Cases of petty larceny are of frequent occurrence; for thieving is almost a congenital vice with many of the negroes. What they see they wish to possess, and if it be not given to them freely, they will watch their opportunity of appropriating it to themselves; but we never find several persons conspiring together to commit a robbery.
A single mountain,—“Mount Dyre,” inhabited by negroes, who have not yet been brought to submission, is to be dreaded; for these people live solely by plunder and robbery. They make incursions into the neighbouring country in large bodies, even to Milbes, situate at three hours’ march from Lobeid, and steal and rob everything that comes in their way, both men and cattle, which they either use for their own purposes, or sell to others, The Djelabi, and other travellers, avoid this hill, by making a great circuit, in order to escape the negroes of “Dyre.”
The jurisdiction over the offences and crimes of slaves, is an affair sui generis. This class of beings is not looked upon, or treated as men, but as cattle. The master of a slave acts as judge in cases of offences, which the one or the other may commit in his house. If one slave murder or stab the other, the proprietor must bear the loss, if both the slaves be his property; and he can merely punish the criminal, or sell him, if he please. In this case, the affair is regarded in the same light as when, in Europe, one horse kills the other, both belonging to the same owner. If, on the other hand, the murdered slave be the property of another, the proprietor of the murderer must make the loss good; and only if he refuse, or offer too little, proceedings at law are entered upon,—not a criminal process for murder, but a suit for damages. Only in case a slave murder a free man, is he ever brought to trial, and executed according to sentence.
The revenue is collected partly in money, partly in kind, i. e., in products, or slaves; there is no systematic arrangement in the mode in which the contribution is levied; the governor fixes the rate, and it is the duty of the casheffs, and Sheikhs-el Belled, to collect it. Whosoever is suspected of possessing any treasure is forced to give it up, or his cattle, or other property, is taken away from him by force. In the year 1838, the country was obliged to contribute, in addition to the imposts in money, beside cattle, butter, and slaves, 4,000 ardeb[13] (about 118,000 sacks) of doura,[14] or millet; and the Bakkara nomadic tribes, 12,000 oxen, and kine. Cattle is only received from the villagers when they cannot produce cash; a large ox is then taken by the government to the value of 35 piaster, (3 fl., 30 kr., C.M.; about 9 shillings sterling). During several years, 8,000 heads of horned cattle were annually sent to Cairo, the greater part of which perished on the road. The government have now had their eyes opened to the absurdity of driving beasts so great a distance, and the transport of cattle to Cairo has consequently ceased; they are now only driven to Khartoom. The cash received as revenue proceeds from taxes, duties, the sale of slaves, and other produce of the country. It is impossible to describe the cruelty with which the taxes and contributions are collected; and it is really wonderful that it should be yet possible to drain a country, where so little trade is carried on, of such large sums annually. But this state of things cannot last long; for the ready money decreases with every year, and the trade of the country is scarcely worthy of consideration. The people will, in fact, eventually be obliged to emigrate, as they have already from several parts, or a general insurrection will be the result; this revolution would, indeed, have taken place in 1838, if a leader had been forthcoming. Droughts, or excess of rains, may cause the harvest, in many districts, to fail, or the locusts may totally devour it; the cattle, moreover, may fall a prey to epidemic diseases; but none of these circumstances are ever taken into consideration, and the contributions are levied without mercy or compassion. In the year 1838, the inhabitants of several villages, were forced, in consequence of an unsuccessful harvest, to take refuge in a forest, and to live upon the fruit of a tree, called Egelit, and on milk; but the government knew very well where to find them, and took away all their cattle. When a village has nothing left wherewith to pay its taxes, it is obliged to find a certain number of slaves, who are drafted as recruits into the various regiments, or publicly sold; in the former case, the government receives these slaves at a value of 150 to 300 piasters, (15 to 30 fl., C.M.; from 30 shillings to £3 10s.) a-head; children at 30 piasters, or more; but always below the market price, in order that Mehemed Ali, the great slave-merchant, may gain something by the bargain, at the expense of his oppressed subjects. A great portion of the imposts is even now paid in slaves; and on these occasions truly revolting scenes frequently take place. Should it ever happen that Mehemed Ali puts an end to slave-hunting, as he has confidently promised, he would yet remain the most extensive slave-merchant, because he endeavours to cover his revenues by slaves, and receives them in lieu of money. It is, indeed, much easier in this country to find a slave than a dollar of ready money; and this state of things is rather on the increase than on the decrease. With what right, may I ask, is Mehemed Ali called, by