8th March. The mountain of Om Hereyzel is of a dark gray granite. We passed it, and then crossed a deep sandy plain entirely barren, direction S. 1° ½ E. The road was strewn with carcases and bones of camels. Few caravans perform the journey without loosing some of their beasts, and this happens more frequently in rocky districts, of difficult passage, or in the neighbourhood of wells, where the already weakened camels surfeit themselves with water, which has the effect of rendering them incapable of resisting fatigue, and the weight of their loads. We passed many low insulated granite hillocks, and granite blocks in the midst of the sands. We halted about mid-day at the entrance of a chain of mountains, running S. E. and N. W., called Djebel Heyzorba (جبل هِزُربه). It is a custom with caravans always to rest during the mid-day hours, when they dine, and sleep afterwards for a couple of hours. At the return from the black countries, when camels are always plentiful, and every body is mounted, the caravan travels in forced marches; but two-thirds of our people were at present on foot. Towards two o’clock we usually set out again, and alighted just before sunset. In the afternoon of this day we passed Heyzorba, and continuing in the same direction as before, halted near some rocks called Beiban (بيبان); a day’s march of about nine hours. I had seen neither trees nor verdure during the whole day. The rocks where we rested, were of granite mixed with large masses of feldspath.
9th March. Being in want of water, we set out soon after midnight, and reached, after five hours march, the Wady Nakeyb (نقيب), with wells of the same name. The Wady is full of Sant trees, and has near its extremity two deep wells of tolerable water.
From the first day of our departure from Daraou, my companions had treated me with neglect, and even contempt; they certainly had no idea of my being a Frank, but they took me to be of Turkish origin, either from European Turkey or Asia Minor, an opinion sufficient of itself to excite the ill treatment of Arabs, who all bear the most inveterate hatred to the Osmanlis. I had with me a Firman of Ibrahim Pasha, son of Mohammed Aly Pasha, and governor of Upper Egypt, together with a letter of recommendation from him, addressed to all the black kings on the Sennaar route, and wherein I was called Hadji, or Shikh Ibrahim el Shamy, or the Syrian. For obvious reasons I had never let this be known amongst my companions, and all that I gave them to understand was, that I was by birth an Aleppine; they knew that I was much befriended by Hassan Beg, the Governor of Esne, under whose jurisdiction Daraou is included, as well as by the great commercial house El Habater of Esne, who had recommended me to his correspondent at Daraou. Seeing that I had brought a very small quantity of goods with me, they thought I had been forced to leave Egypt on account of debts, but I gave out that I was in search of a lost cousin, who several years ago had departed from Siout to Darfour, and Sennaar, upon a mercantile expedition, in which my whole property had been engaged. This was a pretext for my undertaking, quite suited to the notions of these people. The smallness of my adventure in goods would hardly have justified any man in his senses in attempting such a journey with mere commercial views, for after paying all the passage duties in the road, the most sanguine person could not hope for any greater success, than that of returning with the full capital. I was obliged therefore to allege some reasons for undertaking the journey. I often repeated my hopes of finding my lost cousin, and at all events of conducting my expenses in such a manner as not to be a loser on my return. My companions were not disinclined to believe my story, and thought it not at all improbable, that I might also be avoiding my creditors; but I could easily perceive at the same time that they could not divest themselves of some commercial jealousy, thinking it not improbable that I might find the means of attempting a second expedition into these countries with a large capital, in case I should return from the present with a conviction of the profitable nature of the trade. It was probably for this reason that they thought it necessary to ill treat me, in order to prevent my making any further attempt. Several Turks from Asia Minor or from European Turkey had within the last ten years endeavoured to engage in the trade, but the Daraou people had always found means to disgust them so much, as to make them abandon any second enterprize. When in addition to other motives for ill treating me, the traders saw in me every appearance of a poor man, that I cut wood, and cooked for myself, and filled my own water-skins, they thought me hardly upon an equality with the servants who are hired by the merchants, at the rate of ten dollars for the journey from Daraou to Guz, or Shendy, and back again. I had always endeavoured to keep upon good terms with the family of Alowein, who were the principal Fellah merchants, and whose good offices I thought might be useful to me in the black countries; but when they saw that I was so poor that they could have but little hopes of obtaining much from me in presents, they soon forgot what I had already given them before we set out, and no longer observed the least civility in their behaviour towards me. They began by using opprobrious language in speaking of Hassan Beg, of Esne, observing that now we were in the desert, they cared little for all the Begs and Pashas in the world; seeing that this did not seriously affect me, they began to address me in the most vulgar and contemptuous language, never calling me any thing better than Weled, “boy.” Though they became every day more insulting, I restrained my anger, and never proceeded to that retaliation to which they evidently wished to provoke me, in order to have sufficient reasons for coming to blows with me. In the beginning of the journey I had joined the party of the Alowein in our evening encampment, although I always cooked by myself; I was soon, however, driven away from them, and obliged to remain alone, the people of Daraou giving out that several things had been purloined from their baggage, and that they suspected me of having taken them. Not to enter into any further details, it is sufficient to say, that not an hour passed without my receiving some insult, even from the meanest servants of these people, who very soon imitated and surpassed their masters. When we arrived at the well of Nakeyb, and the camels and asses went to be watered, and the water-skins were carried to be filled, some people of the caravan descended according to custom into the wells to fill the Delou or leather bucket, while others drew up the water. Having no friend to go down for me, I was obliged to wait near the well the whole afternoon, until near sunset, to the great amusement of my companions, and I should have remained unsupplied had not one of the guides at last assisted in drawing up the water from above, while I descended into the well to fill the Delou.
