Part 16

_March 8th._ From Seras we ascended a high mountain. The rock, which had been everywhere sand-stone as far as Wady Halfa, changes its nature at the second Cataract, where grunstein and grauwacke predominate; these primitive rocks continue throughout the Batn el Hadjar. In the mountain beyond Seras are granite, and immense rocks of quartz: the grunstein rocks are also every where crossed by strata of quartz. Three or four hours east of our route, a high chain of mountains extends parallel with the course of the river; it bears the name of Djebel Bilingo (جبل بَلَنكو), and is uninhabited: it is regularly visited by winter rains, and the water remains in the clefts and hollows the whole of the summer. In two hours and a half we came to a plain on the top of the mountain, called Akabet el benat (عقبة البنات), the rocks of the girls. Here the Arabs who serve as guides through these mountains have devised a singular mode of extorting small presents from the traveller: they alight at certain spots in the Akabet el benat, which they call قبضه or مقبضه, and beg a present; if it is refused, they collect a heap of sand, and mould it into the form of a diminutive tomb, and then placing a stone at each of its extremities, they apprize the traveller that his tomb is made; meaning, that henceforward, there will be no security for him, in this rocky wilderness. Most persons pay a trifling contribution, rather than have their graves made before their eyes: there were, however, several tombs of this description dispersed over the plain. Being satisfied with my guide, I gave him one piastre, with which he was content. On the southern descent of Akabet el benat, the principal rock is micaceous schist and chlorite, and farther down, towards the Wady Attyre, fine porphyry rocks are met with. I saw only a few specimens of green porphyry, with red slabs of feldspath; the greatest part being red porphyry, and porphyry schist. I possess specimens of all these rocks. From Seras, our route lay S. W. by S. Four hours and a half, Wady Attyre (التّيره), the principal village in the Batn el Hadjar. Here again, there are several islands in the river, with ruins of ancient brick habitations and towers upon them. The shores seem to have offered little security, even in ancient times, for I met with no ruined buildings on the eastern bank of the Batn el Hadjar; the ancient inhabitants seem to have exclusively chosen the islands for their abode. There is another cataract in the river at Wady Attyre, and a similar one between that place and Seras, opposite to Samne, on the west bank. We continued in the Wady Attyre upwards of an hour. Some date trees grow in all these Wadys, but the Doum is more common. At five hours, a wild passage across the mountain begins, called Akabet Djebel Doushe (عقبة جبل دوشه). From the top of it I enjoyed a beautiful view of the course of the river to the southward; but its narrow verdant banks are almost lost in the wide expanse of the rocky desert, where the eye, fatigued by the view of the dreary wilderness, searches with difficulty for the blue stream, often hidden by islands, and only appearing partially. Its course from hence is S. W. by S. At seven hours, we descended from the mountain into Wady Ambigo (اَمبقُو). At eight hours, were several cataracts, where the stream rushes impetuously over the rocks, and carries its foaming current to the distance of several hundred feet; there is no where, however, any fall, that can be properly so called. All these cataracts resemble those of Assouan, but the river is more narrowly hemmed in by rocks than at the latter place; and its whole course through the Batn el Hadjar is so very rapid, that navigation of every kind seems to be quite impracticable. At the end of nine hours, we stopped at a hut of Omsherifs.

_March 9th._ To the east of Ambigo, there are high mountains; and to the south of it, the eastern chain decreases in height. The mountains of Ambigo seem to be the highest summit of the Batn el Hadjar. Our road lay alternately along the shore, and over the rocks; I no where saw any traces of an ancient road through this rugged district. In three hours we reached Wady Om Kanaszer (اُم قناَصِر), in which is a small watch-tower built of stones, upon a hill. From hence we followed a mountainous road as far as Wady Lamoule (وادي لاموله), which we reached in five hours; here are some cataracts in the river, and several rocky islands, upon which I saw crocodiles basking. At five hours and a half, we ascended the mountain; and in six hours gained a high summit, known by the name of Djebel Lamoule (جبل لامولَه), and corresponding with a similar one on the west side. At the foot of this hill, the Arabs repeat the custom of digging the traveller’s grave, but as I knew not how often a present might in this way be demanded of me by my guide, I refused to give him any thing upon his making the demand; and as soon as he began to construct my tomb, I alighted, and making another, told him that it was intended for his own sepulture; for that, as we were brethren, it was but just that we should be buried together. At this, he began to laugh; we then mutually destroyed each other’s labours, and in riding along he exclaimed from the Coran, “No mortal knows the spot upon earth where his grave shall be digged.” Seven hours brought us to a sandy plain in the mountain, called Khor Sonk (خور سُنك), Sonk being a Wady, situated below it. As the road which leads to the country of the Sheygya turns off here, this spot is more frequently visited by them, than any other part of this rocky tract, and is noted for the many robberies committed here by those Arabs; my guide shewed me the place where his cousin had been killed, at his side, in an encounter with the Sheygya, and hurried me, at a full trot, over the plain. The whole of the Batn el Hadjar is dangerous for single travellers; but it was my good fortune not to meet with any banditti; should any European be inclined to make the same journey hereafter, he may procure at Derr as many guards to accompany him as he chooses, provided he previously arranges matters with the governors of Nubia.

