Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 1.djvu/159



Of all the African peoples, the Nuer best deserve the term of "stilted," applied to the inhabitants of frequently inundated districts. Resembling the Denka in this respect, they possess even longer legs and flatter feet, which they raise above the high grass and place cautiously on the boggy ground. Like most Negroes of the riverain countries, they go naked; clothes would greatly incommode them in these damp regions. But they take great pride in the beauty of their hair, giving it a yellowish tint by applying cinders and other substances. Those who have short hair wear wigs of cotton dyed red; they make incisions on the forehead, while the young women pierce the upper lip, inserting rods two or three inches long encrusted with glass beads. Like the Denkas, the Nuer, whose fields are above the flood level, possess large herds of oxen; their most binding oath is taken on the breed of their cattle. There are also a few Nuer communities living in the midst of swamps on the floating islets of grass and reeds brought down by the river during the floods. Like the aquatic birds, they eat fish as well as roots and nelumbo seeds. Still all travellers have wondered how these half amphibious beings can settle down and bring up their families in the midst of mud and decaying vegetable substances. Their life must indeed be a hard one. They are in general very sullen, strangers rarely receiving a gracious reception from them.