Egypt, the Soudan and Central Africa, with explorations from Khartoum on the White Nile to the regions of the equator: being sketches from sixteen years' travel

Front matter

EGYPT, THE SOUDAN AND CENTRAL AFRICA EGYPT, THE SOUDAN AND CENTRAL AFRICA WITH EXPLORATIONS FROM KHARTOUM ON THE WHITE NILE TO THE REGIONS OF THE EQUATOR BEIXG SKETCHES FROM SIXTEEN YEARS' TRAVEL BY JOHN PETHERIOK, F.R.G.S. HER BRITANNIC MAJESTY S CONSUL FOR THE SOUDAN WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS EDINBURGH AND LONDON MDCCCLXI TO THE LADY ASHBURTON. MADAM, In Dedicating the accompanying Work to youk Ladyship, it is my desire to show my ap preciation OF THE GREAT INTEREST YOU HAVE ALWAYS taken in Geographical Explorations and Discove ries. I BEG TO OFFER THIS TESTIMONY OF MY RESPECT, AND HAVE THE HONOUR TO SUBSCRIBE MYSELF, Your Ladyship's Most obedient Servant, JOHN PETHELK'K. 4 Russei.l Place, London, Feb. 23, 1861. PAOli 45-K6 CONTENTS.

Chapter I

Arrival in Egypt — Mehemet Ali ; first interview with him — The Viceroy's memory — Anxiety for coal — Results of English education- - Egyptian coal-mining — Edhem Bey — French and English rivalry — The Viceroy's instructions —Preparations for the desert — Delay at Suez — An Egyptian steamer — Getting up steam, . . . 1-14

Chapter II

Start at last — Arrival at T6r — Amateur doctoring— Bedouin costume — The simoom — Effects of the storm— The lost recovered — The Arabs of Mount Sinai — Female head-dress — Marriage ceremonies- -Geology of the district — Akaba — Arab feuds — After-fate of Saleh— Akaba and its Governor — A lax Mohammedan — Noisy sentries — A parting feast — Evening scene, ...... 15-32

Chapter III

The order of march — An alarm — A caravan attacked: its escape — Copper-smelting remains — Start for Cairo — A grain caravan — Arrival at Cairo— The Frenchman and his success — Mummy-pits at Saccara — Down the Nile — An accident, ..... 33-44

Chapter IV

Start for Upper Egypt— Stay at Luxor— Bedouin costume— Sheikh AbdaUah — A Mosque and its endowments — A Sheikh and his wives— A newly-married pair — Entrance on the desert — Independence of the Bedouins— Grain tribute— Arab sword-dance— Ancient well— Female costume— A destitute pilgrim : his sufferings— The caravau missed— The camels in full flight — An inscription — Excessive heat— A nocturnal visitant— Arrival at Cosseir— Visit from the governor, J CONTENTS. VIII

Chapter V. Pack

Sketches of Cossen-— Scarcity of water— A night journey : the trail lost- Geology of the district— Arab skill in tracking— Want of water- Water found at last— The lost pen-knife— An Arab on the trail- Cooking the camel— Ancient lead-mine— Again hunt for water — The guide at fault— Increasing difficulties -Repeated disappointments- Relief at last^Bedouin hospitality— The caravan safe— Sufferings of the camels— The guide deposed from office— A desert adventure, 67-88

Chapter VI

Arab children — Ancient ruins — Habits of the Ababde Arabs — Resistance to taxation — The mines of Djebel Zabara — A mountain-pass — Ruins of Sikate — A Mohammedan saint — The Nile once more — Karag and his friends — A meeting in the desert — Ignorance of money — Return to the Nile, 89-100