At eight hours and a half we issued from the mountains, and crossing a sloping plain, arrived, at the end of nine hours and a half, at the side of the river. The country opens here, and the eastern chain continues at about two miles distance from the river. At ten hours and a half, we halted for the night in a thick grove of tamarisk trees, opposite a long island, upon which are several brick ruins, and a tower of the same material. The ruins of a small village are upon the east bank: the place is called Wady Okame (عقمه); and here the dominions of the governor of Sukkot begin, although the Wady is considered to belong to the Batn el Hadjar. Close to the spot on which we slept is the tomb of a saint, Sheikh Okashe (شيخ عُقاشه), much revered by the Nubians. Offerings of earthen vessels, mats, and small pieces of linen, were spread within the enclosure of the tomb, and all around it. The inhabitants of Sukkot make frequent pilgrimages to this tomb. My guide, in constant dread of the Sheygya, would not allow me to light a fire, although the nights were now very cold.

_March 10th._ After a ride of two hours over low hills, in a S. S. W. direction, we arrived opposite the island of Kolbe (قُلبه), the northern extremity of Sukkot, and the residence of the governor of that district;[31] the island is about one hour in length: the shore, on both sides, is hemmed in by huge masses of gray granite. Here some regular cultivation commences. I had a letter of recommendation from Hassan Kashef to the governor, who is an old man, named Daoud (David) Kara, distantly related to the three chief governors of Nubia, under whose control he holds his district. Being desirous of paying him a visit, in order to gain some information from him respecting the state of things farther southward, I left my guide to watch the camels, and with some Arabs, who had arrived at the place where we alighted, crossed the river upon a Ramous (راموس). This kind of ferry boat is formed of four trunks of date-trees, tied loosely together, and is worked by a paddle about four feet in length, forked at the upper extremity, and lashed to the raft by ropes of straw. It precisely resembles those which are represented on the walls of the Egyptian temples. Persons who trust themselves upon such frail vehicles should be able to swim, for as these people have no idea of skulling, and use only one paddle to each Ramous, they row alternately to leeward and windward, so that the Ramous is never directed towards the shore. The old governor received me coolly; “This is not a country,” he said, “for people like you to travel in, without being accompanied by caravans.” I requested a letter of introduction to his son, who governs the southern parts of Sukkot, when he caused his scribe[32] to write a few lines for me upon a blank corner of an old letter, the only paper that could be found. He repeatedly enquired my business; I answered, that I was the bearer of letters from Esne to the two Kashefs, who were at Mahass. After a stay of one hour I retired, recrossed the river, and continued my journey. We rode over mountainous ground, where the sand-stone again appears among the grauwacke and feldspath, until, at two hours and a half from Kolbe, we reached Wady Dal (وادي دال), which may be called the southern extremity of the Batn el Hadjar. At Dal the river is interrupted by immense blocks of granite lying confusedly across it, occasioning several foaming cataracts, and forming many rocky islands; upon one of these is a large brick building, in ruins. Here the country opens, and we continued for half an hour along a cultivable shore, overgrown with date trees, amongst which was a ruined village, called Dabbe. One hour farther, still following the plain by the side of the river, we arrived at the village of Zergamotto (زرقَمطو), where we slept. The inhabitants of Zergamotto bring rock salt from Selyma, distant two long days and a half in the western desert, and a halting-place of the Darfour caravan, in its way to Siout. Whenever this caravan passes Selyma, the Nubians resort thither, to sell dates and other provisions to the travellers. Rock salt is found also in every part of the eastern mountain from Kenne southward, and the peasants of Egypt and Nubia collect it; but it has a very disagreeable bitterish-sweet taste.

_March 11th._ From Dabbe our road lay S. by W. We rode along the bank of the river; where the plain is about two miles in breadth, but for the greater part barren. The river continues to be full of low islands, and rocks. In one hour and a half we came to a cluster of small hamlets, called Ferke (فرقه). In the plain are five barrows, or tumuli, evidently artificial, like those I saw near Kosko.[33] The son of the governor of Sukkot, to whom I had the letter of recommendation, lives upon an island at Ferke. We stopped opposite the island to bait our camels upon the tamarisk trees; and as this place, according to the injunction of Hassan Kashef, was to be the termination of my journey southwards, and the farthest point to which my guide was to conduct me, the latter insisted upon complying with the orders of his master. A promise, however, of two piastres and a woollen Melaye, worth as much, overcame his fidelity, and he agreed to accompany me to Mahass; “If Hassan Kashef,” said he, “upbraids me, I shall tell him that you rode on, notwithstanding my exhortations, and that I did not think it honourable to leave you alone.” My plan was, to reach Tinareh, the chief place in Mahass, and there to cross over to the western side, as I knew that the Kashefs, who were encamped there, had a vessel at their disposal. On my way back, I intended to visit Say, and all the ruins on the western side.

