CHAP. VII.

Position of Mohammed Din. — Camels stolen. — Ant Hills. — Chameleons. — Animal Fraternity. — Uses of Tobacco. — Rosaries — Beads — Amulets. — Blacks — Appearance and Opinions.

Our Pascha seems to have gained nothing by holding as prisoners Mohammed Din, Mussa, and the two Sheiks of Mitkenab, as now no tribute of any sort comes in from their tribes, and not an Arab is to be seen at our lately-established market. That he will, by these means, succeed with Mohammed Din and his people seems to us far from probable, or rather, we feel certain that he will not, and Mohammed Din is repeatedly demanding why he is kept a prisoner, and not at once put to death; he says he fears not death, and would rather meet it than undergo such treatment, that leads to nothing. And we believe him, and, if so, the Pascha will never receive aught from his tribe, who seemingly are guided in all by Mohammed Din’s orders. If he dies, in his people’s eyes, he will have fallen a sacrifice to his country’s weal, and will be honoured by them as a martyr (Schahied, as we have already heard him styled), his grave will become a holy spot, and he himself be numbered among their saints. Who can tell whether or not Mohammed Din has taken all this into consideration, and may not have made up his mind to sacrifice himself, even though in so doing he may have been less influenced by patriotic feelings than by the honour and fame such a death would bestow on his name, and so gloriously wind up a career like his own,—a life of the utmost reverence from, and influence with, his countrymen, thus closing with a death bringing everlasting honour and renown? Most of the leading men among the blacks of our army have expressed to us their dissatisfaction with the Pascha’s conduct towards Mohammed Din; all accuse him of breach of his word; he having given the Sheik the “Amahn,” and it is possible they may at heart be alarmed for a like fate for themselves. Further it is plainly to be seen that the Pascha himself is by no means sure he had done right in taking this course, although he has doubtless well considered and long intended it; on our waiting on him after the decisive step was taken, his first question was, as he looked inquiringly at us, “Chabare?” (What’s the news? What’s going on?) On our giving no direct answer, he broached the subject and said, on our remarking that we were not sufficiently acquainted with the state of matters to judge fairly of them, that he certainly had the strongest grounds for so acting; nay, that this course was absolutely the only one. Of one thing, however, he may rest certain, that his meditated mighty plans of improving these countries are, if not for ever, at least for a long, long period, all crushed and baffled, as he will never now make aught of their inhabitants, who will, after this, much rather desert and quit for ever these lands, than allow him to introduce alterations and improvements among them. With Mohammed Din’s incarceration, all faith of the Arabs in the Pascha has vanished; kind and friendly as he has acted, and may in future act toward them, all confidence is gone, and their hatred to the Turks, strong enough already, from the reports of their cruelties related by fugitives from Schendy and Damer, as well as by the former visits of the Defterdar, yet too well remembered, will be by his conduct inflamed and strengthened.

Life in our camp has little to recommend it. At night Arabs swarm round us on all sides, whose peculiar cries and howlings portend nothing pleasant. The war-cry of the Arabs, a high shrill “Rara ra la lah,” similar to that of the Maniotes, has something hideous and unnatural about it, especially during the night, and leads one to suppose the utterers to be far more numerous than they really are. Measures of great precaution have been taken on our side, in case of any sudden attack. The whole cavalry encamp at night outside the seriba, and one-third of the infantry is always under arms, being relieved at intervals of two hours by the other divisions. The fatigues of these duties, added to the bad food, have brought sicknesses of all kinds on the soldiery. Why should not one division remain on duty all night, and thus give the infantry two full nights’ rest out of every three?

