But the prospect of attaining our aim—viz., of seeking and

finding the sources even beyond the equator—appeared to me at the

beginning from the constitution and composition of our expedition,

to be doubtful. The vessels were to follow one another in two lines,

one led by Suliman Kashef, the other by Selim-Capitan; but already,

when sailing into the white stream, this order was no longer thought

of. Every one sailed as well as he could, and there was no trace

to be discovered of nautical skill, unity of movement, or of an

energetic direction of the whole. How will it be, when the spirits,

now so fresh, shall relax through the fatigues of the journey?—when

dangers which must infallibly occur shall arrive, and which only

are to be met by a bold will directed to a determined point?

However, these gloomy impressions could not last long; the scene

around was too picturesque, too peculiar, too exciting. On the left,

the flat extended land of Sennaar was gently clothed again with

copsewood and trees; and on its flooded borders rose strong and

vigorous Mimosas (sunt and harasch) out of the water, high above

the low bushes of Nebeck and Kitter. In the same manner the left

shore was wooded, from which we were at a tolerable distance, owing

to the north-east wind. Behind its girdle of copsewood and trees,

reaching just as far as the waves of the majestic stream in their

annual overflow give their fertilizing moisture to the soil, the

bare stony desert extends upwards, as it shews itself at Omdurman,

in profound and silent tranquillity. So much the more animated and

cheerful was it on the river.

The decks of the vessel, with their crowd of manifold figures, faces,

and coloured skins, from the Arabian Reïs who plies the oar, to

the ram which he thinks of eating as the Paschal Lamb; the towering

lateen sails, with the yard-arms, on which the long streamers,

adorned with the crescent and star, wave before the swollen sails;

the large crimson flags at the stern of the vessel, as they flutter

lightly and merrily through the ever-extending waters; the singing,

mutual hails and finding again, the ships cruizing to and from the

limit fixed for to-day;—everything was, at least for the moment,

a picture of cheerful, spiritual life. With a bold consciousness,

strengthened by the thought of many a danger happily overcome,

I looked beyond the inevitable occurrences of a threatening future

to a triumphant re-union with my brothers.

_Nov. 24th._—Our yesterday’s voyage was soon ended. We landed

on the right shore, about two hours’ distant from Khartùm,

near the tomb of Moha-Bey, overshadowed by two luxuriantly-growing

harash-trees. They stood in the water, though the year before, on

the 16th of November, they were far removed from it: thus giving

four feet and a half higher water, and affording me the consolation

of thinking that we shall penetrate further, although I perceive no

great haste in any one, for we might have gone on very comfortably,

and without any danger, the whole night. At sunset yesterday it was

22 degrees Reaumur (at our departure 25 degrees).[4] The appearance

of the scenery had hitherto not changed.

The left shore appears entirely flat, equal in height to the

water-line, to which the distance adds certainly something. Yet,

on the right shore, the river from the Shudder Moha-Bey, has thrown

out or deposited downs, which enter, in an undulating form, into

the deserted lake territory.

The Kalàklas (Arabs) dwell, from these two trees on the right shore,

in two Kabyles, under Sheikhs Bachit and Abugleff. The Hüsseïnudis

(whose Sheikh, Abu Bekr Wollet el Mek, shares with his father the

fame of valour, and of whom the Turks speak with respect,) extend

to the left shore, opposite to the Kalàklas; they pay, however,

Tulba, (tribute) as do all the Arab races of the White River, up to

the Shilluks.

We sailed to-day in the morning at sunrise, but soon halted again on

the right bank of the river, at the Arab tribe of Abdallah Ozerrs,

where we took in wood. Another unnecessary delay! This might have

been done yesterday. From the Abdallah Ozerrs we came to the Gulamabs

and Hussein-Abs (Ab, abbreviation of Arab). At noon we reached, with

a few deviations right and left from our course towards the south,

the rocky hill of Auli, which rises to the height of some two hundred

feet on the right shore, a day’s journey from Khartùm. From the

numerous fragments found in the vicinity, being a conglomeration

of chalk and limestone very much washed and brittle, this hill

evidently belongs to the limestone formation. The name is derived

probably from the Arabic _auel_; because this is the _first_ high

ground met with on the White Stream. It is also called Gare-Nebih,

from a Sheikh buried there, and from whom also, conformably to the

Arabic custom, the tribes dwelling there have taken their names.

Opposite to Gebel Auli, over the left side of the river, is

seen another and more extensive elevation, bearing the name of

Mandera. These rocky hills are of granite formation, and seem not

to exceed a height of three hundred feet above the level of the

stream. The word Mandera has here no more a Greek signification

than Auli, although it still means, in Káhira, the lower part

of the house, where the stables generally are to be found; in

which, certainly, its analogy with sheepfold and a monastery is

very close. But it here signifies a height upon which there is no

water. On the left bank of the river are two tribes, which live in

friendship and cultivate their durra fields in common. Higher up

are the Gemulies, and beyond these the Mohammedies, belonging to the

race of Gare Nebihs, whose Sheikh lies buried on the western plain,

and who here possess both shores.

The Gebel Mussa soon shewed itself on the left, two hours’ journey

from Gebel Mandera, also a hill of rocks (hornstone formation), which

has received its name from the holy Sheikh buried there. Therefore,

here also prevails the tasteless custom which in Europe has displaced

so many radical names of places in history, tradition, and popular

custom. The old name of this mountain is Brame; in which at present

I can see no meaning. Both of these tribes dwell on the right and

left shores; where likewise are found venerated graves of the family

of Sheikh Mussa, to whose progenitor Mount Mandera belongs. Their

present Sheikh is called Mussa Wollet Makbull,—a sensible, brave

man. Rapidity of the stream one sea-mile; depth four to five fathoms

and a half. Yesterday, when we sounded the stream, there was little

or no current, which in fact decreases with the depth. This morning,

at sunrise, it was seventeen degrees Reaumur; at noon thirty; and

in the evening, at sunset, still twenty-seven degrees in the shade,

at the open window.

_Nov. 25th._—We halted, yesterday afternoon, opposite the Hill of

Brame (Gebel Mussa), for it was the eve of the lesser Bairam feast,

and Suliman Kashef wished to shew himself there in all his glory. We

had now arrived at his piratical states, an extensive territory of

several days’ journey; which he, as Kashef of the first rank, has

acquired under the ægis of the Basha Ahmed! who had his peculiar

share therein. If he does not understand how to read or interrogate,

his administration, nevertheless, goes on excellently, according to

the Turkish manner. He knows how to receive a complaint or petition

with much grace, and with the other hand, to let the beads of his

sebha (rosary) glide through his fingers to keep time with his course

of ideas; to glance over the paper in appearance whilst he listens

to the bearer, and then to hand it with stately contempt to a Faki

to read to him. Really generous and social by nature, he loves to

have cheerful people, in pure pleasure and genuine joy, around him;

and appears to be beloved by this tribe whom he helps to oppress,

since he selects, like a Nimrod, the _élite_ for his predatory

expedition; but if the enterprise succeed, does not let them go away

empty-handed. As far as the Shilluka and Dinkus he is a dreaded guest,

full of warlike artifices, Circassian and Ethiopian κρυπτεις,

and of open fierce valour, and known only under the name of “Abu

Daoud,” which means “Chief David,” and seems to be an historical

name of the Ethiopian land; for it cannot be supposed to apply to

the King or Prophet David. The old Sheikh Mussa himself appeared

to pay his respects; and the Circassian was exceedingly glad to see

him continue so fresh and well,—at the same time he winked at me

to draw my attention to the flexible nature of the Arabs, when he

gave the Sheikh to understand, with the most unruffled countenance,

that he must procure an indefinite number of cattle and sheep for

the feast of Bairam. All the Arabs suddenly drew a long face.

I made use of the time to examine the country, to ascertain clearly

the lower formation of the valley of the White Stream. Here, also,

the river is partly dammed up by downs, on which there are single

groups of tokuls in the shade of Mimosas, the inhabitants of which

belong to the races of Arabs dwelling farther back, who form a kind

of line of defence towards the Stream, and amuse themselves with the

chase, especially that of the Nile buffalo. Behind these downs, washed

by the stream, is low ground covered with verdure, which alone would

prove that there had been an inundation, even if standing water were

not visible here and there, left by the river when it broke through

or swept away the deposited and accumulated downs, and spread itself

over the low country until it was sucked up by the sun. The valley,

besides the good grass already dried up, was covered with various

kinds of shrubs, with thorny nebek and kitter, with brandy clover

called loïd, with mimosas, harash, sant, salle, &c. In the midst

of these there are many paths formed in hastening to the water, by

which the deer and the herds, when pursued, immediately divide the

huntsmen, and lead into impenetrable thickets of thorns and creepers,

or to sloughs and swamps where danger threatens on all sides,

without their being able to render assistance to each other. The

humid spaces were covered with luxuriant aquatic plants; amongst

which was a Nymphæa with a reddish calix, like the convolvulus,

and large cordate leaves. This, to my great astonishment, was called

Loss, and reminded me of the old word, lotus, and is as prevalent

here as the white lotus (_Nelumbum speciosum_), at a later period,

the double flowers of which shine at a great distance through

its leaves, taking light and life from the other aquatic plants,

and covering the whole watery region like flat tumblers. The white

lotus, called Zitehb, might here, as it once did with the Egyptians,

serve as an emblem of the material world, from its abundance, like

the potatoes with us; its roots serving equally for food.

The stream had not long returned to its limits, as I soon convinced

myself, when, wandering to its brink, I saw to the south of this

embankment an expanse of water stretching far over the land, out

of which the tops of the taller trees peeped forth like verdant

islands. Beyond the inundation still older downs were visible, which

are no longer disturbed by water. These heights and hills connected

with each other in an extremely arbitrary manner, or lying scattered,

and partly forming a manifold circumvolution of the white stream,

are not perhaps remains of an old deposit from the river, but probably

the product of alluvial soil and earth thrown up. The river acquires

for itself, from its well-known fruitful qualities—the nature of

the place being favourable, by means of the plants floating towards

it—a green border, which mostly consists of bushes, whose roots,

matted together, resist the action of the stream. These bushes retain

the yearly deposited slime of the Nile, and continue to grow with the

ascending ground. So, likewise, the sand driven in when the water is

low, and the portion of earth thrown up by the violent squalls of

wind, remain behind protected by the bushes. When the water is at

its greatest possible height, this accumulation is chiefly covered

with its fertilizing layer of slime; whilst by the pressure of the

water and the particles forcing themselves upwards, it still becomes

higher. The sandy earth deposited by every wind, and the roots of

the bushes penetrating through the moist soil, increase the swell

of this formation of hills, by the fall of their leaves and wood,

as one may plainly see in the spheroid and parallel sites of the

shores of the downs, which have been partly destroyed.

In the interior beyond Mandera dwell the Kabbabish Arabs, a

widely-spread Nomad race, possessing large droves of camels and

horses, which they bring down from time to time to the shore to

drink, and to supply themselves with drinkable water. This is the

point of time at which Suliman Kashef is on the watch to extort

tribute from them.

The Baghara (cow herdsmen, from Bagh’r, a cow), a wide-spread

Arabian tribe, dwell further up the stream and possess the country

as far as Kordofan. Their name is collective for many Kabyles of

this Nomadic nation, who are to be considered as branches from

the very same root, although from necessary local circumstances

(in reference to pasture-ground), or from dispersions brought

about by dissensions, various names of places and chiefs must have

arisen gradually displacing the names of the original race (gios),

and recognizing no longer any patriarch or archezekes, or Great

Sheikh, but only the kindred (Kabyle), of their hereditary leader

or Sheikh. The latter we see in their peculiar origin in every

Arabian camp in the closer union of their relations, and in every

great Arabian village, where they live retired among themselves,

and frequently by means of a a seriba (enclosure) like families,

in the encampment of a people who are of one and the same blood.

