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MODERN ORIENTAL
COSTUME
JOUMEY
TO CENTRAL AFEICA
OB,
L.IFE
AND LANDSCAPES FROM EGYPT TO THE NEGEO KINGDOMS OP THE WHITE NILE.
BAYARD TAYLOR.
VSi\^
ffiap
anti
SUnsttatttiiiJ
hij
ttiJ
Sntlmr.
TENTH EDITION.
G. P.
CO.
PUTS AM
CO.,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Southern District of Nevr YorlE.
A. B.
OP
SAIE-COBCRG-GOTHA
BY
Hia
FELLOW-TRAVELLEE
'
IN EGYPT.
B. T.
PREFACE.
TiiEKE
is
As
I have
comphed more than once with the latter of these requisitions, I must seek to justify the present
already
repetition thereof, on other grounds.
offering this
My
are,
reasons for
simply, that
there
is
room
which
led me, for the most part, over fresh fields, by paths
Al-
may
tion of this
me rather in
the light
PREFACE.
impart as
reader.
rich,
much
instruction
amusement
was thrown,
to
the
adventurous
inlo wliich I
have
its
more
subtle
and poetic
aspects.
a faithful narrative of
to furnish
believing
that none of those embellislimcnts which the imagination BO readily furnishes, can equal the
charm of the
unadorned truth.
to
say.
solely
A previous experience
me
to Egypt,
of a tropi-
my
object
by a
visit
by the
historical
and geographical
interest of those
regions than
by the
vigorous, semi-barbaric
tion, as
If
it
had been
my
inten-
some of
my
White
means had
I
failed.
.
am
my
much ground
PEBFAOE.
which
is
already familiar.
my
detracting from
This book is the record of a single journey, which, both in its character and in the circumstances that suggested and accompanied
memory. Its was one uninterrupted enjoyment, for, whatever the privations to which it exposed me, they
performance
it,
my
It is
to others
who may
here-
me
and annoy-
visitd,
and
Egypt must
feel in
I have
for
feel
more
interested
as I
was
in a live
PREFACE. I
Pharaoh.
pollion,
am indebted
whatever allusions I
B. T.
July, 1854.
New Yobk,
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER
Arrival t AlexandriaThe
tions for Departure,
I.
LandingMy
First Oriental
CHAPTER
DepartaroThe
IL
Egyptian Climate The Mahmoudieh CanalEntrance into the NilePleasures of the JourneyStudying Arabic Sight of the Pyi'amids
Kan^aThe
21
CHAPTER
in.
EntranceThe EzbekiyehSaracenic Houses-DoilkeysThe BazaarsThe Streets -ProcessionsView from the CitadelMosque of Mohammed All-The Eoad to
Suez-The
Island of Ehoda,
84
CHAPTER
Necessity of Leaving Immediately
Saldi
IV.
a Boat ^The Dragomen ^Achmet el Preparing for' the Desert ^The
FundsInformationProcuring an
DayExertions to Leave Off,
^Engaging
Outfit
Lucky
46
CHAPTER
V.
Howling DervishesA Chicken Factory-Eide to the Pyramids Quarrel with the ArabsThe AscentView trom the SummitBacksheeshEffect of PyramidollmblngThe SphinxPlaying the CadiWe obtain Justice-Tisit to Sakkara and the Mummy Pits ^The Exhumation of Memphis Interview with M. Mariette
6B
CONTBKTS.
CHAPTER
VI.
Leaving Ibe Pyramids A Calm and a BroezoA Coptic VisitMinyehThe Grottoat of Benl-Hassan Doum Palms and Crooodlles-Djebel Aboufayda Entrance into Upper Egypt Diversiotis of the Boatmen Sioat Its Tombs A Landscape-
Bath,
Tl
CHAPTER VH.
Independence of Nile Life-The Dahnblyoh Our Servants Our Itosidenoo Our Manner of LivingTho ClimateThe Natives Co3t*n6 Our Sunset Eoposo My Friend A Sensuous Life Defended, 85
CHAPTER
JBoatmen Fair
Vin.
In
Ekhmln Character
of the
Wind PilgrimsEgyptian
at
SheepArrival
Thebes,
Kenneh A Landscape Tho Temple of Dendera First ImA Happy Meeting We approach
jg
CHAPTER
Arrival at
IX.
Thebes Ground-Plan of the Eemains We Cross to the Western Bank GuidesTho Temple of Goorneh Valley of the Kings' TombsBelzoni's Tomb The Kaoos of Men Vandalism of Antiquarians Bruoe's Tomb MemnonTlio Grandfather of BesostrisTho Head of Amunoph The Colossi of the Plain Memnonian Music Tho Statue of EemeeosThe MemnoniumBeauty of Egyptian ArtMore Scrambles among tho TombsThe Bats of the Assassoef- Medeenet Abon Sculptured Histories Tho Great Court of the TempleWe return to
^n^or.
.
US
CHAPTER
ITie Dancing Girls of
X.
View of the Eulns-Tho Great Hall of Pillars-Bedouin Dlvcrsions-A Night Elde Karnak under the Full MoonFarewell to Thobes,
Egypt-A Night Scene in Luxor-The Orange-Blossom and the Apple-Blossom-The Beautiful Bemba-The Dance-Performanco of the AppleBIossom-The Temple of Luxor-A Mohammedan School-Gallop to Earnak-
....
181
CHAPTER
The Temple
of
XI.
Hermontis-Esneh .-ind Its Temple-The Govemor-EI Kab by Torchlight-The Temple of Edfou-The Quarries of Djebel Sllsileh-Ombos-Approaoh to Nubi*-Change In the Scenery and Inhabitants-A
"""""
CHAPTER XIL
^.S?'''.*'I''~tf"f;^'""^'^-'^'''^"'"'''f^'P'''''-NubianOhlldriTrip to PhltaH-LInantBey-The Island of Phlto-Sculptnres-The Negro Eaco-
CONTENTS.
%akfiist In a Ptolemaic
Temple The
152
XIII.
Nubinn Nile Agi-iculture The Inhabitants Arrival at Korosko ^The Governor The Tent Pitched Shekb Abou-Mohammed Bargaining for Camels A Drove of Giraflbs Visits Preparations for the Desert My Last Evening on the Nile, 162
Scenery of
tlio
CHAPTER
The Curve
of the Nile
XIV.
Our Caravan starts Eiding on a Dromedary The Guide and Camel-drivers Hair-dressing El Biban Scenery Dead Camels An TTnexpected Visit The Guide makes my Grave The Kiver without "Water Characteristics of the Mirage Desert Life The Sun The Desert Air Infernal Sceneiy The AVells of Miirr-h^t Christmas Mountain Chains Meeting Caravans Plains of Gravel The Stoiy of Josepll-Djebel Mokrat The
across the Desert
Kontes
Last
Day
in the
Desert
Wo
...
ITl
CHAPTER XV.
A Draught
Water Abou-IIammed The Island of MokrAt The People An Ababdeh Apollo Encampment on the Nile man Eesa's Weddjng A "White Arab ^The Last Day of the IncidentsLoss of my Thermometer The Valley of Wild Cataract Approach to Berber Vultures Eyoub Outwitted beyrefThe Caravan Broken up,
of
CHAPTER
A WeddingMy EecepUon by the
Military
XVI.
Governor AchmetThe Bridegroom The Bey's VisitThe Civil Governor Guard I am an American Bey in State The Dongolese Stallion Eiding About the NavyThe Priest's Visit Merchant's House -The Town Dinner at tho Governor's- The Pains of Eoyalty SOS A Salute to the American Flag-Departure, .
KM
.....
CHAPTER
XVII.
Atbai-a EiverDarner Fortunate TravelThe America-Ethiopian SceneryTho The First HipMelon Patch AgricultureThe Inhabitants Change of Scenerypopotamus CrocodilesEffect of My MapThe Eais and SailorsArabs in EthioMeroe, We Approach Bakhita 21 piaOrnamental Soars BoshlrThe Slave
CHAPTER XVHI.
of Mero-Walk Across the Plain-The PyraArrival at BedjerowlyehThe Enins of the Treamids-Character of their Masonry-The Towei and Vault-Finding City-Number of the Pyramids enre-The Second Group-More Euins-Sits of the Civllizat^on-The Caucasian -The Antiqnity of MeroS-EthiopIan a^d Egyptian
Eace
Eefloctions,
<
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XIX.
Tbo Landscapes of Ethiopia My Evenings beside the Nile Experiences of the Arabian NightsThe Story of tho Sultana Zobeldo acd the 'Wood-onttor Cha.-acter 288 ofthe Arabian TalesKellglon
CHAPTER XX.
Anival at Shondy Appearance of tho Town-Shendy In Former Days Wo Touch at El MetommaThe Nile beyond Shendy-Flesh Diet vs. Vegetables- We Escape Shipwreck- A Walk on Shore Tho Eaplds of Derrelra Djebel SerrlThe Twelfth Cataract Night In the Mountain Gorge Crocodlles-A Drtnk of Mareess
My Birth-DayFair WindApproacli to KhartoumThe Junction NUes Appearance of tho CityWe Drop Anchor,
of the
Two
S68
CHAPTER XXI.
The American Flag
A Eencontre- Search for a HouseThe Austrian Consular Agent Description of his EesldonccThe GardenTho Menagerie Barbaric Pomp and StatePicturesque Character of the Society of Khartoum Foundation and
Growth of the City Its Appearance-The Population Unhoalthlnesa of the Climate-Assembly of Ethiopian Chieftains Visit of Two Shekhs Dinner and Fireworks,
,
270
CHAPTER
Visit to the Catholic
XXII.
Mission-Dr. Knoblecher, the Apostolic Vicar-Monssa Bey Visit to Lattif Pasha Eeceptlon The Pasha's PalaceLions We Dine with the Pasha Ceremonies upon the Occasion MusicThe GuestsThe Franks In Khar-
to the Sultana
CHAPTER
XXIII.
Eecent Explorations of Sonddn-Llmit of the Tropical Ealns-Tlio Conquest of Kthlopla-Oountrles Tributary to Egypt-The District of Takka-Expedltlon of Moussa Bey-Tho Atbara Elver-Tho Abyssinian Frontier-Christian Euins of AbouHarilse-The Kingdom of Bennoar-Kordoflm-Dar-Fur-Tho Princess of Dar-
Fur
In
Khartoum-Her
^^
Visit to Dr.
CHAPTER XXIV.
Bxeursions around
Banks of
nitude of the Nile-Comparatlvo Size of the Elvers-Thoir teste further Into Africa-Attractions of the White
Khartonm-A Eaoe into the Desert-Euphorbia Forest-Tho ho Blue Nlle-A Saint's Grave-The Oonflnenco of the Two
LeOyard^FoTmer EeetrleHons against exploring tlio Elver-Visit to the Dospotlo HospitalityAchmot's Misgivings set
Mm
809
Pasha-
We
sail
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XXV.
Departure from Khartoum We enter the White Nile Mh'age and Landscape The Consul returns Progress Loss of the Flag-Scenery of the Shores Territory ol the Hassnniyohs Curious Conjugal Custom ^Multitudes of Water Fowls Increased llichness of Yegetation Apes Sunset on the Wbite Nile We reach tho King-
dom
820
CHAPTER XXVI.
MorningMagnificence NativesThe Island
SceneryBirds and Hippopotami Flight of the of Popnlation A Band of Warriors Tho Shelth and the SultanA Treaty of Peace-The Eohe of Honor SuspicionsWo walk to the TillageAppearance of the ShillooksThe TillageThe Sultan gives Audience Women and Children Ornaments of the NativesMy WatchA Jar of HoneySuspicion and AlarmThe Shillook and tho Sultan's Black Wife Character of the Shillooks The I.and of the LotusPopulation of the Shillook KingdomThe Turn 329 iog Point A Tiow from the Mast-Head,
of the Island of
Aha Signs
CHAPTER XXVn.
Explorations of the White NileDr. Knohlecher's Toyage in 1S49-50The Lands Wild Elephants and of the Shillooks and Dinkas Intercourse -with the Natives The GiraffesThe Sohat EiverThe Country of Mai'shea-The Gazelle Lake NuehrsInterview with the Chief of the Kyks The Zhir CountryLand of the 40 10' North-PanoraBai-isTho Eapids SurmountedArrival at Logwek, in Lat. ma from Mt LogwekSources of the White Nile Character of the Bari Nation
845
CHAPTER XXVin.
We
Whim and its Consequenleave the Islands of the ShillooksTropical Jungles Tillage The Woces-Lairs of Wild Beasts Arrival among the Hassaniyeha- CleopaSalutation ^j My Arab Sailor Swarthy i^auv-o ^.i of un..v..^.. Sultana~ Dance the auiiau and xne man ana Tiew of a Hassaniyeh TiltraSalutation of the Saint Miraonlons FishingNight
Chernb-The Cook AtlageWad ShMIayeh-A Shekh's Eesidence-An Ebony tempts SuicideEvening Landscape Ine ~ GovernorWe reach Khartoum at Midnight,
.
CHAPTER XXIX.
The Departure
Picture-The Breakfast on the of Abd-el Kader Bey-Au Illuminated Lattif Effendi s ExpediIsland-Horsemanship-The Pasha's Storie^Departnre of Shukoree Warriors-Change In the tion-A Night on the Sand-Abou-Sin, and his for Eeturning-A Mon^ Climate-Intense Heat and its Effect^Preparations Guests-Jolly Kmg DyaabTransaction-FareweU Tlsits-A Dtoner with Eoyal A Shillook DanceEeconciUatiou-Taking Leave of my Pets, . . .
10
COKTENTS.
CnAPTER XXX.
Tl.^i
Cominoroe of SoudSn Avemu-s of TmdeThe Merchimts Oliarnotor of tlio Imporls SpeculationTbo Gum Tr.'.de of KovdofanThe Ivory Trado Abueea of tho 8ai GovernmentTlie Trafflo In Slaves Prices of Slaves Tbelr Treatment,
.
CHAPTER XXXI.
FaioiNell BreakfastDepiirture fhora
tion
and
its
Fulfilment
Dreary
Country
My DromedaryMutton and MarecsaA SoudAn Ditty The Ro\vyi\n Aliaba Gerri Heat and Scenery An Altercation with Guide
IIabit.s
TCabablsh Guide,
Mohammed Character
CHAPTER XXXII.
Entering the Desert- Character of the Scenery Wells
loom Tree
Fear of the ArabsThe LaEifect of the ITot 'Wind-^Mohfimmed overtakes us Arab Endurance Bedfellow Comedy of the Cj'ows Gazelles- Wo encounter a SandAn unpleasant
stormTho Mountain
of Thirst-The Wells of
Djeokdud A Mountain PassKhannik The Kababish Arabs Gazelles again- Eulns of ftu Ancient Coptic Monastery Distant View of the Nile Valley Djebel Berkel AVe come into I^ort, 406
Desert
Intoxication Scenery of tho Table-land- Bir
...
CHAPTER
XXXIII.
Our whereabouts Shekh Mohammed Abd e^-Djebiil My residence at Abdflm Crossing the River A Superb Landscape The Town of Merawe Eiile to Djebel Berkei The Tomploa of Napata Ascept of tho Mountain Ethiopian Panorama-Lost and Found The Pyramids The Governor of Merawo A Scone In the DiriLa The Shekh and I Tho Governor Dines with me Eulns of the City of Napata A Talk about Kellglons Engaging Camels for Wadl-HalfaThe Bhekh'B Parting
Blessing,
421
CHAPTER XXXIV.
Appearance of the CountryKortlThe Town of AmbukolTho Caravan reorgan Ized A Fiery Kide Wo reach Edabbo An Illuminated LandscapeA Torment Nubian Agriculture-Old DongolaThe Palaoe-Mosquo of tho Nubian Kings Panorama of DesolationThe Old CityNubian GratitudeAnother Sand-Storni Dreary JourneyThe Approach to IlandakA House of Doubtful CharacterTho InmatesJourney to El Ordce (New Dongola)Khoorshld BeyAppearance
of the
Town,
433
CHAPTER XXXV.
We
start for
Iflind
Wadl-HalfaThe Plague of Black Gnats Mohammed's OofflnTh of Argo- Market-Day Scenery of the NileEntering Dai El-Milha
CONTENTS.
11
Ruined FortressesThe Camel-Mon A Eocky Chaos Fakir BenderThe Akaba Charm of Desolation The Nile again Pilgrims from Bar-FarThe Struggle of the Nile An Arcadian LandscapeThe Temple of SolehBar Siikk^t The Land of DatesThe Island of SaiA Sea of Band Camp by the River A Hyena Barbecue, , 457
of Mahass Camp in the "Wilderness The
CHAPTER, XXXVI.
The Batn
El-Hafljar, or Belly of
Tillaffe of
Dal A Ruined Fortress A Wilderness of StonesThe Hot Springs of TJkmi Windy Night A Dreary Day in the Desert The Shekh's Camel FailsDescent to
Samneh The Temple and Cataract Meershoh The Sale of Abou-Sin"We Emerge iVom the Belly of Stone A Kababish Caravan The Bock of Abcu-Seer View of the Second Catai-act "We reach "Wadi-Halfa Selling my Dromedaries
Farewell to Abou-Sia
Thanksgiving
on the Ferry-boat
men,
VTadi Haifa
CHAPTER XXXVII. A Boat for Assouan"Wo Embark on the Nile AgainAn Egyptian Dream The Temples of Abou-Simbel The Smaller Temple The Colossi of Eemeses II. Vulgarity of Travellers Entering the Great Temple My Impressions Character of Abou-Simbel The Smaller ChambersThe Races of Men 486 Eemeses and the Captive Kings^Departure,
.
. -
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
I
Lose my Sunshine, and Regain itNubian SceneryDerrThe Temple of Amada Mysterious Eapplngs- Familiar ScenesHalt at KoroskoEscape itom ShipwreckThe Temple of Sebooa Chasing other Boats-Temple of Djerf Hossayn A Backsheesh ExperimentEalabsheeTemple of DabSd"We reach the Egyptian Frontior,
*95
CHAPTER XXXIX.
AssouanA Boat
A Mummied
The
Bey,
CairoEnglish TouristsA Head-wind OphthalmiaEsneh PrincessAli Effendi's StoriesA Donkey AfriteArrival at Luxor
for
Egyptian
to
meEido
Autumn- A Diiy at Thebes Songs of the SailorsAli leaves Dendera Head-winds againVisit to TahtahThe House of Eufaa
506
CHAPTER
XL.
Slight Experience of Hasheesh Siout in Harvest-timo-^A kind Englishwoman The Calm Eapid Progress down the NileThe Last Day of the Voyage- ArriAohmet Concln val at CairoTourists preparing for the Desert-Parting with
don,
"'
I.
INTRODUCTION TO AFRICA.
Landing My
First Oriental
We
Isles
Cos,
and
crossing the
all the
way by
of
and
The
entrance to the
a narrow and
difficult
pilot,
city,
Kas
el-Tin, or
hills in
for they
were prophetic of
We
strip.
built),
soon
after
sunrise
14
and boatmen.
squinting Arab,
me
in Italian, offering to
me
to the
Oriental
Hotel.
We landed
welcome
us,
Custom-House.
Many
and I
which
they dragged us ashore, and the zeal with which they pom-
been better washed, their baggy trousers less ragged and their
red caps less greasy, and
ing our
we were perhaps
ungrateful in allow-
Arab
to rate
among them.
At
the
Custom-House we were
visit-
a word which
we then heard
for
the
first
future experience.
The procession of
motion, and
we passed through
The
The
principal hotels
this square.
ALEXANDRIA.
acenic, in the
ings.
15
in
new
build-
way
to the hotel,
which we found
to
be a long
edifice,
had
called himself
The
July
were
sufficient to
but
when we reached
My
German
friend,
who had
Smyrna,
lifted his
I,
who had
my heart
happy
new
to
my
eyes.
traveller
of that
marks
his first
day on
its
the soil of a
inebriation.
new
continent.
Et
sum
of
my
thoughts,
know
we
dis-
The bath
to
16
the
finest in
it
all
the Orient,
but
did not at
One
fact
We
my
were con-
As we
ears were
first
con-
In a sort of basement
hall,
we were
received by
the bath-keeper,
who showed us
into a
Here we
and Ibrahim,
and swathed our loins in a simple Adamite garclogs were attached to our feet,
ment.
Heavy wooden
and an
Araby the
Blest,
hot water
sat
upon
indi-
The bronze
we began
Hebrews
in the furnace.
Our comfort
still
was not increased by the groaning sound which we and by seeing, through a hole in the door,
five
heard,
or six niiked
MT
l*!
outer room.
Presently our statue returned with a pair of coarse hairgloves on his hands.
seizing one of
He
snatched
off
my
friends
by the shoulder
had been a
This
was
softer
us by the hair, and holding back our heads, serubbfid our faces
most
lustily, as if there
eyes, noses
and
mouths.
By
this time
final
After a
and enveloped
in loose
muslin robes.
we
was astonishing.
lah,
The
stout
scarcely
better
know what, but, as my friends assured me, a much Moslem than Frank. Cups of black coffee, and pipes
we went
forth
and
filled
and
who
18
once,
Monsieur/"
"
"Take
I
is
good donkey
rico ! "
keys.
"
Schmner Esel
"
"
Pvendete
il
mio
hur-
and
The
there
no rest
till
beasts.
rump
is
a
so
triumph.
The animal
silly of
for him.
elasticity of
The
fruit, to
through
the
it into
Mahmoudieh
soil,
But
to the south,
on a
rise of dry,
sandy
not
of
Pompcy,
whose name
bears.
such a
sea.
its
It is the
worthy of
fame, but you could not wish for one more im-
stands apart from them, in the sand, and looks only to the
ing rose and orange sank over the desert behind Pompey's
Pillar,
sea,
stole towards us
THE DONKEY-BOY.
19
accompanied
us.
As we
black Turkish
coffee, the
foul smoke,
we vowed
to
Our donkey-drivers
till
we were ready
first
:
my
"
Abdallah "
This, it hap-
pened, was actually his name, and he came trotting up, hold-
me
to
mount.
"
Gome
vi chiamate ? "
(what's your
name ?)
I asked
to
of Abdallah, as
we rode homeward.
Gome
Abbas Pasha," I
" if
replied.
was
his
prompt rejoinder,
Seyd Pasha."
donkey, which I fully intended to mount, but became entangled in a wilderness of donkeys, out of which Ibrahim extricated
me by
hoisting
me
on another animal.
little
As
I rode away,
We three
We
Mah-
20
or captain.
sail at the
The
craft
a large lateen
bow and a
It
clean,
and the
demanded
The
may bo
assum-
ed at about
five cents,
Be-
We asked
the advice of
M. de Gon-
zenbach,
following evening.
FIKST
VOYAGE ON THE
NILE.
21
CHAPTER
II.
We
bill
at the
Our
prepara-
cofifee,
sugar, but-
coal
bedding
and a gazelle-skin
We
hotel,
first
night on board.
We
waited
till
baggage appeared.
There
is
a Custom-Hous'e on
all sides
of
Alexandria, and goods going out must pay as well as goods coming
oil
in.
The
of a dollar greased
through.
find
who had
preless
He
seemed no
22
voyage.
The
so
us,
Some account
place here.
with
sail fifty
The mid-
dle boards of the deck were loose and allowed entrance to the
was stowed.
The The
which oocu
pied the stern of the boat, was built-above and below the dock,
BO that after stepping
down
into it
we could stand
upright.
t.
The
first
all,
persons to sleep.
We
Our
rais, or captain,
two
one
tall
Egyptian darkness.
The three
latter
One
of the
al-
Fellahs sang na^al loVe-Bongs the whole day long, and was
23
!
ways foremost
"2/a
"
and
salaam P^
sailors
Before we
while the rais, with his grim face and croaking voice, grew more
repulsive every day.
We
down
Ibrahim
filled
we
sat
seemed
to
We were
and
the sacred
num-
it
difficult to find
another triad so
its parts.
One
forty-five, tall,
Germany.
niote merchant, i
young man of
thirty, to
whom
all
parts of
Europe were
familiar,
who spoke
eight languages,
and who
Of
behooves
me
the
New
mu-
of his heart, as
air
!
we basked in
!
what a heavenly
in all
felt
" It
is
Nor did I
deceive
them when I said that for many months past I had known no
mood
of
mind
so peaceful
and grateful.
24
We rose
coffee
somewhat
stiff
amenity of the
dull,
voyage,
The banks
and
and the
many
places
still
The
mud
mud machines,
driven
by steam,
Ropes were
number
very favorable.
The we
barrier
was withdrawn
for us Franks,
and
shot through.
at a village,
vocabulary.
The Asian
set
about
When we
offer us,
picked but
wo
We
sails..
mat
a pleasant wind
filled
our
ATFEH.
25
The
by the
cofifee
Moslem
Only one of
It
collection of heaps of
mud, baked
in the sun.
At
the head and foot of one of the most recent, sat two wo-
men
^paid
mourners
^who howled
and sobbed,
in long, piteous,
I should
never have imagined that any thing but the keenest grief could
teach such heart-breaking sounds.
When
Two
rows of acacias,
which we
sailed, to the
muddy
The
we were
obliged to halt,
The
noise of two
sort of
fife
came down
the" bank
She
peep
was
at her face.
No
she was doubly guai;ded and hurried off to the house of her in-
tended husband.
Some time
was received
and dignified
retreat.
We
visited,
26
rais
was getting
official
we
and purchased
our kitchen.
On
all
tall
The
he walked behind
us, carrying
By
this
We
coflfee.
make soup
own baggy
we
in a tone of min"
way
Thereupon he
into the
bowl
A whole
21
we sweated and
clumsy
ofiScers
the westIt
Hudson
at Albany, but
New
Orleans.
On the opposite
A fresh
north
Arabian
roc.
"We drank
to the glory of
own brown
empty sbebooks.
Those who
by
Turkish pipe,
filled
with Latakieh,
is
The
of celestial
One
thing
is
certain,
An
fell,
and
28
of the night our
men
The Asiau
spread on the deck his Albanian capote, the European his ample travelling cloak, and
all,
no
was of
little
consequence
head of wind;
My conscience made me
know what Rest
no reproach for
In America we
shall I not
The European
said to
me
"I
am
little surprised,
Europe
for
and as
America,
Sometimes I varied
language.
this repose
by trying
to pick
up the
"
What
is all
The
effect
ous
the
men were
:
and
Sey-d, turning
"Wallah/
the
Howadji
it
every new word I learned sufficed to set them laughing for half
29
:
"
"
is
Howadji, I have."
This solemn
river,
we passed
the site
which has
try was in
left
The
coun-
many
The
Fel-
soil to
of lupin, which
is
we found
toes.
Milk, butter and eggs are abundant and very good, but
The
habitations resem-
human
dep6ts of
filth
Our
latter, except a
few cock-
acacia, without
which a Nile
trees.
its attractions,
I'saw few
Here
plane-trees,
On
two.
of
mud
30
one side of the room, and on this we seated ourselves cross-leggod, while the host prepared the little coffee-cups and filled the
pipes.
tall
palm-
had treated
to booiza, the
Egyptian
and
man who
played a
another
One
a small wooden drum, and the third kept time by slapping the
closed fingers of the right hand on the
Bong, which
left.
The
was
class,
by
whom
flourishing
above the
We
Our
was transparent
as
new
rHK barhabb.
bronze,
31
the
wHch was burned into tte skin by tbe reflection from water. While my friends were enjoying their usual afterrepose, a secret presentiment
Koon
made mo climb
to the roof
of our cabin.
had not
on the horizon,
I rudelj
mids
"
.'
"
wan as
much impressed
by translating
him Thackeray's
description of his
first
ttowned monuments.
we were
^RS not
Barrage,
among the
the Nile,
modem
of Egypt.
damming of
which
is
have the
effect
Here,
itself into
dam
far advanced
toward
completion.
sixty-two arches,
The
abutments which
ty feet in height.
The
piers
upper
side,
dam
32
races,
The material
is brick,
faced
side-
When
this
complete,
it is
By
means
sufficient
fill
all
new
centre of the Delta, will render productive a vast tract of fertile land.
The
project
is
to complain of the
The main
narrow space wherein the piers have not yet been sunk, which
cannot be passed without a strong north wind.
Forty or
fifty
boats were lying along the shore, waiting the favorable mo-
ment.
We
up by a stationary windlass.
ed,
As we put
off,
rapid,
friend.
Behind us the
sails
cries
and a bewildering
most
we reached smoother
The
WE REACH
width.
BOULAK.
"
S3
To
up
like isolated
On
bra,
the right
the sunshine, and ere long, over the distant gardens of Shoo-
we caught
of the
ful
:
faith-
at three o'clock
we were anchored
rais,
and
set
?*
CHAPTEB
III.
PIOTDKBS OF CAIRO.
HiutninooTlie KibekiyohSnrnooiilo ITousosDonkeysTbo Baraai'sTlio Stroeta
ProcessionsView
SuezTlie
Mosque of Mobainmed
All
The
Eond
to
Island of Ebodo.
Our
frontispiece to the
volume of
my
Eastern
life.
From
the Nile
Mohammed
grain-fields
and groves of
the
great
^the
had been
dimmed and
softened
by the
now became
so gay, picturesque
color, that
and animated, so
full of life
my
The donkey-riding
multi-
who passed
35
croTsrds of
fluence of
already visible.
me from
One
Arab
I forgot
at
wore a Frank
dress,
we met.
I looked without
surprise on the long processions of donkeys carrying waterskins, the heavily-laden camels, the
women with
and
all
white masks
stolid
Nubian
But because
they were so familiar, they were none the less interesting, for
like
It is in the
city,
and was
All the
fill
Ali.
and
light,
thatched cafes
the
mbnde
of Cairo
the Caliphs, except a few tall minarets, can be seen from this
quarter, but the
is all that
the
eye demands, and over the plain white walls, on every side,
the palms crowns.
single, or in friendly
groups
^lift
their feathery
we went
out to
36
tried for the
Persian water-pipe.
The
soft,
From
or amber.
At
drawn downward
It
and
is
rises
deprived of
is
exceed
But
mouth
and
mat-
common
;
air.
This
is
not so
is
difficult a
might be supposed
the sensation
ly oxhilaratiug,
and
is
when moder-
of Cairo
still
times of the
Caliphs.
The
here singularly
The only
I saw a few
The
traveller,
however,
upper windows.
The extraordinary
lightness,
still
more
striking
me
rather
woven
in
Si
Through these
terns,
passing softly to and fro in the twilight of the bazaars, themselves unseen.
It
needed no
effort
we rode
daily, with
forms
To
to the
must
first
accustom himself
which
Don-
universal,
foot.
Frank quarter on
lowed by not
less
friend of mine,
who
When we
first
that we were forced to retreat until our servant and the porter
Af-
two
trials,
I found an intelligent
Arab
boy,
named
five piastres
from morning
night.
The
The donkeys
my
Their
gait,
impossible.
The
dri-
88
in
the bridles.
Thoy keep
The
iirst
my
and a yellow
belly.
The
a short
Very few
of
them own
their donkeys,
and
fre-
home
in the evening
empty-handed.
first
quite as hazardous
but
it is
and one
in
There
no use
The
and footmen.
" 5css
.'"
(enough
1)
" Piano f' and other desperate adjurations; the driver's only
reply
is
:
"
you
strike a fat
Turk plump
;
you
pany of
spectral,
street,
some
more quiet
a battery.
man who
has stormed
nervous,
At
I
first this
made mo very
but
finally
let the
interest in seeing
how near
struck.
collision,
39
me through
in safety.
little
The
me no
amusement
!
"
The Howadji
comes
right
hand
hand
boy, get
out of the
way
"
wherever
we went, we
and confusion.
Cairo
is
The regulations
Each
dirt is
established by
Mohammed
man
is
own
door,
and the
carried
away
Besides
are watered several times a day, and are nearly always cool
The
healthy.
The quantity of
is surprising.
mostly old or deformed, but by no means so abundant or impertinent as in the Italian cities.
number of shabby
police-
prin-
The
by
soldiers,
dress of white
class.
far the
Even
loose
from
compared with
Hydriote,
is
colors are
dark
relieved
by a
40
heayy
silk sasli
by the red
slippers
and tarboosh.
But,
;is
in Turkey,
many
which
a change
by no means becoming
to them.
my
in
and enin-
ooflFee
whom
vulgar order, until the barber combed out the long locks on the
top of their head, by which
into Paradise.
Mussulmen expect
to bo lifted
up
When
man informed me
The
med
All,
life
my
outfit for
the winter's
One
ban on his head and a long white board flowing over his breast.
This, as
He was
attended by
The
people on
all sides, as
FESTIVK PKOCKSSIONS.
41
On
of Boulak.
flutes,
head-
She
large crowd
f friends
The
chief
to
way
be circumcised.
horse,
and
little
lost.
The
supporting- them,
One was a
jet black
Nubian, who
situation,
and grinned on
he passed along.
a buffoon, who carried a laugh with him which opened a ready passage through the crowd.
man
He came to
me
for backsheesh.
who
was a
master-piece.
One
of them,
at the
;
but,
turned,
and
an inch of
his eyes.
face,
The man
neither
it
up with his
shield,
42
me
for backsheesh.
After
came
head
to
mo
Luckily the
little
and sugar-
I had
little
until
my
return.
itself,
full of interest,
I saw
except the
We
tomary at
this season.
The morning
light is
most favorable
to
The shad-
ows of the Citadel and the crests of the Mokattam Hills then
lie
city,
its
minarets,
flame.
which
and rosy
The populace
the
up and
stirring,
cries of
gardens, the blue streak of the river and tho plain beyond, you
see the
in the haze
which
still
cu
tains the
Libyan Desert.
arms
to-
ward the
in the
sea, dotted,
sun.
From no
is
the
ir Youssef
Jo-
THE
sepls's
CITADEI,.
43
vir-
Well
as it is called
who dug
it
out acd
put
it in
operation.
The
filled
was
Egyp many
centuries.
division, where, in a
The water
is
poured into
by another
Attended by
first
set in
two Arabs with torches, we made the descent of the and took a
drinlt of the fresh, cool fluid.
shaft
the wall and escaped the massacre of his comrades, are the
and
th
new mosque
of
Mohammed
Ali,
city from
the only
Althougl
many
The
years, this
mosqua
is
exterior is finished,
and
tall
down the
Nile.
The
Egyptian
up
in
coffin of
Mohammed
Ali, oov-
44
ered with a heavy velvet pall, and under the marble arches before
it,
cov-
bow
and
recite prayers
city,
I rode a
little
way
into
They
on
pillars,
with
The track
in the sand
made by
my
The pilgrims
more nu-
English-built omnibuses,
and
ale,
and growl
this rate,
if
the accustomed
will
it
Cheshire
is
foaad wanting.
is
At
how long
be
before there
visited
on a
soft,
golden
what
it
it
and though we found a few gardeners at work, digging up the sodden flower-beds and clipping the rank myrtle hedges,
make
the neglect
more palpable.
During
was
still
soft
and clammy.
tured here
;
Nearly
all
46
isle fragrant.
is
an
with
many
away
by
ridiculous tourists.
There
is
no limit to human
silliness,
dis-
by
" Isaa<s
Jones"
(or
some equally
and
classic
name), in
finding "
(Of
own name
be-
side hers.)
outfits of
and
to judge
from
their
46
CHAPTER
Necessity of Leavinf
Saidi
IV.
I DEVOTED but
little
The
trip to
Khartoum
occupies at least
it is
which
month
Nile.
White
five
days
my
European of our
triad,
who had
for the
me
first
me
where
is
My
all
Thebes,
Ombos and
Philae,
the inconveniences
ENGAGING A BOAT.
sake alone. of tourists
rival,
47
Commend me
who
to sucli a
On my
ar-
respecting the
number of
travellers
and the
pation.
The
ship carpenters
ed
all
or building
craft
new
Some
travellers paid
forty-five
found
little
difficulty in getting
sons, at
This price,
it
should be un-
who
find their
own
me
handsome
it
style
^which
was
offered at thirty
pounds In the
a month, but
might be had
at fifteen,
we proposed
balmy
twi-
Without a
indispensable.
dragoman
is
up,
on the way
48
me
little,
use-
Arabic dialect
for the journey.
spoken
by half a
to
mako
How
they
knew
was going
but I found
that they
the journey,
but of
all
who presented
One
of these
had made a
in Ethiopia; but he
had a
and I
re-
fused
him
at once.
The other was an old man, named Suleyfor three years a servant of
nian Ali,
lion,
Champol-
whose
duced.
He had
Italian,
in
(the
tongue he knew),
a
fine,
spoke
several
Ethiopian dialects.
He was
when I
I finally
made
choice
call-
He was
ed Achmet
el Saidi,
or
had been
lish
Consul at Alexandria.
little
as a
I was
first
attracted to
him by
his bold,
recommendations wore
courage and address
excellent,
sufficient spirit,
OUTFITFUNDS.
to serve us
40
both in case of
peril,
Wadi Haifa
(the
Seoond
best to form
my
my own
paths.
How
far I
was
justified
my
The next
^for
the Nile
twice
made
the
Mount
me good
service.
I had some general knowledge of what was necessary, but without the advantage of his practical experience, should have been
As
it
was,
many
when
was too
late to procure
them.
when
map
after-
of Arabia and the Valley of the Nile, which, with a stray vol-
ume
of Russegger, were
my
only guides.