Chapter VII

Searching for coal — Geology of Wadi Araba— Mehemet Ali— Departure for Kordofan — The cataracts of the Nile — Value of the date-tree — The Nubian desert — Arrival at Berbera — A Turkish bath in Nubia — Costume in the Soudan — Female passion for ornament — Sketches of the town — Houses and domestic economy — Store-rooms and kitchens — Primitive flour-mill — Wives, children, and slaves — Matumma and its manufactures — Conquest by Ismail Pacha — Conspiracy against him — His murder— Atrocities of the Defterdar— Summary justice — A mock trial and its results— A strange sentence, . . 101-121

Chapter VIII

Gazelle-shooting — Junction of the two Niles — Hhalid Pacha and his Pachalik— Negro segiments— Occupations of the Soudanese— Revenue of the province Catholic mission at Khartoum— The town of Khartoum — Its commerce, .... . 125-133

Chapter IX

Voyage up the White Nile— The Hassanyeh A™ evening party— A Has sauyeh belle— Her performances— A lax Mussulman— Habits of the people — Marriage contracts Extraordinary marriage custom— A wedding Hospitality. . . 131-14" CONTENTS. IX

Chapter X

K*.**! Sporting rambles —Aspect of the country— A Hassanyeh encampment — Treatment of the horses— Our reception - Amulets aud their effect — Introductory civilities — Sheikh Aboo Gadoum— A Hassanyeh picnic — An Arab delicacy — Household economies — Brewing of merissa — Anecdote of Mehemet Ali — Rarity of drunkenness — Home manufactures — Household utensils — Conduct of the Turks among them — A feast and its accompaniments — The ostrich and its feathers — Ostrich-hunting — Bagging the game, ..... 146-160

Chapter XI

Position of the population — Their agriculture — Seed-sowing -The crops, and weeding them — The harvest — Thrashing and storing— Culture in the Valley of the Nile — Culture of the lowlands — Rearing the children — A sunset scene — Evening arrival of the flocks— Milking the flocks — Appearance of the cattle, .... 107-179

Chapter XII

Departure— A dromedary race— Loading the camels — Bustard stalking - Aboo Garad— Custom-house policy — A plundering party-Tale of an Arab foray — Teal-shooting — Preparations for market —Travelling merchants— Market scenes — Slaughter of a naga — The butcher's stall— Donkey-dealing, and its dodges— Driving a bargain— The currency — Our rakuba — Close of the market, . . . 1S0-19S

Chapter XIII

A fresh start— Gum, audits collection -Aspect of the country— A supper-party — A morning scene— Eagles and vultures — Gazelle-stalking — The white ants— The great ant-bear, . . . 199-207

Chapter XIV

Signs of cultivation— The baobab-tree— Costumes— Hospitable reception —The marara again— Dinner— Construction of the huts— Their appurtenances and furnishings— Fumigation, and its uses -Position of the females— Hospitality to strangers— Schools, schoolmasters, and school-fees— The village fakeer, and his occupations— Amulets, and their power — Exorcising the fiend— Runaway slaves— Their treatment if taken— Evening scene at the village- -Arab and half-caste beauties, . . • • ■ 2,l> --'■"■ CONTENTS. X

Chapter XV. Page

Gazelle-hunting— The askaueet and its thorns— Amateur tailoring- Wells of Kordofan— Raising the water— Watering the flocks— Sunset scene— Travellers in Kordofan— An Ostrich-hunt— Death of the ostrich— Ostrich beef— Character of the country— Stalking the erial —An ambush— The antelopes in sight— Death of the buck, . 226-241

Chapter XVI

Arrival at II Dfim— Industry of the Kordofanese — Impulses to exertion — Peculations of government officials- Government oppression — Moonlight in Kordofan— Cultivation and implements— Treatment of slaves — Gum, and its collection— Hellet Wallad Zaky — Wallad Zaky — Kordofanese aristocratic costume — His household aud slaves — Hospitality in Kordofan — Afternoon occupations — Oasis of Bara — Reception by tho Pacha —A dinner invitation— Mustapha Pacha, . 242-260

