BREEDING 129 



and prolific breeding centres for worms and other 

 intestinal parasites, which teem in myriads, and which 

 are swallowed by the animals when drinking. 



Schweinfurth, in his ' Heart of Africa,' speaks very 

 strongly on this point, and in a great measure attri- 

 butes the degeneracy of the Dinka cattle to this, in 

 addition to interbreeding and exclusion of strange 

 stock. ' Again, the cattle of the Dinka,' he writes, ' are 

 not provided with salt in any form whatever, which 

 may in a measure account for the degeneration, and it 

 may explain the prevalence, all but universal, of the 

 worms known as " kyatt," which cover the first 

 stomach or paunch of nearly all their cattle. . . . My 

 milch cow was an almost invaluable possession. In 

 spite of its yield of milk being somewhat meagre, it 

 supplied me for eight months with a morning draught, 

 and in the subsequent season of necessity its con- 

 tribution to my diet was still more precious. Half 

 the cattle sickened and died with all sorts of internal 

 disorders, and the greater proportion of the animals 

 that were slaughtered would not much longer have 

 endured the climate. I am sure, however, that, 

 notwithstanding the fact that these breeds have been 

 entirely unaccustomed to salt, its admixture with their 

 food would infuse new life and vigour into them. 

 Nothing but this, I feel convinced, kept up my own 

 supply of milk, and prevented my cow from being 

 emaciated.' 



The fact already referred to in the previous chapter, 

 as to the degeneracy of camels south of latitude 13 

 or 13 30' in Kordofan, points to the same cause 

 prevalence of worms due to want of salt, in addition, 



K 



