which is three days journey from Daraou, the place from whence
the caravan takes its departure. Not wishing to be much known, I
kept as little company as possible, dressed myself in the poorest
dress of an inhabitant of Egypt, and spent as little money as I
possibly could, the daily expense, of myself, servant, dromedary,
and ass, being about one shilling and sixpence; my horse cost
me sixteen-pence per month. Yet, with all this I could not help
creating some suspicion of my being a rich man, or of my having had
the good luck to find a treasure. I was fearful of engaging in any
traffic because it would have obliged me to mix with the merchants,
and my person would then have become generally known. But in Egypt,
there is no such condition as that of a man who lives upon his income
without employment. Every body is either a cultivator or a merchant,
or in some public service; and to be able to live without begging,
and without belonging to any of those classes appears very strange,
and exposes the individual to the suspicion of having chests full
of dollars.
I had been several times at Daraou to look after the caravan, and
to become acquainted with the leading people. About the middle of
February my correspondent at that place sent a messenger to Esne, to
acquaint me that every thing was ready for departure. I went there,
but the traders still delayed; and it was not until a fortnight
afterwards that the signal of departure from Daraou was given.
Daraou is a considerable village, about ten hours north of Assouan,
on the east bank of the Nile. Its inhabitants are partly Fellahs of
Egypt, and partly Arabs Ababde, many of whom have become settlers in
the villages south of Goft, as far as Assouan; but who still keep a
part of their families in the mountains; living there like Bedouins,
during the season, when their agricultural pursuits do not require
their attendance on the banks of the Nile, and during the remainder
of the year inhabiting villages like the peasants of Egypt.
The two principal chiefs have their settlements, one at Kolétt
(قُليِط), about four hours north of Daraou, on the east bank
of the river, and the other at the latter place.
From time immemorial the Ababde have been the guides of the caravans
through the Nubian desert; many of them are great speculators in
the slave trade, and their chiefs exact a tribute upon every slave,
and upon every loaded camel passing through the desert, which does
not belong to one of their own tribes.
The other part of the inhabitants of Daraou, are Fellahs,
intermarried with Ababde women, who for the greater part, likewise
engage in the same trade. These I have found, from sad experience,
to be a worthless set of vagabonds; notwithstanding the profits
arising from that traffic, they are all poor; spending their gains
in drunkenness and debauchery.
I had equipped myself at Esne for my journey: but soon found on
my arrival at Daraou the necessity of making some alteration in my
plans. I had brought with me a camel and an ass; the former I had
intended to load with baggage, provisions, and water: the latter
to mount myself, according to the custom of the Nubian traders;
who generally perform their travels towards the Negro countries on
these animals, which they sell there and return on their camels. I
had no servant. The Fellah who had faithfully served me during my
whole stay in Upper Egypt I had sent, on my departure from Esne,
with a packet of letters to Cairo; for I was determined to try my
luck in this country alone, unaccompanied by any servant. Experience
had taught me that in difficult and dangerous travels, those who
have no other motive in performing them, but that of gaining their
monthly pay, are averse to incur any perils, and stagger at the
smallest difficulties; thus they become more troublesome than
serviceable to their master: whom moreover their imprudence or
treachery may expose to danger. I was in full health, and therefore
not afraid of undertaking the additional fatigue, which otherwise
would have been borne by my servant. Arrived at Daraou, I had an
opportunity of seeing the preparations of my fellow travellers, and
of observing that mine were not regulated by that strict economy
which served as a rule to the others. My baggage and provisions
weighed about two hundred weight. The camel however was capable
of carrying six hundred weight. The water for my use on the road
was to be contained in two small skins slung across the saddle of
the ass. My camel therefore could carry four hundred weight more,
the freight of which at five dollars per hundred weight, was worth
twenty dollars. Had I slighted such a sum, I might have exposed
myself to the animadversions of my companions, who would probably
have thought me possessed of great wealth. I soon had an offer of a
freight of four hundred weight, to convey across the desert as far
as Goz, at the above price: but I considered that the loading and
unloading of the camel would occasion me a great deal of trouble:
I therefore thought it best to sell him, and soon found a purchaser
at twenty-five dollars in ready money, camels being at that time
very scarce in Upper Egypt; it was part of the bargain, that the
purchaser should carry my baggage across the Desert.
