Wie EE, NE: II

beadwork (aprons, &c.) such as is so often found, especially amongst the upper Bari and the Makraka Nyam-Nyam. The blacksmiths, who are seen in almost every village, con- fine themselves to the manufacture of lances, arrows, and the above-named ornaments, as well as a kind of shovel (Arabic, malat) for cultivating the soil, ‘These shovels form also a unit of value, by means of which porters, &c., are paid and oxen and brides are bought. The Madi language is totally different from the Bari, and is more akin to the Makraka language. There is nothing specially noteworthy in the Madi customs.

The day for our departure arrived, and in beautifully cool weather the little screw-steamer Vyanza started up-stream towards the south. At an almost regular speed of about four English miles an hour, we steamed up the broad and beautiful river, which unfortunately was full of floating vegetation. The screw of the steamer was, to begin with, small, and rotating amongst the floating grasses, it kept getting entangled with plants, so that the steamer was often compelled to stop for

a time, so as to allow a man to get down and clean the screw. The west bank above Dufilé was adorned by a long row of Doleb palms, which looked very beautiful as they waved against the dark-blue hills in the background. I had not seen so great a number of these palms since leaving the Shiluk country between Fashoda and the Sobat, near the northern limit of their distribution ; and I may mention here that they become more and more rare towards the Equator. In Mtésa’s country I did not see a single one.

Rising from the low east bank of the river, the hills of Jéifi are seen from a long distance; they gradually advance towards the river, into which they gently slope. Short grass and isolated tall trees adorn the otherwise bare flanks, the red colour of which is very striking. Papyrus and yellow flower- ing ambaj (Herminiera) deeply fringe both banks. On the

east bank wild rocks, towering one above another, form a kind’ of chain, which gradually sinks, in the neighbour- hood: of the perennial Unyama, in order to give room to the plain which gradually slopes to the east. The west bank, on the contrary, presents a plain, evidently exposed to floods, while rather high and well-marked columnar mountains form