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TO
HER ROYAL HIGHNESS
THE DUCHESS OF KENT.

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[v]PREFACE.

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The following work contains the observations made by the Author during a journey performed by him in 1833 into the higher parts of Ethiopia. It is illustrated by engraved representations of the most remarkable objects in that country, from large drawings, finished on the spot by himself, or under his direction.

The monuments of Egypt, the most wonderful ever reared by human hands, have been described by numerous travellers, though there is still ample room for more full and accurate delineation. Even the antiquities of Lower Nubia have of late been repeatedly visited. But Ethiopia, above the second cataract, including the metropolis of the ancient kingdom of Meroe, had been explored by very few Europeans, and only two Englishmen; yet it abounds with monuments rivalling those of Egypt in grandeur and beauty, and possessing, in some respects, a superior interest. According to Heeren, Champollion, Rosellini, and other eminent inquirers, whose judgment was confirmed by my own observations, this was the land whence the arts and learning of Egypt, and ultimately of Greece and Rome, derived their origin. In this remarkable country we behold the earliest efforts of human science and ingenuity.

Such were the objects which induced the Author to encounter the difficulties and hardships of a journey into the upper valley[vi] of the Nile. It were to be wished, that the task had fallen into abler hands; yet he may be permitted to mention, that he had, to a certain extent, been prepared for it, by a series of years spent in Italy, Sicily, Greece, and other countries, distinguished by splendid remains of antiquity. He resided afterwards for a year in Upper Egypt, delineating its most remarkable edifices, and studying the sculptures and the hieroglyphics. He had thus acquired considerable experience in architectural drawing, and he took care, by the use of the camera lucida, to secure the accuracy of his outline. He had, likewise, the good fortune to engage the services of a very able Italian artist. No spot of any consequence was left till a leisurely and careful delineation had been made of every object of interest which it contained. It is therefore hoped, that a tolerably complete and accurate delineation has now been made of the most important antiquities of Ethiopia.

Although the illustration of ancient monuments formed the Author’s primary object, he has not neglected to make observations on the various and often singular tribes by whom the country is at present inhabited. He has been enabled to exhibit them under a new and very peculiar aspect, as no longer proud and independent, but reduced to complete subjection under the severe sway of that extraordinary character, Mohammed Ali, Pasha of Egypt. It is hoped that some light has been thrown upon the Turkish system of government, particularly in the provinces. Perhaps, also, the narrative of his journeys through extensive tracts of desert may be read with some interest. The original form of a journal has been retained, as that in which the impressions of the observer are given in the most faithful and brief manner.

[vii]In the concluding chapters, the Author has endeavoured to collect into one view the scattered notices which alone record the history, commerce, and arts of the celebrated kingdom of Meroe, and to illustrate these by recent materials, collected by himself, and others, from the sculptures and inscriptions still remaining. Lamentably deficient as our information is on this important subject, it may be interesting to find the few particulars related in ancient history, and particularly in the sacred volume, in many respects so fully confirmed by the evidence of existing monuments.[1]

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[ix]CONTENTS.

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CHAPTER I.
Intended Return to Cairo. — Arrival of Artist. — Determination to penetrate to Meroe. — Motives. — Advantages to be derived from the Discoveries of Young, Wilkinson, Champollion, and Rosellini. — Departure from Thebes. — Turkish Mode of Fasting. — Arrival at Assuan. — Hints to Travellers on Turkish Etiquette. — Nazr of Berber. — Unpromising Accounts of the Desert. — Detention for Want of Camels. — Sheakh of the Ababde Tribe. — Ruins of Elephantine and Assuan. — Bosnian Soldiers. — Water Skins defective. — Arrival of the Camels. — Commencement of the Journey. — Nubian Poverty. — Caravan from Khartoun. — Cultivation in Lower Nubia. — Singular and Picturesque Scenery. — Nubian Peasantry and their Slaves. — Turkish Humanity. — Roman Enclosure at Dacker. — Provisions in Nubia. — Similarity of a modern and ancient Custom. — Nubians, their Prejudices, Poverty, Food, Want of Religion, and Drunkenness. — Their domestic Comfort, and comparative Freedom. — Wady el Arab. — Arrival at Korosko. — Preparations for crossing the Great Nubian Desert. — The Governor of Korosko. — Drunken Coptic Secretary	Page 1
CHAPTER II.
Commencement of the Journey across the Great Nubian Desert. — Description of the Caravan. — Advantages of Turkish Dress and Customs. — Provisions necessary for the Desert. — Akaba, or Mountain Passes. — Dead Camels. — Fear of Robbers. — Anxiety about the Stock of Water. — Arab Opinion of Travellers. — Alarming Diminution of our Water. — Dead Bodies of Slaves and Camels. — Hojab el Jenous. — Bab el Korosko. — Age of the Camel. — Bahr Bela Ma, or Sea without Water. — Mirage. — Perils and Charms of the Desert Life. — Dilet el Doom, Valley of the Shade of the Dooms. — Gold Mines. — Omrishi Sufir. — Wells now dry.[x] — El Murrah, or the Well of Bitter Waters. — Hieroglyphics on the Rocks. — Colony of Bishareen. — Height and Character of the Mountains. — Arab Songs. — Gazelle. — Danger of leaving Caravan. — Absah Gold Mines. — Storms in the Desert. — Cambyses. — Bruce. — Arab Manner of mounting the Camel. — Manner in which the Arabs repose. — Arrival at the Nile. — Estimate of the Length of the Route and general Pace of the Camel	17
CHAPTER III.
Abou-Hammed. — Fortified House of the Sheakh. — Island of Mograt. — Population. — Tax to the Pasha. — Tropical Rains. — Arab Raft. — Fortunate Escape. — Manner in which the Camels pass the River. — Gagi. — Description of the Harem of a Sheakh. — Office hereditary. — Habitation of a Sheakh. — Ethiopian Flies. — Doum Trees. — Abou-Hashim and other Villages. — Cultivation. — Arab Civilities. — Berber Sheep and Goats. — Villages and Islands. — Arab Burial-ground. — General Character of the Country. — Tract of Desert. — Wild Asses. — Fifth Cataract. — Present State of numerous Villages. — Arrival at Makkarif, Capital of Berber	34
CHAPTER IV.
Visit to the Governor. — Court and ancient Chiefs of the Country. — Hospitable Reception. — Turkish Entertainments. — Character of the Governor. — His Attentions. — Style of living. — Dongolah Horses. — Anecdotes, Costumes, and Portraits of the Chiefs. — Turkish Knowledge of the Arts. — Bazaar of Makkarif. — Houses. — Manufactory of Indigo. — Extent of Cultivation. — Population. — Camels’ Hides. — Sugar Manufactory. — Ethiopian Wool. — Bishareen Tribe. — Manner of collecting their Tribute. — Ababdes and other Arab Tribes. — Turkish Policy. — Burckhardt. — Character of the People. — Arabs of the Desert	44
CHAPTER V.
Departure from Makkarif. — Various Villages. — The Mugrum, ancient Astoboras. — Route to Goss Redjab. — Verdant Appearance of the Island of Meroe. — Voyage on the Astapus. — Numerous Villages. — Cottages. — Hippopotami. — Manner of destroying them. — Villages. — Arrival at the Pyramids of Meroe	62
[xi]CHAPTER VI.
MEROE.
Historical Evidence that this is the Cemetery of the Capital of Ethiopia. — The imposing Appearance, Number, Position, and Dimensions of the Pyramids. — Ethiopian Arch. — Proofs that the Knowledge of the Arts descended front Ethiopia. — Edifices of a pyramidal Form the best adapted to resist the Ravages of Time. — Peculiar Style of the Sculpture. — The Language of Hieroglyphics generally known in Ethiopia. — The Style of the Sculpture the Criterion of the Age. — Monumental, geological, and historical Evidence that the Knowledge of the Arts descended from Meroe. — Description of the Sculpture. — Name of Meroe on the Monuments. — Meroe peculiarly interesting, as the Birth-place of the Arts. — Sandstone Quarries. — Site of the City. — Villages of the present Inhabitants. — Agriculture. — Cailliaud	66
CHAPTER VII.
Departure from the Ruins. — Numerous Villages, one called Meroueer. — Shendy. — Fortified House of the Melek. — Insignificance of the present Capitals of Ethiopia. — Population of Shendy. — Bazaar. — Prices of Camels, Slaves, &c. — Manner of transacting Business. — Women of Shendy. — Slave System. — Power of the ancient Meleks. — Their Wives. — Army of the Pasha. — Death of Ismael Pasha. — Metammah. — The Katshef of that Place, and his Court. — Katshef of Shendy	86
CHAPTER VIII.
Departure from Shendy. — Difficulties. — Desert. — Visit from and Anecdotes of Lions. — Immense Ruins. — Confusion of the Plan. — Built by bad Architects. — Detailed Description of the principal Temple. — Style of the Sculpture. — Other Ruins. — Singular Situation of the Ruins. — The Purpose for which they were constructed. — Their probable Age	94
CHAPTER IX.
Deficiency of Water. — Return to the Nile. — Wild Animals. — Ancient Canal. — Temple of Abou Naga. — Difficulties. — The modern Capitals of Ethiopia. — Sennaar. — The Difficulty of penetrating to the Source of the Bahr el Abiad. — Tribe of Arabs on its Banks. — Water less sweet than that of the Bahr el Azruk. — Arab Description of the River. — Inundation of the Nile. — Return to Shendy. — Mameluke Exercise	111
[xii]CHAPTER X.
Metammah. — Difficulty of finding Camels to cross the Bahiouda Desert. — Wretched State of the Peasants when attacked by Illness. — Intermittent Fevers. — Costumes of Metammah. — Women of high Rank. — Their long Nails. — Manner of increasing their Length. — Bahiouda Desert. — Wells at Aboulay. — Reflections on the Desert Life. — Shageea Tribe. — Wells called Gagdool. — Signor B. unwell. — Hassanyeh Tribe. — Animals of the Desert. — Greyhound Dog. — Well of Magaga. — Dangerous Illness of Signor B. — Well of delicious Water called Haless. — Beauty of the Scenery. — Shepherd Boys. — Character of the Rocks. — Wells of good Water called Hannek and Prasoli. — The Manner the Shageea salute. — Coptic Christian Church. — Arrival at the Town of Meroueh. — Hieroglyphics on a Slab in the Castle	123
CHAPTER XI.
Antiquities of Gibel el Birkel. — Description and Dimensions of the Mountain. — Temple built by the Tirhaka of the Bible. — Various other interesting Remains and Temples. — Pyramids. — Circular and pointed Arch invented in Ethiopia	134
CHAPTER XII.
Present Inhabitants of Birkel. — Funeral Ceremonies in the Mahometan Burial-grounds. — Name of Rameses II. or Sesostris. — Description of the present State of the Country. — Indigo Manufactories. — The Shageea Tribe. — One of their Meleks. — Pyramids of Nouri, dilapidated State. — Curious Construction of one. — General Dimensions. — Antiquity. — Comparison between the ancient and modern Buildings of Ethiopia. — Return to Meroueh. — Turkish Manner of being paid for Services. — Voyage down the Nile. — Numerous Villages. — Shageea Tribe. — Intoxication, Learning, &c. — Various Villages and Islands. — Effects of the Climate and other Peculiarities of this Country on the Character of the People. — Noble Manners of the Arabs. — Dongolah Agous. — Probable Site of Napata. — Negro Slaves. — Effects of the Cruelty of their Owners. — Encroachments of the Desert. — Cultivation. — Peasants	160
CHAPTER XIII.
Visit to the Governor. — Extent of his Government. — Indigo. — Water Wheels. — Population. — Taxes. — Prices of Produce. — Oasis of Dongolah,[xiii] called El Gab. — Route to Kordofan. — Information about that Country. — Baneful Climate. — Captain Gordon. — Arab Tribes of Kordofan. — General Appearance of New Dongolah. — The Bazaar. — Curious Use of Ointment. — Merchandise. — The Bazaar. — Slave Market. — Commerce carried on by Barter. — Curious Manner of effecting Sales. — Dongolah Goldsmith. — Auctioneers. — Various Arab Tribes. — Costumes. — Women, the Elegance of their Attire. — Breaking of the Rat. — Giraffe. — Hassanyeh Tribe. — Elephants	176
CHAPTER XIV.
Marriage and other Ceremonies of Dongolah. — Character of the People, their Habitations. — Women, their Amusements. — Arab Tale. — Government of Dongolah	189
CHAPTER XV.
Departure from Dongolah. — Numerous Villages. — Island of Argo. — Residence of the Melek. — Arab Accountants. — Melek Tumbol. — Extent of his Territory. — Arab Manners compared with European. — Philosophy of the Arabs. — The Melek’s Dinner. — Military Force. — Garden. — Visit to the Antiquities. — Numerous Vestiges of ancient Towns. — Colossal Statues. — Remains of a large Temple. — Name of Sabaco, the Conqueror of Egypt. — Entertainment of an Arab Sheakh. — Richness of the Island. — Indigo. — Ethiopian Fort. — Cataract of Toumbos. — Mutilated colossal Statue. — Hospitality of an Arab Sheakh. — Character of the Inhabitants. — Hippopotamus. — Alarming Intelligence. — Revolt of the Mahas. — Dreadful Consequences. — Our providential Escape. — Arab Stories of Travellers	204
CHAPTER XVI.
Return to New Dongolah. — The Governor. — His Indecision. — General Alarm. — Interview with the Governor. — His difficult Situation and Want of Energy. — Increase of the Insurgents. — Retreat of the Katshef of Haffeer. — Troops marched out against the Insurgents. — Fears about the Result. — Their Army. — The Battle. — Effects of the Revolt. — Roads impassable. — Return of the Expedition. — Turkish and Arab Evolutions. — Hassanyeh. — Funge. — Curious Assemblage. — Lululoo of the Women. — Turkish System of Government in the Provinces, and present State of the Peasantry and Arabs of the Desert above Wady Halfah	222
[xiv]CHAPTER XVII.
Departure from El Ourde. — Alarms of the Caravan. — Melek Backeet. — Return to Haffeer. — Detention in the Indigo Manufactory. — Nubian Plants. — Second Expedition of the Government. — Fanaticism of the Insurgents. — The Battle. — Prisoners. — Departure from Haffeer. — Description of the Caravan. — Cataract. — Effects of the Revolution. — Splendid Ruins of Solib. — Excavated Tomb near Solib. — Ruins of Sukkot. — Heat of the Climate. — Island of Sais. — Remains of Christian Ruins. — Destructive Effects of the Desert	237
CHAPTER XVIII.
Kasr Towaga. — Difficulty of crossing the River. — Indolence of the Arabs. — Arab Sheakh. — Temple of Amarah. — Present Inhabitants. — Wady el Hadjar. — Fortified House on an Island at Dahl. — Cataract of Uckma. — Bigotry of the Inhabitants. — Various Cataracts of the Nile. — Mineral Spring at Tangoure. — Temples of Semneh, on the Western Bank. — Curious Manner of crossing the River. — Temple of Semneh, on the Eastern Bank. — Inscriptions on the Rocks. — The Arab Robber Isah. — Second Cataract of the Nile. — Inducements for Travellers to extend their Journey beyond this Point. — Comparison between Voyages in the Desert and at Sea	259
CHAPTER XIX.
ON THE HISTORY OF MERGE.
Obscurity of her Annals. — Historical Associations necessary to render a Country interesting. — Works of Art historical Documents. — Lapidary Inscriptions. — Amunoph III. — Memnon, King of Ethiopia. — Expedition of Semiramis, Queen of Assyria, into Ethiopia. — Ethiopians in the Army of Shishak marched to Jerusalem. — The Sukkiims of Scripture. — Expedition of Zerah, the Ethiopian King of the Bible, and his Defeat by the Tribes of Judah and Benjamin. — The Ethiopian Dynasty of Kings who reigned over Egypt. — The Testimony of the Historians proved by lapidary Inscriptions. — The Name of Tirhaka, King of Ethiopia, who defeated Sennacherib, King of Assyria, found both on the Monuments of Egypt and Ethiopia. — The Names and Titles of this Dynasty of Kings. — Accordance of the Scriptural, monumental, and historical Evidences. — The Sethos of Herodotus, the Tirhaka of Scripture and of the Monuments.[xv] — The Sua, King of Egypt of the Bible, the Sevechus of Manetho, and the Shabatok of the Monuments	284
CHAPTER XX.
The Emigration of Egyptian Soldiers at the Time of Psammitichus. — Expedition of Cambyses. — Manners, Customs, &c. of the Macrobians, &c. — Curious Customs of the Ethiopians. — Ergamenes, the Ethiopian King’s, Conquests in Lower Nubia. — Atarraman and Silco, Ethiopian Kings. — Expedition of Petronius. — Queen Candace. — Christianity first introduced into Ethiopia. — Its Duration. — Napata, Capital of Candace. — Blemmyes and the Nubians	306
CHAPTER XXI.
ON THE COMMERCE OF MEROE.
Requisites for a State enjoying extensive Commerce. — Advantageous Position of Meroe. — Probable Extent of her Commerce. — The Facility afforded to its Extension by Means of the Camel. — Commerce of Arabia and India. — Abundance of Gold. — Iron and Gum. — Ethiopian Tribute to Egypt. — Description of a splendid Ethiopian Procession at Thebes. — Commerce of the Interior. — Causes of the Decline of Meroe. — Diminution of her agricultural Resources. — Exhaustion of Mines. — Rivalry of Egypt. — Wars with Egypt. — Arab Conquest. — Present Commerce	321
CHAPTER XXII.
ON THE ARTS OF MEROE.
Affluence would introduce a Taste for the Arts. — The Heat of the Climate favourable to Sedentary Pursuits. — Private Emulation would afford farther Encouragement. — Desire of distinguishing themselves by Intellectual Pursuits. — Testimony of Diodorus that Knowledge was very generally diffused in Ethiopia. — The Pyramids of Meroe the oldest Specimens of Ethiopian Art. — Civilisation of the Ethiopians proved by their monumental Edifices. — The Ethiopians Inventors of the Arch. — Egyptian Arches. — Ethiopian Sculpture. — Probable Cause of their peculiar Style. — Reasons for preserving it. — Deference of the Ptolemies and Romans for the Superstitions of the Egyptians. — Pleasing Effect of the Egyptian and Ethiopian Sculpture. — Admirable Manner of drawing Animals, Hieroglyphics, and their Taste in Ornaments. — Colouring on Ethiopian Sculpture. — The Knowledge of the Arts descended from[xvi] Ethiopia. — Complexion of the ancient and present Inhabitants. — Accuracy of Diodorus’s Account proved by the Monuments. — Taste for the Arts in a Nation inseparable from other Intellectual Pursuits. — Works of the Ethiopian King Tirhaka. — Review of the Antiquities in Ethiopia. — Folly of comparing the present with the ancient Inhabitants of the Valley of the Nile	346

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[xvii]ILLUSTRATIONS.

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Map of the Nile from Assuan to the conflux of the Bahr El Abiad and the Azruk.

ENGRAVINGS ON STONE.
Plate			Page
I.		Shageea of the Desert and Camel Man of the Ababde Tribe	164
II.		Sheahk Beshir, and Son of a Bishareen Sheahk	46
III.		Nazr ed Deen and Sheakh Sayd, Chief of the Ababde Tribe	44
IV.		Senna and Indigo Plants	240
V.		General Plan of the Pyramids of Meroe	66
VI.		Principal Group of the Pyramids of Meroe	68
VII.		Sections of the Pyramids of Meroe	70
VIII.		View of the Pyramids of Meroe	72
IX.		View of the Pyramids of Meroe	74
X.		Sculpture in the Porticoes of the Pyramids of Meroe	76
XI.		Sculpture in the Porticoes of the Pyramids of Meroe	78
XII.		Sculpture in the Porticoes of the Pyramids of Meroe	80
XIII.		Plan of the Ruins of Wady Owataib	100
XIV.		Picturesque View of the ruins of Wady Owataib	102
XV.		Picturesque View of the ruins of Wady Owataib	104
XVI.		Costumes of Moussa, Son of a Melek of Berber, and a Woman of Shendy	88
XVII.		General Plan of the Ruins of Gibel el Birkel	134
XVIII.		General View of the Ruins of Gibel el Birkel	136
XIX.		View of the Temple of Tirhaka	138
XX.		View of the Temple of Tirhaka	140
XXI.		Plan of the Temple of Tirhaka	142
XXII.		Restoration of the Temple of Tirhaka	144
XXIII.		View of Temple of Amun Sekon Gibel el Birkel	146
[xviii]XXIV.		Plan of the Great Temple at Gibel el Birkel	148
XXV.		View from the Great Temple at Gibel el Birkel	150
XXVI.		View of the Pyramids of Gibel el Birkel	152
XXVII.		View of the Pyramids of Gibel el Birkel	154
XXVIII.		Sections of the Pyramids of Gibel el Birkel	156
XXIX.		Sculpture in the Portico of a Pyramid at Gibel el Birkel	158
XXX.		Melek of the Shageea Tribe	162
XXXI.		View of the Pyramids of Nouri	166
XXXII.		Plan of the Pyramids of Nouri	168
XXXIII.		View of a Colossal Statue in the Island of Argo	210
XXXIV.		View of a Colossal Statue in the Island of Argo	212
XXXV.		Restoration of the two Colossal Statues in the Island of Argo	214
XXXVI.		View of the Exterior of a Dongolah Cottage	192
XXXVII.		View of the Interior of a Dongolah Cottage	194
XXXVIII.		Shageea fighting	228
XXXIX.		Hassanyeh Tribe	188
XL.		Plan of the Temple of Solib	246
XLI.		View of the Temple of Solib	248
XLII.		View of the Temple of Solib	250
XLIII.		View of the Temple of Solib	252
XLIV.		View of the Temple of Amarah	Frontispiece.
XLV.		Ruins of Semneh	276
XLVI.		Part 1. Grand Ethiopian Procession in a Tomb at Thebes	328
XLVII.		Part 2. Grand Ethiopian Procession in a Tomb at Thebes	330
XLVIII.		Part 3. Grand Ethiopian Procession in a Tomb at Thebes	332
XLIX.		Part 4. Grand Ethiopian Procession in a Tomb at Thebes	334
L.		Second Cataract of the Nile	278
LI.		Sculpture in the Temple of Semneh	270
LII.		Osshi Plant	240
LIII.	⎱ ⎰	Hieroglyphic Inscriptions and Sculpture at Meroe and Gibel el Birkel	286
LIV.
WOOD ENGRAVINGS.
View of the Cottages of Berber			1
View of the Fifth Cataract of the Nile			41
View of the Pyramids of Meroe			69
View of the South-east Group of the Pyramids of Meroe			71
[xix]View of the fortified Residence of the ancient Meleks or Kings of Shendy			87
View of the small Temple of Wady el Owataib			102
Sections of the Columns at Wady el Owataib			104
View of the Temple of Abou Naga			112
Plan of the Ruins of Abou Naga			113
Plan of the Pyramids of Gibel el Birkel			149
View of the Pyramids of Gibel el Birkel			151
View of the fortified House of Melek Tumbol			206
View of the Ruins of an Ethiopian Fort			216
View of the Cataract of Hennek			217
View of a Colossal Statue in the Quarries at Toumbos			218
Section of the Columns of Solib			247
View from a Tomb excavated out of the Rock near Solib			253
Plan of a Temple at Sukkot			254
View of a Temple at Sukkot			253
Plan of the Temple of Amarah			261
Harp of the Shageea			263
View of the Island of Dahl in the Wady el Hadjar			265
View of the Temple of Semneh, West Side of the River			269
Plan of the Temple of Semneh, West Side of the River			271
View of the Temple of Semneh, East Side of the River			273
Plan of the Temple of Semneh, East Side of the River			274
Egyptian Arch formed by approaching Stones			351
Egyptian Arch, elliptical			352
Egyptian Arch, Segment of a Circle			353
Name in Hieroglyphics of King Sabaco			296
Name in Hieroglyphics of King Sevechus			297
Name in Hieroglyphics of King Tirhaka			297
Name in Hieroglyphics of other Ethiopians of the Royal Family			298
Name in Hieroglyphics of King Ergamenes			314
Name in Hieroglyphics of King Atarramon			315

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ERRATA.

Pages	5,	6, 43, 46. for “Katschef, Katshief,” read “Katshef.”
	18,	19, 24, 32. for “Ababdis,” read “Ababdes.”
	11,	12, 13, 14. for “Melik,” read “Melek.”
	20.	line 1. for “danger of fatigue,” read “danger and fatigue.”
	32.	line 1. for “Mogran,” read “Mogram.”
	44.	line 3. for “Dongolar,” read “Dongolah.”
	69.	line 18. for “monuments,” read “tablets.”
	80.	line 9. for “in the second row,” read “in the same row.”
	126.	line 25. for “eleven,” read “ten.”
	157.	line 22. for “Psammeticus,” read “Psammitichus.”
	157.	line 25. for “Thotmes,” read “Thothmes.”
	178.	the prices of grain in this page are per ardeb.

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[1]TRAVELS
IN
ETHIOPIA.

CHAPTER I.

INTENDED RETURN TO CAIRO. — ARRIVAL OF ARTIST. — DETERMINATION TO PENETRATE TO MEROE. — MOTIVES. — ADVANTAGES TO BE DERIVED FROM THE DISCOVERIES OF YOUNG, WILKINSON, CHAMPOLLION, AND ROSELLINI. — DEPARTURE FROM THEBES. — TURKISH MODE OF FASTING. — ARRIVAL AT ASSUAN. — HINTS TO TRAVELLERS ON TURKISH ETIQUETTE. — NAZR OF BERBER. — UNPROMISING ACCOUNTS OF THE DESERT. — DETENTION FOR WANT OF CAMELS. — SHEAKH OF THE ABABDE TRIBE. — RUINS OF ELEPHANTINE AND ASSUAN. — BOSNIAN SOLDIERS. — WATER SKINS DEFECTIVE. — ARRIVAL OF THE CAMELS. — COMMENCEMENT OF THE JOURNEY. — NUBIAN POVERTY. — CARAVAN FROM KHARTOUN. — CULTIVATION IN LOWER NUBIA. — SINGULAR AND PICTURESQUE SCENERY. — NUBIAN PEASANTRY AND THEIR SLAVES. — TURKISH HUMANITY. — ROMAN ENCLOSURE AT DACKER. — PROVISIONS IN NUBIA. — SIMILARITY OF A MODERN[2] AND ANCIENT CUSTOM. — NUBIANS, THEIR PREJUDICES, POVERTY, FOOD, WANT OF RELIGION, AND DRUNKENNESS — THEIR DOMESTIC COMFORT, AND COMPARATIVE FREEDOM. — WADY EL ARAB. — ARRIVAL AT KOROSKO. — PREPARATIONS FOR CROSSING THE GREAT NUBIAN DESERT. — THE GOVERNOR OF KOROSKO. — DRUNKEN COPTIC SECRETARY.

Feb. 1. 1833. Having spent twelve months in the valley of the Nile, I had designed to leave Thebes this week, and return to Cairo. To this long period had an intended stay of a few weeks been protracted, in consequence of my daily increasing devotion to the fascinating but laborious study of Egyptian antiquities. I cannot, however, escape some uncomfortable feelings when I contrast the prospect now before me, of privation and dreariness in a long journey through the desert, with the hopes I had indulged of returning now to Europe, to the enjoyments of social and domestic intercourse, and the refinements and comforts of civilised life. My boat was ready, and all preparations made for my voyage down the Nile, when its direction was changed by the arrival of Signor Bandoni, a skilful Italian artist, whom I had long anxiously expected. I then immediately determined to proceed with my projected journey to the antiquities of Meroe, and thus complete my investigation of the architectural wonders of the Nile. Wearied, however, with my previous labours at Thebes, and in the Oasis Magna, I had felt reluctant to make this arduous attempt without the assistance of an artist. Had I now lacked courage, the redoubtable appearance of my Lucchese ally would have inspired me with resolution to encounter the wildest Bishareen of the Nubian desert, or the hungriest lion of Ethiopia. The Signor brings with him his bosom companion, a double-barrelled Spanish escopette, of awe-inspiring calibre, the destructive powers of which, he assures me, have been frequently proved upon the turtle doves in the palm groves of the Nile: he animates me also with the assurance, that “non ha niente paura;” nor, since his landing in these barbarous regions, has he yet known bodily fear, except once, and[3] that by mistake, when scared by the lion-like roar of a buffalo, near the base of Pompey’s Pillar. The valley of the Nile, as far as Wady Halfah, has been described by many. Only six or seven Europeans have penetrated beyond that cataract; and, unfortunately, all even of those were not sufficiently acquainted with Egyptian antiquities, and competent, as artists, to give a satisfactory description and correct delineations of the interesting remains which still exist in those remote regions.[2] In using the term acquainted, I do not mean to state that any person has penetrated very deeply into the mysteries of Egyptian lore, much less can I pretend to have lifted “the veil of Isis which no mortal has yet raised;” but even a slight knowledge of the recent discoveries in hieroglyphics gives to the traveller of the present day an advantage over, perhaps, even the most learned travellers who visited this country before the discoveries of Young, Wilkinson, Champollion, and Rosellini. Egypt is no longer a field for speculative ingenuity and brilliant imagination. The daylight has appeared, and the efforts of talent and perseverance have cleared away many of the difficulties which obstructed the first labourers in this rich mine of antiquarian research. Enough is already known of hieroglyphics to make the subject be duly appreciated by literary men, and we may confidently expect important information from that source. The drawings which have hitherto been made in Upper Nubia are considered to be very inaccurate; much has been left undone, and the hieroglyphics have been but partially and imperfectly copied; while many of the inscriptions are totally unknown. Aware of these circumstances, and also that not a drawing or description of the antiquities of Meroe has yet been published in England, and hoping that my labours may be of some service to those interested in these subjects, I leave Thebes to encounter again the fatigues[4] and perils of the desert; but Meroe is before me, the probable birth-place of the arts and sciences.

I bade adieu, last night, to my kind friends, Mr. and Mrs. Hay, whose society, attention, and valuable services, have been an indescribable resource to me during my long residence at Thebes. I felt how gratifying it is, in setting out on a journey of this description, to have the warm wishes of others that it may be successful. “Bring as many drawings as you can,” was the good advice given to me, and which I intend to follow.

I cannot perform impossibilities, by bringing the antiquities themselves; but I trust and hope, with the assistance of my camera lucida, my long experience in drawing that peculiar style of architecture and sculpture, and last, though not least, the valuable aid of my excellent Italian artist, Signor B., I shall be able to bring back drawings and plans which shall have the merit and value of strict accuracy. But I must disclaim, in the outset, any idea of adding much to the geographical knowledge of the interior of Africa. The object of my journey is Meroe, and to elucidate the existing vestiges of the ancient grandeur of the kingdom of Ethiopia. The wind this day has been favourable; but there was so little of it, that our progress has not been great.

Feb. 2. We arrived at Esneh this morning at eight, and remained until ten. I wished to see the Governor, to procure from him a letter to the Nazr of Assuan, requesting him to assist me in procuring camels; but I was told that he was asleep, and would not be visible till late in the afternoon. It is now the month of Ramadan, during which the law forbids them to eat or drink before sunset; however, the Turkish grandees avoid this privation by turning night into day, sleeping the greater part of the latter, and devoting the former to business and their pleasures. This manner of keeping their fast is somewhat similar to the devotee Peter Pindar describes, who, when sentenced to perform a pilgrimage with peas in his shoes, wisely took the liberty to boil[5] his peas. The wind being favourable, I could not wait the awakening of the Mahmoor.

Assuan.—Feb. 5. In our journey of this and the two preceding days, we have only had six to seven hours of wind; however, this afternoon, we arrived at Assuan, and I immediately waited on the Nazr to procure camels. On entering a Turkish divan, the traveller is merely required to make a grave bow, placing his right hand to his left breast, and to seat himself on the divan in the Turkish style, which, for the information of those readers who have not been in the country, I should say is exactly that easy position, which it seems in Europe tailors only are privileged to assume. When seated, he usually salutes the great man again in the same manner as before; but if the latter be of very high rank, it is better to show respect by placing the right hand, first, to the lips, and then, above the forehead. A few complimentary speeches are now exchanged; such as “How do you do?” “What a tall man you are!” “What a fine beard!” “You are like one of us!” Welcome and thanks. Coffee is then presented to the traveller. The Pasha gives pipes to noblemen at his own divan only; but every English gentleman has a right to expect one, or to smoke his own at the divan of any of his subordinate officers. The Turk, if he is only a Katshef or Nazr, ought to make a kind of half rise from his seat when the traveller enters; but it is very seldom that his pride and desire of appearing a great man in his little court permits him to show this courtesy. All the Turks possess, or have the power of assuming, an apparently natural dignity of manner. The liberated slave, raised suddenly to rank and authority, seems always at his ease, as if born to the station that he fills. Education, that is, the having learned with difficulty to read and write a letter of four or five lines, makes no distinction, being an attainment in which those of the highest rank are sometimes deficient. I presented to the Nazr, a common-looking fellow, the Pasha’s firman, which, as usual, he kissed and[6] placed to his forehead. As soon as his Coptic writer had read it to him, he ordered me a pipe, an attention previously omitted, and in the mean time offered me his own; but my servant at that moment entered with mine. I had ordered it, because my not assuming my right in this trifling etiquette would have made me less respected, not only by the Nazr and his court, but, what was of real consequence, by the Arabs, who were to accompany me across the desert to Berber. Generally I hate etiquette and ceremony, as the north and north-east winds of society; but I have found from experience, that with the Turks it is absolutely necessary to insist upon their observance. Travellers, in their ignorance of Eastern manners, are generally too humble to them. If even a Katshef pays them a visit, they rise from their seats and bow, as often and as low as if he were a monarch. Accordingly, when they return the visit, they have the mortification to perceive, that the Turk, misconstruing such European courtesy into obsequiousness, and an acknowledgment of inferiority, does not even rise to receive him; but, with a slight condescending nod, desires his visitor to be seated, and of course has less regard to his requests in matters of real importance. The days of Burckhardt are past. The traveller throughout Mohammed Ali’s dominions has now no occasion to submit to any indignity, or even incivility: his forbearance will gain him nothing except the consciousness of having fruitlessly submitted to the contempt of an ignorant and illiterate barbarian. I have dwelt upon this little circumstance, from my experience of its importance for the guidance of future travellers. The Nazr, during the rest of my visit, was profuse in his offers of services. He informed me, that the Government were themselves in want of camels; but that I should have the first that could be procured, which he hoped would be next day. Along with the Nazr was a Bey, just returned across the desert from Berber. I could get little information from him; and, indeed, could not ask many questions of him, as I found he had just been removed[7] from the government in disgrace, on account of extortion. I might have guessed the cause from his physiognomy, for I have rarely seen so villainous a countenance. He did not seem neglected in his adversity, as numbers of Turks were visiting him, each kissing his hand, and wishing him a speedy return to the favour of the Pasha. He gave me no flattering description of the desert, telling me I should feel it bitterly cold at night, and should spend nine or ten days, without finding any water at all drinkable. The sorry condition of his camels, too, strongly confirmed the truth of this account.

Feb. 6. I heard this morning, with surprise, that I should probably have to wait a week longer before procuring camels. Knowing the Turks to be adepts at procrastination, I went to the Nazr, and urged the necessity of my starting immediately. At my request, he sent for the Sheakh of the Ababdes, the tribe who provide camels to caravans and travellers for the journey between Assuan and Makkarif, the capital of Berber. They act also as carriers to the Red Sea, the Oasis Magna, along the Nile to Dongolah, and also across the western side of the great Nubian desert. The residence of the Sheakh being two hours distant, he did not arrive before this evening. I was agreeably struck with his appearance; he was a man of middle size; extremely regular features; a calm and dignified manner; a benevolent, and at the same time noble, expression of countenance. His dress was remarkably neat and clean. His turban and long linen gown were beautifully white and of good materials. He promised us that we should have camels the next day, and we agreed that the price should be seventy piastres for the use of each during the journey to Makkarif, where, it is said, we shall arrive in twenty days. It is rather annoying to be thus detained, since every day is of consequence, the season being so far advanced; but it is some consolation that our time has not been quite lost. The island of Elephantine is no longer adorned with temples. Some ruins of walls, a rude statue of Osiris, slight traces of the temple of Chnubis, and the Nilometer,[8] are all the remains which now exist. The northern part resembles a garden ornamented with beautiful groves of palm trees and the richest cultivation. Syene offers still less to interest the antiquarian, but much to strengthen the believer in Holy Writ. The prophetic denunciation of Ezekiel is fulfilled. The tower of Syene has truly fallen from the pride of her power. The ruin of a pier, partly Roman but chiefly Arab, and an insignificant fragment of a temple, are the only vestiges of this once important city. Yet the natural scenery around is still beautiful, and the views from it, as well as from the Island of Elephantine, are the most lovely in Egypt. The castle of Syene, built by the Bosnian soldiers, forms, even in its ruined state, a highly picturesque object. Several of the descendants of the Bosnian soldiers are living at Assuan, and in Lower Nubia. I met with one as far south as Amarah.[3]

Feb. 7. No camels are arrived; we are obliged, therefore, to delay another day. This requires some patience, when every thing is prepared for our expedition. I superintended this morning the filling of the skins with water: I am sorry to find them very indifferent, although the best I could procure.

Philæ.—Feb. 9. After repeated applications to the Governor, I have procured at last nine camels and two dromedaries for ourselves. Any complaint of this delay would be unreasonable, otherwise than as a misfortune. Several Turks in the employment of the Pasha have been detained for want of them during this last fortnight; notwithstanding which, from their knowledge of his favour for travellers, they have given me the preference. Our start, however, is at last made. I have been very anxious to leave Assuan, having perceived an increasing disinclination on the part of my artist and servants to undertake the journey. The tales of some[9] Arab merchants have excited among them so much alarm, that all my powers of persuasion and remonstrance were necessary to keep them from defection. They have unfortunately heard the exclamations of some of my old Nubian friends, the Rais of the Cataract and others, when I told them I was going to Shendy. “Wonderful! God is great! but are you not afraid to go into such a hot country, where it rains fire?” It has been no easy task to persuade them that a passage of eight or ten days over a desert, without water, and of twenty days without intermission on the backs of camels, can be an easy undertaking. I hope, for their sakes, we shall not have to suffer much: as to myself, I feel more indifferent. I am going to Meroe; and the idea of the desert, notwithstanding Burckhardt’s, and still more Bruce’s, description of it, does not damp my ardour.

Sail on the Nile.—Feb. 10. We left Philæ this morning at half past seven, entered into the mountains, and at three o’clock descended again into the valley of the Nile; at a quarter to six, we pitched our tents on the banks of the river. The mountains we have passed are of the same character as at the cataract, chiefly of syenite, the exterior of which is darkened by the sun. The formation consists of the same round blocks, appearing at a distance as disjoined. The place where we are encamped, and indeed all the country we have traversed to-day, is miserably poor. The strip of cultivated land is not an eighth of a mile in breadth. Barley, cotton, and sherangig are all that the country produces. The latter, which forms the chief food of the Nubian, is a hard disagreeable kind of pea, which no culinary art can render palatable to European taste. We have passed several small villages, each containing from ten to twenty houses. This morning we met a troop of cavalry from Khartoun, which had passed the desert, of which they gave us any thing but an encouraging description. They say we shall be ten days in crossing it; and “take care of your water” is their constant advice. The same admonition has[10] been dunned in our ears more than a hundred times since the day that we arrived at Assuan.

Marwal.—Feb. 11. We set out this morning at half past seven, and proceeded, for some time, on the banks of the river. Nearly opposite to the small temple of Kardassy, we again turned into the mountains. There the granite chain suddenly ceases, and the hills are of sandstone, until opposite Tafey, where again, for a short space, they are of granite, and then of sandstone. Arriving at the district of Kalabshy, I found the mountains partially composed of sandstone, and immediately afterwards of granite. The belt of cultivated land, on both sides of the river, is always extremely narrow, seldom above fifty paces wide; and sometimes the rocks extend to the water, scarcely leaving a narrow and dangerous path. My own camel fell, and also the one conveying the baggage. This is the first time that such an accident has occurred to me with these animals; and I ought to add, not to have the appearance of contradicting what I have elsewhere said, that any horse, or even mule, would have run considerable risk of stumbling over these slippery granite rocks. Before leaving Assuan, a fortune-teller came to my tent: being busy at the time, I ordered her away rather angrily. In her rage, she exclaimed that I should fall from my camel. I did not expect that her malediction would be so soon fulfilled. I had quite forgotten the circumstance; but my Arabs, shaking their heads, soon reminded me of it. My fall might have been serious, as such accidents with this animal generally are, if the creature had rolled immediately; but, the instant it stumbled, I leaped off, and escaped unhurt. Barley, sherangig, and cotton are the only productions I have observed this day: they are often mingled together, in patches, upon the same field. I observed the peasants breaking the sandstone and spreading it on the ground. The best way of seeing to advantage the scenery on the Nile is, certainly, to ride on its banks: in a boat the effect is lost. The finest view we have had[11] this morning, was in descending from the mountains opposite Tafey. The basalt and red but exteriorly dark-coloured granite, contrasted with the light red sand of the desert, similar rocks and sands in the distance, in the midst the serpentine river with its verdant banks, adorned with groves of palm trees and the interesting remains of temples, all illumined with the clearest blue sky and the most gorgeous sunset, formed often a scene to which few painters could do justice. Though not romantic nor strikingly picturesque, according to the original import of those terms, yet the extraordinary contrast and magical effect produced by this wonderful combination of brilliant colours, are magnificent, and present almost insuperable difficulties to the artist who attempts faithfully to delineate such a landscape. Three hours before arriving here, we passed the small village of Abaho, in which I counted nearly thirty houses. The inhabitants are evidently wretchedly poor; however, they enjoy the luxury of idleness. Very few seemed engaged in any occupation. One woman I observed spinning cotton and two or three busy about their domestic concerns; but the many were enjoying il dolce fur niente of the Italians. They were almost all miserably clad; the clothes of both sexes were in rags, the children naked, and girls from fourteen to sixteen, with beautiful forms, and extremely graceful and elegant in their movements, had merely a covering which extended from the waist to a little above the knee. This ceinture, or rat, as it is called in Arabic, is made of thin thongs of hippopotamus hide, and fancifully ornamented with beads and small shells. The number of thongs is so great, that it fully serves its purpose as a covering. They wear it till they are married; an event, however, which often takes place before they are twelve years of age.

Dacker.—Feb. 12. We left the village of Marwal at seven, and encamped here at sunset. Our route has this day, also, been alternately in the mountains and on the banks of the[12] river. We observe the same poverty, the same sterility; villages of about a dozen houses each, constructed, in the rudest manner, of stones piled on each other. The cultivated land on the banks is never more than fifty paces wide, often not twenty, and in some parts the barren rocks extend to the river. We met, this morning, another troop of a cavalry regiment, returning by the desert from Khartoun. We shall, no doubt, meet traces of their passage,—dead camels, if not men. Some of their animals could scarcely crawl, and one of them dropped on the ground unable to proceed any farther. The master, a Turk, seemed very much concerned; but whether for the value of the beast, or real attachment to his fellow traveller, I will not decide; yet, in justice to his humanity, I must relate, that, when the Arabs wished to stab and cut it up for food, he refused his consent. Finding, however, that it was impossible the animal could proceed, or even live many hours, he ordered his servant to shoot it with his musket. This showed some feeling; for had he left it to die on the road, the Arabs would have killed it with their knives, and then could lawfully have eaten it. They were very much disappointed at being deprived of their repast, and considered it quite a waste of valuable food. We have passed the village and temple of Dandour (on the other bank), and are now encamped opposite the temple and village of Dacker.[4] Adjoining is a Roman inclosure of large extent with towers, constructed of unburnt bricks. There are no traces of a temple within the inclosure; but contiguous to the south-east corner are some fragments of a room still adorned with hieroglyphics and sculpture, but too much defaced for us to discover the subject. The style is very wretched, and evidently Roman. Mountains of hornblende and sandstone.

Wady el Elayat.—Feb. 13. We quitted Dacker this morning,[13] soon after sunrise, and have encamped this evening in a small valley near the river, and, as is generally the custom of the caravans, close to a village. There is not much provision to be procured from a Nubian village, frequently not even eggs and fowls. A half-starved sheep or kid may sometimes be purchased, but at a much higher price than in Upper Egypt. Yet there is no uniformity in the rates: you have a sheep one day for six piastres; and the next, perhaps at only thirty miles’ distance off, you must pay twelve, or even more, for one not larger. This arises, of course, from the poverty of the land, and the very little communication which exists between the different villages. My servants and camel-drivers like to chat with the women; and, perhaps, near the villages we are less annoyed by the wolves than we might be at a greater distance, the dogs of the peasants affording a certain protection, though I have often heard them snuffing around my tent. We have passed this morning the village of Uffidunia: the temple of that name is on the opposite side of the river. Our track has chiefly followed the banks of the Nile, but the views have not been very pleasing. The mountains consist chiefly of a soft sandstone, the surface of which is very much darkened by the sun. We have met another troop of the cavalry from Khartoun. The soldiers have all male or female slaves; some for their own service, others on speculation for the Cairo market. The women are almost entirely covered; sometimes I could distinguish a fine black eye glancing from under the coverings, but it is not considered decorous to notice them much. This etiquette, which still prevails so generally in the East, is the same ancient custom by which Themistocles profited to facilitate his escape to the Persian king. We are encamped at the borders of the province called Wady el Elayat.

Sungar.—Feb. 14. We have been eleven hours in the district of El Elayat. We left the small village at the commencement of the Wady this morning at seven, and encamped here at sunset.[14] This is the last village of the Wady. We have suffered more from fatigue than before; the road, or rather path, having led for a long time over the hills. Immediately after starting, we left the valley of the Nile for an hour and a half. That part of the road was not very fatiguing. We passed Seboua at eleven, and at two P.M. left the Nile, and were obliged to alight from our camels and climb the mountain, for three hours, over the most difficult paths we have yet met with. A notion prevails in Europe, that camels are incapable of crossing rough mountainous and stony roads; I can only say that, upon this rocky, and sometimes steep path, none of our camels fell; had we used horses, the difficulty would certainly have been as great, particularly when heavy loads were upon their backs. I would not have ventured to ride over, even on a mule. The mountains are of sandstone, some also of hornblende. I sketched, this evening, a native of this district, my dragoman in the mean time keeping him in conversation till I finished my sketch, without his having any suspicion what I was doing. All the Nubians have a superstitious prejudice against having their portraits drawn. I made some enquiries about the village, its name, the number of houses, and of inhabitants, &c. The poor peasants imagined I was employed by the Pasha to take an account of the country. Apprehensive that I should cause their taxes to be raised, they gave me a lamentable description of their poverty, saying that there were indeed eleven houses, but they were all tumbling to pieces; that they were miserably poor; had scarcely a rag to cover them; that their land did produce some little cotton and barley, but if I caused their taxes to be increased, they could not subsist, but must absolutely die of starvation. Man here may be said only to vegetate. He drags on, from day to day, a miserable existence, living on the coarsest food, and ignorant of any comfort. In examining, however, more closely, we find the peasants of Nubia possessing some great advantages over those of Lower and Upper Egypt. Their domestic comfort is decidedly greater. Their[15] women, unlike those of Egypt, have always their faces uncovered, and enjoy in other respects much freedom; while that depravity as regards both sexes, which pervades the whole land of Egypt, is almost utterly unknown in these Nubian villages. They are also less oppressed; and, thanks to the poverty of their country, less annoyed by the presence of their rulers. Their predominant vice is drinking immoderately of bouza and arracki. There being only three mosques from the first to the second cataract, a distance of more than 220 miles, and their almost total deficiency of religious instruction, are perhaps some excuse for their violating, in this respect, so openly, and to such an excess, the precepts of the Koran.

Korosko.—Feb. 15. We arrived at this village at ten o’clock. Here again commences a Nubian dialect, but different from the Kenous, above the first cataract. The district of Wady el Elayat, or Wady el Arabi, which we passed through yesterday, is the division between these two Nubian tribes. We have allowed our camels to rest this afternoon, previous to commencing to-morrow morning the fatigues, perils, and privations of the Great Desert: they are making the last hearty meal which they will enjoy for some time; the Ababdes are filling the water skins, while my servants are employed in foraging for provisions; no easy task in a Nubian village. Mr. B. has made me a view in colours of the extraordinary effect of the scenery in Nubia, produced by the wonderful contrast between the dark hills and the bright yellow sands, fringed with strips of the beautiful verdure on the banks of the river. The Governor, an Effendi, paid me a visit in my tent, and frankly asked me for several things which he saw, and fancied; which I as frankly refused. The visits of inferior Turks are always annoyances: it is very seldom that any information can be obtained from them, and their impertinence is without bounds. I was amused by his secretary, a Copt, who complained that he was affected by a pain in his chest when the weather was cold. I gave him some flannel, which I could ill spare, also some medicine; and, with[16] other advice, I told him most peremptorily that he must drink no arracki (spirit). This last injunction disconcerted him exceedingly; and his master laughed heartily at an advice which he knew to be so unwelcome to his jovial secretary. I told him it would kill him. “Well,” said he, “if it kills me, maktoob min Allah! it is written, but drink I must.” In the evening, he came to me again, half intoxicated. As I offered him no beverage, except coffee, he soon, with a cunning smile and an expressive nod, pulled out of his pocket a small bottle of excellent arracki and a little cup. I did not wish to offend the fellow, having occasion to leave some boxes in his charge until my return, and therefore endured his company for some time. At last, his intoxication increasing, he was quite insupportable, and I was obliged to desire my servant to turn him out. His good-humour did not forsake him, nor did he seem at all offended; coolly observing, that he was sorry I was tired of his company.

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[17]CHAPTER II.

COMMENCEMENT OF THE JOURNEY ACROSS THE GREAT NUBIAN DESERT. — DESCRIPTION OF THE CARAVAN. — ADVANTAGES OF TURKISH DRESS AND CUSTOMS. — PROVISIONS NECESSARY FOR THE DESERT. — AKABA, OR MOUNTAIN PASSES. — DEAD CAMELS. — FEAR OF ROBBERS. — ANXIETY ABOUT THE STOCK OF WATER. — ARAB OPINION OF TRAVELLERS. — ALARMING DIMINUTION OF OUR WATER. — DEAD BODIES OF SLAVES AND CAMELS. — HOJAB EL JENOUS. — BAB EL KOROSKO. — AGE OF THE CAMEL. — BAHR BELA MA, OR SEA WITHOUT WATER. — MERAGE. — PERILS AND CHARMS OF THE DESERT LIFE. — DILET EL DOOM, VALLEY OF THE SHADE OF THE DOOMS. — GOLD MINES. — OMRISHI SUFIR. — WELLS NOW DRY. — EL MURRAH, OR THE WELL OF BITTER WATERS. — HIEROGLYPHICS ON THE ROCKS. — COLONY OF BISHAREEN. — HEIGHT AND CHARACTER OF THE MOUNTAINS. — ARAB SONGS. — GAZELLE. — DANGER OF LEAVING CARAVAN. — ABSAH GOLD MINES. — STORMS IN THE DESERT. — CAMBYSES. — BRUCE. — ARAB MANNER OF MOUNTING THE CAMEL. — MANNER IN WHICH THE ARABS REPOSE. — ARRIVAL AT THE NILE. — ESTIMATE OF THE LENGTH OF THE ROUTE AND GENERAL PACE OF THE CAMEL.

The Great Nubian Desert.—Feb. 16. This morning, at eight o’clock, we left Korosko, and entered the Desert. Having omitted until now giving a description of my caravan, I may mention, as useful to future travellers, the provisions and equipments which may be considered as necessary for a journey of this description. Both my artist, Signor B. and myself, wear the Turkish Nizam uniform. A traveller might, without much risk, retain his European dress; but it is most prudent and desirable to adopt the Turkish, as being the best suited, not only to the climate, but also to serve the important object of commanding respect. Those travellers who refuse this tribute to the customs of the country pay dear for their prejudice. If it does not expose them to frequent insult, they are at all events less esteemed by the natives; and they lose a decided advantage, in not having the comfort and[18] luxury of a dress so admirably suited to the climate and manners of the East. Our unnatural tight trousers, waistcoats, and coats, with their padding, braces, straps, starch, stiffners, and stocks, in a tropical country would be intolerable. Another advantage of this comfortable and graceful costume is, that it enables you to repose with ease in any position. To sit bolt upright, on a hard chair, in such a latitude as this, is what no one could endure, who had experienced the luxurious ease of the Turkish divan. The rest of my caravan consisted of a guide (Habeer) on his dromedary; a very picturesque-looking fellow. Besides the usual arms of the Arabs, the long spear, sword, and shield of the hippopotamus, he had also a brace of pistols attached to his saddle, which he took great pride in displaying. He was very independent, and conscious of the importance of his office, so that I was afraid at starting he would not have been so manageable as I afterwards found him. My dragoman, Mahomet Abdini, a native of Cairo, was the cleverest servant I ever knew in any country: his wily tongue and insinuating address were often of more service to me than my piastres. I had, besides, a Greek servant, named Ibrahim, alias Michele; a Mahometan with the Arabs and Turks, and a Christian with his own countrymen. He speaks Italian fluently, and also the Turkish, Greek, and Arabic. He is the musician of the party; and his singing, accompanied by his fiddle, is vastly agreeable to the natives, but, being in the harsh style of the modern Greeks, is grating to my ears. I had, besides, a Copt, who had served me long and usefully at Thebes, in the dignified station of umbrella-bearer. Including, therefore, our Ababdes, owners of the camels, the full complement of my little caravan amounts to twelve persons and eleven camels. My stock of provisions chiefly consists of a large sack of Cairo biscuit, and another of rice. Besides these two chief requisites, and also charcoal, I have a good supply of groceries, tea, sugar, coffee, and wax candles, and last, but most important, twenty geerbahs of water, which I expect will be amply sufficient for the[19] eight days of desert journey, though the Signor has forewarned me, most anxiously, more than fifty times, che beve molto. This is the desert in which Bruce and Burckhardt suffered so much. They took the easterly and more direct track, which commences at Deroueh, a little below Assuan, and therefore had a longer space to traverse, with, however, the advantage of meeting repeatedly with good water. At a quarter past six, P.M., we encamped. Our road this day has been through a succession of narrow valleys, called Akaba, or mountain passes, and small plains, bounded by low picturesque hills. The valleys are covered with sand, in some places two feet deep, but generally much less, and sometimes the bare rock is visible. Sandstone forms the base of the valley and of the hills. There are, however, some of slate, varying from 150 to 180 feet in height. I observed a great variety in their forms. We have already met with a few of the horrors of the desert, particularly numbers of dead camels, some of which had perished lately, and vultures were feeding on their carcases. They seem also to have attracted the hyænas from their dens, as I discerned on the sand numerous traces of those animals. Some of our water-skins, I am sorry to find, are bad. I marvel Signor B. did not perceive this at Korosko, as he took an active part in tying them up. The journey from Assuan has injured them, yet, with care, I hope to have a sufficient supply. This evening the camel men objected to pitching my tent, saying that they were afraid of robbers. I did not yield to their alarms, as sleeping in the open air is an Eastern custom which I am not much inclined to try at this season of the year. I cannot conceive a tent to be much additional attraction to Arab plunderers, if there are any; but the depredations upon the water, I fear, are by my own Ababdes, as their own supply is small. I have, therefore, caused all the geerbahs to be carried into my tent. If we run short, and have to suffer, it shall not be for want of precautions. While my camel men were thus occupied, one of them asked me why I was subjecting myself[20] to the danger and fatigue of such a journey, when I was rich enough to stay at home. The Arabs are now not so much surprised at travellers going to Wady Halfah. So many make that journey, that it is no longer a novelty; besides that, the Cangias (boats of the Nile), though any thing but agreeable to Europeans, appear luxurious to the peasants. They can easily conceive the pleasure of sailing in what they consider delightful conveyances, listening to the songs of the boatmen, smoking all the day, and eating and drinking of the best the villages can afford; but that travellers should voluntarily expose themselves to the fatigues and heat of the desert, apparently for the sake of a few old stones, is to them quite incomprehensible.

Desert.—Feb. 17. A fearful accident has befallen us. To our utter dismay, four of our largest geerbahs are empty, the water having leaked out during the night. The skins are old, although the best we could procure at Assuan. The rest seem good: Heaven grant that they may prove so! the consequences of another such accident might be fatal. We have passed to-day the bodies of seven human beings who have doubtless recently perished from thirst and fatigue; we have seen also dead camels without number. We have travelled twelve hours through valleys of the same character as those we passed yesterday. Some of the hills might be from 230 to 250 feet in height, but the greater number from 100 to 150 feet. Many, like those of yesterday, are isolated, and some standing in the centre of the valleys. They consist chiefly of slate, but some are of sandstone. They are called Hojab el Jenous, from there being several representations of buffaloes drawn on the rocks by some rude artists, probably Arabs. The valleys are almost entirely covered with sand, on which I found many round balls, of the form of peaches, of iron glance. At sunset we left the valleys, the last hills of which are rather higher than the others, and are called Bab el Korosko, or the Gate of Korosko, and encamped behind a small hill, at the commencement[21] of a large sandy plain, called Atmoor Bahr Bela Ma, that is, the sea without water. We have been twenty-two hours en route in these valleys, which I consider not less than sixty miles, from the rate we have travelled. The Ababdes occasionally sing to animate their camels. The effect in accelerating their speed is quite extraordinary. First one camel-driver sings a verse, then the others answer in chorus. It reminded me somewhat of the Venetian gondoliers.[5] I noticed that they lingered near the bodies of the dead camels, being apparently more affected by them than by those of the slaves. The latter they perhaps knew not, while the camels were old acquaintances. I have often made attempts to learn the age which this animal usually attains, but have never been able fully to ascertain it. The general answer is, a hundred years. By examining and tracing the traditionary stories on the subject, I am led to conceive their span of life equal to that of man, and subject to similar frequent contingencies from different causes, such as extremes of heat and cold, excessive fatigue, and particularly the great neglect of the owners. This evening I have bestowed great pains on the preservation of the water, having suspended the suspicious geerbahs in my tent.

Feb. 18. We mounted our camels this morning at half past six, and have had an exceedingly fatiguing ride of thirteen hours, forty miles, without any repose, struggling through one immense down of sand. There were some small hills of sandstone, with occasional thin layers of gypsum. The sand was very fatiguing for the camels: on its surface I found disseminated many of the round balls of iron flint, or iron glance, varying from four to eight inches in circumference. Their exterior is often uneven. I found, also, some balls, hollow like the others, and occasionally two united together. These were silicious[22] conglomerates. I observed, also, numerous quartzose pebbles, and some fragments of white marble, the only specimens I have seen in this desert. The mountains are chiefly of slate. We have suffered very much from the fatigue of this day’s journey, and have still five days’ march through this waterless desert. The only object to interest me, and relieve the weariness of mind and body, has been the merage, so often described. Some travellers state that this phenomenon has deceived them repeatedly. This I am surprised at, since its peculiar appearance, joined to its occurrence in a desert where the traveller is too forcibly impressed with the recollection that no lakes or standing pools exist, would appear to me to prevent the possibility, that he who has once seen it can be a second time deceived. Still this does not diminish the beauty of the phenomenon:—to see amidst burning sands and barren hills an apparently beautiful lake, perfectly calm, and unruffled by any breeze, reflecting in its bosom the surrounding rocks, is, indeed, an interesting and wonderful spectacle; but it is a tantalising sight to the Arabs traversing the desert on foot, always with a scanty supply of water, and often, owing to their great imprudence, wholly destitute of it. There is much of the sublime to elevate, and of real danger to excite the mind, in the passage of the Desert: the boundless plains of sand, the thought of the distance from the habitations of man, and from the most common necessaries of life, the perpetual apprehension of falling short of water, and the certainty, that whoever, from fatigue or illness, is unable to keep pace with the caravan, will at once, with a camel and his share of the provision, be abandoned to his fate. And what a fate! Few left in this manner ever reach their destination. My Ababdes seem, also, to have a great fear of the Bishareen, who occasionally plunder the caravans. These alarms produce a certain excitement, which calls forth all the energy of the traveller: but were these dangers tenfold greater than they really are, the thought that I am[23] approaching nearer and nearer to Meroe would sufficiently animate my courage.

Feb. 19. We mounted our camels this morning at six, and at eleven we left the Bahr Bela Ma, which we had been eighteen hours in crossing (fifty-four miles). Our road began to wind amongst the mountains. The first valley we passed was of considerable breadth, and contained great numbers of doom and acacia trees. The former were not very large, bearing no fruit, and apparently drooping for want of water. In this valley, which is called Dilet el Doom, or Valley of the Shade of the Dooms, I observed traces of torrents. Three hours to the east of it, I am informed that there are appearances of exhausted gold mines, of the habitations of the miners, and the stones used by them in procuring the precious metal. The Arabs informed me that the rain falls here chiefly at the rising of the Nile, but that last year there was none, otherwise we should have seen herbage on the hills;—that twenty-four hours is sufficient to produce it. This valley has the appearance of having once been cultivated; but I could discover no remaining trace of habitations. They tell me that the Bishareen, when there is pasture on the hills, lead here their flocks, and pitch their tents in this pretty valley. Perhaps, when Ethiopia was more populous, and before the gold mines were exhausted, this road was much frequented; and probably, by sinking wells (for I feel persuaded that water might be found in these valleys), and by forming small colonies at suitable stations, a safe and rapid communication may have existed between the centre and extremity of the kingdom. A short distance out of the direct road is a well called Omrisha, now dry, but which contains water during the rainy season. About an hour and a half beyond this is another well, called Sufir, now also dry. The mountains consist generally of flinty slate, some few of sandstone. Their forms are broken, and very picturesque. At two o’clock we passed through a chain of hills, by a road which has evidently[24] been artificially formed. This is another proof that pains have been taken by a more civilised people to diminish the difficulties of travelling in this region. At four P.M. we entered the valley of the spring called El Murrah, or the Well of Bitter Waters, the only one in the Desert that is not now dry; we encamped for the night, that our camels might have time to drink, and our men to repose. On one of the rocks of the valley of the spring are some hieroglyphics. I distinguished the name of the god Horus, and the hawk, the emblem of that divinity. There are four wells within a few feet of each other, all exceedingly salt, and considered by the Arab merchants and Turks as very unwholesome. One, however, is much better than the others. The Arabs and camels drink of this, and we have filled some of our water-skins, in case the stock from the Nile should not be sufficient; otherwise we shall not use it, as it is extremely salt, and strongly impregnated with iron. One of my servants, not content with his allowance of the water of the Nile, drank a large cup of it, which caused nausea and severe purging for some time afterwards. It has not the same effect on the Ababdes, who apparently enjoy it as much as their camels. There are six families of Bishareen stationed here, who attend to cleaning the wells from sand. The Pasha placed them in this valley, but gives them no allowance. They possess camels, with which they trade, and supply the merchants who need these animals. All the caravans give them a trifle. They live in tents made of mats; and their wild appearance, extraordinary head-dress, yet fine features, quite accord with our idea of dwellers in the desert. The nauseous salt water is their only beverage, but does not seem to disagree with them. I never beheld a more sad picture of savagery and desolation than their encampment. The Arab tribes, even the most remote, cannot be called savages, since they speak one of the richest and most beautiful languages in the world, and many of them are versed in the Koran; but the harsh and uncouth gibberish of these wild Bishareen is only intelligible[25] to themselves. They inhabit tracts of country, where Nature seems almost to deny them a subsistence; and not even the terror of the Pasha’s vengeance can restrain their predatory propensities. A European must have powerful protection from their own chiefs to venture into their inhospitable wilds. The traveller who has little of novelty to interest his attention in the dreary desert cannot readily dispel the gloomy impression forced on his mind by contemplating man in this his lowest condition. When he reflects on the abject state of these naked Bishareen, their ignorance of religious principles, of all intellectual and civilised enjoyments, the scanty and precarious means by which their life is supported: a dish of coarse unground dourah, moistened by water of the most disgusting quality; a miserable tent their only shelter from the tropical sun, and from the nightly cold, so bitter in these regions, and so painful from its contrast with the mid-day heat: he is astonished at the physical phenomenon, that the constitution of man can endure so much privation; and he cannot but admire the mysteries of Providence, when he sees a human being of like capacities and passions with himself content and happy in a state so slightly removed from the condition of the brute.

Feb. 20. This morning, at six, we left the Bishareen quite in joyance at having received a trifle more than the customary gift of a few piasters, and delighted with the privilege of scrambling for a few pieces of broken glass, which had been thrown out of my tent. I should state that last night, and also for two hours before we set out this morning, they had stationed themselves close to our encampment, like wild animals seeking their prey. Three quarters of an hour after our departure from the well, we left the mountains, and our road then lay over an immense plain of sand, sometimes very difficult for the camels to wade through, but generally not very soft, and indeed, occasionally quite hard. This plain, which is ten hours, or thirty miles,[26] in extent, is almost entirely surrounded by hills. The width varies from about ten to fifteen miles. At five P.M. we again entered into the mountains, and waded through several narrow valleys, containing acacia trees. At six, that is, after twelve hours’ ride, we encamped. The mountains, called Cab el Kofas, or the Spilling of the baskets, particularly one about 400 feet high, at the entrance of this chain, are very picturesque. The effect of a tropical sunset upon them was magnificent. Their general height was about 200 feet, and some were of less altitude. Their form was generally a long continuous chain, with peaks of various forms. I observed some in the distance totally isolated, and having the appearance of pyramids. We should not have passed this plain so rapidly but for the common custom of the Arabs, before mentioned, of urging on their camels by singing: the effect is very extraordinary; this musical excitement increases their pace at least one fourth. I often asked the camel drivers to sing, not only to hasten our progress, but also for the pleasure of hearing their simple melodies. Some of their best songs possess a plaintive sweetness that is almost as touching as the most exquisite European airs. The words are often beautiful, generally simple and natural, being improvisatory effusions. The following is a very imperfect specimen. One takes up the song:—“Ah, when shall I see my family again; the rain has fallen, and made a canal between me and my home. Oh, shall I never see it more?” The reply to this and similar verses was always made by the chorus, in words such as these:—“Oh, what pleasure, what delight, to see my family again; when I see my father, mother, brothers, sisters, I will hoist a flag on the head of my camel for joy!” I asked a fine, handsome lad, who was singing this ranz des vaches of the desert with the feeling of a Swiss, if he would go with me to England, to my village. He asked me how long I had been absent; I told him three years. “No,” said he, “I cannot go with you; if I were to be absent from my family three years, I[27] should be very unhappy—I should be ill.” Near the place where we are encamped is another well, now dry.

Feb. 21. We set out this morning at seven, and proceeded through defiles in the mountains, which at eleven we quitted. The valleys we passed through, for the first four hours, were strewed with quartz, a common kind of porphyry, and fragments of indurated clay slate, approaching to rubbarid jasper. The mountains were chiefly of flinty slate and hornblende. There are a few acacia trees in the valley, and here and there dried up grass. Among the latter we started a gazelle, which Mr. B. and I pursued round an isolated hill at the entrance of a large plain. We could scarcely have lost ourselves, particularly as I had a compass in my pocket; but, on our rejoining the caravan, the Habeer warned us not to leave it again, and told us many instances of Turks and others having been lost by following the gazelles into the mountains. A Nazr and Katshef perished, very recently, by their imprudent eagerness in chasing the animals through their winding valleys. Some time afterwards, a particular search having been made, they were found dead a considerable distance from the road, their hands clenched, apparently in the last agonies of that most horrid of deaths, which is produced by thirst. This creature might have been fancied our evil genius in the guise of a gazelle, tempting us to destruction; for, scarcely did we come within sight of the graceful coquette, than she bounded off, and, after a short career, stopped again.

She continued to lead us on in this wanton manner, until we were aware that we had wandered from the road further than was prudent. At last, she ran towards some narrow defiles; but we did not allow our ardour for the chase to carry us further. Although conscious we were in the direction the caravan must take, we did[28] not see it for some time, and felt a strange inquietude on finding ourselves alone, destitute, and helpless, in the midst of this immense desert. I fired my gun, and, the signal being answered, our uneasiness was relieved. Towards the end of this chain of hills, about two hours’ journey east of the direct road, is a place called Absah, where there are traces of gold mines, and, as at the one at the same distance from the valley of the dooms, numerous remains of habitations, but apparently not very ancient. The stones with which they were worked remain, and there are wells now dry. The Arabs keep them a great secret, and will take no traveller to visit them, unless he has a particular order from the Pasha, and is protected by one of their chiefs. M. Bonomi, who enjoyed these advantages, will, I hope, soon give us an account of them. The result, I believe, of his investigation was, that they are now so exhausted, that they would not repay the labour of working. At eleven we entered a large sandy plain, and at four P.M. we passed some hills of a pyramidal shape. They are of syenite, and their formation is similar to the round granite rocks of the First Cataract. They are called El Talati Greibat—the Three Greibat—from their being at a distance apparently only three. They extend considerably towards the east; but some of them are so low as to be nearly covered with the sand. North-east of these I observed some hills of the same conical form, called Adaramat; but I was at too great a distance from them to perceive whether they were of granite. After eleven hours’ ride, we encamped in the plain at six. The wind is very high; I am almost afraid of my tent being carried away. For several days I have been on the look out, thinking it possible that on these light sandy plains I might see some of Bruce’s pillars of moving sand; but I have not been favoured with the view of any such stalking prodigy; and I must declare that, notwithstanding the numerous deserts I have crossed, at different seasons, always making particular enquiries on the subject, I have neither seen nor heard of such as he describes.[29] The wandering Arabs tell the women, children, and peasants of the Nile fearful stories of the whirlpool of the desert, and the terrible simoom; but such tales, embellished by an Oriental imagination, will rarely bear investigation. From what I have been able to ascertain, there are certain gusts of wind which occasionally sweep over these deserts, with clouds of sand, which prevent your distinguishing any object at all distant; but these are not very dangerous to caravans, except in those tracts where there are immense hills or accumulations of light sand, such as I have seen near the Oasis Magna, in the Libyan desert. The custom of caravans, when they have the misfortune to meet with such blasts, is to pitch their tents and shelter themselves within them. Whatever may be the quantity of sand, they are always safe if they can reach the summit, or place themselves under covert of a hill. I will mention here an instance of this kind, which, in returning from my first voyage up the Nile to the Second Cataract, along with Mr. Ponsonby, he and I witnessed, on the 14th of April, 1832. We were on the point of going that evening to the Isle of Elephantina, when a violent storm, which, considering the season, though rather too early, I might almost call Khampseen, came on. The whole day had been unusually hazy, the air thick and exceedingly oppressive. The extreme heat of the thermometer was 86° in the shade; at sunrise, 70°; sunset, 74°: 86° was a few degrees higher than we experienced it several days previous and after; and I may also remark, that the day following, the thermometer did not rise above 79°. About five o’clock, an immense cloud of sand came sweeping along with a wind so violent, that a boat which was crossing the river to the island was driven back, and the air became so turbid and impregnated with sand, that it was impossible to distinguish any object ten yards from the bank of the river. We heard the peasants in the fields, seemingly wild with confusion and alarm, calling aloud to each other and for their children; and when the sand[30] enveloped them from our sight, we still heard their cries. A scene so strange and impressive I shall never forget. The gale blew almost directly from the west, and seemed to be a specimen of those which have successively swept before them the hills of light loose sand, which, as the Egyptian traveller will recollect, have completely smothered the cultivated land on the western bank of the river opposite Assuan. We endeavoured to shelter ourselves from it as well as the old windows of our cangia would permit; but the sand penetrated every where, into my bed, arms, instruments, and linen; and even my watch was affected. I felt it in my eyes and between my teeth. I then made the reflection, how awful it would be to encounter such a simoom in the desert. It was by such a storm that the army of Cambyses is supposed to have been overwhelmed, as Dr. Darwin in his “Botanic Garden” most graphically describes it:—

In mentioning that I have never heard of nor seen these sandy or meteoric pillars, which is the more remarkable since Bruce says he observed them day after day, I do not mean to affirm that he could not have seen that extraordinary phenomenon in this very desert. That adventurous and intrepid traveller has been already too much calumniated. I merely state that my own experience, and the numerous enquiries I have made, lead to the conclusion, that such phenomena are now unknown: it must, however, be recollected, that Bruce crossed this desert more in the interior. Those who have most strongly condemned Bruce for his occasional exaggerations and embellishments (into which he certainly fell),[31] have forgotten that few other travellers have ever brought to their country so large a mass of fresh, interesting, valuable, and correct information. Salt, his most severe critic, in speaking of his drawings of the ruins of Axum, asserts that he was no draftsman; yet he contradicts himself in a variety of other instances, where he confirms the accuracy of Bruce’s delineations of plants and birds, which are more difficult to execute than an obelisk without hieroglyphics. Mr. B. is most to blame for not acknowledging sufficiently the services of his Italian artist. Many of his tales, marvellous as they at first appeared, have proved to be correct. There was a time in England, when, if a traveller mentioned any fact that was contrary to preconceived ideas, he was accused of error, and often, notwithstanding his previous character of honour and integrity, of wilful exaggeration, and even misrepresentation. Now, however, the mass of well-educated and scientific men have more liberal ideas, and, being anxious for information, are pleased to see the errors of earlier travellers corrected, and endeavour, with philosophical discrimination, to bestow on each the credit which is due to him.

