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TRAVELS IN KORDOFAN, ETC.

POSITION OF THE COUNTRY BORDERS, RIVERS, SOIL, AND CLIMATE.

Kordofan, one of the most southern provinces under the government of the Viceroy of Egypt, extends in the north from Haraza to Kodero, in the south from the Nuba mountains, and eastwards from Caccia to the Shilluk or Shillook mountains, about four degrees of longitude. The desert of Dongola forms its northern border, that of Darf?r its western limit. Towards the south, no definite confines can be described, as the extent of these dominions increases or decreases accordingly as the inhabitants of this part of the country become tributary, either by their own free-will, or are rendered subjects by force, as occasionally occurs, and subsequently free themselves from the yoke. On this account the present government has divided the country into five districts, and regards Kodero, and the free heathen Nuba, as its southern border. Kordofan has no townships on the Bahr-Abiad, or White Nile, for the village nearest to this river is situate at a distance of about four hours' march from its banks. The Nomadic tribes, inhabiting the western shore, belong to the realms of Sennaar, and are entirely distinct from the natives of Kordofan; the Bakara-Kubbabeesh only, a Nomadic tribe, also, frequently drive their herds to the borders of the White River for pasturage. The five districts are named severally: Korci, Bara, Ketshmar, Abou-Haraz, and Dayara. Each of them is governed by a Casheff, or captain of the district, who is at the same time captain in a regiment of the line. Taking a general view of Kordofan, it may be said to consist chiefly of a cluster of small and large oases, which are not far distant from each other, as in the Great Desert. The soil is sandy throughout, and the country is rather flat than mountainous. In the vicinity of Haraza, however, a chain of mountains arises, shelving off towards the White River; while the mountains in the interior are inconsiderable, several of which may be seen towards the south and south-east. The soil is, on the whole, very fertile; for, with the commencement of the rainy season, vegetation springs up from the earth as if by magic, and nature then shows herself in her full vigour and pomp; balsamic odours, which act almost intoxicatingly on the senses, are everywhere breathed forth, and the traveller might imagine himself transplanted into the fairy gardens of the Arabian Nights' tales.

Kordofan has no flowing rivers; during the rainy season, some few running streams are formed, but these dry up as quickly as they appear. There are several lakes, or large ponds, in the country, amongst which those at Arat, Birget, Ketshmar, and Caccia, are the most considerable; in the latter, many leeches are found; but the other stagnant waters, which are generated during the rainy season, quickly evaporate, and only those above-named contain water throughout the year. In the vicinity of Haraza, in a north-easterly direction from the village, pure and fresh water for drinking is found on the summit of a mountain during the whole year. There is an abundance of iron ore in the province, respecting which more explicit information may be gleaned from the work of Russegger, the Royal Imperial inspector of mines, who, in the year 1837, travelled through this country as far as Sheibon, to which book I must refer my readers, as geognostic research was not the purpose of my travels. The climate is very unhealthy, especially during the rainy season; no hut is then, indeed, to be met with in which there are not at least several sick; in the dry season, again, all disease disappears; at this time, however, not only man, but all living creatures, suffer from the extreme heat. The eye then rests with melancholy on the desolate and parched plains,-- trophies of the victory of the heat over animated nature,--where nothing is to be seen but bones of men and animals bleached by the burning sun. During the whole of this season, which endures about eight months, the sky is clear and cloudless, and the heat is insupportable, especially in the months of April and May. From eleven o'clock, A.M., to three, P.M., when the thermometer stands in the shade at 38?, or even at 40?, Reaumur , it is impossible for any breathing creature to remain in the open air. Every living being, both men and cattle, with equal eagerness seek the shade, to protect themselves from the scorching rays of a fierce sun. Man sits during these hours as if in a vapour-bath, his cheerfulness of disposition declines, and he is almost incapable of thought; listless, and with absence of mind, he stares vacantly before him, searching in vain for a cool spot. The air breathed is hot as if it proceeded from a heated furnace, and acts in so enervating a manner on the animal economy, that it becomes a trouble even to move a limb. All business ceases, everything is wrapped in a sleep of death, until the sun gradually sinks, and the cool air recalls men and animals again into life and activity. The nights, on the other hand, are so sharp, that it is necessary to be more careful in guarding against the effects of cold in this country, than in the northern parts of Europe during the severest winter, for the consequences frequently prove fatal. During the whole year, day and night are equally divided, or with but imperceptible variation, and, as in all tropical climates, there is no twilight; for with sunset night begins. During the dry season, everything in nature appears desolate and dismal; the plants are burnt up; the trees lose their leaves, and appear like brooms; no bird is heard to sing; no animal delights to disport in the gladness of its existence; every living being creeps towards the forest to secrete itself, seeking shelter from the fearful heat; save that, now and then, an ostrich will be seen traversing the desert fields in flying pace, or a giraffe hastening from one oasis to another. In this season, however, frightful hurricanes occasionally arise, and fill the minds of those, who have not been witness of such a phenomenon in nature before, with the utmost consternation. A powerful current of air, of suffocating heat, blows fiercely from one point of the heavens to the other, devastating everything that lies in its course. The atmosphere bears at these times generally a leaden grey appearance, and is impregnated with fine sand: the sun loses its brilliancy, and total darkness envelopes the earth, rendering it even difficult to distinguish objects at a few paces distant. The sky changes suddenly, becomes of a yellow colour, then assumes a reddish hue, and the sun appears as a blood-red disk. The wind howls, tears up everything within its reach; houses, fences, and trees by the roots, carrying them away with it; levels mounds of sand, and piles up fresh hills. In short, the devastation caused by a hurricane of this kind is beyond description. Unfortunate, indeed, is he who happens to be overtaken in the desert by one of these storms. There is no course left for him to save himself, but to throw himself with his face on the ground, in order to avoid suffocation by the pressure of the atmosphere. Respiration is totally impeded; all the fibres are tightly contracted; the chest threatens to burst for want of pure air; and a man of rather weak constitution, overtaken by one of these hurricanes in the open air, generally succumbs. But robust men, even those in full vigour of life, feel depressed in every limb for several hours after exposure to these storms, and recover but slowly, and by degrees. Animals fly and endeavour to conceal themselves; every creature, in fact, seeks a place of shelter. The camels on journeys indicate the storm before it breaks forth by an unsteadiness of gait, and by drooping their heads towards the ground.

