Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile/Volume 4/Book 8/Chapter 10
CHAP. X.
Journey from Sennaar to Chendi.
AFTER leaving Sennaar I was overtaken on the road by a black slave, who at first gave me some apprehension, as I was alone with only one Barbarian, a Nubian servant, by the side of my camel, and was going slowly. Upon inquiry I found him to be sent from Hagi Belal, with a basket containing some green tea and sugar, and four bottles of rack, in return for my letter. I sent back the messenger, and gave the care of the basket to my own servant; and, about ten o'clock in the evening of the 5th of September, we all met together joyfully at Soliman.
Before my departure from Sennaar I had prevailed on a Fakir, or Mahometan monk, servant to Adelan, to write a letter to his master, unknown to any other person whatever, to let him know my apprehensions of the king, and that, in the uncertainty how far his occupations might oblige him to move from Shaddly, my way was directly for Herbagi, and requesting that he would give me such recommendations to Wed Ageeb as should put me in safety from the king's persecution, and insure me protection and good reception in Atbara. I begged him, in the most serious manner, to confider, however lightly he had thought of the king of Abyssinia's recommendatory letters, he would not treat those of the regency of Cairo, and of the sherriffe of Mecca, in the fame manner; that my nation was highly respected in both places; and that it was known, by letters written from Sennaar, that I actually was arrived there; that they should take care therefore, and not by ill-usage of me expose their merchants, either at Mecca or Cairo, to a severe retaliation that would immediately follow the receiving bad news of me, or no news at all. My faithful Soliman, who was now to leave me, was charged to carry the answers they should choose to return to the letters I thought from Abyssinia, and I sent him that very night, together with the Fakir, to Adelanat Shadelly, fully instructed with every particular of ill-usage I had received from the King, of which he had been an eye-witness.
Although my servants, as well as Hagi Belal, and every one at Sennaar but the Fakir and Soliman, did imagine I was going to Shadelly, yet their own fears, or rather good fears, had convinced them that it was better to proceed at once for Atbara than ever again to be entangled between Adelan and the king. Sennaar sat heavy upon all their spirits, so that I had scarce dismounted from my camel, and before I tasted food, which that day I had not done, when they all intreated me with one voice that I would consider the dangers I had escaped, and, instead of turning westward to Shaddly, continue north through Atbara. They promised to bear fatigue and hunger chearfully, and to live and die with me, provided I would proceed homeward, and free them from the horrors of Sennaar and its king. I did not seem to be convinced by what they said, but ordered supper, to which we all sat down in company. As we had lemons enough, and Hagi Belal had furnished us with sugar, we opened a bottle of his rack and in punch (the liquor of our country) drank to a happy return thro' Atbara. I then told them my resolution was perfectly conformable to their wishes; and informed them of the measures I had taken to insure success and remove danger as much as possible. I recommended diligence, sobriety, and subordination, as the only means of arriving happily at the end proposed; and assured them all we should share one common fare, and one common fortune, till our journey was terminated by good or bad success. Never was any discourse more gratefully received; every toil was welcome in flying from Sennaar, and they already began to think themselves at the gates of Cairo.
As I had recommended great diligence and little sleep, before four in the morning the camels were loaded, and on their way, and it was then only they came to awake me. The camels were abundantly loaded, and we had then but five, four of which carried all the baggage, the other, a smaller one, was reserved for my riding. This I told them I willingly accepted at the beginning of the journey, and we should all of us take our turn, while water and provi
sions were to be procured, and that Ismael the Turk, an old man, and Georgis the Greek, almost blind, required an additional consideration, so long as it possibly could be done with safety to us all; but, when we should advance to the borders of the desert, we must all resolve to pass that journey on foot, as upon the quantity of water, and the quantity of provisions alone, to be carried by us, could depend our hopes of ever seeing home.On the 8th of September we left the village of Soliman, and about three o'clock in the afternoon came to Wed el Tumbel, which is not a river, as the name would seem to signify, but three villages situated upon a pool of water, nearly in a line from north to south. The intermediate country between this and Herbagi is covered with great crops of dora. The plain extends as far as the sight reaches. Though there is not much wood, the country is not entirely destitute of it, and the farther you go from Sennaar the finer the trees. At Wed el Tumbel there is great plenty of ebony-bushes, and a particular sort of thorn which seems to be a species of dwarf acacia, with very small leaves, and long pods of a strong saccharine taste. This is here in great abundance, and is called Lauts, or Loto, which I suspect to be the tree on whose fruit, we are told, the ancient Libyans fed. At a quarter past three we left Wed el Tumbel, and entered into a thick wood, in which we travelled till late, when we came to the Nile. We continued along the river for about 500 yards, and alighted at Sit el Bet, a small village about a mile's distance from the stream. Here we saw the tomb of a Shekh, or saint, built of brick in a conical form, much after the same figure as some we had seen in Barbary, which were of stone.
