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<a name="frontispiece"></a><div class="figcenter" style="width:500px;padding-bottom:2em;">
<img src="https://brian.carnell.com/wiki/_media/etext:f:fr-wingate-ten-years-captive-frontispiece.jpg" border="0" alt="" title="" width="386" height="650">
<p class="caption2">Father Ohrwalder,
The Sisters Catterina Chincarini and Elisabetta Venturini and The Slave girl Adila<br>
From a photograph by Stromeyer &amp; Heyman, Cairo.</p>
<p class="caption2" style="text-align:left">Sampson Low, Marston &amp; Co. Ltd.</p></div>

<p><a name="Page_i" id="Page_i"></a>

<div class="linearound newpg">


<h1 class="smcap" style="word-spacing:.3em;">Ten Years' Captivity</h1>

<p class="center" style="font-weight:bold;font-size: .9em;padding-top:.5em;">IN THE</p>

<h1 class="smcap" style="word-spacing:.3em;">Mahdi's Camp</h1>

<p class="center" style="font-weight: bold;font-size: 1.3em;padding-bottom:1em;">1882-1892</p>


<div class="center" style="padding-bottom:2em;margin-right:10%;margin-left:10%;">

<span style="font-weight: bold;font-size: .9em;display:block;padding-bottom:.3em;">FROM THE ORIGINAL
MANUSCRIPTS OF<br></span>
<span style="font-weight: bold;font-size: 1.4em; word-spacing:.3em;">FATHER JOSEPH OHRWALDER<br></span>
<span style="font-weight: bold;font-size: .85em;padding-top:.3em;display:block;">LATE PRIEST OF THE
AUSTRIAN MISSION STATION AT DELEN, IN KORDOFAN</span>
</div>


<div class="center" style="padding-bottom:2em;margin-right:10%;margin-left:10%;">
<span style="font-weight: bold;font-size: .9em;display:block;padding-bottom:.2em;">BY<br></span>
<span style="font-weight: bold;font-size: 1.3em;word-spacing:.3em;">MAJOR F.&nbsp;R.&nbsp;WINGATE, R.A.<br></span>
<span style="font-weight: bold;font-size: .6em;padding-top:.3em;display:block;">DIRECTOR OF
MILITARY INTELLIGENCE, EGYPTIAN ARMY; AUTHOR OF 'MAHDIISM AND THE
EGYPTIAN SUDAN'</span>
</div>


<p class="center" style="font-size: 1em;padding-bottom:2em;"><i>WITH
MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS<br>BY WALTER C. HORSLEY</i></p>

<p class="center" style="font-weight:bold;font-size: .8em;padding-bottom:2.5em;font-family:sans-serif;">THIRD EDITION</p>

<div class="center" style="padding-bottom:1.25em;margin-right:10%;margin-left:10%;">
<span style="font-weight: bold;font-size: .8em;display:block;padding-bottom:.2em;">LONDON<br></span>
<span style="font-weight: bold;font-size: 1em;">SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON &amp; COMPANY<br></span>
<span style="font-weight: bold;font-size: .7em;padding-top:.3em;display:block;"><i>LIMITED</i><br></span>
<span class="figcenter"><img src="https://brian.carnell.com/wiki/_media/etext:f:fr-wingate-ten-years-captive-st_dunstan.png" alt="St. Dunstan's House" title="" width="200" height="23"><br></span>
<span class="center smcap" style="font-size: .9em;padding-bottom:.3em;">Fetter Lane, Fleet Street, E.C.<br></span>
</div>
<p class="center" style="font-weight: bold;font-size: .9em;padding-bottom:.3em;">1892</p>
<p class="center" style="font-weight: bold;font-size: .7em;padding-bottom:.5em;">(<i>All rights reserved.</i>)</p>

</div>
<a name="Page_ii" id="Page_ii"></a>



<div class="center newpg">
<span style="font-weight: bold;font-size: .9em;display:block;padding-bottom:.2em;padding-top:2em;">LONDON:<br></span>
<span style="font-weight: bold;font-size: .9em;display:block;padding-bottom:.3em;">PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, <span class="smcap">Limited</span>,<br></span>
<span style="font-weight: bold;font-size: .6em;display:block;">STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS.</span>
</div>

<a name="Page_iii" id="Page_iii"></a>



<hr class="newpg" style="width: 65%;">
<a name="PREFACE" id="PREFACE"></a><h2 style="padding-bottom:.75em;">PREFACE.</h2>
<div class="figcenter" style="padding-bottom:1em;">
<img src="https://brian.carnell.com/wiki/_media/etext:f:fr-wingate-ten-years-captive-line.png" alt="------" title="" width="90" height="9"></div>

<div class="figleft"><img src="https://brian.carnell.com/wiki/_media/etext:f:fr-wingate-ten-years-captive-preface.jpg" alt="" title="" width="173" height="391">
<p class="caption">FATHER OHRWALDER.</p></div>


<p style="text-indent: 0em;"><span class="firstwords">After</span> the fall of Khartum
in January 1885, various
attempts were from time
to time made to effect the
release of some of the
European prisoners who
had fallen into the Mahdi's
hands during the early
stages of the Sudan revolt.</p>

<p>These attempts were for
the most part attended with
little result. The causes of
their failure, and eventual
success in one instance, are
fully described in the following
personal narrative
of Father Ohrwalder.</p>

<p>As Father Ohrwalder is
the first European who has
escaped from the Sudan
since 1885, I was fully occupied
with him during
the few days immediately
following his arrival in
ascertaining, for official purposes,
the actual situation
in the Sudan, and that completed, we had many interesting
conversations on the historical events which
had occurred in these revolted districts during the last
ten years.<a name="Page_iv" id="Page_iv"></a></p>

<p>Having but recently completed a <i>resum&eacute;</i> of these
events,<a name="FNanchor_A_1" id="FNanchor_A_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_1" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> which had been largely compiled from the
statements of natives who had escaped, I was not unnaturally
desirous to verify, by the independent witness
of Father Ohrwalder, the accounts which they had given,
and I further begged Father Ohrwalder to carefully
read over the book and point out the errors. It was
with considerable satisfaction that I learnt from him
that the facts had been faithfully recorded; but the
flood of light which he was enabled to throw on many
obscure passages, and the great interest attaching to
the narrative of an active participator in so many of
these now historic occurrences, induced me to suggest
that he should set to work, while the memory of these
events was fresh in his mind, to write a personal narrative
of his varied and terrible experiences, of which
the general public have hitherto learnt but the bare
outline.</p>

<p>It should be borne in mind that the circumstances
under which Father Ohrwalder lived in the Sudan
precluded him from keeping any written record of his
life; it was therefore agreed that I should supervise his
work which, I need scarcely add, it has given me great
pleasure to do. Father Ohrwalder's manuscript, which
was in the first instance written in German, was roughly
translated into English by Yusef Effendi Cudzi, a Syrian;
this I entirely rewrote in narrative form. The work
does not therefore profess to be a literal translation
of the original manuscript, but rather an English version,
in which I have sought to reproduce accurately
Father Ohrwalder's meaning in the language of simple
narration.</p>

<p>England and the British public in general have
shown so much interest in the stirring events which
have occurred in the Sudan, and in which many gallant
British officers and men have lost their lives, that it is
Father Ohrwalder's desire that the narrative of his experiences
should be published in the first instance in<a name="Page_v" id="Page_v"></a>
England, as his modest tribute to the nation which
struggled so gallantly, and so nearly successfully, to
effect the relief of Khartum and the rescue of those
unfortunate Europeans who, like himself, had fallen
into the hands of a cruel and merciless enemy.</p>

<p>It seems almost incredible that such sufferings as the
European captives endured did not long ago bring to
them the happy release of death they so ardently
longed for; but it was not to be. The door of escape,
which they had thought closed to them for ever, suddenly
opened, and they did not fear to risk the dangers
and perils of that terrible desert journey, with scanty
food and water, and the sure knowledge that they must
ride for bare life; re-capture would have ended in
certain death, or, at best, perpetual incarceration in a
prison, the horrors of which beggar description. In
spite, however, of all he has endured, Father Ohrwalder
longs for the time when it may be possible for him to
return to the Sudan and continue the Mission work so
suddenly and hopelessly interrupted since 1882.</p>

<p>I am greatly indebted to Mr. Walter C. Horsley for
the admirable manner in which he has executed his portion
of the illustrations. The remainder are chiefly from
photographs, taken by Mr. Lekegian in his photographic
studio in Cairo, of Dervish prisoners captured at the
action of Toski, and of refugees who have recently
reached Cairo from Equatoria, through the territory
administered by the Imperial British East Africa
Company.</p>


<p class="signature">F.&nbsp;R.&nbsp;Wingate.</p>
<p><span class="smcap">Cairo</span>, <i>30th July, 1892</i>.</p>

<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>

<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_1" id="Footnote_A_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_A_1" class="fnlabel">[A]</a> Published under the title of 'Mahdiism and the Egyptian
Sudan.' London: Macmillan &amp; Co. 1891.</p></div>
</div>
<a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi"></a>
<a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii"></a>


<hr class="newpg" style="width: 65%;">

<a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS"></a>
<h2 style="padding-bottom:.75em;">CONTENTS.</h2>

<div class="figcenter" style="padding-bottom:.4em;">
<img src="https://brian.carnell.com/wiki/_media/etext:f:fr-wingate-ten-years-captive-line.png" alt="------" title="" width="90" height="9"></div>

<table border="0" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="2" summary="Contents" align="center">

<tr>
<td colspan="2" class="heading"><p class="tocheading">INTRODUCTION.</p>
<span class="tocsubhead">FATHER OHRWALDER'S JOURNEY TO THE SUDAN.</span></td>
</tr>
<tr valign="bottom">
<td width="90%">&nbsp;</td>
<td align="right" valign="bottom" width="10%"><span class="smaller">PAGE</span></td>
</tr>

<tr valign="top">
<td align="left" style="width: 90%; padding-bottom: 0!important;">
<span class="toctext">Description of Kordofan and Dar Nuba&mdash;The Mission Station at Delen</span></td>
<td valign="bottom" width="10%" align="right">&nbsp;<a href="#INTRODUCTION">1</a></td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td colspan="2" class="heading"><p class="tocheading">CHAPTER I.</p>
<p class="tocsubhead">THE MAHDI AND HIS RISE TO POWER.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td align="left" style="width: 90%; padding-bottom: 0!important;">
<span class="toctext">The rise of the Mahdi&mdash;Early successes&mdash;Personal appearance&mdash;His<br>
Khalifas described&mdash;Military organization&mdash;Makes
new laws&mdash;He summons El Obeid to surrender</span></td>
<td valign="bottom" width="10%" align="right">&nbsp;<a href="#CHAPTER_I">6</a></td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td colspan="2" class="heading"><p class="tocheading">CHAPTER II.</p>
<p class="tocsubhead">FATHER OHRWALDER AND HIS COMPANIONS TAKEN CAPTIVE.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td align="left" style="width: 90%; padding-bottom: 0!important;">
<span class="toctext">The storm rises in Dar Nuba&mdash;The Baggara begin to
raid&mdash;Khojur
Kakum of Delen&mdash;Mek Omar besieges Delen&mdash;The
slave guard deserts the Mission&mdash;The priests and
nuns surrender&mdash;They are sent to the Mahdi</span></td>
<td valign="bottom" width="10%" align="right">&nbsp;<a href="#CHAPTER_II">22</a></td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td colspan="2" class="heading"><p class="tocheading">CHAPTER III.</p>
<p class="tocsubhead">THE MISSIONARIES AND THE MAHDI.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td align="left" style="width: 90%; padding-bottom: 0!important;">
<span class="toctext">Description of El Obeid&mdash;Said Pasha's system of defence&mdash;The
Mahdi's followers encircle the town&mdash;Townspeople
desert to the Mahdi&mdash;Unsuccessful attack on Government
buildings&mdash;Dervishes driven off with loss of 10,000 men&mdash;The
missionaries brought before the Mahdi&mdash;Threatened
with death&mdash;Preparations for the execution&mdash;Reprieved
at the last moment&mdash;The Mahdi's camp described&mdash;Death
<a name="Page_viii" id="Page_viii"></a>of some of the missionaries&mdash;Illness of remainder</span></td>
<td valign="bottom" width="10%" align="right">&nbsp;<a href="#CHAPTER_III">34</a></td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td colspan="2" class="heading"><p class="tocheading">CHAPTER IV.</p>
<p class="tocsubhead">THE SIEGE OF EL OBEID.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td align="left" style="width: 90%; padding-bottom: 0!important;">
<span class="toctext">Terrible sufferings of the besieged&mdash;The Kababish&mdash;Fall of
Bara&mdash;Fall of El Obeid&mdash;The Mahdi enters the town&mdash;Fate
of the El Obeid Mission&mdash;Cold-blooded murder of
the brave defenders&mdash;The Dervishes live a life of ease in
El Obeid&mdash;The Mahdi makes laws&mdash;He sends out proclamations&mdash;Prestige
increased by capture of town&mdash;News
from Khartum&mdash;Bonomi and Ohrwalder summoned before
the Mahdi&mdash;The interview</span></td>
<td valign="bottom" width="10%" align="right">&nbsp;<a href="#CHAPTER_IV">52</a></td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td colspan="2" class="heading"><p class="tocheading">CHAPTER V.</p>
<p class="tocsubhead">THE MAHDI'S VICTORY OVER HICKS PASHA.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td align="left" style="width: 90%; padding-bottom: 0!important;">
<span class="toctext">The European captives learn that General Hicks is advancing&mdash;Slatin
Bey's defence of Darfur&mdash;His heroism&mdash;The
Mahdi prepares to resist Hicks&mdash;The march of the Hicks
Expedition&mdash;Extracts from the diary of Major Herlth&mdash;Colonel
Farquhar's gallantry at Rahad&mdash;Gustav Klootz
deserts to the Mahdi&mdash;Klootz's interview with the Mahdi in
which Ohrwalder and Bonomi act as interpreters&mdash;The
expedition advances towards Shekan&mdash;Is surrounded and
annihilated&mdash;Description of the battle&mdash;The Mahdi victor
of Kordofan</span></td>
<td valign="bottom" width="10%" align="right">&nbsp;<a href="#CHAPTER_V">72</a></td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td colspan="2" class="heading"><p class="tocheading">CHAPTER VI.</p>
<p class="tocsubhead">THE MAHDI'S TRIUMPHAL ENTRY INTO EL OBEID.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td align="left" style="width: 90%; padding-bottom: 0!important;">
<span class="toctext">Fall of Darfur&mdash;Slatin surrenders&mdash;The Mahdi's
divinity credited
after the annihilation of Hicks&mdash;King Adam of
Tagalla&mdash;Stambuli's kindness to the European captives&mdash;Gordon
writes to the Mahdi&mdash;Power's letter&mdash;The
sisters seized and distributed amongst the emirs&mdash;They
are tortured&mdash;The missionaries turned into slaves&mdash;The
terrible journey to Rahad&mdash;The Greeks come to the help
of the sisters&mdash;The proclamation concerning the treatment
of priests and hermits by Mohammedans&mdash;The
Mahdi at Rahad&mdash;Ohrwalder's interviews with the Mahdi
concerning religion&mdash;The Dervishes attack the Nubas</span></td>
<td valign="bottom" width="10%" align="right">&nbsp;<a href="#CHAPTER_VI">91</a></td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td colspan="2" class="heading"><p class="tocheading">CHAPTER VII.</p>
<p class="tocsubhead">FATHER OHRWALDER'S VIEWS OF GORDON'S MISSION.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td align="left" style="width: 90%; padding-bottom: 0!important;">
<span class="toctext">Ohrwalder describes his treatment at the hands of various
masters&mdash;The Nubas surrender and afterwards desert&mdash;News
<a name="Page_ix" id="Page_ix"></a>from Khartum&mdash;The capture of the English mail&mdash;Its
arrival at the Mahdi's camp&mdash;The Mahdi decides to
advance on Khartum&mdash;Brief review of events in Khartum
and Berber&mdash;Ohrwalder's views on Gordon's mission&mdash;The
Mahdi sets out for Khartum&mdash;Mohammed Ali Pasha's
defeat and death&mdash;Colonel Stewart, Mr. Power, and others
leave Khartum in ss. "Abbas"&mdash;Description of their
wreck and treacherous murder</span></td>
<td valign="bottom" width="10%" align="right">&nbsp;<a href="#CHAPTER_VII">114</a></td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td colspan="2" class="heading"><p class="tocheading">CHAPTER VIII.</p>
<p class="tocsubhead">THE SIEGE AND FALL OF KHARTUM.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td align="left" style="width: 90%; padding-bottom: 0!important;">
<span class="toctext">The surrender of Omdurman fort&mdash;Gordon's
dispositions for defence&mdash;His
great personal influence&mdash;The night before the
assault&mdash;The attack and entry of the Dervishes&mdash;Gordon's
death&mdash;The adventures of Domenico Polinari&mdash;The massacre
in Khartum&mdash;How most of the Europeans died&mdash;Ruthless
cruelty and bloodshed&mdash;The fate of the wives
and daughters of Khartum&mdash;Ohrwalder's views on the
situation in Khartum and the chances of relief by the
British Expeditionary Force&mdash;His description of the town
three months after the fall</span></td>
<td valign="bottom" width="10%" align="right">&nbsp;<a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">131</a></td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td colspan="2" class="heading"><p class="tocheading">CHAPTER IX.</p>
<p class="tocsubhead">THE MAHDI'S LAST DAYS.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td align="left" style="width: 90%; padding-bottom: 0!important;">
<span class="toctext">Ohrwalder's criticisms on certain events connected with the
defence of Khartum&mdash;The Sudan devastated by small-pox&mdash;The
Mahdi gives way to a life of pleasure&mdash;Description
of his harem life&mdash;The Mahdi sickens and dies&mdash;The effect
on his followers&mdash;The Khalifa Abdullah succeeds&mdash;Party
strife and discord&mdash;Abdullah prevails&mdash;Events in Sennar
and Kassala</span></td>
<td valign="bottom" width="10%" align="right">&nbsp;<a href="#CHAPTER_IX">152</a></td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td colspan="2" class="heading"><p class="tocheading">CHAPTER X.</p>
<p class="tocsubhead">THE ESCAPE OF FATHER BONOMI.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td align="left" style="width: 90%; padding-bottom: 0!important;">
<span class="toctext">Ohrwalder continues to describe his personal experiences&mdash;Mahmud
the emir of El Obeid&mdash;His unsuccessful attempts
to entrap the Nubas&mdash;The arrival of Olivier Pain in El
Obeid&mdash;His motives in joining the Mahdi&mdash;His journey
towards Omdurman&mdash;His sad fate&mdash;Lupton Bey arrives
at El Obeid from the Bahr el Ghazal&mdash;He is sent to
Omdurman and thrown into chains&mdash;Life in El Obeid&mdash;The
escape of Father Bonomi&mdash;Ohrwalder's solitude&mdash;The
<a name="Page_x" id="Page_x"></a>death of the Khojur Kakum</span></td>
<td valign="bottom" width="10%" align="right">&nbsp;<a href="#CHAPTER_X">169</a></td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td colspan="2" class="heading"><p class="tocheading">CHAPTER XI.</p>
<p class="tocsubhead">REVOLT AGAINST THE DERVISHES.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td align="left" style="width: 90%; padding-bottom: 0!important;">
<span class="toctext">The black soldiers of the old Sudan army&mdash;They revolt against
the Dervishes in El Obeid&mdash;And march off to Dar Nuba&mdash;The
emir Mahmud pursues and is slain&mdash;Ohrwalder
quits El Obeid for Omdurman&mdash;Zogal and Abu Anga at
Bara</span></td>
<td valign="bottom" width="10%" align="right">&nbsp;<a href="#CHAPTER_XI">189</a></td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td colspan="2" class="heading"><p class="tocheading">CHAPTER XII.</p>
<p class="tocsubhead">OHRWALDER'S IMPRESSIONS OF OMDURMAN.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td align="left" style="width: 90%; padding-bottom: 0!important;">
<span class="toctext">Ohrwalder's arrival in Omdurman&mdash;His first impressions of the
Dervish capital&mdash;Khalifa Abdullah's intentions to conquer
Egypt&mdash;Wad Suleiman of the beit el mal&mdash;Wad Adlan
succeeds&mdash;Gordon's clothes, medals, &amp;c.&mdash;Adlan reorganizes
the beit el mal&mdash;The slave market, museum, mint,
and system of coinage&mdash;Counterfeit coining&mdash;The lithograph
press&mdash;The Khalifa's system of justice</span></td>
<td valign="bottom" width="10%" align="right">&nbsp;<a href="#CHAPTER_XII">204</a></td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td colspan="2" class="heading"><p class="tocheading">CHAPTER XIII.</p>
<p class="tocsubhead">THE KHALIFA DECIDES TO CONQUER ABYSSINIA.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td align="left" style="width: 90%; padding-bottom: 0!important;">
<span class="toctext">Events subsequent to the fall of Khartum&mdash;Capture of
Gedaref and Galabat&mdash;Dervishes defeated by Abyssinians
at Galabat&mdash;Abu Anga's victorious expedition to Tagalla&mdash;His
triumphal return to Omdurman&mdash;The Khalifa's
grand review&mdash;Destruction of the Gehena tribe&mdash;The
Khalifa decides to send Abu Anga's army to conquer
Abyssinia&mdash;The battle of Dabra Sin&mdash;Abu Anga sacks
Gondar&mdash;The victorious Dervishes return to Galabat&mdash;Rejoicings
at Omdurman </span></td>
<td valign="bottom" width="10%" align="right">&nbsp;<a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">216</a></td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td colspan="2" class="heading"><p class="tocheading">CHAPTER XIV.</p>
<p class="tocsubhead">KING JOHN OF ABYSSINIA KILLED IN BATTLE.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td align="left" style="width: 90%; padding-bottom: 0!important;">
<span class="toctext">Destruction of the Kababish tribe and death of Saleh Bey&mdash;Events
in Darfur&mdash;Revolt of Abu Gemaizeh&mdash;His death
and destruction of his army&mdash;Rabeh Zubeir&mdash;King
Theodore's son visits Omdurman&mdash;The conspiracy of
"Sayidna Isa"&mdash;Death of Abu Anga&mdash;King John of
Abyssinia attacks Galabat&mdash;Success of Abyssinians, but
the king killed&mdash;Victory turned to defeat&mdash;The king's
<a name="Page_xi" id="Page_xi"></a>head sent to Omdurman</span></td>
<td valign="bottom" width="10%" align="right">&nbsp;<a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">232</a></td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td colspan="2" class="heading"><p class="tocheading">CHAPTER XV.</p>
<p class="tocsubhead">DEFEAT OF NEJUMI AT TOSKI, AND OF OSMAN DIGNA AT TOKAR.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td align="left" style="width: 90%; padding-bottom: 0!important;">
<span class="toctext">The Khalifa's intentions regarding Egypt&mdash;Wad en Nejumi
despatched north&mdash;Various operations on the Egyptian
frontier&mdash;Battle of Toski&mdash;Defeat and death of Nejumi&mdash;Subsequent
events in Dongola&mdash;Osman Digna's operations
against Sawakin&mdash;Is defeated at Tokar&mdash;Emin
Pasha and events in Equatoria&mdash;Recent events in Uganda
and Unyoro</span></td>
<td valign="bottom" width="10%" align="right">&nbsp;<a href="#CHAPTER_XV">254</a></td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td colspan="2" class="heading"><p class="tocheading">CHAPTER XVI.</p>
<p class="tocsubhead">THE FAMINE AT OMDURMAN&mdash;1888-1889.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td align="left" style="width: 90%; padding-bottom: 0!important;">
<span class="toctext">Ohrwalder describes Omdurman&mdash;The Mahdi's tomb, and how
it was built&mdash;Pilgrimage to Mecca forbidden&mdash;A description
of the great mosque&mdash;The Khalifa's palace&mdash;The
markets&mdash;The population&mdash;The Khalifa's tyrannical rule&mdash;The
terrible famine of 1888-1889&mdash;Awful scenes and
sufferings&mdash;The plague of locusts</span></td>
<td valign="bottom" width="10%" align="right">&nbsp;<a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">273</a></td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td colspan="2" class="heading"><p class="tocheading">CHAPTER XVII.</p>
<p class="tocsubhead">THE KHALIFA AND HIS <a name="tn_png_11"></a><!--TN: Period added after "GOVERNMENT"-->GOVERNMENT.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td align="left" style="width: 90%; padding-bottom: 0!important;">
<span class="toctext">The Khalifa's system of government&mdash;His household&mdash;An
outline of his character&mdash;His system of prayers in the
mosque&mdash;His visions and dreams&mdash;His espionage system&mdash;His
household troops&mdash;His great activity and circumspection&mdash;The
great Friday review described&mdash;The emigration
of the Baggara and western tribes to Omdurman&mdash;The
flight of Sheikh Ghazali&mdash;Management of the beit
el mal&mdash;System of taxation</span></td>
<td valign="bottom" width="10%" align="right">&nbsp;<a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">293</a></td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td colspan="2" class="heading"><p class="tocheading">CHAPTER XVIII.</p>
<p class="tocsubhead">A CHAPTER OF HORRORS.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td align="left" style="width: 90%; padding-bottom: 0!important;">
<span class="toctext">The revolt of the Batahin tribe&mdash;Revolt suppressed with
appalling cruelty&mdash;Wholesale executions&mdash;Method of
hanging&mdash;Punishment by mutilation&mdash;The execution of
Abdel Nur&mdash;Trade with Egypt&mdash;Wad Adlan the emin
beit el mal&mdash;His imprisonment and death</span></td>
<td valign="bottom" width="10%" align="right">&nbsp;<a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">315</a></td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td colspan="2" class="heading"><p class="tocheading">CHAPTER XIX.</p>
<p class="tocsubhead">SOCIAL LIFE AT OMDURMAN.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td align="left" style="width: 90%; padding-bottom: 0!important;">
<span class="toctext">System of public security and justice in Omdurman&mdash;The
court of small causes&mdash;Bribery and corruption&mdash;The
<a name="Page_xii" id="Page_xii"></a>story of the slave and her mistress&mdash;How the Khalifa
deals with quarrelsome persons&mdash;Thieves and pickpockets&mdash;The
story of Zogheir&mdash;Usurers and their trade&mdash;The
chief of police&mdash;Brigandage&mdash;Disproportion of
males to females in Omdurman&mdash;How the Khalifa overcame
the difficulty&mdash;Immorality&mdash;The marriage ceremony</span></td>
<td valign="bottom" width="10%" align="right">&nbsp;<a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">328</a></td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td colspan="2" class="heading"><p class="tocheading">CHAPTER XX.</p>
<p class="tocsubhead">THE KHALIFA'S TREATMENT OF THE WHITE CAPTIVES.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td align="left" style="width: 90%; padding-bottom: 0!important;">
<span class="toctext">Description of the prison, or "Saier"&mdash;The "Abu Haggar"&mdash;The
imprisonment of Charles Neufeld&mdash;Terrible sufferings
of the prisoners&mdash;Domenico Polinari&mdash;The danger
of corresponding with the European prisoners&mdash;Neufeld
threatened with death&mdash;He is given charge of the saltpetre
pits&mdash;The fate of Sheikh Khalil, the Egyptian
envoy&mdash;The Khalifa's treatment of the "Whites"&mdash;Exile
to the White Nile</span></td>
<td valign="bottom" width="10%" align="right">&nbsp;<a href="#CHAPTER_XX">344</a></td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td colspan="2" class="heading"><p class="tocheading">CHAPTER XXI.</p>
<p class="tocsubhead">LUPTON BEY AND THE AMMUNITION.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td align="left" style="width: 90%; padding-bottom: 0!important;">
<span class="toctext">The Khalifa's powder and ammunition begin to fail&mdash;Lupton
Bey makes fulminate&mdash;Unsuccessful attempts to make
powder&mdash;Yusef Pertekachi at last succeeds&mdash;The explosion
in the powder factory</span></td>
<td valign="bottom" width="10%" align="right">&nbsp;<a href="#CHAPTER_XXI">366</a></td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td colspan="2" class="heading"><p class="tocheading">CHAPTER XXII.</p>
<p class="tocsubhead">AGRICULTURE AND COMMERCE IN THE MAHDI'S KINGDOM.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td align="left" style="width: 90%; padding-bottom: 0!important;">
<span class="toctext">Remarks on the agriculture and commerce of the Mahdiist
kingdom&mdash;A sandstorm in Omdurman&mdash;The paucity of
cattle&mdash;System of taxation on imports&mdash;Provincial beit
el mals&mdash;Local manufactures&mdash;Slavery and the slave-markets&mdash;Torture
of slaves</span></td>
<td valign="bottom" width="10%" align="right">&nbsp;<a href="#CHAPTER_XXII">376</a></td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td colspan="2" class="heading"><p class="tocheading">CHAPTER XXIII.</p>
<p class="tocsubhead">THE BAGGARA MASTERS OF THE SUDAN.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td align="left" style="width: 90%; padding-bottom: 0!important;">
<span class="toctext">Relations between Abdullah and the rival Khalifas&mdash;Mahdiism
practically dead&mdash;The Khalifa's son Osman&mdash;His marriage
to Yakub's daughter&mdash;His intentions regarding the
succession&mdash;The Baggara and the Aulad-Belad&mdash;The
Baggara masters of the Sudan&mdash;Examples of their
tyranny&mdash;Emigration of the Rizighat tribe&mdash;Hostility
between the Khalifa's and the late Mahdi's households&mdash;The
Ashraf conspiracy&mdash;Witchcraft&mdash;The dispute between
<a name="Page_xiii" id="Page_xiii"></a>the Khalifas&mdash;Riots in Omdurman&mdash;The Mahdi's widows</span></td>
<td valign="bottom" width="10%" align="right">&nbsp;<a href="#CHAPTER_XXIII">387</a></td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td colspan="2" class="heading"><p class="tocheading">CHAPTER XXIV.</p>
<p class="tocsubhead">PREPARATIONS FOR THE FLIGHT.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td align="left" style="width: 90%; padding-bottom: 0!important;">
<span class="toctext">Ohrwalder forms plans for escape&mdash;The fate of other Europeans
attempting to fly&mdash;Stricter surveillance&mdash;Ohrwalder's
means of livelihood&mdash;Letters from Cairo&mdash;The faithful
Ahmed Hassan discloses his plan&mdash;Archbishop Sogaro&mdash;Miseries
of captivity in Omdurman&mdash;Death of Sister
Concetta Corsi&mdash;Preparations for flight</span></td>
<td valign="bottom" width="10%" align="right">&nbsp;<a href="#CHAPTER_XXIV">408</a></td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td colspan="2" class="heading"><p class="tocheading">CHAPTER XXV.</p>
<p class="tocsubhead">ON CAMELS ACROSS THE GREAT NUBIAN DESERT.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td align="left" style="width: 90%; padding-bottom: 0!important;">
<span class="toctext">Father Ohrwalder and Sisters Venturini and Chincarini escape&mdash;The
ride for life&mdash;The rencontre with the Dervish
guard near Abu Hamed&mdash;Alarm of the party&mdash;The
journey across the great Nubian desert&mdash;Five hundred
miles on camel-back in seven days&mdash;Arrival at the
Egyptian outpost at Murat&mdash;Safe at last&mdash;Arrival in
Cairo</span></td>
<td valign="bottom" width="10%" align="right">&nbsp;<a href="#CHAPTER_XXV">424</a></td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td colspan="2" class="heading"><p class="tocheading">CHAPTER XXVI.</p>
<p class="tocsubhead">THE PRESENT KHALIFA'S DESPOTISM IN THE SUDAN.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td align="left" style="width: 90%; padding-bottom: 0!important;">
<span class="toctext">Reflections on the situation in the Sudan&mdash;The horrors of the
present Khalifa's rule&mdash;How long shall it continue?</span></td>
<td valign="bottom" width="10%" align="right">&nbsp;<a href="#CHAPTER_XXVI">447</a></td>
</tr>

<tr valign="top">
<td align="left" style="width: 90%; padding-bottom: 0!important;">
<span class="toctext" style="padding-top:2em;font-weight:bold;">INDEX.</span></td>
<td valign="bottom" width="10%" align="right">&nbsp;<a href="#INDEX">451</a></td>
</tr>
</table>

<a name="Page_xiv" id="Page_xiv"></a><br>
<p><a name="Page_xv" id="Page_xv"></a></p>


<hr class="newpg" style="width: 65%;">
<a name="LIST_OF_ILLUSTRATIONS_MAP_AND_PLAN" id="LIST_OF_ILLUSTRATIONS_MAP_AND_PLAN"></a>
<h2 style="padding-bottom:.75em;">LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS, MAP AND PLAN.</h2>

<div class="figcenter" style="padding-bottom:.4em;">
<img src="https://brian.carnell.com/wiki/_media/etext:f:fr-wingate-ten-years-captive-line.png" alt="------" title="" width="90" height="9"></div>

<table border="0" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="2" summary="List of Illustrations Map and Plan" align="center">


<tr valign="bottom">
<td width="90%">&nbsp;</td>
<td align="right" valign="bottom" width="10%"><span class="smaller">PAGE</span></td>
</tr>

<tr valign="top">
<td align="left" style="width: 90%; padding-bottom: 0!important;">
<span class="toctext">Father Ohrwalder, Sisters Venturini and Chincarini, and their
servant Adila (<i><a href="#frontispiece">Frontispiece</a></i>).</span></td>
<td valign="bottom" width="10%" align="right">&nbsp;</td>
</tr>

<tr valign="top">
<td align="left" style="width: 90%; padding-bottom: 0!important;">
<span class="toctext">Zubeir Pasha</span></td>
<td valign="bottom" width="10%" align="right">&nbsp;<a href="#zubeir">8</a></td>
</tr>

<tr valign="top">
<td align="left" style="width: 90%; padding-bottom: 0!important;">
<span class="toctext">A native woman of Dongola</span></td>
<td valign="bottom" width="10%" align="right">&nbsp;<a href="#native">65</a></td>
</tr>

<tr valign="top">
<td align="left" style="width: 90%; padding-bottom: 0!important;">
<span class="toctext">Hicks Pasha</span></td>
<td valign="bottom" width="10%" align="right">&nbsp;<a href="#hicks">74</a></td>
</tr>

<tr valign="top">
<td align="left" style="width: 90%; padding-bottom: 0!important;">
<span class="toctext">Colonel Arthur Farquhar (Chief of Staff)</span></td>
<td valign="bottom" width="10%" align="right">&nbsp;<a href="#colonel">80</a></td>
</tr>

<tr valign="top">
<td align="left" style="width: 90%; padding-bottom: 0!important;">
<span class="toctext">A Baggara emir, present at the annihilation of the Hicks
Expedition, and afterwards captured at Toski</span></td>
<td valign="bottom" width="10%" align="right">&nbsp;<a href="#baggara">89</a></td>
</tr>

<tr valign="top">
<td align="left" style="width: 90%; padding-bottom: 0!important;">
<span class="toctext">Father Ohrwalder's interview with the Mahdi at Rahad, concerning
religion</span></td>
<td valign="bottom" width="10%" align="right">&nbsp;<a href="#father">107</a></td>
</tr>

<tr valign="top">
<td align="left" style="width: 90%; padding-bottom: 0!important;">
<span class="toctext">The gold medal struck by Gordon to commemorate the siege
of Khartum</span></td>
<td valign="bottom" width="10%" align="right">&nbsp;<a href="#gold">122</a></td>
</tr>

<tr valign="top">
<td align="left" style="width: 90%; padding-bottom: 0!important;">
<span class="toctext">A Dervish emir present in the attack on Khartum, and afterwards
captured at Toski</span></td>
<td valign="bottom" width="10%" align="right">&nbsp;<a href="#dervish">136</a></td>
</tr>

<tr valign="top">
<td align="left" style="width: 90%; padding-bottom: 0!important;">
<span class="toctext">An Egyptian Harem woman</span></td>
<td valign="bottom" width="10%" align="right">&nbsp;<a href="#egyptian">156</a></td>
</tr>

<tr valign="top">
<td align="left" style="width: 90%; padding-bottom: 0!important;">
<span class="toctext">"Many a time did I turn round to look back, until Bonomi
disappeared from view in the wood"</span></td>
<td valign="bottom" width="10%" align="right">&nbsp;<a href="#many">181</a></td>
</tr>

<tr valign="top">
<td align="left" style="width: 90%; padding-bottom: 0!important;">
<span class="toctext">A slave woman from Equatoria</span></td>
<td valign="bottom" width="10%" align="right">&nbsp;<a href="#slave">209</a></td>
</tr>

<tr valign="top">
<td align="left" style="width: 90%; padding-bottom: 0!important;">
<span class="toctext">Abyssinian dancing girls</span></td>
<td valign="bottom" width="10%" align="right">&nbsp;<a href="#abyssinian">243</a></td>
</tr>

<tr valign="top">
<td align="left" style="width: 90%; padding-bottom: 0!important;">
<span class="toctext">An Arab sheikh of Upper Egypt</span></td>
<td valign="bottom" width="10%" align="right">&nbsp;<a href="#arab">255</a></td>
</tr>

<tr valign="top">
<td align="left" style="width: 90%; padding-bottom: 0!important;">
<span class="toctext">Bishir Bey, sheikh of the Ababdeh Arabs</span></td>
<td valign="bottom" width="10%" align="right">&nbsp;<a href="#bishir">259</a></td>
</tr>

<tr valign="top">
<td align="left" style="width: 90%; padding-bottom: 0!important;">
<span class="toctext">Wad en Nejumi (from a photograph of a drawing made by an
Egyptian officer of the great Emir, as he lay dead on the
field of Toski)</span></td>
<td valign="bottom" width="10%" align="right">&nbsp;<a href="#wad">264</a></td>
</tr>

<tr valign="top">
<td align="left" style="width: 90%; padding-bottom: 0!important;">
<span class="toctext">A native woman of Makaraka, the wife of one of Emin Pasha's
officers, who reached Egypt from Uganda in June 1892</span></td>
<td valign="bottom" width="10%" align="right">&nbsp;<a href="#woman">270</a></td>
</tr>

<tr valign="top">
<td align="left" style="width: 90%; padding-bottom: 0!important;">
<span class="toctext">A trophy of arms, banners, and drums, captured from the
Dervishes</span></td>
<td valign="bottom" width="10%" align="right">&nbsp;<a href="#trophy">305</a></td>
</tr>

<tr valign="top">
<td align="left" style="width: 90%; padding-bottom: 0!important;">
<span class="toctext">Charles Neufeld</span></td>
<td valign="bottom" width="10%" align="right">&nbsp;<a href="#charles">354</a></td>
</tr>

<tr valign="top">
<td align="left" style="width: 90%; padding-bottom: 0!important;">
<span class="toctext">A slave girl from Equatoria</span></td>
<td valign="bottom" width="10%" align="right">&nbsp;<a href="#girl">382</a></td>
</tr>

<tr valign="top">
<td align="left" style="width: 90%; padding-bottom: 0!important;">
<span class="toctext">A Baggara woman</span></td>
<td valign="bottom" width="10%" align="right">&nbsp;<a href="#baggara_woman">398</a></td>
</tr>

<tr valign="top">
<td align="left" style="width: 90%; padding-bottom: 0!important;">
<span class="toctext">The Arab guides who effected the escape of Father Ohrwalder
and the Sisters</span></td>
<td valign="bottom" width="10%" align="right">&nbsp;<a href="#guides">409</a></td>
</tr>

<tr valign="top">
<td align="left" style="width: 90%; padding-bottom: 0!important;">
<span class="toctext">"We had scarcely gone twenty paces from the river, when<br>
suddenly we heard the sound of a camel"</span></td>
<td valign="bottom" width="10%" align="right">&nbsp;<a href="#scarcely">435</a></td>
</tr>

<tr valign="top">
<td align="left" style="width: 90%; padding-bottom: 0!important;" colspan="2">
<p class="toctext"><a href="#plan">Plan of Omdurman.</a></p>
<p class="toctext"><a href="#map">Map of the Nile Basin, showing route taken by Father
Ohrwalder.</a></p>
<p class="toctext"><a href="#map2">Sketch Map
showing correct Position of I.B.E.A. Co's Forts &amp; Boundary of Uganda.</a></p>
</td>
</tr>
</table>


<a name="Page_xvi" id="Page_xvi"></a>
<a name="Page_1" id="Page_1"></a>

<hr class="newpg" style="width: 65%;">
<p class="center" style="word-spacing:.3em;font-size:1.3em;font-weight:bold;">TEN YEARS'</p>
<p class="center" style="word-spacing:.3em;font-size:1.5em;font-weight:bold;">CAPTIVITY IN THE
MAHDI'S CAMP</p>
<p class="center" style="font-size: 1.3em;padding-bottom:.5em;">1882&mdash;1892</p>

<div class="figcenter" style="padding-bottom:1.25em;">
<img src="https://brian.carnell.com/wiki/_media/etext:f:fr-wingate-ten-years-captive-line.png" alt="------" title="" width="90" height="9"></div>

<a name="INTRODUCTION" id="INTRODUCTION"></a><h2>INTRODUCTION.</h2>

<p class="chapterhead">FATHER OHRWALDER's JOURNEY TO THE SUDAN.</p>

<p class="chapterdescribe">Description of Kordofan and Dar Nuba&mdash;The Mission Station at
Delen.</p>


<p style="text-indent: 0em;"><span class="firstwords">I left</span> Cairo on the 28th of December, 1880, as full of
bright hopes for a happy future as any young man could
wish to be. I had no thought of the miserable fate
which was so soon to overtake me.</p>

<p>Our party consisted of Bishop Comboni, two
missionaries, Johann Dichtl and Franz Pimezzoni (these
three have long since passed into eternity), and several
sisters. We embarked at Suez, and spent the first day
of 1881 on the Red Sea. On the 4th of January we
landed at Sawakin. At that time the governor of the
town was Ala ed Din Pasha, who subsequently accompanied
General Hicks as Governor-General of the Sudan,
and was eventually killed with him. After a journey of
twenty-eight days and travelling <i>vi&acirc;</i> Berber, we reached
Khartum; here the pleasant gardens and shady groves
of date-palms impressed us most favourably. Standing
on the high river bank, just in front of the Mission
gardens, were the various members of the Mission, headed
by Father Alois Bonomi, also the Austrian Consul
Hansal and the Italian Consul Legnani, who gave us a
hearty welcome. The whole city was <i>en f&ecirc;te</i>, to celebrate
the return of the Governor-General Rauf Pasha from<a name="Page_2" id="Page_2"></a>
Gedaref. After landing, we walked through the lovely
garden towards the Mission buildings, and here, in the
principal parlour, were collected Rauf Pasha, Giegler
Pasha, Gessi Pasha, who had just returned quite worn
out from his campaigns in the Bahr el Ghazal; the
courageous Slatin, fresh from Darfur; Marcopoli Bey,
Doctor Zurbuchen, Marquet, the African traveller Jean
Maria Schuver, and many others who had come to welcome
Bishop Comboni on his arrival.</p>

<p>On the 15th of March we celebrated the fiftieth birthday
of Bishop Comboni with general rejoicings: in the
evening the European colony dined at the Mission, and
then followed a <i>soir&eacute;e</i>. Little did we think of the
terrible fate that was in store for the majority of those
gathered together on that happy evening!</p>

<p>In the meantime Slatin Bey had been appointed
Governor-General of Darfur, and he considered it his
duty to proceed as soon as possible to take up his new
post. Our bishop accepted Slatin's proffered invitation
to travel together as far as El Obeid, and on the 29th of
March we embarked on a steamer placed at our disposal
by Rauf Pasha and proceeded to Tur el Hadra. We were
accompanied thus far by Marcopoli Bey, Dr. Zurbuchen
and Marquet, and here, mounting on camels, we made a
rapid march across the Kordofan deserts, arriving at El
Obeid on the 5th of April. No sooner had we dismounted,
than two telegrams were handed to us: one
announced the sudden death, on his return to Khartum,
of Dr. Zurbuchen, and the other described the death of
the Czar Alexander of Russia at the hands of the
Nihilists.</p>

<p>We remained at El Obeid while Slatin was making
arrangements for his journey to Darfur. Bishop
Comboni then made a tour through Jebel Nuba,
returned to El Obeid and subsequently to Khartum,
where he died on the 10th of October. God, in His
mercy, took him away so that he should not behold the
terrible events in the Sudan which followed soon after
his death.</p>

<p>I left El Obeid on the 28th of November, 1881, and<a name="Page_3" id="Page_3"></a>
reached Delen in Dar Nuba on the 5th of December. I
was most favourably impressed with the Nuba country.
Whilst Kordofan is merely an extensive plain with little
change of scenery, Dar Nuba presents an entirely different
aspect. Here chains of picturesque hills, running
in various directions, rise out of the plain, interspersed
with numerous watercourses. Jebel Delen, on which
our Mission station was situated, is one of the smallest
of the hills. The other principal groups are Na&iuml;ma,
Kurun, Dobab, Dair, Kedaro, Tagalla, Gedir, and Tira,
in which gold is found, besides a number of smaller
hills. It is estimated that in all there are upwards of
one hundred inhabited mountains.</p>

<p>The intervening plains and valleys are rich in vegetation
of every description; trees of colossal dimensions
are found, more especially in the khors (the beds of
perennial streams), and the thick luxuriant growth is so
dense that the rays of the sun cannot penetrate. The
soil is exceptionally fertile and rain abundant, consequently
for six months in the year the density of the
undergrowth makes it almost impossible to traverse
these rich valleys; but when the rains are over and the
grass becomes dry, it is generally fired, and thus the
plains and valleys become passable again. A quantity
of the rain from these hills flows into Lake Birket,
some passes also into the Khor Abu Habl, which becomes
lost in the sand before it reaches the White Nile. The
rain from the southern Nuba hills finds its way into the
Bahr el Arab. The plains abound with quantities of
deer, giraffe, antelope, and wild boar, whilst the woods
contain myriads of birds of lovely plumage, and apes
and monkeys of every description. During the winter
season, elephants were frequently to be seen in the
neighbourhood of Delen, which also abounds with snakes,
amongst which the boa-constrictor is not uncommon.</p>

<p>The population of Dar Nuba, which at one time was
considerable, does not now exceed 50,000; the scattered
sub-tribes of Baggara, who roam the plains with the
Bederieh and Ghodiat Arabs, have decimated the Nubas,
and forced those that are left to fly to their moun<a name="Page_4" id="Page_4"></a>tain
recesses, where they eke out a wretched existence,
their protection being the inaccessible nature of their
retreats.</p>

<p>I found the Nubas a pleasant and well-disposed
people; indeed, they have the reputation in the Sudan
of being the best of all the negroid races; they cultivate
only sufficient quantities of corn, sesame, and
beans to serve for their livelihood; whilst the wild
fruits and vegetables of their country are so plentiful as
to furnish almost sufficient food for their maintenance
should they be unable to cultivate. They possess
numbers of goats and cattle which supply them with
milk and butter; they are much addicted to drinking
marissa (a kind of beer made from dhurra), and great
quantities of this beverage are consumed at their feasts,
principally at the feast known as Zubeir. On this
occasion men and women drink and dance together;
but notwithstanding this unusual familiarity, I never
saw anything which might be considered an outrage to
society. With the exception of the Khojur, of whom I
shall presently speak, and the head sheikh, monogamy is
practised.</p>

<p>The Nubas are governed entirely by their own traditional
laws and customs, the Khojur only intervening
in case of necessity. The Khojur is in reality a sort of
religious chief, whose power over the people depends
entirely on his skilfulness and sagacity. During the
time I was in this neighbourhood the Khojur was a
certain Kakum, known as "Kakum of Delen."</p>

<p>Only a short time had elapsed since the Egyptian
Government had made a settlement at Delen. A company
of Sudanese soldiers, under the command of a
captain who was appointed for the suppression of the
slave-trade, had been recently quartered there, and they
were also charged with the protection of our Mission
station.</p>

<p>I was very happy in Delen, where I found a variety
of pursuits to occupy my time. I amused myself in
collecting insects, of which I soon had a large selection.
I also skinned birds and snakes. The various<a name="Page_5" id="Page_5"></a>
modes of Nuba life and cultivation were, moreover, an
immense interest to me, and the presentation of a few
glass beads enabled me to secure many strange objects
in return. The natives used to roar with laughter when
they saw me examining with interest the curious insects
they brought me.</p>

<p>We had quite a colony of blacks in the Mission, and
as the number increased, it became necessary to enlarge
the accommodation, so we began to make and burn
bricks; we obtained lime from the Saburi mountain (I
may here say the Nubas gave us this information) and the
doleb-palm supplied us with plenty of wood. Assisted
by Father Bonomi, our carpenter Gabriel Mariani built
a four-wheeled cart, which we drove with two strong
mules. We worked along cheerfully and full of hope.
We turned out some 2,000 good bricks. Our blacks
were quite contented; far removed from the corruption
and temptation of the towns, they kept steadily to their
work, and tilled their own little patches of ground;
everything was going well, and we anticipated great
results. But suddenly our tranquillity was disturbed.
Early in April 1882, there were perceptible at Delen
the first murmurings of the terrible storm which was to
deluge the entire Sudan with blood, and to bring misfortune
and calamity on the land and on our happy
Mission; but these events I will describe in the following
pages.<a name="Page_6" id="Page_6"></a></p>


<hr class="newpg" style="width: 65%;">

<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I.</h2>

<p class="chapterhead">THE MAHDI AND HIS RISE TO POWER.</p>

<p class="chapterdescribe">The rise of the Mahdi&mdash;Early successes&mdash;Personal appearance&mdash;His
Khalifas described&mdash;Military organization&mdash;Makes new laws&mdash;He
summons El Obeid to surrender.</p>


<p style="text-indent: 0em;"><span class="firstwords">A few</span> years previous to the time of which I speak, an
individual who called himself a Dervish had attracted
people's attention. He wandered through the Sudan in
the garb of a Dervish, and strove to rouse the Moslems
to religious fanaticism. He urged that reality no longer
existed in the religion; faith was becoming of no account,
and this religious decadence was due to a
luxurious mode of life and contact with Christians. A
number of influential sheikhs and merchants took up his
cause, and these he made to swear to remain faithful
and true to him. At this time at El Obeid there was a
certain Said el Mek, who had the reputation of being a
holy man, and the Dervish did all in his power to
induce him to espouse his cause. Said el Mek urged
that religion had not fallen into such disrepute, and
that all would be well if more mosques were built; but
the Dervish, with threats that if he refused to join him
he would compass his destruction, extracted from him a
promise to keep his plans secret. He then prepared the
way by continuing his wanderings, preaching everywhere
against the oppression of the Turk and the decadence
of the true Moslem faith. Under the very nose
of the Government he collected a small body of faithful
adherents, set off with them for the island of Abba on
the White Nile, and there openly declared himself.
Rumours that he intended to raise the people to revolt
reached Khartum. At this time Rauf Pasha was<a name="Page_7" id="Page_7"></a>
Governor-General; he sent a noted Khartum townsman
named Abu Saud to Abba, with instructions to invite
the Dervish to come and see the Governor-General. Abu
Saud nearly succeeded in his mission, and had it not been
for the advice of one of his adherents, Ahmed Sharfi, it
is probable that the Dervish would have accepted the
invitation. Rauf Pasha, on learning of his refusal to
obey the summons, despatched two companies of troops
to Abba Island at the end of July 1881, with instructions
to bring the Dervish forcibly to Khartum. The
two captains of the companies had a difference of
opinion, and, landing the troops in a most careless
manner, they were drawn on by the adherents of the
Dervish into a marshy swamp, where they were fallen
upon and a number of them killed with simple sticks.
Ahmed Sharfi himself told me this. Only a very few
succeeded in escaping and returning to the steamer, in
which they made their way back to Khartum.</p>

<p>This episode caused great excitement. I was at El
Obeid when it happened, and Giegler Pasha, who was also
there at the time, told me about it. Giegler despatched
Mohammed Said Pasha to the White Nile with orders
to prevent the Dervish from escaping south; but Said
Pasha soon afterwards returned, having done nothing;
probably he did not dare to attack the rebels. In the
meantime the Dervish quitted Abba, and succeeded in
reaching Tagalla in safety; thence he proceeded to Jebel
Gedir, and located himself at the foot of that mountain.
The natives of this district are called Kawakla,
and dwell on the top of the mountain; they are possessors
of a very celebrated and holy stone, on which
there is a tradition the prophet Mohammed sat and
prayed. Here the Dervish Mohammed Ahmed now
took up his abode, and waited to see what action the
Government intended to take.</p>

<p>At Delen the news of this Dervish was very meagre,
though there was much talk of his wonderful miracles,
the most important of which was said to be his power to
change the bullets of the Government troops into water.
His repute as a worker of miracles grew rapidly, and was<a name="Page_8" id="Page_8"></a>
the cause of largely increasing the number of his adherents.
The malcontents, runaway slaves, criminals
evading justice, and religious fanatics, hurried to Gedir;
but perhaps the bulk of his adherents were men who
lived by theft and robbery, and who were the main
supporters of the movement. To all, the Dervish gave
promises of enormous shares of loot and everlasting
happiness in the world to come. But it was to the
slave-dealers that Mohammed appeared in the light of a
saviour, and it was to them that he owed his subsequent
success.</p>

<a name="zubeir"></a><div class="figcenter"><img src="https://brian.carnell.com/wiki/_media/etext:f:fr-wingate-ten-years-captive-p008.jpg" border="0" alt="" title="" width="361" height="377">
<p class="caption2">ZUBEIR PASHA.</p></div>

<p>From the time that Gessi Pasha put an end to the
slave-trade in the Bahr el Ghazal by conquering<a name="Page_9" id="Page_9"></a>
Suleiman, the son of Zubeir Pasha, and dispersing his
forces&mdash;as Gessi had often related to me&mdash;numbers of
these runaway slave-dealers (as they afterwards assured
me) owed their ruin to him. These men were all
warriors, accustomed to every description of hardship,
well trained in the use of firearms, and from their
constant slave-fights well accustomed to war; they
flocked in numbers to the Dervish, and he gave them
elaborate promises of quantities of booty and a complete
resumption of the slave-trade. Mohammed
Ahmed had the power of inspiring these men with an
extraordinary amount of fanatical ardour, so much so,
indeed, as we shall presently see, that they would not
hesitate to rush into certain death at one word from
him. He would compare these men with the Government
troops, and prove how far inferior were these
latter; and, on the other hand, the Government troops
made the fatal mistake of underrating their enemies,
and conducting their operations with a complete disregard
for the wary foes with whom they had to deal.
What more obvious example of this blind self-confidence
can there be than in the miserable defeat of Rashid Bey,
Mudir of Fashoda, who, without any instructions, advanced
against the Dervishes, and was cut to pieces on
the 9th of December, 1881?</p>

<p>Rashid Bey&mdash;so an eye-witness told me&mdash;was drawn
into the middle of a forest, and there he and his men
were massacred, before they could even alight from
their camels, so completely taken by surprise were they.
Thus the Dervishes gained an important and decisive
victory, with, comparatively speaking, no loss at all.
The German Berghof, inspector for the suppression of
slavery at Fashoda, also fell in this fight. What wonder
is it that such successes as these strengthened the belief
of the people that the Mahdi could turn Egyptian
bullets into water! This victory gave enormous
impetus to the cause; not only was a quantity of
arms, ammunition, and stores captured, but Mohammed
Ahmed's moral influence was greatly increased. He was
now believed in as the true Mahdi; men flocked to his<a name="Page_10" id="Page_10"></a>
standard from all parts, and were ready and willing to
lay down their lives in his cause.</p>

<p>Mohammed Ahmed Wad el Bedri, one of the Mahdi's
favourite and early adherents, told me that it was the
latter's intention to proceed to Dar Fertit, and there
organise an extensive revolt against the Government;
but Elias Pasha, a Jaali, and former Mudir of El Obeid,
urged him against this. Elias Pasha was a bitter enemy
of Mohammed Said Pasha, and of Ahmed Bey Dafallah,
one of the principal merchants of El Obeid, and he
took this opportunity to wreak his vengeance on them.
He fully convinced the Mahdi of the inability of the
garrison of El Obeid to offer any prolonged resistance,
as the troops were few in number, and he could
count on all the inhabitants joining him. It was this
advice that caused the Mahdi to turn his attention to
Kordofan.</p>

<p>During all this time the number of the Mahdi's followers
was continually increasing, and the Government
at length decided to send an expedition against him.
On the 15th of March, 1882, Yussef Pasha Esh Shellali,
formerly Gessi's second in command in his campaign
against Suleiman Zubeir, left Khartum for the south, in
command of some 4,000 men, a large number of whom
deserted on the march. About the middle of May,
however, he left Fashoda, and advanced towards Gedir.
At the same time another expedition under Abdullah,
brother of Ahmed Bey Dafallah and Osman, started
from El Obeid. This force was composed entirely of
volunteers, whom it had taken almost a month to
collect, the noggara beating night and day as a summons
to arms. They were badly armed, and in spite
of Abdullah's well-known bravery, the expedition left
with little hope of success. Besides, an event happened
which filled the men with gloomy forebodings. Just as
the troops were starting, Abdullah fell from his horse,
and, according to Sudan superstition, such an untoward
event is always a sign that the expedition will meet
with misfortunes. Abdullah effected a junction with
Yussef Pasha, and the combined force reached Gedir,<a name="Page_11" id="Page_11"></a>
where they entrenched themselves in a zariba near the
base of the mountain. A body of rebels, noiselessly
approaching by night, succeeded unobserved in dragging
away some of the thorns forming the zariba, and in the
early morning the Dervishes, with fearful yells, broke in
and threw themselves on the troops, who, scared by the
suddenness of the attack, offered little resistance; they
were soon overcome, and fell a prey to the deadly
dervish spears. Abdullah alone made a gallant stand,
and fought with desperate bravery, but he too fell at
last. A few only succeeded in escaping to Fashoda,
and Emin Bey, who was there at the time, on his way
to the Equatorial Province, was the first to receive the
sad news. The account of this massacre, which took
place on the 7th of June, 1882, was described to us by
an eye-witness.</p>

<p>And now the Mahdi determined to lay siege to El
Obeid, a step which was hailed with satisfaction by all
his followers. Large numbers of Dar Hamd, Ghodiat,
and Bederieh Arabs collected at Birket, which in winter-time
becomes a large lake, round which are clustered
numerous villages.</p>

<p>In July 1882, Mohammed Said Pasha sent Major
Nesim and Osman, the brother of Abdullah who was
killed at Gedir, with a force of 1,500 men, with orders
to disperse the Arabs. After a stubborn resistance the
Arabs were defeated by Nesim, but the latter suffered
heavily, and Osman was amongst the killed. Nesim
afterwards returned to El Obeid.</p>

<p>Meanwhile the various military stations in Kordofan
were falling one by one into the Mahdi's hands. In
July Fiki Rahma, at the head of the Gowameh Arabs,
assaulted and took Ashaf and razed it to the ground.
Here terrible atrocities were committed; not a woman
was spared; even those with child were ripped open
and the unborn infant impaled on a lance. On the 8th
of August Shat was captured and destroyed by Wad
Makashif. Fiki Minneh stormed and took Tayara,
putting all the inhabitants to the sword. Bara and El
Obeid were now the only towns left in the whole pro<a name="Page_12" id="Page_12"></a>vince
of Kordofan over which the Egyptian flag was
still flying; and these two places were gradually being
invested, while within lurked the spirit of treachery, and
the Mahdi propaganda was being secretly instilled into
not unwilling minds. At El Obeid, Elias Pasha was the
most active agent, and it was to him that the Mahdi
had consigned the medals, watches, and other valuables
captured at Gedir, with orders to sell them in El Obeid.</p>

<p>The Mahdi now became a man whose very name was
a terror to the Egyptians. The way to El Obeid lay
open before him, and when he saw how rapidly he had
risen to power, there is no doubt he really believed himself
to be the true Mahdi, divinely sent by God to carry
out this great revolution, and the fulsome flattery of his
numerous adherents must have confirmed him in this
idea. Here a few remarks on the Mahdi's antecedents
may not be out of place.</p>

<p>Mohammed Ahmed belonged to the race of people
known as the Danagla&mdash;<i>i.e.</i> inhabitants of Dongola&mdash;who
are notorious in the Sudan as being the cleverest
and most determined of the slave-dealers. On the
White Nile and in the Bahr el Ghazal they had built
numerous zaribas, and it was through their means that
this country became first known. In Darfur they
always occupied the position of chief ministers or vazirs
to the Sultans; even to the present day the prime
minister of the Sultan of Borgo is a Dongolawi. In
spite, however, of their capacity, the Danagla were
rather despised throughout the Sudan, and it was only
subsequently that they were created Ashraf (or noble)
by the Mahdi. Mohammed Ahmed's age was estimated
at his death to have been about forty-five, he must therefore
have been born about the year 1840. It appears
that his father came into the Sudan when quite a young
man, and sent his son to the Mesit or Kuran school at
Kererri, and, from what I have heard, there is no doubt
that the young Mohammed Ahmed showed signs of a
violently fanatical nature at quite an early age. After
the fall of El Obeid, his former teacher came to see him,
and was received with great solemnity by his early pupil,<a name="Page_13" id="Page_13"></a>
who at once arranged that he should receive a monthly
salary.</p>

<p>Mohammed Ahmed's early youth was spent in
learning the Kuran; later on he led the life of a
Dervish, moving about from place to place, distributing
amulets, and writing on little slips of paper mysterious
words, which were supposed to protect the wearer
against all the ills and diseases to which human beings
are liable. Through constant study, and by leading the
life of an ascetic, he acquired a facility of speech which
obtained for him a great reputation amongst the
uneducated and superstitious classes in which he moved.
Before he openly declared himself, he retired for some
time to a cave, where he gave himself up entirely to
prayer. His repute for sanctity was so great that
sailing vessels and even Government steamers stopped
to ask his blessing on their journey; in return for
which he received many valuable gifts. As I have
already said, it was not till after he had prepared the
ground by his itinerant preaching that he openly
declared himself.</p>

<p>His outward appearance was strangely fascinating;
he was a man of strong constitution, very dark complexion,
and his face always wore a pleasant smile,
to which he had by long practice accustomed himself.
Under this smile gleamed a set of singularly white
teeth, and between the two upper middle ones was a V-shaped
space, which in the Sudan is considered a sign
that the owner will be lucky. His mode of conversation
too had by training become exceptionally pleasant and
sweet. As a messenger of God, he pretended to be in
direct communication with the Deity. All orders which he
gave were supposed to have come to him by inspiration,
and it became therefore a sin to refuse to obey them;
disobedience to the Mahdi's orders was tantamount to
resistance to the will of God, and was therefore punishable
by death.</p>

<p>He called himself Mahdi Khalifat er Rasul (<i>i.e.</i> the
successor of the Prophet), while his adherents called him
"Sayid" (<i>i.e.</i> Master); Sayidna el Mahdi (<i>i.e.</i> our<a name="Page_14" id="Page_14"></a>
Master the Mahdi), or Sayidna el Imam (<i>i.e.</i> our Master
the head, or one who goes in front). The Mahdi in his
every action endeavoured to imitate and follow in the
exact footsteps of the Prophet.</p>

<p>Thus he made his hejira or flight to Gedir, and there
appointed his four Khalifas. The first of these was the
Khalifa Abdullah, who assumed the title of Khalifa Abu
Bakr, or Khalifa Es Sadik; he belonged to the Taisha
section of the Baggara tribe, and it was through his
influence that the Taisha, Rizighat and Homr Baggaras
were won over to the Mahdi's cause. It was agreed
that Khalifa Abdullah should, in the event of the
Mahdi's death, succeed.</p>

<p>The second Khalifa was Ali Wad Helu, the chief of
the powerful Degheim and Kenana tribes, who also
largely contributed to the Mahdi's success. The third
was Ali Esh Sherif, a Dongolawi, and son-in-law of the
Mahdi; the title of Sherif, or noble, was given to him
as being a member of the Mahdi's family; he was the
representative of the Gellabas (or traders), and of the
inhabitants of Gezireh,<a name="FNanchor_B_2" id="FNanchor_B_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_B_2" class="fnanchor">[B]</a> Berber, and Dongola. Ali
Sherif was in reality the last Khalifa, for a fourth was
never appointed. The Mahdi asked the son of Sheikh
Senussi, as by his influence he thought to win over
Egypt, but he refused the honour, and in consequence
no one else was nominated to fill the place, though
strenuous efforts were made by the more ambitious
adherents to secure this much-coveted position; and it
is needless to add that several who sought the honour
were relegated to prison as possible rivals. The Khalifa
Abdullah is now about forty-three years of age, has a
dark copper-coloured complexion, much marked by
small-pox, an intelligent face, and is a man of great
energy. He is gifted by nature with common sense,
but he has had no education, and can neither read nor
write. The Khalifa Ali is rather short, and if he
were only a little taller would pass for a good-looking
man; he has a ruddy complexion, and wears a large<a name="Page_15" id="Page_15"></a>
beard; he was educated at the El Azhar university in
Cairo, and has a considerable knowledge of Islam
theology. He is at present under forty years of age,
and should succeed Abdullah. The Khalifa Sherif is not
at present more than twenty-one years of age.</p>

<p>These three Khalifas were the commanders-in-chief
of the army, of which each section had its own special
distinctions, whilst the Mahdi himself had no distinctive
military insignia&mdash;neither flag nor drum. Each Khalifa
had his own Jehadieh, or regular troops, his cavalry and
lance-bearers, all from the tribe to which he himself
belongs; each had also his own distinctive flag;
Abdullah's the Raya Zerga, or black flag; Ali's the
Raya el Hamra, or red flag; and Sherif's the Raya el
Hadra, or green flag; each Khalifa had in addition
his own war-drums made of brass, and which were
therefore called "nahas," in contradistinction to the
ordinary drums known as "noggara," which are made
of wood, over which a piece of skin is tightly stretched;
the Khalifa Abdullah had also the onba&iuml;a, a very
powerful wind instrument made of an elephant's tusk,
hollowed out, and which when blown has a very loud
and impressive sound.</p>

<p>The whole of the Mahdi's troops were thus divided
into three sections under their respective flags, and
each Khalifa was in actual command of his section.
The Mahdi and Sherif represented the Gellabas, who
are known, in contradistinction to the Baggara, as
Aulad-Belad (country people), and Aulad-Bahr (river
people), because they dwell on the banks of the
Nile; whilst Khalifa Abdullah and Ali Wad Helu represented
the Baggara, <i>i.e.</i> the Arabs. The former of
these two parties was the most capable as well as the
most numerous, but, as we shall presently see, Khalifa
Abdullah's party, through their leader's immense energy,
gained the ascendency. Each Khalifa has numbers of
emirs under him, all of whom have their different flags.
These banners are quite simple and require no great
labour; they are made of varied colours, and on each
the Moslem creed is written, with the addition of the<a name="Page_16" id="Page_16"></a>
words: "Mohammed Ahmed el Mahdi Khalifat er
Rasul" (<i>i.e.</i> "the successor of the Prophet"). This is
specially directed against the Sultan of Turkey, who
claims this title. Latterly flags were made to represent
certain stated numbers of men; for instance, in the
early days of the revolt, Abderrahman en Nejumi was
designated Emir el Umara (or <a name="tn_png_32"></a><!--TN: Hyphen removed following "Emir"-->Emir of Emirs), because
in the first instance he commanded from 2,000 to 4,000
men, and secondly, these men received a regular rate of
pay, which in reality found its way into the emirs'
pockets; but latterly many of the emirs command
only fifty men. Each emir is assisted by several
mukuddums, or under officers, and each mukuddum also
has his assistant.</p>

<p>Thus did the Mahdi organise the force which was
to conquer the Sudan. He had absolutely no knowledge
or system of drill, but he had men in abundance;
and taking the proverb, "Nekhrib ed Dunia wa
nammir el Akher" (<i>i.e.</i> "We shall destroy this and
create the next world") as his motto, he thought not
of sparing the lives of his men, but rather urged that
by dying they should go direct to paradise. His plan,
therefore, was to attack in overwhelming numbers
with wild shouts, and to be regardless of all loss. Later
on, at Abu Kru in the Bayuda desert, they yelled so
furiously in the hope that they would alarm the English,
that their commander, Nur Angara, tried to make
them desist, by telling them that if they continued
shouting much longer, the English would laugh at them.
In spite, however, of his bold tactics, the Mahdi did not
hesitate to practise every possible deception and falsehood&mdash;indeed,
most of his early successes were secured
by these means. At the commencement of the revolt
the use of firearms was forbidden; sticks and lances
formed the only arms, as it was the Mahdi's intention in
this instance also to follow directly in the footsteps of
the Prophet who had gained all his victories without
firearms.</p>

<p>The Mahdi, however, whilst thus preparing for war,
did not relax in any degree his religious fervour. His<a name="Page_17" id="Page_17"></a>
primary object was to be a religious reformer, and to
preach that to him was confided the task of bringing
back the religion now polluted by the Turks, to its
original purity. He therefore formulated many severe
orders. The use of alcoholic drinks, to which the
Sudanese are much addicted, was entirely forbidden, and
any infringement of this order was punished by sixty
blows with the kurbash. Smoking and chewing tobacco,
a custom much in vogue amongst the Sudanese, was
also strictly forbidden; and the use of hashish, to which
the Turks and Egyptians were addicted, was entirely
prohibited; disobedience to this order was punishable
by eighty lashes. Death often ensued before the
punishment could be completed, but the full number of
lashes was always given. If any one lived through his
punishment he was considered purified both externally
and internally. Any harmless word of abuse, such as
"kelb" (dog), was punishable with twenty-seven lashes.
This punishment went by the name of "Hakk-Allah"<a name="FNanchor_C_3" id="FNanchor_C_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_C_3" class="fnanchor">[C]</a>
(the right of God), and was also inflicted in the time of
the Prophet, who, to make it a really mild punishment,
ordained that the upper part of the arms and shoulders
should be covered with camel's hide, and the punishment
inflicted on the lower arm only, the indication that
it had been correctly administered being shown by the
fact that the camel's hide had not moved from its place.
The Mahdiists, however, took quite another view of the
matter, and thought that the only correct way of administering
"God's right" was to draw blood copiously.</p>

<p>The Mahdi also issued many new orders regarding
marriages. Hitherto in the Sudan and in the East
generally, the marriage ceremony is accompanied by
large feasts. It was the custom of the father on the
betrothal of his daughter to obtain in exchange as large
a sum of money as possible; that is the reason why
fathers greatly preferred their children to be girls, for
they made quite a small fortune on their marriages.<a name="Page_18" id="Page_18"></a>
But the Mahdi changed all this, and ordered that the
bridegroom should expend a sum of ten dollars only,
besides providing a korbab (girth) coverlet, perfumes
and ointment for the bride's hair, also another sort of
ointment which the Sudanese greatly appreciate, and
which is generally used for anointing the bridegroom's
body; also he must supply a pair of shoes. The ceremonies
of betrothal and marriage are very simple.
When the contract is completed and the above articles
delivered by the bridegroom, his friends and relations
assemble, generally on a Friday or Monday (these days
being considered lucky); after a good meal the fiki
asks the bride or some one appointed to represent her,
whether she consents to the marriage, after which the
bridegroom repeats the usual saying, in which he mentions
the Mahdi's name, the ceremony is thus concluded,
and is announced to the neighbours by the women of
the party uttering at intervals the shrill cries of joy
called "Zagharit." Young women are forbidden by the
Mahdi to walk about with uncovered faces; an unveiled
woman is considered to be naked; but if she wear a veil
and the rest of her body be unclothed, it is not an
offence. The wearing of gold and silver ornaments, and
of goat's hair curled and plastered with gum (a custom
which some of the Sudanese women affect), was strictly
forbidden, and woe to the woman who thus adorned
herself; not only was her false hair forcibly torn from
her, but her real hair as well.</p>

<p>All these innovations the Mahdi justified by the
divinity of his mission. He announced that he was the
last of the prophets, and that the end of the world was
near; further, he said that during his lifetime the
prophet Jesus would appear, and that the whole world
would become Moslem; he therefore urged the people
to repentance and prayer, and do all in their power to
further the Jehad (or holy war). Why should they
seek after riches when in a very short time the world
would cease to exist? It is easy to see how such
teaching as this must eventually result in famine and
destruction. The Mahdi <a name="tn_png_34"></a><!--TN: "forbad" changed to "forbade"-->forbade all weeping and wailing<a name="Page_19" id="Page_19"></a>
for the dead, on the grounds that to die in such times as
the present for the Mahdi's cause was an honour and
reward which would without fail secure paradise to
them. As for those who did not have the good fortune
to die, the Mahdi urged them to show their contempt
for the pleasures of this life by continual fasting, prayer,
and repentance. If a man were suffering from hunger,
he recommended him to tighten his belt, whilst his
more fanatical adherents advised placing a heavy stone
on the stomach. He further ordained that the poorest
of clothes should be worn, the feet bared or in sandals,
and, in imitation of the Prophet's example, the hard
floor should be chosen as the place on which to sleep.
He made curious regulations regarding the manufacture
of jibbehs (<i>i.e.</i> the Mahdi uniform coat); they should
be made of damur, a rough cotton fabric of the Sudan,
and if torn, they should be mended with new patches or
old rags, but that on no account should a new jibbeh
ever be worn.</p>

<p>All these innovations, which were based on religious
motives, were intended by him to enforce unity and
cohesion amongst his followers, and at the same time
they had the effect of hardening them to undergo
the perils of war without complaint; for the Mahdi
thoroughly understood as long as men were rich they
would fear death, and that a luxurious and comfortable
mode of life was the worst possible training for
war. The Mahdi always conducted prayers in public,
and his followers considered it a very great privilege to
be permitted to take part in worship with him; consequently,
when he prayed, his followers came in their
thousands, and ranged themselves in long regular lines
behind him. When prayers were concluded, it was his
custom to make religious discourses, in which he explained
various passages in the sacred books, arguing
that they referred to the divine message concerning his
mission, and the destruction of the Turks and unbelievers.
The people whom he addressed were so
ignorant and uneducated that they believed implicitly
every word he uttered; these were the guileless, simple<a name="Page_20" id="Page_20"></a>
folk, and they were entirely deceived by the Mahdi;
but there were others who well knew that every word
he uttered was a falsehood; nevertheless they listened,
and, to flatter him, showed an apparent interest in his
new doctrine.</p>

<p>Thus the Mahdi, having prepared himself, as we have
seen, and having already been three times victorious
over the Egyptian troops, now quitted his place of
refuge, Gedir, and set off for Kordofan, which he intended
to reduce to entire submission. In order to
cover his retreat in case of failure, he left his uncle,
Sherif Mahmud, with some troops at Gedir, where he
also left the guns, as transport at that time of the year
was very difficult, owing to the rain having flooded the
khors and valleys; he also left behind the arms captured
from the Turks. Hitherto he had not collected
any large amount of treasure, and had suffered considerable
privations at Gedir.</p>

<p>When the Mahdi announced his departure from
Gedir, he wrote letters to the tribes, and soon they
flocked to his standards in great numbers and from all
directions; Baggara from the plains of Dar Nuba,
Miserieh, Dar Abu Dali, and Hawazma Arabs. These
hordes assembled, according to the Mahdi's orders, at
Birket, and to this place also came the Bederieh,
Ghodiat, and Dar Homr Arabs, whilst on the further
side of El Obeid, cruel fiki Minneh was gathering the
Gowameh, Asaker Abu Kalam and Dar Giumeh Arabs,
with whom he intended to assault El Obeid from the
north, simultaneously with the Mahdi's attack from the
south. The rumours of the enormous quantities of
treasure stored in El Obeid misled the Arab hordes, and
there is no doubt that the town would not have fallen
had the inhabitants remained loyal to the Government.
Mohammed Said Pasha had dug a ditch and raised a
high parapet round the whole city; but this line of
defence was so extensive, that it would have required at
least 20,000 men to hold it; besides, the ditch was
neither sufficiently deep nor broad, and did not present
a very serious obstacle to cross.<a name="Page_21" id="Page_21"></a></p>

<p>From Birket the Mahdi despatched three messengers
to Said Pasha, calling on him to surrender, and to
acknowledge him as Mahdi; in case he refused he was
threatened with instant destruction. The three messengers,
clothed in their soiled and tattered jibbehs, were
brought before a meeting of all the principal people in
El Obeid; but in spite of their dirty appearance, they
behaved in such an overbearing and insolent way, that
Said Pasha, regardless of the advice and counsel of a
number of those present who were in reality in league
with the Mahdi, at once ordered Skander Bey to hang
them. The order was carried out, and in a few
moments their lifeless bodies were dangling on the
gallows.</p>

<p>If Said Pasha had taken strong measures in dealing
with some of the principal townsmen, he might have
saved El Obeid. A certain Ahmed Dafallah, a loyal
supporter of the Government, urged him to put all the
suspected people including himself in chains in the
Mudirieh; this would have disposed of Elias Pasha,
Mohammed Wad el Areik, Hajji Khaled, Ben en Naga,
and Siwar ed Dahab; and their chiefs once away, it is
probable their followers would have returned to their
former loyalty; but Said Pasha refused to accept the
proposal, and instead of trying to win over his sworn
enemy, Elias Pasha, he alienated him still further by
taking possession of his newly-built house near the
Mudirieh and handing it over to Elias's bitterest enemy,
Ahmed Dafallah, to live in, thus entirely disregarding
Elias Pasha. Now was Elias Pasha's opportunity to
revenge himself on his two adversaries, the garrison of
El Obeid was unusually weak, insignificant reinforcements
had been sent from Khartum under Mohammed
Pasha Khabir, but he also, being an enemy of the Mudir,
joined the Mahdi, as I shall narrate in the following
chapter.</p>

<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>

<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_B_2" id="Footnote_B_2"></a>
<a href="#FNanchor_B_2" class="fnlabel">[B]</a> The Gezireh or Geziret Mer&ouml;e is generally applied to the
country lying between the Blue and White Niles.</p></div>

<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_C_3" id="Footnote_C_3"></a>
<a href="#FNanchor_C_3" class="fnlabel">[C]</a> In law, the retributive chastisement which it is the duty of a
magistrate to inflict for crime and offences against morality and
religion.</p></div>
</div>
<a name="Page_22" id="Page_22"></a>

<hr class="newpg" style="width: 65%;">
<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II.</h2>

<p class="chapterhead">FATHER OHRWALDER AND HIS COMPANIONS TAKEN
CAPTIVE.</p>

<p class="chapterdescribe">The storm rises in Dar Nuba&mdash;The Baggara begin to raid&mdash;Khojur
Kakum of Delen&mdash;Mek Omar besieges Delen&mdash;The slave guard
deserts the Mission&mdash;The priests and nuns surrender&mdash;They are
sent to the Mahdi.</p>


<p style="text-indent: 0em;"><span class="firstwords">Leaving</span> the Mahdi at Birket, I shall now return to the
narration of the events which <a name="tn_png_38"></a><!--TN: "befel" changed to "befell"-->befell us in Jebel Nuba.</p>

<p>As I have already said, the first indication of a revolt
occurred in our part of the country in April 1882.
When the Mahdi had established himself at Gedir, the
slave-hunters, whose occupation had been destroyed by
the action of the <a name="tn_png_38a"></a><!--TN: "Goverment" changed to "Government"-->Government, and who were therefore
greatly incensed, were among the first to join his
banners. At that time the most notorious slave-dealer
was a certain Ismail Wad el Andok of Haboba, who took
the opportunity, when the Government was collecting
troops to attack the Mahdi, to assemble about 1,600 men
and make a slave raid on Golfan-Na&iuml;ma. He had already
burnt over a hundred houses and captured the inhabitants,
when some of the poor Nubas who had escaped, arrived
by night at Delen and urgently begged the inspector
of slaves, Roversi, for help. This, Roversi gladly promised
he would give them, but it required all his
powers of persuasion to induce Captain Mohammed
Suleiman to consent; and, indeed, there was no small
risk in advancing with only eighty men&mdash;which was all
Roversi could raise&mdash;to attack this powerful band of
robbers. However, we put our trust in God, and asked
His blessing on our humane undertaking. Roversi left
that evening, guided by the terror-stricken Nubas.<a name="Page_23" id="Page_23"></a>
Golfan-Na&iuml;ma is about ten hours' journey from Delen,
and Roversi, by making a forced march during the
night, arrived there at daybreak, and was taken by the
Nubas to a high hill, from which he could see the
enemy's entire camp without being seen, and, indeed,
so close was he that he could hear the horses neighing
and the sheep bleating. After the men had taken a
short rest, they prepared for the assault. Soon after
daybreak, Roversi gave the signal for attack by a
trumpet call; the enemy, taken completely by surprise,
thought only of flight, but the bullets coming from
every direction, gave them no time to think or look
from whence they came or how many were opposed to
them; they fled as rapidly as they could, leaving
behind them all the people and cattle they had captured,
as well as a number of their own women. Roversi's
men were soon masters of the situation, and were
welcomed by the relieved Nubas with every expression
of joy and delight; the other Nubas, who had fled to
the hills, now came down and cut off the retreat of the
Arabs. Roversi captured a large quantity of loot,
received the warmest thanks from the captives he had
rescued, and soon after he released a number of the
women whom he had taken prisoners. The large
number of cattle and sheep captured from the Arabs in
this expedition proved invaluable during the investment
of Delen, which followed shortly afterwards. The little
force now returned laden with booty of every description,
and was received by the inhabitants with every
manifestation of joy. This, however, was our last
victory.</p>

<p>I must now give a short description of Delen
before I proceed to narrate the events which occurred
there later on. Delen, situated five days' journey to
the south of El Obeid, is on one of the smallest of
the mountain ranges. Jebel Delen itself consists of
five hill summits, decreasing in height from south to
north, the highest point being scarcely 1,500 feet above
the plain. These five hills form a most picturesque
group; enormous granite blocks lie piled one over the<a name="Page_24" id="Page_24"></a>
other, and the spacious cavities thus formed serve
as haunts for panthers and other beasts of prey. The
rain, which comes down in torrents, has washed all the
soil away, leaving only the barren rocks standing in
these huge piles; far in the clefts, a sort of wild fig has
taken slender root, and, gradually shooting up, gives a
pleasant shade, and takes off from the barren aspect
which these hills would otherwise present. Of the five
hills only two are inhabited, and in all there cannot be
more than 2,000 inhabitants, who are remarkable for
their tall and graceful figures and unusual bravery. At
the foot of the northernmost hill lay our little Mission
station, while at the foot of the south-east hill was
situated the palisaded zariba of the soldiers; to the
west and north, and close to the Mission buildings,
stretched the Nuba villages, extending from the base to
the summit of the hills.</p>

<p>The second hill from the north, which is about 600
yards from the first hill, was inhabited by the Nubas
and their Khojur Kakum. Kakum was at that time a
man of about fifty years of <a name="tn_png_40"></a><!--TN: Comma added after "age"-->age, of commanding appearance,
and greatly respected by the blacks. He used to
wear wide white trousers and a gallabieh, and on his
head a nicely embroidered cap with a large tassel which
our sisters had made for him. He had passed his youth
in Alexandria as a soldier, and acquitted himself admirably
as the Khojur, not of Delen only, but also of
the neighbouring hills. Numbers of people used to
come and seek his blessing and advice, and when our
Bishop Comboni arrived at El Obeid, he was there to
beg him to send missionaries to teach his people and
make men of them. He always remained faithful and
loyal to the Government, and when our time of difficulty
and hardship came, his continual motto was, "Eed
Effendina tawileh" (<i>i.e.</i> "Our Khedive's hand is long")&mdash;that
is to say, his power is great.</p>

<p>The third mountain was occupied by a certain
Dogman, with a small following who were for the
most part inclined to Mahdiism. For the moment
this man was not dangerous, and the people on the two<a name="Page_25" id="Page_25"></a>
other hills remained loyal to us. When the whole
country was up in arms against the Government, this
honesty and devotion on the part of these poor Nubas
was a bright exception; they would even have fought
for us had it been of any use and we had deemed it
necessary.</p>

<p>The enemies we most feared were the Baggara of the
Nuba plains, who had their headquarters at Singiokai,
about six hours north of Delen. These tribesmen had
joined in the revolt from the beginning, and had cut off
our communication with El Obeid; they had organised
themselves into a corps of from 150 to 200 strong,
mounted on horses, and they frequently made incursions
on the people in the neighbourhood of Delen; they
would suddenly appear galloping at full speed, and as
suddenly disappear, destroying or seizing everything
on their path. Their raids were principally directed
against the Nubas who were working in the fields, and
on their women who were carrying water from the
wells. These robber-dervishes appeared for the first
time on the 8th of April, 1882, and a cry of alarm was
raised from the mountains, which echoed and re-echoed
it back a hundred times.</p>

<p>Every one fled to the mountains, even the cattle
instinctively made for their shelters. Some Nubas
were attacked and killed in the woods, and twelve of
the soldiers, who were out looking after the camels
grazing, were all killed, with the exception of one who
fell severely wounded in the back; all the camels were
captured. When the Baggara had disappeared, the
Nubas descended from the hills and came to the scene
of the raid. On finding the dead bodies, with weeping
and wailing they carried them back to the villages; the
women tore their hair, rolled on the ground, and put
dust on their heads. The large broad lances had made
deep gaping wounds in the unfortunate soldiers who
had fallen.</p>

<p>That night, when all was still, the widows of these
poor men went to the top of a high rock and there
sang a solemn dirge for the dead, which made a<a name="Page_26" id="Page_26"></a>
melancholy echo in the deep recesses of the hills. I
never heard a more touching lamentation for the dead.
It was as if all nature joined in sympathy with these
poor people, whose happy homes had been destroyed. I
was deeply affected, and the more so as I thought over
the cruel fate which now seemed to be hanging over our
heads.</p>

<p>Soon afterwards the Baggara appeared again, but this
time they were seen from a distance, and by a preconcerted
signal all fled to places of security, and the robbers
returned empty-handed. The Nubas now wanted to lie
in wait for the Baggara, and asked the captain commanding
the company to assist them with twenty men.
This, however, he refused to do, so we gave them twenty
rifles from the Mission, and they then prepared an
ambush for the unsuspecting Arabs, who a few days
afterwards came riding along on their tired horses.
The Nubas waited till they came quite close, and then
suddenly opened fire; fifteen of the enemy fell, and the
remainder galloped off at full speed; eight horses and
some booty fell into the hands of the Nubas, who
returned in triumph to the village, and were welcomed
with great rejoicings. It was interesting to see them
as they marched slowly along, leading their captured
horses, while the maidens of the village danced in front
of them and sang songs in honour of the braves.</p>

<p>We had now a short period of tranquillity, but soon
afterwards the Baggara renewed their attacks, and we
were in a state of constant alarm. Our information
about the Mahdi was distorted and unreliable; we had
practically no news from El Obeid, and we could only
arrive at the conclusion that the Government was
powerless, otherwise why should the Baggara attack us?</p>

<p>One evening the captain told us that he had certain
information that we were to be massacred that night;
he had heard that the Baggaras had made a compact
with the Khojur Kakum and the Nubas, and that our
destruction had been agreed upon. The alarm which
fell upon our little colony at this news can be readily
understood.<a name="Page_27" id="Page_27"></a></p>

<p>It was a very dark night, and in the distance we saw
a line of fires which we took to be the Baggara camp-fires.
As we all quite believed in the captain's information,
we prepared ourselves for defence; but as we
thought over the situation we began to wonder how it
was that Kakum, who had hitherto been our sworn
friend, and united to us by the tie of blood-brotherhood,
should suddenly join with his bitterest enemies,
the Baggara, to compass our destruction; then, if the
news were false, why should we spend a night of
anguish?</p>

<p>After some deliberation, Father Bonomi decided to
ascertain the true state of affairs, and taking with him
two boys and a lantern, he set off to see the Khojur
himself. Full of anxious thoughts, we watched the
light as it moved on towards the gap in the hills; at
length it reached the base, and then began slowly
ascending. An ominous silence pervaded the whole
place, which was unusual, for the Nubas love gossiping
till a late hour at night. Still we kept our eyes fixed
on the light, which eventually disappeared. How
anxiously we awaited its reappearance! Should the
Khojur intend treachery, we knew we should not see
Bonomi again. How slowly the time passed! But at
length the light reappeared, and began to descend the
hill. We breathed again; after all we should not lose
our Father Bonomi.</p>

<p>In a few minutes he was with us again, and with a
cheery laugh told us how the captain's information was
all wrong, and how angry the Khojur was that we should
ever have doubted him. I thereupon hastened to the
soldiers' quarters, to reassure the poor captain. Mohammed
Suleiman was really a good man, but he was
too old and unfitted for his position. Although it was
midnight, he and Roversi returned with me to the
Mission, and there he related how one of his female
slaves, who had a slight knowledge of the Nuba
language, had gone to the Khojur to grind some dhurra,
and had overheard him talking secretly with some of the
Nubas; then some of them had got angry, and, standing<a name="Page_28" id="Page_28"></a>
up, beat the ground with their spears. This, the woman
concluded, must mean an oath that we should be destroyed.
As for the rest of the story, it was entirely the
woman's invention. Everything was now explained,
and our fear gave way to cheerful conversation, which
we continued till dawn, when the ringing of the "ave"
bell awakened the echoes of the black mountains of
Delen.</p>

<p>At sunrise the Khojur arrived, accompanied by a
number of followers and many influential Nubas. Not
content with his declaration of fidelity made the
previous night, the good man had come down to give us
his solemn oath that, far from fighting against us, he
and his men were ready to fight and die for us. In a
grave speech, full of earnest fervour, he assured us of his
and of the Nubas' friendship. We, on the other hand,
felt certain of his loyalty, and we pledged the success
of our compact in a bottle of wine, which our good
friend the Khojur greatly enjoyed.</p>

<p>We lived in this state of uncertainty and fear for
upwards of five months, not knowing what the next
day would bring forth; we were entirely cut off from
the rest of the world, and our peaceful work and occupations
were all disturbed. We now no longer dared to
expose ourselves on the plains, but confined ourselves to
the hills, where we sometimes hunted the koodoo. On
one occasion, when we went to the Dogman mountain,
our suspicions were aroused by the way in which the
people gathered round us, and showed a curious desire
to examine our arms. As we were returning, the
former sheikh of this district&mdash;a man named Isa&mdash;warned
us not to come to the mountain again, as some
of the men intended to kill us, and would have done so
had they not been afraid of our arms. Roversi's rifle
had a magazine for sixteen cartridges.</p>

<p>Early in September our position became very critical.
The Mahdi, having quitted Gedir, had advanced into
Kordofan; his adherents gathered round him at Birket
from all directions, and from here he despatched a certain
Mek Omar with letters and a small band of followers to<a name="Page_29" id="Page_29"></a>
take possession of Delen. Mek Omar arrived, and encamped
on the hill with his friend Dogman, and planting
his standard, he beat his war-drum incessantly, day and
night. He then sent us a letter saying that the Mahdi
had captured El Obeid, and that all the inhabitants had
joined him, with the exception of Mohammed Said Pasha
and a few soldiers who still held out in the Mudirieh
buildings; at the same time Omar urged us to submit,
as resistance was useless. The fact that Omar, with only
fifty men, possibly less, had the audacity to pitch his
camp under our very eyes, rather induced us to believe
in the truth of his assertions. Roversi, however, determined
to attack him, but was dissuaded from doing so
by the captain.</p>

<p>We then held a council to consider what would be
the best course to follow. After much deliberation
(which is always the case in dealing with Arabs) it
was unanimously decided to attempt a flight to Fashoda.
The Nubas also, who offered us their services as guides,
advised us to take this course. It is very probable
we should have <a name="tn_png_45"></a><!--TN: "succeded" change to "succeeded"-->succeeded in this attempt, as almost
all the Arabs who wanted to fight had followed the
Mahdi to El Obeid, in anticipation of the booty which
they thought would so soon be theirs.</p>

<p>The route to Fashoda lay far to the south of the
scene of present operations, and with the eighty
Remingtons of the soldiers, and our thirty good
rifles, we felt confident that we should be able to make
our way thither. It was therefore decided that we
should start off very quietly in the dead of night.
Every one made up a small bundle of the few things he
wished to take, which would be required on the journey,
either as presents or to buy or offer in exchange for
food. We also had a sufficient number of camels,
mules, and donkeys for the sisters and sick, and we
had made up into bundles all that we required; we
gave the rest of our things to the Nubas, so that
nothing should fall into Mek Omar's hands. The
Nubas gave us every possible assistance, and through
the darkness we could see them moving about like<a name="Page_30" id="Page_30"></a>
ghosts amongst the black rocks, laden with every
imaginable thing.</p>

<p>At midnight we quitted the Mission and made our way
to the soldiers' zariba, hoping that we should find them
all ready to start; but instead we found them all in
bed, the captain had given no orders to prepare, and
Roversi's influence was gone. We tried in various ways
to induce the captain to give orders, but he merely
answered that he was waiting till he received a reply
from Mek Omar, to whom he had written. Getting
impatient, he sent a trustworthy man to Omar, who
never returned. It was now nearly sunrise, and all our
efforts to move the captain were unavailing. Then the
Khedivial National Anthem, which was always blown
at reveille, was sounded, but was smothered by the
deafening rattle of the noggaras; it was, as it were, a
mockery, showing that the light of civilisation was
about to be extinguished by the barbaric hordes of
Jebel Nuba. In the meantime the soldiers had got
ready of their own accord, and declared themselves
willing to undergo any fatigue, and, if needs be, die
for us; but the fear and irresolution shown by their
captain unnerved them, and as the sun rose they
one by one left the camp and submitted to Mek Omar.
A very few only stayed with Roversi; and when the
captain quitted the zariba, these too went over to the
enemy.</p>

<p>Thus were we left quite alone&mdash;a party of some 200
persons, of whom the greater number were women and
children. Flight was now out of the question; there was
nothing left for us but to return to our homes. We did
so; but what a sight met our eyes! The Nubas had
carried off everything. With heavy hearts we returned
to the rooms of the Mission; here everything was
wrecked and ruined; what the Nubas had thought of
no use to themselves they had smashed to pieces.
Roversi, who had always been most loyal and true to
us, now went to Mek Omar to arrange for his own
safety. When the first bitterness of feeling had passed
off, we discussed the next step to be taken; there was<a name="Page_31" id="Page_31"></a>
absolutely nothing left in the station, and we had not a
mouthful of food left.</p>

<p>I then went, in company with Bonomi, to Mek
Omar. This former slave-dealer&mdash;a short, crippled, and
dirty old Takruri, who had been well known to us
a long time ago&mdash;received us in a friendly manner. He
had coffee brought to us, and related the great bravery
of the Mahdi, and then concluded with the following
words: "I know that you will not turn Mohammedans,
you must therefore understand that your property and
slaves are no longer your own; at the same time I will
give you a letter to the Mahdi regarding your
situation." Hard as these conditions were, we had no
alternative but to accept; and when our conference was
over, our arms were taken from us, and all our blacks,
for whose welfare so many lives had been sacrificed and
such trouble expended, were suddenly lost to us at one
fell stroke. We then returned to the Mission, where we
spent the night alone and on our knees.</p>

<p>These events took place on the 14th of September,
1882. On the morning of the 15th of September we
rang for the last time the ave-bell for Heaven knows
how many years. At noon Mek Omar arrived with his
followers, and, chanting the Mohammedan creed, he
first entered the church, and there we had the agony
of beholding with our own eyes its destruction. Our
blacks were taken over by Omar's troops, and attached
to the Government soldiers. Omar thought that he
would find some treasure, but here he was mistaken, for
we had hidden the little money we had to meet our
future wants; and as we had been cut off from El
Obeid for seven months, we had consumed all our
reserve stores; for the fourteen days previous to this
we had not even any salt to mix with our food.</p>

<p>We had to stay on at Delen for three long days,
awaiting Omar's pleasure to allow us to proceed. It was
pitiable to see the cruel and brutal way in which our
poor blacks were treated by Omar's followers. Before
leaving we paid Khojur Kakum a visit; the poor man
was filled with pity for us, and more especially for the<a name="Page_32" id="Page_32"></a>
sisters; he longed to stay with us, and, bitterly weeping,
bade us farewell. He also fully expected to meet a
tragic fate. We finally left our beloved Nuba hills on
the 18th of September, and after endless trouble succeeded
in procuring from Mek Omar four animals on
which the sisters could ride. Father Bonomi, myself,
and two lay brothers took it in turns to walk and ride.
Our mounts consisted of a camel, a mule, and two
donkeys. Mek Omar placed us in charge of his son
Naser and a party of Arabs; several of the Nubas accompanied
us for some distance, and as we passed
Kakum's hill, we could see the poor man standing up
and stretching out his hands towards us as a last farewell.
Many of our young blacks also followed us, but
were forced by their new masters to turn back. Our
departure caused us pangs of grief which pierced us to
the very core.</p>

<p>In the evening we reached a small hill called Kudru, at
the base of which there was a well, and here we encamped
for the night. Here also the Nubas came down from
the rocks to greet us. We left the next morning, and
our road now lay through the great grass plains. At
this season of the year, besides the rain, there is always
a very heavy dew which wetted us to the skin, besides
we often had to ford streams up to our necks, and
emerging with dripping clothes, to continue our march.
We knew that this was sure to bring on fever and
diarrh[oe]a, and so, indeed, it proved, shortly after our
arrival at El Obeid.</p>

<p>At length we reached Singiokai, the head-quarters
of the Baggara, and we found numbers of nomad
Arabs living in tents. On our arrival, every one, old
and young, hastened to look at us, and gaze on the
hated captured Christians. This inquisitive and motley
crowd derided us and heaped insults upon us; the ugly
old women, whom one could only compare with hyenas,
were perhaps the most bitter in their disgraceful taunts.
We stayed here one day, and then continued our
journey. Whenever we came to a village we were subjected
to the rudest treatment, and had we not been<a name="Page_33" id="Page_33"></a>
guarded by our escort, we must have inevitably been
killed. We were constantly searched, in the hope that
money would be found on us. When we got near El
Obeid, Naser put us into a hut, where we were told to
remain until he should see the Mahdi, and ascertain
from him his instructions regarding us. We gathered
from what he said that he was going to find out
whether we should be killed where we were, or brought
first before the Mahdi. Thus Naser left us under strict
guard.</p>


<a name="Page_34" id="Page_34"></a>
<hr class="newpg" style="width: 65%;">
<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III.</h2>

<p class="chapterhead">THE MISSIONARIES AND THE MAHDI.</p>

<p class="chapterdescribe">Description of El Obeid&mdash;Said Pasha's system of defence&mdash;The
Mahdi's followers encircle the town&mdash;Townspeople desert to the
Mahdi&mdash;Unsuccessful attack on Government buildings&mdash;Dervishes
driven off with loss of 10,000 men&mdash;The missionaries
brought before the Mahdi&mdash;Threatened with death&mdash;Preparations
for the execution&mdash;Reprieved at the last moment&mdash;The
Mahdi's camp described&mdash;Death of some of the missionaries&mdash;Illness
of remainder.</p>


<p style="text-indent: 0em;"><span class="firstwords">During</span> our stay in the hut we were told how the inhabitants
of El Obeid had joined the Mahdi, and that
only the garrison held out; but I will here narrate what
had actually occurred.</p>

<p>We left the Mahdi last at Birket, while his three messengers
had been hanged in El Obeid. He left Birket
on the 4th of September, and encamped at Kaba, a
place a few hours' journey from El Obeid. El Obeid is
situated in the midst of a vast plain, which in the hot
weather is just like a desert. Here and there a few
Adansonia trees, transported from Khartum, break the
monotony of this dreary scene which is bounded on the
south-east by the Kordofan mountains; at a distance of
about five kilometres to the north rises the cone-shaped
hill known as Korbatsh, while to the north-west appears
the small Om Herezeh mountain. El Obeid lies in a
sort of hollow in the plain; consequently during the
winter-time the wells become full of water, and serve as
a sufficient supply for the whole year.</p>

<p>Since the Egyptian occupation of the Sudan, El Obeid
had become a town of some importance, but the houses
were for the most part built of mud, with the exception
of the Government buildings, which were constructed<a name="Page_35" id="Page_35"></a>
of sun-dried bricks. The entrance to these buildings
was through a lofty archway, over which a
second story had been raised, thus making it a most
conspicuous object, and one which could be seen
from a considerable distance. El Obeid, at the time
of which I speak, was an important and flourishing
city, with a population of about 100,000 souls. It was
noted principally for its gum, the best quality of which
was known by the name of Kordofan gum. The largest
quantities came from Tayara and Dar Homr, where the
gum trees were planted in large gardens regularly laid
out. Thousands of camels were engaged in the transport
of this valuable commodity to Shatt on the White
Nile, to Omdurman, and to Dongola. Ostrich feathers
also formed another important article of commerce. At
Dar Homr there are numbers of ostrich farms, the
animals being kept in large zaribas; but as an article
of trade, the feathers of the wild ostriches are more
valuable than those of the domestic animal. Ostrich
feathers are always sold by weight. Other exports from
Kordofan are tamarinds, senna, and the skins of animals.
Iron is also found in Kordofan; and one day, when we
were digging out a well at Delen, we came across quicksilver.</p>

<p>El Obeid was also the supply dep&ocirc;t for Darfur,
Shakka, and Dar Nuba, and thus became an important
trade centre. Numbers of rich merchants lived here,
such as Elias Pasha, Omberer, Hajji Mohammed Ben en
Naga, Ahmed Bey Dafallah (who owned thousands of
slaves), Mohammed Wad el Areik, Hajji Khaled, Ibrahim
wad Adlan, besides numbers of Copts and Egyptians.
Several of the principal mercantile houses in Cairo also
had their agents&mdash;Syrians, Greeks, and Jews&mdash;in El
Obeid. Kordofan was also rich in cattle. The Kababish,
Dar Homr, Beni Jerrar, and Dar Hamed Arabs
possessed large numbers of she-camels. These animals
are always kept in the deserts, and are retained exclusively
for breeding purposes. Quantities of the young
camels are killed, and their flesh, which is preferred to
any other kind of meat in the Sudan, is considered a<a name="Page_36" id="Page_36"></a>
great luxury, and is generally eaten uncooked. Corn is
largely grown in Kordofan, also sesame, which is preferred
to that grown on the White Nile; large white
water-melons are also grown in abundance. It may
therefore be understood why Kordofan was the richest
province in the Sudan and brought in the largest
revenue to Government.</p>

<p>The whole of this rich country was now in the hands
of the Mahdi, with the exception of El Obeid, which was
destined soon to be the scene of bloodshed and fanatical
warfare between people of the same race and religion.
The Arabs of various tribes, who in peace time had
brought their goods to El Obeid to barter and exchange,
were now clamouring for the destruction of the town
and the slaughter of its inmates. As I have already
related, Said Pasha had completely surrounded the
town by a ditch and parapet; but as this would require
such an enormous number of men to defend it, and
knowing that he could place little reliance on the inhabitants,
he had strongly entrenched the Mudirieh and
Government buildings, and at the same time put into
a state of defence the barracks, officers and officials'
houses, and those of the Greek and Syrian <a name="tn_png_52"></a><!--TN: Comma changed to period after "merchants"-->merchants.
The members of our Mission station left their house and
pretty church, and hired rooms within the fortifications;
the loyal citizens and merchants followed their example,
while the remainder of the inhabitants continued to live
in the town, and conspired with the Mahdi. On the 7th
of December, that is to say, the day on which the Mahdi
arrived at Kaba, the whole of these inhabitants quitted
the town and joined him in his camp. The wealthy
merchants had for long been in communication with the
Mahdi, others joined him because they were worked up
to a pitch of wild fanaticism; some feared to disobey
the summons, for they could see how weak were the
Government troops and how successful the Mahdi had
been. Amongst the deserters to the Mahdi's side were
Mohammed Khabir Pasha of Darfur, and a number of
irregular troops who had been despatched from Khartum
as reinforcements for El Obeid.<a name="Page_37" id="Page_37"></a></p>

<p>Thus by various means the Mahdi's force now numbered
upwards of 30,000 fighting men, and with such
an army as that it seemed to him a very easy matter
to subdue Said Pasha and his meagre garrison. The
Mahdi further incited his people to fight by assuring
them that the gates of paradise were open to all those
martyrs who should fall, and that each of them should
be attended by forty lovely houris when they entered
its portals. He also roused their feelings of cupidity by
representing, in the most exaggerated terms, the value
of the treasure locked up within the Mudirieh, and told
them that victory was assured, for God and his Prophet
had decreed that they should annihilate their enemies
with simple sticks; this he said because he knew that
only a few of his followers had firearms. Having thus
raised them to a pitch of the wildest excitement, he
advanced from Kaba.</p>

<p>In the meantime the Mudir, seeing that he could not
rely on the inhabitants, did all in his power to improve
the fortifications, and awaited the assault of the enemy.
At daybreak the hordes appeared on the rising ground
near El Obeid; the defenders heard only the dull roar
caused by the mass of voices in the distance, but the
clouds of dust prevented them seeing anything; it was
only when the fitful gusts of wind blew away the dust
that the thousands of horsemen could be seen galloping
wildly about and then disappearing again behind the
dust. But the noise like approaching thunder became
every instant more audible, and soon above the clouds
of sand the myriads of flags and banners became visible.
Fiki Minneh, with about 10,000 men, approached from
the east, whilst the Mahdi's attack was directed on the
south-west end of the town. The first ditch was soon
crossed, and then the Mahdiists spread out and completely
encircled the town; masses of wild fanatics
rolled like waves through the deserted streets; they did
not advance through these alone, but hurrying on from
house to house, wall to wall, and yard to yard, they
reached the ditch of the Mudirieh, and like a torrent
suddenly let loose, regardless of every obstacle, with<a name="Page_38" id="Page_38"></a>
wild shouts they dashed across it and up the ramparts,
from which the din of a thousand rifles and the booming
of the guns suddenly burst forth; but these wild hordes,
utterly fearless of death, cared neither for the deadly
Remington nor the thunder of the guns, and still swept
forward in ever-increasing numbers.</p>

<p>The poor garrison, utterly powerless to resist such an
assault, ran to the tops of the houses and kept up an incessant
fire on the masses, which now formed such a crowd
that they could scarcely move&mdash;indeed the barrels of
the rifles from the rapidity of the fire became almost red-hot;
and soon the streets and open spaces became literally
choked with the bodies of those who had fallen. There was
a momentary pause, and Ali Bey Sherif, seizing this opportunity,
collected a party of men and dashed towards
the magazine, where a fierce conflict was going on between
the guard and the Dervishes. The latter had already
become masters of the situation when Ali Bey suddenly
appeared on the scene, and firing on the mass, whether
friend or foe, he drove the Mahdiists back over the
ditch, and then formed up in the breach ready to repel
any further attempt to break in.</p>

<p>Meanwhile Said Pasha was heavily engaged in front
of the Mudirieh. Here an emir named Wad Gubara
broke in, and shouting, "Death to the Turks, those
dogs and swine!" he dashed forward at the head of
his men, but the determined resistance of the Mudir
forced them to retire back across the ditch. Ahmed
Dufallah defended that part of the line which was
assaulted by Ibrahim Wad Abdullah, an emir who had
gained great celebrity amongst the Dervishes. This
brave Arab attacked again and again, hoping that the
bodies of those who fell would soon fill up the ditch and
make a passage which he could cross, but his attempt
failed, and he too was forced to retire.</p>

<p>The Mahdi all this time was watching at a safe distance,
and kept on ordering the assault to continue; but it was
impossible to stand up against the well-directed fire from
the defences, and consequently towards the afternoon he
was forced to retire. The gallant little garrison seeing<a name="Page_39" id="Page_39"></a>
this, could not be restrained, and dashing out over the
heaps of slain they made a fierce onslaught on the houses
in the town, which were filled with Dervishes in search of
loot. In their fury they killed all who came in their
way, and perhaps they may be excused, for they were
in a state of the wildest excitement, occasioned by this
fearful scene of bloodshed.</p>

<p>It was impossible not to admire the reckless bravery
of these fanatics who, dancing and shouting, rushed up
to the very muzzles of the rifles with nothing but
a knotty stick in their hands, only to fall dead one
over the other. Numbers of them carried large
bundles of dhurra stalk, which they threw into the
ditch, hoping to fill it up and then cross over. When
the town was cleared, the victorious troops had a
great feast and general rejoicing. Amongst the dead
bodies of the Dervishes were found a near relative of
the Mahdi's named Said Mohammed, also Wad Gubara;
the latter was a Turk who, with his two brothers, had
joined the Mahdi at Gedir; he was one of the fiercest
of the emirs. He had fought with the greatest pertinacity
in front of the Mudirieh, and, mounted on a
horse, he was urging on his followers; but the soldiers,
noticing his fair face, persistently aimed at him, and at
length he and his horse fell on the top of a heap of dead
bodies. When the soldiers subsequently found his
body, they were so annoyed that a Turk should have
joined the Mahdi that they cut off his head and hacked
his body to pieces.</p>

<p>Whilst the soldiers were clearing out the enemy
from the houses, the Mahdi was retiring on Kaba with
a loss of 10,000 men. Said Pasha then held a
council to consider whether they should pursue; but
he himself was against pursuit, for he thought that
possibly Fiki Minneh might then fall on the defenceless
town; besides, in all he had not more than 3,000 men.
As for the Mahdi, he and his principal emirs were greatly
alarmed, and it is very probable that if they had been
pursued, the result would have been a complete victory
for Said Pasha. As it was, the Mahdi was on the point<a name="Page_40" id="Page_40"></a>
of retreating to the mountains, and would have done
so had not the inhabitants of El Obeid, who still
thought of their houses and property, dissuaded him.
The latter still urged him to continue the siege,
consequently on the following day he took up a
position on a hill called Gianzara, about two kilometres
distant to the north-west of the town, and only one
kilometre distant from the Oshra Well (so called from
the oshra or euphorbia which grows in quantities in
the vicinity). Fiki Minneh established himself to the
north-west of the town, and soon it was more closely
invested than ever; from that date nothing came in
and nothing went out of the doomed city.</p>

<p>We had spent one day in the hut, and had learnt all
the details about the Mahdi's attack on the town, when
a messenger sent by Naser arrived, and ordered us to
move on to the Mahdi's camp, as it was his gracious
intention to permit us to look upon his face. Shortly
after we had set out, we met Naser returning, accompanied
by a party of Dervishes.</p>

<p>As we approached El Obeid, the rattle of the rifles,
broken every now and then by the boom of a gun, became
more and more audible. We were halted under a large
Adansonia tree and ordered to rest, but we had scarcely
laid down when we were suddenly attacked by Naser and
his party, who seized our watches and other valuables,
and then stripped off our clothes; they even attempted
to remove the veils and outer garments of the sisters, but
to this we forcibly objected, and seizing sticks tried to
drive them off. At length these wretched thieves,
ashamed of the unequal contest, drew off, and Naser
ordered our clothes to be returned; but my suit, in
which I had stitched thirty dollars, was not given back
to me, and I was reduced to appearing before the Mahdi
in a shirt and drawers! Our escort having satisfied
their cupidity, now mounted our donkeys, and we were
obliged to walk; the burning sun beat down on our
heads, and the heated ground and heavy sand made our
progress intensely laborious.</p>

<p>As we approached the camp, at every step the crowd<a name="Page_41" id="Page_41"></a>
grew denser. El Obeid was now visible a short way off,
and the sight of the houses and trees was a pleasant
break in the monotony of this desolate wilderness. The
continuous rattle of the bullets, interrupted by the
thunder of the cannon, was an indication that a brisk
engagement was going on. As we entered the camp, the
crowd was so enormous that we were almost choked with
the dust that was raised, and soon became thoroughly
exhausted. Our brother Mariani, who was sick at the
time we left Delen, could keep up no longer, and we
were obliged to almost carry him along.</p>

