greatly, I may say wholly, upon his guides and fellow travellers,
and their being well disposed towards him. If he is not thoroughly
acquainted with the language of the country it will be very difficult
for him to select proper persons for his guides or companions,
or to elude the snares laid for him by villainy or treachery; it
is in vain to suppose that fortune will throw in his way honest
or friendly people, who are too scarce ever to be calculated upon,
in preparing for a journey through these countries. The traveller
must consider himself as surrounded by some of the most worthless
of the human race, among whom he must think himself fortunate, if
he can discover any less depraved than the rest, whom he can place
some degree of confidence in, and make subservient to his views;
and which can only be done by identifying their interest with his
own safety. Above all, he must never be seen taking notes. I am
fully convinced, that if I had ever been detected by my companions
with my journal in my hand, it would have given rise to the most
injurious reports, and blasted all my hopes of success. While
travelling through the desert I took my notes with much more ease
than during my stay at Berber. Being mounted on a good ass, I used
to push on ahead of the caravan, and then alight under some tree,
or rock, where I remained, unobserved, apparently occupied only in
smoking my pipe, until the caravan came up; but at Berber, and at
Shendy also, I was often at a great loss how to withdraw from the
persons who surrounded me in the house where we lodged; and it was
unsafe to walk so far from the village into the fields, as not to
be observed. The having persons thus continually hanging about me,
was the most disagreeable circumstance attending my stay in these
countries. I might have escaped it in some measure, perhaps, by
taking a lodging for myself, which I could have readily procured,
but then I should have been entirely unprotected in the house of
a stranger, who might have proved worse even than my companions;
I should also have been unmercifully annoyed the whole day by
visitors begging presents, and the little baggage I had would have
been much less secure. On the contrary, by continuing to live with
my old companions from Daraou, my person was far less noticed than
if I had resided alone, my expenses were not so great, I acquired a
good deal of information as to the mode of carrying on the trade,
and found myself in some degree secure, by the respectability of
my companions, however little disposed they might be to protect or
favour me.
Merchants always prefer taking up their abode in some respectable
house, and if possible in that of a relation of the chief, because
they are then protected by the authority of their landlord, who
would resent any serious insult offered to his guests. Our Ababde
guides, who were in no fear of any importunities, or insolence from
the Meyrefab, took up their quarters in the house of a poor Fakir,
where they were much more comfortable, and more at their ease than
ourselves. My companions made me contribute two dollars for my share
of the landlord’s bill; I paid, besides, one dollar for my quota
of the presents given to those who had sent us some dishes of meat
at different times; one dollar I exchanged for Dhourra to feed my
ass, and for a little tobacco: these, together with four dollars
to the chief at Berber, and three to the chief of the caravan, who
had a right to exact five; five dollars paid for the carriage of my
baggage, and four for that of my water-skins through the desert,
amounted to so considerable a sum, when compared with the state
of my purse, that I could not help entertaining some melancholy
thoughts on my future prospects.
When the day was at length fixed for our departure for Shendy,
whither the greater part of the merchants intended to carry their
goods, some presents were made up amongst our party for our landlord
Edris: he was not easily satisfied; his old wife too had some claims;
but after much quarrelling, he at last accepted merchandize to the
value of twenty dollars, as a recompense for having entertained us
in his house fourteen days. We were about a dozen in number, but the
daily expense did not, certainly, amount to more than one-third, or
half a dollar; for, except on the first day, when he killed a lamb
for us, we never partook of any other dish from his kitchen than
Dhourra bread, with butter, one large dish of which was served up
at mid-day, and another late at night. As we were only passengers,
and had no slaves with us, our meals were provided by the master of
the house; but when traders return hither, on their way to Egypt,
accompanied, as they usually are, by a number of female slaves,
the latter dress their masters victuals, and the owner of the house
is then paid only for his lodgings.
The preceding details respecting Berber are for the greater part
applicable to Shendy, and, as far as I could learn, to all the
petty Mekdoms from thence to Sennaar.
