ABD-ES-SAMMAT'S NEPHEW. 383 



iron are used here as articles of currency, and are exceedingly 

 sought after by the surrounding tribes. In the steppe-wood 

 which grows between these two watercourses, I noticed very 

 many specimens of Sarcocephalus, with ripe fruits ; also several 

 species of Vitex, the fruit of which was just beginning to 

 ripen. Khor Aoa is about a hundred feet broad ; it has a 

 muddy bed, composed of yellow mould, and is enclosed in 

 broad " gallery " woods. The ford must once have been very 

 difficult, for the people have tried to construct a kind of bridge, 

 by heaping in the river cut grasses, upon which the traveller 

 sinks over the ankles. 



We camped for the night at Baga, which is now inhabited 

 by Zande proper, who have for long contended with the robber 

 bands of Sabbi. Abdullahi Abd-es-Sammat, an unworthy 

 nephew of his open-hearted uncle, does not content himself 

 with robbing and plundering the whole of this district from 

 his zeribas at Sabbi and Kanna, but also tyrannises over the 

 people by cutting off their hands and feet for his private 

 amusement. It was on account of cruelties of this kind, and 

 the panic which they had raised amongst the inhabitants, that 

 I visited them, for their complaints to the Government of the 

 Bahr-el-Ghazal district had not been attended to. This was 

 only to be expected, for there the officials are all brothers 

 or cousins. 



Leaving Baga, we crossed many steppes, khors edged with 

 broad " gallery " woods, and swamps containing the abominable 

 Vossia grass, until we reached Jebel Ngirua, where I utilised a 

 short halt to ascend it. After treading down the grass, I was, 

 able to obtain a view from its summit as far as Jebel Baginze, 

 but the names I heard for the different points of interest did 

 not exactly tally with those given to Dr. Junker. This is 

 probably to be explained by the fact that he appears to have 

 had Nyam-Nyam interpreters, whilst I had Abaka. On the 

 other side of Jebel Ngirua, well-wooded country gradually sinks 

 to Isu, or Echu, as it is here called. As I did not wish to 

 waste my time in idle words, I preferred not to visit the 

 stronghold of the Danagla, which was situated upon that river, 

 but took the road which led past burnt zeribas and devastated 

 fields to the village of Ombamba, where we halted. The mes- 



