In the Hadj of the year 1817, among the pilgrims collected at Mekka from every part of the Mussulman world, was a party of Moggrebyns, or western Africans, who were expected to return home as usual, by the way of Cairo and the Fezzan; it was believed that the caravan would take its departure from Egypt in the month of December. As Mr. Burckhardt had now transmitted to England the last of his papers relating to his former journeys, it was with the utmost satisfaction, that he contemplated the prospect, which at length so opportunely offered, of putting the great purpose of his mission into execution. Feeling strongly armed, in his long previous course of study and experience, he entertained hopes, not more sanguine, than reasonable, of being able to penetrate in safety from Fezzan to the countries of the Niger; and of at last receiving the reward of his long perseverance, in the acquirement for the public of some authentic information, upon the unknown regions of Africa. But the Divine Providence ordained otherwise. On the 4th of October, he found the symptoms of dysentery, which had for several days incommoded him, so much encreased, that he applied for relief to Dr. Richardson, an English physician, who fortunately happened at that time to be at Cairo, travelling in the company of Lord Belmore. Thus it is a satisfaction to know, that our lamented traveller, in his last illness, had as good advice and assistance as medicine could supply. The disease however, in spite of all the remedies administered, continued its progress from bad to worse, with fatal obstinacy, and without any favourable remission. On the morning of the 15th, conscious of his danger, he proposed and obtained the consent of his physician, that Mr. Salt, His Majesty’s Consul General, should be sent for. “I went over immediately,” says Mr. Salt, in a letter to the Secretary of the Association, “and cannot describe how shocked I was, to see the change which had taken place in so short a time. On the Tuesday before, he had been walking in my garden with every appearance of health, and conversing with his usual liveliness and vigour; now he could scarcely articulate his words, often made use of one for another, was of a ghastly hue, and had all the appearance of approaching death. Yet he perfectly retained his senses, and was surprisingly firm and collected. He desired that I would take pen and paper, and write down what he should dictate. The following is nearly word for word what he said: ‘If I should now die, I wish you to draw upon Mr. Hamilton for two hundred and fifty pounds, for money due to me from the Association, and together with what I have in the hands of Mr. Boghoz, (two thousand piastres), ‘make the following disposition of it. Pay up my share of the Memnon head,’ (this he afterwards repeated, as if afraid that I should think he had already contributed enough, as I had once hinted to him). ‘Give two thousand piastres to Osman’ (an Englishman, whom at Shikh Ibrahim’s[17] particular request, I had persuaded the Pasha to release from slavery). ‘Give four hundred piastres to Shaharti my servant. Let my male and female slaves, and whatever I have in the house, which is little, go to Osman. Send one thousand piastres to the poor at Zurich. Let my whole library, with the exception of my European books, go to the University of Cambridge, to the care of Dr. Clarke, the librarian; comprising also the manuscripts in the hands of Sir Joseph Banks. My European books’ (they were only eight in number) ‘I leave to you’ (Mr. Salt). ‘Of my papers make such a selection as you think fit, and send them to Mr. Hamilton for the African Association; there is nothing on Africa. I was starting in two months time with the caravan returning from Mekka, and going to Fezzan, thence to Tombuctou, but it is otherwise disposed. For my affairs in Europe, Mr. Rapp has my will.[18] Give my love to my friends,’ (enumerating several persons, with whom he was living upon terms of intimacy at Cairo). ‘Write to Mr. Barker.’—(He then paused, and seemed troubled, and at length with great exertion said,) ‘Let Mr. Hamilton acquaint my mother with my death, and say that my last thoughts have been with her.’ (This subject he had evidently kept back, as not trusting himself with the mention of it until the last). ‘The Turks,’ he added, ‘will take my body, I know it, perhaps you had better let them.’—When I tell you that he lived only six hours after this conversation, you will easily conceive what an effort it must have been. The expression of his countenance when he noticed his intended journey, was an evident struggle between disappointed hopes, and manly resignation. Less of the weakness of human nature was perhaps never exhibited upon a death bed. Dr. Richardson and Osman, who has for some time lived with him, were both present at this conversation. He ended by expressing a wish that I should retire, and shook my hand at parting as taking a final leave. So unhappily it proved; he died at a quarter before twelve the same night, without a groan. The funeral, as he desired, was Mohammedan, conducted with all proper regard to the respectable rank which he had held in the eyes of the natives. Upon this point I had no difficulty in deciding, after his own expression on the subject. The Arabic manuscripts for the University of Cambridge are in a large chest, and shall be forwarded by the first safe opportunity, together with his papers, which are few, and appear to be chiefly copies of what I believe him to have already transmitted.”

