ation 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.

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

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.

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--the Dar Homr, Bederieh, Ghodiat, Baggara Howazma,
Miserieh, and Dar Nauli--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.

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.

[Illustration: FATHER OHRWALDER'S INTERVIEW WITH THE MAHDI AT RAHAD,
CONCERNING RELIGION.]

I was also twice summoned by the Mahdi; on one 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 to