Wanderings among the Falashas in Abyssinia; together with a description of the country and its various inhabitants. Illustrated by a map, etc

Preface

. In presenting this little volume to the public, I may truly say that I am actuated by no other motive than a deep solicitude for the spiritual and temporal welfare of a people, whose past history and future destiny are alike calculated to enlist the sympathy both of the Christian and the philanthropist. Situate in the very centre of hordes of untutored Pagans and degraded Mahomedans, Abyssinia seems marked out by its geographical position to become the focus from whence light and knowledge, commerce and civilisa tion, are yet to radiate over enthralled and benighted Equatorial Africa. The special object of my visit to that country was the evangelization of that remnant of Israel, known by the name of Falashas ; but this did not prevent me from coming in continual contact with every other class of people, and what I saw, as well as the im pressions made on my mind, I have faithfully written down in the following pages. a

PREFACE.

. About the Gallas, who occupy the extensive pla teaux south of Shoa, I have carefully abstained from offering any opinion, and that simply because most of the intelligence communicated by Mahomedan pedlars, or deported slaves, is, generally, exaggerated, if not altogether devoid of truth, and also, because on my return to Abyssinia, I anticipate facilities, which before did not exist, for gaining more correct information in reference to those numerous tribes. The mystery which has hitherto enshrouded the Falashas, and made their very existence a matter of doubt and uncertainty to the Jewish historian,* will in some degree be removed by the facts I have here recorded. This result alone would, however, have afforded me little satisfaction with my journey, had it not also been made the means of awakening some in terest in behalf of a quarter of a million of souls, who are eminently fitted to exert a potent influence on the corrupt Church of Abyssinia, and, through that Church, on the teeming population of a mighty Con tinent. * Vide Dr. Jost's " Geshichte der Israeliten," vol. viii. p. 170. n CONTENTS.

Chapter I

Page Departure from Cairo — Voyage on the Nile — Carnak and Luxor — Assouan — Korosko — Across the Desert — Brackish Wells — ■ The Sareb — Abou Hamed — Berber — Embarkation — Nubian Scenery — Arrival at Khartum 1

Chapter II

The Bazaar — Nubian Belles — European Besidents — Trade in Ivory — Capture of Slaves — Consular Brotest — Mons. Malzac's Conquests — Bomish Missions — Failure — Bemoval — Blue Bi ver — Arab Honesty — Ennui — Fever — Egyptian Rule — Courtesy of Aoud-el-Kerim — White Ants— Natives of Soudan — Bough Boad — Ague — Kedarif — Michel the Copt

Chapter III

Kedarif — Matrimonial Edict — Cure of Fever — Obstinate Camel ■ — Close to a Boa — Doka — Intercourse with Sheikhs — Beautiful Scenery — Savage Inhabitants — Matamma — Sheikh's Rudeness — Change — Evening Chat — Levee of the Sheikh — Novel Interment — Uninhabited Country — Wochnee — Forcible Detention — Picturesque Landscape — Hospice in the Forest — Tschelga — Conspicuous Encampment — Religion of the Kamants 30

Chapter IV

Visit to the Palambaras — Extensive View — Judgment Hall — Prompt Justice — Strange Request — Hospitality — Orders from the Eoyal Camp — Coal on the Quanque — A Storm — Intelligence — Unguarded Camp — March of Troops — Perverted taste of the Women — Arrival in the Royal Camp — Audience of the King — Visit from a Great Chief— Passion Week- Military Parade — Eoyal Interest in Missions .' . .46 CONTENTS. VI

Chapter V

Page The King— His youthful Career— Death of his Uncle— Strife between the Sons — Rasa's Flight— Becomes a Freebooter, Farmer, Bebel, and powerful Chief — Defeat in the Lowlands — Breach with the Queen — Battle at Tschako — Capture of the Queen — Belease — Treachery — Revenge — Kasa conquers Godjam — Imprisons Bent Goshu — Takes Tigre — Is crowned King Theodoros — Chastises the Wollos — Subjugates Shoa — Sequestration of Church Broperty — Embassy of the Copt Patriarch — Unsuccessful Intrigues — Revolting Barbarities . . .62