On the 12th, at ten minutes past six we set out from Sit el Bet, and a few minutes after came to a village called Ageda, and five miles further to another, whose name is Usheta. At half past nine we passed a third village, and at half after eleven encamped near a pool of water, called Wed Hydar, or the River of the Lion. All the way from Wed el Tumbel to this village we were much tormented with the fly, the very noise of which put our camels in such a fright that they ran violently into the thickest trees and bushes, endeavouring to brush off their loads. These flies do not bite at night, nor in the cool of the morning. We were freed from this disagreeable companion at Wed Hydar, and were troubled with it no more.At four o'clock we again set out through an extensive plain, quite destitute of wood, and all sown with dora, and about five miles further we encamped at a place named Shwyb, where there is a Shekh called Welled Abou Hassan. While at Abou Hassan, we were surprised with a violent storm of rain and wind, accompanied with great flashes of lightning. This storm being blown over, we proceeded to a village called Imsurt. At one mile and a half further we joined the river. The Nile here is in extreme beauty, and winds considerably; it is broader than at Sennaar, the banks flat, and quite covered with acacia and other trees in full bloom. The thick parts of this wood were stored with great numbers of antelopes, while the open places were covered with large flocks of cattle belonging to the Arabs Refaa, who were returning from the sands to their pastures to the southward. Large flocks of storks, cranes, and a variety of other birds, were scattered throughout the plain,
THE SOURCE OF THE NILE. 505which was overgrown with fine grafs, and which even the mukitude of cattle that thronged upon it feemed not ca- pable of confuming. At three quarters pafl fix in the even- ing we came to a large village called Wed Medinai, clofe upon the fide of the river, which here having made a large turn, comes again from the S. E. This town or village be- longs to a Fakir, who received us very hofpitably.
On the 14th, at fix in the morning we fet out from Wed Medinai in a diredlion N. W. and at three quarters pad eight arrived at the village Beroulc. We then entered a thick wood, and thence into a very extenfive and cultivated plain, fown with dora and bammia ; a plant .which makes a prin- cipal article in their food all over the fouthern part of the kingdom of Sennaar, which is defcribed, and the figure of it publilhed, by Profper Alpinus* At a quarter paft eleven we arrived at Azazo, about a mile and a half diftant from the Nile. The corn feemed here much more forward than that at Sennaar, and in feveral places it was in the ear. It Tained copioufly in the night of the 14th, but before this there had been a very dry fcafon, and very great fcarcity the preceding year. At ten minutes pafl: four in the after- jioon we left Azazo, our journey, like that of the day be- fore, partly through thick woods, and partly through plains fown with dora. Our direcflion was nearly north, and the 3-iver about two miles and a half difl:ant, nearly parallel to the road wc went. At fix we came to a fmall village called
- Sidi Ail el GenowL
Vol. IV. -. S On
- Vjd> Pj-ofper Alpin. cap. fj. psge 44.. torn. 2, On the 16th, at half past six in the morning we left Sidi Ali el Genowi, and a few minutes after passed two villages on our left along the river side, not fifty yards from the water, after which we went through the village of El Mensy. The next to this were two tombs of Fakirs, nothing different from the former ones. At a quarter past ten we arrived at Herbagi, a large and pleasant village, but thinly inhabited, placed on a dry, gravelly soil. The people told us, that the greatest part of the townsmen were at some distance looking after their farms. Herbagi is the seat of Wed Ageeb, hereditary prince of the Arabs, now subject to the government of Sennaar, whose lieutenant he is according to treaty. He raises the tribute, and pays it to the Mek, or his ministers, from all those Arabs that live in the distant parts of the kingdom, as far as the Red Sea, who do not pass by Sennaar to the sands, in the season of the fly; for these, as I have mentioned, are taxed by the chief minister, or the person who hath the command of the troops of that capital. The revenue arising from this is very large, and more than all the rest put together. The Refaa, one tribe of Arabs who had compounded at this time with Shekh Adelan, were said to possess 200,000 she-camels, every one of which, at a medium, was worth half an ounce of gold, each ounce being about ten crowns. The tribute then which that Arab paid was 100,000 ounces of gold, or 1,000,000 dollars or 250,000l. There were at least ten of these tribes with which Adelan was to account, and at least six times that number that fell to the share of Wed Ageeb, whose composition is the same as that paid to Sennaar, besides whatever extraordinary sum he imposes for himself. There is also a tax upon the male camels; but this is small in comparison of the others, and the young ones pay no duty, till they are three years old.
Immediately upon entering Herbagi, I went to wait upon Wed Ageeb. He had a very good house, considered as such, though but a very indifferent palace for a prince. He seemed to be a man of very gentle manners; was about 30 years of age; had a thick black beard and whiskers, large black eyes, and a long thin face, which marked his constitution not to be a strong one. We found, indeed, afterwards, that he had been very much addicted to drinking, which he had often endeavoured in vain to leave off, by substituting opium in its place. He had never before seen an European, and testified great surprise at my complexion. He sent us abundance of provisions, two sheep and two goats, and begged I would give him advice about his health in the evening. He inquired very particularly about my reception at Sennaar, which I told him only in part, and, among other circumstances, the report at Sennaar, that he was gathering his forces to the assistance of the king against
Adelan and Abou Kalec. He answered with a sneer, "Gehennim el Kafr," i. e. The Pagan may go to hell. He spoke contemptuously of the king of Sennaar, but very respectfully of Adelan and Abou Kalec, any one of whose little fingers, he said, was sufficient to crush the Mek, and all who adhered to him. I then took my leave, and went home to rest.On the 17th, at noon, I observed the meridian altitude of the sun, and found the latitude of the place to be 14° 30´ N. but this observation was made with Hadley's quadrant, that I might save time, being willing to advance to as great a distance as possible from Sennaar, so there may be perhaps a minute of error, and more there ought not to be, as it was confirmed by several observations at night. The instrument, inspected and rectified by day light, was examined, and I found it to be without alteration before using it at night.
