Nimmer was a man about sixty years of age, exceedingly tormented with

the gravel, which was more extraordinary as he dwelt near the Nile;

for it is, universally, the disease with those who use water from

draw-wells, as in the desert. But he told me, that, for the first

twenty-seven years of his life, he never had seen the Nile, unless upon

some plundering party; that he had been constantly at war with the

people of the cultivated part of Egypt, and reduced them often to the

state of starving; but now that he was old, a friend to Shekh Hamam,

and was resident near the Nile, he drank of its water, and was little

better, for he was already a martyr to the disease. I had sent him soap

pills from Badjoura, which had done him a great deal of good, and now

gave him lime-water, and promised him, on my return, to shew his people

how to make it.

A very friendly conversation ensued, in which was repeated often, how

little they expected I would have visited them! As this implied two

things; the first, that I paid no regard to my promise when given; the

other, that I did not esteem them of consequence enough to give myself

the trouble, I thought it right to clear myself from these suspicions.

“Shekh Nimmer, said I, this frequent repetition that you thought I

would not keep my word is _grievous_ to me. I am a Christian, and have

lived now many years among you Arabs. Why did you imagine that I would

not keep my word, since it is a principle among all the Arabs I have

lived with, inviolably to keep theirs? When your son Ibrahim came to

me at Badjoura, and told me the pain that you was in, night and day,

fear of God, and desire to do good, even to them I had never seen, made

me give you those medicines that have eased you. After this proof of

my humanity, what was there extraordinary in my coming to see you in

the way? I knew you not before; but my religion teaches me to do good

to all men, even to enemies, without reward, or without considering

whether I ever should see them again.”

“Now, after the drugs I sent you by Ibrahim, tell me, and tell me

truly, upon the _faith_ of an _Arab_, would your people, if they met me

in the _desert_, do me any wrong, more than _now_, as I have eat and

drank with you to-day?”

The old man Nimmer, on this rose from his carpet, and sat upright, a

more ghastly and more horrid figure I never saw. “No, said he, Shekh,

cursed be those men of _my people_, or _others_, that ever shall lift

up their hand against you, either in the _Desert_ or the _Tell_, _i.

e._ the part of Egypt which is cultivated. As long as you are in this

country, or between this and Cosseir, my son shall serve you with heart

and hand; one night of pain that your medicines freed me from, would

not be repaid, if I was to follow you on foot to Messir, that is Cairo.”

I then thought it a proper time to enter into conversation about

penetrating into Abyssinia that way, and they discussed it among

themselves in a very friendly, and at the same time in a very sagacious

and sensible manner.

“We could carry you to _El Haimer_, (which I understood to be a well

in the desert, and which I afterwards was much better acquainted with

to my sorrow.) We could conduct you so far, says old Nimmer, under

God, without fear of harm, all that country was Christian once, and

_we_ Christians like yourself[137]. The _Saracens_ having nothing

in their power there, we could carry you safely to Suakem, but the

Bishary are men not to be trusted, and we could go no farther than to

land you among them, and they would put you to death, and laugh at you

all the time they were tormenting you[138]. Now, if you want to visit

Abyssinia, go by Cosseir and Jidda, there _you Christians_ command the

country.”

“I told him, I apprehended, the _Kennouss_, about the second cataract,

above Ibrim, were bad people. He said the Kennouss were, he believed,

bad enough in their hearts, but they were wretched slaves, and

servants, had no power in their hands, would not wrong any body that

was with his people; if they did, he would extirpate them in a day.”

“I told him, I was satisfied of the truth of what was said, and asked

him the best way to Cosseir. He said, the best way for me to go, was

from Kenné, or Cuft, and that he was carrying a quantity of wheat from

Upper Egypt, while Shekh Hamam was sending another cargo from his

country, both which would be delivered at Cosseir, and loaded there for

Jidda.”

“All that is right, Shekh, said I, but suppose your people meet us in

the desert, in going to Cosseir, or otherwise, how should we fare in

that case? Should we fight?” “I have told you Shekh already, says he,

Cursed be the man who lifts his hand against you, or even does not

defend and befriend you, to his own loss, were it Ibrahim my own son.”

I then told him I was bound to Cosseir, and that if I found myself

in any difficulty, I hoped, upon applying to his people, they would

protect me, and that he would give them the word, that I was _yagoube_,

a physician, seeking no harm, but doing good; bound by a vow, for a

certain time, to wander through deserts, from fear of God, and that

they should not have it in their power to do me harm.

The old man muttered something to his sons in a dialect I did not then

understand; it was that of the _Shepherds_ of Suakem. As that was the

first word he spoke, which I did not comprehend, I took no notice, but

mixed some lime-water in a large Venetian bottle that was given me when

at Cairo full of _liqueur_, and which would hold about four quarts; and

a little after I had done this the whole hut was filled with people.

There were _priests_ and _monks_ of their religion, and the heads of

families, so that the house could not contain half of them. The great

people among them came, and, after joining hands, repeated a kind

of [139]prayer, of about two minutes long, by which they declared

themselves, and their children, accursed, if ever they lifted their

hands against me in the _Tell_, or Field in the _desert_, or on the

river; or, in case that I, or mine should fly to them for refuge, if

they did not protect us at the risk of their lives, their families, and

their fortunes, or, as they emphatically expressed it, to the death of

the last male child among them.

Medicines and advice being given on my part, faith and protection

pledged on theirs, two bushels of wheat and seven sheep were carried

down to the boat, nor could we decline their kindness, as refusing a

present in that country (however it is understood in ours,) is just as

great an affront, as coming into the presence of a superior without a

present at all.

I told them, however, that I was going up among Turks who were

_obliged_ to maintain me, the consequence therefore will be, to save

their own, that they will take your sheep, and make my dinner of them;

you and I are _Arabs_, and know what _Turks_ are. They all muttered

curses between their teeth at the name of Turk, and we agreed they

should keep the sheep till I came back, provided they should be then at

liberty to add as many more.

This was all understood between us, and we parted perfectly content

with one another. But our Rais was very far from being satisfied,

having heard something of the seven sheep; and as we were to be next

day at Syene, where he knew we were to get meat enough, he reckoned

that they would have been his property. To stifle all cause of

discontent, however, I told him he was to take no notice of my visit to

Shekh Ammer, and that I would make him amends when I returned.

CHAP. VII.

_Arrives at Syene--Goes to see the Cataract--Remarkable

Tombs--the situation of Syene--The Aga proposes a Visit to Deir

and Ibrím--The Author returns to Kenné._

We sailed on the 20th, with the wind favouring us, till about an hour

before sun-rise, and about nine o’clock came to an anchor on the south

end of the palm groves, and north end of the town of Syene, nearly

opposite to an island in which there is a small handsome Egyptian

temple, pretty entire. It is the temple of[140]_Cnuphis_, where

formerly was the Nilometer.

Adjoining to the palm trees was a very good comfortable house,

belonging to Hussein Schourbatchie, the man that used to be sent from

that place to Cairo, to receive the pay of the janissaries in garrison

at Syene, upon whom too I had credit for a very small sum.

The reasons of a credit in such a place are three: First, in case of

sickness, or purchase of any antiquities: Secondly, that you give the

people an idea (a very useful one) that you carry no money about with

you: Thirdly, that your money changes its value, and is not even

current beyond Esné.

Hussein was not at home, but was gone somewhere upon business, but I

had hopes to find him in the course of the day. Hospitality is never

refused, in these countries, upon the slightest pretence. Having

therefore letters to him, and hearing his house was empty, we sent our

people and baggage to it.

I was not well arrived before a janissary came, in long Turkish

cloaths, without arms, and a white wand in his hand, to tell me that

Syene was a garrison town, and that the Aga was at the castle ready to

give me audience.

I returned him for answer, that I was very sensible it was my first

duty, as a stranger, to wait upon the Aga in a _garrisoned_ town of

which he had the command, but, being bearer of the Grand Signior’s

Firman, having letters from the Bey of Cairo, and from the Port of

Janissaries _to him in particular_, and, at present being indisposed

and fatigued, I hoped he would indulge me till the arrival of my

landlord; in which interim I should take a little rest, change my

cloaths, and be more in the situation in which I would wish to pay my

respects to him.

I received immediately an answer by two janissaries, who insisted to

see me, and were accordingly introduced while I was lying down to

rest. They said that Mahomet Aga had received my message, that the

reason of sending to me was not either to hurry or disturb me; but the

earlier to know in what he could be of service to me; that he had _a

particular letter_ from the Bey of Cairo, in consequence of which, he

had dispatched orders to receive me at Esné, but as I had not waited on

the Cacheff there, he had not been apprised.

After giving coffee to these very civil messengers, and taking two

hours rest, our landlord the Schourbatchie arrived; and, about four

o’clock in the afternoon, we went to the Aga.

The fort is built of clay, with some small guns mounted on it; it is of

strength sufficient to keep people of the country in awe.

I found the Aga sitting in a small kiosk, or closet, upon a stone-bench

covered with carpets. As I was in no fear of him, I was resolved to

walk according to my privileges; and, as the meanest Turk would do

before the greatest man in England, I sat down upon a cushion below

him, after laying my hand on my breast, and saying in an audible voice,

with great marks of respect, however, _Salam alicum!_ to which he

answered, without any of the usual difficulty, _Alicum salam! Peace

be between us_ is the salutation; _There is peace between us_ is the

return.

After sitting down about two minutes, I again got up, and stood in the

middle of the room before him, saying, I am bearer of a hatésherriffe,

or royal mandate, to you, Mahomet Aga! and took the firman out of my

bosom, and presented it to him. Upon this he stood upright, and all

the rest of the people, before sitting with him likewise; he bowed his

head upon the carpet, then put the firman to his forehead, opened it,

and pretended to read it; but he knew well the contents, and I believe,

besides, he could neither read nor write any language. I then gave him

the other letters from Cairo, which he ordered his secretary to read in

his ear.

All this ceremony being finished, he called for a pipe, and coffee. I

refused the first, as never using it; but I drank a dish of coffee, and

told him, that I was bearer of a _confidential message_ from Ali Bey

of Cairo, and wished to deliver it to him without witnesses, whenever

he pleased. The room was accordingly cleared without delay, excepting

his secretary, who was also going away, when I pulled him back by the

cloaths, saying, “Stay, if you please, we shall need you to write the

answer.” We were no sooner left alone, than I told the Aga, that, being

a stranger, and not knowing the disposition of his people, or what

footing they were on together, and being desired to address myself only

to him by the Bey, and our mutual friends at Cairo, I wished to put it

in his power (as he pleased or not) to have witnesses of delivering

the small _present_ I had brought him from Cairo. The Aga seemed very

sensible of this delicacy; and particularly desired me to take no

notice to my landlord, the Schourbatchie, of any thing I had brought

him.

All this being over, and a _confidence_ established with _government_,

I sent his present by his own servant that night, under pretence

of desiring horses to go to the cataract next day. The message was

returned, that the horses were to be ready by six o’clock next morning.

On the 21st, the Aga sent me his own horse, with mules and asses for my

servants, to go to the cataract.

We passed out at the south gate of the town, into the first small sandy

plain. A very little to our left, there are a number of tomb-stones

with inscriptions in the Cufic character, which travellers erroneously

have called _unknown_ language, and letters, although it was the only

letter and language known to Mahomet, and the most learned of his sect

in the first ages.

The Cufic characters seem to be all written in capitals, which one

might learn to read much more easily than the modern Arabic, and they

more resemble the Samaritan. We read there--Abdullah el Hejazi el

Ansari--Mahomet Abdel Shems el Taiefy el Ansari. The first of these,

Abdullah el Hejazi, is Abdullah born in Arabia Petrea. The other is,

Mahomet the slave of the sun, born in Taief. Now, both of these are

called _Ansari_, which many writers, upon Arabian history, think,

means, _born in Medina_; because, when Mahomet fled from Mecca, the

night of the hegira, the people of Medina received him willingly,

and thenceforward got the name of [141]Ansari, or Helpers. But this

honourable name was extended afterwards to all those who fought under

Mahomet in his wars, and after, even to those who had been born in his

lifetime.

