The above are not the only duties exacted by the Mek and his party. They enquire after the particular merchandize brought by every merchant from Egypt, and then ask for presents beyond what is due to them: the Mek is assisted in this enquiry by the traders themselves, who inform against each other, in order to ingratiate themselves in his favour. The first week of our stay at Berber was passed in continual endeavours on the part of the Mek to obtain various presents, and corresponding efforts in the traders to elude them. Having been always represented as a very poor man in the caravan, the Mek took only three dollars from me at first; but being afterwards informed that I had some dollars in my girdle, he obliged me to give him a fourth. Were it not for his apprehensions of the more powerful chief of Shendy, and of a total interruption of the transport trade by way of Berber, he would certainly prove still more vexatious to traders by his demands. I calculate his yearly income from the caravans at about three or four thousand Spanish dollars; he spends this sum in keeping a large establishment of male and female slaves, of horses, and fine dromedaries; and in feeding daily about fifty people belonging to his household, as well as strangers. He must likewise make frequent presents to his relatives, and his party, to strengthen his influence over them; thus he has never been able to accumulate any considerable capital.
The most wealthy man of Berber, next to the Mek, was pointed out to me, with the observation that he possessed about two thousand dollars, which he gained last year, during the famine, by happening to have a full-stocked granary. The generality of the people styled respectable possess from three to six hundred dollars each, including the value of their cattle, household furniture, &c.
Berber has few channels of commercial intercourse, except Daraou and Shendy. I was told that caravans used formerly to go from hence to Dóngola, not along the Nile, because they would then be stopped at every village for toll, but across the mountains on the western bank of the river. Since the Arabs Rebatat have been at war with all their neighbours, that road has been continually infested by them, and has therefore been discontinued. At present the intercourse with Dóngola is carried on by way of Shendy only, from whence the caravans depart in a straight direction across the mountains. Many merchants from Dóngola are settled here; they trade principally in dates and tobacco; and their wives and slaves have the reputation of making the best Bouza. The Bisharein Bedouins, and the husbandmen on the banks of the river Mogren (the Mareb of Bruce), repair to Berber to buy Dammour; and they purchase from the Egyptian traders beads, antimony, nutmegs, and the various ingredients used in the preparation of the perfumed grease already mentioned. Caravans also arrive occasionally from Taka, across the eastern mountains, a journey of ten or twelve days, to buy the same articles, or to exchange ox hides and camels for them. Small caravans, composed principally of Bisharein, come also from Souakin, a journey of ten days, with spices and India piece goods, chiefly cambrics. This route is not frequented by foreign traders, from apprehension of the treachery of the Bisharein; but if any pilgrims happen to be at Berber, in their way to Mekka, when one of these caravans sets out on its return, they often take the same route, in which water is found in plenty. The usual route of the Negro pilgrims, however, is either along the banks of the Nile, or by way of Taka, of which I shall speak hereafter. I had myself some idea of trying the journey to Taka, from whence I had reason to hope that I might reach the northern frontiers of Abyssinia, in the direction of Massouah. As there were many people at Berber who had come from Sennaar, and as these, upon being questioned, by my companions, about my pretended lost relation, all agreed that no white man was then in Sennaar, I was obliged to resort to the supposition that he had quitted it, and gone on towards Abyssinia; I was thus enabled to make enquiries concerning the route across the desert to Taka, and towards Souakin, without creating suspicion; and my companions pressed me much to travel in the latter direction, and to wait at Berber till a favourable opportunity should offer for setting out. They would, no doubt, have been glad to see me undertake a journey of evident peril, thinking that if I perished, they would be entirely rid of me, for they could not divest themselves of some secret apprehensions that, if I ever returned to Egypt, I should find means of being revenged upon them for their behaviour towards me. Upon closer enquiry, however, I found that this route is quite impracticable for strangers; the people of Berber, even, are afraid to trust themselves, except in large numbers, with the Bisharein, who will kill their companions if they have a prospect of the smallest gain; and persons recommended by the Mek himself are not more secure. The traveller must always carry with him some little merchandize and baggage, in order to barter on the road for provisions, and this is more than sufficient to excite the cupidity of the Bisharein, and render him the victim of their treachery. In the course of my enquiries on this occasion, I was informed that, about five or six years before, a man had reached Berber from Egypt, who was supposed to be a Christian, because he made notes of his journey in writing.i[17] It was said that he made considerable presents to the Mek, who strongly recommended him to a small party of Bisharein; he set out for Souakin in their company, but was murdered by them in the road, and on their return, a small present purchased their peace with the Mek.