We were joined at Nakeyb by a small party of traders, who being in great haste to depart, had left Daraou three days before us, but afterwards thinking it imprudent to venture alone through the desert, had been waiting here for us, for several days.
10th March. After a march of three hours, over a rocky and mountainous country, along a road thickly covered with loose stones, we arrived at El Haimar (حيمَر), a collection of wells of great repute in this desert. Just before we reached it we passed by the tomb of a distinguished person belonging to the Mamelouks, who died on this spot. His companions having inclosed the naked corpse within low walls of loose stones, had covered it over with a large block. The dryness of the air had preserved the corpse in the most perfect state. Looking at it through the interstices of the stones which enveloped it, it appeared to me a more perfect mummy than any I had seen in Egypt. The mouth was wide open, and our guide related that the man had died for want of water, although so near the wells. When the remnant of the Mamelouks under the command of Ibrahim Beg el Kebír, and Osman Beg Hassan, left the shores of the Nile, near Ibrim, in the year 1810, to escape from the eager pursuit of the Pasha’s troops, they retired to these mountains, and claimed the hospitality of the Ababde Bedouins, who received them in their encampments, but left no means untried of getting possession of all the property they had brought with them. Provisions were sold to them at enormous prices, and as one well or source could not afford water to so large a party for any length of time, the Mamelouks were obliged to trust to their Ababde guides to carry them from one watering place to another. During these wanderings the Ababde often carried their guests through circuitous routes in order to create a momentary distress for water, and sell their skins of water (which they secretly filled at some neighbouring spring), at the most exorbitant prices. It was a want of water, caused by these contrivances, that proved fatal to the above mentioned Mamelouk, and to others, who lie buried in the neighbourhood. Their whole corps remained several weeks at Haimar, and it was from thence that they ordered all their unnecessary servants and followers to depart: among these were several dashing Egyptian dancing girls, the price of whose charms had increased in the mountains, in the same proportion as other commodities, and who had thus been enabled to acquire large sums of money in a very short time. The dismissed followers of the Mamelouk camp formed a caravan, which was proceeding towards Assouan under the guidance of several Ababde, when, the night before they expected to reach the Nile, their guides absconded, and the next morning they found themselves attacked by a large body of Ababde, by whom they were robbed and stripped naked, and in this condition permitted to pursue their journey towards Egypt. The Ababde, as an excuse for their abominable treachery upon this and other occasions when many of the Mamelouk stragglers were robbed and killed by them, allege that the Mamelouks were the first to prove themselves unworthy of good faith and the rights of hospitality, by slaughtering the cattle of the Bedouins, and taking liberties with their women. Some such instances may have happened, but they were certainly not sufficient to exculpate the Ababde, whose treacherous character is too well known. The wells of Haimar are formed in a small sandy plain, in the midst of craggy hills. In one or two of them the water is drinkable, but in the greater part, it is of a bitterish and very disagreeable taste, though in great plenty. A nitrous crust is seen on the borders of the wells: the ground around them was still covered with the dung of camels and horses which had remained there since the time of the Mamelouk encampment. Old boots and shoes, with rags of tents and clothing covered the ground. The plain of Haimar is often frequented by large encampments of Bisharein Bedouins, who pasture here their cattle, but as the wells are within the dominion of the Ababde, they are obliged to pay a certain yearly tribute to the Ababde chiefs. This is often the cause of wars, but at present the Ababde have become more formidable than the Bisharein, and their intercourse with Egypt renders them much the wealthier of the two. It is only the northern Bisharein, who ever come in contact with the Ababde. We found only a few families of Bisharein encamped at Haimar, and passed through the plain without stopping, having filled our water skins with the comparatively sweet water of the Nakeyb. Beyond Haimar begins a wild, stony district, through which our camels had difficulty in passing. We ascended amidst granite and sand-stone rocks, for about one hour, and then descended again into the plain, about five hours and a half after our setting out in the morning. Our direction was S. 1° E. The mountains we passed are called Akabet Haimar (عَقَبِة حيمَِر) and are visible at a considerable distance. The plain beyond the Akabe is sandy, with many insulated granite rocks. I could see no where any regular strata, but the rocks were all in shattered, sharp-edged masses, bearing the marks of some violent commotion of the earth. In one hour we entered a fine valley called Wady Nehdyr, or Ghedeyr (the Arabic name in my journal is not quite clear (غَدير or نَحدير), with plenty of acacia trees. We had hoped to find some rain water here, in a large basin formed by nature, but it was dry, and the quantity of camel’s dung round it, proved that it had lately been exhausted by an Arab encampment. We therefore rode on, and alighted, after eight hours and a half, at the extremity of the Wady.
