D A R-F U It 



577 



Dar-fur. next in rank to those who fill the offices of government, 

 x — "■V""""' are the Faquis or learned men, that is, the priests. 

 Some of them have been educated at Cairo, but the 

 great part, in the schools of their own country, and are 

 ignorant of every thing except the Koran. The whole 

 nation, like most of the people in the north of Africa, 

 except the Egyptians, is of the sect of the Imam Ma- 

 lek, and are remarkably intolerant towards the Franks. 

 Many idols are still worshipped by the women in the 

 Sultan's haram ; and the mountaineers offer sacrifices 

 to the deities of the mountains when they are in want 

 of rain. At the great annual festival, they are said to 

 practise many superstitions, and even to put to death a 

 boy and girl as a sacrifice. 

 Be'renues. The revenues of the sovereign of Dar-fur are derived 

 from a variety of sources, which altogether produce a 

 very great amount. On all merchandise imported, he 

 receives a duty of nearly one-tenth ; upon the slaves 

 exported, there is demanded a kind of tax, or rather 

 douceur, as the price of exemption from scrutiny, ge- 

 nerally at the rate of more than L. 100 for every thou- 

 sand of slaves. He receives also one-tenth of all the 

 slaves which are procured by predatory excursions from 

 the neighbouring districts by his own subjects Every 

 village pays annually a certain sum in corn ; and he is 

 entitled to the tenth of the sheep, goats, oxen, and ca- 

 mels, and to all the male horses, which are reared by 

 his tributary Arab subjects. All fines for misdemea- 

 nours, which the prince himself has the power of im- 

 posing, go to the royal treasury; and every person 

 who engages in a judicial proceeding before him, 

 must offer a present according to his rank and proper- 

 ty. A considerable income arises from the presents 

 daily received from all the great personages of the 

 kingdom, from the merchants who come to the country 

 for purposes of traffic, and from those who solicit offi- 

 ces under government ; and particularly at the great 

 festival called the leathering of the kettle drum, there is 

 a general offering of presents to the sovereign from all 

 the principal people, and almost every householder in 

 every town and village of the kingdom, on which occa- 

 sion a Melek has been known to give to the value of 

 L.200 sterling. In addition to all these sources of 

 wealth, the sovereign possesses lands of his own, culti- 

 vated by his slaves, for the supply of his household ; 

 and is also the chief merchant in the country, sending 

 quantities of his own goods with every caravan to Egypt, 

 and employing his slaves to trade in the adjacent coun- 

 tries with the merchandise brought from that country. 

 Commerce. The principal trade of Dar-fur is carried on with the 

 country of Egypt, by means of a caravan to Grand Cai- 

 ro. The motions of this caravan are extremely uncer- 

 tain ; sometimes two or more of them arriving in Egypt 

 in the course of the same year, and sometimes none ap- 

 pearing for the space of two or three years. This ir- 

 regularity is owing to the changes in the governments 

 of the two countries, the caprices of their sovereigns, 

 and the power of the Arabs who infest the roads. Hence 

 the departure of a caravan from Dar-fur forms a very 

 important event; engages the attention of the whole 

 country for a considerable time, and becomes even a 

 kind of chronological epocha. Two thousand camels, 

 and a thousand head of slaves, are accounted a large ca- 

 ravan, from Dar-fur to Egypt ; but on their return they 

 seldom amount to five hundred camels. The principal 

 articles transported in these caravans are slaves, camels, 

 ivory, ostrich feathers, gum, pimento, tamarinds, lea- 

 ther sacks, parroquets, guinea fowls, and white copper. 



VOL. VII. PART II. 



The principal commodities brought back from Egypt Dar-fur. 

 are cotton cloths made in that country, Indian muslins "*""" '""""•■ 

 and cottons, light French cloths, red caps of Barbary 

 manufacture, silks, carpets, shoes of red leather, fire- 

 arms, strait sword blades, copper, tin, brass and iron 

 wire, writing-papei - , soap of Syria, small looking-glas- 

 ses, beads of various kinds, coffee, spices, and perfumes. 



During seven or eight months of the year, the face Africa], 

 of the country is dry and sterile ; but the rainy season, ture - 

 which prevails from the middle of June to the middle 

 of September, suddenly invests the fields with a delight- 

 ful verdure ; and in general, the produce of the year de- 

 pends upon the abundance of rain which falls during 

 this period. The south-east wind brings the greatest 

 quantity ; the north and north-west breezes are cool 

 and refreshing ; the thick, hot, and sultry air comes 

 from the south. A custom similar to what Herodotus 

 relates of the ancient Egyptian kings, and to what is to 

 this day practised in the empire of China, is observed 

 by the Sultan of Darfur, in honour of the labours of 

 agriculture. As soon as the wet season commences, he 

 goes out with his Meleks and attendants, and begins 

 the labours of the field, by planting a few grains with 

 his own hand. Few instruments are required in the 

 operations of their husbandry. When the soil has been 

 sufficiently softened by the rains, the cultivator and his 

 assistants go out to the field with a kind of hoe; and, 

 having made small holes with this instrument over all 

 the ground, about two feet distant from each other,, 

 throw in the grain, and cover it with the foot. The ge- 

 neral crop consists of millet, with a small quantity of 

 wheat, sesamum, and a particular species of bean. In 

 two months the millet, and in three the wheat is ready 

 for the reaper. The process in harvest is equally sim- 

 ple with that of the seed-time. The women and slaves- 

 break off the ears with their hands, (leaving the straw 

 to be afterwards removed,) and carry them away in 

 baskets upon their heads. When these have been 

 thrashed, (which is very awkwardly and incompletely 

 done,) the grain is exposed to the sun till it become 

 quite dry ; and is then deposited in a hole made in the 

 earth by way of granary, and covered over with chaff 

 and earth. In the gardens are cultivated lentils, kid- 

 ney beans, onions, garlick, melons, and cucumbers. 

 Gourds and water melons grow wild in considerable 

 abundance. There are few trees in the county, and 

 those, which prevail most, are characterised by sharp 

 thorns, and a solid imperishable fibre. The plane and 

 sycamore sometimes appear ; but they are both suppo- 

 sed to have been brought from Egypt. The tamarind 

 grows to a considerable size, and bears large crops of 

 fruit. The date trees are very rare, and their fruit dry 

 and diminutive. There are several small shrubs, some 

 of which yield fruit scarcely worth gathering. Rice 

 grows wild in some of the districts, but is of a very in- 

 ferior quality, and is little used or esteemed. Tobacco 

 is produced in abundance, and appears to be of native 

 growth. Hemp is regularly cultivated, but is chiefly 

 used as a narcotic and an aphrodisiac ; and for this pur- 

 pose is smoked or chewed in its crude state. Cayenne 

 pepper is extremely common in one part of the country, 

 and is generally used in the food of the natives. 



There are few horses in the country, and the natives ^^1^ 

 pay little attention to the breed. Their best horses are 

 bred in the country of Dongola, and by the Arabs to the 

 east of the Nile. These are larger than the Egyptian 

 breed, well formed, full of spirit, yet extremely tractable. 

 The asses are similar to those of Great Britain, and are- 

 4 n 



