ve. He thereupon
produced a piece of paper on which Bonomi had written that the messenger
should receive six pounds. Father Bonomi translated this to the Khalifa;
Stambuli was then called in, as he pretended to know a number of
European languages, while in point of fact he knew little or nothing;
when the paper was given to him to read he said that it contained a
medical prescription, and this translation did not of course agree with
Bonomi's version. Amidst the murmuring of the bystanders the Khalifa now
rose and bid us follow him into the divan of the Mudirieh, and thence
into the room adjoining that in which the Mahdi was sitting with the
Khalifa Abdullah. The latter had to keep his bed, for his leg had been
broken by a fall from a horse; he had collided with another horseman,
and in falling had been badly kicked. Father Bonomi and Stambuli only
were taken before the Mahdi, whilst I was left in the room outside;
there were a Dervish and a Greek also in the room, and as I was sitting
on the ground near the door, the Greek came up to me and told me that a
sheikh wished to speak to me. I replied, "Let the sheikh come to me if
he wants to speak to me; I have nothing to ask of him."

A few moments afterwards the sheikh came up to me in a furious rage,
and without further ado attacked me with his fists, kicked me, and
called me a Christian dog; then seizing me by the leg he dragged me out
towards the gate, where he said he intended to cut off my head.

The sound of this struggle reached the Mahdi's ears, and he sent a
eunuch to take me out of the sheikh's hands. Shortly afterwards the
Mahdi himself, Bonomi, and Stambuli came out, and were rather pleased
than otherwise that my incident with the sheikh had interrupted their
somewhat painful conversation. The Mahdi did not appear angry, and as
usual, smiled pleasantly all round; then, surrounded by his principal
emirs, he performed the noonday prayers in the divan, while the
multitude conformed to the prayers in the Mudirieh courtyard. This over,
he sat down on his mat and opened his audience, whilst a slave standing
behind him fanned him and drove off the flies. Numbers of people
submitted their cases to him in a very low and humble tone of voice, and
from the various gestures which took place, I concluded that he had
given satisfaction to all. He then read aloud a letter from an
influential sheikh in Khartum, whose name I have forgotten; after which
a number of sheikhs cam