Had it not been that he had the full support of his own countrymen, Karamalla could not have obeyed the Khalifa's command; for it was an operation of great difficulty to induce the Bazingers to leave their own homes and go to Shakka. However, after the evacuation of the Bahr el Ghazal, several of the Gellabas had hurried from Darfur and Kordofan to join Karamalla, and procure ivory and slaves for themselves. In consequence, the riverain element, consisting principally of Jaalin and Danagla, represented a considerable portion of the force, and it was impossible for the Bazingers to refuse to return. Thus, partly of his own free-will, and partly from stress of circumstances, Karamalla returned, bringing with him an immense number of female slaves, whom he had kidnapped from the districts through which he passed. In spite of all his precautions, several of his Bazingers managed to escape on the march with their arms; but he had still at his disposal over three thousand rifles on his arrival at Shakka, where he sold his enormous quantities of male and female slaves to the dealers, who paid him in ready money.
Like a sensible man, he sent some of the money and the pick of the slaves, by his brother Suleiman, to the Khalifa; and the latter, much pleased with his present, ordered him to remain at Shakka. Both Abu Anga, and Osman Wad Adam also came in for a fair share of the spoil.
At Shakka, however, Karamalla conducted himself as if he were ruler of the whole country, and perpetrated every description of tyranny and extortion. Madibbo, the Emir and ruler of this part of these districts, reproached him bitterly; but Karamalla, who had seized a number of horses and slaves from the Rizighat Arabs, told him to mind his own business. Several of the malcontents now rallied round Madibbo, and this was exactly what Karamalla wanted. He sought an excuse for a quarrel; and when Madibbo, who had been ordered to appear before him, refused to obey the summons, he proceeded against him as a rebel. A fight took place; Madibbo was defeated, and fled towards Darfur; while Karamalla followed him up through Dara as far as the neighbourhood of El Fasher, and had thus an opportunity of seeing for himself the richness of the country. He now requested Sultan Yusef to follow up and capture Madibbo; whilst he himself returned to Dara, where he settled down, much to the annoyance and disgust of Sultan Yusef's officials. Madibbo was captured by Zaguna at about two days' distance from Fasher, and was handed over to Sultan Yusef; and the latter sent him, under escort, to Abu Anga in Kordofan, and at the same time took occasion to complain of Karamalla's conduct. The latter, however, had written direct to the Khalifa in Omdurman, informing him that the Furs were trying to revive the dynasty, and that Sultan Yusef was only a Mahdist in outward appearance. Abu Anga had also forwarded the letters he had received from Sultan Yusef; and now the Khalifa had to choose between Karamalla and Yusef; but, with his usual astuteness, he did neither.
Abdullahi rightly concluded that Yusef, being the direct descendant of the old dynasty, would, if permitted to remain, endeavour to strengthen his own position to such an extent that he might eventually struggle to regain his independence. On the other hand, Karamalla, being a Dongolawi, and a relative of the Mahdi, was undoubtedly a partisan of Khalifa Sherif; moreover, most of the Bazingers belonged either to the Danagla or Jaalin, and it was not to the interest of the Khalifa to strengthen either of these parties, although they were at present openly disposed towards him. He therefore wrote to Sultan Yusef that he was lord of the country, that he did not entertain the slightest doubt as to his fidelity, and many similar phrases; but instead of instructing Karamalla to quit Dara, he sent orders for Abu Anga to officially occupy the district. Yusef, imagining that the Khalifa had fully confirmed him in his position, and finding that Karamalla was now in occupation of Hillet Shieria and Toweisha, as well as Dara, determined to drive him out of the country; an army was collected. His chief, Magdum Said Bros, attacked the posts of Shieria and Toweisha, which were completely destroyed; and Karamalla, after suffering very heavy losses, was forced to retire on Shakka. In this engagement, Karamalla lost most of his best fighting Sheikhs, amongst them Hassan Abu Taher, Ali Mohammed, and others—all Danagla—who had fought under Yusef Shellali and Gessi Pasha in the Bahr el Ghazal; but the Khalifa had so many enemies the less.
