but with the Aulad-belad it is exactly the reverse; they
poke into the walls and tap the ground to hear if there is any
hollowness in the sound; they search every corner most thoroughly, and
seldom leave empty-handed; but the Baggaras have now got the upper hand,
and the Aulad-belad must bow down before them. In spite of this,
however, they manage to deceive their new masters, and in all matters
where cunning is required they are far superior to them.

It is only right that the Baggara, who have been brought up in the
forests and plains, and who are far more simple-minded, honest
individuals, should rule the corrupt Aulad-belad; their emigration to
Omdurman and their submission to the Khalifa's rule has had the
advantage of taming them, and their advances in civilization are quite
astounding. Being now possessed of power and money, they have begun to
build better houses, to wear cleaner clothing, and to occasionally wash
their jibbehs, which were reeking and besmeared with oil and fat; the
Khalifa has done much to improve their manners and customs in this
respect. Their west-country Arabic dialect has greatly improved; now the
two opposition parties can thoroughly understand each other, and the
Aulad-belad no longer make a laughing-stock of their western brethren.

The Khalifa's policy is to weaken the power of the Aulad-belad and to
strengthen the Baggaras. Just as a good father watches his children, so
does Abdullah watch for every opportunity to further these ends by a
clever combination of leniency and severity. He frequently blames his
own countrymen for their want of gratitude to their benefactor, who has
heaped favours upon them at the expense of the Aulad-belad. On one
occasion he cursed the day on which he had brought them to Omdurman,
calling it a "black day;" but, in point of fact, he is not really
serious when he upbraids them, he rather does it to satisfy the
complainers, and he takes every opportunity of sending the Aulad-belad
as far away from headquarters as possible, so as to strengthen his
central authority by the presence of Baggaras only.

I have already narrated how in the famine year he made the Baggaras pay
only six dollars for an ardeb of dhurra, whilst everyone else had to pay
sixty dollars for the same quantity; thus the Baggara suffered no
hardships and want during that terrible time. They do not like dhurra as
well as dukhn, which is more nourishing, and which they grind in wooden
mortars.