B2i BUFI TO RUMBEK.

which to enrich my sketch-map. The short turf was here completely covered with the excrement of the Sciwrus (Xerus) leucumbrinus, which, after being powdered, is used to heal old wounds, for this squirrel feeds upon all kinds of aromatic bulbs. This custom reminds me of a practice which obtains in the south Syrian desert, where the excrement of certain gazelles is used in the same way.

From the Mamvolu peak—for such is the name of the mass of gneiss just mentioned—the path followed a sinuous course until, after passing the road which leads direct from Amadi to Ayak, it suddenly turned to the south, and then branched off to the west, over stony, gently rising country, until it reached a small village named Kérimu, which lies in the midst of dokhn-fields. As the name Kérimu is also given to the whole district surrounding the village, I think I am justified in assuming that this is Petherick’s Kirmo, and if so, our routes here join one another. Chief Atoti, who resided here with his wives, recelved us in a very friendly way, but he was not in a position to offer us a drink of water, as the springs are said to be very far away, and he therefore requested us not to camp at his village. Kérimu is small, and surrounded by rich tobacco plantations and beautiful high Anogeissus trees, which are called here, as in the Dinka country, améd.

A curious band of music had taken up a position at the foot of a stately tamarind. A young man blew an immense horn constructed of long gourds; by increasing and diminishing the size of the sound-hole, he was able to modify the notes which he produced; they sometimes resembled the trumpeting of an angry elephant or the roaring of a bull, or sometimes the soft purring of a great cat. He was accompanied by a friend who clapped with wooden staves and sang a monotonous song. We set off, headed by this music, and I am even now amazed when I think of the lungs which were able to go on blowing incessantly over the long uneven road.

The steppe became much more stony from this point. Many nodules of ferruginous clay, black as coal, lay in the red sand. A diminutive fly, called by the people dubanet-el-jil, i.e, elephant’s fly, is one of the plagues of these grass steppes. I found it more impertinent than any of its species, and it dis-