These of whose tombs we are now speaking, were of the army of Haled

Ibn el Waalid, whom Mahomet named, Saif Ullah, the ‘Sword of God,’ and

who, in the califat of Omar, took and destroyed Syene, after losing

great part of his army before it. It was afterwards rebuilt by the

_Shepherds_ of Beja, then Christians, and again taken in the time of

Salidan, and, with the rest of Egypt, _ever since_ hath belonged to

Cairo. It was conquered by, or rather surrendered to, Selim Emperor of

the Turks, in 1516, who planted two advanced posts (Deir and Ibrim)

beyond the cataract in Nubia, with small garrisons of janissaries

likewise, where they continue to this day.

Their pay is issued from Cairo; sometimes they marry each others

daughters, rarely marry the women of the country, and the son, or

nephew, or nearest relation of each deceased, succeeds as janissary

in room of his father. They have lost their native language, and have

indeed nothing of the Turk in them, but a propensity to violence,

rapine, and injustice; to which they have joined the perfidy of

the Arab, which, as I have said, they sometimes inherit from their

mother. An Aga commands these troops in the castle. They have about

two hundred horsemen armed with firelocks; with which, by the help of

the Ababdé, encamped at Shekh Ammer, they keep the Bishareen, and all

these numerous tribes of Arabs, that inhabit the Desert of Sennaar, in

tolerable order.

The inhabitants, merchants, and common people of the town, are

commanded by a cacheff. There is neither butter nor milk at Syene (the

latter comes from Lower Egypt) the same may be said of fowls. Dates do

not ripen at Syene, those that are sold at Cairo come from Ibrim and

Dongola. There are good fish in the Nile, and they are easily caught,

especially at the cataract, or in broken water; there are only two

kinds of large ones which I have happened to see, the binny and the

boulti. The binny I have described in its proper place.

After passing the tomb-stones without the gate, we come to a

plain about five miles long, bordered on the left by a hill of no

considerable height, and sandy like the plain, upon which are seen some

ruins, more modern than those Egyptian buildings we have described,

They seem indeed to be a mixture of all kinds and ages.

The distance from the gate of the town to Termissi, or Marada, the

small villages on the cataract, is exactly six English miles. After the

description already given of this cataract in some authors, a traveller

has reason to be surprised, when arrived on its banks, to find that

vessels sail up the cataract, and consequently the fall cannot be so

violent as to deprive people of their hearing[142].

The bed of the river, occupied by the water, was not then half a mile

broad. It is divided into a number of small channels, by large blocks

of granite, from thirty to forty feet high. The current, confined

for a long course between the rocky mountains of Nubia, tries to

expand itself with great violence. Finding, in every part before

it, opposition from the rocks of granite, and forced back by these,

it meets the opposite currents. The chafing of the water against

these huge obstacles, the meeting of the contrary currents one with

another, creates such a violent ebullition, and makes such a noise and

disturbed appearance, that it fills the mind with confusion rather than

with terror.

We saw the miserable Kennouss (who inhabit the banks of the river up

into Nubia, to above the second cataract) to procure their daily food,

lying behind rocks, with lines in their hands, and catching fish;

they did not seem to be either dexterous or successful in the sport.

They are not black, but of the darkest brown; are not woolly-headed,

but have hair. They are small, light, agile people, and seem to be

more than half-starved. I made a sign that I wanted to speak with

one of them; but seeing me surrounded with a number of horse and

fire-arms, they did not choose to trust themselves. I left my people

behind with my firelock, and went alone to see if I could engage them

in a conversation. At first they walked off; finding I persisted in

following them, they ran at full speed, and hid themselves among the

rocks.

Pliny[143] says, that, in his time, the city of Syene was situated

so directly under the tropic of Cancer, that there was a well, into

which the sun shone so perpendicular, that it was enlightened by its

rays down to the bottom. Strabo[144] had said the same. The ignorance,

or negligence, in the Geodesique measure in this observation, is

extraordinary; Egypt had been measured yearly, from early ages, and

the distance between Syene and Alexandria should have been known to an

ell. From this inaccuracy, I do very much suspect the other measure

Eratosthenes is said to have made, by which he fixed the sun’s parallax

at 10 seconds and a half, was not really made by him, but was some old

Chaldaic, or Egyptian observation, made by more instructed astronomers

which he had fallen upon.

The Arabs call it Assouan, which they say signifies _enlightened_;

in allusion, I suppose, to the circumstance of the well, enlightened

within by the sun’s being stationary over it in June; in the language

of Beja its name signifies a circle, or portion of a circle.

Syene, among other things, is famous for the first attempt made by

Greek astronomers to ascertain the measure of the circumference of the

earth. Eratosthenes, born at Cyrene about 276 years before Christ,

was invited from Athens to Alexandria by Ptolemy Evergetes, who made

him keeper of the Royal Library in that city. In this experiment two

positions were assumed, that Alexandria and Syene were exactly 5000

stades distant from each other, and that they were precisely under the

same meridian. Again, it was verified by the experiment of the well,

that, in the summer solstice at mid-day, when the sun was in the tropic

of Cancer, in its greatest northern declination, the well[145] at that

instant was totally and equally illuminated; and that no style, or

gnomon, erected on a perfect plane, did cast, or project, any manner of

shadow for 150 stades round, from which it was justly concluded, that

the sun, on that day, was so exactly vertical to Syene, that the center

of its disk immediately corresponded to the center of the bottom of

the well. These preliminaries being fixed, Eratosthenes set about his

observation thus:--

On the day of the summer solstice, at the moment the sun was stationary

in the meridian of Syene, he placed a style perpendicularly in the

bottom of a half-concave sphere, which he exposed in open air to the

sun at Alexandria. Now, if that style had cast no shade at Alexandria,

it would have been precisely in the same circumstance with a style in

the well in Syene; and the reason of its not casting the shade would

have been, that the sun was directly vertical to it. But he found,

on the contrary, this style at Alexandria did cast a shadow; and by

measuring the distance of the top of this shadow from the foot of the

style, he found, that, when the sun cast no shadow at Syene, by being

in the zenith, at Alexandria he projected a shadow; which shewed he

was distant from the vertical point, or zenith, 7⅕°=7° 12´, which was

1/50th of the circumference of the whole heavens, or of a great circle.

This being settled, the conclusion was, that Alexandria and Syene must

be distant from each other by the 50th part of the circumference of the

whole earth.

Now 5000 stades was the distance already assumed between Alexandria

and the well of Syene; and all that was to be done was to repeat 5000

stades fifty times, or multiply 5000 stades by 50, and the answer was

250,000 stades, which was the total of the earth’s circumference. This,

admitting the French contents of the Egyptian stadium to be just, will

amount to 11,403 leagues for the circumference of the earth sought;

and as our present account fixes it to be 9000, the error will be 2403

leagues in excess, or more than one-fourth of the whole sum required.

This observation surely therefore is not worth recording, unless to

shew the insufficiency or imperfection of the method; it cannot deserve

the encomiums[146] that have been bestowed upon it, if justice has

been done to Eratosthenes’ geodesique measures, which I do not, by any

manner of means, warrant to be the case, because the measure of his

arch of the meridian seems to have been conducted with a much greater

degree of success and precision than that of his base.

On the 22d, 23d, and 24th of January, being at Syene, in a house

immediately east of the small island in the Nile (where the temple of

Cnuphis is still standing, very little injured, and which [147]Strabo,

who was himself there, says was in the ancient town, and near the well

built for the observation of the solstice) with a three-foot brass

quadrant, made by Langlois, and described by [148]Monsieur de la Lande,

by a mean of three observations of the sun in the meridian, I concluded

the latitude of Syene to be 24° 0´ 45´´ north.

And, as the latitude of Alexandria, by a medium of many observations

made by the French academicians, and more recently by Mr Niebuhr and

myself, is beyond possibility of contradiction 31° 11´ 33´´, the arch

of the meridian contained between Syene and Alexandria, must be 7°

10´ 48´´, or 1´ 12´´ less than Eratosthenes made it. And this is a

wonderful precision, if we consider the imperfection of his instrument,

in the probable shortness of his radius, and difficulty (almost

insurmountable) in distinguishing the division of the penumbra.

There certainly is one error very apparent, in measuring the base

betwixt Syene and Alexandria; that is, they were not (as supposed)

under the same meridian; for though, to my very great concern

afterwards, I had no opportunity of fixing the longitude at this first

visit to Syene, as I had done the latitude, yet on my return, in the

year 1772, from an eclipse of the first satellite of Jupiter, I found

its longitude to be 33° 30´; and the longitude of Alexandria, being 30°

16´ 7´´, there is 3° 14´ that Syene is to the eastward of the meridian

of Alexandria, or so far from their being under the same meridian as

supposed.

It is impossible to fix the time of the building of Syene; upon the

most critical examination of its hieroglyphics and proportions, I would

imagine it to have been founded some time after Thebes, but before

Dendera, Luxor, or Carnac.

It would be no less curious to know, whether the well, which

Eratosthenes made use of for one of the terms of the geodesique base,

and his arch of the meridian, between Alexandria and Syene, was

coeval with the building of that city, or whether it was made for the

experiment. I should be inclined to think the former was the case;

and the placing this city first, then the well under the tropic, were

with a view of ascertaining the length of the solar year. In short,

this point, so material to be settled, was the constant object of

attention of the first astronomers, and this was the use of the dial

of Osimandyas; this inquiry was the occasion of the number of obelisks

raised in every ancient city in Egypt. We cannot mistake this, if we

observe how anxiously they have varied the figure of the top, or point

of each obelisk; sometimes it is a very sharp one; sometimes a portion

of a circle, to try to get rid of the great impediment that perplexed

them, the penumbra.

The projection of the pavements, constantly to the northward, so

diligently levelled, and made into exact planes by large slabs of

granite, most artificially joined, have been so substantially secured,

that they might serve for the observation to this day; and it is

probable, the position of this city and the well were coeval, the

result of intention, and both the works of these first astronomers,

immediately after the building of Thebes. If this was the case, we may

conclude, that the fact of the sun illuminating the bottom of the well

in Eratosthenes’s time was a supposed one, from the uniform tradition,

that once it had been so, the periodical change of the quantity of the

angle, made by the equator and ecliptic, not being then known, and

therefore that the quantity of the celestial arch, comprehended between

Alexandria and Syene, might be as erroneous from another cause, as the

base had been by assuming a wrong distance on the earth, in place of

one exactly measured.

There is at Axum an obelisk erected by Ptolemy Evergetes, the very

prince who was patron to Eratosthenes, without hieroglyphics, directly

facing the south, with its top first cut into a narrow neck, then

spread out like a fan in a semicircular form, with a pavement curiously

levelled to receive the shade, and make the reparation of the true

shadow from the penumbra as distinct as possible.

This was probably intended for verifying the experiment of Eratosthenes

with a larger radius, for, by this obelisk, we must not imagine Ptolemy

intended to observe the obliquity of the ecliptic at Axum. Though

it was true, that Axum, by its situation, was a very proper place,

the sun passing over that city and obelisk twice a-year, yet it was

equally true, that, from another circumstance, which he might have been

acquainted with, at less expence of time than building the obelisk

would have cost him, that he himself could not make any use of the

sun’s being twice vertical to Axum; for the sun is vertical at Axum

about the 25th of April, and again about the 20th of August; and, at

both these seasons, the heaven is so overcast with clouds, and the rain

so continual, especially at mid-day, that it would be a wonder indeed,

if Ptolemy had once seen the sun during the months he staid there.

