POSITION OF THE MAHDI. 121 On the arrival of Hicks Pasha near Kordofan (Obeid) these three officers were in irons, but after Ilicks's defeat they were released and put under surveillance.

According to such intelligence as could be obtained the position of the Mahdi was not an easy one. He had no settled government; his disregard of some of the observances commanded by the Moslem law, and particularly his having exceeded the number of wives permitted to a prophet, had shaken the confidence of some of his followers, and he had begun to act with the severity of a usurper, making exactions which were causing some feelings of resentment.

Whether these reports were true or not, Gordon had no opportunity of availing himself of any supposed loss of prestige on the part of the false prophet. On the ist of March he had plainly stated that it was impossible to get Cairo employes out of Khartum without help from the government. " They refuse Zebehr, and are quite right (may be) to do so, but it was the only chance. It is scarcely worth while saying more on the subject. I will do my best to carry out my instructions, but I feel conviction I shall be caught in Khartum." Caught in Khartum! The city where he had formerly suffered so much; the graveyard for Europeans, except those who are exceptionally constituted; a pestilent place in the rainy season, when even among the natives the mortality is very considerable. Yet it is a large and important city, with a spacious market-place, ample bazaars, and above 3000 houses, amongst which are many great substantial dwellings, commodious if not architecturally attractive, and in the healthy season not unpleasantly situated. The Austrian Roman Catholic mission was formerly one of the most important institutions in the place.

It was supported by widely extended contributions, and the buildings occupied a considerable space, surrounded by a solid wall, which inclosed beautiful gardens containing palm, orange, and fig trees, pomegranates and bananas. The buildings included a massive cathedral and a hospital, beside the dwellings ol the missionaries.

Would the government after all consent to send Zebehr to