About eight o'clock in the evening I went to see Wed Ageeb, who had supped, and was drinking sorbet made of tamarinds, I believe rather to sweeten his breath than from thirst, for he had apparently drunk of stronger liquor before he took the sorbet. He told me that a servant of Adelan was arrived that evening from the camp, who had brought him a letter and messages on my account, and bade me be of good courage, for I should be safer in my tent than in Adelan's house at Sennaar; that two men had been executed for attempting to rob Adelan's house; and that Mahomet, the king's servant, was destined to suffer upon a stake, as soon as ever Adelan should move at a greater disTHE SOURCE OF THE NILE. 509
tance from Shekh Shaddly's tomb, where fuch executions could not be performed with decency.
I MADE him a fmall prefent of fine muflin, which I had bought at Sennaar; and, in the courfe of converfation, he told me that the Moorilh troops from Ras el Feel had burnt Tea- wa.; that the Daveina were with them, and had plundered the Jehaina, and forced Fidele to fly to Beyla. I afked if any Chriilian troops were among them? fufpe(5ling much Ayto Engedan and Ayto Confu. He faid there were none but the Moors of Ras el Feel, the Ganjar horfc of Kuara, and the Arabs Daveina. As I did not wifh to be known in tliis matter, I puihed my inquiries no further : I afked him to provide me with one of his men for fear of the Shukorea Arabs, with which he complied, adding, that he was him- fclf going out to the Shukorea, and would fend a man to Halfaia, where I was toconfider,and acquaint him, whether I was to pafs the Nile at Gerri, and go by the defert of Ba- hiouda and Dongola, or by the more unfrequented way of Chendi, Barbar, and the great defert, the fatigues and dan- gers of which he rhought it impofTible for a European to fufFer, but would give me a letter to Sittina his filler, to whom that country belonged. After Chendi, he afTured me there was no protecSlion to be relied upon but that of Jieaven. This fenfible difcourfe was of great fcrvice ta me, as it fet me all the reft of the journey upon the in- quiry as to the proper fteps for performing this dangerous expedition.
Gn the iSth, at feven o'clock I left Herbagi, after wri- ting a letter to Adelan, thanking him for his punctuality aiid care of me, and giving the fervant that had come on
the Sio TRAVELS TO DISCOVER
the errand a fmall prefent. He told me it would be ten days before he returned to the camp ; with which lafljn- telligence I was very well pieafed, as thereby no informa- tion could arrive where I was, till I was forgot, or out of their power. At ten minutes paft eleven we arrived at Wed ql Frook, a fmall village clofe upon the Nile. Nothing could be more beautiful than the country we pafTed that day, partly covered with very pleafant woods, and partly in lawns, with a few fine fcattered trees. The Nile is a fliort quarter of a mile from the village, and is fully half a mile broad. It runs fmooth, and when in inundation, overflows the fmall fpace of ground between its prefent banks and Wed el Frook. It was now conliderably lower than it had been, and was confined within its banks.
On the 19th we fet out from Wed el Frook at half pafl five in the morning, and about four miles from it came to a large village, and the tomb of a Fakir, the Nile running all the way parallel to our road. At ten o'clock we came to another village called Abouafcar ; and a little way ea(l of it, in the river, there is a large ifland confiderably above the water, where flirubs and grafs grow abundantly. The vil- lage is placed upon a fmall hill, and there are a great many of the fame fize and fhape fcattered about the country on the banks of the river, which add greatly to the beauty of it, as we had not yet feen fuch fmce our leaving Sennaar. At three quarters pafl one we came to the village of Kamily. The country here is more open, the foil lighter, the grafs fhort and thin ; it is all laid out in pafture, and there is here plenty of goats, as well as black cattle. This day we met a caravan from Egypt, lafl from Chendi, who brought IW word that AU Bey was depofed, and Mahomet Abou 4 Dahab THE SOURCE OF THE NIlLE. ^la
Dahab was made Bey in his place. They faid, one part of the caravan, that went before them, had been attacked and cui off by the Bilhareen under Aboii Bertran ; that they had efcaped by a few hours only, and that all the road was fo infefted with robbers, that it was a miracle if any one could pafs.
On the 20th we left Kamily at a quarter pail five in the morning,andat about fix miles (the diftance between that and Wed Tyrab) we pafiTed a bare and fandy country, interfpei- fed with fmall coppices, and three quarters paft ten came to Bifhaggara. This is a large village, fome thing above a mile's diftance from the Nile, which fpace is entirely ta^- ken up with brufhwood, without any timber trees. We begin now to fee the eifeds of the quantity of rain having failed. There was little fown, and that fo late as to be fcarcely above the ground. It feems the rains begin later as they pafs northward. Many people were here employed in gathering grafs feeds* to make a very bad kind of bread. Thefe people appear perfecft flceletons, and no won* der, as they live upon fuch fare. Nothing increafes the danger of travelling, and prejudice againft ftrangers, more than the fcarcity of provifions in the country through which you are to pafs..
