new tombstones, in the desert, the melancholy proofs of the terrible
ravages of the small-pox. According to the Nubian custom, and which
I had already observed in the Berábera country, every tomb was
covered with white pebbles, and pieces of quartz. The plain of the
eastern desert is here interrupted by several sandy and gravelly
hillocks. At the end of four hours, after passing through a wood of
acacia trees, we reached the river Mogren (مُقرن), not Mareb,
as Bruce writes it, a name quite unknown here. After descending a
high bank, we passed for at least a mile, over deep sands in the
bed of the river, and then came to a pool of stagnant water, about
twenty paces broad, where the water reached up to the ankle: in many
places there were similar pools, but no where any running stream. I
estimated the height of the banks at thirty feet, and I observed
the high-water marks to be about twenty feet from the bottom, from
whence it is evident that this river can never inundate the adjacent
country; indeed this fact was confirmed by my companions, who told
me that during the time of high-water they pass the river in a boat
brought from Damer for the purpose, and that they had never seen the
country on either side of the river inundated, except by the waters
of the Nile. The verdant banks of the Mogren, covered with fresh
herbage and tamarisk bushes, afforded a delightful scene, which I
was permitted to enjoy for a full hour, as many of the camels, in
ascending the steep banks on the south side of the river, stumbled,
and threw their loads, thus occasioning a delay.
The Mogren forms the boundary between the territories of Ras el Wady
and Damer. On its southern banks several water-wheels were at work,
drawing up the water from some of the pools. The regular distribution
of the fields, and the small channels for irrigation, shewed that
agriculture is here more attended to than in the districts we
had passed. The banks of the Mogren, for about two days journey
above its confluence with the Nile, are inhabited by the Arabs,
or Bedouins Djaalein (جاعلين); they are quite independent,
and their tribes are widely spread over these countries as high as
Sennaar. They are the strongest Arab tribe in this neighbourhood;
they cultivate some Dhourra fields on the banks of the river,
and feed many cattle.
After passing the Mogren, we rode across a sandy barren plain,
overgrown with Oshour, of which I saw trees twenty feet high, and
then re-entered upon the arable soil, where we were met by some of
the Shikhs of Damer, whom our advanced party had despatched to meet
us, and to serve as an escort against the robberies of the Djaaleins,
several of whose horsemen were seen hovering about, at a little
distance from the caravan, with evidently bad intentions. At the
end of six hours, and after sun-set, we entered Damer (دامر), a
place of considerable note and reputation in this part of the world,
and whose inhabitants, I was glad to find, are of a much better
disposition than their neighbours of Berber. Having now joined
the Ababdes of our caravan, I accompanied them to the house where
they took up their quarters. We entered the dwelling of a Dóngola
merchant, an old friend of my companions; he happened to be absent,
but his wife gave us a kind reception, and cleaned two rooms in her
court-yard, where the goods and baggage were deposited. We found
here some Kordofan merchants, who had just come from Dóngola, by way
of Shendy, and who gave us the latest news concerning the Mamelouks.
