The capture of the caravan and arms was a great blow to Saleh, and now Abdullah no longer delayed to carry out his intentions. He despatched the Emirs Greger Hamed and Wad Nubawi, of the Beni Jerrar, against him. In the first fight Saleh was successful; but lost his brother and a number of men. After this, a number of Dar Homr Arabs, who had formerly been allied to him, now deserted to the other side, and with the Dervishes occupied the wells of Mahbas. This being the only water in the neighbourhood, there was now nothing left but to fight, and Saleh and his men performed prodigies of valour, killing great numbers of the Dervishes; but he was hampered by numerous camp-followers, women and children, whom it was impossible to defend; and at length, seeing his third brother fall before his eyes, he dismounted from his horse, sat on his "fur" (sheep's skin), and waited to receive his death-blow, which was dealt by one of Greger's relatives, between whom and Saleh a blood feud existed; the latter having killed both Greger's father and uncle. Another account relates, that Greger had severely wounded Saleh in the head with his axe, but Saleh plunging his sword through Greger's body, they both fell from their horses, and died together. This fight took place on the 17th of May, 1887, and by Saleh's death Abdullah succeeded in ridding himself of the enemy he most feared. Wad Adam was despatched with Saleh's head to Omdurman, where it hung on the gallows for a month, and where I myself saw it. After Saleh's death the Kababish were dealt with in the most cruel manner; several of them were brought to El Obeid as prisoners, where they were executed. On one occasion Wad Adam had one hundred of them hanged together, and then threw their bodies into a well. The same evening groans were heard from the well, and it was found that one of the victims was still alive; he was taken out and allowed to live. The camels and sheep of this wealthy tribe were all brought to the beit el mal at Omdurman. Most of the she-camels were killed and sold for about two dollars apiece. In this way the Dervishes ruined the possibility of breeding, and destroyed the prosperity and well-being of the country. The once powerful Kababish tribe has now almost disappeared, and is seldom even mentioned. Abdullah having thus vanquished his last enemy, now seriously set to work to mature his plans for the conquest of Egypt. But before entering on this part of my story, it may be as well to give a brief historical sketch of Darfur, and the recent events which had occurred there.