Celebrated Travels and Travellers, Part 3. The Great Explorers of the Nineteenth Century. Verne Jules
town I have seen in the East. It is entirely of stone, the houses being generally three stories high, with flat tops. As they are not whitewashed, and the stone is brown in colour, the streets, which are very narrow, have usually a sombre appearance. They are often only two or three paces wide. At the present time Medina looks desolate enough; the houses are falling into ruins. Their owners, who formerly derived a considerable profit from the inroad of pilgrims, find their revenues diminishing, as the Wahabees forbid visitors to the tomb of the prophet, alleging that he was but a mere mortal. The possession which places Medina on a par with Mecca is the Grand Mosque, containing the tomb of Mahomet. This is smaller than that at Mecca, but is built upon the same plan, in a large square courtyard, surrounded on all sides by covered galleries, and having a small building in the centre. The famous tomb, surrounded by an iron railing painted green, is near the eastern corner. It is of good workmanship, in imitation of filagree, and interlaced with inscriptions in copper. Four doors, of which three lead into this enclosure, are kept constantly shut. Permission to enter is freely accorded to persons of rank, and others can purchase permission of the principal eunuchs for about fifteen piasters. In the interior are hangings which surround the tomb, and are only a few feet from it." According to the historian of Medina, these hangings cover a square edifice, built of black stones, and supported upon two columns, in the interior of which are the sepulchres of Mahomet and his two eldest disciples, Abou-Bekr and Omar. He also states that these sepulchres are deep holes, and that the coffin which contains the ashes of Mahomet is covered with silver, and surmounted by a marble slab with the inscription, "In the name of God, give him thy pity." The fables which were spread throughout Europe as to the tomb of the prophet being suspended in mid air, are unknown in the Hedjaz. The mosque was robbed of a great part of its treasures by the Wahabees, but there is some ground for believing that they had been forestalled by the successive guardians of the tomb.
Many other interesting details of Medina, and its inhabitants, surroundings, and the haunts of pilgrims, are to be found in Burckhardt's narrative. But we have given sufficient extracts to induce the reader who desires further information respecting the manners and customs of the Arabs, which have not changed, to refer to the book itself.
Upon the 21st of April, 1815, Burckhardt joined a caravan which conducted him to Yembo, where the plague was raging. The traveller at once fell ill and became so weak that it was impossible for him to resort to a country place. To embark was equally impossible; all the vessels which were ready to start were crowded with soldiers. He was compelled to remain eighteen days in the unhealthy little town, before he could obtain a passage in a small vessel which took him to Cosseir, and thence to Egypt.
Upon his return to Cairo Burckhardt heard of his father's death. The traveller's constitution had been sorely tried by illness, and he was unable to attempt the ascent of Mount Sinai until 1816. The study of natural history, the publication of his diary, and his correspondence, occupied him until 1817, at which time he expected to go with a caravan to Fezzan. Unfortunately he succumbed to a sudden attack of fever, his last words being, "Write and tell my mother that my last thought was of her."
Burckhardt was an accomplished traveller; well-informed, exact to minuteness, patient, courageous, and endowed with an upright and energetic character. His writings are of great value; the narrative of his voyage in Arabia – of which he unfortunately could not explore the interior – is so complete and precise, that owing to it that country was then better known than many in Europe.
In writing to his father from Cairo on the 13th of March, 1817, he says, "I have never said a word about what I have seen and met with that my conscience did not entirely justify; I did not expose myself to so much danger in order to write a romance!"
The explorers who have succeeded him in the same countries unanimously testify to his exactness, and agree in praising his fidelity, knowledge, and sagacity.
"Few travellers," says the Revue Germanique, "have enjoyed in a like degree the faculty of observation. That is a rare gift of nature, like all eminent qualities. He possessed a sort of intuition which discerned the truth, apart from his own observations, and thus information given by him from hearsay has a value that seldom attaches to statements of that nature. His mind, early ripened by reflection and study (he was but in his thirty-third year at the time of his death), invariably went straight to the point. His narrative, always sober, is filled – one may say – rather with things than words; yet his narratives possess infinite charm; one admires the man in them as much as the savant and observer."
While the Biblical countries occupied the attention of Seetzen and Burckhardt, India, the birthplace of most of the European languages, was about to command the attention of students of language, literature, and religion, as well as of geography. For the present our concern is with those problems of physical geography, which the conquests and studies of the India Company were about to solve by degrees.
In a preceding volume we have related how the Portuguese rule was established in India. The union of Portugal with Spain, in 1599, led to the fall of the Portuguese colonies, which came into the possession of the English and Dutch. England soon afterwards granted a monopoly of the commerce of India to a Company which was destined to play an important part in history.
At this time Akbar, the great Mogul emperor, the seventh descendant of Timour Leng, had established a vast empire in Hindustan and Bengal, upon the ruins of the Rajpoot kingdoms. Owing to the personal qualities of Akbar, which had gained for him the surname of the Benefactor of Man, that empire was at the height of its glory. The same brilliant course was pursued by Shah Jehan; but Akbar's grandson, Aurung Zeb, inspired by an insatiable ambition, assassinated his brothers, imprisoned his father, and seized the reins of government. While the Mogul Empire was in the enjoyment of profound peace, a clever adventurer laid the foundations of the Mahratta Empire. The religious intolerance of Aurung Zeb, and his crafty policy, led to the insurrection of the Rajpoots, and a struggle, which by draining the resources of the empire, shook his power. The death of the great usurper was followed by the decadence of the empire.
Up to this period the India Company had been unable to add to the narrow strip of territory which they possessed at the ports, but it was now to benefit by the conflict between the nabobs and rajahs of Hindustan. It was not, however, until after the taking of Madras, in 1746, by La Bourdonnais, and the struggle against Dupleix, that the influence and dominion of the English Company was materially increased.
The crafty policy of Clive and Hastings, the English Governors, who successively employed force, stratagem, and bribery, to attain their ends, laid the foundation of British greatness in India, and, at the close of the last century, the Company were possessors of an immense extent of country, with no less than sixty millions of inhabitants. Their territory included Bengal, Behar, the provinces of Benares, Madras, and the Sircars. Tippoo Saib alone, the Sultan of Mysore, struggled against the English encroachments, but he was unable to hold out against the coalition formed against him by the skill of Colonel Wellesley. When rid of their formidable enemies, the Company overcame such opposition as remained by pensions; and, under the pretext of protection, imposed upon the rajahs an English garrison which was maintained at their expense.
One would imagine from all this that the English rule was detested; but that is not the case. The Company, recognizing the rights of individuals, did not attempt to change the religion, laws, or customs of their subjects. Neither is it surprising that travellers, even when they ventured into districts which, properly speaking, did not belong to Great Britain, incurred but little danger. In fact, so soon as the East India Company was free from political embarrassments, it encouraged explorers throughout its vast domains. At the same time travellers were despatched to the neighbouring territories to collect observations, and we propose rapidly to review those expeditions.
One of the first and most curious was that of Webb to the sources of the Ganges, a river concerning which uncertain and contradictory opinions prevailed. The Government of Bengal, recognizing the great importance of the Ganges in the interests of commerce, organized an expedition, of which Messrs. Webb, Roper, and Hearsay, formed part. They were to be accompanied by Sepoys, native servants, and interpreters.
The expedition reached Herdouar, a small village on the left of the river, upon the 1st of April, 1808. The situation of this village, at the entrance of the fertile plains of Hindustan, had caused it to be much frequented by pilgrims, and it was