_At Damer, from 10th to 15th April._ Damer is a large village or
town,[18] containing about five hundred houses. It is clean, and
much neater than Berber, having many new buildings, and no ruins. The
houses are built with some uniformity, in regular streets, and shady
trees are met with in several places. It is inhabited by the Arab
tribe of Medja-ydin (مجايدين), who trace their origin from
Arabia; the greater part of them are Fokara, or religious men. They
have no Shikh, but a high pontiff, called El Faky el Kebir (the
great Faky), who is their real chief, and decides all matters in
dispute. The family of Medjdoule, in whom this office is established,
has the reputation of producing necromancers, or persons endowed with
supernatural powers, from whom nothing remains hidden, and whose
spells nothing can withstand. Innumerable stories are related of
their magic powers, of which the following is a specimen: Abdallah,
the father of the present Faky, caused a lamb to bleat in the stomach
of the thief who had stolen, and afterwards eaten it. The Faky is
resorted to in all cases where property is stolen, and as every
body entertains the greatest terror of his supposed omniscience,
it is generally an easy task with him to perform wonders. If I
am not mistaken, the office of the great Faky is hereditary; of
course it is essential that the successor should be a shrewd man,
and well instructed in the Mussulman law, these being absolutely
necessary to enable him to act his part. The great Shikh, however,
is not the only person in the place who possesses magical powers;
there are many Fakys of less note, who enjoy a similar credit,
in proportion always to their sanctity and learning, and thus the
whole town of Damer has acquired great reputation. Here are several
schools, to which young men repair from Darfour, Sennaar, Kordofan,
and other parts of Soudan, in order to acquire a proficiency in the
law, sufficient to enable them to make a figure as great Fakys in
their own countries. The learned men of Damer have many books, but
they treat exclusively of religious and judicial subjects. Amongst
others, I saw a copy of the Koran worth at least four hundred
piasters, and a complete copy of Bochari’s Commentaries upon the
Koran, worth double that sum, at the Cairo book-market. These books
are brought from Cairo by the young Fakys of Damer themselves,
many of whom go to study there in the mosque El Azher, or in the
great mosque at Mekka, where they remain for three or four years,
living during that time principally upon alms and stipends. In
the schools at Damer they teach the true reading of the Koran, and
deliver lectures on the Tefsyn (explanations of the Koran), and on
the Touhyd, or the nature of God, and his divine attributes. They
have a large well built mosque, but without a minaret; it rests upon
arches built of bricks, and the floor is covered with fine sand. This
is the coolest spot in Damer, and much resorted to by strangers
to pass a few hours in sleep after the mid-day prayers. Around an
open place adjoining the mosque are a number of school-rooms. Many
Fakys have small chapels near their own houses, but the Friday’s
prayers are always performed in the great mosque. The chief Fakys
live with great ostentation of sanctity, and the Faky el Kebír leads
the life of a hermit; he occupies a small building in the midst of
a large square in the town. One part of this building is a chapel,
and the other a room about twelve feet square, in which he constantly
resides day and night, without any attendants, and separated from
his own family. He lives upon what his friends or disciples send him
for breakfast and supper. About three o’clock in the afternoon
he quits his chamber, after having been shut up all the morning,
occupied in reading, and takes his seat upon a large stone bench
before the building. He is here joined by all his fraternity, and
business is then transacted until long after sun-set. I went once
to kiss his hands, and found him a venerable figure, entirely
wrapped up in a white cloke. He asked me from whence I came,
in what school I had learnt to read, and what books I had read;
and he seemed satisfied with my answers. Near him sat a Moggrebyn
Shikh, a native of Mekinéz, who had come from Mekka, to serve as
his scribe, and who transacted all the public business. I was told
that this person had found means to amass a large sum of money.
The affairs of this little hierarchical state appear to be conducted
with great prudence. All its neighbours testify much respect for
the Fakys; the treacherous Bisharein even, are so completely kept
in awe by them, that they have never been known to hurt any of the
people of Damer when travelling from thence across the mountains to
Souakin. They particularly fear the power of the Fakys to deprive
them of rain, and thus to cause the death of their flocks. Caravans
pass occasionally from Damer to Souakin, for many of the Fakys
are traders. On the outside of the town we found encampments of
Bisharein, and Djaalein, who had come to sell their sheep. There
are several public wells in the town, as well as at some distance
along the roads leading to it.
