فتحي محمد الحسن: معضلة النوبيين أو دور النوبيين في نشر اللغة والثقافة العربية

Quote: On the sixth [of January 1701] because we were no more than ten hours distant from Mushu, the whole caravan set off at midnight. Our camels were the first after the camels of the king of Sinnar. This was due to the alertness of our Barabra, who quickly got our camels ready, fitted on their loads, and so brought them to the place of greatest honor. Once the order is established, one must keep one's place. Now we pursued our march [p. 220] very vigorously until after sunrise, pulling ahead of the whole caravan by about half an hour. (Our camels were among the strongest and healthiest.) Then we let the camels go more slowly, for we were already encountering trees, grass, birds and flies--a sure sign that we were not far from water and inhabited land, as in fact we were. Many of the Barabra went on ahead to bring tidings of the long-awaited arrival of the caravan. We were happy, but also miserable and half-starved. Everyone would bake bread and busy themselves with gathering together whatever could be found to refresh us and our beasts. By about ten o'clock we could already see the most beautiful palm trees in great profusion; these stood beside the river Nile and the inhabited villages. We let our camels go slowly until the whole caravan caught up with us; by twelve o'clock it had reached us and pulled itself together, and stood no more than half an hour from Mushu. Our entry march was held in good order and was very impressive. Many jallabs had ten, fifteen or twenty camels (though others had fewer); two or three went together, while their master rode either a horse or a donkey, and his Barabra or servants followed on foot, leaving a space before the next group of marching camels. It was very beautiful, especially since everyone had changed into the best clothes that he had. When the Barabra heard of our coming and we actually swept into view, crowds of them came running out to us with cheers of welcome for the whole caravan. They held us up for most of an hour, as the caravan in the meantime had called a halt. Then with great jubilation and cheers we marched on to the beat of war-kettledrums. We had five pair with us; they may only be carried by those who are the jallabs, or merchants, of the kings of Sinnar, Qarri and Dongola. The way one beats these drums is thus: one ties them over a camel as our cavalry usually do, and on the camel sits a Moor with a great beater in his right hand and a much smaller one in his left. He makes three or four strokes with the big one before he strikes with the smaller, and so continually beats the kettledrum. But now to return to our entry march. About one hundred fifty young women from various villages [p. 221] dressed as well as possible according to their custom, came out to us and went ahead of the caravan with great cries, cheering and singing, and then they began to ululate, as our peasant boys do when they get drunk. I laughed heartily. The music continued without a break until we came to Mushu, and then went on as they placed themselves on either side until we had pitched our camp. Not to be outdone by their wives, the men put up such an amazing and dreadful outcry to the heavens that even pigs would have danced. Those who had guns discharged them continually; we had distributed all our muskets and pistols, with flints and sufficient ammunition, among our Barabra, which gave us--and the whole caravan--a great reputation. These Moors looked at no one more than they did at us. They were probably as intrigued by us Europeans as we were by them--each one seeming strange to the other. They thought we were monsters, for they regard the white skin color (as we do the black) as repulsive, ugly and thoroughly inappropriate. When the Moors want to depict the Four Last Things in a picture, they paint the angels of Heaven black, and the Devil white. We pitched our camp a good musket-shot to the right of Mushu, that is, to the east. The sun had long since gone down. One should know (and all missionaries who are going there should take heed) there is a certain worm, not quite as long as a thumb, and rather resembling ants, which is found in the earth at all places. It has such strength and power that it can eat its way through all the trunks, cases and the like (though it can do little enough aside from that), and destroy and make a mess of whatever is within. For that reason each man of the caravan was busy getting together stones and hard pieces of debris on which to place his goods, for outside the earth this worm loses all its strength and power, and can accomplish nothing. I will let each one calculate for himself what kind of morale the caravan must have been in, after having endured so many dangers on the difficult journey--unbearable cold by night and heat by day, great and almost unbearable hunger [p. 222] and everything else unpleasant that nature can inflict on such a march. Finally we had a firm foot in the inhabited land, and had arrived in the kingdom of Nubia. We pitched out tents and made a circular fortress of our chests and other articles, laying the smaller things in the middle so that they would not disappear. All