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The fury and avarice of the conquerors occasioned many atrocities which, it is maintained, their commander could not altogether prevent; though the great number of ears and even of heads sent to Cairo indicate that his consent had accompanied some of the worst scenes which disgraced his triumph. Usage alone, says Cailliaud, could excuse the pasha for having encouraged so many frightful mutilations. Those shameful trophies were despatched by him to his father as a testimony of his brilliant success.

Giovanni Finati, who, with the artist Linant employed by Mr. Bankes, followed the path of the Egyptian army, confirms beyond all question the remarks of Cailliaud. The exasperation of the soldiers at having been so gallantly opposed, and their greediness of plunder or reward, drove them to horrible excesses and outrages; so that it was no wonder that a single victory did not suffice, and that a high-spirited people continued to do all they could against their oppressors. The signs of this, he adds, were but two visible; "for half the natives whom we met, many even of the women, were deprived of one or both of their ears, others mutilated in their limbs; while bones and carcasses, and hovels that had been burnt, were everywhere to be seen by the way." The persecution seemed, in fact, to have been carried almost to extermination. The whole district was laid waste, and thereby reduced, at least for the time, to a sullen obedience.

Before we leave the people of Sheygya we may repeat the tribute which has usually been bestowed on their hospitality and literature; qualities hardly to be expected among tribes whose doom it was to live by their swords. Burckhardt assures us that they are renowned for their kindness to strangers, and that the person of their guest or companion is held sacred. If a traveller possesses a friend among them, and has been plundered on the road, his property will be recovered, even if it has been taken by the king himself. They all speak Arabic exclusively, and many of them write and read it. Their learned men are held in great respect by them; they have schools, wherein all the sciences are taught which form the course of Mohammedan study, mathematics and astronomy excepted. "I have," says he, 66 seen books copied at Merawe, written in as fine a hand as that of the scribes of Cairo." They are also famous for

various kinds of manufactures especially for a superior description of mat, in which they surpass all the natives of Mahass and Dongola.*

We have elsewhere delineated the march of the pasha from Shendy to the tenth degree of latitude; describing his reception at Sennaar, and the various success which attended his exertions against the natives of the hill-country beyond El Querebyn and Fazoglo. After passing DarSheygya he met no enemy who could oppose him in regular combat, although his progress was occasionally checked by the mountaineers in the east and south, whose rocks he invaded in search of gold.

In regard to Ibrahim, his brother, who commanded the army whose object it was to explore the unknown regions on the banks of the Bahr el Abiad, we are not in possession of any more minute details than were communicated to Cailliaud by M. Asphar, a Coptic surgeon who had accompanied the expedition. We learn generally, that after a march of fourteen days from the Bahr el Azrek, or Nile of Abyssinia, the troops under Toussoun Bey arrived at Dinka, a town situated on the White River, about the eleventh degree of latitude, or nearly in the parallel of Fazoglo. As to the manners and usages of the inhabitants, we find not that they differ materially from those of the tribes farther to the north. The stream is described as being very broad at that point; but its precise dimensions are not stated by the physician, whose curiosity did not extend to such matters. Upon inquiry, the natives assured the Turks that the negroes who possess the countries beyond them are cannibals, and employ poisoned arrows in battle; and that on the western side of the river there are other negroes, called Shillooks, not less barbarous. Having spent eight days at the town already mentioned, the troops returned by the way of El Querebyn to Sennaar, which they reached some time before the division under Ishmael had concluded their campaign in the neighbourhood of Singueh.

The long absence of the army, added to a succession of unfavourable rumours that were circulated by the disaffected, had disposed some of the chiefs near the junction of the rivers to make an attempt to throw off the yoke which

Burckhardt's Travels, p. 65.

had been so violently imposed. Certain examples of severity, deemed necessary by the pasha, contributed also not a little to inflame their minds. But the following occurrence accelerated the rupture, and paved the way for the melancholy fate which terminated the career of Ishmael. With the view of raising a supply of provisions or money, he insisted on Nimir, the tributary melek of Shendy, to meet his cousin, who ruled on the opposite bank, with whom he had been some time at variance, and into whose company he had made a vow never to enter. This excuse, however, was treated with disdain, and he was commanded to attend. The melek reluctantly complied; but when a large demand was made on his territory, he boldly observed that the whole country was ruined, and could not possibly meet such a claim. The pasha checked him with great haughtiness, and even struck him across the face with his pipe. A common interest and offended pride now reconciled the cousins, and made them act in concert with equal promptitude and secrecy. Ishmael's quarters were at Shendy, though this fatal conference had taken place on the opposite bank, where his retinue and guard were very small, occupying merely a few huts and tents. There was indeed a detachment of troops at no great distance; but it was agreed between the confederates that, while Nimir should attack the pasha and his personal attendants, the other should fall upon the soldiers, or at least keep them in check. That very night, accordingly, each of them contrived to collect a considerable force; and no sooner did the melek hear the firing begin at Mettamat, where the advanced guard was stationed, than he slew the sentinels who surrounded the cottage where their commander slept, and immediately heaped up a pile of straw and brush-wood, which he set on fire. Alarmed by the dreadful situation in which he found himself placed, Ishmael sprang to his feet, and seizing a sabre endeavoured to force his way through the flames; but Nimir, who longed for the opportunity of wiping away the stain which had been inflicted on his honour, was ready to strike the blow, and slew him with his own hand. Surprise on the one part, and ferocity on the other, afforded little time for resistance; and in a brief space, accordingly, not a single Egyptian soldier was left alive in Shendy or the neighbouring districts. Cailliaud, who had already left the country, was supplied

