on a spot on the right hank, in clouds of smoke as a
“ ehasse des moustiques.” They make tumuli of dung,
which are constantly on fire, fresh fuel being continually
added, to drive away the mosquitoes. Around
these heaps the cattle crowd in hundreds, living with
the natives in the smoke. By degrees the heaps of
ashes become about eight feet high ; they are then
used as sleeping-places and watch-stations by the
natives, who, rubbing themselves all over with the
ashes, have a ghastly and devilish appearance that is
indescribable. The country is covered with old tumuli
formed in this manner. A camp may contain' twenty
or thirty such, in addition to fresh heaps that are
constantly burning. Fires of cow-dung are also made
on the levelled tops of the old heaps, and bundles of
green canes, about sixteen feet high, are planted on
the summit; these wave in the breeze like a plume
of ostrich feathers, and give shade to the people during
the heat of the day.
Jan. 30th.—Arrived at the “ Shir ” tribe. The
men are, as usual in these countries, armed with
well-made ebony clubs, two lances, a bow (always
strung), and a bundle of arrows; their hands are
completely full of weapons; and they carry a neatly-
made miniature stool slung upon their backs, in addition
to an immense pipe. Thus a man carries all
that he most values about his person. The females
in this tribe are not absolutely naked; like those of the
Kytch, they wear small lappets of tanned leather as
broad as the h and; at the back of the belt, which
supports this apron, is a tail which reaches to the
lower portions of the thighs; this tail is formed of
finely-cut strips of leather, and the costume has doubtless
been the foundation for the report I had received
from the Arabs, “ that a tribe in Central Africa had
tails like horses.” The women carry their children
very conveniently in a skin slung from their shoulders
across the back, and secured by a thong round the
waist; in this the young savage sits delightfully. The
huts throughout all tribes are circular, with entrances
so low that the natives creep both in and out upon
their hands and knees. The men wear tufts of cock’s
feathers on the crown of the head; and their favourite
attitude, when standing, is on one leg while leaning
on a spear, the foot of the raised leg resting on the
inside of the other knee. Their arrows are about
three feet long, without feathers, and pointed with
hard wood instead of iron, the metal being scarce
among the Shir tribe. The most valuable article of
barter? for this tribe is the iron hoe generally used
among .the White Nile negroes. In form it is precisely
similar to the “ ace of spades.” The finery most