230 GONDOKORO TO AGARU.

of wearing around their hips, as their only clothing, a small hand-net used for fishing. One of these sturdy beauties, dressed in a net, with a load upon her head, and the indispensable short tobacco pipe in the corner of her mouth, would doubtless cause a sensation in some parts of the world.

When a man dies, the body is laid upon its right side, and buried outside the village, a skin being usually spread underneath it; after a time—generally about two months—the bones are dug up, cleaned, and put into a clay vessel, which is placed beneath a tree or by the roadside, or frequently behind the house of the deceased. When a chief dies, the ceremony is somewhat more imposing. A grave is dug to the depth of three and a half to four feet, in the largest of his huts, and lined with mud and clay by the women. A hide is placed in it, upon which the body is laid in a half-sitting position ; then the grave is roofed in with mats, supported by sticks laid crosswise, ‘‘ so that the earth may not touch the body,” and a layer of earth is spread over the roof. After a time the bones are taken out and placed in a clay vessel, which is hung in a tree. Those who fall in battle or are murdered are not buried thus, but are left lying where they fall. Baker has already mentioned the dances which are performed in honour of the dead, whether the latter have died naturally or by violence. In conformity with a custom observed in the south, 2.e., in Unyéro and Uganda, if the dead appear to their relations in a dream, an offering of flour and the blood of a sheep is brought to the clay vessels, and the spirits are besought to discontinue their visits. Little children are buried outside the hut-doors, to the right, and some durrah is usually planted over their graves—a very poetical idea.

The eldest son inherits all his father’s possessions, wives included; he may give a share to his brothers, but is not bound to do so. Quarrels between brothers are consequently very common, and they generally end with the death of the younger ones, It is no uncommon thing for a son to murder his father in order to step into his shoes.

Amulets and charms are everywhere held in the highest esteem, and even my boiling-point thermometer for setemmtinine sibs was looked upon as “medicine for making rain.” In