Page:A Prisoner of the Khaleefa.djvu/129

 

PRISON LIFE

first spell in prison was one of four years. After nine months the rings and chains were removed from my neck, but the fetters I wore continuously — with the exception of thirteen days — during the whole of my captivity. A day-to-day record of my experiences is out of the question, besides being unnecessary, even were it possible to give them. I must content myself with a general description of the life passed there, and give an idea of the day's routine.

When I reached Omdurman, the prison proper consisted of the common cell already mentioned ("Umm Hagar" — the house of stone), surrounded by a large zareeba of thorn trees and branches, and standing about six feet high. There were thirty guardians, each armed with a "courbag" (rhinoceros-hide whip) with which to keep their charges in order. There were no sanitary arrangements, not even of the most primitive description. All prisoners had to be fed by their friends or relatives; if they had neither they starved to death, as the prisoners, charitable as they were to each other in the matter of food, had barely enough to eat to keep body and soul together, for the