Sovereigns might at any time be bought for a dollar, for their possessors were glad to get rid of them. Being in possession of a gold coin denoted wealth, and many people who attempted to change a gold coin returned only to find their hut in the hands of the Beit-el-Mal officials, searching for the remainder of the presumed gold hoard. Failing to find it, they confiscated the goods and chattels. The trade with the Egyptian frontier, Suakin and Abyssinia, was carried on through the medium of barter and the Austrian (Maria Theresa) trade dollar.
It was while the currency question was at its height that Abbajee came forward with his scheme for a coining press; and, in order that I might assist him, I was transferred to the Khartoum arsenal. I was obliged to give up my quarters in the Mission buildings, and live with the bodyguard of thirty Baggaras in the house of Hamadan, the Mahdist governor of Khartoum. The arsenal was presided over by Khaleel Hassanein, at one time a clerk under Roversi, in the department for the repression of the slave trade. Although ten years had elapsed since the fall of Khartoum, the arsenal must have been in as perfect working order as when Gordon made it into a model Woolwich workshop. Power was obtained from a traction-engine, which drove lathes, a rolling-mill, drills, etc., while punches, iron scissors, and smaller machinery were worked by hand. In the shops proper were three engines and boilers complete, ready to be fitted into Nile steamers, and duplicates and triplicates of all parts of the machinery then in use were ready