with some details relative to this tragical event. He tells us that the Pasha's medical officer, a native of Greece, was spared at the first, but only that he might afterward be subjected to a more cruel death. The barbarians began by extracting all his teeth, which they divided among the several chiefs of the province, who sewed them carefully in little leather bags to wear on their persons as a species of amulet; for, in the opinion of these superstitious people, the possessor of a physician's tooth has no malady to fear. Having completed this cruel operation, they deprived their victim of life.

The ruler of Egypt, informed of the unhappy destiny which had befallen his favourite Ishmael, gave orders to Mohammed Bey, his daughter's husband, who was then serving in Kordofan, to inflict on the people of Shendy a suitable punishment for their treachery. Nimir and his accomplices had indeed taken flight, and sought refuge in Darfûr; but the great body of his subjects, who were necessarily ignorant of the plot, could not remove themselves from the fury of the avenger. Nor did the son-in-law of Ali, who was noted for cruelty of disposition, fail to discharge with the utmost punctuality the office which was intrusted to him. Passing the White River, he marched by Sennaar into Shendy, where he found innumerable victims to sacrifice to the manes of the murdered general. His excessive rigour, however, produced the effect which always arises from a similar policy. An insurrection took place in all the conquered districts, from Singueh to the Lower Nubia, which aot only weakened the influence of Egypt among the native rulers, but has created additional obstacles either to a successful negotiation or to a permanent conquest.*

Mohammed Ali has not since made any further attempt on the countries beyond the Cataracts. His expectations as to gold and precious stones were entirely disappointed; while in regard to slaves, whether for domestic purposes or for recruits to his black regiments, he finds that there is greater economy in dealing with the traders from Kordofan and Darfûr, than in sending an expedition of ten thousand soldiers into their perilous deserts. The affairs of Greece and of Syria have now more importance in his eyes; and

• Cailliaud, tome iii. p. 337; Giovanni Fir ti, vol. ii. p. 418

【brahim, whose health gave way under the parching sun and pestilential exhalations of Sennaar, has since distinguished his military talents in the fields of the Morea, under the walls of the celebrated Ptolemais, and on the plains of Damascus.

CHAPTER IV.

Architectural Monuments of Nubia and Abyssinia.

Rule for determining the Antiquity and Filiation of ancient States-Connexion between Egypt, Ethiopia, and India-Excavated TemplesGirshé, Seboua, and Derr-Different Orders of Architecture-Temple of Osiris at Ebsamboul-Labours of Belzoni, Irby, and Mangles-Mag. nificence of Interior, and Description of the various Halls-Dis coveries of Mr. Bankes-Visit of Defturdar Bey--Sir F. HennikerTemple of Isis--Cave of Elephanta-Temples of Salsette and ElloraComparison with those of Ethiopia-Temples of Soleb, of Kalabshé, and Dondour-Opinion of Gau-Mixed Greek and Egyptian FormsGebel el Berkal - Principal Temple there Pyramids - El Bellal— Progress in the Arts-Succession of Buildings-Meroë - Bruce, Strabo, Cailliaud--Assour-Pyramids - M. Rüppel-Naga and MessouraLarge Temple-Opinion of M. Heeren- Of Cailliaud Ruins at Mandeyr and Kely-Constitution of Government at Meroë--Its Termination-Remains at Axum-Obelisk-Errors of Bruce-Corrections by Salt-Axum Inscription-Adulis-Inscription-Cosmas-Reference to Dr. Vincent-Luxor and Karuac-Sacred Ship-Bond of Religion --Lineage of the Gods-Hebrew Tribes-Decline of Learning in Ethiopia.

In the absence of written records, there can be no doubt that the arts, more especially those which are connected with religion, are our best guide in tracing the affiliation and relative antiquity of early nations. Various circumstances, it is acknowledged, constantly interfere to diminish the accuracy of all such calculations as have no other basis, and to weaken our confidence in the most cautious inferences to which we are led by the researches of the mere archeologist. This ambiguity applies in a particular manner to the deductions of authors respecting the period during which any class of monuments may be supposed to have been erected.

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