CHAP. I.] 
THE LOTUS HARVEST. 
57- 
lower portions of the thighs ; this tail is formed of 
finely-cut strips of leather, and the costume has doubt¬ 
less been the foundation for the report I had received 
from the Arabs, “ that a tribe in Central Africa had 
tails like horses.” The women carry their children 
very conveniently in a skin slung from their shoulders 
across the back, and secured by a thong round the 
waist; in this the young savage sits delightfully. The 
huts throughout all tribes are circular, with entrances 
so low that the natives creep both in and out upon 
their hands and knees. The men wear tufts of cock's 
feathers on the crown of the head ; and their favourite 
attitude, when standing, is on one leg while leaning 
on a spear, the foot of the raised leg resting on the 
inside of the other knee. Their arrows are about 
three feet long, without feathers, and pointed with 
hard wood instead of iron, the metal being scarce 
among the Shir tribe. The most valuable article of 
barter for this tribe is the . iron hoe generally used 
among the White Nile negroes. In form it is pre¬ 
cisely similar to the “ace of spades.” The finery most 
prized by the women are polished iron anklets, which 
they wear in such numbers that they reach nearly 
half way up the calf of the leg ; the tinkling of these 
rings is considered to be very enticing, but the sound 
reminds one of the clanking of convicts' fetters. 
All the tribes of the White Nile have their harvest 
of the lotus seed. There are two species of water- 
lily—the large white flower, and a small variety. The 
seed-pod of the white lotus is like an unblown arti¬ 
choke, containing a number of light red grains equal 
in size to mustard-seed, but shaped like those of the 
poppy, and similar to them in flavour, being sweet 
and nutty. The ripe pods are collected and strung 
upon sharp-pointed reeds about four feet in length. 
When thus threaded they are formed into large bun¬ 
dles, and carried from the river to the villages, where 
they are dried in the sun, and stored for use. The 
seed is ground into flour, and made into a kind of 
