I.—DARFUR.
II.—WADAÏ.
ABRIDGEDFROM THE FRENCH.
BY
BAYLE ST. JOHN,
AUTHOR OF “VILLAGE LIFE IN EGYPT,” “PURPLETINTS OF PARIS,”
ETC. ETC.
LONDON:
CHAPMAN AND HALL, 193 PICCADILLY.
1854.
LONDON:
Printed by G. Barclay, Castle St. LeicesterSq.
The following work is anabridgment of Dr. Perron’s French version of the narrative, writtenin Arabic, by Sheikh Mohammed of Tunis, of his journey to two ofthe most remarkable Black Kingdoms of Central Africa. Dr. Perron’swork, ably edited by M. Jomard of the Institute, is too voluminousto have obtained many readers in this country; but it contains somuch that is interesting, so fresh and peculiar a view of manners,so many good stories and characteristic anecdotes, that I havethought it worth while to reduce it to a more popular form. Thenarrative bears witness itself to its own authenticity; but it isfurther recommended to belief by the well-known and respectablecharacter of the writer, who is[iv] now reposing from his many fatigues in alucrative position, adapted to a learned man, in Cairo.[1]
As the narrative forms a complete autobiography, it is notnecessary to say more of the author, save that he was born in 1789,and commenced his travels when a mere boy, inheriting, and alwayspreserving, the character of a trader. All his allusions towell-known public characters and events have been examined, andfound to be correct; so that it is fair to accept his testimony onother points. He travelled with peculiar advantages in countries,one of which, Darfur, has been only once visited by a European,namely, Brown, in 1793; whilst the other has never been described,except in this instance, by an eyewitness. Accurate geographicaldetails are, of course, not to be expected from the Sheikh. Hewrites from memory, and from an Oriental point of view. But hisdescriptions of manners and the general characteristics of tribesand regions are, to all[v]appearance, accurate. They are certainly interesting. The reader isintroduced at the very first page within the circle of Easternlife, and learns by degrees to view facts, if not with Easterneyes, at least without the prejudices of an outside observer.
The countries described, though isolated both by position andpolicy, are sufficiently remarkable not to deserve utter neglect.They form part of the great system of states—black in population,but Mohammedan in religion—which stretches like a belt acrossCentral Africa, with unexplored expanses of Paganism to the south,and to the north a desert, dotted with oases, and marked withcaravan tracks leading to the Mediterranean. The valley of theNile, which seems destined by Nature to be the highroad to thisregion, is rendered comparatively useless for that purpose by therestrictiv