To those who have perused the preceding extracts from Mr. Burckhardt’s correspondence, it will be almost superfluous to add any remarks upon his character. As a traveller, he possessed talents and acquirements, which were rendered doubly useful, by his qualities as a man. To the fortitude and ardour of mind, which had stimulated him to devote his life to the advancement of science, in the paths of geographical discovery, he joined a temper and prudence, well calculated to ensure his triumph over every difficulty. His liberality and high principles of honour, his admiration of those generous qualities in others, his detestation of injustice and fraud, his disinterestedness and keen sense of gratitude[19] were no less remarkable, than his warmth of heart and active benevolence, which he often exercised towards persons in distress, to the great prejudice of his limited means. No stronger example can easily be given of sensibility united with greatness of mind, than the feelings which he evinced on his death bed, when his mother’s name, and the failure of the great object of his travels, were the only subjects upon which he could not speak without hesitation. By the African Association his loss is severely felt, nor can they easily hope to supply the place of one whom birth, education, genius, and industry, conspired to render well adapted to whatever great enterprize his fortitude and honourable ambition might have prompted him to undertake. The strongest testimony of their approbation of his zealous services is due from his employers, to their late regretted traveller; but it is from the public and from posterity, that his memory will receive its due reward of fame; for it cannot be doubted that his name will be held in honourable remembrance, as long as any credit is given to those who have fallen in the cause of science.

Although the journeys of Mr. Burckhardt in the parts of Africa, to the southward of Egypt, together with the oral information which he obtained, relative to the interior regions situated to the westward of those countries, are the only parts of his transmitted papers, which belong in strictness to the objects of an Association for promoting the discovery of the interior parts of Africa; yet his remarks upon several parts of Syria, the Holy Land, and Arabia, are so replete with new and accurate information, that the Association cannot think itself justified in withholding them from the public. His travels in Nubia, and all his information upon the north-eastern parts of Africa, have therefore been selected for a first volume, and it is in the contemplation of the Association, to continue the publication of his remarks upon the other countries described by him, in the order of precedence to which they shall appear to be entitled, by the novelty or importance of their matter.

There remains only one observation to be made by the member of the Committee, upon whom has devolved the task of editing the present volume. Although Mr. Burckhardt was gifted by nature with sagacity and memory for making accurate observations, and with taste and imagination to give a lively description of them, it must not be forgotten, that he wrote in a language which was not his native tongue, which he did not learn until he was twenty-five years of age, and in the writing of which he had little exercise, until he had arrived in those countries, where he very seldom heard it spoken, and where he had still more rarely any opportunities of referring to English models of composition. When, in addition to these great disadvantages, it is considered that the journal which forms the contents of this volume, was only once transcribed from his collection of daily notes, and was written, as the traveller himself states, in the corner of an open court, by the side of his camels, under the influence of the hot winds of the Desert, and under the sufferings of an ophthalmia, the reader will easily believe that the Editor has found it necessary to make some alterations in the diction of the original manuscript. Some changes of arrangement have also been occasionally required, in order to bring together dispersed observations upon the same subject, which, having been noticed as they occurred, are, as usual in the first transcription of a traveller’s journal, found in such a desultory and unconnected state, as could not be agreeable to the reader. In these attempts of the Editor to present the work to the public in a more perspicuous form, it has at the same time been his most studious endeavour to make as few changes as possible; for he would much rather expose himself to the imputation of having left passages liable to be criticized for inelegance and an idiom not English, than to that of having, in the remotest manner, injured the spirit and originality of the Author’s thoughts and expressions, by an ill-judged attempt to polish or correct them.

JOURNEY
ALONG
THE BANKS OF THE NILE.

