ne step nearer
attaining my wish, for at that time the restrictions on Europeans were
not so severe, and they were permitted to trade and travel as far as Ed
Damer, to which place Egyptian merchants freely came and went.

On my arrival in Omdurman, a Greek offered me hospitality, which I
gratefully accepted. I had resolved to search about in the town for a
trusty friend, who would help me towards the attainment of my object. It
had occurred to me that I might accompany a Greek or Syrian merchant to
Damer, and from thence make my escape, but unfortunately at that time I
had no money and little experience. I did not actually give way to
despair, but I could find no one ready to give me the assistance I
required; they all feared the Khalifa's vengeance in case of discovery.

[Illustration: THE ARAB GUIDES WHO EFFECT THE ESCAPE OF FATHER OHRWALDER
AND THE SISTERS.]

I made inquiries of boatmen, with a view to going to Berber on a
supposed trading journey, but none of them trusted me; and, indeed, I
was afterwards thankful that they had not spoken of my design. However,
in spite of failure, I did not give up hope; and during the long days,
and often sleepless nights, I turned various plans over and over in my
mind. On one occasion Gustav Klootz and I decided to make an attempt to
reach Galabat, and escape thence into Abyssinia, but at the last moment
the plan seemed impracticable. Klootz, however, set off, and without any
money he begged his way from place to place; at length, utterly
exhausted, he reached Galabat, only to die a few days afterwards.

I spent about eight months with the Greek, and then thought it was not
fair to trespass further on his hospitality. Besides, it had occurred to
me that in case a favourable opportunity for escape arrived, he would
most certainly have been accused of complicity, and might have suffered
on my account; I therefore built a small straw hut for myself, and lived
with a Mission brother who had a small shop in the market. For almost
five months an Arab held out hopes of assisting me to escape, but I
eventually ascertained that he never really meant to help me. For nearly
two years I had suffered from incessant diarrhoea, which had greatly
wasted my strength.

Meanwhile I had managed to send one of the Mission brothers to Berber,
nominally to gain a living by repairing watches, but actually to find
out whether flight from there was possible. It took him twenty-six days
in a boat to