In ELhartoum,
The
my funds
jids, colonnati, or
dollar of
Maria Theresa,
I also procured
hundred piastres in
made nearly an
ass's
In addition to these
supplies, I obtained
from an Arme-
me
to understand,
I en-
50
The
insufficient
difficul-
and embarrassments.
The
native merchants
me no
satis-
Sennaar
there
is
and returned
Allah.
his family
and
for he
should they
it
Abbas
The Ameri-
me
letters to
Achmet
Lattif Pasha,
To
the Hon.
and the
latter furnished
me with
my
safety
on the journey
Band, brackish water, and the like privations, which are easily
borne
51
The
ledge of housekeeping.
articles required
country of barbarians,
amazing to a bachelor.
ing needed such a variety of tools and appliances, and for the
first
time in my
life,
Ude
and Soyer.
coffee-pots
and
tea-pots
boxes;
vinegar, mus-
groceries.
We
must have
a table and chairs, quilts and pillows, mats, carpets and napkins,
articles
Achmet and
of
M.
Pini,
who
four
His printed
.lists, in
His ex-
is
also of
much
know
whether
pounds of
rice,
nor how
much
coffee.
The expense
of our outfit,
fowls,
little
more than
The
calculation
For
.
my
recommended
and dried
fruit to last
me
in
62
and
Arab
sliekhs.
The
In
entire cob*
addition,
piastres.
fifty pias-
ter-skins,
and leathern
my
and
Over
this
which was
my
first
les-
^
is
not peculiar
me
that
we might
leave Boulak on
in the week,
in the start,
and
believ-
ing that
it is
He
was as zealous as I
we
from the
spirit
it
seemed almost a
matter of life and death, that the boat should leave on Monday.
was not
63
Two
sails,
My
Euro-
activity, saying
as a boat sailing at
purpose.
Monday
lame,
(Nov. 17th)
whom we had
and vegetables.
months
after
My .letters
to
to send, for
Office,
come
home
the
last I expected
^were
and
stores laden
under Ach-
met's guidance.
We
we had
lying
flag,
made
in Cairo,
and followed.
still
in the midst of a
proclaiming departure.
We
and another
(as it
still
seemed
to
sailors.
There was
from the shore, with many more of those wants which are
never remembered until the last moment.
away
of
Rhoda
the sun
54
up
Arab songs
The
came up
to
turned to
me and
said
we
shall
Achmet.
CHAPTER
ijowlmg D6^^ishes
Arabs
V.
A Chicken FactoryEide to the PyramidsQuarrel with the View from the SummitBacksheesh of Pyramidclimbing The Sphinx Playing the Cadi"We obtain Justice Visit to Sakkara and the Mummy Pits^The Exhumation of MemphisInterview with M. Marietta -Account of his Discoveries Statue of Eemeses II Eetum to the Nile. The
Ascent
^Effect
"And Morning opes in haste her lids, To gaze upon tho Pyramids." Emekson.
We
Ahout dusk,
the rais
moored
Their wild
cries,
56
choose but listen, and, in spite of our fatigue, sleep was imposFible.
who continued
to gasp out,
was pro-
When we
air
gave
rise to
my
friend.
"See
"
what a
and how those palms and these white houses are relieved
against
it
1
"
He
ceived that what he had taken for a wall close at hand, was
really the sky,
far-off horizon.
Our
don-
keys were
in readiness
faithful Ifttle
me through
We
left
Memphis, and
Achmet with
Pyramids.
large
famed
but found
lahs,
it
empty.
We
floor, crept on our hands and knees through two small holes and inspected sundry ovens
chaff,
S<
the first four or five days the eggs were exposed to smoke aH
The
out
we rode
black,
The
ploughed, except in spots, here and there, but even where the
up
to the sunshine.
In that
prolific
soil,
is visible
from
day, to day.
The Fellahs
were at work on
gaiiJly buffaloes
all sides,
Where
had a
fields
of young wheat,
glittered
The
and
There, in
Novem-
The
by
canals, to the
distance of
The
sionally to dismount,
and
which cuts
off
the
side,
made
to swim, while
we were
carried across
in
advance to meet
us, hailing
us with
filled fr.om
3*
58
insisting, in very
Pyramids.
Our
suffi-
The
is
the imagination.
Those
silent sand,
in
the
memory
of unexpected
admiration.
leave, is
calm,
as
we
toiled
up the ascent
now broken
in his
As we dismounted
shadow,
They belonged
and are
in charge,
BO
renowned
for their
customary to employ
Be-
gave Achmet
my
sabre,
which I thought
would be a
ties.
sufficient
show
to secure
and we
flatly refused
My
A QUARREL.
friend
59
Lad
in the
so giddy
to go on with
me and
to their bowlings.
and attempted
ta force
him
back.
aside,
by three or
four,
The
struggle took place just on the verge of the stones, and he was
prudent enough to drag his assailants into the open space before
the entrance of the Pyramid.
My friend
up
my
sabre, but
by
this
to treat us in the
same
Achmet and my
Two
the
boys
fol-
lowed
us,
At
first,
way seemed
hazardous, for the stones were covered with sand and fragments
which had
fallen
after
more secure
of
steps.
my
me up from
slight, for
the rear.
The
was not
few of the
stones
are
less
The water-boys
cats.
Wc stopped
moment
up
an opening
the Pyramid,
60
at
my
;
feet
and entertained
me
witli
flattery
and menace.
fine,
my
legs, cried
:
out
how
fast
!
they came up
Pyramid
so fast
"
:
"
us a dollar here."
My
tbey
me
often described.
I cannot
increased
my
My
eyes
wandered
below
off
my
feet,
plain, barred
Arabian mountains
the
South
and the arid yellow waves of the Libyan Desert, which rolled
unbroken
to the
western sky.
The
from
clear,
whicb seemed
in its
to radiate light
its entire
wonderful landscape.
liance for desolation.
alive
ruins,
my
mind.
to enjoy
My
me
the
view quietly.
sheesh, I gave
To
them two
which instantly
It
turned their
most
bitter complaints.
was
61
if
I would not give a dollar, I might take the money back. took
it
it into
my
pocket.
This
came
me and begged
to have
it
again, on hia
own private
account.
I threw the coins high into the air, and as they clattered
down
We
before,
then com-
seizing
my
hands as
and drag-
me
We
side, sliding
without stopping
minutes.
to take breath,
five or six
when I touched
instant,
A black mist
and nearly
came over
helpless
insensible.
and
I
it
my
donkey.
felt
Pyramid
in all
my
afterwards
moved my
joints with as
much
difficulty as a rheu-
matic patient.
at first
had threatened to
kill
Achmet,
humbly entreating
mark
of contempt.
We
considerus,
ed
it
to represent
Pyramids, who
lives in
62
Aohmet
of the
We
first
enormous
relic of
Egyptian
travellers
There
is
nothing like
it
in the world.
Those
who pronounce
its features to
That
its
it is
an Egyptian head
is
plainly evident,
notwithstanding
fuller
mutilation.
is
The
i_,^
ab-
On
were received by
my
mud
We
we
carpet
and a number of
pectfully around.
mean time we
and
unlucky youth
returned and
cried
out,
"JSfa
none
!)
it.
We
Arabian
But
to play our
ty of countenance was a
difficult
63
My face
bound
felt
it
from the
sun,
and
in order to protect
my
eyes, I
had taken
off
my
cravat and
My friend had
swathed his
to enjoy quietly.
single cotton
much
respect.
His
serene, impar-
nesses
who were
called up,
After half
very submissive.
We identified the
after
We
decided, between
One
of the
men was
feet,
himself by giving his bornous a double turn over his back, and
as the
vtaa
After half
ya salaam
my
The
and asked us to
satisfied.
we were
We
in general, through
Achmet, that
64
we were convinced of
that
affair
to Cairo,
now
(good
!)
The
indiscreet
coffee,
of which
we
much
The shekh
and
a backsheesh, dismissed
our
water-boys,
and
Achmet's dark skin was pale from his wounded pride, and I
was faint from pyramid-climbing, but a cold fowl, eaten as we
sat in the sun, on the border of the glowing Desert, comforted
us.
The dominion
;
bound
there
is
turned
more
height
65
They
the plain, that from the broad hollow lying between them and the group of Sakkara,
from the
hills in
the rear, exhibits traces here and there of ruins beneath the
surface.
My friend
and
I, as
we walked over
pyramids.
It
is
we
did.
On
the way,
Achmet had
told us of a
mummied
human mummy
Frenchman
a
pit
feet
we saw
mud
was an un-
had tumbled
One
or two
at
Arabs
back into
66
first laid
basement-walls of white
slid
down the
Memphis.
The pavement
was
protect
entire in
many
places.
there a sculp-
had
fallen,
and over
tiles
all
were
and painted
and sculptured
The
principal street
rently occupied
were
on pavements and
wails, so fresh
and cleanly
they
city, laid
yesterday,
We
On
finding
we were not
Englishmen
(of
whose
visits
He
apologized
after
making
his drawings
and measurements.
The
M.
C7
in
He
red giving them again into the safe keeping of the sand
Here they
will
fortu-
Memphis may be
entirely
and imposing.
I asked M. Mariette what
first
Mem-
mounds
city.
He
said that
di-
Fol-
Serapeum, or Temple of
by Strabo),
and
all
The number of
thirty in a day.
He
inscriptions
and
reliefs, at
five
thousand.
eight colossal
68
Statues,
all
ed them
me
rough as a bricklayer's.
men was
with a sort
heads of others.
One
of the principal
He was
constantly
who were
down
An
unlucky
girl,
stooping
wrong time
to
by the
rest witli
screams of laughter.
a glazed
tile
man
The gravity
it,
occaold
Pharaoh
by Burton himself.
seven-
M. MARIETTE
69
teen miles, and therefore both M. Mariette and the antiquarians are right.
The mounds
city,
of Mitrahenny probably
mark
M. Mariette
is
He was
then continufirst
The magnitude
known
when
his drawings
my
visit,
his
warded by
renown by discovering an
en-
Yet
exhumation of
the lost
Memphis
veh
second only
it,
^was
savans
in Paris,
and the
first
my
Alexandria had of
my own
account of
my
visit, in
the
is
But M. Mariette
name
"We had
still
Memphis and
its discoverer,
my
As we passed
Pyramid of
Sakkara, which
is
a genuine balm
to our heat-
ed
eyes.
We
10
across the plain, as the soil was too late to visit the beautiful
It
was
of
first
which
is
and from a
Our
henny, where
we saw mounds
Remeses
II. (Sesostris)
^which
The
to
The
countenance
a crocodile.
Through
fields
we
But
wind
all
day,
and we had ridden much faster than our men could tow.
sat
till
We
When,
at last;
we
weary
//^
'
f1
CHAPTER
VI.
S
I
PROM MEMPHIS TO
O U T.
GrottoiSI
AboufaydaEntrance
into
The
extent of
my journey
me
visit
to reverse the
the antiquities
on their return.
The voyage up
is
who
call the
to analyze
first
and
im-
How
sail
age of two hundred and sixty miles, with but one or two points
of interest, without taking the
in
memory,
I cannot imagine.
Were
it
12
JOURNEY TO CENTRAL
AEIIIOA.
I omitted seeing
so that
my upward journey,
It
seemed
like slighting
notice.
and
dan-
man
go by him.
knew
would be a
of the
by the Bedouins
you have
Ly-
"
Tou
rascals,
The Pyramids
after leaving
Memphis.
Our
sailors
shore, against a mild south wind, but could not bring us out of
Our
patience was
hindered
still
On
the morn-
we
large
town
and
hauled
in,
we moved out
into the
its
minarets.
I tried
Near
A COPTIC
lately excavated
VISIT.
Y3
of
by Dr. Lepsius.
is,
The Province
Fyoom,
the Libyan Desert, the only productive land vrest of the mountains bordering the Nile,
u^
sails full
we
At
dusk, the
at midnight,
we passed
we were seventy
cliffs
of Djebel el
(the
Mountain of Birds),
are
its
While passing
came up from
the
adji
muddy
!
How-
the gunwale, and sat down, panting and dripping, on the deck.
We gave
They were
spirit
After a breathing
spell,
as
el
they
At
Djebel
Tayr,
Egypt (according
to
My
'74
a company of
we approached Minyeh,
town
But
we
We
piastres,
We
us as
stayed in
sailed
tombs of Beni-Hassan.
The wind
left
we reached
and in
The
to take two
sticks
men
from the
fire
village,
and built a
This
is
a regulation of
never saw
for
much reason
for
it.
We rose
at
When
we
in
the deposit of
many
deeper channel
that the
now acknowledged
is
gradually rising, and that the yearly inunspace than in the time of the Pha-
much wider
75
shore
whoUy
We
my
friend
brought down.
mocked our
tain
surround
it.
At
ago
told that
the people were driven away, and their dwellings razed to the
is
a trifling matter.
to a safer place,
We
friendly.
They
among
tasen I, about 1750 years before the Christian Era, and are
interesting
tian life
from
Egyp-
extend for nearly half a mile along the side of the mountain.
The most
of
particular interest^
spoilers of
Egypt
76
their
hieroglyphics
and
paintings,
solid rock.
The
we entered contained
four
making of bread,
besides a
number of
spirited hunting
and
fishing scenes.
The
shown
in
the pun-
He
we
still
him with
He
which he lay
burned his
since
mummy
interesting,
who
Some
that of a person
named
Nehophth, and
the
Two
by
pillars
The
skill.
ANTINOE.
77
eack
In
is
at least five
htmdred
same
exercise
tion,
The
my
ideas of Egyptian
much
less vivid
than some
travellers represent.
ous,
The tomhs
and what
is rather singular,
there
at noon
we passed between
the
mounds of
in the
foun-
dations.
many
interesting
monuments
were
still
come on board,
after a long
Abaddeh was
so
we saw nothing
The
splendid of the moun-
of Adrian's city except some heaps of dirt. evening, however, which bathed the naked
taia in rosy flame,
cliffs
marble blocks.
doum palm,
The next
trees,
My friend recalled
by the Nile
78
and
would
also
have purchased a
violin, if
any
more complacently.
in the
differs
leaves,
which are
and
in
having a branching
of the branches again forming two, and each of these two more,
till
The
fruit
hangs
is
not disagreeable.
When
fully
it
and
is
manufactured
articles.
by the Arabs
We
for
many deep
fissures
sidered the most dangerous point on the Nile for boats, and the
sailors
always approach
it
with
fear.
Owing
to its
deep side-
moment's
warning, and
is instantly
if
is
overturned.
and other
ready to let
danger.
it fly in
The
men, awkward as
At
79
it
will bo
in passing
Aboufayda
the Cleopatra dashed the foam from the rough waves, and in
pylon
of a temple.
The
side
tall
and
to shift their dwellings to the inland side, the city will entirely
disappear.
From
The spur
is built,
of
shot
out in advance, not more than ten or twelve miles distant, but the Nile, loth to leave these beautiful fields and groves, winds hither and thither in such a devious, lingering track, that you
must
Siout.
sail twenty-five
The
of
Lower Egypt,
is
The
Desert
kept within
river,
proper bounds ;
it is
from the
view on either
sterility the
It is a boun-
and
free
The wind
so
fore them, the contracts for boats always stipulating for a halt
may
and bake a
or three weeks.
as are their
when
at
the same time exerting all their strength at the poles and oars,
they never
fail
in a note.
all
mo-
There
is
who
supplies an endless
number of
So
our poet,
He
Alexandrian
"
then
" Hasten,
1
three of
you "
!
chorus
again
" and
On
The
favorite
pantomime
stamps and
is
that
man running
He
cries,
He
body
81
whicli only ceases wlien every lung is emptied.
Even when
sil-
most mirthfully
ly joke, our
inclined,
men
So sound and
A crowd of donkeys, ready saddled, awaited us on the bank, fight before our boat was moored. We
from the ground, and
set off
on a gallop
river.
for
Siout,
fifteen
which
tall,
is
Its
its
embosom-
ing acacias.
The road
and
is
On
either side
of clover, so
green, juicy
my
still
Where
damp
We
justice,
one of the
in Egypt.
The town,
is
someis
ap-
^^
city.
The tombs
We
The tombs
are
much
larger than
82
pillars
which
halls have
The
Hamam
(Pigeon Staco-
its
mouth
filled
with fragments of
mummied
way
a solitary tomb.
The Stall
and in
Hamam
its
is
about sixty
as-
feet square
by forty
in height,
pect
is
chambers of Beni-Hassan.
plain of Siout,
effect.
From
the gray twilight of the hall in which you stand, the green of the
fields,
of the sky, dazzle your eye as if tinged with the broken rays of a prism.
From
the
north,
fayda,
we counted
southward, a sea of
wheat and clover hero deepening into dark emerald, there paling into gold, according to the degree of moisture in the
soil,
while be-
SIOUT
A BATH.
83
hills,
point-
feet, as
and tried
there.
to tell us
As we
glory of vegetable
by the dismal
be-
We
Mamelukes.
The
and
cheerful, in
its
a picturesque
ave-
acacias,
The
air
around Siout
is
breathing
it.
The
city has
Mohammed
The
by granite colimms,
brown
me
to desperation,
me
twice over
me
which occupied
and a pipe
84
were brought to
me
and cracking
hands on
all
my
joints
my
breast.
I walked out as
if
my
load,
j/"
The
Cleopatra.
CH APTEE VII.
LIFE ON THE NILE.
Indcpenilenco of Hile LifeThe Dahabiyeli Oar Servants Onr Eesidenco Our
Man-
ner of LivingThe ClimateThe NatiTes-Costume Our Sunset Friend A Sensuous Life Defended.
EeposeMy
"The life thou seelc'st Thou'lt find beside the JEternal Sile."- Moose's AioirnBOH.
We
hear
much
said
by
tourists
who have
visited
life
Egypt,
on the
Four out of every five complain of the monotony and tedium of the voyage, and pour forth touching lamentations over the annoyance of rats and cockroaches, the impossicharacters.
bility of
crocodiles.
Some
influ-
86
,the airs
:
of
Broadway or Bond-street.
is
a nice
about
it."
Such
is
nations),
profaned every
winter.
to
and
if
management
palm-tree
is
to
from
Dendera
Karnak.
a "
rum
better than
Upper Egypt.
I have devi-
As
it is
a faithful transcript of
order to give
without change
The Nile
is
I thought I had
already fathomed
ler's
restless
life
could reach
enjoyment
home
ful
^but
to
be exhausted.
abandonment
this life
can be
{/
INDEPENDENCE OF NILE
Other
travellers undoubtedly
LIFE.
8?
make
The same
derangement by an unsym-
trifling
ance ; but as
we
find fewer
Our enjoyment
make them
It
may
manner of
In the
place,
we
(The Arabs
call the
El
We
own
char-
must go where we
bound to obey
us.
the only censors over our speech and conduct, and shall have
Of
this
we have no
fear,
for
we commenced
Indeed, the
by maintaining
strict discipline,
most complete harmony exists between the rulers and the ruled,
is
we
flatter ourselves
that
it is
better
managed than
that of the
Model Eepublio.
88
Our
territory, to
be sure,
is
The
Gleo-
by ten broad.
the
first
She
bow and
stern,
upholding
The
col-
who cook
and
sit
on the
gunwale, beating a
in interminable choruses,
is
If there
the banks with a long tow-rope, and singing all day long
hamim
jump
singing
aya hamCim
:
" Aya
"
the oars
that
ters.
it is
so complicated a refrain
Hassan Abd
pilot,
who
greets us
Against an upright pole which occupies the place of a mainmast, stands our kitchen, a high wooden box, with three furnaces.
artist, as
ho
is,
variety in unity.
tion here,
Aohmet,
my
faithful
dragoman,
and keeps one eye on the vessel and one on the kitchen,
while between the two he does not relax his protecting care for
THB
US.
r;ABIN.
A huge
filter-jar
We
box under
it,
vegetables, in
it,
and the
often) a leg of
ing from the ridge-pole, which extends over the deck as a sapport to the awning.
y
Its floor is
The
cabin,
above, so that
or crowd-
ed in any particular.
a sort of portico,
This place
is
We
all
sides,
cabin
is
A broad
night.
light
and
air as
we
choose.
our table
and
walls.
a smaller cabin
use.
we have
alloted to
Achmet's
Our cook
chest.
The
90
rais
whore the
latter
arm
forward over the cabin from the high end of the stern.
Our manner
of
life
is
simple, and
The scenery
of the Nile, thus far, scarcely changes from day to day, in its
The
The
same agglomerations
saints are the
Moslem
same
geological formation.
the turn of
a kaleidoscope,
in which the
harmony.
These
slight, yet
we
lead,
we
The
various groupings
rose-hued mountain walls, the green of the wheat and sugarcane, the windings of the great river, the alternations of wind
calm
and
MANNER OF
day a
different
LIVING.
91
before.
charm from
tliat
which went
We meet
losing our
contrary winds,
patience,
and grace
is
mingled
when I saw
my
life
as
much
as possible,
is sufficient
we
regularity in our
manner of
living.
We
air half
an hour, drink a
and go ashore
wind
is
very
My friend, who is an
enthusiastic sports-
man and an
my
We
fields
among
game, or
The temperature,
which
that
is
and pure
My friend
I,
who
my
pistol
on such
game
as
enough to shoot, can at the best but furnigh a few wing fea
thers to clean our pipes.
It
is
92
On
one occasion I
fell
in witli a
company of these
people,
who demanded my
tarboosh, shoes
and shawl, and would have taken them had I not been armed.
In general, we have found the Fellahs very friendly and well
disposed.
Sabah
el
My
around him
as a
the
of a village,
who
follow
him as long
pigeon
The The
certainty of his
;
they cry
fact of
" every
fires,
my
wear-
way.
The
first
day I adopted
thit)
mo
Sidi
usual
"good morning,
Howadji!"
merchant, as the
For
is
this climate
cool,
The turban
thoroughly protects the head against the sun, and shades the
eyes, while
it
much
The broad
the
silk
need
fear.
The
latter disease
may be
avoided by
my
PROGRAMME OF A DAy's
<ind
LIFE.
93
clearer.
In
the invigorating camp-life of California, I have not felt the sensation of health so purely as now.
The
my
me
fast
friend, I
Though the
ihort Theban's flowing- trowsers and embroidered jacket gave the appearance of a strapping Turk,
for his garments, they
too
is
We
come on board
about eleven o'clock, and find our breakfast ready for the table.
dishes are few, but well cooked, and just
desire
what a hungry
man would
^fowls,
the coarse but nourishing bread of the country, and the sweet
we
luxury of a shebook,
Then comes an
and occupy
till
the
noonday heat
and
is
over.
is
Dinner, which
is
five o'clock,
differently arranged,
My friend
Coffee
why Esau
is
first flush
of
$4
We
balm of
and drink
to- its
fulness the
calm and
uni-'iifled,
in jasper
fire.
some minutes
ashy pale-
midst
of which a large
second glow
falls
of a trans-
The palm-groves
;
Scarcely
a sound disturbs the solemn magnificence of the hour. our full-throated Arabs are
against the prow,
it
Even
silent,
and
if
a wave gurgles
river, as if re-
slides softly
buked
We
speak but
" This is
friend,
my
on such an evening
worship."
Speaking of
should confess
my
friend, it is
how much
may
be the secret of
my
complete
It
and the
persons to harmonize
when
at home.
By
this I
mean, that
men
more readily
MY COMRADE.
and confide in each other more
95
No
man
as the com-
panionship of travel.
tional
It
is
often
On the
other
is
mutually enjoyed.
age, in station,
My
companion widely
from
me
in
but to one of
those open, honest and loving natures which are often found in
his native Saxony, he unites a
ciation of
acle,
We harmonize
will
to a mir-
be the sorest
Dang of
my journey.
friend,
My
the
Egyptian atmosphere
so
that
If by this he means
call
Con-
I quite agree with him, and do not blame the Nile for
powers.
its soporific
But
tive to all
acts unconsciously,
and leads our passions and desires into right paths without
seeming to lead them,
healthy
life.
is
vastly strengthened
by
this quiet
and
There
feels
is
Egypt; one
a better
man
without his
To
disappointed ambition
^mistrustful
by betrayed
confidence
^let
me
06
as faithfully
And minutely as
travel in
no resemblance to
Into the neart of a
a barbarous land,
we
carry with us
In no part of Europe or
without un-
America could we be
so thoroughly independent,
We
are cut off from all communication with the great world of
politics,
it
only through
deli-
We
go ashore in the
happy and
It
is
care-free as
Adams
in a
for-
ward
our
lives,
to the
surface.
I do not reproach myself for this passive and sensuI give myself
ous existence.
up
to it unreservedly,
and
if
some
mend me
my
laziness,
my mouth
:
My
me
Hebel
quaint
AUemanic poetry
" Ei Boloh a Leben, jungea Bluat, Desh ish wohl filr a ITiierle guat"
(such a
life,
befits
an animal), but I
tell
him
that the
Nile.
for the
OBSERVATION
VS. DESCRIPTION.
97
my present habits.
An
months are
wrung heart
it
tops outside, the larks singing in the meadows, and the odor of
mimosa
To
travel
and
at the
same
moment.
You
most reluctantly.
the disease, and
shall
make
me
to Siout
98
CHAPTEB
VIII.
UPPER EGYPT.
Calm Mountains and Tombs A Night Adventure In Elthmin Obaracter of the Boatmen Fair Wind PilgrimsEgyptian Agrioulturo- Sngar and Cotton Oriln
SheepArrival
Thebes.
at
Kenneh
we spread
boat of a
us.
New York
some hours
after
The
noifth wind,
the whole of our stay, failed us almost within sight of the port,
My friend
lages.
invil-
We found
but nevertheless always returned to our floating Castle of Indolence, doubly delighted with its home-like cabin
vans.
and lazy
di-
Many
among the
mounds of
faithfully enu-
themselves have
99
On
lage of
we passed
the
vil-
Gow
Near
is
re-
The
strength from the earth appears quite natural, after one has
We
ran the
Aboufayda
has also
its
in form, but
much more
lofty
and imposing.
It
legend
A miraculous
healing diseases.
of the Nile, are pierced with tombs, and the openings are
They
rarely contain
At
the most
Whoever
is
interested
in
Egyptian
antiquities,
visit longer.
Not
who
100
We
lant style,
Ekhmin,
cities in
first
sym-
obelisk, has
now a
A few remnants of
tained
inhabitants of
in
creative
principle
typified
The
with
human
As we
sat
the river.
visit
We
He
them.
could not
tell,
me
of
and try
to procure
an entrance.
The
it
closed,
and
my men battered
We
stumbling, over blocks of marble and granite, under palms eighty feet high, standing clear and silvery in the moonlight.
At
last,
we waked up on
the
whom we
city.
He
replied
is
A NIGHT ADVENTURE.
an Effendi wio has just arrived, and must
to-night
;
101
visit the
moUahs
window above
it.
A woman's voice
we
replied,
and presently
this
entered.
By
time the
as death.
We
steps.
It
was a strangely
inter-
clubs, carried a
we passed through.
and took
vishes
all
My
trusty
Theban walked by
my
side,
^but in vain.
We
was instantly locked behind us, and had barely reached our
vessel,
when the unearthly song of the Moslem and wilder than ever, came to our ears.
priests, louder
The
is
prejudice of the
Mohammedans
Frank dress
injunc-
and
The Prophet's
by few
distilled
fla-
Their conscience
is generally satisfied
with
a pilgrimage to Mecca and the daily performance of the preAll of scribed prayers, though the latter is often neglected.
were very punctual in this respect, spreading their two carpets on the forward deck, and occupying an hour or
my
sailors
to-
lost,
notwith-
102
tian
The people
of
Egypt
in
only rule
fraud.
to use
inexhaustible.
little
A single friendly
I should
much
among
among
Notwithstanding our
men had
a single
we never missed
and especially
We
We
am
satisfied that
start,
we walked
for-
Ekhmin.
and more
They looked
at
made way
for us as
we
EOTPTIAN AGRICULTlrRB.
jsaar.
103
wmd
named
in
Christian
saint,
George.
Like Manfalout,
and two
now covered by
of Osiris.
who had
we chose the
latter alternative.
sight,
By
this time
ing Dendera.
The
route,
Most of
cent.
stroll
flag,
On
we took
a long
through the
of Farshoot, which
is,
Upper Egypt.
is
An
its
excellent
The Nile
its
offers a perpetual
Nubia
to the sea,
the world.
Here, side by
104
the vegetables
The wheat,
which, in November,
green, would in
March be
end of summer.
first re-
claimed from the rank, tufted grass which has taken possession of them, the
wheat
is
bufialoes.
I saw no instance in
was manured.
The
natives,
it is
true,
village is
mud
birds.
The manure
from them
The
fields
saw in Egypt.
Nile, there
is
Near the
village,
which
is
three miles
from the
by Ibrahim
much
own
profit.
thom
were
in full operation, as
we
passed.
At Radamoon, between
whore the
rofmed
.and
Minyeh and
common
coarse sugd-r
made
sent to Cairo.
We made use
and found
that of the
it, to
American manufactories.
The culture of
cotton
The
large
106
we saw
there,
had a
The
plants
About Siout, and Middle and Lower Egypt, we saw many fields of indigo,
is
which
The
only vegetables
we could procure
spinai):e.
The Arabs
them
One
Egypt
is
many
respects
In appearance,
it
is
form and
taste.
The
stalks are
from ten io
when
ripe is cut by
The grain
is
Upper Egypt
coarse
In
would
The
many
who by a
them
106
The sheep
The wool
is
when roughly
s^Dun
and woven
by the Arabs,
like a
ment.
be found,
is
gen-
erally lean,
abundance
is
of sheep.
The
flesh of buffaloes is
too tough, and has too rank a flavor, for Christian stoniachs.
The goats
They have
curving downward
We
had no
difficulty in
sight.
The mode
The
milk
is
tied
up in a goat's
One
of the
are
side,
and propels
it
till
the process
is
completed.
The
but
some heaps of
dirt,
tomb of a
the mountains, which follow the Nile, is here nearly east and
west, as the river
to the eastward
on ap-
proaching Kenneh.
The
KKNNEH.
into bold promontories
107
from tlie main chain, sometimes rise from the water's edge in bluffs many hundred feet in height,
The good
lowed us
fol-
all night,
river.
is cele-
Kenneh, which
lies
an
infe-
on the
Ked
The
town
is large,
offer a single
object of interest.
We
My
friend,
flag of the
Saxe-Coburg
color
was
to
Mohammed,
buy a
was nowhere
to
be found.
He was
finally obliged to
and have
it specially
dyed.
It
came back
the same evening, precisely the color of the Shereef of Mecca's turban.
On
site
is
the
temple of Athor.
village.
It is
now
called
make our
first
in richness
108
Mexican tierra
The
and the
The
was
soft
we looked
MounOut of
a long
and
violet shadows.
this lovely
and the
dyke which
crossed the
our right rolled away to the Desert in shining billows, and the
fresh west- wind wrapped us in a bath of intoxicating odors.
In
the midst of this green and peaceful plain rose the earthy
mounds
We galloped
our
little
among which
number of Arabs
temple.
and sur-
mounted by a
winged globe
a hundred
unsculptured,
is
109
its height,
and that
was as
far
below as the
scrolls of
The
six columns I
all
had seen
cover-
elaborate sculpture and exhibiting traces of the brilliant coloring which they once possessed.
The
entire temple,
which
is
in
Mohammed
Ali,
and as
chambers, as well as
it is
consid-
art.
I find
my pen
at fault,
when I attempt
The twenty-four
is
The dim
light,
admitted through the half closed front, which faces the north,
spreads a mysterious gio^m around these mighty shafts, crown-
still
On
the
the
Orus.
spangled with
The
sculptures
are
all in
and there
is
no stone
in the temple
without them.
I
felt
110
simple and sublime architectural style with the utmost elaboration of ornament.
first
My
warm on my
view of the
Roman Forum,
My
he had
Though such
agreeable,
it
after a stay of
two hours, we
halls, tinder
to
break
The
six beautiful
columns, of smaller proportions, and lighted by a square aperture in the solid roof.
On
chambers connected
the sanctuary and
is
We
The temple
is
is
devoted to
everywhere seen,
the dark stair
of
Even
up which
is
symbolical figures.
stiffness
little
of that grotesque
the execution
and
shade, as to resemble, at a
painting.
interest, as
distance, a
monoohiomatie
little
The
Ill
mode of decoration.
whose
portrait,
may
still
be
The
soft,
voluptuous outline
is still sufficient
her renown.
The
The
foreis
head and nose approach the Greek standard, but the mouth
delicately curved,
Were
face colored with a pale olive hue, through which should blush a
faint, rosy tinge, lighted
Around
mounds of the
ancient
in-
visit.
Behind
it,
stretches the
The
silence
would
be
much
is
usual in the
Arab
temple, nearly
whelmed in the
mammeisi, or
who was
member
At
sunset,
112
Thebes.
light,
with a
the stream.
ican flag,
My
my
friend,
Mr. Degen, of
New
York,
who, with his lady and two American and English gentlemen,
Both boats
in-
made
first
Germany I had
For the
space of three hours I forgot Thebes and the north wind, but
sails
of the Cleopatra,
off like
a sea-gull.
am
sure fhe
to
my
ABKIVAL AT THEBES,
113
CHAPTER
THEBES
ikTri
I'ftl
IX.
at
Thebes
Ground-Plan
of
GuidesThe Temple
t'he Eaccs of
Grandliither of
BankTombs Belzoni's Tomb Men Yandalism of Antiquarians Bruce's Tomb Memnon ^The SesostrisThe Head of Amunoph The Colossi of the Plain
Eemains
Cross to the "Western
"We
Goorneh Valley
of the- Kings'
tian
The Statue of KemesesThe MemnoniumBeauty of EgypMore Scrambles among the TombsThe Bats of the AssasseefMedee net Abou Sculptured HistoriesThe Great Court of the Temple "We return to
Meranonian ilusic
Art
Lusor.
On
my
friend and
The
"wind "was
still
blo"wing,
and I
have
Achmet
to
the matter.
"
We
We
solid
The
We
looked on the
my
friend,
enough
for to-night.
114
Se we lehjirned to
our cabin, closed the blinds, and arranged our pLna for best
seeing,
Before commencing
my
recital, let
me
attei'dpt to give
an
The
cou'Hie of the
Nile
here nearly north, dividing the site of the ancient city into
On
approaching
it
marks the
division.
This mountain, a
Nearly the
among which
The
lies
first
fur-
mountain,
is
the
Memnonium,
or tem-
Remeses the Great, between which and the Nile the two Memnonian colossi are seated on the plain. Nearly two miles
ple of
to the south of this is the great
met with,
still
further be-
yond.
On
the temple of
Kamak, about
half a mile
Luxor
is
di
ectly on the
THE WESTERN BANK.
115
before
it,
reaching the isolated range, whose three conical peaks are the
river.
but
fail to
and majestic
outlines, to in-
seen.
brance of
its ruins.
At
sunrise
we crossed
to the western
It
is
advisable to
for the
last.
objects in
Thebes are
fills
full
of interest
when seen
first,
one's thoughts
who
England and
tall,
Italy.
Our
guide, old
lean gray-beard,
long brown
robe,
We
choosing two of the most promising, set off on a stirring gallop for the temple of
and the
Amun,
116
the Theban Jupiter, by Osirei and his son, Remeses the Great, the supposed Sesostris, nearly fourteen hundred years before
the Christian era.
It is small,
its
ruins,
a remnant of
pylons in
The two
entirely disappeared.
The
portico is supported
by a
single
other, nor
is
What
is
most singular,
which
is
the
also ob-
We
tried to
this,
One
seeks no proportion
Druid
stones.
All
Tho
effect
is
of a similar
several
than for
its
own
sake.
Moloolc, the
cliffs
The
of
we advancby
preci-
and
and pinnacles.
The bottom
left
is filled
with huge
BKLZONIS TOMB.
hi this valley,
llY
of great extent
and
sculptures.
Some have
been
filled
rains which visit this region, while a few are too small and
plain to need visiting.
them
all
in.
very convenient
I visited ten
to those
who use
work on Egypt as a
guide.
who complained
four or
five.
the same in
all,
but
The
I.,
first
we entered was
discovered by Belzoni.
From
pit,
which Belzoni
filled.
This pit
tomb surpasses
all others.
The
received into
covered with
first
fine
drawn
colors.
The
brilliant,
but
In the furthest
unfinished, the
118
Some
of
them have the loose and unwhich one sees the bold
Many
I was
dif-
The physical
peculiarities of the
Persian, the
Jew and
marked
ai^
perfect coun-
terparts of those I
New
is
York.
So
little
a strong
argument in favor of the new ethnological theory of the separate origin of different races.
Whatever
objections
may be
urged against
terially
we must
Man upon
the earth
many thousands
of years in
The
burial-vault,
twenty in breadth and height, with four massive pillars forming a corridor on one side.
torches, the
which
ceiling,
on the
The
pillars
and walls of the vault glowed with the vivid variety of their colors, and the general effect was unspeakably rich and gorgeous.
BEUCES TOMB.
than the Medes and Persians.
Belzoni carried
off
119
the sarco-
by
and appropriating
Museum
at Berlin.
At
and shameless
Who
is set
scent,
niches,
The
illustrations in these
of the
Ancient Egyptians.
They
the preparation of fowls for the table, the kneading and baking of bread
and
the kitchen.
employed
cutting dourra,
One room
filled
base of the walls would not be out of place in the most elegant
modern drawing-room.
The
120
are seen, playing the harp in the presence of the King, whenca
this is
The
pillars of
we
visited,
of the gods
and serious
aspect,
and
lips,
The absurdity
and a blue-faced
Isis,
from a
The
delicacy
and precision
in intaglio, filled
III.,
me with astonishment.
