Part 9

Next morning we reached Faras, which we left on the east, and went to see the temples of Ybsambul on the west. As we crossed the Nile exactly opposite these temples, we had an opportunity of examining and having full views of them at a distance (see Plate 42). In the front of the minor temple are six colossal figures, which make a better appearance at a distance than when near them. They are thirty feet high, and are hewn out of the rock; as is also the large temple, which has one figure of an enormous size, with the head and shoulders only projecting out of the sand; and notwithstanding the great distance, I could perceive, that it was beautifully executed. On the upper part or frieze of the temple was a line of hieroglyphics, which covered the whole front; and above this, a range of figures in a sitting posture, as large again as life. The sand from the north side, accumulated by the wind on the rock above the temple, and which had gradually descended towards its front, choked the entrance, and buried two-thirds of it. On my approaching this temple, the hope I had formed of opening its entrance vanished at once; for the amazing accumulation of sand was such, that it appeared an impossibility ever to reach the door. We ascended a hill of sand at the upper part of the temple, and there found the head of a hawk projecting out of the sand only to its neck. From the situation of this figure, I concluded it to be over the door. From the size of the head, the figure must have been more than twenty feet high; below the figure there is generally a vacant space; so that, with the cornice over the door and the frieze, I calculated, that the doorway could not be less than thirty-five feet below the surface of the sand; and this distance would have accorded in proportion with the front of the temple, which is one hundred and seventeen feet wide. The sand ran down in a slope from one side to the other, and to attempt to make an aperture straight through it to the door would have been like making a hole in the water. It was necessary, therefore, to remove the sand in such a direction, that it might fall off from the front of the door: but in doing this the sand from above would continue to fall on the place whence that below was removed, and render it an endless task. Besides, the natives were wild people, totally unaccustomed to such labour, and knew nothing of working for money: indeed they were ignorant of money altogether. All these difficulties seemed such insurmountable obstacles, that they almost deterred me from the thought of proceeding: yet perseverance, stimulated by hope, suggested to me such means, that at last, after much exertion and two voyages thither, I had the satisfaction of entering the great temple of Ybsambul.

Having taken a proper measurement of the front of the temple, and made a calculation, I found, that, if I could persuade the people to work with persevering steadiness, I might succeed in the undertaking. I did not examine the small temple that night, as I wished early to reach the village of Ybsambul, and to see Osseyn Cacheff. The rocks out of which the temple is hewn continue for about two hundred yards southward, and then open into a flat country, where are some good spots of cultivated land, on the banks of the Nile, abounding with palm-trees. We embarked, and soon landed at the village. I perceived a group of people assembled under a grove of trees, who, when I came near them, seemed to be somewhat surprised at the sudden arrival of a stranger. Having desired to see Osseyn Cacheff, for some time I received no answer; but at last was told, that he who sat there was Daoud Cacheff, his son. I saw a man about fifty years of age, clad in a light blue gown, with a white rag on his head as a turban, seated on a ragged mat, on the ground, a long sword and a gun by his side, with about twenty men surrounding him, who were well armed with swords, spears, and shields. A younger brother, of much inferior rank and dignity, was among them, who behaved very roughly towards me. Some had garments, others had none, and they altogether formed a ragged assembly, by no means of most encouraging aspect. These people have no other employment, than to gather the imposts of their master from the poorer sort of natives. The Cacheff himself has nothing to do but to go from one place to another to receive his revenue; and in every place to which he goes he has a house and a wife. He is absolute master to do what he pleases: there is no law to restrain him; and the life of a man here is not considered of so much worth as that of a cat among us. If he have not what he wants, he takes it wherever he can find it: if refused, he uses force; if resisted, the opponent is murdered: and thus the Cacheff lives.

