and Mecca, to examine
Mahdieh with their own eyes. All this tended to make Abdullah more
desirous than ever to conquer Egypt. He despatched Nejumi and his men to
Dongola, whilst Yunis was instructed to collect all the men he could in
the Gezireh. Sherif Mahmud's followers were also sent to Dongola; thus
did Abdullah dispose of the adherents of those emirs whom he knew to be
hostile to him. Zogal once arrested, Abdullah had now little to fear.
Hitherto he had treated his two brother Khalifas, and the Ashraf and
Danagla with the utmost respect; but now he conducted himself in a very
different manner, and could not bear to have anyone in the smallest
degree associated with him who was of almost equal rank; he therefore
did all in his power to weaken the opposition party, and to increase the
influence of his own party. The first blow he struck fell on Ahmed Wad
Suleiman, emin of the beit el mal. The day that we arrived in Omdurman
he was put in chains, and his house and the beit el mal were put under
guards. Wad Suleiman had been one of the Mahdi's most fanatical
adherents, and whenever he passed the Mahdi's tomb he used to stretch
out his hands and weep like a child--indeed he had every reason to do
so, for the Mahdi had raised him from a low position to a post of great
honour, and the thought of losing this position distressed him greatly.

Suleiman's wheel of fortune had come round at a good time, when the
amount of money in the beit el mal was considerable. The immense
quantities of loot taken at El Obeid, Shikan, Khartum, Sennar, and
Berber, had all passed through his hands, and any Dervish who was in
need of anything always came to him, and in this way he acquired great
influence. Since the Mahdi's death there had been great enmity between
Suleiman and Abdullah, and on the pretext of examining the accounts,
Abdullah had him arrested, and intended to send him away, while he
appointed Mohammed Osman (Zogal's son) in his place.

In Suleiman's house some 5,000 grammes of unstamped gold was found, and
it is more than probable that this was but a small portion of what he
had previously appropriated. He was therefore thrown into chains, where
he remained for a year and more. A month after his arrest, a certain
Ibrahim Wad Adlan, of Wad Medina, on the Blue Nile, and sometime
merchant in El Obeid, was appointed emin beit el mal. He had frequently
been in Cairo, was a pleasant-looking man, and had enlightened ideas. At
one ti