Their Ivory Porters
Returning, Might Carry My Baggage, And Thus Save The Backs Of My
Transport Animals.
I accordingly amused myself at Gondokoro, exercising my horses in riding
about the neighbourhood, and studying the place and people.
The native
dwellings are the perfection of cleanliness; the domicile of each family
is surrounded by a hedge of the impenetrable euphorbia, and the interior
of the enclosure generally consists of a yard neatly plastered with a
cement of ashes, cow-dung, and sand. Upon this cleanly-swept surface are
one or more huts surrounded by granaries of neat wicker-work, thatched,
resting upon raised platforms. The huts have projecting roofs in order
to afford a shade, and the entrance is usually about two feet high. When
a member of the family dies he is buried in the yard; a few ox-horns and
skulls are suspended on a pole above the spot, while the top of the pole
is ornamented with a bunch of cock's feathers. Every man carries his
weapons, pipe, and stool, the whole (except the stool) being held
between his legs when standing. These natives of Gondokoro are the Bari:
the men are well grown, the women are not prepossessing, but the
negro-type of thick lips and flat nose is wanting; their features are
good, and the woolly hair alone denotes the trace of negro blood. They
are tattooed upon the stomach, sides, and back, so closely, that it has
the appearance of a broad belt of fish-scales, especially when they are
rubbed with red ochre, which is the prevailing fashion.
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