Travels in Kordofan

The ostrich may be reckoned among the most useful birds; for its flesh is eaten, and that of the young birds is of very pleasant flavour. The price of a young ostrich is five piasters (1s. 5½d. sterling). The eggs are also eaten, one of them is sufficient to satisfy four persons. The egg-shells are exported as an article of commerce, but the feathers return the largest profits. A full-grown ostrich will always yield three rottoli of black feathers, and half a rottolo of white plumes. The greater number of these birds are caught in Caccie in snares, placed on a plate, matted from the wood of a species of willow, perforated with holes, and buried in the sand. The gin itself, which is laid upon this plate, is bound to the nearest tree, or to a piece of wood. As many as fifty of these are laid in a certain spot. If an ostrich, or a gazelle, happen to stray into these parts, and set its foot on one of the plates, the snare opens; and as soon as the leg is withdrawn, it closes again, and the animal is caught. It would, indeed, be almost impossible to capture one of these birds in any other way, for they are exceedingly cautious, and very quick of sight; as soon, therefore, as they descry a man approaching them, they immediately take to flight. To overtake the bird, even with the fleetest steed, would be a matter of great difficulty, for, scarcely touching the ground with its feet, it runs so fast, that it appears almost to fly; and the illusion is still greater when the motion of its short wings is observed, which it uses as propellers.

The natives of Kordofan draw but little profit from all these products of the animal and vegetable kingdoms; for, independently of their not understanding how to turn the various articles to advantage, or rather to perfect them by art or industry, they are too lazy to do any thing more, than is necessary for their absolute maintenance. Very few artisans are, consequently, to be found among them: they consist of a few weavers of calicos, smiths, tanners, and potters. The cottons the natives produce are not sufficient for the supply of the country, hence the greater part of the consumption is imported from Dongola, Egypt, and Europe. Not that there is a deficiency of the necessary means for cultivating a larger quantity of raw cotton, or for manufacturing it; but they will not take the slightest trouble about it, because all their labour would be purchased by the government at an arbitrary price, which would not repay the workman for his trouble, and they, therefore, prefer to lie about idle all the day long, or to pass their time with useless games. It is really an interesting sight to watch a weaver at his work; and I know not which is more astonishing, the simplicity of the implements with which he toils, or the patience he displays in his occupation. The weavers can only work in the dry season, because their houses are too small to allow them to fit up a loom in them; they consequently place the frames close to the door of their huts, and work in that situation. An European weaver, even the most expert in his art, would be greatly puzzled if put to one of these looms, and would scarcely know how to begin his work, so primitive are they in construction. Four stout sticks, are driven into the ground, to which the reed and other parts of the apparatus are attached; the weft is expanded at a distance of scarcely one span from the ground, bound to a pole to which a stone is attached, and then drawn along with it. The frame is of the dimensions the piece manufactured is required to have, and is sometimes twenty ells in length. The weaver stands in a pit before his loom, and casts his shuttle at a venture. With every second throw his thread breaks, and then it takes him double the time to tie it again; but nothing disturbs the equanimity of the weaver, he ties his knot with the greatest patience, and again throws his shuttle, again breaks his thread, and again readjusts it. Thus it is impossible to conceive the space of time required to finish a piece about twenty ells in length. They do not understand how to manufacture woven goods from goats’ hair.

The smiths are the most industrious workmen; they fabricate all the necessary household and agricultural implements, are at the same time miners, and smelters of ore; for they dig the iron from the bowels of the earth themselves, and melt it after a very simple process; but they do not understand how to harden it. They have no fixed workshops, but arrange them wheresoever they may happen to find work; the fitting up of the forge costs them but little trouble, for a large stone is soon found on which they place a piece of iron, this serves them then as an anvil; close to this essential instrument, they construct a small furnace, to which a leather sack, answering the purpose of bellows, is attached. They make no heavy objects, for, beyond spear-heads, hashiash, (an agricultural implement,) double-edged, and arrow-pointed knives of various sizes, they cannot produce any other article. Their work is not well rewarded; for the minerals, such as the iron or charcoal cost them scarcely anything, and thus they can only bring their manual labour into calculation. Their tools are not particularly complicated, and consist merely of a few hammers and of a pair of pincers.

The potters manufacture one single kind of vessel (Bursha) in form of a bomb, but with rather a wider neck, and this is used as a receptacle for water, for boiling, roasting, and for keeping merissa in; they make, further, a round and rather deepened plate (Doga) for baking bread, and pipe-heads more of a German shape than like the Turkish bowls; all these articles are, however, perfectly plain without the slightest attempt even at ornament.

There are many tanners in the province who tan the leather by a most simple process, in which they employ the Garat,[65] the pod of a tree. They also manufacture the water-holders, the larger of which, are termed Rai, the smaller Ckir’beh;[66] the latter are generally made of goats’ hides, as in Egypt; the goats being skinned for this purpose like hares; the interior of the skin is merely tanned, whilst the hair is left externally; leathern bags are also fabricated to serve the office of churns. Of leather they produce further sandals, shoes, rahads, and, lastly, shields. The rahad is a girdle fringed by many thousands of small straps, and is generally one, or half a span in length; the girls wear these fringes round their loins, and they are usually decorated with agates and small shells. Shields are mostly manufactured from the hide of the large antelopes; they are of an ovoid shape, furnished with a protuberance in the centre. On the inner surface, a piece of wood bisects them longitudinally, to which two straps are attached to receive the arm; they are very stout, for a thrust with a spear or a sabre-cut scarcely ever penetrates them. The sheep-skins they tan very neatly, and impart to them a red, yellow, green, or other optional colour, by means of the juice of certain plants; the natives bind their shoes, ornament their sandals, or sew up charms with this coloured leather; they also prepare sheaths for knives and other articles from it.

The women plait some very ornamental articles from the foliage of the Palma Thebaica, further, bread-baskets named Tabak, covers for dishes, mats, &c. They dye the leaves in different colours, and decorate them with patterns that are really astonishing. They also manufacture funnels for straining merissa, and baskets for keeping milk. The latter so densely worked that, when the fluid has once permeated them, they do not even leak. Every description of work performed in this country is very simple, and it is only to be wondered at, that the natives are able to produce thus much, as they labour under a deficiency of implements of all kinds.

CHAPTER XIV.
THE CAPITAL OF KORDOFAN, LOBEID.