To the tedium and ennui of our camp-life had now been added other annoyances. Our camel-keeper, Mahomet, must have his siesta during the day, and so allow to be stolen from under his guard the two dromedaries given us by the Pascha, that were celebrated for their power, speed, and endurance, as also a young naga (female camel of highest breed), that the Sheik Soliman had sold us as a great favour. She had not in all the camp her equal in endurance, was gentle in her paces, not too tall, and got over the ground quickly and smoothly. When a dromedary does not step out strong and boldly, the Arabs say he has a cold back (Dach’r bärt). Along with these went also three of our pack-camels,—a heavy loss for us. The keeper too, from fear of punishment for his neglect, has also absconded; but on our sending out our other servants, they soon hit upon the track of our stolen beasts, leading in the direction of Soggilab, and this showed plainly they had been carried off by the thieving Haddenda. The Pascha certainly at once wrote to the Sheik of Soggilab, to have our animals sought for, but they have never appeared again, and the Pascha has omitted to compel this rascally tribe to supply their place by others. Our equipment for this expedition had, ere we left Chartum, already cost us 8000 piastres, and now we are again put to the fresh expense of buying other dromedaries and pack-camels (as we have only four left), to convey ourselves and goods, the daily rumour of the camp being that we march in the morning. It is too well known, unfortunately, to all, that we must buy, which will compel us to pay double price. The sums of money lost on these chasuas are great, and men like ourselves, engaging in one for the first time, have to pay a premium for experience. But the greatest annoyance, as well as additional expense, is the servants’ waste, extravagance, and insolence. We have as few of these pests as possible, but still have five for loading, feeding, and attending to our camels; one as cook; one as attendant on ourselves, and to bring in coffee when we have visitors. The tricks, lies, idleness of these gentry is beyond my powers of relating. One European servant would do more than any four of them; indeed, were not the karbatsch kept ever in hand, one would neither get work out of them, nor be able to get on with them.[18]

The only remarkable quality these fellows possess is a curious power of distinguishing, and this enabled our servants to track our lost camels to Soggilab, following their footmarks among those of hundreds of other animals. It is incredible how the natives here can distinguish and follow up a lost beast’s foot-tracks, and even the footmarks of a man. Have they merely once or twice glanced at the footmark of man, camel, horse, ass, &c., they can with certainty distinguish it from a thousand others, follow the trail any distance, so long as the ground is tolerably favourable, and wind or rain has not obliterated the marks. When need requires it, a professional tracker is called on, shown the foot-print of the lost man or beast, and then he, no further question asked, follows up the track over paths and roads, through streets and towns where daily thousands pass, and seldom fails to hunt out the game; nor does he move on slowly, or bending down with eye examining the ground, but moves on briskly, at a sharp run, along the quickly spied-out track. We ourselves beheld, near the Armenian Karabet, how one of these men, being shown the track of a runaway slave, followed it up, and, after three days, overtaking the fugitive, returned again with him a prisoner. On one occasion, my brother having, more than an hour before, left the Pascha’s dwelling in Chartum, to visit some sick in a distant part of the city, was again wanted by the great man; the tschausch (orderly) was sent after him, and tracked his footsteps out, amongst thousands of others, through street and lane, and found him. When we remained behind the army, on the Atbara’s bank, the Schaigies sent back to escort us discovered, among the tracks of the 700 or 800 asses of the army, the footmarks of one belonging to a friend, and the event showed they were right.

