276 "AHAI OW MAZADA !"

wards, before him, Buz Nyal spat into it as a seal to an unwritten document.

Shortly afterwards he had a very determined and emphasized conversation with me—he was nothing if not emphatic— his words being interpreted as an expression of pleasure at seeing me, or the Nuer equivalent, and ending in the gift of a further small handful of beads. Then came an exhibition of kinship with Solomon. In accordance with the prerogative of a Sheikh previously described, two women came up and begged him for beads. Competition was keen, and words became high, angering Buz Nyal ; so he took the bull by the horns, and ended the dispute by pitching the beads far into the grass, scattering them beyond reclamation.

His mood suddenly changed, and, turning to me with a smile, in modulated tones he expressed his hope—as Belal translated—that he had not made me angry, and that I did not think that he undervalued my gift, assuring me that it was necessary to end the dispute in the drastic manner I had witnessed.

Another instance of unexpected politeness was afforded when an old gentleman, clad in a shouldercloth ragged and discoloured with age, approached me with many gentle signs, and begged me to sit down in front of him ; pointing out the existence of a very obvious rent, he made the sign of a needle and thread, by which one would gather that he had previously come into contact with civilization. Seeing also his dissatisfaction with the