for about half an hour, until dinner was brought in, which was very plentiful, as a cow had been killed upon the occasion. After a hearty meal, we recommenced our reading. One of the Shikhs produced a basket full of white pebbles, over which several prayers were read. These pebbles were destined to be strewed over the tomb of the deceased in the manner which I had often observed upon tombs freshly made. Upon my enquiries concerning this custom, which I confessed to have never before seen practised in any Mohammedan country, the Faky answered that it was a mere meritorious action, that there was no absolute necessity for it, but that it was thought that the soul of the deceased, when hereafter visiting the tomb, might be glad to find these pebbles, in order to use them as beads in addressing its prayers to the Creator.[19] When the reading was over, the women began to sing and howl. I then left the room, and on taking my departure my kind host put some bones of roasted meat in my hand, to serve for my supper. The ladies of Damer adorn their sitting rooms with a number of large wooden bowls or dishes hung against the walls like so many pictures. The floor is covered with fine mats of various designs and colours, for the art of dying the Doum leaves appears to be known here. I have likewise seen ostrich eggs, and black ostrich feathers put up as ornaments on the wall, over the door. On the west bank of the river, opposite the town, is a small village, called Damer el Gharby (دامر الغربي), or the Western Damer. The communication between the two places is kept up by ferry-boats, of the rudest workmanship, consisting merely of the excavated trunk of a large Nebek tree.