11th March. Our road lay over stony hills and rocky passages, for three hours, to the well called el Morra (المُرَّهَ), meaning “the bitter,” a name which it justly bears when compared to the sweet waters of the Nile; but the eastern Arabs, who are more accustomed to bad water than Nubians and Egyptians, would hardly perceive its disagreeable taste. It is a very large well, upwards of forty feet in depth, and I was told that it never dries up. Wady Morra extends for two or three hours, in an eastern direction. Having here taken in a small provision of water, we immediately continued our road, for five hours, to Wady Olaky (وادي عُلاقي) a fine valley extending from east to west, and having its extremities (as I was told) on one side near the Red Sea, and on the other near the Nile. In time of rain considerable torrents collect in the Wady, and empty themselves into the Nile. There is excellent pasturage and many trees in the valley, for which rare advantages it is held by the Bedouins in great veneration. Our guides in approaching the Wady saluted it with great solemnity, and thanked heaven for having permitted them to arrive so far in safety (السلاُم عليك يا وادي علاقي الحمد لَّله الذي جيناك بالسلامه). In crossing the valley, which is about one hundred and fifty yards across, each person took a handful of Dhourra and threw it on the ground, a kind of pious offering to the good genius who is supposed to preside over the Wady. At the end of six hours we entered Wady Om-gat (اُم قاط). It has a reservoir of rain water, which renders it a resting place for caravans; but we found it dry. No valley we had hitherto passed was so thickly overgrown with acacia trees. Swarms of locusts were feeding upon the young sprigs and leaves. The ground was covered with the coloquintida, a plant very common in every part of this desert. The people of the caravan amused themselves with throwing these round gourds at each other, and warding them off with their targets, in which they shewed great dexterity. Unfortunately I had no target, and my Daraou friends so often aimed at my head, that I was at last obliged to apply seriously to the chief of the caravan for protection, a measure which saved me from a bloody nose, but procured for me the title of a “cowardly boy,” which lasted for several days, until it was exchanged for an appellation still more insulting. Our direction was this day S. by W. The ground of the Wady Omgat is all sandy; the hills lose their wild, grotesque shape, and are disposed in more regular chains. Most of the trees were entirely dried up, there having been no rain for nearly three years. I was surprised not to see the footsteps of any wild animals in the sand, and no birds, except a few crows. We met several Bisharein, accompanying camels loaded with Senna-mekke, which they were carrying to Derr for sale, or to barter for Dhourra. We continued the whole evening in the Wady, and halted after about nine hour’s march.
