Part 7

I am returned to this place from a journey up the Nile, which has carried me into the vicinity of Dóngola. In my last letter from Cairo, I informed you of my projects relative to this excursion, and I am now happy to say, that I have succeeded almost to the full extent of my wishes. I left Cairo on the 11th of January, accompanied by a trusty servant, a native of Siout. We were both mounted upon asses which, besides our persons, carried the little baggage I thought necessary to take with me. I was furnished with the strongest letters of recommendation to all the governors of Upper Egypt, besides which, Mohammed Aly Pasha had given me a private letter of introduction to his son Ibrahim Beg, who commands in Upper Egypt. I was, however, so lucky as never to have occasion to make use of these letters; nothing unpleasant occurred to me during my route through Egypt, and when such is the case it is always better to keep clear of Turkish governors. The canals of Egypt were dried up; I therefore prosecuted my journey without any difficulty along the Nile’s western bank, sometimes crossing over to the opposite side; and I arrived after twelve days at Siout, having seen on my way the southern pyramids, and the antiquities of Beni Hassan, Shikh Abade and Ashmouneyn. It had been my intention to make from Siout an excursion into the Great Oasis, which is not thoroughly known yet. Several circumstances impeded my project; I should however have persisted had I not been informed that the Siwah people are continually visiting the Oasis, and I should not like to be afterwards recognised by them on my way to Fezzan. I remained ten days at Siout, and continued then my journey southwards; visiting on my way Gaou, Akhmym, Farshiout, Dendera, Kenne, and Goft; and after four days stay at the different villages, situated within the precincts of Thebes, I arrived at Esne sixteen days after having left Siout. Esne is the last place of note in Upper Egypt, it was therefore here that I was to make the necessary preparations for my journey into Nubia. (...) I arrived at Assouan on the 22nd of February. The Aga of Assouan procured me a guide up to Derr, the chief place in Nubia. (...) It took me four days and an half to reach Derr, which is about one hundred and forty miles distant from Assouan. About fifty miles below that place I fell in with two English gentlemen, Messrs. Legh and Smelt, who had been up to Ibrim and were returning to Assouan, on board a small ship they had hired there. I had already had the pleasure of seeing them at Cairo and at Siout. (...) After three days journey from Ibrim (which is only five hours distant from Derr), I reached the second cataract at Wady Halfa. From thence in three days more Sukkot, in travelling along the mountainous district called Batn el Hadjar. (...) I passed the large island called Say, and from thence, at the end of two days more, arrived at Tinareh, a small castle, the chief place in the country of Mahass, which I calculate to be at four hundred and thirty, or four hundred and fifty miles above Assouan. (The above mentioned distances are dromedary’s days of thirty miles each.) From Tinareh to the northern limits of Dóngola are two and a half days journey. (...) I returned by the same way to Sukkot, swam here my camels across the river, in order to see the western bank, which I continued to follow until I again crossed to the eastern bank, a few miles above Philæ.

I returned to Assouan on the 31st of March, seventeen days after my departure from Tinareh, and thirty-five days after my setting out from Assouan; during which time I had only allowed myself a single half day’s rest at Derr. So far my personal story through Nubia. The enclosed journal contains my observations during the journey; I must solicit your indulgence for the rude manner in which it is written. It is certainly not as I wish it to be, nor as it should have been, had I been at my leisure and ease. It has been written in a miserable court-yard, on the side of my camel, under the influence of the hot Kamsin winds, which now reign in Upper Egypt. I have suffered also from a strong inflammation in my left eye, which has become still worse by writing, and which makes writing painful to me.

