296 THROUGH UNKNOWN AFRICAN COUNTRIES. 
and the Arbore had stolen most of their donkeys. Their 
neighbors on the north, the Murle, had also dealt them 
the last blow, so that now there is scarcely anything left 
of the once rich and powerful tribe. There are not more 
than five hundred inhabitants in Rusia, and these can 
scarcely keep body and soul together on the little durrha 
they raise. Many of them have been obliged to resort to 
fishing as a means of earning their living; and a still 
greater number have crossed the river Nianam, and have 
settled in a Rusia village on the 
northwestern corner of Lake Ru- 
dolf, in the country of the Eleume. 
On the morning after our arri- 
val, all the leading men of Rusia 
came to us bringing a sheep, and 
offering to do all they could for us. 
Our Masai interpreter, Lagoisi, in- 
timated that the Rusia expected 
me to pour some milk, or other 
liquid, on the back of the sheep, 
before killing it, to show my good 
will; so it occurred to me that I 
might anoint the animal with a 
solution of permanganate of potas- 
RUSIA SHIELD. 
sium and water. 
The natives eyed me curiously as I dropped a tiny tab- 
let of the red salt into a basin of water and produced a 
beautiful claret-colored liquid; and when I added a few 
drops of lime-juice to this, and changed the liquid to a 
golden color, they could not resist expressing aloud their 
astonishment. I do not think the Rusia ever had any 
religion until they had been beaten by the Arbore; but 
the Arbore had impressed upon them the existence of a 
god called Wak, who always assisted the Arbore chiefs. 
