t provinces, as he fears they might possibly become
independent and turn upon him; besides, private individuals are no
longer permitted to be in possession of firearms.

Blacks captured in the Khalifa's various wars are sold as slaves, and,
while the free Mussulman tribes have been greatly weakened and reduced
in numbers by war and famine, the blacks have, on the other hand, been
growing both in numbers and in strength. There is abundant proof of this
in the great difficulties which the Dervish force at Fashoda is now
experiencing, being scarcely strong enough to quit their steamers and
sailing boats. The inhabitants of Jebel Nuba are once more almost
independent, and now the Dervishes do not dare even to go to the foot of
the hills. The withdrawal also of the various Baggara tribes from the
neighbourhood of Shakka, &c., to Omdurman has rid the local blacks of
their hated presence in their country.

The once notorious Jaalin and Danagla slave-hunters are now beginning to
experience in a degree what a slave's life is, and, indeed, it almost
seems as if the Khalifa Abdullah was an instrument of Heaven's
vengeance on those bloodthirsty and ruthless slave-hunters.

The lot of a slave is indeed a miserable one. He is looked upon as an
animal created, as the Sudanese say, to make the life of Moslems easy;
he must do all the hard work, both in the household and in the field. It
is the idea of the Sudanese, that if a slave gets sufficient food he
always becomes proud and unmanageable. His dress consists merely of a
rag tied round his loins: whatever money he may make by his work is the
property of his master.

The female slaves carry water and grind corn, in return they are
continually blamed and cursed; any disobedience or dishonesty is
punished by flogging, or their bodies are gashed with razors, salt being
rubbed into the wounds, and, lest they should have any cause to forget,
their half-healed cuts are often ripped open again and salt rubbed in
afresh.

In the treatment of their slaves women are more cruel than men, more
especially if jealousy is the cause of their anger. Woe to the
unfortunate female slave who shows any love for her master! She suffers
a species of torture which it would be impossible for me to describe
here, and what wonder is it that in despair they often fly from their
masters and mistresses?

Yet it is only by this harsh treatment that slaves can be made obedient;
it is a very true saying that a