The Florence daily tribune., 1899-02-04
A GLIMPSE AT NUBIA.
THE NATIVES REMARKABLE POWER
OF ENDURING PAIN.

Horrible FioEs,inls Match by which
"a Bride IL won-Ho,y the Ostrich Is
Huuted-PursuinG the Elephant ON
Foot-The Chase OF the GnzeIIes.
The power of enduring pain exhibited
by the Nubians is almost incredible.
This is strongly instanced in the com
petition by the youths of the villages
for the championship of their camps,
1t is much coveted honor to be call
ed "Allho Benat' (the brother of the
girls) and the youth who attains this
distinction is entitled to marry the
belle.
The competition itself is a most ago
nizing spectacle. 1t commences by the
maidens ON certain festivals beating the
drums to "a quaint and peculiar tune,
which so eNcites the spirits of the yoang
men that numbers of them at once rush
into the arena, each loudly exclaiming
II am the brother of the girlsl | am
the brother of the girlsl''
They are then paired off by casting
lots, and when stripped to the waist
powerful, flexible whip of hippopotamus
hide five feet in length Is placed in the
hand of each combatant, and at Ger
tain signal fiogging match commences.
The strokes are not given at random
or in haste, but with the utmost delib-
Grafton. each youth delivering his blow
in turn and keeping time to the music.
The long, plant lash descends with
keen precision, cutting deep into the
flesh Mt every stroke while the monot-
onous "hwit. q" 'hwit, 80 "hwit. goes
on increasingly and the red streams tell
the tale of suffering which the tongues
disdain to proclaim. At last the one
who can endure no longer falls fainting
to the ground and is borne away by his
kinsmen.
The victors are subsequently pitted
against each other till the remaining
one becomes the champion and bears
the proud title of 1.-THE Brother of the
Girls "
Ostrich hunting involves good rid
ing and is animated sport. Having as
certained where nest is to be found,
three or four mounted men go out ON
the plain together. and one of them
rides in the direction of the nest
Instantly the bird sees him it starts
off at tremendous pace, the hunter
following in hot pursuit. until, after
running perhaps couple of miles, the
ostrich begins to circle, its object being
to get back to its nest from which it
fondly hopes it has diverted its pursuer.
The other hunters who are scattered
over the plain, take up the running by
turns, succeeding each other as each
horse becomes spent. They are thus
able to press the bird to its utmost
speed, until it falls exhausted ON the
ground with outstretched wings, gasp
ing for breath.
The nearest hunter then gallops up
and sewers its head with blow from
his sword. Hastily dismounting, he mt
once seizes the bleeding stump and
thrusts it into the sand to prevent the
feathers from being soiled by the blood,
which is squirting in all directions from
the convulsive movements of the neck,
even after death.
The feathers of full grown bird
fetch from $50 TO SO (e10 to el5) at
Kassala where they are bought by Arab
traders from Cairo, but they ultimately
realize treble that value in the Euro
pean markets.
When the elephant is pursued on
foot it is invariably sought in the
depths of the forest, where it has retired
for shelter from the MONDAY sun and
also for the short repese it takes during
the "a hours The hunter having
tracked his quarry to its retreat is
obliged to use the utmost stealth in APP
proaching it, the elephant being very
light sleeper and awakened by the
slightest unusual sound.
The difficulty of moving through a
dense thorny jungle without making
any sound dissimilar to those which
might be produced by nature, such as
the stirring of the branches by light
breeze or the occasional falling of
dead leaf, is greater than can be realiz-
ed by any one who has not tried it,
On getting within arm $ length of his
game the swordsman slowly raises him
self to an erect position and deals a
slashing cut on the back sinews of the
nearest foot about ten inches from the
ground at the same time leaping MIN
bly, back TO avoid blow from the ami
mails trunk The cut if properly deliv-
cred bites sheer TO the bone, severing
the large arteries, and in short time
death ensues from hemorrhage.
Gnzelles arc hunted by a powerful
breed of hounds in build somewhat
heavier than greyhound. In spite of
being far swifter than the hound the
gazelle falls a victim from nervous
habit of constantly stopping to look
back to see if it is pursued. 1t also ex-
pends its strength by taking great
bounds in an almost vertical direction,
thereby not only losing time, but ex-
hausting itself, so that it is overtaken
without difficulty "A Glimpse at Nu-
Ii. ~ l.. Euntnir, II q 9 Snood.- Il,