Only the
In
apparently
sunken in the
terns.
plaster, while it
was yet
fresh,
by prepared pat-
The
latter
method accounts
most marvellous
finished
terns,
skill
In some un-
where the outlines of the figures were blunt and the grain
The family
They
likeness in the
monarchs
is also
them
same
ly of the
age,
or the
freshness of youth
first
and the
full vigor of
The
Amunoph
AN ANCIENT TOMB.
121
is
The tomb
of
Memnon,
all,
as
it
in its proportions,
as symmetri-
On
several inscriptions of
Greek
tourists,
who
Americans nowadays.
The huge
granite sarcophagus in
is
mummy
was deposited,
broken, as are
This
is
the
tomb of Osirei
in the valley.
I.,
I visited
my
my
back
another hole,
defaced the walls, but the figures were as perfect and the color-
first
executed.
an immense sarcophagus, of a
the massive
lid,
and
lay beside
it.
The
them,
it.
me
dumb
my-
We rode
Atin-Ee.
to the
Western Valley, a
still
glen, containing
We
sages and chambers and in some places deep pits, along the
122
tomb
As we
step*,
after
making a
The words
my mouth
feet below.
bruises.
These
immense
overlook the
of vanished
Thebes and assert the grandeur of which they and Karnak are
the most striking remains.
III.,
They were
erected
by Amunoph
full,
round,
and thighs
which we
do not
still
Amunoph.
full lips,
art.
In
overpowered the
art.
artist,
and
it
was
meet that
123
Modern
Memnon now sounds at all hours of the day, and at the command of all travellers who pay an Arab five piastres to climb
into his lap.
We
scaral)ei,
who
threw
off his
cracks of the polished granite, and soon hailed us with " Sa-
statue.
There
is
a certain stone
on Memnon's
metallic ring.
lap, which,
when sharply
Behind
it is
An
On 'the way
colossi,
The
enor-
mous substructions of
the temple
its col-
sufficiently excavated to
crowd of troublesome
all
kinds fresh
the
Memnonium.
This
edifice,
the temple-palace of
is
It is
The grand
its
stone py-
former avenue of
124
sphinxes has been half levelled by the fury of the Persian conquerors, and the colossal granite statue of Remesers, in the first
now
lies in
its
Mere dimensions
immense
when
dred tons.
How
poor and
trifling
appear the
modem
statues
which we
call colossal,
this,
one of whose
modern
art,
when
The
Though much
still
There are no
to
The
and
is
the
monoliths of Aboo-Simbel.
nution of its
size.
The Memnonium
differs
by the
know
of nothing so exquisite
a double row
of
in height
and twenty-three
in circumblos-
ference,
soms of the
One must
see
them
to
comprehend how
THE MEMNONIUM.
this simple form,
125
sweetness and tender-
whose expression
is all
is
lumnar stem.
On either
rows of Osiride
on his
first
is often
new laws
feeling teUs
him they
are true,
We waited
tals of the to exhale a
till
fell
on the capi-
we rode home.
All night we
No
many
Our
morning
shore.
We
Arab
tomb
126
The
earth
is filled
is
Europeans
whom
they imitate.
and
fleshless legs,
my
initials
monuments.
The
first
desire to
visit another.
is
Its outer
the moimtain.
ink,
We groped
our
way between
The
-svalls
as black as
iand yawned
As we
like thunder,
by the
light,
at our feet.
We
but on reach-
vfings
My friend
seen that of
him
to
we had
Amunoph.
I followed the
who enticed me by
a great many
MBDBENET ABOU
snakelike holes, and
THE PYLON.
127
when he was
who dragged
me
in
heels.
is
among which
stands, and
by which
partially buried.
The
the
he approaches.
You first
The
and
Here was
would
architects
and then
them in a plain
wall, rising to
shafts is not
by the wall
by the
On
hanging
What
it-
its size,
now
endears
you by
its
beauty.
in whose ruins I
had expected
me
which
is
We
devoted
128
which follow the pylon, and to the lodges of the main temple,
standing beside them like watch-towers, three stories in height.
III. rose
nnbumt
bricks,
and
monarch in
by two
We followed the
The
Kemeses
is
him.
Here we
him
there,
with
side,
he
sets out
His
going
on below.
One
of
who
After
we
monarch reposing on
posit before
of the slaughtered,
present to him
Again, he
is repre-
Amun,
the The-
129
cherished and chosen,
my
make war on
On
Their faces
is
cold
itself.
We
slid
down the
piles of
We
around which
ran a colonnade of
On
papyrus blossom.
doorways,
paint,
is
The
with
lie
columns in
heaps of rubbish.
The
is totally differ-
proportion to
its
it
lightness of the
Memnonium and
Dendera.
I
may
no single epithet
suffi-
ces to describe
6*
130
Thebes
two
to
At sunset we took
cross-
who wished
accompany
me
to
Khartoum, and
131
CHAPTEE
Tho Dancing
Girls of Egypt
X.
tha
Apple-BlossomThe Beautiful
BembaThe
Hall
Performance
of
to
the Apple
Karnak
View
Eide
oi the
EuinsThe Great
of PillarsBedouin
to Thebes.
Diversions A Night
Two
In addition
to the natural
and exciting
repressed, if
we
could,
we puzzled ourselves
Egyptian
faith.
sleep-
less nights,
Our mental
we
felt severely
opposite character.
may
was most
effectual,
philo-
sophical principles.
who had
152
JOURNET
'lO
CENTRAL AFRICA.
Our
ral's
procured a large
pillars of
New-York
society,
and as
it
was, I
can think of some very good friends who will condemn our
proceeding as indiscreet, and unworthy the serious aims of
travel.
As
I have no apology to
make
to myself, I
first
need make
is
end of travel
About
guide, the rais of our vessel, and our favorite sailor, Ali,
we
set
I ever saw.
on
ever,
He
columns of Luxor.
and ascended a
bers.
It
by
fifteen wide,
floor rest-
The
Our
boat-lanterns
of oiled paper were already suspended from the roof, and a few
candles, stuck in
empty
bottles,
We
A NIGHT-SCENE IN LUXOR.
133
We seated
ourselves upon
it,
with legs
left,
right, ready to
and a
Our
company amounted
to
On
They
then sat down, drank each a small glass of arakee, and while
the
som.
The
first
was of medium
size,
features.
under which a
one of her
Her
134
that
it
terns
The
like a
Among
the
was one named Bemba, who was almost the only really
beautiful Egyptian
large,
woman
I ever saw.
;
Her
features were
and her
hung
mass
was gathered
pearls,
Her
and the
hM,
that
saw
we
air in the
the hair
was
lift
her eyes as
sera''"'
if first
aware
huona
the
only Italian
with
Arab
voice is capable.
the
The Orange-
THE DANCE.
135
both hands being lifted above the head, while the jingling bits
of metal on their shawls and two miniature cymbals of brass,
fastened to the
sic.
finger,
As
in
Frank
thea-
stormy towards
ed with
it,
its close,
and I expected
Almehs
with their
lifted
little
cym-
bals,
figures occasionally
reminded
me
of the dancing
nymphs
of
Greek
sculpture.
The
they hung in the air with the head bent forward, one foot
thrown behind, and both arms extended above the head, they
were drawn on the background of the dark
hall, like
forms
filled
a second time.
136
" taih
face
good indeed
beamed
The
circle of
white tur-
baned heads
in
who
I shall never
for-
get the wild, fantastic picture we saw that night in the ruins
of Luxor.
far better.
barbaric,
She was
lithe as
ther,
More
till
than once she sank slowly back, bending her knees forward,
her head and shoulders touched the
flash,
floor,
shot flying into the air, her foot alighting in exact time
the hips to the shoulders, and once I thought that, like Lamia,
she was about to resume her ancient shape, and slip out of
sight through
walls.
One
tones,
of the
dances was a sort of pantomime, which she and Bakhita accompanied with their voices
which
movements.
"I
am
my
family and
my
THE APPI.E-BLOSSOM.
friends are all dead
then, to me, and be
137
Come,
my
me."
Her
donment of
love.
swayed to and
back and
the last line of the chorus, and bringing her hands to her fore-
is
an-
movement expressed a
delirious joy.
for
We
on
the divan.
Almehs received
their fees
and
off rejoicing,
and we
left
small, slender head and keen eye, and soon accustomed myself
and broad
shovel-stirrups.
village,
The temple
and only the
of
Luxor
is
is
free
from
vile excrescences.
For
Memnonium, although
of
much grander
proportions.
built
Its plan
by only
Amuuoph IIL
or, to
138
Sesostris and
Memnon it
The
ig
unstndied
sanc-
tourist,
protected by the
and threatens
finally to
undermine Luxor as
dermined the temples of Antseopolis and Antinoe, what were once the sacred chambers, but the
tures were covered with
filth,
pillars
and
sculpin,
around and upon them, like the clay nests of the cliff-sparrow.
The
tico, as well as
the portico
itself,
an idea of their
ar-
and
asses' stalls.
The
pillars are
now employed
as drying-
fuel.
is
They
still
of sandstone, and rising high above the miserable dwellings of the village, are visible from every part of the plain of Thebes.
We
is
no more grateful
re-
freshment.
He
was endeavoring
of
its
Pasha
to
it for
the
time
AN EGYPTIAN SCHOOL.
139
it,
I should
certainly
make
.despotic use of
in tearing
down
some dozens of
villages
in
exhuming what
Tear down
Roman
level
Cyclopean walls
for-
They imscribbled
with Arabic characters, for our inspection, and demanded backsheesh for their proficiency.
The
victories of
the towers of the pylon, but his colossi, solid figures of granite,
which
faced.
sit
The lonely
left
which stands a
little
in advance,
on the
hand,
is
more
From
and a
half.
modern
Arab road
And now we
of camels, donkeys,
spears,
art.
Except a
soil,
the
a
as
desolate as if
it
human
dwelling,
mud
140
is
As yon
been
Though
The avenue
final-
by one
Passing through
this,
Remesides.
my friend
" Tddl
was measuring
it
certainly
much
less
than I expect.
if
minhenneef"
reading
my
mind, and
me up
north.
Had
all
or had the earth suddenly heaved out of her breast the remains
of the glorious temple ?
From
I had seen
portico,
it
in the distance
and an
Whence
this
than a temple
pylon
after pylon,
as silently
amid the accumulated rubbish of nearly four thousand years, and the sunshine threw its yellow lustre as serenely over the
KARNAK.
despoiled, sanctuaries, as if it
141
of the ruins before us, from west to east, was twelve hundred
feet,
total circumference of
Karnak, including
its
numerous
pylse, or
gateways,
is
We
of the
propylon
^pyramidal masses of
solid stone
and twenty-nine feet in length, and the one which is least ruined,
is
a tablet
Egyptian temples.
court,
We
immense
on each
side, connecting it
first.
colonnade
all
fell,
Two
still
we looked down
into the
I knew
knew the
number and
this account of it
and afterwards
visit
Karnak
for themselves.
It is the great
142
came upon me
pillars
like a flood.
Crushing as
In
and
clear,
On
each side of the main aisle are seven other rows of columns
in all
each of which
is
about
They have
In the
eflbrts of
them, two have been hurled from their places and thrown
against the neighboring ones, where they
still lean,
as if
weary
I walked alone
its
through this
hall, trying to
unutterable
and
finally
succeeded in looking on
its
Kamak
commensurate with
sublime repose
but not by
My ride
Kamak.
The
little
down sand-heaps;
full
lard.
The
guide's eyes
sparkled when I
BEDOUIN DIVERSIONS.
proposed a race.
143
We
left
my
My
Away we
Arab
we met.
my
content him, so
we had a
The
beach of Lusor.
was a
he raced mere-
and so did
I.
The same
gallant
for
me
at night.
visiting
It
was
Karnak
I,
my pistols
in
my
air,
moons.
It was a
We
Here we
pillars.
There was no
to compre-
who seemed
hend
my
wish,
moved behind me
as softly as a shadow,
and
comprehend
the rents in
;
Karnak.
the frag-
lips of the
144
desolation of the courts, but every pillar and obelisk, pylon and
propylon
is
is glorified
by the moonlight.
The
soul of
Kamak
to
"I am
lama
shall
and I
I climbed to the
roof,
have remained
on
all night,
my hands
arri-
my
knees,
by two
We
Luxor.
and catching
as
it fell,
delighted with
my
tain
and
sailors all
ready and
my friend
left
deck.
Thebes.
145
CHAPTER
The Temple of Hermontis Esneh and
XI,
Temple
The Governor
^El
Kab by Torch-
Nubia Change
^A MirageArrival at Assouan.
in-
Our
We left Luxor
ancient Hermontis,
hiUs.
We left
off to
our
the
men
and wandered
who
The
is
here represented as
chambers,
now used
ed only for the priesthood of the temple, and are not repeated,
as are those of other temples, in the halls open to the public.
from
all
charmed hs by the
146
No
and
The
In
it is
narrow, and
lifts
the pon-
beam
of the capital.
tis
that I scarcely
knew whether
or a defect.
tecture,
employed
in
modern
archi-
it
by our
and dar-
We reached
main
all
night, but
were obliged to
re-
their bread.
We
The
portico of the
it
resembles in design,
is
exceedingly beautiful.
Each of
its
impossible to
The designs
but the
The building
dates
its
We
devoted
all
soon entangled.
Effendi, a most
EL KAB BY TORCHLIGHT.
pie,
147
all
could
To him
things in
He
asked
whom
it
had been
erected.
me how On
by
we
The
took place in
salutations,
and
my
we managed to
the ancient
exchange
all
The day
we reached El Kab,
curious in
Egypt.
We
to the
entrances of the
these,
sepulchres.
of the Egyptians.
The owner
of the
tomb and
his wife
a red
man and
a yellow
woman
delighted guests.
presented
In other compartments,
all
wonderful
fidelity.
So
little
Modern
Egypt.
148
lairs
The
of
mounds
It is in an
The
surrounded by a colonnade.
of the
temple, buried nearly to the tops of its pillars, faced us, and
must have
pro-
The
interior is totally
the roof.
the quarries of
Silsileh,
The
river
not more than three hundred yards broad, and the approach
this rocky gateway,
to
after so
many weeks
of level alluvial
the huge blocks were cut, to build the temples and shape the
colossi of Thebes.
river,
They
lie
be seen.
The
stone
is
of the
14J,
in the
temple to
Little
now remains
Savak, the crocodile-headed god, the deity of Ombos, but double portico, supported by thirteen
waist-deep in the sands.
pillars,
buried nearlj
The aspect of
shore,
whUe
the stealthy
sadly touching.
We lingered
its
Two such
away, a
human hand
is
As we sailed
air.
We
two weeks.
warm
;
for
com-
stood at 40
the Arabs
At noon
shade.
As we
of black sand-
narrow
on either
side.
The Arabs
are
160
darker and show the blood of the desert tribes in their featniep.
They
are,
however,
exceedingly friendly.
The day
before
reaching Assouan,
we walked ahead
We had a retinue
up the
we
shot.
The
successful one
a face sparkling with delight, and kissed the bird and touched
it to his
forehead as he gave
it
to us.
As we were
resting
my
we had
not
One
ing his wish from the word "shebook," instantly ran off and
who owned
which he
He
brought the
man
my friend.
Two
least sign
we
"that
is
no water
exclaimed
^that is
(a river of the
Devil).
of a
Moslem
hill
noon
finally
We now beheld
beyond
cliffs
we had been
^which
^with
161
the heart
My pathway was
hills, into
The
was
whose adytum
was
still
far in advance,
Ethiopia.
While
my
thirst of adventure
me
as the wind of
Arab
me
the
first
au-
Nor was
cheering
Achmet would
must perforce
pletely at the
act as dragoman.
My friend
much
faith,
to learn, several
firmed
it
152
CHAPTER
An Oificial
Visit
XII.
Trip to PhilaBLinant
Where
Of dark-red colonnades."
MaoauIiAT.
We
Assou
if
there
He
we were occupied
Governor
when Achmet
called to us
" The
coming."
;
We had no time
ants,
a seat on
my
divan.
stout, broad-
flat nose.
He
cloth,
They
saluted us
by touching
their handi
THE GOVEENOE's
to the lips
VISIT,
153
in similar
manner,
in-
and we
quired after
his.
my
letter,
pied in reading
and
pipes.
Luckily,
we had
I waited
some
trepidation, for I
two Turkish, finjans, and a Frank cup was out of the question.
skilful servant.
He
presented the
cups at such intervals that one was sure to be empty while the
other was
full,
and
artfully
of coffee,
effect
of
me
phantine.
This
is
a small but
fertile island,
whose granite
It once
was cover-
all
Amun, both
and a
The southern
part
is
en-
we enjoyed
The bed of
isles of
beyond the
city.
Scattered over
them were
7*
^5^
A thin
palm
it,
The
island is inhabited
or
thirty children, of
from
^the
boys entiregirdle,
narrow leathern
around the
loins
surrounded
us, crying
"haclcsheesh/" and
pottery.
and fragments of
Some
and
ex-
pression of sensuality.
We
and
tried to
island
we had a
retinue of
fifty
me and
had a
As we
left,
they gathered
five
para
scramble and a
we
lost sight of
them.
visited Philae.
We
in its bleakness
and ruggedness.
gravel, and
on both sides the dark rocks were piled in a thousand wonderful combinations.
On
is
no appearance of
LINANT BEY.
1^5
tive strata of
to that of
Northern
Lapland.
The
in different climates,
al-
Dr.
Kane
structure which he
had
just^
At
the termination
of the portage is a
Nubian
We rode
was
there,
me
the vessel he
had
engaged for
me
best to be had.
for the trip
The
fifty piastres
about
^besides
Achmet
mand
deli-
There was a
in
tall
gentleman, in the
official
Egyptian costume,
Achmet
said he
was a French
M.
Linant, or Linant
his connection
in Ethic-
is
so well
known through
156
pia.
He
The
latter
veiled.
M. Linant
tall,
fifty
years of
his
age.
He
who had
As
we saw
the
hundred
feet,
taking in
down the
steep.
The
current in
we could make no
head-
much
labor
more
The
four lofty
towers of the two pylons, the side corridors of pillars and the
exterior walls of the temple
proaching the island, the green turf of whose banks and the
grouping of
its
mud
village
Phite
is
the
its lustre.
The
setting is nevertheless
The basin
the
hem
157
Egypt
it
and
was
built
by various
monarchs, and
very irregular in
it
its
plan.
Instead of pre-
with so
is
much
From
its locality, it
ilmost
its
original condition.
Chris-
its
first
brilliancy
The double
corridor of thirty-
end of the
island,
last erected
stages of completion.
to
looking back four thousand years, that Philse seems but of yesterday.
of the Middle
its
Ages
are like
We
examined the
interior
The
and painted in
and
brilliant colors.
They
represent Isis and Osiris, with their offspring, the god Horus,
in Pliilse.
In
168
one place Isis
is
a group
The gods
even beautiful, and the emblems by which they are surrounded, are
taste.
Those friends
who point
to
Egypt
as a proof of what
The only
as far
is
no evidence in
all the
is
Congo and
Ashantee.
is
by
screens of stone.
The
same ex-
quisite
in
The
have been added, which would have made the structure as perfect as it is unique.
The square
it
a grace or a defect.
thing, however,
which certainly did give a grace to the building, and that was
"
BACKSHEKSH
"
!
159
our breakfast,
wliicli
we
made
Theban
by a crowd
of silent Arabs.
They contemplated
we
where two
door of a
pillars of
mud
hut,
is
lucky in
The
our ears since leaving Assouan, and when we were again salut-
ed with
it,
ceased to be a virtue.
stick of
My friend
my
demand
it.
The word
is in
As
it
was impos-
avoid hearing
it,
as
began the
cry.
my
men
to
me, saying
"If you
We walked
There
is
down
and climbed
rapid
is
the
principal
nothing like a
little
fall,
attended with
peril.
The bed
of the Nile
is filled
with
160
granite masses,
foams, and I can imagine that the descent must be very exciting,
St.
though perhaps
less so
Lawrence.
The
One
third of the
money
is
divided among
the captains," and the remainder falls to the portion of the men.
On
we
q^uarries of
Assouan.
They
lie
Its color
fine
and
its
grain
is
very
and nearly as
feet long
phyry.
An
obelisk, one
still
hundred
and twelve
lies
doned on account of a
were afterward
summit.
it
Grooves
purpose of separating
into blocks,
but for some reason or other the design was not carried out.
plainly to be
frac-
first
ture, after
wooden wedges.
sockets,
We
Every
161
friend for Cairo
Nile,
my
and I
for the
Gov-
him
to have
my
arrival,
my own
letters to
my
friends were
fin-
my
Nubian
some
village,
where
my
Our handaccompany
sailor, Ali,
me, that I
finally
already on duty.
was going
formed me,
to Soudan,
all
in-
The Amer-
and white
^green
from
the Governor,
Korosko, and we
appetite.
we had no
the good
large mainstern-sail,
its
large oais
his post
;
was at
parted, as two
men seldom
part,
who were
I goaded
my
don-
my
afloat
CHAPTER
Solitary Travel
at
Xlli.
We
rent
passed to the west of the island of Biggeh, where the curis less
rapid,
away from
Philse.
inclosed
the river, and the solitude of the shores, broken only by the
creaking of an occasional salcia, or irrigating wheel,
feel keenly the loneliness of
made me
my
situation.
KUBIAN SCENERY.
cooked in different styles, for dinner
his skill,
163 an earnest of
^partly as
my want
of spirits.
But the
fra-
grant pipe which followed dinner was the true promoter of patience,
key
of.
Content."
My
craft,
Achmet soon
to obviate the
my
bow
all
day, singing
" as
we
lazily
ascended the
river.
Those who do not go beyond Thebes are only half acquainted with the Nile.
Above Esneh,
it is
after
the
first
broken and rocky ranges, through the gaps in which the winds
of the Desert have spilled
pale, beautiful
its
sands.
There
is
monotony of
color,
The
piles of
on their
crests,
iii
an
164
hand
a glowing brown ;
On
the-
western bank they are lower ; and the sand of that vast
over their shoulders and poured long drifts and rUls even
to the water.
In color
tint,
it is
ing a salmon
and
its
glow
The
arable land is a
in breadth on
in the
count.
mean
The
coming to maturity,
after
which they produce dates for seven years, and then gradually
decay.
They
cially produced.
patches of dour-
which
is
all
the
fill-
These are
and then
continued
The process
sakias
is
The
ARRIVAL AT KOROSKO.
165
With
and
of their earnings.
inhabited by the
Kenoos
tribe,
of their own.
They and
They
(nearly ec[uivalent to
In
less
my
them very
friendly,
and much
about Assouan.
The northern
part of Nubia
is
rich in
Egyptian remains,
th'e
temples
looked at
me
invitingly
Near Dendoor
dis-
I was
life,
but I fancied
Achmet
unknown
region to him.
my
In
ernor,
less
visit
Moussa
A caravan
in readiness
had
just arrived
166
had
left for
Khartoum
in his
Abou-Mohammed, a
chief of the
lay,
Ababdeh
tribe,
my road
arrangement for
my
my
and
my
first
cy received
me
cordially,
tall,
He
an Ababin a great
and a fine,
fierce eye.
hung down
number of little
twists,
Greek
an Ajax or a Diomed.
ths
number of camels
we
should
167
the
Government
to
ninety
and
fifty cents)
each,
El Mekheyref, the
of four-
teen days.
all
other expenses, except the hire of the guide, whose fee was
that of a camel
route,
ninety
piastres.
pay according to the weight of their loads, and frequentand twenty to one hundred and
fifty
Soon
after returning to
my
tent, I
was again
visited
by the
my
I therefore presented
or three pounds of
in
a way that
made
also
me
Shekh Abou-Mohammed
my
would not be
sufficient,
be purchased in
Korosko, loaned
to
me
my
agreeing
him
he
tribe,
with
were pre-
me as
the camel-drivers.
money
(for
and
One
mained
168
giraflfes,
which
They were
in
The
officer
me
that they
made frequent
Four
to As-
them
souan, and the graceful creatures stood on the bank, with their
dalte-trees,
looking
trembling
with
fear,
There was a small tent on the bank, pitched not far from
mine.
Its occupant, a one-eyed, olive-faced
to
young man, in
pay me a
visit,
He
when I
left.
He was
I ever met.
He
told
me
Mek
(king) of
Shendy
The son
of the
^the
same
fierce
ORIENTAL COSTUMK.
169
soldiers
^was also in
office
me
He
held some
under Government, which made him responsible for the security of travellers
my
arrangements.
He
was a
strik-
The
pare them
number
to last us
The fowls
station,
worked
faith
my
I was already
accustomed to the turban and shawl around the waist, and the
addition of a light silk sidree, or
shirt,
is
tume.
most
changes of temperature.
The
even less
kilt,
The
turbafv
170
and im-
my
capote,
It
was a splendid
Not a blade
of the
paln-.-
ancholy drone of sakias along the river, and the cry of the
jackal
among the
to
hills.
home, endeared
its eldest
me
human
calm atmosphere.
Now
I was to
where I should
Would
it still
give
me
of soul ?
Achmet," said I
to the
not far
tries
off,
we
^have
you no
fear ? "
"
You remember,
master," he an-
Cairo on a lucky day, and why should I things are in the hands }f Allah ? "
we
left
CHAPTER
The Curve of the
Nile
XIV.
Camel-driverB
Day
in the Desert
again.
"Ho
sees the snake-like caravan crawl O'er the edge of the Desert, black and small. And nearer and nearer, till, one by on^ He can count its camels in the sun." ^Lowell.
A GLANCE
journey.
at the
map
my
Desert
The
Nile, at
Korosko
(which is in lat.
22 SS^,
to the west,
172
course is
The termini of
this
immense
by
About
is
Wadi
Haifa,
the
The
river,
is
so
broken by rapids, that vessels can only pass during the inundation,
difficulty
and danger.
The
exi-
The
distance be-
river, is
it
is,
more than
according to
my reckoning,
The
Korosko.
It is the
but
is
now almost
It lies through
acin-
The same
:
traveller
"
is
On
which
situated midway,
and
as
[near Korosko].
neither trees nor
A great
that
camels are
much
distressed for food, and passengers are obligto dress their meals."
to carry
173
On
'
were
filled
into
first
time.
My
little cara-
As
was put in motion, the Governor and Shekh Abou-Mohama safe journey and the protection of Allah,
miserable hamlet of Korosko, turned a corner
med wished me
We passed- the
minutes
Thence-
forth, for
many
my
Bisharees added
another camel for their own supplies, and two Nubians, mount.ed
The
first
among rugged
hills,
system or direction.
They were of
jet
were
filled
many
places
of hard, black
me
one of the
size of
rifle-bullet,
made
my
first
camp
by
cama
tent.
174
One
sits
on
a very lofty seat, with his feet crossed over the animal's shoulders or resting on his neck.
The body
is
and
power of equilibrium
is
cream
test
:
and so even a
gait, that it
Arab
that
is,
while go-
I found a great
My
trowsera
many
different
day was
sufficient to
is
The
rising
and kneeling
of the animal
hazardous at
trick of
soon learned.
The
many
it
to
My caravan was
the
The
guide,
The
Nubian Desert,
burden camels, which they urged along with the cry of "
ho
I
shrill
THE CAMEL-DRIVERS AND THEIR HAIR,
refrain of
175
which was
"
"
sus-
ly
had
in the morning,
of their
enormous heads
drawn
hung over
with suet, and looked as if they had slept in a hard frost, until
the heat had melted the
fat.
"
You
speak truth
it is
very beauti-
Through the
central
arrangement.
with a brandished sword and turning around once before coming down.
We
Shekh
He
nickname of
Wiz
(wild goose),
all
by which he was
thenceforth called.
They were
distance from the road to say their prayers, at the usual hours,
1V6
On
black
Gates."
we passed through
a gorge in the
hills,
disorder, were
The narrow
road passes from one plain to another, gave rise to the name.
The mountains
Towards
One
of the Nubians
who was
with us, pointed out a spot where he was obliged to climb the
rocks, the previous stmimer, to avoid being drowned.
During
the heavy tropical rains which sometimes fall here, the hun-
dreds of pyramidal hills pour down such floods that the sand
cannot immediately drink them up, and the valleys are turned
into
lakes.
The man
down the
clefts
In sumin
strewn with bones and carcasses, and I frequently counted twenty dead camels within a stone's throw.
are seen on all the spurs of the hills, as landmarks for caravans, have
become
useless, since
My
guide,
who was a
great believer in
and
devils, said
that formerly
thirst, all of
many
My
AN UNEXPECTED
VISIT.
177
I was sitting in
my
tent,
outside,
and a strange
It
late
aiia
wahed Ingleez
(I
am an Englishman).
a journey to Khar-
He was
only
water-skin
He had
travelled nearly day and night since leaving Berber, and would
finish the
distance of
He
me, and then pushed onward through " The Grates " towards
the Nile.
Ffir,
It
had been
Arab,
fell sick,
baggage and
all speed.
making
for
England with
He
all the
of his plans
is
much
to be regretted.
third day,
we passed the
last of the
Ma
(Eiver without
The gateway
where
it is
side,
broken by
As wo
my
guide,
in advance,
178
little
He
sat
As
I came up he informed
for the
me
first
and camel-men.
asked.
here.
if
"
Then you
and be buried
to pay."
As
mound he had
heap-
I gave the
men
He
then plucked up the bones and threw them away, and restored
the sand to its original level*
The Bdhr
hot sun.
of blue water.
lela
Ma spread out
About a mile
margin,
and
its
smooth surface
beyond.
and appears
Nubia
top of the mountain called Akabet el Bcnat, the Rocks of the Girls.
Hero
the Arabs
singular
who
mode
Akabet
el
if it is refused,
tomb, and then placing a stone at each of the extremities, they apprise the traveller that his
tomb
is
made meaning,
;
that henceforward,
Most per-
pay a
trifling contribution,
made
be-
lYQ
supposed
to the
Eed
its
Sea.
It
may have
been
bed at Assouan
and Kalabshee.
A geological Ma extends
Beyond
Bahr
hcla
unusually
fine
and even
grain.
who
travel
by
night.
Near one
of
an opportunity of reviving
my
The guide
assured
sees
me
them when he
On
forth,
which
first
I saw
it
phenomena.
It
appears on all sides, except that directly opposite to the sun, but
rarely before nine a. m. or after three
p. m.
The
color of the
is
apparent water
is
a good
test to
distinguish
from
real water,
which
is invari-
180
fills
Where
it
it
extends
and
then becomes
an
with
its
reflected
image joined to
base to base.
I frequently saw,
The waves
You
There
is
a grayish
lm
is
naked sand.
What you
was, that
it
was actually a
sky upon
a stratum of heated
air,
life
No
matter
how warm
cool,
The tempera2
p.
50 55
at 6 a. m. to
8085 at
m.
In
my
case.
Nature seemed
to
make a
special provision
Igl
85
that of
my
skin rose,
at last I
It
was a peculiar
My
face,
heat radiated from the sand, and the keen morning wind, could
not accommodate
itself to so
much
The
more than
once,
and I was
dromedary
obliged to rub
I mounted
my
until,
and burning,
partridge.
it
I soon
fell
during
all
my
became
monotonous.
my
eyes
After the tent had been struck and the camels laden,
rise,
He came
up
it
the
lighting
hue, and the tintings of purple and violet on the distant por-
phyry
hills
was
182
without awe.
beautiful
far
;
The
made
The
the Desert
scenery, so
it
was too
I never
fection,
night, from
The
air is
an
elixir of life
first
as
Man
You
its silence
and
It is a beautiful illustra-
Where
all
^where there
is
scarcely the
shadow of a rock
blazing noon
God
has
Achmet always
insisted on
my
more than
their tracks,
step.
no rock
One's
rest,
daily bread
is
The
of
BESEUT SOENEBY.
2g3
the day I jogged along patiently beside the baggage camels, and at sunset halted for the night. divan on the sand,
and
me
was prepar-
and afterwards
I
made
my
jour-
had no need
day
on the dromedary.
At
called Bjebel
river
similar to
crossed our
I
path.
discovered that
the
water-skins
had hired
to four,
whUe
the Arabs
strict
This rendered
had eneconomy
Until
init
of black rock.
To the
south-east
all
over
with light and heat, so that the eye winked to behold them.
The colocynth
(called
in
many
and
The
I made
beacon of camel-bones.
We here met
Soon
after
mid
in
hills,
and we saw
many
blue mountain-chains.
Our
a range,
184
feet.
The
strata,
shaken
The
gloom of
this singular
sterile
:
group of
hills.
more than
it
was
e'
infernal.
to
them
At
We
plain,
camels might browse on the shrubs, and they were only too
They snapped
off
the hard, dry twigs, studded with cruel thorns, and devoured
them
as if their tongues
were made of
cast-iron.
We were
but saw
now
and the
ostrich,
nothing of them.
"0
camel!"
ours."
"Wallah!"
said he,
"your language
is
the same as
vowels, and
is
not unmusical.
as omejc, a
Many
;
mence with
zelle.
donkey
osha, a cow
ogana, a ga;
The
akam,
caitiels
ameJc,
donkeys, &c.
is different
from
Nubia
is
with
On
the
fifth
day we
left
185
broken mountain-ranges.
The
strata
were
long wady,.or
val-
made by
the
summer
rains.
Eyoub
pointed
it
Hammed.
It
very hungry, and the time allotted by Eyoub for reaching Bir
Murr-hdt had
passed.
He
saw
my
dromedary into a
trot, calling
out to
me
to follow him.
We
bent to the west, turned the flank of a high range, and after
half an hour's steady trotting, reached a side-valley or cul-desao,
herd of loose
valley, fur-
The
wells are
by the Arabs
el
bitter."
Fortunately, I
Abou-Hammed.
in color
and fresh
thoush
and taste
We
who was on
way
to
Korosko with
left
five
Captain's baggage.
He
immediately after
my
arrival, or
186
home.
Abon-Hammed.
was on the way.
and
fifty
slaves
They were
tall,
strong, hand-
They were
my
sketch-book, but
retreated hastily
I then called
for the
Eyoub
my
tent,
who
rou^
Achmet did
me
were
less
all
gone, and the few fowls which remained were so Hpiritjolting of the camel, that their slaugh-
ter
by a very
short
time.
bottle of arakee
The wind
MEETING CARAVANS.
whistled drearily around
18T
fire
my
tent,
from
the oozing out of the heat I had absorbed, and the Arabs without, squatted
around their
fire
We left M arr-hat
day.
at sunrise, on the
brilliant
air.
my
caravan, as the
hot.
On
either side, as
we continued our
We
will
down
in the sand
and made
my meaL
Some were
laden with gum, but the greater part were without burdens, as
us.
Among
five
the persons
we met
left in
He
The
lit
protection against
near ry one for the camels, but the mountains which seemed so
188
at
hand
;
We pushed forwe
by the
light of
ward
the sun went down, and the twilight was over before
their base.
encamped at
The
Aohmet was
make soup
taste.
abominable
finished, I
my
pipe was
tumbled upon
my
until midnight,
in a river of lava.
Eyoub
called the
mountain
Kab
el
Kafass
it is
an
but
I suspect
the
to
called Djebel
The
tent
starlight, at
which
near a thousand
feet.
until I
When
left
the caravan
came up, I
after
had joined
it.
He was
He remained with
On
leaving
we
Eyoub
ed
it
about noon.
hot, the
to 95.
189
'by a distant peak. Far in advance of us lay Djebel Mokrat, the limit of the next day's journey. From its
top, said
Nile.
We
midal
Our camels
To
Nogdra
ly beat a
as
Eyoub
de-
clared, a devil
residence
among its
rocks, frequent-
drum
The
a
rose, like
horizon.
left,
on the
vast,
and sweetness.
floor, sitting
jogged on
all
which seemed as
it
" That
is
Eyoub
" or rather, it
no mountain
it
is
afrite."
"don't speak of
afrites here.
and
if
man travels
forces
him
to
We
first,
silently at
180
Among
Achmet
other things, ho
translated to
me
it
The whole
" After
are interesting.
draw water
Shekh, there
'
said
'
something in the
if it
if it
be goods, you
may
have them.'
So they drew
to Cairo
it
Azeez (Potiphar).'
repeated.]
When
Joseph was
in prison,
afterwards had a dream about seven fat cows eating seven lean
nobody could
: '
explain.
is
:
Here
Joseph, in
jail
he can
tell
you
about
it.'
Faraoon said
So they
put Joseph in a bath, washed him, shaved his head, gave him
a new white turban, and took him to the Sultan, who said to
him
'
my dream ?
:
'
'
'
To be
sure I
can,'^
said
Joseph, 'but if I
magazines.'
'
you, you
Very well
said Faraoon.
Then Joseph
told
how
have two inundations a year, and the seven lean cows, seven
years afterwards
when
it
all
and
191
seven fat years, enough wheat and dourra and beans, to last
during
the
seven
lean
ones."
Two
let loose
Arabs say
that
is,
turned
its corner.
this time,
^bread, rice
and and
don-
latter rode
way
day as the
first.
I doubt whether a
similar circum-
much under
we
travelled nearly
till
noon
192
I drank
my march
Finally, the
had been
rising since
we
left
gan
to descend,
like
doum
near
I looked again
my
hdhr shaytan
all his life,
"
The
son of the NUe, who had never before, in than a day out of sight of
self
its current,
been more
with joy.
