THE LATUKA COUNTRY. 



103 



Fig. 35. — EovTES OF Explokkks East of 



THE BaHR-EL-JehEL. 



Scale 1 : 6,000,000. 



their Negro neighbours. Nearly all travellers regard them as of Galla stock, and 

 their language appears to belong to the same family as that of the Ilm-Orma. 

 Their high foreheads, large eyes, straight and shapely nose, thick but not pouting 

 lips, leave little doubt as to their origin. 

 Other populations living more to the 

 east, towards the Sobat, especially the 

 Arboreh, belong to the same family ; 

 but the Akkara and Irenga speak dif- 

 ferent lano^uaffes. The character of the 

 Latuka differs greatly from that of the 

 neighbouring Negroes ; they are mer- 

 rier, franker, and so brave that slave- 

 dealers have never succeeded in captur- 

 ing them. If their tribes were united, 

 instead of continually fighting one 

 against the other, they would as- 

 suredly be one of the most powerful 

 African nations. Although these Galla 

 immigrants have to a great extent 

 preserved their original speech, physical 

 traits, and character, the Latuka have 

 become a half-caste race, and have 

 adopted manj^ customs of the Nilotic 

 Negro peoples. Like the Bari and 

 Shilluk, they would seem to be ashamed 

 to wear clothes ; but they take great 

 pride in dressing the hair in elegant 

 styles, mostly affecting the form of a 

 helmet. The completion of these ela- 

 borate headdresses is a work of eight 

 or ten years. The hair, bound with 

 bark strips, is made into a sort of thick 

 felt, ornamented with glass and china 

 beads ; a copper plate glitters above 

 the forehead, and nodding tufts of 

 feathers and plumes crown the super- 

 structure. The women, less elegantly 

 formed than the men, and possessing 

 unusual strength, have no right to 

 all this finery, and confine themselves 



to a few tattooings ; they wear a queue like a horsetail, and like most other women 

 of this region, extract the four lower incisors. The Latuka huts resemble those of 

 the neighbouring tribes ; they are shaped like a bell or extinguisher, the only 

 opening being a low door, which is entered on all-fours. Near each village is a 



120 Miles. 