Lobeid, or Labayet, as it is also termed, is a town composed of several villages, from one of which it neither differs in its external appearance nor internal arrangements, excepting, perhaps, in being of greater extent. The houses, like those of the villages, are mere huts of straw, some few of them are, indeed, built of clay, but not one single house is of stone. The former town of the same name was totally destroyed by the Turks when they took possession of Kordofan, and the six villages, of which the capital of this province now consists, were subsequently built on the same site. Although these villages are not separated from each other by the intervention of a large space, yet each of them forms a separate quarter, and is inhabited by a distinct class of men. Wady Naghele, the first of these, is entirely inhabited by the Dongolavi and foreign merchants; El-Orta, the camp, also named the town of the Turks, is the quarter in which the government buildings are situated, consisting of two Barracks, the arsenal, the hospital and the residences of the officers, and of many married soldiers living out of barrack; in this quarter of the town the Bazaar is also seen. Wady Soffie is the place of abode of the negroes who immigrated with the Melik-Moussalem; Takarir or Takruri, is the village of the pilgrims, where the greater part of the negroes from Pergu and other districts reside. In this part of the town the straw-huts of Abumedina, the brother of the Sultan of Darfûr,[67] are also situate. In Kongeri those emigrants from Darfûr dwell, who have become residents, and remained after the conquest of the country by the Egyptian troops. The sixth village includes the new buildings of the Mogghrebeen, who are not provided with barracks, and have themselves built their own dwellings. These six villages collectively form the town of Lobeid. I estimate the number of inhabitants, exclusively of the military, at 12,000 souls. The houses named in the language of the country, Tukkoli, are mostly huts, similar to those described on a former occasion. The town does not present a very pleasing appearance, and is, on the whole, exceedingly dull and dismal, for very few large houses are to be seen, and not even one minaret, met with in nearly every village in Egypt, which, with the date-trees planted around them, give those villages at least a more cheerful aspect.

Nothing can be more monotonous than the appearance of the town during the dry season, when the detached houses present themselves with all their defects and meanness, and the scanty trees and gardens offer no diversification of scenery; for the former then stand as bald as brooms, and the latter are not even thought of. The burning sand, moreover, serves to remind the traveller that he is in a desert, and there is not the slightest object to be seen that might delight his eye.

How marked is the contrast in the rainy season! It is difficult to persuade yourself that it is the same place you have shortly before seen standing in barren nakedness. All those spots, where nothing but sand was to be observed before, are now clad with a most luxuriant verdure, interspersed with the most beautiful flowers. The hedges round the houses are interlaced with a variety of creepers and twining plants, whose variegated flowers afford a most pleasing spectacle. The environs of the houses are cultivated with dockn, which stands so high that the tops of the roofs are only to be seen projecting beyond it; not a single house can be descried at a distance, and the whole country appears like one large forest. The entire town then resembles a park intersected by mazes, rendering it difficult for a stranger to extricate himself, or to find out a particular house. His embarrassment is greatly augmented by the circumstance of there being several thousands of small straw huts, and by the close resemblance of the houses to each other—for all are built alike—so that the stranger experiences much trouble in even recognising the house he may be lodging in. But all this is in its way unique, and diverts the eye. The traveller wanders with pleasure through these thousands and thousands of intricate paths, and is delighted at every step with the beautiful variations in the scene. At this time, however, the tropical showers set in, bringing a number of disagreeables in their train; for the rain falls so suddenly, and in such abundance, that the soil in some places cannot absorb the water with sufficient rapidity; and thus streams are formed, or the ground is ploughed up into beds, which fill in an instant, rendering the intercourse between one quarter and the other, or even from house to house, very difficult, if they do not totally impede all communication. There are no bridges, not even as much as boards laid down to facilitate the passage over these brooks, and he who is obliged by business to go out immediately after the rain, has no alternative but to wade through all these streams and puddles barefooted. It would be impracticable at this period to ride a donkey even, for notwithstanding their sureness of foot, the ground is so uneven that they must tread into holes, and both man and beast would run the risk of being drowned. Nearly every year there are instances of loss of life from men venturing to go from hut to hut by night, and it is really advisable to remain confined to the house until these torrents are lost in the sand, as is very soon the case.

As soon as the harvest is concluded, and the stubble is quite dry, the natives proceed to burn the remaining herbage. This occupation offers a very singular spectacle. The grass is in part collected into heaps, and old and young congregate around them to witness the exhibition which ensues: the pile is ignited, and a dense smoke issues from it. Disturbed by the fumes, and frightened by the noise of the multitude, thousands of locusts, which had lain concealed in the grass, fly up, but are quickly seized upon by the bystanders, impaled and roasted, and offered for sale in the market-place, at the price of five for one para or hassasch; they constitute a favourite dish with the natives, by whom they are greedily devoured. After this act of purification the place again presents itself to view in all its nakedness, and many other matters come to light, which had hitherto been hidden by the grass: bones of men and animals lie scattered about in all the roads, for no one thinks it worth his trouble to inter them. The cause of this barbarity will be readily understood when it is known that, as soon as a slave dies, a rope is bound round his foot, by which he is dragged out of the hut with as little ceremony as a dead beast, and scraped into the sand anywhere, or even left to decompose in the grass until the hyænas come to gnaw his bones in the night; the remains are devoured in the morning by the dogs, two or more of which may not unfrequently be seen fighting over a human arm or foot. The hyænas are really in some respects a blessing to these countries, they are, in fact, the scavengers, consume all the dead bodies and garbage, and thus prevent the air from being poisoned with miasmata and nauseous vapours. A fallen animal is treated in the same manner as a dead slave; it is thrown on to the neighbours’ territory, and is likewise devoured in the night by the beasts of prey; whilst the remainder is enjoyed during the day by the hungry dogs, in company with greedy vultures, eagles, and other rapacious birds. The places of sepulture are not held sacred by these uninvited guests; for the dead bodies being generally very superficially covered over with earth, they are disinterred at night by the hyænas and ravenous dogs, and totally consumed, or the remains are left exposed in the high roads.

