rather a heavy article here; it is more in demand in the western
countries, to which it is carried by the Darfour caravans: it is,
however, always found in the warehouses of the Egyptians. _Pewter_
(Gasdir قصدير), in thin bars, in small quantity. _Old copper_,
principally large boilers, and pots, which are bought up by the
slave traders, for their own use. _Yellow brass wire_ (Selk Asfar
سلك اصفر), for which there is a great demand throughout all
these countries, for ornamenting the lances, by twisting it round
different parts of the shaft.
Of hardware, the most current articles are _razors_, of that
quality which, in Germany, from whence they come, may be worth
three pence each; at Cairo, they are sold wholesale for twelve
paras apiece. _Files_, almost all of which are transformed into
knives, in order to obtain a good steel blade. _Thimbles, scissars,
needles_, all of the coarsest kind, of Nuremberg manufacture;
_Nails, steels_ to strike fire; _Sword-blades_, of the kind,
which I have already described, and which are in common use all
over the Black countries to the east of the Fezzan trade. They
come from Sohlingen in Germany; about three thousand of them
are annually sold at Cairo to the southern traders. _Antimony_,
in small lumps. _Tar_ (Gitran قطران), with which water-skins
are rubbed, to make them water-tight, and the backs of camels, to
preserve them from the scab, or to cure them of that disease. _Silver
trinkets_ for female ornaments, as bracelets, ear-rings, &c.; of
these the Darfour caravans take off considerable quantities from
Egypt. Very _small bells_ (_sonaglii_), with which they ornament, in
Sennaar and Darfour, the camel’s bridle and halter. _Marcasite_
(Roh toutiya روح توتيه) goes likewise to Sennaar and
Darfour. _Looking-glasses_ of Venetian and Trieste manufacture,
with gilt covers, constitute a distinguished article of the Egyptian
trade; the most common kinds are about four inches square; others
are round, of about the same size, with a long handle, made at
Cairo. No woman marries here without decorating her room with such
a looking-glass.
Since the Mamelouks have established themselves in Dóngola,
every Egyptian caravan brings to Shendy some articles of Mamelouk
dress, as cloths, shoes, &c., which are purchased by the Dóngola
merchants. Until lately the direct trade between Upper Egypt and
Dóngola was prohibited by the Pasha of Egypt, and the merchants
preferred this circuitous route to the danger of having their
goods confiscated. During the warfare between the Mamelouks and the
Sheygya, the former sent the greater part of their women to Shendy,
as a place less exposed to the casualties of desultory warfare; they
afterwards recalled them, but some were still there when I arrived,
making themselves ridiculous by their arrogance and pretensions.
The Egyptian trade is, in general, carried on with very small
capitals. I do not believe that there is a single merchant,
the whole amount of whose stock exceeds fifteen hundred Spanish
dollars. The family of the Alowein, with whom I came from Daraou,
and who formed of themselves a party of about a dozen people, had
no more than a thousand dollars embarked in their adventure. The
common class of merchants have from two to three hundred dollars;
even this money is seldom their own property; in general it is
either borrowed by them in Upper Egypt, at high interest, or their
merchandize is bought at Esne, Kenne, or even at Cairo, upon credit:
the reason is, that no truly respectable merchant of Egypt ever
engages in such enterprizes. A journey to Soudan is looked upon,
even in Egypt, as a desperate undertaking, in which those only
embark who have little or nothing to lose; and in general, the
traffic in slaves, or, as it is often called in Egypt, the trade
in human flesh (التسبّب في لحم بن ادم) is by no
means thought creditable. The people of Daraou, however, find credit,
and might easily accumulate riches, if they were not so incorrigibly
vicious and dissipated, spending the best part of their profits in
drinking and debauchery. The money which they borrow in Upper Egypt,
and for which they generally pledge their houses or landed property,
as security, is lent to them at an interest of fifty per cent. for
the journey, whatever length of time they may remain absent; and
the goods which are bought upon credit in Egypt, on condition of
payment upon their return, are sold to them at a price raised in
the same proportion. The Daraou merchants train their children,
at a very early age, to this commerce. Several boys, hardly ten
years of age, followed their fathers in the caravan with which I
travelled from Daraou; and when once embarked in this traffic,
they perform at least two journeys annually until their latest
years. I have seen people at Daraou, who boasted that their great,
great grandfathers (جد جدّي) had been Sennaar merchants.
