272 LABORE TO FATIKO.

with it. Far to the south-east lay mountain groups, one of which, Farabongo, I was told, could be reached in four days’ march. Jebel Shua was fairly distinct, but Jebel Julu and Jebel Kija were veiled in mist. I saw an incredible number of large leaf-bugs filling all the recesses of the rock and emitting a disgusting odour. Some of the porters assigned to us here had full beards, though as a rule one never sees bearded Negroes in this part of the country. Large quantities of sesame were under cultivation along our route. Passing the large hamlet of Kyatangura, we entered the district of Labongo. We had met with this name before in the Lur district; the recurrence of it here among the Shuli, whose close affinity to the Lur is sufficiently proved by their language, is very striking. A good deal of confusion may, however, arise from the fact that here, as in Makraka, whenever the soil is exhausted, the villages are removed, and their names disappear with them. Hence it is very necessary, for the benefit of future travellers, to give correct names to the khors and mountains, the unchangeable features of the country. We had still to pass several widespreading hamlets before reaching our night’s quarters, situated beside a pool which contains rain-water all the year, and which, like the village, is named Diendi. At every hamlet we passed, the chief came to greet me, generally dressed in a long coloured shirt and a tarbush, and accompanied by a motley crowd of men and women. ‘The Shiuli are a very polite people, always ready with greetings and inquiries after one’s health, but as their national greeting consists of raising the arms of the visitor four or five times above his head, the repetition of the ceremony becomes rather fatiguing.

Our next marches, though not unreasonably long, taxed every one’s strength severely, on account of the high grass, Unless the nature of the country, its inhabitants, or other pressing reasons, render it absolutely necessary, I always consider it foolish to make porters with whom one is going to travel long distances march more than six hours a day. On the road from Diendi to Khor Bagger, the most important tributary of the Asua after the Atappi, the grass and its accompanying inconveniences surpassed anything I had seen before.