The Mahass use the expression gebeirù for Kabyle, and this

corresponds with the signification of γένεα. On account of

this original connection by blood, no wars occur between them, the

boundaries of their pasture-grounds having continued undisturbed

among them since ancient times, and been recognized by other tribes,

though lying before them in small separate encampments. The Baghara

of the left shore are here all mounted, which enables them to make

daring incursions into the lands of the Shilluks and Jenugah, who

are not horsemen. The Baghara, on the contrary, of the right side

of the river in Sennaar, settle themselves very submissively with

their whole family to take care of cattle, entrust the charge of the

tents to the women and children, and exhibit to the spectators the

most strange groups when they move from one place to the other,

and kindled fire in the evening to cook by, in front of every

tent. Precisely because of their difficulty in moving, contributions

are levied on them by the Basha, and they are hostilely visited, on

which occasion the Funghs unite themselves to the Turks. The Baghara

are also forced to come to the shore for water and pasture, when

they are frequently waylaid, robbed, and plundered by the Shilluks,

who, however, only requite like for like.

I heard that the Shilluks, who dwell in these parts on the river

islands, and on both shores, but further up on the _left_ only,

display uncommon skill in their marauding expeditions. The Arabs say

they crawl upon all fours as swiftly as a snake; and rarely use force

to effect their robberies, but effect their purpose with incredible

cunning—a circumstance which agrees but ill with our preconceived

idea of the qualifications of a robber. In the East, however (we

will not speak generally of the Southern lands); and, indeed, among

the ancient Greeks, craft was considered equally worthy of a man

as open combat, if it led to the point aimed at. The Shilluks are

said also to be compelled to use artifice in this anterior part of

their territory; which has extended, according to the expression of

the Barabras, up to the _mouth of the White River_, because their

number has become very small by the advance of the Arab tribes,

with their horsemen clad in armour, and they could effect nothing by

open violence. Peculiar washed-up limestone conglomerates and porous

volcanic productions are here found on the shore, as well as a number

of small Conchylia; _Paludina bulimoides_, _Melania fasciolata_,

_Neritijachasa Jordani_, _Cyrene consobrina_, and a new species of

Physa, distinguished by a plait on the spire.

_Nov. 26th._—Before we left Sheikh Mussa, yesterday morning at

eleven o’clock, we had an uncommonly stirring and merry time of

it. The Rhamadan, fasting month, was luckily over, and the little

feast of Bairam, which follows it, was celebrated the more worthily,

because Sheikh Mussa had not remained deaf to the friendly persuasion

of Suliman, and had had oxen and sheep driven down quite early in

such quantities, that the eyes of the whole crew sparkled at seeing

them. In a trice the Kashef allotted their shares to the different

ships, and sent me also two capital wethers for the next day, the beef

here being generally tough and coarse, and even despised by the Turks.

This peculiarity of the meat depends on the nature of the fodder;

for the tender grass and herbs of our marsh-lands and pastures are

wanting here. And the climate exercises a considerable influence in

the hardening of animal texture, which the surgeon himself perceives

when operating on the human body. Our Arabs, who, like the Greeks

and Jews, born butchers and flayers, know no mercy for beasts or

men, fell upon the victims, hamstrung them, to obviate the chance of

any resumption of the gift; and the festive hecatomb fell—a sight

pitiful to behold. Every one tried, during the flaying and quartering,

to cut off a little piece or strip of meat, or stole it from the

back of the bearers. This little booty was stuck on skewers into the

glowing fires, which were still burning, and voraciously devoured,

in order to prepare the stomach for the approaching banquet. Although

they know how to roast the liver excellently, they preferred at this

moment to cut it up into a flat wooden dish (_gadda_), to pour the

gall of the slaughtered beast over it, strew it with salt and pepper,

and so to eat it raw. This tastes not a bit worse than a good raw

beefsteak. The ships were drawn up abreast, in order to lessen the

procession of the general salutation to the Bairam.

I found Selim-Capitan with Suliman Kashef: the former had thought

it well to do homage to the latter as his superior, by offering him

his congratulations. Suliman embraced me tenderly, right and left,

according to the Turkish custom; and so did every one in his turn,

till I began at last to take myself for a Turk, although I did

not even know the formula of salutation. Araki (brandy from Aràk,

perspiration, distillation) was handed round instead of the coffee

(_Kawoë_) usual at other times; and the servants had enough to

do to continue filling the small flagon, in spite of the extreme

narrowness of the spout through which the liquor had to pass into

the glasses. The Frenchmen also soon appeared in Turkish costume,

as we all were; their sabres by their sides, as also is usual at

every visit; and, moreover, with their marks of distinction on

their breasts. But, in spite of all the airs they tried to give

themselves, they were far surpassed by Suliman Kashef in personal

imposing dignity; so that no one, even if he did not know the

different relations in which they stood, could be in doubt who was

of the most importance here. His demeanour is quite simple, but yet

of that character that it restricts every pretension to its proper

limits; although Arnaud tried to speak like Mohammed Ali, as if he

had been his privy-counsellor, and wanted to prove to us that he was

a Marquis; whereupon he acquired there and then the name of “Le

Prince de la Lune,” in honour of his bald pate and his marquisate

in the mountains of the moon.

We set sail, with a faint breeze, at about eleven o’clock, with

twenty-nine degrees Reaumur, towards south. I remained with the

Frenchmen till noon. Thibaut was soon somewhat the worse for liquor,

and uttered all kinds of stale witticisms. Although he has sojourned

many years in these parts, he still remains while on his travels a

genuine Parisian, who, wherever he goes, never divests himself of

the Parisian atmosphere, and interests himself in nothing, properly

speaking, but the doings of that city. To-day his brain was haunted

with the Parisienne, which he was humming incessantly, although he

had not seen the revolution to which it owes its origin.

The two other gentlemen are a perfect contrast: Arnaud affecting

to be continually busy, without however producing anything, and

throwing out continual bitter taunts against his young colleague

Sabatier. The windows are covered with curtains: he does not venture

out of doors to make the necessary inquiries; but merely now and then

looks at the box-compass, although the vessels turn every moment,

and go first to the right, and then to the left shore. The compass,

therefore, affords no indication whatever of the course of the stream,

for the boundaries of its shore generally decrease from the height

of the water, and become undefined; and thus a correction of the

compass might possibly be made on the return voyage. Sabatier, on the

contrary, appears quite negligent and lazy, because he is not well,

and will not endure the arrogance of Arnaud; so that these gentlemen

engineers mutually accuse each other of ignorance. In other respects,

he seems to me a frank and open youth, who might be taken for an

American rather than for a Frenchman, from his having served in Texas.

I found the time hang heavy with these insipid men and the monotonous

scenery, and was not a little glad, when the uniformity of the

latter was broken by the luxuriant clump of trees on the island of

Assal. The island, which is not large, is said to derive its name

from honey (Assal), which is collected in great quantities from

the trees on it, as also on those of the islands succeeding. This

wild honey is blackish, and leaves in the mouth a bitter taste,

derived from the wood, mostly sunt. Honey from trees is generally

not so fine and palatable as that found in rocks; accordingly,

the honey from the Hejaz, nearly white, and almost crystalized, is

even preferable to the Grecian. Tree honey is said generally to have

something narcotic in it, but then it must be eaten by spoonfuls,

for I have not found it so. There is, indeed, a drink prepared from

it, which is certainly intoxicating. The blossoms of the mimosa,

blooming nearly throughout the whole year, afford the principal

resources of the bees, although there is no want of flowers, which,

in conjunction with the tanning-bark of the knot-holes, may contribute

to the narcotic qualities of the honey. Those nests, hanging loosely,

of a species of wasp, which give only a little honey, and are seen

in Taka, do not appear here.

The village of Thebidube is next seen on the right shore; it belongs

to the great race of the Hassaniës. I was surprised to observe, not

far from the village, ruins, clearly the remains of larger buildings

than Arabs huts. The place was called Mandjera or Docks, and I learned

that the former governor, Kurshid Basha, had founded these extremely

convenient docks, owing to the forest being near. They were, however,

abandoned by Ahmed Basha, in accordance with the favourite Turkish

system—because his predecessor was the founder.

Half an hour above, we lay-to at the village of Masgerag el

Tair. Masgerag is said to mean the same as “street;” the whole

word, therefore, is “Bird Street,”—but we did not see many

birds. Here the Sheikh Mohammed of Wadi Shileï came to greet us. The

Arabs of this place also call themselves Shileï, from a Sheikh buried

here, although they belong to the main stem of the Hassaniës. An

Arnaut of Suliman’s shot, in my presence, a hare whilst running;

the ball entered in behind, and passed out in front. The Turks

consider themselves the best shots in the world, as well as the best

riders:—although they can do little when the animal is running

and the bird on the wing, on account of their long and heavy guns.

Believe it or not, you may hear this boast every day, without being

able to convince them to the contrary.

_Nov. 27th._—Here, on the borders of the Arabian dominions,

we waited in vain for a courier from the Basha, fearing lest he

should have changed his intention with respect to the expedition. I

passed a very bad night. In the middle of the most profound sleep,

I was awakened by a fall in the cabin. My good Feïzulla Capitan, the

commander of my vessel, had tumbled on the ground from his tolerably

high place of rest opposite to me. I thought I heard the death-rattle,

and saw by the light of the lantern, that the froth was standing in

his mouth, which was firmly closed. The servant very coolly said

to me, “Mabegaff!” (don’t be afraid). It was the first time

that I had tried to open the hands of a person struck with epilepsy,

but upon my doing so, he soon came to himself, to the astonishment

of the crew; towards morning, however, he had two more fits. I now

learnt, not to my great consolation, that he had from youth upwards

suffered this affliction, and that it frequently returned. But my

night’s rest was disturbed, and I sat myself on my Bamber before

the door, where the sentry very quietly slept. When this fit came

on Feïzulla, I sprang to him, without any one else having troubled

themselves about him, because he was too good and indulgent to the

men. Hard drinking, together with the heat, had contributed perhaps,

chiefly to the violence of this attack.

The air was cool, compared with the heat of the day, and the profound

stillness of the night was very impressive, through the soft uniform

rippling of the water on the stern of our ships; but the snoring

of the crew, who were lying pell-mell, was insufferable. I had a

peculiar feeling of loneliness and abandonment, not lessened by the

reflection that I was on the White Nile,—this stream, the source and

course of which had appeared a riddle for centuries to all cultivated

nations. As a half-forgotten tradition descending to our days from

the infancy of the human race, impels us to explore the Nile, so

our expedition is, in the main, nothing but a continuation of the

endeavours of the Priests of the Nile, the Pharaohs, the Phœnicians,

the Greeks under the Ptolemies, and the Romans under Cæsar and

Nero. It is as if mankind in general, like a single individual, were

ever seeking anew, with unabated desire, the sources with which the

first awakening to intellectual consciousness is connected.

The sun rose to day magnificently behind the old high trees on the

brink of the river, when we sailed further to the south. I remarked

that the trees standing quite in the neighbourhood of the water or

in it, were mostly withered. These, therefore, had had too much of

a good thing, and soon died away through the sudden change, when

the water left them, although they surpassed in size the older trees

behind them. Passing by the village of Damas on the right shore, and

the three luxuriantly wooded islands (the most important of these is

called Tauowàt), where the vessels made, certainly, many windings,

without the course of the shores of the river being ascertained,

except that they had a southerly direction. We came towards noon to

the mountain group of Areskell, which elevates extremely picturesquely

its six or seven rocky peaks on the left shore, although at some

distance from it. At their foot lies the large village of Tura, up to

which the ships from Khartùm and Sennaar come, for from this place

two main roads lead to Kordofan. At two o’clock in the afternoon we

were for the first time, with a faint breeze, opposite the mountain,

and landed at the village of Masgerag Debasa. We sent our Sandal

across to Tura, which, because our fleet and Abu Daoud were dreaded,

brought us back wethers and butter. The village itself was not to

be seen; it lies, like most of the villages (of which, several in

this route are dissimilar, though nothing to signify), as concealed

as possible, and further inland on account of the inundation.

