CHAPTER XII.
PRESENT INHABITANTS OF BIRKEL. — FUNERAL CEREMONIES IN THE MAHOMETAN BURIAL-GROUNDS. — NAME OF RAMESES II. OR SESOSTRIS. — DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT STATE OF THE COUNTRY. — INDIGO MANUFACTORIES. — THE SHAGEEA TRIBE. — ONE OF THEIR MELEKS. — PYRAMIDS OF NOURI, DILAPIDATED STATE. — CURIOUS CONSTRUCTION OF ONE. — GENERAL DIMENSIONS. — ANTIQUITY. — COMPARISON BETWEEN THE ANCIENT AND MODERN BUILDINGS OF ETHIOPIA. — RETURN TO MEROUEH. — TURKISH MANNER OF BEING PAID FOR SERVICES. — VOYAGE DOWN THE NILE. — NUMEROUS VILLAGES. — SHAGEEA TRIBE. — INTOXICATION, LEARNING, ETC. — VARIOUS VILLAGES AND ISLANDS. — EFFECTS OF THE CLIMATE AND OTHER PECULIARITIES OF THIS COUNTRY ON THE CHARACTER OF THE PEOPLE. — NOBLE MANNERS OF THE ARABS. — DONGOLAH AGOUS. — PROBABLE SITE OF NAPATA. — NEGRO SLAVES. — EFFECTS OF THE CRUELTY OF THEIR OWNERS. — ENCROACHMENTS OF THE DESERT. — CULTIVATION. — PEASANTS.
The inhabitants of the village of Birkel have their burying-place on the edge of the desert. Two women died while we were there. On such occasions the females of the village assemble in the house of the deceased, to cry and bewail her death. Generally, after two or three hours, they carry the body to the grave. On their arrival at the burial-ground, they assemble round the corpse, and make a low melancholy howl, and the nearest relations, with dishevelled hair and loud lamentations, perform a kind of lascivious but graceful dance; not very unlike that of the almæ in Lower Egypt, but the movements here are different. They do not, like the almæ, remain fixed to one spot, but move forward rather gracefully, bending their knees and back, and throwing up their bosoms, keeping time to the clapping of hands and their wild _lululoo_, of which there are two descriptions, one expressive of grief, and the other of joy. This dance is not so very indecent as the Egyptian dance. When the body is laid in the ground, stones are erected over the head and feet, between which they make a narrow channel, as I mentioned before, filled with small pebbles, generally of quartz, but invariably of one colour. I asked of several persons an explanation of this ceremony; but the only reply was, “It was the custom.” Burckhardt states (page 269.), that a fakeer told him that it was a mere meritorious custom; that there was no necessity for it, but that it was thought that the soul of the deceased, when hereafter visiting the tombs, might be glad to find these pebbles, in order to use them as beads, in addressing its prayers to the Creator.
In the centre of the burying-ground is a large tomb of a saint: this is also built of stone. These stones are all taken from the temples, but they are generally without sculpture or hieroglyphics. On one stone, however, I discovered half of the name of Rameses II. or Sesostris. This is curious, and reminded me that Strabo[32] speaks of a sacred mountain in Ethiopia, where there was a temple of Isis, built by that conqueror; and Herodotus says that Sesostris, that is, Rameses II., was the only Egyptian king who made himself master of Ethiopia. My accidental discovery of this name, is, I think, strongly corroborative of the correctness of these two passages: this may be the mountain alluded to. That conqueror must have constructed some edifices, otherwise I should not have found his name. The temple of Isis may be the one excavated in the rock, and afterwards adorned with sculpture, by Tirhaka; and the statement of Herodotus, that he was the only king who subdued the Ethiopians, is, I think, proved by the fact, that, with the exception of the one which _may be_ that of Amunneith III., on the column of the great temple, this is the only name I have found of an Egyptian king either here or at the Island of Meroe. I begged the katshef who governed the district to desire the peasants to take the stones that they required from the mountain, urging that, as strict Mahometans, they ought not to take them from Pagan ruins; but, unfortunately, there is no law in the Koran by which this is forbidden. Here, therefore, is another cause which will contribute to the speedy and utter destruction of what still remains of this interesting city.
