The chief diseases are fevers, dysentery, abscesses about the neck (named _durore_), dropsy, small-pox, jiggers, skin diseases, and lues. Every resident in the country is attacked with fever, and all precautionary measures to avert the evil, such as a regular life, etc., are generally speaking futile. I found, on the contrary, that those persons who indulged in ardent liquors, such as brandy, merissa, or bill-bill, remained far more free from fever and dysentery, than those who endeavoured to escape these complaints by the observance of rigid diet, and other prophylactic means; for the latter were not only sooner attacked, but sooner fell victims to these scourges. I myself observed this mode of life; but, unfortunately, experienced the contrary to what I might have expected, under similar circumstances, in Europe, or in any more healthy climate; for, out of the eleven months of my residence in this country, there were but few weeks during which I could consider myself free from fever and dysentery. All the drugs, with which I had provided myself for my journey, proved of no avail, until I followed the advice of several old people, and drank brandy and merissa, in moderation, when both diseases left me. The chief causes of the two maladies named, are the sudden changes of temperature, and, more especially, the use of water. The greater part of the water is putrescent, much of it is filled with animalculæ, if it be not previously boiled; and unfortunately for the adoption of this precaution the opportunity is not always at hand; in this case it should be mixed with brandy. Where these rules are not observed, fever, or dysentery, are sure to be the infallible consequence. The methods of treatment, customary among the natives of Kordofan, are various, and consist in the employment of the common domestic quack-remedies of Europe, in addition to the above-mentioned superstitious aids. Thus, those attacked with fever, after the amulets and other mystic charms have proved useless, drink, for three or four days, a cup containing about a pound of melted butter daily, or a large quantity of milk, in which sandal-wood has been steeped during twenty-four hours. Both these remedies produce a powerful alterative effect, and I saw several persons cured of fever by them. For allaying dysentery, they make use of sour milk, in which _dabaldia_, the fruit of a tree, causing constipation, has been steeped over night. The same fruit, taken in small quantities, acts as a gentle purgative; but these modes of treatment are only adapted to the natives, and always prove fatal to Europeans. For dropsy they know of no remedy, and persons attacked with this disease die, with but few exceptions.