BREAKING UP OF THE CAMP. 1G9 tell him to pay out to them one or two purses. The complainants, much rejoiced at such unexpected luck, ran off to the treasurer, already in fancy counting over their coin, and he counted out to them blows instead of piastres ; one purse, holding 500 piastres, was paid by 500 lashes. Our Pascha used to act similarly in Chartum.

Every day the journey to Kassela is talked of, but we still sit crouching here. Not long ago a report was suddenly spread, that Achmet Pascha was recalled to Cairo, and IMustapha Bey of Kordofan appointed governor of the Bellad-Sudan. This came to us as a secret, and was only mentioned to us by the Turks we were most intimate with, and in an under tone. But as the truth of the report was a serious matter to us, and none of the Turks knew how to put the question to the Pascha, we went ourselves to him ; when he laughingly told us, that he had, in jest, told theKaimakan of the 8th regiment, Sorop Effendi, something of the sort, but had himself no intention of going to Cairo, as, in spite of the failure as regarded the treatment of tlie Sheiks, he could easily make himself independent; at least so his words to me, during the absence of my brother, seemed to imply.

All at once the order came—we break up to-morrow ! So near no one had believed the march to be. AH things were in disorder ; the whole night all was bustle and confusion in the camp. More than likely the Pascha had purposely said nothing of this beforehand, so that the Arabs might make no preparations for an attack, to set at liberty their Sheiks who go with us in chains. We had, during the night, to hurriedly buy a dromedary from Mohammed Defalk, after having at a high price, only the day before, purchased the others we needed ; then we had to set about packing up the numerous articles we had unpacked during our month's halt ; the three new servants we had got knew too little about our baggage to be themselves ready in time with it. Punctually, two hours before sunrise, the well-known cannon shot aroused all for the march. When half an hour from the camp, the Pascha halted a long while to await the baggage camels.

Our way led through high durra fields, impenetrable to sight ; in a south-east direction the whole country seemed flat, with well cultivated and fruitful soil, and before us, like a great blue