SULTAN BELLO 393 that the army was halted, and Bello called upon the Sheikh Omar, who had, of course, accompanied the troops, to pray for guidance as to whether it was the will of the Almighty that they should return without encountering the enemy.

It is rather interesting to find among the religious enthusiasts of the Fulani of Sokoto in the early part of the century the same ideas of spiritualism, higher thought, and second-sight, which are to-day animating the modern religious sects of England and America. Omar, it is said, having spent the night in prayer, at sunrise heard a voice which cried three times, ** Victory has come!" The Sultan at this moment sent to inquire of the holy man what was the will of God. Was the army to advance or to retreat.-* "To advance!" replied the Sheikh. The troops accordingly marched and encamped one station farther in the thirsty land. Here, by the holiness of the Sheikh, a wonder was achieved. For Omar, having prostrated himself in prayer and remained long upon the earth, saw as in second-sight water coming underground. Only when he saw this did he raise his head from the ground. The Sultan then took a spear, and plunging it into the earth, gave the order, " Dig here!" Hardly had they begun to dig when water rose. Every man then received orders to dig in the place on which he stood, and everywhere that the soldiers dug water was found.

This incident is quite in the spirit of the religious life of Sokoto. One of the principal generals of the army, Abd el Kader, who was also famed for the holiness of his life, used to have visions in which he had intercourse with the dead, and at the house of one of the noble ladies of Sokoto spiritualistic stances used to be held, in which the spirits of the great dead showed themselves, we are told, to those who were worthy to perceive them.

The army remained on this spot for two days. On the following Monday they prayed, and on the Tuesday the "army of the infidels" arrived. With them was Aber,