<p>The fanatics now completely surrounded us, and kept
on threatening us with their lances, clubs, and sticks.
Naser himself, seeing some of the very excited Dervishes
pointing their lances at our breasts, greatly feared for our
safety, and it seemed to us that there was now not the
slightest doubt that they intended to kill us. He therefore
ordered our escort to draw their swords and form a
square, in the centre of which we walked. The exertions
of the last few days, the heat, the yelling of the crowd,
the monotonous chants of the Dervishes, and finally
the din of this enormous camp of over 100,000 men,
exclusive of women and children, reacted on us to such
an extent that we were well-nigh speechless. Slowly
we made our way towards the centre of the camp where
the great Dervish, Mohammed Ahmed, had pitched
his tent.</p>

<p>We were taken, in the first instance, to the hut of the
Khalifa Sherif. Here we found a lad of twelve or
thirteen years of age, lying half-naked on a bedstead,
who invited us to come into the shade and rest ourselves,
at the same time he drove off with his whip the
inquisitive crowd that kept pressing in to look at us.
He gave us some water to drink, but we were so utterly
weary and exhausted that we could not swallow it for
some time, and the heat and dust had literally glued
our tongues, so that we were unable to articulate. We
were allowed to rest for a short time, as the Mahdi had
not risen from his noonday sleep, and this brief
respite enabled us to collect our thoughts, which the<a name="Page_42" id="Page_42"></a>
events of the last few days and the uproar of the camp
had caused to wander sadly.</p>

<p>At length an order came that the <a name="tn_png_58"></a><!--TN: "Madhi" changed to "Mahdi"-->Mahdi was up and
wished to see us. We were then taken to a small hut,
which had two sides open, through which a cool breeze
blew in; close to the hut one of the tents captured from
Yusef Pasha Shellali had been pitched, and as we arrived
the Mahdi came out of the tent and seated himself, in
Arabic fashion, on a straw mat spread on the floor of the
hut. He greeted us kindly, and asked us about our
nationality and our object in coming to the Sudan,
also whether we had ever heard anything about the
Mahdi, he then briefly explained to us the nature of his
divine message, and recounted his great victories over
"the enemies of God and His Prophet," by which name
he designated the Turks.</p>

<p>Seeing that we were utterly exhausted, he offered
us some kamar-ed-din (dried apricots) mixed with
water, but almost before we could put it to our
mouths it was full of flies. In the meantime a certain
George Stambuli, who had joined the rebels with the
other inhabitants of El Obeid, came in, and through him
the Mahdi endeavoured to place before us the great
advantage of the Islam religion. The Mahdi himself
never asked us to adopt the Moslem faith, because he
feared that we should answer in the negative. He then
stretched himself out on the mat as if he were preparing
to behold a vision.</p>

<p>Mohammed Ahmed was a powerfully built man, of
dark-brown complexion and carefully kept skin; he
had a pleasant smile, which showed to advantage
the curious slit between his front teeth. By constant
training he had acquired a gentle manner in speaking,
and with these exceptions there was nothing unusual in
his appearance. He wore a dirty jibbeh, on which parti-coloured
strips of cotton had been sewn; on his head
the white skull cap or "takia," round which a broad
white turban was bound; he also wore a pair of loose
drawers and sandals.</p>

<p>After he had lain for some time with closed eyes, he<a name="Page_43" id="Page_43"></a>
rose and offered us some more kamar-ed-din, from which
he himself began to take out the flies; but finding it
absolutely useless to do so, he gave it up, and then went
back to his tent, probably to hold a council. After a
short time he again returned, wearing a clean jibbeh
patched with pieces of the vestments belonging to our
Mission church at El Obeid. He then began to recount
to us the history of the numerous conversions which had
taken place in the early days of the Prophet. Seeing
that we took little interest in what he said, he got up
and ordered us to be taken before the Khalifa Abdullah
(the present ruler of the Sudan), while he himself retired
to his own tent.</p>

<p>On our arrival at Abdullah's hut, we found ourselves
in company with twenty robbers who were
chained hand and foot. An enormous crowd stood
round, and amongst the faces I noticed some of our
Delen friends, who had evidently followed us to see
what the end would be. Our guard, armed with
Remington rifles, stood around us, and close to us was
the Khalifa Abdullah's horse, which always remained
saddled&mdash;a witness to his unbounded energy. A short
distance off, about eighty flags were planted in the
ground, and beside them were the war-drums. Hardly
had we seated ourselves when the Khalifa Abdullah
entered. He was at that time a man of about thirty-three
years of age, of middle height, very thin&mdash;in fact,
little else but skin and bone; he greeted us kindly, and
invited us to become Moslems. From his bombastic
conversation, we soon saw that he was a man of no
education whatever, and he ended up by saying that if
we refused to obey we had only death to expect. We
were then marched off.</p>

<p>On the evening of the 27th of September, when George
Stambuli came to tell us that if we did not embrace
Islam, we should most certainly die, we gave him no
hope that we should change our minds. The Mahdi
frequently sent people to teach us the truths of religion,
but we soon tired of their nonsensical chattering, and
Father Bonomi used to send them away with strong<a name="Page_44" id="Page_44"></a>
words. Shortly afterwards Abdullah came again,
bringing a water-melon with him, and in default of
a knife he broke it on the ground; but we refused to
take any. Greatly annoyed at this, he went off in a
rage, saying that we should be beheaded the following
morning.</p>

<p>At midnight Stambuli came to us again, to say that
he had offered a considerable sum for our ransom,
but that the Mahdi had refused to accept it. We
therefore gave him the few dollars we had left, and
asked him to come and see us the following morning,
which he promised to do. We employed our few
remaining hours in preparation for death. The terrors
and alarms which we had undergone for the last five
months were over at last; in the midst of our sufferings
the thought of death, which should soon take us out of
the hands of these barbarians, was a comfort to us. A
deep quiet had now settled down over the camp, which
was only occasionally broken by the clank of the
prisoners' chains.</p>

<p>Just before dawn a wonderful comet appeared in the
east; its golden tail seemed to project about ten feet
into the blue firmament, and was a most striking sight.
It brought back to our minds the star in the east which
stood over the manger at Bethlehem. The Arabs called
it "Nigmet el Mahdi" (the Mahdi's star).</p>

<p>According to Sudan superstition, the appearance of a
comet is supposed to forebode evil, and, indeed, what
catastrophe could have been greater than that which was
now impending over the Sudan? The sudden clang of
the war-drum startled me from the meditations which the
appearance of that strange comet had produced. The
beating of the drums and the blast of the great ivory
horn (onbe&iuml;a) was the signal for the "Ardeh-Kebir," or
grand review, and I now had to bethink me of my own
affairs and let the star pursue its way in the heavens.</p>

<p>The emirs' war-drums now took up the signal, and
soon people were rushing from all directions towards their
particular flags, which were planted to the east of El
Obeid. Stambuli again appeared and announced to us<a name="Page_45" id="Page_45"></a>
that our sufferings were nearly over. We gave him a
small piece of paper on which we had written our last
farewells to our own loved ones at home, and had signed
our names. This we begged him to send on when an
opportunity occurred. Weeping bitterly, he took the
paper and went to his hut, saying he could not bear to
look on at our execution.</p>

<p>We were now all ready, and at about nine o'clock a
party of thirty men armed with lances arrived and
ordered us to follow them. We were still suffering from
fatigue, but we got up and followed. After about half
an hour's walk we arrived before the Dervish hosts, and
thanked God that victory was now so near. About
40,000 men were standing on parade, and thousands of
others were moving about the camp like ants. We were
taken to a central position and ordered to bend our
necks to receive the death-blow, and without the smallest
hesitation we did so. But our hour had not yet come.
We were summoned before the Mahdi, who was riding on
a magnificent white camel; behind him rode a slave
carrying an umbrella to shade him from the sun's
rays. As we approached, he turned round to us and
said, "May God lead you into the way of truth," and
then rode on.</p>

<p>The troops were now dismissed, and we were immediately
surrounded by a turbulent crowd, who
threatened to crush us to death; but the Mahdi, seeing
us in danger, turned back, and ordered us to walk in
front of his camel for protection. We did so, but were
too weary to keep up, and then the Mahdi gave orders,
which we could not understand, to a number of different
emirs; the latter ordered us to halt until the
great rush of people had passed, then they formed a
square and asked each one of us separately whether we
agreed to become Moslems or would prefer to suffer
death. Each one of us answered resolutely&mdash;death!
Then, full of anger, we were forced on&mdash;exhausted and
covered from head to foot with dust&mdash;till we reached
the Mahdi's hut. Having arrived there he said, "Have
you not seen my army?" and then he began to boast of<a name="Page_46" id="Page_46"></a>
the number of his followers and their great bravery.
We said nothing. He then went off, and we were taken
back to Khalifa Abdullah's hut.</p>

<p>A council was now held to consider our fate; the
majority were for killing us, but a certain Hajji Khaled&mdash;now
an emir in Omdurman&mdash;pointed out that,
according to the Moslem law, it was not lawful to kill
priests who had not offered any armed resistance,
and who were, moreover, captives. His view of
the case was accepted, and we were handed over to
George Stambuli, who was made responsible for us.
We then left Abdullah's hut, and proceeded to Stambuli's,
which was barely large enough for himself and
his family, so we were obliged to take up our quarters
outside in the open, where we remained for fifteen days,
exposed to the continual insults of the Arabs, until we
were able to build a hut for ourselves. We were now
able to take a survey of this gigantic camp. From the
sandhill Gianzara almost up to the base of the Om
Herezeh mountain, was one mass of small huts, these
were merely enclosures made of branches of euphorbia
and (sorghum) dhurra stalks, just sufficient to keep
off the burning rays of the sun. Here and there a
white tent indicated the headquarters of some important
emir. Fiki Minneh's camp adjoined that of
Gianzara, and extended from Fulla (a small pond which
runs dry in the summer months), up to the base of Om
Herezeh. The huts were built so close to each other
that constant fires took place, which spread rapidly, and
caused great destruction.</p>

<p>This enormous camp presented a wonderful spectacle,
more especially at night, when almost every one had his
own cooking fire, and the whole plain resembled a sea of
fires which were lost in the distant horizon. The din
and noise created by hundreds of thousands of men,
women, and children, can be better imagined than
described. Every emir's<a name="FNanchor_D_4" id="FNanchor_D_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_D_4" class="fnanchor">[D]</a> dwelling was known by two<a name="Page_47" id="Page_47"></a>
flags which were always planted near the entrance, and
beside them lay the war-drums, which were beaten day
and night, almost without intermission. Besides all
this, the neighing of thousands of horses rendered the
din still more unbearable. The whole air was infected
with the most sickening stench; but to these wretched
people, pure or impure air makes no difference; they do
not mind. All the filth was piled behind the huts,
dead donkeys lay about unburied; no attempt was
made to keep the place clean, and all this huge mass of
people lived in the midst of an ever-increasing heap of
rotting impurities. A daily market was held, and the
people laid their goods on the ground, sheltering themselves
under a strip of cloth, known as "Farda,"
stretched on the points of lances, the bases of which were
stuck in the ground. El Obeid was close by, the great
arched gate of the Mudirieh towered above the other
houses of the town, and over it floated the red Egyptian
flag, which was hoisted every Friday. Some of the Dervishes
used to conceal themselves in the deserted houses
of the town and fire at the fort, while others pulled down
the roofs and walls and dragged away the beams to the
camp, and there cut them up for firewood. Our church,
which was covered with galvanised iron plates, was
completely destroyed; even the mosque was not
spared. There was a busy scene day and night at
the Oshra well; here thousands of male and female
slaves drew water, and frequent quarrels and fights
took place.</p>

<p>All this change of scene made a deep impression on
me; the strain of the last few days, the tiring journey
from Delen to El Obeid, the continual uncertainty as to
our fate, anguish, fear, din, tumult, bad food, had already
considerably affected our health, and now that we were
at rest, and that the Arabs had ceased to molest us, the
re-action came, and we fell a prey to disease. The
infected atmosphere of El Buka&mdash;as the Mahdi's camp
is always called&mdash;brought on a burning fever and
constant diarrh[oe]a. Besides all this, when confined with
the robbers in Abdullah's house, we had become covered<a name="Page_48" id="Page_48"></a>
with horrible vermin; it was impossible to get rid of them&mdash;they
seemed to increase daily. We had no clothes to
change, and as we had scarcely enough water to drink,
washing was out of the question. With a feeling of
utter despair we lay helpless and comfortless on the
floor of that miserable black hut. Our maladies became
worse, and ere a month had passed, three of our number
were dead. Sister Eulalia Pesavento, of Verona, died of
fever on the 28th of October; carpenter Gabriel Mariani
died of dysentery on the 31st of the same month, and
sister Amelia Andreis died on the 7th of November,
while we four who still remained, hovering between life
and death, lay helplessly side by side with our dead
brothers and sisters. It was a terrible exertion to us
to sew the corpses in mats and drag them to the door
of the hut. At length some slaves&mdash;much against their
will, and on the promise of good pay&mdash;removed the
already decaying bodies, and buried them in shallow
pits, which they covered up with sand. No one lent
a hand to bury these "Christian dogs," as we were
called. It was a terrible grief to us not to accompany
our poor companions in adversity to the grave,
but we were all too ill to move, and so they were
carried away to their last resting-place without prayer
or chant; and even to this day I cannot tell if the
slaves really buried them, or merely dragged the
bodies beyond the huts, and left them lying there on
the ground.</p>

<p>The condition of us miserable wretches who were still
alive is beyond description; we envied our companions,
who were now beyond the reach of human suffering;
but our hour had not yet come. Towards the end of
November we were somewhat recovered, but our lives
seemed to have been spared only to behold more
terrible sights and sufferings than we had previously
undergone.</p>

<p>Meanwhile, more of our companions in adversity had
arrived from Dar Nuba. Shortly after we had been
made over to Stambuli, Roversi came, and was interviewed
by the Mahdi, who received him well, and<a name="Page_49" id="Page_49"></a>
presented him with a horse. Roversi recounted to us
the story of his misfortunes; during his journey from
Delen to El Obeid he was frequently in danger of
losing his life; the Baggaras, mindful of their defeat at
his hands, thirsted for vengeance. Roversi owed his
life to his magazine rifle. He used to visit us daily and
tell us of the various plots of which we were the intended
victims. He told us how the Arabs had determined
to take the sisters, and that they intended to
distribute us amongst the various emirs. This news
terrified the sisters, and there is little doubt that the
bare thought of it hastened the deaths of the two
who were so ill. Roversi further informed us that a
quarrel had occurred between Mek Omar and the
Nubas regarding the distribution of the loot taken
from our Delen Mission; a conflict had taken place,
in which Mek Omar had lost a number of his men,
and had been obliged to retreat from Delen to
Singiokai.</p>

<p>After Roversi's arrival the Mahdi wrote to Said
Pasha again, summoning him to surrender; Roversi
also, by the Mahdi's order, was forced to write to the
Mudir, telling him that resistance was useless, as it was
out of the question to hope for reinforcements from
Khartum. Towards the end of October Roversi fell ill
with dysentery, caused by the infected and foul atmosphere
of the camp; the last time he came to see us he
was very weak; then we heard that the Mahdi had
suddenly ordered him to Kashgil for change of air, and
a few days later we heard that he was dead. Some
said he had been killed, others said that he had been
poisoned by Ismail Wad el Andok, in revenge for his
defeat at Golfan-Na&iuml;ma. Roversi's maid-servant, Aisha&mdash;a
black girl brought up in Constantinople&mdash;and
his man-servant, Hajji Selim, reported that they had
found his shoes in the forest, and his dead body in a
hut. The unfortunate young Roversi was barely thirty
years of age, a Protestant by religion, and a man for
whom we all cherished a great affection. The date of
his death was probably the 3rd of November, 1882. A<a name="Page_50" id="Page_50"></a>
few days after this date Mek Omar and his men arrived
in the camp, bringing our Delen blacks with them. The
latter at once came to see us, and soon afterwards all of
them&mdash;both boys and girls&mdash;were sold as slaves, whilst
the more grown-up youths were drafted into the
Mahdi's army. Two of the girls, one an Abyssinian
and the other a black, became concubines of the Mahdi.
A cruel fate soon overtook Mek Omar: it was reported
that he had concealed some of the captured booty, and
he was at once put in chains by the Mahdi's order.
Shortly afterwards he sent for us, and Bonomi and I
paid him a visit. We found him shackled with two
chains on his feet, and a chain about fifteen feet long
round his neck; the poor man was completely bowed
down with the weight of these chains, and begged us
most humbly to intercede for him, as he told us it was
the Mahdi's intention to have him beheaded. The
condition of this unfortunate individual so touched us,
that Bonomi went to the Mahdi and represented that it
was really the Nubas who had stolen the booty, and so
Mek Omar was released.</p>

<p>As we slowly began to recover from our illness, the
thought of release was constantly in our minds. We
applied to the powerful Elias Pasha, whom we had
known very well in El Obeid. This blind old pasha
received us kindly, but said that Abdel Kader Pasha in
Khartum, was furious with him for having joined the
rebels; he therefore said that our best course was to
apply daily to the Mahdi, who in time might perhaps
be moved to grant our release. We followed his advice,
but it was no easy matter to make our way through the
crowd of fanatics who surrounded his hut day and
night, all struggling to get a sight of his face which, it
was said, shed rays of light. Pushed about, shoved in
every direction, and insulted, we might perhaps succeed
in reaching the doorway; but here we were stopped
by the guards, and it was almost impossible to pass
them. However, after superhuman efforts, we succeeded
twice in interviewing the Mahdi. He listened kindly
to our entreaty, and then said, "At present the roads<a name="Page_51" id="Page_51"></a>
are dangerous, and I wish no harm to come upon
you; when El Obeid has surrendered, we will permit
you to go to your own country." He advised us to
wear kuftans (the Arab outer garment), for hitherto
we wore merely a shirt and drawers, as he said that,
dressed in this way, we should escape the inquisitive
glances of the multitude and we took his good
advice.</p>

<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>

<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_D_4" id="Footnote_D_4"></a>
<a href="#FNanchor_D_4" class="fnlabel">[D]</a> The title "Emir" really means "Prince," and is far too high
a title to give to these wretched chiefs; but as it is the Sudan custom,
I must retain it.&mdash;J.&nbsp;O.</p></div>
</div>

<a name="Page_52" id="Page_52"></a>
<hr class="newpg" style="width: 65%;">
<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2>

<p class="chapterhead">THE SIEGE OF EL OBEID.</p>

<p class="chapterdescribe">Terrible sufferings of the besieged&mdash;The Kababish&mdash;Fall of Bara&mdash;Fall
of El Obeid&mdash;The Mahdi enters the town&mdash;Fate of the
El Obeid Mission&mdash;Cold-blooded murder of the brave defenders&mdash;The
Dervishes live a life of ease in El Obeid&mdash;The Mahdi
makes laws&mdash;He sends out proclamations&mdash;Prestige increased
by capture of town&mdash;News from Khartum&mdash;Bonomi and
Ohrwalder summoned before the Mahdi&mdash;The interview.</p>


<p style="text-indent: 0em;"><span class="firstwords">The</span> garrison in El Obeid now began to suffer from the
effects of this close siege and blockade. The necessaries
of life were failing rapidly; the price of provisions had
gone up enormously. The commonest food, known as
"dokhn" (a kind of millet) rose to 150 dollars, and
eventually to 500 dollars the ardeb. Meat had almost
entirely given out. Our Mission brethren in the fort
possessed one camel, which was nothing but skin and
bone, and which was sold for 1,000 dollars, and two days
afterwards the purchaser offered it for sale for 1,500
dollars. Eventually the butcher bought it for 2,000
dollars. A chicken went for thirty dollars; eggs a
dollar apiece; a loaf of sugar fifty dollars, and twenty
dollars for a pound of coffee. A thimbleful of salt
cost a dollar. The above were the prices a month
after the close investment had begun. Butter and
oil could not be had for any money. The poor began
to starve quite at the beginning of the siege, and soon
were dying in considerable numbers. A little later,
matters came to a terrible pass. All the camels and
cattle being finished, donkeys, dogs, mice, and even
crickets were consumed, as well as cockroaches, which<a name="Page_53" id="Page_53"></a>
were considered quite tit-bits; white ants, too, were
eaten.</p>

<p>And now the deaths by starvation had reached an
appalling figure. The dead and dying filled the
streets; the space within the fortifications being so
limited, there was not room for all the people, and
in consequence many lay about in the streets and
open spaces. The air was poisoned by the numbers of
dead bodies lying unburied, while the ditch was half
full of mortifying corpses. Scurvy and dysentery were
rife; the air was black with the scores of carrion-kites,
which feasted on the dead bodies; these ugly
birds became so distended by constant gorging that
they could not even fly away, and were killed in
numbers by the soldiers, who devoured them with
avidity.</p>

<p>Later on gum became the only food; there was a
quantity of this, but it brought on diarrh[oe]a, and
caused the bodies to distend&mdash;indeed, numbers died
from eating it. The ground was dug up in all directions
in search of the white ants' nests; and the food which
they had collected for the winter was greedily consumed.
Some poor sufferers eked out a miserable existence by
living on the undigested food found in the excrement of
animals; all sorts of leather, shoes and sandals, were
boiled and eaten. It was a terrible sight to see these
human skeletons&mdash;their eyes sunk into the backs of
their heads, wandering about in search of food. The
Mudir extorted all the corn and money he could from
the rich merchants, but of what good was a mere handful
of corn to the soldiers? They became desperate,
all discipline was at an end and they often broke into
the houses by night in search of food.</p>

<p>During all this time the Dervishes outside kept on
shouting out curses and insults, deriding those within for
eating dog's-meat, for, during all this terrible famine
in the city, there was abundance of food in the
Dervish camp, and this made the besiegers bolder and
more insulting than ever, for they knew that the town
was practically in their hands. We often tried to<a name="Page_54" id="Page_54"></a>
establish some sort of communication with our Mission
brethren in the city, but we never succeeded in getting
any reliable information about them. At length,
towards the end of December, we managed, through the
kind offices of George Stambuli, to send in a letter
and received a reply from the Father Superior, Johann
Losi, which was brought to us by one of our female
slaves. The news it contained was heart-rending; all
our brethren were down with scurvy&mdash;that is to say,
Father Rossignoli, brother Locatelli, and four sisters,
whilst Father Losi himself was on the point of death.
For a month they had lived on nothing but dokhn and
rice; everything else was gone. Father Losi sent us
some clothes, which were a godsend to us, and also 200
dollars, while we in return could do nothing for our poor
besieged brethren. A few days later we heard that
Father Losi died on the 27th of December of scurvy.</p>

<p>The <a name="tn_png_70"></a><!--TN: "garrrison" changed to "garrison"-->garrison frequently attempted small sorties, in
the hope that they might be able to secure a sheep or
bullock, or some wood, and these always caused some
excitement in the camp. When anything of this sort
took place, the usual cry was "Et Turki Marak" ("The
Turks are coming out"), then the camp suddenly
woke up, and, like a swarm of ants, moved towards the
town to drive the garrison in again. On these occasions
quantities of ammunition were expended without much
result. In the meantime the Mahdi continued his daily
preaching against the vanities of this life, of his
divine message, and of the approaching end of the
world. During these sermons the people stood wrapped
in wonder and astonishment at the Mahdi's great
wisdom.</p>

<p>The Egyptian guns frequently fired into the camp,
and on two occasions shells burst close to our hut,
but did no harm. The Dervishes also returned the fire,
but their shots always fell far beyond; had they only
been skilled in the working of the guns they had, the
fortifications would have become untenable in a day,
but the Mahdi seemed purposely to wish to prolong the
siege, and to thus compass the death of its defenders<a name="Page_55" id="Page_55"></a>
through famine. The wells were only about one kilometre
distant from the forts, and in consequence within
easy range of the fire of the besieged; but the Mahdi
was quite regardless of this, and often formed up his
troops there&mdash;a proceeding which generally resulted in
his losing some men.</p>

<p>It was about this time that the principal sheikhs of the
powerful Kababish tribe, viz. Saleh and Tome, the sons of
Sheikh Salem, came to pay their allegiance to the Mahdi.
As a gift they brought him two hundred camels, and he
in return ordered a great military display and a special
bombardment of El Obeid in their honour. The two
sheikhs did not, however, take a great interest in these
proceedings; and one day Saleh suddenly took himself
off, and from that date became the Mahdi's sworn
enemy, until the day of his death, when, as we shall
presently see, he was one of the last of the great sheikhs
who was overthrown by the Mahdi. His brother Tome
was suddenly thrown into chains without any warning,
the Mahdi giving as his reason that the Prophet had
appeared to him in a vision and told him to do so.</p>

<p>Towards the end of November, news arrived that a
further reinforcement of troops had left Khartum for
El Obeid. This information occasioned a great stir in
the camp, because there was some idea that English
troops had been sent. These must have been the arrival
of the first batch of troops destined eventually to form
part of the Hicks Expedition; but even then it was too
late to send any help to El Obeid.</p>

<p>One day it came to the Mahdi's ears that provisions
were being smuggled into El Obeid, where they were
sold at enormous prices, and to stop this he made
the investment still closer. Some of the smugglers
were caught, and as a punishment their right hands
were cut off, and their handless arms tied to their necks;
they were then led round the camp as a warning to
others.</p>

<p>Meanwhile, as the siege of El Obeid was drawing to
a close, other places in Kordofan were falling into
the Mahdi's hands. The town of Bara had been re<a name="Page_56" id="Page_56"></a>duced
to great straits. A force marching to its relief
under Abu Kuka, was attacked by Fiki Minneh: the
majority were killed, and it was only through the
bravery of Surur Effendi that a few hundred of them succeeded
in reaching the town. The notorious Nur Angar,
who was on the walls of the town, rendered no assistance
during the siege, and went over to the enemy. At
length, on the 5th of January, Bara was forced to capitulate
through famine, and the garrison was sent to the
Mahdi's camp.</p>

<p>The victory was celebrated by a salute of guns, and
the unfortunate garrison in El Obeid took this to be the
approach of relieving troops; but the Mahdi made it
known to Said Pasha that, on the contrary, it was in
celebration of the fall of Bara&mdash;an incident which
caused the gloom to deepen over the doomed city;
and all hope of delivery was abandoned. Yet the
Mudir still continued to hope against hope that he
should be relieved from Khartum, and his sanguine
spirit kept up the courage of the garrison. But it could
not last much longer; the soldiers were too weak even
to hold their rifles in their hands, and Said Pasha
realized that further resistance was useless. In desperation,
therefore, he proposed to blow himself up in the
powder magazine, and this he certainly would have
done had not the senior officers urged that in doing so
numbers of other lives would have been sacrificed as
well. There was now nothing left to be done but to
surrender, and this event took place on the 19th of
January, 1883.</p>

<p>The Mahdi and his hordes now entered El Obeid, and
he made the Mudirieh his residence. Guards under the
command of mukuddums were posted outside every
large house, to prevent the notables escaping, to further
extort money and to search for treasure. Children,
servants, and slaves were kept aside, and by continual
flogging were obliged to divulge the secret hiding-places.
The Mission buildings were of course entered
by thousands of Mahdiists. Father Bonomi and
brother Locatelli lay sick, and the sisters were com<a name="Page_57" id="Page_57"></a>pletely
exhausted. Hundreds of Dervishes struggled to
break into the narrow enclosure where the unfortunate
brethren lay ill. The crosses which the sisters wore
round their necks were wrenched off and broken to
pieces with axes. Sister Concetta Corsi, who was then
one of the strongest, flew at these cruel intruders and
made them wonder at the boldness of a poor weak
woman. Some of them then entered with drawn
swords, and, pointing their lances within an inch of her
bosom, they threatened her with instant death if she
made the slightest resistance; but she answered, "You
are dogs, and not men!" whereupon one of those
standing near her gave her a blow on the face, which
broke several of her teeth and made her mouth pour
with blood.</p>

<p>Three days after the Mahdi's entry into El Obeid, our
missionaries were taken before him, and in a solemn
assembly he tried in vain to force them to become Moslems.
They were then sent forth with nothing but the
clothes they wore, in company with the other survivors
of the siege, to the Dervish camp.</p>

<p>Our little party was now increased by the arrival of
Father Rossignoli, brother Locatelli, who was then more
dead than alive being carried on an angarib (native
bedstead), and four sisters, who were all suffering from
scurvy. They were brought to our hut, and our meeting
could not be otherwise than a sad one. The sisters
were accompanied by a girl named Bianca Limona, who,
though a Sudanese, had quite a fair face, and resembled
an Albino. Gordon, when travelling from Darfur to El
Obeid, came across a youth of a similar type, whom he
brought to the Mission, and suggested that he should
marry the girl; but he being a fanatical Mussulman,
the girl absolutely refused.</p>

<p>Bianca, being of no trade value, was permitted by the
Dervishes to remain with the sisters. All the other
Mission blacks remained with the soldiers, but the
young ones were sold. From amongst the Christian
girls the Mahdi selected two as concubines&mdash;an Abyssinian
and a black; the latter had been well brought<a name="Page_58" id="Page_58"></a>
up, had learnt handiwork of different sorts, and she
soon became the head of all the concubines.</p>

<p>The Dervishes captured quantities of arms and
ammunition in the fort, also a considerable amount of
rough gold, goods of all sorts, and furniture. This was
all carried off to the beit el mal; the floors were all dug
up in search of hidden treasure, and even dead bodies
were disentombed and examined. The body of Father
Losi, who had died a month before, was pulled up and
searched, as it was believed he had a quantity of
money. I must here recount an episode which will
give an idea of the wonderful fidelity of our poor
blacks, and their affection for us. Father Losi had
purchased a little black boy in El Obeid, and for the
ten long years during which this brave missionary had
worked continuously for the welfare and happiness of
the blacks, his boy Said served him most faithfully, and
during all the horrors of that dreadful siege this boy
never left the side of his "Father," as he used to call
Father Losi. When Losi died, the boy used to spend
most of the day weeping over his grave, and one day he
was found lying stretched on the grave quite dead&mdash;he
had died of grief.</p>

<p>The Mudir, Said Pasha, and the senior officers were,
for a time, placed under guard, and refused, even on
pain of death, to say where the treasure was; but when
Said Pasha heard that his concubine and servants had
been cruelly flogged and beaten to make them divulge,
he at length handed over all his property to the Mahdi,
and &pound;6,000.</p>

<p>A few days after the fall of El Obeid a fire broke out
on the north side of the camp; the strong wind drove
the flames to the adjoining huts, and soon half the camp
was ablaze. We had to run from our hut, which was
soon afterwards enveloped in flames, and we were again
obliged to encamp in the open. However, our good
friend Stambuli succeeded in procuring a small tent for
us. The Mahdi now ordered the whole town of El
Obeid to be occupied by the Arabs, but it was not
nearly large enough to hold all the people, consequently<a name="Page_59" id="Page_59"></a>
an enormous circle of huts soon surrounded the town,
and we ourselves erected a small one, just beyond the
precincts of the Mahdi's camp, having some Greeks and
Syrians, who had been turned out of El Obeid, as our
neighbours.</p>

<p>For about fifteen days most of the inhabitants of the
town&mdash;clerks, Government officials, and Copts, were
closely guarded and continually flogged to make them
disclose the hiding-places of their treasure. Most of
the principal people were handed over to the emirs.
Said Pasha was placed in charge of Ismail Wad el
Andok, and sent to Aluba; Ali Bey Sherif was sent to
Birket, and several of the Coptic clerks were sent to
Singiokai. Ahmed Bey Dafallah and Major Yesin were
dragged to Shakka. Evil reports were spread about
them, and it was rumoured that both the Mudir and Ali
Bey Sherif had written to Khartum, consequently the
Mahdi issued orders that the gallant defenders should
be killed, justifying his action by saying that the
Prophet had, in a vision, ordered him to do so. Ali
Bey Sherif was beheaded close to the tent occupied by
his wife and two children, who were afterwards taken
over by Sayid Abdel Kader, the Mahdi's uncle. Said
Pasha was most cruelly slaughtered with axes at Aluba;
he was greatly disliked by the people, who called him
"Jurab el Ful" ("Sack of beans") because he was so
stout. Ahmed Bey Dafallah and Major Yesin were
executed at Shakka. Such was the end of the brave
defenders of El Obeid, who, in truth, deserved a better
fate.</p>

<p>The Mahdi, having thus made away with his enemies,
was able to breathe more freely, and, as if to excuse
himself for his horrible cruelty, he published a vision,
in which he said that he had been told that Said Pasha
did not go to hell, but as he (the Mahdi) had earnestly
begged it, he was permitted to go to paradise.</p>

<p>During the siege there was much friction between the
Mahdi and Fiki Minneh, whose capacity for drinking
marissa and stealing booty came to the Mahdi's ears.
As long as Minneh was useful to the Mahdi he forbore<a name="Page_60" id="Page_60"></a>
with him; but when El Obeid fell, he sent for him and
forcibly made him divide his booty. Fiki Minneh
therefore returned in a sulky mood to Tayara, and from
that time became the Mahdi's enemy. He openly
collected a quantity of dokhn, and brought together his
fighting force. The Mahdi therefore despatched Abu
Anga, the Commander-in-chief of his forces, Abderrahman
en Nejumi and Abdullah Wad en Nur, with a
large number of men. Making a forced march, they
appeared suddenly at Tayara, and the Gowameh followers
of Minneh fled on the first volley. Minneh's brother,
uncle, and two sons were captured and beheaded on the
same spot where Minneh himself had slain the soldiers
and their wives and children the previous year;
their heads were hung up in the market-place at El
Obeid as a warning to others.</p>

<p>The Mahdi and his emirs now began to live a life of
ease; the latter occupied the various buildings around
the Mudirieh and made themselves comfortable: they
placed no restrictions on themselves in the way of food
and drink; there was money in abundance and supplies
were plentiful, consequently sensuality and luxurious
living were substituted for the abstemious life which the
Mahdi doctrine had at first inculcated. The principal
emirs delighted in extensive harems and a show of
splendour. Jibbehs were still worn, but their ragged
condition, which was essential in the early days, gave
way to as much embellishment as such a garment would
admit of. The emirs vied with one another in their
wealth of slaves, cattle, horses and donkeys; their sword-hilts
were now embellished with silver. In place of
lying on the dirty ground, their clothes full of vermin,
they assumed the luxurious and comfortable mode of
life of the Turks and Egyptians. So shocked, indeed,
was the Mahdi's uncle, Sherif Mahmud, when he arrived
from Gedir to see the drunken and debauched lives led
by the emirs, more especially by Wad en Nejumi, that
he induced the Mahdi to order the latter to reduce his
harem by twenty wives, who were subsequently sold in
the beit el mal as slaves. At the same time the Mahdi<a name="Page_61" id="Page_61"></a>
issued the strictest orders against luxurious living,
and insisted that no gold and silver ornaments should
be worn. He further ordained that in future the dress
should consist of a takia (or skull cap) made of the
leaves of the dwarf-palm, round which a turban should
be worn with end hanging down; the jibbeh (or coat);
a pair of drawers; and a girdle made of straw. This
made rather a becoming uniform to these swarthy
warriors.</p>

<p>The rules regarding smoking and drinking were
reiterated with greater severity. It was next to impossible
to induce the Sudanese to give up smoking and
chewing tobacco: a man would willingly give all the
money he had to secure even a small quantity. Then
the blacks, and especially the emirs, are much addicted
to marissa drinking, which it was found still more difficult
to stop; if men or women were caught in the act of
smoking or drinking, they were obliged to walk through
the market with the drinking bowl or tobacco on
their heads, followed by an insulting and hooting crowd.
It was sometimes the custom to break the bowl on the
marissa drinker's head and drench him with its contents;
this was the signal for all the children to throw mud and
dust at the culprit until he became almost unrecognisable;
he was then dragged before the kadi (or judge) in
the market-place, where he received eighty unusually
heavy blows, the first of which generally drew blood.
The place was full of spies, who were always on the look-out
to report smokers and drinkers to the Mahdi.
Sometimes they forced their way into the houses, and
finding nothing, would surreptitiously throw some
tobacco on the floor, which they would then suddenly
discover, and declare it to be the property of the owner
of the house, who would be forthwith dragged off and
thrashed unmercifully although perfectly innocent.</p>

<p>Justice was administered according to the Moslem
law. Blasphemers of God or the religion were punished
with instant death, as well as all those who disbelieved
in the Mahdi. A murderer was at once beheaded,
no extenuating circumstances were ever admitted. A<a name="Page_62" id="Page_62"></a>
thief was deprived of a hand and a foot; adultery
between married persons was punished by beheading
the man and stoning the woman, but in the latter case
a necessary proof was that the woman should be with
child. Illicit intercourse between unmarried persons
was punished with eighty lashes; these laws regarding
immorality were, however, in the case of slaves, relaxed
to some extent, and they were, as a rule, punished by
flogging only. Persons found concerned in the making
of eunuchs were beheaded, though curiously enough the
khalifas and emirs all retained eunuchs for their harems.
Slaves freed by the Egyptian Government were not recognised
as such, and were again forced to become slaves.
A slave's witness was not accepted in a trial. All important
cases were judged before the Mahdi, who sentenced
persons as he thought fit. The Mosaic law&mdash;an eye for
an eye and a tooth for a tooth&mdash;was generally practised.
The relations of murdered persons generally carried
out the sentences on the criminal, provided that the
judge approved. Punishment could be modified or cancelled
altogether by the payment of money. In addition
to the Mahdi, his relatives and the khalifas were permitted
to judge cases&mdash;a proceeding which resulted in
great confusion and miscarriage of justice. The market-place
was the chief centre of activity; here the judge
held his court, and a profitable business he made of it by
substituting money for punishments.</p>

<p>Shortly after the fall of El Obeid the Mahdi set himself
to regulate his finances. The Kordofan Arabs, who
had gained many successes over the Government, and
who had really taken up the Mahdi's cause in anticipation
of the loot they would acquire, were ordered to
bring all their booty&mdash;down to the smallest article&mdash;to
the Mahdi at El Obeid, and to enforce this order, parties
of Dervishes were sent out in various directions to
forcibly drive in the Arabs, who now regretted that they
had so precipitately joined the Mahdi in the first
instance. Everything was brought to the beit el mal,
and there publicly sold; of the proceeds, one-fifth was
given to the Mahdi personally, and the remaining four-<a name="Page_63" id="Page_63"></a>fifths
were set aside as administrative revenue, but in
point of fact a considerable portion of this sum also
found its way into the Mahdi's private treasury. A
native of Dar Mahas, named Ahmed wad Suleiman and
a great favourite of the Mahdi, was given unlimited
control over the beit el mal treasury. His master had
had a divine revelation, pointing out that he was the
one man to hold this responsible position, and in consequence
he was unassailable. Whenever the Mahdi rode
out on horseback, Ahmed held the reins and walked
barefooted at the horse's side.</p>

<p>All learned men were despised and disliked by
the Mahdi, for he not unnaturally recognised a
danger in their combating his claims by reference
to divine books. Consequently all such documents
were ordered to be burnt, and any one who concealed
a book did so at the risk of his life. The
Mahdi's object was to keep the people in ignorance by
proclaiming that he was the centre of all light and
knowledge; there were even flatterers to be found who
asserted that they had seen flashes of light darting out
of his head! He frequently indulged in visions, sometimes
representing that he had been taken up in the
spirit to the heavens, where he conversed with God and
His Prophet. To doubt the truth of these visions was
an unpardonable offence. He entirely abolished all the
rules and customs practised by the Government. The
wearing of the tarbush (fez) was strictly forbidden; if
any one was seen wearing one, it was instantly pulled
off and torn to shreds. All Government registers were
burnt, and debts contracted with the Government considered
cancelled. He ordered his adherents to call
themselves Foggara<a name="FNanchor_E_5" id="FNanchor_E_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_E_5" class="fnanchor">[E]</a> or Asyad.<a name="FNanchor_F_6" id="FNanchor_F_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_F_6" class="fnanchor">[F]</a></p>

<p>His usual custom was to pray on a small straw mat
placed in the divan of the Mudirieh and in the presence
of all his followers; a slave generally stood beside him
with a pillow on which he either sat or knelt, as the<a name="Page_64" id="Page_64"></a>
case might be. When the prayers were over he received
the visitors, conversed on matters of general interest,
read his letters, and discoursed on the manners and
customs of the Turks with the object of making his
hearers despise and laugh at them. He plunged wildly
into the sensual delights of his immense harem. In
place of wine he substituted a drink much appreciated
in the Sudan, consisting of date syrup mixed with ginger,
of which he drank quantities out of the silver cups
taken from the Mission Church in El Obeid.</p>

<p>In spite, however, of all this luxurious living, the
Mahdi did not omit to publish his new propaganda far
and wide. He wrote several letters to the inhabitants
of the Gezireh (the country between the Blue and White
Niles), calling on them to rise, and threatening all those
who refused to obey the summons. Numbers flocked to
his standards, partly through fear and partly because
they recognised the inability of the Government to cope
with the revolt. It was at this time that he despatched
Osman Digna, who afterwards became so notorious, to
the Eastern Sudan. This fanatical adherent of the
Mahdi copied the example of his master in every respect,
wearing neither shoes nor sandals, and only riding
during exceptionally long marches, his argument being
that as the Mahdi deigned to walk the earth, he thereby
made it holy. A force was now despatched to capture
Sheikh Tome of the Kababish, who was reported to be
in friendly communication with Khartum. The unfortunate
man was attacked by night, captured and dragged
off in chains with his wife, child, slaves, and camels to
El Obeid. The Mahdi was prepared to pardon him, but
Khalifa Abdullah insisted on beheading him, which was
done; this cruel act terrified the remainder of the tribe.
During the last fifteen days of Ramadan the Mahdi
attended to no public business, but gave himself up to
fasting and prayer. The holidays following Ramadan
were set aside for military parades and man[oe]uvres,
which served to rouse the fanatical ardour of his now
numerous followers.</p>

<a name="native"></a><div class="figcenter" style="width:400px;"><img src="https://brian.carnell.com/wiki/_media/etext:f:fr-wingate-ten-years-captive-p065.jpg" border="0" alt="" title="" width="338" height="430">
<p class="caption2">A NATIVE WOMAN OF DONGOLA.</p></div>

<p>About this time a letter came from Mustafa Yawer,<a name="Page_65" id="Page_65"></a>
the Mudir of Dongola, to Osman Tobji; the latter was a
most generous man, who gave much of his money to the
poor and to widows and orphans, especially during the
siege of El Obeid; Tobji had thus won the honour and
respect of all, and on the fall of the town the Mahdi
returned to him the property he had captured; thereupon
he at once set to work to relieve the distressed
Egyptian families who had been turned out of house
and home, and whose property had been taken. In his
letter Mustafa Yawer asked his friend Tobji if Mo<a name="Page_66" id="Page_66"></a>hammed
Ahmed were the real Mahdi or not; this letter
came into the Mahdi's hands, and Tobji was at once
sent for and asked what reply he intended to give.
Osman answered, "When the sun has risen over the
horizon it is visible to all, and no further proof of its
existence is required&mdash;thus if the Mahdi be the true
Mahdi, his works will bear witness of the truth." This
evasive answer did not however satisfy the Mahdi, who
obliged Tobji to sign a letter declaring that Mohammed
Ahmed was the true Mahdi, and this letter was then
despatched to the Mudir of Dongola.</p>

<p>The Mahdi was well versed in the art of winning
over people. His unruffled smile, pleasant manners,
generosity and equable temperament, though at times
somewhat severe, all tended to enhance the popular
idea of him. He attributed the execution of Said
Pasha and Ali Bey Sherif to the Khalifa Abdullah, and
when the two little sons of the latter were brought to
him, the smiling hypocrite wept for their father's fate.
The popular belief in him and his cause almost
amounted to worship: women especially raved about him
and thought him the most handsome of men. They
swore by him in the words "Hakk rabb el <a name="tn_png_82"></a><!--TN: Quote added after "Mahdi"-->Mahdi"
(By the Mahdi's God) or "Hakk Sayidna el Imam"
(By our Lord, the Imam); all solemn oaths and statements
began with the words "Aleik el Mahdi el
Muntaser" (By the Victorious Mahdi); his virtues were
extolled in poems, and constant reference was made to
his good looks, wisdom, stature and to his repeated
victories over the Turks. The beggars used to learn off
by heart special laudatory verses, and by reciting them
from house to house they were sure to be given alms;
to such an extent was this laudation carried that if a
beggar sang songs in which the Prophet's name occurred,
he was at once interrupted and told to substitute the
Mahdi's for the Prophet's name; at every street corner
his praises were sung; soldiers on the march sang of his
glorious victories; female slaves gathering wood, or laden
with corn, or grinding it between the stones&mdash;all sang
the same refrain, which indeed might be called the<a name="Page_67" id="Page_67"></a>
Mahdi's national anthem, and began with the words
"Mahdi Nur Ainana" (the Mahdi is the light of our eyes),
or "El Mahdi kammal et Turk fi Kana" (the Mahdi
conquered&mdash;lit. gave their full to&mdash;the Turks at Kana).</p>

<p>The Arabs delight in poetry, and during the night
generally collected in parties, and seated on the sand
sang the Mahdi's praises, the two principal singers
keeping time by beating the ground with their sticks,
while the rest joined in the chorus at the end of each
verse. Inspired sometimes by their theme, they would
stand up and flourish their swords in the air as if combating
the Turks, shouting "Fi Shan Allah" (for God's
cause). Thus the adulation of the Mahdi extended from
the highest emir to the lowest slave, and woe to him
who was ever heard to utter one word in deprecation or
blame of the new Prophet, he would at once be pounced
upon and beaten to death with sticks.</p>

<p>Sometimes the Mahdi was called "Khalifat er Rasul"
(the successor of the Prophet), and sometimes even they
dignified him with the sacred title of Nebbi (Prophet).
In truth the Prophet Mohammed occupied in the
people's minds quite a secondary position, and the
celebration of his birthday was forbidden by the Mahdi.</p>

<p>On one occasion a dispute occurred between two
men; one argued that the Mahdi would have a higher
seat in heaven than the Prophet, while the other
maintained that "God was higher than the Mahdi."
The dispute waxed hot, and the case was referred to
the judge, who settled the matter by saying that
"the living was better than the dead," but at the
same time the man who advocated the Prophet's claims
was relegated to prison, not so much for asserting what
was perfectly true, that "God was higher than the
Mahdi," but that the tone in which he had said it was
tantamount to an insult to the Mahdi. Naturally
those Moslems who still had some sense of the orthodox
creed were much annoyed at this decision.</p>

<p>Early in April a messenger arrived from Khartum with
a letter from the Austrian Consul Hansal. Now as we
were perfect strangers in El Obeid, people did not dare<a name="Page_68" id="Page_68"></a>
to associate with us; the messenger therefore handed
over the letter to George Stambuli, who was then a man
well known to every one. Stambuli, who supplied us
with all the necessaries of life, now came to us in a state
of great excitement, bringing the letter in which he
hoped to find some news of the outside world. We
opened the letter, which was long and well-written, and
found that it was directed to the Mahdi. We read it
and considered it a well-written letter; in it Hansal
called the Mahdi "Sheikh," and begged him to release
us, receiving as a ransom such a sum as he should
demand, and which he (Hansal) was prepared to give.
The bearer of the letter was then ordered to take it
direct to the Mahdi, but fearing that its contents might
compromise him, he gave it to Stambuli, who gave it as
his opinion that the letter was useless, as he himself had
been doing all in his power to effect our release, but was
unable to do so. Father Bonomi, however, urged that
as the letter was useless it was therefore harmless, and
that there could be no objection to giving it to the
Mahdi; consequently it was taken to him, and he
expressed himself much pleased with it; although he
admitted that the system of ransoming was in vogue
during the days of the Prophet, he stated that it had
been changed by him, as also was the tax per head
formerly paid by Christians.</p>

<p>He, however, promised to give us protection until
the coming of Sayidna Isa (Jesus Christ), when we
should either have to turn Moslems or die; thus the
letter was of no good to us, and on the following
day a rumour was spread abroad that the Austrian
Consul had joined the Mahdi. The messenger asked us
to give him a few lines to take back, and thus prove
that he had delivered the letter to us; so we and
Stambuli complied, and the messenger left for Khartum;
but he was followed by spies, and when at Korsi&mdash;one
and a half day's journey distant&mdash;he was searched by
them, and the letters found in the saddle-bag on the
donkey, consequently he was arrested, brought back,
and thrown into chains.<a name="Page_69" id="Page_69"></a></p>

<p>The false news was now rapidly circulated that an
English post had arrived. Father Bonomi and I were
at once summoned to read the letters. It occurred
to us that our letters had probably been seized and that
we were in some danger. I was not alarmed about my
letter to Hansal, for I had written in German, and there
was no one besides myself in El Obeid who understood
German; but Bonomi's letters had been written in
Italian, and there were several people who understood
that language. As we entered the Mudirieh we saw
Stambuli also coming. We were first taken to the
Khalifa Sherif, who was lying on a straw mat in his
hut; after greeting us, he lifted up the mat and drew
out several letters, which we at once recognised as those
we had written. The Khalifa asked us if we had written
them, and we replied in the affirmative. He thereupon
produced a piece of paper on which Bonomi had written
that the messenger should receive six pounds. Father
Bonomi translated this to the Khalifa; Stambuli was
then called in, as he pretended to know a number
of European languages, while in point of fact he
knew little or nothing; when the paper was given to
him to read he said that it contained a medical
prescription, and this translation did not of course
agree with Bonomi's version. Amidst the murmuring
of the bystanders the Khalifa now rose and bid us
follow him into the divan of the Mudirieh, and thence
into the room adjoining that in which the Mahdi was
sitting with the Khalifa Abdullah. The latter had to
keep his bed, for his leg had been broken by a fall from
a horse; he had collided with another horseman, and in
falling had been badly kicked. Father Bonomi and
Stambuli only were taken before the Mahdi, whilst I
was left in the room outside; there were a Dervish and
a Greek also in the room, and as I was sitting on the
ground near the door, the Greek came up to me and
told me that a sheikh wished to speak to me. I
replied, "Let the sheikh come to me if he wants to
speak to me; I have nothing to ask of him."</p>

<p>A few moments afterwards the sheikh came up to me<a name="Page_70" id="Page_70"></a>
in a furious rage, and without further ado attacked me
with his fists, kicked me, and called me a Christian
dog; then seizing me by the leg he dragged me out
towards the gate, where he said he intended to cut off
my head.</p>

<p>The sound of this struggle reached the Mahdi's ears,
and he sent a eunuch to take me out of the sheikh's
hands. Shortly afterwards the Mahdi himself, Bonomi,
and Stambuli came out, and were rather pleased than
otherwise that my incident with the sheikh had interrupted
their somewhat painful conversation. The
Mahdi did not appear angry, and as usual, smiled
pleasantly all round; then, surrounded by his principal
emirs, he performed the noonday prayers in the divan,
while the multitude conformed to the prayers in the
Mudirieh courtyard. This over, he sat down on his mat
and opened his audience, whilst a slave standing behind
him fanned him and drove off the flies. Numbers of
people submitted their cases to him in a very low and
humble tone of voice, and from the various gestures which
took place, I concluded that he had given satisfaction to
all. He then read aloud a letter from an influential sheikh
in Khartum, whose name I have forgotten; after which
a number of sheikhs came in to take the oath of
allegiance.</p>

<p>During this ceremony the man taking the oath had to
place his hand in the Mahdi's right hand; then the latter
repeated the oath in the following words: "Thou
consecratest thyself, thy children and thy property to
the Mahdi. Thou shalt be guilty of no impurity; thou
shalt not steal, nor drink alcohol; and thou shalt bind
thyself to do thy duty in the Jehad." The person to
whom the oath was administered sealed it with a
solemn "Amen." If several persons took the oath together,
they were obliged to repeat it in chorus, and at
the conclusion they shouted "Fi Shan Allah." When
the audience was over, we asked the Mahdi's permission
to retire, which he allowed us to do.</p>

<p>Bonomi now gave us an account of his interview with
the Mahdi and Khalifa Abdullah. They had thought<a name="Page_71" id="Page_71"></a>
that we had written letters to the Government at
Khartum, but they could not read the letters which,
in point of fact, contained nothing political. Bonomi
had given the Mahdi a short resum&eacute; of their contents
with which he seemed pleased, but Abdullah appeared
dissatisfied.</p>

<p>For the next eight days we were in considerable
danger, and the one topic of conversation was what
should be done to us. It was the general idea that we
were to be beheaded; but Stambuli was working his
friends, and by dint of bribes the matter was hushed up,
although I believe that we owed it principally to the
good will and kindly disposition of the Mahdi. After
about ten days we were summoned before a certain
emir named Hajji Khaled, who made enquiries about the
letters, and we told him that we were prepared to translate
literally every word. Our fearless persistence impressed
him, and he did not trouble us further.</p>

<p>Some of the European merchants could have translated
the letters, but Stambuli bribed them with twenty
pounds, and on the 26th of April, thirteen days after the
letters had been intercepted, the Mahdi pardoned Stambuli
at a public meeting, and handed them back to
him; then in the presence of two trustworthy friends
of the Mahdi, we translated them word for word into
Arabic, and gave them back to the Mahdi, who, judging
from their general tenour, appeared convinced of their
harmlessness.</p>

<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>

<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_E_5" id="Footnote_E_5"></a>
<a href="#FNanchor_E_5" class="fnlabel">[E]</a> Pl. of Fakir, <i>i.e.</i> a poor religious mendicant&mdash;one who has renounced
the world.</p></div>

<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_F_6" id="Footnote_F_6"></a>
<a href="#FNanchor_F_6" class="fnlabel">[F]</a> Pl. of Sayid, <i>i.e.</i> a master.</p></div>
</div>
<a name="Page_72" id="Page_72"></a>

<hr class="newpg" style="width: 65%;">
<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V.</h2>

<p class="chapterhead">THE MAHDI'S VICTORY OVER HICKS PASHA.</p>

<p class="chapterdescribe">The European captives learn that General Hicks is advancing&mdash;Slatin
Bey's defence of Darfur&mdash;His heroism&mdash;The Mahdi prepares
to resist Hicks&mdash;The march of the Hicks Expedition&mdash;Extracts
from the diary of Major Herlth&mdash;Colonel Farquhar's
gallantry at Rahad&mdash;Gustav Klootz deserts to the Mahdi&mdash;Klootz's
interview with the Mahdi in which Ohrwalder and
Bonomi act as interpreters&mdash;The expedition advances towards
Shekan&mdash;Is surrounded and annihilated&mdash;Description of the
battle&mdash;The Mahdi victor of Kordofan.</p>


<p style="text-indent: 0em;"><span class="firstwords">In</span> our present miserable plight all our hopes were
directed on Khartum, from whence we expected succour.
Hitherto we heard only vague rumours, but the
news of the defeat and death of Wad Makashef on the
White Nile encouraged us to hope on. We had no idea
who commanded the Egyptian troops in this action.
We were quite uncertain as to what policy the Government
would adopt regarding Kordofan; and of course,
at this time, false reports were flying about everywhere,
and it was quite impossible to arrive at the truth. At
first we were inclined to believe everything we heard,
but gradually we found that we lived in such an atmosphere
of lying and deceit that we arrived at believing
almost nothing we heard. The Sudanese proverb,
"Consider all news to be good and true, even if it be
false," is universally acted on in the Moslem world; and
those who looked for help from the Government always
hoped for good news, and seized on the smallest pretext
to give colour to their expectations; their belief in
dreams which never came true accentuated their misery.
It was useless to try and enlighten these poor ignorant
people, contradiction only made them annoyed. For<a name="Page_73" id="Page_73"></a>tune-tellers
were often consulted about the future, and
naturally they foretold what they thought their interrogators
wanted to hear, and thus gave them hope for a
short time; but when it turned out incorrect&mdash;as was
invariably the case&mdash;it only increased their depression.</p>

<p>God, in His mercy, sent a ray of light into the darkness
of our captivity, which again kindled the hope of
succour which had been well-nigh quite extinguished.
On the 21st of June, 1883, a man came into our little hut
and asked in a scared sort of way if we were the missionaries.
After repeated assurances that we were, the man
took courage and withdrew from his trousers a little
note, which he had concealed very carefully, and handed
it to Father Bonomi, who at once tore it open in nervous
haste and eagerly scanned the few lines which were to
give us a new life. The note was signed by Marcopoli
Bey, by order of General Hicks, and was to the effect
that we should not abandon hope, for as soon as the
winter season began, a large army would advance into
the Sudan to attack the Mahdi. We kissed that dirty
little bit of paper, and thanked God most heartily for
sending us news so full of comfort. We became reassured,
and now our dark future gave place to cheerful
hopes which brightened the few months of anxious delay
which followed the receipt of this note. The letter was
dated from the White Nile, where the General had
already gained a victory over Wad Makashef, and soon
the news of the intended expedition against the Mahdi
spread like wildfire through the camp.</p>


<a name="hicks"></a><div class="figcenter"><img src="https://brian.carnell.com/wiki/_media/etext:f:fr-wingate-ten-years-captive-p074.jpg" border="0" alt="" title="" width="286" height="375">
<p class="caption2">HICKS PASHA.</p></div>

<p>It appears that Consul Hansal also wrote a letter to
the Mahdi, but the latter said nothing to us about it.
Amina, one of our black girls whom the Mahdi had
taken as a concubine, said she saw in the Mahdi's hand
a letter with a large seal, on which the "double-headed
eagle" was represented; but the Mahdi does not appear
to have taken much notice of it. In Darfur the news
of the intended Hicks expedition had considerable effect.
Slatin, the Governor-General, had been fighting continuously
against the natives of Darfur and against the
Rizighat, Habbanieh, and other Arab tribes; he was<a name="Page_74" id="Page_74"></a>
now in the north, then in the south, combating with
bravery and unusual rapidity the various revolts which
sprang up throughout his province. He was a scourge
to the Arabs and killed thousands of them; he even
pursued them into the almost inaccessible hills and
valleys of Jebel Marra. His powers of endurance were
wonderful, and he would often be twenty-four hours in
the saddle, constantly fighting, and with nothing to
eat or drink. He slept on the bare floor or ground
beside his native soldiers, and lived on dhurra soaked
in water; he was just, never took bribes, generous, ever
ready to assist the poor and needy, and never refused
admittance to old and young who sought his help. In<a name="Page_75" id="Page_75"></a>
spite, however, of his having&mdash;as he himself told me&mdash;fought
in twenty-seven battles against the Arabs, he
could not crush them, for they were like fungus growing
out of the earth.</p>

<p>In action Slatin was most heroic. On one occasion
he was struck by a bullet which shattered one of his
fingers; but, undismayed, he seized the hanging remnant
with his other hand and ordered the man standing next
him to cut it off with his knife; then he joined again
in the fight, and cheered his men on to victory. Not
only in Kordofan, but throughout the entire Sudan, he
was celebrated for his bravery in the face of the enemy.
Still he was powerless to cope with the extensive revolt
in his province, and obtained little support from his
Egyptian officers, who were jealous and constantly
intrigued against him; yet it was the wonder of all
that he succeeded in holding out so long. At length,
when his ammunition was almost finished, came the
news of Hicks's projected expedition, and to gain time he
resorted to the following expedient. His vakil was a
man named Mohammed Zogal, uncle to the Mahdi, and
a man of sense; with him Slatin came to a private
understanding, and it was agreed that Zogal should pay
a visit to the Mahdi, inform him that Slatin was prepared
to submit, provided he was permitted to hold his
present position, and then he was to return and bring
back full information regarding the Mahdi, his power,
&amp;c., and at the same time endeavour to arrange for a
suspension of hostilities pending the arrival of Hicks.
Should Hicks be victorious then Slatin and Darfur
would be saved, otherwise all would be lost; but this
plan, if successful, would enable Slatin to hold out until
Hicks came, which he could not otherwise have done.
Zogal set out on his journey and arrived at El Obeid
early in September 1883, where he was warmly welcomed
by the Mahdi. The latter was much pleased
with Slatin's proposition, and ordered a salute of one
hundred guns to be fired to announce his surrender.</p>

<p>The Mahdi could now turn his entire attention to his
preparations to resist the advance of General Hicks,<a name="Page_76" id="Page_76"></a>
concerning the number of whose troops the wildest
reports were circulated. On learning of his departure
from Omdurman on the 9th of September, he issued a
proclamation instructing his emirs to read it to their
followers. In it he, as usual, styled himself the Mahdi
sent by God to defeat the Turks, who were the enemies
of God and His Prophet, and that his mission was to
conquer the world; he extolled the virtues of holy war
and promised paradise and its joys to all those who fell
fighting in the holy cause. He now quitted El Obeid
and pitched his tent under a large Adansonia tree outside
the walls; his three Khalifas and their followers copied
his example, and this was the signal for the whole town
to be evacuated. The life of ease and comfort was
abandoned and people collected round their emirs' flags,
so that in a short time an enormous camp was formed
in anticipation of the great battle. Couriers were sent
in all directions to proclaim that anyone who refused
to follow the Mahdi would have his hand and foot cut
off; all men joined willingly, the Mahdi's camp daily
grew larger, and straw huts (or tokuls) soon covered the
plain, though the people were allowed in turns to go
back to the town at night. Detachments of troops were
sent to various parts of Kordofan to collect the Dervishes,
and whole tribes streamed from all directions towards
El Obeid. Daily man[oe]uvres and reviews were held,
and guns fired repeatedly so that the horses should get
accustomed to the noise. Thus the Mahdi instilled great
enthusiasm into the masses, and we began to have some
fear for Hicks.</p>

<p>The Mahdi now despatched the three emirs, Abdel
Halim Wad el Hashmi, Hajji Mohammed Abu Girgeh,
and Omar Elias Pasha, with their followers, to Duem.
They were instructed to watch the movements of Hicks's
force, and when it left the White Nile, to cut his
communication; they were then to harass his march as
much as possible, but not to bring on a general engagement.
All these orders were admirably carried out.</p>

<p>General Hicks left Duem on the 24th of September,
1883, and marched in a south-westerly direction through<a name="Page_77" id="Page_77"></a>
Shatt, Zeregga, Aigella, Shirkeleh, and Rahad, which
he reached on the 20th of October, leaving Tagalla and
Jebel Dair on the left. The inhabitants of the districts
through which the troops passed, quitted their villages
and carried off all their goods, so that when the troops
arrived they found nothing but straw huts, which the
soldiers at first set fire to; but General Hicks soon
forbade this practice. The ill-fated army scarcely met
a living soul, but flocks of vultures followed them as if
waiting for their prey. Shortly after the annihilation
of the army, a small and incomplete diary belonging to
an Austrian officer, Major Herlth, came into my hands,
but it was sufficient to give me an insight into the
wretched condition of this force. The facts were briefly
as follows: It was expected that on the arrival of the
army at Shirkeleh, it would be joined by several
thousand Tagalla people, and it was hoped that this
reinforcement would inspire the troops with some life
and energy, which they entirely lacked; but these
reinforcements never appeared.</p>

<p>Major Herlth described the troops as anything but
good, and frequently refers to the want of agreement
between the two commanders&mdash;General Hicks with his
small body of European officers on the one hand, and
Ala ed Din Pasha, Governor-General of the Sudan, a
man imbued with the old Turkish system, on the other.
The European officers were convinced that the expedition
would not be successful; the camels were badly
looked after, hundreds died every day, and their loads
were piled on to the others which were still alive;
saddles were for the most part without straw, so that
the bare wood rubbing on their backs made terrible
wounds. Almost all the horses had died before the
force reached Rahad. General Hicks had also great
trouble in keeping the men together; numbers of them
had recently been fighting against the English with
Arabi Pasha, and had been forcibly sent to the Sudan.
It is also strange that the shorter route from Duem to
Bara, on which there was plenty of water, was not
chosen in preference to the long roundabout road they<a name="Page_78" id="Page_78"></a>
took. While the latter route led through forests and
long grass, the former was entirely free from these
obstructions, and, moreover, the friendly Kababish tribe
would have supported them on their northern flank.
There was still another circumstance which contributed
to the final disaster&mdash;the guides were treacherous, and
led the army into the hands of the Dervishes; indeed,
it was an open secret in the camp at El Obeid that
the guides had been sent by the Mahdi.</p>

<p>At Rahad, Hicks expected to have been joined by
five hundred Baggara horsemen, and it is true a number
of horsemen were seen in the distance, and a white flag
was shown; but the riders did not approach, and it was
soon evident that they were enemies. The force was in
such a miserable and wretched condition that the emir,
Abdel Halim, begged permission of the Mahdi to be
allowed to attack it with his own followers; but this the
Mahdi would not permit him to do, as he wanted to
have all the honour and glory of victory for himself.
Every day information about the movements of the
Egyptian troops was sent to the Mahdi; sometimes
reports reached him twice a day, and were always of the
same tenour, viz. that the men had no heart to fight.
Had an expedition been coming which had the elements
of success in it, public opinion would have shown itself
by numbers deserting the Mahdi's standards; but they
had heard nothing of Hicks's early successes, and now
the only reports that reached them were that the army
was in a hopeless condition. All this only made the
Mahdi's prestige the greater, and it must be remembered
that the latter was an adept at inspiring fanaticism.
One of General Hicks's spies was captured, and he was
at once impaled on lances. The following extracts,
which I give from memory, from Major Herlth's diary
will show how demoralised the expedition had become.
The camp was pitched at Rahad on a small eminence
near the Khor Abu Habl, whilst the enemy, who were
concealed on the opposite side in the high grass and
under the trees, fired incessantly at the Egyptians and
killed a number of them. One bullet entered Hicks's<a name="Page_79" id="Page_79"></a>
tent and struck the seat on which he was sitting; he
then gave orders that the grass and woods should be at
once cleared of the enemy. There was still a little
water in the Khor, and as it seemed to be deep, a consultation
was held as to how it should best be crossed.
The discussion lasted an hour. At length a few, more
courageous than the rest, decided to try and wade across,
and to their intense surprise found that it was quite
shallow and easily fordable; they then crossed over and
drove back the enemy, killing seven of them.</p>

<p>While at Rahad, it was discovered that the camp
out of which they had marched the previous day had
been entered, and everything that they had left behind
had been taken. It was now evident that the enemy
were in greater force than they had thought, and in
consequence General Hicks made an entrenchment and
put guns into position, which were fired with some effect,
as one shell killed no less than thirteen men. This
news was sent to the Mahdi.</p>

<p>At El Obeid the slow advance of the troops could not
be understood, and this had a still more convincing
effect on the Dervishes that the expedition must be in a
bad way. It was a matter of no surprise that the
troops had not been victorious, as it was known that
every element of success was wanting; as for the poor
Egyptians, the capture of a cow was an event of great
importance, and General Hicks ordered every officer to
be given a piece of it.</p>

<p>Colonel Farquhar, chief of the staff, did all he could
to raise the courage of the soldiers. On one occasion
some horsemen were seen a short distance away sitting
fearlessly on their horses as if challenging anyone to
come out and fight them. When Farquhar saw them
he mounted his horse and advanced straight on them.
When he approached they began to retire, but he went
in pursuit, and coming up with them killed two, the
third he pulled off his horse, and capturing the horses
brought them back to camp. In spite, however, of
such a gallant example, the men were listless and out of
heart; the long marches had thoroughly exhausted them.<a name="Page_80" id="Page_80"></a></p>

<a name="colonel"></a><div class="figcenter"><img src="https://brian.carnell.com/wiki/_media/etext:f:fr-wingate-ten-years-captive-p080.jpg" border="0" alt="" title="" width="228" height="382">
<p class="caption2">COLONEL ARTHUR FARQUHAR.<br>(<i>Chief of the Staff.</i>)</p></div>

<p>At Rahad, Gustav Klootz, a native of Berlin, deserted
the army. He was Baron Seckendorf's servant; but at
Shirkeleh he quitted his master's service, and became
the servant of Mr. O'Donovan, correspondent of the
<i>Daily News</i>. Klootz had certain socialistic tendencies,
which caused him to change masters, and there is no
doubt that these ideas had much to do with his desertion.
He and a native of Saxony determined to escape
secretly, and on the plea of gathering wood outside the
camp, these two men succeeded one evening in passing
the outposts. No sooner had they gone beyond the line
than they heard firing, and the Saxony man, fearing a
sudden attack, at once turned back to camp, whilst<a name="Page_81" id="Page_81"></a>
Klootz continued his flight. When he had gone a short
distance he fired two shots, one to make the Egyptians
believe that the enemy was close to them, and the other
to make the enemy think that they were close to the
Egyptian outposts. When night came on he lay down
under a tree to sleep, regardless of the fact that he was
between two enemies; and the next morning he began
to debate with himself whether, after all, it would not
be better to return. He would not have hesitated for
an instant had he not thought that perhaps the Saxony
man had betrayed his desertion. At length he decided
there was nothing for it but to go on towards the
Dervishes.</p>

<p>After going some distance he saw three dirty-looking
men who pointed their rifles at him; but he
signed to them that he was not coming as an enemy,
and to further reassure them, he threw down his rifle
and revolver on the ground, and advanced towards
them. The Arabs also approached; but Klootz, who
did not understand a word of Arabic, called out,
"Dervish&mdash;where is the Dervish?" (by "Dervish" he
meant the Mahdi.) The Arabs understood perfectly
what he wanted to say, but at that moment they were
thinking much more of the loot they saw before them
than of the Mahdi; so they seized the little money
Klootz had, and took possession of his watch, rifle,
revolver, and even his boots. Klootz soon realised into
whose hands he had fallen, for these Arabs, having taken
everything from him, then directed him towards the
Dervish camp. On he plodded barefooted, through the
long grass, and often over thorns, until at last he met
an old woman, who made him understand by gestures
that he was close on the camp. A few moments later
several horsemen appeared, and, surrounding him, took
him in triumph to Abu Girgeh; for they thought at
length they had captured a hated Englishman. Klootz,
to his astonishment, now found himself in a large
entrenched camp, where the Dervishes were living in
perfect safety. The horsemen had told Abu Girgeh that
they had found him sitting in a tree writing, so he was<a name="Page_82" id="Page_82"></a>
at once put in chains, tied tightly to a bedstead, and
then interrogated about Hicks's troops. At the same
time a messenger was sent to the Mahdi to inquire what
should be done with the Englishman. The Mahdi
ordered that he should be at once brought to El Obeid;
the chains were therefore removed, and a rope put round
his neck, by which he was drawn by horsemen to the
Mahdi's camp. The journey lasted a day and a half,
and he was obliged to walk the whole way barefooted
in the burning sun, so that when he reached El Obeid
his feet were swollen up and in a dreadful condition.</p>

<p>As swift as lightning the news now spread through
the camp that an English officer had been captured.
Who could the unfortunate man be? we wondered.
When Klootz was brought before the Mahdi all he
could say was that he was Nimsawi (a German). The
Mahdi therefore summoned Stambuli, Bonomi, and
myself, to act as interpreters. When we entered the
crowded enclosure everyone understood the object of our
coming; most of them were busy cleaning their lances,
and shouted out after us, "Mind you make careful
inquiries of him." There was such a crowd in front
of the Mahdi's tent that it was almost impossible to
make our way through; but at last there was a cry of
"Ahl Delen" ("Here are the Delen people"), and they
made way for us. We took off our shoes, and were
shown into the Mahdi's presence. I was intensely
anxious to see who this Englishman might be; we had
seen nothing but black faces for so long, that had he
been a creature from the other world, we could not have
been more interested; then we were on tenter-hooks to
know how the expedition was progressing, whether it
was under English command, &amp;c., &amp;c. Of course General
Hicks's name was well known, but we knew nothing
about the composition of his force.</p>

<p>When we entered we saw the Mahdi, the supposed
English officer, and Ahmed Wad Suleiman sitting on a
straw mat. We saluted the Mahdi, who returned our
salute in a most gracious manner. He was smiling, and
seemed much pleased. He introduced the Englishman<a name="Page_83" id="Page_83"></a>
to me, and asked me to question him about his coming.
My imagination, in which I had pictured an Englishman,
received a rude shock, for I beheld before me a young
man with blonde hair, blue eyes, a sunburnt face, and a
nose from which the skin was peeled off. He wore a
dirty tarbush; his clothes were made of rough canvas,
and he looked very much like the fireman of an engine.
Before anything else I expressed to him my sincere pity
at his having fallen into the hands of savages, for I did
not then know that he had come of his own accord. I
asked him his name; he replied, "Gustav Klootz, of
Berlin," and said that he was the correspondent of an
important newspaper. He afterwards gave me a true
account of himself. I translated everything to the
Mahdi. I then asked him about the state of the army.
He said that it consisted of barely 10,000 men, and he
added that it was generally believed by the European
officers that they would be defeated. It was with the
greatest difficulty that I concealed the blow to my
feelings which this news occasioned. I asked him why
he deserted, and he excused himself by saying that he
did so to save his life. I now knew that he could be
no soldier; but, of course, I did not translate to the
Mahdi the wretched account he gave of the army.
At this moment I received a kick in the ribs from
Ahmed Wad Suleiman, who cried out, "Ask him
how many guns are in possession of the unbelievers?"
I was then given a small book, which turned out to be
Klootz's diary, and was told to translate it. There were
only a few leaves, in which the date of departure from
Shatt and other places was noted; the number of
camels that died daily; a few observations on his master,
and sundry other things.</p>

<p>The Mahdi then asked whether, if he wrote to Hicks,
he would be likely to surrender, to which Klootz naturally
replied that he was sure nothing would induce him
to do so.</p>

<p>The Mahdi further asked whether Klootz thought he
or General Hicks was the more powerful, to which
Klootz answered that he thought the Mahdi would be<a name="Page_84" id="Page_84"></a>
successful; but that he would probably lose a number of
his followers, as Hicks's force was well supplied with
good firearms, to which Wad Suleiman added, "Death
will be our reward."</p>

<p>The Mahdi seemed delighted with the news he had
received, and ordered a plate of fried meat to be brought,
which he shared with us, eating with his fingers. It
was considered a very high favour when he touched the
plate with his hand, and handed a small piece of meat
to those who sat with him, and this favour he conferred
on us. It was rather striking that he should have done
this, for many Moslems consider it wrong even to eat in
the presence of Christians. When the meal was over he
dismissed us, and Klootz was handed over to Stambuli
till further orders.</p>

<p>Just as we got outside the hut, Klootz and I were
called in again. The Mahdi was now quite alone. He
ordered us to sit down on the floor, and then whispered
in my ear, "Tell this man he may count on the best of
treatment if he will turn Moslem; if not, he must die."
I explained this to Klootz in German, and he replied
that he was quite prepared to do anything the Mahdi
required; whereupon the latter presented him with his
shoes and a jibbeh, and named him "Mustafa," as it
struck him that there was a similarity of sound between
Mustafa and Gustav.</p>

<p>When we left the hut we found an enormous crowd of
people all clamouring to know what the Englishman had
said. Of course everyone wanted to see him, and it
was impossible for us to move a step. Stambuli, therefore,
procured a horse, mounted Klootz upon it, and in
this manner we proceeded to Stambuli's house.</p>

<p>We did not at first believe in Klootz's statement, and
thought that he must have purposely given the Mahdi
false information, so as to gain favour and save his own
skin; but when we were alone together, I bound him
by a solemn oath to tell me the absolute truth, and, to
my astonishment, he told me he had nothing to add to
what he had already said. It is impossible to describe
our misery when we heard Klootz's report. We had<a name="Page_85" id="Page_85"></a>
counted for months on the success of the expedition to
deliver us from the hands of our enemies, and now all
our bright hopes were rapidly fading away, and again a
gloomy future yawned in front of us.</p>

<p>General Hicks left Rahad on the 26th of October,
and arrived at Aluba on the 29th; here he received the
Mahdi's letter summoning him to submit. Of course
this was taken no notice of, and on the 3rd of November
the army advanced towards Kashgeil, which is about
twelve miles south of El Obeid.</p>

<p>In the meantime the Mahdi had been collecting his
followers, and doing all in his power to inspire them
with wild fanaticism; anyone who saw the enormous
hordes of savages which were brought together, must
have trembled for the fate of Hicks. It was said that
the Mahdi had been promised the assistance of 40,000
angels from paradise, and everyone quite believed in the
truth of this assertion. Anyone beholding this immense
multitude of fanatics of every race and age, even
though he had formerly been a disbeliever in the Mahdi,
must now have been convinced of his divinity. The uneducated
masses of the Sudan are entirely governed
by the influence of external appearances, they had never
heard or seen anything of this description before; now
heralds were going from end to end of the camp foretelling
the death of everyone who refused to follow the
Mahdi.</p>

<p>On the 1st of November, Mohammed Ahmed quitted
El Obeid, and everyone&mdash;man, woman, and child&mdash;followed
him. Every house was evacuated, and woe
to him who attempted to hide himself! Wad Gubara
and his flag alone remained behind as garrison of El
Obeid. The throng, noisy bustle and din of the camp
suddenly gave way to almost absolute silence&mdash;the
silence of the grave. The days which followed were for
us a period of terrible anxiety. Although we felt almost
certain that a terrible catastrophe was about to take
place, yet we still had a slight hope that, with the help
of European leaders, good rifles, and machine-guns, the
result might be different. Abu Anga, who had separated<a name="Page_86" id="Page_86"></a>
from his Jehadieh (black troops) just the day before,
now joined the powerful division of Abdel Halim, and
on the 3rd of November the Mahdi's followers also joined
this division, whilst the Mahdi himself, accompanied
by his Khalifas, set out for Birket.</p>

<p>It was on the 3rd of November that the action
actually began, for, in accordance with the Mahdi's
orders, his followers had gradually completely encircled
the troops, who were now opposed by black soldiers
with Remington rifles, Wad en Nejumi's Gellabas, and
the flags of Abdel Halim, Sherif Mahmud, and many
others. In the attack which occurred on this date, the
Dervishes were forced back with the loss of Fauzi, one
of the Mahdi's katibs, Elias Pasha's son, and the son
of Hajji Khaled; but General Hicks's losses were considerably
greater; he had also run short of water, and
was doing his utmost to dig wells, though he did not
know that within fifteen minutes' walk of him there
was a large reservoir of rain-water. What days of
terrible anxiety these must have been for the principal
officers, and especially for General Hicks, on whom the
entire responsibility rested!</p>

<p>Major Herlth's diary stops abruptly on the 4th of
November; he writes on that day that Dr. Georges Bey
was wounded the previous day and died shortly afterwards.
As far as I can remember, the Major then
continues:&mdash;"These are bad times; we are in a forest,
and everyone very depressed. The general orders the
band to play, hoping that the music may enliven us a
little; but the bands soon stop, for the bullets are flying
from all directions, and camels, mules, and men keep
dropping down; we are all cramped up together, so the
bullets cannot fail to strike. We are faint and weary,
and have no idea what to do. The general gives the
order to halt and make a zariba. It is Sunday, and
my dear brother's birthday. Would to God that I
could sit down and talk to him for an hour! The
bullets are falling thicker...."</p>

<p>Here the writer suddenly breaks off; possibly a
bullet had penetrated his weary heart.<a name="Page_87" id="Page_87"></a></p>

<p>The ring of encircling Dervishes was gradually drawing
in and enclosing the ill-fated troops. The greatest
destruction was done by Abu Anga's men who may
be said to have destroyed the army; hidden behind
shrubs and bushes, they fired incessantly at very close
range into the midst of the Egyptians. One of Abu
Anga's men told me that he alone had fired one hundred
and fifty rounds. On that terrible Sunday General
Hicks had to abandon a number of guns, for he had no
mules to carry them. Dire confusion prevailed everywhere,
the troops were suffering terribly from thirst,
discipline was gone, and the men could not even lay
their guns properly.</p>

<p>Klootz, whom the Khalifa Abdullah took with him,
told me that he was some way from the place where the
actual fighting was going on, and that the shells were
striking the branches overhead. It would seem that
the army made three attempts to break through the
Dervish lines, but failed, and Klootz told me that the
bodies were scattered in three large heaps extending
over a distance of nearly two miles. The largest heap
was in the forest of Shekan near Kashgeil, and it was
here that the Dervishes fell on the remainder of the
force and the European officers, and killed them with
their lances on the 5th of November.</p>

<p>According to the evidence of the Dervishes themselves,
the European officers fought most heroically.
General Hicks was one of the last to fall; he had
emptied his revolver, and, holding his sword in his
right hand, waited for the rush of the enemy; he was
soon surrounded and his horse wounded in the back; he
then dismounted and fought most gallantly with his
sword until he fell, pierced by several spears. The
heroism of these brave men was the admiration of all.
After the massacre the bodies were stripped and mutilated.
Even long after the battle those who were
present used to talk of the terrible spectacle of all these
bodies lying with their mouths gaping open and covered
with blood. These savages used to plunge their spears
into the bodies of the dead so as to dip them in the<a name="Page_88" id="Page_88"></a>
bloody entrails of their enemies, and for long after they
talked and revelled over the yellow-looking fat of the
"Turks," which protruded through their gaping wounds.
Baron Seckendorf, who was remarkable for his enormous
size, had been beheaded, and his head was taken to the
Mahdi; it was thought that he must have been General
Hicks. A few escaped by hiding themselves under the
heaps of dead bodies or behind guns or waggons; at the
end of the action these were all collected, and numbered
one hundred persons. During the actual fighting no
quarter was given. An Egyptian soldier pursued by
some Dervishes fled towards the Khalifa Sherif and
begged to be spared; but the latter laughed at his fear,
and he was at once despatched with spears.</p>

<p>The Dervishes then collected their dead and laid
them out in a line. It seems almost incredible to say
so, but there were only three hundred and fifty in all
killed. The Mahdi offered up a prayer over them, and
then they were buried.</p>

<p>The dead bodies of the Egyptians were left a prey to
the vultures and hyenas. Klootz, who said that he
understood doctoring, was permitted by the Mahdi to
collect all the medicines in the field, and when doing so
he was enabled to examine the bodies of the Europeans.
He told me that it was with the greatest difficulty he
kept himself from breaking down when he saw the
mutilated corpses of those with whom he had but a
short time ago laughed and spoken. The body of a
soldier was seen hanging between earth and sky; he
had evidently climbed up an Adansonia tree in search of
water, when a bullet must have killed him, and in falling
he was caught by the branches.</p>

<p>Amongst those who escaped was a man named Abderrahman
Ben en Naga Bey, whose father, then in El Obeid,
had entreated the Mahdi to spare him. A few days
before the catastrophe he was found writing letters to
Omar Wad Elias Pasha, then with Abdel Halim's force;
in consequence he and his men had been put in irons,
and it was Ala ed Din Pasha's intention to execute him;
but Hicks would not allow it, saying that he would be<a name="Page_89" id="Page_89"></a>
fairly tried after El Obeid was captured. Ben en Naga
was in the thickest of the fight, and had already lost an
eye, when his father's slaves succeeded in reaching him
and saving his life.</p>

<a name="baggara"></a><div class="figcenter" style="width:450px;"><img src="https://brian.carnell.com/wiki/_media/etext:f:fr-wingate-ten-years-captive-p089.jpg" border="0" alt="" title="" width="340" height="435">
<p class="caption2">A BAGGARA EMIR, PRESENT AT THE ANNIHILATION OF THE HICKS
EXPEDITION, AND AFTERWARDS CAPTURED AT TOSKI.</p></div>

<p>The Mahdi and his followers were greatly delighted,
for they had not calculated on such a complete victory,
and a messenger was at once despatched to El Obeid to
order a salute of one hundred guns to be fired.</p>

<p>It was early on Tuesday morning, the 6th of November,<a name="Page_90" id="Page_90"></a>
that the thunder of the guns was heard in the camp,
and our alarm at this terrible news can well be understood.
Our bright hopes, which enabled us to support
a wretched existence for more than a year, were rudely
dashed to the ground. We now gave up all idea of the
Government sending a second expedition. It was clear
that Khartum must look to its own safety, and as the
Mahdi had in the first instance gained possession of
Kordofan through his victory over Yusef Pasha Esh
Shellali, so now his annihilation of General Hicks's force
placed almost the entire Sudan in his hands.</p>


<a name="Page_91" id="Page_91"></a>
<hr class="newpg" style="width: 65%;">
<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI.</h2>

<p class="chapterhead">THE MAHDI'S TRIUMPHAL ENTRY INTO EL OBEID.</p>

<p class="chapterdescribe">Fall of Darfur&mdash;Slatin surrenders&mdash;The Mahdi's divinity credited
after the annihilation of Hicks&mdash;King Adam of Tagalla&mdash;Stambuli's
kindness to the European captives&mdash;Gordon writes to
the Mahdi&mdash;Power's letter&mdash;The sisters seized and distributed
amongst the emirs&mdash;They are tortured&mdash;The missionaries turned
into slaves&mdash;The terrible journey to Rahad&mdash;The Greeks come
to the help of the sisters&mdash;The proclamation concerning the
treatment of priests and hermits by Mohammedans&mdash;The Mahdi
at Rahad&mdash;Ohrwalder's interviews with the Mahdi concerning
religion&mdash;The Dervishes attack the Nubas.</p>


<p style="text-indent: 0em;"><span class="firstwords">The</span> Mahdi remained seven days with his entire force
at Birket, so as to collect families and stragglers and to
take possession of the loot which the greedy Arabs
had seized and refused to give up. Several of the latter
were flogged, and seven slaves belonging to the Mahdi's
uncle, Sayid Mohammed Taha, suffered the loss of a
hand and a foot because they had kept for themselves
some of the Mahdi's booty.</p>

<p>The loot referred to consisted of war material, such
as Krupp guns, machine guns, and Remington rifles,
besides a number of axes, pickaxes, and shovels, which
were required for making zaribas; a quantity of money,
watches, and clothing, was also included, and the whole
was carried off to the beit el mal.</p>

<p>Some of the dead bodies were secretly set fire to, so
as to make the ignorant people think that these unbelievers
were being consumed by hell-fire. General
Hicks's white horse was handed over to Klootz with
orders to cure the wound in its back.</p>

<p>At length the pestilential smell of thousands of dead
bodies of men and animals drove the conquerors forward.<a name="Page_92" id="Page_92"></a>
The Mahdi's entry into El Obeid was a scene of wild
enthusiasm and excitement. The many-coloured flags
came first, then followed thousands upon thousands of
Dervishes moving to the ever-swelling murmur of "La
Ilaha il'lallah" ("There is no god but God"), whilst others
danced out of the ranks and shook their blood-bespotted
spears, uttering fearful yells. After them followed the
cavalry with the three Khalifas. Every now and then
a halt was made, when a number of riders would dash
forward at full gallop, poising their lances ready for the
thrust, and then would return to the ranks amidst the
loud applause of the others.</p>

<p>After the cavalry followed a few prisoners, the
wretched remnant of Hicks's army. Most of them were
naked, and were being dragged forward under the continual
insults of the Dervishes; then came the guns
drawn by wounded mules, and last of all came the
Mahdi himself, riding a magnificent white camel, and
surrounded by his most fanatical adherents, whose
monotonous "La Ilaha il'lallah" resembled the sound
of a rushing stream. Clouds of dust filled the air, and
as the Mahdi passed by, the spectators threw themselves
down and kissed the ground, whilst the women shouted
"Mahdi Allah" ("The Mahdi of God").</p>

<p>Such a scene of wild triumph had never before been
witnessed. The Mahdi was now honoured almost as a
god. This victory gained for him an enormous increase
of power and respect. The fear of his name sped like
wildfire throughout every province and district in the
Sudan. He was now regarded as the true Mahdi,
every Moslem believed in him, and all doubt was put
aside.</p>

<p>At the battle near Shekan numbers of people said
they saw the angels whom the Mahdi had summoned
to fight against the Turks. He now became the object
of almost superhuman adoration; even the water with
which he washed himself was handed by the eunuchs
to the believers, who drank it with avidity as an antidote
to all ills and diseases.</p>

<p>After a time the captured Egyptians were released,<a name="Page_93" id="Page_93"></a>
and many died in a state of beggary in the market-place
at El Obeid. The captured blacks were distributed
amongst the beit el mal soldiers, and were
known by the name of "Hiksani," for example, Morgan
Hiksani. It was one of the Mahdi institutions that
slaves should&mdash;besides their own names&mdash;bear also the
names of their masters. Our Delen blacks were also
given my name, "Yusef." Of course it would have
been more correct if they had called them after our
chief, Luigi Bonomi, but the Arabs found this name
rather difficult to pronounce.</p>

<p>The Mahdi now became more imperious, and his
success made him bolder and more confident. He despatched
letters to various parts of the world, proving
the divinity of his mission by his success in arms, and
summoning all to rise against the Turks. He wrote very
strongly to the inhabitants of the Gezireh, threatening
them with fire and sword if they refused to rise against
the Government and join him.</p>

<p>Having rid himself of his enemies, the Mahdi now
turned his attention to Darfur. He appointed his uncle,
Zogal Bey, who was known as Sayid Mohammed
Khaled, emir of Darfur, and sent him to that province,
accompanied by Abdel Samad, the son of Ahmed Sharfi,
and Omar Wad Elias.</p>

<p>Khalifa Sherif, immediately after the victory over
Hicks, urged the Mahdi to advance to the White Nile
and attack Khartum, which he might easily have done,
but the Mahdi was anxious first of all to secure Darfur,
and he also wished to rest on his laurels a little longer.
He wrote to Slatin Bey informing him of the destruction
of Hicks's army, and he also forced Klootz to write to the
same effect. Zogal started on the 16th of December, 1883,
and proceeded in the first instance to Dara, where Slatin
was at that time. He then sent in a messenger with
the Mahdi's letter, in which he was called upon to surrender.
Zogal well knew that this was a mere formality,
for Slatin was quite unable to hold out any
longer, and he had only five cartridges per man left;
his men too refused to make any further stand. Slatin,<a name="Page_94" id="Page_94"></a>
therefore, on receipt of the letter, rode out to Zogal and
submitted. The Dervishes then entered Dara, and as
usual began to plunder. Zogal subsequently proceeded
to El Fasher, which was at that time commanded by
the Mudir, Said Bey Guma, who had put the town in a
state of defence.</p>

<p>In spite of the wells being beyond the lines, Said Bey
offered a resistance which from the outset was hopeless;
seven days later, that is to say on the 15th of January,
1884, he surrendered. Kebkebieh also yielded to Zogal,
and Omshanga had already submitted. Thus the populous
and valuable province of Darfur, which had cost Egypt
much blood and money, was entirely lost in the short
space of eight days. In the meantime the Mahdi had
despatched his son-in-law, Wad el Beshir, to the Gezireh
to head the revolt against the Government in that
district.</p>

<p>The Mahdi showed his wisdom in never attempting
to invade a district which had not previously declared
in his favour. When he heard of the submission of El
Fasher and Dara, he despatched Abu Girgeh to undertake
the siege of Khartum. The latter left with only
a small body of troops, but numbers joined him on the
way, especially when he reached the White Nile; so
that he was not afraid of advancing towards the capital.</p>

<p>Thus through his victory at Shekan, the Mahdi had
virtually made himself master of the whole Sudan from
the Red Sea to the boundaries of Waddai, and from the
Bahr el Ghazal to Dongola. All eyes were turned to
him, and the majority of the people believed him to
be the true Mahdi; some thought he must be a great
magician. Even now at the present time, when he has
already been six years in his grave, and the fallacy and
misery wrought by Mahdiism are thoroughly admitted,
still his wonderful success is attributed to witchcraft.
His own countrymen&mdash;the Danagla&mdash;although they
now admit he was not the Mahdi, say that he was
undoubtedly a very holy man, and was supernaturally
endowed by God with extraordinary authority and
wisdom. Amongst others who feared the Mahdi's power<a name="Page_95" id="Page_95"></a>
was King Adam of Tagalla, who with his wife, child,
and slaves, came down from his mountain retreat and
surrendered.</p>

<p>For a long time the King's Kadi had endeavoured to
convince his master that Mohammed Ahmed was not the
true Mahdi, and did his utmost to dissuade him from
joining; but after the defeat of Hicks, Adam delayed
no longer, and moreover took his Kadi with him. When
they reached Melbeis, about three hours' journey from
El Obeid, the Kadi deserted, but he was recaptured, put
in chains, and brought with the king to El Obeid.</p>

<p>On their arrival near the town, Khalifa Abdullah
went out with a large retinue to meet Adam, who had a
great reputation throughout Kordofan, and greeted him
most cordially. A salute was fired, and every one
rejoiced at the Mahdi's bloodless victory. King Adam
was warmly welcomed by the Mahdi, given a special
place to live in, and treated with the greatest respect.
To gain still more favour in the Mahdi's eyes, Adam
sent him six of his prettiest young girls as concubines.
After a short time, however, the mountain king seemed
to tire of residence in El Obeid and began to suffer from
melancholia. In his mountains he was absolute master,
here in El Obeid he was nothing but a slave. At first
he thought he would be permitted to return to his
mountains, but soon he had to give up all hope of this;
and before long he realised that one of the first principles
of Mahdiism was that those who were fortunate
enough to behold its light would never be permitted to
wander back into darkness. Now he bitterly repented
that he had not accepted his Kadi's advice, while the spies
by whom he was surrounded soon let the <a name="tn_png_111"></a><!--TN: "Madhi" changed to "Mahdi"-->Mahdi know
what the Kadi's opinions were; and when Khalifa
Abdullah learnt that he meditated flight, he at once
had him seized and beheaded. Thus was the unfortunate
Adam intimidated; then his horses were taken
from him, and last of all, to save his life, he had to sell
his wives.</p>

<p>Almost all the inhabitants of Jebel Nuba sent
messengers to say that they were the Mahdi's subjects.<a name="Page_96" id="Page_96"></a>
Even in Khartum already numbers were inclined to
him. In proof of this statement, the case of the
Sub-Mudir of the town, Wad Gesuli, may be quoted.
When this individual heard of Gordon's arrival at
Berber, he at once fled from Khartum and came to El
Obeid, where he threw himself at the Mahdi's feet and
assured him that the inhabitants of Khartum to a man
were on his side.</p>

<p>All hope of release now seemed at an end. Our pitiful
condition was somewhat lightened through the kind
offices of our Syrian friend, George Stambuli, who was
both the Mahdi's favourite and our benefactor at the
same time, and he supplied us with the necessaries of
life. The sisters made jibbehs (Dervish coats), which
Stambuli sold and gave us the proceeds. We obtained
the material chiefly from the clothes of the soldiers who
had been killed, and from the officers' tunics. O'Donovan's
mackintosh and some other articles of clothing
which Klootz recognised came into our hands and were
soon cut up. Most of the clothing was stained with
blood, which we were obliged to wash out; but what
bitter thoughts occupied our minds in this sad task!</p>

<p>Towards the end of January 1884 an unfortunate
incident occurred which brought us into difficulties.
One of Stambuli's female slaves, having come to an
understanding with his Dongolawi servant, went to the
Khalifa Abdullah and reported that her master was a
Christian, and prayed daily. Stambuli's suspicions were
aroused, and that evening he hid away everything which
could be brought up against him, except a small silver
cross which his little daughter wore round her neck.
Almost before dawn his house was surrounded by a
number of Dervishes, and Nejumi with Wad Suleiman,
who had been ordered to take possession of his house,
broke into it and began a thorough search.</p>

<p>Stambuli who, since the fall of El Obeid, had never
been questioned, had his house full of all sorts of things,
and was also in possession of a quantity of gum and
ostrich feathers. The house was turned upside down,
but nothing of an implicating nature could be found<a name="Page_97" id="Page_97"></a>:
the slave had, however, mentioned the little girl's cross,
and the inquisitors demanded to see the children; when
they saw the cross they at once asked what it was.
Stambuli replied that it was an ornament which had no
special signification, and Wad Suleiman then pulled it
off the child's neck and kept it.</p>

<p>I must here remark that numbers of people were very
envious and jealous of Stambuli, and did not at all care
to see a white man in possession of all this property;
they therefore took every occasion to rob and steal
from him. Stambuli was now put into chains, whilst his
property was carried off to the beit el mal. It was
decided that he was to be beheaded, but his Syrian
countrymen and the Greeks consulted together, then
went to the Mahdi and begged for his life. They were
kindly received by the latter, who gave them some hope,
and fifteen days later Stambuli was pardoned. He was
obliged to appear before the Mahdi with a shebba (<i>i.e.</i> a
long piece of forked wood in which the neck was placed,
and which had the effect of forcing the head back), and
in this condition he was obliged to implore the Mahdi's
forgiveness. His property was never returned to him,
and he could support us no more.</p>

<p>Father Bonomi seized this opportunity to write to
the Mahdi and beg for our release, which he had so
frequently promised. The Mahdi wrote several kind
words on the reverse of the petition, but they meant
nothing; he said Father Bonomi was aware with what
affection he regarded him, and that, therefore, he could
not bear the thought of losing him. At the same time
he instructed Wad Suleiman to give us whatever was
necessary for our sustenance from the beit el mal; this
occurred on the 5th of February, 1884.</p>

<p>Just at this time, when all hopes of release seemed at
an end, God sent us light in the midst of our darkness.
Some people arrived from Khartum and reported that
Gordon Pasha had reached there and had been received
with great enthusiasm.</p>

<p>The alarm with which this news was received by the
Mahdi and his adherents, and the delight which it<a name="Page_98" id="Page_98"></a>
occasioned to those who still hoped for deliverance, can
readily be understood. The Mahdi, who thought the
Sudan was actually in his grasp, was thoroughly upset,
for it was generally believed that Gordon had brought
Englishmen with him. A few days later he received
a letter from Gordon, and the anxiety to know what it
contained was enormous. Nothing else was talked
about, and when the Mahdi ordered the letter to be
read in public the disappointment was very great.</p>

<p>In this letter Gordon offered the Mahdi the whole of
the Western Sudan, of which he said he should be
considered the Sultan. He authorised the continuance
of the slave trade, and free transit to all pilgrims going
to Mecca; and, in conclusion, he asked for the release
of the prisoners. The Mahdi laughed at Gordon's
proposals, and thought him a very cunning unbeliever,
who was attempting to delude him with vain promises
merely to gain time. He could not understand how it
was Gordon came to offer him what he already possessed
some time ago; and he remarked that the very ground
on which Gordon was standing was practically in his
hands. The fact that Gordon had brought no troops
with him served to further increase his pride, and his
reply was couched in the following terms:&mdash;He said
that when he was at Abba Island he had warned the
Government officials that if they refused to recognise
him as the Mahdi, they would undoubtedly perish. He
had repeated the same warning to Yusef Pasha Esh
Shellali, and to Hicks Pasha. He informed him of the
surrender of Darfur, and concluded by saying that he
had no desire for worldly benefits. His object was to
reform the people, and he invited Gordon to come and
join him. With the letter the Mahdi sent him a complete
set of Dervish garments, <a name="tn_png_114"></a><!--TN: Comma removed following "viz."-->viz. a jibbeh, takia, turban,
girth, and pair of sandals.</p>

<p>Meanwhile the Mahdi had despatched the emir Abu
Anga with some troops, also the emirs Wad Nejumi and
Abdullah Wad en Nur to Jebel Dair, where the king
(Mek) Kumbo was still offering resistance. It was
thought that the number of troops would alarm these<a name="Page_99" id="Page_99"></a>
mountaineers; but they successfully resisted the first
attack, and then withdrew to their mountain fastnesses
where the troops could not follow them.</p>

<p>On the 23rd of March, 1884, a man arrived from
Khartum with a small note from Consul Power. It was
written in English on one side, and in French on the
other: "Courage pour un peu. Gordon est ici. Courage
tout ira bien," was what this good man wrote. He also
asked for the names of the survivors of Hicks's expedition,
and the names of the European prisoners in
Kordofan. We answered all his questions. These few
words of the consul gave us no little comfort and
encouragement.</p>

<p>The time of the Mahdi's departure from El Obeid was
now drawing near. The crowd of people who had been
collected was so enormous that the water in the wells
was insufficient, and rose greatly in price, and anyone
with slaves had to pay dearly for the luxury.</p>

<p>Disturbances frequently took place round the wells,
and often people fell in. The wells were from 150 to
160 feet deep.</p>

<p>The Mahdi's further stay at El Obeid was now useless,
and he decided to advance on Khartum. He issued a
proclamation summoning all people to join him, and
heralds were despatched in all directions with the
Mahdi's orders. At the same time it was announced
that all people should follow in the Mahdi's track via
Rahad, and Arabs living to the north and east of El
Obeid were instructed to fall upon any travellers, put
them in chains, and drag them to that town.</p>

<p>Provisions now became very cheap, such as coffee,
wheat, dates, &amp;c.; but, on the other hand, the rates of
hire of camels and donkeys increased enormously.
Money was distributed to everyone for the journey.</p>

<p>With regard to ourselves, however, as we were not
permitted to leave, we resolved to try and escape; but
this was most difficult, for we were avoided by everyone
and no one dared associate with us. We managed,
however, to procure a trustworthy man, who succeeded
in getting us camels and guides; but God had disposed<a name="Page_100" id="Page_100"></a>
otherwise. Khalifa Abdullah, accompanied by a number
of followers, suddenly appeared at our huts on the 28th
of March, and Father Bonomi, brother Joseph Rognotto
and myself were summoned before him. We found him
seated on his sheepskin in the midst of a circle of emirs,
and when he had beckoned to us to sit down, he then
began to address to us a heap of questions, all leading
up to the one important point&mdash;that we should accept his
faith. His arguments were valueless, and had no effect
upon us, so we were sent back to our huts.</p>

<p>That evening, at about sunset, some thirty men,
mounted on horses, broke into our humble abode,
and said that they had orders to remove the sisters,
assuring us with mock modesty that no harm should
happen to them. We, however, well knew what would
happen, and absolutely refused to be separated, saying
that if they wished they could kill us, and cut off our
heads; but that it would be a cruel shame for the
Mahdi to ill-treat these poor women after all his solemn
promises and assurances. But of what avail could our
protests be against brutal violence! They forced their
way in, seized the sisters, and took them before the
Khalifa Abdullah. He and Khalifa Sherif used every
means of cruel barbarity to shake the faith of these poor
sisters, and the latter, seizing a pair of scissors, which
one of the sisters was carrying, cut the partition between
her nostrils. The Khalifa's wives also howled and
insulted them in every base way, and then they were
distributed amongst the emirs, and sent to Rahad.</p>

<p>We spent that night in our own huts, but early the
following morning the Dervishes came and took us to
the Khalifa, who made us over to various emirs. My
master was to be Abdullah Wad en Nur; but as at that
time he happened to be at Jebel Dair, I was made over to
his brother Makin, who was then occupying Mohammed
Said Pasha's house. Father Bonomi, together with the
little property we had left, was put into the beit el mal;
but my diary, which I had now written for the third
time, also Herlth's diary, General Hicks's Bible and
prayer book, and a sandwich case and small bundle,<a name="Page_101" id="Page_101"></a>
belonging to O'Donovan, were all lost. We were now
exposed to ill-treatment and insult from all sides. The
Mahdi's three sons, ranging from seven to ten years of
age, used to come and insult me daily; but I cannot
mention the details, which will for ever remain engraven
on my memory.</p>

<p>At length, on the 7th of April, 1884, the Mahdi set
out, and we with him. The huge camp, swarming with
thousands and thousands of people, became empty in a
few days, and each one, as he left his hut, set fire to it,
so that nothing was to be seen but clouds of smoke and
flames darting upwards to the sky.</p>

<p>Just as we were leaving I was made over to another
master, Idris Wad el Hashmi. When I arrived at his
house, I found everything ready for the journey; numbers
of well-bound books were lying about on the floor.
I picked one up, and found it was 'The Soldier's Pocket
Book,' by Lord Wolseley. I would like to have searched
amongst these books for a diary, but they turned me
out: Idris had taken them out of some good leather
trunks, which he had filled with his own effects. Three
days after the Mahdi's departure my master and I
quitted El Obeid. The road to Rahad was one uninterrupted
stream of human beings&mdash;men, women, and
children; camels carrying the household goods, on the
top of which were fastened angaribs, on which women
were seated; oxen and donkeys, all heavily laden;
numbers of Arabs were driving along their flocks with
them; here one would see a camel fallen prone under
its heavy load, there a child or a slave vainly seeking
in the crowd for his lost master. Of course I had to
walk, and to act as a camel-driver as well, subject
to continual insult and threatening. I moved along as
best I could; the Arabs applauded my master's good
sense in making me his camel-driver, and urged that I
should carry a load as well. We had to halt frequently,
as the camels were so heavily laden.</p>

<p>The burning sun and fatigue were terribly oppressive,
and it is always a wonder to me how I escaped sunstroke.
As to food, I had a share of my master's<a name="Page_102" id="Page_102"></a>
horses' meal. In the evening I was obliged to clean
the dokhn, which was given to the horse, and the
pangs of hunger made me covet even this, while I was
obliged to ask my master's slave to occasionally give me
a gulp of water; indeed, this slave pitied my wretched
state.</p>

<p>It took us three days to reach Rahad, though, under
ordinary circumstances, the journey could easily be
performed in one and a half days. The burning sand
had blistered my feet, and caused my legs to swell.
One day I saw the unfortunate King Adam, of Tagalla,
riding by; he was mounted on a mule, and his feet
heavily chained. They thought that the sight of his
native mountains might make him wish to desert.
Soon after his arrival at Rahad the poor king died,
heart-broken, and to him death must have come as a
happy deliverance; while to us, who also longed for it,
death would never come.</p>

<p>Rahad is situated in a depression, which in winter
becomes a swamp; the water remains standing for some
time, and there are numerous wells, which are sufficient
for a large number of men and animals. During the
dry season, Rahad is a centre in which large numbers of
Arab tribes collect, and about four hours to the south
rises the great Dobab mountain (called by the Arabs
Dair, because of its semicircular shape). Dobab is
perhaps the best naturally-fortified hill of the entire
Nuba group. It is accessible from one side only, and is
easily defensible; there are quantities of water, which
would enable the inhabitants to stand a prolonged siege.
The circumference of the base of the mountain is about
eighteen miles, and the inhabitants live on the top.</p>

<p>Already the Dervishes had constructed their rude
barracks under the shady trees of Rahad, and soon an
enormous camp sprang up. Shortly after my arrival,
I was again obliged to change masters; the one with
whom I had recently been was not really bad, but my
new master, Abdel Halim Wad Id, was a very great
and fanatical emir.</p>

<p>Before, however, I proceed to describe the events<a name="Page_103" id="Page_103"></a>
which occurred at Rahad, I must give a brief outline of
what had happened to the sisters since they were so
cruelly wrenched away from us. They had set out
from Rahad with the various emirs amongst whom they
had been distributed; on the journey they suffered
greatly; they were obliged to walk the whole distance
barefooted, over thorns and burning sand; they underwent
the agonies of hunger and thirst, and some of
them had to carry loads; one of them, for a whole day,
had not a drop of water to drink. These brutal savages
were continually beating, insulting, and abusing them,
and when, tired and weary, they sat down for a
moment, they were driven forward under the lash of
the cruel whip. On their arrival at Rahad they scarcely
looked like human beings, with their faces all scorched
and peeled by the burning sun; and here new tortures
awaited them. One of them was suspended from a
tree, and beaten on the soles of the feet until they
became swollen and black, and soon afterwards the
nails dropped off. In spite of all this suffering, and
notwithstanding the continual threats of these barbarians
that they would be violated, these sisters clung
firmly to their faith and belief.</p>

<p>One night, one of the sisters succeeded in escaping to
the Mahdi's hut, and, forcing her way into his presence,
appealed vehemently to him against the cruel treatment
which she and her companions were suffering at the
hands of his tyrannical emirs, and that their only fault
was that they resolved to adhere to their own faith.
Under other circumstances the Mahdi would never have
forgiven this bitter reproach, but when he saw this
poor sister wounded and bleeding, he pretended that he
knew nothing of the matter, and at once ordered all the
sisters to be brought to his enclosure, where they were,
to some extent, safe from ill-treatment; yet they were
in constant terror of being dishonoured, and therefore
decided to seek the protection of some of the
Greeks who were in favour with the Mahdi, and who,
at the sisters' request, sought his permission to take
charge of them and care for them. The Mahdi, who<a name="Page_104" id="Page_104"></a>
really pitied them from his heart, sanctioned the proposal
of the Greeks, to whom the sisters were duly
handed over; but it was not, of course, admitted that
pity for them had induced this decision.</p>

<p>It is a well-known fact that in the Kuran the Prophet
Mohammed enjoins respect and toleration of the ministers
of Christianity, whom he calls "Rahban," or pious
persons consecrated to God's service; and, moreover,
he tells his followers that it is their duty to do so. In
support of this I may here quote a translation of the
celebrated passage which occurs in the manuscripts
kept in the Greek convent on Mount Sinai. It is as
follows:&mdash;</p>

<p>"In the name of the merciful God, Mohammed Ibn
Abdullah issues this proclamation to all. He announces
that he is the trusted one of God, by whom he has
been placed over his creatures. No one, therefore, can
shelter himself under the plea of ignorance.</p>

<p>"I have written this proclamation in the form of an
order to my nation, and to all Christians in the East
and West, far and near, young and old, known and
unknown. He who fails to follow the instructions laid
down in this order is conducting himself contrary to
God's will, and renders himself liable to a curse, whoever
he may be, whether Sultan or any other Moslem.</p>

<p>"If a priest or a monk retire to a mountain, grotto,
cave, plain, desert, city, village, or church, I myself am
prepared to follow them with my army and my subjects,
to protect them against any enemies they may meet, for
these priests are my rayas (subjects), and I myself will
prevent any harm coming to them. Taxes shall not be
taken from them, except those which they may give of
their own free will and accord, not being compelled to
do so by any one. It is not permissible to remove a
bishop from his bishopric, a priest from his church, or a
monk from his retreat. No objects shall be removed
from their churches and used in the construction of
mosques, nor, indeed, for the construction of the houses
of Mussulmans. Whoso doth not act in accordance
with this, acteth contrary to the law of God and His<a name="Page_105" id="Page_105"></a>
Prophet. It is forbidden to burden bishops or other
holy men with taxes. I shall uphold these their privileges
everywhere, on land or sea, in the East or West,
North or South. They shall enjoy my favour and
protection against anything harmful, disagreeable, or
unpleasant to them.</p>

<p>"Those who cultivate on mountains or distant places
shall not be burdened with the tithe or tenth-tax, even
if they give it of their own free will and accord, provided
that what they cultivate is for their own maintenance.
If there is a scarcity of corn, they shall be
supported each with one quart of corn for each house.
It shall never be necessary for them to go to war or to
pay tribute. Those in possession of unmovable goods
shall not pay more than twelve drams of silver annually.
No one shall be burdened. No discussions will take
place with those who follow the teaching of the Gospels,
they should rather be in some degree sympathized with
so as to put aside all enmity and to cause the wings of
mercy to spread out.</p>

<p>"Should a Christian woman go amongst Moslems,
they shall treat her well and permit her to go through
her prayers in church, and allow nothing to come
between her and her religion. Whoso acteth contrary
to these orders acteth in rebellion to God and His
Prophet.</p>

<p>"Christians should be supported in the maintenance
of their churches and houses; their religion should help
them to do so. It is not their duty to carry arms, the
Moslems shall do that for them, and Moslems should
ever hold firmly this order until the world's end.</p>

<p>"The witnesses who confirm the truth of this proclamation,
which is hereby issued by Mohammed Ibn
Abdallah, the messenger of God to all Christians, which
proclamation is to seal their privileges, are, Ali Ibn Abu
Taleb, Bakr Ibn Ali Kohaifi, Omar Ibn El Khattab,
Othman Ibn Affan, Abu El Darda, Abu Horeireh,
Abdullah Abu Masaud, Abbas Ibn Abdel Muttaleb,
Fodeil Ibn Abbas, Zoheir Ibn Awan, Talaat Ibn Obeidallah,
Saad Ibn Maaz, Saad Ibn Obadi, Tabet Ibn Kais,<a name="Page_106" id="Page_106"></a>
Abu Khayetma, Hashim Ibn Omaya, Hareth Ibn Tabet,
Abdallah Ibn Amr Bin el Aas, Amr Ibn Yasin, Moazzam
Ibn Koreishi, Abdel Azim Ibn Hassan.</p>

