412 



Sketch of a Journey through Nubia and North Ethiopia. [Juue I, 



(lier, who was but twelve years old, 

 wept constantly. We were happy to 

 be able to relieve the distress of this 

 unhappy family, and speedily collected 

 among ourselves the small sum they re- 

 quired. On giving them the money, I 

 said: "Take this to-morrow to the 

 Kaim-Mekam, and ransom your mo- 

 ther." It would be impossible to 

 describe the demonstration of gratitude 

 of these poor children ! They threw 

 themseltes at our feet, wished to kiss 

 our hands ; and the youngest, rising 

 from the ground, ran to the white flag of 

 his father, and caressing it, said, with 

 childish candour : " Our holy father, 

 who seest the countenance of the ruler 

 of the universe, pray for them, that he 

 may reward them a thousand fold, and 

 increase their importance in their val- 

 ley."* A touching union of superstition 

 and filial piety ! When we had re- 

 turned to our tents near the shore, we 

 saw the two youths approaching the 

 river, and, laying hold of a beam, they 

 s^wam across. 



Wadi Blalki offers a more beautiful 

 prospect tlian the preceding country; 

 in Eherabass we saw a great many 

 palm-trees on the western shore of the 

 river. The Nile is here very shallow, 

 and the sand-banks continue nearly as 

 far as the island of Tumas, beyond 

 Derre. The river turns again, running 

 in small, but numerous windings, for a 

 considerable time towards the west. 

 Between two of these windings is Derre, 

 tiie capital of all Nubia, and Ihe resi- 

 dence of the kashef, or governor.f The 

 tow^n is forfy-five leagues from Philoe ; 

 and is, as it were, built in the midst of 

 a palm-wood, which runs along Ihc 

 river. The houses of this town, con- 

 cealed among the trees, and scattered 

 on a space of ground of nearly three 

 leagues, are much better built than in 

 other pails of the country. But that 

 part which may be properly called the 

 town has such streets as the other towns 

 in Upper Egypt. Here is a small 

 khan, (inn,) a pretty mosque of Arabian 

 architecture, and two or three shops, in 

 which the Turkish soldiers of the garri- 

 son sell coarse linen, beads, copper 

 rings. l)i!s of coloured cloth, and other 



* The Nubians believe that the whole 

 earth is traversed by the Nile, and divided 

 into valleys. 



t Nubia has only been subdued of late 

 years by the Pacha of Egypt, who made 

 the former king one of his kashefs, or 

 governors. 



trifles. The number of inhabitants 

 amounts to 3,000. Their houses are 

 built of unburnt bricks, and have pre- 

 served the declining shape, in form of a 

 balustrade, called by the ancient Egyp- 

 tians, Talus. This is certainly not 

 done for the purpose of imitating the 

 ancients, of such an emulation the 

 Musselmans would be ashamed ; but, 

 in these countries, no custom, no vice, 

 no prejudice, nay, not even a stone 

 disappears. Customs and manners are 

 transmitted from generation to genera- 

 tion, and perpetuated. Even to this 

 day the nations of the East have pre- 

 served, with some of the virtues of the 

 times of the patriarchs, the timidity and 

 covetousness of the ancient Asiatics. 



Derre appears in every respect as the 

 capital of Nubia. Many women here 

 wear blue shirts, and throw a piece of 

 cloth over fiieir heads, which hangs 

 down to their knees. The rings in the 

 noses are larger and finer than with the 

 peasant-women ; they wear pearls round 

 their necks, and even the song of these 

 women betrays the improved taste of a 

 capital, with its coquetting. Most of 

 the men wear shirts descending to 

 their knees ; and, as a superior orna- 

 ment, a red cap, called JFess, bordered 

 with a narrow stripe of cloth. Tiiese 

 objects of luxury have only been known 

 among them since the conquest of the 

 country through the pacha. The Turk- 

 ish soldiers buy of the tailors the list of 

 European cloths, wiiicli they retail, with 

 considerable advantage to themselves, 

 to the inhabitants of this country. The 

 idlers of this metropolis are found sit- 

 ting in rows under small sheds, smoking 

 tobacco, and drinking one after the 

 other nebid ; a beverage made of dates, 

 and resembling porter in taste, and even 

 in smell, only being darker. The trade, 

 and consequent wealth of the inhabi- 

 tants of this town, consists in the 

 plaiting of double-mats of palm-leaves, 

 of baskets of various colours, (a great 

 quantity of wiiich are exported to 

 E.ssuan,) and in the sale of a large quan- 

 tity of black dates, of peculiar taste, 

 which grow sometimes to the size of 

 three inches. The dates growing in 

 the vicinity of Derre and Ibrim are, 

 in fact, considered as the best. On the 

 opposite side is a small temple cut in 

 the rock ; and, when rude workmanship 

 may be admitted as a proof of anti- 

 quity, the lime of its construction cannot 

 be fixed. Near the island of Tumns 

 the Nile again takes a south-western 

 direction. The island is wcl! culti- 

 vated. 