Chapter VI

Ignorance of Court Etiquette — Excursion to the Gumarah — Seclusion of Aristocratic Ladies — Comparative Advantage of Scanty Clothing — Dread of a Famine — Open-air Repose — Disagreeable Intrusion — Dormitory of an Anglo- Abyssinian Noble — Morning Salutation — Sham Fight — Roads — Hot Mineral Springs — Sanitary Virtue — Origin — Tropical Conflagration — A Royal City — Disapj)ointed Hopes — Gaffat 82

Chapter VII

European Visitors — Character of the Abyssinians — Hospitality no Virtue — Broundo Feast — Voracious Appetite — Hailstorm — Ascent of the Guna — Magnificent Prospect — A Lawless District — A Mohammedan Village — Dangerous Excursion Speedy Termination — Meeting with the Primate . . . 99

Chapter VIII

Departure from Tshatshaho — Strolling Minstrels — Royal Nuptials — Objections to Indissoluble Marriages Royal Banquet — Mendicants — Congratulatory Visit . . ' . 115

Chapter IX

Dispensation of Justice— Feih a Negest — Reform of the Criminal Code — Bunishment of Traitors — Predilection for the Freebooters' Trade— Criminal Jurisprudence — Places of Refuge — Ecclesiastical Court — Priests in Chains Prelatical Power' • • • ' " .124 CONTENTS. VII Page 184 199

Chapter X

Termination of the Nuptial Festivities— Royal Contempt for the Priesthood— Uncomfortable Quarters — Choice of Residence — Liberal Landlord — Accession to our Circle — Aquatic Exercise— Tropical Rains — Ras Oubie— Medical Treatment — Aliga Salasee— Retribution on the Wollos — Fate of Captives — Gloomy Foreboding Verified — Audience at Jan Meeda — Ill-temper of the Despot 138

Chapter XI

Diseases — The Teenia — Antidote— The Bouda — His Power — Mode of Exorcism— Revolting Taste — Fatal Effects — Torments of the Zar — Easy Cure — Solution of the Demoniacal Complaints 151

Chapter XII

Close of the Rainy Season — Festivities — Terpsichorean Exercise — Universal Lustration — Favourable Auguries — The Plague — Bridge over the Erib — Melancholy Tidings — Priniitive Court of Justice — An Unfortunate Marriage — Numerous Visitors — Low Diet — An Island in the Lake — Friendly Peasants . . .162

Chapter XIII

Market Visitors — Archiepiscopal Palace — Gondar — A Funeral — Touching Scene — Belief in Purgatory — Tascar — Filial Affection 176

Chapter XIV

Falashas — Early Settlement in Abyssinia — Chequered Existence — Prejudices against Unbelievers — Deprecate Early Marriages — Offer Sacrifices — Perform the Ceremonial Law — Strictly Observe the Sabbath — Possess no Correct Ideas about the Messiah — Priestly Superstitions — Mistaken Sanctity

Chapter XV

Visit to Avorno— Jews in British Uniform— Adoration of the Queen of England— Scope of the Law— False Report— Castle of the Waizoros— The Broud Monk humbled— Monument of Fasilidai Horse— Remains of former Wealth— Apt Illustration— The Shadow King— Uncomfortable Vestry- Church of St. Anastasius— Picturesque Situation— Devotionless Worshippers — Transubstantiation — Conversion of a Sceptic — Worthy Communicants — The Tabot CONTENTS. 221

Chapter XVI

Page The Feast of the Cross— Grand Illumination— Sharp Reproof — Open-Air Assembly — Military occupation of Gondar — Solemn Confession— Sudden Arrival of the King— Grand Breakfast — Execution of Traitors — Immorality of Gondar — Biography of Tecla Haimanot — Trade of the Metropolis