many Europeans, the civilizer of his country, when we have ample proof of his forcing his people to steal slaves, in order to be able to satisfy his claims as regent! Many of these subjects meet with an untimely end in these expeditions; for the negroes defend their freedom most stubbornly. If a native of Kordofan lose his father, his brother, or his friend, in one of these private depredatory excursions, he lays the blame on the free negroes, and endeavours to revenge the death of his relative; he becomes cruel, and, lastly, stains himself with the crime of murder, whilst the blame is due to no one but Mehemed Ali, the great slave-trader. Even if it were really ever to happen, that the transport of slaves to Cairo should cease, I have a strong suspicion that those slaves which Mehemed Ali receives in Kordofan, and elsewhere, in payment of imposts, would be sold to the Djelabi, to be transported into Arabia, to which country thousands are being daily sent.
As far as my observations went during my sojourn in this country, and it is an opinion of the correctness of which I had the opportunity of convincing myself in a great measure, there are many sources in the state to cover its revenue, without proceeding to such extreme and inhuman measures as slave-hunting or slave-trading. The sugar-cane grows here without cultivation and thrives exceedingly. The soil is, in many situations, well adapted to the growth of indigo, and the country would yield many other products, if the experiment were made, and water were not so scarce as it is in many situations. Although the White Nile flows close to the confines of the province, yet the water of this river could not be rendered serviceable for the irrigation of Kordofan by means of a canal, for the excavation of the bed would cost millions of money, and the country is so elevated that a simple canal would not answer the purpose. No less than twenty thousand heads of horned cattle might, with ease, be annually sent to Egypt, for there is no lack of pasturage; but the transport of cattle should be intrusted to the care of more sensible people than it has been hitherto, who have acted entirely on their own discretion. Mehemed Ali has, further, not yet made an attempt to derive any benefit from the large forests of gum trees in Nubia. They might be a source of great profit to the state, and would prove far more productive than those contemptible and atrocious slave-hunts. He need only employ the tenth part of those troops whose services are required in these abominable excursions as inspectors in collecting the gum, and allow the negroes of Nubia small wages, as is done in Kordofan; both the state and the people would in this way gain, and the negroes would enjoy their liberty; their confidence in the government would be augmented, when they came to understand that they were treated as a free people and not as slaves; trade, commerce, and agriculture would, by this measure, receive a stimulus and improve; and every man would with pleasure engage in an undertaking whence a small profit might be expected, because he would not have to tremble for his freedom and his life. The mountains of Nubia might yield from ten to twenty thousand cantari[15] of gum of the best quality annually; and Mehemed Ali would soon find out, that he could with as much ease obtain two cantari of gum as one slave, and that the acquisition would be attended with less expense.
The governors and government functionaries look upon Kordofan as their private property, and, regarding the inhabitants as slaves, treat them as such, in every sense of the word; thus the country is subjected to every possible species of extortion. In the year 1838, Mehemed Ali determined to undertake a journey to Sennaar. Many cases of oppression had probably reached his ears which were likely to lead to proceedings, and might prove productive of considerable sums. On his arrival at Khartoom, he summoned the chief sheikhs of Kordofan into his presence, and listened to the complaints of his subjects. On accurate investigation, and where he was convinced of unlawful actions he had the guilty party immediately prosecuted. Thus the governor of Kordofan was deposed, and all the staff-officers, with nine other officers and copts, were brought to trial. Much property which had been illegally acquired was certainly confiscated; but, as I have before observed, Mehemed Ali was, in the end, the sole gainer by this measure, and not the people. On his departure, the former arbitrary system prevailed; he left, indeed, strict orders with the governor and other government officers, rigorously prohibiting them from indulging in cruelties, but these measures were insufficient to mitigate the evil. Mehemed Ali was, on this occasion, cunning enough, in travelling to Fazoglo, to liberate a convoy of slaves he casually met on the road, who had but a few days before left their native hills;—but why? Because several Europeans were in his suite. No such orders were left in Kordofan; the stipulated number of five thousand slaves were delivered to a man. I was the only European at that time in Kordofan, and the governor condescended to request that I would not mention this circumstance in Europe. The country, in fine, could only be relieved and gradually raised from its present degraded state, by sending a governor to Kordofan who would act, not upon private interest, but on the interests of the state and people: in fact, as a man, as well as a diplomatist.
