d of course these forced
marriages could not be of long duration--in a month or two most of the
couples were separated.

Another cause which tended towards immorality was the fact that numbers
of men had been sent off to far-distant parts of the country on
expeditions, unaccompanied by their wives, most of whom were left in
Omdurman for years; and it is hardly to be wondered at if in time they
began to forget their husbands and to form unlawful connections, in
which the Khalifa had frequently to interfere.

On one occasion upwards of eighty women, whose infidelity to their
husbands was unquestionable, were put in prison, and a council held to
consider what should be done to them. It was decided to make an example
of one, and the victim selected was an unfortunate who had borne two
illegitimate children. The poor creature was led into the women's
quarter of the market, and there she was lowered into a grave with her
last child tied to her bosom, and both stoned to death by a cruel and
hard-hearted crowd, who seemed to take a fiendish delight in this
inhuman piece of work.

This, however, was the only execution of the sort which took place
during Mahdiism. The other women were released; but the only effect of
the above example was to induce women to take criminal means to rid
themselves of these evidences of illicit connection; and the open sale
of abortive medicines only tended to further increase the moral
decadence of the people. One can truthfully say that feelings of horror
and shame scarcely exist in the Sudan. From slaves of all ages and
sexes, to the little child of six years old, all are instructed in the
very worst forms of immorality; but on this painful and disgusting
subject I will say no more.

Gradually the simple marriage laws introduced by the Mahdi gave place to
the old former customs. For example, the Emir of Berber, Abdel Majid,
married the daughter of Abderrahman Bey Ben en Naga, and received from
her father 2,000 grammes of gold. The marriage ceremony, which was
celebrated with dancing and singing, lasted about a month; but when the
Khalifa heard of it, he had the emir imprisoned for some months,
declared the marriage dissolved, sent the bride back to her father, and
forbade him to let the bridegroom ever take her again.

But the Sudanese have a passion for such ceremonies involving dancing
and singing, and will never be restrained by any of these new laws. The
women wear jewellery as before; t