At sunset, the country presented a truly charming landscape. The

stream, which might have been here about an hour broad, glowed like

liquid gold, whilst the sun hid itself behind the Araskòll, and the

slender sickle of the moon shone clearer in the west, with Venus, in

the cloudless sky. The three islands of Genna, Siàl, and Schèbesha,

stood out, with their thick forests, from the tranquil water; and

on the other side the pointed peaks of the mountains grew dim in the

deep blue, over the dusky woody foreground of the left border of the

river, with the charms of an island in the Ægean Sea. Close to me,

the shore is enlivened by the coloured and black forms of the crew;

some play and wrestle, with songs to the sounds of the pot-drum,

(Tarabuka); others lie and squat round the fire, stir and cook by it;

others hunt, while some throw themselves into the stream, pursue each

other in swimming, dive, and run again to the fires, which, in the

increasing darkness, throw magical streaks of light on the water,

and repeat themselves in it, with the strange groups illuminated by

them. So long as the flesh-pots of Egypt, distributed among them by

Suliman Kashef, hold out, they are all of good cheer, and appear to

have no other wish than to spend the time agreeably according to

their own fashion; to play nonsensical pranks, and make jokes for

the amusement of the Turks, and when that is no longer practicable,

to return as quickly as possible. With respect to the real design of

our expedition, I see on _all_ sides, a negligence and indifference

which nearly make me mad. The latitude is 14° 5′.

_Nov. 28th_—The sun has risen an hour since.—At last the drum was

beaten to shew that our Jason, Suliman Kashef, was awake and permitted

Selim Capitan to set sail. We had left the two tree-islands, Genna

and Sial, on the right, and turned to the left shore. I now found

confirmed what I had already remarked—namely, that throughout

the left shore, there are not any heights or downs, as on the

right. Therefore the stream exercises a far greater dominion over

the former, as is plainly seen by the extensive wooded country being

inundated. The wide brink of the shore appears principally to lie

on the right side of the river, and generally above the level of

the left side, which circumstance, perhaps, might be accounted for

from the cutting down of the Ethiopian Highlands. We also remarked,

from the edge of the right shore being torn away, that a more fertile

soil has covered the lower earth, and that the stratum of land is

only upon the surface, whereon the downs lay. We found yesterday,

near the Island of Tauowàt, a shining black, sandy earth, which

Mr. Arnaud called mud: the naturalist, Thibaut, on the contrary,

declared it was ferruginous earth; it was, however, nothing else than

black volcanic sand. It was mixed with clay, and looked like the

laminæ of sifted iron dross; small black crystals formed nearly a

third of the component parts, (pyroxene and horne blende, according

to appearance). It seemed to have been brought here from the eastern

side by a gohr now filled up with mud, or by an old channel of

the river, and formed on the shore a layer of about a foot high,

above which again was the usual earth strongly alloyed with sand. I

had already seen on the right shore volcanic productions. It would

therefore be interesting to follow these traces with the gohr into

the interior, in order to explain these phenomena in Central Africa.

We quitted the before-mentioned Island of Schèbesha, on the left,

and arrived at ten o’clock on the Island of Gùbesha, nearly two

hours’ long. If the right shore has unprotected places where the

water enters deep into the trees, the inundation also extends so

far on the left shore, that the eye may follow over the plain the

glistening of the water through cavities and decayed wood. The Island

of Hassamë, also very woody, comes directly after Gùbesha, and

is soon succeeded by the Duème, which is covered with wood. These

islands, according to the eye, extend in a line from south to

north. About noon, we had the last-named island at our side, and,

for the first time, put into the left shore. Here Mustapha Bey had

established a Saghië (a water-wheel, for the purpose of irrigation);

and many things of the same kind, as well as a settlement, would have

followed, if the good man had not been poisoned. In the neighbourhood

of Khartùm, Ahmed Basha, fearing his influence with the population

would not permit the purchase of land, as the Bey declared to me

himself. He also related his campaigns, in which he reached the

“Gazelle River,” and a large lake, from whence the White River

issues, and which must be that lake the first expedition sailed

through. This is the _last_ place where we shall pass the night

ashore, for it behoves us to be secure from the natives. I did not

examine our landing-place till the sun was going down, because it

did not appear to me advisable to go to the chase with my huntsmen,

and to expose myself to the heat of 29 degrees.

The acclivities here extend far backwards into the country, and afford

a proportionate extensive survey. I ascended the nearest hill, and

was not a little surprised to find, in and upon the black earth,

a number of fragments of earthenware, and pieces of burnt brick,

as likewise decayed and consumed conchylia. I soon perceived also,

new graves, belonging to the small village near at hand, which

convinced me that I was standing in an old churchyard, to which the

new one joins, because the Moslems never bury another person in the

place where once a body has lain. The number of conchylia is easily

explained: it is the custom of the people to secure their graves in

this manner against wild beasts, which would otherwise root them

up; for they always cover them with broken white flints, which do

not exist here. This village is new, and was founded by a Faki, a

native of the country, who lived a long time in Hejàz, and by the

aid of Kurshid Basha, who wanted to make it a strong station. The

people, as well as their village, are called on that account Hejasi,

which I continually heard pronounced Ajazi; and took for a national

name—as the respected Burckhardt did the Ajazi, in Sennar,—until

the corrupted word was explained to me etymologically. Not a soul

came from the village to welcome us, and an embassy was sent just

as little on our side, to fetch a Don gratuit, or Viaticum, since

the pious devotees of this place are called, naas batalin (malignant

people), and therefore I was immediately recalled from my excursion.

Suliman Kashef was vexed at the non-appearance of the Faki, and

was of opinion that he was a devil (Afritt), who must however be

spared. Here, in the vicinity of Pagan nations, these Hejazi form a

kind of missionary establishment, at the head of which is the Faki

as the Sheikh, who, far from imitating the luxurious ostentation of

other missionaries in the East, has arrived at last by mortification

and eloquence at a self-consecration, and has gained a great number

of adherents, even in Darfur, where the Islam has been spread for

some time past. He has known also how to maintain his authority by a

judicious use of fire-arms; for his rabble of pilgrims are fanatical

and insolent. Their slaves, converted _per fas et nefas_, are the

most zealous adherents of the Koran, when they have once breathed

the air of Mecca, and return as free Hajjis, to their country,

though they have generally only learnt the usual prayer “Allah

Akbar,” with the short confession of faith, “La illah ul ullah

wa Mohammed Rassúl Alla” (there is no God but God, and Mohammed

is the prophet of God).

This formula is sung without intermission, in funeral ceremonies,

keeping time to the trot, rather than to the walk of the bearers

of the corpse. It is a formula which every traveller here should

remark; although I, for my part, have never made use of it, except

for a joke with my brother, when he or I lay sick in bed of a fever,

and desponding. As the apothecary Bartoli, in Khartùm, a year ago,

repeated directly before his death this formula, as a piece of wit

which happened to be his last words, the Muslíms, who were present,

wanted to carry him immediately to their churchyard, and to return

thanks to God for having enlightened him with the true belief.

Kurshid Basha ordered Saghiës to be built here, at his own cost,

for the Hejazi; but the scaffolding for them is only to be seen

now. I believe, from the various traces of earlier and extensive

agriculture, to which these heights owe indeed their irriguous

formation, that the fragments of bricks and the potsherds I had

just found, belonged to an earlier city, which had fallen to ruin,

or been destroyed, and which perhaps stood on the site of the old

churchyard. The hill, about thirty feet high, being so close to the

water, must have invited a settlement at a very early time. It is

clearly perceptible that the water by the river-side has carried away

a good deal of the hill. This may have been sufficient cause, for

the inhabitants of the city, to desert it entirely. It is true that

the soil is here also dark in its lower strata; but it is, however,

very strongly alloyed with sand, and has but little resemblance to

the greasy and slimy soil of Lower Egypt, and even to the shore of the

blue Nile. The process of fecundation in the inundations of the Nile,

consists indeed in the vegetable remains of the neighbouring forests,

and abundant marsh-plants, which have been washed away, settling and

depositing themselves afterwards as a humus, when they have been

amalgamated by continual rotation with particles of clay and sand

from the dark yellow Nile water, till they become a liquid pap. On

the shores of the White Stream the woods are too near, and therefore

their fallen leaves are carried away before the vegetable process can

have properly taken place. For this reason I account for the fertility

being so much less in proportion. After all, I believe that the Blue

river is the real parent of Egyptian fertility, and that there was

more; before the Dam, thrown up by it on the right ride, prevented

it from carrying away also the leaves from the eastern forests. The

Atbara and the smaller influxes of the right shore of the blue Nile

above, still remain perfect canals of fecundity; and it is plainly

seen by their darker colour that they separate at high-water.

Our Frenchmen, this afternoon, set about calculations with a great

air of importance, although they did not appear to be well. Sebatier

has had an attack of siriasis, and Arnaud has also lost much of his

pathos. I hear with astonishment that the calculations made hitherto

by these gentlemen, are said to agree to a hair’s breadth with those

made by Selim Capitan in the preceding year. Strange! But I don’t

believe in such an exact coincidence. It is much more probable that

the Turk, being a naval officer, has far more experience than the

all-knowing Frenchmen; and that the latter, being well aware of it,

adopted their predecessors’ calculations without any scruple.

Selim Capitan laughed when he yesterday instructed Arnaud in handling

the instruments. Thibaut remarked this as well as myself; and it

perfectly corresponds with the expressions of Sabatier, who calls his

colleague an ignoramus, because he abandons to him the calculations

he does not know how to make himself.

At a distance of twelve hours’ journey from the before-named

Hill of potsherds, near the village of Hejazi, is seen, towards

the south-west, a considerable mountain. It is called Bihtsh; which

name is found also in the islands of Philæ. I could not find any

such word in the language by which I could judge of the analogy

of the two mountains. The Gebel Bihtsh is said to contain silver;

and at Masgerag Tain it is asserted that silver has been found up

the country, from whence came the present, which the Sheikh of Wadi

Shileï in that country brought to Suliman Kashef. This present was a

stick, curved at the top, some two feet longer than the one in common

use from Korosko hither; and though only of the thickness of a finger,

was called Hassaie,—an expression which is used besides for a heavy

club. This pastoral sceptre was very prettily overlaid with silver,

and the ornaments on it merely engraved with a bad knife; and,

considering such a wretched instrument, they were of marvellous

fineness. In Sennaar, as well as in Kordofan, they know how to

wire-draw gold and silver; to make remarkably beautiful zerfs (the

inlaid stands of coffee cups), and sword-handles from these metals,

displaying good taste; although, particularly in the last-mentioned

articles, where crowns as the head-top, and the form of the cross,

are engraved on the handle, the whole representing a knight’s

sword, called Sefbanbrah; the West and the Crusades have afforded

them models.

CHAPTER IV.

MONOTONOUS SCENERY. — CULTIVATION OF DATE-PALMS. — EL AES. —

BOUNDARY OF THE TURKISH DOMINIONS. — REPUBLIC OF APES. — HUSSEÏN

AGU’S FAVOURITE MONKEY. — CRUELTY OF EMIR BEY. — ADVENTURE

WITH A CROCODILE. — BELIEF OF THE TURKS IN THE TRANSMIGRATION

OF SOULS. — LIEUT. ABD. ELLIAB, THE DEVOTEE. — THE TAILORING

PROPENSITIES OF FEÏZULLA CAPITAN. — A “FANTASIE”. —

FEÏZULLA’S INTEMPERANCE. — GUINEA-FOWLS. — ABU SEID. —

DESCRIPTION OF WATER PLANTS, AND GRAPES PECULIAR TO THE WHITE

NILE. — THE AMBUK-TREE. — GEBL DINKU. — ABDURIECKMAN, CHIEF OF

THE SHILLUKS, AND SULIMAN KASHEF’S BARBARITY. — HIPPOPOTAMIA,

AND CURIOUS SUPERSTITION OF THE SAILORS. — THE DINKAS AND

THE SHILLUKS. — THE LOTUS. — MOUNT DEFAFAUNGH. — TAMARIND

TREES. — THE TAILOR-CAPTAIN, AND INSUBORDINATION OF HIS CREW. —

FIRST APPEARANCE OF GNATS.

