considerable property, and trade during their journey. At Djidda I
met with a man from Darfour with three or four female attendants,
and half a dozen female slaves, which formed his household, besides
the slaves he carried with him for sale; but the greater part of
them are quite destitute, and find their way to Mekka, and back to
their own country, by begging, and by what they can earn by their
manual labour on the road. The equipments of all these pilgrims
are exactly alike, and consist of a few rags tied round the waist,
a white woollen bonnet, a leathern provision sack, carried on a
long stick over the shoulder, a leathern pouch containing a book of
prayers, or a copy of a few chapters of the Koran, a wooden tablet,
one foot in length, by six inches in breadth, upon which they write
charms, or prayers, for themselves or others to learn by heart,
an inkstand formed of a small gourd, a bowl to drink out of, or to
collect victuals in from the charitable, a small earthen pot for
ablution, and a long string of beads hanging in many turns round the
neck. The Tekaýrne seldom travel alone, at least they never set out
alone upon their journey; they generally form parties of about half
a dozen, and as opportunity offers, join some caravan on the road,
or proceed by themselves. Their usual route to Mekka is by Siout,
by Sennaar, or by Shendy. Those from the most western countries meet
at Darfour; after which, such only as can afford to travel with the
Darfour caravan, (which requires capital sufficient to buy camels and
provisions for the journey through the desert), repair to Siout, from
whence they proceed to Djidda, by the way of Kosseir. The pilgrims
who go by Sennaar come from Kordofan, and pursue their journey by
three different routes; viz. 1, through the interior of Abyssinia,
by Gondar and Axum, to Massouah; 2, along the Nile from Sennaar to
Shendy; and, 3, from Sennaar to Taka, by the way of Ras el Fil, and
from thence to Hallenga, by which they escape the journey through
the desert. Those who travel by the first route complain of being
ill-treated by the Christians of Abyssinia, of never being allowed
to enter any house, or even court-yard, and of being fed like dogs
(as they express it) before the threshold. They, however, always
obtain a copious evening meal. At Massouah they remain a few weeks,
till they earn by their labour sufficient to pay their passage-money
by sea either to the nearest coast of Yemen, which is one dollar, or
to Djidda, which is two dollars. Their usual rendezvous is Hodeyda,
the sea-port of Yemen, from whence they proceed to Mekka, by land,
passing through the hospitable tribes of Bedouins in the mountains
of the Hedjaz. I estimate the number of Negroe pilgrims who pass
by this route annually to Mekka at about one hundred and fifty, or
two hundred. Many Tekaýrne are settled in the sea-ports of Yemen,
as well as at Djidda and Mekka. The third route is preferred by
all pilgrims who are able to make a common purse in order to buy a
camel for the transport of water and provisions; and they are sure
of finding at Taka, after a short stay, some merchants from Souakin,
in whose company they can proceed to that place.
The route most frequented by them is that from Darfour or Kordofan
straight to Shendy. The latter part only of this route presents
any difficulty; in the inhabited districts they everywhere find
hospitable people, who pride themselves in giving alms to the poor
Fakiha. But from the limits of the dominions of Kordofan to Shendy
is a journey of five days through a desert, without water, the dread
of which often induces them to take either the circuitous route by
Sennaar, or to wait at Kordofan for the rainy season, when water
is found in plenty in the barren tract. At Shendy they generally
remain some time to recruit their strength, visiting every evening
the residence of the foreign merchants, and sitting down without
ceremony to their supper. In general, the Tekroury is under little
anxiety; wherever he finds himself comfortably situated there he
will remain for weeks together; and he prefers taking a circuitous
road of fourteen days through a country where he knows that he will
find charitable inhabitants, to passing a desert or inhospitable
tract of only two days. From Shendy they all proceed to Damer,
and this road is never unfrequented by parties, consisting of half
a dozen or a dozen of them. On arriving at a village they disperse
among its families, and re-assemble again in the evening to partake
in common of the victuals which the charity of the inhabitants has
provided for them.
