About three hours from Souakin is a Wady, in the mountain of Dyaab; it is watered by a rivulet, and is full of date trees, which are all of the male species, and produce no fruit: a few Hadendoa live there at present. A report is current at Souakin, that when that place was the residence of a Pasha, a town stood in this Wady, which was much frequented by the Souakin people, and where the Pasha himself passed a part of the hot season, in cool retirement.
Some of the Hadendoa inhabitants of the Geyf cultivate, after the rains, a fertile plain called Tokar, situated about two days south of the town, and not far from the sea; it is spacious, fertile, surrounded by mountains, and watered by torrents; but its produce bears a very small proportion to the consumption of the town.
About five hours north of Souakin, the chain of the Dyaab, already mentioned, advances considerably towards the sea; and the projecting part forms the northern boundary of the territories of the Bedouins Hadendoa; beyond it begins the tribe of Amarer, an independent nation, unconnected with any of the former, whose encampments are met with on the whole of the coast as far as the island called Djebel Mekowar. These Amarer are friendly to the Hadendoa, but upon bad terms with the Bisharein; though it is said that they are descended from the same progenitors.
Upon enquiry whether the road along the coast to Massouah was ever followed, I was told that nobody attempts it, and that the only communication southwards is through Taka. From Souakin to Assouan is said to be from twenty to twenty-four days journey, but the road is not frequented. Last year, when the robber Naym interrupted the regular route between Shendy and Upper Egypt, some enterprising Souakin merchants planned a journey to Egypt, through the country of the Bisharein, expecting to get a good price for their camels, slaves, and various articles of Indian produce. Although at war with the Bisharein, they procured a couple of guides of that nation, to ensure their safety, and to point out the roads, and they settled at the same time the passage duties that were to be paid to the Bisharye chiefs. In Arabia traders travel safely in this manner through the territories of hostile tribes, who dare not molest them, when accompanied by some of their own people. But the Africans are less scrupulous: at about half-way, the whole of the Souakin caravan was completely destroyed, and not a single individual escaped. It is not likely, therefore, that this route will ever be again attempted. The Hadherebe have no intercourse whatever at present with those Bisharye tribes who people the desert to the east of the Amarer and Hadendoa, and northward of the former as high as the territories of the Ababde. The Amarer and Hadendoa, although at war with the Bisharein, do not cherish the same deadly hatred towards them as towards the Hadherebe, and some little traffic is carried on between them. The Amarer buy at Souakin their Dhourra, Dammour, and tobacco, which they barter with the Bisharein for cattle and hides. The principal settlement of the latter appears to be Olba (عُلبَه), a high mountain close to the sea, with a small harbour, at about ten or twelve days from Souakin, and about fifteen days from Daraou in Upper Egypt. Their principal chiefs encamp in the valleys of this mountain, which is said to be extremely rich in pasturage, and to be always inhabited by several powerful tribes. Its name is well known in Upper Egypt, and the Bedouins Ababde often repair thither with Dhourra, and cotton stuffs of Egyptian manufacture. It is also visited by the chiefs of the Ababde, for the purpose of collecting a certain tribute paid to them by these mountaineers for the permission of pasturing their cattle in the rainy season in that part of the northern Nubian mountains which the Ababde claim as their own patrimony; but as the two tribes are often at war, the tribute is not regularly paid.
