CHAPTER XIII.

VISIT TO THE GOVERNOR. — EXTENT OF HIS GOVERNMENT. — INDIGO. — WATER WHEELS. — POPULATION. — TAXES. — PRICES OF PRODUCE. — OASIS OF DONGOLAH, CALLED EL GAB. — ROUTE TO KORDOFAN. — INFORMATION ABOUT THAT COUNTRY. — BANEFUL CLIMATE. — CAPTAIN GORDON. — ARAB TRIBES OF KORDOFAN. — GENERAL APPEARANCE OF NEW DONGOLAH. — THE BAZAAR. — CURIOUS USE OF OINTMENT. — MERCHANDISE. — THE BAZAAR. — SLAVE MARKET. — COMMERCE CARRIED ON BY BARTER. — CURIOUS MANNER OF EFFECTING SALES. — DONGOLAH GOLDSMITH. — AUCTIONEERS. — VARIOUS ARAB TRIBES. — COSTUMES. — WOMEN, THE ELEGANCE OF THEIR ATTIRE. — BREAKING OF THE _RAT_. — GIRAFFES. — HASSANYEH TRIBE. — ELEPHANTS.

_El Ourde, or New Dongolah.—April_ 10-14. We arrived here at two o’clock, and immediately paid a visit to Ibrahim Effendi, the governor of this province. He is a man about fifty-five years of age, and of the most unprepossessing appearance: he stoops to such a degree, that his head nearly touches his knees. I am told that he has no talent, but has attained this important situation entirely through the intrigues of the harem. He has, however, the character of great probity—a rare virtue among Turks; and is disliked by the Copts, because he examines rigidly their accounts, and will not allow them to trade and speculate with the public money. He is despised by the Turks, because he does nothing for them, and lives in no style. He has only one Mameluke to give him his pipe and wait upon him. I saw no other servants, but observed that a few soldiers were brought in to make a show and line the walls. On his divan there were only a few officers, apparently of inferior rank, and certainly of a very shabby appearance.

M. Martin, a French apothecary, stationed here in the employ of the Pasha, very kindly pressed us to take up our abode in his house; and we were glad of the opportunity of enjoying, for a short time, a greater degree of comfort and cleanliness than we have been accustomed to for several months. He also assisted me in finding the persons best qualified to give me information.

The Mahmoor, the day after our arrival, paid me a visit, was very communicative, and made himself agreeable, to the astonishment of Monsieur l’Apothicaire, and in the evening he sent me a roasted sheep; an attention, I understand, that he never was guilty of before to travellers or natives.

This government extends from Abka[36] to Wady el Gamer, near Berber. There are 5000 sakkeas (water wheels), which generally irrigate from four to five feddans each when planted with grain. The indigo requires more water, for they calculate three quarters of a feddan of land to one wheel. They produce in this province, 10,000 okres of indigo. Each water-wheel requires four oxen, and four or five men and children. The population may, therefore, be calculated at about eight for each water-wheel; which would make 40,000 for this district; and I conceive 10,000 may be added for those who cultivate the land by the hand, merchants, servants, &c. Some of the islands have been planted this year, for the first time, with sugar-canes, which have proved to be excellent; but they planted them without reflecting that they had no machinery ready to manufacture sugar with, and no person who understood the business. As the sugarcane requires a water-wheel for each feddan, they do not intend to plant them again. The governor obliged the peasants and soldiers to purchase the sugar-canes at a certain price, in order that the revenue might not suffer from the experiment.

There are some portions of the banks of the river, and particularly the islands, which are cultivated after the inundation, and irrigated, when necessary, by raising the water from the river with buckets and other simple processes. Land irrigated in this manner is taxed according to the quantity and description of produce. Each water-wheel pays to the government 20 dollars, 15 in money and 5 in produce; a heavy tax, when we consider that formerly, when under their native meleks, they only paid 1 dollar, a sheep, and two pieces of linen, value 6 piastres each; in all, little more than a tenth of the present tax.

