Berber to Khartoum.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXI, Issue XII, 17 September 1898, Page 364

Berber to Khartoum.

In view of the triumphal entry of Sirdar Sir Herbert Kitchener into Khartoum, the following’ account of the approach to the place by way of the Bed Sea will lie interesting. The writer. Mr Henry Green, who is familiar with the locality, is at present in Auckland:-

I left Suakim .Jan. 29, accompanied by four loaded camels and two camel drivers, and took the road to Berber. The direction of the. first section is west-south-west to Kokreb, and after the Wady of Laeinby turns west again as far as Berber. This region is formed by a spur of the Ethiopian mountains, which rising gradually marks the watershed between the Bed Sea and the Nile, and from that point subsides with a gentle declivity as far as the plain of the Nile. To the eye of the traveller the scenery appears like a series of amphitheatres of more or less extent joined together by narrow passes of various lengths. The soil, generally alluvial, shows in some places disrite and granite rocks, and there is an enormous block of the latter which the natives call Abu Adfa, ‘Father of the Hermit.’ Vegetation as far as Kokreb is tolerably luxuriant, and consists of acacias, Fagonia spinosa. colocynth senna, and dragon trees. The road is crossed by a number of Wadys—that is to say, beds of rivers which retain for a while enough moisture to sustain a stunted vegetation. In the rainy season (Carif) they Hood the land around, making the road impracticable; in fact, in February wells are met with daily. Owing to the permeable state of the soil the water passes through readily, and is to be procured without much trouble. The chief points to be met with on this route are Sinkat, the first station after Suakim. at an altitude of 985 ft: Omareg, in the Valley of Otnareg: the table land of Akma. altitude 21125 ft; Kokreb, 2460 ft; Droumkat, 1970 ft: and the wells of Abu-Taku, 1215 ft, a short distance from Berber. The distance from the Bed Sea and the Nile according to this route may be reckoned as 250 miles —that is to say, about 100 hours' journey with loaded camels, as the latter can travel 10 hours a day. With saddle camels and runners the length of the journey might be under seven days,

but the camel kind here is in a state of decay, and the ship of the desert is not possessed of much strength or capability of resisting fatigue. They carry scwt. Their blanched bones and putrefied carcases very often show the sad destiny which is theirs. 1 joined a party of four merchants from Jidda going to Khartoum to purchase slaves. They were most fanatical Mohammedans, as all those about Berber are also. At certain hours they stopped on the road and filled the air with invocations to Allah, and not having sufficient water for their ablutions performed them with sand. Although of strange and ugly features, as a matter of fact they were good people, and greatly obliged me by their courtesy. We started at 7 in the morning, stopped at 11, resumed our journey about 2 p.m., and halted again for the night about 8 p.m. Our roof was the sky. During the day we amused ourselves by shooting partridges and trying to shoot gazelles, but with regard to the latter our efforts were always fruitless. These pretty and lively inhabitants of the desert are the gentle ornaments of its squalid valleys. Supervision of the camel drivers was most unpleasant. These Bishareen Arabis are very lazy’ and as stubborn as rocks, indefatigable only in eating and drinking, and excessively greedy for money. It was difficult to wake them in the morning and make them collect the eamels set free for pasture during the night with a fastening to their front legs to make them lie down to be saddled and prevent them stopping on the road whenever they’ pleased. The dressing of the head is one of the cares which engrosses most of the thought and time of the Bishareen. They arrange themselves in a row, one behind the other; the second combs the first, the third the second, and so on. The hair is first unfasteneed and divided by small sticks, then arranged in little plaits falling on the neck. It is previously smeared with sheeps’ fat and then sprinkled with red earth.

On the 7th I reached Berber, a small town of 1000 inhabitants situated in 18deg. lat. N. and 34deg. long. E. of Greenwich. It is on the right bank of the Nile; the houses are built of bricks sun-baked and plastered over with mud. They consist of only’ one floor,

and the roof is covered with leaves of the doni palm. Berber has no resources of its own, but is a depot in the transit trade which passes from the Soudan through Khartoum to the Red Sea. It has a governor and a postal and telegraph office like Suakim. There are two routes which lead from Berber on the Nile to the capital of the Soudan, one by’ land on camelback. coasting along the right side of the Nile, and the other by water by’ means of the mercantile sailing ships The first route, which is the one adopted by the Post Office, takes seven days; the length of time for the second varies according to the season, being dependent upon favour-

able winds. I decided to travel by the Nile, and on Feb. 12 left Berber on board a nuggar commanded by’ Reis Keri, a typical Dongola fellow—cunning, impudent, greedy, and ignorant. The crew consisted of the captain and 10 boys, four of whom were negro slaves, and also of two women, who were entrusted with the care of grinding the corn (dhurra) upon a stone called muraka, and preparing food for the crew and passengers. I cannot speak of the discipline or the way the vessel was manoeuvred. Suffice it to say that although the waters at this time of year are deep enough, they managed to allow’ the ship to run ashore no less than ten times during the entire journey, and on these occa-

sions part of the crew stood in the water by the nuggar trying to push it off with their shoulders, while others on deck, \yith long poles, worked with the same object, the whole of them singing a monotonous tune which they believed to be indispensable to ensure a simultaneous effort. Sometimes they took a spell at CROCODILE CATCHING. They are very fond of the eggs and flesh of the animal, but they never practise the art of catching them without consent of the head man of the locality. The way in which they always succeed in their enterprise is surprising. The hunters, posted on the banks of the river, gesticulating and throwing grain on the water, pronounce with a loud voice and in monotonous rhythm the words appropriate to the ceremony. The crocodile, endowed with very sharp sight, leaves its hiding place and gradually approaches the shore, at first timidly showing its nose, then its head. Some of the crew then get cautiously’ into the river, and approaching the creature at its sides rapidly throw a rope with a noose over its head and around its neck. Immediately all precipitate themselves into the river, and without giving their prey time to resist, they drag him out of the water and kill him on the shore. Whatever the impression that the hunters make on the reptile

may be, it is certain that they attract its'attention and prevent its perceiving the approaching danger. Among the Dinkas there are individuals able to draw snakes to their feet by peculiar whistles.

