eet. As a messenger of God,
he pretended to be in direct communication with the Deity. All orders
which he gave were supposed to have come to him by inspiration, and it
became therefore a sin to refuse to obey them; disobedience to the
Mahdi's orders was tantamount to resistance to the will of God, and was
therefore punishable by death.

He called himself Mahdi Khalifat er Rasul (_i.e._ the successor of the
Prophet), while his adherents called him "Sayid" (_i.e._ Master);
Sayidna el Mahdi (_i.e._ our Master the Mahdi), or Sayidna el Imam
(_i.e._ our Master the head, or one who goes in front). The Mahdi in his
every action endeavoured to imitate and follow in the exact footsteps of
the Prophet.

Thus he made his hejira or flight to Gedir, and there appointed his four
Khalifas. The first of these was the Khalifa Abdullah, who assumed the
title of Khalifa Abu Bakr, or Khalifa Es Sadik; he belonged to the
Taisha section of the Baggara tribe, and it was through his influence
that the Taisha, Rizighat and Homr Baggaras were won over to the Mahdi's
cause. It was agreed that Khalifa Abdullah should, in the event of the
Mahdi's death, succeed.

The second Khalifa was Ali Wad Helu, the chief of the powerful Degheim
and Kenana tribes, who also largely contributed to the Mahdi's success.
The third was Ali Esh Sherif, a Dongolawi, and son-in-law of the Mahdi;
the title of Sherif, or noble, was given to him as being a member of the
Mahdi's family; he was the representative of the Gellabas (or traders),
and of the inhabitants of Gezireh,[B] Berber, and Dongola. Ali Sherif
was in reality the last Khalifa, for a fourth was never appointed. The
Mahdi asked the son of Sheikh Senussi, as by his influence he thought to
win over Egypt, but he refused the honour, and in consequence no one
else was nominated to fill the place, though strenuous efforts were made
by the more ambitious adherents to secure this much-coveted position;
and it is needless to add that several who sought the honour were
relegated to prison as possible rivals. The Khalifa Abdullah is now
about forty-three years of age, has a dark copper-coloured complexion,
much marked by small-pox, an intelligent face, and is a man of great
energy. He is gifted by nature with common sense, but he has had no
education, and can neither read nor write. The Khalifa Ali is rather
short, and if he were only a little taller would pass for a good-looking
man; he has a ruddy complexion, and