Every evening now there is much lightning in the south-east, and it seems as if the rainy season had commenced in the Abyssinian mountains; we also have had here a forerunner of the much-dreaded chariffs, repeated showers, accompanied by thunder and lightning. This latter is called by the Turks “semscheck,” by the Arabs “bark.” We were, during these showers, well drenched in our airy tents, but slept on, wet as we were, till next morning, and did not suffer from our duckings. Every attempt to sleep in the day-time is now vain, from swarms of a small species of fly, that seems every day to augment its numbers; ants, too, are to be found in numerous troops, both in Taka and in the upper parts of Faszogl; all sorts of woollen or cotton clothes that come in their way are in an instant devoured, and in one night carpets, dresses, &c., are eat into rags. Their devastations are boundless, in the shortest time they have devoured the largest stores of grain; they are large in size, and of a different species from those in Dongola. We had for long observed in the fields mounds of earth, of a conical form, from five to twelve feet high, and three or five feet in diameter, and took them at first for look-out towers, such as are to be met with in Upper Egypt, with men on their tops to overlook the whole field, and drive away thieves, whether winged or biped. Round, and even in our camps, were many such mounds; anxious to discover their real purpose, we examined them, and, to our astonishment, found they were not the work of men, but formed by the small ant. On the outside were merely to be seen a number of irregularly-placed round holes, without seeming order or arrangement, save that at the foot of the pillar, and for two feet from the ground, there were none; these holes led into the interior, and there the swarms and multitudes of these small insects were beyond belief. The whole edifice was most artfully and scientifically laid out in small cells, with passages between them; the partitions of these were of the finest earth, vaulted, polished smooth, and about as thick as a sheet of paper. So smooth were these walls, that they seemed as if polished by water, and a finer or better earth had been chosen for them, as they were totally different from the outside of the structure, which closely resembled the soil it stood on; and, from its coarse, rude, and rough exterior, gave no promise of such beautiful master-work. Indeed, this excess of cells, the larger of which seemed as if formed for the saloons,—of winding passages story above story,—in short, all in the interior, was in an order, and of a masterly art, that man’s hand could hardly have given it. Beyond dispute, this indescribably exquisite building is far more artistical and beautiful than that of the bees, though certainly not of the same benefit to man; one cannot enough examine these labyrinths, nor sufficiently admire the work of the small artizans. These beautiful inner arrangements extended from the top to within 1½ foot of the ground; the under part was not so arranged or laboured, probably on account of the rains, as then the water may rise to such a height, and for this reason it may have no holes in its lower part, where the outer wall is formed more coarsely, thicker, and stronger; as the same instinct that causes these insects to raise the mound to protect and secure themselves from the storms of the chariffs, would also point out to them these minor precautions. The highest of these hillocks we measured was 12½ feet, with a diameter at the centre of 3½ feet. Some had inclosed within their retreat a tree-stem, and thus had a green, shady covering over them. In none could we discover any provision, magazines, or places for storing food.

Snakes continue to be brought to us in numbers. A soldier brought us a domestic cat, which he wished to sell us as a rarity; others brought frogs and such common reptiles. Chameleons are to be had in plenty here; their heads and tails form the larger part of their whole; these, as commonly believed, change colour, but neither so completely nor so variedly as men say. Their general colour is green, with yellow spots or streaks, and from heat, it changes from sunshine to shade; angry, or pleased, this green becomes darker or brighter; at times on one side of the body the colour is light green, without any yellow, and on the other, dark green with yellow spots, and the same colouring of the body’s sides extends down their long slender tails. The whole body becomes, at times, of a bright grey with some dark points and the yellow spots often wholly vanish, or are changed into lighter streaks. The changes from dark to bright light green, and the whole body becoming almost transparent, are the only variations of colour we have remarked after two months’ close observation. In fact, the animal, with its immense head and mouth, its pig-like back and long flexible tail, by which it can suspend itself from the branches, is no pleasant object to look at, and may well be hateful to many; its body is covered with a skin similar to that of a frog, its eyes small but cunning looking, and are so placed and moveable, that it can see directly behind itself with them. What it feeds on we cannot tell; probably, from the construction of its great toothless jaws, on insects. With these we have tried them, and with other kinds of food, and kept five tied up with cords, to try and discover their means of sustaining life, but in vain, as we never discovered them eating anything. They pass the whole day clinging by their claws or tail to the post or cord, seldom stirring, and in spite of this we can perceive no visible decrease in them, either in size or fatness, nor any perceptible change for better or worse.