Having no particular business with the governor of Ferke, I did not pay him a visit; but when he saw us riding on, he came gallopping after us on horseback, with one of his slaves, to enquire who we were, and insisted upon our returning with him to his house. In cases like this, compliance is always better than fruitless resistance; and we therefore crossed over the dry bed of a branch of the river to the island, where we found the whole neighbourhood assembled at the governor’s house, to partake of a cow slaughtered in honour of the same deceased relation, to whose funeral feast we had been invited at Endhana. The women who were present had a small drum; and some of them sang glees, in honour of the deceased, while others danced. Our host had a great desire to possess himself of my camels, and he would have done it, by giving me two others of no value instead of them, had it not been for his father’s letter. I excused my having rode on by saying that I thought his residence had been farther to the southward. He insisted that we should stay all the night with him; but as I knew this was only to extort a present from me, I gave him a large piece of soap, after which he suffered us to depart. From hence to Say, the route is W. 1 S. In two hours, we reached Mekrake (مقرقه). Four hours, Kennis (قِنّس). The plain is cultivated in a few spots only. Senna mekke grows in quantity, and is of a good quality, though still inferior to that of the Eastern mountain; it is collected here by the Arabs Kerrarish, whenever there is any demand for it at Esne.[34] The western borders of the river are quite sandy and barren. Five hours, Sheikh Medjdera (شيخ مجدره), a small village built round the tomb of a saint. Here, as in every other part of Nubia, the thirsty traveller finds, at short distances, water-jars placed by the roadside, under a low roof. Every village pays a small monthly stipend to some person to fill these jars in the morning and again towards evening. The same custom prevails in Upper Egypt, but on a larger scale; and there are small carawanserais often found near the wells,[35] which supply travellers with water. In five hours and a half, we reached Aamara (عَماره), the extremity of the territory of Sukkot, to the south of which begins the district of Say.

In the plain of Aamara are the ruins of a fine Egyptian temple: the shafts of six large columns of the pronaos remain, constructed of calcareous stone, and they are the only specimen of that kind I have seen, all the Egyptian temples being built of sand-stone. The sculptures upon these columns are in imitation of those of Philæ, and are of middling execution; but much better than those of the temple at Derr: the figure of the ibis most frequently occurs: over each compartment or group of figures is a square blank tablet, as if to receive an inscription; the same thing is seen at Dakke, Kalabshe, and Philæ; but not in the more northern Egyptian temples. All the capitals of the columns are wanting. Of the cella nothing remains but mounds of rubbish, except the lowest part of the walls, and their foundations, which are of stone, reposing upon a substructure of bricks burnt in the sun: the walls were probably built of alternate layers of stone and brick. A thick enclosure of brick surrounds the site of the temple, at about fifty yards distance from the columns. The temple appears to have been erected at the period when Egyptian architecture began to degenerate; the finest specimens are found at Philæ and Dakke.

From Aamara a wide plain opens: the eastern chain making a wide circuit, while, to the west, the mountains terminate. The cultivable soil on the east side is nearly one mile and a half in breadth; and between it and the mountains is a barren tract covered with small flints and pebbles, similar to that at Suez. Here the river has many windings. In seven hours we came to Ebar (اَِبر), where we slept, at the house of one of the women of the brother of Hassan Kashef; for the governors of Nubia have a number of women dispersed over their dominions, in order that they may find a comfortable home wherever they stop, in their unceasing journeys through them. Hosseyn Kashef has about twenty wives, each of whom has her own separate establishment. In the inner court-yard of the lady’s house where we stopped was a well, and water-wheel, turned by cows; by means of which the surrounding fields were irrigated: similar wheels are every where met with, but this was the only instance I saw of their being within the walls of a dwelling. During this day’s march our camels were constantly at a trot.