They are not easily led by promises, for there is so little faith among them, that what is not obtained is considered as imaginary. It was with such a race of people I had to deal; and from whom I had to obtain permission to penetrate into a place, and to carry on operations, the thought of which appeared to them like that of a madman. To persuade them to undertake work for money was still worse, as their only mode of buying and selling is by bartering dhourra for dates, or dates for salt. It will be recollected that Messrs. Legh and Smelt did not think proper to go any higher than Ibrim, as it was useless to penetrate into a country, where money was of little or no use, which in fact was the case at that time at Deir, and much more so above that place. Daoud Cacheff demanded of me what business brought me there. I told him I had a letter from the Cacheff, his uncle, directed to Osseyn Cacheff, his father; and that I came into the country in search of ancient stones. He laughed, and said that a few months before he had seen another man, who came from Cairo in search of treasure, and took away a great deal of gold in his boat; and that I came for the same purpose, not to take stones: what had I to do with stones, if it were not that I was able to procure gold from them? I answered, the stones I wished to take away were broken pieces belonging to the old Pharaoh people; and that by these pieces we were in hopes of learning, whether our ancestors came from that country; which was the reason of my coming in search of ancient stones. I thought this might serve as a good explanation of the motives by which I was induced to open the temple. He then asked where I meant to go in search of these stones. I told him the place in the rock had a door, and by removing the sand we could enter, and perhaps should find many stones there. Accordingly I proposed to have the place opened; and on a promise, that, if I succeeded, he should receive a bakshis, he consented on his own part; but still his father remained to be persuaded, and then people to be procured, who would work at such a place without fearing harm from the devil. I told him, that those who worked would gain money. “What money do you mean?” said he, “money from Mahomet Ali, Bashaw of Cairo? what can we do with it? we cannot buy any thing here, or at Dongola.” I said, the money may be sent to Assouan, and there dhourra could be purchased with it. “But,” replied Daoud, “if we do so, they keep the money, and send us no dhourra.” I could scarcely believe, that they had so little faith, or notion of commerce: but the fact is, that what produce they carry to Cairo, Siout, or Esne, they exchange for other articles, which they send to the southern country of Nubia, and never receive any money for it.

I produced a piastre, and showed it to some of the people, who by this time had increased in number all round, seated themselves in form of a crescent before us, and were staring me in the face, observing all my motions. I went on endeavouring to persuade them of the advantages they would derive from such money, if they introduced it into their country. The Cacheff, however, seemed convinced, that it would do no good; for then, he observed, the people who were not contented to stay in Nubia could sell their cows and goats, and go and live in Egypt. I believe he was right in this point; but it was certainly impolitic in him to make such a remark before his subjects. One of them took the piastre from my hands, and, after looking at it for some time, asked me who would give any thing for that small piece of metal. “Any one,” I answered, “will give you a measure of dhourra for it, quite enough for a man to eat in three days.” “That may be so in your country,” replied he; “but here I am sure no one will give six grains of dhourra for so small a bit of iron.” I told him, if he went on board our boat, and presented it to any one there, he would get for it dhourra enough to suffice him for the time I had mentioned. Off he ran like a deer, and in a few minutes returned with the dhourra folded in a rag fastened to his waist.

I had previously instructed the Reis of our boat what he had to do, if any of the natives should come with money to fetch dhourra; and accordingly he gave him the measure so ordered for a piastre. This experiment had a good effect, not only on the minds of the people, but also on that of the Cacheff; though, barbarianlike, he was not yet thoroughly satisfied. He observed, that a man who laboured a whole day ought to have four times that measure for his share; therefore, if I would give them four piastres a day each, he would persuade the people to work. At length, with much ado, I made a bargain for two piastres a man. Daoud told me that a man who came there a few months before had left in his hands three hundred piastres, to open that place for him; but the people would not undertake the business, as no one cared for such small pieces of metal. On the traveller’s return from Wady Haifa, he expected to have found the place open; but Daoud gave him his pieces of metal back again, as he did not know what to do with them. I found afterwards, that the person who had been there was Mr. Drouetti, the ex-consul of France in Egypt; and that in fact he received his money back, as the people would not work for it.

The next and greatest difficulty was to persuade Osseyn Cacheff to let us proceed; for without his consent nothing could be done. He lived at Eshke, a day and a half up the Nile. That night we slept at Ybsambul, as I wished to strengthen the disposition of the Cacheff in my favour. Accordingly I sent him a measure of rice, about four pounds weight, three ounces of coffee, half a pound of sugar, and a few leaves of a particular sort of tobacco, called Tunny Djebel, from Syria, which the Barabra chew, and consider it a great luxury.

In the evening we received on board some sour milk, and warm thin cake of dhourra bread. This is baked on a flat stone, eighteen inches square, raised from the ground by a small stone at each corner, so as to admit a fire under it; and when it is at a certain degree of heat, the paste is laid on it, which being quite soft, or nearly liquid, spreads in a sheet all over the stone, and in one minute is firm enough to be turned, which is done with great dexterity without breaking it. As soon as one is baked, another is placed on the stone; and they are pretty good if eaten while hot, but when cold they are quite sour and disagreeable. They are generally eaten with sour milk; but if allowed to get cold they are broken to pieces, put into a bowl, and boiled lentils poured on them. This forms the general food of the country.

