ed into the hole whilst she was clearing the earth away." Heaped
with insults by the bystanders, the poor slave was dragged off to the
market-place, where she received eighty lashes because she had failed to
prove the truth of her assertion. Such is Omdurman justice.

Although this is but one amongst thousands of cases of the most
disgraceful corruption, still all this serves to keep the slaves in
order, and were it not so, there is little doubt that masters would
stand in constant danger, and would be at the mercy of their slaves.
Indeed, many slaves have succeeded in getting their masters into great
disfavour by informing on them, and this makes the masters in great fear
of their slaves Even if a slave has been born and brought up in his
master's house he cannot be trusted, and if he receive some slight
punishment, it is more than probable he will go off and report his
master as a smoker, marissa-drinker, or that he has become lax in the
cause of Mahdiism; and, as likely as not, he will be flogged, or receive
some worse punishment.

According to Moslem law a slave's evidence against his master is
considered invalid; but this law, as well as all other laws, is only
applied according to the Khalifa's wishes and the circumstances of the
case: the same remark applies to the value of evidence given under
torture.

Curiously enough, murders are seldom committed, and when the wild nature
of the Sudanese is considered, it is contrary to what one would expect.
Quarrels and disputes are endless, but in spite of being armed, both
parties seem to expend their energy in violent talking and
gesticulation. The Khalifa has given the strictest orders regarding
"assault and battery;" if a man hits another man, he will be liable to
have his hand cut off, and this order is generally unflinchingly carried
out, unless the condemned man be well off, and he will then have his
property confiscated, as the following case will show:--

A dispute once arose between a merchant named Yusef Kurdi and a certain
Mohammed, son of the rich Ben en Naga; both were intoxicated at the
time, had drawn their swords and slightly wounded each other. The affair
reached the Khalifa's ears; he ordered both of them to be arrested, and
threatened to cut off their hands; but, as a matter of fact, he really
wanted to secure some of their money. Old Ben en Naga, a man of ninety
years of age, threw himself at the Khalifa's feet and begged that his
son's punishment