At Damer the two principal pilgrim routes separate, and they either
proceed along the Nile towards Egypt, or ascend the banks of the
Mogren and Atbara, as far as Goz Radjeb, from whence they cross over
to Taka and to Souakin. The former is a long but a less fatiguing
journey; and the nearer they approach Egypt the more charity they
find among the inhabitants on the Nile. The Arabs Sheygya pique
themselves on their bounty to the Tekaýrne, in return for which the
pilgrim is sure to be stripped of every thing of value that he may
possess. Their little property is tolerably secure on the road from
Darfour to Shendy, where they are protected by the government; but
from thence they are in a very different predicament. At Shendy they
usually exchange whatever they possess for gold, as they can secrete
it with greater facility than any other article of value; but as
this is known to be their practice, they are frequently ill-treated
on the road, in consequence of it. I have been assured by many, that
among the Bedouins of Atbara and Taka, as well as among the Sheygya,
they are often stripped to the skin, in search of their gold,
and that all their books, and even their inkstands, are examined,
no means being left untried to rob them of the little cash or gold
they may have about them. The Sheygya compensate, in some degree,
for their rapacity, by their otherwise hospitable conduct; but the
Bedouins on the Atbara and at Taka are as uncharitable as they are
greedy of booty, and subject the poor travellers to great hardships.
The pilgrims who follow the course of the Nile, stop a short time
in the villages of Upper Egypt, in many of which are foundations
annexed to the revenues of the mosques,[65] for the entertainment
of the passing Tekaýrne during three days. At Esne every one
receives one piaster from the mosque, at parting. If they are
entirely destitute of money they endeavour, by manual labour,
or by writing charms, to collect as much as will pay, at the time
of the Hadj their passage from Kosseir to Djidda, otherwise they
rely on the charity of some Turkish Hadji, to pay it for them. The
Kosseir route is most usually followed by them; few visit Cairo,
although there is a public foundation in the mosque El Azhar, in
which a small number of them, not exceeding, I think, forty (for
more than that number seldom unite together, except in the time
of the Hadj), are fed daily with bread and broth. Those who pass
Cairo follow the great pilgrim caravan to Mekka, and the Emir el
Hadj has strict orders from the Sultan, to furnish with food and
water all the Negroes who have no beasts of burthen of their own.
The route most frequented by the Negroe pilgrims is that from Damer
along the Mogren to Taka, and from thence to Souakin; I do not
over-rate the number who pass this way at five hundred annually;
as I have before said, they never travel in large parties; but a
few are seen almost daily passing along the banks of the river. At
Damer, such as can possibly afford it, buy asses, and load them
with Dhourra meal for their provisions on the road; these proceed in
parties of twenty, and make with their sticks a determined resistance
when assailed by robbers in the open country; in the villages or
encampments they are certain of protection from the chief, at least
that they shall not be robbed of their beasts and provision. From
Taka they proceed with the caravans to Souakin, where they wait
till they find a ship to convey them to Djidda. The usual fare
is from one to two dollars. While I was at Souakin, a party of at
least fifty returned to Taka, because the masters of the vessels,
then lying in the harbour, refused to take less than two dollars for
each passenger; they offered one dollar, and this being refused,
they quitted Souakin with the intention, after reaching Taka, of
proceeding to Massouah, where they were certain that one dollar,
which was all they could afford, would provide them a conveyance
to the coast of the Yemen; for the sake of this advantage they
entered upon a journey of at least thirty days, and reckoned that
on so well frequented a road they should be able to defray their
expenses by labour or by begging. Distance is scarcely ever taken
into consideration by these pilgrims, nor indeed by any Bedouins
or traders in those countries; fatigue they care little about;
loss of time still less; one object only occupies their attention,
under the two forms of a direct gain and the saving of expense. When
I come to speak of Souakin, I shall have an opportunity of adding
some further remarks on the conveyance of these pilgrims by sea;
and in my description of my journey in the Hedjaz, I shall have
occasion to recur to the subject, and to describe the proceedings
of the Tekaýrne after their arrival in Arabia.
