granite. We passed it, and then crossed a deep sandy plain entirely
barren, direction S. 1° ½ E. The road was strewn with carcases
and bones of camels. Few caravans perform the journey without
loosing some of their beasts, and this happens more frequently in
rocky districts, of difficult passage, or in the neighbourhood
of wells, where the already weakened camels surfeit themselves
with water, which has the effect of rendering them incapable of
resisting fatigue, and the weight of their loads. We passed many
low insulated granite hillocks, and granite blocks in the midst
of the sands. We halted about mid-day at the entrance of a chain
of mountains, running S. E. and N. W., called Djebel Heyzorba
(جبل هِزُربه). It is a custom with caravans always to
rest during the mid-day hours, when they dine, and sleep afterwards
for a couple of hours. At the return from the black countries, when
camels are always plentiful, and every body is mounted, the caravan
travels in forced marches; but two-thirds of our people were at
present on foot. Towards two o’clock we usually set out again,
and alighted just before sunset. In the afternoon of this day we
passed Heyzorba, and continuing in the same direction as before,
halted near some rocks called Beiban (بيبان); a day’s march
of about nine hours. I had seen neither trees nor verdure during
the whole day. The rocks where we rested, were of granite mixed
with large masses of feldspath.
_9th March._ Being in want of water, we set out soon after midnight,
and reached, after five hours march, the Wady Nakeyb (نقيب),
with wells of the same name. The Wady is full of Sant trees, and
has near its extremity two deep wells of tolerable water.
From the first day of our departure from Daraou, my companions had
treated me with neglect, and even contempt; they certainly had no
idea of my being a Frank, but they took me to be of Turkish origin,
either from European Turkey or Asia Minor, an opinion sufficient
of itself to excite the ill treatment of Arabs, who all bear the
most inveterate hatred to the Osmanlis. I had with me a Firman
of Ibrahim Pasha, son of Mohammed Aly Pasha, and governor of
Upper Egypt, together with a letter of recommendation from him,
addressed to all the black kings on the Sennaar route, and wherein
I was called Hadji, or Shikh Ibrahim el Shamy, or the Syrian. For
obvious reasons I had never let this be known amongst my companions,
and all that I gave them to understand was, that I was by birth
an Aleppine; they knew that I was much befriended by Hassan Beg,
the Governor of Esne, under whose jurisdiction Daraou is included,
as well as by the great commercial house El Habater of Esne, who
had recommended me to his correspondent at Daraou. Seeing that I
had brought a very small quantity of goods with me, they thought
I had been forced to leave Egypt on account of debts, but I gave
out that I was in search of a lost cousin, who several years ago
had departed from Siout to Darfour, and Sennaar, upon a mercantile
expedition, in which my whole property had been engaged. This was
a pretext for my undertaking, quite suited to the notions of these
people. The smallness of my adventure in goods would hardly have
justified any man in his senses in attempting such a journey with
mere commercial views, for after paying all the passage duties in
the road, the most sanguine person could not hope for any greater
success, than that of returning with the full capital. I was obliged
therefore to allege some reasons for undertaking the journey. I
often repeated my hopes of finding my lost cousin, and at all events
of conducting my expenses in such a manner as not to be a loser on
my return. My companions were not disinclined to believe my story,
and thought it not at all improbable, that I might also be avoiding
my creditors; but I could easily perceive at the same time that they
could not divest themselves of some commercial jealousy, thinking it
not improbable that I might find the means of attempting a second
expedition into these countries with a large capital, in case I
should return from the present with a conviction of the profitable
nature of the trade. It was probably for this reason that they
thought it necessary to ill treat me, in order to prevent my making
any further attempt. Several Turks from Asia Minor or from European
Turkey had within the last ten years endeavoured to engage in the
trade, but the Daraou people had always found means to disgust
them so much, as to make them abandon any second enterprize. When
in addition to other motives for ill treating me, the traders saw
in me every appearance of a poor man, that I cut wood, and cooked
for myself, and filled my own water-skins, they thought me hardly
upon an equality with the servants who are hired by the merchants,
