The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1899-07-16
RACE OF FORMER GIANTS.
They Till the Ground Along
Banks of the Blue Nile.
London Mail.

LONDON MALL.
On the banks of the Blue Nile, som 200
miles from its mouth, and In a region so
inaccessible that even the all-penetrating
Briton has been slow to reach IL, Sir VIII
liam Garstin has just discovered a colony
of giants. They are endowed with physical
attributes such as would have driven their
old fairy tale ancestors into permanent re-
m These giants are farmers. For
generation after generation they have titled
the soil along the banks OF the Blue Nile,
and titled it in spite of obstacles that make
the annual harvesting of the Kansas cyclone
seem like a summer in an amateur garden.
The old family homesteads of the Nile
giants have a most annoying habit of dis
appearing internationally This regularity
stream that flows by their doorsteps-has
caused the giants to acquire amphibious
habits. Instead of abandoning the region
entirely and seeking a more trustworthy
peighborhood they have. with infinite pa
thence and forbearance, studied the whimS
and eccentricities Of the river. When it is
high they move up out of the wet and cul-
tivate the high lands. When II Is low they
move a. that is portable on TO the mud
islands that appear the moment the stream
subsidies. and on these littls mud piles they
raise rice and grain and d really Incredible
amount of farm product. This alternating
between the banks and the middle OF the
stream is kept up year In and year out.
Sir William Garstin, undersecretary of the
Egyptian public works department, returned
11 f the Blue reee and White White nj Niles eat on the }EnsiisSS
gunboat Metemmeh. He found the Shil-
locks. as the tribe Of giants is called, at
Mogren-el-Bohoor or the Meetings of the
Waters. He asserts that he was most ia
vorably impressed with the Shillocks. They
are good looking to begin with, and. better
than that, they are honest. Their most
marked physical characteristic is their ire
mendously long arms, which hang below
their knees. They are men of remarkable
bodily length, and can endure fatigue and
hardship that would soon kill an ordinary
mortal. Sir William found that hardly any
of them failed TO be at least a foot taller
than the tallest Englishman in the party,
and many much larger than that.
Their attire is conspicuous by its absence.
When a Shillock giant has donned his head
gear he is ready for breakfast. but no man
SPEAR in his hand. and this weapon inva-
viably is decorated lavtsnly with ostrich
are much smaller than The men and are
inferior to them In looks They wear their
heads closely shaved and array themselves.
winter and summer alike: in skins which
they wear after the style adopted by a
sandwich man. The Shillock is not a re-
ligious man. and beyond some vague ideas
of the desirability of propitiating malevoient
spirits. he Is Influenced by no creeds what
ever. His only modern vice is the harmless
one OF smoking. and ne INDUCES in that on
he smokes will hold comfortably a half
pound Of tobacco. and when he becomes
weary of holding IL between his teeth he
Ii until he wishes Ii again.
The most serious obstacle which the Eng
lish traveller encountered on his inland voy-
age was the sud" or mass of vegetation
which is loosened by the action OF the water
and floats down stream. Frequently the
river was completely damned by IL and
progress was impossible until IL had been
cut away. Some idea OF IL can be obtained
by the experience of Sir Samuel Baker.
With 1000 men constantly working at IL he
was able to proceed only twelve miles I'm
thirteen days. The sud regulates the flow
of the river, but whether It's removal would
result I'm an o-verabundant supply OF water
to the countries far north AT flood and a
shortage at other seasons Is a question still