Travelling from Berber to Khartoum by boat is pleasant enough with a good story-telling Reis or skipper who makes himself the hero of all the tall yarns he knows. The ‘boys’ are ever ready’ to have a gossip with the villagers, and many pretexts of filial attachment and fond affection are used to obtain an hour’s pause. The Nile is not the route to journey on with despatch, and no traveller without a good stock of patience should attempt it. A broad grin is the prominent feature in an Egyptian sailor's face. They are naturally laughterloving and satirical. From an early period they were caricaturists, as the Turin papyri show. Therein are sketched comic scenes in which animals parody the pursuits of civilised man. An ass, a lion, and a crocodile are represented in the act of giving a vocal and instrumental concert; a lion and a gazelle playing at draughts. The Pharoah of all the rats in a chariot drawn by dogs gallops to the assault of a fortress garrisoned by eats. A cat of fashion.with a lotus flower on her head, has come to blows with a goose, and the fowl topples over helpless. Anaxandrides, an Athenian comic writer, tells the Egyptians: ‘I never could be your ally, for neither our customs nor our laws agree. A ou worship an ox, but I sacrifice him to the gods. You consider the eel a demon: I think him the best of fish. You don’t eat swine flesh, and 1 like

it. You worship a dog, and I thrash him when 1 catch him stealing meat. You weep if you see a eat ailing: I like to kill and skin him.’

At Qedab we remained two days because the Reis had some relatives there; at Metemmeh one day, to allow the crew to enjoy themselves. With the exception of these drawbacks the journey on the whole was satisfactorily performed. The sky was constantly bright; there were changing panoramas of crocodiles, enormous hippopotami, and numerous flocks of ducks and other birds. The Nile flows from Khartoum to Berber over a tortuous bed for about 250 miles. Its shores are irregularly cut and worn by the stream, and show manifest signs of the effects of the periodical inundations. Large fragments of strongly’ cemented brickwork are often detached from the banks of the river, causing obstruction to the tracking of boats, which no doubt they were originally intended to facilitate (like the training wall near Dunedin). These remains make it evident that due weight was formerly attached to river navigation, at present so disregarded. Whilst the bed is generally of a sandy nature, strewn here and there with sandbanks accumulated by the flow of waters, there are also rocky masses, as that for instance by the peak of Rahoyan forming the sixth cataract. It is made

up of compact rock, and is a difficult and dangerous barrier to navigation when the waters are low. The Atbara River, which flows from the mountains of Ethiopia, falls into the Nile about seven hours south of Berber, and other than this there is no tributary of any importance for the distance between Khartoum and Berber. The Nile water raised by means of (sakie) water wheels renders the land fertile near the shores, producing dhurra, millet (dokon), tobacco, and various kinds of pulse. No large tracts are cultivated, only a strip along the river, but if the systems of irrigation were extended and the activity of the fainers increased, the adjacent lands, which contain the elements of fertility’, could be changed into gardens. Beyond Metemmeh the land is covered with a luxurious vegetation of palms —Palma dactytifra, Palma dom, Farmesian and Nilotic acacias and bananas.

Shendy, which is situated amongst the ruins of Meroe, is distinguished for its large population and the activity of its commerce. Metemmeh on the right side of the river is notorious as an Alsatia. The industry of dressing skins is briskly and extensively carried on by means of the pods of the Nilotic mimosa, and the skins are dried with a sort of holly’ and Indian saffron. Tamania, Kerreri, and Halfaya have furnaces which supply good bricks, mostly utilised in Khartoum. KHARTOUM.

On the point of intersection of the two rivers, viz., the Abiad or White River (the Artapus of the ancients), and the Bahr-el-Azrak or Blue River, forming the Nile, Khartoum is situ-

ated—the chief centre of commerce in precious tones, ostrich feathers, tamarinds. caoutchouc, and ivory, both black and white, from Senaar, Kordofan. Darfur, and from the Egyptian Equatorial. The Catholic missions have an establishment under the proteetionf of the Austro-Hungarian Government, and on this two smaller ones depend—one at El Obed in Kordofan. the other at Nuba, in South Darfur. The local conditions of morality, the Mahommedan belief, and the people’s care for their material interests considerably hamper the missionaries. The military school and the printing office founded by General Gordon deserve to be mentioned. The old town is almost entirely constructed of mud and bricks (sun-dried); the new buildings are of baked bricks, but the scarcity of chalk makes such a luxury expensive. The only mosque which exists here has no artistic merit; but there is a vast garden, the property of the State, rich in beautiful plants and intersected by commodious paths, where the every-day monotony is relieved by the melodies of a negro military band.