<p>"This proclamation is written by the hand of Ali
Taleb on the 3rd Moharrem of the second year of the
Hejira corresponding with the 1st of August, 622 of the
Christian Era. It is signed by the Prophet himself.</p>

<p>"Blessed be he who followeth the contents thereof,
and cursed be he who acteth contrary to them."</p>

<p>No doubt the precepts enjoined in the above proclamation
weighed with the Mahdi in his decision to
hand over the sisters to the Greeks, and thus it was
that the danger was for the time tided over. Later on,
when Khartum fell and hundreds of the young women
who had been in the harems of the principal people of
the town fell into the hands of the emirs, the persecution
of the sisters was entirely stopped, and in
retirement they at length secured some rest and
quietude, gaining their daily bread by sewing and
other handiwork.</p>

<p>After this digression, let us return to Rahad, where
numbers of straw huts were now erected. A market
was opened and provisions were cheap. Various Arab
tribes&mdash;the Dar Homr, Bederieh, Ghodiat, Baggara
Howazma, Miserieh, and Dar Nauli&mdash;streamed hither
with their flocks and herds, and soon the camp extended
greatly. Sherif Mahmud, whom the Mahdi had
left behind in El Obeid, was instructed to send all the
people on from there.</p>

<p>The Mahdi set up his abode between two large trees,
and the Khalifas lived around him. The combined
movements of this enormous crowd were most impressive.
At prayer-time thousands upon thousands of
Dervishes ranged themselves in well-ordered lines
behind the Mahdi, and the shout of "Allahu Akbar"
resounded through the air. Often the singers of the
Mahdi's praises would go on till long after midnight,
and thus did he continue to inspire his gigantic
audience.</p>

<a name="father"></a><div class="figcenter" style="width:450px;"><img src="https://brian.carnell.com/wiki/_media/etext:f:fr-wingate-ten-years-captive-p107.jpg" border="0" alt="" title="" width="409" height="546">
<p class="caption2">FATHER OHRWALDER'S INTERVIEW WITH THE MAHDI AT RAHAD,
CONCERNING RELIGION.</p></div>

<p>I was also twice summoned by the Mahdi; on one<a name="Page_109" id="Page_109"></a><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108"></a><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107"></a>
occasion two of his body-guard rushed up to me quite
out of breath, just to show how expeditiously they carried
out the Mahdi's orders, and brandishing their swords
over my head shouted, "Get up, the Mahdi wishes to
speak to you." As a matter of fact I had no desire to
see him, but I had to get up, and this I did as slowly
as I possibly could, and then I was pushed forward in
the direction I had to go. At length I reached the
two large trees, and sitting down beside them I leaned
against the roots. The Mahdi had not arrived. Close
to me was a hut roughly built of dokhn reeds, which I
was told was the fort, around which a small thorn zariba
had been constructed to keep off the crowding Dervishes
who were collected in their thousands, most of them
seated in long lines on the sand and repeating their
"subhan allah." The Mahdi's huts and tents were close
by.</p>

<p>It was then the time for noonday prayers, and as the
Mahdi approached there was a short buzz and hum
followed by a deep silence.</p>

<p>When the Mahdi came to the place where the sheepskin
was stretched out on the ground, a slave came
up and took off his sandals, after which he conducted
prayers. These over, he turned round and greeted me.
Then some of his favourites came forward and presented
petitions to him, some of which he approved at once by
writing a few words on the back of the paper, while the
remainder were put aside for consideration.</p>

<p>Since the occasion on which the Mahdi had interviewed
Klootz, I had not seen him. I now saw a
considerable change in him; he had grown much
stouter, but he still wore the same clothes of rough
damur, consisting of drawers, jibbeh, girth, and turban.
His conversation soon turned on religion, and he asked
me if we Christians used the "Hamdu" (a form used by
the Moslems as they bow in prayer) in our prayers. I
replied that not only had we one but several, and at his
request I repeated the Lord's Prayer in Arabic.</p>

<p>This created much surprise amongst the ignorant
listeners, who believe that Christians do not know how<a name="Page_110" id="Page_110"></a>
to pray, and I was thought quite "fasich" (<i>i.e.</i> educated).
After a long conversation on the Psalms of
David, the Mahdi said, "I know that you Christians are
very good people, and that you feed the hungry." He
then told me about "deeds of mercy," and added that
all such acts were useless, as anyone who did not believe
in the Mahdi was but "wood for the fire." Our conversation
was interrupted by the Aser or afternoon
prayers, after which the Mahdi again held a reception.
Amongst others a small dwarf appeared, and the Mahdi
spoke to him about his tribe and asked if he were
married. The dwarf replied that he had come to ask for
a wife, and explained that the possession of one was the
desire of his heart, whereupon the Mahdi gave orders
that he should at once be provided with one. He then
rose up to leave, and I was permitted to go home.</p>

<p>On the following day I was again summoned before
him, and he explained that through the noonday prayers
he knew he should win over the whole world. He said
that God had given him a period of forty years (as a
matter of fact he only lived four years, but a cypher
more or less is of no consequence) during which he
should make all people believe on him and acknowledge
that he was the Mahdi. He added that after the subjugation
of the Sudan he would take Egypt, which
would only offer a weak resistance, and that afterwards he
would attack Mecca, where the most bloody battle which
the world had ever seen would take place; from Mecca
he should proceed to Jerusalem, where Jesus Christ
should descend from heaven. "Of course," I said,
"Christ will possess all the characteristics which the
Gospel attributes to Him;" but the Mahdi continued,
"Would Christ not fight with anti-Christ? If I do not
believe in Him He will kill me."</p>

<p>The Mahdi then asked me if I ever had dreams, and
I replied that even if I did have dreams I did not
believe in them. Then the Mahdi turned round to those
who were near and said, "Assuredly the Turks do not
believe in dreams, or they would have admitted that I
am the Mahdi." It is said that Mahmud Bey Ahmedani,<a name="Page_111" id="Page_111"></a>
Mudir of Khartum, who had accompanied Hicks and
had fallen near Shekan, had seen the Mahdi's shadow
on the wall surrounded with a halo of light, but in his
obstinacy he still refused to acknowledge him.</p>

<p>Just then a Sherif of Syria came in, and, making
obeisance to the Mahdi, said, "Sire, you are my relation!"
(By this he meant that as he belonged to the
Prophet's tribe, and as the Mahdi had sprung from the
Prophet, that therefore they were connected.) The
Mahdi was much gratified by this flattery, and ordered
Wad Suleiman to give him fifty dollars and a concubine.
The conversation was then turned on Gordon. The
Mahdi remarked he was full of pity for him, for he said
that he was convinced it was the Ulema's arguments
which had made Gordon believe that he was not the true
Mahdi. He then asked me what was the object of the
wires with which Gordon had surrounded Khartum. I
replied that I knew nothing of the art of war, but others
said that this was telegraph wire, which Gordon had
put down so that in case of attack the horses would
stumble over it. The Mahdi smiled, and remarked that
God was more mighty than all the tricks and artifices
of Gordon.</p>

<p>It was now evening, and the Mahdi got up to go, so I
went home, and when I returned to Sheikh Idris, several
came up and congratulated me for having had the good
fortune to talk with the Mahdi. For my own part I
would gladly have dispensed with this good fortune.
When I was summoned the next day I sent word that
I was very ill, and by this means secured some rest.</p>

<p>Whilst at Rahad, the Mahdi's eyes were continually
directed on Jebel Dair, and when Abu Anga and the
emirs who were sent to subjugate these districts, returned,
defeated in their attempts to scale the mountain,
the Mahdi then despatched every man fit for war
to reinforce him. He excused himself for this unusual
measure by saying that all persons should be exercised
in war, and that, moreover, this was penance to those
who had only recently joined him, to purify them from
the sin of not having joined him earlier. As a matter<a name="Page_112" id="Page_112"></a>
of fact, these Arabs were a source of great trouble
and annoyance to the Mahdi, for they did nothing
but wander about the market-place begging, and it
was no small difficulty to keep such vast crowds in
order.</p>

<p>The war against the Nubas was waged in the most
cruel manner; the proud Dervishes were incensed at
the stubborn resistance of these poor black slaves, as
they used to call the Nubas. On one occasion, when
the Dervishes, led by Abu Anga and followed by the
Gellabas, attempted to ascend the mountain, the Nubas
allowed them to advance some way and then pounced
down upon the Gellabas in the narrowest pass; these
men were badly armed, and four hundred of them were
killed. Abu Anga seeing this beat a rapid retreat, and
on coming into the pass was implored by the wretched
wounded Gellabas to carry them away, but Abu Anga's
men jeeringly replied that they must die "in God's
cause," and left them to the tender mercies of the Nuba
lances.</p>

<p>I may here remark that there was great ill-feeling
between the blacks and the Dervishes, for the black
soldiers complained that they were always placed in the
forefront of the battle. In another attack the Dervishes
succeeded in reaching the Nuba village, burning
the huts, killing a large number of them and carrying
off their wives and children as captives to Rahad, where
they were sold as slaves. On this occasion Nur Angar
cut off the heads of three Nubas who had already submitted,
while Abu Anga's men seized the little children
by the feet and dashed their brains to pieces on the
rocks. At Rahad a special zariba was built for the
Nuba captives, who were driven like cattle into a pen
to be sold. These poor creatures, without covering from
the sun or rain, suffered terribly from hunger and thirst;
each evening they were given a handful of dhurra and
some water, but that was quite insufficient, and in a
few days mothers had to see their children slowly
starving to death, while the little suckling babes gathered
round their mothers in the vain search for food. Each<a name="Page_113" id="Page_113"></a>
morning the guards looked in to inquire if there were
any dead or dying, and then ordered the wretched survivors,
who had scarcely the strength to get up, to drag
out their dead and dying friends and relations.</p>

<p>It would take a long time to tell of all the horrible
atrocities and cruelties which these poor Nubas suffered
at the hands of the Dervishes&mdash;and why? because they
tried to retain their freedom and defend their fatherland,
refusing to follow that base liar who called himself the
Mahdi, to the siege of Khartum. Amongst the captives
in the zariba was a man and his wife and two small
children. The sight of his starving children was breaking
the father's heart; the view of his native mountain so
affected him that he became desperate, and knowing
that he would probably be separated from his wife and
children and sold the next day, he took a terrible
resolution: in the middle of the night he embraced
his wife, kissed his little children, and then plunged
his knife into each of them, preferring rather that
they should die than become slaves; he then broke
out of the zariba and fled, the guards fired and missed
him; thus the wretched man succeeded in reaching his
beloved hills.</p>


<a name="Page_114" id="Page_114"></a>
<hr class="newpg" style="width: 65%;">
<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII.</h2>

<p class="chapterhead">FATHER OHRWALDER'S VIEWS OF GORDON'S MISSION.</p>

<p class="chapterdescribe">Ohrwalder describes his treatment at the hands of various masters&mdash;The
Nubas surrender and afterwards desert&mdash;News from Khartum&mdash;The
capture of the English mail&mdash;Its arrival at the
Mahdi's camp&mdash;The Mahdi decides to advance on Khartum&mdash;Brief
review of events in Khartum and Berber&mdash;Ohrwalder's
views on Gordon's mission&mdash;The Mahdi sets out for Khartum&mdash;Mohammed
Ali Pasha's defeat and death&mdash;Colonel Stewart,
Mr. Power, and others leave Khartum in ss. "Abbas"&mdash;Description
of their wreck and treacherous murder.</p>


<p class="firstpara"><span class="firstwords">The</span> war with Jebel Dair dragged on a long time; the
Nubas fought with desperate courage. I used to hear
of their bravery from the Dervishes who frequented my
master's house. After about a month my master was
sent to Birket, where he was ordered to collect the Arabs
and send them on to Rahad. At this place he practised
unprecedented cruelty. A man found drinking marissa
he ordered to be flogged with eighty lashes, until the
poor victim's bowels fell out. During his absence I
was sent back to my old master, Sheikh Idris, where I
continued to lead a wretched existence, eating out of
the horses' nose-bag and quenching my thirst from the
share of water which was allotted to the animals. The
ground was my bed, the sky my roof.</p>

<p>Every morning when I got up I had to shake off the
scorpions from my clothes, into which they had crept
during the night. It is curious that the sting of these
animals, which at other times was always most painful,
caused me little trouble or irritation. The filth in the
camp, owing to the entire absence of all sanitary rules,
caused the flies to increase prodigiously; eating during<a name="Page_115" id="Page_115"></a>
the daytime was impossible, for one would have eaten
as many flies as food.</p>

<p>I still suffered threats and insults here as in other
places, and many a time did I intentionally put my
head in danger in the hope that death would release me
from these savages. Sheikh Idris was annoyed at my
ill-treatment, but what could one man do with these
hordes of fanatics? One day after a review I was asked
by Idris to have breakfast with him in his hut; after
breakfast he began to talk confidentially with me, and
said that the Prophet Mohammed had expressly forbidden
the ill-treatment of priests and hermits. He then
said that Egypt had lost the Sudan, and that Gordon
would not be able to withstand the Mahdi; most of
the fikis and sheikhs had already submitted to the
Mahdi, and the Sudan was in their hands. When I
pointed out the great difficulties he would have in
traversing the deserts to Wadi Halfa, he remarked that
the Mahdi's undertaking was not likely to be hindered
by the death of a few thousand men? I then argued
that it was most unlikely that the white Moslems would
ever accept a black Mahdi; and that, moreover, according
to the traditions, the Mahdi would appear in Mecca.
He replied, "God is the Lord of all," by which he meant
to say that God can make a black Mahdi.</p>

<p>We had a long conversation about the Mahdi, and it
seemed to me that Sheikh Idris did not believe in him,
but had merely joined him in the hope of gain and
rewards. Idris also added, "By what right should we
be ruled by the Turks? can we not govern ourselves?"
If there had been many more sensible and enlightened
men like Sheikh Idris, it is probable that Mahdiism
would have taken a very different form; but Idris was
an exception&mdash;most of the principal emirs were uneducated
and ignorant savages. It was God's will that
this Idris should fall later on in the battle of Argin in
1889, fighting against Wodehouse Pasha.</p>

<p>A few days after this conversation, my original
master, Abdullah Wad en Nur, arrived from Jebel Dair
to obtain the Mahdi's instructions as to the future con<a name="Page_116" id="Page_116"></a>duct
of the war. The Mahdi presented him with a
very good horse. Khalifa Abdullah asked him what he
intended to do with me, and advised him that when he
again went to the Nuba country he should take me
with him and put me in the front so that the Nubas
might kill me. Sheikh Idris told me this, and Khalil
Hassanein, Roversi's old clerk, who had obtained a
good place in the beit el mal, brought me three dollars
for the journey. I was delighted with the idea of a
change, for I could not have been worse off than I was
at Rahad.</p>

<p>At first I was handed over to a fiki, who bothered me
with his useless and nonsensical talk; his name was
Mahmud, and he came from Tuti Island, near Khartum;
he joined the Mahdi after Hicks's defeat, and brought a
donkey and a few dollars with him. The first thing he
did was to sell his donkey and purchase a concubine,
but in two days the latter purchase ran away, so he lost
both his donkey and his money. He then joined the
Khalifa Abdullah, who recommended him to Idris as a
good man to instruct me in the right way; but instead
of convincing me of the Mahdi's divinity, I very soon
convinced him of the reverse, and it was by no means
difficult to do so; the fiki used frequently to go to the
beit el mal to try and get a concubine, but no one took
the smallest notice of him. On the other hand he used
constantly to see the numerous concubines of Idris, who
was rich, while he was but a poor man. From this I
made him understand that the chiefs of Mahdieh sought
only how they could best gain riches and honour at the
expense of their poorer brethren. Soon afterwards he
fell sick at Rahad, and there was no one to look after
him or care for him; I knew that in his heart he had
had quite enough of the Mahdi, but he was ashamed to
acknowledge it before me. One night, not hearing his
voice in the miserable hut which had been given to
him, I looked in and found him lying stretched out
dead on the ground. I felt sorry for the poor creature
who had died away from his own home.</p>

<p>Another reason which made me glad to go away to<a name="Page_117" id="Page_117"></a>
Dair, was that I was ill and suffering much from my
old complaint, which forced me to frequently retire
outside the camp amidst the jeers of the Arabs; but
suddenly the ray of hope which had come to me with
the thought of a change to the mountain, was as
suddenly extinguished, for it transpired that Idris had
arranged with Abdullah, without my knowledge, to
leave me at Rahad.</p>

<p>The war against the Nubas was continued, and from
Rahad I could see the columns of smoke ascending,
showing where the villages had been burnt by these
cruel Dervishes. At length these poor but brave
mountaineers, overwhelmed by superior numbers, became
discouraged, and agreed to submit on condition
that they should remain free, and be allowed to live in
their mountains. The Mahdi approved, for the Dervishes
were quite worn out with their long and bloody war.
The brave inhabitants descended from their hills&mdash;men,
women, and children&mdash;in astonishing numbers, and
established themselves at the foot of the mountain, and
near the Dervish camp, while Mek Kumbo and the
principal chiefs went to the Mahdi to take the Bea'a
(oath of allegiance).</p>

<p>There was now great rejoicing. The Mahdi received
them kindly, gave them presents, and handed back to
them those who still remained in the beit el mal; but
before they left his presence he ordered them and their
wives and children to follow him to the White Nile.
This was quite contrary to the agreement made between
them, but the Mahdi cared little about honour and
keeping his word, his main object was to attain his
point by any fraud or deception he could practise. The
Nubas promised to do so, and went back to their camp;
but on talking to their people, they agreed to escape
during the night, preferring rather to starve in the
caves and recesses of their own mountains, than to leave
their native country. Like one man, they rose and fled
to the hills, and the fight was once more renewed.
Many of them fought with the most stubborn desperation;
several were killed, but the Dervish loss was also<a name="Page_118" id="Page_118"></a>
very heavy. The Nubas retired into the inmost recesses
of the hills, where the enemy could not possibly follow
them. On one occasion the Dervishes all but captured
Mek Kumbo; his horse and lance fell into their hands,
but he himself escaped.</p>

<p>At length, thoroughly exhausted by this tedious and
interminable war, they returned to Rahad; but heavy
rain had fallen, the Khor was now a rushing torrent,
and here hundreds of Mahdiists were drowned&mdash;victims
to their rash fanaticism&mdash;for they believed that the
Mahdi's power could save them from the wild impetuous
stream. Many of them crossed on angaribs
(native beds), to each post of which an inflated skin was
attached.</p>

<p>Towards the end of June, 1884, Slatin Bey arrived at
Rahad. The Khalifa Abdullah ordered the big war-drums
to be beaten, and the whole of the cavalry left
the camp to meet him and escort him in. The Mahdi
received Slatin very kindly, and he was attached to
Khalifa Abdullah's followers.</p>

<p>Abdullah delighted in collecting foreigners around him.
One day Father Bonomi and I were summoned by
Abdullah to meet Slatin, and this gave me a chance of
meeting Father Bonomi, whom I had not seen for
months.</p>

<p>It was about this time that Marietta Combotti, one of
our black girls, came from Khartum to Rahad. After
Hicks's defeat we sent her to Khartum to inform our
people there about our condition and about the Mahdi's
power, and urged everyone to leave Khartum as soon
as possible. We gave her some letters which were sewn
into the end of a mat. Consul Hansal had assisted
Combotti in every way, and had given her several things
for us, such as clothes, money, and medicines. She had
suffered greatly on the journey, had been put in chains,
and all she had succeeded in saving was her money.
She had been away seven months.</p>

<p>Amongst other things Consul Hansal sent us a photograph
of our new and highly-honoured bishop, Monsignor
Imbrien, of the Tyrol. Marietta also brought a letter from<a name="Page_119" id="Page_119"></a>
the consul to me describing the condition of Khartum,
and the defeat of Baker Pasha, about which we had
heard nothing. The consul further added: "We hope
that the English will energetically push forward into
the Sudan, or we shall be lost. Our condition is
desperate." This letter was dated early in January,
1884. Hansal also sent us the <i>Tyroler Volksblatt</i> newspaper,
published in Posen, and in it I was surprised to
read an account of my own death. The paper said
I had been captured by the Mahdiists, and had died of
fatigue and ill-treatment. So my friends believed I was
dead! and, indeed, I felt then that death could not be
far distant. My complaint was worse than ever, and I
was suffering from scurvy as well. We did indeed feel
grateful to the unfortunate Hansal who had done all
he could to alleviate our distress; but God has disposed
otherwise. How I wish poor Hansal had taken our
advice and gone home.</p>

<p>The state of moral darkness in which we lived, the
constant insults, being gazed upon by such multitudes,
being at the mercy and sport of these savages, just as if
one were a monkey or other curious animal, all had a
dulling effect on one's spiritual nature, and I felt that
I must be losing my mind; but yet in all these trials
and afflictions God did not leave us. Again a ray of
hope shone through the obscurity.</p>

<p>We had already heard something about English
troops, but the information was very vague. One of
the Mahdi's messengers, who took the Mahdi's answer
back to Gordon in Khartum, told me that Gordon had
received him well, had given him some bakshish, not
like the God-forsaken Mohammed Said Pasha, who had
executed the Mahdi's messengers; but, prior to his
departure, Gordon had warned him in the following
words:&mdash;"Go, tell the Mahdi that I have only to stamp
my feet on the ground, and thousands of Englishmen
will at once spring up." I believed this story, for I did
not think the messenger was clever enough to invent it;
besides, I felt sure that Gordon must have known quite
well that he alone was utterly unable to extinguish the<a name="Page_120" id="Page_120"></a>
fire of this gigantic revolt. But at length all these
reports were fully confirmed.</p>

<p>It was Friday. The Khalifas were out on parade,
when two camels, carrying an English mail, arrived.
Khalifa Abdullah at once left the review, and sent for
Klootz to read the letters. Klootz came at once to me
and said that an entire English mail for Gordon had
been captured near Omdurman. It was clear from
several letters that English troops were advancing into
the Sudan from three directions; that is to say, from
Suakin to Berber, from Korosko to Abu Hamed, and from
Dongola, where there were 20,000 infantry and 10,000
cavalry. There was a telegram from Cairo to Assuan
announcing General Graham's advance; a touching
little letter from a young girl to her father in Khartum,
whose name I forget. In this letter she told of the
alarm she felt for her father's safety, and how she
prayed daily that her father might not meet the same
fate as General Hicks. In another letter Gordon was
informed that &pound;60,000 had been sent to him.</p>

<p>All these letters had been sent from Berber to General
Gordon by Joseph Cuzzi, who had written a letter to
Gordon to that effect in Italian. One letter said that
it was well known that the Khalifa Abdullah was the
moving spirit of the revolt, and that the Mahdi merely
supplied the religious element; but Klootz did not
translate this in the Mahdi's presence. When the latter
got up to go, Klootz translated this sentence to the
Khalifa Abdullah, who was delighted with this flattering
remark. Cuzzi's Italian letter was concealed by Klootz,
who afterwards brought it to me. In this letter Cuzzi
briefly informed General Gordon that he was forwarding
the letters; that he had sent a messenger to Sawakin to
come to an understanding with General Graham, and
that the rebels at Abu Hamed had seized a number of
the Government boats. He added that Gordon should
have no anxiety about Berber, as long as Hussein Pasha
Khalifa was Mudir. But in this matter he proved to
have been completely deceived.</p>

<p>The general import of all these letters convinced the<a name="Page_121" id="Page_121"></a>
Mahdi that the English were in earnest. He therefore
decided to take no action for a time, and to remove the
camp to the foot of the mountain, where it was his
intention to await their advance.</p>

<p>But soon after came the news that Berber had fallen,
and that General Graham had returned to Sawakin, and
this decided the Mahdi to advance on Khartum.</p>

<p>The Nubas now began to give some difficulty.
No sooner had the Dervishes abandoned their camp
at the foot of the mountain, than the Nubas rendered
all roads in the vicinity of Rahad, and for a considerable
distance, unsafe. Slaves going out to gather
wood or straw were suddenly swooped down upon
by these bold mountaineers, who killed or captured
them. In this way they revenged the cruelties which
they had suffered. The Mahdi was quite unable to
subdue these blacks, and his failure to do so was a great
blow to his pride.</p>

<p>I may here remark that at this period of the Mahdieh
religion, violation of moral laws was very severely
punished. One of the Mahdi's bodyguard caught <i>in
flagrante</i> in the practice of a species of immorality by
no means uncommon in Eastern countries, both culprits
were led out in chains and beheaded in the presence of
the assembled multitudes.</p>

<p>Before following the Mahdi on his march to Khartum,
it is advisable here to take a brief review of the events
which had occurred in Khartum, Berber, and the
Gezireh.</p>

<p>The catastrophe which had overtaken General Hicks's
force filled the inhabitants of Khartum with indescribable
dismay. Several of them returned to Egypt, and
the members of the Austrian Mission, with their blacks,
quitted Khartum on the 11th of December, 1883. Fortunate
were those who seized this chance of escape
before the roads became blocked!</p>

<p>General Gordon's arrival in Khartum gave fresh life
and hope to the inhabitants. Great were the rejoicings,
and a magnificent reception was prepared for the long-expected
deliverer. This reception took place on the<a name="Page_122" id="Page_122"></a>
18th of February, 1884, and must have greatly encouraged
General Gordon in his undertaking; but it was not
Gordon's individual presence which so greatly inspired
the people. What could Gordon do alone, against the
now universally worshipped Mahdi? The nature of the
revolt was not political; the Sudanese had no intention
of establishing an empire under the Mahdi's rule, and,
even had this been the case, it is very improbable that
Gordon's mediation would have been of any avail.</p>

<a name="gold"></a><div class="figcenter" style="width:400px;"><img src="https://brian.carnell.com/wiki/_media/etext:f:fr-wingate-ten-years-captive-p122.jpg" border="0" alt="" title="" width="142" height="198">
<p class="caption2">THE GOLD MEDAL STRUCK BY GORDON TO COMMEMORATE THE
SIEGE OF KHARTUM.</p></div>


<p>The movement was a religious movement, and was
not limited to the Sudan alone; the Mahdi's intention
was to subdue the world. He was a prophet, and in his
own and the estimation of his followers he was a greater
man than the Prophet Mohammed. The world was to
come to an end in his time. Had Gordon only known
beforehand how boundless was the wild fanaticism, and
how completely the Mahdi's followers were intoxicated
by it, he would never have accepted the mission. As
it appeared to us in Kordofan, and to the Mahdi himself,
Gordon's undertaking was very strange; it was just
as if a man were attempting to put out an enormous
fire with a drop of water. Gordon's name alone could
not suppress the revolt, and it was not on account of his
name that the Khartum people rejoiced at his arrival;<a name="Page_123" id="Page_123"></a>
it was because they looked on Gordon as an English
representative, and that he was only the precursor of an
English expedition sent to take possession of the Sudan
for England. That is what made the people glad, and
caused them to put aside all idea of departure. Had
they not been certain that an English expedition was
coming, not a soul would have remained in Khartum,
and I have no hesitation in saying that had the Egyptian
Government not sent Gordon, then undoubtedly the
evacuation originally ordered could have been carried
out without difficulty.</p>

<p>Those who escaped massacre in Khartum have often
told me that they were perfectly ready to leave, and it
was only Gordon's arrival that kept them back; but
Gordon's arrival without troops had rather disappointed
them. Had he been accompanied by five hundred
British bayonets, his reputation in the Sudan might
have been maintained, and probably the Mahdi would
never have left Kordofan.</p>

<p>Gordon himself committed a mistake, by which he
gave a death-blow to himself and his mission. On his
way to Khartum he stopped at Berber and interviewed
the Mudir Hussein Pasha Khalifa; he imprudently told
him that he had come up to remove the Egyptian
garrisons, as Egypt had abandoned the Sudan. At
Metemmeh also&mdash;a strong place between Berber and
Khartum, and the headquarters of the powerful Jaalin
tribe&mdash;he committed a similar imprudence, by giving
the same information to Haj Ali Wad Saad, the emir of
Metemmeh.</p>

<p>This Haj Ali was a man held in great respect, on
account of his just dealings, and afterwards, when he
died in Omdurman, there was public mourning for him.
The fact, indeed, that the Khalifa had pardoned him
after "marissa" had been found in his house, sufficiently
indicates how greatly he was respected. Both Haj Ali
and Hussein Pasha Khalifa informed all their principal
people about the decision of the Government, and it
was this announcement that made these faithful sheikhs,
who were then trembling in the balance, throw in their<a name="Page_124" id="Page_124"></a>
lot with the Mahdi. Why should they remain loyal to
a Government which had decided to give up their land?
Had they remained faithful, what had they to expect
when the Mahdi prevailed? It was this announcement
of Gordon's which was the main cause of the fall of
Berber, which place was essential for Gordon's plan of
operations.</p>

<p>Haj Ali, shortly before his death, and when in great
suffering, reviewed the misery which the Mahdi had
brought upon the Sudan, and the part he himself had
taken in it, and he then said that it was nothing but
the knowledge of the intention of the Government to
abandon the Sudan which made him join the Mahdi.
"How," he said, "could I have remained loyal to a
Government which I knew intended to leave me in the
lurch afterwards? I would only have been paving the
way for the Mahdi's vengeance."</p>

<p>At the time Haj Ali said this he was in doubt about
the Divine nature of the Mahdi, and spoke openly to
people on these matters. "But," he added, "at that
time every one thought only of himself. Gordon
thought only how he could save himself and the
Egyptians, and we thought how we could save ourselves
and avert the Mahdi's vengeance by taking his part;
so we went to Berber, joined with the Ababdeh, besieged
and took the town, and then cut Gordon's communications
with Egypt."</p>

<p>Gordon was soon destined to see with his own eyes
what a fatal mistake he had made, but only when it was
too late.</p>

<p>No notice was taken of Gordon's peaceful proclamations;
the revolt was now widespread, and masses of
fanatical Dervishes were gradually encircling Khartum.
Mohammed Wad el Besir, the sheikh El Obeid&mdash;a man
held in great respect in the Gezireh&mdash;his sons, and the
Fiki Medawi advanced on the town from the south.
On the 16th of March, 1884, Gordon's troops were heavily
defeated, and their leaders were executed by Gordon for
treachery.</p>

<p>Another blow fell on Gordon by the surrender, at<a name="Page_125" id="Page_125"></a>
Fedasi, of Saleh Wad el Mek, with 1,400 men, to the
emir Abu Girgeh. Still Gordon did not despair of
success, and it was his individuality which inspired the
inhabitants of Khartum with hope.</p>

<p>Saleh Wad el Mek's surrender greatly encouraged the
Dervishes. Rebels were also gathering to the north of
Khartum. The Jaalin of Metemmeh and the Ababdeh,
as I previously stated, prepared to attack Berber.
Hussein Pasha Khalifa, Sheikh of the Ababdeh, who
had been Mudir there since the 18th of December, 1883,
remained faithful to the Government, but his subordinates
paid no attention to him; and it was largely
due to the influence of these officials that numbers of
local sheikhs joined the Mahdi.</p>

<p>The Ababdeh, Barabra, and Jaalin, under the supreme
command of Mohammed el Kheir, now besieged Berber.
Eight days later the town was taken by storm, and
most of the garrison and a number of inhabitants were
massacred. Joseph Cuzzi had attempted to escape, but
he was caught and sent to Khartum to endeavour to
induce Gordon to surrender. He was subsequently
sent on to the Mahdi at Rahad.</p>

<p>Gordon's communications with the north were now
cut. After Saleh Pasha's surrender, the number of
besieging Dervishes increased greatly, and Abu Girgeh
growing bolder, seized the village of Buri, where he
built a fort and began to shell the town. Gordon
therefore, on the 2nd of May, sent out a considerable
force, which attacked Abu Girgeh, drove him out of his
position, and all but succeeded in capturing him. Thus
did Gordon, although hemmed in on all sides, maintain
a bold front, and employed every art of war to keep the
Dervishes from investing the town more closely.</p>

<p>To return now to the Mahdi at Rahad. He was at
this time in full preparation for departure to the siege
of Khartum, and, as usual, he despatched Abu Anga,
Wad Nejumi, Wad En Nur, and Wad Gubara, with all his
best troops in advance. As I have previously related,
Cuzzi, who arrived at Rahad at the end of June, had
been previously sent by the Dervishes to Khartum to<a name="Page_126" id="Page_126"></a>
try and induce Gordon to surrender, and Gordon had
given strict orders that he should not be permitted
within the walls. When, therefore, he arrived at
Rahad, the Mahdi received him very well, loaded him
with presents, and then sent him back with George
Clementino to Khartum as bearer of letters to Gordon.
He arrived at the Dervish camp at the same time as
Nejumi. Clementino was permitted to converse with
the Greek consul, Leontides, but Cuzzi returned to
Berber.</p>

<p>The Mahdi passed the month of Ramadan in Rahad,
and it was not until the 8th of August that he set out for
Khartum. The whole population, like a swarm of
bees, accompanied him on the same road which Hicks
had taken. The people joyfully undertook this long
journey through pathless districts, and at a time when
the rainfall was heaviest. Camels, too, were expensive
and difficult to procure; but, in spite of all these
obstacles, fanaticism was more pronounced than ever.
There were in all upwards of 200,000 people, and at
Shirkeleh the cavalry numbered 4,000. To defeat such
an enormous force as this, a European expedition was
necessary, not the weak force at Gordon's disposal.</p>

<p>Throughout the entire route fresh cavalry joined,
whilst the herds of cattle which the Arabs drove along
served as food, and meat was then cheap enough.
Numbers of animals died during the march, and the
road was plainly marked by an unbroken line of dead
camels, donkeys, horses, and oxen. The route lay from
Shirkeleh to Shatt, and thence to Duem. Here a
halt was called for a few days to collect stragglers. All
notion of working in the fields was abandoned, and
agricultural pursuits were entirely dispensed with. Thus
it happened that on the Mahdi's arrival at Omdurman
the Dervishes were in great want of grain.</p>

<p>The Mahdi arrived at Omdurman on the 23rd of
October, 1884, but the whole of the stragglers did not
reach it till early in November. Everything had been
prepared. Gordon was surrounded by numerous enemies,
still he did not despair.<a name="Page_127" id="Page_127"></a></p>

<p>In August both Niles had risen considerably; the
Blue Nile had arrived almost at its full height, while
the White Nile had overflowed its low bank, and now
swept past Fort Mukran and the houses in Khartum.
So high was it, that a dam had to be constructed to
keep the water within bounds. At high Nile the White
river is very broad; and at a later date, when I crossed
over from Omdurman to the roughly built fort which
has long since been destroyed, I was sea-sick. But as
the river fell it left the ditch full of mud, and this
proved a source of great danger. When the river was
high, Gordon made several successful counter-attacks.
Mohammed Ali Pasha went up the Blue Nile to a place
near Gereif, and on the 30th of August fell upon the
Arabs, utterly defeating them. This brave leader also
attacked the old Sheikh El Obeid at Halfaya, and
captured a quantity of dhurra and cattle. Khartum
breathed once more, and it seemed as if all would be
well; the bands played in the evening, and the town
was full of joy, which, alas, was soon to be turned to
sadness.</p>

<p>Mohammed Ali Pasha, emboldened by his late
successes, advanced again on the Sheikh El Obeid,
whom he defeated near El Eilafun; but, advancing into
the desert to renew the attack on the 4th of September,
he and upwards of 800 of his troops fell into an ambush
and were slaughtered. This proved a very severe blow to
Gordon, and Khartum being now closely invested, he
decided to send a steamer north to communicate with
the Government, and give them full information of the
state of affairs.</p>

<p>As the Nile was now high, it was thought the small
steamer <i>Abbas</i> would be able to make her way safely to
Dongola. The <i>Abbas</i> left Khartum on the 10th of
September, and was accompanied by two other steamers
towing boats, in one of which were a number of Greek,
and in the other Syrian merchants. These steamers ran
the gauntlet of shot and shell till past Berber. When a
short way beyond that town, the steamers <i>Mansureh</i>
and <i>Safia</i> turned back, and reached Khartum only with<a name="Page_128" id="Page_128"></a>
the greatest difficulty, being fired upon throughout
almost the entire distance. The <i>Abbas</i> continued her
journey north, and drew up for the night at a small
island. The two boats which had been cast off when
the other steamers left, now passed the <i>Abbas</i>, but were
driven on to some rocks by the wind, and here they had
to stop for the night to repair. The next morning the
<i>Abbas</i> passed them, and Colonel Stewart urged them to
push forward. The Greek boat started, but it was some
time before the Syrians could set sail; and again they
were driven on to the rocks, where they remained firmly
fixed.</p>

<p>In the meantime the Dervishes at Berber, who had
gained possession of the steamer <i>El Fasher</i> when the town
fell into their hands, at once sent her off in pursuit, together
with two large sailing boats. The <i>Fasher</i> soon came up
with the wrecked Syrian boat, which now made a sign
of truce, was boarded and taken possession of. The
Dervishes, having obtained all information, left one of
their boats in charge of their capture, and then pursued
the Greek boat, with which they soon came up, and,
having secured her, the <i>Fasher</i> continued her pursuit of
the <i>Abbas</i>. She proceeded almost as far as Abu Hamed,
but here the captain refused to take her any further, as
he feared running her on to a rock. So she returned to
Berber with her captured boats, in which there were in
all twelve Greeks and fifteen Syrians. Of the latter,
eight were males, five females, and two children.</p>

<p>The steamer <i>Abbas</i>, after passing Abu Hamed, entered
the Wadi Gamr cataracts, which are very rocky and
dangerous, and here she struck on a rock near the village
of Hebbeh, the inhabitants of which belong to the
Monasir tribe. Colonel Stewart had the baggage disembarked
on an island, on which the travellers now took
up their abode until the expected Greek and Syrian
boats should arrive; but, after waiting two days,
Stewart sent his interpreter, Hassan Husni, with Mohammed
Hilmi Gorab and the captain, ashore, with instructions
to see the sheikhs, and, by the offer of presents
and the promise of a good reward from the Government,<a name="Page_129" id="Page_129"></a>
to induce them to supply camels to enable the shipwrecked
party to continue their journey to Dongola.</p>

<p>These messengers were well received by Sheikh
Suleiman Wad Naaman, and neither he nor his people
were wearing jibbehs; they asserted that they were
thoroughly loyal to the Government, and added that it
was only the arrival of Sheikh Heddai that had made them
pretend to be against the Government. Suleiman said
that he would assist the shipwrecked passengers with
the greatest pleasure, and so well did he conceal his wicked
treachery that the messengers returned to Stewart
greatly elated with their success. But in the meantime
Suleiman had prepared a treacherous trap, into which
the over-confident passengers blindly fell. He sent
secret orders to all the people round about to prepare
for a fight, and then drove some camels along the river
bank, to show that he was preparing for the journey.
Colonel Stewart ordered all the spare ammunition to be
thrown into the river, and then landed with the other
passengers.</p>

<p>Suleiman invited him and the consuls, Power and
Herbin, to go into his house, so as to make final
arrangements with the camel-owners, and at the same
time he begged them to remove their arms, as the Arabs
might get alarmed and make difficulties about hiring
their camels. An artillery captain who was with
Stewart begged him not to let go his arms, as there
might be treachery; but Stewart laughed at his fears,
and he, with the two consuls and the interpreter, entered
the house, while the others remained outside; they still
retained their revolvers. Suleiman begged them to be
seated, and proceeded to present to them a number of
Arabs, who, he asserted, were the camel-owners.</p>

<p>The traitor had dates brought to them, and, so as not
to offend him, they took some. Then Suleiman stood
up and lifted his leather water-bottle, which was the
prearranged signal for the Arabs to rush out of their
hiding-places and attack the guests. In a second the
house was full of armed men, who called upon them to
throw down their revolvers and submit; but before<a name="Page_130" id="Page_130"></a>
they had even time to do this, the Arabs rushed upon
them with their swords. Consul Herbin, who was
standing near the door, was the first to fall; his head
was chopped off with an axe. Consul Power and Colonel
Stewart were soon cut to pieces. The interpreter,
Hassan, begged to be spared, crying out, "I am a
Moslem! I am a Moslem, and my name is Hassan!"
So he was not killed, but received a wound in the
shoulder. The murderers then rushed off to the river
bank to attack the others, who were soon killed, except
two artillerymen, who jumped into the river, and a few
servants. It was said that the interpreter, Hassan, had
arranged the betrayal, and I was afterwards told that
when he got into difficulties later, he sent a petition to
Mohammed el Kheir, in which he said that he was
entitled to reward for having secured Colonel Stewart's
death. He is still living in Omdurman.</p>

<p>Suleiman sent all the correspondence he captured to
the Mahdi, who thus became thoroughly aware of
Gordon's desperate condition. On the 22nd of October
he wrote to Gordon, informing him of the event, and
summoned him to submit, as he had no hope of receiving
any relief.</p>

<p>This catastrophe was another terrible blow to Gordon.
He had counted on Stewart being able to inform the
Government of the straits to which Khartum was
reduced, and the necessity of sending immediate help.
The state of Khartum now became very serious. Nejumi
and the other forces were clustering round Kalakala;
there was daily fighting, and bullets fell in the streets
of Khartum. There were upwards of 10,000 Dervishes,
extending from Kalakala to Buri. Wad Gubara and
Wad Sheikh el Obeid had their camp at Khojali, on the
right bank of the Nile, to the north. Thus was
Khartum surrounded by hordes of fanatical Arabs, who
attacked the starved and forsaken town from morning
till night.</p>


<a name="Page_131" id="Page_131"></a>
<hr class="newpg" style="width: 65%;">
<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII.</h2>

<p class="chapterhead">THE SIEGE AND FALL OF KHARTUM.</p>

<p class="chapterdescribe">The surrender of Omdurman fort&mdash;Gordon's dispositions for defence&mdash;His
great personal influence&mdash;The night before the assault&mdash;The
attack and entry of the Dervishes&mdash;Gordon's death&mdash;The
adventures of Domenico Polinari&mdash;The massacre in Khartum&mdash;How
most of the Europeans died&mdash;Ruthless cruelty and bloodshed&mdash;The
fate of the wives and daughters of <a name="tn_png_147"></a><!--TN: Extra dash removed after "Khartum"-->Khartum&mdash;Ohrwalder's
views on the situation in Khartum and the
chances of relief by the British Expeditionary Force&mdash;His
description of the town three months after the fall.</p>


<p class="firstpara"><span class="firstwords">The</span> Mahdi camped on the south side of Omdurman fort,
and at once began to direct the siege, the command
of his troops was vested in Abu Anga; but he did
not dare to send his black troops, who had previously
fought in the Egyptian service under Gordon, against
Khartum, fearing that, owing to the influence which
Gordon had formerly exercised over them, they might
desert to him.</p>

<p>Omdurman Fort, which was then under the command
of Faragallah Pasha, was soon reduced to great straits,
and the Mahdiists threw up trenches, in which they were
comparatively safe from the continuous fire. Eventually
they succeeded in entrenching themselves between the
fort and the river, thus cutting the communications,
which Gordon was unable to restore. Consequently,
the garrison soon began to starve; but they still fought
courageously, and inflicted great loss on the Dervishes.
Amongst the latter was a certain emir, named Mohammed
Wad el Areik, who, while in the act of laying a gun
at Omdurman, was struck in the back of the neck by a
bullet. He was visited by the Khalifa Abdullah, who
promised that he should recover; but, in spite of this
promise, he died the following day.<a name="Page_132" id="Page_132"></a></p>

<p>Faragallah, having now no food left, was obliged to
surrender, and thus the Mahdi was enabled to press the
siege of Khartum more closely than ever.</p>

<p>The town itself was full of traitors; almost all the
important townsmen had written to the Mahdi from
time to time, to the effect that they wished to submit
to him, and that they believed in him. Gordon was, so
to speak, alone in the midst of enemies, but the expected
arrival of the English kept the inhabitants from surrendering.</p>

<p>Every day Gordon invented some means of making
the people believe that their deliverers were near; he
frequently had the walls placarded with announcements
that they were very near Khartum, but all his promises
came to nothing.</p>

<p>Gordon was almost superhuman in his efforts to keep
up hope. Every day, and many and many a time
during the day, did he look towards the north from the
roof of the palace for the relief which never arrived. He
overcame the want of money by issuing paper bonds;
but soon the people refused to accept them, and to
enforce his order he sent fourteen merchants to the east
bank, just in front of the enemy's guns; this he did to
frighten them, and when they agreed to accept the
bonds he had them brought back to the town. To
further strengthen the belief of the people in the speedy
arrival of the English, he hired all the best houses along
the river bank, and had them prepared for their occupation.
He was sure they would come&mdash;but when? The
time was pressing. How eagerly he searched the distant
horizon for the English flag he longed to see, but every
day he was doomed to disappointment.</p>

<p>The troops were famine-stricken, and began to lose
heart, whilst the enemy without the walls daily grew
bolder in anticipation of the plunder they hoped so soon
would be theirs. From Buri to Kalakala the Dervishes
extended in one unbroken mass, whilst their hundreds
of noggaras never ceased beating in Gordon's ears night
and day.</p>

<p>The town was closely hemmed in on three sides.<a name="Page_133" id="Page_133"></a>
Wad Gubara on the north was near enough to shell his
palace; and under the hole where the first shot struck
the wall Gordon inscribed the date as a remembrance.
None of us can realize how heavily his terrible responsibilities
weighed upon him. Despair had seized upon
the town. The unreliable nature of the Sudanese was a
constant source of anxiety to him, and enhanced the
critical situation. Those in charge of the biscuits and
dhurra stole quantities of it on every possible occasion,
and tried to deceive Gordon by assuring him that there
were millions of okes in store, when in reality there was
almost nothing. In their endeavours to enrich themselves
they forgot that they were only preparing the
way for their ultimate destruction.</p>

<p>The officer in charge of the dhurra store was arrested
and brought before a Court of Inquiry; but Gordon had
to point out to those who were making the investigation
that they should not inquire too critically into the
matter. He knew all that had taken place, but he was
powerless to stop it. He won the people's hearts by his
generosity; and even to this day all who knew him
never cease speaking of his kindness. His endeavours
to recompense the Greeks for their honesty are affecting
in the extreme. He elaborated numerous plans for
their escape. His first intention was to place a steamer
at their disposal to convey them to Emin Pasha in
Equatoria; and, to avoid ill-feeling and jealousy, he
made known his plans to them at a public meeting,
remarking that as most of them were natives of the
Greek islands, they had necessarily considerable experience
of boats and navigation, and that therefore it
became their duty to patrol with the steamers on the
Blue and White Niles, and watch the enemy's movements;
but secretly he warned them that they should
be in readiness, as soon as they saw Khartum was lost,
to set off and join Emin Pasha.</p>

<p>This plan did not, however, please the Greeks, so
Gordon proposed another, which was that, in case of
great danger, they should proceed north; and for this
purpose he kept a steamer moored off the palace, well<a name="Page_134" id="Page_134"></a>
stocked with biscuits and other necessaries. To enable
them to get their families on board during the night
without the other townspeople knowing about it, he
gave orders that after 9 <span class="smcap">P.M.</span> all traffic along the roads
leading to the Blue Nile should be stopped, and that no
persons were to be allowed out of their houses after that
hour. In this way, should the Dervishes enter the town
by night, the Greeks could easily escape to the steamer,
start down stream, and meet the English. Some of
them resolved that, should the Mahdiists effect an
entrance, they would forcibly carry off Gordon and put
him on board the steamer, for they felt sure he would
not leave Khartum of his own accord. Everything was
carefully prearranged and considered; and all would
have been well but for a disagreement amongst the
Greeks themselves, which mainly arose through the
phlegmatic and short-sighted conduct of their consul
Nicola Leontides.</p>

<p>On that fatal Sunday evening one of the principal
Greeks came to the consul and begged him urgently to
spend that night on the steamer. The consul refused,
arguing that there was no imminent danger, and that
he was sure the troops could hold out a few days longer.
The Greek argued in vain, and at length left him; and
that was the last time they saw each other.</p>

<p>That night proved to be the last night on earth for
Gordon and thousands of others. While they were
sleeping soundly, and dreaming perhaps of the arrival
of the English, the Dervishes were creeping like snakes
towards the parapets. It is hardly likely Gordon could
have slept. For two days he had remarked considerable
movement in the Mahdi's camp; he had observed
numbers of boats passing to and fro on the White and
Blue Niles. He could not have doubted that the Mahdi
was preparing to strike the final blow. And so it
proved, for he was planning the assault on Khartum.
He had received news of the destruction of his troops at
Abu Klea and Abu Kru, and of the advance of the
English.</p>

<p>The Mahdi was convinced that if one Englishman<a name="Page_135" id="Page_135"></a>
reached Khartum his chance of success was gone, and
that he must retire to Kordofan. That was his reason
for attempting the assault. Gordon, on the other hand,
expected the arrival of the English at any moment;
and while he was counting the hours which might
elapse ere they could reach him, his enemies were
shaking their lances with which they should pierce him.</p>

<p>The moon had gone down, deep obscurity reigned;
and now the Dervishes stealthily advanced in perfect
silence towards that portion of the defence which had
been destroyed during the high Nile, and which, as the
river receded, had left an open space in which ditch and
parapet had almost disappeared. Here there was little
to impede their entry; and the Dervishes, shouting
their wild battle-cry, dashed in wild disorder over this
open ground.</p>

<p>Farag Pasha commanded the whole of this portion of
the defences. Many people in the Sudan, more especially
those who used to be in the Government service,
say that Farag Pasha betrayed the town; but the fact
that he was killed almost immediately after the fall
points to his not having done so.</p>

<p>It is a well-known fact that many of the senior
officers were wavering, and numbers of Khartum
merchants were in correspondence with the Mahdi. It
is possible that their action may have assisted the
Dervishes. The latter naturally assert that Khartum
was captured entirely by force of arms, for any acknowledgment
on their part of treachery within the town
would tend to detract from the effect of the Mahdi's
success. The matter stands thus: the parapet which
had been destroyed had never been repaired. This was
not Gordon's fault; in his desperate position he could
not be everywhere. It is a thousand pities that he had
not a few trusty European officers with him. With the
exception of this defective portion near the White Nile,
the whole line of defence was almost impregnable; the
ditch was so deep and the parapet so high that it would
have been next to impossible to cross it.</p>


<a name="dervish"></a><div class="figcenter" style="width:400px;"><img src="https://brian.carnell.com/wiki/_media/etext:f:fr-wingate-ten-years-captive-p136.jpg" border="0" alt="" title="" width="360" height="530">
<p class="caption2">A DERVISH EMIR, PRESENT IN THE ATTACK ON KHARTUM, AND
AFTERWARDS CAPTURED AT TOSKI.</p></div>


<p>On coming through the open space the Dervishes<a name="Page_137" id="Page_137"></a><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136"></a>
broke up into two parties. One party dashed along the
parapet, breaking all resistance, and slaughtering the
soldiers in all directions; the other party made for the
town. The inhabitants, roused from their sleep by the
shouts of the Arabs and the din of rifle-shots, hurried
out, anticipating what had occurred. Like a pent-up
stream suddenly released, over 50,000 wild Dervishes,
with hideous yells, rushed upon the 40,000 inhabitants
of Khartum, besides the 5,000 soldiers&mdash;all that was
left of the 9,000 at the commencement of the siege.
The only cry of these fanatical hordes was "Kenisa!
Saraya!" ("To the church! the palace!")&mdash;<i>i.e.</i> the
Austrian Mission Church and Gordon's palace, where
they expected to find treasure stored up in the cellars,
and priests and sisters.</p>

<p>The surging mass threw itself on the palace, overflowed
into the lovely garden, and burst through the
doors in wild search for their prey; but Gordon went
alone to meet them. As they rushed up the stairs, he
came towards them and tried to speak to them; but
they could not or would not listen, and the first Arab
plunged his huge spear into his body. He fell forward
on his face, was dragged down the stairs, many stabbed
him with their spears, and his head was cut off and sent
to the Mahdi.</p>

<p>Such was the end of the brave defender of Khartum.
When I came from El Obeid to Omdurman I visited
Khartum, and went to the palace, where I was shown
some black spots on the stairs which they told me were
the traces of Gordon's blood.</p>

<p>On Gordon's head being brought to the Mahdi, he
appeared to have been much displeased at his death&mdash;not
because he felt pity for him, but he believed that
Gordon might join his army. Had he not done so, he
would have imprisoned him and reduced him to slavery.
It was much better that Gordon should have died when
he did than have remained a captive in the hands of
these cruel and fanatical Arabs. Gordon's head was
hung on a tree in Omdurman, and the wild multitude
rejoiced in heaping curses on it and insulting it.<a name="Page_138" id="Page_138"></a></p>

<p>After the palace, the Mission building was the next
principal object on which the wild, plunder-seeking
Arabs vented their fury. General Gordon had some
time previously hired this building, which was of stone
and bomb-proof, and turned it into a powder magazine
and ammunition store. The Dervishes killed the guards
mounted outside the garden, and then broke in, while
others clambered over the high wall. A black who was
employed in the Mission garden was lying on the point
of death on his <a name="tn_png_154"></a><!--TN: "mattrass" changed to "mattress"-->mattress in the garden; the Dervishes
ended his life by ripping open his body.</p>

<p>The Mission gardener, brother Domenico Polinari,
who had been left to take charge of the Mission
property, on the first alarm, had rushed to the main
gate of the garden to see what was the matter. He
opened the gate slightly, and, seeing an array of lances,
he slammed to the gate with all his might, and fled to a
small hut in the garden which was full of hay, and he
hid himself in the corner underneath the hay. Several
slaves who were working in the garden followed his
example; but they did not stay long, for, thinking it
was not a sufficiently good hiding-place, they were
running off to another hut when they were fallen upon
and massacred. Domenico heard their shrieks and the
click of the sword which beheaded them from his place
of concealment; but he dared not move from the spot,
though half choked with the dry grass in which he lay.
Several Dervishes entered the hut and thrust their
spears into the hay to search for any one in concealment.</p>

<p>One can realize the terror of poor Domenico as the
naked spear-heads were forced through and almost
touched him. He lay, however, undiscovered for some
hours, and at last the noise and din of rifle-shots grew
less. Though suffering agonies from thirst, he still did
not dare to move till close on midnight, when he
emerged from his bed of hay. All was still, the
stillness of death. He could see the Dervish guard
fires; and, as he crept along, he stumbled over the
dead body of the black who had been working in the<a name="Page_139" id="Page_139"></a>
garden. Horror-stricken, he slowly moved forward
again. At every step he saw a dead man, all of them
labourers and watchmen who had attempted to escape
when the Dervishes entered. Creeping under the
shadow of the large lemon-trees, he reached the main
gate, above which was a small hut which had been
occupied by one of the black families belonging to the
Mission. The windows of the hut looked into the
garden, and Domenico scrambled through one of these
into the room. Here he found one of the women,
Halima, and begged her to give him some bread and
water. He questioned her about the entrance of the
Dervishes and the fate of the inhabitants. She replied in
a few words that the town had been stormed, and numbers
of the inhabitants, as well as General Gordon, Consul
Hansal, and most of the Europeans, had been killed.</p>

<p>This was a new shock to the already terror-stricken
Domenico. He threw himself on the bed and begged
that Halima would not betray him; but she, fearing to
be found out, crept out of the hut, went up to the
Dervishes who were collected round the camp fire, and
told them that there was a Turk in her cottage. Some
of them jumped up, and, following Halima into the hut,
they drove out the unfortunate Domenico with the butt
ends of their lances. He was brought in front of the
camp fire and carefully searched for money; but he at
once drew forty pounds out of his pocket, which he
distributed amongst them, and they were satisfied and
did not ill-treat him.</p>

<p>On the following day he was taken before Ahmed
Wad Suleiman, the Emin beit el mal, who made full
inquiries of him regarding the Mission money. Domenico
said that when the Mission left Khartum they
took all the money with them, and had left nothing.
Domenico was then sent to the garden to work there
for his new master, but soon afterwards was betrayed a
second time, and fell into grievous trouble and danger.</p>

<p>A few days before the fall of Khartum he had buried
&pound;150 in the garden, intending to make use of it when
the needful time came; but one of the blacks who was<a name="Page_140" id="Page_140"></a>
working at the steam-pump in the garden, to whom
Domenico had confided his secret, and who was one of
the garden labourers who had escaped the massacre,
went and told Ahmed Sharfi (one of the Mahdi's
nearest relations) that Domenico had concealed money.
This he did to ensure his own safety, for the Dervishes
had been greatly disappointed in the quantity of loot
they expected to find. In the palace they had discovered
only paper money, and in the Mission some
furniture, instead of the treasure they had been led to
expect. Ahmed Sharfi was therefore much pleased
with the black's information, himself came to Domenico
and asked to be shown the place where the money was
buried. In vain Domenico protested that he had given
all the money to Gordon. He was at once knocked
down and flogged with a kurbash; but the first stroke,
which drew blood, made him cry for mercy; he disclosed
the hiding-place, and, when Ahmed Sharfi had secured
the money, he was released.</p>

<p>The ruthless bloodshed and cruelty exercised by the
Dervishes in Khartum is beyond description. I will
briefly describe the deaths of the best-known people.
Nicola Leontides, the Greek consul, who, on account of
his amiable character, was much respected in Khartum,
had his hands cut off first, and was then beheaded.
Martin Hansal, the Austrian consul, who was the oldest
member of the European colony, was alive up till 2 <span class="smcap">P.M.</span>,
when some Arabs from Buri, led by his chief kavass,
who was on bad terms with him, entered the courtyard
of the house, and, on Hansal being summoned to come
down, he was at once beheaded. At the same time
Mulatte Skander, a carpenter who lived with him, was
killed in the same way. His body, together with that
of his dog and parrot, were then taken out, alcohol
poured over them, and set fire to. After a time, when
the body had become like a red-hot coal, it was thrown
into the river.</p>

<p>Human blood and ruthless cruelty alone seemed to
satisfy the Dervishes. The Austrian tailor, Klein, on
making the sign of the cross, had his throat cut from<a name="Page_141" id="Page_141"></a>
ear to ear with a knife which was used to slaughter
animals, and his life-blood was poured out before the
eyes of his horror-stricken wife and children. Not
satisfied with the death of the father, they seized his
son, a youth of eighteen, and, burying their lances in
his body, they stretched him out at his mother's feet, a
corpse! They then took counsel as to how they should
kill the next son, a lad of fifteen. But by this time
the mother, a daughter of Cattarina Nobili, of Venice,
was worked up into a state of mad despair. Seizing
her son of five years old with her right hand, while she
held her suckling babe to her breast with her left, she
fought against these murderers like a tigress being
robbed of her young, and they could not wrest her
children from her; but they seized her daughter, a girl
of eighteen, who became the wife of an Arab.</p>

<p>The son-in-law of Doctor Georges Bey (who had been
killed in the Hicks's expedition) was roused from sleep
by the noise of the Arabs breaking in. He rose from
his bed, and, making the sign of the cross, rushed to
the window, where he shouted "Aman" ("Security of
life"); but a bullet struck him in the forehead, and he
fell dead at the feet of his young wife. The Dervishes
forced their way into the house, broke in the door of the
room where the dead man lay stretched out on the bed,
killed another Greek, and clove open the head of the
little son, a boy of twelve years of age, with an axe,
scattering his brains over his unfortunate mother, who
was sitting beside him. She saved her little son of six
months old by saying he was a girl. The mother herself
was not killed, as she was with child, but she was
reserved to become the wife of Abderrahman Wad en
Nejumi.</p>

<p>Aser, the American consul, fell down dead on seeing
his brother beheaded before his eyes. The males of
most of the Coptic families were massacred, but the
women were spared. I know several of these poor
women who, from continuously weeping over the cruelties
of that terrible 26th of January, have become quite
blind.<a name="Page_142" id="Page_142"></a></p>

<p>Those men whose lives were spared have to thank
Providence that either they fell into the hands of those
less cruel than their comrades, or that they did not quit
their houses for two days, at the end of which time
the first wild passions of these murderers had cooled
down.</p>

<p>The fate of seven Greeks was a sad one; these were
all together in one house, for, through a merciful
Providence, they had fallen into less cruel hands. It
was past noon, and they were rejoicing at having
escaped from the general massacre. Then a certain
George Clementino entered. This Clementino had
originally come from El Obeid, and had frequently been
sent by the Mahdi with messages to Gordon, and when
he returned from Khartum to the Mahdi, the latter
treated him with much favour.</p>

<p>When the capture of Khartum was known in Omdurman,
Clementino hastened to the town, with the
intention of rescuing any compatriots he could find, and
he soon heard of the seven surviving Greeks. Full of
delight at their safety, he congratulated them, and
advised them to make their way to the house of
Manoli, the Greek who, with his wife and nephew, had
escaped by concealing themselves in the dove-cot.</p>

<p>It was Clementino's intention to collect all the Greeks
here, and then take them to Omdurman. The seven
Greeks trusted to their compatriot's name and influence
to protect them, but Dervishes were on the watch to
stop them. As they were following Clementino to
Manoli's house, which was only a short distance off&mdash;indeed,
they had only gone a few steps&mdash;they were
met by a party of Ahmed Sharfi's Danagla, who
were searching the streets filled with the dead and
wounded, with the object of giving the <i>coup de gr&acirc;ce</i> to
any who might still be alive.</p>

<p>When these murderers espied the party of white men
from a short distance, they shouted, "Look! Some of
these dogs, these unbelievers, are still alive," and, full
of anger, they rushed upon the unfortunate Greeks.
Clementino begged and prayed that they might be<a name="Page_143" id="Page_143"></a>
spared, but they were beheaded before his eyes, and he
himself barely escaped with his life. Pale, terror-stricken,
and trembling, he fled to Omdurman, and for
some months he lay on the point of death, so great had
been the shock of witnessing the massacre of his fellow-countrymen.</p>

<p>Numbers even of women and little children were not
spared, and the torture which the survivors had to
undergo, to force them to produce their money, are
scarcely credible. Ibrahim Pasha Fauzi (the favourite
of Gordon) was tied for several days to a date-palm and
flogged till he gave up all his money. The old widow
of Mustafa Tiranis was flogged almost to death. She
was a rich Circassian lady, and had supplied Gordon
with money in donkey loads, and had been decorated by
him with the Khartum medal.</p>

<p>Slaves were most cruelly tortured, beaten, and
forced to disclose the hiding-places of their masters'
money and treasures. The Shaigieh tribe in particular
was most harshly dealt with; this was the only tribe
which remained loyal to the Government, and even
eight days after the fall of Khartum, if a Shaigi was
seen, he was instantly killed; hence the Dervish proverb,
"Esh Shaigi, Wad er Rif el Kelb ma yelga raha
fil Mahadieh" ("The Shaigi, the Egyptian, <i>i.e.</i>, the white
one, the dog, no rest shall he find in Mahdieh").<a name="FNanchor_G_7" id="FNanchor_G_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_G_7" class="fnanchor">[G]</a></p>

<p>Farag Pasha did not live long after the fall; some
still said he had betrayed the town, and the Dervishes
were furious with him because, some ten days before the
assault, during one of the preliminary attacks, he had
shot Abdullah Wad en Nur, an emir of great repute,
and much beloved by the Ansar. Farag was summoned
before Wad Suleiman, who ordered him to produce all
the money he had. Incensed at his treatment and at
the charge of treachery, he fell into a hot dispute with
Wad Suleiman, who had him forthwith beheaded as an
unbeliever and an obstinate man. If he was really a<a name="Page_144" id="Page_144"></a>
traitor, he richly deserved his fate; but if not, his death
was that of a brave man.</p>

<p>When the massacre in Khartum was at an end, the
Mahdi himself gave orders that the survivors should be
spared, but the wild fury of these fanatical Arabs had
been satiated at the cost of 10,000 lives; the streets
were filled with headless corpses, which were left
unburied until the plunder had been distributed.</p>

<p>The whole of Khartum was now divided up amongst
hundreds of emirs and their mukuddums. Every emir
planted his flag in the midst of the quarter captured by
his men, and then the work of collecting the survivors
was begun. Ahmed Wad Suleiman ordered all free
women and slaves to be brought to the beit el mal;
here the young and good-looking fair women were
locked up in a separate enclosure, the good-looking,
unmarried Sudanese girls in another zariba, and in a
third were placed black slave girls, suitable as concubines.</p>

<p>It is deplorable to think that at such a time were
found certain of the well-known townsmen of Khartum
who assisted the Dervishes to lay hands on all the
prettiest girls in Khartum; through their intermediary,
many of the women who had cut off their hair, and in
other ways concealed their beauty and sex by disguising
themselves as men, fell into the hands of the Ansar.</p>

<p>May God's curse fall on those wicked traitors who
delivered up these unfortunates in order to gain favour
with the Mahdi! What sufferings these miserable
creatures underwent when they lay huddled together
like cattle in a pen, awaiting their cruel fate! Many
of them were still in their silken robes, all bespattered
with the blood of their husbands and children, and
there they lay, awaiting their turn to become the wives
of those who had murdered their husbands and their
offspring!</p>

<p>The first selection was, of course, made for the Mahdi,
who took for himself all girls of five years of age and
upwards, who, in a few years' time, he would take to
his harem; then came the turn of the three Khalifas,<a name="Page_145" id="Page_145"></a>
whose selections were made especially under the direction
of Wad Suleiman; then followed the emirs, each in
the order of his rank, and one by one they made their
choice of these wretched women. Those that were left
were distributed amongst the Ansar. Then were openly
enacted sights which would have melted hearts of
stone. The weeping and lamentation of the white
women, as they prayed and besought the pity of their
masters, the rough jeering and foul replies of these
monsters, it is all too horrible to relate.</p>

<p>The old unmarried women were given a few rags
with which to partially cover themselves, and were sent
to Nejumi's camp, where they were kept in captivity
for a few days. All suffered the agonies of hunger and
thirst, heat and cold. Little babies, not yet weaned,
were left to die of hunger, and for weeks after the fall
young widowed mothers could be seen wandering naked
through the market at Omdurman, begging. Some
poor women brought forth children in the streets, and
there they would lie, mother and child, naked and
foodless, until death came as a happy release from their
misery.</p>

<p>The Mahdi had directed that all gold and silver
jewellery, precious stones and ornaments, should be
collected in the beit el mal; but of course most of this
had already found its way into the pockets of the emirs;
and, in spite of the Mahdi's most stringent orders, and
his threats that those who concealed the booty would be
punished in hell-fire, still the Ansar kept the loot and
risked the eternal flames.</p>

<p>Considerable quantities of treasure were, however,
collected in the beit el mal, for Khartum was wealthy,
and the women especially had quantities of gold and
silver ornaments; but so much loot soon reduced the
currency, and a sovereign was now valued at two and a
half dollars. Every penny was extracted from the
prisoners by the lash, and all were reduced to complete
beggary. They were then sent to Nejumi's camp; and
on their way thither they were again beaten and
searched. They were kept a few days longer as<a name="Page_146" id="Page_146"></a>
prisoners in that camp, and then those who had the
fortune to meet with relations or friends who had been
released would weep together over their wretched state.
The confusion was terrible. Women wandered through
the camps in search of their children, children sought
their parents; but how few ever found them!</p>

<p>After a time all the prisoners were permitted to live
in Omdurman, where they eked out a miserable existence
by begging; but hunger, disease, and all the
sufferings they had undergone carried off hundreds.
For days they remained naked, scorched under the
burning sun by day, and perished with cold at night.
How could people accustomed to ease and comfort bear
up against such hardships?</p>

<p>When at length all the houses in Khartum had been
evacuated, the furniture, &amp;c., removed, and their owners
robbed of all they possessed, the effects were sold from
the beit el mal at a low price. The various coloured
stuffs were cut up and utilised for making the patches
on the jibbehs (Dervish uniform), gold brocades were
purchased by those who knew their real value for a
mere trifle, and the gold melted down and made into
ornaments. Mirrors and looking-glasses were chopped
in pieces with axes, and valuable china and pottery
articles, which might have been sold for much, were
smashed in pieces. The beautiful Khartum gardens
were divided up amongst the chiefs; the Khalifa
Abdullah became the possessor of Gordon's garden,
Khalifa Sherif took that of the Roman Catholic Mission,
and Khalifa Ali Wad Helu became owner of Albert
Marquet's. Every emir selected the best house he
could find, and there he installed himself with his wives
and slaves; while the Ansar took the houses of the
poorer Copts and Egyptians. But Omdurman, and not
Khartum, was now considered the Dervish capital.</p>

<p>Intoxicated by their success, and insatiable in their
desire for women and plunder, the Dervishes had forgotten
altogether about the English, for whom Gordon
had waited so long. How cruel is fate! Two days after
the fall, on the 28th of January, 1885, two steamers were<a name="Page_147" id="Page_147"></a>
seen slowly making their way along the western shore
of Tuti Island.</p>

<p>Khartum and Omdurman were electrified; a consultation
was quickly held, and it was at once decided to
prevent their landing. The English could be seen
searching in all directions for some sign to show them
that Gordon was still alive; but the only answer they
got was the rain of thousands of bullets fired from
thousands upon thousands of rifles and guns at Omdurman
and Fort Mukrun. All rushed to the river bank.
The women, seizing sticks and waving them over their
heads, shrieked and yelled like hyenas, "M&oacute;t lil Inglez!"
("Death to the English!") and they were prepared to
rush at them with their sticks if they attempted to land.
When the English saw this, they could have had little
doubt as to what had happened; they turned back and
disappeared. The rage of the Dervishes at their departure
was unbounded. They rained bullets and shell
after them; but they were soon out of sight.</p>

<p>Let us now consider for a moment the chances of
success of the English relief expedition. The defeat at
Abu Klea struck terror into the Mahdiists gathered
round Khartum; the arrival of some wounded men at
Omdurman added to the general alarm. Had twenty
redcoats arrived at Khartum, it would have been saved.
Their presence would have given fresh courage to the
inhabitants; and, confident of their approaching deliverance,
they would have striven might and main to
hold out longer. General Gordon, assisted by the advice
and energy of a few English officers, would have completely
regained his influence. It is true, indeed, that
the soldiers were weary of the long siege and continual
fighting, and they had lost all faith in Gordon's repeated
promises that the English were coming. They became
heart-broken and in despair; but Khartum was not for
long in the state of distress which prevailed in El Obeid
before that town fell. In Khartum they had only been
eating gum for a few days previous to the fall, while
in El Obeid they had existed on it for months, and
had practically nothing else to live upon.<a name="Page_148" id="Page_148"></a></p>

<p>Had the Khartum people but seen one Englishman
with their own eyes, they would have taken fresh
courage, and would in all probability have held out
for another month, until the relief for which they had
waited so long was a <i>fait accompli</i>. The Mahdi would
not have dared to assault Khartum; and even if he
had, it is most probable he would have been beaten
back. Many survivors of Khartum often said to me,
"Had we seen one Englishman, we should have been
saved; but our doubt that the English were really
coming, and the feeling that Gordon must be deceiving
us, made us discouraged, and we felt that death would
be preferable to the life of constant war and daily
suffering we were leading during the siege."</p>

<p>The unaccountable delay of the English was the cause
of the fall of Khartum, the death of Gordon, and the
fate of the Sudan. The Mahdi only made up his
mind to attack when he heard that they had delayed at
Gubat. He did not begin to cross over his troops till
the 24th of January, and it was not till Sunday night
that the crossing was complete. He could not have
attacked earlier than he did. When the first news of
his defeat at Abu Klea reached him he wished to raise
the siege and retire to Kordofan. If the English had
appeared at any time before he delivered the attack he
would have raised the siege and retired. Indeed, it was
always his intention to revisit El Obeid before he made
his attack.</p>

<p>Even to the present day people in the Sudan cannot
understand the reason for the delay. Some say that
the English general was wounded at Abu Klea, and was
lying insensible, and that those who were acting for
him did not dare to undertake any operations until he
was sufficiently recovered to be able to give his own
orders.</p>

<p>The Sudanese wondered why Europeans, who generally
take precautions for every eventuality, should not have
done so in this case. Others thought that Kashm el
Mus Pasha must have urged the English to attack the
Arabs about Metemmeh and Shendi, in revenge for the<a name="Page_149" id="Page_149"></a>
persistency with which they had attacked and harassed
the steamers. The above are only some of the many
reasons by which the Sudanese seek to explain the
delay after the battle of Abu Klea.</p>

<p>When the English were convinced that Khartum had
fallen, they retreated north. Once the town had fallen,
the little English fighting force was in the gravest peril;
the Mahdi had now his entire force at his disposal to
combat them. He at once despatched Nejumi and a
large number of his best emirs with a large force; and
had not the English already retreated before he reached
Metemmeh, they could not have escaped.</p>

<p>The Mahdi was furious when he heard that the
English, who had killed such numbers of his best troops,
had retired; and, though the latter failed in their
object, still their bold attempt to snatch the prey from
the lion's mouth must remain for ever a grand exploit.
The bravery of the English in advancing on Khartum
with such a small number of men is always a source of
wonder to the Sudanese. But, alas, what a useless
sacrifice of blood and money! The relief came too
late.</p>

<p>The memory of Gordon, the heroic defender of
Khartum, is still held in respectful remembrance in the
Sudan. His bravery, generosity, and voluntary self-sacrifice
have won the admiration of his bitterest enemies.
It is the common saying amongst Moslems, "Had
Gordon been one of us, he would have been a perfect
man." I will now give a slight sketch of the events
subsequent to the fall, and the fate of the town.</p>

<p>After the retreat of the English, the new masters of
Khartum settled down and made themselves comfortable.
The Ashraf, <i>i.e.</i> the Mahdi's relatives, especially made
themselves at home in the best houses and gardens, the
best dancers entertained them by night, and they lived
a life of ease and luxury. After the death of the
Mahdi, which occurred on the 22nd of June, 1885, his
successor, the Khalifa Abdullah, looked on the prosperity
of Khartum with jealous eyes.</p>

<p>When I arrived in Khartum from El Obeid in April<a name="Page_150" id="Page_150"></a>
1886, I visited every part of the town, and examined it
most carefully; very few houses had been destroyed,
and the town was thickly populated. I also visited the
lines of defence between the Blue and White Niles, they
extended about six kilometres. The impression I
gathered from the appearance of the ditch, which at
that time had been much damaged by the heavy rains,
was that it could not have been crossed, except near the
White Nile where it was quite choked up with mud and
sand. At various points along the line there were
strongly-built forts manned with guns, and a little in
rear of the parapets were high structures which commanded
the ditch; behind every loophole were small
mud shelters, evidently made by the troops to protect
themselves from the cold and strong winds.</p>

<p>The Messalamieh gate was built of burnt bricks and
cement and was then in a good state, but the iron gate
lay unopened against the side of the ditch. I counted
about 150 bodies along the parapet; there they lay,
shrivelled up like mummies, while rats and mice had
made their homes in them. In one place I saw two
bodies tied together by the feet, they had evidently
been killed in this position. It was impossible to
distinguish the Egyptians from the blacks, for the sun
had burnt up and shrivelled the skin into one black
colour. Here, where there had been such bustling
activity, now only the stillness of the tomb prevailed.
As one walked along, lizards and other reptiles would
creep from beneath the skeletons and dart off to take
refuge under others.</p>

<p>I strolled on from the Messalamieh gate to the
European cemetery. Here what desolation and desecration
met my eyes! The crosses had been smashed to
pieces and lay strewn about in little bits. Graves had
been dug up and the bodies pulled out. I recognised
from their clothes three who had died in January 1881.
The grave of Bishop Comboni, who had died on the 11th
of October, 1881, and had been buried in the Mission
garden, had also been opened, but the obelisk erected to
his memory by the townspeople of Khartum had not<a name="Page_151" id="Page_151"></a>
been destroyed. The church bells had been pulled
down, but lay there in the garden undamaged.</p>

<p>Shortly after my visit, Khartum was reduced to ruins.
The Khalifa Abdullah, jealous of the Ashraf, who had
completely established themselves in the town, and
whose actions he could not therefore sufficiently supervise,
determined to order its evacuation. In August
the command was given to all to quit the town within
three days; it was carried out at once, and on the
fourth day the destruction of Khartum began. Houses
were pulled down, the wood of the windows, balconies,
and doors was transported to Omdurman, and within a
very short time the whole place was in ruins; the burnt
bricks were for the most part brought to Omdurman;
the only buildings which were spared were the Arsenal,
in which work still continues to be done, Gordon's
palace, and the Mission house. In fact, Khartum is
now nothing but a heap of mud ruins, here and there a
wall is left standing, everywhere large prickly thorn
bushes have sprung up and cover as with a veil the sad
remnants of the once thriving and populous metropolis
of the Sudan.</p>

<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>

<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_G_7" id="Footnote_G_7"></a>
<a href="#FNanchor_G_7" class="fnlabel">[G]</a> According to the Mahdi doctrine, dogs, being considered impure
animals, are destroyed; but this subject will be considered in another
chapter.</p></div>
</div>
<a name="Page_152" id="Page_152"></a>

<hr class="newpg" style="width: 65%;">
<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX.</h2>

<p class="chapterhead">THE MAHDI'S LAST DAYS.</p>

<p class="chapterdescribe">Ohrwalder's criticisms on certain events connected with the defence
of Khartum&mdash;The Sudan devastated by small-pox&mdash;The Mahdi
gives way to a life of pleasure&mdash;Description of his harem life&mdash;The
Mahdi sickens and dies&mdash;The effect on his followers&mdash;The
Khalifa Abdullah succeeds&mdash;Party strife and discord&mdash;Abdullah
prevails&mdash;Events in Sennar and Kassala.</p>


<p class="firstpara"><span class="firstwords">Looking</span> back on the events which occurred during the
siege of Khartum, I cannot refrain from saying that I
consider Gordon carried his humanitarian views too far,
and that this excessive forbearance on his part both
injured the cause and considerably added to his
difficulties. It was Gordon's first and paramount duty
to rescue the Europeans, Christians, and Egyptians from
the fanatical fury of the Mahdi, which was specially
directed against them. This was Gordon's clear duty,
but unfortunately he allowed his kindness of heart to be
made use of to his enemy's advantage.</p>

<p>Khartum during the siege was full of the wives,
relations, and children of men who had joined the
Dervishes, and were foremost in their efforts to harass
and attack the town. These crafty people thus assured
themselves that should the Mahdi be victorious, their
loyalty to him would ensure the safety of their families
and property in Khartum, while, on the other hand,
should Gordon be victorious then their wives and
families would be able to mediate for them with the
conquerors. Thus in his kindness of heart did Gordon
feed and support the families of his enemies. It was
quite sufficient for a number of women to appeal to
Gordon with tears in their eyes, that they were starving,
for him to order that rations of corn should at once be<a name="Page_153" id="Page_153"></a>
issued to them, and thus it was that the supplies in
the hands of the Government were enormously reduced.</p>

<p>Had Gordon, in the early stages of the siege, relieved
Khartum of the presence of these people, as he subsequently
was forced to do, he would have had supplies
sufficient to prolong the resistance of his troops far
beyond the limits at which they had arrived when the
assault took place, and, after all, should not Gordon's
first care have been for his troops? His men clamoured
against the lavish way in which Gordon distributed
what should have been their rations amongst the
families of the besiegers, but it was of no avail.</p>

<p>Gordon should have recognised that the laws of
humanity differ in war from peace time, more especially
when the war he was waging was especially directed
against wild fanatical savages who were enemies to all
peace. He was entirely deceived if he believed that by
the exercise of kindness and humanity he was likely to
win over these people to his side; on the contrary, they
ridiculed his generosity and only thought it a sign of
weakness. The Sudanese respect and regard only those
whom they fear, and surely those cruel and hypocritical
Mahdiists should have received very different treatment
to civilized Europeans.</p>

<p>I also think that Gordon brought harm on himself
and his cause by another action which I am convinced
led to a great extent to his final overthrow. Such men
as Slatin, Lupton, Saleh Wad el Mek, and others had
offered at the risk of their lives to come and serve him.
It is almost certain that some means could have been
found of rescuing from slavery these brave men who
had defended their provinces with the greatest determination
against treachery from within and overwhelming
numbers from without, and they could have
rendered him most valuable and useful services. None
knew better than these men the weak and the strong
points of the Mahdi's rule and his method of warfare,
and it is quite possible that they might have been
able to alter the fate of Khartum. In the Mahdi's camp
they were looked upon as brave and skilful leaders,<a name="Page_154" id="Page_154"></a>
indeed they were feared, and that is why they were put
in chains, as it was thought they might attempt to
escape. Had they been permitted to enter Khartum
they would not only have been able to assist in the
Mahdi's overthrow, but they would have been able to
encourage the garrison.</p>

<p>Gordon would not, however, even vouchsafe an
answer to the letters of appeal these men wrote to him.
He could not have believed they were traitors, such an
idea could not have entered into the mind of an
European. The Mahdi never for an instant doubted
their inclinations, and treated them with the greatest
mistrust; but even to these savages the idea of killing
men who had been loyal to the Government, and had
fought bravely for their provinces, was objectionable,
unless they could have produced a really valid reason
for doing so. How was it possible Gordon could be for
an instant in doubt as to the inclinations and intentions
of these men? I feel strongly on these points, and
therefore cannot refrain from mentioning them.</p>

<p>After the fall of Khartum only two strong places
remained in the hands of the Government, Kassala and
Sennar, both of which were closely besieged. The
English had retired north, and the Mahdi could rest at
last, assured that he was now possessor of the Sudan.</p>

<p>The enormous multitudes around Khartum had been
engaged during the whole of the winter season in war,
consequently cultivation was neglected, and had it not
been for the quantities of cattle available, a disastrous
famine must have occurred. As it was, there was a
great deal of distress, and numbers died of starvation.
Famine and war had brought disease in their train. In
addition to fever and dysentery, small-pox, which in the
Sudan is endemic, increased with fearful rapidity. In
Omdurman hundreds died, and the principal business of
the beit el mal was distributing "kafans" (shrouds).</p>

<p>It was curious that the Sudanese, who much dread
this disease, should have attributed it to the English;
but that they did so is a fact, and this is how it came
about. When the English retired, from Gubat, they<a name="Page_155" id="Page_155"></a>
left behind them a quantity of preserved stores and
tinned meat. The Dervishes, in spite of the belief that
they contained pork, which is an abomination to them,
were so hungry that they consumed almost everything
they found, and it is said that almost immediately
afterwards they were attacked by small-pox, which gave
rise to the idea that the English had mixed their food
with the germs of the disease, and this was implicitly
believed in.</p>

<p>Owing to the prevalence of small-pox in Omdurman,
many people fled to Kordofan, Darfur, and other places,
and consequently caused the disease to spread over the
whole country. Several false doctors, with the sole
object of making money, guaranteed to check the
disease by inoculation; but as the inoculated matter
was frequently in itself diseased, the epidemic was still
further increased.</p>

<p>Notwithstanding this national calamity, the Mahdi
now gave himself up to a life of ease and luxury, in
which the unfortunate women captured in Khartum
played a prominent part. He represented that all those
who died of small-pox were suffering God's punishment
for being evil-minded or having appropriated the booty.
People believed what he said, and would still believe
him, if he were alive and told them even more incredible
things. The capture of Khartum had, of course, raised
his prestige enormously, and now the belief in his
Divine message needed no further confirmation. Before
the assault took place he said that he would divide the
river into two parts, just as Moses had divided the Red
Sea, so that his followers could cross to Khartum on dry
land if they failed to take it by assault. His promise,
too, that very few should fall by the sword, not only
encouraged them in the attack, but its verification
served only to further prove his divinity. His uncle,
Sayid Abdel Kader, up to the time of the fall of
Khartum, still doubted that he was the true Mahdi;
but, once the town was taken, he doubted no longer.</p>

<a name="egyptian"></a><div class="figcenter" style="width:356px;"><img src="https://brian.carnell.com/wiki/_media/etext:f:fr-wingate-ten-years-captive-p156.jpg" border="0" alt="" title="" width="356" height="453">
<p class="caption2">AN EGYPTIAN HAREM WOMAN.</p></div>


<p>All this success increased the adulation and worship
of the Mahdi to an extraordinary extent, and as for<a name="Page_156" id="Page_156"></a>
himself, although he was continually warning his followers
to despise the good things of this world, and to
abandon all luxurious modes of life, he surrounded
himself with every sort of comfort and luxury, appreciating
to the utmost the very pleasures which he
declaimed so violently. He urged moderation in eating
and drinking, yet he secured for himself every dainty
which Khartum could possibly produce. He now wore
shirts and trousers of the finest material, and, before<a name="Page_157" id="Page_157"></a>
putting them on, his wives were obliged to perfume
them with incense and other costly fragrances. His
wives attended on him in turns, but no regularity was
preserved. They anointed his body with all sorts of
precious unguents, but his speciality was the expensive
"Sandalia" (a perfume prepared from sandal-wood and
oil), and so saturated was he with these perfumes that
when he went forth the air was laden with sweet-smelling
odours.</p>

<p>The courtyard of his harem was full of women, from
little Turkish girls of eight years old to the pitch-black
Dinka negress or copper-coloured Abyssinian; almost
every tribe in the Sudan supplied its representative, so
that one might say the entire Sudanese woman-world
was to be seen here.</p>

<p>Amongst this vast concourse four only were lawful
wives; the remainder were considered as "ghenima," or
booty, and were looked upon as slaves and concubines.
His principal wife was called "Aisha," or, as she is
better known in Omdurman, "Om el Muminin" (the
Mother of the Faithful). She was a woman of considerable
influence, for the wives of all the principal
emirs visited her, and she was assisted by them in
elaborating an extensive system of espionage. Alas,
how many unfortunate girls were left weeping day and
night for their miserable state, robbed by this Aisha of
their happiness and liberty!</p>

<p>The Mahdi's dwelling was built for the most part of
the captured loot. From the boards of General Hicks's
stable he had two huts built, and near these a hut made
of mortar and a small magazine. This man, who
hitherto had but a small straw mat, now lay on fine
bedsteads originally brought from Jedda and captured
in Khartum, while the floors were spread with Persian
carpets. Here was this Divine Mahdi leading indoors a
life of the most immoderate uxoriousness, whilst outside
his fanatical followers hailed him as the direct
messenger of God, sent to purge the world from the
evil practices of the hated Turk.</p>

<p>Two persons whom I knew well, and who had visited<a name="Page_158" id="Page_158"></a>
the Mahdi less than three weeks before his death, gave
me an account of the sort of life he was then leading.
It was the month of Ramadan, the great fast, and any
one who failed to keep it strictly was punishable by
death. From noon till midnight people used to crowd
to the mosque, which was then only a large enclosure
surrounded by a zariba. Thousands of Dervishes could
be accommodated in this large rectangular space, in
which the clash of a forest of spears indicated their
impatience to see the Mahdi as he came to prayers;
they had seen him hundreds and hundreds of times
before, but they seemed never tired of gazing at
him, and often fought to get a place near the mihrab
(niche) where he prayed.</p>

<p>Whilst the impatient murmur of thousands of voices
indicates that the time of his approach has almost
arrived, let us for a moment turn into the Mahdi's
harem, and here is a true picture of what my friends
there beheld. The Mahdi reclining on a magnificent
carpet, his head propped up by a pillow covered with
gold brocade; he is clothed in a linen shirt of finest
texture, a pair of drawers, and a gallabieh; his shaved
head covered by a takia of embroidered silk. Upwards
of thirty women stand around him; some fan
him with great ostrich feathers, others gently rub his
feet (a practice in which the Sudanese delight), without
in any way disturbing his slumber; others gently
smooth his hands, and Aisha lies beside him, covering
his head and neck with loving embraces.</p>

<p>Meanwhile hundreds of Ansar are shouting outside
his zariba, impatiently awaiting his blessing, and
anxiously expecting to hear his voice. The eunuchs
are trying to drive off this importunate crowd with
whips, but they will not leave until they have obtained
the earnestly sought blessing. At length one of the
eunuchs enters, and receives from Aisha the blessing,
which she gives without disturbing the Mahdi. He
then returns and tells the impatient crowd that the
Mahdi is at present in deep contemplation, but that he
is graciously pleased to give them his blessing, which is<a name="Page_159" id="Page_159"></a>
then repeated. This is the signal for a wild shout of
joy, and then they return to the mosque to range
themselves in their appointed lines for prayers. And
now those who were not present to receive the blessing
press forward to touch the others, and thus obtain some
of its virtue.</p>

<p>The Mahdi is gradually sinking from his half doze
into a sound slumber, when Aisha very gently rouses
him and tells him that the appointed time for ablutions
and prayers is already passed. The women now assist
him to rise, his red shoes are brought, and then he
proceeds to the place of ablution, followed by four
women carrying his water-bottle. On his return the
women throw themselves down frantically on the spots
which his feet have touched, and struggle with each
other in their endeavours to embrace the ground on
which he has trodden.</p>

<p>It is believed that the earth touched by the Mahdi's
foot has healing properties, and has, moreover, the
effect of ensuring a quick and painless delivery; it is
therefore distributed amongst holy women, and even to
this day is carefully preserved for the purpose which I
have cited. Not a drop, too, of the water with which
the Mahdi has washed is allowed to be wasted, but is
hoarded with the greatest care, and drunk as an unfailing
remedy for every sort of illness and malady.</p>

<p>But to return to my friends' description. The
Mahdi's ablutions over, his son Bashra runs up to him
and shows him a golden ring his mother has given him.
Bashra asks permission to wear the ring, but the Mahdi,
who has by this time noticed the presence of two
strangers, says, "Oh, my son, only the Turks wear
such ornaments, because they love the things of this
world; but it is not becoming in us to wear such
ornaments, which are perishable; we strive to obtain
things imperishable. Give the ring back to your
mother." The little hypocrite well understands what
his father means, and obeys.</p>

<p>Aisha then clothes the Mahdi in his Dervish jibbeh,
girdle, and turban, and in this godly raiment he marches<a name="Page_160" id="Page_160"></a>
off to the mosque. As he quits the palace, his bodyguard
surround him and keep off the crowd. On
reaching the mihrab he is received with a shout by the
assembled multitude. After prayers he gives a short
sermon, and then returns to his wives.</p>

<p>Thus did the Mahdi enjoy the sweets of victory
indoors, whilst outside he practised the most abominable
hypocrisy. Most of his principal emirs (with the exception
of his uncle, Sayid Abdel Karim, who had been
sent to reduce Sennar) followed in their divine master's
footsteps, and led a life of pleasure and debauchery.
Sometimes the Mahdi used to cross over to Khartum
and disport himself in Gordon's palace, whither he
ordered a portion of his harem to be transferred.</p>

<p>But all this good living and unbridled sensuality
were to be the cause of his speedy dissolution. He
grew enormously fat. The two visitors, whom I mentioned
above, saw him only eight days before his death,
and told me that they believed then he could not live
much longer. Early in Ramadan he fell sick, and
soon became dangerously ill. The hand of God's
justice fell heavily upon him; and it was decreed that
he should no longer enjoy the empire which he had
raised on the dead bodies of thousands of the victims
to his wretched hypocrisy and deceit.</p>

<p>It is, indeed, terrible to think of the awful misery
and distress brought upon his own country by this one
man. His disease grew rapidly worse; he complained of
pain in the heart, and died, on the 22nd of June, 1885,
of fatty degeneration of the heart. Some say that he
was a victim to the vengeance of a woman who had
lost husband and children in the fall of Khartum, and
who repaid the Mahdi's outrage on her own person by
giving him poison in his food. This may be so; and
it is true, poison is generally used in the Sudan to put
people out of the way; but I am rather inclined to
think that it was outraged nature that took vengeance
on its victim; and that it was the Mahdi's debauched
and dissolute mode of life which caused his early death.
He died in the mortar hut, which I previously de<a name="Page_161" id="Page_161"></a>scribed;
and his adherents gave out that he was about
to travel through the heavens for a space of three
years. People were not allowed to say "The Mahdi is
dead," but "El Mahdi intakal" (<i>i.e.</i> "The Mahdi has
been removed").</p>

<p>The shock of his death was terrible. The wild fanatics
were, so to speak, struck dumb; their eyes were
suddenly opened; and their very confusion showed that
they had realized, the Mahdi was a liar. Omdurman
was full of suppressed murmuring; and the people were
collected in groups, talking of this awful catastrophe.</p>

<p>Those who were oppressed believed that the sudden
collapse of Mahdieh must result in a revolution. No
one believed that the Mahdi's party could continue
ruling in his name. Would that some good man could
have been found to rapidly seize this opportunity of
putting himself at the head of the anti-Mahdiists; he
must have been successful!</p>

<p>The confusion in the Mahdi's household was beyond
description; his women wept and wailed in the wildest
grief. Ahmed Wad Suleiman and the Mahdi's nearest
relatives prepared a grave immediately beneath the bed
on which he had died; the body was washed, wrapped
in a shroud, according to the Moslem custom, and, in
the presence of the Khalifas and all the members of
the Mahdi's family, it was lowered into the grave,
amidst the lamentations and wailing of the enormous
crowd collected outside the building. Before the grave
was filled in, the body was sprinkled with perfumes;
then each person present took a handful of earth and
threw it into the grave, amidst murmurs of "Ya
Rahman, Ya Rahim!" (<i>i.e.</i> O merciful, O gracious God!)
A simple monument was erected over the tomb.</p>

<p>Thus ended the Mahdi&mdash;a man who left behind him
a hundred thousand murdered men, women, and children,
hundreds of devastated towns and villages,
poverty, and famine. Upon his devoted head lies the
curse of his people whom he had forced into a wild
and fanatical war, which brought indescribable ruin
upon the country, and which exposed his countrymen<a name="Page_162" id="Page_162"></a>
to the rule of a cruel tyrant, from whom it was impossible
to free themselves.</p>

<p>Before his death, the Mahdi had nominated the
Khalifa Abdullah as his successor; he saw that this
was the only man capable of holding in check the
rapacious Sudanese tribes, and of governing the strange
empire which he had raised; but the selection of this
"foreigner" was a bitter disappointment to the Danagla
and Jaalin, who, hitherto rulers, had now to become
the ruled; and from whose hands their authority was
transferred to the cruel and tyrannical Baggaras, who
henceforth became the conquerors of the Sudan, and
who governed its inhabitants with a rod of iron.</p>

<p>In nominating the Khalifa Abdullah, the Mahdi
threw the firebrand of discord amongst the hitherto
united ranks of Mahdieh, and thereby greatly weakened
his cause. It was hard for the Mahdi to die, just when
he had established an empire stretching from the
Bahr el Ghazal to Egypt, and from Darfur to the
Red Sea; he had neither had the time nor the inclination
to try and govern it; his mission had been the
destruction of all existing forms of government; and
he had carried it out to the letter.</p>

<p>Immediately after the Mahdi's death, the Khalifa
Abdullah summoned a meeting, and then and there
insisted on the two Khalifas and the Ashraf acknowledging
him as the Khalifat el Mahdi (or Mahdi's
successor). After a long discussion it was at length
agreed to, and he gave a solemn assurance that he
would follow absolutely in the Mahdi's footsteps. Just
at this time the agitation was too great for him to
think of introducing the selfish and ambitious plans
which he had already formulated. Moreover, Sennar
and Kassala were still holding out; it was therefore
the first necessary step to be most conciliating on all
sides, and to all parties.</p>

<p>The Mahdi's name was still paramount in inspiring
fanaticism; and therefore the Khalifa's watchword became
"Ed din mansur" (Religion is victorious); thus
he sought to establish unity and concord by means of<a name="Page_163" id="Page_163"></a>
the new religion which the Mahdi had founded, and
which, now that its originator was dead, he sought to
make unassailable.</p>

<p>Nevertheless, discord very soon sprang up. The
Khalifa Sherif and the Ashraf were furious at being
out of power, and they could not long conceal their
discontent. Each Khalifa now did his utmost to show
his independence of the other; each of them rode
about in Omdurman in the greatest splendour, as if
he were a king, and ordered his own great war-drum
to be beaten. Jealousy, hatred, and discontent spread
rapidly amongst the people; and soon Omdurman was
divided into two distinct camps: Khalifas Sherif and
Ali Wad Helu in the one, and Khalifa Abdullah in the
other.</p>

<p>Both parties now prepared for battle. Abdullah had
the Baggaras and blacks, under Fadl Maula (Abu
Anga's brother). There were frequent disputes in the
market-place; and every day it was thought a fight
must take place. At length matters reached such a
stage that Abdullah challenged the two other Khalifas
to fight on the open plain, on which the great reviews
usually take place, just outside the town.</p>

<p>The two parties collected their entire forces; but it
was evident the Baggaras were by far the stronger;
and as they marched out they shouted "M&ocirc;t el Gellaba"
("Death to the Gellabas!" <i>i.e.</i> the Danagla, in contradistinction
to the Baggara). Khalifa Wad Helu
now acted the part of mediator, and went across to
confer with Abdullah; the troops of the latter were
drawn up in battle-array, and quite prepared for the
fray. Khalifa Sherif feared to enter the lists alone,
and therefore he submitted; he was obliged to hand
over his soldiers, arms, ammunition, flags, and war-drums,
which Abdullah took possession of, and was
allowed to retain only fifty men, with firearms, as a
bodyguard.</p>

<p>Thus Abdullah constituted himself the one and only
ruler, and showed that he was quite resolved to allow
no one else to share his authority with him. Gradually<a name="Page_164" id="Page_164"></a>
he reduced the power of the two other Khalifas and
of the Ashraf, and in a short time they became men
of little influence. The Mahdi's two uncles, Abdel
Karim and Abdel Kader, who showed the most open
and violent animosity, were at once thrown into chains,
their houses destroyed, and themselves declared enemies
of the Mahdi; and, as we shall presently relate, he
ordered Abu Anga to secure Zogal and put him in
prison.</p>

<p>Whilst all these disturbances were going on in Omdurman,
the two places, Sennar and Kassala, in which
Government troops were still holding out, were now in
the greatest straits; and I will here give a brief account
of the events which occurred.</p>

<p>Sennar had suffered from the Mahdiists for a very
long time. Ahmed Wad el Makashef had besieged it
in 1883; Abdel Kader Pasha, Governor-General of the
Sudan, had advanced to its relief with a large force, had
defeated the Makashef, and then raised the siege.
Abdel Kader himself was wounded in this fight, and his
watch was broken to pieces by a bullet. Sennar and
Khartum were once more in communication. It is
unfortunate that Abdel Kader, who was greatly feared
by the Sudanese, was recalled to Egypt.</p>

<p>In 1884 the rebels again attacked Sennar, but were
repulsed. It was then besieged by El Mehrdi Abu
Rof, who succeeded in defeating the Egyptian troops
under Nur Bey. I shall presently relate how this
Mehrdi was afterwards treated by the Sudanese.</p>

<p>Some say that the fall of Khartum had a very
discouraging effect on the gallant garrison of Sennar;
but this was not so&mdash;they determined to make a stand.
The Mudir, Hassan Sadik, who had been put in chains
by Nur Bey, volunteered, if he should be released, to
attack the rebels, and, in fact, he succeeded in driving
them off; but on his return to the town he fell into an
ambush and was killed. Brave Nur Bey again pursued
the enemy, and succeeded in inflicting a further defeat
on them.</p>

<p>Abdel Karim now arrived with a large force, and<a name="Page_165" id="Page_165"></a>
summoned the garrison to surrender. Nur Bey refused,
and on the 16th of June the city was assaulted; but
Abdel Karim was driven back, and was himself wounded
in the thigh. He then decided to make the garrison
capitulate by famine. The siege was pressed very
closely, and on the 18th of July Nur Bey made a
successful sortie, inflicting considerable loss on the
enemy; but he too was wounded in the leg, and was
rendered permanently lame.</p>

<p>The determined defence of the town now induced the
Khalifa to despatch Wad En Nejumi with large reinforcements.
Meanwhile the garrison had been suffering
greatly from famine, and Nur Bey had decided to make
a last sortie, which should be under the command
of Hassan Bey Osman; but this proved unsuccessful,
the commander was killed on the 19th of August,
1885, and Nur Bey was forced to capitulate. Of the
3,000 men of whom the garrison had originally
consisted, 700 only remained&mdash;a tangible proof
of the vigorous and determined resistance they had
made.</p>

<p>It is thought throughout the Sudan that the defence
of Sennar was most praiseworthy. Nur Bey still lives
in Omdurman. Only last year his old wound was cut
open to remove the splinters of bone. He was better
again when I escaped, but is still lame. Wad En
Nejumi arrived two days after the fall of the town and
found it in ruins. All that is left of Sennar are a few
mud and sand heaps, and its very name has ceased to
exist, although early in this century it was better
known even than Dongola or Kordofan.</p>

<p>Kassala alone was left. This town is situated on the
Khor el Gash, not far from the Atbara River, and about
midway between Khartum and Massawah. It had a
population of 13,000, and was surrounded by a wall.
Here the celebrated moslem, Sid el Hassan, is buried,
and a dome is erected over his grave. This man was
greatly venerated in the Eastern Sudan; and if any one
swears by his name, it is believed that he must be
speaking the truth. One of his pupils, whom I met in<a name="Page_166" id="Page_166"></a>
Omdurman, told me of his miracles, of which I will
quote one or two examples. One day he was preaching
a sermon; and when it was over, several of the listeners
came to him and begged for alms. Sid el Hassan
struck his knee, and forthwith a number of dollars fell
out&mdash;the exact sum for which the beggars had asked.
Amongst the bystanders was a poor shame-faced man,
who immediately begged that he might have one dollar.
Sid el Hassan again struck his knee, and one dollar fell
out, which he at once handed to the man, saying, "This
is for the poor shame-faced one." The man at once fell
at his feet and gratefully kissed his hands. All who
were present were greatly astonished at this miracle,
and some, bolder than the rest, approached Sid el
Hassan and touched him, when they found, to their
wonder, that he felt just like a sack full of dollars.</p>

<p>On another occasion two travellers arrived, with the
intention of making a map of the country. Having
failed in their purpose, they applied to Sid el Hassan
for advice, and, after offering them food and drink, he
handed to them the map they required. He performed
many different miracles, and was, moreover, a very
tolerant man, rendering the Government many valuable
services, especially when he succeeded in stopping a
revolt of the soldiers. During all the recent events, his
relations remained perfectly loyal.</p>

<p>But to return to my narrative. When Osman Digna
came to the Sawakin neighbourhood, he sent the emir,
Mustafa Hadal, to commence the siege of Kassala; but,
as the Shukrieh tribe supplied quantities of corn, it was
enabled to stand a very prolonged siege. In January
1884, it was assaulted, and the Mudir suffered serious
loss. The Arabs, who had hitherto remained loyal,
seeing no hope of help from the Government, also
deserted.</p>

<p>The siege was now more closely pressed, and the
suburb of Khatmieh was nearly captured; but the
enemy were at length driven back. A treaty was
concluded with Abyssinia to relieve the Egyptian
garrisons and bring them through that country to Mas<a name="Page_167" id="Page_167"></a>sawah;
and though at that time all the donkeys in the
town had been eaten, they still hoped for relief.</p>

<p>In June 1885, the city was hemmed in on all sides,
and was in a desperate condition. Nevertheless the
attempted assault on the 15th of the month was successfully
repulsed, and the Mudir pursued the enemy, of
whom he killed 300. He also succeeded in capturing
1,000 head of cattle. This enabled the town to hold out
for a short time; and the news of the Mahdi's death
served to further encourage the garrison.</p>

<p>But at last the town was reduced to absolute starvation,
and, on condition that the lives of the inhabitants
should be spared, the Mudir surrendered. No sooner,
however, were the arms given up than the conquerors
began to pillage the town and inflict all sorts of
cruelties on the people. Osman Digna, who was at that
time furious on account of his defeat by Ras Alula on the
22nd of September at Kufit, vented his wrath on the
unfortunate Mudir, Ahmed Bey Effat, Hassan Agha,
and Ibrahim Eff Shawki, and also on two Greeks, Stello
Apostolidi and Tadros Manioseh, whom he caused to be
beheaded on the 30th of September, 1885.</p>

<p>From that time Kassala remained under Osman
Digna; but in 1886, when the latter was fully occupied
in his operations against Sawakin, the Khalifa sent Abu
Girgeh there as emir. When Abu Girgeh was subsequently
sent to Tokar, Sayid Hamed became emir of
Kassala, which from that time formed a part of the
province of Galabat, of which Sheikh Nasri, of the
Bederieh tribe, became emir.</p>

<p>Abu Girgeh was eventually sent to Berber to replace
Osman Wad Dekeim, who had fallen into disgrace.
This Osman was very anxious to marry a pretty woman
he had seen in Berber, and had frequently visited her in
the hope that she would consent; but the woman, who
did not want to marry him, decided on a stratagem, and
agreed to have a rendezvous on a certain day. She,
however, told her brothers and relations to lie in wait;
and when Osman arrived at the appointed hour, and
was almost sure that he had succeeded, the brothers sud<a name="Page_168" id="Page_168"></a>denly
broke into the hut and thrashed him so soundly
that he made off, and resolved not to urge his suit a
second time.</p>

<p>Abu Girgeh did not long remain on good terms with
this low Arab, and soon they were both recalled to
Omdurman; the former was again sent to Kassala,
where he accused Nasri of having oppressed the inhabitants,
and appropriated a quantity of money; the latter
fled to Omdurman, where the Khalifa pardoned him.</p>

<p>Sayid Hamid also quarrelled with Abu Girgeh, and
just before I left the Sudan I was told that the Khalifa
had recalled him on suspicion that he was in league with
the Italians. It is generally believed in the Sudan that
Italy will shortly take possession of the weakly defended
Kassala, but accurate information of occurrences in the
Eastern Sudan is more likely to be received in Cairo
than in Omdurman.</p>


<a name="Page_169" id="Page_169"></a>
<hr class="newpg" style="width: 65%;">
<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X.</h2>

<p class="chapterhead">THE ESCAPE OF FATHER BONOMI.</p>

<p class="chapterdescribe">Ohrwalder continues to describe his personal experiences&mdash;Mahmud
the emir of El Obeid&mdash;His unsuccessful attempts to entrap the
Nubas&mdash;The arrival of Olivier Pain in El Obeid&mdash;His motives
in joining the Mahdi&mdash;His journey towards Omdurman&mdash;His
sad fate&mdash;Lupton Bey arrives at El Obeid from the Bahr el
Ghazal&mdash;He is sent to Omdurman and thrown into chains&mdash;Life
in El Obeid&mdash;The escape of Father Bonomi&mdash;Ohrwalder's
solitude&mdash;The death of the Khojur Kakum.</p>


<p class="firstpara"><span class="firstwords">I must</span> now return to the narrative of my own personal
experiences, which I broke off in order to follow those
events of the Mahdi's career in which I did not take
part.</p>

<p>Before the Mahdi left Rahad, I was again handed
over to yet another master; this was Sherif Mahmud,
the Mahdi's uncle, and Governor of Kordofan, and I was
put into his charge when he came to Rahad to see the
Mahdi off. I stayed a few days with Mahmud at Rahad.
I was then in a wretched state of health; to my horror
I discovered black spots on my body, my teeth were
chattering, and then I knew that I had scurvy. I
longed to escape to the Dobab hills, but my guards
were always with me, and I could not succeed.</p>

<p>At length Mahmud started back for El Obeid, and he
gave me one of the few surviving mules of the Hicks
expedition, which had been wounded by a bullet in the
neck and which had never healed. The heavy rain had
entirely changed the aspect of the country, which was
now a mass of green, and under any other circumstances
the journey would have been pleasant enough. We
were twice overtaken by terrible thunder-storms, which
obliged us to halt, as the heavy rain made travelling<a name="Page_170" id="Page_170"></a>
impossible; at night we had to sleep on the wet
ground.</p>

<p>As we approached El Obeid we heard the war-drums
beating, to announce the Governor's arrival. The great
sandy plain around was transformed into green fields
planted with dokhn. We halted for a time under the
leafy Adansonia tree, under which the Mahdi's tent
had been pitched, and I noticed that the entire bark of
the tree had been peeled off. I afterwards learnt that
the people believed the Mahdi's presence had hallowed
the tree, and that in consequence the bark had been
stripped off and boiled, the liquid being used as medicine
or for witchcraft purposes.</p>

<p>Only a few huts were left standing in El Obeid, and
Mahmud went to live in the Mudirieh. He had a great
reception on his arrival, and the most profuse flattery
was showered upon him. It was the usual thing to say
that "during his absence the town had been as still as
the grave and as dark as night, but, thanks be to God,
on his return light was once more restored," &amp;c., &amp;c.
The Sherif delighted in this adulation.</p>

<p>A few days after our arrival, Father Bonomi was
brought from Rahad to El Obeid in chains, and he and
I were given a small hut in the midst of his slaves'
quarters, where it was thought we would be in safe
custody.</p>

<p>Sherif Mahmud was a small thin man about fifty
years of age, full of wiry strength and with evil,
malignant-looking eyes. He had formerly been a slave-dealer
in Dar Fertit and had then joined Zubeir Pasha's
army. Even at Abba he was one of the Mahdi's most
fanatical adherents. He pretended to hate the things
of this world, was always poorly dressed, and before
others always eat of the worst and humblest food. But
he was inordinately proud, and loved the power of
commanding. During his prayers he used to throw
about his arms and legs and shout "Hoa! Hoa!" ("It is
He! it is He!" <i>i.e.</i> God). His followers used to say that
when he did this he saw God in his vision; but others
who knew him of old laughed at these antics, though at<a name="Page_171" id="Page_171"></a>
the same time they were afraid of him and indulged
him with flattery. He was excessively severe and strict,
but was impartial in his administration of justice.</p>

<p>He dealt very severely with the robbers who now
infested El Obeid, and cut off a number of hands and
feet. He thoroughly believed in the Mahdi's divine
message, and had the reputation of being the bravest
of the family. He had received a bullet wound at
Gedir, and at Shekan he was always in front, carrying
a flag, until he disappeared in the smoke; he fell pierced
by two bullets and was thought to have been killed;
after the battle, however, his people found him lying on
the ground with both legs broken; but he recovered.
He carried such a number of arms that men laughed
at him. In addition to the two broad-bladed spears, he
carried two smaller ones, as well as a number of javelins
in a quiver; from his shoulder hung his sword and a
small Remington rifle, while his girdle was stuck all
over with revolvers and knives. Women always fled
out of his path, for he whipped them ruthlessly;
sometimes he would dash amongst a crowd of women
on his horse and lay about him right and left. He had
a very choice harem, and amongst his women was a
young Egyptian girl; it is the great desire of a
Mahdiist to possess a fair woman, and they often
have recourse to the most violent and cruel practices in
order to acquire what they want.</p>

<p>Mahmud frequently went through his prayers with
his wives and concubines, and on one occasion they
began to laugh, in consequence of which the Egyptian
girl was sent away and the rest flogged. From this date
he took an intense dislike to all the fair-skinned people,
and the few Egyptian families who still lived in El
Obeid were banished from <a name="tn_png_187"></a><!--TN: Period added after "it"-->it.</p>

<p>He flattered himself that neither Abu Anga nor
Nejumi understood how to wage war against the
Nubas, and therefore he once more determined to
attack these mountaineers; but he set about it in a
very different manner from his predecessors. He armed
400 Takruris and instructed them to encamp at the foot<a name="Page_172" id="Page_172"></a>
of the mountain; they were to say they were at enmity
with the Dervishes and desired the friendship and
assistance of the Nubas.</p>

<p>Meanwhile Mahmud pitched his camp at Rahad, and
was in constant readiness for the attack. At first the
Nubas were inclined to fall into the trap, and made a
treaty of friendship with the Takruris; but they too
had recourse to a still more successful stratagem, and
when the Takruris seemed quite certain of their prey,
the Nubas suddenly fell upon them during a wild,
stormy night and killed almost all of them, very few
escaped, and Mahmud was obliged to return crestfallen
to El Obeid.</p>

<p>On the 15th of August, 1884, a great surprise came
upon El Obeid. Quite unexpectedly, at about two o'clock
in the afternoon, a European and three Arabs, mounted
on good camels, entered the open yard of the Mudirieh,
where Ali Bakhit, the chiefs, and a number of Dervishes
were assembled. The European dismounted, and boldly
advanced towards the crowd. He was tall, and gave
one the impression of being a powerful and energetic
man; he had a fair beard, and his face was very
sunburnt. His appearance made a great commotion
amongst the Dervishes.</p>