the other jallabs who had tents like ours did the same. Those who had been robbed, however, set up huts on the Arab pattern out of straw mats, which are very plentiful here, in order to be free of the heat of the sun, the sharp wind, and the great cold that prevails at night. As soon as we finished pitching camp, women came to us bringing hens, roosters, pigeons, sheep, milk, grass for the camels and donkeys, fruit and also bread. This latter is very doughy, however, as it is not baked in an oven, but like a tent on a hot earthen griddle. Its manner and style is as follows. They let the earthen griddle heat thoroughly on the fire, and then cut dough somewhat thicker than the dough for sacramental bread--about one finger thick. When it is done on one side they turn it over. Therefore one side is bound to burn, leaving sticky dough inside. Really, one could make noodles out of it. This is the bread which the inhabitants and travelers here must eat, without any fancy frills, whether they like it or not. It made me sick to look at it, but because of my great hunger I eventually came to like it. This bread, or kisra, as it is called in Arabic, is not made of wheat, but out of a certain fruit, or rather grain, which is called durra in Arabic. It grows on a stalk taller than a man and as thick as your thumb, on which are a number of grain-bearing stalks, with very many kernels. These are like hemp seeds, though one or two times bigger. When it is ripe the fruit is knocked out of the head with a flail. The women then throw it into the air to clean it and drive away the chaff. Then it is placed in certain baskets which they plait out of palm fibre, and it can be preserved thusly for a whole year. It is food for them and for their animals; along with camels, it is their greatest wealth. This durra is then ground between two stones, just as a painter rubs his colors, and [p. 223] the bran meal is mixed up and then made into bread, or kisra. This bread is served warm with water, milk or meat stock and eaten with the hands (for they have no spoons in these lands), while sitting cross-legged on the ground. They also brought us dates from their palm trees. These are a delicacy, and I never found their like among all other fruits. Very good ones can be obtained cheaply, as well as other things, but not for money. Except for dealings among the jallabs of the caravan, coinage is not accepted in these lands, nor is it even to be found at all. In the villages it is as the Latin proverb says: "do ut des," or "give me little nails, pepper, needles, spikenard, blue-colored wool, white sandalwood, rings drawn of buffalo horn (which women wear on their fingers and arms, as is frequently done in Cairo) and other similar gew-gaws--in return, I will give you this or that, say, a pigeon, sheep, dates, fodder for the camels, firewood, milk, kisra, eggs, and whatever it may be." Everything is cheap; for a handfull of wool one can get a pigeon, for eight or ten little nails a chicken, and so forth. Were I to describe their mode of dress, it would be as follows. Their costume is body-colored, since they go around quite naked and bare. The women wear around their waist a finger-wide leather girdle to which a number of black leather thongs about one or one and a half spans long are attached. To me it looked like the fly-net of a horse. Boys go quite naked until the twelfth or fifteenth year, while those who are older wear a leather apron similar to those worn to work by a mechanic. Others, both men and women, wind around their waist or hips a coarsely-woven cotton cloth about three spans wide and several ells long, and with this they cover themselves. Further, the women in wintertime (when it is quite brisk at night, but very hot during the day--since we are under the eighteenth degree of latitude) wrap their hands, arms and neck with a cord fastened with little Johanna-rings of blue or another color. The women have also a brown woollen mantel, made of one piece four ells long and one-half wide, decorated with blue wool [p. 224] which they wrap around the body. Aside from that the upper body of young and old of both sexes is at all times bared, without concern or amazement. Christians should reflect on this, for one never hears an improper word or comment about it, much less an immodest touching, kissing, etc. (Though they live a thoroughly shameless life in their houses.) As for the clothing of the nobility, they wear a long blue shirt that reaches to the feet, which may or may not have sleeves that come down to the hands. No less common is a piece of blue and white striped material (cotton, or cotton and silk, or even pure silk), which is not unlike a bed sheet in length. They use this in place of a cloak, wrapping it two or three times around the waist as a sash, or over the hips and shoulders, and so they go about. No one wears anything on the head except the highest nobility and the king, for the inhabitants of these lands use in place of a hat their own hair. Men plait it into tight little braids at the back of the neck, while women have them all around the head, except for a gap so that the locks of hair do not completely cover the face. So that the skin, almost all of