270 LABORE TO FATIKO. 



nately, tlie season of tlie year rendered this direct road to 

 Fauvera impracticable, and, much against my inclination, I was 

 compelled to go by way of Fatiko. The route from here to 

 Dufile was said to lie in a westerly direction, but no one had 

 travelled by it. Khor Asua, which lies at some distance from 

 here, is crossed, they say, in going to Fatiko. 



Chief Aguok has become a thorough Dongolaui in dress and 

 manner, speaks Arabic fairly, sits and sleeps on an ankareb, 

 and regales his guests with coffee, but nevertheless his numerous 

 wives and children appeared in the national costume, i.e., almost 

 nude, adorned only with short tails of cotton. The Shiili have 

 a greater liking for glass beads than any other tribe of this 

 country; small crimson and white opal beads are particularly 

 prized. The men plait cowrie-shells and beads in their hair, 

 but their tresses are not so elaborately arranged as among the 

 Shiili living farther to the south and east. Iron ornaments 

 are everywhere the order of the day, and the gorgets, which 

 actually cause the neck muscles underneath to shrink, and 

 bracelets and anklets, as well as chains and ornaments for the 

 girdles, are very neatly made. A Shiili smith was working 

 close to the chiefs premises. His bellows were formed of large 

 clay vessels, having, at their bases, spouts drawn out at right 

 angles to carry the blast ; they were covered at the top with 

 leather, having rods fastened in the middle, which are worked 

 up and down to cause the draught, and are kept in action by a 

 boy. Large stones serve as anvil and hammer ; the tongs are 

 made of a piece of wood, split at the end, and a piece of iron 

 to polish the work completes the apparatus. Fining the iron 

 is never practised. At the time of our visit bits were being 

 made for donkeys, which are numerous. 



The men are clothed in skins of antelopes, goats, and sheep, 

 and skins of the cheetah (Cynailurus guttatus) are also much 

 worn. If a rag of cloth can be procured, it is worn somehow, 

 the head being covered first. Ostrich feathers are much ad- 

 mired, and are worn as head ornaments, the white feathers 

 being dyed red with iron ochre. The ostrich is said to abound 

 throughout the L&ngo country. 



Girls go about quite nude, and the women's dress consists 

 only of a tail of cotton threads, twelve inches long, hanging 