At fifty minutes paft three in the afternoon we left Bi- fhaggara, and at feven came to Eltie, a ftraggling village, about half a mile from the Nile, in the north of a large-, bare plain, allpafture, except the banks of the river, which
are
- We had feen this praclifed too by the Agows at the fource of the Nllt 514 TRAVELS TO DISCOVER
are covered with wood. We now no longer faw any cora fown : The people here were at the fame miferable employ- ment as thofe we had feen before, that of gathering grafs- feeds ; yet, though ftarving, they brought us plenty of milk in exchange for tobacco, a commodity very much in requeft in thefe parts,. At half paft ten we arrived at Gi- did ; the houfes were built of clay, with terralTed roofs : on our way we palTed through feveral little cantonments of Nuba. All this country is fand, interfperfed with thick cop- pices and acacia-trees that feemed not to thrive. On the o- ther fide are large, dead, fandy plains, but both fides of the river are covered with wood. The ferry over the Nile is here from the well to the eaft. The country about Gidid, efpecially to the weftward, is very bare and barren, and fcarcely produces any tiling faving grafs and bent, of which the poor people ufe the feed for bread. This is the cafe all to the w^ftward of El-aice ; and the country here, for want of rain, is faft dwindling into a defert, and the foil is chan- ged to fand. There is no corn, though, from the vicinity of two large rivers, it produces grafs enough for cattle, flieep, and goats, and there is as yet plenty of milk : but as foon as the fun Ihines conftantly, no herbage will remain that can be food for any other cattle but goats, and at laft the whole becomes a perfedt defert, capable of nourifliing aiothing but antelopes and ollriches.
On the 21ft, at feven in the morning "we left Gidid, and near three miles further we came to the paflage, and def- <:endcd a long way with the current before we landed. The manner they pafs the camels at this ferry is by faflcning £ords under their hind quarters, and then tying a halter to their heads. Two men fuitain thefe^ cords, and a third the
lialterj THE SOURCE OF THE NILE. 513
halter, fo that the camels, by fwimming, carry the boat on Ihorc. One is faftened on each fide of the ftern, and one along each fide of the ftern. Thefe ufeful beafts fuffer much by this rude treatment, and many die in the paffage, with all the care that can be taken, but often through ma- lice, or out of revenge. Thefe boatmen privately put fait in the camels ears, which makes the animal defperate and un- governable, till, by fretting and plunging his headconftantly in the water, he lofes his breath, and is drowned; the boat- men then have gained their end, and feaft upon the flefli. But the Arabs, when they pafs their camels, ufe a goat's Ikin, blown with wind like a bladder, which they tie to the fore part of the camel, and this fupports him where he is heavieft, while the man, fitting behind on his rump, guides him, for this animal is a very bad fwimmer, being heavieft before. The boats here are larger and better made than in any other part on the river. All between the Nile and Halifoon is bare ground, interfperfed with acacia-trees. The lofs of a camel is very confiderable, but the price of ferrying very moderate ; it is only three mahalacs for each camel, with his merchandife and every thing be- longing to him. The river is fomething more than a quar- ter of a mile broad, but is double that meafure in the rainy feafon, the current very violent, and ftrong at all times.
Notwithstanding our boatmen had a very bad charac- ter at this time, we palfed with our camels and baggage without lofs or accident. They feemed indeed to fliew a very indifferent countenance at firft, but good words, and a promife of recompence, prefently rendered them tradable. By half paft twelve we were all fafe on the other fide, and
Vol. IV. 3T at at thirty-five minutes past three we arrived at Halifoon; about five miles from the ferry on the east side of the Nile. One mark of the boatmen's attention I cannot but mention: The weather was very hot, and we had plenty of time; the water being clear and tempting, I proposed swimming over to the other side for the pleasure of bathing; but they, one and all, opposed my design with great violence, and would not suffer me to undress. They said there was a multitude of crocodiles in the river near that place, and although they were not large enough to kill, or carry off a camel, they very often wounded them, and it would be a wonder if we passed without feeing them; indeed the last boat had not reached the shore before two of them rose in the middle of the stream. I made what haste I could to get a gun, and fired at the largest, but, as far as I could judge, without effect.
On the 22d, at three o'clock in the afternoon we left Halifoon, and by ten at night came to Halfaia, a large, handsome, and pleasant town, although built with clay. The houses are terrassed at the tops, their inhabitants being no longer afraid of the rains, which have been for some time here very inconsiderable. The Battaheen were encamped near Umdoom, a large village on the side of the river, about seven miles from Halifoon. They are a thievish, pilfering set, and we passed them early in the morning, before it was light. The road is very pleasant, through woods of acacia trees, interspersed with large fields covered with bent grass. At Umdoom we found troops of women going to their morning occupation, that of gathering feeds to make bread.
