The Nubas of Jebel Dair did their utmost to harass El Obeid; they were
always hovering about in the outskirts, ready to pounce down on any
cattle and slaves they saw. It would have been madness to go an hour's
distance from the town without an escort. The Dervishes frequently made
attempts to clear the neighbourhood of these brigands, but I observed
that they always returned considerably fewer in number, and I secretly
rejoiced at their inability to cope with these brave Nubas. Taking
everything into consideration, I was not sorry to say good-bye to this
dreary and inhospitable town.

We were given four camels, whose owners acted as the drivers. It was
agreed that on arrival in Omdurman we should pay them at the rate of
seven dollars a camel.

On the 25th of March, 1886, we left El Obeid. What a flood of
recollections welled up in my mind as we marched for the last time
through the desolate ruins of the city! How strange had been the
vicissitudes of this once flourishing place during the last few years!
From a thriving and peaceful township it had been transformed into the
theatre of constant warfare and bloodshed. It had then been the scene of
the Mahdi's debaucheries, when he rested after his victories, and now it
had dwindled down into a wretched Arab village.

Our road took us past the site of the El Obeid Mission-house, of which
not a trace remained. In its place was the market, and a heap of white
bones indicated the locality of the cook's shop. We halted that evening
at Korbatsh; the next day we started very early; and after a two days'
march, arrived at Bara. This beautiful little town is situated in a
woody depression of the great Kordofan plain. In the distance we could
see the white ruins through the high acacia trees. Formerly the place
had been well planted with date-palms; but during the siege the
inhabitants had cut them down, and lived upon the crushed core.

In the Government days Bara had been a sort of sanatorium for El Obeid,
where the richer inhabitants used to spend the summer; they had made
lovely gardens, full of date-trees, lemon-plants, banana-trees, and
vines, while the vegetables used to be sold in El Obeid. The soil is
exceptionally fertile, and there is an abundance of water obtainable at
only six feet below the surface. But now the place was completely
destroyed and neglected; and wild bushes and thorns grew apace amidst
the ruins.

As we approached Bara, we heard the thunder of guns,