Since the Mamelouks have established themselves in Dóngola, every Egyptian caravan brings to Shendy some articles of Mamelouk dress, as cloths, shoes, &c., which are purchased by the Dóngola merchants. Until lately the direct trade between Upper Egypt and Dóngola was prohibited by the Pasha of Egypt, and the merchants preferred this circuitous route to the danger of having their goods confiscated. During the warfare between the Mamelouks and the Sheygya, the former sent the greater part of their women to Shendy, as a place less exposed to the casualties of desultory warfare; they afterwards recalled them, but some were still there when I arrived, making themselves ridiculous by their arrogance and pretensions.
The Egyptian trade is, in general, carried on with very small capitals. I do not believe that there is a single merchant, the whole amount of whose stock exceeds fifteen hundred Spanish dollars. The family of the Alowein, with whom I came from Daraou, and who formed of themselves a party of about a dozen people, had no more than a thousand dollars embarked in their adventure. The common class of merchants have from two to three hundred dollars; even this money is seldom their own property; in general it is either borrowed by them in Upper Egypt, at high interest, or their merchandize is bought at Esne, Kenne, or even at Cairo, upon credit: the reason is, that no truly respectable merchant of Egypt ever engages in such enterprizes. A journey to Soudan is looked upon, even in Egypt, as a desperate undertaking, in which those only embark who have little or nothing to lose; and in general, the traffic in slaves, or, as it is often called in Egypt, the trade in human flesh (التسبّب في لحم بن ادم) is by no means thought creditable. The people of Daraou, however, find credit, and might easily accumulate riches, if they were not so incorrigibly vicious and dissipated, spending the best part of their profits in drinking and debauchery. The money which they borrow in Upper Egypt, and for which they generally pledge their houses or landed property, as security, is lent to them at an interest of fifty per cent. for the journey, whatever length of time they may remain absent; and the goods which are bought upon credit in Egypt, on condition of payment upon their return, are sold to them at a price raised in the same proportion. The Daraou merchants train their children, at a very early age, to this commerce. Several boys, hardly ten years of age, followed their fathers in the caravan with which I travelled from Daraou; and when once embarked in this traffic, they perform at least two journeys annually until their latest years. I have seen people at Daraou, who boasted that their great, great grandfathers (جد جدّي) had been Sennaar merchants.
The Darfour merchants have at Cairo the reputation of being much better paymasters than those of the eastern route; they have also much larger capitals embarked in their trade, and are entrusted with more considerable sums upon credit, especially at Siout, where many of them make their purchases. It may easily be conceived, from what I have already said of the prices of several articles of trade, that the profits of the Egyptians are very great. In fact there is not a single article of Egyptian or European manufacture, which is not sold at Shendy at double or triple its prime cost in Egypt, and the products of the southern countries yield as great a profit when sold in Egypt. The rapacity of the chiefs through whose territories the caravans pass, the expense of transport across the desert,i[30] the feeding of the slaves, the tribute paid to the Ababdes, and the duties laid upon the trade by the Pasha of Egypt,i[31] are indeed heavy drawbacks, but still the profits are very considerable; and I am certain that a well chosen assortment of goods carried from Daraou to Shendy, leaves, after the sale of the return-cargo at Daraou, a clear gain of one hundred and fifty per cent., according to the most moderate calculation. I have heard of Zameles, or camel loads of Sembil and Mehleb, which, after having been exchanged at Shendy for slaves, produced at Cairo a profit of almost five hundred per cent. Of late, the Egyptian merchants have found dollars the most beneficial article of importation from Europe, because with dollars camels can be immediately procured in any quantity; but this preference will last only as long as camels continue to be in great demand in Egypt, for the transport between Kenne and Kosseir, and for the supply of the Turkish army in the Hedjaz.
There are a few instances of wealthy merchants from Egypt having come to Shendy with large capitals, as Bakim Aga, a Smyrniote by birth, who, eight or ten years ago, left Egypt with about twenty loaded camels, but who died at Shendy: his property fell a prey to the Mek, and no one has since made a similar attempt. The entire amount of the capital invested by the Egyptian merchants in the Soudan trade, I calculate to be from sixty to eighty thousand dollars, but as this sum produces a profit twice, and sometimes thrice in one year, according to the number of journeys, the whole value of the imports into these countries from Egypt, may be computed at about fifteen hundred, or two thousand dollars per annum. No dollars are re-exported from the Negro countries; they are dispersed or hoarded by the chiefs and other persons, and thus Soudan becomes a continual drain for a part of the silver of Europe.