Feb. 22. My dromedary was on his knees at seven this morning. The Arab mounts his camel, by pulling down his head, placing his knee on its neck, and allowing the animal to raise him on its back. The first time I attempted to ascend a dromedary in this style, was on my route from the Oasis Magna; and I paid the penalty of my inexperience. I had pushed on in advance of my caravan nearly a couple of miles, when I had occasion to alight to adjust my saddle. Not doubting that I could mount with true Arab agility, I made the attempt; but deeming it necessary to spring with the return of the animal’s neck, our united force pitched me clear over its tail, leaving me sprawling on the sand,—a lesson to all too aspiring riders. The dromedary ran back at full speed to the caravan. For eleven hours before reaching any hills, except a small one called Faroot, we traversed an immense down, the full extent of which, from the[32] hills called El Talati Greibat, to the smaller ones called Mogram, could not be less than forty miles, without any perceptible alteration in its level. It consists of sand, on which was disseminated a great variety of quartz fragments, principally of a deep red colour, and from a half to three inches in length. I observed, also, on the plain, numerous detached pieces of mica, and some curious specimens of granite. We passed at six P.M. the small range of mountains called Mogram, which are of flinty slate; and about two hours afterwards we encamped, after thirteen hours’ ride, in another plain. To-morrow morning we expect to arrive at the valley of the Nile. I look forward to that event with great pleasure. My servants are exhausted by the bodily fatigue for so many hours each day, the short allowance of water, the cold at night, sleeping in the open air, and other privations which they are obliged to submit to; and Signor B. begins to bear with impatience the want of his soup, the provident regulations of the desert not permitting our precious water to be employed for that purpose. For two days the wind has been high, and we have not been able to use our umbrellas as a protection from the scorching rays of an almost vertical sun. Our camels, also, have suffered from the thirteen days’ fatigue. We were obliged to leave one at El Murrah with the Bishareen, being unable to continue the journey. I observed, also, this afternoon, that my Ababdes seemed more than usually tired. Their manner of resting is peculiar. They walk on a short distance in advance of the caravan, choose a flat part of the desert, if possible, shaded by a rock, and extend themselves at full length flat on their backs, stretching out their arms and legs. This mode of reposing for a few minutes I have found to be very refreshing.

Arrival at the Nile. Village of Abouhammed.—Feb. 23. We left this morning at seven, and reached the banks of the Nile in five hours. There is no apparent descent from the desert. Our fatigues and sufferings were all forgotten, and every one seemed to bless his stars, and think it luxury to quaff again[33] the delicious waters of this most noble of streams, uncontaminated by the taste of the geerbah skins, and no longer confined to the scanty allowance of the caravan. The Ababdes have found here many relations and friends, and there seems to be no end to salamats and taip eens, to shaking of hands and embracing. At their request I have consented that the remainder of the day shall be devoted to repose and festivity. My servants have killed the fattest sheep they could find; part of which, and a small backsheesh (present of money), I have given to the Ababdes to complete their happiness. They are already at work, drinking the bouza; and I observe that some pretty Berber women with their jests and charms are increasing their hilarity. We have been eighty-six hours in this route:—

	Miles.
33 hours in the valleys, at 2¾ miles per hour	91¾
53 hours on the plains, which I calculate at 3 miles per hour	159
This agrees very satisfactorily with the known difference of latitude.[7] (See the Map.)	250

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[34]CHAPTER III.

ABOU-HAMMED. — FORTIFIED HOUSE OF THE SHEAKH. — ISLAND OF MOGRAT. — POPULATION. — TAX TO THE PASHA. — TROPICAL RAINS. — ARAB RAFT. — FORTUNATE ESCAPE. — MANNER IN WHICH THE CAMELS PASS THE RIVER. — GAGI. — DESCRIPTION OF THE HAREM OF A SHEAKH. — OFFICE HEREDITARY. — HABITATION OF A SHEAKH. — ETHIOPIAN FLIES. — DOUM TREES. — ABOU-HASHIM AND OTHER VILLAGES. — CULTIVATION. — ARAB CIVILITIES. — BERBER SHEEP AND GOATS. — VILLAGES AND ISLANDS. — ARAB BURIAL-GROUND. — GENERAL CHARACTER OF THE COUNTRY. — TRACT OF DESERT. — WILD ASSES. — FIFTH CATARACT. — PRESENT STATE OF NUMEROUS VILLAGES. — ARRIVAL AT MAKKARIF, CAPITAL OF BERBER.

This part of the valley of the Nile is not very pleasing or fertile, the eastern bank being almost entirely swallowed by the desert. The village is called Abou-Hammed; and consists of a few houses, or rather wretched huts, built of mud and straw. The fortified house of Sheakh Halif is almost as large as the village itself: since his death it has not been occupied. It consists of a large quadrangular brick enclosure, with a circular tower at each corner. In the centre is a building of one story, in which are the divans and sleeping-room of the Sheakh. Along the enclosing walls are innumerable little huts,—the apartments of his wives and concubines, the latter of whom are said to have at one time amounted to no fewer than sixty. Opposite to this village is the Island of Mograt, which is principally remarkable for numerous fine doum trees, profusely scattered upon it. The Sheakh of this district paid me a visit, and informed me that it contained, chiefly residing on the island, twenty-five families; which, he said, probably consisted of 300 individuals. I remarked, that this was allowing a very great proportion for each family; but he replied, that one family consists sometimes of forty persons; a fact only to be accounted for by the polygamic privileges of the Mahometans.[35] I am told that the district contains forty sakkeas, which confirms this estimate of the population, as seven or eight persons may always be reckoned to a wheel. The peasants of the island informed me that they pay twelve dollars and two ardebs of wheat as a tax for each sakkea. I searched over the eastern side of this island for antiquities; but without success, except a small fragment of a wall of unburnt bricks, apparently Saracenic. I neither found nor heard of any vestiges of its ancient rulers. The island is very rocky; I observed some of hornblende slate, and granite, with disseminated fragments of quartz, and beautiful specimens of Egyptian jasper. The Sheakh complained of its being rocky and not very fertile: “We toil hard,” said he, “but earn little:” yet this part of the valley of the Nile seems very healthy. The malaria which, higher up, after the time of the inundation, causes so much sickness and mortality, is here unknown. The tropical rains sometimes extend lower than this place, but not regularly: for three years rain has been entirely wanting, and the peasants complain of not having herbage in the valleys for their camels. I crossed the river to the Island of Mograt, on a raft or boat of the rudest description,—three logs of wood lashed together, with sides and square ends constructed in the same primitive manner. Perceiving that the natives passed in these safely, I did not hesitate to trust myself upon one. A peasant, with a clumsily constructed paddle, impelled and guided the raft; another holding up with one hand part of his dress, as a protection against the wind, while with the other he was employed in baling out the water. The servant I had with me was similarly engaged. Before we entered the raft it was one third full of water, which was immediately doubled by our additional weight. I did not, however, allow them to bale out much, as I perceived there was less danger of our being swamped than upset by the violence of the wind, and was therefore glad of the water for ballast. I sat at one end, not uselessly employed; for, as the raft seemed often inclined[36] to turn over on one side or the other alternately, I kept it balanced by throwing my weight accordingly. I asked my Charon if they were often upset? “Yes,” said he, “repeatedly; but we are unembarrassed with clothes, and can swim to shore;” at the same time eyeing rather superciliously my wide Turkish trousers, which, had any accident occurred, would as infallibly have carried me to the bottom as if a millstone had been tied around my neck. In fact, my worthy friend, Charon, on his return to the island, after bringing me back, was upset, and saved his life by his dexterity in swimming. I scarcely had time to smoke a shibouk, when my servant came running in to give me this intelligence, and congratulate me on my escape; but as these Arabs, like crocodiles, swim nearly as easily as they walk, no danger was apprehended. I observed to-day the curious manner they transport the camels to the island. The men fill a large geerbah (water-skin), with air, on which they place themselves, and paddle across, leading the animals by a cord, and encouraging them to swim by their songs.

Gagi.—Feb. 24. We set out this morning at eight, and encamped at the village of Gagi at five,—nine hours. Here, and in the island of the same name adjoining, they number fifty men, all of the Ababde tribe. In the island are six sakkeas, for each of which they pay to the government fourteen dollars and two ardebs of wheat. We are encamped, as usual, near the house of the sheakh. I walked into his harem without ceremony, and chatted with his wives and female slaves. Some of them were very beautifully formed; and being almost naked, they displayed finely shaped busts, and, I may say, almost perfect symmetry of shape; their features very regular, and their full dark eyes exceedingly expressive. The little drapery worn by them is adjusted with great taste, and they possess a natural ease of manner, neither bashful nor yet too forward, which is very engaging. The slaves were employed in making basket-work, and the wives reposing on their angareebs. I could not, in Egypt, have taken the liberty of entering[37] a harem in this manner; but here, apparently, more freedom is permitted, for they did not seem at all offended; on the contrary, they gave me as much encouragement as I could desire. They examined my arms and dress, and were profuse in their admiration of my beard, and in exclamations, as, “Odjaib, whallah! wonderful, God is great! but he is a tall man.” The sheakh was smoking under the shade of some doum trees. He saw me enter, but had the politeness not to interfere. The title of sheakh was at one time always hereditary in Upper Egypt; but the Pasha, in most instances, put an end to this mode of transmission; choosing for that honour those that had best suited his purposes. In Upper Nubia, he has respected a little more the existing distinctions. There the office of sheakh is still in general hereditary: the eldest son succeeds to the father; and, in default of male issue, the eldest daughter enjoys the dignity. On account of the number of their wives, it rarely occurs that they have no son; but I am told there is an instance now, near Dongolah, of a female sheakh. I have described the fortified house of a great sheakh: that of one less powerful and wealthy consists, generally, of two large rooms, a divan and harem, between which is a pallisaded enclosure, where the flocks are kept. (See Vignette, p. 1.) The sheakhs offer us every night angoureebs[8] (bedsteads) made of wood and cords, but we are now so accustomed to sleeping on the ground that we no longer feel it a hardship. On this evening, and also that of yesterday, we have been annoyed by swarms of very small flies, like midges, which draw blood most copiously from our hands, but without leaving much painful irritation.[9] From Abou-Hammed to this village our route has always been through the desert, sometimes[38] 300 paces only, but often as much as three miles from the river. The banks are covered with doums and acacias; the fruit of the former is very well flavoured, tasting like good gingerbread, but the rind is very hard, and the little that is eatable is so difficult to get at, that it is really not worth the trouble. This tree has rarely, if ever, branches springing up from the root, like the palm tree. The small round and full yellow flower of the acacias emits a most delightful odour. The size of these trees is here very great, compared to those we see in Europe. The first two hours this morning I noticed porphyry rocks appearing above the sand, and fragments of the same disseminated; afterwards hornblende rock. Near here the rocks are of quartz.

Abou-Hashim.—Feb. 25. We left Gagi this morning at seven, and encamped here at half past three P.M.—eight hours and a half. At half past ten we passed the village of Atmoon, situated on the opposite side of the river. It is inhabited entirely by Berbers. There are eleven sakkeas there. I am told that there are generally seven persons, including children, employed at each. At this village, and in the Island of Mero opposite, are twenty-three sakkeas, which pay ten dollars 150 piastres, and four ardebs of dourah each, equal to 210 piastres. Cailliaud has marked two islands, one Meri, the other Mero; but there is, in fact, only one, called Mero. The Island of Kourgos, we slept opposite to last night, extended until ten A.M. At half past ten we passed an isolated mountain, three miles on our left. During the greater part of the day we have passed over sandy flat plains; rocks of coarse granite, hornblende, and gneiss occasionally appearing above the surface, and fragments of the same and of quartz being also disseminated. I also remarked rocks and fragments of sandstone much charged with iron. At twelve we visited, close to the river, the ruins of a Saracenic castle of crude, that is, unbaked, bricks. The Arabs, by their description, had led us to expect antiquities. Our track this day has generally been a mile and a[39] half distant from the river. (For the bearings, see the Map.) Shortly before arriving here, we observed fields of dourah; otherwise the banks of this side of the river are generally uncultivated, but covered with doum and large acacia trees. The productive land seems to be in the islands. The inhabitants of this village are mixed, there being some families of Ababdes, but the greater number Berbers. We always go to the house of the sheakh, who meets us with the usual Arab civilities, and gives us his hand, welcoming us as Mahometans, Salam Aleycam, and supplying us with sheep and milk. Some of these sheakhs have an air and bearing truly dignified and patriarchal. Their flocks of goats and sheep form their chief ostensible wealth: the sheep are small, and the wool worth very little, being so coarse as almost to resemble hair. Their colour is beautifully variegated, generally white and black, but in some cases white and brown. The mutton, though too young, is good, and the goats’ milk the best I ever tasted. We found, near the river, this morning, numerous shells of the genus Etheria, almost resembling the Ostrea.[10]

Feb. 26. We left Abou-Hashim this morning at seven, and encamped at five P.M. At half past eleven we passed El Bagahra, and at half past one Neddi, the former a large, the latter a small, village. We passed also the small island of Essabeas, where there are four sakkeas; this island begins at Bagahra, and terminates opposite Neddi. Our route, all day, has been at a short distance from the river, over the same kind of downs and plains, covered[40] with the doum and acacia trees. Near the villages I observed barley and cotton, but no dourah; the produce of the island, I am informed, is the same. These villages are entirely inhabited by the Berbers. We have passed no hills to-day, but I observed continually points of hornblende slate and coarse granite appearing above the sand. I have also been surprised to observe to-day, in the desert, great numbers of the same shells. We have passed, during these last three days, several burying-places of the Arabs. They consist of earthen or sandy mounds, half a foot high; the length and breadth, of course, depend on the size of the body. At each end of the mound is a piece of black slate rock, about a foot high, and along the centre is a narrow gutter, which is filled with loose little pebbles, and, what is singular, these are always of the same colour. Sometimes they consist of small pieces of yellow, and sometimes of white, quartz; and, occasionally, I observed them of the shells above mentioned. Considerable pains is evidently taken to choose these stones of exactly the same colour and description, and also generally of the same dimensions. The effect is very pleasing. The slabs at each end reminded me of the simple gravestones in our country churches: the recollection was interesting; but they could not stand the comparison; for where, indeed, in the wide world, is there any scene to be compared with the tranquil beauty of our village churches, diffusing a peaceful charm over the rural landscape of rich enclosures, snug parsonage, and baronial demesnes, peculiar to England. Here is but a dreary wilderness: nature stern and desolate; man nearly in the state of the savage. In this part of the valley the breadth of the Nile is generally about one third of a mile; but it varies exceedingly, being sometimes a whole mile, and occasionally not much above a quarter. The foliage on its banks renders it not unpleasing to the eye, particularly as contrasted with the adjoining deserts. The flatness of the country prevents its being picturesque, except in some parts, where rocks and little islands in the bed of the river break the[41] monotony of the landscape. This evening we are encamped, not, as usual, near a village, but on the banks of the Nile, previous to passing a small tract of desert.

Granata.—Feb. 27. We commenced our sandy route this morning at half-past six, and my caravan arrived at this village at half-past six P.M. Mr. B. and myself were only nine hours. Having pushed on our dromedaries, we crossed the small desert, before the fifth cataract, in six hours. This desert is sandy, with quartz and flinty slate disseminated. We saw, for the first time, three wild asses, which had been browsing among the acacias near the Nile. There are great numbers of them in the country, but the peasants very seldom succeed in catching or destroying them. A mixed breed is sometimes seen in the villages. From the description of the Arabs, I conceive that the zebra, also, exists in these deserts. The wild ass seems larger than the common one; but we were at too great a distance to observe them particularly. The peasants seldom chase them, but with a good horse it is not very difficult.[42] The reader will recollect the beautiful and accurate description in Job, chap. xxxix.[11] We arrived at the fifth cataract at half past twelve, and remained three hours. It is not to be compared to either the first or second for picturesque effect. There are here no mountains, or even hills, and the fall, at a little distance, is scarcely perceptible. The sound is great, the rapids strong, and of such an extent, that, at this season of the year, certainly no boat of any size could pass: when the Nile is high there would be little difficulty. We made two views, looking north and south, and coloured them on the spot; but the vignette will give the reader an idea of this cataract of the Nile. Two hours below are the islands of Kermi, Drogueh, and Melor: almost opposite the cataract is a village called El Solymanieh. Doums and acacias, as usual, on the banks of the river. An hour before arriving, we passed the small village of Gouloulab. This village, where we are encamped, is very large, and said to contain 300 men. The island of Ertole, opposite, is represented to have the same population; but this, I think, is rather an exaggeration of the sheakhs’.

El Makkarif, Capital of the ancient Kingdom, and now Turkish Province, of Berber.—Feb. 28. We started this morning at seven, and at ten passed the large village of El Abadieh, a little below which, on the opposite side, is Engreyab; at a quarter past twelve, El Ferrakah, opposite which is Abselam; at half past twelve, El Dankel; at half past one, El Hassan (vestiges of a Saracenic castle), opposite which are the villages of Dekseet and Wady Shekeer; at half past one, the village of El Howe; at half past two, El Gadawab; at three, we passed a village called Housh, opposite which is Ellet[43] Wady Gadallah; at a quarter past three, Mahanifa; at half past three, Dich; and at four entered the capital, Makkarif. Most of these villages are large, but many almost entirely deserted. In one of 120 houses, I counted only twenty that were inhabited. This is occasioned, not only by a decrease of population, but also by the wretched state of poverty to which the Berbers are now reduced. Many families who had formerly two, three, and even six houses, are obliged to content themselves with one, allowing the others to fall into ruin from not having the means or inducement to repair them. If still possessed of any wealth, their only means of preserving it, or, at all events, of transmitting it to their posterity, is to keep it secret; and by an affectation of poverty, lull any suspicion that may arise of their possessing treasure. Notwithstanding what I am told of their hidden wealth, I should suspect the examples to be few: the real distress is unfortunately far too evident. The houses are scattered, and often at a considerable distance from each other; never crowded together, like the cottages in the villages of Egypt. Being shaded by the graceful doum and acacia trees, they produce a rural and sometimes picturesque effect. According to the ancient divisions, we have only been this day in the province of Berber. Since we reached El Ferrakah, the character of the country has been quite different; more villages, a richer soil, and even the desert thickly studded with trees like a shrubbery. The country between Abou-Hammed and Grenata is included in the Turkish province of Berber, and as such I have described it. The natives are the Rabatat, once the terror of caravans. The heavy exactions they imposed on all travellers, or rather merchants, obliged the latter to take the long route from Derouey to Makkarif, the same in which Burckhardt and Bruce suffered so severely. The manners of the Rabatat seemed rougher, and their depravity more open, than I observe here.

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[44]CHAPTER IV.

VISIT TO THE GOVERNOR. — COURT AND ANCIENT CHIEFS OF THE COUNTRY. — HOSPITABLE RECEPTION. — TURKISH ENTERTAINMENTS. — CHARACTER OF THE GOVERNOR. — HIS ATTENTIONS. — STYLE OF LIVING. — DONGOLAH HORSES. — ANECDOTES, COSTUMES AND PORTRAITS OF THE CHIEFS. — TURKISH KNOWLEDGE OF THE ARTS. — BAZAAR OF MAKKARIF. — HOUSES. — MANUFACTORY OF INDIGO. — EXTENT OF CULTIVATION. — POPULATION. — CAMELS’ HIDES. — SUGAR MANUFACTORY. — ETHIOPIAN WOOL. — BISHAREEN TRIBE. — MANNER OF COLLECTING THEIR TRIBUTE. — ABABDES AND OTHER ARAB TRIBES. — TURKISH POLICY. — BURCKHARDT. — CHARACTER OF THE PEOPLE. — ARABS OF THE DESERT.

Immediately on our arrival, we paid a visit to Abbas Bey, the governor of the province. He has a private house for his harem; but during the day he holds his court and takes his meals in one of the fortified houses of the sheakhs. At the door we found a number of soldiers and officers drinking coffee. The Turkish governor is obliged to furnish the officers attached to his court, as well as strangers and principal persons of the town who wish it, with as much of this beverage as they choose to drink; and so great is the consumption, that it is in fact the most considerable part of his official expenditure. We were ushered into a large room, forty feet by twenty, and proportionably high, with windows at one end, but, as usual, without glass: some small windows, above the larger, were covered with paper as a substitute. Around the room was a divan one foot high and four feet wide: one end was covered with mats, over which were thrown rich carpets and scarlet plush. The Governor, a man of about thirty, of a stern yet prepossessing appearance, was seated in the corner upon the skin[45] of a panther. The courtiers were arranged on each side according to their respective ranks. On his right was the grand Cadi, in a brown dress, with a green turban (the badge of his having made the pilgrimage to Mecca, and being a sheriff, or descendant of Mahomet). He is a native of this country, and fills the offices of high priest and chief judge. The Bey paid him great attention; no doubt on account of his great influence with the people. He has a very jesuitical countenance: I thought of Alfieri’s celebrated speech in Saul. Next to this priest was Sheakh Sayd, the Chief of the Ababdes. (See Plate.) His family have held this title from time immemorial: the stamp of nobility is marked upon his high forehead; and there is an expression of dignified mildness in his countenance which commands respect: he interested me exceedingly. Another, but inferior, Sheakh of the Ababdes was seated next to Sheakh Sayd, in a blue linen dress. Next to the Ababde Sheakh was the Melek Nazr ed Deen. This man was forty years melek or king of this province. I am informed that the meleks of Shendy and Metammah attacked his kingdom, defeated him, seized his riches, and sullied the honour of his family. In revenge, it is said he fled to the Pasha of Egypt, and represented to him how easily he might subdue the country. The Arabs, and in this district particularly, extol in the most hyperbolical terms the merits of their great men. I will mention their expressions in a few instances as characteristic. According to their extravagant accounts, the war-cry of this melek was, “I am a bull, the son of a bull, and will die or conquer!” They assert that he is able to cut a camel in two with a blow of his sabre, and to eat a whole sheep to his breakfast. He really is an amazingly stout man for this country (see Plate I.), and both his appearance and manners are surly and repulsive, which, however, is not extraordinary, when we consider that he is now a disregarded pensioner (having merely the rank and pay of a katsheff), and no real authority in the extensive province where, at[46] one time, his will was law. Several other personages were present, among whom were katsheffs, kaymacans, and artillery officers; Sheakh Beshir (see Plate II.), now melek of Shendy, and some sheakhs of the Bishareens. In the centre of the room stood about thirty attendants; cowhasses, with their silver-headed canes, armed with pistols and sabres; janissaries in the Albanian dress; mamelukes, Turkish soldiers, sheboukgees, slaves, &c. &c. The Bey was playing at drafts with Sheakh Sayd when we entered, but immediately closed the board, and rose from his seat. He received us very courteously, ordered us pipes and coffee in abundance, and a fresh supply of the latter at least every half hour; and, contrary to the Egyptian custom, there came usually two cups for each person at a time. Their manner of presenting it is in the highest style of Turkish fashion; holding the bottom of the fingan (cup) between the first finger and thumb, with the hand curved. It was presented at the same time to the Bey and myself; then to the others according to their rank. I presented to him the firman of the Pasha. He looked at the seal, kissed it, and applied it to his forehead in token of his obedience; but at the same time assured me that, on account of my being an Englishman, even if I had brought no firman, he would have done whatever was in his power to facilitate my plans. He would not allow us to leave him without partaking of his evening meal, a short description of which may amuse the reader.

After we had well lathered our hands in the usual Turkish manner, the round white metal table was brought in, and we all squatted down on the floor, with due decorum, around it. We had first soup, and afterwards twenty dishes of meat, one following the other, and the dinner finished with a pillof of rice. We used wooden spoons for the soup, diving into the dish promiscuously; the meat we ate with our fingers, using always the thumb and two forefingers of the right hand; each person keeping as well as he could[47] to his own angle of the dish. Holding a piece of bread in his hand, he fished out the pieces of meat, with a due proportion of gravy. The dishes were all small, and some of them very recherchés; but, as usual, it was mutton, mutton, nothing but mutton, though disguised in a great variety of forms, with herbs, beans, and sauces from Cairo. The hands of the Bey had the precedence in plunging into each dish, and the paws of the others briskly followed those of their leader. Having tasted one or two choice morsels, his Excellency nodded his head, and that plate vanished. A number of hungry attendants who were to dine upon the remains of the feast, waited in a string, and handed the dishes back and forward, from one to the other, with the greatest rapidity. Very little was said during the repast; indeed, whoever is so foolish as to converse on such an occasion runs a great hazard of faring indifferently. As it was, I had rather a scanty supper; for perceiving it was bon ton to eat of every dish, and not knowing how many might follow, I did not duly profit by the precious moments. Old Nazr ed Deen, who, as I have stated, is reported to breakfast with such a voracious appetite, seemed by no means satisfied, although I observed that he made the best use of his time. The whole affair was finished in twenty minutes. Some of the dishes were not one minute on the table. The Bey, with his fugacious nod, reminded me of the physician at the island, who was so considerate for Sancho Panza’s digestive powers. I ought not to omit mentioning, that the Bey, as a special act of politeness to myself, selected often the most delicate morsels from the best dishes, with his own besmeared fingers, and placed them before me. I did not quite relish such a greasy gratification, but was obliged to swallow the compliment. Several slaves stood around the table with gullahs of cool water,—the only beverage permitted; others had large fans to keep away the flies. After we had performed our very necessary ablutions, smoked a pipe, and[48] taken coffee, the Bey dismissed his court and attendants, and we had a long tête-à-tête upon various subjects. Although evidently a brave man, he finds the difficulties of his situation trying and embarrassing. Having no trusty friend or confidant near him, he seemed glad of an opportunity of disburdening his grievances before a stranger, to whom there would be no disgrace or humiliation in expressing his fears and difficulties. “I have few or no friends here,” said he, “and many enemies. It is difficult to satisfy the demands of the Pasha, and not oppress the people. The Government at Alexandria are never content with the amount of the revenue; and yet are enraged if any complaints reach them, although they are the consequence of their own exorbitant demands; but I hope God will give me good luck, and enable me to keep my place to the satisfaction of my master.” We conversed about the province; his manner of managing the Arabs, with the statistics of the country; the affairs of the Pasha (to whom he seems very much attached, and hopes to see him master of St. Petersburgh, or at all events, of the recent acquisitions of that power from the Ottoman empire); the war with the Sultan; the conquest of these provinces; his own military exploits and valour; and the antiquities which are the object of my journey. Understanding that my artist was an Italian, he displayed his knowledge of that language, which extended only to two words, buono e morte, by taking hold repeatedly of Mr. B.’s arm, and at the same time that he repeated these words, he accompanied them with such a powerful grasp, as almost made poor Signor B. scream for pain.—“Anima del’ caina (del cane),” he said to me, in the Neapolitan dialect, “buono o cattivo mi pare che mi vuol la morte.” Afterwards, the conversation turning upon animals, he showed me the skin of a pet lion, that he had killed because it had destroyed a sheep. I happened to appear pleased with it, when he instantly made me accept it. He then sent for a beautiful little monkey, of the grey[49] capuchin kind, with which he also presented me. I took it into my special protection, and christened it with the name uppermost in my thoughts, namely, Meroe; and many a weary mile, till my return to Thebes, did it beguile me with its mischievous gambols on my camel. When I rose to take leave, the Bey said he would accompany me to my tent, and then offered me a fine large panther’s skin, on which he had been sitting. He did not give me these, as the Turks in general make presents, with the expectation of receiving others more valuable; for I told him, on receiving the first, that I had not contemplated making this journey when I left Europe, and had therefore nothing with me to offer him. He replied, “All Turks are not the same; there are good and bad of every nation: these are trifles; tell me how I can be of real service to you; and the only return I wish is, that you think well of me when you go to your own country.” He privately inquired of my dragoman if we were in want of candles, sugar, coffee, of another tent, or any thing else. Although we wanted nothing, we duly appreciated his kind intention. The style in which he came to my tent, and went to and from his harem every day, will give some idea of the state kept up in these provincial governments. He was preceded by his guards, armed with guns; then by four cowhasses, beating their massive silver-headed sticks on the ground,—a substitute for music: the Bey himself then followed, on foot or on his charger, having behind him six other guards, with guns, and a crowd of perhaps twenty servants. I was at a loss what return to make for his liberality: he had really shown himself such a fine fellow, that it was painful to be behind him in generosity. Having no suitable articles to spare, such as a gun, pistols, or a watch, the most proper gifts to a Turk of his rank, I could only beg his acceptance of a few trifles,—a new patent powder-flask and belt, a bag of English shot, a good English penknife, and a silver watch-guard. I gave him, also, a little stock of medicines, with directions how[50] to use them; these he valued very highly, being aware on how slender a thread his life hangs in such a baneful climate as this.

March 1. This morning the Bey sent us a couple of fine sheep, and, before we were dressed, a cowhass called to summon me to his divan. He showed us his stables, in which were six horses, of the true Dongolah breed, black and brown, of whom the black were the finest, but all of them had rather upright pasterns, and four white legs: sometimes the white extends over the thighs, and occasionally over the belly. They are not light, slender horses like some of the best race of Arabs, being more remarkable for their strength: their appearance reminded me very much of the Egyptian horses, as represented on the walls of Thebes. They would make magnificent cavalry horses; but if they were brought on a race course, I think their appearance would induce few to back them, except, perhaps, for a three-mile heat; certainly not for the St. Leger. The breed is rare now, and valuable. Even here a good Dongolah horse fetches from 50l. to 150l. After dinner he went to his harem to sleep, and then returned to the government-house. He then sent for me again, and kept me with him until ten at night. Dinner and supper were served in the same style as on the preceding day.

March 2. This morning the Bey sent for me as before, and kept me till after dinner, when I started for Shendy in his own boat, which he had the goodness to lend me. He invited me to make a longer stay, but I had no time to lose. These three days, however, have not been altogether mis-spent, as I have obtained some important information. I complained to the Bey yesterday, that, on account of the prejudices of the people, we were unable to draw any of the costumes of the country. The Bey very coolly declared, that whoever dared to refuse, he would cut off his head! Though this summary order was coolly received in the divan, we did not hesitate to avail ourselves of it, and immediately set to work, and drew the portraits of all the dignitaries of consequence[51] at his court. I have already referred the reader to the portraits of Melek Nazr ed Deen, Sheakh Beshir, and Sheakh Seyd. Some of them were very reluctant, in spite of all our persuasion, particularly one native prince called Mousa. (See coloured plate, XVI.) His likeness, taken by Signor B., is admirable, the colour correct, and his figure is the finest specimen of manly beauty I have seen in this country. His breast, as will be observed in the plate, has somewhat of a projection, a peculiarity I have often observed in Upper Nubia. It is considered a great deformity, and those who have it often submit to a most painful operation for its removal. Mousa, when my artist had finished his portrait, begged the Bey to treat him as a man, and not show him like a beast. He is the son of a melek, but now serves as a groom. He is famous for his courage and dexterity in the use of the sabre. To use their own exaggerated Oriental language, he is capable of killing 100 men in battle. In our tent, yesterday, we took the figure and costume of a Bishareen boy, about eighteen, whose father, a powerful sheakh, had attempted to excite a revolt against the Pasha. Not being successful, he fled, and his son was detained in prison until the father paid a fine of 250 camels. By way of a jest, though a barbarous one, which I should not have allowed had I known of it, the Bey and his officers told the poor boy that we were to cut off his head, being Turks deputed from Cairo for that special purpose. He sat down on the ground in the attitude represented, with his head turned on one side, and remained motionless, in the same position, nearly three quarters of an hour. We remarked that we had never had a subject who sat so patiently. When we had finished, we told him he might get up, making him, at the same time, a small present; when, with a look of bewildered delight, he told us how differently he expected to have been treated, and that he had been awaiting every moment the stroke of the sabre.

In the evening, when we were with the Bey, he sent for the poor youth, and frightened him again by telling him that, by virtue[52] of the drawing we had made, we had a magical power over him, and should transport him with us into our own country. He opened his mouth aghast, asked every body if it were true, and seemed struck with horror at the idea of never again seeing his native deserts. He addressed his inquiries particularly to Sheakh Seyd, who, as chief of the Ababdes, he did not think capable of deceiving him; but I verily believe many of the meleks and chiefs present, who affected to join in the laugh, really had doubts and misgivings that such, in truth, was the necromantic power of our pencils, and particularly of the camera lucida, with which I drew several of them. My artist took the Bey’s likeness, at his own particular desire; I conceive, for one of his favourites. He was very well satisfied with the representation of his figure, rich costume, his sword and accoutrements, and of the fierceness of his mustachios; but he did not understand the shading, and begged my artist “to take away those black things.” Before leaving Makkarif, the Bey showed me round the indigo and hide manufactories belonging to the government. I parted from him with some regret, for he is decidedly the best Turk I have ever known; and it was a great pleasure for a few days to meet with such courtesy in these wild regions of interior Africa. Makkarif has little appearance of a capital. The bazaar should scarcely be dignified with such a title, as it only consists of six or seven miserable shops. The town is divided into seven divisions. The population may, perhaps, amount to 3500, though it is difficult to obtain exact information as to numbers. The houses are quadrangular huts of one story, like those in Lower Egypt—not however crowded together as those, but usually standing detached. Some of them are circular, and have thatched conical roofs—a description of cottage very general to the south of Berber. The residence of the governor, and of some of the sheakhs, resembled the fortified house surrounded by large courts, described at Abou-Hammed. There is here a large manufactory of indigo, a valuable[53] branch of culture, which was introduced by the Pasha into this province five years ago. They cut it three times during the season, at intervals of about two months. To extract the dye, they place the stalks and leaves for eighteen hours in a cemented mud basin or cistern of water, which is then drawn off into another vessel: in this last they leave it only a few hours, stirring it well with sticks, and afterwards let it off into a caldron, in which the final process of boiling takes place, and indigo is produced of very good quality. The Pasha receives from this manufactory nearly 14,000 okres (weight), which is sent to Cairo, and sold there for fifteen dollars per okre. The government has greatly extended the cultivation of the cotton plant in this province. Considerable quantities of wheat and oats are also grown in it; but barley and dourah, particularly the latter, are the chief produce. In the Turkish province of Berber, which extends from Abou-Hammed to two days journey beyond Shendy, there are 6000 feddans (measure) of cultivated land, and 500 sakkeas. There were 800 of the latter, when first the Pasha took possession of the country, but misrule, or, perhaps, the system inevitably adopted in order to subdue entirely the country, has impoverished as well as depopulated it. The number of peasants, merchants, Arabs, and other residents, so far as I have been able to learn, may be estimated (including their families) at 30,000: this is independent of the Bishareen and other desert tribes who pay their tribute here. The number of sakkeas may appear small in comparison to the extent of the cultivation and the number of the inhabitants; but it may be remarked, that a great proportion of the arable land in this province is irrigated by the inundation of the Nile and by manual labour. Besides, the peasants, as well as the wandering tribes, subsist in a great measure by their flocks and by their camels, which are bred in great numbers, and of the finest quality, and sent to Cairo. Many also are sold here to the merchants and carriers of this place; also to those of Shendy and Sennaar. The price of a strong, ordinary[54] camel is about ten or twelve dollars; of a dromedary, ten to thirty dollars. For several years the government have sent to Cairo from 1500 to 2000 hides. This year the Pasha has required 20,000. These hides are prepared with lime, salt, and the pod of the mimosa. The Pasha has also tried the sugar cane, which flourishes luxuriantly in the islands, though the people have not yet acquired any skill in the manufacture of it. There is a small sugar-house, but of the rudest construction. The canes are placed between two rollers, turned by oxen, which squeeze out the juice. The peasants themselves make a coarse kind of linen cloth, which may be called fine canvass, but seldom deserves a better name.

Pliny says, that Ethiopia, as well as Egypt, was by the Greeks called Etheria, “without wool;” which may have been owing to the circumstance, that the Ethiopians, like the Egyptians, wore only linen; but perhaps it may rather allude to the extremely bad quality of the Ethiopian wool. The Bishareen pay their tribute to this government. They occupy the territory, and are generally supposed to be descendants, of the ancient Troglodites; but there is a name sculptured on the walls of Thebes, of a captured people, called Sharim, which, with the Coptic article Pi, makes Pisharim or Bisharim. Souakim, the capital, is fifteen days’ journey from this place, on which road water is found every day and a half: its inhabitants are called Edherbi and Hadendoah. Besides these, the Bishareen have other subordinate divisions, as the Amarrah and the Benishamah. As I have before stated, they are the most uncivilised of the Arab tribes, if they can be called Arabs, when they speak a language without any Arabic words, and lay no claim to Arabian descent. Their features are often striking, but their manner of dressing their hair, making it bushy and prominent both in front and behind, and often shaving it a little, gives them a savage appearance. Their dress generally consists of folds of linen of the country, often ragged and dirty, but always put on in a graceful manner, not unlike the ancient Greek drapery. War and plunder seem to be their element, and they are accused[55] of being treacherous and deceitful: they are addicted also to petty theft. Many are poor in the extreme; some few rich and powerful, living luxuriously, as they deem it, on camels’ flesh and milk. The principal persons at Makkarif tell me that they count 200,000 houses or tents; but, notwithstanding the vast extent of their territory, this must be an exaggeration. The government finds always great difficulty in collecting their tribute. “We generally send,” said the Bey, “two soldiers at a time. If they are murdered, it is of no great consequence! for two men it would be absurd to lay waste a whole province; but if we sent twenty or thirty, and they were destroyed, it would create great alarm, and be a serious loss out of my small force of 400 cavalry. Once,” said he, with an air of triumph, “I was there with a large retinue, when a greatly superior number of Bishareen attacked us, during the night, as is always their custom. Nine of my men fled at the first onset, and falling into the hands of the enemy were immediately massacred. We resisted and escaped, but it caused great terror among my troops. Soon after we avenged the death of my nine brave fellows in our usual manner. We enticed to this place many of the Bishareen engaged in this affair by a promise of pardon: then we enclosed them in one of our fortified houses, and put them to death.” Some divisions of this tribe, who are almost quite independent, often plunder the caravans and small villages, and carry off cattle and other property; and they sometimes extend their predatory incursions as far as Dongolah.

The Ababdes are divided principally into two tribes, the Maleykab, from Esneh to Assuan; and the Hashibani, from Assuan to Kash Kosseer. They are a fine race of men, and wear their hair in ringlets hanging behind their heads, and at the sides, nearly to their shoulders. Sometimes, but very rarely, their hair is bushy in front like the Bishareen. Their dress of coarse linen is always folded around them with the same graceful elegance. This tribe is much less numerous than the Bishareen, but they have the[56] character of being braver. The number of their houses and tents was stated to me by their chief, Sheakh Sayd, at 50,000. During the conquest of this country, and on other occasions, they have been of great service to the Pasha, who therefore levies no direct tribute except from such as have allotments of land, and sakkeas, who pay for them like the peasants of the Nile. Burckhardt speaks of the treachery of the Ababdes. I have been with them for months in the Oasis Magna and other places, and cannot say I have experienced it. On the contrary, I have observed them more grateful for kindness, more attached, more proud of their liberty, and tenacious of their character, and more disinterested, than any other of the Arab tribes. The number domiciled in this province is very considerable. Besides these, I saw individuals of several other Arab tribes who frequent Berber, while others I only heard of. Among these are the Hassanyeh, who range from Berber to Kordofan, principally near Dongolah,—the Kababysh, to the south-west of the latter, extending to the White River,—the Benegerar, from Dongolah to Kordofan, in the Desert,—the Erfara, near Sennaar,—a large and powerful tribe called Rafarah, numbered with the Erfara,—the Shukriah, settled principally near Shendy, but also between Berber and Sennaar, and the Atbara and the Bahr el Azruk. The Eddibina, also, near Shendy,—the Djamelyeh, on the Bahr el Abiad,—the El Amran, to the east of the Mugrum, or Astoboras,—the Shelouks, ten days up the White River, or Bahr al Abiad. They are said to be tall, powerful men, always quite naked, and armed with bows and arrows, spears and shields; and I am told that they worship the sun. Their territory extends for a considerable distance on both sides of the river, but the division on the east side is called Denha. The Shelouks inhabit also numerous islands, communicating with each other by means of canoes, some of which are very large. The Bahr el Abiad was represented to me as being, in that part, ten times wider than the Bahr el Azruk:—the Numrum, also, a[57] negro race of naked Pagans, twenty days’ journey from Sennaar, upon the White River. All these tribes, except the two last, are wholly or partly tributary to the Pasha. When we consider the slight comparative force with which his governments are generally supplied, we must confess his officers know how to manage their affairs, although the means they adopt are not always the most honourable. The government of Berber has only 400 cavalry to keep in subjection a population of 30,000, besides the many powerful tribes of the neighbouring deserts. The ancient chiefs of the country are almost all alive and at large. Each native is armed, and acquainted with the use of the sabre and lance, and some few have matchlocks. They see the prosperity of the country gradually decaying, and the population daily diminishing; yet such is their terror of the Pasha’s power, that, notwithstanding the small number of his troops, and the length of time it would require to bring forward reinforcements, no monarch in Europe has such absolute power, or sleeps more safe from bodily fear than the Governor of Berber. The relentless system, which has completely succeeded in Lower Egypt, of impoverishing the peasants, and reducing them by distress to complete vassalage, is gradually but successfully carried on by the Pasha in this country. The descendants, perhaps, of those tribes who defied the power of the Greeks and Romans, have been taught by Mohammed Ali to crouch beneath his yoke. He has done so, in despite of all the obstacles man and nature opposed to his ambition;—a brave resistance, cataracts amongst which many of his barks were lost, the horrors of the desert, burning climate, malaria, and fever, which at first nearly annihilated his army at “one fell swoop.” The statement of Cailliaud, that at Sennaar, the Pasha saw one third of his forces fall a prey to malignant and intermittent fevers, dysentery, and bilious attacks, shows at how dear a price these conquests were purchased. But the Pasha’s power in this country rests now on a basis which it would be difficult to shake,—a combination[58] of vigorous policy in council, with superiority of arms and discipline in the field. The tribes now know from experience the weakness of their half fighting, half dancing hosts, with their lances, swords, and large unwieldy shields,—against the regular fire of disciplined troops. The very report of a cannon is irresistible to beings who have the utmost dread of a musket; and they can now contrast the effects of artillery with those of the comparatively harmless implements of their own warfare, which seldom inflict more than flesh wounds. Their former chiefs and meleks are now sinking fast to the wretched level of the peasants. Stripped of their patrimonial wealth and estates, and shut out from their other sources of gain—commerce and exactions—they are now obliged to pay court to the Turkish governors, to obtain or preserve a scanty pension, which is almost their only means of subsistence. The chiefs have suffered more than the peasants from the domination of the Pasha, who has followed the usual policy of all conquerors, by systematically aiming “to cut off the highest of the poppy heads.” The great mass of the people of every nation are generally indifferent to the misfortunes of the aristocracy, and are rarely animated, by individual attachment, or more enlarged views of national independence, to rise and deliver from oppression those who, perhaps, were once their own oppressors. Possibly, they may even feel a selfish exultation in seeing them reduced to their own level; forgetting that, while their ancient chiefs sink thus into poverty and obscurity, every hope of restoring the liberty of their country vanishes.

I have not spent sufficient time in this province to judge accurately of the character of the people, and I dare scarcely attempt to delineate what the masterly hand of Burckhardt has so admirably accomplished. I have not his work with me, and do not remember minutely his account of the natives of this district. I must, therefore, make a short record of my own observations, though, probably, they will add but little to the information which he has communicated. I am sorry to confirm his statement, that[59] the most extreme profligacy of manners prevails among the Berbers. They are entirely devoted to women; unfortunately, not only to their own wives, but, with lawless passion, to the wives of their neighbours. Adultery is far more common here than in any other part of the valley of the Nile; and there exists, also, in this and the adjoining provinces, a system which is a disgrace to human nature. The sheakhs, meleks, and chief men hire out their female slaves, or, rather, oblige them to carry on an infamous traffic here and in the different villages, and to pay to their master a monthly tribute out of the fruits. This is the climax of profligacy. A correct idea of the immoral state of the country may be formed, when those who, from their station, ought to endeavour to repress vice, are, by this system, its chief promoters. Slavery is horrible under any guise; but when the task of the unfortunate victim is to sacrifice every principle of honour, virtue, and decency, in order to satiate the avarice of a remorseless master, a more distressing picture of human wretchedness cannot be imagined. Besides the monthly tribute, they are dependent also for their own subsistence upon the passing caravans.

The superstition of the Berbers keeps pace with their gross ignorance. I have already stated that, notwithstanding many attempts, I was never able, unless in the Bey’s presence, and through his despotic mandate, to overcome the apprehension and scruples of the Berbers, of both sexes, to allow their portraits to be drawn. Among those, too, who knew I was a Christian, I could often distinguish an ill-disguised contempt when I deviated in any respect from the Mahometan customs.

Intoxication is another vice to which the Berbers are generally addicted, but seldom to any very gross excess. Their beverage is the bouza, a species of beer made of dourah, boiled in a jar, and drunk after a day or two, when it ferments. It is not of a very intoxicating quality, but they drink gallons of it at a sitting. One of the peasants intimated to me his regret that[60] the Prophet had only promised them rivers of milk in his paradise, instead of bouza. They have also the meresi and bulbul, more delicate descriptions of the same beverage; and a strong but tasteless spirit (arrake), with a very wretched liquor which they call wine; both these last being extracted from the date. They are civil and attentive to strangers, but there is something overstrained in their obsequiousness. They have the reputation of being great thieves. Several old Egyptian merchants, and also my camel-drivers, advised me to take care of my baggage during the night, when I passed through Berber; always recommending me, for that reason, to encamp near the house of the sheakh. The women go about with their faces uncovered,—a privilege which, in Egypt, only the wives of the Arabs of the Desert enjoy. They have, generally, good figures, and a rather pleasing expression of countenance. The men are stout, but their features are seldom very prepossessing, or at all noble; and they are deficient in that open and dignified manner and deportment which distinguish the generality of the Arab tribes. The Arabs in general, but especially the Berbers, are averse to active exertion. I have often seen several of them sitting together for many hours in the shade, with their eyes half closed, in a listless and supine state, neither talking, nor engaged in any occupation. Sometimes they were smoking, yet at the same time apparently unconscious that pipes were in their mouths. Perfect repose of body and mind, the dolce far niente of the Italians, is the highest felicity they are able to conceive. Endowed with an imperturbable stock of apathy,—more comfortable, perhaps, although not so intellectual, as European philosophy,—they submit to a distressing accident, which would throw one of our countrymen almost into a fever, without allowing their equanimity to be in the least disturbed. “Mactub min Allah!” it is written, It is the will of God! they exclaim, with placid resignation; and, instead of brooding over their misfortune, become immediately reconciled to it, and, with amazing facility, banish it from their thoughts.

[61]The Sennaar and Shendy merchants, chiefly Arabs, pass sometimes by this route; others go to Dongolah, across the Bahiouda desert. This is, however, a much shorter route, and for that reason often preferred. They furnish the bazaar of Makkarif with soap, spices with which they make an ointment to keep their skin soft, rice, Mocha coffee, mirrors, glass beads, and shells; and articles in cotton, such as handkerchiefs, shawls, and other dresses: they also bring tobacco and pipes, crockery, cooking dishes, &c. A great many camels are employed on this route, in conveying the officers, soldiers, and provisions from Assuan to Berber, Shendy, Khartoun, and Sennaar. When no other article is ready, the camels are laden, in return, with charcoal made of the osshi plant, which is excellent for gunpowder; but even for culinary use, the difference between its price at Berber and at Assuan, in consequence of its scarcity at the latter place, fully remunerates them for the carriage. A great number of camels are, at certain seasons, employed by the government in conveying down to Assuan the indigo, grain, hides, &c. levied as taxes in kind. This gives employment to the Arabs of the desert, and attaches these roving tribes, by the strongest chains of interest, to a more regular and less barbarous government than they have ever been accustomed to, and thus reconciles them to the relinquishment of their independence. When we consider the predatory and lawless habits they gloried in for ages previous to the Pasha’s conquest; the anarchy and confusion which afforded them such facilities for rapine, and in which their bold unruly spirits delighted, as the short though dangerous path to distinction and wealth,—it is surprising to see them thus quietly occupied in the vocations of peace, and earning their livelihood by honest industry. A tribute of applause is certainly due to Mohammed Ali, for effecting this great improvement in the habits and pursuits of the uncivilised hordes who occupy so considerable a portion of the continent of Africa.

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[62]CHAPTER V.

DEPARTURE FROM MAKKARIF. — VARIOUS VILLAGES. — THE MUGRUM, ANCIENT ASTABORAS. — ROUTE TO GOSS REDJAB. — VERDANT APPEARANCE OF THE ISLAND OF MEROE. — VOYAGE ON THE ASTAPUS. — NUMEROUS VILLAGES. — COTTAGES. — HIPPOPOTAMI; MANNER OF DESTROYING THEM. — VILLAGES. — ARRIVAL AT THE PYRAMIDS OF MEROE.

March 8. We set sail, with a favourable breeze, from Makkarif, at one; and at half past one we passed the village of El Releh; and at two, Sowektab el Ekaba, on the western bank of the river; opposite to which, on the east bank, is a small village called Howed. At four we passed Wady Rowel, on the eastern side; at five, the small village of Sidin on the same side; at six, a large village called Karmim; at three quarters past six we passed Sayal, a small village on the east bank; at a quarter past seven, Dakkel, on the same side; at twenty minutes past seven, El Fodlet; and at half past seven we moored for the night at the village of Unmatur, on the western side. We have had a good wind, and certainly cannot have made less than three miles an hour. Opposite to Unmatur is the junction of the Mugrum, the ancient Astaboras, with the Nile, isolating from the Nubian and Libyan desert this part of Meroe. For some distance before reaching it, I observed that the colour of the water was very green, and had not the usual appearance of the Nile, which is comparatively clear at this season. I perceived also that the taste was different, and that it had a strong disagreeable smell. I regret that it is now dusk, so that I cannot observe more accurately the distinction of the waters of the two rivers; but I am informed, that for some space after the confluence, they remain unmixed. The width of the Mugrum, as the[63] Astaboras is now called, from what I could learn, is, at the time of the rise, about 1000 feet. At this season, they tell me, it is almost stagnant. It swells many days earlier than the Bahr el Abiad or the Azruk; and I think the green colour that tinges the whole Nile for the first thirty or forty days after its rise, may be attributed to the influx of the waters of this river. The chief province or district on its banks is called Atbara, evidently a corruption from the ancient name of the river, which is curious, as any analogy is rarely to be found between the modern and ancient names in this country. Two hours before arriving at the junction, we passed a small shellal (cataract). The current was strong; a number of small rocks impeding the stream for about half way across. The banks are covered with beautiful groves of acacias, doums, and palm trees, and had generally a much more verdant appearance than we had before remarked; reminding me most forcibly of the observation of the pretorians sent by Nero:

From the best information I have been able to obtain, there are seven days’ journey from the mouth of the Mugrum to Goss Radjeb, the principal village on its banks: for the two first days, the direction of this river is nearly east. There are on this route few villages; the habitations chiefly consisting of encampments of migratory Arabs, who change their stations as often as they need fresh pasture for their camels and flocks. The chief tribe frequenting the banks of the Astaboras is that of the Bishareen; but its branches were described to me as distinguished by the following distinct names: The first day’s journey east, is called the district of the Atbara; the second, that of the Eddandoweh; the third day, towards the south, Attaka; the fourth, Giberta; the fifth, Medkirab; after which the district of Makkadi extends several days beyond Goss Radjeb. A merchant informed me, that, at this latter place,[64] there are the remains of a temple, but without any sculpture, columns, or hieroglyphics. According to the accounts given to me by the most intelligent Arabs, this river abounds much more than the Nile in hippopotami and crocodiles, and the western bank is infested with lions.

March 3. Leaving Unmatur at seven, with a good wind, we began our voyage on what Strabo calls the river Astapus, but which the natives still call the Nile: passed, at a quarter past seven, the village of Hassal, west side, and El Dahmur east, at nine, Abouselam west, and Ambori east; at half past nine, Hossya east, Maholrab west; at half past ten, the island of Essaydrab; at twelve, the island of Gunnabra and the village of El Roweh west; at half past one, El Howyeh east, El Ferakah west; at three, the island of Tumfar, and the village of Alioh, to the east; at half past three, the island of Egaydag, and village of the same name, on the western bank; at half past four, the island of Nama; at three quarters past five, Gebata to the east, and Keytayab to the west. This day I have observed that some of the villages consist of circular huts with thatched conical roofs. The water has not the same colour nor the same disagreeable smell as that near the mouth of the Astaboras. We have seen many crocodiles and several hippopotami: upon our approach they disappeared under the water; but occasionally raised their enormous heads, which, at the distance we were then, appeared like those of buffaloes. We fired at them, but without any effect. The Arabs state that their only vulnerable part is their forehead. What Hasselquist says of the manner of destroying them, by placing salt peas on the bank, the eating of which may excite them to drink until they die, amused the Arabs vastly. Their only way of killing these animals, is by concealing themselves in the long grass or corn fields on the bank, near one of their tracks. When the hippopotamus approaches, they attack and pierce him with a barbed lance, to which a strong cord is attached. The animal rushes to the river, and they follow him warily on the[65] banks, or in a boat, until his strength is quite exhausted, and he is almost dead. His usual expiring effort is to make for the shore, or his pursuers drag him thither as an angler does a fish. The peasants sometimes keep up fires during the night, to preserve their crops from his ravages. I observed to-day several beautiful woods on the islands; and, for the first time, monkeys—the small Grey Capuchin species.

Bagromeh Meroe.—March 4. During the last night we have passed the following villages:—

On the west bank.	Islands.	East bank.
Eggabrab.		Wady Abdelatif, or Valley of the Slave of the Beneficent.
Ennuba.		El Akareet.
Effadnia.		Eddyiga.
Ednamaat.		Gul el Mutmoor.
Es Sagadi, or the Carpet.	Es Sagadi (large island).
El Camair.		Betasaat.
El Helala, or the Holy Place.		Shutaib.
El Makmiah.	Makmiah (small island). Es Shilalah, or the Cataract.	Gibel Immeli.
Wady Youseph.	Taadra.
Hillet el Gerf (village of the bank of the river).		Assour.
		Dankelah.
		Bagromeh.

Under the cheerful influence of a tropical morning, at seven, we arrived at the site of the ancient capital of Ethiopia.

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[66]CHAPTER VI.

MEROE.

HISTORICAL EVIDENCE THAT THIS IS THE CEMETERY OF THE CAPITAL OF ETHIOPIA. — THE IMPOSING APPEARANCE, NUMBER, POSITION, AND DIMENSIONS OF THE PYRAMIDS. — ETHIOPIAN ARCH. — PROOFS THAT THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE ARTS DESCENDED FROM ETHIOPIA. — EDIFICES OF A PYRAMIDAL FORM THE BEST ADAPTED TO RESIST THE RAVAGES OF TIME. — PECULIAR STYLE OF THE SCULPTURE. — THE LANGUAGE OF HIEROGLYPHICS GENERALLY KNOWN IN ETHIOPIA. — THE STYLE OF THE SCULPTURE THE CRITERION OF THE AGE. — MONUMENTAL, GEOLOGICAL, AND HISTORICAL EVIDENCE THAT THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE ARTS DESCENDED FROM MEROE. — DESCRIPTION OF THE SCULPTURE. — NAME OF MEROE ON THE MONUMENTS. — MEROE PECULIARLY INTERESTING, AS THE BIRTH-PLACE OF THE ARTS. — SANDSTONE QUARRIES. — SITE OF THE CITY. — VILLAGES OF THE PRESENT INHABITANTS. — AGRICULTURE. — CAILLIAUD.

Agatharchides says the Astaboras unites its stream with the Nile, and forms the Island of Meroe; and Strabo (lib. 17.) says Meroe is formed by the conflux of the Astapus and Astaboras. Diodorus states the island to be 375 miles long, and 125 wide. The exact distance from Syene to Meroe is stated by Pliny to have been a subject of great dispute even in his time; which is the more extraordinary, when we consider the number of travellers who had then visited and even penetrated beyond the capital of Ethiopia. Pliny first mentions Delion as having travelled far beyond Meroe; afterwards Aristocreon, Bion, Basilis, and Simonides the younger, who wrote an account of that city. Timosthenes was sixty days in making the voyage by water. Eratosthenes reckoned the distance 625,000 paces, and Artemidorus 600,000. Bion gives us a list of towns, but no distances: the sixty days of[67] Timosthenes, by water, is too indefinite a date to be of any use, although it agrees tolerably well with the account of Herodotus.[13] The 625,000 paces of Eratosthenes, equal to 590 miles, is about the length of the direct caravan road, which I find to be 560 miles to the town. Artemidorus’s distance of 600,000 paces, equal to 568 miles, agrees more closely with my ascertained distance of that route, that is, across the Great Desert, by Korosko and Abou-Hammed.

Pliny says that this dispute concerning the distance to Meroe was finally settled by the prætorians and tribune sent by Nero for the purpose of exploring the country, which he had some intention to make a conquest of. There is little doubt, I conceive, that these men would follow the Nile, in order to observe all the towns, and report what resources there would be for an army. This will account for their calculating the distance to the island at 874,000 paces (817 English miles). Following most of the sinuosities of the Nile, I find it about forty miles more; but, as it cannot be supposed that they did not occasionally avail themselves of some of the many shorter routes now followed by the caravans, this may be considered to correspond with sufficient exactness.

Pliny computes from Napata to the Island of Meroe, 360,000 paces (340 English miles). If Gibel el Birkel be the site of ancient Napata, the distance by the longest road is only 240, a difference of 100 miles; I therefore conceive that Gibel el Birkel cannot be the site of the ancient city of Napata, which, I think, we must look for 100 miles lower down the river, perhaps at Old Dongolah. Ptolemy places it much more to the north. Pliny says, that from the commencement of the island to the town is 70,000 paces (66 English miles). I found the distance to be nearly 60 miles; a difference only of 6 miles: but these discrepancies are not surprising when we consider the vague information and dubious authorities from which he acknowledges that he compiled his account. I suggested, in crossing the Great Desert, the probability[68] of its having formerly contained establishments and wells, at different stations, for the convenience of a more civilised population, and of this route having been anciently much more frequented by travellers. There is every reason then to suppose that Eratosthenes and Artemidorus took this route; which will make their calculations, as well as those of the prætorians by the Nile, accord very satisfactorily with the position of these ruins. Without bringing forward other proofs, the authority of Ptolemy is sufficient to dispel any doubt that might possibly remain upon the subject. That geographer places the capital of Ethiopia in latitude 16° 26′; a difference only of 30′ from the observation of Cailliaud. It is impossible to conceive the observation of that geographer to be exactly correct (which, indeed, is rarely the case); for, besides the absence of other ruins, we cannot imagine that there could have been another town so near the capital with such splendid cemeteries as these.

Never were my feelings more ardently excited than in approaching, after so tedious a journey, to this magnificent Necropolis. The appearance of the Pyramids, in the distance, announced their importance; but I was gratified beyond my most sanguine expectations, when I found myself in the midst of them. The pyramids of Geezah are magnificent, wonderful from their stupendous magnitude; but for picturesque effect and elegance of architectural design, I infinitely prefer these of Meroe. I expected to find few such remains here, and certainly nothing so imposing, so interesting, as these sepulchres, doubtless of the kings and queens of Ethiopia. I stood for some time lost in admiration. From every point of view I saw magnificent groups, pyramid rising behind pyramid, while the dilapidated state of many did not render them less interesting, though less beautiful as works of art. I easily restored them in my imagination; and these effects of the ravages of time carried back my thoughts to more distant ages.

Plate VIII. faithfully represents the principal group of the pyramids, and their present state of preservation, and the annexed[69] view exhibits the most interesting of that group in detail. As every stone in these plates is drawn with the camera lucida, the reader will have the opportunity of studying their construction, and I may also add (particularly in the case of Plate IX.), of appreciating their picturesque appearance.

The porticoes on the east side of each pyramid soon attracted my attention, and I passed eagerly from one to the other, delighted to find in several of them tablets of sculpture and hieroglyphics, which, few as they are, have, I trust, given us the assurance of the locality, and will, I hope, throw some light upon the mythology and arts of the Ethiopians. There are the remains and traces of eighty of these pyramids (see Plate V.): they consist chiefly in three groups. The principal and most imposing, at which I arrived first, is situated on a hill, two miles and a half from the river, commanding an extensive view of the plain. This group is arranged (see Plate VI.) nearly in the form of a bow, the string of which from A to W is 1050 feet, and following the curved alignement of the pyramids from A to D, 625; D to W, 850, making in total extent 1425 feet.

[70]The plan will show that no regularity has been maintained in their position. Thus, the façade of portico A (see Plan) faces about north-east, while the generality of the other porticoes vary from east to south-east. The circumstance of the porticoes fronting generally towards the east, and not one to the north and south-west, proves a religious observance; but that there was no astronomical object in view, in their porticoes facing the rising sun, is certain from the variation in the directions, and from there being no attempt at mathematical precision. Although we cannot attribute to them the scientific object conceived by some to have been contemplated in the location of the pyramids of Memphis, still a happier combination of position could not be imagined for producing upon the mind those impressive feelings which the royal cemeteries of kings of an age so distant, and of a nation once so great and powerful, naturally inspire.[14]

The following account of the different measurements of the pyramids will show the dissimilarity of their size. A (see Plate VI.) is 32 feet square; B, 42 feet square; C, 52 feet square; D, 31 feet from east to west, and 27 feet 6 inches from north to south; F, 60 feet square; G, joined to the latter, of the same size; H, 63 feet square; I, 42 feet 6 inches by 40 feet; K, 42 feet square; L, 26 feet 6 inches by 23 feet 6 inches; M, 26 feet 6 inches by 21 feet; N, 29 feet square; O, 63 (this is without a portico); P, only 17 feet square, without a portico; R, 61 feet square; S, 30 feet square; T, 50 feet square; U, 29 feet square, V, 37 feet north to south, 39 feet east to west; W, 20 feet square; X, 20 feet square. Seven marked Y consist of pyramids in such a ruined condition that the exact plan cannot now be ascertained; but some of them, from the size of the porticoes, which can still be traced, have evidently been of importance.

The pyramids (Plate No. VII.) restored architecturally, will give the best idea of their original form and ornaments. The[71] pyramid No. 3. is 60 feet in diameter at the base, and 60 feet high; and is constructed, like most of the others, as shown in the plates, of stones, generally one foot high and two feet and a half long. The rim at the angles of No. III. is a great additional beauty; and many of them are thus ornamented. Most of them can be ascended; but the surfaces of some (as of Nos. 1. and 2.) are quite smooth. The appearance of a window in No. 1., thirteen feet from the summit, is curious; but it is merely an architectural ornament, and not for the purpose of admitting light into any room of the interior. There are thirty-one pyramids in the group, of which the plans of twenty-three may be traced; while to the south-east is another group of thirteen, in some degree of preservation, as will be seen by the above view. There are three other groups, two consisting of two pyramids each, and the other of six (see General Plan, Plate V.); and at 5600 feet to the west of the chief group, may be traced the remains of twenty-five pyramids, but almost buried.

[72]The porticoes I have before mentioned, situated on the eastern side of all the pyramids, consist generally of one room, which varies from 12 to 6 feet in length, and from 11 to 6 feet in width. The portico of pyramid H consists of two rooms, the one leading out of the other: the first 8 feet long and 12 feet broad; the second the same breadth, but only 6 feet in length. Three steps, each 8 inches deep and 6 inches high, lead into the portico of No. 3. Plate VII. The doorway is 3 feet 10 inches deep; the portico is 13 feet 8 inches long, and 7 feet 6 inches wide; the height of the façade is 18 feet 4 inches.

The façades of these porticoes are very elegant. In their forms we can clearly trace the origin of the Egyptian propylons. That of No. 3. Plate VII. consists of a doorway 3 feet wide, and the doorposts 6 inches wide. Above the door is an architrave, over which is a square beading, and over it, as in Egyptian edifices, rises a cornice ornamented with the globe and wings. The door is 11 feet 6 inches high, and, including the architrave and cornice, 14 feet. The buttresses, on each side of the door, have a slight inclination inwards, but not so much as the Egyptian propylons. They measure at their base 7 feet 6 inches, at their summit 7 feet; others, 5 feet by 4 feet 8 inches and 5 feet by 4 feet 10 inches. These measurements include the square beading at the angles. In Egyptian architecture this beading would be round. The square form here adopted, being more simple, affords another reason for supposing that the first idea of this great ornament to the Egyptian temples originated in Ethiopia. The height of this portico is 11 feet 4 inches: that of the pylons of all the porticoes nearly the same, whatever may be the height of the pyramids; but the length and width of the porticoes seem to vary in proportion to the size of the pyramids. At the extremity of most of these porticoes, opposite the entrance, is the representation of a monolithic temple, ornamented with sculpture, all very much defaced.

[73]It is evident that, from motives of curiosity, or perhaps avarice, attempts have been made to open many of the pyramids, but without success. From the appearance of those which have been partially broken into, I do not perceive the slightest probability that any of them contain galleries. Probably they are constructed over wells in which the bodies are deposited. That they are places of sepulture cannot be doubted, from their position, number, and, most particularly, from the subjects of the sculpture on the walls, which I will presently describe. One of the porches or porticoes is most interestingly curious, the roof being arched, in a regular masonic style, with what may be called a keystone. (See Plate VII.) This arch consists of four and five stones alternately; but, notwithstanding this irregularity, the principle is the same, the stones being held together only by lateral pressure. I trust to be able to establish, beyond dispute, that the arch has its origin in Ethiopia. The style of the sculpture in this portico, and the hieroglyphic names of kings on porticoes ornamented in a similar style, being, as I hope to prove, much more ancient than any in Egypt, where there is no specimen of a stone arch constructed in so regular a manner, we may consider such proficiency in architectural knowledge as a decided proof of the advanced state of the arts, at a very remote period, in this country.[15]

A question which has long engaged the attention of literary men is, whether the Ethiopians derived their knowledge of the arts from the Egyptians, or the latter from the former. One of these hypotheses must be admitted, as the similarity of the style evidently denotes a common origin. These pyramids belong, without doubt, to the remotest age. No edifice, perhaps, is better calculated to resist the ravages of time, or the destructive efforts of man, than the pyramid; particularly when constructed, as these are, without any[74] chambers in the interior. In a country where earthquakes are unknown, little rain falls, and the wind is seldom violent, ages must elapse before these vast masses of stone could be much dilapidated, unless buried by the desert, or carried away by man as materials for other buildings. The porticoes even of the pyramids that are standing, although adapted to their proportions, are almost all injured, and most of them destroyed. There are no symptoms of fanatical violence having been exercised on what remains. Their ruined and defaced condition must be entirely attributed to their great antiquity.[16]

The sculpture is in a very peculiar style, which can scarcely be called good: the large figures, in particular, display a certain rotundity of form which I never observed in any Egyptian sculpture. The smaller figures have also this peculiarity; but, from their dimensions, it is not quite so perceptible, at least not so striking. The hieroglyphics are very much defaced; indeed, those I have copied are almost all that remain. The Ethiopians did not group their hieroglyphics so well as the Egyptians: their striking deficiency, in this respect, proves either a great corruption from the Egyptian style, or, most probably, a great improvement made by the latter on the Ethiopian invention. This is the more extraordinary, as Diodorus informs us that the knowledge of hieroglyphics was, in Egypt, confined to the priests: but that, in Ethiopia, they were understood by all.

To any one who, like me, has made a long study of Egyptian monuments, the style of the sculpture, even in the absence of any known name, is generally sufficient to determine its epoch. This fact, of which those travellers who have spent any length of time in Egypt will be fully aware, may give additional[75] weight to my opinion of this sculpture. It is all executed in basso relievo, with the exception of the hieroglyphics, which are in intaglio. The style is certainly by no means equal to the best at Thebes. It is unlike the style of the age of Osirtesen, the Thothmes, Rameses II. (Augustan age), Rameses III. (first decline), the florid style during the reign of Psammitichus, or the clumsy inelegant productions of the Persian (I refer to the sculpture in the temple of Darius in the Oasis Magna), Ptolemaic, or Roman dynasties. There is no resemblance to any of these styles, or appearance of its being a corruption from them. The ornaments, on the fragments which still exist, are all evidently peculiar to the country. Of the few that still remain, many are not found in Egypt, and appear to represent the rites of a religion much more simple and pure than the corrupted Egyptian mythology. They bear the stamp of originality, and I should say, therefore, that the Ethiopian style is antecedent to the others; that it is the earliest, though not the best.

“The Ethiopians,” says Diodorus, “describe the Egyptians as one of their colonies led into Egypt by Osiris. They pretend, also, that Egypt, at the commencement of the world, was nothing but a morass; and that the inundations of the Nile, carrying down a great quantity of the alluvial soil of Ethiopia, had at length filled it up, and made it a part of the continent; and we see,” he says, “at the mouth of the Nile, a particularity which seems to prove that the formation of Egypt is the work of the river. After the inundation, we remark that the sea has repelled on the shore large masses of the alluvial soil, and that the land is increased.” Many writers on Egypt have confirmed this statement of Diodorus. The gradual increase of the depth of soil around different antiquities enabled the French savants, unassisted by the science of hieroglyphics, to decide, in many instances with tolerable accuracy, the date of their construction. The depth of the alluvial soil has ever been, and still continues, increasing; and as this progressive[76] increase may, in every instance, be ascertained, there must have been a period when there was little or none; when Egypt was a mere morass, or rather a desert. The great population, power, riches, and civilisation of the Egyptians astonish us, particularly as we know that their prosperity was almost entirely derived from agriculture, and that the fertility of the land was produced altogether by the periodical overflowings of the Nile. These spread abundance and happiness over the country, created numberless beautiful islands, and changed into a smiling, luxuriant valley what was originally a morass, or, more properly speaking, an arid desert.