To give the reader an idea of the present state of fertility of this country, notwithstanding that the desert has enormously encroached on the cultivated land, the following particulars may not be uninteresting:—The katshef of Meroueh commands as far as Wanly, down the river, one day by land, about thirty miles; and up the river as far as Berber, two days by land. Within this small extent, over which only the banks of the Nile are cultivated, there are 1368 water-wheels, which pay to the government twenty dollars each, that is, 27,360 dollars; besides which, the government gain considerably by obliging the peasants to plant indigo, which they purchase from them at twelve piastres the cantar. They have calculated that they make 190 drachms of indigo from each cantar. Under the government of Dongolah, there are five manufactories of indigo,—Meroueh, Handek, Haffeer, Dongolah Agous, and El Ourde. The manufactory here produces 1846 okres[33] every year, and is now increasing. The peasants are unwilling to cultivate this plant, as the labour is very great; and they do not consider the price they receive a sufficient remuneration.
The Shageea who cultivate this district are less oppressed than their neighbours: they are, as Burckhardt and Waddington have remarked, considered the bravest of the Arab tribes. This warlike race alone never bent their knees to the great Sultan of Sennaar. It is impossible to convey to the reader an adequate idea of the power these daring warriors once possessed. The name of a Shageea was a host in itself. I have been repeatedly assured, that a single horseman has often been known to alight at a peasant’s hut, order the owner to hold his horse, whilst he entered into his very harem, ate with his wives, and often, it is said, still more shamefully abused his power. Death or slavery was the fate of the meleks of the neighbouring tribes who dared to offend them. Mounted on their dromedaries or horses, armed with lances, swords, and shields, they scoured the province, sweeping away the herds, massacring all who had the courage to resist, and carrying away men, women, and children into captivity. War was their sole delight; the cry to arms their most welcome sound. Mothers appeased the cries of their infants by the sight of a spear; and the lovely maiden only yielded her hand to the distinguished warrior. Their exploits are the theme of many a song; and other tribes seem to have forgotten their wrongs in admiration of the bravery of their oppressors. The blessings of peace, agriculture, and domestic repose were considered irksome by these proud warriors. They obstinately and gallantly resisted the invasion of the Pasha, till they found it vain, with their lances and sabres, to contend against fields of artillery and disciplined troops armed with the musket. Understanding that the Pasha was going to make war against Melek Nimr and the Shendyans, who were also their enemies, they joined his troops, and gradually came completely under subjection to him. The government, however, treats them with some respect. As I have stated before, a Shageea regiment is still in the Pasha’s service, and engaged in the war against the Negroes, at the southern extremity of his kingdom.
[Illustration: Pl. 30.
A MELEK OF THE SHAGEEA TRIBE.
_On stone by W. Walton, from a Drawing by L. Bandoni._
_Printed by C. Hullmandel._
_Published by Longman, Rees & Co. April 6th. 1835._]
The ancient race of the meleks still exists, but the fortunes of many are wofully changed. I took the portrait of one, an uncommonly fine-looking fellow, who was constantly in the temple where I resided, talking with my servants. (See Plate XXX.) His long gown, or shirt, is called, in Arabic, _e’tobe_. The shawl, or _el melayah_, is always put on very gracefully. Their sandals, or _nohel_, are useful in walking on the sand, except when the latter is soft and heated by the sun: they then afford them little protection, as their feet constantly sink above the sole. As there was no barber in the village, and I was told he had some skill in shaving, I allowed him to officiate in that capacity; but most anxiously shall I avoid to have my head again shaved by the son of a king. Never did I endure such a scarification. His razor, one of the twopenny sort from Trieste, was blunter than even a French table-knife; and he had no means of sharpening it, but, according to the custom of the country, on his bare arm. He drew blood four times, and scraped my head in such a manner that it smarted for several hours afterwards; but it is impossible to endure the wearing of one’s hair in this climate after having once been accustomed to the luxury of having it shaved every week; and having lost my penknife, I have been obliged to take my own razor to cut my pencils. Travellers, in these unprovided regions, must often have recourse to strange means of supplying their necessities.
