52 HABITS AND CUSTOMS.

first few days after erection, and that its colour is by no means the most pleasing. In the rainy season this plastering has to be repeated several times, and yet the rain frequently penetrates. I have lived in one of these houses, and derived the greatest benefit from my umbrella both by day and by night.

Most places are provided with draw-wells, but the water is on the average very bad. The wells are situated at a short distance from some of their places of residence, and the tributary springs frequently dry up, as was the case in the year 1839, when many villages suffered from want of water. In several localities, where this element was formerly found at a depth of ten feet, it is now necessary to dig to a depth of twenty feet before it can be reached.

About fifteen years ago water was found at twenty feet below the level of the ground at Lobeid ; at present fifty feet must be penetrated before arriving at it. During the rainy season water is, indeed, never wanting ; but the rains do not last long, and that which remains in the ponds either quickly evaporates, or becomes in a short time so deteriorated that it could not be drank without producing fatal consequences.

The arrangements in the interior of the tukkoli are as simple as the huts themselves. In addition to an " angareb " (a bedstead or frame, with straps fastened across it), a leathern shield, and a few spears, the furniture consists of the following objects : a pot, called " burma," for water ; a second for boil-