CHAPTER IV.
HABITS AND CUSTOMS.
The dwelling-places, in Kordofan, are called “tukkoli,” and are of extremely simple construction. The house is generally ten to twelve feet in diameter, and of a circular form; it has but one single entrance, which answers the purpose of door, window, and chimney, and is just large enough for a man to creep in whilst stooping. One house is as like the other as one egg is like its fellow, for there is no scope for architectural display; as the residences of the negroes are built on the same plan at the present day, and formed of the same materials they were centuries ago. A certain number of wooden poles are stuck into the ground, in a circular form, according to the dimensions required, and, being bent inwards, form a fork above. A second series, exactly similar to the first, is added, and the ends are bound together in a point, so that the second layer has the shape of a sugar loaf, and constitutes the roof. The whole fabric is then combined with a kind of basket-work and covered with dokn[16] straw. The apex of the roof forms a basket, which serves as a nest for the black stork, which generally returns in the months of May and July from its migrations, and hatches its young in the nests it finds ready formed. If no stork happen to build on one or the other of these “tukkoli,” three or four ostrich’s eggs are placed, by way of ornament, on a pole erected perpendicularly on the top of the roof.
Simple as is the construction of these houses, they may be said, on an average, to be very firmly built, so that a drop of water seldom penetrates during the heaviest shower in the rainy season, and they afford, at least, a dry place of shelter. From two to five of these tukkoli are generally built for one family, and the whole homestead is then hedged in with a fence of thorn; an opening is left in this hedge for the gate, represented by a bush of thorn, which is taken away and replaced after entrance or egress from the enclosure. This is not done from any apprehension of thieves or of any other intrusion, but to keep the hungry camels, who would devour the house, in a short time, down to the very framework, at a respectful distance. These thorn fences are a great inconvenience, and even dangerous to strangers, for, if they do not exactly shed blood, they will seldom enter them or quit them without leaving a portion of their dress thereunto attached. The expense of building a house of this description is very trifling; the poorest people, therefore, are able to erect their own tukkoli. Wood may be cut in the forests without any charge being made for it; certainly those who do not happen to grow corn, and consequently have no straw, are obliged to buy this material. The expense, however, rarely exceeds from five to ten piasters, (less than three shillings;) for which sum, a sufficient quantity may be bought to keep out every drop of water during the severest shower. Labourers are not paid, for each man assists his neighbour gratuitously. These houses present another and very desirable advantage, putting aside the consideration that the material costs a mere trifle and the building but little trouble; for every man can have his house carried away, by ten or twelve men, in two divisions, and quickly again erected in a different place, if the site did not please him, or a disagreeable neighbour rendered his prior residence unpleasant to him. If fire break out in a village, no attempt is made to extinguish it, as it would be labour in vain, but the houses nearest to the seat of conflagration are conveyed out of the reach of danger, and a limit is thus put to the raging element. Whole villages are sometimes carried away, when an insect happens to infest the neighbourhood, and renders residence in a certain district insupportable. The animal is the ricinus,[17] called there “kurat;” it harbours in the sand, whence it issues, in astonishing numbers, to attack those who may happen to sit down on the sand naked, as the negroes do. This little animal then immediately approaches and bites most severely. The camels stand in great awe of it, immediately take flight, and cannot be made to stop in a place where it is to be met with. The sting of this insect is only to be avoided by sitting on straw mats, for they seldom creep upon these.