The disappearance of Joseppi, followed by the death of Adlan, threw me into a state of almost abject despair; there appeared to be no hopes of my ever being released from the Saier, and after the replies given by Abdullahi to Wad Adlan and the Muslimanieh when they interceded for me, my friends outside evidently abandoned all hope also. But I was to have an interesting fellow-prisoner whose deceptions on Abdullahi and others were indirectly to lead to my release. It will take many generations of Gordon College teachers to uproot the firm belief of the Soudanese in “jinns” (spirits, sprites, and fairies) and in the supernatural powers claimed to be possessed by certain communities and individuals. Centuries of most transparent deceptions have not shaken their belief, so that it was no wonder the Mahdi found many imitators in the miracle-working line, and that these people found thousands of believers. The more these charlatans failed in their endeavours to produce powder from sand, lead from dust, and precious metals from the baser ones, the more credence was given to the next professing alchemist who came |171| along. A man named Shwybo of the Fellati country (near Lake Chad), had driven a good trade in Omdurman by inducing people to give him large copper coins to be converted into silver dollars; he had offered his services to Wad Adlan, but as the Beit-el-Mal had been mulcted in some thousands of dollars already by people like him, Adlan refused to entertain any of his propositions. On the death of Adlan, Shwybo offered his services to the Khaleefa, and the Beit-el-Mal. The Kadi was instructed to inquire into his pretensions; Shwybo professed to have power over the jinns who converted copper into silver; a number of his dupes presented themselves to the Kadi, and complained that Shwybo’s jinns had not only not converted the coins given them to work upon, but had stolen the coins into the bargain. Shwybo pleaded that the action of the jinns was in consequence of the want of faith of the complainants, and to their curiosity in trying to see the jinns at work; the jinns would never work in the presence of strangers; no one but himself might be in the place where the converting of the metals was in progress. Shwybo was given about a hundred dollars’ worth of copper coins, and incense, drugs, spices, etc., to a further value of nearly two hundred dollars, which were taken from the Beit-el-Mal, and charged to the account of the Kadi. The incense, drugs, and spices were to propitiate the angry jinns; but to ensure their not being disturbed at work, the Kadi said Shwybo had better carry out his experiments in the Saier where Idris would see he was not interfered with. |172|