After having visited most of the celebrated ruins in the valley of the Nile, I arrived at Assouan on the 22d of February, 1813, being actuated by a strong desire of continuing my journey up the river, as far as I should be able to do it, without exposing myself to imminent danger. During a week’s stay at Esne, the last town of note in Upper Egypt, I had collected a good deal of information concerning the state of Nubia, and had taken my measures accordingly. Amongst other arrangements, it became necessary for me to purchase a pair of good dromedaries, one for myself, and another for the guides, whom I might hire at the several places I should pass through in Nubia;[1] I therefore sold the two asses, which had carried me from Cairo to Esne, and bought, for about 22l., two dromedaries which proved upon trial, to be excellent animals; for during a journey of thirty-five days, from Assouan to Mahass, and back again, I allowed them only one day’s rest, and generally rode them ten hours per day. There is a market for camels in Esne, famous all over Egypt, from being frequented by the Arabs Bisharye and Ababde, who possess the best breed of camels in these parts of Africa. The Turkish governor of Esne, Hassan Beg, a native of Cyprus, furnished me, at my request, with a strong letter of recommendation to the three brothers, sons of Soleyman Kashef, who at present govern Nubia: and it was hoped that the increasing power of Mohammed Aly, the Pasha of Egypt, would render such a letter from one of his principal officers, of some weight. I had, besides, a firman from the Pasha himself, but as it was written in Turkish, which nobody reads in Nubia, and of a general nature, I placed little reliance upon it, further than as it contained among other names, those of the castle of Ibrim, and of its governor, which might be distinguished even by an Arab reader. The letter upon which I principally founded my hopes of success, was from the house of Habater, the principal merchants in Esne, to whom I had been recommended by a friend at Cairo. The Habater have almost monopolized the Nubian trade in dates; they act as the chargés d’affaires of the Nubian princes in all their political transactions with Egypt, and being also Sherifs, or descendants of the Prophet, and men of large fortunes, they enjoy great credit, and their recommendation may be useful to travellers and merchants in the whole route up the Nile, as far as Sennaar.

After an easy journey of four days from Esne, I reached Assouan, the most romantic spot in Egypt, but little deserving the lofty praises which some travellers have bestowed on it for its antiquities, and those of the neighbouring island of Elephantine. Hassan Beg, of Esne, had given me a letter to the Aga of Assouan, to whom I applied for a guide to conduct me as far as Derr, where Hassan Kashef, one of the Nubian chiefs, resides: an old Arab, a native of Nubia, was soon found for this purpose, and after bargaining a long while, I at last agreed to give him one Spanish dollar for his services to Derr, which was considered an ample payment for a journey of 140 miles. I left at Assouan my servant, with the little baggage I had; and after purchasing some provisions, started, with my guide, on the 24th of February, carrying nothing with me but my gun, sabre, and pistol, a provision bag, and a woollen mantle (Heram) of Moggrebyn manufacture, which served either for a carpet, or a covering during the night. I was dressed in the Thabaut, or blue gown, of the merchants of Upper Egypt, having quitted my common Turkish travelling dress at Esne. After estimating the expenses which I was likely to incur in Nubia, I put eight Spanish dollars into my purse, in conformity with the principle I have constantly acted upon during my travels, namely, that the less the traveller spends while on his march, and the less money he carries with him, the less likely are his travelling projects to miscarry. After a journey of 450 miles up the Nile, from Assouan, and the same distance down again, I returned with three dollars, having spent about five dollars, including every expense, except the present to Hassan Kashef.[2] This must not be attributed to parsimony; I mention it here as a part of my plan of travelling, and by way of advice to all travellers who visit unknown and dangerous countries in the East.

