three to six light javelins, and shields, and the men are provided with their dar’book’keh (drum), in order to be able to alarm the whole camp with the slightest danger. A fire is also kept up all night at this guard-house. They generally dance half the night long to keep themselves awake, are always prepared for an attack, and cannot easily be surprised. The women and girls pass the time of the watch with their husbands, or brothers, at the chief guard-house, and join in the dances. Their dance differs entirely from that of the other natives of Kordofan; it is very fantastic, and has really something imposing about it. A large fire is frequently lighted at each of the four corners of the space, where the drummers, singers, and those who beat time, are located. The dancers range themselves in two rows in the centre, the one being formed of women, the opposite of men, armed with their spears, with which they frequently strike the ground, in time, during the dance. At first their movements are slow, but they are soon hurried away by excitement; and the men swing their lances with a fearful cry, as if they were about to throw them at the women, who represent the enemy. The latter now assume a more humble deportment, and evince their submission to the attacking party. This dance must be seen, in order to form a proper conception of it; and I can assure my readers, that nothing can be more picturesque than to see this group of dancers on a dark night, the scene lighted up by four blazing fires, when the stillness of the night is only interrupted by the simple scream of a night-bird, the distant roar of a lion, or the howl of a hyæna. The expressive countenances of the dancers form an admirable picture, which well accords with the wildness of the whole scene.