376 THE NATIVE MANUSCRIPTS iv. d 7. cxxxix.

CXXXIX And the armies met and a fierce battle ensued, until

finally Sheikh 'AbduUa walad 'Agib was slain and his troops routed.

CXL Then Sheikh Idris offered them peace and appointed over

them Sheikh Nasir walad el Ami'n, who was still in power in the time of the late-lamented, the dweller in Paradise.

CXLI Now Sheikh 'Abdulla was a just ruler, an ardent follower of the faith and an observer of the Kuran ; and during his rule he ordered that when women were married smaller dowries should be paid, and

the result was an increase in the number of marriages and conse-

quently of births. CXLII It was he, too, who bade everyone in the market, even the butchers, when they heard the call to prayer, to assemble at the mosque

for public worship ; and this became a general custom and continued even after his death.

CXLIII Among his praiseworthy acts, again, was the extirpation of

the robbers who were known as "el 'Akalit": he caught them band by band and cut off their heads, and so stamped out theft and robbery in his days.

CXLIV Sheikh Idris remained at el Halfaya and sent his brother

'Adlan with a troop of soldiers to the neighbourhood of Shendi, and 'Adlan, on reaching Walad Ban el Nuka, wrote to the Mek Muham-

mad walad Nimr promising to sanction his appointment as king of the

country of the Ga'aliyyun, — for the Mek Sa'ad had died. CXLV And when the letter reached the Mek Muhammad walad Nimr he was surprised at it and forgot how he and his brothers had

acted in the time of King 'Adlan the Fungowi in the matter of en-

slaving the daughters of Muhammad Abu el Kaylak, for in the hour of his fate he was blinded.

CXLVI So he and a number of his brothers and cousins and his son

Idris, who was still small, went out [to meet 'Adlan] ; but Sa'ad and Nimr refused to go with them and fled away by themselves.

CXLVII And when King Muhammad and his brothers and cousins

and his son Idris presented themselves, ['Adlan] imprisoned all of them, and Mek Muhammad died in prison from the grievous weight

of chains heaped upon him. And as for the Mek's son Idris, his mother came and ransomed him for 300 wukias of gold. But of the rest of the prisoners only el Fahl was released, and he only at the intercession of el Hag Sulayman walad Ahmad.

CXLVIII 'Adlan then started for el Halfaya with the other captives, keeping Nimr and his companions, who offered no resistance, sur-

rounded; but when it was dark Nimr and his companions escaped. CXLIX Then the chiefs of the Magadhib intervened to the end