ese were his dream.

For two years he had been digging wells and building rest-houses on the
road to Alexandria. The West was now outwardly quiet, and between Egypt
and any hope of succor from the eastern caliphate stood the ravaging
armies of the Karmatis. Egypt itself was in helpless disorder. The great
Kafur was dead, and its nominal ruler was a child. Ibn-Furat, the
_wazir_, had made himself obnoxious to the people by arrests and
extortions. The very soldiery was in revolt, and the Turkish retainers
of the court mutinied, plundered the wazir's palace, and even opened
negotiations with Moizz. Hoseyn, the nephew of the Ikshid, attempted to
restore public order, but after three months of vacillating and
unpopular government he returned to his own province in Palestine to
make terms with the Karmatis. Famine, the result of the exceptionally
low Nile of 967, added to the misery of the country; plague, as usual,
followed in the steps of famine; over six hundred thousand people died
in and around Fustat, and the wretched inhabitants began in despair to
migrate to happier lands.

All these matters were fully reported to Moizz by the renegade Jew Yakub
Killis, a former favorite of Kafur, who had been driven from Egypt by
the jealous exactions of the wazir, Ibn-Furat, and who was perfectly
familiar with the political and financial state of the Nile valley. His
representations confirmed the Fatimite Caliph's resolve; the Arab tribes
were summoned to his standard; an immense treasure was collected, all of
which was spent in the campaign; gratuities were lavishly distributed to
the army, and at the head of over one hundred thousand men, all well
mounted and armed, accompanied by a thousand camels and a mob of horses
carrying money, stores, and ammunition, Gawhar marched from Kayrawan in
February, 969. The Caliph himself reviewed the troops. The marshal
kissed his hand and his horse's shoe. All the princes, emirs, and
courtiers passed reverently on foot before the honored leader of the
conquering army, who, as a last proof of favor, received the gift of his
master's own robes and charger. The governors of all the towns on the
route had orders to come on foot to Gawhar's stirrup, and one of them
vainly offered a large bribe to be excused the indignity.

The approach of this overwhelming force filled the Egyptian ministers
with consternation, and they thought only of obtaining favorable terms.
A deputation of notables, headed by