Chapter XVII

Kordofan and its history — The aborigines —Arab immigrants — Conquest by Sennaar — The Sultan of Darfour — His invasion of Kordofan — Defensive preparations — Decisive battle — Conquest of the country- - Character of the Kordofanese— Passion for ornament — Invasion by Mehemet Ali- The Darfour cavalry — Victory of the Egyptians — Abandonment of II Obeid — Rapacity of the conquerors — Free Negro settlement — Cruelties of the Defterdar— Cruelties to his dependents — Sufferings of the Kordofanese — Oppression by the conquerors — Emigrations from the country — The people reduced to poverty — The gum trade — Prices of produce, . . . 261-285

Chapter XVIII

Mustapha Pacha— Career of the Governor — His administration — The Jereed— The Governor's clown— Our escort and route— Iron ore and works— Primitive fumace-bellows— Sporting feats— The secretary eagle— The runaway dromedary— The Dongolaui country— An oasis and its enjoyments— Expedition against tho Bagaras— Arrival at II Obeid— Sketches of the town— Its public buildings— Scenes in the market-place— The Bagara women — Trade of the province— Method of trading— Tho dry season at Lobeid— A night feast -Occasion of the feast — Circumcision, ...... 286-310 CONTENTS. XI

Chapter XIX. Page

Journey in Dar Hamr— Arrival at Farsha— A lawsuit and trial— The decision — The Hamr tribe — Value of the water-melon— The baobab — The garat insect- A venomous serpent — Effect of the rains— Lobeid after the rains— The expedition against the Selaem— Recall of the Governor— Beauty of the scenery— Attack by the Kababish — The caravan surprised— Cause of the attack— Reconciliation — Training of the young camels — Flight of locusts— Return to the Nile— Stay at Khartoum — Intermittent fever — Diseases, and native doctoring — Guinea-worm, and its treatment— Treatment of smallpox, . 311-335

Chapter XX

A change of occupation — The White Nile — Departure on trading voyage — Voyage up the river— Leave the Soudan— Adventure with a crocodile — The first Shillooks — The Abba Islands — The Jebelein — Bagara filibusters — Assault by a hippopotamus- — The stolen pincers — A Bagara chief — Sporting exploits — An elephant — The Shillooks and their capital — Habits of the Shillooks — Their government — A Shillook chief and his family — His harem and household — Primitive boats and fishing — Abundance of crocodiles — The Sobat river — The Djibba tribe— Scenery of the river — Great lake — The Nouaer — Novel mode of salutation — Voyage up the lake — Difficulty of its navigation — The natives hostile — Trading fov ivory — A bargain concluded, 336-369

Chapter XXI

Second expedition — Journey into the interior — Hostility of the natives — Supplies provided— Desertion of the porters — Continued hostility — A traveller's tales — Detachments sent off — Native and English sorcery — A sermon, and its reception — Demand for rain — A ruse, and its success— A fly-hunt, and its failure — The detachments return- Effects of a donkey-charge— Return to the boats— Death by a hippopotamus, ........ 370-386

Chapter XXII

Fresh expedition— Arrival at Kyt— Villages passed— The Neanglau tribe — The habits of the tribes— Costume and ornaments— Social state — Habits of the Djour — Iron-working among the Djour— Smith-work among the Djour— South American beads in Africa — Reception by the D6r— Dor granaries and huts— Costumes and weapons— Costume of the women— The village and surrounding country — Feuds between the villao-es— A negro fight -Victorv of Djau— A victim— The war-dance, ' 387-407 CONTENTS. XII

Chapter XXIII. Page

Visit to Madunga— Treacherous attack— Ferocity of the panther— A reconciliation— Sporting ad ventures— Elephant-hunting — Success of the hunt— Modes of killing the elephant— The mother and her young- Peculiarities of the African elephant— Rival expeditions, and their fate— Threatened attack — Defensive preparations — State of siege — A counter attack — Its success — A mistake, and reconciliation —Negro eloquence — The Dinka sue for peace — Return toward the boats — Scene of a massacre— An attack, aud its defeat — The boats amissing — The boats found— A herd of elephants— Death of a giant — Arrival at Khartoum, ....... 408-434