The principal trade of Damer is with Dóngola and Shendy; with
Berber there is little intercourse, except by means of the Egyptian
caravans passing that way. There is a manufacture of coarse cotton
stuffs in imitation of the Dammour of Sennaar, and most of the
articles of the Egyptian trade are found in the warehouses of the
Damer merchants. There is no Souk, or daily market, but there is a
weekly one, in which every merchant exposes his goods; the sales
of cattle are said to be considerable, and the Damer mats, made
of Doum leaves, are greatly in demand throughout the neighbouring
country. In places like Damer, where there is no daily market, and
where nothing whatever is sold publicly except on the weekly market
day, the traveller finds it very troublesome to buy the articles of
small value which he may be in need of. I wanted a few measures of
Dhourra for my ass, but there being no metal currency less than a
dollar, which would have purchased a larger quantity than I could
have carried with me, I was under the necessity of imitating my
companions, and went from house to house with some strings of
beads in my hands, offering them for sale at about four handfuls
of Dhourra for each bead. I gained at this rate about sixty per
cent. above the prime cost, and had at the same time an opportunity
of entering many private houses. I was somewhat surprised to find
that, notwithstanding the austerity of the Fakys, a great number of
Bouza shops, and houses of debauchery, were established all over the
town. I repeated these walks every day during our stay at Damer. One
afternoon, while crying my beads for sale, I was accosted by a Faky,
who asked me if I could read. On answering in the affirmative, he
desired me to follow him to a place where, he said, I might expect
to get a good dinner. He then led me to a house where I found a
great number of people collected to celebrate the memory of some
relative lately deceased. Several Fakys were reading the Koran in
a low tone of voice. A great Faky afterwards came in, whose arrival
was the signal for reciting the Koran in loud songs, in the manner
customary in the east, in which I joined them. This was continued
for about half an hour, until dinner was brought in, which was
very plentiful, as a cow had been killed upon the occasion. After a
hearty meal, we recommenced our reading. One of the Shikhs produced
a basket full of white pebbles, over which several prayers were
read. These pebbles were destined to be strewed over the tomb of
the deceased in the manner which I had often observed upon tombs
freshly made. Upon my enquiries concerning this custom, which I
confessed to have never before seen practised in any Mohammedan
country, the Faky answered that it was a mere meritorious action,
that there was no absolute necessity for it, but that it was thought
that the soul of the deceased, when hereafter visiting the tomb,
might be glad to find these pebbles, in order to use them as beads
in addressing its prayers to the Creator.[19] When the reading
was over, the women began to sing and howl. I then left the room,
and on taking my departure my kind host put some bones of roasted
meat in my hand, to serve for my supper.
The ladies of Damer adorn their sitting rooms with a number of
large wooden bowls or dishes hung against the walls like so many
pictures. The floor is covered with fine mats of various designs
and colours, for the art of dying the Doum leaves appears to be
known here. I have likewise seen ostrich eggs, and black ostrich
feathers put up as ornaments on the wall, over the door.
On the west bank of the river, opposite the town, is a small
village, called Damer el Gharby (دامر الغربي), or the
Western Damer. The communication between the two places is kept
up by ferry-boats, of the rudest workmanship, consisting merely of
the excavated trunk of a large Nebek tree.
The cultivation of the soil is much more attended to at Damer,
than in any other place from Dóngola to Shendy. Artificial
irrigation is carried on by numerous water-wheels, turned by cows,
like those used in Egypt; this custom enables the cultivators to
obtain two crops every year. Damer suffered less during the last
famine than any of the neighbouring countries; but great numbers
died of the small-pox. The principal produce of the soil is Dhourra;
some wheat is sown, but not for exportation; it serves only for
the private consumption of the great Fakys, who have learnt the
use of this luxury in Egypt. Some Bamyes are cultivated, and a
considerable quantity of red pepper (Sheteyta شطيطه). Of the
latter a part is exported, and the people are immoderately fond of
it for the seasoning of their dishes. The district produces cotton
plentifully, and a little tobacco of the worst kind, for the Bisharye
market. The Fakys themselves never smoke. I thought the cattle looked
finer and better fed than those of Berber. Few horses are kept, but
asses are numerous. Our traders bought some camels, and disposed of
some of their merchandize. No passage duties are paid to the Fakys,
whose principal income arises from agriculture and trade. This is
the reason why Damer flourishes, caravans being never averse from
staying here a few days. Our landlord was very reasonable in his
demands, and our whole party, myself included, left the town well
satisfied with its inhabitants. The Ababde sent some loaves of
sugar to the Faky el Kebír, but quite as a voluntary donation.
_April 15th._ We set out early in the morning, being accompanied by
two Fakys, who were to serve as guards as far as the limits of the
country of Shendy. The road is dangerous, and the inhabitants upon
it are robbers; but such is the fear entertained of the Fakys of
Damer, that the mere sight of them marching unarmed at the head of
the caravan was sufficient to inspire the country people with the
greatest respect; they often came, as we passed along, to kiss the
Fakys hands, and then retired. It would require an armed force to
pass here, without the aid of some of these religious men. Caravans
from the south halt on the northern frontier of Shendy, until a
Faky arrives from Damer to accompany them.
