The climate of Nubia is extremely hot and dry. The thermometer of Fahrenheit has been observed at 124°. The plague is very rarely known in the country, and is never seen above the second cataract. There are few diseases of any kind, except the small-pox, which tnakes dreadful ravages, and which is shunned as a pestilence. Inoculation, though not unknown, is seldom practised, and the attempts to introduce vaccination have hitherto failed.
After the inundation of the Nile, the natives sow their grounds with a grain called Dhourra, upon which they chiefly depend far subsistence ; and the diy stalks of which supply their cattle as provender during the summer. After the Dhourra harvest is ended, in De cember and January', the soil is irrigated by means of water-wheels turned by cows, and the fields are then sown for the second time with barley, wheat, beans, and tobacco. The wheat and barley are ripe in the middle of March ; and, about thc end of April, after they arc reaped, the ground, when fertile, is sometimes sown a third time unit Dhourra, and watered as before.
The principal trees and shrubs are the palm or date tree, the dourn tree, a few vines, various thorny plants of the mimosa species, the tamarisk, the senna shrub, and the cotton tree.
The cattle of the Nubians consist of cows, sheep, and goats. Sometimes a few buffaloes are seen ; and the wealthier inhabitants have asses. There ate few ca mels, except among the merchants. There is a wild species of goat and also of sheep in thc mountains ; and the connnon grey gazelles arc numerous in all parts of the country. Hares also are frequently seen, which the Arabs hunt with greyhounds. The ptinci pal birds are partridges of a small size, with red legs, large wild geese, storks, mows, a species of lapwing, a white water bird called kork, as large as a goose, the eagle, the bird called katta, and sparrows in immense flocks, which devour great part of the grain. The insects most commonly seen are beetles of various kinds ; but generally a large black species among the sand.
The plincipal articles of commerce in Nubia, arc cotton sent to Cairo, and dates, which 31'e reckoned preferable to any in Egypt, particularly those of Derr and Ibrim. Young date trees are also exported to Egypt, as the trees propagated there from seed soon degenerate. In exchange for these articles, the Nubians receive dhourra, coarse linen, or Spanish dollars. The common currency of the country is the mond, or small measure of dhourra ; and the dollar is rather an article of exchange than a current coin. Some other coins have been introduced sincc the Mamelouks took refuge in Nubia.
The houses of the Nubians are built of loose stones, or merely of mud ; and are oftcn so low that a person cannot stand upright, and in some cases have no roof at all. The furniture consists of about half a dozen
coarse earthen jars for holding provisions ; a few earth en plates, a hand-mill, a hatchet, burdocks for cooling' water, sieves for cleaning the flour, a small coffee-pot, and some old mats to lie upon. This enumeration ap. plies to the house of an Aga ; and there are still fewer utensils in that of an ordinary person. Their chief ar ticle of food is dhourra bread, which is extremely coarse and insipid. The l)our to be used through the day is ground by the women every morning, and made into very thin round cakes, which arc usually eaten hot with S011 r After becoming cold, they are less palatable, and are then broken down into a bowl, and boiled lentils poured over them, which is a frequent dish in the country. The natives rarely taste animal food, and even the governors are not accustomed to use it every day. Palm wine, sweet and thick, is commonly used in the larger villages ; and an intoxicating liquor, called bouza, resembling beer, is made from dhourra or barley. A kind of spirit is also distilled from the date, and a kind of jelly or honey extracted from the same fruit.
The dress of the natives is usually a linen shirt only, or the woollen cloak of the Egyptian, with a small white linen cap, and sometimes a few rags twisted round it as a turban ; but in the more southern parts the men are almost wholly uncovered. The women wrap themselves up in linen rags, or black woollen gar ments ; they wear ear-rings and glass bracelets, which the poorer classes form of straw. The richer ladies put copper or silver tins on their ankles. Both sexes wear amulets of different kinds, chiefly mystical wrizings, in a leathern case. They all besmear their heads with fat, both by way of ornament, and as a protection against thc heat of the sun. Boys and girls are entirely naked. The men are seldom unarmed, and the first article which every youth procures is a short crooked knife, which is tied under the left elbow beneath the shirt, and is drawn in every quarrel. Besides this, they carry upon any ex cursion a long heavy stick covered with iron at one ex tremity, or are armed with a lance about five feet long, with a target of a round or oblong shape, nearly four feet in length, made of the skin of the hippopotamus, and capable of resisting the blow of a lance or sabre. Those who can afford it, wear also a long strait sword, which they procure from Egypt. Some have match-locks, but fire arms are not common, and ammunition is remarkably scarce in the country.