February 24th, 1813. I left Assouan at noon, and proceeded by the tombs of the ancient Saracen town of Assouan, on the east side of the hill where the French under Desaix raised a bastion. A high brick tower, dedicated to the memory of the Turkish saint, Shikh Wanes (شيخ وانس), stands near it. The Turkish sepulchres cover a space of nearly three miles in circumference. Here a great number of highly esteemed saints are buried, whose tombs are visited by devotees from all parts of Egypt. The Cufic tombstones are innumerable, but the inscriptions upon them are not of a remote date: and the letters are badly shaped. Makrizi, the Egyptian historian, relates, that in the year 806 of the Mohammedan æra, 21,000 persons died of the plague at Assouan; a fact by which we may estimate the importance of the town in those times. About one mile distant from the tombs begins the brick wall mentioned by Denon, called Hayt el Adjour (حيط العجور), which continues along the sandy plain between the granite rocks, as far as the neighbourhood of the island of Philæ. The inhabitants say that this wall was built by a king of the name of Adjour. I think it was intended as a defence against the inroads of the Bedouins of the eastern mountain, at the time when a brisk overland transport trade existed between Philæ and Syene. The natives say that it was originally the embankment of a canal; and Norden is of opinion that in ancient times, the bed of the Nile was on this side. But this seems impossible, as the ground evidently rises from Philæ towards Assouan. On the granite rocks along the road, hieroglyphic inscriptions are met with, which increase in numbers as we approach the island. There are also some illegible Greek inscriptions, which probably once recorded the names of curious Greek travellers. There is another and longer road from Assouan to Philæ, along the side of the river, by the Cataract.

After riding about four miles from Assouan, we reached an open plain, free from rocks, on the west side of which the river flows: here the ruins of the island of Philæ (انَس الوجود), Anas el Wodjoud[3]) presented themselves to my view. As there was no vessel at hand to convey me over to the island, and knowing that I should pass this way on my return to Assouan, I did not stop any longer than was necessary to look at the granite rocks, on the banks of the river, where the famous seat, of which many travellers have given drawings, principally attracts notice. The small village opposite Philæ is called Birbe, and is the boundary of Egypt. The different hamlets, from hence down the river, as far as Assouan, form part of the territory of Birbe; which, in consequence of old firmans from the Porte, enjoys an entire exemption from all kinds of land tax. On the south side of Birbe commences the territory of the Nubian princes, to which Philæ belongs. The natives, in the invirons of the Cataract, are an independent race, and boast of the security which the nature of the ground affords to their homes; many of them inhabit the islands, and support their families principally by fishing in the river.

At the time of my visit, the Nubians belonging to Assouan were at war with their southern neighbours, occasioned by the latter having intercepted a vessel laden with dates, knowing it to belong to a merchant of Assouan. A battle had been fought opposite Philæ, a few days before my arrival, in which a pregnant woman was killed by a stone; for whenever the Nubians are engaged in skirmishes, their women join the party, and furiously attack each other, armed with slings. The southern party, to whom the deceased belonged, was now demanding from their enemies the debt of blood, not only of the woman, but of the child also, which she bore in her womb at the time of her death. This the latter refused to pay, and being the weaker in numbers, and there being no garrison at Assouan to support them, the men thought proper to retire from the field; they abandoned the villages nearest to Philæ, leaving only their women and female children, and retired with the males to Assouan. On my return from Mahass, peace had not yet been restored; the Nubians were still at Assouan, where a caravan of women arrived daily, with provisions for their husbands.

We recrossed the before mentioned plain, opposite the island, where I observed numerous fragments of pottery, and then ascended the mountain to the south of it, there being no road fit for camels by the side of the river. We traversed the deep valleys of this mountain for about two hours. The rocks present an endless variety of granite, among which a rose-coloured species is particularly beautiful. Sienite, and red feldspath, together with granite, compose this chain. We afterwards descended again to the side of the river, near one of the small hamlets which compose the district of Shamet el Wah (شعامة الواح). The bed of the river here is free from rocks and islands, but its banks, on both sides, are so narrow, that there is hardly a hundred yards of cultivable ground. Half an hour farther, we reached the village of Sak el Djemel (ساق الجمل), belonging to the district called Wady Debot, and alighted at the Shikh’s house, where we passed the night. Here I first tasted the country dish which, during a journey of five weeks, became my constant food; thin, unleavened, and slightly baked cakes of Dhourra, served up with sweet or sour milk. From the Dhourra being badly ground, this food is very coarse, and nothing but absolute hunger could have tempted me to taste it.