The first cause, then, of all this fruitfulness was Ethiopia. No one, I think, will conceive it probable that a country originally possessing such advantages could have been long unselected by the descendants of Noah. Herodotus also calls the Ethiopians aboriginal. Considering, then, the rapidity with which man multiplies in a hot climate where no Malthusian restraints operate, and in the full enjoyment of the ease and abundance which so rich a soil must have secured to them, I think it not unreasonable to conclude that Ethiopia, even before Egypt emerged from the Nile, was peopled by a numerous and powerful race. I cannot conceive that a country possessing such agricultural and other advantages—and probably, on that account, the resort of surrounding and less favoured nations—could long remain poor. Riches would introduce a taste for elegance, and afford encouragement to invention; hence the arts would derive their origin. The population increasing, while the land, owing to the spoliations of the river, diminished in extent and richness, the necessity of emigration became obvious. At the command of their oracle, as was their custom (see Herodotus, ii. 139.), they quitted their[77] homes and proceeded along the course of the river; settling in the lower valley of the Nile: they would plant there the religion, arts, and knowledge of their country. This conclusion is confirmed by the following strong passage from Diodorus, proving historically what is my own conviction from the examination of their monumental remains. “It is from the Ethiopians,” says he, “that the Egyptians learned to honour their kings as gods, to bury their dead with so much pomp; and their sculpture and their writing (hieroglyphics) had their origin in Ethiopia.”[18]

The following is a description of the most important pieces of sculpture which I found on the walls of the porticoes. (Plate X. Sculpture.—Meroe.)

The principal figure in this plate is a queen, plainly attired in a long robe, tight at the neck and ankles, and, what is not usual in Egyptian sculpture, closely fitted to the legs. The whole figure is singularly dissimilar to those represented in the sculptures of Egypt. It is strongly marked by corpulency, a quality still so desired by Eastern beauties; a curious circumstance, since this rotundity of form, which is the distinguishing feature of Ethiopian sculpture, and which, making its figures more bulky, and, perhaps, clumsy, than the Egyptian, is nevertheless rather pleasing to the eye, and, I think, more natural. I made this drawing with the camera lucida, in order to give the figure exactly, without any exaggeration. It will be observed that there are defects in the proportions, similar and as numerous as in Egyptian sculpture; for instance, the faulty manner of drawing the eye, the shortness of the arms, and the form not being fully made out. This queen has in one hand the lash of Osiris, and in the other a lotus flower. She is on the seat having the form of a lion, which differs very little from the one we often see on the walls of the temples[78] of Egypt. Her sandals greatly resemble some specimens I have seen at Thebes, and are not unlike those the peasants here now wear. She is seated under a canopy, the top of which is decorated with the common Egyptian ornament of the heads and necks of serpents.

Opposite to her have been placed three rows of figures, the first of which is quite destroyed; the second is injured, but sufficiently entire to render all the hieroglyphics and figures intelligible. The first represents a female pouring out libations to the queen. The vase into which the liquid is represented as falling has a shape which I have never seen in Egypt. This figure has the same rotundity of form, though, from the small scale, it is less conspicuous in my drawing. Behind this are six smaller figures or divinities. The first, from his attributes, and also the hieroglyphics, is the god Thoth, with both hands raised. The next is Horus, with two vases in his hands, from one of which he is apparently pouring water upon plants in two vases, on a stand which has nearly the form of a lotus-flower. Anubis is the next divinity, and he also has a vase in his hand. On one side of this latter figure is a vase, and on the other the lotus flower-stand. After these figures is Kneph, behind whom is a rude and ugly-shaped vase: then follow two figures very much defaced. From the hieroglyphics, one of them must be Seb, but those of the other I am not acquainted with. The only figure discernible in the third row is Anubis, pouring libations. This plate then exhibits four of the divinities generally represented in the judgment-scenes and mysteries of the dead. Thoth, Horus, Anubis, and Kneph present offerings to the queen, the occupant of the tomb.

The consideration of the hieroglyphics of this and the other sculptures on the tombs of Meroe I will defer until another opportunity; only remarking, that the composition of the groups is rather inferior to that in the Egyptian edifices, and that the names in the ovals are unknown. I must also state that it appears to me that[79] there is the name of Meroe in the last row of the tablet, before the queen. There is the hieroglyphic of three hills, emblematical of land; the plough and the disk, which, with the vowels generally omitted, may be read, land of Mero, or, in Coptic, Ⲙⲉ ⲢⲎ, “dilectus Sol,” not an inappropriate name. I have an imperfect drawing (given me by Sir William Gell) of a coin found by Mr. Ruppell, on one side of which is a boat and the three long lines, emblematical of the inundation. Above the boat are, apparently, the same two hieroglyphics of the plough and disk, which I conceive to be the name of the capital of Ethiopia.

Plate XI. This exhibits a subject more interesting. There has seemingly been a figure, similar to the queen (in Plate X.), on a lion-formed seat, but it is now too much defaced to discover exactly whether it has been a king or a queen. The style of the sculpture is, however, evidently Ethiopian. The centre of this group, also, is divided into three rows. The highest contains a representation similar to part of the great procession in the portico of Medenet Abou, at Thebes. In this interesting little fragment we have a proof that the Egyptians derived even their religious ceremonies from the Ethiopians. Although this row of figures is exceedingly injured, I distinguished clearly the jackal, ibis, and hawk standards, carried by priests shaved, and with long robes, like those in the procession at Medenet Abou; thus confirming what Diodorus says, that “the priests in Ethiopia observe the same order and the same customs as the Egyptians. Those who are devoted to the worship of the gods purify themselves, shave, and dress, in the same manner.” Following these standard-bearers is a curious figure of Anubis and four priests bearing a boat, but almost defaced. I cannot agree with those who suppose that this procession alludes to the expeditions of the Ethiopians, undertaken at the command of their oracle, or that it is as Heeren calls it the oracle ship. I consider it rather a religious type, emblematical of[80] the passage of the soul into immortality; the voyage to “the undiscovered land, from whose bourne no traveller returns.”

In the same row of this plate we have Isis, Osiris, Horus, and Thoth. The addition of the two former is important, when we consider that they are in a real Ethiopian edifice. Osiris is represented, as at Thebes, as president of Amenti, under the figure of a mummy; his lash in his hand, and the head-dress of the globe and feathers, &c.

In the third row, Isis, with the head-dress of the hieroglyphic called the throne, is caressing a hawk on a pedestal; the type of her son Horus. The third row contains a variety of elegant vases. We have here the true origin of many that were once thought Greek, and only recently acknowledged to be Egyptian. The large figure, offering with one hand a vase of incense, and with the other pouring libations, is remarkable for his short girdle, made of the skin of a lion. This is another proof of the originality of the style. The common Egyptian and Ethiopian lion-formed seat had also, very probably, its origin here, where lions abounded. If in Egypt now, so thinly inhabited (compared to what it formerly was), there are none of these animals, it cannot be supposed that they existed there when the population was so much denser. Diodorus says, that, as there was no wool in Ethiopia, the inhabitants covered their nakedness with the skins of beasts; and the Ethiopians, under Arsamenes (Herod. vii. 69.), are described as clothed with the skins of panthers and lions. Strabo also says that some of them only wear a cincture of skins, the sheep being without wool. The ornament at the bottom of this plate is unique, representing serpents standing erect, with arms and hands, in which they are each holding a feather, the symbol of truth. I have never seen this representation in Egypt, but it reminds me of some of the subjects in the tombs of the kings. The ornament at the top of this plate, representing[81] stars, that is, the heavens, is constantly seen in Egypt, and is also, seemingly, of Ethiopian derivation.

Plate XII. (the third of Sculpture) represents the inner tablet, or the three rows of figures, in a subject upon the opposite wall, and is connected with the fragments of two figures, and adorned with decorations defaced, but apparently so precisely the same as Plate XI. that I have thought it unnecessary to repeat them. The smaller figures in this subject are also less perfect. In the first row is the fragment of a figure certainly meant for Osiris; before him may be distinguished four very small divinities, perhaps the genii of Amenti, and a lion, seated on a pedestal, the executioner of justice. In the same row is a curious group of four hogs. I have been told that a representation of these animals once existed on a tomb at Thebes; but this is the first time I have seen them sculptured on any edifice in the valley of the Nile. In the second row is a pedestal, upon which is the model of a monolithic temple. On one side of the latter is a goose, and on the other a hawk, emblematical of the divinities Seb and Horus; after which there is a representation of a tree, with a figure on each side, followed by Thoth, with his hands raised towards the figure of a mummy: the head of the latter is defaced; but its shape is important, as proving that the Ethiopians were acquainted with the art of embalming. The third row contains a pedestal, or altar, on which three figures are seated. One with the globe and horns is Isis; the third, Horus; the other, is defaced: behind these is a large twisted serpent. In the second row of this tablet, and also in Plate XI., is an altar or pedestal, on which are cakes of bread, and in the midst of them the flowers of the lotus; indicating, I conceive, that they are the bread of that plant. The figure with a ceinture of lion’s skin, in both these subjects, is pouring libations on the flowers, symbolical, perhaps, of the reign of the king, who, like the inundation of the river, had spread abundance and prosperity over the land. There were some other fragments on the[82] porticoes, and in one I observed a balance, and Thoth and Horus weighing the actions of the deceased before the judge, Osiris; a common subject on the papyrus, and which is also seen on the walls of the Temple of Athor at Thebes, &c.

At the extremity of each portico, as before observed, is the representation of a monolithic temple, above which are the traces of a funeral boat filled with figures, but all too defaced to be distinctly made out. In the centre of each boat is the sphere in the usual concave socket; and I was able, with much difficulty, to distinguish the divinities Kneph and Anubis. On each side of the boat is a pedestal on which is the bird with a human face representing the soul: one has a sphere on its head. Diodorus mentions that some of the Ethiopians preserved the bodies of their relations in glass (probably alabaster) cases, in order to have them always before their eyes. These porticoes may have been used to contain such cases.

I have carefully described this interesting and magnificent cemetery; but how shall I attempt to express the feelings of the traveller on treading such hallowed ground? One who, in passionate admiration for the arts, had visited the chief galleries of Europe, gazed upon the breathing image of divinity in the Apollo of the Vatican, or the deep expression of the most poetical of statues, the Dying Gladiator of the Capitol; who had beheld and felt the pictorial creations of a Raphael and a Correggio, and, with delight, contemplated Grecian, Roman, and modern sculpture, could not be unmoved at finding himself on the site of the very metropolis where those arts had their origin. The traveller who has seen the architectural antiquities of Rome, and has admired the magnificent use that nation has made of the arch, making it the chief ornament of their baths, palaces, and temples, would be further deeply interested at finding here the origin of that discovery. These emotions would be felt with peculiar force by one who, like myself, had been fortunate enough to trace art through her[83] earliest creations,—from the splendid Gothic edifices of the north to the ruins of the Eternal City—from Rome to Magna Græcia—from the magnificent Temple of Neptune at Pæstum to the still purer antiquities of Sicily, particularly at Girgenti, where nature and art seem to have vied with each other—from that interesting island to the Morea and the city of Minerva, where the knowledge of the arts, sown in the most genial soil, produced the perfection of elegance, chasteness, and magnificence. But the seeds of the knowledge of the Greeks were derived from Egypt; and the Egyptians received their civilisation from the Ethiopians, and from Meroe, where I now am writing. The beautiful sepulchres of that city afford satisfactory evidence of the correctness of the historical records. Where a taste for the arts had reached to such perfection, we may rest assured that other intellectual pursuits were not neglected, nor the sciences entirely unknown. Now, however, her schools are closed for ever, without a vestige of them remaining. Of the houses of her philosophers, not a stone rests upon another; and where civilisation and learning once reigned, ignorance and barbarism have reassumed the sway.

These pyramids are of sandstone, the quarries of which are in the range of hills to the east. The stone is rather softer than the Egyptian, which, added to the great antiquity, may account for the very dilapidated state of most of these ruins; and also for the sculpture and hieroglyphics being so defaced. Time, and the burning rays of a tropical sun, have given them a brownish red tint, in some parts nearly black. As the operation of many ages is required to make this change on a light-coloured sandstone, a further proof is afforded of the great antiquity of the monuments. The stones being small, and easily removed, it is fortunate that the chief group of pyramids is so far distant from the Nile; otherwise, like those on the plain, near the river, a great proportion of them might have been carried away as materials for the erection of more modern edifices.

This, then, is the Necropolis, or City of the Dead. But where[84] was Meroe, its temples and palaces? A large space, about 2000 feet in length, and the same distance from the river, strewed with burnt brick and with some fragments of walls, and stones similar to those used in the erection of the pyramids, formed, doubtless, part of that celebrated site. The idea that this is the exact situation of the city is strengthened by the remark of Strabo, that the walls of the habitations were built of bricks: Εν δε ταις πολεσιν αἱ οικησεις εκ φοινικινων σχιζων διαπλεκομεναι και τοιχων εκ πλινθων. These indicate, without doubt, the site of that cradle of the arts which distinguish a civilised from a barbarous society. Of the birthplace of the arts and sciences, the wild natives of the adjacent villages have made a miserable burying-place: of the city of the learned—its “cloud-clapt towers,” its “gorgeous palaces,” its “solemn temples,” there is “left not a rack behind.” The sepulchres alone of her departed kings have fulfilled their destination of surviving the habitations which their philosophy taught them to consider but as inns, and are now fast mouldering into dust. As at Memphis, scarcely a trace of a palace or a temple is to be seen. In this once populous plain I saw the timid gazelles fearlessly pasturing. The hyenas and wolves abound in the neighbouring hills. This morning Signor B. met a man with the head of one which he was carrying in triumph to his village: he said that he had been attacked at once by three small ones when alone, and with no weapon but his lance. The small villages of Bagromeh[19], south of the ruins, consist of circular cottages with thatched conical roofs. The peasants have numerous flocks, which they send to pasture on the plain. On the banks of the river I observed cotton, dourah, and barley. Such is the present state of Meroe. It is an ample requital for my toilsome journey, to have been the first to bring to England accurate architectural drawings, &c. of all the remains of the ancient capital of Ethiopia, that city which will ever live in the grateful recollection of those who love the arts.

[85]March 6. My rais informed me, this morning, that he could wait no longer; that his orders from the Mahmoor were only to show us the ruins; that he knew the governor wanted the boat; and that he would not stay another night on any consideration. I should have wished to have remained a few days more at this interesting place, particularly with the view of making some excavations, but I must confess I had no great hopes of the latter being of much avail. Since the enterprising French traveller, M. Cailliaud was here, the desert must have made great encroachments on the ruins in the plain, as I saw nothing of the traces and almost plan, of a temple which he has marked in his General Plate, No. XXXI.

It will be alleged that there are a great many discrepancies between my architectural and picturesque views and those of M. Cailliaud. I have only to remark that the former are by M. Bandoni, a most skilful Italian architect and painter of acknowledged reputation, whose sufficient recommendation to me was the patronage of that most distinguished of British antiquarians, Sir William Gell. The picturesque views are drawn by myself, with the utmost care and attention, and with the camera lucida; so that I can vouch for the correct position of every stone. M. Cailliaud has given several pieces of sculpture from the propylons. I observed that the façades of two of the porticoes were ornamented with sculpture, representing a king sacrificing prisoners—a subject so often seen in Egypt: they were very much injured; but had they struck me as being so extraordinary as he has represented them, I should certainly have drawn them separately. The figure which appears in my camera view (Plate IX.) has none of those peculiarities. The variations in the directions of the pyramids are most accurately marked; for I was very particular in my directions to Mr. B. on that subject. M. Cailliaud has left me the opportunity of being the first to present to the public several interesting pieces of sculpture, and numerous tablets which decorate the interior of the porticoes.

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[86]CHAPTER VII.

DEPARTURE FROM THE RUINS. — NUMEROUS VILLAGES, ONE CALLED MEROUEER. — SHENDY. — FORTIFIED HOUSE OF THE MELEK. — INSIGNIFICANCE OF THE PRESENT CAPITALS OF ETHIOPIA. — POPULATION OF SHENDY. — BAZAAR. — PRICES OF CAMELS, SLAVES, ETC. — MANNER OF TRANSACTING BUSINESS. — WOMEN OF SHENDY. — SLAVE SYSTEM. — POWER OF THE ANCIENT MELEKS. — THEIR WIVES. — ARMY OF THE PASHA. — DEATH OF ISMAEL PASHA. — METAMMAH. — THE KATSHEF OF THAT PLACE AND HIS COURT. — KATSHEF OF SHENDY.

At five P.M., I left, with great regret, the site of Meroe, and stopped for the night at half past seven. The navigation of the river, in the dark, at this season of the year, is dangerous, on account of the number of rocks. We have passed, this evening, the village of Abukatab, to the west, and on the east a large village called Kabushish, and an island of the same name. We passed Garburiah, a large village to the west, and we are now near El Gililife, a smaller one on the same side. Yesterday, and this morning, I was greatly alarmed for the health of my Dragoman. He has had a most violent dysentery, which I have at last cured with opium and calomel; the former sufficiently strong to keep him asleep. This attack might have been fatal to him had he not possessed a very strong constitution.

March 7. We set sail this morning, at six, with a favourable wind, and passed, at nine, a large village called Meroueer, on the west side. The resemblance to the ancient name is obvious, but there are no remains. At ten we passed the village of Sofra, to the west; at half past ten, the village of Gaher, same side, and the small island of Addadiker. Shortly afterwards, we passed the village of Unukatab, and arrived at Shendy at twelve.

[87]Shendy.—On the eastern banks of the river is one of the old fortified houses of the Meleks, now the residence of the government. I called to pay my respects to the Katshef, but was informed that he was asleep. I proceeded to the town, which is about a mile distant from the river. Burckhardt, by his very detailed account of Shendy, conveys almost an impression that it is a considerable place; but, though the capital of a once important province, that succeeded to all that remains of the commerce of Meroe, as a city it can never have been worthy of much notice. Any of the little towns in Lower and Upper Egypt have ten times more the appearance of a metropolis. The houses are little better than mere hovels; there are no shops, no cafés: the country in the immediate vicinity is wretchedly barren. The town may now contain 600 or 700 houses, and not more than 3000 or 3500 inhabitants. The dwellings are not crowded together, as in the villages of Egypt; they are spacious, and have often interior courts: the streets are wide, and there are in the town several open spaces, or squares, some of which are used as market-places.

[88]It fortunately happened to be the day of the bazaar, which gave me an opportunity of seeing what articles were exposed for sale, and also of observing the Arabs and peasants who attend the market. The most valuable articles offered for sale were camels, dromedaries, and slaves. The price of a male negro is from 10 to 20 dollars: they are preferred young, being then more docile and less lethargic than at a maturer age. Female slaves, when old, are valued according to their acquirements: when young, being destined for the harem, they rank according to their personal attractions, and vary from 30 to 100 dollars. Abyssinians, when young and beautiful, as they often are, bring from 60 to 100 dollars. Camels were selling for 9 and 10 dollars each,—the best, 12 and 14; dromedaries, 12 and 20; and even 50 dollars for a high-bred Bishareen. There was a great show of oxen with humps on their shoulders, like those of ancient Egypt, as they are always represented on the walls. (See the one in the view of a Dongolah cottage, Plate XXXVI.) There were also sheep and goats in the bazaar: the sheep, 6 to 9 piastres (1s. 6d. to 2s. 3d.), skin included. The price of the goats, if they yield much milk, 10 piastres (2s. 6d.). I remarked several peasants selling a coarse common kind of goat’s-milk cheese, for which there is apparently a great demand. The Cairo merchants bring a variety of articles: white cotton dresses; cutlery of a very inferior quality, such as twopenny knives, or razors, which sell here for fivepence; soap; Abyssinian coffee (very good); beads; shells; small glass mirrors; kohl (antimony), to tint their eyelids, and hennah to colour the hands of the swarthy beauties; and a variety of spices and essences.

Their manner of dealing is peculiar. When I asked the price of a camel (for I thought of buying some for my journey homewards), they would not name one, but asked me how much I would give. I made an offer for a dromedary to a man, who refused it, but still declined saying how much he would demand. I soon gave[89] up such a tedious process of making a bargain. I observed some good specimens of the Shendyan beauties. (See Plate XVI.) They have their hair twisted in tresses and hanging down on each side of their faces; their dress is of coarse materials, but flowing, graceful, and generally adjusted with much taste and elegance.

Shendy, Berber, Dar Shageea, Dongolah, &c., previous to their submission to the Pasha, had each its own Melek, independent or tributary to the great Melek of Sennaar. Each of the sons of these petty kings had estates assigned to him; but they all acknowledged the head of the family, that is, the reigning Melek, contributed to his support and defence, submitted to his laws and commands, and served him in war. This order of Meleks, or nobles, was most numerous; and they established their power by the same base system alluded to in my account of Berber, and to which I refer with reluctance, as developing the means by which the Meleks obtained political influence in this part of the interior of Africa. Such a profligate, and, fortunately, unique system of family aggrandisement tended obviously to the complete demoralisation of the country. They purchased, or made captive in their wars, female slaves; of which some possessed thirty, others as many as a hundred, and some five hundred. These unfortunate creatures, as already stated, were placed by the meleks in the different villages, and obliged to gratify the avarice of their masters, and earn their own scanty livelihood by the abandonment of their virtue. The only privilege these most wretched of slaves possess is, that when they have paid to the melek a sum equal to their purchase money or present value, the custom of the country precludes him from selling them. It is at his option to sell or not the child to the father. The price of the infant is generally from 150 to 200 piastres. The daughters, when grown up, succeed to their mother’s “heritage of woe.” The compulsion under which these victims act is some apology for this systematic depravity. They pride themselves as superior to the common almæ, and are not[90] considered in the same light by the virtuous women in the village, who never admit the almæ into their houses, or hold any intercourse with them. These slaves, on the contrary, are not only permitted to visit them and join in their occupations and festivals, but are admitted to their friendship. They are allowed to be present at their wedding and funeral ceremonies, though not to join in the dance. The sons of these slaves, as already noticed, are sometimes sold, particularly when the melek is in want of money; but generally they are brought up to cultivate the ground of their chief, and, when necessity requires, rally around his standard, and accompany him to battle. From their earliest infancy, they are entirely devoted to the despotic will of their melek; evincing great attachment to his person, and zeal in the execution of his commands, as the only means by which they can hope for emancipation. This singular kind of family connection may, perhaps, account for the supreme authority in this country having been so seldom disturbed, and for the rare occurrence of those revolutions so common in such petty uncivilised states. The result of the system was, that the melek had always a large force of slaves and dependants, besides those of the meleks his kinsmen, who were also implicitly devoted to his will, and deeply interested in maintaining the peace and security of the kingdom.

The meleks were the only aristocracy of the country. Each, before the Pasha’s domination, took four wives; and many, regardless of the limit set by the Koran, even more. They tell me that Melek Tumbol of Argo has had twenty-one.[20] Their wives, who are always daughters of meleks, pass their time in the harem; for it is considered a degradation to have a son by a slave or woman of low rank, or to allow their wives to work. The Pasha, by depressing the meleks, has diminished,[91] but not destroyed, this system of slavery; and at some future period it may be the means of exciting a combined effort to expel his descendants. Serving, as some of the Shageea slaves do, in his army, they have, of course, learned the use of fire-arms, and could turn them against their oppressors. There are 500 of the Shageea tribe in the pay of the Pasha. But, perhaps aware that the security of their dominion over this country consists in their discipline, and the superiority of their arms, the government have not admitted into their army any of the Arab tribes of this vicinity; and these Shageeas being at a distance, near Habeesh, little danger is to be apprehended from them now: indeed, so long as they are so far distant with the army, they may be considered as hostages for the fidelity of their province. Hourshid Bey, the governor of Sennaar, besides the 500 Shageea slaves, has also under his command nearly 5000 men, consisting of Mograbins, from Lower Egypt, Fellaheen, and Turks. With this force, he extends every campaign the Pasha’s dominion on the Blue River, and sends every year never less than 500, and often as many as 3000 slaves, the trophies of his victories, to Cairo.

Before the conquest of Ismael Pasha, Shendy, I understand, was rather more populous: but this was the town where that unfortunate prince met his fate. The circumstances connected with this event, according to the information I obtained here, differ, in some respects, from those which have been stated by other travellers. It might seem that the accounts obtained by those who passed immediately after his death were likely to be most correct: but often the contrary is the case; for events in the course of time have new light thrown upon them, and the rashness and imprudence of Ismael Pasha were naturally glossed over at the moment. He came from Sennaar to Shendy with about ten Mamelukes. The Meleks Nimr (tiger) of Shendy, and Messayad of Metammah (a eunuch who once belonged to Sultan Foddal of Darfour), came to pay their homage to him. The Pasha demanded[92] of Nimr a subsidy, to the value of 100,000 dollars, in money, slaves, and cattle: Nimr, in no very polite terms, declared his inability, when the Pasha, in a fit of passion, struck him with his pipe. Nimr, enraged at this insult, was on the point of drawing his sabre and attacking the Pasha; but Melek Messayad pacified him, advising him, in the dialect of the Bishareen, which they both understood, to delay his revenge until evening, and at present to promise a compliance with the exorbitant requisition. The two chiefs, after leaving the presence, ordered their slaves and people to prepare a quantity of wood. The Khasnar Dar Bey of the Pasha observed these preparations, and was overheard by an Arab advising the Prince to effect his escape: but the latter, with the pride peculiar to the Turks, replied, “Am I not a Pasha? and what Arab dare touch me?” A few hours after dark, they surrounded the house with faggots, set fire to them, and the unfortunate Prince and the Mamelukes who were with him perished in the flames. Nimr fled up the country, married a daughter of a king of Habeesh, and is still the inveterate enemy of the Turks. The same night Melek Messayad fell upon the few troops that were stationed at Metammah, and massacred them. Messayad was afterwards killed by the Deftar Dar Bey, as were also a great number of the Shendyans, suspected to be connected with the murder of the Prince. In consequence of this event, the government have made Metammah, on the opposite side of the river, their chief place of residence, and several of the inhabitants of Shendy have removed thither.

Metammah, situated one hour’s walk from the river, is a much more desolate-looking place than even Shendy. You see streets full of sand, scarcely an inhabitant, no brio, no bazaar: the houses are common hovels. Such are the present capitals of Ethiopia. The only habitable abode is one of the fortified castles of the Sheakhs, now occupied by a Katshef, who commands this part of the province. I paid him a visit, but found[93] him a stupid fellow, and could procure no information from him on any subject, especially concerning the locality of the antiquities in the desert I was anxious to visit. His house presented a complete contrast to that of the governor of Berber, being filthy in the extreme, so that I was almost afraid to sit down on his divan. The servants who presented the coffee were the most wretchedly dressed fellows I have seen in the country. The conversation was chiefly about backsheesh (presents), and the spirit they exhibited, in discussing the prices of the camels I required for my journey into the desert, was very disgusting. The Katshef’s son entered the room, and fired off an English pistol at the window,—a Turkish hint that another pistol would be acceptable. The Katshef asked me to stop and dine with him; but really the appearance of the place was not sufficiently promising to induce me to accept his offer. He ordered me a horse to convey me back to my tent, and gave me a dirty scoundrel as a guide who did not know the road. The moon had not risen; and, it being extremely dark, we missed the track in crossing the plain: fortunately, the light of a fire, which I knew came from a hut near my boat, served me as a guide. The horse, several times, nearly fell, in consequence of the roughness of the ground. On arriving at my tent, I gave the urchin three piastres, with which he was not satisfied, although the clothes, or rather rags, on his back were not worth half the sum.

March 8. I returned this morning to Shendy, and waited on the Katshef, an old retired officer, not now in the employ of the Pasha; but, having been useful in his day, he receives his pay, and lives here in good style. He gave us an excellent dinner: the most remarkable dish was a preparation of meat with raib, a kind of sour milk, which is very refreshing in this climate; he also assisted us in making the necessary preparations for our excursion into the desert.

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[94]CHAPTER VIII.

DEPARTURE FROM SHENDY. — DIFFICULTIES. — DESERT. — VISIT FROM AND ANECDOTES OF LIONS. — IMMENSE RUINS. — CONFUSION OF THE PLAN. — BUILT BY BAD ARCHITECTS. — DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRINCIPAL TEMPLE. — STYLE OF THE SCULPTURE. — OTHER RUINS. — SINGULAR SITUATION OF THE RUINS. — THE PURPOSE FOR WHICH THEY WERE CONSTRUCTED. — THEIR PROBABLE AGE.

March 9. We left Shendy later than we intended, having been delayed by the following little difficulties. I had engaged from the government six camels, with three drivers, of which they only sent me one driver. As I found I should lose a day, or perhaps two, in going back to Metammah, and there were said to be none procurable here, I was forced to yield this point. I had also stipulated for a Turkish soldier, who accompanied Cailliaud, and for a habeer (guide), and had agreed to give twelve piastres per day for these two persons. Before setting out, I asked the soldier, “where was the habeer?” “I am the habeer,” he said. “Where, then,” asked I, “is the soldier?” “Oh,” said he, “I am soldier and habeer both.” I was resolved not to start without another, my own men not being sufficient to load the camels. After a long dispute, he at length procured me an Arab. This is a specimen of the little annoyances to which travellers are generally liable in dealing with Turks. The desert to-day has had the appearance of a shrubbery, being richly covered with long yellow grass, acacias, tamarinds, and thorns, and enlivened with numerous herds of gazelles. Every two or three minutes we saw six or eight, but so wild that our attempts to approach them were fruitless.

Ruins of Wady Owataib, or Mecaurat.—March 10. We started[95] this morning at six, and at eleven arrived at these interesting ruins. We passed, at about nine, a range of soft sandstone hills, which run from east to west.

I was surprised to find in this situation, which may be called the interior of the Desert, such extensive remains of antiquity. They consist of an edifice, containing temples, courts, corridors, &c. destined for purposes not religious only, but civil, domestic, or military. After taking a general survey, I returned to my tent for my portfolio, pencils, &c. My dragoman met me, with a bewildered look, and communicated to me intelligence which was any thing but agreeable. A man, who was driving cattle, the only person we have met to-day, came and asked my servants, who were pitching the tent, if they were not afraid of lions, as they seemed to be preparing to pass the night amongst the ruins. He told them that he brought his cattle here to pasture only during the day, when the lions are asleep in their dens among the mountains, but through the night they prowl all over this part of the plain; and only six nights ago four of them had killed three of his cattle, within 200 yards of our tent. He showed them the spot where their bones lay, and advised us immediately to quit this place, and remove either to the Nile, or to a distant mountain, whither he was going, and where we should be in safety. These tidings caused no slight consternation in my little caravan; some repented having come, others wished to return immediately; all seemed dismayed at the idea of passing the night exposed to such unpleasant visiters. Was I then to leave the antiquities of Meroe, and abandon the hope of being able to procure any further memorials of their magnificence? There were only two alternatives: to return with the mortification of having failed in one of the great objects of my journey, and still, as we could not arrive before night, perhaps incur the same danger; or to take the necessary precautions for defence in case of being attacked by these animals. I chose the latter course, and[96] made my men collect all the wood that could be found, to keep up fires during the night. I sent my dragoman and the Turkish soldier towards the neighbouring hills, to see if they could discover any traces of them. After an hour they returned, and said they had seen none. The fact was, my dragoman did not know their footprints, and the Turk concealed the truth. Scarcely had I finished an address to my artist and servants, endeavouring to assure them that, after this intelligence, we should, with proper precautions, be perfectly safe, when, looking down, I perceived, in my very tent, the distinct traces of a lion; but I put my foot upon them, and said nothing. I could discover no other marks about the ruins; but a very light wind is sufficient to efface the impression on a loose sandy desert like this. This evening I have established a watch, and kept it myself five hours. My servants are sleeping on the ground, according to their custom, and have taken the precaution to form the camels into a sort of fortification, by tying them down in a circle round themselves. They are now all sleeping soundly, unconscious of danger, except my habeer, who has fastened the heel of his camel to his own leg, knowing well that the instinct of that creature (trembling and restive whenever a lion is near) will warn him of danger, and at the same time the animal will be prevented from flying off and escaping without his master.

March 11. I had not been long asleep, during the watch of my servants and artist, when I was suddenly roused. The Turk had seen two lions among the ruins, within 100 yards of my tent, and had fired his gun to frighten them away. I immediately ordered additional fires to be lighted: shortly afterwards, the peasant, who had advised us against encamping here, came to us for protection. By the light of the moon he had perceived the approach of two lions, which, he said, were behind him in the plain. I went a short distance from my tent, with the Turk, to reconnoitre, and I heard them roaring at no considerable distance. The[97] roar soon became very distinct, even in my tent, but it did not prevent my falling asleep, as I was dreadfully fatigued by the previous day’s work, the long watch I had made, and the excessive heat. This was yesterday extraordinary for the season, being 110° in the shade (of the temple), though the extreme has been hitherto 98° and 100°. I slept the remainder of the night. This morning we found that the four lions had rambled all over the ruins, and their traces were quite fresh in every part. They had evidently been deterred only by our fires from attacking us. I ascertained them, by their footsteps, to be two males and two females; one of the males must have been very large, the females much smaller.

Every place and country has its danger, but few spread more alarm than this terror of the deserts. Seas and oceans have their tempests, in which vessels are frequently shipwrecked; and, even in smooth water, rocks and shoals send many to a watery grave. The traveller, even on the king’s high road, has sometimes to dread banditti. How many accidents occur even to the citizen on his holyday trips! Thus he who has never quitted his native country, and the traveller in foreign lands, are alike beset with perils; but there are few dangers which cannot be alleviated, often prevented, by prudent and precautionary measures, and which, stripped of the terrors in which heated imaginations have clothed them, present in their reality much that is alarming. By simply keeping up a few fires, the merchants who pass these deserts sleep securely, in defiance of their being infested by the most formidable of all wild beasts. I should, however, state, that instances are mentioned of fires not having this effect, when the lions are excessively pressed by hunger, particularly at the season when they require food for their young. Towards evening (for it is very seldom, if ever, that the lion is seen during the day), one alone has often arrested a large caravan. In some instances they have been known to attack men; but are generally content with an ox or a camel, which they[98] kill, and sometimes, particularly if they have left their females or young in their den, carry away a large part on their shoulders. The number of these animals must increase rapidly every year, for it is very seldom that an instance occurs of one being killed.

They tell me, that a party of twenty peasants went lately to destroy two which had taken a station within a very short distance of the river, and committed great ravages among the flocks. The men were armed with lances, shields, and sabres. They traced the lions to their den, and began lighting fires, to drive them out. The female darted past them immediately. The male remained some time, until he could no longer endure the smoke, when he began to roar in a most terrific manner; he then rushed out, infuriated, upon the peasants: not one, however, of these gallant assailants had the courage to fling his lance, but each, without any consideration for the fate of his friends, sought his own security in flight. Fire-arms only are of use against these formidable animals, but the Italian proverb is said to be true of them:—Il lione ferito alla morte non s’avvilisce ancora. They are generally seen two and four together, often more, but always in pairs. They are very rarely disturbed; and, as no attempts have been made to exterminate them, their number is said to have increased considerably during these last few years. This may be considered the place where their haunts begin. They infest the road to Sennaar and the west side of the Atbara; but travellers incur less danger in the beaten track of the caravans than when, like us, they deviate from it.

The reader will recollect that, at the entrance of this desert, I observed great numbers of gazelles, but for several miles round these ruins and hills I saw none. These timid creatures prefer the risk of approaching the habitations of man, considering the arts of the peasants to destroy them less perilous than the vicinity of the lions. The latter know the places in the plain where the gazelles sleep, and, favoured by the darkness of night, dart upon[99] their victims, whose superior swiftness only avails them when sometimes the roaring of their enemy intimates his approach. The Arabs tell some singularly superstitious tales of the generosity of the lion. The following has been related to me as a fact, by different peasants; but I must confess that, like the generality of Arab tales, it partakes of the marvellous: yet, perhaps, with a mélange of fable, there may be some kind of foundation of truth. They say, that when the lion seizes the cow of a peasant, he will permit the owner to carry away a portion; particularly if he asks for it in the name of his mother, wife, or family, and takes it without showing any fear.—I must apologise to the antiquarian, and perhaps to readers in general, for this long digression from my description of these antiquities, but I promised to give some account, not only of the remains, but also of the present inhabitants of Ethiopia.

The plan (see Plate XIII.) which I give of these ruins was made with the utmost care by my artist, Mr. B., and drawn out on the spot. I can testify for the pains that were taken to render it as accurate as possible. The ruin is too much destroyed for the plan to be perfectly correct, as to the size and situation of some of the doors, and the dimensions of many of the apartments; still, there is all that is necessary to exhibit to the reader the general form of the edifice. Even if all the walls were remaining, without any inscription to elucidate them, it would still be doubtful what this extraordinary mass of building has been. The appearance of the ruins is very imposing, from their immense extent; and I will give a detailed description of them, as they are certainly the most curious and inexplicable I have yet seen in Ethiopia. They consist of chambers, courts, corridors, and temples, in an enclosure or parallelogram, 760 by 660 feet; but in more accurate numbers the entire circumference is 2854 feet. The north-east side is 660 feet long; the north-west, the only side on which there are entrances,—

		Ft.	In.
[100]From the angle to the door		88	0
Width of the door		13	0
To the central entrance		220	6
Width of the central entrance		16	0
Thence to the other entrance		228	0
Width of that entrance		16	0
Thence to the angle		188	0
Total	north-west side	769	6
	south-west side	665	0
	south-east side	760	0
	north-east side	660	0
Total circumference of the edifice		2854	6

On the north-east, south-east, and south-west sides, there are no entrances into the enclosure. The wall on the north-west side cannot be traced accurately through its whole extent. There have apparently been three entrances on this side; the central one, which is the most distinguishable, leads into a large court, 620 feet wide and 144 feet long. Opposite to the central entrance, on the south-east side of the court, is a long narrow corridor, 8 feet wide and 205 feet long, which leads to the principal temple, situated in a court 94 feet long by 85 feet wide. To give an exact idea of the situation of this court, I should state, that from the wall of the court to the enclosure on the south-east side is 106 feet; 165 feet to the enclosure on the south-west side; 204 feet from the north-west and 150 feet from the north-east side. Although not exactly in the centre of the structure, a slight examination of the plan will enable the reader to perceive that, from its situation, size, and the circumstance of the corridors leading into it, that edifice was, evidently, the principal temple: it is 47 feet long, from north-west to south-east; and 40 feet 6 inches broad. The large court, and the corridor from it to the temple, in a line with the[101] central entrance of the enclosure, clearly indicate that the grand entrance was on the west side; and yet it is singular there is no doorway in the temple on that side. There are five entrances into the latter; one on the south-east side, two on the north-east, and two on the south-west. In front of the south-east end have been twelve columns, three feet and a half in diameter, in two rows of six each; before the west end, six columns, and five at each side, not including the columns at the angles: making, altogether, twenty-eight columns. There are the remains of four columns, which ornamented the interior of the temple. In front of it, on the south-east side, is a doorway which leads into a room 20 feet by 26, with two chambers on one side and one on the other; before them is an inclined parapet: an architectural ornament to the façades of temples, of which there are examples even in the best style of Egyptian edifices, such as at Solib. (Plate XL.) The axis of the door leading through this room to the parapet is the same as that of the central edifice into the temple. The circumstance of this inclined parapet wall, and there being a double row of columns only at this end of the temple, prove that it fronted to the south-east.

The court containing the inclined parapet leading into the temple is 125 feet wide and 75 feet long: several doors lead out of it; one to the east into a court of 96 feet long and 165 feet broad, in which is a small temple fronting the south-west. A few rows of steps lead up to a portico which was ornamented with four columns, fragments of which are still remaining. On each side of the door leading from the portico into the temple is a colossal statue, very much mutilated, being now without either head or arms. They are attached to the wall in the Egyptian manner, and they have the attitude of one foot advanced before the other, like the Egyptians. The style of one is tolerably good; the other, that is, the one on the east side of the doorway, is much inferior. They are accurately represented in my drawing. The exterior of this little temple is 53 feet by 45: at the angles[102] is the Egyptian beading. The doorway is ornamented with a twisted serpent on each side. The interior, which consisted of one room, contains the remains of two columns without their capitals. From their situation, there appears to have been originally six: on the walls are some rude scratches, but undoubtedly modern. South of the principal temple is a large court, 258 feet long and 248 feet broad. On the north-east side of the principal temple is a corridor 7 feet wide and 96 feet long, having a north-west direction, whence it turns to the south-east for 45 feet, and leads into a court where there is another small temple: this had also a portico before it, which was ornamented with four columns. The exterior of this temple measures 52 feet by 29. In the interior there are now the remains of four columns, from the position of which there seem to have been originally eight. On the south-west side of the principal temple is a corridor 86 feet long and 12 feet wide, having a south-west direction, whence it turns to the north-west for 20 feet, and leads to some small[103] rooms, and also into a large court 88 feet long, containing two small chambers, in one of which are the fragments of three columns.

I will attempt no further description of this extraordinary edifice. The reader will perceive, from the inspection of the plan (Plate XIII.), how utterly impossible it is to give a more detailed, and, at the same time, clear, description of its various compartments. The confusion of successive rooms, corridors, small and large courts, and temples, together with the total absence of any attempt at regularity, excited my curiosity to find out the nature of this singular construction. It has evidently been built by wretched architects, at different periods, in an age when the art had sadly declined in Ethiopia; but, before alluding to the different surmises concerning the object of its erection, I will first give a detailed description of the principal temple in the centre. The view (Plate XIV.) will give a good idea of its present state of preservation. The columns in Plates XIII., XIV., and vignette, executed architecturally, will sufficiently indicate the style of art: a few fragments of capitals alone remain, and those are on the north-east side of the temple. It will be seen by Plate XIV. that the forms only of several of the capitals are visible, but only one fragment has the appearance of having been finished. (See vignette.) Their form is somewhat similar to that usual in the Ptolemaic age of architecture in Egypt; but the ornaments of the fragment, above alluded to, consist only of parallel lines: whether these terminated in the lotus flower cannot be ascertained, but there certainly is a resemblance, though not complete, to a Ptolemaic capital. Under the capital of this column are seven rows of beading; the rest of the shaft, consisting of five pieces, is fluted, except the lowest stone, which is ornamented with the lotus flower. The style of the fluting is Grecian. The shaft swells out a little towards the lower part, and is rounded off at the bottom. It bears another resemblance[104] to the Egyptian style in the base it rests upon being circular. There remains one fragment (see vignette), of a fluted column with a smooth panel in the centre, in which a wreath is sculptured in imitation of the leaves of the palm tree. Another fragment of a column is ornamented with sculpture, and at the base the triangular ornament not unlike the Egyptian.

The sculpture is in very high relief—not less than 1¾ inch; but the style is decidedly bad: the figures are generally from about 3 to 4 feet in height; and, notwithstanding their defaced condition, I could distinguish that some of them are en face; but the rudeness of the execution of what remains perfect, demonstrates an epoch when the arts had wofully degenerated in this their parent land. At Uffidunia, in Lower Nubia, an edifice well known to be Roman, there is a piece of sculpture on the detached propylon very much in this style. The view (Plate XV.) represents fortuitously almost all the most perfect fragments which now exist; and so completely shows the style of the sculpture, that I regretted the less not having time to make separate[105] drawings, particularly as not a single hieroglyphic remains, or has ever existed, to elucidate the sculpture. I trust, therefore, that the accurate notes I took on the spot, of every fragment I could find, and the specimens of the style in my drawings, will be considered quite sufficient. What sculpture remains, is chiefly on the lower part of two columns and on several fragments which lie scattered about: some of the figures are en face, and some en profile. Notwithstanding their defaced condition, I distinguished the following:—Thriphis with the lion’s head, en profile; the hawk-headed divinity (Horus); two figures, seemingly goddesses, but not very discernible, en face; a divinity with a vase; Kneph, en face, with a globe at his breast; a goddess, en face, in a kind of monolithic temple. On another fragment I discerned a figure presenting offerings with one hand, and the other raised behind his head. On another large fragment, Isis, Horus, and a king were discernible: the ovals of his name seem never to have been filled up. On another fragment I observed a border consisting alternately of a lion and the goddess of truth with outstretched wings. As there are no hieroglyphics, the names of these divinities are, of course, only inferred from the presence of their usual attributes. Except on these fragments of columns in front of the central temple, there are no other remains of sculpture in any part of these ruins, with the exception of the two fragments of colossal statues I have before alluded to as ornamenting the façades of the small temple to the east. There are some other ruins at a short distance from the great enclosure, but they are of little importance. One of the rooms contains the remains of six columns, on one of which is sculptured an elephant destroying a dog with his trunk, and on another a winged lion is represented killing a man.

I have now only to advert to the singular situation of these ruins, their probable use, and the age when they were most probably erected. In a direct line, they are distant from the river six hours’ journey, which may be sixteen or eighteen miles. About[106] a quarter of a mile from the ruin, I saw three or four blocks of stones, but no indication of their having formed part of an aqueduct, and there are no traces of wells; but both may have existed, and be now entirely buried by the sand of the desert. I could not, however, observe or hear of any decided traces of aqueducts between the ruin and the river. The occupants of the edifice may have been supplied with water by geerbahs, as the peasants of Metammah and other villages distant from the river are at this day.[21] If the edifice was only used as a residence during the season of the malaria, the rain water might have been preserved in cisterns and in the sacred lakes; but rain does not invariably fall here every year, and would afford, therefore, only a precarious supply. Those, however, who constructed such a building would certainly know how to sink a well, and, from the appearance of the ground, the trees, and the vicinity of the mountains, I do not conceive it would be a very laborious undertaking to find water.

Cailliaud considered this edifice to have been a college of priests; and Professor Heeren supposes it to be the celebrated Ammonium. I think neither of these suppositions probable. With regard to the first, we know that the priests were always surrounded with representations of the divinities and the mysterious language of hieroglyphics; but is it not remarkable that there is no structure either in Egypt or Ethiopia so destitute of the sacred writing as this? The priests, also, are supposed, with great probability, to have themselves executed the sculpture and hieroglyphics; and they cannot be imagined to have been unacquainted with that language. It must, on the contrary, have formed a principal branch of their education. I think it, therefore, very improbable that the place where they would be occupied in teaching hieroglyphics should, of all the ruins in the valley of the Nile, be the only one destitute of them; that where instruction was given in the mysteries of their[107] religion, there should be so few representations of the gods, and those few almost of no use to the student, from being unexplained by hieroglyphics. One would imagine they would have gladly availed themselves of the opportunity of the unoccupied walls to exercise the skill of the students. If this were a college, their system of education must assuredly have been very defective, if they did not take care to have the mysteries they taught represented on the walls of the universities, and not on those of the temples only. We must consider the Ethiopians as ignorant indeed, if we suppose that they neglected to place them where they would have been really useful, while they covered with these subjects their temples, where they would be less observed, and the interior of the porticoes of their tombs, which were rarely opened. Had it been a college, some urchin would have shown his progress in the study by carving his name in hieroglyphics; and, considering that this was more the fashion with the ancients than the moderns, we should have as long a list of Ethiopian names here as we have of English at Eton or Harrow. In such a seminary, I conceive, the walls of the chambers, corridors, and temples, inside and outside, like the temples and palaces of Egypt, would have been decorated with sculpture. The walls are not rough, but smooth and finished; it has therefore not been the original intention to embellish them with such subjects.

Had this edifice, as Professor Heeren supposes, been the Ammonium, the original seat of the oracle of Jupiter Ammon, at whose command those religious colonies issued forth, which carried civilisation, arts, and religion from Ethiopia to the Delta; had this been the centre and stronghold of the superstitions of the Nile; the priests, the guardians of the sacred rituals, would not have omitted to decorate the abode of their great divinity with art and magnificence proportionate to the wealth and power of so great a nation. Well aware of the awe with which the appearance of mysterious learning inspires the vulgar, they would not have neglected to adorn[108] the walls with imposing and mysterious subjects, to augment their veneration, to excite them to devotion, and to munificence in their offerings to the god. It accords in no degree with the religious pomp elsewhere displayed by the Ethiopians and Egyptians, to conceive that this unfinished and comparatively insignificant temple contained the golden altar, the “holiest of holies,” of their great divinity. That the great Ethiopian oracle, whose celebrity even Homer has testified, should not have had a more magnificent habitation than this, cannot be admitted. We know, from Pausanias and others, the costly presents which were made to the oracles of Greece; and can we conceive that the Ethiopians, probably equally, if not as more ancient, a much more religious and superstitious people, would have allowed their celebrated Ammonium to be the least finished, least magnificent and imposing, of all the temples which now exist in the valley of the Nile?

It is a more probable supposition that, as the wealth of the oracle of Apollo at Delphi exposed it from the beginning to the enterprises of avaricious and impious men, and was too powerful a temptation even to the Phocians, in the same manner the great oracle of Ammon in the valley of the Nile, particularly in a country like Ethiopia, where history tells us that gold was once so plentiful, might suffer from the celebrated altar which was dedicated to its worship being loaded with the valuable and magnificent devotional offerings of a wealthy and superstitious people. Such parade and splendour would serve as incentives to the enemies of their religion, equally anxious to appropriate the spoil and eradicate the superstitions of the worshippers of Ammon. But it is most probable that, at the time when the religion of the Gospel was widely spread in this part of Africa, some Christian king of Ethiopia, zealous, and desirous of obliging his subjects to embrace the true religion, and aware that, if his faith prevailed at all, it must prevail, to use the language of Paley, by the overthrow of every statue,[109] altar, and temple in the world, may have utterly destroyed not only the Ammonium, but also many of the other temples; and this may account for the few remains of sacred edifices which are now found in Ethiopia. Another argument, in answer to the supposition of Professor Heeren, is, that, among the numerous representations of the divinities on the columns of the principal temples, there is not one single figure of Ammon, except with the attributes of Kneph.

This edifice may have been a château de chasse of the king, or a palace in which he passed the rainy season, which might then, as now, be unhealthy near the Nile. The objection to this supposition is, that the kings as well as the priests were generally, and probably always, surrounded with religious pomp and ceremony. I conceive it, therefore, a more reasonable conjecture that it was an hospital, to which invalids, particularly those suffering from malaria, were sent during the rainy season. This will account for the immense courts and chambers, and the insignificance of the temples, evidently intended for persons of little consideration. From the experience I have had of the climate of the desert, I must say I consider them much more healthy, in any season, than the valley of the Nile. At the instigation, I conceive, of some person acquainted with this fact, the Pasha established a splendid hospital and college at Abou Zabel, situated in the Desert, about twelve miles from Cairo. The dryness of the atmosphere, the sand immediately absorbing any rain that falls, renders these wildernesses in the highest degree salubrious. The stones of which this edifice is constructed are nearly the same size as those of the pyramids of Meroe; that is, about 1 foot high and 2½ feet long, and are apparently quarried from the neighbouring hills.

With regard to the antiquity of the ruins, it does not appear to me to be very great. The sculpture, which, in the absence of hieroglyphics, forms the only criterion, resembles, as already mentioned, that on the propylons at Uffidunia; not exactly indicating[110] that they were built at the same period, but that they belonged equally to the last stage of sculpture in the two countries; and, as the arts first flourished in Ethiopia, they may have decayed there earlier than in Egypt, particularly as the wealth and power of this country diminished more rapidly, the Nile washing down to the lower valley the source of their affluence and prosperity. From the Grecian character of the fluting of the columns, as well as from the plan of the temple and sculpture, it is not improbable that this edifice was constructed about the period of Ergamenes, whose reign was coeval with that of Ptolemy II. Diodorus describes this king of Ethiopia as having had a Greek education, and having introduced into this his native country a taste for the philosophy of Greece, and delivered himself and his people from the tyranny of the priests; and perhaps, I may add, he endeavoured, by the introduction of foreign ornaments, to regenerate a taste for architecture and sculpture: but in this specimen we only see the last effort of a people whose greatness was passed away, their taste corrupted, and all the lights of knowledge and civilisation just expiring. The elegant pyramids of Meroe differ as widely, in taste and execution, from the immensely extensive but ill-planned ruins of Wady el Owataib, as the best sculpture at Thebes, during the age of Rameses II., differs from the corrupted style under the Ptolemies and Cæsars.

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[111]CHAPTER IX.

DEFICIENCY OF WATER. — RETURN TO THE NILE. — WILD ANIMALS. — ANCIENT CANAL. — TEMPLE OF ABOU NAGA. — DIFFICULTIES. — THE MODERN CAPITALS OF ETHIOPIA. — SENNAAR. — THE DIFFICULTY OF PENETRATING TO THE SOURCE OF THE BAHR EL ABIAD. — TRIBE OF ARABS ON ITS BANKS. — WATER LESS SWEET THAN THAT OF THE BAHR EL AZRUK. — ARAB DESCRIPTION OF THE RIVER. — INUNDATION OF THE NILE. — RETURN TO SHENDY. — MAMELUKE EXERCISE.

I had intended to have proceeded from the ruins of El Owataib to those of El Mecaurat, farther in the Desert; but my stock of water was almost exhausted, in consequence of my guide and camel-driver not having brought their own supply, according to agreement, also on account of several of my own geerbahs proving bad, and our consumption, owing to the extreme heat, having been twice what we expected. Signor Bandoni seems to be apprehensive of a deficiency, and anxious to guard against it; for yesterday evening I found him in my tent with his mouth at a three-gallon geerbah. His draughts were profounder than his philosophy, for by his earnestness he seemed intent on trying whether he himself possessed that valuable faculty which his experience in the desert had taught him the camels possess; that of imbibing, at one draught, a sufficient store for a week. We left the ruins at half-past twelve, and arrived at the Nile at half past six. We saw on our road numerous traces of the lions, hyenas, tigers (nimr), wild asses, and ostriches, and near the river, guinea-fowls. Shortly before arriving at the Nile, we passed the bed of a canal which seemed to be ancient. They informed me that it extends very far into the Desert towards the ruins of Mecaurat.

[112]March 11. We left this morning at seven, and reached the ruins of Abou Naga at nine. The two square pillars which remain of this temple, are very curious. On each side is a representation of what is generally called a figure of Typhon, above which is the head of Isis or Athor. These figures are very much injured, but the style is extremely bold and decidedly very ancient. The people above Meroe, says Diodorus, worship Isis and Pan, and also Hercules and Zeus. This Typhonian figure is called Pthah by many, and considered as an immediate emanation from Jupiter. We have here two more divinities to add to the Ethiopian list: I use this name, for of all the antiquities existing in the valley of the Nile, these have the most ancient appearance. The drawing will give an exact idea of the style of the sculpture. The reader will remark that this is no effort of a feeble and corrupt taste, no imitation of a foreign (Egyptian) style, but the spirited[113] work of an early period, when the productions of art would naturally be more remarkable for force and vigour than for exquisite or delicate finish. There are no hieroglyphics, nor any appearance of there ever having been any, which may be considered another proof of their great antiquity, an edifice in which they are absent must either be of the most ancient or most modern date: and certainly this latter description cannot belong to the present structures. The style has evidently the stamp of originality, and I therefore think it may be considered a fragment of perhaps one of the most ancient temples which has ever been erected in honour of the two great divinities, Isis and Typhon, or rather, I should say, of the two principles of good and evil existing in the world: for Isis, the Ceres of the Greeks, is a type of that benevolent care of the Deity which furnishes men with the fruits of the earth; and she is worshipped under the form of a woman, emblematical of the maternal fondness of the great divinity. Under that view, she is sometimes represented with her son, the infant Horus, on her knees, as the source of the multiplication and increase of the human race.

The figure which, in deference to the general opinion, I have called Typhon, has been considered by many to be that of Pthah, from the circumstance of almost similar representations having been found with the name of that divinity in hieroglyphics; but, in the absence of any inscription to decide the question of what this figure has been, I must confess that I conceive it not impossible that it may be the Hercules of the Ethiopians. Hercules, or the god of strength, would be a type of the attribute of power in the great divinity; and that this should be a leading representation in the primitive ages, is not surprising, as, of course, muscular strength would then be the endowment most highly prized. The fables of Hercules clearing the earth of monsters were very probably partly derived from Ethiopia, together with the worship of the divinity. The mythology of the Ethiopians, as I may, perhaps,[114] venture to mention more particularly on a future occasion, appears by no means to have been a gross polytheism. I do not mean to say that the “uncultivated mass,” as Gibbon styles them, very little removed in point of intellect from their fellow-labourers the oxen, could have entertained very pure notions of religion; I only agree with those who conceive that the more educated and enlightened classes worshipped these different symbolical forms, not as separate and equally powerful divinities, but as the types of the different attributes of the One great Deity. This temple, which was about 150 feet long, seems to have been ornamented with six pilasters, five feet square; but it was impossible to trace the plan satisfactorily: and as I conceive the materials to have been carried away, an excavation would be of little use. The plan[115] (2300 feet in circumference) shows that the town has been small, and built of sun-burnt bricks.

I had intended to have gone from this place to the ruins of Mecaurat, at eleven hours’ distance in the desert. The soldier who officiated as my guide, on leaving the ruins of Wady el Owataib yesterday, said that we could not visit the ruins of Mecaurat, as they were situated farther in the desert; that we should most probably meet with lions on the road; and that the danger would indubitably be much greater than on the preceding night; that, at this season of the year, it was folly to think of going there without a guard or large caravan; and, to conclude, that he would not incur the responsibility of taking me. This morning, to my surprise, he said he was willing to accompany me, if I desired. In this uncertainty I asked for information from the sheakhs and different peasants I met; and the result of these enquiries was, that, Mecaurat being farther in the mountains, lions are much more numerous there than at Wady el Owataib; that we should probably fall in with them on the road; that this was the most dangerous season, from their food being scarce, and that none of the peasants lead their flocks there, since fires do not always succeed in repelling them. A few years ago there were few or none; but now the number was so great that I ought not to hazard going. In fact, not one, by bribes or threats, could be induced to join our caravan.

Notwithstanding this discouraging information, I was anxious not to leave any of the antiquities of Ethiopia unexplored; and I felt that I might have gone without very great risk, because we had a proof, the night before last, of the effect of fire in frightening lions away; and I believe, as long as there are camels, or any kind of cattle, they would not, if unmolested, attack a human being. I had learned, also, that there was one edifice not much ruined, and conceived that in it a fortification might soon be made, which a lion could not penetrate. My servants seemed evidently afraid, but said,[116] wherever I went they would accompany me; but my artist made so many objections that I told him, in disgust, he might go or not, as he thought proper. He took me at my word, and refused to accompany me. I at first determined to go alone: but, after considering that I should have to leave two camels and a servant with him; that my caravan would thus be reduced in number; and as no other camels could be procured, their owners being afraid of the lions, I should not be able to take enough of water to enable me to stay at the ruins a sufficient time to make all the drawings that would be necessary; I gave up the expedition, conceiving that it was of little importance. My funds, also, are now considerably reduced, and I am not in a country where I can easily replenish them. The heat is every day more intolerable. I ought, for private reasons, to have long since been in Europe; my health has for several days been very indifferent, from these annoyances, the excessive heat, which for the first few days of its commencement is always most prejudicial, and I must confess myself not a little disgusted.

I must be satisfied with having been at Meroe, on the site of the capital of Ethiopia, which appears to me a satisfactory termination to my more important labours in the lower part of the valley of the Nile; and when the reader considers that I have now been nearly fourteen months above Cairo, leading almost the life of an Arab, without any of the comforts and charms of the civilised world, I think he will not reproach me for not extending my travels to Sennaar and the banks of the White River. Indeed, even had not a private duty obliged me to return to England, I should not, I think, have gone very much farther south, as I could spend my time much more usefully at Thebes; for, except those in the desert, there are no antiquities beyond this point.

As to the modern capitals of Ethiopia, nothing can be more miserable than those I have already seen. Sennaar, I am told,[117] great, splendid, and beautiful as the Arabs represent it, is very little larger, and has not much more the appearance of a capital, than Shendy, which, as I have said before, cannot be compared to many of the small towns in Egypt. The poetical minds of the Arabs are fond of describing in glowing terms the beauty of distant objects; as the ancients placed the Garden of the Hesperides in the most remote region; but the descriptions of modern travellers, and the accounts of many sensible Turks, have satisfied me that Sennaar is not worth half a day’s journey, and certainly not twenty-two, which would be necessary to go thither and return.

As to the Bahr el Abiad, or White River, it would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to penetrate to any distance on its banks; and it is now more than ever impracticable to attempt the discovery of its source. The Governor at Kordofan has his gazwah, or hunt for slaves, on the banks of that river: there is, therefore, scarcely a family in that part that has not lost some relation,—fathers their sons, husbands their wives, brothers their sisters, children their parents,—and all would rejoice to avenge their loss on the first white man who should imprudently venture into their territory. The source of the Nile could only, I conceive, be discovered by an armed force; and even that method would present great difficulties. It would require a large army to subdue the great extent of country through which the Bahr el Abiad probably passes. Not only the chiefs, but the whole population, instead of any of them joining the standard of the invader, or furnishing him with provisions, would resolutely oppose him. Each man would fight with desperation for the preservation of his property, family, and liberty. The Shillooks, Numrum, and other brave and warlike tribes on the White River, are not ignorant of the wretched lot of their brethren in Cairo. Many a fugitive slave has carried the intelligence to his tribe of the misery and hardships they endured after they were taken prisoners;[118] their sufferings from the scanty allowance of water in the desert; the numbers who perished from fatigue, heat, and thirst; their painful journey on foot, bound in the most cruel manner; their wretched food; their ignominious exposure for sale in the Cairo market; and, perhaps, the cruelty of their taskmasters. These are injuries, I think, sufficient to sharpen their sabres, and inflame their hatred and thirst for revenge, on all Mahometans and white men. The traveller being French or English would be of no avail. They distinguish but two races, Pagan and Mahometan, and two colours, black and white, their friends and enemies.

As to the source of the Bahr el Abiad, and the situation of the Mountains of the Moon, as the Arabs of this neighbourhood have never been there, or seen any person who has visited either the one or the other, their suppositions are not worth more, if so much, as the conjectures of any intelligent man in London. I think it more candid to confess that these subjects are still involved in a mystery, which the armies of the Pasha may possibly one day clear up; yet he can never subdue that country with the facility with which he made himself master of the valley of the Nile: the difference of creed, and the deep-rooted hatred against him which prevails there, would oblige him almost to exterminate the whole population before he could enjoy a peaceable possession of the territory. If his ambitious views are diverted by European interference from another track with his immense resources, large and disciplined army, and the great superiority derived from fire-arms and artillery, he might penetrate even to the source of the White River, and solve that problem which has perplexed the literary men of every age. No private individual would be so rash as to attempt this discovery. Were there any possibility of success, for the hope of immortality, men could be found to encounter fearlessly the heat and fatigue, and other ordinary dangers of the journey; but no one would be so[119] foolish as to expose himself to the certain death which would be the result of any attempt made at this period.

This discovery would have been more easily accomplished before the Pasha’s conquest; before the war of colour, if I may so describe it, commenced: but there does not seem to have been any recent intercourse between the inhabitants of the kingdom of Shendy and the tribes on the banks of the White River. If any credit can be given to the accounts of the Arabs, there are cannibals not very far up its stream. I was told that twenty days above its junction with the Bahr el Azruk, there is a tribe of Arabs mixed with the Pagans. I can scarcely believe this latter statement, otherwise it would present a somewhat less difficult method of penetrating to a certain distance. I have been assured by several Arab merchants, and also Turks, that the water of the river is less sweet than that of the Azruk, that the caravans stationed on what they call the Island, between the two rivers, universally prefer the water of the latter. The Egyptians, therefore, are indebted to the Azruk for the singular sweetness of the waters of the Nile. The Arab’s invariable description of the Bahr el Abiad is, that it has waves like the Red Sea, but the current is not powerful like that of the Blue River; that a boat would sail rapidly up, on account of the prevailing northerly winds, but it would be more difficult to descend. It is not improbable that the reason of the superior rapidity of the Blue River is its greater proximity to its source in the mountains, whilst the Bahr el Abiad may pass through immense districts, where the surface is more level and uniform.

Of the inundation of the Nile I will speak hereafter; only remarking at present, that during the whole of this journey I have not met one sensible Arab, who was ignorant that the rains in Ethiopia were followed by the rise of the river, and that, according to the wetness of the season, the inundation was more or less beneficial. I do not mean to say that they are acquainted with the real causes of those rains,—the rarefying of the air by[120] the sun in his approach towards the tropic, and the consequent rush of vapour from the neighbouring seas; but the circumstance of the peasants here all being aware of the rain as the season of the inundation, excites my surprise how the ancients, particularly as many of them visited Meroe, could be so ill acquainted with, or, indeed, have the slightest doubt of, the true cause. The flourishing state of the country at that period, and the probable extent of its commerce, renders this still more singular. If they had not been actual witnesses to the tropical rains, (and, according to Pliny, many were,) they must have heard of them, over and over again, from authentic sources. The most uneducated peasant in Europe, were he to see the rain fall in torrents for a long period, the little rivulets running into a river in his vicinity, and yet not be aware why the latter was swollen, would be considered to display a tenfold degree of stupidity. It can only be accounted for by their preferring to ornament their works with ingenious speculations rather than admit an explanation which they could not account for.[22] We arrived at Shendy this evening at nine.

Metammah.—March 12. This morning the katshef at Shendy, with his servants and dependants, went through the Mameluke exercise for our amusement. Six entered the list on each side. Their lances were stalks of the palm tree, about four or five feet long. The combatants were about 300 or 400 yards apart[121] at the commencement, but when the contest became more animated, not more than 100. Each one sallied out when he liked, armed with a single lance, and, when there was no opponent in the field, rode near the opposite party, and generally, when at the distance of from twenty to thirty feet, flung his lance at his adversaries within their limits, to excite them to come forth; otherwise, when the field was full, at those who were galloping back from pursuing their adversaries. The attacked party trusted to the speed of the horse to save him from the lance of the one who followed him, who, having in his turn flung his lance, was rode after by another of the opposite party, and thus the ball was spiritedly kept up. The requisites for these manœuvres are, perfect management of his horse, dexterity in avoiding his adversary’s lance, and catching it, if possible, with his hand, which enables him to turn again upon the assailant. They are only, as I have said, allowed to go out with one lance, and when they have thrown it, are dependent on their agility, and the swiftness of their horses, to save themselves from their pursuers; but the qualities most admired, and most necessary, are strength and dexterity in throwing the lance, and fearless indifference to blows. Each well-directed and successful aim was hailed with a shout of admiration, and those who seemed to fear the contest were evidently despised. The exercise is fine, but the wounds received are sometimes not slight. There is no ostensible respect of persons. The servant throws his lance at his master, and the master at the servant; yet, somehow, the katshef escaped always amid the numbers of lances which were showered around him: a clever courtier knows how to direct his aim. Between the servants the game sometimes became serious, and blows were exchanged with the appearance of real enmity.

I saw this morning a number of mats and baskets made by the women, some of which are very beautiful. They make here,[122] also, very neat sandals, almost exactly resembling those of the ancients. At noon I crossed to Metammah. I found that the katshef was absent. The soldier he had deputed to perform the duties of his office promised me eight camels, to cross the desert of Bahiouda to Meroueh.

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[123]CHAPTER X.

METAMMAH — DIFFICULTY OF FINDING CAMELS TO CROSS THE BAHIOUDA DESERT. — WRETCHED STATE OF THE PEASANTS WHEN ATTACKED BY ILLNESS. — INTERMITTENT FEVERS. — COSTUMES OF METAMMAH. — WOMEN OF HIGH RANK. — THEIR LONG NAILS, MANNER OF INCREASING THEIR LENGTH. — BAHIOUDA DESERT. — WELLS AT ABOULAY. — REFLECTIONS ON THE DESERT LIFE. — SHAGEEA TRIBE. — WELLS CALLED GAGDOOL. — SIGNOR B. UNWELL. — HASSANYEH TRIBE. — ANIMALS OF THE DESERT. — GREYHOUND DOG. — WELL OF MAGAGA. — DANGEROUS ILLNESS OF SIGNOR B. — WELL OF DELICIOUS WATER CALLED HALESS. — BEAUTY OF THE SCENERY. — SHEPHERD BOYS. — CHARACTER OF THE ROCKS. — WELLS OF GOOD WATER CALLED HANNEK AND PRASOLI. — THE MANNER THE SHAGEEA SALUTE. — COPTIC CHRISTIAN CHURCH. — ARRIVAL AT THE TOWN OF MEROUEH. — HIEROGLYPHICS ON A SLAB IN THE CASTLE.

Metammah.—March 13. A sufficient number of good camels, or rather dromedaries, being difficult to find, I was detained the whole of the day near this miserable little town, where there is nothing to be seen. The country, even at this season, is not free from malaria. Several peasants suffering from intermittent fever applied to me for relief. Some I saw wretchedly ill, lying on their angoureebs, without any advice, or, apparently, any person to attend them, left to live or die according to the violence of the attack or the strength of their constitutions. When the rains extend to this place, which is not always the case, fevers are very prevalent: dysentery also is very common: I have had an attack myself, and two of my servants suffered severely from it. I used successfully a powerful dose of opium and calomel. To my servant, who was very ill, I gave six grains of calomel and one of opium at a time.

Once a week, in each of these small towns and villages, there is a bazaar; a curious scene, on account of the different costumes of the Arabs who resort to them from the country. At Metammah many of the inhabitants have adopted the fashion of their conquerors,[124] and shaved their heads. The costumes of some of the women of high rank are said to be very beautiful, but it is difficult to obtain a sight of them; and I must confess I have not enjoyed that good fortune. My dragoman, however, an impudent fellow, contrived, upon some pretext, to enter the harem of the present melek of Shendy, whose wife is daughter of the celebrated Nimr, who murdered Ismael Pasha. Her husband has gone to the war with Hourshid Bey. The intruder found this queen, as he called her, in a large room reposing in a most dignified manner on a beautiful angoureeb, covered with the fine mats of the country. She was reclining at full length; her head was supported by a wooden pillow of about the width of a hoop, and of a semicircular form to admit the head, and sustained by a column 4 to 6 inches high with a broad flat base, . They are almost exactly similar to those often found in the ancient tombs of the Egyptians, and which, notwithstanding their apparent discomfort, are now very generally used in every part of Upper Nubia. The ladies of Shendy, however, value them highly, since, being so narrow, they do not disarrange their hair; a serious consideration, if it be true, as I am informed, that the coiffure of the Shendyan beauties requires nine hours’ work to be quite comme il faut. This lady’s hair was very curiously dressed, beautifully plaited, and bushy at each side, projecting behind and flat above the forehead. On this flat part were two plates of gold, one above the other, and in the centre of her forehead was a large gold ring. She wore two handsome gold earrings, and bracelets of massive gold on her arms, and the same above her ankles. She wore the cotton dress of the country, but finer than usual, and over her neck was a beautiful shawl of Souakim with a broad silk border. He represented her features as being extremely small and delicate; her eyes very large and fine, and her complexion much fairer than that of the women of the country in general. He described her as the most beautiful woman he had seen since leaving Cairo, and doubted if, in his[125] life, he had observed any one superior to her. She looked, he said, like a queen.