The Darfour merchants have at Cairo the reputation of being much
better paymasters than those of the eastern route; they have also
much larger capitals embarked in their trade, and are entrusted
with more considerable sums upon credit, especially at Siout, where
many of them make their purchases. It may easily be conceived, from
what I have already said of the prices of several articles of trade,
that the profits of the Egyptians are very great. In fact there is
not a single article of Egyptian or European manufacture, which is
not sold at Shendy at double or triple its prime cost in Egypt, and
the products of the southern countries yield as great a profit when
sold in Egypt. The rapacity of the chiefs through whose territories
the caravans pass, the expense of transport across the desert,[30]
the feeding of the slaves, the tribute paid to the Ababdes, and the
duties laid upon the trade by the Pasha of Egypt,[31] are indeed
heavy drawbacks, but still the profits are very considerable; and
I am certain that a well chosen assortment of goods carried from
Daraou to Shendy, leaves, after the sale of the return-cargo at
Daraou, a clear gain of one hundred and fifty per cent., according
to the most moderate calculation. I have heard of Zameles, or camel
loads of Sembil and Mehleb, which, after having been exchanged at
Shendy for slaves, produced at Cairo a profit of almost five hundred
per cent. Of late, the Egyptian merchants have found dollars the
most beneficial article of importation from Europe, because with
dollars camels can be immediately procured in any quantity; but
this preference will last only as long as camels continue to be in
great demand in Egypt, for the transport between Kenne and Kosseir,
and for the supply of the Turkish army in the Hedjaz.
There are a few instances of wealthy merchants from Egypt having come
to Shendy with large capitals, as Bakim Aga, a Smyrniote by birth,
who, eight or ten years ago, left Egypt with about twenty loaded
camels, but who died at Shendy: his property fell a prey to the Mek,
and no one has since made a similar attempt. The entire amount of
the capital invested by the Egyptian merchants in the Soudan trade,
I calculate to be from sixty to eighty thousand dollars, but as
this sum produces a profit twice, and sometimes thrice in one
year, according to the number of journeys, the whole value of the
imports into these countries from Egypt, may be computed at about
fifteen hundred, or two thousand dollars per annum. No dollars
are re-exported from the Negro countries; they are dispersed or
hoarded by the chiefs and other persons, and thus Soudan becomes
a continual drain for a part of the silver of Europe.
The trade might be much improved, either by regularity in the
departure of the caravans (they might quit Daraou, for instance,
every two months), or by establishing factories at Berber and Shendy;
for at present, caravans from all parts are often kept waiting for
months for the arrival of others, to which alone they can dispose
of their goods. The Nubian desert is indeed crossed almost every
fortnight by small parties of adventurers; but they trade at every
place on the road, and Egyptian goods can seldom be found in any
quantity at Shendy (and I suppose it is the same at Sennaar), except
after the arrival of the large caravans, the departure of which from
Daraou is at present quite irregular. The Sennaar caravan sets out
from Upper Egypt generally once a year, and returns the next year. It
rests at Berber, Damer, and Shendy, and is often from two to three
months on its way from Daraou to Sennaar. This caravan consists of
three or four hundred men, and several hundred camels, and it is
joined on its return by many Sennaar traders, chiefly agents of the
king of Sennaar and his vizier, who are the principal merchants at
that place. It was with this caravan that the Pasha of Egypt sent
last year an envoy to Sennaar, for the purpose, as it was said,
of exciting the king against the Mamelouks, and at the same time
of informing himself of the practicability of invading the country
with a Turkish army. Notwithstanding the contrary assertions of
the government of Egypt, it is certain that the ambassador was much
slighted, and narrowly escaped ill treatment in the road. He carried
to the king of Sennaar presents of shawls, muslins, arms, &c. to
the amount of three or four thousand dollars; in return for which
the king sent to Mohammed Aly three or four ugly female slaves,
some leopard skins, a civet cat, two monkeys, and a young lion,
which died in its passage through the desert; the whole present was
worth, at Sennaar, about eighty dollars. During my stay in Arabia I
