DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49271#0222
160
C. G. and B. Z. Seligman
neighbour, telling him that he fought not only for his life but for his bretheren, wife,
children, and property. Only the tribes belonging to Dongola, which, as we have before
said, do not advance W. with the others, were called, and these could not arrive in time.
The Kubbabish were however in a great fright; the cattle and camels were tied seven
days before they saw the enemy, being allowed to eat and drink but little for fear of
being pilfered. Thursday afternoon the enemy pitched their camp about half a mile
from the Kubbabish, and next morning came on to the attack....
“On this occasion the Kubbabish, although far inferior in number to their adversaries,
had fortune or valour on their side, and were victorious after an obstinate battle, overcom-
ing and pursuing their enemies two days, and entirely despoiling them; since which they
have been left tolerably quiet. . . ”.88
The Beni Jerar, whose fortunes have been declining for at least a century, and who
even in Mansfield Parkyn’s time were scattered to the westward on the frontier of Darfur,
have since the time of the Mahdia been too weak to cause the Kababish any anxiety.
At the present day the tribal feeling is strong against the Kawahla, whose pretentions to
the use of the wells at Kajmar are a constant source of irritation, and there is no doubt
that a feud would arise were not both parties kept in control by the government. Many
of the songs composed by the tribal bard, Fadlmulla wad 'Awad es-Sid, are directed
against the Kawahla. Darfur is now under effective administration, but in 1912 raids on
the Kababish flocks were by no means infrequent, entailing a good deal of watchfulness,
and a constant readiness for action. A small raid occurred during our stay at Showa,
so that we had the good fortune to witness the rapid organization of a pursuing party.
It was reported that some sheep grazing near Jebel Abu Fas, some sixty miles from
Showa, had been carried off by raiders assumed to be men of Jebel Midob. The news
was brought by a striking-looking Berara man wearing only a loin cloth and a sheep-skin
which hung from his shoulders. He stated that a boy of his own khasm beyt had been
carried off by strangers, who had made off driving a flock of sheep before them. He had
waited until the raiders were busy with their booty, and had then come straight to the
ferik of the Sheykh, whose camp was one of the nearest, if not the nearest. Almost im-
mediately after the alarm was given, Abu Zayd, one of the more important men of the
community, beat the drum which hung before the Sheykh’s tent, and a stout female slave
continued to beat it for some minutes. In less than a quarter of an hour a few men had
mounted their horses and were riding westwards, but the majority were busy collecting
their arms and saddling their animals. The youngsters were sent out to round up camels,
and soon the scrub round the camp was alive with hurrying patches of white and brown.
88 Ibid., p. 259 sq.
C. G. and B. Z. Seligman
neighbour, telling him that he fought not only for his life but for his bretheren, wife,
children, and property. Only the tribes belonging to Dongola, which, as we have before
said, do not advance W. with the others, were called, and these could not arrive in time.
The Kubbabish were however in a great fright; the cattle and camels were tied seven
days before they saw the enemy, being allowed to eat and drink but little for fear of
being pilfered. Thursday afternoon the enemy pitched their camp about half a mile
from the Kubbabish, and next morning came on to the attack....
“On this occasion the Kubbabish, although far inferior in number to their adversaries,
had fortune or valour on their side, and were victorious after an obstinate battle, overcom-
ing and pursuing their enemies two days, and entirely despoiling them; since which they
have been left tolerably quiet. . . ”.88
The Beni Jerar, whose fortunes have been declining for at least a century, and who
even in Mansfield Parkyn’s time were scattered to the westward on the frontier of Darfur,
have since the time of the Mahdia been too weak to cause the Kababish any anxiety.
At the present day the tribal feeling is strong against the Kawahla, whose pretentions to
the use of the wells at Kajmar are a constant source of irritation, and there is no doubt
that a feud would arise were not both parties kept in control by the government. Many
of the songs composed by the tribal bard, Fadlmulla wad 'Awad es-Sid, are directed
against the Kawahla. Darfur is now under effective administration, but in 1912 raids on
the Kababish flocks were by no means infrequent, entailing a good deal of watchfulness,
and a constant readiness for action. A small raid occurred during our stay at Showa,
so that we had the good fortune to witness the rapid organization of a pursuing party.
It was reported that some sheep grazing near Jebel Abu Fas, some sixty miles from
Showa, had been carried off by raiders assumed to be men of Jebel Midob. The news
was brought by a striking-looking Berara man wearing only a loin cloth and a sheep-skin
which hung from his shoulders. He stated that a boy of his own khasm beyt had been
carried off by strangers, who had made off driving a flock of sheep before them. He had
waited until the raiders were busy with their booty, and had then come straight to the
ferik of the Sheykh, whose camp was one of the nearest, if not the nearest. Almost im-
mediately after the alarm was given, Abu Zayd, one of the more important men of the
community, beat the drum which hung before the Sheykh’s tent, and a stout female slave
continued to beat it for some minutes. In less than a quarter of an hour a few men had
mounted their horses and were riding westwards, but the majority were busy collecting
their arms and saddling their animals. The youngsters were sent out to round up camels,
and soon the scrub round the camp was alive with hurrying patches of white and brown.
88 Ibid., p. 259 sq.