I MERAWI IN 1897 five generations the head of his house had been shekh of Barkal.

Hardly a day passed without some elderly man coming to see him and discuss the war ; and inquiries showed that nearly every one of them had held some Government appointment under the old regime. Muhammad was a tall, spare man, with good eyes, regular features, a short dark beard and a very dark skin ; he was quickwitted, intelligent, and active. His son Osman was a tall, broadshouldered young man, about eighteen years of age, with large eyes set in a broad face ; he had very fine teeth, and between the two large front top ones was the division coXledfulga by the natives, which is always regarded as a sign of luck in the Sudan, and is much prized. His father always wore a dark robe, but his garments were always white, and he carried in his waist-band two steel daggers which were said to have been made at Berber from the fish-plates which the Dervishes carried off when they wrecked the Haifa Railway south of Sarras. His father often went bare-footed, but he walked in red leather sandals with long native sandal.

pointed toes, the ends of which turned upwards and then curved backward towards the ankle, being fastened just above the instep.

Sandals of the same pattern were worn by Sudani kings two thousand years ago, and representations of them are to be seen on the reliefs in the pyramid chapels on the Island of Meroe, and elsewhere.

Muhammad had always been a loyal supporter of the Egyptian Government, and his loyalt} had cost him dear. It was difficult to get him to talk about the events of the last few years, and his remarks showed that he was unwilling to express his real opinion about the Khalifa ; for it will be remembered that in 1897 Omdurman and Khartum were still in the hands of the Dervishes, and the Khalifa's final overthrow had not been effected. One evening, however, a friend arrived at Barkal from Berber, and he brought with him news of the Sirdar's entry into Berber, which he himself had witnessed, and as he told his story the shekh began to be agitated. Presently he took his string of prayer beads in his fingers, and as he told every bead he cursed the Dervishes VOL. I. 209 p