The rains begin in the month of June, and terminate with the month of October. Those who have not spent this season in a tropical country, can form no idea of the showers which then drench the earth. The storms generally arise in the east or in the south. A small black cloud is, at first, perceived on the horizon, which increases as it approaches, spreads in a few minutes, with incredible velocity, over the whole region, and then descends. A fearful storm now rages: flash upon flash, and peal succeeding peal, the lightning illumines the whole heavens, and the thunder rolls most fearfully, as if the sky were about to open and the earth to burst; streams of water pour down with violence, which the soil is incapable of imbibing, and torrents are thus formed, destined, however, soon to be lost in the sands. Showers of this description generally last over one quarter of an hour, seldom for a longer period, and very rarely, indeed, are they repeated on the same day. They remit frequently during two, three, or even six days, and this is the most unhealthy, and even dangerous time both for strangers and natives; but it is admitted by general consent, that those of white colour suffer more than the blacks.

As if by magic, Nature now awakes from her sleep of death; for, immediately after the first shower, the earth is clad with verdure, the trees shoot forth fresh buds, and a vesture of flowers is spread over the whole country.

December and January are the most healthy months, but the nights are then so cold that the thermometer frequently falls to 8?, or even 4? R., especially shortly before sunrise. This rapid change from the extremes of heat and cold, and the pernicious vapours, are very deleterious in their effect on the constitution of man, especially on the health of strangers coming from the northern districts of Egypt or from Europe; and, indeed, few men can ever totally accommodate themselves to this climate.

HISTORY.

Every one will agree that it is no easy matter to write the history of a country, or, rather, of a province, whose inhabitants live in a state of utter ignorance, and care little for the occurrences which took place but half the period of the life of man before them. There exist, moreover, no chronicles capable of giving information on any event which might serve as reference; thus I was unable to extend my researches, or to learn more than was communicated to me by a faquir, seventy-eight years of age, who appeared to me worthy of belief, and who had been an eye-witness of all the recent events.

Kordofan takes its name from a mountain, situate at three and a half hours' march to the south-east of Lobeid. The aborigines are negroes from Nubia, who, even at the present time, inhabit many parts of Kordofan. The word Kordofan itself is of Nubian derivation. Three tribes subsequently immigrated: the Hadejat, el Giomme, and Bederie. The period of this immigration, however, cannot be definitely determined. These three nomadic tribes distributed themselves over the country round about Mount Kordofan, occupied themselves with cattle-breeding, and each tribe had its sheikh, or magistrate; but from these three tribes, collectively, a head was chosen, who acted as impartial judge in all questions of difficulty, and, in fact, as the last authority. This people became, towards the middle of the last century, better acquainted with Sennaar. The King of Sennaar, namely, sent, in the year 1779, the Sheikh Nacib, with two thousand cavalry, to take possession of the country, and the tribes surrendered, with a pretty good grace, to their fate, without offering much resistance. Thus they remained for about five years, under the government of Sennaar. A Melek was instituted, and the people felt themselves happy under his government. Several Arab tribes, and people from Sennaar and Dongola, immigrated into the country, and agriculture and commerce began to flourish. Darfour now directed its attention towards this province, and entered on a campaign, in which the Melek-el-Hashma was driven out of Sennaar, and expelled the country for ever. Meleks now governed this country in the name of the Sultan of Darfour, up to the year 1821, during thirty-five years of the reign of Mehemed Ibn Fadels. During this epoch the country was also prosperous; the inhabitants lived in peace, and were not troubled with taxes; the merchants were exempt from all duties, and the tribute paid was a voluntary present to the Sultan of Darfour.

Bara, the second commercial town of importance in the country, was built by the Dongolavi; tribes immigrated from the most distant parts, and this province enjoyed a high degree of prosperity, under the really mild government of Darfour. Commerce extended in all directions; caravans brought the produce from Abyssinia, the interior of Africa, and from Egypt, into the two towns of Lobeid and Bara, whence the greater part was again transported into other countries. Abundance might be said to reign everywhere, and there was no want of any necessaries, whilst all were wealthy, and even the women of the less opulent inhabitants wore golden rings in their noses and ears, and many even golden bracelets and silver anklets round their feet. No other metal but gold or silver was to be seen in the decoration of the women, and many female slaves even wore gold about their persons. Agriculture and cattle-breeding flourished, and there were few inhabitants in the country who did not, to a certain extent, devote themselves to commerce. The whole population, in fact, lived free from care, and was wealthy; singing and dancing resounded from place to place; in short, this was the golden age of Kordofan.

