after two years' imprisonment, were
sent as exiles to Fashoda, except Hassan, who still remains in prison at
Omdurman.

Near the Saier is another small prison for females, but there are not so
many of them.

FOOTNOTES:

[P] Khalil had been entrusted with a few lines of a purely
non-political nature, politely asking the Khalifa to return to the
bearer any clothes, papers, &c., belonging to the late General Gordon,
which his family were very desirous of procuring. He was also given
lists of all prisoners captured at Toski, showing how they were disposed
of in Egypt, and a remark was added that when peace and tranquillity
were restored between the two countries, they would be permitted to
return, but in the meantime they were well cared for.--F. R. W.

CHAPTER XXI.

LUPTON BEY AND THE AMMUNITION.

The Khalifa's powder and ammunition begin to fail--Lupton Bey makes
fulminate--Unsuccessful attempts to make powder--Yusef Pertekachi
at last succeeds--The explosion in the powder factory.

As a result of constant warfare and the careless expenditure of
ammunition, the want of it now began to be sensibly felt by the Khalifa,
and it eventually became an all-important question. The principal want
was caps for the Remington cartridges, for, though there were quantities
of empty cases there was scarcely any fulminate left.

Many a starving Egyptian began to try and invent some substance which
would act as fulminate; there were still a few books on chemistry to be
found, but all attempts failed to produce satisfactory results. At last,
a certain Hassan Zeki, who had formerly been a doctor in Khartum,
invented the substance required. The Khalifa told off Lupton Bey, who at
that time was living in the most abject poverty, as his assistant.

The first trials of the new fulminate were made in the presence of
Yakub, and were most successful; the invention proved of the greatest
use to the Khalifa. The unfortunate Lupton Bey died on the 8th of May,
1888, and Hassan Zeki continued the work. Within a comparatively short
time he prepared a very large number of caps. Abdullah had a special
laboratory made, and employed a number of boys as cartridge fillers. It
was principally owing to this invention that the Khalifa was enabled to
conduct his successful campaigns against Abyssinia.

And now another difficulty arose--this was the scarcity of powder;
numbers of persons presented themselves as prepared to make