THE CULT OF NYAKANG AND THK DIVINE KINGS OF THE SHILUK 229 



from Nyakang as founding Warajok and Malakal villages respectively. Doubtless Wawk is 

 identical with Wag, the son of Nyadwai, the thirteenth king in the Genealogy on page 218. 

 I cannot identify the other two kings with any certainty, but one of them, Nikang or 

 Nyakong, alleged to have founded Malakal, may have immediately preceded or succeeded 

 Okoii. 



Thus the Shilluk kings had ditlereut capitals, and we have seen tliat they were born 

 in different villages, that, as among the Shilluk generally, the royal after-birth was buried 

 in the courtyard of the house in which the royal child was born, and that each king 

 was buried in the village in which he was born and brought up. Considering all these 

 facts it is reasonable to suppose that in the old days each king ruled the country from the 

 village in which lie was born and brought up, so that this village became the capital of the 

 country, but remained so only during his lifetime.' 



Eeverence foe Teees 



Special regard is paid to trees that grow near the shrines of dead kings. This is not Trees near 

 remarkable, for the Shilluk territory is in the main bare and there are few shade trees, '■°>'.^' S"'^^'^ 



'^ shrines revered 



SO that any tree growing in or on the outskirts of a village is preserved and the ground 



beneath it becomes to some extent a meeting and squatting place. But the Shilluk attitude 



to trees growing near the grave shrines of their kings appears to be something more 



than an appreciation of the grateful shade they cast, though there is no regular cult. 



In a few cases in which trees have grown, or are believed to have grown, near the shrine 



shortly after its erection, i.e. within a few months or years after the burial of a "divine 



king," it is believed that the tree has sprung from one of the logs of wood forming the bottom 



or sides of the grave, and in these cases the connection between the tree and the dead king 



is one that would easily suggest itself. In the case of an old tree at Kodok, which grew 



near the grave of Nyadwai, a "big" sacrifice was made when it fell down, and its trunk 



and all its fragments were carefully thrown into the river. I could not discover that this 



was supposed to produce rain or to influence the crops in any way, but it was said if anyone 



burnt any of the wood of this tree, even accidentally, he would sicken. In connection 



with this I may refer to the fact that the bones of certain sacrifices are carefully gathered 



together and disposed of in the same way. There is now no tiiM over the grave of 



Nyadwai, but the grave has a fence round it, and a young tree that has appeared a few 



yards from the stump of the old tree is regarded with considerable interest by the Shilluk. 



Unfortunately the grave is situated some little distance from the present native village and 



is surrounded by Government offices and houses. This tree did not spring from the grave of 



Nyadwai, since, on cross examination, it was admitted by the best informed of the Shilluk 



that during his lifetime it stood near his house and that he would often sit under it ; 



nevertheless, there is a general feeling that it is associated with his grave, which is so strong 



that many Shilluk at one time or another spoke of Nyadwai being buried under the ti'ee, 



though his grave must be nearly a hundred yards away. The photograph reproduced 



in Fig. 59, shows the relative position of the grave, the tree stump and the young tree. 



It must be remembered that the due growth of the crops, i.e. of the most important 



part of the vegetable world, depends on the well-being of the divine king, so that there 



' If this conclusion bo adopted, it does away with any difficulty in accepting the account of the death 

 of the king given on })nr/c 222, for if the special (tdi in which the king is strangled or left to die is in the 

 royal village, there would be no difficulty in conveying the king thither so quietly that few would know of 

 his death until some time had elapsed. Since writing the aljovc I have received definite information from 

 Father Bauholzer to the effect that formerly each Shilluk king reigned and was buried in his native village. 

 Tugo is said to have been the first king who lived at Fashoda; whether tliis is correct or not, Fashoda certainly 

 vv.as not the /« ni. of all the kings who su(-ceeded him, tlumgh many of tlicin, r.;/. Nyadwai and Yur Adodit, 

 ruled the country from villages in the neighbourhood of Fashoda. 



