THE EGYPTIAN SUDAN felt by all classes between Aswan and Khartum at the news of the death of Wad an-Nagftmi was a proof of the universal fear and detestation in which that cruel but able fanatic was held, and there is little wonder that Christian and Muhammadan alike regarded General Grenfell as the instrument of God's justice.

The steamer stopped late at night near Toski to enable the boiler fire to be drawn and the furnace bars scraped, and every one took the opportunity of going ashore. Here we heard the sounds of tom-toms and reed pipes, and singing, and inquiries showed that the people of the district were celebrating the marriage of a local magnate. Several fires had been lit, and by the side of each was a group of men engaged in eating the mutton and rice which the bridegroom had provided. The boiled rice was heaped up on trays, and on the top of each tray were laid pieces of boiled mutton. So soon as the guests were seated, each with his right hand and arm bared ready to reach forth into the tray, a woman came carrying a metal bowl filled with hot mutton fat, or oil, which she poured over the savoury heap. As the fat ran down the sides of the heap of rice each man reached out his hand, saying as he did so, " Bismillahi," i.e., in the Name of God, and began to scoop some of the contents of the tray into his mouth. If the happiness of the newly-wedded couple was in proportion to the amount of mutton and rice which their guests consumed, they must have been very happy indeed ! When the trays were empty and all had drunk water, a youth came and sat by one of the fires and began to sing some tune, which sounded more like a dirge than a wedding song, but he was greeted with the customary applause from time to time. The pity was that he sang through his teeth, and with partly closed lips, and that he finished each cadence with a jerk, for his voice was tuneful, and his skill was undeniable. After a brief allusion to the generosity of the bridegroom, which he said " filled the earth," and was "like unto the goodness of God," he proceeded to describe the physical beauties of the bridegroom and bride, and the happiness which each would find in the other, with the plainness of speech which characterizes Oriental songs of the kind.

Every here and there he made topical allusions which, owing to my ignorance of the people in question, I failed to understand, 78