Lobeid counts five mosques, only one of which is a brick building. This is situated in the quarter of Wady-Naghele; it is quite a plain edifice, without that decoration so generally observed about the places of worship in Egypt. All the other public buildings, as also the houses belonging to the chief Turks, are simple huts of clay, differing from the others merely in their internal arrangements, which consist, however, only in the construction of a few divans. There are three barracks at Lobeid, constituted by a series of straw-huts, likewise about fifty in number, which are enclosed by a fence, furnished with an entrance, the gate of which is represented by a large branch of a tree. The hospital, that terror of all the soldiery, is also erected of clay. One of the largest buildings in Lobeid is the governor’s residence. It is distinguished from the other houses only by its magnitude, and a rather more comfortable arrangement of its interior, for in construction it resembles all the other buildings. There is, in fact, no choice of material; thus the palaces of the great, and the hovels of the lower orders, are raised of clay, and their outer walls covered with a coating of cow-dung. Besides a large saloon and court, the government-house has an orangery. In the court, at the back of the house, the divan, or chamber of audience, is situated, where public business is transacted, and the visits are received of foreigners and natives, as also of all subordinates, who, according to Eastern custom, are obliged to do honour to the governor periodically. To the left of this saloon is the lesser divan, as it is called, in which a captain disposes of the less important matters, or arranges disputes, and other trifling affairs, that the governor may not be unnecessarily troubled. The scriptoria of the Coptic secretaries, met with in all Mehemed Ali’s divans are situate on the left of the court. During my residence in Kordofan, Mahommed Bey, colonel of the first regiment of the line, was at the same time civil and military governor of the province. This man, a Circassian by birth, who was brought as a slave to Egypt, became a mameluke of Mehemed Ali’s, and in a short time rose to his present high station. He is a man of very limited capacity, without the slightest education, and is entirely governed by his dependants and flatterers. Besides his ignorance, he possessed a very large share of pride, and knew how to keep up the appearance of great importance and dignity; he passed, however, the greater part of his time in conversation with a fakeér, to whom he paid far more attention than to his other subordinates, and whose visits were far more agreeable to him than those of his officers. He could not write at all, could read but little, and only understood how to make the impression of his kashef[68] (seal). If instructions, or other orders, arrived from Cairo, his secretary, a copt, was obliged to read them aloud, and when he came to a passage which was to be kept secret, he stopped him, and ordered him to finish it in his private room; the reports for Egypt were then laid before him to seal with his kashef: the remainder of his time he passed in smoking, and drinking coffee; he very rarely walked in the open air, or rode. To drink twenty or thirty cups of coffee daily was to him a trifle, for as soon as a visitor arrived, he merely looked at the attendants in the apartment, who understood his meaning instantly, and brought coffee and pipes, the former was kept in an adjacent room continually on the fire. It is a rule and should be made general to pay the governor visits of etiquette, as they are termed, at certain times, for the Turks attach great importance to this custom, and a neglect of this mark of respect might give offence. Very often visitors arrive, who, after a mute salutation, sit down, as soon as invited to do so, drink the coffee presented to them, and in a short time rise, taking their departure as mutely as they came, with a silent greeting.

The ammunition, and other military stores, are contained in an appropriate building, enclosed by a mud wall, and surrounded by a fosse, which is, however, scantily supplied with water during three months, and remains empty for the remainder of the year. The wall is constructed of clay, and might easily be breached by stones. It may be imagined what superintendence is there prevalent; and it is really astonishing that an invasion is not undertaken on the part of the natives of Darfour to revenge themselves for the loss of their stolen camels, more especially at the time of the slave-hunts, when nearly the whole of the military force is absent, and the entire garrison of Kordofan does not consist of six hundred men. They might very soon, and with but little trouble at that time, capture or destroy all the military supplies, and before a reinforcement could be despatched from the Nuba mountains, the enemy might plunder and sack everything without meeting with the slightest resistance.

Opposite the government buildings the gallows is erected. This engine of civilization is composed of two posts driven vertically into the ground, and surmounted by a cross-beam, to which the victims of a rigid penal law are suspended, without further ceremony. Not far from the fatal scaffold is an elevation, or clay mound, furnished with a few steps, where the priest reads a prayer on high-feasts, the service being only attended by the male population of the town. The Soock, or proper market-place, is contiguous to this mound. It would be an egregious fallacy to imagine that order reigned here predominant, as in other towns in the equally uncivilized East; for not only are all objects intended for sale jumbled pell-mell together, and exposed without consideration to the inclemencies of the weather, and other destructive influence, but it costs, moreover, indescribable trouble to obtain even such articles as you may be willing to purchase. Close to this market-place on the right, stands the only coffee-house in the whole province of Kordofan. In the year 1838 it was closed, and no tenant was to be found for a considerable time on account of the high rent demanded by the government; the price of coffee had also risen at this period to eighteen piasters (five shillings and threepence) the rottolo (about three quarters of a pound), as none had arrived from Abyssinia. In the year 1839 the establishment was again opened by the new governor Yussuff-Bey, in consideration of this beverage being so indispensable to the Turkish officers.

The remaining store-houses consist of three walls of clay covered in by a thatched roof; the goods are here laid down on the sand and exposed, as I before mentioned, to all weathers. The upper part of the market-place is appropriated to the sale of dockn, camels, cows, sheep, goats, asses, and other domestic animals; next to these may be seen the djelabi with the commodity they have brought from Cairo lying on the sand; then come the water-dealers, and lastly, at either side of the soock, the women exhibit themselves, sitting down in four or six rows, to sell sour milk, butter, lard, garden and wild fruits; they bring also in addition to the articles mentioned, tobacco pipe-bowls, eggs, etc., for sale; the stands of the dealers in wood and grass are contiguous to these, and occupy a large extent of the market-place, for as wood and grass may be collected by any one, there is considerable competition in this branch of trade. The portion of the market occupied by the women, affords a most singular sight, for they sit crowded together without order or regard for personal comfort, and the small vacant space is densely filled with buyers, who will not budge an inch to make room for each other; thus, in order to move from place to place, you have, literally speaking, to walk over the heads of the women, cowering down on the ground, and they allow this want of gallantry without a murmur. Altogether, that quarrelling, so common in Egyptian markets, is never to be heard here. Beside the retailers and venders, the public criers must be mentioned; these people deal in old clothes and other articles, and have no permanent stand, but holding the object for sale high up in their hands, dispose of it according to the custom in other towns in Egypt, to the highest bidder. This description of auction is not carried on at a fixed place, for the auctioneer, bawling out the price last bid, presses through the crowd of human beings, and runs from place to place until an advance is made, whereupon he is obliged to return to the former bidder, and inform him that his offer has been superseded. It is very remarkable that these criers can always accurately find out the man who has made a bid for the article in question, and thus expressed a wished to become a purchaser, in the immense crowd. If no one advance on the last offer the article put up for sale is delivered after several perambulations to the highest bidder. This species of auction is the public sale in common vogue in Egypt. If an European die leaving many effects, a formal auction is advertised by his respective consul, and the chattels are publicly sold in the same manner as in Europe; inconsiderable relics are, however, disposed of by the criers above-mentioned. Market lasts at Lobeid generally from three o’clock in the afternoon until sunset; for the heat during the day being insupportable, no one leaves his house without cogent reasons, before three in the afternoon, and it would thus be useless for the merchants and dealers to congregate in the market-place at an early hour.

