Arrival at the Nile. Village of Abouhammed.—Feb. 23. We left this morning at seven, and reached the banks of the Nile in five hours. There is no apparent descent from the desert. Our fatigues and sufferings were all forgotten, and every one seemed to bless his stars, and think it luxury to quaff again the delicious waters of this most noble of streams, uncontaminated by the taste of the geerbah skins, and no longer confined to the scanty allowance of the caravan. The Ababdes have found here many relations and friends, and there seems to be no end to salamats and taip eens, to shaking of hands and embracing. At their request I have consented that the remainder of the day shall be devoted to repose and festivity. My servants have killed the fattest sheep they could find; part of which, and a small backsheesh (present of money), I have given to the Ababdes to complete their happiness. They are already at work, drinking the bouza; and I observe that some pretty Berber women with their jests and charms are increasing their hilarity. We have been eighty-six hours in this route:—
| Miles. | |
|---|---|
| 33 hours in the valleys, at 2¾ miles per hour | 91¾ |
| 53 hours on the plains, which I calculate at 3 miles per hour | 159 |
| This agrees very satisfactorily with the known difference of latitude.[7] (See the [Map.]) | 250 |
CHAPTER III.
ABOU-HAMMED. — FORTIFIED HOUSE OF THE SHEAKH. — ISLAND OF MOGRAT. — POPULATION. — TAX TO THE PASHA. — TROPICAL RAINS. — ARAB RAFT. — FORTUNATE ESCAPE. — MANNER IN WHICH THE CAMELS PASS THE RIVER. — GAGI. — DESCRIPTION OF THE HAREM OF A SHEAKH. — OFFICE HEREDITARY. — HABITATION OF A SHEAKH. — ETHIOPIAN FLIES. — DOUM TREES. — ABOU-HASHIM AND OTHER VILLAGES. — CULTIVATION. — ARAB CIVILITIES. — BERBER SHEEP AND GOATS. — VILLAGES AND ISLANDS. — ARAB BURIAL-GROUND. — GENERAL CHARACTER OF THE COUNTRY. — TRACT OF DESERT. — WILD ASSES. — FIFTH CATARACT. — PRESENT STATE OF NUMEROUS VILLAGES. — ARRIVAL AT MAKKARIF, CAPITAL OF BERBER.
This part of the valley of the Nile is not very pleasing or fertile, the eastern bank being almost entirely swallowed by the desert. The village is called Abou-Hammed; and consists of a few houses, or rather wretched huts, built of mud and straw. The fortified house of Sheakh Halif is almost as large as the village itself: since his death it has not been occupied. It consists of a large quadrangular brick enclosure, with a circular tower at each corner. In the centre is a building of one story, in which are the divans and sleeping-room of the Sheakh. Along the enclosing walls are innumerable little huts,—the apartments of his wives and concubines, the latter of whom are said to have at one time amounted to no fewer than sixty. Opposite to this village is the Island of Mograt, which is principally remarkable for numerous fine doum trees, profusely scattered upon it. The Sheakh of this district paid me a visit, and informed me that it contained, chiefly residing on the island, twenty-five families; which, he said, probably consisted of 300 individuals. I remarked, that this was allowing a very great proportion for each family; but he replied, that one family consists sometimes of forty persons; a fact only to be accounted for by the polygamic privileges of the Mahometans. I am told that the district contains forty sakkeas, which confirms this estimate of the population, as seven or eight persons may always be reckoned to a wheel. The peasants of the island informed me that they pay twelve dollars and two ardebs of wheat as a tax for each sakkea. I searched over the eastern side of this island for antiquities; but without success, except a small fragment of a wall of unburnt bricks, apparently Saracenic. I neither found nor heard of any vestiges of its ancient rulers. The island is very rocky; I observed some of hornblende slate, and granite, with disseminated fragments of quartz, and beautiful specimens of Egyptian jasper. The Sheakh complained of its being rocky and not very fertile: “We toil hard,” said he, “but earn little:” yet this part of the valley of the Nile seems very healthy. The malaria which, higher up, after the time of the inundation, causes so much sickness and mortality, is here unknown. The tropical rains sometimes extend lower than this place, but not regularly: for three years rain has been entirely wanting, and the peasants complain of not having herbage in the valleys for their camels. I crossed the river to the Island of Mograt, on a raft or boat of the rudest description,—three logs of wood lashed together, with sides and square ends constructed in the same primitive manner. Perceiving that the natives passed in these safely, I did not hesitate to trust myself upon one. A peasant, with a clumsily constructed paddle, impelled and guided the raft; another holding up with one hand part of his dress, as a protection against the wind, while with the other he was employed in baling out the water. The servant I had with me was similarly engaged. Before we entered the raft it was one third full of water, which was immediately doubled by our additional weight. I did not, however, allow them to bale out much, as I perceived there was less danger of our being swamped than upset by the violence of the wind, and was therefore glad of the water for ballast. I sat at one end, not uselessly employed; for, as the raft seemed often inclined to turn over on one side or the other alternately, I kept it balanced by throwing my weight accordingly. I asked my Charon if they were often upset? “Yes,” said he, “repeatedly; but we are unembarrassed with clothes, and can swim to shore;” at the same time eyeing rather superciliously my wide Turkish trousers, which, had any accident occurred, would as infallibly have carried me to the bottom as if a millstone had been tied around my neck. In fact, my worthy friend, Charon, on his return to the island, after bringing me back, was upset, and saved his life by his dexterity in swimming. I scarcely had time to smoke a shibouk, when my servant came running in to give me this intelligence, and congratulate me on my escape; but as these Arabs, like crocodiles, swim nearly as easily as they walk, no danger was apprehended. I observed to-day the curious manner they transport the camels to the island. The men fill a large geerbah (water-skin), with air, on which they place themselves, and paddle across, leading the animals by a cord, and encouraging them to swim by their songs.
