they cast the harpoon at random among the reeds; thus,
out of three or four hundred casts, they may, by good
luck, strike a fish. The harpoon is neatly made, and
is attached to a pliable reed about twenty feet long,
secured by a long line. Occasionally they strike a
monster, as there are varieties of fish which attain a
CHIEF OF KYTCH AND DAUGHTER.
weight of two hundred pounds. In the event of
harpooning such a fish, a long and exciting chase is
the result, as he carries away the harpoon, and runs
out the entire length of lin e ; they then swim after
bim, holding their end of the line, and playing him
until exhausted.
The chief of this tribe (the Kytch) wore a leopard -
skin across his shoulders, and a skull-cap of white
beads, with a crest of white ostrieh-feathers ; but the
mantle was merely slung over his shoulders, and all
other parts of his person were naked. His daughter
was the best-looking girl that I have seen among
the blacks; she was about sixteen. Her clothing
consisted of a little piece of dressed hide about
a foot wide slung across her shoulders, all other
parts being exposed. All the girls of this country
wear merely a circlet of little iron jingling ornaments
round their waists. They came in numbers,
bringing small bundles of wood to exchange for a
few handfuls of corn. „ Most of the men are tall,
but wretchedly th in ; the children are mere skeletons,
and the entire tribe appears thoroughly starved. The
language is that of the Dinka. The chief carried a
curious tobacco-box, an iron spike about two feet long,
with a hollow socket, bound with iguana-skin ; this
served for either tobacco-box, club, or dagger. Throughout
the whole of this marshy country it is curious
to observe the number of white ant-hills standing
above the water in the marshes : these Babel towers
save their inmates from the deluge; working during