at the rate of ten dollars for the journey from Daraou to Guz,
or Shendy, and back again. I had always endeavoured to keep upon
good terms with the family of Alowein, who were the principal Fellah
merchants, and whose good offices I thought might be useful to me in
the black countries; but when they saw that I was so poor that they
could have but little hopes of obtaining much from me in presents,
they soon forgot what I had already given them before we set out,
and no longer observed the least civility in their behaviour
towards me. They began by using opprobrious language in speaking
of Hassan Beg, of Esne, observing that now we were in the desert,
they cared little for all the Begs and Pashas in the world; seeing
that this did not seriously affect me, they began to address me
in the most vulgar and contemptuous language, never calling me
any thing better than Weled, “boy.” Though they became every
day more insulting, I restrained my anger, and never proceeded to
that retaliation to which they evidently wished to provoke me, in
order to have sufficient reasons for coming to blows with me. In
the beginning of the journey I had joined the party of the Alowein
in our evening encampment, although I always cooked by myself;
I was soon, however, driven away from them, and obliged to remain
alone, the people of Daraou giving out that several things had
been purloined from their baggage, and that they suspected me of
having taken them. Not to enter into any further details, it is
sufficient to say, that not an hour passed without my receiving
some insult, even from the meanest servants of these people, who
very soon imitated and surpassed their masters. When we arrived at
the well of Nakeyb, and the camels and asses went to be watered,
and the water-skins were carried to be filled, some people of the
caravan descended according to custom into the wells to fill the
Delou or leather bucket, while others drew up the water. Having no
friend to go down for me, I was obliged to wait near the well the
whole afternoon, until near sunset, to the great amusement of my
companions, and I should have remained unsupplied had not one of
the guides at last assisted in drawing up the water from above,
while I descended into the well to fill the Delou.
We were joined at Nakeyb by a small party of traders, who being
in great haste to depart, had left Daraou three days before us,
but afterwards thinking it imprudent to venture alone through the
desert, had been waiting here for us, for several days.
_10th March._ After a march of three hours, over a rocky and
mountainous country, along a road thickly covered with loose stones,
we arrived at El Haimar (حيمَر), a collection of wells of
great repute in this desert. Just before we reached it we passed
by the tomb of a distinguished person belonging to the Mamelouks,
who died on this spot. His companions having inclosed the naked
corpse within low walls of loose stones, had covered it over with a
large block. The dryness of the air had preserved the corpse in the
most perfect state. Looking at it through the interstices of the
stones which enveloped it, it appeared to me a more perfect mummy
than any I had seen in Egypt. The mouth was wide open, and our guide
related that the man had died for want of water, although so near the
wells. When the remnant of the Mamelouks under the command of Ibrahim
Beg el Kebír, and Osman Beg Hassan, left the shores of the Nile,
near Ibrim, in the year 1810, to escape from the eager pursuit of
the Pasha’s troops, they retired to these mountains, and claimed
the hospitality of the Ababde Bedouins, who received them in their
encampments, but left no means untried of getting possession of all
the property they had brought with them. Provisions were sold to
them at enormous prices, and as one well or source could not afford
water to so large a party for any length of time, the Mamelouks
were obliged to trust to their Ababde guides to carry them from
one watering place to another. During these wanderings the Ababde
often carried their guests through circuitous routes in order to
create a momentary distress for water, and sell their skins of water
(which they secretly filled at some neighbouring spring), at the
most exorbitant prices. It was a want of water, caused by these
contrivances, that proved fatal to the above mentioned Mamelouk,
and to others, who lie buried in the neighbourhood. Their whole
corps remained several weeks at Haimar, and it was from thence that
they ordered all their unnecessary servants and followers to depart:
among these were several dashing Egyptian dancing girls, the price of
whose charms had increased in the mountains, in the same proportion
as other commodities, and who had thus been enabled to acquire large
