SOME THIliAl, (TSTOMS IN THKTI! KKIjATION TO MKOICINK AM) MORALS 241 



"I'll 10 (4()rK Pkople 



As rej^'arrls the Gours I need only enumerate their chief sub-divisions which, though 



closely allied by race, almost invariably possess (like the neighbouring Nuba tribes of 



Kordofan) distinct dialects, usually unintelligible to their adjacent kindred. — The close 



connection between the Gours and Gebelawi (Nyam-nyam) will be seen from the partition 



of the Mundu and Morro between them. — These two tribes are also intimately associated 



with the Kederu people, and the Kederu with the Dinkas to whom they bear a strong 



resemblance. 



Such commingling of tribes and races at the limits of their extent is indeed only 



natural and will account, to a large degree, for the similarity of customs and superstitions 



existing between them. 



The most important Gour sub-tribes are the Morro and Mundu or Mundari (coiiimon to 



both Gour and Nyam-nyam), The : — 



Ungori Kermo Bulomaza 



Gabouro Rigno Girra 



Bitou Burnio Aingara 



Boufi Umbia Lali 



Barri Billi Numori 



Kiddu Moukia 



Note. — For many of the details of the above list I am indebted to El Mul Awal Zaki 



Effendi, late Manuir of M'volo. 



Ohakactee and Type 



The next point which requires some consideration in order to appreciate the origin and 

 purpose of medical and other customs amongst these people is a character in which 

 profound superstition (as a basis of their religion), animalism and non-morality blend in 

 a mind of very low type, and are often further complicated by the inroad of civilisation 

 and Islamism. 



Matters that do not affect him personally and which he camiot grasp, the savage 

 lightly passes without a thought, as natural phenomena beyond explanation, among which 

 are numbered gramophones, cameras, guns, field-glasses and the like. He is inquisitive, 

 incredulous and distrusting to a degree, however, where his own person is concerned. 



In medical treatment, therefore (beyond the usual " dojjeing " to which he is The magical 

 accustomed), he suspects always an ulterior motive, drugs (pills and tabloids in particular) basis jeiie\e 

 are minutely mysterious applications suggestive of magic. Blood examinations and medical 

 the like are for the purpose of casting a spell or working a " Sahar " on his person pro'^edme 

 through the essential medium obtained. The stethoscope conveys the conversations of 

 conflicting devils within his interior. The hypodermic syringe, with its potent dose, must 

 n§eds transmit a spirit (probably evil) to his body. A surgical operation with its lethal 

 sleep, cruel instruments and strange " Dawa " (medicaments) means death, mutilation and 

 resurrection in one. On recovering consciousness he strongly suspects not oidy a 

 damnable inquisitiveness on the surgeon's part, but probably the removal of some vital 

 organ, the loss of which he will detect and regret anon. 



As regards the autopsy there is a panic of suspicion and superstition in the black 

 man's mind, so much so that in dealing with the Zandeh at Meridi I found it highly 

 inadvisable to attempt one. They suspect interference with the deceased in his after-life, 

 a probing into the "beyond," cannibalism and I know not what. Such is, indeed, not to 

 be wondered at, and only shows how difficult modern medical treatment nnist remain 

 amongst these people. The fear of trifling with the dead is very universal. In trying 



