Their little floating vessels, which we see so frequently standing against the trees on the shore, serving as fishing-boats, and also for crossing to the opposite side, consist in the Nile merely of a bundle of reeds, and have the form of a flat skiff, obtuse at the stern, because the ambaks are joined together at the slender end, and tied in three or four layers one over the other to make the vessel broader behind: there are two holes at the bottom for the feet. They go quickly, and a long flat oar is used to propel them along, as in the other boats: their name is generally with the Arabs, toff, and with the Baràbras, geïhga. The ambak rafts that come from Sennaar, or Rossères to Khartùm, are large, and carry a freight of one hundred ardepps of durra. A little wood approached this morning also on the right to the shore, but having no trees like that of the left shore. I thought previously that the Haba of the Shilluks was scanty, but I have altered my opinion by ocular inspection: the trees must appear thin, even at a short distance, for the stunted thick stems generally stood in the water.
Iron is very rare among the Shilluks as in all Bellet Sudan, notwithstanding the proximity of Kordofàn; and it does not seem that the kingdom of Bari has ever provided Ethiopia and Egypt with iron, for very few instruments and arms made of this metal are found among the antiquities, but, on the contrary, they are of brass and other metals. The use of iron, however, is very ancient, and perhaps a black Tubal Cain may have hammered there long before the tribe accumulated, sufficiently to shew the characteristics of a nation. If an Ethiopian tribe descended from Bari, it possibly kept up a communication with the iron country, from the want of iron in Nubia, though perhaps not by a direct road; or if only a tradition of iron-mines existed, a Rhamses or some other great king, might have followed and traced them out; for the White River was just as accessible as at present, and the vessels of that age would have found more room for sailing,—that is, supposing a Dædalus had discovered also sails for Egypt, which we may suppose to be the case from their sea-voyages, and which is also confirmed by the hieroglyphics.
It was ascertained yesterday that the Shilluks pasture their cattle wherever they like. The great inundation of this year has covered their former pasture-ground with slime, or the water has retreated so lately that there is not yet sufficient grass, and the little that has sprung up is already consumed. On account of this want of grass a large number of Shilluks collected, and armed with broad spears, drove their cattle from the mouth of the Sobàt down to this part, and still further to the right shore of the Dinkas. The latter drew back modestly, and pasture now in the interior, renouncing Nile fish for the present.
The Shilluks are feared, and particularly because they always go in bodies, and even descend to pasture as far as the Sagiën of Mustapha Bey, on the left shore. They behave very peaceably, on the whole, towards us, principally because their Sultan has ordered them to avoid giving any cause for strife, and to leave the good Turks in peace. Yet the latter are still in great fear, and Selim Capitan is very unwilling to pass the night on the left shore, so we anchor afterwards in the river. We hear in this country, as in Taka, the greeting of “Habàbä.”
I have convinced myself to-day that the villages visible from the Nile, standing, as I thought previously, on the old shore—that is, from the southern part of the Shilluk land down the river till sunset to-day—do not stand higher than the present shore, and that, if they appeared to me to lie higher, it arises from the low region extending behind the shore on both sides of the river, and covered with water. Every village, however, here lies somewhat high, for the ground is elevated by itself, through the decay of the old buildings, and the erection of new ones upon them; or this has been done by the foresight of the inhabitants, as we have also remarked. We remain to-day at the right shore; but not any of the people of the country are to be seen. Thermometer 19°, 30° to 31°, 29°.
3rd April.—We navigated this morning to N., with a few deviations to N.N.W., and halted at noon, by reason of the strong wind. Then we went on to N., and in a bend to W., where a long road stretched before us. Now, in the afternoon, we sail, and shall navigate longer, perhaps, than usual, for the Turks are hastening to Khartùm and its pleasures. The right shore has some trees here and there. The forest on the left sometimes comes to the shore, and sometimes level alluvial land separates it from us.
Sabatier and I ate with great goût to-day, on Thibaut’s vessel, two of the three geese we procured yesterday; but Thibaut had nothing new to shew us, except a soffeia (funnel for Merissa), brought from Bari. The people there manage to console themselves for the want of wine with their African mum, made from durra, as they do in other places with mead and beer. We stop after sunset at the Dinka shore, W.N.W., near some trees. Thermometer 18° (cold north-east wind), 29°, and 28°.
4th April.—To-day again the wind is contrary. We go this morning N., with easterly deviations, and in the afternoon N.E., with a few declinations. There are several villages on the left shore; we halt at the right, and the Shilluks retreat. Suliman Kashef confirms to day what I had already heard, viz., that the Shilluks worship a tree. They call it by the general name of Nigàma, which is said to have been introduced by the Great Sheikh, their ancestor, the founder of their union as a tribe, the father of the nation, and their law-giver. Almost every village has such a Nigàma, which is generally a sunt-tree. The place round it is enclosed, and the ground is kept very clear. On any misfortune occurring, the Shilluks throw themselves on their face, under the tree, and call and cry for assistance. It is considered identical with the holy founder of their race. Whether he ordered them to act in counsel after his death under a tree, and to complain to him; or appointed the tree as a mediator, through which they might converse with him; or, lastly, he may have been buried under such a tree, which thus became an object of veneration; and subordinate Nigàmas spread then with the increase of population. Moreover, the holy circuit of the Nigàma affords an asylum even to the enemy, and also to snakes, toads, and other animals, which are even considered sacred during their abode there, and fed with milk. A similar canonization of rats and mice is represented in the Egyptian temples. The Shilluks hang cows’ tails, tufts of hair, &c., on the Nigàmas, as sacrifices.
The germ of gratitude is undeniably planted in the heart of human beings, as in that of animals; and the man of nature who does not enter into more abstruse speculations will not destroy what does good to him, but, on the contrary, foster and cherish it; then comes love, and gradually veneration is paid to it. Idolatry, though often made absurd and laughable enough by superstition and individual notions, may have arisen originally from natural instinct, and is, perhaps, spread throughout all the countries on the Nile, though we have not been able to obtain satisfactory information on this subject from want of a dragoman, even had he only been slightly intelligent, and able to comprehend the questions properly. But this much appears certain, that the object of veneration among these nations does not dwell high in heaven. They had no knowledge of the worship of a Supreme Being. Perhaps their gods stand around them, or walk friendly with them, and eat out of their cribs. Even beasts, injurious or fatal to man, may receive gratitude and veneration from them in return for some instance of magnanimity. Thermometer 20°, 29°, and 28°.
5th April.—We have stopped since yesterday at a narrow and bare island near the Shilluks, to make astronomical observations, and shall probably remain here to-day. It would delight an astronomer to gaze at the stars in these southern regions, which are never seen in Europe—as for example, the Crozier of the south, Canopus, which, according to our two learned astronomers, was even invisible in Alexandria, and had been first seen by them in Korusko.