There was some sense in old Halleem Effendi's advice; it was the
cool and cautious wisdom of old age, but as I was not so elderly,
I took it "cum grano salis." He was a charming old gentleman, the
perfect beau ideal of the true old style of Turk, but few
specimens of which remain; all that he had said was spoken in
sincerity, and I resolved to collect as much information as
possible from the grey-headed authorities before I should
commence the expedition. I was deeply impressed with one fact,
that until I could dispense with an interpreter it would be
impossible to succeed, therefore I determined to learn Arabic as
speedily as possible.
A week's rest in the garden of Halleem Effendi prepared us for
the journey. I resolved to explore the Atbara river and the
Abyssinian affluents, prior to commencing the White Nile voyage.
The Governor promised me two Turkish soldiers as attendants, and
I arranged to send my heavy baggage by boat to Khartoum, and
secure the advantage of travelling light; a comfort that no one
can appreciate who has not felt the daily delay in loading a long
string of camels. Both my wife and I had suffered from a short
attack of fever brought on by the prostrating effect of the
simoom, which at this season (June) was at its height. The Nile
was slowly rising, although it was still low; occasionally it
fell about eighteen inches in one night, but again rose; this
proved that, although the rains had commenced, they were not
constant, as the steady and rapid increase of the river had not
taken place. The authorities assured me that the Blue Nile was
now rising at Khartoum, which accounted for the increase of the
river at Berber.
The garden of Halleem Effendi was attended by a number of fine
powerful slaves from the White Nile, whose stout frames and
glossy skins were undeniable witnesses of their master's care. A
charmingly pretty slave girl paid us daily visits, with presents
of fruit from her kind master and numerous mistresses, who, with
the usual Turkish compliments as a preliminary message, requested
permission to visit the English lady.
In the cool hour of evening a bevy of ladies approached through
the dark groves of citron trees, so gaily dressed in silks of the
brightest dyes of yellow, blue, and scarlet, that no bouquet of
flowers could have been more gaudy. They were attended by
numerous slaves, and the head servant politely requested me to
withdraw during the interview. Thus turned out of my tent, I was
compelled to patience and solitude beneath a neighbouring date
palm.
The result of the interview with my wife was most satisfactory;
the usual womanish questions had been replied to, and hosts of
compliments exchanged. We were then rich in all kinds of European
trifles that excited their curiosity, and a few little presents
established so great an amount of confidence that they gave the
individual history of each member of the family from childhood,
that would have filled a column of the Times with births, deaths,
and marriages.
Some of these ladies were very young and pretty, and of course
exercised a certain influence over their husbands; thus, on the
following morning, we were inundated with visitors, as the male
members of the family came to thank us for the manner in which
their ladies had been received; and fruit, flowers, and the
general produce of the garden were presented to us in profusion.
However pleasant, there were drawbacks to our garden of Eden;
there was dust in our Paradise; not the dust that we see in
Europe upon unwatered roads, that simply fills the eyes, but
sudden clouds raised by whirlwinds in the desert which fairly
choked the ears and nostrils when thus attacked. June is the
season when these phenomena are most prevalent. At that time the
rains have commenced in the south, and are extending towards the
north; the cold and heavy air of the southern rain-clouds sweeps
down upon the overheated atmosphere of the desert, and produces
sudden violent squalls and whirlwinds when least expected, as at
that time the sky is cloudless.
The effect of these desert whirlwinds is most curious, as their
force is sufficient to raise dense columns of sand and dust
several thousand feet high; these are not the evanescent
creations of a changing wind, but they frequently exist for many
hours, and travel forward, or more usually in circles, resembling
in the distance solid pillars of sand. The Arab superstition
invests these appearances with the supernatural, and the
mysterious sand-column of the desert wandering in its burning
solitude, is an evil spirit, a "Gin" ("genii" plural, of the
Arabian Nights). I have frequently seen many such columns at the
same time in the boundless desert, all travelling or waltzing in
various directions at the wilful choice of each whirlwind: this
vagrancy of character is an undoubted proof to the Arab mind of
their independent and diabolical origin.
The Abyssinian traveller, Bruce, appears to have entertained a
peculiar dread of the dangers of such sand columns, but on this
point his fear was exaggerated. Cases may have occurred where
caravans have been suffocated by whirlwinds of sand, but these
are rare exceptions, and the usual effects of the dust storm are
the unroofing of thatched huts, the destruction of a few date
palms, and the disagreeable amount of sand that not only half
chokes both man and beast, but buries all objects that may be
lying on the ground some inches deep in dust.
The wind at this season (June) was changeable, and strong blasts
from the south were the harbingers of the approaching rainy
season.