The revenue of this government, after paying the various expenses, salaries, and the troops of the garrison, is greatly absorbed by their having to furnish camels to convey the different species of produce, such as indigo and grain, and slaves, which are sent to Cairo. In particular, 2500 camels are loaded with gum, brought annually from Kordofan. It is purchased from the peasants there at the rate of 5 dollars the camel-load, which consists of three cantars of 150 rotles[37] each; and the government sell it in Cairo for 20 dollars the cantar; that is, 60 the load: deduct about 10 dollars for the expense of the journey, and also 5 for the purchase-money, there remain 45 dollars clear profit for the Pasha, which, on 2500 loads, is 112,500 dollars net. Elephants’ teeth are also purchased in Kordofan for 16 dollars the cantar, and sold in Cairo for 80 dollars, and often more.

The government, as I have before stated, take part of the taxes in grain: the following is a list of the prices paid by them, compared to the current prices in the bazaar or market:—

Government Prices. Prices in the Bazaar.

_s._ _d._ _s._ _d._

Barley 3 9 3 0

Dourah 3 9 3 0

Wheat 4 3 4 6

Maize 3 9 3 0

The price of mutton (fat, for cooking) in the bazaar, is 1_d._ per rotle.

_s._ _d._ _s._ _d._

The price of a sheep 1 6 to 2 0

The price of meat, per lb. 0 0¾ or 0 1

The linen cloths of the country, particularly of the district of Mahas, 24 piques in length, but very narrow 2 0

Cotton, best kind (Belloe) per lb. 0 3

The dourah is sown before the rising of the Nile, and is cut in four months; and afterwards they have another crop, but it is not so good. The barley is sown after the Nile has retired, and is reaped four or five months afterwards; wheat the same. The indigo plants remain in the ground three years, and are cut three times each year, with an interval of two months between each cutting. After dourah, maize is planted, and after maize other kinds of grain.

Seven hours’ journey west of this place, amid the desert, is an oasis called El Gab (the Wood), consisting of a forest of doums, acacias, and some few date trees. It contains several springs, and the Arabs send their camels thither in the summer to pasture on the trees. This oasis has no antiquities nor traces of having ever been inhabited; it extends, parallel with the Nile, nearly as far as Debba, but, like all oases, is divided occasionally by the desert.

The caravans from this place to Kordofan, and on to Darfour, enter the desert at Debba el Dolib, a village I mentioned in descending the river from Meroueh. From Debba to Shambrick, five days: the water there not always good; but on the road to Harazi, five days, and thence to the capital, on digging to the depth of two or three feet, and sometimes less, they never fail of finding good water. Zaagsouee, eleventh day; Kadjama, twelfth day; the residence of a katshef of Kordofan, Gouniah, thirteenth day; Mumat, fourteenth day; Sherian-Abousieh, fifteenth day; Borah, sixteenth day; Kordofan, or the capital, Ibazig, on the seventh day from Harazi, and the seventeenth from the Nile, or Debba el Dolib.

I made repeated enquiries of both the Arabs and Turks, but did not hear of there being any antiquities there. This journey would be interesting for a naturalist, as they tell me that during the rainy season there is a very great variety of birds: but it is then very unhealthy. Ague and intermittent fevers are very prevalent. A French physician, who had been stationed there some time, informed me that during the rainy season he often took quinine in small quantities, and conceived that, by that means, he had preserved himself from a complaint which is so dangerous to Europeans.

The enterprising but unfortunate Captain Gordon fell a victim to this climate.[38] I was told that he had visited several of the mountain regions of Kordofan, and, to use the expression of the Arabs, “had written down all the country.” He had commenced his journey with the intention of endeavouring to discover the sources of the Bahr el Abiad; but there was not the most remote chance of his succeeding. Roustan Bey, who was then, and is now, the governor of that country, would have allowed him to accompany his troops in hunting for slaves in the neighbourhood of the White River. He might have added something to our knowledge of the geography of the country on that river; but to discover its source was impossible.

As a hint to future travellers, I should notice a mistake which he made, from not being acquainted with the customs of the country. Instead of making a handsome present to Roustan Bey of a gold watch, or fire-arms, which he should have done, considering the essential and extensive services he required, he gave him some gilt ornaments for his wives: but the Turks having a great contempt for any article that is not genuine, the Bey was naturally vexed at a present which appeared to him so very insignificant. Captain Gordon was not to blame, I understand, but his dragoman, for this inauspicious commencement of their expedition. The Arabs and Turks say that Captain Gordon died on account of having taken too much physic. In a country where so much is left to nature, and the medical art so little known, it is not surprising that his frequent applications to his medicine chest, to relieve a severe attack of intermittent fever, should have given rise to this report.

