Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 1.djvu/307

 8ENAB. 241 of Fntfasi, which stands in another fluvial basin, that of the Jabus, their authority completely ceasi-d. Fudasi was the point where the travellers Mamo, in 1850, Gessi and Mateucci in 1878, were compelled to stop, not being permitted to advance beyond the hill to the south of the chief town, which has been named Bimbanhi't after the Egyptian " captain of a thousand " 8tatione<l in this place. Schuver is the only traveller who has crossed the boundary of the Khedive's possessions at this point in 1881. Bimbashi, surrouiide^l by numerous villages spread over the slopes of the mountain, commands a very extensive view from its upland terrace. It is a much frequented market-place, although not so well attended as that of Beiii- S/iongui, situated half-way to Famaka, in the vicinity of the gold washings and the ruins of <SVw;V//, the ancient capital of the country. Still farther north, in a fertile district on the right bank of the Tumat, lies the village of Ghezan, also a place of assemblj' for the caravans. Here the huge sycamore-tree which shelters the square, covers on market days a motley crowd of Bertas, Nubians, and Arabs, while the groves of lemon- trees scattered in the country recall the sojourn of the Egj'ptian garrisons. Sexar. Below Famaka the town of liosires, or Rosa'irh, whose houses are scattered amidst groves of dum palms, is also situated on the right bank of the Bahr-el- Azraq ; it has given its name to a dar, or country, of considerable extent, governed by chiefs taking the title of king. Still lower down the village of Karkoj, surrounded by large trees which contrast with the barren lands in the vicinity, has now become somewhat important as a market for gums, and the converging point of several caravan routes coming from Gedaref, Galabat and Abyssinia. It has inherited part of the trade which was formerly carried on with the city of Sendr, about 60 miles farther down on the left bunk. This ancient capital of the Funj kingdom, built at the commencement of the fifteenth century, has lost greatly since the seat of government has been transferred to Khartum. Heaps of rubbish and waste spaces now intervene between the groups of cabins, and of what was once the palace the walls are all that remain ; the mosque, however, is still standing. It was in this city that Roule, the French Ambassador of Louis XIV., was assassinated in 1705, before he had reached the states of the sovereign to whom he was accredited. According to an Arab tradition he was suspected of intending to aid the Abyssinians to carry out their often- repeated threat to deflect the waters of the Nile southwards, far away from Nubia and Egj'pt. The inhabitants have scarcely any industry', except the manufacture of elegantly designed straw mats. Caravan routes run south-west towards the Blue Nile, leading to the two fords of Abu-Zaid and Kelb, formed by banks of shells. The Mesopotamian peninsula, as the Arabs call the " Island of SenAr," is only sixty miles in breadth. According to tradition it was at the ford of Abu- Zaid that the Arabs, guided by the hero of this name, crossed the Nile for the first time in order to spread themselves throughout the Sudan. 16— Ar.