<p>Immediately all sorts of wild rumours were flying
about; some said he was the King of France; others
that he was one of the principal ministers of that
nation. He wore a jibbeh, white cap and turban, and
at once was directed to Ali Bakhit. Being unable to
speak Arabic, Father Bonomi was immediately summoned
to act as interpreter; but he had much difficulty in
making himself understood.</p>

<p>The stranger informed Bonomi that he had marched
from Dongola to El Obeid in thirteen days; that he
had escaped from Dongola, as the English had endeavoured
to thwart him in his projects; that his name
was Olivier Pain, and that he was the bearer of letters
from Zubeir Pasha to the Mahdi; but that fear of the
English had obliged him to destroy them. He said
that he came in the name of France, to place his<a name="Page_173" id="Page_173"></a>
nation's submission in the Mahdi's hands; and that he
was prepared to assist the Mahdi, both by advice
and, if required, by deeds.</p>

<p>After this statement Olivier Pain was searched, and
at once relieved of his money; a small hut was then
pointed out, in which he was to live, in charge of a
guard; the three guides were also secured in another
place. The Dervishes did not credit Pain's statement;
they could not believe it possible that a European
would voluntarily come into the Sudan to join the
Mahdi; they entirely distrusted Europeans, whose
mental superiority they thoroughly recognised; they
therefore concluded that Pain was a spy sent by the
English to take stock of the situation.</p>

<p>On the following day Bonomi was again summoned;
the various articles Pain had brought with him were
laid before him, such as books of travels in the Sudan,
an Arabic dictionary, a Kuran in French, a few maps,
letters, and a passport. Bonomi had to explain these
various articles to the Dervishes, who were not a little
surprised about the maps of the Sudan, and more
especially that of Kordofan. It is true there was
nothing found in Pain's baggage of a suspicious nature;
still, the Dervishes did not trust him; and he was
kept under a very strict guard; we were not permitted
to visit him.</p>

<p>The next day Pain complained of the bad food he
was given; but the Dervishes gave him wholesome
instruction: they told him that the true adherents of
the Mahdi were dead to the things of this world.
Poor Pain's mind must have been sadly disabused by
this reception.</p>

<p>The Dervishes were full of curiosity about this strange
Frenchman's doings and intentions, and kept worrying
us to know why he should have come; but it was also a
mystery to us; and when they asked him, he always gave
the same answer&mdash;"The whole of the European nations,
more especially France, and with the one exception of
England, entirely sympathised with the Mahdi." He
was asked if the Senussi had risen against the un<a name="Page_174" id="Page_174"></a>believers
in Egypt; but he replied that the Senussi
feared the English. When asked what the English
were doing, he replied that they were building forts
at Assuan; whereupon Ali Bakhit observed&mdash;"May
God destroy their forts." But, question as they would,
Pain's arrival and his reasons for coming still remained
a mystery to them. He was therefore sent, in charge
of a large escort, to Mahmud at Rahad; Mahmud
received him well, gave him a horse and a female slave,
and sent him on to the Mahdi, who was then on his
march to Omdurman.</p>

<p>On the 28th of August Pain arrived at Aigella, where
one of our El Obeid Mission brothers was staying; the
latter at once inquired of Pain what he was going to
do. On this occasion, it appears, he spoke more openly;
he asked if the brother understood French; but the
latter replied that he could not speak it, though he
understood it. Then Pain proceeded to say that he
was correspondent of a newspaper, and came to see
the Mahdi and his empire, about which he intended
to write full accounts to his paper.</p>

<p>This brother endeavoured to explain to him the
difficulties he would be sure to meet with, and on what
dangerous ground he was treading, adding that it was
most unlikely he would ever return; but Pain replied
that if he succeeded in his undertaking, he would
receive an immense reward; and that hitherto the
Dervishes had not treated him badly; moreover, he
was full of energy, and would not give up hope of
escape in the future. Pain also explained to the brother
the difficulties with which the English expedition would
be sure to meet, and how he believed Khartum would
certainly be lost.</p>

<p>Pain caught up the Mahdi at the village of Busata.
Various were the surmises of those in camp regarding
his intentions. Slatin, Klootz, and the other Europeans
were especially perplexed. Olivier Pain had imagined
that the immense services which he would be able to
render the Mahdi would cause the latter to receive him
with open arms; but the poor man was sadly deluded.<a name="Page_175" id="Page_175"></a>
He was presented to the Mahdi, who greeted him coldly,
and asked him his reasons for coming. Pain replied&mdash;"To
acknowledge you as Mahdi, and to lay before you
the submission of the French nation." The Mahdi
gave an ironic smile, as much as to say he did not
believe a word Pain was saying; and then he ordered
Abu Anga to take charge of him, guard him most
carefully, and permit no one to see him.</p>

<p>During the march to Shatt, Klootz managed to
approach Pain, and began talking to him; but for
this disobedience he was at once seized and put in
chains. On Slatin's representations, however, to the
Khalifa Abdullah, he was released.</p>

<p>At Shatt, Pain began to suffer from dysentery and
fever, brought on by over-fatigue and bad water. The
Mahdi permitted Slatin to visit him; and Pain's wretched
condition so disturbed Slatin that he begged the Mahdi
to give him a little money, with which he could buy
some better food, which it was absolutely necessary
Pain should have.</p>

<p>But his disease became worse; and it was with the
greatest difficulty he could continue his march to Om
Sadik. Here his condition became hopeless; he explained
that he could go on no longer, and begged for some
medicine. The custom in the Sudan is to drink melted
butter; and after Pain had taken a little, he was
placed on a camel; but it had scarcely gone a few
steps, when he was seized with a fainting fit, and fell
off. As he lay unconscious on the ground, and was
deathly pale, his guards believed that he must be
dead; so they dug a rough grave, in which poor Pain
was laid, covered him over with sand, and then hurried
on. It is quite possible the unfortunate man was not
dead. They marked his grave by planting his stick
in the sand, and tying his sandals to it. This event
occurred on the 15th of November, 1884.</p>

<p>Early in September, Lupton Bey, Mudir of Bahr el
Ghazal arrived at El Obeid; he had been permitted to
retain his property, and he was most kind to us; indeed,
I have no words to express our gratitude to him for his<a name="Page_176" id="Page_176"></a>
unvarying generosity to us. He told us a great deal
about his own fights, and related how, after the destruction
of General Hicks, the Mahdi had despatched the
two slave-dealer brothers Karamallah and Kirkesawi
from Dongola to the Bahr el Ghazal. Karamallah had
summoned Lupton Bey to surrender; but Lupton, as
his letters to Emin Pasha show, determined to fight; his
subordinate officers, however, almost all deserted him, and
joined the Mahdiists, and the few who remained loyal
eventually refused to fight. Indeed, I have seen the
actual document they drew up and signed to that effect.
Lupton, who at that time was thoroughly exhausted by
his constant warfare against the Dinkas, had therefore
no alternative but to submit, which he did on <a name="tn_png_192"></a><!--TN: "the the" replaced by "the"-->the
28th of April, 1884.</p>

<p>A few days later Lupton, with his kavass and clerk,
were sent as prisoners to El Obeid, <i>vi&acirc;</i> Shakka. His
arrival was a welcome addition to our little circle, and
it was a very great comfort to us to have the society
of such a genuine and kind friend as Lupton in these
times of trial. He remained with us for about a month;
at that time we had daily information about the
movements of the English expedition, and we now
hoped that the time for our deliverance was approaching.
Many of the Mahdiists themselves were getting
tired of the new <i>r&eacute;gime</i>, which gave neither rest nor
security of property to anyone. It was through these
malcontents that we obtained news which gave us food
for argument and speculation during the long and weary
days of our captivity.</p>

<p>This life of a slave was terribly obnoxious to poor
Lupton, who frequently gave way to bursts of indignation,
and in one of these Sherif Mahmud arrested him,
and in the first week of October he despatched him
under escort to the Mahdi. On his arrival at Omdurman
he was put in chains, where he remained for ten
months, as he had attempted to escape to Khartum.
During this period of captivity, Lupton underwent
terrible sufferings, which I could not possibly describe.</p>

<p>Shortly after Lupton left us, we received a letter<a name="Page_177" id="Page_177"></a>
from Slatin, saying that Gordon intended holding out
until the English arrived, at the same time he urged us
to try and obtain leave to come to Omdurman; but
this was impossible. Another friend also told us that
he hoped shortly to be able to effect our release; but in
his letter he wrote in such a manner that we alone were
able to grasp his meaning, for he feared that what he
had written might fall into the hands of the Dervishes.</p>

<p>Our anxiety can readily be understood, for we felt
certain that if the English were victorious, we should
be killed in revenge. Sherif Mahmud had already
received orders from the Mahdi to encamp outside the
town, and be prepared for any eventuality. So our days
passed in a whirl of hopes and fears, and death would
have been welcome.</p>

<p>But now a new disaster occurred; the circumstantial
account of the death of Colonel Stewart and his party,
and the fact that the state of Khartum was rapidly
becoming desperate, made us full of doubt as to Gordon's
fate. The fall of Omdurman further confirmed our
fears, and we trembled to think that Khartum
would fall before the English arrived. The prolonged
resistance of the town, and the knowledge that the
English were almost there, caused no small alarm
amongst the people in El Obeid; when, therefore, Sherif
Mahmud ordered a salute of one hundred guns to be
fired to announce a great victory, the reaction was
tremendous.</p>

<p>The news of the fall of Khartum and of the English
victory at Abu Klea reached El Obeid the same day.
Mahmud held a great review, and the Mahdiists were
wild with joy. Thus the last bulwark of Egyptian
authority in the Sudan had disappeared; the English
turned back and left the Sudan to its fate. The Mahdi
rested for a time on his laurels, and occupied himself
with bringing into subjection the few who still
resisted.</p>

<p>Sherif Mahmud now determined to make himself
famous for his bravery, and resolved to conquer the
whole of Nuba, and convert the inhabitants. As a first<a name="Page_178" id="Page_178"></a>
step, he proceeded with a force of two thousand men
straight to Delen; these good people had been left unmolested
since Mek Omar had taken his departure, and had
gone back to their peaceful ways and former mode of
life, which consisted largely of breeding swine, planting
tobacco, and drinking marissa to their heart's content.</p>

<p>The Baggaras, who lived in Nuba, and of whom many
had been unwillingly forced to follow the Mahdi, were
getting somewhat tired of the new faith. Khojur Kakum
was just in the same position as before, and had gained
considerably in reputation, as he had foretold correctly
how the Mahdi would conduct himself. Mahmud duly
arrived at Delen, and encamped at the foot of the hills.</p>

<p>On Mahmud's departure, we thought the time had at
length arrived when we might attempt to escape, for
long ago we had projected a plan to get the Kababish
to assist us. Formerly this tribe did much of the
carrying trade between Dongola and El Obeid, and they
had already proved that they were loyal to the Government.
It was said that when the English came to Dongola,
this tribe was bringing thousands of camels laden
with corn from Dar Hamer; but when Mahmud heard
of it, he sent after them, and captured two thousand
five hundred loads, so from that time no Kababish ever
came to El Obeid. This, therefore, greatly interfered
with our plans; besides, we had no money either to buy
camels or pay the guides, so I reverted to my old idea,
which I had formulated at Rahad, to escape to Jebel
Dobab and live with the brave Nubas.</p>

<p>I was thinking over this plan, and casting up in my
mind the chances of success, when, on the 4th of June,
1885, a Coptic friend of ours called Sideham arrived, and
handed Father Bonomi a small note, saying at the same
time that a man had come to take him back to Dongola,
and that he would meet him in the market next day.
Bonomi and I then retired to a place where we knew
no one would see us, and there in fear and trembling
we tore open the letter; then Bonomi, in the deepest
agitation, read as follows:&mdash;</p>

<p>"Dear Friend, I am sending this man so that you<a name="Page_179" id="Page_179"></a>
may escape with him. Trust him&mdash;he is honest. Monsignor
Sogaro awaits you in Cairo with outstretched
arms. Your fellow-countryman, <span class="smcap">Alois Santoni</span>."</p>

<p>For some moments we were so excited we could
scarcely speak; but my first thought was, "Why is
Bonomi only sent for?" and the feeling that flight
was debarred from me, filled me with the most utter
dejection.</p>

<p>It was to be my sad fate to see my companion in
adversity start without me; then a ray of hope flashed
across my mind, possibly the man might be the bearer
of a verbal message. It was the very moment for
flight; there were very few Dervishes in El Obeid.
Oh, the terrible length of that day and night! How
slowly the hours went by!</p>

<p>The next morning Bonomi went alone to the place
of rendezvous. I thought if I went with him it might
create suspicion; but at the same time I begged him
to urge the man to take me with him as well.
Bonomi met the man, and it required only a very few
moments to come to an arrangement. How I longed
for him to return and know the result. At length he
came, looking very pleased; but the man, he said, had
definitely declined to take me with him; however, he
promised that if he succeeded in conducting Bonomi
safely, he would return for me in fifteen days.</p>

<p>I grieved terribly at the news that my flight must
be deferred; but, on the other hand, I rejoiced that
one of us should be fortunate enough to escape from
this terrible bondage. The man told Father Bonomi
not to trouble about anything, but merely to meet him
on Mount Korbatsh, where he would find him with the
camels.</p>

<p>On the afternoon of the 5th of June, Bonomi prepared
himself for flight, taking a large knife with him. We
left our huts, and proceeded to the rendezvous; our
hearts were too full to speak. At last I left him; and
pressing him to my heart, bade him farewell, saying&mdash;"Do
not forget your poor companion in adversity,
who is left behind."<a name="Page_180" id="Page_180"></a></p>


<a name="many"></a><div class="figcenter" style="width:405px;"><img src="https://brian.carnell.com/wiki/_media/etext:f:fr-wingate-ten-years-captive-p181.jpg" border="0" alt="" title="" width="405" height="548">
<p class="caption2">"MANY A TIME DID I TURN AROUND TO LOOK BACK, UNTIL BONOMI
DISAPPEARED FROM VIEW IN THE WOOD."</p></div>


<p>Many a time did I turn round to look back, until
Bonomi disappeared from view in the wood. It was
just sunset, and a lovely evening, which made even
that dull plain look beautiful. Wild, anxious thoughts
kept careering through my brain, as I walked back to
my wretched and solitary home. Would Bonomi succeed,
and what would happen to me? for I knew that the
Dervishes must conclude that I knew about Bonomi's
flight. So immersed was I in these thoughts that I
kept on losing my way, and did not get back till late.</p>

<p>My delay had already caused some suspicion; but I
found a ready excuse. I said that I had been searching
for corn; for at that time there was famine; and
nothing was to be had in the market. My excuse was
accepted, and fortunately they did not think of asking
for Bonomi. I now threw myself down on my hard
bed; but my weary eyes found no sleep. I kept
revolving in my mind all that had occurred; but at
length I determined to pluck up courage and put my
trust in God; and then my thoughts turned to more
practical considerations. How should I explain Bonomi's
absence to the emir without saying anything which
would implicate myself?</p>

<p>It was a hot, sultry night, but a refreshing shower
fell just then; and in the midst of the patter of the
rain-drops, I thought I heard Bonomi's voice in the
hut. What could it be? Had he returned? A thousand
wild thoughts crowded into my mind; but I did not
dare make a noise, though it was all I could do to
control my curiosity.</p>

<p>I rose very early the next morning, and searched
about the hut; but found no one. It was at any rate
quite certain Bonomi had gone; but yet I felt sure
he must have come back during the night. It was
not until six long years afterwards, when I returned
to Cairo, that I solved the mystery; and then he
himself told me how, after parting from me, he had
lost his way, and could not find the guide or camels;
after vainly wandering about, he had returned to the
hut, where the Copt who had given him the note found<a name="Page_183" id="Page_183"></a><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182"></a><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181"></a>
him, and conducted him to the Arab with whom he had
escaped.</p>

<p>I must here explain why it was the messenger had
only been commissioned to rescue Father Bonomi; and
this I did not learn till after my own escape. News
had reached Cairo that I was in Omdurman, and that
Bonomi had been left alone in El Obeid; and therefore
arrangements had been made for his rescue only.<a name="FNanchor_H_8" id="FNanchor_H_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_H_8" class="fnanchor">[H]</a></p>

<p>Meanwhile, I kept Bonomi's escape concealed; and
it was not until the fourth day after he had left, and
when I was assured of his safety, that I informed the
emin beit el mal<a name="FNanchor_I_9" id="FNanchor_I_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_I_9" class="fnanchor">[I]</a> that he had gone to Khartum to
fetch some medicine. I believe this man thoroughly
knew that he had escaped; but he did not show the
slightest suspicion, and ordered us to go to Khartum
as well; and we were placed under close surveillance.
He also wrote to Sherif Mahmud at Delen, and to
Khartum; a few days later orders came from Mahmud
that we were to be imprisoned in the zariba of the beit
el mal. That evening, soldiers came and dragged us
and our slender property to the zariba; and while
waiting till huts should be made for us, we were housed
with slaves suffering from small-pox.</p>

<p>This disease was then very prevalent in El Obeid,
and horrible sights continually met our eyes. These
unfortunate sufferers had no one to help them, and
they were left to die, either of the disease, or of hunger;
they lay about under the trees in the market-place,
shunned by every one; often, when still living, they
were dragged off by men, who tied ropes round their
bodies, and pulled them along the ground till they
were beyond the outskirts of the town; and there they
were left to be devoured by the hyenas.</p>

<p>A dreadful famine prevailed, and the population was<a name="Page_184" id="Page_184"></a>
decimated by hunger; ten to twelve pounds of corn
were sold for a dollar, and the man was fortunate who
could buy it at this price. In the market, fights were
frequent; meat, however, was not so expensive, and we
lived for days on meat only, without any bread. The
poor people used to dig about the streets and in the
houses for gum, which they knew had been concealed
during the siege; and this unwholesome food frequently
caused their death.</p>

<p>The air in the zariba was poisoned by the number
of people suffering from small-pox; but curiously enough,
the disease never seemed to touch the white people.
My new abode turned out to be not so bad as I expected.
I became friends with some of the soldiers
who used to be in the Government service, and sympathised
with them in their wretched state; these poor
men often tried to do me any little service they could.</p>

<p>It was about this time that Sultan Dud Benga, flying
from Zogal, arrived, on his way to give himself up to
the Mahdi in Omdurman, and also a certain Sherif,
who set himself up to be the fourth Khalifa&mdash;Osman.
The latter, however, on his arrival in Omdurman, was
thrown into chains, and his wives, horses, and slaves
confiscated. I planted a few water-melons round my
hut, which grew well; and I used to amuse myself by
watching the movements of the chameleons which disported
themselves underneath the leaves; but one day
a fire broke out, which destroyed my hut, water-melons,
chameleons, and all; and so this little dissipation was
denied me. However, I built a new hut in a few days.</p>

<p>Almost a month had now passed since Bonomi's departure,
and I began to look about anxiously for the
return of the Arab who was to help me to escape.
During the night I had cautiously loosened the zariba
hedge, so that I could easily get out, when the time
came; but day by day passed, and I began to lose
hope. I did hear a rumour once that a man had come
to help us to escape, but that on hearing we were
locked up in the zariba, he had gone away. This was
very probably true; for the Arabs are excessively timid;<a name="Page_185" id="Page_185"></a>
and we were as universally shunned by all as if we
were infested with a plague; if anyone dared to speak
to us, he was almost sure to be arrested and locked up.</p>

<p>Thus we dragged out a miserable existence, devoid
of hope, shunned by all, and suffering much from
continual sickness. One event, however, unexpectedly
occurred, which we thought would completely alter the
state of affairs, and would produce a revolution, in
which we again thought we saw some chance of escape.</p>

<p>Early in July 1885, the news of the Mahdi's death
arrived. At first it was not credited, and the leading
people thought it better to keep it a strict secret, but
their dismal countenances belied them. It was a
terrible blow to the Dervishes, and they themselves
believed that disturbances would undoubtedly take
place, for the number of malcontents was by no means
small. The truth, however, soon came out, and the
immediate effect on the ignorant masses was the realization
that they had been deceived, and that the Mahdi
was no Mahdi at all. Hitherto Mahdiism had been
thoroughly admitted, and it was their belief in the
Mahdi's divine mission which had given birth to the
fanaticism which had made them so bold and fearless&mdash;the
belief that to die in battle as martyrs assured them
paradise with its myriads of lovely houris, its lovely
gardens, laden with milk and honey, fruits and flowers.</p>

<p>All this was implicitly believed. What wonder then
that they should throw themselves into the very thickest
of the fight in the sure and certain hope that to die in
the Mahdi's cause ensured eternal delights and pleasures!
Now all these glorious visions had collapsed like a house
of cards, and in the future Mahdiism to live would have
to be enforced. From this time forth there was no
voluntary seeking to obey, and it was clear that the
new Religion was on the wane.</p>

<p>The family and adherents of the Mahdi were at
variance with the followers of Khalifa Abdullah, the
latter by his immense energy had made himself master
of the situation. But the glow and fervour of religious
enthusiasm was gone.<a name="Page_186" id="Page_186"></a></p>

<p>The blow of the Mahdi's death almost killed Sherif
Mahmud; many of his chiefs and emirs muttered: "See
how the Mahdi has deceived us. Had he been the real
Mahdi he would not have died in Omdurman. Alas!
what thousands of human lives have been sacrificed to
this false Mahdi's caprice." Mahmud was at a loss to
know what to say and contented himself with murmuring:
"Even if the Mahdi be dead, his religion did not
die with him; let us therefore fight in the cause of
religion."</p>

<p>Nevertheless all obedience and discipline did not
disappear, for these men had still their own interests to
look after: but it was unfortunate there was no one
to place himself at the head of the malcontents and
openly declare that the Mahdi was no Mahdi.</p>

<p>Mahmud now returned without delay to El Obeid,
and immediately on his arrival he ordered the criers to
announce that he required some account of Father
Bonomi's escape. He was furious at his flight; he sent
for me and asked where he had gone; I simply replied,
that he had disappeared one night and that the next
morning I could find no trace of him in the hut. If
Mahmud had not been so upset by the Mahdi's death,
I believe I should have had to pay dearly for his flight.
As it was he believed that Bonomi would be seized by
the Dervishes in Dongola, and at the same time he sent
out spies to try and discover who had assisted him to
escape. Suspicion fell on Mohammed Suleiman, who had
been our old captain at Delen and who was now the
kadi's clerk; he was threatened with a flogging, which
he would certainly have received had not his master
begged him off.</p>

<p>Mahmud brought with him from Delen the unfortunate
Khojur Kakum; this poor man was thrown
into chains soon after his arrival, and his hut and
the chair which he used for his religious ceremonies
were burnt. The Nubas were solemnly abjured to
desist from their superstitious beliefs, and Mahmud
made a small straw mosque for them in which they
were obliged to say prayers; but the Nubas set fire to<a name="Page_187" id="Page_187"></a>
it, and after Mahmud's departure they named their
pigs after the Mahdi's important emirs.</p>

<p>When Kakum was on his way to El Obeid, he had
had a bad fall from a bullock, which had injured him
internally and made it almost impossible for him to
move: he was put into our zariba, and soon after he
came I went to see him and found him in a state of
profound dejection. He was very pleased to see me,
and the tears rolled down his black cheeks; he was so
affected he could barely speak, and lost all control over
himself. His two wives were sitting near him&mdash;one of
them, Mea, was a thoroughly good woman, and many a
happy hour did I spend playing with her little child of
six years old. Kakum gave me coffee, and we talked
over the old days at the Mission, then I left him to
rest. That same night I was suddenly summoned by
Mea, who said that Kakum was seriously ill; I hastened
to the hut and found him almost unconscious, and in a
few hours he was dead. He was a thoroughly good,
sensible man, and had been a faithful friend to the
Mission and to the Government. He died in July 1885,
and I think he must then have been about fifty-five
years of age. His second wife married the Khojur of
Sobei, who had also been dragged to El Obeid by
Mahmud; but Mea did not marry again. She devoted
herself to her little child.</p>

<p>The boy delighted in being with me, and said he
always wanted to stay with the Christians; but a month
later Mea and her child were allowed to return to
Delen. I gave the boy a little shirt, and in return Mea
promised to send me some tobacco; and, true to her
word, a messenger arrived soon afterwards with that
luxury, in return for which I sent her some glass beads.</p>

<p>During his stay at Delen, Mahmud had captured
Shirra, one of the renegade Baggara chiefs, and his two
sons. This man had formerly been our sworn enemy,
and had declared that he would kill every one of us
Christians; but when this great chief and his sons came
into the zariba they greeted me like lambs, and when,
in fun, I recalled to them their former oaths, they<a name="Page_188" id="Page_188"></a>
admitted that they had been completely deceived, and
now that they had not words sufficient to praise the
Christians or to curse the Mahdi. It was no little
satisfaction to me to find such an entire change of mind
and purpose in one who had been our bitterest foe.
Thus was justice tardily meted out to us.</p>

<p>Meanwhile Khalifa Abdullah had sent an order from
Omdurman to Mahmud, telling him to set out forthwith
for Omdurman to swear the Bea'a (or oath of allegiance)
to the Mahdi's successor. Mahmud therefore, in August
1885, left El Obeid with a large number of followers.</p>

<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>

<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_H_8" id="Footnote_H_8"></a>
<a href="#FNanchor_H_8" class="fnlabel">[H]</a> Father Bonomi arrived safely in Dongola, and Mr. Santoni, who
is now director of posts at Assiut, was rewarded by His Holiness
Pope Leo XIII. with the Order of Gregory the Great, in recognition
of the humane service he had rendered.</p></div>

<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_I_9" id="Footnote_I_9"></a>
<a href="#FNanchor_I_9" class="fnlabel">[I]</a> <a name="tn_png_205"></a><!--TN: "I.e" italicized--><i>I.e.</i> the official in charge of the beit el mal or Dervish storehouse
and treasury.</p></div>
</div>
<a name="Page_189" id="Page_189"></a>

<hr class="newpg" style="width: 65%;">
<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI.</h2>

<p class="chapterhead">REVOLT AGAINST THE DERVISHES.</p>

<p class="chapterdescribe">The black soldiers of the old Sudan army&mdash;They revolt against the
Dervishes in El Obeid&mdash;And march off to Dar Nuba&mdash;The emir
Mahmud pursues and is slain&mdash;Ohrwalder quits El Obeid for
Omdurman&mdash;Zogal and Abu Anga at Bara.</p>


<p class="firstpara"><span class="firstwords">The</span> old Sudanese soldiers of the Egyptian army were
perhaps, of all others, the most dissatisfied with Mahdiism.
These brave blacks who, as they say in the
Sudan, "had eaten the Khedive's bread," were now in
a wretched state compared with the once miserable
Gellabas, who now galloped about proudly on horseback,
while in former years they had scarcely a donkey
to their name. Several of these soldiers had been to
Egypt, some had been servants to Europeans, and most
of them had been in the various fights which had previously
taken place in the Sudan. Sherif Mahmud, it
is true, treated them with some deference, and gave
them corn when he refused to give it to the Gellabas
who were starving; but in spite of this, their previous
condition was infinitely preferable to their life under
Mahdiist rulers. There were about two hundred of
these soldiers in El Obeid; shortly afterwards, a number
of slaves arrived, and quite recently their numbers had
been further increased by the addition of a company
sent by Zogal.</p>

<p>Many of these men had fought under Munzinger
Pasha, and under Slatin Bey, and were distinguished
for their bravery; their total number was now three
hundred, under the command of an Egyptian mowallid,<a name="FNanchor_J_10" id="FNanchor_J_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_J_10" class="fnanchor">[J]</a>
<a name="Page_190" id="Page_190"></a>
named Abdullah. These men used to complain of being
always placed in the forefront of the battle; and they
were further irritated by the arrogant way in which they
were treated by the Danagla and their unbearable emir
Wad el Hashmi, who used to call them "abd" (<i>i.e.</i>
slave); they therefore decided to revolt against this
tyrannical rule, and in this their emir supported them.
It was agreed that they should await the great Dahiyeh
festival, and when they were all out on parade, and the
Dervishes were going through their prayers, they would
suddenly separate themselves and, trusting to their good
rifles, would be able to annihilate their hated enemies;
but the thought that a number of innocent people
would be thus sacrificed, decided them to await some
other more favourable opportunity. It was often a
matter of surprise to me how these blacks managed to
keep their secret, which even all their women knew.</p>

<p>A clever young mukuddum lived near my hut, and
did me many a kindness; he often used to bring me
some meat to eat, as the soldiers who looked after the
sheep and goats taken from the Arabs frequently
killed some for their own food and then reported that
they had died. At this time I suffered a great deal
from fever, I could not remain in my close and small
hut, and used to lie wide awake and tossing about on
my hard bed outside. I often saw the mukuddum in
secret conversation with some of his men, and then
they would look at their arms to see they were all right;
this made me feel certain that some plot was brewing.</p>

<p>Amongst the soldiers I had also another good friend,
Hajji Selim, who was at all times ready to render me
any little service, in return for which I used to give
him a little coffee or some tobacco. Hajji Selim had
a curious story. He was born in Bornu, and when
young had joined his father, who was going with a
caravan to Mecca. Whilst journeying through the
Sahara, they came to a district in which two tribes were
at war; he joined one of them, but was taken prisoner
by the other, sold as a slave, and taken to Tunis; from
here, he was brought to Constantinople, where he be<a name="Page_191" id="Page_191"></a>came
the playfellow of his master's son, and in this
way learnt the Turkish language. Soon afterwards his
master was sent to Egypt as a Pasha, and he came with
him, from thence they went on a pilgrimage to Mecca,
hence his title of Hajji. On their return to Cairo, the
master died, his property was confiscated, and Selim
was taken into the army. He was sent to Sawakin, then
he served under Munzinger Pasha at Massawa, and
was with him at the time of his murder; from here he
was sent to Darfur, then to Kordofan, and eventually
to Delen, where he was taken prisoner with Mohammed
Suleiman, and thus became attached to the Mahdiists.</p>

<p>This unfortunate man, though comparatively young,
had become aged by constant travelling, he was homeless,
and had neither wife nor child; he wore an old
coat which had been given to him by some of Hicks
Pasha's soldiers, it was riddled with bullet-holes, covered
with patches of blood, and very dirty; however, that
did not much matter to him, as he had no soap to wash
it; he always wore the hood of his coat over his head,
which further added to his curious appearance. He
made his coat into a species of Dervish uniform by
patching up the holes with the pieces of an old tarbush;
but withal he was a thoroughly honest man, and I
liked him. I also knew I could rely on him to carry
out a secret mission, and therefore, after Bonomi had
fled, I had made over to him some money and two
volumes of the 'Popular Educator,' which Lupton Bey
had given me, and which I looked upon as a priceless
treasure. I did this because I was afraid that Sherif
Mahmud would confiscate my little all; but when all
fear was over, the honest man brought back everything
just as I had given it to him. At that time I had no
suitable place in my hut to hide them, so I asked him
to keep them a few days longer; but, alas! my books
were to become food for the flames, which soon afterwards
devoured the camp, and this was an irreparable
loss. I tried to find but from Hajji Selim what plot
was brewing; but all my inquiries were fruitless. He
would not breathe a word, and from that time I saw no<a name="Page_192" id="Page_192"></a>
more of him, for he was afraid that my importunity might
make him divulge the secret. I knew perfectly well
that he must have been one of the conspirators, and as
I never saw him again, I presume he must have been
killed.</p>

<p>The above little incident is merely mentioned to show
how zealously the soldiers kept their secret; but all the
same, the people in El Obeid had a notion that something
was going to happen, and one day an order was
suddenly given that a hundred soldiers were to prepare
to proceed to Dar Hamer. In this way they thought to
split up the party, and then disarm them; but the men
guessed that this was the intention, and therefore decided
to execute their plan the following day.</p>

<p>That night I was lying outside as usual; the sky
was particularly brilliant, and I was watching the
myriads of shooting stars which, leaving bright trails
behind them, burst suddenly like rockets, and illumined
the night till it became for an instant almost as light
as day. Every one wondered at this curious phenomenon,
and foretold that it meant mischief of some sort,
and, curiously, there was mischief enough in the air that
night.</p>

<p>The next day, at about noon, I was startled by the
sound of firing, and bullets were suddenly flying over
my head. In my alarm I had rushed out of the hut,
and saw that the firing was from the direction of the
powder-magazine. To my intense surprise, I did not
see a solitary soldier in the zariba; even their wives had
gone, and had taken their household goods away with
them. I shouted and cried out, but no one answered;
a few women passed by, but they were too occupied to
answer me; they, too, soon disappeared, and the whole
place, which but a few moments before had been a Babel
of din and noise, became silent as the grave. In the
distance I could hear continuous firing, and occasionally
I caught sight of women and children running away
in a northerly direction.</p>

<p>I now thought it time to quit the zariba myself. I
seized a bayonet, and tried to push aside the thorns,<a name="Page_193" id="Page_193"></a>
but they were so firmly fixed in the ground, that I
could not move them. I then made for the gate, and
here there was not a soul to be seen; even the slaves
in chains had disappeared. Bullets were now flying in
all directions. I went towards the Emir Abdullah's
house, and found him standing by his door in a state of
great agitation, with only two soldiers. In reply to my
question as to what was the matter, he answered in a surly
tone: "These beit el mal slaves have destroyed everything."
These words were scarcely out of his mouth,
when fifty Dervishes with drawn swords suddenly
rushed up, and with frightful yells dragged him and his
men off to the courtyard of the Mudirieh. I followed
them. Here an enormous crowd of Dervishes was
collected, and, wild with rage, they would have torn
Abdullah to pieces had not Wad el Hashmi stopped
them.</p>

<p>The Dervishes now accused Abdullah of having incited
the soldiers; but he protested that he knew nothing of
the affair, and in proof of his statement urged that
he had not quitted his house; but it was useless. The
air resounded with cries of "Cut off his head!" and he
was obliged to kneel down. With one blow his head
rolled on the sand; both the soldiers were also beheaded,
and their bodies thrown down near the mosque, so that
everyone might see them.</p>

<p>I now learnt that the soldiers had taken possession
of the powder magazine, which consisted of a square
yard, with small towers at the corners; it had been
utilized as a magazine in Government days. All arms
and ammunition were stored here, and a number of
Egyptians were employed moulding bullets and filling
cartridges; there were also quantities of caps, and all
the necessary implements. The soldiers had broken
into this place, killed the guards, made loopholes, and
prepared for defence; they had burnt down most of
the houses in the town, and forced all they met to
join them. Two Egyptians who refused to do so were
at once killed. The Dervishes had rushed, in a body,
to attempt to recover the magazine, but had been shot<a name="Page_194" id="Page_194"></a>
down in numbers; several emirs also fell in this
assault, and no one dared to return to recover their
bodies. At length, having rallied from their first
failure, they again collected and advanced&mdash;this time
with more order&mdash;to the attack; but the soldiers, who
had learnt of their Emir Abdullah's death, fought
with desperate courage, and again drove them back,
with heavy loss.</p>

<p>The Dervishes now assembled beside the great gate
of the Mudirieh, and consulted what was best to be
done; they were thoroughly alarmed, and no wonder;
for everyone who came within range of the fort was
almost certainly shot down. Amongst these was Fiki
Isa, of the Shanabla, who was struck in the neck by a
bullet, and fell dead at once. Naturally, I fled as
soon as possible from this dangerous proximity, and
went to the house of a clerk, whose walls I knew
would give me protection.</p>

<p>The firing now became faster, and the soldiers sounded
the trumpet for the attack on the Mudirieh, intending
to capture the guns which stood outside the gate; but
the Dervishes had withdrawn them and closed it, so
the troops were forced to retire; their ranks had been
largely increased by a number of male and female
slaves, who, on hearing of the mutiny, had at once left
their masters.</p>

<p>Fighting lasted till nightfall; and at length, under
cover of darkness, I made my way back to the zariba,
to see what had become of my companions in adversity.
I found it empty and deserted; even the cattle had
escaped somehow; and only two miserable slaves, suffering
from ferentit (guinea-worm), and who were unable
to move, remained behind. I was feverish and restless;
so returned again to the Mudirieh, to see what was
going forward there. I found a crowd of Dervishes,
exasperated at the idea of having been defeated by
the "slave-soldiers," as they called them; more of their
emirs had been killed; and the chief, Wad Hashmi,
had been mortally wounded, and died the following
day. When the Dervishes caught sight of me (hitherto<a name="Page_195" id="Page_195"></a>
I had passed unnoticed), they ordered me back to the
zariba, threatening to kill me if I again left it; I
suppose they did this because they thought I might
join the mutineers. It was believed that the soldiers
would attack and capture the town the next day. How
I wish they had had a good leader!</p>

<p>My companions and I now found ourselves in the
beit el mal again, under the guard of four soldiers.
Worn out with excitement, I threw myself down on my
angarib; the success of the mutineers again revived
in my breast hopes of release; and with this pleasing
thought, I dropped off into a sound slumber.</p>

<p>I was suddenly roused up by one of the guard
prodding me with the butt end of his rifle, and saying&mdash;"When
everyone is in terror of his life, how can you
sleep?" So I reluctantly had to get up, and began
chatting to the guard, as I feared any display of satisfaction
on my part would probably call down vengeance
from them. We talked over the events of the day;
and I soon realised that the Dervishes were, in truth,
greatly alarmed.</p>

<p>The powder magazine was not far from the beit el
mal, so we could overhear a great deal of what was
going on there; and one would have imagined that
they were engaged in marriage festivities rather than
in bloody warfare. The whole night through they kept
up singing; the women were dancing, and the men
drinking marissa: every now and then the trumpets were
sounded, which seemed to add to the women's delight;
they were all laughing over the Mahdi's doings, heaping
insults on him and his religion; and still further
exasperating the Dervishes by shouting out to them to
come and join them in a drinking bout.</p>

<p>But whilst these good blacks were enjoying themselves
in the magazine, the Dervishes had fortified the
beit el mal, and placed bodies of troops, with their flags,
in different parts. Occasionally, the blacks fired a
volley into them, which made them disperse, leaving
their flag behind them. Everyone was in a state of
most anxious expectancy for the next day; it was looked<a name="Page_196" id="Page_196"></a>
upon as certain that a fight would take place between
the Dervishes and the soldiers, which would finally
decide matters; and that night there was little sleep
for anyone.</p>

<p>Early the next morning the soldiers played the
Khedivial salute, which stirred us to the quick; and
by the time the sun had risen, firing had recommenced,
and was continued up till nine o'clock. The soldiers
made a few raids on camels and donkeys, but did not
attempt to attack the Dervishes; and it was not at
all clear what they intended to do. The Dervish emir,
being certain that the mutineers were quite demoralized,
sent their imam (priest) to tell them that if they wished
to surrender, they would receive pardon; this exasperated
the blacks beyond measure; the imam was told not to
talk nonsense; and was then deliberately dragged out
about fifty paces from the fort, pierced through and
through with his own spears, and his body thrown out
in the direction of the Mudirieh, whilst the soldiers
shouted out&mdash;"This is the head in return for the head
of our Emir Abdullah." They continued to make
desultory sorties during the day, and captured a quantity
of animals.</p>

<p>In the afternoon they left the powder magazine;
the band playing, women and children marching in
front; then came the ammunition, surrounded by armed
men, and lastly, the soldiers, marching in good order,
and disposed in such a manner as to resist any sudden
assault.</p>

<p>The Dervishes, however, determined to attack, and,
marshalling their banners, they made for the powder
magazine, which they found quite deserted; the soldiers
had thrown into the wells all the powder they could
not carry. There were only five fresh graves in the
magazine, which showed that the soldiers had lost only
five men, whilst the Dervishes had lost about five
hundred.</p>

<p>Meanwhile, the blacks were marching gaily towards
Melbeis; but the Dervishes, more furious than ever
after their discoveries in the magazine, set off in hot<a name="Page_197" id="Page_197"></a>
pursuit; and when they had got within a short distance
of their enemy, they were received by a well-directed
volley, which killed some fifty of them; the remainder
fled in disorder to El Obeid. The total number of the
blacks, including the slaves who had joined them, did
not exceed one thousand men, whilst the Dervishes
more than trebled that number. Had they only
had a competent commander, there is no doubt they
could easily have captured El Obeid. They continued
their march, unopposed, to Nuba, and arrived first of
all at Delen, where they established themselves, and
selected Beshir, an old soldier of Slatin Bey's, to be
their Mudir. Mahdiism was entirely renounced, and the
Khedive's Government proclaimed. Anyone who swore
by the Mahdi's name received eighty lashes; the regular
form of swearing was&mdash;"Hakk ras Effendina" ("By the
Khedive's head!") Strict discipline was enforced. Any
one found selling arms or ammunition to the Nubas
was punished with death, and the sentence was carried
out by shooting.</p>

<p>Shortly afterwards, they quitted Delen and marched
to Jebel Na&iuml;ma, the inhabitants of which place are known
as the bravest of the Nubas; but here they still seemed
to think themselves too close to their hated enemies,
and therefore moved on to Golfan, where they took
up a position in an inaccessible mountain, were recognized
by their neighbours as the rulers of the country,
and were supplied by them with quantities of cattle
and sesame.</p>

<p>In the meantime Sherif Mahmud, in Omdurman, had
been fully informed of all that had occurred. He fell
into a terrible passion, accused all his emirs of cowardice,
and proceeded forthwith to El Obeid. He would not
even enter his house, but encamped outside the town.
Khalifa Abdullah had ordered him to leave the mutineers
alone, and to proceed, <i>vi&acirc;</i> the Es Safiyeh Wells, to
Dongola; but Mahmud entirely disregarded this order.
He thirsted for vengeance against these rebels, and
determined to subdue them. Added to this, he had
also conceived the idea of usurping Khalifa Abdullah's<a name="Page_198" id="Page_198"></a>
authority. His object, therefore, was to increase his
power by regaining the co-operation of the soldiers, and
so proud and self-confident was he, that he believed
they would never attempt to fight against him.</p>

<p>Here, underneath the great Adansonia tree where the
Mahdi had stayed so long, he pitched his camp and
made preparations for his advance on Nuba. He called
for volunteers, saying that he did not wish to force
anyone to go to war, and at the same time he endeavoured
to encourage the people by telling them that
the Mahdi had appeared to him in a dream, and had
told him to advance and attack the rebels, promising
him certain victory. In spite of this summons, very
few volunteered, and getting thoroughly annoyed, he now
threatened with death anyone who refused to join him.
Thus did Mahmud realise that the spirit of Mahdiism
had almost died out, and that in future force would be
required to carry out its behests.</p>

<p>He rapidly advanced with a force of 2,500 men,
most of them armed with Remingtons. On his way he
was joined by a number of Arabs, which raised his force
to some 8,000 men. On arrival at Na&iuml;ma he found that
the mutineers had moved on; he therefore advanced to
Golfan, and sent in a letter to the effect that if they
surrendered he would give them a free pardon. But
the soldiers had had previous experience of Mahdieh
promises, and received the messengers with volleys,
which soon made them turn back. Mahmud determined,
therefore, to invest his former adherents, and, putting
himself at the head of his troops, he advanced towards
the mountain; but the soldiers, concealed behind rocks,
sent volley after volley into the Dervish ranks. Mahmud
received a bullet in his side, but, nothing daunted, he
continued to advance, carrying his own flag, until
another bullet, hitting him full on the forehead, killed
him.</p>

<p>Already over a hundred Dervishes had fallen, and the
remainder, hearing that Mahmud was dead, turned tail
and fled in disorder towards El Obeid. The soldiers did
not pursue, but took up Mahmud's body and gave him<a name="Page_199" id="Page_199"></a>
an honourable burial befitting the brave man he was. In
his death Mahdieh lost perhaps the boldest of its adherents,
and certainly the bravest of the Mahdi's family.
And though he had latterly given himself up to a life of
pleasure and debauchery, as all the rest had done, still
he did not fear exposing himself to every sort of danger.</p>

<p>Mahmud fell in the month of November 1885, and
Khalifa Abdullah was by no means displeased to be rid
of a rival whose prowess and popularity he greatly feared
and envied.</p>

<p>In place of Sherif Mahmud, Abdullah despatched
his brother Bakhit to Kordofan; but he was a very
different class of man, and was nicknamed "Tor"
("The Bullock").</p>

<p>Soon afterwards Bakhit received orders to leave all
his men at El Obeid and to return to Omdurman. He
was succeeded by the emir Wad el Hashmi, who was
followed by Osman Wad Adam (nicknamed "Ganu"),
the Mahdi's nephew.</p>

<p>Preparations were now made to transport all Mahmud's
people to Omdurman, and in order to convey so many
thousand people, camels were forcibly seized. We also
were released, and permitted to go to Omdurman. I
had passed too many miserable years in Kordofan not
to rejoice at the change: for a time I had a faint
hope that someone might be sent by Father Bonomi to
assist me to escape, but now it seemed useless to hope
for this any longer, whereas, once at Omdurman, I
might manage to escape by myself. Our departure was
delayed for a month.</p>

<p>El Obeid had gradually become a dirty Arab village;
except meat and dokhn, there was absolutely nothing to
be got in the market. I suffered much from dysentery.
There were no medicines to be had, so I had to trust to
the recuperative powers of nature, assisted by a little
rice which was grown in the marshes about Birket.
I had not a civilized soul with whom to associate.</p>

<p>The Nubas of Jebel Dair did their utmost to harass
El Obeid; they were always hovering about in the outskirts,
ready to pounce down on any cattle and slaves<a name="Page_200" id="Page_200"></a>
they saw. It would have been madness to go an hour's
distance from the town without an escort. The Dervishes
frequently made attempts to clear the neighbourhood of
these brigands, but I observed that they always returned
considerably fewer in number, and I secretly rejoiced at
their inability to cope with these brave Nubas. Taking
everything into consideration, I was not sorry to say
good-bye to this dreary and inhospitable town.</p>

<p>We were given four camels, whose owners acted as
the drivers. It was agreed that on arrival in Omdurman
we should pay them at the rate of seven dollars a camel.</p>

<p>On the 25th of March, 1886, we left El Obeid. What
a flood of recollections welled up in my mind as we
marched for the last time through the desolate ruins of
the city! How strange had been the vicissitudes of
this once flourishing place during the last few years!
From a thriving and peaceful township it had been
transformed into the theatre of constant warfare and
bloodshed. It had then been the scene of the Mahdi's
debaucheries, when he rested after his victories, and
now it had dwindled down into a wretched Arab village.</p>

<p>Our road took us past the site of the El Obeid
Mission-house, of which not a trace remained. In its
place was the market, and a heap of white bones indicated
the locality of the cook's shop. We halted that
evening at Korbatsh; the next day we started very
early; and after a two days' march, arrived at Bara.
This beautiful little town is situated in a woody depression
of the great Kordofan plain. In the distance
we could see the white ruins through the high acacia
trees. Formerly the place had been well planted with
date-palms; but during the siege the inhabitants had
cut them down, and lived upon the crushed core.</p>

<p>In the Government days Bara had been a sort
of sanatorium for El Obeid, where the richer inhabitants
used to spend the summer; they had made lovely
gardens, full of date-trees, lemon-plants, banana-trees,
and vines, while the vegetables used to be sold in El
Obeid. The soil is exceptionally fertile, and there is
an abundance of water obtainable at only six feet below<a name="Page_201" id="Page_201"></a>
the surface. But now the place was completely destroyed
and neglected; and wild bushes and thorns grew
apace amidst the ruins.</p>

<p>As we approached Bara, we heard the thunder of
guns, and were told that it was a salute announcing
the arrival of Zogal, the Governor of Darfur, with his
troops. It was the 2nd of April. We halted under
a large acacia tree, and took down our angaribs, over
which mats were tightly stretched. The arrival of two
large parties, one from El Obeid and one from Darfur,
soon changed this dismal graveyard into a noisy camp.</p>

<p>Zogal had brought with him 2,500 infantry, 4,000
black soldiers and singers, and 1,500 good horses. He
had over 10,000 dollars in his beit el mal, besides
what each of his men possessed&mdash;and that was no inconsiderable
quantity: for everyone had enriched himself
in Darfur; and all this wealth was destined to
become the Khalifa Abdullah's property. Zogal had
organized bands in his army; and the same tunes which
had been played in the days of the Government, now
resounded over the deserted plains of Bara. Zogal's camp
was a scene of pleasure and merry-making. Marissa was
publicly sold and drunk openly; all idea of being within
the Mahdi's jurisdiction seemed to have been forgotten.
Zogal was a liberal man; his principle was "live and
let live;" and he thoroughly enjoyed the good things
of this life, which the Mahdi's revolt had placed within
his reach. He was a powerfully built, stout man, of
about sixty years of age, with a white beard, which
gave him a patriarchal appearance. He was known as
the father of many children, and was of an open-hearted
and generous disposition.</p>

<p>Zogal's camp was pitched on the ruins of Bara; rich
carpets were spread over the sand, and there he sat,
ready to see anybody and everybody at any time of
the day; abundance of food was always ready for
all his guests. The only thing for which Zogal should
be blamed was his shooting to death twenty-five Sanjaks
and Turks, who had surrendered with Slatin, on the
fall of Darfur. These Sanjaks had sworn to revolt<a name="Page_202" id="Page_202"></a>
against Mahdiism, but had been betrayed. With this
exception, he had conducted his rule with great moderation;
he did all he possibly could to further trade;
and when in Bara I saw some French calico, which had
come from Tunis, <i>vi&acirc;</i> Wadai, to Darfur. Zogal's Bazingers
made a great impression on me; they were a wild and
turbulent lot, capable of great marching power, and
able to support long-continued privations.</p>

<p>Lupton Bey often used to tell me of the cannibal
propensities of these black warriors. In many instances,
their only dress consisted of the leather bandolier, or
cartridge case, and a big leather bag, from which a
human leg could often be seen protruding; and in
almost every bag some human flesh or bones could be
found. When I used to go to the market, crowds of
these swarthy warriors would collect to gaze on my
white skin, which, in truth, the sun had long since
tanned to a very brown colour.</p>

<p>Zogal's nine days' halt in Bara soon came to an end.
News came that disturbances had occurred in Omdurman
between Khalifas Abdullah and Sherif; the latter had
frequently written to Zogal to come to Khartum at once,
as he was most anxious to have him there. News was
brought at the same time that Abu Anga had arrived at
El Obeid <i>vi&acirc;</i> Birket; it was rumoured that Abu Anga
had been sent by Abdullah to arrest Zogal, for it was
reported that Zogal and Sherif had agreed to combine
and wrest the authority from Abdullah. Zogal was
quite strong enough to overturn Abdullah; but
unfortunately he was no soldier, and Abdullah had
secretly won over a number of his emirs to his side.</p>

<p>Abu Anga pressed on from El Obeid, and, arriving
at Bara, summoned Zogal to surrender. The latter,
however, prepared to fight; but most of his Bazingers
and emirs went over to Abu Anga's side, and he was
soon left with but a few followers, and easily fell
into Abu Anga's hands; he was at once put in
chains and handed over to Said Bey Guma, who
was at that time commander of the artillery. All
his property was confiscated. Abu Anga did this in<a name="Page_203" id="Page_203"></a>
revenge, for Zogal had done exactly the same to
Said Bey when he took possession of Darfur. Zogal
was now dragged in chains to El Obeid, where he
was left for a year to think over his changed state.
His emin beit el mal, Ibrahim Ramadan, was also
seized on his way to Omdurman, and brought back
in chains to El Obeid, where he was mercilessly
flogged to make him disclose the hiding-place of the
money; but nothing would induce him to tell. He
was subsequently taken to Omdurman, where Abdullah
received him well and gave him a situation in the
beit el mal.</p>

<p>Zogal's arrest was the signal for ill-treating all the
Khalifa Sherif's adherents; these were deprived of
all their positions, and were replaced by Abdullah's
nominees. I had relied considerably on seeing a
change for the better if this attempt of Sherif and
Zogal to upset Abdullah had succeeded; but it had
failed, and we again moved on towards Omdurman,
still further depressed by the feeling that Abdullah was
growing more and more powerful. By the time we
arrived near Omdurman my camel had died; the poor
Arab wept bitterly for his loss, and I could do nothing
towards repaying him. On the evening of the 24th of
April, 1886, we encamped close to the town. A fearful
sandstorm was blowing, and we were enveloped in
clouds of dust&mdash;a fitting advent to the capital of the
Mahdi's empire!</p>

<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>

<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_J_10" id="Footnote_J_10"></a>
<a href="#FNanchor_J_10" class="fnlabel">[J]</a> The name given to natives of a mixed parentage; <i>i.e.</i>, generally
an Egyptian or Turkish father and a Sudanese mother.</p></div>
</div>

<a name="Page_204" id="Page_204"></a>
<hr class="newpg" style="width: 65%;">
<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII.</h2>

<p class="chapterhead">OHRWALDER'S IMPRESSIONS OF OMDURMAN.</p>

<p class="chapterdescribe">Ohrwalder's arrival in Omdurman&mdash;His first impressions of the
Dervish capital&mdash;Khalifa Abdullah's intentions to conquer
Egypt&mdash;Wad Suleiman of the beit el mal&mdash;Wad Adlan succeeds&mdash;Gordon's
clothes, medals, &amp;c.&mdash;Adlan reorganizes the beit el
mal&mdash;The slave market, museum, mint, and system of coinage&mdash;Counterfeit
coining&mdash;The lithograph press&mdash;The Khalifa's
system of justice.</p>


<p class="firstpara"><span class="firstwords">The</span> next morning&mdash;the 26th of April, 1886&mdash;we rose
covered with dust from head to foot, and by the time
we had got under way again, the sun was already high
in the heavens, and was unusually hot. This was the
worst season of the year. The first place we came to
was the Mahdi's old camp, which was marked by a line
of mud walls. From this position the fort of Omdurman
had been besieged, and innumerable human and
animal bones marked the site of this long-sustained
conflict. To our right lay the White Nile, flowing
between its green banks, beyond it the Blue Nile could
just be seen, and the ruins of Khartum were visible
behind the thick belt of palm-trees.</p>

<p>Emerging from the arid deserts of Kordofan, the Nile
with its green banks was a most refreshing sight; on
the other hand, the view of Khartum in ruins awakened
the saddest recollections. Of the vast crowd which
had beset Gordon on every side, some were scattered
far and wide, while others had settled down around
their new master in Omdurman. The little hill on the
west bank just opposite to the junction of the two
Niles was called Omdurman, hence the name of the
Mahdiist capital. Previous to the revolt, there had
been merely a few huts; but it was always considered a<a name="Page_205" id="Page_205"></a>
place of importance, as the hills in the vicinity supplied
lime and stone in quantities for building works
in Khartum. In those days, the lime-pits were in
Omdurman, and the place where the Mahdiist capital
now stands was a thick and thorny bush&mdash;the abode
of the Batahin robbers.</p>

<p>What a change had now taken place! From the
old fort at the south end, right up to Khor Shambat,
and even further, the new capital extends, a countless
conglomeration of straw huts (tokuls), surrounded by
small zaribas; here and there a few mud huts, some
of which, larger than the others, denote the residences
of the Khalifas and principal emirs&mdash;they are looked
upon as palaces.</p>

<p>Formerly the mosque consisted merely of a square
enclosure, surrounded by a hedge; but this had now
been replaced by a wall of sun-dried bricks. In the
distance we could see the galvanised-iron mosque where
the Mahdi used to perform prayers. The Mahdi's original
camp had been situated some kilometres' distance to the
north of the fort, where the plain widens out.</p>

<p>On our arrival we at once made inquiries about the
market, and sought news of the other Europeans. The
market was a sort of maze, and arranged with no idea
of system. Merchants never left their goods there over-night;
but always took them to their own houses. A
Greek had made a bakery, and drove a good trade, as
long as people had money to buy. There were such
crowds of people that it was almost impossible to make
one's way through; there were quantities of provisions
for sale, and trade seemed very lively. Egyptian merchants
brought their goods as far as Ed Damer, whence
they were brought by Arab merchants to Omdurman.
The only tax levied by the Khalifa's order was 2-1/2
per cent. zekka (<i>i.e.</i> alms for the poor), and people
seemed generally contented and happy. There were
quantities of money in the beit el mal, and at that
time there was no occasion to oppress the inhabitants.</p>

<p>There were numbers of Greeks, Jews, and Syrians,
all of whom were doing fairly well in business. I also<a name="Page_206" id="Page_206"></a>
saw Klootz. Slatin at that time happened to be absent,
he was commanding some troops under the Emir Yunis
at Wad el Abbas.</p>

<p>Khalifa Abdullah was full of ideas of conquest and
pretensions; he used often to announce publicly that
the end of the Turks' rule in Egypt was approaching.
He was most anxious to obtain possession of that
country, and thought the time had now come. Several
of the sheikhs and ulemas in Cairo and in other parts
of Egypt had written to him inviting him to take
possession of the country where, they assured him, he
would be most cordially received.</p>

<p>The Mahdi's summons and proclamations were sent
in all directions. Pilgrims arrived from Samarkand,
Bokhara, India, and Mecca, to examine Mahdieh with
their own eyes. All this tended to make Abdullah
more desirous than ever to conquer Egypt. He despatched
Nejumi and his men to Dongola, whilst Yunis was
instructed to collect all the men he could in the Gezireh.
Sherif Mahmud's followers were also sent to Dongola;
thus did Abdullah dispose of the adherents of those
emirs whom he knew to be hostile to him. Zogal once
arrested, Abdullah had now little to fear. Hitherto he
had treated his two brother Khalifas, and the Ashraf and
Danagla with the utmost respect; but now he conducted
himself in a very different manner, and could not bear
to have anyone in the smallest degree associated with
him who was of almost equal rank; he therefore did
all in his power to weaken the opposition party, and to
increase the influence of his own party. The first blow
he struck fell on Ahmed Wad Suleiman, emin of the beit
el mal. The day that we arrived in Omdurman he was
put in chains, and his house and the beit el mal were
put under guards. Wad Suleiman had been one of the
Mahdi's most fanatical adherents, and whenever he
passed the Mahdi's tomb he used to stretch out his
hands and weep like a child&mdash;indeed he had every
reason to do so, for the Mahdi had raised him from a
low position to a post of great honour, and the thought
of losing this position distressed him greatly.<a name="Page_207" id="Page_207"></a></p>

<p>Suleiman's wheel of fortune had come round at a
good time, when the amount of money in the beit el
mal was considerable. The immense quantities of loot
taken at El Obeid, Shikan, Khartum, Sennar, and
Berber, had all passed through his hands, and any
Dervish who was in need of anything always came to
him, and in this way he acquired great influence. Since
the Mahdi's death there had been great enmity between
Suleiman and Abdullah, and on the pretext of examining
the accounts, Abdullah had him arrested, and
intended to send him away, while he appointed Mohammed
Osman (Zogal's son) in his place.</p>

<p>In Suleiman's house some 5,000 grammes of unstamped
gold was found, and it is more than probable
that this was but a small portion of what he had previously
appropriated. He was therefore thrown into
chains, where he remained for a year and more. A month
after his arrest, a certain Ibrahim Wad Adlan, of Wad
Medina, on the Blue Nile, and sometime merchant in
El Obeid, was appointed emin beit el mal. He had
frequently been in Cairo, was a pleasant-looking man,
and had enlightened ideas. At one time, when a dispute
arose between the commercial house of Arbib in
Cairo, and their two partners in El Obeid, Adlan had
been nominated arbitrator by the Cairo house. He had
for long remained loyal to the Government, and had
stayed in El Obeid until it fell into the hands of the
Mahdi, who permitted him&mdash;as a special favour&mdash;to
keep 2,000 of the 30,000 dollars he then had.</p>

<p>For a long time Adlan had nothing to do; but he
was always an influential man, and was continually
trying to help those in distress. After the fall of El
Obeid, and when all the clerks had been exiled to
various parts, he never ceased until he obtained permission
for their return. A short time before the Mahdi
had quitted El Obeid, he had been employed in the
beit el mal, and at Rahad, Wad Suleiman had appointed
him his assistant. He was then despatched by the Mahdi
to Berber, to secure the &pound;60,000 which had been sent to
Gordon from Cairo, and which had been left in the<a name="Page_208" id="Page_208"></a>
Berber treasury, owing to the interruption of communications
with Khartum. Ibrahim brought the money,
clothes, medals, decorations, and other valuables belonging
to Gordon to the Mahdi. The clothes were sold,
and cut to pieces to repair other garments, the metal
of the medals, &amp;c., was melted down, whilst the precious
stones were sold, and eventually found their way to
Cairo.</p>

<p>Adlan soon gained considerable influence over the
Khalifa, and had sufficient tact to moderate the inborn
tyranny of his master. His desire to continually give
assistance when he could, had made him very popular.
He soon set to work to reorganize the beit el mal, and
began by removing it from its original position to the
river bank, thus avoiding the unnecessary transport of
articles brought by boats to the stores.</p>

<p>Here he built an extensive yard of sun-dried bricks,
which he divided off into sections for the various departments
of the administration. He made a large corn-store,
in which a mountain of dhurra was collected&mdash;indeed,
so high was it, that it could be seen from a
considerable distance. This store was placed in charge
of his assistant. Another yard was built containing a
number of rooms, in which the slaves were kept under
a guard of soldiers. Here the slaves were shackled,
twenty or thirty together in one long chain, with iron
rings round their necks. Any obstreperous slaves were
generally shackled with one or two makias or iron rings
round their ankles, joined together by a small chain
or iron bar, which made walking very difficult.</p>

<p>Slaves received a little dry dhurra from the beit el mal
as food until they were sold. The female slaves generally
grind the dhurra, and make a sort of polenta out of
it, which is either eaten with water or boiled and eaten
as balila. The dhurra ration of a slave is generally so
small and so bad that numbers of them die of starvation
long before they are fortunate enough to be sold.</p>

<p>Slaves are sold by auction in the beit el mal, and a
written certificate is given to the purchaser, stating in
detail the description of the slave, whether male or<a name="Page_209" id="Page_209"></a>
female, and that the purchase was effected in the beit
el mal. Before an auction the slaves are generally well
rubbed with oil, to improve their appearance. The
bulk of the slaves sold are females, as male slaves are
generally attached to the army. A special woman is
also employed, together with the other officials, to see
to the female slaves. Adlan also railed off a part of the
beit el mal for the reception of cattle&mdash;camels, sheep,
goats, donkeys, &amp;c.; these are also sold by auction.</p>


<a name="slave"></a><div class="figcenter" style="width:290px;"><img src="https://brian.carnell.com/wiki/_media/etext:f:fr-wingate-ten-years-captive-p209.jpg" border="0" alt="" title="" width="290" height="397">
<p class="caption2">A SLAVE WOMAN FROM EQUATORIA.</p></div>


<p>The Mint forms a distinct sub-department. When
the Mahdi was alive, gold and silver coins were struck
by his order, not so much to supply the demand, but<a name="Page_210" id="Page_210"></a>
rather to prove his independence of Egypt and the
establishment of his new kingdom. He ordered guineas
to be coined, just like the Egyptian pounds; they were
made out of the gold ornaments captured in Khartum.
Dollars were coined, and made similar to the Turkish
Medjidie dollar. A certain Hajji Abdullah Granteli, of
Bokhara, formerly jeweller in Khartum, and Elias el
Kurdi, watchmaker, were made chief coiners. In 1889
the latter lost his hand and foot for issuing counterfeit
money. Almost all coins bearing the stamp, "By order
of the Mahdi," have disappeared.</p>

<p>When I arrived in Omdurman there was a great
scarcity of small coins, and in consequence pieces of
damur (a twilled cotton fabric manufactured in the
Sudan), valued at ten, five, and two and a half piastres,
were made currency; but these rags soon became so
dirty, from being passed from hand to hand, and so
covered with oil and grease, that people refused to
accept them. Khalifa Abdullah, when he heard of this,
threatened those who refused with confiscation of property
and imprisonment, and employed spies in various
parts of the market to report the names of those who
objected; but the spies were bribed to keep silence, and
Abdullah was obliged to give in. Merchants had
recourse to every sort of deception to evade his orders,
so the dirty rags were withdrawn from currency.</p>

<p>Adlan had organized the Mint rather with the object
of making a profit than of supplying a want. Silver
was cheap, and he was able to make 50 per cent. profit
on the manufacture of dollars. At that time gold
coinage was no longer current. On one side of the
dollars was stamped the Mohammedan date, with the
words, "Struck in Omdurman," while on the reverse
was the Sultan's Toghra, underneath which was written
the word, "Makbul" (accepted); hence the dollar became
known as the "Makbul dollar." Pieces of five and ten
piastres value were also coined, as well as a few single
piastre pieces, on one side of which was stamped the
Toghra, and on the other the word "Omdurman." The
Mahdi on his coins had written, within the Toghra, the<a name="Page_211" id="Page_211"></a>
words, "By order of the Mahdi," but Khalifa Abdullah
did not follow his example.</p>

<p>Besides these coins, English sovereigns were also
current in Omdurman, and were known as "khayala"
(cavalry) pounds, on account of the St. George and the
dragon being engraved on them. Egyptian pounds
were also current, but now all gold coins have become
rare.</p>

<p>The principal currency is the Medjidie dollar, and
these have been in such constant use that they are much
obliterated. The Maria Theresa dollar (also known
as the "Abu Nokta") is current as well, but chiefly
with Sawakin, Massawa, and Abyssinian traders, and
notably with the last. The French 5-franc-piece and
the Spanish dollar (known as Abu Madfa) are current in
a very minor degree. Egyptian piastres and half-piastres,
introduced by the Hicks Expedition, are occasionally
seen. The Austrian quarter-gulden piece
(fiorini) is considered to be worth 2 piastres. In
addition to all these silver pieces, copper coins of all
descriptions are current.</p>

<p>The Khalifa Abdullah had no small trouble in circulating
the Makbul dollar; the merchants refused to
value them at 20 piastres, and, in spite of most
stringent orders, and continued threats of confiscation
of property, imprisonment, &amp;c., the order was somehow
continually evaded.</p>

<p>Merchants set high prices on their goods, and would
never accept until the buyer had shown all the different
sorts of dollars he possessed; he was thus obliged to do
this or to buy at exorbitant rates. Complaints became
rife, and eventually they reached Abdullah's ears. He
got very angry, and one day in October 1887, he sent
troops to the market with instructions to bring all the
goods in the market to the beit el mal. It was useless
to resist; the owners were obliged to look after their
own goods, which were piled up near the big gate of
the beit el mal, in the open, and under a burning sun.
Abdullah was now raging, and publicly made the following
curious statement:<a name="Page_212" id="Page_212"></a>&mdash;</p>

<p>"That unbeliever Gordon induced merchants to
accept miserable bits of paper as equivalents for money,
and now I offer you silver and you won't even take it."</p>

<p>For fourteen days these wretched people sat by the
gate, trembling for their property. All sorts of rumours
were flying about. Some said that the Khalifa intended
to throw all the goods into the river; others said that
he was going to burn them, and perhaps the most likely
notion of all was that he intended to confiscate the lot
and transfer it to the beit el mal. By this time the
merchants were thoroughly alarmed, and begged some
of their influential friends to mediate with the Khalifa.
At length the latter summoned the principal merchants,
and asked them if they would accept the Makbul dollar
at the value of the old dollar, whereupon they not only
accepted gladly, but declared their readiness to accept
any sort of money he chose to issue, even should it be
made of leather.</p>

<p>Thus was a reconciliation effected. The Khalifa
treated the merchants well, gave them plenty of food,
and condescended even to eat with them on this festive
occasion. After this episode there were no more difficulties
about making the Makbul dollar current in
Omdurman, though to this day the Arabs refuse to
accept it.</p>

<p>But gradually silver became dear, and the Mint began
coining bad dollars, made of two parts silver to three
parts copper; consequently the value of the old dollar
has now gone up to 25 piastres. This gave further
opportunities to the counterfeit coiners. The silver-workers
in the Mint began making dollars on their own
account, and, those being different from the others,
caused great confusion. These false dollars were very
well coined, and it required a practised eye to notice
the deception; indeed, it was not until a very large
quantity of these false coins had got into circulation
that the fraud was found out.</p>

<p>An inspector was now sent to examine all dollars;
all false coins were broken into pieces, and no compensation
given to the owners. Thieves and smugglers<a name="Page_213" id="Page_213"></a>
purchased the bad dollars at 10 piastres apiece, and
then, of course, every description of bribery and corruption
was practised. For instance, an Arab would
agree to sell his camel for 150 dollars, on condition
that the money should be submitted to the examining
commission. The president, who was of course bribed,
gave out as his decision that the dollars were all good,
and received a good round sum from the purchaser for
his falsehood; thus it happened that the Arab was
generally defrauded of 40 or 50 dollars. In spite of
several false coiners being punished with the loss of
a hand and foot, still the evil practice continued, and it
is only within the last few years, since the price of
silver has increased so much, that false coining has, to a
great extent, ceased.</p>

<p>A printing and lithograph press was also established
in the beit el mal; it had originally been set up in
Khartum, and was now used for pulling off numbers of
Mahdi proclamations. Several "Ratibs," or Mahdi's
book of prayers, were also printed and distributed.</p>

<p>A museum of curios also formed part of the beit el
mal. It is known as the Beit el Antikat, and contains
numbers of interesting things, such as trophies from
Darfur, Abyssinia, and Egypt. The Abyssinian section
is the largest, and includes King John's throne.
Amongst the Darfur articles are the robes of Sultan
Yusef and of the Sultan of Masalit. The robe of one of
the Ababdeh sheikhs, who was made a Bey by the
Government, and then came to Omdurman and submitted
to the Mahdi, represents Egypt.</p>

<p>The beit el mal also contains a dispensary, in charge of
an Egyptian doctor; here are numbers of shelves, laden
with medicines, which have long since gone bad, but the
doctor has taken entirely to native remedies, of which
cauterization and burning are the most usual.</p>

<p>Amongst the Khartum survivors was a certain Greek
soap-boiler, who had established a soap manufactory in
the beit el mal, and had handed over to it his large
supplies of soda; but gradually other private individuals
began to establish soap works, and soon they began to<a name="Page_214" id="Page_214"></a>
sell soap so cheaply that all the beit el mal customers
came to them. The consequence was that the Khalifa at
once issued an order that the beit el mal held the soap-boiling
monopoly, and anyone who infringed this rule
would lose one hand, and all his property would be
confiscated.</p>

<p>A careful system of accounts was elaborated in the
beit el mal showing all revenue and expenditure. If an
expedition is ordered to any part of the country, money,
clothing, and other necessaries must be supplied from
the beit el mal. The staff to work this large administration
consists of an emin beit el mal, his assistant,
head clerk, and a host of smaller officials and clerks.
When the merchants refused to accept the Makbul
dollar the staff was increased, as at that time the whole
of the boats and canoes were also confiscated. Of these
there were upwards of 1,000, and they were eventually
hired out by the beit el mal. Wad Adlan always tried
to secure for the beit el mal the services of those clerks
who had formerly served under the Government; but
this plan did not please the Khalifa. Adlan naturally
preferred the old clerks, who thoroughly understood their
work; besides, they were terrified of the Dervishes, and
thus did not dare to cheat. On the whole, Adlan's
administration was very good, and he received the
Khalifa's thanks.</p>

<p>Abdullah now turned his attention to reorganizing
the system of justice. Hitherto, and during the Mahdi's
lifetime, the office of Kadi had continued, but the
Ashraf (Mahdi's relations) also acted in the capacity of
judges, and the result was the greatest possible confusion.
For instance, supposing a man was sentenced by the
judge, Sayid Abdel Kader (the Sheikh el Islam) would
immediately pardon him. Abdullah, not unnaturally,
wanted to change this anomaly, not so much in the
interests of justice as to break down the power and
authority of the Ashraf. He therefore nominated Kadi
Ahmed as the Kadi el Islam, and appointed a number
of assistant judges, whom he called Nuab.</p>

<p>It was ruled that everyone, old and young, should<a name="Page_215" id="Page_215"></a>
report all causes of dispute to the Grand Kadi, and it
was his duty to look into it and give a decision. Kadi
Ahmed is a particularly good man, and gives protection
to the white people, more especially when they are
attacked and abused by the native populace. He is,
however, of rather a vacillating, timorous disposition,
and is therefore a pliable instrument in the Khalifa's
hands; consequently there is often a miscarriage of
justice.</p>

<p>Thus did the Khalifa secure, in his own person, the
right to pardon or to convict, and thus he became
absolute master of life and death. As for the law, he
only appealed to it when it suited his own convenience;
on every other occasion he absolutely ignored it.</p>

<a name="Page_216" id="Page_216"></a>

<hr class="newpg" style="width: 65%;">
<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII.</h2>

<p class="chapterhead">THE KHALIFA DECIDES TO CONQUER ABYSSINIA.</p>

<p class="chapterdescribe">Events subsequent to the fall of Khartum&mdash;Capture of Gedaref
and Galabat&mdash;Dervishes defeated by Abyssinians at Galabat&mdash;Abu
Anga's victorious expedition to Tagalla&mdash;His triumphant
return to Omdurman&mdash;The Khalifa's grand review&mdash;Destruction
of the Gehena tribe&mdash;The Khalifa decides to send Abu Anga's
army to conquer Abyssinia&mdash;The battle of Dabra Sin&mdash;Abu Anga
sacks Gondar&mdash;The victorious Dervishes return to Galabat&mdash;Rejoicings
at Omdurman.</p>


<p class="firstpara"><span class="firstwords">The</span> preceding pages have given a glimpse of Omdurman,
the new Dervish capital of the Sudan; let us now turn
briefly to the military events which had occurred since
the fall of Khartum.</p>

<p>Whilst Khartum was besieged on all sides, so also
were the various other garrisons still holding out, closely
beset. Gedaref, also known as Suk Abu Sin, the name
of the patriarchal sheikh of the Shukrieh tribe, was
situated in the midst of a fertile plain which produced
such quantities of corn that it was the common saying,
three camel-loads could be sold for half a dollar. The
ground was so productive that anything could be grown.
There was no want of water. The Greeks and several
Egyptians had made gardens, in which there was found
every description of fruit-tree; grapes grew in abundance,
and were of particularly good quality; they were
to be had all the year round; for it was of no consequence
in what month the vines were pruned. Quantities
of sesame were also grown as well as a special kind of
dhurra, with a sweet stalk, from which a substance
something like honey was extracted. Water-melons,
cotton, tobacco, and all sorts of vegetables were grown<a name="Page_217" id="Page_217"></a>
in the greatest profusion, and everything was of exceptionally
good quality.</p>

<p>The garrison of Gedaref consisted of only two hundred
men, and on being summoned by the Jaalin to surrender,
they did so, in April 1884. This is hardly to be
wondered at, for the inhabitants of Gedaref are, for
the most part, Jaalin, and resistance would, under such
circumstances, have been next to impossible. The
principal merchants were permitted to keep their goods,
and the change of hands did not, for the moment,
greatly alter the situation; but we shall see, later, what
became of this rich and valuable province after a prolonged
Dervish occupation.</p>

<p>As regards Galabat, the difficulties were considerably
greater. This town was situated about six days' journey
from Gedaref, and was the residence of the well-known
Takruri, Saleh Bey Shanga, who was Mamur of the
district. This brave official remained loyal to the Government
throughout, and was bitterly opposed to Mahdiism.
He succeeded in gaining the friendship of the neighbouring
Abyssinian tribes, and, through their assistance,
inflicted great losses on the Dervishes. In November
1884, he severely defeated the besieging Jaalin; but a
few days later, the Dervishes, being heavily reinforced,
beset him very closely.</p>

<p>Through the intermediary of the English, King John
sent a relieving force of Abyssinians, which reached the
vicinity of Galabat on the 27th of January, 1885; and
making known their approach to Saleh, the latter made
a sortie, while at the same time the Dervishes were
heavily attacked by the Abyssinians, who drove them
off, thus enabling the entire garrison, men, women, and
children, to escape; they marched <i>vi&acirc;</i> Gondar to
Massawa, under the protection of an Abyssinian force.
Galabat was subsequently occupied by the Dervishes,
who collected here in great force under the Emir Wad
Arbab.</p>

<p>Meanwhile, Saleh Bey, who was now staying with
Ras Adal, the chief of Amhara, was not idle, and was
continually urging him to take possession of Galabat;<a name="Page_218" id="Page_218"></a>
he was shortly afterwards joined by the Fiki Medawi,
formerly a wild, fanatical adherent of the Mahdi,
and who, together with Abu Girgeh, had been one of
the first to lay siege to Gordon in Khartum; this
man, after the Mahdi's death, began to find out that
he had been following an imposture, and fled from
Omdurman; he stayed in Abyssinia for a time, and
eventually reached Cairo. Abdullah was furious at his
flight, and put a number of his friends in chains, believing
that Fiki Medawi had been instrumental in
pushing on Ras Adal to attack Galabat.</p>

<p>Shortly after the festival of the "Three holy kings,"
in commemoration of the baptism of our Saviour in
Jordan, known as "Ghittas," which means immersion
(on this occasion&mdash;the 5th of January&mdash;a cross is
always immersed in the river); Ras Adal, having collected
a large army, amounting, it is said, to 100,000 men,
of whom 20,000 were horsemen, advanced across the
mountains and descended on Galabat.</p>

<p>Sheikh Egeil, of the Hamran Arabs, who had always
been loyal to the Egyptian Government, and had combated
Mahdiism continuously, also joined Ras Adal,
and entered Dervish territory. Wad Arbab, who had
received full information of the Abyssinian movements,
was awaiting their attack, strongly entrenched within
Galabat. He had 16,000 well-seasoned troops, mostly
Jaalin, and a quantity of rifles and ammunition. In
a few minutes the Abyssinian cavalry, dashing down
with wild impetuosity, completely surrounded Wad
Arbab; the fight did not last long; the Dervishes were
driven out, pursued in all directions, and Galabat was
soon in flames. Arbab's men could not face the wild
rush of the Abyssinians, and fell in great numbers;
the high wind caused the flames to spread with terrible
rapidity, and soon the powder magazine blew up with
a terrific report, burying hundreds in its ruins; amongst
these was a Greek who had come from Sawakin the year
before to Omdurman, where he was imprisoned for a
time, then released, and came to Galabat, hoping to
escape into Abyssinia, just a few days before this fight<a name="Page_219" id="Page_219"></a>
which took place in January 1887. The Abyssinians
captured a large number of women and children, whom
they dragged off as slaves.</p>

<p>A few months prior to this action, Gustav Klootz
had died in Galabat. He had left Omdurman in
September 1886, for Galabat, intending to escape into
Abyssinia; but having no money, he was forced to walk
the entire distance, and the great fatigue he had undergone
made him seriously ill; he lingered on for a time,
but eventually died; and perhaps it was fortunate that
he did die, for only a few days afterwards an order
arrived from the Khalifa Abdullah at Gedaref, ordering
him to be thrown into chains and brought back
to Omdurman, where a miserable death awaited him.</p>

<p>Whilst the Abyssinians were attacking Galabat, Sheikh
Egeil fell upon Doka, a place situated between Galabat
and Gedaref, which he succeeded in capturing, and
putting its inhabitants to the sword. The Abyssinians
now returned to their own country, after having sacked
and pillaged Galabat, which they left absolutely empty.</p>

<p>The disaster at Galabat was a great blow to the
Dervishes; Abdullah now appointed his nephew Yunis
as emir of the district, and ordered him to reoccupy
the town. Yunis, on his return from Wad el Abbas,
had encamped south of Omdurman Fort, at a place
which is still known as Dem Yunis; his force consisted
of about 1,000 men, armed with Remingtons, and 2,000
sword-and spearmen, of whom the majority had been
amongst the Mahdi's original followers at Abba.
Abdullah himself now crossed over to Khojali, and led
Yunis's troops for some distance.</p>

<p>The equipment and transport of the force were not
expensive items; each man received about half a dollar;
and perhaps that was sufficient, for the troops always
plundered the villages for their food as they went along.
Yunis marched direct to Abu Haraz, on the Blue Nile,
and thence followed the Khor Rahad up to Galabat,
which he found quite empty and deserted. He now
settled down, and, to his credit, he occasionally made
raids into Abyssinia, destroyed a few villages and<a name="Page_220" id="Page_220"></a>
churches, and sent the ornaments he took to Omdurman.
This so delighted the Khalifa that he dubbed him
"Mismar ed Din" (or the "Nail of Religion"), and had
special poems about his deeds sung in his presence.</p>

<p>But soon Yunis abandoned hostilities, and guaranteed
free passes to merchants travelling in the country; the
Abyssinians believed in these assurances of peace, and
descended into the Galabat plain at various times in
the year, bringing with them for sale thousands of
mules, donkeys, and horses, also quantities of coffee,
garlic, lentils, beans, wax, and honey. Things went on
quite peaceably for some time; but one day Yunis
suddenly fell on all the merchants collected within
their zariba, killed numbers of them, seized their goods,
and sent off about 1,000 of them as prisoners to
Omdurman. Several died of starvation on the journey,
and on their arrival in Omdurman the remainder were
released, but had to go about the markets begging
their bread. It frequently happened that they would
take shelter for the night in the merchants' empty
stalls; and on the latter arriving with their goods in
the morning, they would find their shops full of dead
and dying Abyssinians; afterwards, slaves were left by
the merchants to guard the shops and prevent these
miserable creatures from making use of them. These
wretched, gaunt, half-starved people used sometimes to
come to us to beg for food; they knew no Arabic, but
knowing that we were Christians, they would repeat
that word, or sometimes "Wad Maryam" ("Mary's
child") to excite our pity. Their wretched condition at
length reached the Khalifa's ears, and he ordered the
beit el mal to take charge of them; the emin beit
el mal now sent a crier to the market to warn all
Abyssinians that if they came to the beit el mal they
would receive assistance. The poor starving creatures
dragged themselves there, but were still kept two or
three days without food; numbers of them died, and
their bodies were thrown into the river, whilst the
remainder were at last given a miserable pittance of
dhurra, which served to keep body and soul together<a name="Page_221" id="Page_221"></a>
for a time; but these, too, at length succumbed to
starvation; and after that, I never saw an Abyssinian
prisoner again.</p>

<p>In July 1887, Khalifa Abdullah wrote a letter to
King John, offering to make peace, on condition that he
would become a Moslem, and that he would return all
the women and children he had captured, but more
especially was he to surrender the persons of Saleh Bey,
Fiki Medawi, and the Sheikh el Egeil. If he refused to
accept these terms he must expect war. King John did
not deign to reply.</p>

<p>During the feast of Bairam on the 31st of July, 1887,
Khalifa Abdullah summoned Abu Anga to Omdurman,
and here I must give a short description of this renowned
warrior.</p>

<p>Hamdan Abu Anga had been a slave, and had been
brought up in the Khalifa Abdullah's household; he had
been well treated by his master, and was eventually looked
upon as a member of the family, a custom which was
formerly in vogue amongst the Baggara, Rizighat, and
Taisha tribes. In fact, these Arabs used not infrequently
to give their daughters in marriage to their slaves. It
was amongst the Baggara that Abu Anga had first
learnt to ride on horseback and to go out hunting, and
it was from them that he had acquired such dexterity
in handling and throwing spears, for which he had
frequent opportunities in the continual raids which took
place on neighbouring tribes.</p>

<p>Abu Anga had taken part in the campaigns against
Zubeir Pasha, by whom he and his entire family had
been captured, but subsequently released. When the
Mahdi declared himself he joined with his master,
Abdullah. During the siege of El Obeid little was
known or heard of him, but after the fall of that city
Khalifa Abdullah handed over to him the charge of all
captive soldiers in El Obeid, as well as in other places.
The astute Khalifa had for long had his eye on these
blacks, whose fighting powers he well knew, and he was
most desirous to bring them under his direct control,
and utilize them.<a name="Page_222" id="Page_222"></a></p>

<p>Previous to the Hicks Expedition Abu Anga had
already secured a number of them, and they were largely
instrumental in compassing the complete downfall of that
ill-fated army. Then, again, his blacks had shown the
greatest bravery in their campaigns against Jebel Dair,
when they had acquired a great name for themselves,
and, finally, it was through their means that Gordon's
Fort of Omdurman had been compelled to surrender.
After the fall of Khartum these brave but undisciplined
troops, having no more fighting to do, took to highway
robbery. Numbers of them hovered about in the desert
a few hours' distance from Omdurman, and amused
themselves by falling on caravans coming from Kordofan
or Berber, and pillaging and killing to their heart's
content. Their depredations became so constant that
the Mahdi decided that he must employ them somewhere,
so he ordered Abu Anga to proceed with them to the
still independent Dar Nuba country, which he was to
conquer, and obtain from thence recruits for his Jehadieh,
or Black Army.</p>

<p>But there was also another reason which induced the
Mahdi to undertake this campaign. During the siege of
Omdurman a certain Baggara Sheikh, of Birket, named
Noa&iuml;a, deserted, and gathering a number of malcontents
in Dar Nuba, he defied the Mahdi's authority. When I
was at El Obeid there were all sorts of strange stories
current about the doings of Noa&iuml;a, who had gathered
numbers of horsemen from the Howazma and Miserieh
tribes, and had made himself decidedly formidable. All
those disappointed slave-hunters and slave-dealers who&mdash;annoyed
with the suppression of their trade by the
Egyptian Government&mdash;had flocked in numbers to the
Mahdi's standard, now had begun to find out that they
were rather worse off than before, and were, in reality,
little better than the Mahdi's slaves. These people
sought every occasion to desert to Noa&iuml;a. Abu Anga
therefore received orders to hunt him down and annihilate
him. He collected his men, quitted the now debauched
and pleasure-loving Omdurman, and proceeded to
the Tagalla Mountain, at the foot of which he encamped.<a name="Page_223" id="Page_223"></a></p>

<p>After the death of King Adam, his followers had
again thrown off the Dervish yoke and were now in
open revolt; against these Abu Anga conducted
several successful expeditions, and captured numbers of
slaves, but suffered some loss as well. As long as
Abu Anga was in the neighbourhood, Tagalla was
more or less in a state of submission; but the moment
he moved off they again broke out into active opposition.</p>

<p>Abu Anga now advanced on Noa&iuml;a, whose adherents,
alarmed by the presence of the soldiers, dispersed.
These blacks are greatly feared in the Sudan, not
only on account of their great bravery in battle, but
also it is well known that they are merciless to their
conquered enemies.</p>

<p>Sheikh Noa&iuml;a was eventually secured and thrown
into chains, and a few days later he died of small-pox.
Abu Anga attacked almost all the Nuba mountains;
at times he was successful, at other times he suffered
reverses. Tolodi, Gedir, and lastly Na&iuml;ma, were scenes
of bloody combats, and at the last-named place Abu
Anga, in spite of his artillery&mdash;which was commanded
by Said Bey Guma&mdash;was heavily defeated and driven
back.</p>

<p>One of Abu Anga's most capable assistants was
Abdullah Wad Ibrahim, who, on account of his unparalleled
cruelties, made Abu Anga's name a terror
throughout the land. Abu Anga was now recalled
from his campaign by Khalifa Abdullah to take
possession of Zogal and his army, who was then on
his way from Darfur to Bara. We have seen how
rapidly and skilfully he carried out this order.</p>

<p>Now all that was left for Abu Anga to do was to
punish the mutinous troops of El Obeid who had
killed Sherif Mahmud. Wad Ibrahim was sent on this
duty, and after a severe fight, in which numbers were
killed on both sides, he succeeded in capturing
several of the mutineers, whom he attached to his
troops; but some of them escaped to the Nubas, and
Wad Ibrahim proceeded in consequence to Golfan-<a name="Page_224" id="Page_224"></a>Na&iuml;ma,
which he besieged, took, and reduced the
inhabitants to slavery; the heads of Bishir and three
other leaders were sent to Omdurman, where they were
exposed for a month on the gallows as a warning to
all mutinous-minded persons.</p>

<p>By all these various actions Abu Anga had succeeded
in adding considerably to the numbers of his troops,
and he moreover drilled them constantly and instilled
a spirit of discipline which had been hitherto unknown&mdash;thus
he raised up a power which it was almost impossible
to defeat. Khalifa Abdullah now sent instructions
to Abu Anga to return to Omdurman in
time for the Bairam festival, and at the same time he
sent orders to all the inhabitants of the Gezireh and
Nile Valley to collect at Omdurman for a great review.
Abu Anga, as usual, complied with the order with
alacrity, and making forced marches, <i>vi&acirc;</i> Tayara, Shatt,
and Om Sadik, he reached Omdurman in a very short
time. Abdullah sent numbers of emirs to meet and
welcome him.</p>

<p>In Omdurman the only topic of conversation was
about Abu Anga and his great army. The Khalifa
himself also prepared a magnificent reception for his
faithful general, in which he strove to do him all
possible honour. On the night preceding the great
festival, criers were sent through Omdurman announcing
that any one who failed to present himself at the
great review the following morning would be seriously
dealt with; this order was willingly complied with,
and at the foot of the hills near Kerreri were assembled
enormous crowds, who waited&mdash;as the malcontents said&mdash;on
the pleasure of that "slave," Abu Anga. The
guns had all been drawn out in line the evening
before, and the festival was ushered in by prolonged
salutes.</p>

<p>In the meantime Abu Anga had arrived at Om
Sadik, where a careful inspection was made to see
that no one was in possession of unlawful booty;
numbers of female slaves were found, who were subsequently
sent to the beit el mal. He then moved on<a name="Page_225" id="Page_225"></a>
to his camp near Omdurman, and prepared to make
his formal entry the following morning.</p>

<p>By the time the sun had well risen, the Dervishes
were assembled in endless lines under their various
flags. Khalifa Abdullah left his residence accompanied
by his bodyguard; he was mounted on a magnificent
camel, and advanced to the sound of the great onbe&iuml;a
trumpet. Abu Anga, mounted on a pony and clad in
a casque and coat-of-mail, now advanced to meet him,
and his magnificent figure created no small impression
on the assembled multitudes. His bodyguard, consisting
of his very best soldiers, accompanied him, as
well as a number of mukuddums. On approaching
the Khalifa he adroitly dismounted and kissed his
hands; he was warmly greeted, and ordered to mount
again.</p>

<p>Then the march past began. Upwards of 31,000
black troops, armed with Remingtons and formed up in
long lines, went by to the sound of drums and
trumpets; but the latter, on which the players
attempted to produce some specially Dervish music,
raised the most discordant sounds, which gave an intensely
comic aspect to the whole proceeding. Each
emir, with his flag, rode at the head of his division;
the chief emirs were Ibrahim Wad Abdullah, Nur
Angara, Zeki Tummal, and Ibrahim Wad Abu Tagalla.
When the Jehadieh had passed, the sword-and spearmen
followed, some 20,000 in number; then came the
inhabitants of Omdurman in countless numbers.
There could not have been less than 60,000.</p>

<p>After the march past all were formed up again, and
then the Khalifa, dismounting from his camel, stood on
his sheepskin and conducted prayers. The shout of
"Allahu Akbar" from over 100,000 throats was impressive
in the extreme, and, as the sound rolled down
the immense lines, it was echoed again and again
through the hills, lasting for over a minute after each
shout.</p>

<p>On the conclusion of prayers the guns pealed forth
salutes, and such wild fanaticism and enthusiasm pre<a name="Page_226" id="Page_226"></a>vailed
that several men dashed up to the very muzzles
of the guns and were blown to pieces. Of course the
Khalifa announced that the souls of these stupid people
had gone straight to paradise. The salutes over, the
lines were once more inspected, and then all the flags
were collected in one place, in the centre of which
stood the Khalifa; this was the signal for the whole
force to gather around and vie with one another in
their shouts of loyalty that they would die a hundred
times over for him and his cause. Khalifa Abdullah
became so wildly impressed by the enthusiasm of
these savage hordes that he could scarcely contain
himself, and it was as much as his bodyguard could
do to keep the impetuous crowds from crushing him
to death. Numbers were bruised and kicked by the
horses; but they were left quite unnoticed&mdash;a mere
remark, "Umru Khalas" ("It is the end of his
life"), was all the sympathy these heartless men ever
offered.</p>

<p>From that day to this I do not think the Khalifa
has ever had such an ovation. At that time Omdurman
was unusually full, trade was brisk, and it was thought
that he would now undertake the invasion of Egypt.
But, as it soon transpired, he had still a good deal of
work to do in the Sudan itself. One enemy he undoubtedly
had&mdash;this was El Merhdi Abu Rof, a
descendant of the ancient Kings of Sennar and sheikh
of the great Gehena tribe, which, amongst the mass
of Arabs allied to the Mahdi, had persistently held
aloof. This tribe possessed a large number of camels
of a curious dark-coloured breed, and also quantities
of gray-coloured cows.</p>

<p>El Merhdi had instigated a purely local movement of
his own against the Government, and had once besieged
and set fire to Sennar; long before Abu Anga's arrival
he had shown hostility to the Khalifa, and had annihilated
a number of small Dervish garrisons; his power
extended as far as Karkoj, and he levied taxes on all
boats going north. For a long time the Khalifa had
let him alone, but now finding himself in possession of<a name="Page_227" id="Page_227"></a>
such an enormous force, he decided to attack El Merhdi,
more especially as at this time his audacity considerably
endangered the navigation of the Blue Nile, from whence
Omdurman drew its main supplies of corn. He therefore
despatched Ismail Wad el Andok up the Blue Nile, while
Abdullah Wad Ibrahim was sent up the White Nile.</p>

<p>El Merhdi, attacked thus on both sides, was powerless;
he was unable to withstand the advance of the victorious
black troops, and he and almost all his Arabs were
killed. El Merhdi's head was sent to Omdurman, where
it was exposed for a long time on the gallows, and was
at last thrown into the pit in which lay the heads of
Bishir and those who had been slain with him.</p>

<p>Thus one by one did the Khalifa's enemies become
subdued. The vengeance wreaked on the unfortunate
Gehena tribe by the Dervishes is almost beyond
description. The property of the survivors was seized,
men, women, and children were dragged off to Omdurman,
and there, naked and helpless, they were left to starve
on the river bank. One would see wretched mothers of
three or four children, who looked just like skeletons,
miserably abandoned in a place utterly unknown, and
subject to the insults and indignities of the proud and
cruel Dervishes. Numbers of them, especially children,
died of starvation, whilst those who still had sufficient
strength would wander about begging their bread; if
any one had money enough he would buy a waterskin,
and would go half a mile to the river, fill it, carry it
back and sell it in the market for a quarter of a piastre;
thus they eked out a miserable existence. Men who
but lately had ridden on good horses and had owned
hundreds of camels were reduced to this mode of
gaining their livelihood, whilst poor women could be
seen, with babies at their breasts, toiling under the
heavy weight of a filled waterskin towards the market-place;
then they had no rest, for in the evening they
had to grind the dhurra and make a sort of pap which
the poor little mouths of their infants could hardly
masticate; they had but one meal in the twenty-four
hours.<a name="Page_228" id="Page_228"></a></p>

<p>It was impossible not to be struck by the mother's
love of these poor people for their offspring, and at the
same time to feel bitterly incensed against the Khalifa
and his cruel followers who could thus intentionally
inflict on people of their own race such untold cruelties.
Thousands of Gehena camels were brought to Omdurman
and sold at low prices; thus was the wealth of
their country utterly destroyed, and now the terrible
famine, which was so soon to fall upon the land, was
close at hand.</p>

<p>In the meantime Abdullah was considering with his
advisers the desirability of permitting war to break out
with Abyssinia. The great power of which he now felt
himself possessed inclined him to war, and of course the
majority of his emirs, whose sole desire was to pander
to his will, agreed with him. Then news reached Yunis
that Ras Adal was making gigantic preparations; this
finally decided Abdullah to wage war, and with this
object in view, he despatched his faithful Abu Anga to
conduct the operations.</p>

<p>The three Khalifas, Abu Anga's brother Abdel Maula,
who commanded the Jehadieh in Omdurman, and
several other important people embarked on the steamer
and proceeded to the east bank, where Abdullah himself
led off the troops. For some days before, every boat
had been requisitioned for transport, and these were
now laden with provisions for the army; but what with
overloading and the strength of the current, several
foundered and numbers of persons were drowned;
however, this was of little consequence, for human life
is of small value among the Dervishes.</p>

<p>The troops advanced in divisions along the banks of
the Nile, and before finally taking leave of them the
Khalifa addressed Abu Anga and his emirs, urging them
to be ever united, and to keep always before them the
rewards which would be theirs on their return, promising
them the divine help of the Mahdi and a certainty of
victory.</p>

<p>This speech was delivered in such an impressive
manner that there were few dry eyes amongst these<a name="Page_229" id="Page_229"></a>
hardy warriors, and the Khalifa himself was by no
means ignorant of the gravity of the step he had now
taken, for Abyssinia was looked upon as even a more
powerful country than Egypt. Abu Anga followed his
troops in a steamer as far as Abu Haraz, near which the
Khor Rahad joins the Nile, and which during the winter
is quite full and navigable almost up to Galabat.</p>

<p>Some time before, Abdullah Wad Ibrahim and Ismail
Wad el Andok had been sent to collect people in the
Gezireh; they now joined Abu Anga, whose entire
force numbered 81,000 men. After a short halt at
Galabat, Abu Anga advanced into Abyssinian territory,
leaving Wad Ali in Galabat. Making forced marches,
the troops made their way over hills and across valleys,
through the most rugged country. Numbers died of
exhaustion, but still they continued to move on; they
met with no opposition, the villages through which
they passed were deserted, and wherever they went
they found provisions in abundance. This magnificent
country was a source of intense astonishment to the
Dervishes.</p>

<p>Meanwhile Ras Adal had collected his forces in the
great plain of Dabra Sin, some six days' journey from
Galabat, and here he patiently awaited Abu Anga's
advance. As the Dervishes approached, numbers of the
Gezireh troops who could not keep up with the force
lagged behind, and were invariably killed or mutilated
by the Abyssinians.</p>

<p>Abu Anga, on arrival on the plain, formed up in
battle-array, and putting himself in the centre of a
square composed of his best troops, he advanced on
the Abyssinian camp, which was much extended, and
stretched as far as the eye could reach.</p>

<p>The Abyssinians now attacked in wild disorder; they
fought with the courage of lions, for their religion and
fatherland, against the hated Moslems who had dared
to enter their country. The horsemen especially fought
with the most reckless bravery; but Abu Anga's blacks
here as elsewhere showed their sterling fighting qualities;
they mowed down the masses of Abyssinians in thousands<a name="Page_230" id="Page_230"></a>
with their well-aimed fire, whilst the latter were vainly
endeavouring to break through their solid ranks; and
soon Abu Anga's victory was assured. He had conquered
through his good discipline, the arrangement of his
troops, and the galling fire of the Remingtons, and
now the rest of the fight was merely a massacre, which
was continued until the troops were quite tired out.
Most of Ras Adal's principal chiefs had fallen, and
amongst the captives was one of his sons, who was well
cared for and sent to Galabat.</p>

<p>The entire camp, with its countless tents, donkeys,
and mules, fell into the hands of the Mahdiists. The
captured animals were in such quantities that the victors
could not possibly carry them off, and in consequence
they either hamstrung them or cut their throats.
Amongst the other things captured were two guns.</p>

<p>The road to Gondar, the former capital of Abyssinia,
was now clear, and Abu Anga advanced towards it,
hoping that he would secure great quantities of treasure.
It was a march of only thirty miles from the battlefield,
and was soon reached; sacked, plundered, and
reduced to ashes; the churches were pillaged and
then burnt; priests were thrown down from the roof
and killed; the population massacred, and women and
children dragged in hundreds into slavery.</p>

<p>Abu Anga only stayed a short time in Gondar, the
change of climate had already caused the death of a
number of his troops, and, laden with booty, he returned
to Galabat, which he reached at the end of December.</p>

<p>Meanwhile there was great anxiety in Omdurman.
Abdullah could not conceal his alarm, for it was well
known that the Abyssinian army was very powerful.
Abu Anga had crossed the border thirty days before, and
still no news reached Abdullah: those who did not wish
the Dervishes well, rejoiced at the thought that a great
part of the army must have been destroyed, and the
anxiety so told on Abdullah, that he was seen to visibly
age in this momentous time. Besides, there was the
prophecy of Mohammed, who had forbidden his followers
to make war against the Abyssinians, unless the latter<a name="Page_231" id="Page_231"></a>
first provoked it. Abu Anga's expedition was in direct
disobedience to this order, and it was thought that he
must suffer defeat as a punishment, and it was urged
that if Abu Anga returned in safety, then the Prophet
Mohammed must be a liar as well as the Mahdi.</p>

<p>At length the arrival of twelve heads which Abu
Anga had sent to Galabat proved conclusively that a
great victory had been won, and now the news of the
destruction of Gondar and the return of Abu Anga's
victorious troops was indeed a welcome relief to the terrible
suspense.</p>

<p>This news was followed up soon afterwards by the
arrival of numbers of women and children, and quantities
of loot. Several of these miserable captives had died
on the journey, and those who had not been already
sold, had their ears cut off, and were sent to the beit el
mal.</p>

<p>Abdullah, without the smallest shame, went himself to
the beit el mal, and chose all the best-looking girls for
his harem, and each of the principal men of his household
received an Abyssinian girl as a present.</p>

<p>Abu Anga received great praise at the hands of the
Khalifa, and many verses were made in his honour.
Shortly before the victor's arrival in Omdurman, criers
were sent out to say that he should no longer be called
Abu Anga, but Sidi Hamdan, and Abdullah himself
went out to meet the conqueror, and shed tears of joy
on seeing him. The booty included thirty thousand
Maria Theresa dollars, of which Khalifa Abdullah at
once took sole possession.</p>

<a name="Page_232" id="Page_232"></a>

<hr class="newpg" style="width: 65%;">
<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV.</h2>

<p class="chapterhead">KING JOHN OF ABYSSINIA KILLED IN BATTLE.</p>

<p class="chapterdescribe">Destruction of the Kababish tribe and death of Saleh Bey&mdash;Events
in Darfur&mdash;Revolt of Abu Gamaizeh&mdash;His death and destruction
of his army&mdash;Rabeh Zubeir&mdash;King Theodore's son visits Omdurman&mdash;The
conspiracy of "Sayidna Isa"&mdash;Death of Abu Anga&mdash;King
John of Abyssinia attacks Galabat&mdash;Success of
Abyssinians, but the king killed&mdash;Victory turned to defeat&mdash;The
king's head sent to Omdurman.</p>


<p class="firstpara"><span class="firstwords">Let</span> us now leave Abyssinia for a moment, and turn to
the course of events in other parts of the country. The
most powerful and determined opponent to Mahdiism
was Saleh Bey Fadlallah Wad Salem, the brother of
Sheikh Tome of the Kababish, who had been executed
in El Obeid. This tribe has enormous quantities of
camels and sheep, and occupied the desert between
Dongola and Kordofan; they formerly paid taxes to the
extent of 100,000 dollars a year to Government. They
did all the carrying trade between Dongola and Kordofan.
It will be remembered that, during the siege of
El Obeid, Saleh Bey had come to the Mahdi's camp; but
had left it quite suddenly, and thenceforth had become
one of the Mahdi's bitterest enemies.</p>

<p>In 1884 he had given considerable assistance in
camels to the English expedition, and had been in constant
conflict himself with the Dervishes.</p>

<p>When Khalifa Abdullah had consolidated his authority
he determined to rid himself of this rebel. Saleh Bey
was at that time weak, for many of his tribe had joined
the Mahdiist ranks, and had fought against him. He
learnt that Abdullah intended to strike a serious blow to
his power, he therefore appealed to the Egyptian Government
for help, and sent fifty of his slaves to Wadi<a name="Page_233" id="Page_233"></a>
Halfa; the Government granted them two hundred
Remington rifles, forty boxes of ammunition, and &pound;200
in cash.</p>

<p>Neufeld, a German merchant, joined Saleh's men on
their return to Kordofan, intending, if possible, to re-open
a trade with the Arab sheikhs in gum and ostrich
feathers.</p>

<p>Nejumi, who was then at Dongola, having learnt
through spies of their departure, occupied the wells of
Selima on the Arbain road, through which the Kababish
would probably pass. Fifteen days after leaving Halfa
the little caravan arrived at the oasis, only to be received
by Dervish bullets. Most of them were killed, and a
few, including Neufeld, were taken captive to Dongola;
there they were beheaded, with the exception of Neufeld,
who was sent on to Omdurman, where he arrived
on the 1st of March, 1887.</p>

<p>The capture of the caravan and arms was a great blow
to Saleh, and now Abdullah no longer delayed to carry
out his intentions. He despatched the Emirs Greger
Hamed and Wad Nubawi, of the Beni Jerrar, against
him. In the first fight Saleh was successful; but lost
his brother and a number of men. After this, a number
of Dar Homr Arabs, who had formerly been allied to
him, now deserted to the other side, and with the
Dervishes occupied the wells of Mahbas. This being
the only water in the neighbourhood, there was now
nothing left but to fight, and Saleh and his men performed
prodigies of valour, killing great numbers of
the Dervishes; but he was hampered by numerous
camp-followers, women and children, whom it was
impossible to defend; and at length, seeing his third
brother fall before his eyes, he dismounted from his
horse, sat on his "fur" (sheep's skin), and waited to
receive his death-blow, which was dealt by one of
Greger's relatives, between whom and Saleh a blood
feud existed; the latter having killed both Greger's
father and uncle.</p>

<p>Another account relates, that Greger had severely
wounded Saleh in the head with his axe, but Saleh<a name="Page_234" id="Page_234"></a>
plunging his sword through Greger's body, they both
fell from their horses, and died together. This fight
took place on the 17th of May, 1887, and by Saleh's
death Abdullah succeeded in ridding himself of the
enemy he most feared. Wad Adam was despatched
with Saleh's head to Omdurman, where it hung on the
gallows for a month, and where I myself saw it.</p>

<p>After Saleh's death the Kababish were dealt with in
the most cruel manner; several of them were brought to
El Obeid as prisoners, where they were executed. On
one occasion Wad Adam had one hundred of them
hanged together, and then threw their bodies into a
well. The same evening groans were heard from the
well, and it was found that one of the victims was still
alive; he was taken out and allowed to live. The camels
and sheep of this wealthy tribe were all brought to the
beit el mal at Omdurman. Most of the she-camels were
killed and sold for about two dollars apiece. In this
way the Dervishes ruined the possibility of breeding,
and destroyed the prosperity and well-being of the
country.</p>

<p>The once powerful Kababish tribe has now almost
disappeared, and is seldom even mentioned. Abdullah
having thus vanquished his last enemy, now seriously
set to work to mature his plans for the conquest of
Egypt.</p>

<p>But before entering on this part of my story, it may
be as well to give a brief historical sketch of Darfur,
and the recent events which had occurred there.</p>

<p>Darfur had, for the last four centuries, been governed
by its native sultans, who had gradually extended their
authority into Kordofan, and it was here that they
first came into contact with the Egyptian Government.
Mohammed Ali had sent his son Ismail Pasha to take
possession of the Sudan, and whilst he was engaged in
subduing the petty kings of Shendi and Halfaya, his
general, Ahmed Bey Defterdar, had advanced from Dongola
into Kordofan. This province was then administered
by a Magdum appointed by Sultan Musallem, of
Darfur, who, hearing of the advance of the "Turks,"<a name="Page_235" id="Page_235"></a>
collected a large force, and awaited the invaders at
Bara. Spies had told him that it would be impossible
to fight the Turks, as they used fire; but the Magdum
laughed at the idea, and said he had no fear of fire.
Moreover, to prove his word, he had an immense
quantity of thorns and brushwood collected, which he
set fire to, and then ordered his cavalry to dash through
it; these bold and fearless riders did so, and received
no great harm. Thus did he impress his followers that
they need have no fear of the Turks; but the good man
had no notion of firearms and what they were. He met
the attack of the Turks in the most heroic manner; but
he and most of his followers fell, and the province
became an Egyptian possession, though no steps were
taken to establish a government there.</p>

<p>It was not until August 1874, that the bold slave-hunter
Zubeir Pasha attacked and took the ancient
kingdom of Shakka, and thus did Ismail Pasha extend
the Egyptian authority over Darfur.</p>

<p>From that date the country knew no peace; there
was a constant series of little wars. Slatin had fought
no less than twenty-seven battles. Then after the
defeat of Hicks Pasha came the Dervishes, and Zogal
became Emir of Darfur, residing at El Fasher; but
his rule was not peaceful. The Sultan Dudbenga
was fought, overcome, and sent to Omdurman a prisoner
in 1884; thence he was sent to Galabat, where he died.
After this, Zogal was left undisturbed, and succeeded
in accumulating a considerable amount of riches; but
when the Mahdi died, Zogal, as we have seen, was summoned
to Omdurman, and left Darfur in the hands of
Sultan Yusef, Dudbenga's son; this sultan was entirely
submissive to the Khalifa; and when Sheikh Madibbo,
of the Rizighat tribe, revolted against Karamallah, the
Dervish Emir of Bahr el Ghazal, and fled to Jebel Marra,
Sultan Yusef took him prisoner, and sent him back to
Karamallah, who passed him on to Abu Anga, by whom
he was decapitated in El Obeid.</p>

<p>But Abdullah did not wish Darfur to continue in this
semi-independent state; he therefore instructed Kara<a name="Page_236" id="Page_236"></a>mallah
to raid the country from Dara. Yusef sent word,
begging that their respective boundaries might be
adhered to, but Karamallah only raided the more. In
self-defence Yusef sent out his army, and thus a war
broke out, which was just what Abdullah wanted.
Yusef allied himself with Sultan Said, of Jebel Marra,
and their combined forces defeated Ketenbur, who had
been sent by Karamallah in command of a force.</p>

<p>In consequence of this disaster, Abdullah despatched
his uncle, Osman Wad Adam (nick-named "Ganu"),
with a strong force to Shakka, where he joined Karamallah.
Yusef, fearing that he had been betrayed, sent
a very strong force, and in the month of December a
great battle took place, in which the Furs were almost
annihilated, and it is said that Karamallah's brother,
Kerkesawi, killed so many men with his sword that his
right arm became bent.</p>

<p>Darfur once a prey to the bloodthirsty Dervishes,
Osman Wad Adam continued his victorious march to
El Fasher. Sultans Yusef and Zayid then fled to Jebel
Marra, and sought the assistance of Sultan Jabrallah.
Osman sent troops in pursuit. Yusef detached himself
from Jabrallah and fled again, while Jabrallah betrayed
and murdered the brave Zayid and sent his head to Osman.
Shortly afterwards Yusef was captured, brought to El
Fasher, and there decapitated. The heads of both these
sultans eventually reached Omdurman, and were hung
up beside the Abyssinian heads, where I saw them in
January 1888.</p>

<p>After this the captor of Zayid returned to El Fasher,
whilst Jabrallah, anticipating a great reward for his
treacherous conduct, was sent with his five sons to see
the Khalifa in Omdurman. He was allowed his liberty
for a time, but having once attempted to escape, he and
his sons were thrown into chains; four of the latter
died in prison, and just before I escaped I saw the
unfortunate Jabrallah and his surviving son in a pitiable
state in the streets of Omdurman.</p>

<p>For the second time Darfur had now become a Dervish
province, under the direction of Osman Wad Adam.<a name="Page_237" id="Page_237"></a>
The Khalifa believed that all opposition was over, and
that he had nothing to fear from that direction. Indeed,
the majority of the inhabitants had been killed, and the
few surviving sheikhs had taken refuge in the Dar Tama
and Masalit districts; but they did not remain inactive;
there were constant meetings, in which they discussed
how they should rid themselves of these "enemies of
Islam," as they called the Dervishes.</p>

<p>The Masalit people are savage and cruel to a degree;
they are in the habit of making waterskins out of the
skins of their slain enemies. Slatin Bey told me that
when in Darfur he had two of these skins&mdash;of a male
and a female&mdash;which he had kept as curios. Some of
the Darfur sheikhs had gone as far as to apply to the
Sultan of Borgo for help, but he had refused to interfere
in any way with Mahdieh. Then a man suddenly appeared
amongst the Masalit about whose origin little
was known; he represented himself as the arch-enemy
of the hated Dervishes, who, under the guise of Mohammedanism,
robbed, plundered, ravished, and murdered
all they could lay their hands on.</p>