Gagi.—Feb. 24. We set out this morning at eight, and encamped at the village of Gagi at five,—nine hours. Here, and in the island of the same name adjoining, they number fifty men, all of the Ababde tribe. In the island are six sakkeas, for each of which they pay to the government fourteen dollars and two ardebs of wheat. We are encamped, as usual, near the house of the sheakh. I walked into his harem without ceremony, and chatted with his wives and female slaves. Some of them were very beautifully formed; and being almost naked, they displayed finely shaped busts, and, I may say, almost perfect symmetry of shape; their features very regular, and their full dark eyes exceedingly expressive. The little drapery worn by them is adjusted with great taste, and they possess a natural ease of manner, neither bashful nor yet too forward, which is very engaging. The slaves were employed in making basket-work, and the wives reposing on their angareebs. I could not, in Egypt, have taken the liberty of entering a harem in this manner; but here, apparently, more freedom is permitted, for they did not seem at all offended; on the contrary, they gave me as much encouragement as I could desire. They examined my arms and dress, and were profuse in their admiration of my beard, and in exclamations, as, “Odjaib, whallah! wonderful, God is great! but he is a tall man.” The sheakh was smoking under the shade of some doum trees. He saw me enter, but had the politeness not to interfere. The title of sheakh was at one time always hereditary in Upper Egypt; but the Pasha, in most instances, put an end to this mode of transmission; choosing for that honour those that had best suited his purposes. In Upper Nubia, he has respected a little more the existing distinctions. There the office of sheakh is still in general hereditary: the eldest son succeeds to the father; and, in default of male issue, the eldest daughter enjoys the dignity. On account of the number of their wives, it rarely occurs that they have no son; but I am told there is an instance now, near Dongolah, of a female sheakh. I have described the fortified house of a great sheakh: that of one less powerful and wealthy consists, generally, of two large rooms, a divan and harem, between which is a pallisaded enclosure, where the flocks are kept. (See [Vignette,] p. 1.) The sheakhs offer us every night angoureebs[8] (bedsteads) made of wood and cords, but we are now so accustomed to sleeping on the ground that we no longer feel it a hardship. On this evening, and also that of yesterday, we have been annoyed by swarms of very small flies, like midges, which draw blood most copiously from our hands, but without leaving much painful irritation.[9] From Abou-Hammed to this village our route has always been through the desert, sometimes 300 paces only, but often as much as three miles from the river. The banks are covered with doums and acacias; the fruit of the former is very well flavoured, tasting like good gingerbread, but the rind is very hard, and the little that is eatable is so difficult to get at, that it is really not worth the trouble. This tree has rarely, if ever, branches springing up from the root, like the palm tree. The small round and full yellow flower of the acacias emits a most delightful odour. The size of these trees is here very great, compared to those we see in Europe. The first two hours this morning I noticed porphyry rocks appearing above the sand, and fragments of the same disseminated; afterwards hornblende rock. Near here the rocks are of quartz.