Before leaving Dongolah, this unfortunate traveller left a large sum of money with a Turkish aga in whose house he lodged. When his servant, after his death, returned to Dongolah, he called upon the aga, and demanded his master’s property. The Turk, a notorious scoundrel, proposed to the servant to divide the money and property, and thus induced him to sign a certificate that his master had left only a few old clothes, and no money. As soon as the Turk had received this document, he refused to give any portion of what he had promised to the servant; who, in revenge, accused him before the government. I was not able to learn with certainty whether the money, and, what was of far more consequence, his papers, ever reached his friends. I purchased at Dongolah a piece of Newman’s Indian ink, which formerly belonged to him.

I obtained from authentic sources the following information of the different Arab tribes in the kingdom of Kordofan and its vicinity:—

_The Kababysh._ These Arabs are also found in the Bahiouda Desert. They possess camels and horses, and transport merchandise to Sennaar, Darfour, and to this place. Their chief is called Melek Selim.

_The Buggara._ They possess flocks, and are occupied in hunting the elephant and the giraffe. Moussa is their chief.

_The Benigerar_ have great abundance of horses and camels. They are generally engaged in transporting merchandise, sometimes to Darfour. They are often at war with the Kababysh.

_The Hammer_ are chiefly cultivators of the ground. They possess also camels, and trade to Darfour, but do not come to this place. They are occupied also in tanning the skins of animals, and the government employs them in their hunting expeditions for slaves. Their arms resemble those of the other Arab tribes,—the oval spear, the lance, and sword. Hadji Merien is their chief or king, that is, melek.[39]

_The Hadowyeh_ are cultivators, and join the expeditions of the government like the Hammer: they possess good dromedaries, and their melek is Uhmar, son of Dowel.

_Messabouee._ Cultivators, and also assist the government in their slave expeditions: their melek is Uhmar, son of Hashim.

_Danaglih._ Peasants of the country; cultivators.

_Konjarah._ A tribe from Darfour: the masters of the country, under Magdum Selim, on the arrival of Roustan Bey, who killed their chief in battle[40]: their present chief is Sultan Tema.

The province of Kordofan is exceedingly productive to the Pasha, and so also would Darfour be; and ere now that province would have been annexed to his kingdom, had not his ambitious views been turned towards Constantinople. A desert, I am told, of five days’ journey separates the two provinces. He might extend his conquests thither without any apprehension of interference from the European powers. If the peace in Syria continues, and Mohammed Ali lives, that country, notwithstanding the warlike and powerful tribes who inhabit it, will soon form a part of the Pasha’s immense dominions; and Europeans will be enabled to explore it with greater advantage than our celebrated traveller Brown.

Dongolah, or New Dongolah, as I should call it, has far more the appearance of a capital, than any place I have seen in Ethiopia. The citadel is fortified with walls and towers sufficient to defend it from the attacks of the Arabs, but not long against a European army. There are a few pieces of cannon brought here by Ismael Pasha, and there is generally a garrison of from 300 to 800 men, but most commonly from invalid regiments, that have suffered by the more unhealthy climates of Kordofan, Khartoun, and Sennaar, and are sent here as fit for no other service. They have built an hospital, but, although full of invalids, it is not yet finished,—the rooms are without roofs, and the beds of earth.

There are several _cafés_ in the town, much better than I expected: one is very handsome; large, airy, and furnished with a divan covered with carpets. Here the lazy Turks kill the day: smoking, seeing the people pass by, playing draughts and other games, and drinking coffee and sherbet.