I have been now for these last three weeks at Esne, waiting for the departure of a Sennaar caravan, which is to set out in a few days from Daraou, about sixty miles south of this place, whither I shall without delay proceed. For I have conceived the project of making a journey on that side of Africa, before I begin my western tour. I wish to visit the shores of the Astapus or Astaboras, on my way from Gous towards Massuah; which harbour I should thus reach by a northern road, different from that of Bruce. The road from Egypt to Gous is perfectly safe. I am well recommended to the people in power at Gous and Damer; from whence there is a practicable road eastward into Abyssinia. It is not my intention to make any stay in Abyssinia whatever; not holding myself at all qualified for travels in those parts; but up to the frontiers of Abyssinia Arabic is spoken, and wherever that is the case I hope to be able to penetrate with some advantage to science. From Massuah I shall proceed to Djidda, or to Mokka, and return without delay, by land, along the eastern shore of the Red Sea, to Cairo. I hope to be in Cairo again in ten months. If I supposed that this journey presented great risks I should not undertake it; for I wish to expose myself to hazards only on the western side of Africa, but there is only a distance of twenty days (from Gous to Massuah), which presents any difficulties; of these twenty days, fourteen (from Gous to Taka) are by caravan routes; there remain six days from Taka to Massuah, where it will be necessary to join the Bedouins, in order to have any security on the road. Travelling in Arabia, few parts excepted, is as safe as travelling in Egypt; and it will not be less so to me, as I shall have recommendations to all the officers of Mohammed Aly who garrison the cities of the Hedjaz, since the complete defeat of the Wahabis, who have retired to their native seats in the Nedjed. I repeat to you that I look with confidence upon the success of my projected journey. As to health, I am in the perfect enjoyment of it, my eye excepted, which I hope will be cured by the pure air of the desert. According to the directions I have given I hope to find money supplies either at Mokka or at Djidda. I proceed from hence, as a Derwish, having nothing with me but a camel, some provisions, and about four guineas in sequins, hidden in my woollen cloak. This will carry me, I hope, as far as Massuah, where, in case of need, a free passage is easily obtained from the charity of the Turkish merchants.

I cannot help feeling some apprehensions lest this project should not meet with the entire approbation of the Committee: as it will defer again for a twelvemonth my grand journey. As for myself, as long as I have any vigour of mind and body left, I shall look upon time as a very secondary consideration, and subservient only to objects of science; and I am indifferent to what extent my absence from Europe is prolonged, provided my final object of visiting as much of the unknown countries of Soudan as I possibly can, is obtained. If I am not to be tired with respect to time it is hardly to be supposed that my employers should; but other considerations may certainly make them desire a more prompt conclusion of my journey. And for this reason I am extremely anxious to know what opinion they entertain of my conduct.

_Postscript, dated from Siout in Upper Egypt, 12th of July,_ 1813.

I am sorry to say that I have not been able to set out with the Sennaar caravan as soon as I expected. A small caravan, coming from the south, arrived at Daraou at the end of May. The merchants had been stripped on the road by the chief of Mograt, through whose territory they are obliged to pass. That chief had espoused the cause of the Mamelouks, and declared war against the Egyptian slave-traders. The party of the latter, with whom I intended to set out from Daraou, where they had already assembled, were now afraid to proceed on their journey in small numbers, and they put off their departure, until they might be joined by several other parties, in order to form a large caravan, capable of fighting its way through, if the robber of Mograt should attack them. I profited by the interval to return to Siout, from whence I sent a messenger to Cairo, for my purse was almost exhausted.

I shall write to you once more before I set out from hence, which I hope will be in three weeks. If the departure and arrival of the caravans, were as well regulated in Africa, as they are in Syria, this vast continent would soon be explored. But the difficulties and delays are great, and can only be overcome by patience.

The plague is said to have ceased at Cairo, but it still continues in some parts of Lower Egypt, after having almost depopulated Alexandria and Damietta. It had reached a village only two hours distant from here, but made no farther progress. But great fears are entertained that it will increase and spread next winter, over the whole country, which is generally the case whenever it has not completely subsided towards the end of June.

_Extract of a letter from Esne, October 14th,_ 1813.

The great Djelabe traders from Sennaar who have just arrived here, have at length put an end to the impediment caused by the chief of Mograt, by killing him and his principal men in his own house at Mograt. But another difficulty has occurred. There is a great scarcity of provisions in the Nile countries, from Gous up to Sennaar, occasioned by the locusts, who devoured entirely the last winter crops. The envoys sent last year by Mohammed Aly, to the King of Sennaar, who have returned with the late caravans, describe the state of the inhabitants as most deplorable; they kill each other for a measure of Dhourra, and neither law nor government is any more attended to. Under such circumstances the caravans assembled at Daraou, in the neighbourhood of Assouan, have not thought proper to leave Egypt, where every kind of provision is at the lowest price. They have wisely resolved to defer their departure until the new Dhourra grain should have been reaped in the southern countries, when as the inundation of the Nile has been very copious this year, plenty will have returned to those districts. I shall thus start in their company in about three weeks from this time, and have little doubt, provided I remain in good health, that I shall reach Massuah in safety, by taking my road straight across the mountains from Damer towards Massuah.

From Massuah I mean to cross over to the Arabian coast, and to return to Cairo by the Hedjaz; I hope the Committee of the African Association will not object to this extension of my travels. I keep my ultimate object well in view, and after my return to Cairo, I shall be ready to put it in execution. But I think that the discovery of the interior parts of Nubia is well worth a year’s labour and the expense attending it. My journey through Arabia may probably qualify me better than any thing else, to future perilous travels in the Mohammedan world, nor will it, I hope, be devoid of some advantages to science.