Madibbo was brought to Kordofan, and handed over to Abu Anga, who had an old account to settle with him. When serving under Suleiman Wad Zubeir, he fell, on one occasion, into the hands of Madibbo, who was very hostile to him, and forced him to carry a huge box of ammunition on his head during several days' march, and, when he complained about it, mercilessly flogged and abused him. When Madibbo was brought before Abu Anga, he had little hope of his life; but he determined to try and obtain justice, affirming that he had not fought against the Mahdi, but had been forced to take up arms by Karamalla. But of what use were all his excuses and proofs of innocence, or his fidelity?—the only answer he received from Abu Anga was: "And yet I will kill you." Madibbo, now convinced of the uselessness of his pleading, resigned himself to his fate, and, despairing of his life, said, "It is not you who will kill me, but God. I have not asked for mercy, but for justice; however, a slave like you can never become noble. The traces of the lashes of my whip, which may still be seen on your back, were well deserved. In whatever form death may come upon me, it will always find me calm and a man. I am Madibbo, and the tribes know me." Abu Anga ordered him to be sent back to prison, but forbore to have him flogged; and, the following morning, he had him executed in front of his whole army. Madibbo was true to his word. Standing in an open space, with a chain round his neck, he sneered at the soldiers who galloped up to him, shaking their lances over his head. When told to kneel down to receive the death-blow, he called on the people who stood round to report faithfully after his death how he had borne himself; a moment afterwards all was over. Thus ended Madibbo, one of the ablest Arab Sheikhs in the Sudan.
When his head was brought into Omdurman, there was general mourning amongst the Rizighat Arabs, who had years before quitted their country as pilgrims. Even the Khalifa himself regretted his death; but as the deed had been done, he would not blame his greatest Emir. He therefore concealed his indignation; but to me he remarked that had Abu Anga not killed him, Madibbo might have done him many a valuable service.
Yunes was now apparently quite happy. He had gone from Abu Haraz to Gedaref and Gallabat, where he had settled down; and, as his authority was an extended one, and the people over whom he ruled were turbulent, he asked the Khalifa's permission to undertake a campaign against the Abyssinians, and Abdullahi, having received no answer from King John to his peaceful letters, gave his consent. His troops, under Arabi Dafalla, now attacked the villages along the frontier, destroyed several of them, killing the men and carrying off their wives and children as captives. By the rapidity of their movements, committing wholesale robberies one day, and making murderous raids twenty miles distant the next, they had become a perfect scourge to the Abyssinians; but, in spite of all this, the latter still continued their commercial relations with Yunes, who, by his amicable treatment of them in Gallabat, had induced them to come in larger numbers to sell the produce of their country, such as coffee, honey, wax, tomatoes, ostriches, etc., as well as horses, mules, and slaves. The market-place lay just beyond the town; and when one day an exceptionally large caravan of merchants, consisting of Gebertas (Abyssinian Moslems) and Makada (Abyssinian Christians) arrived at Gallabat, the rapacity of Yunes could not be controlled, and, on the pretext that they had come as spies of Ras Adal, he threw them into chains, and seized all their goods. They were then sent under escort to Omdurman, where the ignorant mob imagined them to be the spoil of a great victory; while the Khalifa, ever ready to increase his and his people's prestige, publicly dubbed Yunes "Afrit el Mushrikin" (The Devil of the Polytheists), and Mismar ed Din (The Nail of the Faith). Yunes had been careful to send him all the prettiest of the Abyssinian girls taken in the various raids, as well as a number of horses and mules; thus, greedy of more victories, he decided to unite the army of Yunes and Abu Anga, and attack King John, who, by not answering his letters, had mortally offended him. In the meantime Yunes was instructed to remain strictly on the defensive.
Abu Anga now received instructions to despatch fifteen hundred of his men, all armed with Remington rifles, to Osman Wad Adam, who had been appointed Emir of Kordofan and Darfur; but he himself was ordered to come to Omdurman with the remainder of his troops.
Latterly, Sheikh Saleh el Kabbashi had been left undisturbed at the wells of Om Badr; but, knowing that he would be attacked sooner or later, he despatched to Wadi Halfa fifty of his most faithful slaves with letters begging the support of the Egyptian Government; and the faithful Saleh's agent obtained two hundred Remington rifles, forty boxes of ammunition, £200 in cash, and some beautifully embossed revolvers.
At this time, there resided at Assuan a German merchant named Charles Neufeld, who had previously made the acquaintance of Dafalla Egail, a brother of Elias Pasha who had recently escaped from the Sudan; from him he learnt that in Northern Kordofan there was a large quantity of gum which the merchants had been unable to dispose of, in consequence of the rebellion, and which could easily be brought to Wadi Halfa with the assistance of Sheikh Saleh. Enticed by this pleasant prospect of making money, and filled with a love of adventure, he resolved to join Saleh's people, in order to travel with them to their Sheikh. He had apparently no difficulty in obtaining permission from the Government to proceed on his journey, promising that he would send detailed accounts of the situation in the Sudan; and, early in April, 1887, he left Wadi Halfa with the caravan.