=TRAVELS=
IN
_AFRICA, &c._
[Illustration: _L-Mayer. del._
_J-Neagle Sct._
_An ancient Egyptian Temple complete, from the Description of Strabo._]
=TRAVELS=
IN
_AFRICA,
EGYPT, AND SYRIA,_
FROM THE YEAR 1792 TO 1798.
* * * * *
By W. G. BROWNE.
* * * * *
_LONDON:_
PRINTED FOR T. CADELL JUNIOR AND W. DAVIES, STRAND; AND
T. N. LONGMAN AND O. REES, PATERNOSTER-ROW.
1799.
=PREFACE.=
* * * * *
IF the desire of literary fame were the chief motive for submitting
to public notice the following sheets, the writer is not so far
blinded by self-love, as not to be conscious of having failed of
his object. The simple narrative of a journey is perhaps as little a
proper source of reputation for elegance of composition, as a journey
of the kind described is in itself of the pleasures of sense. But the
present, from various circumstances, comprehends so small a portion
of what might be expected from the observations of several years,
that he has been often disposed to give it a different title.
The retrospect on the events of his life which are briefly mentioned
in the ensuing pages, offers him a mixed sensation. The hopes with
which he undertook the voyage, even without being very sanguine,
contrasted with the disappointment with which he now sits down to
relate its occurrences, allow him little satisfaction from what has
been executed. He feels, however, some confidence of not experiencing
severe censure when his design shall be understood. The work is not
offered as elaborate or perfect. The account of Dar-Fûr fills up a
vacancy in the geography of Africa; and of a country so little known,
the information obtained should not be estimated by its quantity,
but by its authenticity. Sitting in a chamber in Kahira or Tripoli,
it is easy to give a plausible account of Northern Africa, from
Sennaar and Gondar to Tombuctoo and Fez. It would not be difficult
even to sanction it by the authority of the Jelabs. These people are
never at a loss whatever question is asked them, and if they know
not the name of the place inquired for, they recollect some other
place of a name a little resembling it in sound, and describe what
they never heard of by what they know. With regard to manners they
are as little to be relied on. Ask but a leading question, and all
the miracles of antiquity, of dogheaded nations, and men with tails,
will be described, with their situation, habits, and pastimes.
But their descriptions, when given without the smallest appearance
of interested views, if verified on the spot, are constantly found
defective or erroneous.
The writer is aware, that when the length of the time he passed in
Dar-Fûr is considered, the short account here given will appear,
to persons accustomed to the busy scenes of Europe, but very
imperfectly to fill up the void. Confiding, however, that those
of more reflection and experience in travelling, will be better
pleased with a short and clear narrative of what really happened,
than by frivolous anecdotes or remarks, inserted merely to swell the
size of the volume, he has contented himself with extracting from
his journal the principal occurrences during his residence there,
and giving them the connection required; at the same time omitting
nothing that could any way contribute to throw light on the state
of the country, or character of the inhabitants.
A more creative imagination would have drawn more animated pictures;
a mind more disposed to observation would have collected more facts
and incidents; and a more vigorous intellect would have converted
those facts and incidents into materials of more interesting and
more striking investigation. The descriptions would have been more
impressive, and the deductions more profound.
The present work has the merit of being composed from observations
made in the places and on the subjects described. But the praise
of fidelity, the only one to which the writer lays claim, cannot be
received till another shall have traced his footsteps.
With respect to Egypt a greater number of persons may be found
who are qualified to decide, and there is not the same reason for
suspension of judgment.
Without pretending to any extraordinary sources of information,
the writer hopes, that what is here said will afford some little
satisfaction to those who wish for the latest information concerning
that country. He arrogates not to himself the praise of augmenting
greatly the sum of knowlege already to be found in books; but very
widely dispersed, and within the reach of comparatively few persons.
Innumerable books have been written on Egypt, but none of them, in
our language, can pretend to a popular plan. Those of Pococke and
Norden are most known to ourselves—valuable works for all that
concerns the antiquities, and they are by no means superseded. The
form and price, however, at this time keep them out of the hands of
the greater number.
Niebuhr’s writings require not an additional testimony of their
value; but the professed object of his voyage was Arabia; and the
account of Egypt is only incidental.
Volney and Savary are in the public hands, and no attempt shall be
made to influence its judgment of their works. The talents of the
former are well known; but he saw the East with no favourable eye;
and his manner in speaking of Egypt will be found materially different
from that here adopted.
Of Syria the Author could expect to say little that is new, after
the numberless descriptions which have already been published,
and he has accordingly used great rapidity in his narrative.
In Kahira, the sources of information are few and scanty. A traveller
may remain there many months, without finding his ideas of the
country, or its inhabitants, much more clear or precise.
The Europeans, there immured as prisoners, may be reasonably excused
for hastening their commercial advantages, and, whenever unengaged
by that object, for amusing themselves in trying to forget the place
in which their ill fortune has obliged them to reside. Those who
are found there, with every disposition to accommodate strangers,
and receiving them always with complacency and kindness, are yet,
with few exceptions, not of the order of men most able to generalize
their ideas, and avail themselves to the utmost of the information
which accident throws in their way.
The Greeks, whose inquisitive turn, and more intimate connexion
with the people at large and with the government, make them more
familiar with characters and occurrences, rarely represent things
as they really are, but as they feel them, or would have them to
be. Where their report is not entirely imaginary, their portraits
are like those of _Lely_, all adorned with nicely-combed locks and
a fringed neckcloth. They mark no character, but as it appears to
their prejudices; give no history that is not interlarded with their
own fables; and describe no place but in the vague and superficial
manner that satisfies their own ignorance.