In the morning of the 11th, we passed near the ruined town of Adda, in a pleasant situation, commanding a view of the Nile, and a considerable part of the country. It contains a great number of houses, built like those at Ibrim; but the land on the east side is covered with sand. The western bank of the Nile is fertile, abounding with trees of various sorts, acacias, tamarisks, and many thorny groups. Farther on we came to the district of Kosko, on both sides of the Nile; then to Endana, or Oddenham, Garba, Farras, and, a little farther, to the island of the same name; beyond which was Antero on the south, and above it on the same side Diberet, and the island so called. Here we passed the night. In almost all these parts we observed the left side of the Nile quite barren, except at Farras. On the right it is pretty full of palm-trees, and some dhourra is seen. The soil of the islands, however, seems to be the most fertile.

We next morning reached Eshke, the residence of the Cacheff, and certainly the best spot of land above Ibrim and Assouan. The trees are very thick here, and a large tract of land is cultivated along the Nile, producing a great deal of dhourra and cotton, which, being cleaned and sent to Cairo, are exchanged for ready made lines, salt, and tobacco. On our arrival we were told, that Osseyn Cacheff was not at Eshke, but would return in a few days, as he was only at a small distance. As I did not like to go back to Ybsambul till I had an interview with him, we advanced to the second cataract, situated higher up. The Nile here turns to the south-west, the lands as we advanced still continued to be well cultivated, and the few huts, which were visible among the trees, were stronger and better built than those of the Arabs of Egypt. We fastened our boat to the shore, in the same district.

We set off early next morning, and with a good north wind soon saw Aloanortis on the right, and above it on the left Debrous. A little farther on was an island of the same name; and higher up on our left the district of Angosh or Sukoy. I had expected, judging from the rocky nature of the country about the first cataract, to have seen the mountain of the second at a great distance; but to my surprise we arrived at the very last district, without perceiving any thing but a flat country before us. The territory of Wady Halfa is the last on the Nile, on this side of the cataract. In the middle of the river is an island called Givarty, after this another called Mainarty, and beyond these two others, named Genesap and Ennerty. These four are cultivated; but there are others innumerable, which form the shellal or cataract, that are all barren. Some present nothing to the eye but bare stones and sand; others a few sycamore trees and sunt; but there are no palm-trees, except in the four islands first mentioned.

About nine in the morning we made to the shore, as near as possible to the last cultivated land on the left, which is Wady Halfa. A few of the natives came to see us, whom I requested to bring some asses, that we might ride to the cataract,—a request they complied with without any difficulty. Mrs. Belzoni and myself (the Janizary and interpreter advancing before us) proceeded as far as the day would permit us, so as to return in proper time to the bark at night. We had many views of the cataract, and in different directions. I mounted one of the rocks, to have a distant view of the deserts; and as far as I could see it is a flat country, except a few rocks that project here and there, particularly at the river’s side, but they are of small dimensions. Towards the desert we saw several wild antelopes, which kept at a great distance from us. As the Nile was high, the current had not so great a fall, as when it is low; but I believe the cataract is not navigable at any time of the year. The rock forming this cataract differs from that of the first, for here is no granite, but a kind of black marble quite as hard. Some say it is black granite, but I cannot consider it as such: the grain of it is too coarse, and not so compact as that of granite.

We returned to the bark after sunset, and immediately crossed to the island Mainarty, where we arrived at dusk. We saw fires and people at a distance; but when we arrived we could not find any one. Their huts were left with all they had, which consisted only of dry dates, and a kind of paste made of the same, which they kept in large vases of clay baked in the sun, and covered with baskets made of palm leaves. A baking-stove and a mat to sleep on were the whole of their furniture. They had pots and leathern bags to bring water from the Nile for their lands. Their settlement consisted of four men and seven women, with two or three children. They have no communication with the main land, except when the water is low, for at any other time the current, being immediately under the cataract, is so rapid, as to render it impossible to ford it; and boats never go to these islands, seldom passing farther than Wady Halfa. They are poor but happy: knowing nothing of the enticing luxuries of the world, and resting content with what Providence supplies as the reward of their industry. They have a few sheep and goats, which furnish them with milk all the year round; and the few spots of land they have are well cultivated, producing a little dhourra, which forms their yearly stock of provision. The wool they spin into yarn; wind the threads round little stones, and thus suspend them to a long stick fixed in an horizontal position between two trees, to form a warp; and by passing another thread alternately between these fabricate a kind of coarse cloth, with which they cover the lower part of their bodies.

