the Mahdi. He listened kindly to our entreaty, and then said, "At
present the roads 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.

FOOTNOTES:

[D] 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.--J. O.

CHAPTER IV.

THE SIEGE OF EL OBEID.

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

The 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 were considered
quite tit-bits; white ants, too, were eaten.

And now the deaths by starvation had reached an appalling figure. The
dead and dying filled the streets; the space wi