At Wed Baal a Nagga there is a ferry for those who go to Dongola by the desert of Bahiouda. Derreira is the landing-place on the other side; I suppose it is to avoid these Jaheleen that caravans ferry over at Gerri rather than come so low as Wed Baal a Nagga. We left Maia at half past three in the afternoon, and, after going three miles, we came to Gooz, a small village on our left, where we found plenty of good food for our camels. At six we alighted at Fakari. Chendi was now five miles east of us, where we arrived at eight o'clock in the morning of the 4th of October.
CHAP. XI.
Reception at Chendi by Sittina—Conversations with her—Enter the Desert—Pillars of moving Sand—The Simoom—Latitude of Chiggre.
Chendi, or Chandi, is a large village, the capital of its district, the government of which belongs to Sittina, (as she is called) which signifies the Mistress, or the Lady, she being sister to Wed Ageeb, the principal of the Arabs in this country. She had been married, but her husband was dead. She had one son, Idris Wed el Faal, who was to succeed to the government of Chendi upon his mother's death, and who, in effect, governed all the affairs of his kindred already. The governor of Chendi is called in discourse Mek el Jaheleen, prince of the Arabs of Beni Koreish, who are all settled, as I have already said, about the bottom of Atbara, on both sides of the Magiran.
There is a tradition at Chendi, that a woman, whose name was Hendaqué, once governed all that country, whence we might imagine that this was part of the kingdom of Candace; for writing this name in Greek letters it will come to be no other than Hendaqué, the native, or mistress, of Chendi, or Chandi. However this may be, Chendi was once a town of great resort. The caravans of Sennaar, Egypt, Suakem, and Kordofan, all were in use to rendezvous here, especially since the Arabs have cut off the road by Dongola, and the desert of Bahiouda; and though it be not now a place of great plenty, yet every thing here is at a cheaper rate, and better than at Sennaar; we must except the article fuel, for wood is much dearer here than in any part of Atbara; the people all burn camels dung. Indeed, were it not for dressing victuals, fire in a place so hot as this would be a nuisance. It was so sultry in the end of August and beginning of September, that many people dropt down dead with heat, both in the town and villages round it; but it is now said to be much cooler, though the thermometer at noon was once so high as 119°.
Chendi has in it about 250 houses, which are not all built contiguous, some of the best of them being separate, and that of Sittina's is half a mile from the town. There are two or three tolerable houses, but the rest of them are miserable hovels, built of clay and reeds. Sittina gave us one of these houses, which I used for keeping my instruments and baggage from being pilfered or broken; I slept abroad in the tent, and it was even there hot enough. The women of Chendi are esteemed the most beautiful in Atbara, and the men the greatest cowards. This is the character they bear among their countrymen, but we had little opportunity of verifying either.
On our arrival at Chendi we found the people very much alarmed at a phænomenon, which, though it often happens, by some strange inadvertency had never been observed, even in this serene sky. The planet Venus appeared shining with undiminished light all day, in defiance of the brightest sun, from which she was but little distant. Tho' this phænomenon be visible every four years, it filled all the people, both in town and country, with alarm. They flocked to me in crowds from all quarters to be satisfied what it meant, and, when they saw my telescopes and quadrant, they could not be persuaded but that the star had become visible by some correspondence and intelligence with me, and for my use. The bulk of the people in all countries is the same; they never foretell any thing but evil. The very regular and natural appearance of this planet was immediately converted, therefore, into a sign that there would be a bad harvest next year, and scanty rains; that Abou Kalec with an army would depose the king, and over-run all Atbara; whilst some threatened me as a principal operator in bringing about these disasters. On the other hand, without seeming over-solicitous about my vindication, I insinuated among the better sort, that this was a lucky and favourable sign, a harbinger of good fortune, plenty, and peace. The clamour upon this subsided very much to my advantage, the rather, because Sittina and her son Idris knew certainly that Mahomet Abou Kalec was not to be in Atbara that year.
On the 12th of October I waited upon Sittina, who received me behind a screen, so that it was impossible either to see her figure or face; I observed, however, that there were apertures so managed in the screen that she had a perfect view of me. She expressed herself with great politeness, talked much upon the terms in which Adelan was with the king, and wondered exceedingly how a white man like me should venture so far in such an ill-governed country. "Allow me, Madam, said I, to complain of a breach of hospitality in you, which no Arab has been yet guilty of towards me."—"Me! said she, that would be strange indeed, to a man that bears my brother's letter. How can that be!"—"Why, you tell me, Madam, that I am a white man, by which I know that you see me, without giving me the like advantage. The queens of Sennaar did not use me so hardly; I had a full sight of them without having used any importunity." On this she broke out into a great fit of laughter; then fell into a conversation about medicines to make her hair grow, or rather to hinder it from falling off. She desired me to come to her the next day; that her son Idris would be then at home from the Howat[47], and that he very much wished to see me. She that day sent us plenty of provisions from her own table.