SHEKH IDRIS MAHGUB very old family, the heads of which have been shekhs in Sukkot and possessed property there for hundreds of years. I heard him tell the Inspector that a native, I think in Akasha, possessed documents which showed that Idris's family was settled in the neighbourhood in the XVth or XVIth century. If this be so, it is much to be hoped that steps will be taken to preserve such writings, for they will probably throw some light on the condition of the country during a period of its history of which nothing much is known. Soon after our arrival Idris took us into one of his cowbyres and showed us a number of stones which had been used in the building, and we found them to be parts of the inscribed front of an Egyptian tomb. Without any ado he had the portions of the wall in which they were imbedded knocked down, and the stones taken out and placed ready for loading in one of our boats. We then went to look at the famous Kubba Idris, or tomb of the ancestor of our host, who flourished in the early part of the XlXth century. This Idris was a follower of the great Shekh Morghani, who was learned in the doctrines and tenets of an important class of Muhammadan religious thinkers, and he was venerated for his great spiritual powers. Idris the Great, as we may call him, was renowned in his generation for his piety and learning, and for at least three-quarters of a century Muhammadans in the Sudan have been in the habit of visiting the place of his burial, and it was believed throughout the country that a blessing rested on those who performed this meritorious act. Women came to the tomb with their husbands and prayed for offspring, and all who were about to set out on a journey, or to embark on any undertaking, endeavoured to visit the tomb in order to ask the blessing of Idris on their exertions.

The present Kubba is a solidly built structure of stone and mud brick from seventy to eighty feet high, and it stands among palm trees, at no great distance from the river, in a most picturesque position. The most striking feature of Kubba Idris is the dome which, though simple, is a really imposmg object, and its stages, whilst adding a suggestion of considerable strength to the edifice, do not give it a heavy appearance. An excellent idea of the general look of the building will be obtained by examining the 459