Though Syene, by its situation should be healthy, the general complaint

is a weakness and soreness in the eyes; and this not a temporary one

only, but generally ending in blindness of one, or both eyes; you

scarce ever see a person in the street that sees with both eyes. They

say it is owing to the hot wind from the desert; and this I apprehend

to be true, by the violent soreness and inflammation we were troubled

with in our return home, through the great Desert, to Syene.

We had now finished every thing we had to do at Syene, and prepared to

descend the Nile. After having been quiet, and well used so long, we

did not expect any altercation at parting; we thought we had contented

every body, and we were perfectly content with them. But, unluckily for

us, our landlord, the Schourbatchie, upon whom I had my credit, and

who had distinguished himself by being very serviceable and obliging to

us, happened to be the _proprietor_ of a boat, for which, at that time,

he had _little_ employment; nothing would satisfy him but my hiring

that boat, instead of returning in that which brought us up.

This could by no means be done, without breaking faith with our Rais,

Abou Cuffi, which I was resolved not to do on any account whatever, as

the man had behaved honestly and well in every respect. The janissaries

took the part of their brother against the stranger, and threatened to

cut Abou Cuffi to pieces, and throw him to the crocodiles.

On the other part, he was very far from being terrified. He told them

roundly, that he was a servant of Ali Bey, that, if they attempted to

take his fare from him, their pay should be stopped at Cairo, till

they surrendered the guilty person to do him justice. He laughed most

unaffectedly at the notion of cutting him to pieces; and declared,

that, if he was to complain of the usage he met when he went down to

Lower Egypt, there would not be a janissary from Syene who would not be

in much greater danger of crocodiles, than he.

I went in the evening to the Aga, and complained of my landlord’s

behaviour, I told him positively, but with great shew of respect, I

would rather go down the Nile upon a _raft_, than set my foot in any

other boat but the one that brought me up. I begged him to be cautious

how he proceeded, as it would be _my story_, and not _his_, that would

go to the Bey. This grave and resolute appearance had the effect. The

Schourbatchie was sent for, and reprimanded, as were all those that

sided with him; while privately, to calm all animosities against my

Rais, I promised him a piece of green cloth, which was his wish; and so

heartily were we reconciled, that, the next day, he made his servants

help Abou Cuffi to put our baggage on board the boat.

The Aga hinted to me, in conversation, that he wondered at my

departure, as he heard my intention was to go to Ibrim and Deir. I told

him, those garrisons had a bad name; that a Danish gentleman, some

years ago, going up thither, with orders from the government of Cairo,

was plundered, and very nearly assassinated, by Ibrahim, Cacheff of

Deir. He looked surprised, shook his head, and seemed not to give me

credit; but I persisted, in the terms of Mr Norden’s [149]Narrative;

and told him, the brother of the Aga of Syene was along with him at the

time. “Will any person, said he, tell me, that a man who is in my hands

once a month, who has not an ounce of bread but what I furnish him

from this garrison, and whose pay would be stopt (as your Rais truly

said) on the first complaint transmitted to Cairo, could assassinate

a man with Ali Bey’s orders, and my brother along with him? Why, what

do you think he is? I shall send a servant to the Cacheff of Deir

to-morrow, who shall bring him down by the beard, if he refuses to come

willingly.” I said, “Then times were very much changed for the better;

it was not always so, there was not always at Cairo a sovereign

like Ali Bey, nor at Syene a man of his prudence, and capacity in

commanding; but having no business at Deir and Ibrim, I should not risk

finding them in another humour, exercising other powers than those he

allowed them to have.”

The 26th we embarked at the north end of the town, in the very spot

where I again took boat above three years afterwards. We now no longer

enjoyed the advantage of our prodigious main-sail; not only our yards

were lowered, but our masts were taken out; and we floated down the

current, making the figure of a wreck. The current, pushing against one

of our sides, the wind directly contrary, pressing us on the other,

we went down _broad side foremost_; but so steadily, as scarce to be

sensible the vessel was in motion.

In the evening I stopt at Shekh Ammer, and saw my patient Nimmer, Shekh

of the Ababdé. I found him greatly better, and as thankful as ever; I

renewed my prescriptions, and he his offers of service.

I was visited, however, with a pretty smart degree of fever by hunting

crocodiles on the Nile as I went down, without any possibility of

getting near them.

On the 31st of January we arrived at Negadé, the fourth settlement of

the Franciscan friars in Upper Egypt, for the pretended mission of

Ethiopia. I found it to be in lat. 25° 53´ 30´´. It is a small neat

village, covered with palm-trees, and mostly inhabited by Cophts, none

of whom the friars have yet converted, nor ever will, unless by small

pensions, which they give to the poorest of them, to be decoy-ducks· to

the rest.

Opposite to Negadé, on the other side of the river about three miles,

is Cus, a large town, the Appollonis Civitas Parva of the ancients.

There are no antiquities at this place; but the caravan, which was to

carry the corn for Mecca, across the desert to Cosseir, was to assemble

there. I found they were not near ready; and that the Arabs Atouni had

threatened they would be in their way, and would not suffer them to

pass, at any rate, and that the guard commanded to escort them across

the desert, would come from Furshout, and therefore I should have early

warning.

It was the 2d of February I returned to Badjoura, and took up my

quarters in the house formerly assigned me, greatly to the joy of

Shekh Ismael, who, though he was in the main reconciled to his friend,

friar Christopher, had not yet forgot the wounding of the five men by

his miscalculating ramadan; and was not without fears that the same

inadvertence might, some day or other, be fatal to him, in his pleurisy

and asthma, or, what is still more likely, by the operation of the

tabange.

As I was now about to launch into that part of my expedition, in which

I was to have no further intercourse with Europe I set myself to work

to examine all my observations, and put my journal in such forwardness

by explanations, where needful, that the labours and pains I had

hitherto been at, might not be totally lost to the public, if I should

perish in the journey I had undertaken, which, every day, from all

information I could procure, appeared to be more and more desperate.

Having finished these, at least so far as to make them intelligible to

others, I conveyed them to my friends Messrs Julian and Rosa at Cairo,

to remain in their custody till I should return, or news come that I

was otherwise disposed of.

CHAP. VIII.

_The Author sets out from Kenné--Crosses the Desert of the

Thebaid--Visits the Marble Mountains--Arrives at Cosseir, on

the Red Sea--Transactions there._

It was Thursday, the 16th of February 1769, we heard the caravan was

ready to set out from Kenné, the Cæne Emporium of antiquity. From Kenné

our road was first East, for half an hour, to the foot of the hills,

which here bound the cultivated land; then S. E. when, at 11 o’clock in

the forenoon, we passed a very dirty small village called Sheraffa. All

the way from Kenné, close on our left, were desert hills, on which not

the least verdure grew, but a few plants of a large species of Solanum,

called Burrumbuc.

At half past two we came to a well, called Bir Ambar, the well of

spices, and a dirty village of the same name, belonging to the Azaizy,

a poor inconsiderable tribe of Arabs. They live by letting out their

cattle for hire to the caravans that go to Cosseir, and attending

themselves, when necessary. It got its name, I suppose, from its having

formerly been a station of the caravans from the Red Sea, loaded with

this kind of merchandise from India. The houses of the Azaizy are of

a very particular construction, if they can be called houses. They

are all made of potter-clay, in one piece, in shape of a bee-hive; the

largest is not above ten feet high, and the greatest diameter six.

There are no vestiges here of any canal, mentioned to have been cut

between the Nile and the Red Sea. The cultivated land here is not above

half a mile in extent from the river, but the inundation of the Nile

reaches much higher, nor has it left behind it any appearance of soil.

After passing Bir Ambar, we pitched our tent about four o’clock at

Gabba[150], a short mile from Cuft, on the borders of the desert--here

we passed the night.

On the 17th, at eight o’clock in the morning, having mounted my

servants all on horseback, and taken the charge of our own camels,

(for there was a confusion in our caravan not to be described, and

our guards we knew were but a set of thieves) we advanced slowly into

the desert. There were about two hundred men on horseback, armed with

firelocks; all of them lions, if you believed their word or appearance;

but we were credibly informed, that fifty of the Arabs, at first sight,

would have made these heroes fly without any bloodshed.

I had not gone two miles before I was joined by the Howadat Arab, whom

I had brought with me in the boat from Cairo. He offered me his service

with great professions of gratitude, and told me, that he hoped I would

again take charge of his money, as I had before done from Cairo. It

was now for the first time he told me his name, which was Mahomet Abdel

Gin, “the Slave of the Devil, or the Spirit.” There is a large tribe

of that name, many of which come to Cairo from the kingdom of Sennaar;

but he had been born among the Howadat, opposite to Metrahenny, where I

found him.

Our road was all the way in an open plain, bounded by hillocks of sand,

and fine gravel, perfectly hard, and not perceptibly above the level

of the plain country of Egypt. About twelve miles distant there is a

ridge of mountains of no considerable height, perhaps the most barren

in the world. Between these our road lay through plains, never three

miles broad, but without trees, shrubs, or herbs. There are not even

the traces of any living creature, neither serpent nor lizard, antelope

nor ostrich, the usual inhabitants of the most dreary deserts. There is

no sort of water on the surface, brackish or sweet. Even the birds seem

to avoid the place as pestilential, not having seen one of any kind so

much as flying over. The sun was burning hot, and, upon rubbing two

sticks together, in half a minute they both took fire, and flamed; a

mark how near the country was reduced to a general conflagration!

At half past three, we pitched our tent near some draw-wells, which,

upon tasting, we found bitterer than soot. We had, indeed, other water

carried by the camels in skins. This well-water had only one needful

quality, it was cold, and therefore very comfortable for refreshing

us outwardly. This unpleasant station is called Legeta; here we were

obliged to pass the night, and all next day, to wait the arrival of

the caravans of Cus, Esné, and part of those of Kenné, and Ebanout.

While at the wells of Legeta, my Arab, Abdel Gin, came to me with his

money, which had increased now to nineteen sequins and a half. “What!

said I, Mahomet, are you never safe among your countrymen, neither, by

sea nor land?” “Oh, no, replied Mahomet; the difference, when we were

on board the boat, was, we had three thieves only; but, when _assembled

here_, we shall have above three thousand.--But I have an advice to

give you.”--“And my ears,” said I, “Mahomet, are always open to advice,

especially in strange countries.”--“These people,” continued Mahomet,

“are all afraid of the Atouni Arabs; and, when attacked, they will run

away, and leave you in the hands of these Atouni, who will carry off

your baggage. Therefore, as you have nothing to do with their corn, do

not kill any of the Atouni if they come, for that will be a bad affair,

but go aside, and let me manage. I will answer with my life, though all

the caravan should be stripped stark-naked, and you loaded with gold,

not one article belonging to you shall be touched.” I questioned him

very particularly about this intimation, as it was an affair of much

consequence, and I was so well satisfied, that I resolved to conform

strictly to it.

In the evening came twenty Turks from Caramania, which is that part of

Asia Minor immediately on the side of the Mediterranean opposite to the

coast of Egypt; all of them neatly and cleanly dressed like Turks, all

on camels, armed with swords, a pair of pistols at their girdle, and a

short neat gun; their arms were in very good order, with their flints

and ammunition stowed in cartridge-boxes, in a very soldier-like

manner. A few of these spoke Arabic, and my Greek servant, Michael,

interpreted for the rest. Having been informed, that the large tent

belonged to an Englishman, they came into it without ceremony. They

told me, that they were a number of neighbours and companions, who had

set out together to go to Mecca, to the Hadje; and not knowing the

language, or customs of the people, they had been but indifferently

used since they landed at Alexandria, particularly somewhere (as I

guessed) about Achmim; that one of the Owam, or swimming thieves,

had been on board of them in the night, and had carried off a small

portmanteau with about 200 sequins in gold; that, though a complaint

had been made to the Bey of Girgé, yet no satisfaction had been

obtained; and that now they had heard an Englishman was here, whom they

reckoned their _countryman_, they had come to propose, that we should

make a common cause to defend each other against all enemies.--What

they meaned by _countryman_ was this:--

There is in Asia Minor, somewhere between Anatolia and Caramania, a

district which they call Caz Dagli, corruptly Caz Dangli, and this the

Turks believe was the country from which the English first drew their

origin; and on this account they never fail to claim kindred with the

English wherever they meet, especially if they stand in need of their

assistance.