was informed that an embassy sent by Mohammed Aly to Abyssinia, had
had a still less agreeable issue. Mohammed having taken possession
of the town and harbour of Massouah, where, until that time, the
Sherif of Mekka had kept his collector of customs,[32] and having
thus become a neighbour of the Abyssinians, thought it necessary to
place himself upon good terms with the king of Gondar, preferring,
by these means, to counteract any efforts which the Mamelouks might
make in that direction, while he gratified his vanity in causing it
to be said that the celebrity of his name had reached even the most
inaccessible parts of Africa. The ambassador, however, was stopped at
Axum by Ras Weled Selase, in the same manner as Mr. Salt had been,
some years before. Selase took the presents destined for the king,
and sent the Pasha, in return, a white linen shirt (the dress of
the country), and one hundred Spanish dollars, as a subsidy for
his expenses in the Wahabi campaign.[33]
Caravans from Sennaar arrive at Shendy every six weeks, or two
months. Whenever they bring Dhourra, the number of their loaded
camels amounts to five or six hundred; but if they have only goods
and slaves, they seldom have one hundred camels with them. The
principal import from Sennaar is the Dammour, or cotton stuff,
which is in use not only along the banks of the Nile, as far
as Dóngola, but in Kordofan, in a great part of Darfour, and
Abyssinia, and throughout the whole of Nubia east of the Nile,
as far as the Red Sea. This article is always in great demand,
and is therefore taken in exchange for almost every article of
trade. The cotton manufactories of Sennaar, and those of Bagerme,
to the west of Darfour, furnish the greater part of north-eastern
Africa with articles of dress.
_Gold_ is the second article in the Sennaar trade. It is purchased
by the merchants of Sennaar from the Abyssinian traders; but I
have not been able exactly to ascertain in what province of western
Abyssinia it is found. The principal market for gold appears to be
Ras el Fil, a station in the caravan route from Sennaar to Gondar,
four days journeys from the former. This route is at present much
frequented by Sennaar traders, as well as by that class of Abyssinian
merchants called Djebert (جبرت), who appear to be the chief
slave and gold traders of that country. I have never heard of a
single Egyptian merchant who ever pushed on as far as Ras el Fil; for
although the road is not unsafe, yet every body seems to be afraid
in these countries of undertaking distant journeys unaccompanied by
a large party of his own countrymen. The jealousy of all classes of
merchants is very great, and their known treachery prevents single
adventurers from trusting themselves to their mercy, or good faith.
The Djebert above mentioned often repair to Sennaar, chiefly
in search of Negro slaves; and I have reason to believe that the
route from Sennaar through Ras el Fil to Gondar, and from thence to
the coast, may be safely travelled in time of internal peace. The
gold imported from Sennaar is principally bought up by the Souakin
traders, who carry it to Djidda, where it is given in payment for
India goods. It is seldom purchased by the Egyptian merchants, as it
is not very profitable. At Sennaar the ounce of pure gold is worth
twelve dollars; at Shendy, sixteen; at Souakin, twenty; at Djidda,
twenty-two. Although the Souakin merchants might purchase at Shendy
many articles more profitable than gold, they often prefer it on
account of its easy transport, and the facility with which they
can secrete it, and avoid paying any duty on the road.
Slaves are also brought to Shendy by the merchants of Sennaar. Since
the direct caravan route from Sennaar to Kordofan has been
interrupted, principally by the robberies and the rapacity of the
Arabs of Shilluk, at the passage of the Bahr el Abyadh, this is the
only route open to them. The slaves are chiefly either Abyssinians
or of the race called Nouba (sing. Nebowy, نبوه). The former
consist principally of females of the Gala nations, and of a few
Amaaras.[34] Upon the whole, the number of Abyssinians sent to the
northward by Shendy is small. The best female Abyssinians are always
purchased by the chiefs for their own harems; and in Arabia and Egypt
Abyssinian slaves may be had cheaper by the Djebert traders from
Massouah, who sell them at Djidda. I think that not more than one
hundred female Abyssinian slaves are annually exported from Sennaar
either to Souakin or to Egypt. Latterly the Mamelouks have bought
up many of them, the Abyssinians being remarked above all other
black women for their beauty, and for the warmth and constancy of
their affection to the master who has once taught them to love him.
