Nubia

“ Here, in Nubia, these characteristics are increased, and the Nile becomes a river of the North under a Southern sun. The mountains rise on either hand from the water’s edge; piles of dark sandstone or porphyry rock, sometimes a thousand feet in height, where a blade of grass never grew, every notch and jag on their crests, every fissure on their sides, revealed in an atmosphere so pure and crystalline, that nothing but one of our cloudless mid-winter days can equal it. ”

“ Here, then, more than ever, one seems to see how entirely these lands which we call Egypt and Nubia are nothing but the banks of one solitary river in the midst of a world of desert. In Egypt, the valley is often so wide that one forgets the stony waste beyond the corn-lands. But in Nubia the desert is ever present. We cannot forget it, if we would. The barren mountains press upon our path, showering down avalanches of granite on the one side and torrents of yellow sand on the other. We know that those stones are always falling; that those sands are always drifting ”

“ Except along the narrow valley of the Nile only the southernmost portion of Nubia contains arable land. The greater part is within the almost rainless zone. An auriferous district lies between the Nile and the Red Sea, in 22° N. Politically the whole of Nubia is now included either in Egypt or the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, and has no administrative existence.
Ethnology.—As an ethnical expression the term Nuba or Nubian has little value. ”

“ Next day you embark at Shellal, above the Dam, for Wadi Halfa, a voyage of some 200 miles. Coming down, the steamers do it in about twenty-four hours, but upstream it is a leisurely voyage of three days. There is plenty of time to see the interesting antiquities of Nubia, and, above all, the famous rock-hewn temple of Abu Simbel, the colossal statues of which are, perhaps, the most impressive of all the monuments of Egypt. It is, besides, a most beautiful reach of the river; the hills come down to the water in bold and rugged outlines, showing to perfection in the pure, dry, desert air. ”

“ I may add that the whole cost of the Philæ—food, dragoman’s wages, boat-hire, cataract, everything included, except wine—was about £10 per day.
With regard to temperature, we found it cool—even cold, sometimes—in December and January; mild in February; very warm in March and April. The climate of Nubia is simply perfect. It never rains; and once past the limit of the tropic there is no morning or evening chill upon the air. Yet even in Nubia, and especially along the forty miles which divide Abou Simbel from Wady Halfeh, it is cold when the wind blows strongly from the north. ”

“ The camels of the Bisharins and Ababdehs are no less famous for their speed than the horses of Dongola. Inhabitants. Often conquered, and consisting of little more than the double riverain zone of the Nile, Nubia is peopled with tribes of very mixed origin, such as Ilamites, Arabs, Nigritians, and Turks. Nevertheless the basis of the Nubian population may be said to consist of Bar&bras, who call themselves " the people of the soil." ”

“ Some travellers have supposed that the plague is communicated to Egypt from the south; but this is a very erroneous supposition, as it never prevails in Nubia so high as the second Cataract, and is unknown in Dóngola, and along the whole route to Sennaar.
The men in Nubia are generally well made, strong, and muscular, with fine features; in stature they are somewhat below the Egyptians; they have no mustachios, and but little beard, wearing it under the chin only, like the figures of the fugitives in the battle-pieces sculptured upon the walls of the Egyptian temples. ”

“ At noon the mercury did not often rise above 75° in the shade. As we approach Nubia, the scenery of the river undergoes a complete change. The rugged hills of black sandstone and granite usurp the place of the fields, and leave but a narrow strip of cultivable land on either side. The Arabs are [150] darker and show the blood of the desert tribes in their features. They are, however, exceedingly friendly. The day before reaching Assouan, we walked ahead of our boat and were obliged to wait two or three hours. ”

“ The vegetation which is visible demonstrates the complete desert character of Nubia. The shooshgrass (Panicum turgidum) , the most general of herbage for the camels, is here trodden down in masses.
The voyage up the White Nile has been very frequently described by various travellers. The districts along the shore mostly retain an unchanging aspect for miles together. Barely does some distant mountain or isolated hill relieve the eye from the wide monotony. In spite of all, there was no lack of interest. There is much that cannot fail to make the progress ever striking and impressive. ”

