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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 — John Shaqi

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

Name: 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
Author: Pallme, Ignaz

Pallme, Ignaz

Kordofan (Sudan : Province) -- Description and travel; Nile River; Sudan -- Description and travel

Ignatius Pallme, a Bohemian by birth, it would appear, undertook the
journey to Kordofan, on commission, for a mercantile establishment
at Cairo, in the hope of discovering new channels of traffic with
Central Africa. In the pursuit of his object, he sojourned longer
in the country than any European before him; the information
he furnishes respecting the present state of this province of
Egypt in particular, and of the Belled Soudan in general, may,
therefore, be considered the most authentic in existence at the
present time. That few travellers have visited these countries,
and subjected the information they were enabled to collect to
print, may be deduced from the facts, that scarcely one-half of
the places mentioned in the work before us are to be found on the
most recent maps; and that in referring to the literature on these
countries, for making a comparison between Pallme’s opinions and
those of other authors, many difficulties were experienced, and
many researches proved ungratified. The original is characterised
by an ingenuous and unassuming style; and it has been my chief
endeavour to paraphrase the text as closely as compatible with
the two languages. Those idiomatic constructions which may be met
with in the translation, are owing to this strict adherence to the
original; but I have at least the consolation of knowing that the
loss by solecism may be considered as gain in authenticity—the
chief object of the undertaking. Pallme’s orthography has been
generally followed as regards Arab terms, excepting where the same
words are familiar to the public in a different garb, or where they
are to be found otherwise spelt, in at least two accredited English
authors; for it was impossible to furnish the certain literation,
as the Arab character is not affixed to the original text.

                                                        THE TRANSLATOR.

  LONDON,
_May 1st,_ 1844.




                               CONTENTS.

                               * * * * *

   CHAP.                                                           PAGE
      I.   Position of the Country; Borders, Rivers,
           Soil, and Climate                                          1

     II.   History                                                   11

    III.   Government                                                27

     IV.   Habits and Customs                                        44

      V.   Character of the People                                  107

     VI.   The Bakkara. (Nomadic Tribes.)                           118

    VII.   The Kubbabeesh                                           132

   VIII.   Dar-Hammer                                               142

     IX.   Tribes bordering on Kordofan, Shilluk,
           Nuba, Takele, etc.                                       147

      X.   Religion                                                 184

     XI.   Diseases                                                 192

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