A young wild cat (kediss, or otta el challa) we have, affords us far more amusement; it is now completely tamed, and its equal in beauty will not be easily found. Its prevailing colour is grey, but its feet, head, and whole body are covered over with the most beautiful leopard-like black spots. Its head is rather smaller and more pointed than those of our common German cats, but its crowning beauty is its large ears, that almost conceal its whole head, and are black with a white stripe. Many persons here hold it to be a young tiger (nimr), but its whole habits and structure prove it to be a cat. The natives call it fachet, or fagged, and say it is a kind of gins (cat). Its companion and playfellow is a rat, with long silvery tail, which, when enraged, it can, like our weasel (which it is much of a size with), stiffen and thicken, carrying it high over its back. The poor creature was brought to us with two broken legs, and we at once gave it to the cat that its pains might be ended; but the cat, either not recognising its prey, or being wearied of living alone, would not touch it, so the rat, cured by splints, gradually recovered, and tamed by pain, became first favourite of the cat; they became inseparable, ate together, and slept arm in arm, nor did the rat ever attempt to avail itself of its perfect liberty and leave us. It is not, as our European rats, ugly or ill smelling, and from its long silvery furred tail, may almost be called handsome.

The Pascha, either to show his good nature, or from some other reason of his own, sent my brother this morning to visit the Sheik Mussa (Moses), who is from Sauakim. My brother found him, outside the camp, lying on the earth in the open air, barely covered by a ferda, and his head resting on a stone, round which stood his followers. He had violent fever, with bloody-flux, and constant vomitings; the ground was moist from rain, and yet the sick man would hardly allow us to have him removed inside the camp. Joseph felt very doubtful as to his recovery, but the Pascha, who seemed to set much value on the Sheik’s life (probably that he might not get the credit of having poisoned him), begged us to take him into our own hut, and do all we could to restore his health. Thus we had the pleasing company of this half-dead man in our small hut, and two of our servants had to watch him day and night, as he never once ordered his own people to come and attend on him, nor indeed had we any wish for them to be in our hut, as their habits of stealing are insufferable. For five or six days the sick man was an intolerable nuisance to us. We had to find him in bed and board, in short, to provide him with everything, nor could we, any moment of these days, call ourselves masters of our own hut, as, from early dawn to late at night, it was constantly crowded by some twenty or thirty Arabs, visitors of the sick man, who kept up a constant chattering with him. The patient, however, at last recovered, and one morning, during my brother’s absence, quietly packed up his goods and took himself off, without as much as wishing me good bye, far less thanking us for all our trouble with him. So it is with all this race. Gratitude they know not; one may show them every kindness, but never will it occur to any of them to make the smallest return for it; thanks is a word to them unpronounceable, but they have a word, viz. kata-geirak, in their language, to express the sentiment, though why I know not, as they never use it; nor does this arise from stupidity or ignorance, but from design. On the other hand, they are never tired of most unblushingly asking and begging for every thing; all they see they covet, and fancy it should be at once given them, even though all could be bought for little money, and they themselves have plenty of this or other means of procuring what they beg for. If one does not from the very first go on the principle of determinedly and rudely refusing them every thing, one is sure to be victimised. Their plan is to part with nothing save for double its value, and all who act otherwise they look on as fools. An Arab would see a man perish for want of a cup of water though plenty was at hand, ere he would reach him one, if he knew the dying man was without a para to give in return. In one word the whole race of the Bellad-Sudan, are the most completely devoid of feeling of any I ever was among.

Our life grows every day more monotonous and tedious; our pipes are almost our only amusement. In general the Turks and Arabs of Egypt are great smokers, but not those of the other tribes. Before the Turkish invasion, tobacco-smoking (dogahn, smoke), was unknown to the Schaigies, and even yet it is not practised by anything like a fourth part of these natives. Among the Mograbins it is hardly known at all,—but chewing, each portion of tobacco being accompanied by a piece of natron, is the order of the day. Master and servant, rich or poor, all carry about them a bag with tobacco and pieces of natron in it, and they do not carry their quid as Europeans who indulge in this bad habit do, in their cheek, but in front, between the teeth and upper lip. The blacks of Gesira have another method of enjoying this plant. They make a cold infusion of tobacco, and dissolve the natron in it. Of this precious mixture, called bucca, they take a mouthful, which they keep rincing about in their mouths for some quarter of an hour ere they eject it. So much do they delight in this bucca, that it is the highest treat they can offer to their dearest friends. The whole party sit in solemn silence, the bucca cup makes its round, each takes his mouthful, and nothing is heard save the gurgling and working inside the closed mouths; at such a moment these blacks will give no reply to the most important questions, as to open the mouth would be to lose the cherished bucca, so signs are only used. All these races, however, blacks and all, are much addicted to snuff-taking (nuschuk); the snuff they usually carry in small oval-shaped cases, made out of the fruit of the Dom-palm; these have a very small opening at one end, stopped up by a wooden peg, and the snuff is not taken in pinches, but shaken out on the back of the hand.

