“One day her dearest son fell from a tree that he was climbing. His cries reached the ears of his anxious mother. Without a veil, without a garment, she rushed forth. The crowd, on seeing her, fell as dead. They knew not if the effect was produced by magic, or by the power of her exquisite beauty. At her touch her son was restored; and, having clothed herself with a gourbab, and thrown a veil over her head, the crowd recovered; but the tree withered from that day: the branches decayed fast; the leaves fell on the ground, and it no longer afforded shade.”
THE ANCIENT GOVERNMENT OF DONGOLAH.
The Meleks who formerly reigned here were of the Zebain, to which tribe belong almost all these rulers, including Melek Tumbol, Melek Nazr e’ Deen, and, in fact, all those from Sennaar to Wady Halfah, with the exception of the meleks of the Shageea tribe. The peasants under these chiefs were generally called by the names of their villages, as those of Dongolah, Dongoloue, Korti, Kortie: but, since the conquest of the Pasha, they are called Berberene; a name derived from Berber. Sheakh Muktah[43], the most intelligent Arab I have ever met with, being, like several in Upper Nubia, of the race of cadis,—son after son the chief cadi,—and, therefore, as pure a source of information as by tradition can be obtained, informed me that all these peasants are of the great tribe of Ababja from the Yemen, who came here in the reign of the fourth caliph after Mahomet, and, finding the country inhabited by infidels, drove some out, but forced the greater number to become Mussulmen; and that thus the former inhabitants became blended with the Arabs, and have not been distinguishable from them for ages. This is a curious and highly interesting tradition, proving, historically, almost, what might naturally be supposed: but I will say more on this subject in my [Historical Appendix.]
The king of Sennaar held a doubtful and precarious rule over this country, receiving, according to the character of her monarchs, more or less tribute. The brave Shageea, alone, never bent the knee to this king. Two hundred years ago, the Sultan of Sennaar, as some call him, sent here a detachment of the tribe called the Funge, to which he belonged, to keep this country under his subjection. A great many of this race are still here, and they are considered to be inferior only to the Shageea in courage. They are supposed to be originally a colony of pagans, from the Bahr el Abiad, but they have nothing of the appearance of negroes. They ruled over the country 150 years. Ibrahim was the first, and he was succeeded by his son Musnet: their united reigns lasted eighty years; they sent considerable quantities of corn, oxen, and horses to Sennaar. The descendants of Musnet enjoyed less authority over their subjects, and the tribute to Sennaar was less regularly paid.
In the year 1782 the Shageea overthrew the government of the Funge, and reigned peaceably in their stead, under three meleks,—Melek Shouish, Melek Omar, and Melek Zebair. The account Burckhardt gives of the treacherous conduct of the Mamelukes towards Mahmoud el Adalenab is very correct, as far as it goes. Hadji Mahmoud Sheakh received them with every mark of hospitality, ministered to all their wants, and was in return barbarously murdered at Maraka, this very place which is now called El Ourde, or The Camp. The following particulars of this circumstance, which I received from the best sources at Dongolah, may not be perhaps uninteresting to the reader. The Mamelukes arrived at Captot; and Sheakh Mahmoud, the chief of the Shageea, descended the river on the opposite side, with a numerous suite. He bade the Mamelukes welcome to his kingdom, and informed them that, if they wished for grain, he would furnish them gratis with any quantity they desired. He told them, also, that whatever they asked for, which he possessed, should be immediately sent to their camp; and if they were anxious, as they professed to be, to proceed up the country to Sennaar, he would supply them with provisions for the journey, but if they chose to remain at Captot Marabat, they were welcome.
Four days afterwards, fifteen Mamelukes, or katshefs, as they are called, rode up and stopped at the door of the house of the grand Cadi Mahomet, having learnt that the Sheakh Mahmoud was with him. The sheakh having come out to salute them, they complained that they had no grain for their horses. The sheakh sent immediately for a bag for each horse, and ordered his people to fill a boat with grain, and convey it to the camp. The Mamelukes appeared still dissatisfied, and would not dismount whilst their horses were feeding. But their object was soon accomplished; for, as the sheakh approached the horse of one of them, to arrange the bag of corn it was eating, and said, “This is sufficient for your horses now, and I will send you as much as you desire,” the Mameluke, who had his carabine on one side of his saddle, without putting it to his shoulder, pointed it at the sheakh, pulled the trigger, and wounded him in the breast. The sheakh had scarcely drawn his sword a few inches from the scabbard, when another fired a blunderbuss at him, containing six balls, and he fell dead: another instantly separated his head from his body, and they afterwards mangled the corpse in a horrid manner with their sabres. The Cadi Mahomet, who was with him, was killed also by a blow of a sabre, and a black slave, who was in attendance, met a similar fate. Ten of the Shageea peasants, his servants, were present at this murder, but being unarmed they could not attempt to revenge the death of their chief, and therefore fled.
The Mamelukes remained nine years masters of the country. Including the servants, they were about 600 in number. Many died here; the remainder, on the invasion of the Pasha, went to Shendy, whence they passed to Darfour, and thence to Bornou, Baghermi, Fezzan, and Tripoli. Adouram Bey, one of their leaders, was killed near the latter place; but their other leader, Marfou Bey, arrived in safety at Tripoli.
I received the greater part of this account from the most authentic source, Sheakh Muktah, my informant, being the son of the Cadi Mahomet, who perished with the unfortunate Mahmoud. I ought to mention, as some palliation of this treacherous breach of hospitality, that it is said that the Berberene, weary of the Shageea, represented to the Mamelukes that Sheakh Mahmoud was devising some plan to destroy them, and therefore they may be said to have murdered him in self-defence. The object of the Mamelukes was to possess the country; and they were glad to avail themselves of this feeble excuse to break the laws of hospitality. Great praise is due to the few who accomplished the courageous and immense undertaking of crossing the centre of Africa. Such a journey would immortalise any European, but who would attempt it? At Darfour, Brown was detained a prisoner; and in the kingdom of Bornou or Fezzan Hornemann lost his life.