February 25. I continued along the east bank of the river. The road the whole of the way to Derr is perfectly safe, provided one of the natives accompanies the traveller. I every where found the people to be possessed of a degree of curiosity which I had never met with before. Whenever we passed a village, often at a full trot, the men came running out of their houses, and across the fields, to ask my guide who I was, and what was the object of my journey. The answer was, that I was sent from Esne to Derr, with letters from the governor to the Nubian chiefs. They would then enquire after the contents of the letters, and, that they might do this more at their ease, would press me to alight, and breakfast with them. One hour and a half brought us to Wady Syale (وادي سياله). Two hours and a half, Wady Abdoun (وادي عبدون). Four hours, Wady Dehmyt, (وادي دهميت). All the villages, as far as Dóngola, are called Wady, or valley. There are always three or four of them comprised under one general name: thus, Wady Dehmyt extends about four miles along the bank of the river, and includes upwards of half a dozen hamlets, each of which has its particular name. Travellers, therefore, who note down the names of villages in these parts, will easily be led into mistakes, by confounding the collective appellation with that of the single hamlet. There are few large villages; but groups of five or six houses are met with wherever a few palm trees grow on the banks of the stream, or wherever the breadth of the soil is sufficient to admit of cultivation.

I found Daoud Kashef, the son of Hosseyn Kashef, encamped with a party of men at Dehmyt, in huts constructed of Dhourra[4] stalks. I alighted at his own hut, and breakfasted there, informing him, that I was sent on business to his father and uncles. The governors of Nubia are continually moving from one part of their dominions to another, to collect the tribute from their subjects, and are always accompanied by a guard of forty or fifty men, in order to levy it by force, wherever necessary, and to be the better able to commit depredations. On the night preceding my arrival at Dehmyt, a Nubian came to me at Sak el Djemel, to complain of Daoud’s tyranny; it had been reported to the latter, that this man, with his family, was secretly indulging in bread made from wheat, a sufficient proof of great wealth. Daoud’s people, in consequence, surrounded his house during the night, and demanded from him a camel, as a present to their master: on his refusal to comply, they attacked the house; and as the owner had no near neighbours, he in vain attempted to defend himself: he was severely wounded, and the whole of his property fell a prey to the aggressors. Daoud was but poorly equipped; he was dressed in the common white shirt of the country. He asked me for some gunpowder,[5] and, on my telling him that the supply I had of that article was scarcely sufficient for myself, he did not appear at all offended by the refusal. Several hundred peasants were assembled round the camp, with herds of cows and sheep, with which they pay their land tax.

We quitted Dehmyt, and in five hours from our departure from Wady Debot, reached Wady Kardassy (وادي كرداسه), where I passed the ruin of a small temple, of which one corner of the wall only remains standing. I saw no fragments of columns; but, on some of the stones which lay scattered about, hieroglyphic figures are sculptured; and the winged globe appears upon several of them. On the west side of the river, opposite to this place, is a large ruin. My guide told me, that, at a long day’s journey from hence, in the eastern mountain, are the ruins of a city called Kamle. In five hours and a half, we came to Djama (جمع); and in six hours, to Tafa (تافه); the villages so named lying on both sides of the river. The plain between the banks of the river and the foot of the mountain is about a quarter of a mile in breadth. Here are the ruins of two buildings, standing near each other, of which nothing now remains but the foundations; they are constructed of sand-stone, in a very rude manner, and are about forty feet square. There are no fragments of columns, nor of sculptured stones of any kind. There are also some ruins on the opposite side. These are undoubtedly the remains of Taphis and Contra Taphis.[6] Immediately to the south of the ruins, the mountains on both sides of the river prevent all passage along its banks; the road, in consequence, lies, for one hour, across the mountain, which I again found to be composed of rocks of granite. The granite chain had been uninterrupted from Assouan to Dehmyt. To the south of Dehmyt, the mountain which borders the river is composed of sand-stone, and continues thus as far as the second Cataract, at Wady Halfa, with the exception only of the granite rocks above Tafa, which extend as far as Kalabshe.