The country on the western side of the Nile, opposite to Berber,
is not cultivated, but I was told that, in following the course of
the river, on that side, considerable settlements of Arabs are met
with, especially in the country of Mograt, which is inhabited by the
Arabs Rebatat, an independent tribe like the Meyrefab, extending two
or three days journey along the Nile. One of its principal places
is Bedjem (بجم), three long days from Berber; it is at present
the residence of Hedjel, the chief of Mograt, who succeeded his
relation Naym, the famous robber, already mentioned: The latter
had accumulated great riches by robbing the Egyptian caravans; he
expended the greater part in purchasing young female slaves, and
was fond of boasting of the enjoyments of his Harem. He generally
waylaid the caravans between Berber and the wells of Nedjeym, but
sometimes he followed them as far as Shigré. He had frequently been
fired at, but his strong coat of mail being proof against a distant
musket shot, he had acquired the reputation of being a sorcerer,
furnished with amulets to render him invulnerable to mortals. Some
Faky having told the merchants that, as his amulets were written in
defence of leaden bullets only, he might be killed with silver ones,
several of the traders melted Spanish dollars into large slugs,
with which they loaded their guns. Naym’s true amulet, however,
was the distant firing and bad aim of his assailants. Whenever
he apprehended that the strength of a caravan might be superior
to his own, he used to halt at some distance from the travellers,
and having ordered some particular party to withdraw from the rest,
assured them that it was not against them that his intentions were
directed; having thus succeeded in separating a part, he easily
dispersed the remainder. He always kept his word with those who
thus retired, and allowed their loaded camels to proceed untouched,
although, on some other occasion, perhaps, they might be comprised
amongst the number attacked. His success is the strongest proof of
the cowardice and bad faith of the traders who were capable of thus
abandoning their companions; such conduct, in the Arabian deserts,
would consign a tribe to everlasting infamy.
Naym shewed less cruelty towards the helpless travellers than might
be expected from an African robber. After stripping the caravan,
he generally permitted them to take as many camels, and as much
provision as would carry them to Egypt, or back to Berber; and as he
knew the greater part of the merchants personally, he often returned
them a slave or two at parting. Several Ababdes having been killed
in one of his attacks, the whole tribe was inspired with the desire
of revenge, and it was not long before they found an opportunity
of exercising it. The large caravan which left Sennaar for Egypt
in 1812, in company with the envoys of the Pasha, was escorted by
several hundred armed Ababdes. They halted for many days at Berber,
in order to prepare for their journey through the desert. During this
time the Ababde chief of the caravan received secret intelligence
that Naym had taken a new bride, and had fixed a certain day
for his nuptials. The caravan was ordered to leave Berber on the
preceding day, and the chief, accompanied by about one hundred armed
camel-riders, set out the night before, for the purpose, as he said,
of dividing the number of camels, and thus watering the animals with
more ease at Shigré. When he had proceeded some distance into the
desert, instead of following the direct road, he turned westwards,
and hastened across the mountains towards Mograt. Reaching the
residence of Naym, he surrounded the house and set fire to it,
when Naym sallied forth and was killed, with about half a dozen of
his companions. His head was carried to Egypt, and his ears sent
to Mohammed Aly Pasha, then in the Hedjaz. The unfortunate bride
was obliged to marry one of her husband’s murderers, who brought
her to Egypt, from whence she afterwards found means to escape to
Dóngola, and is now again with her family at Mograt. The fate of
Naym, however, has not prevented another robber from succeeding him
in these mountains: his name is Kerar, and he is chief of the Ababdes
of the tribe of Asheybab. In 1814, he plundered several caravans,
composed mostly of people of Berber, and retreated with his booty
to his tents in the mountains of Ottaby. The Pasha of Egypt has
made many attempts to seize him, but hitherto without success.
