On the 30th, in the evening I went to the Shekh's house according to promise, and was carried into a large room, where he was sitting alone, smoaking in an alcove; I suppose meditating future mischief, for he had no other apparent employment. He was perfectly sober, however, and seemed rather thoughtful; was very civil, and thanked me in an unusual strain of kindness, for the care I had taken of his family. I asked him if he was recovered? He declared, he had never been so well in his life as since I had given him the last vomit; but that he had received very bad news from Sennaar, that Mahomet Abou Calec (the first minister) had taken the greatest part of the horse and troops, and was gone to Kordofan, a very distant province, surrounded with deserts, where he governed independently; and by his manners and discourse seemed resolved to withdraw himself from his duty to the king: That Shekh Adelan, his younger brother, with the remaining troops, had left Sennaar, and was encamped at Aira, a few miles from the town, where he too governed despotically by his own will; it being the prerogative of the minister to have absolute power as soon as he has left the capital, and put himself at the head of the army, for levying the tax from the Arabs; but that he had parted with the king on terms very little short of rebellion. He then said, "Since this is the case, that Providence has thrown your lot here, that you cannot go forward to Sennaar, nor back to Abyssinia, if you will resolve to stay with me, and turn Mahometan, which is the only true religion, I will give you my daughter for your wife, and you shall be second man in the government of Teawa; and as my intention is to go next year to Mecca, you shall then be appointed to the government of Atbara, while I go to Sennaar, and procure an office fitter for an old man."