The Copts who, it might be supposed, would be accurately informed
of all that relates to the government and history of the country,
have no sentiment of antient glory, and are wholly immersed in gain
or pleasure.
Settled in the composure of ignorance, they cannot conceive the
motive of minute inquiries; and timid and reserved, they fear to
discover even what they know.
The more liberal among the Mohammedan ecclesiastics, may be safely
consulted for what concerns literature and the laws, and some few of
them are communicative; but in general they despise strangers, and do
not readily answer questions not of the most ordinary occurrence. On
the whole, the most intelligent and communicative among the people
of Kahira are the Mohammedan merchants, of a certain rank, who have
visited various parts of the empire, and who have learned to think
that all wisdom is not confined to one country or one race of men;
and who having been led to mix, first by necessity and then by
choice, with various nations, preserve their attachment to their
own persuasion, without thinking all the rest of mankind _dogs_
and _accursed_.
The general design of the Writer, as will be seen in the sequel,
was of such a nature, that, without being extremely sanguine, he
might have hoped to execute a considerable part of it. His prospects
the first year were darkened by an unexpected disappointment on
his arrival at Assûan; concerning which he may say, without any
disposition to complaint, that he felt it severely. Another winter
furnished him with a little more information and more experience:
but still, as he afterwards unfortunately discovered, by no means
all that was necessary to his purpose.
He might have appeared in Dar-Fûr as a Mohammedan, if he had known
that the character was necessary to his personal security, or to his
unrestrained passage; but, from the accounts he received in Kahira,
among the people of Soûdan no violent animosity was exhibited
against Christians. The character of the converts to Mohammedism,
among the black nations, was, according to the general voice of the
Egyptians who travelled among them, mild and tolerant. A disposition
so generally acknowleged, that the more zealous among the latter
are little scrupulous in honouring them with the appellation of
_Caffre_. His surprise therefore was not inconsiderable at finding,
on his arrival, that an unbeliever in the infallibility of the
Korân was more openly persecuted, and more frequently insulted,
than in Kahira itself.
The information received, previously to his departure in 1793,
taught the writer to expect, from having chosen the route of what is
called the Soudân Caravan, the choice of a free passage to Sennaar,
which would, without much doubt, have secured him an entrance into
_Habbesh_, under the conduct of the Fungni, who trade there: for the
Fûrian monarch, had his favour not been withdrawn in consequence
of false insinuations, would readily have accorded a safe-conduct
through Kordofân, which was all that circumstances required. The
being removed a few weeks journey too far to the Westward, was
no objection, when he reflected on the confusion then reigning at
Sennaar, and that in proportion as the road he took was indirect,
the less suspicion would be entertained of him as a Frank, the
greater experience he must acquire among the people of the interior,
and the more easily he might be suffered to pass as a mere trader.
He had been taught, that the expeditions in quest of slaves,
undertaken by the people of Fûr and its neighbourhood, extended
often forty or more days to the Southward. This, at the lowest
computation, gave a distance of five degrees on a meridian, and
the single hope of penetrating so much farther Southward than any
preceding traveller, was worth an effort to realize. He owns, he
did not then foresee all the inconveniences of being exposed, on
the one hand, to the band of plunderers whom he was to accompany,
and on the other, to the just resentment of the wretched victims
whom they were to enthral. Perhaps those very evils were magnified
greatly beyond their real value by the Fûrians to whom he applied,
and who were predetermined not to allow him to pass.
Another inducement to this route was, that part of it was represented
to lie along the banks of the _Bahr-el-abiad_, which he had always
conceived to be the true Nile, and which apparently no European had
ever seen. To have traced it to its source was rather to be wished
than expected; but he promised himself to reach a part of it near
enough to that source, to enable him to determine in what latitude
and direction it was likely to exist. It is unnecessary to observe,
that, had either of these objects been realized, much interesting
matter must have occurred in the course of the route. He could not
in the sequel discover that the armed expeditions of the Fûrians
extend to any high reaches of the Bahr-el-abiad.
Another object, perhaps in the eyes of some the most important of the
three, was to pass to one or more of the extended and populous empires
to the Westward. Africa, to the North of the Niger, as is certified
from the late discoveries, is almost universally Mohammedan; and to
have been well received among one of the nations of that description,
would have been a strong presumption in favour of future efforts. He
expected in that road to have seen part of the _Niger_, and even
though he had been strictly restrained to the direct road from
_Dar-Fûr_ through _Bernou_ and thence to _Fezzan_ and _Tripoli_,
an opportunity must have offered of verifying several important
geographical positions, and observing many facts worthy remembrance
relative to commerce and general manners; or, if those designs had
entirely failed, at least of marking a rough outline of the route,
and facilitating the progress of some future traveller.
So fixed was his intention of executing some one of these plans, that
near three years of suffering were unable to abate his resolution;
and the pain he endured at being ultimately compelled to relinquish
them, had induced him to neglect the only opportunity that was
likely to offer of personal deliverance, till the destitution of
the means of living roused him from his lethargy; and the ridicule
of his Mohammedan friends, who, fatalists as they are, yield to
circumstances, instructed him that to despair was weakness and not
fortitude; and that the frail offspring of hope, nursed by credulity,
and not by prudence, marks the morbid temperament of the mind that
conceived it.
