Burckhardt, John Lewis, 1784-1817; Nile River Valley -- Description and travel; Nubia -- Description and travel
The country on the western side of the Nile, opposite to Berber,
is not cultivated, but I was told that, in following the course of
the river, on that side, considerable settlements of Arabs are met
with, especially in the country of Mograt, which is inhabited by the
Arabs Rebatat, an independent tribe like the Meyrefab, extending two
or three days journey along the Nile. One of its principal places
is Bedjem (بجم), three long days from Berber; it is at present
the residence of Hedjel, the chief of Mograt, who succeeded his
relation Naym, the famous robber, already mentioned: The latter
had accumulated great riches by robbing the Egyptian caravans; he
expended the greater part in purchasing young female slaves, and
was fond of boasting of the enjoyments of his Harem. He generally
waylaid the caravans between Berber and the wells of Nedjeym, but
sometimes he followed them as far as Shigré. He had frequently been
fired at, but his strong coat of mail being proof against a distant
musket shot, he had acquired the reputation of being a sorcerer,
furnished with amulets to render him invulnerable to mortals. Some
Faky having told the merchants that, as his amulets were written in
defence of leaden bullets only, he might be killed with silver ones,
several of the traders melted Spanish dollars into large slugs,
with which they loaded their guns. Naym’s true amulet, however,
was the distant firing and bad aim of his assailants. Whenever
he apprehended that the strength of a caravan might be superior
to his own, he used to halt at some distance from the travellers,
and having ordered some particular party to withdraw from the rest,
assured them that it was not against them that his intentions were
directed; having thus succeeded in separating a part, he easily
dispersed the remainder. He always kept his word with those who
thus retired, and allowed their loaded camels to proceed untouched,
although, on some other occasion, perhaps, they might be comprised
amongst the number attacked. His success is the strongest proof of
the cowardice and bad faith of the traders who were capable of thus
abandoning their companions; such conduct, in the Arabian deserts,
would consign a tribe to everlasting infamy.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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