THESOURCE OF THE NILE, 421 
‘their huts, they fay a few words upon feeing her bright- 
nefs, and teflify great joy, by motions of their féet and 
hands, at the firft appearance of the new moon. I never 
faw them pay any attention to the fun, either rifing or fet- 
ting, advancing to or receding from the meridian; but, as 
far as I could learn, they worfhip a tree, and likewife a 
ftone, tho’ I never could find out what tree or ftone it was, 
only that it did not exift in the country of Sennaar, but in 
that where they were born. ‘Their priefts feemed to have 
great influence over them, but through fear only, and not 
from affection. They are diftinguifhed by thick copper 
bracelets about their wrifts, as alfo fometimes one, and 
fometimes two about their ancles. 
TueEse villages are called Dahera, which feems to me to 
be the fame word as Dafhrah, the name given to the 
Kabyles, or people in Barbary, who live in fixed huts on 
the mountains. But not having made myfelf mafter 
enough of the Kabyles language when in Barbary, and 
being totally ignorant of that of the Nuba we are now 
{peaking of, I cannot pretend to purfue this refemblance 
farther. They are immoderately fond of fwine’s flefh, and 
maintain great herds of them in their poffeflion. The 
hogs are of a {mall kind, generally marked with black and 
white, exceedingly prolific, and exactly refembling a fpe- 
cies of that kind common in the north of Scotland. The 
Nuba are not circumcifed. They very rarely turn Maho- 
metans, but the generality of their children do. Few of 
them advance higher than to be foldiers and officers in 
their own corps. The Mek maintains about twelve thou- 
fand of thefe near Sennaar, to keep the Arabs in fubjection. 
They are very quiet, and fcarcely ever known to be guilty 
of 
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