CHAPTER VII.

HELIOPOLIS—THE SHOUBRA ROAD—BEDROSKYN—MITRAHENNY—MEMPHIS—SAKHARA—APIS MAUSOLEUM—WORSHIP OF THE BULL APIS—TOMB OF KING PHTA—MEET THE KHEDIVE—ENGAGE SERVANTS FOR THE SOUDAN.

My next visit was to Heliopolis on donkey-back. I was told that it would be a nice ride, but nothing to see except an obelisk when I got there. Notwithstanding this, I felt very desirous of visiting this ancient seat of learning, where Moses had lived and “become learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians.” Accordingly Ibrahim and I started off. Leaving the citadel and tombs of the Caliphs on my right, I had a pleasant ride of about two hours or so from Cairo through avenues of acacias and tamarisk trees, a large plain covered with a luxuriant growth of sugar-cane, citrons, lemons, oranges, ricinus, cactuses, olive trees and palms.Before reaching the mounds of Heliopolis is a well of fine water on the border of a grove of citrons and palms, and in the midst of these is a venerable old sycamore enclosed by palisades and regarded with veneration by the Copts, as the place where Joseph, Mary and the infant Saviour rested on their flight into Egypt. Although a very aged tree, it cannot be, of course, as old as the legend affirms. It is, however, a very pretty spot, sheltered from the busy hum of life, embowered in citron thickets, which resound with the music of birds, and with tall, waving palm trees, on the trembling branches of which large vultures rock to and fro. I approach the site of Heliopolis on a dead level, and find that it stood formerly on an artificial elevation, overlooking lakes which were fed by canals communicating with the Nile. With what history does this place teem! Here, or in the vicinity, Jeremiah wrote his Lamentations. Thales, Solon, Pythagoras and Plato studied here. From the learned priests of Heliopolis, Plato—who studied here for several years—is believed to have derived the doctrine of the immortality of the soul and of a future state of rewards and punishments. This neighbourhood was probably the scene of the Exodus of the Israelites, and here was the most celebrated university in the world for philosophy and science. It was here that Potipherah,the priest or Prince of On, resided. Here Joseph married his daughter Asenath, who became the mother of Ephraim and Manasseh. Now what do I see? This once famous city of the sun, the Heliopolis of Herodotus and Strabo, the On of Joseph, the Bethshemesh of Jeremiah, the university of the world at that time, with its collection of colleges and temples, avenues of sphinxes and extensive dwellings of the learned priests, dazzling palaces, obelisks and splendid edifices has been almost blotted out, and as I stood there absorbed in thought, and feebly endeavouring to picture to myself this place as it once stood, teeming with life, wealth and power, those beautiful words of Shakespeare, our immortal bard, came floating through my mind as very descriptive of what I now saw—

The cloud-capt towers,The gorgeous palaces,The solemn temples,The great globe itself,Yea, all which it inherit,Shall dissolve,And like the baseless fabric of a vision,Leave not a wreck behind.

The cloud-capt towers,

The gorgeous palaces,

The solemn temples,

The great globe itself,

Yea, all which it inherit,

Shall dissolve,

And like the baseless fabric of a vision,

Leave not a wreck behind.

All was now desolation, if I except the massive foundations of the Temple of the Sun, which are still visible in a few places. The one solitary object that serves to mark this once celebrated city is an obelisk of solid granite, 62 feet high, the last monumentof a temple that once vied in magnificence with those of Karnak or Baalbeck, and which has been pointing to the sky from the time of the old monarchy for more than 4,000 years. It bears the name of Osirtesen I. (Joseph’s contemporary), the first great name in Theban history, builder of the older and smaller part of the great temple of Karnak and King of Upper and Lower Egypt, and probably where I then stood looking at, but unable to decipher the hieroglyphics on this obelisk, Joseph and Moses (who had both been admitted to the priest cast) had stood before me.Sic transit gloria mundi.

I had now seen all there was to see, and was pleased that I had made this visit, so I mounted my donkey and got back to Cairo. It happened to be Friday, the Mahomedan Sunday. On this day all the rank and fashion can be seen between four and six driving up and down the Shoubra Road. This is lined by a splendid avenue of trees, which meet over-head, thus forming a delightful shade. It was now about 4 p.m.; I performed a hasty toilet and set off for a carriage drive down this road. I found it thronged with visitors and a goodly sprinkling of officers, amongst whom I saw the now famous Arabi Pacha. Mounted sentries also were posted at intervals each side of the road as the Khedive usuallytakes a drive there every Friday about 4 or 5 p.m. I had not been there long ere he came sweeping down with his escort.

Next day I devoted to exploring the ancient (probably the most ancient city in the world), Memphis, the Noph of the Bible, and its necropolis, Sakhara. According to Herodotus its foundation was ascribed to Menes, the first King of Egypt. If this was so it would be about 6,000 years old, and it is said that the art of building was known centuries before his time.

