In several parts of the East I have had frequent opportunities of observing that they build very neat dwellings as it were of nothing. Houses, two stories in height, are frequently erected from the ground in five or six weeks. The walls are represented by a thick framework of wood, lined with a few bricks. A coating of mortar covers the whole, and thus a house bears all the appearance of being built of stone, and does not easily fall, especially where they are not detached, but form streets, and the one, therefore, supports the other. In Kordofan, on the other hand, each man builds an isolated hut, and every species of building material, excepting wood, is wanting; the construction, therefore, is completely that of a swallow’s nest. When a man has fixed upon the plot of ground on which he intends to construct his house, the earth is excavated to the depth of half a foot; and as much of the sand dug out as is necessary for the building, is mixed with water in a well, at two or three paces distant from the site of the building. The foundation is now erected to a height of about two feet, and the labour is remitted for two or three days, to allow the wall of sand to acquire the proper firmness. This latter proceeding is the more essential as the whole fabric would tumble to pieces before it had attained its necessary height, unless this precaution were adopted. When the destined elevation is completed, and the wall is thoroughly dry, thin rafters are laid horizontally across it to form the skeleton of the roof. Mats of straw are now placed upon the rafters, and covered with a thin layer of sand, which is then wetted; small pebbles of quartz are now strewn over this bed, and the whole mass is firmly beaten together. A fabric of this nature is not unlike _papier maché_, and, like the latter, would become perfectly saturated with the first rain, and fall to pieces, if they did not take the precaution of covering the whole with a coating of cow-dung, which effectually keeps out water, and thus prevents the occurrence of such a calamity. It will be easily conceived that a house of this kind diffuses no very agreeable odour during the first few days after erection, and that its colour is by no means the most pleasing. In the rainy season this plastering has to be repeated several times, and yet the rain frequently penetrates. I have lived in one of these houses, and derived the greatest benefit from my umbrella both by day and by night.