HIPPO KILLED. 95 natives, however, will not eat tlie flesh of tlie hippopotamus, thinking that it causes illness to those who indulge in it.

It is from the hide of the hippopotamus that the cruel kurbatch, or slave-whip, is made. To keep it supple, it is usual to give it two or three coats of tar, and then allow it to dry slowly in a cool place. Even a moderate blow with one of these whips always draws blood.

The Bari villages which surround Lado are the picture of neatness ; the yard is very hard, being made of cow-dung and ashes, and well beaten so as to form a level surface, which is kept scrupulously clean. The huts are well built of tiger-grass walls and thatched conical roofs, having very large eaves as a protection from the sun. The doors are very low, and many of the women have housemaid's knees, probably from the difficulty of entering the low doorways, and from kneeling so much at work. The corn-bins are miniature huts, but are all built on a scafibld of posts to prevent the rats getting to them. Frequently posts are stuck up in the yard to mark the graves, and they are generally ornamented with the horns of animals. The whole group of huts is surrounded by an euphorbia fence. The cattle-pens are enclosed in the same way, and at night large fires are lighted in them, to protect the animals from mosquitoes, the smoke driving them away.