This is the principal sensual pleasure, and the most favourite mental one of every follower of Islam is the counting the beads of his rosary; these rosaries, their chief ornament, they wear hanging on the neck or arm while praying, but carry it at other times as a plaything in the hand. This latter plan was much in vogue among many Franks in Alexandria, who could not remain quiet on the divan if they had not a rosary to finger, nor could they walk out on business through the streets without this indispensable plaything. The religious Turks use a rosary during prayer (sali), at each bead, the telling of which goes on rather more rapidly than with our German devotees, exclaiming the name of Allah. But other religionists carry also rosaries,—Copts, Eastern Christians, Armenians, &c., as a toy to amuse themselves with when their hands are not occupied by the pipe. Among the better classes, these rosaries are generally of precious stones, sweet smelling woods, or a dark, odorous compound of roses, ornamented with gold, silver, ivory, and such like. Those used by the lower order of Arabs are manufactured in Hedjas from the fruit of the Dom-palm, and are sold by the merchants and pilgrims (Hadji) as possessed of particular qualities and special virtues; others are made of rose and other fragrant woods, and retain considerable remains of such scents. The size and numbers of beads vary; commonly there are 99, in three divisions of 33 each, but there are some rosaries with only 33, and some with as many as 198 beads. The sacred number of Mahomet is 33, and pious Mussulmen pronounce or exclaim after prayer Allah’s name 3 times 33 times (99); but this is not absolutely ordered by the Koran. For the first 33 times the exclamation is Subhan Allah (To God belongs all, God created all!); the second division Hamdul el Allah (Thanks to God!); the third Allah Ackbar (God is great—is over all!). In usual conversation the name given the Deity is Mauhle. The whole string of 99 beads is called Sebbà. The Sheiks and Faki[19] are distinguished by extravagantly large and long rosaries; and in Hallenga, where almost every man is a Faki, we have seen some rosaries three or four feet long, each bead as large as a musket-ball. Such a rosary we were anxious to buy, to present to an aunt in our fatherland, to smooth her path to heaven, but were indignantly refused, called Christians and heathen dogs, told that this rosary had made the tour of the holy shrines, and been washed in the Purifying Well at Mecca.

Such rosaries form no small branch of trade with Hedjas, and there is also a considerable trade in glass beads and false pearls carried on between that place and Nubia, Bellad-Sudan, and Taka; and more than probable, this trade extends to the Abyssinians, Negroes, and inhabitants of the upper part of Faszogl and of the White Nile. Many houses trading in these beads are to be found in Cairo and Alexandria. The glass beads come chiefly from Europe (Bohemia, Venice, Conterie di Venezia), and from a place near Jerusalem; formerly from the latter alone. They are of all sizes and colours; in Abyssinia the large amber-like ones are the most valued, although now become much more common, and no longer bringing their earlier high price. These beads form all over the land of the coloured (Sudan) the chief ornament of the women, who wear them in rows round the neck, ancles, arms, both above and below the elbows, in the hair, and some, as also in Egypt, round the naked waist, with some one of the many highly-prized amulets of these lands hanging from them. We have now and then seen them worn as nose and ear rings. Little children are laden with strings of these beads, and of the small white mussel shells (cypræa moneta). The women often are dressed in nothing else save these, the rahat or short skin apron, and the well-known long cloth or ferda rolled round head, breast, and loins. Armlets and bracelets they must ever have, the poor of glass, black horn, or false pearls; the rich of ivory, silver, and even gold; and such are often also worn on the ancles. Children have narrow iron rings with small bells attached to them, fastened round the ancles, perhaps as ornament only, perhaps to tell of their whereabouts; the ringing of the bells much delight the small wearers. That the women keep their hair well anointed with fat, and their bodies smeared with it or grease, is a matter of course.

