A RESTRICTED DIET 278 tion, perhaps also because they were fresh and not high in flavour I After all, milk is good, when one has conquered one's scruples ; and, again, dhurra as bread— dhurra boiled with grease, whole in grain or as flour dhurra as merissa—dhurra as um-bil-bil or the Nuer equivalent—dhurra in fermented flakes with water: what a marvellous variety of food, and what need of greater ?

They rarely eat their cattle, unless the latter die, which is reminiscent of a way some have in England of killing a beast on the point of death, so that it may be sent to market with a clear conscience. One case recurs to me in which an animal so treated was discovered to have been suffering from anthrax unrecognized by the farmer, and only escaped the market by the vigilance of an official. Tobacco is cultivated, and their large pipes resemble those of the Dinka and Shilluk.

On going ashore the last day I was soon made aware of something unusual. Two moments after approaching a group I was surprised to see all the women and girls, some thirty or forty in number, running away in a bunch. As this left only the men of the party, not understanding the manoeuvre, I got within reach of the boat, but was soon reassured.

They followed a tall man, new as a visitor, who held a cylindrical object over his head, and uttered sharp guttural commands in harsh tones to his following. Then, all facing me about fifty paces 18