Abou-Hashim.—Feb. 25. We left Gagi this morning at seven, and encamped here at half past three P.M.—eight hours and a half. At half past ten we passed the village of Atmoon, situated on the opposite side of the river. It is inhabited entirely by Berbers. There are eleven sakkeas there. I am told that there are generally seven persons, including children, employed at each. At this village, and in the Island of Mero opposite, are twenty-three sakkeas, which pay ten dollars 150 piastres, and four ardebs of dourah each, equal to 210 piastres. Cailliaud has marked two islands, one Meri, the other Mero; but there is, in fact, only one, called Mero. The Island of Kourgos, we slept opposite to last night, extended until ten A.M. At half past ten we passed an isolated mountain, three miles on our left. During the greater part of the day we have passed over sandy flat plains; rocks of coarse granite, hornblende, and gneiss occasionally appearing above the surface, and fragments of the same and of quartz being also disseminated. I also remarked rocks and fragments of sandstone much charged with iron. At twelve we visited, close to the river, the ruins of a Saracenic castle of crude, that is, unbaked, bricks. The Arabs, by their description, had led us to expect antiquities. Our track this day has generally been a mile and a half distant from the river. (For the bearings, see the [Map.]) Shortly before arriving here, we observed fields of dourah; otherwise the banks of this side of the river are generally uncultivated, but covered with doum and large acacia trees. The productive land seems to be in the islands. The inhabitants of this village are mixed, there being some families of Ababdes, but the greater number Berbers. We always go to the house of the sheakh, who meets us with the usual Arab civilities, and gives us his hand, welcoming us as Mahometans, Salam Aleycam, and supplying us with sheep and milk. Some of these sheakhs have an air and bearing truly dignified and patriarchal. Their flocks of goats and sheep form their chief ostensible wealth: the sheep are small, and the wool worth very little, being so coarse as almost to resemble hair. Their colour is beautifully variegated, generally white and black, but in some cases white and brown. The mutton, though too young, is good, and the goats’ milk the best I ever tasted. We found, near the river, this morning, numerous shells of the genus Etheria, almost resembling the Ostrea.[10]
Feb. 26. We left Abou-Hashim this morning at seven, and encamped at five P.M. At half past eleven we passed El Bagahra, and at half past one Neddi, the former a large, the latter a small, village. We passed also the small island of Essabeas, where there are four sakkeas; this island begins at Bagahra, and terminates opposite Neddi. Our route, all day, has been at a short distance from the river, over the same kind of downs and plains, covered with the doum and acacia trees. Near the villages I observed barley and cotton, but no dourah; the produce of the island, I am informed, is the same. These villages are entirely inhabited by the Berbers. We have passed no hills to-day, but I observed continually points of hornblende slate and coarse granite appearing above the sand. I have also been surprised to observe to-day, in the desert, great numbers of the same shells. We have passed, during these last three days, several burying-places of the Arabs. They consist of earthen or sandy mounds, half a foot high; the length and breadth, of course, depend on the size of the body. At each end of the mound is a piece of black slate rock, about a foot high, and along the centre is a narrow gutter, which is filled with loose little pebbles, and, what is singular, these are always of the same colour. Sometimes they consist of small pieces of yellow, and sometimes of white, quartz; and, occasionally, I observed them of the shells above mentioned. Considerable pains is evidently taken to choose these stones of exactly the same colour and description, and also generally of the same dimensions. The effect is very pleasing. The slabs at each end reminded me of the simple gravestones in our country churches: the recollection was interesting; but they could not stand the comparison; for where, indeed, in the wide world, is there any scene to be compared with the tranquil beauty of our village churches, diffusing a peaceful charm over the rural landscape of rich enclosures, snug parsonage, and baronial demesnes, peculiar to England. Here is but a dreary wilderness: nature stern and desolate; man nearly in the state of the savage. In this part of the valley the breadth of the Nile is generally about one third of a mile; but it varies exceedingly, being sometimes a whole mile, and occasionally not much above a quarter. The foliage on its banks renders it not unpleasing to the eye, particularly as contrasted with the adjoining deserts. The flatness of the country prevents its being picturesque, except in some parts, where rocks and little islands in the bed of the river break the monotony of the landscape. This evening we are encamped, not, as usual, near a village, but on the banks of the Nile, previous to passing a small tract of desert.
Granata.—Feb. 27. We commenced our sandy route this morning at half-past six, and my caravan arrived at this village at half-past six P.M. Mr. B. and myself were only nine hours. Having pushed on our dromedaries, we crossed the small desert, before the fifth cataract, in six hours. This desert is sandy, with quartz and flinty slate disseminated. We saw, for the first time, three wild asses, which had been browsing among the acacias near the Nile. There are great numbers of them in the country, but the peasants very seldom succeed in catching or destroying them. A mixed breed is sometimes seen in the villages. From the description of the Arabs, I conceive that the zebra, also, exists in these deserts. The wild ass seems larger than the common one; but we were at too great a distance to observe them particularly. The peasants seldom chase them, but with a good horse it is not very difficult. The reader will recollect the beautiful and accurate description in Job, chap. xxxix.[11] We arrived at the fifth cataract at half past twelve, and remained three hours. It is not to be compared to either the first or second for picturesque effect. There are here no mountains, or even hills, and the fall, at a little distance, is scarcely perceptible. The sound is great, the rapids strong, and of such an extent, that, at this season of the year, certainly no boat of any size could pass: when the Nile is high there would be little difficulty. We made two views, looking north and south, and coloured them on the spot; but the [vignette] will give the reader an idea of this cataract of the Nile. Two hours below are the islands of Kermi, Drogueh, and Melor: almost opposite the cataract is a village called El Solymanieh. Doums and acacias, as usual, on the banks of the river. An hour before arriving, we passed the small village of Gouloulab. This village, where we are encamped, is very large, and said to contain 300 men. The island of Ertole, opposite, is represented to have the same population; but this, I think, is rather an exaggeration of the sheakhs’.