_March 12th._ Our road lay over a quartzy plain, in a direction S. 1. E. At one hour is a high insulated hill, in the plain, called Djebel Ollaky, (جبل عُلاقي). Here the island of Say (ساي) begins. In one hour and a quarter, I saw upon the island, close to the water, the castle of Say, built of alternate layers of stone and bricks, with high walls. The few guns which were formerly in it had been carried off by the Mamelouks. Say, with its territories, like Ibrim and Assouan, has its own governor, or Aga, who is independent of the governors of Nubia; it having been, like the two former places, garrisoned by a troop of Bosnian soldiers, sent hither by Sultan Selym, whose descendants still remain. The island is well cultivated on its eastern side, where the principal branch of the stream runs; on the west side, it appeared to be quite barren; its breadth is about two miles. In the middle of it is a high hill or mountain. There is a ford on the west side, at this period of the year, which I intended to cross, on my return from Mahass, in order to examine the island; but in this I was disappointed, as will presently appear. There is no Ramous or ferry in any part of it, and when the Nubians have any business on the opposite shore, they swim over, with their spear, or lance, fastened on the top of the head. I have reason, however, to believe, that there are no remains whatever of antiquity on Say, except the above-mentioned castle, which is probably of the same date as that at Ibrim.

In two hours and a half from Ebar the road takes a S. W. direction, and continues close to the river, opposite Say; a thick grove of palm trees lining the shore. In three hours we came to Koeyk (قويق): the plain is here covered with the tombs of Nubian saints. Four hours, Wady der Hamyde, opposite to which is the southern extremity of the island of Say. The Wady Hamyde has a king, or Melek, of the Arab tribe of Hamyde,[36] who is tributary to the governors of Nubia. On the east side of the river is a large pier or jetty, formed of huge sand-stones confusedly thrown in upon each other. On both sides are numerous habitations, and thick groves of date-trees; indeed Wady Hamyde seemed to be more populous than any part of the country south of Ibrim. The dates of Sukkot and Say are preferred to those of Ibrim, and are considered superior to all that grow on the banks of the Nile, from Sennaar down to Alexandria: they are of the largest kind, generally three inches in length. As there is no navigation northwards through the Batn el Hadjar, these dates reach the northern parts of Nubia only in small quantities, as presents. They are sold to the Arabs Sheygya, who arrive here in large caravans, and take them in exchange for Dhourra (one measure of Dhourra for an equal measure of dates), for butter, and for targets made of the skin of the hippopotamus, which are highly prized by the Nubians; there are few date trees in the country of the Sheygya, and those of a bad kind. Five hours brought us to Wady Aboudy (وادي عبودي), opposite to which, in the eastern plain, is a high insulated hill. Here the river takes a direction S. S. E. The sandy and quartzy plain continues, and the eastern mountain is from twelve to fifteen miles distant from the river. Six hours, Irau (اِرَو); here many of the houses are abandoned, and there is very little cultivation. This is the southern limit of the district of Say, which name, though properly confined to the island only, is commonly applied to the whole country between Sukkot and Mahass. From hence, southwards, begins the Dar el Mahass. Our route now lay S. 1 W. To the west, the low hills again begin to form a chain, which increases in height towards the south. In seven hours we reached Eshamotto (اشامطّو). Eight hours and a half, El Waouy (الواوي), a considerable village. The river here takes a circuitous bend to the westward. We made a short cut across the plain, and at the end of nine hours and a half, halted for the night at a few huts of Kerrarish Arabs. I put our hosts into good humour by distributing some Dhourra amongst them; to testify their gratitude, two of them kneeled down by my side, and began rubbing and _kneading_ my body, legs, and arms, in the same manner as is done in the Turkish baths. After a fatiguing journey, the limbs are benumbed; this operation restores the circulation of the blood, and induces a gentle slumber.

_March 13th._ The eastern mountains again approach the river, and consist here, as at the second Cataract, of grunstein. We followed the narrow shore in an easterly direction, and passed several of the villages of Mahass. The houses are constructed only of mats, made of palm leaves, fastened to high poles, the extremities of which rise considerably above the roof. The countenances of the people are much less expressive of good nature than those of the Nubians; in colour they are perfectly black; their lips are like those of the Negro, but not the nose, or cheek bones; numbers of the men go quite naked, and I even saw several grown up girls without any thing whatever round the middle. The Nubian language here has certainly superseded the Arabic, which none of the peasants understand.

In approaching the place where the Nubian governors were encamped, I found several of the villages deserted; their former inhabitants had preferred abandoning their cotton fields, and their prospects of a harvest, to submitting to the oppressive conduct of the followers of the governors, whose horses and camels were now feeding amidst the barley, while the mats of the deserted houses had been carried off to the camp, to serve as fuel. After a ride of four hours, we reached the camp of Mohammed Kashef, opposite the Wady Tinareh, a cluster of hamlets, situated round the brick castle of that name, and the chief place in Mahass; here was the termination of my journey southwards. I had told my guide to be cautious in his answers to Mohammed Kashef, and if he should be questioned respecting me, to say that he had been ordered by Hassan Kashef to accompany me, but knew nothing of my business; which was really true; for I had never allowed him to see me taking notes during our journey.