AMUSING THE INHABITANTS OF LUKU. 51 
day, and were intensely amused at some toys I showed 
them, setting up shrieks of laughter when I produced some 
little white porcelain dolls. We were pointed out where 
Sheikh Husein lay, about thirty miles to the southwest. 
We could never have gone in a straight line to Sheikh 
Husein from the Shebeli River, owing to the rough 
character of the country; and as it was, we had had a 
most difficult time of it going far north to Luku. The 
natives of Luku told us that it would be very difficult 
to reach Sheikh Husein, but that crowds of their people 
would accompany us, and aid us in every way, as they 
intended taking part in the festival. We did not reach 
Sheikh Husein till September 21, or three days after 
leaving Luku, although all hands were working hard to 
clear the road. 
I was astonished at the beauty of the scenery. Deep 
canyons twisting in all manner of curves split up the 
country towards the Shebeli River on the north, while to 
the south rose the great group of mountains I have before 
mentioned. 
All of my boys, who were fanatical Mohammedans, were 
delighted at the prospect of showing themselves off in 
their advanced ideas before the simple natives, and as it was 
advisable to make friends with the natives, I did not inter- 
fere at all with my boys in these proceedings, although 
they made the nights hideous by their chants and prayers. 
My boys told me they were going to show much in the 
way of religious forms when they reached Sheikh Husein. 
The condition of the natives improved steadily as we 
progressed toward the holy village. Some of their houses 
were very large, thirty or forty feet in diameter, with 
thatched roofs resting on a wall of posts five feet high, 
and passing to a peak in the centre, which rose to 
fifteen feet. They raise many cereals, beans, and pump- 
