316 THROUGH UNKNOWN AFRICAN COUNTRIES. 
I noticed that some of the feathers they wore in their 
hair were obtained from. the new species of turaco I dis- 
covered near Sheikh Mohammed. The rope and cord, 
which they made from the fibres of a species of hemp, could 
not be excelled in neatness or strength, and their baskets 
were models of skilled workmanship. Their weapons 
consisted of a slender spear with pear-shaped blades, bows 
and poisoned arrows, and 
small round shields made 
from giraffe-skin. 
aay Manley agg 
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They raise a poor coffee 
and tobacco, but much: ex- 
cellent durrha, and also pos- 
sess many sheep, goats, and 
chickens, a few donkeys, 
but no cattle. The houses 
are well built, and consist 
of a thatched perpendicular 
wall, built in a circle, with a single very small opening and 
MELA BASKET. 
a high peaked roof. The Mela speak a peculiar language 
of their own, and it was very difficult to get any information 
from them. 
A second tributary of the Nianam, about the same size 
as the first one we crossed, passes through the valley of 
the Mela, and as soon as the Mela had made friends with 
us, we were shown a place on this stream where we could 
wade across, and where the natives had also built a bridge. 
This bridge is made of boughs, lashed together and sus- 
pended to the branches of two large trees which grow on 
opposite banks of the river. Our boxes and bags were 
taken across the bridge, while the donkeys w re led across 
the ford, the Mela assisting us greatly. 
We had now marched a hundred miles above Lake 
Rudolf, so I determined to ascend the northern end of the 