which is exposed to the unbearable heat of the sun, does not crack, they rub it with butter, lard and fat of camels and other animals. They mix this with sweet-smelling substances or spices, and so avoid emitting any very bad smell. About two hundred years ago these people were very zealous Christians. Now they are Muslims, but live without law or faith. They are a godless, unfaithful and right barbarous people, but in spite of their generally barbarous nature the governor of this place (for so the great prince is named) today sent us as a special honor a present, namely, a wooden soup bowl full of meat and broth. Along with that we cooked two chickens that night in order to get our strength back. To God be praise and great thanks that we are quite well. Later Father Joseph visited him and took along as a present [p. 225] a mirror, a little pepper, small nails, a sugar-hat, blue wool, white sandalwood, spikenard root and other such items. This elevated us into his greatest favor. When he gave audience he sat with his feet crossed over each other on the bare ground covered with a straw mat. His whole greeting consisted of two words repeated about twenty times Inshallah Tayyib, etc. In our language that means "How are you, I hope you are well," etc. Since we were so tired and miserable in the desert previously described, and which, God be praised, we have fortunately now put behind us, perhaps the curious reader would like to know why we did not go up from Esna to Nubia, where we are now, along the river Nile and the inhabited places, avoiding the obviously mortal danger and pain to ourselves and our beasts. I would like to give this reply, that by our somewhat longer route we avoided the great danger of being plundered, robbed and killed by the Arabs. For from Esna to the kingdom of Nubia (which is subject to the king of Sinnar) most of the inhabited places are occupied by Arabs. These are subjects of the Grand Turk, and continually wage war along the borders with the Moors of Nubia. I will now describe at greater length their character, life-style, dwellings, clothing and their other characteristics. The Arabs who live in the desert between Egypt and the Barabra, as well as those who live in these Moorish lands, are not black like the Moors, but light brown in color. They live a miserable and dreadful life, for their whole region is barren and the earth robbed of all fertility. To be sure they have many camels and other animals, but so little food for them that they can scarcely keep them from starvation. They have no place that is suitable for growing grain, except for a few villages where there are dates and a little wheat. From time to time they exchange their animals for grain, but this is scarcely sufficient for so many people. For this reason they even sell their own children to make ends meet. Their misery drives these Arabs more than others to robbery and murder. Not only do they rob whomever goes through their land [p. 226] but also enslave and sell him. This is why we have not dared to go through their land all the way from Esna, although we were over two thousand camels strong, and so we rather preferred to go with great mortal danger, misfortunes and difficulties through the desert in a detour of over one hundred German miles than subject ourselves to such danger. The Arabs in Nubia where we are now are more beaten down, but "no cat gives up catching mice." When the Barabra go from Egypt to Nubia, or back again, they give their wares and whatever else they have to a big caravan, and go through these lands quite naked with only their privates a little covered. This means that the likes of them are allowed to pass, being naked and possessing nothing worthy of a robbery, and they are even given lodging at night, and food and drink. We assigned some of these Barabra back in Egypt to bring us messages as to how the caravan fared, and [to carry the message back] that, God willing, we will soon make it through. These Arabs live a godless, rough and thievish life, with neither religion nor law, although they give out that they are Muslims. They are thin, starving, crazy people, who must daily pay for their robbery and murder with brave suffering--not that that redeems them. They detest work, idolize laziness, and pride themselves for their devil-may-care attitude (for that is the way they live). They consider no place in life in all the world to be happier than their own--though no more despicable or miserable one could be found between heaven and earth. They get the greatest pleasure from their tattered huts and rags, and prize these over the most luxurious castles and the most beautiful clothing of the great kings and princes. One could call them the happiest of holy hermits, were they not sitting in the darkness of godless Muhammadanism, blackened in body and soul. If only the light of the Catholic Christian faith, which alone brings redemption, could shine on them, they might for the love of Christ Jesus despise and trample under foot the vanities and transitory, false, treacherous pleasures of this world, which prick sharper than thorns! These Arabs pitch their tents or huts close together in rows like a corral, and herd all their