第25章

LikemostofthetribesoftheWhiteNile，theBarishaveastrongobjectiontoselltheircattle；thusyoumaybesurroundedbyplenty，butyoumaystarveinthemidstofbeef。

Theirlargeherdsareconfinedatnightwithinzareebasorkraals。Theseareformidabledefences。ThecattlezareebaisacircularstockadeformedofahardwoodcalledbytheArabsabou-noosorabdnoos(ebony)。

Thisisanintenselyhardblackwoodsomewhatresemblingebony。Pilesasthickasaman’sthigharesunkintheearth，soastoleaveafenceorstockadeofabouteightfeethighabovethesurface；thesepilesareplacedascloseaspossibletogether，andinterlacedbytoughhookedthorns，whichwhendryandcontractedbindthestockadeintoaverycompactdefence。Theentrancetothisfortisonlysufficientlylargetoadmitoneanimalatatime；thustheherdcanbeeasilycounted。Withinthestockadeareseveralhouses，inadditiontoafewlargecircularshedsfortheprotectionofyoungcalves。Thesheepandgoatsarekeptinaseparatezareeba。

AlltheoperationsoftheBarisareconductedbysignalsgivenbythedrum，preciselyasourmilitarymovementsaredirectedbybugle-calls。

Thegreatdrumthatbelongstotheheadmanorsheik，issuspendedbeneathanopenshed，sothatitisalwaysprotectedfromweather，andatthesametimethesoundcouldtravelunchecked。Thesedrumsarecutandscoopedwithgreatlabourfromapeculiarwood，whichisexceedinglytoughandwillnoteasilysplit。TheBaridrumisexactlytheshapeofaneggwithaslicetakenoffthethickerend。Someoftheseinstrumentsareverylarge，andasmuchastwomencouldcarryonapole。Bothendsarehollowedthroughandsecuredwithhide；butthebroadendformstheactualdrum。Thisisbeatenwithtwoshortsticksofhardwood。Intheearlymorning，shortlybeforesunrise，thehollowsoundofthebigdrumisalwaysheardgivingthesignalbyacertainnumberofbeat’sforthemilkingofthecows。Thewomenandyoungmenthencommence，andwhentheoperationiscompleted，thedrumbeatsagain，andthelargeherdsaredriventopasturage。Thesignalisrepeatedintheevening。Shouldanenemyattackthecountry，thesheik’sbigdrumgivesthealarmbyapeculiarseriesofbeats，whichifonceheardcaneasilyberemembered。

Inafewsecondsthisloudalarmwillbere-echoedbyeverydrumthroughoutthenumerousvillages，andthenewsoftheattackwillthusspreadbysignalasfastassoundcantravel。Acertainbeatofthesheik’sbigdrumisthecallforageneralassembly，inwhichcase，shouldanenemyappear，thewholeforcesofthedistrictcanbeconcentratedinonepoint。

TheweaponsoftheBarisarefinely-wroughtlances，andbowswithhorriblybarbedarrows。Theyseldomcarryshields，astheyaredifficulttomanagetogetherwiththebow，andtheyimpedetherapidmovements’

whicharethechieffeatureinBaritactics。

Themenaregenerallytallandpowerful，alwaysnakedandsmearedwithashes，orongreatoccasionswithredochreandgrease。Thewomenarenotabsolutelybad-looking，butrealbeautiesareextremelyrare。Theywearanapronbeforeandbehindoftannedleather，extendingnearlytotheknees，whichisonlytheoutergarment，beneathwhichtheywearaneatly-madefringeofinnumerablestrings，formedoffinely-spincottonthread，suspendedfromaleatherbelt。Someofthewealthypossessfringecomposedofironrings，neatlyworked，soastoformakindofshirtofmail。

Everymanisawarriorfromhischildhood，astheBarisarealwaysatwar。Theyareextremelycleverintheuseofthelance，whichtheycanthrowwithgreataccuracyforadistanceofthirtyyards，andtheycanpitchitintoabodyofmenatupwardsoffiftyyards。Fromearlychildhoodtheboysareinconstantpractice，bothwiththelanceandthebowandarrow；thus，althoughtheirweaponsareinferiortofire-armsproperlyused，theyaredangerousinthehandsofproficientsagainstmenwho，likemytroops，wereutterlyignorantoftheartofshooting。

Fortunatelyformyexpedition，thewarlikeBariswerenotunitedthroughouttheirterritory。Nevertheless，IdiscoveredthattheBarisofGondokorohadmadeanalliancewiththoseofBelinian，twelvemilesfromhead-quarters。Iobservedthatwomenwereconstantlypassingtoandfrowithbasketsontheirheads，carryingsaltfromGondokoro，andeachreturningwithagoat，ledbyastring。ExcellentsaltisfoundatGondokoro，realchlorideofsodium；andthisarticleenablesthenativesofthatdistricttotradewiththeinterior，whe

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