cret; he said that the mukuddum used to purchase in the
market the lead bullets which had been dug out of Khartum, he filed them
into thin shavings, mixed them with some concoction, and threw them into
the furnace; the melted lead was then drawn off and allowed to cool. On
the last occasion he had failed, and now his fraud was fully exposed;
the Khalifa ordered his hand and foot to be cut off, "not," he said, "so
much for the fraud, as for the continual denials." The operation was
carried out, but the mukuddum died eight days afterwards of tetanus.

The failures of this man and of the Indian to manufacture powder and
lead did not deter others from continuing their experiments, and amongst
the latter was a Greek named Yusef Pertekachi, who continued working on
with the most dogged determination. He had tried every plan to gain a
livelihood; but whatever he put his hand to, it seemed to fail, and he
was soon deeply involved in debt. In his desperate position he
determined to study the manufacture of gunpowder. For a whole year he
continued his experiments, and in his case the truth of the proverb,
"Necessity is the mother of invention," was fully exemplified; he
succeeded in making fairly good powder.

The experiences of the Indian and the mukuddum pointed to extreme
caution; he did not, therefore, tell Adlan, who he thought would not
believe him, but after his death he applied to Yakub.

Yakub is a man whom even the leaders of Mahdiism find a difficulty in
approaching, and poor Pertekachi tried for months before he obtained a
hearing; but at length he was attended to, and the various trials and
experiments of the new powder, both in guns and Remington rifles, proved
most satisfactory.

Pertekachi at once rose in favour in the eyes of Abdullah and Yakub, and
was soon comparatively well off. The Khalifa ordered a bottle of the
powder to be placed in the Antik Khana, on which was written: "Powder
invented by the Osta (Master) Pertekachi."

At first Pertekachi set to work to improve the damaged powder, of which
there were quantities of old barrels taken out of the Government
magazines, but, having been left in damp places, it had become crusted.
For several months he continued his work, to the complete satisfaction
of Abdullah, but the poor man was soon to come to a terrible end.

On the 26th of January, 1891, Pertekachi as usual went to the
market-place at an early hour to have a chat with the other Europeans.
He happ