The assida and woika are the common dishes of the natives of Kordofan. The former consists of flour, boiled after the fashion of the Italian polenta[30]; but there is a considerable difference in the mode of preparing this mess; for the poorer class use the flour in its natural state, whereas the wealthy natives have it several times washed in water, a process rendering it much whiter and purer. Woika is prepared in the following manner:—The natives take pieces of beef, dried in the sun, cut for the purpose into long slips, of the thickness of a finger, which form in every family a part of the household stores. This is reduced with dried bamié[31] to a coarse powder in a wooden mortar. Some onions are now burnt with butter in an earthen-pot, over which water is poured. When the stock boils, one person stirs it up, whilst another gradually adds the pounded meat and bamié, until it forms a thick mass. This ragout, or currie, is then poured into the assida before described, and served up; it has a pleasant flavour, is very nutritious, and far more wholesome than any other kind of animal food. A great deal of meat is consumed; for it is very cheap, and nearly every one keeps goats and sheep. The Turks, indeed, do not eat the beef, nor is it to be recommended to Europeans, for it is very indigestible, and of ill flavour. The oock’ckah,[32] of two pounds and three quarters, does not cost more than twenty paras (twopence); and it is sold in the market-place of Lobeid without the bones. In the country, it is retailed at half this amount; and the price of the piece bargained for is fixed, without weighing it, by judging by the eye alone. There is no deficiency of fowls, pigeons, and various species of gazelles; these, however, are luxuries which are only to be met with in the houses of the wealthy, and on festive occasions. Every family dines at midday; the men are first served; and when they have finished their meal, the women and children sit down. A straw-mat is spread upon the sand, in the centre of which a wooden dish is placed, containing assida and woika; while the necessary bread is served up on a flat straw-dish. Every one present in the hut, the family as well as strangers, for no invitation is required, sit down, with their legs bent under them, on the straw-mat round the dish; and, on being invited by the master of the house with the word, Bishmillah (in the name of God) to help themselves, all plunge their hands at the same time into the dish. Each person now takes as much as he can hold in his five fingers, and conveys it to his mouth. The bread is generally eaten at the same time; and thus they proceed, taking one handful after the other, until the dish is emptied of the last morsel. If a stranger cease to eat first, the master of the house invites him to continue, not as a matter of ceremonious courtesy, but in true kindness. During dinner little is spoken, for each individual endeavours above all things to satisfy hunger. In the