Provisions and articles of domestic economy produced in the country are, generally speaking, cheap; but in Lobeid, as in all other capitals, they are more expensive than in the environs, where they may be procured at a distance of eight or twelve miles from the town, at two-thirds of their cost in the market-place. A large sheep, the price of which is from fifteen to eighteen piasters in Lobeid, may be bought in the villages, at a distance of not quite twelve miles from the town, for six piasters at the utmost, and the same observation applies proportionately to all other provisions. The price of the finest camels is on an average one hundred and fifty piasters, that of ordinary animals from forty to eighty piasters (from eight to sixteen shillings). The most revolting scene on the Soock, is the sale of slaves, which takes place every day throughout the year. The unfortunate being offered for sale is led about like any other commodity by the crier, who expatiates upon the beauty, or other characteristics of the slave, and walking before him, bawls out the price. If a purchaser present himself, he enters upon an examination of his fellow creature, as we should examine a head of cattle, in Europe; he looks at his teeth, eyes, hands, and feet, and inquires into his age, place of birth, and in short, into every circumstance which might influence his price while the unfortunate wretch follows the crier like a dog, anxiously awaiting his future fate. A mother may not be separated from the infant at her breast, but children of three or four years of age may be disposed of separately; the latter are very reasonable; their price varies only from thirty to sixty piasters (eight and sixpence to seventeen shillings). Full-grown slaves fluctuate according to the supply of the market; girls and boys from ten to fifteen years of age, are in the greatest request, and cost from one hundred to three hundred piasters; if there be few for sale, and many Djelabi are about to travel to Cairo, the price, of course, rises. There are certain conditions under which a slave may be returned to the vender, e. g. if he have offensive breath, or snore in his sleep, or be troubled with incontinence of urine, for any one of these vices he may be sent back at the expiration of the third day; should a female slave be pregnant, the term is somewhat prolonged. The slave-trade is not always carried on in retail, for the Djelabi buy slaves in lots; on these occasions, however, the individuals are singly examined, and the aged and infirm are separated from the flock. The chief object is to have as many young girls and boys as possible in a lot, and to be able to transport them safely to Egypt; thus every one in purchasing a male or female slave, looks chiefly to their age, and a boy or girl, beyond the thirteenth or fifteenth year, is seldom sold in the bazaar of Cairo or Alexandria; every one, in fact, prefers bringing them up according to his own taste, and for this purpose selects the youngest. The older women and men exposed for sale in the bazaar, of the towns above named, are mostly such as are resold by their masters for some particular defect, and it is by no means, therefore, advisable to purchase them.

The soock, or market is the only place of diversion for the European or stranger in general, at Lobeid. Besides the pleasing spectacle afforded by the bustle of the place, the crowd, and various groups of dealers and Djelabs, all the Turkish officers, Coptic secretaries, and the few foreign merchants collect in the market-place, around the single coffee-house we have before mentioned, where each man endeavours to surpass the other in retailing news. Although deep in the interior of Africa, there is no lack of news from the most distant parts of the world; and even when at the time of the heavy rains the communication with Egypt is interrupted, intelligence may be heard every day from that quarter; sometimes it consists of a most palpable tissue of lies; yet it is greedily devoured by many a patient ear, because agreeable to the majority of the audience. The report usually circulates that Mehemed Ali is at war with the Turks in Syria, and carrying on warfare at the same time in Arabia, and is beaten everywhere; then it is generally added, that the regiment quartered at Lobeid would receive orders by the next dromedary to march to Egypt. This is, of course, most pleasing intelligence to the Turkish officers, who are ardently longing for a release, and is bruited about with innumerable variations and additions. Then they talk about England, Germany, Russia, and France, these being the only countries in Europe with which the Turks are acquainted. In one or the other of these states there is sure to be always war declared by the Grand Sultan, because the sultan of the country which happens to form the topic of conversation has failed to pay the tribute due to Constantinople; for the majority of the Turks still uphold the absurd opinion that these four countries are tributary to the Grand Sultan of Constantinople. Thus the conversation turns upon these political questions. If a sudden shower should happen to come on when least expected; for the rain, as in all tropical countries, generally falls in torrents, and, indeed, without the slightest premonitory sign, so that it is difficult even to reach a place of shelter, the confusion thus created would excite the most hypochondriacal person to laughter. The mass of human beings who stood, or sat, crowded together like a swarm of locusts, are in an instant scattered in all directions. The screams of the women, afraid of losing their goods in the crowd or of seeing them spoiled by the rain; the cries of the children who have lost their way, and are in search of their parents; the alertness of the men, who like all the rest dread the rain more than blows, and endeavour to escape as quickly as they can, all tend to render the scene of confusion so ludicrous, that the most stern spectator would be involuntarily disposed to laugh. It is not the fear of ruining their garments that induces them to scamper away so fast from the rain, for the most of them have no clothes to spoil, and the Djelabi merely wear a shirt, which the contact of a little pure water, moreover, could not harm; and the Turks and foreigners who are entirely dressed wear linen clothing, which water cannot injure; and yet they stand in as much awe of every drop of rain as if burning sparks were falling among them. They are impressed with the absurd idea that to get once a little wet is sufficient to produce a fever. Their apprehension is, strictly speaking, not so very erroneous, for the slightest cold during the rainy season is sufficient to stretch the most healthy man on a bed of sickness, from which it will be very doubtful whether he recover.

High feasts and festivals create no variation in the ordinary scene, as a general rule, and none of those fantasias[69] so common in Egypt are seen on Sundays and holidays at Lobeid; the only amusement, as I have before observed, consists in the dances and songs of the women and girls, after sunset, when every one returns to his house.

In the quarter of the town named Kongeri, which is inhabited by the men of Darfour, dwells the sheikh Sultan Tehme, a descendant of the sultans of Darfour. His present occupation is very ill-suited to his illustrious birth, for he is the mutilator of those poor boys who subsequently serve as guards in the various harems. This sheikh possesses two of the largest copper kettle-drums I ever saw in my life; they were presented to him by Mehemed Ali, as a mark of distinction. These drums are beaten all day long on every Friday and festival; but their sound is by no means very agreeable to those who are not over fond of music. This sheikh presents a very imposing appearance, for though black as the night, he has a very luxuriant beard, not very general among the negroes, which he dies with a pomatum of a bright red colour; it forms a striking contrast with his black shining face. When he rides into the country his horse is preceded by two musicians blowing during the whole march on a leathern pipe with eight holes.

