DARFUR, or Darfoor, a considerable kingdom of Central Africa, occupying a large portion of the interval between Abyssinia and Bornou. Pur would appear to be the proper name, Dar signifying, in the language of the people, country in general; but the term Darfur is adopted in compliance with established usage. The boundaries of this kingdom are not well defined. According to the best authorities, it has on the east Kordofan and the country of the Shilluks, which separate it from Sennaar and Abyssinia; on the west Bergoo, which divides it from Begherme and Bornou; whilst the regions to the south are occupied by barbarous nations, extending to and inhabiting the Mountains of the Moon, and the early course of the Bahr-el-Abiad.

Darfur is destitute of any great river or lake; and accordingly during the dry season the aspect of the country is parched and sterile. The rainy season commences in June, and continues till September. By means of the rain the fields are clothed with luxuriant verdure, and the empty ravines filled with water. This, of course, is the season for sowing, at the commencement of which, the king, with his attendants, goes out into the fields, and with his own hand makes several holes in the ground for the reception of the seed. The vegetable productions of Darfur are found chiefly to the south, where water is most abundant. The ground is extensively covered with*trees, amongst which the tamarind, plane, and sycamore, are found, but not in great abundance. The heglig and the nebbeh are two species peculiar to Darfur; their wood is hard, and they are very thorny. There are also two small trees or shrubs called the enneb and shair. The other plants copiously produced are the mimosa nilotica, the gum of which is carried into Egypt; the water melon, the gourd, hemp, Cayenne pepper, and tobacco; the latter appears to be of native growth. The date tree is here small, and of inferior quality. The wild animals of Darfur are principally the lion, the leopard, the hyena, the wolf, the jackall, canis aureus, and the wild buffalo; these, however, are chiefly confined to the uncultivated parts of the country, except the jackall and hyena, herds of which enter the villages at night and tear to pieces whatever they meet. To these may be added the elephant, the rhinoceros, the camelopardalis, the hippopotamus, and the crocodile. Camels of all forms and sizes are here exceedingly abundant. They are remarkable for their power of enduring thirst, but not for carrying burdens. Darfur has no good horses except those obtained from Dongola, and no good asses except those from Egypt. The sheep are inferior to the Egyptian, and their wool is very coarse. Goats, however, and horned cattle are numerous, and their flesh is good. Very fine copper is brought from the regions of the south; and gold is plentiful both to the east and west, but it is conveyed to Northern Africa by other channels. The rocks of Darfur consist chiefly of grey granite. Various kinds of marble, alabaster, fossil salt, and sulphur, are also found. Thermal springs are said to be found in a mountain called Gebel Maria.

The national industry is chiefly occupied in agricultural pursuits. Wheat is raised only in small quantities; the principal grains are the dokn, which seems to be a species of millet, and another of larger size called kassob. The harvest is conducted by the women and slaves, who break off the ears with their hands and carry them away i:ı baskets; whilst the straw is left standing to be employed in building, and for other useful purposes. The grain, after being thrashed, is buried in the earth, by which means it is tolerably well preserved. The houses are constructed in a very simple manner. The walls are built of clay, sometimes embellished with a coating of plaster; and the roofs are flat, and formed of light beams of wood, with a covering of clay. The principal apartment is a cube of about twenty feet by twelve, secured by a door cut with the axe (for the saw and the plane are unknown), and fastened by a padlock. Being thus secured to a certain extent, it forms the repository of all property belonging to the family. Another apartment, called hournac, somewhat larger than the above, but of a slighter construction, and destitute of a door, serves for sitting and sleeping in; and a third, somewhat similar to the latter, is appropriated to the women.

A very precise estimate of the population can scarcely be formed; it is supposed by the most recent travellers not to exceed 200,000. Cobbe, the capital, has not more than 6000 inhabitants. There are only eight other considerable places, the other collective residences being only small villages. The inhabitants are a very mixed race. The capital is wholly, and all the other towns in a great measure, peopled by foreigners. These consist chiefly of merchants, who come partly from Egypt, partly from the eastern countries of Dongola, Sennaar, and Kordofan. Many of the various tribes of Arabs which wander in the surrounding deserts have also settled in the interior of Darfur.