It is quite a good day’s work to perform this journey in the blazing sun. I get an early breakfast and leave at 7.30 on my donkey, accompanied by Ibrahim on another donkey, in possession of my luncheon. The distance to the railway station is about two miles. Here I procure tickets for ourselves and the two donkeys, proceed to Bedrashyn, a distance of about ten miles, then remount and pass through the village of Mitrahenny, then a very fine palm-grove, on to the site of ancient Memphis, once a large, rich, and splendid city, remarkable for its temples and palaces. As late as 524 B.C., at the time of the conquest of Cambyses it was the chief commercial centre of the country, and was connected by canals with the Lakes Mœris and Mareotis. Some distance from the village ofMitrahenny I saw near the pathway a colossal statue of Rameses the Great in excellent preservation. It is composed of a single block of red granite, polished. It was originally 50 feet in length, but has been mutilated, and now does not measure more than 48 feet. It lies on its side in a pit by the wayside, which, during the inundation of the Nile, is filled with water. On its subsidence the alluvial deposit is scraped off sufficiently to show the statue to travellers. Vast mounds of broken pottery and statuary are to be seen about here and Sakhara, probably burying the ancient city. Sakhara is about two miles or so from Memphis, and the greater part of the ride lies through sandy desert. It lies, in fact, on the edge of the Lybian Desert. It is remarkable for its ancient monuments, among which are 30 pyramids. The great step pyramid is said to be even older than the pyramids of Gizeh. Besides these 30 there are the ruins of a great many others, and numberless grottoes, sarcophagi, the Ibis catacombs, and Apis Mausoleum, which was discovered by Mariette Bey. He observed the head of a sphinx protruding from the sand, and remembering that Strabo described the Serapeum of Memphis as approached by an avenue of sphinxes, he at once commenced his explorations in search of the temple in which Apis was worshippedwhen alive and the tomb in which it was buried when dead. The sand-drift, after immense exertions, was cleared away, and the avenue was laid bare from a superincumbent mass, which was in some places 70 feet deep. Conceive, if you can, the splendour of this imposing approach; no less than 141 sphinxes were discoveredin situ, besides the pedestals of others. The temple to which they led has disappeared, but the tomb remains.

I go down hill, nearly up to my knees in sand, with my guide. A great door is unlocked and thrown open, we then light our candles and explore. We proceed a considerable distance through a passage or tunnel, and then find ourselves in a large vault or tunnel some 200 or 300 yards in length. Chambers lead out of it on either side as large as an ordinary sitting-room, and about 12 feet high, in each of which is a ponderous granite sarcophagus, polished. Placed on the sarcophagus like a lid was a granite slab of great size and weight, the whole weighing about 20 tons. Near the subterranean cemetery of the bulls are the groves or pits of the sacred Ibis also formerly worshipped. These are enclosed in earthenware vases; the bones and broken urns now lie scattered all around. These huge blocks of granite were actually transported from the quarries near Syeneto Memphis, a distance of nearly 600 miles! I carefully examined one sarcophagus containing the embalmed dead deity. It was carved all over with sacred hieroglyphics, sharp and clear in their outlines, and the polish on the marble bright as it was 3,000 years ago. I saw between 30 and 40 of these sarcophagi here.

The worship of the bull Apis was celebrated with great pomp and splendour, and he was regarded as the representative of Osiris.

His interment would cost as much as that of any king or conqueror. It was necessary that he should be black with a triangle of white on the forehead, a white spot in the form of a crescent on the right side, and a sort of knot like a beetle under his tongue. When a bull of this description was found he was fed four months, in a building facing the east. At the new moon he was led to a splendid ship with great solemnity and conveyed to Heliopolis, where he was fed 40 days more by priests and women, who performed before him various indecent ceremonies. After this no one was suffered to approach him. From Heliopolis the priests carried him to Memphis, where he had a temple, two chapels to dwell in, and a large court for exercise. He had a prophetic power which he imparted to the children about him. The omen was good or badaccording as he went into one stable or the other. His birthday was celebrated every year when the Nile began to rise; the festival continued seven days. A golden patera was thrown into the Nile, and it was said that the crocodile was tame as long as the feast continued. He was only suffered to live 25 years, and at his death he was embalmed and buried in these sarcophagi amidst universal mourning till the priest had found a successor.

