Each of his wives has her own house, kitchen, and slaves quite apart from the rest, consequently the expenditure of his household is considerable. His first wife is head of all the other wives, who now number one hundred and fifty. She is a Baggara woman, and is waited on by numbers of eunuchs, who were formerly in the service of the Turkish and Egyptian pashas; and although the making of eunuchs is strictly prohibited by Mahdi law, nevertheless the Khalifa secretly employs numbers of persons who arrange to supply eunuchs when required. The chief eunuch is a certain Abdel Gayum, who is head of the entire household. He has under his orders numbers of female slaves, who grind dhurra and prepare the food; it is estimated that three ardebs of dhurra a day are consumed in the Khalifa's household. Abdullah is endowed by nature with a good constitution, but his irregular mode of life has gone far to destroy it. Twice he has had severe attacks which have all but killed him; on both occasions he was delirious, and his body became enormously distended. The last time he was ill all hope of his recovery had been given up, and the doctor who was attending him, and had given him a purgative, was on the point of being beheaded, when at the last moment the medicine took effect, and was the happy means of saving the lives of both the Khalifa and his doctor. The Khalifa's illnesses are always kept secret, so that whenever he fails to attend prayers, it is generally thought that he is sick. Fifteen days after the last crisis, and when all danger was over, Abdullah summoned the other two Khalifas and the judges to show them that he had recovered, whereupon Khalifa Ali at once offered up a prayer of thanksgiving, though, if his real feelings had been analysed, it would have been found that he was anything but thankful. After leaving Abdullah, the Khalifas announced to the people in the mosque that he had been very dangerously ill, but that God in His mercy had spared him. This news was the signal for a wild shout of delight, which reached the Khalifa's ears and pleased him not a little. Eight days afterwards he appeared for the first time in the mosque, then the rejoicings knew no bounds, and the shouts were heard miles off; all the emirs congratulated him on his recovery, and the air resounded with the cries of "Allah etawil Omrak!" ("May God prolong your life!") All this flattery pleased the Khalifa immensely, and this eye-service is a particularly highly-developed characteristic of the Sudanese.