sums of money in a very short time. The dismissed followers of the
Mamelouk camp formed a caravan, which was proceeding towards Assouan
under the guidance of several Ababde, when, the night before they
expected to reach the Nile, their guides absconded, and the next
morning they found themselves attacked by a large body of Ababde,
by whom they were robbed and stripped naked, and in this condition
permitted to pursue their journey towards Egypt. The Ababde,
as an excuse for their abominable treachery upon this and other
occasions when many of the Mamelouk stragglers were robbed and
killed by them, allege that the Mamelouks were the first to prove
themselves unworthy of good faith and the rights of hospitality, by
slaughtering the cattle of the Bedouins, and taking liberties with
their women. Some such instances may have happened, but they were
certainly not sufficient to exculpate the Ababde, whose treacherous
character is too well known. The wells of Haimar are formed in a
small sandy plain, in the midst of craggy hills. In one or two of
them the water is drinkable, but in the greater part, it is of a
bitterish and very disagreeable taste, though in great plenty. A
nitrous crust is seen on the borders of the wells: the ground around
them was still covered with the dung of camels and horses which had
remained there since the time of the Mamelouk encampment. Old boots
and shoes, with rags of tents and clothing covered the ground. The
plain of Haimar is often frequented by large encampments of Bisharein
Bedouins, who pasture here their cattle, but as the wells are within
the dominion of the Ababde, they are obliged to pay a certain yearly
tribute to the Ababde chiefs. This is often the cause of wars, but at
present the Ababde have become more formidable than the Bisharein,
and their intercourse with Egypt renders them much the wealthier of
the two. It is only the northern Bisharein, who ever come in contact
with the Ababde. We found only a few families of Bisharein encamped
at Haimar, and passed through the plain without stopping, having
filled our water skins with the comparatively sweet water of the
Nakeyb. Beyond Haimar begins a wild, stony district, through which
our camels had difficulty in passing. We ascended amidst granite and
sand-stone rocks, for about one hour, and then descended again into
the plain, about five hours and a half after our setting out in the
morning. Our direction was S. 1° E. The mountains we passed are
called Akabet Haimar (عَقَبِة حيمَِر) and are visible
at a considerable distance. The plain beyond the Akabe is sandy,
with many insulated granite rocks. I could see no where any regular
strata, but the rocks were all in shattered, sharp-edged masses,
bearing the marks of some violent commotion of the earth. In one hour
we entered a fine valley called Wady Nehdyr, or Ghedeyr (the Arabic
name in my journal is not quite clear (غَدير or نَحدير),
with plenty of acacia trees. We had hoped to find some rain water
here, in a large basin formed by nature, but it was dry, and the
quantity of camel’s dung round it, proved that it had lately been
exhausted by an Arab encampment. We therefore rode on, and alighted,
after eight hours and a half, at the extremity of the Wady.
_11th March._ Our road lay over stony hills and rocky passages,
for three hours, to the well called el Morra (المُرَّهَ),
meaning “the bitter,” a name which it justly bears when compared
to the sweet waters of the Nile; but the eastern Arabs, who are more
accustomed to bad water than Nubians and Egyptians, would hardly
perceive its disagreeable taste. It is a very large well, upwards
of forty feet in depth, and I was told that it never dries up. Wady
Morra extends for two or three hours, in an eastern direction. Having
here taken in a small provision of water, we immediately continued
our road, for five hours, to Wady Olaky (وادي عُلاقي) a
fine valley extending from east to west, and having its extremities
(as I was told) on one side near the Red Sea, and on the other near
the Nile. In time of rain considerable torrents collect in the Wady,
and empty themselves into the Nile. There is excellent pasturage
and many trees in the valley, for which rare advantages it is held
by the Bedouins in great veneration. Our guides in approaching the
Wady saluted it with great solemnity, and thanked heaven for having
permitted them to arrive so far in safety (السلاُم عليك
يا وادي علاقي الحمد لَّله الذي جيناك
بالسلامه). In crossing the valley, which is about one hundred
and fifty yards across, each person took a handful of Dhourra and
threw it on the ground, a kind of pious offering to the good genius
who is supposed to preside over the Wady. At the end of six hours