I told them the arrangement I had taken with the Arab. At first, they

thought it was too much confidence to place in him, but I convinced

them, that it was greatly diminishing our risk, and, let the worst come

to the worst, I was well satisfied that, armed as we were, on foot, we

were more than sufficient to beat the Atouni, after they had defeated

the clownish caravan of Egypt, from whose courage we certainly had

nothing to expect.

I cannot conceal the secret pleasure I had in finding the character of

my country so firmly established among nations so distant, enemies to

our religion, and strangers to our government. Turks from Mount Taurus,

and Arabs from the desert of Libya, thought themselves unsafe among

their own countrymen, but trusted their lives and their little fortunes

implicitly to the direction and word of an Englishman whom they had

never before seen.

These Turks seemed to be above the middling rank of people; each of

them had his little cloak bag very neatly packed up; and they gave

me to understand that there was money in it. These they placed in my

servants tent, and chained them all together, round the middle pillar

of it; for it was easy to see the Arabs of the caravan had those

packages in view, from the full moment of the Turk’s arrival.

We staid all the 18th at Legeta, waiting for the junction of the

caravans, and departed the 19th at six o’clock in the morning. Our

journey, all that day, was through a plain, never less than a mile

broad, and never broader than three; the hills, on our right and left,

were higher than the former, and of a brownish calcined colour, like

the stones on the sides of Mount Vesuvius, but without any herb or tree

upon them.

At half past ten, we passed a mountain of green and red marble, and

at twelve we entered a plain called Hamra, where we first observed

the sand red, with a purple cast, of the colour of porphyry, and this

is the signification of Hamra, the name of the valley. I dismounted

here, to examine of what the rocks were composed; and found, with the

greatest pleasure, that here began the quarries of porphyry, without

the mixture of any other stone; but it was imperfect, brittle, and

soft. I had not been engaged in this pursuit an hour, before we

were alarmed with a report that the Atouni had attacked the rear of

the caravan; we were at the head of it. The Turks and my servants

were all drawn together, at the foot of the mountain, and posted as

advantageously as possible. But it soon appeared that they were some

thieves only, who had attempted to steal some loads of corn from camels

that were weak, or fallen lame, perhaps in intelligence with those of

our own caravans.

All the rest of the afternoon, we saw mountains of a perfectly purple

colour, all of them porphyry; nor has Ptolemy[151] much erred in the

position of them. About four o’clock, we pitched our tent at a place

called Main el Mafarek. The colour of the valley El Hamra continued to

this station; and it was very singular to observe, that the ants, or

pismires, the only living creatures I had yet observed, were all of a

beautiful red colour like the sand.

The 20th, at six o’clock in the morning, we left Main el Mafarek,

and, at ten, came to the mouth of the defiles. At eleven we began to

descend, having had a very imperceptible ascent from Kenné all the way.

We were now indemnified for the sameness of our natural productions

yesterday; for, on each side of the plain, we found different sorts of

marble, twelve kinds of which I selected, and took with me.

At noon, we came to a plain planted with acacia-trees, at equal

distances; single trees, spreading broader than usual, as if on purpose

to proportion the refreshment they gave to the number of travellers who

stood in need of it. This is a station of the Atouni Arabs after rain.

From our leaving Legeta, we had no water that, nor the following day.

On the right-hand side of this plain we found porphyry and granite, of

very beautiful kinds. All the way, on both sides of the valley, this

day, the mountains were of porphyry, and a very few of stone.

At a quarter past four, we encamped at Koraim, a small plain, perfectly

barren, consisting of fine gravel, sand, and stones, with a few

acacia-trees, interspersed throughout.

The 21st, we departed early in the morning from Koraim, and, at ten

o’clock, we passed several defiles, perpetually alarmed by a report,

that the Arabs were approaching; none of whom we ever saw. We then

proceeded through several defiles, into a long plain that turns to the

east, then north-east, and north, so as to make a portion of a circle.

At the end of this plain we came to a mountain, the greatest part of

which was of the marble, _verde antico_, as it is called in Rome, but

by far the most beautiful of the kind I had ever seen.

Having passed this, we had mountains on both sides of us, but

particularly on our right. The only ones that I myself examined were

of a kind of granite, with reddish veins throughout, with triangular

and square black spots. These mountains continued to Mesag el Terfowey,

where we encamped at twelve o’clock; we were obliged to bring our water

from about five miles to the south-east. This water does not appear

to be from springs, it lies in cavities and grottos in the rock, of

which there are twelve in number, whether hollowed by nature or art, or

partly by both, is more than I can solve. Great and abundant rains fall

here in February. The clouds, breaking on the tops of these mountains,

in their way to Abyssinia, fill these cisterns with large supplies,

which the impending rocks secure from evaporation.

It was the first fresh water we tasted since we left the Nile; and

the only water of any kind since we left Legeta. But such had been

the foresight of our caravan, that very few resorted thither, having

all laid in abundant store from the Nile; and some of them a quantity

sufficient to serve them till their return. This was not our case. We

had water, it is true, from the Nile; but we never thought we could

have too much, as long as there was room in our water-skins to hold

more; I therefore went early with my camel-drivers, expecting to have

seen some antelopes, which every night come to drink from the well,

having no opportunity to do it throughout the day.

I had not concealed myself half an hour, above a narrow path leading

to the principal cave, before I saw, first one antelope walking very

stately alone; then four others, closely following him. Although I

was wholly hid as long as I lay still, he seemed to have discerned me

from the instant that I saw him. I should have thought it had been

the smell that had discovered me, had not I used the precaution of

carrying a piece of burnt turf along with me, and left, one with my

horse likewise; perhaps it was this unusual smell that terrified him.

Whatever was the cause, he advanced apparently in fear, and seemed

to be trusted with the care of the flock, as the others testified

no apprehension, but were rather sporting or fighting with each

other. Still he advanced slower, and with greater caution; but, being

perfectly within reach, I did not think proper any longer to risk

the whole from a desire to acquire a greater number. I shot him so

justly, that, giving one leap five or six feet high, he fell dead

upon his head. I fired at the others, retiring all in a crowd; killed

one likewise, and lamed another, who fled among the mountains, where

darkness protected him. We were perfectly content with our acquisition,

and the nature of the place did not prompt us to look after the

wounded. We continued at the well to assist our· companions who came in

want of water, a duty with which necessity binds us all to comply.

We returned near midnight with our game and our water. We found our

tents all lighted, which, at that time of night, was unusual. I

thought, however, it was on account of my absence, and to guide me the

surer home. We were however surprised, when, coming within a moderate

distance of our tent, we heard _the word_ called for; I answered

immediately, _Charlotte_; and, upon our arrival, we perceived the

Turks were parading round the tents in arms, and soon after our Howadat

Arab came to us, and with him a messenger from Sidi Hassan, desiring me

to come instantly to his tent, while my servants advised me first to

hear what they had to say to me in mine.

I soon, therefore, perceived that all was not well, and I returned my

compliments to Hassan, adding, that, if he had any thing to say to me

so late, he would do well to come, or send, as it was past my hour of

visiting in the desert, especially as I had not eat, and was tired with

having the charge of the water. I gave orders to my servants to put out

all the extraordinary lights, as that seemed to be a mark of fear; but

forbade any one to sleep, excepting those who had the charge of our

beasts, and had been fetching the water.

I found that, while our people had been asleep, two persons had got

into the tent and attempted to steal one of the portmanteaus; but, as

they were chained together, and the tent-pole in the middle, the noise

had awakened my servants, who had seized one of the men; and that the

Turks had intended instantly to have dispatched him with their knives,

and with great difficulty had been prevented by my servants, according

to my constant orders, for I wished to avoid all extremities, upon such

occasions, when possible. They had indeed leave to deal with their

sticks as freely as their prudence suggested to them; and they had

gone, in this case, fully beyond the ordinary limits of _discretion_,

especially Abdel Gin, who was the first to seize the robber. In short,

they had dealt so liberally with their sticks, that the thief was

only known to be living by his groans, and they had thrown him at a

small distance, for any person to own him that pleased. It appeared,

that he was a servant of Sidi Hassan, an Egyptian slave, or servant to

Shekh Hamam, who conducted or commanded the caravan, if there was any

_conduct_ or _command_ in it.

There were with me ten servants, all completely armed, twenty-five

Turks, who seemed worthy to be depended upon, and four janissaries, who

had joined us from Cairo, so that there were of us forty men perfectly

armed, besides attendants on the cattle. As we had people with us who

knew the wells, and also a friend who was acquainted with the Atouni,

nothing, even in a desert, could reasonably alarm us.

With great difficulty we pulled down an old acacia-tree, and procured

some old-dried camels dung, with which we roasted our two antelopes:

very ill-roasted they were; and execrable meat, though they had been

ever so well dressed, and had had the best sauce of Christendom.

However, we were in the desert, and every thing was acceptable. We had

some spirits, which finished our repast that night: it was exceedingly

cold, and we sat thick about the fire.

Five men with firelocks, and a number of Arabs with lances, having come

towards us, and being challenged by the centinel for not giving _the

word_, were then desired to stand, or they would be fired upon. They

all cried out, _Salam Alicum!_ and I intimated that any three of them

might come forward, but desired them to keep away the Arabs. Three of

them accordingly came, and then two more. They delivered a message

from Sidi Hassan, that my people had killed a man; they desired that

the murderer might be delivered to them, and that I should come to

his tent, and see justice done. “I told them, that none of my people,

however provoked, would put a man to death in my absence, unless

in defence of their own lives; that, if I had been there, I should

certainly have ordered them to fire upon a thief catched in the act of

stealing within my tent; but, since he was dead, I was satisfied as to

him, only expected that Sidi Hassan would give me up his companion,

who had fled; that, as it was near morning, I should meet him when the

caravan decamped, and hear what he had to say in his defence. In the

mean time I forbade any person to come near my tent, or quarters, on

any pretence whatever, till-day light.” Away they went murmuring, but

what they said I did not understand. We heard no more of them, and none

of us slept. All of us, however, repeated our vows of standing by each

other; and we since found, that we had stood in the way of a common

practice, of stripping these poor strangers, the Turks, who come every

year this road to Mecca.

At dawn of day, the caravan was all in motion. They had got

intelligence, that two days before, about 300 Atouni had watered at

Terfowey; and, indeed, there were marks of great resort at the well,

where we filled the water. We had agreed not to load one of our camels,

but let the caravan go on before us, and meet the Atouni first; that

I only should go on horseback, about two hundred yards into the plain

from the tent, and all the rest follow me on foot with arms in their

hands.

Hassan, too, was mounted on horseback, with about a hundred of his

myrmidons, and a number of Arabs on foot. He sent me word that I was to

advance, with only two servants; but I returned for answer, that I had

no intention to advance at all; that if he had any business, he should

say so, and that I would meet him one to one, or three to six, just as

he pleased. He sent me again word, that he wanted to communicate the

intelligence he had of the Atouni, to put me on my guard. I returned

for answer, that I was already upon my guard, against all thieves, and

did not make any distinction, if people were thieves themselves, or

encouraged others to be so, or whether they were Atouni or Ababdé. He

then sent me a message, that it was a cold morning, and wished I would

give him a dish of coffee, and keep those strangers away. I therefore

desired one of my servants to bring the coffee-pot, and directing my

people to sit down, I rode up to him, and dismounted, as he did also,

when twenty or thirty of his vagabonds came, and sat down likewise. He

said he was exceedingly surprised, after sending to me last night, that

I did not come to him; that the whole camp was in murmur at beating the

man, and that it was all that he could do to hinder his soldiers from

falling upon us, and extirpating us all at once; that I did wrong to

protect those Turks, who carried always money to Mecca for merchandise,

and defrauded them of their dues.

