346 GOK TERRITORY TO RIVERS ROA AND YALO.

khor, and passing many small camps erected by the numerous fishers. I saw dams and weirs in the khor-bed to stem the current, showing that the people are keen fishermen, and the numerous pitfalls in the high grass indicated their love of hunting. Leaving the khor, the soil became again stony, and steppewood took the place of the high grass. Then followed small villages surrounded by fields ; they were especially numerous in the district of Mabongo.

No platforms were to be seen in this district ; the small huts of the Mittu, which stand upon the ground, very much resemble birds’ nests. I also noticed here lounge-benches such as are common among the southern tribes. The small tobacco plantations were hedged round. The tribal marks of the Beli are scars radiating from the glabella over the forehead, and the extraction of the four lower incisors. ‘The men have their upper lips, and the women both lips, bored; they wear in them large quartz balls or plates, or pieces of wood ornamented by brass nails. The hair is twisted into locks, each lock being drawn through a plate of iron, and these plates almost completely cover the head. Khor Lila forms the boundary here between the Agar and the Beli, but several Beli villages have been erected across the xkhor, for the Beli are very fruitful, and if it were not for the slave-trade, they would soon completely fill the country. Beyond Nyang, where, as in all the villages of this district, the people obtain their water from wells, grass steppe, light woods, and beautiful groups of bamboo intermingle, and numerous butter-trees form a striking feature in the landscape. A large depression filled with water and frequented by many water-birds is situated at the entrance of the village of Mabongo, which gives its name to the district.

Our small station bears the same name. It is occupied by a single Dongolaui, who rules like a sultan; his huts stand in a large bamboo enclosure, and his immense corn magazine, which is erected upon a platform, held already enough corn to supply Lado for four or five months, and the harvest is not yet gathered in! What a shame it is! A pool named Mangillihi marked the spot where we entered the district of Jér; there were many butter-trees near (called by the Béh, kitto), as well as tall tamarinds, together forming