In a circle, squatted on the ground beneath, were about twenty female slaves, some very beautiful, busily employed in pounding and preparing spices for the ointment with which they perfume their persons and soften their skins. Her nails were extremely long; a decided indication, in this country, of high rank, as proving that the person never condescends to employ her fingers in any work. To promote their growth, they are held over small fires of cedar wood. This is an ancient custom, and Cailliaud mentions having observed, at Naga, a representation of a queen with long nails; and it still prevails among the Chinese of the highest rank. This wife, or queen, of the melek, possesses a large fortune, said to amount to 50,000l. sterling; an enormous amount for a country like this. She increases it daily by commerce, keeping constantly in her employ Arab merchants, who trade in caravans on her account to Abyssinia, Kordofan, Sennaar, and Cairo. Their chief traffic now is in slaves. Two of her merchants were in the room when my dragoman entered. She eyed him at first fiercely and haughtily, and asked him whether he was one of the Christians just arrived, and how he dared to enter there? Being a clever insinuating fellow, with the advantage of being a Mahometan, he soon ingratiated himself into her favour, and had some dinner ordered for him. As she was the first queen he had ever seen, and the daughter of the celebrated Nimr, he examined her very attentively. The reader will perhaps be dissatisfied with a description thus given upon hearsay; but I should state that, from numerous enquiries, I have found it perfectly applicable to the great ladies in this country; and my dragoman, although an Arab, is the most intelligent clever servant I have met with any where. The account of this great lady may remind the reader of Bruce’s Sittina.

March 14. We started this morning at noon; and now, thank Heaven, my face is toward the north, and every day will bring me[126] nearer England. I have still a journey of nearly 1600 miles before I even reach Alexandria, with deserts to pass and hardships to undergo.[23] We have suffered already very severely from heat and fatigue. For some time past the thermometer, between eleven and four, has been 96° to 100° in the shade; on one day as high as 104°, and another, 110°. The wind blows almost every day very strong from the north; but in the interior deserts of Africa, the atmosphere soon becomes so heated, by the scorching sun, that the wind which, in other regions, braces and invigorates man, is felt as hot and oppressive. It is refreshing at night, and near the river; but in the desert, for a great part of the day, almost insupportable. Our umbrellas, with which we sheltered ourselves from the sun, have been all broken by the wind, and others we had constructed met to-day a similar fate; but we protect ourselves with our sheets as well as we can. There is no apparent ascent from the Nile into the desert. After five hours’ journey we encamped for the night. The desert is slightly covered with sand, but not so much as to impede the camels: in other respects it almost resembles a park, covered, to a great extent, with trees and herbage, though the latter has rather a burnt appearance. The trees are chiefly acacias, bearing full yellow flowers, and in their forms sometimes resembling small oaks, others the tops of the Italian pine trees.

March 16. We have been ten hours en route this day. As we advanced into the desert, I observed not quite so many trees, and also less herbage. After five hours’ journey—that is, ten after leaving the Nile—we arrived at a spot called Aboulay, where numerous wells occur. The Arabs filled their water-skins; and, had I not been well provided from the Nile, I should have drunk of it without hesitation, as it seemed tolerably sweet and wholesome.

[127]On this journey I could not escape from some serious and even painful reflections. However the traveller may be fascinated with this kind of life,—free from the restraints and passions of the world; living in the patriarchal style; mounted on his dromedary; sleeping under a tent, and sometimes without one; covered with no other canopy than the blue sky;—exquisite as may be the pleasure of exploring unfrequented lands, treading unbeaten paths, and leading his caravan over these terrible wildernesses; still, there are thoughts, not to be resisted, which crowd upon the mind, and unnerve even the strongest. This is not the land of our birth; we are strangers to the customs, manners, language, and religion of the people: their hospitality and civility are merely the effort of their benevolence, and the performance of a duty. No tie of relationship, no chain of affection, no sympathy of ideas, no bond of union, exists between us. The dissimilarity of our colour, of the climate and aspect of the country, as compared with ours, is not more complete than that of our habits and feelings. All that we love, all that we care for, is separated from us by immense tracts of desert sands; and we have to pass rivers, seas, and several thousand miles before we reach the land of our home. I can also assure my fair countrywomen that it is no trifling deprivation to see and converse with none but these swarthy savage beauties, from whose society no man of any refinement can derive the slightest gratification. My Italian artist, who sings remarkably well, entertains me sometimes with the favourite airs from Rossini’s and Bellini’s operas, and he talks to me so much of “la bella Italia,” that I long to be again there—but on my way to England.

My camel-drivers, with the exception of two Ababdes, whom I met and engaged as they had passed the Nubian desert with me, are of the tribe of the Shageea—fine tall warlike-looking fellows, with their hair dressed almost like the Ababdes; but the Shageea generally[128] wear beards and mustachios. Their complexion is decidedly darker than that of the Ababdes, which is a dark brown; but theirs is a darker brown, and sometimes approaches almost to a black, but still very different from the cold colour of the negroes. The Shageea have occasionally wider nostrils than we should think correct, and rather thick lips, otherwise their features would resemble exactly the European. We have seen numbers of gazelles, and several flocks of sheep, and passed many isolated hills: the sand is firm, and not fatiguing for the camels. Six inches below the surface is sandstone rock.

March 17. We have been ten hours on the road. Had it not been for the extreme heat, and my health being indifferent, I should have enjoyed my journey through this desert; for, although not picturesque, the abundance of acacias makes it extremely beautiful. We have passed several isolated hills; and on the sand yesterday, as well as to-day, I observed many of the round balls of iron-flint, or iron-glance, sometimes of a red, but generally of almost a black, colour. A distinguished mineralogist has informed me that they are common sand, agglutinated by oxide of iron, such as may be seen on Hampstead Heath, &c., rolled by water. They are similar to those observed during my first two or three days’ journey in the great Nubian desert.

March 18. After four hours’ ride I arrived at a range of mountains, the crust of which consists of quartz and decomposed granite; but the basis of most of the rocks in this quarter is sandstone. At a distance I fancied we were approaching a passage cut through the mountains; but on arriving it proved a deep recess in the rock, having the appearance of being worn by a torrent, and now forming a well, or rather cistern, almost entirely protected from the rays of the sun by a projecting rock. During the winter, and when the tropical rains extend so far north, the water is above five times its present depth, which is only eight feet. It is now[129] green, and disagreeable to the taste; but, fortunately, my stock of Nile water is not finished, as I must confess I should not have relished to quench my thirst, under a burning sun, with this beverage. My satisfaction was the greater when I observed that my camel-drivers, when they had filled their water-skins, bathed and washed themselves in the pool; doubtless the usual custom of the caravans. We expected to find flocks here, and procure an additional supply of meat. My artist being extremely unwell, and wishing for soup, I gave a backsheesh of ten piastres to one of the camel-men, who mounted an unloaded dromedary, and went out of the road, towards the west, to a source of water, where he said there were Arabs of the tribe of the Hassanyeh: he joined us after three hours, having succeeded in purchasing a goat for five, and an excellent gazelle for two, piastres. We have seen numerous herds, of five or six each, of the latter, but have never been able to approach within shot of them. At a short distance from hence, they tell me that there are antelopes (Arabic, buggera el Atmoor). It is singular that, on this side of the river, ferocious animals are rare. There are some few hyenas, but the panthers and lions seem confined chiefly to the Island of Meroe.

This reservoir of water, called Gagdool, is out of the direct road; we went from it due west for a short time, and then resumed our course towards the north-west. I should have made a drawing of these rocks, but I was really so unwell that I felt unequal to the exertion. At noon we reposed for a short time under our tent. There are abundance of acacias, but they afford little shade; whence the Arab proverb, “The friendship of man is like the shade of the acacia.” At Shendy I bought a splendid greyhound dog; perhaps of a larger species than ours, stronger, and with more bone, but showing much breeding. I was surprised to find the true race of greyhound dog in the centre of Africa; but, in fact, there is a representation of it on the walls of a tomb at Thebes, forming part of magnificent offerings received from Ethiopia.[130] (See Plate XLVI.) I should have been glad to have brought him to England, but he died in consequence of the heat, added to his fatigue in following the camel, and perhaps not having sufficient water, although I spared him as much as I could out of my own individual stock[24], in order that I might save him. I placed him on the back of a camel; but he would not remain.

March 19. Nine hours this day. We arrived at eleven at a well, in a valley at the commencement of a range of granite rocks of the usual round formation by which they are always known: quartz nodules were scattered in the valley. The water of this well is the best we have tasted since we left the Nile, yet not what I should like to drink. The Arabs say that we shall arrive at a better to-morrow. The source is called Magaga. We encamped earlier than usual this evening, my artist being unable to go any farther. Last night he had a severe attack of bilious fever. Calomel is the best remedy for that complaint in this climate. I gave him a dose of six grains, and this morning he was wonderfully better, but the fatigue and heat of the day have brought on a relapse. He wants spirit to assist in throwing off the disease, is afraid of dying in the desert, and thinks it impossible he shall live to see the Nile again. He fancies that without plenty of sustenance he cannot exist; and therefore forces his appetite, instead of living abstemiously, as he ought. I have given him six grains more this evening, but have found great difficulty in inducing him to take them, although he is sensible of the benefit he derived from the others. I am exceedingly anxious about the effect of the medicine, from the responsibility I feel in having brought him into the deserts. His reproaches on the subject are harassing, although unjust; for he was engaged under the condition of making this journey.

[131]March 20. My artist was exceedingly ill the early part of last night, but at last he fell into a profuse perspiration, after which he dropped asleep, and awoke this morning quite relieved. He allows a certain merit to the pills, but much more to his having vowed to present wax candles to the Madonna on his return to Italy: he has made other promises of the same kind for deliverance from various dangers. An hour after starting this morning, we arrived at a well called Haless, situated, like the one we passed yesterday, in a valley. The water is most delicious, quite equal to that of the Nile. We emptied all our geerbahs of the water they contained, which, from the extreme heat, had become black and bad, and filled them from this delicious fountain. I never enjoyed any luxury so much as this cold, clear, fresh draught.

We encamped after nine hours’ ride. Although the scenery is not sufficiently bold to be termed picturesque, it is impossible to conceive a more beautiful desert; valleys and rocks with mountains, whose forms are varied, broken, sometimes conical, but never monotonous. The low grounds are covered with sweet-smelling acacias. The herbage has certainly, at this season, a very burnt appearance; but had there been a greensward, instead of these yellow sands and this long discoloured grass, few spots would be more lovely than the Desert of Bahiouda.

March 21. We rode ten hours to-day. The plains are rather more extensive, but still beautiful. We met, this morning, shepherd boys with geerbahs on their arms, containing their provision of water, and they had a few loaves of dourah bread tied in their garment. In this way they conduct their flocks to the pasturages distant from the well, and return when their stock of provision is consumed. I observed, several times, this morning, traces of torrents. The mountains in this desert are generally of grey and pink-coloured granite, often of the description called syenite; many are of sandstone, hornblende, and conglomerates;[132] while others are of decomposed granite and decomposed felspar. At eleven o’clock we passed a well of good water called Hennek, now forty feet deep and proportionally wide. There are no traces of its being recently excavated, nor any thing to mark it as ancient, but it is too great an undertaking for the Arabs of the present age to have accomplished. We are encamped near another source of rain water, called Prasoli. There are about twenty houses or sheds scattered around, inhabited by peasants and their flocks. We have met two caravans of merchants from Dongolah. The manner the Shageea salute, leaning their right arms over the breasts and shoulders of each other, has a very dignified and noble appearance, and is quite in harmony with that frank sincerity and honest affection, which characterise the Arabs of the desert.

March 22. We set out, as usual, at seven, and, at twelve o’clock of the eighth day from Metammah, arrived again at the river. A short distance from the Nile, in a wild solitary situation, we passed some fine ruins of a large Coptic church. It is built of stone covered with cement. There are several windows, and naves in the interior. There are also several doors, and over them the Maltese cross. At the top of the building are remains of an Egyptian cornice and beading, but the plan of the interior is evidently that of a church. It was built, probably, of the materials of a temple, of which the peasants inform me that the traces were recently visible, but are now entirely buried by the encroaching sands of the desert. I went to the place where it was said to have existed, but could find no vestiges of it. We were detained some time on the south side of the Nile, but, after firing repeatedly, a boat came over for us.

Immediately on arriving at the town of Meroueh, I paid a visit to the katshef who has the command of this district. I found him very anxious to be of service to us; and his assistance was most useful in enabling me to procure a fresh supply of bread; a thing difficult to be had in a country where very[133] little of any grain except dourah is either raised or eaten. I was fortunate in obtaining as much rice as I was in need of from the soldiers, who were very willing to sell their rations. Our sugar and tea is consumed: the latter, of course, is not to be procured in such a region as this. In this village, or rather little capital of the province of Dar Shageea, and in the country around, we could only find one loaf of sugar, which was black, and the owner made me pay ten times its value.

We left the camels, which brought us across the desert, on the other side of the river: we, therefore, cannot go on to Gibel el Birkel this evening, since no other camels can be found to carry the luggage. As the distance is more than an hour’s walk, I have not time to go and return before dark, and am therefore obliged to restrain my curiosity until to-morrow.

Meroueh is an ill-built miserable place. In the fortress where the katshef resides, and which formerly belonged to Melek Shoush, is a pedestal of basalt, on which are two ovals, with names and titles on them, which I could not copy, on account of the accumulation of filth that covered them. I had it washed, and traced sufficient of the hieroglyphics to perceive that the name is the same as that of an Ethiopian king I afterwards found on the great temple at Gibel el Birkel. In the court of the same castle is a fragment of a statue of the same material, the sculpture of which is good. The coincidence between the modern name of Meroueh and the ancient capital Meroe is curious. Was this the commencement of the kingdom of which Meroe was the metropolis?

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[134]CHAPTER XI.

ANTIQUITIES OF GIBEL EL BIRKEL. — DESCRIPTION AND DIMENSIONS OF THE MOUNTAIN. — TEMPLE BUILT BY THE TIRHAKA OF THE BIBLE. — VARIOUS OTHER INTERESTING REMAINS AND TEMPLES. — PYRAMIDS. — CIRCULAR AND POINTED ARCH INVENTED IN ETHIOPIA.

Gibel el Birkel is situated an hour’s walk, or three miles and a half, to the east of the small town of Meroueh, and the mountain is 5150 feet distant from the Nile. It is an insulated hill, situated in a large plain; and below it, on the south side, are the ruins, also the cultivated land and the river. The other sides of the mountain are bordered by the desert, which has, no doubt, made encroachments on what was once cultivated land. The height of the eminence is about 350 feet. The exterior is rough, part of it having been worked to furnish materials for the temples, and more recently large masses have fallen, and almost entirely buried two temples which were situated beneath. The hill is of sandstone, of a soft description, which accounts for the dilapidated state of all the remains; for not only would the influence of time and the seasons be greater, but the difficulty would, of course, be less in destroying them. In some parts, the mountain is nearly perpendicular: the form is very picturesque, and highly imposing, particularly at a distance.

My general view (Plate XVIII.), drawn by myself with the camera lucida, will give a correct idea of the site of the ancient city; but it differs so much from the view Cailliaud has published, that it will scarcely be recognised as the same place; and, indeed, nearly all our plans and drawings are equally dissimilar. I can only state, that neither time nor pains were spared, either by my artist or myself, to render ours as accurate as possible. The total[135] circumference of the mountain (see Plate XVII.) is about 5000 feet, which may be divided thus:—

	Feet.
From the temple of Isis or Typhonium to the temple destroyed by the mountain	400
From the latter to the Grand Temple	100
To the point where the mountain takes a direction almost to the north, passing the traces of the town, which extends for 500 feet	600
Direction towards the north	700
Ditto towards the north-west	1100
Ditto towards the south-west	100
Ditto nearly south	2000
	5000

The form of the eminence is not very unlike that of the Acropolis of Athens, but there certainly never was any fortification on this rock. Some broken pottery and bricks, on the eastern side, indicate the site of the town. On the opposite, or western side of the mountain, but more in the desert, are two groups of pyramids. One consists of nine, the other, still farther in the desert, of eight. They are surrounded by sand, on the surface of which great quantities of quartz pebbles are disseminated.

Besides the two temples, mentioned as having been destroyed by the falling of a part of the mountain, there are the remains of eight other edifices, principally temples. The one I first arrived at, situated at the south-west corner of the mountain, is perhaps the most interesting of all. (See Plate XIX.)

I admired exceedingly the beautiful and picturesque form of Gibel el Birkel; but the ruins in the distance, scattered beneath the southern side of the mountain, excited to the greatest degree my curiosity. I felt, indeed, that I was undoubtedly approaching the site of the capital of a formerly rich and flourishing region. The situation at once announces it, and the magnificent[136] remains bear testimony to its importance, and, I may truly add, to the taste, knowledge, and refinement of the ancient inhabitants of this now deserted city. Plate XX. is a view of the ruins which first engaged my attention. It shows the remaining fragment of the propylon, and the manner in which the columns forming the first court were ornamented. The head of Isis adorns the eastern and western sides of the columns, fronting the avenue and enclosure, where they would be seen conspicuously, but the other two sides have merely the lotus flower; an economy of sculpture never seen in Egyptian edifices. This drawing also shows the entrance into the chambers which were excavated out of the rock. Plate XIX. is the best point of view that I could fix upon, and indeed a better could not be desired, as it shows seven columns, ornamented with the capitals of the head of Athor, which are all that remain; and it also comprises the only Typhonian pillar that is now entire in the portico. My drawings will, I trust, give the reader a full idea of the imposing appearance of these ruins. I will now enter into a more detailed architectural description of this temple, of which we have given the plan and section, Plates XXI. and XXII.

The length of this temple is 115 feet 6 inches, the breadth (in the interior) 50 feet 2 inches. The pylon is almost entirely destroyed, but sufficient is left to prove that its depth was 11 feet 3 inches, and total width 62 feet 6 inches: there are no remains of the entrance into this portico, but I have restored it according to the usual form. This pylon leads into a portico 59 feet long and 50 feet 2 inches wide. I know not why Cailliaud and others have made two rooms of this portico, and a difference in the diameter of the columns. My artist had sufficient time to make the plan, which, with the section, were drawn out, as I give them, on the spot. This was our habitation, and in my examination of the ruins I did not see any authority to induce me to suppose that there had been two apartments. All the columns were so easily traced, that the[137] plan, with the exception of the propylon, may be considered entire.

This portico consists of two rows of seven columns each, and two rows of the same number of square pillars. The latter form the centre avenue, while the columns are arranged between the pillars and exterior wall. The centre rows, forming the avenue into the temple, are ornamented on the side fronting the avenue with figures of the deformed Pthah, or what is generally called Typhon, above which is a capital, decorated with representations of the lotus flower, supporting ovals; between the latter are branches of palm trees. One of these pillars remains entire, and the traces of the others are visible. Behind them are circular columns, with the capitals of the head of Athor, above which is the common representation of the monolithic temple with the serpent and globe. On the reverse is the same. The sides are decorated (as I have said in my description of Plate XX.) with the lotus flower, instead of the head of Athor, above which are similar monolithic temples. The sculpture of these heads of Isis is tolerable (see Plate XIX.), but not so bold as on the pillars at Naga. The diameter of the columns is 3 feet 6 inches; their total height 17 feet 6 inches, including the bases. The shaft of the column, consisting of five pieces, measures 9 feet. The head of Athor 3 feet 4 inches, the monolithic temple 4 feet 6 inches. The diameter of the Typhonian pillars is 4 feet 3 inches. The columns with the Athor-headed capital rest on circular bases, 4 feet in diameter, and 8 inches high; the figures of Typhon are 12 feet 4 inches high; the total height of the pillar 17 feet. The height of the legs of this figure is 4 feet 6 inches; the length of the body from the shoulder to its legs 6 feet; the head is 3 feet 8 inches long; making in all 14 feet 2 inches. The difference from the total height of the statue, which is only 12 feet 4 inches, is accounted for by the circumstance of the head of the monster[138] reaching over its breast, the shoulders being nearly on a level with its ears, while its belly hangs down between its legs.

The side walls of the temple seem never to have been above 5 feet 6 inches high, as may be observed in the section. Besides the wall not being broken, the circumstance of the capitals of the columns being ornamented, on the sides fronting the wall, with the heads of Isis, whilst on the north and south sides the architect did not take the trouble thus to decorate them, proves that, from the lowness of the wall, such an ornament was there quite requisite. The circumstance, also, of the sides of the column towards the centre avenue being in a great measure concealed by the Typhonian figures, would suggest the idea of this variation from the general plan, and induce them to erect only a low wall, in order that the columns with the Athor-headed capital might be visible. This portico leads into a room excavated out of the rock, ornamented with two figures of Typhon: the height of these, including a kind of basket above their heads, and plinths (see section), is 12 feet 4 inches. The sides of this room are ornamented with sculpture, representing the king Tirhaka, and his beautiful and royal bride Amentikatah, making offerings and libations to the god Amun Ra, Lord of the Rulers, with the head-dress of a large globe and two feathers; behind whom is Maut, with a plain helmet on her head. On the opposite side the king, with the titles, God beneficent, Lord of the World, Beneficent King, Son of Phre (Pharaoh), is offering vases to the divinity Io, whose head-dress consists of four plain feathers. She has the jackal-headed staff in one hand, and in the other the crux ansatus. Behind this divinity is a representation of Koht, with the head of a lioness, sustaining a globe. I have copied the hieroglyphics, as also the dedicatory inscription around the room.

On the columns of the portico scarcely any hieroglyphics are legible; those few that are so I have copied. The room last[139] described leads into the sanctuary, also excavated out of the rock. It is 22 feet 10 inches long, by 12 feet 8 inches broad, and is ornamented with sculpture, representing the king making offerings to the divinities, with the attributes of Amun Ra, Neith, Honsoo, Horus, Kneph, and Thoth. On the west side of the sanctuary is another excavated room, 22 feet 10 inches long, and 7 feet 6 inches wide. This is also ornamented with sculpture, much broken, representing the king making offerings to Kneph, Thoth, and Horus.

On the east side of the sanctuary are two rooms, the first 17 feet long by 7 feet 7 inches wide. The sculpture represents the king, with the attributes and titles of Thoth, addressing numerous divinities seated, all with the same figure of a mummy and a jackal-headed staff in their hands. Before the first is a pedestal with a lotus flower upon it. The second room, leading out of the last I have described, is unfinished, and is only 5 feet long and 7 feet wide. The plan will show that the rooms on each side the sanctuary have no direct communication with the latter, but lead out of the first excavated chamber.

This is not only the most curious of all the temples of Gibel el Birkel, four of the chambers being excavated out of the rock; but it is also in every respect the most picturesque and interesting, particularly from being in the best preservation. Though an excavation, it is apparently not very ancient.[25] I found no other name upon it than that of Tirhaka, which is found on the columns of the portico, and also in the interior. This is the Pharaoh, as will be seen by the Historical Appendix, who assisted Hezekiah in his war against Sennacherib. In clearing out the stones and rubbish from the sanctuary, to make it a more[140] comfortable residence, I made the curious discovery of a gutter, 4 inches deep and 9 inches broad, which crosses the ancient stone floor. It was probably to receive the blood of the sacrifices.

The sculpture of this temple has not the striking characteristics of the true Ethiopian style; it more resembles the Egyptian, and is good, though by no means the best. It is not improbable that this Ethiopian dynasty, being possessed also of Egypt, introduced into their own country a taste for the improved style of Egyptian sculpture. Ages must have elapsed before the Ethiopian manner could have changed to one so entirely different as this is.

The next ruin I arrived at is marked D in the plan, and is nearly 300 feet distant from the Typhonium. This space of 300 feet between the two temples is covered with ruined fragments, doubtless part of the city. The temple D is not remarkable for architectural beauty. It is much injured, and the sculpture and hieroglyphics which ornamented the interior are quite defaced; scarcely a vestige of the latter remaining to tell that they existed. The plan of the temple may be distinctly traced. It consisted only of two rooms: the first ornamented with four columns; the second is the sanctuary, in which is a plain stone for an altar: the length of the edifice is 85 feet, and the width 65. I saw no reason to suppose that it ever had an additional portico in front. The defaced state of the hieroglyphics and sculpture is no proof, in this instance, of its great antiquity, but may be accounted for by the peculiar softness of the stone. Close or adjoining to this temple, on the east side, are some walls and columns of other edifices (E in the plan); but, from what remains, little, I think, would be gained by an excavation, as there are no hieroglyphics.

At 125 feet to the north, that is, behind the last-described ruins, are the remains of the propylon of a small temple. (See the foreground of Plate XXIII., and to the right, in the distance, of Plate XXV.) Its south side is ornamented with sculpture, representing[141] the king sacrificing prisoners to Amun; a subject so often repeated on the propylons of Egypt. The other side of the propylon is also ornamented with sculpture. (See Plate XXIII.) It represents a sphinx on a pedestal, under which is a figure with feathers, and also a pedestal with some vases. I copied the hieroglyphics which were legible. They contain the name and titles of a king called Amun Sekon. The upper part of the oval, on the south side of the propylon, is destroyed; but on the north, where it is perfect, it seems to be Strength of Amun Sekon. The similarity of the name Sekon and Sethus, the first of the nineteenth dynasty, is curious. The hieroglyphics above the sphinx seem to allude to the offering of an obelisk to the king, and the inscription above the vases states their number to be forty. The width of this temple is 60 feet. The sekos has been destroyed by the falling of part of the mountain; and another temple, C, close adjoining, has suffered in a similar manner. Of the latter still slighter traces remain: a few fragments of columns and part of a wall alone indicate that it ever existed.

Great Temple at Gibel el Birkel.—The temple I next arrived at, 75 feet from the latter, marked F in the plan, had attracted my attention on first arriving at the mountain. It is now little more than an immense confused pile of ruins. One column only remains entire; having the capital of the form of the lotus-bud; denoting its epoch, not only by its style, but by the name still legible on the slab of the capital. Of the vast number of columns which ornamented the porticoes, vestibules, and apartments of this enormous edifice, one only remains; a sad relic of departed splendour: and this, defaced, tottering, and almost bent with age, cannot long answer the purpose of transmitting to posterity the name of its royal founder. It seems almost by a miracle to have survived the ruin which surrounds it: and we may congratulate ourselves on this circumstance; for, if it had fallen a generation earlier, the fragments would have been swallowed up[142] by the desert or carried away by the Arabs; and, consequently, the style of the architecture, and the name of the king who, perhaps, built this splendid edifice, would have remained wrapped in impenetrable mystery.

Few temples in Egypt are more extensive or finer than this must once have been. Sufficient still remains to show its extent and magnificence: traces of columns, fragments of battle-scenes, and sacred processions, display its architectural beauty and the interesting historical events which once adorned its walls. The cruel hand of time, some convulsion of nature, or, what is most probable, the barbarous hand of man, have destroyed them, and thus torn many interesting pages from the history of the world.

A general view of these ruins may be seen in the background of Plate XXIII., which gives a correct idea of the confused mass that now remains; and my view (Plate XXV.), the most picturesque of any that I have of Gibel el Birkel, represents in the foreground the solitary column before mentioned. The separate plan (Plate XXIV.) of this temple I drew myself, and spared no pains to make it as correct as possible, excavating for that purpose: and had I been less acquainted with Egyptian edifices, I could not have succeeded so well. The exact form of the first propylon of this temple is not discernible, being quite destroyed, great part of the stones carried away, and the rest covered almost entirely with the sand which drifts continually from the desert. The dimensions given to the propylon in the plan, I obtained by some little excavation, and by observations of the ground. I do not pretend to say they are quite correct; but, from the dilapidated state of this part of the temple, more exact measurements cannot, I think, now be obtained. To understand fully the following detailed description of this edifice, the reader must refer to my plan. The total length of the temple is nearly 500 feet. The first court is 150 feet long, and 135 wide, and was surrounded by a row of columns, 5 feet[143] 9 inches in diameter, resting on bases 7 feet 6 inches in diameter. Nine only of these columns are now visible. These, however, are sufficient to afford a correct idea of what the court has been. I obtained the intercolumniation by excavation, and have thus ascertained that this court must have been ornamented with 26 columns, and not more, as it has been represented. There were nine on each side, including the angles, and four at each end.

The propylon of the second court is also much injured, but not to the same extent as the first. On the south-west side, which is less injured than the other, I found the remains of a staircase leading to the top of the edifice. The depth of this propylon, which is 28 feet, I was able to ascertain with more precision than the other. The second court is 125 feet long and 102 wide. It was curiously laid out, in a manner which first made me conceive it to have originally formed two rooms: the first containing four rows of six columns each, two on each side; and the second room, six rows of columns of three each: but, on further examination, I found that there was no mark on the side walls of its having been thus divided. There is a thin wall, which connects together the seventh and eighth columns of the centre avenue, that is, the last of the columns that would have been in the first room, and the first of the second. This proves that this could never have formed more than one court; for, had it been divided into separate rooms, these columns could not have been connected. I conceive it most probable that, as the architectural part of a temple was generally constructed before the ornamental, the columns may have been erected with the intention that it should have been divided into two rooms; but that afterwards, as the making the whole one apartment formed no very great architectural defect, though it certainly was one, this arrangement was adopted, probably in order to afford a more continued space for the procession which adorned the walls. Otherwise, rooms leading into the sanctuaries, ornamented[144] with six rows of columns, of three each, agree exactly with the general description of an Egyptian temple.

With some little excavation, I found the traces of all the columns marked in the plan on the western side, and two on the other, with a similar connecting wall above mentioned: the width of the centre avenue was 17 feet. The diameter of the columns is 5 feet 5 inches; and they rest on circular bases. A reference to the plan will show that the nine columns on each side, forming the centre avenue, are in an exact line. The six columns of the second row, on entering, are in a line with the intercolumniation of the second and third rows, of what I, at first, erroneously conceived to be a separate portico.

On the west side of the second propylon are the fragments of a battle-scene, now almost unintelligible. Shattered pieces of a warhorse, of a king drawing his bow, and of slain combatants, denote that the historical representation of some celebrated conflict has been sculptured there. The side walls of this court seem to have been covered with splendid processions, perhaps equal to that in the beautiful portico at Medenet Abou; but nothing remains, except, in one place, a few heads; in another, the hawk and jackal standards, and several fragments of feet and limbs; and here and there, one or two hieroglyphics occur. I regret exceedingly that these sculptures are so completely destroyed, as, doubtless, they would have made an interesting addition to the pages of history. The battle, with its horrors—the resistance, flight, and slaughter—the fiery steed, trampling on the dying—the portraits and the names of the vanquished people—the warrior’s triumph and gratitude to the gods, and the processions in commemoration of his victory—were, no doubt, sculptured on these walls. This once beautiful temple, and the historical records with which it was adorned, are now almost entirely destroyed. Sufficient only is remaining to prove the beauty of the style, and make us sensible of the loss we have experienced in its destruction.[145] The nature of the event these sculptures told, may be imagined; but as matter of history it is lost for ever.

The next room is 51 feet long and 56 feet wide, and was ornamented with a row of five columns on each side, the diameter of which is 4 feet 2 inches, and they rest on circular bases: the latter are on pedestals. On each side of this room was a gallery, in one of which there now remain two columns. It seems to me probable, from the space between the last-described room and the sanctuary (see Plan), that a gallery crossed the temple at the end of the third room, out of which there were probably three outlets. Those at the sides would lead into small chapels, and the centre one into the sanctuary. As I have no authority, however, for this supposition, I have not marked it in my plan; but the reader who has studied the construction of Egyptian edifices will perceive its probability.

The sanctuary is, fortunately, in better preservation: its width is about 16 feet, the length uncertain. The wall which enclosed it could only have been of a certain height, perhaps a few feet, as, immediately behind it, on each side, are four columns, the diameter of which is 4 feet. Near the extremity of the sanctuary is a beautiful granite altar, which I found almost entirely covered with rubbish, and got it cleared. The device is very elegant, representing four kings, or, rather, four representations of the same king, Tirhaka, supporting the Egyptian entablature; and the base of the altar is also tastefully ornamented. Between the figures are four ovals: two containing the phonetic name of Tirhaka, accompanied with the titles of Son of Phre, or Pharaoh, the Sun, always living. The other two ovals contain the prænomen of the king Sun, very beneficent; above which is the title King, and below it the hieroglyphics signifying eternal life, or always living. There is a line of hieroglyphics round the figures, containing a dedication of the buildings to his father Amun Ra, &c. On the east side is a subject, not uncommon in Egypt, of the two divinities[146] of the Nile, supporting with cords a pedestal, over which is the name of the king. I copied the hieroglyphics of this tablet. On the west side of the altar is a subject exactly similar to the east, but very much defaced and broken.[26] Behind the sanctuary is a room or inner sanctuary, 37 feet long by 21 feet 6 inches wide. A door leads out of it, on the western side, into two small rooms. To the west of the altar, before described, is a much larger one of basalt, 8 feet 6 inches square. There are no figures on this altar, but some hieroglyphics, all of which I have copied: they contain the name and titles of King Pepi, or, as Rossellini, perhaps more correctly, calls him, Pionchei. The name of this king I found also on the walls; but, on the capital of the column which is still remaining there is an oval almost resembling the prænomen of Amunneith, or, according to Mr. Wilkinson, Amun m gori III. If it be the same, I must candidly state that this is very probably an Egyptian, and not an Ethiopian, edifice; for the name on the columns is generally that of the builder of the temple. There are other rooms (as will be seen by my plan), which I have not attempted to describe, being almost quite unintelligible.

The appearance of this temple, at a distance, is very picturesque; but there is little in the detail to interest the traveller; its architectural ornaments and sculpture being entirely destroyed, except the one column already mentioned, and it, too, is considerably injured, and off the perpendicular. To the architect, this temple is interesting, as its plan can almost be fully traced. The mere painter, seeking only the picturesque, would find few advantageous points of view. But to me these ruins were deeply interesting, since, accustomed as I am to Egyptian edifices, I found sufficient, even in the little that remains, to understand perfectly what it has been. I easily restored, in my conception, the lofty propylons, the splendid courts, surrounded with the most chaste forms of Egyptian columns; the porticoes, sanctuaries, statues, and avenues of sphinxes;—every part enriched by the art of the painter and[147] sculptor;—the walls and propylons covered with the representations of mythological mysteries, military exploits, and animated battle-scenes, which form the chefs d’œuvre of Egyptian art. I could trace, also, the portraits of the heroes, hieroglyphical tablets, containing the history of the scenes, and displaying the king’s piety and munificence in his offerings to the gods. Thus, I restored the temple in my imagination; and, indeed, there was good authority for all that I have enumerated. Were I to refer to a period still more remote, and, filling up the vague, and not sufficiently explicit authority of the historians, describe the bronze, gold, silver, ivory, ebony, and precious stones, with which it was, perhaps, adorned; the Oriental magnificence which was most probably displayed; the mysterious ceremonies of the most mysterious of religions; the sacrifices and burnt-offerings; the deceiving oracles, the crafty priesthood, and the ignorant multitude gazing, with superstitious awe, at their imposing functions,—I might then be accused of rambling into the regions of fancy; for, unfortunately, there are no sufficient records yet to enter into this subject: but if the study of hieroglyphics is still continued, the veil of Isis may, perhaps, be raised. The Arabs have carried away a great part of the materials of this temple; and, in a short time, the little that is remaining of this, the Selinunte of Ethiopian edifices, will be entirely buried by the sand which is daily drifted in upon it from the desert.

Other Ruins at Gibel el Birkel.—Twenty yards to the west of the Typhonium, marked in the plan, are the remains of another small temple, excavated in the rock. The first court was ornamented with columns, and on the walls I could distinguish traces of sculpture, but now too much defaced to be legible. Besides the temples already mentioned, situated under the mountain, there are the traces of another, 200 feet from the great propylon of the large temple; that is, about 700 feet from the mountain, towards the river. A fragment of a wall, 6 feet by 3 feet, is all that now remains: 300 feet beyond the latter is a single column, with a lotus-flower[148] capital. From this column to the river are 4100 feet. The mountain is, therefore, 5100 feet distant from the Nile.

To the north of the great temple are the ruins of buildings, chiefly of brick, which seem to have formed part of the city, but they are of no very great extent. Here are scattered numerous pieces of pottery, and fragments of the same description of bread stamps which are found at Thebes, but these are without hieroglyphic inscriptions. To the east of the great temple, in the plain, are columns and traces of other temples, but now almost entirely buried by the sand.

I have described all the temples now existing at Gibel el Birkel, and mentioned the remains and traces of nine, and will now treat of the monumental decorations of its interesting Necropolis. The magnificence, power, and piety of the monarchs of Ethiopia are displayed in the public works erected in honour of the gods. In this beautiful cemetery, we have monuments either of the gratitude and attachment of their subjects, or, more probably, of their own ostentation. The kings of Egypt are supposed, for many reasons, which I will mention at another opportunity, to have had their tombs constructed long before their decease; and this instructive memorial of the transient nature of their earthly greatness was worthy of the wisdom and philosophy of so great a nation. The Ethiopians probably had the same custom; and considering, as Diodorus says of the Egyptians, their palaces only as inns where they tarried for a day, they took care to have a more suitable habitation provided for that state, in which they believed that they were to rest for ages.

The pyramids are on the western side of the mountain. The first group, of two, is 700 feet north-west of the Typhonium, the temple I described as excavated in the rock. (See the General Plan and vignette.[27]) The first, A, is 30 feet square;[149] 40 feet to the west of this, is the other, B, which is only 23 feet square. The pyramid C, in the plan, is 235 feet distant from the latter, and measures 30 feet by 26: twenty feet farther to the west is pyramid D, which is 27 feet square. The one marked E, in the plan above, adjoining the latter, is 36 feet square; and F, partly behind this, is of the same size. Sixteen feet to the north of F, and north-west of the pyramids C, D, E, is the largest one at Gibel el Birkel, which is 88 feet square: the angle of this is more obtuse than that of any of the other pyramids at Gibel el Birkel. The ruined state of this large pyramid, and also of the others already described, will be seen in the distance in Plate XXVII. One hundred and forty-five feet to the north of this large pyramid is a small one, H, which is only 25 feet square. The angle of this is much more acute, the height being considerably more than the diameter at the base. It is scarcely at all injured: the[150] apex of the pyramids at this place, like those in the Isle of Meroe, was never pointed. A flat space was always left at the top for a statue, perhaps, or some other ornament. One hundred and twenty-four feet to the west of the latter is another, I, 23 feet square. This is very much ruined, particularly on one side, but there are the remains of a portico before the south-east side. The other eight pyramids, of which I have given the dimensions, were without this ornament: at all events, there are no traces now remaining, that induced me to suppose that any of them had porches in front. The present state of the pyramids above described may be observed in the distance of Plate XXVII.[28]

About 600 feet to the north-west is a fine group of eight other pyramids, situated on an eminence, which adds greatly to their effect, and gives them, at a distance, a still more imposing appearance. They extend for 550 feet from east to west; five of them have porticoes, or porches, the direction of which is about south-east, but rarely exactly the same. (See Plan.) Plate XXVI. is a general view of these pyramids, and the vignette represents one in detail. These being accurate camera-lucida drawings, and every stone correct, the reader will be able to judge of the neat construction of some of these edifices, the regularity in the size of the stones (see Plate XXVI.), and the manner in which they are joined together, without cement. Plate XXVII. is a view of a group of these pyramids, which also shows their construction; and in the distance is seen the mountain and the other group of pyramids.

The height of these monuments varies from 35 to 60 feet. They consist, according to their height, of from 30 to 60 steps each, receding about 6 inches. They, therefore, may be ascended, but with difficulty. They have smooth borders at the angles, like[151] some of the pyramids at Meroe. The first, marked K in the plan, p. 149., 600 feet distant from the mountain, is about 65 feet square. It seems to have had no portico, but it is quite in ruins; it stood upon a stone basement. Thirty-six feet to the west of the latter is the pyramid L. This is 33 feet square, a mass of ruins, and no traces of the portico to be seen. This pyramid is the first to the right in Plate XXVI.; and although rather indistinct, from being placed in the distance, its dilapidated state may still be observed. Ninety-five feet to the west of this is M, which is 38 feet square. This has a portico before it: the summit of it is visible in Plate XXVI. On the hard cement with which the interior of this portico is covered, I observed some remains of painting, rather indifferently executed. Fifteen feet to the south, and in the view almost covering the last, is pyramid N. This is 44 feet square and 51 feet high, and has a portico before it. Unfortunately, very few figures were distinguishable; but sufficient to prove the identity of the style, which is decidedly Ethiopian. As a further[152] confirmation of this fact, there is an inscription in Ethiopic characters. The masonry of this pyramid is very well executed. This pyramid is the first that may be remarked as entire in Plate XXVI.

There are porticoes, as I have said, before five of this group of eight pyramids, almost similar to those before the pyramids of Meroe. Some of these are ornamented with sculpture; but, unfortunately, destitute of hieroglyphics, which never appear to have been inserted upon them. I copied out of the pyramid N, the most beautiful specimen of sculpture that now remains. (See Plate XXIX.) The style may easily be perceived to be Ethiopian, from the roundness of the arms, and the proportions being generally more bulky than those of the Egyptians. This style differs so widely from that remaining in the temple built by Tirhaka, that many ages must certainly have elapsed before such an important change could have taken place. The subject which I have copied is not particularly interesting, being merely a presentation of offerings, but there is a variety and elegance in the groups, seldom surpassed in Egyptian productions. The offerings consist chiefly of branches of palm trees, goats, cattle, &c., and libations. In the highest row, Osiris is represented seated on his throne, as judge of Amenti, and the divinities Anubis and Horus, are also in the same line. The divinity with the globe and horns, in the second row, is probably Isis; and the last in the second row is a figure of Typhon.

A personage larger than the others is holding incense on the same elegant description of tray, having the form of a hand and arm, which we see in Egypt. He is presenting it to the king, or occupant of the tomb, who is represented seated under a canopy, on a lion-shaped chair or throne, which differs, in a very slight degree, from that we so often see in the sculptures of Egypt. The dress of the king is different from the Egyptian. His necklace is curious: he has in one hand a large and strong[153] but beautifully-formed bow, and in the other an arrow and a branch of the palm tree[29]: the goddess of truth, with outstretched wings, is immediately behind his throne. The traces of colour which still remain on this sculpture I marked on my original drawing.

On the other side of the portico, opposite to this sculpture, is another subject, representing about 100 figures, rather curiously grouped; also some large figures exactly similar to those above described.

In the other porticoes no sculpture is perceptible, except some fragments similar to the large figures in this plate.

At the end of some of the porticoes appear traces of the funeral boats, similar to the one I described at Meroe. Notwithstanding some differences, they appear to have the same signification as those over the tombs of the kings. This circumstance, and the representation of the goddess of truth, Osiris, the president of Amenti, and the assistant divinities, Anubis, Thoth, and Horus, are proofs that these were indubitably tombs.

These pyramids seem to have been the object of some learned curiosity or avarice. Deceived by the false doors beneath the boats of the sun at the end of the porticoes, persons have endeavoured, by blasting the stones, to discover some inner chambers, and set at rest for ever the question how, and for what purpose, they were constructed. The rude force of barbarians, perhaps of Arabs, animated, probably, by the hope of discovering treasure beneath, seems to have been exercised in utterly destroying others.

Judging from the pyramids which are almost entirely ruined, and from those that have been partly broken down, I do not conceive that there is any chamber in the interior, but think it more probable that the body was deposited in a small well, above which[154] the pyramid was afterwards erected. Yet Diodorus says that the Ethiopians differed from other nations in the honours which they rendered to their dead. “Some,” says he, “throw the bodies into the river, believing that to be the most honourable sepulture which they can give. Others keep them in their houses, shut up in niches of alabaster, thinking it advantageous for a child to have ever before his eyes the image of his father; and those who wished to preserve the memory of their predecessors enclosed their bodies in a coffin of baked earth, and interred them in the neighbourhood of the temples.” The reader will have perceived, from these passages of Diodorus, that it is not impossible that these porticoes may have been used to contain the coffins; thus enabling the friends or children to visit them, at the same time protecting them, to a certain degree, from the hand of violence and the inclemency of the seasons. The mummies in the Roman tombs in the Necropolis, in the Oasis Magna, were in wells; and the Egyptians usually, but not invariably, interred their dead in those receptacles. Many of the pyramids have no porticoes; therefore, in those instances, the body must be underneath, probably in a well; but the construction of these porticoes may have had its origin in the piety and affection of individuals wishing to have the bodies of their relations preserved in an accessible place, where, at certain seasons, they could visit their remains, recall past scenes, indulge their grief in bewailing their loss, and have ever before their eyes a memorial of the brief sojourn of man in this valley of tears.

The pyramid marked O in the plan is thirty feet distant to the west of N. This is 53 feet square, and the height 58 feet. This pyramid is the second in Plate XXVI., and the B of Plate XXVIII. It will be observed, in the view, that the upper part is very dilapidated; the portico is very much injured; and, in consequence of the broken state of the ground, it does not appear in my view. The sculpture which it contains is of little importance.[155] A figure offering incense to the king, with the head-dress of a globe, long feathers, and short horns. There is also a representation of the funeral boat.

The next (P, in the plan) is 35 feet square. This is the third, from the left, in Plate XII., and is one of the most perfect. The height is 48 feet, and the interior width of the portico is 6 feet 6 inches. This portico is arched. There seems to have been some ornament (perhaps an inscription) attached to many of the façades of the pyramids; for near the summits are circular holes, in which, probably, rivets were inserted. Mr. Waddington found a piece of granite in one. Near the summit of this there are three of these holes.

Q is 36 feet square. There are no traces of its ever having had any portico. This is the second, from the left, in Plate XXVI. The summit is very much injured.

Pyramid R is the first to the left. In the vignette, page 148., and Plates XXVI. and XXVII., it will be observed that it is almost perfect, but that the roof of the portico has partly fallen in. This pyramid is also represented as restored in Plate XXVIII. An examination of this plate will afford to the reader a good idea of the beauty of the architectural forms of these pyramids. A, which corresponds with R in the plan, is 41 feet in diameter, and the height is 46 feet. The angles of these pyramids being so much more acute than those of Geezah, adds greatly to the elegance of their architectural form. The small ornament at the angles is pretty, and enhances very much the effect. The façade of the portico is also pretty, but, as will be seen by the plates, has quite a different form from the façades of the porticoes of the pyramids of Meroe. At the latter place the doorway is between two towers, which, although on a small scale, are almost similar in design to those of the great propylons of Egypt. These, as will be seen by the plate, have more the appearance of small[156] temples. The façade is narrower at the top than at the bottom, the total width of the latter being 20 feet, and at the top 17 feet 6 inches. The square band and the cornice give it more the appearance of a small temple. The architrave over the door is ornamented with the globe and serpents. This pyramid is also arched.

In describing the pyramids of Meroe, I mentioned that the arch I there found was a segment of a circle; but here it is very important to observe that there are not only specimens of that, but also one of the pointed arch. The latter, consisting of six stones, is accurately drawn in the section. The stones are slightly hollowed out to the shape of the arch, but do not advance beyond each other, like the arch near the temple excavated out of the rock at Thebes, but are supported only by lateral pressure.[30] The stones of this arch are not joined with cement; but above the roof are a quantity of small stones, which are kept together by a soft description of cement. That these arches are not recently added, is proved, not only by the appearance of the monuments themselves, being exactly of the same description of fine hard sandstone, and of the same colour; but still more certainly by the circumstance, that the portico I mentioned as covered with cement, and painted in the ancient Ethiopian style, is also, fortunately, arched. The interior of this arch is covered with cement, which is harder than the stone, and painted.

The paintings on the arched roof, and the sides of the portico, are evidently of the same period. As I have formerly observed, owing, probably, to its very great antiquity, the painting is nearly defaced; but still there was sufficient to convince me that the style is certainly Ethiopian, of a far more ancient date than the sculpture in the temple of Tirhaka.

[157]The reader will observe, also, in the section, a specimen of a semicircular arch. They are drawn very small, as belonging to the pyramids, but they are not, on that account, less accurate; and, therefore, almost equally useful as if they had been made separate plates. The stone forming the keystone of this semicircular arch is 1 foot 9 inches in length; the stones supporting it, corresponding precisely, 2 feet 1 inch, and the one on each side following these, to the spring of the arch, 2 feet 4 inches. The arch, then, not only the circular, but the pointed, had its origin in Ethiopia. The oldest known in Europe is, I believe, that in the Cloacum Maximum, supposed to have been built in the time of the Commonwealth. The great antiquity, of the one on the Tiber is proved by its singular construction, forming almost, as it were, three arches beneath each other.

I am aware that the learned will be sceptical concerning the antiquity of these. There are no remains in stone to prove that the Egyptians were so far advanced in the construction of the arch as these specimens show that the Ethiopians were. The only stone arch that exists in Egypt is the one at North Der, at Thebes; and that one proves that the Egyptians were acquainted with its beauty, but not its utility and the correct mode of constructing it. The vaulted tomb of stones at Memphis is of the time of Psammitichus, who reigned immediately after the Ethiopian dynasty. The brick arches in the tombs at Thebes, covered with cement, on which are the royal name of Thothmes and Amenoph, prove that the Egyptians were, at that period, acquainted with the arch; but it is rather singular that there is no earlier specimen: whence, I think, we may infer, as those were built soon after the terrible wars commenced, which are represented on the walls at Thebes, that the Egyptians then, for the first time, invaded Ethiopia, and there saw and became acquainted with that useful construction. There seems to me no reason to suppose that the knowledge of the utility and construction of the arch passed from Egypt[158] into Ethiopia: the contrary is much more probable, as we have here far more perfect specimens than are found in Egypt; and as there is no doubt of the very great antiquity of these ruins, can there be any, that the invention of the arch had its origin in Ethiopia?[31]

The sandstone of which the pyramids are built is of a much harder quality than that of the temples, being either from a vein in the mountain which is now exhausted, or, as I conceive is most probable, brought from distant quarries. This is an extraordinary proof that the greatest pains were taken in the construction of these edifices, to enable them to resist the ravages of time.

As to the antiquity of these structures, I conceive it to be very great. Some of them appear more ancient than any that exist in the valley of the Nile, with the exception, perhaps, of the pyramids of Meroe and Nouri. They are the tombs of a dynasty of kings whose names are now unknown. That they were royal sepulchres, and not those of private individuals, is, I think, evident from their being as magnificent as the pyramids at Meroe, which we know to belong to kings from the ovals which they contain; and many of the individuals in these tombs have the serpent, the emblem of royalty, above their foreheads. If this had been the site of Napata, I should conceive that the dilapidated state of the ruins might have been caused by Petronius, who led there the Roman arms; but in the Historical Appendix I will give the reader a further account of that celebrated expedition. I trust that the hieroglyphic inscriptions which I have copied will contain much valuable information; and that, at all events, the name of a place, evidently once so considerable, may again, with certainty, be enrolled in the list of cities. Her habitations and her palaces are utterly destroyed: the desert is swallowing up the remains of her[159] temples; and the sepulchres of her kings are fast decaying. A city where the arts evidently were once so zealously cultivated,—where science and learning appear to have reigned,—is now possessed by ignorant barbarian tribes. Where are the descendants of that people who erected these splendid monuments to their gods? Were they exterminated by the warlike tribe who now occupy this territory, driven into other regions, or blended with the race of their conquerors? These are questions of great importance, which I may endeavour to illustrate in my historical chapter, but which I pass by at present, as scarcely belonging to a topographical description.

It is a circumstance, perhaps, worthy of remark, that some of the most perfect heads sculptured on the pyramids had almost a European profile. The Shageea—the brave tribe of Arabs who now possess the magnificently rich and fertile plain near Gibel el Birkel, and whose territory extends, on one side nearly to the fourth cataract, and on the other to Dongolah—have, notwithstanding the darkness of their complexion, nothing of the Negro features.

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[160]CHAPTER XII.

PRESENT INHABITANTS OF BIRKEL. — FUNERAL CEREMONIES IN THE MAHOMETAN BURIAL-GROUNDS. — NAME OF RAMESES II. OR SESOSTRIS. — DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT STATE OF THE COUNTRY. — INDIGO MANUFACTORIES. — THE SHAGEEA TRIBE. — ONE OF THEIR MELEKS. — PYRAMIDS OF NOURI, DILAPIDATED STATE. — CURIOUS CONSTRUCTION OF ONE. — GENERAL DIMENSIONS. — ANTIQUITY. — COMPARISON BETWEEN THE ANCIENT AND MODERN BUILDINGS OF ETHIOPIA. — RETURN TO MEROUEH. — TURKISH MANNER OF BEING PAID FOR SERVICES. — VOYAGE DOWN THE NILE. — NUMEROUS VILLAGES. — SHAGEEA TRIBE. — INTOXICATION, LEARNING, ETC. — VARIOUS VILLAGES AND ISLANDS. — EFFECTS OF THE CLIMATE AND OTHER PECULIARITIES OF THIS COUNTRY ON THE CHARACTER OF THE PEOPLE. — NOBLE MANNERS OF THE ARABS. — DONGOLAH AGOUS. — PROBABLE SITE OF NAPATA. — NEGRO SLAVES. — EFFECTS OF THE CRUELTY OF THEIR OWNERS. — ENCROACHMENTS OF THE DESERT. — CULTIVATION. — PEASANTS.

The inhabitants of the village of Birkel have their burying-place on the edge of the desert. Two women died while we were there. On such occasions the females of the village assemble in the house of the deceased, to cry and bewail her death. Generally, after two or three hours, they carry the body to the grave. On their arrival at the burial-ground, they assemble round the corpse, and make a low melancholy howl, and the nearest relations, with dishevelled hair and loud lamentations, perform a kind of lascivious but graceful dance; not very unlike that of the almæ in Lower Egypt, but the movements here are different. They do not, like the almæ, remain fixed to one spot, but move forward rather gracefully, bending their knees and back, and throwing up their bosoms, keeping time to the clapping of hands and their wild lululoo, of which there are two descriptions, one expressive of grief, and the other of joy. This dance is not so very indecent[161] as the Egyptian dance. When the body is laid in the ground, stones are erected over the head and feet, between which they make a narrow channel, as I mentioned before, filled with small pebbles, generally of quartz, but invariably of one colour. I asked of several persons an explanation of this ceremony; but the only reply was, “It was the custom.” Burckhardt states (page 269.), that a fakeer told him that it was a mere meritorious custom; that there was no necessity for it, but that it was thought that the soul of the deceased, when hereafter visiting the tombs, might be glad to find these pebbles, in order to use them as beads, in addressing its prayers to the Creator.

In the centre of the burying-ground is a large tomb of a saint: this is also built of stone. These stones are all taken from the temples, but they are generally without sculpture or hieroglyphics. On one stone, however, I discovered half of the name of Rameses II. or Sesostris. This is curious, and reminded me that Strabo[32] speaks of a sacred mountain in Ethiopia, where there was a temple of Isis, built by that conqueror; and Herodotus says that Sesostris, that is, Rameses II., was the only Egyptian king who made himself master of Ethiopia. My accidental discovery of this name, is, I think, strongly corroborative of the correctness of these two passages: this may be the mountain alluded to. That conqueror must have constructed some edifices, otherwise I should not have found his name. The temple of Isis may be the one excavated in the rock, and afterwards adorned with sculpture, by Tirhaka; and the statement of Herodotus, that he was the only king who subdued the Ethiopians, is, I think, proved by the fact, that, with the exception of the one which may be that of Amunneith III., on the column of the great temple, this is the only name I have found of an Egyptian king either here or at the Island of Meroe. I begged the katshef who governed the district[162] to desire the peasants to take the stones that they required from the mountain, urging that, as strict Mahometans, they ought not to take them from Pagan ruins; but, unfortunately, there is no law in the Koran by which this is forbidden. Here, therefore, is another cause which will contribute to the speedy and utter destruction of what still remains of this interesting city.

To give the reader an idea of the present state of fertility of this country, notwithstanding that the desert has enormously encroached on the cultivated land, the following particulars may not be uninteresting:—The katshef of Meroueh commands as far as Wanly, down the river, one day by land, about thirty miles; and up the river as far as Berber, two days by land. Within this small extent, over which only the banks of the Nile are cultivated, there are 1368 water-wheels, which pay to the government twenty dollars each, that is, 27,360 dollars; besides which, the government gain considerably by obliging the peasants to plant indigo, which they purchase from them at twelve piastres the cantar. They have calculated that they make 190 drachms of indigo from each cantar. Under the government of Dongolah, there are five manufactories of indigo,—Meroueh, Handek, Haffeer, Dongolah Agous, and El Ourde. The manufactory here produces 1846 okres[33] every year, and is now increasing. The peasants are unwilling to cultivate this plant, as the labour is very great; and they do not consider the price they receive a sufficient remuneration.

The Shageea who cultivate this district are less oppressed than their neighbours: they are, as Burckhardt and Waddington have remarked, considered the bravest of the Arab tribes. This warlike race alone never bent their knees to the great Sultan of Sennaar. It is impossible to convey to the reader an adequate idea of the power these daring warriors once possessed. The name of a[163] Shageea was a host in itself. I have been repeatedly assured, that a single horseman has often been known to alight at a peasant’s hut, order the owner to hold his horse, whilst he entered into his very harem, ate with his wives, and often, it is said, still more shamefully abused his power. Death or slavery was the fate of the meleks of the neighbouring tribes who dared to offend them. Mounted on their dromedaries or horses, armed with lances, swords, and shields, they scoured the province, sweeping away the herds, massacring all who had the courage to resist, and carrying away men, women, and children into captivity. War was their sole delight; the cry to arms their most welcome sound. Mothers appeased the cries of their infants by the sight of a spear; and the lovely maiden only yielded her hand to the distinguished warrior. Their exploits are the theme of many a song; and other tribes seem to have forgotten their wrongs in admiration of the bravery of their oppressors. The blessings of peace, agriculture, and domestic repose were considered irksome by these proud warriors. They obstinately and gallantly resisted the invasion of the Pasha, till they found it vain, with their lances and sabres, to contend against fields of artillery and disciplined troops armed with the musket. Understanding that the Pasha was going to make war against Melek Nimr and the Shendyans, who were also their enemies, they joined his troops, and gradually came completely under subjection to him. The government, however, treats them with some respect. As I have stated before, a Shageea regiment is still in the Pasha’s service, and engaged in the war against the Negroes, at the southern extremity of his kingdom.

The ancient race of the meleks still exists, but the fortunes of many are wofully changed. I took the portrait of one, an uncommonly fine-looking fellow, who was constantly in the temple where I resided, talking with my servants. (See Plate XXX.) His long gown, or shirt, is called, in Arabic, e’tobe. The shawl, or el melayah, is always put on very gracefully. Their sandals, or[164] nohel, are useful in walking on the sand, except when the latter is soft and heated by the sun: they then afford them little protection, as their feet constantly sink above the sole. As there was no barber in the village, and I was told he had some skill in shaving, I allowed him to officiate in that capacity; but most anxiously shall I avoid to have my head again shaved by the son of a king. Never did I endure such a scarification. His razor, one of the twopenny sort from Trieste, was blunter than even a French table-knife; and he had no means of sharpening it, but, according to the custom of the country, on his bare arm. He drew blood four times, and scraped my head in such a manner that it smarted for several hours afterwards; but it is impossible to endure the wearing of one’s hair in this climate after having once been accustomed to the luxury of having it shaved every week; and having lost my penknife, I have been obliged to take my own razor to cut my pencils. Travellers, in these unprovided regions, must often have recourse to strange means of supplying their necessities.

Plate I. represents a Shageea with the dress of the desert—merely a cloth around his waist: his colour is darker than the other, which is accounted for from the life he leads, continually exposed to the scorching sun.[34]

During our residence in the temple of Tirhaka we were often troubled with wolves, attracted, I presume, by the smell of the meat, and who made too free with our larder. Fatigued always by measuring and drawing all the day under this burning sun, we slept too soundly to detect the thief; indeed, the roaring of a lion would scarcely have roused our Arab servants: but we had a guardian of another description, whose instinctive vigilance proved fatal to the intruder. The little monkey the Mahmoor of Berber gave me was chained to, and had his bed among, a heap of stones in the corner of the sanctuary where Mr. B. and I slept. The[165] poor little animal, frightened most desperately at the approach of so powerful an enemy as a wolf, and, besides his bodily fear, having, of course, an interest in the preservation of our larder, succeeded in rousing us by rolling down the stones that were near it. It did this three nights together: last night, one of my servants succeeded in shooting the thief.

April 1. This afternoon we spent three hours in sailing eight miles to the pyramids of Nouri. They are situated in a slightly elevated part of the desert, a full half hour’s walk from the river. There are traces of thirty-five pyramids, of which about fifteen only are in any kind of preservation. These are not very interesting, except as tombs, and from their imposing appearance, not being ornamented with porticoes or hieroglyphic inscriptions. The pyramids are all at right angles, and their direction is generally nearly the same. Their size varies from 110 feet square to 20. (See plan, Plate XXXII., and picturesque view, Plate XXXI.) There are eight above 80 feet square, and four more above 70 feet square: their height is generally about the same as their diameter.

Plate XXXI. is the most picturesque of three views which I made of these pyramids; but the most remarkable for size does not appear in this view. The plan will show that it measures at the base about 110 feet square. It consisted of three stages. Part of one having fallen, discovers another pyramid underneath. They seem to have added this second pyramid around the inner one, in order to increase its size, or, perhaps, to make the body underneath doubly difficult to get at. The Egyptian method of building pyramids with stages was, I think, by first erecting a pyramid with a very acute angle, and then building around it the first stage from the summit, and so on, in like manner, as many as were required.

The pyramids are surrounded by the desert, which, I conceive, has already covered the remains of several others. The waves of the great Libyan ocean have probably swallowed up the[166] traces of the city and its temples, which, from the extent and imposing appearance of its cemetery, must have been considerable. The interior of some of the pyramids is of puddingstone, very much decomposed. The sandstone with which these monuments are covered, and often constructed, is rather soft, as is nearly all the sandstone in Ethiopia; which circumstance, and also their very great antiquity, may be the reason, perhaps, of the very dilapidated state of the ruins.

Close to these pyramids, and almost surrounding them, are the traces of a canal from the Nile; which, according to my information, reaches for a considerable distance into the desert. This circumstance proves that the cultivated land extended much farther into the interior than at present. Cailliaud supposed this place to have been the cemetery of Gibel el Birkel; arguing that Thebes also had her tombs on the opposite side of the river. But those of Gournah, and in the Valley of the Kings, if not close to what formed part of the great city of Thebes,—which, however, is very probable, from the numerous splendid temples and palaces, of which there are still magnificent remains on that side,—were, at all events, in the suburb, and exactly opposite the great city, and not eight miles distant up the river, as these are from Gibel el Birkel. Moreover, the tombs at Thebes are on the western side, probably because the mountains on that side are nearer to the river, and afforded greater facilities for excavations than those of the eastern range. That the inhabitants of Gibel el Birkel, therefore, should have chosen this place for their necropolis, when they had space for hundreds on the spot where her pyramids are now standing, or, at all events, might have erected them, if they preferred it, immediately opposite on the western side of the river, is an idea which no person who reflects on the subject can entertain. They are most probably the tombs of another dynasty, and of a city whose name may be among the many we meet with in the itineraries. We may guess which of[167] them it was; but such surmises, without any proofs to support them, are entirely useless.

I could not help drawing a comparison between these pyramids and the celebrated ones at Geezah. The latter, although in a worse climate and more exposed situation, have evidently suffered far less from the ravages of time. There is scarcely one pyramid here which is not so dilapidated that its architectural beauty is almost entirely lost. The tropical rains seldom, if ever, reach so far north as this province; yet numbers of the pyramids are quite destroyed, and others are mere masses of shapeless ruins, without a vestige of their ornaments remaining. From their appearance I should conceive these to be the most ancient ruins in the valley of the Nile: but there are no hieroglyphics remaining, to give us the name of the city or its kings; and no sculpture, from the style of which we might have a better idea of the period when they were constructed. This necropolis is now more a place for the philosopher than the artist: the city and its people are gone. The splendid mausoleums of its kings are little better than piles of ruins: the histories which they recorded are lost for ever. The dreary terrible desert which surrounds them seems silently devouring its prey, and many ages will not elapse ere this, the real Typhon, will have swallowed up every vestige of its ancient grandeur.

I conceive it not improbable that this is the site of the ancient capital of this province, which may have been destroyed in the wars between the Egyptians and the Ethiopians, perhaps by the great Sesostris; and the city at Gibel el Birkel may have dated from its ruin the increase of her magnificence. Succeeding generations may have found the site of Gibel el Birkel more advantageous, and the favour of a new dynasty of kings may have enabled the new capital to eclipse her rival on the southern bank. I mentioned, after crossing the Bahiouda Desert, and arriving at the Nile, that the peasants informed me of some ruins which are[168] now covered by the desert. I conceive the existence of these to afford further confirmation of the former opulence of this country. I cannot suppose, for a moment, that the city to which this necropolis belonged was so far distant.

It is melancholy to see such numerous vestiges of imposing and splendid structures, demonstrating the power, magnificence, and knowledge of the former inhabitants of a province whose present possessors scarcely have sufficient ability to construct for themselves habitable mansions. The hovels of the peasants are miserable in the extreme. The castles of the sheakhs are better, but the rooms which they contain are extremely rude. This part of Africa was formerly harassed by continual wars of one tribe and nation against another. The necessity of guarding against surprise obliged them to fortify their habitations, and having models in their vicinity of ancient fortresses of the Ethiopians, the princes gave to their residences a somewhat more tolerable appearance.

April 3. We returned to Meroueh this morning, and I received a visit from the katshef and his suite. His professed object was to enquire whether he could be of any service to me, but his real aim was chiefly to receive half the pay of the boat (120 piastres) which he had procured for me, to take us to Nouri, and thence to Dongolah. I paid him the money as he desired, but he did not take the trouble of giving it to the rais (the captain of the vessel), who, poor fellow, of course, said that it was all right, as complaint would only have procured him the bastinado. This is the usual way in which the government remunerate themselves for any pains they bestow in making arrangements for travellers.

We started at twelve, and passed, this evening, Kajjib, an old Arab village, picturesquely situated on a rock. We stopped for the night at the ruin of an old Saracenic castle, called Baheet, of considerable size, with towers and a citadel. It has evidently been of great strength, the walls being very thick; the inner part is[169] built of brick; the exterior of stones piled together, as roughly as the enclosing wall of a field in England. The rocks are of sandstone.

April 4. We have this day passed the Island of Shenderab at half past seven; the Island of Manderab at eight, the village of Korti and islands of Ingolass and of Onato at half past eight; the small village on the western bank, called Ambicol, at ten; the Island of Sennat at one; the village of Defur at three P.M.; Genati at half past three, and stopped for the night at the small Island of Bishaba.[35]

April 5. At seven we passed the village of Debba el Dolib; or, as it is generally called, Debba, the commencement of the road to Kordofan, and the last village of Dar Shageea. With all their faults, the Shageea are the most interesting of the Arab tribes I have seen. Their manly appearance, extreme valour, and open and frank and noble manners, are very engaging; but I am sorry to find that they are addicted to intoxication beyond any tribe I have met with, spending the greater portion of their earnings in bouza, and particularly in the strong spirit of the country distilled from dates. Burckhardt (page 70.) has justly extolled their courage and good faith, and hospitality to strangers that have friends among them: but his account of their schools and learning would scarcely be applicable to the Shageea of the present day, who are too much enamoured of the dance and the cup to submit to the ennui of study.

At half past seven we passed the Island of Geri, and a village called Kutti, on the western bank. At half past four P.M. we passed a small island called Amduburgh, and stopped soon after at Tangus, another small island. The wind being invariably against us, we have scarcely made any progress, and that only by tacking. The river is about half a mile broad in[170] this part of the valley, and occasionally even wider. There is scarcely any cultivated land, except on the islands. The desert, generally, on each side of the river, presents not an object to cheer the eye or relieve the mind. When the banks of the river were sufficiently low to afford us an extensive view, we saw only immense tracts of waste bounded by the horizon. The peasants chiefly inhabit the islands, where they seem to have taken refuge from the encroachments of the desert, being seldom able, with their inadequate means, to resist its approach; but, as I have before mentioned, there are still some villages on the banks, like little oases, but not so beautiful. Notwithstanding some advantage of their situation, and their feeble efforts to protect their fields, year after year the Libyan and Nubian deserts are said to extend their sway.

The gravity of the Arabs, who seldom laugh, and scarcely ever, even under the influence of intoxication, give way to boisterous mirth, must be in a great measure attributed to the character of their country. Considering these people as living under a sky which is ever the same, clear and beautiful, and accustomed to one uniform landscape, the river, its islands, and surrounding wastes; knowing few other nations, creeds, or customs; having ever before their eyes these dreadful wildernesses; experiencing their horrors, and feeling their destructive effects; it is not surprising that we find them more grave than the inhabitants of southern climes in general. Even boys have the carriage and demeanour of men. Neat in their dress and simple in their manners, there is no affectation, no dandyism. How ill-placed would such follies be in a region like this! Natural and easy in their address, erect in their carriage, they often display a calm and noble dignity of demeanour, which I have never seen surpassed in any civilised capital. They salute you courteously, and talk with gravity of your plans. There is no feverish anxiety to shine in conversation, nor any obligation to converse with you. After the first compliments,[171] unless any of them have enquiries to make, they seldom speak. Every day is equally beautiful and unclouded, therefore the weather is rarely, if ever, the subject of conversation; and we have not, as in Europe, the bore of discussing its appearance twenty times a day.

April 6. At six A.M. we passed Ahmoor, a small village on the west bank of the river, and at nine we arrived at Dongolah Agous.

Dongolah Agous.—After having seen that Shendy, Berber, and Metammah, though the capitals of provinces, are but miserable places, I did not expect to find Dongolah otherwise; still I could not have conceived that a town once so considerable, the metropolis of a large district, whose name so often occurs in history, would have presented now so wretched an aspect.

Part of the town is in ruins. The desert has entered into its streets: many of the houses are entirely covered with sand, and scarcely an inhabitant is to be seen. One might have thought that some dreadful convulsion of nature, or some pestilential disease, had swept away the population. Part of the city is, indeed, remaining, but until I entered the houses not a human being did I meet with. I observed some houses in the town, of a superior appearance, having divisions of rooms, galleries, and courts, and evidently belonging to individuals once rich; but they are now almost all deserted. In some of them that we entered I saw some good-looking women: the men were idling away the day smoking and sleeping. Such is the scene of desolation and inactivity which now presents itself to the traveller at Dongolah. The mosque used by the inhabitants, until recently, was a large building, which tradition represents as very ancient, and as being built 200 years before the Hegira: but it is evidently of a much more modern date. It contains some granite columns, of bad workmanship, belonging to the early Christian age.

I asked whether the residence of the Turkish government at[172] El Ourde was the cause why the city was so deserted, but was told that that circumstance had made little or no change. This was the proud reply of poverty. I have been informed by others, that, before the Pasha’s conquest, many of the inhabitants were in better circumstances, and the town more populous, but that they are now scattered elsewhere: many of them fled to Kordofan and Sennaar, on the approach of the Pasha.

I conceive it not improbable that this is the site of Napata. Pliny so distinctly places that city 100 miles lower down the Nile than Gibel el Birkel, that I see no reason for supposing that immense extent of ruins to be the remains of a town which he describes as so very insignificant. Besides the distance agreeing so exactly with Pliny’s account, the position of Dongolah Agous, as a military station, to resist the arms of Petronius, would certainly be advantageous. The desert and the present city may have covered the vestiges of the temples Petronius destroyed.

I left Dongolah Agous at three, without having made any drawings of the place, not conceiving it worth the delay. At half past three we passed the large Island of Gadar; at four, Ullow; and, after passing numerous villages and islands, we stopped for the night at Gemin, a very small village.

