_Nurse._—“He died last night.” _Apoth._—“And is No. 3 no better?” _Nurse._—“He wants nothing further, for in two or three days he will be dead.” _Apoth._—“How is No. 7?” _Nurse._—“I don’t understand his complaint. The patients tell me he has not been able to sleep for the last four nights; he has no appetite, and is continually vomiting.” _Apoth._—_(Making up some tincture of opium, which he gives to the nurse.)_ “There, that is to make him sleep. I know nothing about the other symptoms. What does No. 8 say for himself? has his dysentery diminished?” _Nurse._—“No, it has rather increased, and it will probably be all over with him this evening, so he wants nothing more; but No. 9 may be discharged to-day.” _Apoth._—“How is No. 35?” _Nurse._—“I think he ought to be bled, for the inflammation increases.” _Apoth._—“I will have nothing at all to do with venesection, for I might be placed in the same unpleasant position as Dr. Ali Effendi, from whose pay three hundred piasters were deducted, because he divided the artery in performing the operation, and the soldier was invalided. Is there no increase?” _Nurse._—“Three patients; two fevers, and I don’t know what is the matter with the third, but my comrades think it is gout.” From this short dialogue, we may conclude how the hospital at Lobeid is managed, and what condition the poor patients who are sighing for relief must be in. No medicine, no attention, and a hard couch! My heart misgave me every time I entered this place of misery, and saw the cool deliberation with which the poor sick soldiers are murdered, in the strictest sense of the word. If the other inhabitants of Lobeid died in the same ratio, the capital of Kordofan would be totally depopulated in less than fifty years. CHAPTER XIII. PRODUCTS. The two seasons prevailing in this country and so strongly defined, are the chief reason why the ground does not yield as many products as might be obtained by the assistance of art; for, if field and garden fruits were cultivated with the utmost care during the dry season, no success could be expected, as there is a total want of water wherewith to irrigate the plants, and, in the wet season, the rain beats down with such force that it would wash all small plants out of the earth; hence agriculture is confined to articles which thrive without much attention, and proceed quickly to maturity. I have no doubt that, if wells were sunk and large reservoirs excavated to collect, during the rainy months, the quantity of water necessary for the irrigation of the soil during the ensuing dry season, many vegetables might be produced which it is now quite impossible to rear. There are no running streams, and the few small lakes, or rather ponds, met with in the country, are not supplied with water throughout the year, and are, moreover, very inconsiderable when compared with the extent of arable land.