<p>Such influence did this fiki, or religious teacher, gain
over the superstitious masses of the west that some said
he must be the true Mahdi; others said he was the
fourth Khalifa (Osman); then again many said he was
the celebrated Sheikh es Senussi, the great religious
head of all the North African tribes, and whose influence
has extended far into Central Africa. Several asserted
that he was merely a delegate from the great Senussi.</p>

<p>This religious reformer and adventurer styled himself
"Abu Gemaizeh" (Gemaizeh is the Arabic name for the
sycamore fig-tree), because it was said that the shade of
this tree always accompanied him. At Omdurman all
sorts of extraordinary stories were current about his
supernatural gifts. Some said that he had the power of
miraculously increasing food; an ordinary plate-full he
would make sufficient for hundreds of people; others
said that they had seen him produce milk from his
finger-tips, and it was said that he could produce, in a
moment, all sorts of things pleasant to the palate. He<a name="Page_238" id="Page_238"></a>
could raise a palm-tree out of barren ground, which, in
the space of an hour, would become covered with fruit.
In his sermons and letters he reproached the Khalifa for
having oppressed and slaughtered Moslems, and having
taken their wives for himself&mdash;a crime only committed
by the "unbelievers"&mdash;and with God's help, he declared
his intention of coming to Omdurman to annihilate
"God's enemies," as he called the Dervishes.</p>

<p>The sayings and doings of this extraordinary being
attracted great attention throughout the entire Sudan.
The Mahdi had first appeared in the west, and now an
anti-Mahdi had sprung up from the west. Immense
numbers of adherents flocked to his standard. Not only
did the Furs, thirsting for vengeance, join him, but
people from Bornu, Borgo, and Wadai collected around
him.</p>

<p>Osman Wad Adam despatched a force against him,
which was annihilated, and he now begged the Khalifa
to send him reinforcements. In answer to this appeal a
number of Beni Jerrar Arabs were sent to him, but these
also were destroyed almost to a man. These two important
victories increased Abu Gemaizeh's prestige
enormously, and when Abdullah saw that the oppressed
Sudanese were secretly rejoicing at his discomfiture, he
himself began to tremble for his authority.</p>

<p>A third expedition, despatched by Osman, met with a
similar fate to the other two, and now the Khalifa vented
his wrath on his unsuccessful lieutenant. In October
1888, he wrote to him to retire at once to El Fasher,
to confine himself entirely to defensive operations,
and on no account to attack the enemy. There was
great excitement in Omdurman, where the importance
of Abu Gemaizeh's victories had been enormously exaggerated.
It was even said that Osman had been
killed, El Fasher captured, and Kordofan on the point
of being invaded. Then came the news that El Obeid
had been captured, and now the rejoicings at the Khalifa's
defeat were an open secret. But these highly-coloured
rumours were merely the outcome of an intense desire
and longing on the part of the wretched inhabitants of<a name="Page_239" id="Page_239"></a>
the Sudan, groaning under the Dervish yoke, to see
themselves once more free from the tyrannical oppression
which their own short-sighted conduct had brought
upon themselves.</p>

<p>Abu Gemaizeh had, it is true, been very successful.
He had three times defeated Osman, who was now
besieged in El Fasher, and in great want of food. All
Darfur had sided with Abu Gemaizeh, and the Dervishes
were almost powerless; but in the zenith of his success
the great religious sheikh was suddenly struck down by
small-pox, and died at Kebkebieh in February 1889.
His death caused many of his adherents to quit the
cause, and his successor&mdash;who, had he not attacked El
Fasher, might have succeeded in compassing the downfall
of Osman, who was then entirely cut off and in great
straits&mdash;felt that he must do something to keep his
army together. But his force was hampered by a large
number of women, children, and camp followers. He
was deficient in firearms, whilst Osman was well supplied
with rifles and ammunition, and his Shaggieh
troops fought magnificently.</p>

<p>The final action took place under the walls of El
Fasher, on the 22nd of February, 1889, and resulted in
the death of the leader and the massacre of thousands of
his followers. This was the death-blow to the movement,
and is an example of how easily Moslems are
imposed upon by religious adventurers. Numbers of
those who had joined and left Mahdiism, thoroughly convinced
of its fraud and deception, had unhesitatingly
allied themselves to this new religious movement, which
they inspired with almost greater enthusiasm than that
they had just quitted. The collapse of this new delusion
was therefore comparatively greater. The heads of Abu
Gemaizeh and a number of his important leaders were
sent to Omdurman, where they found a place on the
gallows, and were subsequently relegated to the pit in
which lay the whitening skulls of Merhdi, the Abyssinians,
and the mutinous blacks.</p>

<p>Osman's victory delighted the Khalifa even more
than Abu Anga's success in Abyssinia, because he had<a name="Page_240" id="Page_240"></a>
always considered Darfur a place of refuge, to which he
had a secure line of retreat in case of attack from the
north.</p>

<p>The victorious Osman now vented his wrath on the
tribes who had supported Abu Gemaizeh's movement.
The Beni Helba tribe especially fell under his merciless
hand, and was almost exterminated; but the country
took some time to recover its normal state, and, in consequence,
the Khalifa had to forego the pleasure of
summoning Osman to Omdurman, and loading him with
benefits as he had done to Abu Anga. However, he had
a special house built for him near the mosque, and
prepared to do him all honour when his presence could
be spared from Darfur.</p>

<p>But this was not to be. The successful Osman fell
ill, and died shortly afterwards at El Fasher. He was
succeeded by the Khalifa's brother Mahmud Wad Ahmed,
who was also accompanied by the kadi Suleiman el
Hejazi. This latter individual was deported to Darfur
because he had had a disagreement with the Khalifa's
principal spy, Hajji Zubeir.</p>

<p>Mahmud was ordered, on his arrival at El Fasher, to
send to Omdurman all the money found in the late
Osman's safe, and to take over all his horses, wives, &amp;c.,
and keep them for himself. He left Omdurman with a
large number of followers, and travelling <i>vi&acirc;</i> El Obeid
at length reached his province. Here he found the
country desolate; during the recent wars all cultivation
had lapsed, a terrible famine had set in, and he was
unable to find food for his troops. On reporting this to
the Khalifa, he received orders to retire to Nahut in
Kordofan, which he did, but his black soldiers disliked
the change, and conspired together to kill Mahmud and
desert back to Darfur. They attempted to carry out
this project one night, but failing to secure the ammunition,
which was essential to the success of their undertaking,
they deserted from the camp, about 1,000 strong,
and set off to join Rabeh Zubeir.</p>

<p>This Rabeh had been originally brought up in Zubeir
Pasha's family, had shown military ability, and at the<a name="Page_241" id="Page_241"></a>
time of the suppression of the revolt in Bahr el Ghazal
by Gessi Pasha commanded with Suleiman (Zubeir's son)
the supposed rebel army. On Suleiman's capture and
death, Rabeh fled with the remnants of the force towards
Bornu, and after a host of strange adventures and
constant fights with the kingdoms of Borgo, Wadai, &amp;c.,
he succeeded in establishing himself in an independent
position on the banks of the Shar&eacute; river which empties
into Lake Chad. Here he has collected a considerable
force, and appears to have at last established friendly
relations with his neighbours. The Khalifa has frequently
sent messages to him to return to Omdurman,
where he would be most honourably received, but Rabeh
has persistently refused.</p>

<p>Osman, when at El Fasher, also communicated with
him in the same sense; but Rabeh, who had a shrewd
idea of the Khalifa's intentions, summoned to his aid
a Fiki who had been in Omdurman, and who quite understood
Abdullah's character. On Rabeh telling the Fiki
of his message from Osman, the Fiki asked that a cock
should be given him, and he proceeded deliberately to
pull out the feathers of its wings. He then bound its
legs together, and plucked it completely; and last of all
cut its head <a name="tn_png_257"></a><!--TN: Period added after "off"-->off. The Fiki said not a word, but Rabeh
thoroughly understood the moral of the proceeding, and
came to the wise conclusion to stay where he was. The
last news is that a portion of his force has re-entered
Dar Fertit, the country to the north-west of Bahr el
Ghazal.</p>

<p>As for Mahmud, after the disturbance at Nahut, he
retired on El Obeid in 1890, and left Darfur to its fate.
All that portion of it bordering on Kordofan is entirely
depopulated. Herds of elephants roam the plains as
far as El Fasher. There is continual internecine warfare,
which is still further reducing the population, and
creating a wilderness of this once populous district.</p>

<p>Let us now revert to the operations against Abyssinia.
In consequence of Abu Anga's victory over Ras Adal,
the tribes on the north-western borders of Abyssinia,
and who are known as Makada, embraced Mahdiism;<a name="Page_242" id="Page_242"></a>
and it was at this time that Todros Kasa, the son of the
Todros Kasa (King Theodore), who had been vanquished
by the British at Magdala, suddenly appeared at Galabat,
and offered his services to the Dervishes to fight against
his own countrymen. He was at once sent on to Omdurman,
where he was received with great pomp by Khalifa
Abdullah, who promised to place him on the throne of
Abyssinia, and in return for this promise Todros agreed
that all the Abyssinians should turn Moslems, and should
pay the Khalifa an annual tribute.</p>

<p>Before going further, it may be as well to explain briefly
who this Todros was. He was the second son of the
King Theodore who had been subdued by the English
army. The eldest son had been taken to England,
where he died. At that time the Todros of whom I
speak was a mere child, and had been concealed by his
relatives from King John, who wanted to kill him.
When he grew up he wandered about Abyssinia, and
happened to be in the neighbourhood of Galabat when
Abu Anga made his successful descent on Abyssinia. It
at once occurred to Todros that an alliance with the
Dervishes might secure him his father's throne, and we
have seen how successfully he had deceived the Khalifa,
who implicitly believed in his good faith.</p>

<p>Todros had two children of twelve and fourteen years
of age, who always accompanied him when he went
about in Omdurman, and he always carried a red
umbrella, which made him the laughing-stock of the
place. He did not speak Arabic, and all intercourse with
him had to be through an interpreter.</p>

<p>Amongst the female slaves taken by Abu Anga were
two girls, who accidentally came into the possession of
one of my friends. These girls were related to Todros,
and when he heard of them, he at once bought their
release, and eventually took them with him to Galabat.
We used often to talk to him, as he was not in the least
afraid, and told us of his real projects and intentions.
Suddenly Abu Anga, without any previous warning, set
off for Galabat, no one knew why, and it was generally
supposed that some very important information had<a name="Page_243" id="Page_243"></a>
reached the Khalifa. Abu Anga took Todros Kasa
with him.</p>

<p>Before leaving, Abu Anga asked the Khalifa to whom
he should refer in case of his (the Khalifa's) death.
Abdullah replied to his brother Yakub, and from this it
was generally understood that he intended to retain the
succession in his own family.</p>

<a name="abyssinian"></a><div class="figcenter"><img src="https://brian.carnell.com/wiki/_media/etext:f:fr-wingate-ten-years-captive-p243.jpg" border="0" alt="" title="" width="359" height="375">
<p class="caption2">ABYSSINIAN DANCING GIRLS.</p></div>

<p>Shortly after Abu Anga's departure, the Khalifa
received a small note in Amharic, written on parchment,
from King John. Two of the Abyssinians in Omdurman
interpreted it to the Khalifa, and it was to the effect that
he (John) was prepared to make a reasonable treaty of
peace with the Khalifa; basing his argument on the fact<a name="Page_244" id="Page_244"></a>
that they all&mdash;both Sudanese and Abyssinians&mdash;had a
common descent through their mutual forefather Ham,
and that, being neighbours, they should rather combine
to fight against their common enemies, who were the
Europeans, and whose power was always extending.
To this the Khalifa replied that if he would become a
Moslem, they would become good friends; but if he
refused to do this, he (the Khalifa) felt obliged to brand
him as the enemy of God and His Prophet, and that he
had no other course open but to exterminate him.</p>

<p>On Abu Anga's arrival at Galabat, the most violent
jealousy sprang up between him and Yunis. The latter
separated his camp from Abu Anga's, and lost no
opportunity of showing his hatred and envy of the
"slave" (as he called him), who had so successfully
combated the Abyssinians. Even on the usual Friday
review, in spite of Abu Anga having been appointed to
the supreme command, Yunis always drilled his men
separately from the rest. This Abu Anga reported to
the Khalifa, who at once instructed Yunis to place
himself under him in every respect.</p>

<p>Meanwhile a conspiracy was brewing amongst the
emirs in the camp of Yunis. One of the ugliest types
of Takruris that have ever been seen took to calling
himself "Sayidna Isa" ("Our Master Jesus"). Yunis
and his emirs believed in him, although he subsequently
betrayed him. It is impossible to understand how it
is that these fanatical people could believe in the
nonsense told them by Isa; yet, if he heard that any
one disbelieved in him, he would at once have him
summoned, and there, in the presence of four witnesses,
he would convert him. He asserted that he was the
Messiah foretold by the Mahdi who should wrest the
power from the Khalifa. Indeed the day was actually
fixed when it was decided to kill Abu Anga and
proclaim Isa publicly; but Yunis betrayed the conspiracy
to Abu Anga, and after afternoon prayers on
the following Friday he summoned the sixteen mutinous
emirs and threw them into chains; he then wrote to
the Khalifa asking his instructions. The latter des<a name="Page_245" id="Page_245"></a>patched
some judges to Galabat, who were told to
instruct these deluded people in the right way. They
were tried one after the other; but none of them would
deny their belief in Isa; then they threatened to kill
them; but Isa laughed, and said he was immortal. At
length the judges, seeing that further talking was
useless, condemned Isa to death, and in a few minutes
he was dangling on the gallows. Even this was not
proof enough for the sixteen deluded emirs, who still
believed he was not dead, and so one by one they
were hanged, and their heads sent to Omdurman,
where they also remained on the gallows for a month
and were then relegated to the pit. Yunis was
summoned to Omdurman, and for some time was quite
out of favour.</p>

<p>Thus did Khalifa Abdullah score success after success
over his enemies, and there is little doubt that, had
Abu Anga failed to act as quickly and decidedly as he
did, Isa's rapidly-increasing power might have become
a serious menace to the Khalifa's authority. There is
no doubt that these sixteen emirs had been instigated
by Yunis to revolt against the Khalifa and put him at
the head of the movement; they knew perfectly well
that Isa was a mere fraud and deception; but I do
not think it is possible ever to start a movement on
a large scale in a Moslem country unless it is based
on some religious grounds. The Mahdi only succeeded
by working up the fanaticism of his own countrymen.
Such motives as liberty, freedom, and the love of the
fatherland are entirely unknown factors in the composition
of feelings which go towards creating a national
movement amongst Moslems.</p>

<p>Abu Anga, who was now growing old and fat, did
not live long after the events just described. He was
attacked by typhus, which at that time was prevalent
at Galabat, and in a few days this great warrior, who
had shed such quantities of blood, was dead. His
soldiers mourned him bitterly, and his name is still
held amongst them in affectionate remembrance; they
loved him because he himself had been a slave, and<a name="Page_246" id="Page_246"></a>
knew how to discriminate between severity and kindness.
He was one of the best emirs of Mahdieh, and
of an infinitely more generous nature than Wad En
Nejumi or others. Once a poor woman came to him
and complained that a soldier had forcibly taken her
milk, which was all she had to live upon. Abu Anga
sent for the soldier and asked him if the woman's
complaint was true; the thief denied it most emphatically
and abused the woman unmercifully. Abu Anga
was almost convinced that he was speaking the
truth; but the woman still persisted in the most
violent manner that the man had drunk the milk.
After a moment's thought Abu Anga gave the following
judgment: "The man's stomach to be ripped open,
and if no milk is discovered, the woman will be executed."
The woman accepted this judgment with
delight, while the unfortunate man had to undergo
this terrible operation. The milk was found in his
stomach, and Abu Anga made good to the woman her
loss. Thus did he maintain discipline amongst his
men, and as long as he commanded in Galabat there
was no fear. In battle his cruelty knew no bounds,
and the most horrible atrocities were perpetrated by
his men, especially in Abyssinia. His death was deeply
felt by the Khalifa, and with reason, for he was not
only a brave and capable leader, but he was absolutely
honest; any other man in his place would have, long
before, abused his power. He was buried in Galabat
in 1888, and his men have canonized him as a saint.</p>

<p>When dying, Abu Anga nominated Wad Ali as his
successor, until the Khalifa's orders should be received;
but very soon after his death there was discontent
amongst the men and want of harmony amongst the
emirs, with whom Wad Ali was by no means a
favourite. These dissensions reached the Khalifa's
ears, and he despatched the Kadi Ahmed, in whom he
placed great reliance, to Galabat, with instructions to
do all he could to put down discord, and to nominate
some one as leader who was popular with all ranks.
After several meetings, the Kadi at length succeeded<a name="Page_247" id="Page_247"></a>
in quieting the people, and it was agreed, by common
consent, to nominate Zeki Tummal as Abu Anga's successor.
This appointment was subsequently confirmed
by the Khalifa.</p>

<p>The Galabat army was now made into four divisions&mdash;Zeki
Tummal commanded the first division, and was
also Commander-in-chief of the whole; Abdallah
Ibrahim, Nur Angara, and Mahmud Wad Ali commanded
the other divisions. In addition to these four
great emirs there were also other well-known men in
the Galabat force&mdash;such as Sheikh Abu Tagalla,
Faragallah (Gordon's old commandant of Omdurman
Fort), Omar Wad Elias Pasha, Sheikh Nuri, of the
Bederieh tribe, Ismail Wad el Andok, and others.
The immense zariba was now further fortified and
strengthened.</p>

<p>There were already rumours that King John was
making preparations to take Galabat, after which it
was said he would advance on Omdurman and utterly
destroy Mahdiism. King John was accompanied by
all his most important chiefs&mdash;Ras Adal, Ras Aria
Salasseh, Ras Michael, Ras Mariam, Ras Alula, Saleh
Shanga, and several others. In all, the army numbered
some 150,000, of whom 20,000 were horsemen.</p>

<p>This news caused the greatest alarm in Galabat and
Omdurman; but it also had the effect of making us
indulge in pleasant dreams of release. Zeki Tummal
took counsel with his emirs whether it would be better
to await the enemy's arrival in the zariba or whether it
would be advisable to advance and fight in the open.
Kadi Ahmed urged that it would be better to stay in the
zariba, and his advice was adopted; there is little doubt
this was the wisest course to take, as the Abyssinian
cavalry would undoubtedly have struck confusion into
their ranks. Zeki's force now numbered 85,000 men,
and was well disposed in the zariba to resist attack.
Criers went through the market-place summoning all
people to leave their business and take up arms
for the defence of the town; messengers were also
sent to the Khalifa to beg his blessing&mdash;in fact, great<a name="Page_248" id="Page_248"></a>
fear prevailed. Spies reported that the enemy were
as numerous as the sand, that their numbers stretched
beyond the horizon, and that when they moved such
clouds of dust arose that the sun was quite obscured.</p>

<p>This news created almost a panic in Omdurman;
besides, there is an old prophecy that the Abyssinians
should come to Khartum; that their horses should
wade knee-deep in blood, and that the King should
tether his horse to the solitary tree on the White Nile
near Khartum.</p>

<p>At the end of February the King quitted Gondar,
and marched out to make holy war against the most
bitter enemy to Christianity. When near Galabat he
sent word to Zeki to say he was coming, lest it should
be said that he had "come secretly as a thief." Numbers
of women had also joined the Abyssinian army; they
were, for the most part, the wives and concubines of
the soldiers, and many others had fled from their
parents to follow their lovers to battle.</p>

<p>On Saturday, the 9th of March, 1889, the King
began his attack on Galabat. Such clouds of dust
were raised that it was almost impossible to see anything.
The zariba was stormed; some attempted to
drag away the thorn bushes, others tried to set fire to
it, whilst the Dervishes opened a terrific fire on the
masses. Some Takruris, who had deserted Zeki's camp,
reported that the part of the zariba held by Wad Ali
was the weakest, and, in consequence, the Abyssinians
made a supreme effort to break in at that point.</p>

<p>The din and noise was beyond description. At
length, after a very hard fight, the Abyssinians
succeeded in forcing an entry, and then their masses
rolled in like a great storm stream, carrying everything
before them. The thousands of Dervish women within
now raised terrible cries as the enemy approached, killing
and destroying all in their path; they set fire to the
straw huts; the din of the firing, the shouts and
screams of the men and women, mingled with the
crackling and wild rush of the flames, were terrible
beyond description. Already the Abyssinians had<a name="Page_249" id="Page_249"></a>
taken possession of the beit el mal, and had occupied
the house in which Abu Anga's harem lived, and now
they were searching for his body, which they wanted to
pull out of the ground and throw into the flames, in
revenge for the burning of Gondar.</p>

<p>The strength of the Mahdiists was now almost exhausted,
ammunition was running short, and it was
thought the fight was nearly over, when suddenly the
news spread amongst the Abyssinians that their King
had been struck by a bullet. This was the signal for a
general retreat: everyone seized all the booty he could
lay his hands upon, and soon the zariba was evacuated;
several of the women were carried off as captives,
including Abu Anga's harem, and the Abyssinians then
made for the river Atbara.</p>

<p>Now was the time for the Dervishes to reverse their
defeat; they had suffered very heavily, Wad Ali's division
had been almost annihilated; but they lost no time in
cutting off some of the Abyssinians' heads and sending
them at once to Omdurman, with the information that
they had gained a great victory, for Kadi Ahmed well
knew how anxious was the Khalifa, and how fearful that
defeat should overtake his forces.</p>

<p>The Dervishes thought the Abyssinians would renew
their attack the next day, but to their surprise no one
appeared; then spies were sent out to discover their
whereabouts, and they brought back information that
the Abyssinian force was now in full retreat towards
the Atbara. This information decided Zeki to pursue,
and on the 11th of March the Dervish force came up
with a large portion of the Abyssinian army encamped
on the river bank; a battle ensued, in which the
Abyssinians lost heavily and fled precipitately, leaving
the dead body of King John in the hands of the
Dervishes. It was discovered carefully packed in a
long box and sealed with wax; at first it was thought
to contain treasure, but on opening it the odour of
decay left little doubt that the body they had attempted
to embalm was none other than that of the unfortunate
John, and this was confirmed by the Abyssinian<a name="Page_250" id="Page_250"></a>
prisoners. The King's head was cut off and sent to
Omdurman.</p>

<p>Here the wildest excitement prevailed, the Khalifa
Abdullah ordered the great war-drums to be beaten and
the onbe&iuml;a to be sounded. A large review took place.
The Abyssinian heads were paraded and said to be those
of Eas Alula, Eas Mariam, and Saleh Shanga; but this
was not true. However, the Khalifa's delight knew no
bounds, and our sorrow was proportionately great.
Once more our cherished hopes had been dashed to the
ground, and it seemed as if all chance of escape was now
quite at an end.</p>

<p>The heads were put upon the gallows, and left no
doubt that a great victory had been won, then three
days afterwards came the news that the King had been
killed. Fixed high up on a camel's back, John's head
was paraded up and down through the market-place,
preceded by a herald shouting out that the mighty
Neg&ucirc;s had been slain, and that now was a time for
festivity and rejoicing. The Khalifa was quite intoxicated
by his success. He publicly exposed the
articles captured with the King's body, amongst which
was the throne from which the cross had been removed;
this was afterwards replaced in Omdurman and retained
in the beit el mal.</p>

<p>A wonderful copy of the New Testament had also
been taken; it was written on parchment in Amharic
language, was profusely illustrated and illuminated,
and bound in a triple leather cover; then there was a
gold watch marked "Crosdi, Paris," which showed the
day of the week and the month of the year; a telescope,
and also an original letter from Her Majesty Queen
Victoria to King John, dated November 1887. I myself
read this letter, in which the Queen inquired after
King John's health, and asked him how he and his
family were; that England having occupied Egypt had
become a near neighbour to Abyssinia, and that it was
Her Majesty's earnest wish to continue to live on
terms of peace and friendship with the Neg&ucirc;s. The
letter concluded with good wishes for the King's health,<a name="Page_251" id="Page_251"></a>
happiness, and long life, and was signed by Lord
Salisbury. Amongst other things I also saw the King's
tent and a number of richly jewelled crosses.</p>

<p>On the same day of its arrival, the Khalifa ordered
the King's head to be sewn in a piece of leather and
sent it on to Dongola, from whence it was to be sent on
to Wadi Halfa as a warning to the Khedive and the
English that a like fate would await them if they did
not at once submit.</p>

<p>It now seemed that the Khalifa was at the very
zenith of his power. There in a dirty pit near the
market-place lay the decaying heads of all his principal
enemies, the Sultan Yusef, Abu Gemaizeh, the Abyssinians,
Sayidna Isa, all huddled up together in a heap,
and I could not help reflecting deeply on all these
strange events every time I passed that pit. Gradually
the skin and hair dropped off, leaving only the bare
white skulls, deep eye-holes, and grinning teeth, and
yet these were the skulls of crowned heads, prophets,
and patriarchs gathered together in a narrow pit from
far-distant countries&mdash;a solemn evidence indeed of the
far-reaching power of Mahdiism. Passers-by struck them
with their sticks, and yet for what thousands of lives
had these now empty brain-pans been responsible, which
lay rotting on far-distant battlefields&mdash;proof in truth of
God's judgment on the Sudan!</p>

<p>Abdullah now thought himself master of the whole
world. In his moments of wildest enthusiasm he had
never dreamt of gaining such a tremendous victory over
the Abyssinians, and yet another such victory would
have almost destroyed his power; he had lost thousands
of his best warriors, and the women and cattle captured
could never compensate him for such a loss. Of course
Zeki and his emirs did not always adhere to the truth
in writing to the Khalifa, nor was the latter anxious
they should do so&mdash;indeed, it would have been tantamount
to a crime on Zeki's part to report that the
Galabat garrison was weak; had he done so, and even
if he had been the Khalifa's own relative, he would
probably have been relegated to prison. It would have<a name="Page_252" id="Page_252"></a>
been treason to have said anything which would detract
from the Khalifa's idea of his own power, and he was
surrounded by wretched flatterers and trimmers who
were the last to tell him the truth.</p>

<p>But all these wars and disturbances had now almost
completely ruined the country, and then came the terrible
famine, which lasted almost a year and brought
untold sufferings on the people. The Khalifa, however,
was blind to all this misery and distress. His only
idea was self-aggrandisement, and he did not realize
that hunger was likely to prove by far the worst
and most dangerous enemy with which Mahdieh had
to cope; but this he eventually learnt by bitter
experience.</p>

<p>After the death of King John there was a certain
amount of intercourse between the Dervishes and Abyssinians,
and not a few of the latter used to come to
Galabat and promise to lead Zeki to where the late
king's treasures had been hidden; but this they probably
did with the intention of trying to draw him into an
ambush. It was eventually hunger which compelled
Zeki to take some active measures. He despatched
Abdullah Ibrahim into Abyssinia with several thousand
men, and a few words respecting the career of this emir
may not be amiss.</p>

<p>He was a nephew of Ahmed Bey Dafallah, of Kordofan,
and had come to notice during the siege of El
Obeid. Whenever he saw any cattle near the town he
was always on the watch with his slaves, and generally
succeeded in making a successful sortie, capturing them
and bringing them into the fort. It was said that on
one occasion, when the Mahdi was approaching El
Obeid, Ibrahim left the fort and made straight for him,
intending to kill him, but was twice wounded by his
revolver; he however succeeded in returning to the
fort, and after its fall the Mahdi, already greatly impressed
by his bravery, pardoned him, and placed him
in command of a division under Abu Anga. He accompanied
his chief in all his numerous fights, and displayed
even greater bravery in fighting for the Mahdieh than<a name="Page_253" id="Page_253"></a>
he did in fighting for the Government. Had he only
been a Baggara he would undoubtedly have succeeded
Abu Anga in command.</p>

<p>This Abdullah now penetrated Abyssinia; for a
long time nothing was heard of him, and it was thought
he must have been annihilated; but at length he returned
to Galabat, having lost a large portion of his
force. The actual events which happened in this expedition
are wrapped in obscurity, and it is more than
probable that it fared badly.</p>

<p>After the King's death Abyssinia became a prey to civil
and internecine war, which left the inhabitants no time to
revenge themselves for the death of their King. The
Dervishes, too, were quite exhausted, and had to combat
a terrible famine, which swept them off in thousands.
This famine induced the sensible emirs at Galabat, such
as Abderrahman Wad Abu Degel, to enter into commercial
relations with Abyssinia, which have continued
uninterrupted up to the present time.</p>


<a name="Page_254" id="Page_254"></a>
<hr class="newpg" style="width: 65%;">
<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV.</h2>

<p class="chapterhead">DEFEAT OF NEJUMI AT TOSKI, AND OF OSMAN DIGNA AT
TOKAR.</p>

<p class="chapterdescribe">The Khalifa's intentions regarding Egypt&mdash;Wad en Nejumi
despatched north&mdash;Various operations on the Egyptian frontier&mdash;Battle
of Toski&mdash;Defeat and death of Nejumi&mdash;Subsequent
events in Dongola&mdash;Osman Digna's operations against Sawakin&mdash;Is
defeated at Tokar&mdash;Emin Pasha and events in Equatoria&mdash;Recent
events in Uganda and Unyoro.</p>


<p class="firstpara"><span class="firstwords">Having</span> briefly considered the Khalifa's operations
within the Sudan, let us now turn and follow his movements
and intentions regarding Egypt. Ever since the
annihilation of Hicks Pasha's expedition the conquest
of Egypt had been the dream of the Mahdi's life. Those
of his followers who had seen Egypt described it in the
most glowing terms to the Sudanese, whose cupidity
was fully aroused. The immense wealth in Cairo, the
lovely women in the harems, had excited their most
ardent desires.</p>

<p>The Mahdi himself had decided on the Khedive's
palace of Abdin as his place of residence, whence it was
his intention to proceed to Syria, and after conquering
it, to advance on Mecca. He had prophesied that the
conquest of Egypt should be carried out by Khalifa
Sherif's flag, and he himself had done all in his power to
incite the Egyptians to revolt. He wrote numbers of
letters to the leading sheikhs and principal people in
Cairo, and had he not died, there is no doubt his influence
would have permeated, in no small degree, into Egypt.
Several people in Egypt believed in him as the true
Mahdi, and besides, he was now the ruler of hundreds of
thousands of people. With his death belief in Mahdiism
began to decline. His successor, it is true, was a man<a name="Page_255" id="Page_255"></a>
of boundless energy, and had just as ambitious ideas as
his predecessor in regard to the conquest of Egypt, but
circumstances had entirely altered.</p>

<a name="arab"></a><div class="figcenter" style="width:300px;"><img src="https://brian.carnell.com/wiki/_media/etext:f:fr-wingate-ten-years-captive-p255.jpg" border="0" alt="" title="" width="293" height="383">
<p class="caption2">AN ARAB SHEIKH OF UPPER EGYPT.</p></div>

<p>The Mahdi's death and the Khalifa's accession had
caused Mahdiism to break up into two distinct parties,
viz. the Baggara Arabs, who called themselves the
Arabs of the Sudan, and the "Aulad Belad," or country
people, such as the Danagla, Barabra, Jaalin, and other
tribes on the White Nile. This division in Mahdieh
considerably weakened it. Wad En Nejumi and his
emirs belonged to the section opposed to the Khalifa,
and who would like to have freed themselves from
his control; in consequence Abdullah always arranged<a name="Page_256" id="Page_256"></a>
that a Baggara emir should be attached to Nejumi, to
keep him informed of all the latter's doings.</p>

<p>The Mahdi had laid down the plan for invading
Egypt, which should be by combined movements from
Dongola towards Halfa, and from Abu Hamed towards
Korosko; and accordingly, when the English evacuated
Dongola in June 1885, Mohammed el Kheir, the conqueror
of Berber, together with Abdel Majid, at once
took possession of the province, and the first action
which took place between these latter and the British
and Egyptian troops occurred in December the same
year at Giniss. El Kheir was defeated, and fixed his
advanced camp at Kerma.</p>

<p>The fall of Sennar enabled the Khalifa to send forward
more troops for his operations against Egypt, and
the Mahdi's prophecy that the conquest of Egypt was to
be carried out by Sherif's flag, entirely fell in with his
own arrangements, for he entrusted the command of the
advanced force to Wad En Nejumi, who belonged to
Sherif's raya (flag), and thus succeeded in keeping this
powerful emir, whom he regarded with great fear and
jealousy, as far away from him as possible.<a name="FNanchor_K_11" id="FNanchor_K_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_K_11" class="fnanchor">[K]</a></p>

<p>Nejumi set out from Omdurman in November 1885,
and marching along the river bank to Berber, robbed
and pillaged as if he were advancing through an enemy's
country. He seized the goods of merchants at Berber,
giving them receipts signed to the effect that they should
receive payment when he had taken Assuan. He captured
two Egyptian spies, one of whom he decapitated,
and the other had his hand and foot cut off. During
his stay at Berber he robbed and pillaged in all directions,
and used to boast of his approaching conquest of
Egypt. He stopped all trade with the north, and drove
on the entire population towards Dongola.</p>

<p>It was not, however, until the end of November 1886,<a name="Page_257" id="Page_257"></a>
that he reached Dongola, and there he began to organize
his fighting force, which was continually increased
by reinforcements sent from Omdurman.</p>

<p>Early in 1887 four messengers were despatched with
letters to Her Majesty the Queen of England, His
Majesty the Sultan of Turkey, and His Highness the
Khedive. These envoys were permitted to come to
Cairo, and to personally deliver their letters; but when
they were opened, perused, and found only to contain a
summons from the Khalifa to adopt Mahdiism, and
submit to him, or the recipients would suffer the same
fate as Gordon and Hicks, the messengers were at once
sent back without any reply being given to them, and
this was considered by Abdullah to be the greatest
insult that could have been offered to him.</p>

<p>The Dervish advanced-guards continued to creep on
towards the Egyptian Frontier, whilst Hassan Khalifa,
the nephew of the former Mudir of Berber, occupied the
desert wells, and made several incursions on the river to
the north and south of Korosko. Mounted on dromedaries,
these bold raiders made sudden descents on
defenceless villages, carried off quantities of booty, and
then disappeared into the desert.</p>

<p>At this time the Egyptians had retired to Wadi Halfa,
and the Dervishes had occupied Sarras, a little to the
south, from whence they constantly harassed the Egyptian
outposts. A variety of circumstances, however,
occurred to prevent Khalifa Abdullah from carrying out
his projects against Egypt. The revolt in Darfur, the
Abyssinian war, internal dissensions, all contributed to
impede the despatch of troops north. Besides, the
Dervish garrison in Dongola had already done much to
destroy the well-being and prosperity of the province;
they plundered the inhabitants, who, in their turn, became
averse to the Dervish occupation; continued warfare
had produced a famine; numbers died of small-pox.</p>

<p>Bahr el Karrar in 1888 occupied the wells of Haimar
and Ongat, and from here was able to annoy the inhabitants
on the Nile between Assuan and Korosko. He
raided the village of Kalabsheh, some fifty miles south<a name="Page_258" id="Page_258"></a>
of Assuan, killed the Egyptian police guards, and carried
off their officer a captive to Omdurman. All this time
there was a great deal of talk in the capital about the
conquest of Egypt, but we never received any very
decisive news. The captured officer was paraded through
the streets in triumph, and was then brought before the
Khalifa, who received him kindly, and questioned him
very fully about Egypt; but he quite understood what
sort of replies to make to the Khalifa's questions,
and only told him what he knew would please; so
he was well treated, set at liberty, and now lives in
Omdurman.</p>

<p>From time to time the Khalifa despatched reinforcements
to Dongola which never returned, and this was
the reason of the main road leading north out of
Omdurman being called "Darb Esh Shuhada" ("The
Martyrs' Road ").</p>

<p>The Egyptian Government had now confined itself to
the defence of its own frontiers. In June 1888, Bishir
Bey, a subsidized Government sheikh, turned Bahr
Karrar out of Haimar; but on the other hand, the
Sarras Dervishes made a sudden descent on the Dabarosa
bazaar, killed a number of merchants, and escaped
before the troops from Haifa could intercept them.
Meanwhile, there was not much harmony between the
big emirs. Nejumi and his followers were jealous of
the masterful Baggaras, and it was only with the greatest
reluctance that they brought themselves to show any
respect to the Emir Mussaid of the Baggara Habbanieh,
who had been sent to Dongola by the Khalifa to watch
and report on Nejumi's doings.</p>

<p>The Baggaras hated Nejumi to such an extent that
one of their number attempted to poison him; but he
recovered after a long illness, though he never entirely
got the poison out of his system. It is said that his
eyesight was always bad afterwards. This constant
bickering between the Baggara and Nejumi crippled his
energy. Formerly he had been greatly feared by them,
but now his own people were annoyed that he showed
so much deference to the Khalifa and his emirs. As<a name="Page_259" id="Page_259"></a>
for the Khalifa, he was thoroughly exasperated by
Nejumi's indolence, and summoned him to Omdurman.</p>

<p>During his absence from the province, a deserter from
the Egyptian side led the Dervishes into the fort at
Khor Musa, within five miles of Halfa, where they
killed some of the garrison, but were unable to take the
whole fort. Colonel Wodehouse having been informed
of their attack, at once sent out help, and the Dervishes
were surprised and annihilated.</p>

<a name="bishir"></a><div class="figcenter" style="width:295px;"><img src="https://brian.carnell.com/wiki/_media/etext:f:fr-wingate-ten-years-captive-p259.jpg" border="0" alt="" title="" width="281" height="403">
<p class="caption2">BISHIR BEY, SHEIKH OF THE ABABDEH ARABS.</p></div>

<p>Towards the end of 1888 Nejumi was in Dongola
again. The Khalifa had threatened to throw him into<a name="Page_260" id="Page_260"></a>
chains unless he showed more energy in his operations
against Egypt. He had already exhibited his displeasure
by imprisoning Sheikh Idris and Makin Wad en
Nur, who had shown a reluctance to go forward, for they
had made up their minds that a successful attack on
Egypt was an impossibility. They could not even
capture Wadi Halfa. The desert roads were next to
impassable owing to want of water, whilst the river
was in the hands of the enemy, who had numbers of
steamers, and could prevent any Dervish advance by
water. All these difficulties were quite apparent to
Nejumi and his emirs; but so self-confident was the
Khalifa, that he could not believe there was any great
difficulty in conquering Egypt; added to this, several
sheikhs of Upper Egypt had assured him that when the
Dervishes advanced they would be joined by the entire
population.</p>

<p>Thus the Khalifa insisted, and Nejumi could not do
otherwise than obey. He had already transferred to
Dongola the entire Batahin tribe, which had showed a
mutinous spirit, and early in 1889 he sent a further
detachment, consisting of thirty flags, composed for the
most part of Gehena Arabs, who are not warlike, and
were most averse to fighting in the Dervish cause. Thus,
like lambs to the slaughter, were these unwilling tribes
driven forward to battle.</p>

<p>When the revolt in Darfur had been suppressed, and
Abyssinia had been humbled, the Khalifa turned his
attention more earnestly than ever to the invasion of
Egypt. He despatched Yunis ed Dekeim to Dongola,
and on his arrival, Nejumi was to begin his advance
north.</p>

<p>Nejumi was now nominated Commander-in-chief, and
being one of the Mahdi's most determined and fanatical
emirs, he had given him the title of "Emir el Umara"
("The Emir of emirs"). He had under his command
several brave emirs, such as Abdel Halim, Makin en Nur,
Wad Gubara, Sheikh Idris, Osman Azrak, and several
others. But the fighting conditions of these Dervishes
had considerably changed during the last few years.<a name="Page_261" id="Page_261"></a>
The Ansar no longer fought for Mahdieh. All those
promises of joys in paradise were no longer believed in,
for by dying the Mahdi had proved himself to be false,
and so were all his prophecies. They did not fight to
obtain booty, for long experience had shown them that
the booty was exclusively appropriated by the Khalifa
and his emirs. It was now fear of the Khalifa's anger
which drove them to fight, and numbers of them deserted
when a favourable opportunity occurred for them to do so.</p>

<p>Not only were all these feelings at work in Nejumi's
force, but also the conditions of the country in which he
was operating were very different from those in which
he had won all his early victories. Then he knew every
path, almost every tree. It was his own country; the
inhabitants were of his own race; volunteers flocked
to his standards. He always largely exceeded his
enemies in point of numbers; but now it was all entirely
different. He knew nothing of the country through
which he had to march; enormous difficulties blocked
his every movement. Even had the population of
Upper Egypt been desirous of joining him, they were
much too carefully looked after by the troops and the
Government to be able to do so. An enormous desert
separated him from the position he desired to reach,
and the result was that his force&mdash;just as Hicks's force
had done&mdash;suffered greatly from want of water. As
usual he was accompanied by numbers of women and
children, and sometimes even five dollars would not
purchase a drink of water.</p>

<p>Abdullah showed his mistrust of the men by permitting
their wives and families to accompany them,
for he thought that they could not well run away,
leaving their wives and children behind, and therefore
they would have to fight; but this great crowd of
women and children hampered Nejumi's movements
enormously, and still further increased the want which
already prevailed in the Dervish camp. When in
Dongola, the Gehenas were suffering so terribly from
famine that they stole the Dervishes' sheepskins, on
which they prayed, and ate them.<a name="Page_262" id="Page_262"></a></p>

<p>It was madness to attempt to invade Egypt with such
a force as Nejumi then had, made up of almost every tribe
and nationality, all huddled together, and yet absolutely
wanting in cohesion. Then the enemy which they were
going to fight was of an entirely different stamp to
the one they had overcome in the Sudan. The Egyptian
was not the same as in the old days. The army
was now composed of well-trained battalions under
English officers; and it is not out of place here to
remark that the occupation of Egypt by England was
a heavy blow to the Khalifa and his followers. Often
have I heard him say, "If the English would only
evacuate Egypt, I should very soon take possession
of it."</p>

<p>Thus did Nejumi set out from Dongola with his force.
At Sarras a parade was held, and some 14,000 souls
counted; but of these nearly half were women and
children. His intention was to avoid Halfa, and march
direct on Bimban, as the inhabitants of that place had
promised to join him; but in the village of Argin, he
was attacked and defeated by Colonel Wodehouse. Here
Nejumi lost about 1,000 men, amongst whom were
several emirs, including Sheikh Idris and Abdel Kader
Guru, besides many more wounded. On account of this
victory, Wodehouse Pasha was known in the Sudan as
"the vanquisher of Wad Nejumi."</p>

<p>But, in spite of his defeat, Nejumi still continued his
advance, although the only food he had for his force
was camels' and donkeys' meat, and his troops were
more dead than alive. He was obliged to make his
cavalry into a rear-guard to prevent desertion, but
still large numbers succeeded in joining the Egyptian
troops.</p>

<p>The Sirdar, General Grenfell Pasha, wrote a letter to
Nejumi, in which he showed him that he understood the
wretched state his troops had come to, and urging him
not to expose uselessly the lives of so many of his people;
but take the wise course and surrender. Nejumi, however,
boldly replied that if Grenfell Pasha would adopt
Mahdiism he would guarantee him happiness and con<a name="Page_263" id="Page_263"></a>tentment,
otherwise he would sweep him and his troops
off the face of the earth.</p>

<p>Only one of the two messengers who had been sent
with General Grenfell's letter returned with this reply;
the other&mdash;an Arab named Abdel Hadi&mdash;was sent on
to Omdurman bearing the General's letter to the Khalifa,
who was also informed by Nejumi, that Abdel Hadi had
originally been on the Dervish side at Abu Hamed, but
had deserted over to the "Turks."<a name="FNanchor_L_12" id="FNanchor_L_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_L_12" class="fnanchor">[L]</a> On his arrival, Abdullah
questioned him closely regarding the latest news
of Nejumi and the condition of the opposing armies.
Abdel Hadi replied that the "Turks" were very strong,
and that it was probable that Nejumi would be <a name="tn_png_279"></a><!--TN: Period added after "defeated"-->defeated.
For this saying, he was thrown into prison for months,
and would have starved to death had not Neufeld, who
was with him in prison, given him some help; he was
eventually released through the intermediary of Hajji
Saad, and permitted to return to Abu Hamed, whence
he escaped back to Egypt.</p>

<p>Meanwhile Nejumi still continued his advance; he
could not and would not submit. On the one hand he
was of far too proud a nature to submit to the hated
Egyptian troops; and on the other, his fear of the
Khalifa added to his natural obstinacy. At Toski his
advance was arrested by General Grenfell at the head
of the Egyptian troops, and he had no other course open
but to fight. He was utterly defeated, himself and
most of his emirs killed, whilst a mass of men, women
and children fell into the hands of the Egyptian force.</p>

<p>This battle took place on the 3rd of August, 1889;
by it the annihilation of Hicks Pasha's expedition was
avenged, and the project of invading Egypt, which had
been maturing for the last three years, entirely collapsed.
The news of this defeat caused great commotion
in Omdurman; it was at first rumoured that every
one had been killed; and the Khalifa was in despair.<a name="Page_264" id="Page_264"></a>
He hated the Europeans and Egyptians, and though we,
in our hearts, were rejoiced at the news, we suffered no
small anxiety as well, for we thought it quite possible
that the Khalifa would appease his wrath to some
extent by venting his annoyance on us. It was, indeed,
a most crushing blow for him and his followers.</p>

<a name="wad"></a><div class="figcenter" style="width:500px;"><img src="https://brian.carnell.com/wiki/_media/etext:f:fr-wingate-ten-years-captive-p264.jpg" border="0" alt="" title="" width="213" height="339">
<p class="caption2">WAD EN NEJUMI.</p>
<p class="caption2"><i>From a photograph of a drawing made by an Egyptian officer of the
great Emir, as he lay dead on the field of Toski.</i></p>
</div>

<p>The Emirs Hassan en Nejumi&mdash;a relative of Wad
Nejumi&mdash;and Siwar ed Dahab, who had escaped from
the massacre, returned with all speed to Dongola, and
thence to Omdurman. They reported that it was madness
of Nejumi to have attempted what he did; that
all his emirs were opposed to it, and that they had
told Nejumi that they were sure, if the Khalifa were<a name="Page_265" id="Page_265"></a>
fully informed of all the circumstances, he would never
have permitted him to advance. As it was, famine, want of
water, and the unseasonable time of the year, ought to
have been sufficient reasons for postponing the expedition;
but Nejumi turned a deaf ear to all their protests,
he feared the Khalifa; his plundering and cruelties cried
to heaven for vengeance, and the instruments of that
vengeance appeared in the persons of General Grenfell
and Colonel Wodehouse.</p>

<p>Saleh Bey, the son of Hussein Pasha Khalifa, and a
subsidized sheikh of the Egyptian Government, drove
his nephew out of Murat, advanced almost to Abu
Hamed, and we fondly hoped that the Government
would at least advance to Dongola, which is the key of
the Sudan; but we were again doomed to disappointment.</p>

<p>And now Mahdiism was far too exhausted to make
any further attempts on Egypt. The province of Dongola
had been utterly ruined, and Yunis's ill-treatment
of the inhabitants was beyond description. Complaints
of his evil deeds eventually reached the Khalifa's ears,
and fearing that the inhabitants might be induced to
join the "Turks," he relieved Yunis of his appointment,
and replaced him by Zogal, who, in spite of his former
fall from power, was known to be a just man, and the
Khalifa trusted to him to restore the confidence of the
people. Yet the Khalifa did not entirely trust Zogal,
and still left Mussaid to watch him, he also sent
another Baggara called Arabi with three hundred troops
to observe his doings.</p>

<p>Dongola now became a hotbed of spying and cross-spying.
Matters became so serious that it seemed a
fight between the rival parties was imminent, and every
post brought letters from either section, accusing the
other of malpractices. The Khalifa therefore summoned
these two emirs&mdash;Mussaid and Arabi&mdash;to Dongola, and
on their arrival they reported that it was Zogal's intention
to deliver up the province to the Egyptian
Government. Thereupon the Khalifa recalled Zogal,
and replaced him by Yunis.<a name="Page_266" id="Page_266"></a></p>

<p>Zogal, on his arrival in Omdurman, was well received,
and did not hesitate to refute the misstatements of the
emirs; but he was not believed, and was thrown into
chains, where he remains to this day. Zogal's only
fault is, that he is a Dongolawi, and a relative of the
Mahdi, whilst his opponents are all Baggaras, who are
the governing party, and therefore he is not likely to
receive any pity from them.</p>

<p>Besides Wad en Nejumi and Abu Anga, there yet remained
one of the greatest of the Mahdi's old emirs. I
mean Osman Digna, to whom I referred in the early
pages of this work. He had been sent to the Eastern
Sudan after the fall of El Obeid, and in July 1883, had
taken up a position near Sawakin. The Mahdi had given
him proclamations to distribute to all the tribes in the
neighbourhood of Kassala and Sawakin, ordering them to
rise against the Government. The summons was obeyed,
and by the end of 1883 Osman Digna was in possession
of all the principal posts in the vicinity. The most important
work which Osman Digna performed for the
Mahdi was cutting the communication between Sawakin
and Berber, and thus blocking the shortest and best
road into the Sudan. Fully alive to the importance of
this route, the Government made repeated attempts to
re-open it, but Osman, with his dauntless Hadendoas,
caused every effort to fail.</p>

<p>On the 3rd of February, General Baker Pasha made
a vain attempt, but was cut to pieces at El Teb, losing
over two thousand men and all his arms and ammunition.
After Baker's defeat, the English made another
effort, and after General Graham had defeated Osman
Digna at both Teb and Tamai, the proposal was made
to open the road to Berber, and thus relieve Gordon,
then besieged in Khartum; but it was thought impossible
to fight Osman Digna's hordes, and to overcome
the difficulties of the desert, so the idea was abandoned.</p>

<p>For seven long years Osman Digna continued alternately
to harass and besiege Sawakin; but gradually
numbers of the local Arabs&mdash;notably the Amarar&mdash;fell
away from his cause, and intertribal conflicts ensued.<a name="Page_267" id="Page_267"></a>
When almost quite deserted, Osman Digna came to
Omdurman. In January 1887, he returned <i>vi&acirc;</i> Gedaref
and Kassala, where he collected some four thousand
men, eventually occupied Handub, and again besieged
Sawakin. He also defeated the Amarar, and killed over
seven hundred of them.</p>

<p>Kitchener Pasha, the Governor-General of the Red
Sea Littoral, was severely wounded during his attack
on Handub; in March of the same year Abu Girgeh
arrived with a force from Kassala, and thus Osman
became almost as powerful as ever. He continued to
harass Sawakin, and to devastate the neighbouring
country. It was useless for him to attempt to take
the town, he therefore received the Khalifa's orders to
establish himself at Tokar in January 1889, and at
the same time he was permitted to open commercial
relations with Sawakin. A small post was established at
Handub, and Dervish merchants were actually permitted
to enter the town and purchase goods.</p>

<p>These commercial relations existed for about two
years between Sawakin and the Dervishes, and, as a
famine prevailed at Tokar, the enemy drew most of
their supplies through the port of Trinkitat. Suddenly
news reached Omdurman to the effect that the gates
of Sawakin had been closed, and all traffic stopped
between Tokar and Handub. In consequence the famine
increased, and merchants arriving in Omdurman said
that no doubt it was the intention of the Government
to attack Osman Digna very soon.</p>

<p>The wealthiest of these merchants was a certain Omar
Kisha, who had smuggled quantities of lead and powder
through Sawakin. The news they brought was soon confirmed,
and in February 1891, Handub was occupied.
In March a message was received from Zogal, in
Dongola, to the effect that a salute had been fired at
Halfa to announce the occupation of Tokar by the
Government, and the complete defeat of Osman Digna.
This news created almost a panic in Omdurman, and
what made it worse was the uncertainty, for no news
had been received either through Berber or Kassala. It<a name="Page_268" id="Page_268"></a>
was not until eight days later that a Shukrieh Arab
arrived from Kassala, and said that he had heard much
talk about the defeat at Tokar, but the fate of Osman
Digna was uncertain, some said that he had been killed,
others, seriously wounded. A month afterwards letters
arrived from Osman himself confirming the news of the
defeat. This caused great consternation, and the Khalifa
at once assembled a council.</p>

<p>It was said that an Egyptian expedition had already
reached Berber, and every day it was thought news
would arrive of the capture of Dongola. It was decided
to make a camp at Metemmeh. The whole of Omdurman
was secretly rejoicing at the approaching downfall
of the Khalifa, but again we were all doomed to the
most bitter disappointment. News came from Berber
that the "Turks" had no intention of advancing further,
and were content to have occupied Tokar, where they
had built a fort and securely established themselves.
But, though thus temporarily relieved, the loss of
Tokar was a very severe blow to the Khalifa, as the
Government was now in immediate contact with the
tribes on the Sawakin-Berber road, and the way was
clear.</p>

<p>On the last Muled (the anniversary of the Prophet's
birth) Osman Digna arrived at Omdurman, accompanied
by a few followers. During his flight from Tokar
towards Kassala his followers had nothing to eat but
wild figs, and many had starved. The Khalifa received
Osman very coldly, and reproached him for his defeat;
he afterwards sent him to cultivate on the Atbara, where
he now lives at a place called Adaramab.</p>

<p>Of all the opponents to Government, Osman Digna
was perhaps the most bitter; he had done great things
at Sawakin, Kassala, and on the Abyssinian frontier, but
by his ruthless cruelty he had alienated the Arabs from
his cause. In his present seclusion he has, probably,
occasion to think of all his evil and bloodthirsty deeds,
which have ended in the ruin of his country and the
death of his followers. Almost all the Arabs who
espoused his cause with so much zeal are now dead,<a name="Page_269" id="Page_269"></a>
and his present humiliation is a fitting reward for his
blind adherence to a false and ruthless tyrant.</p>

<p>Scarcity of money in the beit et mal at Omdurman
was the main reason for the despatch of an expedition
up the White Nile. Since 1885 Emin had not been
disturbed by the Dervishes, and Karamallah had long
since retired to Bahr el Ghazal, from whence no news
had been received of him for years.</p>

<p>There was no Dervish post south of Fashoda, which
was the market to which the blacks brought their
cattle for sale. The negro tribes all along the White
Nile had been left quite undisturbed by the Dervishes,
but now it occurred to the Khalifa to send an expedition
to collect ivory and slaves and to subdue Emin Pasha.
Omar Saleh was appointed to command, and was given
three steamers and a number of sailing vessels; he was
also the bearer of a letter to Emin informing him of
the various events which had occurred in the Sudan,
and calling on him to surrender to Omar. To add
weight to his letter, he also ordered the Syrian Stambuli
to write in a similar sense; also some of the Copts in
Omdurman were ordered to write to the Copts who were
known to be in Emin's service.</p>

<p>Omar Saleh left Omdurman in July 1888, and a
whole year passed without any information of his movements
reaching Omdurman; it was thought that Emin
must have annihilated the expedition and captured the
steamers. The Khalifa became restless, but at length
one of the steamers returned, laden with ivory and
slaves.</p>

<p>We were all naturally most anxious to hear about
Emin, and the men who brought the despatches informed
us that they had arrived at Regaf in October;
this place they took by storm, and had sent down to
Omdurman one of the clerks they had taken prisoner
there. As to Emin, they stated that he and an
Englishman (we thought this Englishman must be the
intrepid Stanley) had been put in chains by the mutinous
soldiers, because the Englishman wanted to bring
Emin to Egypt, as the Khedive had sent him there for<a name="Page_270" id="Page_270"></a>
that purpose. Omar Saleh had seized this opportunity
to take possession of the province, but he had been
driven back by the mutineers; this last news was not
told the Khalifa, but we heard it in confidence. Omar
had begged the Khalifa to send back the steamer without
delay, and in consequence it went south again a few
days afterwards.</p>

<a name="woman"></a><div class="figcenter" style="width:600px;"><img src="https://brian.carnell.com/wiki/_media/etext:f:fr-wingate-ten-years-captive-p270.jpg" border="0" alt="" title="" width="343" height="413">
<p class="captionserif">A NATIVE WOMAN OF MAKARAKA, THE WIFE OF ONE OF EMIN
PASHA'S OFFICERS, WHO REACHED EGYPT FROM UGANDA IN
JUNE 1892.</p></div>

<p>A long time after this another steamer arrived from
Equatoria, but it brought no important information.<a name="Page_271" id="Page_271"></a>
It seemed that Emin had left the provinces, that on his
departure the country had fallen into a state of anarchy,
and that the blacks had massacred all the Arabs. The
Khalifa despatched two emirs, Hasib and Elias Wad
Kanuna, to Regaf in the steamer; and as it was reported
that the Dervishes there suffered a great deal from the
climate, he decided to make it a place of exile, and
afterwards sent only bad characters there.</p>

<p>In 1891 the Emir Hasib arrived in Omdurman; he
came as a fugitive, and reported that he was with two
of the steamers which had been sent to a place two days'
journey from Regaf to collect ivory; they made a zariba,
and one steamer was already loaded up when they were
suddenly attacked by the blacks, who killed everyone in
the zariba, and he had retreated with the remaining
empty steamer, but the other had fallen into the enemy's
hands.</p>

<p>Some of the blacks who came to Omdurman with
Hasib said that they had heard Emin had returned to
the province and had stirred up the blacks to revolt
against the Dervishes; but Hasib was of a different
opinion, and believed the attack to have been purely a
local affair.<a name="FNanchor_M_13" id="FNanchor_M_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_M_13" class="fnanchor">[M]</a></p>

<p>Khalifa Abdullah now felt some alarm for the safety<a name="Page_272" id="Page_272"></a>
of his posts at Lado and Regaf, more particularly as he
was now at war with the Shilluks, and his post at
Fashoda was hemmed in by this warlike tribe; he
therefore despatched another steamer south to obtain
more information, but the Dervishes he wished to send
refused to go, and had to be dragged on board in
chains.</p>

<p>In my opinion the Khalifa will have some difficulty
in retaining his posts on the White Nile. When I left
Omdurman, the head of the Shilluk King was hanging
on the gallows, and his brave people revolted against
this act of treachery which had deprived them of their
chief. The revolt had assumed large proportions, and
the Emir Zeki had been despatched to Fashoda from
Galabat, and had been heavily pressed by the infuriated
blacks.</p>

<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>

<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_K_11" id="Footnote_K_11"></a>
<a href="#FNanchor_K_11" class="fnlabel">[K]</a> It was the knowledge of this fact that caused General Sir F.
Grenfell, in his letter written to Nejumi, calling on him to surrender
just prior to the action of Toski, to say, "I know that you personally
have been the victim of a base jealousy imposed upon you by the
false Khalifa."&mdash;<i>Mahdiism and the Egyptian Sudan</i>, p. 418.</p></div>

<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_L_12" id="Footnote_L_12"></a>
<a href="#FNanchor_L_12" class="fnlabel">[L]</a> It must be remembered that with the Arabs of the Sudan the
term "Turk" is a synonym for the hated oppressor of whatever
nationality. The British troops, even, were confounded under the
same appellation.</p></div>

<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_M_13" id="Footnote_M_13"></a>
<a href="#FNanchor_M_13" class="fnlabel">[M]</a> The arrival of a portion of the old Equatoria garrison in Cairo
in June 1892, who had travelled under the &aelig;gis of the Imperial
British East Africa Company through Uganda to Mombasa, throws
further light on the present situation in Equatoria. They state
that after Stanley's departure from Kavalli's, Selim Bey (Emin's
old commandant), who had been despatched north to collect the
garrison, finding that Stanley had gone, settled down with a small
number of men in his old camp at Kavalli's, while the rebel officer,
Fadl Maula Bey, with the bulk of the garrison, remained in the
neighbourhood of Wadelai. This place was eventually attacked by
the Dervishes, who were driven off, but most of the garrison, feeling
that they could not trust Fadl Maula, who was known to have been
in communication with the Dervishes, deserted to Selim Bey. Emin
had come to Kavalli's in April 1891, but on stating that he was in
German employ had been joined by only a few of his old garrison,
and had not attempted to re-enter his old province. Shortly after
Emin's departure, Captain Lugard had arrived, and had taken the
entire force into Uganda and Unyoro, where he had established
some military posts.&mdash;F.&nbsp;R.&nbsp;W.</p></div>
</div>

<a name="Page_273" id="Page_273"></a>
<hr class="newpg" style="width: 65%;">
<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI.</h2>

<p class="chapterhead">THE FAMINE AT OMDURMAN&mdash;1888-1889.</p>

<p class="chapterdescribe">Ohrwalder describes Omdurman&mdash;The Mahdi's tomb, and how it
was built&mdash;Pilgrimage to Mecca forbidden&mdash;A description of
the great mosque&mdash;The Khalifa's palace&mdash;The markets&mdash;The
population&mdash;The Khalifa's tyrannical rule&mdash;The terrible famine
of 1888-1889&mdash;Awful scenes and sufferings&mdash;The plague of
locusts.</p>


<p class="firstpara"><span class="firstwords">In</span> this chapter I propose to give a description of the
great Mahdi capital of the Sudan. I have already given
a brief account of the place as I found it on my arrival
from Kordofan in 1886, but now the city is vastly
increased in size.</p>

<p>When Khalifa Abdullah had quite consolidated his
authority within the Sudan, and was contemplating the
invasion of Egypt, it also occurred to him to define the
limits of his kingdom, and establish an hereditary
succession in his family. Indeed his only reason for
carrying on his rule under the guise of Mahdiism was
his fear that a change of name might involve him in
difficulties, but nevertheless he adhered strictly to his
intentions, with the result that now nothing of Mahdiism
remains but the name. He has adopted many of the
old Government systems of administration, and were it
not that he feared he might lose his new kingdom, I
believe that he would not be averse to substituting the
Sultan's for the Mahdi's name.</p>

<p>It is now thoroughly understood that the Khalifa's
authority is no longer based entirely on religious
principles as in the case of the Mahdi: he has substituted
for it&mdash;if not in name, at any rate in fact&mdash;the
system of "molk," or temporary authority. He
has abolished almost all the Mahdi's decrees. His<a name="Page_274" id="Page_274"></a>
predecessor had substituted for the gallows the system
of decapitation for death-sentences, but the Khalifa has
reinstituted the gallows, his reason for doing this was
to make the mode of execution more alarming to the
Sudanese, for whom he considers decapitation a too
painless death.</p>

<p>He has changed the name of his followers. The
Mahdi had decreed that the Foggara (or "poor" as the
Dervishes first called themselves) should take the name
of Asyad (<i>i.e.</i> masters), and this system of nomenclature
was partially adhered to up to the date of his death;
but the Khalifa thought the name Foggara very derogatory
to the spirit of his rule, and therefore ordered
that this name should be abolished and substituted by
"Ansar ed Din" (<i>i.e.</i> auxiliaries or helpers in the cause
of religion); it was also permitted to be called the Habib
or Sahib el Mahdi (<i>i.e.</i> the friend or disciple of the
Mahdi), consequently the women are known as Habiba&mdash;a
play on words which has given rise to much joking
on the part of the men. It took only a few days to
cause the name of Fakir to be completely forgotten,
and now Ansar for the men and Ansariat for the
women have been adopted throughout the Sudan.</p>

<p>The Khalifa also abolished the name Fiki, which is
given to religious teachers. There is a Sudan proverb
which runs, "El Fiki yefik ed Din" (<i>i.e.</i> "The Fiki
analyses religion"), and the Khalifa knew well how
these fikis imposed on the minds of the people, how
they wrote amulets for preservation against the evil-eye,
witchcraft, diseases, and ill-luck; how they
pretended to be able to give women the means of
taking revenge on their husbands whose love had
grown cold, and help those who desired to secure
the sole affection of their husbands. Abdullah well
knew how credulous were the Sudanese in such matters;
already the Mahdi had given the strictest injunctions
that the practice of writing amulets was to be discontinued,
and now the Khalifa was even more severe;
he decreed that any fiki found writing an amulet should
lose his right hand, but in spite of these stringent<a name="Page_275" id="Page_275"></a>
measures it is almost impossible to eradicate the
people's belief in these superstitions; the Khalifa
himself has openly declared that he has not the
smallest belief in witchcraft, amulets, &amp;c., and that
God, who is alone the Judge of right and wrong, has
alone the power to reward or punish. However, he is a
believer in the power of the evil-eye, and will never
permit a one-eyed man in his presence, as it is said
the one eye that is good can do great damage.</p>

<p>The Khalifa, like the Mahdi, is bent on the destruction
of the old towns, so as to further wrap in oblivion
the former Government rule. Thus old Berber has
been long since deserted, and a new Berber has been
built just to the north of the old town. Of course
Omdurman&mdash;the Dervish Khartum&mdash;is by far the most
important of all the towns; and being the place of the
death and burial of the Mahdi, it is quite right that it
should be the capital of the kingdom which he founded.
Just as Medina is one of the most holy places of Islam,
so is it considered advisable to raise Omdurman to a
similar position.</p>

<p>By far the most important and conspicuous structure
in Omdurman is the Mahdi's tomb; and in spite of the
Khalifa's divergence from his Master's views, still he
considers it politic to show that he is grateful to his
benefactor. His desire was to build a tomb which
should excel everything between Omdurman and Alexandria.
It is said that the dome can be seen three days'
journey from Omdurman, but on this point I am not
prepared to give an opinion, as I never went beyond
Khartum. From here, of course, the dome, rising high
above the miserable mud hovels and straw huts, is a
most conspicuous object, and it is certainly the tallest
of all the buildings in the Sudan.</p>

<p>Abdullah spared no expense in erecting this structure.
He first ordered the plans to be drawn out, and selected
that of the engineer Ismail, who was the architect of
the Sidi Hassan dome at Kassala. Omar, the former
Government architect, was lent to Ismail to assist him.
Laying the foundation stone was a great spectacle, and<a name="Page_276" id="Page_276"></a>
was celebrated with general rejoicing and festivity.
Enormous crowds collected to witness the ceremony.
Several people were crushed to death, and were looked
upon as fortunate to have died on such a day.</p>

<p>The work of construction was now vigorously taken
in hand. Khartum supplied the materials. Thousands
of people were sent there, and the work of destruction
went on apace. Walls were pulled down in order to
procure the burnt bricks, which were sent across to
Omdurman. The corner stones of Government house
were pulled out and used as the corner stones of the
dome. The woodwork was made by carpenter Mohammed
Bornawi. The masons were for the most part
Egyptians who had learnt their trade in the construction
of the Mission house and church in Khartum; and
by them the Dervish workmen were instructed how to
break down walls without destroying the bricks. The
foreman of works was in the habit of secretly chewing
tobacco, and one day he rather unguardedly put a piece
into his mouth; but he had been observed by some of
the Dervishes, who fell upon him, knocked him down,
and would have torn him to pieces had not Wad Adlan
interposed and taken him off to the steamer, where he
concealed him.</p>

<p>In the eyes of the Dervishes it was an unpardonable
crime to chew the forbidden weed whilst working at the
dome of the Mahdi's tomb. Most of the Dervishes
worked without pay&mdash;"Fi shan Allah" ("For the sake
of God"), as they say. A small quantity of dhurra was
allowed them; but the masons received pay. Lime was
obtained from Omdurman itself.</p>

<p>In order to push forward the work, Khalifa Abdullah,
accompanied by the two other Khalifas, and all the
emirs and judges, went to the river bank and assisted
to carry the stones to the dome. Of course the whole
town followed them. Abdullah put a great stone on
his shoulder and marched off with it. The others all
followed his example; and in this way it took no time
to bring up all the stones required. The Khalifa
promised the Mahdi's blessing to all who assisted in<a name="Page_277" id="Page_277"></a>
this work; and he solemnly assured the labourers that
they should be possessors of as many palaces in paradise
as stones which they carried to the dome. The women
carried the water required for the work. The tomb is
built much in the same style as all Mohammedan domes
erected to the memory of some holy sheikh.</p>

<p>Several of the domes in the Sudan are made of clay;
but the Khalifa had determined that the Mahdi's dome
should be the grandest in the Sudan. The mud hut in
which the Mahdi had died was pulled down, and a
square structure about thirty feet high built round the
spot, with large windows. Above this superstructure
rose the dome some eighty feet above the ground.
The foundations were laid very deep, and the walls
were immensely thick. On the four corners of the
superstructure, and just where the dome begins, are
four round balls supported on four small pillars. On
the summit of the dome are three large balls, the centre
one being the largest; and above these again is a
gigantic gilt spear-head resting on the balls.</p>

<p>The doorway is really a work of art which does credit
to Sudanese labour. It is painted in bright colours,
and was made in the arsenal at Khartum; and when it
was finished, Yakub, the Khalifa's brother, himself went
to fetch it, and rewarded handsomely the men entrusted
with the work. The outside walls of the building are
white. At first they attempted to paint the tomb with
oil-colours; but as they were not properly prepared,
the paint soon peeled off when it was dry, and so they
had to be content with simple whitewash. The fanatics
said that there had been some evil Christian substance
mixed with the paint, which prevented it sticking; and
by its falling off, it proved that it was not acceptable to
the Mahdi.</p>

<p>The large windows admit a quantity of light into the
tomb, which is decorated inside with the most glaring
colours. The actual grave is not situated quite in the
centre of the building, and is covered by a painted
wooden catafalque. To reduce the glare, the windows
are well curtained. Every night, and all through the<a name="Page_278" id="Page_278"></a>
night, quantities of candles are kept burning; and it is
impossible not to be impressed with the solemnity of
the tomb. The walls are so thick that the tropical sun
cannot penetrate, and there is always a cool refreshing
breeze inside. The rich perfumes with which the tomb
is being continually sprinkled fill the air with the most
agreeable odours. The surrounding wall, which marks
the limits of the Mahdi's original enclosure, is so high
as to conceal the superstructure on which the dome
rests.</p>

<p>This tomb means to the Sudan Moslems what the
Kaba at Mecca means to the thousands of pilgrims
who visit it; but pilgrimage is not enjoined to the
Mahdi's tomb. To come to Omdurman is quite
sufficient without being obliged to go through various
ceremonies. Omdurman is detested in the Sudan; and
no one who is not obliged to live there would stay for a
day longer than he could help; and the farther people
can distance themselves from it, the better they like it.</p>

<p>Since the Mahdi appeared, pilgrimage to Mecca
ceased, because, while he was alive, a visit to him was
supposed to supply all its advantages. And when he
died, a visit to his tomb was supposed to confer even
greater benefits than the pilgrimage to Mecca. Several
of the Fallata, who came from distant parts of Bornu,
Wadai, &amp;c., were stopped at Omdurman when on their
way to Mecca.</p>

<p>Thus have the Sudanese become schismatic to the
orthodox Moslem religion, asserting that those who do
not believe in the Mahdi, even though they be Moslems,
are unbelievers. Now, of course, all these ideas have
quite disappeared, and all true friends of Islam in the
Sudan bitterly deplore the present state of affairs.
Several people used to say to us, "Our position is a
most miserable one! You Christians have nothing to
reproach yourselves with on the score of religion, but
with us Moslems such a state of affairs as the present is
too dreadful to contemplate, and we know no rest." A
great number of people now repeat, in the privacy of
their own homes, the daily prayers, although they have<a name="Page_279" id="Page_279"></a>
gone all through them in the mosque; but as they do
not believe in the Mahdi, they consider the prayers said
in his mosque to be valueless.</p>

<p>Quantities of women visit the Mahdi's tomb; for,
though most of them no longer believe in him as the
Mahdi, they still look upon him, on account of his great
victories, as a saint to whom God has given a great
position in the other world because of his holiness.
But, after all, these ideas are held for the most part by
his enormous circle of relations, whose motives are
always somewhat interested.</p>

<p>Khalifa Abdullah did not, however, confine himself only
to beautifying the Mahdi's tomb. Being now the sole
monarch, he desired also to beautify his own residence.
It will be remembered how, with Wad Adlan's assistance,
he had organized the beit el mal. Now, close to the
Mahdi's tomb, was the great mosque&mdash;not a mosque in
its usual sense, but an immense yard, which would hold
upwards of 70,000 men extended in long rows of 1,000.
It was roofed in by enormous mats, held up on innumerable
forked sticks, which gave it the appearance
of a forest. This "rukuba," or kneeling-place, was
capable of holding 30,000 men, whose murmuring
sounded like distant thunder. At first the great enclosing
wall was made of mud; but afterwards Khalifa
Abdullah had it pulled down, and a good wall made of
burnt bricks and lime.</p>

<p>The mihrab, or niche, marking the direction of Mecca,
in which the Mahdi repeated prayers, is situated a little
to the east of the centre, and is square in shape with
mud walls, and a gable roof, made of iron plates from
the Khartum arsenal; gates open in the walls on the
north, south, east, and west. The mihrab is entered
from the west, but is well protected by branches of trees,
so as to prevent the Ansar from crowding up too close.
The floor is sprinkled with fine sand; the Khalifa repeats
prayers in the big mosque on Friday at noon; but he
says daily prayers in the rukuba, in which there is a
whitewashed platform about six feet high, on which he
stands.<a name="Page_280" id="Page_280"></a></p>

<p>Close to the rukuba is a square building with thatched
gable roof supported by two pillars. This is open on
three sides, but surrounded by well-carved and painted
wooden railings: in this there is a seat about three feet
high, in which the Khalifa sits when he addresses the
Ansar. As one leaves the east gate of the rukuba, the
Khalifa's palace gate is visible, being built quite close
to the mosque.</p>

<p>The Khalifa's palace is known as the "Bab," just as
the Sultan's palace is known as the Bab Ali, or Porte.
This palace contains a number of different divisions, all
built of mud besmeared with red sand. Just within
the great gate is the only two-storied house in Omdurman,
which the Khalifa has purposely built in order to
overlook the whole town, and from here he can see as
far as Kererri to the north, and as far as Omdurman fort
to the south. Gordon's ruined palace in Khartum is
also visible. Near the great gate, and close to the
outside wall of the mosque, is a building surrounded by
wooden railings, in which the judge sits and carries on
his court.</p>

<p>The Khalifa is very fond of going about to different
parts of the town, accompanied by crowds of people,
and as he found the narrow streets impeded his progress,
and detracted from his splendour, he ordered his engineer
Omar to construct broad straight roads to all the
principal places. This necessitated the removal of
thousands of mud huts, which were immediately demolished;
but I never heard that the proprietors
received any indemnity for the losses they sustained.
A broad road now leads from the north gate of the
mosque to the Hejira (or place from which expeditions
start) near the Khor Shambat. This road, as I previously
mentioned, is called "the Martyr's Road." The
second large road leads from the west gate of the
mosque to the Arda (or parade place), and is known as
the "Darb el Arda." A third main road leads to the
southern Hejira, whence expeditions leave for Kordofan,
Darfur, &amp;c.</p>

<p>In addition to these main roads are innumerable<a name="Page_281" id="Page_281"></a>
winding streets and lanes, to traverse which a guide is
absolutely necessary. The great Mahdi's dome forms
an excellent landmark.</p>

<p>The Khalifa pays the most special attention to the
requisites necessary for war, and for this purpose he has
had a large building constructed a little to the south
of the mosque, consisting of a large hall supported
by pillars, and built of burnt bricks. This is known as
the "beit el amana," and it is subdivided into various
compartments, in which are stored powder, ammunition,
guns, rifles, and other implements of war. This building
is entered through a large vaulted gate, and no other
houses are allowed to be built near it. It is surrounded
by a high wall, and is carefully guarded night and day
by detachments of soldiers. Within the yard the flags
are all firmly planted in the ground, and present the
appearance of a small forest of staves. The great black
flag of the Khalifa Abdullah towers high above them
all. Near the flag yard is a small two-storied building,
in which the war-drums are stored, and they are purposely
put high up so that they may be heard from a
greater distance. In front of the beit el amana is a
large open square connected with the mosque by one of
the main roads.</p>

<p>Besides his palace, Abdullah possesses a number of
other houses, which he visits from time to time. Of these
one is situated close to the bank of the White Nile, and
its roof is ornamented with two gigantic hippopotamus
heads. He has another house at the beit el mal, from
which he can easily reach the river, and embark on
one of his steamers to visit his Eastern Hejira, whence
expeditions start for the Gezireh, or for Abyssinia.
And, lastly, he possesses a large house on the Arda, or
parade ground, and at the northern Hejira. In all these
houses he keeps up a large establishment of women.</p>

<p>Omdurman is built almost entirely of mud, the straw
huts or tokuls have disappeared. Every house-owner
surrounds his yard with a wall, in order to keep out
thieves and spies with which the city abounds. It is
not permitted to build good houses, as they might prove<a name="Page_282" id="Page_282"></a>
a temptation to their owners to hide money. Whenever
a man is known to be well off, or prosperous, he is
almost certain to have his wealth taken from him.</p>

<p>One of the most important places in Omdurman is the
market, to which a broad road leads from the mosque.
It is a place full of life, abounding in buyers and sellers,
as well as idlers, who come to tattle and pick up any
news they can. The proof that Mahdieh is not considered
to be a durable r&eacute;gime is evident from the
feverish anxiety of everyone to hear the latest news, and
the market is the rendezvous for all news-seekers. Here
are collected merchants from Kordofan and the Gezireh,
from Berber, Dongola, and Sawakin, all earnestly
occupied in learning each other's news.</p>

<p>It is impossible to give an idea of the wild rumours
which are continually flying hither and thither. It is
equally impossible to separate the false news from the
true. On this account the market is looked upon by
the Khalifa with the utmost distrust, and he would
readily abolish it if he thought it was possible to do so.
It consists of a strange medley of shops and stalls,
workshops and straw huts. Khalifa Ali Wad Helu has
been put in charge of the place, he has apportioned
special quarters for each variety of goods, and the
different marts are now separated off in lines.</p>

<p>At night all goods, working tools, &amp;c., are removed,
as it would never be safe to leave them there, so that in
the daytime the market is the very life of Omdurman,
while at night it is absolutely empty and deserted.
Since, however, Wad Helu has taken it in hand, small
brick huts have been run up in which some merchants
lock up their goods, and leave them in charge of caretakers.
Cloth dealers, druggists, greengrocers, salt and
meat vendors, all have their special quarters now, as
well as gold-and silversmiths, blacksmiths, carpenters,
tailors, and barbers. There are also special quarters for
public eating-houses, coffee-shops, firewood vendors,
builders, and shoemakers.</p>

<p>The women have their own separate divisions, and
for the last few years men have been forbidden to have<a name="Page_283" id="Page_283"></a>
any dealings with them. For the settlement of quarrels
and disputes which frequently occur in the market, there
is a special market court, presided over by a judge, and
all delinquents are interned in a large zariba quite open
to the sun's burning rays. Close to the zariba are three
sets of gallows, besides two others in different parts of
the town. The gallows are erected close to the market,
in the hope that if the executions are seen by the masses,
it will have a deterrent effect on crime.</p>

<p>The inhabitants of Omdurman are a conglomeration
of every race and nationality in the Sudan: Fellata,
Takruris, natives of Bornu, Wadai, Borgo, and Darfur;
Sudanese from the Sawakin districts, and from Massawah;
niggers as black as ebony, down to a light chocolate
colour, Niam Niam and Mombuttu cannibals, Bazeh,
Dinka, Shilluk, Kara, Jangh&eacute;, Nuba, Berta, and Masalit;
Arabs of every tribe&mdash;Baggara, Rizeghat, Taisha,
Homr, Howazma, Miserieh, Kababish, Habbanieh, Degheim,
Kenana, Gowameh, Bederieh, Beni Jerrar, Gehena,
inhabitants of Beni Shangul, and of Gezireh,
Shukrieh, Batahin, Hadarba, Hadendoa, Barabra, Jaalin,
Danagla, Egyptians, Abyssinians, Turks, Mecca Arabs,
Syrians, Indians, Europeans, Jews; and all these
various nationalities have their own quarters, and marry
into their own tribes and sections. Arabic is the universal
language, and all free inhabitants of the Sudan
speak it or corrupt dialects of it.</p>

<p>The Danagla, Barabra, and Hadendoa have their
own special languages; but being derived from Arabic,
they are called "rotan," as if Arabic were the only
original language in the world&mdash;the language of Adam
and Eve, and the language of paradise. Arabic is not
compulsory, so the blacks still talk in their local
dialects.</p>

<p>The population of Omdurman amounts to about one
hundred and fifty thousand persons; but it is by no
means fixed, for during the winter numbers quit the
town and go off into the Kordofan or Gezireh districts
to cultivate. But when the Khalifa orders a general
assembly, the numbers of course increase considerably.<a name="Page_284" id="Page_284"></a>
In 1888 the city was perhaps larger than at any other
time, for in that year the Khalifa ordered all the inhabitants
of the Gezireh to come and live in Omdurman.
The reason for this was never exactly known, but it was
thought he feared a revolt on the part of the Ashraf.</p>

<p>All the principal towns and villages on the Blue Nile
as far south as Karkoj have been destroyed, such as
Kemlin, Messalamieh, Wad Medina, Abu Haraz, Wad
el Abbas and Rufaa; the inhabitants of all these towns,
men, women, and children, under great fatigue, had to
come to Omdurman, where they settled in the north of
the town near Khor Shambat.</p>

<p>All these severe measures quite alienated the people
from the Khalifa; wives were furious with their husbands
for having so abjectly submitted to his yoke, and
it was now quite plain that they feared him greatly.
One word from him was sufficient to make them pull
down their houses, pack up their goods, load them on
camels, donkeys, and mules, and transport them to hated
and dreaded Omdurman. How they longed for the
Government they had so bitterly abused. "Alf turba
wala rial tulba" ("Thousands of graves are better than
a dollar tax") had been their watchword in the beginning
of the revolt; it had proved true with a vengeance, and
how bitterly they repented of their folly when it was
too late! Khalifa Abdullah now gripped them in the
palm of his hand, and the utter disunion and discord
which he created between tribes and nationalities, made
all hope of future liberty and freedom quite out of the
question.</p>

<p>Those who detested Mahdiism prior to 1888 had much
greater cause to do so in 1889 and 1890; the first of
these years brought a terrible famine on the land, and
in 1890, though the actual period of want had passed
away, everything was excessively dear.</p>

<p>The 1888 harvest had turned out badly; during the
summer of that year the Khalifa had issued stringent
orders that no one should keep more than one ardeb of
dhurra in his own house, under penalty of severe punishment;
all over and above that amount was ordered to be<a name="Page_285" id="Page_285"></a>
brought to the landing-stage at Omdurman; and as
there were but few transport animals to carry the
dhurra into the town, their owners charged exorbitant
rates for its carriage, consequently large stores of it lay
on the bank, and quantities were stolen.</p>

<p>Soon the price per ardeb rose from twelve to twenty
dollars, and latterly to sixty dollars. Even the most
aged people, in the whole course of their existence, had
never seen such a famine as now fell on the land.
Continual wars had prevented cultivation, and want of
rain into the bargain were the main causes of this
terrible calamity. In 1878, when there was a scarcity
of rain, the price of dhurra never exceeded sixteen
dollars the ardeb, now the price was almost four times
as great. The supplies of corn received from Fashoda
alone saved Omdurman from absolute starvation. The
supplies from the Blue Nile were quite exhausted. Up
to 1889, Fashoda continued the supply mart; the native
cultivators receiving in exchange glass beads, pieces of
copper, iron, cowries, and old Medjidie dollars; and in
return for all this, the Khalifa despatched Zeki Tummal
and an army from Galabat, who treacherously murdered
their king, and fought these people who had actually
saved him and his capital from the jaws of death!</p>

<p>The dhurra thus imported to Omdurman by the merchants
was unloaded there under the strictest watch,
and was sold to the Baggaras only at six dollars the
ardeb, under absolute compulsion, whilst the other
tribes had to purchase it at ten times that amount.
This called forth the bitterest complaints against the
Khalifa's injustice.</p>

<p>The awful scenes enacted by the starving inhabitants in
the market-place at Omdurman are beyond description.
People flocked from Berber, Kassala, Galabat, and
Karkoj, thinking that the distress would be less there
than it was in the provinces; but here they were quite
mistaken. As one walked along, one could count fifty
dead bodies lying in the streets, and this quite irrespective
of those who died in their own homes.</p>

<p>In the provision market the sellers stood over their<a name="Page_286" id="Page_286"></a>
goods with big sticks in their hands, to turn away the
poor wretched skeletons who, with eyes deeply sunk in
the back of their heads, would cast wistful glances at
the food which was denied them. Sometimes twenty or
thirty of these miserable starving people would join
together, and, regardless of the blows showered upon
them, which covered their bodies with wounds and
bruises, they would wildly attack the sellers, madly
seize whatever they could lay their hands upon, and
swallow it on the spot, begrimed with dust, and probably
besmeared with their own blood.</p>

<p>Others would sneak about like wild beasts, their
loins covered with the merest rag, and if they saw
anyone alone carrying eatables, they would pounce
down on him like tigers, content even to seize a
handful. These were called "Khatafin" (<i>i.e.</i> snatchers,
or birds of prey), and at first they were fairly successful
in their sudden attacks; but gradually people understood
what to be prepared for, and the wretched
creatures would be beaten off with sticks: hunger
seemed to make them insensible to pain.</p>

<p>One could see hundreds of these starving people
wandering about, mere bags of skin and bone, and
almost shapeless; they would eat anything, no matter
how repulsive. The skins of the camels which had been
killed after the defeat of the Kababish and Gehena, and
which had been used as coverings for the roofs of the
houses, were now taken down, roasted, and eaten in
that condition.</p>

<p>Perhaps the most horrible scenes occurred at the
places where animals were slaughtered. Hundreds of
starving men and women would be seen standing
around with cups or gourds in their hands, ready to
catch the blood before it fell, and then, as the animal
would be writhing on the ground in its death-agony,
they would fall upon it to catch the blood as it flowed
out of its wound, whilst a crowd would be seen
struggling on the ground for the few drops which had
escaped and become mixed up with the dust and sand;
these struggles generally ended in fights, in which the<a name="Page_287" id="Page_287"></a>
receptacles were broken, and the people besmeared with
their contents, which added to the grim ghastliness of
this dreadful sight. No power on earth could have
restrained these poor sufferers&mdash;the pangs of hunger
had driven them mad.</p>

<p>Although famine swept off hundreds, still people
poured in from the provinces. Male camels and
bullocks had become scarce, and the females were now
slaughtered without mercy, even should they be with
young. Old bones of animals were ground to powder
and made into a sort of bread, which was eaten with
avidity; even the decaying carcases of donkeys were
consumed in this terrible struggle for food.</p>

<p>But in all this wretched misery the Khalifa showed
no mercy, pity, or a desire to relieve these terrible
sufferings. He took good care that his Baggaras should
be fed, but for the others he cared not a jot. Hunger
certainly had the effect of bringing to the front all
manner of inventive genius; as it was now no longer
possible to rob and steal, the khatafin decided to let the
sellers alone, provided they would not hinder them in
their attempts to get what they could out of the
buyers.</p>

<p>Omdurman was full of strangers who had no notion
of the existence of the "khatafin," and would carelessly
go to market to buy their food; but no sooner had they
placed their money in the shopman's hands than the
"khatafin," with wild yells, would seize the money in a
trice, and leave the purchaser standing with empty
hands. Naturally, the shopmen would not deliver to
them the goods, the price of which had been stolen by
the "khatafin."</p>

<p>One could fill a book with the thousands of strange
episodes which occurred during this awful famine.
Children, deserted by their mothers&mdash;poor, wretched,
starving little things&mdash;would beg in the most pitiful,
heart-breaking way for alms. Beggars would follow
one about till late at night, and would stand about
one's house; they would beg for hours even for a grain
of food. A poor naked little boy one day broke into<a name="Page_288" id="Page_288"></a>
our house, crying, "Gian Gowi!" ("I'm very hungry!")
The tone in which it was said, the wistful, sunken eyes,
and the wretched condition of the boy, could not but
excite our pity, though hundreds of beggars had been
turned away before he came; we fed him, and he
survived the terrible year of famine, but he had forgotten
his name, so we always called him "Gian
Gowi." Often did I see poor little skeletons of infants
trying to get nourishment from their dead mother's
breasts.</p>

<p>The following instance will give the reader some
insight into the horrors of this famine. One day a
poor woman came to me with three starving children;
she carried one in each arm, while the eldest clung
to her skirt, the whole four looked like wandering
skeletons. With a voice of agonised supplication, which
could come from a mother only, she earnestly begged
me to take the boy and feed him, and that if he
survived he could remain for ever my slave. Here was
a poor mother who preferred to see her child a slave
than to look on whilst he died of starvation before her
eyes. This touched me to the very heart, but I could
not accept the offer, for I had scarcely enough food for
myself, so I dismissed her with a handful of dhurra.</p>

<p>The next day the mother came with one child less,
and the third day she came with one child only; and
at last she came alone, saying that she was now going
to follow her three loved children. After that I never
saw her again. If grief did not kill her, hunger must
certainly have claimed her as a victim.</p>

<p>One day a girl presented herself before the judge of
the market court, and reported that her mother had
roasted her little brother and eaten him, and that now
she had run away, as she was afraid she might suffer
the same fate. The Kadi at once sent some soldiers
with the girl to seize the unnatural mother; they
found a poor half-starved woman with an ear and a
piece of a leg. She was taken before the Kadi, and
took a solemn oath that the only child she ever had
was the girl; she was immediately interned in the<a name="Page_289" id="Page_289"></a>
zariba, and the matter reported to the Grand Kadi,
who ordered the leg and ear to be exposed on the
gallows. Even the savage blacks, who were hardened
by constant warfare, were impressed with the
horror of the poor woman's action, and crowded
round the zariba to gaze at her; but it was soon discovered
that the wretched creature was raving mad, so
the Khalifa pardoned her, but she died a few days
afterwards.</p>

<p>It was never safe for children to appear in the streets
at night, or they would certainly have been seized by
the starving people. One evening I heard a cry at my
door, and myself and several neighbours at once ran
out to see what was the matter. We saw a man
dragging a boy away: we at once gave chase, and the
man dropped the boy and fled; he intended to have
a good meal off the boy that night.</p>

<p>During the famine several sold themselves or their
children into slavery; but when it was all over, the
Khalifa ordered all such to be set free without remuneration
to their masters.</p>

<p>Dervishes, who had heaped insults on the Turks
during the siege of El Obeid for eating donkeys, and
other unclean animals, were now feeling Heaven's
vengeance, for not only did they eat unclean animals,
but their own children as well. There were so many
dead bodies about that it was not possible to bury
them all. At first they used to bury them within the
city, but the Khalifa put a stop to this, and they were
then taken out to the north-west side, and up to this
day, if anyone walks in that direction he will find the
plain scattered with innumerable skulls and human
bones, which lie there glistening in the sun, as white as
snow; the driving sand and burning sun have polished
them like glass.</p>

<p>How many dead bodies were carried away by the
Nile, God only knows; if people thought of it I do not
think they would ever eat any more fish, for the fish
must have had a surfeit of human flesh. The scent of
the dead bodies brought hyenas everywhere, and they<a name="Page_290" id="Page_290"></a>
became so bold that they would come almost up to my
door. As for the vultures, their name was legion, but
even they with the help of the hyenas were unable to
consume all the bodies.</p>

<p>Let us leave Omdurman for a moment and trace the
course of the famine in the provinces. In Dongola and
Berber the price of dhurra rose to one hundred dollars
an ardeb.</p>

<p>The entire districts between Omdurman and Berber
had become depopulated. In a hut might be found a
man, his wife and children all lying dead on their
angaribs. Even in the salt districts near Shendi, almost
the entire population had died of hunger. In Kassala
and Galabat matters were even worse; here the price of
an ardeb had gone up to two hundred and fifty dollars,
and even for this enormous price it was almost impossible
to get it, for there was really none in the country.
The great Shukrieh tribe had eaten almost all their
camels, and its numbers had dwindled from forty
thousand to four thousand souls.</p>

<p>The large tribe of Wad Zayid (the Debaineh) in the
neighbourhood of Gedaref, who for his opposition to
Mahdiism had been thrown into prison in Omdurman,
had become almost extinct. The population of Kassala,
Galabat, and Gedaref had dwindled almost to nothing.
Zeki Tummal, to obtain food for his troops, had mercilessly
robbed the corn merchants and compelled them
to give up their very last supplies; he left them without
even a handful.</p>

<p>Around Galabat the hyenas became so bold that they
would sneak into the villages almost before the sun was
down and drag off the wretched half-dead people. Out
of Zeki's force of eighty-seven thousand souls before
the famine there remained, after it was over, only ten
thousand, including women and children. Karkoj and
Sennar, which were generally called the granaries of the
Sudan, were desolated by famine. It was, indeed,
Heaven's terrible retribution on a people who had
practised untold cruelties and shed rivers of innocent
blood.<a name="Page_291" id="Page_291"></a></p>

<p>So great was the distress that it became a general
saying that any one who did not die in 1889 would
never die; and this year, corresponding to the year
1306 Moslem era, will remain engraven for ever on the
minds of those who went through the famine in the
Sudan and had the good fortune to survive it.</p>

<p>When the first supplies of the new harvest reached the
market, there was the most heartfelt joy throughout the
country, and every one congratulated his neighbour on
the termination of their distress; but even the new
harvest was not good, and dhurra did not go below
twenty-four dollars the ardeb. The locusts did much
harm to the harvest, and this plague has devastated the
land now for nearly four years.</p>

<p>There are two sorts of locusts, the yellow and the
bright red, and they have infested the whole country from
Kordofan to Dongola and to Tokar. They came in such
swarms that at times the sun was obscured; on one
occasion they passed through Omdurman, and took from
two to three hours to do so. The rushing sound they
made alarmed the people greatly, and wherever they established
themselves they left the place completely bare.
They demolished the hard palm leaves so completely that
it seemed as if they had been cut with a pair of scissors;
even the bark of the trees they did not spare. Where-ever
they settle they look like a big cloud, which completely
covers streets, roofs, and walls. Sudanese, as a
rule, sleep out of doors, so that their beds were covered
as well, and as soon as one swarm was driven off another
settled.</p>

<p>Locusts are considered by the Sudanese as a great
delicacy, and when well roasted in butter they taste like
fried fish; the locusts generally came between June and
September, just when the harvest is ripening or the new
crops sprouting after the rains. There is no attempt
made to destroy their eggs. Another plague was mice:
these little animals, which are of a reddish colour, came
in such quantities as to drive the cultivators to despair.
No sooner was the seed in the ground than the mice
had rooted it up and eaten it. Often the fields had<a name="Page_292" id="Page_292"></a>
to be planted two and three times over; and then when
a heavy rain came the mice would all be drowned, and
as the water subsided the ground would be covered with
the dead bodies of these little animals.</p>

<p>It seemed as if the entire Sudan lay under a curse.
The people knew it too, and looked upon it as God's
righteous judgment on them for the evil deeds they
had been prompted to do at the instigation of a wicked
and false Mahdi.</p>

<a name="Page_293" id="Page_293"></a>

<hr class="newpg" style="width: 65%;">
<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII"></a>CHAPTER XVII.</h2>

<p class="chapterhead">THE KHALIFA AND HIS GOVERNMENT.</p>

<p class="chapterdescribe">The Khalifa's system of government&mdash;His household&mdash;An outline of
his character&mdash;His system of prayers in the mosque&mdash;His visions
and dreams&mdash;His espionage system&mdash;His household troops&mdash;His
great activity and circumspection&mdash;The great Friday review
described&mdash;The emigration of the Baggara and western tribes to
Omdurman&mdash;The flight of Sheikh Ghazali&mdash;Management of
the beit el mal&mdash;System of taxation.</p>


<p class="firstpara"><span class="firstwords">This</span> chapter I propose to devote to a brief description
of Khalifa Abdullah and his system of government.</p>

<p>Abdullah is a Baggara of dark chocolate-coloured
complexion, with a long and prominent nose; he wears
a short beard cut according to the Moslem custom.
When I first saw him at the siege of El Obeid he was
very thin, but now he is extremely stout, and his skin
hangs in great folds underneath his eyes; he has a
strong clear voice, and though well instructed in Arabic,
he cannot conceal his Baggara dialect and accent.</p>

<p>His dress consists of the usual Dervish jibbeh and
drawers, he also wears sandals, and over his jibbeh,
which is generally reeking with grease and fat, he wears
a tob or light cotton cloth; on his head is the usual
Mecca takia, round which a turban is bound.</p>

<p>As regards food, the Khalifa is more moderate and
simple than the Mahdi; he still adheres to his native
dishes&mdash;asida (a sort of polenta), eaten with milk or
meat, over which a strong sauce full of spices and
pepper is poured. Sometimes he eats roasted chicken
and drinks quantities of milk and sugar, especially
camels' milk, to which all Baggaras are devoted. He
has no fixed hours for food, but eats whenever he feels<a name="Page_294" id="Page_294"></a>
so inclined; and it is perfectly astonishing the amount
of food which a Sudanese can consume at a sitting.</p>

<p>Like his master the Mahdi and all important persons
in the Sudan, the Khalifa is much addicted to harem
life. Shortly after he had established himself as
supreme ruler, he thought to surround himself with all
the pomp and splendour of a Sudanese Sultan, of which
the most important item is a very extensive harem.
As the Mahdi had done before, so did he take to himself
numbers of wives. Wherever a pretty woman is to
be found, he at once gets information about her from his
spies, and she is immediately brought to the harem.</p>

<p>Each of his wives has her own house, kitchen, and
slaves quite apart from the rest, consequently the
expenditure of his household is considerable. His first
wife is head of all the other wives, who now number
one hundred and fifty. She is a Baggara woman, and
is waited on by numbers of eunuchs, who were formerly
in the service of the Turkish and Egyptian pashas; and
although the making of eunuchs is strictly prohibited
by Mahdi law, nevertheless the Khalifa secretly employs
numbers of persons who arrange to supply eunuchs
when required.</p>

<p>The chief eunuch is a certain Abdel Gayum, who is
head of the entire household. He has under his orders
numbers of female slaves, who grind dhurra and prepare
the food; it is estimated that three ardebs of dhurra a
day are consumed in the Khalifa's household.</p>

<p>Abdullah is endowed by nature with a good constitution,
but his irregular mode of life has gone far
to destroy it. Twice he has had severe attacks which
have all but killed him; on both occasions he was
delirious, and his body became enormously distended.
The last time he was ill all hope of his recovery had
been given up, and the doctor who was attending him,
and had given him a purgative, was on the point of
being beheaded, when at the last moment the medicine
took effect, and was the happy means of saving the lives
of both the Khalifa and his doctor.</p>

<p>The Khalifa's illnesses are always kept secret, so that<a name="Page_295" id="Page_295"></a>
whenever he fails to attend prayers, it is generally
thought that he is sick. Fifteen days after the last crisis,
and when all danger was over, Abdullah summoned the
other two Khalifas and the judges to show them that
he had recovered, whereupon Khalifa Ali at once offered
up a prayer of thanksgiving, though, if his real feelings
had been analysed, it would have been found that he
was anything but thankful. After leaving Abdullah,
the Khalifas announced to the people in the mosque
that he had been very dangerously ill, but that God in
His mercy had spared him.</p>

<p>This news was the signal for a wild shout of delight,
which reached the Khalifa's ears and pleased him not a
little. Eight days afterwards he appeared for the first
time in the mosque, then the rejoicings knew no
bounds, and the shouts were heard miles off; all the
emirs congratulated him on his recovery, and the air
resounded with the cries of "Allah etawil Omrak!"
("May God prolong your life!") All this flattery pleased
the Khalifa immensely, and this eye-service is a particularly
highly-developed characteristic of the Sudanese.</p>

<p>And now a few words as to the Khalifa's character:
he is an intensely vain and proud man, very cruel and
quick-tempered. Occasionally his ideas are good, but
he is surrounded by so many fanatics that his ideas,
however good they may be, generally die almost before
they are born. He is of a most distrustful nature,
because he knows he is surrounded by enemies&mdash;thus
he is a curious mixture of resolution and inconstancy.
He listens eagerly to calumnies, and delights in hearing
evil spoken of other people; this causes his decisions to
be changeable and capricious; he is guided a good deal
by what low slanderers tell him, but they have to watch
his temper very closely, and have become great adepts
at humouring him. He is fearful and jealous of his
authority, and the very smallest infringement of it is
looked upon as a most serious crime and punished
accordingly. He has surrounded himself with spies,
who pander to his jealous and tyrannical nature.</p>

<p>These spies are everywhere, they get into private<a name="Page_296" id="Page_296"></a>
houses, attend every meeting, and often start a discussion
against the Khalifa and against Mahdiism,
merely to draw the unwary into a trap and make them
divulge their real feelings and opinions. He is told
about the most trivial thing, and sometimes during his
speeches and sermons he will give way to the wildest
denunciation of his unfavourable critics. He knows
perfectly well that he is hated, but he will never allow
it to be said openly; for, though he cares little whether
he is liked or disliked, he does not wish anything to
intervene between him and his authority.</p>

<p>The Khalifa adheres most strictly to the prescribed
forms of prayer; every day he attends five times in
the mosque and enforces the presence of all the principal
emirs. He does not like the Ansar to get into
comfortable and luxurious modes of life, but insists on
their always being hardened and in readiness to withstand
the fatigues of war; all prayers end with the
"fatha,"<a name="FNanchor_N_14" id="FNanchor_N_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_N_14" class="fnanchor">[N]</a> after which is an invocation for the victory of
religion, the long life of the Khalifa, and the continual
success of his arms; then follows a prayer calling down
God's vengeance on unbelievers and those who have
erred from the paths of Mahdiism, and asking that
their wives and children may be given as booty to the
true believers; at the end of the prayers the whole
congregation joins in a loud "Amen."</p>

<p>After afternoon and evening prayers, the Khalifa
generally holds short political conversations, in which
the affairs of the empire and of the capital are discussed;
he receives his emirs and gives them instructions;
he frequently gives discourses from the place in
which he repeats prayers, and sometimes turns and
addresses in the most benevolent manner those who are
gathered around him with heads bent in obedient
submission. If he bears any one a grudge, he never
attempts to conceal it, but refers to it in the most open
manner in the mosque, when the culprit generally<a name="Page_297" id="Page_297"></a>
comes hurriedly forward, throws himself at his feet,
and implores forgiveness: if he fails to do this, he is
generally threatened with imprisonment.</p>

<p>The mosque is at the same time both barracks and
prison, for here he teaches his followers humbleness,
obedience, and submission. He frequently repeats his
orders that all should be most punctual in their attendance
at the mosque, and if, when the appointed hour
comes, people are found in the streets, they are invariably
flogged and carried off to the zariba. This is
the way the Khalifa tests the obedience of his people,
and assures himself that they are at all times ready to
obey his smallest behest.</p>

<p>The highest punishment possible for an absentee is
that he shall attend regularly at the mosque five times
a day for eighteen months, under a police guard, who is
as a rule a Baggara, and who never lets him out of his
sight. A man under such a sentence may, if he have
money, pay a fine or bribe his guard; but if he cannot
do this he must attend, no matter how far off his house
may be. Some unfortunate people who live a long way
off spend their whole day in going backwards and
forwards between their dwellings and the mosque. The
emirs even, if they neglect this order, are very severely
dealt with. This enforced attendance at prayers has
greatly added to the unpopularity of the Khalifa, for
work is being continually interrupted, and all real feelings
of religion are subverted.</p>

<p>Formerly every important emir and fiki had his own
rukuba, in which he prayed with his own people; but
the Khalifa put a stop to this, fearing that all such
meetings would have a tendency to conspiracy and
mutiny. He himself is much more a supporter of
authority than of religion, but he induces the former
through the latter. Personally, he cares little for religion.
All his absurd dreams and imaginary visions only
make him a laughing-stock of the people, and he is
considered by the orthodox Moslems to be an absolute
heretic.</p>

<p>On one occasion, when his spies reported to him that<a name="Page_298" id="Page_298"></a>
he was very unpopular, and that it was the general
wish that he should die, he withdrew for three days.
This considerably alarmed the people, for they had no
notion what form of revenge he might not be preparing
for them. At the end of this period he reappeared,
and from his place in the mosque he announced as
follows:&mdash;</p>

<p>"I have been taken in the spirit to the third heaven,
where I beheld the Mahdi, the Prophet Elias, and Jesus
Christ; when I saluted the Mahdi, he introduced me
at once to the two prophets; the Prophet Elias had a
very ruddy and sunburnt appearance, and took me
very roughly by the hand; but the Prophet Jesus
was white and soft as wool. These two prophets were
pleased to know me, and I represented to the Mahdi
that I had no desire to quit this pleasant heaven; I
begged him, therefore, to send some one to rule my
people instead of me, as I was tired and exhausted by
trying to govern people who did not care for me; but
the Mahdi told me not to lose heart, and that he would
give me power to please all; the Mahdi also told me
that he was quite satisfied with my ruling. He afterwards
took me into the presence of God, who also
showed pleasure at knowing the Khalifa of the Mahdi."</p>

<p>All true Moslems who heard this extraordinary tissue
of lies were very angry that he should dare to take
God's name in vain in this way, and thoroughly understood
his reasons for having such absurd and blasphemous
pretensions.</p>

<p>On another occasion he was told that the two
Khalifas were very dissatisfied with his arbitrary ruling,
and resented being excluded from a share in the
government of the country. This induced another
vision, in which he declared that the Mahdi had told
him he should live eight years more, after which the
Prophet Jesus would appear. In this way he gave
them to understand that they had not much hope of
being given any authority; but this vision appeared to
have exactly the opposite effect on the Khalifas, who
became more clamorous than ever. He therefore in<a name="Page_299" id="Page_299"></a>structed
his "vision secretary" to withdraw this vision
from circulation, and added that should any one ever be
heard talking on this subject again, he would be
punished by the loss of a hand and a foot. And then
he tried to justify his action by declaring that it was
the fault of his secretaries, who had put an entirely
different construction on the vision to what he had
intended, and indeed to what he had actually seen!</p>

<p>After noonday prayers he ordered extracts to be
read from the book dealing with the early wars of
Islam. This was quite a new departure. To keep any
book on religion or religious history, it was necessary,
in the first instance, to obtain the Khalifa's permission;
and indeed it was very difficult to keep any such books
safe from the wild fanaticism of the Dervishes. It was
the Mahdi's intention to destroy, as far as possible,
everything which would serve to remind his people of
the old days, so that they should believe the more
readily in his revelations only.</p>

<p>The Khalifa will not accept written petitions, as he
himself cannot read. If any one has a complaint to
make, he must call out, as the Khalifa enters the
mosque for prayers, "Khalifat el Mahdi!" or "Sidi!"
or he may cry out, "Ya Sidi ana mazlum!" ("Master,
I am oppressed!") Abdullah then listens to what he
has to say, and decides the matter. Whether the
decision be favourable or not to the complainant, he
must be satisfied with it.</p>

<p>Gifts and alms are frequently besought of the Khalifa,
chiefly because he is not of such a benevolent nature as
the Mahdi, and moreover, he has less to dispose of than
his predecessor.</p>

<p>If the Khalifa does not at once dispose of a case that
is brought before him, it is a sure sign that he has no
intention of giving a decision on it, and woe to him
who dares to again bring forward the question!
Abdullah gets very angry if he is interrupted when
speaking. The various expressions of content, restlessness,
and revenge are so clearly portrayed on his face
that one seldom mistakes the frame of mind he is in at<a name="Page_300" id="Page_300"></a>
any particular time, though he often vainly tries to
conceal his actual feelings.</p>

<p>There are some people in Omdurman who make the
expressions of the Khalifa's face their study, and are
wonderful adepts at knowing what is passing in his
mind. They listen attentively to every word he says,
and their estimates of his moods go the round of their
friends, but are often rather distorted in course of
transmission. These thought-readers assign causes to
his various moods, which they put down to a variety of
reasons, such as ill-health, a disaster, or a quarrel with
one of his many wives. All these reports spread at
once throughout the country, and one would think that
the people had nothing else to do but to discuss the
Khalifa and every incident of his daily life. And
perhaps this is not to be wondered at, since he exercises
so indiscriminately the powers of life and death. One
word from the Khalifa is able to rouse up the energies
of all those spies whose special duty it is to report the
smokers and marissa-drinkers. The liberal payment to
them of bribes by these law-breakers occasionally serves
to make them neglect their duties; but should the
Khalifa wish to replenish the waning supplies of the
beit el mal, the reporting of a few delinquents rapidly
fills the exchequer again.</p>

<p>The Khalifa is a man of great activity, and personally
directs all important matters. He receives reports on
the most trivial affairs, and is always overwhelmed with
business. This, however, helps to keep him in health,
and prevents him leading a life of sensual ease to
which his inclinations undoubtedly tend. He has
nothing but his activity to thank for the fact that he is
still alive, though during the last few years he has
greatly deteriorated in this respect, consequent on his
indulging more than usual his uxorious appetites.</p>

<p>After morning prayers he generally takes a short sleep,
and during the remainder of the day he is busy with
the affairs of State. Posts are continually coming and
going; and the telegraph having been destroyed, a
camel postal service has been organised, but is exclu<a name="Page_301" id="Page_301"></a>sively
used for official letters. Any one who wishes to
send private letters must do so through the intermediary
of merchants and travellers.</p>

<p>After the day's work is over, the Khalifa delights in
gossiping till late in the night, surrounded by his emirs
and judges. Sometimes just before midnight he will
again enter the mosque, and will summon the poets to sing
his praises. He delights in music, and keeps a number
of Dar Fertit and Niam Niam singers, who accompany
themselves on the rubaba (a sort of native guitar), and
their strange and weird melodies delight the Khalifa's
soul. These native musicians have a sort of school of
music, in which they practise all day; but they never
seem to learn anything new.</p>

<p>Abdullah is by no means a ruler in name only. His
palace is crowded with male and female servants, slaves,
eunuchs, and young boys, who continually wait upon
him, and carry after him the inevitable "ibrik." One
slave is especially told off to carry the "farwa" or sheepskin
to the mosque. The other servants are called
mulazimin, and act rather in the capacity of spies than
personal attendants. A good or bad word from them
has no small weight with the Khalifa. Of course they
are all submission to their master; and if they have
been brought up in the Khalifa's service, when the time
comes he permits them to marry, and gives them a
horse as well&mdash;the two things they long for most. The
Khalifa has also his special barber, who is a slave; and
his master of the horse, who is an immensely tall Dinka.
He has also a sort of giant slave who lifts him on and
off his horse. His life-guards consist of 500 black
slaves armed with Remington rifles, who always accompany
the Khalifa whenever he rides out. They wear a
very short jibbeh&mdash;not unlike a soldier's tunic&mdash;and
short knickerbockers. Amongst them are about 100
Taisha and Homr Arabs, whose special duty is to
prevent any one approaching the Khalifa's person. To
further add to his prestige, he has also appointed an
honourable council, composed of all the principal sheikhs
of the great Sudan tribes.<a name="Page_302" id="Page_302"></a></p>

<p>His mulazimin el bab, or "household cavalry," are
obliged to be in continual attendance at the great gate
of the palace, and never quit their posts until Abdullah
has retired for the night. He occasionally selects one
or two of their principal officers to despatch on important
missions into the provinces. The household cavalry
rank next to the judges in the mosque precedence. If
any man seek employment, he must attend at the
mosque at prayer-time and humbly make known his
request to the Khalifa; and if he wishes to succeed, he
must not be sparing in the lavishness of the compliments
with which he prefaces his demand. The Khalifa
is specially open to such eye-service, and always selects
for his servants persons who possess this qualification in
a marked degree.</p>

<p>The business affairs of State are conducted by an
army of clerks, of whom the most influential are Fauzi,
Muntasser, Abu el Gharem, and Ahmed; these are all
men who possess a good knowledge of Arabic, and know
something of history and the Moslem laws; they read
all incoming letters to the Khalifa, and answer them in
accordance with his directions; one of these clerks is
his special seal-bearer; all letters are supposed to be
strictly confidential, as well as the deliberations and
discussions of the council. If he ever mentions a matter
in public, in which he conveys blame or censure, then it
is understood that this is merely a warning; if he
wishes to inflict punishment, then the culprit is seized
unawares, and the chastisement or imprisonment inflicted
without further ado; thus does he bring the men
of the Sudan low before him, and tramples on their
necks.</p>