This state of happiness was not, however, of long duration, for in the year 1821 Mehemed Ali sent his son-in-law, the notorious Defturdar, with a brigade of four thousand five hundred infantry and cavalry, attended by eight hundred Bedouins and eight pieces of artillery, to subject this country to his power. The people, apprized of his intention, prepared themselves to the utmost of their power for defence. The Melek Moosalem marched out with his troops to meet the Defturdar at Bara,--a march of twelve hours from Lobeid. His numerous but irregular army was well provided with every species of warlike weapons, excepting fire-arms, which were little or not at all known in the country. The cavalry, like the old Numidian equestrian troops, wore a shirt of mail, and pointed helmet without a vizor on their heads, and bore a double-edged sword thirty-six inches in length. The horses were caparisoned with plates of copper. The infantry were nearly naked; armed simply with a shield and spear, and but a small party of them with two-edged swords, and a species of tomahawk. The battle was fierce and bloody. The men of Kordofan rushed with fury upon the foe, and defended their freedom with a total disregard of death; even women participated in the fray. Hundreds of the combatants fell struck by the balls of the enemy; the wounded placed their fingers in their wounds, unable to understand how they could have been hurt, without having been touched by a weapon; so ignorant were they of the use of fire-arms. Infuriated they flung their spears at the cannons; and, having succeeded in capturing a gun for a short time, sought to revenge themselves on it for the destruction it had poured forth, by attacking it with their swords. The battle remained for a long time undecided. The Defturdar placed himself at the head of his cavalry, and, although ill, would not leave the field. Several attacks were valiantly repulsed. The Bedouins put the Turks to the blush by their bravery; where the battle raged hottest, these children of the desert were to be seen discomfiting the enemy most. Victory inclined sometimes to the side of the Turks, sometimes to the side of the men of Kordofan, but it yet remained doubtful. The Turks were sometimes sorely pushed; a Sheikh, however, of the Bedouins, from the race of Gemeat, was fortunate enough to lay Moosalem, the leader of the Kordofanese, prostrate with a pistol shot; his death decided the battle. The army of Kordofan, deprived of its leader, turned and took to flight; they were pursued by the Turkish cavalry, and many of them killed on this route. Amongst the dead on the field of battle three women were even found, who had taken an active part in the fight for their freedom. On the second day after this battle, the Defturdar entered Lobeid with his victorious army. The town was plundered, and nearly wholly sacked; the Defturdar found immeasurable treasure in this place, which this avaricious tyrant immediately appropriated to himself. The country surrendered without further resistance, excepting the mountain of "Dyre," situated at twenty hours' march from Lobeid, which has retained its freedom to the present day. The Turkish army suffered deprivations of all kinds; the greater part fell victims to the climate, and but few survived who could withstand its pernicious influence, and thus escaped with their lives.

Kordofan, excepting the free Nuba, is now divided into five districts; a Casheff, or captain, presiding over each; a colonel, resident in Lobeid, is governor of the province, and no pen can describe to what oppression the country is now subjected; all signs of wealth have entirely disappeared, and it is, as it were, drained by the Turks, who will not suffer any private person to attain the slightest degree of opulence. Many of the natives, tired of this oppression, have emigrated with all their possessions, and sought refuge either in Darfour, or in Takeli; and even as lately as the year 1838 the inhabitants of six villages have left the country. Nothing is now discernible but poverty and misery; inhabitants of even moderate means are not to be met with, if we, perhaps, except some few Djelabi.

The various tribes inhabiting the country at present are the following: Hadejat, el Giomme, Bederie, Shiswaba, el Etoman, Ogendiab, Birget, Dombab, Almakaita, Elberiab, Hassenie, Hawara, Felata, Denagle or Dongolavi, Darhammer, Abusanun, Darhami, Serauy, Freseh, Basaue, el Maramera, Volet el Angon, Czahalin, Kubbabeesh , Benecira, Hababin , Elhauwasma , el Messerie , Koncieri or Darfurer, Pergu, and Nas-Gioffon; but these people may be arranged collectively under three heads, namely: the Negroes; the Bakkari and Arabs or free people; and the Dongolavi. All these various tribes differ in their manners and customs, if not totally, at least to a certain extent, and speak thirteen dialects and languages among them.

The total population of Kordofan may be computed at 400,000 souls, excluding the nomadic Bakkari. The Defturdar did all in his power to degrade this country, and his name is, even at the present day, a word of terror to the natives. Terribly, indeed, the tyrant abused his authority in this unhappy country; no pen can describe the cruelties which he perpetrated in the province. Human nature revolts at hearing the inventions of this ruffian, practised upon his unfortunate victims for the mere gratification of his passion of cruelty. I should not have believed every rumour, or have regarded the accounts I heard of the atrocities of this man, for the most part, in the light of fiction, if I had not received corroborating evidence in all the districts of Kordofan, Sennaar and Egypt, through which I travelled; tales the more worthy of credit, inasmuch as many persons are yet living who were not only eye-witnesses of all these deeds of horror, but even themselves sufferers by his cruelty.

I may, perhaps, be permitted to illustrate a few traits in the character of this ruthless tyrant by narrating some of his feats; it will then become evident, that this flourishing country could but sink in a very short time, as the natural consequence of his oppressive tyranny; and that a considerable period must elapse before it will be able to recover itself but slightly.

A soldier who had stolen a sheep from a peasant was caught in the very act. He not only refused to return the stolen goods, but even maltreated the peasant. Confiding in the equity of his cause, the latter thought he should more probably have justice done him by the governor than by any one else, and entered a complaint against the soldier. The Defturdar listened very patiently to the story; but, when the peasant had finished, the tyrant accosted him in an angry voice, with the words: "And with these trifles you trouble me?" Then turning to his attendants he ordered the peasant to be brought before the kadi; they understood immediately that he meant by the kadi, a cannon, carried the poor wretch immediately off, and bound him to the mouth of a gun which was instantly fired.

His very servants, consisting not only of slaves, but of free Arabs and Turks, although they might be regarded as his executioners, stood in great awe of him, for he punished the slightest offence of which they might be guilty with every imaginable species of cruelty. Thus it happened that one of these servants was tempted to dip his finger into a dish to taste it. The Defturdar, unfortunately, observed the act. He demanded of the unhappy man, in an ironical tone, whether the dish were sweet or sour? The servant was naturally mute with fear. The Defturdar now ordered him to be nailed by the tongue to the door and his face to be smeared with honey, in order, as he expressed himself, to stimulate his gustatory faculties. In this position the unfortunate man had to pass two full hours. It took a long time before he recovered, and a variety of remedies were required to heal his tongue.