livestock inside. The bare earth serves them [p. 227] in place of a linen bed. They do not stay always in one place, but wander here and there with their tents wherever they can find a suitable place. The men, of whom there were many with our caravan, wear on their head.s (contrary to the manner of other Arabs) a band of poor white or red cloth, so clumsily wrapped that one end falls down behind and the other in front. They have neither shoes nor stockings, nor shirt nor other garment, but cover their bodies with a piece of cloth about three spans wide and six or seven ells long. This piece of cloth is cotton, but so coarse and loosely-woven that often one can see through. They wrap this several times around the waist and stick it in along the side where it ends. The women do it the same way and their upper bodies are completely bare at all times. They braid their hair so that it looks as if braided cow-halters were hanging down on all sides. It is so full of grease and fat that it looks more like axle-grease than locks of hair, and emits a truly dreadful odor from which one could fall down in a faint. They consider it to be the greatest and most beautiful of jewels if they hang from these dirty black locks of hair a decoration--some fish teeth, Venetian glass or brass rings, or pieces of glass or coral. Rich women fasten on silver coins, brass charms or chains, or even Venetian sequins. They tattoo designs on the forehead, cheeks, thumbs, breasts and feet. I have seen some who wear the sign of the cross, made by spreading on the powder of a black stone, which does not go away. Their arm-bands are rings of wood, glass or buffalo horn, and they put large brass rings through their ears. I have seen many wear tin or silver rings in their nostrils, reminding me of the way one chains down Polish bears. This usage is current among women in the whole kingdom of Nubia and the other Moorish lands through which I passed. Their cooking utensils consist of one or more earthen pots in which they cook their food. This is usually rice, beans or lentils. Their beverage is clear water, and their drinking vessel a gourd, split in the middle and hollowed out. We also used [p. 228] this. In place of a table cloth, they use the bare earth or a mat plaited of the fibre of the date palm. Every household has a mill to grind their wheat or durra (which I have discussed in its place.) This mill consists of two stones which they turn around on top of each other with a stick, or with their hands just as a painter rubs his colors. They bake bread every day. They pour the meal into a big pot and mix in water to make a dough, from which they make large, wide sheets and bake them under the ashes. They eat them when still warm, the crust burned to a crisp and the interior still sticky. They never eat two dishes at once; if meat is served they eat it alone, and then the bread. They eat very little, and therefore are seldom bothered with the gout and other infirmities that plague Europeans. They are strong of limb and healthy of constitution; they live to be very old. Their favorite dish is vinegar and oil, along with bread. When one of them dies, the wife or nearest female neighbor goes out of the tent of the deceased and begins to cry with pure fury, and to wail. At this wailing the women come running from the other tents and also cry and wail with fearful and dreadful gestures, so that when I saw such Arabs being buried, I was afraid. In the midst of this wailing and crying other women began to sing the praises and virtues of the deceased, which sounded so dreadful that one might be stricken and his hair stand on end. Finally they carry the corpse out and bury it according to the custom of the Muslims in a grave in the open field. They place various pretty stones on the grave; these they look for and find in the desert. The Arabs elect a chief or prince who goes a little better dressed than the others. His tent is pitched in the middle of the others, and he places the well-being of his subjects above all else. To this end he expedites stealing, robbery and murder with counsel and deed, for he is born to such handiwork . . . [p. 229] . . . . In regard to weapons they use a throwing spear or lance about half the length of a pike. They know how to throw this with such strength and skill that a man thirty, forty or even fifty paces away is not safe. Above the right elbow they usually carry a wide, sharp dagger in a sheath that hangs from a thong to carry it on the arm. They can think of no more comfortable place for it, as they go quite naked. They know how to strike very quickly and adroitly with it. And that is enough said about these Arabs. On the seventh, eighth and ninth [of January 1701] we purchased all sorts of necessities for ourselves, our camels and donkeys. Because it was Friday and Saturday we ate a little ground wheat with milk poured over it. On the tenth [of January 1701] we were called to a sick man. He had a real Vlcus in Virga [blockage of the urinary tract], which we treated for him and luckily cured in a few days. He at once sent us a pigeon, promising that if he fully recovered, he would see that we got more. On the eleventh [of January 1701] before daybreak