I heard afterwards that, about eight or ten years since, an avowed Christian, who spoke very little Arabic, and passed Sennaar, in his way from the north (I suppose from Egypt), was murdered by the Arabs in the mountains between Sennaar and Abyssinia, but not in the caravan route. When at Shendy, I enquired after such a traveller, but nobody knew any thing of him. Had he come by the western caravan route from Darfour and Kordofan, I think I must have heard of him, because white people (and this person was said to be white) are much more noticed in that quarter, than in the route from Egypt; and he must have been seen by some of the Kordofan travellers, with several of whom I became acquainted at Shendy. I did not hear that he was seen writing a journal.
The success of a traveller, in this part of the world, depends greatly, I may say wholly, upon his guides and fellow travellers, and their being well disposed towards him. If he is not thoroughly acquainted with the language of the country it will be very difficult for him to select proper persons for his guides or companions, or to elude the snares laid for him by villainy or treachery; it is in vain to suppose that fortune will throw in his way honest or friendly people, who are too scarce ever to be calculated upon, in preparing for a journey through these countries. The traveller must consider himself as surrounded by some of the most worthless of the human race, among whom he must think himself fortunate, if he can discover any less depraved than the rest, whom he can place some degree of confidence in, and make subservient to his views; and which can only be done by identifying their interest with his own safety. Above all, he must never be seen taking notes. I am fully convinced, that if I had ever been detected by my companions with my journal in my hand, it would have given rise to the most injurious reports, and blasted all my hopes of success. While travelling through the desert I took my notes with much more ease than during my stay at Berber. Being mounted on a good ass, I used to push on ahead of the caravan, and then alight under some tree, or rock, where I remained, unobserved, apparently occupied only in smoking my pipe, until the caravan came up; but at Berber, and at Shendy also, I was often at a great loss how to withdraw from the persons who surrounded me in the house where we lodged; and it was unsafe to walk so far from the village into the fields, as not to be observed. The having persons thus continually hanging about me, was the most disagreeable circumstance attending my stay in these countries. I might have escaped it in some measure, perhaps, by taking a lodging for myself, which I could have readily procured, but then I should have been entirely unprotected in the house of a stranger, who might have proved worse even than my companions; I should also have been unmercifully annoyed the whole day by visitors begging presents, and the little baggage I had would have been much less secure. On the contrary, by continuing to live with my old companions from Daraou, my person was far less noticed than if I had resided alone, my expenses were not so great, I acquired a good deal of information as to the mode of carrying on the trade, and found myself in some degree secure, by the respectability of my companions, however little disposed they might be to protect or favour me.
Merchants always prefer taking up their abode in some respectable house, and if possible in that of a relation of the chief, because they are then protected by the authority of their landlord, who would resent any serious insult offered to his guests. Our Ababde guides, who were in no fear of any importunities, or insolence from the Meyrefab, took up their quarters in the house of a poor Fakir, where they were much more comfortable, and more at their ease than ourselves. My companions made me contribute two dollars for my share of the landlord’s bill; I paid, besides, one dollar for my quota of the presents given to those who had sent us some dishes of meat at different times; one dollar I exchanged for Dhourra to feed my ass, and for a little tobacco: these, together with four dollars to the chief at Berber, and three to the chief of the caravan, who had a right to exact five; five dollars paid for the carriage of my baggage, and four for that of my water-skins through the desert, amounted to so considerable a sum, when compared with the state of my purse, that I could not help entertaining some melancholy thoughts on my future prospects.