Chapter XXIV

A fresh start southward — Reception by the Ajack — Arrival of provisions — The camp in expectation — Interchange of civilities— The chief and his brother— Reception by the Djour — Peace concluded and ratified — Festivities on the occasion — Detachments sent out — Arrival at Kurkur— Defeated by bees — Journey continued — Reception by the natives — Return to Khartoum, ..... 435-449

Chapter XXV

Journey southward from Moora — The forest on fire— Charged by a rhinoceros — Treachery of the natives — The D6r boundaries reached — Progress southward — Arrival among the Neam Nam —Entrance into the village — An anticipated cannibal feast— A mediator— Effects of a shot — Threatening aspect of affairs — A reconciliation — Tusk-collecting, and its results — Future prospects, . ... 450-464

Chapter XXVI

Trade unknown among the Neam Nam— Neam Nam costume and ornaments — A ruse, and its effects — Kind treatment of slaves — Cannibalism — Commencement of the rains— A native elephant-hunt — Barter for the tusks — Northward journey— Return to the lake— Natural history collections — The balaeniceps and its haunts — Rearing of the young birds— Capture of a young hippopotamus— Arrival at Khartoum—Return to England— Native vocabularies, . . . 405-482 Sketch-Map of the Authou's Travels, 1853-5S. EGYPT, THE SOUDAN, AND CENTRAL AFRICA.

Chapter I

arrival in egypt mememet ali : first interview with him— the Viceroy's memory — anxiety for coal — results of English EDUCATION EGYPTIAN COAL-MINING EDHEM BEY FRENCH AND ENGLISH RIVALRY THE VICEROY'S INSTRUCTIONS PREPARA- TIONS FOR THE DESERT DELAY AT SUEZ AN EGYPTIAN STEAMER GETTING UP STEAM. Having entered the service of his Highness Mehemet Ali Pacha, Viceroy of Egypt, as mining-engineer, I left England on the 25th of March, in the year 1845, on board the Great Liverpool ; and after a very pleasant voyage, with about fifty cabin passengers on excellent terms with each other, we arrived at Alex andria on the 5th of April. The majority of the passengers were military and civil officers proceeding to India — some newly married ; and some few ladies going out with the agreeable prospect of being married.

A few gentlemen were on their way to Ceylon, where they had been established in farming. I was the only one to remain in Egypt. A MEHEMET ALI; On my arrival at a hotel, and having reported myself to Artim Bey, Egyptian Minister for Foreign Affairs, I was directed to proceed with as little delay as possible to Cairo, his Highness having made repeated inquiries for me. Returning to the hotel, I found several carriages waiting to take on the India passengers, whom I joined ; and, no railway then ex isting, we embarked on board a small steamboat on the Mahmood-yeh Canal for Adfeh, and from thence on the Nile to Cairo, which we reached at 10 a.m. on the 7th of April. On the following day I was presented to his High ness Mehemet Ali Pacha, at Shubra, a favourite resi dence of his, near a small village of that name on the Nile, about half an hour's pleasant drive from the city.

He was sitting on a raised divan, in a beautiful kiosk, in his justly celebrated gardens. Having been honoured with a chair a short distance opposite to him, he saluted me by gently raising his right hand, scrutinising me severely with his searching dark eyes. An Armenian, Khosroff Bey, was in attendance, standing on the Pacha's right, who interpreted to me in French what fell from the Viceroy. Addressing me, he said, " Welcome to Egypt." I bowed. " I have sent for you to travel in my country to search for minerals, but particularly for coal, of which I stand much in need. You have been very highly recommended to me, and I hope you will be successful in your researches. I have a manufactory at Boulak, which I wish you to see ; and I want to enlarge it, FIRST INTERVIEW WITH HIM. 3 when you have found coal for me, that I may make guns and steam-engines, and feel myself indepen dent of England.