<p>Abdullah specially delights in a display of magnificence;
whenever large expeditions start from any
of the hejiras, he generally proceeds there in the afternoon,
returning in the evening. Latterly he has made
fewer of these excursions, as much work and an irregular
life are beginning to tell upon him. He never announces
beforehand what he intends to do, but just before noonday
prayers the onbe&iuml;a is sounded, and a herald shouts<a name="Page_303" id="Page_303"></a>
"Khalifat el Mahdi yerkab" ("The Khalifa of the Mahdi
is about to ride out"); then everyone who owns a horse
prepares to mount and accompany him. The horses in
Omdurman have become so accustomed to the sound
that whenever they hear the onbe&iuml;a they begin to neigh
and prance, as if rejoicing in the honour of being allowed
to join the Khalifa's ride.</p>

<p>Immediately after prayers the giant slave puts him
on his horse, and as he proceeds, hundreds of horsemen
and thousands of men on foot follow him shouting
and showing all the signs of joy. He always carries a
large spear, and is little different from other riders.
These latter do not march quietly behind, but continually
dash forward in groups of four and eight, their
spears poised to strike, then suddenly pull up and re-enter
the ranks; this "fantasia" delights the mob, who
shout the most violent applause.</p>

<p>During these excursions the Khalifa observes carefully
all that is going on around him and what the
people are doing. On one occasion, when he rode to
the beit el mal and was surveying the mighty river, a
woman wearing man's clothes was brought to him from
a ship close by. In reply to the Khalifa's question
what she was doing, she said she was preparing the
crew's food; he then asked if she was married, and she
said no, thereupon he began joking and presented her
to Wad Adlan; but the latter, seeing that she was
neither young nor pretty, readily answered that he was
already possessor of the four lawful wives. The Khalifa
could not of course violate the law, so he summoned
the captain of the ship and insisted on him marrying
this old creature on the spot; he also casually remarked
that the sailors had a noggara (copper drum) on board,
and he immediately gave a general order that no drums
were to be allowed on board boats.</p>

<p>On another occasion he noticed a very thick cloud of
smoke, and on inquiry he found that it came from a
soap manufactory; he therefore immediately issued
orders that the soap monopoly rested with the beit el
mal, and that any other manufactory was prohibited.<a name="Page_304" id="Page_304"></a>
In this way he deprived numbers of people of a means
of livelihood.</p>

<p>One day he remarked a large heap of sewage in the
centre of the town, which spread a most foul odour all
around; this was the cause of the Khalifa himself
stating in the mosque that if, when he inspected the
town three days hence, he found any refuse, the trespassers
should be very severely punished.</p>

<p>Everyone now became directly responsible for the
cleanliness of his own dwelling and its vicinity, and
this order had a most excellent effect; it was further
enforced by the presence of horsemen, who took good
care to see that the instructions were carefully carried
out. The Khalifa also went so far as to order that if
any impurity should be found in the public streets, the
owner of the defiled place should carry it away himself
with his own hands to the appointed place. This was a
cause of great delight to the street-arabs, who heaped
insults on the disgraced individual by shouting after
him "Shalhu!" ("He has taken it away!") But as it
was with the Mahdi, so it is with the Khalifa&mdash;at first
orders are obeyed with the greatest alacrity, and then
people get as careless as ever. Omdurman at the
present time is by no means a particularly clean or
sanitary town.</p>

<p>The occasions on which the Khalifa appears in the
greatest splendour are when he rides to parade. In
accordance with the Mahdi's orders, these reviews have
always taken place on Fridays, no matter what the
weather may be, rain, sunshine, or sandstorm. The
review, or "Arda," as it is called, is a religious ceremony,
and those who take part in it are supposed to
obtain special blessings and advantages. The Mahdi
of course wanted to keep up the martial spirit of his
followers, and therefore he based his reviews on religious
grounds. Sometimes Khalifa Abdullah is absent from
these parades, in which case his brother Yakub takes
his place.</p>


<a name="trophy"></a><div class="figcenter" style="width:400px;"><img src="https://brian.carnell.com/wiki/_media/etext:f:fr-wingate-ten-years-captive-p305.jpg" border="0" alt="" title="" width="380" height="511">
<p class="caption2">A TROPHY OF ARMS, BANNERS AND DRUMS CAPTURED FROM THE
DERVISHES.</p></div>


<p>On parade days the great war-drums begin beating
two hours before sunrise, and the slaves whose duty it<a name="Page_305" id="Page_305"></a>
is to beat them have two varieties of cadence, whilst a
small drum beaten in quick time completes the call to
arms. The people apply all sorts of expressions to the
beating in quick time, such as "Nakelkum" or "Nak<a name="Page_306" id="Page_306"></a>tulkum"
("We will eat you up," or "We will kill
you"), <i>i.e.</i> their enemies. In the stillness of the night
these drums are heard a very long way off, and in the
terrible times of the Mahdi wars their weird and
monotonous roll created a most sad and depressing
effect on me.</p>

<p>Immediately after morning prayers the leaders proceed
to the flag yard, each takes his flag, and they all
stand in line in the open space in front of the beit el
amana.</p>

<p>The flags of the Khalifas Abdullah and Ali Wad
Helu are kept quite apart. Khalifa Sherif seldom goes
out, and keeps himself as much as possible from appearing
anywhere in public with Abdullah, with whom he is
on very bad terms, because he has been deprived of all
authority.</p>

<p>The four drum-beaters stand in front of the flags, and
gradually the followers all collect round their respective
leaders. As soon as the sun rises they begin shouting,
and then march to the parade ground. Arrived here,
the flags are all placed in line. The horsemen follow
Yakub or any other person whom the Khalifa may
delegate.</p>

<p>The Ansar are drawn up in a long line facing eastwards,
and all the people immediately rush to get into
the various divisions to which they belong. Then the
onbe&iuml;a sounds to indicate that the great master himself
is arriving; this is the signal for all those who have
stayed behind, attempting to shirk parade, to rush
helter-skelter to the ranks, as the Khalifa gets very
angry unless the review is well attended. He is
generally mounted on a very good camel led by Wad
Beshir; he sits with drawn sword, and moves very
slowly, surrounded by his black life-guards formed in
square.</p>

<p>The four onbe&iuml;a-blowers march just in front, and take
it in turns to sound the great elephant's tusk. Behind
the Khalifa follow the mulazimin riding. Arrived on
parade he first inspects the whole line, and occasionally
performs some cavalry man[oe]uvres in the hills which<a name="Page_307" id="Page_307"></a>
stretch towards Kererri. These hills are supposed to
be the abode of the Jinns,<a name="FNanchor_O_15" id="FNanchor_O_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_O_15" class="fnanchor">[O]</a> who are said to be the
Khalifa's auxiliaries in battle, and he frequently
indulges in visions, retiring into a small hut, while the
Ansar have to stand outside waiting for hours in the
burning sun.</p>

<p>At length he gives the signal to march off; again the
flags unite in two groups, followed by the shouting
Dervishes. The horsemen keep dashing round the
flanks to see that no one goes away. All must march
back to the beit el amana, where they await the
Khalifa's arrival to be dismissed.</p>

<p>The orders respecting the arms and equipment to be
carried by the Ansar on parade are all strictly adhered
to; everyone must carry at least three spears, <i>i.e.</i> one
large and two small ones; also a sword, which is slung
round the shoulder, and a girth as well; anyone appearing
deficient of any of these articles is flogged.</p>

<p>At large festivals the reviews are most imposing.
Months before, orders are sent in all directions for the
Ansar to assemble. On these occasions there are
generally about 1,000 horsemen. The Khalifa, wearing
a suit of mail armour and a helmet, is generally mounted
on a good charger, and is surrounded by some 200
horsemen, also clad in mail, wearing helmets and
greaves; the horses also wear brass head-armour lined
with thickly-quilted stuffs, which are intended to protect
from sword-cuts.</p>

<p>The riders wear thick red turbans, which they wind
round the helmet, and then tie tightly under the chin,
thus leaving only very little of their face exposed;
they also wear red girdles, which they throw over their
shoulders. The combination of red with the dark Baggara
complexion is peculiarly effective, and gives them a
most martial appearance. The red turban and girdle
are entirely the Khalifa's idea. At first the horses were<a name="Page_308" id="Page_308"></a>
not shod, but recently Abdullah ordered some thousands
of horse-shoes to be made in the arsenal.</p>

<p>The wild excitement and confusion prevailing on
these occasions can readily be understood. The guns
are all brought out, arms distributed amongst the
Ansar, and the shouting and yelling is endless; crowds
of horsemen dash hither and thither at a wild gallop,
raising clouds of dust.</p>

<p>Horses and horsemanship are a great delight to the
Sudanese; the best breeds are from Dongola and
Abyssinia. At one time there were quantities in Darfur,
and there was no difficulty in raising 4,000 of them,
but since Mahdiism has fallen on the land the numbers
have greatly decreased. Every horse-owner is entitled
to half an ardeb of dhurra from the beit el mal.</p>

<p>The reviews which I have just described tend to keep
alive enthusiasm, and also to intimidate those who are
secretly opposed to the Khalifa, and whom the sight of
such numbers of foot-and horsemen cannot fail to
impress. The best riders are the Khalifa's own
countrymen&mdash;the Baggaras&mdash;who are brought up on
horses from their early childhood. The Khalifa has
craftily arranged that all horses remain in the hands
of the Baggaras. At first not many of this tribe
joined the Mahdi, they preferred to remain in their own
happy hunting-grounds, rearing horses, and living in
unfettered liberty in their great plains and forests, and
in consequence the Arabs nicknamed them "Arab el
Shedera" (Arabs of the forests), but when the Khalifa
succeeded to supreme power, he thought that his
authority would be considerably strengthened by collecting
his own countrymen around him.</p>

<p>After conquering Sultan Yusef, of Darfur, the Khalifa
ordered Osman Wad Adam to gather his own countrymen&mdash;the
Taisha&mdash;nearer Omdurman. The youthful
Osman gave to those wild nomads a most glowing
account of the magnificent countries near the Nile,
and of the Khalifa's enormous power and authority,
and to prove the truth of what he said, he showed
them all sorts of glittering dollars, and various kinds of<a name="Page_309" id="Page_309"></a>
cloths; nor did he rest until he at last persuaded them
to leave their homes.</p>

<p>They set out with all their movable property&mdash;women,
children, and flocks&mdash;all bound for Omdurman;
they plundered the inhabitants of the various countries
through which they passed, and forcibly seized their
camels for transport. The Dar Hameda tribe alone,
through whose country they passed, lost 4,000 camels.
When they reached El Obeid, a special tax was levied
for their maintenance, but, quite regardless of this, they
broke into the houses, and laid hands on all they could
find.</p>

<p>From El Obeid they passed on to Tayara and Shatt,
whence the Khalifa had them conveyed in steamers to
Omdurman. There were, in all, 7,000 warriors, exclusive
of women and children; their arrival in Omdurman
was viewed with a certain amount of alarm, and not
without reason. As the Arnauts and the Bashi Bazuks
were utilized by the Government in the old days, so
were the Taisha to be now utilised under the Khalifa's
rule; he favoured them in every possible way, the
beit el mal was made responsible for their maintenance
and pay. After they had partially settled down, and
some had been given the richest patches on the Nile
banks, as well as several of the islands, the others
were then removed to Berber, Abu Hamed, Dongola,
and the Gezireh.</p>

<p>In all these places they very soon made themselves
masters of the situation, and the Khalifa gave them the
most important Government posts to fill; but notwithstanding
all this favoured treatment, still they were
not content: the more they had, the more they
wanted. Upwards of 4,000 of them deserted from
Omdurman, to proceed to their own country; but they
were overtaken, and, as an example to the remainder,
the right hand and left foot of three of them were cut
off, though it was with the greatest reluctance that he
ever punished his own countrymen in this way. Two
hundred of the deserters were put in prison, where
some of them died in a few days: the horrors of this<a name="Page_310" id="Page_310"></a>
prison so impressed these wild children of the desert,
that to this day they tremble at the thought of it.</p>

<p>The sheikh of the Taisha was a man named Ghazali,
who was by no means happy in his new position; and
though he was well received by Abdullah, still he could
not brook the feeling of being under the authority of a
man who at one time had been one of his lowest menials.
It was reported to the Khalifa that he was discontented,
he was therefore summoned before him, and addressed
as follows:&mdash;</p>

<p>"When you were sheikh in your own country, were
we not obliged to kiss your hand, and show you all
reverence and respect? Yes: and it was quite right to
do so. But now God has placed me over you as your
master, then why do you now refuse to give me the
same honour and respect which you required of your
own subjects when you were in a similar position?"</p>

<p>Ghazali made no reply, but then and there decided
to run away. This showed a spirit of independence
which had been dead amongst the Arabs for centuries,
and to find it we have to go back to the time of Saladin.
Sheikh Ghazali was a man who knew no fear, and he
confided his plans to his wife and daughter, and they&mdash;far
from deterring him&mdash;rather encouraged him to
carry it out. His wife saddled his horse, and urged
him rather to die than to submit to a position so far
beneath him.</p>

<p>Ghazali, accompanied by two of his relatives, mounted
his horse in the middle of the night; without shedding
a tear, his wife bade him farewell, and wished him all
success in his undertaking. In order to put his enemies
off his track, he at first went in a northerly direction
till just below Kererri, then turned south-west, and
made for Kordofan. But Ghazali made a fatal mistake
in using horses for such an enterprise, for, winter being
over, there was a scarcity of water in the desert; it
would have been far better had he used camels.</p>

<p>The poor man had to pay dearly for his error.
Scarcely was he out of Omdurman than one of his own
tribesmen reported his flight to the Khalifa, who<a name="Page_311" id="Page_311"></a>
became very angry, cursed the Taisha for their ingratitude,
and ordered the fugitives to be pursued at
once. They searched the desert around Omdurman in
every direction, and, thinking they must have taken
camels, they did not at first take any notice of the
horses' tracks, but eventually they decided to follow up
the latter, and were soon convinced that they were on
the fugitives' heels.</p>

<p>Some distance after leaving Kererri, they came up
with the horses which Ghazali and his companions, owing
to their fatigue, had abandoned, and had continued
their flight on foot. The pursuers were now two days
distant from Omdurman, and were on the point of
giving up the chase, when they heard a shot fired
from a thickly-wooded khor. It was Ghazali, who,
suffering greatly from thirst, had separated from his
companions in search of water; he had been digging
about in the sand, and, discovering the longed-for
liquid, he had fired a shot to let his companions know
he had been successful.</p>

<p>This shot was his betrayer; the pursuers rushed to
the spot, surrounded him, and although he killed
and wounded several, he was overpowered and fell
riddled with bullets. His head was cut off, for the
Khalifa had given orders that on no account was he to
be brought back alive. His two relations submitted,
and were subsequently pardoned by the Khalifa, who
is always more lenient to his own tribesmen than
to others. Ghazali's head was brought to Omdurman,
and thrown amongst the heap of "unbelievers'" heads.</p>

<p>There is no doubt that if Ghazali had succeeded in
regaining his own country, he would have become a
dangerous rival to Abdullah. Most of the Taisha infinitely
prefer the liberty of their native forests to
holding high posts in Omdurman, and would have
rejoined Ghazali in large numbers.</p>

<p>One of the most important measures taken by the
Khalifa to get all power into his own hands was his
attempt to gain possession of all firearms. He had over
and over again given orders that any one found with a<a name="Page_312" id="Page_312"></a>
gun would be punished by the loss of a hand and a foot,
and, of course, the natural result was that every one
feared to deliver up his gun, dreading the punishment
which would inevitably follow. This plan having
failed, the Khalifa then ordered two Jew merchants to
buy up all firearms for the beit el mal, and the people
having no fear of Jews freely sold them.</p>

<p>In this way about 1,000 Remington rifles were
secured: in a like manner the Khalifa got possession of
the coats of mail; but, as may well be imagined, the
Jews did not make much profit out of the business.
They were put into chains for eight months, and had to
pay back a considerable sum of money as well.</p>

<p>Thus did the Khalifa gradually concentrate all power in
himself. The emin beit el mal is obliged to give him a
daily statement showing all revenue and expenditure;
the Sheikh es Suk (or sheikh of the market) has to
render a daily report of everything that has taken place
in the market, and the chief judge must keep the Khalifa
fully informed of all important cases which come under
his notice. The Khalifa reserves to himself the powers
of life and death, although the judge passes the sentence.</p>

<p>Every province has a governor or emir, <i>i.e.</i> Dongola,
Berber, Galabat, Karkoj, Gezireh, Fashoda, Kordofan,
Lado, and Jebel Regaf. All these emirs are Baggara,
and have several emirs under their commands. Each
emir has his own beit el mal, and has the power of
appointing his own emin beit el mal and kadi (judge).
The emir is the supreme civil and military governor of
his province, and is entirely responsible for its administration.</p>

<p>The beit el mal at Omdurman is known as the "Beit
el mal el Um&ucirc;m," and the head of it gives orders direct
to all his provincial assistants. Each emir is obliged
to report all events of importance to the Khalifa, they
are frequently summoned to Omdurman to give an
account of their administration, and to take the
Khalifa's instructions.</p>

<p>Abdullah watches most carefully all events in frontier
provinces, such as Dongola, Berber, &amp;c., and spies, dis<a name="Page_313" id="Page_313"></a>guised
as merchants, are continually sent to Egypt to
get the Arabic newspapers, which are always read to
the Khalifa by his secretaries. An emir should never
pay a visit to Omdurman empty-handed, or he is likely
to fall into serious disgrace.</p>

<p>In addition to the emirs are the omala (tax-gatherers),
who visit the provinces annually and collect the ushr
(one-tenth) and the zeka (alms for the poor, two and
a-half per cent.). These appointments are let to the
holders at an enormous rate&mdash;several thousand dollars a
year. The omala have to cover all their own expenses,
which they do, and get a very considerable profit besides.</p>

<p>It is therefore apparent that the inhabitants are
grievously oppressed. The emirs and omala act in the
most arbitrary manner in their own provinces; their
will is absolute, and horrible systems of cruelty prevail
everywhere. One of the omala, Wad Hamdu Allah, by
way of extorting money from a man, bound his hands
so tightly behind his back that when released they
remained quite powerless. The poor man went to
Omdurman to seek redress, and the Khalifa, on the
principle of "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,"
ordered that the amil's hands should be cut off, or that
he should pay the injured man a sum of money. The
man, of course, chose the latter, as the cutting off of
his oppressor's hands could not have done him any
practical good; so he received 200 dollars compensation
and four slaves. But this is an exceptional case; as a
rule these cruelties seldom reach the Khalifa's ears, and
if the instigator of the crime is a Baggara it is never
noticed.</p>

<p>The Khalifa's brother Yakub is his principal supporter.
He and Abdullah are not of the same mother, and
Yakub is a few years the senior; he has a somewhat
lighter complexion, but if possible he is even more
cruel than his brother, and is in charge of the harem.
The two brothers work entirely together, and Abdullah,
being satisfied with Yakub's integrity, gives him the
fullest liberty. Orders given by Yakub are carried out
with the same alacrity as if they were given by<a name="Page_314" id="Page_314"></a>
Abdullah. He receives every day from the emin beit
el mal all surplus cash, and moreover has charge of
spare leather, sacking, &amp;c., with which to supply the
wants of the Baggaras. It is said that Yakub is already
possessor of great stores of wealth.</p>

<p>Thus do the brothers, Abdullah and Yakub, hold the
entire Sudan in the most cruel bondage, whilst the
inhabitants are harassed by the merciless Baggaras, who
have made themselves the ruthless masters of the whole
country.</p>

<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>

<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_N_14" id="Footnote_N_14"></a>
<a href="#FNanchor_N_14" class="fnlabel">[N]</a> The first chapter in the Kuran; it is held in great veneration
by Mohammedans, and is used by them very much as the Paternoster
is recited by Roman Catholics.</p></div>

<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_O_15" id="Footnote_O_15"></a>
<a href="#FNanchor_O_15" class="fnlabel">[O]</a> Jinn is the Arabic equivalent for genii, in the existence of whom
the Mohammedans are believers, and by whom they are divided, into
"believers" and "unbelievers." The Mahdi always asserted that in
battle thousands of Jinns fought on the side of the Dervishes.</p></div>
</div>
<a name="Page_315" id="Page_315"></a>

<hr class="newpg" style="width: 65%;">
<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a>CHAPTER XVIII.</h2>

<p class="chapterhead">A CHAPTER OF HORRORS.</p>

<p class="chapterdescribe">The revolt of the Batahin tribe&mdash;Revolt suppressed with appalling
cruelty&mdash;Wholesale executions&mdash;Method of hanging&mdash;Punishment
by mutilation&mdash;The execution of Abdel Nur&mdash;Trade with
Egypt&mdash;Wad Adlan, the emin beit el mal&mdash;His imprisonment
and death.</p>


<p class="firstpara"><span class="firstwords">Another</span> example of the Khalifa's cruel and merciless
treatment of all who oppose him is shown by the
manner in which he dealt with the Batahin tribe.</p>

<p>This small but warlike tribe inhabits the right bank
of the Blue Nile near its confluence with the White, and
extends as far as Rufaa; also portions of this tribe are
found scattered in the Gezireh. They are the most
daring robbers, and, mounted on swift camels, they lie in
ambush awaiting caravans and merchants, whom they
generally kill and make off with their goods. Bruce, in
his 'Travels,' remarks that the wooded country around
Omdurman was their favourite haunt. They were the
staunchest adherents of the Sheikh el Obeid, whom
Gordon's "fighting pasha," Mohammed Ali, had so
severely defeated.</p>

<p>During the massacre in Khartum the Batahin were
most cruel and pitiless, and for their evil deeds God's
just vengeance overtook them before long. Abdullah
had sent an emir with a few soldiers to collect the
ushr tax, but the wild Batahin, whose own system was
to rob and plunder the poor, leaving them not even
the wherewithal to live, resisted the emir and his men,
and forced them to flee their country. When this news
reached the Khalifa, he was infuriated, and determined
to deal in the harshest possible manner with this
rebellious tribe. He therefore despatched the emir
Abdel Baki with a considerable force, with instructions<a name="Page_316" id="Page_316"></a>
to seize every Batahin he could find, put him in chains,
and bring him to Omdurman.</p>

<a name="camels"></a><div class="figcenter"><img src="https://brian.carnell.com/wiki/_media/etext:f:fr-wingate-ten-years-captive-p316.jpg" border="0" alt="" title="" width="445" height="608">
</div>

<p>This tribe was now hunted down over the whole
country, and Abdel Baki succeeded in securing a few
hundred of them, as well as Taher Wad Sheikh el<a name="Page_317" id="Page_317"></a>
Obeid, who had been instigating them, and these were
all brought to the capital. The influential El Obeid
family had taken a very prominent part in the siege
of Khartum, but after the Mahdi's death they had
become discontented and were not on good terms with
the Khalifa; Taher had, therefore, been ordered to
leave Rufaa and settle in Omdurman.</p>

<p>On reaching Khojali, which is just opposite to
Omdurman on the other bank, he wrote to the Khalifa
to say that his father, who since his death had been
revered as a saint in the Gezireh on account of his
holiness, and who had received innumerable presents
on account of his power in preserving the lives of
infants, had appeared to him in a dream, telling him
to stay at Khojali and make that the headquarters of the
family; he was not, therefore, able to come to Omdurman.
Taher showed his sagacity in refusing to comply with
the order; but Abdullah, whose earnest desire it was
to abolish the "saints" of the Sudan, agreed to give
Taher twenty-four hours to decide whether he would
come to Omdurman or not, so there was nothing for it
but to go. However, after a time he was permitted
to return to Rufaa, leaving his family as hostages in
Omdurman. This is the Khalifa's usual mode of acting
with all influential persons whom he suspects of disloyalty.</p>

<p>But to return to the Batahin. Most of them died of
starvation and ill-treatment, sixty-nine were taken to
the square opposite the beit el amana, where they were
kept under a soldiers' guard whilst the Khalifa held a
consultation regarding their fate. No decision was
come to for some time, and this was because more
gallows were being prepared. Hitherto there was only
one, now there were three near the "court" zariba&mdash;two
at the south end of the market-place, and one at the
west end; all were provided with camel-hair ropes.</p>

<p>Early the following morning the war-drums were
beaten, the onbe&iuml;a sounded, and eighteen Batahin
were executed, three on each gallows. Such executions
have always a great attraction for the Sudanese. The<a name="Page_318" id="Page_318"></a>
eighteen men were all brought up to the gallows with
their hands tied behind their backs. Without a sound
or even a change of expression, they gave themselves
up to their fate, or, as the Moslem says, they gave
themselves up to "El Mektub" (<i>i.e.</i> "to that which is
written"), for it is supposed that God writes down in
a book the birth, experiences, and death of everyone,
which things cannot be changed.</p>

<p>Below the gallows is an angarib, on which the
condemned stands, while an immensely tall Dinka
called Bringi puts the noose round the man's head,
pulls it tight, fastens it to the gallows, and then draws
away the angarib; and in this way the whole eighteen
were soon swinging in the air, whilst the assembled
masses sent up shout after shout of exultation.</p>

<p>It was a most horrible sight. The poor creatures
wore only a miserable cloth round their loins; they
had had nothing to eat for some days, and presented
a most wretched condition as the wind blew their
emaciated bodies backwards and forwards. All were
powerful young men, and the bystanders&mdash;as is always
the way with the Dervishes&mdash;vituperated them freely,
accusing them of every description of wanton cruelty,
whereas it is more than probable that all these just
executed were entirely innocent, and were expiating
the crimes of those who had been fortunate enough
to escape. When all contortions were over, the bodies
were untied to make room for the remainder, who had
been quietly gazing at the fate of their brothers which
was so soon to be theirs.</p>

<p>On this occasion&mdash;as it had often happened before&mdash;the
cord broke under the last man's weight; but Bringi
was very quick, he lost no time in joining the ends and
completed his brutal work. The impressions which all
those dreadful scenes left on my mind can never be
obliterated. But if the fate of the eighteen was cruel,
the fate of the remaining fifty-one was even worse.</p>

<p>The Khalifa now rode out accompanied by the
cavalry and thousands of spearmen, and taking the
wretched Batahin with them they marched towards<a name="Page_319" id="Page_319"></a>
the parade ground. Every now and then on the way
he ordered one of them to be decapitated, and in this
way twenty-four more were killed; there were now
only twenty-seven left, and on arriving on the ground
he sent for the butchers to cut off their hands and feet;
soon there was a heap of these bleeding members, whilst
the bodies of the poor Batahin lay writhing on the
ground, beads of anguish pouring from their brows;
yet not a cry did they utter; most of them died in a
very short time. Even the most stony hearts were
touched on beholding this terrible spectacle, but no one
dared show it&mdash;in fact everyone tried to force a laugh
or a jeer, because the Khalifa himself revelled in scenes
of useless bloodshed and cruelty, while in truth the
whole population of Omdurman secretly lamented it.</p>

<p>The bodies hung on the gallows for a day, so that
everyone might see them, whilst the mothers and
sisters of those who had been mutilated on the parade
ground begged the Khalifa's permission to go to the
spot and see if any of their relatives were still alive;
they were allowed to go, and there they found a few
still living; they dressed their bleeding limbs and
carried them on their backs to the market-place, where
they begged food for them.</p>

<p>Never shall I forget the face of one poor woman.
With tearless eyes she bore her mutilated son in her
arms, and it would be hard to say which of the two
was suffering more&mdash;the mother or the son&mdash;the latter
lifting up his mutilated right arm while he rested his
mutilated left leg on his right to prevent anything
striking the wounded stump.</p>

<p>It was indeed a shocking and pitiful sight. Several
of the survivors of Khartum would pass by these
wretched people, and staring at their wounds would
shout out, "Have you forgotten Khartum?" Long
after this I used to see these poor creatures dragging
themselves about in the market-place begging for alms.</p>

<p>Soon after this the Khalifa pardoned the Batahin,
and sent Ahmed Wad el Bedri to try to persuade them
to come and settle in Omdurman; eventually they<a name="Page_320" id="Page_320"></a>
formed part of Nejumi's force, and were almost all killed
at Toski. Thus did God's vengeance overtake them for
their untold cruelties during the massacre in Khartum.
It is said that the Khalifa has repented of his wanton
slaughter of this tribe.</p>

<p>After this, fear took possession of even the bravest,
and no further attempts at resistance were made; discontent
was everywhere rife, not in Omdurman only,
but throughout the provinces, and even the Baggara,
who were favoured in every way, and given every
possible advantage, longed to return to their own
country.</p>

<p>It is usual, when the day's work is done, for neighbours
to collect together in the lovely moonlight nights,
for which the Sudan is so famed, and talk over matters.
The conversation always turns to politics; the latest
news from all directions is eagerly discussed, and often
the most unlikely and impossible stories are credited.
The fact is that the people long for freedom, and their
smallest hopes become exaggerated into not only possibilities,
but certainties. The proverb, "El gharkan
yemsik fi shaaru" (<i>i.e.</i> "The drowning man catches at
a straw"&mdash;literally, a hair), is being continually exemplified.
Talk also turns much on what the Khalifa said
and did, what he intends to do, what has taken place
in the last council, &amp;c. But the Khalifa, fearing that all
these conversations might lead to conspiracies, ordered
them to be discontinued. But nevertheless they are
still carried on secretly.</p>

<p>Near the market-place there lived a certain fiki named
Abdel Nur (<i>i.e.</i> the slave of light&mdash;that is to say, the
slave of the light of the Prophet; though, when the
Copts are called by this name, the reference is to the
light of the Redeemer). The fiki's neighbours used to
assemble in his house every evening, and of course
the conversation always turned on Mahdiism, and the
Khalifa was abused freely. Abdel Nur would talk more
excitedly than the rest, and used to say that the Sudan
no longer formed part of Islam, that both the Khalifa
and the Mahdi were unbelievers, and this he proved by<a name="Page_321" id="Page_321"></a>
quotations from the sacred books. All this was reported
by a spy to the Khalifa, who at once despatched a
company of soldiers by whom the unsuspecting party
were suddenly surrounded and carried off to prison.</p>

<p>Early the following morning Abdel Nur was brought
before the judges, who asked him if he had really spoken
against Mahdiism. Seeing that he was now lost, he
thought this a good opportunity, in the presence of
such a large audience, to prove his assertion; he
declared that the true Mahdi should not die in Omdurman,
and that true Mahdiism would not be confined to
the Sudan alone; that the people having been once
deceived, the paths of wickedness should be avoided,
the paths of truth followed, and the oppression of the
Moslems abandoned once and for all.</p>

<p>The judges, who in their own hearts were convinced
of the truth of Abdel Nur's assertions, were unable to
browbeat him, whilst all those who listened had little
doubt in their own minds of the truth of the statements
of this outspoken man, but fear of the Khalifa intervened
to stop them from admitting their convictions.
One of the judges at length stood up, and, desiring to
make an end of this dangerous and humiliating position,
said to Abdel Nur: "We are with the Prophet, the
Mahdi, and his Khalifa; are you with us or not?"
The fiki replied, "I am not with you," whereupon the
Khalifa sentenced him to death, and at ten o'clock the
same morning his body was dangling from the gallows;
his friends were not executed, but were severely reprimanded.</p>

<p>This execution was so sudden and unexpected that
everyone was asking what his crime could have been, but
the Khalifa was careful to send spies to all quarters to
spread false reports about him, to the effect that he was
an unbeliever and a magician; these spies were also
told to ascertain exactly what the people said, but the
latter knew they were being watched, so they said
nothing and retired; the spies set fire to the fiki's
clothes, and the next morning reported to the Khalifa
that hell-fire had burnt them up.<a name="Page_322" id="Page_322"></a></p>

<p>But the matter was not ended here; according to the
Moslem law, if an unbeliever be discovered, all his
neighbours within a forty yards' radius are considered
guilty, and their houses may be plundered and
destroyed. This law was carried out in the fiki's case,
and several families with all their goods were dragged
off to the beit el mal, while their homes were occupied
by the soldiers; several men were threatened with the
gallows, and there was a good deal of disturbance in
the town. The Khalifa's adherents were shouting,
"Away with these unbelievers!" Several suspected
persons were seized and kept for three days in continual
fear of death.</p>

<p>On the third day several of the wives and families
came to the Khalifa and begged his forgiveness, throwing
dust on their heads and making every show of
Oriental grief. On this occasion the Khalifa thought
it was sufficient to thoroughly frighten them all, so on
the expiration of the three days he released them and
returned their property. He took this opportunity of
giving an order that it was the duty of every one to
report to him any fiki who was in the habit of writing
amulets; spies and informers soon produced numbers
of such fikis, who only saved their lives by making
most solemn promises to the Khalifa that they would
never again be guilty of this disobedience of orders.</p>

<p>On another occasion a boat-boy was accused of having
said something against Mahdiism; he was hurried before
the judge, confessed his crime, and was then taken off
to the parade-ground, where the Khalifa ordered him to
be beheaded. Ahmed el Talia was the executioner, but
he made a false stroke and only gashed the youth's
shoulder, but with the second blow the head was clean
severed from the body.</p>

<p>Abdullah's jealousy and alarm for the safety of his
kingdom now induced him to turn his attention to Wad
Adlan. As I have already narrated, Adlan had rendered
the Khalifa great services: he had put the beit el mal
in good order, had regulated the accounts on the old
Government system, and in order to increase the<a name="Page_323" id="Page_323"></a>
revenue without having recourse to force, he had
persuaded him to open trade with Egypt.</p>

<p>It had been the Khalifa's original idea to erect a
sort of great wall of China between Egypt and the
Sudan, to prevent all ingress into his newly-acquired
dominions; but Adlan was a very tactful man, and by
degrees he induced the Khalifa to agree to his proposal.
Ivory and gum were declared to be the monopoly of
the beit el mal. Ivory comes in small quantities from
Regaf and Lado, while gum, which is purchased by the
beit el mal for five dollars a hundredweight, is sold out
by the beit el mal to merchants for twenty dollars; the
beit el mal will also accept gum as payment in lieu of
money. A lively trade soon sprang up between Berber,
Sawakin, Assuan, and Korosko; and Omdurman merchants
were allowed to come to Sawakin and purchase
goods; the beit el mal made considerable profits, and
the people were less oppressed than before.</p>

<p>Thus did Adlan render a great service to the inhabitants
of the Sudan, and through his influence many of
the cruel measures of the Khalifa were altered. As
long as he was in charge of the beit el mal he was very
popular with all, the capital was in good hands, the
markets throve, and even when the funds in the exchequer
were low he had no difficulty in raising loans
from rich merchants on payment of bills of exchange.
Usually a loan of 5,000 to 6,000 dollars could be raised
between fifteen or twenty merchants with ease, because
of the feeling of security which Adlan's presence induced.
The white people also owe him a deep debt of
gratitude, for he gave them continuous protection.</p>

<p>On one occasion, when it was rumoured that the
Sudan was to be invaded by Egypt, the Khalifa proposed
separating all the whites and scattering them
amongst the Arabs in various parts of the country, but
Adlan impressed upon him the necessity of retaining
them all under his own eye in Omdurman, and thereby
he rendered us an immense service; his main idea was
to lighten the Mahdiist yoke and relieve the oppression
of the people.<a name="Page_324" id="Page_324"></a></p>

<p>But this growing contentment gradually began to be
displeasing to Abdullah, whose main object was to
reduce every one to poverty and to enrich his own
tribe, the Baggara; thus his and Adlan's views frequently
clashed, but Adlan was most prudent, and
knew when to give way. What displeased the Khalifa
most was to see numbers of people assembling every
morning outside Adlan's door waiting for him to go to
the beit el mal, where they would lay their complaints
before him.</p>

<p>The honour they paid and the praises they heaped
upon him excited the Khalifa's jealousy, and the latter
frequently rebuked him sharply; but he took no notice
of these outbursts, and in a fit of anger he was, on
one occasion, thrown into chains for fourteen days. On
his release Adlan now thought that the Khalifa could
not get on without him, and began to show less submission
to his master's will than before. This still
further widened the breach between him and Abdullah,
which was made worse by Adlan's many enemies, who
envied him his high position.</p>

<p>The Khalifa's brother Yakub was his most dangerous
rival, as Adlan's popularity had rather detracted from
his authority. He and others represented him to the
Khalifa as a dangerous man, who might at any moment
bring his influence to bear in direct opposition to the
Khalifa. It is therefore not to be wondered at that
Abdullah grew suspicious, and one day, when Adlan was
presenting his daily report, the Khalifa took occasion
to tell him that he was far from pleased with him, and
blamed him for his delay in sending corn to the starving
Dervishes in Dongola. Adlan answered: "What can I
do? The people won't have Mahdiism any longer, and
that is why I meet with so much opposition." Some
say that he even said much more than this; but the
Khalifa was not accustomed to be talked to in this way,
so he ordered Adlan to give up his sword, and the same
night he sent him to prison. This gave his rivals ample
occasion to speak against him, and Yakub insisted that
he should suffer death.<a name="Page_325" id="Page_325"></a></p>

<p>Adlan was very heavily chained, and forbidden all
intercourse with the outside world. His arrest did not
at first create much excitement, but this was due to the
many false reports which were circulated regarding the
cause. On the following day it was announced that
he might have to suffer death, on the third day this
sentence was confirmed, and a messenger was sent to
Adlan to ask him if he had any choice between being
hanged or having his hand and foot cut off. Adlan
chose the former.</p>

<p>To the beating of war-drums and the sound of the
onbe&iuml;a, he was led, with his hands bound, to the
market-place. Here numbers of Baggara horsemen
formed a square round the scaffold, and Adlan, escorted
by a guard, entered the square with firm footsteps.
When he reached the foot of the gallows, the judge
called on him to repeat the Shahada or Moslem creed,
which he did with a clear voice, then jumped on to the
angarib, adjusted the noose himself, which Bringi pulled
taut, and he swung into space, whilst at the same
instant the Baggaras drew their swords and flourished
them in the air, to signify that a like fate would surely
befall all the Khalifa's enemies. But grief was read on
every face, and never before had there been such heartfelt
lamentations in Omdurman.</p>

<p>Ibrahim Wad Adlan was a most intelligent Sudanese,
with black face and aquiline nose. He was about thirty-five
years of age.</p>

<p>After his body had been suspended for half-an-hour,
Yakub, accompanied by several others, took it down,
and laid it out on the angarib; the bystanders say that
Yakub could not conceal his look of half repentance,
half terror, as he gazed on the corpse of his victim.
It was wrapped in a cotton shroud, and taken to the
cemetery outside the city, where it was buried, Yakub
leading the procession. That night robbers pulled out
the body and stole the clothes in which it was laid,
leaving the corpse on the sand to be food for hyenas.</p>

<p>The Khalifa's reason for sending Yakub to attend
Adlan's funeral could not well be misunderstood, for<a name="Page_326" id="Page_326"></a>
every one knew that Yakub had been the prime instigator
in securing his condemnation; and yet Abdullah
was short-sighted enough to imagine that in thus sending
his brother he might to some extent dissipate the
bad impression which Adlan's execution had created.</p>

<p>The mourning for Adlan was both general and sincere;
during his whole administration he had done no harm
to anyone; he had done his utmost to smooth over difficulties
and lighten oppression, and I can confidently
affirm that he is the only man of whom this can be said,
for, as a rule, Sudanese who rise to positions of power
and authority invariably become most cruel and
arbitrary.</p>

<p>Now what good could this execution have done for
Mahdiism? No doubt the Khalifa thought to justify
himself in the public estimation, because Adlan was too
popular, but the real reason was, that the Khalifa feared
him, for he knew that his justice and prudence had
made him beloved by the people.</p>

<p>With the one exception that Adlan had opened commerce
with Egypt, chiefly through the secret intermediary
of a former Khartum merchant named Abdel Majid, I
do not believe there was anything else against him. It
was said that letters had been found, purporting to
have been written by Adlan, in which he had begged
the Egyptian Government to retake possession of the
Sudan; but this statement, had it been true, would
have been announced far and wide by the Khalifa; this,
however, had not been done, and it was generally agreed
that it was entirely fear on the Khalifa's part which
prompted him to take Adlan's life.</p>

<p>All his property was confiscated, and his friends
persecuted. Some of the latter, after his death, remembered
that he had told them how, when studying
in Cairo, an old woman had foretold that he would die
a violent death. For long he paid little attention to
this prophecy; but during the siege of El Obeid, he
called it to mind, and thought it would perhaps be
fulfilled there. But when he eventually rose to high
position in Omdurman, he used to laugh at the old<a name="Page_327" id="Page_327"></a>
woman's saying. However, during his last imprisonment,
he had been firmly convinced it would come true,
and that was what made him so bold and firm when he
actually came to look death in the face.</p>

<p>In place of Adlan, the Khalifa nominated his relative
Ez Zaki, now Emir of Berber; but he fell ill shortly
afterwards, and resigned. The Khalifa then appointed
Nur el Gereifawi (that is, a native of Gereif, near
Khartum). He had been in charge of the beit el mal
at Berber; as Nur was an intimate friend of Adlan's, it
was thought that he might suffer a like fate, but he was
a crafty individual, and had sent the Khalifa 30,000
dollars, which he knew would have the desired effect.</p>

<p>On arrival at Omdurman he stood by the great gate
to see the Khalifa; but Abdullah did not summon him
that evening, so he lay that night on the ground beside
the Khalifa's door&mdash;an act of humility which quite won
his heart&mdash;and the next morning Nur was officially
appointed Adlan's successor. In order to thoroughly
impress Nur with the dangers of his new situation, the
Khalifa announced to him that on the previous night
he had beheld a vision, in which he had seen hell,
and Ibrahim Adlan suffering untold agonies in the
lowest abyss, with a long chain fastened round his neck;
Nur was shackled to the other end of the chain, and
Adlan was trying to drag him down into the abyss;
but the Khalifa had unfastened the chain and released
him.</p>

<p>Thus was Nur completely overawed, and did his
utmost to comply with the Khalifa's and Yakub's
wishes. He discharged all the Copts employed in the
beit el mal, and replaced them by blacks. Awad, formerly
head clerk of the Kassala Mudirieh, he appointed
as his assistant, and through his astuteness and
knavery he lost no opportunity of forcibly extracting
money from the people.</p>


<a name="Page_328" id="Page_328"></a>
<hr class="newpg" style="width: 65%;">
<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIX" id="CHAPTER_XIX"></a>CHAPTER XIX.</h2>

<p class="chapterhead">SOCIAL LIFE AT OMDURMAN.</p>

<p class="chapterdescribe">System of public security and justice in Omdurman&mdash;The court of
small causes&mdash;Bribery and corruption&mdash;The story of the slave
and her mistress&mdash;How the Khalifa deals with quarrelsome
persons&mdash;Thieves and pickpockets&mdash;The story of Zogheir&mdash;Usurers
and their trade&mdash;The chief of police&mdash;Brigandage&mdash;Disproportion
of males to females in Omdurman&mdash;How the
Khalifa overcame the difficulty&mdash;Immorality&mdash;The marriage
ceremony.</p>


<p class="firstpara"><span class="firstwords">It</span> may be imagined that fear of the Khalifa and his
tyrannical rule would produce at least a feeling of
public security and immunity from lawlessness; but the
following chapter will show that this is not the case.</p>

<p>In the early years of Mahdiism there was no discipline,
and laws were entirely put aside, because the
whole population was at war and everyone on the move.
They were living on the captured wealth and prosperity
of the Government. At that time there were not many
robbers. When we were living in Kordofan we were
perfectly safe, and could sleep with our doors open at
night. No one ever thought of taking precautions
against thieves, though nothing would have been easier
than to break into our loosely-built straw huts.</p>

<p>After the capture of Khartum, and when Omdurman
became a large city, the former prosperity of the
country gradually began to wane, famine broke out,
and then public security became seriously threatened.
Thieves increased in such alarming numbers as to be a
terror to all; and in 1888-89 they became so bad that
people scarcely dared to go to sleep. It is true the
punishment of cutting off hands and feet was freely<a name="Page_329" id="Page_329"></a>
exercised; but even this had little effect, chiefly because
robbery and corruption went hand in hand, and a thief
had no difficulty in disposing of a bribe.</p>

<p>As I have already narrated, the Khalifa nominated
his own judges, with Ahmed the Kadi el Islam as their
head; a special court was also established to deal with
the innumerable marriage disputes which form so large
a part of Moslem legislation. Abdullah specially instructed
his judges to consider these cases from their
external rather than from their internal aspect.</p>

<p>The usual proofs required are the evidence on oath
of witnesses. The witness is obliged to wash himself
before taking an oath, so that he may be pure. He then
places his right hand on the Kuran, and says, "Hakk
kitab Allah" ("By God's book"), following it by his
statement. In cases of complaints, the defendant only
has the right to take an oath, whereas the complainant
must produce witnesses. If no witnesses are forthcoming,
the defendant has only to take an oath, and is then
acquitted.</p>

<p>The real sense and meaning of an oath is absolutely
ignored. Hundreds of oaths are taken every day in the
market court on the smallest trifle, perhaps not exceeding
a piastre. The falsehood of the individual
taking the oath is frequently quite apparent; but
unless the witnesses come forward, the most flagrant
case will go unpunished.</p>

<p>It is the popular idea that if a man swears falsely on
the Kuran, he will immediately fall down dead. This
constant perjury is very clear evidence of the depth of
moral degradation and religious decadence which the
followers of the Mahdi have now reached.</p>

<p>In cases relating to debt, acknowledgment on the
part of the debtor of his liability is considered sufficient;
but if this is not forthcoming, then two witnesses are
required. As a consequence of the widespread mistrust
and duplicity which exists, everything, even to the
smallest matter, is generally written down on paper;
or a bargain may be struck in the presence of witnesses;
but this is not considered a safe proceeding, owing to<a name="Page_330" id="Page_330"></a>
the prevalence of bribery. The Khalifa has given very
strict injunctions that all debts must be repaid, and if
there be a delay, the debtor is to be put in prison, and
brought to reason by hunger.</p>

<p>Let us glance for an instant into the court of justice
in the market-place of Omdurman, where most of the
small cases are tried. Here we find the sheikh es suk
(or sheikh of the market), together with the judge,
some soldiers, and (latterly only) a few Arabs, as a
police guard. The sheikh generally rides to the court at
eight o'clock every morning on a donkey. One of his
guards places his sheepskin on a small straw rukuba
(latterly this has been constructed of clay), and on this
the sheikh seats himself. He has the Kuran beside
him.</p>

<p>The parties in dispute arrive, and the case turns, for
example, on fraudulent dealing, debts, payment in false
coinage, &amp;c. As there are no lawyers, each party must
defend himself. As a rule the Sudanese are clever and
astute in their conversation, and the man who can talk
best has already gained half the victory. The noise and
shouting is deafening; and the Sudanese have a wonderful
display of sly cunning. The sheikh's last resource is
the Kuran.</p>

<p>Sometimes bystanders attempt to mediate between
the disputing parties, and this course generally prolongs
the talk and noise indefinitely, and does not often succeed.
The usual punishment is flogging, which is
inflicted on the spot. Marissa-drinkers and tobacco-smokers
receive eighty lashes. The individual sentenced
has to lie prone on the ground, supporting his head with
his hands, while two slaves take it in turns to belabour
him with whips made of hippopotamus hide. The first
few strokes generally draw blood, but as a rule the
victim remains immovable, whilst the bystanders
applaud him for his courage. If he utters a cry or a
moan he is laughed at and derided. The sheikh and his
supporters are much addicted to bakshish, which enables
many a culprit to escape punishment.</p>

<p>Should the dispute be of a very serious nature, it is<a name="Page_331" id="Page_331"></a>
brought before the high court at the Bab el Khalifa; but
here money plays even a more important part than in
the smaller court. The success or failure of the case
depends on the ability with which the opposing mediators
influence the judgment; a hint or a sign with the
hand is quite sufficient to make the judge understand,
and with marvellous astuteness he will contrive to give
the case an entirely new aspect, and one which, probably,
only a few moments before he has most strongly
condemned, but which now he thinks it advisable, under
the circumstances, to adopt; and this change of front is
carried out without the smallest hesitation.</p>

<p>I will here give an example of what is considered
justice in Omdurman. A female slave who had for a
long time had a quarrel with her mistress decided to
have her revenge, and the fact that her mistress was in
the habit of smoking and wearing jewels aided her in
her design. She took her lady's tobacco and cigarette
papers, which were generally kept hidden under ground,
tied them in a little bundle, ran off with them to a
soldier who was her relative, and who belonged to
Yakub's bodyguard, and reported her mistress's evil
doings.</p>

<p>Meanwhile the lady, finding that her slave had run
away, sent her brother-in-law in search of her. The
family were now thoroughly disturbed, and anticipated all
sorts of bad consequences. The lady's husband hastened
to Yakub's house, thinking that perhaps the slave might
have gone there, and there, sure enough, he found her,
surrounded by a crowd of Ansar. The latter, espying
Ahmed (as we may call him), surrounded him and were
carrying him before Yakub, when Ahmed, who did not
lose his head, explained to the Ansar that he had always
been under the impression that the Khalifa had appointed
a judge to inquire into all such matters, and
that he was ready to bow to the judge's decision; so he,
the female slave, and the Ansar all went to the court.
The slave produced from her pocket the bundle, laid it
before the Kadi, and then stated her complaint against
her mistress.<a name="Page_332" id="Page_332"></a></p>

<p>Meanwhile Ahmed had met a friend, and told him
how that for a long time the slave had been on bad
terms with her mistress, and had seized this opportunity
for revenging herself on her, adding that she had probably
obtained the tobacco and cigarette papers from
elsewhere, and had trumped up this case to harm her
mistress, who had never smoked in her life nor worn
jewels; indeed, if they liked they might go and inspect
the house.</p>

<p>The mediator gave a sign to the judge, who at once
decided the case in Ahmed's favour, and ordered him to
go to the sheikh es suk, who had been instructed to
send some one to inspect his house.</p>

<p>It was not a difficult matter to circumvent the sheikh
es suk, and when they all arrived at the house, the slave
was called upon to show the place in which she had been
ordered to hide her mistress's tobacco. Without a
moment's hesitation the slave came forward and began
scraping away the earth in a corner. It was evident
that she had often done this before, and that the hiding-place
had been carefully prepared&mdash;indeed, the slave
found some tobacco still there which she had not noticed
before, and this she exultingly produced; but at that
instant one of the Ansar gave her a slap on the face,
saying, "Look at this bint el kelb (daughter of a dog),
she brought some tobacco here which she purposely
dropped into the hole whilst she was clearing the earth
away." Heaped with insults by the bystanders, the
poor slave was dragged off to the market-place, where
she received eighty lashes because she had failed to
prove the truth of her assertion. Such is Omdurman
justice.</p>

<p>Although this is but one amongst thousands of cases
of the most disgraceful corruption, still all this serves to
keep the slaves in order, and were it not so, there is
little doubt that masters would stand in constant
danger, and would be at the mercy of their slaves.
Indeed, many slaves have succeeded in getting their
masters into great disfavour by informing on them,
and this makes the masters in great fear of their slaves<a name="Page_333" id="Page_333"></a>
Even if a slave has been born and brought up in his
master's house he cannot be trusted, and if he receive
some slight punishment, it is more than probable he
will go off and report his master as a smoker, marissa-drinker,
or that he has become lax in the cause of Mahdiism;
and, as likely as not, he will be flogged, or receive
some worse punishment.</p>

<p>According to Moslem law a slave's evidence against
his master is considered invalid; but this law, as well as
all other laws, is only applied according to the Khalifa's
wishes and the circumstances of the case: the same
remark applies to the value of evidence given under
torture.</p>

<p>Curiously enough, murders are seldom committed, and
when the wild nature of the Sudanese is considered, it
is contrary to what one would expect. Quarrels and
disputes are endless, but in spite of being armed, both
parties seem to expend their energy in violent talking
and gesticulation. The Khalifa has given the
strictest orders regarding "assault and battery;" if a
man hits another man, he will be liable to have his
hand cut off, and this order is generally unflinchingly
carried out, unless the condemned man be well off, and
he will then have his property confiscated, as the following
case will show:&mdash;</p>

<p>A dispute once arose between a merchant named
Yusef Kurdi and a certain Mohammed, son of the rich
Ben en Naga; both were intoxicated at the time, had
drawn their swords and slightly wounded each other.
The affair reached the Khalifa's ears; he ordered both of
them to be arrested, and threatened to cut off their
hands; but, as a matter of fact, he really wanted to
secure some of their money. Old Ben en Naga, a man
of ninety years of age, threw himself at the Khalifa's
feet and begged that his son's punishment might be
altered, and after a few days' confinement and continued
threats, the Khalifa was at length graciously pleased to
commute the sentence into confiscation of property.
Yusef Kurdi paid 6,000 dollars and Ben en Naga's son
5,000 dollars, while both of them were kept in prison<a name="Page_334" id="Page_334"></a>
for many months to expiate their hasty step. With
no less energy did the Khalifa deal with thieves and
swindlers.</p>

<p>There are various classes of thieves: there are the
pickpockets, whose field of labour lies principally in the
markets, the small bazaars, and landing-places. They
are principally Khartum people or Egyptians, and their
feats of dexterity are marvellous. The removal and
cutting out of purses and money-bags is for them a
quite simple operation, and is generally performed when
people are engaged in a violent dispute. The thief has
generally a confederate with whom he works. They
will sit in the crowded ferry-boats, and whilst one of
them attracts the attention of his fellow-passengers by
singing or telling an exciting story, the accomplice is
busily engaged in pocket-picking; or sometimes one of
them will begin rocking the boat whilst the other takes
advantage of the passengers' alarm by robbing them.
They hover about all day long in the market, watching
their opportunities to steal both from purchasers and
vendors. Stolen goods are sold to a particular set of
men who are in league with the thieves, and the money
obtained is quickly squandered. The art of pocket-picking
has become quite a science, and so skilful are
they that detection is almost impossible. The stolen
goods are passed on so readily from hand to hand that
even if the original thief is caught the person robbed
will probably never secure what he has lost. Over and
over again thieves are apprehended <i>in flagrante</i>, but
when brought up before the judge, no trace of the
stolen article is ever found. Frequently the judge does
not fail to get his share of thieves' profits; so that the
latter have every inducement to continue their nefarious
practices.</p>

<p>But far more dangerous than the pickpockets are the
housebreakers. Of the latter there is a regularly organized
body, of whom the chief is known as the Sheikh
el Haramieh. The band is made up of strong and bold
slaves, who are experts at breaking through walls or
climbing over them, armed with a long knife, with which<a name="Page_335" id="Page_335"></a>
they would not fail to stick anyone who attempted to
stop them. They employ women and children as spies,
who go about begging from house to house, and then
give the housebreakers full information, whereupon the
thieves, stripped almost naked, and armed with swords
and daggers, break into the house. One of them is
always told off to stand over the sleeping owner, and to
give him his quietus if he should attempt to rise, whilst
the others ransack the dwelling, and are off again as
quickly as they came, to divide the spoil. Whenever
the cry of "El Harami" ("Thieves") is heard at night,
all sleep is banished, and a careful watch kept till
morning.</p>

<p>Formerly watch-dogs were most useful to warn against
housebreakers, but the Khalifa decreed that they were
impure animals, and forbade them to be kept. Not a
dog is now to be seen in the whole of Omdurman; but
in spite of this injunction, the Arabs living in the desert
still keep them. If one of these poor animals by chance
strays into the town he is at once pursued by a multitude
armed with spears, shouting "Arian!" ("Naked!")
and he is soon despatched.</p>

<p>A man called Zogheir&mdash;an Egyptian, born at Bara&mdash;became
quite one of the most celebrated of thieves.
From an early age he was brought up to steal, and became
most skilful. To a strong constitution he added a
courage which was worthy of higher things. As head
of a band of thieves he led many a daring undertaking,
and had the most wonderful knack of always escaping
all harm himself. On one occasion, when there were
scores of complaints made against him, he was sent to
the lock-up of the market. The sheikh es suk, who
was at that time rather short of money, promised to
release the prisoners if they could collect fifty dollars
amongst them.</p>

<p>Zogheir agreed to get the money, and was given one
hour's release from prison. He at once went to the
market, and very soon found a victim in the person of a
dammur (cloth) vendor, who had sold almost all his
goods, and sat with his purse full of money in front of<a name="Page_336" id="Page_336"></a>
him. Zogheir seated himself down beside him, and
started a conversation about the cloth, which he began
turning over piece by piece, and with great dexterity he
succeeded in seizing the purse, which he secreted under
his jibbeh. He then went off to the judge, to whom he
presented the purse, in which were seventy dollars, and
then quietly returned to the lock-up, and told his guard
to again put his chains on.</p>

<p>The cloth merchant soon discovered the theft, rushed
off madly to the market court, and there represented
that a thief&mdash;and it could have been no one else but
Zogheir, for he had been sitting with him&mdash;had stolen
his money. The sheikh severely reprimanded the merchant
for making a false accusation, asking whether he
was a liar or was mad, and then, taking him off to the
prison, he showed him Zogheir heavily bound in chains;
and after this the unfortunate merchant had to thank
his good fortune that he himself did not receive a
flogging.</p>

<p>During the famine Zogheir drove a thriving trade. On
one occasion he discovered some Arabs in the market
who had just sold a quantity of dhurra, and were counting
out their money, which amounted to 700 dollars,
which they were carefully examining, to see that all
were good. This sight made Zogheir long to get
the money, so he winked to his accomplice, and then
seated himself near the Arabs, and began asking them
whether he could offer them "Medjidie" in exchange
for "Makbul" dollars.</p>

<p>When the agreement was nearly concluded, Zogheir
took two dollars out of his pocket and gave them to one
of his accomplices, to buy some dates, and when the
man returned with the dates he began throwing them
about in all directions, calling out "Karama! Karama!"
("Alms! Alms!"). The starving beggars flocked to
him in crowds, and began quarrelling over the dates,
whilst the leather bag in which were the 700 dollars
suddenly disappeared.</p>

<p>The cries of the Arabs, searching for their lost money,
could scarcely be heard in the frightful din occasioned<a name="Page_337" id="Page_337"></a>
by the distribution of the dates, and all this time
Zogheir kept on condoling with the Arabs over their
loss, and then he seized a favourable moment to make
off and divide the contents of the leather bag amongst
his friends. At length complaints against him became
so numerous that he was sentenced to have his right
hand and left foot cut off. He submitted quite cheerfully
to the operation, which is really a very simple one.</p>

<p>A butcher is called up, who ties the arm and foot
tightly with string just above the place where the cut is
to be made. This butcher, who has had an immensity
of practice, knows exactly where to cut, and it takes
only a very few moments to sever the hand and foot at
the joints. The tightly-tied string keeps the victim
from bleeding profusely, and in order to prevent gangrene
or mortification setting in, the mutilated members
are at once dipped into boiling oil or fat, and are then
smeared over with katran (a sort of mixture of tar and
grease), or sesame. In the course of about two months
the cure is complete&mdash;that is to say, the cure of those
who survive the first shock; but several succumb as
well. However, the enormous number of cripples in
Omdurman is practical evidence that the nerves of
Sudanese are strong.</p>

<p>Zogheir survived the operation, but hardly had he
recovered than he began his old tricks again. He now
was possessor of a fine donkey, on which he rode about
in far better clothes than he had before, and altogether,
with his diminished members, his condition seemed to
have generally improved. But continual thefts again
drove him into prison, where he wore two chains on his
foot and two on his neck; still he thought it beneath
him to take to crutches, and contented himself with
hopping about on one leg. He remained in prison for
two years, and during the whole of that time he was
well looked after by his friends, who supplied all his
wants. At last he was released, and is once more the
best professional thief in the Sudan.</p>

<p>But thieves are not all&mdash;there are swindlers as well.
Several people wished to give their money out to<a name="Page_338" id="Page_338"></a>
interest, and of course there were numbers found ready
to give them what they asked. The Prophet, however,
forbids money to be lent out at a monthly rate of
interest, and the Mahdi renewed this injunction with
threats that an infringement of it would involve confiscation
of property; this led the swindlers to adopt a
variety of subterfuges. For instance, some men would
induce the Arabs to give them 200 to 300 dollars, with
which they set up a restaurant, promising the lenders
half profits in the concern. As long as the cook has
money in hand everything goes on well, and the Arab
will probably make daily inquiries as to the progress of
the business. "It is going on capitally," is the reply,
and the cook entertains his patron, who in turn is much
gratified at his generosity, and generally makes a very
excellent meal.</p>

<p>A careful account is kept, and prices are high. At
the end of the month the profits are divided, and the
Arab gets from say eight to fifteen dollars. The business
goes on perhaps for a year, the Arab is content and
lavish in his praises, but he is not aware that the
cook has paid him his share of the profits out of the
original money he put into the concern. At the end of
about a year the cook begins to complain that "es suk
barid" ("The market is getting cold")&mdash;<i>i.e.</i> business is
slack, meat is dear, customers are few, and instead of
profit there is a distinct loss. Finding he is the only
customer, the Arab patron eats quickly and goes away.
At last the shop is closed, and the Arab, coming for his
money, is met with the simple answer, "There is none."
The case is brought before the judge, the cook hands in
a statement of his accounts, showing that the profit
amounted to 150 dollars, of which eighty were passed
to the credit of the patron in food, and the rest had been
lost owing to general depression of trade. The accounts
are all right, and the Arab is thoroughly puzzled as to
why he should have to pay so dearly for his cook's
proffered kindness.</p>

<p>Several Arabs, who have considerably less knowledge
of the world than the Gellabas, have lost all they<a name="Page_339" id="Page_339"></a>
possessed by these swindles. The Omdurman market
is, I suppose, the scene of more swindling and deception
than any other place of its size in the world. There is
no shame in being a thief or a swindler; it is only
when one is found out that some shame attaches.</p>

<p>Several masters keep slaves for the express purpose
of getting them to rob and steal, and share the profits
with them. Slaves of this description are valuable
commodities, as, if they are discovered, it is generally
pretty certain that their master can bribe the judges;
but this, of course, all depends on the relations which
exist between the individual and the local authorities.
Thus tobacco-smokers and marissa-drinkers must pay a
monthly sum to the sheikh es suk, which enables them to
carry out their lawless practices with impunity. If any
such individual refuse to pay, his habits are at once
reported, and he is severely punished, the confiscated
tobacco being then sold by the police.</p>

<p>Complaints against these evil practices, and regarding
the absence of public security in Omdurman, grew so
continuous and so serious, that at length the Khalifa
was obliged to interfere, and the following case brought
the matter to a head. A drunken slave had shot one of
his fellow slaves. In accordance with the law, the
master is permitted to take the offending slave's life;
but he forgave him, because he did not wish to lose two
slaves at once.</p>

<p>When the Khalifa heard of the case, he at once
ordered the slave to be executed. After this, every one
came and told him about the smokers and marissa-drinkers;
and then and there he appointed a certain
Wad er Reis, also named Hussein Wad ed Dayim, as
sheikh of the market.</p>

<p>This man, who had been formerly Mamur of the
Berber police, succeeded in making himself feared by
the thieves. He openly told the Khalifa that it would
never do to treat thieves according to the law, and that
only the strongest and most energetic measures would
effect the breaking up of the band.</p>

<p>The Khalifa agreed; and at once the new chief of<a name="Page_340" id="Page_340"></a>
police seized all the well-known thieves and put them
in chains. They were then bastinadoed, and forced to
confess what they had stolen, to whom the goods had
been sold, and their value. And thus they got to
know the names of almost all the thieves in the
town.</p>

<p>These measures created a great sensation in Omdurman,
for it was found that several people in high places
were implicated, and they were convicted. The thieves,
too, seized this opportunity for extorting hush-money;
but Wad er Reis soon re-established public security.
To increase the supervision, he divided the market into
quarters, over which he appointed sub-sheikhs (known
as sheikh el hara), who were responsible, with the
assistance of the inhabitants of the quarter, for preserving
security at night. Numbers of marissa-drinkers
were apprehended, and a large quantity of confiscated
tobacco was publicly burnt in the market-place. All
the principal thieves were transported to the convict-station
at Regaf, a course which the Khalifa thought
preferable to mutilation of the hand and foot.</p>

<p>Just about this time an Egyptian convict, who had
escaped from Sawakin, arrived in Omdurman. He had
been convicted of false coining in Egypt, and had been
sentenced to ten years penal servitude at Sawakin.
While in the prison there, he and a companion had
come to an agreement with the soldier guarding them,
and all three had escaped and set off for Berber. The
soldier and the other man had died on the journey, and
the survivor, having reached Omdurman, begged to be
presented to the Khalifa; but Abdullah thought it
beneath his dignity to interview an escaped convict.
He was therefore transferred at once to the steamer
bound for Regaf with all the thieves and other exiles,
whilst the Khalifa was heard to remark that anyone
who came from Egypt was invariably a criminal or
dishonest man.</p>

<p>The new posts of sheikh el hara were unpaid, and
as the holders had to live, they were forced to make
money by unfair means. This led to the old tobacco<a name="Page_341" id="Page_341"></a>
and marissa abuse, so that matters soon drifted back
into much the same condition as before.</p>

<p>The caravan roads into the interior are fairly safe,
but merchants always prefer to travel in parties of
twenty to thirty; though, as a matter of fact, the
Baggara garrisons at the various posts are a much
greater source of danger to the merchants than are the
thieves and brigands. These Baggara wring money
out of the merchants, and steal their goods; but if the
caravan is large, they are afraid to do anything which
may lead to reprisals. The Khalifa has, however, done
much to improve public security in the provinces,
and punishes severely when cases are brought to his
notice.</p>

<p>The state of public morality in the Sudan is very
bad, and in Omdurman it could not well be worse.
Before the Mahdi appeared, matters were bad enough.
Almost all the large towns, such as Khartum, Messalamieh,
Metemmeh, and El Obeid&mdash;especially the latter&mdash;were
hotbeds of immorality of the very worst description.</p>

<p>The Mahdi was utterly opposed to all these evil
habits, and during his life matters greatly improved;
but this was due rather to the fact that the whole
country was under arms, and that the towns were
practically deserted. Besides, punishment for such
crimes was ungrudgingly given, and the stoppage of
marissa-drinking also tended to lessen the evils.
Marriage ceremonies were simplified and made less
expensive, and a distinct advance in public morality
was apparent.</p>

<p>But when the principal fighting was over, and the
victorious emirs gave themselves over to a life of
luxury and debauchery, when idle town life took the
place of religious campaigns, when houses were built of
mud and bricks instead of rough straw huts, and when
the Mahdi died, then immorality broke forth with the
redoubled violence of long compression, and the state
of affairs became infinitely worse than it had ever been
in the old Government days. I refer especially to<a name="Page_342" id="Page_342"></a>
Omdurman. Constant warfare had greatly diminished
the male population. Omdurman was full of women
who had neither husbands nor male relations; and this
is the real cause of the evil state of affairs.</p>

<p>Matters reached such a pitch in 1888 that the Khalifa
issued an order that every unmarried woman must be
provided with a husband within three days, or she
would be handed over to a Baggara as a slave or
concubine. In consequence of this order, for the space
of three days the whole town was continuously occupied
in marriage ceremonies. Men seized this opportunity
of taking women whom they would never,
under other circumstances, have been allowed to marry;
and of course these forced marriages could not be of
long duration&mdash;in a month or two most of the couples
were separated.</p>

<p>Another cause which tended towards immorality was
the fact that numbers of men had been sent off to
far-distant parts of the country on expeditions, unaccompanied
by their wives, most of whom were left in
Omdurman for years; and it is hardly to be wondered
at if in time they began to forget their husbands and
to form unlawful connections, in which the Khalifa had
frequently to interfere.</p>

<p>On one occasion upwards of eighty women, whose
infidelity to their husbands was unquestionable, were
put in prison, and a council held to consider what
should be done to them. It was decided to make an
example of one, and the victim selected was an
unfortunate who had borne two illegitimate children.
The poor creature was led into the women's quarter of
the market, and there she was lowered into a grave
with her last child tied to her bosom, and both stoned
to death by a cruel and hard-hearted crowd, who
seemed to take a fiendish delight in this inhuman piece
of work.</p>

<p>This, however, was the only execution of the sort
which took place during Mahdiism. The other women
were released; but the only effect of the above example
was to induce women to take criminal means to rid<a name="Page_343" id="Page_343"></a>
themselves of these evidences of illicit connection; and
the open sale of abortive medicines only tended to
further increase the moral decadence of the people.
One can truthfully say that feelings of horror and
shame scarcely exist in the Sudan. From slaves of all
ages and sexes, to the little child of six years old, all
are instructed in the very worst forms of immorality;
but on this painful and disgusting subject I will say no
more.</p>

<p>Gradually the simple marriage laws introduced by
the Mahdi gave place to the old former customs. For
example, the Emir of Berber, Abdel Majid, married the
daughter of Abderrahman Bey Ben en Naga, and received
from her father 2,000 grammes of gold. The marriage
ceremony, which was celebrated with dancing and
singing, lasted about a month; but when the Khalifa
heard of it, he had the emir imprisoned for some months,
declared the marriage dissolved, sent the bride back to
her father, and forbade him to let the bridegroom ever
take her again.</p>

<p>But the Sudanese have a passion for such ceremonies
involving dancing and singing, and will never be
restrained by any of these new laws. The women wear
jewellery as before; they dance, sing, and prepare marissa;
games of chance too are quite in vogue; but of
course everything is carried on secretly. From time to
time the Khalifa raises his voice against it, and then
for a few days everything stops; but it soon breaks out
again, and goes on just as before.</p>

<p>The festivals consequent on the termination of
Ramadan, on Bairam, on the occasion of births, circumcisions,
&amp;c., are not carried out with any degree of their
former brilliance. Perhaps a meat meal is given, and
visits paid two or three times in the year. The old
days of rejoicing have vanished, all is anguish and fear,
no man's life and property are secure; every one has
perforce to break the laws, which are most of them quite
impracticable, and at the same time are in constant fear
of spies, who are everywhere. There is no security, justice,
or liberty; and happiness and content are unknown.</p>

<a name="Page_344" id="Page_344"></a>

<hr class="newpg" style="width: 65%;">
<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XX" id="CHAPTER_XX"></a>CHAPTER XX.</h2>

<p class="chapterhead">THE KHALIFA'S TREATMENT OF THE WHITE CAPTIVES.</p>

<p class="chapterdescribe">Description of the prison, or "Saier"&mdash;The "Abu Haggar"&mdash;The
imprisonment of Charles Neufeld&mdash;Terrible sufferings of the
prisoners&mdash;Domenico Polinari&mdash;The danger of corresponding
with the European prisoners&mdash;Neufeld threatened with death&mdash;He
is given charge of the saltpetre pits&mdash;The fate of Sheikh
Khalil, the Egyptian envoy&mdash;The Khalifa's treatment of the
"Whites"&mdash;Exile to the White Nile.</p>


<p class="firstpara"><span class="firstwords">In</span> the preceding pages frequent reference has been
made to the prison. This is an institution of so much
importance in connection with Mahdiism that it merits
a description in detail.</p>

<p>"Saier!" In the Sudan the bare mention of this
word causes a shudder. The ordinary word for prison
is "siggen," but Saier is really a contraction for beit es
Saier (<i>i.e.</i> the house of the Saier). Saier is the name of
a terrible individual of the Gowameh tribe of Kordofan,
who has been gaoler since the early days of the Mahdi,
and his name has become the synonym of the horrible
place of which he is the guardian.</p>

<p>A curious story is told about his name which is said
to be true. The Gowameh women are not renowned for
moral virtue, and when Saier was born his mother was
asked whose son he was; she was unable to say, and when
brought before the authorities and again questioned, she
replied that it was "Saier" (<i>i.e.</i> it was the custom of
her country); the boy was therefore called Saier, and
the name clung to him.</p>

<p>Up to the time of the fall of Khartum, the prison had
been merely a large zariba, and it was only after the
Mahdi's death that a wall, built by the prisoners them<a name="Page_345" id="Page_345"></a>selves,
took the place of the thorn hedge. It is situated
on the river bank, and consists of a large yard, in the
centre of which is a building made of mud, straw, and
stones, known as "abu haggar" (or the stone hut), with
small square openings for a window and a door; near
the hut is a well. In one corner are the cells, which are
scarcely large enough to contain a man, and which had
been built by Charles Neufeld.</p>

<p>The ordinary prisoners are not kept apart, but lie
under the shade of the wall during the day, and at night
they are packed, some into the abu haggar and some
left to lie about in the yard. A few of the well-off
prisoners, who are in for long terms of imprisonment,
have been allowed to build little huts for themselves.
And just behind the gate is a small sun-dried brick
building, which belonged to Wad Gazuli, late sub-Mudir
of Khartum, who deserted to the Mahdi before Gordon's
arrival; this hut is only big enough for two people, and
so low that it is impossible to stand upright in it.</p>

<p>It is considered a very great favour to be given a
hut of this description&mdash;a favour which is only conferred
on very privileged prisoners; it is, moreover, very
expensive, but it has this merit, that the occupier can at
any rate live separately. There are only three huts of
this description in the prison.</p>

<p>Prisoners are not allowed to use mattresses, but the
owner of a hut can have a small platform slightly raised
from the ground, on which he is allowed to sleep. The
ordinary prisoners generally lie on their sheepskins or
on mats stretched on the ground.</p>

<p>All prisoners are in chains, the number of which
depends on the nature of the crime committed. The
chains, called makias, consist of large iron rings forged
to the ankles, and joined by one and sometimes two
thick iron bars. The whole thing is very cumbersome
and heavy, and most tiring to walk with. To lighten
this difficulty, the prisoners generally attach a piece of
string to the chains, with which they lift them up as
they walk. If the connecting bar is twelve inches long
walking is greatly facilitated. Prisoners who have<a name="Page_346" id="Page_346"></a>
fallen under the Khalifa's special displeasure are
generally laden with four makias, which make it almost
impossible to rise; besides these, a long heavy chain is
fastened round the neck, and to prevent the skin being
chafed, leather stocks can be bought of the prison
warders. Close to the prison gate is a large anvil and
several hammers; the foot is placed in the open ring,
the ends of which are so tightly hammered together that
it is quite impossible to withdraw the foot; the anvil is
in such constant use every day that it is almost worn out.</p>

<p>Prisoners have to arrange for their own food; if they
have any relations or friends they are generally supplied
by them, or if they have any money they can buy their
own food from hawkers who are permitted to come
into the prison. But woe to the unfortunate prisoner
who has neither relations nor friends&mdash;he must inevitably
die of starvation.</p>

<p>At night, as I have remarked, the prisoners are
locked up in the stone hut, and sometimes the Saier
crowds it up to such an extent that the inmates are
almost suffocated or crushed to death. When he is in
want of money he does this, for a man will give anything
to be released from this awful black hole, in which
he packs them like sardines in a box and then closes
the door. The walls of the hut become heated during
the day, so that within the temperature is like an oven.
A little air gets in through the small opening, but the
pestiferous atmosphere caused by scores of perspiring
human beings tightly huddled together is beyond
measure unbearable. Several may be suffering from
various illnesses, but there is no possibility of getting
out once the door is closed. These horrible scenes can,
however, be better imagined than described; suffice
it to say that the noise and quarrelling amongst the
prisoners, occasioned by the revolting operations which go
on, is generally quelled by the guards coming in with
whips, with which they lay about them roundly, and
then go out and close the door again.</p>

<p>Sleep is almost quite out of the question, for there is
no room to stretch out the legs, the heat is unbearable;<a name="Page_347" id="Page_347"></a>
scorpions abound, and every now and then a yell shows
that some unfortunate individual has been stung; but
no one takes any notice. Cases of heat apoplexy often
occur, and deaths on this account are frequent. When a
person falls down in a fit, the only remark passed is, "ed
dam darabu" ("The blood has beaten him"). Thus, in
utter anguish and misery, the night is dragged through.
The moment the door is opened a rush is made for the
open air, the dead are dragged out, their chains knocked
off, and then they are buried.</p>

<p>Prisoners who have special permission to sleep outside
are all chained together to prevent flight, and are
guarded by numbers of soldiers. The slightest show of
resistance on the part of a prisoner is punished by
flogging. Unless the Khalifa gives special orders to
the contrary, prisoners are allowed to receive visits
from their friends and relatives. There are no fixed
periods of imprisonment, except in the case of smokers
and marissa-drinkers, the usual punishment for them
being confiscation of property, eighty lashes, and forty
days imprisonment; but latterly a fine, estimated at
the value of their property, is levied instead of complete
confiscation; the two other portions of the sentence
are, however, always inflicted.</p>

<p>Prisoners are generally divided into three classes:
the first class comprise those who are sentenced by the
chief of the beit el mal, and although there is a special
prison for offenders against the beit el mal, all serious
cases are brought to the Saier.</p>

<p>Second-class prisoners are those undergoing sentences
of the judges; both these classes hope for release whenever
a sufficiently influential person will pay a sum of money
for them, which sum must also be accompanied by a
certificate from the Saier that they have been conducting
themselves properly during their stay in prison.</p>

<p>The third class are those on whom the vials of the
Khalifa's wrath have been poured out; their crimes are
for the most part political, and all mediation in their
cases is quite useless, no one, not even the judge, is allowed
to say a good word for them to the Khalifa. It is only<a name="Page_348" id="Page_348"></a>
when his wrath is somewhat abated that it may occur
to himself to make inquiries about them, and then,
perhaps, he may consider recommendations for their
release; but the Saier's opinion goes for much more
than any other person's, and therefore it is a great point
to secure this individual's favour and get into his good
graces. One bad word from the Saier can do an infinity
of harm, and may indefinitely postpone a release which
has been on the point of being made.</p>

<p>The Saier thoroughly understands how to work his
influence, for he benefits considerably by his exercise of
power; he receives no pay, and therefore he is entirely
dependent on what he can make out of the prisoners.
The richer his victims, the more pleased he is, for he
knows he can wring money out of them freely. Once a
month the judge or his representative goes with a clerk
to the Saier and makes a list of all the prisoners, showing
how long each prisoner has been in confinement.
On these occasions numbers of the inmates throw themselves
at the feet of the judges and beg to be released
because they are starving. This list is shown by the
judge to the Khalifa, and Charles Neufeld's name
always appears at the top. Abdullah goes through the
list, makes careful inquiries about the prisoners, some
are released and others passed over in silence, a sign
which bodes them no good.</p>

<p>The Saier has seen and heard not a few of the misfortunes
of both Sudanese and Europeans. The first
Europeans he knew were Slatin Bey and Lupton Bey.
Gustav Klootz was put into chains in Abu Girgeh's
camp. During the siege of Khartum it was thought
the Europeans might attempt to escape to Gordon,
they were therefore put in chains; both Slatin and
Lupton spent upwards of ten months in chains under
the Saier; they suffered dreadfully from hunger and
ill-treatment, and were frequently threatened with
death. After the fall of Khartum they were released,
and were told by the Khalifa that they should feel
thankful to have been in prison, otherwise they would
undoubtedly have shared Gordon's fate.<a name="Page_349" id="Page_349"></a></p>

<p>One of our Mission brothers, Domenico Polinari, was
also kept in prison for six months; he was imprisoned
the same day that I arrived from Kordofan.</p>

<p>After the fall of Khartum, Polinari's brother had
been working as gardener in the Mission grounds,
under his new master, the Khalifa Sherif. The former
gardener, a Dongolawi, had been dismissed for dishonesty,
and before he left, Sherif ordered him to be
carefully examined, as it was thought he might have
taken some of his master's property. Polinari, who was
a most conscientious man, and had never even taken
a lemon without his master's permission, carried out the
search most carefully, and succeeded in getting back
quantities of things the thief had made away with.
For a time the thief said nothing, but soon his innate
Danagla astuteness came to his assistance, and he
concocted a plan to revenge himself on Polinari, and
again become chief gardener.</p>

<p>The war material, just as it had been left by Gordon
in the Mission house, was still there, and it happened
that one day some powder was stolen. In spite of the
most careful inquiries, it was impossible to trace the
thief, and now the ex-gardener began to throw out
hints that Polinari was implicated in the theft. A
certain Hajji Zubeir was entrusted with the inquiry.
Polinari's hut was overhauled, but nothing found in it;
his honesty was so well known that no one would
credit any evil reports or slander against him. But
the ex-gardener was not to be put off. Having failed
in his first accusation, he now began to spread reports
that Polinari drank liquor and chewed tobacco, and in
proof of this he produced a large glass bottle and some
dried herbs; there were some fresh dates in the bottle,
with which Polinari intended making vinegar, which the
gardener insisted was liquor; the dried vegetable was
a sort of cabbage which Polinari intended cooking for
his food, but this the Dongolawi asserted to be tobacco.</p>

<p>The unfortunate Polinari was obliged to walk through
Omdurman with the bottle on his head, followed by
an insulting and disorderly crowd, until he came before<a name="Page_350" id="Page_350"></a>
the judge. Kadi Ahmed, who was well known for his
partiality to Europeans, at once recognised that this
was all a trumped-up slander, and was anxious to
release Polinari; but Hajji Zubeir, who had still great
influence with the Khalifa, and instigated by the ex-gardener,
sent him off to the Saier. Every other day
we used to send him some bread and dates, but the
slave to whom the food had been consigned never
delivered it, as we afterwards discovered, and had it not
been that two of the sheikhs, who were fellow-prisoners
with him, had given him some of their food, he must
have died of starvation.</p>

<p>Amongst the many Sudanese who have at various
times been inmates of the Saier, may be mentioned the
aged sheikh of the Shukrieh, who had been most loyal
to Gordon, Awad el Kerim Abu Sin&mdash;he died in prison;
Wad Zaid, of the Debaineh tribe, had been kept in
prison four years; then there were Ahmed Wad
Suleiman, who had been the Mahdi's chief of the beit el
mal; Saleh Pasha Wad el Mek, one of Gordon's
principal officers; the Ashraf Sayid Abdel Kader and
Sayid Abdel Kerim; Wad Adlan we have already
referred to; Jabrallah, Sultan of Darfur, and his five
sons, most of whom died; Wad en Nejumi; Sheikh
Idris; Makin Wad en Nur, and many others.</p>

<p>When the Khalifa's tribe, the Taisha, first arrived,
they plundered the market, and Abdullah threw
200 of them into prison, "to teach them," he said,
"the right way." Every night fifty of them were
driven into the stone hut, which was, indeed, a terrible
change from their forests and plains. Every day
several died of typhus fever, and now the mere mention
of Saier makes them tremble; even their head sheikh,
El Ghazali, whose misfortunes I have already narrated,
spent some months in prison before he made his unsuccessful
attempt to escape.</p>

<p>Yasin, a Jaali, who had fallen into the hands of the
English at Toski, and who was subsequently released,
and given a letter to take to the Khalifa from the
Egyptian Government, had to pay dearly for saying<a name="Page_351" id="Page_351"></a>
to Abdullah that they could not fight against the
English.</p>

<p>Another of the captives taken at Toski, but who also
returned to Omdurman, was much more crafty in his
interview with the Khalifa; this individual related that,
when in Cairo, an old monk had said to him, "Is not the
Khalifa of the Mahdi called Abdullah?" to which he
replied, "Yes; it is so." "Is he not slightly lame?"
"Yes." "Is he not marked with small-pox?" "Yes."
Then the monk said, "Do you see this book? It
contains the history of the Mahdi and his successor,
and it is stated in it that Khalifa Abdullah shall
conquer Egypt, Syria, and Mecca." The Khalifa was
so delighted with the story that, turning round to his
people, he said, "You see the Christians know perfectly
well that Mahdiism is not false." The wily author of
the story was then given a present of money.</p>

<p>Occasionally the Saier treats his prisoners very
cruelly. Two fikis who were suspected of being unbelievers
were given 1,000 lashes each; one died on the
spot, and the other a few days afterwards. Occasionally
he relieves the monotony by giving his prisoners
400 lashes, which is not considered an <a name="tn_png_367"></a><!--TN:"out-of-the way" changed to "out-of-the-way"-->out-of-the-way
punishment.</p>

<p>On one occasion, two Ababdeh Arabs coming from
Korosko as merchants, were discovered south of
Metemmeh with rifles in parts, carefully concealed in
bales of cloth; letters were also found on them. They
were at once considered to be spies, and taken before
the Khalifa. As soon as it was rumoured that Arabs
carrying letters for the Europeans had been caught,
a friend came to me at once, and told me that the
letters were sure to be addressed to me. This threw
me into a fever of anguish and alarm; I was made
a prisoner, and spent that night in the greatest terror.
The Khalifa had warned us most distinctly not to
correspond with Egypt, and threatened to imprison us
if a letter should ever be discovered.</p>

<p>On this occasion I had every reason to be alarmed,
for I had already had a similar experience. After<a name="Page_352" id="Page_352"></a>
Father Bonomi had escaped, he sent a Kababish Arab
to Kordofan to try and secure my escape. The Arab
remained with Sheikh Saleh Bey, and did not, to my
knowledge, ever come to El Obeid. When Saleh was
killed in 1887, they found amongst his papers a letter
from Father Bonomi to me, advising me to trust the
Arab, who would not fail to guide me safely to Halfa.
This letter was brought, with the other correspondence, to
the Khalifa, and was translated to him: he was furious,
and had not my guardian angel protected me, I must
have been relegated to prison.</p>

<p>Arabic letters are less dangerous, for they are read
out to the Khalifa by his secretary, but he is always
mistrustful that European letters are correctly translated.
How I had longed for letters, even a word from
the outside world, or from my relations or friends; but
now in my captivity how earnestly I prayed that no
letter for me should be found amongst those brought
by the Arabs!</p>

<p>As soon as it was daylight I went out in search of
news, and to my delight was told that the letters were
in Arabic and were not for me, but for some one whom
I knew very well. The contents of the letters were
quite harmless, merely an interchange of compliments
between families in Cairo and Omdurman, and news of
a wedding which had taken place in Cairo. However,
the two men who brought the letters were in no little
fear, thinking they would certainly be executed; but
the Khalifa had thoroughly mastered their contents,
and though it was evening, he mounted his big white
horse, in which position he usually made his important
speeches to the Ansar, and he told them that letters had
been captured which had come from Egypt and were
addressed to the "Ansar el Gudad" (<i>i.e.</i> the "new
Ansar," or inhabitants of Khartum and the Blue Nile,
in contra-distinction to the "Ansar el Gudum," or old
Ansar of Kordofan, who were the original adherents of
the Mahdi); that he did not intend to mention the
names of the persons to whom the letters were addressed,
but he was sure they would spend a sleepless night.<a name="Page_353" id="Page_353"></a></p>

<p>The next morning the two Arabs were sent to the
Saier, but their lives were spared. A few days later I
went to see Neufeld in prison and inquired about the
Arabs. I saw them both chained, and when they saw
me they at once asked me for something, addressing
me as Baladieh (<i>i.e.</i> one of their own countrymen), as
they took me for an Egyptian; and then they told me
in strict secrecy that they had come with the intention
of securing the flight of two persons&mdash;one Mankarius
Gottas, who had died in Galabat, and the other a
resident in Berber, by whose imprudence they had been
betrayed; these unfortunate men had had nothing to
eat for three days, so I gave them a few piastres which
I had brought for Neufeld, and as I did not dare to
stay longer with them I begged Zogheir to look after
them.</p>

<p>Fifteen days afterwards I returned and found the
poor men stretched out dead under the wall, they had
died of starvation, and the guards had just come to
knock off their chains and carry their bodies out of the
yard. The sight of these two Ababdehs filled my
heart with sadness; there they lay, nothing but a mass
of skin and bone; they had come to help poor captives
to escape, and this was their own miserable end. This,
indeed, was a warning to me to act with increased
prudence and caution.</p>

<p>An Egyptian, born in the Sudan, was also sent to the
Saier for a few months for declaring that he was the
fourth Khalifa&mdash;<i>i.e.</i> the Khalifa Osman. One day this
individual had presented himself to the Khalifa and
begged to be heard for a few moments as he wished to
tell him of a dream he had had. It is quite an ordinary
occurrence for the Ansar to relate dreams flattering to
the Khalifa, in the hope of getting some bakshish.</p>

<p>Thus did our Khalifa Osman relate that in his dream
or vision he had beheld the Mahdi, who told him to
declare himself the fourth Khalifa, and therefore he
begged that Abdullah would confirm him as such and
permit him to take his share of authority with the
other Khalifas; he also begged that all the honour due<a name="Page_354" id="Page_354"></a>
to him as Khalifa Osman should be forthwith paid to
him.</p>

<a name="charles"></a><div class="figcenter"><img src="https://brian.carnell.com/wiki/_media/etext:f:fr-wingate-ten-years-captive-p354.jpg" border="0" alt="" title="" width="287" height="443">
<p class="caption2">CHARLES NEUFELD.</p></div>


<p>This poor madman paid dearly for his dream.
Abdullah merely made a sign to one of his body-guard,
on which he was hurried off to the Saier, where he
received fifty lashes twice a day, and was eventually
obliged to confess that the devil had tempted him to
strive after this position.</p>

<p>Charles Neufeld remained in the prison longer than<a name="Page_355" id="Page_355"></a>
any one else. I have narrated in a previous chapter
how he had daringly joined Saleh's people with the
intention of establishing commercial relations with the
Arabs, and how he was entrapped by the Dervishes
at the oasis of Selimeh. This good man knew nothing
of the Sudan and nothing about Mahdiism, and it was
just at this time that the Khalifa had made up his
mind to crush Saleh and his Kababish.</p>

<p>On the 7th of March, Neufeld arrived in Omdurman&mdash;a
prisoner under a strong escort. News spread like
wildfire that an English pasha had been captured, and
this caused a great stir in the capital. The Khalifa
considered him a most important capture, and Neufeld
was ushered into the presence of the three Khalifas and
two Europeans, who were entrusted with the examination
of his papers. Neufeld spoke Arabic, and was
quite fearless. His papers showed that he was a
Prussian and had studied in the Leipzig University.
All the documents were most carefully translated to the
Khalifa, as it was most important to assure him that
Neufeld was not an Englishman, as otherwise it would
have gone very hardly with him. There was one letter,
however, in English, which, if it had been truthfully
translated, would have probably got him into great
danger.</p>

<p>After the preliminary examination, Abdullah's mind
seemed to have been put at rest, for he delivered from
his high seat a long speech to the inquisitive Ansar
regarding this great English pasha, who he said had
come to the Sudan with arms and ammunition, intending
to seize Kordofan and fight against Mahdiism, but
fortunately the brave troops of Wad en Nejumi had
met him near Dongola, killed his soldiers, and captured
him.</p>

<p>It was the Khalifa's habit to exaggerate facts and
thereby encourage the Ansar; he also made out his
capture was a most important event, for hitherto they
had not succeeded in taking even one of the hated
English. Poor Neufeld was therefore thrown into
chains and carefully guarded by soldiers; during the<a name="Page_356" id="Page_356"></a>
whole of that night a fanatical Dinka negress, who
used to dress in men's clothes and wear a sword,
shrieked continuously at him, "Allah hu akbar alal
kufar!" ("God's power is most great over the unbelievers.")</p>

<p>It was decided that Neufeld was to be hanged the
next morning. Very early the Khalifa sent orders that
the great drum should be beaten, while the blast of the
huge onbe&iuml;a close to Neufeld's ears almost made him
fall down from fright. The slaves made game of him
as if he were a monkey; but he still kept up courage
and answered all these insults with a manly spirit; the
rope had been fixed on to the scaffold, and already
crowds of people were collected to see the Englishman
executed. But the condemned man had not yet arrived,
for the Khalifa's final decision had not been taken.
Hitherto he had never executed a white man in this
open way, and he delayed, because he was still uncertain
about his being a Prussian. Had Neufeld been an
Englishman, there is not the smallest doubt he would
have been killed.</p>

<p>At length Abdullah made up his mind not to kill
him, but he determined to frighten him; about midday,
therefore, Neufeld was taken to the market-place
escorted by horsemen; the crowd raised a yell of
delight when he appeared, but Neufeld fearlessly walked
on, and on reaching the gallows he jumped on to the
angarib and bent his head so that Bringi might adjust
the rope round his neck. Just at the last moment the
judge stepped forward and said that the Khalifa had
been graciously pleased to repeal the sentence of execution,
and Neufeld was, therefore, again removed to the
lock-up.</p>

<p>Three days later he was laden with three heavy
chains, put on to a camel, and led through all the
streets of Omdurman, so that every one might see him.
He was also taken to a review where the Khalifa asked
him if the Turks possessed as many troops as he now
saw before him, to which Neufeld replied that the
Khalifa's troops were more numerous, but that they<a name="Page_357" id="Page_357"></a>
were not so well drilled in exercises and movements as
the Turks were.</p>

<p>This answer did not please the Khalifa; and in order
to make him take an interest in the Mahdi and his
Khalifa, he was taken over to Khartum and was there
shown the Mission building, which the Mahdi had seized;
he was then taken back to the prison, where he remained
four years. He was frequently attacked with typhus
fever, dysentery, and other ailments, and was terribly
stung by scorpions; had not the Europeans in Omdurman
supported him he must have starved to death.</p>

<p>The depth of misery to which poor Neufeld was
reduced may be readily understood when it is known
that he spent a whole year in the stone hut, and it was
not until he had completed two years in prison that,
through the intermediary of a friend, he was allowed to
build a little cell for himself in one of the corners of the
yard, where he could sleep away from the other prisoners.
This little building was about twelve feet square and
very low, and here poor Neufeld used to sit all day long;
his jibbeh was very dirty and swarming with insects,
which allowed him little rest at night, and in despair he
used to get one of his companions in adversity to rub him
with wet sand, which made his skin less irritable; some
sympathizing Arabs told him to soak crushed cloves in
water and then rub his body with the paste; this
Neufeld found a capital remedy, though it made his
skin smart a great deal at first. Neufeld's kindness of
heart soon won over his guards, and often they allowed
him to remain undisturbed in his little hut for the night
instead of dragging him off to the stone hut.</p>

<p>One evening, hearing that the Saier was in a bad
humour, he told his guards that he wanted to spend that
night in the stone hut; but the soldiers assured him that
the moment they knew there was to be an inspection
they would at once let him know. So Neufeld settled
himself to sleep in his cell, when suddenly, about midnight,
one of his guards awoke him, saying, "Get up
quickly! the Saier has sworn he will give any one he
finds outside the stone hut 100 lashes."<a name="Page_358" id="Page_358"></a></p>

<p>Neufeld got up as quickly as possible and made his
way to the hut, but the chains prevented him from
moving rapidly, and when he got to the door he could
not turn the key; just at that moment the Saier came
into the yard, and seeing him, ordered him to be given
100 lashes on the spot; but the soldiers refused to obey&mdash;one
said he had fever, and the other said that he had
been flogging people all day and was too tired. The
Saier was therefore obliged to call slaves from his own
house, who administered the 100 lashes, and left poor
Neufeld covered with deep scores all over his body.</p>

<p>In 1889 Neufeld obtained a new companion in
adversity in the person of a Bohemian baker, who had
been employed with some Greeks at Halfa. One day,
in a state of semi-intoxication, the baker had left Halfa
with nothing but his violin, intending to go to Sawakin;
but he lost his way in the desert, was overcome by
thirst, and wandered towards the Nile, which he at
length reached. Quite ignorant of the direction in
which he was going, he struck out towards the south,
and fell in with a patrol of Dervishes, by whom he was
passed on to Omdurman.</p>

<p>On his arrival the Khalifa sent him to prison, where
he remained two years. Neufeld shared his every
mouthful with him; but during the famine he suffered
dreadfully from want. At length, through the intermediary
of the mukuddum in charge of the Europeans,
he was released; but a few months afterwards he made
off to the Gezireh. The mukuddum, who had guaranteed
him with his head, sent several camelmen in search of
him; but there was no trace to be found of him. After
a time it was reported that he had died of starvation at
Rufaa on the Blue Nile, and this information greatly
relieved the Khalifa's mind.</p>

<p>As for Neufeld, we did our utmost to obtain his
release; but the Khalifa would not hear of it; moreover,
false reports were circulated about him. Some people
who came from Dongola said that Neufeld, in disguise,
had been sent by the Egyptian Government to find out
whether the Mudir&mdash;Mustafa Yawer&mdash;was still loyal or<a name="Page_359" id="Page_359"></a>
had thrown in his lot with the Dervishes; but in reality
it was Kitchener Pasha who had been entrusted with
this mission.</p>

<p>On another occasion an Arabic newspaper, printed in
Cairo, was brought to him, containing a paragraph to
the effect that an English officer had been captured by
the Dervishes in Dongola. This amazed the Khalifa
greatly, for at once he believed that he had been deceived
and that Neufeld was actually an Englishman. Being, in
truth, a mere savage and an ignorant man, he believed
that all news in a newspaper must be true, and blamed
himself for not having executed Neufeld in the first
instance; he ordered him, however, to be more heavily
chained than before.</p>

<p>Others again spread rumours abroad that Neufeld had
come with the intention of aiding Slatin to escape&mdash;news
which enraged the Khalifa perhaps more than anything
else. Thus did Neufeld spend four years in prison, and
his release seemed hopeless; but we left no stone unturned.
We secured the good-will of all the most
influential people in Omdurman, including even the Om
el Muminin (Mother of the Faithful&mdash;<i>i.e.</i> the Mahdi's
widow) and the Sherifa Sitt Nefisa (the daughter of Sidi
Hassan el Morghani), who petitioned very earnestly for
his release; but the Khalifa would listen to no one.</p>

<p>When powder was scarce in Omdurman, some one
suggested, at one of the Khalifa's councils, that it would
be much better to make the unbelievers work for religion
instead of remaining all day long idle in the Saier, and
that Neufeld ought to undertake the saltpetre refinery.
The Khalifa said, "Do what you think right&mdash;I am
content." And on the same day Neufeld was sent to
Halfaieh in search of saltpetre; he found some, and a
month later was moved to Khartum, where he is now
working in the old Mission-house with an Egyptian
assistant named Said. He still wears one chain on the
feet, which, from constant rubbing, has become as bright
as silver, while there are great black marks round his
ankles. In Khartum he is allowed greater liberty than
he had in Omdurman.<a name="Page_360" id="Page_360"></a></p>

<p>In 1891 a Jewish merchant came from Massawa to
Kassala, where the Emir Abu Girgeh was then commanding.
The latter was in favour of opening commercial
relations by means of Jews, and permitting non-Mussulman
dealers to come and sell their goods at Kassala, or
let them go on further into the country. When, therefore,
the Jew had disposed of his goods, he went, on
Abu Girgeh's advice, to Omdurman. On being presented,
the Khalifa summoned another Jew, named Passioni,
whom he made responsible for the new arrival. But, as
usual, the voice of slander was not silent; it was
whispered that he was an Italian spy, and that it would
have been better to have him under surveillance. He
had scarcely left the Khalifa's presence, when he was
recalled and sent to the Saier, there to be "educated as
a true Ansar."</p>

<p>The fate of Olivier Pain and the experiences of
Neufeld and this Jew are sufficient evidence to prove
the utter uselessness of attempting to personally enter
into commercial relations with the present ruler of the
Sudan. Any one who comes to Omdurman need expect
nothing but chains, the most terrible form of imprisonment,
insults and ignominy from the Sudanese.</p>

<p>A still worse fate befell Sheikh Khalil, who was sent
from Egypt to the Sudan on a special mission to the
Khalifa. In company with an Ababdeh sheikh, he arrived
at Abu Hamed, where Zogal was at the time. The
latter being accurately informed of the nature of his
mission, allowed the two messengers to travel without
escort to Omdurman, and on the journey Khalil had
opportunities of speaking to the people, and ascertaining
how they were disposed to the Egyptian Government.
He saw with his own eyes the devastation wrought by
the Dervishes and by famine in all the towns and villages
along the Nile. For some days before he actually
reached Omdurman, we heard of his approach, which
occasioned no small stir in the place. Some people
thought he was bringing proposals of peace, which, if
refused by the Khalifa, would oblige the Egyptian
Government to again advance into the Sudan; rumours<a name="Page_361" id="Page_361"></a>
of all sorts were rife, but there was no possible means
of knowing the truth.</p>

<p>Late one evening Khalil arrived, dressed as an Egyptian,
with a long flowing abayeh (mantle). He was
taken before Yakub, to whom he made over his letter,
and was then taken before the Khalifa, to whom, it is
said, he freely spoke his mind. That same evening he
was sent under escort to Kererri, where he was put into
a hut under a strong guard, but he was not chained.
He was supplied with meat, butter, corn and sugar, and
a female slave was placed at his disposal by the Khalifa,
who had purposely sent him out of Omdurman to prevent
him conversing with anyone, and to keep all information
regarding his mission quite secret.<a name="FNanchor_P_16" id="FNanchor_P_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_P_16" class="fnanchor">[P]</a> In this way the
Khalifa thought he would give him a different impression
of Mahdiism, while Hajji Zubeir was told off as intermediary
between Khalil and Abdullah.</p>

<p>It was generally believed that Khalil had blamed the
Khalifa for his ill-treatment and oppression of the
Moslems, and had shown him how his rule was ruining
the Sudan. He had begged him to abandon the evil
of Mahdiism and return to the true orthodox religion.
Whilst in confinement at Kererri he was frequently
threatened with death. No one knew what his mission
could be, and the Khalifa knew how to guard it secretly,
so that gradually people began to forget all about him,
and great was the surprise when one day Khalil and his
companion appeared riding on mules at the great parade
held during the Bairam festival.</p>

<p>The Khalifa brought Khalil here to show him how
immense was his power and authority, and just before
the parade was concluded Abdullah and all the cavalry
galloped up to him, surrounded him, and asked whether<a name="Page_362" id="Page_362"></a>
he would not rather stay in the shadow of the Mahdi's
dome than return to Egypt. Khalil, who had now been
for upwards of five months in confinement, and thinking
that he should never be allowed to leave, and at the same
time longing to be allowed to return and report to the
Government all he had seen, replied diplomatically that
having once been in the light he had no wish to return
to darkness.</p>

<p>This reply delighted the Khalifa, who ordered him to
be set free, and at prayers in the mosque on that day
he sat in the centre of the long line of Ansar just behind
the Khalifa.</p>

<p>It is the custom at festivals for all European prisoners,
Greeks, Syrians, Jews, &amp;c., to go and offer the
Khalifa their good wishes. When they arrived on this
occasion the Khalifa ordered them to be seated around
him&mdash;he does not allow them to kiss his hand, as he
might thereby become contaminated with their impurity;
he usually makes a speech, pointing out the punishments
which may fall upon them; but this time he was
particularly gracious, asked how they were all getting
on, and if they had met with ill-treatment or injustice
at the hands of anyone. He gave them to understand
that they must look on him as their protector, and that
should they die their children would become their heirs,
and that if a family had no children, the property
would be sold and divided amongst the other prisoners.</p>

<p>This kindly speech was a great surprise to us all; but
the astute Khalifa only wanted to show Khalil how
well he treated his prisoners. It is possible, also, that
Khalil had observed to him how badly we really were
treated, but this is only surmise on my part. Abdullah's
kindly speech, however, did us much good, for of course
all he says goes the round of the whole town, and when
the people knew that we had been well received, they
showed us much greater kindness and respect. If, on
the other hand, the Khalifa ever imputes a word of blame
to any of us, the reaction on the people is immediate,
and we are at once insulted and maltreated. It is
always said that "the whites"&mdash;which is the name by<a name="Page_363" id="Page_363"></a>
which we are known in the Sudan&mdash;"live under the
shadow of the sword."</p>

<p>The Khalifa then asked Khalil's companion if he
wished to return or stay where he was. The man
replied that he was a messenger, pure and simple, and
that as such "he should return to him who sent him,"
and on the same day the Khalifa gave him permission
to depart.</p>

<p>But now evil reports were spread abroad regarding
Khalil. It was said that he was a great friend of Mustafa
Yawer, the ex-Mudir of Dongola, and that it was
mainly through his influence that he prevented him
adopting Mahdiism; it was also said that he was the
chief of the spies sent by the English, and a bitter
enemy to the Mahdi. It was imprudent under such
circumstances of Khalil to go as an envoy to Omdurman.
He had given his services to the Government for this
purpose, and he bravely adhered to it; but he was well
known to the inhabitants of Dongola and Dar Shaggieh,
and it was quite certain that the Khalifa would never
permit such a man to return to Egypt. Even in
Omdurman he would not allow him to be at large.</p>

<p>Two days later the judges were assembled to consider
Khalil's case: false witnesses came forward who asserted
that they had seen Khalil worshipping the sun and frequently
turning towards the west at prayers, and all
sorts of stories were trumped up to induce the Khalifa
to put Khalil in chains.</p>

<p>The pliable judges condemned the sheikh, and he was
relegated to the Saier. Neufeld had to give up his cell,
which was made over to Khalil. None of the prisoners
were allowed to speak to him&mdash;thus was the poor man
left without a friend or acquaintance to help him; everyone
shunned him as if he were the victim of some foul
disease. From the earliest days of Mahdiism it was
always the fate of those who fell in favour to be deserted
by all, and this was more especially the case with all
those on whom the Khalifa's wrath fell. Thus everyone&mdash;fearing
for his own life&mdash;avoids all intercourse with
such prisoners.<a name="Page_364" id="Page_364"></a></p>

<p>When Khalil had expended the little money he possessed,
he sold his sword, sheepskin, and clothes, and
bought bread&mdash;such bread too!&mdash;even Sudanese, who
are accustomed to eat all sorts of stuff, could only eat
prison bread when hunger had made them like ravenous
wolves; but Khalil had come from Egypt and its flesh-pots,
and the Sudan bread made him ill.</p>

<p>At length he had no more money to buy even bread,
and then he suffered the pangs of hunger. For a month
before his death his beard had grown quite white, and
he himself had become like a skeleton. His wretchedness
and loneliness brought on sickness, and he died a
miserable death. It occurred on a Friday whilst the
Khalifa was attending a review, and Abdullah accidentally
fell from his horse on that day, but was caught
before he reached the ground. This was considered a
very bad omen by the people, who thought that Khalil
had been unjustly condemned. They believed it pointed
to the overthrow of the Khalifa's rule, and he himself
was very much disturbed.</p>

<p>The disloyal Ababdehs of Hassan Khalifa were also
locked up in the Saier. Hassan was a nephew of the
former Mudir of Berber, had been for a long time emir
of Abu Hamed, and during Nejumi's advance on Egypt
had occupied the wells of Murat. It was said that when
there, he had acted in a most reprehensible manner, and
had wrung quantities of money out of the merchants.
It was also said that when Saleh Bey advanced from
Korosko on Murat, he came to an arrangement with
him&mdash;for he was not a Mahdiist at heart&mdash;and had
retired on Abu Hamed without attempting to fight.</p>

<p>All sorts of reports about him reached the Khalifa's
ears, but he refused to believe them. When, however,
a certain Abadi named Karrar, one of the Khalifa's
spies, who had been captured by Saleh at Murat, for
having letters in his possession for the sheikhs in
Egypt, and had been kept in prison for some months,
was released and returned to Omdurman, the Khalifa
then became convinced of Hassan Khalifa's disloyalty;
he sent four of his mulazimin to Abu Hamed, arrested<a name="Page_365" id="Page_365"></a>
him and his people, and confiscated all their property.
About forty men were thrown into chains, dragged to
Omdurman and there relegated to the Saier; several
died of typhus, and the remainder, after two years'
imprisonment, were sent as exiles to Fashoda, except
Hassan, who still remains in prison at Omdurman.</p>

<p>Near the Saier is another small prison for females,
but there are not so many of them.</p>

<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>

<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_P_16" id="Footnote_P_16"></a>
<a href="#FNanchor_P_16" class="fnlabel">[P]</a> Khalil had been entrusted with a few lines of a purely non-political
nature, politely asking the Khalifa to return to the bearer
any clothes, papers, &amp;c., belonging to the late General Gordon, which
his family were very desirous of procuring. He was also given lists
of all prisoners captured at Toski, showing how they were disposed of
in Egypt, and a remark was added that when peace and tranquillity
were restored between the two countries, they would be permitted to
return, but in the meantime they were well cared for.&mdash;F.&nbsp;R.&nbsp;W.</p></div>
</div>
<a name="Page_366" id="Page_366"></a>

<hr class="newpg" style="width: 65%;">
<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXI" id="CHAPTER_XXI"></a>CHAPTER XXI.</h2>

<p class="chapterhead">LUPTON BEY AND THE AMMUNITION.</p>

<p class="chapterdescribe">The Khalifa's powder and ammunition begin to fail&mdash;Lupton Bey
makes fulminate&mdash;Unsuccessful attempts to make powder&mdash;Yusef
Pertekachi at last succeeds&mdash;The explosion in the powder
factory.</p>


<p class="firstpara"><span class="firstwords">As</span> a result of constant warfare and the careless expenditure
of ammunition, the want of it now began to
be sensibly felt by the Khalifa, and it eventually became
an all-important question. The principal want
was caps for the Remington cartridges, for, though
there were quantities of empty cases there was scarcely
any fulminate left.</p>

<p>Many a starving Egyptian began to try and invent
some substance which would act as fulminate; there
were still a few books on chemistry to be found, but all
attempts failed to produce satisfactory results. At last,
a certain Hassan Zeki, who had formerly been a doctor
in Khartum, invented the substance required. The
Khalifa told off Lupton Bey, who at that time was
living in the most abject poverty, as his assistant.</p>

<p>The first trials of the new fulminate were made in
the presence of Yakub, and were most successful; the
invention proved of the greatest use to the Khalifa.
The unfortunate Lupton Bey died on the 8th of May,
1888, and Hassan Zeki continued the work. Within a
comparatively short time he prepared a very large
number of caps. Abdullah had a special laboratory
made, and employed a number of boys as cartridge
fillers. It was principally owing to this invention that
the Khalifa was enabled to conduct his successful
campaigns against Abyssinia.<a name="Page_367" id="Page_367"></a></p>

<p>And now another difficulty arose&mdash;this was the
scarcity of powder; numbers of persons presented
themselves as prepared to make this commodity. An
Indian, named Kamal ed Din, came forward amongst
others; he had come from India to join the Mahdi,
passed himself off as a doctor and proudly called himself
"Physician-in-chief to the Khalifa." He had a
ready tongue, and soon acquired respect and wealth; he
painted his beard red with henna.<a name="FNanchor_Q_17" id="FNanchor_Q_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_Q_17" class="fnanchor">[Q]</a> He had immense
powers of persuasion, and thereby obtained a concession
from Abdullah to make powder. He demanded that a
special laboratory should be built for him in Khartum,
so as to be quite out of observation, and he asked for a
quantity of money for the purchase of the chemicals he
required.</p>

<p>The laboratory was built in the course of a month in
the old corn store in Khartum, and the work was
taken in hand. The Indian declared that it was most
necessary to obtain phosphorus, and therefore he had
all the bones and skulls of the people who had been
massacred in Khartum, collected, and these he pounded
in mortars into very fine flour, much to the annoyance
of people who objected to this desecration of the dead.</p>

<p>Every now and then he applied for more money from
the beit el mal, which was supplied to him at once, and
now he began to work quite alone and in secret; he
put the bone flour in earthenware vessels, poured water
on it, and then sealed the vessels hermetically; he now
declared that to prepare the chemical substance only,
another month was necessary. He therefore stopped
work and lived at his ease. At the expiration of the
month he secretly opened the vessels; no one had a
notion what he was going to do with the bone-paste,
but he affirmed that so far everything was most successful,
and invited the head of the beit el mal, as well as
several emirs, to be present at the trial of the powder.</p>

<p>The emirs came and sat in a circle round a furnace<a name="Page_368" id="Page_368"></a>
which slaves were blowing up with bellows; then the
Indian produced the vessel, asked the emirs to take
some of the substance and throw it into the fire. This
they did, and it exploded with a loud report, which
greatly astonished the spectators, one of whom then
and there, knelt down and offered up a prayer of
thanksgiving for the success of the invention.</p>