I visited along with the Reis the whole of the island, which is about an eighth of a mile in length, and half as much in breadth. It was quite late when we found this poor but truly happy people. They had lighted a fire to make their bread, and it was this fire which directed us to that quarter. They were all hidden in a hole under some ruins of an old castle, which stands on the south side of the island; and when we approached them, the women set up a loud scream through fear. Our Reis, who was a native of the lower part of Nubia, could talk their language, and pacified them: yet, notwithstanding this, we could not entice more than one man out of the place. Their fear was owing to some depredations committed by the robbers of Wady Halfa a few years before, who, at low water, forded over to the island, and did all the injury that could be done to such people. We assured them, that we were not like the robbers of Wady Halfa, but came only to get some one to show us the way to the cataract. At this, they were more afraid than ever; and said, that it never happened that boats passed higher than Wady Halfa, which is at the beginning of the cataract; it being impossible to proceed farther, owing to the quantity of rocky islands. The Reis himself opposed my wish to ascend higher, fearing more for his boat than for our lives. At last it was concluded, that the Reis should leave his son on the island as a hostage for the two men, while they came on board, to show us the way up. They knew their way to these islands; for at low water they frequent them, to collect some of the earth, from which they extract a sort of saltpetre, which they use in their food. I had reasons for not remaining at night with the boat fastened to the main land, and consequently preferred staying at the island.

Early in the morning of the 14th, we took on board the two men of the island, to pilot us towards the cataract as far as the boat could go, and then to show us the way we should proceed. We went on with the same strong north wind; and as we had plenty of water, advanced with our bark till we found ourselves so tossed about by the different currents and eddies, as to prevent our farther progress; and at the same time were so situated, that we could not return back, for fear of being driven against some of the rocks, which abounded on each side. Thus we were confined to one spot for about an hour. Sometimes we had a rapid start for a hundred yards; then all at once were stopped, and turned round, in spite of all our efforts, and of the north wind, which blew very hard. At last we were caught on a sudden in one of the eddies of water, and driven against a rock concealed about two feet below the surface. The shock was terrible; and I must confess, having Mrs. Belzoni on board, I felt no small degree of alarm, as I thought the boat was split in two. For my own part, perhaps I might have swam on shore; but Mrs. Belzoni was no small charge to me on this occasion. However, as it pleased God, and to my astonishment, there was no harm done. By crossing the rock we were on, we succeeded in getting to the other side of the river as quickly as possible, and when we arrived, forgot all the danger we had just passed. We landed, and took our route on foot; Mrs. Belzoni, myself, the interpreter, the Janizary, the two men from the island, and four boys belonging to the bark; carrying with us some provision and water. We proceeded, on the rocks, and over a plain of sand and stones, till we arrived at the rock called Apsir, which is the highest in the neighbourhood of the cataract, and commands a complete view of the falls. The prospect from this spot is magnificent. The several thousand islands which are seen, of various sizes and forms, with as many different falls of water, running rapidly onward, while counter-currents return with equal velocity, exhibit a diversified appearance, truly grand. The blackness of the stones, the green of the trees on the islands, intermixed with the white froth of the water, form a fine picture, which can scarcely be described or delineated.

Hence you see the four other cultivated islands, which lie on the south, or the most remote part of the cataract. They are named as follows: Nuba, Gamnarty, Ducully, and Suckeyr: on the north side are two others, called Dorge and Tabai. These islands are inhabited by a race of people who may be looked on as living in the most primitive state; for no one ever goes to them, nor do they ever quit their island. They are very few in number—in some of the islands not more than five or six; and they live on the produce of the few spots of ground they find on them, which they continually irrigate with the common machine named hade, consisting only of a piece of sheepskin and two sticks, by which they draw up the water. They have also a few sheep; and fabricate a cloth from cotton produced in the islands, in the same manner as they make that of wool.

On the left of the cataract the soil differs from that on the right. It consists of soft whitish stones and sand. From this spot it may be seen, that the course of the river is for a considerable extent among the rocks; and the summits of two high mountains are to be seen at a great distance. This part is not frequented by travellers; for there is no mode of conveyance, and no inhabitants on that side of the cataract. Boats never venture thither: when the water is low, it is impossible; and, when high, it would require a very strong north wind, to stem the rapid current against the boat.

We returned slowly to the bark, and took our course towards the island we had left in the morning; but unfortunately the wind, being very strong, drove us to the island of Gulgé. The Reis wished to pass the whole night there; but in the evening the wind shifting a little, we returned to the island we were at before. But again, notwithstanding the proof we had given of our harmless intentions, the natives were not to be seen; and even the two men who had been with us in the boat no sooner landed than they disappeared. The son of the Reis, however, was preparing some food; and we were glad to have escaped the danger of so many eddies and rocks.

I forgot to mention that on the island Gulgé I perceived the remains of an ancient wall, in the form of a church, and built of sun-baked bricks. It was in the centre of the island, and consisted of three divisions.—See Plate 32.