Nov. 29th.—The fires were still blazing on the shore when the drum

was beat for decampment, and the sleepers lying around them were

partly obliged to be awaked with good blows in the ribs. To-day, for

the first time, we set out before sun-rise. Whether the expression I

uttered in a conversation with the two Turkish commandants,—“We

must make haste and gain honor from the Viceroy and Basha; for if

another expedition should appear necessary, he will certainly place

it under the supreme command of a ‘Frank,”—had any thing to do

with these unusual exertions, I venture not to decide. It is certain,

however, that they dreaded my Journal, for Ahmed Basha declared

that he would have it translated into Turkish. A brisk north wind

got up with the sun, and we sailed E.S.E., making five sea-miles

and a half in the hour, according to the log, which gives, however,

one mile for the current or rapidity of the river.

The channel to-day swarms with islands, so that we sailed by at least

eight before nine o’clock; when we had one on our left side three

hours’ long; others were probably concealed from us. It is really

fortunate that trees always indicate the presence of an island, else

we might have many times splendidly run a-ground, for the shallows are

only slightly covered with water; and the grass, shooting above the

surface, proves the frequent fluctuation of different channels. The

voyage is very monotonous; though the numerous shallow islands

are often grouped very picturesquely, and appear sometimes to bar

the river, and to dam it up into a lake. Added to that, we have

always the sight of a majestic stream, bordered by green osiers;

but the verdure itself offers no variety in the foliage and form of

the trees, no blending of colours, since it presents to the sight

only mimosas, which are here merely sunt-trees. There is no rock,

house, hill, or mountain here whereon the eye, wearied of monotony,

can rest, and which might serve as the halting point of imagination;

moreover, there is not a sound to be heard in nature. The gigantic

American streams can alone produce a similar impression. Although

the river in some places intrudes deeper than usual into the right

shore, yet the limits of the inundation are always sharply cut off,

whereas on the left side the water is seen continually between the

dark shaded trunks of the trees, where even the lowest branches do

not prevent it from running on in parallel gohrs, or deserted beds

of the stream, into other tracks of the river, glittering especially

at noon, when it is usually calm. Many of these, which now appear

to us to be islands, will, perhaps, when all the water returns,

join on uninterruptedly to the mainland. Two shots, the signal of

danger to one of the ships, fall behind us, and are repeated by us

and the other vessels. Thibaut’s vessel draws water; but the Turks

laugh at his anxiety, sail on, and say that he is drunk (sakràn).

Towards eleven o’clock the wood on the right shore opened, and

some tokuls were visible on the shore, at a little distance from the

river, on a line of hills running parallel with it, and standing near

those dome-palms we had hitherto missed, with the exception of the

young copse on the water’s edge. The cultivation of dates, which

might really be a blessing to the country, in Sennaar, as well as in

the extraordinarily fertile Taka, is entirely neglected, although

the gardens near the city of Sennaar, like those numerous gardens

in Khartùm, afford examples of a very advantageous transplanting

in these southern regions. They will doubtless give a refreshing

appearance to the latter melancholy-looking city by their rich

crowns of fruit, when they once rise over the clay walls and

houses surrounding it. But the people, that they may escape the

taxes imposed on every date-tree bearing fruit, will not plant and

take care of them; neither will they cultivate cotton, because they

are obliged to deliver the produce into the Shune at an arbitrary

price. Ahmed Basha had 6000 young date-palms brought up by water

from Sokkot and Mahass. The ground he chose in his caprice to form

a close plantation in, with these trees, lay too low (for he wanted

to save the expense of irrigation), and the Nile overflowing it,

uprooted and choked with its slime the fine young stems. No Turk

thought of washing the slime off and planting them again. The Basha

did not grieve at this abortive work, and was even of opinion that

the Nile had done well, for the lazy people of the island (Sennaar)

would never work again if they once had dates, as is the case in the

country of the Baràbras, who could never be good soldiers (askari).

We approached the place, and found only three people there standing

by their watched boats; and saw, far on the naked plain, men engaged

in driving their cows into the interior to secure them from us. The

miserable village, which may number some fifty decayed tokuls, was

called El Aes, although it is only a summer village for herdsmen

and fishermen belonging to the larger city of El Aes, lying up the

country. This city once gave the name of land of El Aes, or Dar el

Aes to the whole region up to Khartùm, now known under the name of

Wollet Medine, lying above Khartùm, on the Blue Nile. The city of

El Aes is one of the principal colonies of the Hassaniës, and was

at the time of the Funghs one of the three capitals of the kingdom;

the others were Sennaar and the now almost deserted Arbagi on the

Blue river. It is also a kind of emporium between the Shilluks and

Sennaar, wherein the traders of El Aes, by their slaves, barter

Kurbàshes (the whips commonly used here, made from the skin of the

hippopotamus), tamarinds, dried bamies, and Uèka, in exchange for

horned cattle, durra, and woollen stuffs. The Sheikh el Belled had

prudently departed for Khartùm, and could not therefore wait upon

us here with a contribution, to become our guide and interpreter

through the islands, as he did the preceding year, when Suliman

Kashef, without any ceremony, retained him on board ship with his

son. On this account we did not land; besides, we feared that our

men would desert.

Immediately above the village commences again the forest, and we

see by the many dry leaves scattered about that the consumption

of firewood, and consequently the accumulation of human beings,

cannot be very considerable. As there was nothing to be got we

did not remain long. Close to the left shore is an island nearly

three hours’ long, one of those fertile plains so numerous here,

six more of which we passed, though indeed of less size, up to three

o’clock in the afternoon. At this time we landed some two hours’

above the so-called El Aes, near the old and partly withered trees,

for the purpose of taking in wood for fuel. The ancient elevated

river’s edge, up to which the water can no longer rise, being

retained by the downs which are themselves washed up, is plainly

visible on the right shore, through the light places.

Now we are beyond the boundaries of the Turkish dominions;

that is, properly speaking, beyond the intricate and organized

Turco-Egyptian system of plunder. Henceforth, tribute (tulba) is no

longer collected. At my question, what people dwelt here, the Turks

answered regularly, like the Arabs, “Kulo Abit” (all slaves.) I

could not help laughing, and made them understand, to their vexation,

that these people are free, and not so much bondsmen and slaves as

they are themselves: that they must first take them prisoners to

make them slaves, for which they had no particular inclination, and

answered me very naïvely, “the slaves here are very numerous and

brave!” (shatter.) This contemptuous expression, “kulo abit,”

is used by the Ottomans, almost like the classical _barbari_—that

same classical word which the modern Greek has learnt by heart from

foreign schoolbooks with a good-natured orthodoxy.

The vessels not being able to reach the dry land, owing to the shrubs

and trees, I had myself carried through the water to the shore,

in order to take a survey of the country and to make a shooting

excursion. I could not, however, make up my mind to use my gun, the

only animals in the neighbourhood I could shoot being white-grey

long-tailed apes, called Abelènk, similar to the _Cercopithecus

Sabæus_, but more silver-grey and far larger. I had shot such an

one on a former occasion, and the mortally wounded animal had,

by his similarity to a human being and his piteous gestures,

excited my compassion so much, that I determined never to kill

another. Mr. Arnaud, on the contrary, took a peculiar pleasure in

watching the wounded monkeys which fell by his shot, because, in the

agonies of death, the roof of their mouths became white like that of

a dying man. It was affecting to see how the mother apes precipitated

themselves down from the old sunt trees and secured their young,

playing before our feet, behind the high branches, and darted round

the corner until another malignant ball reached them from behind,

whereupon they let their young fall from their arms, but the little

creatures clung firmly to the old one by running, climbing, and

springing under her belly. They live together in families of several

hundreds, and their territory is very limited even in the forest,

as I myself subsequently ascertained. Although they fear the water

very much, and do not swim voluntarily, yet they always fled for

security to the high branches hanging over the stream, and often

fell in, whereupon they, in spite of imminent danger, carefully

wiped their faces, and tried to get the water out of their ears

before they climbed up into the trees. Such a republic of apes is

really a droll sight,—coaxing, caressing, and combing each other,

plundering, fighting, and tugging one another by the ears, and,

during all these important concerns, hastening every moment down to

the river, where, however, they satisfy themselves with a hurried

draught, in order that they may not be devoured by the crocodiles

constantly keeping watch there. The monkeys on board our vessels not

being fastened, turned restless at the sight of the jolly free life,

and at the clamour of their brethren in the trees.

The Milàsim Auel (First Lieutenant), Hüsseïn Aga of Kurdistan,

lay alongside us, and had endless pleasure in his little monkey. He

shouted over to me, “_Shuf! el naùti taïb!_” (Look! the

clever sailor!) meaning his little favourite, who jumped about

the mast and the yard as though he were mad, ran down the ropes,

looked into the water from the side of the ship, and then strayed

from his master, till all of a sudden, he clung to the back of a

sailor who was carrying through the water a package of dirty linen

to the wash, and before the latter could lay hold of him made a bold

spring ashore, to greet his relations, for he also bears the name of

Abelènk, although of a much smaller species. He has been frequently

carried from Sennaar to Kàhira, where he is called Nishnash and

Capuchin. The long Kurd, just as he was, jumped overboard with his

gun to shoot the deserter, in favour of whom, I quickly called out,

“_Amahn_.” The little climbing sailor must however, from being

a Turkish slave, and on account of his diminutive figure, have met

with an unwelcome reception, for no sooner had Hüsseïn Aga stepped

under the trees, than the monkey again jumped on his head. He came

to visit me afterwards, and brought his “Naùti taïb” with him,

who ought to thank himself that I interceded for him. Hüsseïn told

me then, what I had often heard, that monkeys were formerly men,

who were cursed by God. It really is said in the Koran, that God and

the prophet David transformed into _monkeys_ the Jews who did not

keep holy the sabbath-day. On this account a good Moslem will seldom

injure or kill a monkey. Our Turks, however, were an exception to that

rule, when they could, by infringing it, gain a few base piastres;

so likewise was Emir Bey in Fàzogl, on another occasion.

The latter was sitting at table with an Italian, and just putting into

his mouth a piece of roast meat, held between the fingers and thumb,

when a monkey of the cynocephalus (Arabic Khirt) family snatched it

hastily from him. The Bey very quietly ordered the hand of Abu Dom

(so called from his reddish yellow colour, similar to the fruit of

the Doum-palm) to be cut off as that of a robber (Garami), which was

done on the spot. The poor monkey came immediately afterwards to his

cruel master, and shewed him, with the doleful accent peculiar to him,

the bleeding stump of his fore paw, whereupon the Bey ordered him to

be killed. The execution, however, was prevented by the Italian, who

begged him as a gift, for the purpose of healing him. I came, soon

afterwards, into possession of this foolish beast, who contributed

as much to the amusement so necessary to me on the return voyage to

Egypt, as the filial attentions of my freedman Hagar from mount Basa,

whom my brother had received as a present, and bequeathed to me. My

servants would not believe but that the monkey was a transformed Gabir

(caravan guide), because he always preceded us, and on the right road,

even in the desert; and availed himself of every stone and rock to

look about him, whereupon the birds of prey frequently drove him

under the camels to complain to me with his “Oehm, Oehm.” This

complaint he also uttered when he had been beaten, in my absence,

by the people, whose merissa he helped to drink, till he could not

move from the spot, and committed all sorts of misdemeanours.

I found on the shore large snail shells (Ampullaria ovata), and also

some river oysters (Ampulla tubulosa Caill), as well as a number of

fresh foot-prints of hippopotami, though we had not as yet seen any of

these animals. These river buffaloes must be of enormous size here,

to judge from the foot-marks which we made use of to place the large

household pots upon.

We had already, however, seen many crocodiles, which are but seldom

met with when the water is high and turbid, for they then, like the

hippopotami, inhabit sloughs, caused by the swelling of the Nile,

because fish are more plentiful there, whilst the graminivorus

hippopotami find their nourishment in the thriving marsh plants.

