Burckhardt arrived at Derr on the 1st of March, and, to his surprise, found two Mameluke beys at the palace of the governor. He had reckoned upon their utter disappearance, and had intended, under these circumstances, to represent himself as the secret agent of the Pasha of Egypt; but learning, upon inquiry, that the pasha and his enemies were regarded with nearly equal dread by the Nubian princes, he changed his resolution, and professed to be guided in his motions by no other motive than pleasure. Ignorant persons find it hard to conceive that men can expose themselves to difficulties and dangers from an enthusiasm for knowledge, or can find pleasure in encountering hardships and fatigue; however, a concurrence of fortunate circumstances extorted from the governor a permission to proceed, and accordingly, having provided himself with provisions for the road, our traveller departed for Sukkot.
His guide on the present occasion was an old Arab of the Ababde tribe. The branch of the Ababde to which this man, whose name was Mohammed, belonged, feed their flocks on the uninhabited banks of the river, and on its numerous islands, as far south as Dongola. Though poor, they refuse to bestow their daughters, who are famed for their beauty, in marriage on the rich Nubians, and have thus preserved the purity of their race. They are, moreover, an honest and hospitable race, and during his journeys in Nubia, Burckhardt was constantly received and treated with kindness by these simple people.
In pursuing his course up the Nile, our traveller passed a day at Ibrim, a town inhabited by Turks, where, though quarrels and bloodshed were frequent, property was more secure than in any other town he had visited in the eastern world; the corn was left all night in the field, and the cattle on the banks of the river, unwatched, and even the greater part of the household furniture remained all night under the palm-trees around their dwellings. Indeed, theft was here quite unknown. Proceeding a short distance to the south of this town, he dismounted from his dromedary, and directing his guide to continue his road to the next village, struck off into a narrow footpath along the lofty, precipitous shores of the river. Pursuing this mountain-track he arrived at an ancient temple hewn out of the rock, in as perfect a state of preservation as when first finished. Sepulchral chambers and mystic sculptures, the usual accompaniments of Egyptian temples, were found here.
The reception which our traveller and his guide met with at the Nubian villages was generally hospitable; as soon as they alighted a mat was spread for them upon the ground, just before the door of the house, which none but intimate friends are permitted to enter; dhourra bread, milk, and sometimes dates were placed before the strangers, and their host, if earnestly pressed, sat down with them. Straw, when plentiful, was likewise given to their camels; and when the host desired to be particularly hospitable, a breakfast of hot milk and bread was served up before their departure in the morning.
At length, on the 6th of March, they arrived on a sandy plain, sprinkled with rocky points, which thrust up their heads through the sand that concealed their bases. Here they encamped in the evening near one of the islands which are formed by the river. The noise of the cataract was heard in the night, at about half an hour’s distance. The place is very romantic: when the inundation subsides, many small lakes are left among the rocks; and the banks of these, overgrown with large tamarisks, have a picturesque appearance amid the black and green rocks; the lakes and pools thus formed cover a space of upwards of two miles in breadth.
The Arabs who serve as guides through these wild districts “have devised,” says Burckhardt, “a singular mode of extorting small presents from the traveller: they alight at certain spots, and beg a present; if it is refused, they collect a heap of sand, and mould it into the form of a diminutive tomb, and then placing a stone at each of its extremities, they apprize the traveller that his tomb is made; meaning that henceforward there will be no security for him in this rocky wilderness. Most persons pay a trifling contribution rather than have their graves made before their eyes; there were, however, several tombs of this description dispersed over the plain. Being satisfied with my guide, I gave him one piastre, with which he was content.”
On his arriving in the territory of Sukkot, he presented the letter to the governor of which he was the bearer; and received from this old savage a scrap of paper, containing an introduction to his son, who was the chief of the southern part of the district. Here the guide, who had been granted him at Derr, reached the extremity of his commission, and announced his intention of returning from thence; four piastres, however, overcame his determination, and he agreed to proceed to Mahass: “If Hassan Kashif,” said he, “upbraids me, I shall tell him that you rode on, notwithstanding my exhortations, and that I did not think it honourable to leave you alone.” An admirable custom prevails in this and every other part of Nubia: water-jars are placed under a low roof at short distances by the roadside, where the traveller may always quench his thirst; and every village pays a small monthly sum to some person to fill those jars morning and evening. The same thing is practised upon a much larger scale in Upper Egypt.
Upon Burckhardt’s reaching the Mahass territory, he suddenly found himself in the midst of the worst description of savages. The governor, a ferocious black, received him in a hut, furiously intoxicated, and surrounded by numerous followers in the same condition. In the midst of their drunken mirth they called for their muskets, and amused themselves with firing in the hut. Burckhardt every moment expected that a random ball would put an end to his travels; but the palm wine at length extended the whole of this atrocious rabble upon the ground, and next morning, when sleep had somewhat restored the tone of the governor’s senses, he found time to question our traveller respecting the motives of his visit. The story which he related to them was not believed: “You are an agent of Mohammed,” said they; “but at Mahass we spit at Mohammed Ali’s beard, and cut off the heads of those who are enemies to the Mamelukes.” These suspicions, although they produced no immediate injury to his personal safety, entirely put a stop to his progress farther south; for he was now within two days and a half of the limits of Dongola, where the Mamelukes were lords paramount, and to enter their territories with the character of an agent of Mohammed Ali would be to court certain death. He therefore turned his face towards the north, and travelled with all possible celerity along the eastern bank of the Nile, until he arrived at Kolbe, where he swam across the river, holding by his camel’s tail with one hand, and urging on the beast with the other.
Burckhardt now descended the Nile to Ipsambol, the vast rocky temple of which he supposed to be of extremely ancient date. He here found four colossal statues of enormous magnitude, which had been hewn out of the rock, on the face of an elevated cliff, with their backs adhering to the precipice. The fine sand of the desert had been blown up into mounds against the rock, and covered two of these statues almost entirely; the rest rose somewhat above the surface. The faces of these colossal statues are turned towards the north. “The head, which is above the surface,” says he, “has a most expressive youthful countenance, approaching nearer to the Grecian model of beauty than that of any ancient Egyptian figure I have seen; indeed, were it not for a thin, oblong beard, it might well pass for a head of Pallas.”
From Ipsambol he continued his journey to Mosmos and Derr, where he parted with his guide, who, on taking his leave, begged as a present the mellaye, or cloak, which our traveller usually wore. To this request Burckhardt replied, “May God smooth your path!”—a phrase usually addressed to beggars, when they are civilly told to be gone. “No,” said the Arab, who had often employed this phrase when he desired to elude the questions of the traveller, “for once I will beg you to smooth it.” “So,” says Burckhardt, “I gave him the mellaye, and a small present in money; and am confident that Abou Saad will never forget me.”