my depression, ordered that they should be exchanged immediately for lighter and smoother ones, for the anklets and chains given me by Idris were rough in the extreme.
After being officially handed over to the Governor of Khartoum, the question arose as to my quarters. I was offered quarters in his house, but I had already experienced life amongst his Baggara bodyguard, and begged hard to be allowed to live in the same place with Nahoum Abbajee and Sirri — the former telegraph-clerk at Berber, with whom I was to work. We were given the house of Ghattas, an old slave-dealer, to live in. It was one of the best houses left standing in Khartoum, and boasted an upper floor, which was taken possession of by Nahoum Abbajee as head of what I might call the gold syndicate, while Sirrt and I shared the ground floor. In the East the West is reversed; you climb to the garret with your rising fortunes, and descend with them, as they fall, to the lower floors. Instead of having Saier or Baggara guards to watch me, Awwad gave me some slaves from the Beit-el-Mal as guardians, and they had, in addition to watching me, to perform the household duties; in fact, they were my servants.
After the evening prayers, Awwad called together the employés of the arsenal and my guards, and explained to them that I was no longer a Saier prisoner; that my chains were left on only to prevent the Government people taking me; that I was "beloved" of the Khaleefa, and was to be treated as his friend, and that if any one treated me differently, he would be sent to
