The Geographical Journal (Journal of the Royal Geographical Society): Volume XVI, No. 6 [‎345v] (43/232)

616
AN EXPEDITION BETWEEN LAKE RUDOLF AND THE NILE.
AVe determined now to follow the wady as far as we could, even
though it took us a little south of west. Two short marches on February
5 and 6 brought us to a long pool of still water, but here the river-bed
spread out in many little dried-up ditches, that lost themselves within
a quarter of a mile in the plain. Here we found another branch of the
Magois, who called themselves Katua, and represented that they were
very independent of their immediate neighbours, and at war with a
tribe called Toporan, living in the mountains west of Turkana. The
Katua occupied a dozen large villages, and owned an immense number
of cattle and other live stock. Although rich, they wore scarcely any
ornaments, and did not care much for any other kind of beads than the
wonderfully fashionable little red sim-sim. Trading went on merrily
until I had bought about sixty sheep and goats, and my stock of red
beads was getting low, owing to the many drains upon it. Cloth and
blue and yellow beads, of which I had a large supply, were valueless.
In the trading the women figured largely, to my great annoyance, as
they were so long in making up their minds, and so hard at a bargain.
I was obliged to play salesman to these women for many hours a day,
and I often wondered if European salesmen ever have to exact the same
amount of patience.
lo my surprise, I discovered these people to be cow worshippers,
and to indulge in certain rites which were supposed to be peculiar to the
Hindoo religion. Plastering themselves with cow-dung, and throwing
bits of dried hois de vache at every one and everything they liked,
seemed to be a matter of much import to them, and occasionally
some old man or woman would be quite unmerciful in giving me
a too generous dusting. The origin of this cow worship is pre
sumably the same with the Katua as with the Hindoo, traceable to
the great dependence placed upon the animal for sustenance. The
Katua eat the cow, but all their people turn out when the beast is
killed, and go through much ceremony. They would not sell me a
single cow.
AVe were again confronted by the waterless plain to the west, but
to the south-west, however, rose a mountain range 40 miles away,’that
I thought must surely provide water, and thither I accordingly sent
Ah Esa, whom I had made headman, and seven other Somalis with a
week s supply of water and food to reconnoitre. I employed my time
that was not given up to trading, in surveying and collecting and
s u \ mg the natives, of whose language I made a short vocabulary
Just here for the first and only time on the journey, I found a
number of Kuppel’s reed-buck, the original Cervicapra bohor. This
IT'TT ^ EttPP61 ^ ago from a
skull, probably brought down the Nile by traders, but it was uot until
m arrival of my complete specimens at the museum that all the cha
racteristics of the animal were known. It stands 40 inches at the