We descended again to the bank of the river in one hour, and passed the village of Darmout (درموت), built partly upon a rocky island, and partly upon the high rocks of the eastern shore. The effect of the evening sun upon the black granite islands, surrounded by the pure[7] stream, and the verdant banks, was very beautiful. From hence to Tafa the river is studded with numerous islands. Seven hours and three quarters brought us to El Kalabshe (القلابشه), the largest Wady, or assemblage of villages, we had yet passed. Although the plain is very narrow, there are nevertheless considerable mounds of rubbish and broken pottery, along the foot of the mountain, indicating the site of an ancient town; and as there is a large ruin opposite to this place, on the western bank,[8] we may safely conjecture these to be Talmis and Contra Talmis. There are no remains of any edifice on the eastern side. The two hundred houses which compose the village on that bank occupy a space of about half an hour in length. In eight hours and a half we came to El Shekeyk (الشقيق); in eight hours and three quarters, to Abou Hor (ابو هور). In the course of this day, I passed several beds of torrents. When the rains are copious in the mountain, torrents occasionally rush down into the river, but they never continue longer than two days. These torrents account for the momentary increase of the Nile in Egypt, during the winter, when the river is at its lowest. Throughout Nubia, rain never falls in the valley, some light showers excepted; but there is a regular rainy season in the eastern mountains, as far as Suez, which produces abundant crops of wild herbs, and pasturage for the cattle of the Bedouins who inhabit those districts. I had occasion to mention a similar phenomenon, in my former Journals, in the mountains of Eastern Palestine. In the Ghor, or valley of the Jordan, rain seldom falls, while the mountains on either side have their regular rainy season. Our host at Abou Hor served us this evening with the dish called Asyde, which consists of the green ears of barley boiled in water, and mixed with milk.

Feb. 26th. The Wady Abou Hor is about three quarters of an hour in length. After a ride of two hours we passed the village Dandour (دندور); three hours and a half, Wady Abyadh (وادي ابيض) the plain still continuing very narrow. In order to gain some soil from the river, the ancient inhabitants of Nubia had erected numerous piers or jetties of stone, extending for twenty or thirty yards into the river; which, by breaking the force of the stream, would leave, on their northern side, a small extent of land free from water. Many of the piers still remain, but in a decayed state. I generally observed, on the western side of the river, a similar structure, exactly opposite to that on the eastern. In four hours and a half, Merye (مريه); five hours, Gyrshe (كرشه). I passed the ruins of an ancient town, probably Saracen, built partly of bricks, and partly of small stones. The natives say that a king of the name of Dabagora reigned here. The plain at Gyrshe is broader than I had any where yet seen it, to the south of Assouan, being about a mile. Like all the villages I had hitherto passed, Gyrshe is but poorly inhabited, two-thirds of the houses being abandoned. The country had been ruined by the Mamelouks, who remained here several months, when on their retreat before the Turkish troops of Mohammed Aly; and the little they left behind was consumed by the Turks under Ibrahim Beg, Mohammed Aly’s son, who finally succeeded in driving the Mamelouks out of Nubia, and across the mountains, into the plains of Dongola. A terrible famine broke out after their retreat, in which one-third of the population of Nubia perished through absolute want; the remainder retired into Egypt, and settled in the villages between Assouan and Esne, where numbers of them were carried off by the small-pox. The present inhabitants had returned only a few months before my visit to these parts, and had begun to sow the fields after the inundation had subsided; but many of their brethren still continued in Egypt. The great number of newly-dug graves which I observed near each village, were too convincing proofs of the truth of the melancholy accounts which the natives gave me.