<p>The emirs accompanied Kamal ed Din to Omdurman
in triumph, where he also gave proof of the
excellence of his powder in the presence of the Khalifa.
Abdullah was wild with joy, and presented the inventor
with 200 dollars and a concubine. The Indian now
returned to Khartum with profuse promises that he
would supply several hundredweight of the new powder
in the course of a month.</p>

<p>But soon people began to talk of him as being a
cheat and a deceiver; a month passed and the powder
was not delivered; the head of the beit el mal became
anxious, and reported the matter to the Khalifa, who at
once sent his brother Yakub and Wad Adlan to make
inquiries on the spot; they went, and it was very
evident that the Indian had been duping them all the
time. He was brought before the Khalifa, and, strange
to say, was not punished. Abdullah merely remarked
that he was a poor foreigner, and, of course, had to do
his best to make a living. It is a curious thing that
Abdullah has a much greater insight into the ways of
foreigners than most natives.</p>

<p>A certain mukuddum, however, of the Jaalin tribe
did not get off so easily. In the days of the Government
he had practised an extensive fraud in Khartum,
and also in Sennar as an alchemist, and now he came
forward to offer his services for the manufacture of lead.
At first he had been occupied in making gold, but now
to the Khalifa lead was even more precious than gold,
and the want of it was causing him grave apprehension.</p>

<p>The mukuddum's offer was accepted, he received
presents from the beit el mal, where he was given a
special place in which to carry on his work, and<a name="Page_369" id="Page_369"></a>
numbers of slaves were placed at his disposal; he was
given all the money he required to purchase various
things in connection with the manufacture, and which
he asserted were absolutely essential. Four slaves were
told off to keep up an enormous furnace, whilst the
mukuddum, his head and shoulders swathed in a great
mantle, beat the ground madly with a long whip in
order to call the Jinns to his assistance. His curious
antics greatly astonished the people, and he soon became
the principal topic of conversation in Omdurman.
After fourteen days an enormous lump of lead was
drawn out from the furnace, and his reputation was made.</p>

<p>The Sudanese are great believers in alchemy; and it
was thought that the preparation of one of the ingredients
required the greatest secrecy. The mukuddum,
therefore, worked fully on the superstitious nature of
the people, and a thick cloud of foul-smelling smoke
was seen continually issuing from his mysterious and
dark laboratory. The lead was at once sent to the
Khalifa, who appeared thoroughly convinced of the
miraculous power of the maker, and indeed had the
piece brought into the mosque to expose it publicly.
The sycophants of course told him that this was an undeniable
miracle on the part of the Mahdi, who had
been the means of supplying the precious metal to his
successor through this mukuddum.</p>

<p>The manufacturer was now in high favour, the
Khalifa pressed him to continue the work, and supplied
him liberally with money and female slaves. One of
the Europeans had urged him to desist, telling him that
it was quite impossible to manufacture lead; but the
mukuddum answered him three times in the most solemn
manner: "Do you think that you know the knowledge
of God?" and then went on with his work. From time to
time he continued to send pieces of lead to the Khalifa,
but his supply only lasted a few months; the more
sensible people began to talk, they urged that if he
could make one piece of lead, he could also make
several hundred-weight. The voice of the detractors
grew stronger, the Khalifa's suspicions were aroused,<a name="Page_370" id="Page_370"></a>
and the mukuddum was summoned into his presence.
He asked him in the most kind manner if it was a
fact that he really knew how to make lead, or if he
was only attempting to deceive; if the latter&mdash;and he
confessed to it&mdash;then he might receive forgiveness.</p>

<p>But this kindly warning was entirely without effect;
the mukuddum boldly answered that he did know how
to make lead, and moreover abused his detractors,
calling them enemies of Mahdiism, who hated the
Khalifa, and did not wish him to be possessor of
the precious metal. He added that, if given sufficient
time, he would prove his enemies to be liars. The
Khalifa permitted him to continue his work a little
longer; but the results were still the same, and he was
again summoned before Abdullah, who now threatened
to cut off his hand and foot unless he confessed that he
had been practising a fraud; but still the mukuddum
persisted in his denial, and the Khalifa ordered three
chains to be forged for his feet, and had him sent back
to his laboratory under a strong escort; he was to be
permitted to work for three days longer.</p>

<p>He now redoubled his antics, making the dust whirl
in clouds about him, and crying on the spirits to aid
him. He put a few pounds of substance into the fire&mdash;all
that was left of his lead-scrapings&mdash;but this time
the spirits left him in the lurch. Bathed in perspiration,
he anxiously raked about the coals; but there was
no lead to be seen. He begged and prayed for more
time, which was granted. But at length one of his slaves
let out the secret; he said that the mukuddum used to
purchase in the market the lead bullets which had
been dug out of Khartum, he filed them into thin
shavings, mixed them with some concoction, and threw
them into the furnace; the melted lead was then
drawn off and allowed to cool. On the last occasion he
had failed, and now his fraud was fully exposed; the
Khalifa ordered his hand and foot to be cut off, "not,"
he said, "so much for the fraud, as for the continual
denials." The operation was carried out, but the mukuddum
died eight days afterwards of tetanus.<a name="Page_371" id="Page_371"></a></p>

<p>The failures of this man and of the Indian to manufacture
powder and lead did not deter others from
continuing their experiments, and amongst the latter
was a Greek named Yusef Pertekachi, who continued
working on with the most dogged determination. He
had tried every plan to gain a livelihood; but whatever
he put his hand to, it seemed to fail, and he was soon
deeply involved in debt. In his desperate position he
determined to study the manufacture of gunpowder.
For a whole year he continued his experiments, and in
his case the truth of the proverb, "Necessity is the
mother of invention," was fully exemplified; he succeeded
in making fairly good powder.</p>

<p>The experiences of the Indian and the mukuddum
pointed to extreme caution; he did not, therefore, tell
Adlan, who he thought would not believe him, but
after his death he applied to Yakub.</p>

<p>Yakub is a man whom even the leaders of Mahdiism
find a difficulty in approaching, and poor Pertekachi tried
for months before he obtained a hearing; but at length
he was attended to, and the various trials and experiments
of the new powder, both in guns and Remington
rifles, proved most satisfactory.</p>

<p>Pertekachi at once rose in favour in the eyes of Abdullah
and Yakub, and was soon comparatively well off.
The Khalifa ordered a bottle of the powder to be placed
in the Antik Khana, on which was written: "Powder
invented by the Osta (Master) Pertekachi."</p>

<p>At first Pertekachi set to work to improve the
damaged powder, of which there were quantities of
old barrels taken out of the Government magazines,
but, having been left in damp places, it had become
crusted. For several months he continued his work, to
the complete satisfaction of Abdullah, but the poor
man was soon to come to a terrible end.</p>

<p>On the 26th of January, 1891, Pertekachi as usual
went to the market-place at an early hour to have a
chat with the other Europeans. He happened to say:
"To-day is the anniversary of the fall of Khartum&mdash;Gordon's
day&mdash;a black day!" In the Sudan it is the<a name="Page_372" id="Page_372"></a>
custom to call a day on which a misfortune has occurred
"Yom aswad" (a black day). And to the survivors
of Khartum, the 26th of January is always looked
upon as a day of grief and sorrow; several people
give alms for the rest of the souls of their murdered
friends.</p>

<p>Pertekachi had intended to go and look at the new
house he had just built; but being the 26th of January,
he would not go to it, and decided to go to the beit el
mal instead, where he had some work to do. He found
the workmen busy opening one of the barrels of damaged
powder, and after taking a cup of coffee, he went to
help them, as they seemed to be in difficulty. He had
scarcely reached the spot when&mdash;owing to a sudden
blow or shock, or clumsiness on the part of the workmen&mdash;the
powder blew up with a most terrific explosion
which shook the whole town, and terrified the inhabitants,
who rushed wildly about in all directions to
see what had occurred. I happened at the time to be
sitting at my loom, and at once ran up to the roof of
my house, and there, in the direction of the beit el mal,
I saw a column of thick smoke ascending.</p>

<p>My first thought was for poor Yusef. I hastened to
the beit el mal, which was half an hour's walk from
my hut, and found crowds going in the same direction.
The Khalifa himself appeared on the scene, he came
riding along on a donkey, with only one or two men.
His first question was, "Osta Yusef fi?" ("Is the
Master Yusef alive?") "Taish enta!" ("May you
live!") was the reply. These are the words in which
Arabs always announce a death.</p>

<p>A poor Egyptian woman, whose only son was employed
as Pertekachi's clerk and had been killed, was
weeping and wailing in the most heart-rending way&mdash;her
husband and another son had been murdered
in Khartum&mdash;and now wild with grief she was cursing
the Mahdi, through whom her dear ones had been
brought to an untimely end. Some of the Ansar approached,
and threatened to beat her with a whip if she
did not stop. But she shouted at them, "Kill me as<a name="Page_373" id="Page_373"></a>
well! Why should I live any longer? You have killed
my dear ones&mdash;may God kill you!"</p>

<p>The Khalifa, who was standing near, rebuked his
officious followers, saying: "Let her weep, she is
'mahar&#363;ka'" (<i>i.e.</i> consumed with the pain of affliction).
He did not stay long at the scene of the accident, but
went away very sadly.</p>

<p>All Pertekachi's fellow-countrymen hastened to the
spot. Of the large square house built of rough sun-dried
bricks, only the four walls were left standing; the
wooden roof had been blown to pieces, and it was no
small difficulty to collect the shattered remains of
those who had been victimized. A pair of legs were
found fifty yards away, a head was found half buried
in the wall; there was not a hand to be found anywhere.</p>

<p>Another Greek had been killed with Pertekachi,
named Yusef Angeli. His head and feet had disappeared,
and his body was so shattered as to be almost unrecognizable;
he had been in chains, and his foot makia
was found fixed in his leg. Poor Angeli had led a miserable
life in Omdurman; he had neither home nor friends,
and had lived in the market as a Greek hawker. Towards
the end of 1890 he had been sent by another Greek to
Berber, to try and recover a debt for him. This mission
was to be carried out in secret, for Europeans are strictly
forbidden to leave Omdurman, and the mukuddum in
charge is obliged at once to report any absentees.</p>

<p>But Angeli was a man of no account, and could easily
have gone to Berber and back without anyone being any
the wiser. A Syrian, however, who bore a grudge to
the Greeks, hearing that Angeli had left, went secretly
to the Khalifa, but as he was at that time staying at his
house in the northern hejira, he saw Yakub instead; he
said that, in accordance with the orders of the Khalifa
el Mahdi, he had to report that Yusef had deserted to
Berber in a sailing boat. Yakub at once informed the
Khalifa, who imagined that it was I who had deserted
(my Arabic name being Yusef), and at once ordered
Nur el Gereifawi, head of the beit el mal, to send camel<a name="Page_374" id="Page_374"></a>men
in pursuit. The latter was eventually very annoyed
when they found out which Yusef it was, for he would
not have thought it worth while to send after Angeli.
The pursuers, however, had gone, and found Angeli in
the market at Berber; they secured him and brought
him back to Omdurman.</p>

<p>Pertekachi, who was a countryman of Angeli's, had
begged that he might be spared, and had obtained a
promise from Yakub that he should come to no harm.
He was brought before the Khalifa, and said that he was
very poor, and had only gone to Berber to recover a
debt, in proof of which statement he produced the man's
written receipt for the money; but when the camel-men
who had captured Yusef were asked whether they found
any letters on him, they denied it, and in consequence
Yusef had been sent to the lock-up in the beit el mal.
This was only a very special favour, for the <i>r&eacute;gime</i> here
is not so severe as in the Saier, and prisoners confined
in this place generally obtain a speedy release.</p>

<p>Angeli had to thank no one but Pertekachi for this
lenient treatment, and his benefactor did not cease
begging until he procured the Khalifa's permission for
him to work at the powder factory at a fixed monthly
rate of pay; but he had still to wear one makia, and
this Pertekachi was arranging to have removed when
the terrible catastrophe occurred&mdash;he had only been
working for three days altogether in the factory. There
were, of course, slanderers found, who affirmed that
Angeli used to smoke cigarettes, and had purposely set
fire to the powder in revenge for his captivity, but this
time the Khalifa would not listen to them. He merely
said it is "Amr Allah" ("God's will"), and added that
he was sure Yusef would never have deliberately tried
to destroy his own and his countryman's life. The
force of the explosion had driven the iron into Yusef's
leg, and it was impossible to take it off; we therefore
collected all that remained of the two poor fellows and
buried them.</p>

<p>The Khalifa's enemies secretly rejoiced over his misfortune
about the powder, for now, they thought, there<a name="Page_375" id="Page_375"></a>
will be no one to make it; but one of Pertekachi's
labourers, who had learnt the manufacture from his
master, replaced him as head of the factory. After the
catastrophe the factory was removed to Tuti Island,
where a large yard was built, around which the necessary
workshops were constructed.</p>

<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>

<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_Q_17" id="Footnote_Q_17"></a>
<a href="#FNanchor_Q_17" class="fnlabel">[Q]</a> This worthy was taken prisoner by the Egyptian troops at the
capture of Tokar in February 1891.</p></div>
</div>

<a name="Page_376" id="Page_376"></a>
<hr class="newpg" style="width: 65%;">
<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXII" id="CHAPTER_XXII"></a>CHAPTER XXII.</h2>

<p class="chapterhead">AGRICULTURE AND COMMERCE IN THE MAHDI'S KINGDOM.</p>

<p class="chapterdescribe">Remarks on the agriculture and commerce of the Mahdiist kingdom&mdash;A
sandstorm in Omdurman&mdash;The paucity of cattle&mdash;System
of taxation on imports&mdash;Provincial beit el mals&mdash;Local manufactures&mdash;Slavery
and the slave-markets&mdash;Torture of slaves.</p>


<p class="firstpara"><span class="firstwords">In</span> the following chapter I propose to make a few remarks
on the agriculture, commerce, and business of the
Mahdiist kingdom. The greater part of the Sudanese
live by agriculture and cattle-breeding. Agriculture
goes on most of the year; the lands are sown during the
tropical rains. The winter is called the "kharif," and in
Omdurman begins in July and lasts till the end of
September. During this period there are three or four
very heavy falls of rain, usually at night, and occasionally
during the day there are heavy storms, which are at
times very grand.</p>

<p>These outbursts are preceded by great sultriness, the
whole ground is hot, everything is burning, even in the
shade one dare not touch metal; then in the east a
cloud of dust arises, which indicates the coming storm;
the clouds bank up with astonishing rapidity, and now
it is time for people to make the best of their way home
as quickly as they can. The dust-clouds, lighted up by
the evening sun, show the exact direction of the storm;
some are of an inky black, others gray, and in the
distance they can be seen dashing up against one another,
and forming, as it were, a series of hills and
valleys; yet there is scarcely a leaf moving, and all
nature seems hushed.</p>

<p>Then the storm-clouds seem to touch the earth, there<a name="Page_377" id="Page_377"></a>
is a sudden rustling of the leaves; the distant houses
are lost in obscurity, and now it is time to shut oneself
up in one's house. In a few minutes day has been
turned into night, the wind howls round the house,
windows and doors creak and rattle, till one begins to
think in another moment the house will fall about one's
ears. Lights are used, for now it is blacker than the
darkest night; the fine dust penetrates everywhere and
covers everything; the heat is overpowering, one perspires
at every pore, and the dust cakes on one's face
and hands, giving one the feeling of being intensely
begrimed and dirty; but there is nothing for it but to
wait patiently for the return of daylight, when one rises
with one's eyes and mouth full of dust, and nothing but
a complete bath makes one feel in any degree clean
again. These sand-storms are generally followed by
heavy showers, which completely lay the dust.</p>

<p>A tropical thunderstorm is also full of solemn grandeur&mdash;deafening
peals of thunder and howling wind,
followed by a veritable deluge, which seems to transform
the country into a lake in a few minutes.</p>

<p>These sudden storms are a source of no small danger
to Omdurman, especially in the quarter where the
mosque and market are situated. Here there is no
outlet for the water, which overflows into the yards and
houses, and melts the mud-built walls like sugar.
During the first year or two of Omdurman's existence,
and before the people had much experience, several of
the huts collapsed during a storm, burying the inhabitants
in their ruins. The intense obscurity which
always accompanies these deluges adds still more to the
general alarm. However, after about two days the
whole town becomes dry again; the hot sun and thirsty
earth soon absorb all the moisture, and one would
scarcely know that rain had fallen.</p>

<p>Generally about a month before the rains begin, and
when the Khalifa permits it, the people leave the town
in crowds and repair to the fields, which they set to
work to clear. After the famine year of 1889 the
Khalifa did everything in his power to induce the<a name="Page_378" id="Page_378"></a>
people to turn their attention to agriculture. Plentiful
rain and hard work produced excellent crops in 1890.
Dhurra, dukhn, cotton, sesame, onions, and various
sorts of beans are grown.</p>

<p>The operation of sowing requires little time or trouble;
the fields are cleared of all the stumps, roots, &amp;c., of
the preceding harvest, which are burnt, then every one
raises a small bank of earth around his ground, so as to
retain the water and enable the earth to become
thoroughly saturated. This measure is specially necessary
in the Gezireh, where the clay soil does not absorb
quickly, whilst in the sandy plains of Kordofan it is
exactly the reverse.</p>

<p>As soon as the parched ground has absorbed the first
rains, sowing is begun without delay; the soil is turned
over with iron or wooden hoes, and the seed thrown down.
Weeds spring up in great profusion, and it requires
endless trouble to prevent their choking the young
growth. Dhurra ripens in about two months, dukhn in
three. The fine quality, such as Shilluk dhurra, takes
six months to come to maturity. The gathered corn is
threshed, and then stored in holes in the ground, where
it can be kept without deteriorating for upwards of ten
years.</p>

<p>Along the Nile, sowing and reaping goes on the whole
year through. Water is drawn up by the sakiehs, or
water-wheels, and distributed over the fields. After
the wars, numbers of these water-wheels which had
been destroyed, were reconstructed. Now there are a
great number in working order, and the banks are
covered with green. All work is done with the iron or
wooden hoe, and the plough is not used at all. The
only plough I ever saw in the Sudan was one worked
by an Egyptian in Khartum, and it caused no small
astonishment amongst the natives. Wheat and maize&mdash;or,
as it is called in the Sudan, "Aish er rif"
(Egyptian bread)&mdash;ripens in forty days.</p>

<p>In Kordofan quantities of broad beans are grown, as
well as sesame, sugar-cane, cotton, onions, garlic,
bamiahs, radishes, tomatoes, cucumbers, and water-<a name="Page_379" id="Page_379"></a>melons;
while Indian figs, pomegranates, lemons,
oranges, citrons, bananas, and grapes are grown in
profusion in the Khartum gardens. Date-palms are
plentiful on the Blue Nile and further south; but it is
not possible to dry them, for they at once become full
of insects. Rain often spoils the date harvest.</p>

<p>Besides agriculture and cattle-breeding, the Sudanese
may be called a thoroughly pastoral nation. During
the long wars against the Government, as well as in the
internal disturbances, the camels and oxen were almost
exterminated; and in 1889 a cattle plague still further
reduced the numbers.</p>

<p>When Fashoda was occupied, quantities of cows were
taken from the Shilluks and sent either to Gezireh or
on to the Berber market, in order to try and stimulate
breeding. There are quantities of goats and sheep, as
only a comparatively small number of these have been
killed; but the greatest loss has been in camels, and it
is not so easy to replenish the country in this respect.
There are still a considerable number of donkeys, which
are used both for riding and as pack-animals. A good
donkey will fetch from forty to two hundred dollars.</p>

<p>The Sudanese are born traders and dealers; it is
almost a passion with them, and they like the travelling
which trade involves. Of course the flourishing commerce
of the old days has been quite destroyed. The
import of goods to the Sudan from the north and east
was formerly in the hands of one merchant. The
Berber-Sawakin and Berber-Korosko roads were opened
through Wad Adlan, and the re-occupation of Tokar by
Egypt has done a great deal to help commerce. Wad
Adlan's successor, Nur Gereifawi, established the ushr
(or one-tenth tax) on all important goods, in addition to
the "zeka," or two and a-half per cent., which was
formerly the only tax levied.</p>

<p>This increase in taxation has rather impaired than
improved trade, but it is still fairly brisk. However,
the "ushr" was levied twice, in both Omdurman and
Berber, so that the beit el mal obtained twenty-two and
a-half per cent. profit on all imported goods. This<a name="Page_380" id="Page_380"></a>
exorbitant taxation led to goods being smuggled into
the town by night. In spite of every precaution being
taken, smuggling still continued; and at last it was
decided that all merchants should have their goods
stamped at the beit el mal.</p>

<p>This stamp bears the words, "Ushr beit el mal el
umum" ("The tenth&mdash;general beit el mal"), and no
goods are allowed to be sold unless they are thus
marked. The head of the beit el mal himself also went
to the market and personally stamped all the private
goods of merchants; and in this way the fraud was
stopped. A merchant selling unstamped goods would
have all his property confiscated.</p>

<p>All went well for a time; but soon it was discovered
that false stamps were in use. This led to another
inspection of all goods in the market, and the confiscation
of a considerable quantity of property, an operation
which caused business to be suspended for about eight
days.</p>

<p>Large quantities of printed cotton stuffs are imported;
also perfumes, medicines, cloves, rice, sugar, and dried
fruits. The home-trade is, of course, much brisker than
imported trade, and consists for the most part of
provision dealing. Dongola and Dar Shaggieh supply
Omdurman with dates; Berber sends salt, mats and
baskets made of palm leaves; from Kordofan comes
gum, sesame, and dukhn; the Gezireh exports dhurra,
dammur, and cotton; Karkoj supplies sesame and a
small quantity of gold. Omdurman is thus the great
wholesale and retail mart, which in turn supplies the
provinces. Here the whole population&mdash;men, women,
and children from eight years of age&mdash;are all dealers.</p>

<p>The older women have their own quarter of the
market, in which they sell oil, grease, pearls, vegetables,
drugs, dhurra, and dates. Young women are not
allowed to go to the market; but they send their slaves,
who take charge of the goods. The latter are obliged
to render full accounts when they return in the evening;
and woe to the unfortunate slave who makes a mistake
in his calculations! Quantities of vegetables are grown<a name="Page_381" id="Page_381"></a>
in the gardens in Khartum, Buri, and Gereif, and are
brought to Omdurman for sale. The Baggara women
are naturally good dealers, and have now secured almost
the entire custom.</p>

<p>In the early days of Mahdiism everyone lived in the
most simple way, and dressed even more simply. The
staple article of food is dhurra, which is merely boiled,
made into a cake and eaten. Bread, which is generally
known as "kesra," is eaten with a sauce which is
usually made of pounded bamiehs boiled with red
pepper and salt. Sometimes beans are used instead of
bamiehs. Meat is scarce, but a meat sauce boiled in
milk and mixed with pounded dried fish is a favourite
dish. Quantities of fish are obtained from the Nile,
and tortoises, which sometimes take the place of meat, are
not uncommon. But whilst the rich live in comparative
luxury, the poor people exist in the greatest want and
misery.</p>

<p>Good clothing is seldom considered; the richer a
man is, the dirtier will his dress be. This is, of course,
meant to blind the eyes of inquisitive slanderers. The
Baggara chiefs have no reason to conceal anything; but
it must be quite apparent to all that a form of government
which preaches a continual despising of the good
things of this life is not likely to promote any of the
higher comforts of civilization.</p>

<p>In matters, however, regarding war and the preparations
required for a jehad, it is entirely different.
Blacksmiths are always busy forging spears and knives;
and in this description of work the results are remarkable.
Saddlers make every description of leather
ornament for horse and camel decoration; tanners
prepare the leather, and dye it red or black; tailors
now make much better jibbehs than before; the patches
are generally made of good cloth, and the best garments
are now valued at about sixteen dollars each. The
women spin the cotton, and the men weave the
dammur from it. The best dammur comes from Berber
and Metemmeh. The Darfur women are also famed
for their good and even spinning; but Abyssinian<a name="Page_382" id="Page_382"></a>
dammur is generally considered better than any of
Sudan manufacture.</p>

<p>Tin-smiths make drinking cups and tin receptacles of
various sorts for household use. Cooking-pots are
made of copper. Jewellers make gold and silver
filigree work for the ladies; but this work is not nearly
as good as it used to be in the days of the Egyptian
Government. All these various trades are carried on in
the market.</p>

<a name="girl"></a><div class="figcenter" style="width:400px;"><img src="https://brian.carnell.com/wiki/_media/etext:f:fr-wingate-ten-years-captive-p382.jpg" border="0" alt="" title="" width="340" height="413">
<p class="caption2">A SLAVE-GIRL FROM EQUATORIA.</p></div>


<p>Mahdiism has re-established the slave trade, which is
now in full vigour, and almost all those slaves who were<a name="Page_383" id="Page_383"></a>
liberated in the Government days have been sold again
as slaves. Wherever there is a beit el mal there is also
a slave-market. The largest is, of course, in Omdurman,
to which all captured slaves are sent. The beit el mal
sells the slaves by auction. Well-grown male slaves
are generally taken into the army.</p>

<p>Close to the beit el mal is the female slave-market,
where generally fifty or sixty women of various ages
are to be found. The slave-dealers are for the most
part Egyptians. The slaves are arranged in lines under
the open sky; their bodies are generally well bathed in
oil to preserve the gloss of their skin. Intending purchasers
make the most careful and minute examination,
and the price varies from twenty to a hundred dollars.</p>

<p>Young females are kept apart from the rest, as they
are generally selected as concubines, and as such they
are subjected to a most critical scrutiny; the shape of
their hands and feet, and the form of their mouth, nose,
ears and teeth are all carefully noted. Black are preferable
to copper-coloured slaves, and the latter colour
necessitates a considerable reduction in price.</p>

<p>Young male slaves are sold at from thirty to sixty
dollars each, and these have generally to learn a trade.
Purchasers ask all sorts of searching questions as to
whether they have good moral qualities, are likely to
run away, &amp;c., &amp;c. The salesman must produce a certificate
showing the tribe, a full descriptive return, and
the legal authority entitling to ownership.</p>

<p>During the early days of Mahdiism the slave trade
received an enormous impetus, more especially subsequent
to the capture of Bahr el Ghazal and the occupation
of Darfur. After Gessi Pasha's victory over
Zubeir Pasha's son and the dispersion of the slave-dealers,
several of the latter fled into the interior, where
pursuit was impossible; then followed the era of liberty
under the Mahdi's banner, the slave-dealers emerged
from their hiding-places, and, with quantities of slaves,
proceeded to Omdurman.</p>

<p>When at El Obeid I often saw as many as 500 of
them marching along to the sound of music. Slaves<a name="Page_384" id="Page_384"></a>
were dragged from Darfur, bound together with leather
thongs round their necks in batches of thirty. Abu
Anga brought thousands of them from the Nuba hills.
The only districts untouched hitherto were those in the
vicinity of the White Nile, but quite recently the garrisons
of Fashoda, Regaf, and Lado have been busily
engaged in this human traffic; these blacks, however,
who during the intervals of peace had been gradually
recovering their strength, now determined to resist the
Dervish authority, which was not very strong in those
far-distant districts. It would have been a great thing
if the Dervishes could have been turned out of Lado
and Regaf. The Abyssinian campaigns also brought
quantities of slaves to Omdurman, but these are little
fitted for hard work, and are employed for the most
part in grinding corn, carrying water, and as concubines.</p>

<p>Slave-hunting, too, is not carried on in the same way
as it used to be. The Khalifa is too knowing to send
large raiding expeditions for slaves into the distant
provinces, as he fears they might possibly become independent
and turn upon him; besides, private individuals
are no longer permitted to be in possession of firearms.</p>

<p>Blacks captured in the Khalifa's various wars are sold
as slaves, and, while the free Mussulman tribes have
been greatly weakened and reduced in numbers by war
and famine, the blacks have, on the other hand, been
growing both in numbers and in strength. There is
abundant proof of this in the great difficulties which the
Dervish force at Fashoda is now experiencing, being
scarcely strong enough to quit their steamers and sailing
boats. The inhabitants of Jebel Nuba are once more
almost independent, and now the Dervishes do not dare
even to go to the foot of the hills. The withdrawal
also of the various Baggara tribes from the neighbourhood
of Shakka, &amp;c., to Omdurman has rid the local
blacks of their hated presence in their country.</p>

<p>The once notorious Jaalin and Danagla slave-hunters
are now beginning to experience in a degree what a
slave's life is, and, indeed, it almost seems as if the<a name="Page_385" id="Page_385"></a>
Khalifa Abdullah was an instrument of Heaven's vengeance
on those bloodthirsty and ruthless slave-hunters.</p>

<p>The lot of a slave is indeed a miserable one. He is
looked upon as an animal created, as the Sudanese say,
to make the life of Moslems easy; he must do all the
hard work, both in the household and in the field. It
is the idea of the Sudanese, that if a slave gets sufficient
food he always becomes proud and unmanageable.
His dress consists merely of a rag tied round his loins:
whatever money he may make by his work is the property
of his master.</p>

<p>The female slaves carry water and grind corn, in
return they are continually blamed and cursed; any
disobedience or dishonesty is punished by flogging, or
their bodies are gashed with razors, salt being rubbed
into the wounds, and, lest they should have any cause
to forget, their half-healed cuts are often ripped open
again and salt rubbed in afresh.</p>

<p>In the treatment of their slaves women are more
cruel than men, more especially if jealousy is the cause
of their anger. Woe to the unfortunate female slave
who shows any love for her master! She suffers a
species of torture which it would be impossible for me
to describe here, and what wonder is it that in despair
they often fly from their masters and mistresses?</p>

<p>Yet it is only by this harsh treatment that slaves
can be made obedient; it is a very true saying that
a person who is forcibly deprived of liberty can only
be brought into subjection by force. Slaves under
Mahdiist <i>r&eacute;gime</i> have so many different ways of revenging
themselves on their masters that they never
fail to seize an opportunity when it is offered.</p>

<p>The immorality of slaves is quite beyond description;
but it cannot be the fault of the unfortunate creatures
themselves, for in their own savage homes it is not so.
They learn all the vices of their masters, and, indeed,
are forced to participate in them or submit to a flogging;
consequently, disease of the most loathsome kind is
everywhere prevalent, and to be free from it is thought
to be the mark of a poor creature. In many cases<a name="Page_386" id="Page_386"></a>
which have come within my own knowledge, the offspring
of such people die young, putrid by disease; of
fifteen children of one father, thirteen died in five years.
At first the Baggara were not infected to any large
extent, but contact with the inhabitants of the Nile
valley has communicated the pest, which is now eating
into the constitutions of this, the most powerful and
warlike tribe in the Sudan.<a name="FNanchor_R_18" id="FNanchor_R_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_R_18" class="fnanchor">[R]</a></p>

<p>Export of slaves to Egypt and the Red Sea is forbidden,
because the Khalifa fears that the English may
intercept them and make soldiers of them; but a certain
number of female slaves are still smuggled through.
By the re-occupation of Tokar the Red Sea route, which
had been extensively used, was closed to the Dervishes.
It is permissible to give male and female slaves papers
of freedom, but the custom is never practised. If a
female slave bear a child to her master she cannot be
sold, and after her master's death she becomes a free
woman; if she bear a child to a freed man, who is not a
black, her position remains unaltered, and the child
grows up a slave, because it is considered to be illegitimate.</p>

<p>Omdurman is full of slaves; even in the poorest
houses one female slave at least will be found. Hard
work and ill-treatment ages them very rapidly. Many
of them long for their native homes and detest slavery,
but the great majority of them submit without a murmur
to their wretched fate.</p>

<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>

<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_R_18" id="Footnote_R_18"></a>
<a href="#FNanchor_R_18" class="fnlabel">[R]</a> The disease lies dormant in the summer, but acquires virulence
with cold weather. The medicines used are iodide of potassium
and sarsaparilla.</p></div>
</div>

<a name="Page_387" id="Page_387"></a>
<hr class="newpg" style="width: 65%;">
<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIII" id="CHAPTER_XXIII"></a>CHAPTER XXIII.</h2>

<p class="chapterhead">THE BAGGARA MASTERS OF THE SUDAN.</p>

<p class="chapterdescribe">Relations between Abdullah and the rival Khalifas&mdash;Mahdiism
practically dead&mdash;The Khalifa's son, Osman&mdash;His marriage to
Yakub's daughter&mdash;His intentions regarding the succession&mdash;The
Baggara and the Aulad-Belad&mdash;The Baggara masters of
the Sudan&mdash;Examples of their tyranny&mdash;Emigration of the
Rizighat tribe&mdash;Hostility between the Khalifa's and the late
Mahdi's households&mdash;The Ashraf conspiracy&mdash;Witchcraft&mdash;The
dispute between the Khalifas&mdash;Riots in Omdurman&mdash;The
Mahdi's widows.</p>


<p class="firstpara"><span class="firstwords">I propose</span> to devote this chapter to a brief outline of the
relations which exist between the ruling powers in
Omdurman, and a description of the present situation
in the Sudan. The overthrow of Nejumi at Toski, the
destruction of Abu Anga's immense army during his
constant campaigns in Abyssinia, the year of famine in
1889, and finally the capture of Tokar and total defeat
of Osman Digna in February 1891, have all tended
largely towards the diminution of Khalifa Abdullah's
power.</p>

<p>Whilst the operations against Abyssinia and Egypt
were being carried on, the provinces in the interior of
the Sudan were slowly recovering from the terrible
strain through which they had passed. Dongola,
Kassala, and Darfur suffered most. The depredations
of Nejumi's wild Dervishes had entirely desolated the
once fertile province of Dongola, and is it any wonder
that its wretched inhabitants should cast longing eyes
towards wealthy and prosperous Egypt?</p>

<p>But the cunning Khalifa was quite capable of coping
with this revulsion of feeling on the part of the inhabitants,
who were now thoroughly tired of Mahdiism, and<a name="Page_388" id="Page_388"></a>
who were undoubtedly desirous that the rule of the
Government should again be extended to them. He
decided to change the policy of oppression, and to
establish a milder rule. For this purpose he had a convenient
vision, in which he affirmed that he had been
instructed to appoint Zogal as emir of the province.</p>

<p>This man, it will be remembered, was a native of
Dongola, an uncle of the late Mahdi; had been a
Government official in Darfur, and had more liberal and
enlightened views than most of the Dervish leaders.
The Khalifa thought&mdash;and thought rightly&mdash;that he
alone would be able to re-establish contentment in
Dongola. Thither Zogal proceeded, accompanied by an
enormous family, and under his mild and just rule the
province rapidly recovered.</p>

<p>The Sudan, as a whole, has considerable recuperative
power, and, in spite of the Khalifa's senseless rule, would
soon recover if placed under good subordinate governors.
The desolation in Darfur, however, had been more
widespread; there was not enough cultivation even to
supply the wants of the garrison required for its occupation;
it was therefore abandoned, but the Khalifa is
still very anxious to re-occupy it when he can.</p>

<p>Abdullah employed himself, during the period of rest
and cessation from war, in consolidating his power, and
from the various means which he employs it is quite
evident that his intentions are to establish an empire
for himself, his family, and his Baggaras; he proceeded,
however, in this task with prudence and caution.</p>

<p>It is natural that the struggle for mastery between
the spiritual authority represented by the religious side
of Mahdiism, and the temporal authority of the Khalifa,
should constantly clash and lead to a state of insecurity
and uncertainty throughout the Sudan. What the
inhabitants desire is that the Khalifa should tell them
the truth plainly; let him abolish Mahdiism, which
exists merely in name, and let him proclaim himself
Sultan of the Sudan. He has the power and authority
sufficient to do this, but he fears that it might give his
enemies another arm which might be turned against<a name="Page_389" id="Page_389"></a>
him; he therefore advances very slowly with the project
on which his mind is bent.</p>

<p>From the way in which his eldest son Osman is being
brought up, it is evident that Abdullah seeks to establish
an hereditary succession. This youth was, until
recently, of a most overbearing disposition. Whenever
he saw anything he wanted, he insisted on its being
given to him. If he saw someone riding a good donkey,
he would order the rider to dismount, and would
deliberately cut the poor animal's throat; but in spite
of these foolish and cruel acts, his favour was much
sought after, and many a present did he receive from
people who looked for a favourable means of bringing
their demands before the Khalifa; but the latter
eventually became exasperated by his son's conduct.
He rebuked him openly in the mosque, forbade everyone,
under pain of severe punishment, to give him a
present of any sort, and he made him over to a tutor
with a few Taisha mulazimin.</p>

<p>This strict <i>r&eacute;gime</i> has already done the boy good.
He is now about eighteen years of age. It was said
that the Khalifa's brother Yakub was very jealous of
his nephew, for he had looked on himself as Abdullah's
successor; but, to flatter Yakub and curb his jealousy,
the Khalifa expressed a wish that Osman should be
betrothed to his daughter. This proposition was most
acceptable to Yakub; and further, the Khalifa arranged
that his daughter should be married to the Mahdi's son.</p>

<p>Great were the preparations for these princely weddings,
which were carried out with a splendour entirely
at variance with the late Mahdi's laws. The betrothal
ceremony was accompanied by dancing and merry-making
in both the Mahdi's and the Khalifa's households,
and the air reeked with perfumes. All the
principal merchants and emirs gave rich presents in the
shape of brides' dresses and varieties of costly perfumes;
nor were gold and silver ornaments and velvet missing.
The goldsmiths have invented a new form of jewellery,
which has been named "the Khalifa's stirrups." These
ornaments, although absolutely opposed to Mahdi laws,<a name="Page_390" id="Page_390"></a>
are extensively worn in both households. Hundredweights
of sugar were brought to Yakub's house, besides
dhurra, wheat, butter, oxen, and fat-tailed sheep, which
latter are valued at from twenty to thirty dollars a head.</p>

<p>It is usual for the bridegroom, or the bridegroom's
father, to offer presents of provisions to the bride, as
well as clothes and ornaments, which are all handed
over to her with great ceremony on an appointed day.
Then there is the festival of "tefail," to which women
only are admitted, after which comes "henna day,"
when the hands and feet of the bride are dyed red with
henna. All these ceremonies are accompanied by banquets,
dancing, and singing. Every evening Yakub
entertained hundreds of the Ansar with rich food, and
distributed several ardebs of dates.</p>

<p>On the occasion of the "dakhul" the bride is taken
to the bridegroom's house late in the evening; for seven
days afterwards they receive the congratulations of their
friends, and then the ceremony and festival are ended.</p>

<p>From the pomp and ceremony with which the Khalifa
surrounded his son's wedding, it is evident to all who
thought about the matter that he had secret intentions.
After the wedding he had a princely house built for his
son, in the place known as Abu Anga's yard, near the
mosque; this he quite disfigured by building houses all
around it, which are considered the best in the town.
When the palace was completed, the "heir apparent,"
who had hitherto been living with his father, moved
into it with great ceremony. The Khalifa gave alms in
a most liberal manner, so that his son's residence might
be blessed.</p>

<p>Sayid Osman already takes part in the conduct of
affairs, and opens and reads the letters to the clerks.
Almost every morning he rides round with the
Governor on his inspections, but he does not live
much amongst the people. The Khalifa has changed
his name into Sheikh Ed Din Sayid Osman, and now
he is generally known as Sheikh Ed Din only; he quite
understands the <i>r&ocirc;le</i> he has to play. He is a lover
of good food, and rejoices in the little specialities which<a name="Page_391" id="Page_391"></a>
the merchants bring from Sawakin and Egypt, such as
kamar ed din, dried figs, raisins, and all sorts of cakes
and biscuits, which are brought in abundance to
Yakub's house. The Khalifa treats him with marked
respect, occasionally hands over the command of the
parade to him, and the soldiers always present arms
to him.</p>

<p>From the above it is quite evident that Abdullah
wishes to secure the succession to his son. This is
perfectly understood by the people, who make no secret
of it. The Khalifa's plan is to go slowly but surely.
He wants to secure the ascendency of the Baggara over
the Jaalin, Danagla, Barabra, and other smaller tribes
of the Sudan.</p>

<p>Until the appearance of the Mahdi, the Baggara
were, perhaps, the most despised of all the Arab tribes.
The "Aulad-belad," as the Jaalin, Danagla, and Barabra
are called, had become more civilized in virtue of their
geographical position, and are far more crafty by nature
than the Baggara; they despised the latter, and under
the leadership of Zubeir Pasha, they defeated the great
tribes in the neighbourhood of Shakka, and it is these
same Baggara who are now their masters.</p>

<p>All the Mahdi's early victories had been gained by
the Aulad-belad, who held the Baggaras in much the
same contempt as they did the Fellahin of Egypt. They
are cunning, corrupt, and utterly untrustworthy, and
from the beginning have practised far more cruelty
than the others. Even now they are still the Khalifa's
spies and advisers&mdash;indeed, he was brought up entirely
in their school, but has now completely turned the
tables on them. The intertribal discord and mutual
distrust which prevails amongst the Aulad-belad only
tend to further the ends the Khalifa has in view.
Wherever craft and subtlety are required, thither he
despatches them, in the full assurance that as long as
they are engaged in finding out the misdeeds of their
own countrymen he will be well and loyally served by
them.</p>

<p>When the Baggara are sent to search a house in<a name="Page_392" id="Page_392"></a>
which it is supposed marissa-drinking or smoking is
going on, they are almost certain to find out nothing;
but with the Aulad-belad it is exactly the reverse; they
poke into the walls and tap the ground to hear if there
is any hollowness in the sound; they search every
corner most thoroughly, and seldom leave empty-handed;
but the Baggaras have now got the upper hand, and the
Aulad-belad must bow down before them. In spite of
this, however, they manage to deceive their new
masters, and in all matters where cunning is required
they are far superior to them.</p>

<p>It is only right that the Baggara, who have been
brought up in the forests and plains, and who are far
more simple-minded, honest individuals, should rule the
corrupt Aulad-belad; their emigration to Omdurman
and their submission to the Khalifa's rule has had the
advantage of taming them, and their advances in
civilization are quite astounding. Being now possessed
of power and money, they have begun to build better
houses, to wear cleaner clothing, and to occasionally
wash their jibbehs, which were reeking and besmeared
with oil and fat; the Khalifa has done much to improve
their manners and customs in this respect. Their west-country
Arabic dialect has greatly improved; now the
two opposition parties can thoroughly understand each
other, and the Aulad-belad no longer make a laughing-stock
of their western brethren.</p>

<p>The Khalifa's policy is to weaken the power of the
Aulad-belad and to strengthen the Baggaras. Just as
a good father watches his children, so does Abdullah
watch for every opportunity to further these ends by a
clever combination of leniency and severity. He
frequently blames his own countrymen for their want
of gratitude to their benefactor, who has heaped favours
upon them at the expense of the Aulad-belad. On one
occasion he cursed the day on which he had brought
them to Omdurman, calling it a "black day;" but, in
point of fact, he is not really serious when he upbraids
them, he rather does it to satisfy the complainers, and
he takes every opportunity of sending the Aulad-belad<a name="Page_393" id="Page_393"></a>
as far away from headquarters as possible, so as to
strengthen his central authority by the presence of
Baggaras only.</p>

<p>I have already narrated how in the famine year he
made the Baggaras pay only six dollars for an ardeb of
dhurra, whilst everyone else had to pay sixty dollars
for the same quantity; thus the Baggara suffered no
hardships and want during that terrible time. They do
not like dhurra as well as dukhn, which is more
nourishing, and which they grind in wooden mortars.
During that period of awful want, when hundreds of
natives were dying of starvation in the streets, these
great strong Baggaras were eating to their hearts' content,
completely regardless of all the suffering creatures
around them.</p>

<p>The revenue of the beit el mal is expended almost
entirely on the Baggaras; all the fertile islands in the
neighbourhood, and the best-cultivated portions of the
Nile banks as far as Berber, have been made over to
them, whilst the original owners of the soil have been
turned out without a piastre's compensation; they are,
therefore, owners of all the best lands, and serve as a
foreign garrison in occupation of a conquered country.</p>

<p>Woe to the native who happens to have a Baggara as
his neighbour! His cattle are robbed, and he must
share the product of the fields with his overbearing
master; wherever they go the Baggaras take their
horses with them, which must be fed and cared for at
the expense of the local inhabitants; complaints against
Baggaras are not taken the slightest notice of, or&mdash;as it
more often happens&mdash;the complainant receives a heavy
punishment for having ventured to make a statement
which is invariably construed as untrue and incorrect.
Thus these bold tribesmen have every inducement to
become more and more truculent the further removed
they are from the Khalifa's supervision. I will cite an
example.</p>

<p>A rich native of the Gezireh had a dispute with a
Baggara, and struck his oppressor a blow with a stick
in self-defence. Fate decreed that the Baggara should<a name="Page_394" id="Page_394"></a>
die twenty-eight days afterwards, but his death was
not caused by the blow; the other Baggaras, however,
seized the opportunity of demanding blood-money, and
if refused they threatened to report the matter to the
Khalifa. The stupid native was actually intimidated
into giving the Baggara 10,000 dollars, and the matter
was declared to be ended; but somehow it came to
Yakub's ears, and learning that the supposed murderer
was a very rich man, he advised the friends of the
deceased Baggara not to accept blood-money, but to
insist on the native's death. This was agreed to. The
poor man was arrested, dragged to Omdurman, and
hanged; whilst his property, consisting of a number of
goats and 30,000 dollars, was confiscated.</p>

<p>Not content with this, the Khalifa also ordered that
the seven villages in the neighbourhood should be
burnt, on the plea that the inhabitants had made
common cause with the murderer in resisting lawfully
constituted authority; and it was only when the inhabitants
of these villages went <i>en masse</i> to the Khalifa,
begging to be spared, that he at length acceded to their
request.</p>

<p>When it was found that the revenue of the beit el
mal was insufficient to provide for the rapidly-increasing
Baggara population, Abdullah ordered half the produce
of the Gezireh lands to be given to the beit el mal,
the other half being retained by the owners. This was
published as a solemn decree, and all judges enjoined to
see that it was properly carried out. Ibrahim Nur, the
son of Nur Gereifawi, was sent with a body of soldiers
and Baggara to assist in carrying out the order in the
Gezireh, and he gained an unenviable notoriety for the
ruthless severity with which he enforced his authority.</p>

<p>In accordance with the Khalifa's instructions, out of
every hundred ardebs he seized a half, and on the
remaining half he levied the "ushr" and "zeka" taxes,
so that eventually the unfortunate cultivator retained
only thirty-seven and a half per cent. of his original
quantity; besides, he was made responsible for the
transport to the river of the sixty-two and a-half per<a name="Page_395" id="Page_395"></a>
cent. Frequently the fields were far distant from the
river, which involved hiring camels to carry the grain, so
that finally the owner was probably left with absolutely
nothing. In this way Ibrahim gathered upwards of
60,000 ardebs from the Blue and White Niles.</p>

<p>Ibrahim gained the title of the "Gordon of the
Gezireh" from the extraordinarily rapid way in which he
moved from one village to the other and gave his
instructions.</p>

<p>Here is another proof of the Khalifa's injustice when
dealing in matters concerning his own countrymen.
About two days' journey from Omdurman up the White
Nile are certain very highly-cultivated districts, and it
occurred to the Khalifa to send there the Taisha who
were not then employed, so that they might cultivate
and at the same time remain in touch with him. He
therefore sent a certain Sheikh Wad el Bedri to select
the most favoured spots in which the Taisha were to
settle.</p>

<p>When the inhabitants of these districts learnt what
was intended, they begged and prayed Wad el Bedri to
avert this terrible calamity which threatened them,
assuring him that if he would assist them they would
do anything he wanted, short of having the Baggara as
settlers in their country; this request they accompanied
with a good round sum of money.</p>

<p>Bedri then returned to Omdurman, waited on the
Khalifa with a most beaming countenance, and reported
that the inhabitants of the White Nile were very pleased
that the Khalifa of the Mahdi<a name="FNanchor_S_19" id="FNanchor_S_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_S_19" class="fnanchor">[S]</a> had been graciously
pleased to think of sending the Taisha to their country;
but at the same time they most humbly begged to
submit to him that possibly the Taisha might find it a
trouble to move so far with their families and followers.
If, therefore, the Khalifat el Mahdi should, in his great
wisdom, deem it advisable, they were quite ready to<a name="Page_396" id="Page_396"></a>
send to their masters everything they required, and so
spare them the toil of making this extended emigration.</p>

<p>Abdullah seemed delighted with this proposal, praised
Sheikh Wad el Bedri for his services, and agreed that
his suggestion should be carried out. The sheikh appealed
to his countrymen, and in one year collected over
20,000 ardebs of dhurra, besides a quantity of money,
which was distributed amongst the Taisha, who from
that day looked on him as one of their best friends.</p>

<p>There is among the Baggara a curious ejaculation of
"Hai! hai!" constantly interspersed throughout their
conversation. The Sudani feels far more terror at this
sound than he ever felt at the sight of the Egyptian
officials' red tarbush.</p>

<p>All high posts are in the Baggaras' hands, or rather
in the hands of the Khalifa's nearest relatives. The
emirs of Kordofan, Regaf, Fashoda, Galabat, Kassala,
and Berber, are all Abdullah's relatives. Dongola was
the only place of importance not confided to a Baggara,
but now Zogal has fallen in favour and has been replaced
by the Baggari Yunis. Some of the subordinate
posts are, however, still in the hands of the Aulad-belad,
but, gradually, as the Baggaras become capable
of carrying out the duties, they will replace the natives.</p>

<p>Not content with having brought the Taisha, Homr,
and Habbanieh Arabs from the west to the Nile, he has
still further weakened the Aulad-belad by obliging the
powerful Rizighat tribe to emigrate from their country,
south of Darfur, to Omdurman. Their young Sheikh
Musa&mdash;son of Madibbo, who had been killed by Abu
Anga at El Obeid&mdash;was entrusted with this mission, and
he marched through Kordofan with some 30,000 souls,
besides quantities of horses and cattle; his vanguard
had reached Shatt on the White Nile just at the time
that I effected my escape.</p>

<p>The Khalifa had appointed a committee under the
notorious Hajji Zubeir to organize a great reception for
the new arrivals, and had made a long speech in the
mosque calling on everyone to come forward liberally
with gifts for their brethren. He urged that alms<a name="Page_397" id="Page_397"></a>
should not be stinted, but that clothes, corn, and all
sorts of provisions would be gratefully accepted, even to
the "fartaga" (or smallest copper which is coined).</p>

<p>Every emir was instructed to let his followers know
of the Khalifa's wishes; he was to collect the gifts and
hand them over to the committee. If the gifts were
considered too small they were returned with a strong
hint that it would be advisable to increase them.
Merchants were especially called upon to give largely,
and if they failed to comply they invariably incurred
his displeasure.</p>

<p>The list of gifts was scrutinised by the Khalifa daily,
and his favours apportioned in accordance with what he
found there. He was careful not to allow the rich to
give sparingly; for instance, Kadi Ahmed presented
200 ardebs of dhurra, 100 complete suits of clothes,
consisting of 100 takias, 100 turbans, 100 jibbehs, 100
pairs of drawers, 100 leather girths, and 100 pairs of
sandals; still Abdullah was not satisfied and asked why
he had not given any money, and immediately the Kadi,
terrified at the Khalifa's displeasure, laid a considerable
sum at Hajji Zubeir's feet.</p>

<p>The merchant Omar Kesha, who had acquired much
wealth, had on one occasion been deprived of 30,000
dollars by the Khalifa on the plea that much money was
apt to take his mind off heavenly considerations. Two
years later a similar sum was again taken from him.
On the occasion of the arrival of the Rizighat, however,
he presented a camel-load of sugar, a camel-load of
white muslin, and another of indigo-dyed calico, besides
a quantity of kamar ed din, 50 ardebs of dhurra, a
camel-load of dammur, and a completely-equipped war-horse
with its attendant.</p>

<p>Wealthy men offer lavish gifts, in the hope of immunity
from plunder, and Omar Kesha, in addition to
his generosity on this occasion, does not fail to
frequently offer valuable gifts to Yakub. As for the
Khalifa, he is perfectly aware that with one word he
can, with absolute right, demand anything and everything
he requires, for had not the Sudanese solemnly<a name="Page_398" id="Page_398"></a>
pledged their property, their children, and their own
lives to the cause of the Mahdi and his successor?</p>

<a name="baggara_woman"></a><div class="figcenter" style="width:300px;"><img src="https://brian.carnell.com/wiki/_media/etext:f:fr-wingate-ten-years-captive-p398.jpg" border="0" alt="" title="" width="284" height="368">
<p class="caption2">A BAGGARA WOMAN.</p></div>


<p>While in Kordofan the Mahdi had professed that he
was virtually the owner of all property, but that he left
it in the hands of its original tenants that they might
administer it until he should require it; and now no
stone is left unturned to enforce his theory of the true
ownership. The Khalifa directs his special attention
to the merchants, who, he supposes, make large profits
out of commerce and trade.</p>

<p>Hitherto the Baggaras have had nothing to do with
external commerce, they never go to Sawakin or to
Egypt. All trade with the outside world is conducted<a name="Page_399" id="Page_399"></a>
by Hadarba, Jaalin, Danagla, and Barabra merchants,
also on the southern frontier of Egypt by Ababdeh and
Kenuz people; but in Omdurman itself the Baggaras,
and especially the women, take a large share in the
retail business. Although they have scarcely ever
owned a piastre in their lives, the shining dollar has
excited the most inordinate cupidity amongst them.
They are very quick to learn, and already surpass the
Aulad-belad in many branches of trade; this fact has
delighted the Khalifa, and he encourages it to the
fullest extent.</p>

<p>The continuous support which the Khalifa gives to
his own compatriots at the expense of the rest of his
subjects not unnaturally irritates the latter, and out of
their oppression a species of courage has sprung. The
Khalifa Sherif bitterly resents being debarred from all
share in the government of the country. He is highly
favoured amongst the late Mahdi's widows, and the
Ashraf look to him as their head.</p>

<p>Abdullah, however, employs every means to lower
his position and diminish the respect in which he is held
by the Ashraf, whose loose mode of life he never loses
an opportunity of exposing. For instance, Ahmed
Sharfi's second son had a concubine to whom he was
much devoted, and who used to saddle his horse for
him herself; but in secret she was not always faithful
to her master, and when one day he returned to find
her absent, he revenged himself on her return by
hanging her with his own hands. When this outrage
came to the Khalifa's ears, he ordered the perpetrator
to be imprisoned and all his property confiscated,
whereas, according to Mahdi law, a master has complete
power to deal as he likes with his own slaves. Another
of Ahmed Sharfi's sons was discovered to be leading a
very immoral life, and he was exiled up the White Nile.</p>

<p>Another similar and even worse discovery, of which
the principal agent was one of the Mahdi's near relatives,
gave Abdullah an opportunity of openly accusing
the Ashraf of leading lives which did not entitle them
to the smallest respect; and having established this fact,<a name="Page_400" id="Page_400"></a>
he set to work in the most public manner to show them
every mark of disrespect.</p>

<p>The Mahdi's uncle, Sayid Abdel Kader, a very proud
man, who prior to, the Mahdi's appearance had gained a
livelihood by doctoring donkeys, thought, under the
altered circumstances, that his profession was not a
very honourable one; he therefore took to doctoring
human beings with the aid of a few old Arabic books
on medicine which he possessed. He made no secret of
his dislike of Abdullah, and openly deplored the decay
of true Mahdiism; he never attended at the mosque,
and studiously avoided the Khalifa on every occasion.
Abdullah, however, was fully alive to the situation,
Sayid's every step was dogged by spies, and at length,
when his impudence got beyond all bounds, the Khalifa
suddenly summoned him to the mosque, and addressed
him publicly as follows&mdash;"Why should you not come
to the mosque twice a week and greet me occasionally?"
The Sayid replied proudly, "I worship God and pray to
Him daily in my house."</p>

<p>This speech greatly annoyed the Khalifa, who replied,
"Pray in your house; but I shall cut off the hand
and foot of everyone who associates with you, whether
in your house or out of it, and I shall send to your
house to have all these Arabic books removed; you can
then pray to God without distraction." Suiting the action
to the word, he at once had the Sayid's books
seized and burnt. After this Abdel Kader thought
it as well to pray five times a-day in the Mahdi's
mosque.</p>

<p>Thus the breach between the Mahdi's and the Khalifa's
households is widening daily; the former are continually
holding secret meetings and consultations, of which the
latter takes good care to be fully apprized.</p>

<p>Another individual&mdash;a certain Ismail el Kheir&mdash;who
had been one of the Mahdi's most fanatical adherents,
but who, after the Mahdi's death, had shown a tendency
to side with the Khalifa Sherif and to be unfriendly to
Khalifa Abdullah, was one day suddenly ordered to be
ready to start for Regaf in half an hour. It was<a name="Page_401" id="Page_401"></a>
rumoured that Abdullah had discovered he had been
attending the secret meetings of the Ashraf.</p>

<p>I will cite yet another case. A certain Wad el Banna,
a good man and a well-educated Moslem, had the
Khalifa's special permission to retain a number of historical
works on Islam, which he frequently read to him
and the Ansar after prayers in the mosque. Being in
high favour, and a great personal friend, the Khalifa
sent him late one night a very beautiful female slave;
but when she arrived at the house, Wad el Banna was
nowhere to be found, and it was discovered that he
was with the Khalifa Sherif. The next morning Abdullah
announced that he deserved to be hanged; but
as he had been very fond of him, he forgave him for
the Mahdi's sake; but ordered all the books to be
burnt, and that he should be transported to Regaf.
Just as the steamer was about to sail with Wad el
Banna on board, the Khalifa recalled and pardoned
him.</p>

<p>There was now little doubt that the Ashraf were
forming a conspiracy; the immediate result of this
discovery was the sudden arrest and imprisonment of
Zogal, which caused no small stir. Then followed the
arrest of Fadl Maula (afterwards known as Abdel Maula),
which created still more excitement. Fadl Maula was
the late Abu Anga's brother, and commanded the black
troops in Omdurman. He was a man of great influence,
not only on account of his brother's reputation, but he
had also performed a number of valuable services for
the Khalifa, notably at the time of the dispute regarding
the Mahdi's successor. He lived near Gordon's fort
of Omdurman, enjoyed a high position, and acquired a
large number of the most handsome women in the
Sudan for his harem.</p>

<p>These ladies lived in the highest luxury. He built
good houses for them, and in the evening he had a
band of Fertit blacks, who played before them on a
variety of instruments. He was perhaps of all the
emirs the most favoured. He had no scruples in going
round his men's quarters picking out the good-looking<a name="Page_402" id="Page_402"></a>
women and sending them to his harem; but this
debauched and extravagant mode of living soon brought
its reward, and he became affected by a sort of leprosy
which seemed to have touched his brain. He became
violent, and had to be put in chains. He lay for
months in this condition, and no medicine was given to
him to ease his pain.</p>

<p>At length a fiki was summoned who declared the disease
to be the result of witchcraft, and he volunteered to
find out by whom this evil had been practised on him.
One of Abdel Maula's wives was a young girl of great
beauty, who was preferred to all the rest, and who lived
with her mother. Love, however, soon grew cold, and
he became enamoured of another of his wives; but the
mother of the cast-off girl determined to be revenged,
and to aid her in her object, she sought the assistance
of a fiki, who gave her a number of amulets, for which
she paid him well. These bits of paper she placed
under the iron platter on which Abdel Maula's bread
was baked, and gradually he grew worse and worse in
health. At length the papers were discovered, and
everyone was convinced that his illness had been caused
by witchcraft. The woman was tried, found guilty,
and had her hand and foot cut off. Abdel Maula did
not recover for many months, and the unfortunate
woman had been sacrificed to the fiki's deception.</p>

<p>The people are still very credulous, and it is impossible
to make them give up their belief in these
superstitious fikis. Once, out of pure curiosity, I quite
convinced myself that this supposed witchcraft was a
mere deception on the part of a clever fiki. Abu Anga's
death and Abdel Maula's illness greatly affected the
latter's influence, besides he was looked upon with jealous
eyes by the Taisha. His overbearing manner to Yakub,
which made the latter his sworn enemy, also contributed
to his downfall. Detractors were not wanting who
declared that he appropriated the dhurra issued by the
beit el mal for his troops. The Khalifa therefore
ordered his property to be confiscated, and reduced the
number of his wives from thirty-one to three. Irritated<a name="Page_403" id="Page_403"></a>
beyond measure at this treatment, he openly abused
the Khalifa and Yakub; but was thrown into chains
and delivered over to the tender mercies of the Saier.</p>

<p>The upshot of a meeting of the three Khalifas and
the Kadi in Ahmed Sharfi's house, still further widened
the breach. Sharfi is known as the "Gidd el Ashraf"
(or grandfather of the Ashraf), because his daughter was
the Mahdi's mother&mdash;Abdullah himself generally addresses
him as "Gidd," and, by way of a joke, his
house is known as the "Mudirieh," because it is a large
square yard with numbers of small rooms ranged
around the inside walls in which the numerous wives
dwell.</p>

<p>Sharfi is an astute and crafty old man; he sees perfectly
well that, under existing circumstances, it is
quite useless to try and overturn the present Baggara
authority. He flatters the Khalifa in the most obsequious
manner, constantly gives him presents, and
has even gone as far as to give up associating with
the Mahdi's household, lest suspicion should rest upon
him.</p>

<p>But to return. The four met one evening, the great
gate was closed, the mulazim kept guard outside, while
within the discussion waxed hot. Khalifa Sherif reproached
Abdullah bitterly for non-adherence to the
Mahdi's precepts. He accused him of oppressing the
people, and governing without the co-operation of
himself and Ali Wad Helu. He urged that the proceeds
of the beit el mal were reserved exclusively for
him and his Baggaras; that he had built good houses
for himself and his emirs, whilst the Mahdi's household
continued to live in a zariba; that his brother Yakub
had considerably more authority than either of the two
Khalifas; that the Mahdi's wives were living in absolute
want whilst the Baggaras had every luxury; in short,
he accused Abdullah of having made Mahdiism into an
entirely worldly and temporal power, instead of upholding
the religious precepts on which it had been
founded. These unreserved expressions led to a fierce
dispute, swords were on the point of being drawn, when<a name="Page_404" id="Page_404"></a>
Ahmed Sharfi and the Kadi with tears implored them
to stop quarrelling.</p>

<p>It was now past midnight, and Yakub, alarmed at
Abdullah's absence, arrived with a party of soldiers and
several Baggaras at the great gate, and began rapping
violently with their spears; they shouted, "Let our
Khalifa out!" The noise outside had an instantaneous
effect on the disputants within. Abdullah solemnly
swore on the Kuran that he would act entirely on the
advice of his colleagues in the matter, and with that
assurance the stormy meeting broke up. His appearance
at the gate was hailed with delight, and he was
conducted home with rejoicing.</p>

<p>But in spite of these events there was no real reconciliation.
Sherif continued to agitate secretly, whilst
the Mahdi's wives, who looked upon him as their protector
solemnly appointed by the Mahdi, added fuel to
the fire. They had some cause for discontent. After the
Mahdi's death they were taken little notice of; Abdullah
did not trouble himself about their wants and had it not
been for Ahmed Sharfi, they must have starved. Being
the Mahdi's widows, they were not allowed to marry
again, and were not even permitted to move beyond the
palace precincts.</p>

<p>This enforced confinement so irritated these good
women that they decided to go <i>en masse</i> to the Khalifa,
and demand either their liberty or that they should be
well treated. Ahmed Sharfi, learning of their resolution,
did all in his power to quiet them, and promised that
he would intercede with the Khalifa for them. This he
did, and Abdullah feigned complete surprise, said he
had been under the impression that they had been
supplied from the beit el mal with all they required,
and that he himself had repeatedly given orders to
Nur Gereifawi to that effect. This was a fact, but&mdash;as
it frequently happens&mdash;Yakub had taken it upon himself
to give counter-orders; the blame was, of course,
laid on Gereifawi, who was ordered to at once issue 600
dollars to the widows, half in clothes and half in cash,
and so these noble ladies were for the time being satisfied.<a name="Page_405" id="Page_405"></a></p>

<p>About a month after the meeting I have just
described the smouldering fire broke out with renewed
vigour. About two days before the actual climax, I
was told in the greatest secrecy by a friend, that in a
few days a rupture must occur, that Khalifas Sherif
and Ali Wad Helu, as well as the principal Aulad-belad
emirs, had solemnly sworn on the Kuran either to
overturn Khalifa Abdullah, or die in the attempt. I
could scarcely credit this news, for Sherif was a young
and inexperienced man, and had hitherto given no
proof of any special ability which would induce the
confidence of others; he appeared to me as a man
utterly absorbed in a life of sensual pleasure. But the
following day my friend again told me that his first
information was quite correct; however, I persisted in
saying that I would not believe it till I saw it. So
well had the secret been kept, that the Aulad-belad
merchants were unconcernedly taking their goods away
from the market as usual, and the Khalifa and his
household knew nothing of it, for one of my friends,
who lived close to the palace, declared to me that the
whole matter was pure invention.</p>

<p>On Tuesday, the 24th of November, 1891, a rumour
suddenly spread through the town that Sherif had
decided to resist. The market was at once closed, and
people went to their homes as quickly as possible.
The whole place was in a state of alarm and excitement.
Baggaras seized the opportunity to plunder and rob,
and I could not learn the actual circumstances which
led to the outbreak, as all that day I remained in my
hut, and the following day I made my escape.</p>

<p>Some said that the people had risen because the
Khalifa intended to execute Zogal; others, that Abdullah
had secretly intended to proclaim his son as his
successor, but that Sherif had violently opposed the
idea. Possibly it may have been that the Khalifa&mdash;on
the principle of weakening the power of the Aulad-belad&mdash;had
ordered that an expedition of 3,000 of them,
under the command of Wad el Ireik, should proceed to
Kassala to fight against the Italians; besides, Abdullah<a name="Page_406" id="Page_406"></a>
had the intention of sending Karamallah&mdash;the capturer
of Lupton Bey&mdash;and his brother Kerkesawi, with a
force to Bahr el Ghazal, and it was thought that these
two most deliberate attempts to get the Aulad-belad out
of Omdurman had been the real cause of the outbreak.</p>

<p>Tuesday passed without disturbance, but every one
was prepared for Wednesday. On that day the Khalifa
ordered that everyone should stand to his flag, and that
all the Ansar should attend at the mosque. But the
whole affair turned out to be a ridiculous farce. Khalifa
Sherif with a few Danagla had barricaded himself in
the Mahdi's zariba; he had altogether about fifty
Remington rifles. How could he attempt resistance
with a feeble force of this description? He had acted
most imprudently; still, in secret, the Aulad-belad
would all have liked to support him, but not one of
them had the courage to come forward, though there
were a very large number of them in Omdurman. The
Mahdi's widows, however, showed far more determination.
They dressed themselves in jibbehs, armed themselves
with swords, and, forming a compact little body,
they swore rather to die than submit.</p>

<p>In accordance with the Khalifa's orders, the palace,
the mosque, and the road between the Mahdi's dome
and the mosque, were all occupied by the Ansar on
Wednesday, whilst the black troops completely surrounded
the mosque. Yakub was made responsible for
distributing ammunition. Possibly Sherif may have
thought that the Aulad-belad would have joined him,
but not one of them dared to leave the ranks.
Numerous horsemen wearing coats of mail and helmets
were entertaining the crowds by their furious galloping,
and in Abdullah's entire force there was general rejoicing.
At about 10 <span class="smcap">A.M.</span> Sherif opened fire, and
seventeen Baggaras fell; the blacks returned the fire,
and killed seven of Sherif's men. Abdullah would not
allow the Ansar to fire, and it was with the greatest
difficulty that he succeeded in holding back the wild
Baggaras.</p>

<p>The few shots that had been fired startled the whole<a name="Page_407" id="Page_407"></a>
of Omdurman; everyone went to his house and armed
himself as best he could. Meanwhile the Baggara
horsemen had left the actual scene of action, and were
now scattered about the town looting, robbing, breaking
into houses, wounding people, and seizing women, slaves,
ornaments, &amp;c. When Abdullah heard of this, he lost
no time in sending Yakub's horsemen to keep order; but
many of the robbers made off with their booty. In the
evening it was rumoured that a reconciliation had been
effected. Khalifa Helu, Ahmed Sharfi, and Sayid el
Mek had been the mediators. Sharfi had attempted to
explain to the Mahdi's widows that all resistance was
useless, but they tore his jibbeh, and drove him off.</p>

<p>On Thursday the Khalifas all met under the Mahdi's
dome, and there Abdullah, with tears in his eyes,
solemnly swore to accede to all his opponent's wishes,
which were that he should receive one-third of the
army, one-third of the arms, and of the beit el mal
revenue, and that, moreover, he should take part in all
meetings and deliberations. It was quite apparent that
Abdullah never seriously intended to fulfil these conditions.
He could have instantly suppressed the outbreak
had he wished to do so, but he wanted to show
that he still greatly honoured and respected the Mahdi's
family.</p>

<p>At noon the mulazimin marched through the town,
heralds announced that tranquillity had been restored,
and that people should return to their daily avocations.
On Friday the usual review took place, but none of the
notables were present, and most of the troops continued
in occupation of the mosque and palace. On Saturday
there was another alarm, for Sherif had declined to
hand over his arms, but that evening his submission
was publicly announced. I did not hear the details,
for on Sunday, the 29th of November, 1891, I quitted
Omdurman in the dead of night.</p>

<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>

<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_S_19" id="Footnote_S_19"></a>
<a href="#FNanchor_S_19" class="fnlabel">[S]</a> Abdullah does not like being addressed as Khalifa only, but if
he be approached as Khalifat el Mahdi, and if the words "aleh es
salam" ("on whom be peace") be added&mdash;a term which is only used
when speaking of the Prophet&mdash;he is even more gratified.</p></div>
</div>

<a name="Page_408" id="Page_408"></a>
<hr class="newpg" style="width: 65%;">
<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIV" id="CHAPTER_XXIV"></a>CHAPTER XXIV.</h2>

<p class="chapterhead">PREPARATIONS FOR THE FLIGHT.</p>

<p class="chapterdescribe">Ohrwalder forms plans for escape&mdash;The fate of other Europeans
attempting to fly&mdash;Stricter surveillance&mdash;Ohrwalder's means of
livelihood&mdash;Letters from Cairo&mdash;The faithful Ahmed Hassan
discloses his plan&mdash;Archbishop Sogaro&mdash;Miseries of captivity in
Omdurman&mdash;Death of Sister Concetta Corsi&mdash;Preparations for
flight.</p>


<p class="firstpara"><span class="firstwords">The</span> reader will readily understand that all this time I
had not lost sight of the object which had been next
my heart, which was to regain my liberty and escape
from my miserable surroundings.</p>

<p>When I quitted El Obeid, I then thought that, once
in Omdurman, escape would not be so difficult, and
during my long journey to the Mahdi's capital this
thought had buoyed me up. At any rate I was one
step nearer attaining my wish, for at that time the
restrictions on Europeans were not so severe, and they
were permitted to trade and travel as far as Ed Damer,
to which place Egyptian merchants freely came and
went.</p>

<p>On my arrival in Omdurman, a Greek offered me
hospitality, which I gratefully accepted. I had resolved
to search about in the town for a trusty friend, who
would help me towards the attainment of my object.
It had occurred to me that I might accompany a Greek
or Syrian merchant to Damer, and from thence make
my escape, but unfortunately at that time I had no
money and little experience. I did not actually give
way to despair, but I could find no one ready to give
me the assistance I required; they all feared the
Khalifa's vengeance in case of discovery.<a name="Page_409" id="Page_409"></a></p>

<a name="guides"></a><div class="figcenter" style="width:550px;"><img src="https://brian.carnell.com/wiki/_media/etext:f:fr-wingate-ten-years-captive-p409.jpg" border="0" alt="" title="" width="533" height="392">
<p class="caption2">THE ARAB GUIDES WHO EFFECT THE ESCAPE OF FATHER OHRWALDER AND THE SISTERS.</p></div>
<a name="Page_410" id="Page_410"></a>
<a name="Page_411" id="Page_411"></a>

<p>I made inquiries of boatmen, with a view to going to
Berber on a supposed trading journey, but none of
them trusted me; and, indeed, I was afterwards
thankful that they had not spoken of my design.
However, in spite of failure, I did not give up hope;
and during the long days, and often sleepless nights, I
turned various plans over and over in my mind. On one
occasion Gustav Klootz and I decided to make an attempt
to reach Galabat, and escape thence into Abyssinia, but at
the last moment the plan seemed impracticable. Klootz,
however, set off, and without any money he begged
his way from place to place; at length, utterly exhausted,
he reached Galabat, only to die a few days
afterwards.</p>

<p>I spent about eight months with the Greek, and then
thought it was not fair to trespass further on his
hospitality. Besides, it had occurred to me that in case
a favourable opportunity for escape arrived, he would
most certainly have been accused of complicity, and
might have suffered on my account; I therefore built
a small straw hut for myself, and lived with a Mission
brother who had a small shop in the market. For
almost five months an Arab held out hopes of assisting
me to escape, but I eventually ascertained that he never
really meant to help me. For nearly two years I had
suffered from incessant diarrh[oe]a, which had greatly
wasted my strength.</p>

<p>Meanwhile I had managed to send one of the Mission
brothers to Berber, nominally to gain a living by
repairing watches, but actually to find out whether
flight from there was possible. It took him twenty-six
days in a boat to reach Berber, and after staying there
for a time he succeeded in escaping to Sawakin, whence
he despatched a man with money and goods who was
to aid in my escape; but the man never came, and
must have stolen all that had been given to him.</p>

<p>The Mission brother's escape reached the Khalifa's
ears, and at the same time certain Greeks petitioned
him that their bakery might not be pulled down when
the market was being repaired. The Khalifa sent for<a name="Page_412" id="Page_412"></a>
the mukuddum to inquire about the matter, and
casually asked about the other Greeks, and where they
were? The mukuddum replied that some were ill,
others were travelling. This greatly annoyed the
Khalifa, who ordered all who were in Omdurman to be
brought before him the following day. Finding several
absentees, his eyes seemed to be opened to the danger;
he severely blamed the mukuddum for allowing the
lay-brother to escape; said that he should have given
immediate information, and then turning on us he
threatened to cast us into the river, or cut off our
hands. His actual words were, "What prevents me
now from throwing you into the river, and making you
food for fishes?" He spoke against us in a most
vehement manner for about half an hour, and ended by
saying that we should not in future be permitted to
move one step south of Omdurman fort, or north of
Khor Shambat. Any Europeans known to be beyond
the limits of his capital, he ordered to be forcibly
brought back, alive or dead. This sudden change of
front obliged us to put aside for the time all idea of
escape.</p>

<p>A Sherif of Mecca, who had come to greet the Mahdi
and who had become thoroughly convinced of the falseness
of his claims, expressed a desire to be allowed to
return; his request was not granted, so he decided to
make his escape; he bought a donkey and gaily set out
on his journey. On reaching Kererri, some four hours'
distance, he was stopped and asked where he was going;
he replied that he was come to pay a visit to Sheikh el
Tayeb's tomb at Kererri; but his story was not credited.
He was brought back to the Khalifa, who handed him
over to the Saier, where he died a few days afterwards.</p>

<p>This event made Abdullah exert a still stricter surveillance
over the "whites," and now escape became
more difficult than ever. Moreover, Wad en Nejumi's
expedition to Egypt closed the road to pilgrims, and
during that period flight would have been a pure impossibility.
In the meantime I had to do something to
gain a livelihood. Lupton advised me to try soap-<a name="Page_413" id="Page_413"></a>boiling;
so I went into partnership with him, changed
my house, and now took up my abode just beyond the
Greek and Syrian quarter.</p>

<p>I was always thinking of escape, and in consequence
kept a great deal to myself, seldom paid visits, and was
seldom called upon. Two of the Mission sisters were
living near me; they earned a precarious living by
needlework; but this hardly brought in enough money
to purchase the bare necessities of life, for several of the
women who had survived the Khartum massacre were
employed at similar work, and the competition was
considerable.</p>

<p>Poor Lupton died very suddenly, so our soap-boiling
plan had to be abandoned, and I had to turn my
thoughts to something else. It occurred to me to make
hooks out of telegraph wire, which the sisters sewed on
to purses, takias, &amp;c., and this being a novelty was for
a time a fairly lucrative business: but it was long and
tedious work. Gradually the novelty wore off, and the
demand grew less; provisions were expensive, and a
famine close at hand. All idea of mutual support had
come to an end, for the Greeks, Syrians, and Jews had
been prohibited from leaving the town, and nothing was
to be made out of trade in Omdurman itself. Thus my
condition went from bad to worse, the famine was now
raging, and in desperation I had to do something to
gain enough to keep body and soul together.</p>

<p>It was the fashion for the women in Omdurman to
wear long garments trimmed with various sorts of
ribbons, and it occurred to me to learn how to make
these ribbons; for this purpose I acquired a small and
simple loom. The few men in the market, who had the
monopoly of this trade, regarded my acquisition with
great jealousy, and would not teach it to any one under
a less payment than forty or fifty dollars, and this sum
I was quite unable to raise; however, necessity knows
no law, and hunger sharpens the inventive faculties. I
carefully unravelled a piece of ribbon and studied the
way it was made with the greatest attention. I had a
dim and hazy recollection of European looms, and, after<a name="Page_414" id="Page_414"></a>
many vain attempts, I at length succeeded in making
one. The work is very trying, and at first I thought
my back would break from the exertion; it was only
with the greatest difficulty that I managed, after working
all day, to turn out four yards, which I sold for four
piastres, out of which I had to purchase the thread.
However, after continuous practice, I succeeded, at the
end of a month, in turning out sixteen yards a day.
But loom work should be learnt when one is young, and
to begin it at my age was a terrible strain on my back;
still, it brought in sufficient money to keep us alive.</p>

<p>For seven months we lived on dhurra bread and a few
boiled vegetables, without oil, butter, or meat. Hard
work and insufficient food were telling on our strength:
however, we were far better off than hundreds of others,
who were willing to work, but, finding nothing to do,
were obliged to starve. During all this time I never
once abandoned hope of escape, and again succeeded in
getting some one to take a message from me to Cairo
seeking advice; but the undertaking was so beset with
difficulties that it seemed next to impossible.</p>

<p>My companions in adversity watched me closely&mdash;they
often volunteered to attempt an escape with the
sisters; but as I was responsible for them to the
Khalifa, this could not be done, and the idea of myself
and the two sisters ever escaping alone seemed too
absurd to be thought of. It seemed most improbable
that the Government would again take possession of the
Sudan; though I confess that a ray of hope was kindled
when Saleh Bey of Korosko suddenly arrived at Abu
Hamed with his Ababdehs and killed the notorious
Suleiman Wad Naaman, the murderer of Colonel
Stewart and his companions. The news of this affair
caused the greatest excitement in Omdurman, and we
really believed that the time for our release was
approaching; but Saleh Bey disappeared as quickly as
he came.</p>

<p>The capture of Tokar, in February 1891, also raised
our hopes; but we were again doomed to disappointment.
In 1890 a young Ababdeh Arab had come to<a name="Page_415" id="Page_415"></a>
Omdurman and had asked me to give him a letter to
my friends in Cairo. I did not trust him, for I had
written several letters which were entirely without
result. I had learnt by experience that the Arabs were
untrustworthy, and that the letters never reached those
for whom they were intended. It also occurred to me
that the man might be a spy, so I sent him away with
the answer "Neshauer" (<i>i.e.</i> "I shall think about it"),
a word very often used by the Sudanese when they wish
to gain time to consider a matter.</p>

<p>Meanwhile I made full inquiries about the man, and
heard nothing but good of him. Soon afterwards he
returned and asked me to give him a few lines of
greeting to my friends. I was told that the man
expected to get some reward if he succeeded in bringing
letters to the Government from the prisoners, which
might give them some information on the situation in
the Sudan. When I was thoroughly convinced as to his
trustworthiness, we then had a consultation, of which
the upshot was that I would, with his assistance,
attempt to escape, provided he could obtain the necessary
support from Cairo; I therefore gave him a letter to our
Reverend Vicar Apostolic, Franz Sogaro, and commissioned
him to negotiate verbally with him.</p>

<p>The man's plan was to return when the Nile was high&mdash;that
is to say, almost a year later&mdash;escape in a boat or
on a raft, which the swift current would carry to Berber
in about three days, where camels would be in readiness
to take us across the desert to Korosko. I urged him
to keep these plans absolutely secret, for their disclosure
would bring most certain punishment on our heads, and
I further urged him to provide arms for the journey.</p>

<p>Ahmed Hassan&mdash;for that was the man's name&mdash;went
off, and, to tell the truth, I had little hope that he would
do anything more than others had done before him.
Besides, who could say what changes might not take
place in a year in Omdurman, which might entirely
frustrate our plans? The sword of Damocles was for
ever hanging over our heads. Then might not death
intervene any day? Both the sisters and myself were<a name="Page_416" id="Page_416"></a>
thoroughly debilitated by constant work and hardship,
and it was always possible that a slight fever might
extinguish the spark of life which was then burning but
dimly.</p>

<p>A few days after Ahmed's departure the whole matter
went quite out of our heads, and before long I was again
negotiating with another Arab to assist us to escape, for
I did not wish to leave a stone unturned. If it had
been a question of my flight alone, there would not have
been so much difficulty. As a man I could have stained
my naturally brown complexion, dressed in rags, and
begged my way along the banks of the Blue Nile to
Abyssinia; but I could not leave the poor sisters behind,
and therefore resolved to wait patiently until a deliverer
should come.</p>

<p>Several of the merchants who had been to Egypt told
me that Archbishop Sogaro had often sent us money <i>vi&acirc;</i>
Korosko, Halfa, and Sawakin; but the dishonest Arabs
had always appropriated it for themselves. In fact,
ever since 1884 our good Archbishop had never ceased
in his efforts to assist us and to make our captivity more
bearable. He left no stone unturned, and moved
Moslems, Christians, the Government, and indeed His
Holiness the Pope, on our behalf, and one of the
missionaries was maintained on the Egyptian frontier
with the special object of endeavouring to procure our
release; they took it in turns to relieve each other,
and were Fathers Dominicus Vicentini, Yohann Dichtl,
Xavier Geyer, Alois Bonomi, Leon Henriot, and Alois
Specke, the last of whom died at Assuan. We had
many great difficulties, but perhaps the greatest was the
continual bad faith of the Arabs.</p>

<p>The transport of letters endangered the lives not only
of the bearers, but of the receivers as well, and any
letter addressed to a European would, if discovered,
undoubtedly end either in the intended recipient's death
or imprisonment for life. But Archbishop Sogaro
worked on with indefatigable earnestness. Early in
1890 he sent one of our Coptic Mission teachers, named
Hanna Arraga, with money and goods to the frontier,<a name="Page_417" id="Page_417"></a>
whence, if possible, he was to proceed to Omdurman and
assist us. It was thought the plan might succeed, for
at that time Zogal was Emir of Dongola, and he was
desirous of opening trade with Halfa. Hanna therefore
sent an Arab on to find out how matters stood, while he
himself remained on the frontier; but the Arab never
returned.</p>

<p>It so happened that just at this time Zogal and the
two Baggara emirs sent to watch him had a violent
dispute, which resulted in all of them being recalled to
Omdurman. The Khalifa decided in favour of the
Baggaras, Zogal was thrown into chains, and Abdullah's
nephew, Yunis, was appointed Emir of Dongola; the
latter held very different views with regard to intercourse
with Egypt, and that is why the Arab never returned
to Halfa. About fifteen days, however, before I effected
my escape, the Arab came to Omdurman and told me
about the matter. His own master and son had been
implicated in the Dongola dispute and had been thrown
into chains; that was his reason for not returning, and
after that I never saw him again.<a name="FNanchor_T_20" id="FNanchor_T_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_T_20" class="fnanchor">[T]</a></p>

<p>Meanwhile, Ahmed Hassan, whom I had sent to
Cairo with the letter, duly delivered it to Archbishop
Sogaro, who made a written agreement with him for
our release; he also instructed Hanna to proceed from
Halfa to Korosko, and there hand over to Ahmed
Hassan the goods valued at &pound;100. Through Archbishop
Sogaro's intermediary, Ahmed Hassan was given
every support by the Egyptian military authorities, who
presented him with &pound;20 and gave him a free passage to
Korosko. On the 15th of September, 1891, he left that
place for Omdurman with the goods.</p>

<p>At Omdurman the winter had come and gone, the
Nile had risen to its full height and had subsided, but
there was no sign of Ahmed. I was not surprised, for<a name="Page_418" id="Page_418"></a>
I had long been accustomed to disappointments of this
sort. I merely remarked to myself that the number of
persons who had deceived us had been increased by
one, and that if a deliverer did not soon come from
Egypt, there was another deliverer&mdash;death&mdash;whose
approach was certain. The heavy work was sapping
our waning strength, I began to spit blood, felt severe
pains in my chest, and was little else than skin and
bone.</p>

<p>The poor sisters were still nearer the grave. Our
moral and physical sufferings during these ten long
years of captivity had told on us terribly; death was
what we most longed for and for which we patiently
waited. The sad prospect of never regaining our liberty,
of living a life of slavery, debarred from all the advantages
and progress of the world, never again to worship
in our grand churches and enjoy the comforts of our
holy religion; but to live and die amongst the fiery
rocks and sand of Omdurman, where the burning sun
turned dead bodies into mummies&mdash;to die and be buried
in slavery&mdash;the prospect of living was indeed unattractive,
and what wonder we should long for death to free
us from such misery!</p>

<p>After all these sufferings it was indeed hard to see
our will-o'-the-wisp-like hope, which we had pursued so
often, dissolve into nothing, and to find ourselves once
more the victims of a fraud and deception. How fortunate
we thought those who had been killed in battle, or
had died of starvation or disease! We even envied the
lot of those who had been massacred in Khartum. After
all, the anguish of death had been but momentary, and
now all suffering and pain was over, while we seemed
to have passed through a hundred deaths, we had been
in his clutches over and over again; hunger, thirst, and
disease had all, at one time or another, almost claimed
us as their victims. We had witnessed the destruction
of cities, the annihilation of armies, the slaughter of
thousands, and the ruthless massacre and bloodshed of
innocent people; man's dignity trodden under foot, and
human life valued far below that of a sheep or a goat.<a name="Page_419" id="Page_419"></a>
And after all this we must live and die forgotten and
unknown, our lasting resting-place a strange land, and
our bodies in all likelihood food for hyenas. Thus we
longed for death to remove us from these scenes of
perpetual cruelty and oppression. Our nerves had
become so strained that the slightest knock at the door
would make us start; the sound of the great onbe&iuml;a
made us positively tremble. Almost half the total
number of Europeans, Greeks, Syrians, and Jews were
dead, and all we hoped for was that we should soon
follow them.</p>

<p>The death of one of our sisters only increased in me
the desire to die as well. On the 4th of October, 1891,
Sister Concetta Corsi, who was in a very weak state of
health, was suddenly carried off by typhus. According
to the Sudan custom, we wound her body in a cloth,
tied it up in a mat (for there were no coffins to be had),
and carried her, almost immediately after death, to a
spot some six miles north of the town&mdash;the direction in
which her eyes in lifetime had been so often turned.
All the Greeks and Syrians followed, and there in the
stillness of the desert we laid her in the warm sand,
protecting her body from the ravenous hyenas by a few
thorns. A short prayer was offered up for her and for
the souls of those who had gone before; then we turned
sadly back, hoping that before long we too might be
lying beside her.</p>

<p>But I felt that my life was in God's hands, and
comforted myself with the belief that God was dealing
with me as He thought best, and that I must submit
to His Divine will. My hut was gloomy in the
extreme; for several days I did not speak to any one,
and when night came I threw myself down on my
angarib, but sleep would not come to me; then I would
gaze up into the great vault of heaven and think that
this same sky was over my fatherland, from which I
was an exile, surrounded by suffering and sickness.</p>

<p>On the night of the 28th of October, 1891, Ahmed
Hassan quite unexpectedly made his appearance. I
took him to my hut, and after the usual Arabic<a name="Page_420" id="Page_420"></a>
greetings, he said to me, "Here I am, are you
coming?" For a moment I was speechless, I quite
understood what he meant; but a thousand thoughts
flashed through my mind, my heart was beating
violently, the dangers to which my frail companions in
adversity would be subjected loomed before me, and
for a few moments I could make no reply; then I
collected my wandering thoughts and said: "If I did
not intend to go with you I would not have sent you."</p>

<p>Then I began asking him all sorts of questions about
Cairo, and he informed me briefly that he had seen
Archbishop Sogaro and had made an arrangement with
him regarding our release; that he had given up the
plan of descending to Berber by boat, and that he had
received &pound;100 to purchase camels. He further told me
that he had not brought any letter with him. He asked
about the sisters, and when I told him that one had
died almost a month ago, he almost wept, and striking
his forehead with his hand, said, "Oh, that I had come
a month earlier!" But I told him that I would take
another sister in her place.</p>

<p>We then set to talking earnestly about our plans; I
told him to purchase at least five good camels and to
see that he had sufficient arms. In anticipation of
flight, I had a long time ago secured and carefully
concealed a hundred Remington cartridges. When
Ahmed left the hut I began to doubt if he was really
sincere; it seemed almost incredible that they should
have sent him from Cairo without a line or even a
signature on such an important undertaking.</p>

<p>The next day Ahmed reappeared, bringing with him
two Arabs whom he had engaged in the cause, one at
Korosko and the other at Berber. Ahmed seemed a
little afraid that we would not dare to undertake the
flight; he told me that he had brought a letter from
Archbishop Sogaro, but had left it at Berber. The
main difficulty for the Arabs would be leaving the
house without being observed, but I reassured them on
that point. It was almost full moon at that time, so
it was decided to delay our departure until it should<a name="Page_421" id="Page_421"></a>
be on the decline, and we should thus be able to
make our way out under cover of obscurity. I begged
Ahmed not to come to us any more, to avoid exciting
suspicion.</p>

<p>I now began to make preparations. My first object
was to get one of the sisters, who was at that time
living in a Greek's house, to come to my house. This
was not an easy matter, for I dared not mention one
word about our intentions to a soul, or our plans would
undoubtedly have been frustrated. I therefore feigned
illness, and said I could no longer carry on this hard
work alone, so the sister was allowed to come, and,
quite unwittingly, the Greek gladly lent me her services.
She had now been with me some twenty days, so I felt
that the Greek could not be held responsible for her
disappearance, which occurred a few days later.</p>

<p>Ahmed gave me Archbishop Sogaro's letter, which he
had procured from Berber, and with intense excitement
I read the few lines, in which he wished me all success
in the undertaking. This letter encouraged me greatly,
and I had now no doubt of Ahmed's sincerity. We
counted the days and hours preceding our departure,
and I could not bear to think of the trials the sisters
would have to undergo during the journey. I had also
a little black girl, whom it would have been impossible
for me to have left behind, as our departure would undoubtedly
have been betrayed. She was named Adila,
and had been born in the Khartum Mission house.
After the fall of Khartum, she and her mother had been
sold as slaves and sent to Gedaref.</p>

<p>Amongst Abu Anga's troops was a certain Panerazio
Yusef, a very bright and intelligent young soldier, who
subsequently rose to the rank of an emir; he had been
told about Adila, bought her for five dollars, and took
her with him when he accompanied the emir Zaki to
Omdurman. On his arrival he presented her to me as a
remembrance of former kindness; he also gave me a
quantity of coffee, for which I was truly grateful.</p>

<p>The day of our intended departure was approaching,
and we looked forward to it with almost breathless<a name="Page_422" id="Page_422"></a>
impatience. We had lost all appetite for food; fear,
mental anguish, and the idea that we should be free,
kept us in a perfect fever of excitement. I could not
help thinking of my companions in adversity whom I
should be obliged to leave behind, and who might, I
thought, perhaps suffer after our departure. These had
been constantly with us for the last ten years, sharing
our life of pain and wretchedness, and now I could not
but feel pained at the thought of separation. But all
these feelings had to be put aside, and we had to concentrate
all our thoughts on the present. I longed to
be off, if only to be free from this feverish anxiety
which was rending our very souls. Then Ahmed came
just the day before we were to have started, and said
that the Arabs with whom he had come from Korosko
had not yet returned, and that we must await their
departure before setting out.</p>

<p>I now began to think that our plans had been
frustrated. Several Egyptians, including some women,
had attempted to fly to Berber, whence they intended
making their way back to Egypt, but had been intercepted,
brought back and thrown into chains. It also
happened that some Greeks who had been living at
Gedaref, and had had their goods stolen, were also
brought to Omdurman and put in prison, because it
was thought that they had intended to escape to the
Italians.</p>

<p>All this alarmed me, and I thought it probable the
Khalifa would issue more stringent orders against
Europeans. Ahmed told me that he had had considerable
difficulty in purchasing the camels; he did
not dare buy them in the market, as that would have
aroused suspicion; he had also great difficulty in feeding
them, for it would have certainly excited comment if he
had collected them all in one place. He had, however,
managed very well. When he saw a good-looking camel,
towards evening he would follow it until he reached the
owner's house, then early the next morning he would
return and bargain for it; in this way he had acquired
three good camels at from 120 to 150 dollars a piece,<a name="Page_423" id="Page_423"></a>
which he distributed amongst his various friends, and
fed them up well. Meanwhile he used occasionally to
come and see us, and bid us keep up a good hope in
spite of our enforced delay.</p>

<p>On the 24th of November occurred the disturbance
between the Khalifas which I have already narrated,
and this seemed a most favourable moment to escape;
but Ahmed did not come, and I was wildly impatient,
for I could not even find out where he lived without
exciting suspicion. In all this confusion we were lost
sight of, and I avoided going to see anyone lest I
should become involved in anything that was going on.
I had no further preparations to make, for Ahmed had
promised to provide everything.</p>

<p>At last, on Friday the 27th, he came to my hut, and
it was decided we should leave on Monday evening.
When I reproached him for not coming during the first
day or two of the disturbances, he said that he too had
thought of it, but that one of his friends had been
locked up for being engaged in a quarrel, and he was
obliged to wait until he was released.</p>

<p>Ahmed also told me a most important piece of news.
There were no riding camels in the beit el mal. All
had been despatched to the provinces on business connected
with quelling the disturbances. It would not,
therefore, be possible to pursue us at once. These disturbances
had made all the other captives think that it
was a favourable opportunity to fly, but, with one exception,
none of them knew that my preparations were
all made and that the next day I should be gone.</p>

<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>

<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_T_20" id="Footnote_T_20"></a>
<a href="#FNanchor_T_20" class="fnlabel">[T]</a> The Arab undoubtedly meant well. For he was at the same
time entrusted by me with a letter to give to another European
prisoner, and, as I write, a reply to this letter, which was delivered
to him only two months ago in Omdurman, has just reached
Cairo.&mdash;F.&nbsp;R.&nbsp;W.</p></div>
</div>
<a name="Page_424" id="Page_424"></a>

<hr class="newpg" style="width: 65%;">
<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXV" id="CHAPTER_XXV"></a>CHAPTER XXV.</h2>

<p class="chapterhead">ON CAMELS ACROSS THE GREAT NUBIAN DESERT.</p>

<p class="chapterdescribe">Father Ohrwalder and Sisters Venturini and Chincarini escape&mdash;The
ride for life&mdash;The rencontre with the Dervish guard near Abu
Hamed&mdash;Alarm of the party&mdash;The journey across the great
Nubian desert&mdash;Five hundred miles on camel-back in seven
days&mdash;Arrival at the Egyptian outpost at Murat&mdash;Safe at last&mdash;Arrival
in Cairo.</p>


<p class="firstpara"><span class="firstwords">On</span> Sunday evening I went to see a friend and returned
at nine o'clock; this happened to be the last visit
I was to make in Omdurman. Just as I stepped into
my yard, there I saw Ahmed standing before me. In
a few hasty words he told me to get ready as soon as
possible; his friends had made a mistake and had come
a day earlier with the camels. The sisters and Adila
were all ready; I gave Ahmed the few small things I
had as well as my arms, and told him to take the
sisters to the appointed place, which was only about
thirty yards from the hut, whilst I went off and
informed the only person who was in the secret, of our
sudden decision to leave a day earlier.</p>

<p>All fear had now gone, and, almost beside myself
with excitement, I hastened to my friend's house and
knocked at the door. "Who's there?" he asked. And
when he knew who it was he was greatly surprised,
and asked why I came so late. As some one else was
standing near, I said that I had been seized with a
violent pain, and had come to beg a few drops of
laudanum, and then I approached him, pressed his hand,
and whispered in his ear that we were on the point of
starting.</p>

<p>The poor man received such a start, that had he not<a name="Page_425" id="Page_425"></a>
caught hold of something, he would have fallen; but I
roused him by asking him loudly to get me the laudanum
at once; so he went off to his room, and there,
with a trembling hand, he put a few drops on a piece of
sugar. I took it back to the house, which I found the
sister had just left. Then wrapping myself in a black
mantle, I locked the door, and took the key with me.
I saw something dark in the distance, which I knew
must be the camels, and thither I picked my way. In a
few moments I had reached the spot, and a man whom
I did not know helped me on to my camel; but there
was no time to ask questions. Ahmed put the sisters
on the camels, on which the two other Arabs rode,
whilst I took Adila behind me on my camel.</p>

<p>Not thirty yards from where we were was a well,
around which a number of female slaves were gathered;
but the little noise we made was drowned by their
laughter. The moment of mounting was perhaps the
most dangerous time, for the camels were restive, and
longing to be off. It was with the greatest difficulty
the Arabs managed to keep their mouths closed, and no
sooner were we on their backs than we glided swiftly
away into the darkness. Now and then we saw fires, at
which the people were cooking their food, or sitting
around gossiping; fortunately it was a cold night, so
most of the people were in their huts. We passed the
spot where we had laid the poor sister who had recently
died; it was sad to think that she was not with us
now. We kept steadily moving forward, not a word
had passed our lips; the camels had been well fed up
on dhurra, and went so quickly that we could scarcely
hold them in. I tried to peer through the darkness,
while my ear was ready to catch the slightest sound of
possible pursuers.</p>

<p>Soon we had left Omdurman far behind, and in the
soft sand-bed of Khor Shambat we dismounted to have
our saddles re-arranged; then we mounted again, and
pursued our journey at a rapid pace northwards along
the river bank. We were in all seven persons and four
camels: the guide Ahmed Hassan, his two friends<a name="Page_426" id="Page_426"></a>
Hamed and Awad; Sister Catterina Chincarini and
Sister Elizabetta Venturini; myself and Adila.</p>

<p>A cold north wind was blowing, which our rapid advance
made quite cutting. I followed the Arab custom,
and bound a large turban round my head, leaving only
the eyes exposed. We passed several villages, but the
barking of the dogs always gave us warning, and so we
avoided them. I had not heard a dog bark for years,
and the sound was quite pleasing to me. We met some
Gellabas riding on donkeys, on their way to Omdurman,
but in the darkness they could not see who we were,
and we passed them rapidly; only Ahmed remained
behind, to greet them and exchange news.</p>

<p>Now the narrow track led through thick bushes, which
we could not rightly see; our clothes, hands, and feet
got torn and scratched by the thorns; but we never
checked the pace, and continued our course steadily
northwards. "Time is money," they say, but in our
case time was life; we crossed dry beds of streams,
over which the animals would sometimes stumble and
fall, the riders with them; but there was no time to
think of pains and bruises; to pick oneself up, catch
and mount the camel, which might easily have been lost
in the desert, was all one had time to think about.
None of us had watches, but during the many sleepless
nights I had passed, I had become used to observing the
stars, and could tell the time almost to within five
minutes.</p>

<p>Just at dawn we neared the village of Wad Bishara,
and pushed on quicker so as to pass it before daybreak.
This village is generally considered two days north of
Omdurman. We then left the ordinary track, and
turned towards the desert, as we dared not go along the
river bank during the daytime. At sunrise we could
just see the thin strip of green which marked the course
of the stream; still we did not alight, but pushed on
and on, up and down hills, across long stretches of sandy
plain. Our eyes became so red and swollen we could
scarcely see, and they pained us considerably.</p>

<p>At length, after some hours, we drew up, dismounted<a name="Page_427" id="Page_427"></a>
ate a little biscuit, and drank some water, readjusted
our saddles, then up and away again. My mind travelled
back to Omdurman. Had our flight been discovered at
once? What would happen to those left behind? How
astonished they would be to find we had gone! But
this train of thought was suddenly interrupted; one of
the sisters had fallen off her camel, and was lying insensible
on the ground; we picked her up, splashed her
with water, and after a time brought her to; we then put
her on to the camel again, and tied her firmly to the
saddle; there was nothing else to be done&mdash;it was a
question of life and death. So we rode continuously
forward, in the desert by day and along the river bank
by night.</p>

<p>I had asked Ahmed about the stranger who had
helped me to mount my camel in Omdurman, and he
told me that the animals had become so restive by good
feeding that it was impossible for one man to hold
them whilst the other two came to the hut to fetch us;
he had therefore taken two friends into his confidence,
and made them swear on the Kuran that they would not
betray us. Just after sunset they had ridden the camels
quite openly through the market-place, with their arms
slung across the saddles, so that people should think
they were post-camels, and no suspicion would be
created.</p>

<p>Ahmed told me more too about the difficulties he had
had in stabling the camels prior to our flight; two of
them had been tethered in a poor woman's yard, and the
two others he had placed in charge of one of his friends;
but these caretakers had guessed that something was
about to happen, and had urged Ahmed to depart as
soon as possible, for they began to think they might
become involved in the matter. Ahmed had paid them
most liberally for their services; he had also had
recourse to magic, summoned the spirits, and consulted
a fiki, who prophesied the journey would be "as white
as milk," that is to say, that no mishap would occur, for
which statement Ahmed had given him a considerable
bakshish.<a name="Page_428" id="Page_428"></a></p>

<p>We continued our journey always along the left bank
of the Nile, there was no time to stop for sleep.
Occasionally we came across Arab shepherds in the
desert tending their herds of goats. They gazed wonderingly
at us, and asked questions of Ahmed, who
purposely always remained a short way behind. Ahmed
drew a gloomy picture of the recent rising in Omdurman,
describing how the two Khalifas had openly fought
with each other, how nothing was heard night and day
but the roar of cannon and the rattle of musketry, while
the slaughter had been terrible beyond words. He
represented that we were fugitives who had left the
ordinary roads, fearing that the disturbed state of the
country might make them unsafe, for bands of brigands
were known to be roaming about.</p>

<p>These simple people, thoroughly detesting Mahdiism,
believed every word Ahmed told them, thought we were
wise to fly, and gave him as much milk as he wanted, a
fact which he also regarded as a good omen.</p>

<p>Although Ahmed and his friends knew the usual
roads well, they had never been on exactly the track we
had been forced to take to avoid the inhabited places.
Thus it happened that we approached the river sooner
than we expected; in fact, almost before we knew it,
we found ourselves amongst houses in the village of
Makani, which was so concealed by trees that we had
not seen it. We then met a party of Gellabas, and at
Ahmed's advice at once slowed our pace so as not to
provoke mistrust. These Gellabas looked at us somewhat
suspiciously, and tried in vain to find out the
object of our journey. Probably they remembered us
afterwards when our flight became known.</p>

<p>At length, after some difficulty, we emerged from the
village and again turned into the desert; but when I
blamed Ahmed for misguiding us, he merely answered
cheerfully, "Allah marakna!" ("God has delivered
us!")</p>

<p>When we had got some distance from the river, we
dismounted and had a slight meal of dates and water.
Our limbs were so stiff we could not stand up straight,<a name="Page_429" id="Page_429"></a>
and our clothes were sticking to the wounds we had
received when riding through the bush. How delightful
it was to be on the ground again and stretch our
cramped legs, and how pleasant would a short sleep
have been! But no sooner had the camels swallowed a
little dhurra than we were up and off again. We still
went in a northerly direction, and as our scratches
warmed again they pained us considerably; but the
feeling that we were not pursued, and the growing hope
that we should really escape, encouraged us to overcome
every difficulty. We watered at Gubat on the Nile,
where the English had encamped in 1885, and then we
rode cautiously, well outside the great village of Metemmeh.
The barking and howling of the dogs made
the camels quicken their pace, and soon we were out of
sight of the Jaalin capital.</p>

<p>We then began to discuss how we were to cross the
Nile. Ahmed had a friend living in a village just
south of Berber, and it occurred to him that we might
cross there. We trotted quietly on towards this village,
when a man suddenly sprang out in front of us and
cried, "Enta min?" ("Who are you?") But we soon
found out that the man was afraid, and had taken us for
robbers. His sudden appearance had given us a great
start, and we at once thought that our pursuers had
caught us up, and that we were about to be recaptured.
Ahmed, however, approached the man, and as we rode
on, he turned, spoke to him, and allayed his fears.</p>

<p>When we approached the village, we dismounted and
hid behind some thick bushes, whilst Ahmed went in
search of his friend who was to ferry us across. In
about half an hour he returned, saying that it was
impossible, as the boat was on the other side. Besides,
he had heard that two boats had just passed down on
their way to Berber, and that all disturbances in
Omdurman were at an end. However, they had heard
nothing about our flight. We therefore mounted again,
and continued marching north the whole of that night
and the following day.</p>

<p>On this, the third day of our journey, we came in<a name="Page_430" id="Page_430"></a>
sight of Berber, and towards evening descended to the
river almost exactly opposite the town, filled our waterskins,
and then made for the desert again. We did not
dare keep near the river here, as numbers of Baggara
were living in the neighbourhood. At about midnight
we alighted, as Ahmed did not know the road. We fed
the camels, and indulged in our usual meal of biscuits,
dates, and water. Ahmed had also succeeded in procuring
from his friend some tobacco and small earthenware
pipes; so we smoked with impunity, and began to
feel that our escape was now almost assured.</p>

<p>But we had still before us the crossing of the river,
which our Arab friends in Omdurman had warned us
would be one of the most critical and dangerous parts
of our plan. We were in the saddle again at dawn, and
continued our journey over a stony plateau which our
guides did not recognize. Then all day we marched
through narrow valleys, full of large stones washed
down by the torrents. At length towards evening we
sighted the river again, and descended towards it
through a narrow gorge, where we had to dismount, as
the camels could scarcely make their way across the
great boulders which blocked the path. Once on the
plain, our guides recognised the road, and we found
ourselves near the village of Benga, where we hoped to
be able to secure boats to take us across.</p>

<p>We advanced now very cautiously, looking round in
every direction; and I espied three camelmen setting
off evidently in the direction of Abu Hamed. I at once
called Ahmed's attention to this; and although they
were some way off, they could have seen us, so Ahmed
advised us to alight at once, which we did, and concealed
ourselves in a khor amongst some bushes.</p>

<p>Ahmed and his companions were, I could see, not a
little alarmed by the appearance of the camelmen, and
began to speak to each other in their own dialect; but
I guessed by the expressions on their faces what they
thought&mdash;viz. that our flight had been discovered, news
had been sent to Berber, and now the camelmen were
on their way to warn the emir of Abu Hamed to<a name="Page_431" id="Page_431"></a>
intercept us. I endeavoured to prove to them that it
was quite impossible for the news to have reached
Berber yet, even if our flight had been reported to the
Khalifa the morning after we had left. It was most
unlikely that the pursuit would have been begun before
the evening, and we had thus got a good twenty-four
hours' start. We were then just four hours north of
Berber, and had been three and a half days out from
Omdurman. Our pursuers therefore, even if they had
ridden as rapidly and as persistently as we had, could
not possibly have reached Berber yet. But my calculations
by no means convinced our guides; and after a
long consultation, Ahmed and Awad went towards the
river about four miles distant, while Hamed stayed
behind to look after the camels.</p>

<p>Now was the time to take a few hours' sleep before
night came on. During the three and a half days we
had been on the journey we had had only four hours'
sleep. We were quite worn out; our simple meals of
biscuit and water did not give us much nourishment,
our limbs were so stiff that we could scarcely move, and
our wounds proved most irritating. Under such
circumstances it can well be understood how welcome
sleep would have been; but the appearance of these three
camels, the alarm of the guides, and our anxiety about
crossing the river, drove away all idea of rest, and all
we could do was to await with what patience we knew
the return of the two Arabs.</p>

<p>At length, just as the sun was setting, Ahmed and
Awad returned, much rejoiced. They had made inquiries
about the three camelmen, and had found out that they
had nothing to do with us, and that nothing was known
yet of our flight. They had arranged with a boatman
to ferry us across, under the pretext that they were
conducting a small party of slaves whom they were
going to hand over to the emir of Abu Hamed. This
most satisfactory news quite dissipated our fatigue, and
we ate our wretched biscuit and dates with an excellent
appetite. As soon as it was dark we moved towards
the river, and dismounted close to the water's edge. As<a name="Page_432" id="Page_432"></a>
yet there was no sign of the boatman, but we saw two
boys rowing towards us.</p>

<p>Meanwhile Ahmed had gone to a house close by to
get some dhurra. Then the boatman came and
announced that he could not take us across that night,
but we must wait till the morning. This would never
have done; not only should we have lost a whole night,
but we should undoubtedly have been recognised in
daylight. However, it was no use talking, and the
man went off to his hut; but we did not get discouraged,
for if the worst came to the worst, we could row
ourselves across.</p>

<p>By this time the two boys had reached the bank, and
they now came forward and offered to take us across; of
course we accepted, and in an incredibly short space of
time our guides had got the camels on board. It was a
large boat, so we all crossed together, and on reaching
the opposite bank Ahmed gave the boys two dollars,
with which they seemed highly pleased, kissed our
hands, wished us a pleasant journey, and then returned
to the west bank. We watered the animals, filled our
skins, mounted, and again set our faces northwards.</p>

<p>It was now past midnight. The camels, refreshed by
their rest and good feed, pushed on quickly, and during
that night and the whole of the next day we rode on
without any interruption or mishap. Not a soul was to
be seen in this lonely desert, but we often came across
herds of antelopes, rabbits, and a few hyenas; the
antelopes would stand about twenty paces off, prick up
their ears, and look inquisitively at the strange caravan.</p>

<p>It was quite cool when we left Omdurman, but now
the weather had quite changed, and we felt it oppressively
hot; we saw mirages constantly, and were often
deceived by them. Our camels and ourselves now began
to suffer. I was much struck by the change in the
appearance of these animals; the high, fat hump and
thick neck they had in Omdurman had both grown to
half the size. At first we had the greatest difficulty in
holding them in; now they were so tired that we had
to keep flogging them all the time; their feet had got so<a name="Page_433" id="Page_433"></a>
worn that treading on a stone made them jump sideways,
and to ease them we four men alternately dismounted
and led them for some distance.</p>

<p>Our track lay across a broad plain, dotted about with
small shrubs, and as we passed one of these, Ahmed
noticed a snake, scared by our approach, trying to
escape; he at once killed the reptile with a blow of his
sword, then stretched out its body and jumped over it
three times in a most excited way. Thereupon the guides
congratulated each other, saying there was now nothing
more to fear, and that we had conquered our enemies.
This exhibition of courage on the part of the guides
pleased me greatly. Once more we mounted and made
our way towards Abu Hamed, where we intended to
take water for the last time before entering the great
Nubian desert.</p>

<p>The next night another snake episode occurred, but
it ended rather differently. We were going across a stony
place, when the leading camel suddenly swerved to one
side, and we heard a hissing sound, which we knew
must be a snake, but it was too dark to attempt to catch
it. This greatly alarmed the Arabs, who looked upon it
as an evil omen, and curiously enough, when close to
Abu Hamed, an event did occur which quite confirmed
their superstitions.</p>

<p>The next day, at about nine o'clock in the morning,
we sighted the mountain which was our landmark indicating
the place at which we intended to water. We
anticipated reaching it in three hours, and there we intended
to rest whilst the Arabs took the camels down to
water; but somehow we went too far to the east, did
not discover our mistake for some time, and it was midnight
instead of midday when we reached the hill. This
hill is shaped rather like two skittles, between which the
road runs, and the wind, blowing through this narrow
funnel, almost carried us off our camels.</p>

