NILOTIC NEGHOES 787 



blocks on tlu^ uppin- part of tlie arm. The wooden Mocks arc coknired 

 red with oxide of iron. A band stiunii;- with small ])i(^ces of wood 

 of the same colour is sometimt^s woi'u round tlie forehead. Some of 

 the married men wear a semi-cirele of ivory on the forehead, made of 

 the split canine teetli of the hi})po[)otamus. (The tooth, however, I am 

 informed, is not split, but ground down until it is only an eigjith of an 

 inch thick.) Others wear the tusks of a wart-hog. The .la-luo men. like 

 most of the trihes of Nilotic origin, frec|uently adopt a curious stork-like 

 attitude, standing on some hillock or ant-hill on one leg with the other 

 leg bent and the sole of the foot apposed to the inner side of the knee 

 of the leg on which the body is poised. They usually wear sandals of 

 leather when travelling. 



The Ja-luo live much by (KjvlcuUure. They cultivate sorghum.. s\ve<d 

 potatoes, yeas, beans, eleusiiie, jjv.mjjkms, tobacco, and hemp- Salt is 

 made from the ashes of reeds. They eat practically ait kinds of meat 

 except the hytena. Young men eat leo})ard in order to make them tierce 

 in war. The crested crane is universally protected, and is never killed. 

 The women do not eat fowls, and some women do not eat sheep or eggs. 

 Some eat liippopotamus, and some refuse that meat. Women do not 

 drink milk, but eat it c(j()ked with focd. They have a disagreeable 

 custom of mixing cows' urine with the milk of the cow. The urine is 

 allowed to stand a day or two in order to increase its flaneur. The 

 people say that this admixture increases the amount of Initter in the 

 milk. They like the flavour, and think that it has medicinal value. 

 They kill oxen by sticking a knife into the jugular vein. The head 

 must be pointed to the west duiing the operation. Sheep and goats are 

 killed in the same manner. Besides the flesh of fowls, cattle, sheep, and 

 goats, they eat large (piantities of fish, which they oVitain from the rivers, 

 and, above all, from the waters of the A'ictoria Nyanza. 



Cooking is done entirely by women in earthen pots inside tl:e hut 

 or on the verandah, and the food is served in little wicker ])askets. 

 I^ither and sons eat together in a little separate hut which has open 

 sides. Women eat separately from the men inside their own houses. 



They do not Jnint nuich with dogs. l)ut catch a good deal of game in 

 pitfalls. They will also attack the elephant with spears, p'ish is caught 

 in the Victoria Nyanza by means t)f large, conical wicker trajis called 

 '•dema." The process is as follows: They bring two very long ropes, one 

 end of each of which is firmly secured to the shore. One rope lies, 

 weighted, alony;' the bottom under the water, the other floats on the 

 surface, but from it hangs a fringe of papyrus stalks. The two ropes 

 above and below corres]^;ond with its other, and are connected at intervals 

 with strings to ensure their correspondence, whih^ the fringe of papyrus 