The government, like that of other Mahommedan countries, is despotic. Beyond the Koran, which is inviolable, the will of the king is unlimited. The Fukhara or ecclesiastics alone are entitled to remonstrate; but if these are rejected, they have no means of enforcing them. A very formidable power resides in the army, which consists of about two thousand men: no sovereign can with impunity act in opposition to that body. On the death of the monarch, the crown constitutionally descends to the eldest son; but if he happens to be a minor, or otherwise unable to enforce his claim, the place is liable to be seized by any stronger or more popular member of the royal family. The revenue of the sovereign is derived from various sources; from a duty on all merchandise imported, amounting in most instances to about a tenth; fines for misdemeanours, which go all to the royal purse, and to which is added, in case of murder, a certain proportion of the property of the village in which it was perpetrated; presents received continually from the great men, merchants, and all descriptions of persons; the tribute of the bordering Arab tribes, which is paid in cattle at various rates, regularly or irregularly, as they consider themselves more [7:7:625]or less under his power. It is sometimes necessary to exact this tribute by force of arms. Lastly, the king is an extensive merchant, exporting and importing every year a large quantity of goods, for which he has means of procuring a market, which do not fall to the lot of private individuals.

The troops of Darfur, although capable of enduring thirst, hunger, and fatigue to an almost preternatural extent, are not distinguished either for valour or discipline. The Arabs, who possess in the highest perfection this power of endurance, compose a considerable proportion of the army, though they serve in this capacity rather as tributaries than as subjects. The religion of Mahommed is universally professed; but the people are neither so recluse nor so austere in their manners as they are in Egypt and the East. In their dispositions they are cheerful; and the females are not immured, nor, unless among the great, are their faces even concealed by a veil. Notwithstanding the law of the prophet, a fermented liquor is used by persons of both sexes, and sometimes to a great extent. In the intercourse of the sexes, their manners are extremely loose. Polygamy has no bounds. The sultan in particular has always an amply-furnished seraglio. The closest ties of kindred arc often considered as no bar to the matrimonial alliance. Rigorous fidelity is neither exacted nor observed. Indeed, where any advantage is to be gained, the husband frequently winks at the intrigues of the wife. The vices of thieving, lying, and cheating, prevail almost universally.

In their persons the Darfurians differ from the negroes on the coast of Guinea, though their complexion is black, and their hair generally short and woolly. They are not remarkable for their personal cleanliness; and ablution is not performed with the usual care of Mahommedans. The Arabs, who are numerous, retain their distinction of feature, colour, and language. The person of highest rank is the faqui, which signifies at once learned man and priest. Some of these are educated at Cairo, but the greater number in native schools. They are ignorant of every thing but the Koran.

The only commerce of Darfur is inland; but this is extensive, and merchants are the most opulent and important persons in the country. The chief intercourse is with Egypt, and it is carried on entirely by the African system of caravans. These are very uncertain in thajr journeys, two or three years sometimes elapsing without one taking place. They are exposed to great dangers from the attacks of some wild Arab tribes, and to great inconveniences from being badly furnished with the necessaries of life. Among the articles sent into Egypt, the most important are slaves taken in the negro countries towards the south, camels, ivory, the horns, teeth, and hides of the rhinoceros and hippopotamus, ostrich feathers, gum, pimento, parroquets in abundance, and a small quantity of white copper. The imports are extremely various, comprising beads of all sorts, toys, glass, arms, light cloths of different kinds, chiefly made in Egypt, with some of French manufacture, red Barbary caps, small carpets, wrought and unwrought silks, shoes, and a considerable quantity of writing paper. Commerce is carried on entirely by barter, which greatly increases the difficulty of conducting it. The intercourse with Mecca is considerable; in this the objects of trade and religion are combined.