I appeared at Daraou in the garb of a poor trader, the only character
in which I believe I could possibly have succeeded. It may not be
superfluous that I should inform the reader in detail of the contents
of my baggage, and of my provisions: at least, it had always been,
with me, a great desideratum in reading books of travels, to collect
such information for my own use.
I was dressed in a brown loose woollen cloak, such as is worn by
the peasants of Upper Egypt, called Thabout, with a coarse white
linen shirt and trowsers, a Lebde, or white woollen cap, tied round
with a common handkerchief, as a turban, and with sandals on my
feet. I carried in the pocket of my Thabout, a small journal-book,
a pencil, pocket-compass, pen-knife, tobacco purse, and a steel for
striking a light. The provisions I took with me were as follows:
forty pounds of flour, twenty of biscuit, fifteen of dates, ten of
lentils, six of butter, five of salt, three of rice, two of coffee
beans, four of tobacco, one of pepper, some onions, and eighty
pounds of Dhourra for my ass. Besides these I had a copper boiler,
a copper plate, a coffee roaster, an earthen mortar to pound the
coffee beans, two coffee cups, a knife and spoon, a wooden bowl
for drinking and for filling the water-skins, an axe, ten yards
of rope, needles and thread, a large packing needle (مسلهّ),
one spare shirt, a comb, a coarse carpet, a woollen cloth (Heram)
of Mogrebin manufactory for a night covering, a small parcel of
medicines, and three spare water skins.
I had also a small pocket Coran, bought at Damascus, which I lost
afterwards on the day of the pilgrimage, 10th of November 1814,
among the crowds of Mount Arafat,—a spare journal book and an
inkstand, together with some loose sheets of paper, for writing
amulets for the Negroes. My watch had been broken in Upper Egypt,
where I had no means of getting another. The hours of march noted
down in the journal, are therefore merely by computation, and by
observing the course of the sun.
The little merchandize I took with me consisted of twenty pounds
of sugar, fifteen of soap, two of nutmegs, twelve razors, twelve
steels, two red caps, and several dozen of wooden beads, which are
an excellent substitute for coin in the southern countries. I had a
gun, with three dozen of cartridges and some small shot, a pistol,
and a large stick, called nabbout, strengthened with iron at either
end, and serving either as a weapon, or to pound the coffee beans,
and which, according to the custom of the country, was my constant
companion. My purse, worn in a girdle under the Thabout, contained
fifty Spanish dollars, including the twenty-five, the price of
my camel, and I had besides sewed a couple of sequins in a small
leathern amulet, tied round my elbow, thinking this to be the safest
place for secreting them. Had my departure from Egypt not been too
long delayed, I should have carried a larger sum of money with me:
although I much doubt, after the experience I have since had,
whether I should have been the better for it. I had originally
destined two hundred dollars for this purpose, which I had carried
with me from Siout to Esne, in September 1813, expecting to be able
to start immediately with the caravan: I was afterwards obliged to
encroach upon that sum, to defray my daily expenses, to purchase my
camel, &c. &c.; and a fresh supply of money which I had written for,
had not arrived when the caravan started.
Having already waited so long, I was unwilling to give up so eligible
an opportunity, merely on account of the low state of my funds: and
the information I had collected on the state of the Negro countries,
made me think it probable that if I did not make a prolonged stay
there, I might succeed in my journey, even with the trifling sum
then at my command. Besides I was ready to supply the want of money
by an increase of bodily privations and exertions, to elude which
is the principal motive for spending money in travels of this sort.
All my baggage and provisions were packed up in five leather bags, or
djerab, much in use among the slave traders; those articles of which
I stood in daily need, I put up in a small saddle bag on my ass.
The most substantial merchants of our caravan were fitted out in
the same style as to provisions for the journey: the only dainties
which some of them carried, were dried flesh, honey, and cheese;
the latter, although certainly agreeable in travelling, is not a
proper article of food in the desert: where the traveller should
abstain from whatever excites thirst. Several of our people had
among their camels she-camels in full milk, which gave them a daily
supply of this agreeable beverage.