:
"Wallah, master,'' he
it is
"that
is
no river
It
of the Devil
^the
water of Paradise.''
did
my
" If you
were to give
me
five piastres,
"I
would hot
me
With every
and
step
me
such
the water
to
my
^yl^kkiSeS^'
^iu) '^wi^j/gori ta
ADOa-juammed
CHAPTEE
A Draught
XV.
of Wild Asses The Eleventh BerberTultures-Eyoub Outwitted-We reach El Met. hoyrefThe Caravan Broken up.
Cataract-Approach
AcHMET and
vance, to the
I began to
feel thirst, so
we hurried on
in ad-
mud
hamlet of Abou-Hammed.
river,
We
dismounted
me
Achmet
from the
for-
we would .talk
to
him afterwards.
I shall never
My
body absorbed
194
the water as rapidly as the hot sand of the Desert, and I drank
at least a quart without feeling satisfied.
I preferred
my
tent
had it
Abou-Hammed
a miserable
fortress,
village.
then deserted.
The
vessel
was a
sort of a canoe,
made
of pieces
mud.
My
with long, wild hair, yet very strong and symmetrical limbs
and
handsome
features.
I landed
in the
shade
of
the
palms, and walked for half an hour along the shore, through
patches of dourra and cotton, watered by the creaking mills.
The whole
level tivate a
island,
which
is
long, is
cul-
The
trees were
doum
acacia,
The
hip-
popotamus
me
the
As I was
I met
I greeted them
"Peace be
We
talked
ABOtr-HAMMED.
good-will expressed in savage features.
195
In
now saw were of a superior stamp to that They expressed not only more strength and
more kindness and
gentleness.
of the Egyptians.
independence, but
for
my
driven
I took
down
my
Groups of
tall
tance, gazing
sight.
upon me,
Frank
traveller
was no common
my
desert tem-
made me shudder
my
left
Abou-Hammed
my
Bishi-
bend, but never losing sight of the dark clumps of palms and
the vivid coloring of the grain on the western bank.
The
The
light
more intense
life
penelife.
more
The green
fiery
and trem^
196
and
They
dress with
Egyptian FeUahs, and their long hair, though profusely smeared with suet,
is
Among
those I
beautiful.
One
He
was a superb
black eyes.
Evety posture of
it
his
human forms
The
whom
flute,
named
my
ney to Berber.
He
carried with
him
all his
wealth
His features
and rounder
softer
fault,
of his head on the slender neck, the fine play of his shoulderblades and the muscles of his back, as he walked before me,
loins,
would have
camel-dri-
charmed a
sculptor's eye.
He
walked among
my
of
King Admetus.
he was a wandering minstrel, and earned his livelihood by playing at the festivals of the Ababdehs.
He
told
me
that he
ENCAMPMENT ON THE
kee, but only water and milk
NILE.
19?
age!
Players.
We
encamped
The
as dry
as bare boughs
under a northern
sky.
little rise
of
The temperature
of home.
(72)
was
delicious
among the
me
No
sooner had
we
in
off to
the distance, and told the natives that they must immediately
bring
ple
all their
The poor
peo-
came
their stock,
and were very glad when they found that we wanted nothing.
I took only two cucumbers which an old
man
brought and
humbly placed
at
my feet
198
but the camels took a shorter road through the Desert, and
me
unobserved.
them
in every direction,
and
finally
came upon
Ali,
who was
my
dromedary down.
No
sooner had I
straddled the beast than he rose and set off on a swinging gallop to rejoin the caravan.
over gravelly
soil,
Until
guide showed
me
man who
Egypt with
Khartoum.
His
by the
natives,
who informed me
it
in order
and watch
at night.
They
me
difficulty in
procuring a shroud.
The only muslin in the neighborhood was a who had kept it many years, in
It was sacred, having been sent
in the holy well of
anticipation of his
own death.
to
Zemzem.
In
this the
in a
in the earth.
We had a
cloud-
A WHITE ARAB.
twns had the
pale, blue-gray tint of
109
He
informed
me
and
way
to
to Berber to
make preparations
for his
He
Hossayn explained
me how
the
indeed,
"then I shall
my
I asked whether
men would be
"
women were
Effendi
to me.
is
afraid of Franks.
no Frank."
How
is this ?
"I
am a white
Arab,
from India."
"But do you
when you
"No,"
said
!
Achmet, "we
talk Hindustanee."
them.
Ababdehs would
might have the
wife.
me
Hos-
sayn had already asked Achmet to marry the eldest of his two
daughters,
old.
200
into rapids.
The
opposite shore
lovely, crown-
The
temperablos-
aroma of mimosa
When
moon and
rise
The
wooden drums
from their
hippopotami away
bean-fields.
My
immense
lion,
me
my
in all the
limbs,
The
village of
Abou-Hashym
bright
at
grain,
directing the course of the water, and shy children tended the
cordially,
and when I
man came
running up to
of the river
richer and
Abou-Hashym.
ed
still
After leaving the latter place our road swervNile, and took a straight course over a
The
air
was
still
LOSS OF MY THERMOMETER.
201
and the same gray vapor tempered the sunshine and toned
down
We
poles,
many
at the
head
Near El Bagh-
again,
One
of
and
offered to
me, but the flesh had become too dry and hard for
my
last
teeth.
tres,
year's growth.
make no
like that of
bled
rice.
The natives
called it dookhn,
more
my
ther-
mometer, which
dromedary.
wherein
It
fell
out of
my
my
was impossible
my
The
my
Korosko
9*
202
Nile a
fish
a crocodile.
and as I
deslid
my
feet.
We
Asses.)
Wady
el-homar.
(VaUey
of
tract, intersected
with long
pluck
it.
We
which
shale, as in the
Nubian
its
it.
and
fieet,
We
We met
eter, is interesting, as it
shows a variation
our
own
climate
ETHIOPIAN SCENERY.
Arabs, travelling on foot or on donkeys.
203
unveiled, and wore the same cotton mantle as the men, reach-
They were
all
tolerably old,
An
us.
Ababdeh,
company with
built,
He
was
naked to the
loins, strongly
and gracefully
if
and
sat erect
one^
dif-
silky texture,
very
bed
is
The
eastern
bank
is
desert
In a patch of desert
we
fallow-deer.
I rode towards
it
it
yards before
moved away.
At
sunset
we reached a
village
The
inhabitants,
As
I was lying in
my
who appeared
saluted
came
for
in,
me
of
my
!
health, to
which I replied
"
Very
good, Allah be
in his, pressed it
praised "
Each
my hand
We
trees.
rolling country,
grown with
Beyond the
204
rise of the
Walu-
dy el-homar.
The
opposite
fields
and
still
beyond,
tall
ranks
Island-like groups of
this rich
bed of vegetation,
charm
to the landscape.
As we
of the mirage.
We
Among them
tall
were
black
before our very feet, and a large gray dove, with a peculiar
My shaytan of a guide,
called
Eyoub, wanted
at
to stop at a village
o'clock.
two
El Me;
kheyref, he said,
he
many
be-
but
it
would not
I pushed on
made
the
me
mud
fortress of
El Mekheyref.
The camel-men,
tired,
205
Achmet
We
Arand
we met a harem
One
of
us,
" Ah, I
know you
good place
for
my
men
their backsheesh
forty-seven piastres in
with
satisfied,
left for
the tents
God reward
my
hand
to his lips,
206
CHAPTER
XVI.
MY RECEPTION IN BERBER.
A WeddingMy Reception by tbe Military GovernorAehmetThe Bridegroom
Guard- 1 am
About the
Merchant's
an American
Bey K6ffThe
at the
Governor
NavyThe
Priest's
my tent-door
of
The people
my Prank
dress,
conquered countries of Souddn the ruling race unpopular than the Franks.
I must at least
even more
;
" but
rank
is
He
we
As we
The
MARRIAGE
FESTIVITIES.
207
The
by a
The Arnaout
The musiand
flutes,
The people
all sa-
and invited us to
enter.
The Albanian
size
and
straightness.
A broad,
ment.
cers,
cushioned divan ran around two sides of the apartsat the military Governor, with his principal
offi-
Here
An
im-
mense
called Yagheshir
Bey
(although
commander
Shendy.
He
received
me
me
He
was a
tall,
stately
man, about
years of age
ished gentleman.
On my
left
his officers,
208
relish.
by negro
slaves, in rich
filled for
me.
The
slaves present-
Achmet, being
by the
first.
common
Felso
Yet with
all
knew
well
how
to
command,
his devotion to
for
my
use.
bound
for
Khartoum, sent a
he commanded, in
it
whom
my
was
ready to
Soon
after
he
by an
attendant, as he
was
totally blind.
He
He was
red slippers.
He was
he might not be
allo-w .4 lo
have
209
The
officers
asked
me whether I
found that the
cataract, I told
no help
over,
tials,
Cairo.
entii-e
father's house, to
The Bey,
what rank I
country
fbre
it
finding that I
held,
and the
answered that in
my own
Be-
we
left,
down
as I afterwards
in
removing
the cargo from the hold of the vessel, which the shekh of the
aundred
day.
lashes, unless
On
leaving, I gave a
mcdjid
tuity is expected
his
on such occasions.
The Bey
sent
me
one of
guard near
sat
ing.
upon
my tent. Two soldiers came soon afterwards, who my camp-chests and smoked my tobacco until mornof the soldiers were slaves,
Many
who
received only
fif-
The Arnaouts
thirty-five
own
equip-
ments.
As
I pulled
off
my turban
my
my
Arab
huts,
a simple Howadji,
in
among
camel-drivers.
my
sent
by a guard of honor
me by
the commander
210
Ethiopian hospitality
pia,
of
the eleventh cataract of the Nile, and not far distant from
AxumS."
it
no
my
tent, indolently
smoking, lulled by
like
my pulse beat
and warm,
my
filled
My
As
met
I was
sitting at breakfast,
I heard Ach
matter.
He
stated
but that he had ordered him to go back and say that I was at
breakfast,
for half
for I felt
annoyed that
Bey
Bey
is
now
ly,
certain that
Fortunate-
Mocha
coffee,
OFFIOIAL VISITS-
211
supposed rank.
hospitality, in a
manner worthy of
my
The
side,
tent
was put
of
in order,
made
poles,
my
carpet, mattress
and capote.
lantern-
bound
door,
preparations
officers in at-
As he dismounted,
my
he
in
me
to precede him.
and
on the
subject,
my
waist, and
we went
by
side.
Achmet had
As he
sat beside
Bey preferred my cigars to the shebook. me on the divan, I thought I had rarely seen
a nobler countenance.
He
and
fearless in his
younger days.
He was
from a village
told
delighted
when I
him
native land.
He had
ad
secretary,
Mahmoud
Effendi.
He
immediately
212
was bad
for the
said
it
Mah-
moud
Effendi,
quite at home.
my
A remark
my
me
my
being the
first
" and in
three
You
Yerikee-Doonea.
is
[This
in reality the
New
World."]
You must
not go
home with an
in Alexan-
He had
once,
when
it
appeared, had
circumstance, he asked
me how many
vessels there
were in our
Navy.
sufficiently to
know
the necessity of exaggeration, and answered, without hesthat there were one hundred.
itation,
"
Oh
:
tapha, turning to
"
His Excellen-
cy
is
hundred
vessels in the
;
the frigates,
sloops-of-war,
brigs
and
Before the
Qovemor had
was a
^the
stir
high-
213
made
his appearance.
fifty
Hn
was a
of
face.
dignifiecl,
di-
He
while he
murmured a form
of prayer.
He was
very
much
delighted with
my
sketches, and I
was beginning
to feel in-
when
the Governor's
servant appear-
color.
He
city.
" But," said I to Achmet, " I cannot go until this priest has
Left."
"
You
master "
!
said the
cunning dragoman
of the priest."
Without more
in
my
ass.
On
reaching the
we
He
insisted on
my
mand
some
all
we
passed.
difficulty in
nance, as I thought of
plexion.
my
Two
and one
214
sion,
my
presence.
The
fellow's face
was disagreeable
to
me
he was
the death's-head at
my
banquet.
beast, so fall of blood and fire be-
The
that
it
stallion
was a noble
stride him.
He was
small,
enough
flanks.
He
Arab
of the
He
stock,
but resembled in
many
points the
Asia Minor.
forced
He
!
him
to
accommodate
" Let him run " said the Governor, as we reached a broad
city.
I slackened the
my breatL
am
of Berber, which
is
gave
me
He
then took
me
to the like
house of a
D'Arfou.
The
We
Frenchman's handsome gray donkey and his choice cows, looked out the windows upon his garden, planted with
fig,
orange,
trees,
and were
finally served
with
A slave
then appear*
A RIDE THROtJOH THE
ed, bringing his child, a pretty
CITT.
215
old,
born of
an Abyssinian mother.
ernor's arms,
He
Frank
relative,
with
the
much more
was
satisfaction.
M. D'Arfou's house
although
walls were mud, the floors gravel and the roof palm-logs
cool,
and
where one
We
length,
mounted
again,
me
through the
in
city, to its
southern extremity.
The
houses are
is
and the
streets
The
Though
seemed contented,
if
Among
gathered to see us, I recognized Eesa, arrayed in a new, snowwhite garment, and looking like a bronze Ganymede.
He
gazed at
to
me
wistfully, as if uncertain
him
at, once
Eesa
was
joyfully.
over, the
me
His reception-
room was
cool,
The
appeared in
all
216
sers.
tle
The Governor
it,
insisted on
my
three being
At
this juncture
Achmet
appeared, to
my
my
We were
was impossible.
would be disgraceful
to him, should
we
not take dinner in his house, and in order that we might not
be delayed, he ordered
it
to be served at once.
I was willing
enough
to
make use
First,
Arab
dinner.
napkin, which
another,
He
was followed by
who bore a
A cov-
Mexican
tortillas,
The
We
now behold
same
bowl, and politely stirring the choice lumps into each other's
spoons.
still
him
cordially.
and
slices,
sopped up the
sauce.
About ten
different
quite palatable.
The only
"
217
separately,
and we
all
three ate
When
When we
arose to
Nevertheless, he
slip it into
the
slave,
who took
it
I pranced back to
my
tent
upon the
from
its
owner.
By
ture.
was in readiness
all
for
my
depar-
The
sailors,
their backs
(unknown
to
it),
vessel
bank below
my tent,
me
his
promof roy-
The pleasures
some of
now
over,
and I had
to deal with
its pains.
All the
officers
for
my
came
When Achmet
is
necessaries, he over"
That
the interre-
many
of
mained standing
until he
had passed.
Ali,
who
all sides ?
with
"
Who
is this
that has
come among us
What
?
218
All,
of all
the Franks.
I shall not soon forget that noble old Albanian, Yagheshir Bey.
visit,
word
me
company of
down
first
to the
my
flag.
" It is the
properly honored."
And
truly enough,
when we were
all
company of about
fifty sol-
diers
flag
As
my
pistols,
me
for
good luck
felt
more grateful to
Bey
for this
behind
for the
wind was
fair,
and
me
FORTUNATE TRAVEL.
219
CHAPTER
Fortunato Travel
XVII.
The AmericaEthiopian SceneryThe Atbara RiverDarner A Agricnlture^TL InhabitantsChange of SceneryThe First Hippopotamus CrocodilesEffect of My MapThe Eius and SailorsArabs in Ethiopia Ornamental Scars BeshirThe Slave Bakbita "We Approach Mero6.
"Fair
is
And
cool
Of burning
that land as evening skies, though in the depth it lies Africa." Wosdsworth.
to
link in
to
my
me
was
more
crown
all,
Day and
is
a fresh, steady breeze, carrying us smoothly against the current, at the precise rate of speed
which
most pleasant in a
saUing craft
The temperature
and the
full
splendor
unknown
in
northern latitudes.
my
220
away from
it.
Iho
Both
above the
city,
passed
many
Even under
bright.
the
moon, the
corn-fields
was
installed in a
my
tent-canvas,
The
rais, sailors,
and the two beautiful sheep which the Bey gave me, were grouped on the forecastle.
On
men, fatigued
by
my
was
The waves
;
rippled
America
shore,
Hours passed
thus, before I
was willing
to close
still
my
eyes.
more
beautiful.
Lower Egypt,
flowing between
of palms be-
brilliant green.
Long groves
hind the ehore, shut out from view the desert tracts beyond,
and
my
voyage
all
scenery.
tributary stream
main
river,
must be
iii
much
its
smaller proportion.
The water
is
221
marked.
it
where
was a charm-
upward through the wild domains of the Hallengas and Hadendoas, through the forests and jungles of Takka and Sehangalla, to where,
an impetuous torrent,
it
Alpine highlands of Samen, under the eternal snows of AbbaJaret and Amba-Hai.
cazze,
In Abyssinia
it
bears the
name
of Ta-
its course, is
called the
it
waters,
Dar Atbara),
exit
cept at
its
name
El-bahr Mogran.
Two
rner,
we reached
which gives
It
is
name
between the
is
two
rivers.
collection of
trees.
mud
My sailors
me
the bank to look at the place, but there was nothing in the
view to tempt
to enter.
at an
which extended
of shrub cypress,
flower,
fields
all
of dourra, divided
by hedges of a kind
of the natives
a nest
or arbor, scooped
The only
222
On
Achmet
in dispute with
offer-
He had
for less in
perforce.
" Well," said they, " you are our masters, and
we must
The
sub-
mit
;"
sell
no more to
my
sailors.
latter,
mud
All day,
ripest green.
we
sailed
It
was pleasant
The wheels
were turned by oxen, driven by Dinka slaves, who sang vociferous melodies
fields distant
tree.
found a garden.
richest
The people
are
Their
is
extreme, and so
I stop-
little village
The
228
They came up
slowly, stooped
and
touched the ground, and then laid their hands on their heads,
signifying that they were as dust before
my
feet.
Achmet
fowls.
Travellers
who go by
the
it is
thing, even
When
I crept out of
my
somewhat changed.
A blue chain
broken by a
of hills, which
we had passed
The mountains
retreated out of
my horizon
bank
mound-like formation.
beds
of glorious vegetation.
or
The
less,
fields of
warm
frequently
nowhere so striking as in
Central Africa.
22-1
ering
side,
like
out.
On
hippopotamus.
off,
The men
came up
to
discerned
as he
my
attention to him.
Our
How
is
your
wife, old
boy ? "
"
and other
like exclamations.
They
upon
it
that his
by
this means,
last within
us to approach.
I saw him at
only the enormous head, which was more than three feet in
He
opening his huge mouth at the same time, and I thought I had
never seen a more frightful-looking monster.
He eame
up
in
our wake, after we had passed, and followed us for some time.
Directly afterwards
we
One
of
and upward of
my men
The
the water, the big yellow one striking so violently against our
hull, that I
am
The natives
re-
Arab woman,
clotLes,
to the river to
wash some
laid the
lien
a huge hippopotamus thrust his head out of the river, and after
The woman
"
MY MAP.
fled in terror, leaving tbe clothes
225
-whereupon the
behind her
orously with his feet, that in a short time there was not
left
On making
we were
then approachii:g, the rais only knew that there were some
"heioot kadeetn^' (ancient houses) ne^r the village of Bedjerowiyeh, which
that night.
As
I found
on
my map
to that of the
village,
The
all
rais
was
my
the towns
along the river, seeing that I had never been there before.
I
the
showed him
my
it,
name
Cairo to Abyssinia.
it
The men
them the
all
with an ex-
" this
is
truly a wonderful
rais,
Frank
My
to the
tall,
his
men,
Nubian
They were
Arab
tribes
The
and are descended from families which emigrated into Africa from the Hedjaz, seven or eight centuries ago.
for the prevalence
This accounts
in these
regions.
The descendants
10
226
Koreish, of
Yemen,
are
still
who
claim to be de-
little
is
Red Sea
to
the borders of Dar-Fur and Bornou, and according to Burckhardt, the prevalent idioms are those of Hedjaz, in Arabia.
The
distinction
stock,
to the
The
race,
latter,
more widely.
a boy
his ears,
hung from
scars
^three hori-
and one
vertical,
by gashing the
prevent
flesh so as to
number and
position of the
to
marks
is
generally
The
slaves brought
fellow
named
Beshir,
who kept
all
the others in a
He
22'?
He was
bilbil,
all
drink his
fill
of
om
mother of nightingales,") as
because he who drinks
it,
is called,
Another curious character was an old woman named Bakhita, a slave of the
owner of the
vessel,
who
the sailors.
She
day
face,
laughing heartily at
all
men made
disgusting.
She
was a native of the mountains of Dar-Fur, but had been captured by the slave-hunters when a
the night
child.
his soldiers
death by
Mek Nemr,
But with
scene,
my
it
ques-
no account of the
it
and
was a
at
all.
the next
day erased.
She
sat
from morning
till
flat
Mexican women
Her
to
my
white
sheep,'
which, in
its
chew them.
Her
shir's drollery.
Yet
old,
Prankish
belle,
whose bloom
it
228
hundred and
turned to
fifty
She rose
up,
me
not laugh at
tell
it,
"
Look
at me,
my
lord
and
lies,
me
if this
"He
Bakhita," I answered
The fury
of her face
made
it
me
Be-
people on
to the
to a
"
Here
all
your
on board."
The ami-
Am
old
woman
The wind
sailors
As
far as I could
was
and dourra.
The
quality.
Achmet and I
slave,
of a
Dinka
We commanded him
seat on the
cows around,
to
a distance
river.
MEROn.
229
CHAPTER
Arrival at Bedjerowiyeh
XVIII.
mids
arose, at sunrise,
we were approaching
owiyeh.
By
and another
fields
We
crossed some
of tokuls,
sont trees.
people,
mud and
sticks, in
a grove of
The
donkey
for
who took me
rous and humble, denied having any, although I saw two half-
starved beasts
among
the trees.
We therefore
five
is
set
out on foot,
miles distant.
of comparatively
The discovery
recent date,
and
it is
230
true character and place in Etiiiopiaii history have been satisfactorily established.
first
and
more
visible
The
for-
" It
is
is
the an-
but he does
Our path
first,
pyramids of
its
its
I knew
it
only from
mention
remains
morning
cos, as
air,
what appeared
and
porti-
Eising .between
eifect,
and I apadvanced,
As we
from the
much
hill
upon
built,
and
We reached them
after
miles.
They
THE PYRAMIDS.
stand Tipjn a narrow, crescent-sliaped
fifty feet
hill,
231
which
rises forty or
its convex front to the Nile, while toward the east its hollow curve embraces a small
it
from the
plain,
presenting
Its ridge is
None
them
more or
less ruined,
top.
cluster,
Of
those
among which
many
more.
They
or cased,
hem
smooth
outline.
The
A peculiarity
that the sides are not straight but curved lines, of different
They are
piles of
Gizeh
Not one
of the group
is
232
Dr
and
their wall?
effect
of the
summer
rains.
Their
quite small,
to allow
me
to stand upright.
The
sculp-
tombs
of Thebes, and their resemblance to those of the Ptolemaic period was evident at the
first
glance.
one band the hair of a group of captives, while with the other
he
lifts
that of
at
Edfou,
Many
I found on
or
fillet
pylon.
On
The
ifl
233
rather a tower than a pyramid, consisting of a high base or foundation, upon which is raised a square building, the corners
is
cover-
it.
When
complete,
it
On
many
all
and the
to
have
expended most of
his labors,
He
has
its base,
without finding
pit
beneath
it.
My rais,
who was
at a
my visit,
spoke of Lepsius as a
of the people at
work
for
many
of solid gold.
He
The most
made
who excavated
a great
as
Ethiopian
^which are
is
now
in the
at Berlin.
The
with a keystone
the age of
years.
234
be-
low,
and separate, no
were puzzled
The
rais
and
sailors
what
to
make of
my
The
largest,
of stone, and
feet of the
Each
side of the
apex
is
angle of ascent
consequently
much
mids of Egypt.
On
between the two groups opens upon the plain, are the remains
of other pyramids and buildings, and some large, fortress-like
ruins are seen on the summits of the mountains to the East.
I would willingly have visited them, but the wind was blowing
fresh,
and the
rais
vessel.
Many
no doubt by the
drawings on a
first
and triangles
for
humps.
Leaving the ruins to the company of the black goats that
8ITK
OF THE ANCIENT
CITY.
236
As wo
" These were the tents of the poor people," said the
pointing to the pyramids
:
" the
pi-
geons here."
They were,
in fact, smaller
Some had
insignifi-
cant.
all,
more or
less ruined.
Scat-
many
among them.
The
total
number
some
site of
Meroe, was
forty-two.
fifty others,
The
its
entire
prime,,
the
point out the site of the city, the capital of the old Hierarchy
of Meroe, and the pyramids are no doubt the tombs of its
is
no
The examination
236
Egypt
fact,
earlier Pharaohs.
It is
now
their inferiority
displays its decadence, and not the rude, original type, whence
it
sprang.
human
King Tirhaka,
is
or
at.
Egypt, therelore, was not civilized from Ethiopia, but Ethiopia from Egypt.
The
sculptures at
Meroe
tian sculpture), were, like them, an offshoot of the great Caucasian race.*
originally emigrants
from
* In the
until after
my return
is
from Africa,
all
supported by
the evidence
we
possess:
dissimilar,
among the
The an-
haps, also, along the Blue Biver, as well as the tribes of the Desert to
"
23?
Beni Koreish at
is
not
easily
determined.
scholars, based
was the
first
dawning on African
Civilization,
Thebes,
is
overthrown
significance
is
of
still
greater
^the
Civilization, in
which we belong.
I walked slowly back to the boat, over the desolate plain,
striving to create
The
sun,
and the mountains, and the Nile, were what they had ever
been
the
;
pomp
me
and
"
As
now, so has
it
the east of the Nile, and the Abyssinian nations, were in former times
probably even more distinctly separated from the negroes Jian now, and
belonged to the Caucasian Baee
"
238
CHAPTEE
ETHIOPIAN NIGHTS'
The Landscapes of Ethiopia
Dlan Nights
XIX.
NTEK T AINME NT S.
Nile
The
Eeliglon,
" For it was in the golden prime Of good Haronn Al-Eascnid." TsNirrBoir.
With my
mood
that had
now become
added
to the
My
The
light
nights' entertainments
moon was
north-wind
at the full,
filled
my
sails, it
EVBNIlfa
ON THE
NILE.
239
and remained so
During the
after-
my
carpet on the
deck, looking
so green,
palms
since
taller,
leaving
and the
air
was of a
The
were as
if
When,
in a
light,
the
moon came up
At such
bank of the
loftiest
and most
shore.
my
cushions on the
my
head, and at the same time look upon the broad wake of the
as fine and
it all
day.
As we
rarely
halted near a village, there was no sound to disturb the balmy repose of the scene, except,
now and
240
Achmet
at
crossed lis
me
special charge of
mj
pipe, sat at
my
feet,
ready to replenish
My
fire
around
my
meditations.
by the red
fire-light,
reality of a picture
On
the
first
my pipe had
been
filled
disposi-
would
know many
stories,
me
permission, I
wiU Ex-
"
cellent
" said I
me
better,
provided
you
tell
them
in Arabic.
of us,
interrupt you,
in English."
and you
shall explain
He
me
a greater marvel
been foreshown to
pages.
my
boyish
when I
first
There, in
my
romance with a
zest
unknown
before.
After
my
recent recep-
241
it
was
not
difficult to
on the sand.
which held
gold, it
was
all
little
below
feet,
was
my my
her
sister,
Dinar-
In
advantage of me.
my
lis-
dusky
vizier,
and his
daughter.
Nor
did Ali,
who
tened to the stories with great interest, expressing his satisfaction occasionally
surprise
me
by saying
recoimt to
my
sister,
I beg of you to
me
them from
all
The
stories
sometimes pro
fact,
One
of them, in
was
differ-
The
principal story,
am not aware
that
it
it
has ever
been translated, I
may
as
it
was told
for
my own
words
Ach-
down the
story at the
many
me
product
One Nights.
242
"
You
already know,
my
many hundred
Taj
was not only the wisest man of his day, but the
known
exalted
man
;
any
sends
fewer.
mon
woman
equal in
virtue or in
wisdom
to the Sultana
Zubeydeh (Zobeide).
all
The
important matters,
his, in the
intelligence
government of his great empire, even as the sun and moon are
sometimes seen shining in the heavens at the same time.
'
that
None
except the
!
Prophets of
God
may
their
names be extolled
for ever
^were
him
her
commit
all
wisdom she had a sharp tongue in her head, and was often so
little
dis-
pleasure of the
Commander
that,
of the Faithful.
" It chanced
in a
243
Georgian slave -whom his vizier had recently brought him, had
disappeared from the harem, and he saw in this the work of
Now
as they
were
down
his only
bound around
his waist.
But
had seized
toil that
felt
the
it
knew
that he was
still
dragging
him as he walked.
be-
'
See,
1 ' '
Commander
of
there
is
What
'
exclaim-
Thou
and be-
made
'
Zubeydeh
anin-
swered not a word, for she knew that to speak would but
crease the Caliph's anger.
Haroun clapped
Here
Mesrour
'
said he,
'
take this
woman
him
as his wife,
whom
the Ca-
him
to accept.'
" Mesrour laid his hands upon his breast and bowed his head,
in token of obedience.
He
and a
feridjee, such as is
wora
244
by the wives
When
they had
overtaken the wood-cutter, Mesronr delivered to him the message of the Caliph, and presented to
'
him
There
is
'
man
' ;
but how
I,
who
my own laman
time, said
'
Take me with
thee,
Man
since it is the
Caliph's will.
The
man
from decay.
and a
little salt,
This was
fire
all
he
in the
mean
time, cooked
it
and placed
veil
before him.
sit
But when he
and
down
'
upon
am
not without
it shall
Man
and
if
my wishes,
deficient in intel-
ligence, perceived
245
money
con-
The man
my
times as
much
as
it is
Thus they
going to the forest every day, and paying his gains every night
into the hands of
with so much economy that she was enabled to save two paras
every day, out of the piastre which he gave her.
When
she
this
Go now
Thou
to the
money.
home
thrice as
much wood
which he
'
By
"
Allah
'
derful
woman, and I
He
forthwith did as
en-
She
to hire a
man
to assist
him
in cutting
wood.
One
their loads,
grateful frait
musk
or ambergris,
it
more
closely, she
found that
246
in fact, that
it
Adam
fell
by them
:
'
^which
all
Zu-
To whom
purchased
for
it
'
than
his rice.
The
accursed Jews
ately,
'
she exclaimed
'
Go thou
to
them immedi-
ing a son of the Faith, unless they agree to pay thee for this
as
much
The man
lost
who, when they saw that their fraud had been discovered, were
greatly alarmed, and immediately agreed to pay
him
all that
he demanded.
to
piastres.
able to purchase a better house, where she not only gave the
man more
him how
to read
and
write.
He
was quite
those who had known him in his poverty no longer recognized him.
For
of hia
recover her,
was unable
to find
24^
all his
search
was
in vain,
and the
Caliph was
"
one distracted.
One
way
to the forest,
he was met by three persons, who desired to hire his asses for
the day.
'
'
I make
'
my
living
city.'
What
profit
'
'
If
is
a good
make
Well,'
we
will give
pias-
The
wood-cutter,
offer,
was about
at once,
when be
reflected that
he had obeyed in
-to
take such
He
! '
men Tou
my
am
lord
Zubeydeh
commend
money
men were
who had
But
Allah,
who
governs
all things,
into
248
^great sacks of
On
their
way
to the river
below Baghdad, where the boat was waiting for them, two of
them stopped
the asses.
may have
He
at"
once agreed, and they had no sooner overtaken the third robber, than the
fly
first,
for a
short distance,
If
half,
you
will in the
end
who
refused to agree.
They
so
many
" The asses, finding that no one was driving them any
longer, took, from habit, the road to the wood-cutter's house,
safely,
But when
fill-
God
is
great
Now,
that
tion.'
bers,
'
249
Of
was made, and at the end of the moon, she considered that
commanded
in splendor
If
men
'
for
whom you
tell
them
for the
The
architect
employed
all
the
workmen
finished.
The
when
like of it
faded before
its
moon
fades
The
walls were of
when
them
which diffused
air.
: '
Of
this palace it
it
might
Truly
resembles Para-
or
is it
the lost
?
House of Irem,
of
King Sheddad
May
11*
250
manner
his
When
manner, until he
By this
and
slaves,
retained her
own
apart-
now presented
to him, as a
harem becoming a
prince, twenty
" The next morning she called the wood-cutter, and addressed him thus
you.
You see, my lord what I have done for You remember in what misery I found you, and how,
:
'
by your following
tend to exalt you
my
still
was changed.
in-
and
to
in order that
my
plans
may
not be frustrated, I
me
this
Zubeydeh made
may change
But
how he
will soon
come
to
him
as a boon.
:
and said
'
Queen
it is
for
it is for
me
to obey.
251
You have
given
taught
me
you hava
if
me
May
I
'
for-
Go,
Zubeydeh,
'
mount
this horse,
and attended
among
the beggars.
Take thy
son,
who
is
a skilful player
He
with him,
Thou
wilt
win
among the
beggars.'
all that
Zubeydeh commanded.
He
yet paid
pieces of gold as if he
and
hundred
to the servants,
the beggars.
his defeat,
But the
ear,
he
Baghdad
252
mined
him
to a game.
He
coffee-house,
where he had not remained long when the woodhis appearance, in even greater splendor than he-
cutter
fore.
made
deh,
all that
had taken
place.
He
at
Vizier was fairly beaten, but the wood-cutter paid him the
gold, as if
as usual,
he had
lost the
game, gave
palace.
" The Vizier took his defeat so much to heart, that his chagrin,
off in
him
his-
Haroun Al-Raschid
himself,
Accordingly he sent an
Commander
By
officer speedily
whom
he
mouth began
this.
to water,
and he exclaimed
By
!
Allah
I must look to
No
me
in
my own
cap-
"
arrived, attired in
such splendor that the day seemed brighter for his appearance,
slaves, in dresses of
crimson
silk,
253
to the
who placed
immense
size.
The
side.
From
the great
King
of Cathay.
you,
'
Commander
will hear no
of the Faithful
'
you
more of
my
skill.'
this speech,
The wood-cut-
humor
possible.
But when
played,
his
You
'
'
said he
had
this success as
an encouragement, I should
second time.'
At
these words
Haroun
smiled, and
al-
to
him by Zufirst
to
264
third game, thy having been once victorious will magnify hif
opinion of his
own
skill
for
where we never
suflfer
defeat,
we
"
The
result
The wood-cutter
exalted
at once a great
when she
said to
him
'
Cease to
and do not
the Caliph
When
ill.'
She
fore-
his Vizier,
and
to see him.
'
He
edifice.
Truly,'
this
In
all
my
life
He
centre,
and beside
'
of crystal.
How
is this ?
; '
man whom
It is no fever,' said
fountain, before the evening prayer, I stooped too near the jas-
'
255
left
mine
'
tree,
!
and one of
its
thorns scratched
my
arm.'
What
'
amazement
!
'
the scratch of a
at
it,
made you
ill
'
'
You wonder
no doubt,
'
Commander
of the Faithful!'
my
There
is
no
'
window of
?
his palace
is
hast
'
and where
the wo-
at
my command,
brought
to thee ?
She
is
here
'
She
show-
Haroun, with a
cry of joy, was on the point of clasping her in his arms, when
'
But thou
art
now
the wife of
'Not
so,
great Caliph!'
whp
now
that there
to affect illness
my
house, I
By
is wise.
she
all
tree of
my
'
Commander
me
am
re-
shadowed me.
spect me.
This honorable
man has
never ceased to
My
me
forth to
that
a wife
may
also be to her
husband as the
whereon he
256
him
as
riches
bath,
him ;
tlie
which maketh him comely, and as the lamp, whereby his steps
are enlightened.'
and
cruelty.
He now
saw
in
He
restored Zubeydeh at
whom
he
still
retain-
in marriage.
All the
in the festivities,
which lasted
which
is
called the
the
pains which the Sultana Zubeydeh had taken with his education,
and showed
so
had occasion to be
together in the ut-
with him.
all lived
Com-
panions."
fear that
charm
It was followed
by other and
stamped
in
They were
in an inevitable Destiny,
of
all
Oriental literature.
the poet and romancer, and the Arabic authors have not sera-
ORIENTAL LITERATURE.
pled to
267
is
make
liberal use of
it.
There
no hazard
in sur-
all sorts
him
to overcome them.
cir-
He
You
is
he was
chosen, in the beginning, to do the very thing which he accoiaplishes, in the end.
is
If a miracle
it
not withheld.
Difficulties
only
may be more
Yet with
human
nature.
interest
hold which they have upon the popular heart of the East
tests their value, as illustrations of Eastern life.
the
at-
From Poetry we
met was astonished
me
hammed, but with Ali and Abdullah and Abu-talib, and with
many
life,
The Persian
my
memory, and
all
the
wonders related of
Mohammed by
Mohammed
read them.
We compared
Koran, and so the Giaour and the True Believer discussed the
nature of their faith, but always ended by passing beyond Pro-
who
is
men.
first
"ia
Allah/"
"There
is
no
first
conunandment of mine.
268
CHAPTER
Arrival at
XX.
Town-Shendy
in
at
El Metemma
The
Flesh
Diet
Vegetables
We
Escape
of Dcrrelra Djebel
Gerrl The
Nlgbt In the Mountain Gorgo CrocodilesA Drink of Mareesa My Birth-DayPair WindApproach to KhartoumThe Junction of the Two Niles Appearance of the City We Drop Anchor.
