We labour with oars, yet all is in vain against the north wind; the river itself remains on the average N.W. as far as Khartùm. About nine o’clock we halt at the right shore, and see herds and villages of the Shilluks opposite to us; but we must make our appetites disappear again—“Quid juvat adspectus, si non conceditur usus!” Really it was very vexatious; and in addition thereto, the new moon has appeared for the last two days, and yet my bold countryman whistles and roars, which is so very unusual at this time that we conclude the same phenomena is taking place on the Nile.
It has been considered as a thing decided that the periodical north winds blow the rain from the Mediterranean Sea against the mountain terrace of Habesh. But these are winds which blow also on the Western Ocean, along the coast of Africa, and find no opposition on the sea and further beyond: the periodical gales cannot ride at anchor so conveniently on the not very high mountains of Habesh and last until the counter gust from India ensues, or until the clouds have impregnated all the air of Habesh, and at last fall, from their weight, and bring refreshing rain to the country. The Mediterranean Sea seems to me to afford too small a tract for the sun and wind to be able to draw a mass of water from it, like that of a small deluge. Therefore, I think that quite different phenomena lay the foundation of these violent rains, and that Habesh, beyond the equator, may have its conductors of moisture from the Indian Sea, as well as Egypt by the electrical course of its Nile. Otherwise Habesh would be enveloped in an eternal sea of clouds, for the north winds would be bottled up there half a year, and, by the same argument, the south winds the other six months.
MOUNT LINANJIN, FROM THE ISLAND OF TSHÀNKAR, TOWARDS SOUTH EAST
27TH JANUARY, 1841.
According to my views, therefore, the north winds pass over the mountain of Habesh, which if we take Sennaar, or rather Fazògl, as ten thousand feet high above the Mediterranean Sea, ought to lie in analogous elevation, but which assumption, however, does not appear correct, if we look closely at the mountains of Fazògl. It may be, then, that the ascent of the ground from the Mediterranean to Fazògl fills up two-thirds of this height, which may or may not result from the slight fall of the Nile. General experience teaches us in Germany, that the west wind, as a rule, brings us too liberal an allowance of rain. That fountain of ours lies toward the west, in the ocean: accordingly, the ocean might provide, perhaps, the valleys of both the Niles and their neighbourhood with similar rains, at periodical winds, the uninterrupted effusion of which during the hariffs (rainy season) may be derived from other causes, and perhaps may be sought for in the monsoons.
I found the tokuls of the Shilluks slightly arched: but just now I see a few higher vaults, somewhat like the Italian cupolas. They are too high to be called Roman arches. The Romans might have derived their arch from the sky; the Italians adopt the oblique form: every part ought to be light, slender, and tending towards the centre. The tokuls must be considered as the oldest buildings in Africa. Continual rain necessitated good and secure covering, and a sheaf, tied at the top, may have suggested the first idea of a tokul, for the violent showers of rain pierced through the thick horizontal layers of reeds and straw. Thermometer, 19°, 29°, to 30°; sunset, 28°.
29th March.—After the north wind had somewhat abated, yesterday at noon, we pushed on with oars and the rope, and halted on the evening at the right shore, near the Dinkas, where a village was to be seen close above, from which the inhabitants had fled. A hillock extended along the river, resting on a down of the finest white sand; and this sandy deposit being covered entirely with dome-trees, mostly young ones, is perhaps the cause why the river is not half so broad towards this side as previously. The long hollow behind the shore, up to the neighbouring old shores, displays a scanty forest, intersected by two arms of the Nile, which, for the moment, are stopped up above and below. I found, on one dam of earth, remains of a village that had stood here previously. Our crew did not lose the opportunity of setting them on fire, without thinking of sparing the young dome-palms. The proximity of lions is now alleged as the excuse for the necessity of fires, although we have seen none since those on the Sobàt, always excepting the ones described by Arnaud in his journal, whom he attacked chivalrously, with his Fortunatus-cap.
The direction, yesterday, in which we navigated, deviated more northerly from N.E., whilst to-day we go N.E. in more easterly declinations. The north-east wind is therefore against us; but we are happy at having escaped from the confined talus of the solitary Sobàt. Our left shore presented us yesterday, and to-day, dhellèbs and some villages in the most charming situation, two of which I sketched, and afforded us continually the sight of a green forest, whilst the right shore displayed only a bare tract and several villages of the Dinka country, concealed from us previously by the high reeds. Dinkas and Shilluks hold the points of their broad spears directed towards the ground, according to the custom of the nations above, and do not throw them, probably as a sign of their friendly intentions. The spears are decorated at the extreme end with a little bit of fur or pelt, which, perhaps, is of the same use in the javelins as the feathers of arrows among other nations. The Shilluks and Dinkas have not any bows and arrows; and the latter weapon, which is entirely without feathers in these regions, was no longer seen after we passed the Nuèhrs, who dwell up the river. We halt in the afternoon, firstly, at the shore of the Shilluks, near a little hamlet, close to which is the capital or residence-village of the Sultan of the Shilluks, whom we had invited even before we left the Sobàt to honour us with his presence, so that we might present him with dresses and other beautiful things. But he preferred to remain where he was, and perhaps removed further, or intended to send us an usurper of his name, as he did the last time.
When we landed, inquiries were made for what peculiar reason we had come there—whether with friendly or hostile intentions; and one messenger after the other was sent to us, to know whether we wished peace or war, because Turks had never before presented themselves in this place. It was no answer to them to say that our object was merely to navigate and survey the river; and the Mek did not appear on the scene, still fearing, perhaps, treachery—nay, even kidnapping. I should like to see, however, the faces of the good Turks, if the Sultan, who they suppose is afraid of them as the conquerors of the world, should appear all of a sudden behind the sunt trees, with a suite of some thousand broad lances!
Those trees have astonished me by their strength, being about four feet in diameter, and by their powerful and now shady branches. The bark of the lower part of the trunk and the stronger boughs is of a dirty dark-brown colour; and the latter, together with the smaller branches, are like those of the lindentree. The small prickles are seen only sparingly on the boughs hanging down, and the whole present strength of the trees, which have been deserted by the water since our ascent, seems to lie more in the crisped and delicate foliage. The grass, which rose previously so luxuriantly from the water, lies now like a thick layer of straw; it appears to continue lying on the ground like the couch-grass—yet not in the proper sense of the word, for its roots are those of grass,—and, from time to time, to strike root, and also to stand up, if it has not been kept too long upright by the water, and its slender stalks have not grown too high. I have remarked this in many places, and seen both these species at the same time upon the very same root, the blades having been cropped every now and then, growing crisply, and standing upright on all sides; it might be, therefore, the savannah grass, and therefore I secured a specimen of this grass.