MERAWl IN 1897 history before the eighth century B.C., but the complete excavation of the site is a work which should be undertaken, for the size and number of the Pyramids of Niiri prove that the kings who built them were mighty men in their day, and that their capital was no mean city.

APPENDIX TO CHAPTER V.

A DONGOLAH TALE.

A TRAVELLER in the Sudan who has been fortunate enough to be treated as an honoured guest in the house of a native of position will often see his host and his friends gather round a fire in the evening to listen to a rdwi, or teller of stories, narrate a tale of love or war. Such a tale is usually based upon some incident related in the "Thousand Nights and a Night," to which are added such modifications as the story-teller pleases, and a number of allusions of a topical character, which are intended to refer to the greatness and bravery of the host, and his successes in love, the chase, and war. Sometimes the story refers to events in the history of the country, but in this case the facts are usually swamped by fiction, and the result is unsatisfactory to the European listener unless his object is merely to learn Arabic. The stories which deal with love adventures are for the most part unprintable in an English book, a fact much to be regretted, for in these the powers of native invention are at their best. It is, however, necessary in a work dealing with the Sudan to give some idea of the class of fiction with which, in comparatively recent years, the Sudani folk have amused themselves, and as an example of it, we quote the story of the beautiful maiden Amnah, which Hoskins heard related by a little girl of the 'Ababda tribe of Arabs, aged thirteen. It runs thus : Amnah was the most lovely of the daughters of the Nile : fair as the sand of the desert, the gazelle was not more elegant in form, or more graceful in its movements. Her bust was beautiful, and her skin soft and pliant to the touch. Her face was as the light of day ; her eyes were bright as the stars ; her teeth whiter than the polished ivory; and a lovely and ever- constant smile illumined her countenance. Nature had done her utmost Fortune equalled her rival in loading her with its favours. Her ' See his ''Travels in Ethiopia," p. 194.

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