Plate I. represents a Shageea with the dress of the desert—merely a cloth around his waist: his colour is darker than the other, which is accounted for from the life he leads, continually exposed to the scorching sun.[34]
During our residence in the temple of Tirhaka we were often troubled with wolves, attracted, I presume, by the smell of the meat, and who made too free with our larder. Fatigued always by measuring and drawing all the day under this burning sun, we slept too soundly to detect the thief; indeed, the roaring of a lion would scarcely have roused our Arab servants: but we had a guardian of another description, whose instinctive vigilance proved fatal to the intruder. The little monkey the Mahmoor of Berber gave me was chained to, and had his bed among, a heap of stones in the corner of the sanctuary where Mr. B. and I slept. The poor little animal, frightened most desperately at the approach of so powerful an enemy as a wolf, and, besides his bodily fear, having, of course, an interest in the preservation of our larder, succeeded in rousing us by rolling down the stones that were near it. It did this three nights together: last night, one of my servants succeeded in shooting the thief.
[Illustration: Pl. 1.
_On stone by W. Walton from a Drawing by L. Bandoni._
_Printed by C. Hullmandel._
_Published by Longman, Rees & Co. April 6th. 1835._
CAMEL MAN OF THE ABABDE TRIBE.
SHAGEEA OF THE DESERT.]
_April_ 1. This afternoon we spent three hours in sailing eight miles to the pyramids of Nouri. They are situated in a slightly elevated part of the desert, a full half hour’s walk from the river. There are traces of thirty-five pyramids, of which about fifteen only are in any kind of preservation. These are not very interesting, except as tombs, and from their imposing appearance, not being ornamented with porticoes or hieroglyphic inscriptions. The pyramids are all at right angles, and their direction is generally nearly the same. Their size varies from 110 feet square to 20. (See plan, Plate XXXII., and picturesque view, Plate XXXI.) There are eight above 80 feet square, and four more above 70 feet square: their height is generally about the same as their diameter.
Plate XXXI. is the most picturesque of three views which I made of these pyramids; but the most remarkable for size does not appear in this view. The plan will show that it measures at the base about 110 feet square. It consisted of three stages. Part of one having fallen, discovers another pyramid underneath. They seem to have added this second pyramid around the inner one, in order to increase its size, or, perhaps, to make the body underneath doubly difficult to get at. The Egyptian method of building pyramids with stages was, I think, by first erecting a pyramid with a very acute angle, and then building around it the first stage from the summit, and so on, in like manner, as many as were required.
The pyramids are surrounded by the desert, which, I conceive, has already covered the remains of several others. The waves of the great Libyan ocean have probably swallowed up the traces of the city and its temples, which, from the extent and imposing appearance of its cemetery, must have been considerable. The interior of some of the pyramids is of puddingstone, very much decomposed. The sandstone with which these monuments are covered, and often constructed, is rather soft, as is nearly all the sandstone in Ethiopia; which circumstance, and also their very great antiquity, may be the reason, perhaps, of the very dilapidated state of the ruins.
