[16] The derivation of “murah” would seem to be from “rah,” rest, “merah,” a resting-place for cows, or “menah,” a resting-place for camels. [17] The illustration gives a likeness of a Dinka sheep, which must not, however, be confounded with the maned sheep of Morocco. [18] Vide Chap. I., p. 33. CHAPTER V. Reception at the Seriba. Population. Fertility. Salubrity. Management. Poor prospects of the ivory trade. Failure of European firms in Khartoom. Idrees, the chief agent. Domestic arrangements. Beauties of spring. The daughter Seriba Geer. Bit of primeval forest. Giraffe-hunt. Bamboo jungle. Negro festival and music. Trip to the Dyoor and to Wow. Desertion of bearers. Good entertainment. Marquis Antinori and Vayssière. Old servant of Petherick’s. Hornblende. Height of the water of the Dyoor. Apostrophe to the river. A model Seriba. First acquaintance with Niam-niam. Trader from Tunis. The Wow River. Seriba Agahd in Wow. Edible fruits of the country. Wild buffaloes. Instability of dwellings. Caama and Leucotis antelopes. Numerous butterflies. Bear-baboons. Pharaoh palms. Daily life of the Dyoor. Their race. Iron-smelting. Formation of huts. Idyll of village life. Hunting with snares. Women’s work. Graves. Care of young and old. Of the character of the buildings, the arrangements and mode of life in the settlements of the Khartoomers, I had been able from hearsay to form a very imperfect idea. My curiosity was therefore very considerably awakened as our caravan approached the Seriba of Ghattas. Half a league from the place we came to a halt in order to give the customary warning by firing a salute, and without farther delay started afresh. Mounted on a donkey, and surrounded by my attendants, I went at the head of the _cortége_. All round the settlement for some distance the land is entirely cultivated, and the view as we proceeded was only broken by large trees dotted here and there, which in their summer verdure stood out in charming contrast to the cheerless grey of the desert steppe. Soon rising from the plain appeared the tops of the conical huts embracing nearly the whole horizon. I looked in vain for either fortifications, walls, bastions, or watch-towers, with which I had imagined that a Khartoomer’s Seriba must be provided. In fact, there was hardly anything to distinguish it from any of the villages of the Dinka which are scattered over the cultivated flats. [Sidenote: RECEPTION AT GHATTAS’S SERIBA.]