The Mahommedan negroes all live in a state of the most abject ignorance. Not many Fakeérs are to be met with among them, and, with the exception of circumcision, they bear in fact very few signs of belonging to the Mahommedan religion. They have some peculiar ideas of their own on matters of faith, for example, on the creation of the world, and mix up a great deal of superstition with the Koran, with which they are altogether but very little acquainted. Thus an old negro explained to me why God Almighty allowed white men, dark-coloured, and black men, to live together in this world. When, namely, our first parents were driven out of Paradise after committing the original sin, the Lord came down from heaven every day to see his orders strictly obeyed, and to convince himself that they gained their daily bread with the sweat of their brow. Eve, or as the negroes call our first mother, Hauve, bore daily many hundred children, which she was obliged to shew to the Abou, (God the Father) who sent them into all parts of the world there to multiply. It happened once that Hauve brought several hundred children into the world of a darker colour. When Abou came and saw these, he reproached Hauve, and said he would not have any more of these dark babes, took them immediately away from her, and transplanted them into the present Abyssinia. Shortly after this, Hauve brought forth another lot of similar children, which for fear of the Abou, she locked in an oven to secrete them; but Abou, on his arrival, had a suspicion of what had transpired, and as he did not receive a satisfactory answer from Hauve respecting the last children, hunted for them everywhere, and found them eventually in the oven. When they crept out of their place of confinement, they were all quite black with the soot. Abou in his wrath at this second offence on the part of Hauve, again took away her children, and swore that they should, in commemoration of their mother’s crime, remain for ever as black as when they emerged from the oven, and that nothing in the world should be capable of wiping off the stain. These children now became the original parents of the negroes.
The Mahommedan negroes are altogether fond of clothing their religion in a traditionary garb, and of adulterating it with absurdities, which remain then so strongly impressed upon their minds, that it is almost impossible to eradicate the false notions and instruct them differently. They believe firmly in metempsychosis, and accord to apes the honour of being animated by those human souls which, for the commission of some crime during life, must suffer punishment after death in the shape of monkeys. They never in any way injure these animals, and take care that they do not suffer from want of food. If they see any person ill-treating one of them, they become very wrath, and an old negro once reproached me severely for punishing my monkey for some offence of which it had been guilty, for, added he: “Why dost thou beat thy monkey? May it not be thy grandfather, whose soul is incorporated in this animal after death?” Elephants and parrots share the same honour with apes; and they contend that the former more especially could not act so sensibly as they do, unless a human soul dwelt within their body.
Those sheikhs or saints, so common in Egypt, where they are regarded as holy, and, as it were, adored, but who are virtually idiots or cunning impostors, are not tolerated in Kordofan. On the contrary, unfortunate beings really neglected by nature are not indeed ill-treated, but kept as secluded as they possibly can be in their own families, who take care that they do not so readily come in contact with strangers. I only know of two instances in the whole province of Kordofan of those saints above-mentioned (Sheikhs) being worshipped, as they so frequently are, by the Moslems, both before and after death. The one of these died several years ago, and the people from the most distant parts, at the present time undertake pilgrimages to his grave, situated at a distance of two hours’ march from Lobeid. They there make vows to do certain things if the saint will grant them their request. The offerings brought to his grave consist of sheep, corn, &c.; the former are slaughtered on Mondays and Thursdays, and distributed among the blind beggars who assemble on these days, at the tomb. The person bringing the sacrifice now offers up a short prayer, and thus the vow is completed.
The second Sheikh, who is yet living at Lobeid, is named Beduy: he is a pious man and anything but a hypocrite, hence he is beloved and enjoys the good opinion of all men. He settles disputes, and gives friendly advice to all who come to ask for it, knows no partiality, and in no instance receives a present. He lives very simply, his food consisting of nothing but Garat,[49] which he has ground to flour, and made into bread. He only eats meat once a year. I have visited him on various occasions, conversed with him on a variety of topics, and have had the opportunity of convincing myself that he is possessed of good sound sense, and has correct ideas on most subjects. As far as his religion is concerned, he is a rigid Mahommedan, and defends his opinions and articles of faith with the greatest zeal; but I never heard him speak with contempt of the Christian or of any other religion, as the Derweeshes frequently do; he merely pities those who are not as fortunate as himself in belonging to the true faith. In short, he is a Mahommedan missionary. He has made thousands of proselytes among the heathen negroes, for he strolls about during the greater part of the year in the mountains, endeavouring to disseminate el Islam. He also defends his faith according to the letter of the Koran, sword in hand, and has even lost a son in the fight for the good cause. The Fakeérs are very much afraid of him, and take great care not to play their pranks in his vicinity; he also feels a thorough contempt for them.