In six hours I came to Wady Kostamne (قُستَمنه), a well built village. Here the Mamelouks fought a battle with the troops of Ibrahim Beg, and were routed. They retreated to the eastern mountains, where they remained for several months, till their enemies retired to Assouan; when the greater part of the Begs descended to the banks of the Nile, and as the stream happened at that moment (May, 1812) to be extremely low, they crossed it at a ford near Kostamne,[9] with all their women and baggage. Some of them continued their route southward along the western bank, plundering in their way all the villages of Derr, Wady Halfa, Sukkot, and Mahass; while the chief Begs, with their Mamelouks, made a short cut through the western desert; and the whole party united again on the banks of the Nile, near Argo, one of the principal places within the dominions of the King of Dongola;[10] mustering in the whole about three hundred white Mamelouks, and as many armed slaves, the wretched remains of upwards of four thousand, against whom Mohammed Aly had begun his contest for the possession of Egypt. The fate of about twelve hundred of them, who, with their chief, Shahin Beg, were treacherously slaughtered in the castle of Cairo, notwithstanding the most solemn promises of personal security had been given to them, is too well known to be repeated here; but a similar massacre, which took place at Esne, is less known, and may here be related, as serving to prove the stupidity and infatuation which have always presided over the councils of the Mamelouks. These fierce horsemen had sought refuge in the mountains inhabited by the Ababde and Bisharye Arabs, where all their horses died from want of food, and where even the richest Begs had been obliged to expend their last farthing, in order to feed their troops, provisions being sold to them by the Arabs at the most exorbitant prices. Thus cut off from all the comforts, and luxuries of Egypt, to which they had been accustomed from their infancy, Ibrahim Beg thought it a propitious moment to ensnare them, as his father had done their brethren at Cairo. With this design, he sent them the most solemn promises of safe conduct, if they would descend from the mountain, and pledged himself that they should be all placed in situations under the government of Mohammed Aly, corresponding with the rank which each individual then held amongst themselves. It will hardly be believed that, well acquainted as they were with the massacre at Cairo in the preceding year, more than four hundred Mamelouks, headed by several Begs, accepted the delusive offer, and descended in small parties from the mountains. They were stripped in the way by faithless guides, so that, with the exception of about thirty, the whole reached the camp of Ibrahim Beg, then near Esne, in a state of nakedness. After the different parties had all joined, and it was ascertained that no others were ready to follow them, the signal of carnage was given, and the whole of them, with about two hundred black slaves, were unmercifully slaughtered in one night. Two French Mamelouks only were saved, through the interest of the physician of Ibrahim Beg. Similar instances of perfidy daily occur among the Turks; and it is matter of astonishment, that men should still be found stupid enough to allow themselves to be thus ensnared by them.

Eight hours and a quarter brought us to Djebel Heyaty (جبل حياتي) eight hours and a half to Kobban (قبّان), opposite the fine temple of Dakke, which stands on the western bank.

February 27. Near Kobban are the remains of an ancient town, enclosed by a wall of bricks burnt in the sun, much resembling that of Eleithias, to the north of Edfou in Egypt. The length of the oblong square is about 150 paces, its breadth 100 paces. The wall is upwards of 20 feet in thickness, and in several places more than 30 feet in height. Within its area are ruins of private habitations, partly constructed of stone, and partly of bricks. Some capitals of small columns of the Egyptian order lay about. On the S. E. corner of the wall, beyond its precincts, is the ruin of a very small Egyptian chapel, of a rude construction, with a few stones only remaining above the foundations. There are several hieroglyphic figures: a chariot sculptured on a stone indicates that a battle was represented. It appears that this enclosure, which stands close to the river, was meant as a castle. Large mounds of rubbish, the ruins of the ancient town, continue for about five minutes walk further. In one hour, I reached Oellaky (علاقي), having passed, close to it, a broad canal: similar canals are met with in almost every part of Nubia, where the extent of the shore, and its height above the level of the river, rendered artificial irrigation necessary; but they are now no longer taken care of, and are gradually choaking up. The plain here is a mile in breadth. Oellaky has given its name to a chain of mountains, which begins to the east of it, and runs quite across the high hills of the eastern desert, towards the shores of the Red Sea. If I am not mistaken, Bruce passed this chain. According to the reports of the natives, and the unanimous testimony of all the Arabian geographers, this mountain, called Djebel Oellaky, contains gold mines; I am inclined to believe, however, that the Bedouins, who alone wander about in those districts, and who must therefore be the authors of such reports, have mistaken yellow mica for gold; for the river carries down with it through the whole of Nubia a great deal of micaceous sand. Hassan Beg, the governor of Esne, who is fond of mineralogy, as far as it relates to precious stones and metals, had read in some book, of the mines of Oellaky; and being desirous to ascertain whether the report was true, sent four of his soldiers to escort a Greek, who pretends to a knowledge in stones, with an order to make researches in the mountain. They reached the village of Oellaky, and proceeded from thence about two hours to the eastward; but being frightened by a report that a large party of Mamelouks was descending from the mountain, they immediately returned, throwing the whole country into an alarm. I had met them at Dehmyt, when they earnestly pressed me to return with them, assuring me that the Mamelouks would certainly strike off my head, if they learnt that I was the bearer of letters from Hassan Beg. There was some truth in the report; for two Mamelouk Begs, Ibrahim Beg Djezayrly, and Osman Beg Bouhanes, who had remained in these mountains with the Arabs, after the departure of their companions for Dongola, in order to be as near at hand as possible, in the event of a change taking place in Egypt, had at last, with five of their women, and two servants only,[11] been obliged, through absolute want, to rejoin their brethren. All the money and valuables which they possessed had been extorted from them by the Arabs, as the price of provisions; their horses had died; their Mamelouks had deserted them; and their clothes and equipages were in rags; in this state, they abandoned for the present all ideas of the re-conquest of Egypt, and quitting their station near the shores of the Red Sea opposite Djidda, they took the road to Derr. The arrival of the Greek and the four soldiers above mentioned drove them back one day’s journey into the mountain, until their spies informed them of their departure; they then returned, and arrived at Derr one day before me.

