Dar Homr there are numbers of ostrich farms, the animals being kept in
large zaribas; but as an article of trade, the feathers of the wild
ostriches are more valuable than those of the domestic animal. Ostrich
feathers are always sold by weight. Other exports from Kordofan are
tamarinds, senna, and the skins of animals. Iron is also found in
Kordofan; and one day, when we were digging out a well at Delen, we came
across quicksilver.

El Obeid was also the supply depot for Darfur, Shakka, and Dar Nuba, and
thus became an important trade centre. Numbers of rich merchants lived
here, such as Elias Pasha, Omberer, Hajji Mohammed Ben en Naga, Ahmed
Bey Dafallah (who owned thousands of slaves), Mohammed Wad el Areik,
Hajji Khaled, Ibrahim wad Adlan, besides numbers of Copts and Egyptians.
Several of the principal mercantile houses in Cairo also had their
agents--Syrians, Greeks, and Jews--in El Obeid. Kordofan was also rich
in cattle. The Kababish, Dar Homr, Beni Jerrar, and Dar Hamed Arabs
possessed large numbers of she-camels. These animals are always kept in
the deserts, and are retained exclusively for breeding purposes.
Quantities of the young camels are killed, and their flesh, which is
preferred to any other kind of meat in the Sudan, is considered a great
luxury, and is generally eaten uncooked. Corn is largely grown in
Kordofan, also sesame, which is preferred to that grown on the White
Nile; large white water-melons are also grown in abundance. It may
therefore be understood why Kordofan was the richest province in the
Sudan and brought in the largest revenue to Government.

The whole of this rich country was now in the hands of the Mahdi, with
the exception of El Obeid, which was destined soon to be the scene of
bloodshed and fanatical warfare between people of the same race and
religion. The Arabs of various tribes, who in peace time had brought
their goods to El Obeid to barter and exchange, were now clamouring for
the destruction of the town and the slaughter of its inmates. As I have
already related, Said Pasha had completely surrounded the town by a
ditch and parapet; but as this would require such an enormous number of
men to defend it, and knowing that he could place little reliance on the
inhabitants, he had strongly entrenched the Mudirieh and Government
buildings, and at the same time put into a state of defence the
barracks, officers and officials' houses, and those of the Greek and
Syrian merchants.