serving with the invader and besieged in a fort at Al Halfaya, just north of Khartoum. The fortress at Al-Ubayyid in 1883, was held by Major Ahmed Hussein Pasha (Suarab Section) and despite Hicks Pasha's attempt to relieve him, the fortress fell to the Mahdi. (Major Hussein escaped to Egypt in 1891 and came back during the reconquest in 1898. His family still resides in Omdurman, Khartoum North and Hajar al Asal.) His grandchildren went as far as Germany and America, where they go by the name of Hussein. In April 1884, Saleh Bey (Saleh Wad el Mek), head of the tribe, and 1,400 men surrendered to the Mahdi's forces. Numbers of Shaigiya continued in the service of General Gordon, and this led to the proscription of the tribe by the Mahdi. When Khartoum fell, Saleh's sons were sought out and executed by the Dervishes. On the reconquest of the Sudan by the Anglo-Egyptian army (1896/98), it was found that the Shaigiya were reduced to a few hundred families. After this, the tribe thrived. They figured prominently in the Egyptian Army and later the Sudan Defence Force. General Ibrahim Abboud, decorated with the MBE for his valour at Keren in 1941, was a Shaiqi from the Onia section and later President of the Sudan in 1964. Culture They are known for their bravery, generosity, and enlightenment. "They are the one to hunt the Lion." Freedom-loving and hospitable, they had schools in which all Muslim science was taught, and were rich in corn and cattle. Their fighting men, mounted on horses of the famous Dongola breed, were feared throughout the eastern Sudan. Their chiefs wore coats of mail and carried shields of hippopotamus or crocodile skin. Their arms were lance, sword or javelin. The Shaigiya are divided into twelve sections or sub tribes, each descended from one of the twelve sons of the founder, Shaig. Many jokes involve a Shaigi quarrelling with a Ja'li. Many times the Shaigi is the sharp, and Ja'li is the stubborn. They have adopted the tribal marking custom of cutting three horizontal lines on the cheeks of their children. This was done with a heated knife, but is now a dying custom. Communication Members of the Shaigiya tribe speak and write in Arabic. Some sections living towards the Red Sea area have a language that is akin to what the Hadendoa speak. They are reported to