Chapter XVII

Departure from Gondar — Bivouac in the Field — Morning in the Tropics — A Sabbath Congregation— An Epicure's Repast — The Youthful Students — A pert Woman— Benighted in the Jungle — A new Version of Man's Creation — Interview with the Falasha High-Priest — Affecting Prayer — Appalling Passage — The Domain of the Aboona — Magic Powers . . 239

Chapter XVIII

Malicious Reports — Four Expounders of the Law — Boisterous Meetings — Picturesque Groups — Mode of Travelling — Meeting with a Priest — A Motionless Snake — Weavers abandon the Loom — An Annoying Brawl — Suspicious Quarters — The Potters of Gorgora Eila — A Settlement without a Bible — Deplorable Ignorance — A Morose Host — Numerous Visitors — Eagerness to obtain Bibles 256

Chapter XIX

An Unlettered Group — The Monkey-bread Tree — Sincere Inquirers — Great Surprise — Ethiopian Serenaders — The Fanatic Monk— Evening Chat — Ardent Debate — An Undaunted Petitioner — A Desolate Region — Beauty of the Lowland — An Aristocratic Friend — The Eloquent Prophet — Conjugal Differences — The Deserted Wife — Midnight Adventures — Dread of the New Testament — The Breathless Pursuit — Refusal of a Request 273

Chapter XX

Choice of a Station — Unsuccessful Missionary Efforts — Influence of Missions to the Falashas — Hopeful Symptoms — Conversion of Ethiopia — Spread of Christianity — Dangerous Enemies — The Jesuits — Superstition — Heretical Doctrines — Incipient Reforms — Ordination — Celibacy — Mental Culture . . 298

Chapter XXI

Physiognomy — Dress — The Toilet — Ornaments — Shoes — Milliners — Mode of Washing — Furniture — Retinue — Minerals — Undeveloped Resources— Cotton — Bright Destiny . . , *»* The right of Translation, and of Copying the Illustrations, is reserved. WANDERINGS AMONG THE FALASHAS IN ABYSSINIA.

Chapter I

Departure from Cairo — Voyage on the Nile — Carnak and Luxor — Assouan — Korosko — Across the Desert — Brackish "Weiis — The Sareb — Abou Harned — Berber — Embarkation — Nubian Scenery — Arrival at Khartum. It was with a mingled sensation of joy and regret, of hope and fear, that I embarked on board a dahabia which lay moored at Bou lak, the port of Cairo; and, with a sad and lingering look, bade farewell to Egypt and railways — to Egypt and the last vestige of civilized life. Our crew, who, with the exception of the rais-, were all natives of Nubia, received me and my com panion with grins and smiles which, to the surprise of their baksheesh - longing cupidity, we returned with liberal interest in the same ephemeral Gurrency. The wind being favourable, the cable was instantly loosed, the lateen sail unfurled, and amidst the usual B EGYPTIAN SAILORS. accompaniment of disputes and quarrels, bustle and confusion, our boat swept past the peasant's hut and the Pasha's palace — the pleasure-grounds of the living and the time-defying tombs of the dead — till evening veiled garden and pyramid, hovel and hall, from the admiring gaze.

The wind, which increased with the advance of night, propelled our craft at such a rapid rate, that, notwithstanding the varied attractions on the banks of the Nile, we continued our voyage with no other interruption than an occasional brush from a floating stack of straw, or a jerk on the shallow bed of the river. Our sailors, to dispel their drowsy feeling, entertained themselves with stories of Gins and Ghouls, that might have excited the envy of the inventive Scheherazadee. Omar, a stalwart athletic black, whose dark and fiery eyes, as he sat cross legged on the deck, shone like two coals gleaming out of a heap of expiring embers, particularly excelled in this wonderful art. His audience, rapt in the deepest attention, when he came to a grand climax evinced their interest by exclaiming, " There is no might or power, except in Allah the exalted and good."