A seyss or groom, whose office is, according to custom in Egypt, to run before the rider, was incapable of keeping up with the Defturdar from absolute fatigue, in a long and quick trot. The tyrant struck him with his whip to quicken his pace. The unfortunate man, who was, however, quite exhausted, as may be supposed, did not become more active after this remedy had been applied. For this crime the unnatural barbarian had his feet bound to the tail of a horse, and ordered the animal to be driven through the streets of Lobeid by two other seyss. The unhappy groom would, no doubt, have met with his death in this manner, were not the streets paved merely with fine sand; thus he received many wounds, but none which proved mortal. The horse, unaccustomed to such usage, turned suddenly round, and struck at the unfortunate seyss, who, in desperation, seized the animal with all his remaining strength by the head; and to save himself bit into its upper lip. No attention was at first paid to this slight wound, but in a short time the head of the horse began to swell, and it eventually died. The seyss who was covered with wounds, however, survived the torture.

A man gave his neighbour, in a quarrel, a box on the ears; the latter brought a complaint against him before the Defturdar. "With which hand didst thou strike thy neighbour?" asked the tyrant. "With the right," answered the peasant. "Well," replied the Defturdar, "that thou mayst not forget it, I shall have the flesh removed from the palm of that hand." This order was immediately executed. "Now return to thy work," said the Defturdar to the sufferer, who, writhing with pain, replied: "In this state I cannot work."--"What!" exclaimed the tyrant in a rage; "thou darest to contradict me! cut his tongue out, it is rather too long!" and this operation was also immediately performed, without consideration of the tortures to which he had been previously subjected.

The Defturdar one day observed, that some one had taken a pinch of snuff out of his box during his absence; his suspicion lighted upon his valet; he, therefore, on a subsequent occasion, confined a fly in his box and leaving it in his divan went into another room, and ordered his servant to fetch something from the chamber in which he had put down the box. The servant fell into the snare, was really tempted to take a pinch, and the fly escaped without being observed. In a short time the Defturdar returned to the room, found that the fly had escaped from its confinement, and immediately asked the servant "Who had opened the box?"--"I, sir," he confidently replied; "I took a pinch." This liberty he paid with his life: the ruffian had him flogged to death.

A negro bought milk of a women for five paras, drank it, but forgot the payment; the woman complained to the Defturdar, who happened to be in the neighbourhood. "Well," said he, "I will immediately investigate the affair," and ordered the offending negro to be instantly brought before him. When he appeared, he asked him, if he had bought milk of that woman and not paid for it? The negro in fear denied it. The barbarian immediately ordered the abdomen of the negro to be cut open, to see whether his stomach contained the milk. It was, indeed, found; whereupon he quietly said to the woman: "Thou art right, take these five paras, and now go thy ways."

In his garden the Defturdar had a den, in which he kept a lion; the animal became gradually so tame that he ran about at liberty in the grounds, and followed his master like a dog. Of this tame lion the tyrant made use to frighten the people who came before him, a species of wanton sport in which he took the greatest pleasure. If it so happened that no stranger came to visit him during the hour in which he engaged himself in his garden, he ordered his attendants to bring any person they might meet on the high roads to him. The invitation was sufficient in itself to frighten any one to death; but when an unfortunate man in the greatest trepidation entered the garden, and in absolute fear of his life creeping along the earth, approached the Defturdar, he set the lion at him, and the poor fellow, of course, fell senseless to the ground at the sight of the wild beast. This was now his greatest delight; for, although the animal did no harm, it was sufficient to frighten the most courageous man to be brought in close contact with a rampant lion.

Before this animal was quite domesticated, and whilst it was yet kept in confinement, one of the gardener's assistants was guilty of some error, of which the superintendant complained to the Defturdar. In no case dilatory in passing judgment, he ordered the accused, without going into details, or listening even to the full explanation of the case, to be cast into the lion's den. This order was immediately complied with; the beast, however, treated the poor condemned wretch like a second Daniel; it not only did him no harm, but, to the astonishment of all beholders, licked his hands. The gardener's assistant was not the animal's attendant, but had occasionally thrown some of his bread into the den in passing. The noble animal had not forgotten this kindness, and spared his benefactor's life. The Defturdar, on hearing this, was by no means pleased; but bloodthirsty as ever, and without feeling the slightest appreciation for this act of generosity, ordered the lion to be kept fasting during the whole of the day, and the delinquent to remain in confinement, thinking in the anger of ungratified rage, to force the beast to become the executioner of its benefactor. But even hunger could not overcome the magnanimity of the royal animal, and the poor gardener remained the whole day unhurt in the den with the lion. In the evening he was liberated, but the unfortunate man did not long escape the vengeance of the tyrant, who, meeting him one day in the garden, where he had brushed up a heap of leaves, accosted him with, "Dog, thou art so bad that a lion will not eat thee, but now thou hast made thine own grave." Hereupon he commanded him to carry the dry leaves to an oven, and then to creep in himself. When this order was executed the tyrant had the leaves lighted, and the poor wretch expired under the most horrid tortures.

A Fellah owed the government forty maamle, the sheikh of his village had his last ox seized, the fellah declaring himself incapable of paying. The beast was slaughtered and divided into forty parts: the butcher received the head and skin for his trouble, and the remaining forty parts were sold at one maamle each, to the inhabitants of the village promiscuously. The meat, as may be supposed, was quickly sold at this low price. The poor peasant now appeared with a complaint before the Defturdar, assuring him that the ox was worth more than forty maamle. The Defturdar proceeded with all speed to the village, to investigate the matter on the spot. Having convinced himself of the truth, he ordered the sheikh, the butcher, and all those persons who had bought a portion of the confiscated ox, to be called together, and reproached the sheikh, in presence of all for his unlawful conduct. The butcher now received the order to slaughter the sheikh and to divide his body into forty parts. Every former purchaser was obliged to buy a part at a price of one maamle, and to carry the flesh home with him. The money was handed over to the Fellah as an indemnification for the ox which had been taken from him.

