which made walking very difficult.

Slaves received a little dry dhurra from the beit el mal as food until
they were sold. The female slaves generally grind the dhurra, and make a
sort of polenta out of it, which is either eaten with water or boiled
and eaten as balila. The dhurra ration of a slave is generally so small
and so bad that numbers of them die of starvation long before they are
fortunate enough to be sold.

Slaves are sold by auction in the beit el mal, and a written certificate
is given to the purchaser, stating in detail the description of the
slave, whether male or female, and that the purchase was effected in
the beit el mal. Before an auction the slaves are generally well rubbed
with oil, to improve their appearance. The bulk of the slaves sold are
females, as male slaves are generally attached to the army. A special
woman is also employed, together with the other officials, to see to the
female slaves. Adlan also railed off a part of the beit el mal for the
reception of cattle--camels, sheep, goats, donkeys, &c.; these are also
sold by auction.

[Illustration: A SLAVE WOMAN FROM EQUATORIA.]

The Mint forms a distinct sub-department. When the Mahdi was alive, gold
and silver coins were struck by his order, not so much to supply the
demand, but rather to prove his independence of Egypt and the
establishment of his new kingdom. He ordered guineas to be coined, just
like the Egyptian pounds; they were made out of the gold ornaments
captured in Khartum. Dollars were coined, and made similar to the
Turkish Medjidie dollar. A certain Hajji Abdullah Granteli, of Bokhara,
formerly jeweller in Khartum, and Elias el Kurdi, watchmaker, were made
chief coiners. In 1889 the latter lost his hand and foot for issuing
counterfeit money. Almost all coins bearing the stamp, "By order of the
Mahdi," have disappeared.

When I arrived in Omdurman there was a great scarcity of small coins,
and in consequence pieces of damur (a twilled cotton fabric manufactured
in the Sudan), valued at ten, five, and two and a half piastres, were
made currency; but these rags soon became so dirty, from being passed
from hand to hand, and so covered with oil and grease, that people
refused to accept them. Khalifa Abdullah, when he heard of this,
threatened those who refused with confiscation of property and
imprisonment, and employed spies in various parts of the market to
report the names of those who objected; but the spies were bribe