The trade might be much improved, either by regularity in the departure of the caravans (they might quit Daraou, for instance, every two months), or by establishing factories at Berber and Shendy; for at present, caravans from all parts are often kept waiting for months for the arrival of others, to which alone they can dispose of their goods. The Nubian desert is indeed crossed almost every fortnight by small parties of adventurers; but they trade at every place on the road, and Egyptian goods can seldom be found in any quantity at Shendy (and I suppose it is the same at Sennaar), except after the arrival of the large caravans, the departure of which from Daraou is at present quite irregular. The Sennaar caravan sets out from Upper Egypt generally once a year, and returns the next year. It rests at Berber, Damer, and Shendy, and is often from two to three months on its way from Daraou to Sennaar. This caravan consists of three or four hundred men, and several hundred camels, and it is joined on its return by many Sennaar traders, chiefly agents of the king of Sennaar and his vizier, who are the principal merchants at that place. It was with this caravan that the Pasha of Egypt sent last year an envoy to Sennaar, for the purpose, as it was said, of exciting the king against the Mamelouks, and at the same time of informing himself of the practicability of invading the country with a Turkish army. Notwithstanding the contrary assertions of the government of Egypt, it is certain that the ambassador was much slighted, and narrowly escaped ill treatment in the road. He carried to the king of Sennaar presents of shawls, muslins, arms, &c. to the amount of three or four thousand dollars; in return for which the king sent to Mohammed Aly three or four ugly female slaves, some leopard skins, a civet cat, two monkeys, and a young lion, which died in its passage through the desert; the whole present was worth, at Sennaar, about eighty dollars. During my stay in Arabia I was informed that an embassy sent by Mohammed Aly to Abyssinia, had had a still less agreeable issue. Mohammed having taken possession of the town and harbour of Massouah, where, until that time, the Sherif of Mekka had kept his collector of customs,i[32] and having thus become a neighbour of the Abyssinians, thought it necessary to place himself upon good terms with the king of Gondar, preferring, by these means, to counteract any efforts which the Mamelouks might make in that direction, while he gratified his vanity in causing it to be said that the celebrity of his name had reached even the most inaccessible parts of Africa. The ambassador, however, was stopped at Axum by Ras Weled Selase, in the same manner as Mr. Salt had been, some years before. Selase took the presents destined for the king, and sent the Pasha, in return, a white linen shirt (the dress of the country), and one hundred Spanish dollars, as a subsidy for his expenses in the Wahabi campaign.i[33]
Caravans from Sennaar arrive at Shendy every six weeks, or two months. Whenever they bring Dhourra, the number of their loaded camels amounts to five or six hundred; but if they have only goods and slaves, they seldom have one hundred camels with them. The principal import from Sennaar is the Dammour, or cotton stuff, which is in use not only along the banks of the Nile, as far as Dóngola, but in Kordofan, in a great part of Darfour, and Abyssinia, and throughout the whole of Nubia east of the Nile, as far as the Red Sea. This article is always in great demand, and is therefore taken in exchange for almost every article of trade. The cotton manufactories of Sennaar, and those of Bagerme, to the west of Darfour, furnish the greater part of north-eastern Africa with articles of dress.
Gold is the second article in the Sennaar trade. It is purchased by the merchants of Sennaar from the Abyssinian traders: but I have not been able exactly to ascertain in what province of western Abyssinia it is found. The principal market for gold appears to be Ras el Fil, a station in the caravan route from Sennaar to Gondar, four days journeys from the former. This route is at present much frequented by Sennaar traders, as well as by that class of Abyssinian merchants called Djebert (جبرت), who appear to be the chief slave and gold traders of that country. I have never heard of a single Egyptian merchant who ever pushed on as far as Ras el Fil; for although the road is not unsafe, yet every body seems to be afraid in these countries of undertaking distant journeys unaccompanied by a large party of his own countrymen. The jealousy of all classes of merchants is very great, and their known treachery prevents single adventurers from trusting themselves to their mercy, or good faith.
The Djebert above mentioned often repair to Sennaar, chiefly in search of Negro slaves; and I have reason to believe that the route from Sennaar through Ras el Fil to Gondar, and from thence to the coast, may be safely travelled in time of internal peace. The gold imported from Sennaar is principally bought up by the Souakin traders, who carry it to Djidda, where it is given in payment for India goods. It is seldom purchased by the Egyptian merchants, as it is not very profitable. At Sennaar the ounce of pure gold is worth twelve dollars; at Shendy, sixteen; at Souakin, twenty; at Djidda, twenty-two. Although the Souakin merchants might purchase at Shendy many articles more profitable than gold, they often prefer it on account of its easy transport, and the facility with which they can secrete it, and avoid paying any duty on the road.
Slaves are also brought to Shendy by the merchants of Sennaar. Since the direct caravan route from Sennaar to Kordofan has been interrupted, principally by the robberies and the rapacity of the Arabs of Shilluk, at the passage of the Bahr el Abyadh, this is the only route open to them. The slaves are chiefly either Abyssinians or of the race called Nouba (sing. Nebowy, نبوه). The former consist principally of females of the Gala nations, and of a few Amaaras.i[34] Upon the whole, the number of Abyssinians sent to the northward by Shendy is small. The best female Abyssinians are always purchased by the chiefs for their own harems; and in Arabia and Egypt Abyssinian slaves may be had cheaper by the Djebert traders from Massouah, who sell them at Djidda. I think that not more than one hundred female Abyssinian slaves are annually exported from Sennaar either to Souakin or to Egypt. Latterly the Mamelouks have bought up many of them, the Abyssinians being remarked above all other black women for their beauty, and for the warmth and constancy of their affection to the master who has once taught them to love him.
The name of Nouba is given to all the Blacks coming from the slave countries to the south of Sennaar. The territory of Sennaar extends, as far as I could learn from the merchants of the country, ten days journey beyond the city, in a south and south-east direction, and is inhabited exclusively by free Arab tribes, who make incursions into the more southern mountains, and carry off the children of the idolaters. These Nouba slaves (among whom must also be reckoned those who are born in the neighbourhood of Sennaar, of male Negroes and female Abyssinians; and who are afterwards sold by the masters of the parents) form a middle class between the true Blacks and the Abyssinians; their colour is less dark than that of the Negroe, and has a copper tinge, but it is darker than that of the free Arabs of Sennaar and Shendy. Their features, though they retain evident signs of Negroe origin, have still something of what is called regular; their noses, though smaller than those of the Europeans, are less flat than those of the Negroes; their lips are less thick, and the cheek-bones not so prominent. The hair of some is woolly; but among the greater part it is similar to the hair of Europeans, but stronger, and always curled. The palm of their hands is soft, a circumstance by which they particularly distinguish themselves from the true Negroe, whose hands, when touched feel like wood.