I was told repeatedly, both in Upper Egypt and at Souakin, that in the rocks near the shore in the vicinity of Djebel Olba there are excavated habitations, which appear to have been the work of the infidels. According to the testimony of several sea-faring people, Olba is the only tolerable harbour on the African coast, between Kosseir and Souakin. The Bisharein have a regular market there, which is supplied from Upper Egypt, Berber, and indirectly from Souakin. Sometimes, but very rarely, small boats arrive there from Arabia for hides and butter; but masters of vessels are afraid of the treachery of the Bisharein, and are seldom willing to encounter this hazard, in addition to that of the voyage, although it affords the chance of great profits. It is said that camels are very numerous there, and that the Bisharein live almost entirely on their milk and flesh. They cultivate no part of their valleys, though rivulets are said to be met with in several of them; Dhourra is in consequence dear, being all carried to them from a great distance; the quantity which costs two dollars in Upper Egypt will purchase a fine camel at Olba. It would be highly gratifying to visit this harbour, which I suspect has remained unknown to all modern travellers and navigators, and which, if examined, might perhaps at once settle the disputed points in the geography of this coast.i[74]
When we arrived, on the morning of the 26th of June, in the neighbourhood of the Geyf, I expected that we should immediately enter the place; but this was not the established custom. The Souakin merchants repaired to their homes, while the party of foreign traders alighted at about twenty minutes walk from the town, near the wells which supply it with water; and where we found a great number of Negroe Hadjis, who had been waiting several weeks for a conveyance to Djidda. As we were to remain here till our affairs should be settled with the chief of Souakin, who levies duties on all the caravans, every one formed a small tent by means of a few poles, over which we tied mats. The brother of the chief paid us a visit in the afternoon; and the next day the Emir himself came. We paid him half a dollar for each slave, which is the regular imposition. As the black merchants had some loads with them for which no regular duty is fixed, and were suspected also to have gold in their sacks, it was amicably agreed that the Emir, who was an old acquaintance of theirs, should take two of their camels. The chief of the caravan takes besides, from every merchant who is not a Hadherebe, one dollar. With respect to myself, my camel had become so famous in the caravan for his strength and agility, that the Emir wished to make it his own; he told me that all camels brought from Soudan by foreign traders belonged to him by right, and therefore insisted upon taking mine. As I had calculated upon selling it here to defray my passage to Djidda, and felt confident that no such law existed, I refused to comply with the chiefs demand and insisted upon having our differences referred to the Turkish custom-house officer. I was now in a place where I thought I might turn to account the Firmaan I had received from Ibrahim Pasha, as well as an old one given me by his father Mohammed Aly, when I left Cairo eighteen months ago, and before the latter had gone to the Hedjaz. Yet as I was not quite sure of the dispositions of these Bedouins and their obedience to the Pasha’s authority, I said nothing of the Firmaans, but demanded to be carried before the Aga, to whose commands I declared I should immediately comply, if he ordered me to deliver up the camel. The Emir from the first day of our arrival had interdicted me from passing over to the island; he now thought he might concert his measures with the Aga himself to strip such an unprotected person as I appeared to be: he acquainted the Aga with my arrival, and soon after carried me himself to the Aga’s house on the island. When we entered, the Aga was sitting listening to some sailors; I made him a low bow, when he addressed me in the Turkish language in such phrases as would be used in speaking to servants. Finding that I did not answer him in the same idiom, he exclaimed in Arabic, “Look at that scoundrel! he comes from his brethren the Mamelouks at Dóngola, and pretends not to know any thing of Turkish.” It was true indeed, that in my face and beard I resembled more a Mamelouk than any other eastern native; but every person in the caravan knew that I had come from Egypt to Shendy, and that I did not belong to the Mamelouks. Dóngola being only from ten to sixteen days distant from Souakin some apprehensions had long been entertained lest the Mamelouks should endeavour to effect their retreat to this harbour, and attempt to join the Wahabi in Arabia against their common enemy, Mohammed Aly Pasha. Hassan Djouhar (حسن جوهر كاشف), one of their Kashefs, had passed through Souakin in his way to Mekka, in 1812, while Sherif Ghalib was master of Djidda, and it was well known that he had had several conferences with Saoud, the Wahabi chief. The Aga therefore thought, by pretending to consider me either as a Mamelouk spy, or refugee, though he must have been convinced that I was neither, and by apprehending me as such, he might seize my property with impunity, and also merit the thanks of his superiors at Djidda, for his vigilance. I coolly told him that I had come to him for the purpose of knowing from his own mouth, whether the Emir was entitled to my camel. “Not only thy camel,” he replied, “but the whole of thy baggage must be taken and searched. We shall render a good account of them to the Pasha, depend upon it; for you shall not impose upon us, you rascal, and you may be thankful if we do not cut off your head.”i[75] I protested that I was nothing but an unfortunate merchant, and begged that he would not add to the sufferings I had already experienced. It was my wish, for obvious reasons, to pacify him, if possible, without shewing my Firmaans, but Yemak soon obliged me to give up this idea; he began cursing and swearing in Turkish, and then calling an old cripple, to whom he had given the title of Waly, or police-officer, he ordered him to tie my hands, to put me in prison, and to bring my slave and baggage into his presence. I now thought it high time to produce my Firmaans, which I drew from a secret pocket in my Thabout; one of them was written in Turkish, upon a piece of paper two feet and a half in length, and one foot in breadth, and was sealed with the great seal of Mohammed Aly; the other, a smaller one, was written in Arabic, and bore the seal of Ibrahim Pasha, his son, in which Ibrahim termed me “our man, Ibrahim, the Syrian” (رجلنا ابرهيم الشامي, Radjilna Ibrahim es-Shamy.)
