120 Bahr el Ghazal Country.

Inhabitants.

Huts.

-Habits.

Arms.

Animals.

The inhabitants are essentially a race of cattle breeders, and despise the more agricultural tribes.

Although some branches of the Dinka race are preeminent for size and stature, the majority of this western branch rarely exceed the middle height. They are of lank and sinewy form, and are among the darkest coloured of races. The women alone wear clothing, which consists of aprons of skin, and carry numerous ornaments, especially iron rings.

The Dinka dwellings consist of small groups of huts clustered in farmsteads over the cultivated plains. There are no villages in the proper sense of the word. The cattle of separate districts are collected in a large park called Murah by the Khartumers.

The huts are spacious and durable, and frequently 40 feet in diameter. They are built on a foundation of clay and straw, of branches of acacia and other hard woods, the roof being of cut straw.

They are a cleanly people, and far in advance of the Nubians in their preparation of food. The women, on account of their proficiency in housekeeping, are greatly valued in the slave trade, but give more trouble to their masters than slaves of any other race. The male slaves used to be converted into soldiers, and were conspicuous for their stature and bravery.

They have a species of religion based on an institution called Cogyur, a society of necromancers and jugglers.

They have the character of being pitiless and unrelenting in war, but their domestic ties are very strong. They are a pastoral people, but always prepared for war.

Bows and arrows are unknown, but spears, clubs, and sticks are the favourite weapons, and they carry a shield of buffalo hide.

The domestic animals are oxen, sheep, goats, and dogs ; poultry are never seen.

The cattle are in enormous numbers, and belong to the Zebu race. They are smaller than those of the Baggara and Hassanieh. They have a hump, and are generally white in colour.

The sheep are of a breed peculiar to the Dinka, Nuer, and Shilluks, and are remarkable for the shaggy covering on their shoulders. The continual moisture of the pasture produces internal worms, from which they suffer to a great extent.