The products they obtain from the ground may be regarded as a mere nothing. They cultivate as much dokn as they believe sufficient to last from one harvest to the next. On the possibility of a failure of the harvest, they never bestow a thought, nor do they pay any consideration to other contingencies, by laying in stores. Their cattle is said to be numerous in some few places, but is reared without the slightest care or attendance. They have no salt in their own country, and are obliged, therefore, to obtain it from Sennaar or Kordofan; but the greater portion of the inhabitants have never tasted this condiment. All other necessaries, which they might produce with little trouble themselves, they obtain by barter from their neighbours, giving articles in exchange which nature brings forth without the assistance of art. This tribe is, taken all in all, the very _ne plus ultra_ of idleness and stupidity, and they differ but immaterially from animals. They are consequently not as dangerous to travellers as other tribes, who are always on the alert for prey, and but few robbers by profession live among their hills; the other Shilluks, moreover, always warn the Djelabi travelling through their country not to approach the infested neighbourhoods. Their chief wealth consists in ivory, which they likewise obtain in certain parts of their dominions without the slightest trouble. They arrange the teeth in rows, forming a fence round their huts, and barter them away to the Djelabi when they come into their parts. There are many elephants in the country wandering about in herds of several hundreds each; they are, however, met with singly, during the greater portion of the year. It is only at a certain period—generally before the rain sets in—that they collect together in herds, and then they cross the White Nile in the direction of Fazoglo. An old female elephant is always the leader, and determines on the spot for crossing the stream. This movement is effected with a fearful noise, as may be easily imagined when so large a number of these moving mountains are known to be swimming in the river at the same time. They draw up a quantity of water in their proboscis, and spurt it forth again like a fountain, thus appearing to convert a large extent of the water in which they carry on their pranks into a sort of whirlpool. Notwithstanding their immense weight they swim with incredible facility, and I have been assured that when these animals cross the river singly, the water remains frequently undisturbed, so that the unwieldy mass appears to be moved by some invisible power. Whilst on their journey, the emigrants observe the strictest order; their leader, a female, turns frequently round and raises a cry if an elephant stray, to recall him to the ranks again. A herd frequently takes its route directly through a village, without doing the slightest injury to the huts, or to the inhabitants; singly they never do any harm.