Reorganization of the Country. 359 confidence and order witli only four thousand Arabs to keep up discipline and who Avere no less brutal and savage than Suleiman's troops ? It was therefore absolutely necessary to get rid of these soldiers, sending them by degrees to Khartoum, and rendering their return impossible. They were all armed and provided with ammunition, and I had only four hundred men on whom I could count in case of revolt. I began by scattering them in more than fifty localities, confiding Dem Suleiman to regular troops. Two batteries were erected, and whoever entered was obliged to lay down his arms outside the seriha.

" I published the following notice : ' The war against the rebels is terminated and order restored. The Government intends to take active measures in order to insure discipline and protect the natives. All Arabs, without exception, must aid the authorities against any individual who commits a crime.

" ' Those will be punished Avith death who are convicted of the following crimes : " ' Carrying on the slave trade ; abducting boy, woman or girl ; premeditated murder ; burning or damaging a village with the intention of robbery or destruction.

" ' Those will be expelled from Bahr-el-Gliazal and consigned to the authorities in Khartoum who are guilty of the following misdeeds : " ' Maltreating a native ; carrying away by force any grain, or objects belonging to natives ; using force to oblige a native to build a house, cultivate the ground or transport private effects ; hiding a Jelabba, or any person sought for by the Government.'

" This notice was published in all the localities, and I assembled all the sheikhs, so that, having taken special cognizance of my orders, they might in future present the complaints of their dependents.

" These new arrangements were not of a kind to