On the 1st of March, all the traders had assembled at Daraou, and
early in the morning of the 2d the different goods, for loading
the camels, were carried to a public place, in front of the village
called Barzet el Gellabe (برزت الجلابه).
At noon, the camels were watered,[1] and knelt down by the side
of their respective loads. Just before the lading commenced, the
Ababde women appeared with earthen vessels in their hands, filled
with burning coals. They set them before the several loads, and
threw salt upon them. At the rising of the bluish flame, produced
by the burning of the salt, they exclaimed, “may you be blessed
in going and in coming.” The devil and every evil genius are thus,
they say, removed.
We were accompanied for about half an hour beyond the village
by all the women and children. My principal friend at Daraou,
Hadji Hosseyn el Aloüan (الحاج حسين العلوان), at
whose house I had lived, and who had obtained from me a variety
of presents, in making me believe that he intended to undertake
the journey in person, in which case he might have proved to me
a most useful companion on the road, had declared the day before,
that he should remain at Daraou; but his brother and his son Aly
joined the caravan, and their party formed the largest and most
wealthy party of the Fellah traders among us. The old man followed
us with his women to a distance from the village, and at parting,
recommended me to his relations; “he is your brother,” he said
to his son, “and there,” opening his son’s waistcoat, and
putting his hand upon his bosom, “there let him be placed:” a
way of recommendation much in use in the Arabian desert likewise,
where it has some meaning, but among these miserable Egyptians it has
become a mere form of speech. We then proceeded upon a sandy plain,
in great disorder, as it always happens upon the first setting out
of a journey. Many loads were badly laid on, several were thrown
off by the camels who had for some time been unused to them, and
we were obliged to encamp for the night in a small valley, with
shrubs in it, about two hours and a half to the S. S. E. of Daraou,
where we feasted upon the dainties which had been prepared by the
ladies of Daraou; large fires were lighted, and the whole night
was passed in singing and noise.
_3d March._ We departed early from our resting place, and entered
Wady Om Rokbe (وادي اُم رُكبه), a broad valley with
good pasture, which we followed for upwards of two hours; we then
ascended a steep hill, and after several ascents and descents,
encamped in a valley near the source of water called Abou Kebeyr
(ابو كبير), having proceeded to day about six hours, very slow
march There are a few trees in this valley; and water is found every
where by digging pits in the sand. The source of Abou Kebeyr which
yields a very scanty supply, had attracted some Ababde Bedouins from
whom we bought some sheep. The mountains we had traversed to day,
were all composed of flint.
_4th. March._ Our route this morning lay through sandy valleys
until we arrived, after about four hours march, at a steep ascent,
or Akaba, where the sand and flint hills terminate. After crossing
over the Akaba which is composed of granite schistus, we arrived,
at the end of six hours, at a fine natural reservoir of rain water,
among the granite rocks called Abou Adjadj (ابو عجاج);
our route was in a S. S. W. direction. From hence to Assouan the
distance is six hours. Just beyond the bason of rain water, begins
a narrow pass among the rocks, where loaded camels proceed with
difficulty. In here turning round a corner of the mountain we found
our advanced men, loudly quarreling with a strong party of armed
Bedouins, and before I could inform myself of the particulars,
the Ababde belonging to our caravan had armed themselves, and
proceeded to attack the enemy. The latter were likewise Ababde,
but of a different tribe. Having been informed of our departure
from Daraou, they had left their homes at Khattar (خطّار),
a village near Assouan, to way-lay us in this narrow pass, and
to levy a contribution upon us as passage money. They were about
thirty, and our Ababdes as many. The individuals of both parties
were naked, for it is a rule among them never to fight with any
incumbrance upon their bodies, and merely to wrap a rag or napkin
round their waists.[2] They were armed with long two-edged swords,
and short lances and targets, which latter were particularly
useful to them in warding off the shower of stones with which the
attack commenced. When I saw them thus attack each other, and then
under the most horrible clamour come to close action with swords
believing that we were attacked by robbers, I was about to join
our people, and had already levelled my musquet at the principal
