The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1925, Page 188

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188

THE LUTHERAN PIONEER.

the sick, the halt, and the lame crowded the
hospitals... .

“The doctors at the Omdurman hospital, who
are doing a wonderful work among the natives, in-
vited us over for a day. Here were many pathetic
sights. As we walked through the wards, we ob-
served old black women, as gentle as the ‘mammies’
of our Southland, who insisted on kissing the hands
of the doctors as they stopped to inquire about the

- progress they were making. One experience in this
hospital very much impressed us. A physician who
was also a Doctor of Divinity came into a con-

Traveling in Egypt.

valescent ward and said: ‘My friends, such and
such a black boy is to be operated on this morning,
and he may die. I think we all ought to pray to
God to let him live.’ Christians, Mohammedans,
and poor tribal blacks prayed aloud together, each
in his own fashion, for the life of that’ black boy. ...

“While we were there, the noontime temperature
averaged about 115 degrees. The peculiar actinic
rays of the sun played tricks with one’s eyesight
and smoked glasses were a necessity. . . .

“So frequent and so violent are the sandstorms
_ in April and May that the Gordon Hotel has ceased
trying to combat them. They blow through the
window, casings and scatter sand over the rooms
_ and the corridors. . . .

“The desert behind us, we entered the Sudan
proper. The land was fertile and level with the
horizon. Thousands of cattle grazed along the
shore. About 160 miles up the river we passed
Abba Island. Soon the characteristics of the na-
tives changed. So far we had scen only Arabs and
mixed breeds. Here we met Negroes and Negro-
and-Arab half-castes. The Negroes were’ genuine
savages; they wore feathers in their hair and rings
in their noses. ‘Two interesting black tribes are
the Shilluks, who live on the west bank of the Nile,
and the Dinkas, who live on the east bank. Both
average close to seven fect in height. They are as
thin as the Nile cranes and, like cranes, stand on
one leg, with the other leg drawn up under them!
The Shilluks wear two huge ‘Scotch tams’ of matted
hair, one on each pole of the head. This was our
first introduction to the extraordinary coiffwres of
the male African. Some leave their hair in natural
color, while others dye it a bright red with lime.
The Dinkas decorate their woolly pates with gay-
colored feathers. All carry spears and knives
strapped to the back of the upper arm behind the
elbow, where they are quickly accessible. Most of
them smear their bodies with ashes to -keep off the
mosquitoes. This makes them look like gray ghosts.
They sleep in the ashes of their fires at night. The
men are the beauties; the women do the work.
Some of these dandies wear tight copper bracelets
round their wrists until their hands grow numb
and useless. They posed and displayed their
deadened hands covered with rings and bracelets,
which, we were told, their women ° folk greatly
admire. The women wear only a strip of dun-
colored cgtton. Many of them stood naked to the
waist, neither embarrassed nor self-conscious. . . .

“There are some 800 languages and dialects
spoken among the more than a hundred million
Negroes and Negroids (Negroes with a mixture of
Arab blood) in Africa. In many sections, lan-
guages and customs change with each fifty miles.
These ‘particular Nile blacks are shiftless, vain,
noisy, and warlike. Their villages are clusters of
grass huts, like gigantic beehives. ‘These savages
own fine herds of cattle and flocks of goats. They
eat the sheep and goats, but they use the cattle for
currency. So many cows buy a wife. Wealth is
counted thus. They’ drink the milk, but it is very
unwise for a white man to do so because of certain
unpleasant native practises in milking. . - -

“The country so far was flat, level, and dotted
with trees. This soil was black and rich, and the
natives lived easily. No one yet has devised a plan