disappears in the glaring sun, or becomes so dry that it is swept off by
fire; thus the soil is perfectly clean and fit for immediate cultivation
upon the arrival of the rains.

The tool generally used is similar to the Dutch hoe. With this simple
implement the surface is scratched to the depth of about two inches, and
the seeds of the dhurra are dibbled in about three feet apart, in rows
from four to five feet in width. Two seeds are dropped into each hole. A
few days after the first shower they rise above the ground, and when
about six inches high the whole population turn out of their villages at
break of day to weed the dhurra fields. Sown in July, it is harvested in
February and March. Eight months are thus required for the cultivation
of this cereal in the intense heat of Nubia. For the first three months
the growth is extremely rapid, and the stem attains a height of six or
seven feet. When at perfection in the rich soil of the Taka country, the
plant averages a height of ten feet, the circumference of the stem being
about four inches. The crown is a feather very similar to that of the
sugar-cane; the blossom falls, and the feather becomes a head of dhurra,
weighing about two pounds. Each grain is about the size of hemp-seed. I
took the trouble of counting the corns contained in an average- sized
head, the result being 4,848. The process of harvesting and threshing is
remarkably simple, as the heads are simply detached from the straw and
beaten out in piles. The dried straw is a substitute for sticks in
forming the walls of the village huts; these are plastered with clay and
cow-dung, which form the Arab's lath and plaster.

The millers' work is exclusively the province of the women. No man will
condescend to grind the corn. There are no circular hand-mills, as among
Oriental nations; but the corn is ground upon a simple flat stone, of
cithor gneiss or granite, about two feet in length by fourteen inches in