I have collected some information on the interior parts of Africa, from the Soudan pilgrims, of whom I have seen great numbers in Upper Egypt. But I wish to improve upon it, before I transmit it to the Association. These pilgrims go here by the name of Tekaýrne (sing. Tekroury, from the verb تكرر: meaning to renew, improve and purify, that is to say, their faith and learning by the pilgrimage. It is probably from this name of Tekroury, that the Arabian geographers have placed a country called Tekrour, between Timbuctou and Kashna; none of these travellers knew of any such country.) Such of them as are most distinguished for skill in writing and reading, style themselves “Fokara,” (from فقير: a poor man, i. e. before the Lord) which name is given in Upper Egypt to the whole class of learned men. Most of the Tekaýrne come from Darfour; some from Bornou and the country of Wady el Ghazal, between Bornou and Darfour; others from Bagherme and Borgho. I have not met with a single man from Wangara, nor could I ever find any whose native country was west of Wangara. The road they take is from Darfour to Kordofan and Sennaar, from whence they follow the course of the Nile through Dóngola and Nubia, to Egypt. Those only who can afford to buy camels and provisions, cross the desert from the Nile to Souakin, the others live upon alms, and upon the selling of amulets. I understand that there is a still more frequented pilgrim road from Sennaar through Abyssinia to Massuah.

Upper Egypt enjoys at present perfect tranquillity, under the severe but equitable government of Ibrahim Pasha, son of Mohammed Aly. The taxes are moderate and the whole country is equally assessed; no avanies are practised, and the soldiery is kept in strict order. By secularizing a part of the revenues of the church, such as the superfluous income of mosques, schools, public cisterns, Olemas, village Shikhs, &c. the Pasha has of late considerably enriched his treasury. The clerical interest is of course now in opposition, although the Pasha has become the restorer of the faith, by delivering the holy cities. The Mamelouks have no chance of succeeding in any attempt upon Egypt, as long as Mohammed Aly keeps in power; but if he should happen to fall, I conceive that although their number is now reduced to three hundred fighting men only, they would forthwith regain their lost seat in Egypt, where their friends are still very numerous, especially among the most daring adventurers, who greatly dislike the just and vigorous measures of the actual government.

P. S. I am in good health, but have gone during the course of the summer and autumn, through two very painful ophthalmic attacks, from the latter of which I have just recovered.

The cause of delay mentioned in the preceding letter continued to operate during the next four months, and it was not until the 2nd of March, 1814, that the caravan finally quitted upper Egypt. During the tedious intervals, which Mr. Burckhardt was under the necessity of passing at Esne, he continued to wear his usual disguise of a poor Mohammedan trader; taking care to be as little known or noticed as possible. Among the jealous, treacherous, and cruel Mussulman nations which he traversed, after leaving Daraou, it was with difficulty that he seized opportunities of continuing the journal of his remarks and proceedings. Still less was it in his power to transmit any intelligence to the Association, until after having arrived in safety at Souakin, a port of considerable traffic on the African coast of the Red Sea, he crossed over from thence to Djidda, in Arabia.

The following extract of a letter from Djidda will put the reader in possession of the general direction of the route, together with the most important heads of information acquired by Mr. Burckhardt in his second Nubian journey. The detailed account of it, which was not transmitted to the Association until the year 1816, forms the subject of the greater part of the present volume.

_Extract of a Letter from Mr. Burckhardt to Sir Joseph Banks, dated Djidda, 7th August,_ 1814.

I left Upper Egypt on the 2nd of March, and crossed the Nubian desert during a journey of twenty three days, slow travelling; nearly in the same route, by which Bruce returned from Abyssinia, fifty years ago. Our caravan rejoined the Nile at Berber, in the vicinity of Bruce’s Gooz, and after a fortnight’s stay among the Arabs Meyrifab, and as much at Damer (two days south of Berber), we reached Shendy, which is at present the principal market for the slave-traders, from Egypt, Darfour, Kordofan, and Sennaar.