When I emerged once more from this mausoleum and struggled up through the sand I paid a visit to the tomb of King Phty or Phta, said to be 5,400 years old. His sarcophagus is similar to those I had just visited, and is contained in a nice lofty room, the walls of which, as are the walls of the chapel outside, plentifully and excellently sculptured, and quite fresh in appearance, though so ancient. I do not remember all I saw represented on the walls and tombs, but amongst other things there were lions, giraffes, ostriches, sacred Ibis, owls, crocodiles, elephants, buffaloes, a boat floating on the water with a man in it, and in the water fish of different kinds, Egyptians fishing, harpooning the hippopotamus, agricultural pursuits, ploughing and sowing, treading out the corn just as they do now, the butcher sharpening his knife, the butcher killing the animal whilst another holds him down,hunting, battle scenes, &c., &c. Some figures on the wall had been painted red; the paint is still good and not at all frayed. In another excavation, after leaving this tomb, I saw a mummy; but I must not expend too much time over this place, although I feel quite disposed to keep on talking of it. We cannot leave the plain of Memphis without recurring to the most memorable event in all its eventful history. It was probably here that Moses and Aaron stood before Pharaoh and demanded that he should let the people go. This was the spot where “Pharaoh rose up in the night, he and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house in which there was not one dead.”

Ruminating on the mutability of human affairs, I mounted my donkey, had a long ride through beautiful palm groves, and finally emerged from the village of Gizeh on to the main road from the pyramids and over a handsome bridge across the Nile to my hotel. When half-way across the Nile, I observed the Khedive and his escort coming along, so I got off my donkey to watch him pass. I took off my hat to him, and he acknowledged my salutation with a gracious bow. As I returned homewards, in imagination I saw these glorious cities of old Egypt peopled. I tried to picture tomyself—feebly, I dare say—the splendour and wealth of those people, the magnificence of the designs carried out, the result of which was that neither before nor since has the sun shone on anything like such superb, massive, and imposing temples, palaces, and tombs in the world. Thebes, with its hundred gates, was perhaps the most splendid city in the world for many centuries. Then there were Luxor, Karnak, Philæ, Elephantine, Baalbeck, Dendera, Aba-Simbal, Abydos, Esneh, Edfau, Silsilis, and other places, all decorated with palaces, temples, pyramids, tombs, and sphinxes, &c., on the same magnificent scale; but all have shared the same fate, and their stupendous ruins are all that remain to strike the stranger with awe and wonder.

About two days after our arrival in Cairo, our party was augmented by the arrival of Mr. W. D. James, Mr. A. James, and Mr. Percy Aylmer, Mahoom, a black boy; who had been rescued from the Soudan some years beforehand; Jules, George, and Anselmia, the three latter European servants. Here we engaged Suleiman as a sort of general manager for the caravan; he had travelled through the Soudan with Sir Samuel Baker; Ali, a very good cook, and Cheriffe, who made a very good butler, and had been accustomed to travel as a kind of steward on the Nile boats.

THE LAND OF GOSHEN—ANCIENT CANALS—SUEZ—HOWLING DERVISHES—ECLIPSE OF THE MOON AND STRANGE BEHAVIOUR OF NATIVES—LEAVE SUEZ—WHERE THE ISRAELITES CROSSED THE RED SEA—PASS MOUNT SINAI—CORAL REEFS ABUNDANT.

