276 UGANDA AND THE EGYPTIAN SOUDAN.

hegins fetcli as much as three or four hundred dollars.

The horses deserve a word of mention, for, though rather small, they are splendid creatures. They are well proportioned, and have perfect action ; some are so swift, that they will run down the ostrich. They are equal to any amount of work, and can go without water for two, or sometimes even three days. Arab saddles with high backs are used, and the large slipper stirrup. The horses are well trained, and guided by the knee ; the tighter the rein is pulled and the more the knee is pressed against them, the faster they go.

The people are very religious, or perhaps one should say superstitious, and in almost every village one or two fakirs are found ; and here and there are schools in which the children are instructed in the Koran, and in reading and writing. The morals of the people are very lax ; the marriage tie is little respected. The natives that travel much seem to have a wife in every village, who generally carries her lord's food and drink till he comes to the next halting-place, where he finds one of his other wives in readiness to accompany him on the next stage of his journey.

The tax to the government is paid in Tobs or grain, and the inhabitants are also obliged to provide camels and oxen for transport, but for these they are paid at a fixed rate in cloths.