It will readily be conceived that the danger and fatigue incident
to the journey prove fatal to great numbers of the pilgrims;
perhaps one-sixth fall victims to their zeal; the greater part
of the diseases by which they are attacked on the road arise
from their being almost destitute of clothing; many perish in
the deserts through want and fatigue, and others are murdered;
but as all who die on the road are looked upon as martyrs, these
contingencies have little effect in diminishing the annual numbers,
or in diverting others from their purpose. Although the greater
number of the pilgrims are stout young men, yet it is not rare to see
women following their husbands to the Hadj; and almost incredible
as it may seem, one of the men who joined our caravan at Taka was
blind. He had come from Borgho, to the west of Darfour, in company
with three others, and was continually led by a stick, which one of
his companions held in his hands as he marched before him; I saw this
man afterwards begging in the mosque at Mekka, and again at Medina,
sitting on the threshold of the temple, exclaiming, as he appealed
to the charity of the Hadjis, “I am blind, but the light of the
word of God, and the love of his prophet, illumine my soul, and have
been my guide from Soudan to this tomb!” He received very liberal
alms, and would probably return to his home richer than he left it.
Some of the Tekaýrne are men of power and wealth in their own
country, but travel as paupers, in order to escape the dangers
attendant on riches in the journey. During our encampment in the
plain near Souakin, I saw a young Tekroury sleeping in a lonely spot,
while another, kneeling by him, kept off the flies from his face. On
enquiry, I learnt from the other Negroes, that he was the son of a
great chief in Dar Saley, who had been educated with the Fakys, and
had set out upon this journey, with a camel, and one servant only. At
Shendy he had exchanged the camel for an ass; the servant had become
his friend and companion, and both mixed in the crowds of the poorest
pilgrims. It is principally owing to a few examples such as these,
that the generality of the inhabitants of the countries through
which the pilgrims pass are so uncharitable and cruel to them;
they think that every Tekroury is a king of Soudan in disguise,
with abundance of gold about him. During the Mamelouk government
in Egypt, the Begs were very liberal in their donations to the
Tekaýrne; but the present government shows little compassion to
them, and no Tekroury is permitted to embark at Kosseir, without
first paying a fixed rate for his passage to the masters of the
ships, which almost all belong to the government. In Africa, as
well as in Arabia, the country people, wherever the black Fakys
pass, are eager to procure amulets of their writing, which are
supposed to possess greater virtue than those of any other class of
pilgrims. There lives at present, in Cairo, near the Kara-meydan,
a Tekroury, who has been for many years famous for his amulets,
and who makes large sums of money by writing them. In general the
Negroe pilgrims are industrious, and rarely ask for charity where
they can procure a subsistence by their own labour.
The routes of the Negroe caravans from Kordofan to Dongola or
Berber, laid down in the Maps of Africa, are at present quite
unfrequented. There is no direct communication whatever between
Kordofan and Berber, and that between Kordofan and Dóngola has
only been established since the arrival of the Mamelouks in those
parts. The route from Berber to Souakin is seldom chosen by the
Hadjis, from their dread of the merciless Bisharein, and from the
little chance they have of joining caravans of traders, who very
seldom pass this way.
To return to our march, we crossed this morning a tract of flat
country. At the end of two hours we came to a small pool of water,
the effect of the rain that had fallen here occasionally for the
last fortnight, and of which we had several showers during our stay
at Taka. At about four hours distance on our right was a chain of
mountains extending in a S. E. direction, and as I computed, from
two to three thousand feet in height; I was told that they are all
inhabited by Hadendoas, and that they abound in pasturage. We here
met a caravan from Souakin, loaded with salt, one of the principal
articles in the Taka trade; it is brought from Souakin and exported
by the merchants of Taka towards the Atbara, and among the Bedouin
tribes in the neighbourhood, where no salt whatever is found. After
a march of four hours we came to a Wady full of trees and shrubs;
further on we crossed several other valleys that bore traces of
violent torrents rushing through them during the rainy season. At
the end of five hours we stopped in one of the Wadys during the
mid-day hours. The soil is in general sandy; a species of low oak
tree, very much resembling the Balout of Syria, grows here; the
Oshour also abounds. In the afternoon we entered upon rocky uneven
ground, where I found fine rose-coloured quartz in thick layers among
the sand-stone. The chain of mountains seen in the morning was no
longer visible. At the end of eight hours we halted at Wady Lado,
a low ground extending in a westerly direction. Here are a great
many Doum trees, and the valley is full of excellent pasturage; it
is inhabited by the Bedouins Hadendoa. In summer, they procure their
water from several wells; but when we passed plenty of rain water
was found among the clusters of rocks which are dispersed through
the Wady. A chain of hills runs from hence eastward. We alighted
early in the evening, that our cattle might enjoy the pasture.