At present, as may well be conceived, there is very little
intercourse between Berber and Mograt, or the more distant country
of the Sheygya, except by Negro pilgrims, who follow the inhabited
banks of the Nile to Egypt. The war now carried on between the
Sheygya, and the Mamelouks in Dóngola is unfavourable to mercantile
speculations. Several battles have been fought, in which about
one hundred and fifty of the Sheygya, and fifty of the Mamelouks,
have been killed. The latter captured some horses and slaves, but
being unable to subdue their adversaries, and tired of a fruitless
and harassing warfare, they have withdrawn their forces from the
southern limits of Dóngola, and concentrated themselves in its
northern provinces towards Argo, where they still remain. Their
principal chief, Ibrahim Beg el Kebir, died of old age in 1813,
and Abdurrahman Beg el Manfoukh is now considered as the head man
amongst them. Several of the Begs, instead of going to Dóngola,
came from Egypt across the desert to Berber, and Selim Beg el
Towyl (سليم بك الطويل) lived for several months in
the same house we occupied. The chief of Berber being afraid of
the Mamelouks, behaved to the Beg with the greatest appearance
of kindness and generosity. Many persons at Berber believed that
I belonged to the Mamelouks, and that I had made my escape from
Upper Egypt, in order to join them. Though I disliked this report,
yet I preferred it to being supposed to belong to the household or
army of the Pasha of Egypt. The circumstance of his having sent an
envoy to Sennaar, had made people suspect that he had some design
upon these countries; the chiefs every where viewed his increasing
strength in Egypt with great jealousy, and he was much disliked
by all merchants, on account of the heavy duties he had laid on
the imports from the south; I therefore took great care to avoid
exciting any suspicion that I was in his interest, and concealed
the letters of recommendation I had with me, which I intended to
make use of only in case of the utmost necessity.
The distance from Berber to the southern limits of the country of the
Arabs Sheygya is four long days journey across the mountains on the
western side of the Nile. A district called Djohfe (جهفه), where
trees and springs are met with, forms a part of these mountains. The
former king of Kordofan, El Hashemy (الهاشمي), retired to
these mountains after having been dispossessed of his territory
by the present chief, called Metsellim, an officer of the King of
Darfour, and he remained encamped there for several years, with
a troop of followers; but he was at last so hard pressed by the
Sheygya, as to be obliged to retire to Shendy, and to put himself
under the protection of Nimr, the Mek of that place, by whom he
was afterwards killed, having engaged, with the Mek’s brothers,
in a conspiracy against him.
* * * * *
JOURNEY FROM BERBER TO SHENDY.
AFTER having settled all our accounts at Berber, our caravan,
reduced to about two-thirds of its original number, set out again
on the afternoon of the 7th of April. Several of the merchants had
returned to Egypt, others remained at Berber to sell their goods,
as did also many Ababdes, who had their families there, and who
intended to remain till the return of the caravan from Shendy. I was
not sorry to leave Berber; for the character of the inhabitants is
such, that a stranger can never consider himself safe for a moment
amongst them. Several of the first people of the town advised me
strongly to remain, and wait for the opportunity of proceeding with
a Taka caravan; but alone, I should have been entirely at the mercy
of the Meyrefab, who, no doubt, intended to plunder me; I therefore
resolved to proceed as far as Shendy, where I thought I should be
more likely to meet with a safe conveyance towards the Red Sea.
We proceeded this evening about two miles through the sands, and
stopped at the village of Goz el Funnye (قوز الفنّيه),
belonging to Berber. Here we alighted in the court-yard of the
house of a Fakir, a trader well known in Egypt, who entertained
us hospitably, and asked for no presents. Whenever he visits
Egypt, he quarters himself in like manner upon his acquaintance
at Daraou. Late in the evening our host Edris paid us a last
farewell visit, and insisted upon some further presents. After
much disputing, he wrested from the Daraou traders a fine shield,
worth eight dollars, the value of which we were obliged to pay him
by a general contribution, in order to recover it.
