Page:A Prisoner of the Khaleefa.djvu/415

 

of the letter which the Khaleefa dictated in reply to the letter given me by General Stephenson, in Cairo, before leaving for Kordofan.

"In the name of God the Most Merciful, and thanks to God the Omnipotent and Generous, with prayers on Mohammad our Lord and his descendants; Greeting.

"From the servant of his Lord Abdallah-el-Muslimani-el-Brussi (the Prussian), formerly named Karl Neufeld, to Stephenson the Englishman, at Cairo.

"We have to inform you that, in conformity with your letter, dated March i, 1887, addressed to us, and recommending us to Sheikh Saleh Fadlallah-el-Kabashi with regard to your projects,

"We started from Haifa, with his men bearing the arms and ammunition and other things sent him by the Government.

"We proceeded on our course, and were constantly on guard on ourselves and our property, until we arrived at a well called Selima, from where we took the water supply, and continued our way to our destination.

"It was our fate to be met in the desert by six fakirs, followers of the Mahdi, who attacked us, so that we and Saleh's men had to defend ourselves, our number being fifty-five men.

"The six fakirs were later reinforced by others, all of them being men of Abd-el-Rahman en Nejoumi. Thus there remained for us no way of escape, and in the space of half an hour we were defeated, many being killed, and the rest taken prisoners. The rifles, ammunition, and things destined for Saleh were seized, and I, my servant Elias, and my slave-girl, Hasseena, were among the prisoners, and