The Nuba negroes are for the most part heathens, and only very few of them profess the Mahommedan faith. Their ideas of religion, in general, are very limited, and they observe scarcely any ceremonies of worship. They believe, indeed, in a superior being, but it ranks below the moon, and hence it comes that the end of the lunar month is especially kept holy. Many of them again imagine that the sun, which produces the rain, is the superior being, because nothing can grow without rain. They can accurately determine the period when the rainy season will begin, and count from the commencement of each month. They are not idolators, but are by no means free from superstition, for before entering upon any undertaking or business, they wait for certain omina, according to which they regulate their actions. If, for example, an owl perch upon a house in the night and utter its melancholy note, they consider it a certain sign that one of the inhabitants will shortly die. A raven makes a still stronger impression upon these simple beings; should it, as of course frequently occurs, happen to fly into a village and settle on a tree or house, the whole place is then in consternation, all cheerfulness disappears, song and music cease to be heard, and even dancing is put a stop to on this woful day, for the arrival of a raven is a sure sign to them, that the Turks are coming to plunder them, or even to carry them off as slaves. They believe firmly in ghosts. On some of the hills they celebrate the anniversary of their dead, and indeed, at a certain time, annually. A large fire is on this occasion kindled in an open space, in the evening, whence every man takes a burning branch in his hand as a torch, and thus the procession moves first to the place of burial, and then to those houses in which some person had died during the preceding year. A song is now commenced in honour of the dead, at the conclusion of which, they toss their burning branches into the air, much after the same fashion in which midsummer is celebrated in certain countries of Europe.[46] A festival is kept when the first rain falls, and again at the termination of the harvest. To celebrate the latter feast, everything the house affords which could enliven the festive scene is contributed, and merissa, of course, flows in abundance. Their favourite amusements are singing and dancing, every one who is in any way capable of exercise, dances, both men and women, and frequently even the aged and infirm, join in; no day in fact passes, on which the whole population of the village do not collect in an open space after sunset and pass their time in dancing. The accompaniment consists in singing, in beating time with their hands to the sounds of a drum, and the tones of a fife are frequently also added. The young girls more especially may be heard singing all day long, for they never perform any office be it ever so trivial, without the accompaniment of the voice. As soon as the