172 TRIBES BORDERING ON KORDOFAN, knowledge of arithmetic was limited to " five," named after the five fingers ; thus the thumb was one, the forefinger two, the middle-finger three, and so forth. A question put to men of this limited knowledge, entailing a definite number, is an affkir attended with great difficulty, and it is indeed impossible to obtain a satisfactory answer.

The natives of this country are far more industrious than those of Kordofan, and pay much greater attention to agriculture, and the cultivation of cotton, than their neighbours ; they also manufacture the cotton themselves into stuiFs, and produce other articles of commerce. They have few, but very beautiful horses ; and a man must be a bold as well as an excellent rider to keep his seat on these spirited animals, which the natives prize very highly, for they will not readily part with them. In fact, an opportunity only offers itself of purchasing one of their horses when, in a depredatory invasion by the Bakkara, or in a conflict with their neighbours, a man of Takele has been killed, and his horse becomes the booty of the conqueror. T believe that the pedigree of these horses must be sought in Darfour. These negroes hunt elephants, and carry on a trade in ivory with Kordofan. In those parts of the country where there are no horses the elephants are caught in pits, but where the inhabitants possess horses the following plan is pursued :—Two men, mounted on horseback, go hunting together, and generally pick out a full-sized