Mr. Churchill's Journey 



From these mountains numerous streams, which 

 are generally dry at this time of the year, run 

 into the Nile. The soil is poor in the neighbour- 

 hood of Gondokoro, but at a distance from the 

 river the country is fertile. The mountains yield 

 the finest iron ore, and the Belinian Baris are 

 expert blacksmiths. Cultivation is carried on to 

 a large extent throughout the country. The corn 

 generally grown is dhurra. This is usually the 

 dark red variety, which, being rather bitter, has a 

 chance of escape from the clouds of small birds 

 which ruin the crops. Baris are exceedingly neat 

 in their dwellings, and there are villages in- 

 numerable. Each hut is surrounded by a small 

 court composed of cement made from the clay 

 of white - ant hills mixed with cow-dung and 

 smeared with ashes. These courts are kept 

 scrupulously clean. The huts are shaped like 

 beehives. The inside wicker-work is quickly 

 attacked by white ants, which destroy the wattles, 

 but the clay is sufficiently tenacious to form a 

 wall when the wood has disappeared. The 

 granaries are also formed of wicker-work sup- 

 ported upon upright pedestals of hard wood or 

 stone to resist the white ants ; the inside is 

 smeared with cow-dung, and the roof is thatched 

 in a similar manner to the houses. Baris are a 

 great pastoral people and possess immense herds 

 of cattle. These are small, active animals with 

 humps, white being the prevailing colour. Like 

 H 97 