I do not know how long the story-teller spoke, and his friends listened. I experienced a kind of weariness creeping over me, and, whilst my thoughts were still with the dramatis persona who had engaged our sympathy, a spirit of forgetfulness overwhelmed my senses, and Solyman and his ring, as well as Mohammed and his horse Barek, were both shut out from my mind by a sound and welcome sleep. VOYAGE ON THE NILE. 3 After a pleasant sail of more than a week we reached Camak and Luxor, where we spent four days amongst ruins and tombs, which have been so often described that I need not plunge into the secrets of hieroglyphic mysteries, or linger in the rifled chambers of proud royalty's last resting-place. The rais, and crew of the boat, shared in our stoic indifference to the fallen grandeur and gloomy desolation of Thebes ; and without a single sigh or a parting glance of sorrow, we took our departure from a spot where vanity and ambition have traced their awful characters on the wreck and ruins of a city, which, to the very verge of time, may well elicit the wonder and admiration of every visitor.

From royal Thebes to Assouan (the Syene of Ezekiel xxix. 10), we passed, in uninterrupted succession, cities and temples that once rang with the hum of busy and gay multitudes, but where now no sound breaks upon the ear, except the discordant cry of the jackal, or the plaintive ditty of the weary camel-driver. Anxious to hasten on we immediately, on reaching the first cataract, secured camels ; and on the follow ing day, before the sun had sunk behind the rocks and granite cliffs, which form the natural boundary between ancient Egypt and Ethiopia, we were again spread ing our sails to the gentle breeze, and drifting slowly up the sacred river till December the 14th, when we exchanged the boat for the camel, and the muddy Nile for the sandy desert. Our original intention was to go to Wady Haifa, a few miles south of the cataracts which here impede the b INTERVIEW WITH SHEIKH ACHMED. navigation up to Berber, and from thence by land to Bon gola ; but as that journey would have occupied us far more time than the route from Korosko, across the dreaded Bahr Atmur, we chose, regardless of its dangers and trusting in the protection of our God, the more fatiguing and trying, though the shorter and more expeditious journey.

Sheikh Achmed el Khalifa, one of the chiefs respon sible for the safety of goods and travellers across the desert, was then at Korosko ; and as I had letters of recommendation to him, Mr. Bronkhorst and myself, on disembarking, repaired to his dwelling. Together with his brother and some subordinates, he was seated on a carpet under the shadow of the court wall, smoking and sipping coffee. We squatted down near these magnates of the sandy wilds, and after a few un meaning complimentary phrases, and a heap of com monplace inquiries, we broached the object of our visit, and requested to be furnished, as soon as prac ticable, with a sufficient number of camels for our journey. The worthy chief at once promised to attend to this matter ; and after a few other arrangements about the hire of animals, and the weight they would be able to carry, we took leave aud returned to our tent.

The following day the owners of the camels made their appearance, and began to inspect our cargo. Confident that we were strangers, and unacquainted with the regulations, they began to grumble at the size of one box and the weight of another. At first we were quiet ; but as patience is not very elastic in an PREPARATIONS TO CROSS THE DESERT. 5 atmosphere where the thermometer rises above a hun dred in the shade, we at last silenced their garrulous tongues by acquainting them with the agreement we had concluded with the Sheikh, and the injury their bluster and talk would inflict on their repu tation for honesty, and their prospect of a baksheesh. The last word had a talismanic effect; for it was scarcely uttered when all instantly assented to our proposition, and promised, with the help of Allah, to make the journey a perfect pleasure trip (of course it was understood) if sand, heat, and bad water would allow it.

The same evening our water-skins were filled, our packages securely bound with strong ropes, and every other preparation completed for our march across the dreaded desert, which, till within the last few years, on account of its many dangers, was under an interdict from the Egyptian Government, and would probably still enjoy its undisturbed solitude, had not some European merchants who trade with Soudan succeeded, through the influence of their respective Consuls, in having it opened for the more expe ditious transport of their various articles of com merce. Our caravan, which consisted of about two hundred camels, met together, more for the sake of company than for mutual protection, at a place called El Bub, six hours' distance from the banks of the Nile. Here all our fellow-travellers were already encamped, and it was quite a cheerful sight to see in the boundless desert so many blazing bivouac fires, and to hear in BRACKISH WELLS. the otherwise tenantless waste the hum of so much active and busy talk.

