THE EGYPTIAN SUDAN however, I would not stand, and he was promptly thrown out, skin and all, to his great astonishment. On Fridays the shekh's son brought his Kur'an, and read some Suras, or chapters, for the edification of our visitors, and sometimes other natives brought their own tattered copies and read to themselves.

The dress of the villagers at Barkal was extremely simple. The men wore a pair of cotton trousers and a long blue or black cotton garment, which reached from the neck to the feet, and of course a thick turban made of some white cotton stuff. A few turned the brightly- coloured kifiyas, or kerchiefs, made in Syria, into turbans, and those who wore such were accounted men of substance. Certain men, who claimed descent from holy ancestors, wore green turbans, and some possessed red leather shoes, which, however, they oftener carried than wore. The dress of the women was nearly as simple as that of the men, and young children in the daytime ran about naked. Little girls had cords tied round their waists from which were suspended amulets of various kinds ; these were often made of pieces of metal cut out of the sides of the rectangular boxes in which kerosene is carried. The Sudan amulet is usually made of some substance which shines or is brightly coloured, or is in some way very conspicuous ; its object is to attract to itself the glance of the " evil eye," whether it be that of an evil spirit or a human being. When a piece of bright metal is not available, a shell or a large white or 3'ellow bead takes its place.

In each house of any importance there appears to be laid up a number of ornaments and articles of women's apparel which are only brought out on special occasions, and the character and variety of these are surprising. During his enforced stay at Sanam Abu D6m, the late Mr. Maud, the artist sent to the Sudan by the Graphic, came over to Barkal village for a couple of days, and sketched and made " studies." He was particularly anxious to make a drawing of a Sudani woman in full native dress, and after a good deal of persuasion the shekh promised that a member of his household should array herself in the family finery, and allow herself to be sketched. After waiting for a very long time in the court of my hut, one of the plainest negro women we had ever seen appeared, and stood for her portrait to 214 i