the time we arrived near Omdurman my camel had
died; the poor Arab wept bitterly for his loss, and I could do nothing
towards repaying him. On the evening of the 24th of April, 1886, we
encamped close to the town. A fearful sandstorm was blowing, and we were
enveloped in clouds of dust--a fitting advent to the capital of the
Mahdi's empire!

FOOTNOTES:

[J] The name given to natives of a mixed parentage; _i.e._,
generally an Egyptian or Turkish father and a Sudanese mother.

CHAPTER XII.

OHRWALDER'S IMPRESSIONS OF OMDURMAN.

Ohrwalder's arrival in Omdurman--His first impressions of the
Dervish capital--Khalifa Abdullah's intentions to conquer
Egypt--Wad Suleiman of the beit el mal--Wad Adlan
succeeds--Gordon's clothes, medals, &c.--Adlan reorganizes the beit
el mal--The slave market, museum, mint, and system of
coinage--Counterfeit coining--The lithograph press--The Khalifa's
system of justice.

The next morning--the 26th of April, 1886--we rose covered with dust
from head to foot, and by the time we had got under way again, the sun
was already high in the heavens, and was unusually hot. This was the
worst season of the year. The first place we came to was the Mahdi's old
camp, which was marked by a line of mud walls. From this position the
fort of Omdurman had been besieged, and innumerable human and animal
bones marked the site of this long-sustained conflict. To our right lay
the White Nile, flowing between its green banks, beyond it the Blue Nile
could just be seen, and the ruins of Khartum were visible behind the
thick belt of palm-trees.

Emerging from the arid deserts of Kordofan, the Nile with its green
banks was a most refreshing sight; on the other hand, the view of
Khartum in ruins awakened the saddest recollections. Of the vast crowd
which had beset Gordon on every side, some were scattered far and wide,
while others had settled down around their new master in Omdurman. The
little hill on the west bank just opposite to the junction of the two
Niles was called Omdurman, hence the name of the Mahdiist capital.
Previous to the revolt, there had been merely a few huts; but it was
always considered a place of importance, as the hills in the vicinity
supplied lime and stone in quantities for building works in Khartum. In
those days, the lime-pits were in Omdurman, and the place where the
Mahdiist capital now stands was a thick and thorny bush--the abode of
th