Our next move was on to Suez by rail, a day’s journey through another very interesting portion of Egypt, the land of Goshen, the home of the Israelites for 430 years. A good deal of country near the line of railway is now under good cultivation, supplied by the Sweet Water Canal. The earliest attempt that we are acquainted with to construct a canal was by Rameses the Great. It was between 50 and 60 miles in length, and left the Nile at Bubastis, reaching into the neighbourhood of Lake Timsah. Upon it Rameses built his two treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses near Ismailia,mentioned in the 1st chapter of Exodus, and there is little doubt that the Israelites, who were then in bondage, laboured at these cities, and the canal 3,000 years ago. It is probable also that the canal dated far back beyond this time, for the Egyptians had been great in canal making 1,000 years or more before then. One of the greatest marks of Rameses was the covering the whole of Egypt with a net-work of waterways in connection with the river. They served a double purpose—they greatly extended the supply of water and the area of cultivation, and were invaluable for defensive purposes. Many centuries after this Pharaoh Necho took this canal in hand 500 or 600 years B.C. He undertook to adapt it for navigation and prolong it to the head of the Arabian Gulf. He is the only Egyptian monarch whose name appears connected with maritime enterprise, and he was so zealous as to perfect the formation of a ship canal connecting the Nile with the Red Sea. He carried the great work as far as the Bitter Lakes, and then abandoned it, warned by an oracle to desist, after expending the lives of 120,000 fellahs. Herodotus actuallysawthe docks, which as a part of the plan, he had constructed on the Red Sea. One conqueror succeeded another, and the works got neglected and the canal choked up. The Romans again carried on extensive repairsand alterations, but on the downfall of the Roman Empire anarchy and confusion prevailed, and all public works were allowed to fall into dilapidation. The canals were choked up, and remained unnavigable till the Arab conquest of Egypt. Under the vigorous administration of Amrou they were re-opened, and corn and other provisions were conveyed along them for the use of Mecca, Medina, and other Arabian towns. A very great deal could be said about their ancient canals, but I have only time to glanceen passantat a little of the ancient history of the places I passed by. In the evening we arrived at Suez, 76 miles east of Cairo. There is very little to interest or amuse at Suez, but here we were obliged to remain for nearly a week by reason of stoppages in the canal, which are frequent. The day after our arrival we took donkey rides down the Mole, which is 850 yards long, to see after our provisions, tents, &c., which Mr. James and his friends had got together for our campaigning in the Soudan. We found them, and there sure enough was a stambouk (a native boat something like a fishing smack) not only full but piled up with everything that we could possibly require, and the collecting of which must have necessitated a great deal of forethought. Two days after our arrival, Mr. J. B. Colvin, of Monkham’s Hall, Waltham Abbey,arrived by steamer from Australia, to join us, thus completing the party. During our stay here there happened to be an eclipse of the moon. This appeared to have a very disturbing influence on the native element, as I should think that every tom-tom in Suez was called into requisition and incessantly beaten all over the town during the eclipse to drive away the evil spirits. If it did not succeed I have no hesitation in saying that all the good spirits (ourselves) would very soon have vanished if we could. We had ample time to explore the town both by day and night, and amuse ourselves as well as we could by donkey rides down the Mole, boating, fishing and bathing, but whilst bathing we were careful not to go far from shore for a header or remain in long, as sharks are so plentiful in the Red Sea. One evening, two or three of us were wandering about at night and heard strange noises issuing from a small building. We were sufficiently inquisitive to go up a narrow passage to ascertain the cause. There we found about a dozen very dirty howling dervishes in the odour of sanctity (a decidedly strong odour we thought) performing their senseless and absurd mode of worship with great energy. They were in a dirty room, having a damp, uneven, earthen floor, the dimensions of which were about 7 feet high, 7 feet wide, and perhaps 10feet long. Very little light or air could find its way in. The weather was very hot, and the sudoriferous glands of these unsavoury gentry were in an abnormal state of activity. Need I say that we remained here a very short time? We were all thoroughly tired of Suez, and anxious to get on to Souâkin, but unfortunately, amongst all the steamers blocked in the Suez Canal, we could not hear of a single one bound for Souâkin. TheAgra, a British India steamer, was bound for Jeddah, on the opposite coast, so Mr. James telegraphed to London, asking the Company to let us be taken to Souâkin. They acceded to the request. Accordingly, on the 8th December, we got on board, unloaded the stambouk, and started off for Souâkin,theport of Nubia, and indeed of Central Africa, since made historical by our slaughter of thousands of Arabs in that neighbourhood. The places of interest pointed out to us on the Red Sea coast were Moses’ Well, Mount Sinai, and the spot where the Israelites crossed. Here the arm of the sea is 12 miles wide, and just here Pi-hahiroth before Baal-zephon is the one and only opening in the mountains. Here one million and a half of the Israelites—men, women, and children—passed through in the night, whilst the army of Egypt pursued them. After a most agreeable but very warm voyage (90° F. in the shade) of 3½ days we reached Souâkin. During our last day at sea Captain Smith was very careful in his navigation, as the Red Sea, particularly in that last day’s voyage, abounds in coral-reefs.

LANDING PLACE AT SOUÂKIN.

ARRIVAL AT SOUÂKIN—THE SOUDAN—BEDOUIN ARAB PRISONERS IN THE SQUARE, NOT “ON THE SQUARE”—IVORY—ENGAGE CAMELS—SHEIK MOUSSA—SOUÂKIN—SLAVES—TRAGIC END OF A DOCTOR—HADENDOWAH ARABS—AN ILL-FATED MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE.

We were now just about to land in the Soudan, and as that word is, as I am writing, in everyone’s mouth, it would be as well to say something about it before I go any further.

The Soudan, or Beled-es-Sudan, Land of the Blacks, has since the Middle Ages been the common name of the vast extent of country in Central Africa, which stretches southward from the Desert of Sahara to the Equator. The name was originally applied by the Arabs, but with great latitude of signification, different authors giving it to the different parts of the territory with which the varying routesacross the desert made them acquainted. Later geographers divide it into High and Low Soudan. Many include Senegambia in it. High Soudan stretches from the sources of the Niger, Senegal and Gambia, to the Upper Nile, or, at all events, to the south of Lake Chad, and embraces the mountains of Kong and of Upper Senegambia, the kingdoms of Ashantee, Dahomey, Mandingo, Houssah, and Feelah. All this country is richly watered and wooded, distinguished by a luxuriant tropical vegetation and by deposits of gold. Low Soudan stretches on the north of High Soudan, eastward to Kordofan, and northward to the desert. This district is partly level, partly undulating, and partly broken by chains of lofty hills rising within its own limits. Its situation between the desert on the north and the mountains which border it on the south, with a climate destructive to foreigners, and a lawless and predatory population, make it one of the most inaccessible regions in the world. In the south, where it is watered by the Niger, Lake Tchad, and their tributaries, it assumes a fertile and cultivated appearance. The inhabitants contain numerous nations of different races, chiefly of the Negro, Fulde, or Fellatah stems, together with many Arab colonists.

