Zibers Conspiracy.

lances — two large and one small — Avhich each man carried as if they were in action. Farther on Madibo Bej came to meet us with about twenty horsemen, and a Greek merchant who happened to be at Shakka trading with European articles, which he exchanged for ostrich feathers.

Madibo Bey is a tall man of about thirty-five. He had joined the Egyptian army in the war against the Sultan of Darfour. In reward for his services, Gordon Pasha gave him a decoration and made him chief of the Horban — the generic name of these populations. The horsemen who came to meet us continued their fantastic evolutions till we arrived at Shakka, when we were lodged in the great shed that served for the Government })alace, the same which shortly before had been Gordon's habitation, when he stopped here for about three weeks to quell the Jelabba.

The Bahr-el-Arab marks the limit separating Darfoar from the Bahr-el-Ghazal provinces. Ghazal, Shakka, Resegat and Kalaka, the stations to the south of the river, were also subject to the ancient sultan of the realm. The tribute they paid to the sovereign was one sheep for every four inhabitants. The sheep were exchanged for cattle and horses, which were then sent to the Government at Darfour.

Properly speaking, I ought to say that no central government existed there. The country was divided among the greatest chiefs who commanded the provinces dependent on them without control ; the strongest drove the weakest away. The Sultan of Darfour never meddled with the internecine quarrels of his vassals. It was enough if they paid their tribute regularly ; he cared for nothing else. The Arabs, according to what I could learn, came to Darfour from Bargo during a vast emigration which took place two centuries ago. Some occupy themselves with cattle-breeding, others with agriculture.