I have several of your country men in my employ. As soon as you have reposed from the fatigues of your voyage, I wish you to travel over my country, for which I will give you every facility ; and although I have great confidence in Englishmen," he observed, smiling, " I must tell you that I have also a French engineer, who has just arrived, and who will proceed on the same mission as yourself : " adding, " There are no such inveterate enemies as the English and the French, and the greatest battles of our time have been fought between them. Now, I want to get up a little fight in Egypt between you and the Frenchman, of which I hope to reap the advantage ; and, depend upon it, the victor who first discovers coal shall be handsomely re warded." And the old Pacha concluded by laughing heartily.

I assured his Highness that it should be no fault of mine if I did not succeed ; and, as I was anxious to lose no time, as soon as I was informed of the field of operations my competitor had chosen to explore, I would decide upon my own. The Pacha looked satisfied, telling me to rest and amuse myself in Cairo, and that he would shortly send for me. He turned to Mr T., a wealthy English Alex andrian merchant, with whom he had been for many years connected in business, who had introduced me, and conversed with him upon the state of the market, the stocks of grain, seeds, and cotton — displaying a the Viceroy's memory. 4 memory of extraordinary capacity, and a most intimate knowledge of the state of his commercial and agricultural affairs. Alluding to the subject on our way back, Mr T. remarked : " Every time I see him and converse about his own affairs, no matter of what nature, I the more admire the extraordinary reten tiveness of his memory, which not unfrequently is much too good for most of his ministers."

At the hotel I found that my fellow-passengers from England were about to depart in the two-wheeled, four-horsed vans, for Suez, as, in consequence of the non-arrival of the Calcutta steamer at that port, they had been indulged with a day's repose at Cairo. I took leave of them as of old friends ; and although our routes lay in widely different directions, we all expressed hopes of some clay meeting again. I forego any description of Cairo, its bazaars and mosques, with which the reader will long since have become acquainted. The day following the departure of the passengers, a message was brought me that his Highness the Viceroy wished to see me at the citadel. I accordingly mounted a donkey, which operation was great ly facilitated by the messenger, a Turkish kawass, using his staff on the backs and shoulders of sundry donkey-boys, who, pushing on their animals with loud vociferations, effectually hemmed in the one I had made choice of; so that, had it not been for his assistance, I felt that I should have had no discretion in the matter, but have been at the mercy of the ANXIETY FOR COAL. 5 strongest boy as to which animal I was destined to ride.

Thanks to the kawass's stick, however, the boys gave up the game ; and being allowed to choose for myself, I was soon careering through the crowded streets of the Moski and Hamsawi to the citadel. There were many Turks wearing diamond stars on their breasts, indicative of their rank, waiting an au dience. My kawass announcing me to one of the interpreters, I was shown into his divan, when he in formed his Highness of my arrival. I had not to wait long before I was conducted to the Viceroy, who was sitting cross-legged on a low and broad divan, the interpreter I had before seen at Shubra standing near him, and a Mamelook driving away the flies before him. He received me kindly, and beckoned me to a seat. Looking at me, he said in Turkish, which the interpreter explained to me, that he was causing a pit to be sunk, in search of coal, in the petrified forest — which had been already executed to a considerable depth — which he wished me to examine ; for which purpose he would send me a horse to ride, an inter preter and a kawass to accompany me — asking when I could make it convenient to go.

I answered, " To morrow;" when he said, "I wish you to go down the pit, see the bottom, and examine it very carefully; after which you will come to me at Shubra and give me your candid opinion on the probability of finding coal there. I am told that, judging from the petrifac tion of the wood on the surface, it is sure to exist in a carbonised state underneath." He then asked me RESULTS OF ENGLISH EDUCATION. several questions relative to coal-mines in England — whether they were always very deep — the number of men employed in them — and if the coal in England would last many years longer. Although I did not see the force of the argument, or agree to the necessity of wood being carbonised beneath the ground because it had been petrified on the surface, I an swered him satisfactorily as to the other points ; and, some Turks having been called for, he dismissed me.

