Travels in Kordofan : $b Embracing a description of that province of Egypt, and of some of the bordering countries, with a review of the present state of the commerce in those countries, of the habits and customs of the inhabitants, as also an account of the slave hunts taking place under the government of Mehemed AliPallme, Ignaz
History
Travels in Kordofan : $b Embracing a description of that province of Egypt, and of some of the bordering countries, with a review of the present state of the commerce in those countries, of the habits and customs of the inhabitants, as also an account of the slave hunts taking place under the government of Mehemed Ali
Pallme, Ignaz
Kordofan (Sudan : Province) -- Description and travel; Nile River; Sudan -- Description and travel
The Bahr-Abiad, or White Nile, flows through Runga, a country
situated to the south of Darfour, to which kingdom it is
tributary. The river is said to be very broad, but by no means deep,
and even fordable by men or cattle. During the dry season, it is not
navigable throughout, for in certain spots there is not enough water
to float a boat, and the natives are only in few places provided
with rafts. From Runga its course is directed towards Bakkara,
then towards the country of the Jenky, Dynke, or Denkani, where
it is said to receive a tributary stream, of whose course I could
obtain no further information. After flowing through the country of
the Jenky and Shilluks, the Bahr-Abiad is said to enter Sennaar,
where it unites with the Blue Nile, near Khartoom. As I was more
anxious to know the course of the river before it reaches Runga, my
friend, the negro, introduced me to several of his acquaintances,
natives of those countries, which are watered by this stream, and
from this source I learnt that it flows through Binga, Wuanga, Gulla,
and Banda. I conversed with two or three persons on this subject,
two of them natives of Bornu, and the third a native of Binga,
who had resided during five years in the former state, and they all
coincided in that statement, that a river flows through the country,
named in their language the Gazelle-stream, because its water is
as pure and transparent as that of springs. They could not tell me
its source; but all agreed that it takes its course towards Banda,
where it is named the White River, from the colour it assumes,
dependent on the nature of the soil through which it flows. I also
received intelligence of certain Egyptian antiquities, standing
in the desert, between Kordofan and Darfour, at Cab-Belull,[90]
a place situated at a distance of two days’ march from Caccie, on
the borders of Kordofan. Doum-palms grow by the side of the ruins,
and in the dry season water is to be found at a distance of eight
miles from the spot. This place is very little known in Kordofan
even, for no road passes through the neighbourhood. My informant
was a Djelabi (merchant), who, on his return from Darfour, had
been compelled to make a considerable circuit to avoid a horde of
robbers, and had encamped at Cab-Belull. His camel-drivers, who were
Kubbabeesh, were acquainted with this spot, and had frequently,
on their former journeys, driven their beasts to this place for
pasture. I conclude the ruins to be Egyptian antiquities, as the
merchant compared them with those at Luxor, with which he was also
acquainted. They are said to consist of large portals, and high
walls; some few colossal figures in stone are also reported to
be there met with, but the greater part of them is buried in the
sands. The Djelabi brought a few camel-drivers to me, who had a
knowledge of that neighbourhood, for I had made up my mind to visit
the place, but unforeseen circumstances subsequently prevented me
from carrying this design into effect.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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