My servant having just poured out a dish of coffee to give him, I

said, Stay, Sir, till we know whether we are in peace. Sidi Hassan, if

that is the way of levying dues upon the Turks, to send thieves to rob

them in my tent, you should advise me first of it, and then we should

have settled the business. With regard to your preventing people from

murdering me, it is a boast so ridiculous that I laugh at it. Those

pale-faced fellows who are about you muffled up in burnooses for fear

of cold in the morning, are they capable to look janissaries in the

face like mine? Speak lowly, and in Arabic, when you talk at this rate,

or perhaps it will not be in my power to return you the compliment you

did me last night, or hinder them from killing you on the spot. Were

ever such words spoken! said a man behind; tell me, master, are you a

king? If Sidi Hassan, answered I, is your master, and you speak to me

on this occasion, you are a wretch; get out of my sight; I swear I will

not drink a dish of coffee while you are here, and will mount my horse

directly.

I then rose, and the servant took back the coffee-pot; upon which

Hassan ordered his servant out of his presence, saying, “No, no; give

me the coffee if we are in peace;” and he drank it accordingly. Now,

says he, past is past; the Atouni are to meet us at the [152]mouth of

Beder; your people are better armed than mine, are Turks, and used to

fighting. I would wish you to go foremost, and we will take charge of

your camels, though my people have 4000 of their own, and they have

enough to do to take charge of the corn. “And I,” said I, “if I wanted

water or provision, would go to meet the Atouni, who would use me well.

Why, you don’t know to whom you are speaking, nor that the Atouni are

Arabs of Ali Bey, and that I am his man of confidence, going to the

Sherriffe of Mecca? The Atouni will not hurt _us_; but, as you say, you

are commander of the caravan, we have all sworn we will not fire a

shot, till we see you heartily engaged; and then we will do our best;

to hinder the Arabs from stealing the Sherriffe of Mecca’s corn, for

_his sake only_.” They all cried out El Fedtah! El Fedtah! so I said

the prayer of peace as a proxy; for none of the Turks would come near

him.

Opposite to where we were encamped is Terfowey, a large mountain,

partly green-marble, partly granite, with a red blush upon a grey

ground, with square oblong spots. About forty yards within the narrow

valley, which separates this mountain from its neighbour, we saw a

part of the fust or shaft of a monstrous obelisk of marble, very

nearly square, broken at the end, and towards the top. It was nearly

thirty feet long, and nineteen feet in the face; about two feet of the

bottom were perfectly insulated, and one whole side separated from the

mountain. The gully had been widened and levelled, and the road made

quite up to underneath the block.

We saw likewise, throughout the plain, small pieces of jasper, having

green, white, and red spots, called in Italy, “Diaspo Sanguineo.” All

the mountains on both sides of the plain seemed to be of the same sort,

whether they really were so or not, I will not say, having had no time

to examine them.

The 22d, at half past one in the morning, we set out full of terror

about the Atouni. We continued in a direction nearly east, till

at three we came to the defiles; but it was so dark, that it was

impossible to discern of what the country on each side consisted. At

day-break, we found ourselves at the bottom of a mountain of granite,

bare like the former.

We saw quantities of small pieces of various sorts of granite, and

porphyry scattered over the plain, which had been carried down by a

torrent, probably from quarries of ancient ages; these were white,

mixed with black spots; red, with green veins, and black spots. After

this, all the mountains on the right hand were of red marble in

prodigious abundance, but of no great beauty. They continued, as the

granite did, for several miles along the road, while the opposite side

was all of dead-green, supposed serpentine marble.

It was one of the most extraordinary sights I ever saw. The former

mountains were of considerable height, without a tree, or shrub,

or blade of grass upon them; but these now before us had all the

appearance, the one of having been sprinkled over with Havannah, the

other with Brazil snuff. I wondered, that, as the red is nearest

the sea, and the ships going down the Abyssinian coast observe this

appearance within lat. 26°, writers have not imagined this was called

the _Red Sea_ upon that account, rather than for the many weak reasons

they have relied upon.

About eight o’clock we began to descend smartly, and, half an hour

after, entered into another defile like those before described, having

mountains of green marble on every side of us. At nine, on our left,

we saw the highest mountain we had yet passed. We found it, upon

examination, to be composed of serpentine marble; and, thro’ about

one-third of the thickness, ran a large vein of jasper, green, spotted

with red. Its exceeding hardness was such as not to yield to the blows

of a hammer; but the works of old times were more apparent in it, than

in any mountain we had seen. Ducts, or channels, for carrying water

transversely, were observed evidently to terminate in this quarry of

jasper: a proof that water was one of the means used in cutting these

hard stones.

About ten o’clock, descending very rapidly, with green marble and

jasper on each side of us, but no other green thing whatever, we had

the first prospect of the Red Sea, and, at a quarter past eleven, we

arrived at Cosseir. It has been a wonder with all travellers, and with

myself among the rest, where the ancients procured that prodigious

quantity of fine marble, with which all their buildings abound. That

wonder, however, among many others, now ceases, after having passed, in

four days, more granite, porphyry, marble, and jasper, than would build

Rome, Athens, Corinth, Syracuse, Memphis, Alexandria, and half a dozen

such cities. It seemed to be very visible, that those openings in the

hills, which I call Defiles, were not natural, but artificial; and that

whole mountains had been cut out at these places, to preserve a slope

towards the Nile as gentle as possible: this, I suppose, might be a

descent of about one foot in fifty at most; so that, from the mountains

to the Nile, those heavy carriages must have moved with as little

draught as possible, and, at the same time, been sufficiently impeded

by friction, so as not to run amain, or acquire an increased velocity,

against which, also, there must have been other provisions contrived.

As I made another excursion to these marble mountains from Cosseir,

I will, once for all, here set down what I observed concerning their

natural appearance.

The porphyry shews itself by a fine purple sand, without any gloss or

glitter on it, and is exceedingly agreeable to the eye. It is mixed

with the native white sand, and fixed gravel of the plains. Green

unvariegated marble, is generally seen in the same mountain with the

porphyry. Where the two veins meet, the marble is for some inches

brittle, but the porphyry of the same hardness as in other places.

The granite is covered with sand, and looks like stone of a dirty,

brown colour. But this is only the change and impression the sun and

weather have made upon it; for, upon breaking it, you see it is grey

granite, with black spots, with a reddish cast, or blush over it. This

red seems to fade and suffer from the outward air, but, upon working

or polishing the surface, this colour again appears. It is in greater

quantity than the porphyry, and nearer the Red Sea. Pompey’s pillar

seems to have been from this quarry.

Next to the granite, but never, as I observed, joined with it in the

same mountain, is the red marble. It is covered with sand of the same

colour, and looks as if the whole mountain were spread over with brick

dust. There is also a red marble with white veins, which I have often

seen at Rome, but not in principal subjects, I have also seen it in

Britain. The common green (called Serpentine) looks as if covered over

with Brazil snuff. Joined with this green, I saw two samples of that

beautiful marble they call Isabella; one of them with a yellowish

cast, which we call Quaker-colour; the other with a blueish, which is

commonly termed Dove-colour. These two seem to divide the respective

mountains with the serpentine. In this green, likewise, it was we saw

the vein of jasper; but whether it was absolutely the same with this

which is the bloody jasper, or blood-stone, is what we had not time to

settle.

I should first have made mention of the verde antico, the dark green

with white irregular spots, because it is of the greatest value, and

nearest the Nile. This is produced in the mountains of the plain green,

or serpentine, as is the jasper, and is not discoverable by the dust,

or any particular colour upon it. First, there is a blue fleaky stone,

exceedingly even and smooth in the grain, solid, and without sparks or

colour. When broken, it is something lighter than a slate, and more

beautiful than most marble; it is like the lava of volcanoes, when

polished. After lifting this, we come to the beds of verde antico;

and here the quarrying is very obvious, for it has been uncovered in

patches, not above twenty feet square. Then, in another part, the green

stone has been removed, and another pit of it wrought.

I saw, in several places in the plain, small pieces of African marble

scattered about, but no rocks or mountains of it. I suppose it is found

in the heart of some other coloured marble, and in strata, like the

jasper and verde antico, and, I suspect, in the mountains of Isabella

marble, especially of the yellowest sort of it, but this is mere

conjecture. This prodigious store of marble is placed upon a ridge,

whence there is a descent to the east or west, either to the Nile or

Red Sea. The level ground and hard-fixed gravel are proper for the

heaviest carriages, and will easily and smoothly convey any weight

whatever to its place of embarkation on the Nile; so that another

wonder ceased, how the ancients transported those vast blocks to

Thebes, Memphis, and Alexandria.

Cosseir is a small mud-walled village, built upon the shore, among

hillocks of floating sand. It is defended by a square fort of hewn

stone, with square towers in the angles, which have in them three small

cannon of iron, and one of brass, all in very bad condition; of no

other use but to terrify the Arabs, and hinder them from plundering the

town when full of corn, going to Mecca in time of famine. The walls are

not high; nor was it necessary, if the great guns were in order. But

as this is not the case, the ramparts are heightened by clay, or by

mud-walls, to screen the soldiers from the fire-arms of the Arabs, that

might otherwise command them from the sandy hills in the neighbourhood.

There are several wells of brackish water on the N. W. of the castle,

which, for experiment’s sake, I made drinkable, by filtering it through

sand; but the water in use is brought from Terfowey, a good day’s

journey off.

The port, if we may call it so, is on the south-east of the town. It

is nothing but a rock which runs out about four hundred yards into the

sea, and defends the vessels, which ride to the west of it, from the

north and north-east winds, as the houses of the town cover them from

the north-west.

There is a large inclosure with a high mud-wall, and, within, every

merchant has a shop or magazine for his corn and merchandise: little of

this last is imported, unless coarse India goods, for the consumption

of Upper Egypt itself, since the trade to Dongola and Sennaar has been

interrupted.

I had orders from Shekh Hamam to lodge in the castle. But a few hours

before my arrival, Hussein Bey Abou Kersh landed from Mecca, and Jidda,

and he had taken up the apartments which were destined for me. He was

one of those Beys whom Ali Bey had defeated, and driven from Cairo. He

was called _Abou Kersh_, i. e. Father Belly, from being immoderately

fat; his adversity had brought him a little into shapes. My servants,

who had gone before, thinking that a friend of the Bey in power was

better than an enemy outlawed, and banished by him, had inadvertently

put some of my baggage into the castle just when this potentate was

taking possession. Swords were immediately drawn, death and destruction

threatened to my poor servants, who fled and hid themselves till I

arrived.

Upon their complaint, I told them they had acted improperly; that

a sovereign was a sovereign all the world over; and it was not my

business to make a difference, whether he was in power or not. I easily

procured a house, and sent a janissary of the four that had joined us

from Cairo, with my compliments to the Bey, desiring restitution of my

baggage, and that he would excuse the ignorance of my servants, who

did not know that he was at Cosseir; but only, having the firman of

the Grand Signior, and letters from the Bey and Port of janissaries of

Cairo, they presumed that I had a right to lodge there, if he had not

taken up the quarters.