Our companions were all under great apprehensions, in setting out
from Damer, notwithstanding the presence of our guides. We kept close
together, lest any stragglers should be cut off in the woods through
which the road lies. I carried my gun in my hand, which I knew would
frighten a host of robbers, but, according to my constant practice in
travelling, I did not think it necessary to load it. The principal of
the Daraou traders rode up to me, and knowing the gun to be unloaded,
ordered me, in a very peremptory tone, to put in a ball; upon my
refusing a sharp dispute arose; he called me at last a cowardly
rascal (معرّص خّواق), who was unworthy of wearing arms;
“that may be true,” I replied, “but I am at least accustomed
to wear them, while you peasants find a stick or a scithe more
suited to your hands than a sword.” His pride was so much hurt
by this reply, that he struck me a blow with his stick across the
shoulders which almost levelled me to the ground; I warded off a
second blow with my gun, and was going to return it with the butt
end, when our companions leapt in between us, and wrested the gun
from me, which, after a moment’s reflection, I was glad of, for if
I had struck the man, I should have wounded him, and it would then
have become a serious business. I vented my anger in heavy curses
upon my aggressor, who was blamed by every body, and especially by
the Ababdes, who declared that they would resent any further insult
offered to me. The bustle which this affair occasioned, together with
our fears of robbers, which did not permit me to quit the caravan,
prevented me from taking my notes as fully as usual. On leaving
Damer we entered a wood of Sellam trees, and continued our route
at a little distance from the arable ground. Near the river we saw
several small villages and hamlets, among clusters of Doum trees;
they are inhabited by the Arabs Mekaberab (مكابراب),[20] who
were formerly tributary to the chiefs of Shendy, but who have long
since asserted their freedom, and now live partly upon the produce of
their fields, and partly by robbery; they are at war with all their
neighbours, and having acquired a reputation for superior valour,
are much dreaded by them. Travellers unaccompanied by one or more
Fakys from Damer, are sure of being stripped by them.
At the end of six hours from Damer we quitted the valley of the
Nile, and made a short cut over sand hills, which brought us,
after a march of nine hours, to Hawaya (حوايه), a village
which forms at present the northern frontier of the territory
of Shendy. Shendy extends _de jure_ as far as the river Mogren,
including Damer; but we have already seen that the Fokaha of Damer
are quite independent. It was a beautiful evening, after a very
hot day; and we all went to bathe in the river, the bed of which,
near the shore, I found covered with pebbles. We encamped in an
open square in the midst of the village, and understanding it to
be a safe place, I took some beads to exchange for bread in the
village. After a long and fruitless search, I was met by some men who
invited me to go home with them, saying that their wives would take
the beads. I followed them, until we reached a narrow unfrequented
lane, when they turned short upon me, snatched away the beads, tore
off my cap, and then finding that unarmed as I was I still made
some resistance, they drew their swords. I now took to my heels,
and rejoined my companions, who laughed at my misfortunes. They
advised me to go to the Shikh of the village, who, they said,
would find out the robbers. I met with the Shikh late at night in
a Bouza hut, surrounded by a drunken party. Having described the
persons of the thieves, the beads and cap were soon discovered,
and returned to me. The Shikh then insisted upon my taking a merry
cup with him, and, upon my refusal, he accompanied me back to our
people, when I was at last obliged to pay him, as a compliment,
twice the value of the stolen goods. I mention this anecdote to
show how small a chance a single traveller has of passing through
this country without being stripped.
_April 16th._ After a march of four hours from Hawaya we came to
the village of Gabaty (قباتي). Here, as in the higher parts
of Upper Egypt, all the larger villages are built on the declivity
of the hills of the desert, and at some distance from the soil
cultivated by their inhabitants. At Gabaty I saw a very uncommon
building, which covered the tomb of a saint; it is in the form of
a [Illustration] well rounded cone, about thirty feet in height,
resting upon a square substructure five or six feet high, in which
is a low door. The whole is built of sun-burnt bricks. I found the
entrance shut, and was told that it was opened on Fridays only. At
a distance this tomb had the exact appearance of a pyramid, and I
could not help thinking that such buildings might have been used
as sepulchres from the earliest times by the Ethiopians, and might
have given origin to the stupendous tombs of Memphis. I observed
a similar but smaller structure at Shendy, but I met with them
nowhere else, although every village of note has some tombs of
revered saints or Shikhs.