The morning
after visiting the ruins of
the river, but the massive fort and palace of the Governor are
built on the water's edge.
and tame.
fishing or
washing
fine,
muscular
figures.
SHENDY.
boat, which
tives.
259
off
We ran
the palace.
The banks
filled
Aohmet, the
rais
and I walked up
the famous
Shendy, once the great mart of trade for the regions between
Red Sea and Dar-Fur. On the way we met numbers of women with water-jars. They wore no veils, but certainly
the
needed them, for their faces were of a broad, semi-negro character,, and repulsively plain.
The town
is
built in a straggling
is
upwards of a mile in
thousand inhabitants.
The houses
rough and
Tculs of
filthy,
smaller villages.
mud
stable,
and
on either
side,
some of
The goods
and the
like.
It
A few screens
made.
and desertion.
clusters of huts,
and a
mud
wall,
860
which ran along the eastern side of the town, the Desert
tended to the horizon
of thorns.
On our
Pasha and
ed to death by
of Shendy.
Defterdar (son-in-law of
the fate of the kingdom.
Mohammed
The
seat of the
ment
in
Souddn was
fixed at
Khartoum, which
and now
became
.pense of
Burckhardt, who visited Shendy during the reign of King Leopard, devotes
much
its
pros-
was
also one of
it
has
by Obeid,
left to
in Kordofan.
is
Shendy
way of Sowakin, on
the
Red Sea
Mek Nemr,
tribe,
according to
Djaaleyn
who
Yemen, and
still
Arabian features.
I was
afterwards, during
my
stay in
Red Sea
are of
unmixed
Arab
stock.
con-
EL METEMMA.
261
sideraHe extent, had heavy circular bastions, which were defended by cannon.
Its position, on the bank of the Nile, was
city,
much more
had
settled
around
it,
eastern
side.
reminded
within
me
its walls,
on
my
return, to
Shendy.
As
I wished to
call
upon the
Yagheshir Bey.
sees the
group of palms
oppo-
bank.
This
is
Merawe
its
We
let
passed
who was on
He
was a
little
staff,
and dressed
like the
villages,
fine
The boat
of
dress,
who
sent a
my name
and character.
The scenery
changed.
The
and
which
fall occasionally at
Abou-
Hammed
is
garden land.
The
The inhabi
262
and donrra
alcmj,
own immense
I noticed many
of tho
of donrra.
cacy.
Mutton, however,
is
is
Notwithstanding this
the world, the people eat meat whenever they can get greatly prefer
drivers,
it
and
to vegetable food.
is
The
sailors
and camel-
weak as
children,
when com-
they tmiversally
is
This
My
my
heat and cold during the journey had not shaken in the least,
to the fact of
my
After leaving Shendy, the Nile makes a bend to the west, and
we went along
and low
The
we had passed
tdkuls, with
either hand.
The
villages
were groups of
mud
much
the
result of amalga-
We saw
which
my
Wild
little
coves
During
hawk
or vulture daahed
down
to within a yard
"
263
my black
ram,
killed.
The next morning we had a narrow escape from The wind blew strong from
west, obliging the
shipwreck.
twist in
the north, as
we reached a
the river, where our course for several miles lay to the north-
men
to take in sail
vessel.
They
loose,
was blowing
while two sailors lay out on the long, limber yard, trying to
reef,
when a
the
man on
The
steersman put the helm hard up, and made for the point of an
island which lay opposite, but the current
was
so strong that
we
it.
we appeared
sailors,
to
The
rais
!
and
with
many jjries
bow
of "
;
Prophet
to their fate
Our
we were blown
hard upon the
we
stritok
sand and were obliged to remain two hours, until the wind
abated.
first,
but remembering
"
it is
beans
and dourra.
The plains for several miles inland were covered The sun was warm,
bloom as a garden.
with bees, and the wind took a rich summer fragrance from tho
264
that her husband had deserted her and taken another wife,
He
had
also
new
wife, so that
sell
her only means of support was to gather the dry grass and
it in
the villages.
ed gratefully.
make use
The
sailor
ashore during
miles and
The
hilly, occa-
overhung by
On
pointed out to
me
On
wUd
and picturesque.
most luxuriant
vegetation.
all
were mat-
intricate
and dangerous.
The banks
of the river were high and steep, and covered with bushes and
glit-
265
from
The
Dar
sakias
At one point on
stock,
The
shore was
After threading ten miles of those island bowers, we approached Djebel Gerri, which we had seen
all
The
made
ter of islands,
hills.
At
was
river.
The
natives call
it
deserves the
name no more
Adopting the
the Twelfth Cataract of the Nile, and the last one which the
traveller
The stream
hills of
At
sunset
quarters
by
turns,
more than
once.
The narrow
were covered with dense beds of long, dry grass, and as we lay
moored
up
the rais's warnings that I should fall in with lions and ser
12
266
pents.
The
zikzak
it
water, or
by the
yell of a
hills.
Talk
lands
There
is
memory
of such a scene as I
witnessed
ality.
\ha.t
vessel,
my
we were slowly
tains.
moun-
in front,
my
prow, aa
occasionally grated
against the rocks, alone disturbed the stillness of the wild pass.
fell,
fast to
island,
which
rises into a
Rowyd.n
a lofty summit
(the
Mountain of
Thirst).
its
The
latter stands
on a basis of arid
is
sand, whence
encircled by the
or four
arms of the
Nile.
In the
Wady Beit-Naga,
some three
hours' journey eastward from the river, are the ruined temples
of
described by HoskLns.
The
date of
by Lepsius
to be coeval
DRINKING MARKEaA.
with that of Meroe.
the
261
crocodiles, basking on
We here
saw many
warm
sand-banks.
One group
They
Btera, three of
them being
at least fifteen,
lazily
we had
0:1
passed.
The
the sand, and I have no doubt that they do service to the crocodiles in the
The
river
some
mere
frag-
level tracts,
and dourra.
About noon,
was
we passed
my ram
finished.
sell,
Ali found only one fowl, which the people did not wish to
but, Turk-like,
price.
he took
it
holding
to the boat
by a
more than
usual,
who
lived in
and had much to say of a sweetheart of his, El-Metemma, and who bore the charming name
Bakhita, after drinking an equal
bitterly of
of Gammer6-Betahadjer6.
portion, complained to
me
my
had nibbed
off the
As
the
wind
fell,
at sunset,
we reached a long
slope of
268
Achmet went
to the
huts of the inhabitants, where he was kindly received and furnished with milk.
The
mo
reflected the
made a long
it
I remembered that
was
my birth-day
the fourth
my
The
They
Mexico, and
now the
last,
were
all pleasant,
When
my
carpet and
my
pipe.
I was listening to an
of dookhn,
when the
folds of
my
We were
sail-
The
rais
no sooner saw
me
than he called
my
They grew
Khartoum
We
broad, level island that divides the waters of the two Niles,
A boat, coming
davm from
the
White
Nile, passed
AKftlVAL AT KHARTOUM.
269
as on the right, and another, bound for Khartoum, led us up the Blue Nile.
the point of land
uel separating it
The proper
two rivers
is
is
the
The
tomed
and
to
my
eyes, accus-
to
the
mud
really
stately appearance, as
we drew
near.
The
line of buildings
many
of
embowered
and tamarind
trees.
The Palace
though
appearance of dignity,
brick,
its
and
his
Egyptian
soldiers,
The
slope of the
at
short intervals
by
water-mills,
and
files
of
men
The boat of
from
shore,
wind, as
made
Khartoum
in twenty-
six days,
?'?0
CHAPTEE
The American
XXI.
LIFE IN KHAKTOUM.
1 lagA RencontreSearch for a House ^The Austrian Consalar Agent Deflcrlptiot of his KesldenceThe GardenThe MenagerieBarbaric Pomp
anfl
of the Climate-
At
the time of
my
arrival
than a dozen vessels in port, and the only one which would pass
for respectable in
I had
it
my
showy
air,
it
sensa-
among
the spectators.
at the flag
with
astonishment, for the stars and stripes had never before been
seen in Khartoum.
At
who
sick family in
El Metemma, I
left
ready to leave.
Old Bakhita,
in her
ex-
Achmet
She had an
indefinite
"
2^1
it,
parcel of
and would
re-
main on board
I took
Achmet and
who wishes
to be respect-
at a city, even if he
walls
and pomegranate
We
entered a
came
to a coffee-house
Two
whom
The
contented-looking
Turk
eyed Achmet
in Cairo
sharply.
two looked at each other a moment in mutual doubt and astonishment, and then
fell into
It
was a Syrian
and Beyrout.
delight, as
"
was such a
in
Khartoum,
ac-
We
went
first
to the residence
who was not at home. Two small of the shekh of the quarter, detachment of Egyptian physicians, boys, the sons of one of a
who had
They complained
bit-
We to get back again to Cairo. terly of Soudan, and longed absent in he was city, but of the Governor then went to the
Kordofan.
Finally, in wandering about the streets,
we met
who took us
It
was a large
mud
palace, containing an
rooms, a kitchen, storeouter and inner divan, two sleeping an inclosed court-yard and rooms, apartments for servants, and
272
Btables, all of
month
an exorbitant
it,
Before
engaging
whom
He receiyed me
with true
German
my
arrival beheld
me
most brave,
men
as
my
associate.
As
of
may
and
mud
wall.
the gate, a flight of steps conducted to the divan, or reception-room, in the second story.
From
one might look to the south over the gray wastes of Sennaar,
or, if
White
Arab
spear.
its walls
its
were mud,
roof palm-logs
mud
kitchen,
the btise
was only one story in height, and had a balcony looking oi the
THE MENAGERIE.
garden, and completely embowered in flowering vines.
273
The
only rooms were the dining hall, with cushioned divans on each
side
my
made
continual discord.
The
court at
the entrance communicated with the stables, which contained the Consul's horses
a white
Arabian blood
my
use, which
was sent by the King of Dar-Fur to Lattif Pasha, and presented by him to the Consul.
unusual
size,
A hejin,
or trained dromedary, of
my
me
and licked
my
hand.
arbors, cover-
legs,
White
from Kordofan, with curved horns four feot in length. My favorite, however, was the leopard, which was a most playful
and
affectionate
He was
not
12
2'Ii
up
slyly
and seizing
my
The garden,
bunches
figs
were
and
flower,
number of ornamental
shrubs.
In
all these
picturesque features of
last
my
residence in Khar-
In our mode of
life, also,
barbaric
pomp and
state
We arose at dawn,
and at sunrise
stallion, of
and
fleet
dromedaries.
us, to clear
Af-
sions
its vicinity,
and
as,
life
of
governing principles.
As
occasionally
SOCIETY IN KHARTOUM.
receives a ray of light from the civilized world beyond),
275
it
haa
become a
capital
on a small
scale,
and
its society is
a curious
the
compound of
Christian,
On
same
day, I have had a whole sheep set before me, in the house of
taken
and drank
tea,
prepared in
When
Eed
Sea, between
it
Egypt
be
will readily
offers to
how
Khartoum
the
traveller.
Nevertheless, those
who
come
into play,
is
Khartoum
ago, there
Frflah,
now
due to Ismail
Pasha (son of
Mohammed
Mohammed Bey
plan,
Defterdar,
it
who succeeded
to
was detei-mined
make Khartoum, on
59^6
account of
pashalik of Souddn.
which flows down from the gold and iron mountains of Abyssinia,
cities,
and
drew
and commercial
activity.
Now
it is
the metropolis of
it
all
SoudS.n,
in
much
same
style as
The town
is larger,
and weal-
The gardens
shower
whole town.
The
dwellings,
most
summer
rains
height.
The Pasha's
which
burnt
my
visit, is of
brick,
much
ruins of Abou-Harass,
It is a quadrangu-
lar building, three hundred feet square, with a large open court
in the centre.
211
oifices
when complete,
ment.
-will
be surrounded by other
it
of govern-
For Soudan,
is
He
told
me
it
that
who
visited
believe that
waa
man
alone.
to raise
such a wonderfuUstruoture.
At
the time of
my
Within a
ant-hills.
There
ings.
is
property with a
mud
wall, re-
is
obliged to
make
the most
When
bearings
life
tallest
my
without
difficulty.
of
Khartoum were
On
oi
each side I looked into pent yards where the miserable Arab
lazily
The swarms
The only
il8
is
almost
where they
live.
its
population,
Khartoum
for
filth
Rome and
Florence
when
more
The bazaars
only, are
remainder of the
streets.
The
other
common produota
The
place every morning on the banks of the Bine Nile, east of the
city,
which
is
thus entirely free from the effluvia arising therethe 8hep, cows, goats and camels are killed,
air,
from.
Here
and
it is
no unusual
many
dif-
by an attendant group of
vul-
They
by the
people,
THE CLIMATE.
279
wor.A
From
and
is
ttc.
to the table-land of
Abyssinia on the
south,
as far
ScudS,n
ter.
devastated by fevers of the most malignant characare fatal to at least one-half of the Turks,
The summers
among them,
of fever.
and yet of all the persons I saw, three-fourths were complaining of some derangement of the system.
tal,
The
military hospi-
which I
visited,
was
filled
and small-pox.
my
me from
all
fear of an attack.
Soudan.
water
;
Some
yet
Blue
beforehand.
it
am
entirely
by the miasma
arising
The
coun-
a dead level
be seen
north.
is
The unusual
sickness of the
much
280
The
much
less.
them, I
direction.
in the neigh-
liberated, but
had been
re-
tained in
settled.
visit of
Khartoum
until
On
Hamod,
the
Mohammed
commander
pedition.
The
was a
ish costume.
Hamed was
ed in white, as
man
of middle
size,
He was
dress-
weU
VISIT
OF ARAB BHEKHS.
last.
281
skewer.
We were
He
seated
tall,
on
tlie
when
lie
entered.
was a
fierce face.
He
color,
The
upon each
other's
Hamed and
and occupied
the Shygheean captain washed only their hands, but the great
feet,
many
name
of Allah with
to the dining-
deep emphasis.
European
styles*
They
all failed in
and
forks, except
vermicelli soup, which they eyed very suspiciously, and did not
They no doubt
They were
carved
it
at a loss
how
had been
to
from
up in order
of
those wonderful
fires,
Khartoum, three
weeks before.
282
the balcony,
when the
first
air,
drew
its fiery
delight.
that he threw both his arms around the Consul and held fast
for dear
life,
great "
They then
took
of the Franks.
TI8IT TO
5S83
CHAPTEK
Visit to the Catholic Visit to Lattif
XXII.
VISITS IN KHAKTOCM.
MissionDr. Knoblecher, the Apostolic Vicar Moussa Bey
Pasha
Pasha's PalaceLionsWe DIdo with the Ceremonies upon the OccasionMusicThe GuestsThe Franks in KhartoumDr. P6ney-^Visit to the Sultana Nasra An Ethiopian Dinner Character
Pasha Reception The
of the Bultana.
On
the day of
my
to
days previous.
his visit
had been
my
party, in case he
making a second
lat.
He
ascended as far as
by D'Ar-
at the
head of Nilotic
river.
S>84.
which grew a
monk,
in flowing robes,
who conducted us
other
garments.
They ushered us
was
filled
with
and banana
mimosa blossoms.
the
monks
entered.
built,
He
slightly
and rather
delicately
His com-
plexion was
His
confi-
dence from
the world.
tur of
He
is
man
amount of
scientific
knowledge which
will
make
During
my
stay in
Khartoum I
visited
him
frequently,
countries of
Soudan and
On
our return
we
called
of the expedition sent into the lands of the Shukorees and the
He
was then
ill
of a fever
cere-
mony, and found with him the new Governor of Berber and
and attendants.
285
ELfty
Several
Arab
stekhs,
some
of
whom had
The day
after
my
me
to Lattif
in
The Egyptian
officials
Khartoum
tion in
Soudan
it is
an
office
and
its
the Viceroy of
Egypt
The
are as
many
factions
among the
among
It is moreover, in
many
respects, an
independent sovereignty.
authority, and the absence of any regular means of communication except the
government
Pasha of Soudto
Achmet
Pasha
even
at
Mohammed
is care-
From
to be violent
and arbitrary, and several most savage acts were attributed to One thing, however, was said in favor of him, and it him.
At
the time of
my
visit su-
recalled,
and was to be
286
We found the
Pasta seated on
file
of documents.
The guards
at the
saw us than he
rose,
till
we came
up.
him by a
pair of cushions.
Pipes were
he turned again to
his business.
despatches to the different provinces of Soudan. each was approved and laid aside, a
As
fast as
Memlook
slave of fifteen,
who appeared
Pasha's
seal, in lieu
of signature.
When
cluded, the
Pasha turned
He
handsome
features.
His
mouth was
full,
and when he
smiled,
showed a perfect
set of
feline
smooth-
London
or Paris, in
him
down
as the
primo
He
was
plaintar-
Our conversation
first
finally
general.
He
navy of
Mohammed
Ali.
An
by the American
2&kV
The
I expressed
my
surprise to the
Pasha
that
he had
space of
to
me more
He
twilight,
armory, the walls of which were hung with a small but rich
assortment of Turkish and European weapons.
The doors of
fine
mahogany.
It is found in the
mounIt
tains of Fazogl,
is susceptible of
and handsome
table
made from
men were
still
it.
surrounding
large
A younger
he
whelp ran loose about the court, and gave great diversion to
the Pasha,
by lying
pounced out upon any young boy-slave, who might pass that
way.
The
little
fellow
would take
apparently
288
He
had the
free range
of the pulace, but spent the most of his time in the kitchen,
The
his
this
way
to the
proclaimed by
large
and
fierce
From
this court
we passed
into the
shebooks
temperament under
all circumstances.
When we rose
day.
to depart,
We calland while
way
to the Palace,
Aboona Suleyman
(Padre Solomon,
as
Khartoum)
to -accompany us.
We
with the Vicar, with the grooms leading the horses behind
The
di-
van at the further end of the room was divided in the centre
by a
pile of cushions,
The
289
hand, Dr.
Knob-
and I drew up
my
legs beside
we
also
were supposed
When
The
principal subject
we discussed
was the coup d'etat of Louis Napoleon, the news of which had
just arrived
by dromedary
said
it
post,
in twenty-four
days from
Cairo.
The Pasha
Louis Napoleon,
others
twenty
The
impossible
govern them.
The
when a
The
first.
He
drank the
cordial, took a
same
glass.
At
same
re-
five
Egyptian
whom
Wo
590
had
also
Rufaa Bey,
an intelligent Egyptian,
Mohammed
The
and Ali
Bey Khasib,
to be the illegitimate
probably correct.
He
thirty,
After some
little
The
a dulcimer, the
tween the
boys
first
and middle
fingers,
The
airs
perfect,
The Egyptian
were greatly
moved by the
baric cadences,
my
ear.
The songs
common
for us.
The Pasha
translated
brae
for-
One
One
day, as the
291
whom
the
Her lamentations
which the name of
in
of a
cause she had given her word, she mastered her grief by a heroic resolution, arrayed herself in her finest garments, received
her suitors, and sang to her lute the song which would best
entertain them.
At
At
last,
The Pasha
led the
way
The
his
Khasib
opposite.
There were no
silver knife,
Frank
style that
we
sat
floor.
The
tasted each
dish as it was brought upon the table, after which the rest of us
followed.
We
all ate
several right hands to the knuckles in the fat flesh of the sheep
us.
out
for the Franks and Rufaa Bey (whose Moslem principles had been damaged by ten years residence in Paris), the Pasha and
2&'2
excellent.
from
the
White
we had
blano
mange and
At the close
made from
bowl containing a
cool drink
dried
figs,
The best
possible
humor
prevailed,
exceedingly, the
coffee
and about ten in the evening took leave of the Pasha and walked home, preceded by attendants carrying large glass
lanterns.
hand, Eufaa
Bey
who
detained us
had
beeil
latter,
inflicted
upon him by
order of
Abbas
Pasha.
The
favorites of
Mohammed
Ali,
Many
ter,
of them were
men
He
my
visit,
This state of
in-
lives of
293
to relieve
and
it
himself of
all
When
I heard this
large, consist-
and the
Dr.
in Soudsln,
Abyssinian
frontier.
He
was an exceedingly
intelligent
I had afterwards
many
of
my
arrival
I had an
still
The
flour,
stamped with a
At
the
last
294
womac
may be
said to gov-
any
crisis
of
affairs.
Her
brother,
to
vil-
Wed
and
Egypt,
lages,
still is
King
of Kulle.
rctaias
the title of Sultana, on account of her descent from the ancient royal house of Sennaar.
and
Khartoum on
visit,
Mohammed
Defalleh,
King Adlan.
We found
the
Lady Nasra
the
occupying an
adjacent carpet.
Her
skin was
face
remarkable for
its intelligence
and energy.
become a
fine
sometimes folded so as nearly to conceal her features, and sometimes allowed to fall to her waist, revealing the somewhat
over-ripe
A heavy ring
of the native
VISIT TO
295
gold of Kasan hung from her nose, and others adorned her
gers.
fin<
her in
my
native land
;
that her
name was
the world
iln,
my visit
to Sou-
least flat-
tered
as
I doubt whether any thing upon the earth would have been
able to shake her royal indifference.
Her
loins.
They had
movements.
They brought us
when
al-
with
We
flesh,
and
flank, occa-
from the
interior
The only
Be-
radishes.
290
of
om
^the
After drinking,
we returned the
fill
of
Mexico.
little
The grain
is
pounded very
fine, sifted,
mixed with
made
shekhs of Souddn.
As we
batons, which
we had
is
them
to uo
297
CHAPTEE
XXIII.
S
THE COUNTBIES OP
pia Countries Tributary
Bey
r&ss
to
O UDAM
Tbe
Conquest of Ethic
Egypt
The Atbara EiverThe Abyssinian FrontierChristian Kuins of Abou-Ha The Kingdom of SennaarKordofanDar-FiirThe Princess of Dar-Fiir in Khartoum Her Tisit to Dr. KeitzThe Unknown Countries of Central Africa.
-within a recent period,
Until
but
little
Few
subject of their investigationj their attention having been principally directed towards the countries on the western coast.
The Niger,
them a more
interestiog prob-
The German
travellers Kuppell
and Kus-
by
Dr. Knoblecher, have carried our vision far into the heart
Still,
still issued,
293
where the
A
to
few words, therefore, concerniiig the character and relative position of the
different countries of
speak,
may make
and landscapes
more
intelligible to
many
readers.
As
in the
ness.
is
is little
Ked Sea
to
the Atlantic.
On
in
Here the
are
unknown
every sum-
shrubs,
ranges.
As we
The wide
son.
inhabit
and sheep.
title
is
no longer
down
to
him from
the
many
tributaries of its
own ,
the Blue
the large
receives
29S
Nile,
RAhad and
the Dender
Bahr
el-Ghazal.
The
soil,
climate, produc-
Mohammed
Ali, little
was known of the country between the Ethiopian Nile and the
Red
The White
Nile,
it is
true,
was known
It
to
was ex-
tremely
and dangerous
to proceed
Mohammed Bey
mountains of Fazogl, in
lat.
Red
Sea,
The Egyptian
posses-
Nubia
not included, and might become even richer. and more flourishing under a just and liberal policy of government.
The
plains
on
much
greater
many
up
wilderness.
The
more stupid
300
and degraded than the Fellahs of Egypt, bat that thej are
pable of great improvement
is
The
terrible climate of
Soudan
will always
drawback
mitigated, in
soil
under
As
Khartoum,
my narrative
will
have
terri-
The
still
in a
first
Euro-
it,
Red
is
Sea.
The
three to five
sides at
When
it
dry,
There
is
another and
still
higher chain
near the coast, but the greater part of this region consists of
vast plains, tenanted
rising gradu-
ally towards the south into the first terraces of the table-land
of Abyssinia.
The land
Belad
el TaTcJca.
it
during the
summer
of 1851, in
company
nme
DR. REITZ 8
JOURNEY TO TAKKA.
501
bara River.
whom
tha
He
and travelled
for
The
porphyry rock, but their lower slopes were covered with grass
aipes.
Between the
were inhabited.
obliged to follow
movements
of the expedition,
to penetrate further,
Moussa Bey
return-
ed to Goz Eadjeb.
town of
Sofie,
on the Abyssinian
frontier.
The
river,
which
is
By
which
is
now
made T?ry
productive.
The Shukorees
possess
and a hegin, or trained dromedary, which the Consul purchased from them, was one of the strongest and fleetest which I saw in Africa.
Sofie the savannas of grass give place to dense tropi-
Near
is
often impenetra-
common
elephant and
with birds of
802
brilliant
short
town of Abou-
Near Abou-Harslss
are the
fourth or
fifth
wards Nubia.
the Governor of
all
The
paved
the pyramids of
met on these
far fields.
The former kingdom of Sennaar included the country between the two Niles
as tar south as
east,
except
12.
lat.
It is
on the
south.
The Djezeereh
is called, is
grass.
Towards the south, there are some low ranges of hills, followed by other plains, which extend to the unknown mountain region,
and a,bound with elephants and
lions.
The town
of Sennaar,
its
Meks
or
Kings,
is
now
of
little
importance.
It
was described to me as
a collection of
mud
The Egyptian
KOKDOFAN.
303
govern-
It is only
it is
not
merchants to
detained
I had
a strong curiosity
made
Kordofan
where there
is
in-
to west.
is
a mere collection of
mud
huts.
Mr. Peterick, the English Vice-Consul for SouI had letters from Mr. Murray, the English
dan, to
whom
The
soil of
Kordofan
is
sterile,
is
considered
me
such a de-
miserable populait.
tion
and
its
Reitz intended making a journey through the country in coma caravan route of twenty days between
called the Beyooda,
304
or Bedjuda.
A few degrees
it is
further north,
it
would be a bar-
wandering Arabs.
It
is
Howoweet,
who
differ
The
latter,
by
their
Yemen.
The
tribes in
more
and other
The caravans on
who
and carry
it
ed to furnish the key to the system of rivers and mountainchains of Central Africa.
its rulers,
Through the
fear
and jealousy of
its
borders,
Of
late,
if
me
that he
had written
to the Sultan
to pass through
He had
at that
unofficial-
to enter the
it,
it.
There
is
305
it
nou and Dar-Fur, and the Pasha was of the opinion that
would bo impossible
to traverse Africa
may
help to open
Dar-Fur to Europeans.
The
Moslem, and
lately determined to
make
in
a pilgrimage
She arrived
Khartoum in Auattendants
by a large retinue of
officers,
and
to
slaves,
and
after remaining a
Sowakin, on the
Eed
During
and furnishing her with boats and camels for her journey.
Reitz availed himself of the (^ccasion to
Dr.
make
the people of
They found
her
sitting in state,
On
apd
interpreters.
She was
veiled,
The
before her
bon-bons, &c.
she
ex-
delight,
Dar-Fur was
to
for
gum and
to open
Adah
kingdom
to them.
306
various wonders.
astonish-
The
pictures, books
and furniture
filled
tbem with
ment, and they went from one object to another, like children,
uttering exclamations of surprise and delight.
startled
What' most
entirely
beyond
They regarded
the
match with
fire
superstitious awe,
was
pro-
She was no
less
astonished than her attendants had been, but was most attract-
making
gestures,
As
its properties,
The Confear
sul
tures
unpleas-
He
had a
room the
of
women
After
they had finished the repast, he observed that they had not
only partaken heartily of the various European dishes, but had
eat, so that
When
they
if
left,
Lady
many
c'tyUrtcsy to her.
UNKNOWN
To
visited
COUNTRIES.
307
tliat
country and
Bornou,
by a European.
I learned from
chants,
who had
war
Waday
hundred
and
fifty
At
the
is
6 N. there
it
I often heard
mentioned by
a snuff-box,
whom showed me
size of
It
was made
shell of a fruit
about the
silver.
an orange, with
entire region
Almost the
south of
lat.
presents a rich
future explorers.
difficulties
The
time
heart
a
made
clear.
Where
way
for those
who
follow,
human
eye, is the
man
Bruce,
by continual dangers, and even Burckhardt, in 1814, though Buccessfully disguised as a Mussulman shekh, or saint, was obliged to keep his journal by
stealth.
At
present, however,
308
JOCBKEY TO CEN'TRAL
AFIIICA.
Frank may
from Cairo
to the
ed regions beyond.
The
way
best
lusicrrRsioNs
around khartoum.
309
CHAPTER XXIV.
EXCURSIONS AND PREPARATIONS.
Excursions aronnd
Banks
of th e Blue
KhartoumA Race into tlie DesertEuphorbia ForestThe Nile A Baint's GraveThe Confluence of the Two NilesMag-
NamesDesire
to the
to pene-
AfHcaAttractions
of the
Achmet's
Misgivings
Pasha'
My
morning rides with Dr. Eeitz, around Khartoum, graddromedary could reach in two hours'
familiar with the scenery along
ually extended themselves into the neighhoring country, within the limits which a fast
traveL
In
this
way I became
the banks of both Niles, and the broad arid plains between
them.
As
The Pasha's
soldiers
streets
whom
I met in the
me
profoundly, as I passed.
The Consul
own power
had succeeded
in
of his
One
310
morning, as
out
:
we were
man
cried
"
May God
Consul
for
day "
!
call to
mind
with-
The
which I usual-
was bred, and whenever we came upon the boundless level extending southward from the town, his wild blood was aroused.
He
of Job,
bit,
and ever
backward at
feel the
same
The truth
is,
other pace.
air so cool
and
fresh,
lively in
my
veins, that
I answered the fierce questioning of Sultan's eye with an involuntary shout, pressed
my
him the
rein.
We
;
cut
Sul-
tan stretched out until his powerful neck was almost on a level
with
Ms back, and
little
the glorious
rhythm of
it
his hoofs
was accom-
panied by so
my
right
or
left,
Desert.
Neck and neck with him careered the Consul's milkand I was so
lost in the divine excitement of
white
stallion,
311
aur speed, that an hour had passed before I was cool enough
to notice to
The Consul
me
to stop,
Sultan,
tie start.
peared
we were
a dreary
the
delicious air.
We
we met
pursuing attendants,
gallop,
and were
sad-
dled and rode to Kereff, a village on the Blue Nile, about two
The only
where we found
which I
had
first
It here
became
my
edary.
The
trees
were
all
m blossom,
the corolla
subtle,
sickening odor.
is entire,
but divided
into five points, white in the centre, with a purple stain at the
estremity,
The
the
Arabs informed me
it
that
if
a single drop of
eye
Beyond
312
wheels of the
The
river
morning sun.
Before
reaching KerefF,
elay.
we
mats and
wind.
At
Kereff, two
men brought
a large gourd,
filled
with
The
principal
They
supply them with a few cakes of coarse bread, and their favorite
beverage of
om
Mlbil.
On
our return
Several
women were
The
mond-shaped eyes, and straight black hair which diffused an odor of rancid butter. I found it most agreeable to admire
her beauty from the windward
side.
An
old beggar-woman,
eyes, flashing
whose gray
and bleared
from
a
made her a
fitting picture of
we
which saved
We
313
After in-
right.
many
put into our pockets, but as carefully emptied out again after
of the two Niles, about a mile and a half to the west of Khar-
The land
all
around
is
meet
at
they have
roll-
'
a light-brown, muddy-
color, the
green.
Both
There
is
Omdurman,
White
The
ferry-boat
gum
A number of
We
rode a
White
Nile,
home through
ing beans.
to
me
all
Khartoum
and
Timbuctoo.
There, two thousand miles from his mouth, I found his current
as broad, as strong, and as deep as at Cairo, and was no nearer
still
find
14
314
whose source even the tribes that dwell in those far regions are
ignorant.
am
confident that
shall
at last be reached,
the entire length of the Nile will be found to be not less than
four thousand miles, and he will then take his rank with the
Mississippi
There
is,
in
some
between the
The Missouri
is
gled streams.
bid,
is
and
name
Blue
and
dignity.
still
In
far
spite of
they are
Nile
his
is
and
^the
volume of water
greater,* but
he
is fresh
tains
dead
level,
loses
* Capt. Peel,
who measured
Khartoum,
'768
yards; average depth, 16.11 feet; average current, 1.564 knots; volume
of water, 5,820,600 cubic feet
per minute.
;
average current, 1.47 knots volume of water, 2,985,400 feet per minute.
Breadth of the Nile below the junction, 1107 yards; average depth, X4.38 feet; average current, 2 knots; volume of water, 9,526,'?00 cubic
feet per minute.
made in the
can hardly be considered conclusive, as during the preceding summer the rains had been unusually heavy in the mountains of
ber, 1851.
It
Abyssinia, which
usual, in the
may have
316
The Blue
tains of
Nile,
frontier
Thence
Dembea, or
shallow and
Tzana, near
southern extremity.
The lake
is
He
lat.
name
and
kingdom
of Shoa, to
to the nortli
between
finds his
way through
His
of Sennaar.
dred miles.
The stream
rupted by rapids.
el-Aizreh,
and
el-
Bahr
also frequently
she.
speak of the black river as he, and the white as asked the reason of
this,
it
When
name
is
which
is
"the
sea,")
should be retained in
There the boatmen speak of " el-bahr el-Nil," which name they also sometimes apply to the Blue Nile. It should have is therefore easy to imderstand why the latter river
been looked upon as the main current of the Nile. After I had been eight or ten days in Khartoum, I began
to think of penetrating further into the interior.
tion, on leaving Cairo, was to push on as far as
My
inten-
my
time and
316
allow, and the White Nile was the great point of The long journey I had already made in order to reach Soudan only whetted my desire of seeing more of the
means would
attraction.
me from any
out .on
my
return to Egypt.
Some
of
my
friends in Khar-
my first
There was
be gained
"by visiting
life
Kordofan, as I had
to better advantage in
Khar-
toum.
Sennaar
is
now
way
to
armed
to pass
escort.
As
it is
my chance
however, had not arrived from Cairo, and the season was so
far advanced that the expedition
following November.
At
the time of
Efi"endi,
my visit, nevertheless,
was
fitting
up two large
made arrangements
to
Souddn
risk scarcely
worth the
profit, as,
ENGAO.NG X
VESSEL.
31^
its return,
down
it.
me
to pene-
little
After
weighing carefully
Here
the
new and
rich animal
many
respects
it is
the most
sandal
^the
my
purpose.
It belonged to a fat
it
for
consisted
The
rais
knew
ed to take
me
tween
lat.
among
I named the
boat the
John Ledyard,
in
memory
of the
first
American
traveller in Africa.
since
the remainder of
me two sheep as provision for the voyage, and my outfit cost me about a hundred and twen-
318
voyage.
difficult for
any Euro*
to
Pasha of Soudan, in
river free to
defiance of the
made the
merchants of
No
later
who
much
opposition before he
Owing
monopoly had
my intention
visit of
to
make
the
my
ceremony, in com-
He
was very
affable,
and
insisted on
we had
he cut us
off
by exclaiming
am
ruler here,
and
my
com-
sent a servant
ram
themselves.
He
Among
the manifish
all
The
Pasha continued
d^etat, taking
his
discussion
delight in
as
the
only course,
WE
Mahmoud
in one day.
I. for his
SET SAIL.
819
Finally, on the
my
effeota
were
all
on board, and
my
rais
and
sailors in readiness.
Aoh-
many
raisgivings,
name
where
a land
of
liaffirs, or infidels,
to
be nearly related
my
my
repeated ex-
' If
!
it
left
Cairo on a Incky
my
master
accompany me
as far as the
appearance, and so
we pushed
without him.
Never was
fa-
full
jolliest
Turk I ever
saw.
up the
river the
me
with
Tbe -White
Nile.
CHAPTER XXV.
VOYAGE
Departnre from
UP
THE
WHITE NILE.
Khartonm-Wo
enter the
the Shores-Territory of Consnl retum-Progre8-Lo8s of the Flag-Swnery of Mnltltndes of Water Fowls-Increasthe Hflseaniyehs-Cnrions Conjugal Cnstom reach the King. pd ElchnessofVegetation ApesSanset on the White Nile We
iom of the
Shlllook Negroes.
yiolent north-wind drove the boat back, but the sail once un-
we shot
like
TutL
Before
321
and
oars,
us to the turning-point.
Here the
They
are actually
blue and white, and meet in an even line, which can be seen
common
tide.
We
lies opposite.
The
first
American
White
Nile,
^to
A flock of the
In
delusive waters with those of the true river and lifted the
The
so low that
we appeared
to be
Our
course swerved to
we were
in the rear of
Khartoum, whose
minaret was
still
visible
when we were
The
low
mud
height,
by the
of the mirage.
The
were sandy
By
twelve o'clock
we reached
the point
in where Dr. Eeitz had sent his dromedaries, which were the We could not approach readiness, kneeling on the beach.
14*
322
on
I rode with
him
to a small
Arab
hamlet,
scattered
among
mud
grass matting
at
As
me good
luck and
who were
in waiting, car-
fled
me
All the afternoon I sped before a strong wind up the magnificent river.
its ourrfent
sluggish.
sandy,
time in profusion.
hill
o'clock 1
Djdr
the right, two miles inland, broke the dead level of the plains
of Kordofan.
mous
The sun
by a
went down
light,
My sailors
sat
on the
for-
hyenas made a
accompaniment.
The
dis-
tant shores of the river were lighted with the fires of the
Mo-
to each
About nine
o'clock
we passed
their prin-
LOSS OF
MY FLAG.
323
oipal village,
yehs.