The name of Nouba is given to all the Blacks coming from the slave
countries to the south of Sennaar. The territory of Sennaar extends,
as far as I could learn from the merchants of the country, ten days
journey beyond the city, in a south and south-east direction, and
is inhabited exclusively by free Arab tribes, who make incursions
into the more southern mountains, and carry off the children of
the idolaters. These Nouba slaves (among whom must also be reckoned
those who are born in the neighbourhood of Sennaar, of male Negroes
and female Abyssinians; and who are afterwards sold by the masters
of the parents) form a middle class between the true Blacks and
the Abyssinians; their colour is less dark than that of the Negroe,
and has a copper tinge, but it is darker than that of the free Arabs
of Sennaar and Shendy. Their features, though they retain evident
signs of Negroe origin, have still something of what is called
regular; their noses, though smaller than those of the Europeans,
are less flat than those of the Negroes; their lips are less thick,
and the cheek-bones not so prominent. The hair of some is woolly;
but among the greater part it is similar to the hair of Europeans,
but stronger, and always curled. The palm of their hands is soft,
a circumstance by which they particularly distinguish themselves
from the true Negroe, whose hands, when touched feel like wood.
The male Noubas in Egypt, as well as in Arabia, are preferred to all
others, for labour: they bear a good character, and sell at Shendy
and in Egypt twenty per cent. dearer than the Negroes. The male
Abyssinians, on the contrary, are known to be little fit for bodily
work, but they are esteemed for their fidelity, and make excellent
house servants, and often clerks, their intellects being certainly
much superior to those of the Blacks. The Noubas are said to be
of a healthier constitution, and to suffer less from disease than
the Abyssinians. The greatest part of them are exported to Egypt;
but some are sent to Souakin.
_Ivory._ Elephants teeth are bought up by the Egyptian merchants,
but in small quantities. This branch of commerce seems to have
been formerly much more flourishing; but at present there is little
demand for ivory in Egypt, probably because Europe draws its supplies
cheaper from Barbary and the East Indies. The importation of ivory,
however, from Darfour into Egypt is still of some importance,
though ivory often fails entirely in the market of Cairo.
The Negroes seem never to have known the art of taming the elephant;
they catch him in pits, or kill him by discharging a shower of
javelins from the trees under which he passes. The flesh is said
to be eaten near Sennaar.
_Rhinoceros horns;_ in Egyptian Arabic called Khartit
(خرتيت). The rhinoceros is called in the Negroe countries Om
Korn (ام قرن or, the mother (i. e. the owner) of the one horn;
it is evidently from this animal that the imaginary unicorn has had
its origin. The Arabs have often described to me the rhinoceros as an
animal like a large cow, with thick legs, and a short tail, with one
long horn[35] on its forehead, and having a skin like large scales,
as hard as iron. Whenever I described the unicorn, and asked them
whether such an animal, with a long horn existed, they never failed
to point out the Om Korn, as the animal I meant. The rhinoceros
inhabits the neighbourhood of Sennaar, but never the countries of the
Nile to the north of that place. Its northern boundary, like that of
the elephant, seems to be the mountain to the north of the village
of Abou Heraze, two days journeys from Sennaar, which advances
close to the river, and thus intercepts the passage along its
banks. Neither of these animals is known at Shendy, or at Halfaya,
which is two days to the south of the former place. The Khartit,
or horn of the rhinoceros, is worked at Cairo into ornaments for
the handles of swords and poniards, to be mounted in the Mamelouk
fashion. It is dear; I have seen pieces about four inches long,
and one inch thick, sold for four or five Spanish dollars each.
The _Musk_ of the civet-cat is not sold at Shendy; but the Souakin
merchants who visit Sennaar bring with them small quantities of it,
which they sell again at Djidda. The principal markets for this
article are Massouah, and Mekka, during the Hadj. It is brought to
Cairo by the Djidda merchants.
The _Whips_ above mentioned, called Korbadj, are imported from
Sennaar only.
_Ebony_ is brought in small pieces; the largest I saw were about one
foot in length. The wood is said to grow to the south of Sennaar;
but, I suspect, at a great distance, as it is very dear. Knife
handles, neatly worked in ebony, are brought from Sennaar; the
knives, which are worn tied over the elbow by the Arabs of those
countries, are afterwards fitted into them. The Djellabs, or slave
merchants, do not carry any ebony into Egypt, Cairo being supplied
with it from Djidda; but I understand that it grows in the deserts
adjoining to Darfour on the west.