Beyond Gabaty we rode alternately through the arable plain, and
the sandy hills. The former, where it is broadest, appears to
be about four miles in breadth, from the hills to the river. The
harvest had long been collected, but we saw the whole plain still
full of Dhourra stalks, not thickly crowded together as in Egypt,
but at wide intervals asunder, evidently shewing a great neglect of
cultivation. In the fields are many Nebek trees, and the borders of
the desert are everywhere overgrown with Oshour. We passed several
hamlets in the hills on our left; and at the end of ten hours,
late in the evening, reached Djebail (جبيل), a large village
in the hills, with several small mosques, and good buildings. It
is governed by a relative of the Mek of Shendy, whose district
extends as far as Hawaya. We encamped upon a piece of open ground
at the back of the village. After we had retired to rest we were
awakened by the servants of the principal Faky of the place, who
sent us a plentiful supper. During this day’s march we often met
passengers on the road, riding, for the most part, upon asses, and
also a small caravan from Shendy, on its way to Berber. I observed
several ancient dikes of earth, without any appearance of stone
or brick in them, and many canals for the purpose of irrigating
the plain, which were almost filled up with earth, and of little
or no use. Near Djebail begins a chain of mountains of sandstone,
running southwards, parallel with the river.
_April 17th._ At the end of two hours from Djebail, in crossing
the arable soil, we passed low mounds consisting of rubbish,
and red burnt bricks; they were about eighty paces in length,
and extended quite across the arable soil, for at least one mile
eastwards, turning, as I thought, towards their extremity, a little
more to the south. The bricks are of a very rude make, much coarser
than those now in use in Egypt. The mounds have the appearance of
having served as a wall, although but little remains by which to
form a judgment. Both on the northern and southern side we passed
some foundations of buildings, of moderate size, constructed of
hewn stones. These were the only remains of antiquity I could
discover; nor could I see any stones scattered amongst the mounds
of rubbish, as far, at least, as my sight could reach. A closer
examination might, perhaps, have led to some more interesting
discoveries, but I was in the company of the caravan, and had the
wonders of Thebes been placed on the road, I should not have been
able to examine them. At the end of three hours we came to Dawa
(داوه), a small village. The hills here take a direction more
to the east, and leave a plain of at least ten miles in breadth,
luxuriantly covered with wild plants, mixed with all the species
of the thorny acacias, and where are a great number of dispersed
huts and hamlets. The Arabs Djaalein here pasture their numerous
herds of cows, camels, and sheep. They have also a few water-wheels,
and grow considerable quantities of onions, with which they supply
the Shendy market. Their huts are made of mats; I entered several
of them, but could not get a drop of milk without paying for it in
Dhourra. The road across the plain was much entangled with weeds,
and overhanging branches of acacia, which rendered the passage
somewhat troublesome to our loaded camels.
We rode for two or three hours in this fertile district, and then
entered again upon a sandy plain overgrown with large Syale trees,
where we stopped during the noontide hours, on the high banks of
the river, and watered our camels. Large flocks of storks passed
over our heads to the northward. At the end of seven hours from
our setting out in the morning we reached the extremity of the
sandy plain, where commences a tract called Boeydha (بويضه),
less extensive, but equally fertile with the plain preceding. It
contains many small hamlets, in which the houses consist generally
of one room only, serving for all purposes. Here are the salt-works
which supply the whole country as far as Sennaar with salt. The
earth, which for several miles round is strongly impregnated with
salt, is collected by the Arabs in heaps upon the side of the
road. The salt is separated from the earth by boiling in large
earthen vessels, and the saline part is then boiled a second time,
in smaller vessels. The salt is afterwards formed into small round
cakes about a foot in diameter, and three inches in thickness; it
is perfectly white, and has much the appearance of rock salt. About
a dozen cakes are packed together in a basket; four baskets make a
camel’s load. This salt constitutes a considerable branch of the
Shendy trade. The Sennaar merchants buy it in great quantities for
the Abyssinian markets, and exchange it in the mountains about Ras
el Fil, for slaves and gold. The works are the property of the Mek
of Shendy: there were about twenty boilers on the fire when I passed.