HISTORICAL SKETCH OF WA'da'T. 
535 
had been greatly misrepresented by M. Fresnel ; for although 
he penetrated to the very heart of that country, he did not 
attain his object of reinstating the family cf the sultan of 
Bornu in its ancient right ; and although he certainly carried 
away a great amount of spoil, yet he lost a considerable por- 
tion of his army, as well in the battle of Kusuri as on his 
return home, — principally while crossing the Shari, 
However, on his return, the king turned his arms against 
the Tebu tribes settled on the Bahr el Ghazal ; and, conquer- 
ing them, subjected them to an annual tribute. Having re- 
turned from this memorable campaign, Mohammed Saleh did 
not undertake a second expedition, but, having kept quietly 
at home for three or four years, was obliged to waste the 
strength of one part of his empire in a bloody struggle 
against the other. 
The origin and reason of this civil war, which up to the 
time of my leaving Negroland kept Waday in rather a 
weakened state, is to be sought for in the real or presumed 
blindness of the king, which gave to his adversaries the 
Kodoyi, who regard A'dam as their legitimate prince, some 
pretext for not acknowledging him any longer as their master, 
besides the general unpopularity, produced by his avarice. It 
was on this account, in order to escape from his public and 
private enemies, that in the year 1850 he abandoned the old 
residence of all the former kings of Waday, down from 
Kharut the First, and transferred the seat of government 
from Wara to Abeshr, a very inconsiderable place or village, 
about twenty miles to the south of Wara, w T here, on account 
of its being almost entirely destitute of water, and situated 
in the very territory of his partisans the Kelingen, he felt 
himself tolerably secure. 
The contest, fomented for a long time, did not break out 
until 1851, when in the month of Shaban he was obliged to 
march against the Kodoyi, who, assisted by part of the A'byi 
or A'bu Sharib, awaited him in their mountains, from whence 
they rushed down upon him when he had closely approached 
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