_Coffee-beans,_ in small quantity, the growth of Abyssinia and the
Gala country. None of these are carried from Massouah to Djidda,
as the coffee plant grows in the most western parts of Abyssinia
only. Coffee is not commonly drank here; it is a luxury in which
the chiefs alone indulge.
_Leather._ The best manufactories of leather, between Darfour
and the Red Sea, are at Sennaar. The manufacturers exercise
their skill chiefly in making camel saddles (قصعة Gassaat),
leathern sacks, and sandals. The first are exported to Egypt for the
dromedaries, or riding-camels, and are sold there as high as twenty
dollars. They are ornamented with many pretty leathern tassels,
and are of workmanship equally elegant and durable. The leathern
sacks are bought up by the Souakin merchants, and sold by them to
the inhabitants of Yemen, who use them for carrying provisions
in travelling; they are extremely well sewed; some of them are
secured with a padlock: great numbers of them were formerly sold
at Mekka to the Wahabi by the Souakin people. The leather is of
the best quality, much superior to that made in Egypt and Syria,
and almost as good as the Russia leather. The Sennaar sandals are
worn by all the well-dressed men and women throughout Nubia; a young
woman had rather wear a torn shirt than ugly sandals. They are sown
with a precision and nicety little to be expected from the rude
Arabs. At Shendy the best sandals cost two dollars a pair. Every
place in these countries has a peculiar fashion in the form of the
sandals worn by its inhabitants; so that, with a little experience,
the residence of every man may be ascertained by looking at his
feet. The same custom prevails in Arabia; and I remember, that
when I first arrived at Djidda, wearing a pair of sandals which
I had bought at Souakin, many persons, who knew nothing of me,
pointed to my sandals, and asked what business I had had at Souakin.
Small _water flasks_ (مطهَره Mattharah, or زَمزَميِّه
Zamzamieh), made of leather, which are much esteemed in Egypt.
To the imports of Sennaar belong likewise the _Shields_ made of the
skins of the rhinoceros and giraffa; they are made by the Bedouin
Arabs, who sell them at Sennaar, and they are used all along the
Nile, and across the mountains, as far as Kosseir and Kenne, in
Upper Egypt.
The _fruit of the Nebek_, the fleshy part of which is separated from
the stone, and dried in the sun; it is put up in small leathern
bags and carried as far as Souakin; it affords a very agreeable
provision during a journey.
The most important articles of the Sennaar trade at Shendy are camels
and Dhourra, without the continual importation of which Shendy would
soon be in danger of famine. The Dhourra caravans usually perform
the journey by themselves, the merchants seldom joining them, but
forming caravans of their own. They are more wealthy people than
the Egyptian traders; and it is not rare to see a man possessing ten
camel loads of Dammour, and a whole party of slaves. I was told the
name of a Sennaar merchant who bought at Shendy the entire loads
of an Egyptian caravan, consisting of thirty camels.
_Honey,_ in considerable quantity, is also imported from Sennaar. As
far as I could understand, the Arabs about Sennaar collect wild
honey in great quantity, but do not trouble themselves with keeping
beehives near their own houses.
I did not learn that any passage duties, or customs, are exacted
at Sennaar; the only obstacle thrown in the way of trade is that
the king always forces his own merchandize upon the buyer, before
the private adventurers can enter into any bargains. The Sennaar
merchants take in return from the Egyptian traders Sembil and Mehleb,
in large quantities, sugar, soap, and almost every article of the
Egyptian and Souakin markets. Since the interruption of the direct
communication between Sennaar and Kordofan, the inhabitants of the
former place have been known to buy at Shendy Negro slaves brought
from Kordofan, which they can obtain here at lower prices than
their own Nouba slaves at Sennaar. During my residence at Shendy,
the route along the Nile to Sennaar was rendered dangerous, from the
disputes that had arisen between the Meks of Halfaya and Herbadjy;
the caravans therefore preferred taking the desert route, which
lies parallel with the river, at about one day’s journey inland,
as far as Abou Heraze, where they again join the river; a single
well is met with in this route, at about three days from Shendy,
and this even is sometimes not taken into the road, on account of
the visits of the Bedouins Shukorye, of whom the Sennaar people
entertain great fears.