The command of Mahomet Wed Ageeb is very extensive. It reaches from this passage of the river at Halifoon on the south, as far as Wed Baal a Nagga on the north, and to the east as far as the Red Sea, though a great part of those Arabs have been in rebellion, and have not paid their tax for some years. His command on the westward of the river reaches to Korti, all over the desert of Bahiouda, though lately the Beni Gerar, Beni Faifara, and Cubba-beefli, have expelled the ancient Arabs of Bahiouda, who pretend now only to be the subjects of Kordofan. He has also the charge of levying the tribute of horses from Dongola, in which consists the great strength of Sennaar.
Halfaia is the limit of the rains, and is situated upon a large circular peninsula surrounded by the Nile from S. W. to N. W. that is, at all the points of W. It is half a mile, or something more, from the river. This peninsula contains all their sown land, and is not watered by the river, but by what is raised from the stream by wheels turned by oxen. Halfaia consists of about three hundred houses; their principal gain is from a manufacture of very coarse cotton cloth, called Dimour, which serves for small money through all the lower parts of Atbara. There are palm-trees at Halfaia, but they produce no dates. The people here eat cats, also the river horse and the crocodile, both of which are in great plenty. Halfaia, by many altitudes of the fun and liars, was found to be in lat. 15° 45′ 54″, and in long. 32° 49′ 15″ east from the meridian of Greenwich.
On the 29th, at six o'clock in the morning we left Halfaia, and continued our journey about 3 miles and a half further, when we came to two villages, a small one to the 5i6 TRAVELS TO DISCOVER
north and a large one to the weft. The Nile here runs ^. E. of us. This whole day was fpent in woods of a very plea- fan t kind ; there were large numbers of birds of various co- lours, but none of them, fo far as I could hear fmce we left Sennaar, endowed with the gift of fong. Sakies* in the plain, all between the Nile and the road, lift the water from the ftream, and pour it on the land, in hopes that it may produce fome miferable crops of dora ; for the river overflows none of this country, and it is very precarioufly and fcantily watered with rain.
In a little time, continuing our journey, we came to Shekh Atman's, the tomb of a Fakir on the road. There js a high ridge of mountains on our left, weft of the Nile about five miles, and a low ridge on our right, about eight miles diftant ; our diredion was ftraight north. At half paft eight, about five miles further, we came to the village Wed Hojila. The river Abiad, which is larger than the Nile, joins it there. Still the Nile preferves the name of Bahar el Azergue, or the Blue River, which it got at Sennaar. The village was once intended to be built at the jundlion of the two rivers, but the Fakir's tomb being on ' t]\e fide of ilie Nile, the village likewife was placed there. The Abiad is a very deep river; it runs dead and with little inclination, and preferves its ftream always undiminifhed, becaufe ri- fing in latitudes where there arc continual rains, it there- fore fuffers' not the decreafe the Nile does by the fix months dry weather. Our whole journey this day was through woods, with large intervals of fandy plains producing no- thing ..except fome few fpots of corn fown in time of the
fhowers,
- A machine for raiCng waljct from ite Nile, otherwifc called the Perfr.n wheel. flowers, while the fun returned over the zenith, but still
looking very poorly. At half past twelve we arrived at Suakem, under trees, near a sakia. At four o'clock in the afternoon we left Suakem, the mountains of Gerri bearing N. E. of us, and, five miles further, alighted in a wood near the Arabs Abdelab.
On the 30th, at five o'clock in the morning we left this station, and after having gone eight miles N. E. we came to a village, which is, as it were, the suburb of Gerri. The Acaba of Gerri is a low ridge of rocks that seems first to run from both fides across the bed of the river, as if designed to flop it ; and it is impossible to look at the gap through which it falls down below, without thinking that this passage was made by the Nile itself when first it began to flow. Gerri is built on a rising ground, consisting of white, barren sand and gravel, intermixed with white alabaster like pebbles, which, in a bright fun, are extremely disagrceable to the eye. It consifts of about 140 houses, none of them above one storey high, neat, well built, flat-roofed, and all of one height, composed with the same coloured earth as that on which it Hands, and, for this reason, it is scarcely vislble at a distance. It is immediately at the foot of the Acaba, something more than a quarter of a mile from the Nile. Gerri is situated at the end of the tropical rains, in lat. 16° 15′, and the Acaba seems to answer those mountains of Ptolemy, beyond which (that is to the N.) he says it is διαμμον και αβροχον χωραν[1], that is, a country full of sand and without rain; it is but a small spot immediately on the Nile, which is all cultivated, as it enjoys the double advantage both of the overflowing of the river and the accidental showers. It is alfo called Beladullah, or the Country of God, on account of this double blelling. The dates of Gerri are fent to the Mek, and are referved on purpofe for him. They are dry, and never ripen, nor have any of the moift and pulpy fubilance of the dates of Barbary. They arc firm and fmooth in the fkin, and of a golden colour.
On the 1st of October, at half pafl five in the morning ^ve left Gerri, the Acaba continuing on the eafl. and weft, hut the two extremities curving like a bow or an amphi- theatre. This ridge of mountains is compofed of bare, red flone, without any grais. At ten minutes after eight we changed our road to N. E. endeavouring to turn the point of the Acaba about three miles off, and at ten o'clock alight- ed among green trees to f<;ed our camels. At three o'clock in the afternoon we left our refting-place in the wood. The mountains, which were then on our left hand, are thofe of the Acaba of Gerri ; but thofe on the right ftill ran parallel to our courfe, and ended in the Acaba of Mornefs : we were now two miles from the river, its courfe due north. About twenty minutes part four we came to the Acaba of Mornefs, ji ridge of bare, (lony hills, and half an hour after we palled it. There is very little afcent, and the road is only loofe^ broken ftones, which laft about a quarter of an hour.