The following papers would perhaps have been something less imperfect,
if what was originally committed to writing had been altogether
within the reach of the writer, when he began to prepare them
for publication. Two accidents, however, both equally unforeseen,
rendered abortive his hope of compensating in some measure for the
general failure in his design, by greater exactness and detail as
to the particulars of what he had actually seen.
The losses he had sustained in Soudân, were not very important,
comprising only some specimens of minerals, vegetables, and other
cumbrous materials, which he designed to have brought with him. On
his arrival in Kahira, he thought it would be an impediment, in
his journey through Syria, to transport all he possessed thither,
and therefore caused the greater part of his baggage to be sent to
Alexandria; among which were copies of such papers as he thought
least unfit for the use of a third person. In the number he regrets a
register of the caravans which had arrived in Kahira from Fûr since
the year of Hejira 1150, containing an account of their numbers,
and many other curious particulars; copied from a book belonging to
the shech of the slave-market in Kahira.
A kind of general itinerary, in the hand-writing of a Jelab of his
acquaintance, containing the roads of Eastern Africa.
A vocabulary of the Fûrian language, compiled by himself.
Some remarks on natural history.
List of names of places both in Egypt and Fûr, written by an Arab.
The detail of particulars relating to the time and manner of his
observations in Astronomy, with other remarks tending to illustrate
the geography of his route.
To return to a few considerations on the present intercourse between
Egypt and Abyssinia.
Towards the close of the year 1796, I was told by the Coptic
patriarch, that for the preceding nine years or more, no communication
had taken place between Egypt and Abyssinia. Two men pretending
to be priests of that country, came in 1793 to Kahira, but it
was afterwards discovered that they were either not Abyssins, or
fugitives, and without authority or commission. The interception of
their intercourse by land might be caused by the unsettled state of
_Sennaar_ and _Nubia_. Slaves from Abyssinia are usually brought by
the Red Sea from _Mâsuah_ to Jidda, and many of them are sold in
Mecca, though but few reach Kahira by way of Cossîr and Suez. Gold
sometimes comes to market by the same route, and the Abyssins are
thence supplied with such foreign commodities as they stand in
need of.
To the slaves of Habbesh no very marked preference is shewn in
Egypt. They are more beautiful than those of Soudân; but the price
of the two kinds, _cæteris paribus_, is nearly the same.
A priest of the Propaganda, a native of Egypt, and consequently
possessing every advantage of language and local knowlege,
during my absence to the Southward, had endeavoured to penetrate
into Abyssinia. Having reached Sennaar, he was dissuaded by the
people of that city from attempting to proceed. Unmindful of their
representations he prosecuted his journey, but was assassinated
between _Sennaar_ and _Teawa_.
The Propagandists had a single missionary, a native of _Habbesh_,
at _Gondar_, and styled _Bishop of Adel_, but concealing himself
under the exterior of a physician. In 1796, the order at Kahira told
me that they had received no authentic intelligence concerning him
during several years preceding.
At Suez, March 1793, I met an Armenian merchant, who had formerly
traded to Abyssinia, and seemed a man of intelligence. He told me
that he was at Gondâr while Bruce was there, and that Yakûb was
universally talked of with praise. This merchant narrated of his own
accord the story of shooting a wax-candle through seven shields;
but when I asked him if Bruce had been at the Abyssinian source
of the Nile, he affirmed that he never was there. He observed that
Bruce had been appointed governor of _Râs-el-Fîl_, a province in
which Arabic is spoken. My informer added, that the Abyssins were
a gross ignorant people, and often ate raw flesh.
In Dar-Fûr a Bergoo merchant, named _Hadji Hamâd_, who had long
resided in Sennaar, and was in Bruce’s party from Gondar to Sennaar,
said that _Yakûb_ had been highly favoured in the Abyssinian court,
and lived splendidly. He was often observing the stars, &c. Both
my informers agreed that he had been governor of Râs-el-Fîl; and
both, that he had never visited the Abyssinian source of the Nile,
esteemed the real one in that ignorant country.
An Englishman under the name of Robarts came to Alexandria in 1788,
and after a short stay proceeded to Kahira. His intention was, it is
said, to have penetrated into Abyssinia by way of Massuah. While at
Kahira he applied repeatedly to the Coptic Patriarch for a letter
from him to the head of the Abyssin church; with which the latter,
under various pretences, constantly refused to furnish him. He
continued at Kahira several months, and afterwards found his way to
_Moccha_. Repeated attempts were made by him to execute his projected
voyage to the opposite territory, but all without success. The persons
from whom I received this information, and who, as would seem, derived
it from his own authority, assured me that he had encountered almost
insurmountable obstacles, and been obliged to submit even to personal
indignities. They allowed too that this gentleman was far from being
unqualified for the enterprize, in judgment, experience, or physical
force. The same persons acquainted me that he had afterwards advanced
to the Mogul peninsula, and had accompanied the British troops,
during two campaigns, against the usurper of Mysore, in various parts
of the peninsula. He even returned to Alexandria after the treaty of
Seringapatam; and at that place, being attacked by an acute disease,
breathed his last in the Franciscan convent there established. More
authentic and interesting materials respecting this traveller, may
possibly have reached this country. Yet I thought it not improper
to mention these few particulars, which may tend to illustrate the
nature of a voyage to Abyssinia.