we entered Wady Om-gat (اُم قاط). It has a reservoir of rain
water, which renders it a resting place for caravans; but we found
it dry. No valley we had hitherto passed was so thickly overgrown
with acacia trees. Swarms of locusts were feeding upon the young
sprigs and leaves. The ground was covered with the coloquintida,
a plant very common in every part of this desert. The people of
the caravan amused themselves with throwing these round gourds at
each other, and warding them off with their targets, in which they
shewed great dexterity. Unfortunately I had no target, and my Daraou
_friends_ so often aimed at my head, that I was at last obliged
to apply seriously to the chief of the caravan for protection,
a measure which saved me from a bloody nose, but procured for me
the title of a “cowardly boy,” which lasted for several days,
until it was exchanged for an appellation still more insulting. Our
direction was this day S. by W. The ground of the Wady Omgat is all
sandy; the hills lose their wild, grotesque shape, and are disposed
in more regular chains. Most of the trees were entirely dried up,
there having been no rain for nearly three years. I was surprised not
to see the footsteps of any wild animals in the sand, and no birds,
except a few crows. We met several Bisharein, accompanying camels
loaded with Senna-mekke, which they were carrying to Derr for sale,
or to barter for Dhourra. We continued the whole evening in the Wady,
and halted after about nine hour’s march.
_12th March._ We set out before sunrise, and in three hours arrived
at the extremity of Wady Omgat, the hills of which are throughout
composed of granite. We entered here upon a wide sandy plain, and
beyond it crossed, for two hours, a chain of mountains composed of
grunstein. At six hours we descended into Wady el Towashy (وادي
الطواشي), or the Valley of the Eunuch. It is so called from an
eunuch belonging to the great temple of Mekka, who was here killed
and robbed of the presents which he had received from the kings of
Darfour and Sennaar.[4] I could not gain exact information, as to
the year when this murder was committed; but one of our guides told
me that his father remembered it perfectly well. I have no doubt,
therefore, that this eunuch was the same called Mahomet Towash,
by Bruce, and whose body was found by the traveller, exactly in
this situation, three days after he had taken prisoner a Bisharye
Bedouin, one of the murderers; a story which appears to be made
up in all its details, although true in its principal facts. The
people who killed the Towashy however were not Bisharein, but the
Towashy’s own guides, a party of Ababde of the tribe of Asheybab,
called Hameydab, whose chief seat is at Beyheyra, a village not
far from Edfou, on the eastern bank of the Nile (حميداب من
قبيلة عشيباب في بحيره). They were much blamed for
that action by their friends, and it is observed that ever since,
the Hameydab have fallen into disrespect and weakness. The tomb of
the Towashy is near the foot of the mountain, on the spot where he
fell, and is looked upon as that of a saint or martyr. The tomb
is of stone, and was erected by another tribe of Arabs. We found
it covered with a few loose mats. All our people went up to it,
and many of them prayed near it. In parting, they strewed some
Dhourra and other offerings upon it, and filled with water a jar,
which some other traveller had left there. Coloured rags had been
tied upon poles near the tomb, according to a custom common among
the Arabs. Several camel saddles lay about, which travellers had
dedicated to the saint. We passed the hours of noon near the tomb,
in the broad valley, to which it has given name. After mid-day we
again started, and traversed an uneven ground of sand and stones. Our
way for the whole day was S. 1° E. After about ten hours march,
we halted in Wady Abou Borshe (وادي ابو بُرشه); a chain
of mountains runs here in a N. W. direction. Some Sellam trees grow
in the barren sands of this Wady: this tree is a species of acacia;
the Arabs value the wood for its great hardness; they use it for
the shafts of their lances, and cut the thin branches into sticks
of about the thickness of the thumb, and three feet in length, the
top of which they bend in the fire, while the wood is yet green,
and rubbing it frequently with grease, it acquires greater weight
and strength. Every man carries in his hand such a stick, which
is called Sélame.[5] There is another tree of the same species,
called by the Bisharein El Dodda, which is preferred to the Sellam,
for making these sticks. It grows nearer to the Red Sea. In the
Wady Abou Borshe we met with some gazelles, the first we had seen
since leaving Daraou; where water is only found in deep wells,
it cannot be supposed that game much abounds.
