Camels flesh is the ordinary food of the Arabs; but there is still room to inquire what becomes of the prodigious numbers of this animal annually consumed. The caravan of Mecca requires a large supply, and vast numbers are employed in the service of Damascus, of Syria and Persia, and especially of Sudan, whose caravans traverse Africa from east to west with Indian commodities, which they carry from the Arabian Gulf to the Atlantic Ocean. These, and this vast inland trade of which they were masters, the gold, ivory, pearls, and tortoise shells, that served for returns to India, were the source of the riches and power of those Shepherds, of which so many things are recorded in ancient history almost exceeding belief.
Immediately upon entering Herbagi, I went to wait upon Wed Ageeb. He had a very good house, considered as such, though but a very indifferent palace for a prince. He seemed to be a man of very gentle manners; was about 30 years of age; had a thick black beard and whiskers, large black eyes, and a long thin face, which marked his constitution not to be a strong one. We found, indeed, afterwards, that he had been very much addicted to drinking, which he had often endeavoured in vain to leave off, by substituting opium in its place. He had never before seen an European, and testified great surprise at my complexion. He sent us abundance of provisions, two sheep and two goats, and begged I would give him advice about his health in the evening. He inquired very particularly about my reception at Sennaar, which I told him only in part, and, among other circumstances, the report at Sennaar, that he was gathering his forces to the assistance of the king against Adelan and Abou Kalec. He answered with a sneer, "Gehennim el Kafr," i. e. The Pagan may go to hell. He spoke contemptuously of the king of Sennaar, but very respectfully of Adelan and Abou Kalec, any one of whose little fingers, he said, was sufficient to crush the Mek, and all who adhered to him. I then took my leave, and went home to rest.
On the 17th, at noon, I observed the meridian altitude of the sun, and found the latitude of the place to be 14° 30´ N. but this observation was made with Hadley's quadrant, that I might save time, being willing to advance to as great a distance as possible from Sennaar, so there may be perhaps a minute of error, and more there ought not to be, as it was confirmed by several observations at night. The instrument, inspected and rectified by day light, was examined, and I found it to be without alteration before using it at night.
About eight o'clock in the evening I went to see Wed Ageeb, who had supped, and was drinking sorbet made of tamarinds, I believe rather to sweeten his breath than from thirst, for he had apparently drunk of stronger liquor before he took the sorbet. He told me that a servant of Adelan was arrived that evening from the camp, who had brought him a letter and messages on my account, and bade me be of good courage, for I should be safer in my tent than in Adelan's house at Sennaar; that two men had been executed for attempting to rob Adelan's house; and that Mahomet, the king's servant, was destined to suffer upon a stake, as soon as ever Adelan should move at a greater distance from Shekh Shaddly's tomb, where such executions could not be performed with decency.
I made him a small present of fine muslin, which I had bought at Sennaar; and, in the course of conversation, he told me that the Moorish troops from Ras el Feel had burnt Teawa; that the Daveina were with them, and had plundered the Jehaina, and forced Fidele to fly to Beyla. I asked if any Christian troops were among them? suspecting much Ayto Engedan and Ayto Confu. He said there were none but the Moors of Ras el Feel, the Ganjar horse of Kuara, and the Arabs Daveina. As I did not wish to be known in this matter, I pushed my inquiries no further: I asked him to provide me with one of his men for fear of the Shukorea Arabs, with which he complied, adding, that he was himself going out to the Shukorea, and would send a man to Halfaia, where I was to consider, and acquaint him, whether I was to pass the Nile at Gerri, and go by the desert of Bahiouda and Dongola, or by the more unfrequented way of Chendi, Barbar, and the great desert, the fatigues and dangers of which he thought it impossible for a European to suffer, but would give me a letter to Sittina his sister, to whom that country belonged. After Chendi, he assured me there was no protection to be relied upon but that of Heaven. This sensible discourse was of great service to me, as it set me all the rest of the journey upon the inquiry as to the proper steps for performing this dangerous expedition.
On the 18th, at seven o'clock I left Herbagi, after writing a letter to Adelan, thanking him for his punctuality and care of me, and giving the servant that had come on the errand a small present. He told me it would be ten days before he returned to the camp; with which last intelligence I was very well pleased, as thereby no information could arrive where I was, till I was forgot, or out of their power. At ten minutes past eleven we arrived at Wed el Frook, a small village close upon the Nile. Nothing could be more beautiful than the country we passed that day, partly covered with very pleasant woods, and partly in lawns, with a few fine scattered trees. The Nile is a short quarter of a mile from the village, and is fully half a mile broad. It runs smooth, and when in inundation, overflows the small space of ground between its present banks and Wed el Frook. It was now considerably lower than it had been, and was confined within its banks.