<p>Ahmed warned us to keep perfect silence as we
scrambled down the rocky slope, and reached the river
at last; here the mighty stream flows rapidly and
silently at the foot of a great rock cliff, the stillness<a name="Page_434" id="Page_434"></a>
being occasionally broken by the splash of the many
fish which delight to disport themselves in these cool
depths. This watering-place is known as Meshra
Dehesh, and is about six miles south of Abu Hamed.
A few d&ocirc;m palms and shrubs have gained a slender
footing on the steep bank, and the reflection of the
bright stars in the silent river could not but make one
feel impressed with the grand solitude of the place. I
bent down, scooped up the water in my hands, and
refreshed my parched throat; then we took the saddles
off the camels, filled our water-skins, and ate some
biscuits; I wanted to bathe my face and eyes, which
ached with the burning of the sun and sand, but Ahmed
gave the word to mount.</p>

<p>We were too stiff and weak to be able to stand upright,
and as for the poor sisters, Ahmed had to lift
them bodily off the ground and put them on their camels;
they were far too exhausted to speak; we led the camels
out of the stony gorge, intending to mount when we
reached the level. It was long past midnight, and we
were congratulating ourselves on having passed the last
critical point, hoping that by dawn we should have left
the river, which here bends to the west, far behind us.</p>

<a name="scarcely"></a><div class="figcenter" style="width:410px;"><img src="https://brian.carnell.com/wiki/_media/etext:f:fr-wingate-ten-years-captive-p435.jpg" border="0" alt="" title="" width="399" height="541">
<p class="caption2">"WE HAD SCARCELY GONE TWENTY PACES FROM THE RIVER, WHEN
SUDDENLY WE HEARD THE SOUND OF A CAMEL."</p></div>

<p>We had scarcely gone twenty paces from the river,
when suddenly we heard the sound of a camel. We
were almost ready to drop with fright, but Ahmed and
the guides went towards the spot from whence the
sound had come, and there they saw a camelman
mounted, armed with a Remington, and peering at us
from behind a d&ocirc;m palm, but it was too dark for him to
have recognized our white faces. Ahmed at once approached
him, seized his rifle with his left hand, and
extended his right to greet him, asking him at the same
time to alight.</p>

<p>The man, alarmed probably at Ahmed's energetic
bearing, at once dismounted and joined the guides. At
first we thought orders must have come from Omdurman
to intercept us, but fortunately it was not so; the guard
(for such he proved to be) said he had been sent from
Berber to see that Egyptian merchants did not export<a name="Page_437" id="Page_437"></a><a name="Page_436" id="Page_436"></a><a name="Page_435" id="Page_435"></a>
slaves from the Sudan to Egypt. He related how, the
day previous, a merchant with five slaves had been
captured, but had been set free again on depositing the
value of the slaves. The guard then asked Ahmed if
he had brought any slaves, to which he replied in the
affirmative.</p>

<p>The guard now insisted that Ahmed should go to
Abu Hamed to see the emir there, and no amount of
argument would convince him that it was unnecessary
to do so. Hamed now came and told me about the
occurrence, but, being somewhat confused, he happened
to say we were lost. These words reached the ears of
one of the sisters, and so startled her that she fell off
her camel, and might have been very seriously injured
had we not caught her.</p>

<p>I gave Hamed my long knife, and told him to do
what he could to win the man over with money, but
that if he found this was useless, "Well! we were four
men to one." Hamed quite understood what I meant,
and then returned to the others. The conversation
still continued for a long time. At length our Arabs
returned; we put the sisters on the camels at once,
and then mounted ourselves. Our fatigue had fled;
even the camels seemed to scent danger, for we set off
at a quick pace and were soon out of sight.</p>

<p>This episode served to remind us very forcibly that
we were still in the Khalifa's territory. Strange
thoughts passed through my mind in quick succession:
Omdurman, the Khalifa, the Saier, unbearable insults,
then death. All these awaited us if we failed in our
attempt; but then I comforted myself with the thought
we should never be taken alive; we had solemnly
agreed never to submit. It was in this frame of mind
that we quitted Meshra Dehesh and rode for our lives
night and day; the poor camels were reduced to
skeletons, and we ourselves were nothing but skin and
bone.</p>

<p>Ahmed told me that when the guard recognized him
he showed himself kindly disposed, and promised not
to betray us; but Ahmed did not trust him, and would<a name="Page_438" id="Page_438"></a>
not, therefore, let him go until he had accepted some
money; he had pressed twenty dollars into his hand.
The guard accepted the money after extracting a solemn
promise from Ahmed and his companions that they
would not attempt to revenge themselves on him or his
tribe&mdash;the Monasir&mdash;on their return to Korosko. The
guard also swore solemnly that he would not betray or
pursue us, and moreover agreed to prevent the patrols
going into the desert for three days, so as to keep us
out of danger's way; they had then embraced and
kissed each other as a sign of sincerity.</p>

<p>In spite, however, of all these solemn oaths, I did not
trust the man; the fate of poor Colonel Stewart and his
companions came into my mind, and I remembered that
they had been cruelly done to death by the cowardly
and treacherous Monasir; we therefore hurried forward
our camels with all possible speed, leaving Abu Hamed
far away on our left.</p>

<p>The day broke as usual, and soon the sun was risen
and burning more fiercely than ever, but that did not
trouble us. We were far too much absorbed in the
momentous event which had just occurred. Our track
ran through a perfectly flat plain, in which not a shrub
or blade of grass was to be seen. We passed the tracks
of the captured slave-dealer and the patrols, and that
evening entered on the caravan road leading from Abu
Hamed to Korosko. The track ran through great bare
hills and solitary valleys; the wind had driven the sand
almost to the tops of the hills, and had filled up all the
crevices with sand-drifts.</p>

<p>Once within the hills, our courage returned, for we
knew we would be able to defend ourselves; so we
dismounted and ate our last mouthful of biscuit, and
now all we had was our water, which, by the way, we
jokingly remarked was somewhat dear, as it had cost us
twenty dollars.</p>

<p>After a short rest we set off again, but both we and
our camels were utterly exhausted; my right arm ached
from continually whipping up the poor beast. Our
Arab companions lightened the way with hundreds of<a name="Page_439" id="Page_439"></a>
interesting anecdotes of their own deserts. They related
how, when Berber fell, an Arab and six Egyptian women
had fled; but the man had brought only a camel or two
and very little water, so four of them had died of thirst.
They pointed out the spot which Rundle Bey had
reached when he reconnoitred Abu Hamed in 1885.
The road was plainly marked out by the bones of
camels and donkeys, and, prior to the appearance of
the Mahdi, had been a much-used trade route.</p>

<p>Mohammed Ali Pasha had ridden along this road
under the guidance of Hussein Pasha Khalifa. Mohammed
Ali had constantly expressed a desire to halt, but
his guide would not allow him to dismount, except at
certain places, saying, "I am commander here;" and to
this Mohammed Ali had willingly consented, for he well
knew that a refusal to do as he was told by the sheikh
of the desert, in that awful wilderness, might have been
followed by very serious results.</p>

<p>Our approach to a haven of safety gave us courage
to undergo most terrible fatigue. By far our worst
enemy was sleep; it is quite impossible for me to
describe the fearful attacks this tyrannical foe made
upon us. We tried every means in our power to keep
awake; we shouted and talked loudly to each other; we
tried to startle ourselves by giving a sudden jerk; we
pinched ourselves till the blood ran down, but our
eyelids weighed down like balls of lead, and it required
a fearful effort to keep them open. "Ma tenamu"
("Don't sleep"), Ahmed kept repeating, "or you will
fall off and break your leg."</p>

<p>But it was all no good; the conversation would flag,
and silence follow. The camels seemed to know their
riders were asleep, and instinctively fell into slower pace;
the head kept nodding, until it sunk upon the chest;
with a sudden start, the equilibrium which had been
almost lost would be recovered, and then sleep vanished.</p>

<p>At times we would shout out to one another words
of encouragement, then we would whip up our camels
and on again, up and down, through sandy plains
and rocky gorges, where the echoes seemed to repeat<a name="Page_440" id="Page_440"></a>
themselves a hundred times. Our destination was
Murat, where we remembered Gordon had given orders
for a well to be dug, but it had never been done.</p>

<p>Ahmed said that we should be at Murat on the
morning of the 7th of December. He told us how the
Dervishes had sometimes pursued fugitives as far as
this, and not long ago had killed one near here. Our
poor camels were now dragging their weary limbs very
slowly; the whip was now quite useless, as it had not
the smallest effect in increasing their pace. Besides, it
was pain to me to beat the good creatures that had
helped us to escape. We were so utterly fatigued that it
was with the greatest difficulty we succeeded in keeping
on our camels at all; hunger, sleeplessness, and absolute
lassitude had completely conquered us, and our wounds
pained and irritated us; but the feeling that we were
almost safe was as balm to both mind and body.</p>

<p>Just before sunset we turned down the khor which
leads to Murat; the fort covering the wells was visible
on the hills, surmounted by the red flag with the white
crescent and star in the centre. "Ahmed," I cried,
"greet the flag of freedom!" and our courageous
deliverer seized his gun and fired shot after shot into
the air, to announce our arrival to the Egyptian
garrison. The echo of these shots resounded again and
again in the deep valleys, as if joining with us in our
joy at deliverance from the hands of the cruel Khalifa
Abdullah. They seemed to announce the "release of
our spirits from beneath his sheepskin." This was an
expression which the Khalifa delighted to use when
talking of his captured enemies, whose souls, he said,
lay beneath his "furwa," meaning that their lives were
entirely in his hands.</p>

<p>Now we were actually in safety. A prayer of the
deepest gratitude went up from the very depths of our
thankful hearts; it is quite impossible to find words to
express what we then felt. Our camels seemed to pull
themselves together for a final effort, so as to present
us honourably to the Ababdehs, who were now coming
out to meet us.<a name="Page_441" id="Page_441"></a></p>

<p>The reports of our rifles had at first caused some stir
in the little garrison, who feared a sudden attack, and
had come out fully armed; but they soon recognized us,
and answered our salute by discharging their guns in
the air. These good people received us most kindly,
asked us a thousand questions, and, surrounding us,
brought us to the commandant's hut. Here, on the
8th of December, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception,
we alighted from our camels, and the hopes which
had kept us alive for years, were at last realized. This
supreme moment, about which we had so often talked
with our companions in adversity, which we had thought
about, dreamed about, and pictured to ourselves, this
delicious moment had come at last, and we were free!</p>

<p>But the effects of hunger, fatigue, and the sights and
scenes we had gone through during the last month, did
not disappear so easily; our senses seemed dulled, and
our first thought on entering the commandant's hut was
to lie down on the floor and go to sleep, but, strange to
say, that wonderful restorer would not come; we sat
gossiping with the Ababdehs, who could scarcely credit
that we, especially the sisters, could have survived such
a ride. We had covered the entire distance of 500 miles
between Omdurman and Murat in seven days, including
the day we had spent wandering about in the hills
before crossing the river.</p>

<p>The staying power of our camels had astonished me;
how easily one of them might have stumbled and broken
its leg as we trotted hard through the dark nights,
unable to see where we were going! But Ahmed and
his companions had used all their knowledge in securing
thoroughly good animals; our excellent guides had been
ever ready to help and assist us; full of energy and
pluck, they had carried out their enterprise with the
utmost sagacity and integrity.</p>

<p>Poor Ahmed had dwindled down almost to a skeleton,
and when he dismounted at Murat was overcome by a
fit of dizziness, from which he did not recover for an hour.</p>

<p>Meanwhile we had refreshed ourselves with a cup of
coffee and some bread and milk which the commandant,<a name="Page_442" id="Page_442"></a>
Mohammed Saleh, had offered us, and which had revived
us considerably. Murat is situated in the desert, about
midway between Korosko and Abu Hamed; here three
valleys unite in a sort of crater, and the hill-tops are
crowned with small forts built by the Ababdehs, from
whence they can keep guard over the main wells, and,
besides, see for an immense distance all around.</p>

<p>This, the most advanced Egyptian outpost, is garrisoned
by the Ababdeh Arabs of Saleh Bey, the son of
Hussein Pasha Khalifa; these people live very simply
in the midst of this great desert, drawing their provisions
monthly from Korosko. There are a number of
wells, but the water is brackish and in summer almost
undrinkable, though it is not so bad in the winter; but
we had still some of our Nile water, which had cost us
so dearly at Meshra Dehesh. Close to the wells is a
little hut, built by Gordon's orders.</p>

<p>Murat is a most desolate and lonely spot, unbearably
hot in the summer, when the fierce rays of the sun are
reflected from all sides of the deep crater-like valley in
which it lies. The same day that we arrived one of
Ahmed Hassan's nephews had reached Murat from
Korosko, and gave us some of the dates and flour he
was taking into the Sudan; he left for Abu Hamed the
next day, and no doubt the news of our safe arrival
was soon announced in Omdurman.</p>

<p>During the 8th and 9th of December we rested.
Mohammed Saleh supplied us with some biscuit, and on
the 9th we again set off from Murat towards Korosko.
Our rest had greatly refreshed us, and now we could
ride quietly without any fear of pursuit. One of our
guides was mounted on a she-camel, which the commander
had supplied, and she gave us plenty of milk.
A few days before starting her little baby-camel had
died, the owner had skinned it, and now whenever we
required milk, we had only to stretch out the skin in
front of her and let her smell it.</p>

<p>We now rode only by day, and rested at night.
Heavy rain had fallen about a month before, and we
found a reservoir of good water about a day out of<a name="Page_443" id="Page_443"></a>
Murat. Some of the Murat garrison had, previous to
our arrival, gone into Korosko to get their monthly
pay and were now returning; they happened to encamp
near this natural reservoir, and seeing us took us for
Dervishes, rushed to their arms, took up a position
behind a rock and levelled their rifles at us, but Ahmed,
who knew them at once, called out and they hurried up
to us, begging pardon for the mistake they had made.
They gave us some of their flour, dates, and tobacco,
and we chatted with them till nightfall.</p>

<p>We made no further extended halt, and on the early
morning of the 13th of December reached Korosko.
In the deep valley which debouches suddenly on to the
Nile at this place we alighted, cleaned ourselves as best
we could, and then mounted our camels for the last
time, and soon came in sight first of the palm-trees and
then of the Nile, which we had last seen at Abu Hamed.
We were at once surrounded by numbers of people, who
bore us off to the fort, and here the commandant,
Lieutenant-Colonel Ali Bey Haider, greeted us most
cordially, and for the first time for many years we
found ourselves in comfortable rooms again, and listening
to the regimental band, which we greatly enjoyed.</p>

<p>On the evening of the 15th of December we got on
board a steamer which took us down most comfortably
to Assiut. Here we were greeted by Mr. Santoni and
Brother Sayer, who had been directed by the Cairo
Mission to come on board and welcome us. From
Assiut we took the train to Cairo, where we arrived
safely on the 21st of December, 1891.</p>

<p>The rapid transition from barbarism to civilization,
our pleasant journey from Korosko to Cairo, intercourse
with educated people, the incessant change of scene, all
affected us greatly; but our joy and delight at being
free was somewhat saddened by the thought of the
sufferings of our poor companions in our adversity,
whom we had left behind in slavery and captivity. Our
guides accompanied us to Cairo, where they received
the money agreed upon, and we felt full of thankfulness
to the energetic Ahmed Hassan and his two companions;<a name="Page_444" id="Page_444"></a>
but to our good Archbishop Sogaro we owe a deep debt
of gratitude, for it was through his intermediary all
arrangements for our happy release had been effected.</p>

<p>It may be as well to insert here the terms of agreement
made in Arabic between Monsignor Sogaro and
Ahmed Hassan regarding our release. The wording is
as follows:&mdash;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>"I, the undersigned, Ahmed Hassan el Abbadi, of
Bashri Mohammed Ali's Arabs, agree to proceed at once
to Omdurman to bring Father Ohrwalder and the two
nuns from Omdurman to Cairo. I agree to take care of
them on the journey, and to do all in my power to bring
them here and to give them every satisfaction. As a
reward and to recompense me for the expenses which I
shall incur between Omdurman and Cairo, Monsignor
Sogaro has agreed to give me:&mdash;</p>

<p>"1. All the goods to the value of &pound;100 now in
possession of Sheikh Abdel Hadi at Korosko.</p>

<p>"2. &pound;20 in advance before leaving Cairo.</p>

<p>"3. On my return from Omdurman with Father
Ohrwalder and the two nuns, a sum of &pound;300, <i>i.e.</i> &pound;100
for each person.</p>

<p>"This is the agreement between me and Monsignor
Sogaro, and I have made it of my own free will and
accord, and have been in no way forced to do so by
any one. Monsignor Sogaro and myself signed this
agreement, and Wingate Bey, Assistant Adjutant-General,
Intelligence, stands as a witness. This agreement
will be kept in the War Office until I return from
Omdurman with the three persons above-named, and I
shall be dealt with in accordance with its contents.<a name="FNanchor_U_21" id="FNanchor_U_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_U_21" class="fnanchor">[U]</a></p>

<p style="text-indent:3.5em;line-height:.5">"Signed,<span class="smcap alignright"
style="margin-right:1.75em;"> Ahmed Hassan el Abbadi</span>,</p>
<p style="text-align:right;margin-right:1.25em;line-height:.5">"of Sayala, Frontier Mudirieh.</p>
<p style="text-align:right;line-height:.5">"<span class="smcap">L&eacute;on Henriot</span> (for Monsignor Sogaro).</p>
<p style="text-indent:1.5em;line-height:.5">"Cairo, 9th July, 1891."</p>

</div>

<a name="Page_445" id="Page_445"></a>

<p>Below is written in English:&mdash;</p>

<div class="blockquot"><p>"This is a private agreement between Monsignor
Sogaro and Ahmed Hassan el Abbadi, who leaves Cairo
for Omdurman on Friday, the 20th July, 1891, and will
attempt to bring Father Ohrwalder to Egypt.</p>

<p style="text-indent:4em;line-height:.5">"Witnessed by me,<span class="smcap alignright"
style="margin-right:2.25em;"> <span class="smcap">F.&nbsp;R.&nbsp;Wingate</span>,</span></p>
<p style="text-align:right;margin-right:1.25em;line-height:.5">"Kaimakam,</p>
<p style="text-align:right;line-height:.5">"A.&nbsp;A.-G., Intelligence, Egyptian Army.</p>
<p style="text-indent:1.5em;line-height:.5">"War Office,</p>
<p style="text-indent:3em;line-height:.5">"9th July, 1891."</p>
</div>



<p>I was, of course, intensely anxious to hear what had
occurred in Omdurman after our departure. I thought
that our flight would have remained undiscovered that
night, the following day, and possibly the following
night; but it was not so. Early in the morning on the
30th of November our absence was discovered by some
women who had been standing before the door of my
house. They had seen us and were surprised, because
we did not usually leave the house after sunset.</p>

<p>The idea of flight did not probably at once occur to
them, but their suspicions were aroused. Early in the
morning they had knocked at my door, and receiving
no answer, related what they had seen to my neighbour's
slave, who in turn informed her master. He, in
great terror, carried the information to the mukuddum
of the Europeans. This man, accompanied by many of
my friends, hastened to my house, and, breaking open
the door, was assured of my flight by finding a letter
which I had left.</p>

<p>The poor man had, to save his life, to at once inform
the Khalifa, who ordered the sheikh of the market to
find us even should we be buried in the earth. Wad
er Rais therefore closed all the houses and arrested every
one who could possibly have known of my flight, and
threw them into chains, with threats of the gallows
and the knife. My neighbours were also arrested.
When he could get no information whatever from these
people, the Khalifa sent to Metemmeh a certain Ibrahim<a name="Page_446" id="Page_446"></a>
Wad el Ahmer, who had three camels, and was ordered
to bring us back at all hazards. But the beit el mal
had first to buy the camels at very high prices&mdash;120,
110, and 87 dollars respectively&mdash;and before they could
start some busybody told the Khalifa that Khalifa
Sherif had concealed me in a boat belonging to a
certain Osman Fauzi, and had aided my flight in order
that I should move the Egyptian Government to the
support of his oppressed party. Another declared that
he had seen white faces in the boat.</p>

<p>These statements impressed the Khalifa, who sent
men at once to recapture the boat and examine the
passengers. The boat was captured near Omdurman
and examined, of course, with no result, on which the
Khalifa was pacified, and sent off the camels. Ibrahim
inquired minutely along the route to Metemmeh, but
could get no information. In the meantime those well
disposed towards us lived in the keenest apprehension
lest we should be recaptured. Only on Ibrahim's return
without any news could our friends breathe freely and
feel sure that we must have got away safely. Then
those who had been imprisoned were released.</p>

<p>Later on I received a letter from Omdurman telling
me that our flight had raised a commotion throughout
the whole city, and that the prisoners had to suffer very
much. It may be learned from this what grave consequences
had to be considered before I took the important
step of flight. Should anyone else attempt it,
those who remain must suffer. May God protect our
poor companions!</p>

<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>

<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_U_21" id="Footnote_U_21"></a>
<a href="#FNanchor_U_21" class="fnlabel">[U]</a> This contract and all correspondence connected with it was kept
sealed in the Intelligence Office, and was opened by General Sir F.
Grenfell, Sirdar, on the 14th day of December, 1891, when the news
of the arrival of the party at Korosko reached Cairo.&mdash;F.&nbsp;R.&nbsp;W.</p></div>
</div>
<a name="Page_447" id="Page_447"></a>

<hr class="newpg" style="width: 65%;">
<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXVI" id="CHAPTER_XXVI"></a>CHAPTER XXVI.</h2>

<p class="chapterhead">THE PRESENT KHALIFA'S DESPOTISM IN THE SUDAN.</p>

<p class="chapternote">[The reader is reminded that all opinions expressed are those of
Father Ohrwalder.&mdash;F.&nbsp;R.&nbsp;W.]</p>

<p class="chapterdescribe">Reflections on the situation in the Sudan&mdash;The horrors of the
present Khalifa's rule&mdash;How long shall it continue?</p>


<p class="firstpara"><span class="firstwords">In</span> the foregoing pages we have glanced at a bloody
period in the history of the Sudan&mdash;the rise of the
Mahdi, his victorious career through Kordofan, and his
conquest of Khartum. We have sketched the development
of his mighty empire, founded in bloodshed and
revolution, and we have seen him honoured as a messenger
of God by the millions of the Sudan; glorified&mdash;nay,
almost worshipped&mdash;by his own people, and watched
by the Muslim neighbours of his empire with an admiration
mingled with the keenest anxiety. Then, in the
full enjoyment of his victories, at the supreme moment
of his power, while seated in his capital of Omdurman,
he revolved schemes of conquest of the whole world he
knew; then dead&mdash;dead of debauchery and disease, dead
at an age when most lives' promises are brightest.
Then we have seen the empire tottering, Abdullah rising
to its support, slowly but firmly strengthening the
trembling power, and, with the strength of bigotry and
ignorance, replacing a shattered superstition by the iron
rule of might.</p>

<p>Here I may properly submit some reflections on the
general situation.</p>

<p>Mohammed Ali conquered the Sudan, and in the train
of his conquest followed all the triumphs of progress
and civilization. Wide new territories were discovered,
fertile and thickly populated; explorers and missionaries
advanced to the very heart of negro-land; Nile's soli<a name="Page_448" id="Page_448"></a>tudes
were rippled by the advancing steamer. Far
beyond the Equator reached the telegraph, and the
metropolis of the Sudan formed part of the international
postal system. Trade blossomed in security,
and the white man could march to the countries of the
Niam Niam, and there join hands with his brother
from the Congo. European culture spread throughout,
and the religion of Christ planted the world-saving
banner in remotest frontiers.</p>

<p>The progress of fifty years was ruined by the Mahdi's
revolt. The Sudan fell back into the darkness from
which philanthropy had rescued it. Civilization was
swamped in the flood of fanaticism. The sign of
salvation was blotted out, the bearers of it chained
as slaves, and the flag of tyranny waved over smoking
ruins from Darfur to the Red Sea, and from Regaf
northwards to the second cataract. Bands of fanatics
have swept over the face of the land, destroying every
Christian sign. The Sudan lies open in its desolation
and nakedness. Everything but a little cloth and a
little corn is superfluous,&mdash;nay wicked,&mdash;for those who
accept the Mahdi's promise of eternal life. The minds
of men are savage through years of warfare. The ignorant
Baggara rule and the gentler Jaalin and Danagla
are oppressed; the land is fallen back to wilderness.</p>

<p>The present ruler, Abdullah, is marching steadily in
the path of desolation. He roots out eagerly every
vestige of Egyptian rule; all foreign influence he keeps
at a distance, for he will rule over an ignorant people.
He wants nothing from beyond his own boundaries.
If he has no money, cloth becomes the medium of
exchange; ammunition he makes himself. With his
Baggaras he rules with an iron hand. Those who
resist are pitilessly robbed, imprisoned, or exiled.</p>

<p>Abdullah rules in the name of the Mahdi, whose
religious prestige is the readiest weapon for swaying
the multitude. He keeps unaltered the decisions, the
visions, the wild dreams which so powerfully established
the imposture. The pilgrimage to Mecca he
regards as dangerous. Even from such enlightenment<a name="Page_449" id="Page_449"></a>
as they might find at the shrine of their faith, his
people are heedfully kept away.</p>

<p>A Spartan habit of life was enjoined by the Mahdi.
This Abdullah still attempts to maintain, for he wishes
the people to be ready to follow him, and is careful
that they shall have no inducement to stay at home.
Like the Mahdi, the Khalifa puts his orders in the
form of visions, which have the weight of divine manifestations.
Often he locks himself in darkness in the
Mahdi's tomb, and spends nights in pretended commune
with his master.</p>

<p>The policy of Abdullah is directed to strengthening
his power and concentrating it in the hands of his
Baggaras. Once he is sure of what he has got, he
will try to enlarge his dominion. Barbarism and
desolation will be extended to provinces which internal
difficulties have so far prevented him from absorbing.
He thinks of nothing but war. Omdurman is one vast
camp. All men bear arms or are flogged; whoso rides
must carry a spear and five javelins. Speeches and
harangues all raise the spirit of war.</p>

<p>The weakness of the monarchy lies in the dissensions
between the Baggara and the Aulad-belad&mdash;that is,
the Jaalin, Danagla, and others. The Danagla are objects
of the Khalifa's special aversion, and he would gladly
exterminate them. But with his Baggaras he can at
present maintain himself with ease.</p>

<p>Mahdiism is founded on plunder and violence, and
by plunder and violence it is carried on. In some districts
half the people are dead, in others the loss of life
is even greater. Whole tribes have been completely
blotted out, and in their places roam the wild beasts,
spreading and increasing in fierceness and in numbers,
until they bid fair to finish the destruction of the
human race; for they enter huts, and women and
children are no longer safe.</p>

<p>How long shall this condition of affairs continue?
Negotiation with Abdullah is hopeless; that has been
proved by many well-intentioned efforts, but shall
savagery and desolation continue for ever? Shall the<a name="Page_450" id="Page_450"></a>
roads remain always closed that lead from Halfa and
Sawakin to the richest provinces of Africa? The Sudan
has lost faith in the humanity of Europe, nor does it
cease from wonder why Europe has not yet stepped in.
Consuls of the greatest nations have been murdered,
their flags torn down, their agents kept in slavery.</p>

<p>Interference while the revolt was at its height could
not perhaps be efficient&mdash;that is understood. But now
the face of things is changed. The Sudanese have been
heavily punished for their mistaken trust; they have
suffered to the bitter end. Where may they look for a
deliverer?</p>

<p>For the sake of three people did not England undertake
a costly and difficult war? Is not even a more
worthy object the punishment of Abdullah and the
delivery of the enslaved and decimated peoples? I
have pined ten years in bondage, and now, by the help
of God, I have escaped. In the names of the companions
with whom I suffered, in the name of the
Sudan people, whose misery I have seen, and in the
name of all civilized nations, I ask this question:</p>

<p>How long shall Europe&mdash;and above all that nation
which has first part in Egypt and the Sudan&mdash;which
stands deservedly first in civilizing savage races, how
long shall Europe and Great Britain watch unmoved
the outrages of the Khalifa and the destruction of
the Sudan people?</p>

<a name="Page_451" id="Page_451"></a>

<hr class="newpg" style="width: 65%;">
<a name="INDEX" id="INDEX"></a>
<h2>INDEX.</h2>

<div class="figcenter" style="padding-bottom:1em;padding-top:.9em;">
<img src="https://brian.carnell.com/wiki/_media/etext:f:fr-wingate-ten-years-captive-line.png" alt="------" title="" width="90" height="9"></div>
<ul class="IX">
<li><span class="firstwords">Ababdeh</span> tribe, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>-<a href="#Page_125">5</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>, <a href="#Page_351">351</a>, <a href="#Page_353">353</a>, <a href="#Page_360">360</a>, <a href="#Page_399">399</a>, <a href="#Page_440">440</a>-<a href="#Page_442">2</a>.
<li>Abba Island, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>-<a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>.</li>
<li><i>Abbas</i>, steamer, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>-<a href="#Page_128">8</a>.</li>
<li>Abdel Baki, emir, <a href="#Page_315">315</a>-<a href="#Page_319">9</a>.</li>
<li>Abdel Gayum, eunuch, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>.</li>
<li>Abdel Hadi (Arab), <a href="#Page_263">263</a>.</li>
<li>Abdel Halim, Emir, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>.</li>
<li>Abdel Kader Pasha, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>.</li>
<li>Abdel Kader (Mahdi's uncle), <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>, <a href="#Page_350">350</a>, <a href="#Page_400">400</a>.</li>
<li>Abdel Kader Guru, death of, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>.</li>
<li>Abdel Karim (Mahdi's uncle), <a href="#Page_160">160</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>-<a href="#Page_165">5</a>.</li>
<li>Abdel Majid, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_326">326</a>, <a href="#Page_343">343</a>.</li>
<li>Abdel Maula, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>.</li>
<li>Abdel Nur, <a href="#Page_320">320</a>-<a href="#Page_322">322</a>.</li>
<li>Abdel Samad, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>.</li>
<li>Abderrahman Wad Abu Degel, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>.</li>
<li>Abderrahman Wad en Nejumi, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>-<a href="#Page_126">6</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>-<a href="#Page_261">61</a>, <a href="#Page_350">350</a>, <a href="#Page_387">387</a>, <a href="#Page_412">412</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>vanquished at Argin, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>-<a href="#Page_265">5</a>;</li>
  <li>death of, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Abdullah et Taishi, Khalifa, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>-<a href="#Page_11">1</a>, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>-<a href="#Page_46">6</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>-<a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>and King Adam, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>;</li>
  <li>and the sisters, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>;</li>
  <li>and Father Ohrwalder, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>-<a href="#Page_117">7</a>;</li>
  <li>succeeds the Mahdi, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>-<a href="#Page_163">3</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>;</li>
  <li>and revolt of black soldiers of old Sudan <a name="tn_png_467"></a><!--TN: Comma added after "army"-->army, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>-<a href="#Page_200">200</a>;</li>
  <li>at Omdurman, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>-<a href="#Page_203">3</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>;</li>
  <li>and Wad Suleiman, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>-<a href="#Page_207">7</a>;</li>
  <li>Ibrahim Wad Adlan, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>-<a href="#Page_208">8</a>, <a href="#Page_323">323</a>-<a href="#Page_327">7</a>;</li>
  <li>and coinage at Omdurman, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>-<a href="#Page_213">3</a>;</li>
  <li>system of justice, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>-<a href="#Page_215">5</a>, <a href="#Page_328">328</a>-<a href="#Page_335">335</a>;</li>
  <li>and Fiki Medawi, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>;</li>
  <li>and Yunis emir, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>-<a href="#Page_220">20</a>;</li>
  <li>and King John, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>;</li>
  <li>and Abu Anga, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>;</li>
  <li>grand review at Omdurman, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>-<a href="#Page_226">6</a>;</li>
  <li>war with Abyssinia, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>-<a href="#Page_231">31</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>-<a href="#Page_252">52</a>;</li>
  <li>and Saleh Bey, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>-<a href="#Page_234">4</a>;</li>
  <li>and Darfur, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>-<a href="#Page_241">41</a>;</li>
  <li>and Egypt, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>-<a href="#Page_256">6</a>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>-<a href="#Page_269">69</a>;</li>
  <li>letters from, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>;</li>
  <li>sends expedition up the White Nile, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>-<a href="#Page_272">72</a>;</li>
  <li>and the Mahdi's decrees, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>;</li>
  <li>followers of, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>;</li>
  <li>and the Mahdi's tomb, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>-<a href="#Page_279">9</a>;</li>
  <li>palace and houses of, <a href="#Page_280">280</a>-<a href="#Page_281">1</a>;</li>
  <li>and war requisites, <a href="#Page_281">281</a>, <a href="#Page_366">366</a>-<a href="#Page_375">75</a>;</li>
  <li>and the famine in Omdurman, <a href="#Page_287">287</a>-<a href="#Page_292">92</a>;</li>
  <li>description of, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>;</li>
  <li>dress and food of, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>-<a href="#Page_294">4</a>;</li>
  <li>harem of, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>;</li>
  <li>illnesses of, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>-<a href="#Page_295">5</a>;</li>
  <li>character, <a href="#Page_295">295</a>-<a href="#Page_296">6</a>;</li>
  <li>spies of, <a href="#Page_295">295</a>;</li>
  <li>and political conversations, <a href="#Page_296">296</a>, <a href="#Page_320">320</a>;</li>
  <li>mosque at Omdurman, <a href="#Page_297">297</a>-<a href="#Page_298">8</a>;</li>
  <li>and visions, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>-<a href="#Page_299">9</a>;</li>
  <li>a man of great activity, <a href="#Page_300">300</a>;</li>
  <li>fondness for music, <a href="#Page_301">301</a>;</li>
  <li>his barber, <a href="#Page_301">301</a>;</li>
  <li><a name="tn_png_467a"></a><!--TN: "lifeguards" changed to "life-guards"-->life-guards and household cavalry of, <a href="#Page_301">301</a>-<a href="#Page_302">2</a>;</li>
  <li>and business affairs of the State, <a href="#Page_302">302</a>;</li>
  <li>displays of magnificence, <a href="#Page_302">302</a>-<a href="#Page_304">4</a>;</li>
  <li>cleanliness of, <a href="#Page_304">304</a>;</li>
  <li>grand reviews at Omdurman, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>-<a href="#Page_308">8</a>;</li>
  <li>and the Taisha Arabs, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>-<a href="#Page_311">11</a>;</li>
  <li>and firearms, <a href="#Page_311">311</a>-<a href="#Page_312">2</a>;</li>
  <li>his brother, <i>see</i> "Yakub";</li>
  <li>and the Batahin tribe, <a href="#Page_315">315</a>-<a href="#Page_320">20</a>;</li>
  <li>and Abdel Nur, <a href="#Page_321">321</a>-<a href="#Page_322">2</a>;</li>
  <li>and the Saier at Omdurman, <a href="#Page_347">347</a>-<a href="#Page_352">52</a>;</li>
  <li>and Charles Neufeld, <a href="#Page_355">355</a>-<a href="#Page_360">60</a>;</li>
  <li>and Sheikh Khalil, <a href="#Page_361">361</a>-<a href="#Page_364">4</a>;</li>
  <li>and the slave trade, <a href="#Page_384">384</a>-<a href="#Page_385">5</a>;</li>
  <li>and the Baggaras, <a href="#Page_387">387</a>-<a href="#Page_405">405</a>;</li>
  <li>his son Osman, <a href="#Page_390">390</a>-<a href="#Page_391">1</a>;</li>
  <li>strict surveillance over the whites, <a href="#Page_412">412</a>-<a href="#Page_413">3</a>;</li>
  <li>horrors of his rule, <a href="#Page_447">447</a>-<a href="#Page_450">50</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Abdullah Wad en Nur, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>.</li>
<li>Abdullah Wad Ibrahim, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>and Abyssinia, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>-<a href="#Page_253">3</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Abu Anga (commander-in-chief of Mahdi's forces), <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>-<a href="#Page_89">9</a>, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>-<a href="#Page_112">2</a>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_402">402</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>description and history of, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>-<a href="#Page_231">31</a>;</li>
  <li>and Abyssinia, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>-<a href="#Page_244">4</a>;</li>
  <li>death of, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>-<a href="#Page_246">6</a>;</li>
  <li>and slave trade, <a href="#Page_384">384</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li><a name="Page_452" id="Page_452"></a>Abu Gemaizeh, religious reformer, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>-<a href="#Page_240">40</a>.</li>
<li>Abu Girgeh, emir, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>-<a href="#Page_168">8</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>, <a href="#Page_360">360</a>.</li>
<li>Abu Habl, the Khor, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>-<a href="#Page_79">9</a>.</li>
<li>Abu Hamed, <a href="#Page_364">364</a>, <a href="#Page_433">433</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>rebels at, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Abu Haraz, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>.</li>
<li>Abu Klea, battle of, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>-<a href="#Page_148">8</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>.</li>
<li>Abu Kru, battle of, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>.</li>
<li>Abu Kuka, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>.</li>
<li>Abu Saud, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>.</li>
<li>Abyssinia, and Kassala garrisons, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>-<a href="#Page_167">7</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>and Galabat, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>-<a href="#Page_220">20</a>;</li>
  <li>Abu Anga and, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>-<a href="#Page_231">31</a>, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>-<a href="#Page_244">4</a>;</li>
  <li>defeat of King John's army, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>-<a href="#Page_253">53</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Adam, King, of Tagalla, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>.</li>
<li>Adansonia trees, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>.</li>
<li>Adila, girl at the Khartum Mission, <a href="#Page_421">421</a>, <a href="#Page_424">424</a>, <a href="#Page_426">426</a>.</li>
<li>Adultery, the Mahdi's punishment for, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>.</li>
<li>Agriculture in the Mahdiist kingdom, <a href="#Page_376">376</a>-<a href="#Page_385">85</a>.</li>
<li>Ahmed Bey Daffallah, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>.</li>
<li>Ahmed Bey Defterdar, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>.</li>
<li>Ahmed Hassan and escape of Father Ohrwalder, <a href="#Page_415">415</a>-<a href="#Page_445">45</a>.</li>
<li>Ahmed Sharfi, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_403">403</a>-<a href="#Page_407">7</a>.</li>
<li>Ahmed Wad Suleiman, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>-<a href="#Page_84">4</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>-<a href="#Page_97">7</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>-<a href="#Page_145">5</a>, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>-<a href="#Page_207">7</a>, <a href="#Page_350">350</a>.</li>
<li>Aigella, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>.</li>
<li>Aisha, the Mahdi's principal wife, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>.</li>
<li>Ala ed Din Pasha, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>.</li>
<li>Alchemy, Sudanese and, <a href="#Page_369">369</a>.</li>
<li>Alcoholic drinks, the Sudanese and, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li><a name="tn_png_468"></a><!--TN: Italics added to "also" and removed from "Marissa"--><i>see also</i> Marissa.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Ali Bakhit, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>.</li>
<li>Ali Bey Haider, Lieut-Col., <a href="#Page_443">443</a>.</li>
<li>Ali Esh Sherif, Khalifa, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>-<a href="#Page_15">5</a>, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>at Omdurman, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>-<a href="#Page_203">3</a>, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>, <a href="#Page_306">306</a>, <a href="#Page_349">349</a>, <a href="#Page_399">399</a>-<a href="#Page_407">407</a>, <a href="#Page_446">446</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Ali Pasha, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>.</li>
<li>Ali Wad Helu, Khalifa, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>, <a href="#Page_282">282</a>, <a href="#Page_306">306</a>, <a href="#Page_403">403</a>-<a href="#Page_407">7</a>.</li>
<li>Allegiance, sheikhs' oath of, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>.</li>
<li>Aluba, Hicks at, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>.</li>
<li>Amarar Arabs, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>-<a href="#Page_267">7</a>.</li>
<li>Andreis, Sister A., <a href="#Page_48">48</a>.</li>
<li>Amhara, the chief of, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>.</li>
<li>Amina (a black girl), <a href="#Page_73">73</a>.</li>
<li>Ammunition, the Khalifa's, <a href="#Page_366">366</a>-<a href="#Page_375">75</a>.</li>
<li>Amulets, the fikis and, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>-<a href="#Page_275">5</a>, <a href="#Page_402">402</a>.</li>
<li>Ansar, the, <a href="#Page_306">306</a>-<a href="#Page_308">8</a>, <a href="#Page_353">353</a>.</li>
<li>Arabi, Baggara called, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>.</li>
<li>Arabi Pasha, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>.</li>
<li>Arabs; in Omdurman, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li><i>see</i> "Baggaras," "Bederieh," "Beni Jerrar," "Dar Hamed," "Ghodiat," "Gowameh," "Hawazma," "Kababish," &amp;c.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Argin, battle of, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>.</li>
<li>Aser, American Consul, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>.</li>
<li>Ashaf Station, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>.</li>
<li>Ashraf, the, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>.</li>
<li>Assiut, <a href="#Page_443">443</a>.</li>
<li>Assuan, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>.</li>
<li>Atbara River, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>.</li>
<li>Aulad-belad, the, <a href="#Page_391">391</a>-<a href="#Page_392">2</a>, <a href="#Page_405">405</a>-<a href="#Page_406">6</a>, <a href="#Page_449">449</a>.</li>
<li>Austrian Mission, at Delen, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>-<a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>-<a href="#Page_30">30</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>church at Khartum, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>-<a href="#Page_138">8</a>;</li>
  <li>at El Obeid, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>;</li>
  <li><a name="tn_png_468a"></a><!--TN: Italics added to "also"--><i>see also</i> "Sisters."</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Awad el Kerim Abu Sin, <a href="#Page_350">350</a>.</li>
</ul>

<ul class="IX">
<li><span class="firstwords">Baggara,</span> tribe, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>-<a href="#Page_15">5</a>, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>-<a href="#Page_26">6</a>, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>-<a href="#Page_163">3</a>, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>, <a href="#Page_287">287</a>, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>, <a href="#Page_314">314</a>, <a href="#Page_325">325</a>, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>horsemanship of, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>;</li>
  <li>emirs, <a href="#Page_312">312</a>;</li>
  <li>women, <a href="#Page_381">381</a>;</li>
  <li>masters of the Sudan, <a href="#Page_387">387</a>-<a href="#Page_407">407</a>, <a href="#Page_449">449</a>;</li>
  <li><i>see also</i> "Taisha Arabs."</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Bahr el Arab, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>.</li>
<li>Bahr el Ghazal, slave trade in, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>-<a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>, <a href="#Page_383">383</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>revolt in, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Bahr el Karrar, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>-<a href="#Page_258">8</a>.</li>
<li>Baker Pasha, General Valentine, defeat of, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>at El Teb, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Banners of the Mahdi's Khalifas, <i>see</i> "Flags."</li>
<li>Bara town, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>-<a href="#Page_202">2</a>, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>fall of, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Barabra tribe, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>, <a href="#Page_391">391</a>, <a href="#Page_399">399</a>;
 <ul class="IX">
  <li>language of, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Bashra, the Mahdi's son, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>.</li>
<li>Batahin tribe, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>, <a href="#Page_315">315</a>-<a href="#Page_320">20</a>.</li>
<li>Bayuda Desert, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>.</li>
<li>Bederieh Arabs, the, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>.</li>
<li>Beit el mal at Omdurman, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>-<a href="#Page_214">14</a>, <a href="#Page_312">312</a>, <a href="#Page_323">323</a>, <a href="#Page_380">380</a>, <a href="#Page_393">393</a>-<a href="#Page_395">5</a>.</li>
<li>Ben en Naga Bey, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>-<a href="#Page_89">9</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>son of, <a href="#Page_333">333</a>;</li>
  <li>daughter of, <a href="#Page_343">343</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Benga village, <a href="#Page_430">430</a>.</li>
<li>Beni Helba tribe, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>.</li>
<li>Beni Jerrar Arabs, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>.</li>
<li>Berber, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>fall of, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>-<a href="#Page_125">5</a>;</li>
  <li>Gordon at, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_312">312</a>, <a href="#Page_380">380</a>, <a href="#Page_396">396</a>, <a href="#Page_430">430</a>, <a href="#Page_439">439</a>;</li>
  <li>Osman Digna at, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>;</li>
  <li>old, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>;</li>
  <li>famine in, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Berghof, a German, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>.</li>
<li>Birket, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>-<a href="#Page_21">1</a>, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>.</li>

<li><a name="Page_453" id="Page_453"></a>Bishir, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>.</li>
<li>Bishir Bey, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>.</li>
<li>Blue Nile, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>-<a href="#Page_134">4</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>, <a href="#Page_379">379</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>towns on the, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Bonomi, Father, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>-<a href="#Page_32">2</a>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>-<a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>-<a href="#Page_173">3</a>;
 <ul class="IX">
 <li>escape of, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>-<a href="#Page_184">84</a>, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>, <a href="#Page_352">352</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Books, the Mahdi and, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>Khalifa Abdullah and, <a href="#Page_299">299</a>, <a href="#Page_400">400</a>-<a href="#Page_401">1</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Borgo, Sultan of, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>.</li>
<li>Brick-making at Delen, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>.</li>
<li>Bringi, executioner at Omdurman, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>, <a href="#Page_325">325</a>, <a href="#Page_356">356</a>.</li>
<li>British East Africa, Imperial, Co., <a href="#Page_271">271</a>.</li>
<li>'Bruce's Travels' and the Batahin tribe, <a href="#Page_315">315</a>.
<li>Buri village, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>.</li>
<li>Busata village, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>.</li>
</ul>

<ul class="IX">
<li><span class="firstwords">Cairo</span>, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>merchants of, and El Obeid, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>;</li>
  <li>Ohrwalder's arrival at, <a href="#Page_443">443</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Camels, in Kordofan, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>-<a href="#Page_36">6</a>, <a href="#Page_379">379</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>of the Gehena tribe, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>;</li>
  <li>of the Kababish tribe, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>;</li>
  <li>for Ohrwalder's escape, <a href="#Page_422">422</a>, <a href="#Page_427">427</a>, <a href="#Page_442">442</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Cattle in Dar Nuba, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>in Kordofan, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>;</li>
  <li>of the Arabs, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>;</li>
  <li>of the Gehena tribe, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>;</li>
  <li>breeding in the Sudan, <a href="#Page_376">376</a>-<a href="#Page_379">9</a>;</li>
  <li>cows of the Shilluks, <a href="#Page_379">379</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Cemetery, European, at Khartum, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>.</li>
<li>Chad Lake, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>.</li>
<li>Chincarini, Sister C., <a href="#Page_413">413</a>-<a href="#Page_445">45</a>.</li>
<li>Clementino, George, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>.</li>
<li>Clothing in the Mahdi's kingdom, <a href="#Page_381">381</a>.</li>
<li>Coins in Omdurman, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>-<a href="#Page_213">13</a>.</li>
<li>Comboni, Bishop, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>grave of, at Khartum, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Combotti, Marietta, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>.</li>
<li>Comet, a wonderful, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>.</li>
<li>Commerce in the Mahdiist kingdom, <a href="#Page_376">376</a>-<a href="#Page_385">85</a>.</li>
<li>Corsi, Sister Concetta, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_419">419</a>.</li>
<li>Cripples in Omdurman, <a href="#Page_337">337</a>.</li>
<li>Curios, museum of, at Omdurman, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>.</li>
<li>Cuzzi, Joseph, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>-<a href="#Page_126">6</a>.</li>
</ul>

<ul class="IX">
<li><span class="firstwords">Dabarosa</span> bazaar, the, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>.</li>
<li>Dabra Sin, battle of, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>.</li>
<li>Dair, Jebel, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>.</li>
<li>Damur, pieces of cloth, <a href="#Page_381">381</a>-<a href="#Page_382">2</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>used as coins, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Danagla, <i>see</i> "Dongola."</li>
<li>Dara, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>.</li>
<li>Dar Fertit, singers from, <a href="#Page_301">301</a>.</li>
<li>Darfur, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>Slatin Bey, Governor of, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>;</li>
  <li>the Mahdi conquers, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>-<a href="#Page_94">4</a>, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>;</li>
  <li>historical sketch of, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>-<a href="#Page_241">41</a>;</li>
  <li>Zogal and, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>-<a href="#Page_203">3</a>;</li>
  <li>revolt in, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>, <a href="#Page_387">387</a>;</li>
  <li>horses in, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>;</li>
  <li>women and spinning, <a href="#Page_381">381</a>;</li>
  <li>slaves from, <a href="#Page_384">384</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Dar Homr (Arabs), <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>, <a href="#Page_301">301</a>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a>, <a href="#Page_396">396</a>.</li>
<li>Dar Nauli tribe of Arabs, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>.</li>
<li>Dar Nuba, <i>see</i> "Nuba."</li>
<li>Dar Shaggieh, <a href="#Page_380">380</a>.</li>
<li>Dead, the Mahdi's law about the, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>.</li>
<li>Debaineh tribe, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>.</li>
<li>Degheim tribe, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>.</li>
<li>Delen, arrival at, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>Mission at, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>;</li>
  <li>news of the Mahdi at, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>;</li>
  <li>description of, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>-<a href="#Page_31">31</a>;</li>
  <li>quicksilver at, <a name="tn_453"></a><!--TN: Semicolon replaced by comma after "35"--><a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Dervishes, the Mahdi's, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>at El Obeid, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>-<a href="#Page_59">9</a>;</li>
  <li>and Hicks Pasha's army, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>;</li>
  <li>in Khartum, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>;</li>
  <li>and Olivier Pain, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>;</li>
  <li>revolt against, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>-<a href="#Page_200">200</a>;</li>
  <li>at Galabat, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>-<a href="#Page_219">9</a>;</li>
  <li>review of, at Omdurman, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>-<a href="#Page_226">6</a>;</li>
  <li>and tobacco chewing, <a href="#Page_276">276</a>;</li>
  <li>and the famine in Omdurman, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>;</li>
  <li>at Fashoda, <a href="#Page_384">384</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Dhurra in Omdurman, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>, <a href="#Page_378">378</a>, <a href="#Page_381">381</a>.</li>
<li>Dichtl, Johann, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>.</li>
<li>Dinka tribe, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>.</li>
<li>Disease in the Sudan, <a href="#Page_386">386</a>.</li>
<li>Dispensary at Omdurman, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>.</li>
<li>Dobab mountain, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>.</li>
<li>Dogman mountain, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>.</li>
<li>Dogs, Mahdi's doctrine about, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>, <a href="#Page_335">335</a>.</li>
<li>Doka, Sheikh Egeil and, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>.</li>
<li>Dome to Mahdi's tomb at Omdurman, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>, <a href="#Page_277">277</a>.</li>
<li>Dongola, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>-<a href="#Page_265">65</a>, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>, <a href="#Page_312">312</a>, <a href="#Page_380">380</a>, <a href="#Page_384">384</a>, <a href="#Page_387">387</a>, <a href="#Page_391">391</a>, <a href="#Page_396">396</a>, <a href="#Page_399">399</a>, <a href="#Page_449">449</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>famine in, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>;</li>
  <li>language, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Doorway of the Mahdi's tomb, <a href="#Page_277">277</a>.</li>
<li>Dreams, the Mahdi and, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>-<a href="#Page_111">1</a>, <a href="#Page_353">353</a>, <a href="#Page_449">449</a>.</li>
<li>Drums of the Mahdi's Khalifas, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_281">281</a>, <a href="#Page_304">304</a>-<a href="#Page_306">6</a>.</li>
<li>Dud Benga, Sultan, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>.</li>
<li>Duem, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>General Hicks at, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Dwarf, a, at Rahad, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>.</li>
</ul>

<ul class="IX">
<li><span class="firstwords">Ed Din</span>, Sheikh, <i>see</i> "Osman, Khalifa."</li>
<li>Egeil, sheikh, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>-<a href="#Page_219">9</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>.</li>
<li>Egypt, and Delen, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>and the Sudan, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>;</li>
  <li>Abdullah and, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>-<a href="#Page_256">6</a>, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>-<a href="#Page_269">69</a>;</li>
  <li>and the Sudan, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_323">323</a>;</li>
  <li>Wad Adlan and, <a href="#Page_326">326</a>;</li>
  <li>the Mahdi and, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Egyptian troops, Hicks Pasha's, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>-<a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>-<a href="#Page_93">3</a>.</li>
<li><a name="Page_454" id="Page_454"></a>El Eilafun, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>.</li>
<li><i>El Fasher</i>, steamer, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>.</li>
<li>El Merhdi Abu Rof, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>-<a href="#Page_227">7</a>.</li>
<li>El Obeid, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>garrison of, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>;</li>
  <li>the Mahdi and, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>-<a href="#Page_41">41</a>;</li>
  <li>description of, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>-<a href="#Page_36">6</a>;</li>
  <li>siege of, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>-<a href="#Page_57">7</a>, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>;</li>
  <li>Zogal at, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>;</li>
  <li>the Mahdi leaves, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>-<a href="#Page_100">100</a>;</li>
  <li>triumphal return to, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>-<a href="#Page_93">3</a>, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>-<a href="#Page_172">2</a>;</li>
  <li>King Adam at, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>;</li>
  <li>Lupton Bey at, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>;</li>
  <li>small-pox in, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>;</li>
  <li>revolt of black soldiers at, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>-<a href="#Page_200">200</a>, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>;</li>
  <li>slaves at, <a href="#Page_383">383</a>-<a href="#Page_384">4</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>El Obeid, Sheikh, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_315">315</a>.</li>
<li>El Teb, battle of, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>.</li>
<li>Elephants, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>; in Darfur, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>.</li>
<li>Elias el Kurdi, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>.</li>
<li>Elias Pasha, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>son of, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Elias Wad Kanuna, emir, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>.</li>
<li><a name="tn_png_470"></a><!--TN: Corrected alphabetical order of "Emin Pasha" in index-->Emin Pasha, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>Gordon and, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>;</li>
  <li>and Lupton Bey, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>;</li>
  <li>Khalifa Abdullah and, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>-<a href="#Page_272">72</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Emirs, the, of the Sudan provinces, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a href="#Page_312">312</a>.</li>
<li>England and Egypt, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>and the Sudan, <a href="#Page_450">450</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>English mail, capture of an, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>.</li>
<li>English Relief Expedition to Khartum, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>-<a href="#Page_149">9</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>-<a href="#Page_178">8</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>and Kababish tribe, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>;</li>
  <li>at Dongola, June 1885, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Equatoria, Abdullah's expedition to, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>-<a href="#Page_272">72</a>.</li>
<li>Exports from Kordofan, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>.</li>
</ul>

<ul class="IX">
<li><span class="firstwords">Fadl Maula Bey</span>, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>, <a name="tn_454"></a><!--TN: Period inserted after "401"--><a href="#Page_401">401</a>.</li>
<li>Fallata tribe, <a href="#Page_278">278</a>, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>.</li>
<li>Famines; in El Obeid, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>-<a href="#Page_184">4</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>in the Sudan, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>-<a href="#Page_253">3</a>;</li>
  <li>in Dongola, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>;</li>
  <li>in Omdurman, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>-<a href="#Page_289">9</a>;</li>
  <li>in Berber, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>;</li>
  <li>in the Provinces, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>-<a href="#Page_291">1</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Farag Pasha, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>.</li>
<li>Faragallah Pasha, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>-<a href="#Page_132">2</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>.</li>
<li>Farquhar, Colonel Arthur, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>.</li>
<li>Fasher, El, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>besieged, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>-<a href="#Page_241">41</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Fashoda, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>, <a href="#Page_379">379</a>, <a href="#Page_384">384</a>, <a href="#Page_396">396</a>;
 <ul class="IX">
  <li>corn from, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Fedasi, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>.</li>
<li>Festivals, Khalifa Abdullah and, <a href="#Page_362">362</a>.</li>
<li>Fiki, Abdullah and the name, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_402">402</a>.</li>
<li>Flags of the Khalifas, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_281">281</a>, <a href="#Page_306">306</a>.</li>
<li>Furs, annihilation of the, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>.</li>
</ul>

<ul class="IX">
<li><span class="firstwords">Galabat</span>, province and town, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>-<a href="#Page_219">9</a>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>attack on, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>-<a href="#Page_248">8</a>, <a href="#Page_396">396</a>;</li>
  <li>famine at, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Gallows at Omdurman, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>, <a href="#Page_317">317</a>-<a href="#Page_318">8</a>.</li>
<li>Gedaref, garrison of, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>-<a href="#Page_217">7</a>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>.</li>
<li>Gedir, Jebel, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>.</li>
<li>Gehena tribe, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>-<a href="#Page_227">7</a>, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>-<a href="#Page_261">1</a>.</li>
<li>Gellabas (traders), <a href="#Page_14">14</a>-<a href="#Page_15">5</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>, <a href="#Page_426">426</a>, <a href="#Page_428">428</a>.</li>
<li>Georges Bey, Dr., <a href="#Page_86">86</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>son-in-law of, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Gessi Pasha, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>;
 <ul class="IX">
  <li>and the slave trade, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>-<a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>, <a href="#Page_383">383</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Gezireh, the Mahdi and, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>-<a href="#Page_94">4</a><a name="tn_454a"></a><!--TN: Semicolon changed to comma after "4"-->, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>, <a href="#Page_315">315</a>, <a href="#Page_380">380</a>, <a href="#Page_390">390</a>.</li>
<li>Ghazali, Sheikh, <a href="#Page_310">310</a>-<a href="#Page_311">1</a>, <a href="#Page_350">350</a>.</li>
<li>Ghittas, festival known as, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>.</li>
<li>Ghodiat Arabs, the, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>.</li>
<li>Gianzara Hill, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>.</li>
<li>Giegler Pasha, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>.</li>
<li>Giniss, battle of, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>.</li>
<li>Girls in Khartum, Mahdi and, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>.</li>
<li>Goats in Dar Nuba, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>in the Sudan provinces, <a href="#Page_379">379</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Gold in Dar Nuba, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>.</li>
<li>Golfan-Na&iuml;ma, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>-<a href="#Page_23">3</a>, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>-<a href="#Page_224">4</a>.</li>
<li>Gondar, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>-<a href="#Page_231">1</a>, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>-<a href="#Page_249">9</a>.</li>
<li>Gordon, General, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>arrives at Khartum, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>-<a href="#Page_122">2</a>;</li>
  <li>letter to the Mahdi, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>;</li>
  <li>the Mahdi and, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>;</li>
  <li>English letters to, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>;</li>
  <li>at Berber, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>-<a href="#Page_124">4</a>;</li>
  <li>defeat of Gordon's troops, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>-<a href="#Page_125">5</a>;</li>
  <li>successful attack by, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>;</li>
  <li>besieged, and death of, at Khartum, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>-<a href="#Page_154">54</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>-<a href="#Page_208">8</a>;</li>
  <li><a name="tn_png_470a"></a><!--TN: "and" removed before "Sheikh"-->Sheikh Khalil and, <a href="#Page_361">361</a>;</li>
  <li>at Murat, <a href="#Page_440">440</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Gordon Relief Expedition, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>-<a href="#Page_149">9</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>-<a href="#Page_178">8</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>vi&acirc; Berber, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Gowameh tribe, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_344">344</a>.</li>
<li>Graham, General, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>-<a href="#Page_121">1</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>.</li>
<li>Greeks, the, at Khartum, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>-<a href="#Page_143">3</a>.</li>
<li>Greger Hamed (Emir), <a href="#Page_233">233</a>.</li>
<li>Grenfell, General Sir F., <a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>, <a href="#Page_444">444</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>battle at Toski, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Gubat, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>, <a href="#Page_429">429</a>.</li>
<li>Guineas coined at Omdurman, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>.</li>
<li>Gum, in Kordofan, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>used as food at El Obeid, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>;</li>
  <li>at Omdurman, <a href="#Page_323">323</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
</ul>

<ul class="IX">
<li><span class="firstwords">Habbanieh</span> tribe of Arabs, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>.</li>
<li>Hadarba merchants, <a href="#Page_399">399</a>.</li>
<li>Hadendoa Arabs, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>.</li>
<li>Haimar Wells, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>.</li>
<li>Haj Ali Wad Saad, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>-<a href="#Page_124">4</a>.</li>
<li>Hajji Abdullah Granteli, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>.</li>
<li>Hajji Khaled (Emir), <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>son of, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Hajji Mohammed Ben en Naga, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>.</li>
<li><a name="Page_455" id="Page_455"></a>Hajji Selim (soldier), <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>-<a href="#Page_191">1</a>.</li>
<li>Hajji Zubeir, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_349">349</a>-<a href="#Page_350">50</a>, <a href="#Page_396">396</a>-<a href="#Page_397">7</a>.</li>
<li>Halfaya, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>.</li>
<li>Hamran Arabs, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>.</li>
<li>Handub, battle of, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>.</li>
<li>Hansal (Austrian consul), <a href="#Page_1">1</a>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>-<a href="#Page_69">9</a>, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>-<a href="#Page_119">9</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>death of, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>-<a href="#Page_140">40</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Hashish, use of, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>.</li>
<li>Hasib, emir, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>.</li>
<li>Hassan Khalifa, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>, <a href="#Page_364">364</a>-<a href="#Page_365">5</a>.</li>
<li>Hassan en Nejumi (emir), <a href="#Page_264">264</a>.</li>
<li>Hassan Husni (interpreter), <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>.</li>
<li>Hassan Sadik, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>.</li>
<li>Hassan Zeki, <a href="#Page_366">366</a>.</li>
<li>Hebbeh village, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>.</li>
<li>Heddai, sheikh, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>.</li>
<li>Herlth, Major, extracts from diary of, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>-<a href="#Page_79">9</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>.</li>
<li>Hicks Pasha, General, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>and Wad Makashef, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>;</li>
  <li>expedition of, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>;</li>
  <li>at Duem, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>;</li>
  <li>at Rahad, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>-<a href="#Page_85">85</a>;</li>
  <li>defeat and death of, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>-<a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>;</li>
  <li>white horse of, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>;</li>
  <li>Bible of, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>;</li>
  <li>stable, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Hilmi Gorab, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>.</li>
<li>Horses, the Sudanese and, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>.</li>
<li>Housebreakers in Omdurman, <a href="#Page_334">334</a>-<a href="#Page_335">5</a>.</li>
<li>Howazma Arabs, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>.</li>
<li>Hussein Pasha, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_439">439</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>son of, <a href="#Page_442">442</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Hussein Wad ed Dayim, <a href="#Page_339">339</a>-<a href="#Page_340">40</a>.</li>
<li>Hyenas, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>-<a href="#Page_290">90</a>.</li>
</ul>

<ul class="IX">
<li><span class="firstwords">Ibrahim Nur</span>, <a href="#Page_394">394</a>-<a href="#Page_395">5</a>.</li>
<li>Ibrahim Pasha Fauzi, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>.</li>
<li>Ibrahim Ramadan, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>.</li>
<li>Ibrahim Wad Adlan, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>-<a href="#Page_210">10</a>, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>, <a href="#Page_322">322</a>-<a href="#Page_324">4</a>, <a href="#Page_350">350</a>, <a href="#Page_368">368</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>death of, <a href="#Page_325">325</a>-<a href="#Page_327">7</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Ibrahim Wad Abu Tagalla, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>.</li>
<li>Ibrahim Wad el Ahmer, <a href="#Page_445">445</a>-<a href="#Page_446">6</a>.</li>
<li>Idris (sheikh), <a href="#Page_101">101</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>-<a href="#Page_117">7</a>, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>, <a href="#Page_350">350</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>death of, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Imbrien, Bishop, of the Tyrol, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>.</li>
<li>Immorality, Mahdi's law regarding, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>in the Sudan, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>-<a href="#Page_343">3</a>;</li>
  <li>of slaves, <a href="#Page_385">385</a>-<a href="#Page_386">6</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Imports of the Mahdi's kingdom, <a href="#Page_380">380</a>.</li>
<li>Insects, at Delen, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>Neufeld and, <a href="#Page_357">357</a>;</li>
  <li>white ants as food, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>;</li>
  <li>lizards, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>;</li>
  <li>flies, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Iron in Kordofan, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>.</li>
<li>Isa, <a name="tn_png_471"></a><!--TN: "skeikh" changed to "sheikh"-->sheikh, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>.</li>
<li>Isa, fiki, of the Shanabla, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>.</li>
<li>Ismail el Kheir, <a href="#Page_400">400</a>.</li>
<li>Ismail Wad el Andok, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>.</li>
<li>Ismail Pasha, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>-<a href="#Page_235">5</a>.</li>
<li>Italy and Kassala, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>.</li>
<li>Ivory, expedition to Equatoria to collect, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>at Omdurman, <a href="#Page_323">323</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
</ul>

<ul class="IX">
<li><span class="firstwords">Jaalin</span> tribe, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>, <a href="#Page_368">368</a>, <a href="#Page_384">384</a>, <a href="#Page_391">391</a>, <a href="#Page_399">399</a>, <a href="#Page_449">449</a>.</li>
<li>Jabrallah, Sultan, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>, <a href="#Page_350">350</a>.</li>
<li>Jebel Dair, the Mahdi and, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>-<a href="#Page_112">2</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>.</li>
<li>Jebel Na&iuml;ma, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>.</li>
<li>Jerusalem, the Mahdi and, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>.</li>
<li>Jew merchants at Omdurman, <a href="#Page_312">312</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>at Kassala, <a href="#Page_360">360</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Jibbehs, the Mahdi and the manufacture of, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>.</li>
<li>Jinns, the, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>.</li>
<li>John, King of Abyssinia, throne of, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>and Galabat, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>-<a href="#Page_249">9</a>;</li>
  <li>Abdullah and, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>;</li>
  <li>and Abu Anga, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>;</li>
  <li>death of, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>-<a href="#Page_252">2</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Justice, system of, at Omdurman, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>-<a href="#Page_215">5</a>, <a href="#Page_329">329</a>-<a href="#Page_334">34</a>.</li>
</ul>

<ul class="IX">
<li><span class="firstwords">Kaba</span>, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>-<a href="#Page_37">7</a>, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>.</li>
<li>Kababish tribe (Arabs), <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>destruction of the, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>-<a href="#Page_234">4</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Kadi Ahmed, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>-<a href="#Page_215">5</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>-<a href="#Page_247">7</a>, <a href="#Page_329">329</a>, <a href="#Page_350">350</a>.</li>
<li>Kakum of Delen, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>-<a href="#Page_28">8</a>, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>-<a href="#Page_32">2</a>, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>death of, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>-<a href="#Page_187">7</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Kalabsheh, village of, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>.</li>
<li>Kalakala, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>-<a href="#Page_132">2</a>.</li>
<li>Kamal ed Din, and manufacture of powder, <a href="#Page_367">367</a>-<a href="#Page_368">8</a>.</li>
<li>Karamallah (slave-dealer), <a href="#Page_176">176</a>, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>, <a href="#Page_406">406</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>in Darfur, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>-<a href="#Page_236">6</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Karkoj, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>, <a href="#Page_380">380</a>.</li>
<li>Kashgeil, Hicks at, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>.</li>
<li>Kashm el Mus, Pasha, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>.</li>
<li>Kassala, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>-<a href="#Page_165">5</a>, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>, <a href="#Page_387">387</a>, <a href="#Page_396">396</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>siege of, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>-<a href="#Page_167">7</a>;</li>
  <li>Osman Digna at, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>;</li>
  <li>famine at, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Kavalli, Stanley's camp at, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>.</li>
<li>Kawakla, natives called, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>.</li>
<li>Kebkebieh, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>.</li>
<li>Kedaro hill, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>.</li>
<li>Kenana tribe, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>.</li>
<li>Kererri, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>, <a href="#Page_311">311</a>, <a href="#Page_361">361</a>, <a href="#Page_412">412</a>.</li>
<li>Khabir, Pasha, of Darfur, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>.</li>
<li>Khalifas in the Sudan, <i>see</i> "Abdullah," "Ali Wad Helu," "Ali Esh Sherif," Hassan, "Osman," &amp;c.</li>
<li>Khalil, sheikh, <a href="#Page_360">360</a>-<a href="#Page_364">4</a>.</li>
<li>Khartum, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>-<a href="#Page_94">4</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>-<a href="#Page_97">7</a>, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>the Mahdi's advance on, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>-<a href="#Page_127">7</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>;</li>
  <li>Gordon arrives at, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>-<a href="#Page_123">3</a>;</li>
  <li>siege and fall of, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>-<a href="#Page_154">54</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_348">348</a>;</li>
  <li>in ruins, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>;</li>
  <li>materials <a name="Page_456" id="Page_456"></a>for Mahdi's tomb from, <a href="#Page_276">276</a>;</li>
  <li>the Batahin tribe and, <a href="#Page_315">315</a>, <a href="#Page_320">320</a>;</li>
  <li>Neufeld at, <a href="#Page_357">357</a>, <a href="#Page_359">359</a>;</li>
  <li>survivors of, <a href="#Page_372">372</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Khatafin (snatchers) in Omdurman, <a href="#Page_286">286</a>-<a href="#Page_288">8</a>.</li>
<li>Khojali, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>, <a href="#Page_317">317</a>.</li>
<li>Khojur, the, in Dar Nuba, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>.</li>
<li>Khor Musa, fort at, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>.</li>
<li>Kirkesawi (slave-dealer), <a href="#Page_176">176</a>, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>, <a href="#Page_406">406</a>.</li>
<li>Kitchener Pasha, <a href="#Page_359">359</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>wounded at Handub, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Klein, tailor, of Khartum, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>-<a href="#Page_141">1</a>.</li>
<li>Klootz, Gustav, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>-<a href="#Page_85">5</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>-<a href="#Page_175">5</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_348">348</a>, <a href="#Page_411">411</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>death of, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Korbatsh, Mount, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>.</li>
<li>Kordofan, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>, <a href="#Page_380">380</a>, <a href="#Page_398">398</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>deserts of, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>-<a href="#Page_3">3</a>;</li>
  <li>military stations in, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>-<a href="#Page_12">2</a>;</li>
  <li>the Mahdi and, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>;</li>
  <li>mountains, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>;</li>
  <li>exports from, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>-<a href="#Page_36">6</a>;</li>
  <li>camels in, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>-<a href="#Page_36">6</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>;</li>
  <li>agriculture in, <a href="#Page_378">378</a>-<a href="#Page_379">9</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Korosko, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>, <a href="#Page_442">442</a>-<a href="#Page_443">3</a>.</li>
<li>Korsi, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>.</li>
<li>Kudru hill, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>.</li>
<li>Kumbo, King, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>-<a href="#Page_99">9</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>-<a href="#Page_118">8</a>.</li>
<li>Kuran, the, concerning ministers of Christianity, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>-<a href="#Page_106">6</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>first chapter in, <a href="#Page_296">296</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Kurun hill, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>.</li>
</ul>

<ul class="IX">
<li><span class="firstwords">Lado</span> Station, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>, <a href="#Page_384">384</a>.</li>
<li>Languages in the Sudan provinces, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>.</li>
<li>Laws made by the Mahdi, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>-<a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>-<a href="#Page_63">3</a>.</li>
<li>Lead, manufacture of, at Omdurman, <a href="#Page_368">368</a>-<a href="#Page_370">70</a>.</li>
<li>Legnani (Italian consul), <a href="#Page_1">1</a>.</li>
<li>Leontides, Consul N., <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>.</li>
<li>Lime, near Delen, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>pits in Omdurman, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>, <a href="#Page_276">276</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Limona, Bianca, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>.</li>
<li>Locatelli (missionary), <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>-<a href="#Page_57">7</a>.</li>
<li>Locusts, plague of, in the Sudan, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>.</li>
<li>Losi, Father Johann, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>.</li>
<li>Lugard, Captain, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>.</li>
<li>Lupton Bey, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>-<a href="#Page_177">7</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_348">348</a>, <a href="#Page_412">412</a>-<a href="#Page_413">3</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>death of, <a href="#Page_366">366</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
</ul>

<ul class="IX">
<li><span class="firstwords">Madibbo</span>, sheikh, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>son of, <a href="#Page_396">396</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Mahbas, wells of, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>.</li>
<li>Mahdi, the, <i>see</i> "Mohammed Ahmed."</li>
<li>Mahdiism, belief in, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>and Egypt, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>;</li>
  <li>in the Sudan, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>, <a href="#Page_326">326</a>, <a href="#Page_328">328</a>, <a href="#Page_403">403</a>, <a href="#Page_449">449</a>;</li>
  <li>and the slave trade, <a href="#Page_382">382</a>-<a href="#Page_386">6</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Mahdiist kingdom, agriculture and commerce in, <a href="#Page_376">376</a>-<a href="#Page_386">86</a>.</li>
<li>Mahmud Wad Ahmed, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>-<a href="#Page_241">1</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>-<a href="#Page_249">9</a>.</li>
<li>Mail, capture of an English, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>.</li>
<li>Makada tribe, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>.</li>
<li>Makani village, <a href="#Page_428">428</a>.</li>
<li>Makbul dollar, the, in Omdurman, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>-<a href="#Page_214">4</a>.</li>
<li>Makias (chains), <a href="#Page_345">345</a>-<a href="#Page_346">6</a>.</li>
<li>Makin Wad en Nur, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>, <a href="#Page_350">350</a>.</li>
<li>Manoli, a Greek, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>.</li>
<li><i>Mansureh</i>, steamer, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>.</li>
<li>Marcopoli Bey, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>.</li>
<li>Mariani, Gabriel, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>.</li>
<li>Marissa (a kind of beer), <a href="#Page_4">4</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>the Mahdi and drinking of, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_330">330</a>, <a href="#Page_340">340</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Market at Omdurman, <a href="#Page_282">282</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a>.</li>
<li>Marquet, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>.</li>
<li>Marriage ceremonies in the Sudan, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>-<a href="#Page_18">8</a>, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>-<a href="#Page_343">3</a>, <a href="#Page_389">389</a>-<a href="#Page_390">90</a>.</li>
<li>Masalit, Sultan of, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>; people, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>.</li>
<li>Mecca, pilgrimage to, <a href="#Page_278">278</a>-<a href="#Page_279">9</a>, <a href="#Page_448">448</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>the Mahdi and, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>;</li>
  <li>a Sherif of, <a href="#Page_412">412</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Medawi, fiki, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>.</li>
<li>Mek Omar, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>-<a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>-<a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>son of, <i>see</i> "Naser."</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Melbeis, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>.</li>
<li>Meshra Dehesh, <a href="#Page_434">434</a>, <a href="#Page_437">437</a>.</li>
<li>Messalamieh gate at Khartum, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>.</li>
<li>Metemmeh, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>, <a href="#Page_429">429</a>.</li>
<li>Miracles, the Mahdi and, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>-<a href="#Page_8">8</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>performed by Sid el Hassan, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Miserieh tribe of Arabs, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>.</li>
<li>Mice, plague of, at Omdurman, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>-<a href="#Page_292">2</a>.</li>
<li>Minneh, fiki, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>-<a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>-<a href="#Page_60">60</a>.</li>
<li>Mint, the, at Omdurman, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>-<a href="#Page_213">13</a>.</li>
<li>Missionaries, at El Obeid, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>-<a href="#Page_51">51</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li><i>see also</i> "Bonomi," "Losi," "Ohrwalder," "Rossignoli."</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Mission Stations; <i>see</i> "Austrian Mission."</li>
<li>Mohammed Ahmed, sheikh, <a href="#Page_396">396</a>.</li>
<li>Mohammed Ahmed (the Mahdi), rise of, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>-<a href="#Page_9">9</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>and Kordofan, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>-<a href="#Page_12">12</a>;</li>
  <li>antecedents of, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>;</li>
  <li>outward appearance of, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>;</li>
  <li>Khalifas of, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>-<a href="#Page_15">5</a>;</li>
  <li>military organization of, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>-<a href="#Page_16">6</a>;</li>
  <li>new laws made by, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>-<a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>-<a href="#Page_63">3</a>, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>;</li>
  <li>summons El Obeid to surrender, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>-<a href="#Page_21">1</a>;</li>
  <li>defeat of, before El Obeid, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>-<a href="#Page_41">41</a>;</li>
  <li>and the missionaries, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>-<a href="#Page_51">51</a>;</li>
  <li>siege of El Obeid, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>-<a href="#Page_59">9</a>;</li>
  <li>finances, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>-<a href="#Page_63">3</a>;</li>
  <li>art of winning over people, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>-<a href="#Page_67">7</a>;</li>
  <li>and Consul Hansal's letter, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>-<a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>;</li>
  <li>victory over Hicks Pasha, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>-<a href="#Page_90">90</a>;</li>
  <li><a name="Page_457" id="Page_457"></a>triumphal entry into El Obeid, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>-<a href="#Page_92">2</a>;</li>
  <li>and province of Darfur, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>-<a href="#Page_94">4</a>;</li>
  <li>General Gordon and, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>;</li>
  <li>and the sisters, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>-<a href="#Page_106">6</a>;</li>
  <li>and Father Ohrwalder, on religion, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>-<a href="#Page_111">11</a>;</li>
  <li>and Slatin Bey, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>;</li>
  <li>and violation of moral laws, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>;</li>
  <li>religious movement of, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>-<a href="#Page_123">3</a>;</li>
  <li>and Cuzzi, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>-<a href="#Page_126">6</a>;</li>
  <li>siege of Khartum, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>-<a href="#Page_154">54</a>;</li>
  <li>his life of ease and luxury, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>-<a href="#Page_64">4</a>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>-<a href="#Page_159">9</a>, <a href="#Page_449">449</a>;</li>
  <li>principal wife of, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>;</li>
  <li>dwelling of, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>;</li>
  <li>harem, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>;</li>
  <li>death of, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>-<a href="#Page_162">62</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>;</li>
  <li>and Olivier Pain, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>-<a href="#Page_175">5</a>;</li>
  <li>and Egypt, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>-<a href="#Page_256">6</a>;</li>
  <li>tomb of, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>-<a href="#Page_280">80</a>;</li>
  <li>and immorality, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>, <a href="#Page_343">343</a>;</li>
  <li>and property, <a href="#Page_398">398</a>;</li>
  <li>wives of, <a href="#Page_404">404</a>, <a href="#Page_406">406</a>;</li>
  <li>capital of the Mahdi's kingdom, <i>see</i> "Omdurman."</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Mohammed Ali, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>, <a href="#Page_315">315</a>, <a href="#Page_439">439</a>, <a href="#Page_447">447</a>.</li>
<li>Mohammed el Kheir, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>.</li>
<li>Mohammed Pasha Khabir, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>.</li>
<li>Mohammed Suleiman, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>.</li>
<li>Monasir tribe, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_438">438</a>.</li>
<li>Monogamy in Dar Nuba, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>.</li>
<li>Moral laws, the Mahdi and violation of, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>.</li>
<li>Moslem law, <a href="#Page_322">322</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>the killing of priests, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>;</li>
  <li>and justice, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>-<a href="#Page_62">2</a>;</li>
  <li>Sudanese and, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Mosque at Omdurman, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>, <a href="#Page_297">297</a>.</li>
<li>Mukran Fort, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>.</li>
<li>Munzinger Pasha, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>.</li>
<li>Murat, Saleh Bey and, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>wells of, <a href="#Page_364">364</a>;</li>
  <li>Ohrwalder at, <a href="#Page_440">440</a>, <a href="#Page_442">442</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Murders in the Sudan provinces, <a href="#Page_333">333</a>.</li>
<li>Musa, sheikh, <a href="#Page_396">396</a>.</li>
<li>Musallem, Sultan, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>.</li>
<li>Museum of curios at Omdurman, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>.</li>
<li>Mussaid, Emir, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>.</li>
<li>Mustafa Hadal, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>.</li>
<li>Mustafa Yawer, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>-<a href="#Page_66">6</a>, <a href="#Page_358">358</a>, <a href="#Page_363">363</a>.</li>
</ul>

<ul class="IX">
<li><span class="firstwords">Nahut</span>, in Kordofan, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>-<a href="#Page_241">1</a>.</li>
<li>Na&iuml;ma Jebel, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>.</li>
<li>Naser (son of Mek Omar), <a href="#Page_32">32</a>-<a href="#Page_33">3</a>, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>-<a href="#Page_41">1</a>.</li>
<li>Nasri, sheikh, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>-<a href="#Page_168">8</a>.</li>
<li>Nejumi, <i>see</i> "Abderrahman Wad en Nejumi."</li>
<li><a name="tn_png_473"></a><!--TN: Alphabetical order of "Nesim" corrected in index-->Nesim, Major, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>.</li>
<li>Neufeld, Charles, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>, <a href="#Page_345">345</a>, <a href="#Page_348">348</a>, <a href="#Page_353">353</a>-<a href="#Page_360">60</a>, <a href="#Page_363">363</a>.</li>
<li>News, the Sudanese and, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>-<a href="#Page_73">3</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>in Omdurman, <a href="#Page_282">282</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Niam Niam, singers from, <a href="#Page_301">301</a>.</li>
<li>Nile, <i>see</i> "White Nile," "Blue Nile."</li>
<li>Noa&iuml;a, sheikh, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>-<a href="#Page_223">3</a>.</li>
<li>Nuba, country and people of, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>-<a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>-<a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>-<a href="#Page_49">9</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>-<a href="#Page_114">4</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>-<a href="#Page_118">8</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>-<a href="#Page_172">2</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>-<a href="#Page_200">200</a>, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>, <a href="#Page_384">384</a>.</li>
<li>Nubian desert, crossing the, <a href="#Page_433">433</a>-<a href="#Page_442">42</a>.</li>
<li>Nur Angar, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>.</li>
<li>Nur Bey, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>-<a href="#Page_165">5</a>.</li>
<li>Nur Gereifawi, <a href="#Page_327">327</a>, <a href="#Page_379">379</a>, <a href="#Page_404">404</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>son of, <a href="#Page_394">394</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Nuri, sheikh, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>.</li>
</ul>

<ul class="IX">
<li><span class="firstwords">Oath</span> of allegiance, sheikhs taking the, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>evidence on, at Omdurman, <a href="#Page_329">329</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Obeid, <i>see</i> "El Obeid."</li>
<li>O'Donovan, Mr. (<i>Daily News</i> correspondent), <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>.</li>
<li>Ohrwalder, Father, visit to Mek Omar, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>illtreated by a sheikh, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>-<a href="#Page_70">70</a>;</li>
  <li>taken before Abdullah, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>;</li>
  <li>journey to Rahad, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>-<a href="#Page_103">3</a>;</li>
  <li>interview with the Mahdi on religion, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>-<a href="#Page_111">11</a>;</li>
  <li>treatment of, by various masters, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>-<a href="#Page_117">7</a>;</li>
  <li>in Khartum, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>-<a href="#Page_150">50</a>;</li>
  <li>farewell to Father Bonomi, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>-<a href="#Page_184">84</a>;</li>
  <li>down with fever, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>;</li>
  <li>sent to Omdurman, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>;</li>
  <li>and famine in Omdurman, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>;</li>
  <li>made a prisoner, <a href="#Page_351">351</a>-<a href="#Page_352">2</a>;</li>
  <li>departure from Omdurman, <a href="#Page_407">407</a>;</li>
  <li>plans of escape, <a href="#Page_408">408</a>-<a href="#Page_423">23</a>;</li>
  <li>and Lupton, <a href="#Page_412">412</a>-<a href="#Page_413">3</a>;</li>
  <li>escape of, to Cairo, <a href="#Page_424">424</a>-<a href="#Page_446">46</a>;</li>
  <li>present situation in the Sudan, <a href="#Page_447">447</a>-<a href="#Page_450">450</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Omala (tax-gatherers) in the Sudan, <a href="#Page_313">313</a>.</li>
<li>Omar Kisha (merchant), <a href="#Page_267">267</a>, <a href="#Page_397">397</a>.</li>
<li>Omar Saleh, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>-<a href="#Page_271">71</a>.</li>
<li>Omar Wad Elias, Pasha, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>.</li>
<li>Omberer, a merchant, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>.</li>
<li>Omdurman, the Dervish capital, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>, <a href="#Page_281">281</a>, <a href="#Page_304">304</a>, <a href="#Page_328">328</a>, <a href="#Page_380">380</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>the Mahdi at, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>;</li>
  <li>surrender of fort at, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>;</li>
  <li>small-pox in, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>-<a href="#Page_155">5</a>;</li>
  <li>and the Mahdi's death, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>-<a href="#Page_163">3</a>;</li>
  <li>events in, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>-<a href="#Page_203">3</a>;</li>
  <li>hill of, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>;</li>
  <li>scarcity of small coins in, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>-<a href="#Page_213">3</a>;</li>
  <li>museum at, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>;</li>
  <li>the beit el mal at, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>-<a href="#Page_209">9</a>;</li>
  <li>Abyssinians in, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>-<a href="#Page_221">1</a>;</li>
  <li>Abu Anga and, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>-<a href="#Page_231">1</a>;</li>
  <li>grand review at, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>-<a href="#Page_226">6</a>;</li>
  <li>panic in, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>;</li>
  <li>Osman Digna at, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>-<a href="#Page_268">8</a>;</li>
  <li>Mahdi's tomb at, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>-<a href="#Page_279">9</a>;</li>
  <li>Khalifa's palace, <a href="#Page_280">280</a>;</li>
  <li>roads in, <a href="#Page_280">280</a>-<a href="#Page_281">1</a>;</li>
  <li>market-place, <a href="#Page_282">282</a>;</li>
  <li>gallows at, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>, <a href="#Page_317">317</a>-<a href="#Page_318">8</a>;</li>
  <li>inhabitants of, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>;</li>
  <li>population, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>-<a href="#Page_284">4</a>;</li>
  <li>famine in, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>-<a href="#Page_289">9</a>;</li>
  <li>plagues of locusts and mice in, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>-<a href="#Page_292">2</a>;</li>
  <li>thieves in, <a href="#Page_328">328</a>-<a href="#Page_329">9</a>, <a href="#Page_334">334</a>-<a href="#Page_335">5</a>, <a href="#Page_340">340</a>;</li>
  <li>system of justice at, <a href="#Page_329">329</a>-<a href="#Page_333">33</a>;</li>
  <li>cripples in, <a href="#Page_337">337</a>;</li>
  <li><a name="Page_458" id="Page_458"></a>immorality in, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>;</li>
  <li>marriages in, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>-<a href="#Page_343">3</a>;</li>
  <li>Saier, or prison at, <a href="#Page_344">344</a>-<a href="#Page_365">65</a>;</li>
  <li>Neufeld in, <a href="#Page_355">355</a>-<a href="#Page_360">60</a>;</li>
  <li>scarcity of powder at, <a href="#Page_367">367</a>-<a href="#Page_375">75</a>;</li>
  <li><a name="tn_png_474"></a><!--TN: "sandstorms" changed to "sand-storms"-->sand-storms at, <a href="#Page_376">376</a>-<a href="#Page_377">7</a>;</li>
  <li>slaves in, <a href="#Page_383">383</a>-<a href="#Page_386">6</a>;</li>
  <li>the Greeks in, <a href="#Page_412">412</a>;</li>
  <li>dress of women in, <a href="#Page_413">413</a>;</li>
  <li>Ohrwalder's last day at, <a href="#Page_424">424</a>;</li>
  <li>flight from, <a href="#Page_445">445</a>, <a href="#Page_449">449</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Om Herezeh mountain, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>.</li>
<li>Om Sadik, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>.</li>
<li>Omshanga, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>.</li>
<li>Onbe&iuml;a (wind instrument), <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_306">306</a>.</li>
<li>Ongat wells, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>.</li>
<li>Ornaments, the Mahdi and Sudanese, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>.</li>
<li>Ornithology: Birds in Dar Nuba, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>-<a href="#Page_4">4</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>kites at El Obeid, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>;</li>
  <li>vultures, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Oshra Well, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>.</li>
<li>Osman, Khalifa, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>, <a href="#Page_353">353</a>-<a href="#Page_354">4</a>, <a href="#Page_389">389</a>.</li>
<li>Osman Azrak, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>.</li>
<li>Osman Digna, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>-<a href="#Page_167">7</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>defeat of, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>-<a href="#Page_268">8</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Osman Wad Adam, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>and Abu Gemaizeh, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>-<a href="#Page_241">41</a>;</li>
  <li>death of, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Osman Wad Dekeim, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>.</li>
<li>Ostrich farms in Kordofan, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>.</li>
</ul>

<ul class="IX">
<li><span class="firstwords">Pain, Olivier</span>, at El Obeid, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>-<a href="#Page_175">75</a>.</li>
<li>Palace, the Khalifa's, at Omdurman, <a href="#Page_280">280</a>.</li>
<li>Passioni, Jew named, <a href="#Page_360">360</a>.</li>
<li>Pesavento, Sister E., <a href="#Page_48">48</a>.</li>
<li>Pilgrims at Omdurman, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>.</li>
<li>Pimezzoni, Franz, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>.</li>
<li>Plagues in the Sudan: of locusts, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>of mice, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>-<a href="#Page_292">2</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Plough, a, in the Sudan, <a href="#Page_378">378</a>.</li>
<li>Poetry, the Arabs and, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>.</li>
<li>Polinari, Domenico, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>-<a href="#Page_140">40</a>, <a href="#Page_349">349</a>-<a href="#Page_350">50</a>.</li>
<li>Postal service in the Mahdi's kingdom, <a href="#Page_300">300</a>-<a href="#Page_301">1</a>.</li>
<li>Powder, scarcity of, at Omdurman, <a href="#Page_359">359</a>, <a href="#Page_367">367</a>-<a href="#Page_375">75</a>.</li>
<li>Power, Consul, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>-<a href="#Page_130">30</a>.</li>
<li>Prayers, the Mahdi and, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>book of, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>;</li>
  <li>form of, <a href="#Page_296">296</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Printing press at Omdurman, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>.</li>
<li>Prison at Omdurman, <a href="#Page_344">344</a>-<a href="#Page_365">65</a>.</li>
<li>Proclamation by the Mahdi, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>.</li>
</ul>

<ul class="IX">
<li><span class="firstwords">Quicksilver</span> found at Delen, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>.</li>
</ul>
 <ul class="IX">
<li><span class="firstwords">Rabeh Zubeir</span>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>.</li>
<li>Rahad, General Hicks at, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>-<a href="#Page_85">85</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>the road to, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>-<a href="#Page_103">3</a>;</li>
  <li>the Mahdi at, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>-<a href="#Page_121">21</a>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>-<a href="#Page_126">6</a>, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Rahma, fiki, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>.</li>
<li>Rain in Dar Nuba, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>in the Sudan, <a href="#Page_376">376</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Ramadan, fast of, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>.</li>
<li>Ras Adal, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>; and Galabat, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>-<a href="#Page_220">20</a>.</li>
<li>Ras Alula, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>.</li>
<li>Rashid Bey, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>.</li>
<li>Ratibs (Mahdi's book of prayers), <a href="#Page_213">213</a>.</li>
<li>Rauf Pasha, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>-<a href="#Page_2">2</a>, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>-<a href="#Page_7">7</a>.</li>
<li>Regaf Station, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>-<a href="#Page_272">2</a>, <a href="#Page_340">340</a>, <a href="#Page_384">384</a>, <a href="#Page_396">396</a>.</li>
<li>Religion, interview with the Mahdi on, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>-<a href="#Page_111">11</a>.</li>
<li>Reptiles, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>snakes, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>-<a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_433">433</a>;</li>
  <li>scorpions, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a href="#Page_347">347</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Review of Dervishes at Omdurman, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>-<a href="#Page_226">6</a>, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>-<a href="#Page_308">8</a>.</li>
<li>Rizighat tribe of Arabs, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>, <a href="#Page_396">396</a>-<a href="#Page_397">7</a>.</li>
<li>Roads in Omdurman, <a href="#Page_280">280</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>in the Sudan, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Rognotto, Joseph, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>.</li>
<li>Rossignoli, Father, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>.</li>
<li>Roversi (inspector of slaves), <a href="#Page_22">22</a>-<a href="#Page_23">3</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>-<a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>death of, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Rundle Bey, <a href="#Page_439">439</a>.</li>
</ul>

<ul class="IX">
<li><span class="firstwords">Saburi</span> Mountain, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>.</li>
<li>Saddlers at Omdurman, <a href="#Page_381">381</a>.</li>
<li><i>Safia</i> steamer, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>.</li>
<li>Said Bey Guma, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>-<a href="#Page_203">3</a>, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>.</li>
<li>Said Mohammed, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>.</li>
<li>Said Pasha, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>-<a href="#Page_11">1</a>, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>-<a href="#Page_21">1</a>, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>defence of El Obeid, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>-<a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>-<a href="#Page_59">9</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Said el Mek, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>.</li>
<li>Saier at Omdurman, see "Prison."</li>
<li>Saleh, sheikh, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>.</li>
<li>Saleh Pasha Wad el Mek, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <a href="#Page_350">350</a>.</li>
<li>Saleh Bey, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>-<a href="#Page_218">8</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>, <a href="#Page_352">352</a>-<a href="#Page_353">3</a>, <a href="#Page_364">364</a>, <a href="#Page_414">414</a>.</li>
<li>Saleh Bey Fadlallah, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>-<a href="#Page_234">4</a>, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>.</li>
<li>Salem, sheikh, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>.</li>
<li>Salisbury, Lord, letter to King John, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>-<a href="#Page_251">1</a>.</li>
<li>Sandalia, perfume called, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>.</li>
<li>Sandstorm, a fearful, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>in the Sudan, <a href="#Page_376">376</a>-<a href="#Page_377">7</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Santoni, A., <a href="#Page_443">443</a>;
 <ul class="IX">
  <li>and Father Bonomi, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>-<a href="#Page_179">9</a>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Sarras, Dervishes at, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>-<a href="#Page_258">8</a>, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>.</li>
<li>Sawakin, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>-<a href="#Page_167">7</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>Osman Digna besieges, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>-<a href="#Page_267">7</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Sayer, Brother, <a href="#Page_443">443</a>.</li>
<li>Sayid el Mek, <a href="#Page_407">407</a>.</li>
<li>Sayid Hamed, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>-<a href="#Page_168">8</a>.</li>
<li>Sayid Osman, <i>see</i> "Osman, Khalifa."</li>
<li><a name="Page_459" id="Page_459"></a>"Sayidna Isa," <a href="#Page_244">244</a>-<a href="#Page_5">5</a>.
<li>Schuver, Jean M., <a href="#Page_2">2</a>.</li>
<li>Seckendorf, Baron, death of, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>servant of, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Selima wells, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>.</li>
<li>Selim Bey in Equatoria, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>.</li>
<li>Sennar, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>-<a href="#Page_165">5</a>, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>.</li>
<li>Senussi, sheikh, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>.</li>
<li>Shaggieh troops, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>.</li>
<li>Shaggieh tribe, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>.</li>
<li>Shakka, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>, <a href="#Page_384">384</a>, <a href="#Page_391">391</a>.</li>
<li>Shar&eacute; River, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>.</li>
<li>Shatt Station, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>.</li>
<li>Shebba, a (forked wood), <a href="#Page_97">97</a>.</li>
<li>Sheep of the Kababish tribe, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>in the Sudan provinces, <a href="#Page_379">379</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Shekan forest, battle near, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>.</li>
<li>Shendi, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>.</li>
<li>Sherif, Khalifa, <i>see</i> "Ali Esh Sherif."</li>
<li>Sherif Mahmud, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>-<a href="#Page_172">72</a>, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>-<a href="#Page_178">8</a>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>-<a href="#Page_189">9</a>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>death of, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>-<a href="#Page_199">9</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Shilluk tribe, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>, <a href="#Page_379">379</a>.</li>
<li>Shirkeleh, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>.</li>
<li>Shirra, Baggara chief, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>.</li>
<li>Shukrieh tribe, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>, <a href="#Page_350">350</a>.</li>
<li>Sideham, a Copt, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>.</li>
<li>Sid el Hassan, the celebrated Moslem, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>-<a href="#Page_166">6</a>.</li>
<li>Sidi Hamdan, <i>see</i> "Abu Anga."</li>
<li>Sieges, <i>see</i> "Bara," "El Fasher," "El Obeid," "Galabat," "Kassala," "Khartum," "Sennar," "Sawakin," "Tokar," &amp;c.</li>
<li>Singiokai, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>.</li>
<li>Sisters of the Austrian Mission, before Abdullah, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>at Rahad, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>-<a href="#Page_106">6</a>;</li>
  <li>escape of, from Omdurman, <a href="#Page_413">413</a>-<a href="#Page_415">5</a>, <a href="#Page_418">418</a>-<a href="#Page_445">45</a>;</li>
  <li><i>see also</i> "Andreis," "Corsi," "Chincarini," "Pesavento," "Venturini."</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Siwar ed Dahab, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>.</li>
<li>Skander Bey, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>.</li>
<li>Skander, fate of Mulatte, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>.</li>
<li>Slatin Bey, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>-<a href="#Page_75">5</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>-<a href="#Page_175">5</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_348">348</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>and Darfur, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>;</li>
  <li>and waterskins, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Slave trade, in Dar Nuba, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>in the Bahr el Ghazal, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>-<a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>;</li>
  <li>in the Sudan, <a href="#Page_382">382</a>-<a href="#Page_386">6</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Slaves, the Mahdi's law regarding, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>of Khartum, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>;</li>
  <li>at Omdurman, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>-<a href="#Page_209">9</a>, <a href="#Page_333">333</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Small-pox, in Omdurman, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>-<a href="#Page_155">5</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>in El Obeid, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>-<a href="#Page_184">4</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Soap-boiling at Omdurman, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>-<a href="#Page_214">4</a>, <a href="#Page_303">303</a>, <a href="#Page_413">413</a>.</li>
<li>Sobei, the Khojur of, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>.</li>
<li>Sogaro, Archbishop Franz, <a href="#Page_415">415</a>-<a href="#Page_417">7</a>, <a href="#Page_420">420</a>, <a href="#Page_444">444</a>-<a href="#Page_445">5</a>.</li>
<li>Soil, of Dar Nuba, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>of Bara, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>;</li>
  <li>in the Gezireh, <a href="#Page_378">378</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Stambuli, George, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>-<a href="#Page_48">8</a>, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>-<a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>-<a href="#Page_97">7</a>, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>.</li>
<li>Stanley, H.&nbsp;M., and Emin Pasha, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>.</li>
<li>Starvation in the Mahdi's camp, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>.</li>
<li>Stewart, Col., murder of, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>-<a href="#Page_130">30</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_414">414</a>, <a href="#Page_438">438</a>.</li>
<li>Sudan, Egypt and the, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>the Mahdi master of the, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>;</li>
  <li>English troops in the, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>;</li>
  <li>custom to drink melted butter, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>;</li>
  <li>revolt of black soldiers of army of, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>-<a href="#Page_200">200</a>;</li>
  <li>witchcraft in, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>-<a href="#Page_275">5</a>;</li>
  <li>famine in the, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>-<a href="#Page_292">2</a>;</li>
  <li>horsemanship in the, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>;</li>
  <li>immorality in the, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>-<a href="#Page_343">3</a>;</li>
  <li>cattle breeding in the, <a href="#Page_376">376</a>-<a href="#Page_379">9</a>;</li>
  <li>disease in the, <a href="#Page_386">386</a>;</li>
  <li>present situation in the, <a href="#Page_387">387</a>-<a href="#Page_407">407</a>, <a href="#Page_447">447</a>-<a href="#Page_450">50</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Sudanese, the, marriage ceremony of, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>-<a href="#Page_18">8</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>and <a name="tn_png_475"></a><!--TN: "smallpox" changed to "small-pox"-->small-pox, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>-<a href="#Page_155">5</a>;</li>
  <li>and alchemy, <a href="#Page_369">369</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Suez, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>.</li>
<li>Suk Abu Sin, <i>see</i> "Gedaref."</li>
<li>Suleiman Bey, Gessi and, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>-<a href="#Page_10">10</a>.</li>
<li>Suleiman, Capt. M., <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>.</li>
<li>Suleiman el Hejazi, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>.</li>
<li>Suleiman Wad Naaman, sheikh, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>-<a href="#Page_130">30</a>, <a href="#Page_414">414</a>.</li>
<li>Superstition, in the Sudan, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>-<a href="#Page_275">5</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>the Nubas and, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>;</li>
  <li><i>see also</i> "Witchcraft."</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Surur Effendi, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>.</li>
<li>Swindlers in Omdurman, <a href="#Page_334">334</a>, <a href="#Page_337">337</a>-<a href="#Page_339">9</a>.</li>
<li>Syria, Sherif of, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>.</li>
</ul>

<ul class="IX">
<li><span class="firstwords">Tagalla, Jebel</span>, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>-<a href="#Page_223">3</a>, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li><i>see also</i> "Adam, King."</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Taha, Sayid Mohammed, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>.</li>
<li>Taher, sheikh, <a href="#Page_316">316</a>-<a href="#Page_317">7</a>.</li>
<li>Taisha Arabs, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>, <a href="#Page_301">301</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>Abdullah and, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>-<a href="#Page_311">11</a>, <a href="#Page_350">350</a>, <a href="#Page_395">395</a>-<a href="#Page_396">6</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Takruri tribe, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>-<a href="#Page_172">2</a>, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>.</li>
<li>Tamai, battle of, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>.</li>
<li>Tamarinds in Kordofan, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>.</li>
<li>Taxation in the Mahdi's kingdom, <a href="#Page_379">379</a>-<a href="#Page_380">80</a>.</li>
<li>Tax-gatherers of the Sudan provinces, <a href="#Page_313">313</a>.</li>
<li>Tax levied at Omdurman, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>.</li>
<li><a name="Page_460" id="Page_460"></a>Tayara Station, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>.</li>
<li>Testament, King John's copy of New, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>.</li>
<li>Thieves in Omdurman, <a href="#Page_328">328</a>-<a href="#Page_329">9</a>, <a href="#Page_334">334</a>-<a href="#Page_337">7</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a>-<a href="#Page_340">40</a>.</li>
<li>"Three Holy Kings," festival of the, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>.
<li>Tira hill, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>.</li>
<li>Tobacco, the Sudanese and, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>chewing, <a href="#Page_276">276</a>;</li>
  <li>punishment of smokers of, <a href="#Page_330">330</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Tobji, Osman, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>-<a href="#Page_66">6</a>.</li>
<li>Todros Kasa, son of King Theodore, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>-<a href="#Page_245">5</a>.</li>
<li>Tokar, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>-<a href="#Page_268">8</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>capture of, <a href="#Page_367">367</a>, <a href="#Page_386">386</a>, <a href="#Page_414">414</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Tolodi, Jebel, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>.</li>
<li>Tomb of the Mahdi at Omdurman, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>-<a href="#Page_280">80</a>.</li>
<li>Tome, sheikh, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>brother of, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Toski, battle at, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>, <a href="#Page_320">320</a>, <a href="#Page_350">350</a>, <a href="#Page_361">361</a>.</li>
<li>Trades in Omdurman, <a href="#Page_381">381</a>-<a href="#Page_382">2</a>.</li>
<li>Treasure in Khartum, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>.</li>
<li>Trees in Dar Nuba, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>.</li>
<li>Tur el Hadra, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>.</li>
<li>Tuti Island, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>, <a href="#Page_375">375</a>.</li>
<li>"Turk," Arabs and the term, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>.
<li>Turkey, Sultan of, letter to, from Khalifa, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>.</li>
</ul>

<ul class="IX">
<li><span class="firstwords">Uganda</span>, events in, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>.</li>
<li>Unyoro, events in, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>.</li>
</ul>

<ul class="IX">
<li><span class="firstwords">Venturini</span>, Sister E., <a href="#Page_413">413</a>-<a href="#Page_445">45</a>.</li>
<li>Victoria, Queen, and King John of Abyssinia, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>-<a href="#Page_251">1</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>letter to, from Abdullah, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
</ul>

<ul class="IX">
<li><span class="firstwords">Wad</span> Ali, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>.</li>
<li>Wad Arbab, Emir, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>-<a href="#Page_218">8</a>.</li>
<li>Wad Bishara, village of, <a href="#Page_426">426</a>.</li>
<li>Wad el Bedri, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_319">319</a>, <a href="#Page_395">395</a>.</li>
<li>Wad el Besir, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>, <a href="#Page_306">306</a>.</li>
<li>Wadelai, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>.</li>
<li>Wad el Areik (merchant), <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_405">405</a>.</li>
<li>Wad el Banna, <a href="#Page_401">401</a>.</li>
<li>Wad el Hashmi, Emir, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>-<a href="#Page_194">4</a>, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>.</li>
<li>Wad el Makashef, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>.</li>
<li>Wad er Reis, <a href="#Page_445">445</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li><i>see</i> "Hussein Wad Dayim."</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Wad Gubara (Emir), <a href="#Page_38">38</a>-<a href="#Page_39">9</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>.</li>
<li>Wad Gesuli, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>.</li>
<li>Wad Guzuli, <a href="#Page_345">345</a>.</li>
<li>Wad Hamdu Allah, <a href="#Page_313">313</a>.</li>
<li>Wadi Gamr cataracts, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>.</li>
<li>Wadi Halfa, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>.</li>
<li>Wad Nubawi (Emir), <a href="#Page_233">233</a>.</li>
<li>Wad Zaid, <a href="#Page_350">350</a>.</li>
<li>War materials at Omdurman, <a href="#Page_349">349</a>, <a href="#Page_381">381</a>.</li>
<li>Waterskins, the Masalit people and, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>.</li>
<li>Water-wheels along the Nile, <a href="#Page_378">378</a>.</li>
<li>White Nile, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>-<a href="#Page_135">5</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>expedition up the, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>-<a href="#Page_272">272</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Witchcraft, the Mahdi's success attributed to, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>the bark of Adansonia tree, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>;</li>
  <li>in the Sudan, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>-<a href="#Page_275">5</a>, <a href="#Page_402">402</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Wodehouse, Colonel, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>battle at Argin, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Wolseley (Lord), 'Soldier's Pocket-Book,' <a href="#Page_101">101</a>.</li>
</ul>

<ul class="IX">
<li><span class="firstwords">Yakub</span> (Khalifa Abdullah's brother), <a href="#Page_243">243</a>, <a href="#Page_277">277</a>, <a href="#Page_304">304</a>, <a href="#Page_313">313</a>-<a href="#Page_314">4</a>, <a href="#Page_324">324</a>-<a href="#Page_326">6</a>, <a href="#Page_361">361</a>, <a href="#Page_366">366</a>, <a href="#Page_368">368</a>, <a href="#Page_371">371</a>-<a href="#Page_373">3</a>, <a href="#Page_389">389</a>-<a href="#Page_390">90</a>, <a href="#Page_394">394</a>, <a href="#Page_402">402</a>-<a href="#Page_407">7</a>.</li>
<li>Yesin, Major, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>.</li>
<li>Yunis Ed Dekeim, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>.</li>
<li>Yusef Angeli (Greek), <a href="#Page_373">373</a>-<a href="#Page_374">4</a>.</li>
<li>Yusef Pertekachi, and manufacture of <a name="tn_png_476"></a><!--TN: "power" changed to "powder"-->powder, <a href="#Page_371">371</a>-<a href="#Page_374">4</a>.</li>
<li>Yunis, Emir, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>-<a href="#Page_220">20</a>, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>, <a href="#Page_396">396</a>, <a href="#Page_417">417</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>and Abu Anga, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>-<a href="#Page_245">5</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Yusef, Sultan of Darfur, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>.</li>
<li>Yusef Kurdi (merchant), <a href="#Page_333">333</a>-<a href="#Page_334">4</a>.</li>
<li>Yusef Pasha, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>-<a href="#Page_11">1</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>.</li>
</ul>

<ul class="IX">
<li><span class="firstwords">Zeki Tummal</span> and Abyssinia, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>-<a href="#Page_252">2</a>, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>.</li>
<li>Zeregga, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>.</li>
<li>Zogal (the Mahdi's uncle), <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>-<a href="#Page_94">4</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>-<a href="#Page_267">7</a>, <a href="#Page_360">360</a>, <a href="#Page_388">388</a>, <a href="#Page_396">396</a>, <a href="#Page_401">401</a>, <a href="#Page_417">417</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>and Darfur, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>-<a href="#Page_203">3</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Zogheir (a celebrated thief), <a href="#Page_335">335</a>-<a href="#Page_337">7</a>, <a href="#Page_353">353</a>.</li>
<li>Zubeir, feast known as, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>.</li>
<li>Zubeir Pasha, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_391">391</a>;
  <ul class="IX">
  <li>Abu Anga and, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>;</li>
  <li>and Kingdom of Shakka, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>.</li>
  </ul></li>
<li>Zurbuchen, Dr., <a name="tn_png_476a"></a><!--TN: Space inserted before "2"--><a href="#Page_2">2</a>.</li>
</ul>

<hr style="width: 35%;margin-bottom:.2em;">
<p class="center" style="font-size:.7em;padding-top:.2em;">LONDON: PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED,<br>
STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS.</p>

<hr class="newpg" style="width: 65%;">
<a name="plan"></a><div class="figcenter" style="width:500px;padding-bottom:2em;"><a href="https://brian.carnell.com/wiki/_media/etext:f:fr-wingate-ten-years-captive-plan.png">
<img src="https://brian.carnell.com/wiki/_media/etext:f:fr-wingate-ten-years-captive-plan_small.png" border="1" alt="" title="" width="400" height="325"></a>
<p class="caption2">A PLAN OF OMDURMAN<br>Drawn in the Intelligence Department,
Egyptian Army from descriptions given by natives and revised by Father Ohrwalder</p>
<p class="caption2">Scale 1/14400 or 1 to 400 yards</p>
<p class="center"><a href="https://brian.carnell.com/wiki/_media/etext:f:fr-wingate-ten-years-captive-plan.png">Larger Version of Plan</a></div>

<hr class="newpg" style="width: 65%;">
<a name="map"></a><p class="caption2"><span style="font-size:.9em;font-weight:bold;">THE NILE BASIN</span><br>shewing the course of Hicks Pasha's Expedition
and the Flight of Father Ohrwalder</p>
<div class="figcenter" style="width:500px;padding-bottom:2em;"><a href="https://brian.carnell.com/wiki/_media/etext:f:fr-wingate-ten-years-captive-map.png">
<img src="https://brian.carnell.com/wiki/_media/etext:f:fr-wingate-ten-years-captive-map_small.png" border="1" alt="" title="" width="164" height="400"></a>
<p class="caption2">London: Sampson Low &amp; Co. </p>
<p class="center"><a href="https://brian.carnell.com/wiki/_media/etext:f:fr-wingate-ten-years-captive-map.png">Larger Version of Map</a></div>

<hr class="newpg" style="width: 65%;">
<a name="map2"></a><p class="caption2"><span style="font-size:.9em;font-weight:bold;">Sketch Map
showing correct Position of I.B.E.A. Co's Forts &amp; Boundary of Uganda</span></p>
<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;padding-bottom:2em;"><a href="https://brian.carnell.com/wiki/_media/etext:f:fr-wingate-ten-years-captive-map2.png">
<img src="https://brian.carnell.com/wiki/_media/etext:f:fr-wingate-ten-years-captive-map2_small.png" border="1" alt="" title="" width="400" height="345"></a>
<table width="450" border="0" align="center" summary="Attribution of Map">
<tr>
<td width="50%" align="left"><p class="caption2" style="text-align:left;">London: Sampson Low &amp; Co. Limited</p></td>
<td width="50%" align="right"><p class="caption2" style="text-align:right;">G. Philip &amp; Son, London &amp; Liverpool</p></td>
</tr>
</table>
<p class="captionserif">NOTE--At the last moment when this book was passed for press,
the return to England of Captain Lugard enables me, through his courtesy, to give the
names and positions of the forts in Uganda and Unyoro now occupied by the troops
in the service of the Imperial British East Africa Company.--F.&nbsp;R.&nbsp;W.&nbsp;</p>
<p class="center"><a href="https://brian.carnell.com/wiki/_media/etext:f:fr-wingate-ten-years-captive-map2.png">Larger Version of Map</a></div>
</html>