The following morning, at sunrise, an Arab interpre ter, who spoke English, and a kawass, both mounted on dromedaries, and a "sais" leading a well-bred horse for myself, were waiting for me. . They were provided with a water-skin, to wdiich I added some more substantial fare in the shape of cold fowls and tongue, which we suspended from the saddles of the dromedaries. On the way, the effendi, my interpreter, entertained me about England — what a fine country it was, how much he should like to live there, &c. In a short time I gleaned from him that he was the son of a poor fellah; that by order of Mehemet Ali he had been, with many other boys of his own age, forcibly taken from his home, put to school and supported at the expense of the Egyptian government, and subse quently sent to England, professedly to study miner alogy and mining ; but he confessed that, although he had amused himself greatly at the Viceroy's expense, he did not know much about mining or mineralogy either.

The only thing he had learned was to speak English, and drink beer and spirits. The English EGYPTIAN COAL-MINING. 7 ladies also he admired greatly ; and, to my no small surprise, I found that he had married an English girl, who was then living with him in Cairo. Previous to his marriage he had adopted Christianity, and assured me that he attended scrupulously to his religious du ties, and accompanied his wife every Sunday to * the Protestant church. However, I may as well state that the religious ideas of the effendi turned out to be rather elastic, as two years later, after the death of his English wife, he returned to his former faith, and mar ried a couple of Mohammedan girls. After a ride of two hours we arrived at our destination, about thirteen miles from Cairo. On descending the pit, I found that it had been sunk in a very recent calcareous formation, intersected with beds of blue marl, to a depth of 266 yards, which had been ascer tained to be about 100 feet below the bed of the Nile ; and that there was just as much probability of finding coal on the top of the Pyramids as there.

Hastening my return, I found the Viceroy at Shubra, in the evening, playing cards with three comfortable-looking grey-bearded Turks, all of whom, with the exception of his Highness, wore large dia mond decorations. When I entered, the playing ceased, and the Viceroy eagerly inquired if I had been down the pit. Answer in <*>■ in the affirmative, and that I did not consider that there was the remotest chance of discovering coal in such a locality, he inquired the exact depth of the pit, and if in England coal existed at greater depths. On EDHEM BEY. my replying that certainly coal had been found and worked deeper than the shaft at Tourra, he struck the table such a blow with his fist, that the shock sent the cards flying up, exclaiming, while fire darted from his eyes, " Then I'll sink a thousand yards !

" I made my salaam ; and, rising, left the old Turks nearly in the same state as the trees in the petrified forest ! Before mounting, I was joined by the interpreter, who told me to amuse myself in Cairo, and take things quietly until further orders. He added, "Never mind his Highness — he will soon cool down." Ample time was given me to moralise, had I been so inclined, upon my late interview, as week after week passed without any further event than that I was required to present myself to his Excellency Edhem Bey, the minister of public works and instruction, to whose divan I was to be attached, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel ; as civil servants, according to their rates of pay, rank with officers in the Egyp tian army. Edhem Bey, now Pacha, I found, could speak a little English and French.

He was a most amiable man, and is, I daresay, not forgotten by many in this country, having been sent to England on special mis sions on more than one occasion by Mehemet Ali, by whom he was justly held in high estimation. His worth is also acknowledged by the present Viceroy, Said Pacha, in whose service he holds a high position at Alexandria. To my desire to be actively employed, he recom- FRENCH AND ENGLISH RIVALRY. 9 mended me to take it easy, and avail myself of the favourable opportunity now afforded by a residence in Cairo, as I should probably have hereafter to rough it to my heart's content ; besides which, my competi tor, the French engineer, was also likely to be in Cairo for some time yet. I was still enjoying one of the Bey's exquisite pipes of Latakiyeh, when a Frenchman entered the divan, whom the Bey introduced to me as M. Noettinger, my rival ; and I took the opportunity of telling him of the war his Highness intended establish ing between us relative to the discovery of coal, which both he and the Bey enjoyed.