Close to these pyramids, and almost surrounding them, are the traces of a canal from the Nile; which, according to my information, reaches for a considerable distance into the desert. This circumstance proves that the cultivated land extended much farther into the interior than at present. Cailliaud supposed this place to have been the cemetery of Gibel el Birkel; arguing that Thebes also had her tombs on the opposite side of the river. But those of Gournah, and in the Valley of the Kings, if not close to what formed part of the great city of Thebes,—which, however, is very probable, from the numerous splendid temples and palaces, of which there are still magnificent remains on that side,—were, at all events, in the suburb, and exactly opposite the great city, and not eight miles distant up the river, as these are from Gibel el Birkel. Moreover, the tombs at Thebes are on the western side, probably because the mountains on that side are nearer to the river, and afforded greater facilities for excavations than those of the eastern range. That the inhabitants of Gibel el Birkel, therefore, should have chosen this place for their necropolis, when they had space for hundreds on the spot where her pyramids are now standing, or, at all events, might have erected them, if they preferred it, immediately opposite on the western side of the river, is an idea which no person who reflects on the subject can entertain. They are most probably the tombs of another dynasty, and of a city whose name may be among the many we meet with in the itineraries. We may guess which of them it was; but such surmises, without any proofs to support them, are entirely useless.
[Illustration: Pl. 31.
_On stone by W. P. Sherlock, from a Drawing by G. A. Hoskins Esqr._
_Printed by C. Hullmandel._
PYRAMIDS OF NOURI.
_Published by Longman, Rees & Co. April 6th. 1835._]
I could not help drawing a comparison between these pyramids and the celebrated ones at Geezah. The latter, although in a worse climate and more exposed situation, have evidently suffered far less from the ravages of time. There is scarcely one pyramid here which is not so dilapidated that its architectural beauty is almost entirely lost. The tropical rains seldom, if ever, reach so far north as this province; yet numbers of the pyramids are quite destroyed, and others are mere masses of shapeless ruins, without a vestige of their ornaments remaining. From their appearance I should conceive these to be the most ancient ruins in the valley of the Nile: but there are no hieroglyphics remaining, to give us the name of the city or its kings; and no sculpture, from the style of which we might have a better idea of the period when they were constructed. This necropolis is now more a place for the philosopher than the artist: the city and its people are gone. The splendid mausoleums of its kings are little better than piles of ruins: the histories which they recorded are lost for ever. The dreary terrible desert which surrounds them seems silently devouring its prey, and many ages will not elapse ere this, the real Typhon, will have swallowed up every vestige of its ancient grandeur.
I conceive it not improbable that this is the site of the ancient capital of this province, which may have been destroyed in the wars between the Egyptians and the Ethiopians, perhaps by the great Sesostris; and the city at Gibel el Birkel may have dated from its ruin the increase of her magnificence. Succeeding generations may have found the site of Gibel el Birkel more advantageous, and the favour of a new dynasty of kings may have enabled the new capital to eclipse her rival on the southern bank. I mentioned, after crossing the Bahiouda Desert, and arriving at the Nile, that the peasants informed me of some ruins which are now covered by the desert. I conceive the existence of these to afford further confirmation of the former opulence of this country. I cannot suppose, for a moment, that the city to which this necropolis belonged was so far distant.
It is melancholy to see such numerous vestiges of imposing and splendid structures, demonstrating the power, magnificence, and knowledge of the former inhabitants of a province whose present possessors scarcely have sufficient ability to construct for themselves habitable mansions. The hovels of the peasants are miserable in the extreme. The castles of the sheakhs are better, but the rooms which they contain are extremely rude. This part of Africa was formerly harassed by continual wars of one tribe and nation against another. The necessity of guarding against surprise obliged them to fortify their habitations, and having models in their vicinity of ancient fortresses of the Ethiopians, the princes gave to their residences a somewhat more tolerable appearance.
_April_ 3. We returned to Meroueh this morning, and I received a visit from the katshef and his suite. His professed object was to enquire whether he could be of any service to me, but his real aim was chiefly to receive half the pay of the boat (120 piastres) which he had procured for me, to take us to Nouri, and thence to Dongolah. I paid him the money as he desired, but he did not take the trouble of giving it to the rais (the captain of the vessel), who, poor fellow, of course, said that it was all right, as complaint would only have procured him the bastinado. This is the usual way in which the government remunerate themselves for any pains they bestow in making arrangements for travellers.