_April 8th._ There are many ruins of modern buildings at Goz,
which is now in decay; formerly, it was the chief place in Berber,
and it is so mentioned by Bruce. In several places are public wells
or pits of brackish water, where travellers water their beasts,
the banks of the river being steep, and the descent to it very
difficult. We pursued our way along the skirts of the desert,
over a perfectly level plain or arable track of land, about two
miles in breadth, which lay between us and the Nile. The ground
was every where overgrown with the Oshour tree (عُشور), so
often mentioned in my journey along the Nile towards Dóngola,
and in the previous one through Arabia Petræa. Our path was well
trodden, and might be called a high road; numerous paths diverged
from it in every direction into the eastern desert. After about two
hours march, we reached a woody tract, where Sant and Sellam trees
grow. The country on the western side of the Nile was, as far as
I could see, perfectly flat, without any mountains or hills; but
a white line, indicating the sands of the desert, was every where
discernible beyond the narrow stripe of arable land which borders
the course of the stream. We met many travellers, on horseback
and on dromedaries, and women and children either riding alone on
asses, or driving loaded asses before them. This road appears to be
perfectly safe for the inhabitants of the country, though it would
not be so for strangers, without a proper guide. We had taken two
men from Ankheyre to escort us to the limits of the Wady Berber. At
the end of three hours and a half, we entered the district of Ras el
Wady; and at the end of four hours reached the village of that name
(راس الوادي), where we were obliged to stop, as a transit
duty is here levied upon merchants. Ras el Wady is a considerable
village, larger than Ankheyre, but not so well built, and containing
many huts made of mats. We went straight to the Mek’s dwelling,
and encamped on the open ground before it. This Mek, whose name is
Hamze, is a relation of Noureddyn, the Mek of Berber (مك حمزه
ابن عم المك نورالدين في بربر), but is quite
independent of him, Ras el Wady being a principality of itself,
although I think that most of its inhabitants are Meyrefabs, and
of the same tribe with those who people Berber. Like the latter
place, however, it is subject to the king of Sennaar, by whom the
Mek is appointed. Hamze is much dreaded by the caravan travellers,
especially the Egyptians. The Daraou traders supposing that they
might, perhaps, on my account, experience some ill treatment from
this chief, and convinced, at all events, that my society could no
longer be of any advantage to them, as they saw that I fought for
every handful of Dhourra, determined to abandon me entirely. We had
halted for some minutes in the plain, near a pond of water, before
the village. On starting again, they ordered me, in a contemptuous
manner, to keep off, and not to come near their party any more. The
boys accompanied these orders with a shouting similar to that
which is made in driving dogs away, and then beating my ass with
the but-end of their lances, they drove him into the desert.
I had always endeavoured to keep on good terms with our Ababde
companions, who, bad as they were, were still better than the
Daraou people; I now asked them whether they intended to leave me
to the mercy of the Meyrefab robbers, or would permit me to make
one of their party. They immediately consented to my joining them,
and my situation became thus materially bettered. During the whole
of our stay at Berber, no dirty villainous trick or joke was left
untried by my companions from Daraou to hurt my feelings and render
me contemptible; at last, well assured that my bodily strength was
superior to that of any of their party (for I had several times
thrown the strongest of them in wrestling), the boys attempted to
tire my patience by an incessant teazing, which I could not easily
resent upon them, and which I thought it necessary to put up with,
because I was afraid, that if I should leave the party abruptly I
might expose myself to some more deliberate mischief, which I could
not estimate, and had not the means of preventing.
The Mek Hamze gave us a very cold reception. We remained from
morning, till late in the evening, before he sent us any food;
and my companions said, that if he should hear of any of us having
eaten in the meanwhile of our own provisions, he would consider
it as a great affront, because we were now his guests. Two of
our merchants went up to the Mek, to negociate with him, about
the sum to be paid, while the rest were all busily engaged in
defending the baggage from the rapacity of the inhabitants, who
had at first collected round it in great numbers, and inquiring,
with apparent friendly concern, about our welfare, had soon after
placed themselves in the midst of it. There was no open quarrel,
but many things were found missing, and amongst the rest I lost
my pipe. Late at night we were informed that the Mek would not be
satisfied with less than ten dollars for each camel’s load, and
four dollars from each trader; I was comprised among the latter,
and the sum was paid down, partly in cash, and partly in goods. The
Ababdes paid nothing, and for some presents given to them, they even
secured several Egyptian camel loads from taxation, by claiming them
as their own. I had reason to be afraid that the Mek would take my
gun, for I had heard that he is in the habit of seizing upon all
the fire-arms he can; in the preceding night, therefore, I made
a pretended bargain for it with the Ababde chief, in the presence
of the caravan, well knowing that my companions themselves would
otherwise have betrayed me. The Ababde chief now declared to the
Mek’s people that the gun was his, which nobody could deny. It
was thus saved, but the Ababde took a dollar for his trouble.
