“One woman attended upon the men, running through the crowd with a gourdful of wood-ashes, handfuls of which she showered over their heads, powdering them like millers: the object of the operation I could not understand. The première danseuse was immensely fat; she had passed the bloom of youth, but, malgré her unwieldy state, she kept up the pace to the last, quite unconscious of her general appearance, and absorbed with the excitement of the dance.”
These strange dances form a part of every funeral, and so, when several persons have died successively, the funeral dances go on for several months together. The chief Commoro was remarkable for his agility in the funeral dances, and took his part in every such ceremony, no matter whether it were for a wealthy or a poor man, every one who dies being equally entitled to the funeral dance without any distinction of rank or wealth.
The bells which are so often mentioned in those tribes inhabiting Central Africa are mostly made on one principle, though not on precisely the same pattern. These simple bells evidently derive their origin from the shells of certain nuts, or other hard fruits, which, when suspended, and a wooden clapper hung within them, can produce a sound of some resonance.
The next advance is evidently the carving the bell out of some hard wood, so as to increase its size and add to the power of its sound. Next, the superior resonance of iron became apparent, and little bells were made, shaped exactly like the before-mentioned nuts. This point once obtained, the variety in the shape of the bells is evidently a mere matter of caprice on the part of the maker.
One form approaches nearer to our familiar type of bell than any other, and really bears a very close resemblance to the strangely-shaped bells of Siam or Burmah. Instead of being flattened, as are the others, it is tolerably wide, and is so formed that a transverse section of it would give the figure of a quatrefoil.
CHAPTER XLIV.
THE SHIR, BARI, DJIBBA, NUEHR, DINKA, AND SHILLOOK TRIBES.
LOCALITY OF THE SHIR TRIBE — THEIR PORTABLE PROPERTY — DRESS AND GENERAL APPEARANCE — A STRANGE STORY — BASKET MAKING — THE BARI TRIBE AND THEIR CHARACTER — SLAVE DEALING — BARI ARCHERS — A DARING SHARPSHOOTER — THE BOY’S STRATAGEM — ARCHITECTURE OF THE BARI — THE DJIBBA TRIBE — THEIR NATIONAL PRIDE — DJIBBA WEAPONS — THE AXE, CLUB, AND KNIFE — BRACELET — THE SCALP-LOCKS ORNAMENT — A PROUD WARRIOR — THE NOUAER OR NUEHR TRIBE — THE CLAY WIG AND BEAD HELMET — THE CHIEF, JOCTIAN, AND HIS IMPORTUNITY — NUEHR SALUTATION — THE DINKA TRIBE AND ITS WARLIKE CHARACTER — ZENEB TO THE RESCUE — FEUD WITH THE SHILLOOKS AND BAGARAS — DRESS OF THE DINKA — TREACHERY, AND THE TABLES TURNED — THE DINKA MARKET — AN EMBASSY OF PEACE — THE SHILLOOKS, THEIR LOCALITY, DRESS, AND APPEARANCE — THEIR PREDATORY HABITS — SKILL IN BOATING — A PASTORAL COLONY AND ITS MANAGEMENT — FISH-SPEARING — A SHILLOOK FAMILY — GOVERNMENT AMONG THE SHILLOOKS — MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.
As the Shir tribe are frequently mentioned by those travellers who have passed through Central Africa, a brief mention of them will be necessary. The Shir country extends on either side of the Nile, in lat. 6° N., and long. 30° E.
The men are remarkable for never stirring out of their villages without all their personal property about them. Clothes, in our sense of the word, are not considered as property, the principal article of costume being a tuft or two of cock’s-feathers on the top of the head. But they always carry their little stools slung on their backs, and no one ever moves without his loved pipe. Upon their pipe they lavish all their artistic powers, which, however, are not very considerable. Precious as is iron in this country, being used, like gold in Europe, as a medium of currency, the pipes are all mounted with this costly metal. The bowls are made of clay, conical in shape, and having a couple of prongs on which to rest. They are very large, holding quite a handful of tobacco, and their mouthpieces are almost invariably made of iron.
Besides the implements of peace, the Shir always carry with them their weapons of war. These consist of clubs, made of a kind of ebony, black, solid, and heavy, a couple of lances, a bow, and a bundle of arrows, so that their hands are quite full of weapons. The bows are always kept strung, and the arrows are pointed with some hard wood, iron being too costly a metal for such a purpose. They are about three feet in length, and without feathers, so that they can only be used at a short distance.