We started at twelve, and passed, this evening, Kajjib, an old Arab village, picturesquely situated on a rock. We stopped for the night at the ruin of an old Saracenic castle, called Baheet, of considerable size, with towers and a citadel. It has evidently been of great strength, the walls being very thick; the inner part is built of brick; the exterior of stones piled together, as roughly as the enclosing wall of a field in England. The rocks are of sandstone.
[Illustration: Pl. 32.
_Drawn by L. Bandoni._
_Printed by C. Hullmandel._
PYRAMIDS OF NOURI.
_London. Published by Longman, Rees & Co. April 6th. 1835._]
_April_ 4. We have this day passed the Island of Shenderab at half past seven; the Island of Manderab at eight, the village of Korti and islands of Ingolass and of Onato at half past eight; the small village on the western bank, called Ambicol, at ten; the Island of Sennat at one; the village of Defur at three P.M.; Genati at half past three, and stopped for the night at the small Island of Bishaba.[35]
_April 5._ At seven we passed the village of Debba el Dolib; or, as it is generally called, Debba, the commencement of the road to Kordofan, and the last village of Dar Shageea. With all their faults, the Shageea are the most interesting of the Arab tribes I have seen. Their manly appearance, extreme valour, and open and frank and noble manners, are very engaging; but I am sorry to find that they are addicted to intoxication beyond any tribe I have met with, spending the greater portion of their earnings in bouza, and particularly in the strong spirit of the country distilled from dates. Burckhardt (page 70.) has justly extolled their courage and good faith, and hospitality to strangers that have friends among them: but his account of their schools and learning would scarcely be applicable to the Shageea of the present day, who are too much enamoured of the dance and the cup to submit to the _ennui_ of study.
At half past seven we passed the Island of Geri, and a village called Kutti, on the western bank. At half past four P.M. we passed a small island called Amduburgh, and stopped soon after at Tangus, another small island. The wind being invariably against us, we have scarcely made any progress, and that only by tacking. The river is about half a mile broad in this part of the valley, and occasionally even wider. There is scarcely any cultivated land, except on the islands. The desert, generally, on each side of the river, presents not an object to cheer the eye or relieve the mind. When the banks of the river were sufficiently low to afford us an extensive view, we saw only immense tracts of waste bounded by the horizon. The peasants chiefly inhabit the islands, where they seem to have taken refuge from the encroachments of the desert, being seldom able, with their inadequate means, to resist its approach; but, as I have before mentioned, there are still some villages on the banks, like little oases, but not so beautiful. Notwithstanding some advantage of their situation, and their feeble efforts to protect their fields, year after year the Libyan and Nubian deserts are said to extend their sway.
The gravity of the Arabs, who seldom laugh, and scarcely ever, even under the influence of intoxication, give way to boisterous mirth, must be in a great measure attributed to the character of their country. Considering these people as living under a sky which is ever the same, clear and beautiful, and accustomed to one uniform landscape, the river, its islands, and surrounding wastes; knowing few other nations, creeds, or customs; having ever before their eyes these dreadful wildernesses; experiencing their horrors, and feeling their destructive effects; it is not surprising that we find them more grave than the inhabitants of southern climes in general. Even boys have the carriage and demeanour of men. Neat in their dress and simple in their manners, there is no affectation, no dandyism. How ill-placed would such follies be in a region like this! Natural and easy in their address, erect in their carriage, they often display a calm and noble dignity of demeanour, which I have never seen surpassed in any civilised capital. They salute you courteously, and talk with gravity of your plans. There is no feverish anxiety to shine in conversation, nor any obligation to converse with you. After the first compliments, unless any of them have enquiries to make, they seldom speak. Every day is equally beautiful and unclouded, therefore the weather is rarely, if ever, the subject of conversation; and we have not, as in Europe, the bore of discussing its appearance twenty times a day.