This is what Sir Samuel Baker says about theSoudan in theContemporary Review: “Before the White Nile annexation the Soudan was accepted as a vague and unsatisfactory definition as representing everything south of the first cataract at Assouan, without any actual limitation; but the extension of Egyptian territory to the Equator has increased the value of the term, and the word Soudan now embraces the whole of that vast region which comprises the Deserts of Libya, the ancient Merve, Dongola, Kordofan, Darfur, Senaar, and the entire Nile Basin, bordered on the east by Abyssinia, and elsewhere by doubtful frontiers. The Red Sea alone confines the Egyptian limit to an unquestionable line. Wherever the rainfall is regular the country is immensely fertile; therefore the Soudan may be divided into two portions—the great deserts which are beyond the rainy zone, and consequently arid, and the southern provinces within that zone, which are capable of great agricultural development. Including the levels of the mighty Nile, a distance is traversed of about 3,300 miles from the Victoria N’yanza to the Mediterranean; the whole of this region throughout its passage is now included in the name ‘Soudan.’”

We had on board Captain Gascoigne and Dr. Melidew, of the Royal Horse Guards. They were also bent on a shooting expedition in the Soudan,but did not accompany us farther than Souâkin. There were several other passengers on board bound for India.

We landed at Souâkin on the quay, in a large open square. One side is occupied by what is absurdly called the palace, a large building in which the Governor transacts his official duties, the opposite side by the custom-house, the other by a guard-house, whilst the opposite side was not occupied by any building, but was open to and contiguous to the Red Sea; it was, in fact, the quay.

Here I saw nine tons of elephants’ tusks ready for shipment. The average weight of each pair of tusks would be somewhere about 36lbs. I computed that about 560 elephants would have been slaughtered to make up nine tons of ivory; and if elephants are killed at that rate, people may well exclaim about the scarcity of ivory. What next attracted my attention was about 60 Bedouin Arabs in heavy chains, wandering about in this large open square. These poor fellows had to pay their gaolers 100 dollars a month. The Maria Theresa dollar which is in use in the Soudan, and preferred to any other coin, is worth 4s. of our money. They had to find their own food, or rather their tribe did so. I was told that at one time they were a strong tribe, and had come over from Arabia. They had at onetime 8,000 camels, but they had dwindled down to 2,000, as whenever they failed to pay the taxes some of their camels were seized. I cannot speak with any certainty of their offence, but somehow or other they had incurred the anger of the then Governor of the Soudan, Ali Riza Pacha, about a year beforehand. He clapped them into irons, and there they seemed likely to remain, unless some more kindly-disposed Governor superseded him. This fortunately happened not long before our return to Souâkin in the following April, when Ali Dheen Pacha was appointed, who soon liberated them.

The inhabitants of Souâkin are principally Arabs, a few Greek and Italian merchants, and two Englishmen. The Government usually have a garrison of about 300 Nubian troops stationed in an undefended barrack on the mainland, about a mile from the town.

Blind to their own interest, the Egyptian Government obstructs traffic by the heavy duties which it levies. Cattle and sheep, which can be obtained from the tribes in the neighbourhood, are sent by hundreds annually to Suez by sea. Were it not for the heavy duties imposed, I should say that a large trade ought to be done with Suez, which is but three and a half days from Souâkin. There is a telegraph line to Kassala. They have largenumbers of camels for sale or hire, but no horses, mules, or donkeys. The water is collected during the wet season in a large reservoir about a mile from the town; there are also two or three wells at the same place.

We soon introduced ourselves to Mr. Brewster, an Englishman, and head of the custom-house; and he in turn sent for Achmet Effendi, the Civil Governor of Souâkin, to whom he introduced us. Of course, there followed the inevitable salaaming, coffee and cigarettes, so customary in the East. Our business was very soon explained; we wanted about 80 camels provided without delay to transport ourselves and our baggage across the desert to Kassala. The camel sheik, Moussa, was sent for, and soon appeared—a really picturesque, handsome-featured man, almost black, possessed of gleaming, regular teeth, wearing a snow-white turban and loose white robe, precisely like the ancient Roman toga.En passant, I cannot help thinking that the slang word “togs” is derived from the word toga.

The Sheik Moussa promised to provide us with the camels within three days; and, strange to say, he did so, a singular instance of a man keeping his word to one in the East. I know that my experience amongst the officials in Turkey was verydifferent—there everything was put off until to-morrow. A day would be fixed for me to call at the Seraskierat, or War Office, and when I went I was usually met with the reply, “Yarrin sabbah, effendi” (to-morrow, sir), or “Ywash, ywash” (by and bye), not once or twice, but I daresay five or six times. Another inconvenient phrase which is always on their lips if one wants any money from them, and which is spoken trippingly on the tongue, is “Para yok” (no paras), in English, “I haven’t a farthing.”

