THE MAHDI 31 



To convince the natives of his departure to another 

 world his corpse swung to and fro in the market-place 

 for all to see, till the sentry could no longer stand even 

 windward of it. Many were the merchants (sic) with 

 nothing to sell and no money to buy with, who 

 appeared from all parts of the Sudan, travel-stained 

 and weary with hard journeying, to gaze at the gibbet 

 and its burden. That Mahdi and others to follow 

 have lost possible adherents. 



Very little was deducted from the Mahdi's papers. 

 Lists of names with numbers against them in his own 

 handwriting was all. It was, however, generally known 

 that sheikh Sebeik of the Hawazma Arabs had accepted 

 command of the Mahdi's cavalry. It was therefore 

 deemed necessary for the peace of the province to 

 capture him. 



I was still out at J. Kurbag. One Thursday after- 

 noon, when most of my men had left for El Obeid 

 on Friday leave, I received a note ordering me to 

 produce 100 men as soon as possible. Orderlies 

 were sent at once to recall all the men, who shortly 

 could be seen coming back at a run. Others went 

 to fetch the camels. My Arab officer (the rest were 

 on leave) was sent to El Obeid to prepare the forage, 

 ammunition, and usual fifteen days' pay for immediate 

 issue on our arrival there. Two hours and ten minutes 

 after the arrival of my orders, the order to mount was 

 given. 



At El Obeid, Mr. Lyall, S.C.S., joined me, also a 

 very useful officer of the 12th Sudanese. 



For some reason we were told to take three days 