I myself came into very close contact with a crocodile, larger than

any I had ever yet seen, whilst both barrels of my gun were only

loaded with smallshot. The monkeys had amused me long enough. I

advanced, therefore, further up the shore, turned round a huge tree,

the right side of which, facing the water, was covered with thick

underwood: I soon, however, drew back behind it, for I here nearly

walked into the jaws, literally speaking, of a crocodile, as another

step would have brought me to the creek, which was quite filled

up by the monster, as he lay in front of me. I looked round for

my huntsman Sale, an active, good-tempered, but very inconsiderate

youth, who carried my rifle; but he was not to be seen. Yet I could

not help taking up another position behind the trees, which afforded

me protection, in order to fire a volley of shot at the odious beast,

whereupon it very quietly retreated into the stream.

When I subsequently reproached Sale, he answered me very naively that

I should not hunt so close to the shore, for that he had more than

once, whilst gazing at the birds and monkeys in the trees, on looking

down, seen the head of a crocodile close before him, glaring at him

like a ghost (Sheitàn, Satan); and which he dared not shoot lest he

should kill his own father. Of witches and sorcerers who transform

themselves and others into beasts, especially into crocodiles and

hippopotami, that even in their transformation, still bear the griefs

they received when human beings—how injured wives often wither up

their husbands’ stomachs, and place them on their backs by magic,

&c.—tales such as these we hear related as true, even by those

to whom these occurrences are said to have happened. The traces of

a belief in the transmigration of souls cannot well be mistaken,

although almost entirely obliterated by the Islam; but it is only

applied here to the degradation into beasts—such as serpents

and dogs.

When at a distance from the shore, it is as well to have a barrel

loaded with ball, there being in this region many lions whom we

hear roaring at night. One soon, however, becomes accustomed to

such dangers, nay, I might say that we are not only rash, but quite

foolhardy, in neglecting all precautions and means of preservation,

and, therefore, we have nothing to reproach the Arabs with in their

everlasting “Allah kerim” (God is merciful, the Dio é grande of

the whole of the Levant). To be burdened with guns and shot-pouches

is troublesome, owing to the heat; on this account we often sally

out without weapons, not intending to go far from the camp, when

suddenly, allured from one object to another, we find ourselves at

a long distance from it, and, consequently, helpless against danger.

Towards evening cartridges were served out, and muskets loaded, for

we are now, for the first time, in a hostile country! The powder-room

stood open, and the men with lighted pipes passed continually to and

fro unrestrained, over the open hatchway. Allah kerim! I seek to rouse

my captain from his indolence by drawing comparisons, every moment,

with the English sea-service,—I fall asleep myself whilst the

powder is being distributed, and waking early in the morning, find

the hatchway still open, and the sentinel, whose duty it was to give

an alarm as soon as the water increased in the hold, fast asleep,

with the pipe in his hand, and his musket in his lap. Feïzulla

Capitan begged me not to report the poor devil (el meszkin).

The upper strata of the ground here are sandy and but little fertile,

yet I sometimes sank so deep into water and the livid clay soil that

my red shoes stuck fast. Beyond the gently elevated margin of the

shore, the ground is flat and bare, with short grass and stunted

copsewood, among which the wood usually made for tobacco-pipe

tubes in Sennaar, with its light grey rind, oblong-shaped leaves

and truncated at the top, is particularly abundant, and very much

in request with the crew. The height of the water here was, owing

to the great breadth of the inundation, not near so much as further

downwards. In Khartùm, where the bed of the river on _both_ sides

is contracted by the sides of the shores, it must have been twice

as high at this time. The whole inclination of the ground in the

territory of the White Stream, sinks from E. to W. The Nile is

the best hydrometer for this observation, for I have frequently

remarked that the islands in the neighbourhood of the right shore

are generally less inundated than those on the left; therefore, in

the former, the greater elevation of the eastern bank still continues.

An observation also, which I made on the plains of Meroë, or

rather on the enormous plain between the Atbara and the Blue Stream,

contributes to strengthen this opinion of mine with respect to the

slope of the land from E. to W. It can be plainly remarked there

that the rain-water runs off westward, without paying any attention

to the direction of the current of the Nile, as its boundaries are

now defined by its mountains and high shores.

But now the question is: If my hypothesis of the inclination of these

parts from E. to W. is generally correct, what has induced the Nile

to take a course diverging from it?

I have only to answer to this, that Khartùm already lies considerably

lower than our present course; that further up the country, on

the left shore, considerable mountains rise towards the W.—for

example—those of Kordofàn, which, now at least, do not allow the

river to discharge itself from hence into the Libyan deserts. Indeed,

many contests and physical revolutions must have occurred before

the White Stream crept into its present channel, where it is nearly

stagnant, and which seems scarcely natural in so long a tract.

_Nov. 30th._—Towards morning we set out with a tolerably good

N.E. wind, and soon after sun-rise made four miles[5] an hour; at

six o’clock it was 18, and at noon 28 degrees Reaumur. We sailed

till eight o’clock, S.W., and passed by a small wooded island, the

grassy foreground of which was picturesquely garnished with trees. The

prospect on the stream was shut out from us by four islands, through

which we passed towards the south, and left them right and left at

our side. Among the trees standing in the water were large, white

aquatic flowers, visible even at a distance, which glistened forth

magnificently from a floating world of flowers, in the moist splendour

of the morning. It was the double white Lotus. The sunt-trees stand

in full bloom, and appear, in comparison with the others, to have

been of later growth, as they stand here still deep in the water.

We approached near the largest of the before-named islands, which is

an hour long, and I remarked that it is elevated towards the interior,

in the form of a shield; this is not the case with the others. They

are long and flat islands, pieces separated from the shore, existing

only as long as the wood on their level backs which restrains the

pressure of the waves. They are a proof of a yet uncultivated course

of the stream, in a deserted freshwater basin. The water still

struggles here against the aspiring vegetation. The trees are of

slender growth, but of young and fresh appearance; the moist element

promotes a rich, exuberant growth, and just as speedy a death, with

the usual tropical power of regeneration. In the interior, however,

much stronger trees are found. When we sail towards the south, we

leave this island on the left, and turn again south-west, where the

head (Ras) of a long island ends, and other islands, to the number

of seven, shutting out the back-ground from our view, spread here in

such a manner, that the stream appears like a regular Island-sound,

which can be better seen than described.

The land also to the right of the left shore presents a clearer view,

and beyond the downs, are seen the distant and scarcely elevated old

shores of the stream, which, however, judging from their whitish

colour, do not indicate fertility; and beyond which, indeed, only

isolated copsewood and solitary lank trees could find any subsistence,

as I remarked also yesterday on the right shore. I would much rather

see beech trees and oaks than these eternal mimosas. Oh, thou good

Fatherland! in a distant foreign country we first learn to appreciate

thee truly!

At twelve o’clock, a wooded island with a long green tail, appeared

on our left, and immediately afterwards another on the right, where

the wood stands deep in the water; whilst the islands of the right

shore almost always show lower vegetation. The landscape being

monotonous, I directed my attention more to the scenes on board,

and there surely I found variety enough.

Our lieutenant, Abd-Elliab, from Kurdistan, is a very pious

man—to our good fortune! for piety restrains him from wine and

dram-drinking. This temperance conduces to the tranquillity of

the crew, notwithstanding the predominant inclination of my good

Feizulla Capitan, who will never rest till he has exhausted my

stock of spirituous liquors, so necessary for an European in these

countries. Abd-Elliab says that he has not the Koràn in his head,

but in his heart; and is of opinion that we Christians have only

strayed from the right path, since the prophet Jesus (el Nebi Issa)

was created from God without a father, and that Mohammed understood

better this divine messenger (Ressùl) than we. He plays the part,

also, of a Hakim belèsh (a surgeon who cures gratis) by repeating

pious sentences whilst he ties knots in threads, and binds them round

the neck and hands of the patient; or, praying, and blessing wheat,

he sews it up in little bags as a talisman against fever and the

devil. The Captain, besides his master passion, the incentive to

which, to my great peace of mind, will be soon exhausted, has also

an extremely interesting minor inclination—tailoring and cobbling,

which he pretends to have learnt in England.

Our little black female slaves are right to ornament their noses

with rings, for without them, their flat noses would be lost in

their dark countenance. As usual, the wind almost ceases at noon. We

sailed south with a faint north-east breeze, and make scarcely one

mile. At half-past twelve we passed a long grass island on the left,

the upper part of which was covered with wood; whilst on the right,

another one still extends; and on the left, the high grass of a long

narrow back of an island rises up from the water. After we had passed

five such river meadows, on the right and left, we landed at four

o’clock on the right shore. We found ourselves on the island of

Aba, eight to nine hours’ long, and proportionably broad, although

I had not remarked the commencement of it.

Suliman Kashef was no sooner gone on shore than loud rejoicings,

mixed with the sound of citherns and drums, were heard from thence,

and I was sent for. Every festivity, whether it consists in public

shows, or in singing, dancing, and drinking, is called here also

by the word, usual in Egypt, “fantasie.” The proper expression,

however, is “faragh” (joy, pleasure). The former is also used to

denote a person who is proud and gives himself airs. Therefore the

Turkish “fantasie tshok, paraja jok,” means,—where there is much

conceit and no money. Such a Fantasie of the first description was

taking place on shore, whilst the servants of Suliman Kashef stood

round us, armed and fully equipped. Feïzulla-Capitan was obliged to

be carried by force on board his vessel, and it was fortunate that

he was able, even in this transport, to recognise me. He grasped at

sabre and pistol—I pulled him back: he stamped and cuffed around

him as if he were mad, till I clapped his head and heels together,

threw him on his bed, and held him fast till he had stormed himself

tired, as I would take no notice of his English exclamation—“the

devil!—stop a little!—look!” No one but myself dared to lay

a hand on him. At last he fell asleep, and the sailors called me,

among themselves, “Achù el Bennàht,” and praised my conduct,

being such as they had never witnessed before.

Yesterday, I gave occasion for drawing upon me the hatred of one of

the roughest of the Egyptian sailors, who was sitting with another at

the hand-mill, and repeatedly abusing his companion as a “Nazrani”

(Christian), until at last the whole crew looked and laughed into my

cabin, the captain not being on board at the time. At last I lost

my patience, sprang up, and dealt him a hard blow with my fist on

the nape of his neck. In his fanatical horror at being struck by

a Christian, he attempted to plunge immediately into the water,

and vowed revenge against me, as I heard from my servants.

Now, while Feïzulla Capitan lies senseless, I see from my bed this

long sailor leave the fore-part of the ship, and approach our cabin,

followed by the looks of the rest of the crew. From a fanatic who

might put his own construction on the friendly scene I had just had

with Feïzulla Capitan, and might use it in his own favour, I had

everything to expect. He paused, however, at the door, apologized

and thanked me, for not having reported him to his commander. He then

kissed my right hand, whilst, in my left, I held a pistol concealed

under the covering of the bed.

The Island of Aba does not appear to be entirely inundated, and

therefore, it is covered towards the interior with high grown

wood. It is said, that there are several lions here; I think I saw

one at a distance, but I did not pursue him. We saw large flocks of

guinea-fowls, called here Gedàt el Pharaùn (Pharaoh’s fowls), and

which provided us for some days with roast dainties. “Pharaùn”

is a word of abuse, but it must have been taken rather from the

Koràn than from tradition. I saw many foot-prints of Hippopotami in

the muddy roads, which extend from the East westerly to the river,

and were already dried up. The earth by that means was exceedingly

fertile. Doghen, a kind of corn, commonly used in Kordofan,—bamie,

a vegetable with pods, to be met with from hence up to Greece;—and

Malochië, a species of spinnage, grow wild here. The numerous birds

were very shy, which we attribute to our white dress and red caps.

_1st December._—Half an hour before sun rise, we left the Island

of Aba, and sailed E.S.E., and had a course of 2¼ miles; in the

lapse of an hour this island was on our left. At half past eight

o’clock, we had on our right an island, and on the left the

shore was bare,—a Steppe, with a few trees and copsewood. The

ground beyond and through the trees glimmered, equally bare and

waste, of a yellow colour. This eternal shifting of the islands,

and winding of the vessel, frequently perverts the look and the

prospect of the whole scenery. The Lotus,—the grass extending

itself over the water,—and the high reed grass, filled the space

between the trees. At nine o’clock S.S.W., we pass the Machada Abu

Seïd, before which we have a course of 4½ miles, and immediately

afterwards only 3 miles. At this place, where the stream, owing to

the rocks crossing from E. to W. forms an inconsiderable current,

the water is only 1½ to 2 fathoms deep, and when low, reaches only

up to the knee,—a circumstance which must be taken into account

for our return voyage. Machada Abu Seïd, is equivalent to “Ford

of Abu Seïd,” who, being the patron of navigators, is invoked on

the most trivial occasions, like Abd el Kader, by the Bedouins of

the desert. It is pretended that this same Abu Seïd crossed the

water with his large army, and subdued the people of this place;

many stories are also told of him, how he has assisted navigators

in their need.