On the 19th we set out from Wed el Frook at half past five in the morning, and about four miles from it came to a large village, and the tomb of a Fakir, the Nile running all the way parallel to our road. At ten o'clock we came to another village called Abouascar; and a little way east of it, in the river, there is a large island considerably above the water, where shrubs and grass grow abundantly. The village is placed upon a small hill, and there are a great many of the same size and shape scattered about the country on the banks of the river, which add greatly to the beauty of it, as we had not yet seen such since our leaving Sennaar. At three quarters past one we came to the village of Kamily. The country here is more open, the soil lighter, the grass short and thin; it is all laid out in pasture, and there is here plenty of goats, as well as black cattle. This day we met a caravan from Egypt, last from Chendi, who brought us word that Ali Bey was deposed, and Mahomet Abou Dahab was made Bey in his place. They said, one part of the caravan, that went before them, had been attacked and cut off by the Bishareen under Abou Bertran; that they had escaped by a few hours only, and that all the road was so infested with robbers, that it was a miracle if any one could pass.
On the 20th we left Kamily at a quarter past five in the morning, and at about six miles (the distance between that and Wed Tyrab) we passed a bare and sandy country, interspersed with small coppices, and three quarters past ten came to Bishaggara. This is a large village, something above a mile's distance from the Nile, which space is entirely taken up with brush-wood, without any timber trees. We begin now to see the effects of the quantity of rain having failed. There was little sown, and that so late as to be scarcely above the ground. It seems the rains begin later as they pass northward. Many people were here employed in gathering grass seeds[43] to make a very bad kind of bread. These people appear perfect skeletons, and no wonder, as they live upon such fare. Nothing increases the danger of travelling, and prejudice against strangers, more than the scarcity of provisions in the country through which you are to pass.
At fifty minutes past three in the afternoon we left Bishaggara, and at seven came to Eltie, a straggling village, about half a mile from the Nile, in the north of a large, bare plain, all pasture, except the banks of the river, which are covered with wood. We now no longer saw any corn sown: The people here were at the same miserable employment as those we had seen before, that of gathering grass-seeds; yet, though starving, they brought us plenty of milk in exchange for tobacco, a commodity very much in request in these parts. At half past ten we arrived at Gidid; the houses were built of clay, with terrassed roofs: on our way we passed through several little cantonments of Nuba. All this country is sand, interspersed with thick coppices and acacia-trees that seemed not to thrive. On the other side are large, dead, sandy plains, but both sides of the river are covered with wood. The ferry over the Nile is here from the west to the east. The country about Gidid, especially to the westward, is very bare and barren, and scarcely produces any thing saving grass and bent, of which the poor people use the seed for bread. This is the case all to the westward of El-aice; and the country here, for want of rain, is fast dwindling into a desert, and the soil is changed to sand. There is no corn, though, from the vicinity of two large rivers, it produces grass enough for cattle, sheep, and goats, and there is as yet plenty of milk: but as soon as the sun shines constantly, no herbage will remain that can be food for any other cattle but goats, and at last the whole becomes a perfect desert, capable of nourishing nothing but antelopes and ostriches.
On the 21st, at seven in the morning we left Gidid, and near three miles further we came to the passage, and descended a long way with the current before we landed. The manner they pass the camels at this ferry is by fastening cords under their hind quarters, and then tying a halter to their heads. Two men sustain these cords, and a third the halter, so that the camels, by swimming, carry the boat on shore. One is fastened on each side of the stern, and one along each side of the stem. These useful beasts suffer much by this rude treatment, and many die in the passage, with all the care that can be taken, but often through malice, or out of revenge. These boatmen privately put salt in the camels ears, which makes the animal desperate and ungovernable, till, by fretting and plunging his head constantly in the water, he loses his breath, and is drowned; the boatmen then have gained their end, and feast upon the flesh. But the Arabs, when they pass their camels, use a goat's skin, blown with wind like a bladder, which they tie to the fore part of the camel, and this supports him where he is heaviest, while the man, sitting behind on his rump, guides him, for this animal is a very bad swimmer, being heaviest before. The boats here are larger and better made than in any other part on the river. All between the Nile and Halifoon is bare ground, interspersed with acacia-trees. The loss of a camel is very considerable, but the price of ferrying very moderate; it is only three mahalacs for each camel, with his merchandise and every thing belonging to him. The river is something more than a quarter of a mile broad, but is double that measure in the rainy season, the current very violent, and strong at all times.