THE AGIBBAS 105 



evidently home-made and of all shapes, but small ; the 

 Baggara or Shilluk shapes no doubt requiring too 

 much iron. Unlike their neighbours the Nuers, they 

 seemed to have no tribal marks cicatrised on face or 

 body, nor had they done anything to their teeth, like 

 the Dinkas, as far as I remember. It was amusing to 

 notice them squatting behind the protection (sic) of 

 their shields. 



Sharpies secured a very interesting dancing spear. 

 It was about three feet long with a three-inch-long 

 head. The haft was covered by strips of leather and 

 small (half-inch) bells. 



Every one carried his wooden pillow under his arm- 

 pit. He used it as a seat. In a word, most of their 

 things might have come from the Bahr el Ghazal. 



In spite of the assurances of the Agibbas that the 

 river ran dry, &c., a few miles further on, we steamed 

 south. We passed quite a lot of villages and patches 

 of cultivation (red dura). I tried to get up places that 

 looked like tributaries, but found them to be merely 

 backwaters, with one exception, where there was a 

 strong current. It was quite small and overgrown by 

 trees. We had not gone far before the bush closed 

 upon the river. Almost due south we caught sight of a 

 hill which formed a grand landmark for us. Presently 

 the waterway became so narrow and tortuous that we 

 had to tow the sandal, as otherwise we could make no 

 headway. Towards evening things became so bad 

 that I took the Atbara and tried to reconnoitre. 

 A few miles up we found the river sudded up. 

 Late into the night we worked in the light of a full 



