I. 4. II. THE NON-ARAB RACES OF DARFUR 53

between them and the Arabs and raid camels, women and children from the latter, and they even venture as far as the riverain districts

of Dongola. Their hand is against every man's, but so remarkable is

their power of endurance and their sense of direction that it is very

difficult to overtake them.

Slatin had dealings with them when he was an official of the Turkish Government in Darfur before the Mahdia. After mention-

ing that they are pagans in all but name, he adds^

:

Under the widespreading branches of an enormous heglik^ tree, and on a spot kept beautifully clean and sprinkled with fine sand, the Bedayat beseech an unknown god to direct them in their undertakings, and to

protect them from danger. They have also religious feasts at uncertain

dates, when they ascend the hills, and on the extreme summits, which are whitewashed, they offer sacrifices of animals. They are a fine, stalwart

race, very dark in colour, with straight features, a thin nose and small mouth, and resemble Arabs more than Negroes. The women are famed

for their long flowing hair, and there are some great beauties amongst them, as one often finds amongst the free Arab tribes. They generally wear

skins of animals round their waists and loins ; but the higher class and their women dress in long flowing robes made of white Darfur cotton cloth. Their food is very plain. Corn does not grow in their country, and is

almost unknown to them. They take the seeds of the wild pumpkin, which grows there in abundance, and they soak them in wooden vessels made from the bark of trees. After taking the outer shells off, they leave the

seeds to steep until they lose their bitterness, and then, straining them off and mixing them with dates, they grind them into a sort of flour, which

is cooked with meat, and forms the principal food of the country.

They have also most strange customs as regards inheritance and suc-

cession. The cemeteries are generally situated at some distance from the

villages; and when a father dies, the body is taken by all the relatives to be buried. The ceremony over, on a given signal they all rush together at

the top of their speed to the deceased's house; and he who arrives first and fixes his spear or arrow in it is considered the rightful heir, and not

only becomes possessor of all the cattle, but also of his father's wives and

other women, with the exception of his own mother. He is at perfect

liberty to marry them if he wishes, or he can set them free. A man's female household is entirely regulated by his financial position. It is

great or small according as the lord and master is rich or poor.

As I before remarked, most of the people still adhered to their pagan

customs, and it amused me greatly when Saleh Donkusa, who was by way

of being a good Moslem himself, denied to me, in the most emphatic manner, that such customs were still in vogue in his tribe. I asked him what the great heglik-tree was which I had passed the previous day when

1 Bk. I, Ch. 3.

^ Balanites Aegyptiaca. For the cult connected with trees and stones in Darfur see later sub Ddgu and Fur.