During the summer months the caravans, in their passage across this sun-blighted tract, march from eighteen to twenty hours per day ; but, when the heat is less intense and violent, the evening terminates the journey, and the camp is not broken up again till the scantily-clad camel-owners feel their chilled frames warmed aud their cold blood heated by the fierce rays of a scorching and merciless sun. On the fifth day we reached Murad, the only spot in this arid and blighted desert where there are a few brackish wells, which contain a sufficient quantity of water to prevent the various caravans that travel along this route from perishing with thirst. We were fortunate in passing just after the rainy season, when the wells are tolerably full, and the muddy, turbid liquid may yet be gulped down without a shudder or paling lip ; but when I returned from Abyssinia, after a very dry summer, the water of the Murad was so un palatable to the taste, and so deleterious to the system, that I believe the unfiltered draught of the Thames in the month of August would have been like the nectar of the gods compared to this loath some and disgusting drink.

Our empty gerbehs being again replenished, and the thirst of our camels allayed, we quitted at a very early hour these stagnant wells, and in a solemn and serious mood, which the prospect of a very wearisome day was not calculated to dissipate, trudged in separate files over the sand-covered, pathless waste. There THE MIRAGE. is something gratifying to the mind, and cheering to the heart in the midst of the keen toils of a desert journey, where you have continually to struggle with dangers and fatigues, hardships and privations, which those who live in the busy hive of large cities, or move about in the garlanded and festooned circles of fashion, cannot possibly appreciate ; in fact, the very idea that your life is bound up with the filthy water-skins strung on the back of the camel you bestride, or linked to the heap of stones carelessly strewn as waymarks along the path you pursue, tends not only to brace the nerves and to fortify the soul, but also to strengthen the belief and to deepen the conviction that there is a gracious Being watching over you, whose presence fills every void, and whose goodness guards your every step.

The tantalizing sareb, or mirage, which had mocked our sight ever since we entered this arid domain of sand and calcined rocks, increased with the power of the sun and the refraction of his rays. This treacherous phenomenon, as if it delighted to irritate and to vex the wayworn pilgrim, now deludes his eye with a regular succession of beautiful lakes and shady avenues, and then again with an expanse of waving grass around a picturesque villa ; here is presented a grove of towering trees, there a flock of browsing cattle : in fact, the deception is so perfect, that the traveller will not believe that the beautiful scene on which the eye longingly lingers is not real, till his camel actually treads in the saltpetre-encrusted soil and dissipates the optical illusion. On the eleventh day s ON TIIK Si\,% AT BBRBln ■vre reached— mm us a good number of camels, which pcri^LeH from exhaustion — Jbau llawal, where we again Itebold the toweling palm, and drank of the refreshing Nile.

This miserable village, which is oil tine. ,nlus siivrounded by mountains of sand, boasts of about twenty huts, and a proportionate nmnbrr of inhabitants, whose suit; occupation seems to consist in drinking m&WB8'& i in fetching the loads Ififi in the desert aud in mending aiid tilling tlie y.r/V/.v ol the travellers. We remained among these squalid and uncouth specimens of humanity thirty-six Imurs, ami then, perched again on the backs of nur patient animal?, pushed on to Berfifr, which we reached on January the 5th, lS'10, having spent nineteen dtiys in ac conijilisliing this formidable and trying journey. On onr arrival at this port we did not search for a house, but unloaded on the banks of the river, amidst heaps of dust, mountains of millet, and crowds of men and women of all shades and colouvs, I'mm the dirty black of the cinder, to the shining bronze of the statue.

