272 LAHORE TO FATIKO. 



with it. Far to the south-east lay mountain groups, one of 

 which, Farabongo, I was told, could be reached in four days' 

 march. Jebel Shua was fairly distinct, but Jebel Julu and 

 Jebel Kija were veiled in mist. I saw an incredible number 

 of large leaf-bugs filling all the recesses of the rock and emitting 

 a disgusting odour. Some of the porters assigned to us here 

 had full beards, though as a rule one never sees bearded 

 Negroes in this part of the country. Large quantities of 

 sesame were under cultivation along our route. Passing the 

 large hamlet of Kyatangura, we entered the district of Labongo. 

 We had met with this name before in the Liir district ; the 

 recurrence of it here among the Shiili, whose close affinity to 

 the Liir is sufficiently proved by their language, is very striking. 

 A good deal of confusion may, however, arise from the fact 

 that here, as in Makraka, whenever the soil is exhausted, the 

 villages are removed, and their names disappear with them. 

 Hence it is very necessary, for the benefit of future travellers, 

 to give correct names to the kliors and mountains, the un- 

 changeable features of the country. We had still to pass 

 several widespreading hamlets before reaching our night's 

 quarters, situated beside a pool which contains rain-water all 

 the year, and which, like the village, is named Diendi. At 

 every hamlet we passed, the chief came to greet me, generally 

 dressed in a long coloured shirt and a tarbush, and accom- 

 panied by a motley crowd of men and women. The Shiili 

 are a very polite people, always ready with greetings and 

 inquiries after one's health, but as their national greeting 

 consists of raising the arms of the visitor four or five times 

 above his head, the repetition of the ceremony becomes rather 

 fatiguing. 



Our next marches, though not unreasonably long, taxed 

 every one's strength severely, on account of the high grass. 

 Unless the nature of the country, its inhabitants, or other 

 pressing reasons, render it absolutely necessary, I always con- 

 sider it foolish to make porters with whom one is going to 

 travel long distances march more than six hours a day. On 

 the road from Diendi to Khor Bagger, the most important 

 tributary of the Asua after the Atappi, the grass and its accom- 

 panying inconveniences surpassed anything I had seen before. 