_June 17th._—In riding along a gravelly plain, thickly covered
with thorny trees, we started several female ostriches, which
are known from the males by the darker colour of their plumage;
they at first ran off, without appearing to be much frightened;
but followed the caravan for upwards of an hour, at the distance of
about two gun-shots. High mountains were seen far to our right. At
the end of two hours we came to a large pond of rain water. In
five hours we reached Wady Ody, where are wells and rain water,
with thorny shrubs and Doum trees in great plenty. Here was a large
encampment of Hadendoa, just breaking up in order to retire to the
eastern mountains, on account of the incursions of the Bisharein. We
continued our march in this Wady the whole evening; it is three or
four miles in breadth, the soil very fertile, and well irrigated by
winter torrents. It is not enclosed by hills, but is called a Wady
from the flatness of the ground, which in winter becomes the bed
of a torrent. Our course was N. N. E. The Hadendoa here cultivate
Dhourra, and a little cotton, the latter apparently with more care,
than I had any where witnessed since quitting the banks of the
Nile. The verdure was richer than I had seen it even at Atbara;
the ground was covered with Senna Mekke. The black merchants told
me that this shrub is very common in Kordofan, where it grows to
the height of four or five feet. A large hedge-hog was found here,
which the Tekaýrne skinned, and ate in the evening. We halted
late at night, near the extremity of the Wady, by a pond of water,
after a long day’s march of ten hours.
_June 18th._—Some disputes arose this morning between the chief
of the caravan, and the Sowakin merchants, about the route to be
taken from hence; and after a march of two hours over generally
level ground, but not without trees, we stopped in a wood of Syale
trees, to settle the matter. There were two routes towards Souakin;
the nearest branches off in a N. E. direction, and lies over steep
mountains, inhabited by Bedouins; where are many wells, but the road
is bad, and difficult from the number of ascents and descents. The
other is more easy, but two days longer; the chief insisted upon
taking the latter route in order to spare the camels, which were
heavily laden, while the merchants wished to pursue the former. Not
being able to agree, the parties separated; the black traders and
myself remained with the chief; and in the evening we were joined
by the others, who upon mature consideration, and finding the chief
determined not to yield to them, thought it would be a folly to
endanger their safety, in order to accelerate their arrival by
two days only. In the place where we halted there grew many wide
spreading trees of moderate height, which had a vast number of
branches issuing in every direction out of the trunk, from the
root to the top, and reaching down to the ground; the leaves much
resembled those of the laurel; I found them to be very bitter, and
the camels refused to eat them: the Negroes eat of them, in order,
as they said, to strengthen their stomach (يمَكّن البطن
Yemakken el battn). The Oshour is common here. After marching three
hours farther, or five hours from our starting (direction N. E. ½
E.), we halted in a Wady of Doum trees, where our slaves killed and
ate a quantity of locusts. An herb was here collected, the leaves of
which resemble those of the Meloukhye; when boiled they were thrown
into the broth with which the Assyde is seasoned. The Assyde is the
principal dish of the Black traders, and appears to be in general
use in every part of North Africa; it consists of a thick pap of
Dhourra or Dhoken meal, over which a sauce made of butter and onions,
or Bamye, is poured: it is prepared with more care than the Fetyre,
formerly described, and when the meal is fine, it is far from being
disagreeable. The Kordofan merchants carried Dhoken in their leathern
sacks, which is more common with them than Dhourra. Most of the
traders carried also the stones with which the Dhourra is ground,
and their slaves were obliged by turns to pass the greater part
of the night in grinding meal for the provision of the following
day. Others, and among them myself, had during their stay at Taka
filled their sacks with Dhourra flour, prepared as already described,
which is also made into Assyde; it is esteemed more wholesome than
the other. The slaves eat the Dhourra pap for dinner without any
sauce or seasoning, except salt; for supper they generally boil the
grain till it bursts, some salt is then strewed over it, and it is
eaten by handfuls without butter or sauce. My slave was envied by
all the others, because he always got his dinner and supper with
butter, as I did. The Souakin merchants have their own dishes better
seasoned than those of the slaves, which is not the case with the
Egyptian traders. Among the former, if a slave is much fatigued,
or suffers from severe head-ache, of which they often complain,
he receives a small allowance of butter. Some of the merchants
had dried flesh with them, which they boiled in the sauce of the
Assyde. Whenever a camel was killed the flesh was cut into strips,
and hung exposed for two days in the sun, round the camels saddles
until it was sufficiently dried not to putrify; after which it was
put into sacks. The heat was intense the whole of this day; after
sunset we had loud thunder with lightning, followed by a heavy shower
of rain, which set us all afloat. I had a mat which afforded me some
shelter, but before the night was passed the water came through,
and I was completely drenched, like the rest; this is no trifling
inconvenience, when one is unprovided with a change of clothes,
and when the body is still affected by the heat of the preceding day.
