314 THE GUHAYNA GROUP iii.4.viii.
B. MeraysArI G. Bilaylat
C. GuNGONAB H. Dar Bashut D. 'AwAiDA J, Deladim
E. BAy'udab K. Dar Hamid^
F. AhaymerAb
IX It has been mentioned that the NurAb are at present the ruling
section. They have held that position for eight generations, that is to
say since Kurban of the RibaykAt surrendered the chieftainship to
his sister's son Keradim of the NurAb^, whose descendants have since
inherited it in succession to one another though not always from
father to son*.
X The KabAbish are first mentioned by Bruce in 1 768-1773, but
so few travellers had visited the Sudan before him, and the records
of such as did so are so scanty that one certainly cannot assume that
the tribe was not called KabAbish for scores of years previously.
Speaking of Wad 'Agi'b's collecting tribute, as the representative
of the King of Sennar, from the nomads of the Bayuda desert, Bruce
says^: "though lately the Beni Gerar, Beni Faisara [i.e. FezAra] and Cubbabeesh have expelled the ancient Arabs ^ of Bahiouda [i.e. the
Bayuda], who pretend now only to be the subjects of Kordofan."
Again, he says'^ that the road across the Bayuda is impassable
because of the "Beni Faisara, Beni Gerar and Cubbabeesh...which come from the westward near Kordofan from fear of the black
horse^ there," and have taken all the wells. The KabAbish are "very numerous and extend far north into the great desert Selima and to the frontiers of Egypt^."
Browne^" says of them that they infested the vicinity of Bir el Malha {i.e. Bir Natrun) in his day and lived by plundering the
caravans from Egypt.
El Tunisi" says they assisted Hashim, the Sultan of the Musa-
ba'At of Kordofan, in his wars against Ti'rab, Sultan of Darfur,
towards the close of the eighteenth century.
Burckhardt^^ in 1813, referring to Dongola, says: "The Bedouin
tribe of Kobabish reside in the country and are continually making
incursions into Darfour, from whence they carry off slaves."
^ Use a " hadd" as brand.
^ Use a " hildl" ("crescent moon") on the neck.
^ Note this evidence of the ancient custom of Dongola whereby the sister's son inherits.
* See MacMichael, Tribes..., p. 194, and genealogical tree opposite.
^ Vol. VI, Chap. X. ® Probably such as the Kerriat are meant. ' Loc. cit. ® Probably the cavalry of the Fur, then paramount in northern Kordofan.
* Bruce, loc. cit. 1° Pp. 188 and 247. ^^ Voy. au Darfour, p. 67. ^" Nubia, p. 67.