As the delivery of cattle to Egypt is at present put an end to by order of the Viceroy, the Bakkara have no longer to suffer these torments; but they are, no doubt, tortured in some other way. The southern provinces, as Dongola, Sennaar, and Kordofan, have, for several years past, been forced to tender twelve thousand oxen annually for Egypt alone; eight or nine thousand heads being the stipulated portion required from Kordofan. More than one half of these animals perished on the road on account of the bad management with which the transport was conducted, and thus the government suffered a great loss. Sheds where grass or chaff was kept for the transport were, indeed, erected between Deppa and Cairo, at a distance of each day’s march; but these shunes, as they are here termed, were under very bad direction; for the inspectors sold the greater part of the forage, and thus the cattle were but sparingly fed, and the exhausted beasts were deprived of the opportunity of recruiting their strength. A second error was also prevalent, namely, that of not allowing tired or sick beasts to rest on the road, for they were driven on with the rest of the drove until they dropped. Thus by bad management one half the cattle was annually lost, although they might easily have been preserved by more careful treatment, and would have been of invaluable assistance to the northern part of Egypt, where the consumption of beasts is considerable. CHAPTER VII. THE KUBBABEESH.