We had no desire to protract our stay in the glaring sunshine, blinding dust, and deafening noise; und therefore, without delay, engaged the ser vices of the S/n'//,//-r/-7J,//tr, or river authority, and in D few minutes a boat, something in the shape of an English lighter — only not so well built or so water tight — was ottered to us for hire. My Arabic, which w;i.s a guarantee against imposition, facilitated the conclusion of tin; bargain, and bl less than twenly fmir hours we had forgotten the Ahi/m; the calm I, the mirage, and all the other imaginary nl tractions"!' | In- ARRIVAL AT KHARTUM. desert ; and, impelled by a cool and strong north wind, were floating past islands abounding in a luxuriant vegetation, and banks lined with the acacia, doum, and palm, beneath whose inviting shade the bean and melon, the onion and garlic, grew in happy seclusion.

There was something pleasing and charming wherever the eye gazed, after the desert monotony, except in man, who, like the shoals of crocodiles by which he is surrounded, looked savage, lazy, and repulsive. On the lSth we landed at Khartum, a large and im portant town, situate two miles beyond the conflux of the White and Blue Rivers ; and, like Sanaar, which it has eclipsed, is notorious for the laxity of its morals, and the fatality of its malarious fevers. I had letters for the British agent, Khaleel-el- Shamee, and also a Viceregal Firman and official letter from his Highness, Said Basha, for the Mudeer, or Governor of Sanaar and Soudan ; but, as this dignitary was absent from town, my official documents were of little value. There being no khan, or hos pice, in this remote place, every traveller is compelled to depend for shelter and refuge on the kindness of friends, and the generosity of the charitable.

I followed the good example of the Khowadgee, or trader ; and, accompanied by an ebony-coloured Nubian, wandered through dusty lanes, and sandy streets, towards the house of H. B. M.'s acting agent. The advent of a European traveller in Soudan being a matter of no trifling import and significance, conjecture was immediately rife about the unknown strangers ; and, since no one but a merchant or HOSPITALITY. trafficking Consul was likely to visit such a remote place, the cunning shopkeeper and calculating trader already trembled lest the influx of fresh goods should glut the market, and diminish their wonted profits. Khaleel-el-Shamee did not share the universal panic ; on the contrary, he was delighted with the visit of travellers over whom he could extend the ægis of his office, and the wand of his authority.

To provide a lodging for his welcome guests was, however, a serious matter, as his own house was crowded with mer chandise from Manchester and Kordoufan, from the banks of the Thames and the malarious plains of the White River. Happily, Dr. Natterer, the Austrian Consul, relieved him in his dilemma by receiving us under the shelter of his roof. Having thus secured lodgings, I again retraced my way through the queer-looking streets and noisy thoroughfares towards the river. A number of dirty and scantily-clad blacks were already upon the ground, longing for the piastres which were to reward their removal of our luggage. The bargain (for without previous agreement, no porter in Asia or Africa can be satisfied) was soon struck, and whilst we and the representative of Britain's power, in a most undignified posture, squatted down on the heaps of rotting offal which adorn the river's edge, our khamals seized boxes and bags, and, with grins and smiles that made their ugly faces look still uglier, hurried away to our future residence.

Chapter II

The Bazaar — Nubian Belles — European Residents — Trade in Ivory — Capture of Slaves — Consular Brotest — Mons. Malzac's Conquests — Romish Missions — Failure — Removal — Blue River — Arab Honesty — Ennui — Fever — Egyptian Rule — Courtesy of Aoud-el-Kerim — White Ants — Natives of Soudan — Rough Road — Ague — Kedaref— Michel the Copt. And now being once more, for a limited period, installed in comfortable quarters within four walls, we exchange our soiled, unwashed Oriental travelling gear for that most shapeless decoration of the human frame — the hybrid garb of the Soudan Turk, and sally forth to admire the various attractions of the capital of Soudan. The bazaar, which in Khartum, as in Constantinople and Cairo, constitutes the rendezvous of the merchant aud shopkeeper, the idle and busy, was the spot which naturally attracted our curiosity.

