"The Dinkas are mainly on the east bank of the Nile, and their possessions extend quite a distance into the interior. The actual area of their country is unknown, as it has never been surveyed, and only a few travellers have explored it. The Dinkas are taller and finer in appearance than the Shillooks, and are a brave, hardy people. Their faces are more intelligent than those of the Shillooks, and altogether they are superior to their neighbors. Like the Shillooks, they are fond of veneering their skins with ashes, which gives them a brownish hue, and the favorite bed of the Dinka is a pile of ashes, with a stick of wood at one end, on which his neck can rest. When the ashes are washed away their skins are of inky blackness, and the Dinka may be fairly set down as one of the darkest of his dark race." Fred wished to know how they lived. "As to that," replied Doctor Bronson, "their ways of life are not much unlike those of the Shillooks, except that they are more peaceful. They have large herds of cattle, and are eminently a pastoral people. They cultivate the soil to quite an extent, and they move their villages occasionally in search of pasturage for their herds.... There: observe the bank of the river with your glass and you will see one of their herds, which is evidently coming down to allow the cattle to drink." [Illustration: HEAD OF A DINKA BULL.] Frank looked to where a dark spot seemed moving over the plain. As soon as he had adjusted his glasses he descried the drove that the Doctor had pointed out. There were hundreds of cattle in the herd, which moved at a dignified pace, under the control of two or three dozen men, who were clothed only in long lances, if a lance may be called an article of wearing apparel. Frank remarked the nakedness of the Dinkas, and the Doctor informed him that among this people the wearing of clothing is considered effeminate, and only the women are dressed with anything more than oil and ashes. The Dinkas call the Nubians "women," because they wear clothing, although it is not much, and a true Dinka would allow himself to be frozen to death rather than put on a garment to keep his body comfortable. "But they do not consider it effeminate," continued the Doctor, "to seek the shelter of their huts when the cold wind blows, and in this way they get along without much suffering." Abdul had been among the Dinkas, and said their herds of cattle would astonish the boys if they could see them. "Why," said he, "I have seen many a herd of ten thousand animals, and one of two thousand is considered small. They have large yards, or corrals, where the beasts are driven at night, to prevent their straying, and also to protect them from the attacks of wild beasts. The cattle are much like those you saw in the neighborhood of Khartoum. They live entirely on the wild grass, and in dry seasons are apt to suffer from scanty pasturage. [Illustration: A DINKA CATTLE-YARD.]