man of the assailants, when one of our Ababdes cried out to me,
for God’s sake not to fire, as he hoped there should be no blood
between them. By the advice of our guides, the Egyptian merchants,
who were armed with swords, (for nobody had a gun but myself,
and few had pistols) willingly took charge of the defence of our
baggage in the rear, for the Ababde were anxious to fight out the
quarrel amongst themselves. After about twenty minutes’ rather
shy fighting, the battle ceased by the interference of the chiefs on
both sides, and both parties claimed the victory. The whole damage
amounted to three men slightly wounded and one shield cleft in
two. Our people however gained their point, for we passed without
paying any tribute, and I was somewhat gratified in seeing how far
our Arabs might be depended upon in any future attack in the course
of the journey. As for the Egyptians they had given evident proofs
of the most cowardly disposition, notwithstanding their boasting
language. Several Shikhs of the Ababde have a right to claim a
tribute from the caravan. Others set up unfounded pretensions of
the same kind, and it is the duty of the guides (Khobara plur. of
Khabir, خَبير) to protect the caravan from such extortions. No
caravan can cross the desert in safety without being accompanied
by some of the Ababde, and although many of the Fellah merchants
perfectly know the road, they never venture to perform it alone.
Our assailants retreated after a long parley, which succeeded the
fight; and although we had at first intended to remain at Abou
Adjadj for the night, our guides now thought it adviseable to
push further on, because they were afraid that the opposite party
might send during the night for a reinforcement of men from their
village. We therefore rode three hours farther over a rocky ground
until we arrived in a wide valley called Wady Houd (وادي هود),
where we halted. During the whole of this afternoon’s march we had
observed among the barren granite rocks, great quantities of locusts.
_March 5th._ Wady Houd is a broad valley full of shrubs and
pasturage, bordered on both sides by rocks of fine granite, similar
to those of Assouan and the Cataract. We pursued our road for two
hours along the valley; and at the end of three hours march came
to sandrocks intersected by layers of quartz. We then ascended a
slightly sloping plain, and at the end of four hours entered a wide
sandy valley, in which we continued in a direction, S. W. by S. for
several hours, until we reached, after about seven hours march, a
narrow Wady called Om el Hebal (اُم الحبال), or the mother
of ropes; so called from its numerous windings. Here we halted after
a day’s march of about seven hours and a half. The Wady is full
of thorny trees of the acacia species, the dark-green leaves of
which are in singular unison with the surrounding granite rocks,
the surface of which is smooth and shining, and of the deepest
black. The valley is in few places more than sixty yards across;
the highest summits of the rocks, which are every where steep
cliffs, may be about two or three hundred feet above the level
ground. This evening we lighted our fires with the dried dung of
the camels that had rested here before; indeed we seldom halted
in the evening without finding fuel of this kind, for the traders
rarely go out of the accustomed track, nor can they choose their
resting places at random, being fixed to those spots where there is
some pasturage of herbs and shrubs, or at least some acacia trees,
upon the leaves and branches of which their camels may feed for a
few hours in the evening. I found much less order at the encamping
of this caravan, than I had observed among other caravans in the
Eastern Desert. Our party consisted of thirty nine loaded camels,
thirty five asses, and about eighty men, and it was divided into a
dozen different families or messes, each of which on the halting
ground formed a separate _bivouac_. We had two men from Assouan,
the others were from Daraou, Klit, and Esne, and a few from Gous,
and Farshiout. People from Siout seldom travel this road. Although
the chief of the Ababde was the acknowledged head of the caravan,
yet the Fellah merchants generally followed their own humour in
moving and halting;[3] and there was every evening some quarrelling
about the place of halting. None of the traders had any tent;
we all slept in the open air, but none ever shut his eyes without
placing his baggage in such a manner as to render it difficult for
thieves to attempt it without awaking him. We were not afraid of
robbers from without, but it was too well known that many of our
own people were of a pilfering disposition, and notwithstanding
every precaution, they repeatedly indulged themselves in it in the
course of the journey.