The wind
chor.
fell
rais
and
sailors,
We
gained so
much
by
this
Hassa-
is
subject to the
Pasha of
Soudan.
past.
rais or-
The
men were
my flag,
one of them
it,
as I should have
it,
some distance
be-
We
it
and
thus far triumphantly into Africa, met the fate of most travellers in those regions.
in the
mud
of the
as
White
if
a friend
The
his
is
it is
The
level as
on the
day.
They were
324
banks of sandy
and covered
The gum
is
The
it.
Kordo&n
side,
proportion of the
that country.
gum annually
The
my
mind.
Egypt.
dis-
Hassaniyeh.
The town
were
smoke escap-
At both
these places, as
had
ferries,
and appeared
to
On
was
long,
by making a
sail
Damas a
large drove of
The Has-
325
own no
Khartoum, bound
the river.
The
vil-
my
The
rights
of women,
it
appears, are
recognized
other savage
When
is
woman
is
life
own
tion.
use,
is
and
she loves some one else better than her husband, he can
dwell in her tent that day, obliging the husband himself to retire.
Their hospitality
is such,
moreover, that
if a stranger
visits
chil-
No
re-*
The Hassaniyeh,
not more immoral than other tribes, and these customs appear
to be connected with their religious faith.
32tt
bank
the
conical in fonn,
and
their
pale-violet
fine effect
gum
On
the
gum
a dense rampart from the water's edge and filled the air with
the fragrance of
its
blossoms.
Myriads of
Ampng them
homy
bill
it
wrong way.
As he
made out
diles,
and the
were
filled
chattering
down from
A whole
family of them sat on the bank for some time, watching us, and
shouts,
it
was amusing
off
up her
infant ape,
and scamper
with
it
The
fat
many
of
them so
Here and
essays in swimming.
The boatmen
took great delight in menacing the old birds with pieces of wood, in order to make them dive under water. There were
some superb white cranes, with a rosy tinge along the edges of their wings, and I saw two more of the crested king-herona
A MID-AFRICAN LANDSCAPB.
After passing the island of Tshebeshi, the river, which
retains its great breadth, is bordered
reeds.
trees,
327
still
by a swampy growth of
islands, covered with
It is filled with
numerous low
drifted
down during
trees
the inundation.
also
shore
many
had
previous summer.
the river, but
all is wild,
and magnificent.
I had
seen no
sail since
leaving Khartoum, and as the sun that evenflood, I felt for the
We
reeds of the low islands, or dipping into the gloom of the shad-
Above aU
some wild
beast.
we
all
decided that
it
was a
lion.
As
I was
my men
He
was be-
tween
five
and
six feet
of enormous bulk.
He
At
river.
potami rose in the centre of the stream, and, after snorting the
328
by
others,
ed
it
and
heat,
and
As
down
together
before.
my
Aba, in the
a distance of more
9
miles
on the NUe.
to the
Bahr
and
giraffes,
more
difficult for
me
At
nine o'clock
fires
we passed
bank.
onward in the
MORNING.
320
CHAPTER XXVI.
ADVENTURES AMONG
UomlngMagnificence
and the Saltan
the Village
of the Island
THE
SHILLOOK
NEGROES.
of the
^A Treaty of PeaceThe Kobe of HonorSuspicionsWe walk to ^Appearance of the ShillooksThe VillageThe Sultan gives Audience "Women and ChildrenOrnaments of the NativesMy "WatchA Jar of Honey Suspicion and Alarm The Shillook and the Sultan's Black Wife Character of the SbiUooks-rThe Land of the Lotus Population of the Sbillook KingdomThe Turning Point^A View from the Mast-Head.
We
When I
rose,
in the gray of early da"wn, they were about hoisting the little
stern-sheet,
which alone
sufficed to carry
We
Egyp-
Soud&n soon
after sunset,
kingdom of the
and the
Shillooks.
were
taller
and more
The
880
ambah, a
sensitive plant
hue, grew on the edge of the shore, with its roots in the water
and
its
river's
margin to drink.
Behind
this floating
hem
They even
trees,
stretched to
the
Some
vegeta-
reminded
it
me
If not so rich
river
and gorgeous,
still
was on a
had
much wider
sweep.
All the rich animal world of this region was awake and
Btirring before the sun.
The wild
the
831
zikzaks
up
their mates,
the wind
and
at last
manner pre-
grampus.
They
floundered
ibout in the shallows popping up their heads every few minutes to look at us, and at last walked out through the reeds
shore.
Soon afterwards
river,
five
more appear-
yards.
I noticed
one which must have been four feet in breadth across the ears,
He
They exhibited a
some time
Soon
in our wake.
some ShiUooks
in the
distance,
who were
We
ran along
we reached the
place.
The
if left
The
rais
climbed to the mast-head and called to the people, assuring that there was no danger, but, though we peered sharply
them
we could
find
The
one another far into the er groups of islands, stretching beyond tho Directly on our left was the northern point of distance.
333
As
make
my bargain,
Abou-Hammed was
to keep
me
my
demands.
We
sailed
ambak
rais,
had a
On
^bowery masses
^t
upon a
last,
A light thread
among some
was to be
The naand
tives
we saw
sailors
The
rais
hidden inhabitants.
height of
fifty feet,
to the
met above our heads and made a roof Some large gray apes, startled by our visit,
I found
my
shore saw
many
soil.
The
forest
-vmis
WE
333
examine them.
The
at a dis-
We
returned to the
off in
when a
forest,
pace.
The
rais,
who had
I could
already had some intercourse with these jeople and knew some-
through the
trees, that
hold-
The
rais
now returned
to the
water's edge, and said that the Shillooks had come with the
intention of fighting, but he
visit
this
was a
son,
who came
to see
them
as a friend,
Thereupon
to
go
on shore.
men were
seated.
The shekh
handsome man,
ing the palm of his right hand to mine and then raising
his forehead.
to
made a
which he sat
down.
The
vizier (as
man
exces-
sively black in complexion, then advanced, and the other warriors in succession, till all
The
conversation
was carried on
and some
in the
of his
men
Why
don't
you bring
334
may
rest
to one
The carpet and pillows were immediately of my sailors. brought, and I stretched myself out in front of the sheldi and
vizier,
who
sat
upon a
The shekh
me
eyebrows.
Our
matic
style.
had any
met,
my
vizier,
who communicated
most profound
In the mean time the other warriors had come up and taken
their seats around us, each one greeting
me
The
vizier,
addressing
if
me
you come
we
him
that I
came as a
friend,
we
you
but
if
we
Achmet
at last swore
by
the Pro-
phet
Mohammed, and by
;
the
in peace
him a
visit,
and would
At
it
we had come on
efieot.
"
Why
?
"
it
hostiltj
as
mark
of
THE
either treachery or fear.
liOCE
OP HONOR.
335
coldly,
and said
Where
is
me ? "
I
This reminded
me
that I
had
my
shirts
Achmet
th
He was
entirely at a loss
to put on the
garments, but Achmet and the rais unwound the cotton cloth
from
the
arms into
Once
clothed,
The
vizier,
He
gave
me
his
name
as Adjeh-Seedoo ("
He
pleases his
Mas-
ter"),
a most appropriate
name
for a vizier.
The shekh'a
name, Ahd-en-noor ("the Slave of Light"), was hardly so I was much amused at befitting, for he was remarkably dark.
my
that
servant Ali,
terror
on the
first ap-
He had
already become
so familiar,
when
significantly, the beads ^nd ear-rings, Ali pinched his ears very hold of his neck to show how they must be worn.
and took
By
336
them.
so accustomed to inhumanity
still
and
mistrusted
would drink,
To
after
which they
coffee for
took
readily,
the first
drove of sheep
happening to
caught and put on board the vessel, for the Sultan's dinner.
to
demand
who was
it
man
of some courage,
seemed a
affairs,
little
uneasy.
I thought
We
way
of avoiding danger
I called
Achmet and
the rais to
accompany
me
on
foot.
now upwards
of
fifty.
the
most of them
some with
clubs,
They were
all
Some had a
movements.
337
between the Negro of Guinea and the North American Indian, having the high cheek bones, the narrow forehead and
pointed head of the latter, with the
lips of the former.
flat
tusks, ing,
and in most of them one or two front teeth were wantTheir eyes
were small and had an inflamed look, which might have been
occasioned by the
slept.
damp
potamus
hide.
around the neck, and the shekh wore a necklace of the large
white variety, called
White
Nile.
had rubbed
ed a
livid,
and heads with red ashes, which impartto their black skins.
flut-
ghastly
efi'eet
by the
We
the
men
in
us, it
was
evi-
dent that we were in some way connected with the conversaI did not feel quite at ease till the matter was referred tion.
to the shekh,
who decided
it
in a
way
As we
approached the
good-
338
thenceforth
more
friendly.
They looked
at
me
with curiosity,
but without
ill-will,
my
dress interested
my
person.
They were
arrang-
by a fence of
thorns.
about twenty yards, along the side fronting the river, each
leaning back against his spear, with one of his legs drawn up,
so that the foot rested against the opposite knee.
At
the
we made
halt,
An
angareb, the
mimosa
tree,
and
us, for
The
warriors
and
sat
they
mo
my
head.
The
village
by
me
to
piece
of sheepskin around the loins, and in their forms were not very
flat,
masculine breasta
339
The
rais informed
me
quently
sell their
women and
children,
girl
my
boat
Some
of the
men were
made
A handful of
coals laid
upon
after
which the
orifice
was
The
vizier,
Yankee
wrinkles about the corners of the eyes, chewed the tobacco and
squirted out the saliva between his teeth in the true
Down-
East
style.
silver
money
in
saw the
chain of
my
it
and held
the
to his ear.
He
and told
men
sound in a most
to listen,
amusing manner.
They
all
crowded around
and
from
their looks
some bird or
insect.
I therefore opened
340
smallei
make a move
for starting,
rob us by force.
men
it
jar,
my
feet.
is
" There
honey
to
mix with
The
and conrich,
which had a
The
trad-
this honey,
but as the
it
mix with
it
them-
them unreservedly,
at least in
my
am
to
demeanor.
my
safety
my
money
and
hun and
the rais to
return.
sale,
out, holding
up
his
new
shirt 80 that it
of the boat
my
position
so as to stand
and hurried
341
him away.
all
down
to
the shore, but without their spears, and were seated on the
By
sailors
had begun
to shove the
:
bow
my
I called out
"
Shekh
as a
ges.
Abd-en-noor
and waved
my hand
made a
token of parting.
He
salute,
ture to his men, and they all went slowly back to the village.
As we
me
Shillooks,
was seated
with the shekh on shore, took a fancy to the fat black slave
who cooks
her.
and expressed
They
told
now the
touch her.
wife, that is
the Sultan's
shore.
my
wives, in consideration
been a serious
difficulty.
The
naturally malicious.
The
selfish
demand
presents, is
common
and hence
unsafe to venture
among them.
my
much
to
The
rais aftersatisfied
the shekh
3-t2
He
habit of going
down
woods
into the
villages
They
is
beasts.
and
giraffes,
but I was
Here
is
among
these islands
Aba
it
appears in
great profusion, and both the seeds and roots are eaten
natives.
by the
Dr. KndHecher,
who
ate
it
voyage, informed
sistence
me that
and
taste,
These
fishers of the
in
ly covered
by the inundation.
At
lat. 12'^,
or about thirty
miles south of A^a, both banks of the river are cultivated, and
thence, for
This
White Nile
is
The
is
343
tlie
As we
down both
toum. about
men had
taken
Kharin
We had
lat.
blowing
strongly.
The rounded
;
tops of the
mimosa
waved
and
my
heart
sank within
me
my
steps.
We
seemed a
my
"
Achmet
men
"
again.
Wewillsailto theBahrel-Ghazal."
at the bare idea.
The Theban's
face
became ghastly
claimed, " are you not satisfied with your good fortune
are
We
now
we go
now
further, it
left
Khartoum.
I knew there
in going further,
my
agreement and
me
foliage.
all
Beyond me
was
Why not
?
African secret
The
fact
men had
haps,
failed,
my
object on
and
344
Had
attempt useful,
that point.
it
I climbed to the mast-head and looked to the south, where the forest archipelago, divided
by
wove
its
I thought I saw
^but it
beyond
where the palm again appears and the lotus fringes the
faces,
there, but
I gave myself up to
latter
immediately suggested to
me
346
CHAPTER XX7II.
THE WH
Explorations of tho Wliito
I
TE
NILE.
in ]849-f\r Tlie Landt
of
tlie Sliillooks
and Dlnkas
Intercocirse
Wild
Elephants and
Lake The
of the
KyksThe
Zhii-
CountryLand
^The Eapids SurmountedArrival at Logwek, in Lat 4P 10' North Panorama from ML Logwek Sources of the White Nile Character of tho Bari Nation Keturn of the Expedition^Fascination of the Nile.
Let me
the
my jourthis
ney, and cast a glance up the grand and wonderful vista which
to
my view.
The exploration of
river within the last fifteen years constitutes the most interest-
It has heen
ascended to
lat.
latitude, or four
and
at least eight
^beyond the
made
scien-
Aba.
Of
the Europeans
who
Mohammed
observations,
and two
pubis
book, however,
15*
846
Knoblecher himself,
is
incorrect in
is
many
particulars.
The most
satisfactory account
fifty
who
ascended about
vious expeditions.
During
my
stay in
Khartoum, I received
from him
and sketch-books.
ex-
Kome,
After studying
estab-
its
rations circumscribed
who
among some
experienced
He
much
on account of the
who
find the
company of a
practices,
who was
at
last
November, 1849,
set sail
from Khartoum.
in the fiotUla.
and
347
He had
on board a
pilot,
Zeid.
sailing,
The
number of these
is
It is -worthy
mud and
the' Shillooks
differ in lan-
boats.
Beyond the
some
places.
The
soms as they
vegetable
flash
open at sunrise,
is
described as a scene of
pomp and
The
which cover
and beyond
lat.
dhelleb-palm
is first
and a in the middle, but tapering towards the top and bottom,
rich
crown of
expedition succeeded,
some
difficulty, in establishing
of the river. kas and Shillooks, who inhabited the opposite banks beads, fur. latter in consideration of some colored glass
The
848
and
giraffes
Numbers of
The
giraffes, as
fleet,
lifted their
On
the
mouth
east.
Weme, who
ascended
it
than those
of the Nile, and that the surface of the country became more
elevated as he ascended, whence he infers that the
as far as
it
White
Nile,
From
lat.
is
a complete change in
the scenery.
The
whose
The
air is
THE KYKS.
349
mas and
filled
The water of
vegetable
those
who
drink
it.
it
In order
was obliged
to
to suffocation.
lat.
16'
N.
thus
named from
side,
flows into
it
on the western
explored.
and
filled
difficult.
by
are
Nuehr
many
of
whom
For
now very
difficult
from them.
After leaving the Gazelle Lake, the course of the White
its
current sluggish.
Innumerable
among
to
of latitude.
The former
of cattle
who have
great numbers
and sheep.
them exceedingly
their
kogiurs, or soothsayers,
against
On
the twenty-sec-
village of
Angwen, where
received them
King
of the
Kyks
resided.
The monarch
350
He
viz
abunin
dance of children
who had
for the
slain his
and a cure
wound
The
latter gift
so low
means of long
glass beads.
tow-ropes.
were paid
in
The
and therefore
On the
thirty-first of
women
On
It
was the
first
elevation he had
10
35'.
is
a vast
351
cultivate large
flocks
They
man-
In
men go
entire-
women wear
Dr.
around the
statement of
loins.
Werne a& to
White
N.
previous expeditions,
The Nubian
to
make
north-wind,
lake-like
rich
and
beautiful,
abounding in
The current of
air
and the
seemed
The
inhabitants of
astonish-
ment
Nothing, however, affected them so much as the tones of a harmonica, played by Dr. Knobleeher. Many of the people shed
tears of delight,
tribe in
exchange
wonderful instrument.
On
name from
352
about six hunared feet high, which stands on the left bank of
the Nile. It
is in lat.
this is the
most southern
Nile.
White
Pr.
wound out
Rego and
is
Towards the
peared in the
distinct
east,
mesi.
The
natives of
of the
was prob-
lat.
has
now
At Logwek,
and from
it
was about
hundred and
fifty
feet wide,
five to
season.
unknown
sources,
lie
beyond the
Equator.
in
Mombas, on the
lat.
ted by geographers in
that the source of the
White NUe
353
in
13
S.
Dr.
its
mouth, says
it is
ceptible current.
He
considers the
White Nile
as being, be-
yond
all question,
He
who
I do not be-
inland,
to another.
from Khartoum
will be successful
must
first
make
The
information concerning
trees, like
them.
They appeared
to
be worshippers of
the
Dinkas and
They
cheerful, good-natured
and
aflFectionate
Werne
men
walking along the shore with their arms around each other's They are even more colossal in their stature than the necks.
Shillooks,
many
of
feet.
354
ore of
Many
of
if
They
One end
is
or a hundred
first
and
I have in
my
me by
Dr. Knoblecher.
On
on
its
Logwek
ivory which the natives had collected since the previous year.
their ob-
traders,
who pessuaded
if
the Bari
from
falling
In consequence
the
up
their residence
among them.
The design
of
the mission was thus frustrated, and the Vicar returned with
the expedition to Elhartoum.
He
tio,
356
stately
his interest
finally
bo
dispelled.
in standing
upon the
thresliold
felt
my
untrodden solitudes, crowned by the flashing snows of KUlmandjaro, the monarch of African mountp.ins, without a keen
pang of
regret.
Since Columbus
first
vador, the Earth has but one emotion of triumph left in her
bestowal
and that
first
drink
White
Nile, ur\lwr
fchfl
snow-fields
366
CHAPTER XXVIII.
TUB HASSANIYEH ARABS.
We leave the Islands of the Sbillooks^Tropical
ces -Lairs of
Jangles A Whim and ConscqaenArrival among^ the HasaaniyebsA Village^The Woman and the Saltan A Dance of Salutation My Arab Sailor A Swarthy Cleopa' traSalutation of the SaintMlracalous FishingNight View of a Ilassaniyeh VillageWad Sbjllayeh A Shekh's EesidenceAn Ebony Chcmb^The Cook At tempts Saicide^Evening Landscape ^The Natives and their Cattle A Boyish
its
Wild Beasts
at
Midnight
After we
men rowed
lustily,
and, taking to the western side of the river, soon put an island
village.
fell
It
we
left,
sufficiently before
them
to
make
considerable progress.
We swept
reeds.
The
hippo-
around
us,
them following
days
in our wake.
The sun
but the
men
still
Shil"
A TROPICAL JUNGLE.
It safe
357
to
come
to anchor in the
During the night the wind blew violently, and the was rough and agitated. We all went to sleep, therefore,
would venture to
fol-
low
us.
In the morning there was a strong head-wind, and the temperature was so cold that I was obliged to wear my thick capote of camel's hair while I sat on deck, looking regretfully at
the beautiful islands I was leaving behind me.
Achmet
heat-
me by
men made
fast to the
bank
for breakfast, I
went on shore
Paths
under the boughs of strange trees and through thickets of luxuriant shrubs.
At
snap-
ped
like
glass under
my feet.
all
It
formed admirable
and leopards.
There was
it
pru-
dent not to venture far, since the rank animal odor peculiar to
that beast grew more marked the further I went.
The jungle
saw that
was
it
The wind
358
and- shrubs
my
ear
make
and then,
es,
and struck
The
effect
my
repentance.
powder,
In a few seconds
fire,
as bare as the
palm
terri-
of
my
hand.
away
alone.
itself
by them
found
gums and
juices.
It spread on
both sides and against the wind, and soon the long spires of
scarlet flame, twisting in the air, rose high
the
side
of the Nile,
As
I heard
trampling down
I fancied
it
spreading from
coils of flame
and
flinging
from island
filled
me
I saw the natives with their flocks and herds flying before
the wild beasts leaping into the flood for refuge from
fangs,
lation.
its
it,
red
and
As we moved
THE CONFLAGRATION.
ed
its
359
heart.
Now
it
clouds rolled up
at last
Thus
thank God
self the
it
seemed
it
hope that
it
whereon
was kindled.
passed the locality marked on D'Arnaud's
At noon we
map
de-
The
it is
rais said
now
The
river here
small stern-sail
side-wind.
makes a curve to the west, and our was bound to the foremast, in order to use the
sailors
My
We
saw mul-
They were
in companies of forty or
and so
little
shy,
fifty
yards.
naving brought no
and
fowling-piece.
When we
The
reached
find a gazelle.
thickets
difficulty
my way with
into a
more open
space,
Each of these
clumps was woven into a single mass with vines, forming coverts of deepest shade, wherein a beast
ed, even at mid-day.
my
clothes.
One
of the
accompanied
me
360
me
Car"
wild beasts.
Such convenient
they can find in no other part of the world, and the thou-
sands of gazelles and antelopes that range through the wilderness furnish
bill of fare.
The
trees
and
new
to me.
I noticed in particular, a
joints.
also
saw a
shrub with leaves like the ivy, but a large, purple, bell-shaped
flower,
a dark-
There was a
What must
son
!
was a labyrinth
to
and novelty.
which
my
No
gazelle
was
to be seen,
left.
geese had
cheerily
The wind
fell at sunset,
and the
sailors
rowed
down
which they had learned from the slaves brought from Fazogl.
The
showed us a very
different land-
The
river
was
broader, but the shores were clothed with a more scanty vegetation,
and the few islands in the stream were but beds of sand.
the
When
men
we were
in the neighbor-
VISIT TO
A HASSANIYEH VILLAGE.
361
Leaving the
sailors to kill
and the
rais,
scattering mimosas.
we came
to
mere
The
others,
We
found two or
whom we
rais informed
visit to
son, re-
whom
he had made
Thereupon one of
me, while
full of
warm
milk, which
As
sour milk
is
among
for me.
feet,
at
my
He
but
I
it
gift,
men
hesitated,
man
whereupon the woevidently afraid to trust himself with us, the Sultan ; I wiU " with I am not afraid to go said :
take
it."
As we
touched by this rebravery, and perhaps his jealousy also, was When the river. to us accompanied came likewise and
mark,
16
tf62
we reached
use,
handful of tobacco.
which the
rais
After repeat-
ing this two or three times she dropped on her knees, and before I could divine her intention, kissed
my
red slipper.
saluta-
As
had
my
Presently
we
trees.
shrill,
singing a
more
like
When
me, and,
still
mark
the
rhythm of the
Song, she
with her breast heaved almost to a level with her face, which
my
Then, with a
quick jerk, she reversed the curve of her body, throwing her
my
cap.
bowed my head
at the
to her
363
They wore nearly all young, between the ages of fourteen and twenty, and some were strikingly beautiful. They had the dark-olive Arab
complexion, with regular features, teeth of pearly whiteness,
and black,
brilliant eyes.
left free
The coarse
one shoulder
exquisitely moulded.
Their bare
feet
slen-
Owing
to the skirts
recollection of ever
but I doubt
if one' in
a thousand
can
girls.
pany, but they contented themselves with singing and did not
lists
who had
They were
all evi-
One
hand a
My
were on
latter,
its
manly
among
drew a
the
women and
He
line in the
my
carpet,
final toss of
hair over the Sultan's cap, was obliged to perform her part
over again.
My
364
and moved
with,
away
my
attention
He
tribe,
As
It was a
For the
first
time, in fact
women
unveiled
^I
The
last
who came
to-
wards the
close,
She was a
woman
Mak-
Her
full, ripe
lips
neck and
chin.
hung
slender braids.
She
my
sailors
and the
the village,
bowed lower
my
When
all
was
Achmet
copper money
A SAINT
village, uttering
^MIKACULOTJS ITSHING.
365
After they
had
left,
I asked the
was
true,
was.
As we
down
to greet me.
He was
an old
man
in a
After
health,
reso-
touching
my hand
many
times for
my
The two
others respondfor
and
was kept up
soma
time.
But
the rais
was at
had
fallen,
so I acted
my
man in the midst of his chanting and going on board. When we left he was still standing under the mimosas, singing of Mohammed, the Prophet of God.
We
made but
little
al-
still
for
several hours, and as the shore was flat and the river very
While Ach-
dinner, a
fish
dish.
He immediately clapacceptable into the frying-pan and presented me with an satisfacgreat and my astonishment unbounded To his
fell at his feet.
tion, the
in succession, at pre" it
:
cisely the
same hour.
366
is
wonderful!
it
and
If you were
would never
offer
By
night the
men
could
make no headway
all
They
In the afternoon
recognized
shore and the ferry-boats passing back and forth across th6
men were
aU the country
inland.
This part of
Shillooks,
By
we reached a small
Wad
The men
carried
me ashore through
perform
to the village to
my
promise
alarming the inhabitants, and walked slowly through the wilderness of thorns.
The
between
The
made
The
WAD SHELLAYEH.
slender yellow dogs of Soudin barked on
all
36Y
sides.
WhUe
inasmuch
as it contained an inner
chamber or
tent,
made
aii-
fire
They were
Hassaniyehs of the
tesy of manners.
first village,
men
lage,
Wad
Shellayeh.
It
worthy of
notice, as it
had four
moored
to the shore,
relative.
The
tent
was thirty feet long, with an arched top, and contained two
inner chambers.
skins
The
sides were
and other
articles,
and large
some parts of Central Africa, were sewed upon I looked the cloth cover, in the form of crosses and stars. handinto the principal chamber, which inclosed a broad and
as currency in
were some angareb, made of plaited palm-leaves. The walls every and them, upon hung articles entirely concealed by the
thing exhibited a taste and neatness which
is
rare
among the
368
Arab
The
tent
was
handsome
girl of
woman with
three
He was He
bunches
hung from
my
The
my yoice,
He
my
skin.
set
up a
yell
little black,
satin-skinned legs
slave nurse.
till
From
is built,
I could see
^a
men were
resting
got into a dispute with one of them, and finally worked herself
into such a rage that she
of drowning herself, and would have done so, had not one of
the sailors plunged after her and hauled her ashore, in spite of
When
she sat
paroxysm of
sig-
" the sea," but she was an Undine of the Black Sea, and
to receive her.
the
men
369
The White
smooth as
glass,
and glimmered
still,
far
The
it
shores were
not been for the uneven line which their belts of thorn-trees
horizon, I could have imagined that
we were
floating in mid-ocean.
my
pistol.
made
on
my approach.
mud and
scattering
An
my
sticking
fast
in the
my
red slippers.
wood
some
spirit of mistrust
birds,
and
as long
as I
had a shot
When my
The people
prefer
Shillooks,
which led them to place their dwellings in situations At one of the fording-places I found a
filling
lift-
Many
hundreds of the
They have
hump,
and
short, straight
16*
870
horns.
cariosity
The people
men resembled
tall,
those of the
visit-
They were
by
their
wearing their hair parted in the middle, plaited into long braids
and fastened
at the
At
sunset
we saw
White
sailors
Two
of
my
not received
river
and apply
for the
money.
so
on the river that after his death the Pasha invested his
child with the
office.^
young
The
latter
He
paid the
men
the
sent his It
why
was dusk by this time, and I did not wish to delay the boat
besides, as
down
the
"
;;
KHARTOUM AT MIDNIGHT.
I recognized
tlie
371
on the
upward voyage.
The evening on
the half-moon, being just overhead, was unseen, yet filled the
air
my natal
the west.
At
ten o'clock
we reached
Nile.
Omdurman,
Kordofan
The
camp-fires of
The barking
of the sakias
Ere
we
Mission.
"
God
is
said
Achmet, devoutly
" since
we have been
Khartoum
appears to
me
as beautiful as Cairo.''
to anchor, having
when we came
lay
made
My
great
1
friends
were
all
abed, and I
down
my
boat, ezcJaim-
ing, like
Achmet
"
God
is
372
CHAPTER XXIX.
INCIDESTTS
The Departure
Island of Abd-cl
OF LIFE IN KHARTOUM.
Bey An
Illuminated PictureThe Breakfast on the
Zider
Horsemansbip The Pasha's StoriesDeparture of Lattif Effendi's Expedition A Night on the Sand Abou-Sin, and his Shnkoree "Warriors Change In the EffectsPreparations for Eetuming-A Money Climate Intense Heat and Transaction^Farewell Visits^A Dinner with Eoyal Guests Jolly King Dyaab A Sbillook DanceEeconcillationTaking Leave of my Pets.
its
my
baggage
at the
my head-quarters
He was
me
me
After the
el
first
that
Abd-
for Obeid,
as the island of
During
my
absence,
fine
While I was
my
came
to
and that
AN ILLUMINATED
PICTURE.
373
he, with the other chiefs of Khartoum, were ready to set out on
We
who had
We
tails
was
visible, until
we
The company
Musakar Bey,
consisted of Abd-el
AH Bey
Eeitz,
officers
and
in short,
everybody of conse-
by one of
Arabian
his Secretaries.
fine
stallions, Dr.
Peney on a
Arab
chiefs
on mules and donkeys, while the grooms and pipeI shall long remember the bril-
clear
The
The red
warm blue
richness
its entire
it
became a
374
Away we went
glittering
air, until
the
to a large
the variety called ''araz, where the carpets were spread on the
ground
for us
pipes.
We
who were
an
An
Albanian in a
but
failed.
Finally the
showrmeh
^an entire
sheep,
stuffed
with rice
appeared,
flesh
garnished with bread, onions, our right arms and buried our
We bared
me by tearing
off
A bowl
God
"
^to
which
God
"
He
sailed
off,
up the White
f he wind which blew across the plain in our faces, was as hot
SYfl
my
up
in
mid-career, throw-
ing their crooked canes into the air after the manner of a
jereed,
and describing
circles
and
The
finest of all
was
my handsome
an account of
to remain
in
my
He
my
me
to underif
stand that the negroes had great fear of his power, and that
they had not known I was under his protection they would
tainly have killed me.
cer-
When
Kyks and
He
also stated
to
Khartoum
but refused to
fury.
When
I remembered
twenty
communication with
a grain of allowance.
the
bals,
He
N'yam-N'y^ms
(a
canni-
Dr. Barth
Dr.
376
Knobleoher in the Bari country, but no one has ever yet Been
them.
The expedition
lays,
de-
ready for
trading-vessels, each
interpreters,
who spoke
We took the
The
same
Khartoum
by the nekkers.
bank
to bid
them good'bye,
up the
shrill
women
set
rapture
down
to despair.
We had
and
White
Nile, where
we came
to a
The
vessels were
moored to the
we gathered
At midnight
the cus-
its
long as any
in the
neighborhood.
When
staff,
sly
we bestowed upon
him.
We tried
tiO
877
little, but although the sand was soft, the night air waa and I believe nobody succeeded but Abou-Balta, whose
By
body was
tired
the
fires
had burned
meats of the
cold,
we
their
huge wings
and
sailed off in the moonlight for the land of the Baris, while
we made our
at daybreak.
slow
way back
to
During
rivals
my
of Owd-el Kerim),
and
all
of
whom had
been sum-
them
dignified personages I
had ever
seen.
He
was about
Dr. Peney,
who had
visited
me
mounted on
his
own
and
dromedary.
shirts of chain-mail
face, like
still
against
all
Mohammed
Ali.
me
who was
living in an
humble mud
We
&78
who
floor,
His son,
his seat
was
said, I
sumption, and
rum.
The
was to
invite the
shekh to dine
in-
trait,
Arabs
to the blood of
Abraham.
After
my
every thing denoted the approach of the hot and sickly season.
at
On
account
it
make
my journal.
humors which
(
in that climate so
jug of water at
my
bedside,
in the
middle
of the night with a heavy head and parched throat, would take
me
into a profuse
^e who
or die.
lives in
either sweat
M. Drovetti, of Alexandria
French Consul
Drovetti, with
whom
Belzoni nad so
many
quarrels), arrived
379
and
Many
of
tlie
also affected,
Achmet, who
He besought me to return to Egypt, and as I had already accomplished much more than I
began
at once to prepare for
anticipated, I
the
homeward
journey.
fixed
The
first
part
as a precau-
and
Kababish, at
for-
whom
me
The Consul
twenty per
also did
me good
my
who demanded
This, as
loss,
my funds
were
was
finally
mads
pro-
somehow
him more
Fathalla
paid the
money with
380
My
rice,
dates and
mishmish
(dried apricots),
luck's sake,
Many
to
Achmet's
care,
his
and poor old Bufaa Bey, more than ever disgusted with
exile,
charged
me
me
me
(what I already
Eustum Pasha,
an easy one.
I was sorry to part with Vicar Knoblecher and his brethren.
Those
self-sacrificing
men have
selvBS to a life
^if
life it
than death
in the
among
its
They
are
men of the
desires.
Aboona Suleyman,
already widely
present in the
way
of religious
Oopts, which
may
ROYAL GUESTS.
ciety of
381
Khartoum.
mission in the country of the Baris, the result will be not less
On
Reitz.
my
Ali, the
stately as ever,
and I never
Takka.
face,
size,
King
his
He
and requested
me
to put
it
him through
short legs of the fat king, and after running a circular course
with
my
my
me
so
jumped
off
and refused
to
mount
again, greatly
their
departure shortly
ed the dinner, but King Dyaab and Dr. Peney remained until partaking of a late hour, smoking a parting pipe with me, and
and spices, a mixture of claret, lemons, pomegranate juice
^382
profusion
ac-
me
company
his caravan.
His palace
he
said,
was entirely at
with him.
my
disposal and I
is
must remain
several weeks
But
there
nothing so unpleasant to
all
me
as to
I take plea-
good
qualities,
which
fully entitle
him
to the throne of
Kuke,
commencing
Dyaat
is
And
a jolly old
King
After the Melek had bestowed a parting embrace by throwing his arms around
my
my
home
The
Peney
to his residence.
The
latter suggested
another
pipe in the open air of his court-yard, and awoke his Shillook
slaves,
who were
two
males and
and
They brandished
their
683
tween one of the men and the woman, who had been married,
but were about to separate.
side,
They
by
and recounted
cents
!),
it
was
my
the
Khartoum.
After
old lioness in her corner, gave her a farewell hug and sat
down
on her passive back until she stretched out her paws and went
to sleep again.
made
my
my
leg,
I gave him,
kiss,
but
my way
to bed.
884
CHAPTEE XXX.
THE COMMERCE OF SOUDAIT.
The Commerce
porta
of Soudan ^Avenues of Trade The Merchants Character of the Tnv Specnlation^The Gum Trade of KordofanThe Ivoiy TradeAbuses of tht GovernmentThe Traffic in Slaves Prices of Slaves Their Treatment.
Before taking
it
thus
made a
may
be taken as an index to
the interior
traffic
of the continent.
cara-
van route up the Nile and across the Great Nubian Desert.
Of late
as winter
Red
The mer-
first
make
and a half
385
from Korosko
to Berber,
Khartoum.
make
them
by land
but
it is
more usual
for
them
to
Upper Egypt
at advanced prices.
In
fact,
the trade
to
On my way
Kharto five
in droves of
from one
Soudan are
ians established in the country, but they are for the most part
There were
also three or
who
same manner.
who have
thing but
to
weight of
gum
;
pias-
have endured
labiat
is
gratified
by the
title
of Djel-
merchants.
commerce.
class.
start upon,
386
Cloths,
sillcs,
powder,
is
The Turkish
and the
Scio, maraschi-
The
is
As may
of
gum and
any
At
the
time of
in
my
Khartoum
and the
merchants who were daily arriving with additional bales, complained that the sale would not pay the expenses of their journey.
very
few of
whom
It
was the
Califor-
No
Khartoum
is
Some
Dongola
to
to the
former place, where they dispose of their goods, and then pro-
ceed to Kordofan for gum, or wait the return of the yearly expedition up the
White
GUM AND
IVORY.
38*7
On
is
great, profit.
from Kordofan,
to thirty thou-
mimosa
from
fifty-five to
Pasha
at
one
at
it
The
cost of
and as the
price of
gam
fifty
may be as low as ten or as high The gum brought from Yemen and
is
Red Sea
but
is
The ivory
White
Nile.
it free to
The
my
arrival, consisted of
accompanied by an armed
it
force.
The
parties
European
mei-chants.
The gains
were
to the Franks.
Dr.
388
therefore
an important
The
them
and
rings,
the like, for which the natives readily barter their elephants'
teeth.
further south.
They
ara
Khartoum
its
In addition to the
his satellites
had established an
another
midway on
their journey.
abolished,
on account of the renionstrances which were forwardI found the Pasha so uniformly courteous and
I rejected
ed to Cairo.
many
me
of of
more
hideous light.
and certainly
to his
389
The
traffic
in
much
of late.
the
"i
institution "
demand.
labor,
cheap as
it
is,
is
found more
Besides,
the tax on the latter has been greatly increased, so that mer-
gum
or ivory.
Ten years
for a negro
Assouan was
:
thirty piastres
it is
and
fifty for
an Abyssinian
and
at present
three
hundred and
fifty
five
hundred and
fifty for
the latter, while the tax can be wholly avoided by making the
slave free.
traffic is
proportionately
dein-
on account of the
it
The Government
slave-hunts
in the interior, however, are no longer carried on. er part of the slaves brought
to
The
great-
^om
cap-
Nile.
The
tives taken in the wars between the various tribes are invari-
ably sold.
The Abyssinian
girls,
who
are in great
demand
among the Egyptians, for wives, are frequently sold by their own parents. They are treated with great respect, and their Turkish lot is probably no worse than that of any Arab or
female.
The more
beautiful of
390
hundred
hundred
dollars.
to two thousand
My
drago-
girl for
twelve hundred
He
religion;
Assouan.
