390 THE NATIVE MANUSCRIPTS iv. dt.ccxxv.

find him ; and, having with him 72 men from the encampment of the

Ga'aliyyun, he ordered their hands to be cut off; and the sentence was carried out on all of them, and in consequence some died, and others survived. Then he moved elsewhere.

CCXXVI The Defterdar, for his part, went to Kordofan, and then

returned the same year to the country of the Ga'aliyyun. CCXXVII And while the Defterdar was on his way to Kordofan,

Walad 'Agib and the Hamag refugees who were with him were on the west bank at Omdurman, and they were attacked there by 'Ali Agha el Busayli and some Shai'kia and Mogharba troops, and they fled before them to the neighbourhood of Shendi and joined the Mek Nimr, and remained with him until they heard that the Defterdar was advancing from Kordofan.

Then they scattered, and some of them settled down at el Hilalia.

And news of this reached el Kadakhdar Muhammad Sa'id, and he sent troops in boats who came upon them at early dawn and killed a number of them and put the rest to flight.

Then the soldiers returned to Walad Medani with the loot they had taken.

CCXXVIII And when the Defterdar Bey reached the country of the

Ga'aliyyun, the Mek Nimr fled and camped at a place called el Nasub in the desert, but the Bey overtook him with a troop of Turkish and

Shaikia soldiery, and a fight took place. And after many of the Mek's men had been killed he was put to flight. This was a great battle, and much plunder was taken and many women and children captured.

CCXXIX Then the Bey returned with his loot and prisoners to Um

'Aruk and camped there; and so numerous were the captives that he made a thorn-enclosure for them and supplied it with water by means of a trench ; and some of them died from the severity of the conditions

and some were ransomed by Sheikh Bashir walad 'Aki'd, and others were sent to el Mahrusa.

CCXXX The survivors of the battle of el Nasub had, in the mean-

while, scattered in every direction, and the Bey now advanced from

Um 'Aruk to fight them, that is Musa'ad and Walad 'Agib.

CCXXXI And on his way he seized the feki Ibrahim 'fsa, and with him one called 'Agib walad Dekays, and beat them and took them with him towards Abu Haraz and kept them prisoners awhile and then released them.

CCXXXII And he continued the pursuit of the refugees until he

overtook Musa'ad at a place called Makdur, between the Dinder and the Rahad, and there he inflicted great slaughter upon them and took much booty and many captives. Now among the slain was Sheikh