_April_ 6. At six A.M. we passed Ahmoor, a small village on the west bank of the river, and at nine we arrived at Dongolah Agous.
_Dongolah Agous._—After having seen that Shendy, Berber, and Metammah, though the capitals of provinces, are but miserable places, I did not expect to find Dongolah otherwise; still I could not have conceived that a town once so considerable, the metropolis of a large district, whose name so often occurs in history, would have presented now so wretched an aspect.
Part of the town is in ruins. The desert has entered into its streets: many of the houses are entirely covered with sand, and scarcely an inhabitant is to be seen. One might have thought that some dreadful convulsion of nature, or some pestilential disease, had swept away the population. Part of the city is, indeed, remaining, but until I entered the houses not a human being did I meet with. I observed some houses in the town, of a superior appearance, having divisions of rooms, galleries, and courts, and evidently belonging to individuals once rich; but they are now almost all deserted. In some of them that we entered I saw some good-looking women: the men were idling away the day smoking and sleeping. Such is the scene of desolation and inactivity which now presents itself to the traveller at Dongolah. The mosque used by the inhabitants, until recently, was a large building, which tradition represents as very ancient, and as being built 200 years before the Hegira: but it is evidently of a much more modern date. It contains some granite columns, of bad workmanship, belonging to the early Christian age.
I asked whether the residence of the Turkish government at El Ourde was the cause why the city was so deserted, but was told that that circumstance had made little or no change. This was the proud reply of poverty. I have been informed by others, that, before the Pasha’s conquest, many of the inhabitants were in better circumstances, and the town more populous, but that they are now scattered elsewhere: many of them fled to Kordofan and Sennaar, on the approach of the Pasha.
I conceive it not improbable that this is the site of Napata. Pliny so distinctly places that city 100 miles lower down the Nile than Gibel el Birkel, that I see no reason for supposing that immense extent of ruins to be the remains of a town which he describes as so very insignificant. Besides the distance agreeing so exactly with Pliny’s account, the position of Dongolah Agous, as a military station, to resist the arms of Petronius, would certainly be advantageous. The desert and the present city may have covered the vestiges of the temples Petronius destroyed.
I left Dongolah Agous at three, without having made any drawings of the place, not conceiving it worth the delay. At half past three we passed the large Island of Gadar; at four, Ullow; and, after passing numerous villages and islands, we stopped for the night at Gemin, a very small village.
_April_ 7. We passed this morning the village of Handak, situated on the western side near the base of the river, and the small Island of Marouerti, which resembles rather the ancient name of Meroe, and must, I think, be a corruption of it. Names analogous to that of the ancient capital of Ethiopia seem to be given indiscriminately to villages on the banks and the islands.
I saw this evening a number of slaves going to Cairo. The manner in which they were clogged, to prevent their escaping or rebelling against their owners, was disgraceful and revolting in the extreme. Each slave wore a clog made of a wooden pole, four feet long, with a collar, of a triangular form, large enough to admit his head: this triangular collar rests upon their shoulders, and is so contrived with straps that it is impossible for them to throw it off. When they walk, they are obliged to carry it before them; and at night their hands are tied to the centre of the pole, and their feet to the bottom of it. The owners of the slaves showed me, with the malicious grin of fiends, the effects of the cords, and the weight of the machine on the hands, necks, and legs of their victims. They confessed that they were often obliged to free their slaves entirely from this torture, in order to preserve their lives: I saw several in this situation, who seemed to have suffered severely from being previously loaded with this machine.
I attempted to reason with one of the owners; and urged, that, as he was obliged to leave them free occasionally, and run the risk of their escaping, he might as well do so always, and that he would find it his interest, as many actually died from this treatment. I told him he ought, as a good Mahometan, to adopt a more humane method of securing them. He told me, that he could not liberate them all at once; for they had recently threatened that, if ever they had the opportunity, they would kill him, and dye a red _tarboush_ (Turkish cap) with his blood. The slaves understood this part of our discourse, and some laughed at this expression; but in general they appeared in a dreadful state of apathy and torpor, quite indifferent to the interest they saw me take in their situation.