When I arrived at Lobeid I only found one single European living, Dr. Iken, whom I have before mentioned, a native of Hanover, who, like most of the Europeans, after a short residence there paid his tribute to the climate. He is buried in the court of his own house, which is situated in the quarter or village of Takarir, near the residence of the sultan Abumedina of Darfûr. The government has appropriated his house to themselves, and converted it into a magazine for leather. Seven other Europeans, besides Dr. Iken, breathed their last at Lobeid, and are buried on the north side of the hospital square. I planted a tree on each grave, and had already fixed upon a place of rest near them. After I had recovered from my dangerous illness in a slight measure, and was just able to creep along with the assistance of a stick, my favourite promenade was to those graves; they were the only relics of Europeans I could find in that distant country, and I was under the influence of a peculiar feeling when arriving at those hillocks; I knew myself in the company of Europeans, although departed from this world; I fancied myself in reality in their presence, and I could have believed that they were listening with sympathy to my soft complaints, heard my longing voice for my distant fatherland, and were congratulating me on my recovery and speedy departure from this country, so fatal to Europeans. When I paid my last visit to this spot I was overpowered by that same feeling we experience when parting with our friends.

Taking a summary view of Lobeid it appears only to be a large village; the barren country around it presents a slightly excavated surface, and the rain-water flowing towards the village forms a torrent which runs towards the north, but soon disappears in the sand. The environs are cultivated with dockn. Lobeid offers many spectacles rendering it interesting to the traveller, the chief of which is the concourse of men from the most distant parts of Africa, even from Timbuctoo, and other negro states as yet totally unknown to Europeans. Before the first rays of the sun emerge from the sea of desert sand, the whole of the population is on foot, and each man begins the business of the day; with the majority, however, this only consists in lying on the sand, or visiting his neighbour when the same interesting occupation is performed in company. The flocks are driven to their pasture by a shepherd riding on his ox, the slaves are led to work with chains on their feet, caravans are passing and repassing, and all this affords an unique exhibition. In the streets songs are heard everywhere, even the female slave at the Morak sings her plaintive ditty of attachment to her home, whilst grinding the corn; in fact all is life and motion as in a beehive; but from 11 o’clock A.M. till 3 o’clock P.M., during the hot months, quietude and silence reign in the streets, and the whole town resembles a city of the dead; every one seeks shelter from the fierce rays of a vertical sun in his own hut, and there enjoys his rest, for it is impossible to exist out of the shade; only a few hungry dogs may then be seen running about in the streets, and even they do not remain long in the open air, but seek a shady place with all speed, where they may protect themselves from the burning heat. This recess lasts until 3 o’clock, when every one, refreshed by his siesta, returns to his occupations. The streets now become again as animated as they were at sunrise, but the most lively scene is then in the market-place; this state of activity lasts until the sun sets, when the inhabitants all retire again to their houses to recover from the fatigues of the day. The streets become suddenly empty, for with sunset night closes in; there is no twilight, and every one is anxious for repose. This silence continues until they have all finished their frugal meal, for the poorest man finds the necessaries of life in his hut, or should he really suffer want, goes to his nearest neighbour, where his wants are willingly supplied. As soon as the repast is over, large fires may be seen burning before the huts far and near; drums, beating of hands, and songs resound in all directions, and the girls and young men congregate for the merry dance, which is kept up until midnight; and then the whole town once more becomes as suddenly silent, for each man, with but few exceptions, betakes himself again to rest. The streets are now, indeed, wrapped in the silence of the grave, save that the stillness of the night is occasionally interrupted by the howl of a hyaena, or the yelling of the timid dogs. This mode of life is repeated daily, and but rarely undergoes even the slightest variation.

CHAPTER XV.
COMMERCE.

If the export of gum and ivory to Europe should ever become a free-trade, merely subjected to duty, these two articles will yield a very considerable profit to those who may have the good fortune to benefit first by this alteration, and who take the trouble to repair to the spot. The gathering takes place, as I have before-mentioned, at the close of the rainy season, in the months of November, December, and January; the gum obtained is of the finest quality, and is erroneously named gum Arabic. Kordofan yields, in average years, from three thousand five hundred to four thousand loads of this product, or from ten to fourteen thousand hundred-weight, at forty-four oock’ckahs. I have been assured by many persons that an addition of six thousand hundred-weight might be made to this quantity, if the labour of the persons employed in the collection were but better remunerated. Before the introduction of the monopoly, it was sold in the following manner, a plan which will be again pursued as soon as the present statutes are repealed. A number of men, women, and children, gather the raw gum in the forest into baskets, capable of containing twelve rottoli (the rottolo about three quarters of a pound). Forty of these baskets constitute a camel-load, which weighs four hundred and eighty rottoli, and reckoning the tare of the cases at five hundred rottoli; the cost of this quantity would vary from five and a half to six Spanish dollars. These five hundred rottoli[70] cannot be transported by camel across the desert to Debba, on the Nile, because the load would be too heavy; for three to four contari, at one hundred rottoli, form the average load of each camel. Another expedient, which might be turned to very good account, would be to pack the gum in ox-hides instead of cases; for the government buys dry hides at three piasters (ten pence halfpenny), and at Alexandria they are sold at thirty piasters (six shillings and sixpence). It would be imperatively necessary to employ the natives in the purchase of gum, sending them out in all directions into the various villages; but I would advise every one to be on his guard against the Dongolavi, and it should be a rule in general not to trust any native with much money, for it would stand a very good chance of being totally lost. Those who are furnished with articles in consumption in the country may effect one-third of their outlay in goods, and will thus realize an average profit of fifty per cent.

The place best adapted for the purchase of gum would be Bara, and I adjoin a list of the expenses of freightage and duties thence to Cairo, as defrayed before the introduction of the monopoly:—

As the export duty is, according to the existing laws, only twelve shillings, ad valorem, the customs would amount only to sixteen shillings per hundred-weight to Alexandria.

In the countries bordering on Kordofan, as Nuba, Takele, Kodero, etc., the gum rots every year, because Mehemed Ali makes no use of it, but is too avaricious to allow any other person to derive benefit from it. The purchase might in those places be effected by barter.

