356 
KEPOKT UPON I'HYSICAL C'HAKACTEKS OF NILOTIC NEGKOID TKIHES 
Animal magic 
Mythology 
reticent on the matter, a fact whicii is to l)e explained by reference to the uses to which 
snake-magic is put. If a Dinka has an enemy he may cause his snake, or one of the 
particular species with whose magic he is conversant, to inflict injury upon the enemy, or 
upon his family or cattle. If anyone has been bitten liy a snake, or has had a narrow 
escape from a snake, or has merely seen a snake, or heard one rustling in the grass, he is 
sure to make enquiries as to the master of these snakes, for to his mind every snake has a 
master. Some snake-master, perhaps in another village, hears of this incident, and smiles 
grimly, whereupon men draw their conclusions. 
“A snake-magician is considered wonderful, for he is so astute that he seldom or never 
gives himself away. If he is clever he can ward off the snakes of other magicians. They 
require, so they say, to keep a special cow for the snake, that it may never lack milk. If 
they have no cow they will set apart a goat for the same purpose, and if they have neither 
cow nor goat they are unable to practise snake-magic at all. Cows and goats set apart for 
this purpose are never given in exchange for wives and cattle. 
“ Other animals besides the snake are used for the purpose of practising magic. The 
crocodile, the hyena, the jackal, and even the lion, are all utilised by the magician. 
The crocodile-magic is looked upon as one of the most piotent forms. I came across an 
instance where magic had been practised for many years, to prevent the women and children 
being caught while going to the river for water. The greater part of this magic consisted 
in incantations, wearing peculiar charms, twisting and untwisting a small piece of string in 
a particular hut, and in leaving offerings of meat upon the river bank. The crocodile 
accepted the offerings, and respected the motives of those who made them. 
“The Ilamegs and Fungs, who live on mountains to the north of the Burun country, 
have many superstitions regarding hyenas, lions, and leojjards. A hyena may come in the 
night, may tear you open and eat all your inside. He is not a real hj'ena, but your enemy in 
the shape of a hyena. So skilful is he that in the morning no wound is visible, the only 
result being that you experience a certain degree of indigestion. A’ou curse your enemy 
in his hyena form. 
“ One could speak at great length on the mythology of these various tribes. The river- 
tribes have a god, who seems mostly to he a rain-god. By the Dinkas and Nuers he is 
called ‘ Deng-Dit ’ ; liy the Shilluks ‘ Nekang.’ There are many interesting stories with 
regard to the origin of the tribe. They all have reference to ‘ Deng-Dit ’ or ‘ Nekang,’ hut 
over and above this rain-god they have another god, a universal creator, maker and ruler 
of the luriverse. Of him one seldom hears. Oire of his irames is ‘ Jok,’ and it is a curious 
feature in their beliefs that they take a very pessimistic view of their Creator. He brings 
the bad things in life as well as the good, and that weighs upon their minds much more 
than the benefits he confers. According to one writer, ‘ Jok ’ is referred to as the devil, 
but this is not correct. He is to lie approached through the medium of the rain-god. The 
latter is a very real personality to them, but of the Supreme Being they have but a 
hazy idea.”' 
A large number of individuals was measured. The stature was, in two sets of figures, 
on an average 175-lHO cm., the maximum stature being 195 and the minimum 164. In 
stature, therefore, they must be classified among the races of medium height. 
The maximum head length was 211 and the minimum 172, while the average 
w-as 189-7. 
^ Further information on this interesting subject, and on the beliefs and customs of tribes in the Bahr-El- 
Ghazal, is given by Captain Lyle Cummins in the Parliamentary Blue Book on Egypt and the Sudan, 1906. 
(Enclosure 4 in No. 2, p. 97.)—A.B. 