The bazaar is superior to that of Assuan. The articles for sale consisted of different stuffs, silk, linen, and cotton; tarboushes (red Turkish caps), shoes, glassware, cures for ophthalmia (some of which seemed on examination to contain zinc); and a variety of pipes, from the handsome Persian anguilles and long Turkish pipes, with their amber mouthpieces, worth two or three pounds each, to the humble pipe of the peasant, value threepence: coarse thread and common needles; salt, from the mines of Selima, white and beautiful like crystal; a variety of cases for amulets, such as the women wear around their necks and the men on their arms (see the various plates of costumes); coffee from Mocha and Abyssinia; loaf sugar, white and brown; tamarinds from Sennaar and Kordofan; and a variety of arms, sabres, lances, daggers, and pistols; and in every shop on sale, spices and ginger, cloves, coriander seed, sandal wood, and a kind of kernels, seemingly of cherries, which are said to come from Italy; the natives extract oil from them. With the spices they make the ointment which both males and females, particularly the latter, use in this country to render their skin soft. I have seen them sometimes almost naked, and smeared with this substance as if they had been dipped in butter; and I have often seen the Arabs of the desert place two or three pounds of mutton fat on their heads, and walk on till the sun had melted it, when not only the head and face were covered with the liquid grease, but it flowed in streams down their backs. They consider their different ointments as particularly conducive to health, especially after fatigue. There is an old custom still kept up in the country. When an Arab or Turk arrives in a village after a fatiguing day’s journey, he generally gets some of the female slaves I have spoken of at Shendy, to rub him for half an hour all over with this ointment. It is very pleasant and refreshing, cooling and softening to the skin, which has been burnt and dried up by the scorching winds of the desert. I also observed in the bazaar common looking-glasses, and beads of glass and other materials.

There were several separate markets for slaves, men, women, boys, girls, and eunuchs. Most of the latter are from Abyssinia. I am informed that they are generally the victims of the brutality of the Abyssinians of neighbouring states. Besides increasing the value of their slaves, they appear to wish to imitate the ancient Egyptians, whose cruelty in that respect is explained in the triumphant procession on the walls of Medenet Abou, at Thebes. I saw one extremely beautiful Abyssinian girl on sale for 150 dollars, and for another not remarkable for her beauty 80 were demanded.

I observed a custom, which is peculiarly characteristic of this district: the peasant girls, and also the men, bring from the country small quantities of grain and other produce, which they exchange for perfumes and spices for their hair and persons. This is conformable to our European idea of remote and uncivilised people, carrying on commerce simply by barter. They showed me in the bazaar some rudely shaped pieces of iron, said to be the money of Darfour.

Some of the peasant girls buying spices in the bazaar were very pretty. I told one, that had she been a slave I would have purchased her. She laughed at my compliment, and replied, with great _naïveté_, that, upon her conscience, she was no slave.

To make a purchase in the bazaar is sometimes rather difficult. I asked one of the merchants the price of a pipe, which I thought of buying. The man was confused, and could not make up his mind how much he ought to ask; but, seeking to enhance its value by praise, without replying to my question, he continued to extol its different excellencies. The other merchants pressed him to name a sum. The man was very much embarrassed, particularly as we had desired him to state the lowest at which he could sell it, otherwise we should not treat with him. It was only, however, when he saw me walking away, that he could resolve to ask only twice the value of the article. It is the custom here for the purchaser to bid, and not for the merchant to name the price. If the offer does not equal his expectations, he says, _Eftah Allah!_ “May God open your eyes!” or, “May God improve your judgment!”

I went into a shop in which there was a shabbily dressed common-looking fellow squatted on the ground, with a few miserably rude tools before him, on a board. I conceived he might be a joiner, and must confess I was rather surprised at finding that he was the first goldsmith in Dongolah. They cannot work European gold. They generally employ the gold of Sennaar, which is of a superior quality, being pliable and malleable, like lead. This man told me that my watch was not gold, for he had never seen gold so dark-coloured.

They have a custom here, as well as at Cairo, of selling merchandise, such as clothes, &c. by auction in the street. The auctioneer walks about, calling aloud the price. One makes an offer, and the man walks on; another meets him, who likes the article, and bids higher. The owner promotes the sale by giving occasionally a bidding himself.

The crowds in this bazaar, as compared with the deserted streets of Berber, Shendy, and Metammah, and the variety of costumes worn by Turks and Caireens, Fellaheen (or, as they are more properly called here, Dongoloue), Bishareen, Ababde, Shageea, and other tribes, formed a scene gay, and not unpleasing, particularly after the solitudes of the desert.