At the feast of the Ba?ram all the servants and seyss, eighteen in number, went before the Defturdar to offer their congratulations according to custom, and begged at the same time for a pair of new shoes. "You shall have them," said he. He now had the farrier called, and commanded him to make eighteen pairs of horse-shoes to fit the feet of his servants; these were ready on the next day, whereupon he ordered two shoes to be nailed to the soles of the feet of each of the eighteen servants without mercy. Nine of them died in a short time of mortification; he then had the survivers unshod, and consigned them to the care of a medical man.

But, enough of the atrocities perpetrated by this tiger in human shape, cruelties which are neither to be justified nor excused. Volumes might be filled with instances of tyranny of which this barbarian was guilty in the conquered country of Kordofan, in Sennaar, and Egypt. No single day passed without its tribute to his blood-thirsty cruelty. His power of invention of tortures for his unfortunate victims was extraordinary, and he was always capable of lighting upon some new mode of gratifying his revengeful disposition. His name will remain unforgotten for ages in Kordofan, Sennaar, and Egypt, and is yet an object of terror to all who hear it. Mehemed Ali, wearied of the complaints which daily reached him against this tyrant, at last had a bowl of poison presented to him. I myself saw several of the victims of his cruelty who had been fortunate enough to escape with their lives, but wandered about the country as cripples, begging their daily bread from their neighbours, deprived of their noses, ears, or tongues, or with their eyes put out.

The government is, indeed, at present, rather more lenient, and its officers have received a check in their arbitrary abuse of power; but the distance from the seat of government is too great to render the superior authorities cognizant of all abuses, too many of which, unfortunately, yet afflict this doomed province.

GOVERNMENT.

The form of government of Kordofan resembles that of other countries under Egyptian sway, that is to say, it is despotic; but the inhabitants of this province are subjected to particularly severe oppression, being situate, as we have above observed, at so great a distance from the seat of government, that it indeed almost amounts to an impossibility to proffer a complaint to the first authorities.

The people feel themselves, therefore, extremely miserable, the more so since, under the dominion of Sennaar and Darfour, neither property nor life were endangered, as they are at present. The difference may be deduced from the fact, that, in former times, nearly all the women wore ornaments of gold, a metal which is now rarely, or never seen in the province.

Under the government of Darfour, there were no taxes, no duties, trade was free, and everywhere reigned opulence. Now the reverse is observed. Duties and imposts of every description oppress the people, and have reduced them to abject poverty. The old proverb, "Where a Turk sets his foot no grass will grow," is, in this province, adequately exemplified. The originator of all this misery was, undoubtedly, the Defturdar, the conqueror of this country. With the conquest, government was out of the question, for every one was subjected to arbitrary and tyrannical treatment. Mehemed Ali, indeed, recalled the Defturdar, but the people experienced, on the whole, no material relief by this measure, for the subsequent governors were by no means idle in scraping treasure together, and gradually exhausted all the sap from this already impoverished country. The province is now governed by the Bey, of the first regiment of the line, quartered at Lobeid, to whom the Casheffs, are subordinate. The Bey is again responsible to the Pasha of Khartoom, who is, at the same time, governor of the whole Belled Soodan.

The Bey, or governor, is the superior authority in all civil and military affairs; his decision is peremptory; but, in matters of importance, orders must be received from Khartoom. In judicial cases, the kadi passes judgment, and the governor sees it executed; this, however, is generally a mere blind, to keep up the appearance of a just administration of the law to the people, for every judgment is perfectly arbitrary.

An additional, and chief grievance, is the circumstance of the Viceroy being obliged to treat the governors with the utmost lenity and forbearance; for he knows full well how dangerous it would be to irritate them, and thus, perhaps, to goad them on to rebellion. In one moment the whole Belled Soodan would be lost, and not so easily regained. The troops of the garrison consist of native negroes, who implicitly obey those who give them the most, or merely make them the largest promises, and who more especially treat them with kindness. The country in general detests the Viceroy, believing him to be the cause of all the oppression under which it groans, as it considers all the acts of injustice, under which it has to suffer, to be perpetrated by his orders. In case of a governor, therefore, rebelling against the government, the whole province would instantly attach itself to his faction, if he merely released them of a portion of their taxation. To re-conquer the country by force of arms would be a more difficult matter than it was twenty years ago; we know what resistance the negroes of Kordofan and Sennaar offered the Turks, when armed with spears and swords only; and at present, there are 15,000 muskets in the arsenal at Khartoom, which would give the insurgents no small advantage. Mehemed Ali knows all this very well, and acts very wisely in conciliating the governors: the authority of the latter is, therefore, virtually far greater than that of the Viceroy, and most wofully do they use it to their advantage; for, with few exceptions, they exert unlimited power, are masters over life and death, as also over the property of the people. A code of laws has certainly been instituted, but these are totally disregarded, and in every case will is law. Judgment is sometimes even passed according to the whim or fancy of the individual in the most unjustifiable manner. During my residence in this country, I had the opportunity of convincing myself of this fact.

A Turk, who travelled with a large quantity of goods, was murdered in the desert of Bahiouda, and robbed of his property. All investigations and endeavours to detect the murderer proved fruitless; thus much was, however, subsequently discovered, that the goods had been sold at Darfour, and it was suspected that the perpetrator of the crime was secreted in Kordofan. Several persons were taken into custody, and examined, but in vain; the delinquent could not be discovered. A prophetess, who, by casting a handful of shells on the sand, pretended to be able to look into futurity, and to explain the past, arrived, by means of her mystic art, at the conclusion, that the son of the Sheikh of Haraza was the murderer. The result of her sorcery was imparted to the governor, Mohammed Bey, in conversation over a pipe of tobacco. The governor, a man of weak mind, who placed more confidence in the idle talk of an old woman, than in common sense, gave credence to this tale, and had the man accused instantly arrested, and conducted by a party of soldiers to Lobeid; he was then loaded with irons, and cast into prison; whereupon the investigation immediately took place. Although he asserted that he was at that time in quite a different place, and was able to corroborate this statement by witnesses, the testimony of a fortune-teller was regarded as better evidence, and the unfortunate man was subjected to the most cruel tortures to force a confession from him. He was bound, by order of the governor, hand and foot, close to a large fire, whence a soldier took a burning branch, and burnt his body; he received twenty wounds, and not until he writhed like a worm with pain and anger did the governor put a stop to the cruelty. The true criminal was shortly after this discovered, and the son of the Sheikh, who had been so frightfully tortured, was now proved to be innocent; but no one could alleviate his sufferings, and any further compensation was totally out of the question.