It soon became known that there was a “Hakeem Ingelese,” as they called me, in our party, and I very soon had many patients, amongst whom was a child of one of the Bedouin Arabs.

In the afternoon I improved my acquaintance with Mr. Brewster, who had officially resided here four years, and, of course, knew most of the people and the customs of the place. There are a great many good and curiously-built houses with flat roofs, built of blocks of white coral, and a great many tent-like structures constructed with reeds, stalks of palm leaves, and matting, which is very cheap and abundant, made by the natives out of palm leaves. Mr. Brewster was good enough to escort me over Souâkin, and give me all the information he could about the place and people. Aswe strolled on he pointed out the home of a slave-dealer, who then had several slaves—children and young girls. These could easily be transferred as ivory, dhurra, or something of the kind, as old Achmet Effendi connived at slave-dealing, and would shut his eyes to the transaction provided his palm was crossed with a couple of dollars per head. The little children realize from 30 to 40 dollars a head, and young girls 70, 80, or 100 dollars.

“Why,” said I, “in England it is supposed that the slave trade has been abolished in Egypt long ago. When in Cairo I saw the slave-market, but was told no slaves have been sold there for the past three or four year.”

“Ah,” said he, “you will find, when you get further into Africa, that it is still carried on, and more openly than it is here. When they have been captured they are driven across the desert just like cattle to some quiet place on the Red Sea coast, where there is a stambouk waiting; there shipped and taken across to Jeddah in a day or so, and sold by public auction.” The only other Englishman resident at Souâkin was Mr. Bewlay; he had at once lived in Jeddah for a time, and he assured me that he had often seen slaves sold there.Aproposof my profession, Mr. Brewster related a very interesting, and, to me, a very instructive anecdote, which served to enlighten me considerablyas to the peculiar line of thought which sometimes permeates the native brain, and to the still more peculiar line of action which it leads to. He told me that about three years or so before our arrival a German doctor, who had settled there, whilst attending a native, had occasion to perform some trivial operation which was not attended with the success which he desired or anticipated, as unfortunately for the native, and subsequently for the doctor, the former was so inconsiderate as to expire a day or two afterwards. The doctor could truly say after this, “A doctor’s lot is not a happy one,” inasmuch as the friends of the defunct Arab paid him a visit, and in a marked but highly objectionable manner, showed what they thought of the doctor’s services in a way that did not commend itself to me, and which, for want of a better illustration, we will call “a new way of paying old debts.” The worthy leech was requested, in so pressing a manner that refusal was out of the question, to accompany these friends of the deceased, andnolens volens, they escorted him to a large open space just outside the town, where dhurra and other things were sold, and there they remunerated him, not in dhurra, not in sheep, not in goats, not even in money, but in a most cutting manner, for they fell upon him with their knives and literally chopped him to pieces. Reader,“would you be surprised to hear,” that on learning this I was extremely careful not to perform any rash operations, and that my ministrations to the lame, the halt, the sick, and the blind, should be successful. At all events, it is a source of great gratification to me that they were not so unsuccessful as to necessitate the sudden and unlooked-for departure of any of my patients to their happy hunting-grounds.

The Hadendowah Arabs are the most numerous tribe in the neighbourhood of Souâkin, and are, for the most part, good-looking men; they are very dark, approaching to blackness, have good, well-formed features, large dark eyes, arched black eyebrows, and face, on which as a rule there is little or no hair, and nearly every Arab, here and elsewhere, that I met with, is possessed of the most beautifully white, regular, and sound teeth possible. There is little doubt but that this is due to the simple manner in which they live; their chief food is dhurra (sorghum vulgare). This contains 11½ per cent. of gluten, our wheat only ten per cent. This is the wheat of Egypt, and is the food of camels, horses, and men. Camels, however, get very little of it, as a rule, unless on a forced march, or are owned by a man who can afford it. It grows to the height of nine or ten feet, and is very prolific. I never counted the seeds in a head of this sorghum,but Sir Samuel Baker did, and he says that in one single head he found 4,840 grains. The Arabs, speaking generally, are not big-boned men, but are lithe, active, and sinewy. Their hair is bushy, frizzly, long, and black, which they wear very curiously; they often take as much trouble with it as any West-end dandy would do. A parting is made around the crown from one temple to the other; the hair on the top is combed up and kept short—perhaps an inch long—the rest is combed down, and stands out in a bush all round the head to a distance of three or four inches; a thin piece of stick, like a skewer slightly bent towards the sharp point, is stuck through the hair at the top, and is often used to stir up the population, which is no doubt very numerous. I have often seen their hair white with fat, which they plaster on most abundantly when they can get it, and as few wear any covering over their shoulders when they are exposed to the heat of the blazing sun, this drips down on to them. They wear a bundle of charms secured just above the elbow, a tope, or loin-cloth round the waist, which reaches down to their knees, and very many a ring in one nostril. Nearly all of them carry a shield and a long spear weighted at one end. The Hadendowhas are much given to lying and laziness.