The errors in African geography are numerous, and proceed from
various causes. Among those causes, however, are particularly to
be enumerated,
That the same province has often one name in the language of that
province, and another in Arabic. Of the places called indiscriminately
_Fertît_ by the Arabs, each little district has an appropriate name.
Again, the name of a small province is occasionally taken for a
large one, and _vice versâ_. _Bahr_ is applied to a great lake,
as well as to a river. _Dar_ is a kingdom, and is sometimes applied
to a village, and often to a district.
_Fûr_ seems to be an Arabic name, signifying in that tongue a _Deer_;
and, it may be conjectured, has been applied to that people in the
same sense as _Towshân_, a hare, is by the Turks to the natives
of the Greek islands—from the rapidity of their flight before the
Mohammedan conquerors.
Nothing can well be more vague than the use of the word _Soudan_
or _Sûdan_. Among the Egyptians and Arabs _Ber-es-Soudan_ is the
place where the caravans arrive, when they reach the first habitable
part of Dar-Fûr: but that country seems its eastern extremity;
for I never heard it applied to Kordofân or Sennaar. It is used
equally in Dar-Fûr to express the country to the West; but on the
whole seems ordinarily applied to signify that part of the land of
the blacks nearest Egypt.
An innovation as to the orthography of some proper names, it is
supposed, will not appear affected or improper, when the reason is
explained; as _Kahira_, _Damiatt_, _Rashîd_, for _Cairo_, _Damietta_,
_Rosetto_. It is of some use in appellatives to approximate to the
pronunciation of the natives, and there can be as little reason
for receiving Arabic names through the medium of the Italian, as
for adopting the French way of writing Greek ones, as _Denys_ for
_Dionysius_, and _Tite-Live_ for Titus Livius. Kahira and Rashîd
have each of them their proper meaning in Arabic.—In Italian they
have no meaning. The only rule observed has been, to bring back
proper names to the original pronunciation, as far as might be done
without obscurity.
Where a circumflex has been put over a vowel it is to denote its
length, or something exotic in the enunciation. An approach to
systematic regularity would have been attempted in expressing Arabic
words by Roman letters, but the author freely owns that no rule, at
once general in its use and simple and easy enough to be remembered,
has yet occurred to him. He has therefore added the original word,
wherever it could in any degree tend to illustration or precision.
The word _Turk_ is never applied to signify a professor of
Mohammedism, an indefinite mode of designation, that occasions
perpetual confusion in speaking of the affairs of the East. The
design was, to confine that term to the natives of Europe and Asia
Minor. _Arab_ is applied equally to the inhabitants of Syria, Egypt,
and the coast of Barbary, as well as to those of Arabia Proper,
whether villagers or wanderers. The wandering tribes are however
more frequently marked by the terms _Bedouin_ and _Muggrebin_.
The orthography of the word _Calif_ conveys no idea of the strong
guttural letter with which it commences; it is therefore here written
_Chalîf_, or more properly _Chalifé_. He is no stranger to the
Turkish word _Bek_ or _Beg_; but as those whose enunciation of
that language is esteemed most correct, but faintly articulate the
consonant which terminates it, he has retained the common orthography
_Bey_. In general, the original language is esteemed the criterion
of spelling; and if the same word be occasionally spelled in two
different ways, it is only because they are both equally near to
that original.
_Weights and Measures._
One _oke_ of Kahira = four hundred drams.
One _rotal_ = one hundred forty-four drams.
One _rotal_ silk of Syria = two hundred twenty-nine and a half
drams.
The Cantar is rotals = 102 — 105 — 110 — 120 — 130,
variable according to the commodity.
_Jewels, Gold, and Silver._
One kerât = 4 grains.
One dram or dirhem = 16 kerâts.
One mitkâl = 24 kerâts.
One wekîé = 8¼ drams.
_Measure of Cloth, &c._
Pike of Constantinople, called _Draa Stambuli_, Arab.;
Turk. _Hindazi_, is used for selling cloth and silk. It amounts
to twenty-seven inches.
Pike of Kahira, used for other articles = eighteen inches.
=CONTENTS.=
* * * * *
CHAP. I.
ALEXANDRIA.
_ANTIENT walls and ruins — The two ports — Reservoirs —
Vegetation — Antiquities — Population — Government — Commerce
— Manufactures — Anecdote of recent history._ Page 1
CHAP. II.
SIWA.
_Attempt to penetrate to the Temple of Jupiter Ammon — Route
and provisions — Animals of the desert — Occurrences on the
road — Description of Siwa — Antient edifice — Intercourse
with other countries — Produce and manners — Attempt to
penetrate farther into the desert — Return._ 14
CHAP. III.
FROM ALEXANDRIA TO RASHID.
_Abu-kîr — Fertility of the country — Description of Rashîd —
Journey to Terané — Fué, Deîrut, and Demenhûr._ 30
CHAP. IV.
TERANE AND THE NATRON LAKES.
_Government of Terané — Carlo Rossetti — The trade in natrôn —
Manners — Journey to the Lakes — Observations there — Remarks
on natrôn — Coptic convents and MSS. — Proceed to Kahira._ 36
CHAP. V.
KAHIRA.
_Topography — Government of Kahira and of Egypt — Pasha
and Beys — Mamlûks — Birth, education, dress, arms, pay —
Estimate of their military skill — Power and revenue of the
Beys — The Chalige — The NILE — Mosques, baths, and okals —
Houses — Manners and customs — Classes of people — Account of
the Copts._ 45
CHAP. VI.
