KREISH RELIGION 247 



We went on till the storm ceased, and halted on a bare 

 rock, where Morgan (acting as guide and only com- 

 panion) and I lay down to sleep. Close by a lion roared, 

 and I hoped that, if it came, it would select my donkey, 

 who presently pulled its halter out of my hand. At 

 3.30 A.M. we had had enough of our hard couch, 

 which the intermittent showers did not soften. In 

 the glimpses of bright moon we went forth to look 

 for the remains of the donkey, but to our delight 

 found that the lion had not made a meal of it 

 after all. 



Knowing that, if I waited an hour for my baggage 

 that day, I would, more than probably, wait two for it 

 the next, I pushed on. At Sheikh Sabun's village I got 

 some eggs and boiled them, and, with some ground 

 nuts, they formed my breakfast. Alas ! I had no salt, 

 and could not use ashes, as did my hosts. With them, 

 be it remarked, there was little Mohamedan flummery 

 — as I must call the local form of that religion. They 

 were called Umbeilei, Mushkombo, Zongono, Gorgoto, 

 Golgoto, Rafai, Kaikaza, Gotgodo, Sabun or Chabindji 

 — no Mahomed this or Ahmed that. In every village 

 we saw a miniature hut, never more than three feet 

 high (at Haifa the one in the Sudanese village was 

 eight feet high). This is the resting-place of the 

 Kreish head-god Angrowo. It is difficult to gather 

 anything about their beliefs from the natives, as the 

 Mahomedan merchants and proselytes so jeer at them. 

 I have a few sketchy notes, which, however, took a 

 long time to make. When anything goes wrong, or 

 the Kreish feels religious or sick, he makes marissa 