When an individual is guilty of any offence, the examination generally takes place as soon as he is arrested, judgment is quickly passed, and instantly executed. Two circumstances are, however, necessary for the conviction of the party accused,--namely, detection in the act, or confession. If he plead not guilty, and deny the charge, he is submitted to torture, and thus it frequently happens that the innocent suffer for the guilty.

Stealing a slave, an ox, a camel, an ass, &c., is punished by the loss of a hand. The judgment is executed by the first butcher casually met with in the streets. The delinquent is ordered to lay his hand upon a block, in which situation it is held down by two men: the butcher then chops it off. The stump is immediately thrust into a vessel containing butter, heated nearly to the boiling point, which stands in readiness, for the purpose of stopping haemorrhage, and preventing mortification, and the limb is then enveloped in a rag. In the course of ten minutes all is over, and the sufferer returns home.

Murder, with the exception of negroes, is of very rare occurrence. One single instance of this crime occurred in the year 1838; the murderer was detected, and, after a short examination, hung on a gibbet erected in front of the house of the governor. In praise of Mehemed Ali, it must be stated that there is not at present that danger for an European travelling through the country as was the case during the time it was under the government of Darfour, when no Djelabi could venture to undertake a journey into this province, excepting under the protection of a considerable escort. At present, any person may traverse the country from one end to the other without fear. I myself, on nearly all occasions, travelled alone, or merely accompanied by my servant, and never met with the slightest delay from robberies, or other hinderances; on the contrary, I was everywhere received with the utmost hospitality and courtesy,--the more so when it became gradually known that I was no Turk, although of white colour, but a Frank.

Cases of petty larceny are of frequent occurrence; for thieving is almost a congenital vice with many of the negroes. What they see they wish to possess, and if it be not given to them freely, they will watch their opportunity of appropriating it to themselves; but we never find several persons conspiring together to commit a robbery.

A single mountain,--"Mount Dyre," inhabited by negroes, who have not yet been brought to submission, is to be dreaded; for these people live solely by plunder and robbery. They make incursions into the neighbouring country in large bodies, even to Milbes, situate at three hours' march from Lobeid, and steal and rob everything that comes in their way, both men and cattle, which they either use for their own purposes, or sell to others, The Djelabi, and other travellers, avoid this hill, by making a great circuit, in order to escape the negroes of "Dyre."

As far as my observations went during my sojourn in this country, and it is an opinion of the correctness of which I had the opportunity of convincing myself in a great measure, there are many sources in the state to cover its revenue, without proceeding to such extreme and inhuman measures as slave-hunting or slave-trading. The sugar-cane grows here without cultivation and thrives exceedingly. The soil is, in many situations, well adapted to the growth of indigo, and the country would yield many other products, if the experiment were made, and water were not so scarce as it is in many situations. Although the White Nile flows close to the confines of the province, yet the water of this river could not be rendered serviceable for the irrigation of Kordofan by means of a canal, for the excavation of the bed would cost millions of money, and the country is so elevated that a simple canal would not answer the purpose. No less than twenty thousand heads of horned cattle might, with ease, be annually sent to Egypt, for there is no lack of pasturage; but the transport of cattle should be intrusted to the care of more sensible people than it has been hitherto, who have acted entirely on their own discretion. Mehemed Ali has, further, not yet made an attempt to derive any benefit from the large forests of gum trees in Nubia. They might be a source of great profit to the state, and would prove far more productive than those contemptible and atrocious slave-hunts. He need only employ the tenth part of those troops whose services are required in these abominable excursions as inspectors in collecting the gum, and allow the negroes of Nubia small wages, as is done in Kordofan; both the state and the people would in this way gain, and the negroes would enjoy their liberty; their confidence in the government would be augmented, when they came to understand that they were treated as a free people and not as slaves; trade, commerce, and agriculture would, by this measure, receive a stimulus and improve; and every man would with pleasure engage in an undertaking whence a small profit might be expected, because he would not have to tremble for his freedom and his life. The mountains of Nubia might yield from ten to twenty thousand cantari of gum of the best quality annually; and Mehemed Ali would soon find out, that he could with as much ease obtain two cantari of gum as one slave, and that the acquisition would be attended with less expense.

The governors and government functionaries look upon Kordofan as their private property, and, regarding the inhabitants as slaves, treat them as such, in every sense of the word; thus the country is subjected to every possible species of extortion. In the year 1838, Mehemed Ali determined to undertake a journey to Sennaar. Many cases of oppression had probably reached his ears which were likely to lead to proceedings, and might prove productive of considerable sums. On his arrival at Khartoom, he summoned the chief sheikhs of Kordofan into his presence, and listened to the complaints of his subjects. On accurate investigation, and where he was convinced of unlawful actions he had the guilty party immediately prosecuted. Thus the governor of Kordofan was deposed, and all the staff-officers, with nine other officers and copts, were brought to trial. Much property which had been illegally acquired was certainly confiscated; but, as I have before observed, Mehemed Ali was, in the end, the sole gainer by this measure, and not the people. On his departure, the former arbitrary system prevailed; he left, indeed, strict orders with the governor and other government officers, rigorously prohibiting them from indulging in cruelties, but these measures were insufficient to mitigate the evil. Mehemed Ali was, on this occasion, cunning enough, in travelling to Fazoglo, to liberate a convoy of slaves he casually met on the road, who had but a few days before left their native hills;--but why? Because several Europeans were in his suite. No such orders were left in Kordofan; the stipulated number of five thousand slaves were delivered to a man. I was the only European at that time in Kordofan, and the governor condescended to request that I would not mention this circumstance in Europe. The country, in fine, could only be relieved and gradually raised from its present degraded state, by sending a governor to Kordofan who would act, not upon private interest, but on the interests of the state and people: in fact, as a man, as well as a diplomatist.