Above this ford or reef, on which entire masses of the _Etheria

tubifera_ (Caill) have settled, we passed over the Machada el Ans,

which means “Goat’s Ford;” because, in the dry season of the

year, even goats can walk through here, when they are thrown by the

herdsmen into the water, from one rock to the other.

The lead gives four and a half fathoms between these two Machadas,

the log four miles and a half, and the river has one mile in

rapidity. Small grassy island tracts extend to the left side of the

Nile; and many more islands might, in this manner, continually rise

through the gradual alluvial deposits. The trees are generally of

the dwarf species; and there are only solitary higher ones, which

overtop the others, and have withstood the winds, by reason of the

soil being moistened continually by water. A number of scattered

water-plants form floating islands of large and small dimensions,

frequently presenting quite a surprizing appearance. At noon we

came so close to such an island, which had been held together by a

kind of water couch-grass, and was joined on to the shore, that we

tore off one entire portion of it, and set it moving like a little

aquatic world of the most diversified description of plants. The

base of this floating vegetable world was formed by the pale green

velvet-plant everywhere met with, and which spreads itself like the

auricula, has fibrous roots, and is intermixed with green reeds, but

appears to have no flowers. The stalk-like moss, spreading under the

water, with slender white suckers, like polypi, on the long streaks

beneath, was another principal ingredient in the formation of this

island. Then comes a kind of convolvulus, with lilac-coloured flowers,

with its seeds, like those of the convolvulus, in capsule-like knobs,

and leaves like those of buttercups.

The character of the whole of this island world acquires such a

blooming appearance here, that one believes oneself transported to a

gigantic park situated under water. Entire tracts are covered with

the blooming lotus. The trees, shrubs, and creepers, with their

manifold flowers, enjoy a freedom unknown in Europe, where every

plant is restricted to its fixed season. The life, buds, and bursting

into development of the different plants appear to be arbitrary, for

rain, water, and the height, depth, and quality of the soil have such

effect, that the very same species often display entirely different

stages of progression. From the tall dark mimosas, and other trees,

down to the waving reeds, and the spikes of the high grass shooting

out of the water, a vegetable life spreads with a freshness and

fulness bordering on the marvellous. The splendid leaf-like webs of

lianias form hills of flowers with garlands, and wave and shine afar

in various colours, like magnificent hanging tapestry.

[Illustration: MOUNT N’JEMATI, APRIL 13, 1841.]

It is a strangely beautiful sight to see these exuberant plants,

sparkling in various colours, keeping down the more sturdy

ones. However, on our voyage back, the scene had so altered, that

it was with difficulty we could persuade ourselves that here it was

so wonderfully beautiful before. Together with the various species

of convolvulus, the blooming ambak-tree contributed to enhance the

variety of flowers. The Arabs call it ambak, although they are only

acquainted with its dry light wood, which floats down to them. The

tree grows only in the river itself, or in a swamp, and when the water

recedes, dies away to the root. The rapidity of its growth surpasses

that of the rising of the Nile, and shoots up from ten to fifteen feet

above its highest water-mark. It rises in a conical form out of the

water, but decreases again towards the root, and is, in the middle,

as thick as a strong man’s arm. The wood is throughout of a spongy

nature, and can be called only fibrous pith: it is overlaid with a

dark green rind, which is also furnished with a rough brownish hue

and small imperceptible arcuated thorns. The branches fix themselves

on luxuriant soil, like the acacias with us, and towards the ends

are quite green and rough; the leaves are twinned like those of the

acacia; the foliage is full of sap and green like reeds. The yellow

bean-flower grows single, but in great profusion; it is an inch and

a half long and broad, and has ten stamina round the pistil.

The top of a mountain, of which, at the moment, I could learn no other

name than that of Geb’l Dinka, rose, about nine o’clock, to the

S.S.W. This was a welcome sight to me, as it seemed to promise, from

the distance, something more magnificent than the hills, or would-be

mountains, that had hitherto appeared in the horizon. We make four

miles and a half, and the rapidity of the stream still remains one

mile, although the water before this Machada seems to have no fall,

and only to be set in motion by the pressure from above. At two

o’clock we had on the left, towards the east, Geb’l Dinka, so

termed by navigators, but more correctly called Geb’l N’jemati,

which is said to denote a group of mountain tops. Two rocky ridges

especially project, and seem to belong to the granite formation.

The thermometer was, at sunrise, 18°, at noon, 26°, and from three

to five o’clock 28°, Reaumur. The flower island continues on the

right and left, and we have four miles course. The grass and reed

tract of islands appears on the left shore like pasture-ground, closed

by shady trees in the distant background. At six o’clock, sunrise,

we sailed past the mountain of the Dinkas, which I was glad I had

delineated before, for it presented here nothing picturesque. The

people of the Dinkas (sing. Dinkauï) were not to be seen, because

they had betaken themselves to the interior, to sow their fields

with durra and dòghen. These fields are said to lie in the Chaba;

and it seems probable to me that this forest is situated in a basin,

as in Taka, wherein the rain and effusion of mountain-streams must

be long retained, because otherwise the land would be too dry for

sowing; or the inundation of the Nile seizes those partially, on

old beds of the river, which have been dammed up on the lower side,

and would therefore be dried up if there were no effusion of water.

At some distance from us I was shewn tops of trees, which were

scarcely perceptible, marking the island of the late great Sheikh,

or Mek Abdurachman (Abd el Rahman), who was a chief of the Shilluks

(sing. Shilkaui), and a sworn enemy to the Arabian intruders. On the

former expedition, Suliman Kashef, who had made the acquaintance

of this dreaded chief, and had lost many men by his predatory

expeditions, wanted to convince himself whether he was really dead;

and, in the savageness of his heart, ordered the body to be dug up,

in order that he might convince himself of the fact. They were all

not a little rejoiced at finding the truth confirmed.

Darkness prevented us from distinguishing the complication of islands

which were still continuing. We lay to about eleven o’clock at

Ambak, an island towards the left shore; and the sails being clewed,

we make only two miles and a half in the hour, in order to wait for

the Sandal, which was behind-hand. Immediately close to or down by

these trees, we had four fathoms in depth; and yet they stood some

fifteen feet above the water, which extraordinary height they are

said to attain in one year, for they fall down and wither away when

the water recedes.

Towards evening, a hippopotamus bellowed from the reeds quite close

to us. An old sailor, partaking of the superstition which I have

already mentioned, bid him immediately “Salam aleikum” (peace

be with thee), but he answered not a word; whereupon a peculiar

silence reigned among the crew, who believe in a possible voluntary

or involuntary transformation into beasts by sorcery.

_2nd December._—We set sail before sunrise, towards S.S.W. The rocks

of N’jemati lie to the N.N.E. of us, and on the left a mountain

elevates itself to the S.S.E. at about six hours’ distance. We soon

made three miles and a quarter, and from eight o’clock four and a

quarter, and the breadth of the river was generally estimated at two

miles. Near the reed or marshy islands, a kind of meadow cat’s-tail

grass is prevalent, having a broad flat blade of bright green, in

the middle of which runs a white streak lengthways. This grass has

thick connecting tubes, from which the fibrous roots depend. The

stalk, which is the thickness of a thumb, rises, with knots, to

the height of four to five feet, and is surrounded with numerous

brown leaves, completely inclosing it. It has ears like wheat,

growing in a bunch to the number of five or six, containing grain,

which is eaten by the people. It might be called the low-reed, from

which the high-reed is distinguished by rising to a height of ten

to twelve feet, and having straight knotty stalks, the thickness of

a finger, narrow leaves, and on the top a cluster of leaves, from

which large bulrush ears project, the seeds of which are scarcely

perceptible. Close to this grows the luxuriant water couch-grass,

with drooping blades the breadth of a finger, having a delicate blue

hue; and a dark green aquatic grass, with narrow horizontal blades,

from which branches a rush-like crown of seeds.

Feïzulla Capitan has, at last, entirely exhausted, not only his own,

but also my stock of spirituous liquors, which he used to partake

of in his debauch, as if they had been his own property. His days

of atonement have therefore commenced; he takes the Koràn with a

long face, and puts on the airs of a great Faki, on account of which

Suliman Kashef calls him Hodshà. The great Paradise-Stormer, from

Kurdistan, listens to him with profound devotion, and corrects him

very zealously, for he really seems to know the whole Koran by heart.

After eight o’clock, a large reed island appeared on our

left. Floating couch-grass islands, covered with the pale green

aquatic plants so frequently seen, meet us, and often draw a ship

round with them. The current of the water may separate these islands

from the shore, and disconnect them from the lake; or storms,

and the mighty inhabitants of the stream, when they are forcing

roads with their corporeal masses, may cut them off and set them in

motion. At ten o’clock, for the first time, on the right shore,

Sunt appears on an island with all kinds of shrubs and grasses, and

the aquatic acacia Ambak. The country on the banks of the Nile consist

of, at the same time, a broad pasture-land, with young high grass,

whilst the breadth of the river here is an hour. Towards the South

an endless channel disclosed itself, in which the water vanished by

degrees with the horizon,—a sight which we had not yet seen on the

white stream, and which was very much desired to define the latitude

and longitude. On the left, also, approached an island with the

before-named characteristics. I conclude, however, from the height

of some Sunt-trees, that it had firmer ground towards the interior,

although its beautiful flowering margin displays, as it were,

floating hills of flowers over the copsewood, with their tendrils

and grasses. At eleven o’clock, the log gave four miles and a half,

and at twelve o’clock we were obliged, from want of wind, to lay-to

at an Ambak-island. The wind returned, however, after a short time,

and we sailed through a sea of green grass or reeds, where we saw

over the extensive gently rising right shore a large city of the

Dinkas, though we were not able to approach, owing to the reeds.

The Dinkas were seen at a distance, jumping in the air whilst they

raised one arm, and struck their shields with their spears. This

appeared to me rather a challenge than an expression of joy, as

I concluded from the war-dances, the representation of which I had

before witnessed. Their city is said to stretch far beyond this ridge,

which the trees prevented us from remarking. Long swampy islands, with

reeds and other plants, entwined one with the other, extend from their

country to the middle of the stream. This is the case also, though on

a reduced scale, on the left side. The distance of the shores from

one to another is more than an hour. The reeds form in this manner

a protection, which even when the water is at the highest is not to

be overcome; just as at low water the Machadas form such a defensive

barrier. In the same manner the Shilluks on the left shore have a

marsh of reeds, under water, for protection. The Turks have managed,

however, to come at these two nations by land. Suliman Kashef himself

has twice defeated the Shilluks on the boundary of his district. These

sudden and crafty attacks of a Chasua cannot, however, be called

wars or battles. The animosity of these people to the Arabian hordes

and marauding system goes so far, for example, that when they take

a Bakhàra prisoner, they beat him to death with cudgels, death by

the Harba (spear) being considered too honourable. On the contrary,

they do not kill the Dinkas whom they may take captive, because they

consider them as aborigines and old neighbours. The Arabs, however,

do not slay the Shilluks taken prisoners by them, not so much out of

respect to the Koràn, as from their inherent selfishness. When the

Bakhàras come to the river to graze the cattle in the grass, which,

after the reeds have been burnt away, contains nourishing fodder,

there are continual petty wars between the Shilluks and Bakhàras,

in which the latter display considerable bravery, as Suliman Kashef

himself admits.