April 7. We passed this morning the village of Handak, situated on the western side near the base of the river, and the small Island of Marouerti, which resembles rather the ancient name of Meroe, and must, I think, be a corruption of it. Names analogous to that of the ancient capital of Ethiopia seem to be given indiscriminately to villages on the banks and the islands.

I saw this evening a number of slaves going to Cairo. The manner in which they were clogged, to prevent their escaping or rebelling against their owners, was disgraceful and revolting in the extreme. Each slave wore a clog made of a wooden pole, four feet long, with a collar, of a triangular form, large enough to admit his head: this triangular collar rests upon their shoulders,[173] and is so contrived with straps that it is impossible for them to throw it off. When they walk, they are obliged to carry it before them; and at night their hands are tied to the centre of the pole, and their feet to the bottom of it. The owners of the slaves showed me, with the malicious grin of fiends, the effects of the cords, and the weight of the machine on the hands, necks, and legs of their victims. They confessed that they were often obliged to free their slaves entirely from this torture, in order to preserve their lives: I saw several in this situation, who seemed to have suffered severely from being previously loaded with this machine.

I attempted to reason with one of the owners; and urged, that, as he was obliged to leave them free occasionally, and run the risk of their escaping, he might as well do so always, and that he would find it his interest, as many actually died from this treatment. I told him he ought, as a good Mahometan, to adopt a more humane method of securing them. He told me, that he could not liberate them all at once; for they had recently threatened that, if ever they had the opportunity, they would kill him, and dye a red tarboush (Turkish cap) with his blood. The slaves understood this part of our discourse, and some laughed at this expression; but in general they appeared in a dreadful state of apathy and torpor, quite indifferent to the interest they saw me take in their situation.

They were all negroes, with high cheek-bones, triangular faces, eyes sunk deep in the head, thick lips, complexion a cold bluish black colour, an expression heavy and unpleasing, and without a spark of talent in their countenances. They were continually demanding fire. After the extreme heat of the day, when the sun has set, there follows a degree of cold, which, though slight, and to me most agreeable, is no doubt felt severely by the slaves, who are quite naked, and accustomed to a hotter climate; and they feel it more sensitively, having been exposed the greater part of the day to the[174] burning sun. We make very little progress, the wind being always strong against us.

April 8. We passed to-day the village of El Urub. Nothing can be more tedious and uninteresting than this voyage: we have scarcely seen any cultivated ground since we left the town of Meroueh, except the islands; the desert has almost entirely overspread the banks of the Nile; and where there was once, perhaps, a happy and numerous population, a people acquainted with the arts, rich cities and villages, now no other track is to be seen but that of the timid gazelle, which finds a secure pasture on the bushy acacias which on each side border the river. The glaring reddish yellow sands have supplanted the rich cultivation, and waves of sand have swallowed up the vestiges of the temples and palaces which adorned the cities. Where were the numerous towns whose names we read in the itineraries? Are there no monuments remaining of their magnificence, no traces of their habitations? The vessel buried in the fathomless deep leaves but fragments which are soon covered by the waters. Thus the Libyan and great Nubian deserts, ever active and incessant in their attacks, have concealed entirely from our view the little, perhaps, which the hand of time, and more destructive ravages of war and religious fanaticism, had spared.

The rocks are of sandstone. There are some in the centre of the river, whose channel, at this season, when the water is low, the barks dare not navigate during the night, which they would otherwise do, as there is then seldom any wind.

Our cabin being only three feet high, we are obliged to lie on[175] our beds day and night. I find this much more fatiguing than travelling on the camels. For myself, I should never have chosen this mode of conveyance; but my artist was in such a bad state of health, that he declared himself unequal to the exposure to the heat and the slow fatiguing pace of the caravan.

April 9. Wind still contrary: no variety in the scenery. I will not fatigue the reader with a mere list of names of villages, but must refer him to my map, in which they are all marked down.

April 10. There was no wind this morning; and we should have arrived at Dongolah at nine, A.M., had we not received a visit from a French physician in the employ of the Pasha. To meet a European, in this country, is an occurrence so agreeable, that we could not resist spending half the day together.

Some of the islands in this district are very rich. I remarked, on one, numerous sugar-canes; and, in several, a mode of irrigating the land unknown in Egypt, and displaying more skill than is usual in the Pasha’s dominions. The ground near the Persian wheels is very often uneven, and cannot be levelled without considerable labour: they, therefore, form aqueducts with stakes or pieces of wood from one to three feet high, as may be requisite, and place on them the conduit, which is made of earth. These aqueducts are extremely picturesque, as well as ingenious, being generally neatly constructed, and covered with grass. All the watercourses in this country are attended to with great care. The peasants are invariably well clothed, and appear in easy circumstances. I observe them occasionally assembled in an evening, under the palm trees, smoking, and sometimes drinking a cup of Abyssinian coffee, their greatest luxury.

April 11. The wind being still contrary, and my patience exhausted, I sent for camels from Dongolah, five miles distant. The governor there, understanding that we were travellers, immediately sent us some of his own dromedaries.

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[176]CHAPTER XIII.

VISIT TO THE GOVERNOR. — EXTENT OF HIS GOVERNMENT. — INDIGO. — WATER WHEELS. — POPULATION. — TAXES. — PRICES OF PRODUCE. — OASIS OF DONGOLAH, CALLED EL GAB. — ROUTE TO KORDOFAN. — INFORMATION ABOUT THAT COUNTRY. — BANEFUL CLIMATE. — CAPTAIN GORDON. — ARAB TRIBES OF KORDOFAN. — GENERAL APPEARANCE OF NEW DONGOLAH. — THE BAZAAR. — CURIOUS USE OF OINTMENT. — MERCHANDISE. — THE BAZAAR. — SLAVE MARKET. — COMMERCE CARRIED ON BY BARTER. — CURIOUS MANNER OF EFFECTING SALES. — DONGOLAH GOLDSMITH. — AUCTIONEERS. — VARIOUS ARAB TRIBES. — COSTUMES. — WOMEN, THE ELEGANCE OF THEIR ATTIRE. — BREAKING OF THE RAT. — GIRAFFES. — HASSANYEH TRIBE. — ELEPHANTS.

El Ourde, or New Dongolah.—April 10-14. We arrived here at two o’clock, and immediately paid a visit to Ibrahim Effendi, the governor of this province. He is a man about fifty-five years of age, and of the most unprepossessing appearance: he stoops to such a degree, that his head nearly touches his knees. I am told that he has no talent, but has attained this important situation entirely through the intrigues of the harem. He has, however, the character of great probity—a rare virtue among Turks; and is disliked by the Copts, because he examines rigidly their accounts, and will not allow them to trade and speculate with the public money. He is despised by the Turks, because he does nothing for them, and lives in no style. He has only one Mameluke to give him his pipe and wait upon him. I saw no other servants, but observed that a few soldiers were brought in to make a show and line the walls. On his divan there were only a few officers, apparently of inferior rank, and certainly of a very shabby appearance.

M. Martin, a French apothecary, stationed here in the employ[177] of the Pasha, very kindly pressed us to take up our abode in his house; and we were glad of the opportunity of enjoying, for a short time, a greater degree of comfort and cleanliness than we have been accustomed to for several months. He also assisted me in finding the persons best qualified to give me information.

The Mahmoor, the day after our arrival, paid me a visit, was very communicative, and made himself agreeable, to the astonishment of Monsieur l’Apothicaire, and in the evening he sent me a roasted sheep; an attention, I understand, that he never was guilty of before to travellers or natives.

This government extends from Abka[36] to Wady el Gamer, near Berber. There are 5000 sakkeas (water wheels), which generally irrigate from four to five feddans each when planted with grain. The indigo requires more water, for they calculate three quarters of a feddan of land to one wheel. They produce in this province, 10,000 okres of indigo. Each water-wheel requires four oxen, and four or five men and children. The population may, therefore, be calculated at about eight for each water-wheel; which would make 40,000 for this district; and I conceive 10,000 may be added for those who cultivate the land by the hand, merchants, servants, &c. Some of the islands have been planted this year, for the first time, with sugar-canes, which have proved to be excellent; but they planted them without reflecting that they had no machinery ready to manufacture sugar with, and no person who understood the business. As the sugarcane requires a water-wheel for each feddan, they do not intend to plant them again. The governor obliged the peasants and soldiers to purchase the sugar-canes at a certain price, in order that the revenue might not suffer from the experiment.

There are some portions of the banks of the river, and particularly the islands, which are cultivated after the inundation, and[178] irrigated, when necessary, by raising the water from the river with buckets and other simple processes. Land irrigated in this manner is taxed according to the quantity and description of produce. Each water-wheel pays to the government 20 dollars, 15 in money and 5 in produce; a heavy tax, when we consider that formerly, when under their native meleks, they only paid 1 dollar, a sheep, and two pieces of linen, value 6 piastres each; in all, little more than a tenth of the present tax.

The revenue of this government, after paying the various expenses, salaries, and the troops of the garrison, is greatly absorbed by their having to furnish camels to convey the different species of produce, such as indigo and grain, and slaves, which are sent to Cairo. In particular, 2500 camels are loaded with gum, brought annually from Kordofan. It is purchased from the peasants there at the rate of 5 dollars the camel-load, which consists of three cantars of 150 rotles[37] each; and the government sell it in Cairo for 20 dollars the cantar; that is, 60 the load: deduct about 10 dollars for the expense of the journey, and also 5 for the purchase-money, there remain 45 dollars clear profit for the Pasha, which, on 2500 loads, is 112,500 dollars net. Elephants’ teeth are also purchased in Kordofan for 16 dollars the cantar, and sold in Cairo for 80 dollars, and often more.

The government, as I have before stated, take part of the taxes in grain: the following is a list of the prices paid by them, compared to the current prices in the bazaar or market:—

	Government Prices.		Prices in the Bazaar.
	s.	d.	s.	d.
Barley	3	9	3	0
Dourah	3	9	3	0
Wheat	4	3	4	6
Maize	3	9	3	0

[179]The price of mutton (fat, for cooking) in the bazaar, is 1d. per rotle.

	s.	d.		s.	d.
The price of a sheep	1	6	to	2	0
The price of meat, per lb.	0	0¾	or	0	1
The linen cloths of the country, particularly of the district of Mahas, 24 piques in length, but very narrow	2	0
Cotton, best kind (Belloe) per lb.	0	3

The dourah is sown before the rising of the Nile, and is cut in four months; and afterwards they have another crop, but it is not so good. The barley is sown after the Nile has retired, and is reaped four or five months afterwards; wheat the same. The indigo plants remain in the ground three years, and are cut three times each year, with an interval of two months between each cutting. After dourah, maize is planted, and after maize other kinds of grain.

Seven hours’ journey west of this place, amid the desert, is an oasis called El Gab (the Wood), consisting of a forest of doums, acacias, and some few date trees. It contains several springs, and the Arabs send their camels thither in the summer to pasture on the trees. This oasis has no antiquities nor traces of having ever been inhabited; it extends, parallel with the Nile, nearly as far as Debba, but, like all oases, is divided occasionally by the desert.

The caravans from this place to Kordofan, and on to Darfour, enter the desert at Debba el Dolib, a village I mentioned in descending the river from Meroueh. From Debba to Shambrick, five days: the water there not always good; but on the road to Harazi, five days, and thence to the capital, on digging to the depth of two or three feet, and sometimes less, they never fail of finding good water. Zaagsouee, eleventh day; Kadjama, twelfth day; the residence of a katshef of Kordofan, Gouniah, thirteenth[180] day; Mumat, fourteenth day; Sherian-Abousieh, fifteenth day; Borah, sixteenth day; Kordofan, or the capital, Ibazig, on the seventh day from Harazi, and the seventeenth from the Nile, or Debba el Dolib.

I made repeated enquiries of both the Arabs and Turks, but did not hear of there being any antiquities there. This journey would be interesting for a naturalist, as they tell me that during the rainy season there is a very great variety of birds: but it is then very unhealthy. Ague and intermittent fevers are very prevalent. A French physician, who had been stationed there some time, informed me that during the rainy season he often took quinine in small quantities, and conceived that, by that means, he had preserved himself from a complaint which is so dangerous to Europeans.

The enterprising but unfortunate Captain Gordon fell a victim to this climate.[38] I was told that he had visited several of the mountain regions of Kordofan, and, to use the expression of the Arabs, “had written down all the country.” He had commenced his journey with the intention of endeavouring to discover the sources of the Bahr el Abiad; but there was not the most remote chance of his succeeding. Roustan Bey, who was then, and is now, the governor of that country, would have allowed him to accompany his troops in hunting for slaves in the neighbourhood of the White River. He might have added something to our knowledge of the geography of the country on that river; but to discover its source was impossible.

As a hint to future travellers, I should notice a mistake which he made, from not being acquainted with the customs of the country. Instead of making a handsome present to Roustan Bey of a gold watch, or fire-arms, which he should have done, considering the essential and extensive services he required, he gave[181] him some gilt ornaments for his wives: but the Turks having a great contempt for any article that is not genuine, the Bey was naturally vexed at a present which appeared to him so very insignificant. Captain Gordon was not to blame, I understand, but his dragoman, for this inauspicious commencement of their expedition. The Arabs and Turks say that Captain Gordon died on account of having taken too much physic. In a country where so much is left to nature, and the medical art so little known, it is not surprising that his frequent applications to his medicine chest, to relieve a severe attack of intermittent fever, should have given rise to this report.

Before leaving Dongolah, this unfortunate traveller left a large sum of money with a Turkish aga in whose house he lodged. When his servant, after his death, returned to Dongolah, he called upon the aga, and demanded his master’s property. The Turk, a notorious scoundrel, proposed to the servant to divide the money and property, and thus induced him to sign a certificate that his master had left only a few old clothes, and no money. As soon as the Turk had received this document, he refused to give any portion of what he had promised to the servant; who, in revenge, accused him before the government. I was not able to learn with certainty whether the money, and, what was of far more consequence, his papers, ever reached his friends. I purchased at Dongolah a piece of Newman’s Indian ink, which formerly belonged to him.

I obtained from authentic sources the following information of the different Arab tribes in the kingdom of Kordofan and its vicinity:—

The Kababysh. These Arabs are also found in the Bahiouda Desert. They possess camels and horses, and transport merchandise to Sennaar, Darfour, and to this place. Their chief is called Melek Selim.

The Buggara. They possess flocks, and are occupied in hunting the elephant and the giraffe. Moussa is their chief.

[182]The Benigerar have great abundance of horses and camels. They are generally engaged in transporting merchandise, sometimes to Darfour. They are often at war with the Kababysh.

The Hammer are chiefly cultivators of the ground. They possess also camels, and trade to Darfour, but do not come to this place. They are occupied also in tanning the skins of animals, and the government employs them in their hunting expeditions for slaves. Their arms resemble those of the other Arab tribes,—the oval spear, the lance, and sword. Hadji Merien is their chief or king, that is, melek.[39]

The Hadowyeh are cultivators, and join the expeditions of the government like the Hammer: they possess good dromedaries, and their melek is Uhmar, son of Dowel.

Messabouee. Cultivators, and also assist the government in their slave expeditions: their melek is Uhmar, son of Hashim.

Danaglih. Peasants of the country; cultivators.

Konjarah. A tribe from Darfour: the masters of the country, under Magdum Selim, on the arrival of Roustan Bey, who killed their chief in battle[40]: their present chief is Sultan Tema.

The province of Kordofan is exceedingly productive to the Pasha, and so also would Darfour be; and ere now that province would have been annexed to his kingdom, had not his ambitious views been turned towards Constantinople. A desert, I am told, of five days’ journey separates the two provinces. He might extend his conquests thither without any apprehension of interference from the European powers. If the peace in Syria continues, and Mohammed Ali lives, that country, notwithstanding[183] the warlike and powerful tribes who inhabit it, will soon form a part of the Pasha’s immense dominions; and Europeans will be enabled to explore it with greater advantage than our celebrated traveller Brown.

Dongolah, or New Dongolah, as I should call it, has far more the appearance of a capital, than any place I have seen in Ethiopia. The citadel is fortified with walls and towers sufficient to defend it from the attacks of the Arabs, but not long against a European army. There are a few pieces of cannon brought here by Ismael Pasha, and there is generally a garrison of from 300 to 800 men, but most commonly from invalid regiments, that have suffered by the more unhealthy climates of Kordofan, Khartoun, and Sennaar, and are sent here as fit for no other service. They have built an hospital, but, although full of invalids, it is not yet finished,—the rooms are without roofs, and the beds of earth.

There are several cafés in the town, much better than I expected: one is very handsome; large, airy, and furnished with a divan covered with carpets. Here the lazy Turks kill the day: smoking, seeing the people pass by, playing draughts and other games, and drinking coffee and sherbet.

The bazaar is superior to that of Assuan. The articles for sale consisted of different stuffs, silk, linen, and cotton; tarboushes (red Turkish caps), shoes, glassware, cures for ophthalmia (some of which seemed on examination to contain zinc); and a variety of pipes, from the handsome Persian anguilles and long Turkish pipes, with their amber mouthpieces, worth two or three pounds each, to the humble pipe of the peasant, value threepence: coarse thread and common needles; salt, from the mines of Selima, white and beautiful like crystal; a variety of cases for amulets, such as the women wear around their necks and the men on their arms (see the various plates of costumes); coffee from Mocha and Abyssinia; loaf sugar, white and brown; tamarinds from Sennaar and Kordofan; and a variety of arms, sabres,[184] lances, daggers, and pistols; and in every shop on sale, spices and ginger, cloves, coriander seed, sandal wood, and a kind of kernels, seemingly of cherries, which are said to come from Italy; the natives extract oil from them. With the spices they make the ointment which both males and females, particularly the latter, use in this country to render their skin soft. I have seen them sometimes almost naked, and smeared with this substance as if they had been dipped in butter; and I have often seen the Arabs of the desert place two or three pounds of mutton fat on their heads, and walk on till the sun had melted it, when not only the head and face were covered with the liquid grease, but it flowed in streams down their backs. They consider their different ointments as particularly conducive to health, especially after fatigue. There is an old custom still kept up in the country. When an Arab or Turk arrives in a village after a fatiguing day’s journey, he generally gets some of the female slaves I have spoken of at Shendy, to rub him for half an hour all over with this ointment. It is very pleasant and refreshing, cooling and softening to the skin, which has been burnt and dried up by the scorching winds of the desert. I also observed in the bazaar common looking-glasses, and beads of glass and other materials.

There were several separate markets for slaves, men, women, boys, girls, and eunuchs. Most of the latter are from Abyssinia. I am informed that they are generally the victims of the brutality of the Abyssinians of neighbouring states. Besides increasing the value of their slaves, they appear to wish to imitate the ancient Egyptians, whose cruelty in that respect is explained in the triumphant procession on the walls of Medenet Abou, at Thebes. I saw one extremely beautiful Abyssinian girl on sale for 150 dollars, and for another not remarkable for her beauty 80 were demanded.

I observed a custom, which is peculiarly characteristic of this district: the peasant girls, and also the men, bring from the country small quantities of grain and other produce, which they[185] exchange for perfumes and spices for their hair and persons. This is conformable to our European idea of remote and uncivilised people, carrying on commerce simply by barter. They showed me in the bazaar some rudely shaped pieces of iron, said to be the money of Darfour.

Some of the peasant girls buying spices in the bazaar were very pretty. I told one, that had she been a slave I would have purchased her. She laughed at my compliment, and replied, with great naïveté, that, upon her conscience, she was no slave.

To make a purchase in the bazaar is sometimes rather difficult. I asked one of the merchants the price of a pipe, which I thought of buying. The man was confused, and could not make up his mind how much he ought to ask; but, seeking to enhance its value by praise, without replying to my question, he continued to extol its different excellencies. The other merchants pressed him to name a sum. The man was very much embarrassed, particularly as we had desired him to state the lowest at which he could sell it, otherwise we should not treat with him. It was only, however, when he saw me walking away, that he could resolve to ask only twice the value of the article. It is the custom here for the purchaser to bid, and not for the merchant to name the price. If the offer does not equal his expectations, he says, Eftah Allah! “May God open your eyes!” or, “May God improve your judgment!”

I went into a shop in which there was a shabbily dressed common-looking fellow squatted on the ground, with a few miserably rude tools before him, on a board. I conceived he might be a joiner, and must confess I was rather surprised at finding that he was the first goldsmith in Dongolah. They cannot work European gold. They generally employ the gold of Sennaar, which is of a superior quality, being pliable and malleable, like lead. This man told me that my watch was not gold, for he had never seen gold so dark-coloured.

[186]They have a custom here, as well as at Cairo, of selling merchandise, such as clothes, &c. by auction in the street. The auctioneer walks about, calling aloud the price. One makes an offer, and the man walks on; another meets him, who likes the article, and bids higher. The owner promotes the sale by giving occasionally a bidding himself.

The crowds in this bazaar, as compared with the deserted streets of Berber, Shendy, and Metammah, and the variety of costumes worn by Turks and Caireens, Fellaheen (or, as they are more properly called here, Dongoloue), Bishareen, Ababde, Shageea, and other tribes, formed a scene gay, and not unpleasing, particularly after the solitudes of the desert.

The costumes of Dongolah are somewhat different, but, perhaps, less remarkable, than any I have seen in Ethiopia. The women, when they are married and have had children, have their hair dressed on each side of their face, in three rows of ringlets, or tresses, the lowest often reaching to their shoulder. The other females are only permitted to wear two rows. The head-dress of the women of Shendy is rather different: they wear their hair loosely projecting from each side and behind, while on the top of the head it is quite flat. But what is most extraordinary in the costumes of this country is the inimitable grace and elegance with which their robes are adjusted, often almost equalling the drapery of the ancients. Were it possible to collect correct drawings of their almost innumerable methods of folding their melayah, the large long piece of linen cloth which forms their chief, and often only, covering, I question if such drawings would be believed any thing else than copies of the Greek and Roman draperies, or studies of ancient costume. A sculptor would assuredly call them walking statues.

The young girls, before being married or having arrived at the age of discretion, only wear the rat, the Nubian covering, composed, as already mentioned, of thin thongs of the hide of the hippopotamus,[187] which reaches from the waist almost to the knee, and is coquettishly ornamented with masses of silver, and a variety of shells and beads. It is considered sufficiently modest in this country, where no consequence is attached to the exposure of the body and limbs; otherwise, so far as it extends, it forms an elegant and impenetrable skreen. (See girl in Plate XXXVII.) The changing of this costume, or breaking of their rat, upon their marriage, is rather a curious ceremony, which I will presently describe; but when the rat is torn merely on account of the advanced age of the girl, and not at her marriage, only a sheep is killed, and she and her relations receive the congratulations of their hungry friends.

Skins of animals are often exposed for sale in the bazaar, but they are generally too ill prepared to be of any use for stuffing, often wanting the most essential parts, such as the feet, and even the head. Had I been half an hour earlier there, on the day of my arrival, I could have bought for four shillings the skin of a giraffe. This animal, only so recently known in Europe, is found in great numbers on the road from Debba to Kordofan, between Sabrian and Gibel el Arazi, and behind Kordofan, on the Bahr el Abiad, the territory of the Buggara tribe. The government do not encourage the Arabs to seek for them. On the contrary, without an express permission from the Pasha, no Arab, Turk, or traveller is allowed to purchase one. When the peasants catch them for the government, they receive a remuneration of twenty-five dollars, which is considered very handsome. Had I been provided with a permission from the Pasha, I was told that I should have had little difficulty in procuring one at that price. At the time of the haref (the rainy season), the Hassanyeh retire with their herds and camels into the mountains and valleys, which afford ample pasture for their cattle for three or four months. They protect themselves from the little rain that falls with shambries (tents made of goat skins). During this season the chase also contributes to their support. When there is no rain, which is very[188] often the case, the sun, being then almost vertical, produces a heat so excessive that the gazelles, giraffes, ostriches, &c. are said to become much less capable of escaping pursuit than during winter. The Hassanyeh then on their swift horses catch them without much difficulty.

This tribe (Hassanyeh) is very extensive, and trade to Kordofan; and great numbers of them in this neighbourhood convey merchandise to Assuan. They are very fine-looking fellows, more grave in their manners than even the Arabs in general. They wear their hair plaited, and tight behind; differing, in this respect, from any other tribe. (See Plate XXXIX., in which they are represented straining the common bouza of the country through a straw funnel.) I have travelled with several of them, and liked them exceedingly. In the same tracts with the giraffe is found also the antelope, or, as it is called, the cow of the desert (buggera el Atmoor), with straight and twisted horns (see Plate XXXVII.); also gazelles in abundance. The elephant is found in Abyssinia, and, it is said, also above Sennaar, in the province of Fazoql, and in that of the Buggara, behind Kordofan. There are a great many of the gemet cat in this neighbourhood. They have small thin heads, long backs of a grey colour, with brown spots, and a black streak along the centre. Some of them are eighteen inches long, besides the tail, which measures twelve inches. The colour of the latter is alternately grey and black. Mr. M. had several in cages: when set at liberty in a room, they seemed to be very timid, and one of them was rather savage. Their velocity is extraordinary.

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[189]CHAPTER XIV.

MARRIAGE AND OTHER CEREMONIES OF DONGOLAH. — CHARACTER OF THE PEOPLE, THEIR HABITATIONS. — WOMEN, THEIR AMUSEMENTS. — ARAB TALE. — GOVERNMENT OF DONGOLAH.

An account of the ceremonies of marriage, &c. in this part of the interior of Africa may not be uninteresting to the reader, as differing much from those we are accustomed to, and elucidating the manners of the present inhabitants of Ethiopia. Though I travel for the purpose of studying the remains of the ancient grandeur of these realms, I omit no opportunity of observing the customs of the present inhabitants, their condition and government.

The ceremonies of marriage vary in a slight degree in almost every district of the valley of the Nile; but in no place are they more curious than in the province of Dongolah. The nuptial ceremony of every country appears singular in another. The Arab would be astonished at the solemnity of our weddings, particularly at the weeping which sometimes takes place, although, perhaps, he would have no objection to the plum-cake; and, if impatient to possess his treasure, would not dislike the marriage sans façon by the blacksmith at Gretna Green. Our customs would appear as strange to him as even the following description of an Arab wedding to a British reader.

As soon as a Dongaloue has collected a small sum, sufficient, according to his condition, to defray the expenses of the fête, he looks out for a girl suited to his taste. Having fixed his choice, he sends two persons to make his proposals to her father, or whatever relation has charge of her. When he is accepted, and the friends[190] on both sides agree to the wedding, he sends his intended bride a variety of presents; the gourbab, or drapery of linen which they wear around their waists, and also other pieces of wearing apparel, shawls, and linen; and, besides these gifts, he sends her also money, wood, and, according to his fortune, from four to forty ardebs of grain. Accompanied by his friends, he then goes to the house of the bride; her father meets him at the door, and in the presence of the cadi, and of the relations and friends of both parties, and of the fakeers of the village (men who can read and write a little, and have the reputation of being pious Mahometans), the father gives away his daughter, and the bridegroom receives the gift. “I give you my daughter for wife:”—“I take your daughter for wife,” is all that passes; the cadi and other witnesses of the contract then invoke God and the Prophet to bless their union. In the mean time the girls and matrons of the village are inside the house with the bride.

The cadi having witnessed the agreement and taken his departure, the father of the girl invites the bridegroom into the house. A curious scene then commences, which baffles description: the female friends of the bride, having hid her in some secret room, as soon as the bridegroom enters, rush upon him, and begin pulling him about, and pinching him, often not in the gentlest manner. The husband hunts in every direction for his bride; but her friends, first drawing him on one side, and then on the other, and pinching him unmercifully, fully occupy his attention, and prevent his making the discovery. At length, worn out with fatigue, and having supported his character by fighting as good a battle as he was able, he gives them a handsome present of money to inform him where she is. Then commences another ceremony—the tearing of the rat, or cincture, as I have already mentioned. The rat, on this occasion only, is protected and covered with folds of linen, tied and knotted in the most complicated manner. The bridegroom endeavours to undo this Gordian knot,[191] amidst the laughter of the bride and her friends: but the latter are not merely idle spectators; they commence again pulling him about, and pinching him most maliciously. The bride also does not omit the opportunity of giving him slily an affectionate pinch or two. At last, he is obliged to purchase again the assistance of the girls; and they generally make him pay dear. If his first present is not sufficiently liberal, they continue tormenting him until he has satisfied their expectations.

The women having taken off the covering that protected it, the bridegroom seizes the rat, and tears it in pieces; the bride, on this occasion only, has a piece of linen underneath; yet it sometimes happens that the wicked bridegroom succeeds also in snatching away this under-covering, and turns the laugh against his bride; this, however, is considered here little more than a harmless jest.

For seven days they continue feasting and dancing. The bride generally keeps her face covered during this time, but the bridegroom is permitted to laugh and practise with her what we should call rather rough jokes, as their chief amusement seems to be pinching. On the seventh evening, the bridegroom conducts his bride to his house, and another curious custom is practised. The male friends of the husband and the female friends of the bride assemble around a large board, on which a great quantity of grain or dates is placed. When the signal is given, the parties commence a scramble, each striving most earnestly to collect the largest quantity. If the women succeed, the wife is to rule her husband; if the contrary, the husband is to be master of his own house. If this ceremony took place in Europe, the men, through indolence and politeness, and being engrossed in various pursuits, not to say deference for the good sense and peculiar talents of the fair sex in managing domestic affairs, might gladly cede the greater quantity to the women; but here it is considered too great a disgrace for a man to relinquish any portion of his authority to his wife, to admit of such courtesy.

[192]When they name their children, there is very little ceremony: four days after the birth the name is given, and a sheep is killed for the fête.

The ceremony of the circumcision of the male is also curious: it takes place when the child is about four or six years of age. All the friends and relations of the family assemble at the house of the father, bringing with them presents according to their means,—horses, oxen, cows, corn, money, &c. After partaking of some refreshment, they walk in procession to the river, and all the males bathe together. On their return to the house, the child is placed on an angoureeb, and the ceremony performed. A bunch of flowers is then placed in his hand, with scents, and the relations and friends pass the one after the other, kiss and smell the bouquet, and give the child as liberal a present as they can afford. There is, generally, so great a mixture of persons on these occasions, that these gifts vary from upwards of two pounds to one penny: all, however, are expected to give as much as they can afford. In Egypt they often postpone this ceremony until the child is twelve or fourteen years of age; but in this country the family gain so large a sum by it, that they seldom if ever delay it so long. For the girls there is no fête: at most they merely kill a sheep. This ancient ceremony probably had its origin in this country. Herodotus, after mentioning that the Phœnicians and Syrians derived the custom from the Egyptians, seems to doubt whether the Egyptians had it from the Ethiopians, or the Ethiopians from the Egyptians.

I described a funeral at Gibel el Birkel in Dar Shageea. Here, also, they sometimes dance on these occasions, but not often. It is an old custom, and not considered strictly Mahometan. Both sexes are buried on the very same day that they die, generally a few hours afterwards.

The contests which took place between the Arabs of the mountains and the Berberene peasants, cultivators of the land, are[193] suppressed by the authority of the Turkish rulers; but their contempt for each other is often displayed. When an Arab of the desert is oppressed by a soldier, his first exclamation is, “Do you take me for a Berberene?” The latter, in return, pride themselves on not being obliged to lead the vagrant lives of the wandering Arabs. The peasants of Dongolah are extremely honest: no bar nor lock is necessary, to secure the door against the thief; nor is falsehood known among them. They are always hospitable to the extent of their means. I never saw a peasant sit down to eat, without inviting all that were near him to take a share; and the poor and fatigued traveller is never refused a night’s lodging and an evening meal.

The inhabitants of Upper Nubia have been so many years accustomed to the Turks, that white men are now no longer looked upon with horror. Burckhardt tells an amusing tale, that, in the bazaar at Shendy, he raised his turban, and showed his white shorn head to a peasant girl, who, I suppose, had never seen flesh so white before, and, terrified at the sight, exclaimed, “Um del Allah min Shatan!”—“May God preserve me from the Devil.” This is one of their favourite expressions; but the white man now incurs no risk of having it so peculiarly applied to himself.

Most of the houses of the peasants are of mud, that is, the alluvial soil of the Nile, mixed with cow and horse manure; the latter is much used: straw is rarely added. Many of the houses in the country, built of dourah straw, are extremely picturesque. The two views (Plates XXXVI. and XXXVII.), taken from nature, will give the reader a good idea of their construction, and also their inhabitants. The lordly Turk is smoking on the only angoureeb in the house; one man is grinding on a stone, for his lazy wife, whose business it is considered to be, merely as much dourah as will suffice for their mid-day and evening meal; and others are occupied in making and drinking their favourite beverage the bouza. I have already noticed the graceful[194] style of the costumes both of the men and women; the latter are often handsome, having fine forms and a good expression.

The wives are generally virtuous and gay: the dance is their favourite amusement, but not so much indulged in here as in the province of Dar Shageea. Their greatest delight is listening to the tales of the country, which, though simple, are full of imagery, and have, in the Arab language, a peculiar charm. A translation, I fear, cannot give a full idea of their beauty. The following is a tale I heard related by a little Ababde girl of thirteen; and even at an earlier age their memories are stored with similar stories, which, if any one had the disposition and the leisure to collect them, would form a considerable and not uninteresting supplement to the Thousand and One Nights.

DONGOLAH TALE.

“Amnah was the most lovely of the daughters of the Nile: fair as the sand of the desert, the gazelle was not more elegant in form, or more graceful in its movements. Her bust was beautiful, and her skin soft and pliant to the touch. Her face was as the light of day; her eyes were bright as the stars; her teeth whiter than the polished ivory; and a lovely and ever-constant smile illumined her countenance. Nature had done her utmost; Fortune equalled her rival in loading her with its favours. Her necklaces were numerous, and of the finest gold; and great was the weight of gold on her wrists and ankles. Her hair was beautifully plaited, and decorated with the largest and rarest pearls, and broad plates of gold above her forehead; and two large and most precious ornaments set with diamonds hung gracefully from her ears. Her rat (cincture) presented every variety of colour; the skin of the hippopotamus was never cut so fine: it was ornamented with the most curious shells and pieces of gold[195] and silver attached coquettishly in the most becoming manner; and the border of the rat around her waist consisted of coral and pearls. From her waist to her knees, only, this graceful ornament skreened her form; and there was not one of the youths of the village and of the neighbourhood, who had ever seen Amnah, who did not sigh and regret bitterly his being unworthy that her rat should be broken for him. ‘The houries of the paradise of the prophet cannot,’ said they, ‘be more enchanting, endowed with such ravishing beauty, or such extraordinary talents.’

“She was, at the same time, the gayest of the gay, and also acquainted with all the learning of her tribe. Her father and other travellers had related to her the history and customs of other countries, and from them she had learnt the traditions and wars of her native land. Every passage of the Koran was familiar to her; and it was whispered she had devoted herself secretly to the study of astrology (el ahlem el felek), and the more hidden sciences of the Arabians. At midnight she was often seen alone, gazing at the heavens; and for this reason the nomage she received for her beauty and understanding was blended with a certain feeling almost approaching to fear. Too beautiful, pure, and learned to be of this world, she was considered by the ignorant peasants more as an angel of light (melik e’ nour), than a frail inhabitant of earth.

“At the death of her father, after she had accompanied his remains to the grave, and for some time had lamented his loss, Amnah, weary of the constraint to which her sex subjected her, and anxious to visit those scenes which she had so often heard described, left her native village. The morning after her departure, at the entrance of a small town, she observed an old man covered with vermin. ‘My father,’ said she, ‘let me free you from those tormentors;’ and she began killing the animals, until suddenly the man fell dead at her feet. ‘It is the will of God!’ she exclaimed,[196] and immediately dressed herself in his clothes, and pursued her journey.

“Thus disguised, and safe by the power of magic from detection, she procured a dromedary swift as the wind, and visited the different regions she had heard described; sometimes joining one caravan, and sometimes another. The immense treasures on her person were little diminished by this expense; when, one day, the people of the caravan with which she travelled perceived a cloud of sand approaching them, and shortly afterwards distinguished a troop of horsemen at full gallop. Amnah and her companions urged on their camels, but, finally, finding flight useless, they endeavoured to hide themselves in a large well, which the heat of the summer had dried up. But the horsemen had seen them enter, and, delighted to have their prey secured, they offered to the young leader of their band his choice, whether he would have for his portion the first or the last of the persons whom they should find in the well.

“Their chief, named Mustapha, was only twenty-one years of age, but renowned for his skill in the use of the matchlock, the sabre, and the lance. His shield, of the hide of the hippopotamus, was almost useless; for with his sabre he parried the blows of his enemies; with a slanting cut of his Damascus blade, which his father, who had travelled far towards the north, had brought him, he separated the limbs of his foes, and even severed the iron chain. At the shake of his lance all fled before him; and never was a matchlock in more skilful hands. In form, he was the perfection of manly beauty and vigour, and his mind was richly endowed, displaying a judgment beyond his years, and greater presence of mind in danger than the oldest warrior. The Koran he knew by heart, and his chief delight was in listening to the traditions of his country. Young and generous, he could never repress his indignation at the recital of the evil deeds of the tyrants who[197] had reigned over the land: his eyes kindled with enthusiasm, and his cheeks glowed with pleasure and emulation when they told him of the valorous exploits of his ancestors, their generosity and hospitality. Like the rest of his race, much of his time was spent in excursions against the tribes with whom they were at war.

“Perceiving where the caravan had taken refuge, Mustapha, having the first choice allowed to him, said, ‘I will take for my share the captive at the extremity of the well: he who has most to lose will have fled the farthest.’ His companions cast lots for their portions. Some had young women, others young active male slaves; all with some treasure. None were apparently so unfortunate as Mustapha, who found at the extremity of the well Amnah disguised as an old man, miserably clad, the picture of poverty. His companions, with the freedom of friends, rallied him on the wisdom of his choice, in the following lines, which one of them sang, and the others joined in chorus[41]:—

“Mustapha bore good-naturedly the jests of his companions, and, not wishing to appear to despise the gift of Providence,[198] although apparently useless, he led to his castle, as prisoner, the disguised Amnah. On his arrival, he asked her what she could do: ‘Can you cut wood?’ said he. ‘No,’ replied Amnah, ‘I have no strength: see you not that my arm is shrivelled up with age?’ ‘Can you carry it?’ said the chief. ‘No,’ she said, ‘my back is already double; I should sink under the lightest weight.’ ‘Can you guard the cows, or sheep?’ ‘Alas, no!’ replied Amnah, ‘they walk too fast and far for me.’ ‘Can you clean the horses?’ ‘I know not how.’ ‘Can you wash the sand for gold-dust?’ ‘My eyes are not good enough.’ ‘You are too dirty to make bread. Can you attend the geese?’ ‘I think I can,’ said Amnah; ‘at all events, I will try.’

“Mustapha gave her for her companion a dumb youth, called Yabebe. After some days, when Yabebe was bathing in the river, Amnah took off her disguise, and showed herself, to the astonished peasant, as the perfection of beauty, covered with gold and precious stones, her hair ornamented with fine pearls and plates of gold, and her earrings studded with diamonds: laughing, she sang to him the following lines[42]:—

“The astonished peasant left the river, and Amnah, laughing,[199] resumed her disguise. On his return to the castle, the dumb youth made signs to his chief that Amnah was a woman, beautiful, and covered with gold. They surveyed her, and, not finding out her disguise, beat the boy for his improbable falsehood.

“The day afterwards they were at the same river: Amnah threw aside her disguise, put her ornaments together, and bathed herself, with the lad, in the shaded stream. The peasant went first out of the water, and unobservedly stole one of her rings. Amnah, having counted them, found one missing. Yabebe denied having taken it. Amnah beat him, but still he denied, and, escaping from her, fled to his master, and gave him the ring, describing, by signs, that she had similar ones on all her fingers, and was covered with gold and precious stones; that she was a woman, and that her beauty was, as the mid-day sun (jemeel mittel e’ shamps fel dohr), too powerful to gaze at. Mustapha sent for Amnah, and, flying suddenly upon her, tore open the rags that covered her, but fell senseless at the sight of such exquisite beauty.

“Great was the fête of the marriage, countless the camels and sheep that were killed. The music was incessant for seven days and seven nights, and they danced until they could dance no more. None, for many years, saw the brilliancy of her face, being ever in her harem, or closely veiled, when, occasionally, she appeared in public. The fame of her beauty, knowledge, and goodness was spread through all lands; the learned were anxious to converse with her; but none, except her husband, had seen her face.

“One day her dearest son fell from a tree that he was climbing. His cries reached the ears of his anxious mother. Without a veil, without a garment, she rushed forth. The crowd, on seeing her, fell as dead. They knew not if the effect was produced by magic, or by the power of her exquisite beauty. At her touch her son was restored; and, having clothed herself with a gourbab, and thrown a veil over her head, the crowd recovered; but the tree[200] withered from that day: the branches decayed fast; the leaves fell on the ground, and it no longer afforded shade.”

THE ANCIENT GOVERNMENT OF DONGOLAH.

The Meleks who formerly reigned here were of the Zebain, to which tribe belong almost all these rulers, including Melek Tumbol, Melek Nazr e’ Deen, and, in fact, all those from Sennaar to Wady Halfah, with the exception of the meleks of the Shageea tribe. The peasants under these chiefs were generally called by the names of their villages, as those of Dongolah, Dongoloue, Korti, Kortie: but, since the conquest of the Pasha, they are called Berberene; a name derived from Berber. Sheakh Muktah[43], the most intelligent Arab I have ever met with, being, like several in Upper Nubia, of the race of cadis,—son after son the chief cadi,—and, therefore, as pure a source of information as by tradition can be obtained, informed me that all these peasants are of the great tribe of Ababja from the Yemen, who came here in the reign of the fourth caliph after Mahomet, and, finding the country inhabited by infidels, drove some out, but forced the greater number to become Mussulmen; and that thus the former inhabitants became blended with the Arabs, and have not been distinguishable from them for ages. This is a curious and highly interesting tradition, proving, historically, almost, what might naturally be supposed: but I will say more on this subject in my Historical Appendix.

The king of Sennaar held a doubtful and precarious rule over this country, receiving, according to the character of her monarchs,[201] more or less tribute. The brave Shageea, alone, never bent the knee to this king. Two hundred years ago, the Sultan of Sennaar, as some call him, sent here a detachment of the tribe called the Funge, to which he belonged, to keep this country under his subjection. A great many of this race are still here, and they are considered to be inferior only to the Shageea in courage. They are supposed to be originally a colony of pagans, from the Bahr el Abiad, but they have nothing of the appearance of negroes. They ruled over the country 150 years. Ibrahim was the first, and he was succeeded by his son Musnet: their united reigns lasted eighty years; they sent considerable quantities of corn, oxen, and horses to Sennaar. The descendants of Musnet enjoyed less authority over their subjects, and the tribute to Sennaar was less regularly paid.

In the year 1782 the Shageea overthrew the government of the Funge, and reigned peaceably in their stead, under three meleks,—Melek Shouish, Melek Omar, and Melek Zebair. The account Burckhardt gives of the treacherous conduct of the Mamelukes towards Mahmoud el Adalenab is very correct, as far as it goes. Hadji Mahmoud Sheakh received them with every mark of hospitality, ministered to all their wants, and was in return barbarously murdered at Maraka, this very place which is now called El Ourde, or The Camp. The following particulars of this circumstance, which I received from the best sources at Dongolah, may not be perhaps uninteresting to the reader. The Mamelukes arrived at Captot; and Sheakh Mahmoud, the chief of the Shageea, descended the river on the opposite side, with a numerous suite. He bade the Mamelukes welcome to his kingdom, and informed them that, if they wished for grain, he would furnish them gratis with any quantity they desired. He told them, also, that whatever they asked for, which he possessed, should be immediately sent to their camp; and if they were anxious, as they professed to be, to proceed up the country to Sennaar, he would supply them with[202] provisions for the journey, but if they chose to remain at Captot Marabat, they were welcome.

Four days afterwards, fifteen Mamelukes, or katshefs, as they are called, rode up and stopped at the door of the house of the grand Cadi Mahomet, having learnt that the Sheakh Mahmoud was with him. The sheakh having come out to salute them, they complained that they had no grain for their horses. The sheakh sent immediately for a bag for each horse, and ordered his people to fill a boat with grain, and convey it to the camp. The Mamelukes appeared still dissatisfied, and would not dismount whilst their horses were feeding. But their object was soon accomplished; for, as the sheakh approached the horse of one of them, to arrange the bag of corn it was eating, and said, “This is sufficient for your horses now, and I will send you as much as you desire,” the Mameluke, who had his carabine on one side of his saddle, without putting it to his shoulder, pointed it at the sheakh, pulled the trigger, and wounded him in the breast. The sheakh had scarcely drawn his sword a few inches from the scabbard, when another fired a blunderbuss at him, containing six balls, and he fell dead: another instantly separated his head from his body, and they afterwards mangled the corpse in a horrid manner with their sabres. The Cadi Mahomet, who was with him, was killed also by a blow of a sabre, and a black slave, who was in attendance, met a similar fate. Ten of the Shageea peasants, his servants, were present at this murder, but being unarmed they could not attempt to revenge the death of their chief, and therefore fled.

The Mamelukes remained nine years masters of the country. Including the servants, they were about 600 in number. Many died here; the remainder, on the invasion of the Pasha, went to Shendy, whence they passed to Darfour, and thence to Bornou, Baghermi, Fezzan, and Tripoli. Adouram Bey, one of their leaders, was killed near the latter place; but their other leader, Marfou Bey, arrived in safety at Tripoli.

[203]I received the greater part of this account from the most authentic source, Sheakh Muktah, my informant, being the son of the Cadi Mahomet, who perished with the unfortunate Mahmoud. I ought to mention, as some palliation of this treacherous breach of hospitality, that it is said that the Berberene, weary of the Shageea, represented to the Mamelukes that Sheakh Mahmoud was devising some plan to destroy them, and therefore they may be said to have murdered him in self-defence. The object of the Mamelukes was to possess the country; and they were glad to avail themselves of this feeble excuse to break the laws of hospitality. Great praise is due to the few who accomplished the courageous and immense undertaking of crossing the centre of Africa. Such a journey would immortalise any European, but who would attempt it? At Darfour, Brown was detained a prisoner; and in the kingdom of Bornou or Fezzan Hornemann lost his life.

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[204]CHAPTER XV.

DEPARTURE FROM DONGOLAH. — NUMEROUS VILLAGES. — ISLAND OF ARGO. — RESIDENCE OF THE MELEK. — ARAB ACCOUNTANTS. — MELEK TUMBOL. — EXTENT OF HIS TERRITORY. — ARAB MANNERS COMPARED WITH EUROPEAN. — PHILOSOPHY OF THE ARABS. — THE MELEK’S DINNER. — MILITARY FORCE. — GARDEN. — VISIT TO THE ANTIQUITIES. — NUMEROUS VESTIGES OF ANCIENT TOWNS. — COLOSSAL STATUES. — REMAINS OF A LARGE TEMPLE. — NAME OF SABACO, THE CONQUEROR OF EGYPT. — ENTERTAINMENT OF AN ARAB SHEAKH. — RICHNESS OF THE ISLAND. — INDIGO. — ETHIOPIAN FORT. — CATARACT OF TOUMBOS. — MUTILATED COLOSSAL STATUE. — HOSPITALITY OF AN ARAB SHEAKH. — CHARACTER OF THE INHABITANTS. — HIPPOPOTAMUS. — ALARMING INTELLIGENCE. — REVOLT OF THE MAHAS. — DREADFUL CONSEQUENCES. — OUR PROVIDENTIAL ESCAPE. — ARAB STORIES OF TRAVELLERS.

April 16. We left Dongolah at three this afternoon, and, after three hours’ march, stopped at Mecaurat. Our route has been on the skirt of the desert, about half a mile from the river. I ought to acknowledge here the civilities which we received from M. Martin, a French apothicaire, in the employ of the Pasha, who showed us every attention in his power, allowing to us a part of his house. I must not forget, also, the kind attentions of his lady, an Abyssinian girl; pretty, and, at the same time, kind and affectionate. In return for a small mirror, which I gave her, she presented me with a Sennaar dagger, with an ebony handle, ornamented with silver. I keep it as a remembrance of “la bella Maria.”

April 17. An hour and a half after starting, we arrived at a government store-house: adjoining it were several cottages in ruins. After ten hours’ journey, we arrived at Haffeer. The following is a list of villages and islands between New Dongolah and the province of El Mahas:—

[205]East.			Islands.	West.
			Meegasseer	Kaptot
	Argo Island		Gerada	Wady Sais
			Irse	Mecaurat
			Binne	Binni
Affidab			Merouerti	Quay
			Boulinarti	Muste
Bourgos	Badeen.		Attikarha	Haffeer
			Selinarti	Serog
			Magassar	Coban
Ashlian			Dakarti	Akkidi
Toumbos			Toumbos	Hannek.

In the desert, at a distance, there are isolated hills, apparently of sandstone. On arriving, we visited the katshef of Haffeer, who received us very politely; the Mahmoor having spontaneously furnished me with different letters for the officers in his government: one for the melek of Argo and the katshef of Solib, &c.

At my request, the katshef immediately ordered a boat to be prepared to convey us to the Island of Argo, which I was anxious to examine, not only on account of its great extent, and the antiquities it contained, but also because it is the only place in Upper Nubia under the government of its rightful owner, who alone, of all the meleks, possesses now a shadow of his ancient authority.

April 18. An hour’s sail, with a fair wind, brought us to the northern extremity of the island, where the village is situated in which the melek resides. I went to his castle, which is fortified with towers (see vignette), and protected on one side by a high wall. It is capable of making some defence against an insurrection of the natives.

The court we entered first was filled with slaves of the melek,[206] who, I was informed, including male and female, amounted to upwards of 200, living either in or around his residence. I ascended from the court, by ill-constructed steps, similar to, but not quite so good as, those we have in England for granaries, and entered into a divan, or audience-room, which had quite the appearance, and was about the size, of a small English barn. Around a part of the room was a divan of earth, besides which there were four angoureebs, or cord divans, covered with carpets and cushions. The roof is of a slanting form, resembling that of a barn: the wooden logs of which it is made are blackened by the smoke of the fires. The beams consist each of two pieces of timber, which are supported and kept together, at their junction, by a rough pillar that stands in the centre of the room. To retain this in its place, and bind it to the beam, there are slips of wood, about one foot long, on each side of the pillar, under the beam; and on these the ancient Egyptian and Ethiopian ornament of the globe and feathers is carved. It is more rudely executed than the ancient, but still it is curious to find even a vestige of this ornament in a modern Ethiopian habitation.[207] The doorway, and, indeed, the house altogether, is rudely constructed, but much stronger and better than Arab houses in general. The appearance of the outside is superior to that of the interior.

The melek was out when we arrived. The brick divan already mentioned was partly occupied by his Arab accountants. In almost every village there is a little school, or rather, I should say, hut, which is used as such, and there are few of the peasants who have not made an attempt to learn to read and write; but, to use their own estimate, there is not one in a hundred whose knowledge extends beyond the alphabet, and putting together a few words. There are very few who can write, and none who know any thing of arithmetic. There are, however, some few of the sheakhs and others, who, from their learning, are called fakeers, and who are good Arabic scholars.

When we entered, the melek’s cash-keepers were counting the money they were receiving from the peasants, and settling their accounts with the assistance of their strings of beads. In this room, also, besides the servants, there were several relations, brothers and nephews, of the melek’s, but not distinguishable by their dress from the other Arabs.

After we had waited a short time, Melek Tumbol arrived, attended by about twenty of his people on horseback. The meleks whom I have hitherto seen have been generally fine tall men, having often an appearance really noble, and sometimes even majestic. The melek of Argo, on the contrary, is the most diminutive personage I have seen in the country: he has a good-tempered countenance, but, on close examination, something cunning in his expression, and nothing noble or imposing in his appearance. He was dressed simply as an Arab sheakh, except that his clothes were of a finer quality. He wore a long white fine cotton shirt, covering him from the neck to the feet, with very long and wide sleeves. He had a fine white Souakim shawl, with the usual red border hanging over his shoulder.[208] His head-dress consisted of the red cloth cap (tarboush), with one of the silk Turkish handkerchiefs around it. He received us with the usual Arab politeness, read the Mahmoor’s letter, and entreated me to make his house my own. They presented us with coffee and pipes, in the Turkish fashion, and also with sherbet.

The islands and villages on the eastern side of the Nile are under his dominion; having belonged, according to his own account, from time immemorial to his family. He has within his territory, 925 water wheels, besides the land on the banks, which is cultivated after the inundation, and irrigated by hand labour.

When Ismael Pasha invaded this country, Melek Tumbol immediately joined his party, and furnished him with provisions for the army. In consequence of his services on that occasion, the Pasha has allowed him to remain in the command of his territories, and given to him the rank and pay of a katshef; and I am told he expects to be made a mahmoor: he is rich in dromedaries, horses, and slaves, and allowed to have ten water wheels gratis. His subjects have heavier taxes to pay than formerly, but they may consider themselves fortunate in not having inflicted on them the presence of their rulers. Not one Turk or Arab soldier resides on his territory.

Before the arrival of the melek, I was amused with the conversation of his servants. They spoke of his generosity as that of the greatest prince; stating, that, when a peasant gave him a sheep or a goat, he immediately presented in return a camel or a cow; and they added numerous similar instances of generosity, which with the Arabs is the noblest of virtues.

We told the melek that we wished to see the antiquities on his island. He expressed his willingness to forward our views; but, as they were four hours distant, and it was then late, he hoped we would delay our visit until the morning. I was not sorry[209] to be thus obliged to pass the night with this chief, as I am always glad of an opportunity of making myself better acquainted with the Arab customs. There is something so simple and sincere in their hospitality and manner of living, that, unintellectual as their society is, I must confess it is not without its charm. The luxurious divan; the tranquillising pipe; the grateful sherbet and delicious coffee; and the ease and quiet of Oriental society, are not trifling enjoyments in this clime, the scorching heat of which alone inclines man to repose.

This is not a country for brilliant conversation and animated discussion: the former would be too great mental fatigue; and the warmth and excitement which the latter sometimes occasions, if not positively fatal, would certainly be extremely prejudicial to health, when the thermometer is above 100° in the shade. The Turks sit on their divans, and the Arabs on their angoureebs, and smoke the whole of the day. There is not the slightest obligation to converse; they sit and look at each other, and amuse themselves with their pipes, thoughts, castle-building, or business.

Unless you keep them occupied with your enquiries, long pauses often occur in the conversation, as if they were reflecting on what you had said. One advantage of their society is, that the conversation flows naturally, for not even the host considers any effort necessary to keep it up. A man in this country is not considered stupid because he has the sense not to talk nonsense. When any of them tell a tale, or make an assertion, however improbable they may be, politeness, aversion to discussion, and perhaps indolence, generally prevent the others from disputing, or making any remarks upon it. When a council is held upon subjects of importance, and each person is asked for his opinion, greater harmony could not exist in any assembly: the highest in rank expresses his sentiments on the subject first, and the others almost invariably coincide with him.

If a peasant had enough to support himself and family, even[210] in a miserable manner, he would never labour to make himself more comfortable, but spend his time in the enjoyment of idleness, sleeping and smoking; he would, as the Berbers have been described as doing, sit for hours together in the shade, in the same position, without thought or care, with few ideas, and no wish to obtain more.

Their philosophy, however, is remarkable: scarcely an hour of their lives is embittered with useless regrets. They are totally free from that anxiety for the morrow which agitates Europeans, and prevents the enjoyment of the present good, by their insatiable thirst after greater happiness. An Arab never distresses himself, as we too often do, with imaginary evils; he is the child of destiny, and never torments himself with the apprehension of a misfortune which, if it is really approaching, he believes it out of his power to prevent. Niebuhr gives an extraordinary instance of their philosophy.[44]

This temperament is certainly more suitable to the climate, than the feverish anxiety, the angry passions, and restless ambition, which drive content from the abodes of so many Europeans. It is true, the Arabs are ignorant of the high intellectual enjoyments of literary and scientific pursuits, and of the pleasures, luxuries, and refinements of polished life; yet few, perhaps, will deny, that the man who is contented under any circumstances, who immediately becomes resigned to the caprices of fortune, who scarcely knows[211] the meaning of the words worldly care, and is unagitated by any regret for past pleasures, or aching desire to obtain additional enjoyments, is possessed of a certain degree of practical, and not useless, philosophy.

At twelve o’clock dinner was served up; and as the style was different from any I had hitherto seen, and is that usual with the kings of this country, a short description may not be uninteresting. Two mats were laid on the floor, on which we were invited to seat ourselves: they were rather hard, and not excessively clean. The dinner was served in six large wooden bowls, and the bread, which is made into thin light cakes, in elegant baskets of coloured straw, manufactured in Sennaar. The dinner consisted of mutton, fowls, bamia (Hibiscus esculentus), and an excellent omelet in a smaller dish, prepared expressly for myself by the wives of the melek. Raw onions, which are considered particularly healthy in this climate, and which, being much milder than ours, are not unpalatable, particularly after they have been soaked in water, were presented to each of us. I dined on the omelet, the other dishes being liquid, and so exceedingly hot, that I burnt my fingers in attempting to taste them.

The melek sat down with us, but did not eat much; he dines always in his harem. Of the latter I should say something en passant. I was informed elsewhere that he has had twenty-one, or, as some said, thirty-two, wives, all daughters or relations of other meleks. He is said now to have only three. He has no sons, but two beautiful daughters, unmarried, who, however, already take a share in the government. My servant saw one of them on an adjoining small island, where she resides with her slaves, and sends the produce to her father.

After we had dined, and quitted the mats, my servants and his cash-keepers sat down; and what they left was cleared by the servants of the melek. After washing, we had sherbet, coffee, and pipes. The melek then went to sleep, according to the Arab and[212] Turkish custom. In the afternoon we walked about the place, and saw the ruins of the ancient village. The inhabitants of this island suffered severely from the inroads of the Shageea, with whom they were almost always at war. The Melek of Argo was able to collect a force of 700 men, many of them armed with coats of mail, of German manufacture. I wished to see these; but he said they were all in the possession of the Pasha of Egypt. This may be true of some of them; but, no doubt, the greater part he had secreted, aware that the day may arrive when he may require them.

The present melek has a small plantation of vines and pomegranates, which flourish luxuriantly in this country. He procured the plants a few years ago from Egypt; and seems to be prouder of his little garden than of any thing else he possesses. We had a supper in the same style as the dinner; and our beds were the angoureebs on which we had been sitting all the day, with a carpet for a mattress, and no other covering than our cloaks.

Island of Argo.—April 18. The melek, perceiving my impatience to visit the antiquities, provided my artist and myself with excellent horses, while my dragoman, and our guide, his nephew, accompanied us on dromedaries. We rode through the centre of the island, which is entirely uncultivated, but planted with acacias, like a shrubbery. The soil is capable of cultivation; and only a more extensive knowledge of hydraulics appears required to enable the people to irrigate and cultivate the whole of the island.

We set out at five o’clock, and, after two hours’ ride (about ten miles), reached the site of a small town or village, with merely a few bricks remaining. An hour afterwards we arrived at a similar place, and in ten minutes more at a third. Twenty minutes from the latter, being three hours and a half from the time that we started, we arrived at the antiquities which were the object of our excursion. The distance, from the rate we travelled, may be about eighteen miles.

[213]The antiquities amply repaid us for the trouble of visiting them. They consist chiefly of two colossal statues of grey granite, now lying on the ground. The faces are Egyptian, but the sculpture is Ethiopian; not in a very good style, the forms being extremely bulky and clumsy. The length, including the pedestal, which is 2 feet 10 inches, is 23 feet. One statue has lost part of its arms; the other is broken into two pieces, but the features are less injured. They have never been quite finished; which is, doubtless the reason that neither is ornamented with hieroglyphics. The figures are placed in the usual standing position of Egyptian statues, one foot advanced before the other. The one that is broken has on the left foot a small statue. (See my picturesque views and architectural restoration, Plates XXXIII., XXXIV., and XXXV.) The ornaments around their necks and ankles are curious, and quite Ethiopian. The wreath around the head-dress of one of them is that of a conqueror; which I conceive to afford a strong ground for conjecturing that these statues were erected in commemoration of the conquest of Egypt: but I am led to this conclusion principally from the circumstance of the only name in hieroglyphics now remaining here being that of Sabaco, the first king of the Ethiopian dynasty who conquered and reigned over Egypt.

The circumstance of the statues not being finished, may be accounted for by the brief duration, at that period, of the Ethiopian dominion over this part of the country. The statues erected to celebrate the triumph of their arms in Egypt would naturally be thrown down by the Egyptian invaders. Psammitichus, the first king of the 26th dynasty, who reigned immediately after the Ethiopians, and whose territory, we know, from the Greek inscription at Abou Simbel, certainly extended as far as the second cataract, might have conquered this part of Ethiopia, and thrown down the statues of a king naturally so hateful to the Egyptians.[214] They seem, like the two celebrated statues at Thebes, to have ornamented the entrance of a temple, for behind them is a considerable space covered with sandstone, all in small pieces, but evidently the ruins of a large temple.

Forty paces behind these colossals is a beautiful fragment of a small seated statue, without a head, and half buried in the ruins: the name of Sabaco is engraved on it in hieroglyphics; and 43 paces behind the latter is a group of six small monkeys, very much mutilated, and almost buried in the ground. The ruins of the temple extend 20 paces farther. It may have been perhaps from 250 to 300 feet long; but, profiting by the softness of the sandstone, the stones seem to have been studiously broken into the smallest fragments. There are, unfortunately, no hieroglyphics, except the name of Sabaco, before mentioned, remaining either on the statues or any of the stones; and, from the degree in which the edifice is destroyed, I did not conceive that, at all events, much advantage would be derived from excavation.

The name of this town is unknown; and, though the temple appears to have been considerable, the remains afford no ground to suppose that the place was of great importance. There is every reason to believe, however, that the Island of Argo was formerly much more flourishing than now. The different remains of ancient towns in the interior, now surrounded merely with acacia groves and uncultivated plains, prove the cultivation, at that time, to have been much more extended, and the island to have contained not only better built cities, but also a civilised population acquainted with the arts.

A sheakh, from a village at a short distance from the ruins, sent us some excellent bread and milk; and, when our work was finished, we went to his house, and reposed on his angoureebs,—luxuries which every peasant possesses: we also partook of some dates, bouza, and palm wine; the latter is like the honey of dates[215] only more diluted with water. Strabo speaks of the Ethiopian beverage made of honey and barley; and also adds, that the only fruit in that country are a few dates in the royal gardens. After requiting the sheakh for his attention, we returned by the bank of the river to Melek Tumbol’s house.

The country was rich and beautiful, and I observed a great quantity of indigo. In the melek’s territory, there are 500 water-wheels employed in the cultivation of this plant. It requires much water, each wheel being sufficient to irrigate on an average only three quarters of a feddan of land.

April 19. We dined and slept last night with the melek, and left him this morning soon after sunrise. We gave a backsheesh (present) of money to his servants, and, in return for his attention, I gave him the amber mouth-piece of my pipe. We returned in his boat to Haffeer; but as it was navigated by only two mariners, and sailed ill, I there procured another from the katshef to visit the granite quarries near the village of Toumbos.

On the east side, almost directly opposite to Haffeer, there is a brick ruin, half an hour’s walk from the river. I perceived, at a distance, that it was of no importance; but recollecting that Cailliaud mentioned it in his work as resembling the towers represented in the sculptures at Thebes, I visited it on foot, for want of any conveyance, and suffered severely from the scorching, almost vertical, mid-day sun. The ruin being situated in the desert, my feet, unprotected with stockings, which I have long since discarded, were dreadfully burnt by the hot soft sand, in which we sank, at every step, considerably above the shoes. This ruin has not the slightest resemblance to the towers in the sculpture at Thebes. It has been apparently for ages so much decayed, as scarcely to present any other form than that of a mere mass of brickwork; but I conceive it to be Ethiopian, and very ancient. It is difficult to imagine what has been its exact form (see vignette);[216] but it has evidently not resembled, in any respect, the elegant fortresses represented on the walls of Thebes. The entrance into it, as will be seen by the view, is partly remaining. The name of the village near it is Korma.

We were two hours in descending the river to Toumbos. Immediately before arriving, we passed the first of the cataracts of Hennek. The country (see vignette) is very pleasing, flat, not romantic or picturesque, like the scenery between Philæ and Assuan; but the luxuriance of the vegetation on the islands, the acacias in the foreground, the picturesque groups of palm trees, the masses of rock impeding the current, and varying the tint of the river by the white surges they create, and, in the distance, the yellow sands, formed altogether a soft and lovely landscape. The rocks of the third cataract, at least here, are of grey granite.

A very short distance from the river, on a granite rock, called[217] Hadjer el Dehab, or the Golden Stone, is a large historical tablet of hieroglyphics, with the common Egyptian ornament above it, of the globe, serpents, and wings. The hieroglyphics have been well executed, but are now so defaced that few of them are distinguishable. I copied a small portion of it containing the name of Thothmes I.; and in another small tablet adjoining, I observed the prænomen of Amunoph III.

From the similarity of this granite, I think it evident that the statues of Argo have been taken from these quarries. There is here also another statue, twelve feet in length, much injured, but in a tolerably good style of sculpture (see vignette, page 218). The head has been destroyed, perhaps by some accident in separating it from the rock, or rather in conveying it to its destination.

The katshef of Haffeer, through some misunderstanding, I suppose, had informed me that Toumbos was distant only half an hour’s or an hour’s sail. We, therefore, brought with us neither provisions, beds, nor coverings. On arriving at Toumbos, the[218] sheakh invited us to pass the night with him. By the time we had finished our drawings and examination of the quarries, it was almost night, and, the wind having subsided, it was impossible to cross the cataract. We, therefore, gladly accepted his hospitality, having had nothing to eat since morning but grain, heated a little over the fire, with salt. The Arabs are fond of grain prepared in this manner; and, mixed with a few dates, it is not disagreeable.

The sheakh first conducted us into a ruined house, now used as a mosque, rather miserable-looking, close to the river, and therefore cold, especially for us, who had no covering. The heat of the day being so excessive, the fresh air of the night, and particularly of the morning, feels extremely chill. I complained of this accommodation, at which he seemed vexed, and asked my servant if we wished to sleep in his harem. Our complaint, however, procured us a comfortable room in his own house, good angoureebs, covered with mats and skins to lie on, a cheerful wood fire, and a good supper of excellent bread and milk, with a large bowl of meat. We had therefore no reason to complain of the sheakh’s hospitality.

[219]April 20. At sunrise, after remunerating the sheakh for his attentions with a present of money, which I conceived would be the most acceptable that could be offered, we profited by a slight breeze, and, with the assistance of three of the peasants, passed the cataract. The sheakh gave me the not uncommon salutation at parting of “Minsh Allah rasak taip!”—“May God preserve your head from harm!” in a tone which appeared to me curious at the time, but which, I conceived, might allude to the passing of the cataract; though, as will soon be seen, before the setting of the sun, I understood his meaning. Soon afterwards, being becalmed, we pressed into our service a dozen peasants, who dragged us along with a cord.

This morning, and also yesterday, we saw on an island of sand, near Haffeer, a large hippopotamus. This is the only one that now remains in this part of the river, or so far to the northward. Here, too, it is said that this animal flies from the approach of man, and even from the boats. Each time that we approached the isle, it darted into the water. There were, a short time ago, several in this part of the river; but Melek Tumbol told me that he and his people had destroyed all of them, with the exception of this one, which had always eluded their pursuit. We did not arrive at Haffeer until one in the afternoon, half-famished, having had nothing for breakfast but a small handful of grain.

We received intelligence there which threw us into the greatest consternation. The province of Mahas, which commences at Hannek, one hour’s journey north from this place, and extends as far as Sukkot, has broken out into insurrection. The dreadful consequences of this event, cutting off completely my return to Egypt and Europe, and making me a prisoner Heaven knows how long; also the uncertainty of how widely the flame may spread, and what may be the result, caused me the greatest anxiety. I am informed there are already 300 insurgents collected, and that their number increases hourly.

[220]The reason ascribed for this revolt is, that the government refused to accept in part payment of their taxes the linen cloths made in the country. The owners of each water-wheel, besides grain to the amount of five dollars, pay also fifteen in cash: the difficulty of realising this sum may be easily conceived in a country where there are no markets, little or no commerce, and that generally carried on by exchange. The katshef of Haffeer, on hearing, this morning, that they had murdered a kaimacam (officer), and three soldiers, within two hours’ march of his residence, hastened to the spot with about thirty soldiers, being all the forces he could muster. The insurgents had retired upon an island. He buried the three men the Mahas had killed, and brought away the other, whom they had severely wounded in various places, and left as dead. The katshef informed me, that, as he could not desert his post, he intended to shut himself up in the indigo manufactory, which was partly fortified. I immediately ordered my camels to be loaded for our return to Ourde, or New Dongolah, for it is now impossible to proceed on our journey north.

That dress which has hitherto been our protection, and procured us every where respect, now makes us a mark for the attack of the insurgents. They would never suppose that any friend of theirs would wear the costume of their oppressors. In our nizam dresses we should certainly be taken for Turks, and perhaps murdered in a summary manner. We have every reason to thank Providence that we were detained a day at Argo, otherwise our fate was inevitable, for we should have been exactly in the centre of the revolt at the very moment when it broke out. In these countries, where Europeans are almost unknown, except the few who, being in the service of the Pasha, are considered as Turks, the natives only distinguish two classes,—their own countrymen, and the white men, their tyrants and oppressors. We could not have expected to be spared, even had they recognised us as travellers:[221] for they would have murdered us for the treasures which they imagine we find among the ruins.

It were endless to enumerate the ridiculous stories which the Arabs relate of these fancied discoveries. I will, however, mention one or two, as characteristic. On our return from the colossal statues in the Island of Argo, to the house of Melek Tumbol, one of his cash-keepers asked me if we had found any gold; and he stated as a fact to a crowd of Arabs in the room (swearing by his beard and the prophet), that at a ruin called Dendera, in Egypt, he accompanied two Englishmen, who obtained an immense treasure. The devil refused it until they should give him a water melon, to allay his thirst. The Englishman then sent him all the way to Kennah for the melon, and that as soon as the devil smelt the fine odour of the fruit, gold came down like rain. This the man declared he had seen with his own eyes, and all the Arabs implicitly believed him.

At Gibel el Birkel, the natives conceived that my excavations were made only to find gold; and they supposed me less fortunate, or less clever, than the last European, a noble Lord, who visited those ruins, who was stated to have found such a quantity, in the form of a granite lion, that he was obliged to have a boat from Dongolah to carry it down to Egypt.

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[222]CHAPTER XVI.

RETURN TO NEW DONGOLAH. — THE GOVERNOR. — HIS INDECISION. — GENERAL ALARM. — INTERVIEW WITH THE GOVERNOR. — HIS DIFFICULT SITUATION AND WANT OF ENERGY. — INCREASE OF THE INSURGENTS. — RETREAT OF THE KATSHEF OF HAFFEER. — TROOPS MARCHED OUT AGAINST THE INSURGENTS. — FEARS ABOUT THE RESULT. — THEIR ARMY. — THE BATTLE. — EFFECTS OF THE REVOLT. — ROADS IMPASSABLE. — RETURN OF THE EXPEDITION. — TURKISH AND ARAB EVOLUTIONS. — HASSANYEH. — FUNGE. — CURIOUS ASSEMBLAGE. — LULULOO OF THE WOMEN. — TURKISH SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT IN THE PROVINCES, AND PRESENT STATE OF THE PEASANTRY AND ARABS OF THE DESERT ABOVE WADY HALFAH.