one of our camels died. It was the most beautiful, strongest and youngest, and had made light of its burden for the whole trip. Our Barabra finished it off with lances before it completely expired, and we divided the meat among the Barabra of the caravan. At about midday the sick man mentioned above sent us a big, beautiful and strong young camel as a recompense, for he found himself as well as before, and could urinate. Thus Almighty God met our needs by means of medicine. On the twelfth [of January 1701] a son of the prince, to whom we had given two handfulls of wool and a little coffee, paid us a visit. He was dressed like a Barbarin, and his clothing consisted of the following pieces, namely: a blue shirt wrapped around with a white and blue embroidered sheet in place of a cloak, a long sabre in his hand, which seemed to have been in the war of the Emperor Charles, a pair of shoes consisting of two soles with no tops, made in the form of sandals. He was bareheaded and accompanied by four slaves. His father was also with the caravan today, to visit the merchants who carry the goods of the king of Sinnar. His suit of clothes included a blue shirt, a long white linen robe with red [p. 230] linen border and decoration. He rode bareheaded on a beautiful expensive horse whose saddle, according to the custom of the land, was like an easy chair. It surrounded the back of his body up to the shoulders, and had in front a long, high pommel that covered the heart. This protected him from lance thrusts. The saddle stood straight up from the horse's neck. On the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth [of January 1701] we were busy with purchasing the necessary supplies for ourselves and our camels. Before long everything began to become expensive, and finally there was no more to be had. A few days ago we could have bartered eight or ten little nails for a chicken, but now it is not unusual to gladly give twenty. One should know that Mushu is a small place, whose people are totally given over to idleness. Though they have the most fruitful soil, they do not enjoy it as they could; fruit trees such as pears, apples and fruits with stones are not to be found, though to be sure dates (which are better and healthier--yes, a fruit that surpasses all others, and which may be stored for several years) are found in this land in great superfluity. From the sixteenth to the twentieth [of January 1701] we still remained here, but were living very miserably. We could not get any more nourishment for ourselves, our camels, donkeys and Barabra, although it helped very much that I gave medicine to all the sick people who were brought to us, and so for my pains and labor got a little chicken or pigeon. In this place there are no diseases other than apostem, boils, coughs and eye ailments; syphilis is also a common sickness. The reason we stayed here so long is that half a year ago two persons in our caravan were stricken with smallpox, which in these lands is fiercer than the plague. Most of the victims die. Therefore the shaykh or governor of this place, of whom I gave report a few days ago, demanded that the caravan either give him a large present or else he would report to the king of Sinnar that this disease was raging among the caravan. In order to get around this difficulty, one had to give him a piece of soap for every camel in the caravan, since he had held the caravan so long at such great cost to us. If he had told the king in Sinnar that the plague was rife in the caravan, he himself could not leave here for a year and a day. But we hope to leave this place in two or three days. [p. 231] Furthermore, we have recovered a little of our strength lost in the desert (to God be praise, honor and the greatest thanks!) When I think of the misery, great hardships, hourly danger of death, great hunger, thirst, heat, cold, day and night without rest or peace, all this endured for about fifty days, my hair stands on end. On the twenty-first [of January 1701] a few Barabra arrived here from Cairo, traveling through the inhabited land (that is, the land adjacent to the river Nile). They traveled on foot wearing nothing but a tattered shirt, for in this way they could pass even among the Arabs and still enjoy their food. They brought reports that the Arabs were still in the desert at al-Wah (six days' ride from Assiut), and that the remaining portion of our caravan was therefore still waiting in Assiut. If they do not want to take the path that we have taken, it is certain that they shall remain there until the Kashif of Manfalut either makes peace with the Arabs and gives them villages in order to make their living, or defeats them by armed force in a battle in the desert. The latter is to be hoped for, because if not, then no caravan can travel anywhere. These Barabra also told us that part of the caravan which had separated from us in the desert in order to return to its homeland was attacked by these Arabs even though they were their own countrymen. All were murdered, and their wares and camels seized. These Arabs were also waiting for our caravan, but through God's special dispensation, though they rode day and night, we did not fall into their hands.