first breadth of wind, notwithstanding that it had evidently
retained its position for at least a thousand years.
In the middle of the day, we were agreeably surprised by the sight of a
tent, from out of which, at our approach, came a rather handsome
Frenchman, M. Y——, a gentleman-like and intelligent man, formerly in the
service of Clot Bey. He had made a journey which had united pleasure
with profit, from Cairo to the Obaid Kordofan, &c., taking manufactures
and returning with gum. He was waiting for some of his camels, of which
he had three hundred _en route_. We were almost as glad as he was to
meet Europeans, though he had not seen one for seven months.
There was a hot spring in the neighbourhood, composed of a series of
small springs gushing from the ground round the remains of a Roman well,
which in its fall has blocked up the principal spring. It produces fifty
or sixty gallons a minute; possesses a temperature of 124°, is alkaline
in flavour, and covers the surrounding plants and rocks with a white
salt that tastes like potash.