66 UGANDA AND THE EGYPTIAN SOUDAN.

Ever since the station has been established at Fatiko, the Shulis have been loyal to the Government, and no unpleasantness has arisen. The soldiers can go about unarmed, and if, as sometimes happens, they fall ill, at a distance, the natives prepare a litter and carry them by easy stages back to the station.

Xear the fort there is a large native settlement, and dancing goes on every night until 9 p.m., when the roll is called and the gates shut. I saw many of the chiefs and natives, all of whom seem to be line powerful men. Many wear a curious necklace of iron rings, extending from the chin to the shoulders, and making all movement of the neck very difficult. The babies are carried on their mothers' backs in a kind of sling made of a goat's skin, the four corners of which are tied in front.

The child's head and legs dangle out behind, and its head is generally covered with a gourd to keep off the sun. In the neighbourhood of Fatiko there are many snakes, some of them very venomous.

One day, as I was taking a morning walk round the station, two hundred natives ran into the yard, carrying, as I thought, bundles of grass. They came in running, jumping, and singing, and then, forming three or four lines, put their bundles down on the ground in front of them. They then opened the bundles, and each contained a dozen grass ropes, a mat made of woven grass, a long stick, four or five