wears a large beard; he was
educated at the El Azhar university in Cairo, and has a considerable
knowledge of Islam theology. He is at present under forty years of age,
and should succeed Abdullah. The Khalifa Sherif is not at present more
than twenty-one years of age.

These three Khalifas were the commanders-in-chief of the army, of which
each section had its own special distinctions, whilst the Mahdi himself
had no distinctive military insignia--neither flag nor drum. Each
Khalifa had his own Jehadieh, or regular troops, his cavalry and
lance-bearers, all from the tribe to which he himself belongs; each had
also his own distinctive flag; Abdullah's the Raya Zerga, or black flag;
Ali's the Raya el Hamra, or red flag; and Sherif's the Raya el Hadra, or
green flag; each Khalifa had in addition his own war-drums made of
brass, and which were therefore called "nahas," in contradistinction to
the ordinary drums known as "noggara," which are made of wood, over
which a piece of skin is tightly stretched; the Khalifa Abdullah had
also the onbaia, a very powerful wind instrument made of an elephant's
tusk, hollowed out, and which when blown has a very loud and impressive
sound.

The whole of the Mahdi's troops were thus divided into three sections
under their respective flags, and each Khalifa was in actual command of
his section. The Mahdi and Sherif represented the Gellabas, who are
known, in contradistinction to the Baggara, as Aulad-Belad (country
people), and Aulad-Bahr (river people), because they dwell on the banks
of the Nile; whilst Khalifa Abdullah and Ali Wad Helu represented the
Baggara, _i.e._ the Arabs. The former of these two parties was the most
capable as well as the most numerous, but, as we shall presently see,
Khalifa Abdullah's party, through their leader's immense energy, gained
the ascendency. Each Khalifa has numbers of emirs under him, all of whom
have their different flags. These banners are quite simple and require
no great labour; they are made of varied colours, and on each the Moslem
creed is written, with the addition of the words: "Mohammed Ahmed el
Mahdi Khalifat er Rasul" (_i.e._ "the successor of the Prophet"). This
is specially directed against the Sultan of Turkey, who claims this
title. Latterly flags were made to represent certain stated numbers of
men; for instance, in the early days of the revolt, Abderrahman en
Nejumi was designated Emir el Umara (or Emir of Emirs), because in the
fi