When the day was at length fixed for our departure for Shendy, whither the greater part of the merchants intended to carry their goods, some presents were made up amongst our party for our landlord Edris: he was not easily satisfied; his old wife too had some claims; but after much quarrelling, he at last accepted merchandize to the value of twenty dollars, as a recompense for having entertained us in his house fourteen days. We were about a dozen in number, but the daily expense did not, certainly, amount to more than one-third, or half a dollar; for, except on the first day, when he killed a lamb for us, we never partook of any other dish from his kitchen than Dhourra bread, with butter, one large dish of which was served up at mid-day, and another late at night. As we were only passengers, and had no slaves with us, our meals were provided by the master of the house; but when traders return hither, on their way to Egypt, accompanied, as they usually are, by a number of female slaves, the latter dress their masters victuals, and the owner of the house is then paid only for his lodgings.
The preceding details respecting Berber are for the greater part applicable to Shendy, and, as far as I could learn, to all the petty Mekdoms from thence to Sennaar.
The country on the western side of the Nile, opposite to Berber, is not cultivated, but I was told that, in following the course of the river, on that side, considerable settlements of Arabs are met with, especially in the country of Mograt, which is inhabited by the Arabs Rebatat, an independent tribe like the Meyrefab, extending two or three days journey along the Nile. One of its principal places is Bedjem (بجم), three long days from Berber; it is at present the residence of Hedjel, the chief of Mograt, who succeeded his relation Naym, the famous robber, already mentioned: The latter had accumulated great riches by robbing the Egyptian caravans; he expended the greater part in purchasing young female slaves, and was fond of boasting of the enjoyments of his Harem. He generally waylaid the caravans between Berber and the wells of Nedjeym, but sometimes he followed them as far as Shigré. He had frequently been fired at, but his strong coat of mail being proof against a distant musket shot, he had acquired the reputation of being a sorcerer, furnished with amulets to render him invulnerable to mortals. Some Faky having told the merchants that, as his amulets were written in defence of leaden bullets only, he might be killed with silver ones, several of the traders melted Spanish dollars into large slugs, with which they loaded their guns. Naym’s true amulet, however, was the distant firing and bad aim of his assailants. Whenever he apprehended that the strength of a caravan might be superior to his own, he used to halt at some distance from the travellers, and having ordered some particular party to withdraw from the rest, assured them that it was not against them that his intentions were directed; having thus succeeded in separating a part, he easily dispersed the remainder. He always kept his word with those who thus retired, and allowed their loaded camels to proceed untouched, although, on some other occasion, perhaps, they might be comprised amongst the number attacked. His success is the strongest proof of the cowardice and bad faith of the traders who were capable of thus abandoning their companions; such conduct, in the Arabian deserts, would consign a tribe to everlasting infamy.
Naym shewed less cruelty towards the helpless travellers than might be expected from an African robber. After stripping the caravan, he generally permitted them to take as many camels, and as much provision as would carry them to Egypt, or back to Berber; and as he knew the greater part of the merchants personally, he often returned them a slave or two at parting. Several Ababdes having been killed in one of his attacks, the whole tribe was inspired with the desire of revenge, and it was not long before they found an opportunity of exercising it. The large caravan which left Sennaar for Egypt in 1812, in company with the envoys of the Pasha, was escorted by several hundred armed Ababdes. They halted for many days at Berber, in order to prepare for their journey through the desert. During this time the Ababde chief of the caravan received secret intelligence that Naym had taken a new bride, and had fixed a certain day for his nuptials. The caravan was ordered to leave Berber on the preceding day, and the chief, accompanied by about one hundred armed camel-riders, set out the night before, for the purpose, as he said, of dividing the number of camels, and thus watering the animals with more ease at Shigré. When he had proceeded some distance into the desert, instead of following the direct road, he turned westwards, and hastened across the mountains towards Mograt. Reaching the residence of Naym, he surrounded the house and set fire to it, when Naym sallied forth and was killed, with about half a dozen of his companions. His head was carried to Egypt, and his ears sent to Mohammed Aly Pasha, then in the Hedjaz. The unfortunate bride was obliged to marry one of her husband’s murderers, who brought her to Egypt, from whence she afterwards found means to escape to Dóngola, and is now again with her family at Mograt. The fate of Naym, however, has not prevented another robber from succeeding him in these mountains: his name is Kerar, and he is chief of the Ababdes of the tribe of Asheybab. In 1814, he plundered several caravans, composed mostly of people of Berber, and retreated with his booty to his tents in the mountains of Ottaby. The Pasha of Egypt has made many attempts to seize him, but hitherto without success.