The Egyptians
of cruelty are
much
The
latter
but in case of
or Judge,
who could
out
all
more or
less
aggravated forms.
are located in
Khartoum
as
for
They
eat,
slaves,
cheap
of the
his
One
me
an account of
housekeeping.
He had
a large
mud
twenty servants and slaves, to maintain which cost him eight thousand piastres (four hundred dollars) a year.
servants twenty piastres a month,
He
also
paid his
at least
391
As
is
difficult
what
their
with them Abhas Pasha might whistle to get Souddn from him.
men
correctly, assured
me
nal government, to
tion.
make
392
CHAPTEK XXXI.
FROM K H A B TOtTM TO EL METBHIMA.
Faiewell BreakfastDeparture from
lion
KhartoumParting with
Dreary Appearance of the Country^LionsBuryingGrounds The Natives My Kababish Guide, Mohammed Character of the Arabs Habits of Deception^My DromedaryMutton and MareesaA Soud4n Ditty The KowydnAkaba Gerri Heat and Scenery An Altercation with the Guide A Mishap A Landscape Tedious Approach to El Metcmma Appearance of the TownPreparations for the DesertMeeting Old Acquaintances.
and
its
Fulfilment
my
departure
my
My
In
Kababish guide and drivers, had been ferried over the evening
previous,
start.
this
dilemma Dr.
Peney, with
kindly gave
breakfast
tree
crew.
Our
and consisted of a
highly-
own compounding, a
wine.
The
coolness and
393
skill,
we
for verily
when we
arose
from the
ker,
table.
left
Khartoum, regretting
Soudan,
me
in that furnace of
A type
of the character
way
to
Omdur-
man.
ing him to have the body taken away and properly inteiTed.
It
was
full
Omdurman.
The work
me, had drummed up the Kababish, and they were in readiness with
my
camels.
I,
off in
advance on
Our path
was
The
air
filled
My
after
we had ridden
gully,
"
You are
;
^while
I caa
oiily
894
my
bones in this
He
my
sight
Little did I then imagine that his last words were the
We
slept
spirits
of
my
tent
of its usual
effect,
strong,
and courageous.
We
Metemma,
For the
first
day
my departure
been
ill
from some
He had
for
felt
himself growing
few days.
He was
Mends
many
ac-
had led
his
to
hope
Central Africa.
With manners
of great brusqueness
this,
and
eccentricity,
unbounded, and
and
his skill as a
that, in passing
whose father
is
a ForatmeUter, or Inspector of
who had
was mixed
with sadness as they expressed the fear that they would never see him
again
fear, alas
395
we rode
The country
is
crossed by
summer
Their
upon the
One
bold,
island of
Musakar
off night-
him.
we
left
and
ward
the
lay
till
the
no
more.
The
soil is
exterminate
it,
its juice.
Every mile
we passed a
large
The tomb
man
of Merreh,
The graves
are so
S96
numerous and the dwellings so few, that one has the impression of travelling in a country depopulated
by the
pestilence
yet
the road
^partly
Kababish, and
ed
me
among
My
and
guide,
the vainest
sUliest
He
braids, extending
nape
up the intervening
spaces.
His hollow cheeks, deep-sunken eyes, thin and wiry beard, and
the long spear he carried in his hand
tative of
represen-
Don
my
caravan.
He
for
Both
away
The
gheean, willing and good-natured enough, but slow and regardless of truth, as all
Arabs
are.
His
all
"God
is
merciful!"
39?
But
this
same
careless-
he
happens to remember
and there
is
no object to be gained
by suppressing
it
some thought, he
tells
you
He
is
he
you someIn
effort to
The people
do not
it
steal outright
in an
indirect
all
and
masters of
in
With
these
much
and they
If they
fail
to take their
ful,
to laugh
when you
are cheer-
and be
silent
so light-hearted in the
ac-
On
your
it is
men and
beasts
After
my men
had vainlj
308
tried a
drilled
ter
number
them
hand of me,
and found
their charac-
much improved
thereby.
whom He was
But
them back,
He came
up
to
my
tent
and knelt
ait
precisely
the same hour every evening, to get his feed of dourra, and
when I was
day with mutton and mareesa, the two only really good things
to be found in Soudan.
A fat sheep
is
of excel-
Mareesa
made
flour
which
is
pounded into
fire
heated over a
is
turns sour on
little
and
and as few
families,
withIt
out
it,
is nutritious,
my
experience went to
prove that
it
A SOUDAN
whiet
flavor.
ig
DITTT.
399
is
stronger,
sailors
sort of
and camel-men arc often not content without arakee, a weak brandy made from dates. I have heard this song
It
sung so often that I cannot choose but recollect the words. is in the Arabic jargon of Soudan
"El-toombat sheraboo dowaia,
Oo Oo
el el
karafeen ed
dowa
il
'es-sufaia,
Om
bilbil
bukkoosoo
burraia.''
and mareesa
is
a medicine
it is
(i.
e.
me
bilbil].
The
third
day
after
leaving
Here I hailed
of
Eowyan
This
is
feet.
Neither
is
it
effect,
is
behind
form.
there
it.
The Rowyan
somewhat similar
to Soracte in
must be a deposit of
soil
above
its
garden around
it.
The
we were
hours
agaiil, is six
immense
400
manner
between Assouan
and
Philae.
by the
darker hue of the nebbuks and sycamores, rising above the long gray belts of thorn-trees.
the. fallen
east.
inclose
The
during
my
and rolled
The
astonishing.
The
first
deli-
mild,
breeze which
sa blossoms.
mimo-
The
trees
on the White
grain-fields
between the
The
flocks of black
among
these
their hind legs, as they nibbled off the ends of the higher
branches.
On
Akaba
Gerri, I
left
had two
al-
tercations
with
my
men.
Mohammed had
Khartomn
GUIDE.
401
few hours.
own camel,
and I told the old man that he should ride no more. He thereupon prevailed upon Said to declare that their contract was to
take
me
to
This, considering
them by Dr.
Eeitz,
my presence,
EfFendi,
ed,
and that the name of Ambukol was not once mentionI told the
to
men
them I
would return to Khartoum and have them punished, whereupon they saw they had gone too far, and made a seeming compromise by declaring that they would willingly take
me
to
Merawe,
if
I wished
it.
I gave
Mohamfor me,
it
med
Before
my lips, I experienced a feeling of vigor and elasticity throughout my whole frame, which refreshed me for the rehad
left
Mohammed
of his tribe were only about four hours distant, and asked leave
to go
to rejoin us at
El Me-
temma
piloted
As Said knew
me
him leave
to go.
for nearly
When
402
My pro*
to pieces
Said, it seemed,
had stopped
to talk with
the camel, which was none too gentle, to take care of himself.
Achmet was
so incensed that
face,
/
whereupon he cried
(oh,
" ya Tchosara
"
what a misfortune
The
They
are smaller and darker than the people of Muhass, but resemble
them in
character.
with some baskets of raw cotton and pieces of stuff spim and
woven by the
natives.
The
sales
must be principally by
bar-
money
in the country.
diffi-
The
and
stony, crossed
by frequent
strata of granite
fine
and porphyry.
view of a
little
hills
and washed
to
by the
The
opposite
bank was
flat
fields,
beyond
sa-
The summit
APPROACH TO EL METEMMA.
403
It
at regular inter-
From
its
appear-
ance,
it
Arab
tribes,
antiqui-
peared, I
camped
in a
the Nile.
On
the
fifth
The
road, on approaching
it,
sand-hills.
We
journeyed for
From
the
El Metemma, and
was not a
little rejoiced
when I
were
ruins.
We
ruins
also.
Another
point,
and more
ruins,
and
so for
for a mile
and a half
buildings,
mud
miserable place of
*04
There
ple
sit
peo-
produce, consisting of
my
like
and the
A few people
but the
filthy lanes,
the houses.
In one of the
streets I
was taken
for the
Medical
to see
it is
filtL
hastily out
me as You see, we are sweeping very clean." It would have been much more agreeable to me, had the true Inspector gone his rounds the day before. 1 Metemma and Shendy are
of the houses and began sweeping vigorously, saying to
I came up
"
all
Central Africa.
The
me
that
it
for persons
prosti-
buy female
slaves,
money received
way going
into the
owner's pocket.
I was occupied the rest of the day and the next morning
in procuring
and
filling
additional water-skins,
and preparing
Achmet bad a
road.
Mo-
hammed
did not
make
imd I determined to
my
caravan being
in-
Shygheean,
403
whose only property was a club and a wooden bowl, and who
asked leave to help tend the camels for the sake of food and water on the way. All of the Beyooda, which term is applied
to the broad desert region west of the Nile
and extending
is
infested
from the
siderable risk.
For
Nubian Desert.
I added to
my
many
Metemma.
come up but Beshir and two or three more of the Mahassee Bailors, who had formed part of my crew from Berber to
Khartoum.
"
kissed
!
my
hand, exclaiming
May
Effendi
"
They immediately
us, meanwhile,
set
news
fell
had happened.
his
Beshir's countenance
sweetheart,
Metemma
Gammero-
The America
pany of merchants.
The
years
old,
had run
vessel.
When
we
buy
400
CHAPTEE XXXII,
THE BBYOODA DKSEKT,
Entering fne Desert Character of the Bcencry
An
unpleasant
WellsFear of the ArabsThe J-* overtakes ua Arab Enduranc Bedfellow Comedy of the Crows Gazelles We encounter a SandWind Mohammed
of ThirstThe Wells of
stormThe Mountain
Khannlk The
Kababirf
of th'
Arabs Gazelles again Euins of an Ancient Coptic Monastery Distant View Kile Valley Djebel Berkel- We come into Fort.
"
wheeling
sandy colunins
And streams through palmy valleys stealing, Where the plumed ostrich speeds in haste."Feieiligkath.
Wb
town
level
left
El Metemma
at noon,
Crossing the low ridge of red sand, at the foot of which the
is built,
the
to the west
The
prospect was
mud
my
face northward,
407
The
plain
was very
camels.
soil,
In two hours we
and
asses.
It
feet deep,
and the
on
down with
in
ropes.
We kept
untU
sunset,
when we encamped
or three days
had called
into life
assailed
me
on
all sides.
after travelling
we reached
of the Desert, covered with black gravel and fragments of porphyritic rock.
They appeared
to be outlying spurs of a
moun-
we saw
to the northwest.
From
the highest
of them
we saw
to the north-east.
The
merchant pointed out a grove in the distance as the location His sharp eye of Bir Abou-leer, the first weU on the road.
discerned a company of Arabs,
it,
and
were who, seeing Achmet and myself in our Turkish dresses, He urged his dromedary into a fast trot and preparing to fly.
rode ahead to reassure them.
people, very scantily dressed
;
They were a
the
tall,
wild-looking
men
408
They looked
The
and
contain-
We
the
thorns.
Among
trees in the
with a
flavor.
and of
different
The Arabs
some of the
fruit for
me
to taste.
gummy
paste,
bitter in the
mouth.
It has precise-
known
to children as
Hive Syrup,
its ter-
We
by
hills
of coal-black porphyry.
During
and I
felt
my
its intensity.
it
could not
than 105.
and
me
a bracing
It gave
me
hoofs of
Khartoum.
At
ing blasts were flavored with a strong aromatic odor, like that
of dried lavender, which was as stimulating to the lungs as
MOHAMMED OVERTAKES
herb-tea to the stomach. of this continual dry heat.
US.
409
Our
my
me
a stone.
we
spied a
1
and
in half an hour, lo
guide.
The
old
whom
made
eight persons I
was obliged
"
to feed,
them on
allow-
Mohammed had
little
his hair
will live
on dates
^when
and
none.
my own
we endured; but I do
men drank
less
Achmet
they would
lillah
!
finish a
summer.
in the
The
soil
Our camel's
trails
feet
broke through
it,
which crossed
except
to pitch
to
my
moved
a clearer
18
410
ing, as
up
my
is
it
"
Oh
master,
!
come out
come out
There
the alarm,
and
my
As he was
harm.
with one blow I put the snake beyond the power of doing
It
and club-
shaped, and with a back coVered with green, brown and yellow
scales,
very
this
deatL
merciful
!)
respond-
ed
"God
be praised!"
life
They
noted long
to me.
appeared in the
air.
At
first,
and turning up
:
"No
first,
you
you?"
and
suddenly by the
let it fall.
feet
and then
:
He looked
it's
much
as to say
a capital
sham
"
alternately dragged
and shook
it
time,
One of them
air, its scales
then took
it
by the
tail
and sailed
through the
dangled downward.
WE ENCOUNTER
A SAND-STORM,
4H
On
we
of black, stony ridges, with grass and thorns in the long hoilows between them. The sky was so clear that the moon (in her last quarter) was visible until nearly noon.
o'clock,
About ten
hills,
I caught sight of
One
of
to believe
my
row
gullies
At noon we
The'
We
was
still
At
first,
the air was so tremulous with the radiated heat, that the whole
landscape glittered and wavered like the sea, and the brain
its
unsteady
lines.
But
as the
wind began
to
blow more
The
air
was
filled.
invisible,
The
drifts
412
air
was with-
we were
we advanced.
in height,
or six feet
and the
it
nearer, to cover
completely.
The
which the Arabs have made on the tops of the ridges and
replace as often as they are thrown down, guided us, and after
plain
and saw again the Mountain of Thirst, which had been hidden
all this time.
restless
and uneasy
in
again,
still
retained
its
We all
drank
till
camping-time, at sunset.
While
the storm lasted, the Arabs crouched close under the flanks of
Achmet
and
the
Dongolese
muffled
stifling
my
blown about
413
bg.
we saw
wells of Djeekdud.
me and
go on alone to Merawe.
Go
"
!
but
this
and
my
body glowed
mass of molten
metal.
On
lifting
up
my
tumbled
kill
out,
him.
We
off for
Bir
Djeekdud.
At
ten o'clock
we entered
Arab
herds-
men
at a distance.
The
by
Wo
my
I took
my
He gave
formed us that the wells in the valley were not good, but that
there was a deposit in the rocks above, which was pure and
sweet.
my
dromedaries, to have
my
An Arab
414
was encamped
approach.
at a little
The water
is
held as in a tank ;
it is
from
taste
The
If I had
known
this in time, I
is
It
is
crossed in two
by broad
As
into
those
The
great-
on account of
The
afternoon was
hot
like all
my
quantities of water.
We kept on our
valley,
which broke
into
It was a wild
it
was, possessed
much
natural beauty.
Merawe, which
porphyry range
for
DESERT INTOXICATION.
several hours,
depths.
416
we entered a narrow
its
we
travelled for
summer
stream.
The mountains
some
places.
we passed an
Arab watering a
we
chain.
The
wa
plain
among which
At
night
Moham-
med
it
I arose
day.
At
very
difficult
to maintain
dromedary.
as
the
symptoms.
affected
life
my mind
in a singular manner.
Past scenes in
my
longer
knew where I
;
was.
The
the cries of
my
my
After a most
quilt,
and sweat
to distrac-
The moisture I
lost relieved
my
head, aa
left
41
me.
rarefied
feet
atmosphere,
fifteen
hundred
usually intense, or
calls the
After leaving Bir Abou-Seray, we continued our slow descent of the northern side of the mountain range, by a wind-
The
hi^ and
all
linked in regular
exceedingly wild
and picturesque.
among
river
nebbuL
in the
north-
mountain chain
of two
Some
of
The
and imposing.
valley, girdled
The
river-bed, which
we
crossed
banks.
We
at sunset, and as I
my
guide,
Mohammed, knew
nothing
encamped
at once.
A BARBARIC SCENE.
417
Aftei
We
arose
by daybreak, hoping
somewhat more than two hours' journey, we met a carayan of about three hundred camels, laden with bales of cotton drillings, for the clothing of the
new regiments
drinking at
They
we were
It
still
We rode
oblig-
was about
let
down with
mouth
The top
curved into the well like a shallow bowl, from the earth continually crumbling down, and the of the shaft
was pro-
tected
by trunks of
trees,
The
fierce
Kababish
all sides as
we rode up
and swords in
it
to kneel
and
drink,
their spears
angry contention.
The water
prevented
my Arabs
from drinking
We watered
There were
so
many
18*
^18
bottom.
Huni
At
In front of
^the
El Metemma
was
stirring.
ruins, I
When
like
little
The
sur-
was
The
stone,
above which the walls are of brick, covered with a thin coating
of cement.
The building
is
forty in breadth, but the walls which remain are not more than
It
is
Christianity.
is
419
hand,
and pottery.
tombstones
Coptic.
There
is
a churchyard near at
in
with
G-reek and
We rode
slowly
river-bed,
which gradually
widened, and after two or three hours saw far in advance a line
of red, glowing sand-hills, which I
Still
we went
under the
clear,
hot sky, the valley widening into a plain the while, and I
sought anxiously for some sign that the weary Desert was
crossed.
and knew
it
to be a grove of date-palms
the
glorious signal
felt
of the Nile.
life into
To
the
must
summit being
flat
It
so,
Mohammed
the
but he
was
not.
know
name
of the
mountain.
He
"
hammed
"
Where
?
To Merawe."
"Are
You
there is
Merawe
We
were
or six
miles distant from the river and took a random path over the
plain, in the direction indicated
by the herdsman.
;
The palms
mud
walls appeared
and a
tall
down out
420
^the
sea where I
had been
of
drifting for
^to
the
;
little village
Abdom, embowwheat-fields,
blessed
OUR WHEREABOUTS.
42]
CHAPTEE_ XXXIII.
THREE DAYS AT NAPATA,
Our wbereabouts Shpkh Mohammed Abd e'-DjebM
ing the River
My residence at Abd6mCross A Superb Landscape^The Town of MeraweRide to Bjebel Berke) The Temples of NapataAscent of the MountainEthiopian PanoramaLost and FoundTho Pyramids The Governor of Mprawe^A Scene in the Divan The- Shekh and IThe^Governor Bines with me Ruins of the City of NapataA Talk about ReligionsEngaging Camels fbr Wadi-HalfiiThe Shekb's Parting
Blessing;
"Under
the palm-trees
by the
river's side."
^Kkats.
Abdom, the
had
drifted after an
is
a village
after passing
*,
Abou-
Hammed,
-.jaches
422
On
is
Merawe, the
former capital of Dar Shygheea, which must not be confounded with the ancient Meroe, the ruins of which, near Shendy,
.1
names
aA
deceived antiquarians,
who supposed
but
Meroe
it is
now
satisfactorily estal-
mark
cele-
Eoman
soldiers,
under Petronius.
18 35', or thereabouts.
AbdOm by
man
of
ducted
me
two houses.
Shekh Mohammed,
Abd
e'-DjebAl
dignified old
man
plexion,
He
had
a great
mark
Mohammed.
Arab most
glories
and rejoices
wife, a
a numerous
of thirty,
family of children.
His youngest
woman
my
arrival,
The dwelling
had a
into
square structure of clay, one story high, with one door and no
windows.
It
flat
and tbe inside walls were hung with large mats, plaited with
MY RESIDENCE AT ABDOM.
brilliantly-colored
42C
palm
blades.
Fancy
vessels of
baked
clay,
slings of
floor.
palm
fibre,
Here
it,
my
and
my
formed a
The Shekh,
on the
nearly
stnd
all
the time of
my
stay, sat
me,
name
of God"),
man.
On my
having taken a
bath in the Nile, I sat there the rest of the day, tasting the
my eyes in the
balm
A clump of some
house, insulating
saw the
no longer
terrible,
Very
accompany me
to Djebel Berkel.
We walked
to the Nile,
to convey us across.
I was
The
was
filled
with a
light, silvery
vapor
(a characteristic of
sultry weather in Africa), softening the deep, rich color of the landscape.
The
424
of beans in blosaom.
world.
Opposite, the
mined
Kings and the mud and stone hovels of modern Merawe rose
in picturesque piles
upon their
a,
tall,
embowered
bluffs.
in a garden of date-palms,
Up
the river,
cept Djebel Berkel, which stood high and grand above them,
the morning painting its surface with red lights and purple
shadows.
single
and
It
is
river.
me
When we
enough.
The
fur-
One was
donkey, who, however, suffered himself to be guided by striking the side of his neck.
We
feet.
The Shekh
in-
formed
me
that it
425
It was whollj
Arab
which surround
buildings extend for more than a mile along the river, and are
all
now known
as Merawe.
Our road
one
side,
distant,
never grew.
Nile, rose
sand-hills
It
and
yet,
withal, there
The
fat
om
At
we came
to a sort of guard-house,
We now
between three
hundred
feet, presentriver.
It
is
Its scarred
As we
approached, a group of
left,
and
426
The
first
we reached was
mountain.
Amid
segments of
still
pillars, five
hewn
feet
They
are not
Typhon-head,
hurled
may
be considered as such.
The
doorway
kings
is
down and
may
still
chambers
Egyptian
divini-
to
Typhon, or the
faced with a
still
is
the
bril-
ceiling
The temple
is
its architec-
view.
421
perpendicular
its
The remains of
its
about two hundred yards from the rock, going towards which,
Beyond
this is a
portico
and pillared
and labyall
rinths of chambers.
more
or less
and contain
to
me of
the Franks,
who dug up
people to work at hauling away the lions and rams, which they
carried off in ships.
tal
;
it
The shekh
look-
ed over
it
my
temam
"
shoulder
perfect."
all
tain, as
top.
he had said one could see the whole world from the
He
After eating a
pillars,
watermelon in the
jacket and
started
I took off
my
my
side,
toilsome enough.
lie
ments which
we came upon
steep slope of sliding sand and stones, blown from the desert.
428
We sank in
and
slid
backward
at each
w6 had stepped
forward.
We were
Surely there
is
to agree
with him.
At
we reached the
here, but
the
Ethiopian world
There was
much vapor
on
its eastern
The Nile
fields,
lying like
and waves and long ridgy swells to the horizon north and
Beyooda
Nubian Desert.
As
As
I sought for
my glass,
more
distinctly,
lost
my my
pocket-book on the
all
way up.
contained some
money and
my
keys, I
was not a
little
loss to
Shekh Mohammed.
sliding
We
it,
down
the
We had
when the
!
shekh,
who was a
!
little
in advance,
!
"
Sidi
God
be praised
God bo
praised "
it
He
up, kissed n,
THE PYRAMIDS.
429
head turned
and
I tied
it
securely in a corner of
my
Achmet and
cliff,
with
is
about a
entire,
Like the
latter,
filled at
hem
all
or mould-
ing
On
of
them the
It
them
all
in this manner.
One
them has
on the
many
They
are not
more
of
than
One
obelisk.
is
an older pyra-
to those of Meroe.
The
III.
oldest
names found
II.
at
and Eemeses
whom
C.
the
430
marched
It
is
a curious fact
when they
fell
We
As I wanted
my
calling
on
Achmedar Kashif,
me some
medjids.
We accordingly rode
under the imposing stone piles of the old kings to the residence
of the Kashif, a two-story
mud
It
He
received
floor
me
cordially,
and I took
my
seat beside
him on the
and
dipped
my
of baked
scarlet
fish,
after
watermelon
and
cup of hot
the money,
sugar syrup.
He
me
my
invitation to dinner.
I stayed an hour longer, and had an opportunity of witnessing some remarkable scenes.
A woman
came
in to complain
481
and given
new
wife.
The Kashif
listen-
ed to her story, and then detaching his seal from his buttonhole, gave it to
delin-
A company of
men
afterwards came
so fast
water-mill.
They spoke
and
in
ing teeth and eyes, holding the folds of their long mantles with
one hand, while they dashed and hurled the other in the
in the violence of their contention.
air,
One would
suppose that
they must
tion.
all perish
and after
feat
Some
whereupon he listened
no reason to
Still the
!
Arabs screamed
and gesticulated.
He
ejaculated imshee
(" get
away
") in
The Kashif
offered
to engage camels to go
New
a journey
my
attractions, but
432
sat
He
me
sold
me
a sword from
had worn
it
to Mecca.
He
told
he considered
if
me
as his
me
I desired,
members
and fro
He
asked
me how many
God
to
your own country, you m?iy have many sons, just like that
one," pointing to a naked Cupidon of four years old, of a rich
chocolate-brown color.
"
God
grant
it,"
I was obliged to
Arab
politeness, but I
men^
!
God
forbid it
The
who was
me
that
they were four thousand years old; that the country was at
that time in possession of the
out.
prevalent in Egypt, that the temples were built by the forefathers of the
is
Frank
travellers,
there,
and that
the reason
why
the Franks
or pilgrimage to
see them.
Some
many
him
on the
site
of her capital.
VISIT
433
Dinner was ready at sunset, the appointed time, but the Kashif did not come.
I waited one hour, two hours
;
still
he
same
not.
we made an
over,
was
just
en-
joying
my
pipe,
singing on the
river below,
door.
He
in hia
divan.
he ate
after-
enough to
satisfy
me
that he relished
my
dishes,
and
He
my
The
picture of
Shakspere gave the Kashif and shekh great delight, and the
former considered the hovel in which the poet was born, "very
grand."
building,
The church
be the
finest building in
the world.
the shekh proposed going with
me
to
me
in great quantities.
the sands, which have here crowded the vegetation to the very
19
434
water's edge,
we came
to a broad
mound
of stones, broien
and
niches,
From
this place
comto-
menced
'
two miles
was about
equal.
were en-
tirely concealed
was
filled
with fragments
and chalcedony.
Half a mile
further,
we
struck on another
The foundations of
pillars
were abun-
dant,
The most
interesting object
was a
The shekh
Frank
who came
it
away
with them.
river were
Towards the
many remains
The
many
interesting objects.
I saw in
had
at
work
in various
filled in
away on donkeys.
to
The shekh
said it con-
tained
salt,
nitrous.
We walked
spot.
for
an hour or
The
bits of water-
WE
COMPAKK RELIGIONS.
436
jars which
we picked up were
skill.
with
much
The
soil
was
many
the necropolis.
cities of
site of that
knew
lit-
That
so little is said
by them
in relation to
it is
from
the
Roman
frontier.
tres
worth of bread.
The
latter sent
me
camels,
to
Wadi
They were
to
accompany
my
epent the rest of the day talking with the shekh on religious
matters.
He
gave
to
me
which I related
him
according to the
Arab Chronicles
He
said he
whose
flute.
To
illustrate
unmusical cadences.
He
436
attributes of God,
more than
once.
my
bed to a
my
their holes
me
November gale
forest.
let loose
among
leaves
when
lightly stirred,
and rocked
my
fancies as glorious-
ly as the pine.
neverthe-
we were
after them.
The
in readiness, as the
camel-shekh
was
right.
me
my
cara-
felt real
bower of palms
my
house.
sons,
to
make
They
all
kissed
my
idJ
any
readily, without
lifted
my hand to
his lips
and forehead.
When
all
journey.
He
then took
me in
my
cheeks,
With no more
vanity or
self-
ishness than
Mohammed Abd
e'-Djebal
had many
my
whom
again.
458
CHAPTEE XXXIV.
OLD
KortI^The Town of AmbukolThe Caravan reorgim"We reach KdabbeAn Illnminatcd Landscape A Torment Nubian Agricnltnre Old Dongola The Palace-Mosqne of the Nubian Kings
izedA Fiery Eide
PanoramaofDesolationThe Old CityNubian GratitudeAnother Sand-Storm
A Dreary Jonrney^The Approach to HandakA House of Doubtful Character The InmatesJourney to El Ordee (New Dongola)Khoorshid Boy^Appearance
of the Town.
I LEFT
Abd6m
Oui
island-like groups of
palms at a
little
For
obliging
my
trenches which carried water from the river to the distant parts
of the
fields.
unbumt
brick, exceeding-
430
my
ing all along the shore, and the people every where at work in the
the
fields.
first
from
Barley was turning a pale yellow, and the dookhn, the heads
of which had already been gathered, stood brown and dry.
Djebel Deeka, on
my
and
fair
black-purple peaks.
it.
Some
of the
houses were large and massive, and with their blank walls
its
feathery crown,
made
fine
African pictures
admirable
Nubian
Nile.
Towards noon we
mud
sand-hills,
a
in
An
extensive pile of
mud
sitting
on the ground, on
going back and
women
forth with water-jars, but otherwise, for all the life it present-
440
ed, the place
saluted
me with much
made
em
end.
my
caravan
all
for as
many
more.
A number
of
distance, or hailed
my
my
The
a
Mohammed
worthless as a guide.
jar of mareesa,
Our road
all the
afternoon was
tree.
opposite
My
ed to
it
the sand.
north-east,
As I
my
bluish
haze,
and
A FIERY
tlie
RIDE.
441
my
left,
dim, as
made
it
if
and I found
my
first
never
felt it,
of such a heat.
The
fires
shrivel
up as a
scroll,
to see the
My
camel-men crept
day with
my
head
in the
About three
Nile again.
we approached
the
bank, surrounding a large quadrangular structure of clay, with square towers at the corners.
a mile along the edge of the Desert, and six large, dome-like
many
holy men.
"We
village,
my
last
turned towards
Wadi
Haifa.
water, at the
all
right again.
There were seven vessels in the river, waiting for the caravans.
gum
by the
sailors,
19*
442
sels.
and had
my tent pitched
on the river
The Nile
current
is
is visible
and south.
The
opposite bank
higher the hills of pale, golden-hued sand, spotted like a leopard's hide, with
clear,
The
scapes
is
truly unparalleled.
;
To me,
it
simple sense
it
grew
to
be an appetite.
When,
after a jour-
ney in the Desert, I again beheld the dazzling green palms and
wheat-fields of the Nile, I imagined that there
was a
positive
felt,
or seemed to
feel, physically,
^beams
first
and amethys-
At Edabbe
a small black
terrible pest,
me much torment
as
more
difficult
to drive away.
my
heat.
After the
flies left,
We were up with
the
first
glimmering of dawn.
The sky
443
we
started.
Our path
cultivated
land, sometimes
skirting
off
of the
Nile',
and
The
sakias, turned
by
same time.
The
in breadth,
and
all
river.
The
sum
fixed
by Government
is
The remainFor
this
many
This
may
I passed
many
up to the halfeh
and abundant.
My
cropping
thickly
The country
is
and
forth.
bank of
of
Old Dongola.
As we
mud
whose
"We
left
the cara-
444
were growing
in a cottonin
After
my
tent
The
hill
it is
off,
and
lie
as they
up
to the dwellings.
I found the
to the west,
had veered
my
me up most
con-
veniently.
At
interminable lines
up with sand.
I went
of the
and
is
and sandstone.
It
is
an arched pas-
down
to
It needed something
assu-
me
broad
The
was
The
hall of audience
still
445
tiles of
ruin.
The
floors are
covered with
burnt brick, but the palm-logs which support them have given
away
in
many
Be-
which
is
From
the
was
is flat
and paved
with stones.
The height
inland as
on
all sides,
^low hills of
To
Northisolat-
summit.
To
the
a mass
alleys
of ashy-gray walls of
mud
and
most
part roofless and broken down, while the doors, courts and
The graveyards
Among them
were a
feet in height.
The camel-men
holy men.
said
prophets, or
absolute deso-
446
lation,
the
air,
rain-
to
many
washed.
The
lintels of the
the roofs in
many
places,
where they
remained, covered
with
tiles,
ful city.
one-fifth
of the houses
are inhabited.
ing of mats over the open walls, and nestled themselves in the
sand.
down and
filled
In
my
walk I met
we returned
in shrill tones
and waving
their hands
to
menting over
its fall.
Some Dongolese
returned
One
of
them showed
me
beyond Dar-Fur.
shell of
some
fruit,
By
The
rais
it to
and stood thereon, holding the other end with both hands
stretched above his head.
He made
NUBIAN GRATITUDE.
for the boat,
447
and
it
was easy
to divine her
name
The
Nv/-
hian.
We
Soon
after
my
tent
had been
man came
riding
up from the
He
was riding
man
him
He
of an hour, but
Achmet
finally
sitting posture.
me an
angareb in the
It is a good
acknowledgment of
this
good
office.
The
was
much
service, for I
sleep.
it
was impossible to
They
assailed
my
numbers
I rubbed
my face
with sittong
I unbut
wound my
around
my
neck and
ears,
they crept under the folds and buzzed and bit until I was
forced to give up the attempt.
Our
We
constantly
ed sakias.
The
soil
was exceedingly
rich, as the
exuberant
growth of halfeh proved, but for miles and miles there was no
448
sign of
life.
The tyranny
violently
in the air
from the north, and the sandy haze and gray vapor
bank of the
Nile.
The
river
caps,
and
As we journeysont,
which roared
in the sont
and made
my
my
by
like a high-
pressure steamer.
and we had
was
The wind by
air
this time
ever,
and the
was
we
The
sun gave out a white, ghastly light, which increased the dreariness of the day.
we
among the
thorns, following
we were
My
eyes, ears,
and
noetrils
were soon
was obliged
to bind
my
my
face,
way we
were going.
At
ANOTHER SAND-STORM.
449
I managed to
face and ears
mad
my
So
my
hours we
fell.
The
we
lost sight of
them
entire-
It was truly a good fortune that I did not take the short
Merawe
to
New
Dongola.
In the
Nearly
all the
afternoon
tracts,
The
water-
courses extend for nearly two miles from the river, and cross the road at intervals of fifty yards.
level with the earth,
fields
But now
effaced.
Two
hours
before sunset the sun disappeared, and I began to long for the
Achmet and
any
I were ahead,
to be seen
longer, so as sunthis
came on I grew
restless
and uneasy.
The palms by
time had appeared again on the river's brink, and there was a
village
on our
left, in
the sand.
We
They
The Ara-
450
say
a moderate distance
it is
off,
they
so far as
breath
signifies
" an hour
sa-a-a-d, "
We We
pushed on
till
as the sand
would permit us
;
no house.
asked again
the town
commenced
I think this thing must have happenat last I got into that peculiarly
ed to us
amiable
If
mood which
sees nothing
to
good
in
Heaven
or Earth,
my
best friend
had come
greeting.
My
my
head
my
saddle.
As
it
mounted on
trot,
fine
at a sweeping
them
some time.
One
of
them was a
From what
him
to
of Dongola.
Meanwhile,
it
We
we were
there already.
had a
As
I had already
Handak
at all
Achmet and
MT LODGING
IN HANDAK.
45J
broken wall, holding the camels, he went to look for our men.
It
was a dismal
and I wonderBe-
me
to travel in Africa.
us to a collection of
fine
Her
house proved
be a narrow, mud-walled room, with a roof of smoked dourIt shut off the wind, however, and
ra-stalks.
when I entered
to each
by
it
looked ab-
solutely cheerful.
rebs,
But I am
afraid
women showed no
when we made
They paid no
attention to
my
re-
is
noto-
As we had made
men
to
leaving Soudan, and I could not procure a sheep for less than
Siiventeen piastres.
at sunrise,
The
woman
told
me
her own distress, and how King Dyaab (who had passed
462
hass)
piastres,
also
buy
new
dress.
I gave
at once asked
me
to
Seese-
made
haste to
Her youngest
!" said I, "
?"
now came
"
to
me
for
backsheesh.
"
Oh
old
will
woman
give
is
did, are
you
if
you
me
no more.
The
old
woman
a miserable wretch ! " and she spat upon the ground to show "
her disgust.
Go
" I said
girl
who
From Handak
to
El Ordee
is
The
Old Dongola.
Untenanted
villages
whole distance.
The
face of
the country
either
is level,
and there
Nile.
is
is
no mountain
to
be seen on
re-
bank of the
It
a melancholy, deserted
Here
still
of desolation
the landscape.
hills
dull
lifeless
All this
district
as a
APPROACH TO Bl OEDEE.
curse upon
its
453
On
Tetti.
the
first
day
after leaving
thing in
dust.
my
tent,
my
it
town
called
Hannak.
The
by
greater part of
to the earth,
and evidently
It stood on a rocky
rise,
its
The
hills
among which I
Dongola
As we approached El Oris
New
as
much
partly Dongolese and partly Arabs from the Desert, the latter
the time of
after-
My camel-men rejoiced
and I asked
in
old
Mohammed
"
if
Paradise.
Why
about Paradise?"
life,
"Certainly;" said
I,
"
if
you
will carry
Achmet
is
a good Frank.
He
454
About two
its sugar-loaf
o'clock,
we
The
place was
travel.
Nubian towns
rise,
long line of
blank
mud
walls, above
which
mud
houses
some
Khartoum.
my
caravan, before
commenc-
my
tent
on the northern
air
side,
The morning
Bey, caUed at
noon.
after
tent,
my
Khoorshid
after-
my
visit in the
He
was a
is built in
Two
soldiers
me
coffee
and
herbet.
know whether
how much
it
cost.
While I was
was the
thither
m a loud, melo-
455
singular cry,
is
I took
my
leave, as the
in an hour.
It contains no sights,
Outside the
bazaar, which has a roof of palm-logs covered with matting, are a few shops, containing spices, tobacco, beads, trinkets and
Beyond
this
was the
soog,
where the
and
fowls.
One
a most
of place,
among
who
Below the
One had
sailors
bank in baskets, on
is
The channel
mainly taken up with the large, sandy island of Tor, and the
is
stream
very narrow.
The
washing clothes or
men
hoisting full
from whity-yellow
456
brink.
ed,
The northern
I noticed not
ruins.
Egyptian
than they.
WE
467
CHAPTBK XXXV.
JOUHNEY THROUGH DAB EL-MAHASS AND SUKKOT.