Ivory.—Many of the merchants at Trieste, Marseilles, and Livorno, are even at the present day of the opinion that the ivory imported, viâ the Cape of Good Hope, is found in the East Indies, and have, therefore, given it the name of Asiatic ivory; that, on the other hand, brought by way of Tripoli and Alexandria, they have termed African ivory; whereas I can assure them, that more than one-third, if not the half of the former, is, properly speaking, African. During nineteen months of my travels in the interior of Africa, I endeavoured to collect accurate information concerning this article of commerce, and I think that my experience will prove of sufficient interest to entitle me to give it at length. Mehemed Ali monopolizes the trade in ivory, and thinks that he receives all the ivory imported into his states from the centre of Africa; but he is very much mistaken in this respect, for only that brought by the caravans from Darfour, which usually reach Siut, in Upper Egypt, in the months of February and March, is sold to the Viceroy, and this merely from necessity, in order to enable the vendor to purchase other articles with the net proceeds. In Kordofan, the very centre of the ivory trade, he has thrown the trade open, but at the same time very cunningly calculated that it must eventually come into his hands, for, after the djelabi (merchants) have bought the ivory in Kordofan, and defrayed all the expenses of its transport to Cairo, he is the first to make them an offer for their stock, and, indeed, at so low a price that they can hardly gain a small interest on the capital laid out; hence very little ivory is brought to him now-a-days through that source. Darfour, which receives ivory from its tributary provinces, Runga, Kulla, Shala, Binga, Gimir, Sachana, Yambusa, Dama, etc., as contribution, sells it in the country to the merchants of Kobbe and El-Fasher. That which is collected at Pergu, Bachermi, Kugo, and Niro, is annually forwarded to Tripoli. The market price at Kobbe and El-Fasher, where large stores are always kept, is 3l. 2s. 6d. the cantaro of 12 rottoli (= 88 lbs). The purchase is likewise effected by barter against cottons from Dongola, or articles of trade from Germany, viz., double-edged swords, red cloth, amber, glass-beads, spikenard, wire, etc. From Darfour the ivory is brought to Lobeid, the capital of Kordofan, and to Bara, a commercial town in the same province, but the greater quantity passes through the country to the shores of the Red Sea. In Kordofan, the cantaro costs already 10l. 18s., including the duty. A great deal is brought from Shabun and the Shilluk country to Kordofan, where the djelabi of Lobeid and Bara become the possessors of it by barter; the Bakkara (a nomadic tribe) also trade in ivory, and barter it away to the djelabi above mentioned; to the Shilluks they give, at the most, cottons from Dongola, glass beads, salt, and tobacco, in exchange for it. All the ivory which passes through Kordofan, whether directly or indirectly obtained, is forwarded to Suakim, a sea-port on the Red Sea, under the 19° of northern latitude, where it is received by Englishmen who have been quietly awaiting its arrival, and have cast their net over sixteen hundred or two thousand miles of the interior of Africa. The Englishman pays well and promptly, hence he commands the market without any trouble; whilst for Mehemed Ali remains only that which, for want of time, or owing to some other circumstance, was not forwarded to Suakim. The English have done all in their power, for a long time, to keep secret the sources, whence they derive so large a quantity of this commodity; thus they remained perfectly quiet at Suakim, where this article of commerce was brought to them, avoiding the necessity of exposing themselves to the unhealthy climate of the interior of Africa, or rather of Kordofan. They have appointed agents at Suakim, Indians by birth, who manage the business for two, or at the most three, English houses established in India. In the year 1840, an Englishman was stationed there transacting business, and he was by no means pleased at finding the secret, which had stood the test of so many years, at last discovered. The cantaro costs from 10l. to 12l., and scarcely a fourth part of it pays duty at the customhouse in Suakim. Small coasting vessels act as lighters to convey the cargo to the larger Arabian and Indian ships lying off in readiness to receive it, which then sail for India directly.

At a distance of half a league from the shore of Abyssinia, and two leagues from Arkiko, is an island in the possession of the Viceroy of Egypt, named Massauwa, which forms, as it were, the key of Abyssinia; for all the ivory brought from Abyssinia, the Galla country, and the south-west and southern parts of Africa, must pass through this island. The cargoes from Shoa (in southern Abyssinia) and the neighbouring states, are discharged at Berbera and Zeila, a town on the African coast. From these few remarks, it may be easily deduced that the ivory passing from Africa to India, and by the Cape, is not all Asiatic, although a large share of it is certainly obtained in India. In conclusion, I must observe that, when Mehemed Ali throws the trade open, the first buyers in Kordofan will realize a very handsome profit; but they should rather pay the cantaro of one hundred and fourteen rottoli, with seven hundred and fifty piasters at Lobeid, than venture into the country of the Shilluks, or to Shabun, Runga, or Darfour, where they might certainly purchase it at half the price, but would incur a risk which would decidedly overbalance the advantage. It would be no less hazardous to send a native of Kordofan into these countries to effect the purchase, for they are such infamous liars, more especially the Dongolavi, that they will rather allow themselves to be murdered than speak one word of truth: the goods, moreover, or the money with which they might be intrusted, would be certainly lost, as they will leave their wives and children for so favourable an opportunity of cheating.

The djelabi, would, in like manner, raise the price of the ivory considerably, as soon as they had an idea that the demand for this commodity increased; hence it would probably be the most judicious plan to come to an understanding with a Turkish officer quartered in Kordofan, and to effect the acquisition in his name; the officers would willingly lend themselves to this undertaking, without any pretensions to a share in the profits, if they were only treated to a few bottles of wine or good brandy; many honourable men are, moreover, to be met with among the Turks, to whom the business might fearlessly be intrusted. There would be no difficulty in entering into Darfour or in reaching Kobbe, which is not the capital, but merely the chief commercial town in the kingdom; nor would it be impracticable to obtain ivory by purchase or barter there, or, indeed, at El-Fasher, the capital, where large stores are kept; but no one could answer for his return as long as Sultan Mohammed Fadels is on the throne. Should the government ever devolve upon his brother, Abumedina, Europeans would then have free ingress and egress to the country, for he is favourably disposed towards the Franks, and would willingly serve them. For this assertion I can vouch, as I received the most unequivocal proofs of the kindness of his disposition, at a time when my life was at stake. The further expenses contingent upon this undertaking would be as follows:—

It must be mentioned in giving this estimate, that the boat-hire would vary according to the size of the vessel employed, nor can the time of the journey by water be accurately calculated, as it depends in a great measure on the wind and the height of the water of the Nile. As a general rule three months and a half may be reckoned as the time required to reach Alexandria from Lobeid in travelling with goods.

Tamarinds are an article to which the government attaches no value, it consequently permits the export. In the years 1837, 1838, and 1839, when, from some cause unknown to me, the inflorescence dropped off and no pods were formed, the rottolo cost on the spot three-quarters of a penny; and this was at a time when the natives were compelled to import tamarinds from Darfour, as the soil did not produce the necessary quantity for the consumption of the country. In other years, taking an average harvest, a camel load of three cantari will sell at one pound, The duty on this article is trifling. I found the flowers taken in the form of tea, a very excellent remedy, and am only astonished that this wholesome beverage is not in more general use in Europe. Ostrich feathers may be reckoned among the most profitable articles of commerce, when in demand in Europe. The inhabitants of Caccie, a town on the borders of Darfour, and of Haraza, and many other villages, occupy themselves with the capture of these birds. An ostrich’s skin yields usually about three rottoli of black feathers, and half a rottolo of white plumes. Several sorts are parted off for sale, e. g.: two-thirds blacks, one-third whites, at 10s 6d to 13s 6d the rottolo; greys at 5s 3d; blacks at 2½ to 3 piasters; white plumes, not of the best quality, from 2l 2s to 2l 12s. The duty on the feathers is one pound on the value in Kordofan, Darauve, and Cairo. They are made up into small packages enclosed in the skin of the bird; but great attention is required in the packing, for it is almost incredible how the moth attacks these goods, it is, therefore, indispensably necessary to air the feathers occasionally, and to pepper them in the packing.

