— 39 — their masters or ever they reached the confines of Dar Fur. This counsel did not, however, appear good in the sight of the Arabs, so I agreed to give them a number of slaves whose value should equal that of those whom they had lost.

Then I made estimate of my slaves and exchanged them, some for one, some for two, and some for three apiece of a less valuable kind of slave, and, in this 'a-y. 5,000 slaves returned with the Arabs. From among those who refused to go back to their masters I chose 600, whom I put under the command •of Rabeh: in very truth they proved themselves stalwart in the fray and well-versed in the works of war, so that, by their aid, I gained a multitude of victories. When the news of all that they had done reached the ears of their friends and relations, they too came to join me, and thus it was that I collected a force of 4000 men, who were led by their own officers and chiefs, under the supreme command of Rabeh. These men I treated well, and even luxuriously, so that they became greatly attached to me.

But Billali, when he came, tried to induce them to leave me, saying that he had been appointed to give them their freedom. Notwithstanding all that I had done for them, many were deceived by his words, so that six thousand of them allied themselves to Billali. Now it was not my desire that I should sacrifice my friends to pleasure the whim of