It happened, that an intimate friend of mine, Mahomet Topal, captain

of one of the large Cairo ships, trading to Arabia, was a companion of

this Hussein Bey, and had carried him to see Captain Thornhill, and

some of our English captains at Jidda, who, as their very laudable

custom is, always shew such people some civilities. He questioned

the janissary about me, who told him I was English; that I had the

protection I had mentioned, and that, from kindness and charity, I

had furnished the stranger Turks with water, and provision at my own

expence, when crossing the desert. He professed himself exceedingly

ashamed at the behaviour of his servants, who had drawn their sabres

upon mine, and had cut my carpet and some cords. After which, of his

own accord, he ordered his kaya, or next in command, to remove from

the lodging he occupied, and instead of sending back my baggage by my

servant, he directed it to be carried into the apartment from which

the kaya had removed. This I absolutely refused, and sent word, I

understood he was to be there for a few days only; and as I might

stay for a longer time, I should only desire to succeed him after his

departure, in order to put my baggage in safety from the Arabs; but

for the present they were in no danger, as long _as he was in the

town_. I told him, I would pay my respects to him in the evening,

when the weather cooled. I did so, and, contrary to his expectations,

brought him a small present. Great intercourse of civility passed; my

fellow-travellers, the Turks, were all seated there, and he gave me,

repeatedly, very honourable testimonials of my charity, generosity, and

kindness to them.

These Turks, finding themselves in a situation to be heard, had not

omitted the opportunity of complaining to Hussein Bey of the attempt

of the Arab to rob them in the desert. The Bey asked me, If it

happened in my tent? I said, It was in that of my servants. “What is

the reason, says he, that, when you English people know so well what

good government is, you did not order his head to be struck off, when

you had him in your hands, before the door of the tent?”--“Sir,” said

I, “I know well what good government is; but being a stranger, and a

Christian, I have no sort of title to exercise the power of life and

death in this country; only in this one case, when a man attempts my

life, then I think I am warranted to defend myself, whatever may be

the consequence to him. My men took him in the fact, and they had my

orders, in such cases, to beat the offenders so that they should not

steal these two months again: They did so; that was punishment enough

in cold blood.”--“But my blood,” says he, “never cools with regard to

such rascals as these: Go (and he called one of his attendants) tell

Hassan, the head of the caravan, from me, that unless he hangs that

Arab before sun-rise to-morrow, I will carry him in irons to Furshout.”

Upon this message I took my leave; saying only, “Hussein Bey, take my

advice; procure a vessel and send these Turks over to Mecca before you

leave this town, or, be assured they will all be made responsible for

the death of this Arab; will be stripped naked, and perhaps murdered,

as soon as your back is turned.” It was all I could do to get them

protected thus far. This measure was already provided for, and the

poor Turks joyfully embarked next morning. The thief was not at all

molested: he was sent out of the way, under pretence that he had fled.

Cosseir has been mistaken by different authors. Mr Huet, Bishop of

Avranches, says, It is the Myos Hormos of antiquity; others, the

Philoteras Portus of Ptolemy. The fact is, that neither one nor other

is the port, both being considerably farther to the northward. Nay,

more, the present town of Cosseir was no ancient port at all; old

Cosseir was five or six miles to the northward. There can be no sort

of doubt, that it was the Portus Albus, or the White Harbour; for we

find the steep descent from Terfowey, and the marble mountains, called,

to this day, the Accaba, which, in Arabic, signifies a steep ascent or

descent, is placed here by Ptolemy with the same name, though in Greek

that name has no signification. Again, Ptolemy places [153]Aias Mons,

or the mountain Aias, just over Cosseir, and this mountain, by the same

name, is found there at this day. And, upon this mountain, and the one

next it, (both over the port) are two very remarkable chalky cliffs;

which, being conspicuous and seen far at sea, have given the name of

the White Port, which Cosseir bore in all antiquity.

I found, by many meridian altitudes of the sun, taken at the castle,

that Cosseir is in lat. 26° 7´ 51´´ north; and, by three observations

of Jupiter’s satellites, I found its longitude to be 34° 4´ 15´´ east

of the meridian of Greenwich.

The caravan from Syené arrived at this time, escorted by four hundred

Ababdé, all upon camels, each armed with two short javelins. The manner

of their riding was very whimsical; they had two small saddles on

each camel, and sat back to back, which might be, in their practice,

convenient enough; but I am sure, that, if they had been to fight with

us, every ball would have killed two of them, what _their advantage_

would have been, I know not.

The whole town was in terror at the influx of so many barbarians,

who knew no law whatever. They brought a thousand camels loaded with

wheat to transport to Mecca. Every body shut their doors, and I among

the rest, whilst the Bey sent to me to remove into the castle. But I

had no fear, and resolved to make an experiment, after hearing these

were people of _Nimmer_, whether I could trust them in the desert or

not. However, I sent all my instruments, my money, and the best of my

baggage, my medicines and memorandums, into a chamber in the castle:

after the door was locked, and the key brought to me, the Bey ordered

to nail up pieces of wood across it, and set a centinel to watch it all

day, and two in the night.

I was next morning down at the port looking for shells in the sea, when

a servant of mine came to me in apparent fright and hurry. He told me

the Ababdé had found out that Abdel Gin, my Arab, was an _Atouni, their

enemy_, and that they had either cut his throat, or were about to do

it; but, by the fury with which they seized him, in his sight, he could

not believe they would spare him a minute.

He very providently brought me a horse, upon which I mounted

immediately, seeing there was no time to be lost; and in the

fishing-dress, in which I was, with a red turban about my head, I

galloped as hard as the horse could carry me through the town. If I was

alarmed myself, I did not fail to alarm many others. They all thought

it was something behind, not any thing before me, that occasioned this

speed. I only told my servant at passing, to send two of my people on

horseback after me, and that the Bey would lend them horses.

I was not got above a mile into the sands, when I began to reflect on

the folly of the undertaking. I was going into the desert among a band

of savages, whose only trade was robbery and murder, where, in all

probability, I should be as ill treated as the man I was attempting to

save. But, seeing a crowd of people about half a mile before me, and

thinking they might be at that time murdering that poor, honest, and

simple fellow, all consideration of my own safety for the time vanished.

Upon my coming near them, six or eight of them surrounded me on

horseback, and began to gabble in their own language. I was not very

fond of my situation. It would have cost them nothing to have thrust a

lance through my back, and taken the horse away; and, after stripping

me, to have buried me in a hillock of sand, if they were so kind as

give themselves that last trouble. However, I picked up courage, and

putting on the best appearance I could, said to them steadily, without

trepidation, “What men are these before?” The answer, after some pause,

was, _they are men_; and they looked very queerly, as if they meant

to ask each other, What sort of a spark is this? “Are those before us

Ababdé, said I; are they from Shekh Ammer?” One of them nodded, and

grunted sullenly, rather than said “Aye, Ababdé from Shekh Ammer.”

“Then Salam Alicum! said I, we are brethren. How does the Nimmer? Who

commands you here? Where is Ibrahim?”

At the mention of Nimmer, and Ibrahim, their countenance changed, not

to any thing sweeter or gentler than before, but to a look of great

surprise. They had not returned my salutation, _peace be between us_;

but one of them asked me who I was?--“Tell me first, said I, who that

is you have before?”--“It is an Arab, our enemy, says he, guilty of

our blood.”--“He is, replied I, my servant. He is a Howadat Arab, his

tribe lives in peace at the gates of Cairo, in the same manner your’s

at Shekh Ammer does at those of Assouan.” “I ask you, Where is Ibrahim

your Shekh’s’ son?”--“Ibrahim, says he, is at our head, he commands us

here. But who are you?”--“Come with me, and shew me Ibrahim, said I,

and I will shew you who I am.”

I passed by these, and by another party of them. They had thrown a hair

rope about the neck of Abdel Gin, who was almost strangled already,

and cried out most miserably, for me not to leave him. I went directly

to the black tent which I saw had a long spear thrust up in the end

of it, and met at the door Ibrahim and his brother, and seven or

eight Ababdé. He did not recollect me, but I dismounted close to the

tent-door, and had scarce taken hold of the pillar of the tent, and

said _Fiarduc_[154], when Ibrahim, and his brother both knew me. “What!

said they, are you _Yagoube_ our physician, and our friend?”--“Let me

ask you, replied I, if you are the Ababdé of Shekh Ammer, that cursed

yourselves, and your children, if you ever lifted a hand against me, or

mine, in the desert, or in the plowed field: If you have repented of

that oath, or sworn falsely on purpose to deceive me, here I am come

to you in the _desert_.” “What is the matter, says Ibrahim, we are the

Ababdé of Shekh Ammer, there are no other, and we still say, Cursed

be he, whether our father, or children, that lifts his hand against

you, in the desert, or in the plowed field.” “Then, said I, you are all

accursed in the desert, and in the field, for a number of your people

are going to murder my servant. They took him indeed from my house _in

the town_, perhaps that is not included in your curse, as it is neither

in the _desert_ nor the _plowed field_.”--I was very angry. “Whew! says

Ibrahim with a kind of whistle, that is downright nonsense. Who are

those of my people that have authority to murder, and take prisoners

while I am here? Here one of you, get upon Yagoube’s horse, and bring

that man to me.” Then turning to me, he desired I would go into the

tent and sit down: “For God renounce me and mine, (says he), if it is

as you say, and one of them hath touched the hair of his head, if ever

_he_ drinks of the Nile again.”

A number of people who had seen me at Shekh Ammer, now came all around

me; some with complaints of sickness, some with compliments; more with

impertinent questions, that had no relation to either. At last came

in the culprit Abdel Gin, with forty or fifty of the Ababdé who had

gathered round him, but no rope about his neck. There began a violent

altercation between Ibrahim, and his men, in their own language. All

that I could guess was, that the men had the worst of it; for every one

present said something harsh to them, as disapproving the action.

I heard the name of Hassan Sidi Hassan often in the dispute. I began to

suspect something, and desired in Arabic to know what that Sidi Hassan

was, so often mentioned in discourse, and then the whole secret came

out.

The reader will remember, that this Arab, Abdel Gin, was the person

that seized the servant of Hassan, the Captain of the Caravan, when he

was attempting to steal the Turk’s portmanteau out of my tent; that my

people had beat him till he lay upon the ground like dead, and that

Hussein Bey, at the complaint of the Caramaniots, had ordered him to be

hanged. Now, in order to revenge this, Hassan had told the Ababdé that

Abdel Gin was an Atouni spy, that he had detected him in the Caravan,

and that he was come to learn the number of the Ababdé, in order to

bring his companions to surprise them. He did not say one word that he

was my servant, nor that I was at Cosseir; so the people thought they

had a very meritorious sacrifice to make, in the person of poor Abdel

Gin.

All passed now in kindness, fresh medicines were asked for the Nimmer,

great thankfulness, and professions, for what they had received, and

a prodigious quantity of meat on wooden platters very excellently

dressed, and most agreeably diluted with fresh water, from the coldest

rock of Terfowey, was set before me.

In the mean time, two of my servants, attended by three of Hussein Bey,

came in great anxiety to know what was the matter; and, as neither they

nor the Arabs chose much each others company, I sent them with a short

account of the whole to the Bey; and soon after took my leave, carrying

Abdel Gin along with me, who had been clothed by Ibrahim from head to

foot. We were accompanied by two Ababdé, in case of accident.

I cannot help here accusing myself of what, doubtless, may be well

reputed a very great sin. I was so enraged at the traitorous part

which Hassan had acted, that, at parting, I could not help saying to

Ibrahim, “Now, Shekh, I have done every thing you have desired, without

ever expecting fee, or reward; the only thing I now ask you, and it is

probably the last, is, that you revenge me upon this Hassan, who is

every day in your power.” Upon this, he gave me his hand, saying, “He

shall not die in his bed, or I shall never see old age.”

We now returned all in great spirits to Cosseir, and I observed that my

unexpected connection with the Ababdé had given me an influence in that

place, that put me above all fear of personal danger, especially as

they had seen in the desert, that the Atouni were my friends also, as

reclaiming this Arab shewed they really were.

