ACROSS LAKE CHAD 229 



of the ground at Chad, and probably this belief owes its 

 origin to the Arab legend of the landing of Noah's Ark 

 on Hajer-el-Hamis, They have little second-sight, 

 and that only in dreams ; but they are very superstiti- 

 ous, and make medicines from the skins and parts of 

 the bodies of goats and fowls. They also have love- 

 philtres, of which there are two kinds, one that is 

 rubbed on the skin and another that is drunk. They 

 are most careful after cutting their hair and nails to 

 hide the debris in the ground, lest an enemy should 

 find and use them to make bad medicine against their 

 erstwhile owner. Equal care is taken to perform the 

 same office for a man after death, when he is washed in 

 hot water and dressed in white garments, and for one 

 day the women make ceaseless lamentation for him. A 

 hole is then dug in the ground, which is surrounded 

 with boards, and he is laid in it on his side, with his 

 hands between his knees. They believe that after 

 death all men go to the sky. 



The elder son inherits the greater portion of his 

 father's wealth — from a rich man as many as ten cows 

 — his biggest spears and shields, &c., while the residue 

 is divided among the younger children. 



The wives always go to the brother of the deceased, 

 who also inherits part of the fortune — amounting to one 

 half if a man dies before his children are grown up. 



It is not perhaps odd, under these circumstances, 

 that divorce is frequent, and all the deserted husband 

 exacts from the successful lover is the value of what he 

 has paid for his wife. The law, however, is strict, and 

 if a child is born out of wedlock it is drowned, in order 

 to propitiate the deity — otherwise " the crops will not 

 yield good harvest and the cattle will not bear 