HABITS AND CUSTOMS.

The dwelling-places, in Kordofan, are called "tukkoli," and are of extremely simple construction. The house is generally ten to twelve feet in diameter, and of a circular form; it has but one single entrance, which answers the purpose of door, window, and chimney, and is just large enough for a man to creep in whilst stooping. One house is as like the other as one egg is like its fellow, for there is no scope for architectural display; as the residences of the negroes are built on the same plan at the present day, and formed of the same materials they were centuries ago. A certain number of wooden poles are stuck into the ground, in a circular form, according to the dimensions required, and, being bent inwards, form a fork above. A second series, exactly similar to the first, is added, and the ends are bound together in a point, so that the second layer has the shape of a sugar loaf, and constitutes the roof. The whole fabric is then combined with a kind of basket-work and covered with dokn straw. The apex of the roof forms a basket, which serves as a nest for the black stork, which generally returns in the months of May and July from its migrations, and hatches its young in the nests it finds ready formed. If no stork happen to build on one or the other of these "tukkoli," three or four ostrich's eggs are placed, by way of ornament, on a pole erected perpendicularly on the top of the roof.

Simple as is the construction of these houses, they may be said, on an average, to be very firmly built, so that a drop of water seldom penetrates during the heaviest shower in the rainy season, and they afford, at least, a dry place of shelter. From two to five of these tukkoli are generally built for one family, and the whole homestead is then hedged in with a fence of thorn; an opening is left in this hedge for the gate, represented by a bush of thorn, which is taken away and replaced after entrance or egress from the enclosure. This is not done from any apprehension of thieves or of any other intrusion, but to keep the hungry camels, who would devour the house, in a short time, down to the very framework, at a respectful distance. These thorn fences are a great inconvenience, and even dangerous to strangers, for, if they do not exactly shed blood, they will seldom enter them or quit them without leaving a portion of their dress thereunto attached. The expense of building a house of this description is very trifling; the poorest people, therefore, are able to erect their own tukkoli. Wood may be cut in the forests without any charge being made for it; certainly those who do not happen to grow corn, and consequently have no straw, are obliged to buy this material. The expense, however, rarely exceeds from five to ten piasters, for which sum, a sufficient quantity may be bought to keep out every drop of water during the severest shower. Labourers are not paid, for each man assists his neighbour gratuitously. These houses present another and very desirable advantage, putting aside the consideration that the material costs a mere trifle and the building but little trouble; for every man can have his house carried away, by ten or twelve men, in two divisions, and quickly again erected in a different place, if the site did not please him, or a disagreeable neighbour rendered his prior residence unpleasant to him. If fire break out in a village, no attempt is made to extinguish it, as it would be labour in vain, but the houses nearest to the seat of conflagration are conveyed out of the reach of danger, and a limit is thus put to the raging element. Whole villages are sometimes carried away, when an insect happens to infest the neighbourhood, and renders residence in a certain district insupportable. The animal is the ricinus, called there "kurat;" it harbours in the sand, whence it issues, in astonishing numbers, to attack those who may happen to sit down on the sand naked, as the negroes do. This little animal then immediately approaches and bites most severely. The camels stand in great awe of it, immediately take flight, and cannot be made to stop in a place where it is to be met with. The sting of this insect is only to be avoided by sitting on straw mats, for they seldom creep upon these.

Every family possesses an additional hut, in which the flour necessary for the consumption of the house is ground. This operation is performed in a hollow stone, a species of rude mortar, which is fixed into the ground, whilst a girl, generally a slave, reduces the grain with another cylindrical stone to a powder. In a family consisting of eight persons, one girl would be occupied throughout the whole year in grinding the necessary quantity of corn. This simple labour requires great exertion, and is only to be performed by girls who have attained their fourteenth year, younger children being unequal to the task. Even grown persons suffer considerably in this occupation, for it requires no slight exertion to roll a heavy stone all day long backwards and forwards in the heat of these huts; the poor creatures thus employed are generally bathed in perspiration, and yet they may be heard singing all day long. Their songs are certainly merely expressive of their desire to escape, or of longing after their homes. The chaunts are very peculiar, and, with few exceptions, the impromptu pouring-forth of the feelings of the singer, according to the custom prevalent over nearly the whole of the East.

Few songs are to be met with which the one learns of the other; for each individual sings exactly what he thinks, without any regard to metre or time. For their dances the natives have a few peculiar melodies, which, however, are frequently altered by variations of their own composition. The young female slaves are heard to sing chiefly in a minor key, and their notes are scarcely audible in the next hut: the song will frequently run in the following strain: "The sun is concealing itself behind the hills, come people to the joyous dance; the cows are milked, the work is done, light the fire; my lover comes to fetch me home, &c." A tear may be seen to flow from the eye of many a girl as she thinks of her native hills, over these songs; time, however, is capable of assuaging the grief of these poor creatures, and after the lapse of two or three years but few of them devote a thought to their native country. In Egypt I have often conversed with both male and female slaves who scarcely remembered their fatherland, which they the more easily forget, as they meet with treatment in captivity they could not have experienced under the paternal roof; they subsequently adopt the customs and habits of the people with whom they are forced to live, and frequently laugh at the simple customs of their own country.

