casion they passed through Omdurman, and took from two to three hours
to do so. The rushing sound they made alarmed the people greatly, and
wherever they established themselves they left the place completely
bare. They demolished the hard palm leaves so completely that it seemed
as if they had been cut with a pair of scissors; even the bark of the
trees they did not spare. Where-ever they settle they look like a big
cloud, which completely covers streets, roofs, and walls. Sudanese, as a
rule, sleep out of doors, so that their beds were covered as well, and
as soon as one swarm was driven off another settled.

Locusts are considered by the Sudanese as a great delicacy, and when
well roasted in butter they taste like fried fish; the locusts generally
came between June and September, just when the harvest is ripening or
the new crops sprouting after the rains. There is no attempt made to
destroy their eggs. Another plague was mice: these little animals, which
are of a reddish colour, came in such quantities as to drive the
cultivators to despair. No sooner was the seed in the ground than the
mice had rooted it up and eaten it. Often the fields had to be planted
two and three times over; and then when a heavy rain came the mice would
all be drowned, and as the water subsided the ground would be covered
with the dead bodies of these little animals.

It seemed as if the entire Sudan lay under a curse. The people knew it
too, and looked upon it as God's righteous judgment on them for the evil
deeds they had been prompted to do at the instigation of a wicked and
false Mahdi.

CHAPTER XVII.

THE KHALIFA AND HIS GOVERNMENT.

The Khalifa's system of government--His household--An outline of
his character--His system of prayers in the mosque--His visions and
dreams--His espionage system--His household troops--His great
activity and circumspection--The great Friday review described--The
emigration of the Baggara and western tribes to Omdurman--The
flight of Sheikh Ghazali--Management of the beit el mal--System of
taxation.

This chapter I propose to devote to a brief description of Khalifa
Abdullah and his system of government.

Abdullah is a Baggara of dark chocolate-coloured complexion, with a long
and prominent nose; he wears a short beard cut according to the Moslem
custom. When I first saw him at the siege of El Obeid he was very thin,
but now he is extremely stout, and his ski