92 A ROYAL SERVANT.

yellow colour contrasting well with the glossy black of his skin.

This sheik's son, whose name was Longay, stayed with us the whole time we were in the Base country, and was throughout most faithful and devoted. In alluding to him, George said one day, ''The king's son is learning to clean knives ; " and, indeed, he made himself most useful in that capacity, as well as in fetching wood for the cook, and drawing water. He often, too, induced others among his people to work for us, when, without his help, they would have done nothing at all. On parting from us, he fairly shed tears ; and, altogether, he was the best specimen of the completely "untutored savage" I ever came across.

We gave each of the men who came from the village a knife, a looking-glass, some pins, needles, and cotton thread. We had bought a great quantity of such things in England, for the purpose of giving them as presents to the natives, and found them most useful. We regretted, however, that we had not bought more Manchester cotton and beads, as these are things they appreciate more than any thing you can give them.

We could see from our camp part of the village of Koolookoo, some huts built on the spur of the hill ; and, while this interview and dressing-up of the four Base was in progress, their brethren, together with their sisters, their cousins, and their aunts," had clambered up a great rock at the back of the village, and we could see great numbers of them looking down on us, and wondering who we were, and what we had come for. Our people did not at all admire the appearance of the Base, who they declared resembled baboons. The Base have a very peculiar way of resting (which is, I believe, common among many of the tribes on the White Nile) : they place the sole of the right foot against the left knee, a mode of repose