At last we have determined to take the clumsy kaiàss in tow, at the droll request of Hässeïn Aga. Our vessel began with it, in order to form a line with the other larger Dahabiës. At eleven o’clock we discerned, upon a marsh island, near the left shore, some thirty talle-trees; this genus we had missed for some time. Here we turn S.S.E., and with a small bend E.S.E., and then E. by S. We were driven by the east wind close to the right bank of the reeds before we had reefed the sails. The only remaining hope that the river may follow its winding course, and bring us, with the assistance of rowing a short way, into a more favourable direction.
Hüsseïn Aga, who is on board our vessel, with another Kurd of Suliman-kashefs, confirms what we had already heard from the Kurd Abdul-Elliàb, and which all these people firmly believe,—namely, that derwishes know how to prepare a liquor, which, if but once drunk of, is a preventive thenceforward of the bite of a snake, or of rendering it harmless. Such a derwish is said to be found even in Khartùm. But some few words, which they assert to be a secret, are requisite to exorcise or find out where snakes are. I then heard that the King of the Snakes is called Shah Maràn. They cannot say, however, where this Sultan lived or died before he assumed the form of a snake, nor do they know his fixed residence, for he sometimes appears in one place, sometimes in another, like the two tutelar deities by water and land, Abu Seïd and Abd-el-Kader. The Arabs are also said to adjure this Snake King in their exorcisms. Even the long sailor, Salem, whom I had patronised on account of his German countenance, and to whom I had given some piasters for the snakes he brought me, one of which he even seized with naked hands before my eyes, affirmed by his silence that he would not trust me, even under the greatest promises of secrecy, with this mystery, inherited from his father. The country of this Shah Maràn is in Turkish Kurdistàn, not very far from Adana, where there are two villages exempted from paying tribute on condition of supplying the snakes there with milk.
Abd-Elliab had himself offered milk to the snakes in that region, and swore that he had seen with his own eyes this King, unless it was a Wokil or deputy, of whom Maràn has many. Abd-Elliab poured his milk into one of the basins there formed by nature, whereupon, in the first place, a large snake, with long hair on its head, rolled out from the hole in the rock, and drank of it. This great chief then retired, without, however, speaking a word to him, as it had done to others; because, at that time, he had not abjured strong drinks. Afterwards other snakes crawled out from all the clefts of rocks, and took the remains of the milk, as being subjects of the former one. The two other Kurds (sing. Kurd plur. Krat), who were not friends with this Koran-hero, vouched for the truth of their countryman’s statement, and gave it as their opinion that the great Maràn only shewed himself to a saint, or a Sultan; and that he had a human face, for that otherwise he could not speak and give advice.
They related, likewise, more credible histories of their country; how their capital city, Nausùd, stands upon a high, impregnable rock, where the Sultan Haidar resides, and has six Bashas under him; that all the warriors wear armour, and are mounted, and that the mountaineers themselves have never been subdued. Then they spoke of their manner of hunting, and their hawking for hares and gazelles, and said that a good falcon costs 2000 piastres. They suffer no Jews to reside in their state, and assert that the latter kill and drink the blood of prisoners, when they happen to be Krat (Kurds).
At half-past four Selim Capitan returned to us, because he thought some accident must have happened; the ships which had preceded having waited for us three hours. Feizulla Capitan, with the same zeal that he read, a short time ago, the Koràn, so that he neither heard nor saw, now sits at his tailoring, and lets the crew do what they like. They therefore never think of exerting themselves and seizing the oar, but draw the vessel forward on the reeds, slinging a rope round it to tow it. We had scarcely made one mile, when the river wound towards the right side from E. by S. to S.S.E., and we saw beyond the reeds, projecting in a sharp angle, the other vessels with their glittering sails.
That the reeds have sufficient strength to encroach in this manner on the path of the river, or that a counterpressure from the left shore, although no tributary stream is visible in the neighbourhood takes place, indicates the weakness of the current. So far it is established, that if a straighter bed here could be assigned to the river, by removing the reeds, it would have a fall, and, by that means, a more rapid flow. These marsh lakes might be made dry at certain seasons of the year, and an immeasurable, fertile, low country would be gained, such, perhaps, as exists not elsewhere in the world. And this cutting through of the reeds does not lie beyond the reach of possibility, if once ideas of cultivation of land spread even here. Some miserable tokuls, on small elevated spots, peep out from the reeds; their vicinity to snakes, gnats, and other vermin, is not to be envied. We follow the course of the river, at four o’clock, towards S.S.W., and set three more oars on, without Feïzulla Capitan’s orders.
Again there is contention among the blacks, who are of different tribes. Prince Mariàn, the serjeant, lashes away in a very vigorous manner between them, with his nabùt, and by his simple look calms the wild, inflamed passions of these Negroes, which neither the Captain, nor Abd-Elliab (if even the latter had been still on board), could have succeeded in doing. They have all a peculiar veneration for this man, whom they call their Mak, and he had needs only express a wish, and it would go hard with us whites.
We soon went S.S.W., and at sun-set, E.S.E. The rowers then rest on their laurels, for Feïzulla must wind up his thread, and he never once looks up to see whether the other vessels are going a-head. At last I myself take to the oars, as well as Mariàn, in order to set the people a good example. The tailor-captain sat up on the deck near the lantern, and had himself fanned, for the gnats will not respect his artistical fingers. He was never vexed at bringing down Selim Capitan’s reproaches, for his tarrying behind, but only annoyed at being obliged, though for a short time, to leave his sewing implements, to which he faithfully stuck, with an incredible indolence and indifference to every thing else. The people rested every moment, and we did not reach the vessels waiting for us, where the river goes S.E., till nine o’clock.
18th December.—Half an hour before sunrise we followed our course towards S.E., and the east wind blew so faintly that it scarcely swelled the sails, and we moved but with difficulty from the spot. My mast-watcher, Fadl, says that a river, from the trees of the left shore, which I see, upon the deck, behind us, towards N.W., enters into the land in a basin far above an hour; that this land is covered with trees, and again approaches the river towards the south, and that many tops of tokuls are visible upon the right tree-less shore, away beyond the reeds and grass, at a distance of two hours. We are therefore again in a lake, wherein this large village, according to his account, lies upon a neck of land which corresponds with the bay of the left bank.
After an hour and a half, we take to our oars, and double, for the first time, a corner towards E., and immediately afterwards to E. by N. The damp yesterday evening was so great that it penetrated our clothes. In the reeds there was continual croaking, chirping, waddling, and springing up of the spawning-fish, such as we had not before heard. Birds also flew over us, uttering a shrill and whistling sound, said to announce a storm. We torment ourselves till eleven o’clock by slowly moving along the right shore of the reeds; and in order to get the crew into some activity, I have forced the tailor out of his shop, for the east wind has become stronger, and the river makes a bend before us to the south, as we perceived by the masts of the ships waiting for us. We sail, therefore, towards the south, to the other vessels, which have already got a considerable start of us. We quit this southern direction at the end of an hour, go for half an hour towards S.E., and then more eastward and E. by S., where again we are obliged to take to our oars. The group of the thirteen dhellèb-palms, which previously stood south of us, retreats to the left shore. We saw here four fishing-huts in the reeds, near which some blacks were occupied in fishing. At noon S.E., and at two o’clock towards E., sailing.