During the time that we remained here we werefully occupied in preparing for our journey across the desert from Souâkin to Kassala, a distance of about 280 miles; we cut up old boxes, made new ones, and sorted out what provisions, &c., we should require. I arranged my medicine-chest and surgical instruments so that I could get at what I might want easily. We got a little shooting, sand-grouse, flamingoes, pelicans, and herons; wandered about the town and frightened all the children in the place, who thought we were slave-dealers come to steal them. The principal slave supply is obtained from the White Nile and Darfour; Khartoum, I believe, is the principal slave mart.

At nights we stretched ourselves out on the divan that ran round the room in the palace, and slept head to feet all round. This room adjoined and looked out on the square in which the Bedouin prisoners were confined; frequently in the early morning they woke us up with their clanking chains, or by indulging in their peculiar mode of devotion. The day before we started on our journey, Mr. Brewster said—

“Well, Doctor, I hope you will all return alive and well, and not be so unfortunate as a party that Dr. Felkin accompanied a year or two ago.”

“I am sure I quite indulge in the hope of returning to England in a sound state,” I replied. “But tell me about the misfortunes of the party you speak of.”

“That is done in a very few words,” said he. “Six missionaries went from Souâkin and six from Zanzibar, meeting eventually in the wilds of Africa, sent out by the English Church Mission Society, to reclaim lost sheep. They were not happy in the selection of a suitable spot for evangelising, as only three of them and Dr. Felkin returned to Souâkin, looking considerably the worse for wear; the others had succumbed to fever, dysentery, and spears. Indeed, I am not quite sure that some of them were not eaten.”

THE START ACROSS THE DESERT—MY CAMEL SERVES ME A SCURVY TRICK—THE CAMEL, ITS HABITS AND TRAINING.

Three days after our arrival at Souâkin there were some very heavy showers of rain. Mr. Brewster informed me that it was eighteen months since it last rained there.