The Mek remained in his house the whole night, without our seeing
him; but his son came down to ask for some presents for himself,
which were flatly refused. He then inquired if there was any jolly
fellow amongst us, who would keep him company at the Bouza shop. One
of the Egyptians stepped forward, and had the honour of being led
by him to a common brothel just by, where they sat drinking and
singing the whole of the night.
_April 9th._ This morning Mek Hamze made his appearance; on quitting
his house, he walked across the plain, and set himself down on
a stone bench, near a house, in front of our baggage. It being a
hot day, he was quite naked, with the exception of a towel tied
round his loins, and his hair had just been smeared with grease. He
was attended by six or eight slaves, one of whom carried a small
water-flask, very prettily made of leather, of Sennaar manufacture;
another his sword, and a third his shield; so that his Mekship had
altogether a most proud and commanding appearance. The merchants,
who had expected to be permitted to depart early in the morning,
were alarmed, and apprehended the levy of a new contribution. We all
went up to him, kissed his hand, and stood before him in the most
humble posture. He said he was glad to see us, that he was a great
friend to traders, but that of late they had become very niggardly;
he then insisted upon a present for his son, and seeing a fine ass
in the caravan, told him to mount it. The owner of the ass offered in
vain six dollars, as a ransom; the animal was carried to the Mek’s
stable, and we were then permitted to depart. This ass happened to be
the very one which had carried me through the desert. Understanding,
while on the road, that Egyptian asses were in great demand in the
southern countries, especially among the great people, and mine
having become famous in the caravan, for his great strength and
activity, I foresaw that it would be difficult for me to preserve
him from the avidity of the Meks, and I therefore exchanged him on
the night preceding our arrival at Berber, for one of a smaller
size, and of inferior strength, belonging to one of the traders
from Daraou, who gave me a dollar into the bargain; he undoubtedly
flattered himself that he had over-reached me, little thinking that
any body would take the ass from him, and reckoning upon selling it
afterwards for ten or twelve dollars. At Berber he contrived to save
the animal from the clutches of Mek Noureddyn; but Mek Hamze’s
rapacity was of a more determined kind, and made him sorely repent
of his bargain with me. He pretended to insist upon taking back
the ass he had exchanged with me; but the Ababdes took my part,
and even secretly praised me for having led him into the scrape.
A large party of Bisharein was encamped near Ras el Wady; they had
come to purchase Dhourra for their summer provision. The brother
of Mek Hamze had lately gone to Souakin, on his way to Arabia,
with several slaves and fine horses, which he meant to offer as
a present to the Sherif Hamoud, the chief of Yemen, expecting,
of course, some suitable presents in return. Speculations of this
sort are often made in these countries. Some of the dromedaries
belonging to Mek Hamze were very fine animals, and their bridles
and saddles were very fantastically ornamented. Every chief keeps
a couple of dromedaries of the best race, for show, and, whenever
he rides out, he is followed by them, mounted by two of his slaves.
We departed from Ras el Wady in the course of the morning. The Mek
sent two of his relations, to accompany us to the limits of his
jurisdiction. Our road lay partly through barren sands, and partly
through thin woods of acacia trees. In two hours we passed several
hamlets, where Doum trees were numerous, and in the neighbourhood
of which a large island is formed in the river. The inhabitants of
these hamlets are said to be great robbers, and this was, probably,
the reason why our two guides made us halt here, and demanded ten
dollars for having accompanied us so far. Fond as the traders are of
their money, they thought that circumstances required them to submit
to the imposition, and the money was paid. At this time our caravan
was reduced to about twenty camels; many of the lesser traders, in
order to elude the payment of passage-money, having already preceded
us, and passed during the night through the desert to the east of
Ras el Wady; others, who had no camels to mount, had engaged a man of
Goz to conduct them by night along a perilous path by the side of the
river, and they joined us again beyond the territory of Mek Hamze.