KAHIRA.
_Commerce — Manufactures — Mint — Castle and well —
Misr-el-Attîké and antient mosque — Antient Babylon — Fostat
and Bûlak — Jizé — Tomb of Shafei — Pleasure-boats — Charmers
of serpents — Magic — Dancing girls — Amusements of Ramadân —
Coffee-houses — Price of provisions — Recent history of Egypt
— Account of the present Beys._ 74
CHAP. VII.
KAHIRA.
_Brief abstract of the history of Africa in general, and Egypt
in particular, under the domination of the Arabs._ 93
CHAP. VIII.
UPPER EGYPT.
_Design to penetrate into Habbesh or Abyssinia — Voyage on the
Nile — Description of Assiût — General course of the Nile —
Caverns — Kaw — Achmîm — Painted caverns — Jirjé or Girgi —
Dendera — Antient temple — Kous — Topography of Upper Egypt —
El-wah-el-Ghîrbi — Situation of the_ Oasis parva. 120
CHAP. IX.
UPPER EGYPT.
_Thebes — Site and antiquities — Painted caverns — Their
discovery and plan — Manners of the people of Thebes — Isna
— Fugitive Beys — Antiquities — Rain — Assûan or Syené —
Obstacles to farther progress — Return to Ghenné._ 134
CHAP. X.
JOURNEY TO COSSÎR ON THE RED SEA.
_Inducements and danger — Route — Account of Cossîr — Commerce
— Return by another route — Granite rocks, and antient road —
Marble quarries — Pretended canal — Earthen ware of Ghenné —
Murder of two Greeks, and subsequent report of the Author’s
death._ 143
CHAP. XI.
OCCURRENCES AT KAHIRA.
_Arrival of the Pasha — Death of Hassan Bey — Decline of
the French factory in Kahira — Expulsion of the Maronite
Christians from the Custom-house — Riot among the Galiongîs
— Obstructions of the canal of Menûf — Supply of fish in the
pools of Kahira — Expedition of Achmet Aga, &c._ 151
CHAP. XII.
ANTIENT EGYPTIANS.
_Their persons, complexion, &c._ 159
CHAP. XIII.
JOURNEY TO FEIUME.
_Tamieh — Canals — Feiume — Roses — Lake Mœris — Oasis parva —
Pyramids — of Hawara — of Dashûr — of Sakarra — of Jizé, or
the Great Pyramids — Antient Memphis — Egyptian capitals._ 167
CHAP. XIV.
JOURNEY TO SINAI.
_Route — Suez — Ships and ship-building — Trade — Scarcity of
water — Remains of the antient canal — Tûr — Mountains of red
granite — Description of Sinai — Eastern gulf of the Red Sea
— Return to Kahira._ 175
CHAP. XV.
JOURNEY TO DAR-FÛR,
A KINGDOM IN THE INTERIOR OF AFRICA.
_Design to penetrate into the interior of Africa —
Difficulties — Caravan from Soûdan or Dar-Fûr — Preparations
— Departure from Assiût — Journey to El-wah — Mountains
— Desert — Charjé in El-wah — Bulak — Beirîs — Mughes —
Desert of Sheb — Desert of Selimé — Leghéa — Natrôn spring —
Difficulties — Enter the kingdom of Fûr — Sweini — Detention
— Representations to the Melek — Residence — New difficulties
— Villany of Agent — Sultan’s letter — Enmity of the people
against Franks — El-Fasher — Illness — Conversations with the
Melek Misellim — Relapse — Robbery — Cobbé — Manners — Return
to El-Fasher — The Melek Ibrahim — Amusements — Incidents
— Audience of the Sultan Abd-el-rachmân-el-Rashîd — His
personal character — Ceremonies of the Court._ 180
CHAP. XVI.
DAR-FÛR.
_Residence with the Melek Mûsa — Dissimulation of the Arabs —
Incidents — Return to Cobbé — Endeavours to proceed farther
into Africa — Constrained to exercise medicine — Festival —
Punishment of Conspirators — Art of the Sultan — Atrocious
conduct of my Kahirine servant — At length an opportunity
of departure is offered, after a constrained residence in
Dar-Fûr of nearly three years._ 216
CHAP. XVII.
DAR-FÛR.
_Topography of Dar-Fûr, with some account of its various
inhabitants._ 234
CHAP. XVIII.
DAR-FÛR.
_On the mode of travelling in Africa — Seasons in Dar-Fûr_ —
ANIMALS — _Quadrupeds — Birds — Reptiles and insects — Metals
and minerals — Plants._ 246
CHAP. XIX.
DAR-FÛR.
_Government — History — Agriculture — Population — Building —
Manners, Customs, &c._ 276
CHAP. XX.
DAR-FÛR.
_Miscellaneous remarks on Dar-Fûr, and the adjacent countries._ 305
CHAP. XXI.
MEDICAL OBSERVATIONS.
_Psoropthalmia — Plague — Small-pox — Guinea worm — Scrophula
— Syphilis — Bile — Tenia — Hernia — Hydrocele — Hemorrhoides
and fistula — Apoplexy — Umbilical ruptures — Accouchemens —
Hydrophobia — Phlebotomy — Remedies — Remarks — Circumcision
— Excision._ 314
CHAP. XXII.
