If an Alexandrian merchant were asked for a character of his Nubian servant or baob, he would probably give it something in the following way: “My servant is a man whom I would confidently trust with untold gold, and yet there is no one to whom he is more indifferent than to myself. I am convinced that if I were in danger he would not stir a finger to save me.” And this judgment would indeed be perfectly fair; the faithfulness of the Nubians is merely inspired by their cowardice, otherwise it would not be limited to money or things of a similar nature. Pilfering is not one of their failings, and is unheard of even in their lawless proceedings in the wilderness of the Upper Nile. As long as I lived amongst them they never robbed me of the smallest article of my property, and in this respect their behaviour offered a very favourable contrast to what I experienced from the Egyptians, whose thievish propensities have already been placed by Burckhardt in unfavourable contrast to the honesty of the Nubians. It is not, however, a genuine sense of right that makes the Nubians honest, but rather the want of courage that pervades all their dealings: courage, whether for good or for evil, physical or moral, is entirely wanting amongst them. Their agreement one with another, and the promptitude with which every one feels bound to check a rising quarrel, whether it concern himself or not, arises from this same defect. Their indomitable striving for freedom is only the utterance of a spirit that rebels against order of any kind, and refuses, even to be compelled to cleanliness; but at the same time it cannot be denied that sparks of a nobler nature can be traced in this part of their character, and they show a degree of patriotism, a feeling of nationality, and a resistance to usurped authority, all of which are sentiments quite unknown to the Egyptians.
Untruthfulness has become to them a second nature, and most of them will tell lies by habit, even when it is not of the smallest advantage to conceal the truth.
They display a far greater amount of religious fanaticism in the Seribas than in their own homes, as may be seen in their behaviour towards the heathen negroes, and I should fill a long chapter if I were to attempt to illustrate my account by the various examples of this of which I was myself a witness. To their ineradicable belief in witches and in the periodic migration of souls into the bodies of hyænas, I have already made several allusions. But the most monstrous of all their practices was that of liver-eating, of which some of the soldiers (though I must confess they were only exceptions) were shamelessly guilty during their encounters with the heathen. In Nubia dogs are trained for the chase in rather a remarkable manner: for a long time they are deprived of all animal food, but the first time afterwards that an antelope is killed they are fed with its still reeking liver; by this means the dog is accustomed to the scent, and becomes so wild and bloodthirsty, that it is always eager to track and hunt down its prey. It is probably this custom that has caused the liver-eating people to imagine that by a similar method they may make themselves invincible in battle; perhaps they entertain the belief, that after partaking of such food, a portion of the power and courage of their fallen foe may pass into the vanquisher.
PREJUDICES.
Other notions, very similar in character, appear to be widely diffused throughout the Mohammedan world. In their bigoted prejudices the Mohammedans imagine that the Christians are just as fanatical as themselves; the pitch to which their imagination will carry them about the actions of which they believe Christians to be guilty may be illustrated by the following anecdote: A friend of mine, who held the post of Government physician in a town on the Red Sea, proposed one day, in order to gain a more accurate knowledge of a disorder that was raging in the place, to dissect the body of a pilgrim, a stranger without kith or kin, who had died in the hospital. The doctor had long been on the look-out for an opportunity of this kind, but up to this time had never had a body which he could consider as being at his own disposal; now he thought he had a chance of making his investigations in peace and quietness. But his project was quickly to be frustrated. The hospital servants, perceiving his preparations, rushed horrified to the Governor; the news spread like wild-fire through the little town; the principal inhabitants met and consulted, and authorised a deputation to wait upon the Governor, who, at their instance, commanded the physician, under penalty of forfeiting his post, to desist from the operation. The offender also received a severe reprimand from the sanitary authorities, who expressed their indignation that he should have been guilty of such an outrage upon the customs of the land. The citizens were at length pacified, but for long afterwards the revolting report was current amongst them that the doctor, being a Christian, had been about to take the opportunity of eating the heart of a Mussulman and of drinking his blood!
Khalil told me that in his own home it was the general belief, in which, although he now knew better, he had himself been a firm believer, that when a Mussulman enters the land of the Franks he is at once caught and put into a cage, where he is carefully fattened; as soon as he is nice and plump, he is placed upon a gridiron over a fire that has been lighted in a pit below; the fat is collected as it drops from his body, and from this fat of the faithful it is believed that the Franks prepare their most subtle poisons.
Whenever a horse or a donkey gets in any way sickly it is compelled to swallow pieces of pork; this is considered as an infallible cure throughout the whole of Nubia, and in some of the heathen negro-countries, where tame pigs are unknown, the flesh of the wild hog (Phacochærus) is used as a substitute. The practice in Zanzibar and in other places subject to the Arabian semi-culture of introducing pigs into the stalls with the horses for the purpose of attracting the devil from them into the swine, is unknown to the Nubians, but probably only for the reason that stalls do not exist in the Soudan.
Amulets[63] are not only worn by dozens round the arms of the “believers,” but are affixed to the doors of the houses as a protection from fire, and, what may sound still more remarkable, they are hung upon the necks of horses and donkeys. The writing of amulets is one of the most remunerative occupations of the Fakis or scribes, and they are in far greater requisition in Nubia than in Egypt.
SILVER BULLETS.
The Fakis of Darfoor are held in the greatest reverence, and they are credited with the power of securing a certain protection from bullets. They are presumed, by means of spells, to be able to make the lead to dissolve into vapour, and to work enchantments so that the discharge becomes innocuous. There has hence arisen in the Egyptian Soudan such an exaggerated notion of the superiority of the weapons of Darfoor, that none other than white Turkish troops are considered suitable for a campaign against this stronghold of Mohammedan fanaticism. The Turks, themselves bigoted enough, naturally laugh at all their superstition, and an anecdote related to me by the Governor of Fashoda will serve to illustrate the extravagance of these delusions of the Nubians. He told me that Seebehr Rahama, the great Seriba owner, whose territory joins the southern frontiers of Darfoor, had boasted to him that he possessed a means of foiling the black art of the Foorian Fakis; he had had 25,000 dollars melted down into bullets in Khartoom, and as the amulets of the Fakis did not apply to silver, he declared these new-fashioned shot to be most effectual. This story, as I have said, had been received by the Governor from Seebehr’s own lips, and as I heard it confirmed in various quarters, I have no reason to doubt its truth, especially as Seebehr’s wealth and enterprising character were as well-known to me as his blind superstition. If then the Viceroy should open a war with Darfoor (and there are few who, interested in the progress of enlightenment, would not rejoice to hear of such a movement) he must first, before venturing to attack this African Bokhara, lay in a store of the precious metal, in order to make the weapons of his troops at all effective against their foes. A costly war this would be in truth.