" Yes," said the latter, " the Viceroy often delights to set one man against another : he fancies he gets better served by it ; and perhaps he does. On the present occasion he has tickled your amour propre, without, I trust, calling forth animosities." "No," said Noettinger, offering me his hand ; " we will each try hard for the prize, but will be none the worse friends for all that." We then returned to the Hotel d'Orient, where we were both staying, and soon became good friends. On the 19th of May I was sent for by the Viceroy, who, telling me that the French engineer had decided on proceeding to Upper Egypt, asked what route I intended to take. Without hesitation, I said Arabia Petræa. Backi Bey, the Minister of the Interior, was instantly summoned, and the Viceroy ordered him immediately to draw out firmans for the governors of Suez, all chiefs of tribes in the peninsula of Mount Sinai to the Syrian and Hedja's frontiers; and one for the Viceroy's instructions. 10 the governor of Akaba; also a letter to the patriarch of the Greek Church in Cairo, desiring a letter of in troduction to the convent of Mount Sinai ; and to write to the chiefs who " shall escort the subject of the firman through their respective territories, that I will hold them responsible, with their heads, for his safe conduct.

Further, write an order to the Minister for Public Works to furnish the engineer with the ne cessary men, implements, tents, camels, and every thing that he may require ; Hassan Effendi will ac company him as interpreter. I expect all to be ready for my signature to-morrow. Now," turning to me, " good-bye." I could not but admire the perfectly business-like habits of the old Viceroy as I rode down the hill of the citadel to the divan " Medharis," that of public works. On my informing the Bey of what had trans pired, he smilingly said, " I advise you to be off as soon as you can, as nothing pleases the Viceroy better than punctuality. In expectation of the order, you shall have one from me to the stores in Cairo and Boulak, where you can make choice of anything you may require. M. NoettiDger has just departed on the same mission.

Hassan Effendi, whom I will send to you, will assist you at the stores, and, after selection, will tell me the number of camels you will require to cross the desert to Suez." There was now no doubt about it ; my yearnings for travel had been responded to by the most decisive orders of the Viceroy ; and I set about engaging ser- PREPARATIONS FOR THE DESERT. 11 vants, purchasing provisions, and selecting my requi sites from the government stores so effectually, that on the following Tuesday, the 22d of May 1845, I despatched, at ten a.m., the interpreter, two soldiers (a corporal and private of an engineer corps, who had been studying practical engineering by blasting rocks in a stone quarry belonging to the government) and two servants, with twenty-five camels laden with pro visions, tents, and sundry necessary engineering im plements, on the road to Suez; following them in a government four-horse transit van, at four p.m. on the same day.

I arrived at No. 4 station, after a six hours' pleasant drive, and found supper prepared ; after which, indulging in a shake-down on a divan till three in the morning, I arrived at Suez, at the Transit Hotel, by ten a.m. On the following day, at noon, my caravan arrived,and moved on to the quay, near the extremity of the gov ernment offices, where I ordered my tent to be pitched. Desirous of curtailing my stay at Suez, I proceeded with my interpreter to the governor, a Turk, and a Bey. Having presented my firman, and explained that I wanted a steamboat, then in the harbour, to take me to Tor, and camels to meet me at that place, he told me that the boat was at my service ; but that it was useless my expecting to proceed from Tor into the interior of Arabia Petræa unless I was supplied with sufficient money to pay the chiefs for the hire of their camels, as they were more turbulent and inde- DELAY7 AT SUEZ. pendent of the Egyptian government than was the case with the nomade Arabs inhabiting the valley of the Nile.