THE TURKANA LANGUAGE 



235 



distemper, and according to them tlieir lierds are steadily and 

 rapidly increasing. 



TURKANA TOBACCO POUCH. 



Dhurra is only cultivated at the mouth of the Kerio 

 and Trrawell, but the Turkana oet a o-ood deal of hsli 

 from Lake Eudolf, and in certain districts they make meal of 

 the rind of the doum- palms, which are there very plentiful. 



The Turkana are by no 

 means dainty about diet ; they 

 eat everything, even their dogs, 

 of which they have a good 

 many. Both sexes are extremely 

 fond of tobacco, which they 

 chew and take as snuff. 



The people here live almost 



entirely in the open air, and in 



this respect are poorer than any 



tribe we came across, a few 



branches stuck in the ground in 



circles being the only protection girdle made 



OF goats' 

 they have irom the weather, teeth. 



even in their villages. 



The Turkana greeting consists in the 



triple repetition of the one word na^ 



which is answered by a triple /a^«. The 



language of the country belongs to the 



Nilotic stock, and the manner of speaking 



is rough, harsh, and repellent. A short, eager, reiterated lie 



occurs at every turn, and appears to express alike joy, surprise, 



anger, and scorn. Turkana songs are noisy and unmelodious, 



and the dances are grotesque, consisting of wild ungainly 



^-t£ii.t!iLtV^ 



APRON WORN BY TURKANA 

 GIRLS. 