The costumes of Dongolah are somewhat different, but, perhaps, less remarkable, than any I have seen in Ethiopia. The women, when they are married and have had children, have their hair dressed on each side of their face, in three rows of ringlets, or tresses, the lowest often reaching to their shoulder. The other females are only permitted to wear two rows. The head-dress of the women of Shendy is rather different: they wear their hair loosely projecting from each side and behind, while on the top of the head it is quite flat. But what is most extraordinary in the costumes of this country is the inimitable grace and elegance with which their robes are adjusted, often almost equalling the drapery of the ancients. Were it possible to collect correct drawings of their almost innumerable methods of folding their _melayah_, the large long piece of linen cloth which forms their chief, and often only, covering, I question if such drawings would be believed any thing else than copies of the Greek and Roman draperies, or studies of ancient costume. A sculptor would assuredly call them walking statues.

The young girls, before being married or having arrived at the age of discretion, only wear the rat, the Nubian covering, composed, as already mentioned, of thin thongs of the hide of the hippopotamus, which reaches from the waist almost to the knee, and is coquettishly ornamented with masses of silver, and a variety of shells and beads. It is considered sufficiently modest in this country, where no consequence is attached to the exposure of the body and limbs; otherwise, so far as it extends, it forms an elegant and impenetrable skreen. (See girl in Plate XXXVII.) The changing of this costume, or breaking of their rat, upon their marriage, is rather a curious ceremony, which I will presently describe; but when the rat is torn merely on account of the advanced age of the girl, and not at her marriage, only a sheep is killed, and she and her relations receive the congratulations of their hungry friends.

Skins of animals are often exposed for sale in the bazaar, but they are generally too ill prepared to be of any use for stuffing, often wanting the most essential parts, such as the feet, and even the head. Had I been half an hour earlier there, on the day of my arrival, I could have bought for four shillings the skin of a giraffe. This animal, only so recently known in Europe, is found in great numbers on the road from Debba to Kordofan, between Sabrian and Gibel el Arazi, and behind Kordofan, on the Bahr el Abiad, the territory of the Buggara tribe. The government do not encourage the Arabs to seek for them. On the contrary, without an express permission from the Pasha, no Arab, Turk, or traveller is allowed to purchase one. When the peasants catch them for the government, they receive a remuneration of twenty-five dollars, which is considered very handsome. Had I been provided with a permission from the Pasha, I was told that I should have had little difficulty in procuring one at that price. At the time of the _haref_ (the rainy season), the Hassanyeh retire with their herds and camels into the mountains and valleys, which afford ample pasture for their cattle for three or four months. They protect themselves from the little rain that falls with _shambries_ (tents made of goat skins). During this season the chase also contributes to their support. When there is no rain, which is very often the case, the sun, being then almost vertical, produces a heat so excessive that the gazelles, giraffes, ostriches, &c. are said to become much less capable of escaping pursuit than during winter. The Hassanyeh then on their swift horses catch them without much difficulty.

This tribe (Hassanyeh) is very extensive, and trade to Kordofan; and great numbers of them in this neighbourhood convey merchandise to Assuan. They are very fine-looking fellows, more grave in their manners than even the Arabs in general. They wear their hair plaited, and tight behind; differing, in this respect, from any other tribe. (See Plate XXXIX., in which they are represented straining the common bouza of the country through a straw funnel.) I have travelled with several of them, and liked them exceedingly. In the same tracts with the giraffe is found also the antelope, or, as it is called, the cow of the desert (_buggera el Atmoor_), with straight and twisted horns (see Plate XXXVII.); also gazelles in abundance. The elephant is found in Abyssinia, and, it is said, also above Sennaar, in the province of Fazoql, and in that of the Buggara, behind Kordofan. There are a great many of the gemet cat in this neighbourhood. They have small thin heads, long backs of a grey colour, with brown spots, and a black streak along the centre. Some of them are eighteen inches long, besides the tail, which measures twelve inches. The colour of the latter is alternately grey and black. Mr. M. had several in cages: when set at liberty in a room, they seemed to be very timid, and one of them was rather savage. Their velocity is extraordinary.

[Illustration: Pl. 39.

THE HASSANYEH TRIBE.

_On stone by W. Walton, from a Drawing by L. Bandoni._

_Printed by C. Hullmandel._

_Published by Longman, Rees & Co. April 6th. 1835._]