I travelled from two to three hours along a rocky shore, opposite the island Derar (درار), which is well cultivated, and about three quarters of an hour in length. On the western bank is the village of Korty. From three to four hours the Wady Meharraka (وادي محرّقه) extends; and farther south, from four to five hours, the Wady Thyale (وادي ثياله). I had here the pleasure of falling in with two English travellers, Messrs. Legh and Smelt, and Captain Barthod, an American; I had already seen the two former at Cairo, and at Siout. They had left Cairo on board a country ship, two days after my departure from thence, and on reaching Assouan, had hired a large boat to carry them up to Derr, from whence they had visited Ibrim, being the first Europeans who had reached that place, and examined the antiquities between it and the island of Philӕ; for Norden saw them only through his telescope. I hailed their boat as I rode along the bank of the river, and we passed a few hours together, after which they pursued their course down to Assouan. In five hours and a half, I came to Wady Name (وادي نعمه); in six hours, Bareda (بارده); six and a half, Kokan (قوكان); here I saw a great number of crocodiles, the first I had seen since leaving Cairo, my road through Egypt having seldom been close along the river. Here also I observed stone piers in the river at several places. Seven hours and a half, Wady Nasrellab (وادي نصرالاب). South of Kokan, for two hours, the mountains come down so close to the river as to leave no space for a passage along its banks, and of course none for cultivation. We passed several beds of torrents. Eight hours and a half brought me to Wady Medyk (وادي مديك), where I slept.

February 28th. One hour from Wady Medyk is Wady Seboua (وادي سبوع), or the Lion’s Wady, so called from the figures of sphynxes with the bodies of lions, which stand before the ruined temple on the west side of the river, opposite to Seboua. This is the best cultivated part of the country which I met with, between Assouan and Derr. The inhabitants of Seboua, and those of Wady el Arab, to the south of them, are active merchants, and possessed of considerable wealth. They travel across the mountain to Berber (where Bruce’s Goos lies), eight days journies distant, and import from thence all the different articles of the Sennaar trade. This route is so perfectly secure that parties with four or five laden camels arrive almost weekly; but the character of these Arab merchants themselves is very indifferent; they are treacherous, and despised for their want of hospitality. The inhabitants of Seboua and Wady el Arab are not, like all their neighbours, of the tribe of Kenous,[12] but belong to the Arabs Aleykat (عليقات), who are originally from the Hedjaz.[13] Some of them wander about in the eastern mountains, like Bedouins; they all speak exclusively Arabic, and the greater part of them are ignorant of the language of the Kenous. The governors of Nubia levy a tribute from all the goods imported from the south by the Aleykat; but the latter being numerous, and well armed, seldom submit to any extra exactions from the governors, and have thus acquired considerable property. They dispose of the slaves, ivory, gum arabic, ostrich feathers, and camels, which they bring from Berber, in Upper Egypt, where they purchase the merchandize necessary for the southern market.[14]