“ The sandy deserts between Upper Egypt and Nubia heat the air to such a degree that the north wind actually scorches. The east wind also, which is usually prevalent between the Tropics, does not reach Nubia till it has crossed the territories of Arabia; therefore that the Nubians should be black is little cause for wonder; though indeed they are still less so than those of Senegal, where, as the east wind cannot arrive till it has traversed all the territories of Africa in their utmost extent, the heat is rendered almost insupportable. ”

“ Throughout the greater part of the long winding valley which forms what we call Nubia, dark, gleaming masses of rock rise from the bed of the river or from its immediate vicinity, and over wide tracts prevent the growth of almost all vegetation. They have for their sole adornment the waves of golden yellow sand which are blown from the deserts on east and west, and gradually slide down the rocks into the river. The sun beats from the deep-blue and rarely cloudy sky; for many years together not a single shower refreshes the thirsty ground. ”

“ Wheat and barley are cultivated to some extent, together with various leguminous, or pod-bearing, plants, cotton, coffee, sugar cane, and tobacco. The coffee plant grows wild to a great extent.
Nubia is the modern name of a country once subject to the Khedive of Egypt. It was probably known to the ancients under the name Ethiopia. The boundaries of Nubia are the Red Sea on the east, Egypt on the north, Abyssinia on the south, and the Sahara on the west. ”

“ It is no uncommon thing for the dust of the desert to be whirled high into the air and fall upon the decks of vessels crossing the Atlantic far from the coast of Africa. Frequently it flies in clouds over the Red Sea; thus does Nubia greet Arabia. ”

“ This territory includes Upper and Lower Nubia, the fertile and little known Sennaar, the wastes north of Abyssinia, the provinces of Darfour and Kordofan, and the mysterious regions of the White Nile and its affluents.
Nowhere else in the explored world is there an equal area so uniform in climate and surface. The sad result of this uniformity you see in the condition of the people. In your effort to help the people, you must fight against these facts of nature. ”

“ Curiosity seems to be the most prominent feature in their character, and they generally ask their guest a thousand questions about the place he comes from, and the business which brings him into Nubia.
If the government were not so extremely despotic, the Nubians might become dangerous neighbours to Egypt; for they are of a much bolder and more independent spirit than the Egyptians, and ardently attached to their native soil. Great numbers of them go yearly to Cairo, where they generally act as porters, and are preferred to the Egyptians, on account of their honesty. ”

“ Its columns and sculptures are imitations of those at Philæ, but far inferior in beauty, to their models: the small temple at Merowau seemed to be about the same age, though of more careful execution. We thus find in Nubia specimens of all the different æras of Egyptian architecture, the history of which indeed can only be traced in Nubia; for all the remaining temples in Egypt (that of Gorne, perhaps, excepted) appear to have been erected in an age when the science of architecture had nearly attained to perfection. ”

“ In all parts of Nubia, at least in the caravan routes, travellers can never be in very great distress from want of water, if the wells are not dried up. The only portions of the road, of any length, without water, are from Goz Radjeb to Sennaar, and from the frontiers of Kordofan to Shendy. Yet the Black traders often suffer from want of water, even where the wells are near, because their avarice leads them to load their camels so heavily with merchandize, that they have no room for a plentiful supply of water. ”

“ South of Aswân and Philse begins Nubia. The Nubian language, which is quite different from Arabic, is spoken by everybody on the island of Elephantine, and its various dialects are used as far south as Dongola, where Arabic again is generally spoken till we reach the land of the negroes, south of Khartum. In Ptolemaic and Roman days the Nubians were a powerful people, and the whole of Nubia and the modern North Sudan formed an independent kingdom, ruled by queens who bore the title or name of Candace. ”

