THE MAKEAEj^.— THE MURU. 107 



they call "brothers ; " to kill these reptiles is considered a great crime. Schwein- 

 furth was told that pet serpents are kept in every house, which recognise the 

 members of the family and answer to their names. 



The Makraka. 



The larffe river Yei, which rises in the " Blue Mountains " near the Madi 

 country and the Upper Nile, and which, after describing a westward bend through 

 some marshy tracts, joins the Nile below Gaba Chambeh and the Bahr-ez-Zaraf 

 bifurcation, traverses the lands of the Kakuak, Fajellu, and Kederu tribes, most of 

 whom are related to the Bari and Denka. But amongst the tribes of this basin 

 there is at least one, that of the Iddio, or Makraka, who are entirely distinct in 

 speech, appearance, and usages. They belong to the powerful A-Zandeh or Niam- 

 Niam nation, whose domain stretches chiefly south-west into the Congo basin. 

 The Makraka (Makaraka), or " Cannibals," fully deserve their name, as is attested 

 by Schweinfurth and other European explorers. But taken all in all they are 

 decidedly superior to the surrounding Negro tribes. They are of a reddish black 

 colour, with less flat nose and less prominent cheek-bones, and the facial angle 

 more developed than those of their neighbours. The hair is long and almost silky, 

 and by means of berries and various vegetable substances built up into the most 

 fantastic forms. They do not yield the palm even to the Madi in this respect. 

 They do not extract the incisors like the surrounding Negro tribes, but alone of all 

 non-Mussulman peoples practise circumcision. They are accordingly regarded as 

 a kind of Mohammedans, although they do not recognise Islam, and this semi- 

 religious brotherhood is one of the reasons why the Egyptian governors choose 

 them to recruit their troops ; but the chief cause is the terror inspired in the other 

 tribes by their courage and reputed cannibalism. The dealers traversing the 

 country had often to fight not only the Makraka men, but the women as well. 

 These Niam-Niam are skilful agriculturists and possess a considerable variety of 

 plants. Although their territory is of small extent, it ranks from its material 

 prosperity as the first amongst the surrounding nations, and one of the administra- 

 tive departments established by the Egyptian Government is named after these 

 people, although also comprising many other nationalities. 



The Muru. 



The most widespread nation in the Yei basin above the Denka country are the 

 Muru, one of whose communities, carefully studied by Felkin, bears the name of 

 Madi, like the large tribe on the banks of the Bahr-el- Jebel. Differing little from 

 the Bari and Denka in usages, the Muru also go naked, seldom wearing any 

 ornaments except iron rings. Their distinctive tribal sign consists of two tattoo- 

 marks on the forehead. The stones heaped round their graves have the same form 

 as the dolmens of Brittany. Owing to their physical strength, the Muru are 

 employed as porters throughout the whole region of the Upper Nile tributaries. 