On the fourth day after our arrival about 80 hired camels were brought into the large open square to be laden with the tents and baggage of every description. I wish I could adequately describe the scene that ensued—the camels groan and bellow without any provocation, as if they were the most ill-used animals in existence; the Arabs shout and wrangle with each other as they adjust the loads on the haweias (a kind of pack-saddle), clutch one another by the hair of the head, after the manner of women when quarrelling, and shake the offending head about most vigorously. Our head-man, Suleiman, walksround and distributes his favours very impartially—a tug of the hair for one, a box on the ears for another, and a flick of the coorbatch (a whip made of hippopotamus hide) for another. This scene lasted for about three hours, and when at last they did start, they formed a very long hamlah, or caravan. The head of one camel is tied to the tail of the one in front, a long piece of rope intervening to allow for the long stride of the camel. We posted our letters—the last for some time to come—for England, to say that we were just starting on our Arab life across the Nubian desert. The caravan having started, each of us sees to his riding camel being got ready. We are some time in starting, getting our makloufas (camel saddles) properly and securely adjusted, and our little belongings, such as rifles, revolvers, saddle-bags, travelling satchels, &c., fixed on them. Each one has a zanzimeer hung on to a strap by the side of the camel. The word zanzimeer requires explanation; it is a large leathern bottle, capable of holding three or four quarts of water. As, in our journey across the desert, we should perhaps be sometimes two or three days before we came to any well, we had to provide a water-camel, whose business was to carry two large barrels full of water for domestic purposes. Each of these had a padlock on them, so that the Arabscould not get at them just whenever they felt inclined—a very necessary precaution, as they are so very careless, would take the spigot out of the barrel, quench their thirst, and as likely as not insecurely replace the plug, and let the water waste, which would be a very serious calamity. The mode of mounting and sitting on a camel is peculiar; my legs don’t hang down each side of him in stirrups, but hang down in front of the saddle each side of his neck or crossed over the neck. No stirrups are used. The camel, of course, is on the ground, with his legs tucked under him; I approach his side and give a sudden vault or spring on to the makloufa. This must be done with great dexterity and quickness, unless the attendant has one foot placed on his fore-leg, as the camel gets upinstantlyas soon as I leave the ground, so of course, unless I am quick and dexterous, the result is disasterous; in other words, the camel gets on to his legs, and I go off mine on to my back. I watched the process of mounting very carefully, as it was my first experience of camel riding. I attempted and succeeded in doing the same as my pattern, and when my camel got up (which he did pretty quickly, and not without considerable danger and inconvenience to me), I felt that I occupied a very high and somewhat precarious position. However, Isoon got accustomed to the peculiar motion of a camel. A hygeen, dromedary, or riding camel, can go on a shuffling kind of trot (which is infinitely preferable to a fast trot or walk) at the rate of about five miles an hour, and I am sure that anyone who rides 25 or 28 miles a day, under the burning rays of an African sun, will think he has done quite enough, although on some occasions we have made forced marches and travelled 30 or 33 miles in one day. There were no hygeens at Souâkin; we therefore rode our caravan camels. A hamlah, or caravan camel, is capable of carrying considerably over 3 cwt. for very long distances, travels at the rate of 2½ miles per hour, and will go steadily on for 12, 14, or 16 hours without stopping to eat or drink. He only requires water every fourth day, and can go without (on a pinch) 5 or 6 days, but when he does drink it is as well to let out his girths a few inches, or he will burst them. The twigs and leaves of the mimosa and kittar bushes, the scanty herbage of the desert, is all he requires, except whilst making forced marches, when he requires a certain amount of dhurra, because he has no time for grazing. This useful animal may well be called the ship of the desert, for if it were not for him, the enormous extent of burning sand which separates the fertile portion of the Soudan from Lower Egypt would belike an ocean devoid of vessels, and the deserts would be a barrier absolutely impassable by man. During the season when fresh pasture is abundant camels can go for weeks without water, provided they are not loaded or required to make extraordinary exertions; the juices of the plants which form their food are then sufficient to quench their thirst. The flesh of the young animal is one of the greatest luxuries; of the skins tents are made; the various sorts of hair or wool shed by the camel are wrought into different fabrics; and its dried dung constitutes excellent fuel, the only kind, indeed, to be obtained throughout vast extents of country. In order to qualify camels for great exertions and the endurance of fatigue, the Arabs begin to educate them at an early age. They are first taught to bear burdens by having their limbs secured under their belly, and then a weight proportioned to their strength is put on; this is not changed for a heavier load till the animal is thought to have gained sufficient power to sustain it. Food and drink are not allowed at will, but given in small quantity, at long intervals. They are then gradually accustomed to long journeys and an accelerated pace until their qualities of fleetness and strength are fully brought into action. They are taught to kneel, for the purpose of receiving or removing their load. Whentoo heavily laden they refuse to rise, and by loud cries complain of the injustice. Those which are used for speed alone are capable of travelling from 60 to 90 miles a day: Instead of employing blows or ill-treatment to increase their speed, the camel-drivers sing cheerful songs, and thus urge the animals to their best efforts. When a caravan of camels arrives at a resting or halting-place, they kneel, and the cords sustaining the loads being untied, the bales slip down on each side. They generally sleep on their bellies: In an abundant pasture they generally browse as much in an hour as serves them for ruminating all night, and for their support during the next day. But it is uncommon to find such pasturage, and they are contented with the coarsest fare, and even prefer it to more delicate plants. Breeding and milk-giving camels are exempted from service, and fed as well as possible, the value of their milk being greater than that of their labour. The milk is very thick, abundant, and rich, but of rather a strong taste. Mingled with water it forms a very nutritive article of diet. The young camel usually sucks for twelve months, but such as are intended for speed are allowed to suck and exempted from restraint for two or three years. The camel attains the full exercise of its functions within four or five years, and the duration of its lifeis from forty to fifty years. The hump or humps on the back of a camel are mere accumulations of cellular substance and fat, covered by skin and a longer hair than that on the general surface. During long journeys, in which the animals suffer severely from want of food, and become greatly emaciated, these protuberances become gradually absorbed, and no trace of them left, except that the skin is loose and flabby where they were situated. In preparing for a journey, it is necessary to guard the humps from pressure or friction by appropriate saddles, as the slightest ulceration of these parts is followed by the worst consequences: insects deposit their larvæ in the sores, and sometimes extensive and destructive mortification ensues. I have often seen crows pecking away at sores on a camel’s side, and was surprised to see how little notice it takes of them. After all, I must say of the camel, that he not only groans and roars when he is too heavily laden, but at all times without the least occasion, and although it may appear mild, docile, and patient, it is frequently perverse and stupid. The males especially are at certain times dangerous. It is sure-footed, too, as I have often experienced in travelling over mountains so precipitous that no animal but a camel could have carried such heavy loads as I have seen it do without accident. All breeds of camelscould not do so, but those belonging to the Hadendowah Arabs, between the Red Sea and Taka, are very sure-footed. The camels most highly thought of in the Soudan are the Bishareen; they are very strong and enduring, but not so large as many others. There is quite as much difference in the breeds of camels as of horses, and as much difference in riding a hygeen and baggage camel as there would be in riding a nice springy cob and a cart horse. Amongst the Arabs a good “hygeen,” or riding dromedary, is worth from 50 to 150 dollars; the average value of a baggage camel is about 15 dollars, but I believe our average ran up to 30 or 35 dollars.

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