FINAL DEPARTURE FROM KAHIRA, AND JOURNEY TO JERUSALEM.
_Voyage down the Nile to Damiatt — Vegetation — Papyrus —
Commerce — Cruelty of the Mamlûk government — Voyage to
Yaffé — Description of Yaffé — Rama — Jerusalem — Mendicants
— Tombs of the kings — Bethlehem — Agriculture — Naplosa —
Samaria — Mount Tabor._ 351
CHAP. XXIII.
GALILEE — ACCA.
_Improvements by Jezzâr — Trade — Taxes — White Promontory,
and River Leontes — Tyre — Seide — Earthquake — Kesrawan —
Syrian wines — Beirût — Anchorage — Provisions — River Adonis
— Antûra — Harrîse — Tripoli — Ladakia — Journey to Aleppo,
or Haleb._ 366
CHAP. XXIV.
OBSERVATIONS AT HALEB.
_Sherîfs and Janizaries — Manufactures and commerce — Quarries
— Price of provisions — New sect — Journey to Antioch —
Description of antient Seleucia — Return to Haleb._ 384
CHAP. XXV.
JOURNEY TO DAMASCUS.
_Entrance of the Hadjîs — Topography of Damascus — Trade and
manufactures — Population — Observations on the depopulation
of the East — Government and manners of Damascus — Charitable
foundations — Anecdotes of recent history — Taxes — Price of
provisions — Sacred caravan._ 394
CHAP. XXVI.
_Journey from Damascus to Balbec — Syriac language — Balbec
— Recent discoveries — Zahhlé — Printing-office — Houses of
Damascus — Return to Aleppo._ 405
CHAP. XXVII.
_Journey from Aleppo towards Constantinople — Route — Aintâb —
Mount Taurus — Bostan — Inhabitants, their manners and dress
— Kaisarîa — Angora — Walls and antiquities — Angora goats —
Manufactures — Topography — Journey to Ismît — Topography —
General remarks concerning Anatolia or Asia Minor._ 410
CHAP. XXVIII.
_Observations at Constantinople — Paswân Oglo — Character of
the present Sultan — State of learning — Public libraries —
Turkish taste — Coals — Greek printing-house — Navy — Return
to England._ 419
CHAP. XXIX.
_Comparative view of life and happiness in the East and in
Europe._ 425
APPENDIX.
No. I. _Illustration of Maps_ Page 445
II. _Itineraries_ 451
III. _Meteorological Table_ 473
IV. _Remarks on the works of Savary and Volney_ 481
V. _Remarks on the recent French accounts of Egypt_ 486
VI. _Explanation of the plate facing page 286_ 495
=TRAVELS=
IN
_AFRICA,_
_EGYPT, AND SYRIA._
* * * * *
CHAP. I.
ALEXANDRIA.
_Antient Walls and Ruins — The two Ports — Reservoirs —
Vegetation — Antiquities — Population — Government — Commerce
— Manufactures — Anecdote of recent History._
THE transit from the coasts of Britain to those of Egypt was marked
by nothing that can interest or amuse, unless it be the contrast
between the phenomena of winter on the former, with those which
strike the view on approaching the latter. A sea voyage is always
tedious, except to the merchant and the mariner; and therefore,
though our’s was attended with every favourable circumstance,
and occupied no more than twenty-six days, there is scarcely any
thing relative to it that can afford entertainment in the recital. I
arrived in Egypt on the 10th of January 1792.
Alexandria now exhibits very few marks, by which it could be
recognized as one of the principal monuments of the magnificence
of the conqueror of Asia, the emporium of the east, and the chosen
theatre of the far-sought luxuries of the Roman Triumvir, and the
Egyptian queen. Its decay doubtless has been gradual; but fifteen
centuries, during which it has been progressive, have evinced its
antient opulence by the slowness of its fall.
The present walls are of Saracenic structure, and therefore can
determine nothing with respect to the antient dimensions of the
city[1]. They are lofty, being in some places more than forty
feet in height, and apparently no where so little as twenty. But,
though substantial and flanked with towers, they could offer no
resistance, unless it were against the Mamlûk cavalry, which alone
the inhabitants fear, and accordingly keep them in some repair. They
also furnish a sufficient security against the Bedouins, who live part
of the year on the banks of the canal, and often plunder the cattle
in the neighbourhood. The few flocks and herds, which are destined
to supply the wants of the city, are pastured on the herbage, of
which the vicinity of the canal favours the growth, and generally
brought in at night, when the two gates are shut; as they also are
whenever it is known that hostile tribes are encamped near them.
These Saracenic walls present nothing curious, except some ruinous
towers: and the only remain of the antient city worth notice is
a colonnade, near the gate leading to Rashîd, of which, however,
only a few columns remain; and what is called the amphitheatre on
the south east, a rising ground, whence is a fine view of the city
and port. Of the singular suburb styled Necropolis, or “The City
of the Dead,” no remain exists.
It cannot be supposed that the antient city should have occupied
only the small space contained within the present inclosure. The
pristine wall was certainly far more extensive than the present:
yet even of this only an inconsiderable portion between the two
ports is now filled with habitations.—What remains is laid out
in gardens, which supply such fruits and vegetables as are suited
to the climate and soil, and the natives are most accustomed to
use for food; or left waste, and serving as a receptacle for offal
and rubbish; being in part rendered unfit for culture by the ruins
which cover the surface to a considerable depth. For, though it be
not now possible to determine the antient boundaries of the city, or
to assign with precision the site of its more remarkable edifices,
these vestiges of former magnificence yet remain. Heaps of rubbish
are on all sides visible, whence every shower of rain, not to mention
the industry of the natives in digging, discovers pieces of precious
marble, and sometimes antient coins, and fragments of sculpture.
