SPOKT IN LATUKA. 225 



smoking, and transacting business. Under the trees the boys 

 engage in basketmaking, for which the leaves of the doleb 

 palms furnish excellent material. 



The men are usually quite naked, and deck themselves with 

 ornaments made of iron, and sometimes of copper, which is 

 highly prized. Spiral coils of brass, which find their way here 

 from Zanzibar through Uganda, are much sought after and 

 much valued. Cowries are valueless. Bead ornaments are 

 little cared for, except a dark blue cylindrical sort, called maujiir 

 in the Sudan, which are used for waistbands and necklaces, and 

 small coral and blood-red beads, with which they decorate the 

 head-dresses. The latter have the form of an antique helmet ; 

 they were mentioned by Baker. They are made of a thick felt 

 of human hair, and are adorned with plates of copper, red beads, 

 cowries, empty brass cartridge-cases, the fruit of the Abrus 

 precatorius, &c. ; but a tuft composed of the gaudiest feathers 

 procurable, resembling the old plumes of heron's feathers, is 

 considered their chief ornament. For this purpose gay-coloured 

 weaver- birds, &c, are snared, and this practice has often given 

 me a good opportunity of ascertaining the native names of birds. 

 Scars on the forehead, temples, and breast are common tribal 

 marks. 



The only weapons I have seen are spears and shields. 

 Knob-sticks are used by the women for killing bustards. 

 The men are excellent hunters and extraordinarily courageous ; 

 they attack the elephant and rhinoceros with the spear, and 

 also the buffalo, a still greater feat, for the hunted often hunt 

 the hunter. The solitary old bulls are especially dangerous ; 

 they take possession of certain districts, and often render the 

 roads impassable. One of these animals established itself near 

 our station, and after severely injuring ten men in eight days, 

 it was killed, but not till it had received twenty -three bullets ! 

 In this district hunting parties are formed throughout the 

 whole year, as there is no close time. The name given to 

 this very village by the Danagla when they first occupied the 

 country, "and which is in use at the present time, was Zeribet- 

 es-Sayadin (the hunters' village), which shows that sport has 

 long been pursued by the inhabitants. 



Women and girls are much more numerous here than men. 



P 



