l mal[I] that he had gone to Khartum to fetch
some medicine. I believe this man thoroughly knew that he had escaped;
but he did not show the slightest suspicion, and ordered us to go to
Khartum as well; and we were placed under close surveillance. He also
wrote to Sherif Mahmud at Delen, and to Khartum; a few days later orders
came from Mahmud that we were to be imprisoned in the zariba of the beit
el mal. That evening, soldiers came and dragged us and our slender
property to the zariba; and while waiting till huts should be made for
us, we were housed with slaves suffering from small-pox.

This disease was then very prevalent in El Obeid, and horrible sights
continually met our eyes. These unfortunate sufferers had no one to help
them, and they were left to die, either of the disease, or of hunger;
they lay about under the trees in the market-place, shunned by every
one; often, when still living, they were dragged off by men, who tied
ropes round their bodies, and pulled them along the ground till they
were beyond the outskirts of the town; and there they were left to be
devoured by the hyenas.

A dreadful famine prevailed, and the population was decimated by
hunger; ten to twelve pounds of corn were sold for a dollar, and the man
was fortunate who could buy it at this price. In the market, fights were
frequent; meat, however, was not so expensive, and we lived for days on
meat only, without any bread. The poor people used to dig about the
streets and in the houses for gum, which they knew had been concealed
during the siege; and this unwholesome food frequently caused their
death.

The air in the zariba was poisoned by the number of people suffering
from small-pox; but curiously enough, the disease never seemed to touch
the white people. My new abode turned out to be not so bad as I
expected. I became friends with some of the soldiers who used to be in
the Government service, and sympathised with them in their wretched
state; these poor men often tried to do me any little service they
could.

It was about this time that Sultan Dud Benga, flying from Zogal,
arrived, on his way to give himself up to the Mahdi in Omdurman, and
also a certain Sherif, who set himself up to be the fourth
Khalifa--Osman. The latter, however, on his arrival in Omdurman, was
thrown into chains, and his wives, horses, and slaves confiscated. I
planted a few water-melons round my hut, which grew well; and I used to
amuse myself by watching