The Bey insisted on my supping with him. At his desire I told him the

whole story, at which he seemed to be much surprised, saying, several

times, “Menullah! Menullah! Mucktoub!” It is God’s doing, it is God’s

doing, it was written so. And, when I had finished, he said to me, “I

will not leave this traitor with you to trouble you further; I will

oblige him, as it is his duty, to attend me to Furshout.” This he

accordingly did; and, to my very great surprise, though he might be

assured I had complained of him to Shekh Hamam, meeting me the next

day, when they were all ready to depart, and were drinking coffee with

the Bey, he gave me a slip of paper, and desired me, by that direction,

to buy him a sabre, which might be procured in Mecca. It seems it is

the manufacture of Persia, and, though I do not understand in the

least, the import of the terms, I give it to the reader that he may

know by what description he is to buy an excellent sabre. It is called

Suggaro Tabanne Haresanne Agemmi, _for Sidi Hassan of Furshout_.

Although pretty much used to stifle my resentment upon impertinences

of this kind, I could not, after the trick he had played me with

the Ababdé, carry it indifferently; I threw the billet before the

Bey, saying to Hassan, “A sword of that value would be useless and

misemployed in the hand of a coward and a traitor, such as surely

you must be sensible I know you to be.” He looked to the Bey as if

appealing to him, from the incivility of the observation; but the

Bey, without scruple, answered, “It is true, it is true what he says,

Hassan; if I was in Ali Bey’s place, when you dared use a stranger of

mine, or any stranger, as you have done him, I would plant you upon a

sharp stake in the market-place, till the boys in the town stoned you

to death; but he has complained of you in a letter, and I will be a

witness against you before Hamam, for your conduct is not that of a

_Mussulman_.”

While I was engaged with the Ababdé, a vessel was seen in distress in

the offing, and all the boats went out and towed her in. It was the

vessel in which the twenty-five Turks had embarked, which had been

heavily loaded. Nothing is so dreadful as the embarkation in that sea;

for the boats have no decks; the whole, from stern to stem, being

filled choak-full of wheat, the waste, that is the slope of the vessel,

between the height of her stem and stern, is filled up by one plank on

each side, which is all that is above the surface of the waves. Sacks,

tarpaulins, or mats, are strowed along the surface of the wheat upon

which all the passengers lye. On the least agitation of the waves, the

sea getting in upon the wheat, increases its weight so prodigiously,

that, falling below the level of the gunnel, the water rushes in

between the plank and that part of the vessel, and down it goes to the

bottom.

Though every day produces an accident of this kind from the same cause,

yet such is the desire of gaining money in that season, which offers

but once a-year, that every ship sails, loaded in the same manner

as the last which perished. This was just the case with the vessel

that had carried the Turks. Anxious to go away, they would not wait

the signs of the weather being rightly settled. _Ullah Kerim!_ they

cry, ‘God is great and is merciful’; and upon that they embark in a

navigation, where it needs indeed a miracle to save them.

The Turks all came ashore but one; the youngest, and, according to all

appearance, the best, had fallen over board, and perished. The Bey

received them, and with great charity entertained them all at his own

expence, but they were so terrified with the sea, as almost to resolve

never to make another attempt.

The Bey had brought with him from Jidda, a small, but tight vessel

belonging to [155]Sheher; which came from that country loaded with

frankincense, the commodity of that port. The Rais had business

down the Gulf at Tor, and he had spoken to the Bey, to recommend him

to me. I had no business at Tor, but as we had grown into a kind of

friendship, from frequent conversation, and as he was, according to

his own word, a great saint, like my last boatman, a character that I

thought I could perfectly manage, I proposed to the Bey, that he and I

should contribute something to make it worth this Captain’s pains, to

take our friends the Turks on board, and carry them to Yambo, that they

might not be deprived of that blessing which would result from their

visit to the Prophet’s tomb, and which they had toiled so much to earn.

I promised, in that case, to hire his vessel at so much a month upon

its return from Yambo; and, as I had then formed a resolution of making

a survey of the Red Sea to the Straits of Babelmandeb, the Rais was to

take his directions from me, till I pleased to dismiss him.

Nothing was more agreeable to the views of all parties than this. The

Bey promised to stay till they sailed, and I engaged to take him after

he returned; and as the captain, in quality of a saint, assured us,

that any rock that stood in our way in the voyage, would either jump

aside, or become soft like a spunge, as it had often happened before,

both the Turks and we were now assured of a voyage without danger.

All was settled to our mutual satisfaction, when, unluckily, the Turks

going down to their boat, met Sidi Hassan, whom, with reason, they

thought the author of all their misfortunes. The whole twenty-four drew

their swords, and, without seeking sabres from Persia, as he had done,

they would have cut Sidi Hassan in pieces, but, fortunately for him,

the Turks had great cloth trowsers, like Dutchmen, and they could not

run, whilst he ran very nimbly in his. Several pistols, however, were

fired, one of which shot him in the back part of the ear; on which he

fled for refuge to the Bey, and we never saw him more.

CHAP. IX.

_Voyage to Jibbel Zumrud--Return to Cosseir--Sails from

Cosseir--Jaffateen Islands--Arrive at Tor._

The Turks and the Bey departed, and with the Turks I dispatched my

Arab, Abdel Gin, not only giving him something myself, but recommending

him to my beneficent countrymen at Jidda, if he should go there.

I now took up my quarters in the castle, and as the Ababdé had told

strange stories about the Mountain of Emeralds, I determined, till

my captain should return, to make a voyage thither. There was no

possibility of knowing the distance by report; sometimes it was

twenty-five miles, sometimes it was fifty, sometimes it was a hundred,

and God knows how much more.

I chose a man who had been twice at these mountains of emeralds; with

the best boat then in the harbour, and on Tuesday the 14th of March,

we sailed, with the wind at North East, from the harbour of Cosseir,

about an hour before the dawn of day. We kept coasting along, with a

very moderate wind, much diverted with the red and green appearances

of the marble mountains upon the coast. Our vessel had one sail, like a

straw mattress, made of the leaves of a kind of palm-tree, which they

call _Doom_. It was fixed above, and drew up like a curtain, but did

not lower with a yard like a sail; so that upon stress of weather, if

the sail was furled, it was so top-heavy, that the ship must founder,

or the mast be carried away. But, by way of indemnification, the planks

of the vessel were sewed together, and there was not a nail, nor a

piece of iron, in the whole ship; so that, when you struck upon a rock,

seldom any damage ensued. For my own part, from an absolute detestation

of her whole construction, I insisted upon keeping close along shore,

at an easy sail.

The Continent, to the leeward of us, belonged to our friends the

Ababdé. There was great plenty of shell-fish to be picked up on every

shoal. I had loaded the vessel with four skins of fresh water, equal to

four hogsheads, with cords, and buoys fixed to the end of each of them,

so that, if we had been shipwrecked near land, as rubbing two slicks

together made us fire, I was not afraid of receiving succour, before we

were driven to the last extremity, provided we did not perish in the

sea, of which I was not very apprehensive.

On the 15th, about nine o’clock, I saw a large high rock, like a

pillar, rising out of the sea. At first, I took it for a part of the

Continent; but, as we advanced nearer it, the sun being very clear, and

the sea calm, I took an observation, and as our situation was lat. 25°

6´, and the island about a league distant, to the S. S. W. of us, I

concluded its latitude to be pretty exactly 25° 37´ North. This island

is about three miles from the shore, of an oval form, rising in the

middle. It seems to me to be of granite; and is called, in the language

of the country, Jibbel Siberget, which has been translated _the

Mountain of Emeralds_. Siberget, however, is a word in the language of

the _Shepherds_, who, I doubt, never in their lives saw an emerald; and

though the Arabic translation is _Jibbel Zumrud_, and that word has

been transferred to the emerald, a very fine stone, oftener seen since

the discovery of the new world, yet I very much doubt, that either

_Siberget_ or _Zumrud_ ever meant Emerald in old times. My reason is

this, that we found, both here and in the Continent, splinters, and

pieces of green pellucid chrystaline substance; yet, though green,

they were veiny, clouded, and not at all so hard as rock-crystal; a

mineral production certainly, but a little harder than glass, and

this, I apprehend, was what the _Shepherds_, or people of Beja, called

_Siberget_, the Latins _Smaragdus_, and the Moors _Zumrud_.

The 16th, at day-break in the morning, I took the Arab of Cosseir

with me, who knew the place. We landed on a point perfectly desert;

at first, sandy like Cosseir, afterwards, where the soil was fixed,

producing some few plants of rue or absinthium. We advanced above

three miles farther in a perfectly desert country, with only a few

acacia-trees scattered here and there, and came to the foot of the

mountains. I asked my guide the name of that place; he said it was

Saiel. They are never at a loss for a name, and those who do not

understand the language, always believe them. This would have been the

case in the present conjuncture. He knew not the name of the place, and

perhaps it had no name, but he called it _Saiel_, which signifies a

male acacia-tree; merely because he saw an acacia growing there; and,

with equal reason, he might have called every mile Saiel, from the Gulf

of Suez to the line.

We see this abuse in the old Itineraries, especially in the

[156]Antonine, from such a town to such a town, so many miles; and what

is the next station? (_el seggera_) ten miles. This el seggera[157],

the Latin readers take to be the name of a town, as Harduin, and all

commentators on the classics, have done. But so far from Seggera

signifying a town, it imports just the contrary, that there is no town

there, but the traveller must be obliged to take up his quarters under

a tree that night, for such is the meaning of Seggera as a station, and

so likewise of Saiel.

At the foot of the mountain, or about seven yards up from the base of

it, are five pits or shafts, none of them four feet in diameter, called

the _Zumrud Wells_, from which the ancients are said to have drawn

the emeralds. We were not provided with materials, and little endowed

with inclination, to descend into any one of them, where the air was

probably bad. I picked up the nozzels, and some fragments of lamps,

like those of which we find millions in Italy: and some worn fragments,

but very small ones, of that brittle green chrystal, which is the

siberget and bilur of Ethiopia, perhaps the zumrud, the smaragdus

described by Pliny, but by no means the emerald, known since the

discovery of the new world, whose first character absolutely defeats

its pretension, the true Peruvian emerald being equal in hardness to

the ruby.

Pliny[158] reckons up twelve kind of emeralds, and names them all by

the country where they are found. Many have thought the smaragdus to be

but a finer kind of jasper. Pomet assures us it is a mineral, formed in

iron, and says he had one to which iron-ore was sticking. If this was

the case, the finest emeralds should not come from Peru, where, as far

as ever has been yet discovered, there is no iron.

With regard to the Oriental emeralds, which they say come from the East

Indies, they are now sufficiently known, and the value of each stone

pretty well ascertained; but all our industry and avarice have not yet

discovered a mine of emeralds there, as far as I have heard. That there

were emeralds in the East Indies, upon the first discovery of it by the

Cape, there is no sort of doubt; that there came emeralds from that

quarter in the time of the Romans, seems to admit of as little; but few

antique emeralds have ever been seen; and so greatly in esteem, and

rare were they in those times, that it was made a crime for any artist

to engrave upon an emerald[159].

It is very natural to suppose, that some people of the East had a

communication and trade with the new world, before we attempted to

share it with them; and that the emeralds, they had brought from that

quarter, were those which came afterwards into Europe, and were called

the _Oriental_, till they were confounded with the [160]Peruvian, by

the quantity of that kind brought into the East Indies, by the Jews and

Moors, after the discovery of the new Continent.

But what invincibly proves, that the ancients and we are not agreed

as to the same stone, is, that [161]Theophrastus says, that in the

Egyptian commentaries he saw mention made of an emerald four cubits,

(six feet long,) which was sent as a present to one of their kings; and

in one of the temples of Jupiter in Egypt he saw an obelisk 60 feet

high, made of four emeralds: and Roderick of Toledo informs us, that,

when the Saracens took that city, Tarik, their chief, had a table of

an emerald 365 cubits, or 547½ feet long. The Moorish histories of the

invasion of Spain are full of such emeralds.