It is high time for the Missionary Societies of Europe to direct their attention to this part of Africa; if they delay much longer it will be too late, for when the negroes have once adopted the Koran, no power on earth can induce them to change their opinions. I have heard through several authentic sources that there are but few provinces in the interior of Africa where Mahommedanism has not already begun to gain a footing. The Djelabi are the people who have taken the conversion of the negroes on themselves, and have met with partial success; I must, however, observe, that if the propaganda, or protestant missionary societies, should decide upon sending missionaries into the country, they ought not to settle where the Koran predominates, for all their trouble would be wasted, and all their money spent in vain. Sennaar and Kordofan, are not fit provinces for this purpose, even if they intended to convert negroes from distant countries, who may be there bought for a trifle, and to send them back into their own country; for the converse with Mahommedans, and the acquirement of the Arabic language, would be sufficient causes of themselves to frustrate their endeavours. Nuba, Kodero, Shilluk, Runga, Kulla, &c.; these are the countries where something might yet be done, but “if it were done, when ’tis done, then ’twere well, it were done quickly,” or these, and many other states, will be lost to Christianity.
CHAPTER XI.
DISEASES.
In all my travels I never met with any country where the climate is so unhealthy, and where there is such a variety of disease as in Kordofan. Every one in the province, natives and strangers, more or less succumb to this scourge, but the Europeans are the first who fall victims. Two thirds of the white men who visit these regions may be with certainty regarded as sacrificed. The Turks and Egyptians ordered there in Mehemed Ali’s service, dwindle down perceptibly, and must be continually replaced by fresh supplies. Of the sixteen European medical men and apothecaries employed in Kordofan, within the space of seventeen years seven have died, and of eight Englishmen sent into this province to work iron mines, six perished in less than two months, and the remaining two only escaped with their lives by making a rapid flight from this unhealthy district. Captain Woodfall, an Englishman, who visited this country in the year 1831, fell a victim to the climate.
All diseases show themselves with redoubled vigour during the rainy season; no house, no hovel is then free from sick, and the whole of Kordofan may be regarded as one large hospital. The total want of European medical men who are only to be found attached to the army at Lobeid—during my residence in this town, there were none at all there, for the only one I met with very soon died—is a circumstance deeply to be regretted; and it has generally happened that those sent into the province have paid their tribute to the climate, or were soon thus far disabled that they could be of no assistance to other sufferers. There is, indeed, no lack of native doctors, but it may be easily imagined to what system of treatment a patient is subjected under their hands. Add to this the favourite, “Allah kerim” (as God will) of the Mahommedans, and we may readily understand the reason why they never resort to means for suppressing a slight indisposition until it increases to a frightful disease. Before parents offer their children relief in sickness, or before the children attend to their parents, they consult Fakéers and writers of amulets, and the like fanatics and fortune-tellers, and their advice must have proved useless.
The chief diseases are fevers, dysentery, abscesses about the neck (named durore), dropsy, small-pox, jiggers, skin diseases, and lues. Every resident in the country is attacked with fever, and all precautionary measures to avert the evil, such as a regular life, etc., are generally speaking futile. I found, on the contrary, that those persons who indulged in ardent liquors, such as brandy, merissa, or bill-bill, remained far more free from fever and dysentery, than those who endeavoured to escape these complaints by the observance of rigid diet, and other prophylactic means; for the latter were not only sooner attacked, but sooner fell victims to these scourges. I myself observed this mode of life; but, unfortunately, experienced the contrary to what I might have expected, under similar circumstances, in Europe, or in any more healthy climate; for, out of the eleven months of my residence in this country, there were but few weeks during which I could consider myself free from fever and dysentery. All the drugs, with which I had provided myself for my journey, proved of no avail, until I followed the advice of several old people, and drank brandy and merissa, in moderation, when both diseases left me. The chief causes of the two maladies named, are the sudden changes of temperature, and, more especially, the use of water. The greater part of the water is putrescent, much of it is filled with animalculæ, if it be not previously boiled; and unfortunately for the adoption of this precaution the opportunity is not always at hand; in this case it should be mixed with brandy. Where these rules are not observed, fever, or dysentery, are sure to be the infallible consequence.