The government purchases all the oxhides and consigns them to Egypt; it pays three piasters for each hide. There are no calf-skins in commerce, as it is contrary to the koran to slaughter calves. Sheep and goat skins for water-bags (Ckirbeh) constitute an article of export trade; these water-bags are also manufactured from ox leather, two of them generally form a camel load. Salt and tobacco are articles of export to the Shilluks and Yaenky, and are considered favourable objects for barter.

Sim-sim, whence an oil is expressed, is exported to Sennaar; Cisme,[71] which grows in Kordofan, although that of a superior quality comes from Takele, is exported to Egypt and the Levant. The price is very low; about twenty paras (two-pence) the rottolo, the same quantity is, however, paid in Cairo with four piasters (one shilling). It is used as a remedy in diseases of the eye, but great caution is necessary in purchasing this article; and it should indeed be always subjected to close examination, for there are several varieties in commerce, the fine grained specimens being the best, and the coarse grained the inferior varieties.

Gold is a very important article of export, but not very profitable at present, since the price has risen considerably. I am told that the oock’ckah was sold at two hundred piasters before the Turks entered the country; whereas the same quantity now costs three hundred and seventy or four hundred piasters; at this price, from ten to fifteen per cent. may be realized; the oock’ckah of Kordofan is rather heavier than that of Sennaar. Gold is met with in commerce, in rings varying in size, and also in grains; the latter variety is enclosed in the quills of large birds of prey, and is generally preferred to that in rings, which the natives have already began to adulterate. The greatest quantity of this metal is brought from the neighbourhood of Shabun, and from other southern provinces.

Horned cattle forms one of the chief exports, and is transported by the government to Egypt in large droves, of which more than the half perish on the road from want of proper care. Private individuals cannot engage in this speculation, for it would be injudicious to transport large herds, like those of the government, because attended with enormous expense, as it would require magazines to be erected at each day’s march between Debba and Cairo. Smaller droves are forwarded to Sennaar and Dongola by private parties. The government have even given up their large transports to Cairo. Camels are also exported to Cairo, because the price of these animals is very low in Kordofan.

The chief trade, before all the articles enumerated, is, unfortunately, in slaves. The government and the Djelabi emulate each other in doing all in their power to gain possession of these unhappy beings by every possible method. The former, who are wholesale dealers, resort to the most cruel practices to seize upon slaves in large bodies;[72] whilst the Djelabi imitate them on a smaller scale, and consider every species of cunning and deception fair, where the object is to gain possession of these poor wretches. The slaves of the Djelabi, however, are always treated with more forbearance than those of the government, who are not very particular about losing several hundred of their unfortunate victims by positive ill-treatment, or no less blameable neglect; whereas the Djelabi are compelled to use them more leniently, as the death of each slave entails the loss of a small capital. Lobeid is the centre of the slave trade, and market is, consequently, held there daily. To this place slaves are brought, not only from the neighbouring countries, but even from Kulla, Banda, Wuanga, Bachermi, Bergu, Pegu, and more distant states, but not in such large numbers as from the borders. It is absolutely revolting to hear how these poor creatures have oftentimes fallen into captivity, and it would be, indeed, incredible were not the opportunity for conviction of the truth of so frequent occurrence. The Djelabi proceed into the neighbouring countries with goods, which they barter away for slaves who have become prisoners of war or captives by stealth. They stand in connexion with a species of kidnappers, who think very little of stealing the children of their own countrymen for a trifle, and bringing them to a preconcerted spot for barter. The greater part of those bought up by the Djelabi are thus collected by the marauding Bakkara. The price of these unhappy beings varies according to their age, health, and beauty, as also according to the country they may call their fatherland. Children born in Kordofan of captive parents are generally of the highest price, because already accustomed to some species of work and more especially because acquainted with the Arabic language, for the owner of a married slave, or of a girl who brings a child into the world, is at the same time proprietor of the latter, and is permitted to sell it; masters even who have children by their female slaves may dispose of their offspring, and examples of this unnatural proceeding are by no means uncommon. In short whatever is considered most cruel and revolting by all civilized nations, is treated with the utmost levity in this country, so that it is, indeed, impossible to find words to give full vent to your feelings of indignation and horror.

The human being, deprived of his liberty, is here regarded as a commodity, or ready money, passes from hand to hand as in circulation or in commerce, and must think himself fortunate if he ultimately chance to become the denizen of a house where he may find rest for the sole of his foot, or may reckon on the treatment due to him as a portion of humanity. No single house is to be found among the more opulent part of the community which is not provided at least with one slave, either male or female, for the performance of the menial offices, for it is, as it were, comme il faut to fill the house with captives, and to keep a separate slave appropriated to each separate office. The greater number, however, is hence exported, in larger or smaller convoys, to Egypt and the Levant.

Senna-leaves are found in many parts of Kordofan in abundance, but the government makes no use of them, and others are prevented from turning them to advantage by the existing monopoly. They are equal in quality to those of Dongola, which the administration thence imports and sells under the denomination of Alexandrian or Egyptian Senna. Not the fiftieth part of these leaves, however, are natives of Egypt, for they are first met with at Assuan, and are erroneously called Egyptian leaves; their true native country is the province of Dongola. The government draws its entire supply from that province. The inhabitants of the deserts in those parts collect them, and receive from two hundred to four hundred piasters, according to the state of the market, for the camel-load of three cantari, at forty-four oock’ckahs, delivered in New Dongola. As the government would have to pay an addition of sixty to eighty piasters on the freight of each camel-load they might draw from Kordofan, they naturally do not obtain any leaves from that province, and they are left to rot unused.

These are then the chief articles produced in the country, or received transito from the bordering states.