Having satisfied my curiosity as to these mountains, without having

seen a living creature, I returned to my boat, where I found all well,

and an excellent dinner of fish prepared. These were of three kinds,

called Bisser, Surrumbac, and Nhoude el Benaat. The first of these

seems to be of the Oyster-kind, but the shells are both equally curved

and hollow, and open with a hinge on the side like a mussel. It has a

large beard, like an oyster, which is not eatable, but which should be

stript off. We found some of these two feet long, but the largest I

believe ever seen composes the baptismal font in the church of Notre

Dame in Paris[162]. The second is the Concha Veneris, with large

projecting points like fingers. The third, called the Breasts of the

Virgin, is a beautiful shell, perfectly pyramidal, generally about four

inches in height, and beautifully variegated with mother-of-pearl, and

green. All these fishes have a peppery taste, but are not therefore

reckoned the less wholesome, and they are so much the more convenient,

that they carry that ingredient of spice along with them for sauce,

with which travellers, like me, very seldom burden themselves.

Besides a number of very fine shells, we picked up several branches

of coral, coralines, yusser[163], and many other articles of natural

history. We were abundantly provided with every thing; the weather was

fair; and we never doubted it was to continue, so we were in great

spirits, and only regreted that we had not, once for all, taken leave

of Cosseir, and stood over for Jidda.

In this disposition we sailed about three o’clock in the afternoon,

and the wind flattered us so much, that next day, the 17th, about

eleven o’clock, we found ourselves about two leagues a-stern of a

small island, known to the Pilot by the name of Jibbel Macouar. This

island is at least four miles from the shore, and is a high land, so

that it may be seen, I suppose, eight leagues at sea, but is generally

confounded with the Continent. I computed myself to be about 4´ of the

meridian distant when I made the observation, and take its latitude to

be about 24° 2´ on the centre of the island.

The land here, after running from Jibbel Siberget to Macouar, in a

direction nearly N. W. and S. E. turns round in shape of a large

promontory, and changes its direction to N. E. and S. W. and ends in a

small bay or inlet; so that, by fanciful people, it has been thought to

resemble the nose of a man, and is called by the Arabs, _Ras el Anf_,

the Cape of the Nose. The mountains, within land, are of a dusky burnt

colour; broken into points, as if intersected by torrents.

The coasting vessels from Masuah and Suakem which are bound to Jidda,

in the strength of the Summer monsoon, stand close in shore down the

coast of Abyssinia, where they find a gentle steady east wind blowing

all night, and a west wind very often during the day, if they are near

enough the shore, for which purpose their vessels are built.

Besides this, the violent North-East monsoon raking in the direction of

the Gulf, blows the water out of the Straits of Babelmandeb into the

Indian Ocean, where, being accumulated, it presses itself backwards;

and, unable to find way in the middle of the Channel, creeps up among

the shallows on each coast of the Red Sea. However long the voyage

from Masuah to Jibbel Macouar may seem, yet these gentle winds and

favourable currents, if I may so call those in the sea, soon ran us

down the length of that mountain.

A large vessel, however, does not dare to try this, whilst constantly

among shoals, and close on a lee-shore; but those sewed together, and

yielding without damage to the stress, slide over the banks of white

coral, and even sometimes the rocks. Arrived at this island, they set

their prow towards the opposite shore, and cross the Channel in one

night, to the coast of Arabia, being nearly before the wind. The track

of this extraordinary navigation is marked upon[164] the map, and it is

so well verified, that no ship-master need doubt it.

About three o’clock in the afternoon, with a favourable wind and fine

weather, we continued along the coast, with an easy sail. We saw no

appearance of any inhabitants; the mountains were broken and pointed,

as before taking the direction of the coast; advancing and receding as

the shore itself did. This coast is a very bold one, nor was there in

any of the islands we had seen, shoals or anchoring places, unless upon

the rock itself; so that, when we landed, we could run our boltsprit

home over the land.

This island, Jibbel Macouar, has breakers running off from it at all

points; but, though we hauled close to these, we had no soundings. We

then went betwixt it and the small island, that lies S. S. E. from it

about three miles, and tried for soundings to the leeward, but we had

none, although almost touching the land. About sun-set, I saw a small

sandy island, which we left about a league to the westward of us. It

had no shrubs, nor trees, nor height, that could distinguish it. My

design was to push on to the river Frat, which is represented in the

charts as very large and deep, coming from the Continent; though,

considering by its latitude that it is above the tropical rains, (for

it is laid down about lat. 21° 25´), I never did believe that any such

river existed.

In fact, we know no river, north of the sources of the Nile, that

does not fall into the Nile. Nay, I may say, that not one river, in

all Abyssinia, empties itself into the Red Sea. The tropical rains

are bounded, and finish, in lat. 16°, and there is no river, from the

mountains, that falls into the desert of Nubia; nor do we know of any

river which is tributary to the Nile, but what has its rise under the

tropical rains. It would be a very singular circumstance, then, that

the Frat should rise in one of the dryest places in the globe, that

it should be a river at least equal to the Nile; and should maintain

itself full in all seasons, which the Nile does not; last of all, in a

country where water is so scarce and precious, that it should not have

a town or settlement upon it, either ancient or modern, nor that it

should be resorted to by any encampment of Arabs, who might cross over

and traffic with Jidda, which place is immediately opposite.

On the 18th, at day-break, I was alarmed at seeing no land, as I had no

sort of confidence in the skill of my pilot, however sure I was of my

latitude. About an hour after sun-set, I observed a high rugged rock,

which the pilot told me, upon inquiry, was Jibbel, (viz. a _Rock_), and

this was all the satisfaction I could get. We bore down upon it with a

wind, scant enough; and, about four, we came to an anchor. As we had no

name for that island, and I did not know that any traveller had been

there before me, I used the privilege by giving it my own, in memory

of having been there. The south of this island seems to be high and

rocky, the north is low and ends in a tail, or sloping bank, but is

exceedingly steep to, and at the length of your bark any way from it,

you have no soundings.

All this morning since before day, our pilot had begged us to go no

farther. He said the wind had changed; that, by infallible signs he

had seen to the southward, he was confident (without any chance of

being mistaken) that in twenty-four hours we should have a storm,

which would put us in danger of shipwreck; that Frat, which I wanted

to see, was immediately opposite to Jidda, so that either a country,

or English boat would run me over in a night and a day, when I might

procure people who had connections in the country, so as to be under

no apprehension of any accident; but that, in the present track I was

going, every man that I should meet was my enemy. Although not very

susceptible of fear, my ears were never shut against reason, and to

what the pilot stated, I added in my own breast, that we might be blown

out to sea, and want both water and provision. We, therefore, dined

as quickly as possible, and encouraged one another all we could. A

little after six the wind came easterly, and changeable, with a thick

haze over the land. This cleared about nine in the evening, and one

of the finest and steadiest gales that ever blew, carried us swiftly

on, directly for Cosseir. The sky was full of dappled clouds, so that,

though I, several times, tried to catch a star in the meridian, I was

always frustrated. The wind became fresher, but still very fair.

The 19th, at day-break, we saw the land stretching all the way

northward, and, soon after, distinctly discerned Jibbel Siberget upon

our lee-bow. We had seen it indeed before, but had taken it for the

main-land.

After passing such an agreeable night, we could not be quiet, and

laughed at our pilot about his perfect knowledge of the weather. The

fellow shook his head, and said, he had been mistaken before now, and

was always glad when it happened so; but still we were not arrived at

Cosseir, though he hoped and believed we should get there in safety.

In a very little time the vane on the mast-head began to turn, first

north, then east, then south, and back again to all the points in the

compass; the sky was quite dark, with thick rain to the southward of

us; then followed a most violent clap of thunder, but no lightning;

and back again came the wind fair at south-east. We all looked

rather downcast at each other, and a general silence followed. This,

however, I saw availed us nothing, we were in the scrape, and were to

endeavour to get out of it the best way we could. The vessel went at

a prodigious rate. The sail that was made of mat happened to be new,

and, filled with a strong wind, weighed prodigiously. What made this

worse, was, the sails were placed a little forward. The first thing

I asked, was, if the pilot could not lower his main-sail? But that

we found impossible, the yard being fixed to the mast-head. The next

step was to reef it, by hauling it in part up like a curtain: this our

pilot desired us not to attempt; for it would endanger our foundering.

Notwithstanding which, I desired my servant to help me with the

haulyards; and to hold them in his hand, only giving them a turn round

the bench. This increasing the vessel’s weight above and before, as

she already had too much pressure, made her give two pitches, the one

after the other, so that I thought she was buried under the waves, and

a considerable deal of water came in upon us. I am fully satisfied, had

she not been in good order, very buoyant, and in her trim, she would

have gone to the bottom, as the wind continued to blow a hurricane.

I began now to throw off my upper coat and trowsers, that I might

endeavour to make shore, if the vessel should founder, whilst the

servants seemed to have given themselves up, and made no preparation.

The pilot kept in close by the land, to see if no bight, or inlet,

offered to bring up in; but we were going with such violence, that I

was satisfied we should overset if we attempted this. Every ten minutes

we ran over the white coral banks, which we broke in pieces with the

grating of a file, upon iron, and, what was the most terrible of all, a

large wave followed higher than our stern, curling over it, and seemed

to be the instrument destined by Providence to bury us in the abyss.

Our pilot began apparently to lose his understanding with fright. I

begged him to be steady, persuading him to take a glass of spirits,

and desired him not to dispute or doubt any thing that I should do or

order, for that I had seen much more terrible nights in the ocean; I

assured him, that all harm done to his vessel should be repaired when

we should get to Cosseir, or even a new one bought for him, if his own

was much damaged. He answered me nothing, but that _Mahomet was the

prophet of GOD_.--Let him prophecy, said I, as long as he pleases, but

what I order you is to keep steady to the helm; mind the vane on the

top of the mast, and steer straight before the wind, for I am resolved

to cut that main-sail to pieces, and prevent the mast from going

away, and your vessel from sinking to the bottom. I got no answer to

this which I could hear, the wind was so high, except something about

the mercy and the merit of Sidi Ali el Genowi. I now became violently

angry. “D--n Sidi Ali el Genowi, said I, you beast, cannot you give

me a rational answer? Stand to your helm, look at the vane; keep the

vessel straight before the wind, or, by the great G--d who sits in

heaven, (another kind of oath than by _Sidi Ali el Genowi_), I will

shoot you dead the first yaw the ship gives, or the first time that

you leave the steerage where you are standing.” He answered only,

Maloom, _i. e._ very well.--All this was sooner done than said; I

got the main-sail in my arms, and, with a large knife, cut it all to

shreds, which eased the vessel greatly, though we were still going at a

prodigious rate.

About two o’clock the wind seemed to fail, but, half an hour after,

was more violent than ever. At three, it fell calm. I then encouraged

my pilot, who had been very attentive, and, I believe, had pretty well

got through the whole list of saints in his calendar, and I assured him

that he should receive ample reparation for the loss of his main-sail.

We now saw distinctly the white cliffs of the two mountains above Old

Cosseir, and on the 19th, a little before sun set, we arrived safely at

the New.

We, afterwards, heard how much more fortunate we had been than some of

our fellow-sailors that same night; three of the vessels belonging to

Cosseir, loaded with wheat for Yambo, perished, with all on board of

them, in the gale; among these was the vessel that first had the Turks

on board. This account was brought by Sidi Ali el Meymoum el Shehrie,

which signifies ‘Ali, the ape or monkey, from Sheher.’ For though

he was a saint, yet being in figure liker to a monkey, they thought

it proper to distinguish him by that to which he bore the greatest

resemblance.