El Ourde, or New Dongolah.—April 21. Immediately on my arrival, I paid a visit to the governor, but was not received; for, notwithstanding the general alarm which exists on account of the insurrection, he could not deny himself his mid-day nap. In the evening I was more successful. The more I see of this man, the more I feel alarmed about the length of time I may be detained, and what may be the result of this unfortunate affair, for I perceive clearly he is incapable of taking any resolution. He complained of not having force sufficient. I advised him to adopt the common Turkish system of offering a general pardon and lighter taxes, or muster all his forces, and crush, at once, a movement which, in a country like this, was likely to spread so rapidly.

April 29. A week passed without any plan being determined upon. I had not chosen to renew my advice, perceiving what I had already given to be fruitless. The greatest panic existed in the town. Some proposed to fly up the country; others, to reach Egypt by crossing the desert by Selemeh. We had, every day, some new and false rumour, that other districts had revolted, and that[223] the whole valley of the Nile, from Wady Halfah to the extremity of the Pasha’s dominions, was on the point of throwing off the yoke of their oppressors. Sometimes the insurgents were reported to be within an hour’s march of the town, preparing to attack it. Muskets were distributed, the cannons prepared, and we were all to fight for our lives. At length, the officers, who are a despicable set, became refractory: some refused to march, while others were anxious to commence operations. The governor was undecided; some officers of the divan advised one course, and some another; and, while he vacillated between them, day passed after day, without any plan being adopted.

Foreseeing the consequences of this irresolution, while discontent was spreading even among the government troops, and the insurgents daily increasing, I determined to make one effort more to rouse him from his lethargy, and persuade him to adopt some vigorous measure. I, therefore, visited him, accompanied by a Greek dragoman, with whom the governor, being a Turk from the Morea, could converse in the Romaic without any other person in the divan understanding our discourse. I thus obtained the best chance of my advice being followed, by sparing his amour propre, of which he had a considerable stock.

I apologised for the liberty I was taking; conscious that, as a stranger, I had no right to interfere with his administration; but that my fate was linked with his, as the success of my own plans depended on his being able to restore order and tranquillity to the country. In return, too, for his attentions, I was anxious, if possible, to be of service to him; I regretted his present difficult situation, particularly as I saw him surrounded by men guided more by their passions than by reason. To my surprise, he raised up his head, which generally hangs over his knees, almost touching them, and expressed his willingness to listen to, and follow, my counsel. Tormented as he has been, for several days, with the insolent dictation of his officers, each insisting on some[224] wild scheme of his own, he turned a ready ear to my suggestions, which were, of course, disinterested. Each officer, on the contrary, hoped, if his plan should be adopted, and be successful, that he might have the merit of the victory, and obtain, in consequence, a present from the Pasha.

I urged the governor to send to some of the sheakhs up the Nile, who are strongly attached to the government, and have no affection for the Mahas, to assemble their forces; and also to Melek Tumbol, who is said to have a force of 500 men, while the former could muster 600 men, and both would be quite willing to join the government. The governor had imprudently ordered the soldiers scattered in the different villages to assemble, under the katshefs and kaimacams, in bands of fifty. This had caused great dissatisfaction, by showing that he distrusted the fidelity of the peasants; and the measure was useless, except in affording a security for the lives of the soldiers, which, after all, was only apparent; for bands of fifty were too small to keep extensive districts in subjection, or protect themselves against the united attacks of the peasantry. I urged the governor to send for these troops to replace the garrison here, which he might thus be enabled to send out against the revolters. He consented to this proposition very reluctantly.

To my surprise, he informed me that he had sent no courier to Cairo. He had despatched one to Khartoun, in the hopes of procuring a reinforcement from that district. I did not think it probable that the government there would risk its security by sending part of their force to Dongolah: but it was great neglect not to inform all the governors around of the revolt, that they might guard against any attempts within their own territories; particularly as it is rumoured, though, probably, without foundation, that this is only the first explosion of a grand conspiracy, formed by the people, throughout Upper Nubia, to avail themselves of the present[225] opportunity, whilst the Pasha is engaged with the war in Syria, to throw off his yoke.

The number of soldiers here at present is 200, part of a regiment of invalids sent to this province, being of no use at Cairo; the remainder of the regiment is scattered, as I have said, in small parties, about the province. As the Arab and Turkish merchants in the bazaar are more than sufficient to protect the citadel, and their fidelity may be relied upon, their lives and property being at stake, I urged the governor to send off the troops in the garrison without delay; and he promised that he would do so as soon as the necessary arrangements could be made. I advised him also to mount guards on the citadel, to dispel the panic which existed, and prevent the possibility of the place being surprised.

April 30. The katshef of Haffeer arrived, without having received permission from the governor to abandon his post, but conceiving it impossible, with only 50 men, to protect the indigo house, which is but partially fortified, against the threatened attack of the insurgents. He stated the force of the latter to be 1500 men; and a courier arrived last night, with the intelligence, that yesterday more soldiers were killed, and that another party of fifty only escaped through the means of an Arab sheakh, abandoning their baggage, and, mirabile dictu for Turks, also their pipes!

May 1. The troops, 150 in number (leaving 50 in the citadel), marched out this morning against the Mahas. They were accompanied by 120 volunteers, some of them mounted. The Hassanyeh and Funge, 500 strong, and Melek Tumbol on the opposite bank, with 500 more, are waiting to join them. They took with them one piece of cannon, an eight-pounder, on which they rested their chief hopes of success. The review of these warriors caused a great sensation in this little capital. The governor had distributed muskets and ammunition to all the merchants who joined the expedition, and also to those who remained[226] in garrison. Each man was trying his weapon by firing it off. The women were weeping, and demonstrating their grief, according to the custom of the country, by a peculiar lululoo, caused by drawing their breath, and shaking their tongues between their lips, at the same time waving their hands, in sign of wishes for their husbands’ success.

Considering how this expedition was composed, I was almost doubtful of its success. The soldiers and officers were the refuse of the Pasha’s army; the merchants a confused mass; the commander notorious for cowardice; the cannon in the hands of men not renowned for their skill in engineering; and it seemed doubtful whether friendship to the Turks, the rancour of ancient feuds, or even the hope of plunder, be sufficient motives to induce the Hassanyeh Arabs and Melek Tumbol’s forces to act against their neighbours, fighting for their liberty, to free themselves from a grievous and intolerable yoke, and who had placed their all upon the die,—death or victory. The governor himself reviewed the troops outside the walls, and gave his last directions. How ridiculous this expedition would have appeared in Europe! It reminded me of the army of Bombastes Furioso; and the Mahmoor might have dismissed them with the same words,—

May 2 and 3. were spent in great anxiety about the result of the expedition. Rumours were spread that the government troops were defeated, and that the Mahas were coming to attack the citadel.

May 4. This morning news arrived of the engagement, and that the Pasha’s troops had gained the victory. On the 10th, they and the merchants returned, and I received from some sensible Turkish merchants, on whose authority I could depend, the following account of the battle. The insurgents, 1300 strong, at three o’clock in the afternoon advanced to attack the government forces,[227] encamped a little below Hannek. Their chief, Melek Backeet, sent round 300 of his men to intercept the enemy’s retreat; for it never occurred to the brave warriors of Mahas that they could possibly be defeated. If they had possessed any degree of judgment, or been less confident, and had made the attack during the night, they would probably have succeeded; for at that time no sentinels or guards were established, and the greatest confusion reigned in the Turkish camp.

About 150 of the Mahas had guns, but very bad ones, mostly matchlocks, and they were very ill supplied with ammunition. They were variously armed; some with lances, shields, German swords (see various plates of costumes); while others had only swords made of the acacia wood, about four feet long, rounded at one end for the hand, the rest cut thin, flat, and sharpened at both sides,—a heavy but formidable weapon in the hands of an athletic Arab. Others had staves only. Sentences in Arabic were written by the fakeers, on the wooden swords and staves; on some of them lines from the Koran: the most common were,—“May God give me force to destroy my enemies!” “May my foes tremble before me!” “May the acacia sword be as the sharp steel in my hand!” I have seen a staff similarly shaped in the museum at Berlin, with hieroglyphics on it; the latter I could not examine, as it was on a shelf, at too great a distance to be read.

Twelve Turks on horseback accompanied the troops; to whom, with the Arab merchants (Jelabs), and about 500 Hassanyeh, must be ascribed the honour of the victory. Melek Tumbol’s Arabs were on the opposite side of the river, and the soldiers of the government were so placed by their skilful commander, behind their own friends, that they could not fire a single shot. The general, usually a great talker, became miraculously silent when the engagement commenced; and, knowing the value of his person, very prudently placed it out of danger. The artillerymen fired the cannon sixty-two times, only wounding one man: but, to give[228] them their due, I was informed by several, that the victory was chiefly gained by the noise they made.

To the astonishment of the brave Mahas, the government forces, or rather the merchants, undeterred by their cries of “Cip! cap!” and dancing round and round (see view of the Shageea fighting, Plate XXXVIII.), returned the shaking of their spears with a good discharge of musketry, while the Hassanyeh made a sharp attack. An engagement of a few minutes ended in the unfortunate Mahas flying to the river. Numbers were shot sitting on the rocks and islands, and others in crossing the stream: altogether about 120 perished.

The regular troops, not having fired a ball during the engagement, discharged their muskets in the air to celebrate their victory; and the brave commander, now quite loquacious, gratified his thirst for blood by the massacre of two unfortunate young prisoners, who fell into his hands. Melek Backeet, the chief of the Mahas, is said to be concealed in the country, but that feudal attachment to their chief, which is so strong among all the Arabs, will secure him against being discovered.

A general pardon having been proclaimed, according to the usual Turkish system, until the government feels itself sufficiently strong to punish the delinquents, several of the inferior sheaks have accepted the amnesty offered by the governor, and the peasants are returning to their occupations. Many of the water-wheels are injured, and a great number of the working oxen killed by the Mahas. The loss to the government cannot, it is said, be less than 5000l.

My chief apprehension now is, that the roads will be infested by the most desperate of the Mahas, acting as brigands; among others, by their chief: we are therefore still detained here until this man is taken, or has left the country, and tranquillity is entirely restored. Several caravans of merchants are likewise deterred from going down to Egypt. They thus incur a large expense, having[229] to maintain a number of slaves; but they seem greatly afraid of encountering the journey. I proposed forming a great caravan, but they coolly replied, that they should wait until the full moon, and, in the mean time, see whether I passed safely.

May 11. The return of the expedition was celebrated with great rejoicings. The Mahmoor, shortly after sunrise, reviewed about 300 troops, who have arrived, within these few days, from Handek, Meroueh, and other parts of the province; he marched out with these, and joined the armament encamped at a short distance from the walls, and all together then entered the citadel, in procession. The governor, at the head of the regular troops, who kept up a continual fire, went foremost, followed by the Turks and sheakhs on horseback, going through their evolutions, which consisted in a kind of mock battle, where they certainly displayed admirable horsemanship; sometimes galloping at full speed, suddenly halting, and wheeling round and round, the Turks firing their pistols, and the sheakhs brandishing their lances. Some of the meleks and sheakhs made a very picturesque appearance, being well mounted, with their peculiar costumes, lances, swords, and shields, the latter of the hide of the hippopotamus. After these came the Jelabs, or merchants of the bazaar, making liberal use of the muskets and ammunition given to them by the governor. Then followed a great number of the Hassanyeh, and some few of the Shageea Arabs, mounted on camels, dromedaries, or horses, and some on foot, going through their evolutions as in battle, brandishing their spears, leaping in the air, first on one leg, then on the other, at the same time turning round and shouting their war cry, “Cip! cap!” and beating their shields with their spears. Lastly came a tribe, formerly mentioned, the Funge,—fine athletic men, said to be very brave. They wear, like the others, their garments in the antique style, and their heads, as is the custom of the Arabs of the desert, uncovered, but protected from the sun by bushy tresses, reaching almost to the shoulders.

[230]The coup-d’œil was rendered particularly striking, by the variety of costumes, complexions, and arms, and the singularity of the evolutions. We saw in one field the regular troops, Fellahs from Egypt, marching and firing in the European manner; the natives of the Caucasus, the Turks, exhibiting their more dashing Mameluke exercise; but neither of them attracted half so much my attention as the wild extraordinary manœuvres of the dark peasants of the country and the Arabs of the desert. I should not forget, also, the cries of the women. The house-tops, and the walls of the citadel, were covered with them, cackling (I think that the most appropriate term) a welcome to their husbands in the same curious manner I have before described; but on this occasion the note was different, being expressive of joy at their return.

The governor, afraid of the Pasha’s censuring, and, perhaps, dismissing him, on account of this affair, pays, from his own purse, the expense of the expedition; and he has made a present of 100 piastres to each Turk, 50 to each melek, 30 to each sheakh, of 10 to each peasant and merchant. He pays for the gunpowder also,—no trifle, since, beside what was consumed in the action, they have been firing ever since, to indulge their fondness for the report of a gun, under the plea of celebrating the governor’s triumph. The day is to be devoted to feasting and rejoicing. Those who can afford it have killed cows, others sheep. The mallums, the Coptic treasurers and writers of the government, are now very conspicuously exhibiting their joy. They have been terribly alarmed during this affair; conceiving, perhaps with some reason, that, besides their office, and having the character of being individually rich, their obnoxious titles of Christian dogs and tax-gatherers would have ensured to them, had the citadel been taken, being the first to have their throats cut.

In relating the causes of this insurrection, I shall only be giving a sketch of the Turkish system of governing the provinces, which has rarely, if ever, been sufficiently elucidated. The government[231] of the pashas in Egypt is essentially military. The officers all of whom (except sometimes the baractars) are Turks, decide every question connected with the revenues, and often interfere, in other affairs, with the decisions of the cadis. The system of the government is to extort from the peasant the utmost possible amount of tax, leaving him only what they consider, or pretend to consider, a sufficient subsistence, but it is usually a most miserable one.

I will give a more detailed account of the system in Egypt, at a future opportunity, and shall here only say a few words respecting that unfortunate country. If the peasants did not actually steal from their own fields, in some places, they could not exist. Although they bury their grain under ground, and by various other methods deceive their oppressors, numbers perish from the want of sufficient nourishment and clothing. I have seen them, in winter, assembled in a corner, round a miserable fire, shivering with cold and hunger. In the most favoured clime under heaven, and the most productive country on the face of the earth, a vast proportion of the peasants may be said barely to exist upon food more calculated for cattle than for human beings, and, bad as it is, they have rarely enough.

The Pasha has power sufficient to hold them in subjection, and by his extortions fills his coffers; but necessity alone induces them to submit. He not only imposes most enormous taxes upon every article of produce, but obliges them to cultivate what he chooses, and take the price he offers for the produce. He is the only purchaser of the grain, cotton, and indigo, and of the gum of Kordofan, ostrich feathers, and other articles. Slaves are almost the only commodity the merchants now are allowed to take in exchange for the manufactures they carry to Sennaar and Kordofan: even wild animals of the desert, as the giraffe, are a monopoly of the government.

The Pasha is the great landlord of this immense district: the people are his slaves. His revenues are derived not only from the[232] regular taxes, but from his profits as a merchant, which are enormous, in consequence of the low rate at which he pays the peasants for their produce, compared with that at which he sells it again to the Europeans. It is true that this source of gain is greatly diminished by the roguery of the different officers through whose hands it passes. From the highest to the lowest there is seldom any exception,—mahmoors, nazrs, katshefs, kaimacams, and soldiers, all concur in diminishing the amount, and, in particular, the mallums, or Coptic accountants. The latter not only cheat the ignorant Turks, who generally cannot read their accounts, but often trade with the money of the treasury, and incur losses which they are unable to repay. A number, on this account, are always immured in the prisons of the Pasha.

The peasants in Upper Nubia are free from these pecuniary distresses, and are comparatively happy. It is very true, that, instead of paying only one dollar in money, two pieces of linen cloth, and a sheep, thirty piastres, which was all they paid their ancient meleks, they are now obliged to pay fifteen dollars in cash, and five in grain; in all, three hundred piastres: ten times as much as they paid formerly. Instead of sleeping, as was their custom, the greater part of the day, they are now obliged to work: but the man who is at all industrious may earn an ample sufficiency to afford food and dress such as he has been accustomed to. The following calculation will show more precisely their present condition.

Each sakkea, or Persian wheel, is sufficient to water three quarters of a feddan of land, planted with indigo, and each feddan produces a hundred cantars of the herb, and sometimes more, when carefully irrigated: being seventy-five cantars for the extent of land which one wheel will water. The government pay the peasants 12½ Egyptian piastres for each quintal; that is, 937 piastres for the whole, which, at the current rate of the dollar here, 15 piastres, is equal to 62½ dollars; whence we must deduct twenty for[233] the duty, and there remains for the persons to whom the wheel belongs, 42½ dollars, or 637 piastres: but, as this is the lowest calculation, we may fairly estimate nearly two piastres per day for each water-wheel. This will go to the support of one family, provided it can afford five persons capable of putting their shoulders to the wheel; but otherwise, two families must unite to reckon up that number. A great deduction on the gain of the peasant in Egypt is the immense expense of the wheel: but here they are so much more simple, they cost a very trifling sum; the oxen only 30 piastres each, and their keep next to nothing.

However small a sum two piastres, or sevenpence English, may appear to a European, it is amply sufficient in this climate, where every necessary is so cheap. In Lower and Upper Egypt, where bread is so much dearer, and meat and milk double the price, the fixed price of a labourer amounts to half a piastre per day, to sustain himself and perhaps a family. Most of the peasants here, too, have other slips of land which are watered by the inundation of the river, and they gain considerably by their date trees, notwithstanding that they pay a tax of a piastre for each tree. They also rear flocks, and cultivate vegetables, particularly the favourite Arab ones, bamia and malakkhia; they make linen, spirit, bouza, &c. They allow, too, that grain pays them still better than indigo.

The condition of the peasants of Upper Nubia is thus happy, compared to those of Egypt. In this country, you very rarely see a peasant with a ragged garment, and there are very few of the men who have not their harems. Those who live near the seat of government have also the advantage of supplying the markets with the few vegetables the country produces, and of being employed as workmen. Some also keep camels, which afford them a large profit.

The Arabs of the desert have still more reason to be satisfied with the present government, so far as regards their pecuniary[234] interests. They pay tribute only for the land they cultivate, which is in general very little, and in many cases none at all; but otherwise they gain a sufficient livelihood, by transporting to Egypt, with their camels, the grain collected as revenue, or purchased by the government, and in aiding the now constant passage of troops and merchants. Many of the Arab tribes of Kordofan, who formerly never came here, now participate in the profit of carrying the 2500 camel loads of gum, which, as before stated, are annually sent from that country to Cairo.

Thus the labouring peasants of the Nile and the Arabs of the desert in Upper Nubia, so far as regards the taxes and means of subsistence, are in happy circumstances compared to the Fellaheen of Egypt; but in other respects they are equally galled by their Turkish rulers. In Egypt, the officers only are oppressive: the soldiers, who are Fellaheen, like the peasants, are not so insolent as here, where their comparatively white complexion, their character as conquerors, and their pride as askari, or soldiers, induce them to despise the natives, and oppress them more than the government authorises.

When the chief governor of a province is possessed of talent, energy, and firmness, the officers and soldiers are prevented from committing many excesses; but when the country has the misfortune to be under a man like the Mahmoor of Dongolah,—too timid to redress the complaints continually made against the disorderly soldiers,—its state may easily be imagined. Each soldier is a little tyrant, and commits a series of gross and petty vexations inconceivable to a European. Of the many I have witnessed, I will give only a few specimens:—If the soldier wants a sheep, fowls, eggs, or any other article, he obliges the peasant to sell them at half the market price, and not unfrequently refuses to pay any thing at all. When becalmed on the river, he goes on shore, and forces ten, and sometimes twenty, natives to drag his boat, without any remuneration. If he meets a peasant girl[235] carrying milk or butter, he often helps himself to half without paying for it, unless with a salute; and woe betide the imprudent sheahk or peasant who refuses to give gratuitously the best his house affords, or neglects the horse or camel of the Turk or soldier who has taken up his quarters for the night at his house. If camels or donkeys are wanted, they must furnish them, and consider themselves fortunate if they get any trifle in return. The haughty manner of the conquerors is still more galling to the Arabs: their usual manner of addressing them is, “Kelp, Marhas!”—“Dog! villain! Do this! do that! quick! quick! cursed be your race!” with threats of a beating, even actual blows, and sometimes with the sole of the shoe, which is the greatest indignity that a Mahometan can receive.

Men whose ancestors have been chiefs in the country for ages must now submit to the insolence and contumely of this vile and lawless soldiery. From negligence the latter often do not demand the tax on the water-wheels for some time; then, all at once, they appear, calling out, “Pay me to-morrow, or the bastinado!” The peasant, not being allowed sufficient time to raise the money, is obliged to suffer this degrading punishment, and often even have his ears nailed to a board. Being at a distance, perhaps, from the seat of government, or large market towns, he has no opportunity of selling his produce; nevertheless, with double the value of the sum required in effects, he has to undergo a disgraceful punishment, because he has no dollars.

The Mahas who revolted had not paid the government for some time. The mahmoor sent a villanous Turk into their province, with the instruments of torture, who immediately began bastinadoing them, nailing their ears, and threatening to cut off their heads, if they did not pay him. He visited Melek Backeet, who owed a considerable sum to the government, and told him that, if he did not pay his taxes in a few days, every species of torture would be inflicted upon him. The Mahas manufacture a[236] strong linen cloth, which is very much esteemed throughout all the valley of the Nile. Being at a distance from the capital, and thus unable to command an immediate sale, at least for the large quantity on hand, they tendered it in part of their taxes. The government refused, though the transaction would have been very advantageous to them, the linen being offered at a price much lower than it sells for in the bazaar of Dongolah. Melek Backeet, therefore, excited the revolt, preferring death to the ignominious punishment with which he was threatened.

This country, under proper management, might become a far greater source of wealth to the Pasha than it even now is. Notwithstanding the galling system of the Turks, the natives are sensible of the advantages of a settled and firm government; and the peasants of the Nile, most particularly, are glad to be released from the tyranny and spoliation accompanying the feuds and petty wars by which the country was formerly torn. Did the Turks but treat them as men, and not disgust them by their insulting manners, and by inflicting on them such degrading and infamous punishments; had their rulers but a few ideas of common policy and legislation, the resources might be greatly augmented, the revenue increased, and the people would be the most happy and contented under the sun. The superiority which fire-arms afforded to their haughty conquerors taught them to despise the strength of the Arabs, and, with that insolence which is ever united with ignorance, they do not in the slightest degree endeavour to attach them to the government, or, in fact, condescend to treat, otherwise than as a vastly inferior race, the people which it cost them so much, even with all their advantages, to conquer.

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[237]CHAPTER XVII.

DEPARTURE FROM EL OURDE. — ALARMS OF THE CARAVAN. — MELEK BACKEET. — RETURN TO HAFFEER. — DETENTION IN THE INDIGO MANUFACTORY. — NUBIAN PLANTS. — SECOND EXPEDITION OF THE GOVERNMENT. — FANATICISM OF THE INSURGENTS. — THE BATTLE. — PRISONERS. — DEPARTURE FROM HAFFEER. — DESCRIPTION OF THE CARAVAN. — CATARACT. — EFFECTS OF THE REVOLUTION. — SPLENDID RUINS OF SOLIB. — EXCAVATED TOMB NEAR SOLIB. — RUINS OF SUKKOT. — HEAT OF THE CLIMATE. — ISLAND OF SAIS. — REMAINS OF CHRISTIAN RUINS. — DESTRUCTIVE EFFECTS OF THE DESERT.

May 18. I conceived, from the information which I obtained from the government, and other quarters, that I might now pass with tolerable safety through the province of Mahas, particularly by not following the banks of the river, but taking the short cut across the Desert, from Fakeer el Bint to Solib. By this route I shall miss the ruin of Sescé; but, as it consists only of two or three columns, I shall consider myself fortunate if I escape from the country with this slight sacrifice. My caravan wish me to go on direct to Egypt, without stopping at any more ruins, particularly those of the splendid and celebrated Temple of Solib, which is situated at the northern extremity of Mahas; but I have told them that I will not leave that place until I have fully examined it, and taken every drawing and measurement I shall consider necessary. They are dreadfully afraid of meeting with Melek Backeet, who, with a few desperate companions, has committed several depredations: they think it very hard to incur any risk for the sake of a few old stones: but I have hazarded my own life and health in visiting this baneful clime; and I will not consent to pass, in that hurried manner, one of the chief objects of my journey. I took leave of the mahmoor, who gave me a guard, consisting of an Arab baractar[238] (ensign) and six soldiers, mounted on dromedaries. We have, therefore, now nothing to apprehend from stragglers. None of the merchants would venture to join my caravan, notwithstanding my having a guard. I should delay my departure for some days, but I see no chance of Melek Backeet being taken, and, consequently, of the roads being clear, and I am sick of this detention. We left Dongolah at three o’clock, and slept in a beautiful grove of palm trees.

May 19. Arrived this evening at Haffeer, and was well entertained by the katshef, who chose the finest sheep in the village to regale my caravan.

Hannek.—May 20. We started soon after sunrise. Two Turkish officers, with their servants, joined my caravan this morning. Their company was not desirable, but the addition to our force, of six persons, well armed, was not to be despised. We halted at Hannek, to fill our water-skins, previous to entering the desert. After dinner, at three P.M., we were on the point of mounting our dromedaries, when a courier arrived from Sukkot, and informed us that Melek Backeet, and his great coadjutor the Cadi Esau, are at Fakeer el Bint, and in the desert, waiting for the Bey Zadé[45] and his caravan, knowing that we intended to pass, and believing us loaded with gold, which we had found in the temples. The[239] news produced the greatest consternation among my little troop. The soldiers were more pusillanimous than the rest. One of the Turkish officers, a cowhass, who last night, at Haffeer, talked loudly of his valour, had this morning not a word to say. Such a change of countenances I never witnessed: even my own servants were afraid to proceed. With such an escort, and uncertain of the force of the Mahas, it was impossible to attempt to pass. I, therefore, sent to the katshef of Haffeer for a reinforcement: he advised me not to advance, as the news was quite true. A reinforcement he could not give, as he had only twenty soldiers to guard the indigo-house.

May 21. This morning I returned to Haffeer, and having ascertained from several peasants and couriers that Melek Backeet had already with him 100 men, and that the number was increasing hourly, I abandoned the idea of continuing my journey without additional force. I, therefore, sent my dragoman to the mahmoor with a letter, begging him not to delay, but send immediately a sufficient number of soldiers to clear the country of the insurgents. Were I alone, I would run the risk, and attempt to cross the desert, or rather, with a compass in my hand, make a circuitous route. This plan would, perhaps, have enabled me to elude the enemy; yet, unfortunately, they have their spies in every direction, even in Dongolah. My departure would be reported; and although I were to sacrifice my baggage, their horses, swift dromedaries, and superior knowledge of the country, would enable them easily to overtake me, or intercept my route. For myself, I would run any hazard, rather than endure, a day longer, the ennui of being detained here; but the lives of others I have no right to compromise. According to the arrangements I had made, I ought now to have been in Europe. The heat is excessive, and increasing daily, and my funds diminishing. As this delay will oblige me to pass, with more haste, the antiquities below, my vexation may be imagined.

Haffeer.—May 21. to June 2. I was detained at Haffeer, in the[240] indigo-manufactory, twelve days. During this period, we collected and made drawings of several plants. I publish three, which I think may be interesting to the general reader, having mentioned them repeatedly. One, in Plate IV., is the senna, a name, doubtless, familiar to all. It grows wild upon the house-tops and in the fields: the flower is yellow, and the leaves of a pale green. The other plant, in the same plate, I have called indigo; but although very good indigo is extracted from it, it is, in reality, a totally different plant,—the Tephrosia Apollinea of botanists. Plate LII. is a drawing of the Osshi, the Calotropis gigantea. There are large plains in this neighbourhood entirely covered with it, and, as I have stated in my description of Makkarif, it abounds also in the province of Berber. The interior of the flower is of a pink colour; the buds contain a pungent liquor, of the colour of milk, which, according to the Arabs, blinds when put in the eye. The leaves are of a greyish green. The apple, represented in the Plate, contains the seed and a fine glossy silk. The plant varies from four to six feet in height, and is extremely valuable to the natives, being almost their only firewood; and, as I have stated before, many camel loads of charcoal made from it are sent to Cairo, being excellent for gunpowder. Among the others I found, the only one of any interest, and characteristic of Nubia, was a small kind of rue, the Ruta tuberculata of botanists.

The mahmoor, having at his disposal a considerable body of troops, which he had assembled, according to my advice, from different parts of the province, was fortunately enabled to send out immediately 300 soldiers. The Turks having, on the last occasion, obtained 100 piastres and their expenses, again volunteered their services. Having united with Melek Tumbol’s Arab forces, they marched against the Mahas, who had rallied, in great numbers, under their old chief, Melek Backeet; and this time had very judiciously stationed themselves on a steep rock on a large island, near Hannek, making excursions day and night, and rendering the roads quite impassable.

[241]The commander of the expedition was the same brave fellow who took such particular care of his person during the former engagement. He encamped near the Mahas, and published a proclamation offering them a general pardon. The Cadi Esau and many of the other sheakhs were disposed to accept the terms, when another fanatic priest started up, and upbraided them with their cowardice, treachery, and folly; “since,” said he, “you know that the Turks will deceive you, and it is evident that God has given our enemies into our hands; for without seeking them they are come to us.” By this absurd harangue, he kindled a wild enthusiasm, to increase which all the fakeers were employed in writing charms on their weapons. The commander was afraid to attack them, on account of their number and their strong position; but the Turkish volunteers laughed him to scorn, and dashed forward on horseback to charge the Mahas. Notwithstanding the formidable position of the insurgents, many of them having fire-arms, and the facility their situation afforded them of rolling down stones on the Turks, yet such was the effect of the instantaneous and gallant example set by the latter, that the soldiers followed en masse, and soon dislodged and put to flight the unfortunate Mahas.

In this engagement they calculated that 170 were killed, and about 30 made prisoners. I myself saw here 105 pairs of ears on a string, which the victors were conveying to the governor; and I am informed the commander has another. Very many being shot in the river, their ears could not be obtained. They brought also to Haffeer twenty-two prisoners, linked together in a string, having their arms tied behind their backs, in the ancient Egyptian manner. Their arms were drawn together behind with a rope, attached a little above their elbows; causing, of course, an unnatural and painful projection of the chest. Some of them were apparently half-bred negroes, who were or had been slaves. They were all tall athletic men, but wild and haggard in their appearance, and seemingly insensible either to pity or to suffering.[242] Seeing them in pain, I begged the Turks to loosen their cords, which they did as a favour to me; but the prisoners seemed quite indifferent, and did not even thank me. I persuaded the Turks, also, to liberate from the cords a young boy, of twelve or thirteen, on account of his extreme youth; but the lad has something roguish in his eye; so that, if the soldiers on guard do not pay more attention than it is their custom to do, I flatter myself that, before they arrive at Dongolah, he will profit by the indulgence, and effect his escape.

On hearing of the defeat of the Mahas, I determined instantly to start, conceiving that, though Melek Backeet and his followers have escaped, they will, for at least a day or two, be too much engaged in providing for their own safety to lose time, and risk their own security, in waylaying travellers. The only danger is that of falling in with them by accident among the rocky passes of the cataract, or in the desert; and they would gladly get hold of us, not, perhaps, for plunder, but as hostages for their own security. Now, however, we were all willing to encounter every risk rather than support this endless delay, and be any longer confined to the prison of a wretched indigo-house, in which my artist, myself, and the two Turks had only one small hot room to sit, eat, and receive visiters. The heat is dreadful: no cool refreshing wind to mitigate the scorching rays of a sun almost completely vertical; every breath of air heated as if issuing from a furnace; even the evenings, after sunset, are hot. At that time I generally went down to the river, the air on the banks being less oppressive: from about midnight until sunrise, and even a few hours after, it is very cool and delightful; and, not to lose the enjoyment and benefit of that period, I have for the last month slept, like the Arabs, in the open air.[46]

[243]My caravan, being strengthened by some merchants who joined us, became now rather formidable, and may be worth describing. My own party consisted of eleven, including the habeer (guide), two Ababde, and three Hassanyeh, the owners of our two dromedaries and six camels. My artist and myself were well armed, and my dragoman, and Greek and Coptic servant, also had muskets, with which the Mahmoor had provided them. My guide had fire-arms, and the Arabs their lances and swords: therefore, including the guard which the governor had given me, of a baractar and six soldiers, my own party consisted of eighteen persons, of whom thirteen had fire-arms. The two Turks and their two servants were provided with them; and their camel-drivers were three Shageea armed with spears. Besides these, five merchants, three with guns, joined my caravan. We were, therefore, altogether, thirty men; twenty with fire-arms; and were thus, I think, a match for 100 of the Mahas, with their matchlocks and lances: but we all conceived it so very probable that we might meet a party of the insurgents, that I directed each person to keep his musket in his hand during the whole night.

We started at four in the afternoon, and marched until two in the morning, ten hours, and encamped in the desert two hours before arriving at Fakeer el Bint. The effect of the caravan winding along the rocky banks of the cataracts in a line, one after the other, on account of the narrowness and badness of the road, was very picturesque. The variety of the costumes and armour; the numerous Arab tribes,—for scarcely more than two or three of our[244] party belong to the same one,—Hassanyeh, Shageea, and Ababde; Berberenes of Upper Nubia, and Fellaheen of the lower valley of the Nile; Turks, Greeks, and Europeans,—all differing in dress, features, and complexion,—formed an interesting group. I could trace the gradations of colour, even in my own caravan, from the yellowish Arab of Cairo to the darker native of Upper Egypt, and from the brown Dongoloue to the dark-brown Shageea; but the latter are very different in feature and complexion from the bluish-black of the negro slaves belonging to the Turks.

We all preserved the strictest silence, which enabled me to enjoy more the noise of the cataracts, the soft moonlight, and the romantic rocky scenery: but while I felt the beauty of the latter, I was well aware that the granite rocks and passes afforded an ambush for the Mahas, which was not without danger to us, their unskilfulness and ignorance being my only security. We met repeatedly parties of women and boys, either acting as spies, or going, as they pretended, to Haffeer, their houses being destroyed, and husbands and fathers dead. Their manner was certainly suspicious, and I had some difficulty in preventing my soldiers from treating them as spies. We passed several cottages, now uninhabited in consequence of the revolt.

June 3. We arrived, in two hours, at Fakeer el Bint, and found the village entirely deserted. The Mahas, by their imprudent rising, have entailed a long series of sufferings and wretchedness on their families; even those peasants who took no part in it are ruined; their houses destroyed; their oxen killed, and their water-wheels broken. We may admire the enthusiastic courage of the chiefs, who, born to command, could ill endure the proud contempt and degrading punishments of their insolent oppressors; but we cannot but condemn their guilt and rashness in sacrificing, without the remotest chance of ultimate success, the lives and happiness of so many of their countrymen. I observed, on an island near Fakeer el Bint, several fugitives. The Nile[245] forms, between this place and Solib, a considerable bend, the distance along the banks, through the province of Mahas, being nearly thirty hours’ march of a camel, or about seventy miles, and by the desert only twelve hours, or thirty miles. We entered the desert at three o’clock. Never have I felt such excessive heat; every breath of air is baneful. I tried to protect myself from it with a turban and umbrella, and even the sheets of my bed were put in requisition. I made an endeavour to construct a tent on my dromedary; but my efforts were fruitless, the wind being too strong. I felt my mouth dry and parched, and would have given even one of my drawings of Meroe for a glass of pure cold water; but every drop we had was soon quite warm. Before dark we had passed the mountainous and the only soft part of the desert, and at midnight we encamped within nine miles of Solib. The rocks are chiefly of serpentine, slate, sandstone, and granite, the latter often much decomposed: there were also a few fragments of marble scattered about.

Ruins of Solib.—June 4-8. This morning, being anxious to arrive at the celebrated Temple of Solib, I started before sunrise, and, pushing on my dromedary at a quick pace, I arrived there in two hours. The first view of the temple is very imposing; standing proudly at the extremity of the desert, the only beacon of civilisation in this sea of barrenness. The situation of the temple is as picturesque as it is extraordinary. The columns are so distinctly visible, that, at a distance, it has almost the appearance of a Grecian edifice. On approaching nearer, the effect is changed, but not injured; for, though not Grecian, it is of the purest Egyptian architecture. I rambled over it for some time, delighted with its picturesque appearance: the plan of the temple is also beautiful, and the architecture of the most chaste simplicity; but, as an antiquarian, I could have wished for more remains of sculpture, and tablets with hieroglyphics.

The first grand propylon of the temple is 600 feet from the[246] river; but the form and exact dimensions of it are now not distinguishable, being entirely ruined, and the materials almost all carried away. From the appearance of the rooms, which the reader will observe on a reference to the Plan, there seems to have been the same economy of stone in constructing of this propylon, which we shall presently observe in the second. Behind the first are the remains of two sphinxes. One of them is nearly destroyed, but the other is not so much injured as to prevent my perceiving that the style of the sculpture has been good; but in its present state I did not consider it worth a drawing. I observed that the first and second propylons were connected together. The Plan (Plate XL.) will show that in front of the second there are the remains of two walls, which, no doubt, connected it with the first. This is quite in conformity with the general construction of Egyptian edifices. A flight of steps, now scarcely distinguishable, led up into a court before the second propylon. This court, the entrance into which is about 85 feet from the first propylon, is 70 feet long and 45 feet wide. It was ornamented with six columns, the diameter of which is 10 feet; the traces of them only are visible.

The remains of the second propylon are more considerable. Each wing is 78 feet wide; the door in the centre, leading into the temple, 11 feet wide, making the total width 167 feet. The depth of the propylon is 24 feet. It is remarkable, that this propylon is not, like those of Egypt, a solid mass of stone, with only staircases, and, occasionally, small rooms, but finished, and apparently used for habitations. The one here contains three rooms on one side, and two on the other, but without doors, and evidently constructed with a view of using little stone, as the walls are not hewn smooth. This is an economy of material rarely seen in Egyptian edifices. The doorway leading into the temple is of the correct Egyptian form, the width of the centre part, which is 17 feet long, being 13 feet, and that of the two ends, which are each[247] 3 feet long, being, as already mentioned, only 11 feet wide. The recesses, thus formed in the centre of the doorways, add very much to their architectural beauty. The view from this doorway of the next court of the temple is very magnificent. This court is 90 feet long and 113 wide, and was ornamented with twenty-eight columns, a single row on each of the north, south, and east sides, and two on the west, being the side opposite to the entrance. There are now seven of these columns standing, with the bud-shaped capital. I observed a slight difference in their dimensions, but they are of the purest Egyptian architecture; their circumference is 19 feet 4 inches, and intercolumniation 5 feet 5 inches. Few more striking views are presented in any part of the valley of the Nile than the first entrance from the second propylon into this court.

Plate XLI. is taken from this point, and will, I trust, give[248] the reader a correct idea of the magnificence and exquisite architectural beauty of this temple. Five columns appear in this view, detached from each other, proud monuments of the power and greatness of the Egyptian conqueror Amunoph III., who erected them, and whose name and titles are engraved in hieroglyphics on their shafts. They bear also the name of the great divinity Amun Ra, to whom the temple was dedicated. The remains of many of the columns are lying on the ground; the roof is gone; and only one piece of architrave remaining, supported by one of the most beautiful and perfect of the columns. The architectural form of these columns is more light and elegant than almost any specimens of the same kind in Egypt; at the same time without losing that character of grandeur and severity, so much in unison with its situation. The background to this view (as will be seen in the Plate) is the trackless desert,—a vast yellow ocean, bounded only by the horizon, without an eminence, or even hillock, visible to relieve the eye; and that tide of sand which never ebbs, driven on continually by the prevailing strong winds from the north, and particularly the north-west, beats against the temple, and daily encroaches on its remains. On the east side, at a short distance from the ruin, towards the Nile, Isis seems still to extend her protection, and a luxuriant and beautiful vegetation flourishes; but on the other sides Typhon reigns in gloomy solitude, and the traveller turns with delight from the contemplation of the bleak and dreary wilderness, to the elegant and magnificent work of art which adorns its margin.

Plate XLII. is a view I made which shows all the seven columns which remain in this court.[47] Waddington speaks of[249] the red tints of the sandstone: there are a few, but very few, the general colour being much whiter than that of any Egyptian or Ethiopian ruin I have seen. I was in doubt whether to consider it as arenarious limestone, or sandstone; but the specimens I brought to England have been decided to be sandstone. The background of this view, consisting of the river and distant hills, is very pretty. The view is taken from the last existing room; and the reader will perceive to the right, in the foreground, the fragment of a column on which is one of the representations of prisoners which adorn all the columns of that room. The next court is more destroyed; yet there are sufficient traces of the columns to show precisely what the plan has been. It is of the same width as the last court, and 78 feet long; and was ornamented with two rows of columns on the north and south sides, and on the east and west with one only; in all, thirty-two. The circumference of each is 17 feet; but not one of them is standing.

The next chamber, which was apparently an intermediate room leading to the sanctuaries, contains the remains of twelve columns, of which now only one remains perfect. The capital is of a form generally considered as Ptolemaic, but we have here authority for calling it Egyptian. It represents branches of the palm tree, and near the base of these columns there is some interesting sculpture; a number of prisoners, represented with their heads and busts resting on turreted ovals, containing the names of the countries whence they come; and, to signify that they are prisoners, their hands are tied together behind their backs, in the usual Egyptian manner, tight above the elbows, causing a painful and unnatural projection of the chest. The prisoners on the columns on the north side of this room have beards and hair; and some, without hair, appear to be old men. Their features are fine, and have very little of the Negro cast. On the opposite side, the prisoners represented are youths with their hair tied in a knot a little below the crown of the head, and hanging down almost to their shoulders. These have very much of the Negro features, wide nostrils, thick lips,[250] and high cheek-bones. I copied the names of thirty-eight of these provinces: the only one I could make out was that of Mesopotamia, in hieroglyphics.

On the column in this room which still preserves its capital, is some sculpture, in a good style, representing the king presenting offerings to Honsoo, with the globe and short horns for a head-dress. The remains of the temple extend a hundred feet beyond this room; so that the entire length of the edifice must have been about 540 feet, and the number of columns with which it was adorned, and whose situation can now be accurately ascertained, is eighty-four. There must, however, have been a greater number; for among the confused piles of stone which are stated above as extending a hundred feet beyond this room, I found some fragments of columns 3 feet in diameter. (Plate XLIII. is taken from this end of the temple.) This is also an extremely beautiful point of view; but although not even a small stone is omitted, and notwithstanding the temple is so ruined, the reader will perceive that there is no excess of shapeless masses of stone to spoil the effect of the splendid architectural remains of the edifice. The column I have described with the Ptolemaic capital is the most prominent object in this view; but the picturesque grouping of the columns of the great court is finely exhibited from this point.

On the door leading from the first great court into the second, the king is represented with a staff in his hand, addressing Amun Ra, who has the usual sceptre of the gods. Above the latter is the king presenting offerings to a divinity, the hieroglyphical titles of which are not legible; but the wings of the goddess of truth are visible. Behind the second propylon, there has been some very interesting sculpture, but it is now scarcely perceptible: the figures were apparently only one foot high. One piece I copied, which had some of the hieroglyphics remaining; but above this I could only distinguish the divinities with the attributes of Horus, Thoth, Anubis, Osiris, and Amun Ra, to whom the temple is dedicated. This sculpture is in basso relievo. It is much to be[251] regretted that it is so defaced; for, doubtless, it has been a most interesting mythological tablet. Some of the blocks of stone are harder than the others, but the greater number are exceedingly soft, doubtless, one cause of the ruined state of the temple, and why the sculpture is scarcely distinguishable.

The remains of the ancient city extend for a considerable distance both towards the north and south. On the bank of the river, 240 yards farther north than the temple, are the remains of a small pier, 13 feet high, and 20 feet long; while 200 yards to the north of this pier is a projection of stones into the river, thrown in apparently to form a port. This has evidently been a city of some importance. Its situation, at the commencement of the road across the desert, is also deserving of attention. The town was advantageously situated, being on the route both of those who followed the banks of the river and also of those who crossed the desert.

Ptolemy places the great cataract at 22° 30′; Φθουρι, at 21° 20′; a difference of 1° 10′. The real difference of latitude is 1° 27′; that is, 17′ more; but Autoba, the town he mentions before Phthouris, is stated to be only 54°, that is, 23° less than the ascertained difference; and Pistre, which is the next town he mentions after Phthouris, is 1° 50′ from the cataract; that is, 23° too far distant. We have thus, I think, no other alternative than to suppose this to be the site of Phthouris, which, from the magnitude of the ruins, must have belonged to a city of great importance, and one that he would not have omitted to mention. The Temple of Siscé is probably the site of Pistre.

After the pyramids of Meroe, this is decidedly the most interesting and magnificent ruin we have seen in Ethiopia; superior to the former, perhaps, in picturesque and architectural beauty, but less interesting to the antiquarian, as being Egyptian, and not Ethiopian. It is worthy of remark, that, with the exceptions of the colossal statues of Argo, I have not met with any genuine Ethiopian remains since I left Gibel el Birkel. Travellers who extend their[252] tour of the Nile to the second cataract, would be amply repaid for their additional fatigue, if they visited this temple.

We found, on our arrival at Solib, a number of merchants detained there on their way to Dongolah, on account of the insurrection. They were delighted to see us arrive, and prepared immediately for their departure. They complained bitterly of their long detention and great consequent expense. Solib is almost at the extremity of the province of Mahas; but, the peasants of this end of the province not having taken any part in the revolt, we were comparatively secure, although Melek Backeet, their chief, has a house in the neighbourhood. I lived under a shed at a short distance from the temple, and remained there four days, working almost from sunrise until sunset, regardless of the extreme heat. I now required a sheep every day for my caravan, which I had some difficulty in procuring, having had repeatedly to send across the river. I fortunately provided myself with a large stock of bread and biscuit at Dongolah: there is none to be had here.

June 8. At the quick pace of the dromedary, I was twenty minutes in going, this evening, from the temple to the village of Solib. It is remarkable for the cottages being made, like those of the latter in Mahas and Dongolah, of the stalks of the dourah, and branches of the palm tree: here, however, the foliage extends considerably above the roofs of the huts; and thus not only protects them in some degree from the rays of the sun, but gives them a very picturesque and graceful appearance. The house of the sheakh of the village is fortified with square towers.

About a mile beyond the village is the rock called Doshe, which, projecting into the river, divides the province of Mahas from Sukkot. It is of sandstone, and contains traces of iron ore: its surface is rugged, and in part blackened by the sun, forming a striking contrast to the bright yellow sand which covers the central part of the rock. At the eastern end, above the river, is an excavated tomb, which contains some traces of sculpture, though now scarcely distinguishable. I perceived, from what remains, that it[253] was in a good style of basso relievo. There were some ovals, but no hieroglyphics on them at all legible. I endeavoured to make out the name, and, from the slight fragments remaining, I conceived one to be that of Thothmes III., and another that of Osirtisen III., but must confess I could not make them out at all satisfactorily.[48] At the end of the tomb are the remains of three divinities, seated. The sculpture of these does not seem to have been good, but they are so defaced, that it is impossible to decide upon the style. On each side of the divinities is a niche. The site of this tomb is picturesque, commanding a fine prospect of the river. (See vignette.) Above it a king is represented making offerings to a divinity with the attributes of Kneph, and behind the latter are two other divinities, one with a plain helmet,[254] the other a vase on her head. Beneath the line containing these subjects is another containing a figure kneeling, and a long tablet of hieroglyphics; but the latter are so broken and defaced, that only one here and there is legible. On the south side of the tomb is a beautiful little piece of sculpture, representing a king making offerings to Amun Ra, with the head-dress of the globe and short horns; and behind the last is a goddess. The name of the king seems to have been broken off designedly, and the hieroglyphics are very much defaced.

June 8. We left the village of Solib, and province of Mahas, at four o’clock, and arrived at the village of Sukkot at six in the evening. This is rather a large place, and the residence of the katshef. I observed, in passing, four of the fortified houses of the sheakhs; the rest of the houses are of mud: there are some few of the palm leaves, but not so picturesque as those of the Mahas.

[255]We stopped to examine some ruins, called by the peasants, Biban. The first consists of two fragments of columns, around which are the traces of the temple. The plan is Roman-Egyptian, and is rather curious, though not good. (See vignette.) Three hundred and fifty yards to the north there is another ruined temple. One column is standing amid a mass of large stones: it reminded me of the solitary column, and the vast masses around it, of the Temple of Hercules at Girgenti; but the comparison is very degrading to the great beauty of the latter. The capital of this is almost entirely defaced, but it has decidedly been a head of Athor. On some of the stones I observed fragments of Egyptian ornaments, and the fragment of a name, apparently Amunoph III. The column is fluted, but not in the usual Egyptian style, being much more flat. Attempts have apparently been recently made to throw it down, or break it to pieces, its architectural ornaments being quite obliterated. Its circumference is 12 feet 8 inches. East of the temple is a basalt statue, the sculpture of which seems to have been very good,[256] but it is very much injured. On the interval between the two temples, and also for 350 yards beyond, extending thus over a space of 700 yards, there are traces of the city. These may be called the ruins of Sukkot, from their vicinity to that village, which is the chief place of the province.

It is very difficult to ascertain what was the ancient name of this place. The situation of the ruins agrees better with the position, according to Ptolemy, of Phthouris, than Solib; but the insignificance of the remains here, compared to the splendid ruins of Solib, prevent my imagining it to be that city. It may be one of the many mentioned by Pliny, or the Autoba of Ptolemy.

Half an hour after we left this ruin we passed the village of Gobetziteen. I observed a large caravan of slave merchants from Dongolah, who had left Solib this morning: their numerous fires, and the groups seated under the palm trees, were very picturesque, presenting effects that even a Gherardo della Notte could scarcely have done justice to. They complained of the detention at Dongolah having cost them so much. The expense of transporting the slaves from Kordofan, or Abyssinia, to Cairo, is very great; the duty alone, besides the maintenance, is nearly seven dollars each. They pay duty at four different places: at Kordofan, at Dongolah, at Deroueh near Assuan, and, lastly, at Boulak near Cairo.

We stopped at the village of Essau, opposite to the Island of Hadji Falme. On the latter they tell me that there are antiquities, but all broken; and I could not procure a boat to visit them. Being rather late of arriving, I found the inhabitants of the village sleeping in the open air; the women on the angoureebs, and the men on mats: and, I can assure the reader, it is a great enjoyment, in this climate, to sleep thus beneath the clear blue sky. About ten o’clock the air becomes rather cool, while at midnight and in the morning it is comparatively cold: this invigorates the frame, after the enervating heat of the day; and, in this climate, there are no fogs or damp to dread. It is the only time that I can now enjoy;[257] yet I support the heat better than my servants, though accustomed to that of Egypt all their lives. We are exposed nearly the whole day to a sun almost directly vertical, without a breath of cool air to alleviate our sufferings. The wind generally blows from the north, but, instead of being refreshing, it is so heated, in passing over the desert, that it not only feels oppressive, but dries up the mouth and skin, and checks perspiration. The Arabs, under the shade of their palm trees, and smoking their pipes, enjoy this hot weather; but the unfortunate traveller, exposed to these scorching winds, and to the heat reflected from the rocks and sand, has no other respite to his sufferings than during the now short nights.

June 9. At Gobetziteen the Island of Sais commences, and extends for six hours towards the north. At this season of the year no boat is necessary to visit this island, the water which separates it from the main land being only deep enough to reach the knees of the camels. It contains no remains of Egyptian antiquities. The peasants spoke of ruins; but they proved to be some grey granite columns belonging to a Christian edifice. They are in the centre of the island, nearly half an hour from the river. Each column consists of one piece of granite, with a Greek cross on their capitals. They are not very unlike the Christian monolithic pillars in the centre of the splendid portico of Medenet Abou. There are a great many wells in this island, with water-wheels, by means of which a considerable part of the interior is irrigated. I had a drawing of these Christian ruins taken by Mr. B.; but, not setting much value on it, I have mislaid it. From the number of houses the island appears to be populous. An hour beyond Sais, and four hours from Essau, we stopped at a small village of five huts, called Kasr Towaga, from the brick ruins of a castle of that name close adjoining.

The ride this morning was most uninteresting; a slip of uncultivated land, narrower than even in the most barren parts of[258] Lower Nubia, separating the river from the bleak and dreary desert. In the latter I observed several hills of light sand, which a strong wind would easily move, to the risk, perhaps, of the unfortunate travellers who might happen to be near. These moving masses of sand would baffle the efforts of cultivators more advanced in knowledge than the Nubians. It is not, therefore, surprising that these unfortunate beings consider as useless any attempt to resist so relentless an invader. The islands, protected by the river, afford them a refuge and support, without which this part of the valley of the Nile would soon be abandoned to the gazelles and beasts of prey. Our camels often sank up to the knees in sand. I observed on the latter great quantities of scarabæi. I have often seen these insects on the sand in parts of the desert where it was difficult to conceive how they could exist. Perhaps they live on other insects too minute to be seen by the naked eye. I once gave a scarabæus a date, and was astonished with what avidity he devoured a part of it, till he was completely gorged, and apparently half dead.

I observed here a curious thrush, which is also very common near Dongolah. One I killed measured nine inches in length, including the tail, which is four and a half. The under part of the wings is of a light brown colour, and the lower feathers of the tail are edged at the extremity with white; otherwise, the plumage is entirely of a brownish black. The beak and legs are black; the former is curved.

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[259]CHAPTER XVIII.

KASR TOWAGA. — DIFFICULTY OF CROSSING THE RIVER. — INDOLENCE OF THE ARABS. — ARAB SHEAKH. — TEMPLE OF AMARAH. — PRESENT INHABITANTS. — WADY EL HADJAR. — FORTIFIED HOUSE ON AN ISLAND AT DAHL. — CATARACT OF UCKMA. — BIGOTRY OF THE INHABITANTS. — VARIOUS CATARACTS OF THE NILE. — MINERAL SPRING AT TANGOURE. — TEMPLES OF SEMNEH, ON THE WESTERN BANK. — CURIOUS MANNER OF CROSSING THE RIVER. — TEMPLE OF SEMNEH, ON THE EASTERN BANK. — INSCRIPTIONS ON THE ROCKS. — THE ARAB ROBBER ISAH. — SECOND CATARACT OF THE NILE. — INDUCEMENTS FOR TRAVELLERS TO EXTEND THEIR JOURNEY BEYOND THIS POINT. — COMPARISON BETWEEN VOYAGES IN THE DESERT AND AT SEA.

At Kasr Towaga I wished to visit the remains of the Temple of Amarah, on the eastern bank; but for several hours I despaired of procuring a raft or boat, or any other means of crossing the river. After waiting some time, I observed at a distance a Sukkot ferry-boat, and immediately offered nine Turkish piastres to an Arab to go for it, and the same sum for the boat; and, as the camel-drivers began to be mutinous at the idea of being detained another day, I promised them a backsheesh of eighteen piastres; but such is the character of the Arabs in this country, that, so long as they have enough to procure any kind of food, they will seldom exert themselves to procure more. They prefer to live miserably, scarcely better than their fellow-labourers the camels, rather than to better their condition, secure an independence, and a provision against a day of distress.

To increase their possessions, and elevate themselves to a higher rank by their activity and frugality, are ideas which never enter the minds of these children of destiny. If they earn a little money, or if some favour of fortune places unexpectedly in their hands a hundred piastres, they more generally spend it in a[260] few nights of festivity, and burden themselves with the expense of another wife, than reserve it for the day when the fickle goddess may cease to befriend them. With what alacrity would a poor European accept the offer of 9 piastres (2s. 3d.) to walk two miles for a boat! How gladly would a European boatman earn the same sum by merely ferrying us across the stream; yet it was more by threats than by this offer (although equal to eighteen days’ wages) that I induced one of my camel-drivers to go, during the heat of the day, for the boat. As, of course, I promised the reward only in case of success, he was unwilling to undergo this little fatigue on an uncertainty. My firman was also necessary to dispose the boatmen to earn more in twenty-four hours than they certainly have gained during the whole of the past week.

My camel-drivers were very mutinous when they found me determined to pass the night at Amarah: my guide threatened to leave me, but he changed his tone when I told him to go, and declared I would not pay him. By the present of eighteen piastres, added to certain threats of the korbash (whip made of the hide of the hippopotamus), if they annoyed me, order was restored. Backsheesh has great influence on the Arabs, but without a certain degree of firmness they are sometimes difficult to manage.

We crossed the river, landed on the eastern bank, and went to the nearest village, called Heber. We found the sheakh and the principal inhabitants assembled under the shade of the palm trees. The sheakh, a noble-looking fellow, with that dignified gravity which I have so often found among the Arabs of this rank, received us with the usual attentions; and, in compliance with my request, immediately procured us donkeys, and conducted us to the village of Amarah, a ride of an hour and a half. The sheakh had a house at Amarah, to which he took us, and gave us an excellent supper and angoureebs to sleep on, which are very necessary here, on account of the number of scorpions. The road between the villages of Heber and Amarah is through the desert. I found[261] on it some beautiful specimens of red Egyptian jasper and hornstone nodules. We passed a large mountain, called Hadjer el Heber, of a very imposing appearance, which we had remarked this morning, on the opposite side of the river. It is about ten miles distant from the Nile.

The Temple of Amarah is about half an hour’s walk from the village of the same name, and is situated between the villages of Heber and Amarah, in the desert, to the right of the road we passed. There is sufficient remaining of the Temple of Amarah to exhibit the style and epoch. The architecture is Ethiopian (see Plan). A gateway, 19 feet wide, and ornamented with[262] two columns, fragments of which are remaining, 3 feet 8 inches in diameter, leads into a room 53 feet by 30, ornamented with eight columns, also 3 feet 8 inches in diameter. Not a fragment of their capitals remains; but a considerable portion, covered with sculpture, of each column is standing.

The sculpture on the columns is Ethiopian, but very indifferent, and the hieroglyphics so wretchedly executed, and so defaced, that it was scarcely possible to decipher any of them. The lowest row on the columns represents divinities of the Nile, besides which I observed a goddess with the globe, long horns, and two feathers, perhaps Koht, another with a plain helmet such as Neith often wears; and there is a representation of a king making offerings to Kneph, represented with a ram’s head, globe, and two feathers; and also to Thriphis, with a tiger’s head; a plain figure of Amun Ra, and the same with the figure of a mummy and globe and two feathers: I also remarked Honsoo with the globe and short horns. In the centre of the columns is a line of hieroglyphics, which I copied as well as their ruined condition would permit: they contain some curious titles, and the name of a king which is unknown. I conceive the temple to have been dedicated to Kneph, as the representations of that divinity are more frequent, and in more conspicuous situations, than the others.

The foundations of the temple are of brick, and, for some distance around, are scattered fragments of pottery with branches of the palm tree painted on them, remains, no doubt, of the ancient city. The columns are of sandstone. Plate XLIV. (see Frontispiece) shows two of them in detail, and their situation in regard to the Nile, or rather, I should say, as the river is not visible, to the palm groves on its banks, and will enable the reader to judge of the style of the sculpture. Ptolemy places the second cataract in latitude 22° 30′, and Berethis, on the eastern bank, 21° 30′. The difference of 1° agrees very exactly with the distance between the cataract and the ruins of Amarah.

[263]The country on this side of the Nile is richly cultivated, and the inhabitants bear no appearance of poverty. Notwithstanding the heavy taxes which they pay, those who are industrious may easily earn sufficient to render them comfortable. I saw about thirty of the peasants, who were all particularly clean and well-dressed. A party of them were feasting on raw liver. The custom of eating raw kidneys and liver is very common south of the second cataract. The same custom is, I understand, very general in Syria, and once existed in Scotland. I observed here, also, a custom which I had often heard of, but never before witnessed. When an Arab loses any near relation, his friends are expected to condole with him on his loss, by literally mingling their tears with his; for they place their cheeks together, and sigh and sob often for ten minutes at a time. This custom in the land of crocodiles reminded me of our expression of “crocodile tears.” A French merchant, Sheakh Ibrahim, who has often visited these regions, was described to me as a perfect Arab; and when I asked why, “Oh,” said they, “he eats raw liver, and cries as we do.”

I saw here a description of guitar, which is very common in Upper Nubia, but it may be called the guitar of the Shageea, as that tribe possess more beautiful ones than are found elsewhere. They consist, as the vignette will show (see vignette), of a circular bowl, about nine inches in diameter, of wood, or sometimes of the shell of a tortoise of the Nile: this is covered with prepared sheepskin, in which are six small holes, marked E. The three sticks B, C, D, are generally of acacia; but in Dar Shageea they are sometimes of ebony, and ornamented with silver and ivory. There are five cords attached to the cross stick C, but they have no pegs, merely folding several times round the latter in rather a clumsy[264] manner: they, however, manage to tighten them. F is a string to attach it to the wall; and G is a plectrum, with which they strike with their right hand the cords near the bridge; playing, at the same time, with the left. Their music is wild and simple,—little variation in it,—but some of their airs are not unpleasing. The reader will perceive, from the vignette, that the form is not very unlike that of the Greek lyre.

June 10. We returned at noon from the Temple of Amarah to the village of Kasr Towaga; started from the latter place at two in the afternoon, and advanced five hours in the desert. The first part of this wilderness is desolate and frightful, beyond any I have ever seen. After a short space its appearance became still more terrible, resembling a sea agitated and driven into the most awful shapes by wild winds. For the first few hours the ground was covered with pebbles and quartz nodules of various colours. The rocks, which are of gneiss, serpentine, and flinty slate, occasionally appear. Four hours after starting, we passed a mountain called Hellal, of a conical shape, the second we have observed of this form since we left Kasr Towaga; and an hour afterwards we encamped in the desert.

June 11. We started at sunrise; and in half an hour entered among a chain of granite rocks; fine, bold, roundish masses, having all the appearance, at a distance, of being detached and piled on each other. In two hours and a half from the time we started, we arrived at the Nile, opposite the Island of Dahl. For some time before arriving, we observed, on the eastern bank, a fine eminence, which, at one point of view, reminded me somewhat of the western mountain of Thebes, although smaller, and of a less brilliant colour. The place at which we stopped (see vignette) offers one of the most picturesque views in the Batn, or Wady el Hadjar, into which we have now entered. The Island of Dahl is the principal object: on a picturesque rock, in the centre of it, is a fortified castle of a sheakh, the[265] successor, perhaps, of one of the forts on the islands represented on the walls of Thebes.

The latter part of the small desert I passed this morning was strewed with quartz, generally white. The gneiss of which the rocks, at the commencement of this little desert, are formed, is soft, friable, disposed in strata: there are also rocks of mica slate of a grey colour. The granite rocks, at the other extremity, consist almost entirely of felspar and quartz; the former predominating, with very little mica: the grain is extremely coarse, generally very friable, of a pink, but mostly of a grey colour. There were also in this desert some rocks of felspar, porphyry, and a great variety of granite—tone-granite, syenite, and others.

At two o’clock, we left, with great reluctance, the shade of the doum trees, and the enjoyment of one of the most beautiful views in the valley of the Nile, to encounter again the horrors of the desert and a burning sun. For the first part of our[266] route, the rocks were of syenite. The circular summits of these dark red rocks were visible as far as our view could reach, rising sometimes in hills, but mostly in pyramidal and conical forms. I observed a line of calcareous rock about 13 feet broad, almost resembling the foundations of a wall, which crossed the road, and extended east and west among the granite rocks. This was followed again by the granite; and shortly after these was a similar narrow, but less regular, cross of jasper, and also one of porphyry. I brought away no specimens of the latter, for the masses were large, and difficult to break. Afterwards, we had a succession of granite, porphyry, compact felspar, hornblende slate, grey gneiss, and serpentine; and the rocks, immediately before arriving at the Nile, were of syenite.

We passed this little desert in five hours, with great fatigue to the camels and the men on foot, on account of the sand and heat. We encamped, for the night, at the small village of Uckma, which consists of only eight houses; but I am informed that this is the name of the district, as there are two other little villages, one on the opposite side of the river, and the other on the island, which bear the same name. My servants, or, rather, my guide and camel-drivers, made us pass for Turks; saying, that the peasants of this district were so bigoted, that, if they knew us to be Christians, no consideration would induce them to supply us with either milk or meat for ourselves, or straw for our camels. The noise of the cataract here is very fine.

June 12. A curious circumstance happened to me last night. I am rather attached to a pretty little capuchin monkey which I received from the Governor of Berber, and which (an unusual circumstance with these animals) shows some little gratitude for my attentions. Several times it has escaped among the acacias of the desert; but, notwithstanding the temptation of the gum, it never attempted to run away when I went for it myself. I was anxious that it should not share the fate of my[267] Dongolah greyhound, and die of fatigue. Having taught it to be clean, and being unwilling to trust it to my servants, I carried it always on my own camel, to shelter it from the sun; and as the poor little animal suffered exceedingly from the cold at night, I allowed it to sleep under the margin of the covering of my divan. For some nights past it had got into the habit of laying its head on the corner of my cushion, and, amused at this manœuvre, I indulged it; but the ticking of my watch always annoyed it, and several times it had attempted to take it away; but, aware of this antipathy, and the mischievous propensities of the race, I always wore my chain around my neck. Last night, when in bed, I looked at the watch, which was a hunting one, and having broken the hinge of the gold covering of the face, omitted, I presume, to fasten it with the spring. This morning, on being called, I looked, as usual, at my watch, and found that this piece was missing. I immediately cast my eyes on the monkey, and saw, by its fluttering and leaping about, and the ruffling of its skin, which always takes place when it is afraid, that it was the culprit; yet all my efforts to find the covering were useless. My bed was on the sand of the desert, in which, no doubt, the animal, on seeing it loose, had buried it deep, thinking, by that means, to get rid of its nightly annoyance, or, perhaps, from its usual instinct of taking every opportunity to do mischief.

We set out an hour before sunrise, and, crossing a short but heavy sandy desert, arrived, in two hours, at Lamulay. The rocks, at starting, were of gneiss, but there occurred afterwards some of serpentine and grey granite; and I observed some of quartz, and very small particles of the latter disseminated over the sand. There is a cataract at Lamulay, but it is not so loud as the one we heard last night, at Uckma. The view is very fine at this part. We were two hours in going from Lamulay to Tangoure. The rocks were chiefly of two descriptions of quartz. We came then to another cataract, making the sixth from Dongolah:—the first at[268] Hannek; the second at Kouki; the third at Dahl; the fourth at Uckma; the fifth at Lamulay; and the sixth at Tangoure. All these may be passed without much difficulty for about six weeks or two months in the year; but at this season no description of boats could pass. Between the above-mentioned places the river and the rocks on the opposite side make so many bends, first east and afterwards north-west, that our roads, across the little deserts, on the west side might often be considered as the strings of a bow. On the eastern side of the river there seems to be a continued range of picturesque rocks. We miss, I fear, much fine scenery in not being able to follow closely the bank.

Two hours north of Tangoure there is said to be a spring of mineral water, about 100 yards from the river, which flows in small quantities out of the rock into an ancient reservoir, and is described as so hot that the vapour will answer for a bath. I regretted much not being able to visit it, but I must have gone on foot, and, being to-day far from well, could not have endured the excessive heat; but I have this information not only from the natives, but also from Monsieur M., at Dongolah, who had visited it. We started from Tangoure this afternoon, at half past two, and, after five hours’ march, halted in the desert for the night. The rocks are of granite, serpentine, porphyry schist, and quartz. Strata of these minerals occurred, sometimes alternately, every few minutes.

June 13. Whenever there are antiquities to be seen, I care not how little sleep I take. I had my men up soon after midnight, and in three hours we arrived, as the sun was rising, at the Temple of Semneh. This temple is more remarkable for its situation than for architectural beauty. It consists of a single narrow room 28 feet by 10 feet, with a plain façade, in the centre of which is the entrance. The exterior sides of this room are ornamented with square pillars, and one polygonal column. The temple faces the south, which is singular, particularly for an edifice constructed by an Egyptian king. On the eastern side are three square pillars standing entire, and the base of another; and[269] on the western one column, one square pillar, and the base of a third. The view shows this side, and also the façade of the temple. The pillars sustain blocks of stone, that is, architraves, which still remain, projecting about one foot beyond the columns. I thought, at first, from this projection, that they might have extended to other walls; in which case the edifice would have some resemblance to the sanctuary in the small temple at Medenet Abou; but, from there being no remains to support this supposition, and also from the projection being very small, and, I might say, the architrave’s extending so far beyond the centre of the column, I conceive that the temple has never been finished, and the architraves hewn to the size of the columns.

The interior and exterior of the walls of this little temple are covered with sculpture and hieroglyphics; but, unfortunately, in some parts, rather defaced. Over the entrance, the king is represented on his knees making offerings to Kneph. The original sculpture of part of the façade of the temple has been defaced to make[270] room for a more modern work, and for a long tablet of hieroglyphics, which I copied. The sculpture, from its style, is certainly Roman; the figures not well drawn, and the hieroglyphics wretchedly executed: the subject represents a woman, with a lotus flower, making offerings to a divinity with the head-dress of the horns and two feathers. The hieroglyphics and sculpture of every other part of the temple are in a good style. The name and titles of Thothmes III., Sun, Establisher of the World, is executed in intaglio on the column and square pillars, and the same name in basso relievo is every where visible on the walls. In the interior of the temple the same subject is repeated four times, but in only one instance is very distinguishable. (See Plate LI.) The king, Thothmes III., is represented making offerings to his ancestor Osirtesen, seated as a divinity in the boat of the sun, with the crook and lash of Osiris in his hands.

Before Osirtesen are four standards, one with a representation of the ibis, emblematical, no doubt, of Thoth: the others are not visible. These standards are supported by arms emanating from the cross of life, and the sceptres of the divinities; emblematical, I conceive, of their being the standards of the gods, perhaps of the divinities of Amenti, Thoth, Horus, and Anubis. One is of Thoth, evidently, from the ibis; the others are defaced. The reader will observe how different this style of sculpture (see Plate LI.), which is the best Egyptian, is to the Ethiopian (see Plate X.). They have evidently had a common origin; but there is a marked difference in the execution. On the western side of the exterior of the temple the king is represented making offerings to different divinities, principally Kneph. I copied all the hieroglyphic inscriptions. The hieroglyphics on the columns and pillars are merely the names of Thothmes. The column which I have stated as polygonal has a base and a square slab for its capital.

In the interior of the temple is the fragment of a statue of Osiris, badly executed: the head is wanting, and on the breast is the crook and lash. I conceive the style to be Egyptian Roman. It is[271] very probable that this temple, originally dedicated to Kneph, was afterwards, in the more corrupt Roman age, appropriated to the peculiar worship of Osiris. This edifice (see Plan) is in a large irregular brick inclosure, the walls of which are generally seven to eight feet thick: this is not of Egyptian, but apparently of Roman, construction. In some parts masses of brick project from the wall, perhaps to support them; their ruined state makes it impossible to decide certainly, but I am inclined to believe them to be entrances.

I went to examine the pass or cataract of Semneh, which I had some difficulty in reaching, having to climb for a considerable space over the granite rocks. The latter are generally rose-coloured, extremely hard; but there are some rocks of basalt shining like black lead, and I observed light thin strata of quartz. The width[272] of this channel, the only one the Nile passes through, when it is low, I found to be a stone-cast. The river rushes through with great rapidity, so that I could not cross here from the number of vortices caused by the excessive force and velocity of the current.