_13th March._ We set out before sun rise, and reached, after three
hours, Wady el Berd (وادي البرد), a fine wide valley
overgrown with trees. Large flocks of white birds, of the size of
geese, passed over our heads, on their way northwards. The Arabs
have given this valley the name of Berd (cold), because they find
that even in summer, a cold breeze always reigns here; it is open
to the Nile, from whence the winds at that time generally blow. We
found it at the early hour of the morning in which we passed it so
extremely cold, that during a short halt we set fire to several dead
trees, of which there are many in the Wady. Having continued our way
along it for about two hours, and then crossed a chain of hills,
we halted again during the mid-day hours, in another valley. The
halting at noon always gave rise to disputes. Whenever it was known
before hand that the chiefs intended to stop in a certain valley,
the young men of the caravan pushed eagerly forwards, in order
to select at the halting place the largest tree, or some spot
under an impending rock, where they secured shelter from the sun
for themselves and their mess. Every day some dispute arose as to
who arrived the first, under some particular tree: as for myself I
was often driven from the coolest and most comfortable berth, into
the burning sun, and generally passed the mid-day hours in great
distress: for besides the exposure to heat, I had to cook my dinner,
a service which I could never prevail upon any of my companions,
even the poorest servants, to perform for me, though I offered to
let them share in my homely fare. In the evening, the same labour
occurred again, when fatigued by the day’s journey, during which
I always walked for four or five hours, in order to spare my ass,
and when I was in the utmost need of repose. Hunger however always
prevailed over fatigue, and I was obliged to fetch and cut wood to
light a fire, to cook, to feed the ass, and finally to make coffee,
a cup of which, presented to my Daraou companions, who were extremely
eager to obtain it, was the only means I possessed of keeping them
in tolerable good humour. A good night’s rest, however, always
repaired my strength, and I was never in better health and spirits
than during this journey, although its fatigues were certainly very
great, and much beyond my expectation. The common dish of all the
travellers at noon was Fetyre (فطيره), which is flour mixed up
with water into a liquid paste, and then baked upon the sadj, or iron
plate; butter is then poured over it, or honey, or sometimes a sauce
is made of butter and dried Bamyé. In the evening some lentils are
boiled, or some bread is baked with salt, either upon the sadj or
in ashes, and a sauce of Bamyé, or onion poured over lentils, or
upon the bread, after it has been crumbled into small pieces. Early
in the morning every one eats a piece of dry biscuit with some raw
onion or dates. In the afternoon we again crossed a mountainous
country, and then a sandy plain, terminated by a valley, where some
Doum trees afford a delightful prospect to the traveller. After a
day’s march of about nine hours, we halted in that valley, near
the wells called el Nabeh (النَابِح). While we were crossing
the before mentioned plain, we met a small caravan of eight Ababdes;
coming from Berber, and bound for Daraou. They had about thirty
slaves and several loaded camels with them, which they intended to
sell in Upper Egypt. The intelligence they gave us was extremely
discouraging. Two wells which lay before us, on our road to Berber,
they had found almost dried up. In one, that of Shigre, they said, we
might still find some water, but in the farther one at “Nedjeym”
we must reckon upon very little or no supply. Some of our people,
alarmed at this intelligence, thought of returning with the Ababde
caravan, but they were dissuaded by the others. The Daraou people
bought a strong camel from the other caravan, for the purpose of
loading it with water, and we passed the whole night in consulting
what was to be done. In Wady el Nabeh there are five or six wells,
close together, three of which are brackish, and two drinkable, but
the latter contain very little water, and this little was immediately
consumed in filling the water-skins. On the next morning disputes
arose about the water that had flowed out of the wells during the
night, each party wishing to appropriate it for its own use.