Most places are provided with draw-wells, but the water is on the average very bad. The wells are situated at a short distance from some of their places of residence, and the tributary springs frequently dry up, as was the case in the year 1839, when many villages suffered from want of water. In several localities, where this element was formerly found at a depth of ten feet, it is now necessary to dig to a depth of twenty feet before it can be reached. About fifteen years ago water was found at twenty feet below the level of the ground at Lobeid; at present fifty feet must be penetrated before arriving at it. During the rainy season water is, indeed, never wanting; but the rains do not last long, and that which remains in the ponds either quickly evaporates, or becomes in a short time so deteriorated that it could not be drank without producing fatal consequences.

The arrangements in the interior of the tukkoli are as simple as the huts themselves. In addition to an "angareb" , a leathern shield, and a few spears, the furniture consists of the following objects:--a pot, called "burma," for water; a second for boiling, and a third for "merissa" ; further a flat earthern dish "doka" for baking bread; some few gourds for drinking; a wooden platter named "gedda" for the boiled food; and a dish of straw plaited from the leaves of the Doum palm, called "tabake." Milk is kept in a basket formed of rushes so densely interlaced that no fluid can percolate: to render them thus impermeable they are steeped in boiling water immediately after they are plaited. Provisions and other articles of domestic economy are hung against the walls, to keep them from the mice and white ants; these insects are a thorough plague in the country, and nothing is safe from them; they will even gnaw and undermine the wood-work of a house, and cause the whole fabric to fall to pieces. Their habitation is the sand, especially where it is rather damp; everything in fact that is placed on the ground is in danger of being eaten up by them; chests and trunks should, therefore, be placed upon stones, for they do not creep up these: the open air is also fatal to the white ant. When they have gnawed anything to pieces they leave a moisture mixed with sand, which becoming hard forms an incrustation; and beneath this they carry on their work of destruction. This covering is not intended to defend them from other insects inimical to them, and likely to disturb them in their work, but to guard themselves against the access of the air, which, as I before mentioned, they cannot bear. I took all possible pains to learn something more of the habits of these animals, to find out where they live and in what numbers they congregate. I have often dug to a depth of one foot or two feet in the sand without meeting with one single ant; and yet, if I placed a wooden chest on the ground, where I had just been digging, I found in a short time the spot covered with hundreds of these insects.

The interior of some of the tukkoli is decorated with beautiful coloured straw mats; the angareb is also covered with variegated matting, and serves, at the same time, as a couch. Two or three ropes are drawn across the middle of the hut, to which ribbons, two fingers in breadth, plaited of rushes, and spreading out inferiorly, are attached; by these ligatures blue porcelain plates, of English manufacture, are suspended, to contain food and preserve it from the insects. A second cord is passed round the hut, to which black glass bottles are hung, ornamented with gold paper; part of these are empty, others again are filled with perfumery and cosmetics belonging to the women, as grease, palm-oil, oil of cloves, shebe, telka, etc. The walls are decorated with a shield, a two-edged sword, and a few spears. Before the tukkoli, a hollow cylinder made of cow-dung is frequently met with, it is placed on stones, and is hermetically closed with a lid. In this vessel the inhabitants keep their corn, but a majority of them bury their stores under-ground. For this purpose they dig a pit, and line it internally with straw-matting; the corn is then thrown in and covered with straw-mats; sand is now shot over the whole, and the ground is levelled. Cabinets d'aisance are not known to the natives; in these matters they imitate the cats. There are no stalls or stables for the domestic animals; the cattle is penned together in an enclosure of thorn, in the vicinity of the tukkoli. The fence is exceedingly dense, intended to keep out the wild beasts at night; and yet it frequently happens that a lion, or hyaena, when urged by hunger, will effect an entry through the thickest hedge, and carry away a sheep, a goat, or a calf.

The duties the inhabitants have to perform during the day require very little trouble, and in no country have I seen as much indolence as in Kordofan. Every man, be his means ever so small, endeavours to purchase a slave, and this poor wretch must then do all the work, in order that his master may lie all day long in the shade, indulging in idleness. The natives never perform any more labour than is absolutely necessary, and thus much only when it is urgently required. Those who attend to agriculture have very little trouble or care in their employment; for they have nothing to do but to sow the seed at a certain season, and to carry the harvest in three months' time. Very few persons occupy themselves with handicraft. The houses are repaired, or renovated, at the utmost every three or five years; thus no one has anything to do, and the natives are consequently seen lying about sleeping all the day long. The women attend, indeed, to the domestic duties, but these are inconsiderable, and if their means will permit it, they pass the greater part of the day on the angareb. The men have no amusements; only very few of the Dongolavi smoke tobacco, but the negro tribes indulge the more in this habit. They take little or no interest in the dances of the women, and when they are tired of lying down, and have slept to their hearts' content, a few neighbours congregate; and after greetings and mutual inquiries into the state of their health,--a ceremony which generally occupies a quarter of an hour,--the conversation at the most turns upon the governor and the casheffs, or they talk of their sick camels or asses. Politics in general are a very small trouble to them; the taxes, however, which they are forced to pay several times in the year, cause them a few days of great uneasiness. On these occasions they consult together how they may best collect them; and if the harvest was successful, and merissa consequently plentiful, many a bitter hour is drowned with this liquor. Their conversation becomes then more animated, they console themselves with providence, and the rhababa, a lyre with five strings, entirely dissipates their cares. This instrument is their chief amusement, they will listen for hours to its monotonous notes, and it forms a frequent accompaniment to the voice; but story tellers who relate tales from the Arabian Nights are not to be met with among them as in Egypt. However noisy their amusements may become, or whatever the effects of the merissa may be, they seldom or never proceed to quarrels. Swearing and abusive language is scarcely ever heard among them as it is among the Arabs, and if, as a very rare occurrence, a quarrel ever arise, it is immediately arranged by the elders present. They never fall to blows, although they may, perhaps, occasionally pull each other about by the shirts. They are hospitable, and every one who casually passes by whilst they are amusing themselves is considered their guest, and must participate in the amusements.

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