The rocks are of sandstone. There are some in the centre of the river, whose channel, at this season, when the water is low, the barks dare not navigate during the night, which they would otherwise do, as there is then seldom any wind.
Our cabin being only three feet high, we are obliged to lie on our beds day and night. I find this much more fatiguing than travelling on the camels. For myself, I should never have chosen this mode of conveyance; but my artist was in such a bad state of health, that he declared himself unequal to the exposure to the heat and the slow fatiguing pace of the caravan.
April 9. Wind still contrary: no variety in the scenery. I will not fatigue the reader with a mere list of names of villages, but must refer him to my [map,] in which they are all marked down.
April 10. There was no wind this morning; and we should have arrived at Dongolah at nine, A.M., had we not received a visit from a French physician in the employ of the Pasha. To meet a European, in this country, is an occurrence so agreeable, that we could not resist spending half the day together.
Some of the islands in this district are very rich. I remarked, on one, numerous sugar-canes; and, in several, a mode of irrigating the land unknown in Egypt, and displaying more skill than is usual in the Pasha’s dominions. The ground near the Persian wheels is very often uneven, and cannot be levelled without considerable labour: they, therefore, form aqueducts with stakes or pieces of wood from one to three feet high, as may be requisite, and place on them the conduit, which is made of earth. These aqueducts are extremely picturesque, as well as ingenious, being generally neatly constructed, and covered with grass. All the watercourses in this country are attended to with great care. The peasants are invariably well clothed, and appear in easy circumstances. I observe them occasionally assembled in an evening, under the palm trees, smoking, and sometimes drinking a cup of Abyssinian coffee, their greatest luxury.
April 11. The wind being still contrary, and my patience exhausted, I sent for camels from Dongolah, five miles distant. The governor there, understanding that we were travellers, immediately sent us some of his own dromedaries.
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.