Egypt to thofe o f Abyffinia, at the beginning ■ o f the 16th
çentury.
In the year 1504, a black nation,hitherto,unknown, inhabiting
thé weftern banks o f the Bahar el Abiad, in about latitude,
13% made a defcent, in a multitude o f canoes, or boats,,
upon the Arab provinces, and in a battle near .Herbagi,
they defeated Wed Ageeb, and forced him to a capitulation-,
b y which the Arabs were to pay to their conquerors, in the-
beginning,, one h a lf o f their fta.ck, and every fubfequent
year, one-half o f the increafe,,which, was to be levied at; the?
time o f their palling into the lands to avoid the fly. ; Upon;
this condition, the Arabs w e E e to enjoy their former poffef-
fions unmolefled, and Wed Ageeb his place and dignity, that
he always might be ready to life coercion in, favour o f the.-
conquerors, in cafe any o f the diftant Arabs: refufed payement,
and he thus became as f t were their lieutenant..
T his race o f negroes is, in their own- country,, called?
Shillook. They» founded Sennaar, lefs advantageoully fitu-
ated than Gerri, and'removed the feat o f government o f
Wed Ageeb to Herhagi, that he might be more immédiate-
ly under their own eye. It was theyear 1504 o f the Chriftian-
sera that Amru, fon o f Ade.lan, the firft o f their fovereigns.
on the eaftern fide o f .the Nile; founded this monarchy, and;
built Sennaar, which hath ever, lince been the capital. From
this period, till the time when I was at Sennaar, 266, years
had elapfed, in which 20 kings had reigned, that is, from
Amru the.firft, to Ifmain the prefent king. He was about
34 years o f age, and had reigned three years, f© that, not-
withftanding the long reigns o f Am ba Rabat the firft, and
the two Baadys, the duration o f the reigns o f the kings' o f
I ' Sennaar-
Sennaar will be b ut 13 years up onan ¿vetage ; eight o f thè
twenty have been depòfed, and Ifmain the prefent kin g
Hands the faireft chance poffible o f being very loon the
pth o f that number.
At the eftabiifhing of this monarchy, the king, and thè
whole nation o f Shillook, were Pagans. They were food
after converted tò Mahometifm, for the fake o f trading
with Cairo, and took thè name o f Funge, which théy interi
pret fometimes lords, or conquerors, and, at other times,
free citizens. All that can be faid with certainty o f this
term, as there is no accefstothe ftudy o f their language, is,
that it is applicable to thofe only that have been born .eaft
o f the Bahar el Abiad. It does not feem to me that they
fhould pride themfelves in b e in g ffee citizens, beeaufe the
firft title o f nobility in this country is that o f flave ; indeed
there is no other. Upon any appearance o f your undervaluin
g a man at Sennaar, he inftantly aiks you i f you know who
he is ? i f you don’t know that he is a flave, in the fame idea o f
ariftocraticai arrogance, as would be faid in England upon
an altercation, do you know to whom you are fpeaking ? do
you know that I am a peer? A ll titles and dignities are undervalued,
and precarious, unlefs they are in the hands
o f one who is a flave. Slavery in Sennaar is the only true
nobility.
As I do not know that thè names o f thefe fovereigns are
to be found any where elfe, I have fet them down here. The
record from which I drew them is at leaft as extraordinary
as any part o f their hiftory ; it Was the hangman's roll, or
regifter. It is one o f the Angularities which obtains among
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