296 UGANDA AND THE EGYFTIAN SOUDAN.

thinking it is " medicine," and very powerful " medicine." They are almost afraid of speaking near it, as they consider it has the power of carrying reports of what it hears to Khartoum. We followed the telegraph-wires almost all the way to Obeid.

The day before we reached Obeid we experienced a little unpleasantness, owing to our ignorance of the customs of the natives. As we approached Om Gamarra, we rode past some women who were threshing corn ; on seeing us they set up loud cries, and running after us, tried to pull our camels down. They did not succeed, and one of the boys struck a woman across the face with a whip. We rode on to the village, thinking all was over ; but when our caravan came up, we found that the women, greatly reinforced in numbers, had attacked them, and the soldiers had been obliged to lay about them very freely with their whips to rid themselves of the women. We discovered that an old custom in Kordofan gives the women, when threshing corn, the right of stopping travellers, and then certain rites should be performed. This has been somewhat modified, and the traveller has the option of giving backsheesh, which we ought to have done, and we had to pay heavily before we could quiet the infuriated throng. We were glad to be quit of the place, and to ride on to Inmeh, where we camped for the last time before arriving at Obeid.

Mr. Wilson and I started early before our caravan,