“ Like all river valleys whose beds are regulated by the action of running waters, that of the Nile establishes its equilibrium by falling in Nubia and again rising in Lower Egypt. M. de Gottberg accoimts for the lowering of the water- level in Nubia through the disappearance of cataracts formerly existing between "Wadi-Halfa and Asuan, traces of which are still visible. The rocks forming these cataracts consist of schists, which, unlike the crystalline reefs, yielded to the destructive force of the stream. The granite rocks themselves also yield to the same action, but much more gradually. ”

“ As far as southern Nubia, with the exception of the Oases in the Libyan Desert, the Nile is the only agent of productiveness. Beyond the narrow limits of his bounteous valley, there is little except red sand and naked rock, from the Red Sea to the Atlantic. ”

“ The conquest of Nubia having been almost entirely the work of the Theban dynasties, the Theban triad, Amon, Maût, and Montû, and their immediate followers were paramount in this region, while in the north, in witness of the ancient Elephantinite colonisation, we find Khnûmû of the cataract being worshipped, in connexion with Didûn, father of the indigenous Nubians. ”

“ In passing along the Wadys of Nubia, it often occurred to me to remark that the size and figure of the inhabitants was generally proportioned to the breadth of their cultivable soil; wherever the [145] plain is broad, and the peasants from being enabled to carry on agriculture to a tolerable extent, are in comparatively easy circumstances, they are taller and more muscular and healthy; but in the rocky districts, where the plain is not more than twenty or thirty yards in breadth, they are poor meagre figures; in some places appearing almost like walking skeletons. ”

“ It is with some regret that we leave, or are trying to leave, Nubia, both on account of its climate and its people. The men, various sorts of Arabs as well as the Nubians, are better material than the fellaheen below, finer looking, with more spirit and pride, more independence and self-respect. They are also more barbarous; they carry knives and heavy sticks universally, and guns if they can get them, and in many places have the reputation of being quarrelsome, turbulent, and thieves. ”

“ The result of this relative abundance of the rains on the coast region is a great contrast between the Nubian districts near the Red Sea and those of the interior. To the east the Arab nomads find abundance of wells, fountains, and pasturages for their cattle ; but to the west nothing is visible but rocks and sands, the eye of the traveller seldom lighting upon a grove of palms or mimosas, or any trailing shrubs growing on the banks of the wadies. In some years the drought is so complete that no shepherd dare venture into the desert. Nubia thus offers some well-defined natural divisions. ”

“ With these boundaries the whole of the plains between the Nile and Abyssinia constitute the region of Nubia, usually designated under the name of Eastern Sudan, although the term of Beled-es-Sudan, or "Land of the Blacks," should be restricted to lands inhabited by Negroes. ”

“ The same is the case in different parts of Nubia towards Dóngola. At Berber nobody is afraid of encountering crocodiles in the river, and we bathed there very often, swimming out into the midst of the stream. At Shendy, on the contrary, they are greatly dreaded; the Arabs and the slaves and females, who repair to the shore of the river near the town every morning and evening to wash their linen, and fill their water-skins for the supply of the town, are obliged to be continually on the alert, and such as bathe take care not to proceed to any great distance into the river. ”

“ We would have given much to trace the river to its source and search for this unknown temple in the desert. But it is one of the misfortunes of this kind of traveling that one cannot easily turn aside from the beaten track. The hot season is approaching; the river is running low; the daily cost of the dahabeeyah is exorbitant; and, in Nubia, where little or nothing can be bought in the way of food, the dilatory traveler risks starvation. ”

“ The fruit-trees of the Mediterranean zone, such as vines, oranges, and citrons, are cultivated only in the gardens, their fruit being sour and tasteless, and generally rotting before maturity. The cereals cultivated in Nubia, either on the banks of the Nile or else in the •' Valley of Inscriptions," and in the steppes of the interior, belong to the same species as those of Egypt. Fauna. The wild fauna of Southern Nubia does not differ from that of Kordofan and the slope of the Abyssinian mountains. ”