NUBIA AND THE NILE RAPIDS. 373 



He, Mohammed-Bei el Defterdar, still spoken of by the Nubians 

 as " el Djelad" or the devil, hastened with all his forces to Shendy, 

 defeated the Nubians for the second time, and glutted his revenge 

 by the slaughter of more than half the population of the unhappy 

 country. The "panther-king" succeeded in escaping to Abyssinia; 

 but his subjects had to bow under the foreign yoke, and their 

 children "grew up", to use the expression of my informant, "in 

 the blood of their fathers". Since these misfortunes the Nubians 

 have remained submissive thralls of their oppressors. 



The Nubians, or, as they call themselves, the Barabra, are a 

 people of medium height, slim, and well-proportioned, with rela- 

 tively small, well-formed hands and feet, with generally pleasant 

 features, characterized by almond-shaped eyes, a high, straight or 

 curved nose, slightly broadened only at the lobes, a small mouth, 

 fleshy lips, an arched forehead, and a long chin. Their hair is fine, 

 slightly curled but not woolly; the colour of their skin varies from 

 bronze to dark-brown. They have a good carriage, their walk is 

 light and elastic, and their other movements nimble and graceful. 

 Thus they contrast very favourably with the negroes of the Upper 

 Nile valley, and even with the Fungis of Eastern Soudan. The men 

 shave the hair of the head either altogether, or all but a tuft at the 

 top, and wear a tightly-fitting white cap, the takhie, over which on 

 holidays a white cloth may be twisted like a turban. The clothing 

 consists of a shawl, six to nine yards in length, wound around the 

 upper part of the body, short breeches and sandals, and an additional 

 blue or white robe-like garment on holidays. A dagger is carried 

 on the left arm, and, when journeying, they also carry a lance. 

 Leather rolls, which are said to contain amulets, and a little pocket, 

 hung round the neck with cords, are the only ornaments worn by 

 the men. The women arrange their hair in hundreds of small thin 

 plaits, which they soak with mutton fat, butter, or castor-oil, thus 

 diffusing an odour which to our nostrils seems almost unendur- 

 able; they tattoo various parts of their face and body with indigo; 

 their lips are often dyed blue, and their palms always red. They 

 adorn their necks with beads of glass, amber, and cornelian, amulet- 

 pockets, and the like, their ankles with bangles of tinware, ivory, 



