Previously to the establishment of Islamism[49] and kingship, the people of Fûr seem to have formed wandering tribes, in which state many of the neighbouring nations to this day remain. In their persons they differ from the negroes of the coast of Guinea. Their hair is generally short and woolly, though some are seen with it of the length of eight or ten inches, which they esteem a beauty. Their complexion is for the most part perfectly black. The Arabs, who are numerous within the empire, retain their distinction of feature, colour, and language. They most commonly intermarry with each other. The slaves, which are brought from the country they call _Fertît_, (land of idolaters,) perfectly resemble those of Guinea, and their language is peculiar to themselves. In most of the towns, except Cobbé, which is the chief residence of foreign merchants, and even at court, the vernacular idiom is in more frequent use than the Arabic; yet the latter is pretty generally understood. The judicial proceedings, which are held in the monarch’s presence, are conducted in both languages, all that is spoken in the one being immediately translated into the other by an interpreter (_Tergimân_). After those who fill the offices of government, the _Faquî_, or learned man, i.e. priest, holds the highest rank. Some few of these _Faquîs_ have been educated at Kahira, but the majority of them in schools of the country. They are ignorant of every thing except the Korân. The nation, like most of the North of Africa, except Egypt, is of the sect of the Imâm Malek, which however differs not materially from that of Shafei. _Revenues of Dar-Fûr._ 1. On all merchandize imported the king has a duty, which in many instances amounts to near a tenth; as for instance, on every camel’s load of cotton goods brought from Egypt, and which commonly consists of two hundred pieces, the duty paid to the king by the merchants of Egypt is twenty pieces: the Arabs who are under his government and the natives pay more; some articles however do not pay so much. 2. In addition to this, when they are about to leave Dar-Fûr on their return to Egypt, another tax is demanded on the slaves exported, under pretence of a voluntary douceur, to be exempt from having their slaves scrutinised. This, on our caravan, which comprised about five thousand slaves, amounted to 3000 mahbubs, between 6 and 700l. to be paid to the Chabîr on their arrival in Egypt. 3. All forfeitures for misdemeanors are due to the king; and this is a considerable article; for in case of a dispute in which blood is shed, as often happens, he makes a demand of just what proportion he thinks right of the property of the village in which the offence was committed, of the whole, of an half, of a third, of every species of possession, and this most rigorously estimated.