ne
of these conversation parties on the third day from Suez.

"The last time I looked at the chart, just on the parallel of 20 deg. of
north latitude, the sounding was 500 fathoms," replied the commander.

"Indeed? That is 3,000 feet; I did not suppose it was so deep as that,"
added the doctor.

"The bottom is very irregular in all parts of the Red Sea; and in some
places it is more than double the figure just mentioned. When we were
about sixty miles north of Jiddah, the sounding was 1,054 fathoms, or
6,234 feet."

"How deep has the water been found to be in the ocean?"

"As much as 4,000 fathoms of line have been paid out, with no bottom as
the result. Soundings of 3,000 fathoms have been obtained. In the
library you will find the 'Cruise of the Challenger,' which is the
latest authority on this subject."

"I shall refer to it; thank you, Captain."

"On a little rocky island on our right," continued the commander,
pointing to the location, "is the town of Suakin, as it is generally
called, though the proper word is Sawakin. It is a town of ten thousand
inhabitants. It is abreast of Nubia, the Soudan, and is the outlet of
its commerce. When the Mahdi War became a serious matter, England took
possession of this port; and several battles were fought in the vicinity
with the followers of the Mahdi, who seemed to imitate the example of
Mohammed to some extent in his crusade. The place is still held by a
British garrison, and about seven thousand pilgrims embark here every
year for Mecca by the way of Jiddah."

"We all remember the war in the Soudan in which the Mahdi figured so
largely," said Uncle Moses. "I should like to know something more about
him."

"The meaning of the word is the guide, 'the well-directed one.' There
have been at least half a dozen Mahdis in the history of Mohammedans,
just as there have been Messiahs in Christian lands, all of them
impostors of course. One appeared in Arabia, who claimed to be a
successor of Mohammed who had disappeared; another presented himself in
the northern part of Africa. One appeared in Egypt during the French
invasion, and was killed in battle.

"The last one was Mohammed Ahmed; and like the rest of them he claimed
to be a lineal descendant of the Prophet, divinely commissioned to
extend his religion, and especially to drive the Christians out of the
Soudan. He was in his earlier life an employe of the Egyptian
government, but quarrelled with the governor of hi