180 
TEAVELS IN CENTEAL AFEICA. 
bride, according to Mahommedan custom, was absent. Passages of 
the Koran were recited ; Mussaad holding the hand of the bride^s 
representative, a secretary. Then the settlements were attested, 
Mussaad endowing the girl with seventy roods of land he possessed 
near Shendy, and also a herd of cattle. He then rose to kiss our 
hands and receive the congratulations of all, and after coffee had 
been served he withdrew. 
Preparations were made during the day to render the procession 
as imposing as possible. In the meantime the bride was in her 
tent undergoing the mysteries of the toilet; all the women were 
with her, even Halima^s assistance was deemed requisite. The 
bridegroom sent presents to his bride, and we also, a pretty ferda 
and calico for a petticoat. Two bullocks were slaughtered ; merissa 
was in abundance, and the men, gaily dressed, were evidently bent 
on holding a high revel. 
At sunset the procession was formed, and the bride was led from 
the tent supported by her companions. It is the correct thing here, 
on such occasions, to be so overcome by timidity as to appear un- 
able to walk. Ringa led the party, beating furiously a gong we 
took out with us ; the women zachareeted gaily ; the men followed, 
but not the bridegroom, each in turn advancing and firing over 
the bride’s head. Three times the circuit of our tent was made and 
these demonstrations were continued ; all then entered the zariba, 
where songs and dances were kept up until a late hour ; when the 
bride, with great ceremony, was conducted to the tookul prepared 
for her reception. 
August \2tli , — A great storm raged before dawn; one of the 
tents blown down whep the hurricane was at its height. Piercing 
screams were heard from people on one of the stages : the father of 
