Their fires even are frequently a source of annoyance and trouble to them, for as they possess no means of generating this element, they must be very careful never to allow it to go out. In cases of this disastrous occurrence, or when engaged in hunting, or in other occupations, at a great distance from their villages, they resort to the following primitive method for striking a light. They take two dry pieces of wood, in the one of which they cut a hole with a knife, or sharp-pointed stone, barely large enough to admit the other; they then lay the former on the ground, holding it firmly in that position with their feet, fit the second piece into the perforation, and rub the two together with extraordinary rapidity, throwing a few grains of sand occasionally into the hole to augment the friction. This is a labour demanding great exertion, and two persons are always necessary for its performance. A handfull of dry grass, or an old piece of cotton rag, is placed beneath the wood to catch the sparks, and glows as soon as the wood is converted into coal. Dried grass and sticks are now added, when the combustible materials are fanned into a living flame. In Kordofan the same custom prevails. If all the fires be extinguished in a small village during the rainy season, the inhabitants are indeed put to the greatest embarrassment, especially where the distance to the nearest village is great, because all the grass and wood is then very wet. A Shilluk told me that in his village, which was situated at a distance of ten hours’ march from any other inhabited spot, they were once not able to produce a fire during twenty days. The inhabitants had made frequent attempts to transport a burning branch from the nearest locality, and had lighted more than fifty fires in the intervening space, in order to bring it gradually into their own village; but the showers had, on four different occasions, frustrated their endeavours when they were on the point of succeeding. Soft wood is useless for procuring a light, and there was no hard wood in that neighbourhood. I was myself once put to a very great inconvenience whilst at Lobeid for want of a flint, for there was not one to be purchased in the bazaar at any price; my servant, however, soon invented a remedy: he went up to a soldier, a Shilluk of course, and bought the flint of his musket, which he unscrewed whilst on duty, and delivered at the high price of four-pence halfpenny. The dominions of Takele are situated at a distance of about five days’ journey to the south-east of Kordofan; they are governed by a sultan, who is an absolute monarch, and has his residence at Tassin.