It was now towards noon, when the vendors of milk, bread, fish, poultry, onions, and garlic, brought their inviting delicacies to the market ; and never did I, in all my peregrinations, jostle through such a crowd of semi-naked savages, and breathe such an unclean aroma, as in that strange emporium of African trade. In the motley crowd were to be seen the haughty Turk, the grave Arab, the grinning, thick-lipped negro, the melancholy Galla, and the garrulous representatives of countless tribes THE BAZAAR. of Bedouins, from the shores of the Red Sea to the deserts of Barfour, and as the majority of this mixed multitude had the greatest contempt for dress, and a passionate fondness for rancid grease, which ran in stagnant and blistering streams down their matted and bushy hair, till every one glistened and sparkled like a lump of melting tallow, the tout ensemble pre sented a most savage and repulsive scene.

Some of the women in that animated and boisterous bazaar, had really most pleasing, rnild, and interesting features. -Unlike the custom in other Mohammedan countries, the dark belle of Nubia and Soudan enjoys unbounded liberty j neither a veil, nor the white folds of a cumbrous sheet conceal her soft, lustrous eyes, or impede the elasticity of her graceful step, as she walks along the banks of the river, or brings the produce of the farm to market. If above twelve or thirteen years of age, she wears a long piece of calico, partly around the loins and partly over the shoulder ; and if under that age, a mere cincture of tasselled leather is all that encumbers the slender waist and elegant figure. The chief attention of Ethiopia's sallow and copper-coloured maidens is, however, bestowed on the adornment of the head, and in this matter they are as much swayed by fashion as the most fastidious beauty in the Quartier St. Germain, or in the stately saloons of Belgravia.

Happily, their fashions are not subject to the caprice of a modiste, or the inventive power of a distinguished beauty. The palace at Karnak, and the tombs of the Theban monarchs, as in times of old so also in the NUBIAN BELLES. present day, furnish the approved and orthodox models for the most ambitious f riser. Pride has, however, in all countries to pay a penalty for its indulgence. Thus, in Africa, where curl-papers have not yet been introduced, the woman whose hair has undergone the tedious process of plaiting, must also, during the night, have it protected from becoming dishevelled ; and as this cannot so easily be done in a country where a bullock's hide or a mat form the bed, necessity has contrived a bowl-shaped stool KM in which the neck is wedged, and on this *^m. substitute for a pillow the vain maiden sleeps in an immovable and most uncomfortable posture during the tedious hours of the long tropical night.

In Abyssinia, where the women are particularly proud of their copper-coloured charms, very few, even on a journey and with fifty pounds weight on their backs, will forget to take the wooden pillow and the hollow grease-filled gourd. But besides this, some of the fair sex throughout Nubia and Soudan endeavour to heighten their charms by imparting a blue dye to their hands, feet, lips, and forehead ; and this tattooed appearance, which makes her look perfectly hideous, the tawny-visaged beau considers a great addition to the attractions of his inamorata. The heat, noise, and pestilential exhalations from the drains, putrid fish, rancid grease, rotten vegetables, and filthy natives made me anxious to leave a scene where every object was repulsive to the sight, and every odour offensive to the olfactory nerves.

The following day most of the European residents, TRAFFIC ON THE WHITE RIVER. who here constitute a little colony of about fifteen in dividuals, visited us. Two or three of these are in the service of the Egyptian Government ; but the rest are traders, and hunters of the elephant along the banks of the White River, where they also spend the greater part of the year. The ivory trade, which, a score of years ago, was a most lucrative speculation, has of late become a very hazardous business ; and I have been assured by natives, as well as Europeans, that most persons, and especially the Mohammedans, who embark in this dangerous and expensive traffic, make it remunerative by combining with it an extensive barter in slaves. Frequently an armed crew of a boat, in sailing up the river, espy a settlement of negroes, and before these unsuspecting dwellers in the jungle are aware of the marauders' approach, they are hemmed in by a set of inhuman wretches, who, prompted by a love of rapine and plunder, not un mingled with a fanatical zeal for religion, eagerly rush upon these unhappy beings, and before they can seize their defensive weapons, the encampment is on fire, and half its occupants at the mercy of the fiendish captors.