When Yemak saw the Firmaans unfolded, he became completely stupified and the persons present looked at me with amazement. The Aga could read the Arabic only, but he kissed them both, put them to his forehead, and then protested to me, in the most submissive terms, that it was the good of the public service alone, that had led him to treat me as he had done, and for which he begged me a thousand pardons. Nothing more was said about the Emir’s right to my camel, and he declared that I should pay no duty for my slave, though he was entitled to it. He very naturally asked me the cause of my appearance; for by this time my dress, which had not been very splendid when I set out on my journey, was literally in rags. I replied that Mohammed Aly Pasha had sent me as a spy upon the Mamelouks, and to enquire into the state of the Negroe countries, and that I had assumed the garb of a beggar, in order to pass unmolested. Yemak now began to consider me a great personage, and the natural consequence was, that he became afraid of me, and of the reports I might hereafter make to the Pasha concerning his conduct and his government in Souakin. His behaviour became most servile; and he offered me a slave girl, and a new dress of his own, as a present, both of which I refused. During my stay at Souakin, I repaired daily to his house to partake of a good dinner, of which I stood in great need, and to indulge myself in smoaking Yemak’s Persian pipe. The people of the town laughed at seeing this man’s pride humbled by the attentions he thought it incumbent on him to shew to a beggar like me. My object was to find protection in his company, to recruit my strength by his good fare, and to save expense, for by this time I had only two dollars in my purse.
Among the persons whom I frequently met at Yemak’s table was a Sherif, who during the reign of the Sherif Ghalib had been his officer of customs and Aga at Massouah, in which he had at first been confirmed by Mohammed Aly Pasha; but was soon after dismissed on account of several fraudulent transactions, and had taken refuge at Souakin. This man had known Mr. Salt during his second visit to Abyssinia, and he told me that his master Ghalib had given him strict orders to prevent, by every means in his power, any Franks, and English especially, from entering Abyssinia. As he had no knowledge who I really was, I had not the smallest reason for doubting what he said. Lord Valentia’s short stay at Souakin was remembered, and often spoken of as a singular event.
I continued during the whole of my stay here to live with the Black merchants outside the Geyf, notwithstanding the pressing invitations of the Aga to take up my abode in his house. I assisted them in smuggling several of their slaves into the town, a service which they repaid by ordering their slaves to prepare some dried meat for my voyage across the Red Sea. We lived surrounded by several hundred Tekaýrne, who were waiting for a passage, and who in the mean while earned their livelihood partly by acting as porters (for the Souakin people are too proud to act as such), and partly in making earthen pots for the kitchens of the town. I sold my camel for four dollars only, for the Shikh of the Hadherebe having declared that he wished to buy him, no other purchaser ventured to offer, and he was thus enabled to fix his own price. Worn down as it was with fatigue, it was still worth double that sum, for camels are of much the same value here, as on the Nile countries of Soudan. My camel had sometimes carried not only my baggage and water, but also myself and slave, at times when we were both over-fatigued. In general I permitted the boy to ride four or five hours in the early part of the day, and then succeeded him myself for the remainder. The Souakin merchants were astonished at my condescension, in which, I must confess, that although humanity had some share, self-interest had still more; for I knew that if the slave had been exhausted by fatigue, I should probably have soon shared his fate. During my stay at Souakin the hottest and most violent Simoum occurred that I ever remember to have experienced. The whole atmosphere appeared to be in a blaze, and we escaped with some difficulty from being suffocated by the clouds of sand that were blown about in every direction.
A small ship, one of those called Say in the Red Sea, had begun to load, and I informed the Aga of my intention to take my passage on board of it. At any other time, and under other circumstances, I should probably have gone from hence to Mokha; for previous to my leaving Cairo, Colonel Missett, his Britannic Majesty’s Resident in Egypt, among numberless kindnesses towards me, had done me the favour to write to the East India Company’s agent at Mokha, apprising him that a traveller of my description might perhaps arrive there from the opposite coast, and desiring him to furnish me with money for my future travelling expenses. It had been for some time a favourite project with me to visit the interior of the Yemen mountains, where the origin of most of the Bedouin tribes of Arabia is to be found, and where their ancient manners are said to subsist in all their original purity. In departing therefore from Upper Egypt I had intended to proceed from Massouah or Souakin, whichever of the two places I should reach, to Mokha, and from thence to Sana, the capital of the Yemen, where I might hope to join the Yemen pilgrims in their annual route over the mountains to Mekka. The performance of this journey would have been of considerable advantage to Arabian geography, and it might, perhaps, have led to interesting facts respecting Arabian history. But the information I collected at Souakin respecting the war in the Hedjaz soon made me abandon this project; the head quarters of Mohammed Aly were then at Tayf, and his advanced corps was several days journey to the south of that place, in the very mountains where I should have passed, and where the greatest body of the Wahabi forces was collected. There was not the smallest chance of my passing through these fanatics, who would have certainly taken me for a Turkish spy, and sacrificed me to their vengeance.