But here in Taka, where they are treated more as slaves, the women dare not smear fat (dichen) on their hair; here, too, they seem compelled to do most of the field work and household labour, while in Nubia and Gesira they pass the whole day on their couches in comfortable idleness, leaving all labour to the men and slaves.

The pretended pearls brought by Dschellabi (slave-dealers) into Egypt, and bartered with the blacks and natives of Habesch for slaves and other goods, often at a profit of 1,000 per cent., may be seen at times worn by the men on different parts of their bodies as ornaments, but very sparingly. Ear-rings of lead and silver are worn by both men and women of Habesch, and those worn by the Sultan of Habesch and his family were of gold; these ornaments are not worn in the lobe of the ear, but in the upper gristly part, or in the elongation of the skin opposite to or over the orifice of the ear. Usually one ear only is thus adorned, and many, like the Sheik of the Beni-Amer, had two rings in the same ear. Rings through the right nostril are less common here than in Upper Egypt or Nubia, and in Taka we saw none; but where such are worn and happen to be lost or not in use, a piece of wood is always stuck in to keep the orifice open. On the feet are generally sandals, and in Chartum the women wear at times a curious kind, raised at front, and behind on bulky pieces of wood two inches thick, so that the foot can never touch the ground. If the object of this is to avoid wet or cold, it may answer; but the walking on them seems hard work, and is by no means graceful.

The Arab’s pet ornament of all is undoubtedly his beard, although with most of them this mark of manhood is neither full nor flowing. He values it more than mustachios; by it he swears, and puts his hand on it when he would support aught he tells as truth. A Shukurie-Arab had a considerable and very painful wen on his chin; to cure him of it, it would have been necessary to cut off his beard—a scanty and hardly visible one it was—but to this he would on no account submit; he much preferred retaining wen and beard. The blacks of the island have little or no beard; still if only a hair shows itself here and there, this is carefully spared, and the barber (mùssein) must daily be in requisition to tend it. No greater joy can happen them than when they can get possession of a mirror; for hours will they hold this in their hands, gazing into it, and never seeming to tire of admiring and examining in all directions their dark visages. It is solely for the sake of the glass that the blacks let the barbers come near their heads, as it is only on the eye-brows and hair of the ears he has to work. However, one of these blacks, in his white garment, that he well knows how to drape over himself in artistical folds, and white turban surmounting all, has really an interesting and handsome appearance. His gait is slow and proud, and on his hand is displayed a broad, massive signet ring, on the smooth surface of which are engraved some Arabian characters spelling his name; behind him are his attendants, the most favoured of whom bears his sword with silver hilt. Almost all are tall and slender, dignified and stately in their movements. Their robes are always, if possible, clean and spotless; they especially favour white, as they hold it to be the colour of purity and friendly feelings. They often have examined our skin, and cannot comprehend why it is so white, nor how it is possible that the blood should be perceptible in the veins. They were particularly curious as to the colour of our women[20]; and when we assured them they were far fairer, expressed their opinion that it must be a great pleasure to have such a wife; and for the same reason did one of them extol the charms of a certain female slave, as being white as snow (saie el telki). However, it is perfectly incomprehensible to most of them that all our nation should be white; that Arabian is not spoken in our country; that men there know nothing of the supreme and powerful Turkish rule, and that our customs and habits should be what they are. Over and over again are we asked, if all the men of our country are hakims (plural, hakama, doctors), probably as most of the Franks who visit these lands are, or wish to pass for such. Never will they believe that a Frank travels merely to see foreign countries, to collect objects of interest or other curiosities; but often are we asked, “Are your brothers achuan, (achui, my brother, so each calls his countryman) out of their senses, to waste so much money and build such large houses to contain collections, merely to look at them?” That all this leads to the advance of science they cannot at all comprehend.