At {iX o'clock in the evening we came to Hajar el AfTad, • or Hajar Serrareek, the firil fjgnifying the Lion's Stone, the next the Stone of Thieves, a beggarly, ftraggling village, where there is 'a fakia, and fmall ftripes of dora, as if fown in a garden, and watered from the well at pleafure. Hajar el AlTad is the boundary between Wed Ageeb and the Mek ..of Chendi ; it is a yellow Hone fet upon a rock, which they 2 imagine THE SOURCE OF The NILE. 51$-
imagine has the figure of a lion. We now alighted near half a mile from the river, in a small plain, where was only one shepherd with his cot and flock. At some distance, near the river, there was a house or two with fakies. September is the feed-time in this country. When the Nile is at its. height, the flat ground along the side of the water, which is about a quarter of a mile broad, is sown with dora, as far as water can be conducted in rills to it, but after this short space, the ground rises immediately ; there the harvest-time is in November ; and the feed-time at Sennaar is in July, and their harvest in September ; both regulated by the height of the Nile at the refpedive places.
On the 2d of October, at half past five in the morning we left Hajar el Aflad ; for the two last days past our journey lay through woods and desert, without water or villages ; we rested upon the Nile, which soon receded from us. After having gone about two miles we saw some small houses and fakies, with narrow stripes of corn on both sides of the river. About a mile further, we began, instead of the sandy desert, to see large stratums of purple, red and white marble, and also alabaster. It seems as if those immense quarries, which run into Upper Egypt 10" N. from this, first take their rife here. This day we journied through woods of acacia and jujebs. At twenty minutes past eight we alighted in a wood to feed our camels. The sun was so immoderately hot that we could not travel. The Nile from Gerri declines almost insensibly from the E. of N. The whole country is desert and without inhabitants, saving the banks of the river ; for there are here no regular rains that can be depended upon at any certain time for the purpose of agriculture ; only there fall violent showers at the time
the 520 ' TRAVLES TO DISCOVER
the fun is in the zenith, on his progrefs fouthward from the tropic of Cancer towards the Line, and the grafs grows up very luxuriantly in all the fpots watered by thefe acci- dental fhowers ; but all the reft of the country is dry and burnt up.
Near Gerri, a little north, is the large rock Acaba, full of caves, the firft habitations of the builders of Meroe. A little below it is the ferry over which thofe who go by the weft fide of the Nile to Dongola, through the defert of Ba- hiouda, muft all pafs. It is five days journey before you come to Korti, where travellers arrive the morning of the fixth, that is, going at the rate of fifteen miles a-day. Near Korti you again meet the Nile, which has taken a very unna- tural turn from Magiran, or where it meets the Tacazze from Angot. The way through this defert, which was that of Pon- cet, is now rendered impafTable, as I have already faid, by the Beni Faifara, Beni Gerar, and Cubba-beefh Arabs, three powerful clans, which come from the weftward near Kor- dofan from fear o£ the black horfe there, and which have taken pofTelTion of all the wells in that defert, fo that it is impofTible for travellers to avoid them. The Cubba-beefh arc fo called, from kebfli*, a fheep, becaufe they wear the fkin of that animal for cloathing. They are very numerous, and extend far into the great defert Selima and to the frontiers of Egypt. Thefe tribes have cut off the laft three caravans co- ming from Dongola and Egypt. This ferry, and the Acaba beyond it, belongs to Wed Ageeb ; and here all goods, pafl^ ing to and from Egypt, Dongola, and Chendi, pay a duty, 3 which
- Kebflu a iheep; pi. Cubba-beefh, fheep. THE SOURCE OF THE NILE. ^2i
■%vhich is not regulated as to its extent, but is levied arbitra- rily, according to circumftances of the times, and paid to the Shukorea, or other Arabs, who are in the neighbour- hood, which happens from February to July. The Mek, or prince of the Arabs, pafTes them by fair means or force. After the rains become conftant, thefe go eallward to Men- dera and Gooz^ and then the road from Sennaar to Suakem through thefe places becoming dangerous on account of all the other Arabs aflembling there to avoid the fly, the ca- ravan of Suakem is obliged to pafs through Halfaia to Bar- bax', and from thence to Suakem, fo that this was the mofl: frequented road in the kingdom. Now, indeed, the com- munications on all fides are obftrucSted by the anarchy that prevails among the Arabs, fo that he who pafTes to or from Egypt mull depend folely upon his own exertions and the protevftion of Heaven.
The Acaba of Gerri, and the banks of the Nile there, are •inhabited by tribes of Arabs, called Beni Hamda, and Haf- fani. They are all poor and miferable banditti, and would -not fufFer a man to pafs there at the ferry were it not for the extraordinary di-ead they have of fire-arms. The report of a gun, even at a dillance, will make a hundred of them •fly and hide themfelves. We gave them feveral vollies of blunderbulles, and double-barrelled guns, fired in the air, from the time of our entering their territory till near Wed Baal a Nagga ; we faw them upon the tops of the pointed rocks as far diftant as we could wifli, nor did they ever ap- pear nearer us, or defcend into the plain.
