Idris Wad Regab.Idris Wad Regab, a direct descendant of the old Fung dynasty, is now Mek or head Sheikh of Dar Fung. He is a loyal man, and is now very badly off, having suffered greatly at the hands of the Dervishes, by whom he was not recognised. Sheikh Abd El Kader is his Wakil. Adlan Wad Surur was Mek during the Mahdia; he now lives near Karkoj.
Gule used to be the chief town of Dar Fung, it is now only second in importance to Keili. It consists of three small villages situated at the foot of Jebel Idris or Gule, a granite mass about 1,000 feet high, and contains but a few hundred inhabitants, mostly Hameg, or a mixture of Hameg and the aboriginal Fung. There are generally some encampments of Dar Ageil or Selim Arabs in the vicinity.
Trade.There is a little trade with Abyssinia, but practically nothing in the shape of supplies, animals etc., are procurable here. Most of the merchants trading with Abyssinia pass through Keili.
Cultivation.There is the usual dura and simsim cultivation, but little more is grown than is required for the wants of the inhabitants.
Raids.As, prior to the demarcation of the Abyssinian frontier, the Burun were so decimated by raiding parties from Abyssinian territory, Idris Wad Regab was, in March, 1902, given rifles by the Government to protect his people. In addition to these he had a good many of his own, with which he inflicted some loss on Ahmed Fedil’s force when it marched from Dakhila to the White Nile after the battle of Roseires, December, 1898. These raids have ceased for the present owing to the capture of the principal raider, Ibrahim Wad Mahmud, in February, 1904. Vide Chap. VII, Part II, [page 278.]
Water supply.Water, which is obtained from several holes at the foot of the Jebel, is fairly plentiful but bad. It is said to be impregnated with lime.
Burun.
Boundaries, etc.The Burun inhabit the country between the Dinkas of the White Nile and the Abyssinian frontier from about 11° 30′ north latitude southwards to the Dinkas and Nuers of the Sobat and Baro. Those among the hills north of K. Yabus are under Mek Idris Wad Regab, of Gule, and appear to have acknowledged the suzerainty of his predecessors for probably a century before the advent of the Turks. On the K. Yabus and south of it nothing can be definitely stated as to their organisation, but they appear to be divided into a number of independent communities.
The Burun are said to be related to the Berta, but they are lighter in colour than the Berta generally are and speak a different language.
Burun near K. Yabus.Major Gwynn gives the following description of the Burun near Khor Yabus: The men, who are physically very finely built, are stark naked, and smear their heads with wet and clammy red mud.[81] They all carry long bows, wooden pointed featherless arrows, and in addition, generally a spear. Arrows are poisoned by being stuck into a certain species of tree,[82] and are pointed with notched charred wood or ebony. They have a range of 150 yards. The women are also naked, save for a small loin cloth of skin. They are good looking and attractive. The Burun dialect spoken by Idris Wad Regab’s men, but no Arabic, is understood by the Burun of the Yabus. Their word of greeting is “Moka.”