ve already narrated, spent some months in prison before
he made his unsuccessful attempt to escape.

Yasin, a Jaali, who had fallen into the hands of the English at Toski,
and who was subsequently released, and given a letter to take to the
Khalifa from the Egyptian Government, had to pay dearly for saying to
Abdullah that they could not fight against the English.

Another of the captives taken at Toski, but who also returned to
Omdurman, was much more crafty in his interview with the Khalifa; this
individual related that, when in Cairo, an old monk had said to him, "Is
not the Khalifa of the Mahdi called Abdullah?" to which he replied,
"Yes; it is so." "Is he not slightly lame?" "Yes." "Is he not marked
with small-pox?" "Yes." Then the monk said, "Do you see this book? It
contains the history of the Mahdi and his successor, and it is stated in
it that Khalifa Abdullah shall conquer Egypt, Syria, and Mecca." The
Khalifa was so delighted with the story that, turning round to his
people, he said, "You see the Christians know perfectly well that
Mahdiism is not false." The wily author of the story was then given a
present of money.

Occasionally the Saier treats his prisoners very cruelly. Two fikis who
were suspected of being unbelievers were given 1,000 lashes each; one
died on the spot, and the other a few days afterwards. Occasionally he
relieves the monotony by giving his prisoners 400 lashes, which is not
considered an out-of-the-way punishment.

On one occasion, two Ababdeh Arabs coming from Korosko as merchants,
were discovered south of Metemmeh with rifles in parts, carefully
concealed in bales of cloth; letters were also found on them. They were
at once considered to be spies, and taken before the Khalifa. As soon as
it was rumoured that Arabs carrying letters for the Europeans had been
caught, a friend came to me at once, and told me that the letters were
sure to be addressed to me. This threw me into a fever of anguish and
alarm; I was made a prisoner, and spent that night in the greatest
terror. The Khalifa had warned us most distinctly not to correspond with
Egypt, and threatened to imprison us if a letter should ever be
discovered.

On this occasion I had every reason to be alarmed, for I had already had
a similar experience. After Father Bonomi had escaped, he sent a
Kababish Arab to Kordofan to try and secure my escape. The Arab remained
with Sheikh Saleh Bey, and did not, to my knowledge, ever come t