_June 19th._—The morning was fine, and the birds sang so sweetly,
at sunrise, that even slaves and slave-traders expressed their
delight. After marching an hour, we entered the mountains; this
is one of the principal chains in this part of Nubia, extending,
as far as I could understand, in the direction from NW. to SE. for
four or five days, on each side of the point at which we entered
it. A branch of it runs to the north, near the coast, all the way
to Kosseir. We ascended through a Wady, with steep rocks on each
side, and we met with several difficult ascents and descents. The
whole mountain is intersected by Wadys, in all of which trees and
pasturage are met with. The path was well trodden, and tolerably
free from stones. At the end of three hours we halted in a narrow
elevated plain, where acacia trees grew in a soil of sand and gravel;
it is called Wady Aréwad;[66] some colossal Doum trees afforded us
a shade, and we had hoped to find water in a small well near them;
but it was choaked up with gravel, and we were unable, after long
digging, to obtain a sufficiency for ourselves and camels. We in
consequence took off the loads, mounted our beasts, and rode about
three quarters of an hour to the westward up the rocky slope of the
mountain, when we came to a large and deep basin of rain water which
had been filled since last year. This morning I had a narrow escape
from a Souakiny, who joined me while I was in advance of the caravan,
and succeeded in leading me astray into a side valley about half a
mile from the road. He was armed with a lance, while I had nothing
but a small stick. Luckily for me, at the moment when I perceived
his intention, I found a thick branch of a tree. He laughed when I
took it up; but as I could not mistake his object in following me,
I ordered him to stand off, threatening to become the assailant;
by this means I made good my retreat, and rejoined the caravan. Had
this man murdered me and taken the few dollars I had, which he
probably supposed to be more than they really were, there would
have been no danger in his returning to the caravan; no body on
my being missed would have thought it worth his while to make any
particular enquiries about me, still less to revenge my death. This
proved an unlucky day to me, for about noon, while I was filling
my water-skin at the basin, the camel, which I had left tied to a
tree in the valley below, broke loose, without my knowledge, and
returned to the resting place, in company of many others that were
loaded with water. When I carried my water-skin down the cliff, I
found the camel was gone as well as my companions the black traders;
no one present would permit me to place the skin upon his camel,
and as it was too heavy to be carried any distance on the shoulder,
I was obliged to return to the caravan for my camel. By the time
I had rejoined the caravan with the water, they had began to load;
so that after having toiled during the heat of the morning and noon,
I was obliged immediately to resume the march without either food or
repose. The merchants who have several slaves, are very comfortably
situated; cooking, carrying water, and loading are left to them,
and the master merely adjusts the loads, and takes care that nothing
be left behind. During the mid-day hours he sleeps soundly under a
shed of mats erected for him by his slaves, and is only awakened
when every thing is ready for departure. My little slave became
useful to me in this route, in bringing wood and tending the fire;
but cooking, and fetching water, when it was at any distance,
fell entirely to my care, as well as the loading of the camel.
There are some poor families of Hadendoa in this Wady, who are
afraid of descending into the plain, on account of the incursions of
the Bisharein. The rains not having yet set in, there was little
verdure in this elevated valley; but the lower plain had been
several times irrigated.