_6th March._ We continued in Wady el Hebal for about three hours,
when we stopped near an inlet in the western chain of hills, where
we found among the rocks a large natural reservoir of rain water,
delightfully clear, sweet, and cool. The place is called Damhit
(دمحيت), and is much praised by the Arabs, because the water
is very seldom dried up. It is situated in a cleft of the mountain,
which has the appearance of having been rent asunder by a violent
earthquake. Large blocks of granite are heaped up at the entrance;
these masses increase in quantity, in ascending through the
cliff, and rise to a considerable height, among them are two other
reservoirs of water of equal size with the lower, but of difficult
access. The Wady itself is not without its natural beauties. It is
about forty yards across, overgrown with acacia or (سنط) _Sant_
trees, and bordered on both sides by steep shattered granite cliffs,
of grotesque shapes. During heavy rains, which often happen here,
the water descending from the western chain collects in a large
torrent, which, as I was informed, empties itself into the Nile,
near the village of Dehmyt, eight hours south of Assouan. About
four hours distant from Damhit, in a S. W. direction, is a spring of
good water called El Moeleh (الموِيلَح); it is resorted to
by the caravans, which set out from Assouan. We remained here the
whole day, for it is a general rule among caravans in the east,
to make slow marches during the three or four first days of a
long journey, in order to accustom the cattle, which are generally
allowed several months of rest before the journey, to fatigue by
degrees; and this is particularly the case when the ground affords
good pasturage. Loss of time is seldom taken into consideration by
eastern merchants, and least of all by Arabs, and thus I have heard
it related at Damascus that the caravans from thence to Bagdad are,
in the spring, sometimes three months in crossing the desert. We
again met great numbers of locusts. These rapacious insects had
spread sometimes in such quantities over the mountain as to eat up
every green vegetable: the cattle of the Bedouins are some times
reduced by these animals to the greatest distress.
_7th March._ After two hours we issued from the Wady and met several
Bisharein Arabs. These Bedouins, whom I have already mentioned in
my journey towards Dóngola, remain in winter time in the mountains
near the Red Sea, where the rains produce plenty of pasture; but
there being very few wells and springs in that quarter, they are
obliged to approach in summer nearer to the Nile, where wells are
more numerous. We were now upon an open sandy plain, without any
vegetation, bordered on the east by high mountains, and towards
the west, at a shorter distance, by lower hills. The whole valley
of Om el Hebal is of granite, but here in the plain I again found
sandstone with quartz. We were about five hours in crossing this
plain, which bears the name of Birket Zokhan (بركت زُخان),
and then after seven hours slow march (in the direction S. 1°
½ E.) we stopped at the entrance of a chain of low mountains,
where we found very luxuriant pasture. The herb called Towyle
(طويله) grows here in abundance, and is an excellent food
for the camels. From my first setting out from Daraou, I had been
involved in continual disputes with the man, to whom I had sold my
camel, and who carried my baggage. He had undertaken to take more
baggage than the camel was able to bear, and in order to lighten
it, he was constantly endeavouring to transfer my baggage, for the
carriage of which I paid him, to my ass. This evening the camel broke
down, when he accused me of having cheated him, in selling him an
unsound animal, insisting at the same time upon having his money
returned, a demand which was however soon over-ruled. According to
justice, and to the customs even of the traders themselves, he would
have been obliged to pay the further freight of my baggage out of
his own pocket; but he was so loud in his oaths and lamentations,
exclaiming that he was a ruined man, and besmearing his face with
dirt and dust, in sign of excessive grief, that he brought the
chiefs of the caravan all over to his side, and I was obliged to
contract a second time for the freight of my goods and provisions,
with one of the Bedouins Ababde. As we had already been six days
on our journey, our provisions were considerably diminished, and
the camel’s load became every day lighter. Upon this the traders
always reckon, never taking any spare camels from Egypt with them,
as other desert caravans usually do, and if camels break down,
their loads are distributed among the others, and the carriage is
paid for according to a fair calculation. No man can ever refuse to
charge his camel with part of such load, if necessity demands it,
and his own camel is strong enough. We again set out after sunset,
and marched about three hours farther, through several vallies,
until we came to the low mountains called Om Hereyzel (اُم
حُريذَل), where we stopped.