12th March. We set out before sunrise, and in three hours arrived at the extremity of Wady Omgat, the hills of which are throughout composed of granite. We entered here upon a wide sandy plain, and beyond it crossed, for two hours, a chain of mountains composed of grunstein. At six hours we descended into Wady el Towashy (وادي الطواشي), or the Valley of the Eunuch. It is so called from an eunuch belonging to the great temple of Mekka, who was here killed and robbed of the presents which he had received from the kings of Darfour and Sennaar.i[4] I could not gain exact information, as to the year when this murder was committed; but one of our guides told me that his father remembered it perfectly well. I have no doubt, therefore, that this eunuch was the same called Mahomet Towash, by Bruce, and whose body was found by the traveller, exactly in this situation, three days after he had taken prisoner a Bisharye Bedouin, one of the murderers; a story which appears to be made up in all its details, although true in its principal facts. The people who killed the Towashy however were not Bisharein, but the Towashy’s own guides, a party of Ababde of the tribe of Asheybab, called Hameydab, whose chief seat is at Beyheyra, a village not far from Edfou, on the eastern bank of the Nile (حميداب من قبيلة عشيباب في بحيره). They were much blamed for that action by their friends, and it is observed that ever since, the Hameydab have fallen into disrespect and weakness. The tomb of the Towashy is near the foot of the mountain, on the spot where he fell, and is looked upon as that of a saint or martyr. The tomb is of stone, and was erected by another tribe of Arabs. We found it covered with a few loose mats. All our people went up to it, and many of them prayed near it. In parting, they strewed some Dhourra and other offerings upon it, and filled with water a jar, which some other traveller had left there. Coloured rags had been tied upon poles near the tomb, according to a custom common among the Arabs. Several camel saddles lay about, which travellers had dedicated to the saint. We passed the hours of noon near the tomb, in the broad valley, to which it has given name. After mid-day we again started, and traversed an uneven ground of sand and stones. Our way for the whole day was S. 1° E. After about ten hours march, we halted in Wady Abou Borshe (وادي ابو بُرشه); a chain of mountains runs here in a N. W. direction. Some Sellam trees grow in the barren sands of this Wady: this tree is a species of acacia; the Arabs value the wood for its great hardness; they use it for the shafts of their lances, and cut the thin branches into sticks of about the thickness of the thumb, and three feet in length, the top of which they bend in the fire, while the wood is yet green, and rubbing it frequently with grease, it acquires greater weight and strength. Every man carries in his hand such a stick, which is called Sélame.i[5] There is another tree of the same species, called by the Bisharein El Dodda, which is preferred to the Sellam, for making these sticks. It grows nearer to the Red Sea. In the Wady Abou Borshe we met with some gazelles, the first we had seen since leaving Daraou; where water is only found in deep wells, it cannot be supposed that game much abounds.
13th March. We set out before sun rise, and reached, after three hours, Wady el Berd (وادي البرد), a fine wide valley overgrown with trees. Large flocks of white birds, of the size of geese, passed over our heads, on their way northwards. The Arabs have given this valley the name of Berd (cold), because they find that even in summer, a cold breeze always reigns here; it is open to the Nile, from whence the winds at that time generally blow. We found it at the early hour of the morning in which we passed it so extremely cold, that during a short halt we set fire to several dead trees, of which there are many in the Wady. Having continued our way along it for about two hours, and then crossed a chain of hills, we halted again during the mid-day hours, in another valley. The halting at noon always gave rise to disputes. Whenever it was known before hand that the chiefs intended to stop in a certain valley, the young men of the caravan pushed eagerly forwards, in order to select at the halting place the largest tree, or some spot under an impending rock, where they secured shelter from the sun for themselves and their mess. Every day some dispute arose as to who arrived the first, under some particular tree: as for myself I was often driven from the coolest and most comfortable berth, into the burning sun, and generally passed the mid-day hours in great distress: for besides the exposure to heat, I had to cook my dinner, a service which I could never prevail upon any of my companions, even the poorest servants, to perform for me, though I offered to let them share in my homely fare. In the evening, the same labour occurred again, when fatigued by the day’s journey, during which I always walked for four or five hours, in order to spare my ass, and when I was in the utmost need of repose. Hunger however always prevailed over fatigue, and I was obliged to fetch and cut wood to light a fire, to cook, to feed the ass, and finally to make coffee, a cup of which, presented to my Daraou companions, who were extremely eager to obtain it, was the only means I possessed of keeping them in tolerable good humour. A good night’s rest, however, always repaired my strength, and I was never in better health and spirits than during this journey, although its fatigues were certainly very great, and much beyond my expectation. The common dish of all the travellers at noon was Fetyre (فطيره), which is flour mixed up with water into a liquid paste, and then baked upon the sadj, or iron plate; butter is then poured over it, or honey, or sometimes a sauce is made of butter and dried Bamyé. In the evening some lentils are boiled, or some bread is baked with salt, either upon the sadj or in ashes, and a sauce of Bamyé, or onion poured over lentils, or upon the bread, after it has been crumbled into small pieces. Early in the morning every one eats a piece of dry biscuit with some raw onion or dates. In the afternoon we again crossed a mountainous country, and then a sandy plain, terminated by a valley, where some Doum trees afford a delightful prospect to the traveller. After a day’s march of about nine hours, we halted in that valley, near the wells called el Nabeh (النَابِح). While we were crossing the before mentioned plain, we met a small caravan of eight Ababdes; coming from Berber, and bound for Daraou. They had about thirty slaves and several loaded camels with them, which they intended to sell in Upper Egypt. The intelligence they gave us was extremely discouraging. Two wells which lay before us, on our road to Berber, they had found almost dried up. In one, that of Shigre, they said, we might still find some water, but in the farther one at “Nedjeym” we must reckon upon very little or no supply. Some of our people, alarmed at this intelligence, thought of returning with the Ababde caravan, but they were dissuaded by the others. The Daraou people bought a strong camel from the other caravan, for the purpose of loading it with water, and we passed the whole night in consulting what was to be done. In Wady el Nabeh there are five or six wells, close together, three of which are brackish, and two drinkable, but the latter contain very little water, and this little was immediately consumed in filling the water-skins. On the next morning disputes arose about the water that had flowed out of the wells during the night, each party wishing to appropriate it for its own use.
