he said,—“May God and his Prophet preserve me from ever buying again from such as thee! Didst thou consider me to be insolvent, that thou shouldst thus go and complain to my master? I have bought much greater caravans than thine without his knowing anything of it.” The Morocco man was so humiliated by this proof of his comparatively small importance, that he hastened to leave the city. Let us now return to the history of the Fullans. Zaky easily made himself master of Niffy. Struck with the beauty of the country, and the wealth of the inhabitants, he resolved to build there a seat of government.[48] He became so fond of the country that he always returned thither after his excursions. Having rested a year, and organised the government according to the principles of Islam, he marched upon Afnou, which is celebrated for the beauty of its slaves, and soon conquered it as well as Aghadez. Then he proceeded against Bornou, the Sultan of which fled, as I have related, to Kanoum. Now it was that Emin preached a sacred league against the invader, whom he accused of having uttered false accusations against Soudan, as an excuse for extending his authority. Soon afterwards Zaky was defeated with great loss, and driven out of Bornou. This was the first revival of courage amongst the princes of Soudan. It is singular that the defeat of the Fellatahs coincided in time with the first reverses of the Wahabites, which took place four or five years after the period when the French definitively evacuated Egypt. All these revolutions, which convulsed Central Soudan from Niffy and Kashna to Bornou, were the consequences, as I have already suggested, of the sedentary and tranquil life of the inhabitants. Ibn-Khaldoun has already shown, in his great history, the effects of luxury in rendering people effeminate. It may be objected that the developments of industry and wealth in Europe do not produce similar results. But it must be remembered that, in Islam, whatever refinement exists is merely material, and has reference to the pleasures of the table, the relation of the sexes, the laying out of fine houses, furniture, valuable horses, singing, and domestic festivals. But there is nothing done for the abstract sciences, nothing for the departments of knowledge which are the domain of intelligence, the applications of mathematics to arts and to war, physics, chemistry, medicine, natural history, botany, and experimental studies. The knowledge of the Muslim, when he has any at all, is confined to religious and civil jurisprudence, according to the rite he has adopted. He adds to this certain theological notions on the unity of God, and the elements of analytical grammar. This is all that constitutes the science of the Ulemas, the learned men of Islam, who attack all those who meddle with human sciences as infidels and philosophers.