The importation of articles for home consumption, or for trade with other countries, is effected by caravans, the majority of which arrive from Cairo, a far less number comes from Sennaar, and yet less from Suakim; they return laden with a few inconsiderable objects from Araby and India to Lobeid and Bara. Commerce is carried on in a very dilatory manner, and the return of profits is attended with a considerable loss of time. In the month of Ramadan, the great Turkish fast, the most home-business is transacted. During the rainy season all communication with other countries is cut off, and it is a rare occurrence if a small caravan ever arrive during that period, for every merchant is justly under the apprehension of a loss, by the damage his goods might sustain from the heavy showers; and the streams are, moreover, so overflowing that frequently many days transpire before a caravan can cross them. The immense journey of three or four months duration, and the freightage by camel and boat, render the price of all imported articles very high in Kordofan. This outlay would, however, be but of slight importance in a commercial point of view, were it not for the exorbitant duty, which so materially augments the price of the goods; such absurdity and despotism could, in fact, only exist under the government of Mehemed Ali; even if his realms were to extend to the assumed range of mountains of the moon, the merchandize would have to pay customs in each province it might pass through before reaching the place of its destination. All goods on their arrival at Alexandria are subjected to a moderate import duty, which, however, only franks them to Cairo. The same goods shipped in Old Cairo to be conveyed up the Nile must again pay as follows: in Old Cairo on an average twelve shillings, in Dongola thirty piasters per camel-load, in Lobeid three hundred piasters for a load of cottons, whether fine or of inferior quality, without distinction. A camel-load of rice pays one hundred and fifty piasters, wine one hundred piasters, brandy, rosoglio, and rum fifty shillings ad valorem. The states of Austria furnish the greater quantity of articles for Kordofan, the majority of which are again exported into the negro states. England yields only white calicos; common Bohemian linen was formerly imported, but the more reasonable prices of cottons have quite ousted it from the market. The following are the articles of import trade to Kordofan: cloves, pepper, sugar, coffee, sulphur, rice, soap, chintz and cotton prints, red and blue sackcloth, linen from Cairo (named here shouter melanie), ready-made clothes for Turks, red shoes, wine, brandy, rosoglio, vinegar, oil, green olives, cheese, amber from Prussia (Nos. 3 to 6), opaque coral, and a few other inconsiderable objects. The imports from the Austrian dominions are the following: spikenard,[73] shot, dogas,[74] razors,[75] double-edged swords,[76] camel-bells, antimony,[77] arsenic,[78] iron and brass wire,[79] lucifers, Bohemian products, ordinary cloths,[80] looking-glasses in paper cases, finger-rings set with stones, glass beads of every colour,[81]—that of lapis lazuli, is the most fashionable in Kordofan,—card-counters.[82] The sale of glass will increase considerably in time, the whole sum expended in this commodity at Cairo does not at present amount to more than twenty-five pounds at the utmost. The Levantine articles are in chief request, such as narghilé,[83] brick,[84] mastrapà,[85] syringes, and common tumblers. From Venice the natives obtain glass beads, and paper dressed in the Turkish fashion. Austrian manufactures finding so ready a market in a large portion of Africa and Asia, and Cairo being the most suitable depot, it is very astonishing that only two Austrian commercial houses should be established in that town: the one is a Bohemian house for the sale of glass beads and looking-glasses, the other a Venetian for the sale of Venetian beads. The Austrian trade thus suffers a great loss, for the Asiatic and African merchant is forced to purchase the imperial produce after it has passed through many hands, and as each agent must make at least a small profit, it is evident that the price of the articles is in this manner considerably raised.

All these goods pass through Cairo, but few of them by way of Suakim and Sennaar. I was the first Austrian subject who made an attempt to traffic with this country, I had not the idea of establishing myself, for my capital was too inconsiderable for that purpose, and, in fact, only intended to defray the expenses of my journey, but I believe that the experience I made may be of great service to others. I caution every one, however, who may intend visiting this country with goods to be on his guard against the white ants, and never to neglect placing his cases on stones, for I have myself unfortunately been a sufferer by the ubiquity of these destructive beasts. During my illness I was incapable of looking after my luggage, and as a consequence found, on my recovery, all my cottons in a perfectly unsaleable state, and this when on my flight at a time when I had moneys to reclaim. The Termites became the cause why I was compelled to return without a servant, and to march during two days on foot through the Desert of Krusko. The prices of goods vary with the seasons; thus, during the rains, when no caravan can arrive from Egypt, and goods are consequently scarce, the prices increase by fifty shillings of their usual cost.

Coffee is imported from Abyssinia, and the ordinary price of the rottolo is three piasters; but in the year 1838, it rose to eighteen piasters (5s. 1d.). During the rainy season sugar stood at nine piasters per rottolo (1lb. English); rice at twelve piasters per oock’ckah; vinegar at fifteen piasters the bottle: soap at nine piasters the rottolo; pepper at twelve piasters; the prices of all goods, however fall with the arrival of fresh supplies. Many of the articles of importation are bought up by Djelabi, who trade with the interior of the country, and barter them away for slaves and other commodity. The commerce with the interior even requires some experience, e. g. in respect to glass-beads; for, on some of the hills, the white specimens are in request; on others the red or blue beads are preferred, and the same rule applies to many other articles. A great deal of salt and tobacco is imported into the country of the Shilluks. The Djelabi, in whose hands the entire trade may be said to rest, might turn it to far better advantage, if they had more talent for business, and were less careless in its transaction. Thus they pay no attention to the demands of the market, but purchase, year after year, the same articles, sit themselves down in a sook, and will not quit that spot in quest of fresh supplies until they have sold the very last article, be it ever so trifling. The value of time is totally unknown to them, and as for leaving the remainder of their unsold goods with an agent on commission, a son would not trust his own father, but rather lose the most valuable time for travelling for two or three pounds of soap, and a few trumpery glass-beads. These Djelabi are Dongolavi, and have remained true to the character of their original parents in Dongola. They will rather allow their goods to spoil than part with them below their standard; they sell one article at the same rate as one hundred articles, and make very little difference in price as regards quality; for common or damaged cottons, rusty or intact wire, are all sold at the same price. The merchandize which is not damaged on the road is spoiled in the market-place, where everything is thrown down on the sand in one large heap, and no one troubles himself whether a person in the crowd walk over his goods with dirty feet, or a shower drench them thoroughly. He who first comes selects the best articles, and he who is forced to wait until the greater part is disposed of, takes whatever he may happen to lay his hands on, pays the same price, or sometimes even more, considering the scarcity, but walks away equally contented.

I have convinced myself that the very commonest goods only should be brought to this market, for every man may form an opinion of the manner of transacting business, and of the mode in which the merchandize is treated. I am certain that an European, accustomed to the climate at an early age, and acquainted with the demands of the country, who might establish a commercial-house at Lobeid, and carry on his business with moderate caution, would realize a handsome fortune. But, as I have before said, an European would meet with difficulties, and irksome trials in this undertaking, unknown to the natives. The time for engaging in a speculation of this description is now at hand, for Mehemed Ali is about to throw the trade open.