Its King is tributary to the King of Sennaar, as are likewise all the petty rulers down the river as far as Dóngola; it would have been easy for me to proceed to Sennaar, nine days journey distant from Shendy, and from thence into Abyssinia, following Bruce’s track. But I wished to visit unknown districts, and I was convinced, from what I had already experienced, that a tour through those countries would be attended with expenses, which I was little able to bear. When I left Egypt, I had only sixty dollars, and an ass to carry me; not having thought proper to lose the opportunity of the caravan, for the sake of the supply of money which I expected from Cairo. Twenty-five dollars were spent in the way to Shendy. I was thus much straitened, and I had scarcely enough left to buy a slave, a camel, and the necessary provisions for my journey to the Red Sea. From Shendy I proceeded towards the river Atbara (Astaboras), whose fertile banks are cultivated by the Arabs Bisharein. I followed that river in a S. S. E. direction for about one hundred and twenty miles as far as Goz-Radjeb, a place under the dominion of Sennaar, five days journey distant from it. The course of the Astaboras, as well as that of the Astapus (now called Mogren), is very erroneously laid down upon the maps. From Goz I reached the country of Taka, a low ground of four or five days journey in length, and two days in breadth, which is regularly inundated by torrents, rushing down from the Abyssinian mountains; and which produces a rich crop of Dhourra. I had hoped to cross the mountains from hence to Massuah, on the Abyssinian sea coast; but I found, notwithstanding the information given to me at Shendy, that there is no commercial intercourse between the two places. The infamous treachery of the Arabs Hadendoa, Melykenab, and Hallenga, who inhabit Taka and the southern mountains, renders it impossible to proceed alone, with any baggage of the smallest value, and the total want of hospitality among all the Arabs of these parts forbids any attempt to travel as a Derwish or beggar. After a ten days stay amongst the Arabs Hadendoa, I left Taka for Souakin, which place draws its whole supply of corn from Taka. The rains began to set in; a high chain of mountains, midway between Taka and Souakin, divides the climate; to the south of this chain, we had every night heavy showers, to the north, the season of the hot winds had begun, and the rains were not expected until September. Thirteen days from Taka we reached Souakin. The Turkish governor of that place was going to seize me, supposing me to belong to the Mamelouks of Dóngola; fortunately I had an old Firman of the Pasha of Egypt with me, the producing of which saved me from prison, and procured me a free passage on board a country boat to Djidda, where I arrived in good health on the 20th of July.

It is now my intention to visit the principal places of the Hedjaz, to perform the Hadj, or pilgrimage to Mekka, and then to return to Cairo by land. I shall send to England the journal of my late tour, together with that of the Hedjaz, after my return to Cairo, not being at present at liberty to write much.

The Pasha of Egypt is in possession of all the principal towns of the Hedjaz, but whenever he has endeavoured to push on into the interior, he has constantly been defeated by the Wahabi Arabs, amongst whom a female chief, called Ghalye, whose residence is in Taraba, eight days journey S. E. of Mekka, has particularly distinguished herself. The chances however seem at present to be greatly in favour of the Pasha. Saoud, the Wahabi chief, died three months ago of illness; his son Abdallah, and his brother of the same name, have been fighting for the succession, and have both been killed in the civil war. The treasure of Saoud is now in possession of the younger sons of Saoud, who are besieged at Derayeh, the capital of Nedjed, by other branches of their family, and several great Arab Shikhs. Many powerful Wahabi chiefs have come over to the Pasha, who has thus been led to undertake an expedition against Derayeh, and the Nedjed itself. At the moment I am writing, Tousoun Pasha, the son of Mohammed Aly, is proceeding from hence to Medina, in order to command the expedition which will take place as soon as the rains have set in, and there is some reason to believe that he will succeed in his project, although it is hardly to be expected that the Turkish troops will be able to keep possession, for any length of time, of those inland countries.

I am under great difficulties for a supply of money, the letter of credit which I brought from Cairo not having been honoured, under the pretext that it was dated eighteen months ago; it must be confessed also that my torn clothes did not speak much in my favour. Disappointed in all my endeavours to sell a bill upon Cairo, I have addressed myself to the Pasha, Mohammed Aly himself, who is now at Tayf, five days journey from hence. He knows me well, and when at Cairo had often expressed himself in my favour. If he does not comply with my wishes I shall be obliged to return forthwith to Egypt, without performing the Hadj: which will not take place for three months, for the Hedjaz is not the country where a man can hope to travel gratis. Every thing is enormously dear at all times, and in the time of the pilgrimage the prices are still higher.

P. S. August 9th. I have been so fortunate as to procure a supply of money, by the means of Yahya Effendi, the physician of Tousoun Pasha, a man educated in Europe, and who had known me at Cairo. He received me with singular kindness, and as he was departing with the Pasha for Medina, he was anxious to see me furnished with money before he set out. The answer from Mohammed Aly has not yet arrived.