The harbour on the east, styled, I know not why, the new port,
which in all appearance could never have been a very good one,
from the rocky nature of the bottom, has the farther disadvantage
of partaking in the agitation of the sea when certain winds
prevail. The European vessels which frequent it are, however,
enabled, with some precautions, to lie at anchor securely, to the
number of about twenty. They are confined to this small space,
which bears no proportion to the whole extent of the harbour, by
the shallowness of the water, which seems in some degree the effect
of great quantities of ballast, that from time to time have been
discharged within its limits. The Government pays no regard to this
practice, which yet in the end must render the port useless. It is
currently reported in the place, and many marks yet exist to give
credibility to that report, as well as the design of Norden, which
so represents it, that the water, within the memory of persons now
living, reached the gate of the old custom-house; which I now find
removed many fathoms from the water’s edge. So that it would seem
the sea is retiring, and that nature, rather than any weaker agent,
has effected the change. The old port, allotted to the Mohammedans,
is spacious, though somewhat of less extent than the other. There is
throughout a depth of five or six fathom; and in many places more:
the anchorage is generally secure.
The city extends along a part of the isthmus and the peninsula; at the
eastern extremity of which is situated a fort, where it would seem
may formerly have stood the Pharos. This fort is now ruinous, and
is joined with the continent by a mole built of stone, and in which
are wrought arches, to weaken the effect of the water. It has been
sheltered by a wall on the west side, now also ruinous. The houses,
which are chiefly masonry, are commonly of more than one story,
and well adapted to the mode of living among the inhabitants. Though
rain occasionally fall in the autumn, a flat roof is found to answer
every purpose of security from the weather, and accordingly it is
the general form of the dwelling-houses.
Of the deep and capacious reservoirs, which preserved the water
of the Nile during the annual subsidence of that river, and of
which there was probably a series, continued from one to the other
extremity of the city, not more than seven remain fit for use. From
these the citizens are at this time supplied; and, as they are
some way removed from the inhabited quarter, a few of the poorer
class obtain a subsistence by drawing the water, and carrying it on
camels from house to house; and for each camel’s load they receive
four or five _paras_, about twopence. The roofs of these cisterns or
reservoirs are supported by massy timber. They have probably been thus
constructed at the beginning, as it is difficult to suppose that the
modern Alexandrians should entirely have changed so essential a part,
and have chosen to substitute wood for stone, in a place where the
former is extremely scarce, and the other very abundant.
The elevation of the city above the level of the sea is small;
and it seems very difficult to render it capable of offering any
formidable resistance to an external enemy.
The soil, wherever a vegetable mould is discoverable, is light, and
favourable to any kind of culture; but it has apparently been brought
there for the purpose, as the natural soil seems wholly unfit for
cultivation, being throughout either sand or stone. The orange and
lemon are found in the gardens here, but not in great quantities. The
dates are good, though not of the most esteemed kind. Yet they are
found the most profitable article that the owner of the ground can
cultivate. And accordingly these trees, with which the gardens
are filled, not only relieve the eye from the dry whiteness of
buildings, and the sandy soil; but well repay the owners for the
trouble required to manage them, and for the space they occupy to
the exclusion of almost every thing else. The greater number of
esculent herbs, or roots, that are common among us, may be raised
here, without any other difficulty than that of watering. The fruit
trees that I have remarked as peculiar to the place, are the nebbek
(_Paliurus Athenæi_) and the kishné (_Cassia Keshta_,) the latter
of which is also found in the West Indies. The former bears a small
fruit like the cherry in size, and having a stone of the same kind;
but very different in colour and flavour, which more resemble those
of the apple.
The chief monuments of antiquity remaining in any degree perfect,
are the column, usually but improperly termed of Pompey[2], and the
obelisk. On the former, not even so much of the inscription as Pococke
copied is now to be distinguished. There is also a sarcophagus or
chest of serpentine marble in the great mosque, which is used for
a cistern. It is of the same kind with that so minutely described
by Niebuhr, at Kallaat el Kabsh in Kahira, and seems to be almost
as rich in hieroglyphics. It has the additional advantage of being
entire, and little if at all injured by time. It is said, that one
of those who farmed the customs some years since, on retiring from
Egypt, had negociated for the removal of this precious monument of
antiquity, on board of an European vessel, with the intention of
carrying it as a present to the Emperor of Germany. On the night
when it was to be embarked, however, the secret being disclosed,
the citizens clamorously insisted that the property of the mosque
was inviolable. The projected removal was accordingly relinquished,
and the chest has ever since been watched with uncommon vigilance,
so that it is now difficult for an European even to obtain a sight
of it; which must be my excuse for not having been more minute in my
description of a monument that seems not to have been particularly
observed by former travellers.