At Halfaia and Gerri begins that noble race of horfes
■juftly celebrated all over the world. They are the breed that
Vol. IV. 3 U was 522 TRAVELS TO DISCOVER
was introduced here at the Saracen conqueft, and have been preferved unmixed to this day. They feem to be a diftindt animal from the Arabian horfe, fuch as I have fcen in the. plains of Arabia Deferta, fouth of Palmyra and Damafcus, where I take the mod excellent of the Arabian breed to be, in the tribe of Mowalli and Annecy, which is about lat. 36° ; whilft Dongola and the dry country near it feems to be the center of excellence for this nobler animal, fo that the bounds within which the horfe is in its greateft perfection feems to be between the degrees of lat. 20°, and ^6°^ and between long. 30° eaft from the meridian of Greenwich to the banks of the Euphrates. For this extent Fahrenheit's, thermometer is never below 50° in the night, or in the day below 80°, though it may rife to 1 20° at noon in the fhade, at which point horfes are not affe^Sled by the heat, but will breed as they do at Halfaia, Gerri, and Dongola, where the thermometer rifcs to thefe degrees, Thefe countries, from what has been faid, muft of courfe be a dry, fandy defert, with little water, producing fliort, or no grafs, but only roots, which are blanched like our cellery, being always covered with earth, having no marfhes or fwamps, fat foapy earth,, or mould.
I NEVER heard of wild horfes in any of thefe parts. A- rabia Deferta, where they are faid to be, feems very ill cal- culated to conceal them, it being flat without wood or co- ver, they muft therefore be conftantly in view; and I ne- ver heard any perfon of veracity fay they ever faw wild horfes in Arabia. Wild afles I have frequently feen alive, but never dead, in neck, head, face, and tail very like oiu's, only their flcins are ftreaked, not fpotted. The zebra is found nowhere in AbyfUnia, but in the S. W. extremity of
Kuara THE SOURCE OF THE NILE. 523
Kuara among the Shangalla and Cuba, in Narca and CafFa, and in the mountains of Dyre and Tegla, and to the fouth- ward near as far as the Cape.
What figure the Nubian breed would make in point of fleetnefs is very doubtful, their make being fo entirely different from that of the Arabian ; but if beautiful and fymmetrical parts, great fize and ftrengch, the moll agile, nervous, and elallic movements, great endurance of fa- tigue, docility of temper, and feeming attachment to man, beyond any other domeflic animal, can promiie any thing for a flallion, the Nubian is, above all comparifon, the moft eligible in the v/orld. Few men have feen more hor- fes, or more of the different places where they are excellent, than I have, and no one ever more delighted in them, as far as th€ manly exercife went. What thefe may produce for the turf is v/liat I cannot fo much as gucfs, as there i^ not, I believe, in the world one more indifferent to, or ig- norant of, that amufement than I am. The experiment would be worth trying in any view. The expcnce would not be great, yet there might be fome trouble and applica- tion neceffary, but, if adroitly managed, not much even of that.
I COULD not refrain from attempting a dravving of one of them, which I fince, and but very lately, unfortimately miilaid. It was a horfe of Shekh Adelan, which with fome difficulty I had liberty to draw. It was not quite four years ' old, was full 16 hands high : I mean this only as an idea ; I know the faults of my drawing, and could correft many of them 'y -but it is a rule I have invariably adhered to in this, as well as in defcription, to correct nothing from recol-
3 U 3 kcSion 5,24^ TRAVELS TO DISCOVER
lecT:ioii when the objeft is out of my fight. This hone's name was El Fudda, the meaning of which I will not pre- tend to explain. In Egypt this is the name of a fmall piece of money clipped into points, otherwife called a parat ; but, very probably, the name of horfes in Nubia may have as little allufion to the quality of the animal as the name- which our race-horfes have in England ; they are, how- ever, very jealous in keeping up their pedigree. All noble horfes in Nubia are faid to be defcended of one of the five upon which Mahomet and his four immediate fuc- ceffors, Abou Beer, Omar, Atman, and Ali, fled from Mecca^ to Medina, the night of the Hegira. From which of thefe El Fudda was defcended I did not inquire; Shekh Adelan,. armed, as he fought, with his coat of mail and war faddle, iron-chained bridle, brafs cheek-plates, front-plate, breaft- plate, large broad-fv/ord, and battle-ax, did not weigh lefs upon the horfe than 26 ftone, horfeman's weight. This horfe kneeled to receive his mailer, anued as he was, when he mounted, and he kneeled to let him difmount armed' Hkewife, fo that no advantage could be taken of him in thofe helplefs times when a man is obliged to arm and difarm himfelf piece by piece on horfeback. Adelan, in war, was a fair-player, and gave every body his chance. He was the firll man always that entered among the ene- my, and the lafl to leave them, and never changed this horfe,. The horfes of Halfaia and Gerri do not arrive at thcfize of thofe in Dongola, where few are lower than 16 hands. They areblackor white, but a vail proportion of the former to the latter. I never faw the colour we call grey, that is, dappled, but there are fome bright bays, or inclining to forcl. They are ali kept monflrouily fat upon dora, eat nothing green but
theTHE SOURCE OF THE NILE. 525
the {Kort roots of grafs that are to be found by the fide of the Nile, after the fun has withered it. This they dig out tvhere it is covered with earth, and appears blanched, which they lay in fmall heaps once a- day on the ground before them. They are tethered by the fetlock joint of the fore- leg with a very foft cotton rope made with a loop and large button. They eat and drink with the bridle in their mouth, not the bridle they adually ufe when armed, but a light one made on purpofe to accuftom them to eat and drink with it : If you afk the reafon, they tell you of many battles that have been loft by the troops having been attacked by their enemy when taking off the bridles to give their horfes drink. No Arab ever mounts a flallion ; on the contrary, in Nubia they never ride mares ; the reafon is plain : The Arabs are conflantly at war with their neighbours, (for fo robbery in that country is called) and always endeavour to take their enemies by furprifc in the grey of the evening, or the dawn of day. A ftallion no fooner fmells the ftale of the mare in the enemy's quarters, than he begins to neigh, and that would give the alarm to the party intend- ed to be furprifed. No fuch thing ever can happen Vvhen they ride mares only ; on the contrary, the Funge truft on* ly to fuperior force. They are in an open, plain country, muft be difcovered at many miles diftancf , and all fuch furprifes and ftratagems are ufelefs to them.
