WADELAI'S DISTRICT. 143 



of the sun; it gave 109.5°. Grimoro, "the right" or foster 

 brother of chief Wadelai, arrived to visit me, accompanied by 

 300 Negroes, and he also brought me a tusk. He is a strong, 

 intelligent-looking man. Green tendrils were twined round his 

 smoothly shorn head; his arms were covered with beautiful 

 iron ornaments, and his dress consisted of goat-skins hnng 

 from the shoulder. After he had received presents of beads, 

 cloth, and copper, he told me that Wadelai himself was unable 

 to come because he was too stout to walk. The kaftan I had 

 sent him on the previous evening was too tight, for, said he, 

 " when he sits a child could stand upon his paunch." A long 

 palaver with him led to a satisfactory conclusion, and I received 

 permission to form a station here, after promising to keep 

 my soldiers well in hand. Whilst the people acceded to my 

 request to bring wood for the steamer, I had an opportunity 

 of inspecting them closely. The whole district of Wadelai is 

 called Koche. This is pronounced by the Shuli and Wanyoro 

 Koshe, which has led to the word Koshi figuring on Baker's 

 map. 



This district forms one of the many subdivisions of the 

 large country of Liir or Aliir, which, from the southern boundary 

 of the Madi district, stretches to an unknown distance towards 

 the south, whilst the Bahr-el-Jebel aud the Albert Lake form its 

 eastern boundary, and Lubari, as well as a number of entirely 

 unknown countries, such as Lendu, border it on the west. The 

 language of the Wadelai, or rather the Koche tribe, is the 

 Aliiri, probably a dialect of the Shuli. I shall have an oppor- 

 tunity of discussing the country and language later on. The 

 people are a handsome race, mostly of middle height, in colour 

 black, with a reddish-brown tinge, and they have beautiful 

 teeth and small feet. They wear the hides and skins of oxen 

 and goats, and sometimes those of dwarf antelopes ; these are 

 fastened over the right shoulder. Bark cloths brought from 

 Unyoro are only rarely seen. Though little attention is paid 

 to dress (the skins worn were mostly torn), great care is 

 expended on ornaments and painting. All kinds of frisures 

 obtain ; the wigs and cowrie head-dresses of the eastern Shuli 

 district, the towering head-dresses of the western Lango, as 

 well as spiral tresses and corkscrew curls. Many I saw had dyed 



