answered them in all that they required of me, and when they understood that I was an Arab from the land of the sun they had compassion on me, and brought my hard rase to the notice of the authorities, (i) So I returned to Egypt where I was healed of my pains and disorders and my spirit returned to me.

Now before I left Dara I put my forces under the command of my son Suliman (2), but the Government treated him so badly that he was compelled to revolt against it (3).

Certain lying hypocrites, however, in Cairo slandered me, saying that, before leaving Dara, I advised him to rebel, should the Government detain me in Egypt. They even went so far as to say that (i) Gessi p. 333. Zubeir lost no time, and had interviews with influential people in Constantinople, attempting intrigues, in which, however, he did not succeed.

Mohammed Adam who was with Zubeir in the fortress of Varna says that Zubeir was so annoyed at being compelled to retreat that he agitated for his recall to Cairo.

(2) He was born in 1856.

(3) Gessi p. 334. "Egypt kept a garrison ... in the Bahr el Ghazal. The troops . . . did not molest Suliman . . . ; one day, without the least provocation, Suliman, followed by about four thousand men, fell upon the Zeriba of Deim Idris, and massacred all the garrison down to the very babes. He then devastated the vast province, putting everything to fire and sword, destroying and massacring the natives who were faithful to the Government, sacking all the Government magazines and depots of ammunition, etc."

See, however, Slatin, op cit. eh. I., where a much more reasonable explanation of the revolt of Suliman is given, and one that is far more to his credit.