420 THE STORY OF THE KHEDIVATE, his name amongst the fanatical tribes of the Soudan.

In the East, even more than elsewhere, nothing succeeds like success ; and, according to Arab ideas, the Mahdi had triumphed all along the line in his contests with the despised Egyptians and their infidel allies. His victories were in themselves proofs to the Arab mind that he was in very truth what he professed to be — the Mahdi, the new Messiah, appointed by Allah to restore the true faith of Islam and to drive the Giaour beyond the seas. Even now very little is known of the inner history of the Soudan during the period when it was cut off from Egypt.

The native scouts and spies, who brought intelligence from the Soudan to the Government at Cairo, were certain, after the wont of Orientals, to have framed their reports, not so much with the object of telling the truth as of giving news likely to gratify their employers. I suspect, therefore, the reports current in official circles at Cairo about this time — of the Mahdi's authority being on the wane, of his being discredited by leading a life inconsistent with his claims to sanctity, and of his power being paralyzed by personal rivalries and tribal feuds — though they may have had some foundation in fact, were grossly exaggerated in transmission. However this may be, it is obvious that the Mahdi, up to the time of his death, exercised a personal mastery over the Soudan, which he was unable to transmit to his successor. In many of the narratives which have been published of late years, concerning the Soudan, this successor, J