They were all negroes, with high cheek-bones, triangular faces, eyes sunk deep in the head, thick lips, complexion a cold bluish black colour, an expression heavy and unpleasing, and without a spark of talent in their countenances. They were continually demanding fire. After the extreme heat of the day, when the sun has set, there follows a degree of cold, which, though slight, and to me most agreeable, is no doubt felt severely by the slaves, who are quite naked, and accustomed to a hotter climate; and they feel it more sensitively, having been exposed the greater part of the day to the burning sun. We make very little progress, the wind being always strong against us.
_April_ 8. We passed to-day the village of El Urub. Nothing can be more tedious and uninteresting than this voyage: we have scarcely seen any cultivated ground since we left the town of Meroueh, except the islands; the desert has almost entirely overspread the banks of the Nile; and where there was once, perhaps, a happy and numerous population, a people acquainted with the arts, rich cities and villages, now no other track is to be seen but that of the timid gazelle, which finds a secure pasture on the bushy acacias which on each side border the river. The glaring reddish yellow sands have supplanted the rich cultivation, and waves of sand have swallowed up the vestiges of the temples and palaces which adorned the cities. Where were the numerous towns whose names we read in the itineraries? Are there no monuments remaining of their magnificence, no traces of their habitations? The vessel buried in the fathomless deep leaves but fragments which are soon covered by the waters. Thus the Libyan and great Nubian deserts, ever active and incessant in their attacks, have concealed entirely from our view the little, perhaps, which the hand of time, and more destructive ravages of war and religious fanaticism, had spared.
“No trace remains where once thy glory grew:
The sapp’d foundations by thy force shall fall,
And, whelm’d beneath thy waves, drop the huge wall:
Vast drifts of sand shall change the former shore—
The ruin vanish’d, and the name no more.”—POPE’s _Iliad_, book vii.
The rocks are of sandstone. There are some in the centre of the river, whose channel, at this season, when the water is low, the barks dare not navigate during the night, which they would otherwise do, as there is then seldom any wind.
Our cabin being only three feet high, we are obliged to lie on our beds day and night. I find this much more fatiguing than travelling on the camels. For myself, I should never have chosen this mode of conveyance; but my artist was in such a bad state of health, that he declared himself unequal to the exposure to the heat and the slow fatiguing pace of the caravan.
_April_ 9. Wind still contrary: no variety in the scenery. I will not fatigue the reader with a mere list of names of villages, but must refer him to my map, in which they are all marked down.
_April_ 10. There was no wind this morning; and we should have arrived at Dongolah at nine, A.M., had we not received a visit from a French physician in the employ of the Pasha. To meet a European, in this country, is an occurrence so agreeable, that we could not resist spending half the day together.
Some of the islands in this district are very rich. I remarked, on one, numerous sugar-canes; and, in several, a mode of irrigating the land unknown in Egypt, and displaying more skill than is usual in the Pasha’s dominions. The ground near the Persian wheels is very often uneven, and cannot be levelled without considerable labour: they, therefore, form aqueducts with stakes or pieces of wood from one to three feet high, as may be requisite, and place on them the conduit, which is made of earth. These aqueducts are extremely picturesque, as well as ingenious, being generally neatly constructed, and covered with grass. All the watercourses in this country are attended to with great care. The peasants are invariably well clothed, and appear in easy circumstances. I observe them occasionally assembled in an evening, under the palm trees, smoking, and sometimes drinking a cup of Abyssinian coffee, their greatest luxury.
_April_ 11. The wind being still contrary, and my patience exhausted, I sent for camels from Dongolah, five miles distant. The governor there, understanding that we were travellers, immediately sent us some of his own dromedaries.