MASAI, TURKANA, StJK, XANDI, ETC. 849 



lower-lying country between l>;iringo and the north end of Lake Rudolf 

 is afflicted. What little cultivation there is generally takes the form of 

 .sorghum fields. The Turkana make meal of the gingerbread-like rind 

 of the Dum palm fruits. The Dum, or branding fan-palm (Hyphiene 

 thebaica), whicli is so common in Upper Egypt and Nubia, extends its 

 range to the regions round Lake Rudolf, and thence, with a great break of 

 plateau land, into Eastern Africa in the vicinity of Kilimanjaro, continuing 

 its range eastwards to the littoral of the Indian Ocean. It bears fruits 

 about the size of a large plum or apple. These consist of a hard stone 

 with a thin, chestnut-coloured rind of sweetish substance su])posed to 

 resemble gingerbread in taste. 



Tiie Turkana and tlie pastoral Suk depend for their sustenance partly 

 on the fish of Lake Rudolf and the neighbouring brackish swamps but 

 mainly on the products of their flocks and herds. The Turkana keep 

 cittle of the humped variety, sheep and (joats, donkeys, and a few camels. 

 They have numerous yellow pariah dogs. According to Count Teleki, the 

 few camels possessed by the Turkana have only been recently obtained by 

 them from the Burkeneji (Masai dwelling at the south end of Lake Rudolf), 

 who obtained them from the >Somali-like people to the east and north-east 

 •of Lake Rudolf. The Turkana donkeys are, of course, the same as those 

 ■described in connection with the Masai. Their sheejj very often have the 

 black heads and necks and white bodies characteristic of the sheep of 

 Galaland and Southern Abyssinia. The Turkana and Silk hunt elephants 

 in nund^ers, and used formerly to attack the buftalo in the same way, 

 though the latter animal is nearly extinct through the ravages of the 

 cattle plague. They also lay snares for ostriches and elephants. The 

 last named are said to be caught in the following manner: Long strips 

 ■of raw buffalo or ox hide are fastened together by secure knots until a 

 leather rope of considerable length is made. One end of this is fastened 

 fiimly round the base of a big tree-trunk in one of the few river valleys 

 in their country where the presence of a permanent water supply creates 

 a forest growth. The other end of the long rope is fitted with a big 

 running noose, and this noose is placed over the narrow [)ath of mud or 

 sand down which the elephants must pass on their way to the water. If 

 it chances that an elepliant puts his foot through the expanded noose, 

 the weight of its body will cause its foot to sink some distance into the 

 loose or muddy soil. The impetus of the animal's body will tigliten the 

 noose round his foot before he can lift it up, and so he is tied by the leg. 

 It seems incredil)le that an ele[ihant can be iletained against his will In- 

 even a rope of leather, but the Turkana assert that such is the case. The 

 western part of the Turkana country, inhos^jftable and waterless as it seems, 

 swarms with elephants, who inhabit the dense forests of withered acacias. 