Wo
start for
Island of
of the NileEntering Dar El-M^hnss A Eocky ChaosFakir BenderThe Akaba of M^hass Camp In the WildernessThe Charm of Desolation The Nile again Pilgrims from Dar-Fur ^The Struggle of the Nile An Arcadian LandscapeThe
Buined Fortresses
The
Oamel-Men
Temple
Sand
of
of
We
left
New
twenty-ninth of February.
came out from the town, helped load the camels, and
on accompanying
ing,
me
to Cairo.
As my
We were all in
and our ships
rest,
of the Desert sailed briskly along the sands, with the palmy
coasts green and fair on our right.
is tolerably
in the neighborhood of
Old Dongola.
Beyond
20
458
grave-yards
of pyra-
to a considerable extent,
its cluster
To-
my
small black
to eat.
came
They
assailed
my
and
nostrils,
and
it
them away.
I was half
my
were swollen and covered with blotches worse than those made
by mosquito
stings
In
fact,
ful in comparison.
Had
not
my
Desert, away from the trees, I could scarcely have endured the
journey.
In the afternoon the monotony of the Desert on the western bank was broken by a
solitary
It precisely resembled an
immense
off,
and as the
it
effect
of a powerful mirage
seemed
and
earth.
The long
island of Argo,
across an
Arm
It belongs mostly to
pose of representing to
distressed condition
(Jf
the system
the
it.
459
my map
effort to see it
knew
else.
drove
me
still
maddened and
disgusted, I
came
at last to a
me
They
deliberately
and
my
me
of temples until
we have got
awaking
flies."
difficulty in
low glimmer of
informed me.
my
tent-lining in the
dawn soon
is
given up
It
was market-day
natives,
grain.
I noticed one
man
for
riding a
which ho
who had
until
would possibly get twenty paras (2J cents). My camel-men, neglected to buy dourra in El Ordee, wanted to stop
noon in order to get
it,
behind.
picturesque
air,
from the
iso*
460
sides of
the river
vapor
The
fields
way below
the
By
noon, I
knew from
we must be
rains.
but the
among
me
nothing about
it.
that there was no ferry at this part of the Nile, and to swim
across was out of the question.
The
crocodiles
much
3o
my
Beyond
of
my
friend
Melek Dyaab.
The
Long
Akaba
Gerri, in
first
soon throwing their lines across the stream and forming weirs
and rapids in
its current.
The
meets
when
it
RUINED FORTRESSES.
east.
461
Arambo, which
waters and flows for several miles through deep, crooked, rocky
channels, before they meet again.
tion,,
Here
there is no cultiva-
The
river-
bed
is
rocks, that
oflF.
from
the shore
At
mud
cor-
tapering inward
The lower
That on an island
an
cir-
and walls of
They were
Kings of El-Mdhass,
to prevent incursions
We
o'clock,
and I thought
it
I had
for
my
tent,
river,
me
for leaving
them
in the lurch.
my
pipe to be
filled,
and smoked
quietly,
making no
The Nile
filled
at this
with rocks.
462
mth
a rich
at the
mountain
and
flattered
last
The
sunk
limits.
each other like waves, and their crests assume the most fantastic
variety of forms.
They are
the jaggy headlands which tumble their boulders into its bed.
High
Toward the
east,
where
away
in a long chain of
and the
little
con-
In the
inspir-
was truly
and I rode over the high ridges in a mood the very oppo-
site of that I
had
felt
463
miles in length.
At
Fakir Bender.
at other places,
is
little less
At
the
is
an immense sont
apparently very
it,
A large
stood
in the shade.
is
The faheer,
presented
whom
the place
under the
the
me
name of God."
but ha
great
men have
and
'
filled,
after
an
hour's delay,
we came upon a
hills,
rolling plain,
bounded in the
distance
by a chain of
of the afternoon.
The
led directly up the side, which, though not very high, was
The
Be-
hind us the dreary Desert extended to Djebel Foga and the mountains about the cataract
visible in the distance.
:
a most
The northern
slope
was com-
464
heaped upon
it,
The
to the north
and
east,
bounded by a
family, with
for ex-
their
donkeys, on their
way southward.
as their supply
They begged
was entirely
water, which
we gave them,
hausted.
tent,
my
The
for
but
we had
places
their beds, but the camels stretched their long necks on all sides in the vain search for vegetation.
I sat at
my
tent door,
and watched the short twilight of the South gather over the
stony wilderness, with that strange feeling of happiness which
the contemplation of waste and
inspires.
the
twi-
rocks,
light,
life
my camp
there was no
in the
yet I
bower
and
for a
cold
when I
arose,
The
air,
spirits.
I hoped to catch a
dromedary, but one
my
long black ridge of stones rose after another, and there was no
sudden
last,
flash of
At
466
The
riyer
mountain
is
wil-
derness.
The
valley
is
only
hills.
came
little
down on one
village of
of
them
Koyee
a meadow
encamped
their custom.
from Dar-Fur, on their way home from Mecca, and a negro from Fazogl, who had belonged
in
to a
Naples.
He
shabby Frank
beg of me.
hand, bringing
me
we entered
a short
Down
we saw the
Through
all
this
effort to cut
its
bed, squeezes
him between
him
to turn
and twist
through a hundred
and carries
There was,
me,
466
^in
From
hills
looked
down on
new-created in
my
rode on, around a slight curve of the trees, and was startled
was
finely relieved
by the dark
green of the palms and the pure violet of some distant jagged
Beyond
it,
The whole
excepted, was
its
more
and was
perfect in
Amunoph
of the landscape
which
my
fancy, that
Amunoph was
it is
a poet.
The temple
efiiect.
The
by
pillars.
Then
more spacious
each side.
row of three
467
The
There
standing
the remainder
of the temple
is
a mass of ruins.
it
The
taken to destroy
stands
is
mound on which
it
In one
still
lying as they
fell.
The
pedestals remain in
many
can partially
When
edifice.
complete,
it
The material
the white
of the
adjacent
purple
rain,
From
columns which
places,
many
and in
nests,
where they
ed with
figures,
now
still legible.
noticed a
new
monarch with
his
The columns
Osiride column.
They
This
is
the
sum
of
my
observations
468
^but this
Dar El-Mahass.
They
The
village
Many
had a second
mud
mid.
fifty
piastres
They were
the
They
When
gath-
subsists
river.
Even
here, nevertheless,
where the
people are better able to bear the grinding rule of Egypt, one
fields
The King
his people
when
in
Khartoum, that
were obliged to pay six hundred piastres (thirty dollars) tax on each water-mill, being just double the lawful amount,
(which, alone, is very oppressive),
fast
On
country here
less
vexed
course.
The mountains,
have not the forced and violent forms common to the porphyry
formation.
which so charmed
me
in the
A SEA OF SAND.
hills of Arcadia, in Greece,
469
Their
effect
which were parted here and there by gleams of the bright blue
river.
From
is
completely invaded
to avoid
We had not
sand thirty
gone
far before
we found a
feet high
our road.
It
We
rounded
where to the west and north the rolling yellow waves extended
to the horizon,
color.
It
which could
hot surface.
The day
(for
my
with the
region,-
My
and
after
Wadi
Haifa.
a waste of sandy
to
iVO
I rode up
my
right.
The
tion,
and I encamped
sufficient grass
my
beasts
found
days.
and thorns
The
among
the
hills,
and there
western bank. of
soil,
On
My
camel-men kindled a
fire
much
relish.
piece,
which was
well-
tougk
our
camp
all night, in
Abou-Sin,
my Dromedary.
CHAPTER XXXVI.
THE
The Batn
BATN EL-HADJAR.
StoneAncient Granite QuarriesThe
Tillage of
El-Hadjar, or Belly of
DalA Eulned Fortress A Wildernessof Stones The Hot Springs of Ukm^ "Windy NightA Dreary Day in the Desert The Shekh's Camel TailsDescent U
Samneh
The
Temple
and
CataractMeersheh
The
Sale
of
Abou-Sin We
of
Emerge from
the Belly of
Abou-Seer
View
men.
of the
my Dromedaries-
Farewell to Abou-Sin
Thanksgiving on the
On
472
termed.
With
each day the road became more rough and toilsome, and
my
In
we
all
endured, I felt so
much
felt
Not
so
my dragoman
and
servant,
Achmet
make the
My
camel-men, I
the west^
Wadi Haifa by
instinct,
em
Arab
its
commencement by a
range
After leaving camp, our road lay along the Nile, behind some
high
sand-hills.
fifteen
In
about
hundred
of a
by the glowing
The Nile
flows
making a
on the eastern
side,
The
The
sizes,
in
bed
Intermixed with
GRANITE QUARRIES
^DAL.
ilS
appears in large
still
it
The
quarrymen
remain, in
were
split.
Old Dongola.
The
granite
is
still
that at Assouan,
through
is
a hollow between
The only
narrow
shelf,
The
had
off
man
I had fixed
it
upon
me
At
my
little rest.
About the
village
doum and
4'74
idle to prune.
The people
were in the
I made
inquiries,
difficulty in finding
men
con-
sented to become
my
was a
little
camels.
my
The moon,
and some
nearinsect
and hazy
lustre,
me
Our
Mohammed,
nence which I had noticed the previous evening, while sketching the landscape.
granite,
My
hundred
The
and
clay,
island-like
the
the
is filled
its sides
A WILDERNESS OF
and beans.
STONES.
475
fruit,
grew
the
ravine.
The
fortress
three square towers, backed by the roaring flood and the dark
violet-blue crags of Djebel
Meme
behind
all
landscape
except
the palms
were
I was so
absorbed in the scene, that the caravan passed unnoticed, having taken a path further from the river.
After wandering
about for some time, I climbed one of the granite piles and
all
and on reaching
it,
recog-
my
camel-men, coming
lost.
exdis-
Ukm6,
in the
Batn el-Hadjar, a
We
ing
ness of stones.
the pieces left after the rocks and mountains of the rest of the
^have
It
blacker stone.
Through
this
we passed
into a
region of gray stone and then into another of red stone, jour-
I began to be fearful we should never get out of the geological labyrinth into which the hadji conducted us, but the majestic
Missing Page
Missing Page
478
drive
it
This, howerer,
till it
was of no
avail,
and
at last
he concluded to wait
water-skin, and
had rested a
on.
little.
I gave
af-
him the
we pushed
Half an hour
lee of a
up,
was
fearing it
would
it
to
make
his
way home.
by the
Ali lent him a doUar and promised to take him the rest of ths
The
other
men were
quite downcast
misfortune.
worn
out.
We kept
in our faces,
on
all
upon
us.
when we
down the
sides
and crush
us.
Then
we
travelled over
more elevated
ranges,
from the
crests of
stones
and sand.
distant,
was some
night ap-
comfort to
know
that
it
Nile. to
As
proached, I feared
we should be obliged
camp
in the akaba,
we reached a
hills,
ridge,
whence we looked
of rooky
of jagged peaks, touched with the full yellow light of the setting sun, stood against the black gust that rolled
away beyond
479
to be
them
Nubian
Desert.
showed
to
The
just below
the
roared
again,
magnificently all
and so
violently,
my
mouth and
my camels
set
ofi'
and
early.
The
wall,
hill is
The temple
sign, containing
on
its
back.
From
the
little
portico in front,
there
is
fine
A broad
Through
the centre
by a gap
this the
poured, and at
the time of
my
visit,
pigmy
there
flood.
is
In
fact, for
and
difficult
After leavhills,
ing the temple, our road led over the desolate stony
high
We
narrow
defile
through which he
480
The
air
felt
no
its
more
close.
his accustomed
song
ya er-rahh-
man
all
my
people
may
enter
thy Heavens
ing came
sheh.
Thus we
down
This place
is
a beautiful
little
geutle current,
and
his
date-trees,
and
fields
and
cotton.
My
tent
was
my
some journey by
took a fancy to
land.
my
him on
and at
man came
again,
last,
many
hundred and
avoid
all
further trouble.
my
fire,
milk for
my
A KABABISH CARAVAN.
481
The
prevented
me from
drinking
much
of
it.
We
arose shivering in the early dawn, and for the last time
Soon
after
a,
Libyan Desert,
like
those which line the western bank of the Nile, from Assouan
to Korosko.
As we were
travelling
we had
Arabs, returning
us.
There were
savages,
upwards of
fifty
men
half-naked
easily distinguished
by
their
fat.
The
in all
Howoweet, from
We
Wadi
Haifa,
!)
und were answered with the universal " hassa," (just now
Abou-
to
me
the termination of
visited the
Wadi
21
4-82
hills,
Mohammed and
Ali,
man
We
wandered
for
Bomo time over the rough ridges, and at last reached a spur
of the hills which
Achmet took
so
to he Abou-Seer. but
which
and
was not
it.
I was
for breakfast,
before I had finished, Ali, who was overflowing with joy at the
idea of reaching
Wadi
Haifa, came to
me
The
was broad
and smooth, and there were more date-trees than he had seen
since leaving
Sukkut.
I left
him
to ride
my
Abou-Sin, and
As
As
came out
hills
behind
it,
me
and
east,
groves of
Wadi Haifa
is
apparently at
my
feet.
is
Abou-Seer
cliff
com-
names of
add
tourists
who have
visited it
Achmet wanted me
brought no
to
my name
to theirs, but as I
had
A few steps
It
is it
took
me
to the
summit
hundred feet in
many
leagues.
The panorama
in the world.
is
To
Batn Elits
Hadjar
rise like
7exed streams
483
from subterra-
difficult
way round
and
reefs,
at last, as if
weary
of the long contest, the rocks recede, and the united waters
spread themselves out, sluggish and exhausted, on the sands
below.
It i a wonderful picture of strife between two mate-
rial forces,
its features,
viewing
it
The streams,
all points
in their thou-
of the compass,
all sides,
and from
and motion on
the
throttled
This
is
He
Is
it
to be
wondered
at,
by
his bounty,
like specks
on
Wadi
Haifa.
and we soon
him.
mounted
my
faithful big
more hours on
opposite
his lofty
hump, dismounted
!
at the ferry-place,
Wadi
sailors
to
mount him
again.
and the
had been so
far as the
White
Nile.
They were
bound
my
brown
484
buy
it,
Achmet conducted
up
the business for me, for the bargaiiiiug lasted at least two
was
also
men the
bad
made every
way of
gave a
counting
money and
offering
and at
last
when
When
was
finished, I
new master,
with a sorrowful heart, for the old fellow and I were good
friends.
Had
am
sure
tears,
Achmet threw
him
tenderly.
his
and kissed
him
with
my
my
lips.
So farewell to Abou-Sin,
and may he never want dourra and bean-vines, nor complain under too heavy loads and should he die soon (for he ia
:
waxing
in years),
may some
carry me,
when next I
My
arrival at
Wadi Haifa
In that time
my
little
caravaji
had travelled between eight and nine hundred miles, and at least half of it as rough travelling as can be found in Africa.
Now we
485
Not
until
we
were
all
bank, did I fairly realize that our severe journey was over.
left behind,
suddenly
my mind
me
all the
way
i
to Cairo.
el
"
hamdu
he reached
home, recited a chapter from the Koran, and Ali, who never
prayed, broke into sailor-songs by starts, and laughed continually,
from inward
delight.
After
my
tent
my camel-
men, Ali and Mohammed, who had crossed with me, and gave
Maria Theresa
is
as backsheesL
The men
I
my
:
money
"
May God
They
replied,
warmly:
"May
" Wal-
God
lah,
moved away,
:
I overheard old
Mohammed
ar
again declare to
!
Achmet
but this
is
good Frank
He
heart !"
486
JOURNEV TO CENTRAL
AIi'UJC'A.
CHAPTER XXXVII
THE BOCK TEMPLES OP AB OU- S IMBE L,
WaJ.HalfaA Boat for Assouan "We Embark on the Nile Again An EgyjllaK DreamThe Temples of Ahou-Simhel The Smaller TempleThe Colossi oi
Bcmeses
sions
II.
Vulgarity
of Travellers
Character
of Abou-Simbel
Departure.
village,
Wadi Halfa
is
an ordinary Arab
for
There
gum
and ready to
start for
Assouan.
They were
all
nekkers, or
moved down
had crossed
The
it
rais
made
by
my
two men.
make
up
I needed no more.
'
"
NILE.
487
The morning
ready.
ful
after
my
arrival
at
Wadi Haifa
all
was
to greet
me
three
them
to flight.
We shoved
who
also
I stretch-
my
my
ed towards the
mount
shal
him on
the morrow.
Alas,
my
we
Rais
Kam
All
rich
adan took his station at the helm, and the boys plied their
oars actively, so that
we soon
lost sight of
Wadi
Haifa.
the afternoon
and
districts.
outlines,
an
had seen
Dar Shygheea.
that there
By
sunset
progress,
in the
morning.
There was no wind during the night, and the boys worked
bravely.
after midnight I
was awakened
from a deep sleep by the shock of the boat striking the shore.
I opened
my
my
head,
488
its front.
on the
cliff,
feet
were wrapped
in
shadow.
The
A little to the
left,
over a long
nearly to
still
cliff
more
colossal proportions.
majesty that I
is
was.
This
some grand
my
first
my
eyes
it
would vanish.
it
But
stood
and
silent as ever,
and I knew
to be
Abou-
Simbel.
lessly
My
servants all slept, and the rais and boys noiseto the
shore,
slept also.
nomens and
The
dumb
Na-
It might have been two minutes or twenty, before the euiTent slowly
moon
shifted
its
swung the stern of the boat around, and the picture as slowly from my view, leaving instead the Southern Cross in
shrine of stars.
489
my
cup of
coffee, for
the
morning
night.
reality
was
infinitely less
grand than
my
vision of the
interior is
The
not large nor imposing, after one has seen the temples of Egypt.
The
exterior, however, is
on such a colossal
The
and not
ple.
executed
much more
The
spirit
than
is
this period.
whose history
labor.
much
and
The
much
It
less beautiful
is,
Dendera.
in fact, almost
The
east course.
The
of the door, look to the east, the direction of the line of the
face being nearly north.
temple was
first
opened, in 1817,
it
the base more than once, the rapid accumulation of sand has
The southern
colossus
is
21*
490
Obscured
without parallel ip
the world
it
The
face of
it
in each, is un-
doubtedly a portrait, as
King
in other places.
Besides,
is
too
The
lips,
The
seated,
lie
The
The enthu-
siastic antiquaries
who
cleared
But there
it
are two
names
in letters a foot
filled
statues,
and afterwards
491
own
bodies.
much
up with sand
this
was obliged
to creep in
on
my
knees.
The sun by
it
can illumine
the interior, and the rays, taking a more yellow hue from the
rock and sand on which they fell,*shone down the long drift
betyreeii the double
row of
colossal statues,
and lighted
tip
the
sand,
awed and
half frightened
the place.
The
sunshine, falling
show
its
imposing dimensions.
Eight square
pillars
four on
and
on their inner sides, facing each other, are eight statues of the
King.
The
of the grace
and
serenity,
jtatues outside.
They look
an
answer.
The
strong arms are all crossed on their breasts, and the hands
amon"
which
is
something resembling a
flail,
Egyptian sculpture.
read, in which a genie,
stands at the
492
hie ten-ible
who come
was as
flails
of the terrible
Remesi on
either hand.
The
faces
which
accoitated to
ing.
me
on enter
There
is
Kamak
is
grandeur
is
human.
the
or to the realm
This im-
pression
corridor,
is
temple.
The
than
shown
in these
much
The
less constrained
tombs of Thebes.
These look as
they could
rise, if
they would.
Some
visitors
had
left
made
was
torches,
fiercely, flaring
with a
and painted
all
walls.
There
me
to
examine
of which there are eight or nine, cut laterally into the rock,
THE RACES OP
MEN'.
493
arrang'iment.
modern Egyptian
houses.
The
On
is
whom
he
holds by
There
all
On
made
fact,
still
more obvi-
In
I see no reason
dif-
men were
as strongly
is
marked
in the days of
Kemeses
as at present.
This
Admitting
men
to
appearance of
Man
five
been nearer
fifty
thousand than
climate, customs, and the like have been the only agents in
have been at work for a vastly longer period than that usually
494
accepted as
tfjo
JOURN'F.T
TO CENTRAL AFRICA.
age of Man.
We
is
we know but
;
The
in a
chariot which two horses at full speed whirl into the ranks of
the enemy.
directly
The king
of
in front
him a
wounded,
is
The groups
are chiselled
Towering over
rior proportions as
Remeses stands
and
erect
riot of battle.
There
only
I spent some time contemplating these grand and remarkable memorials of the greatest age of Egypt, and left with
feeling for
my
I watched
my
boat
down stream,
features.
passed before it
LOSE MY SUNSHINE.
405
CHAPTER XXXVIIl.
RETURN TO EGYPT.
I Lose
my Sunshine, and Bcgain it Nubian Scenery Den-The Temple of Ainada Mysterious EappingsFamiliar ScenesHalt at KoroslcoEscape from Shipwreck ^The Temple of Sehooa Chasing other Boats Temple of Djei-fHossayn Backsheesh Experiment Kalabshee Temple of Dab6d "We reach the EgypA.
tian Frontier.
The
reaching
Wadi
Haifa, affected
me more
painfully than
all
the
My nose
it
Anthony
Van
My frame was
my
arms.
had our
my
tea,
by hugging the
kettle in
light,
me
his
burning baptism,
and to fancy
that,
rain,
among
at once the
glow of
my
496
central
fires.
existence and
made
satellite to
some frozen
planet.
My frame
was racked with pains, which turned into misery the refreshing indolence
of the Nile.
:
I had no
my
has given
me
the remedy.
He
land was about bestowing upon her crispy tresses, and I drank
it
my
theory.
I was not
in the sun,
more
bow
of
my boat,
had
is
very beauti-
The
shores are
The
weather was delightfully calm and warm, and the Nile, though
swift,
oil
of his
own
castor
bean-fields.
sunset,
we
groves of the beautiful Ibreemee palm, whose leaves, longer and more slender than those of the Egyptian date-tree, are gracefully parted at the sides
half of
them
shooting upward in a
plumy
tuft,
around the
the
moon was
497
Ibreem overhanging
us.
We
By
Nuba
and we were soon moored beside the beach in front of the town. Derr stretches for some distance along the shore, and
presents an agreeable front to the river.
merchant, from a
of delicious
brought me two
small loaves
Egyptian bread.
bread would
country.
He had
been in
the
relish,
after
manufacture of that
An
allow
hour afterwards
my
me
Amada.
This temple
overwhelm
it.
ported by
chambers
The
sculptures on
The
early Christians,
who used
judge that
it
The
figures
making the
the fruits of the earth, which are heaped upon a table placed
before the divinity.
The
498
was
and
distinct that
I imagined
to be
no place in the
smooth sands on
all
sides of it
When
boat,
work of a djin, or
ruins,
afrite,
who
among
the
this
ir
explanation.
the heart of
Nubia there
the
way
As-
As
became a genuine
We
we reached
feet
much
in the
mean
time.
There was the same house, open on the riversitting within, the
side, the
dark sycamores
shading the bank, the dusty terrace with the familiar palms
tossing their leaves against the wind, the water-mill, the white
my
tent
had
stood, and
where I
mounted a
499
dromedary
There was
tflin-pass,
the cornr
mounthese
I recognized
all
my
mar my roooUection of
I had
my
Be-
fore long, the latter appeared with his shirt full of pigeons (for
we took from
sack of char-
my
Governor having only used about one-third of it durabsence, and finally the Governor himself,
ing
my
Moiissa
Effendi shook
me
cordially
many
times, thanking
God
We
took
sat on
coffee,
my
my journey,
and I then
the worthy
man and
lage,
more delighted
at having seen
well express.
The same
evening, the
wind veered
to
its
Ali tumbled heels over head into the wooden cooking bowl of
the rais. shore,
The wind
its place,
rocks.
"
us!'"
Prophet!"
"0
Apostle 1"
but
little
500
mee, who sat at the helm, like Charlemagne on a similar occasion, said nothing.
He
more serious matter than one would imagine, who has never
seen the river during a strong wind.
ly
We
and I walked up to
was, several Arabs
Early as
it
me from a
distance,
is
and followed.
interior chambers.
the portico and court, with three pillars on each side, to which
colossal caryatides are attached,
remain
visible.
Before the
pylon there
is
tuned
me
for backsheesh.
it,
When
strangers
who go
them
;
it
to them.
it
why
it
should be refused.
The crowd
I said to the
men
"
"
You
me
You
are right
^we
are beggars."
With
do nothing.
For
wind.
we lagged
My two
MY TLAG
tated
DJKUF HOSSAYN.
tobacco.
501
Three Engdaj's
Wadi-Halfa three
before me,
village,
gaining on them.
them grew
I prepared for
my
and other belated travellers on the Nile, by making an American flag out of some stuff which I had bought for that purpose
in Dongola.
and
my flag,
it,
on the
river.
is
behind the
A rough
path,
over heaps of stones, which abound with fragments of pottery, denoting the existence of an ancient town, leads up to
it.
When
men.
the start to go back, for they would get nothing; but they
off.
and patience
to
all their
endeavors to place
me
If
under obligations
in
them
most assiduous
it is
some
it
slight service.
only kicking
way
that
it
would be
it.
On
502
with
jouKNi=:y
to central Africa.
tlic
impression.
The
which
fill
nearly half
apparent dimen-
seems to be on a
is
ing
it,
The
serves,
Kemeses
but
it is
also true
that their size, and the bulk of the six pillars, which are lofty
fine effect
when seen
All
the chambers have suffered from smoke and bats, and the
The
upon them.
and barbarous
brief visit,
art,
I made but a
Djerf Hossayn in
my
train.
only approach to the shore was a mile or two beyond, but they
insisted
on following me.
the very fact of their walking so far in the hot sun would in-
duce
me
to break
my
resolution.
and
them.
They
all
dropped
off at last,
except two,
who came
almost to the spot where the boat was moored, and only turned
in
KALABASHEE.
on as soon as I got on board.
opinion of me.
503
like
I should
to
know
their
me
the
The next morning we reached Kalahshee, and before The pylon hewn sandstone
rises grandly
sun-
rise I was standing on the long stone platform before the temple.
of
above the
spacious portal, and from the exterior the building has a most
imposing
air.
but at present
it is
such an utter
finest
The
it
The
outer
has also been hurled down, and the I know of no temple which
it
whole place
has been
in
is
a complete wreck.
subjected to
be that of Soleb,
Dar El-Mahass.
Below the temple we passed the Bab (Gate) El-Kalabshee,
is
hemmed
in
firs
my-
Norway.
I urged on the
Dabod
who
to Egjrpt, took a
hand
There
is
little village
One
old man,
in Cairo, greeted to
me
"
Aehmet
followed,
keep
ofi"
504
temple
is
There
little else is
Egyptian dynasty.
to have been
find
The
The novice
in
him how
truly
Nubian temples,
in
No
one who has not been beyond Assouan, can presume to say
And
the Nile,
forsake
is
only half
known by
those
who
him
at PhUae.
After dark,
we
Shaymt-el-Wah, a powerful
in the night
eddy or whirlpool
and
came
to a
rais
Here the
had
his family,
ly the rest of the night, but with the first glimpse of light I
was
stirring,
we approached
glimmered
Philae. in
long colonnades
of
light
sandstone
the
AKMVAL AI ASSOUAN.
505
its tall
The
little
in
the hush of sleep, and there was no sound to disturb the im-
The
in their lightness
down
We
glided softly
past that vision of silence and beauty, took the rapid between
down
head
fleet
up the
my
travels in Nubia.
22
BOO
CHAPTEK XXXI5.
VOYAGB DOWN THE NILE.
Asson&n
A Boat for Cairo^EnglisL TouristsA Head-windOpbtbalmia^Esneh--A PrincessAli Effendi's StoriesA Donkey AtriteArrival at Lusor The Egyptian Autumn A Day at Thebes Songs of the SailorsAli leaves nj Eide to Dendera Head-winds again Yislt to Tahtah The Houae of Kufaa Bey.
Mummied
arrival,
I took a
AL
gum from
the South.
An
Egyptian Bey,
arrived
immediately offered
it
to
me
It was
He
;
piastres
we agreed on a
thou-
sand, and
when my camels
new
to
pared for
my
household gods.
I set
Achmet
work
ENGLISH TODEISTS.
607
ting the necessary supplies, sent the rais to bake bread for the
He
received
me
number were
Americans.
" Mashallah
When
safe
left
Very
soon I saw two burnt-faced, tarbooshed individuals, with eyeglasses in their eyes, strolling
up the beach.
For once I
feels
threw
towards
They met
was
still
my
my
!
brain
in a ferment of
politics.
Europe was
how
The
my own
Had
our
different.
They
left at
company with
left
who
Khar-
after
me.
down from
strongly
508
We
visit
tablets
wind
order to make a
little
all day.
and shot
my
divan, unable to do
air,
any
to the
damp
very
little effect.
fell
after dark
we
passed the
my
memory, yet
it again.
admitted me,
royal
Goorneh.
The
coffins
sound, the
light.
The mumfrom
more or
less mutilated,
In form, they
Arab head
On
509
fine, sillsy tex
was
still
It
was of a
She may have been a beauty once, but nothing could be more
hideous.
it
with
me as to me
a curious
beautiful
than on
my upward journey;
by
contk'ast
with
"
God
is
great
there
Mohammed
to see
is. the
Prophet of God."
me and
my
vessel.
As
the
we could not
leave, I invit-
and other
evil spirits.
I learned
many
The
curious things
belief in spirits
Arab
by a simulated
me
that
the spirit of a
man who
is
is
killed
by
elapsed,
He
Embabeh and
cries of pain,
con-
but
that
now
had
for the
One
510
exceedingly.
He was
Cairo to Shoobra,
As he was somewhat
pleasantly,
and the donkey did not appear and was riding along very
when he was
startled
size.
by the
In a few minutes
became
it wa.s
no donkey, but an
afrite.
At
first
the hairs of his beard stood straight out from his face, but
afrite
may be brought
to reveal
into the
The
watch upc/n him with one of his eyes, which was turned backwards, and no sooner saw the dagger than he contracted to
his original shape, shook off his rider
yell of infernal laughter,
"
Ha
ha
you want
We
had scarcely
arose,
and
all night.
These
on the
The
For half a
The
I slept
beyond
my
THEBES REVISITED.
aliould I see but
611
my
little
We
now
The broad
carry
It
oflf
Thebes.
The great
plain,
girdled by
its
three mountain-
and, as the people were expecting none, they had already given
up the ruins
to their
summer
silence
and
loneliness.
I had no
river, but
my
former guides,
as old friends.
We
rode to Karnak, to
Colossi of the
for
to the
The
ruins
me, but a
language.
They no
me
incomprehensible grandeur.
lips
little
to
this expression
as presumptuous, for
so simple as Art,
meanings.
of
my
travel, that
day
512
at
Thebes
is
registered
and
if
left
regret
we
feel
with
me
the joy that Thebes, the mighty and the eternal, was
greater to
me
it
in all
the shadow-pictures
my
anticipation
had drawn.
Nor
did the
obelisks of
Kar-
nak, take
away
my
delight in the
The
horses,
its
my
elbow
who considered my
thence
dubbed me
harvest-fields,
all
and to make
it
ing-place of
my
heart.
me of the
Bq[uabbles of
how
foreign boats and the temples crowded day after day with
scores of visitors
;
how
downward voyage
that I declined
Mustapha's invitation to dine with him the next day, and set
off for
Kenneh.
The
sailors
rowed
lustily,
my
servant Ali
his family
613
rang from shore to
it
shore.
As
my
Their
voyage.
One
and answers,
re-
sponded
"
(A
little
to the
northward of Luxor).
imlal-imlalee I "
(Pill,
to
me
!)
Many
of the songs
these,
which
they,
L
Look
at
your cheeks
gazelle, .0 gazelle
The blossom
;
ofj
it
Who possesses
gazelle,
you
is
!
blessed
by heaven.
is
Look
me with your
moon
is
;
eyes,
is
gazelle
all
Tour forehead
like the
your face
fairer
is
than
your bed
of at
diamonds ; he
richer than a
gazelle,
sleep thereon.
Look
me with your
eyes,
IL
night,
light of
night,
night
darling, I lie
;
on the sands.
your face
if
night
have changed
22*
514
Here I was
obliged
to stop a
day
to let the
men bake
their bread,
and I employed
Dendera.
the place.
My
we had
just closed.
Hs
kissed
my hand
felt
some regret at
and a worthy,
on
parting with, as
What was my
mortification
me
me
in
Khartoum by
tana Nasra.
The
an Arab.
warm
west wind.
I was ac-
my donkey
an amiawho used
had
the robbers
for^nerly to
We passed
this
fine field
My
let
neglected
lie idle,
said that
was wrong to
"
and so planted
;
it.
he added
is
the reason
why
the crop
is
so good.
If he had been a bad man, the wheat would not have grown so
finely as
you see
it."
from
my longing
and
my
O my
me in
to
darling.
night,
O nightO darling,
me
a place by your
country.
I lie side,
on the sands.
or
I
darling, take
give
my
own
615
after leaving
we only made
sixty miles.
awaiting
me
Cairo, and
Achmet
He
considered himself
in
as one risen
He
had heard
Luxor that
his little
his
son
Besides,
my
I could not go
ashore, as
we kept
my
only
employment was
with the
rais.
to lounge
One
evening,
when
bank crying
who had
Presently an old
man came
rolled
out
on the
rough waves.
We
feared the
By
safety.
On
The Lotus
floated
We
passed Grirgeh,
Ekhmin
and at noon we
I had a
letter
Khartoum
of burnt brick
cemo patterns as
is
as quiet,
dim and
516
my
letter- through a
The
wife, or wives,
who
invisible, entertained
me
with coffee
and
pipes, in the
Two
Copts,
who had
assisted
me
in
my journey,
You may
cost
him
He
STOUT IN IIABVEST^IME,
517
CHAPTER
THE RETURN TO CAIRO
p^iont in Harvcst'-time
XL.
CONCLUSION.
A Slight Experieueo of Hasfaeosh The Last Day of the Voyage at Cairo Tourists preparing for the DesertParting with Achmet Conclusion.
kind Englishwoman
the Nile
^Arrivft]
We
Assouan.
never
all
to place in
my
mind's
ac-
quaintance sake, and partly to enjoy the bath, the cleanest and
most luxurious
eyes,
in Egypt.
I sought for
some
relief to
my
on board an English boat which had arrived before me, in the hope of finding some medicine adapted to
ellers
my
case.
The
trav-
beautiful, home-like
creature) with as
kind a heart aa
B18
ever beat.
woman
I
spoiled
her
Eau de Cologne
am
sure I
bathed
my
my
While
in Egypt, I
made from
On
buy some,
It
was a sort of
paste,
spices.
made of the
The
taste is aromatic
disagreeable.
About
sunset, I took
to be a large dose,
slightest. effect.
I then repeated
immediately afterwards.
scious of the gentlest
me.
grew
soft
and yielding as
air
my
quality,
and became a
gossamer
dim and
soft to
No sum
delicate as
me
to
move a
finger.
The
slightest
and
I had become.
hang
to pieces
first
explorer.
As
this
lasted
519
dency to view
tlie
light.
Achmet was
sitting
custom of an evening.
so absurd as to see
him
moderately at the
idea.
for
some time.
crous.
Of
all
it
ludi-
me
manner, and
at last it
seemed to
"
me
that
my
breadth.
Achmet," I called
out, "
how
is this ?
my
eyes are
This was
my
crowning piece of
absurdity.
sheer weariness
But on
my
eyes
first
time in
for
was given
to us.
The Lotus
at the rate of
while the rais and his nephew Hossayn beat the tarabooka or
It
for
my
six
men outrowed
the ten
men
Some-
times the latter came running behind us tiU they were within
hail,
whereupon
my men
would stand up in
their places,
and
their long
So we went
it
down,
all
had
One day
at
Man-
520
faloot
Minyeh
;
and so
came
my
after leaving
the Libyan
of April, 1852
When
the
first
cock crowed in
some
tion.
village on shore,
we
all
bank the
morning
Ten
o'clock
the cabin-roof,
"
my master
men
God be
!
praised
rets
At noon
We
they make.
The minaret
and I give
it fails,
If
and walk.
little
and we work
island of
left.
At
last
Old
Cairo';
it is
I have
my
pistols loaded
with a
We call
I
fire
my
bank
Mounted
at last, leaving
Achmet
to
go on with tLo
"
a :
AniUVAL AT CAIRO.
boat to Boulak, I dasli at
521
full
No
away we
Christians indignant,
The door
None
but a
my
donkey-boy
is scarce-
"Are
!
drawer
full
And now at full speed to my me?" "Letters? me the missives, more precious
than gold.
Was
by
my
five
months
in the heat
sat
and
silence
when I
ro,
my
the words of
home
in
my
ears,
and
my hsart
beating a fervent
:
"
God
is
great
God
is
merciful
my
eyes time to
travel
tourists
who
still
by way of Gaza.
blows
fifty
days.
cool than
filling
Gentlemen pre-
pared themselves for the journey across the Desert, by purchasing broad-brimmed hats, green
veils,
double-lined umbrel-
522
laa,
These may be
felt
all
me
to adopt them.
my recollections
And
of
the fierce red Desert, blazing all over with intensest light, for
as for
is
an umbrella, the Desert with a continual shade around you, no desert at your head, I
Nile,
if
all.
You must
let the
Sun
left Cairo
that-he
came
to seek.
behind
me my
faithful
dragoman,
also
Achmet.
He
an
invalid wife,
who demanded
me
through Syria.
He
had quite
en-
deared himself to
me by
I believe the
all
man
when we
parted at Boulak.
the journey
I
which
did,
is
now
we may
riHis,