The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1907-11-19

cut, and that he can tell from just
where a man comes by such marks.
The cuts are Of all shapes. Sometimes
a cheek will have three parallel
gashes, and at other times you Will
notice tina the cuts are crossed, while
at others they lOok like a Chinese puZ-
Zle.
The dress of the people is strange.
Those Of the better classes wear long
gowns and are clad not unlike the
Egyptians. Many of the poor are al
most naked. and the boys and girls
often go about with only a belt of
/ strings at the waist. h strings are
like tasseIs, and they fall to the mid
die of the thigh. Very small children
wear nothing whatever.
Many Of the women wear nc cloth
ing above. the waist. and they seem to
have no false modesty about the ex-
posure of their persons. | saw one
near the ferry as / landed this morn
ing. She was a good-loOking girl or
eighteen. as black as oiled ebony. as
straight as a string and as plump as
a partridge. She was standing out
side a mud hut shaking a sieve con-
tanning sesame seed. She held the
sieve with both hands high up over
he'd head so that the wind might blow
away the chaff as the seed fell to the
ground. She was naked to the waist,
and her pose was almost exactly that
I OF the 1al1eU eSIdI virgin III the
COrcOran Art Gallery at Washington.
The Business Center of h Sudan.
Omdurman is the business center Of
the Sudan. Goods are sent from here
to all parts Of the country, and grain,
gum arabic. ostrich feathers. ivory and
native cotton are brought in for sale.
h town has one hundred restau-
rants, twenty coffee houses and three
hundred wells. 1t has markets of va
rious kinds, and there are long streets
of baZaars or stores in which each
trad has its own section, many of the
articles sold being made on the
ground.
one of the most interesting places
IS the Woman'S market This consists
of shelters. under each Of which a W o
mar sits with her wares piled about
her. She may have vegetables, grain
or fowls, or articles Of native cloth
and other things made by the people.
The women nav the monopoly of the
sales here. Men may come and buy,
IL they canno peddIe anything with
in the Women's precincts nor can they
open stands there. | understand that
the women are shreWd traders. Their
markets cover several acres, and dur
Ing my stay they were thronged with
black and brown natives.
Not far from this market | came
into the great square upon which the
VI thC SlCiSS cilteI. Il
square contains ten or more acres.
There are q number of restaurants
facing it. and in one corner there is
q cattle market where donkeys.
camels and horses are sold. The sales
are under the government, to the ex-
tent that an animal must be sold there
II a good title goes with it. If the
transfer is made elsewhere the terms
Of the bargain may be questioned, and
therefore the traders come.
Selling Money.
1t is strange to nave shops that sell
one | do not mean stock ex-
mango or banks, but real stores with
money on the counters, and stacked
up in bundles and laid away in piles
on the shelves. That is what they have
in Omdurman. There are caravans
going out from here to all parts OF
north-central Africa. and each must
have its own currency for the journey
These people are not far from the
dark ages, as far as their financial
matters are concerned. Many of the
tribes do not know what coinage
means; they use neither copper, silver
nor gold, and one of our dollars would
be worth nothing. Among many of
the people brass wire and heads are
the only currency. and, strange to say.
every locality has its own style of
heads and its favOrite wire. If blue
heads are popular you ear buy nothing
with red ones. and if the people want
beads OF metal it is useless to offer
them glass.
In some localities cloth is used as
money, and in others salt Is the med
ium of exchange. The salt is nodded
or cut out of the salt rocks in sticks.
and so many sticks will buy a COW or
a camel.
The owner of one of the largest
money stores of the Soudan is a syrian.
7 IN nd bt>,- ,A4 fnr f~A~, 49, 1900
market. and he told me that he would
be glad to outfit me if | Went into the
wilds. / priced some of his beads.
Those made of amber We're especially
costly. He had one string of amber
Jumps, five in number. Each bead was
the size Of a black walnut. and he
asked for the string three English
pounds. or about fifteen American dol
lars. The string will be Worn as Il
charm about some woman's bare
waist. and it may form the whole
wardrobe of the maiden who gets il.
Among the Silversmiths.
Not far from this bead money estab-
Ilshment the Mamour and | entered
the street of the silversmiths. This
contains many shops in which black
men and boys are lusy making the
~barparic iewelry of the Sudan. Jewels
are the savings banks Of this region.
and many of the articles are of pure
"io puiC SOid. SOllt are teTS
heaNy. | priced rings of silver worth
s. a piece ard handled a pair of gold
earrings which the jeweler said were
worth $50. The earrings We're each as
bis aroun as a coffee cup. and their
thickness at the place where they are
fastened into the ear was that of a
c pencil. The man who had then,
for sale was barefooted. He wore a
Ions white gown and a cap of white
cotton, and his whole dress could not
have cost more than $40. He was q
black. and he had half q dozen black
boys and men working away in his
shop. Each smith sat on the ground
before a little anvil about eight inches
high and six inches wide, and pounded
at the silver or gold object he was
making.
In another shop l saw them making
silver ankiets as thick as my thumb.
and in another they were turning out
| silNer Glaorne u-arl Enc aG 49,