At three o’clock in the afternoon, we continue to sail towards

the South in this immeasurable tract of water. On the right and left

are partly grass islands, and partly reedy marshes, which join on to

the shore, and must, when the water is higher, before the overflowed

vegetation has yet made its way to the surface, form a regular long

lake or gigantic stream. After four o’clock we landed on the right

shore, where the white lotus was distinguished in the pools amongst

the trees, with far larger flowers than is the case where neither

shrub nor tree shelters it from the sun. The blue lotus (_Nymphæa

cærulea_) called Loss by the Nubas and Baràbras, appears no longer

here. On the left shore the smoke of signal-fires, certainly the most

ancient kind of telegraph, ascended on all sides. At six o’clock

we sailed again, and halted at a quarter past ten, just as the moon

went down. A soldier plunged into the water and sank as he was about

to touch land, probably seized by a crocodile. At sun-rise 18°, noon

26°, evening 24°, and after midnight, in the open air, 17° Reaumur.

_3rd December._—Half an hour before sun-rise we proceeded,

with a due North wind, towards the South. It was sensibly cold,

though we had 16 degrees of Reaumur. Low and marshy land again at

the side,—partly islands before the shores, properly speaking,

the elevation of which was scarcely perceptible on the left side of

the river. We had seen yesterday and the day before a few solitary

tamarinds. Now they were very abundant, and the various shades of

light and dark green of these beautiful trees, with their luxuriant

foliage, cause a delightful sensation. Their fruit, so grateful in

these parts, with its agreeable tartness, the first and last means of

support of the Ethiopians, is called in the land of Sudàn, Aradepp;

but in Egypt, Tammer-el Hendi (fruit of India); which seems to

indicate no very great commercial intercourse between the Egyptians

and Ethiopians. So also the rich gum-trees of these parts, from

which the ancients derived equally little towards their immeasurable

consumption of gum and resin, have first been used for the purposes

of commerce in more modern times. From nine to ten we advanced four

or five miles. The right shore a magnificent low country. Tamarinds,

creepers of a large species, and the lotus shining in great numbers,

like double white lilies. This stellated flower opens with the rising

of the sun, and closes when it sets. I noticed, however, afterwards,

that where they are not protected in some way from the ardent heat,

they likewise close when the sun approaches the zenith. Some of their

stalks were six feet long, and very porous; from which latter quality

these stems, as well as the flower and the larger leaves—dark green

above, and red-brown beneath, with a flat serrated border,—have

a magnificent transparent vein; but become so shrivelled, even

during the damp night, that in the morning I scarcely recognised

those which I had over night laid close to my bed on the shore. The

ancient Egyptians must, therefore, have been quick in offering up the

lotus. The flower peeps out, however, only a little above the water,

and the fruit sinks downwards, either from natural inclination, or

from the weakness of the stalk, because the water, by the formation

of it, has already fallen. The flower has above twenty tapering

white leaves, arranged around a calix of a yellow gold colour, which

is similar to that of the _Nymphæa_ in our millponds. The fillet,

from one and a half to three inches in diameter, is like a compressed

poppy-head, and ring-like incisions extend from its imperceptible

corolla to the stalk. The extraordinarily small white seed lies in a

brownish, wool-like envelope, and fills the whole capsule. Not only

are the bulbs, as large as one’s fist, of the lotus eaten, but also

the seed just mentioned; they mix it with sesame, and other grain,

amongst the bread-corn, which circumstance I ascertained afterwards,

as we found a number of these lotus-heads strung in lines to dry. To

our taste, the best way to dress the bulbs, and to free them from

the marshy flavour they leave behind in the mouth, is to drain the

water off several times in cooking them; they then taste nearly

like boiled celery, and may be very nourishing; but I would not be a

Lotophagus here, for I had much rather eat potatoes with their jackets

on. Although there are a number of bulbous plants in these parts,

serving for food to the natives, (specimens of which I collected,

but they were spoiled for want of earthen vessels to keep them in,)

yet potatoes might not thrive here any more than in Egypt, which is

far colder, as they would become watery, by the continual irrigation,

this being the case even with the grasses.

We sail S.S.W., make four to five miles, and have on the right

hand grass marsh-islands. The expanse of water before us is limited

only by a tree; to the left also of the right shore, a small ridge

of heights displays itself, which may be considered as isolated

alluvial deposits of downs. Nevertheless, it is sufficiently clear

to me, that it is almost impossible to make an accurate map from

a single voyage; this seems to have struck also the very learned

Arnaud, for he is always consulting Selim-Capitan. Sabatier is ill,

and the task therefore devolved on Arnaud, not only of observing the

course of the river, but also the direction, beginning and end of the

islands, &c., and all this with the windows hung with curtains! He

may find out that the vessel is continually changing its course,

but he could scarcely in this manner make a map of the stream,

even if an air-balloon were placed at his disposal.

Twelve o’clock, five miles, 22°, and at three o’clock, 26°

Reaumur. On the left shore, close to us, is the hill of Giràb el Esh,

(sack of corn), which name has also been given to a Sheikh of the

Shilluks living there, to denote his corpulence, a very rare thing in

that country. We were pretty close to the right shore, the extreme

edge of which rises some three feet above the still high water. The

earth is dark, and here occurs the first precipitous shore we have

seen on the white stream. The marshy world springing luxuriantly on

the left shore, checking the stream, appears to press the current to

the right side of the river, and by that means the water is always

deeper next to the latter side. Marshes, with the usual phenomena,

soon shew themselves again in the primitive bed, properly speaking,

of the stream, so that we were forced again into serpentine windings.

On the right shore, close to the mountain which we had seen on the

2nd of December, at sunrise, and which is the Defafaungh so much

spoken of in Sudàn, high dome-palms, with small heads, rise over

the tamarind-trees. The mountain itself is bare and rocky, and,

except one precipice, descends towards the river without any steep

declivity. So likewise the mountains we had hitherto seen had always

a gentle descent towards the stream, a proof that the waters have not

here undermined or compressed the ribs of the mountains towards the

river, as is the case in Nubia and on the Rhine. Defafaungh stands

there alone, like the mountains Taka, an island, as it were, in an

extensive and dry basin.

At noon we sailed past the rocky hill, four or five hundred feet

high, and went W.S.W. without my having seen through the telescope

the ruins and pyramids (Taralib) of brick (Top ahmer), supposed to be

there. At all events, I shall take care to lie to here on our return

voyage. Soon after appeared, on the left shore, a hamlet consisting

of about twenty huts, shaped of bee-hives. The people did not shew

themselves, because the good name of the Turks has spread even thus

far. The mountain is seen, from the raised deck of the cabin, rising

in the landscape; and we perceive a grassy marsh-island extending

from the right shore, in the form of an arch, into the river, and

forcing it into a direction W.S.W. In this inlet lies the village

I have mentioned, and immediately afterwards a second one. Suliman

Kashef had spied out something with his eagle eyes: he went ashore

to seize some sheep, whilst shots were fired in the air to frighten

the owners. We all followed his good example.

At five o’clock we sailed from hence W., and then W.N.W.; made

three miles, and followed the course of the river to S.W. As the

sun sets, we seem to sail through a blooming park. On the right

shore are isolated dark tamarinds, shining like gold, magnificent

masses of creepers, and bowers of flowers on a green, grass ground,

the blooming lotus shining through them. We extend our gaze across

this island over the country, on the right shore, and perceive only a

few tamarinds. The sun having already set, we turn to W.N.W. The sky,

somewhat clouded, throws splendid masses of shadow, completing the

charming landscape, upon the island, round which the ships moved in

a line, grazing its cheerful verdure. On the right shore the interior

country is somewhat elevated, a circumstance which we noticed at the

abovenamed rocks. Whilst our vessel sails N.W., the others before

us double the bend of the left shore; towards the S.

Night appears; the river turns again N.W., and the north wind, though

scarcely blowing, drives us towards the left, against a vessel,

strenuous rowing being unable to prevent this misfortune. Contention

between soldiers and sailors: no subordination, no nautical skill. The

ships strike every moment one against the other; then follows an

intolerable running here and there of the crew—pushing, throwing

down, hoisting, and bawling; in short, a frightful hurly-burly,

because one wants to sail before the other; and my indifferent

tailor-captain remains quietly at his labour, and sews so much the

more industriously! The Kurd Abdu Elliàb gives himself airs in vain;

although he had told me shortly before this, that no officer in the

whole regiment was so feared as himself, yet the soldiers will not

listen to him, but fight with the sailors. I, for my part, can do

nothing since Feizulla Capitan, who had nominated me, in his absence,

as his Wakil (deputy), was on board. At last we proceeded again till

twelve o’clock at night.

_4th December._—An hour before sunrise, we advanced, with a

N.E. wind, S.S.W., without sails; halted here and there to wait

for two ships tarrying behind, which had run upon the very shallow

ground on the right side of the river, and were obliged to put back

in order to get into the course of the stream; it was 15° Reaumur:

from nine to towards eleven o’clock S.W. On the right two villages,

with huts like beehives, at which we saw three Sürtuks (periaguas)

raised on a tree. In the forest we perceive many Shilluks, who seem

to look upon us as neither enemies nor as friends. Immediately above

this we lay-to at the left shore, to wait for the two ships which we

now saw at a distance. There are no sunt-trees here; on the contrary,

several luxurious tamarinds, which thrive in a damp soil. The Nile

is at this place more than two hours’ broad, including the Grass

Islands. At twelve o’clock, again towards the W., then W.N.W.,

and at 1 o’clock S.W., which direction we followed till sunset at

six o’clock in the evening, and with a very faint breeze.

On the right shore the more elevated land was planted with isolated

dark green tamarinds, a lively contrast to the blue sky; the left

displayed at a distance a bare high shore, on the margin of which

stood a few trees, and before them a grassy sea extended, so that

the river has, with this, a breadth of an hour and a half. The

rapidity of the stream was so inconsiderable here, that the log

gave no result. A shining, white, water-road lay before us; yet,

from a calm having set in, we could only advance but slightly with

rowing. The venomous gnats which, as well as large camel-flies and

small wasps, have made their appearance these three days, become more

abundant, and are said to be found in such quantities further south,

that we shall neither be able to eat, drink, nor sleep.

CHAPTER V.

A STORM. — TOKULS OR HUTS OF THE SHILLUKS. — THE TALLE, A

SPECIES OF MIMOSA. — THE GEÏLID. — THE BAMIE. — UEKA. —

WILD RICE. — OMMOS. — THE SHILLUKS A LARGER NATION THAN THE

FRENCH! — IMMENSE POPULATION ON THE BANKS OF THE WHITE ARM OF THE

NILE. — THE HABAS OR FORESTS. — A TURKISH JEST! — LEECHES. —

DISEMBARKATION ON THE LAND OF THE SHILLUKS. — DESCRIPTION OF

THE TOKULS. — CONDUCT OF THE BEDOUINS TOWARDS THE PILGRIMS TO

MECCA. — THE MURHAKA. — MANNER OF CATCHING GAZELLES. — SÜRTUKS

OR CANOES OF THE SHILLUKS. — REFUSAL OF THE KING OF THIS NATION TO

VISIT THE VESSELS. — TREATMENT OF HIS AMBASSADORS AT KHARTUM. —

THE BAOBAB TREE. — DHELLEB PALMS. — WINDINGS OF THE RIVER. —

OSTRICHES. — HILLS OF ASHES OF THE DINKAS. — RIVER SOBAB.

5th December.—We had cast anchor yesterday evening in the middle

of the river, partly to prevent our being surprised by the natives,

and partly because landing was impossible, for the shores were a

mere swamp far and wide. The calm continued during night; but, before

daybreak, such a storm suddenly set in, that the ships, dragging after

them the anchors, were slung round, and ran one against the other,

when abuse and blustering on the side of the captain as well as of the

crew vied even with the tempest. It was fortunate that the morning

broke, and that the Habùb changed into a good N.E. wind, enabling

us, for the first time, to make six miles in the hour. The depth of

water was in the night five fathoms and a half, and the rapidity of

the river half a mile. The ships presented a beautiful sight on the

smooth water territory, which, being of a dazzling purple colour,

from the reflection of the clouds driving from the north, drew them

along like two mighty serpents through a green sea of floating grass.

