198 ' Seven Years in the Sondan.

Mohamed Her had undertaken to make the expedition, than all the Arabs flocked to him, and in a short time he was able to assemble more than eight thousand combatants at Kava.

The nugars, laden with Arabs, left Khartoum amid the acclamations of millions of voices which wished them success, and thousands of guns were fired in sign of rejoicing. The troop was joined by the Fukara, the Feki, and all the Mahomedan priests of Khartoum and the neighbouring countr}, the sellers of amulets to protect these new Argonauts against wounds and death.

The steamer which Mussa Pasha had granted was that called Xo. 15, and too weak to take many boats in tow, for this reason the expedition was put off to another da}'.

The goal of the journey was Fashoda, but in order that the boats might remain together, it was determined to wait for the periodical north winds. Meanwhile the Shilluks had been forewarned and prepared for defence ; they assembled at Kaka believing that to be the point of attack.

All was ready ; and one night three hundred nugars silently spread their sails for the promised land. The Shilluks from afar watched the movements of the Arabs. When the boats reached the neighbourhood of Fashoda, the Shilluks were all drawn up on the bank of the river to ])revent a landing; but a shower of bullets stretched them by hundreds on the ground. The fusilade ended in overcoming their courage, and the Arabs disembarked on a shore covered with thousands of the slain. The Sultan and his troops fled inland, abandoning the capital, Kaka, which fell into the hands of the Arabs, as well as Fashoda. The loss of the Shilluks was enormous. The Sultan had lost very many of his relations, and the dignitaries of the country, fiofhtino' bravelv, were the first to fall.

The success of the Arabs continued all along the