June 14. Wishing to pass over the river to the temple on the opposite side, I commissioned the sheakh to collect the inhabitants, and make me some kind of boat. This morning, at eleven o’clock, he came to inform me that a raft was ready, and men to steer it. My Arabs having taken the camels and dromedaries to pasture at a distance from the temple, I was obliged to set out on foot, and, after walking three quarters of an hour, amid severe heat, I arrived at the place where they intended to cross, fully two miles south of the pass or cataract. The river in this part is about a third of a mile wide, and, except in one or two places, where the current is rather strong, it was scarcely ruffled. The peasants had constructed two rafts, one for ourselves, the other for the servants. They were simply trunks of the acacia lashed together, on which they placed dourah for us to sit on. All the inhabitants of the country were collected to see the expedition. Ten or twelve men, some on geerbahs (water-skins), others on pieces of wood, supported and conducted each raft, two or three on each side, and four behind, pushing it along. Doubting the security of the boat, I had taken the precaution to take off my clothes, and fasten them on my head, like the Arabs. This was fortunate; for the dourah straw was soon saturated with water.

Nothing could be more picturesque than the boats and their conductors. The Arabs had all their clothes tied on their heads, and they carried their charms, arms, knives, swords and spears, fastened in the same manner. Shouting and singing, they pushed us across very cleverly: the only difficulty was in passing the parts where the current was strong. We had also some little fear of the crocodiles. Three Turks shot two in this very place only two months ago, and yesterday we saw one on the shore. The peasants at[273] first refused to take us across for this reason, but the promise of a few piastres more, and the use of my firman, silenced their fears. I did not myself conceive that there was the slightest real danger on this account, as I have observed that the crocodile invariably flies from boats or any number of persons together. After landing we had another three quarters of an hour of fatiguing walk to the temple on the eastern side, which (see General View) is almost exactly opposite the other. Some parts of our road was over low burning sand-hills, in which we sunk at each step up to our ankles; the heat excessive under a directly vertical sun.

Temple at Semneh. East side of the river.—In the first chamber of this temple the door-posts of the entrance remain, and also two polygonal columns without their capitals, and two square pillars. (See vignette.) The lateral walls seem to have joined the latter; both the square pillars and columns were ornamented with hieroglyphics, of which the names of Thothmes III. are now only distinguishable. The names, however, of Amunoph III. and Thothmes II. occur in this temple. The entrance into the next[274] room is filled with rubbish up to the architrave; the latter is ornamented with the winged globe, and a dedicatory tablet of hieroglyphics. There is also another door to the right of this, leading into the interior, with a similar tablet on the architrave. The walls were decorated with sculpture in a good style, but now much defaced. In one place I distinguished the head of Kneph, and elsewhere the same god receiving splendid offerings of vases, fruits, &c. from the King Thothmes, sun, establisher of the world. In another part, the king, with the head-dress of the small globe, two feathers, and horns, is receiving the cross of life from a divinity with a beard and no head-dress, perhaps Amun Ra. Behind this latter figure is the god Kneph again, with his usual attributes of the ram’s head and horns.

These two entrances lead into a long gallery full of sand and rubbish. I excavated below the level of the centre doorway into the gallery, but it is singular that I could discover no entrance into the sanctuary of the temple corresponding with it. The only one I found is on the right side. There are three other rooms, one[275] containing a column. I believe they are marked accurately in the above Plan; but, to ascertain very correctly how they are connected, would have required more extensive excavations than my time permitted, nor did I think it worth any sacrifice, for the plan is evidently bad. The sculpture of these rooms is almost buried in the sand. There are slight traces of colour remaining. At a short distance south-east of the temple, on the granite rocks, are some hieroglyphical inscriptions, but very rudely executed. I copied five that were legible; they contain the names of Thothmes III. and Amunoph III.

These rocks are interesting as the last hiding-place of the Arab robber, Isah; and it was in this neighbourhood that daring brigand finally met his fate. Isah was a sheakh of the Kababeesh tribe. A katshef, near his residence, having threatened him with the bastinado, unless he submitted to some exorbitant demand, he preferred abandoning his domestic happiness, and the peace and quiet of agricultural life, to such galling and vexatious tyranny. He fled into the fastnesses of the desert, and there, with a few chosen followers, bade defiance to the Pasha’s power. He infested the caravan road from Korosko to Abouhammed; and the Dilet el Doum, or the Valley of the Shade of the Doums, was his favourite resort. He was the terror of all the caravans, like the lion of the desert; only allowing them to pass when they had satisfied his demand: but it was against the government that he was most active, plundering their caravans laden with grain and other produce received as taxes, and seizing the numerous herds of cattle which are sent down to Cairo every year, the spoil of the war on the Bahr el Abiad and the Azruk. He sometimes also succeeded in seizing the supplies of ammunition and arms from Cairo; but, what was very annoying to the Turkish governors, he frequently seized the caravans bringing them supplies of tobacco, coffee, sugar, and other luxuries. For five years this daring outlaw eluded every attempt to seize him. The governors made the most strenuous efforts to obtain his head, and[276] the Pasha engaged the Ababde to hunt him from the great Nubian desert. His troop generally consisted of about twenty; and when, for any important expedition, he required a greater force, Arabs were never wanting to plunder the Turkish caravans. Most of the sheakhs have an immense number of relations; often every individual in their village is a connection; and when their chief is in peril, or requires their services, they consider themselves bound to rally around his standard, at whatever sacrifice or hazard. His wife, like Rob Roy’s, shared her husband’s dangers; and his daughter, Enour, is said to have had as stout a heart as her father, and as much address in throwing the lance as any Arab of her tribe. For five years they shared the perils of this bold brigand; but at last Isah, driven out of the Ababde desert, was betrayed by an Arab sheakh of this neighbourhood, who professed to be his friend. This man, either from fear of the Pasha’s anger, or in the hope of obtaining additional power and wealth by such an essential service, conducted a company of soldiers to the valley where he was secreted, and Isah, while sleeping under the shade of a rock, was shot dead. His death was instantaneous, for it is said that twenty bullets entered his body. His followers fled; but the fidelity of one of them was ultimately rewarded with the hand of his daughter, Enour.

I returned to the ruin on the western bank by the same route, but having passed the river, I fortunately found a donkey, which, though a poor one, afforded me some assistance in ascending to the temple.

These edifices are not remarkable for their architecture; but nothing can be finer than their situation. They are in sight of, and almost opposite to, each other, on eminences commanding one of the finest views in the Batn el Hadjar. This view has been compared by some travellers to Tivoli; but, besides other dissimilarities, there is here no ugly, ill-built, dirty, modern town, that detracts from the beautiful situation of the antiquities. The[277] prospects near the western temple are very magnificent; Signor B.’s view, Plate XLV., will give a just idea of the country: but the magical effect of the desert, contrasted with the surrounding scenery, can be but imperfectly conveyed to the reader’s mind, without a view coloured, as this was, on the spot, exhibiting faithfully the different tints. I regret not being able to publish the numerous views as they were coloured on the spot by Signor B.

The peasants here are of a dark-brown complexion, and wear their hair bushy, but less so than the Ababde. They are poor, but have the character of being honest. Some of them understand and speak the Arabic, but the language of the country is the Nubian.

June 15. We started for Wady Halfah, and, after six hours, halted for the night in the desert. The rocks are of serpentine and granite: this desert consists of immense plains covered with sand-hills, and is quite different from the last we passed over, not being so wild and dreary.

June 16. We started three hours before day, and pushing on our dromedaries, arrived at sunrise at the second cataract. According to the practice of almost every traveller who visits the valley of the Nile, I had made this the limit of my first journey, performed in 1832; but I was not then half so much astonished at the peculiarity and magnificence of this scene. I did not see it at so favourable a season, and, perhaps, I appreciate it the more from the delight I feel that, although I have still a voyage of nearly 1000 miles before I reach Alexandria, my fatigues may now be considered nearly finished, as this day I change the slow and tiresome pace of the caravan for the comparatively luxurious cangia. The effect of the rising sun on the black shining basaltic rocks which project into the river, forming innumerable islands, is very striking, and the picturesque beauty of some of these is heightened by the curious contrast with the stripes of light yellow sand which are mixed with them. These little rocky islands, impeding and compressing the current, increase[278] tenfold its force; and the white foaming river, dashing over the rocks, makes the colour of the dark shining basalt still more remarkable, while the roar of its waters animates the scene. There is also a striking contrast of the black basalt with the white calcareous rock, tinted with red and other hues, which forms the foreground. The beauty of the scene, although peculiar, is not diminished by this contrast, any more than the often lovely form of the dark Abyssinian girl is disfigured by the snow-white veil which covers her.

I have seen the beauties of the Alps, the Apennines, Arcadia, and the Pyrenees; I have surveyed the lakes of Bavaria, England, Italy, Scotland, and Switzerland; I have followed the Rhine from Schaffhausen to the sea, and sailed on the Danube, the Rhone, and many other rivers; but I must confess I never was more moved by any view than this. I mean not to compare it to the landscapes of Europe for magnificence, or what is generally considered picturesque effect. This is a view of an extraordinary and peculiar kind; for, besides the singularities of the landscape already described, there are associations connected with it which cannot but excite the traveller. The very solitude of the scene, where no habitation of man is visible;—the extent of the view beyond the cataract, along an immense desert of yellow sand, extending over the vast continent of Africa;—then the river, forcing its passage through the rocks, that threaten to stop the progress by which it carries to thousands, and even millions, the means of subsistence;—and shall I say nothing of the mystery which hangs over it? On its banks, perhaps, first flourished the arts; its source is hidden in impenetrable obscurity, as is also the greater part of the historical events which the bordering countries have witnessed. The effect of the rising sun gives a magical lustre to the rocks, extremely difficult, if not impossible, to exhibit in a drawing. I made a camera lucida outline of it, and Signor B. made a drawing in colours of the peculiar tints and[279] effects. When the Nile is high, it is more picturesque, as, of course, there are then more islands.

Numerous names of travellers are engraved on the calcareous rock; this place being, as I have said, almost always the limit of their voyage. Some few make an excursion into the Batn el Hadjar; but fatigued with the first two or three days’ journey on camels, they seldom proceed beyond Semneh, and still more rarely, if ever, extend their journey to Solib, one of the most magnificent ruins in the valley of the Nile. The extreme heat of these climates, particularly during this season, is certainly trying to European constitutions. As far as the second cataract, travellers visit the antiquities, comparatively speaking, without any fatigue; in their boats they suffer little from the heat, and they have seldom any distance to walk, as all the ruins are on the banks. I, however, strongly recommend those who are really fond of antiquities, and are possessed of a good constitution, to complete their tour of the Nile. Travellers visit with great fatigue the sites of Sparta, Troy, and even Carthage, where there are no monuments to recompense the toil. It is true that the recollections recalled by such scenes must amply indemnify us; but in the Island of Meroe we have splendid and most interesting works of art, an infinity of sepulchres, which, from their number and extremely elegant architecture, could only have belonged to the metropolis of that ancient kingdom: and what more thrilling, exciting association could the traveller desire, than the circumstance that in that region the arts had their origin?

The antiquities of the Island of Meroe, as will have been seen, are not the only remains to indemnify the traveller for his fatigues. The interesting site of Gibel el Birkel, with its extensive, picturesque, and curious monuments; the pyramids of Nouri, the colossal statues of Argo, and the temples of Solib and Semneh, are all interesting in the extreme; and, besides the antiquities, the traveller cannot but be interested in the manners and customs of a people who have not yet adopted those of their conquerors.[280] A knowledge of the desert life, and the different tribes of Arabs, is only to be acquired by a journey of this description through their different districts.

Some of the views of the desert are, to those unaccustomed to them, somewhat appalling,—boundless oceans of sand; rocks affording little or no shade to the traveller, and covered, sometimes, with hills of light sand, which appear to want only a storm to put them in motion; and it is a dreadful sight to see the road strewed with the bodies of men and animals, victims of the scorching clime and great fatigue.

Often, when the wind has covered with sand the traces of former caravans, we have no other beacon than the small piles of stones which the Arabs occasionally erect on the eminences; but an almost infallible guide to our steps is afforded by the bones which lie bleaching on the road. Yet this is the dark side of the picture: the desert life has its charms, which are only enhanced by these dangers. We are there independent, perfectly free from the restraints of the world, and those passions which agitate man in society.

All feel a pleasure in gazing on the ocean, and (when well) in sailing on its bosom; but the desert life is still more delightful. I feel it difficult to analyse this sentiment, and yet I strongly feel it. At sea we are mere passengers; we take no share in avoiding the dangers which threaten us; our powers are not called into action; we feel a certain excitement, but, of course, less than the captain and sailors, on whom all depends: and is not this a reason why the latter are so attached to that kind of life, notwithstanding the numerous and severe hardships which they have to undergo?

The traveller in the desert is, to a certain degree, similarly situated. As head of the caravan, its safety depends mainly on the prudential measures which he adopts. Appointing a guard in case of danger, encamping in a judicious situation in case of a[281] storm, attention to secure a supply of water, and to prevent the Arabs from consuming, as they would willingly do, two days’ portion in one day, are cares which keep his mind constantly occupied. A judicious choice of camels, drivers, and servants; a just distribution of their labour, and attention to their maintenance, lessen the chance of being detained by illness.

Well supplied with rice, good biscuit, and meat, the traveller may live tolerably well, even in the deserts. Since I left Thebes, four months and a half ago, I have passed two deserts of eight days each, and many small ones, and generally been in a miserable country, yet I have only been one day without fresh meat, and that by accident. To court privations is as great folly as to fear them when they arrive, and not submit to them cheerfully when requisite. I am certain that wine and spirituous liquors are injurious in this climate. During the whole of this journey water has been my only beverage; and, on the whole, I have enjoyed very tolerable health, considering the excessive heat, and the many annoyances and delays, still more injurious in this climate than the fatiguing pace of the camel. The desert life has also another charm; it is gratifying to see how, when treated as men, the Arabs become attached to you. If they have any quarrel between each other, a word from the traveller makes them silent.

At sea, it is a pleasure to observe the colour and motion of the waters; to see the dolphins playing at the ship’s head; and sometimes, as in the Mediterranean, the surface of the waters animated by their singular forms. The Nile has its crocodiles and hippopotami; every desert also presents something new,—lions, panthers, hyenas, wolves, serpents, gazelles, antelopes, giraffes, ostriches, guinea-fowls, wild asses, zebras, &c. The traveller may have seen all these in menageries in Europe; it is, however, a great pleasure to see or hear them in their native haunts. The deserts have also a great charm for the traveller who has any taste[282] for mineralogy, then each rock, each pebble, each step, I may say, is interesting. During a sea voyage, we read, and scarcely look at the water once a day: in the deserts, on the contrary, our attention is continually occupied by the transition of rocks, their formation, the minerals which are disseminated on, and mixed with, the sand.

At sea, it is a pleasure to meet another vessel, to hail her, and demand where she is from, and to what port she is bound; and we often experience delight at finding the passing crew to be countrymen, perhaps relations, or friends: but what pen can describe the meeting of a caravan in the desert? Brothers, who have not seen each other for months, and even years, often meet thus, by accident. The caravan never stops; they have, therefore, only a few moments, and they must part again, and run after their camels. Their hands locked together, they inquire after each other’s health, and after that of their friends. Travellers laugh at the repeated “Taip een salamat, taip een salamat,” of the Arabs. “How do you do?—Good morning! How do you do?—Good morning!” repeated twenty times; and “Taip een abouk? taip een ahouk? taip een omek?” “How is your father? How is your brother? How is your mother?” &c. always repeating the taip een? “how is?” to each person that they name. The indifference with which the Fellaheen, who see each other daily, go through this ceremony, may seem rather ridiculous; but in the deserts, as I have seen them sometimes, even with tears starting from their eyes, affection could not dictate a stronger and more appropriate manner of inquiring rapidly, but particularly and separately, after each relation and friend who is dear to them. Frequently have I observed my Arabs meeting with their friends of other tribes, and even of their own district or village, and witnessed the pure and natural joy which illuminated their countenances; friends who have travelled together, shared the same toils, the same dangers—companions of their youth, of their early voyages, who have not seen each other for years, meet in the solitudes of the wilderness, but for[283] a moment only, and the same period may elapse before they again see each other. Let it not be supposed that, in the interior of Africa, the natives, although ignorant and uncultivated, are destitute of honest affection.

It is, however, true, that sometimes in the desert we trace those violent passions and habits which generally characterise the wandering tribes of Central Africa. The Bishareen, and others, often plunder the caravans; and tribes occasionally meet between whom there have been constant feuds. Under the strong government of the Pasha, they now seldom make use of their arms; but they exchange no salutes: their silent manner of passing each other, the knitted brow, and involuntary firmer grasp of their spears and swords, evince the deadly hatred which still lurks secretly in their breasts.

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[284]CHAPTER XIX.

ON THE HISTORY OF MEROE.

OBSCURITY OF HER ANNALS. — HISTORICAL ASSOCIATIONS NECESSARY TO RENDER A COUNTRY INTERESTING. — WORKS OF ART HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS. — LAPIDARY INSCRIPTIONS. — AMUNOPH III. — MEMNON, KING OF ETHIOPIA. — EXPEDITION OF SEMIRAMIS, QUEEN OF ASSYRIA, INTO ETHIOPIA. — ETHIOPIANS IN THE ARMY OF SHISHAK MARCHED TO JERUSALEM. — THE SUKKIIMS OF SCRIPTURE. — EXPEDITION OF ZERAH, THE ETHIOPIAN KING OF THE BIBLE, AND HIS DEFEAT BY THE TRIBES OF JUDAH AND BENJAMIN. — THE ETHIOPIAN DYNASTY OF KINGS WHO REIGNED OVER EGYPT. — THE TESTIMONY OF THE HISTORIANS PROVED BY LAPIDARY INSCRIPTIONS. — THE NAME OF TIRHAKA, KING OF ETHIOPIA, WHO DEFEATED SENNACHERIB, KING OF ASSYRIA, FOUND BOTH ON THE MONUMENTS OF EGYPT AND ETHIOPIA. — THE NAMES AND TITLES OF THIS DYNASTY OF KINGS. — ACCORDANCE OF THE SCRIPTURAL, MONUMENTAL, AND HISTORICAL EVIDENCES. — THE SETHOS OF HERODOTUS, THE TIRHAKA OF SCRIPTURE, AND OF THE MONUMENTS. — THE SUA, KING OF EGYPT OF THE BIBLE, THE SEVECHUS OF MANETHO, AND THE SHABATOK OF THE MONUMENTS.

The Island of Meroe is a classic region, whose name is familiar to almost every reader, as the cradle of arts and civilisation. The Nile was the source of her prosperity, and an object of adoration to the ancient, and even to the present inhabitants[49]; yet most of the great events which have given celebrity to the countries on its banks, are lost in impenetrable obscurity. The names even of the kings under whom she rose to such a height of greatness and power are almost wholly unknown. So scanty are the materials which can be found in the ancient writings and on the monuments, that it is almost an act of presumption to attempt, in the slightest degree, to penetrate the veil which envelopes her history.

[285]Professor Rosellini, in his extensive and admirable work on the antiquities of Egypt, has made many valuable observations on the dynasty of Ethiopian kings who reigned in that country, which have facilitated my researches; and I gladly testify, that the ruins in Ethiopia, in many instances, confirm the conclusions which that learned traveller drew from his examination of the monuments of Egypt. Availing myself of the inquiries of the learned Italian, I shall also put together the most important fragments contained in history, and the valuable lapidary inscriptions I have been able to copy from the antiquities. A country is always interesting, to which we feel ourselves indebted for inventions from which we now derive any important benefit; and as a nation thus rises in our estimation, we become anxious to form an acquaintance with its historical records. There is a charm even in its name, when it recalls to our memory heroic deeds and other important associations.

It is not merely the wonders of art, surprising as they are, which enchant the traveller at Rome and Athens. It is not the vast pile of the Coliseum, the triumphal arches and temples in the Forum, the exquisitely chaste architecture of the Temple of Theseus and of the edifices on the Acropolis, but the crowd of thrilling recollections of the heroism, genius, philosophy, and art, by which these scenes were illustrated, that render them for ever classic and hallowed in our eyes. Had there been no records of the history of Athens, we should have wanted no other evidence of her civilisation and knowledge than the splendid architectural monuments with which her site is adorned. The Parthenon itself speaks volumes, and the most eloquent pages of her greatest historians do not bear more conclusive testimony to her civilisation, than the treasures of Grecian art and taste in the museums of Europe. Had all the written records of her valour and patriotism perished, our knowledge of Athens would have been very nearly what it now is in regard to Ethiopia. The labours of the historians of her land[286] are lost; the brilliant deeds which adorned her annals are enveloped in a cloud of mystery. The history of her neighbours affords only a few scanty gleams, sufficient to make us deplore the general darkness. So changed is the kingdom of Meroe from what it must once have been, that I myself should have almost doubted the short but important passages preserved in the Greek and Latin authors, were they not triumphantly confirmed by the monuments existing at Meroe and Gibel el Birkel.

The reader will, I trust, find in this and the following chapters, that Ethiopia was not unjustly celebrated for civilisation, and as the birth-place of many arts which now contribute highly to our welfare and enjoyment; and the few fragments we have been enabled to glean will prove that she had also her kings and heroes, and that her history was diversified by the usual vicissitudes of triumphs and reverses. I am obliged to refrain from publishing, on the present occasion, all the names of the kings and inscriptions which I found on the edifices of Meroe, Gibel el Birkel, Solib, Semneh, Toumbos, and Amarah.

For the benefit of the learned, who peculiarly apply themselves to this study, I give, however, a few of those inscriptions, which, mutilated and imperfect as some of them are, the initiated in the recent discoveries in hieroglyphics will immediately perceive to be of the greatest importance, as the earliest undoubted records of Ethiopian history. The inscriptions in Plates LII. and LIII., the hieroglyphics of the Plates X. XI. and XII. of sculpture of Meroe, and also many I am unable to publish, are curious, not only for the names, but for the singular titles which they contain, for the mythology, the variations in the appellations of the divinities, the names of places, and other valuable historical matter.[50][287] Many scientific men have urged me to publish the whole of these inscriptions; and Signor Rosellini informed me that he should add another volume to his work from these materials. I hope this able writer will not forget his promise, and will excuse my employing it as an apology for not undertaking the interpretation of any portion of them myself; as such an attempt, on my part, would only be unsatisfactory to the learned, and tiresome to the general reader.

The monuments of Egypt afford historical evidence of the wars between that country and Ethiopia, during the 18th dynasty; that is, from about the 13th to the 16th century before Christ. In the topographical description I stated that the temples of Semneh were built by the Egyptian king Thothmes III. I have been told that scarabæi have been found, with the name of this king, opposite Gibel el Birkel.[51] Amunoph III., the Memnon of the Greeks, has also left, as a monument of his victories still farther in Ethiopia, the splendid Temple of Solib. I thought, at first, that this was the Amunoph mentioned by Josephus, who, at the second invasion of the Shepherds, took refuge in Ethiopia until he[288] had collected an army, and his son Sethos, or Rameses, was of a sufficient age to lead it against the insurgents: but both Eusebius and Africanus agree in calling Sethos the first king of the 19th dynasty: therefore, as the Temple of Solib bears the name of Amunoph, with the prænomen of Ⲣⲏ-ⲛⲉⲃ-ⲛⲧⲙⲉ, “Sun, Lord of Truth,” it is of the eighth king of the 18th dynasty, and not the last: besides, the representations of the countries conquered by that king are still preserved, and prove, by some of them having the features of negroes, that the splendid Temple of Solib was erected as a monument of his victory and long possession of the country, and not of a mere alliance with the King of Ethiopia.[52]

The successor of Amunoph III., Amulek, or, perhaps, more correctly, Horus, as Eusebius and Africanus call him, must, I conceive, from an inscription I saw at Turin, have also carried his arms into the interior of Africa; but Herodotus[53] states, that only Rameses II. (Sesostris) made himself master of Ethiopia; and it is singular, as I have stated in the account of the ruins of Gibel el Birkel, that the only fragment of the name of an Egyptian king which I saw, either there or at Meroe, was half of the name of Rameses II., which I found, by accident, in the Arab burial-ground at the former place. This is an extraordinary corroboration of the testimony of the historian;[289] for that conqueror must have possessed that Ethiopian city for a sufficient length of time to erect or restore a temple; otherwise I should not have found his name.

Diodorus mentions that, when Egypt was suffering under the dominion of Amasis, a violent, proud, and arrogant man, Aktisanes, king of Ethiopia, profiting by the discontent of the people, invaded Egypt, and had little difficulty in overthrowing the tyrant, and taking possession of the country, as the greater number of his subjects were weary of his oppression, and rebelled against him. Aktisanes, he adds, was a great prince, and built a city, called Rhinocolura, on the confines of Syria and Egypt, and detained there the thieves whom he had punished with the loss of their noses; from which circumstance Rhinocolura had its name. Eusebius, Africanus, and Herodotus do not mention this king. Diodorus’s account is difficult to explain; for his Amasis cannot be the Amasis of Manetho, the first of the 18th dynasty; as Diodorus places his Amasis several reigns after Sesostris or Rameses II. As there are no traces of the name of this king on the monuments either of Ethiopia or Egypt, I see no reason why we should receive the testimony of Diodorus, to the prejudice of other historians; and, doubting, as I do, whether such a king ever reigned in Egypt, I think it unnecessary to enter into any discussion about the period of his reign.

We have also, about this time, an account of another king, whose name is familiar to the classical scholar,—Memnon, the son of Aurora, who killed Antilochus[54] in the Trojan war; and again, in the same poem[55], he is called the most beautiful of warriors, the brother of Priam; and Hesiod calls him the son of Aurora, and the king of the Ethiopians. Monsieur Letronne, in his learned work on the vocal statue of Memnon, has treated the whole story as a romance; but though we may refuse our credence to the embellishments[290] of the Greek poets, tragic writers, and historians, I must confess myself of the opinion of those who believe in the possibility that the statement of a king of Ethiopia of that name having gone to the assistance of Troy may, perhaps, not be without foundation. The distance was certainly very great; but navigation by the Nile, or the Red Sea, would obviate, in a great measure, that difficulty; and it is not much more extraordinary to read of an Ethiopian king going to the relief of Troy in the 13th century before the Christian era, than, in the tenth century, to read of a king, called Zerah, who, with a host of a thousand thousand, went unto Maresha; and, in the 8th century, we find that Tirhaka assisted the King of Israel against Sennacherib, which event I will presently relate. History, both ancient and modern, affords many instances of wars between very distant states, and of expeditions sent against remote kingdoms, often even from continent to continent. I think, therefore, that it is not very surprising that the Ethiopian king, Memnon, should go with his troops from Meroe to Troy, either to assist his relation, or, at the instigation of some neighbour, to join in the common defence against the Greek invasion.[56]

In the 11th century before the Christian era, Semiramis, the celebrated queen of Assyria, fearless of those deserts in which, according to the fable, she was exposed when an infant, invaded[291] Ethiopia. Notwithstanding the celebrity of the Assyrian heroine for cutting through mountains, filling up valleys, and conveying water, by costly aqueducts, to unfruitful plains and vast deserts, it does not seem that her success in subduing Ethiopia was very great. Diodorus only mentions her admiration of a wonderful lake, 160 feet square, of a vermilion colour, which sent forth a delicious smell, not unlike old wine, and of such wonderful efficacy, that whoever drank of it acknowledged the sins which he had long since secretly committed and forgotten. That the kingdom of Meroe was the part of Ethiopia invaded by her is not improbable. Her mortified vanity at not having succeeded in her enterprise, the reflections caused by the dangers and solitudes of the deserts, or the influence of the religion of Ammon, may have been the monitors that awakened the guilty conscience of the Assyrian queen.

The next occasion on which we find mention made of an Ethiopian army is the expedition of Shishak against Jerusalem, in 971 A.C. That monarch is represented as bringing 1200 chariots and 60,000 horsemen; and “the people were without number that came with him out of Egypt; the Lubims, and the Sukkiims, and the Ethiopians.”[57] The Ethiopians and Lubims are called a “huge host, with very many chariots and horsemen.”[58] These Ethiopians may have come from a district of their country which was subject to Shishak, as we see, recorded on the monuments at Thebes, not only the invasion of Judea, mentioned in the Bible, but also victories achieved by that warlike king over various other nations. It is not, however, improbable that the Ethiopians were merely assisting the Egyptians. The Sukkiims are considered by many to be the ancient Troglodytes, the ancestors, perhaps, of the present Bishareen; there is certainly a curious resemblance between[292] the name of the present capital of the latter tribe, Souakim, and their Scripture title, Sukkiim.

Sixteen years only after this event we have an account of another invasion of the Ethiopians. “So Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David: and Asa his son reigned in his stead. In his days the land was quiet ten years.” “And Asa had an army of men that bare targets and spears, out of Judah three hundred thousand; and out of Benjamin, that bare shields and drew bows, two hundred and fourscore thousand: all these were mighty men of valour. And there came out against them Zerah the Ethiopian, with an host of a thousand thousand, and three hundred chariots; and came unto Mareshah. Then Asa went out against him, and they set the battle in array in the valley of Zephathah at Mareshah. And Asa cried unto the Lord his God.”[59] “So the Lord smote the Ethiopians before Asa, and before Judah; and the Ethiopians fled. And Asa and the people that were with him pursued them unto Gerar: and the Ethiopians were overthrown, that they could not recover themselves.”[60]

I conceive that the army of Zerah, like that of Memnon, and those, perhaps, who assisted Shishak, may have been transported from their own country, by the navigation of the Red Sea. It has been objected by some, that Zerah could not have been king of Ethiopia above Egypt, without being master of the latter country: but not only was the way by the Red Sea shorter, and much more convenient, but the kings of Meroe at that time may have possessed a part of Arabia, and he may thus have marched his army through the peninsula. We may, however, reasonably suppose, that he would not have undertaken such an important war against the people of Judah, if he had apprehended any impediment to his progress, from such near and powerful neighbours as the[293] Egyptians and Arabians. I see no more reason to doubt that this Zerah was a king of Meroe, than that Tirhaka was such, who bears the same title in Scripture, of king of Ethiopia. The monuments of Egypt and Ethiopia, fortunately, confirm the correctness of the title of the latter, and show us that Tirhaka, called king of Ethiopia, in the Bible, was also king of Meroe; but because no vestiges of edifices constructed by Zerah have survived the almost complete destruction of Ethiopian monuments, there is no reason why we should conceive that the Ethiopia of which he is called king is not the same country which Tirhaka afterwards ruled.

The army of Zerah, which is stated in the Bible at a thousand thousand, that is, a million of men, may seem enormous; and, perhaps, this is only a vague expression of an almost innumerable host; but we must consider, that the tribe of Judah raised an army of 300,000, and that of Benjamin 280,000, to oppose him. The obligation, still customary, for every one who could bear arms to join the array of their king, accounts for the magnitude of their forces. Their duty, as vassals, would oblige the Ethiopians to join the standards of their chiefs, and the same cause, joined to the more noble motives of zeal and devotedness for their country and religion, would draw from their more peaceful avocations the sons of Judah and Benjamin. The latter are described as armed with targets, spears, shields, and bows: such would be precisely the equipment of an army in the centre of Africa at the present day; but the Ethiopian had also three hundred chariots, which at once denotes a people to a certain degree advanced in the art of war. Whatever might be the circumstances which enabled Zerah to collect together this immense army, we could not have a more striking proof of the extent and the affluent condition of the kingdom of Meroe, when we consider that she was able to support the expense of such a vast and distant expedition, and dispense, for so long a period, with the services of so many of her sons.

[294]The events hitherto mentioned as connected with the history of Meroe have been important, as showing her political importance at a very early period. We have seen her successfully repelling the invasions of Semiramis, and of her powerful neighbours the Egyptians, and carrying her arms to the succour of the Trojans, and to attack the people of Judah.

We come now to that glorious epoch in the annals of Ethiopia, when her kings reigned not only over their native country, but over the entire valley of the Nile, including the whole of Egypt. We shall see that Sennacherib, king of Assyria, felt their power. Their dominion embraced nations of every variety of colour and character, from Memphis to the interior of Africa. It is highly satisfactory to know, that the account of this dynasty of Ethiopian kings who reigned over Egypt is not only transmitted to us by the joint testimony of sacred and profane history, but also is amply confirmed by the monuments of both countries.

The lists of Eusebius and Africanus, extracted from Manetho, agree perfectly with the names of the three Ethiopian kings who reigned over Egypt, from 732 to 688 before the Christian era. The following table shows that they do not exactly correspond, either as to particular reigns, or the entire length of the dynasty, which Africanus makes 40 years, and Eusebius 44; but the difference is very slight.

Africanus.		Eusebius.
Sabbakon	8	Sabbakon	12
Sevechus, his son	14	Sevechus	12
Tarkus	18	Tarakus	20
	40		44

Herodotus says[61], that after Asychis, who erected the brick pyramid, a certain blind man was said to have reigned in the city of[295] Anysis. During his sway, a large force of Ethiopians, under Sabachus, their king, invaded Egypt. The blind king escaped by flight into the mountains, and the Ethiopian reigned in Egypt fifty years. At the end of that period, according to Herodotus[62], a vision appeared to Sabachus, commanding him to assemble the priests together, and destroy them. Rather than be guilty of such a sacrilege, he preferred returning into his country, particularly as the fifty years, which the oracle usually consulted by the Ethiopians had stated to be the term of their sojourn in Egypt, was expired. Diodorus gives a narrative of this event, agreeing with that of Herodotus, except that he does not state the name of the king to whom Sabachus succeeded. He speaks of a king Bucchoris, of a vile appearance, who exceeded all his predecessors in talent and prudence, and says this king reigned some time before Sabachus. Both Eusebius and Africanus agree that Sabachus ascended the throne, after making prisoner a king called Bocchoris, or Bonchoris. When we consider the loose accounts which both Herodotus and Diodorus have, in every instance, given of the Egyptian kings, it is only extraordinary that the time assigned by them as the duration of the Ethiopian dominion in Egypt should differ only by six years from that stated by Eusebius. They have preserved few names of any of the dynasties, and these so generally differ from Manetho and the monuments, that it is not surprising to find them describe the Ethiopian dynasty as the reign of one monarch. We may consider it fortunate that the name of that king agrees so exactly with the always more correct orthography in the lists of Eusebius and Africanus. The accuracy, however, of the list of Eusebius is confirmed by testimony which cannot be disputed, namely, the evidence of lapidary inscriptions on the monuments of Egypt and Ethiopia. I will first mention to the reader the names and titles of those kings, with the places where they were[296] found recorded; and will afterwards show him that the third king of this dynasty is the same Tirhaka whose name is connected with one of the most interesting historical events narrated in the sacred writings.

ⲥⲟⲩⲧⲉⲛ (Ⲣⲏ ⲛⲟϥⲣⲉ (ⲛ̀) ⲕⲁ) ⲥⲓⲣⲏ (Ϣⲃⲕ). “The King (Sun Beneficent of Oblations), Son of the Sun (Shabak).” This is undoubtedly the first of this list of kings. The name is not found upon any of the monuments of Ethiopia, but that is not surprising, so few of the temples there being preserved; but we have undoubted evidence of this king having, as the historians say, reigned over Egypt, for we find his name upon a gate of the temple of Karnak, and also the portrait of the king in his Ethiopian dress, with the same titles, on the interior of the door of the great propylon of the Temple of Luxor, which he repaired. Signor Rosellini states, that he found a date of the twelfth year of his reign; which corroborates the statement of Eusebius, that he reigned twelve years, and not eight only, according to Africanus. I saw at Berlin a scarabæus containing the name of this king, with the uræus on each side, and above the oval a lion couchant: the latter is curious, as it tallies with the singular title I observed above the names at Amarah, of “King of Kings,” represented by the reed and half circle, as king (ⲥⲟⲩⲧⲛ), and a lion, emblematical of king, with the sign of the plural number. Signor Rosellini mentions, also, that this name is on two amulets he purchased for the Museum at Florence, and on a statue in the Villa Albani at Rome. I think the latter must be removed, as I could not find it there, nor do I recollect having seen any other instance of the name of Sciabak or Sabachus, in the splendid collections of Egyptian antiquities at Turin, Berlin, Paris, London, Rome, Naples, Vienna, Munich, &c., except in an inscription on an alabaster Canopian vase at Paris.

[297]ⲥⲟⲩⲧⲛ̀ (Ⲣⲏ.....) ⲡⲓⲕⲁ) ⲥⲓⲣⲏ (Ⲁⲙⲛⲙ (ⲁⲓ) Ϣⲃⲧⲕ), “King (Sun ..... of the Offerings), Son of the Sun, (the beloved of Amun Shabatok).” This name is evidently different from the preceding, there being not only a change in the prænomen, but also in the other oval. Besides the title of Beloved of Amun, the addition of the third hieroglyphic, the phonetic sign for T, changes completely the sound. There is as much difference in the names of Shabako and Shabatok, who therefore are as clearly two persons, as the Sabbakon and Sevechus of Eusebius. The Venetian edition of Eusebius calls the latter king Sebichos. When we consider the remote period, the difference of the dialect, the errors of copyists, &c., it is not surprising that so much discrepancy should exist. This name is found on the ruins to the south-east of the great temple at Carnak; and that the king was an Ethiopian is evident from his costume. The style is similar to that of Shabak; but the drawings of Signor Rosellini, which I could have wished to insert, are clearly the portraits of two different kings. I will presently state the learned Italian’s reasons for supposing that both these names allude to the god Seb or Sevek.

ⲥⲟⲩⲧⲛ̀ (Ⲣⲏ-Ⲁⲧⲙⲟⲩⲛⲟϥⲣⲉ, ⲱϥⲉ ⲥⲓⲣⲏ) (Ⲧϩⲣⲕ), “King Sun Atmou beneficent, Corrector, Son of the Sun (Tirhaka).” The name of this king is found on the columns and sides of the temple excavated out of the rock at Gibel el Birkel: it occurs ten times in the inscriptions which I copied there. It is also on the small altar in the great temple; but Major Felix[63] appears to me mistaken in supposing that Tirhaka built that splendid edifice, for his name occurs[298] in that instance only. Whereas the name of ⲥⲟⲩⲧⲛ̀ Ⲡⲓⲱⲛϩⲉⲓ, “King Pionchei (the living),” is on the large altar, and also a fragment of it on the western wall of the temple; but the claim even of the latter may be disputed, for Vignette A. is the prænomen on the only column which is now standing; and the name on the pillars is usually that of the king who erected the edifice. We have the authority, then, of the monuments of Ethiopia, that Tirhaka was king over that country, and his name, fortunately, still remains on a pylon of a temple at Medenet Abou, and other places at Thebes, to corroborate the testimony of Manetho, that he was also King of Egypt. In the latter instance, his name is written exactly as I have given it, except that the two last hieroglyphics of the prænomen are represented, figuratively I conceive, by an arm and a lash in the hand. I found, also the name of his queen, in the first chamber excavated out of the temple of Gibel el Birkel (Vignette A). ⲥⲟⲩⲧⲛ̀-ϩⲓⲙⲉ Ⲁⲙⲛϯⲕϯϩ,, “royal bride, Amentakatah.” Mr. Wilkinson found two princesses of this family: the first, B, is ⲧⲛⲣ ⲥⲓⲟⲩ, or ⲧ. ⲧⲏⲣ Ⲁⲙⲛⲁⲧⲥ, “the Divine Star, or the Divine Amenates;” and C, is ⲧⲏⲣ ϩⲓⲙⲉ ⲦⲙⲁⲩϢⲛⲓⲛⲟϥⲣⲉ, “the Divine Bride, Mutsheninofra, the Mother, Mistress of Good.” Signor Rosellini states, that there is a date, at Gibel el Birkel, of the year XX.[299] of this king’s reign, confirming the accuracy of Eusebius. I did not perceive it, though, I believe, I copied every hieroglyphic which remains there.

The third king of this dynasty is the Tirhaka of Holy Writ: the narrative there given, is, I conceive, of sufficient importance to justify my noticing it somewhat in detail.[64]

In the third year of King Hoshea, the son of Elah, king of Israel, Hezekiah the son of Ahaz began to reign; and, for his zeal in rooting out the idolatry of his people, he was described as one who “trusted in the Lord God of Israel, so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him.” Hezekiah rebelled against the Assyrians, and smote the Philistines; and in the fourth year of his reign, the king of Assyria, Shalmaneser, besieged Samaria, and, after three years, took it, and carried away the Israelites prisoners. In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib, who had succeeded to Shalmaneser, went up against all the “fenced cities of Judah, and took them.” Hezekiah agreed to purchase a peace for three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold; and gave to him, for that purpose, all the treasures in the temples and palaces; but Sennacherib, faithless to this agreement, sent up a great host against Jerusalem, and the three chiefs of the army of the king of Assyria, Tartan, Rabsaris, and Rabshakeh, had a conference with three of the officers of Hezekiah-Eliakim, who was over the household of Judah, Shebni, the scribe, and Joab the son of Asaph the recorder. Rabshakeh asked him, “Now, on whom doest thou trust, that thou rebellest against me?” and taunted them with trusting upon Egypt. “Now, behold, thou trustest upon the staff of this bruised reed, even upon Egypt, on which if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt unto all that trust on him.” And he begged them to give pledges to the King of Assyria, and not trust on Egypt for chariots or for horsemen.[300] Hezekiah was comforted by the prophet Isaiah, and Rabshakeh returned and told Sennacherib that Tirhaka, king of Ethiopia, was coming up to fight against him. The titles which are given to Tirhaka, in these passages, are most important. In 2 Kings, xix. 9., he is called king of Ethiopia, and in xviii. 21. and 24., Pharaoh of Egypt, which is exactly saying that he was ruler over both countries, as we have seen that Manetho and the monuments prove him to have been.

This name, according to Signor Rosellini, is written in Hebrew (תרחקח םלך־כוש) “Tarhaka, Melek Cush,” translated correctly Θαρακα Βασιλευς Αιθιοπων, “Tarhaka, king of the Ethiopians.” The perfect resemblance of the name, which neither upon the monuments nor in the lists is given to any other king of Egypt; the correspondence of the epoch, and the title of king of Ethiopia, given to a sovereign of an Ethiopian dynasty, who by force of arms had annexed Egypt to their paternal kingdom, are circumstances which prove, beyond all doubt, as the learned Italian[65] says, the identity of the Tarhaka of the monuments, with the Tirhaka of holy writ. If, according to Eusebius, we allow 163 years for the 26th dynasty, that is, the one which succeeded to the Ethiopians in Egypt, that number, added to the date of the invasion by Cambyses, 525, will make 688, which, added to the 20 years’ reign of Tirhaka, would make the accession of that king to the throne to be in 708, nearly the exact time assigned by the Scripture chronologists for the relief of Hezekiah and Tirhaka; but Signor Rosellini, principally on the authority of a stela which he obtained at Alexandria, makes the total of the reigns of that dynasty 150 years, which would cause the accession of Tirhaka to the dominion of the Nile to happen in 695. Following exactly the chronology of Scripture, it must have been in the first year of the king’s reign that the destruction of the Assyrian army took place. “Then the angel[301] of the Lord went out and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh. And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword.”[66]

I will here introduce an event related by Herodotus[67], which, notwithstanding many discrepancies, is evidently the same:—“After Sabaco, the Ethiopian, returned into the country, and the blind king Anysis was dead, there reigned,” he says, “a priest of Vulcan, named Sethos. This king treated with contempt the warriors of Egypt, despising them, as if he never would have occasion for them; and, besides other injuries he committed against them, deprived them of the ground which, under the preceding kings, had been granted to each, in portions of twelve fields of a hundred cubits. But afterwards Sennacherib, king of the Arabs and of the Assyrians, having invaded Egypt with a great host, none of the warriors were willing to assist him: then the priest, reduced to extremity, entered into the sanctuary, bewailed before the figure of the divinity the danger to which he was exposed. Thus weeping, he fell asleep, and the divinity appeared unto him in a vision, and exhorted him to take courage, for he would have nothing to dread in going against the army of the Arabians, since he himself would send assistance. Animated by this dream, and having assembled those Egyptians who were willing to follow him, he fixed his camp in Pelusium, since that city forms the entrance into the country. He was followed by none of the warriors, but only by merchants, artificers, and labourers. When they were arrived there, a multitude of field mice were scattered among their adversaries, ate the bands of their armour, of their bows and shields, so that, next day, naked and disarmed, they fled, and many perished.”

[302]This Sethos is evidently the Ethiopian Tirhaka. The latter was the successor of an Ethiopian, as Sethos is represented to have been, and it was natural that the Ethiopian should despise the soldiers of Egypt, whom his predecessor had conquered. His depriving them of their land, and consequently of their political importance, was the natural policy of a king who reigned over them by right of conquest; but, as he was a good and beneficent monarch, who had encouraged the arts and internal prosperity of the country, of which we have a proof in his restoring and embellishing the temples, the merchants, artificers, and labourers hastened to his support, being attached to his person by the advantages they had derived from his government. The title of priest is not inappropriate to an Ethiopian king, who was chosen from that order. Diodorus also informs us how much they were under the influence of their priests, submitting even to death itself at their command. Besides the coincidence of the time in the list of Manetho, there is no mention of a king called Sethos, except the first of the 19th dynasty, which was long previous. These circumstances alone almost prove that the Sethos of Herodotus and the Ethiopian Tirhaka are the same; but we have still stronger evidence. The king against whom both marched was the same Sennacherib, King of Assyria, and they are both delivered in the same manner; that is, by a miracle. Herodotus states Pelusium, not Jerusalem, as the scene of their discomfiture. This circumstance made me at first imagine that Sennacherib might have been defeated at both places; but I conceive it more reasonable to attribute these differences of name, place, and the nature of the miracle to the usual confusion of Herodotus, who did not compile his work, like Manetho, from the sacred registers preserved in the temples, but from verbal communications with the priests; perhaps the story of the mice was invented by Herodotus, or his informers, or, at all events, arose in the lapse of time, to explain the manner in which the Deity interfered in their behalf.

[303]The Tirhaka, then, of the monuments and of Manetho, is the Sethos of Herodotus, and the Tirhaka who assisted Hezekiah against Sennacherib. From these various accounts, and by separating, in the narrative of Herodotus, the probable from the marvellous, we may conclude that the monarch was pious, since he bore the title of priest, and applied to the divinity for support before he set out on the expedition; that he was powerful, since he was not only able to hold in subjection the entire valley of the Nile, but also to carry his arms to the assistance of his neighbours. He appears, also, to have been an enlightened and an able legislator, since he encouraged the arts; and although a foreigner, had so ingratiated himself with his people, that, strong in their affections, he was not only able to destroy the military despotism of the soldiery, but raise another army, to wage war against the powerful king of Assyria. Eratosthenes (see Strabo[68],) states that this conqueror proceeded as far as the Pillars of Hercules.

There is another king mentioned in the Bible, as reigning in Egypt twelve years before the defeat of Sennacherib. It is agreed, almost by all, that he is the Shabatok or Sevechus of the lists; but this is so learnedly and ingeniously discussed by Signor Rosellini, that I make no apology for enriching this chapter with a translation of his remarks. At the seventeenth chapter of 2 Kings, it is related that Shalmaneser, king of the Assyrians, subdued and made tributary Hoshea, king of Israel. That prince having wished to rebel, and having sent for aid to So, king of Egypt, Shalmaneser besieged, conquered, and made him prisoner. The reign of Hoshea over Israel lasted nine years; so that it appears to have happened in his sixth year, that, to throw off the Assyrian yoke, he demanded assistance from the king of Egypt. Therefore, as Shalmaneser besieged and took Samaria in that year, which was the last of Hoshea, Hezekiah began to reign over Judah in the third year of Hoshea; and in the 14th year of Hezekiah occurred the discomfiture[304] of Sennacherib, in which the Pharaoh Tirhaka took part, as the ally of the king of Judah. The sixth year of Hoshea (in which he demanded aid of So, king of Egypt,) corresponds to the third year of the reign of Hezekiah; and since this latter king, in the 14th year of his reign, made a treaty with Tirhaka, it follows that the Pharaoh, called So in the Bible, preceded Tirhaka by an interval of not less than eleven years. But So is called king of Egypt, and Tirhaka was the same; therefore we ought to seek the Pharaoh So among the kings of this Ethiopian dynasty. And since he preceded Tirhaka by an interval of eleven years, we must necessarily recognise him as the immediate predecessor of Tirhaka, who is called by Manetho Sevechus, or Sebichus, and, according to Eusebius, reigned twelve years. Not less manifest than the coincidence of the years is the correspondence of the name in Manetho and the Bible, if we correct the pronunciation according to the true sound of the Egyptian language. I have already mentioned, that the name of Shabatok (so the Sevechus of Manetho is written upon the monuments) may truly, indeed, be considered as a peculiar word of the Ethiopian dialect, which corresponds to the Egyptian Sevek. Sevek is, in the Egyptian mythology, a god, who has attributes relative to the Nile, and is generally represented under the sacred symbol of a crocodile. In this form its name is usually written ⲥ ⲃ ⲕ “Sebek, Sevek;” but when it is represented under a human form, then it is written simply or ⲥ ⲃ “Seb, Sewe.” The titles, attributes, and forms of those two names, Sewe and Sebek, are promiscuous; and we are certain, that, however it is written or pronounced, it means the same divinity.[69]

[305]Let us take, therefore, from the Hebrew text, the name of the king of Egypt, to whom Hoshea sent for help. It is written סוא: disregarding (particularly in a foreign language) the corrupt pronunciation given to it by Masorete, and the other interpreters, who read So or Soa, and Sua, let the least learned in the languages of the East judge, if the natural pronunciation of these Hebrew elements be not Sewa or Sewe. This is sufficient to show, that the author of the second book of Kings wrote that name with those characters which could give the pronunciation of the Egyptian name Sewe. It is probable that the same name, written upon the monuments in the Ethiopian manner, Shabatok, was commonly called by the Egyptians, Sewe; and, perhaps, they pronounced it also, indifferently, Sewek, since both these words were the designation of the same divinity, to which that name belongs. In fact, Manetho wrote in his history, Sevechus, and, cutting off the Greek termination, it remains Sevek, retaining, from the Ethiopian Shabatok, the pronunciation used in Egypt. Thus the text of the Bible, also, in relating this Egyptian name, maintains that possible orthographic exactness which it has followed in writing all the other Egyptian names. The original monuments, therefore, and the lists of Manetho concur in attesting that the dynasty of the Ethiopians was composed of three kings, whose names I have mentioned, and thus correct the Greek historians who have assigned it to Sabaco only.

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[306]CHAPTER XX.

THE EMIGRATION OF EGYPTIAN SOLDIERS AT THE TIME OF PSAMMITICHUS. — EXPEDITION OF CAMBYSES. — MANNERS, CUSTOMS, ETC. OF THE MACROBIANS, ETC. — CURIOUS CUSTOMS OF THE ETHIOPIANS. — ERGAMENES, THE ETHIOPIAN KING’S, CONQUESTS IN LOWER NUBIA. — ATARRAMON AND SILCO, ETHIOPIAN KINGS. — EXPEDITION OF PETRONIUS. — QUEEN CANDACE. — CHRISTIANITY FIRST INTRODUCED INTO ETHIOPIA. — ITS DURATION. — NAPATA, CAPITAL OF CANDACE. — BLEMMYES AND THE NUBIANS.

Under the reign of Psammitichus, whom Africanus states to have reigned twenty-one years, Eusebius thirty-three, and Herodotus fifteen, after the Ethiopian dynasty, the historian of Halicarnassus informs us (and his account is confirmed by Diodorus), that 240,000 Egyptian soldiers were in garrison at Elephantine against the Ethiopians, at Pelusium against the Arabs and Assyrians, and others, in Marea, opposite Africa. These soldiers having been three years thus in garrison, without being relieved, resolved to go over together from Psammitichus into Ethiopia. Regardless of the entreaties of that king, they engaged themselves to the king of that country, who employed them in subduing some of his discontented subjects, whose land he gave them as a reward. It is added, that the Ethiopians became more civilised, imbibing the customs of Egypt.

Herodotus states[70], that part of these soldiers were in garrison at Pelusium, against the Assyrians; probably an attack from that[307] nation was anticipated, in revenge of the defeat of Sennacherib. According to that author, there were forty days of land journey, and sixteen of navigation, between Elephantina and Meroe, besides a space near Taconso. He says, the distance is the same from there to the country of the Automali, otherwise called Ascami, a term which means “Assistants at the left hand of the king;” by which, according to him, the Egyptian warriors are designated. Whether this last fifty-six days’ journey extends along the Bahr el Abiad, in the direction of Axum, or on the Bahr el Azruk, cannot, with certainty, be decided; but I will presently state my reasons for conceiving the former opinion to be not improbable. The inhabitants of a part of Ethiopia, at such an immense distance from the metropolis, would naturally become more civilised by this Egyptian colony. This passage, at all events, communicates the highly important fact, that the kingdom of Meroe reached more than fifty-six days’ journey, both north and south, from the metropolis; or, in other words, that it was altogether about 1500 miles in length at that period. This accounts for the great power of the king of Ethiopia, but for which it is evident, that a body of 240,000 men would not have been satisfied with having assigned to them a distant and uncivilised portion of his kingdom, but would have been easily able to take possession of the whole.

The next important event I shall allude to is the celebrated expedition of the first king of the Persian dynasty in Egypt.

Cambyses determined to make war upon three different powers,—the Carthaginians, the Ammonians, and the Egyptian Macrobians. But, before commencing the expedition into Ethiopia, he resolved to send spies into the country, and, for this purpose, sent to the island of Elephantine for some of the Ichthyophagi, who were acquainted with the Ethiopian language. Cambyses, having instructed these ambassadors what they should say, gave them, as presents for the king, a robe of purple, necklaces and bracelets of gold, an alabaster vase of ointment, and another[308] vase of palm wine. The Ichthyophagi having arrived, and having been introduced to the king, presented their offerings, and addressed him thus:—“Cambyses, King of the Persians, desirous of being your friend and ally, sent us to you with these gifts, in the use of which he takes great delight.”[71]

The Ethiopian king, knowing well that they came as spies, answered,—“It is not that the King of the Persians esteems so much my friendship, that he has sent you to me with gifts; neither do you speak truly, for you have come to spy out my kingdom. Neither is he a just man, for if he were just, he would not covet the country of another, nor wish to make slaves of those who have in no way offended him. Present to him this bow, and tell him that the King of the Ethiopians gives this advice to the King of the Persians. When he is able to manage such large bows with as much facility as I do, then let him conduct an army against the Egyptian Macrobians, but one superior to them in number. In the mean time, thank the gods for not putting it into the mind of the Egyptians to usurp the states of others.”

Having said this, he unbent the bow, and gave it to them, and having taken the vest of purple into his hand, he asked them what it was, and how it was made? The Ichthyophagi having told him the truth of the purple and the colouring, he said that they were deceivers, and their garments deceitful. Having inquired about the necklace and bracelets of gold, and the Ichthyophagi having answered that they were ornaments, he laughed, conceiving them to be chains, and said, that he had much stronger ones. Lastly, inquiring of the ointment, and being shown how it should be worked with the hand, and used, he said of it the same as he had done of the vest. He then learned how the wine was made, and its use; and being much pleased with the trial he made of it, he asked on what things they lived, and what was the longest[309] period of the life of a Persian? They answered, that the King lived on bread, explaining to him the nature of corn, and told him that the space of eighty years was the greatest length of the life of a Persian. The Ethiopian answered, that he was not surprised that, subsisting on mud, they should live so few years; that neither would they live so long, was it not for the wine, and added, “for in this only are the Persians superior to the Ethiopians.”

The Ichthyophagi having, in their turn, inquired of the King about his people’s food, and manner of life, he answered, that they lived on meat and milk; that the greatest part of them lived to the age of 120 years, and some even longer. The ambassadors having expressed their surprise at this, the King conducted them to a fountain, after washing in which they became more vigorous, and shining, as with oil; and it sent forth an odour as of violet. And the Ichthyophagi said that this water was so light, that neither wood, nor even lighter substances, would swim on the surface; but that every thing went to the bottom; and that the constant use of this water was the reason why the Ethiopians lived so long.

Cambyses, enraged at this reception of the Ethiopians, set out without preparing any store of provisions, and without reflecting that it was the extremity of the world to which he was carrying his arms. Before he had marched a fifth part of the route from Thebes, the want of provisions was felt; yet he madly determined to proceed. The soldiers fed on grass as long as any could be found; at length, when they arrived in the deserts, they were obliged to cast lots, to eat one in ten; which finally induced Cambyses to return to Thebes with the remains of his army.—The defeat of this monarch is also mentioned by Diodorus.

If this account be at all correct, the country of the Macrobians must have been at some distance from Meroe, otherwise they could not have been ignorant of the use of necklaces and bracelets, since the figures on the walls of the sepulchres of that metropolis are represented with those ornaments. The fountain mentioned by[310] the Ichthyophagi is almost as wonderful as the lake which Diodorus reports as seen by Semiramis; but, discarding what bears the stamp of fiction in this narrative, we can easily recognise, in this account of the Macrobians, a powerful nomad tribe, in possession of the gold country which was the great attraction to Cambyses. Their degree of strength and longevity, probably exaggerated, might be gained by the habits of frugality and temperance usual among the nomad tribes. Their food (meat and milk) is exactly that of the Bishareen and other tribes of the desert at the present day. Their not understanding the nature of the ointment, may have been from its being very superior to their own; all that is probable in the description of the fountain is, that it consisted of oil. The Arab tribes are now in the habit of anointing their bodies, conceiving this custom to be in the highest degree salubrious, and indeed necessary, to mitigate the parching effects of a vertical sun and the hot winds of the desert. I tried this custom, and found it very beneficial; and am persuaded I should have suffered less from the heat had I used it more frequently; but the smell of the ointment they now use is not like the violet, as the Ichthyophagi describe that of the Macrobians. It is not, therefore, surprising that a powerful tribe, doubtless less barbarous than at the present day, being in connection with states then more civilised, should have a bath of prepared oil, suited to the pressing wants of the country. A nomad tribe might, very probably, be ignorant how the purple colour was produced; for, with the exception of some shawls worn by the chiefs, none of the Arabs of the present day use any thing but white cotton and linen cloths. The Melek Nazr e’ Deen (see Plate III.), is almost the only exception I have met with. Sheakh Sayd, the chief of all the Ababdes, did not know how the indigo plant (which his country produces) was made into a dye, till he went with me through the manufactory at Berber. I suspect that the account of their contempt for gold, is an embellishment of the Greek historian, or an exaggeration of the ambassadors; for[311] they must have learnt its value by exchanging it with their more civilised neighbours. It is not, however, impossible that they may have used it for chains, as they might not have possessed other metals, or if they did, might not have had skill to work them into chains so easily as they could gold; or, from their greater rarity, they might have been equally as valuable.[72]

Herodotus calls them Egyptian Macrobians, and afterwards Egyptians. I am almost inclined to believe that they may have been a nomad race, blended with the 240,000 soldiers, who, according to Herodotus, deserted from Psammitichus, and had a territory assigned to them, among a people about sixty days’ journey distant from Meroe. It is certain that the Egyptians would marry native wives. They might, as Herodotus says, have improved the manners of the people; but, being warriors, and not mechanics or artificers, and accustomed to a rigid distinction of castes, they might not have introduced a knowledge of the arts, and even what they taught might, in a century and a half, be forgotten by a tribe whose habits would give them little taste for such acquirements. I cannot agree with those who consider the country of the Macrobians to be on or near the Arabian Gulf, in the territory of the present Soumalies, or, as Professor Heeren[73] has placed them, beyond Cape Guardefui; for, mad as Cambyses is represented to have been, he surely could not have been so infatuated as to have attempted to penetrate to so vast a distance, across the immense deserts and inhospitable regions of the interior, the whole population of which would be hostile to his progress, particularly when a far shorter and easier way was open to him by the Arabian Gulf and the[312] Straits of Babelmandel. It may be stated that the Persians were, perhaps, unskilled and averse to navigation; but even if not navigators themselves, they might easily have procured transports. I think the Macrobians should be placed more in the interior; probably on the Bahr el Abiad. Pausanias (lib. iv.) says, that Meroe and the Ethiopian plains are inhabited by the Macrobians, the most just people of the earth: but that they have not in the country any sea, nor any other river but the Nile. This statement, which merits attention, being from one so deeply versed in Egyptian subjects, proves what I have stated,—that the Macrobians did not occupy the territory of the present Soumalies, near the sea; but at the same time brings them nearer to Meroe than we can admit from their state of civilisation, or the testimony of Herodotus, who describes them as being on the southern side of Africa.

I have now to mention an historical fact, connected with some curious Ethiopian customs, which might have been rejected as a fable, but for the evidence of a lapidary inscription, which records the name of the king connected with it. This gives to it an authentic character, and affords another proof of the general accuracy of the Sicilian historian’s account of the Ethiopians.

“The Ethiopians,” says Diodorus[74], “have many laws differing from those of other nations, particularly as regards the choice of their kings. The priests choose the most respectable of their order, and form them into a circle; and he who by chance is taken hold of by the priest, who enters into the circle, walking and leaping like a satyr, is declared king upon the spot; and all the people worship him, as a man charged with the government by Divine Providence. The king lives after the manner prescribed to him by the law. In all things he follows the customs of the country, neither punishing nor recompensing but according[313] to the laws established since the origin of the nation. It is not permitted to the king to cause any of his subjects to be executed, even when they shall have been judged worthy of death; but he sends to the guilty person an officer, who carries to him the signal of death; and immediately the criminal shuts himself in his house, and executes justice on himself. It is not permitted to him to fly into a neighbouring kingdom, and change the pain of death into banishment, as they do in Greece. They relate that a certain man, having received an order of death, which had been sent to him by the king, thought of flying out of Ethiopia. His mother, who suspected his design, passed her girdle around his neck, without his attempting to defend himself, and strangled him, lest, as she said, her son should bring increased disgrace upon his family by his flight.”

We perceive, by these passages, that the Ethiopians had regular laws, to which not only the people but the king submitted. The kings, it seems, were chosen from the priests, and therefore it is not extraordinary that they were so completely under their power as we shall shortly see; for probably, like the cardinals at Rome, they did not select always the most talented, but often the most manageable, as their chief. The satyr-like gambols of the priest, which were the cause of his being elected, remind me somewhat of the impositions, or, rather, workings of the spirit, which the Arab fakeers and sheakhs sometimes exhibit.[75]

[314]“The death of the kings,” says Diodorus, “is still more extraordinary. The priests at Meroe have acquired great power. When they form the resolution, they send a courier to the king, with an order for him to die. They tell him that the gods (or oracles) had thus decreed, and that he would be guilty of a crime if he violated an order from them. They added many other reasons, which would easily influence a simple man, aware of the ancient custom, and who had not strength of mind sufficient to resist such an unjust command. The first kings submitted to this cruel sentence. Ergamenes, who reigned at the time of the second Ptolemy, and who was instructed in the philosophy of Greece, was the first who dared to throw off this ridiculous yoke. He went with his army to the place difficult to get to, or (εἰς τὸ ἄβατον) fortress, where was formerly the temple of gold of the Ethiopians, and caused all the priests to be massacred, and instituted himself a new religion.” Signor Rosellini found the name of this king on the door of the sanctuary of Dacker. ⲥⲟⲩⲧⲛ̀ (Ⲁⲙⲛⲧⲟⲧ ⲱⲛϩ, Ⲣⲏ-ⲱⲧⲡ) ⲥⲓⲣⲏ (Ⲉⲣⲕⲁⲙⲛ ⲱⲛϩ ϫⲧⲧ, Ⲓⲥⲏⲙⲁⲓ). “King Amentot (hand of Amun), the living, devoted to Phre (Son of the Sun), Erkamon, always living, beloved of Isis.”—Vol. ii. 321.

The discovery of the name is of the greatest importance; as the evidence of this lapidary inscription, that there was a king[315] called Ergamenes, or, to give him his proper name, Erkamenes, is strongly corroborative of the whole narrative of Diodorus. He could not have been an Egyptian king, for there is no mention in any of the lists of a king of that name. We may, therefore, with certainty conclude, that it is the Ethiopian monarch Erkamenes. Philæ was generally considered the boundary of Egypt, but we have the indubitable testimony of a long train of splendid monuments, from that island to Solib, that the rulers of Egypt, from the Pharaohs of the eighteenth dynasty until the time of the Cæsars, possessed at all events, at different intervals, that part of Ethiopia.

From there being there no Ethiopian edifices, but all Egyptian temples, from the first to the second cataract, it is probable that the Egyptians were generally in possession of that part of the valley of the Nile; but the name of this Ethiopian king having been found on this Ptolemaic edifice, can only be accounted for by his having been in possession of the country. The style of the architecture and sculpture of the temple of Dacker is certainly like that of the Ptolemies. I therefore do not conceive that the temple was built by Erkamenes, but perhaps that conqueror celebrated his victories by religious functions, a representation of which he had sculptured on the temple at the limit of his conquests.

Besides Erkamenes, we have accounts of another Ethiopian monarch, whose name Signor Rosellini found on the temple of Deboud, in Lower Nubia, and which he conceives (I think very correctly), to be also of an Ethiopian king of about the same period. ⲥⲟⲩⲧⲛ̀ (Ⲣⲏ ⲛ̀ ⲱⲧⲡ, ⲥⲱⲧⲛ̀ ⲛ̀ⲛⲓⲧⲏⲣ) ⲥⲓⲣⲏ (Ⲁⲧⲣⲣⲁⲙⲛ, ⲱⲡϩ ϫⲧⲧ) “King (Son of Perfection, approved by the gods), Son of the Sun (Atarramon, always living.)” This, therefore, is an Ethiopian king, whose conquests extended to within a few miles of Philæ.

[316]A Greek inscription at Kalabshy mentions the victories of Silco, king of all the Ethiopians, over the Blemmyes. No other Ethiopian names are found in Lower Nubia, except some prisoners represented on the walls of the temple of Rameses at Kalabshy.

Strabo[76] gives us a highly important narrative of an event that took place in his time. It is peculiarly interesting, as it accounts for the ruin of the towns and temples which once adorned that part of the valley of the Nile. “The Ethiopians,” says he, “taking advantage of Ælius Gallus having taken away the garrison of Syene, to prosecute his expedition into Arabia, by a sudden and unforeseen attack took possession of Syene, Elephanta, and Philæ; made the inhabitants prisoners, overthrew the statues of Cæsar Augustus; but Petronius, with 10,000 foot and 800 cavalry, attacked their army, composed of 30,000 men, and forced them to fly to Pselchis, an Ethiopian city: he sent ambassadors to them there, to demand what they had taken, and to know what reason they had to complain of the governors. They required three days to consider, and as, after that time, Petronius did not obtain satisfaction, he attacked them, forced them to give battle, and had no difficulty in putting to flight men ill disciplined and ill armed, having only large shields of unmanufactured ox-hide, hatchets, spears, and sabres. Some threw themselves into the town, others fled into the desert. Some gained a neighbouring town by swimming across the river; among the number were the generals of Candace, who reigned over the Ethiopians. This queen, whose courage was beyond her sex, was deprived of one eye.

“Petronius crossed the river upon rafts and boats, and made prisoners all those who were in the island, and sent them immediately to Alexandria; afterwards they attacked Pselchis, and took it by assault. From Pselchis, Petronius, crossing the downs of[317] sand where the army of Cambyses had been swallowed up by the winds, reached Premnis, a town in a strong situation, gained it at the first attack, and advanced afterwards on Napata, the capital of the kingdom of Candace, where her son was then residing. Candace occupied a neighbouring place, whence she sent to demand peace, offering to restore the prisoners who had been brought from Syene, and the statues which they had carried off; but Petronius, regardless of these propositions, attacked Napata, which the queen and her son had abandoned, razed the town, and led away the inhabitants captive.

“He returned with his booty, judging the road beyond to be too difficult. He took, however, the precaution to fortify Premnis better, leaving there a garrison of 400 men, with provisions for two years. Candace advanced, with a considerable force, against Premnis, but Petronius came to its relief, and succeeded in throwing himself into the town before the arrival of the queen, and provided various means of defence for the safety of the place. Candace sent ambassadors to Petronius, who ordered them to go to Cæsar (Augustus); and as they pretended not to know who Cæsar was, and which way they must go, he gave them an escort. These ambassadors arrived at Samos, where Cæsar then was. He granted all that they desired, and even freed them from the tribute which he had imposed upon them.”

We perceive from this account the superiority of the Roman arms. The discipline of those celebrated troops would have made them irresistible, whatever might have been the inferiority of their number, against such wretched soldiers as Strabo represents the Ethiopians: but Petronius, when at Napata, would scarcely have refrained from proceeding to Meroe, nor eventually would he have shut himself up in Premnis, whatever might have been the force of Candace, had it consisted of the undisciplined, ill-armed people he describes. Augustus does not seem to have despised them, since he concluded a peace on their own terms. In my account of[318] the arts of Meroe, I will mention the probable effects of this destructive invasion of Petronius. Pliny also mentions this expedition[77], and states that, after Pselchis and Premnis, he took also the cities of Aboccis, Phthuris, Cambusis, Attenan, and Stadisis, and afterwards Napata; but he adds, it was not only the Roman arms which made a wilderness of this part of Ethiopia, but the wars with Egypt, alternately ruling over, and subject to, that country.

The year of the expedition of Petronius has never been exactly ascertained[78], but according to Dion Cassius (lxiv. s. 7.), Augustus went into the East in the year of Rome 734. Therefore, as the ambassadors of the Ethiopians found him at Samos, on his way into Syria, the expedition of Petronius can only have taken place a very short time before that period, that is, about twenty years before Christ.

An event of the greatest importance is recorded in the Gospel, as having taken place A.D. 33. An eunuch, a man of great authority under Candace, who had the charge of all her treasure, was converted by Philip.[79] The time at which Philip met the eunuch was subsequent to that of Ergamenes, when, as we have seen, a taste for Greek literature was spread in Ethiopia; therefore, the Greek language was, without doubt, sufficiently known to enable them to read the Old Testament, which was then translated into that language. It is not extraordinary, that a man who may be supposed to have raised himself to his high station of chief eunuch, by superior talent, should have perceived the superiority of the Jewish religion to that of Amun, nor is it unreasonable to presume that many of the Jews visited Ethiopia, and contributed to his conversion. We find him, therefore, as a believer in the Jewish religion, undertaking a journey of nearly 2000 miles to worship at the holy temple of Jerusalem, and engaged, when[319] Philip met him, in studying the promises held out to the chosen people. We have no reason, I think, to assume that, because the sacred writings have only recorded this solitary instance, there were not other Ethiopians who had embraced the Jewish religion. It is well known that, in the East, through every age, the chief eunuch has always been one of the most powerful officers at the court; and it is not unreasonable, I think, to presume that his influence, joined to the persuasive truth of the doctrines of Christianity, may have induced many to forsake the ancient worship of the country, which had then, perhaps, degenerated, as in Egypt, into gross polytheism. Unless we assign a reign of more than fifty years to the Candace of the Gospel, she cannot be the sovereign who reigned at the time of the expedition of Petronius; but Pliny informs us that several queens who reigned in Ethiopia assumed this appellation. Philip met the eunuch, riding in his chariot, on the road from Jerusalem to Gaza, which is a desert tract. Those deserts, which the traveller is now obliged to cross on the fatiguing camel, exposed to the hot sun and parching winds, the eunuch, it seems, rode over comfortably in his chariot. About the year 330, when Athanasius was Patriarch of Alexandria, according to Ludolf[80], Christianity was introduced into Abyssinia, by two youths, Frumentius and Ædisius, who were shipwrecked on the coast of the Red Sea; but it was not until the time of Theodosius that the Nubians were converted; and, according to the Arab writer, Sheref el Edrese, A.D. 1153, they were still Christians.