At six o’clock this morning, several villages were seen on the

left shore in the land of the Shilluks. I counted twelve or fifteen

close to one another; and in half an hour afterwards again eighteen

or twenty, the last of which we passed about nine o’clock. We have

still six miles to make, and go W.S.W. for a short time; then again

in the main direction of S.W., where groups of Tokuls, joined to

one another, continue on the left shore, and lie on the old bank of

the river. The Arabs say that this is the capital of the Shilluks,

and is called Dennap. The latter word means, however, the tail of an

animal, and is therefore applied by them to the length of the row of

Tokuls, as being analogous, although the name, properly speaking, is

Kak. The structure of the huts is the same as that of the Tokuls in

Beled-Sudán, with this difference, that the roofs are not conical,

but arched.

Now, at ten o’clock, whilst the river is winding towards the south,

I remark, on the left shore, at about an hour and a half distant, a

large village, connected probably with the others, which are concealed

only by trees. Before it lies an extensive marshy meadow-land. On

the right shore is displayed a yellow line of the dry high grass,

because, owing to its height, the shore here is less exposed to

inundations. The channel of the river receives through this course

of the genuine shore an enlargement scarcely to be defined, whilst

the trees of the old left bank extend in a narrow close line, which,

at this moment, (half-past six o’clock,) is certainly two hours

long. The right shore continues flat, and forms, like the left, an

immeasurable grassy sea, the limits of which cannot be distinguished

even from the highest point of the vessel; for the isolated yellow

tracks, though almost imperceptible, may be likewise little fertile

elevations in the marsh land, tamarinds being scattered right

and left. The stream covering all these grasses, which are but of

young growth, must have formed here, therefore, a short time ago,

a regular lake.

In the low ground lying close to the river, which the tamarinds I

saw yesterday shew to be dark marsh ground, I, for the first time,

examined closely, a kind of mimosa, called talle, distinguished by

its reddish rind from the whitish rind of the tamarind, the boughs

of which are twisted nearly like those of oaks. The rind of the

talle-tree is used like that of the geïlid, to be burnt as a perfume:

a little also, grated, and strewn on the merissa, gives it a piquant

flavour. The geïlid is in its whole form like the pear-tree, only

its leaves are smaller, and the esculent fruit is similar to an olive.

Towards eleven o’clock we sailed S.E. On the left hand a regular

lotus-sea extended to the right shore. The lotus must, no doubt,

have once existed in Egypt in similar exuberance amongst analogous

circumstances of marshy soil, before it could have been reckoned among

the means of subsistence. The yellow colour which I at first took for

dry reeds, proceeded from the dry stalks of the bamie (called Uèka),

which cover the land, elevated about four feet on the right shore,

to an immeasurable distance, and suffer no other plants to rise

among them, as they grow quite close. The fruit, here very small

and rough, had, without being gathered, burst altogether from the

husks. At noon we proceeded Eastward, and the N.E. wind drove some

of the vessels into the stream towards the shore on the other side,

so that we were obliged to have recourse to towing; then arose the

usual contention about precedence.

At one o’clock we lay-to at the Bamien shore. The soil is tolerably

good, and black, though strongly mixed with sand; and the few

geïlid trees upon it have acquired an unwonted strength. Numerous

nests of sparrows and finches were perched on the dry stalks of the

bamie, and feed on its seeds. This uèka is plucked whilst green,

cut through, and dried, ground fine in the hand-mill (Murhàka),

and serves throughout the country for broth to the farinaceous

food. There were four villages in our neighbourhood, and we observed

palms at about an hour distant.

At two o’clock we left this place, and had recourse again to

Libàhn, however unwillingly the crew betook themselves to this

towing. Further on we descried villages, and as far as the eye could

reach, the land was all covered with uèka, fields of which sloped

with a gentle descent to the river, though the young plants had been

invisible, till the present time, upon the parts already dry. It does

not appear to me probable that these fields have been sown by the

hand of man, for otherwise the old stalks would have been removed,

unless they are left to protect the young plants from the heat of the

sun, till they are able to cover the ground with their own foliage;

for artificial irrigation is not to be thought of here. The Dinkas,

who inhabit these regions, as well as the Shilluks, on the left shore,

besides living on corn (Durra and Doghen), feed on the fruit of the

geïlid, frequently met with here, and on the seeds of the various

species of high grass, denominated, so significantly, “Children

of Grass” (Genna el Gesh), to which also a kind of wild rice (Rus

Suhillkai) belongs. They also feed on cattle, sheep, and goats,

and do not despise the flesh of the crocodile, or the hippopotamus.

In the afternoon our course was generally S.E. From the deck two

rivers are seen, which join and separate, whilst meandering through

the indefinitely extended green grass lake. At five o’clock we

directed our course W.S.W., and the lingering north wind setting in,

allowed us to make use of our sails. The wild bamies still continue,

intermixed here and there with Ommòs (Italian Ceci), a sweet fruit,

with a pod, much liked in Egypt. On the right shore, otherwise bare,

we see here and there a tree, and an arm of the stream stretches

far into the land.

Towards sunset the sky was somewhat clouded, but so much the more

magnificent appeared the broad tranquil river, expanding before us,

and in which our ships were reflected, as in a mirror, whilst solitary

small islands floated around us in all the lustre of green and

gold. The left shore is covered with trees, and the horizon bounded

by solitary huts. We halt when it becomes calm; but at my persuasion,

take to our oars till we come up to Suliman Kashef’s vessel. About

nine o’clock we sail S.W. with the N.E. wind blowing up, and make,

up to half-past one o’clock, three miles in the hour. Southwards

till the evening. Depth of the stream, in the middle of which we

anchored, four fathoms.

_6th December._—At day-break S.W. by S., five miles. At some

distance from the left shore villages, said to continue in an unbroken

line, on account of which the Kurd thinks that the Shilluks are a

larger nation than the French. An enormous meadow land lies in the

water before the river’s edge, upon which tokuls are observed,

at not quite an hour’s distance, called Biut (from Beit-House),

because these huts, as it is said, are somewhat different in form from

those commonly met with in the land of Sudàn. The right shore joins

the horizon in a wide creek, and approaches us again at half-past

eight o’clock, when we are sailing S.W., whilst the villages on

the deserted ancient shores, extend from west to south. The large

villages of the Dinkas appear now on the right bank, with a marshy

foreground of three quarters of an hour in breadth, having a very

monotonous appearance, and being almost without a tree. Opposite lie

two large villages, honoured with the name of Helle (City), upon

gently elevated downs, in an elliptical arch. The larger city may

contain about one hundred tokuls, and is said, according to Selim

Capitan, to be called Minianàk. Immediately afterwards four other

villages appeared; the projecting wood did not permit us to discover

any others that there might have been. The bare shore of the Dinkas

is enlivened by six large villages, and a seventh appeared on the

horizon S.S.W.: they lie an hour and a half distant from the water,

and certainly the enormous Bamian field, by its slightly undulating

form, concealed from our sight yesterday many villages. Here also,

as among the Shilluks, it is said that Helles join one to the other in

a line, for the space of several days’ journey. Four miles course,

and half a mile the rapidity of the current. The villages on the

right shore lie generally higher than those on the left.

There is certainly no river in the world the shores of which are,

for so great a distance, so uninterruptedly covered with habitations

of human beings. We cannot conceive whence so many people derive their

nourishment. There are some negroes on the left shore, lying without

any clothing on them, in the grass; therefore the ground cannot be

covered to any height with water. They made gestures, and greeted us

with uplifted arms; but our people thought that we could not trust

such a friendly welcoming, for they might have concealed their spears

in the grass, in which, perhaps, a whole troop of men were hidden.

Neither these Shilluks nor the Jengähs, up the river, possess horses

or camels, but merely sheep and cows. When they take a horse or camel

from the Turks, they do not kill it—probably not eating the flesh

of these animals,—but put out its eyes as a punishment for having

brought the enemy into their country. Those animals, being introduced

from Asia, may indeed, with difficulty, withstand the marshy nature of

this land, as may be inferred from what usually takes place in Taka,

where, on account of their great mortality during the damp season,

they are driven to the more elevated parts (Gallas). Whether a kind

of animal worship lies under their not killing these beasts, I do

not venture to determine. Towards the south the shores contract,

and the villages also approach nearer to the river.

At half-past nine o’clock the left bank, close at hand, presented

a real forest of tamarinds, which also traverses the lower covered

pasture-land, or follows, in an irregular form, the newer line

of the shore, caused by the descent of the stream. An incredible

number of birds appear on all sides; these airy attendants of

the marshes devour terrestrial animals, which perish through the

overflow of water, and would otherwise entirely poison the air,

as in Egypt. The trees, standing singly, are, for the most part,

quite white, from the excrement of the birds, and naturally die

away. On the old undulating left shore are as many as eight villages;

to the left hand, two long rows of the peaks of tokuls, distant,

perhaps, about two hours’ journey; those on the right hand being

half an hour from our course. The old banks, however, do not come

close to the river, as we at first thought, but appear to have their

main direction towards S.W. The stream winds in two arms through the

grass, marshy meadow-land, which is at least two hours’ in breadth,

and seems once to have formed the bed of the primitive stream. The

right shore is bare, without trees, and possibly, from its higher

situation, prevents the Nile from producing any green land. On the

contrary, we see in the hollow on the right hand, five or six heads

of palms, appearing to be dome-palms.

About twelve o’clock, we remark in the bare horizon, on the left

hand, nine villages of the Dinkas; and on the right, immediately

behind the trees of the low country, generally on a level with the

river, only raised here and there, seven villages of the Shilluks,

on the borders of the green vegetation lying in front of them. The

meadows before these villages are skirted indeed by trees, but

between them, and in the background, no vegetation, except copsewood

on parched grass-land, is discerned; whereas on the right shore,

where the villages may be from two to two hours’ and a half from

us, not a tree is to be seen on the enormous grass plain,—not even

near the huts themselves. We sail S.W., half-past twelve o’clock,

where to the right of the left shore, some groups of huts extend

in a bamien field, which is already parched, and bounded in the

back-ground by trees in full verdure. When the inundation takes place,

it is impossible that these huts can be inhabited, from their low

situation. An island, with two hills, extends to the right side of

the shore.

Whilst Suliman Kashef’s vessel was making a bend before us, in

order to sail on the other side, Feïzulla Capitan, who was standing

aloft, on the cabin, determined to keep on his course. Suliman

Kashef no sooner remarks this, than he sends two shots at Feïzulla

Capitan, so close that I myself, who was standing before the door

of the cabin, heard the balls whistle. The latter remained quietly

standing, although, according to his own assertion, as well as that

of the sailors who were aloft repairing the sails, the balls flew by

within a hand’s breadth of his head: he merely said, “Malesh—hue

billàb” (it is nothing—he is jesting). Feïzulla also shot twice;

pointing, however, the gun in an opposite direction, that so Suliman

Kashef might see that he took the friendly greeting as a Turkish joke,

and being a bad shot did not dare to aim at him.

On the left side of the river, six small villages, of from twenty

to fifty huts, between groves of sunt-wood; at the right side,

in the distant horizon, ten villages, some of them long and large,

and having treeless, immeasurable, Nile-meadows before them. We see

also now on the left shore, behind the trees, habitations as far as

which the water appears to reach. Therefore the river, including the

marshes under water, which are its limits, must be at least three

hours’ broad. The villages denoting best the direction of the

old shore, and between which the present stream arbitrarily winds,

extend now (about two o’clock) from east to west. We counted in

the space of an hour, seventeen large and small villages.

We sail S.S.E. into an arm of the Nile, which continues to become

narrower, and where we at last stick fast on the grass, for it

contracted itself to the length of our bark. Happily the river here

is not so deep but that we could make use of our long poles, whilst

the wind helped us, in some measure, to break through this short

passage. We did this in order to gain a wider arm in W.S.W. and S.W.,

wherein the principal stream seems to flow, the water, shortly before,

being entirely stagnant. The sailors, who had jumped into the water

on this little error in our course, came again on board with leeches

sticking to their bodies, the first and only ones I have seen in

the land of Sudàn.