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.

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.

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 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!

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?

When at length all the houses in Khartum had been evacuated, the
furniture, &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 (De