The place where we alighted is called Hajar el Dill, and is a mile eaft from where we halted in the wood to feed our camels. We continued along the Nile at about a mile's di- flance from it, and, after advancing near three miles, came in fight of a large village called Derreira ; on the oppofite lide of the Nile, and beyond that, about four miles on tha 4 fame 526 TRAVELS TO DISCOVER
fame fide, is Deleb, a large village, with the flirine of a fa- mous faint of that name. The country here is more culti- vated and pleafant than that which we had pafled ; there is a low ridge of hills in the way. At half pad fix in the even- ing of the 2d of Odober we arrived at Wed Baal a Nagga. The village is a very large one, belonging to a Fakir, a faint of the firil confideration in the government of Chendi. All this country, except immediately upon the Nile, is defert and fandy. All along the plain we faw numbers of people digging pits, and taking out the earth, which they boil in large earthen vafes or pans. This is the only way they procure themfelves fait, of which they fend great quanti- ties to Halfaia, where is a market, and from whence it is fent to Sennaar.
On the 3d, at five o'clock, we left Wed Baal a Nagga, and continued along the Nile, which is about a quarter of a mile oflF; and feven miles further to the N. E. we pafiTed a tomb of the Fakir el Deragi, clofe to the road on our left hand Ail from Wed Baal a Nagga, on both fides of the Nile, is pi6turefque and pleafant, full of verdure, and varied with houfes in diflferent fituations till we come to the tomb of this Fakir. Immediately from this all is bare and defolate^ except one verdant fpot by the fide of the river, -fliaded with fine trees, and full of herbage, and there we alighted at nine o'clock. This place is called Maia ; a few trees appear on the other fide, but beyond thefe all the country is defert. It is inhabited atprefent by the Jaheleen Arabs of Wed el Faal; as they have bad violent fliowers in the high coun- try, and their pools were Hill full of water, they ftaid by them longer than ordinary feeding their cattle. Idris Wed €l Faal, governor of Chendi, nephew to Wed Ageeb, and fon 4 '<" to Sittina his sister, to whom this country belongs, was then with them, so we did not fear them, otherwise there is not a worse set of fanatical wretches, or greater enemies to the name of Christian, than these are.
As we are here speaking of Arabs and their names, I shall once for all observe, that Wed, a word which I have frequently made use of in the course of this history, and which in this sense is peculiar to the kingdom of Sennaar, does not mean river, though that is its import in Arabic. Here it is an abbreviation of Welled, peculiar to the inhabitants of this part of Atbara, who seem to have an aversion to the letter l; Wed el Faal, the son of Faal; Wed Hydar, the son of Hydar, or the lion; Wed Hassan, the son of Hassan, and so of the rest. For the same reason, Melek Sennaar, the king of Sennaar, called Mek by throwing out the l; Abd el Mek, the slave of the king, instead of Abd el Melek. Here also I had the pleasure to find the language of the Koran that of the whole people in common conversation; and as this was the book in which I first studied the Arabic, I found now a propriety and facility of expression I had not been sensible of before; for that of the Koran, in Arabia, is a kind of dead language, rarely understood but by men of learning.
At Wed Baal a Nagga there is a ferry for those who go to Dongola by the desert of Bahiouda, Derreira is the landing-place on the other side; I suppose it is to avoid these Jaheleen that caravans ferry over at Gerri rather than come so low as Wed Baal a Nagga. We left Maia at half past three in the afternoon, and, after going three miles, we came to Gooz, a small village on our left, where we found plenty of good food for our camels. At six we alighted at Fakari. Chendi was now five miles east of us, where we arrived at eight o'clock in the morning of the 4th of October.
- ↑ Ptol. Geograph. lib. iv. cap. 8.