6 AMONG THE PAGANS OF THE SOUTHERN SUDAN thatched roofs. They have no windows or chimneys, and : the doorway is so low that it can only be entered by crawling on hands and knees. The furniture usually consists of a skin (which serves as a bed), an earthen pot for cooking, and a few hollowed and dried gourds for holding water. In these one-roomed huts the whole family sleeps, besides a sheep or goat and some fowls, and it is a matter of much astonishment to the Dinkas that the white man should have so many different rooms for sleeping, cooking, etc., when the entire household and livestock could be so comfortably accommodated in one room.

The religion of the Dinkas is animistic; they have no idols, but live in constant fear of malignant spirits which they believe to inhabit the trees, houses, wilderness, etc., and to which they offer sacrifice. They are much under the influence of their medicine men, and witchcraft (to which illness or misfortune of any kind is attributed) plays an enormous part in their everyday lives. They have a vague belief in a supreme Being, whom they call Deng-dit, or Nyalic, and to whom on certain occasions they sacrifice a bullock, but this Being is not connected in their minds with goodness or love, but is looked upon merely as a powerful spirit who sends them misfortunes when angry.

The Dinkas have no idea of unselfishness or gratitude, and when they hear for the first time the story of Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross, they are often frankly incredulous, and treat it as one of the queer notions of the queer white people. ‘‘ Whoever would do such a thing for another? No one, of course.’’ Incidentally, this inability to understand self-sacrifice is a contributing factor to the distrust with which missionaries are at first regarded. ‘“‘If the white man speaks truth when he says that his land is a good land, with plenty of food and many cows, why did he leave it and come to live with us? It must be that he wants to get something out of us.”’

In character the Dinka is indolent and unenterprising, completely satisfied with himself and his attainments, and with no apparent wish for, or interest in, anything higher.