The population consists of Mohammedans of various nations; Greeks
in considerable number, who have a church and convent, containing
only three or four religious, but agreeably situated on the highest
ground among the gardens; Armenians, who have also a church; and a few
Jews, who have their synagogue. The whole, perhaps, may not amount
to less than twenty thousand souls[3]; which, however, the length
of my residence there did not enable me to decide. The Franciscans
of Terra Santa have a church and monastery, in which reside three
or four of their order. The habitations of the European consuls and
merchants are all near together, east of the city and close to the
sea. They associate with each other, dress and live as in Europe, and,
unless by their mutual animosities, are perfectly undisturbed. It is
true, indeed, that the natives bear no very good character for their
behaviour to strangers, but, I believe, when incivility has been
experienced, it has generally first been provoked: and the natives
are, perhaps, at least as often the dupes of the Frank merchants,
as the latter are of the native brokers and factors, whom their
commercial concerns oblige them to employ. The command of the fort,
and of the few troops which are in the city, is vested in a Sardar,
who is sometimes a Cashef, sometimes an inferior officer of the
Beys. The internal government is in the hands of the citizens. The
chief magistrate is the Cadi, an Arab, who receives his appointment
from Constantinople; the others are, the Shechs of the four sects,
and the Imâms of the two principal mosques. Here it may be observed,
once for all, that the municipal magistrates in the east are always
of the sacerdotal order.
The revenues of Alexandria, under the Ptolemies, are stated at
12,500 talents, which at 193l. 15s. the talent, is little less than
two millions and an half sterling. At this time it is thought that
they do not exceed four thousand five hundred purses, or 225,000l.
The commerce of Alexandria is more considerable than that of
Damiatt. All exports to Europe, or imports from thence, are made at
the former. The whole of the timber for house or ship building is
brought from Candia, or the Archipelago. The copper, manufactured or
rough, of which the consumption is large, from Constantinople. Coffee
and rice, raw leather, &c. are exported to that and other places. The
transit of all these keeps the inhabitants in that state of activity
to which they are eminently disposed; and if various causes operate
unavoidably to fetter and stagnate commerce, it cannot be said that
they are in fault. The navigation from Alexandria to Rashîd is
conducted in small vessels of from fifteen to fifty tons burthen,
which deposit their goods at Rashîd, whence they are embarked in
boats of another form, and conveyed to Kahira.
Among the articles of native produce, considerable quantities of
which are taken by the Frank merchants in return for the goods of
their respective countries, are saffranon, _Carthamus tinctorius_,
which is cultivated in Egypt; and senna, which chiefly comes by
way of Suez: but some portion of which is also produced in Nubia,
and near the first Cataract.
The consumption of broad cloth in Egypt used to be about eight
hundred bales; but it was greatly decreased when I left the country,
owing to the war in Europe, which prevented a proper supply. The
consequent high price constrained many to have recourse to the
native manufactures. Red coral is imported from Leghorn, glass beads,
&c. from Venice.
The Alexandrians are remarkable for the facility with which they
acquire different languages. But their own Arabic is impure, being
mingled with Turkish and other dialects.
Among the characteristic features of the people of this city, it
is deserving of notice that they preserve the ancient character
of perseverance and acuteness, especially ascribed to them by the
historian of the Alexandrian war[4]. For example, suppose they
wish to divide an antique column of three or four feet diameter,
into two parts, for the purpose of securing the foundations of the
houses near the shore from the encroachments of the sea, they make a
line not more than half an inch deep, for the space of one twelfth
of the circumference, then inserting two pieces of tempered steel,
not larger than a dollar, at the extremities of the line, they
drive a wedge in the midst. At the same time, small pieces of steel,
like the former, are fixed at equal distances round the column, to
the number of five or six, by means of small hammers, which strike
quick, but with no violence. Thus the piece is cut off regular,
and in a very short space of time.
Glass for lamps and phials is made at Alexandria, both green and
white. They use natron in the manufacture instead of barilla: and
the low beaches of the Egyptian coast afford plenty of excellent sand.
A dispute has lately arisen between the Alexandrians and the
government, which originated in the conduct of the Syrian Christian,
who has the management of the customs here. The people of Alexandria,
it is to be remarked, are not among the most obedient and tractable
subjects of the Mamlûk government; and their situation, together
with other circumstances, has favoured them in their opposition to
public orders. The present Beys, especially, they affect to consider
as rebels against the authority of the Porte. Thus mutually jealous,
each party is constantly on the watch to profit by any oversight of
the other: the Beys, in order to put the Alexandrians in the same
unqualified subjection, with respect to them, as the rest of the
Egyptians are; and the Alexandrians to perpetuate that qualified
dependence, or imperfect autocracy, in which, by subterfuge and
fertility of expedient, they have hitherto maintained themselves.
Affairs were in this state when an order came from Murad Bey, who had
the jurisdiction of this district, to shut up the public warehouses,
or _okals_, where commerce is chiefly carried on. A Cashef was sent
to see it executed, but unaccompanied by any military force: he had
also orders to arrest, and bring with him to Kahira, the person of
Shech Mohammed el Missiri, one of the chief Mullas who had always
been active in promoting opposition to the measures of the Beys; and
who is remarkable, as I am informed, for eloquence both persuasive
and deliberative. The greater part of the inhabitants assembled
in the principal mosque, and came to the resolution of obliging
the Cashef to quit the city. They also determined on sending away
the superintendant of the customs, who by frauds of every kind
had rendered himself hateful to them, and against whom unavailing
complaints had already repeatedly been made to the Bey. Some of the
body were deputed to inform both parties, that they must leave the
city before night, under pain of death. But the impatience of the
people was too great to wait for night, and they were compelled to
depart instantly, the Cashef by land, and the Christian by sea.