14th March. The fine shade afforded by the numerous Doum trees, and the copious wells, render the Wady el Nabeh next to Haimar, and Shigre, the most important position upon this route. Small caravans generally stop here a few days, in going to Berber, in order to give their camels a little time to repair their strength. It is supposed, that the water of the Nabeh is peculiarly refreshing to them. It certainly has strong purgative qualities. Large caravans however find it impossible to remain here for more than one night, because the drinkable water is but scanty. Our chiefs were the whole morning consulting, what to do; we had a two days march to Shigre, and from thence five days to the Nile at Berber. It was impossible to load the animals with a quantity of water, sufficient for the whole journey, yet we had no water to expect south of Shigre, and very little at Shigre. There is another source called Nawarik (نواريق) in the mountains to the S. E., four days and a half journey from El Nabeh, and as many from Berber, which would have been an eligible route to take. But none of our party were acquainted with the road, excepting a Bisharye Arab, and the others were not willing to trust themselves to his guidance. A third route was pointed out to me from Nabeh, leading in a S. S. W. direction, to the Nile in three long days and a half, but that part of the Nile is inhabited by the Arabs of Mograt, who were enemies of our caravan, and whose chief, Naym, had lately been killed by a Shikh of the Ababde. Upon such occasions as these, every man gives his opinion, and mine was, that we should kill our thirty-five asses, which required a daily supply of, at least, fifteen water skins, that we should load the camels to the utmost of their strength with water, and strike out a straight way through the desert towards Berber, without touching at Shigre; in this manner we might perform the journey in five forced marches. But the Arabs can seldom be brought to take manly resolutions, upon such occasions, generally consoling themselves with the hope of Allah Kerim, or God’s bounty; so that the result of our deliberation was, that we should follow the usual track. We repaired our water skins and our sandals, refreshed ourselves with bathing in the cool wells, and then set out. It was not without great apprehension that I departed from this place. Our camels and asses carried water for three or four days only, and I saw no possibility of escaping from the dreadful effects of a want of water. In order to keep my ass in good spirits, I took off the two small water skins with which I had hitherto loaded him, and paid one of the Ababdes four dollars to carry four small water skins as far as Berber; for I thought that if the ass could carry me, I might bear thirst for two days at least, but that if he should break down, I should certainly not be able to walk one whole day without water in this hot season of the year. This evening, for about one hour, we passed along the valley, and then for two hours across a stony country (direction S. by E.), when we stopped for the night in a narrow valley. I was overcome by fatigue, my eyes had for several days been sore, and my reflections on our melancholy situation kept me long awake. A camel overloaded with water fell down this evening and broke its leg, by which accident several water skins were burst. The camel was killed in the legal way, by turning its head towards Mekka, and cutting its throat. Some of our people remained behind, and overtook us at night with some choice morsels of flesh, which they had cut from the carcass.
15th March. We set out before day break, were about one hour and a half in crossing over a rocky district, and then reached a wide sandy plain, called Gob el Kheyl (قُب الخيل), which has many insulated granite rocks, similar in shape to those described on the 6th. After four hours march we halted at the entrance of Wady Tarfawy (وادي طَرفاوي), so called from the Tarfa or tamarisk tree, that grows there. The ground was covered also with the fine Senna shrub, the verdure of which was quite a novel sight. The pulse or fruit of the Senna had now come to its full maturity, and supplied food to swarms of locusts. Many thorny tamarisks, and a few Doum trees, also, grow here, and render the valley the most pleasant of the whole route.