I shall not attempt the laborious, and almost useless, task, of endeavouring to trace the history of this country from the time of the Romans until the present day. My object has been to lay before the reader the most important fragments of history connected with the kingdom of Meroe. The capital of Candace was Napata, and[320] not Meroe. The latter celebrated metropolis seems to have existed until the age of Ptolemy Philadelphus; and at the time of Nero, Pliny describes Napata as of no importance. Oppidum id parvum inter prædicta solum. After this sad decline of the glory of the Ethiopians, we find the wild tribes, whose power was formerly absorbed in the superior greatness of Meroe, now acting the principal part. The wars of the Blemmyes and the Nubians with each other, and against the Roman power, are the most important events afterwards transmitted to us; but, as these tribes have left no monuments of their civilisation, their names, victories, and defeats, have little connection with the history of Meroe. It might be interesting to trace the wasting away of that lamp of civilisation which had shone once so bright; but such an inquiry would exceed my limits, as well as the object prescribed to myself, which was, to show the once great political importance of the Ethiopians of Meroe. I have said, in my topographical description, that my examination of the existing monuments led me to adopt the opinion of those who believe the statement of Diodorus, that Meroe was the cradle of the arts. I shall, in the following chapters, bring forward additional arguments to prove that statement. The establishment of this fact will give an additional interest to that classical land, which we have seen to be the country of Memnon, Zerah, Tirhaka, Ergamenes, &c., and against which the efforts of Semiramis, Cambyses, and the Egyptian Pharaohs[81], were vainly directed.

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[321]CHAPTER XXI.

REQUISITES FOR A STATE ENJOYING EXTENSIVE COMMERCE. — ADVANTAGEOUS POSITION OF MEROE. — PROBABLE EXTENT OF HER COMMERCE. — THE FACILITY AFFORDED TO ITS EXTENSION BY MEANS OF THE CAMEL. — COMMERCE OF ARABIA AND INDIA. — ABUNDANCE OF GOLD. — IRON AND GUM. — ETHIOPIAN TRIBUTE TO EGYPT. — DESCRIPTION OF A SPLENDID ETHIOPIAN PROCESSION AT THEBES. — COMMERCE OF THE INTERIOR. — CAUSES OF THE DECLINE OF MEROE. — DIMINUTION OF HER AGRICULTURAL RESOURCES. — EXHAUSTION OF MINES. — RIVALRY OF EGYPT. — WARS WITH EGYPT. — ARAB CONQUEST. — PRESENT COMMERCE.

Commerce of Meroe.—The history of nations, and particularly of cities, clearly evinces the extraordinary effects of commerce. Those countries which have attained to any high degree of power and prosperity have been, in a great measure, indebted for them to that source of wealth. A wise government, anxious for the welfare of its subjects, always affords the utmost encouragement and protection to commerce, guarding it against those accidents which endanger its security, and when, from unavoidable circumstances, one branch is closed, seeks to open other channels to its successful activity. In order that a state may carry on extensive commerce, it ought to possess an advantageous position, contiguous to other rich countries, with the opportunity of becoming an emporium for their commodities, and of supplying them with those in which they are deficient. She ought also to enjoy abundant internal resources, derived from agriculture, manufactures, and mines.

A slight examination of the map of this part of Africa will satisfy us that there could not have been a situation, on that immense continent, more admirably adapted for commercial intercourse[322] than Meroe. Placed at a short distance only from the conflux of the Astaboras and the Nile, she was connected, by the former, with that part of Ethiopia now called Abyssinia; and, by the latter, now denominated the Bahr el Azruk, or Blue River, with the provinces of Sennaar, Fazoukl, and, perhaps, with regions still further to the south. It is also highly probable that, by the Bahr el Abiad, or White River, the true Nile, she communicated extensively with vast districts in the interior of Africa. The distance from these rivers, particularly from the Astaboras, to the present ports of Massoua (the ancient Adule) and Souakim, on the Red Sea, whence she received, perhaps, the productions of Arabia and the Indies, was by no means great. Nature seems to have facilitated the intercourse by providing her with the ship of the desert—the camel. By its means, probably, the commerce of Meroe may have been widely diffused into the centre of Africa; to the countries now called Kordofan and Darfour, which are only at a short distance from the Nile; nor is it improbable that a powerful and enterprising nation, such as the Ethiopians then appear to have been, may have extended their caravan trade to the kingdoms of Soudan, Bornou, &c., and possibly even to the now impervious Timbuctoo.

It may be asked, if the profit which the merchants of Meroe could derive from such distant expeditions would repay the cost and hazard; but an examination of the expense of transporting merchandise on camels will remove that objection. In the estimate which I am about to make, of the expenses of sea and land carriage, the rates must, of course, be those of the present day; this, however, will be to the disadvantage of my argument, as navigation, at that remote period, was in a much more imperfect state, and consequently more tedious and expensive, than it now is. I shall select wool, as a bulky article, and, therefore, more difficult to transport by land. I shall suppose a vessel, laden with 1000 bags of wool, of 450 lbs. each, and that its[323] average passage was thirty days, for which the owners received a freight of 1d. per lb., which, I believe, is about the usual rate for a voyage of that length. Supposing, also, that the average sailing of the vessel, allowing for detentions from contrary winds, and for the time occupied in loading and reloading, be fifty miles per day, making thus 1500 miles. Now, the usual load for a camel is 500 lbs., sometimes 600 lbs., so that 450 lbs. is a very moderate calculation; and at the rate the merchandise of the Pasha is now carried down to Cairo, not more than sixty days would be necessary to accomplish the above distance. They charged me eighteen shillings for twenty days, averaging about twenty-five miles per day; therefore the expense of the sixty days, at present, would not exceed two pounds fourteen shillings; about sixteen shillings more than by water.

In ancient times the expense of labour and camels was not likely to differ materially from what it now is; but that of maritime conveyance must have been much larger. We know the number of men that were necessary to impel the boats, and their system of following all the sinuosities of the coasts. Hence the time taken to accomplish a voyage of any extent must have been very long. The period required by Solomon’s vessels to reach the country of Ophir is a proof of the dilatory, and consequently expensive, navigation in that age. As I have stated in my account of Dongolah, 2500 loads of gum, of 450 rotols each, are carried down to Cairo, that is, a distance of about 1800 miles, for 2l., including all expenses; being thirteen per cent. on the value.

This calculation proves, that the cost of land carriage, particularly for the short journeys to the Red Sea, Kordofan, and Darfour, would be only a slight inconvenience; and even the expense of a regular trade to Fezzan and Bornou, by the route which the Mamelukes took, would have been no very heavy burden on the articles. That on which I have chosen to make this calculation, was, as already observed, one of the most disadvantageous[324] that could have been selected. The expense of 18s. (and I, as a traveller, of course paid the highest price), on conveying, for a journey of twenty days, 500 pounds weight of rich Indian stuffs, or of Arabian spices, must have been quite trifling.

Meroe, therefore, enjoyed the advantage, not only of a direct water communication by the Nile, Bahr el Abiad, Bahr el Azruk, and the Astoboras, to an extent of several thousand miles of the vast continent of Africa, but also, by means of the ship of the desert, had an intercourse with her ports on the Red Sea, and could thence open a communication with Arabia, and through it, perhaps, with India. Thus, also, she could exchange her merchandise or the rich natural productions of the centre of Africa. The circumstance mentioned in my topographical description (page 200.), that in the reign of the fourth caliph after Mahomet, this country was overrun by a powerful tribe from Yemen, and not from the Hedjas, as was generally supposed, renders it very probable, that that part of Arabia in particular had been deeply engaged in the commerce of Meroe. The knowledge thus obtained of its former wealth and power, its then entirely decayed condition, and the facilities afforded by its ports to invaders, were likely to induce a nation, then in full power, and inflamed by religious zeal, to invade and lay waste that country to which it was formerly, perhaps, tributary, or even subject.

A glance at the map is sufficient to show, that the commerce of the Indies must have been much more easily carried on with Meroe than with Egypt; for, whether the Ethiopians navigated directly to India, or received the produce of that rich country, by the caravans and vessels of the Arabians; in either case, she possessed superior local advantages over Egypt. Her ports on the Red Sea were better, the distance far shorter, and the dangerous navigation of that sea in a great measure avoided.

Adule, supposed, by some, to be near the present Arkeko, latitude 15° 30′ N., is called, by Pliny (vi. 29.) the very great emporium[325] of the Troglodytes and the Ethiopians, and the commerce chiefly consisted in ivory, horns of the rhinoceros, hides of the hippopotamus, shells of the tortoise, sphinxes, and slaves.[82] According to Bruce, there are, at the entrance of the Arabian Gulf, the ruins of a place, from which, to Arabia Felix, the passage only requires a few hours. The direct commerce with Arabia, and sale of her manufactures in that populous peninsula, must also have been very great; but the commerce of Africa was, doubtless, the principal source of the power of Meroe.

The superfluity of gold, which Herodotus (in his account of the Ichthyophagi sent as ambassadors, or rather spies, by Cambyses to the king of Ethiopia), describes as being applied to such common purposes, that even the prisoners were bound in chains of that metal, may, perhaps, have been a Greek mode of hyperbolically expressing its great abundance. I believe the supply of this metal to have been drawn chiefly from the interior. Diodorus says (lib. i. 29.), and Strabo repeats the passage, without acknowledging his author, “that island contains mines of gold, silver, iron, copper, and great abundance of ebony, and various kinds of precious stone, και μέταλλα χρυσου τε και αργύρου, &c., but the search of the Pasha after them has been fruitless. She may have derived a certain portion from mines in her own territories, and even in the island, which are now exhausted; but, from the limited traces of such mines hitherto discovered, I conceive it more probable that she obtained that abundance of the precious metals, not only from the now exhausted mines in the Great Nubian desert[83] (see pages 23. and 28.), but principally from the centre or the south of[326] Africa. The Turkish governors now, when they make their expeditions into the Habeesh and the negro countries, frequently amass an immense quantity of gold; it is said, as much as 2000 or 3000 ounces; and before the conquest of the Pasha, I am informed that every peasant girl wore gold ornaments to a large amount. The inhabitants of the countries south of Sennaar are described to me as still possessing great abundance of gold, which must, in fact, be the case, for many merchants have told me that there is always plenty in the markets.

The exclusive commerce which Meroe must have long enjoyed with so considerable a portion of that vast continent, was quite sufficient to raise her to a great height of opulence. The countries of the interior, if not really conquered by her, would, at all events, gladly exchange their gold, and other natural productions, for her manufactures and merchandise, which, doubtless, far exceeded in quality what they made themselves, or could procure elsewhere, being the production of a people more advanced in civilisation and the arts; while they, isolated by immense deserts from the rest of the world, would be little visited, except by the caravans from the metropolis. Gold was, probably, not the only return these countries afforded to Meroe. Brown has given an account of the productions of Darfour, and, as I have said before, 2500 camel loads of gum are sent yearly from Kordofan to Cairo. Iron mines have been found both in Kordofan and Darfour. I have specimens of this metal from the latter country, which is current in the bazaars, like money.[84] I may here remark, that, not improbably, the Ethiopian[327] stone, mentioned by Herodotus as employed to make incisions in the bodies, for the purpose of embalming and forming them into mummies, was iron procured from that country by the Egyptians, who had no mines of their own. Ivory is still found abundantly in Abyssinia, and also in the province of Fazoukl; and elephants are always found in the territory of the Bugara tribe, behind Kordofan. Probably Meroe received many other commodities, with which an imperfect knowledge of those remote regions prevents us from being acquainted; besides others, perhaps, which are no longer produced.

Herodotus (Thalia, 97.) says,—“The Ethiopians on the confines of Egypt, whom Cambyses subdued in his expedition, and those who inhabit the sacred island of Nysa, celebrate festivals to Bacchus. These Ethiopians and their neighbours bring, according to my memory, two half measures of pure gold, two hundred (φάλαγγας) long round pieces of ebony, five Ethiopian children, and twenty-large elephants’ teeth.” This passage reminds me of that magnificent procession in a tomb at Thebes, of the time of Thothmes III. Fifty figures are represented, exclusive of the Egyptians, painted red; six are black, and four of a dark brown, but apparently of the same country. These people, not having the Egyptian dress, are doubtless Ethiopian, and most of them are so called by the hieroglyphics. The splendid presents which they are presenting to the royal owner of the tomb, almost exactly correspond with the account just quoted from Herodotus.

They consist of ivory, ebony, a most beautiful collection of vases, and a variety of animals,—horses, cows, the giraffe, capricorn, leopards, cynocephali, greyhounds, &c. Among a gorgeous pile of offerings appear heaps of gold and silver, skins, precious wood, and indigo. In the same procession are also thirty-seven white people, with very nearly the features of Jews, although many, from the hieroglyphics, consider them to be Scythians. Some of the latter are leading a chariot and horses, an elephant, young[328] children, and one of them a bear; they are also carrying a variety of elegant vases. I conceive these presents, with the exception, perhaps, of the bear, to be chiefly from Ethiopia, and from the richness and elegance of the form of the vases, the abundance of gold and silver, and the curious manner in which the latter is wrought into the form of the heads of animals, we have the very strongest proofs of the exquisite taste, knowledge, and wealth of the Ethiopians: but as this procession is so extremely interesting, so intimately connected with Ethiopia, and is, at the same time, one of the most gorgeous and magnificent paintings that adorn the walls of Thebes, I have selected it from my Egyptian portfolio, conceiving that it will give great additional value to this work to publish it with all the colours, which still exist, almost quite fresh. The hieroglyphics are unfortunately very much defaced, but sufficient remain to distinguish in several instances the names of the people and that of the King, Thothmes III., who reigned about 1500 B.C.

Parts I. II. III. and IV. form the whole of this procession; they are drawn to a scale of two inches to a foot, so that the reader may join them together, if he thinks proper. I will give a detailed description of them according to the plates. The first figure in Part I. has in one hand an ornamented vase, containing perhaps dates or some other dried fruit, in the other, apparently, an ivory club, and a string of precious stones hanging from his arm. The second figure has a couple of feathers in one hand, which are evidently those of the ostrich, from the circumstance of the vase he carries in the other containing the eggs. The third and fourth in this row bear a tree. The fifth carries a bowl, apparently of dates, in one hand, and in the other a couple of ostrich feathers, and a cord to which a leopard is attached. The sixth man has a gold or gilded vase in his hand, and has also charge of a monkey. The seventh bears a log of ebony on his shoulder, and is also leading a capricorn, an animal which abounds near Mount Sinai, and also, I believe, in the Bahiouda desert. The eighth has a[329] log of ebony on his shoulder. The ninth, tenth, and last, are negroes, which may be distinguished from their colour and features. They have blue skull caps[85] and cinctures, with blue and red borders around their waists. The two last are carrying elephants’ teeth, and one of them has a string of precious stones, and the other the skin of a leopard turned inside out. The other negro is carrying a log of ebony, and, as will be observed, the light-coloured veins in that wood are distinctly marked.

The second row of figures in this plate are still more curious. They are called Ethiopians. The cinctures and boots of each individual are of a different pattern, rivalling in variety and elegance the chintz morning dresses of our modern belles. These Ethiopians have their hair dressed in curls above their foreheads, and ringlets hanging down on their shoulders. The first is carrying a piece of an elephant’s tooth and a vase in his hand; the others, eleven in number, are bearing elegant descriptions of vases, apparently of gold and silver; these, although unadorned with figures and mythological subjects, are most exquisite in form, and I am sure the reader will admit their decorations to be most beautiful. Those carried by the third, fifth, and tenth figures of the second row of this plate, apparently contain flowers; whether these are artificial decorations of the vases, or really represent plants,—varieties, perhaps, of the lotus peculiar to Ethiopia—is a question I cannot decide. The necklaces which the third figure is bearing are very elegant, apparently of lapis lazuli and gold. The elegant vase the seventh figure is carrying, is either of ivory or silver.

[330]The third row in this plate contains a most interesting group of Ethiopians. The first figure, bearing a log of ebony and a monkey on his shoulder, is conducting a drove of seven oxen. I might have taken the liberty to restore the forms of the latter; but, as will be seen by the plate, the heads and fore-legs only are still remaining, showing the curious and beautiful manner in which the Egyptians grouped their cattle. Above the oxen is a curious group of dogs, not very unlike the greyhounds that at present exist in Ethiopia. The next group is very interesting; two Ethiopians are conducting a giraffe, admirably drawn. A mischievous monkey is climbing up its neck. The way in which he is conducted, with cords attached to his feet, is curious, and the cincture of the Ethiopians leading him is formed apparently of the skin of a giraffe, they being, perhaps, inhabitants of the deserts where the animal is found. The next, or fourth figure, is leading a monkey, and bearing a vase full of ostrich eggs and feathers. The fifth figure is a negro, carrying a tooth of an elephant and skins; he has a blue cap. I do not believe that such caps were then worn, but that their hair is represented blue, to distinguish it from the colour of their faces, which was black; otherwise, from the same colours joining, it would have appeared as if they wore no hair at all. The Egyptian border is a great finish to the painting. The broad blue streak above the top-line represents the heavens. The ground colour, which is exactly the tint of the original, adds to the richness of the painting, and throws out the white.

Part II. is a continuation of the three rows last described. The four figures in the top row are dark-coloured, but not quite black. This is one of the very few instances in which the Egyptians preserved any degree of difference between the usual red colour and the black of the negroes. The pile of gorgeous offerings in the centre of this plate is magnificent; the first row contains two obelisks, perhaps of granite, beautifully decorated[331] vases containing rings, which, from the hieroglyphics, we find are of gold, sealed bags of the same, and precious stones, and heaps of grain, and apparently fruit. The second row contains still richer offerings: in the first line are two very prettily decorated vases, laden with ingots of silver, and an elegant tray, on which are rings, which, from their hieroglyphics, must be also of silver; and another vase, containing, I think, indigo. The second line comprises some very elegant vases, apparently of gold and silver, and one blue glass bottle: the streaks of yellow in the latter are curious. The third line includes beautifully-shaped vases, which, from the hieroglyphics, are either full of silver and gold, or actually made of those precious metals; and, what is very remarkable in this line, there are several heads of animals, which, from the hieroglyphics, and also from the colouring, are evidently of silver and gold. There is the head of a capricorn, in gold; one of an antelope, and another of a jackall, in silver; and one of a leopard, and of a curious description of bird, apparently a cock, in gold.

The third row is equally rich. In the first line there are rings of gold, and bags, which the reader will remark in the plate, are also sealed; ostrich feathers, logs of ebony, and a cynocephalus, perched comically in the centre. The lower line contains elephants’ teeth, a beautiful skin of a leopard, ingots and rings of gold, and sealed bags of precious stones. At the end of each row is a scribe, writing in his book with his pen an inventory of the different offerings; behind the latter are gentlemen, perhaps of the household of the king, with their white wands of office. All the hieroglyphics above the figure are in the original of a blue colour, as represented, with the exception of the two lines of large hieroglyphics in this plate, forming part of the tablet before a figure of the king, seated; but, as his majesty, in this instance, is very plainly attired, I have not considered it necessary to give a drawing of him.

Part III. contains two rows of figures immediately underneath[332] the three rows of Part I. The people represented in the first row of this plate are all white, with blue eyes, red hair, and pointed beards: they are dressed in long robes, open in front, like the caftans of the Turks. The first group is curious, exhibiting one of these men leading a bear, and having on his shoulders a tooth of an elephant, while behind him is a representation of that animal. The features of these figures resemble those of the Jews: their complexion, and one of them having a long glove in his hand, certainly indicate their coming from a cold country. The elephant must be from Ethiopia: if, therefore, they are the Scythians, as some suppose, they must be employed as slaves bearing the produce of Ethiopia. It is possible that they are natives of the mountains of Abyssinia, who are now so much whiter than the natives of the valley of the Nile of the same latitude; but I think it far more probable that they are white slaves of the king of Ethiopia, sent to the Egyptian king as the most acceptable present. The same people are leading an elegant car and a pair of horses. The plate will show their beautiful manner of drawing that animal, almost equal to the Grecian. The lowest row represents the Egyptians leading two rows of another race of white men. They are without beards, have blue hair and eyes, and are dressed in long gowns: from their position, they must be either strings of prisoners, or recruits drilling for the army: behind them are their wives, curiously dressed, carrying and leading their children. The latter are painted red, as if born in Ethiopia, whither their parents had been brought prisoners. The Egyptian border at the bottom of this plate heightens considerably the effect of the painting.

Part IV., the last compartment of this grand procession, represents, in the upper row, five of the Jewish-looking figures, with their aquiline noses, bearing large vases. The second bears an elegant bow and quiver full of arrows; the third has a long glove in his hand; and the fourth, perhaps, an ivory bottle. The offerings in the centre are almost similar to those I have[333] described before. There are some bundles of reeds, and two vases of a blue article, perhaps indigo. The lowest row contains a group of seven male Ethiopian slaves, recruits I conceive for the army; behind them are their wives and children; one of the latter in a pannier suspended from the head of its mother. The figures in this row are not, like those above, bearing presents; the Egyptian scribe at the end is, however, represented, as in the other instances, writing on his scroll, which confirms the idea that they are slaves forming part of the tribute to the great Egyptian king.

Athenæus (see lib. v.), in his description of the festival given by Ptolemy Philadelphus to the Alexandrians, mentions, that in the procession there was a number of Ethiopians, carrying the teeth of 600 elephants. Others bore two thousand blocks of ebony, and some were loaded with vessels of gold and silver, containing the finest gold. Besides these, there were 2,400 dogs, men bearing trees, and a number of animals, both beasts and birds, parroquets, and other birds of Ethiopia, carried in cages; 130 Ethiopian sheep, 300 Arabian, and 20 from the island of Nubia; 26 Indian buffaloes, white as snow, and 8 from Ethiopia; three brown bears, and a white one, 14 leopards, 16 panthers, 4 lynxes, 1 giraffe, and a rhinoceros of Ethiopia. The reader has only to refer to my drawings to perceive how admirably the procession, represented on the walls of this tomb, erected at the time of Thothmes III., considering it also as a pictorial representation, agrees with the one described by Athenæus, and the tribute mentioned by Herodotus as paid to the Persians 1000 years after the reign of Thothmes.

In the voyage of Scylax round the world mention is made of the Ethiopians. Although the account is rather confused, particularly as to their situation, the description agrees so remarkably, in many instances, with the people represented in these plates, that I cannot refrain from giving part of it. “The nation whom they traffic with are the Ethiopians, who sell them skins of stags and lions, precious stones, skins and teeth of elephants, and droves[334] of domestic animals. The richest furniture of these Ethiopians consists in carved vases, and of bottles of ivory. They wear beards and long hair; they are the most beautiful men on the earth: he who has the finest figure is chosen their chief. They are excellent horsemen, and very skilful archers. They drink milk, but also wine, which they make in great quantities from the vines that they cultivate. They have a large town, where the Phœnicians carry their merchandise. Some pretend that the Ethiopians inhabit a vast territory, extending from Egypt to the sea.” The skins, precious stones, ivory, herds of cattle, carved vases, ivory bottles, long hair, use of the bow and arrows, agree in an extraordinary manner with the representations in these plates. The large town, to which the Phœnicians traded, was, perhaps, Meroe.

This grand procession may perhaps be merely a representation of an amicable present made on the part of the Ethiopians to the king Thothmes; but as that Egyptian monarch waged war against Ethiopia, built the temple of Semneh, and left his name in an inscription on the rocks at Toumbos, this painting (particularly as it is depicted in the most conspicuous part of his tomb) may reasonably be supposed to represent either a tribute from the conquered regions, or the price at which Ethiopia obtained a peace.

When Egypt grew into importance, before the commencement of those wars which were so fatal to the prosperity of the kingdom of Meroe, her colonies in that country would be a great source of wealth; receiving the manufactures of the mother country, and sending back in return the rich productions of the more northern valley of the Nile. The Bahr el Abiad and the Bahr el Azruk would enable her merchants to carry their manufactures among the wild natives of the interior. It is now impossible to say how far that commerce extended in that direction. The difference of religion, supposing it to have existed, was probably not very great, nor does history lead us to suppose, that there existed the same bigotry which now separates the Mahometan[335] from the Pagan. The former religion, particularly at its commencement, was most intolerant; its believers being almost bound to propagate it with the sword. This will account for the little communication which, according to the tradition of the country, has existed for several centuries between the present inhabitants of Shendy, that is, Meroe, and the still wilder tribes of the interior. The Arab princes of this country made excursions into the interior, not as merchants, to exchange the produce of the land, and diffuse the seeds of knowledge and civilisation, but with arms in their hands, to force their weaker neighbours to embrace their faith, and, in later times, to drag their children into captivity; but we cannot suppose that a wise and civilised people could have adopted so impolitic a course. The account given by the historians of the different sects which existed, even in the kingdom of Meroe, prove that toleration was then allowed.

Meroe, therefore, possessed local advantages far greater than have been enjoyed by many great commercial states; and I now hope to show, that her internal resources, until exhausted or decayed, were sufficient to insure a continuation of that prosperity. Her great superiority over other states would consist, not only in the productions of the soil, but principally in her standing singly pre-eminent in civilisation. That science and knowledge of the arts, when applied to commerce, enriched her citizens, and enabled them to indulge their taste for luxury, for architectural ornament, and to encourage her artists. What was of greater importance, it would afford to many the means of devoting their lives to the pursuit of literature; the same activity would, of course, to a certain degree, be applied to the improvement of her manufactures, and the production of useful and ornamental articles, for which the natives of the interior would gladly give in exchange that precious metal, which is only valuable for what it procures.

My article on the state of the arts at Meroe will show the[336] skill and science possessed by her inhabitants; which, with their wealth and commercial habits, would be employed in useful and elegant inventions, with their monopoly of which their uncivilised neighbours would be unable to interfere. I have stated in my topographical description of the pyramids of Meroe, how the evidence of all travellers—that a great part of the soil of Egypt, and the whole of the Delta, has been brought down from Ethiopia by the Nile,—agrees with the testimony of the historians, particularly of Diodorus, and the information they received in a country, the natives of which were more likely to conceal than invent such an account.

The first great source of the power of Meroe was probably the extreme fertility of her soil, and the abundance of her harvests. Those banks, which are now in a great many instances entirely covered by the sands of the desert, were doubtless then overspread with that rich soil which astonishes the traveller in Egypt, and her country was resorted to perhaps by the natives of less favoured climes, as the richest under the sun.[86] With regard to her mines, notwithstanding what Diodorus says, I suspect, as formerly stated, that this great source of her wealth was derived more from the centre of Africa; but it is true that the interior of the island has never yet been fully explored. If any remains of those riches now exist, access to them is almost impossible, at all events for an individual, in consequence of the number of ferocious and terrible animals with which that tract is infested.

[337]I have described Meroe, such as she must have been in the zenith of her greatness,—the emporium of the commerce of interior Africa, the cradle and early seat of arts, science, and civilisation. Such was she in the height of her prosperity; but, as the sun which rises must set, and nation must succeed nation in the career of improvement, I must now endeavour to account for her gradual decline, and the chain of circumstances which finally caused her name to be erased from the list of kingdoms. The first cause perhaps was the failure of her internal resources, in consequence of the Nile carrying down yearly to Egypt a portion of her richest soil, and the deserts encroaching on her plains. She thus became dependent on foreign countries for an adequate supply of those necessaries, of which her territory perhaps formerly produced a superfluity. Those mines also, whether on her own territory or farther in the interior, which furnished such an abundance of the precious metal, would in course of time become exhausted; or accidental circumstances might interrupt her commercial intercourse with the countries which supplied them. Her inhabitants, finding the soil swept away by the Nile, would follow the course of the river, and establish themselves in Egypt. The latter country, besides the extraordinary advantages afforded by it to the cultivators, would, by instructions received from these Ethiopian colonies, almost immediately rise to an equal rank of civilisation and knowledge. We have seen that the same religion, the same mysteries, the same writing, and the same style of architecture, existed in the two countries. The land of Egypt would increase every year in fertility, and the tree of knowledge, planted in that genial soil, would spread wide its branches. The activity too of a more northern region, and the energies of a less corrupted nation, would raise the people of Egypt above those of Ethiopia, then perhaps become more luxurious, and consequently more indolent.

In the earliest ages, Meroe might have profited by a commerce with her Egyptian colonies; the markets of the latter country[338] might, for a short time, have been supplied with produce and manufactures of Arabia and the Indies, from the mother country; but it is not to be supposed that the Egyptians would have been so deficient in intelligence, and the Arabians in common sense, as not to perceive the advantage of a direct communication.[87] The Egyptian ports of Myos Hormos and Berenice, and others, possessed also the advantage of being less distant from the river, and afforded to the Arabians the means of supplying rich and populous Egypt with the productions of the Indies and the peninsula. Philostratus (2 de Vitâ Apollonii, l. iii. c. 35.) says, that a certain prince named Eythus (who is supposed by some, but, I conceive, erroneously, to be Esau) dispossessed the Egyptians of their trade in the Red Sea, making a law, that they should not navigate that sea with more than one merchant ship at a time; but the Egyptians built one of immense size, to supply the place of several. Their trade at that time could not have been very extensive, if it could be carried on by any one vessel; but perhaps, as in the time of Joseph, who (see Genesis xxxvii. 25.) was sold by his brethren to a company of Ishmaelites, the descendants of Ishmael, the son of Abraham by Hagar, 1730 B.C., travelling from Gilead, with their camels, bearing spices and myrrh for the Egyptian market, they had a considerable land commerce with the Arabians: the caravan I have just alluded to must, by the nature of the produce, have come from Arabia.

The Jews, in the time of Solomon, carried on a great trade in the Red Sea, and imported gold from Ophir. “And Huram sent him, by the hands of his servants, ships, and servants that had knowledge of the sea; and they went with the servants of Solomon to Ophir, and took thence 450 talents of gold, and brought them to King Solomon.” (2 Chron. viii. 18.)—“And the Queen of Sheba (chap. ix. 9.) gave King Solomon 120 talents of gold, and of[339] spices great abundance, and precious stones.” And in the same chapter, 13th and 14th verses, we find that Solomon received, “in one year, 666 talents of gold, beside that which chapmen and merchants brought; and all the kings of Arabia brought gold and silver to Solomon.” These passages are important, as showing one particular district of Ethiopia, where gold was found in abundance. The gold brought by the chiefs of Arabia, I conceive not to have been the natural production of that country, but the fruit of their industry and commerce with the Ethiopians. As Solomon was son-in-law to the Pharaoh of Egypt, the latter was, probably, not excluded from the commerce. Ezekiel mentions Ethiopia as one of the upholders of Egypt; and (chapter xxx. verse 9.) he says, “In that day shall messengers go forth from me in ships to make the careless Ethiopians afraid, and great pain shall come upon them, as in the day of Egypt.” The expression “careless,” I conceive, alludes to the security which they, no doubt, felt in their power, and the natural protection their rocky cataracts afforded them for resisting an invader. Their being afraid of ships almost leads me to suppose that they could have had little or no navy, or wherefore that apprehension? for there is no doubt that their land army, even in the most distant times, was very great. I have shown, in my historical chapter, that Zerah, the Ethiopian, marched with a host of a thousand thousand, and three hundred chariots.

But these remarks regard chiefly the navigation, for whether the produce was brought in the vessels of Eythus (whom I conceive to have been an Arabian king), of the Jews, or of the Tyrians (Strabo, c. 16.), or Syrians (Id. 17.), and eventually by the ships of the Ptolemies and Cæsars, little affects the question, as Egypt was, in every case, the emporium of the merchandise. That enterprising spirit and activity which always characterise a rising nation, would lead the Egyptians into the markets of the centre of Africa, and thus inflict another blow on the prosperity of Meroe. We know what Alexandria became, from the immense commerce with the[340] East which it continued to enjoy, notwithstanding the impediments occasioned by the ignorance and barbarism of its governments, until the Portuguese discovery of the passage by the Cape. After that event, which led the commerce of the Indies into another channel, Alexandria and Kosseer dwindled into obscurity, having lost, as Meroe had previously done, that great source of wealth.

Strabo says, quoting from Cicero, that Auletes, the father of Cleopatra, drew from Egypt 12,500 talents, more than two millions and a half sterling. Diodorus only calculated the revenue at half that sum. The observations which Strabo afterwards makes are important. “If,” says he, “the revenue was so considerable, under the negligent and bad rule of that prince, what will it be now that it is governed with so much care, and that the commerce of the Indies and of the country of the Troglodites is increased so much; for formerly,” said he, “they counted only twenty vessels, who dared to advance beyond the entrance of the Arabian Gulf, whilst now considerable fleets sail to the Indies and to the extremities of Ethiopia, whence the most precious merchandise is brought into Egypt, and thence sent into other countries. In this manner they have a double tax on the imports and exports, in proportion to the value of the merchandise;” and he adds, that “Alexandria is the principal depôt for their merchandise, and the place of commerce which furnishes other countries with it in great abundance.” This account is curious, as it shows that, until the time of Strabo, the Egyptian trade with the Indians was not very extensive: its increase would naturally diminish the commercial relations of Meroe.[88]

It is also remarkable, that about the time when Meroe began to decline, Egypt was most famous for her commerce. Psammetichus, who reigned six centuries and a half before our era, almost immediately after the expulsion or retirement of the Ethiopian dynasty, gained great wealth by trade before he was King of Egypt.[341] The richest and most magnificent tombs of private individuals, now remaining at Thebes, belong chiefly to that era, proving a degree of opulence unequalled at any other period.

I have shown, in my historical chapter, that, notwithstanding the diminution of the trade of Meroe with India and Arabia, she was still able to resist the armies of the Egyptians. The pyramids of Geezah and the tombs of Beni Hassan are proofs of the great wealth and power of the latter, even so early as the 16th dynasty; and during the 18th dynasty the Kings Thothmes, Amunoph, &c. invaded Ethiopia. Yet, notwithstanding the power of those princes, it seems, according to the evidence of Herodotus[89], and of the monuments themselves, that Rameses II. was the only Egyptian king who subdued Ethiopia; but a hero sprang up in the 8th century, who, in return, conquered Egypt. Shabak, and his successors Shabatok and Tahraka, reigned over that country forty-four years. The power of Meroe must have been very great, even at that period, to have enabled her armies to make such an important conquest, and extend her sway from Meroe to the Mediterranean. It is also wonderful that it should have been so little impaired by the diminution of her commerce, and the decline of her internal resources. I have described the power of the priests, whose influence was so great at the time of Ergamenes, who was contemporary to Ptolemy, that that prince, who had received a liberal education, had recourse to the violent measure of attacking and slaying them at their altars. The chief cause of the decline of Meroe was probably the injury this theocratic government had inflicted on the country; for we cannot suppose that the people would have submitted to the destruction of the ministers of their religion, had there not been some deep causes of complaint, and a general consciousness that their mismanagement and bigotry had plunged the country into distress. The lamentable decline of the arts at this period proves that the resources of the country were[342] entirely occupied in maintaining a force sufficient to defend it from invasion, and its diminished commerce and wealth offered less means of encouragement to artists. War, not the fine arts and intellectual cultivation, was become the necessary occupation of the nation. The resources of Meroe, even for some time afterwards, must have been considerable, that their Queen Candace could check the Roman arms; but the expedition of Petronius, already described, ruining all the country between Syene and Napata, and destroying the cities which had escaped from the previous desolating war between the Ethiopians and the Egyptians, must have inflicted a deep blow on the prosperity of Meroe. That queen, indeed, followed the Roman army in its retreat, and finally, drove them from Premnis; but the long series of wars would, of course, hasten the decline of a country whose internal resources had long been gradually diminishing. Pliny says[90], that at the time of Candace, which name for many years the Ethiopian queens had assumed, there were few edifices in the city of Meroe; but, after mentioning the holy shrine of Hammon, and the small temple and chapels on the road, bearing testimony to the power of the Ethiopians, he describes the island as once of great renown, having an army of 250,000 men, and 400,000 artificers. The number of artificers, supposing even that in that class are comprised artists, craftsmen, manufacturers, and all labourers not agriculturists, is enormous, and proves a vast degree of industry and civilisation.

Even in the eighth century, after the country had become Christian, her monarchs were so powerful, that it was asserted, about the year 737, that the kings of Nubia and Ethiopia could bring into the field 100,000 horse, and as many camels. When Christianity was spread over Ethiopia, the painter’s and sculptor’s skill would be no longer necessary to make representations of their gods but the ministers of the gospel at that time were more occupied in schismatical disputes, and in making converts to their[343] peculiar and often fanciful tenets, than in propagating the pure principles of their religion, dispelling the darkness of superstition, and advancing the civilisation and prosperity of the kingdom.

According to the tradition which I learned at Dongolah, in the reign of the fourth caliph after Mahomet this country was conquered by the Arabs, and the inhabitants blended with the conquerors, who forced them to become Mussulmen, or drove them out of the country, probably into Abyssinia.

After all that has been said, those who view the present rude and degraded state of this territory may feel a difficulty in believing that it ever could be so enlightened and flourishing as I have now described it. They ought, however, to consider, that it is not more surprising that Meroe, under the uncivilised and ignorant dominion of the Arabs, would lose all knowledge of the arts, than that the little island of Rhodes, once eminent for power, civilisation, and commerce, should now, although not, like Meroe, deprived of her rich soil, be equally ignorant and barbarous. Syracuse, from the same cause, had risen to such a height of civilisation and power, as to be able to resist the vast efforts of the Athenians; and finally, with little assistance, inflict a deadly blow on the prosperity of the city of Minerva. What is Tunis, compared to Carthage? Where are Tyre and Sidon, the cities of Phœnicia? If it was necessary, numerous similar examples might be adduced, of the vicissitudes to which kingdoms and cities are liable. Sufficient reasons have been assigned for the downfall of Meroe. The failure of her commerce; her rich soil carried away, or swallowed up by the deserts, and the consequent diminution of her population; her mines exhausted, and the active rivalry of a nation finally more powerful; the long and ruinous wars with Egypt; and at last the Arabian conquest, swept away every trace of her affluence and civilisation: the invaders, with a brand in one hand, burning her libraries[91] and edifices, and in the other the sword, forcing her[344] subjects to embrace a different faith, and renounce the arts and knowledge of their ancestors.

In a country where the arts are now totally unknown, and which is become little better than a desert, it is not surprising to find commerce reduced to the mere exchange of the most absolute necessaries of life, and a few trifling superfluities. Small caravans occasionally go from Shendy to Abyssinia. Sometimes the rulers of the latter country do not permit them to enter their dominions, and civil wars not unfrequently put an entire stop to the trade; but when, as is generally the case, the merchants succeed in procuring an entrance, they inform me that the profits on their Cairo goods are enormous. They receive in exchange a little ivory; gold, the value of which is several dollars per ounce lower there than in Egypt; a very fine species of cotton scarf, much esteemed and worn by the Abyssinian women in the Turkish harems, and the Abyssinian coffee; which, although not equal to the Mocha, is almost the only kind drunk in Nubia: but their chief return is in slaves. The wars which generally distract that unfortunate country furnish to each state abundance of these victims, which, like cattle, are exchanged with the merchant for the luxuries of Egypt: few are the Turks who have not Abyssinian girls in their harems, and I have seen numerous eunuchs brought from that country. It is horrid to think that beings called Christians should be guilty of such enormities; but there is no doubt of the fact. The slaves, whether girls or boys, by compulsion or inclination, invariably become Mahometans.

A caravan also occasionally goes to Souakim, where they get India stuffs, Mocha coffee, and a great part of the spices, the use of which is so general. Small caravans also go to Kordofan and Darfour. In the former of these countries the Pasha of Egypt monopolises the richest produce, as gum, ivory, and ostrich feathers; but Kordofan is the chief mart of the negro slaves. The jealousy of the King of Darfour against any persons going or coming from the dominions of the Pasha of Egypt, at whose power he[345] trembles, prevents that commerce being now very extensive. The merchants are very illiterate, and in general extremely debauched. Even their interest does not check their dissoluteness, or protect the honour of their poor Abyssinian female slaves. The supply of gold is very much diminished: some, however, is still found, and of the finest quality; but in every direction the caravans regard slaves as the most advantageous exchange for their goods. They drive them like cattle over the burning sands, and, what I have been an eye-witness to, over the bones of their brethren which lie bleaching in the desert. The ingenuity of their masters seems to be exercised, not in alleviating their pains, but in devising how to economise their own purses, by discovering on how little and how coarse food their victims can exist, and what extent of fatigue and suffering they can endure, and still remain saleable. In the district which we have seen to have been once the emporium of the East, there remains only this miserable traffic. Instead of palaces and splendid edifices, there are now only rude and miserable huts. Of the power, civilisation, and wealth of Meroe, not a vestige remains to corroborate the testimony of the historians but a few small temples, and the splendid sepulchres of her departed kings.

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[346]CHAPTER XXII.

ON THE ARTS OF MEROE.

AFFLUENCE WOULD INTRODUCE A TASTE FOR THE ARTS. — THE HEAT OF THE CLIMATE FAVOURABLE TO SEDENTARY PURSUITS. — PRIVATE EMULATION WOULD AFFORD FURTHER ENCOURAGEMENT. — DESIRE OF DISTINGUISHING THEMSELVES BY INTELLECTUAL PURSUITS. — TESTIMONY OF DIODORUS THAT KNOWLEDGE WAS VERY GENERALLY DIFFUSED IN ETHIOPIA. — THE PYRAMIDS OF MEROE THE OLDEST SPECIMENS OF ETHIOPIAN ART. — CIVILISATION OF THE ETHIOPIANS PROVED BY THEIR MONUMENTAL EDIFICES. — THE ETHIOPIANS INVENTORS OF THE ARCH. — EGYPTIAN ARCHES. — ETHIOPIAN SCULPTURE. — PROBABLE CAUSE OF THEIR PECULIAR STYLE. — REASONS FOR PRESERVING IT. — DEFERENCE OF THE PTOLEMIES AND ROMANS FOR THE SUPERSTITIONS OF THE EGYPTIANS. — PLEASING EFFECT OF THE EGYPTIAN AND ETHIOPIAN SCULPTURE. — ADMIRABLE MANNER OF DRAWING ANIMALS, HIEROGLYPHICS, AND THEIR TASTE IN ORNAMENTS. — COLOURING ON ETHIOPIAN SCULPTURE. — THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE ARTS DESCENDED FROM ETHIOPIA. — COMPLEXION OF THE ANCIENT AND PRESENT INHABITANTS. — ACCURACY OF DIODORUS’ ACCOUNT PROVED BY THE MONUMENTS. — TASTE FOR THE ARTS IN A NATION INSEPARABLE FROM OTHER INTELLECTUAL PURSUITS. — WORKS OF THE ETHIOPIAN KING TIRHAKA. — REVIEW OF THE ANTIQUITIES IN ETHIOPIA. — FOLLY OF COMPARING THE PRESENT WITH THE ANCIENT INHABITANTS OF THE VALLEY OF THE NILE.

It has appeared in the preceding chapters, that the kingdom of Meroe was the emporium of the interior of Africa, and from her rich productions, and the abundance of her precious metals, was resorted to by the inhabitants of the regions in her vicinity. This influx of population would naturally oblige many to employ their capital and talent in other pursuits besides commerce. Every branch of industry would gradually improve; a rich and luxurious people would constantly desire new objects to please the fancy, and contribute to the enjoyment of life. The son of the merchant, who had earned great wealth, would, as in our days, be able to reap the fruits of that industry. Some might indulge in foolish extravagance; but others would place their enjoyment in the encouragement of the arts, or in those studies which gratify[347] and enrich the mind, and, at the same time, tend to improve and civilise society.

In so fertile a country, a great proportion of the principal landed proprietors, besides those who had realised large fortunes by commerce, must have been able to pass their lives in literary leisure, and employ their fortune in the encouragement of the arts, and the propagation of science. Even the heat of the climate would contribute to the advancement of civilisation. In Europe, particularly in its northern districts, how many consume a great portion of their time and fortune in the healthy, but rough, amusement of the chase; but in the tropics, the greatest luxury is repose. I have remarked repeatedly, that the rich natives of the climates of the East rarely expose themselves to the heat of the sun, except when necessity absolutely requires it, as on a journey; and even then as little as possible. It is considered one of the greatest advantages of rank and fortune, that its possessors can enjoy the luxury of shade during the whole day, while their less fortunate brethren are obliged to toil under a burning sun.

The same natural causes, operating equally in ancient times, would give to the Ethiopians an inclination for sedentary pursuits, which would be advantageous to their advancement in the different branches of science, as soon as their taste for them had been unfolded. That rivalry which always arises among bodies of men, would urge to the improvement of the arts. The great and wealthy would endeavour to surpass each other in the beauty and magnificence of their palaces, and they would emulously display their piety to the gods, by contributing to the building and decorating the temples, and their munificence and generosity, by the construction of edifices of public utility.

This is not an imaginary picture. Let the reader look at the drawings of Meroe, and candidly say whether, in a country containing[348] architects able to construct such chaste and beautiful monuments, men could have spent the superfluity of wealth, derived from commerce, in mere sensual indulgence? Was the knowledge of architecture, sculpture, and painting, exclusively employed in the construction of the sepulchres of her monarchs and the temples of the gods? Can it be supposed that those who must have had the means, would content themselves with wretched huts, when their wealth enabled them to employ their skilful architects in erecting commodious and elegant habitations, suitable to their rank? Can we imagine that the gentry of a kingdom, famous in antiquity for its civilisation, would spend their time, like the Turks, in listless indolence, and would not seek to distinguish themselves by studies and learning? But Diodorus, speaking of the language of hieroglyphics, says, that, in Egypt, the priests only were acquainted with them, whilst, in Ethiopia, they were generally understood. This shows that civilisation was widely diffused among the people, who apparently were not content, like their neighbours, to view without understanding the tablets of writing and sculpture which ornamented the walls of their temples.

Unfortunately, the remains of pure Ethiopian art, at all events, those of the earliest period, are but few. The pyramids of Nouri, but particularly those of Meroe, must have been built many ages before the temples of Gibel el Birkel, especially the one finished by Tirhaka: the style of the sculpture differs so widely, that a slight examination only is necessary to prove that a long period must have intervened before, in a country like this, the style could have so materially changed. I place, then, the pyramids of Meroe among the earliest specimens now existing of the skill of the Ethiopians. In my description of those ruins, I have extolled the beautiful simplicity of the architecture, imposing, and, at the same time, elegant, in a superior degree to the immense pyramids of Geezah. The sepulchres of Meroe delight us by evincing the greatest purity of taste, while they are not,[349] like the Egyptian pyramids, monuments of the tyranny and oppression of their kings.

The different plates I have given of the sculpture in the porticoes of Meroe, at Gibel el Birkel (see Plates X., XI., and XII., and particularly Plate XI., which contains a number of vases,) display a great degree of elegance, and, perhaps, a refined simplicity, equal to what we find in Egyptian sculpture.

The offerings (see Plate XXIX.) are the animals of the country and surrounding deserts. The group with branches of the palm tree, is quite Ethiopian, and very beautiful; but the splendid procession alluded to, in treating of the commerce, as existing in a tomb at Thebes, is particularly instructive: the Ethiopians are there represented carrying presents to a great man at the time of Thothmes. Besides the ivory, ebony, gold, silver, skins, and animals, enumerated in my last chapter, they are also represented bearing different kinds of vases. These evince a degree of elegance and refinement which has never been surpassed. They are not ornamented with figures like the Phœnician, Etruscan, Greek, and Roman vases, but in taste and elegant simplicity of form they are not surpassed by those of any nation. Such discoveries as these afford the strongest evidence of the civilisation of a people. No learning or profound knowledge of the arts is required to understand, that a nation, among whom have been wrought such rich and magnificent vases as are now to be found in London, could be barbarians.

When a people have attained a certain degree of taste, such knowledge is never confined to one branch. The cultivated minds, which could appreciate such works of art as the pyramids of Meroe, and were accustomed to such a degree of elegance in their domestic ornaments, could not, I conceive, have been uncivilised, generally speaking. These vases, like the chairs and furniture represented on the walls of Thebes, admit us at once to a knowledge of the private life of the people. We cannot doubt[350] the luxury and refinement of the private life of the Egyptians, when we find represented, in one of the tombs of the kings at Thebes, more beautiful patterns of chairs, cushions, &c. than are now to be found in Europe. As little can we imagine, that apartments, ornamented with such elegant vases as the Ethiopians are represented offering to the Egyptians, would not in every other respect be furnished with equal taste. I think, then, that I am not too bold in asserting, that the people who had skill to devise, and ability to execute, such beautiful works of art, are entitled to a very high rank in the scale of civilisation. To the other proofs that they are Ethiopian, I should add, their long curly hair, their peculiar dress, differing from the Egyptian, the similarity with the few vases which I found sculptured on the walls at Meroe, (see Plate XI.) and, most of all, the hieroglyphics written over the procession, which state them to be from the land of Ethiopia.

Another important proof of the extensive architectural skill of the Ethiopians is their knowledge and employment of the arch. In my narrative, I have described that which exists in one of the porticoes of Meroe, having the form of the segment of a circle, and have mentioned also the pointed arch in a pyramid at Gibel el Berkel. Both are constructed on the true principle of being supported only by lateral pressure. The pyramids of Meroe being the oldest, we may say that the earliest specimen of the arch now existing is on the site of the capital of Ethiopia. I conceive it very likely, that the necessity of finding some method of resisting the tropical rains led the Ethiopians to the invention of the arch; as of course, slight even as they are here, they would be obliged to pay more attention to their roofs than in Egypt, where, with few exceptions, sometimes, especially in Upper Egypt, not exceeding once in the year, it may almost be said never to rain. The rains which fall at Shendy are, however, rarely heavy. As I have noticed in my topographical description (page 156.), the only specimens of the arch in Egypt belong to that period[351] when wars existed between the two countries, and the Egyptians would have the opportunity of learning that invention from the Ethiopians. It is also singular, that there is not a stone arch in Egypt regularly constructed, except one, before mentioned, of the time of Psammitichus, who reigned after the Ethiopian dynasty. The only specimens which show the Egyptians to have been acquainted with the true mode of forming one, is a brick arch, erected at the time of Amunoph, and another of the time of Thothmes III. They are formed of crude bricks; the size of which is seven inches by five. (See Vignettes.) Is it not singular, that although these and other brick arches at Thebes are regularly constructed, the specimens there and elsewhere in stone, lead us to infer, that they were acquainted with the beauty of the arch as an architectural ornament, but not with its great utility? I refer to that arch near to the temple excavated out of the rock, in the valley of Hassaseef, at Thebes, of the time of Amunoph, which is formed by approaching stones (see Vignette), and numerous excavations in the valley of the Nile, where the roofs are hollowed slightly into the arched form. As, therefore, no specimen of even a brick arch exists before the reign of those kings who carried their arms into Ethiopia; and as the pyramids of Ethiopia are evidently so very ancient, it seems highly probable that this important discovery had there its origin.

[352]The tomb in which the elliptical arch (see Vignette) exists, is near the valley of the Sepulchre of the Queens, at Thebes. It is almost filled up to the ceiling with mummies, which occasioned great difficulty to get at the spring of the arch. It is a painted tomb, and the roof is plastered; and over the plaster, along the centre, is a line of hieroglyphics, containing the name of Amunoph I.; proving the existence of the knowledge of the arch in Egypt, about fifteen centuries and a half before the Christian era. It is also very remarkable, that this arch is not a segment of a circle, but elliptical. A part of the ceiling being broken, discovered the space between the ceiling and the rock.

On the road from the Memnonium to the valley of the Hassaseef, a little elevated on a rock, is a very small painted tomb, which is also vaulted. The vignette represents the arch of the roof resting on the rock, and the inner arch of a recess at the end. This recess, as likewise the whole tomb, is covered with a coating of plaster; and on one of the jambs of the recess are the titles and prænomen of Thothmes III., “Sun, Establisher of the World,” fifth[353] king of the eighteenth dynasty, who reigned about fifteen centuries before the Christian era. The present access to this tomb is through a hole in the ceiling, from the floor of another tomb. This fracture discovers satisfactorily the construction of the arch. The sections, therefore, of the pointed arch at Gibel el Birkel (see Plate XXVIII.), of the circular one at the site of the metropolis of[354] Ethiopia (see Plate VII.), and this elliptical and circular arch at Thebes, will, I think, satisfy the most sceptical, that the Romans were not the first who were acquainted with the power and principle of the arch. We have here, undoubtedly, the geometrical forms; and in answer to the cui bono of the learned author of the able article in the last Quarterly Review[92], I must state that the Ethiopian arches were obviously invented to resist the rains; as the peasants of Sennaar have conical roofs to their cottages for the same purpose. The brick arches at Thebes, I conceive to have been erected not merely as ornaments, but, as regards the one of the time of Amunoph III., for the purpose of protecting it from the partial decomposition of the calcareous rock, which happens to be there less solid, while the tomb of the time of Thothmes III., being immediately beneath another, suggested the utility, if not necessity, of strengthening the roof with an arch.

The Ethiopian sculpture has the same defects as the Egyptian, as to the manner of representing the profile of the face, but the bodies have a roundness which distinguishes them entirely from the Egyptian. The latter is more graceful and pleasing to the eye, when the traveller is accustomed to that peculiarity of style, but I do conceive the Ethiopian to be, in some respects, more true to nature.

It may be asked why, advanced as the Ethiopians were in the arts, they did not draw the human figure better, and more in accordance with nature. It is difficult, and, I must confess, almost impossible, to explain quite satisfactorily this circumstance. The Egyptians, as I have said, had a style still more unnatural, yet few can doubt their high degree of civilisation. The general form of the figures gives one the idea of their being very early efforts of art. It seems to me very possible, that the invention of the sculptor and painter may have been first exercised on the walls of some celebrated temple; and this defective representation may,[355] from the sacredness of the place, have become the conventional style of the country. The bigotted veneration which the people would naturally feel for those forms under which their divinities were first represented, may have made them consider it lawful, indeed, to improve the delineation, but criminal to attempt to change it entirely.

The Egyptians and the Ethiopians were equally ignorant of perspective. When Egypt was under the dominion of the Greeks and Romans, we perceive that policy and respect for the prejudices of the people prevented those nations from making any innovations in the national style. The differences between the sculpture, at those periods, and during the eighteenth dynasty, cannot be called so much changes, as marks of the great decline of the pure Egyptian art. No figures, on the walls of the temples, are sculptured or painted in the pure Greek or Roman style. Those rulers of Egypt, though of course acquainted with the latter, continued to follow the Egyptian style in all the edifices that they erected. The only instances in which they seem to have deviated at all from this rule, are in some few portraits found on Greek mummies. This renders it probable that there existed a strong religious prejudice on the subject, and that the Ethiopians and Egyptians were as tenacious of the forms and costumes of their divinities, as religious sects, in more recent times, have shown themselves about the dress and appearance of their ministers.

There is, therefore, no reason to suppose, that the Ethiopians were unable to draw figures correctly, because, from reverence to the antiquity of their religion, and the superstition of the people, they did not improve the forms of their divinities. Faulty, however, as that style is, both in design and colour, it has still its attractions, though, in saying so, I may be accused of being an admirer of deformity. Their formality is not inappropriate to sacred edifices. Travellers daily become reconciled to its defects, and at last admire what at first appeared to them so strange.[356] No one can have visited the Tombs of the Kings at Thebes, without an enthusiastic admiration of the beautiful and rich harmony of the colouring, the taste displayed in the ornaments, the spirited execution of the animals and hieroglyphics, and the magical effect of the decorations. We see, in the fragments which still exist, that the Ethiopians drew animals, and also ornaments, very beautifully. We may therefore consider it almost certain, that they could have drawn the human figure better had they been permitted.

There are few traces of colour remaining on any Ethiopian edifice, yet I found sufficient in one of the porticoes of the pyramids of Gibel el Birkel, to enable me to ascertain the important fact, that the colouring was similar to the Egyptian. That of the human body is of the same red tint; and is it not singular that man is represented of the same complexion in Ethiopia as in every part of Egypt? Such a coincidence could only arise from the circumstance of the one people having derived their knowledge of the arts from the other. The colouring of the Ethiopians and Egyptians was of course, like the form of the figure, conventional. Now, I ask the reader, Where is it most probable that this colour was first established? Was it in a country where the inhabitants must have been nearly of that dark tint represented in these sculptures, or was it in one, 1700 miles farther north, where the people must have been, as they are now, yellow, or, comparatively speaking, white. The first colonies which introduced the arts into Egypt would naturally represent their divinities under the same appearance as in the mother country, and the first kings, and other persons making offerings, would of course be the colonists. Impressed with reverence for the first models presented to them, the Egyptians would continue to use this colour, tacitly acknowledging, by this circumstance, that they derived the knowledge of the arts from Ethiopia. There are several representations in Egypt of black men and black queens, but these almost invariably[357] bear the negro features. Even if they were intended to represent Ethiopians, that colour could only be a mark of distinction, afterwards introduced, as of a blacker nation than themselves; for we find the Ethiopians, on their own edifices, represented as exactly of the same tint as the Egyptians of Thebes and Memphis.

If the artist were to paint them of one of the six colours with which they were acquainted,—white, red, green, blue, yellow, or black, the one approaching nearest to what was probably the real Ethiopian complexion, would certainly be the red. We shall be confirmed in this conclusion, if we consider the latitude and the colour of the present cultivators of the soil. Though they speak the Arabic language, they are most probably (and the tradition I heard at Dongolah confirms the supposition) descended from the race of the true Ethiopians, obliged, by force, to adopt the language and religion of their conquerors. That people, from their climate, could not have been white, and, had they been black, they would have so represented themselves. The Copts, the descendants of the Egyptians, are fairer than the Fellaheen, yet the latter look white in Ethiopia, contrasted with the present inhabitants of that country. It must also be considered that the Arab conquerors, being from the southern part of their country, and therefore darkened by the climate and the desert life they led, would, to a certain extent, give a darker tint to the Ethiopians; nevertheless, I have given views of some Berbers whose complexions are decidedly lighter than they are represented on the walls. (See Plate XVI.) We must recollect also that it has ever been a custom of the Orientals to represent themselves and their mistresses as beautifully fair. The present Ethiopians esteem nothing more than a light complexion. Before they were accustomed to Europeans, they looked with horror on what they considered their unnatural whiteness; but if an Ethiopian is celebrating in a song the charms of his mistress, he dwells with the greatest rapture on her fair skin. The petty kings seek wives of equal rank with themselves,[358] chiefly on account of their fair complexion, which the daughters of the meleks acquire by being generally confined to the house; particularly as all mixture with the negro blood is carefully shunned. The colour most approaching to nature, if this conventional one had originated in Egypt, would certainly have been the white, or rather light yellow. Such must have been the colour of the Egyptians; and we cannot suppose that they would pay themselves so bad a compliment as to represent their complexion so many shades darker than it must really have been. Here then we have another great proof that civilisation and art descended the river. I have mentioned, in my topographical description, the passages of Diodorus which state shortly, but explicitly, that the Ethiopians stated the Egyptians to have derived all their knowledge from them. The inquiries of that intelligent traveller penetrated through the veil which the pride of the Egyptians, jealous, and anxious to magnify their antiquity, had thrown over the origin of their institutions; and when to this national propensity we add the obstinate wars, which would naturally eradicate every attachment to their parent land, and induce them to conceal their obligations to Ethiopia, it appears surprising how that intelligent traveller should have been able to ascertain the fact, that civilisation descended from Meroe. Diodorus had no object in inventing that account; and if the Ethiopians gave it to him in Egypt, he had there the means of ascertaining the truth from the priests and other learned men, who, no doubt, were acquainted with the fact; and would have contradicted it if he had not believed it. Herodotus apparently heard a similar account. He visited Egypt during the time of the Persian dynasty, while Diodorus was in that country little more than half a century (sixty years) before Christ, when the philosophy of the Greeks may have penetrated through the pride and false pretensions of the Egyptian priests. Herodotus states that the Egyptians believed themselves to be[359] from where the race of man first existed (ἐξ οὗ ἄνθρωπον γένος ἐγένετο). He mentions that the Thebaid was Egypt before the formation of the Delta[93]: the increase of population forced them to spread themselves down the valleys, emigrating from the Thebaid to the Delta, in the same way, no doubt, as they originally emigrated from Meroe. There is one question connected with this subject, which, I must confess, is an important one; namely, by what language the hieroglyphics of both countries are to be interpreted. Is it by a common one, as emanating from the same origin, or by a different one in the two countries? I shall not now commit myself by a discussion and hasty opinion on a subject which I hope to be better able to treat, as I extend my acquaintance with hieroglyphics, and with the Coptic and the Ethiopian languages. It seems to me, however, that if the Egyptians derived their knowledge of hieroglyphics from Ethiopia, they would, of course, receive from the same source the language by which they were explained.

With regard to the early literature and science of the Ethiopians, we know them only by the monuments; but we may rest satisfied, that they could not have been neglected in a country where, as Diodorus says, the language of hieroglyphics was generally understood. The existence of these on the walls of the porticoes of the pyramids, is a proof that some at least were acquainted with them. It is a very remarkable circumstance, which, even at the hazard of repetition, I must impress upon the reader, that notwithstanding the little sculpture and the few monuments that remain, there is sufficient to corroborate the very words of Diodorus. The reader who has examined my drawings will agree with him, that the Ethiopians buried their dead with as much pomp as the Egyptians; the processions were the same; and although there is some little difference in the style of the sculpture and hieroglyphics,[360] it certainly is my conviction, that the Egyptian style had, as he very correctly expresses himself, its origin in Ethiopia.[94]

[361]History affords no example, at least that I know, of a people being so advanced in the fine arts, without at the same time having applied themselves to the cultivation of the sciences, of history and philosophy. Their religion, as I may show on another occasion, evinces their acquaintance with metaphysics, not being a gross mythology, but the worship, under different forms, of the one great Divinity, whose attributes are manifested in the wonders of the creation. A people who had evidently so much taste for the arts, must have been sensible to the charms of study. Those who had the means would naturally wish to distinguish themselves, or at least their children, by various literary acquirements. Individuals seeking to elevate themselves above the common level would rise together, and what was at first an extraordinary attainment would become necessary to secure admittance into society.

The remarks which I have hitherto made on the arts of Ethiopia are chiefly applicable to their earliest period. In my narrative I have mentioned, that there are still the remains and traces of 80 pyramids at Meroe, 42 at Nouri, and 17 at Gibel el Birkel. In the few which are now nearly entire, the porticoes are decorated with figures sculptured in the round and bulky Ethiopian style. It is impossible now to determine positively whether these are representations of private individuals, of kings, or of members of different royal families. They represent in several instances, two persons,—a king and his wife, and there is one instance of a queen only. The tombs which we can ascertain, from the hieroglyphics, to be those of kings and queens, being not of superior, or even equal magnitude with many of the others, I think it not unreasonable to conclude, that every one of them was erected[362] for a sovereign or some members of a royal family. If they were each of a king or queen who had reigned alone, the immense number which can even now be traced, independent of the many which the desert has swallowed up, would carry us back to an earlier era than can be admitted, for it is evident, from the style of the sculpture, and other appearances of the monuments, that they were erected long previous to the time of Tirhaka, (730 years B.C.)

That Ethiopian king, who reigned over Egypt, constructed a magnificent temple at Gibel el Birkel, which city, if not the place of his birth, and at one time the seat of his empire, was at all events peculiarly favoured by him; for we do not see his name on any Ethiopian edifice, except on an altar in the great temple, and on the walls and columns of the temple of Athor at Birkel.

Part of the temple of Tirhaka is excavated out of the rock, either in imitation of those he had seen in Egypt, or it may perhaps be a more ancient temple, added to and decorated by that king. The style of sculpture at that time was tolerably good, very like the Egyptian, but by no means equal to the best at Thebes. The architecture, however, seems to have then very much declined. The columns of Athor and the deformed Pthah in the temple built by Tirhaka, are very inferior to the fragment we have at Abou Naga, and the great temple at Gibel el Birkel, built, perhaps, by Pionchei, probably a much more ancient king. That edifice, for magnificence, may be compared to any in the valley of the Nile. I may here also remark, that, notwithstanding the great pecuniary resources which Tirhaka must have possessed, as king of two such rich and powerful countries as Egypt and Ethiopia, still the temple erected by him is not to be compared to the splendid edifice of his predecessor.

It is singular, that, with the exception of the remains of this large temple, and some other less important vestiges of smaller edifices there, the colossal statues of Argo, the Ethiopian temple of Amarah, the fragment of an Ethiopian ruin at Naga, on the[363] Nile, and the Ethiopian temples at Mecaurat or Naga, in the desert (see Cailliaud), there are no remains of any sacred edifice of an earlier period than Tirhaka, or indeed of a later, except the ruins at Wady el Owataib. The sepulchres of the kings only are standing. The temples which remain in the best state of preservation above the second cataract are those of Semneh, built by Thothmes III., an Egyptian king, and the magnificent temple of Solib, built by Amunoph III., also an Egyptian monarch. Petronius, in his hatred for every thing that was Ethiopian, probably destroyed all the edifices which had escaped from the ravages of previous wars.

If Gibel el Birkel was Napata (as it is considered by many), the temples might have been destroyed by Petronius, but I have before stated, that I cannot conceive it to be that town. We must therefore attribute its destruction to an earlier era, or to the Christians or Arabs. The great temple of Gibel el Birkel must have required great labour to demolish it so utterly. The immense and massive columns and thick walls would have lasted for ages, had they not been destroyed by violence. As no attempts have apparently been made to restore these edifices, the place was perhaps deserted, and the name erased from among the list of cities. My drawings, plans, &c. of the temples of Semneh, Solib, and the small temple at Gibel el Birkel, will show that they are exceedingly ruined, yet not with the same dreadful destruction as the large temple at the latter place, and others, of which scarcely a vestige remains.

Some of the pyramids of Gibel el Birkel and Meroe bear evidence of the greatest violence having been employed to destroy them, whereas others seem injured only by time. The demolition of the former, may, I conceive, be entirely attributed to the avarice of the Mahometans. The very nature of the construction of the pyramids would certainly present greater difficulties in destroying them, but this could not have been the motive in forbearing[364] from the attempt; for all events it would have been easy for the levellers of whole rows of immense and lofty columns to demolish entirely every portico. That respect for the sepulchres of the dead, which has existed in every age, among civilised and uncivilised nations, prevented probably the devastators from violating the pyramids of Meroe and Nouri, whilst, at both those places, every trace of the temples has been obliterated. Religious bigotry must have been the cause of this violence. The invaders, while they respected the habitations of the dead, the sepulchres of ancient kings, might consider the destruction of the sanctuaries to be the surest mode of eradicating every trace of the idolatrous worship of Ammon.

The monuments of Ethiopia present unfortunately no regular series of edifices by which we might trace the progressive rise and subsequent decline of the arts. There is as wide a difference between the most ancient sculpture and architecture of Meroe and that of the time of Tirhaka, as between the latter and the far more modern edifice, the ruins of which are now called Wady el Owataib. In my description of the latter, (see narrative, Chapter VIII.) I have stated my belief that it was erected during the last stage of the arts. The confused and extremely defective plan, and the wretched style of the sculpture, are proofs that it must have been built very long after the reign of Tirhaka. I have mentioned also that, from the design, and from a certain affectation of Greek ornaments, particularly in the fluting of the columns, I conceive it not improbable, that this, and also, perhaps, the Greek edifice at Mecaurat, were erected by the Ethiopian king Ergamenes, who had a Greek education, and was contemporary with Ptolemy Philadelphus.

It will be remarked, that there is a vast difference between these monuments in Ethiopia, and the magnificent architectural edifices erected at that period in Egypt; but we must recollect, that the dynasty of the Ptolemies infused fresh vigour into every pursuit connected with the prosperity of the country. The first kings of[365] that dynasty occupied themselves almost exclusively in promoting the commerce and encouraging the literature and arts of the country. The sculpture indeed was then very inferior to the pure Egyptian; but their temples, notwithstanding this inferiority, may rank among the most splendid edifices which ornament the banks of the Nile, or even any part of the world. But Meroe did not enjoy the same advantage. The extended commerce of her rival would of course diminish more and more her own prosperity. Her territory declining continually in richness and affluence, and her commerce impaired, her kings, instead of occupying themselves in encouraging the arts, would require all the resources of the state to save them from becoming the prey of their more powerful neighbour.

The next and only additional edifice which I have now to notice, as marking the last epoch in the history of the arts of Meroe, is the Christian church opposite Gibel el Birkel. As we have no certain ground to suppose that Christianity was much spread in Ethiopia before the year 330[95], a later date cannot be assigned to that structure. I conceive it to be one of the earliest Christian edifices erected in that country, as I have remarked, in my description of it, that it is ornamented with the Ethiopian cornice and beading. This is the most modern architectural construction that now remains in Ethiopia.

The Arabs at their invasion do not seem to have brought with them the talent and means to erect any of those splendid mosques which they have reared in honour of their prophet in other climes. I have elsewhere described the dwellings of the present inhabitants. They are miserable mud and straw huts, some of the latter having conical roofs, a remnant of the knowledge of the arch. The fortified castles of the chiefs are superior to these, but necessity only has taught them to build towers and thick walls for their protection: nothing can be more barbarous and rude than their[366] internal structure. For the man who has made himself independent, or is ignorant, of the luxuries, elegancies, and comforts of life, they are perhaps sufficient, since they afford shelter against the summer heat, the occasional showers of rain, and the winter cold; but it is impossible to have a more striking evidence of the effects of civilisation, than the contrast between the wretched abodes of the present inhabitants of Ethiopia, and the magnificent sepulchres of her departed kings.

Some writers even of ability affect to doubt the civilisation and great power of the Ethiopians and Egyptians, particularly the latter. They reason on the present condition of the country, without reflecting on the great changes it has undergone. I may add, that they display little knowledge of Egyptian subjects, and even of the history of the arts in general. They would otherwise be aware of the time necessary for a nation to acquire the degree of taste, knowledge, and affluence, necessary for the construction of such edifices as those still existing in the valley of the Nile. Setting aside altogether the authority of historians, let us only compare the present inhabitants, who are almost destitute of any ideas or information, incapable even of rearing for themselves a suitable abode, with a nation whose architectural proficiency has never been surpassed, and whose advancement in so many branches of science and civilisation is established by the indisputable evidence of lapidary inscriptions. It were vain to expect to find at the present day in this part of Ethiopia, an individual capable of constructing such edifices as we have seen existing at Meroe. I do not hesitate to say, that were it possible to transport one of the pyramids of Meroe entire to London, it would be considered one of the most chaste and beautiful ornaments of our metropolis. Though constructed more perhaps than three thousand years ago, it might, even now, be studied with advantage by our artists and architects.

When such observations are applied to Egypt, the answer is[367] still more easily made. Where in Europe is there an edifice like the great temple at Karnak, one hall of which contains 140 columns, 36 feet in circumference, dimensions rarely to be found in Europe, and every portion of that splendid court covered with carefully finished and painted sculptures? Having, however, trespassed so long on the reader’s patience, I must not now allow myself to enter on the subject of Egyptian art. I will only say, in conclusion, that the materials used in the pyramids of Memphis are sufficient to construct a city, and that no palaces of Europe are comparable in splendour to the Tombs of the Kings at Thebes.

THE END.